this year has been an amazing year for
video games not just for big triple-a
titles that everybody rushes out to grab
but also for smaller indie games now
we've talked about the Xbox one we
talked about the switch well now it's
time for the ps4 to take a turn as we
talk about the best ps4 games that you
can grab for 20 bucks and under we're
gonna start off with a game called night
in the woods night in the woods is a
fairly classic style adventure game but
with a lower focus on problem solving
and a bigger emphasis on exploration and
dialogue you'll spend most the game
exploring a small town and talking to
its inhabitants learning about their
personalities their histories and
relations of another also everyone is
some kind of animal which can be a
little weird at times now the game
starts off fairly tame and
straightforward with its plot line
you're a character named May you've just
come back to your hometown after a few
years of college and you're experiencing
how things have changed while you've
been gone but as you get further and
further into the game things start to
get a lot weirder and much much more
bizarre than things started out as if
you're the kind of person that has a
little trouble focusing on games that
are this narrative heavy the good news
is it also throws in a number of
different small minigames that breaks up
the pacing and are actually surprisingly
really good for being such small
additions it's fun it's weird and
sometimes the plot can hit a little
close to home not in the woods is
definitely worth checking out now
narrative heavy games are all well and
good but sometimes you just want a fun
cheap game that lets you blow stuff up
and see lots of pretty colors and that's
exactly the point of next machina now
next machina falls under the same kind
of pattern but instead of being a
side-scrolling shooter where you're
flying a ship instead falls more on the
lines like something like geometry Wars
where it's a twin stick shooter where
you run around aiming in different
directions using the right stick now the
structure of this game is very very
simple there's no story mode or anything
complex like that it's just a fun
old-fashioned arcade style game where
you're running from level to level
blowing stuff up and they get
surprisingly difficult at times because
there is so much different things you
have to juggle and pay attention to
you're normally shooting and destroying
enemies but you're making sure to keep
your distance from them there are human
civilians they have to save from the
Indies before they can reach them lasers
you have to dash through all kinds of
crazy stuff all happening on this
beautifully presented world when you
need a game that's just simple fun that
you can jump in and out of without
having to worry about where you were in
the story or what's going on next
machina is the perfect
to fill in those shoes especially for
the kind of person addicted getting high
scores now next actually won't talk
about two games because there's a lot
they both have in common they're both 15
bucks
they're both HD remasters of classic
Sony games they're both rhythm games
albeit very different ones and they're
both so delightfully weird
and that's parappa the rapper and
Patapon now for those of you that have
only heard of it or have never really
played it before
Parappa the rapper is a classic ps1 game
which is a very simple rhythm game all
you have to do is hit the right buttons
at the right time displayed up above all
while watching and listening to really
bizarre rap videos about baking cakes or
how to drive properly meanwhile with
Patapon you're basically this drum god
thing that these little one-eyed
creatures worship and you command them
by entering the right drumbeats with the
right timing so you're constantly having
to maintain the same kind of tempo while
issuing different commands like square
square square circle to move forward or
Circle Circle Square Circle to attack
now one thing that is really weird about
both these titles is that while they are
very good-looking during gameplay as
part of the HD remaster the HD remaster
only actually redid those gameplay parts
all the different cutscenes and things
in between are still an outdated old
resolutions which can be really jarring
when you're switching between those and
the gameplay despite that though it does
nothing to detract from just how fun and
addicting both of these titles can be
honestly if you've never played either
of them pick them both up right now they
are so much fun and then we have thunder
now sundered is a new game that falls
under this kind of genre I've been
seeing emerging more and more with indie
titles which is roguelike Metroidvania
games that take the metroid aspects
where you have a nonlinear progression
you get different items and abilities at
all you to explore areas you can reach
before but also take elements of
roguelikes where you're constantly dying
unlocking new abilities getting more
powerful to try and survive your next
playthrough and each time you do so
while the overall map maintains the same
kind of general design individual rooms
are constantly changing so you never can
actually take the exact same route you
did one time before this is coupled with
beautiful visuals and probably most
interesting of all out of the game this
very bizarre plotline involving an
ancient civilization some kind of dark
maybe Cthulhu like God and how
everything went horribly wrong way back
when and how you can escape now now not
only does the game make use of
procedural generation to make each
playthrough a little bit different they
also has three different endings to
watch so all in all that makes for an
extremely replayable game you could
spend a lot of hours into especially if
Metroidvania czar your jam as I said
earlier this year has been a
tremendously good year for games and
this next title is not only a great game
for 20 bucks but honestly I would argue
that is one of the best games of this
year period and that's pyre pyre is the
newest release from supergiant games the
same developer behind Bastion and
transistor and just like with those last
two games something that I really love
about the studio is that they maintain a
similar art style a similar excellent
musical score yet each game is extremely
different and in Pires case I'm not even
sure what genre really typify it as I
guess the simplest way to do it is that
it's a sports RPG visual novel the
progression of pyre is very simple you
start off the story into your first
sports match win or lose you move on get
to the next match wash rinse repeat
until the end but that's what's really
interesting about this game is that
losing is not a game over instead every
time you lose there our plot
implications for what's happening in the
game's plot line now hearing this you
might think that this is one of those
games where well obviously I have to win
every match if I want to get the best
ending in the game and if I lose a bunch
I'm gonna get the bad ending not the
case at all
there are merely simply different
endings with tons of permutations based
on which teams win which teams lose and
none of them are really truly better
than any other other than how your own
personal interpretation may be now the
brushing plotline does help to keep the
game really replayable but honestly what
just keeps me hooked is that the actual
core sports gameplay is really really
good I mean it's this interesting fusion
of 3v3 sports but also kinda RPG where
each character has their own abilities
that can unlock different play styles
different ways of dodging attacks taking
out enemies it's just a really bizarre
game that's hard to explain the rules
too until you start playing it and it is
so much fun and the best part is even
once you finish the game you're done
doing the story mode a bunch of times
the game still offers a multiplayer mode
where you and your friends can play
locally against each other using the
myriad of characters that you've met
across the game story honestly
supergiant games is just a studio that
has continued to pleasantly surprise me
and I cannot stress enough how good this
game is and worth checking out it is
worth every penny of the $20 asking
price
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.