ExistentialSolid's "Please Destroy Me" Detour

[ExistentialSolid]

On 1/6/2021 at 8:45 PM, Xenoblast91 said:

Just one day out and almost +10 notifications about the thread. It is fun to read this encyclopedia of pain and sorrow and how really enjoy it, LOL.

 

Was thinking a bit, and can I would nominate Dragon Age: Inquisition? My cousin has it and haven't even play it in long ago. Reading the guide sounds challenging and could be a potential entry in the poll... may be. 

 

By the way, I admit defeat. I couldn't beat your time in Cuphead my dude. Honestly, I tried and trained a lot to push towards your 10 hours run but, pft. I suck at speedrunning, but I hope to finish it by the weekend any way. There it goes through the toilet my world record leaderboard position of one of my most favorites games. Anyway, let's see what happens later. For my defense I can say that I'm performing way better than when I started it the first time, haha. 

 

Good luck my buddy in the last part of Ikaruga!  

Thanks!  I'm glad you're enjoying the thread so far!

Dragon Age: Inquisition looks exciting; I haven't played a fantasy action-RPG in forever and had no idea DA:I was supposed to be that difficult! If the trophy guide is any indication, it seems like it will definitely present a challenge. I've added it to the nomination list!

I wouldn't lose hope and admit defeat with Cuphead just yet. You can always try again with an alt once you have the confidence to pull it off! Something you could try, if you haven't already, is completing several full runs of the game on fresh saves (making sure to fulfill the requirements for the platinum each run) and seeing how low you can push your time before committing to an actual 2nd attempt at leaderboard glory. You could even set your sights higher and aim for a sub-8 hour run if you get consistent enough at each of the bosses. A-rank practice is great but I'd especially focus on expert mode as I lost tons of time there dying to some of the more difficult bosses. If you really want it, I know you can do it. You've just gotta practice! 

Edited January 9, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

Ikaruga Progress Update #4

Which trophies have you earned?
Grade-Specific Trophies: (Awarded for earning an A, S, and S++ grade on chapter 4)
Tell me about them!

Here it is, the 2nd hardest chapter in the game: chapter 4. This chapter was grueling; the number of times I've died In the laser wheel desperately trying to chain everything together was ridiculous and I'm glad to have finally escaped. In the end, after roughly 15 hours of practice and route studying, everything came together spectacularly and I couldn't have asked for a better result. Here's the video of my successful S++ run of chapter 4!
 

[Special thanks to Floriiss and Danny Johansen for their respective chapter 4 S++ videos that I used as references for my own run!]

Okay, first, we need to address the spinning-laser-wheel-of-death.


(https://imgur.com/l2oF1Dq - Here's the link for the gif in case it doesn't load!)

Besides being utterly intimidating, the difficulty here comes from having to juggle three seemingly simple things while inside the wheel: your polarity (color), your position relative to the lasers, and your position relative to the enemies you need to chain together. On the surface, this doesn't sound particularly demanding, but, in practice, all three work together to overwhelm you in seconds. Improvisation is generally ineffective inside the wheel as small deviations from the route you are studying will typically result in a swift death or a broken chain. The path forward is rigidly laid out and nailing these sections will require as much consistency in your movement as you can manage. 
 

Due to the rigid nature of progression, much of your time will not be spent playing the level but obsessively watching and re-watching whichever reference material you're using to painstakingly note the details of the route ahead. Dozens of nonsensical little mental notes float around in my head as I play like, "when the red laser in front of you bends after chain 47, switch polarity and back up" or "when you reach chains 30 and 43, immediately burn your energy meter."  It is only with practice that these mental notes become internalized as part of a cohesive muscle memory framework you will use to brute force your way to the S++ grade. Every last detail must be absorbed and practiced ad nauseum but the satisfaction of watching yourself dominate a chapter is always worth it in the end.

Since we're on the topic of memorization, I think it's important to bring up something that, while common sense to some, will speed up your rate of progression dramatically: nonlinear memorization. It can be tempting to learn the chapter in chronological order and only practice whatever is next up on the docket. By that, I mean you may focus on one section of the chapter at a time and restart it as soon as you fail. What tends to happen, however, is that you'll develop extreme levels of consistently for those early sections of the level while the later sections become a series of time-consuming stumbling blocks because you haven't focused on them earlier. To save time, try to practice 2-3 sections per run. Sections that are near the end of a chapter especially take minutes to reach so becoming more familiar with them early on could potentially save you hours of practice.  

Now, let's take a look at these little monsters.


(https://imgur.com/o7dEZ8v - Here's the link for the gif in case it doesn't load!)

My gameplay here is a good example of what happens when you neglect late-chapter practice. Even though I successfully chain these turrets together in the footage, you can see the hesitation in my movement and the sloppy aftermath that results (kills were too slow and there were several close calls suggesting I lucked out). It takes about 3 minutes to reach this section and you can tell I hadn't practiced very much prior to this run as all the confidence I display in the first few minutes is nowhere to be found. While not terribly difficult in comparison to the death-wheel, these turrets stalled my progress for several hours because I focused too heavily on practicing the first half of the chapter.

What's next?
I'm excited to finally face Ikaruga's most notorious challenge: chapter 3. Whether this takes me 5 hours to learn or 50, I intend to see this game through to the end! The co-op 1CC will hopefully be happening in the next several days alongside practice for chapter 3 so there is still a lot of work to be done.
The next progress update will be posted on January 13th! Thank you all for sticking with me and see you again soon!

Edited January 13, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[You]

Ikaruga is so beautiful, the music and sound is also brilliant.

 

However, it gives me heart palpitations while I watch, like watching some guy on a tightrope who is about to fall off. Even though this is your prerecorded success, it still makes me nervous to watch.

 

Well done man! The big daddy of them all STAGE 3!

[Eqill5]

You know, having watched your run of Chapter 4 it’s safe to say I have absolutely no idea what’s going on there ? I’ve never played a game of this genre, however I can appreciate just how difficult it must be to string all of that together and the dedication it takes to practice until completion. Good work, and go get C3! 
 

The updates are excellent quality btw!

[You]

The game can be summarised in,

 

- You can switch to be black or white ship, when you are white you absorb white bullets (filling up your bomb gauge) and die from black bullets, and vice versa when you are black ship.

- If you shoot a black ship while white ship you double damage, and vice versa.(Useful on bosses)

- You get a combo each time you shoot either 3 white or black, in a row. Therefore to keep your combo going you need multiplies of three.

b, b, b, w, w, w, b, b, b, b, b, b etc. If you shoot only two and then change colour, you lose ALL your combo. This is the hard part, you need to memorise the entire level and gets the whole stage in 3s.

[ExistentialSolid]

14 hours ago, enaysoft said:

Ikaruga is so beautiful, the music and sound is also brilliant.

 

However, it gives me heart palpitations while I watch, like watching some guy on a tightrope who is about to fall off. Even though this is your prerecorded success, it still makes me nervous to watch.

 

Well done man! The big daddy of them all STAGE 3!

Oh, the music is incredible. Even during practice I sometimes get chills when a run is going well and the music starts to swell in the background.  

Haha, I can definitely understand that feeling.  In this case, after being the guy that fell off the tightrope a few hundred times, I can only watch these runs back with relief. In the moment though, I can tell you my heart was pounding as soon as I got a fully chained run past those turrets! 

Thank you! I'll give stage 3 my best! 
 

14 hours ago, Eqill5 said:

You know, having watched your run of Chapter 4 it’s safe to say I have absolutely no idea what’s going on there ? I’ve never played a game of this genre, however I can appreciate just how difficult it must be to string all of that together and the dedication it takes to practice until completion. Good work, and go get C3! 
 

The updates are excellent quality btw!

Thank you, that really means a lot! ? 

I didn't really understand what was going on either at first. ? Much of my experience with Ikaruga has been me staring in awe at someone else's run and wondering how in the world I'm supposed to mimic something that I barely understand in the first place.

Admittedly, Ikaruga can be pretty confusing for a shmup but a lot of the madness starts to subside once you dive in and start practicing. I'm sure you're no stranger to madness yourself though considering you can blast through games like Cloudberry Kingdom (levels 319 and 320 look absolutely ridiculous). Congrats on surviving 319 and good luck with 320 btw! I'll try my best with C3 in the meantime!

Edited January 10, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[Eqill5]

5 hours ago, enaysoft said:

The game can be summarised in,

Thanks for explaining this, having rewatched it knowing how things work has helped me understand but it’s no less chaotic haha!

 

2 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

*snip*

I can relate to that, watching gameplay or reaching a level for first time can sometimes be daunting, it was like that on CBK. You think to yourself “how the hell am I supposed to do this” but as soon as you start physically doing it on your own it becomes much clearer.

 

Thanks for the encouragement! I have had to take a break from the barrage of fireballs and lasers for a while but will return to the challenge soon! 

[da-Noob123]

On 1/7/2021 at 3:51 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

Thanks!  I'm glad you're enjoying the thread so far!

Dragon Age: Inquisition looks exciting; I haven't played a fantasy action-RPG in forever and had no idea DA:I was supposed to be that difficult! If the trophy guide is any indication, it seems like it will definitely present a challenge. I've added it to the nomination list!

I wouldn't lose hope and admit defeat with Cuphead just yet. You can always try again with an alt once you have the confidence to pull it off! Something you could try, if you haven't already, is completing several full runs of the game on fresh saves (making sure to fulfill the requirements for the platinum each run) and seeing how low you can push your time before committing to an actual 2nd attempt at leaderboard glory. You could even set your sights higher and aim for a sub-8 hour run if you get consistent enough at each of the bosses. A-rank practice is great but I'd especially focus on expert mode as I lost tons of time there dying to some of the more difficult bosses. If you really want it, I know you can do it. You've just gotta practice! 

 

First, you masochist, lol, this is an intriguing thread idea.

 

DA:I is a great game but only really challenging on Nightmare (very hard) but only in the beginning- say first 10-20 hours especially if it is your first run. You can apply modifiers (introduced with the last DLC) too if you really want to traumatize yourself. 

 

As for a game suggestion why not go back to MGS4 if you still have it, even if it is just for the Big Boss Emblem as the 8 minimum playthroughs needed can be tedious and if you can do the BBE everything is just a formality.

[ExistentialSolid]

3 hours ago, da-Noob123 said:

 

First, you masochist, lol, this is an intriguing thread idea.

 

DA:I is a great game but only really challenging on Nightmare (very hard) but only in the beginning- say first 10-20 hours especially if it is your first run. You can apply modifiers (introduced with the last DLC) too if you really want to traumatize yourself. 

 

As for a game suggestion why not go back to MGS4 if you still have it, even if it is just for the Big Boss Emblem as the 8 minimum playthroughs needed can be tedious and if you can do the BBE everything is just a formality.

Thanks, I'm glad you like the idea! ?

Haha, well, as tempting as an extra dose of DA:I traumatization sounds, my masochism doesn't usually extend to challenges that aren't rewarded with shiny trophies so I will probably be staying far away from those modifiers! It's nice to hear that Nightmare will be a challenge though (at least initially).

I've been tempted to go back to both MGS4 and MGS2 for their platinum trophies so returning to 4 may very well happen some day. I've never completed a "perfect" run of any MGS game but I've always imagined how satisfying it must feel to get one done especially considering some of the ridiculously intimidating requirements for success. A Big Boss Emblem run alone requires the player to: finish the game in less than 5 hours, use 0 continues, use 0 health items, 0 alerts, 0 kills, no special items, and to play on Boss Extreme mode. I'd probably need to play MGS4 at least a few times anyway to reacquaint myself with the controls/level layouts and to earn some of the recommended essentials for the BBE run like the Solar Gun so I'm sure the tedium of 8 playthroughs will be softened a bit by all the practice required to get that particular run done anyway. MGS4 was a masterpiece so I hope I get around to platting it someday (congrats on earning the platinum yourself!).  

Edited January 10, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[freeman4200]

Wow mgs4 sounds traumatic to go for the plat. I'm clearing lots of backlog and games I want to play but I will finish my nightmare dragon age playthrough another day for that shiny plat. I have many games close to platinum but I've always never wanted to hate playing a game so I wait til the game sounds fun to play again and try to get any remaining trophies. Issac is the only game that will never get boring for me. 

 

Anyways...glad to see you've made progress. Shouldn't be long! 

[da-Noob123]

8 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Thanks, I'm glad you like the idea! 

Haha, well, as tempting as an extra dose of DA:I traumatization sounds, my masochism doesn't usually extend to challenges that aren't rewarded with shiny trophies so I will probably be staying far away from those modifiers! It's nice to hear that Nightmare will be a challenge though (at least initially).

I've been tempted to go back to both MGS4 and MGS2 for their platinum trophies so returning to 4 may very well happen some day. I've never completed a "perfect" run of any MGS game but I've always imagined how satisfying it must feel to get one done especially considering some of the ridiculously intimidating requirements for success. A Big Boss Emblem run alone requires the player to: finish the game in less than 5 hours, use 0 continues, use 0 health items, 0 alerts, 0 kills, no special items, and to play on Boss Extreme mode. I'd probably need to play MGS4 at least a few times anyway to reacquaint myself with the controls/level layouts and to earn some of the recommended essentials for the BBE run like the Solar Gun so I'm sure the tedium of 8 playthroughs will be softened a bit by all the practice required to get that particular run done anyway. MGS4 was a masterpiece so I hope I get around to platting it someday (congrats on earning the platinum yourself!).  

There are 10 "trials" and each has its own trophy. ☠ But seriously some should not be paired with Nightmare.

 

When I did the BBE I did the 40 hr run first and got the solar gun and maxed out all non-lethal ammo for my BBE run. Then I found an amazing video guide with commentary to follow. Managed a time of 2:25 I think then mopped up the other 6 runs.

 

Thank you, getting the BBE was one of my proudest moments in gaming. I wanted to platinum the whole MGS series but those VR challenges in MGS2 sucked the life out of me and I quit about 75% in. And Peace Walker, I couldn't beat the  first boss battle with the tank and I disliked the short mission structure (truly a portable game for the Vita imo) so I abandoned it. 3 was by far the easiest and 5 was a grind and also only 2/3 complete sadly.

 

7 hours ago, freeman4200 said:

Wow mgs4 sounds traumatic to go for the plat. I'm clearing lots of backlog and games I want to play but I will finish my nightmare dragon age playthrough another day for that shiny plat. I have many games close to platinum but I've always never wanted to hate playing a game so I wait til the game sounds fun to play again and try to get any remaining trophies. Issac is the only game that will never get boring for me. 

 

Anyways...glad to see you've made progress. Shouldn't be long! 

The hardest part on Nightmare is the trebuchet part before finding Skyhold, once you get past that hump you are well on your way to getting your specialization which makes your run so much easier. I platinumed the PS3&4 editions and since I prefer being a  mage did it  as a Knight Enchanter both times so OP unless it was patched. 

[ExistentialSolid]

7 hours ago, freeman4200 said:

Wow mgs4 sounds traumatic to go for the plat. I'm clearing lots of backlog and games I want to play but I will finish my nightmare dragon age playthrough another day for that shiny plat. I have many games close to platinum but I've always never wanted to hate playing a game so I wait til the game sounds fun to play again and try to get any remaining trophies. Issac is the only game that will never get boring for me. 

 

Anyways...glad to see you've made progress. Shouldn't be long! 

Playing whatever sounds fun in the moment is the healthiest way to game so I wouldn't worry; as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's the important thing. Good luck clearing out your backlog (hopefully your backlog is more manageable than mine)!

Thanks! Things are going well with chapter 3 so far so it should just be a matter of time. ?

 

29 minutes ago, da-Noob123 said:

There are 10 "trials" and each has its own trophy. But seriously some should not be paired with Nightmare.

 

When I did the BBE I did the 40 hr run first and got the solar gun and maxed out all non-lethal ammo for my BBE run. Then I found an amazing video guide with commentary to follow. Managed a time of 2:25 I think then mopped up the other 6 runs.

 

Thank you, getting the BBE was one of my proudest moments in gaming. I wanted to platinum the whole MGS series but those VR challenges in MGS2 sucked the life out of me and I quit about 75% in. And Peace Walker, I couldn't beat the  first boss battle with the tank and I disliked the short mission structure (truly a portable game for the Vita imo) so I abandoned it. 3 was by far the easiest and 5 was a grind and also only 2/3 complete sadly.

I'll probably take the coward's way out and earn the modifier-related trophies on an easier difficulty then if I end up playing DA:I.  

That sounds like a good approach to take for MGS4's trophies, especially if you want to mop up some of the miscellaneous ones. Whoa, that must have been a seriously great video guide! A 2:25 is way below that 5 hour threshold. 

What were the VR challenges like? I'm usually a fan of short but difficult pick-up-and-play challenges so I assumed they would be the most enjoyable part of earning the platinum but I'd start to worry if they were one of the weakest components of the game. I couldn't get into Peace Walker either though I think it was either the gameplay or the story that drove me away since I remember not minding the short mission structure.

[da-Noob123]

5 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Playing whatever sounds fun in the moment is the healthiest way to game so I wouldn't worry; as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's the important thing. Good luck clearing out your backlog (hopefully your backlog is more manageable than mine)!

Thanks! Things are going well with chapter 3 so far so it should just be a matter of time. 

 

I'll probably take the coward's way out and earn the modifier-related trophies on an easier difficulty then if I end up playing DA:I.  

That sounds like a good approach to take for MGS4's trophies, especially if you want to mop up some of the miscellaneous ones. Whoa, that must have been a seriously great video guide! A 2:25 is way below that 5 hour threshold. 

What were the VR challenges like? I'm usually a fan of short but difficult pick-up-and-play challenges so I assumed they would be the most enjoyable part of earning the platinum but I'd start to worry if they were one of the weakest components of the game. I couldn't get into Peace Walker either though I think it was either the gameplay or the story that drove me away since I remember not minding the short mission structure.

As I recall, if you do a Nightmare run first you will only need 1.5 playthroughs for 100% assuming you have the DLC's and combine trials correctly. 

 

Yes the guide was amazing! So many pointers, like one that I specifically remember: there is an area in the 1st chapter where you can knock a guard into another one and then stun the 1st guard and since he is touching the 2nd guard they both got stunned. You can literally get through Shadow Moses in under 20 minutes with chaff grenades, the solar gun, and the rail gun. But nothing makes the bike chase easy that is where the boys become men lol..

 

The VR challenges went from easy to very hard, they have several characters and each has a set to complete. For me the controls were hampering me severely, like some you have to hold up a guards on the map. Easy enough right? Wrong, MGS2 uses the same button to hold up and shoot. Partial press is to hold up a full press fires the gun - you end shooting a lot of guards and then failing. The are gauntlet modes, sniper modes, etc. Each more challenging than the last. I burned through almost 200 I think but hit a wall that I did not feel was worth surmounting any longer and let it go.

[ExistentialSolid]

2 hours ago, da-Noob123 said:

As I recall, if you do a Nightmare run first you will only need 1.5 playthroughs for 100% assuming you have the DLC's and combine trials correctly. 

 

Yes the guide was amazing! So many pointers, like one that I specifically remember: there is an area in the 1st chapter where you can knock a guard into another one and then stun the 1st guard and since he is touching the 2nd guard they both got stunned. You can literally get through Shadow Moses in under 20 minutes with chaff grenades, the solar gun, and the rail gun. But nothing makes the bike chase easy that is where the boys become men lol..

 

The VR challenges went from easy to very hard, they have several characters and each has a set to complete. For me the controls were hampering me severely, like some you have to hold up a guards on the map. Easy enough right? Wrong, MGS2 uses the same button to hold up and shoot. Partial press is to hold up a full press fires the gun - you end shooting a lot of guards and then failing. The are gauntlet modes, sniper modes, etc. Each more challenging than the last. I burned through almost 200 I think but hit a wall that I did not feel was worth surmounting any longer and let it go.

Sounds like it's definitely worth playing on Nightmare from the outset if I want to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time in DA:I. I'll just have to get good! Depending on how many trials need to be tacked onto the Nightmare run, I may opt for 2-2.5 playthroughs though just to prevent some headache. 

If I end up returning to MGS4 someday, checking that video guide out is a must. I think it's an unwritten rule somewhere that sections where a player is shooting from a bike/car/helicopter are always going to be brutally difficult on the hardest difficulty . 

Ah, I see. I remember the controls being finicky for MGS2 so I guess it's no surprise that it adds to the difficulty of the VR challenges.  If I can get over the controls hurdle, I'm still optimistic that the challenges would be enjoyable (for me at least) but I guess I won't know for sure until I pick it up again. Hopefully my PS3 survives long enough to see that day.

[da-Noob123]

14 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Sounds like it's definitely worth playing on Nightmare from the outset if I want to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time in DA:I. I'll just have to get good! Depending on how many trials need to be tacked onto the Nightmare run, I may opt for 2-2.5 playthroughs though just to prevent some headache. 

If I end up returning to MGS4 someday, checking that video guide out is a must. I think it's an unwritten rule somewhere that sections where a player is shooting from a bike/car/helicopter are always going to be brutally difficult on the hardest difficulty . 

Ah, I see. I remember the controls being finicky for MGS2 so I guess it's no surprise that it adds to the difficulty of the VR challenges.  If I can get over the controls hurdle, I'm still optimistic that the challenges would be enjoyable (for me at least) but I guess I won't know for sure until I pick it up again. Hopefully my PS3 survives long enough to see that day.

You've got some tough games under your belt already that equal these mostly if not harder. Keep in mind DA:I can take over a 100 hours if you do everything (I loved every second, DA is one my all time favorites) but if you streamline it for trophies it would be shorter by at least 20 hours. 

 

Took a trip down memory lane to the old .org trophy site, it finally got a face-lift. I  will DM you the link as I try to not promote other sites on here. And my time was actually 2:35:35, but it has been 8 years since I accomplished it so I can be forgiven ?.  Good luck on whatever you choose to work on next!

Edited January 11, 2021 by da-Noob123
Typos

[Trumpet_Boi_208]

Your masochism and perseverance, despite inexperience has inspired me to harbor enough masochism to attempt an ultra-difficult platinum myself. Great job so far with Ikaruga! 

[ExistentialSolid]

11 hours ago, da-Noob123 said:

You've got some tough games under your belt already that equal these mostly if not harder. Keep in mind DA:I can take over a 100 hours if you do everything (I loved every second, DA is one my all time favorites) but if you streamline for trophies it would be shorter by at least 20 hours. 

 

Took a trip down memory to the  old .org trophy site, it finally got a face-lift. I  will DM you the link as I try to not promote other sites on here. And my time was actually 2:35:35, but it has been 8 years since I accomplished it so I  can be forgiven .  Good luck on whatever you choose to work on next!

That's understandable, DA:I does look like a beefy game (not to mention all the DLC) so I'll be sure to expect a serious commitment if the game wins a poll in the future. 

I checked out the video guide you sent and it looks fantastic; I'll definitely use it if I go back for MGS4's platinum! Thank you! ? (2:35:35 is still nuts btw!) 

 

9 hours ago, Trumpet_Boi_208 said:

Your masochism and perseverance, despite inexperience has inspired me to harbor enough masochism to attempt an ultra-difficult platinum myself. Great job so far with Ikaruga! 

Thank you!  That's great to hear! Which ultra-difficult platinum are you attempting to earn?

[Trumpet_Boi_208]

2 hours ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Thank you!  That's great to hear! Which ultra-difficult platinum are you attempting to earn?

I’m attempting the platinum for Tetris Effect. The main points of concern here would be the 70 second sprint, because that requires an ungodly degree of speed to do, as well as the Master Effect mode, since tetriminos drop at top speed. Expert Journey also worries me, but is not as scary as Sprint and Master. Likely not as difficult as other 10/10 platinums here, such as Ikaruga, or SMB, but still a rock-hard challenge regardless.

[ExistentialSolid]

4 hours ago, Trumpet_Boi_208 said:

I’m attempting the platinum for Tetris Effect. The main points of concern here would be the 70 second sprint, because that requires an ungodly degree of speed to do, as well as the Master Effect mode, since tetriminos drop at top speed. Expert Journey also worries me, but is not as scary as Sprint and Master. Likely not as difficult as other 10/10 platinums here, such as Ikaruga, or SMB, but still a rock-hard challenge regardless.

Nice, you've certainly picked a good platinum to go for! Based on some of the estimates I've seen, Tetris Effect players will often require 200-300+ hours to develop the skill needed to earn the platinum (if you're new to Tetris like me) so, personally, I would say Tetris Effect easily stands toe-to-toe with SMB and Ikaruga in terms of difficulty based on the sheer amount of time required to sufficiently sharpen those Tetris skills. In fact, I think a strong case could be made for it being more difficult than either game. Good luck and don't give up! Let me know once you've earned that platinum! 

[Trumpet_Boi_208]

1 hour ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Nice, you've certainly picked a good platinum to go for! Based on some of the estimates I've seen, Tetris Effect players will often require 200-300+ hours to develop the skill needed to earn the platinum (if you're new to Tetris like me) so, personally, I would say Tetris Effect easily stands toe-to-toe with SMB and Ikaruga in terms of difficulty based on the sheer amount of time required to sufficiently sharpen those Tetris skills. In fact, I think a strong case could be made for it being more difficult than either game. Good luck and don't give up! Let me know once you've earned that platinum! 

I think that even if you were a god at modern Tetris, you’d still spend 200 hours grinding away at 1,000,000 tetrimino spins and reaching level 100, so I assume that those two grindy trophies will unlock naturally while building the skill necessary for every possible SS Rank. I’m not new to the game, but I’m not very experienced with the game enough to consider myself a veteran. I played a Tetris game on the Nintendo DS, but my best sprint time was roughly 2 minutes (my current best sprint time in Effect is 1:44), so I’ve still got a long way to go to a 70 second sprint. Thank you for the kind words, and good luck on chapter 3 in Ikaruga!

[Vergil]

Noticed you got Hardcorps. Need to finish that game! Its awesome. If you need a partner for the co-op trophy let me know

Edited January 11, 2021 by Vergil

[ExistentialSolid]

15 hours ago, Vergil said:

Noticed you got Hardcorps. Need to finish that game! Its awesome. If you need a partner for the co-op trophy let me know

It's been so long, I'd completely forgotten about Hardcorps! That would be another great PS3 game to finish sometime in the future. I think I still have it installed too from when I last played. I'm unsure when I'll be playing any PS3 games in the near future, but when I do, I'll definitely keep your offer in mind! Thanks! ?

Edited January 12, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

Ikaruga Progress Update #5

Which trophies have you earned?
Grade-Specific Trophies: (Awarded for earning an A rank on chapter 3)
Co-op Trophies: (Awarded for completing 3 chapters in co-op without using a continue and for completing a 1CC in co-op)

Tell me about them!

If chapter 4 was a grueling memorization gauntlet, then chapter 3 is a thrilling test of precision. The route itself is simple enough; the difficulty lies in its execution. High-speed sections, tricky enemy arrangements, precise energy management, and several deviously randomized sections ensure that you will spend a very, very long time getting to know this level. While I haven't achieved mastery over the chapter just yet, victory is close. I can feel it! Let's take a quick tour of some of this chapter's most difficult sections starting with this beauty:

(https://imgur.com/F2J3rkB - in case the gif fails to load!)

There is a lot going on here so let's start with how the energy meter plays into this section. Chapter 3 introduces the idea of counting your energy before releasing it. As you can see in the gif, when you're hanging out inside the red laser at the start of the clip, you will rapidly gain energy (you can similarly gain energy from other lasers in this level assuming you are the correct polarity). You need to keep track of how much energy you have, contained in the bar on the left side of the screen, to ensure that you hit only what you intend to hit to keep your chain going. In this instance, you want to hit the 3 dark turrets that are firing in the top-left corner of the screen. As soon as you have 3 units of energy, you will want to immediately fire. If you gain 4 or more units of energy, you run the risk of prematurely hitting one of the enemies in the top-right corner of the screen which will likely break your chain. This counting method is similarly used throughout the level to hit specific sets of enemies that cannot be chained directly.

Something I haven't covered up to this point in the updates but is absolutely essential when burning your energy meter is your proximity to the enemy when releasing your energy. A good example of proximity-based destruction can be seen right at the end of this gif, when energy is used to take out an inner ring of dark enemies while an outer ring of light enemies is left untouched. As soon as you fire your energy, the energy will generally travel to the nearest targets in relation to your ship. So, by hovering in the center of the ring of dark enemies, I am closer to every nearby dark enemy than I am to any of the light enemies. So, when I release my energy, each dark enemy will be destroyed assuming I have enough energy to do so. Hypothetically, if I had destroyed 1 or 2 of the dark enemies prior to releasing a fully charged energy bar, you would see the nearest 1 or 2 light enemies being destroyed alongside the dark enemies because every unit of energy in the energy bar needs an enemy to target if one is available. 

Anyway, enough of this energy business, let's look at something a little more hectic!  

(https://imgur.com/r5bGcBF - in case the gif fails to load!)

Chaining together everything in this section requires some serious precision. The difficulty here will largely come down to reflex and muscle memory: how quickly you react to the randomly assigned positioning of the pillars that poke out of the walls and how precisely you are able to chain everything in your way will make all the difference when going for the S++ grade. To chain the first two sets of planes, you can see that they need to be destroyed column by column. For the second two sets of planes, you will need to aim right down the middle to ensure they are chained properly. For the enemies in between each set of planes, you will want to get up close and destroy them before they have a chance to retreat. The chase section's enemies are very tightly arranged such that you need to fire individual shots to make sure you don't accidentally hit an enemy of the wrong polarity (which would break your chain). As always, practice is key here! 
 

You finished the Co-op?
I did! Huge thanks to my co-op partner @BrandedBerserk for spending 12+ hours practicing and performing the co-op 1CC with me. Completing the game without using a continue was far more difficult than either of us imagined on account of the lag and screen tearing that share play introduced but we survived nonetheless! Because of the way share play works, we had to complete the 1CC twice (one for each of our accounts) and I have the footage of our 2nd 1CC right here. Much like the solo 1CC, the difficulty is set to easy, with 5 starting lives, and extra lives every 2,000,000 points. If you would like to watch our full co-op 1CC of Ikaruga, here's the video!
 

What's Next?
There is only one objective left: to earn the S++ grade on chapter 3. 
I will get this done, it's only a matter of time. We are so close to the end now! With a mere two trophies remaining, the next update might be the last we see of Ikaruga. The next, and possibly final, progress update for Ikaruga will be posted on January 17th! Thanks so much for sticking with me and see you all soon!

Edited January 14, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[ExistentialSolid]

After a little over 82 hours of struggle, 25+ of which were spent in chapter 3...it finally happened. Ikaruga wasn't able to destroy me! 
Thank you all for so much for sticking with me to the platinum! The final update with a ton more (including details on the next poll) will be out on January 17th! 

Edited January 16, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[Danny_Johansen]

Nice work on Ikaruga and congrats on the plat!