PS3 in 2018
November 3, 2018 2:11 PM Subscribe
What are some PS3 games you'd recommend that hold up well in 2018? (Hold up well, in this sense, being more about the story/game world/ideas raised than graphics/etc.)
I briefly had a PS3 a few years ago, and absolutely loved it. Here are the games I encountered during those 18 months:
Games I absolutely loved: Life is Strange, Mass Effect 1 and 2 (I prefer 1), Katamari Damacy (via PSN)
Games I was enjoying but didn't finish because of time: Dragon Age Origins, Valkyria Chronicles
Games I liked okay: the Last of Us
Games I disliked: Uncharted 2, Bioshock 1
I ordered a PS3 again and it's arriving today! Horray! My immediate plan is to replay LiS with my partner, play a lot of Katamari Damacy because <3, and restart Dragon Age Origins. I'm also kiiind of curious about the original Nier as N:A for PS4 totally knocked me over/was so beautiful and compelling and weird.
I'm curious what other games you'd recommend I explore! I'm definitely slanted towards adventure and action PRGs, but I'm open to totally new experiences (e.g. I had never played anything like Katamari before). Also I'm very interested in games that raise interesting ideas or draw compelling worlds even if the execution is kind of jarring (thus my love of Mass Effect 1). I've also missed a number of franchises entirely like Fallout, Final Fantasy (never played a single FF game..), etc.
Thank you!
I briefly had a PS3 a few years ago, and absolutely loved it. Here are the games I encountered during those 18 months:
Games I absolutely loved: Life is Strange, Mass Effect 1 and 2 (I prefer 1), Katamari Damacy (via PSN)
Games I was enjoying but didn't finish because of time: Dragon Age Origins, Valkyria Chronicles
Games I liked okay: the Last of Us
Games I disliked: Uncharted 2, Bioshock 1
I ordered a PS3 again and it's arriving today! Horray! My immediate plan is to replay LiS with my partner, play a lot of Katamari Damacy because <3, and restart Dragon Age Origins. I'm also kiiind of curious about the original Nier as N:A for PS4 totally knocked me over/was so beautiful and compelling and weird.
I'm curious what other games you'd recommend I explore! I'm definitely slanted towards adventure and action PRGs, but I'm open to totally new experiences (e.g. I had never played anything like Katamari before). Also I'm very interested in games that raise interesting ideas or draw compelling worlds even if the execution is kind of jarring (thus my love of Mass Effect 1). I've also missed a number of franchises entirely like Fallout, Final Fantasy (never played a single FF game..), etc.
Thank you!
Portal 2
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:20 PM on November 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:20 PM on November 3, 2018 [7 favorites]
Skate 2
posted by porn in the woods at 2:22 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by porn in the woods at 2:22 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Skyrim
posted by slipthought at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by slipthought at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
The Orange Box (the best of the two Portal games + HL2 as a bonus)
Seconding that you pick up a Skate game, for mechanics alone.
Rayman Origins was the best couch co-op I played during the PS3 era.
Shadow of the Colossus
posted by isauteikisa at 2:35 PM on November 3, 2018
The Orange Box (the best of the two Portal games + HL2 as a bonus)
Seconding that you pick up a Skate game, for mechanics alone.
Rayman Origins was the best couch co-op I played during the PS3 era.
Shadow of the Colossus
posted by isauteikisa at 2:35 PM on November 3, 2018
Oh ya. Bioshock. Whichever drakes revenge was launched for ps3.
posted by chasles at 3:15 PM on November 3, 2018
posted by chasles at 3:15 PM on November 3, 2018
Okami HD.
Now, this is a polarizing choice. It's very Japanese, very deliberately paced and makes some gameplay decisions that you will either love or hate. But it's absolutely worth the US$14 on PSN to find out if this is your jam.
Shadow of the Colossus
This is a landscape painting that you have sixteen boss fights in. Minimalistic, bittersweet story. Get it together with Ico, which is well worth playing on its own.
Little Big Planet
Weaponized cuteness meets tight side-scrolling platform action. Good for couch co-op. The music is way better than it strictly has to be, too. If you find this to your liking, the sequel is more of similar.
For the first-persony things that aren't platform exclusives (like Portal, Portal 2 and HL2), play them on a PC with mouse and keyboard if you have any option to do that. (If your options are console or nothing, take the former.)
For the Elder Scrolls game, you need to play on PC for the mods -- even if the only ones you load are the bugfix ones.
posted by sourcequench at 3:16 PM on November 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
Now, this is a polarizing choice. It's very Japanese, very deliberately paced and makes some gameplay decisions that you will either love or hate. But it's absolutely worth the US$14 on PSN to find out if this is your jam.
Shadow of the Colossus
This is a landscape painting that you have sixteen boss fights in. Minimalistic, bittersweet story. Get it together with Ico, which is well worth playing on its own.
Little Big Planet
Weaponized cuteness meets tight side-scrolling platform action. Good for couch co-op. The music is way better than it strictly has to be, too. If you find this to your liking, the sequel is more of similar.
For the first-persony things that aren't platform exclusives (like Portal, Portal 2 and HL2), play them on a PC with mouse and keyboard if you have any option to do that. (If your options are console or nothing, take the former.)
For the Elder Scrolls game, you need to play on PC for the mods -- even if the only ones you load are the bugfix ones.
posted by sourcequench at 3:16 PM on November 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
Persona 5
posted by meowzilla at 3:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by meowzilla at 3:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I found Heavy Rain to be a very powerful and emotional experience. (I hesitate to say I enjoyed it, given the story centers around child abduction and murder, so if you'd rather not deal with that then give this one a pass.)
posted by zebra at 3:45 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by zebra at 3:45 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
I second poffin boffin that Dragon Age 2 is much better than the conventional wisdom dictates. I was annoyed by the reuse of maps (every basement is the same basement, every cave system is the same cave system), but that’s minor. The characters are extremely well developed and the reduced scope of the stakes (saving the people of one city, rather than saving the world) is refreshing.
How can you have played Mass Effect 1 and 2 but not have picked up 3? Go do that! Yes, people complained about the ending, but the Citadel DLC more than made up for it.
Fallout: New Vegas has a great story, great characters, outstanding DLC, and the best mechanics of a Fallout game so far.
Check out Braid, Limbo, and Flower for indies.
posted by ejs at 3:47 PM on November 3, 2018
How can you have played Mass Effect 1 and 2 but not have picked up 3? Go do that! Yes, people complained about the ending, but the Citadel DLC more than made up for it.
Fallout: New Vegas has a great story, great characters, outstanding DLC, and the best mechanics of a Fallout game so far.
Check out Braid, Limbo, and Flower for indies.
posted by ejs at 3:47 PM on November 3, 2018
Shadow of the Colossus is beautiful and compelling and weird.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by mr_roboto at 4:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
Fallout new Vegas is great, it's the best of the fallout series imho with good world building, quests, and gameplay. Would highly recommend! Skyrim is also very good, it's a more classic fantasy genre. Both are large games. If you didn't like Bioshock 1 I would still recommend Bioshock Infinite since it's quite different.... I personally did not enjoy Heavy Rain but if you have/get a Ps4, I did enjoy Detroit: Become Human despite its flaws.
posted by DTMFA at 4:49 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DTMFA at 4:49 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Fallout 3 and NV are really good games, but not for the PS3. Eventually your savegame will catch one of the many things that will send the game deep into the seconds-per-frame realm until you can actually get it to register a button push so you can save and quit.
Really and truly the only right way to play a Bethesda game is on a pc, so you can load bugfix mods and so you can bring up the console to unfuck quests and so on.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:19 PM on November 3, 2018
Really and truly the only right way to play a Bethesda game is on a pc, so you can load bugfix mods and so you can bring up the console to unfuck quests and so on.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:19 PM on November 3, 2018
We don't use the PS3 as often now with the Switch but prior to that we were still using it regularly. The kid was enjoying whatever Lego game, Minecraft, Little Big Planet, Katamari, Ratchet and Clank. I played Dishonored 1 only last year on the PS3 which I enjoyed way more then I thought I would. Portal 2 is worth it. I didn't care for Dragon Age 2 largely because of the repetitive combat and maps but I'd agree that the story was fine. I was a big Bioshock 1 fan but if you didn't like that you might try Bioshock Infinite as it does have a different vibe. Nthing Shadow of the Colossus, Braid, Limbo, Flower.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:19 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:19 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
portal 2 and journey are fantastic
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:28 PM on November 3, 2018
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:28 PM on November 3, 2018
Demon's Souls is the game that inspired the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne and that whole genre of challenging action RPG with a lot of lore that is only divulged in bits and pieces. It's a PS3 exclusive.
I'll be honest, I haven't played that much of it and it's been years, but people on the internet swear it still holds up. If it was ever ported to PS4 I'd buy it no question.
posted by cali59 at 6:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'll be honest, I haven't played that much of it and it's been years, but people on the internet swear it still holds up. If it was ever ported to PS4 I'd buy it no question.
posted by cali59 at 6:35 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Nier, especially if you liked Automata.
Obligatory Souls games recommendation but Demons' Souls servers were shut down and I assume Dark Souls is pretty much dead so expect a mostly offline experience.
EDF 2025 for couch co-op.
About a trillion PS2 and PSN games.
posted by Bangaioh at 7:40 PM on November 3, 2018
Obligatory Souls games recommendation but Demons' Souls servers were shut down and I assume Dark Souls is pretty much dead so expect a mostly offline experience.
EDF 2025 for couch co-op.
About a trillion PS2 and PSN games.
posted by Bangaioh at 7:40 PM on November 3, 2018
I've had a PS3 for 10 years and I have 5 games: Motorstorm, Skates 1&2, which are what I've played 90%, and then Bioshock, The Last of Us, and Killzone. I haven't played those hardly at all, and I think when I played Bioshock that I wished I had a mouse and WASD.
posted by rhizome at 9:34 PM on November 3, 2018
posted by rhizome at 9:34 PM on November 3, 2018
Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls.
posted by naju at 10:54 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 10:54 PM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't play much online and found Dark Souls very satisfying even though there was never any hope I would complete it.
No one has mentioned Red Dead Redemption yet, it is an excellent game, hence how anticipated the recent sequel has been.
posted by biffa at 4:43 AM on November 4, 2018
No one has mentioned Red Dead Redemption yet, it is an excellent game, hence how anticipated the recent sequel has been.
posted by biffa at 4:43 AM on November 4, 2018
JOURNEY!!!!!! probably in my top 5 games of all time and (i think) a ps3 exclusive
posted by capnsue at 8:08 AM on November 4, 2018
posted by capnsue at 8:08 AM on November 4, 2018
Ni No Kuni
Absolutely adorable JRPG made in association with Studio Ghibli. Visuals hold up even today, looks like a Ghibli cartoon. Plot is light and fluffy, battles are pretty standard JRPG-ish things. Charming and a lot of fun.
posted by parm at 9:43 AM on November 4, 2018
Absolutely adorable JRPG made in association with Studio Ghibli. Visuals hold up even today, looks like a Ghibli cartoon. Plot is light and fluffy, battles are pretty standard JRPG-ish things. Charming and a lot of fun.
posted by parm at 9:43 AM on November 4, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:16 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]