Especially really good and satisfying gun sound effects.
Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have fantastic sound design. The environmental sounds of wind, water, trees and wildlife accompanied by that understated soundtrack makes you feel out in the wilds even though the graphics are minimal.
Subnautica. Sound takes you to fear:)
Scariest game I’ve ever played.
Well in terms of taking advantage of really good headphones. Senua’s Sacrifice
Headphones absolutely mandatory. Hellblade is the first title that came to mind seeing this thread.
This was the first thing I thought of too.
Yeah, great experience with headphones!
That game HAS to be played with headphones or a super good surround sound. The directionality of the voices in Senua’s head is next level.
Hi-Fi rush.
Thank me later.
Absolutely magnificent game. I wish we got more mid sized games instead of every new game being a 100h+ second job.
Do you have any suggestions for games like HiFi? I found it super comfy. Doesn’t need to be music based, I just found the design, style and character interactions nice
Not really. HiFi Rush reminded me a little bit of Lego Star Wars (which also Had a mechanic that made you deal more damage if you attacked on beat with your lightsaber!), but that may have been my nostalgia for the Lego game more than some deeper similarities
I’m surprised no one here has mentioned Returnal. On the PS5 with a headset it uses the “3D Audio”. It’s pretty amazing.
I’m not really into roguelikes, but that description intrigues me, especially because it’s an included game for PS+ Extra subscribers like myself!
It’s not really a full on roguelike. You do “upgrade” weapons as you use them, so when you die it’s not a complete loss. Also once you beat a boss you never have to fight them again if you don’t want to. You just make it through three areas (3 bosses each), and then you unlock the next 3, but you don’t have to start from the very beginning for the last 3.
Maybe it helps if you think of it as an arcade version of a soulslike game? Play it in 30 minute increments, don’t stress about beating it and naturally you’ll get better enough to beat it.
The story and setting is pretty unique and awesome as well.
Sounds like it’s more of a roguelite then? Those are definitely more appealing to me because even in failure, you can make steady progress. Thanks to comments here, I’m gonna try it probably this weekend!
Great! It’s honestly one of the best games that’s come out in recent years. It’s definitely the best new IP.
The game is absolutely amazing. It being a roguelike is really secondary. There’s also decent progression, and I didn’t think it was that hard, you just have to get a good loadout running. Occasionally you’ll just get RNG’d within 10 minutes of a run and just start over.
That’s good to hear. I had heard that you could just get RNG’d out of a run after like 45-60 minutes of good play, so I was just immediately turned off even though the bare premise I’m aware of seems at least interesting. Because it’s free for me, and my time ROI will probably be only like an hour, I will definitely try it! Thanks!
Yeah, I would recommend looking up some build suggestions. You can definitely get RNG’d later, but it’s way less likely to happen if you have a good build plan going after the first 10-20 minutes. If you just take whatever looks good in the moment, without considering how it fits into your overall build, you’ll get screwed down the line.
Also, I missed a ton of story because I didn’t die enough. So it really is an intended part of the experience.
Also, I missed a ton of story because I didn’t die enough. So it really is an intended part of the experience.
This is a massive relief. Roguelikes and roguelites are stressful for me because I hate the idea that I’ve just wasted a bunch of time on a run with nothing to show for it, so it’s nice that even dying could be a form of progression lol.
Is there significant risk of encountering meaningful spoilers if I look up builds?
I wouldn’t think so, besides some boss spoilers, but the bosses really need to be played and heard to appreciated, they’re not the most interesting visually.
I would say play 30 minutes of the game, then go watch GamesRadar’s overview video. That should be enough, but you can also look at specific builds (even if you can’t always build into them.)
And GamesRadar’s video is correct: just get the Electro Pylon Driver. I mean, play with all the weapons, but that thing is OP.
Edit: Oh, and I played with a controller that had back bumpers (Elite Series 2). I think that’s probably the main thing that made it easier, jumping and dashing while keeping both thumbs on the sticks made combat way easier.
Edit 2: Oh, and after you beat the game, watch this video essay. Actually, go ahead and watch the first 2:30m of the video now. It’s one of the greatest lore/story/interpretation breakdowns I’ve ever seen and gave me a huge appreciation for the absolute gem of a game this was. It’s an absolute piece of art and heady as hell. If you bounce off the game, and you are sure you’ll never beat it, go ahead and watch the video anyway. It’s really that good.
I bought Returnal last week! I was loving it but I kept hitting the limit on my 8GB VRAM :( decided to put it down and wait until Nvidia VRAM consumption on Linux improves or (more likely) I upgrade my GPU.
The sound designers at Bungie deserve double their pay.
Destiny has plenty of issues but sound design is not one of them. Some of those gun sounds are orgasmically good, and so satisfying to shoot.
The feeling of guns in general is the best in any game I’ve ever played
Agreed. The gunplay is magical.
Can’t play Destiny 2 on Linux :(
Tetris Effect on VR (ps/quest). think hypnotic trance
Seconding Tetris Effect. Even without vr the soundtrack is great. Ultimate “flow” game. Super chill.
While not the greatest games, I’ve found that the newer Star Wars Battlefront games have some of the best sound design in any game I’ve ever played. Especially the thermal imploder. Definitely a highlight of an otherwise alright game.
Any Dice game, really. The Battlefield games have always had incredible sound design.
Disclaimer: I haven’t played the latest one.
Doom 2016 - remake of a classic that everyone loved, with the soundtrack being a very large part of it.
Elite Dangerous is still the GOAT of sound design IMO. That game would be nothing without it’s sound.
Bad Company 2 always comes to mind for me whenever this question comes up
Elite Dangerous has some amazing sound design.
STALKER (Shadow Of Chernobyl or Call Of Pripyat).
Music: off
Headphones: On
Good luck not getting spooked out of your mind by random industrial noises.
This isn’t exactly what you’re talking about, but the game A Blind Legend uses just sound!
I haven’t experienced anything quite like HuntShowdown. It’s a slower-than-most extraction shooter with several objectives on each map.
Every sound matters. You can hear people shooting in the next compound over, but you can also hear someone crouch behind the wall next to you. You have to watch for sound traps like birds, horses, dogs, etc. Always be on the move because if you stop, someone might already be taking aim to shoot you through the wall.
Yeah it is without hyperbole the best sound engine / sound design of any game I’ve ever played.
