Popular Post rjkclarke Posted December 25, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) Marvel's Spider-Man Review Platinum #312 Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) Be Greater Collect all trophies. A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 20 March 2021 : 2:19:32 AM 100% Achieved - 22 March 2021 : 2:33:51 PM Time taken to Platinum - 3 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes Time Taken to 100% - 5 days, 15 hours, 19 minutes Platinum Rarity - 45.24% 100% Rarity - 7.83% Trophy Number - #15,124 Dislclaimer! This was written literally months ago, the only new thing really is the DLC sections, I've added a few bits here and there into the main review, but that's why this review reads a little basic, compared to some of the ones over the last few months. This is why I don't go into perhaps quite as much depth as I usually would. My thoughts on the game remain pretty much the same though. Originally Written 22 March 2021 Edited Version 24 December 2021 I thought that it was probably about time I finally got around to playing this. Another game that I should have played a long time ago but has just sat on my console gathering hypothetical digital dust. This actually might end up being a fairly short post for once, that remains to be seen though haha. I'm very glad that I played this though, I'll be honest I was expecting this not live up to the massive amount of praise this game has been given since its release, thankfully it did pretty much deliver on a lot of its promise. I played through all the DLC as well, including New Game+. Also - how did they manage to miss the opportunity to call the trophy for completing a playthrough on Ultimate difficulty, y'know "Ultimate Spider-Man"? That one almost seems a bit too obvious not to have done it. To be honest it is hard to say anything much that probably hasn't already been said regarding this game. I mean it literally has 220K+ Platinum achievers, it has to be doing something right I guess to generate a number like that, I guess it boils down to the same sort of thing I mentioned in my Assassin's Creed II post about it being a console generation defining game. I don't usually mention story and I won't particularly mention specifics but the story in Spider-Man really is very good, it shines so much brighter than I ever expected it to. Its obviously fairly predictable if you are a fan of the character/Marvel in general, but I think they pepper in just the right amount of evolution to what we are used to seeing with a lot of these characters that they all become quite compelling in their own right. I think they did a particularly good job with Mary Jane. I was very fond of a lot of the character designs too, I liked Peter's design a lot even if he did look like a gene splicing experiment between Andrew Garfield and a Chinchilla, plus Aunt May reminded me of those trolls that you used to put on top of pencil's back in the 90's. (Not sure if those were a global thing or if it was just a UK thing so that troll comment might seem a bit mad haha.) I loved the OST too, thought it was very atmospheric in quite a few of the key story scenes, reminded me a lot of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy in a few places. Something of particular note, is the customisation options that this game affords you. It genuinely is an area that brings quite a lot of depth to the game. The thing, I think I personally appreciated the most, was the ability to use certain ultimate abilities from other suits, but essentially have them latched onto your suit of choice. Even as a bit of a lapsed Spider-Man fan like myself, I loved the ability wear certain iconic costumes, but then have the ability to use abilities that you want to. It's far too common in games for you to end up wearing pieces of equipment or gear that are functionally sound, yet you don't find aesthetically pleasing. I really loved the fact that Marvel's Spider-Man allows you to do both, which is a fairly rare feat. As far as the gameplay goes, I'm not sure I'm going to be as overwhelmingly positive as a lot of others seem to be. I enjoyed this game a hell of a lot don't get me wrong, but it reminded me of Horizon Zero Dawn in that for me it was the atmosphere of the world and story that kept me invested not necessarily the gameplay itself. This could be my own fault though as I played the entire game and all the DLC in under four days so its possible I just played too much of it in a short space of time, that and I've just played a lot of Open World games by this point. I still very much enjoyed it though. The core gameplay itself is very solid, I think my main issue came from some of the open world elements, particularly all the bases and just general combat related activities, I actually much preferred using stealth so diving headlong into combat which is always a little bit imprecise got a bit tiresome, I think people sort of give this one a free pass for its side content because the map is actually fairly small so it isn't particularly overwhelming, the side missions are very good though, I just struggled a bit with the repetitive combat activities. Part of me wishes modern Ubisoft (not exactly a new opinion I know,) would tone down their open worlds a bit as well and actually focus on things that are a bit more relevant to proceedings like Spider-Man does. I won't really give any pointers for the trophies outside of if you see a random crime pop up, drop everything and do them so you don't have to come back later, I tried to combine them with the other open world stuff to stop myself getting jaded, which thankfully did work despite what you might think from reading the last paragraph, so that is about the best advice I can give for trophies. You don't need to specifically worry about anything though, which is why I'm not elaborating too much. Even the DLC ones are straight forward. Ultimate difficulty was really not that taxing, especially when combining it with New Game+, I did the New Game+ play-through in the Sam Raimi Trilogy "Webbed Suit" as well, was great to see that again. I really enjoyed this though, I would of course recommend this to anyone who hasn't played it yet, especially if you are a lapsed Spidey fan, it's great if you need to scratch an Open World game itch that isn't too overwhelming.I've just looked back over this and it turned out to be longer than I thought it might be. Will this end up being my favourite game of the PS4 generation? Absolutely not, but there is some real tough competition - so that shouldn't be a poor reflection on the Man of Spiders. I liked it a whole lot, and I'm looking forward to where they go with the series in the future. DLC New Game + Not a whole lot to say on this one really - it seems to be a fairly recent trend in modern games where we like to get slapped around the faceington with a "thoughtful free" update from the developers, that almost always ends in one extra playthrough of a game for us all. Sometimes that is a good thing sometimes it isn't. I didn't mind doing this one obviously. It is what it is, I'll be honest and say that this is probably best experienced the way it originally released, that of an update a few months after playing it giving you a concrete reason to go back to it. I didn't play it like that though - I essentially tackled this as an extra playthrough that I wasn't really in a rush to do. So instead of revelling at the chance to play through the game again, I more or less just treated it as a speed-run more than anything. In that regard though, it ended up being quite fun, as you can essentially play through the game in a relatively short time frame whilst skipping the cutscenes. I still think Insomniac really missed a trick by not having the trophy for finishing on Ultimate Difficulty called "Ultimate Spider-Man" that one just kind of seems a little too obvious, I just don't understand why they didn't. City That Never Sleeps: The Heist I think of all of the three story DLC's - for me at least - this was the best one by a long shot. Yes, yes, I might be a little biased here as I absolutely love Black Cat in almost any form that she appears in. None more so than when she's voiced by Jennifer Hale, but she isn't here, so going into this one I was already pretty excited, and the brief exposure you get to this version of Black Cat in the base game piqued my interest even more to see where they went with the character in the DLC. From a story standpoint I think this one is great - it didn't exactly keep me guessing the whole way through or anything like that, but I don't think I was ever really bored during this one. I think one of the things I like the most about this version of Spider-Man is that it doesn't make any real effort to do origin stories for many of the characters, so I really enjoyed the fact that this one specifically gave an interesting insight into the history between Black Cat and Peter. Which is nice, as Cats can get on with Chinchilla's in the real world haha - I've seen it with my own eyes. The trophies though, that's a different story - I'll be honest I really could have done without having more crimes in progress added to the map. Granted the map is smaller, so you don't have to do as much, but they are probably the least imaginative open world element that this game has, and to have to do more of them just frustrated me a little bit. Oh, I forgot to mention Screwball - yeah those are a little bit of a pain too. Screwball is a really irritating character, not quite in the same way The Riddler is in the Arkham Games, I usually find him quite entertaining. Almost every interaction with Screwball made me want to either mute the TV, or for her to just stop speaking - I know that's the point, but did she have to be in every single one of these? Especially when Taskmaster is in the base game, I would have loved to have seen him explored more. City That Never Sleeps: Turf Wars I think from this point on the DLC's kind of become a matter of preference. Nothing about them is really bad per se. There are a few elements where the direction that they went in with some of the story avenues, where I feel like I genuinely might have lost a great deal of avoidable brain cells playing this DLC. I was getting myself so worked up about the (to me at least,) pretty outlandishly stupid direction of the story was taking in this particular expansion that that has ended up being my overriding memory of the entire experience. As I alluded to, I think this mainly comes down to preference. If you like some of the more criminal laden elements to Spider-Man than this will very much be in your ball park, but I wasn't all that interested in this side of it. I've never been a particularly big fan of Hammerhead as a character either (and what they do with him in this game is absolutely not something that changed that opinion,) so for him to basically take centre stage across the next two story packs, I was hardly getting excited at the prospect. Honestly though - just like pretty much everything in the main game everything looks pretty visually stunning, and unlike some DLC where it is abundantly clear that corners have been cut, that was absolutely not the case here - for all my issues with the general plot direction I absolutely cannot fault how seamlessly this feels like a worthy part of the main game. Whereas some DLC's can unfortunately on occasion feel like they probably shouldn't be there. I hope you like taking over outposts in the base game, because you have to do plenty more of those in this DLC pack, and an additional twenty-five increments of Crimes in Progress. " OH BOY" said Donald Duck, as he pounded his head into the wall hoping to crack it open like an egg in the pursuit of a far more enjoyable alternative..... I joke, I joke, they really aren't that bad. They just really feel like filler. You know what actually is good though? The Screwball challenges...... No, no you didn't misread that, we didn't fall through a wormhole, and it isn't opposites day. These ones I really enjoyed, as some of them are actually a little challenging. This time around there are a few stealth based ones, and these really do play like some of the predator rooms from the Arkham games, and getting good scores in them can actually involve a decent bit of strategy. So for all that I complained about them in the previous DLC write up, these are actually fun. City That Never Sleeps: Silver Lining Have you ever wondered what would happen if elements of Spider-Man got smashed together with a mech based anime and Terminator? No? Well I hadn't either, and part of me wished that I still was blissfully unaware of what that could turn out as. For me, the story in this DLC felt like that, a bizarre Frankenstein-esque mish-mash of those three different things I mentioned above. I think it's fairly obvious at this point - that I'm not exactly fond of how the main story went across the DLC. It isn't terrible by any means, and I'm not exactly expecting sophisticated high art from a Spider-Man game, but I didn't expect to roll my eyes at them basically turning a pretty well established character into a Terminator. If you've played it, you'll know what I mean, if you haven't then you have that to look forward to, and I'm genuinely interested to know whether it's just me that thought that was ludicrous. All that being said - the side content in this DLC I thought was genuinely excellent, and I found it really interesting. Almost all of it too, yes, you might have some fairly mind numbing Crimes in Progress to deal with (only twenty this time). However, in my opinion the side content is genuinely great, and explores some fascinating avenues with characters like Yuri. The side-quest tied to the Aiding a Human trophy actually had me actively wanting to clear out enemy hideouts, so I'd say that is nothing short of a triumph. I really appreciate that Insomniac put something like that into their game. The best part of all? Well - actually it isn't. Is that you finally get to shut Screwball up - it's really satisfying too, because the process of chasing down Screwball can be a little finicky (she can get away from you,after the smallest of mistakes,) so you have to learn to be pretty precise with your traversal skills that you've learned over the course of the game, but when you finally do chase her down, I'd be surprised if you aren't at the very least a little satisfied. So all in all, for as much as I'm not exactly going to wax lyrical about where the story specifically went in the DLC, I very much enjoyed all three individual story DLC's for differing reasons, and I do think they serve as an excellent Epilogue to the main story, it also affords you the chance to understand a character like Silver Sable a little better than you do from just playing the main game, as you don't really ever get a true sense of her motivations the way that you probably should and here you absolutely do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merry Christmas PSN Profiles! As the guy above said all the way back in 1965 in the Doctor Who Episode The Feast of Steven (which is a missing episode, so I had to grab the recreation of the scene from An Adventure in Space and Time). "A Merry Christmas to all of you at home" I hope that it is, I really do - however you choose to spend it, whatever you believe in and whoever you choose to spend it with, I hope you are all surrounded by those that you love, and those that love you. Take it easy and enjoy yourselves. Catch you all in the next one folks! Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted December 25, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 25, 2021 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Marvel's Spider-Man Review Platinum #312 Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) Firstly yes, we had trolls in the states too, they were hideous? I don't want you playing with something that has such bizarre hair. Awful, awful hair. Good shit, man! I tackled the ultimate new game+ in the same way you did, just a speed run immediately after beating it the first time. I just wish that motivation had stayed for the DLC! I liked the Black Cat story, but that shit with Screwball got on my neerrrrrrves. One day I'ma go back for it. Great review man, you also kinda prepped me for the other two DLCs? 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: EDIT: I HIT SUBMIT BY ACCIDENT, SO I'LL TAG YOU AGAIN. I think that'll work. Aw man. I get so paranoid about doing that sometimes??? 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Sorry to hear you've also been struck down by some dubious seafood in the past...... Although the jokes on me really because you don't really associate the sea faring creatures with trains - so common sense should have kicked in, alas it did not ? I still don't quite feel right even now. So that's definitely something I'll try and avoid in the future. Dang, that ain't nice. For me I remember seeing it at a gas station, and thinking "Wow, sushi at a gas station?? How can I go wrong??" Went right through me, and my stomach was not at all gentle about it? I'm sorry to hear it's still lingering about, but I mean worst case scenario, you learned something! And for what it's worth, I fell for it too so you're not quite alone there. Like trying to do the 1,000 jump ropes with the game sped up??? 10 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I was going great guns with that game, like I legit think I would have had the platinum yesterday, and then I ran into a horrendous glitch, where the trophy for crafting all the boss kill trophies decided to glitch on me, and the trophy didn't unlock, but the trophy for crafting every item did, so the game thought they counted, but whatever it is that unlocks the trophies didn't think it counted, so now I've lost about 4 or 5 hours of progress to that, and I've gotta reload a pretty far back backup save that I had. I was enjoying it though, and it's definitely quite fun for what it is, but I think after that glitchy nightmare I'll probably just be happy to be done with it to be perfectly honest. AAUUGGHH!!! That's awful man. I felt that from all the way over here! Very little can fuck with your motivation like that! 10 hours ago, rjkclarke said: You'll be fine, tackle the Shock and Awe challenge first or something, that way you'll know you've done the hardest one first, that's usually how I approach games with difficult things in them, almost a trial by fire kind of thing haha. It's a good thing you haven't played NieR yet either, so that you wouldn't have already had the awkward conversation about you sitting around with a pair of Underpants on your head, her leggings on and a pair of flip-flops, so at least you'll avoid that one for the time being. You'll beat me to it at this rate ? Damn, what did I do with my NieR gaming outfit??? We will see about that. I like the same approach - with Hitman 2 I found myself doing my first run for a lot of the maps blind on expert, so that I could knock out two trophies as well as pave an easier path for myself from there on out. Yeah, Shock and Awe, man... oh well. All I can say is that its time has come! 10 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I just needed to tidy it up a bit, because that review predates even this checklist, so it's a little rough around the edges, but I'm not going to change a whole lot, just go into greater detail with the DLC that kind of thing. Poor Yakuza 0 and FFIX is all I can say! Although playing Hitman 2 is a pretty hefty time sink and it's awesome, so you know sometimes sacrifices have to be made in the pursuit of playing other awesome games and all that! Dude that's going to be the best homework assignment ever if I get to just chill out and rewatch Flowers, whilst making screenshots of all the pretty cinematography, or really important moments. It'll be like I'm back at film school or something ?..... Win Win! If you do watch it though - I hope you enjoy it, because it's one hell of a good time. A little bit of an emotional roller-coaster in places, but I think in a positive way, one that really makes you think. The best kind! Speaking of tidying up, after much deliberation I've started tinkering with already posted reviews. Still not sure if I wanna continue, but I figured there's no harm in trying it out.. I still say, you'd excel doing write-ups for television shows and film, I'm really glad you've dipped your toes in that! I've no doubt I'll enjoy flowers. And if I don't, it's only one season! Yeahmann, i do really need to get back into Y0 and FFIX, but Hitman 2 is no joke. I'm so excited to get into Hitman 3, dude.. the rate at which I've seen it get better is nuts, I can only imagine. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 Marvel's Spider-Man is quite a defining game for the PS4 era. Insomniac had a golden opportunity to make a Spider-Man game, and they made it one of their most significant releases, and it's legacy shows from making a short game for Miles in the new PS5 lifespan alongside an even more fleshed out sequel (I still find it absolutely impressive that they managed to make Miles Morales and the latest Ratchet game at the same time! ?) I think the biggest point of controversy with this game just amounted to the look of puddles or something, a testament to how cool this game looked if that was the only source of debate! ? I definitely get what you mean with the atmosphere of the gaming having higher precedence than the gameplay itself, since the actual combat itself isn't the toughest challenge even on Ultimate. But damn, that web slinging is fun; apart from getting the collectibles, I'd mainly just stick to web slinging as my main mode of transportation rather than the fast travel points themselves, which means they did a great job at engaging the player. And of course, Merry Christmas! ? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 Blessed be the Christmas, I missed quite some updates here! On 12/23/2021 at 4:52 PM, rjkclarke said: You also gave me Bloodborne to review, which will give me a nice excuse to jump back into NG+ real quick and grab the one DLC weapon that I missed for 100% completion, because I was too busy absolutely howling my tits off at the noises Ludwig was making on the floor instead of actually y'know getting the weapon from him, so I'll have to go and grab that one haha. Oh damn, that's the last thing you have to do? Nice! Can't wait to see how that classic is rated for you! Also Spiderman...I have that game collecting dust since forever. I never had the energy to tackle it despite it being a confirmed amazing game. I have to play it too so I can be in the "spiderman" league like you fellas ? And lastly...your Batman discussion reminded me that I was supposed to start Arkham Knight this year, it's the final main Arkham game from my list. Damn how the time flies! Guess more luck in 2022, maybe I can catch up before you 100% it @rjkclarke Awesome reading as usual and Merry Christmas! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted December 26, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 26, 2021 Great Spiderman review man! I totally know what you mean about the gameplay being the driving force rather than the narrative elements. I think as big, AAA blockbuster games go, this is actually a pretty good one narratively, - I was never a huge Spiderman fan (the comics and the character I mean - I was a hardcore DC kid growing up!), but this one did at least keep me interested, which is something of a testament to it - as even the better ones of those old PS1 / PS2 Spiderman games never did... ...but at the same time, this is one of those games that comes along every now and then, where the gameplay enjoyment seems to be "backwards" for me - as much as I think the story is fun, and interesting enough... whenever I'm in a narrative section that takes a long time, I start to feel like I want to rush through it to get back to the side-stuff and just swinging about in the open world, because that's the stuff I really enjoy the most! It's a weird feeling where you know they put buttloads of energy and time and money into the cutscenes, and I'm like... "Come on... hurry up... I want to get back to finding backpacks!" 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 (edited) On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: Firstly yes, we had trolls in the states too, they were hideous I don't want you playing with something that has such bizarre hair. Awful, awful hair. Good shit, man! I tackled the ultimate new game+ in the same way you did, just a speed run immediately after beating it the first time. I just wish that motivation had stayed for the DLC! I liked the Black Cat story, but that shit with Screwball got on my neerrrrrrves. One day I'ma go back for it. Great review man, you also kinda prepped me for the other two DLCs That's good to know - I remember even when I wrote that at the time thinking, does anywhere else even have those Trolls? Thankfully they did, we used to have an abundance of those in our house, as my older sister absolutely loved them for some reason, so you didn't have to go too far to find one of those ugly little things around the corner. Aunt May totally looks like one though..... I mean I know probably I think things look like something they don't more often than not, but come on. I love Aunt May in that game, but I can't deny what my eyes show me It can't just be me right? Either way, I hope you have fun with it when you eventually do go back to the DLC's...... Screwball can get in the bin though, she is so annoying, she reminds me of Wormhorn from Afterparty, but if she wasn't funny, and her sole purpose was just to irritate you. The stealth challenges are good though, and they do add a bit of variety to them after the first DLC pack, so it isn't all bad. On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: Aw man. I get so paranoid about doing that sometimes Haha right?!! I think it's the first time I've ever done it, and fingers crossed it'll be the last one - but I can be a scatter brained fool, so it almost certainly won't be ? On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: Dang, that ain't nice. For me I remember seeing it at a gas station, and thinking "Wow, sushi at a gas station?? How can I go wrong??" Went right through me, and my stomach was not at all gentle about it I'm sorry to hear it's still lingering about, but I mean worst case scenario, you learned something! And for what it's worth, I fell for it too so you're not quite alone there. Like trying to do the 1,000 jump ropes with the game sped up??? It's one of those things where common sense doesn't quite kick in - you'd think it would, and you'd go, hmmm fish don't tend to be near gas stations or train stations, I think I'm gonna swerve this one and just buy a sandwich....... Apparently they way we roll is - oh they have sushi? I could go for that right now, even if it does turn your insides into a washing machine What were we even thinking, when both of us attempted the 1000 jump ropes like that..... Actually it was probably just wishful thinking, what a ride that trophy and game turned out to be. On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: AAUUGGHH!!! That's awful man. I felt that from all the way over here! Very little can fuck with your motivation like that! I'm hoping to get Stranded Deep finished today, but yeah screw that glitch happening. I'm usually fairly lucky when it comes to avoiding glitches with trophies, but I'd actually forgotten how much it just makes you lose all will to carry on for a little bit, I just sat there and was like " do I even want to do the rest now" I'm going to revert to that save in a bit, and re-kill the bosses, and hope that it unlocks, then write a nice passive aggressive review about the game. On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: Damn, what did I do with my NieR gaming outfit??? We will see about that. I like the same approach - with Hitman 2 I found myself doing my first run for a lot of the maps blind on expert, so that I could knock out two trophies as well as pave an easier path for myself from there on out. Yeah, Shock and Awe, man... oh well. All I can say is that its time has come! I was genuinely thinking of making a NieR outfit, but a deliberately bad one and posting a picture of me wearing it, just for the funnies. I can't exactly tie it into playing NieR Replicant though unfortunately, because the brother version of the character doesn't wear face knickers, leggings and flip-flops. Sad times. That's a great approach for Hitman 2, I did that on at least a few of the missions - I'm pretty sure I did expert first on Isle of Sgail, and I remember being stupidly tired when I started it, and I was just having so many nightmares, where I'd either get lost or spotted, or just have something go disastrously wrong! It's definitely a good way to familiarise yourself with things early, and if you can get out with a decent score on Master difficulty, you almost always bag a load of challenges too, can't complain about that really. If I can do all of Arkham Asylum's combat challenges in one sitting, then you absolutely can too, it'll probably just take a bit of patience is all. On 25/12/2021 at 8:39 AM, YaManSmevz said: Speaking of tidying up, after much deliberation I've started tinkering with already posted reviews. Still not sure if I wanna continue, but I figured there's no harm in trying it out.. I still say, you'd excel doing write-ups for television shows and film, I'm really glad you've dipped your toes in that! I've no doubt I'll enjoy flowers. And if I don't, it's only one season! Yeahmann, i do really need to get back into Y0 and FFIX, but Hitman 2 is no joke. I'm so excited to get into Hitman 3, dude.. the rate at which I've seen it get better is nuts, I can only imagine. I'll have to check some of those reviews out and see if I can spot any of the differences! I can't say I've never done it though, or will stop doing it - there's one very specific one I want to edit, which is Judgment, which I've not quite gotten around to yet, but I use its instead of it's about fifty times, and I need to sort that out. I think the next one of those little like side posts is going to be about Films, but I haven't decided exactly what yet, but I really do appreciate the positive feedback on that one. I think I might have to bite the bullet and do some swaps on my challenge list, because I have some fairly long things that I just don't quite know if I'm going to be able to get to in time, so I think I might have to start busting out the swaps. On 25/12/2021 at 0:18 PM, Shrooba said: Marvel's Spider-Man is quite a defining game for the PS4 era. Insomniac had a golden opportunity to make a Spider-Man game, and they made it one of their most significant releases, and it's legacy shows from making a short game for Miles in the new PS5 lifespan alongside an even more fleshed out sequel (I still find it absolutely impressive that they managed to make Miles Morales and the latest Ratchet game at the same time! ) I think the biggest point of controversy with this game just amounted to the look of puddles or something, a testament to how cool this game looked if that was the only source of debate! I definitely get what you mean with the atmosphere of the gaming having higher precedence than the gameplay itself, since the actual combat itself isn't the toughest challenge even on Ultimate. But damn, that web slinging is fun; apart from getting the collectibles, I'd mainly just stick to web slinging as my main mode of transportation rather than the fast travel points themselves, which means they did a great job at engaging the player. And of course, Merry Christmas! Thanks buddy! Merry Christmas to you too........ .........This is going to sound fairly weird, but at the moment a good chunk of the appeal for Miles Morales is the fact I'll be able to read ALL of your undoubtedly awesome Miles Morales review! Instead of just skimming around the bits that aren't story spoilers (which as you know I'm a little particular about,) but I've got it all bookmarked and ready to jump right on in once I've done Miles Morales. I think I pretty much stuck to using web slinging too, outside of the five times you have to use fast travel for a trophy. I think unless you are playing with an SSD or a PS5 then it's probably faster to web sling anyway, as the loading times are fairly long I found for the fast travel, so I preferred to just do it a bit organically. From the bits of your Miles Morales review I did allow myself to read, I'm glad to hear that they at least made the combat a little more varied as that's definitely the area that I found the weakest in this Spider-Man, but still good by most other games standards of course, so not a whole lot to complain about. 14 hours ago, Copanele said: Oh damn, that's the last thing you have to do? Nice! Can't wait to see how that classic is rated for you! Also Spiderman...I have that game collecting dust since forever. I never had the energy to tackle it despite it being a confirmed amazing game. I have to play it too so I can be in the "spiderman" league like you fellas And lastly...your Batman discussion reminded me that I was supposed to start Arkham Knight this year, it's the final main Arkham game from my list. Damn how the time flies! Guess more luck in 2022, maybe I can catch up before you 100% it @rjkclarke Awesome reading as usual and Merry Christmas! Yep The Holy Moonlight Sword is the only thing I'm missing - and it's my fault - but the fact I got to absolutely laugh my tits off at Ludwig flailing around on the floor almost seems worth having to do a partial playthrough up to the point where I can beat him again in the DLC. I can tell you now - that the review itself will be an overwhelmingly positive one...... Surprise surprise I guess? Who doesn't seem to love Bloodborne the games fantastic. However you decide to play it, I've played it solo, I've played it co-op too (which lead to some pretty funny times that I'm going to have to share in that review). Yes! Join the Spiderman league! You never know you might enjoy it, especially as you already own it......... Let us be real here too.... it can't be any worse than Garfield Kart. Don't sweat it man! I had loads of games I meant to play in 2021 but I didn't, so as you said that's what 2022, can be for, I thought by now I would only have one SuperGiant platinum missing from my collection instead of three, so I'd better fill that in, in 2022 right? At this rate you'll definitely have nabbed the 100% on Arkham Knight before me unless I actually start it. You'll have all the Arkhams ticked off then right? I wish I had your patience to stick at boosting that pain in the arse Origins multiplayer, but I just don't know that I have it in me, I guess I could swap it in for the Ultra Rare Cleanup, that'd give me a concrete reason and a bit of motivation, because I like Origins a lot, and it'd be a shame if I could never review it. I know it's a day late and all, but Merry Christmas to you too! 59 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Great Spiderman review man! I totally know what you mean about the gameplay being the driving force rather than the narrative elements. I think as big, AAA blockbuster games go, this is actually a pretty good one narratively, - I was never a huge Spiderman fan (the comics and the character I mean - I was a hardcore DC kid growing up!), but this one did at least keep me interested, which is something of a testament to it - as even the better ones of those old PS1 / PS2 Spiderman games never did... ...but at the same time, this is one of those games that comes along every now and then, where the gameplay enjoyment seems to be "backwards" for me - as much as I think the story is fun, and interesting enough... whenever I'm in a narrative section that takes a long time, I start to feel like I want to rush through it to get back to the side-stuff and just swinging about in the open world, because that's the stuff I really enjoy the most! Thanks man! I think in the main game I primarily preferred the story over the gameplay (excluding the combat,) but only by an inch, it's got some great side content, and the side missions themselves, are really strong in this game. I loved all the things like collecting the backpacks, in fact I took a screenshot of a lot of those, just as something to look back on, because I thought they were genuinely so well thought out....... I was a little bit opposite to you in your preferences growing up, I was very much a Marvel loving kid, I liked DC, but I liked Marvel a whole lot more, so I used to really love pretty much any piece of Spider-Man media, and then after a while I didn't. So to play this back at the start of the year and enjoy it as much as I did (I'll be honest, I very much expected it to be overpraised style-over-substance, and I'm glad it wasn't). Then I went the opposite direction and I really grew to love DC - I got absolutely fascinated with Superman for the longest time, a character that seems fairly bland on the surface, but it's all the things going on behind the "Superhero" exterior that I thought were really interesting. ........However, in the DLC's case outside of the first one it was completely the opposite, I practically wanted to do everything that wasn't a story thing first, because - well, as I said in that review, the story of those DLC's went down an avenue that I thought it was pretty ridiculous even for a comic book themed game. For me in the DLC's case Gameplay and side content, was absolutely some of the strongest things about it. 59 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: t's a weird feeling where you know they put buttloads of energy and time and money into the cutscenes, and I'm like... "Come on... hurry up... I want to get back to finding backpacks!" I can definitely understand that one! You know what I would have liked more of? Those sections where you play as Mary Jane...... One of my friends thought they were one of the worst parts of the game, but I really liked them, and I honestly would have loved like some more dedicated Mary Jane side content, I liked the fact they were more stealth focused, but they reminded me of the stealth sections in point-and-click titles, where getting through areas correctly almost amount to mini puzzles almost. I'd genuinely play a spinoff where you just play as Mary Jane as a journalist solving her own cases and stuff, if it was like mixed with Frogwares Sherlock Holmes style investigations and things like that..... I'd be the only one that would want that, but I'd eat that right up! Edited December 26, 2021 by rjkclarke 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 47 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Don't sweat it man! I had loads of games I meant to play in 2021 but I didn't, so as you said that's what 2022, can be for, I thought by now I would only have one SuperGiant platinum missing from my collection instead of three, so I'd better fill that in, in 2022 right? At this rate you'll definitely have nabbed the 100% on Arkham Knight before me unless I actually start it. You'll have all the Arkhams ticked off then right? I wish I had your patience to stick at boosting that pain in the arse Origins multiplayer, but I just don't know that I have it in me, I guess I could swap it in for the Ultra Rare Cleanup, that'd give me a concrete reason and a bit of motivation, because I like Origins a lot, and it'd be a shame if I could never review it. I have to mention just ooone tiny bit about Arkham Origins. I personally thought it's a great game, despite its poor reviews, I honestly enjoyed it more than Arkham City if you could believe it. Solid story, actually good boss fights, atmospheric Gotham, good challenges...this game was a mini chef's kiss. So far it's below Arkham Asylum for me but above Arkham City (yeah didn't love City as much as others did) However...and I mean a big HOWEVER The multiplayer is beyond abysmal. Holy macaroni with cheese batman this is the worst multiplayer grind I ever did. Not only you need 8 people for that stupid Predator Paragon (and getting to the right team is impossibly annoying), but levelling up to max with each faction, especially Joker, will make you pull your hair out. It's the worst multiplayer experience out there. If you ever want to do it however, let me know, I can fire up 2 PS3s and help ease off the ordeal else you could just do the single player section and review that, game's too good to pass 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 2 minutes ago, Copanele said: have to mention just ooone tiny bit about Arkham Origins. I personally thought it's a great game, despite its poor reviews, I honestly enjoyed it more than Arkham City if you could believe it. Solid story, actually good boss fights, atmospheric Gotham, good challenges...this game was a mini chef's kiss. So far it's below Arkham Asylum for me but above Arkham City (yeah didn't love City as much as others did) However...and I mean a big HOWEVER I would also put it above Arkham City to be perfectly honest - I don't understand why it reviewed badly, and I really liked the trophy tied to doing the Deathstroke fight perfectly...... That felt really satisfying once I actually managed to get it nailed down. I'm also not as big a fan of Arkham City as most people are, I do like it of course, but - Arkham Asylum is easily my favourite of all of the Arkham games. It's the perfect size I think, and it feels claustrophobic in a nice way, I like the fact that everything is contained in that one area, so some of the more Metroidvania aspects of it end up really shining as a result,as you can see places in the early areas that you know you're going to have to come back to with newer gadgets, and I've always loved that. 6 minutes ago, Copanele said: The multiplayer is beyond abysmal. Holy macaroni with cheese batman this is the worst multiplayer grind I ever did. Not only you need 8 people for that stupid Predator Paragon (and getting to the right team is impossibly annoying), but levelling up to max with each faction, especially Joker, will make you pull your hair out. It's the worst multiplayer experience out there. If you ever want to do it however, let me know, I can fire up 2 PS3s and help ease off the ordeal else you could just do the single player section and review that, game's too good to pass Cheers dude, I appreciate that - I'll bear that in mind if I ever do decide to actually attempt the multiplayer..... Gotta be honest though, you aren't exactly selling it to me haha! ........ That sounds like it probably wouldn't be an enjoyable time, and I've already put down a few grindy multiplayer things to do next year, so I guess one less wouldn't exactly hurt ? To be perfectly honest, as I can't ever have 100% completion on my account anyway. So I did think about doing what you suggested actually, and just getting all of the single player trophies that I can and just cutting and running. That multiplayer grind does not appeal to me in the slightest. So perhaps I ought to kind of bend my rules a bit and I don't know, complete the permadeath I am the Night mode, along with all the other single player bits and bobs I have left - write a review of the single player component and leave it at that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 (edited) 20 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: To be perfectly honest, as I can't ever have 100% completion on my account anyway. So I did think about doing what you suggested actually, and just getting all of the single player trophies that I can and just cutting and running. That multiplayer grind does not appeal to me in the slightest. So perhaps I ought to kind of bend my rules a bit and I don't know, complete the permadeath I am the Night mode, along with all the other single player bits and bobs I have left - write a review of the single player component and leave it at that. Yep I would say it would be best for your sanity because unlike other games, Multiplayer here REALLY adds nothing to the experience, you might as well consider it an unfortunate DLC that ended up on your profile by mistake. Some games' multiplayer modes are worth the hassle, this game ain't one of it. But again, if you find another group of like-minded individuals who want to complete this stuff while having a laugh at how bad the multiplayer is implemented, sure it could work However, just doing the Single Player and grabbing the DLCs (I especially recommend Cold, Cold Heart DLC, it's fantastic) should be more than enough. IatN mode is not that difficult either really, just do some back-ups before the sniper sections and before the final level with the insta-death pits and you should be good. 20 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I would also put it above Arkham City to be perfectly honest - I don't understand why it reviewed badly, and I really liked the trophy tied to doing the Deathstroke fight perfectly...... That felt really satisfying once I actually managed to get it nailed down. I'm also not as big a fan of Arkham City as most people are, I do like it of course, but - Arkham Asylum is easily my favourite of all of the Arkham games. It's the perfect size I think, and it feels claustrophobic in a nice way, I like the fact that everything is contained in that one area, so some of the more Metroidvania aspects of it end up really shining as a result,as you can see places in the early areas that you know you're going to have to come back to with newer gadgets, and I've always loved that. The writing for Arkham City was good, but man did the game have way too many things going at once. And I am not even talking about it 100% wise, because if we throw trophies in the mix as well...let's say Nightwing caused me more grief than Catwoman. Arkham Origins was abit more chill and again it improved the boss fights - the only part where Asylum and City really suffered. Maybe that's why I liked it more. Arkham Asylum had the perfect formula imo, as you mentioned too. JUST the right length, the sweet backtracking, the action/stealth with juust the right amount of creepiness turned that one into a classic immediately. Seeing how "Tank simulator" Arkham Knight is...I doubt it would top Asylum. But we'll see Addendum: After checking my old review, yeah "So yes, if you wish to play this game, play it for the single player. If you wish to 100% this game, better find a group of people that would want to spend time with you because multiplayer will eat your liver." I wrote this line so I guess I am remembering it correctly after all hahah. Edited December 26, 2021 by Copanele 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted December 26, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 26, 2021 6 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: It's a weird feeling where you know they put buttloads of energy and time and money into the cutscenes, and I'm like... "Come on... hurry up... I want to get back to finding backpacks!" You're not alone, Homer! I was never particularly big on Spiderman either, and as much as I liked the newb-friendly narrative, I too got most of my enjoyment from traversing through Manhattan and systematically plowing through all the side content? 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Aunt May totally looks like one though..... I mean I know probably I think things look like something they don't more often than not, but come on. I love Aunt May in that game, but I can't deny what my eyes show me It can't just be me right? Hahaha yeah I see it.. but ouch! You're cold-blooded, man??? "It's already mutated into human form, shoot it!!" 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Either way, I hope you have fun with it when you eventually do go back to the DLC's...... Screwball can get in the bin though, she is so annoying, she reminds me of Wormhorn from Afterparty, but if she wasn't funny, and her sole purpose was just to irritate you. The stealth challenges are good though, and they do add a bit of variety to them after the first DLC pack, so it isn't all bad. Yooo unfunny wormhorn is absolutely on the nose! Like we got our own real version, but luckily she only appears in the DLC for one game. If Screwball starts popping up in other games though, the jig is up.. we're officially in hell? Same as with Arkham, the stealth challenges were by far my favorite. To echo your sentiment from earlier, I don't know what was wrong with just keeping Taskmaster around... 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: It's one of those things where common sense doesn't quite kick in - you'd think it would, and you'd go, hmmm fish don't tend to be near gas stations or train stations, I think I'm gonna swerve this one and just buy a sandwich....... Apparently they way we roll is - oh they have sushi? I could go for that right now, even if it does turn your insides into a washing machine What were we even thinking, when both of us attempted the 1000 jump ropes like that..... Actually it was probably just wishful thinking, what a ride that trophy and game turned out to be. I see whatcha did there... Definitely wishful thinking on both counts. It's funny though, I mean people must be buying sushi from these places, at least enough to necessitate having them on hand. Unless of course they're old timey villains playing with their handlebar mustaches and mwahaha-ing every time somebody buys one, however far-fetched that may be. 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I'm hoping to get Stranded Deep finished today, but yeah screw that glitch happening. I'm usually fairly lucky when it comes to avoiding glitches with trophies, but I'd actually forgotten how much it just makes you lose all will to carry on for a little bit, I just sat there and was like " do I even want to do the rest now" I'm going to revert to that save in a bit, and re-kill the bosses, and hope that it unlocks, then write a nice passive aggressive review about the game. You've got it in the bag, dude. At least you already know you can do it. And woohoo, incoming passive aggressive review!!?? As I've told you before, whenever you have a negative tone in your review I can't help looking at the game sideways, like "the fuck did you do to him??" 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: That's a great approach for Hitman 2, I did that on at least a few of the missions - I'm pretty sure I did expert first on Isle of Sgail, and I remember being stupidly tired when I started it, and I was just having so many nightmares, where I'd either get lost or spotted, or just have something go disastrously wrong! It's definitely a good way to familiarise yourself with things early, and if you can get out with a decent score on Master difficulty, you almost always bag a load of challenges too, can't complain about that really. Funny you say that, when I did Sgail on Master it was in a bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived state too! I forced myself to finish it before going to bed (which means I went to sleep at like 7am or something like that), and luckily I was spared the nightmares! The first time I did that was on Santa Fortuna, and I got a rush from how legitimately frightening it was! Guards everywhere in a map I knew nothing about, with no clue how to actually go about anything. Really did feel like I was playing Silent Assassin again! The one freeing aspect was that it didn't matter if I was stealthy, or followed a mission story, or hit a certain challenge - it was like worry about that shit later, for now just kill the targets and get out in one piece. When I finished it, I was running to the bus stop, getting shot to shit, and I'm pretty sure I exited just in the nick of time. That was exhilarating! That's a great point about the challenges too, once I knew the levels well and just needed to level up, a great way to do that would be to go SOSA on Master, and get the achievement three times. Hot damn, that was always a lot of points! 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: If I can do all of Arkham Asylum's combat challenges in one sitting, then you absolutely can too, it'll probably just take a bit of patience is all. I'll have to check some of those reviews out and see if I can spot any of the differences! I can't say I've never done it though, or will stop doing it - there's one very specific one I want to edit, which is Judgment, which I've not quite gotten around to yet, but I use its instead of it's about fifty times, and I need to sort that out. I think the next one of those little like side posts is going to be about Films, but I haven't decided exactly what yet, but I really do appreciate the positive feedback on that one. It will most definitely be doable, I started my hard playthrough just to get the feel for it back (that's the dead giveaway that I started this game before I cared about trophies, the hard playthrough isn't done) and you're right about that, with a little patience I should be able to make relatively short work of it?? I only added a few song quotes to Afterparty and Max Payne, those were the first reviews where I stopped just using the plat image. I'm still undecided as to whether I want to keep the older ones in tact for sake of displaying progression in the reviews, but between you and Realm I'm finding myself wondering if a bit of renovation wouldn't be the worst thing. I like how you streamlined yours, it's nice, neat, and uniform! Oh yeah, definitely don't just write one for sake of doing so. I trust that a topic will come to you and you'll be able to write passionately about it with no problem at all! 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I think I might have to bite the bullet and do some swaps on my challenge list, because I have some fairly long things that I just don't quite know if I'm going to be able to get to in time, so I think I might have to start busting out the swaps. Same. I've used one out of five, but there's a good chance I'll be implementing at least one or two more. The time can creep up on you with these things! 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: You know what I would have liked more of? Those sections where you play as Mary Jane...... One of my friends thought they were one of the worst parts of the game, but I really liked them, and I honestly would have loved like some more dedicated Mary Jane side content, I liked the fact they were more stealth focused, but they reminded me of the stealth sections in point-and-click titles, where getting through areas correctly almost amount to mini puzzles almost. That did get its share of hate, and I didn't get why. It got worked in pretty well too, I thought. Spiderman's like "Crap, where's Mary Jane/Miles?" and then not only are you shown what's going on, but you're taking part in it! Plus any excuse to sneak in a bit of stealth is always welcome! 5 hours ago, Copanele said: The writing for Arkham City was good, but man did the game have way too many things going at once. And I am not even talking about it 100% wise, because if we throw trophies in the mix as well...let's say Nightwing caused me more grief than Catwoman. Arkham Origins was abit more chill and again it improved the boss fights - the only part where Asylum and City really suffered. Maybe that's why I liked it more. Arkham Asylum had the perfect formula imo, as you mentioned too. JUST the right length, the sweet backtracking, the action/stealth with juust the right amount of creepiness turned that one into a classic immediately. Seeing how "Tank simulator" Arkham Knight is...I doubt it would top Asylum. But we'll see I played maybe an hour or two's worth of City on the 360 and that was the vibe I got. I loved the atmosphere and the new moves and all that but it felt like more flash than substance and I never went back to it. Asylum on the other hand just grabbed me and never let go. You put it perfectly, the balance of action and stealth and the measure of backtracking was impeccable. Haha I'm kinda gettin pumped just talkin about it.. I've got a handful of Hitman 2 trophies left, then I'm finishing off that mafucka!? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KindaSabbath Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 On 25/12/2021 at 1:59 AM, rjkclarke said: Platinum #312 Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) Rad review my dude! This is a game that I need to play!! I have the Miles Morales Ultimate Edition, thingy… with the remastered version. I mean, outside of Astro Bot - I still haven’t played a PS5 game ? - this could be the one!! On 25/12/2021 at 1:59 AM, rjkclarke said: As far as the gameplay goes, I'm not sure I'm going to be as overwhelmingly positive as a lot of others seem to be. I enjoyed this game a hell of a lot don't get me wrong, but it reminded me of Horizon Zero Dawn in that for me it was the atmosphere of the world and story that kept me invested not necessarily the gameplay itself. Interesting… One of the reasons I haven’t found myself much interest in some of the big triple A Sony games, is they often look the same… Different skin, of course, but definitely seem similar in structure. I literally fucking detest these following words when used to describe a video game: “Big Cinematic Story Driven Experience” - yuk. I am a big Spider-Man fan though, so if ever there is a game where I can get behind a bit of a cutscene-fest, it’s probably Spider-Man. (Or apparently Yakuza ?) On 25/12/2021 at 1:59 AM, rjkclarke said: The core gameplay itself is very solid Phew!!! Then all is peachy. I can work with solid! I really will try and get to this one sooner rather than later. A close friend of mine has been waiting an age for me to play it so that we can nerd out ? Also: 8 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Aunt May totally looks like one though..... I mean I know probably I think things look like something they don't more often than not, but come on. I love Aunt May in that game, but I can't deny what my eyes show me It can't just be me right? This is literally fucking hilarious and no, it’s absolutely not just you. This is all I’m going to see now when playing through ?? 9 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: It's a weird feeling where you know they put buttloads of energy and time and money into the cutscenes, and I'm like... "Come on... hurry up... Well, this pretty much sums me up in general ? - it’s nice to know I’m not alone! On 25/12/2021 at 1:59 AM, rjkclarke said: "A Merry Christmas to all of you at home" I hope that it is, I really do - however you choose to spend it, whatever you believe in and whoever you choose to spend it with, I hope you are all surrounded by those that you love, and those that love you. A day late but a very merry Christmas to you and yours too brother! I extend that to all of the awesome regulars of this fantastic checklist! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: That's fair - I see animals in lots of things - like I said, I think PS4 version of Peter Parker looks like a Chinchilla. I'm sticking by that one too, because he really does. Which reminds me......... Haha On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: I'm actually going to post that one later on, so I'll throw a tag in it so you can read it whenever you get a chance to, if you wanted to. It isn't actually that long either, so I guess that will be a welcome change from my usual longer posts. I'm very slow at responding so I'm sure when I post this whole thing then your review will be there so I'll give it a read ? On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: That's a fair point - probably a good idea too. You'll save yourself a lot of money and frustration that way I'd expect. Plus that way if you wait a bit before purchasing a game you tend to have a better time with them for the most part, as they've usually had some of the bugs and kinks knocked out of them by that point. As it seems a lot of games get released an absolutely broken mess sometimes, which makes me pretty sad. I know both myself and @DrBloodmoney probably had a better time with Assassin's Creed: Unity because we both played it quite a while after it's initial release so it wasn't quite as much of a meme worthy experience as it was for some people. Yeah I definitely am. Certainly helped my experience with Mass Effect: Andromeda I'm sure. It is a sad part of the last generation and this one certainly. Games being able to be patched and things added to it was supposed to be beneficial to the consumer, not a get out clause for a company to release a game that needs a day one patch to get a game half working and then cut out content. I've never played AC: Unity but yes I saw the reviews and man that game looked brutal for people who pre ordered or purchased day 1. On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: Yes, well now you've seen everyone else's thoughts on Rise of Skywalker, it's at least nice now to know that I'm not alone on that one. I was going to mention there's a good scene with C-3PO as well, but that literally gets undermined and retconned within about twenty minutes anyway, so yeah, I chose not to mention, instead I'll just use it as another reason to use that films script as toilet paper. Still - don't be too put off, you might like it, so get and watch it and decide for yourself - then come here and tell us all how much you hate it Oh I didn't think you were on your own. I've seen lots of fans disappointed with it and Youtuvers I watch slaughter it (well the titles of their vids did, I never watched any as didn't want spoilers lol) Haha well yes that sounds good then depressing as well. I've met Anthony Daniels as well so it's a shame if that kind of a scene is taken away from the character. I will definitely tell you what I think of it whenever I watch it lol On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: Oh I do like Inquisition, I just find it's open world elements really bland and frustrating - I thought in that game they were the definition of filler content. So outside of those, and the fact the romance options are a bit naff in that game, I actually do like it, it's never going to be the worst Dragon Age all the time that Dragon Age II exists. Still, that being said - WHY DIDN'T THEY LET ME ROMANCE LELIANA! Heck I would have romanced Old Lady Leliana too, you've played it so you know the bit I mean. That's very true all I can do is give Andromeda a go, it can always win smelliest game at my 2022 Gaming Awards if I decide I can't stand it. Yeah Dragon Age II should have been a hell of a lot better than it was. Real shame that was, yet I still found things to like about it. Not on a par with Origins or Inquisition though. Inquisition could have been shorter certainly, hopefully they will balance it out better in DA4. Haha you wanted a bit of Leilana eh?! Smelliest Game? Now that's a category that sounds like a bit of a stinker haha On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: Oh so you've basically gotten Miles Morales for free AND £3 profit! Congrats Kopite you sly dog you........ Best of all though, you don't have to experience Non-Chinchilla faced Peter, well apart from when he appears in Miles Morales, because let's face it there is almost no chance that he doesn't show up in that game. I expect him to appear in Miles Morales somewhere yeah, as a lead in to Spiderman 2. Yes I was very happy with that deal, worked out very nicely lol Now to get a PS5............ On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: I actually bought a Nintendo Gamecube to play Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and a few other games, and ironically as it turns out all of the games I have on Gamecube are probably the rarest ones in my collection, which turned out to be a funny little twist of fate. KOTOR 1 and 2 are worthy reasons to get that original Xbox though! Would be interesting to know your rarest games in your collection. Never played The Twin Snakes but I think if I remember correctly, that's a remake of one of the earlier MGS's isn't it? Hell yeah they are! ? On 12/24/2021 at 10:26 PM, rjkclarke said: That does unfortunately seem to be the case, I mean he literally fired about 80 people this past year, claiming that they were all budget cuts, and then it turns out that they are having one of the most profitable times in the companies history, something about that just seems a little bit wrong. Oh certainly. Still keep track of WWE and AEW a bit, but don't watch it anymore like I used to. Seems to have lost it's soul more in recent years too with these budget cuts and other bizarre decisions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 (edited) I return from my journey to a desert Island with the platinum to Stranded Deep clutched in my blood soaked hands, wearing bandaged and tattered clothes....... That was definitely an experience, and I'll hop off and finish up writing a review of it once I've finished responding to all the nice messages....... So that's where I was, sorry about that, I didn't eat anymore train station Sushi so I live to fight another day. On 26/12/2021 at 2:21 PM, Copanele said: Yep I would say it would be best for your sanity because unlike other games, Multiplayer here REALLY adds nothing to the experience, you might as well consider it an unfortunate DLC that ended up on your profile by mistake. Some games' multiplayer modes are worth the hassle, this game ain't one of it. But again, if you find another group of like-minded individuals who want to complete this stuff while having a laugh at how bad the multiplayer is implemented, sure it could work However, just doing the Single Player and grabbing the DLCs (I especially recommend Cold, Cold Heart DLC, it's fantastic) should be more than enough. IatN mode is not that difficult either really, just do some back-ups before the sniper sections and before the final level with the insta-death pits and you should be good. I think I'll probably just swerve the multiplayer in that case - if Cold, Cold Heart is still on the knackered out PS3 store then I might pick that up too, because more Mr Freeze never hurt anyone right? The bit of IatN that I'm probably dreading the most is the Firefly section in Arkgam Origins, if I remember right failing one of those pain in the backside QTE's is an instant death, so that's definitely be one of the areas that would worry me the most. I'll take your advice though and just make some careful backups I reckon. On 26/12/2021 at 2:21 PM, Copanele said: The writing for Arkham City was good, but man did the game have way too many things going at once. And I am not even talking about it 100% wise, because if we throw trophies in the mix as well...let's say Nightwing caused me more grief than Catwoman. Arkham Origins was abit more chill and again it improved the boss fights - the only part where Asylum and City really suffered. Maybe that's why I liked it more. Arkham Asylum had the perfect formula imo, as you mentioned too. JUST the right length, the sweet backtracking, the action/stealth with juust the right amount of creepiness turned that one into a classic immediately. Seeing how "Tank simulator" Arkham Knight is...I doubt it would top Asylum. But we'll see Addendum: After checking my old review, yeah "So yes, if you wish to play this game, play it for the single player. If you wish to 100% this game, better find a group of people that would want to spend time with you because multiplayer will eat your liver." I wrote this line so I guess I am remembering it correctly after all hahah. I still haven't decided on when I want to return for those other DLC's in Arkham City, I plan to at some point, but yeah doing those Predator Challenges as Robin and Nightwing are going to be a nightmare I think, because they are so much less equipped to be able to do them efficiently. You're absolutely right about Origins having the better bosses too. Or at least just more satisfying and better structured fights. The Deathstroke one I previously mentioned was really good, and I quite like the interactions you have with Bane too. City has got the Mr Freeze fight, and I'll never not love that one. On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: Hahaha yeah I see it.. but ouch! You're cold-blooded, man??? "It's already mutated into human form, shoot it!!" I love Aunt May in that Spider-Man game - but I just can't help where my brain goes when I see certain things On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: Yooo unfunny wormhorn is absolutely on the nose! Like we got our own real version, but luckily she only appears in the DLC for one game. If Screwball starts popping up in other games though, the jig is up.. we're officially in hell Same as with Arkham, the stealth challenges were by far my favorite. To echo your sentiment from earlier, I don't know what was wrong with just keeping Taskmaster around... Screwball doesn't even have her own cool little audio sting like Wormhorn either - her mere presence and her annoying voice are apparently all that you get, I'm tellin ya man, when I was in the midst of Stranded Deep there was a few frustrating moments where I thought Wormhorn was going to burst into the room and irritate me. Taskmaster was genuinely quite interesting too, I wanted to see more of him....... and with Screwball I never wanted to see them again - NOT IN THREE MORE DLC'S that's for sure. ? On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: Funny you say that, when I did Sgail on Master it was in a bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived state too! I forced myself to finish it before going to bed (which means I went to sleep at like 7am or something like that), and luckily I was spared the nightmares! I just checked and I got level 20 Mastery on that at like 2:30 AM, which is actually earlyish by my standards - I thought it was much later, as I remember feeling really tired when I played it. But yeah that level blearly eyed and a bit low energy is quite the experience, that level pack has so much going on. I totally get the need to push through though even if it does mean going to bed at 7AM, it's not the best idea ever. Although I'm one to talk - I ended up pushing through with Stranded Deep last night and finishing about 4AM and didn't go to sleep till about 8AM this morning as I was pretty pumped up adrenaline wise for finally finishing that game, and being able to play other things, now I've taken my self imposed restrictions off haha. On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: The first time I did that was on Santa Fortuna, and I got a rush from how legitimately frightening it was! Guards everywhere in a map I knew nothing about, with no clue how to actually go about anything. Really did feel like I was playing Silent Assassin again! The one freeing aspect was that it didn't matter if I was stealthy, or followed a mission story, or hit a certain challenge - it was like worry about that shit later, for now just kill the targets and get out in one piece. When I finished it, I was running to the bus stop, getting shot to shit, and I'm pretty sure I exited just in the nick of time. That was exhilarating! That's a great point about the challenges too, once I knew the levels well and just needed to level up, a great way to do that would be to go SOSA on Master, and get the achievement three times. Hot damn, that was always a lot of points! I could imagine Santa Fortuna being pretty intense, especially as it's so damn big - and on Master difficulty one wrong move and it's basically lights out. That sounds awesome that desperate rush to get to that bus stop and get the hell out of there. My first time through Whittleton Creek was like that I think - or at least one of them was - where I was going great guns, and then something disastrous went wrong and everything just went to hell, but there's something so satisfying about getting out of a level as a hail of bullets is flying around you. I wanted to do everything Suit Only, Silent Assassin anyway because you get some really cool cosmetic rewards from it, but you're so right they absolutely rake in the challenge XP so they are so worth it! I wanted to carry those rewards over into Hitman 3 - there's still quite a few that I don't have from Hitman 2, that I ought to go and get that I'll be able to bring over to Hitman 3 whenever I can find a PS5, which is why I've not played that yet myself. On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: Definitely wishful thinking on both counts. It's funny though, I mean people must be buying sushi from these places, at least enough to necessitate having them on hand. Unless of course they're old timey villains playing with their handlebar mustaches and mwahaha-ing every time somebody buys one, however far-fetched that may be. I fear it won't be the last time I make that mistake either - sometimes when you have the urge to have Sushi, that's what you've gotta do. Another one of my friends from the US that I used to play Warframe with always talked about how much he loved Gas Station Pizza - which I always thought seemed like a pretty weird place to get Pizza from. He swore by it though. You can occasionally get that over here too, depending on what part of the country you are in - but they always look like they've been cooked too long, so I've never really felt the urge to dabble with that! On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: You've got it in the bag, dude. At least you already know you can do it. And woohoo, incoming passive aggressive review!! As I've told you before, whenever you have a negative tone in your review I can't help looking at the game sideways, like "the fuck did you do to him??" Thankfully I did have it in the bag! I don't think it's going to be that passive aggressive - but certainly not overwhelmingly positive either. I had a pretty good time with the game in general, it's got some really obnoxious trophies though. So my trophy section will end up being quite a bit longer this time around. I just don't think I was quite in the mood to play it very often, I think it's been a while since I've felt that demotivated to crack on and finish something. On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: only added a few song quotes to Afterparty and Max Payne, those were the first reviews where I stopped just using the plat image. I'm still undecided as to whether I want to keep the older ones in tact for sake of displaying progression in the reviews, but between you and Realm I'm finding myself wondering if a bit of renovation wouldn't be the worst thing. I like how you streamlined yours, it's nice, neat, and uniform! That's a toughie yeah - there are some of mine that I really want to get edited at least a little bit, but I've left them for exactly the same reasons as you, to just kind of show the progression in the reviews more than anything. If you do some renovation though, let me know and I'd love to have a look at it. Give me a nice excuse to read through plenty of those reviews again! When I renovated mine a bit a few months back I wanted it all to look pretty uniform though, I'm glad it does,and I love how much even just adding a banner image brought some of those old reviews to life. Which is also why I went back and added in the Trophy Stats and banner images to all of them. The trophy stats are more for other people than they are for me, as I know some people like looking at the minutiae of those things more than some others do. I guess we can partially blame, or thank @GonzoWARgasm for that one - because if Gonzo hadn't binge read the entire thread, that probably wouldn't have made me a bit self aware that someone else might do it in the future. So I started rushing around like an unhinged person that tries to tidy their house up when they know people are coming around for dinner ? On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: Same. I've used one out of five, but there's a good chance I'll be implementing at least one or two more. The time can creep up on you with these things! I think I'm going to have to use a few - but I'm not sure what I'll swap out yet - I absolutely want to finish the SuperGiant games that I have on there - but I don't know how realistic finishing Mass Effect 3, Darksiders III, Greedfall and Lords of the Fallen will be, so I might sub out Mass Effect and Darksiders III.... It's a good thing we left them till the end right? On 26/12/2021 at 7:44 PM, YaManSmevz said: That did get its share of hate, and I didn't get why. It got worked in pretty well too, I thought. Spiderman's like "Crap, where's Mary Jane/Miles?" and then not only are you shown what's going on, but you're taking part in it! Plus any excuse to sneak in a bit of stealth is always welcome! I guess a lot of people were just a bit bummed out that they got a few minutes less time to play as Spidering Man. You can't please everyone I guess. On 26/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, KindaSabbath said: Rad review my dude! This is a game that I need to play!! I have the Miles Morales Ultimate Edition, thingy… with the remastered version. I mean, outside of Astro Bot - I still haven’t played a PS5 game - this could be the one!! Thanks man! Awesome to hear, I appreciate that! B-but, you won't be playing as the real PETER PARKER....... You'll be playing as the non-Chinchilla version. In the same way Mindless Self Indulgence like their coffee black just like their Metal. I too - like my Peter Parker when he looks like a Chinchilla. Seriously though fire this up and get it played - it's a great game, and that's coming from someone who's more than a little jaded towards bit "Triple A" titles if you like to call them that. On 26/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, KindaSabbath said: Interesting… One of the reasons I haven’t found myself much interest in some of the big triple A Sony games, is they often look the same… Different skin, of course, but definitely seem similar in structure. I literally fucking detest these following words when used to describe a video game: “Big Cinematic Story Driven Experience” - yuk. I am a big Spider-Man fan though, so if ever there is a game where I can get behind a bit of a cutscene-fest, it’s probably Spider-Man. (Or apparently Yakuza ) You and me both dude! That bit I put in bold - is why I struggled to get into The Last of Us and to some extent Uncharted (sorry Gonzo, I'll go flagellate myself for my crimes)....... It was more everyone telling me that because I'm such a film fan, I'd love those - but that isn't quite how it works. I don't want a game to be a big cinematic story driven experience, I'd go and watch a film if that's what I wanted. I know, I know, there's probably a little hypocrisy on my part there, because I very much can get on board with purely story driven games - but those usually have something unique about them that makes them a game, instead of just trying desperately to emulate a film. The recent Tomb Raider reboot does a pretty good job of finding the balance between being overly cinematic and a game I think I managed to avoid it for the review, but as tired as the cliche of "You really feel like Spiderman " is - in this games case it's true, you really do feel like Spider-Man and as you're a big Spider-Man fan, you'll pretty much get that much more of a kick out of it too, and the costumes from all the various films too. I must admit some of the newer ones were lost on me as I haven't seen a Spider-Man film since Homecoming - I didn't really take to Tom Holland as Spidey, but I ought to check the others out to give them a fair shout. On 26/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, KindaSabbath said: Phew!!! Then all is peachy. I can work with solid! I really will try and get to this one sooner rather than later. A close friend of mine has been waiting an age for me to play it so that we can nerd out I feel like I grossly mis-sold the gameplay there - when I wrote that, that was back in the days where I thought I had to be very concise with what I was writing and not dwell on things too much. If I was writing it now - I would absolutely explore all that the gameplay had to offer - it's very good, and far more varied and enjoyable than just "solid" like I described it, that's totally my bad. I do think the combat is a little imprecise compared to the Arkham games, it isn't quite as fluid, or as rhythmic but it does it's job.... ... take it from me though, the gameplay is far more than solid so you're absolutely in good hands on that one - from that perspective I think you'd have a good time. On 26/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, KindaSabbath said: This is literally fucking hilarious and no, it’s absolutely not just you. This is all I’m going to see now when playing through Well at least I'm not the only one haha Honestly, the first time I ever saw her in the game, that was all that I saw, and I couldn't get it out of my head..... Sorry for putting it in yours too. She's a great character though, I really like this version of Aunt May, and she isn't as Elderly as the one from the Tobey Maguire films - that reminds me of my Nan a little bit . On 26/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, KindaSabbath said: A day late but a very merry Christmas to you and yours too brother! I extend that to all of the awesome regulars of this fantastic checklist! And A Merry Christmas to you too man, and everyone else. Even though as I'm writing this it's just ticked over into the 28th, so the sentiment will be making it's way to you later than it should. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: I'm very slow at responding so I'm sure when I post this whole thing then your review will be there so I'll give it a read I actually forgot to tag you in it - which is a little stupid after saying that I would..... Oops Oh well it's at the top of the page anyway, and I'm sure you've probably found it by now anyway. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Yeah I definitely am. Certainly helped my experience with Mass Effect: Andromeda I'm sure. It is a sad part of the last generation and this one certainly. Games being able to be patched and things added to it was supposed to be beneficial to the consumer, not a get out clause for a company to release a game that needs a day one patch to get a game half working and then cut out content. I've never played AC: Unity but yes I saw the reviews and man that game looked brutal for people who pre ordered or purchased day 1. Yep, I 100% agree with that one....... It has kind of allowed them to cut corners a bit. Especially when you see the state some games are in before their Day One patch. I remember getting Snooker 19 about four or five days before the initial release date for some reason - maybe because I pre-ordered it (yes I love Snooker that much, it shouldn't be a surprise ?,) but the shape that game was in before the Day One patch was atrocious, every single thing looked sludgy and grimy, it was full of bugs and all sorts of broken things. That wouldn't have passed a quality control check back in the days when there weren't Day One patches. AC: Unity is pretty good by the way - I know I shouldn't encourage you to add to your backlog, but it's in a pretty stable state now, and I had a lot of fun when I played that one, so if you ever get the time to be able to play it, you ought to give it a shot. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Oh I didn't think you were on your own. I've seen lots of fans disappointed with it and Youtuvers I watch slaughter it (well the titles of their vids did, I never watched any as didn't want spoilers lol) Haha well yes that sounds good then depressing as well. I've met Anthony Daniels as well so it's a shame if that kind of a scene is taken away from the character. I will definitely tell you what I think of it whenever I watch it lol I've still seen more hate for The Last Jedi (that it doesn't deserve)....... I've literally seen so many video essays on YouTube which I refuse to watch with the titles like "Why The Last Jedi" is bad etc...... You can't please everyone it seems. What was Anthony Daniels like? I've heard he can take himself a little bit too seriously. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Yeah Dragon Age II should have been a hell of a lot better than it was. Real shame that was, yet I still found things to like about it. Not on a par with Origins or Inquisition though. Inquisition could have been shorter certainly, hopefully they will balance it out better in DA4. There's definitely things I like about DAII as well, NOT ANDERS THOUGH.... Man, he was great in Dragon Age: Origins, then he just became a first class fanny. I like the concept of Hawke as a character too, whether that's a male or female Hawke..... I especially like that really sinister side-quest late into the game with Hawkes mother as well, that's absolutely chilling. I think the thing I like least about Inquisition, that isn't open world related is that I liked pretty much none of the available party members, outside of a few exceptions. I love Sera, like she properly cracked me up, and one of my best friends and I will often randomly quote her lines out of context, it isn't long before one of us goes "RED JENNY YEAH!." She's just a very funny character and she looks a lot like one of my nieces too, which is quite funny as well. Well - that and the fact that Corypheus is introduced in a DLC pack for Dragon Age II that I haven't actually played yet, so when they act like he's this important character for Inquisition my reaction was all "WHO DIS?" 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Haha you wanted a bit of Leilana eh?! Smelliest Game? Now that's a category that sounds like a bit of a stinker haha Yes, well I'm only human after all - and that's where I'll leave that before it gets any more sinister, and I start objectifying her further. ? Might have to work on that title - stinker indeed, I already know what's winning smelliest of this year........ Final Fantasy IX obviously.......... ? 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Would be interesting to know your rarest games in your collection. Never played The Twin Snakes but I think if I remember correctly, that's a remake of one of the earlier MGS's isn't it? Hell yeah they are! Yep you nailed it - Twin Snakes is the remake of the PS1 MGS. It's a really bizarre remake too - they went full unrealistic weird anime stuff (not the aesthetic, the action,) in the cutscenes, where at one point Snake does a standing backflip onto a missile that's coming towards him. That's one you can't not roll your eyes at. That's interesting you say that. I might do that as one of those as part my little side series "Sideshows and Curiosities" but I worry a little bit that it'd just read like me bragging about a load of rare games that I own, but then it'd cool to open the floor for everyone else to let us all know what some of their rarest purchases are too, so perhaps that might be the way to go with it, because that'd be fun to hear about the rare editions of games that yourself and others own, that could be really fun. The most ironic thing is lots of my rarest games are on Nintendo consoles - I have a Pokemon game on the Gamecube that I saw go for £160 not too long ago on Ebay, which just seems mad to me. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Oh certainly. Still keep track of WWE and AEW a bit, but don't watch it anymore like I used to. Seems to have lost it's soul more in recent years too with these budget cuts and other bizarre decisions. I'm finding less and less reason to want to keep watching as each week goes by myself.... I haven't watched a full episode of Raw or Smackdown for literally years and these days I only ever dip in for PPV's..... All the use my WWE Network subscription gets these days is watching old episodes of ECW that I never got to experience when I was younger. Edited December 28, 2021 by rjkclarke 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Vice Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 33 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I guess we can partially blame, or thank @GonzoWARgasm for that one - because if Gonzo hadn't binge read the entire thread, that probably wouldn't have made me a bit self aware that someone else might do it in the future. So I started rushing around like an unhinged person that tries to tidy their house up when they know people are coming around for dinner Well in my defence, it was a great read. I have gone back through some of my efforts to fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and to add little numbers at the top of the review etc. I'm surprised that you could edit so many banners; I can't edit my Ratchet and Clank review at all because you've quoted the beginning and end of the revIew in the same quote. I haven't decided whether fixing spelling errors is justifiable enough to ask you to delete the quote ? Anyway, point is guys (@YaManSmevz), that the site won't always let you edit things in the past, sometimes ya get an error message. 33 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: That bit I put in bold - is why I struggled to get into The Last of Us and to some extent Uncharted (sorry Gonzo, I'll go flagellate myself for my crimes) ? Unforgiveable! Only the most minimal gameplay should be in games! ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 2 hours ago, GonzoWARgasm said: Well in my defence, it was a great read. I have gone back through some of my efforts to fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and to add little numbers at the top of the review etc. Thanks Gonzo! That comment made me so happy I danced like this...... I appreciate that - anyone that can read through that amount of my ramblings and still come out the other side with a smile has got my full thanks! You really do. It's usually spelling and grammar mistakes that I go back and correct too, especially if it's one I hadn't read for a while that I look at and think " How on earth did I manage to miss that one" but it happens a lot, even when proof reading before posting something, which I still do tend to do as well. Sometimes some just slip through the cracks though! 2 hours ago, GonzoWARgasm said: I'm surprised that you could edit so many banners; I can't edit my Ratchet and Clank review at all because you've quoted the beginning and end of the revIew in the same quote. I haven't decided whether fixing spelling errors is justifiable enough to ask you to delete the quote I fully expected to have that problem too actually - but I think I just got fairly lucky, in that I was able to. Do you know how big the word count is on your Ratchet and Clank series review? I know really lengthy posts can completely break the forum software and stop you from being able to edit it, I think Doc has run into that problem a few times, and somehow I haven't yet. That sucks that you can't edit that post because I quoted it like that - sorry about that man. I've gone and edited out the quote from that post anyway, so if it will let you go back in and edit it now go and do it. That's weird that it did that. 2 hours ago, GonzoWARgasm said: Unforgiveable! Only the most minimal gameplay should be in games! Haha! Yes...... The irony is I was considering firing up The Wolf Among Us, as I'm not tired enough to sleep yet, despite it being 4AM, plus I ought to get that game played/experienced at some point - so I'll look even more like a hypocrite soon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Vice Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 30 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Thanks Gonzo! That comment made me so happy I danced like this...... I appreciate that - anyone that can read through that amount of my ramblings and still come out the other side with a smile has got my full thanks! You really do. I gotchu ? 30 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Do you know how big the word count is on your Ratchet and Clank series review? I know really lengthy posts can completely break the forum software and stop you from being able to edit it, I think Doc has run into that problem a few times, and somehow I haven't yet. That sucks that you can't edit that post because I quoted it like that - sorry about that man. I've gone and edited out the quote from that post anyway, so if it will let you go back in and edit it now go and do it. That's weird that it did that. Oh I didn't even think about word counts!! That might be it! I'll give it another go anyway because you've gone and done that like a total bro. I LOVE The Wolf Among Us! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 12 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I love Aunt May in that Spider-Man game - but I just can't help where my brain goes when I see certain things "I love you, Peter!" "I love you too Troll-face.. er, I mean Aunt May!" That'd be funny if throughout the game she gradually kept morphing more and more into a troll but nobody ever mentioned it, so as a player you're left alone to be like "what the fuck..." 12 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I just checked and I got level 20 Mastery on that at like 2:30 AM, which is actually earlyish by my standards - I thought it was much later, as I remember feeling really tired when I played it. But yeah that level blearly eyed and a bit low energy is quite the experience, that level pack has so much going on. I totally get the need to push through though even if it does mean going to bed at 7AM, it's not the best idea ever. Although I'm one to talk - I ended up pushing through with Stranded Deep last night and finishing about 4AM and didn't go to sleep till about 8AM this morning as I was pretty pumped up adrenaline wise for finally finishing that game, and being able to play other things, now I've taken my self imposed restrictions off haha. It really is a lot! I love the look and layout of Sgail, it's an outstanding location, but when you're navigating it for the first time on that difficulty, sheesh! Eventually my curiosity overcame me and I went for that challenge where you have to dump both the girls from the office - I just wanted to see how many guards I'd have to kill! An obscene amount, it turns out.. it took at least an hour and I couldn't tell you how many close calls I had while doing that! Haha fuck it though, you did it! Sometimes it's hard to know the difference between when you're zeroed in, focused and determined, or if you're just being stubborn.. if the end result is the same though, who cares? Have you settled for sure on what to play next, or are you enjoying your freedom and kinda bouncin around still? 13 hours ago, rjkclarke said: My first time through Whittleton Creek was like that I think - or at least one of them was - where I was going great guns, and then something disastrous went wrong and everything just went to hell, but there's something so satisfying about getting out of a level as a hail of bullets is flying around you. I wanted to do everything Suit Only, Silent Assassin anyway because you get some really cool cosmetic rewards from it, but you're so right they absolutely rake in the challenge XP so they are so worth it! I wanted to carry those rewards over into Hitman 3 - there's still quite a few that I don't have from Hitman 2, that I ought to go and get that I'll be able to bring over to Hitman 3 whenever I can find a PS5, which is why I've not played that yet myself. There's nothing quite like making it out by the skin of your teeth after everything goes sideways! The adrenaline of "wait, that wasn't supposed to happen... FUCK" is one of the many reasons these Hitman games are so damn good! I think I started going for the SOSAs a bit later on in the game, it's tempting to go back one more again and get it on ones I missed, cuz the story seems like it's getting kinda wild and we non-Hitman 3 initiates might want all the extra gear we can get our hands on! 14 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I fear it won't be the last time I make that mistake either - sometimes when you have the urge to have Sushi, that's what you've gotta do. Another one of my friends from the US that I used to play Warframe with always talked about how much he loved Gas Station Pizza - which I always thought seemed like a pretty weird place to get Pizza from. He swore by it though. You can occasionally get that over here too, depending on what part of the country you are in - but they always look like they've been cooked too long, so I've never really felt the urge to dabble with that! This is the truth - I don't think that at any time my wife or myself were like "I could really go for some sushi," and the other was like "No thank you, but you go ahead and have fun with that." It just doesn't happen! That's interesting! Gas Station food is not unlike what we were fed for lunch in high school, maybe just a slightly greasier version. At its best, when it's freshly made, it has a trashy charm to it, like eating McDonald's or somethin - you wouldn't exactly call it good, but you don't want to stop eating it either! That's about as good as it gets though, so you're probably right to avoid it! I know one of the times they make fresh food is around 6-7am, which it is here right now. I wonder if your boy is treating himself to a nice gas station pizza breakfast as we speak! I hope he is, and I hope he's enjoying it? 14 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Thankfully I did have it in the bag! I don't think it's going to be that passive aggressive - but certainly not overwhelmingly positive either. I had a pretty good time with the game in general, it's got some really obnoxious trophies though. So my trophy section will end up being quite a bit longer this time around. I just don't think I was quite in the mood to play it very often, I think it's been a while since I've felt that demotivated to crack on and finish something. I hate that feeling, when you've got a game you're working on and at some point you're just not feeling it anymore, and the fun drops to a low enough level to where it starts feeling like work. It does make it all the more satisfying to be done with it though! Looking forward to the review? 14 hours ago, rjkclarke said: When I renovated mine a bit a few months back I wanted it all to look pretty uniform though, I'm glad it does,and I love how much even just adding a banner image brought some of those old reviews to life. Which is also why I went back and added in the Trophy Stats and banner images to all of them. The trophy stats are more for other people than they are for me, as I know some people like looking at the minutiae of those things more than some others do. I guess we can partially blame, or thank @GonzoWARgasm for that one - because if Gonzo hadn't binge read the entire thread, that probably wouldn't have made me a bit self aware that someone else might do it in the future. So I started rushing around like an unhinged person that tries to tidy their house up when they know people are coming around for dinner Again, I think you did a marvelous job - and that's a good point about the stats, lots of people are curious about that stuff, and they're in the very least an interesting footnote. And it's not like anybody would be offended to see them there and scream in a panic "NUMBERS!!! AAAAHHHH GET THEM AWAY!!!" We can! Gonzo is that dude✊️ Also that's a great analogy??? 14 hours ago, rjkclarke said: In the same way Mindless Self Indulgence like their coffee black just like their Metal. I too - like my Peter Parker when he looks like a Chinchilla. Seriously though fire this up and get it played - it's a great game, and that's coming from someone who's more than a little jaded towards bit "Triple A" titles if you like to call them that. With the mask, the tights, the webs, the slingas/ I like my Peter Parker lookin like a Chinchilla Nice reference! I had a big ol MSI phase way back when. Good shit? Also i may be tired but I misread that as "Triple A titties" and giggled a lil bit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 4 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: "I love you, Peter!" "I love you too Troll-face.. er, I mean Aunt May!" That'd be funny if throughout the game she gradually kept morphing more and more into a troll but nobody ever mentioned it, so as a player you're left alone to be like "what the fuck..." Haha! Brilliant ....... yet sad at the same time..... Now there's a game I want to experience that I'll never be able to play - I'd totally get on board with that. 4 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: It really is a lot! I love the look and layout of Sgail, it's an outstanding location, but when you're navigating it for the first time on that difficulty, sheesh! Eventually my curiosity overcame me and I went for that challenge where you have to dump both the girls from the office - I just wanted to see how many guards I'd have to kill! An obscene amount, it turns out.. it took at least an hour and I couldn't tell you how many close calls I had while doing that! It's so overwhelming first time through I think - to the point where I don't even think I liked it that much the first time I played through it, it was only on going through to do all the challenges and things like that that I think truly got to appreciate how good it really is. Props for doing that challenge, I saw that one and instantly thought "nope, that one's not for me" I gotta respect the hell out of the fact that you just went in all guns blazing and got it done though, that must have been pretty satisfying. 4 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Have you settled for sure on what to play next, or are you enjoying your freedom and kinda bouncin around still? I fired up The Wolf Among Us, so I'm going to go through that next, which let us be honest won't take all that long. Then after that I am going to dive into Yakuza 3 I think. Time for one last ride with Kiryu. I'll probably play a bit of Arkham Knight on the side as well, even though I seem to be terrible at juggling games, I think The Wolf Among Us is all the proof that I need that I should probably listen more when my friends tell me something is good or that I'd like something..... Plenty of my gamer friends, thought highly of it, you liked it, Doc liked it, Gonzo liked it...... and everyone else haha! I should have played it sooner, but I'm always a little bit trepidatious when it comes to Telltale games - I either really like them, or they end up frustrating me, and I end up finding all the ways I think they could have been done better - but a game where I can have a conversation with a talking pig named Colin? Yeah - I can get behind that sort of surreal awesomeness. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: There's nothing quite like making it out by the skin of your teeth after everything goes sideways! The adrenaline of "wait, that wasn't supposed to happen... FUCK" is one of the many reasons these Hitman games are so damn good! I think I started going for the SOSAs a bit later on in the game, it's tempting to go back one more again and get it on ones I missed, cuz the story seems like it's getting kinda wild and we non-Hitman 3 initiates might want all the extra gear we can get our hands on! Absolutely! It's one of the things I really love about them. Especially that feeling you sometimes get when things do go to hell, but you think screw it, I'm just going to try and salvage this as best as possible, so you end up thinking on the fly a lot, and just kind of going with the flow and seeing what happens, that can lead to some really organic, tight and tense gameplay, and I really love that. It's a feeling that video games don't nail all that often. I think the toughest part of getting that specific Outfit that I wanted, which was the Classic All Black Suit, is that I think you have to do the Sniper kills in all the regular and Legacy missions too, which make it a little bit tricker to figure out how to do certain levels. Mumbai was another fairly tricky one to get the Sniper Assassin challenge done on. Paris for example in Hitman 2 plays slightly differently, I thought I'd be able to use the same strategy I used in the original, but I just couldn't get it to work....... But I love the fact that the A.I behaves ever so slightly differently between games that you do have to re-route it, it adds a nice extra layer to those Legacy Maps. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: This is the truth - I don't think that at any time my wife or myself were like "I could really go for some sushi," and the other was like "No thank you, but you go ahead and have fun with that." It just doesn't happen! That's interesting! Gas Station food is not unlike what we were fed for lunch in high school, maybe just a slightly greasier version. At its best, when it's freshly made, it has a trashy charm to it, like eating McDonald's or somethin - you wouldn't exactly call it good, but you don't want to stop eating it either! That's about as good as it gets though, so you're probably right to avoid it! I know one of the times they make fresh food is around 6-7am, which it is here right now. I wonder if your boy is treating himself to a nice gas station pizza breakfast as we speak! I hope he is, and I hope he's enjoying it I never went in for like the school made lunches or dinners - so I can't really say for certain what they were like over here. I can definitely see the appeal of gas station food - especially with the McDonalds analogy, I'm not their biggest fan, but when you want something quick, easy and you really need that very brief rush you get from eating a lot of junk food, then they absolutely can do the job. He could have been having himself a gas station Pizza breakfast, he certainly wouldn't have been gaming till 7 or 8 in the morning that's for sure. He used to always comment on how much I seemed to suffer from Insomnia, but that's just always been the case. It's pretty rampant in my family, but it is what it is. I always just see it as a little extra time to do something productive with if I'm not feeling tired. Gotta take the positives and all that. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: I hate that feeling, when you've got a game you're working on and at some point you're just not feeling it anymore, and the fun drops to a low enough level to where it starts feeling like work. It does make it all the more satisfying to be done with it though! Looking forward to the review I haven't felt that feeling in a while - and it's weird that it was Stranded Deep, I practically despised my entire time with Agents of Mayhem, but never felt the need to stop playing it, or really got de-motivated. If I'm being honest it was probably just gaming fatigue more than anything, I probably didn't want to be gaming that much - I ran myself pretty ragged during the Trophies to Fight Cancer event, and for as much as I did enjoy that, I probably needed a tiny break, which I had, but perhaps it should have been longer. I actually liked Stranded Deep, apart from a few trophy nightmares, so the review isn't passive aggressive, as it turned out. I'm editing it at the moment, so I'll post it soon. In a way I'm glad it's kind of opened my eyes to a whole new genre that I think I like, that I might not have bothered to look into otherwise. So I can't complain about that part. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Again, I think you did a marvelous job - and that's a good point about the stats, lots of people are curious about that stuff, and they're in the very least an interesting footnote. And it's not like anybody would be offended to see them there and scream in a panic "NUMBERS!!! AAAAHHHH GET THEM AWAY!!!" We can! Gonzo is that dude️ Also that's a great analogy Thanks man - much appreciated! The stats thing does end up fairly eye opening sometimes, so I at least find it kind of interesting just from a sort of " Huh, that's odd" kind of perspective - as there are a few I've looked at that I've reviewed and thought "Damn, that's dropped in rarity by a bunch." That or finding out that you got platinum's on a friends or a family members birthday, yet I don't have one on my own birthday yet, haha. ? 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: With the mask, the tights, the webs, the slingas/ I like my Peter Parker lookin like a Chinchilla Nice reference! I had a big ol MSI phase way back when. Good shit Also i may be tired but I misread that as "Triple A titties" and giggled a lil bit. That's awesome! I didn't honestly expect anyone to actually get that reference - I thought there was a slim chance someone might, so I'm glad you did, I was into them for a while too, but I've not properly listened to MSI for quite a long time now. Great re-jig of the lyrics too, that cracked me up! it does sound pretty much how the song goes if you say it with the right inflection, so props for that one - but then you are a musicman after all! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: It's so overwhelming first time through I think - to the point where I don't even think I liked it that much the first time I played through it, it was only on going through to do all the challenges and things like that that I think truly got to appreciate how good it really is. Props for doing that challenge, I saw that one and instantly thought "nope, that one's not for me" I gotta respect the hell out of the fact that you just went in all guns blazing and got it done though, that must have been pretty satisfying. Mos def dude, overwhelming is the perfect word for it. The one really freebie you get is that you can disable the cameras right at the beginning? Same as you, my appreciation got the map didn't really come through til well after that first time through. It was absolutely exhausting, I couldn't tell you how much time I dropped on the first playthrough, a few hours at least! Thanks man! It really was. I had to find a few spots that were unapproachable from the rear (office, top of the tower, top of the warehouse) and move in from there. And every so often a new gaggle of guys would rush me and I'd be like "the fuck??? I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL DEAD!!" When I was on my way out, I ran past yet another group of guards... probably could've kept blasting for a while yet? 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: I fired up The Wolf Among Us, so I'm going to go through that next, which let us be honest won't take all that long. Then after that I am going to dive into Yakuza 3 I think. Time for one last ride with Kiryu. I'll probably play a bit of Arkham Knight on the side as well, even though I seem to be terrible at juggling games, I think The Wolf Among Us is all the proof that I need that I should probably listen more when my friends tell me something is good or that I'd like something..... Plenty of my gamer friends, thought highly of it, you liked it, Doc liked it, Gonzo liked it...... and everyone else haha! I should have played it sooner, but I'm always a little bit trepidatious when it comes to Telltale games - I either really like them, or they end up frustrating me, and I end up finding all the ways I think they could have been done better - but a game where I can have a conversation with a talking pig named Colin? Yeah - I can get behind that sort of surreal awesomeness. Nice! That's a cool one. That animation style is so dope, and it's perfect for in between games. I think you're gonna have a lot of fun with it. Are you familiar with the comics? I myself wasn't, but I think that worked in my favor. Haha just wait dude, shit gets weird in that one? 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: He could have been having himself a gas station Pizza breakfast, he certainly wouldn't have been gaming till 7 or 8 in the morning that's for sure. He used to always comment on how much I seemed to suffer from Insomnia, but that's just always been the case. It's pretty rampant in my family, but it is what it is. I always just see it as a little extra time to do something productive with if I'm not feeling tired. Gotta take the positives and all that. Insomnia is no fun at all. I've had my episodes but nothing considered to what you've had to deal with, I could only imagine. That is a good way to look at it though, you certainly can't get a lot done while you're sleepin! You don't stay up all night making soap, do you? 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: I haven't felt that feeling in a while - and it's weird that it was Stranded Deep, I practically despised my entire time with Agents of Mayhem, but never felt the need to stop playing it, or really got de-motivated. If I'm being honest it was probably just gaming fatigue more than anything, I probably didn't want to be gaming that much - I ran myself pretty ragged during the Trophies to Fight Cancer event, and for as much as I did enjoy that, I probably needed a tiny break, which I had, but perhaps it should have been longer. I actually liked Stranded Deep, apart from a few trophy nightmares, so the review isn't passive aggressive, as it turned out. I'm editing it at the moment, so I'll post it soon. In a way I'm glad it's kind of opened my eyes to a whole new genre that I think I like, that I might not have bothered to look into otherwise. So I can't complain about that part. Aw man, that ain't nice. We've actually talked about that before and how the fatigue can affect playing enjoyment. I'm glad you wrapped up Stranded and have a chance to chill a bit before you tackle Yakuza 3.. and worst case scenario, maybe take a day or two off! 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: The stats thing does end up fairly eye opening sometimes, so I at least find it kind of interesting just from a sort of " Huh, that's odd" kind of perspective - as there are a few I've looked at that I've reviewed and thought "Damn, that's dropped in rarity by a bunch." That or finding out that you got platinum's on a friends or a family members birthday, yet I don't have one on my own birthday yet, haha. You know, I never thought of it that way! I kept track of dates on the side just for sake of tracking progress, but that's a neat wrinkle... damn man, you keep giving me renovation ideas! Maybe 2022 will be the year you give yourself a birthday plat? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Mos def dude, overwhelming is the perfect word for it. The one really freebie you get is that you can disable the cameras right at the beginning Same as you, my appreciation got the map didn't really come through til well after that first time through. It was absolutely exhausting, I couldn't tell you how much time I dropped on the first playthrough, a few hours at least! Oh yeah you do don't you - that's like the most straight forward part - getting rid of the cameras - then it starts to get interesting, you've gotta be pretty creative on when you actually use your one allowed save on that level I found. Sniper Assassin challenges were a nightmare on that one. I did love the Tomb Raider reference trophy though, for the secret exit of the level, where you just swan dive off of the cliffs Lara Croft style. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Thanks man! It really was. I had to find a few spots that were unapproachable from the rear (office, top of the tower, top of the warehouse) and move in from there. And every so often a new gaggle of guys would rush me and I'd be like "the fuck??? I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL DEAD!!" When I was on my way out, I ran past yet another group of guards... probably could've kept blasting for a while yet I think when I get to Hitman 3 I'm actually going to have to try out some of those challenges from the Legacy maps that I just decided against even attempting, it sounds like you had a really interesting time with a lot of the ones that you threw the gauntlet down on, like the one for hiding bodies in wells in Marrakesh, that seemed fun, but I was too chicken to try and figure out how to do it ? 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Nice! That's a cool one. That animation style is so dope, and it's perfect for in between games. I think you're gonna have a lot of fun with it. Are you familiar with the comics? I myself wasn't, but I think that worked in my favor. Haha just wait dude, shit gets weird in that one I'm pretty much the same as you were going into it by the sounds of it. I knew it was a comic, but it isn't one I've ever read, but even after just playing the first episode it's so conceptually interesting, that I think I could totally see myself reading the comics at some point. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Insomnia is no fun at all. I've had my episodes but nothing considered to what you've had to deal with, I could only imagine. That is a good way to look at it though, you certainly can't get a lot done while you're sleepin! You don't stay up all night making soap, do you? Funny you mention that, I do have a range of soaps coming out soon - I DO get the urge to use Jared Leto's face as a punching bag ( not really,) and I do have a friend that looks suspiciously like Meatloaf with a lovely pair of Lara Croft-esque pointy bits, that could do with a Bra. You've got to find a positive somewhere in insomnia I guess - it isn't like it's a super power or anything. "Stumbling through life and seeing vague hallucinations in his peripheral vision, is it an owl, is it a plane? Who knows, what he sees it's Insomnia Man!" Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Faster than a speeding bullet" does it I fully understand the irony too, as I'm sitting here replying at 4.30 AM. But I don't have to be anywhere today, so I guess it isn't too big of a problem. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Aw man, that ain't nice. We've actually talked about that before and how the fatigue can affect playing enjoyment. I'm glad you wrapped up Stranded and have a chance to chill a bit before you tackle Yakuza 3.. and worst case scenario, maybe take a day or two off! We have yeah, and it can be so brutal when you just have to kind of force yourself into something you'd really rather not be playing, or that you want to play at some point but just not at that very moment. I'm really excited for Yakuza 3 - so thankfully that one isn't going to be so much of a problem. 5 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: You know, I never thought of it that way! I kept track of dates on the side just for sake of tracking progress, but that's a neat wrinkle... damn man, you keep giving me renovation ideas! Maybe 2022 will be the year you give yourself a birthday plat Well it's all there for you to renovate if you want to, so go for it if it's something you've been thinking of, you might come out the other side with a lot more positivity than you might expect. These are our spaces after all, so if we can make it as close to what we want it to be as possible, that can only be a good thing I think. Just let me know if you do, so I can go and have a look. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted December 29, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) When I was Stranded Deep, I found This Platinum Inside a Coconut. Platinum #341 Stranded Deep (PS4) Stay Alive! Collected all trophies A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 27 December 2021 : 4:11:06 AM Time Taken to Platinum : 2 months, 3 days, 13 hours Platinum Rarity - 2.87% Trophy Number - #16,312 Stranded Deep is another game that I feel like I have to slap another big fat disgusting context warning on top of. A context warning so fat and obvious even Mr Magoo could probably have seen it coming a mile off. Stranded Deep is very much not the kind of game I would usually play. I have almost zero experience with the genre. That being said however, after playing Stranded Deep I do think I might like to dip my toes in with the occasional foray back into this type of game. I’m very aware that better alternatives exist to Stranded Deep, so I feel like I ought to seek some of those out first at some point. If you go purely based on how this site describes the game – then you’d hear the words: Simulator,Adventure,Indie, Horror and Survival. Sometimes those descriptions are absolutely not a realistic description of the game you are about to play. Is that true in Stranded Deep’s case? I actually think it is yeah. Across your time with Stranded Deep you will almost certainly experience a lot of what you’d expect from words like Horror, Simulation or Survival. To its credit, I’d say this is probably where Stranded Deep thrives too. One thing you’ll almost certainly thank Stranded Deep for – is the fact that you don’t have to read about me waxing lyrical about how engaging the story elements can be. Well, that and how compelling I thought certain characters are in this game for once – because, well, for all intents and purposes this game has no story and no characters. Just you, some procedurally generated tropical islands and Coconuts, oh so many Coconuts. I can literally sum the story up like this “You’re on a plane, the plane crashes, you swim to an island, and you must survive.” You know what though? Sometimes that isn’t a bad thing; I certainly don’t think it hampered Stranded Deep from being enjoyable. At a glance, you’d probably think Stranded Deep was a pretty basic, and also quite ugly game – but if you dig a little deeper and scratch beneath the surface and look at some videos of this game through its evolution, an evolution that hasn’t stopped yet I might add, from where it started, to where it’s at now are wildly different entities. I think for the most part, visually at least, the game looks rather good – dangerous plants are essentially colour coded for avoidance, it usually amounts to if it’s purple run away screaming – well, that or just don’t be a nimrod and tread on it, like I might possibly have done once or twice. You can’t win them all though right? It isn’t all perfect – because there is an absolute abundance of re-used assets – every island does somewhat look the same, apart from the odd few that have survivor remnants on them. So in this regard exploration becomes a little more tedious, as you might find you’d visit the same island multiple times, because it has no discernable landmarks. This was a particular trap that I sprung on myself multiple times, more on that shortly though. I had one particularly hilarious incident where this happened just before I got the platinum. As I was using the Gyrocopter to look for the Survivor remnants, I took off and then came to an island that seemed completely unfamiliar to me, AT FIRST; there were half built structures everywhere. I was genuinely excited and thought “I’ve not seen anything like this yet.” Unfortunately, when I set down in the Gyrocopter and went to inspect everything it turns out it was the island I was using as my home base, so I literally flew around in a circle and came back to my own Island thinking it was a completely new one, I laughed out loud, then audibly said “well done dumbarse.” Before setting off on the Gyrocopter again, and then crashed it into the sea (for good measure I guess?) because I was trying to make sure I didn’t circle back to my own island again. Apparently my character thought a watery grave was better than the embarrassment of doing that for a second time. Full disclosure here – this is a little of me creeping into this review. I really hate using the word adequate as an adjective, because to me it just sounds like a really posh disappointed parent looking at their child’s naff Macaroni Owl drawing, then looking down their beaky nose at it and saying “that’s adequate.” Bear with me, as tenuous as it might sound, I’m going somewhere with this, adequate is the only adjective I can use to describe Stranded Deep’s soundtrack, it is adequate, it does its job, you can somewhat tell what it is, but you don’t really like it and you’d probably much rather it wasn’t there. It’s at the very least relaxing, but I ended up turning it off in favour of listening to Podcasts or Music. An area where Stranded Deep seems to particularly shine is actually in the ability it seems to have to be able to give you a fairly decent anecdote no matter who plays it, which ties directly into the gameplay. An area that is really the only thing I can talk about in depth with this game. The fact that the twenty-five islands that spawn in when you start the game are random ends up making practically every playthrough very unique to each individual player, whether or not you particularly like this is probably down to preference. For what it’s worth, I like that element, a whole lot as it adds a real layer of unpredictability to the experience. Even though I have an admittedly limited knowledge of what to expect from a game from this genre – when you go into it, you expect a few things: crafting, survival mechanics (food and water,) and the ability for eventual self sustainability. Stranded Deep does possess these qualities, sure – but deep is something that goes only as far as the title; there really isn’t a whole lot of depth to any of the elements I mentioned above. There are a lot of options afforded to you, but a personal pet peeve of mine is when the game gives you the illusion of options – how many of us are likely to use the lesser option when you know there’s something readily available instead that can do something better? Not many of us I’m sure. Take cooking for example – Stranded Deep has plenty of options for various cookers and ways and means to cook food, but far and away the best thing you can use to cook is the meat smoker. The game has a mechanic where if you leave food for too long then it spoils, something which does make sense, just eat fruit or vegetables when you get them to get around that, but with meat, even if you cook it, it can become spoiled, so the best approach is to smoke it which essentially preserves it forever. You can take smoked meat with you on long journeys, and you can store five pieces of meat on the smoker itself if you are lacking room. I vividly remember thinking, if I didn’t have to get a trophy for building one of everything I really wouldn’t bother with any of the other means of cooking. That self sustainability does come a little too quickly and easily in Stranded Deep I’d argue, if you’re careful about it you can usually build all of the necessary things you’d need to survive for a while just by venturing to a few islands. Materials are so easy to come by, and the only things you really have to worry about is the durability of some of your tools. It’s an area that I feel Stranded Deep really could have made an effort to go hard with, and make it feel like an absolute struggle. They aren’t strictly the same genre of course, but I remember the first few hours of playing This War of Mine thinking how important and necessary each specific piece of crafting material was to just stay alive that little bit longer, even if it was for just one day – but with Stranded Deep it was a case of “oh, there’s another crab, a giant one too, that’s dinner sorted.” You might remember a little bit earlier – that I mentioned the fact that this game seems to have a certain ability to pull good anecdotes from a playthrough, this one I’m about to share is by no means the best or the funniest, but it at least plays into the Horror aspect of this game. I’ll share one of mine. For a little context for those who are unaware, to complete Stranded Deep you are required to fight three giant sea monster bosses to get the necessary plane parts to escape from the islands. As the maps are randomly generated in twenty-five, five by five columns, where the particular bosses are on your map will be completely different depending on your game. So imagine me, on my playthrough where you can’t use a compass because it voids a trophy. The last boss I had to defeat happened to be practically halfway across the map, those bosses take some killing too – I had to kill the Eel, which takes about forty or so crude spears if you only use those, so I basically had to go with just a sleeping bag, crates filled with spears, and as many spears as I could take in my inventory. Just travelling to the Eel took a full day of sailing on my raft, and then I had to sleep so I had some daylight to fight the Eel. Unfortunately sleeping also drops your hunger and thirst meter down, so going into the fight I was dangerously hungry, and low on water, already a bad start, right? Well immediately after the first interaction with the Eel (it decided I was dinner,) I got the bleeding status effect (your health decreases until you make a bandage,) did I bring bandages? No, because I needed as much room for spears as I could possibly get. I proceeded to get hit several more times during the fight against the Eel, to the point where my health was dangerously low. I did eventually beat the Eel, but after doing so I had no supplies, rapidly dwindling health, and it was becoming night time. Fade to black....... Oh no, the nightmare isn’t over yet. My journey back halfway across the map was exactly that, a journey, or an adventure filled with horror. At first I thought, “Yeah I can probably get back like this,” then reality kicked in and I realised I’d die on the way back. My first priorities then, find an island, and find the resources to craft a bandage..To craft one you need a piece of cloth and one lashing (made from four fibrous leaves). I decided to stop at the first Island I came across going in a diagonal line, which is where I believed is where I’d come from. As resources on islands are randomised you aren’t guaranteed a piece of Cloth and scavenging enough to make a Loom to make some cloth wasn’t viable either. What I hadn’t realised is my raft had gotten itself turned around during the Eel fight, so I wasn’t going in the right direction at all, still – the first island I came across had the cloth that I needed thankfully, so a bandage was made. However, I was still starving to death and dying of thirst, I couldn’t use any of the islands as a second base, so I thought I’d just get what I could as I went along trying to find my way home. A good idea in theory, but that was the beginning of the nightmare. I genuinely was worried that I was going to die before I got back to my home base, I had the last plane part I needed to finish the game, and I couldn’t save, because I was in such a precarious situation that I could have completely screwed my playthrough by saving over my previous save. I couldn’t sleep because I’d die of hunger and thirst, so I was essentially navigating in the dark, without a compass, so I couldn’t even make out landmarks like the Aircraft carrier, which was not too far from my home base. So there I was desperately sailing around from Island to Island hoping to find food, and water and my way home. It was a desperate time, and I was taking anything I could find, as sustenance, scavenging every nook and cranny as quick as possible to find fruit (it replenishes food and water). Eventually I looked at the time in the game, and thought it’ll be light soon, so I’ll sail in the direction that I think is where my home is, and hopefully by the time I get closer I might see something I recognise. I can’t tell you how overjoyed I was when I saw that aircraft carrier in the far off distance as dawn was beginning to break and knew that I was almost home. There aren’t many times in video games where I’ve been so glad of the safety of a save point. For as much as it is easy to pick holes in Stranded Deep being a fairly basic survival experience, I’m grateful of the fact that the game gave me an experience like that, and one I don’t think I’ll forget in a hurry. During that time, I really did feel, lost, alone, and stranded and sea, that sense of dread was palpable. I did plan on writing quite a lot about Stranded Deeps trophies, trophies which are honestly fairly obnoxious. I think I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible though, because whilst I had a nightmare with a few of them, they aren’t really that bad apart from having poor descriptions. Some of them are so vague like Two of Each, as nobody seems to know for sure which animals count, so you end up filling your raft up with a zoo practically, and sailing into a storm in the hope that your menagerie is indeed the ark, the trophy overlords are looking for. I also wasn’t quite willing to build a huge raft for all the animals. Mine essentially worked like a floating see-saw. I had a raft base either end, as a makeshift hold for the animals, but to make sure the raft would float, I had to strategically place animals either side so it wouldn’t sink. What I was left with was a bizarre image of some cobbled together bits of wood, with two hogs either end, two wild boars strategically placed, two snakes around the sail and two more carefully placed crabs (which are apparently made of lead, judging by how much they seem to weigh here,) either side to keep us afloat (and a partridge in a pear tree, well - I might as well have done). That same feeling of dread, that I mentioned that I got on the way back from the Eel, I also got when Call me Ahab (Trophy for crafting all boss kill trophies,) didn’t unlock when it should have done. The game thought they had been crafted, as it unlocked the trophy for crafting every item in the game, but that item specific trophy didn’t unlock. So that’s several hours of progress I had to retread. Apparently they have to be crafted in the same game session – so don’t make the same mistake as me, and just hold off on crafting them until you can have all three on you at once. Other than that, the trophies are all fairly straightforward to understand, yet not too easy to actually pull off. Crafting every item can be a fairly arduous process, and the trophies for surviving ten days in various conditions is a bit luck dependent if you plan on doing it on the first Island like I did, if you go somewhere that doesn’t have enough Coconuts to live on for ten days you’re pretty much screwed in that regard, so you might want to restart. Oh and if you like natty little references to films, then one of the trophies is a reference to the film Castaway. As much as I’d like to, I can’t give all that much advice for this game, because it’s randomised, so every playthrough is pretty much uniquely different (an element I very much like,) but if I was going to give any, I’d say to use any of the available tricks that you feel comfortable with, like creating a dedicated farming island, to only use to mine resources from. Would I recommend Stranded Deep? It all depends really, if you’re into games like this anyway, then you’ve probably played something better already, or even this game itself. If you are a relative neophyte to this genre like I am, then I genuinely think there might be some fun to be had there for you. Plenty of us will probably have it too, as it was a free offering from Playstation Plus not too long ago. Just be mindful of the bugs that can occur, and you will probably have a slightly smoother time of things than I did. I can’t say I felt motivated to play this game very often, but once I got in the swing of it I did quite enjoy it, and it did make me want to experiment with a few more games in this genre in the future, so that absolutely can’t be a bad thing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess I ought to give a little shout-out to @Cassylvania for this one. If it wasn't for Cassy's awesome review of Stranded Deep a fair old time back now, I don't think I ever would have bothered to actually play this, I'm glad I have as it's kind of given me a decent amount of interest to play other games like this. If you read this Cassy then feel free to shoot me any recommendations of better games in this genre, as I know you've said this isn't even remotely close to the best thing hat the genre has to offer. I'll leave a link to Cassy's review of it as well - I'll quote my favourite part of it that just makes me laugh to even think about, after re-reading it just now, because of the casual matter of fact way everything was described. https://forum.psnprofiles.com/topic/51674-cassylvanias-miserable-little-pile-of-platinums/?do=findComment&comment=2392691 I can't help but imagine someone telling this story after being asked "So how was your day?" "I was chasing down the monster eel. There's a trophy in the game called Two of each, which requires having two of each animal on your raft and sailing into a storm. There seems to be a lot of discrepancy out there over which animals are actually necessary for the trophy and I had an awful time getting the night snakes to spawn, so I spent the better part of the game with a bunch of dead pig carcasses in my raft. Well, I managed to kill the eel, but a heavy storm kicked in. When I tried to get back on my raft, it capsized and I watched in horror as all my little piggies and four chests full of loot began to sink the bottom of the ocean floor. I made a mad scramble to save them. There was even a moment when I was diving straight down and could imagine me extending my hand to grab one of the little piggy's foot, but I had to let him go. My raft was sailing away without me. I climbed back on (pretty sure it was still capsized at the time) and rode the storm to the nearest island, heartbroken. I didn't even get the chance to eat that little guy." Afterwards the person hearing the story just says something like " You've had a tough day then, guess I'll erm leave you in peace" I have now had firsthand experience of floating across the sea with a raft full of dead pigs - when I first read that review it was such a surreal image. The weirdest thing is once you actually are doing it, you don't really notice how strange it all is rafting your way across a load of islands with a boat full of dead animals. That is exactly what I meant in my own review, where I mention that on occasion this game surprisingly offers up some half decent experiences that you weren't quite expecting. This has been an interesting one for sure. Catch you all in the next one folks! Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Oh yeah you do don't you - that's like the most straight forward part - getting rid of the cameras - then it starts to get interesting, you've gotta be pretty creative on when you actually use your one allowed save on that level I found. Sniper Assassin challenges were a nightmare on that one. I did love the Tomb Raider reference trophy though, for the secret exit of the level, where you just swan dive off of the cliffs Lara Croft style. I think when I get to Hitman 3 I'm actually going to have to try out some of those challenges from the Legacy maps that I just decided against even attempting, it sounds like you had a really interesting time with a lot of the ones that you threw the gauntlet down on, like the one for hiding bodies in wells in Marrakesh, that seemed fun, but I was too chicken to try and figure out how to do it Real talk - I did my first save right before the first kill... what a dumb, dumb decision, needless to say that I ended up restarting! I could only imagine what a pain the Sniper challenges were... If memory serves one of them you can get pretty easily but the other doesn't ever go outside. Definitely try some of the more oddball challenges, I had so much fun with those! If you were chicken to try those, don't feel too badly because until recently I was too chicken to go for the SOSA challenges! Like I'd get them here and there but I wouldn't actively seek them, now I'm really glad that I make the effort. Hahaha I totally forgot about the secret exit, that shit was a crack up??? 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Funny you mention that, I do have a range of soaps coming out soon - I DO get the urge to use Jared Leto's face as a punching bag ( not really,) and I do have a friend that looks suspiciously like Meatloaf with a lovely pair of Lara Croft-esque pointy bits, that could do with a Bra. You've got to find a positive somewhere in insomnia I guess - it isn't like it's a super power or anything. "Stumbling through life and seeing vague hallucinations in his peripheral vision, is it an owl, is it a plane? Who knows, what he sees it's Insomnia Man!" Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Faster than a speeding bullet" does it I dunno, I'd buy a copy of Insomnia Man... I hear they come with a free bar of Clarke Enterprises Soap! True that, there's always at least some positivity to be found in most things.. the trick, of course, is to be able to find it! 5 hours ago, rjkclarke said: When I was Stranded Deep, I found this Platinum inside a Coconut. Platinum #341 Stranded Deep (PS4) Stay Alive! Collected all trophies Excellent work, man! I genuinely feel like I played the game myself, love your approach with this one! When you talked about thinking you had reached a new island (but hadn't), aw dude. I've had so many moments like that, not even all of them gaming-related! Really glad you shared that bit.. also the Epic of Mr. Clarke and the Eel! You really captured that feeling we all get in a game when we barely make it through a superbly difficult boss fight and are basically limping around in desperate search of replenishment, just thinking "please, please don't die, I do NOT want to do all that again!!" Also, next time you get sushi, get yourself some eel, and as you're eating it, pretend that's the one you killed in Stranded Deep. That might make it taste even better, who knows? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassylvania Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 8 hours ago, rjkclarke said: If it wasn't for Cassy's awesome review of Stranded Deep a fair old time back now, I don't think I ever would have bothered to actually play this, I'm glad I have as it's kind of given me a decent amount of interest to play other games like this. If you read this Cassy then feel free to shoot me any recommendations of better games in this genre, as I know you've said this isn't even remotely close to the best thing hat the genre has to offer. Glad you enjoyed Stranded Deep! It's unpolished, but there are some really good things there. It was fun reliving the experience through your stories. It's those raw, unscripted moments that make survival my favorite genre. I do have several recommendations... The Long Dark is my gold standard. The entire world is handcrafted and it looks beautiful. Just be aware that the platinum is brutal. The make-or-break trophy will be surviving 500 consecutive days, which is particularly daunting because you're essentially on a slow death timer from the moment you start. Unless they patched this, there are only a finite amount of resources in the world. If there's a box of matches in a drawer halfway across the map, that's the only box of matches you'll ever get from that drawer. At some point, you will die. So the entire experience becomes about carefully managing your resources and planning your route around an ever-shrinking map so that you can maximize your survival while minimizing the danger you put yourself in for staying in one area for too long. (At this point, there are even four chapters of the story mode to play through, which makes it well-worth the price.) If survival is my favorite genre and The Long Dark is my favorite game in that genre, does that make The Long Dark my favorite game? Possibly. The Forest is also really good. I avoided this game for a long time because I thought it was a multiplayer game, like Rust. It's probably closer to Minecraft, right down to the great base-building mechanics and somewhat awkward combat. I'd probably recommend this over The Long Dark just because this feels like a more "traditional" gaming experience that just happens to have elements of survival. Subnautica is great. Best thing with that game is that you only have to put as much effort into the platinum as you want, as you can technically use the dev commands to get all of the trophies in a few hours. But you really should do most of it on your own. I haven't gotten to it yet, but Green Hell is supposed to be good too. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: I actually forgot to tag you in it - which is a little stupid after saying that I would..... Oops Oh well it's at the top of the page anyway, and I'm sure you've probably found it by now anyway. Yeah don't worry about it, it was a good read. On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: Yep, I 100% agree with that one....... It has kind of allowed them to cut corners a bit. Especially when you see the state some games are in before their Day One patch. I remember getting Snooker 19 about four or five days before the initial release date for some reason - maybe because I pre-ordered it (yes I love Snooker that much, it shouldn't be a surprise ,) but the shape that game was in before the Day One patch was atrocious, every single thing looked sludgy and grimy, it was full of bugs and all sorts of broken things. That wouldn't have passed a quality control check back in the days when there weren't Day One patches. AC: Unity is pretty good by the way - I know I shouldn't encourage you to add to your backlog, but it's in a pretty stable state now, and I had a lot of fun when I played that one, so if you ever get the time to be able to play it, you ought to give it a shot. Sadly some take it so far they don't have any corners left to cut lol Some games come out in such horrible states, even from the biggest companies. It's so poor. Haha I'm not surprised you pre-ordered it lol Well there you go then, sadly it can be like that with almost any game. I mean CD Project Red were well respected (from what I'd seen) nd then they released Cyperpunk..... Haha it's ok to suggest games to add to my backlog as long as they are quality lol Don't need another Road Rage haha Assassin's Creed as a franchise is one that has mostly passed me by sadly. I played a small amount of Syndicate was it? (The London one) and played through a bit/most of the Vita one but yeah that's it lol On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: I've still seen more hate for The Last Jedi (that it doesn't deserve)....... I've literally seen so many video essays on YouTube which I refuse to watch with the titles like "Why The Last Jedi" is bad etc...... You can't please everyone it seems. What was Anthony Daniels like? I've heard he can take himself a little bit too seriously. Yes indeed I've heard a lot of hate for that too, and I quite liked that film overall. Not in my SW top 3 of films like but yeah. He was pretty serious yes, he was polite and signed the Pop figure and gave enough attention to you but it was short and swift at the same time. Definitely met better people who give more time and have a joke etc. but it is what it is. On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: There's definitely things I like about DAII as well, NOT ANDERS THOUGH.... Man, he was great in Dragon Age: Origins, then he just became a first class fanny. I like the concept of Hawke as a character too, whether that's a male or female Hawke..... I especially like that really sinister side-quest late into the game with Hawkes mother as well, that's absolutely chilling. I think the thing I like least about Inquisition, that isn't open world related is that I liked pretty much none of the available party members, outside of a few exceptions. I love Sera, like she properly cracked me up, and one of my best friends and I will often randomly quote her lines out of context, it isn't long before one of us goes "RED JENNY YEAH!." She's just a very funny character and she looks a lot like one of my nieces too, which is quite funny as well. Well - that and the fact that Corypheus is introduced in a DLC pack for Dragon Age II that I haven't actually played yet, so when they act like he's this important character for Inquisition my reaction was all "WHO DIS?" Yeah they didnt seem to move his character along that well for some reason. It was odd. I liked Hawke as a character overall and some of the others like Aveline, and of course Varric is great. That's a pity that you didn't like many of the characters in Inquisition. I quite liked the cast overall. Sometimes characters click with one person and don't with another. The only Dragon Age game I played the DLC for was Inquisition, so there's loads of trophies (I assume) for 1 and 2 that never got touched lol On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: Yes, well I'm only human after all - and that's where I'll leave that before it gets any more sinister, and I start objectifying her further. Might have to work on that title - stinker indeed, I already know what's winning smelliest of this year........ Final Fantasy IX obviously.......... Well that's very true. Unless you're not. Clearly you are though. Yes you must be. Are you? lol Yes, objectifying is bad. FFIX?! Stinky?! You take those words back good sir! and that wink emoji this instance! I demand respect for the 3rd best FF of all time (imho) lol On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: Yep you nailed it - Twin Snakes is the remake of the PS1 MGS. It's a really bizarre remake too - they went full unrealistic weird anime stuff (not the aesthetic, the action,) in the cutscenes, where at one point Snake does a standing backflip onto a missile that's coming towards him. That's one you can't not roll your eyes at. That's interesting you say that. I might do that as one of those as part my little side series "Sideshows and Curiosities" but I worry a little bit that it'd just read like me bragging about a load of rare games that I own, but then it'd cool to open the floor for everyone else to let us all know what some of their rarest purchases are too, so perhaps that might be the way to go with it, because that'd be fun to hear about the rare editions of games that yourself and others own, that could be really fun. The most ironic thing is lots of my rarest games are on Nintendo consoles - I have a Pokemon game on the Gamecube that I saw go for £160 not too long ago on Ebay, which just seems mad to me. Ah yes I thought so. That was the best MGS for me. Got me playing most of the rest of them. Really enjoyed that one. Wow, didn't realise Snake was quite that nimble haha It could read that way to some, it depends how you approach doing it but like you said I think it could open the floor for others to join in and just show off (in a nice non bragging way) rare collectables they have. Would be pretty cool. Wow £160, but then it's Pokemon. Want to get a copy of Pokemon Blue (first one I ever played, very nostalgic) but the prices man, geez. There's very expensive Resident Evil, Sonic and Final Fantasy games I haven't got copies of either. On 12/28/2021 at 0:53 AM, rjkclarke said: I'm finding less and less reason to want to keep watching as each week goes by myself.... I haven't watched a full episode of Raw or Smackdown for literally years and these days I only ever dip in for PPV's..... All the use my WWE Network subscription gets these days is watching old episodes of ECW that I never got to experience when I was younger. The WWE Network seems like a very cool idea at least, would be pretty awesome to just be able to watch a random PPV or whatever. Update - Finally managed to watch the Sonic film tonight! Enjoyed it overall, think they did a pretty good job considering trying to translate Sonic to a film format. Looking forward to the 2nd one. One film checked off, only a gazillion to go lol Edited December 29, 2021 by The_Kopite Updated information 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 @rjkclarke Finished reading your review, and in one sentence, my thoughts are; "There's no place like home!" ? From stumbling into your initial island on accident, to hoping to find it after the eel fight, home is the place to be! Man, that feeling of frantically sailing the seas low on food and water with severe bleeding as you search across the many islands to recover is quite the tale. It's a cruel twist of fate that even with the thirst you had, the ocean itself is too salty to drink! It's handy that you had good visual cues on your initial island, that saved you! ? That eel will think twice about approaching you and your spears again! Next time I'll call in a missile strike, it won't stand a chance. ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now