23/11/2015

PS4 backwards compatibility - force even stronger with Playstation?

As you already know by now: following few articles posted over PS2 games included in the Star Wars Battlefront bundle Sony 'admitted' (for lack of a better word) that indeed these games are emulated and not remastered/remade for PS4. This basically means that Sony already has software capability to emulate PS2 classics on current-gen hardware and further more they devised a method to patch in trophy support on top of overall visual overhaul for those games.

downloadable PS2 classics emulated on PS4 with added trophy support



Initially I was excited to see the feature and what it may bring to the table but then it got me thinking: which PS2 era games do I actually want to play on my Playstation 4?

At first as I was going through years of PS2 gaming (a console I've spent most time with) I struggled to find one title that wasn't already brought to Playstation 3 or 4 as part of the never-ending barrage of remasters and HD collections.

ICO/Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid Trilogy, Devil May Cry Trilogy, God of War Trilogy, Okami HD, Jet Set Radio, Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Final Fantasy X/X-2 just to name the ones I cared about.

Now don't get me wrong - I loved my time with Playstation 2 and as I already mentioned it was probably the time when I was most active as a gamer but it seems like there weren't that many long-lasting games to begin with. More than not for me it was an experience exclusive to the time, place as well as my own age that made this period special for me. Turns out it wasn't about specific games.

And sure I can talk hours about ISS PRO EVO or my memories of the time when I powered through the whole Final Fantasy XII putting in insane amount of hours. But do I want to play those again? Hell no. Do I remember even half of the games I played during PS2 era? Sure as fuck I don't.

As I was thinking through that library of PS2-era games I actually found 2 games I would genuinely like to see emulated on PS4 with trophy support and upscaled graphics. It's Shadow of Rome and Romance of the Three Kingdoms X. I dare say both games are quite obscure and depending on how the technology works I'm pretty sure I won't see those become available on the emulator. Not holding my breath especially since it doesn't look like disc-versions will be supported here anyway.

I miss games where you could decapitate an opponent who pissed himself on a gladiator's arena then kick his torso to get additional combo points from the fucked up Roman crowds 
Having said that I want to be clear that I'm not ranting on the fact that Sony developed this solution. It will probably benefit some people and the fact that the functionality is not catered to my needs doesn't mean I'd rather they scrapped this idea.

But the whole thing simply got me thinking - even going back to my transition from PSX to PS2 I remember that majority of gamers wanted sequels/new entries to franchises they cared about rather than saying 'oh I wish I could play this game again on a new console',
I personally still support remasters for games that can fill-in the vacuum in current-gen genres - with recently announced Valkyria Chronicles remaster being a perfect example. Definitely will play FFVII Remake whenever that hits the shelves (2022?) and you can bet your monkey ass that I would pay good money for that Mass Effect Trilogy on PS4 but it looks like PS2 emulation doesn't bring any added value as far as I'm concerned.

Are you excited for that new feature from Sony? What are some of the games you would like to replay using PS2 emulator on you Playstation 4?

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