Favorite Console Games of the Generation (Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, Switch)

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,073]

I'll try to name a few, event though I haven't played all that many games from the current generation. This is partly due to lagging behind with current games. I got the Switch in 2017 and my first PS4 in 2018 and since then I've honestly played mostly retro games. And when I get into a new game it's often something that I play for about 100 hours or more, e.g. I've been playing Fire Emblem Three Houses for 305+ hours since I got it.

• Fire Emblem Three Houses: This may just be the best Fire Emblem game I've ever played and a great strategy RPG as well. I love how much time and care they've put into the characters and in the worldbuilding. The story is also quite interesting and really impactful the first time I was playing this. During certain scenes I was left speechless. But even after beating this game it still entices me to come back since there are so three different houses with noticeably different characters. Double this with the randomness and the freedom in character development and every playthrough has the potential to become something unique and interesting.
• The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild: I know that this is a rather controversial game for some, but for me it was a really special and unique experience. I've grown tired of open world games since they are often so drawn out and repetitive. I couldn't even get into Oblivion or Skyrim. They just kind of bore me. But BotW really captured the spirit and the joy of exploration like no other game I've played before. Even the weapon breaking isn't as awful, as people make it out to be. You can always scavenge for new weapons or knock an enemy down and whack them with their own weapon! Not to mention that the physics system is fantastic and I'm always surprised to see what creative solutions people online come up with.
• Ys VIII - The Lacrimosa of Dana: Usually I vastly prefer turn-based RPGs over those with an action combat system. But this one is an exception, because the battle system is so well implemented and fun. It has a certain depth to it without being overly complicated or too difficult. It hits that sweet spot. Apart from that I really enjoyed the story and the tropical setting.
• Bravely Default: If the 3DS is fair game, then I would like to nominate this underappreciated gem. This is my favorite 3DS game so far and probably one of the best, if not the best, classical JRPG I've played this past decade. I'm a sucker for a well thought-out job system in the veins of Final Fantasy V or the Tactics games. It feels like you're constantly rewarded for fighting and exploring nice and cool option via the job system. Whenever I got a new class I was always wondering what cool abilities would be hidden there and how I could combine them with other classes to create interesting and powerful combinations. Aside from that the story may seem by the book at the beginning, but the twist was one of the coolest thing I've seen in a video game in a long time. It was truly a masterpiece!

Obviously there are a bunch of cool games missing. Octopath Traveler didn't quite make the list, because I was disappointed by a few changes that were implemented in the final built of the game. Outside of some QoL improvements the demo was unfortunately superior. Stupid player feedback!

Also, I haven't played many of the games, that I would probably enjoy, like Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensei IV, the later Etrian Odyssey games, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Nier Automata, Xenoblade Chronicles X and so on. I've also played way too little of Xenoblade 2, Dragon Quest XI etc or completely missed out on interesting indies such as Wargroove, The Messenger, The Darkest Dungeon, Shovel Knight etc...

Some honorable mentions: Culdcept Revolt and Slay the Spire (both fun card games), Pokemon X/Y (the last Pokemon game I enjoyed), Fire Emblem Awakening (another really great FE title), EverOasis (underrated Action-RPG on the 3DS).

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

Oh, yeah, Slay the Spire is so good.  But it makes me so mad...

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

...also, the brilliance of Darkest Dungeon in 10 minutes.  Maybe it is my #1 after all. 

 

[Sumer | 221]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

It's not really an 8 bit/16 bit split... actually I'll just let you discover it for yourself.

Ooooooooo!  

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Breath of the Wild and RE2 Remake are my two favourite games from this gen.

Honorable mention would be Mega Man 11.

I don't play a ton of newer games though with other interests on the go and how much time the majority of them require.

 

[Tekdrudge | 126]

I thought the Ratchet and Clack Remake was really good and underrated. Probably the most fun I had playing a game this gen. I also have to give props to RE2 Remake like other people on here. I guess it was mostly remakes that did it for me this console cycle. To be clear its Remakes, not Remasters that did it for me. Still need to check out the MediEvil Remake.

[Sumez | 2,950]

I'm probably gonna forget a few games, but off the top of my head:

• 1. Dragon Quest XI
  Probably the best (J)RPG experience I've had since Chrono Trigger, and that's saying a lot. It's one of the most charming games in an already insanely charming series, and as a massive, massive cherry on the top, the turn based combat system is tightened for some of the best tactical battles I've ever experienced in any video game ever, provided you enable the stronger monsters.
   
• 2. Breath of the Wild
  A surprisingly divise game, but I can't deny the hours that I just completely lost in this game. It suffers a bit from getting trivialized towards the late game, but if the first ~50 hours are as engrossing as they are, that's not a problem to me. It left behind the massive handholding of the previous few Zelda games and went in the straight opposite direction, and showed Ubisoft, Rockstar, etc. how all open world games could and should be.
   
• 3. Dark Souls 3
  Doesn't do a whole lot the series hasn't already been doing up until this point. But it looks as great as ever, and plays as great as ever. A massive comeback from the lackluster DS2. It only lags behind DS1 in its somewhat less ingrained world design, but gets a slight advance over Bloodborne thanks to a lot more variation.
   
• 4. Bloodborne
  See above.  I really like that there's not as much of a focus on customized builds and playing styles, but rather a game streamlined towards one specific style, and ditching the shield really shakes things up from the other "Souls" games. The setting is simply amazing, too, and the only issues I have is aforementioned lack of variation, and the consumable healing items which is just a major step back from estus flasks.
   
• 5. Final Fantasy VII Remake
  It's amazing to me that it was possible for the Square of today to rediscover the strengths of the slightly more classic FF titles. It's a shame that it required retelling a story that they have already told, but I really can't imagine it being done any better - the game is just breathtaking. The combat takes a while to click, but once it does it's impossible to put down, and the boss fights are  incredibly fun.
  You gotta ignore that stupid ass plot twist at the end though.
   
• 6. Paper Mario: The Origami King
  Nintendo having fun with their franchises like this is Nintendo at their best. Origami King is charming, super fun and insanely over-the-top whenever it needs to. And the ways it constantly reinvents itself throughout the game results in quite an incredible adventure.
   
• 7. Mega Man 11
  Happy to see this on so many other lists also. This is way better than I'd hoped for. Though the stages drag on and the double gear system does nothing good, the level design simply understands Mega Man like no other game in the series has done it for decades. I would never have imagined classic Mega Man getting a comeback like this, but here it is.
   
• 8. Shovel Knight
  A great mix of appealing to modern game standards while also working as a classic NES style platformer thanks to its ingenious New Game+ mode.
  One of the few "retro styled" modern indie games that actually gets it.
   
• 9. Super Mario Odyssey
  Incredibly sparkly, festive and inventive game putting Mario back in a more adventure-like setting similar to Sunshine, but executed much better this time around.
  I'm missing the more uniquely gameplay focused design of the Galaxy games, but this is still very, very good.
   
• 10. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
  I wasn't a fan of the formula introduced by the previous two Ys games, but Ys VIII takes it and adds just enough to make it work.
  It still has a bunch of issues, and the game really takes a long time to really get going - but once you get across that peak (literally) it really takes off, with a solid emotional story to keep you invested.

 

Runner-ups:

11. Aggelos
12. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
13. Prey 2017
14. Thimbleweed Park
15. Nioh
16. God of War 4
17. Yooka-Laylee
18. The Witcher 3
19. Batman Arkham Knight
20. Doom 2016
21. Paper Mario: Color Splash
22. Freedom Planet
23. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
24. Celeste
25. Yoshi's Woolly World

Edited October 23, 2020 by Sumez

[Californication | 1,477]

Was thinking about this thread so I broke open a few seals and put a couple hours each into some current gen. games. These are the results:

Odallus: The Dark Call - Excellent. Top of the line. Great levels design, nice difficulty, good music. Maybe one of my favorite this gen.

The Messenger - Great graphics, really funny dialogue. The level design feels bad so far. There are many areas, but they are all easy to get through so it just feels tedious. Don't know if I will finish.

Sterreden: Binary Stars - A lot of fun. The graphics and weapons are fun. The music is Amazing. Like turbo grafx status good. 

Shadow Complex Remastered - I'm not sure about this one. It's pretty and I'm usually a fan of 2.5d.

The movement is a little faster than I like and I'm not sure if there is a way to lock your position when aiming the gun, but it needs it. Also, have to get more comfortavle with interacting with the background v. foreground. Could see liking the game, but I'll have to come back to it and try and get more comfortable with the controls.

[Sumez | 2,950]

5 hours ago, Californication said:

Odallus: The Dark Call - Excellent. Top of the line. Great levels design, nice difficulty, good music. Maybe one of my favorite this gen.

I'm surprised to see someone put this so highly. I actually liked it, because it's such an earnest and well meaning game, it's just really poorly executed in a lot of ways.

I really recommend playing Blazing Chrome by the same guys. After starting with the disappointingly awful Oniken and following up with the mediocre Odallus, I was happy to see that their third major title only saw them continuine to improve - it's a super good game, and the best run'n'gun I've seen since at least Contra 4.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll make next.

[Californication | 1,477]

7 hours ago, Sumez said:

I'm surprised to see someone put this so highly. I actually liked it, because it's such an earnest and well meaning game, it's just really poorly executed in a lot of ways.

I really recommend playing Blazing Chrome by the same guys. After starting with the disappointingly awful Oniken and following up with the mediocre Odallus, I was happy to see that their third major title only saw them continuine to improve - it's a super good game, and the best run'n'gun I've seen since at least Contra 4.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll make next.

For me I think Odallus has good: story, level design, music, enemy variety. I like the graphic style (the coloring reminds me of Dragon Fighter without the brighter spots). I really like the secondary weapons. There are stores to buy items and they get more expense the more you buy so it pushes you to buy less i.e. die or get hurt less use less secondary weapons. All of the weapons are a little slow which makes you have to memorize the enemy movement and weapon timing. The secondary weapons each have very unique patterns and effects. There is a spear that is very powerful, but when you throw it archs in the air and the arch varies based on how you throw it. There are torches you throw, they don't work on ice or water, but on ground they have a nice trail attack if you hit enemies in a group it can spread between them. Game is technically Metroidvania, but feels more like it has complete levels because of the way the overworld works. Of the PS4 games I have played this is the most modern 2d equivelant to a Castlevania game I have played. I think the difficulty makes Odallus closer to Castlevania than Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. It is not super difficult on the default setting, but may be harder than say Rhondo of Blood.

Personally, my only concern is that the game ia going to be too short. There is a second difficulty setting so hopefully that will extend the fun.

I was a little dissapointed with Oniken. It didn't make me want to keep playing, but I"m going to give it another go. Maybe I'll open Blazing Chrome next week.

Why didn't you like. Odallus?

Edit: Actually the level graphics remind me of kick master and the character design reminds me of Dragon Fighter.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Californication

[Sumez | 2,950]

I did like Odallus, I just thought it wasn't very good.
I know it sounds contradictory, but there are just a lot of elements that could obviously be better. Most tangible would be the buggy controls and collision detection that would occasionally get me stuck in various places, or the camera that would float off giving me no way to see what I was doing. But a lot of the stages were just boringly designed and didn't really have much of a sense of flow and good action.

It's hard for me to be more specific, because even though I've played it twice, it's been a while, and I can't remember the game very vividly, outside of what I thought of it.

I just think it's the kind of game that requires some patience with its issues to enjoy, and I wouldn't expect other people to be as patient with it as I was.  

[Californication | 1,477]

4 hours ago, Sumez said:

I did like Odallus, I just thought it wasn't very good.
I know it sounds contradictory, but there are just a lot of elements that could obviously be better. Most tangible would be the buggy controls and collision detection that would occasionally get me stuck in various places, or the camera that would float off giving me no way to see what I was doing. But a lot of the stages were just boringly designed and didn't really have much of a sense of flow and good action.

It's hard for me to be more specific, because even though I've played it twice, it's been a while, and I can't remember the game very vividly, outside of what I thought of it.

I just think it's the kind of game that requires some patience with its issues to enjoy, and I wouldn't expect other people to be as patient with it as I was.  

I'm on the PS4 and I haven't downloaded any patches. I have about 4 hours in and haven't seen any camera issues. When I die and reappear at a save point, the character sometimes freezes, but if I hit pause/unpause it works immediately. Which version did you play?

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Californication

[Sumez | 2,950]

49 minutes ago, Californication said:

I'm on the PS4 and I haven't downloaded any patches. I have about 4 hours in and haven't seen any camera issues. When I die and reappear at a save point, the character does seem to freeze, but if I hit pause/unpause it works immediately. Which version did you play?

 

Played it on PC originally, and then on Switch when the physical release came out.

[Californication | 1,477]

4 hours ago, Sumez said:

Played it on PC originally, and then on Switch when the physical release came out.

For sure. After playing more modern games I don't think this will make it to my top 10. I have a feeling it will make it to my 15-20/25 range. Hard to say the PS4 has a lot of hits. I have maybe 75 PS4 games I've carefully picked out and I've only played maybe 30.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

8 hours ago, ChickenTendas said:

I thought Sony had an excellent showing this generation. Bloodborne, God of War, The Last of Us 2, and The Last Guardian were all excellent exclusives. Nintendo had really strong years at the beginning of the Switch's lifespan with Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and Smash Ultimate. In terms of indies I thoroughly enjoyed Celeste, Undertale, Inside, Ape Out, Katana Zero, and Dead Cells. I'm a bit biased towards this generation (it's the first one I've actively followed), but IMO it was one of the best gens ever in terms of game diversity and just sheer variety. I didn't play much Wii U but I had a lot of fun with Nintendo Land. That Donkey Kong minigame was the shit. 

I agree. There is a strong case to be made for this being the best generation of games yet.

[Californication | 1,477]

Playing three more games for first time: Nex Machina, Shovel Knight, and Battle Garrega all PS4. 

For some reason I didn't think I was going to like Nex Machina or Shovel Knight, but I bought them a while back anyway. They are both great. (I'm really glad I didn't by Demon Tier.)

I thought Nex Machina looked complicated and it really isn't; it's fun and  addicting. I thought Shovel Knight looked like a kids game, but it actually has a nice difficulty balance, good level design, nice boss battles. I'm on the last level of and it's fun. Feels like Mario at times. The jump is a little floaty, but it works because it makes the game slightly harder. The difficulty feels better than The Messenger imo. It's really nice to play a modern 2d game with levels.  It's always metroidvania, twin stick, rogue like, etc. I heard NG+ really ramps it up so we'll see.

And of course the one I was looking forward to the most, Battle Garegga was underwhelming. I'll wait and give it another go, but idk. I don't know if it's the game, but when I play, I feel like I am playing a port if that makes any sense. It didn't have any flavor.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Californication

[Sumez | 2,950]

On 11/7/2020 at 5:51 AM, Californication said:

Playing three more games for first time: Nex Machina, Shovel Knight, and Battle Garrega all PS4. 

Three great games!

To add my thoughts on these, I think you got it pretty much on point. Nex Machina is super enjoyable and deserves so much more recognition. I'm surprised it stayed under the radar, pretty much killing off Housemarque in the process.
My biggest issue with the game is in how effective play relies a lot on remembering where all the hidden stuff is hidden. I'm not sure how to feel about that

Shovel Knight is everything you say it is. The Messenger can't even begin to compare to it. Look forward to NG+! While I did enjoy scraping money together for upgrades and finding the secret subweapons, starting out with those on a more challenging mode with fewer checkpoints and no healing items just improves the overall flow immensely - and with the experience from normal mode in the bag, you'll be able to overcome the challenges much easier this time around, giving you the real rush of a classic NES/arcade action platformer. I love it.

Battle Garegga is what it is. It's not without reason that it's one of the most celebrated games in the genre. But it's not an easy one to get into. Pretty much all of the central mechanics that define the game are hidden under the surface, and understanding the game enough to enjoy it at its fullest requires a lot of research which might not mesh well with the shmup genre's typical ethos of just jumping in there, blasting and dodging. It's a game that looks extremely simple, but is everything but that.

Edited November 9, 2020 by Sumez

[Admiral Togo | 1]

I have so much to catch up in. 

[Webhead123 | 675]

On 10/19/2020 at 3:33 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

...Darkest Dungeon

I loved Darkest Dungeon until, one night, it lured me into a back alley, knifed me in the gut, stole my wallet and shoes and left me for dead (aka TPK of my decked-out, max-level party during a random encounter near the end of the game). I've never forgiven it.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

14 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

I loved Darkest Dungeon until, one night, it lured me into a back alley, knifed me in the gut, stole my wallet and shoes and left me for dead (aka TPK of my decked-out, max-level party during a random encounter near the end of the game). I've never forgiven it.

 

[Webhead123 | 675]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

 

Yeah, basically.

I LOVE the atmosphere and a lot of the design of the game. I wish I was savvy and motivated enough to figure out how to hack the game, make an unkillable super-party and then watch the enemies and bosses weep beneath my boots as they experience just a fraction of the bullshit that they've inflicted upon me!  It's one of only a handful of games that I hold actual, tangible contempt for.

Hmmm...perhaps a little Google Fu is in order.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

I think what helped me was realizing that it didn't really matter if party members died, that the town buffs you work towards do a lot of the heavy lifting.But I also never had a party wipe.  And I was never brave enough to finish Crimson Court.

[Webhead123 | 675]

12 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think what helped me was realizing that it didn't really matter if party members died, that the town buffs you work towards do a lot of the heavy lifting.But I also never had a party wipe.  And I was never brave enough to finish Crimson Court.

Yeah, I do like how the hamlet advancement helps to "soften the blow" somewhat, and of course I've lost a party member here or there, which might sting sometimes but the game actually really helps you get past. Part of what really set me off on that particular occasion though, was that not only was it a TPK but I didn't have any other replacements for those classes in my bank. So, if I wanted to try to get back to where I was, I was going to have to grind a hodge-podge party of low-level heroes to even attempt the random grind to rebuild my party. It sort of sucked all my enthusiasm away.

Also, it was just a random, early-dungeon encounter and the RNG was just completely against me...and I wasn't even in the Darkest Dungeon. When I started to ponder how hard the luck-hammer can swing and contemplated attempting that final slog yet again, I just lost all will.

I've thought about going back at some point and I probably will. When the game isn't laughing in your face with unfairness, it is amazingly fun.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Webhead123

[Webhead123 | 675]

All this talk of Darkest Dungeon did remind me of one of my absolute favorite games of this generation/recent years: Invisible Inc.

A turn-based, tactical espionage/infiltration game set in a cyberpunk-esque universe. That game was seriously addicting for me. Enough so that I played through the entire game back-to-back through every difficulty setting (except for "Easy"). For a turn-based game, it creates such an incredible sense of escalating tension and leveling up/gearing out your team of spies was really cool. One of my favorite games of the decade.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

@Reed Rothchild @Webhead123: It sounds like Darkest Dungeon belongs in the Stockholm Syndrome thread.