ExistentialSolid's "Please Destroy Me" Detour

[ExistentialSolid]

53 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

Good luck with Ikuraga, it is a beautiful game, back in the day on gamecube I almost could complete the game within a credit, losing about 4 lives, but that as on easiest (which of course is not all that easy)

 

I actually think Ikuraga is easier than the other hard shooters like Sine Mora or Raiden, hardest thing about Ikaruga is the waltz dance you have to do flawless with 3 ships at a time each color to keep your combo going.

 

As someone else mentioned it is a shame you do not have the Gamecube version to practice since you can practice a particular segment using the practice mode. You'd literally be able to practice that section you posted over and over again without having to do the minute or so leading up to it.

Thanks, it really is a beautiful game. While I know the same could be said of other brilliant games, laying waste to your enemies really feels like an art form in Ikaruga. Once a level has been memorized, every move feels purposeful and elegant. Each kill becomes an expectation rather than an uncertainty. You dance with each enemy for hours upon hours until they all inevitably crumble beneath your resolve and determination in a spectacular display of mastery. 

Nice! Losing only 4 lives on easy is much better than I can currently handle; I lost something like 40+ lives on most of my easy mode playthroughs so you clearly put some serious effort into "gitting gud" at the game. Technically, you can change the number of lives to 5 (at least on the PS4 version) so you would have successfully performed a 1CC here if you managed to complete it losing only around 4 on Gamecube (and this doesn't even take into account extra lives you can earn).

You might be right. Difficulty is tough for me to quantify for Ikaruga, Sine Mora, or the Raiden games as I've spent most of my gaming career avoiding shooters like the plague. I will say that each level's dance feels precise enough that mastery demands far more focus than I'm used to giving a game. While I can binge most other games for unreasonable amounts of time, playing Ikaruga can usually wipe me out in 2-3 hours before I start getting sloppy or get a headache. 

Yeah absolutely, I've thought about emulating the GC version on PC for that very reason as being able to practice each section might potentially save me dozens of hours (I'm pretty sure Dolphin supports the PS4 controller too). If I get desperate enough, which, let's be honest, will probably happen soon, I'll try to practice on the GC version and see if progress is any easier/faster there.
 

[You]

I have/had it on Dreamcast first, aside from the practice mode, I can't remember why but the Dreamcast version is better. I think there was something odd like the ending being missing. I can't remember.

 

I am a big fan of shooters and played a lot of Gradius, R-Type back in the day and liked Raystorm/G-Darius/R-Type Delta on the PS1. And the earlier games if you died you had to repeat all or most of the level again, you had to get good.

I doubt I could one credit it now and that was putting lives to max. There is a Japanese only Raystorm release on PS3 and I can't even get the gold trophy for 1 crediting the game anymore. (5 lives)

 

I doubt I could do it now, but trust me. If you're just concentrating on surviving and not going for a high score, you'd be surprised how much easier it suddenly feels, just trying to stay alive and watching for the bullets and when to change and not really looking at where you are shooting.

 

I just noticed the 3 trophies for doing this game on coop. Wow. That is going to be tough.

 

I don't know if shareplay on pS4 is gonna be good or accurate enough for this game. The bullets are tiny sometimes, the game is tough enough as it is.

[AJ_Radio]

You need a rock steady internet connection for Share Play. Both you and the other person need very fast internet. 
 

I heard certain games like Resogun don’t do well in Share Play because the lag is too much, plus in a shmup every second counts. 

[Xenoblast91]

10 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

You might be right. Difficulty is tough for me to quantify for Ikaruga, Sine Mora, or the Raiden games as I've spent most of my gaming career avoiding shooters like the plague. I will say that each level's dance feels precise enough that mastery demands far more focus than I'm used to giving a game. While I can binge most other games for unreasonable amounts of time, playing Ikaruga can usually wipe me out in 2-3 hours before I start getting sloppy or get a headache. 

 

I believe that what happens with old school arcade games like this, is that the difficulty yet overall experience for the game was developed to engage the player for hours. Remember, we're talking of a Japanese company back 20 years ago; back in the day they used to make games like this because arcades are one of the most common income for game devs overseas. I remember watching videos of players doing unbelievable stunts in real life while playing games in order to achieve the max score on an arcade. Therefore, your struggling is considerable. Yes, there're insanely skilled players which have beaten this game in weeks, but I believe the true mastery of this game will come around 300+ hours for any layman. As you had played other titles considerable by their difficulty I believe you can beat this one too. It'll take you time, and I can see why: the background is fuzzy, groovy and super psychedelic and probably you're looking at subconsciously which could cause that feeling, along with the overall frustration that comes with the line of "why I'm doing this while I could be playing other stuff?". 

 

Well... You like a challenge, but here we are. Cheering you up and telling you that you can do it. Yeah, it is going to be hell but once you beat it you will feel proud of it and can boast about it. Don't give up, give yourself a  break but the strategy and the update approach you're giving us tells me that you're someone super committed to whatever you face. I like it! So go for it, and don't give in. It is time to remember when you beat something like this before and remind you that this is possible. Heck, you did WII: TNC, now think about it. Looking forward to this incredible yet fun madness.  

 

Quick edit: Even Wikipedia stands of my point, from I will quote right here, about the whole philosophy of the game and the approach the developers gave to it. 

Quote

"In tradition with Treasure's game design philosophy, Ikaruga was intentionally crafted to challenge the conventions of standard game design and develop a new type of shooting game".

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Xenoblast91

[ExistentialSolid]

5 hours ago, enaysoft said:

I have/had it on Dreamcast first, aside from the practice mode, I can't remember why but the Dreamcast version is better. I think there was something odd like the ending being missing. I can't remember.

 

I am a big fan of shooters and played a lot of Gradius, R-Type back in the day and liked Raystorm/G-Darius/R-Type Delta on the PS1. And the earlier games if you died you had to repeat all or most of the level again, you had to get good.

I doubt I could one credit it now and that was putting lives to max. There is a Japanese only Raystorm release on PS3 and I can't even get the gold trophy for 1 crediting the game anymore. (5 lives)

 

I doubt I could do it now, but trust me. If you're just concentrating on surviving and not going for a high score, you'd be surprised how much easier it suddenly feels, just trying to stay alive and watching for the bullets and when to change and not really looking at where you are shooting.

 

I just noticed the 3 trophies for doing this game on coop. Wow. That is going to be tough.

 

I don't know if shareplay on pS4 is gonna be good or accurate enough for this game. The bullets are tiny sometimes, the game is tough enough as it is.

I remember trying to get into both Gradius and R-Type ages ago (along with a few more modern shmups later on) but they just never clicked with me. Maybe progression was too slow for my taste and I didn't have the patience or maybe I didn't enjoy the gameplay. Either way, shooters eventually fell by the wayside for me and I accepted that it just wasn't my thing. Ikaruga has been a pleasant surprise though and I'm enjoying myself much more than I expected to. I don't know if I will necessarily go all out and become a fan of the genre after this game is done and dusted but I can at least say I'm a fan of Ikaruga.

It sounds like you've been a lifelong fan of shooters! Was there any particular game that converted you into a fan of the genre or has the genre always appealed to you over the years? 

I wouldn't be so quick to doubt yourself though. I'm sure you seen firsthand that practice is everything in these games and I bet you could sharpen your skills back to their former glory if you felt like it. The hard part is having the patience to actually get it done.

Yeah, the co-op is definitely a concern. I've wondered if the enemies are going to be buffed in any way or if the enemy arrangements are modified for two players. If the game is unmodified in co-op, then player 2 could kind of just do nothing while I chain the level together and earn some extra lives. If they focus on staying alive and help out with the boss fights, it would hardly be any different from a solo 1CC. I doubt things will be that easy though. Maybe I'll boot up co-op with a 2nd controller later today and see what the differences are.

 

2 hours ago, Spaz said:

You need a rock steady internet connection for Share Play. Both you and the other person need very fast internet. 
 

I heard certain games like Resogun don’t do well in Share Play because the lag is too much, plus in a shmup every second counts. 

That's true, but I'm hopeful things work out. I've used share play in the past to co-op games like Overcooked with friends so I think my internet should be fast enough to support it. If not, I'll just have to learn double-play and co-op the thing myself ?.

 

2 hours ago, Xenoblast91 said:

I believe that what happens with old school arcade games like this, is that the difficulty yet overall experience for the game was developed to engage the player for hours. Remember, we're talking of a Japanese company back 20 years ago; back in the day they used to make games like this because arcades are one of the most common income for game devs overseas. I remember watching videos of players doing unbelievable stunts in real life while playing games in order to achieve the max score on an arcade. Therefore, your struggling is considerable. Yes, there're insanely skilled players which have beaten this game in weeks, but I believe the true mastery of this game will come around 300+ hours for any layman. As you had played other titles considerable by their difficulty I believe you can beat this one too. It'll take you time, and I can see why: the background is fuzzy, groovy and super psychedelic and probably you're looking at subconsciously which could cause that feeling, along with the overall frustration that comes with the line of "why I'm doing this while I could be playing other stuff?". 

 

Well... You like a challenge, but here we are. Cheering you up and telling you that you can do it. Yeah, it is going to be hell but once you beat it you will feel proud of it and can boast about it. Don't give up, give yourself a  break but the strategy and the update approach you're giving us tells me that you're someone super committed to whatever you face. I like it! So go for it, and don't give in. It is time to remember when you beat something like this before and remind you that this is possible. Heck, you did WII: TNC, now think about it. Looking forward to this incredible yet fun madness.  

Thanks, I appreciate the pep talk. ? I didn't mean to sound discouraged or anything; progress is actually going really well overall. In fact, I was trying to save it for the next progress update, but I wrapped up the chapter 1 S++ earlier today (or yesterday) so, honestly, things are looking up! My stamina being low is more or less my only complaint since I can't progress as quickly as I might like to. To be fair though, difficult games like this often require tons of focus so I will either need to get used to the decreased play time or try to gradually improve my stamina over the next few weeks.

You definitely have a point with the game being designed around its arcade-style difficulty and in getting players to keep coming back for more. Players addicted to mastery will sink everything they've got into feverishly improving their skills while players like me may require a considerable amount of time to even taste that mastery in the first place. I am enjoying the grind to get there though so I have no plans of giving up any time soon!

Something that really surprised me so far is how many players are willing to seek out this level of mastery. When I checked the leaderboards after earning the chapter 1 S++, I wasn't even in the top 100. There are so many talented players out there that just love Ikaruga and care little about the trophies involved. 

[freeman4200]

Have you played binding of isaac rebirth? If not, it for sure can be a candidate for you next poll. 

 

Hope your enjoying the struggle! 

[ExistentialSolid]

18 minutes ago, freeman4200 said:

Have you played binding of isaac rebirth? If not, it for sure can be a candidate for you next poll. 

 

Hope your enjoying the struggle! 

Thank you! ?
I haven't played The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth but it looks like an excellent choice! From the estimates I can find, the platinum can almost certainly be earned in less than 300 hours (estimates are often between 150-250 hours) but, with the Afterbirth and Afterbirth+ DLC, that number may inflate. I may opt to just platinum the game if this game successfully wins a poll and play the DLC in my own time to stick within my time constraints. It looks like you are close to the platinum yourself so, if you happen to know more about the game and how long it will generally take to complete, I'd love to hear about it! 

I have added it to the nomination list!

Edited December 28, 2020 by ExistentialSolid

[BrandedBerserk]

I'm down for the co op trophy in ikaruga if you still haven't found anyone. I'm a complete noob at the genre but I still enjoy them enough to where I'm looking to get better at them and attempt some of the more challenging ones. It's been in my backlog for quite some time and while I'm not ready to go for the platinum yet, I wouldn't mind getting that co op trophy out the way. 

[ExistentialSolid]

5 minutes ago, BrandedBerserk said:

I'm down for the co op trophy in ikaruga if you still haven't found anyone. I'm a complete noob at the genre but I still enjoy them enough to where I'm looking to get better at them and attempt some of the more challenging ones. It's been in my backlog for quite some time and while I'm not ready to go for the platinum yet, I wouldn't mind getting that co op trophy out the way. 

That would be great! ? Don't worry, I'm a complete noob at the genre as well so there's really no pressure. I will DM you in just a bit with details!

[You]

I was not a big fan of shooters till later when you could play coop on them and also when you died you didn't have to restart the whole level (R-Type, older Gradius)

I liked Parodius and then the coop Fantastic Journey. I had that on PS1. There are a lot of good shooters on PS1. I think my first liking to the shooter genre was a game called Z-Out on the Amiga, that was also coop.

 

If I recall coop is easier, and the enemies are the same. Bosses die quicker because there are two of you. There are some cool things you can do in coop. Like one player stays white and one player stays black. And then the white player absorbs the bullets while the black player uses the other player as a shield but shoots with the higher damage black shots.

 

You should probably get used to playing Double Mode where you can control P2 with the right analogue stick.

Double mode was on Under Defeat on PS3 and I played it on that (not needed for platinum on that game)

 

When the stage starts move the ships together, either place them side by side or on top of each other. And then you can just move both the analogue sticks together and move them both as one big lump.

[JohnlMatrix]

I'd like to nominate Deadbolt.

[ExistentialSolid]

1 hour ago, enaysoft said:

I was not a big fan of shooters till later when you could play coop on them and also when you died you didn't have to restart the whole level (R-Type, older Gradius)

I liked Parodius and then the coop Fantastic Journey. I had that on PS1. There are a lot of good shooters on PS1. I think my first liking to the shooter genre was a game called Z-Out on the Amiga, that was also coop.

 

If I recall coop is easier, and the enemies are the same. Bosses die quicker because there are two of you. There are some cool things you can do in coop. Like one player stays white and one player stays black. And then the white player absorbs the bullets while the black player uses the other player as a shield but shoots with the higher damage black shots.

 

You should probably get used to playing Double Mode where you can control P2 with the right analogue stick.

Double mode was on Under Defeat on PS3 and I played it on that (not needed for platinum on that game)

 

When the stage starts move the ships together, either place them side by side or on top of each other. And then you can just move both the analogue sticks together and move them both as one big lump.

Ah, co-op probably would make most shooters more exciting. Besides old-school brawlers, I can't think of many games that supported co-op play back in the early days of gaming (I'm sure you would know much more than me) so it makes sense that you would gravitate towards shooters if you were looking for games to play with friends/family. I watched a few minutes of Parodius, Fantastic Journey, and Z-Out and have to say that Fantastic Journey in particular looks like a great time! The plain space-aesthetic of Gradius/R-Type can't really compare to pandas in tutus or levels that are built entirely out of food. 

It looks like you were right, I booted up co-op in Ikaruga to check and, if chapter 1 is any indication, there are no changes to the enemies (health or positioning) so the challenge will just be in making sure both players can survive a 1CC (phew!).

For whatever reason, I hadn't thought about moving both ships in one big lump but that does seem like the logical way to play if double play is a player's only option. It might be even easier if the positioning of players 1 and 2 could overlap but I imagine that might be a bit much.

 

1 hour ago, JohnlMatrix said:

I'd like to nominate Deadbolt.

Woah, how have I not heard of this game before? It looks a lot like Not a Hero and Hotline Miami and seems to be tough as nails if the trophy guide's 10/10 difficulty label is any indication. 

It looks like a great choice and I have added it to the nomination list! ?

[JohnlMatrix]

54 minutes ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Woah, how have I not heard of this game before? It looks a lot like Not a Hero and Hotline Miami and seems to be tough as nails if the trophy guide's 10/10 difficulty label is any indication. 

It looks like a great choice and I have added it to the nomination list! 

It certainly doesn't have many game owners on psnp. The aiming controlls are pretty bad and it's noticable that this game wasn't originally made for the PS4.

Edited December 28, 2020 by JohnlMatrix

[DEI2EK]

How about A Bastard's Tale or Action Henk?

Both look pretty difficult

 

[ExistentialSolid]

12 hours ago, JohnlMatrix said:

It certainly doesn't have many game owners on psnp. The aiming controlls are pretty bad and it's noticable that this game wasn't originally made for the PS4.

That's a shame to hear. The game looks fun though so hopefully getting used to the awkward controls won't be a big deal!

 

12 hours ago, DEI2EK said:

How about A Bastard's Tale or Action Henk?

Both look pretty difficult

 

 
Ooh, both of these look great! I like the idea of a relentless 107 enemy gauntlet in A Bastard's Tale and I've always enjoyed burying myself in short speedrun levels like the ones that look to be in Action Henk.  

Do you have any preference between the two? If so, I will be happy to add one to the nomination list!

Edited December 29, 2020 by ExistentialSolid

[DEI2EK]

15 minutes ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Ah, that's a shame to hear. The game looks fun though so hopefully getting used to the awkward controls won't be a big deal!

 

 
Ooh, both of these look great! I like the idea of a 107 enemy gauntlet in A Bastard's Tale and I've always enjoyed burying myself in short speedrun levels like the ones that look to be in Action Henk.  

Do you have any preference between the two? If so, I will be happy to add one to the nomination list!

Honestly haven't played either, Henk is in my backlog though. Just figured i'd throw a few hard ones at you, i'll dig some more up for you lol

[ExistentialSolid]

41 minutes ago, DEI2EK said:

Honestly haven't played either, Henk is in my backlog though. Just figured i'd throw a few hard ones at you, i'll dig some more up for you lol

Haha, well, it it helps, I actually have Henk in my backlog as well ?. I'm not particularly picky! Normally, I would like to minimize any influence I have over the nominations that players make (like stating a clear preference of "I would enjoy game X over game Y") because I want to play something that they would honestly enjoy watching.

As long as the player can vouch for the difficulty of the game and they have a genuine interest in seeing it played to completion, that's more than enough justification for me to approve it for nomination!

Edited December 28, 2020 by ExistentialSolid

[Baker]

Action Henk is awesome! If you already have it in your backlog go and play it. Difficulty is around 8/10 imo.

[det_gittes]

I'd like to nominate Kerbal Space Program: Enhanced Edition. The game doesn't look very easy, though I'm not sure if the genre (simulator?) meets your criteria and also the completion time is a big question mark to me, some people have completed it within a matter of days but maybe it is possible to set things up over a much longer period of time and then just pop trophies. I won't mind if it gets rejected but it sure looks like a unique game.

[AJ_Radio]

Unfortunately Share Play is NOT an option for me. I had to move back in with family after losing my job, and here, Internet is slow. 
 

I could technically get everything in Resogun by myself apart from the Rank 50 trophy. That I’ll need a boosting partner. 
 

Regarding @Xenoblast91s discussion of old school gaming, I think those of us who have played those older games have an advantage over the more modern gamer as a whole. You develop the timing, skills, talent and experience. I just did Woah Dave last week and while thrilling, it required a great deal of practice. I found it funny that @Gotakibono basically said my account is rooted in old school gaming and I was born in an arcade. I grew up on the NES, SNES and SEGA Genesis, played a lot of Mario and Sonic. But having access to those games was extremely limited. They were expensive, more expensive than paying $70 for PS5 games, and I generally had to go to Blockbuster to rent them. If your birthday is accurate, then you were probably too young to remember when kids went to video rental stores to play new games. I will admit we were still renting PS2 games. I rented Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Underground 1 & 2, loved them so much that I decided to buy them.
 

I feel that gaming has become substantially easier in the last 15 - 20 years. PS2 era games required a memory card, there were not as many checkpoints, and they were at times, very frustrating. Even GTA San Andreas has its hard moments. That is something that is largely missing from modern PS5 era games and a lot of PS4 games, that challenge to keep you going and motivated. 
 

This comes to platinums being substantially easier. A lot of games are being made so easy that anybody and their grandma would finish them. But have a trophy like Mein Leben in there, these people will avoid the game entirely. 
 

Even if I can’t get a game fully done because of lack of skill, if it still interests me I’ll play it. 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Spaz

[ExistentialSolid]

8 hours ago, det_gittes said:

I'd like to nominate Kerbal Space Program: Enhanced Edition. The game doesn't look very easy, though I'm not sure if the genre (simulator?) meets your criteria and also the completion time is a big question mark to me, some people have completed it within a matter of days but maybe it is possible to set things up over a much longer period of time and then just pop trophies. I won't mind if it gets rejected but it sure looks like a unique game.

Hmm, this is an interesting one. I haven't thought about simulators.

I used to watch a handful of YouTubers play Kerbal Space Program on PC and, from what I understand, you basically are given a series of contracts that require you to do things like assemble a rocket or build something that can retrieve stranded Kerbals from different locations (which would often mean you need to create a craft capable of launching and landing). If the location was a few miles away, you might just build a simple aircraft. But, if it was somewhere like the moon, you might need to build a complex multi-stage rocket and a landing probe.

The physics are surprisingly realistic (crafts you might spend hours designing often tear apart just trying to escape the atmosphere) and rocket assembly can be a complicated process with the player needing to factor in things that actual engineers need to consider when designing something (to a lesser extent of course but the realism is impressive). Unfortunately, I don't think I am the right person to present a game like this to an audience without significant and excessive guide use.

If the game were to task me to assemble a rocket, for example, I would shy away from designing one myself and just look up a tutorial on how to assemble one that is guaranteed to complete the required task efficiently. Sure, it might also be funny to build a few failed experiments but I don't have the recording equipment (or the talent) to coherently/comedically narrate a build or the editing skills to explain a complex craft assembly process. I would probably just resort to simple time lapses. Piloting is another story as dealing with "changes in velocity" or trying to achieve orbit is generally material that is way over my head.

That said, I genuinely think this is a fantastic recommendation for the right type of person. I just don't have the ability to present a game of this caliber to an audience without failing to do the game any justice. I think I will add simulators to the list of games that cannot be nominated since I will generally be unable to present them effectively. Sorry that I wasn't able to take this one on (and that this reply was really long-winded)!

Edited December 29, 2020 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

7 hours ago, Spaz said:

Unfortunately Share Play is NOT an option for me. I had to move back in with family after losing my job, and here, Internet is slow. 
 

I could technically get everything in Resogun by myself apart from the Rank 50 trophy. That I’ll need a boosting partner. 
 

Regarding @Xenoblast91s discussion of old school gaming, I think those of us who have played those older games have an advantage over the more modern gamer as a whole. You develop the timing, skills, talent and experience. I just did Woah Dave last week and while thrilling, it required a great deal of practice. I found it funny that @Gotakibono basically said my account is rooted in old school gaming and I was born in an arcade. I grew up on the NES, SNES and SEGA Genesis, played a lot of Mario and Sonic. But having access to those games was extremely limited. They were expensive, more expensive than paying $70 for PS5 games, and I generally had to go to Blockbuster to rent them. If your birthday is accurate, then you were probably too young to remember when kids went to video rental stores to play new games. I will admit we were still renting PS2 games. I rented Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Underground 1 & 2, loved them so much that I decided to buy them.
 

I feel that gaming has become substantially easier in the last 15 - 20 years. PS2 era games required a memory card, there were not as many checkpoints, and they were at times, very frustrating. Even GTA San Andreas has its hard moments. That is something that is largely missing from modern PS5 era games and a lot of PS4 games, that challenge to keep you going and motivated. 
 

This comes to platinums being substantially easier. A lot of games are being made so easy that anybody and their grandma would finish them. But have a trophy like Mein Leben in there, these people will avoid the game entirely. 
 

Even if I can’t get a game fully done because of lack of skill, if it still interests me I’ll play it. 

Sorry to hear that you lost your job. I'm glad you have family to live with during these rough times though.

You're right about me being too young to remember when kids went to video rental stores to play new games, but I do have fond memories of Blockbuster if nothing else.

It's true that games have become easier over the years as the scene gradually transitioned away from tough-as-nails, coin-eating, arcade experiences but I think there will always be developers out there that value an old-school challenge and try their best to provide that sort of experience. It just takes effort to find them.

Edited December 29, 2020 by ExistentialSolid

[AJ_Radio]

35 minutes ago, ExistentialSolid said:

It's true that games have become easier over the years as the scene gradually transitioned away from tough-as-nails, coin-eating, arcade experiences but I think there will always be developers out there that value an old-school challenge and try their best to provide that sort of experience. It just takes effort to find them.

I find the new stuff boring. It’s basically becoming almost entirely a movie like experience, with all the fancy 4K visuals that come with the new PS5 games. 
 

I’m definitely not as rooted in gaming as I used to be. I will still say Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is in my top 3 most cherished gaming experiences ever. The fond nostalgic memories of spending hours exploring, having a friend do sleepovers, back when those were relevant, and just having a great time with ourselves. I have felt nothing like that these past couple years.

 

These days I spend my time holed up because of the pandemic, and despite the ease of access, I feel more miserable. Games like Woah Dave and the ones you’ve done recently give me that dopamine kick. 
 

New era AAA games are infused with politics, make everything graphically pleasing, and put a focus on trophy lists that are so easy I could get my 8 year old niece to sit down and earn some of those trophies. 
 

So while I appreciate some AAA games and even find them enjoyable, a number of them represent the reason I don’t engage with modern gaming all too much. 
 

Been taking a break with trophies these past couple days, so it may be because I’ve been trophy hunting for over five years.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Spaz

[Trumpet_Boi_208]

2 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

It's true that games have become easier over the years as the scene gradually transitioned away from tough-as-nails, coin-eating, arcade experiences but I think there will always be developers out there that value an old-school challenge and try their best to provide that sort of experience. It just takes effort to find them.

There is a reason why AAA devs do this. They do it for money. They make the trophy list easy to attract both the casual gaming audience and the trophy hunting community. I reckon a lot of trophy hunters, myself included, would agree to Spaz’s claim that AAA are becoming the equivalent of Hollywood movies, which is actually why I’ve been more drawn to more obscure games. Unfortunately, the amount of games with a challenging list will become more rare as time progresses, since our community of trophy hunting is very niche, and people who crave a challenge from it, even more so. We’re too insignificant to make any changes in the challenge of trophies.

[SnowNinjaRaccoon]

To quote the merchant in RE4: "Got something that might interest ya!"

 

I think that game might destroy you completely: https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/7876-koihimeenbu-ryorairai

 

So I nominate Koihime Enbu Ryo RaiRai for the 2nd round of your challenge. From what I heard the game has combo-challenges which make other fighting games look like a walk in the park, haven't played it myself so far though.