ExistentialSolid's "Please Destroy Me" Detour

[Destructor-8]

On 14/01/2022 at 6:36 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

I may have to reconsider the Discord server idea considering how Catherine has gone so far, but we'll see.  There seems to be a disconnect between voter preference and voter engagement.  I'm glad to hear you have an interest in my ideas nonetheless and would be glad to see you join if it becomes a reality!

 

I think the ideas are great & I hope you keep going with it.

 

1 hour ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Hey, remember that Dirt Rally 2.0 Discord server I mentioned awhile back? I'm going to be making the server public on February 3rd if anyone would like to join in earning the "Flatout" trophy with me! More details will be posted on the 3rd, but whether you'd like to play along or just want to pop in to say hi, you're all invited to join!

 

I'm definitely interested in this as you already know so I'll be up for this! Nice going on the other games you did recently too!

[ExistentialSolid]

18 hours ago, enaysoft said:

I remember that Rapunzel stuff being very ridiculous. You have to do all 128 levels in one sitting right?

And if I recall, you have to do another 128 levels.

Yeah, Rapunzel is nuts. ? To complete every level without a guide, I think I'd need a few hundred spare hours and a level of patience I just don't have. That said, I'd love to hear from anyone that actually managed to complete the full set without ever referring to guides/videos. There can't be that many people out there that have achieved that level of mastery over Catherine. 

Well, in the PS3 release, there's 64 levels with another set of 64 that unlock once you've collected 4 hidden rosaries and input a "secret" code. After unlocking the next set, you'll have to complete the 64 additional levels and collect 4 more rosaries to unlock the true ending. You don't really have to complete each set of 64 levels in one sitting, but you do have to collect the 4 rosaries in one sitting. Thankfully, having a level select option means that you should only have to complete the 4 levels that have rosaries in them in one sitting which isn't that bad all things considered (you'll have to do this twice though: once for each set of 64).  

However, in Catherine: Full Body, there's actually another set of 128 levels that take advantage of "Remix" mode. If you play the game's story mode in "remix" mode, this is the version of Rapunzel you'll get to play in the bar instead. Whether you complete the classic set or the remixed set of levels, you'll unlock all of the Rapunzel trophies, so you can select whichever set you're more interested in. Since the goal for me was to internalize new strategies for Babel, I chose to complete the classic set. Babel doesn't have any sort of "Remix" options, so learning techniques for that mode felt kinda pointless.
 

17 hours ago, Destructor-8 said:

I'm definitely interested in this as you already know so I'll be up for this! Nice going on the other games you did recently too!

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you have an interest! ? I'll hope to see you there once the server is up and running. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[Moridin83]

I've really enjoyed seeing your playthrough so far. My copy of Full Body isn't in the house right now, so I can't play along, but I have been inspired to start my PS3 copy of Catherine, as a quasi play along. Looking forward to your next update, and any lessons that can help me on my journey.

[ExistentialSolid]

The "Please Destroy Us" Discord Server 

 

? Server Invite Link: https://discord.gg/7dBUczdXh5 ?
The server has since been taken down. Thank you for participating! ?

Why a Discord Server?
Hey! Writing updates in my own little world can feel isolating and exhausting. I kinda just wanna hang out and get to know the community a little better. I figure a Discord server might be a more accessible environment for everyone to be themselves and have some fun working towards a collective goal.

Recently, I've been interested in trying to earn the "Flatout" trophy in Dirt Rally 2.0 and thought this would make for a great opportunity to try to get the community involved in the action! Posting quick informal updates, cheering each other on, shooting the breeze, and comparing times/tuning setups might make for a more memorable experience than if I were to huddle in some dark corner of my room and do this all on my own. ?

What's "Flatout" all about?
One of Dirt Rally 2.0's final DLC packs was themed around rally racing legend, Colin McRae, and features 40 "scenarios" that follow in the footsteps of the man's fabled career. To earn the Flatout trophy, you must complete each of these scenarios on "Very Hard" difficulty. 

Now, many of these scenarios require several hours of practice to clear, but can be made significantly easier with specific tuning setups and assists. Having a small community on your side to identify strong setups or cheer you on can make all the difference between a swift success and several aggravating hours of failure. Your driving skills will be put to the ultimate test should you choose to take this challenge on, so I hope you're ready! 

If you'd like to read a little more about Flatout before deciding to join in, I'm going to leave a few links below that discuss the trophy in more detail:
Dirt Rally 2.0 - Colin McRae Trophy Guide
Flatout Discussion Thread
TrueAchievements Mini Guide

 

I want to emphasize to anyone on the fence that Flatout can be earned on automatic with assists enabled. If you're not feeling confident in your driving skills or have never played a rally racer in your life, this might be a good chance to improve and have some fun with the community in the process! Additionally, the Colin McRae scenarios are available from the outset provided you have the DLC installed. You will not need to have made any prior progress in Dirt Rally 2.0 to get involved.  

 

What if I don't want to play Dirt Rally 2.0?
That's okay! Anyone is welcome to join the server whether you want to observe or participate. Hanging out with the community is the whole point, so don't worry about playing along if Dirt Rally 2.0 isn't your cup of tea. Depending on how many people join the server, we may add new games into the mix along the way that cater to a wider variety of players. This can't happen of course unless you join. 

What's next?
If the server ends up being a total ghost town, we will downsize to a group chat or disband entirely by February 15th. ? If you'd like to contact me with any questions, concerns, or ideas, feel free to message me on PSNP, PSN, or Discord at Solid#9831. Otherwise, Catherine updates will carry on as normal with the next to be posted on February 10th!

I won't be available for the next few hours to welcome those of you that join, but know that I'm happy to have you!
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you there! ?

Edited November 2, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

On 2/1/2022 at 5:37 PM, Moridin83 said:

I've really enjoyed seeing your playthrough so far. My copy of Full Body isn't in the house right now, so I can't play along, but I have been inspired to start my PS3 copy of Catherine, as a quasi play along. Looking forward to your next update, and any lessons that can help me on my journey.

I'm happy to hear it!  You'll have to let me know if you end up obsessing over Babel as much as I have.  Have fun and enjoy the story! 

[AJ_Radio]

I definitely would try my hand at the DiRT games but my backlog is bad enough as it is already. Plus I bought Gran Turismo 6 a couple months back which will certainly satisfy me in the racing category. Definitely shows its age nowadays, but I never played a Gran Turismo game before so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Let me know what you think about Trine 2: Complete Story. Everyone tells me it's a fairly easy platinum despite its rarity here on PSNP.

 

You left the three hardest trophies in Batman: Arkham Knight unfinished. Not sure if you're waiting for a milestone or what. Took me forever to get them done, what finally did it for me was hitting Evade ( button) over the enemies to keep that Freeflow Combo. Using Counter ( button) was too iffy. People can say what they want on the game..... Batmobile sucked....too much plot....Riddler collectibles were too annoying....yadda yadda yadda. Community Challenge DLC was an actual challenge, I'm definitely glad they forced you to do some of them in order to get a prestigious 100%.

 

Nothing else I can say about the rest of your unfinished games. It hurts my heart to see Assassin's Creed II not done, that is literally piss easy compared to most everything else on your list. Same with God of War and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I take it you're NOT much of a fan of open world games, but you got Yakuza Kiwami 1 finished in a pretty impressive time frame.

[ExistentialSolid]

Catherine and the Golden Playhouse Curse - Update #4


It's finally time to dive into Catherine's story levels proper! ?

I feel like lecturing today, so we're going to be discussing the process of earning a "Gold Prize," highlighting some of the differences between Classic and Remix mode, and following the rabbit hole down to a puzzle I was unable to solve. But first... it's been awhile since my last update and my progression has been confusing enough as it is, so I figured it'd be best to do a quick bullet-point recap of everything that's happened since I started my playthrough of Catherine: Full Body.

2019 - Progress
- Finished the story mode levels on Easy and Easy Remix
- Finished the story mode levels on Normal and Normal Remix
- Unlocked all endings
- Reached level 28 of the Rapunzel arcade
- Completed Altar (Babel) in co-op

2022 - Progress
- Finished Stage 1 on Hard and stopped
- Completed Altar (Babel) in co-op again, but slower
- Followed video guides to complete the Rapunzel Arcade.
- Completed Menhir (Babel) in co-op
- Completed Obelisk (Babel) in co-op
- Completed Axis Mundi (last of Babel) in co-op
- Got confused about my rate of progression [Present]

The Burden of the "Gold Prize" 
With my experience at Babel starting to feel like a distant memory, I continued onwards to stage 2 of my hard mode playthrough. Pushing blocks in my undies never felt so good!  I was effortlessly solving sections that would've melted the mind of my former self. I felt so... capable—nearly invincible in fact—as I climbed each tower at blistering speeds. Stages 2, 3, 4, and 5 passed in a blur, but stage 6 was where my progress started to feel more sporadic and hard-fought. Block arrangement complexity was on the rise and I was lagging behind my usual pace. It was here that I identified one of the hidden culprits behind my sudden obsession with Babel: the irritating "Gold Prize."

Unlike Babel where you climb to the beat of your own drum, your performance in the story mode stages are judged according to some questionable criteria. Criteria #1 is the amount of money you collect. Money has been associated with desirability in tales as old as time, but the money you find scattered about in your nightmares is surely worthless, no? Not quite. Sprinkled in difficult to reach places, money is littered all throughout these stages to encourage creative puzzle solving and exploration. Collect all (sometimes most is good enough) of the money you can find and you'll satisfy the moneygrubbing judges that stir behind the scenes. If you can't eat the rich, your only option is to collect the scraps they leave behind until capitalism and human greed reduce our world to rubble. ?



Criteria #2, however, is one of the only design choices in Catherine that I take issue with: your step count combo. I mentioned in the last update that a "step" in Babel qualifies as a "step" if you climb upwards one block layer. That definition carries over into the story mode, but is saddled with a combo system and a time limit that, I swear, does nothing but cramp your climbing style. When you move up a step, your combo goes up and a timer starts ticking down. If the timer expires before you go up another step, the combo is broken which apparently upsets the judges bickering backstage. Because Catherine's gameplay is all about solving puzzles, your combo is going to be broken every time a block arrangement confuses you for more than a few seconds. I can't tell you the number of times I had to pull out an unnecessary block just to bump up my step count and keep my combo alive for a little longer.

In order to earn the "Gold Prize," you need to memorize a route to victory that includes all (or most) of the money and obeys the step count combo rules for a high combo score. Without videos to guide your routing, this usually involves several replays of each stage until you can practically play it in your sleep. Should you come short, the game will pity you with some silver and bronze consolation prizes. Getting every "Gold Prize" in every level across all 6 difficulty modes is one hell of a slog even if the levels themselves are well-designed and fun to puzzle out. 

 

A Remixed Nightmare

Unique to the Catherine: Full Body rerelease is an alternate story mode called "Remix" mode. In remix mode, you'll travel through the same stages as you would in the game's original mode, but you'll have modified level layouts and new larger blocks to deal with that come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. These new blocks may be as small as two conjoined blocks or as large as a 12+ block megastructure.



At Remix mode's best, the inclusion of larger blocks can present a fresh and creative take on the original level's solutions. There are moments, however, in which this creativity can feel stifled from linear "one-and-done" solutions as some blocks only offer up a single possible use. If you'd like to get a taste of what Remix mode has to offer, I've included the first two stages on Hard Remix below.

1-1 / 2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3

Down the Rabbit Hole
With explanations and judgmental old moneygrubbers out of the way, I kept pushing blocks one stage at a time, determined to see how far I could get without using any sort of reference material. To save time, I would often complete a stage's classic layout and remixed layout one after the other as the solutions between the two modes tend to share the same DNA. Eventually, however, things started getting ridiculous...


Full section [7-2]

This hollow, diamond-shaped monstrosity left me clueless for a good 40 minutes. I don't even know how to explain the solution, but, with trial and error, I was proud to stumble my way to success. ? 

I knew it was only a matter of time before my luck ran out. The puzzles were only getting tougher and I struggled to keep up without sitting in a corner for hours trying every possible combination of actions until blind luck cut me a break. Upon reaching stage 7-4, I spent around 90 minutes pushing a particular set of blocks in every possible orientation, but the solution just wasn't there. I could reach the stage's end, but I had no idea how to grab the gold just below the goal and make it back alive. My patience started to wear thin. I caved and watched a reference video, but I don't really regret it because I'm sure I could have easily spent another 2-3 hours before I ever figured out the solution. 

I decided (I'm not sure why ) to record my successful runs leading up to 7-4 since that was my breaking point as far as using not using reference material in the story goes. If you'd like to see the successful bits of my journey through hard mode, my runs are all listed below.

Classic - Hard Playthrough
1-1 / 2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 / 3-1
3-2 / 3-3 / 4-1 / 4-2 / 5-1
5-2 / 5-3 / 6-1 / 6-2 / 6-3
6-4 / 7-1 / 7-2 / 7-3 / *7-4 (*the reference I followed)
 

What's Next?
Since the remaining levels involve major story-related spoilers, I'll be completing those on my own in preparation for my return visit to Babel on the PS3 version of Catherine (the harder version of Babel). In order to unlock the final stage of Babel in the PS3 version, I'll have to complete the story and earn all of the "Gold Prizes" on Normal difficulty or higher. I plan to do a playthrough on Hard to knock out the 2nd hardest trophy along the way in case I decide to platinum the original Catherine later down the line.

Expect Catherine: Full Body to be done and dusted in the next update! Depending on how far I get in the PS3 version of Catherine, the next update, which will be posted on February 17th, might be my last for Catherine.

Thank you for reading! I'll see you all soon! ?  

Edited February 15, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

On 2/6/2022 at 10:16 PM, AJ_Radio said:

I definitely would try my hand at the DiRT games but my backlog is bad enough as it is already. Plus I bought Gran Turismo 6 a couple months back which will certainly satisfy me in the racing category. Definitely shows its age nowadays, but I never played a Gran Turismo game before so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Let me know what you think about Trine 2: Complete Story. Everyone tells me it's a fairly easy platinum despite its rarity here on PSNP.

 

You left the three hardest trophies in Batman: Arkham Knight unfinished. Not sure if you're waiting for a milestone or what. Took me forever to get them done, what finally did it for me was hitting Evade ( button) over the enemies to keep that Freeflow Combo. Using Counter ( button) was too iffy. People can say what they want on the game..... Batmobile sucked....too much plot....Riddler collectibles were too annoying....yadda yadda yadda. Community Challenge DLC was an actual challenge, I'm definitely glad they forced you to do some of them in order to get a prestigious 100%.

 

Nothing else I can say about the rest of your unfinished games. It hurts my heart to see Assassin's Creed II not done, that is literally piss easy compared to most everything else on your list. Same with God of War and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I take it you're NOT much of a fan of open world games, but you got Yakuza Kiwami 1 finished in a pretty impressive time frame.

No worries! I haven't played a GT since 4 myself, but 6 seems like a solid entry point into the series. I've been thinking about picking up GT7 once it comes out, but it feels like such a waste to play it on a PS4 when it was designed to take advantage of the PS5. I could just upgrade in the future when I get a PS5 since it's cross-buy though... ? 

I tried to start up Trine 2: Complete Story awhile back, but it felt like such a slog. ? The gameplay is sluggish and the collectibles are hidden in weird and obscure locations, so you kind of have to rely on videos throughout the entire first playthrough. After a few levels of mindlessly following video after video, I accepted the fact that the process was miserable and set the game aside. There's a bunch of UR trophies (17) for your trouble though if you can stomach it. I can't really comment on the difficulty yet, since I haven't put much time into the Hard mode playthrough, but I'd have to follow another series of reference videos to get it done so it stopped appealing to me. Someday I'll give it another chance.

With Batman: Arkham Knight, I felt that the amount of effort required to earn the three hardest trophies just wasn't worth the prestige of the 100% completion. I'd probably need a minimum of 10-15 hours of practice to get used to the combat system again and learn whichever tactics are required to succeed. As much as I'd like to get it done sometime, I think I've been spoiled by ultra rare trophies that require half the effort Batman demands. ? Even if there's no UR trophies, Arkham Knight is a far more impressive completion than most UR games, so major props for getting it done.

Haha, you're absolutely right about me not being much of a fan of open world games. ? I can't really pin down what it is about them that pushes me away, but I get bored so easily nowadays that I can't put up with all the fluff inherent in open-world design. The great thing about Kiwami's open-world was that it felt compact and everything had purpose. I never had to run for more than a few minutes to get anywhere and rarely felt like I was wasting my time. It helped that the Yakuza games have kickass stories too. I'm hoping to get back to Yakuza 0 (I originally played it when I wasn't hunting for trophies) later this year alongside Kiwami 2.

Edited February 15, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[Moridin83]

Progress has been made! My stupid progression continues apace.? I do not have significant previous experience with Catherine, so this run is pretty much a blank slate. The first 2 gold medals on normal went down pretty easily, so I decided to try stage one of Babel (first mistake). After several frustrating hours, it clicked and I got through. So it was back to the story for stage 3, and dip my toes into Rapunzel. I did the baby stages (1-4) on my own, got to stage 5, and immediately saw what @ExistentialSolid was talking about. I'm not spending the amount of time necessary to figure these out on my own, so there is a guide in my future. ? 

 

Then came my biggest mistake. After the 3rd stage gold medal, I decided to try Menhir. Several multi hour sessions later, I had made no appreciable progress, and was starting to doubt my ability to pursue the platinum. I know that Babel is randomized, so I hadn't bothered with videos, but out of desperation, I checked out the video in this thread. I was picking up new techniques, and hints on some block patterns from the video, then the difference in versions bit me in the ass. Watching ES finish using the energy drinks was soul draining. ? It went from "ohh, I get it!" to "oh, shit I can't do that! ?" So back to the internet it was. A couple of videos later (Surprisingly hard to find for the ps3 version), I went back to try for a 3rd day. Finally, I got it! I can't remember the last time I had such a sense of relief and accomplishment from beating something in a game. Now, I'll go back to the story, and make some progress (until I unlock the next Babel stage).

[AJ_Radio]

22 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

I tried to start up Trine 2: Complete Story awhile back, but it felt like such a slog.  The gameplay is sluggish and the collectibles are hidden in weird and obscure locations, so you kind of have to rely on videos throughout the entire first playthrough. After a few levels of mindlessly following video after video, I accepted the fact that the process was miserable and set the game aside. There's a bunch of UR trophies (17) for your trouble though if you can stomach it. I can't really comment on the difficulty yet, since I haven't put much time into the Hard mode playthrough, but I'd have to follow another series of reference videos to get it done so it stopped appealing to me. Someday I'll give it another chance.

This is definitely the hardest and longest in the Trine franchise. Collectibles are some of the most annoying you’ll face in a game. Plus there are a couple bosses that can give you trouble especially on Hardcore difficulty. There’s also a lot of levels, and looking at the rarity percentages, most people haven’t even beaten the game.

 

22 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

With Batman: Arkham Knight, I felt that the amount of effort required to earn the three hardest trophies just wasn't worth the prestige of the 100% completion. I'd probably need a minimum of 10-15 hours of practice to get used to the combat system again and learn whichever tactics are required to succeed. As much as I'd like to get it done sometime, I think I've been spoiled by ultra rare trophies that require half the effort Batman demands.  Even if there's no UR trophies, Arkham Knight is a far more impressive completion than most UR games, so major props for getting it done.

Those trophies require a lot of practice. I did all the other stuff in the Community Challenge DLC, then took six months away because I couldn’t do those combat challenges. Had to watch two to three different YouTube videos of each combat scenario, and after dozens of attempts I finally nabbed those trophies.

[ExistentialSolid]

23 hours ago, Moridin83 said:

Progress has been made! My stupid progression continues apace. I do not have significant previous experience with Catherine, so this run is pretty much a blank slate. The first 2 gold medals on normal went down pretty easily, so I decided to try stage one of Babel (first mistake). After several frustrating hours, it clicked and I got through. So it was back to the story for stage 3, and dip my toes into Rapunzel. I did the baby stages (1-4) on my own, got to stage 5, and immediately saw what @ExistentialSolid was talking about. I'm not spending the amount of time necessary to figure these out on my own, so there is a guide in my future.  

 

Then came my biggest mistake. After the 3rd stage gold medal, I decided to try Menhir. Several multi hour sessions later, I had made no appreciable progress, and was starting to doubt my ability to pursue the platinum. I know that Babel is randomized, so I hadn't bothered with videos, but out of desperation, I checked out the video in this thread. I was picking up new techniques, and hints on some block patterns from the video, then the difference in versions bit me in the ass. Watching ES finish using the energy drinks was soul draining.  It went from "ohh, I get it!" to "oh, shit I can't do that! " So back to the internet it was. A couple of videos later (Surprisingly hard to find for the ps3 version), I went back to try for a 3rd day. Finally, I got it! I can't remember the last time I had such a sense of relief and accomplishment from beating something in a game. Now, I'll go back to the story, and make some progress (until I unlock the next Babel stage).

Going from a blank slate to being able to climb Altar and Menhir without energy drinks in just a few days is insane. ? You're a natural! Transforming your "biggest mistake" into something you can feel a sense of accomplishment over is inspiring as hell. Even with the energy drink assists, I wasn't able to climb Menhir at all in 2019 and my save file had 40+ hours on it. ? 

Keep it up! I'm excited to see whether Obelisk puts up more of a fight or if you'll steamroll straight through. 

[ExistentialSolid]

Catherine and the Last Brittle Tower - Update #5


Is there a better way to spend Valentine's Day than curling up in a cozy recliner with two controllers in your lap as you try to earn a co-op trophy by yourself?

 ...Doubt it.  An unhealthy obsession with digital bragging rights beats meaningful social interaction any day. Right? ...Right?  

An Icy Room
In the last update, I carried on with my Hard mode playthrough of Catherine: Full Body in a gratuitous, self-imposed training arc for the more difficult PS3 version of Catherine's Babel mode. I made it to one of the last stages in the game, 7-4, before I gave in and started referring to reference videos to solve some of the game's remaining puzzles. After finishing off the last few stages and unceremoniously earning the game's platinum trophy, I returned to the PS3 version of Catherine to settle my score with Babel in round two...

Since I never finished the original Catherine's story mode, the final stage of Babel, Axis Mundi, was still gated behind a progression wall. I needed to earn the Gold Prizes in every stage on Normal difficulty or higher to set foot in the last of Babel's towers. Finishing up a save that dated back to 2014 (I was apparently in the middle of Stage 6) was an option, but greed led me down a different path. 

Unlike the Full Body remake, you don't need to earn every Gold Prize on every last difficulty to platinum the game. In the original, you can get away with collecting every prize on Hard before the absurdity of trophy hunting ever gets a chance to weigh you down. Doing so will unlock one of the hardest trophies in the game: "The Golden Child." I figured I might as well be efficient and do one last playthrough of Catherine on Hard while I work towards unlocking Axis Mundi.

A Cold Touch
The conveniences that Full Body introduced were sorely missed as I marched mechanically through the PS3 original. Being unable to undo my moves (a rewind mechanic whereby you revert back one or more block "pushes") led to a litany of careless mistakes. Gold Prizes were more aggravating to earn than ever before even though I had just completed these stages in Full Body. Ignoring the pain for the sake of seeing Babel one last time was all that pushed me forward. 

The final two stages, 9-5 and 9-6, refused to go down easily. Hazards assaulted the player in ways that would shift each tower in unpredictable arrangements. Block type could change at the drop of a hat while some sections faced annihilation altogether. Much like Babel, luck, careful improvisation, and memorization would stand as your only saving grace. I would climb and fall with biting regularity. An hour passed before I scaled 9-5; 9-6 devoured a second. I stared at the screen with eyes glazed over as "The Golden Child" popped and the last stage of Babel was unlocked.
        
Hollow Words

When I last brought up Babel's difficulties a few weeks ago, I showcased a dramatized retelling of my experiences with Axis Mundi and Obelisk. The story didn't actually end there...

As my trophy list might betray, I immediately dove in to the PS3 version of Babel to see if the difficulty of Babel really warranted the "9/10" difficulty label it received on the PSNP trophy guide compared to Full Body's comparably tame "7/10" label. I found that Altar and Menhir were not much different than their Full Body counterparts. The lack of energy drinks (items that let you jump up two blocks to get out of a jam) made the climb trickier, but all the practice I've had since I last visited these towers meant that making mistakes was less commonplace. Both towers were quickly conquered. 

 

Obelisk, however, was the first to bend the rules. In Full Body's rendition of Obelisk, you'd normally come across normal, cracked, ice, trap, and heavy blocks...



... but this isn't the case in the PS3 original. In the PS3 version you have to deal with additional Mystery, Monster, and Explosive blocks. Mystery blocks, when stepped on, have the ability to transform into any other block type (normal, cracked, ice, trap, heavy, monster, or explosive). Monster blocks will randomly move one block's length throughout the stage whenever they feel like it and will drop the player if they hang off the block's face. These blocks can also be "killed" by stepping on them. Explosive blocks, when stepped on, damage all blocks in range after a set amount of time has much like the TNT boxes in Crash Bandicoot (these damaged blocks then become cracked).  



I can only imagine that the Full Body remake toned down the co-op version of Obelisk to minimize the chaotic RNG-driven nature of mystery and monster blocks. Maybe people complained about it feeling unfair. ? In any case, the climb was the most brutal I'd experienced up to this point. I spent 3 hours slaving away in my undies in a Sisyphean effort to reach the top. One of the most heart-breaking ways I've died is by sliding off the edge of the stage when a mystery block decided to transform into ice (it is usually best to assume these blocks are going to be either ice or trap types to avoid an early death). Once I had finished, I readied myself for the last of Babel's trials: Axis Mundi.



Chasing Phantoms
Babel's final tower loomed ahead for the second, and final, time. All those hours spent grinding for Gold Prizes were leading to this moment. When I first climbed Axis Mundi in Full Body, I used up 4 energy drinks (2 for each climber) to cover for moments of poor climbing. Could I complete the climb without the energy drink? I was determined to find out.

When I set out to play the PS3 original back in 2014, I felt like an incapable idiot. I didn't think I had what it took to finish the game on Normal difficulty, let alone climb some of the most difficult structures the game had to offer. 7 long years later, I came back a different person. I learned that no matter how "stupid" or "incapable" you feel, obstacles will fall if you have the patience to keep pushing against them. I learned that failure is little more than an inevitable byproduct in the formula for success. As the last trophy in Catherine: Full Body states, "Persistence conquers all things."

Like a ferocious beast egging me on to higher and higher peaks, my mentality had been sharpened by years of failure and was hungry for another victory. This climb was something more—it was validation—it was evidence that I had changed—it was a feast for the ego. I would climb and fall. I would try again. I would fall again. I resisted the temptations to give in until I claimed my rightful place on the top of the tower a few short hours later.

Axis Mundi fell for the last time.



Circling Back
Remember how I mentioned that Babel was significantly easier in co-op than it is in Solo mode? Well, before I end this series of updates, I thought it might be fun to see how I fared in the Solo versions of these monstrous towers. There aren't any trophies on the line, but the increased step counts and complex block patterns were sure to give me the reality check I needed. I'll save you another long-winded ego trip and just post videos of my three successful runs below. ? 

[Altar - Solo]
[Menhir - Solo]
[Obelisk - Solo]

If anyone's reading and wants to take on the Solo version of Babel, I'd love to see your runs! Axis Mundi on Solo, while not required for any trophy-related feats, is still out of my reach for now (I'd especially love to see someone brave enough to give it a shot). ? In addition to the co-op times I provided in a previous update, here are my Solo times in Catherine: Full Body for those that want something more to compete against.




~ Catherine Confessional ~

The Catherine confessional polls have come to a close! Thanks for participating everyone! I guess embarrassment isn't a very common kink.  Below, I'm going to be posting images of each poll before it was closed and removed. Often times, these images can unfortunately look really small if you're viewing on mobile. If they aren't readable, zooming in may solve the issue, but, if that doesn't work, let me know and I'd be happy to type out the results below. Respect to the brave souls that answered these questions honestly! I feel like I understand you all just a little bit better. ?

 

What's Next?
Since I earned the platinum in Catherine: Full Body and wrapped up the last of the PS3 Catherine's challenging trophies, I'm going to save the last few story/Rapunzel trophies for later. I'm trying to figure out good milestone material for platinum #250 and the PS3 version of Catherine seems like a strong candidate. ? We'll see how things pan out!

My journey through Catherine might be over, but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't be seeing updates from other players in the coming weeks. You're all, of course, still welcome to post Catherine (PS3) or Catherine: Full Body (PS4) updates until March 6th! We won't be seeing any updates from me until then.
 

If anyone remembers that Cloudberry Kingdom all-in-one update I never got around to writing last year, I'm going to take advantage of the time between now and March 6th to get that written and posted. I don't have any definite plans beyond that point, so we'll wing it from there.
  

Thank you all for joining me for Catherine and I'll see you on March 6th! ?

Edited February 20, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[bdias10]

Hey man, i want to thank you for all the support through my Asseto Corsa journey , you and Don Carlito helped me a lot with the tips and motivation, tbh it wasnt that hard as i was expecting but still was a great challenge. Big congrats and thanks a looooooot for the videos for the Alien Races and the Hotlaps. Heres my video for the hardest hotlap on my opinion:

 

[ShadyWARcotix]

8 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Catherine and the Last Brittle Tower - Update #5


Is there a better way to spend Valentine's Day than curling up in a cozy recliner with two controllers in your lap as you try to earn a co-op trophy by yourself?

 ...Doubt it.  An unhealthy obsession with digital bragging rights beats meaningful social interaction any day. Right? ...Right?  

An Icy Room
In the last update, I carried on with my Hard mode playthrough of Catherine: Full Body in a gratuitous, self-imposed training arc for the more difficult PS3 version of Catherine's Babel mode. I made it to one of the last stages in the game, 7-4, before I gave in and started referring to reference videos to solve some of the game's remaining puzzles. After finishing off the last few stages and unceremoniously earning the game's platinum trophy, I returned to the PS3 version of Catherine to settle my score with Babel in round two...

Since I never finished the original Catherine's story mode, the final stage of Babel, Axis Mundi, was still gated behind a progression wall. I needed to earn the Gold Prizes in every stage on Normal difficulty or higher to set foot in the last of Babel's towers. Finishing up a save that dated back to 2014 (I was apparently in the middle of Stage 6) was an option, but greed led me down a different path. 

Unlike the Full Body remake, you don't need to earn every Gold Prize on every last difficulty to platinum the game. In the original, you can get away with collecting every prize on Hard before the irrelevance of trophy hunting ever gets a chance to weigh you down. Doing so will unlock one of the hardest trophies in the game: "The Golden Child." I figured I might as well be efficient and do one last playthrough of Catherine on Hard while I work towards unlocking Axis Mundi.

A Cold Touch
The conveniences that Full Body introduced were sorely missed as I marched mechanically through the PS3 original. Being unable to undo my moves (a rewind mechanic whereby you revert back one or more block "pushes") led to a litany of careless mistakes. Gold Prizes were more aggravating to earn than ever before even though I had just completed these stages in Full Body. Ignoring the pain for the sake of seeing Babel one last time was all that pushed me forward. 

The final two stages, 9-5 and 9-6, refused to go down easily. Hazards assaulted the player in ways that would shift each tower in unpredictable arrangements. Block type could change at the drop of a hat while some sections faced annihilation altogether. Much like Babel, luck, careful improvisation, and memorization would stand as your only saving grace. I would climb and fall with biting regularity. An hour passed before I scaled 9-5; 9-6 devoured a second. I stared at the screen with eyes glazed over as "The Golden Child" popped and the last stage of Babel was unlocked.
        
Hollow Words

When I last brought up Babel's difficulties a few weeks ago, I showcased a dramatized retelling of my experiences with Axis Mundi and Obelisk. The story didn't actually end there...

As my trophy list might betray, I immediately dove in to the PS3 version of Babel to see if the difficulty of Babel really warranted the "9/10" difficulty label compared to Full Body's seemingly tame "7/10" label. I found that Altar and Menhir were not much different than their Full Body counterparts. The lack of energy drinks (items that let you jump up two blocks to get out of a jam) made the climb trickier, but all the practice I've had since I last visited these towers meant that making mistakes was less commonplace. Both towers were quickly conquered. 

 

Obelisk, however, was the first to bend the rules. In Full Body's rendition of Obelisk, you'd normally come across normal, cracked, ice, trap, and heavy blocks...



... but this isn't the case in the PS3 original. In the PS3 version you have to deal with additional Mystery, Monster, and Explosive blocks. Mystery blocks, when stepped on, have the ability to transform into any other block type (normal, cracked, ice, trap, heavy, monster, or explosive). Monster blocks will randomly move one block's length throughout the stage whenever they feel like it and will drop the player if they hang off the block's face. These blocks can also be "killed" by stepping on them. Explosive blocks, when stepped on, damage all blocks in range after a set amount of time has much like the TNT boxes in Crash Bandicoot (these damaged blocks then become cracked).  



I can only imagine that the Full Body remake toned down the co-op version of Obelisk to minimize the chaotic RNG-driven nature of mystery and monster blocks. Maybe people complained about it feeling unfair.  In any case, the climb was the most brutal I'd experienced up to this point. I spent 3 hours slaving away in my undies in a Sisyphean effort to reach the top. One of the most heart-breaking ways I've died is by sliding off the edge of the stage when a mystery block decides to transform into ice (it is usually best to assume these blocks are going to be either ice or trap types to avoid an early death). Once I had finished, I readied myself for the last of Babel's trials: Axis Mundi.



Chasing Phantoms
Babel's final tower loomed ahead for the second, and final, time. All those hours spent grinding for Gold Prizes were leading to this moment. When I first climbed Axis Mundi in Full Body, I used up 4 energy drinks (2 for each climber) to cover for moments of poor climbing. Could I complete the climb without the energy drink? I was determined to find out.

When I set out to play the PS3 original back in 2014, I felt like an incapable idiot. I didn't think I had what it took to finish the game on Normal difficulty, let alone climb some of the most difficult structures the game had to offer. 7 long years later, I came back a different person. I learned that no matter how "stupid" or "incapable" you feel, obstacles will fall if you have the patience to keep pushing against them. I learned that failure is little more than an inevitable byproduct in the formula for success. As the last trophy in Catherine: Full Body states, "Persistence conquers all things."

Like a ferocious beast egging me on to higher and higher peaks, my mentality had been sharpened by years of failure and was hungry for another victory. This climb was something more—it was validation—it was evidence that I had changed—it was a feast for the ego. I would climb and fall. I would try again. I would fall again. I resisted the temptations to give in until I claimed my rightful place on the top of the tower a few short hours later.

Axis Mundi fell for the last time.



Circling Back
Remember how I mentioned that Babel was significantly easier in co-op than it is in Solo mode? Welll, before I end this series of updates, I thought it might be fun to see how I fared in the Solo versions of these monstrous towers. There aren't any trophies on the line, but the increased step counts and complex block patterns were sure to give me the reality check I needed. I'll save you another long-winded ego trip and just post videos of my three successful runs below.  

[Altar - Solo]
[Menhir - Solo]
[Obelisk - Solo]

If anyone's reading and wants to take on the Solo version of Axis Mundi, I'd love to see your runs! Axis Mundi on Solo, while not required for any trophy-related feats, is still out of my reach for now.  In addition to the co-op times I provided in a previous update, here are my Solo times in Catherine: Full Body for those that want something more to compete against.




~ Catherine Confessional ~

The Catherine confessional polls have come to a close! Thanks for participating everyone! Below, I'm going to be posting images of each poll before it was closed and removed. Often times, these images can unfortunately look really small if you're viewing on mobile. If they aren't readable, zooming in may solve the issue, but, if that doesn't work, let me know and I'd be happy to type out the results below. Respect to the brave souls that answered these questions honestly! I feel like I understand you all just a little bit better. 

 

What's Next?
Since I earned the platinum in Catherine: Full Body and wrapped up the last of the PS3 Catherine's challenging trophies, I'm going to save the last few story/Rapunzel trophies for later. I'm trying to figure out good milestone material for platinum #250 and the PS3 version of Catherine seems like a strong candidate.  We'll see how things pan out!

My journey through Catherine might be over, but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't be seeing updates from other players in the coming weeks. You're all, of course, still welcome to post Catherine (PS3) or Catherine: Full Body (PS4) updates until March 6th! We won't be seeing any updates from me until then.
 

If anyone remembers that Cloudberry Kingdom all-in-one update I never got around to writing last year, I'm going to take advantage of the time between now and March 6th to get that written and posted. I don't have any definite plans beyond that point, so we'll wing it from there.
  

Thank you all for joining me for Catherine and I'll see you on March 6th! 

 

I'm playing Catherine (on PS Now) and I have bought Catherine: FBE. You would say it's easier to tackle the PS3 version after I platinumed the FBE edition right? And I'm curious. Which technique do you used the most? I know it's rng but do you have "favorite" techniques? And Congrats!!

[ExistentialSolid]

On 2/18/2022 at 0:50 AM, bdias10 said:

Hey man, i want to thank you for all the support through my Asseto Corsa journey , you and Don Carlito helped me a lot with the tips and motivation, tbh it wasnt that hard as i was expecting but still was a great challenge. Big congrats and thanks a looooooot for the videos for the Alien Races and the Hotlaps.

It's no problem dude, I'm glad I could help.  Congrats on getting through to the end! It seems like Assetto Corsa's reputation as one of the hardest PSN racers out there has been starting to shift lately. I wish there was more out there that could compete for the title. 

 

On 2/18/2022 at 2:41 AM, ShadyWARcotix said:

I'm playing Catherine (on PS Now) and I have bought Catherine: FBE. You would say it's easier to tackle the PS3 version after I platinumed the FBE edition right? And I'm curious. Which technique do you used the most? I know it's rng but do you have "favorite" techniques? And Congrats!!

Right, if you're planning on earning the platinum in both games, then I'd absolutely recommend tackling Full Body first since you'll have the ability to undo in hard mode and climb Babel with energy drinks. If you were to only play one or the other, Full Body is definitely the way to go. It has a much stronger, more fleshed out, story and the much needed quality of life changes in the core gameplay make it far less frustrating than the original. 

As for block climbing techniques, I wouldn't let yourself get too bogged down in trying to internalize specific tech (it can quickly get overwhelming). You'll learn the most by experimenting and watching others play. I personally learned the most by watching players solve the Rapunzel levels and copying their strategies. If I had to pick something, I'd say Inazuma is the most practical. I use it constantly in Babel and whenever I can in the story mode stages. Bridge/Flying Bridge is also important to learn as it can help you build larger platforms to work with. I'll leave a link I found awhile back that included most of the techniques in the game if you wanted to study any specific tech. Thanks and good luck with Catherine! ?

Edited February 22, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[You]

Well it's looks like you're done on Both PS4 and PS3 versions of Catherine. Well done!
(Of course you haven't got all the story related trophy ones on PS3, and of course Rapunzel....again....., but who wants to do those again?! lol)

Edited February 21, 2022 by enaysoft

[Guest]

I can't wait for you to finally be destroyed.

[Moridin83]

Update time. I finally beat Obelisk! I got my 5th gold medal several days ago, and as is my pattern, put the story down to continue with Babel. Obelisk is my least favorite so far. Technically in a lot of ways I found it easier than Menhir, but the mystery blocks add an extra level of randomness that I despise with a passion. The fact that a decent run can be unavoidably derailed by surprise spikes/ice/bomb etc. is incredibly frustrating. (Sidenote, If you're planning to play the game and haven't done so yet, please, please don't play the way I am, it's incredibly stupid? I'm dealing with blocks I haven't run into in the main story, and the mid-stage characters are still teaching me new techniques that I should really know before playing the Babel stages.)

 

So now, it's back to the story, and at least I'll know all the techniques I should before tackling Axis Mundi. I doubt I'll have the plat by March 6th, but if I can have Axis Mundi beat by then, there's nothing else that would block the plat, so I'll consider it a victory, as that will also let me keep Catherine for plat #200!?

[ExistentialSolid]

On 2/20/2022 at 10:52 PM, enaysoft said:

Well it's looks like you're done on Both PS4 and PS3 versions of Catherine. Well done!
(Of course you haven't got all the story related trophy ones on PS3, and of course Rapunzel....again....., but who wants to do those again?! lol)

Thanks! Sitting bleary-eyed through another 5 hours of Rapunzel definitely isn't high on my priority list, but I'm sure I'll get it done sooner or later once I get closer to  #250. ? I've still gotta figure out whether I want Catherine or MGS2 as milestone plats.
 

On 2/20/2022 at 11:26 PM, kevao97 said:

I can't wait for you to finally be destroyed.

Maybe I'd get destroyed faster if I put "Please Destroy Me" in my Tinder bio. 
 

On 2/24/2022 at 8:46 PM, Moridin83 said:

Update time. I finally beat Obelisk! I got my 5th gold medal several days ago, and as is my pattern, put the story down to continue with Babel. Obelisk is my least favorite so far. Technically in a lot of ways I found it easier than Menhir, but the mystery blocks add an extra level of randomness that I despise with a passion. The fact that a decent run can be unavoidably derailed by surprise spikes/ice/bomb etc. is incredibly frustrating. (Sidenote, If you're planning to play the game and haven't done so yet, please, please don't play the way I am, it's incredibly stupid I'm dealing with blocks I haven't run into in the main story, and the mid-stage characters are still teaching me new techniques that I should really know before playing the Babel stages.)

 

So now, it's back to the story, and at least I'll know all the techniques I should before tackling Axis Mundi. I doubt I'll have the plat by March 6th, but if I can have Axis Mundi beat by then, there's nothing else that would block the plat, so I'll consider it a victory, as that will also let me keep Catherine for plat #200!

Damn, I thought for sure Obelisk would stop you in your tracks. ? For me, it was Babel's most difficult stage and I can't imagine being able to climb it so soon after meeting the unlock requirements. Props for getting so good at the game so quickly! I guess Catherine just "clicks" with some people.  If your skills keep improving, I'd be curious to see how well you'd do attempting Axis Mundi on Solo. In the US release of Catherine, the tower is bugged and borderline impossible to climb in Solo (Co-op is, thankfully, unaffected). You'd need some serious talent to make it to the top, but your skill trajectory seems to suggest you could get it done if you wanted to with how quickly you've managed everything else. ?

Either way, good luck with Axis Mundi! If nothing's stopped you yet, I can't imagine the last of Babel will slow you down.  

[You]

On 2/26/2022 at 4:44 PM, ExistentialSolid said:

Thanks! Sitting bleary-eyed through another 5 hours of Rapunzel definitely isn't high on my priority list, but I'm sure I'll get it done sooner or later once I get closer to  #250.  I've still gotta figure out whether I want Catherine or MGS2 as milestone plats.

 

I think the PS3 version of Catherine, is maybe a bit harder? Well you could always have Yakuza 3 as your 250th

Elden Ring is turning out to be a super hard game, not sure if you've ever played a Souls game.

[Moridin83]

Deadline update. I finished the story and all gold medals, got 3 ending, and just today hit my goal! Axis Mundi was surprisingly not so bad. It still took me a number of tries, but I think I put in less time than either Menhir or Obelisk. I don't have the platinum yet, but with Babel conquered, there's nothing that can stop me!   Thanks again for the motivation to pull this out of my backlog and actually make progress. This has been a blast!

[ExistentialSolid]

Cloudberry Kingdom and How I Earned "Shenanigans!"

When Super Meat Boy reinvigorated the 2D-platforming genre in 2010 with its tight controls, sadistic flair, and precision-heavy gameplay, a slew of difficult platformers emerged in its wake backed by developers that were determined to capitalize on challenge-hungry players looking for their next fix. Games like Cuphead, Celeste, and Hollow Knight were assembled in part from the blueprints Super Meat Boy left behind and managed to win audiences the world over with unrelenting tough-but-fair gameplay. One game, however, dared to twist the DNA of Super Meat Boy to frightening new extremes... 2013's Cloudberry Kingdom.



Throughout Cloudberry Kingdom's development, Pwnee Studios' Jordan Fisher put together a devious set of algorithms that could, with the help of an AI, procedurally generate platforming levels according to dozens of possible criteria ranging from jump difficulty and hazard type to platform frequency and level theme. With a few tweaks, these algorithms could produce some of the most diabolical levels ever to be featured in a platformer.

While the most fear-inducing creations were relegated to the game's sandbox modes, a small batch of brutal levels burrowed their way into the game's story mode to ambush the player directly. Before we discuss some of these levels in more detail, let's talk about a bit about the game's story mode and introduce the prize waiting for you at the end of it all: the coveted Shenanigans! trophy.  

Absurdity in Motion

Standing tall as Cloudberry Kingdom's flagship single-player offering, the story mode features 320 levels divided into seven chapters. With the exception of chapter 7, each chapter rocks its own theme and obstacle sets alongside 40 challenging levels tailor-made to test your resolve. Reach the end of level 320 and you'll unlock the "Shenanigans!" trophy. As straightforward as this objective may sound on paper, only 30 players have had the determination to push their way to the end on PS3 since the game's release nearly nine years ago...

 

So, what happened?

Was obscurity to blame for such a small pool of completionists? To some extent, sure. The game may have generated a smaller splash than a full-fledged AAA release, but it still enjoyed a substantial amount of coverage from popular gaming news sites (IGN, GameSpot, etc.) and was showcased on many notable YouTube channels like Achievement Hunter and Smosh Games; it even landed a slot in 2015's June PS+ lineup. Did the absence of a platinum trophy discourage players from pushing to the finish line? Maybe. Silver isn't nearly as fashionable as platinum in the trophy hunting sphere, but that alone wouldn't deter players seeking the thrill of a challenge. What's to blame then? The biggest culprit looms in plain sight at the story mode's end: levels 319 and 320.



These levels exist as absurdity incarnate. They reek of the sterility of procedural design and feel decidedly anti-human. They dare the player to dive into the deepest recesses of trial-and-error-based-folly and emerge with their sanity intact. Their blatantly unfair design appears to maliciously probe the player with a single question. "How much shit are you willing to put up with to earn a trophy?" 

In today's update, I'm going to be walking through how I survived levels 319 and 320.

Level 319: A Rolling Masochist's Fever Dream

When level 319 begins, you'll notice the main character is strapped to a rolling wheel. This isn't unusual. You will have played through dozens of levels strapped to this wheel long before you ever reach this point. The wheel's platforming gimmick is momentum. You quickly gain speed if you move in either direction and will continue rolling some distance after letting go of the analog stick or dpad. Subtle movements must be made throughout each level to manage your momentum and keep yourself in control. 

Before I set out with my wheel, I needed to buy two essential power-ups from the in-game store. First was the pathfinder ball. The pathfinder ball projects a safe path for you to follow through the level and includes a handy on-screen indicator of where you should be positioned at each point in time. In replays, you will not see the pathfinder ball in action, so it isn't always obvious that the power-up is in use; if you'd like to see an example of the pathfinder ball in action, I'll leave a quick clip for reference (level 320; credit to Green Z-Saber). Normally, the pathfinder ball is positioned behind player 1. However, if you use a 2nd controller, you can position the pathfinder ball in front of the 2nd player to make precise navigation a little easier (you can read more about this trick in the thread I've linked below). 

 

The second powerup is slow motion. When slow motion is activated, the level operates at 0.5x speed giving you more time to react to environmental hazards and more accurately follow the pathfinder ball through the level. In replays, you can simply slow the replay to 0.5x speed to replicate this powerup's effects. It is highly recommended to use both the pathfinder ball and slow motion in tandem for both levels 319 and 320. A third optional powerup, a repeatedly viewable demonstration of the AI clearing the level, is only useful to players that are not following a reference video and is not necessary unless you have no other option. 

Now that we've got everything setup, I'm going to explain my procedure as best as I can.

Step 1: I began by reading through this thread by ThanatosNinja2. It is by far the most comprehensive guide for levels 319 and 320 out there and includes text-based explanations for each set of jumps throughout the level. 

Step 2: I selected a reference video to mimic. Because I was using ThanatosNinja2's guide, I chose to follow his video for level 319 which I will link here. 

Step 3: Following the path of the pathfinder ball, I worked my way through the level jump by jump.

Given the sheer number of obstacles you can potentially hit during each jump, your momentum, position, and height are all very important. Each jump is precise, but not frame-perfect. As you play, you'll naturally get more consistent at each section of the level even if it takes many, many attempts to get there. What helped me rationalize failure was to treat each jump like a game of stacking probabilities. 

On jump 1, you may initially have a 5% chance of success. Once you've performed that jump hundreds of times, your probability of making that jump successfully may climb to something closer to 95+%. Likewise, for each subsequent jump in the level, your probability of clearing the jump will go up the longer you spend practicing. At the end of your first hour, you probability in clearing the first 10 jumps may look like this:

30% - 15% - 10% - 5% - 3% - 2% - 0% - 0% - 0% - 0%

At the end of your 5th hour, your probability of clearing each of the first 10 jumps might more closely resemble something like this:

90% - 80% - 70% - 60% - 50% - 40% - 30% - 20% - 10% - 5%  

 

Phrased in another, less gibberish-infused, way, "Practice makes perfect." I was always getting better the more time I spent attempting each jump. If I wasn't getting further along in the level, I would at least be making earlier jumps more consistently. If I wasn't making jumps more consistently, I'd take a break or stop for the day (though I made sure to practice at least a little bit each day to keep my muscle memory intact). 

 

Step 4: Whenever a jump was giving me trouble, I would either refer to the text-guide I linked above or closely examine my reference video. Reviewing sections of a level dozens of times helped give me a better idea of what a successful jump would look like. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, take a look at this gif.

 

 

Suppose I'm having trouble jumping from this swinging platform to the cloud below. By watching this jump being performed in the reference video many, many times, you will naturally internalize a better sense of the jump's timing. Using specific hazards as visual cues for when to jump can also help you progress more quickly. For example, in this jump, my eyes were drawn to the swinging yellow spike ball that sweeps across the platform after the jump. When that spike ball turns around and starts approaching me, I knew this moment was roughly the right time to jump. 

Step 5: When the path of the pathfinder ball stopped mid-way through the level, I placed heavier reliance on reference video analysis.

Unlike most other levels in Cloudberry Kingdom, the pathfinder ball will not travel to the end of levels 319 and 320 (in Green Z-Saber's clip I linked above, you can actually see the pathfinder ball's path end in level 320). To continue from the point where it ends, you will need to heavily lean into your reference video's routing and closely examine each new jump. Using the process I detailed in step 4, repeated viewings of each new jump will help you understand how to proceed. I would typically watch my reference video up to two jumps beyond the furthest point I reached in the level before pushing onwards (any more felt excessive) .

Step 6: Grind, grind, grind until you reach the finish. 

 

Staying determined was the most difficult part of the journey. I spent 35 hours and died thousands of times until I eventually reached the end of level 319. Many of those hours felt hellish and miserable, but I placed enough importance on earning the "Shenanigans!" trophy that I was willing to wade through the pain to earn it. The video below is the replay of my successful level 319 run. 

Level 319 Clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BQObhvXkkw

 

 

Level 320: A Petty Thumb War

Leaping from one hell to another, level 320 featured the standard hero instead of the wheel-strapped masochist from the last level. The standard hero is capable of crouching which, up to this point in the game, had very limited use. Crouching in level 320, however, is necessary to avoid various mid-air hazards and to favorably affect the maximum height of certain jumps. Provided you carry enough speed, crouching can also allow you to briefly slide across platforms. The gif below shows off a quick demonstration of this crouch-sliding technique. Because crouch-sliding involves precise diagonal movements, I opted to use the dpad for this level as my experience with the analog stick (which I used from levels 1-319) felt too inconsistent.


 

Even if the use of the dpad helped improve consistency, it also introduced its own set of problems. Besides the awkwardness of using the tip of my thumb to press dpad left and the middle of my thumb to press dpad down to perform a diagonal input, the repeated motion quickly started to cause finger pain. But I couldn't just stop. I was already in too deep.

After purchasing the pathfinder ball and the slow motion power-ups, steps 1-6 were repeated to clear level 320, this time involving approximately 25 hours of practice (and worrying amounts of thumb pain) instead of the 35 that 319 required. Here's the final video of me finishing level 320 and earning the "Shenanigans!" trophy after 60 hard-fought hours across two utterly inhuman levels. 

Level 320 Clear + "Shenanigans!" Trophy Pop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNXd7aYU7Iw   

What's Next?
For some of you, this update may have come out of left field! Sorry for any confusion. ? I had been planning to write about my experience with Cloudberry Kingdom for months, since I originally finished it back in June of 2021, but, because my motivation to write was nowhere to be seen at the time, I kept putting it off. Before I forgot everything, I wanted to try my best to at least outline my process in tackling levels 319 and 320 in this update.

I know this was a long one, but thank you for reading! ? This will probably be my last update for the next several months, but I'll still be tackling difficult games here and there in the Discord server I'm hosting. Right now, we're got a crew of 4 playing Neon Drive and we may be starting Verlet Swing soon! If you'd like to hangout, you're all welcome to visit.   

Discord Server Invite Link: https://discord.gg/7dBUczdXh5
If you'd rather be friends on Discord, please feel free to add me at Solid#9831. 
 

On 2/28/2022 at 2:12 AM, enaysoft said:

I think the PS3 version of Catherine, is maybe a bit harder? Well you could always have Yakuza 3 as your 250th

Elden Ring is turning out to be a super hard game, not sure if you've ever played a Souls game.

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to trying Elden Ring! ? The reviews for it have been nuts and it doesn't look like the differences between the PS4/PS5 versions are that significant, so it might be worth picking up before I get a PS5. If I end up loving it, maybe it'll make for a great option for #250. ?
 

On 3/6/2022 at 11:13 PM, Moridin83 said:

Deadline update. I finished the story and all gold medals, got 3 ending, and just today hit my goal! Axis Mundi was surprisingly not so bad. It still took me a number of tries, but I think I put in less time than either Menhir or Obelisk. I don't have the platinum yet, but with Babel conquered, there's nothing that can stop me!   Thanks again for the motivation to pull this out of my backlog and actually make progress. This has been a blast!

 
No, thank you for joining in! I would have been 20x more embarrassed if no one played along. ? Congrats on making it through Babel and I hope you enjoy plat #200! I was actually minutes away from locking my thread, so I'm glad I got to see you clear Axis Mundi before I closed up. Your climbing skills really are insane considering how quickly you managed to climb Babel!  

----

Thanks again everyone! 
You've all been awesome! 

Edited March 9, 2022 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

An Endless Road Filled With Detours 
Hey everyone! It's been awhile! It's kinda hard to believe my last update was posted over 8 months ago. If you count the time I spent away last year, I think this thread's been locked up even longer than it's been open... ?
 

But you know what? That's okay! For some of us, motivation comes and goes like the seasons and it'd be silly to beat myself up over something I'm not able to control. With that said, I feel refreshed and ready to get destroyed some more! Whether you're brand new here or have been around for ages, welcome and thank you for stopping by! I have two important announcements that I'd like to go over before we dive back into things, so let's get to it!

Announcement #1 - Expanding Our Scope and Changing the Rules
While I was away, I started rethinking what I, as a reader, would want to experience vicariously through a trophy checklist. The struggle against difficult games can be exciting—don't get me wrong—but I'm not convinced it's the only thrill worth reading about. Lately, I've been itching to see more players venture into uncharted waters... I want to see trophies that might be unobtainable, levels of difficulty that are totally unknown, and so little reference material at one's disposal that they're essentially on their own. I want the excitement of discovery, the satisfaction of seeing someone pave their own path, and the dismay of being blindsided by the unexpected.

Unfortunately, games that check any of these boxes are few and far between. Worse still, many of these games are piles of steaming hot garbage supreme. So, how do we distinguish between games worth exploring and games that aren't? By outsourcing of course! Is there a niche indie out there that piques your interest? Are you hesitant to chance your completion rate on a game that may have impossible trophies? Maybe you're busy and don't wanna spend all that extra time investigating the unknown? What if you just want to send your local masochist on a wild goose chase to see what happens? Well, have I got the thread for you!

Starting today, I'm going to be starting a second nomination list for games that are obscure, have a small (or nonexistent) pool of completionists, or might very well be impossible. As with my original nomination list on the front page of this thread, anyone is welcome to nominate a single PS4 game (excluding VR) that they believe meets these requirements and I'll add their game to the list of contenders! Depending on the number of nominations we receive, we'll then conduct a 1-2 stage poll to determine which of these games you all are the most interested in checking out.

To give you a rough idea of what I'm looking for, here are a few quick examples:
1. Pressure Overdrive (1 completion / limited info)
2. Brick Breaker (0 completions / probably hot garbage, seemingly impossible?)
3. Moon Hunters (18 combined completions / limited info)
4. Where Are My Friends? (3 combined completions / limited info)
5. Fight'N Rage (21 combined completions / limited info)
6. Scintillatron 4096 (0 completions / impossible?)

The new nomination list will display on the front page of this thread alongside the unaltered original list and players are welcome to contribute to both lists and/or change their nominated games (1 per list) at any time. I know I've been gone for a long time, so, in the case that we receive no nominations on the newer list, I'll put together a short list of games I'm interested in and conduct a poll based around those. 
 

While we're on the subject of our original nomination list, I think it's about time we let loose a little. There will no longer be any nomination restrictions based on genre, unobtainable trophies, or length. However, if any nominated game is expected to last 200+ hours, I'll commit to the first 100 hours before we collectively decide whether the game is worth continuing (I don't want a repeat of The Binding of Isaac if I can help it).

Announcement #2 - It's Time I Confronted My White Whale
As we wait for nominations to come in, I'd like to set everything aside and take you all with me on a more personal journey. After all, if there's one thing that has defined my checklist up to this point, it's my love for detours. 
 

Several years ago, before I dove headfirst into the world of trophy hunting, I was hopelessly obsessed with a rhythm game called Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone. I picked up the game without any real ambition (at the time, I kinda just wanted to play well enough to enjoy my favorite songs without bumping heads with the "game over" screen), but it didn't take long before the taste of success started to reshape my palette.
 

Once I discovered that practice *actually does* make perfect, I wanted to push myself as far I could physically go and make my mark among the game's very best. Months of hard work and a growing pile of broken controllers at my feet eventually landed me into the Western "Clear%" top 10 for the game's Extreme (FS / CS) and Extra Extreme (FS / CS (2019)) categories. If you're not sure what "Clear%" is, don't worry! We'll talk about it in more detail in my next update.

While I've managed to just barely cling onto my top 10 positions for Extreme difficulty despite my trophy hunting habit, I've since fallen into the top 20 on Extra Extreme. The reason for my decline can largely be attributed to lack of motivation and my inability to earn a "Perfect" in one particular song. See, in the 1200+ hours I've spent playing the game, I've earned a "Perfect" (known in most other rhythm games as a "full combo") on all 252 songs on Extreme difficulty, but only managed to earn a Perfect on 121/122 songs on Extra Extreme difficulty... 

The "N" column represents all uncleared songs, while the "P" column represents all "Perfected" songs.
 

My missing Perfect, excluding the Easy and Normal difficulties, comes courtesy of the hardest official chart in the Project DIVA series: The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku (Extra Extreme). I'm not alone either. Players with thousands of hours under their belts have crumbled under the song's absurd level of difficulty and less than 20 have achieved this Perfect on the English version of the game. If you're still skeptical, maybe a few seconds of footage will convince you (heck, here's the whole thing if you're curious).

I lost all hope around the time I started taking trophy hunting more seriously... 

I've spent my years as a trophy hunter locked in a never ending battle between "Should I go back?" and "Should I move on?", but I know as long as this question lingers unanswered, I'll never find peace. If I'm ever going to do this, it needs to happen now. Even though I've played off and on in the years since, my skills are starting to rust and I'll only get worse the longer I procrastinate. I've been trying to psyche myself up for months to get this started and figured it'd be best to document my progress here if I want to keep myself motivated.

In the following updates, I'm going to be breaking down the Extra Extreme version of Intense Voice section by section while discussing possible strategies, button configurations, and scoring tactics while trying my best to keep things beginner friendly. I'm also going to try to regain my place among the top 10 in all four of the Clear% categories I used to compete in. There will be no trophies at stake, but, should I succeed, it will be far and away the proudest moment in my gaming career...

Thank you all for reading! In the next few days, I'll be posting my "Plan of Attack" for Intense Voice (EXEX) where I'll properly introduce the song and outline what you can expect from each upcoming update. I'm excited to take you all along on this new journey and I'm looking forward to seeing what sorts of obscure oddities you'll throw my way in our new nomination list! ?    

[Destructor-8]

8 minutes ago, ExistentialSolid said:

An Endless Road Filled With Detours 
Hey everyone! It's been awhile! It's kinda hard to believe my last update was posted over 8 months ago. If you count the time I spent away last year, I think this thread's been locked up even longer than it's been open... 

While I was away, I started rethinking what I, as a reader, would want to experience vicariously through a trophy checklist. The struggle against difficult games can be exciting—don't get me wrong—but I'm not convinced it's the only thrill worth reading about. Lately, I've been itching to see more players venture into uncharted waters... I want to see trophies that might be unobtainable, levels of difficulty that are totally unknown, and so little reference material at one's disposal that they're essentially on their own. I want the excitement of discovery, the satisfaction of seeing someone pave their own path, and the dismay of being blindsided by the unexpected.

 

It's nice you're back. I remember awhile back when a few of you were going for a few unknown games & you managed to finish those which was cool, so it'd be interesting to follow more of those.

[Slava]

Welcome back ?

 

1 hour ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Hey everyone! It's been awhile! It's kinda hard to believe my last update was posted over 8 months ago. If you count the time I spent away last year, I think this thread's been locked up even longer than it's been open... 
 

But you know what? That's okay! For some of us, motivation comes and goes like the seasons and it'd be silly to beat myself up over something I'm not able to control. With that said, I feel refreshed and ready to get destroyed some more! Whether you're brand new here or have been around for ages, welcome and thank you for stopping by! I have two important announcements that I'd like to go over before we dive back into things, so let's get to it!

 

Yeah, it does happen, indeed.

 

I have been noticing how sometimes regular PSNP posters disappear for a while. Some come back, some don't (or at least have not yet). 

 

The uncharted territory idea sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I can't contribute much, I don't follow rare games. But I'll be checking the progress ?.

 

And good luck with Miku!