PlayStation 4 is a worthy successor to its seventh generation predecessor. While this current era of gaming has brought a scourge of corporate trends such as microtransactions and a dissonance towards single-player, many great pieces of gaming have been released on this certain platform. Conversely, quite a great deal of releases within the eighth generation was met with undeserving success, often containing those anti-consumer problems mentioned earlier. This list will hopefully help you in separating quality and overhype.
The games which are worth a second look gain that chance due to their underrated performance or unique style that stands out. Whether the former outcome was attributed to poor sales, a lukewarm reception or an overshadowing by bigger releases, the lack of success was a shame. In terms of substance and/or style, these games are diamonds in the rough too. They may have gone over the top of your head and that is acceptable when considering the range of choice available to gamers nowadays.
On the other end of the spectrum are the overrated games. These are a travesty to the artistic integrity or fun-factor of the industry. From perennially milked franchises to low-effort attempts that regrettably became phenomena, most of these titles are an enemy to veteran players who value quality content and originality. Overestimation will be valued by commercial and critical success; the latter being measured in respective Metascore (website Metacritic's aggregative rating). Here are the 15 games you should give another chance, along with the 15 you should not give in to.
30 Overrated: NBA 2K19
2K's basketball sports series seems to be less of a sequel every year. NBA 2K19 is barely different from its predecessor and should not warrant a full price tag in any sense.
To add insult to injury, publisher Take-Two Interactive put out all the stops to introduce predatory microtransactions.
It has superfluous currency and tiny XP gains to lure less inclined players into buying shortcuts and pointless aesthetics. Let us hope that Take-Two does not infest Red Dead Online with any sort of microtransaction system let alone the one as bad as the one in NBA 2K19.
29 Worth A Second Look: Child Of Light
Ubisoft is only useful for their 2.5D adventure games nowadays. There are only two, though—the modern Rayman games and Child of Light. The latter is an adventure RPG that takes place in a fantasy world and allows you to play as a child trying to find her way home while a queen is plotting to keep the sun, moon, and stars.
Most of the dialogue is made up in rhymes.
Introducing a side-scrolling setup and turn-based combat, the game will mostly keep you on edge. However, the main delight comes from the paintbrush art style and lovely storybook sensibilities.
28 Overrated: Shantae And The Pirate's Curse
A colorful game not worth the praise, however, is this indie platformer. Receiving a great 81/100 Metascore, Shantae's newest adventure is an exercise in tedium. From the unfair difficulty spikes to a childish story, not much will engage minds throughout this shallow experience. I was personally let down that the gameplay could not match the game's charming characters and art style. There are only so many times a hair-whipping attack can be fun to hit enemies with—because that is your primary attack for 6 hours.
27 Worth A Second Look: Yakuza 0
An Eastern franchise that should garner a lot more attention in the West is the Yakuza series. Combining novelistic storytelling with a world filled with a pseudo-open-world, these games have found a complex storyline made up of dozens of entries.
Luckily, the greatest Yakuza game is the first chronologically: Yakuza 0.
Follow the rise of aspiring gangsters Kazuma Kiyru and Goro Majima as you fight your way through a series of captivating chapters. Aside from the main story, tons of side activities are available such as arcade games, fishing, casino games, and engaging "substories."
26 Overrated: Tekken 7
Another overrated game in the current, sorry state of the fighting genre is Tekken 7. The franchise has been going down since the fifth entry and the developmental neglect seen in each entry is evident of that conditional decline. Treasure Mode is one negative—a monotonous mode that is an underwhelming substitute for Arcade Mode. Another problem is a lack of content and originality. For a franchise that releases a game every dozen of years or so, not much seems to justify a new purchase.
25 Worth A Second Look: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Developed by Ninja Theory, the team behind DmC, Hellblade is an action-adventure game unlike any other. Besides having a solid combat system and some of the most realistic graphics on the PS4, the thematic properties of Hellblade are wholly mature.
This is another game that proves that we are capable of conveying strong emotional messages.
The story serves as a metaphor for struggling with mental illness, something the developers researched by working with neuroscientists and people dealing with psychosis. Your journey will be filled with hallucinations and other mind-bending effects that will test your sanity and bring awareness.
24 Overrated: Infamous Second Son
Hardcore fans were severely disappointed with the third entry in the incredible Infamous series of games because of its change in direction. The main problems lied in the inferior progression system and the new protagonist Delsin. He is terribly obnoxious and makes you sorely miss original lead Cole Macgrath.
Even legendary voice actor Troy Baker could not make this character likable.
And even though there are tons of powers this time around, the gameplay somehow feels boring. This supplements unengaging story, resulting in a game that barely ignites the spark the first two entries made in fans' minds.
23 Worth A Second Look: A Hat In Time
A superb 3D platformer funded through a Kickstarter campaign, A Hat in Time lets you fill the tiny shoes of 'Hat Kid,' an alien girl with various inventive abilities granted with an expansive array of magical hats. It is a multi-platform answer to classic platforms of the past.
If sequels were made, Hat Kid would become an iconic platformer mascot.
With a charming art style and varied level layouts throughout multiple planets, you will have an intergalactic blast in a journey filled to the brim with intoxicating collectibles and engaging platforming. The ultimate PlayStation alternative to the 3D Mario games is right here.
22 Overrated: DOOM
The main reason why this game was highly praised lies in its self-aware attitude and fast-paced shooting. However, this approach should not have been venerated to the point of statements like "This is the best FPS of the 2010s" and so on.
Best game of 2016? It is not even the best FPS of 2016.
Its meaningless premise and faithfulness to old DOOM games are unseemly in a medium that has since embraced more mature directions. Nostalgia is a fulfilling indulgence until it has a stagnating effect on the present. In this case, 2016's DOOM is encouraging the devolution of the video game medium.
21 Worth A Second Look: Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
This narrative-focused adventure is something that will stay with you long after the credits. Directed by someone with a grasp of the cinematic language, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons tells that its tale with style and grace.
The game has no co-op—both brothers are intuitively controlled with the two thumbsticks.
This game lets you feel every metaphorical and literal step that these titular brothers will have to take to save their father. As the characters speak in a fictional language, action and expression is the main focus for interpretation. It will reignite your view regarding "games as art."
20 Overrated: Wolfenstein: The New Order
This reboot of a classic FPS franchise plays too much on nostalgia. With The New Order, pulpy and subversive storytelling is the main focus but is not enough to hide its bland corridor-to-corridor template. And while the plot is self-conscious, it just comes off as too outrageous and muddled.
Wolfenstein The New Colossus is even more overrated—scoring an 87/100 Metascore.
If you like 80s action movie-styled plots and the most ordinary shooting workings imaginable, the 79/100 Metascore will be indicative of your interest. Conversely, give it a miss if you're looking for a shooter with, simply, more.
19 Worth A Second Look: The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Ever since this refined version of the MMO released in 2015, it received a tepid from both critics and audiences. However, since heaps of updates and two acclaimed expansion packs, Tamriel Unlimited is better than ever. You can join an expansive array of alliances, fight enemies with your friends and explore the epic world of the Elder Scrolls series. With a robust PvP system and plenty of builds to pick from, there is no shortage of complexity alongside entertainment. Pick your race and make your own stories in the most underrated MMO of all-time.
18 Overrated: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six Vegas and its sequel were great FPSs that allowed you to create your own character and level up through campaign, cooperative and multiplayer modes. Six Siege seems like a downgrade—an overblown, multiplayer-only shooter with tiny maps and equally tiny match lengths.
With a poor excuse of single-player in the form of shallow and short missions, there is nothing for those looking for a solo experience.
This would be fine if the online was compelling but it is an uninteresting and numbingly militaristic piece of drivel that only furthers the tyrannical "games as a service" model.
17 Worth A Second Look: Little Nightmares
Looking for another atmospheric platformer like INSIDE? Well, the overlooked Little Nightmares is the perfect dark substitute to fill that desire. Playing as a small girl, the player must wend their way through various spooky locales in order to sustain the girl's starvation.
Never has a game so effectively juggled cuteness with horror.
The protagonist’s perspective is unique in that everyday objects are enlarged threshold, meaning you will have to drag—anything from chairs to toilet rolls—to advance to a subsequent area. Avoidance of looming, creepy baddies is also required in order to survive the dark corners that await the player.
16 Overrated: FIFA 14
Before EA started using the impressive Frostbite engine in FIFA 17, they incorporated the Ignite engine. When compared to the current state, the system is vastly interior. And even though The Journey is a deplorable campaign, the pre-2016 FIFA games did not include any sort of story mode. The fourteenth entry in the main series was the first PS4 game and an average one at that. All of the reviews with scores of 8s and 9s ended with praising its realism. Those reviews are obsolete now when we have more carbon copy soccer successors.
15 Worth A Second Look: The Evil Within 2
Although its predecessor is also underrated, The Evil Within 2 is the superior survival horror. Set three years after the events of the first game, the story follows protagonist Sebastian as he is reluctantly roped into entering the STEM simulation once again.
There is an eerily awesome sequence in the game where you face up against a psychopathic photographer trying to capture his "masterpiece."
It is a more personal tale this time around because Sebastian is trying to search for his daughter. Finally, the tense survival gameplay you'd expect is the best you can find in the genre.
14 Overrated: Call Of Duty Black Ops 3
One of the most sold games of this generation—and for what? Well, the following is what the game offers. Firstly, there is a lackluster campaign that lazily tries to juggle the messy twists and muddled story beats from the first two games and fails miserably. Second is the same-old, routine multiplayer befit with wall jumping and hyperactive matches filled with bellowing 9 year-olds. Finally, the package of mediocrity is complete with the zombie mode, which is the worst addition in Call of Duty's history.
13 Worth A Second Look: Broken Age
Developed by Double Fine Productions, the team behind Psychonauts, Broken Age is a wildly imaginative piece. It follows two teenagers in two equally compelling stories and settings. The game requires you to solve puzzles and talk to various oddball characters in this whimsical journey. As a cherry on top, the art style is smooth and lush. Good point-and-click adventures are a dime a dozen nowadays, so seeing Broken Age will make any old-school gamer happy. Please revisit this game to revitalize interest in this long forgotten genre.
12 Overrated: Destiny 2
Although an improvement over its predecessor, Destiny 2 still entails the mundane pattern to the gameplay: deploy, shoot, loot, and repeat. There are other games that follow this system e.g., Borderlands and Monster Hunter but these games make up for that in complexity and originality. This attractor of sheep, however, is set in a dull world with fruitless lore and characters. There is no emotional or other kinds of investment other than cooperative play with friends and a superficial progression system.
11 Worth A Second Look: Oxenfree
Oxenfree is an adventure game primarily revolved around branching dialogue paths. It follows teenage girl Alex along with her friend and stepbrother on their weekend trip to an island. You will be controlling Alex and offering weighty responses to poignant conversations. Each response will contribute to the outcome of the story's ending—making every decision meaningful. Will you be a despondent misanthrope or a sincere empathizer? Either way, your decisions will have both positive and negative consequences. Coupled with beautiful backdrops and supernatural undertones, this one is a hidden gem to be uncovered.