ShonenCat

Is the Order a Rabbit? (episodes 25-36)

Platinum #90 - Sakura Wars Difficulty Rating 3/10 Enjoyment Rating 7/10 Rare - 18.64% This would be my first game in the Sakura Taisen series. As I’m sure it is the same for many others. Considering the older games have a language barrier, they’d be hard to play without the proper translations needed. From what I am able to gather, this installment in particular takes place many years after the older games and acts as a reboot of sorts. Sakura Wars for a new generation. So what did I think? It was okay. But this one especially steers away from the norm and changes from a tactical RPG to a rather unspectacular hack and slash. Not sure how veterans of the series feel about that, but the gameplay during action sequences didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel. All the visual novel and dating sim aspects of the series remain here from what I can tell. In Sakura Wars, you have a limited time to make dialogue choices when prompted. Say the wrong thing, and these girls get really, really, really pissed off 😅 Yeah, it kind of makes you feel you’re always tip toeing your way around egg shells. The protagonist is a likable man appointed to the position of captain to lead these chicks into combat, and he’s as much of a chad as he is a dork 😄 I’d say he is who makes the game most enjoyable. Without him, it’d be a pretty lame journey. Not everything is perfect here for you platinum runners. The collectibles in this game are a severe pain. Because they only show up when you get close to them. And they’re in specific places at specific times during specific chapters. You’re gonna need to keep a guide open to keep track of them all. This really kills the flow of the game, but trust me.. having to do another playthrough won’t be fun due to the heavy dialogue nature of this game. Most things transfer over into New Game+ tho. There is also something called the battle bot, in which you replay story missions for S ranks. This is an absolute chore cause it wants you to replay every mission with a different partner every time. It gets old and some missions go on for nearly 20 minutes. My least favorite part of the whole journey. You’ll also need to have every girl’s affection points real high near the end of the game. If you want to get all endings in one go and not do multiple playthrough for each one, then it’s vital to make a save right before choosing who will be your deputy captain during chapter 7. There are also guides out there that show the best dialogue choices to make for getting those affection points up. Yes, all these guides really kill the flow of the game. I wish it wasn’t so particular myself. Best girl for me is Azami Mochizuki 🙃 Hey, I have my reasons 🤣 For real tho, she is the most level headed girl of the main five. She never snaps at you like the others. She is the most respectful towards you. She’s a super ninja and by far has the best character arc. Funny how the youngest girl is also the coolest and most mature 😦 Anyway, do I recommend Sakura Wars? Only if you can handle it, for there will be moments that will bore you to tears. But beyond that is a pretty decent idea and experience that SEGA could very well perfect one of these days. The potential to go above and beyond is certainly up in the air. Sakura Taisen has been an ongoing series since 1996. Surely it has its following, and I’d love to get a chance to play the older games should they ever get translated into English. My Saturn console is ready to go for when that happens

One Punch Man (episodes 13-24)

Devil May Cry 2 Barehand Beauty Finish the game on any difficulty with Trish Rare - 13.51% Every Tongue Will Confess Finish the game on Must Die Mode with any character Rare - 12.98% Over 9000! Pass 9000 levels in Bloody Palace Mode Rare - 12.09% Platinum Trophy Unlock all trophies Rare - 11.73%

Platinum #89 - Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni Difficulty Rating 7/10 (personal estimate) Enjoyment Rating 5/10 Very Rare - 5.66% The best I can do to describe this game would be that it’s a super jank Senran Kagura clone. But even that’s not quite accurate, cause it happens to come from the same developer. So what went wrong? Well, poor optimization on Vita for starters. Yes, the game is a chugging, crashing mess. I distinctly recall the game crashing on me 11 times throughout the platinum journey. It sure doesn’t look like a very tasking game, but clearly it was rushed in some departments. Lewdness was no problem, there was plenty of that 😅 But everything else seems to lack. It is very difficult for all the wrong reasons. The sub 15fps doesn’t do you any favors. The story draaaaags on and on and on. Plenty of content there, yes, but you’ll be begging for it to end at some point. A difficult game also comes with major grinds. You’ll be doing practically everything it has to offer. S ranking certain story missions, finding collectibles, true ending, buying out the whole in-game store, leveling up all characters and weapons, getting even more experience points once that’s done for no apparent reason other than to waste your time. And if that wasn’t enough, there are brutal survival and challenge modes that need fully completing too. It was a very long 69 hours, but your milage may vary. I say you’re better off with Senran Kagura. Gameplay, story and characters far exceed those found in Valkyrie Drive. There is a PC version, and I’ll bet it runs a lot better. Steam page says 60fps, so yeah.. if you must play this, go with that version instead. There are better gems out there if you happen to pick up a Vita. Not to mention, this game is a lot more expensive physically than it has to be 😖

Devil May Cry 2 Like A Hot Knife Through Butter Reach Level 3 on all Swords with Dante Rare - 17.79% Magica Maxima Max out Devil Trigger Gauge with any character Rare - 15.92% Vita Maxima Max out Health Bar with any character Rare - 14.42% Every Head Will Bow Finish the game on Hard Mode with any character Rare - 14.78%

Samurai Shodown: NeoGeo Collection A Worthy Opponent Clear any game at its highest difficulty setting Uncommon - 33.58% A Special Occasion Defeat the optional boss Mizuki in Samurai Shodown V Special or Perfect Uncommon - 33.98% Curtain Call Defeat Kuroko in Samurai Shodown II Uncommon - 32.12% A True Samurai Spirit Obtain all other trophies Uncommon - 30.10%

Samurai Shodown: NeoGeo Collection The Wandering Swordsman Defeat the last boss Amakusa in Samurai Shodown as Haohmaru Uncommon - 45.89% New Blood Defeat the last boss Mizuki in Samurai Shodown II as Genjuro, Cham Cham, Neinhalt, or Nicotine Uncommon - 37.59% A Demon Found Defeat the last boss Zankuro in Samurai Shodown III as Shizumaru Uncommon - 36.53% Cold Hearted & Hot Blooded Get a Character Specific Ending in Samurai Shodown IV as Kazuki or Sogetsu Uncommon - 36.86%

Platinum #88 - Dragon Ball FighterZ Difficulty Rating 8/10 Enjoyment Rating 6/10 Ultra Rare - 2.68% Well, can’t say I’m a fan of tag team fighters in specific. But maybe at the right price I can get hooked and reeled in 😋 DBFZ is a decent game in its own right, yet it’s kind of brainless.. especially since it was developed by Arc System Works. Expected something a little more complex, but it is the game that put them on the map. They’ve always been pretty niche up till now. DBFZ comes with many basic fighting game type of trophies. You’ll do story mode, which is fairly interesting this time around. It has a unique arc and isn’t just retelling the anime for the umpteenth time. Yet I find it extremely awkward when Monica Rial or Sean Schemmel are trying to talk to me. Probably should of left it in Japanese. There is also arcade and combo challenge, which is far easier than it sounds. You can even unlock a few extra characters and skip a good amount of them in place of easier ones. The true slog comes from grinding 20 million zeni. Get yourself something with a turbo function and forget about it for a couple weeks. Earning 530 thousand BP in ranked matches is no fun either, especially when I hear it’s much harder after a few patches. I have @Sigma999 to thank for this one. If it were not for his everlasting patience camping out in the Hong Kong servers with me, I may have never finished the online portion. Thank you 😁 Overall, I find the game’s roster rather lacking when every other character is a variation of Goku or Vegeta. It’s tiresome. Not a fighting game I will be returning to despite its beautiful and aesthetically accurate presentation.

Sakura Wars Battle Botanist Achieved S Rank in all Battle Bot simulations. Uncommon - 20.14% Bromide Master Collected all bromides. Rare - 19.05% Koi-Koi Wars Champion Defeated all opponents in Koi-Koi Wars. Uncommon - 24.13% All Trophies Obtained all other trophies. Rare - 18.74%

Sakura Wars Flower Division Captain Earned the title of Flower Division Captain. Common - 51.72% Flowery Language Saw the Communication Modes for all Flower Division members. Uncommon - 47.15% The Power of Friendship Achieved Motivation level of 10 with all Flower Division members. Uncommon - 41.83% Passing the Torch Completed the Final Chapter: Passing the Torch. Uncommon - 49.96%

Oooh baby, I’ve been waiting sooooo long for this. Hope I’ll get to play it soon. Thank you, id Software ❤️

Platinum #87 - Borderlands 2 (+100% ✅) Difficulty Rating 4/10 Enjoyment Rating 6/10 Ultra Rare - 2.23% Well, you shoot and you loot. Then you shoot and loot some more. After that, you do some more shooting and looting. Yes, that’s Borderlands for ya 😂 It’s a looter shooter. I must say that the sequel is on major improvement over the first game. More weapons, more classes and more awesome abilities to go with them. Even now there is a villain who is out to make everyone on Pandora absolutely miserable. The in-game world has many more locales and campaigns to experience (DLC included). But let me tell ya, there is only so much Borderlands one can take before the brain goes completely numb 😵 Even if this can be played solo, I certainly don’t recommend doing so. You may get things done quicker, but taking at least one extra human player with you will dampen the struggle somewhat. Better to suffer together than alone. It has taken me nearly 3 years to finish this due to my co-op partner not wanting to play for the longest time. Nothing is missable as far as trophies are concerned, but be prepared to stick with this one for a while if you’re tackling the base game and the DLC along with it. There are several things that turn into a real grind. Handsome Collection comes with most DLC, but now there is one extra pack that will run you $15 separately if you want that 100%

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni #1 Customer Purchased all outfits, lingerie, and accessories from the store. Very Rare - 7.48% Worth Every Yen Spent 1,000,000 Points on the Lingerie Printer. Very Rare - 7.12% Gotta Wear 'Em All! Obtained all pieces of underwear from the Lingerie Printer. Very Rare - 9.90% We Have Become One Obtained all trophies. Very Rare - 5.48%