The Playstation 4 was easily my most played console between 2014 – 2016, but for the past 18 months, I haven’t even turned it on. In the 6 months before that, I had played it for less than 10 hours. So what happened in 2017 that affected my Playstation 4 time? My tastes in gaming changed, I wasn’t happy with what I had been playing recently, and then around this time, Nintendo released the Switch. A few things in my personal life had also changed, and in respect to my privacy I’ll just say I had a career change, and I also had a some family events occur that reduced my playing time. But I still managed to play games these past 18 months, I just shifted away from the bigger titles on PS4.

My problem really isn’t with the Playstation 4 itself, or Sony, but for the most part I got tired of certain genres and game-types that are more popular today from the major western publishers. For the past few years I was steadily finding open-world sandbox style games tedious and less creative, I felt like they had all followed a similar over-played formula (especially Ubisoft ones). While I was impressed just a short few years ago by the cinematics and production in modern video games, I also was starting to feel like I was no longer playing games to have fun, or conquer the next challenge, but more to progress the story and see the next scene. I’ve always jumped around from game to game a lot, so I never dedicated time to “master” many online games, but the constant need for Season Passes, LootBoxes and microtransactions were pushing me away from most online gaming. I was also getting tired of the same annualized releases. I’ve previously talked about my past obsession with Achievements and Trophies, and there was a point where I was really getting fed up with what I was playing and how I was playing it.

I’ve always been a Nintendo fan, so I naturally got a Switch at launch, I loved the ability to play handheld and on the TV, and that quickly became my console of preference. The Switch’s line-up was pretty bare the first few months outside of Zelda and a port of a Mario Kart I already owned, this got me to really “desperate” for titles to play on my Switch, and I started playing indie games and Neo Geo ports. These same games were available on the PS4, but the ability to play them on TV and handheld made them the ultimate system on the Switch. This steered me away from the PS4, and when big releases would come out for the PS4, I would listen to the buzz, I wouldn’t run out and buy them like I used to. My PS+ Membership even expired in November 2017 and I still haven’t renewed. I was still interested in some of the games, I just knew I wouldn’t get around to playing them, so I held off…until the prices dropped. While I was enjoying a mix of Nintendo games, indie games and retro games on my Switch, I was picking up an assortment of PS4 games for under $20.

Over these 18 months, the stack of PS4 games I picked up has grown and gone untouched. I need to get around to playing these because I know I’m going to love some, if not most of these games. The following list is all of the games I purchased, all physical, all unopened, and all (except Ni No Kuni 2 Collector’s Edition) for under $20. I even got some of them for under $10

• Burnout Paradise Remastered
• Everybody Loves Golf
• Fist of the Northstar: Lost Paradise
• God of War
• Gravity Rush 2
• Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition
• Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far
• Ni No Kuni 2: Collector’s Edition
• Nier Automata
• Raiden V: Director’s Cut
• Secret of Mana
• Shenmue I & II Remastered
• The 24th Ward: The Silver Case
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Wipeout Omega Collection
• Yakuza 0
• Yakuza Kiwami
• Yakuza Kiwami 2
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
• Y’s Origin

Almost all of those games are by Japanese studios and are Playstation 4 console-exclusives. I still stand by my claim that I am bored of most games by major western publishers, but I’m aware that some of these games have the same issues I grew tired of before. Still, look at that list! I’m really going to benefit from being able to play such a large wave of games now, I can’t wait to cash-in on this, but where do I start!?

Here’s another list of games I haven’t purchased yet, but I expect I will at some point.

• Dragon Quest Heroes II
• Kingdom Hearts III
• Knack II
• Persona 5
• Red Dead Redemption II
• Resident Evil 2
• Resident Evil VII
• Shadow of the Colossus
• Spider-Man

I’ve held off on a couple of them (Dragon Quest Heroes II, Resident Evil 2 & Persona 5) with hopes for a release on Switch, but I will ultimately bite the bullet and get them cheap on PS4 if it looks like there’s no hope for a Switch release. I really enjoyed the original Division, and now I have a friend playing through Division 2, I’m anxious to pick it up even at full-price to play with him, so I might do that soon. I’m in no hurry to play Shadow of the Colossus again, but I know this is the definitive version so I will have to pick it up at some point. Red Dead, Resident Evil VII and Spider-Man I’m more curious about than excited about them. As for Knack II, I almost bought it this weekend for $14 new.

So in conclusion, I need to play my Playstation 4 again, and soon. I’m sitting on too many games here to not experience them. I don’t have a problem with the PS4, and in no way do I have a problem with Sony, I just have been occupied with the Switch lately. I’m looking forward to playing again, I can’t let this list of games keep growing. As I sit here writing this and looking over the games that await me, I’m pretty excited. Expect to hear more about these games soon