What PlayStation games are you playing ?

I'm really trying to enjoy Infamous 2 but it's so disappointing because I loved Infamous: Second Son. After all the complaints from fans about how "Delsin sucks" and how Infamous 2 was the best one it really does not live up to the hype. Everything it does Second Son does far better. The concept is still there but it's executed poorly.

The lead character, Cole, doesn't feel like a superhero, he feels like a chump as he's not able to withstand much damage and doesn't have the fluid movement that Delsin had to evade attacks. There are so many enemies and the only ability that helps with crowd control is useless as they get back up far too quickly for you to do a ground takedown; it's not fun.

The Karma system is poorly implemented and explained and trying to do a good karma playthrough is more of a chore than anything. Civilians get in the way and pretty much all of Cole's abilities have massive area of effect like the aforementioned crowd control one, so civilians end up getting hurt and enemies previously subdued non lethally end up being executed. I've unlocked a skill that lets civilians take almost no damage from attacks but that should have been the default tbh. I feel like the game just wants me to play as a super villain and the karma system is just a tack-on. Melee combat sucks too - you often swing wildly and end up hitting either the air or a civilian who has no business standing there.

It's weird because everything around the combat is good such as the shard collectibles and how they extend your energy, the way you go about upgrading your powers through tasks, the side and story missions etc but then the combat starts and I groan. The enemy designs are quite lazy as well. In Second Son there was a hierarchy of your basic bitch grunts all the way up to the different types of gravel wielding badasses who gave as good as you did being that they were "freaks hunting freaks". These weird alien monster thingies here feel totally out of place.

It's definitely not the worst game I've played this year but this is the least amount of fun I've had since Days Gone (which is the worst game i've played this year). I'm also streaming it on PSNow and the resolution is horrible which is affecting my enjoyment somewhat.

Nope, it's nowt to do with playing Second Son first. Firstly, Second Son is basically a soft reboot that doesn't seem to connect to Cole from what I remember so it's not like I played a direct sequel first. Also, it's expected that later instalments in a series improve on their predecessors (not always but it's expected) so I'm always very forgiving and mindful of that. And tbh a good game is a good game no matter what order you play it in. I played Uncharted 4 first but still like Uncharted 1 and 2.

The issues with Infamous 2 have nothing to with being a product of the times. Stuff like enemies being spongey and taking forever to go down is just poor game design to be frank. I don't necessarily equate tone with quality but I actually like the open world of Infamous 2 (I also like that the camera is a bit more pulled in as well) . I pretty much like everything outside of the combat. The combat just feels like its more geared towards an evil karma playthrough. It's weird that the game doesn't distinguish between already subdued enemies so whenever you use a crowd control ability (forgot what it's called but it but knocks all enemies down) it will just execute those on the ground. The thing is, you need that ability because you take damage hard and fast and there isn't much cover. Meanwhile civilians are constantly getting in the way. Just how are you supposed to take down the guards escorting the captured civilians in the good karma side activities if the civilian is literally surrounded by guards? They're bound to get hit or you're bound to die making sure they don't. It just feels ill balanced and broken.

Anyway, I've moved on to Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter and I'm loving it. I think the Sherlock series is fast becoming my "comfort game". Can't wait for the open world one later this year.