12 Best PS4 Exclusives Of The Generation So Far

2. Nioh

2017's releases have proven what many gamers already knew - console cycles just get better with age. As developers learn to grapple with the hardware itself and learn all sorts of lessons from their contemporaries, occasionally biding their time can prove dividends.

Case in point: Nioh. Possibly - possibly - better than Dark Souls in terms of pure accessibility, character-building and playability, Team Ninja restored their reputation immediately with a fantastically difficult game, one that doubles as the continuation of Ninja Gaiden's harshness and forgotten gem Onimusha's art design.

From the get-go, Nioh channels that old-school feeling of game difficulty being something that relies on a perfect control scheme first, before throwing all sorts of creatures your way to see if you can keep up.

There are myriad of weapons to perfect and unlock skills with, a loot system predicated on fighting the ghosts of other players, a world that does for Eastern fantasy what Dark Souls did for the western swords n' sorcery, and an overall feeling of polish that makes everything run like a dream.

When we talk about games needing to be games and not overly cinema-focused series' of set-pieces, Nioh is right up there.