Sunday 24 July 2016

Niche Plays: PlayStation Plus July 2016

Just a quick one this week as I find i haven't had much gaming time, however I have managed to dip into a few of July's "free" PlayStation Plus games, and thought I would share my thoughts on them before they are swapped out for August's games.
(Trailers available via PlayStation YouTube Channel and not owned by Niche)


Furi (PS4)

I admit, I had not heard of this one before it became available on Plus, it's an action game that does much more than hack'n'slash. It becomes more about anticipating your opponent and using the right moves in each situation, the result is somewhere between arcade gameplay and full on tactical combat. I haven't gone too far into the game yet but the gameplay is distilled into a series of boss battles, all of which are pretty creative and challenging and it is kind of refreshing not to have to face corridors full of minions.  The default difficulty will be pretty challenging for most but I can see that being one of the major draws of this game. There's a rather dark story about eternal torment and your journey out of some kind of hell dimension, there seems to be some deeper mysteries that I cant wait to uncover. The art style is distinctive and reminds me of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, a beautiful game that I still have not got round to playing, it's on my list but it's a long list. This could be one of those overlooked gems of your PS Plus collection.



Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell (PS4)

On paper, Saints Row should be a game I completely hate, the franchise started as a GTA clone, all drugs, gangs and violence but each instalment has grown a little crazier. It's this irreverent sense of humour and focus on fun gameplay that has had me hooked since Saints Row 3. This offering is in fact a standalone expansion to Saints Row 4, so if you enjoyed that then you'll have some idea what to expect and I recommend you give this a go. If you've never played Saints Row before then this could be a nice little taster, however don't expect the intro to make sense, after that focus on running wild in the hellscape, go have fun!




 Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (PSVITA)

This JRPG has a pleasant art style inspired by Japanese ink wash art known as sumi-e and packs a lot in to a nice portable package. Set in a mythical version of feudal Japan you are the head of a cursed family. You need to set out on quests, protect and strengthen your lineage and win the favour of the Gods, which is important because part of the curse is that your clan can only reproduce with Gods (or other cursed clans). Could be worse, right? There's whole layers of management and crafting, customising your family and arranging marriages as well as dungeons to explore. I've enjoyed it so far but look forward to being able to sink a good chunk of time in to this.


Fat Princess (PS3)

An honourable mention for Fat Princess as I haven't picked this game back up in a while. It's a fun and colourful class based team game. The main mode is similar to capture the flag, but with princesses, you can even collect cake to feed to your princess so that she becomes harder to steal. You might have better look finding online opponents that I did earlier this year as other Plus subscribers will be trying it out, but it can also be good fun with friends.

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