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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
This was the first thing I thought of too.
Subnautica. Sound takes you to fear:)
Scariest game I’ve ever played.
Hollow Knight! The orchestral sound design is an experience in itself!
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
Elite Dangerous has some amazing sound design.
Tarkov is known for how great the soundscape is. I highly recommend using the SPTarkov mod to play offline though.
Doom 2016 - remake of a classic that everyone loved, with the soundtrack being a very large part of it.
Given that you asked for guns specifically I’ll go out on a limb and say we are very different gamers!
But Subnautica would be my suggestion. Crazy good sound design.
Interesting you bring up Subnautica, because I remember thinking when I played it “Wow, this game sounds a lot like Half Life!” And wouldn’t you know it, the devs started out as Half Life modders. It goes without saying that the sound design in Half Life is impeccable, and truly iconic. Clearly they learned something!
Definitely seconding this suggestion.
TIL! Makes sense now you mention it though!
Been meaning to pick that up for VR and literally shit my pants.
Unrelated and this is very unlikely but is your name a reference to Deep Rock Galactic by any chance?
Tetris Effect on VR (ps/quest). think hypnotic trance
Seconding Tetris Effect. Even without vr the soundtrack is great. Ultimate “flow” game. Super chill.
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 :(
Warframe has great sound design, and it’s f2p. The Corinth shotgun sounds like God slamming a car door.
assetto corsa competizione
or really any quality racing game. its almost like 50% of my enjoyment
Literally bought it this weekend for the awesome force feedback. Blows F1 22 out of the water.
