madbuk

#404 - Darksiders Genesis When this was initially revealed I was highly skeptical, as someone who does not enjoy co-op, and was already disappointed by Darksiders III. I am glad to say that I actually really enjoyed this. Unfortunately, the game put my PS4 fans into overdrive, drowning out the game entirely and making it less enjoyable to play, and as a result I had to postpone playing it until PS5 in the hopes that I'd actually be able to hear the game on that console. Thankfully, the PS5 was completely silent the entire time, so I am very glad I waited. Ys VIII has this same issue on my PS4, so that's another I've been saving for PS5.. at some point. At this point I've stopped caring about the story/lore in Darksiders. They gave us a big cliffhanger at the end of 1 and then have done nothing but prequels since, none of which have been particularly engaging. I still watched the cutscenes, since I don't skip on first playthroughs, but... I can't really tell you what happened. The 6 month gap between chapter 7 and chapter 8 while I awaited PS5 probably didn't help, I didn't remember anything that had happened by the time I came back to it. I am very happy with the amount of platforming/puzzle-solving on offer. I was concerned they'd take a backseat with this new gameplay style, and I can happily say that they did not. Exceeded my expectations in that regard, and actually had a pretty challenging platforming gauntlet in the hub world which was fun. I definitely recommend this game, although it is very short so maybe only on a sale.

Progress Update: #404 - Darksiders Genesis When this was initially revealed I was highly skeptical, as someone who does not enjoy co-op, and was already disappointed by Darksiders III. I am glad to say that I actually really enjoyed this. Unfortunately, the game put my PS4 fans into overdrive, drowning out the game entirely and making it less enjoyable to play, and as a result I had to postpone playing it until PS5 in the hopes that I'd actually be able to hear the game on that console. Thankfully, the PS5 was completely silent the entire time, so I am very glad I waited. Ys VIII has this same issue on my PS4, so that's another I've been saving for PS5.. at some point. At this point I've stopped caring about the story/lore in Darksiders. They gave us a big cliffhanger at the end of 1 and then have done nothing but prequels since, none of which have been particularly engaging. I still watched the cutscenes, since I don't skip on first playthroughs, but... I can't really tell you what happened. The 6 month gap between chapter 7 and chapter 8 while I awaited PS5 probably didn't help, I didn't remember anything that had happened by the time I came back to it. I am very happy with the amount of platforming/puzzle-solving on offer. I was concerned they'd take a backseat with this new gameplay style, and I can happily say that they did not. Exceeded my expectations in that regard, and actually had a pretty challenging platforming gauntlet in the hub world which was fun. I definitely recommend this game, although it is very short so maybe only on a sale.

1. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood 2. Assassin's Creed II 3. Assassin's Creed III 4. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag 5. Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6. Assassin's Creed Origins 7. Assassin's Creed Revelations 8. Assassin's Creed Rogue 9. Assassin's Creed Syndicate 10. Assassin's Creed Unity 11. Batman: Arkham Asylum 12. Batman: Arkham Knight 13. Batman: The Telltale Series 14. Beyond: Two Souls 15. Borderlands 16. Bully 17. Day of the Tentacle Remastered 18. Deadpool 19. Detroit: Become Human 20. Dragon Age II 21. Dragon Age: Inquisition 22. Dragon Age: Origins 23. Everybody's Gone To The Rapture 24. Game of Thrones 25. Grand Theft Auto V 26. Heavy Rain 27. Horizon Zero Dawn 28. inFamous 29. inFamous First Light 30. L.A. Noire 31. Life is Strange 32. Mass Effect 33. Mass Effect 2 34. Mass Effect 3 35. Persona 5 36. Remember Me 37. Rise of the Tomb Raider 38. Shadow of the Tomb Raider 39. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments 40. Spec Ops: the Line 41. Tales from the Borderlands 42. The Deadly Tower of Monsters 43. The Last of Us 44. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North 45. Tomb Raider 46. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition 47. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 48. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered 49. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception 50. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered 51. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 52. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune 53. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered 54. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy 55. Until Dawn 56. Watch Dogs 57. Watch Dogs 2 57/152

A rebel, since you don’t even have one

#403 - Trackmania Turbo I've wanted to play this ever since PS+ gave it to me, but other games always distracted me so I've only just gotten to it. I wish I hadn't waited so long, this was a great game. Some levels were incredibly frustrating, and some just flat out enjoyable, specifically towards the end (looking at you, #178) but for the most part I had a fun time with this. It was a good challenge without feeling absurdly out of reach, there were only a few events in the game that had me questioning whether I even had it in me to finish them. Trackmasters were easier than I had expected too, but only because you only need 50. If you needed all 200 this would be an absolutely insane plat. It's not among my favourite racing games, but it's up there. I'd put it in the same tier as Crash Team Racing, which I loved too but not as much as games like WipEout or Driveclub. It's definitely one I at least recommend trying out. I'd say Lagoon was my favourite track type, and Valley was my least favourite, but they were all pretty good. I'd be interested in a new game, if we ever get one. This is also now tied with Gran Turismo 5 as my rarest plat, and while it was hard, I don't think it deserves to be the same rarity as GT5 at all lol. They're leagues apart imo, both in terms of length and difficulty. The wonders of PS+ rarity boosts I suppose.

Progress Update: #403 - Trackmania Turbo I've wanted to play this ever since PS+ gave it to me, but other games always distracted me so I've only just gotten to it. I wish I hadn't waited so long, this was a great game. Some levels were incredibly frustrating, and some just flat out enjoyable, specifically towards the end (looking at you, #178) but for the most part I had a fun time with this. It was a good challenge without feeling absurdly out of reach, there were only a few events in the game that had me questioning whether I even had it in me to finish them. Trackmasters were easier than I had expected too, but only because you only need 50. If you needed all 200 this would be an absolutely insane plat. It's not among my favourite racing games, but it's up there. I'd put it in the same tier as Crash Team Racing, which I loved too but not as much as games like WipEout or Driveclub. It's definitely one I at least recommend trying out. I'd say Lagoon was my favourite track type, and Valley was my least favourite, but they were all pretty good. I'd be interested in a new game, if we ever get one. This is also now tied with Gran Turismo 5 as my rarest plat, and while it was hard, I don't think it deserves to be the same rarity as GT5 at all lol. They're leagues apart imo, both in terms of length and difficulty. The wonders of PS+ rarity boosts I suppose.

I haven't seen Cuties, because I'm not much of a movie watcher, but... I was under the impression that Cuties doesn't attempt to say that this sexualization is right or even ok, and was made to criticize real-life things like beauty pageants? Could make a case for the fact that these kid actors are still being sexualized, even if the intent is to show how wrong it is, and that that should just be flat out unacceptable, and I wouldn't even necessarily disagree either. But I think there's a distinction between something like that and something like GalGun where it's depicted as completely okay and fun and acceptable.

idk man, the people like you who are upset at their child porn being rightfully taken away from them are the actual ones spouting nonsense in here, as far as I can tell.

In this thread: people getting upset that little kids aren’t being sexualized anymore because people are finally moving past the “but really she’s a 1000 year old immortal dragon so it’s fine” defence that has protected anime for way too long. This is the good kind of censorship. If they were adults it’d still be weird but at least it’d be legal. This is just creepy as fuck.

That car trophy gave me a fair amount of trouble the first time around (and getting all goods on Fighting Hearts - perfects were easier imo), but I must still have some of the muscle memory from when I did it earlier this year lol. I agree with top 5 in 2020 - in a Discord server I'm in there's a channel for listing the best games you've played in 2020 and Sayonara was in the top 3 for me. Such a good game.

#402 - Sayonara Wild Hearts I loved this game the first time I played it earlier this year, and since then I have been waiting for the stack to go on sale so I could redo it. It finally did go on sale, but I was preoccupied at the time, so I have only just now gotten around to it. I can safely say I enjoyed this just as much as I did the first time around. I challenged myself a little, wanted to get it done in less than 3 hours 3 minutes (from the first trophy pop), to try and dethrone Sound Shapes as my fastest plat. I messed up a little and unlocked a trophy a little earlier than intended, but I still achieved my goal, so this is now my fastest plat (1 hour, 43 minutes.) Also happens to be the fastest achiever, which is a nice bonus. I don't think I'll ever dethrone this one, but I'm fine with that since it's an amazing game and at least it doesn't look like an auto pop anymore lol. I think trying to speedrun it made the experience feel more fresh since I had already played it before, so I'm glad I decided to. The game also happens to be on sale again at the moment, so I recommend it.

Progress Update: #402 - Sayonara Wild Hearts I loved this game the first time I played it earlier this year, and since then I have been waiting for the stack to go on sale so I could redo it. It finally did go on sale, but I was preoccupied at the time, so I have only just now gotten around to it. I can safely say I enjoyed this just as much as I did the first time around. I challenged myself a little, wanted to get it done in less than 3 hours 3 minutes (from the first trophy pop), to try and dethrone Sound Shapes as my fastest plat. I messed up a little and unlocked a trophy a little earlier than intended, but I still achieved my goal, so this is now my fastest plat (1 hour, 43 minutes.) Also happens to be the fastest achiever, which is a nice bonus. I don't think I'll ever dethrone this one, but I'm fine with that since it's an amazing game and at least it doesn't look like an auto pop anymore lol. I think trying to speedrun it made the experience feel more fresh since I had already played it before, so I'm glad I decided to. The game also happens to be on sale again at the moment, so I recommend it.