The best games for your new PS4

Well hello there, new PlayStation 4 (or PS4 Pro) owner! If you’ve just unwrapped your very first Sony console for this generation, you might be wondering where to start, game-wise. This feeling of giddiness and even a pinch of anxiety is normal. But, you’re not alone, friend. We’ve got this list to get you started.



BLOODBORNE
Dark Souls developer FromSoftware released Bloodborne last year — and yes, sure, we did get Dark Souls 3 this year, but Bloodborne is, for my money, the better option. The game drops you into a Victorian-era city were inhabitants are succumbing to a strange disease. As a hunter, you’ll both fight the plague and a bunch of super creepy and weird monsters. Bloodborne is a kinder entry into “so hard its good” battles, shaking up the Souls formula by combining both offensive and defensive combat. Its gothic, gloomy visuals are also far more intriguing than Dark Souls 3’s more traditional fantasy-gone-wrong world.



DISHONORED 2
The sequel to stealth game Dishonored sees both the return of Corvo Attano and the intro of Emily Kaldwin as a playable lead. Emily is now Empress of the Isles, but a sinister plot threatens her reign. To preserve Emily’s rule, you’ll play as either the empress herself or Corvo along with a fine selection of special powers. Murdering people in Dishonored 2 is ... well, honestly, it’s pretty fun, but the game gives you the freedom to perform non-lethal moves to take down your foes. The more you kill, the more chaos you cause, which will ultimately affect how your game plays out.



FINAL FANTASY XV
It took 10 years for fans to finally get Final Fantasy XV, but their patience was well rewarded. The game follows Noctis and his loyal boy squad as they embark on a roadtrip to save his kingdom, complete with camping, cooking, picture taking, monster fighting, and a lot of bro love. The game’s story might not be its strongest point, but it does have a lot to offer in its little moments.
OVERCOOKED
Overcooked is a cooking simulator in which you fulfill orders as they come in. You’ll need to do everything from chopping up ingredients to washing dishes to succeed. But the game really shines in its local multiplayer, where you can either team up with friends to complete orders or compete against one another. Yelling happens naturally.



OVERWATCH
Blizzard’s team-based, multiplayer first-person shooter is one of 2016’s great delights. The game’s characters are well-defined personalities that you want to play, and more importantly, can play. The genre Overwatch falls into is not typically an easy one to bust into for new players, but Overwatch is gentle enough to pick and learn. That’s not to say it can’t be difficult; the game offers enough variety and challenge in its matches to keep your attention. It’s best played with a group of your friends, but online matches with strangers are easy to come by, too.



STARDEW VALLEY
When I describe Stardew Valley to friends, it can sometimes sound boring. You farm, like, a lot. Sometimes you talk to people in town, and sometimes you get to smooch some of those people in town. But the game has an incredible amount of depth to it, whether its really digging into your relationships and perfecting your farming strategy, or wandering into a cave to fight monsters. It’s sort of like tending to an ant farm, but fun.



UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the end of Nathan Drake’s adventures as we know them. The game reunites Nathan with his “oh, we thought you were dead” big brother, Sam, as they hunt for the long-lost treasure of pirate Henry Avery. There are still bombastic action scenes, but there’s also a deeper look to be found at Nathan Drake and what drives him. A Thief’s End acts as a spectacular conclusion to a great series.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...
Doom, Far Cry Primal, Firewatch, I Am Setsuna, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Oxenfree, SOMA, Until Dawn, Watch Dogs 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Witness