Like any top list, the monthly PlayStation Store Top Downloads list is mostly viewed by those who wish only to affirm their own thoughts. Is the game I bought last month on the list? If yes, I'm a game-choosing guru, and all my friends will love me. If no, that list is complete hogwash and the person who wrote it is a hack.
Naturally, I couldn't resist giving it a click, but I didn't expect to be so shocked, particularly not be a ill-discussed game by the name of The Order: 1886, which ended up as the eighth most-downloaded PS4 game in January 207. Let me save you the trouble of busting out your Star Wars and Jumanji memes: "That's a name I've not heard in a long time," and "What YEAR is it?" You're welcome.
But before etching into the history books a comeback for Ready at Dawn's third-person shooter, it's obviously important to look at why that may be, and it won't take long to find out that The Order: 1886 was on a flash sale near the end of January, along with several other titles, for a mere $5 USD. Heck, I might have purchased it for that price, if I had seen the sale.
The Order: 1886 (or Dances With Werewolves, as I like to call it), was billed as a must-have console-seller that would make owning a PS4 the coolest thing since a Gameboy Color circa-1990s. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as The Order: 1886 received middling-at-best reviews due to its generic story, uninspired third-person cover-shooter gameplay, and a total playtime anywhere from 2-8 hours, including its considerable cutscene runtimes.
With no multiplayer or meaningful post-launch content, Dances With Werewolves skulked into relative obscurity ever since. Given Sony's incredible performance with PS4 titles in 2017, it's also unlikely that they would ever revisit a series that performed only mildly well with both audiences and critics.
But, times like this remind us of where Sony once was and how far they've come. It was just a few years ago that people were taking pity on the PS4, purchasing titles that they could otherwise have on PC just to justify their purchase. Not the case any longer, and that made bode well for Xbox One's chance of a comeback and a reminder that a console has peaks and valleys.
