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When one gets hyped up and exited about something, it's setting yourself up to either meet your hopes or a letdown. It's physiologically very difficult to be overly impressed by something you were exited for. So, to be honest, I can't of a game that really did that. Before the Internet, there was very little to go on to build expectations at all, so I could use games like Zelda: OOT, Mario 64 or something like that because they really did make my draw drop and say "WOW", but that would honestly be cheating because I wasn't really in a place to have any real expectations at all. I think modern games journalism and social media has spoiled us, we just learn too much about upcoming titles to be that surprised any more. Still, there is a game that does fit the pattern for me. This gem form Ninja Theory turned into an exception to the afore stated "spoiled by media" rule because there is no trailer or review that could really prepare you for this game. It's the most psychologically uncomfortable experience I have ever had in media, and that is it's brilliance. You play as Senua, a Celtic warrior suffering from severe psychosis and schizophrenia who delves literally into the Viking Hel in search of the soul of her dead lover... or is it all in her head? And yes, she carries HIS head with her. First note, play the game. Second note, wear a decent headset or set of headphones when you do. The game uses an advance form of stereo audio that, when you wear headphones, you literally feel the voices in her head. It's terrifying, but appropriate to make you understand what people in these situations go through. They actually partnered with and supported a number of mental health charities and mental health experts to make this experience as real, but respectful and informative as possible. This clearly meant a lot to the developers as seen about a year after the game out. A lot of games celebrate their acclaim with an "Accolades" trailer to show some of the awards the game has received. Well, despite winning a lot of awards, let's just say the normal "Accolades" trailer wasn't what they had decided on... Back to the game, It's beautiful. One of the best looking games over the last few years. Very dark, very grim in style, but also incredibly detailed. When you consider this was made on a very limited budget, that means something. Speaking of low budget, the starring voice over role, and voice over award winner that year for this role, was Melina Juergens (Also nominated was Ashley Burch for her role as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn and Kiefer Sutherland for his role as Snake in MGS5... think about that for a moment.) and holy shit she deserves it. But who is she? A voice actress starting out, a drama student they could hire inexpensively, a non-union actor? No. She is in fact, the video editor for Ninja Theory's (Developer) public relations department. I'm not kidding, she was an in-house screen test they decided to keep, and why not, she was fantastic. They even went to the lengths to redesign the character model to suit her motion capture and physique. The story is compelling, I've never felt for a character more. She's a desperate, tortured, yet fiercely determined and intelligent soul. Her goal is simple, but not simple to achieve and you're right there with her. It's almost as if you're not role-playing as her, but one of those voices in her head, encouraging her and willing her own instead of some the others that are, well, more doubtful. In terms of gameplay, her mental ill health actually serves the mechanics. Between combat sections, that are simple, but satisfying and daunting whilst offering a fair challenge, the game is mostly broken up by puzzle sections where Senua see's patters, shapes and solutions that most people wouldn't see. It's unique, clever and very well researched. It may only be 8 hours of gameplay with little replay value, but that was reflected in the price. Even new it was half the cost of a brand-new AAA game. Still, it's 8 hours you'll never forget and everyone becomes better for it. There is another thing that piles on the pressure in combat and very brave choice the developers made. A permadeath. Die to many times and/or to quick in succession, and you have to start all over again. I'll just let that dangle there... If you haven't yet, play this game. If you don't want to? Play it anyway. You need it even more than you know.

I remember when MITB was first introduced. I always loved seeing who won it. Also I remember the best use of it. John Cena had just win the championship from Big Show, and was completely spent. Who wouldn’t be after giving a 500 pound man a suplex? He was try to build his strength up to get off the mat, when Edge came running down the aisle and cashed in the MITB. He speared Cena and pinned him to steal the belt. Cena was champ for all of 5 minutes tops. Brilliant if you ask me.

Are there any characters in games you suspect you are supposed to like, but you absolutely hate? For me, it is Delphine and Esbern in Skyrim, because they want to kill Paarthurnax.

PlayStation Plus is a kind of subscription that grants access to online play, exclusive discounts and access to 2 PS4 games per month selected by the powers that be at Sony as part of the package for around $60 per year (it can be cheaper at some outlets through renewal cards). They can also be purchased as shorter terms subscriptions, but these will be a little more expensive per month than the annual cost. The idea was originally pioneered by Microsoft during the XBox 360 era (XBox Live Gold) then Sony created their own version (PS+) and more recently, Nintendo as well (Nintendo Switch Online). Basically, it's way for these companies to subsidize the running costs of their online services and earn additional revenue at the same time. The "free" games and discounts are basically there to sweeten the deal and make it worth buying. What Sucks About These Services? The fact you have to pay to play online. Some games are exempt from this (For example, subscription based MMO's like FFXIV), but most games you have to be subscribed to these services to play games online. Also, the choice is not yours in what games in included in the package. Sometimes they're superb, sometimes not so much or you may already own them. Like @kingpotatosaid, you don't get to keep playing them if you end your subscription. What Doesn't Suck About These Services? The overall cost of the games offered if you were to buy them is significantly higher than the cost of the subscription. Frequently, one month's offering would cost more to buy from said digital store front than the annual subscription, so there is a lot of value to be found in these services. The discounts also can be very significant and can be applied to not just games, but other digital purchases like movies and Digital TV Box sets. For example, PS+ subscribers right now can buy the entire Fast and the Furious movie collection for half price. Hope that clears things up. I personally do think it's worth it, but others are well within their right to disagree and I completely understand that point of view. Really, it comes down to the individual to decide if this is worth it to them or not.

I don't know if it counts, but Kaepora Gaebora would top my list. I wish there was a way to draw my bow or slingshot and kill that POS bastard. He serves literally no purpose. He has never once said anything of value. He just interrupts the game, and to top it off, when he's done talking and asks if you want to hear his bullshit again, the cursor is set on "YES" instead of "NO". So if you're just button mashing to get through his dumbassery, and don't catch yourself quick enough, you have to go through it all over again. The only time in the game that there is a use for it is as a child on top of Death Mountain. You can get a ride down to Kakariko village. Beyond that one instance, just let me kill the damn thing. An owl that big would probably feed all the residents of Kakariko. But I want the heart. I want to eat his heart.

I was thinking of mentioning SMB and Castlevania, but only wanted to pick one franchise for my post. And of the 3, The Legend Of Zelda means the most to me. I think I mentioned before that, if it wasn't for Zelda on NES, I probably wouldn't be a gamer today. But either way, SMB is the biggest franchise that I'm aware of, and from it's humble roots to todays market, no game has aged anywhere near as well. Castlevania hasn't faded away, and certainly never will. But I honestly think nothing will ever be able to touch SMB. Nintendo really hit it out of the ball park with that one. I was never the biggest fan of RE or SH, so I can't comment on them.

Let's see... Delphine, Skyrim: She goes behind your back, steals the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, refuses to tell you anything and actually has the balls to question whether she should trust YOU!!! That's just the start, she then tricks you into infiltrating her old enemy, undermines you and tries to take all the credit for everything you and Esbern have done and then refuses to co-operate unless you kill you kill your strongest ally... FUCK THIS BITCH! Everyone, Final Fantasy XIII: Lighning is a cold hearted bitch, Snow is idiotic douche, Sazh is baffoon, Vannile is an Airhead, Hope is a wimp, and Fang has the moral fortitude of shitty bond villain.

I use my followers as distraction, when fighting a dragon or a draughr I always pick the ones that are good at close combat while I use a bow or I engage with double swords

Really interesting topic @StaceyPowers! I find that 2D games like Super Mario, Super Metroid, Castlevania etc. have all aged incredibly well. I think that 2D games of this ilk will likely forever have an audience/appeal. They're just timeless, you know. On the other hand, 3D games from the PS1 era have aged arguably the worst. OG Silent Hill and Resident Evil look and play like relics from on older past (not saying you can't have fun with them - I'm still very fond of those games). They just seem clunkier when looked at through a modern lens. And I guess that's why they may be getting the remake treatments that they're getting, i.e. with Resident Evil with last year's excellent Resident Evil 2 remake and this year's Resident Evil 3 remake. And hopefully a remake of Silent Hill (which is rumoured to be in the works too).

Go for one of the cheap to mid range ones, Big brands like KontrolFreak charge about £15 which is ridiculous. The ones in the picture I posted are £4.29 in the UK and that's not bad.

A hammer.

When I play Skyrim I use the Bow as my primary, sneaking and picking them off from a distance. I therefore tend to have followers that do the opposite, charge forward and close the distance with Melee while I continue to pick them off.

No point denying it, this one of the biggest dud months for PS Plus in a long time. Game like Cities Skylines are always better played on PC and the other offering is a game simulating a profession with one of the highest suicide rates. I don't wanna sound entitled, especially since like @digitalsaid PS Plus has been really strong in recent months and with amazing titles like THOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima right around the corner, but what were they thinking?