vampiresarego

#64 - Lara Croft: Go (PS4) 21st Mar 2020 A true adventurer 5 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes This is a fun little mobile game port set in the Tomb Raider universe. You play as Lara Croft, obviously, and solve mini puzzles on your way to gathering treasures. The real appeal to this is the unique turn based puzzles that this game throws at you. If you have played the Hitman: Go game, then I expect this will be more of the same. But, this is my first foray into this world of "GO" games and I quite enjoyed it. It is a mobile game port, so don't expect the best graphics or the best story or the best sound. Triple A game this is not. The trophy list is very achievable, if you just play through the game you will pretty much get all the trophies. There is a collectibles trophy that you do have to get, but the game is really good at telling you what you missed. And having a chapter select option allows you to quickly jump into any section and grab those missing treasures. Also, one of the nice aspects of this game is that there is a hint component that is provided. I suggest once you are done playing the game through for the first time, once you go back to finishing up the missing trophies, use the hints. It will guide you through the game step by step, a nice little feature if you ask me. For a quick, fun, and easy challenge, give this game a "GO" See what I did there!!

#63 - Batman: The Enemy Within (PS4) 14th Mar 2020 I Am the Night 1 week, 5 days, 11 hours Part 2 of the Telltale Batman Series and it is exactly what you expect, but that's not a bad thing. If you have ever played a Telltale game (ie. The Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, etc.) then this won't be any different than that. Set in the Gotham universe, you play as Bruce Wayne/Batman and it continues off from the story of the last series. Without giving anything away, this game starts off in a pretty brutal fashion, very different from what we have seen in any Batman franchise. I was shocked at how this game didn't pull any punches when it came to developing relationships and approaching the horrific crimes of the villains. If you played the last Telltale Batman series and like it, then please play this one, you will definitely be surprised what direction this takes. Typical to any Telltale game, the trophy list is dead simple. Just play the game and enjoy the story, once you are done the 6 chapters in all 5 stories, you will be rewarded with the platinum. These are the games that easily get you hooked on trophy hunting. It's too bad Telltale had all their problems of late, because I really enjoyed playing these games. Well, I still have a long back catalogue of these games so I won't run out anytime soon. JOKER!!!

#62 - Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) 28th Feb 2020 A New Hope 4 weeks, 1 day, 6 hours For such a broken game, it was probably one the most enjoyable Star Wars games I have played in a long time. Lego Star Wars aside, which is quite fun, a true lightsaber wielding, force using, stormtrooper killing game has not been this good in a while. Sure, the renders are horrible, the load times are horrible, the glitches are horrible, but what a truly fun game. The story is engaging, the game play is well thought out, and the characters are easy to connect with. In the true "Metroidvania" way, there is a lot of back tracking that takes place in this game, but revisiting those worlds never feels like a chore. The worlds are so diverse and unique, without spoiling anything, you are going from lush jungles to desolate wastelands and everything in between. Does the game feel a little rushed, yes it does, could this game have benefited from an extra 6 months to a year, probably. But, that is a true testament to this game. Even with how bad the problems are, you can't stop playing it and you just want more. The trophy list is very reasonable, the collectibles are fairly easy to find, and you will probably be very close to getting everything on your normal playthrough. If they make a sequel to this game, I will buy it day 1. If you are a Star Wars fan, do yourself a favour, go out and grab this game, you will thank me. BD-1!!!

#61 - Death Stranding (PS4) 29th Dec 2019 Greatest of Great Deliverers 1 month, 2 weeks, 6 days I absolutely loved this game!! I can definitely see why it has been getting all the accolades it has, why it is winning awards, and why it's on a lot of "best of" lists for 2019. Truth be told, when I first started this game, I was a little unsure of it. It's weird and nothing is explained very well. You are delivering packages? The one thing is for sure, it only takes a minute and you know you are playing a Kojima game, no doubt about that. But, after an initial couple of sittings with this game, I absolutely became obsessed with it. The entire month of December I dedicated to this game, I thought about it while I was at work, while I was on vacation, while I was taking a shower. After spending over 100 hours with this game, I almost never felt like I was beating my head against the wall. Sure, it's about 100 hours of fetch missions, but for some reason that mechanic is approached in an intelligent way and never seems to get old. This is also a game where they creatively used the open world mechanic. Sure, it's one big sandbox, and yes you can go pretty much go anywhere, but the way the story rolls out the world makes you want to slowly explore and not rush to see every little thing. Honestly, I haven't been this in love with a Hideo Kojima game since I played Metal Gear Solid for the PS1. The trophies are pretty straight forward, most of them you will get just for playing through the game, but it does a get a little grindy at the end. But, if you are like me, and you want to get the most out of the story, the grindy bits sort of fade into the background as you are unlocking this bizarre world. If you didn't get this one already for Christmas, go out and buy this game and give it a play. True, it might not be for everyone, but I still think it's worth your time. Good luck! BB!!! "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." -Marcus Aurelius

#60 - NieR: Automata (PS4) 3rd November 2019 Final Words 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days To start, let me say, that this was not the game I was expecting it to be. I didn't expect this game to be a semi-open world action RPG, with bullet hell dynamics and mini-game hacking elements; a pure mash-up to be honest. I thought this was more of a side scrolling action platformer, kind of similar to Strider, but with way better graphics. So to start, I was a little shook, this isn't what I signed up for! But wow!! After the initial shock I was completely taken by this game. I see why this ended up on a lot of "Best Of" lists for 2017. Like I said before, this is primarily an "open-world action RPG," but I can tell you it's way more than that. A pretty seamless blend of narrative storytelling with a dynamic game experience, this game always has you on your toes. One moment you are in a top down shooter, then you are running through a vast desert searching for clues to an abandoned world, to an 8-bit style minigame the next. The graphics in this game are phenomenal, the world that Platinum Games has created is bleak but beautiful. Vast forests, desert wastelands, desolate cities, and even an abandoned theme park. The soundtrack is also quite an accomplishment. Eerie, light, sad, and epic, but always fits the locale and the situation at hand. This game is a pure masterpiece in it's truest form. I would love to see another one of these made, I think Platinum has a franchise on their hands if they chose to do more with it. As for the trophies, they are a little time consuming to get them all, I sank over 90+ hours into this to finally get the platinum. It's not a difficult platinum to get, but it will just take a lot of time. If you are used to the standard RPG platinum grind, however, this won't come as a surprise. I can't say enough good things about NieR: Automata, it wasn't what I was expecting at all, and loved it because of that. Do yourself a favour, go out and grab a copy of this very unique experience. 2B!!! "Everything That Lives Is Designed To End. We Are Perpetually Trapped In A Never-Ending Spiral Of Life And Death. Is This A Curse? Or Some Kind Of Punishment? I Often Think About The God Who Blessed Us With This Cryptic Puzzle, And Wonder If We'll Ever Get The Chance To Kill Him."

#59 - Days Gone (PS4) 28th June 2019 One Percenter 2 months, 4 hours This won't be a glowing review like most of the reviews I usually post... be warned. I started playing this on Launch Day, 2 months ago, and I tell you this game had a lot of issues. I know this game has been a few years in the making, but it feels like this has been rushed out the door to meet a "deadline" that no one cared about. Studio Bend, I am sure, meant well and was trying desperately to create the best game that they could, but this game had too many flaws in it. This is actually pretty surprising, especially seeing the plethora of exclusive hits that Playstation has been releasing that last couple of years, and the quality of those games. To tell you the truth, that was probably the most disappointing part. I was expecting this game to hit a home run, much like GoW or Spiderman before it, a beautiful game with a great story and great game play. Days Gone was not one of those games. The world is beautiful, the story is so-so, and the game play is mediocre. I am sure I could come up with a laundry list of excuses for why this game was so broken, but I have heard them all before and I know Studio Bend could have done better. But, this game isn't totally without merit and as time has gone on the software updates have addressed a lot of the early bugs. So, even with this game constantly crashing, randomly spawning zombie hordes, and game breaking bugs, I still had fun riding my motorcycle around Oregon. When it is working, this game looks beautiful. Living in BC, we are only a few hundred miles away from that beautiful state, and you can tell that Studio Bend is definitely proud of the state they are in. Riding across this map from mission to mission almost always had me floored by how beautiful the environments were. It reminds me, that I need to go to Portland for a weekend. The story for this game could have been great, but I think the acting was a little wooden and when it mattered the, the climactic moments were a little bit of a let down. I did feel that as the story progressed it did get a little better, but it never really moved the needle emotionally for me. Finally, the game play, this game is just another open world 3rd Person shooter. Nothing here was really new or innovative, if you played Last of Us, you have already played a better version of this game. The open world environment is really the only difference in game play and I think the open world hindered this game more than it helped. For the trophy hunters out there, the platinum is pretty easy to get. There is a little post game grinding, but even that doesn't take too long, maybe an extra 2 to 3 hours of play. That was definitely a huge plus for this game and easily one of the motivating factors to finish this one. For Days Gone, my final verdict is: This game may not be the Last of Us, but it definitely is a good way to fill that gap until LoU2 comes out. Also, let's just say that running around mowing zombies down is always a really good time. BOOZEMAN!!!

#58 - Batman (PS4) 22nd April 2019 I'm Batman 1 week, 45 minutes While taking another break between Kingdom Hearts games, I thought I would dip back into the back catalog and see what else was waiting for me. In the shadows was Telltale's Batman story. It has been a little while since I played a Telltale game, and boy did I miss this experience. I know Telltale has gotten a lot of flack for these interactive story games, but I love them! The Batman story is another knock out punch by the Telltale team. What a great story. It was gritty, dark, and modern. Not quite Chris Nolan, but still pretty dark. As far as trophies goes, this is definitely one of the easiest platinum trophies to achieve. All you need to do is play through it. If you can't manage to do that, then don't ever bother trying to get a platinum trophy for any game. If you want a fun story, a nice rest from the 90+ hour games, and an easy platinum trophy. Check this one out! ALFRED!!!

#57 - Rime (PS4) 4th March 2019 The end is a new beginning 6 days, 9 hours, 20 minutes While taking a break between Kingdom Hearts games, I thought I would dip into the back catalog and see what was waiting for me. Waiting for me in there was this magnificent little puzzle platformer! Rime is an incredibly touching story of grieving and how one processes those emotions. With a magnificent art style and a great game mechanic, this game was a pleasant surprise. Tequila Works did a fantastic job with this game and should be quite proud of this game. Now, this game doesn't really offer up anything new to the genre, but it is still a very impressive game nonetheless, and should be on everyone's to play list. The trophy list is very achievable and should be a very straight forward platinum for any experienced trophy hunter. This game is a real gem and I can't recommend this game enough. Do yourself a favour, between your two next big AAA games, give this a whirl, you will thank me! FOX!!!