My tax return came in yesterday, and there were a few things on my list to buy immediately. First up was a Playstation 4. I’ve wanted the console since it came out. I’ve owned every single Playstation console and I knew this one wouldn’t be an exception, despite the fact that I spent a pretty penny last year on a new gaming PC. I’m simply one of those people who wants both. There are console exclusives that I don’t want to miss out on (Uncharted 4 is coming very soon), there are some games that actually feel better on a console, and though I have a controller on my PC, the PS4’s controller is superior in basically every way. The system does have its limitations of course. I won’t be playing any games on it in anything higher than 1080p or faster than 60 fps. Those are my typical game settings on PC though, so really it’s just an extension of my gaming collection. Having had Playstation Plus for so many years, I actually racked up quite a few free games for the PS4 that I never had the chance to play, many of which were games I had once considered buying via Steam. It’s also nice to be able to play games with a multitude of friends who don’t have gaming PCs, or are people like me who enjoy consoles too. I’ve already made several new friends on PSN, including real life friends and some folks from Twitter. Really, I just wanted to make this post so I could share this video, as it’s been stuck in my head and has been my general mood for about 24 hours:

Hilarious right? Yeah, I thought so too.

The setup process for the PS4 was quick and painless. The system walks you through the basic steps of setting up your network and Playstation account info. Once connected to the Internet, it was time to update the system software, and all of this was done in under 30 minutes. However, downloading a shitload of games onto the system at one time took a very long time.

So what about the games, you find yourself asking? Yeah, there were a ton for me to check out. I ended up buying the Call of Duty Black Ops 3 bundle. I know, I’ve had my issues with Call of Duty in the past, but honestly I love Zombies and the multiplayer and the fact that you can co-op your way through the campaign so much that I couldn’t resist buying this game. There are three bundles that basically every retailer has going on right now, and those include either Blops3, Star Wars Battlefront or The Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection. I’ve already played all of the games included in the latter collection, so that bundle will be something I pick up once it goes on a deep sale later on (maybe it will be sold together with Uncharted 4 at some point). That said, I was torn between Black Ops and Battlefront mainly because I know differing amounts of people with the games and wanted to be able to play with more at once. However, I did my research and it turns out that PSN had a sale on Battlefront for 50% off, so that made the choice rather easy. I also managed to pick up a copy of the Bloodborne complete edition (comes packed with the expansion) so that’s one Playstation exclusive off of my to-buy list.

I was no stranger to any of those games, having put in several hours playing a couple at my friend Chris’s house, and watching Sigtric streaming Bloodborne for a few hours. Thankfully due to the use of my PSN account on his system, I still have the progress I had already made on Black Ops. Unfortunately playing split-screen in Battlefront didn’t net me any progress though, so I’m stuck starting from scratch there, but that’s okay. I have yet to dive into Bloodborne, as it was pretty late before it was fully installed on my system.

After hooking up the console, I started by installing Black Ops from the disc, and then patching it. Then, there was the newest map pack plus Nuketown to add on. While that was downloading it was fixing up all of my settings and learning to use all of the menus. Then it was time to buy a couple games from the Playstation store, and also download my laundrylist of Plus titles. I didn’t even download everything, as some of the games were cross-buy and I had already played them on my PS3, or they were games I already owned on PC. There were a couple I wasn’t really interested in either, but I still may try them out at some point. Of the titles I downloaded, here are some thoughts:

Gauntlet – Definitely a very arcade-y hack n slash game. Doesn’t have the depth of today’s ARPGs, but still looks to be fun with friends.
Super Meat Boy – I’ve been wanting to try this one for a while, and it’s definitely a fun but challenging platformer. I beat the first world, but I imagine the challenge gets ridiculous in time.
Xeodrifter – Looks much like an NES Metroidvania. You can visit different planets and have basic platforming skills. Need to dig in further.
Super Time Force Ultra – Has Broforce’s sense of humor, but has such a wonky control scheme and mechanics that I uninstalled it.
Skulls of the Shogun – Very interesting strategy game. A bit juvenile but I enjoy the gameplay.
Velocity 2x – The sequel to Velocity Ultra, this one adds to the formula by allowing you to exit your ship and do some platforming. I really like this game.
Apotheon – A platformer with greek pottery art style. Has some lite RPG elements and is actually really fun.
Towerfall Ascension – I wanted to like this game, as it is reminiscent of many old school console games, but the controls/mechanics suck. Uninstalled.
Don’t Starve – I haven’t played it on the console yet, but I have played the game before. Curious to see how it stacks up to the PC version.
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare – This was a game I didn’t expect to like but enjoyed nonetheless. It’s third person shooting and survival with the characters from that series.
Injustice Gods Among Us – I haven’t played this one yet, but I did try it back when it released at a friend’s house. It’s a decent fighting game.
Resogun – This is basically the best looking Defender-style arcade game I’ve played in years. Fast paced and fun.
Pix the Cat – Feels like Pac-man meets Snake, but does just enough to differentiate itself. It’s pretty enjoyable.
Road Not Taken – Another rogue-like game I was looking forward to trying, but it’s convoluted turn based system sucks. Uninstalled.
Helldivers – Haven’t played it on the PS4 yet, but enjoyed the game well enough on PS3. This was a cross-buy for me, but is also free for Plus members this month so I have friends to play with now.
Olli Olli 2 – I have the original on Steam. Love it. I imagine this will be awesome too, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Nom Nom Galaxy – Eri was talking this one up a while back. I have yet to try it.
Hardware Rivals – This looks like a cool car-combat game, but I still need to play it.
Valiant Hearts The Great War – No idea, and no thoughts. More on this later.
Drive Club – The full game that was meant for Plus members when PS4 released but got delayed. I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard good things.
Mercenary Kings – A sort of Metal Slug clone from what I can tell. Will try soon.
Transistor – I’ve wanted to play this for a good long time, but haven’t just yet. I plan to play it today.
Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition – another Metroidvania, I have heard good things, but haven’t touched it just yet.
Magicka 2 – I never played Magicka. I have played Helldivers (same dev) so I basically know what to expect. No idea if this is as good or better than the original. More on this later.

So yeah, I’ll probably do a mini-review post on some of these when I get more time in with them. I just wanted to jot down some thoughts for now. That’s all for today. I’m gonna get back to playing some of these games!