rjkclarke's Carnival of Diamonds and Rust

[Destructor-8]

On 01/01/2022 at 3:20 AM, rjkclarke said:

Here's to you!

Happy New Years!

 

I have said this in various places on the forums over the last few days - what with all the end of year posts - but the thing I'm most grateful for is getting to know so many of you. As I said, I might not have met any of you, and I might never meet any of you, who can say for sure. But that doesn't mean I don't care about many of you, and consider you friends. I really mean that too - I have got plenty of friends like a lot of us do, but not seeing them or spending time with them has been one of the hardest things for me over the last two years of lockdowns and restrictions. So to find so many wonderful people who are willing to put up with my waffly rambly insomniac nonsense, I truly am grateful.

 

@Destructor-8 I'm so glad there's someone around who has some ridiculous sage like wisdom when it comes to racing games - you're always the person I go to if I feel like I need to ask whether a certain racing game is actually worth playing or not.

 

Feel free to call me sappy, or sycophantc I guess if you have to (although I'm not)..... All of you in one way or another can and have more than once  helped turn a terrible day into one where I find myself smiling far more than I ever expected to.

 

I'm grateful to each and every one of you for the awesome place that not only this specific thread has become, but you've all contributed to making the checklist part of the forums a thoroughly enjoyable place to be, for so many people - even for those that don't have threads themselves.

 

That was an amazing read dude. I'm really glad that you said everything you wanted to say here. I said a few days ago about not really using this site too much before but ever since I have, there has been a lot of amazing people that have been really friendly & helpful. I'm really glad that I started using this site more as I really needed it & it's always nice to know more friendly people for the future. I remember having a chat with you once & it was one that I really needed at the time so I really appreciate it. There are things that you have put here that I think too & I want you to know that I appreciate what you do. It is always nice to have a chat with you.

[Platinum_Vice]

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think half the problem is that you see him fairly fleetingly, and all the times you do interact with him, he's either being a complete cock to you,or Beauty, so I just took an instant dislike to him.

 

That reminds me, I should get to writing that Wolf Among Us review... I'll do that tomorrow though.

 

I'm glad Gonzo asked and you'd already answered about the comics, because I was going to ask you the same thing. Now I don't have to, because after playing the game I very much wanted more out of that universe - I thought it was so damn cool how they subverted some of the preconceived ideas that you have about fairytale characters.....

 

?x3

 

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Hopefully I'll remember to quote a little smarter next time though so I don't mess up your ability to edit your posts.

 

Please don't stress about this

 

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

There are plenty of series you've done that I'm looking forward to, but damn am I hungry for whenever you tackle the Witcher series, The Witcher 3 is my favourite game of the PS4 generation. It'll be especially cool as you've got that sweet Gwent platinum I wish I had - and you wrote the guide too which is doubly awesome..... Actually whilst I've got your attention with this reply, do you reckon Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is worth bumping up my backlog? Or should I just let it happen, when it happens. I already own it, just not played it yet.

 

In pledging to myself that I'll put a Gonzo-sized review out once a fortnight this year, I've made a very loose plan about an general order for them... where I'll start from the oldest point in time and work my way to the present. The Witcher series is about the halfway point but I can bump it up a little for you... but it will be on the longer side so I'll want to polish it up quite a bit.

 

Thronebreaker is fantastic. If you like card games then you'll love this game. It is only loosely based on the W3's version of gwent but it is recognisable. Spoiler: I'll rank Thronebreaker somewhere in the 8.5-9.5 range (not sure what exactly at the moment). Subjectively, I had a lot of fun with it as it was right up my alley.

 

The biggest factor I'd consider recommending is finding a guide/waiting for some magical person to write a good one. The game is good but not so incredible that I'd recommend back to back playthroughs, and there's a lot of missables... I *might* (*might*) write a guide for it....... oh god am I a busy man...

 

Edit: the more I think about it, the more I want to write a guide ?

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by GonzoWARgasm

[Copanele]

On 1/1/2022 at 11:52 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

Haha - @Copanele has to take the award now for being "Most Mentioned in an Awards Category - 2021" ?

M'Dude - we all have our popular games we don't like, but for some reason, your Shadow of the Colossus stance is becoming mythologised at an alarming rate! ?

 

 

10 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think it's funny how Copanele seems to hate the horse the most - arguably the nicest character in the whole game ...... She's a little dumb at times - and I can't tell you the amount of times I've ran so far head and just run along whistling like a prat, only to turn around and see her trotting along at a snails pace, but I wouldn't like her to become glue. ?

 

Out of all games, goddamn Shadow of the Colossus put me on the Trophy Checklist map ? adding insult to injury, team ICO!

 

And look, I am not denying the game's other qualities, like graphics and soundtrack and mood (and shooting lizards) , I am just saying that I've retried the Phalanx boss (and its speedrun) so many times I could have sworn the horse started saying in a very fat voice "ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS TO FOLLOW THE DAMN TRAIN CJ". Controlling Agro is how I imagine steering a Spanish Galleon through a maelstrom.

So yeah, I have a bone to pick with that wheat-eating wheelbarrow.

For what it's worth however, it's the most beautiful game that pissed me off, ever .

[The_Kopite]

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

CD Projekt Red did have a lot of good will before the Cyberpunk debacle that's for sure...... but, and there's a fairly big caveat to that, a lot of people seem to gloss over, or conveniently forget, is that The Witcher 3 was a buggy mess on release... It's great now, it's my favourite game of the PS4 generation, but when it was released it was a mess.

 

I left it for months, @DrBloodmoney also had a bug/glitch filled nightmare when he fired the game up too, and never went back to it..... I can't blame Doc for doing that either, because, whilst it was playable, it isn't what that game is now..... Now it's polished, it's pretty, has plenty of quality of life upgrades, and now it's the game that it always should have been.

Indeed, I heard that Witcher 3 was very buggy when it was originally released. I assume they resolved the issues very quickly though and added the DLC's quickly and with good uality too for it to be held in such high esteem?

 

It's always a real shame when a game can't function properly enough for it to put off people playing it forever. Backing games day 1 is becoming harder and harder.

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

Well I usually don't like to recommend people play naff games - I usually warn people that even if it's a little rough around the edges, that it's probably still worth playing if you can see past some of those things.

 

I think we've all got game franchises like that - that kind of just pass us by, and we just avoid entirely for whatever reason...... Syndicate probably wasn't the right one to really get invested in the series with. It has two protagonists, only one of them I think is good - I loved Evie, and I thought Jacob was a hot headed cock - who I just wanted to shut up more than actually play as.

 

I love the Vita one you played though Liberation - that one was really good, I had the PS3 version, and whilst some bits work better than others - I thought Aveline was a really interesting take on an AC protagonist, and I know I'm not alone in thinking that either, so it isn't like I'd sound too much like a window licker for having that opinion.

 

You know - if I had to recommend you an Assassin's Creed game, it'd probably be Black Flag - it's disconnected enough from the modern day stuff that it won't overwhelm you if you haven't played the others...... and it's about Pirates, and your main guy is Welsh, don't see too many Welsh protagonists. I think Edward Kenway is Welsh anyway, he sounds it at least.

Ooooo sounds like there could be a battle brewing between Jacob and Steve Burnside here. Least liked character of yours haha

 

Yeah definitely, I'll bet everyone has at least one major franchise they've never/barely played even when it has multiple entries. Yeah Aveline was an interesting character and I enjoyed it reasonably for what I played of it.

 

I've heard lots of great things about Black Flag, though that was buggy at one point wasn't it?

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

I think you're probably safe so long as you don't cosplay as Kenny Baker - those two didn't get along from a lot of the things I've heard. So I reckon if you meet him again you'll be fine so long as you don't walk up to him dressed as a white and blue bucket and say "beep,booop, beeeepwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, ERGRERHIEWOOOO " and then tip over like when he gets buzzed by the Jawa's

 

you should be good?

Yes indeed, very true. Met Warwick Davis and got a double autograph of his and the late Kenny Bakers seen as they were so good friends.

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

Some of them were good in Inquisition - I love Sera, partly because she looks like my niece, and mostly because she's absolutely hilarious. Cole was really interesting and Varric is my favourite party member in the series. The bald Mage lady was awesome too. 

 

Fun fact about Varric, one of my best friends looks so much like Varric it's ridiculous - he did grow his hair out for a bit too - which made him look even more like him haha.

 

The others though I kind of either didn't like them or was just indifferent to them - like I genuinely couldn't stand Iron Bull, and Blackwall made me want to go watch a film marathon of Paint Drying.

 

I'm glad you liked them though, I really am  - you are absolutely right too, a lot of is personal preference and that's the only deciding factor. I don't truly think any of them are bad, I just find them less interesting than some of the teammates in other titles.

 

I've done most of the DLC for Inquisition, I'm finishing it next year - I loved that DLC.... Especially the one with the Dwarf David Hayter voiced, and just played exactly like Solid Snake, Renn I think he was called.

 

If you have access to the DLC for Dragon Age Origins you should do it, it's brilliant - and there's a whole new companion you could meet as a result - some really interesting small ones too, where you can actually play as Darkspawn.

 

I've yet to play DAII's DLC, but I was planning to get it soon - just so I can have 100% of the trophies available in the Dragon Age games.

There are a lot of wicked characters spread through all the Dragon Age games, like there are in the Mass Effects. Long may that continue. Obviously Varric needs to carry on being lol

 

I'd love 100% of trophies for both those franchises but alas it isn't meant to be. Money, time etc etc all the boring stuff haha

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

I might be, I might not be........... I'm not telling  perhaps that's why I never sleep, I could be a hyper dextrous  lab Chimpanzee gamer called Marty, we'll just never know for sure.

Think we need to get Inspector Gadget on the case!

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

Yep its the worst game I've played this year....... Smells worse than Quina's swamp...... WHO AM MENTION ME ZIDANE? Shhhhhhhh, shoo come back tomorrow Quina, when we're giving out awards. " I AM WIN TASTY?" Maybe, just maybe...

 

I really hope when you read that bit about me hating Final Fantasy IX that this was your reaction

It would have been if I didn't know you were just trying to wind me up hahaha 

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

It looks like it was just a backflip - and then pick ups a Sniper Rifle - but that game is definitely littered with really strange decisions, as far as changing what happens in the cutscenes go. I get that they were trying to be a bit more dynamic, and bombastic, but it just doesn't quite work.  I'm sure I remember him back flipping onto a missile too though.

 

Here it is in gif form

Wow that is very impressive! Very random too, don't remember that in the original haha bit too action flick like which doesn't quite work as you say.

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

We'll see about doing it at some point next year - I'm more interested to hear what other peoples rarest games are more than specifically list my own - so I guess we can all treat it like an open discussion at some point down the line when I actually get to that post. 

 

How much is a copy of Pokemon Blue nowadays? I have a copy of Pokemon Red somewhere, but I have no idea where, which rare Sonic, Resident Evil and Sonic games are you after?

 

Pokemon Blue is at least 50quid but probably getting towards double that for a great copy. Sigh.

 

 

In terms of ones that are worth a lot of money:

Resident Evil 2 N64

Resident Evil Gamecube Chainsaw Controller

Sonic Triple Trouble Game Gear

Sonic and Knuckles Mega Drive (JAPANESE VERSION)

are what I can think of off of the top of my head lol

 

On 12/30/2021 at 7:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

That's definitely the appeal for me - is being able to just throw on a random PPV that I never got to see - I do think the WWE network is worth the price just for the archive content that it has, that stuff is really extensive - if you can think of it, then they probably have it.

 

That's good to hear that you enjoyed the Sonic film - my Dad really liked that, despite not being much of a gamer, so that kind of shows it has mass appeal - I've yet to actually see it myself, so perhaps I ought to get and watch it too.

 

I saw that they are no longer PPV's anymore. They are Premium Live Events. WWE trying their best to modernise stuff haha 

 

Yes go and watch it and let me know what you can think. Think it was a good enough adaptation of a game that shouldn't really work as a film, and the sequel trailer seems even better so yeah.

 

 

BTW awards for FFIX and Vivi in your prestigious game awards = ?

Happy new year!

[det_gittes]

Thank you for your review of Pure Pool, you know that I am a fellow cue sports fan, so of course I read it with great interest, even though I already knew some of your thoughts about this game from previous exchanges. Having played the game for around 60-70 hours myself, I also know what an absolutely admirable feat it is to obtain the Master 8-ball and 9-ball Champ trophies and, most of all, to get a 147, so once again kudos to you on these great accomplishments. While I think the Master Champ trophies are within reach for me, I really lack the practical knowledge of position play to go for the 147, it's a huge "maybe" if I will ever give it a try, especially that I have major gripes with this game and unless I change my attitude to it, it makes me irritated more than relaxed (in short, horrible shot camera and insulting AI, although it would also be a huge quality of life improvement if you could just speed up animations instead of having to wait until your own or your opponent's shot plays out, especially given that there's about 40 hours of grind included once you're done with everything in the base game). Maybe I would play this game more but I also have Virtual Pool 4 on my laptop and whenever I have a pool / snooker itch, I just quickly fire it up and have lots of fun with it.

 

For a bit of context, I developed my passion for cue sports in 2004, when I was at my parents' for Easter and the World Championship was on. I must have seen snooker before, but it was only then that I decided to learn the rules so that I could comprehend what was going on. I remember Paul Hunter instantly becoming one of my favorite snooker players, so much so that I still remember the day a friend of mine told me about his death a few years later (of course I knew that he had been sick but I guess I expected him to get over it). Then the following year I was doing the work & travel thing in the US for the summer and I got into pool (Efren Reyes was still at his peak, what a treat it was to watch this humble guy), to the extent that on return I bought a set of cues (incidentally, the break/jump cue I bought from one of the better known Polish pool players, Radosław Babica), and for about 5-6 years I played regularly, at least 1-2 times a week. However, I didn't really know many people I could play with and my friends wouldn't be thrilled to play with me once I got (slightly) better, so - fast forward to today - I haven't touched my cue since 2015  What a coincidence that I got back into gaming in 2014

 

On 30.12.2021 at 8:31 PM, rjkclarke said:

CD Projekt Red did have a lot of good will before the Cyberpunk debacle that's for sure...... but, and there's a fairly big caveat to that, a lot of people seem to gloss over, or conveniently forget, is that The Witcher 3 was a buggy mess on release... It's great now, it's my favourite game of the PS4 generation, but when it was released it was a mess.

Just wanted to say that I played Witcher 3 on PC right after its release and I had tons of fun for about 120 hours that it took me to finish the game - and I don't even remember any major technical problems, so probably it was the console release that was marred by bugs and glitches. I purchased the PS4 GOTY edition maybe a month or so ago as I expected the PS5 upgrade to be available soon - sadly it won't come out until summer.

[Slava]

I finally read your 2021 awards post. There are many games I know about but never had a chance to play yet ?. It was a great read nonetheless! And thanks for the mention, even though I haven't been too active here. Also thanks for making such a comfy checklist. You can be sure I'll return to discuss the games I'm more familiar with. I also thought about going back to the older reviews, like some Tomb Raider ones.

 

As for the award winners, Final Fantasy IX is definitely one of the games that has a reserved space in my bucket list. My problem is that I have yet to play a single Final Fantasy game properly - I have spent 20 minutes with FFX and FFI each, but that doesn't count. Moreover, I've yet to play and beat a turn-based JRPG in general. The only one I beat was a real time action-RPG - Kingdom Heart on PS2. Originally, I was thinking about playing FF 7-10, but lately I've been thinking about going further back in time and starting with the earliest good Final Fantasy. I typically don't mind the old graphics and mechanics as long as the gameplay is enjoyable, so even NES is fine for me in 2022. But yeah, I have enough time to rethink this idea, and decide to just jump straight into the PS1 gen games. Or even start a different series entirely, why not. Dragon Quest, Tales, Star Ocean, SMT, Persona, etc. There's a lot to choose from.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Slava

[Billie__227]

 

@popnheart I'm glad you're back to smashing through your backlog like a boulder through glass - I know you're a little shy, so I hope you don't mind me tagging you like this, but keep on playing what you want to play, we'll be there to read about it! Pop in and say hello sometime if you feel like you want to.

 

This was very fun to read and I don't mind the mention at all, sorry for the late reply! I just got a new charger for my laptop so hopefully that will help me get more active here too since I won't be having to deal with the mobile forum layout as much, which I'm pretty bad at navigating haha. Thank you for the kind words, I really hope to finally crack down on some leftover trophies that have been giving me a hard time for ages this year. I'm always lurking your thread but I'll try to actually speak up more as a sort of new years resolution ?

[KindaSabbath]

Just a quick one bud… ???

 

I’d like to think that I’m just stylishly late to the New Years celebrations… more likely that I’m just being typical Sabbath - bloody Sabbath. 

 

Thank you for the mention and the kind words my dude. You’re not wrong with web Sabbath being the same as day to day Sabbath (disorganised, typically late to the party, always juggling too many things ?) - In all honesty though I have a great deal to thank you for! I think you know throughout the many exchanges between us, that you’ve played a huge part in bringing me out of my shell - especially when it comes to putting words together on a screen and documenting my hobby. In person I’m very confident at how I approach things and in how I engage with people, when it comes to the written word there are definitely barriers, barriers that you have help me overcome more than you would ever know. I just want you to know that I’m grateful and that I just really appreciate you in general! You ever need anything - I’m there bro!

 

As for the Awards - incredible job man! Hell of a read but I enjoyed it start to finish! It’s a gift that you’re able to make these longer reads so damn entertaining! Here’s to plenty more of that in 2022!! ?

 

It’s good to see FFIX taking it home for you here and you’re right that it was no surprise! The write-up you put out for the game upon completion was worthy for write-up of the year in my opinion, and it did an incredible job of conveying just how much the game meant to you. Fantastic work as always! 

 

In all seriousness - I’m excited to see where this year takes us. Especially in this little section of the forum which is where lots of my friends hangout. How many new threads will pop up, how many games will show up across multiple threads solely through the recommendations and engagement from many of us. How many goals will be smashed. You get the point! There’s just a special vibe in this sub-forum and the togetherness of this little community, that has been nothing but a positive in an otherwise shitty 2021, well I’m just excited to see it continue to thrive in 2022!

 

Happy New Year to you and yours Mr Clarke ?

Edited January 3, 2022 by KindaSabbath

[rjkclarke]

Where The Hell Did You Go You Ignorant *BLEEP*?

 

 

I am still alive - I fully intend to reply to each and every one of you..... but..... I did a bad thing, I started Yakuza 3 and I totally forgot how all consuming those games can be when you love them as much as I do.

 

So that is 100% the reason I've both not replied yet to all of the lovely comments you've all left (sorry about that, I will give myself some necessary self flagellation as a punishment!) and also why I haven't gotten around to writing the review for The Wolf Among Us yet.

 

I guess whilst I'm here I'll turn this into a semi-update on my progress on Yakuza 3 whilst I'm on the subject.

 

Much like in every other Yakuza title where getting the platinum doesn't include the 100% (At least 3,4 and 6 don't require it)...... I have also decided with Yakuza 3 that I will accept nothing less than 100% completion, because the platinum is just not quite enough - sure, it might take a little bit longer, but to be able to drink in even a few hours more of the atmosphere that these games have to offer will be so worth any extra time involved. I might not have a trophy to show it - but I'll have a screenshot and the satisfaction of knowing I did it - and for me that's enough.

 

I think I've almost broken the back of the platinum already, as far as difficult things go - the first thing I did was get all of the Pool requirements out of the way. So the only thing I can really foresee stumping me for a while are the Baseball mini-games, but as I've already gotten the platinum in Yakuza 5 (I know I've played them in a weird order, I'll share that reason again at some point in one of the reviews,) the game where they are hardest (you have to solve maths problems lightning fast, then bat the correct number, whilst remembering the speed of the pitches,) I don't think they'll trouble me too much here. Plus I think I'm going to use what I'm going to call "The Copanele method" when doing the Baseball challenge without the aiming reticule and dangle some headphones over the TV.

 

Oh boy - you know how we were only about four or five days ago now talking about how much so many of us love playing Pool? Well I'd forgotten how terrible the Pool minigame truly was in Yakuza. 1. The physics don't work. 2. The opponent A.I is ludicrous, and makes Pure Pool's A.I look practically tame. 3. Nothing works like it should do on a pool table,cushions have no slide, pockets have NO GIVE, are too tight and you miss far more for reasons that are out of your control (terrible imprecise controls, which are not your fault).

 

Then there's the Break Ace trophy for potting the nine ball (making a golden break) off the break in 9-Ball....... DON'T do what I did and apply real life logic to this - don't think "Hey, a cut break with spin is usually a good chance to make that shot." I actually made the 9 a few times this way, but for whatever reason the game called the shot a foul - so in the end I ended up just smashing the balls up and hoping for the best. I'll tell you this now - I've played a lot of 9-Ball in the real world and in the time it took me to get this trophy I probably would have consistently made the shot at least ten or fifteen times by the time I actually did in this game..... Funniest of all? When I did get it, it was literally the last attempt for the day - I'd said to myself right, if this doesn't go in I'm done for today, and BOOM straight in the bottom left pocket, so that was a real weight off.

 

Other than that, I've been doing substories, and any mini-games I come to across, eaten in plenty of restaurants, drank at bars for completion metrics and the thing I'm focusing on now is Mahjong. I'm just waiting to get lucky with that one - I almost had the points requirement last night, but someone stole my tile at the last minute and took me just under 50,000 points (the requirement for the completion)....

 

Funny story actually about drinking at bars in the game -  Kiryu runs an orphanage in this game, and the next thing I had to do in the story was making dinner for the kids, which descended into a drama about "who stole who's money" but I remember thinking when I started, I'd just been at the bar pounding expensive whiskey to y'know get the completion requirements, and the idea of a massive scary ex Yakuza being in charge of  nine children whilst drunk off his tatty-boobs on whiskey made me chuckle but also feel a little awkward at the same time.Very strange.

 

I'm bloody loving it so far - the story is a little pedestrian, but I'm not even a third of the way in so far, so I'm sure it'll pick up. I'll try and pepper in some little updates here and there if I have any progress to mention - I think like I usually do if I'm playing something long, I'll double down on writing Classic Reviews. It'd be good to get a few more of those out, especially as I need to do Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2, so it might get a little Yakuza heavy in here in the next week or so, but I'll do some other things too so it doesn't get too stale to have to read through.

 

 

So that's my - what turned out to be longish update on my Yakuza progress, now to reply to all of the lovely messages - that really did mean a lot, I want to make that very clear in case me taking a while to reply might have made any of you feel otherwise.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 1:14 AM, yuber1234 said:

 

Glad you liked FFIX. A lot of my friends that are FF fans didn't like IX for some reason. That's nice of you to say about me and fighting games, but I truly struggled with some of those games.  

 

I like VNs (at least the few that I played), so I'm sure the lack of gameplay in Vallhalla won't be an issue. And yeah, I definitely plan to play Yakuza 0 this year. I might not have time for more than one Yakuza game this year since they're so long, but I 100% will playing at least that one.

 

I had heard that myself actually - that FFIX is a little but of a divisive one - it's definitely quite the departure from what FFVII and FFVIII were. Yet I still quite like the fact that IX ended up going in the direction it did.

 

Hey man - you haven't seen me getting frustrated when my brother would mercilessly spam backflip kicks as Law in Tekken 3 - if you saw that then you'd probably consider yourself a fighting game god ...... You might have struggled a bit, but you still did them, I would have just gone and sobbed in a shower in black-and-white like Ed Norton in American History X, but for different reasons obviously.

 

You'll be fine with Valhalla then - I'm not exactly well versed in VN's but I can get on board with the few I've played, but I definitely couldn't play/readthem too often. Good to hear you're jumping into Yakuza 0 this year... I think that's the best one, which is also sort of a shame that it's chronologically the first one, but as Copanele would probably tell you - there's a tiny difference in quality between all of them they are all good, but just tiny slivers of difference in quality.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 6:02 AM, YaManSmevz said:

 

Yeah, she was by far the most fleshed out character in Vampyr. What an interestingly good but not that good kinda bad but solidly decent game!

 

 

.

 

That does seem to be both of our takeaways from Vampyr what an all over the place time that whole game was... I would play a sequel though to be fair, it did get it's hooks into me enough that I don't dislike the idea of another one.

 

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I'm pretty sure PSN has a no-chinchilla policy with awards anyway, so you made the right call. Also of course it counts if it's new to your profile! Of course, I gave CJ a nod in mine so even if I didn't have your back by default anyway, I'd still have to have to in this particular case regardless!

 

That was a big part of my reasoning too actually - I saw that you'd included CJ and as it's kind of the best of the year of games we'd played then yeah it had to count, that's why Squall made it on and why Bard's Tale made it on, despite me playing it first way more than  decade ago.

 

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Well there's two potential swapping games! I'm definitely gonna have to use at least one, with two months left I'm realizing just how much bigger than my stomach my eyes were!

 

As am I, I think...... I kind of took for granted how much time we had left - but then I sat out most of December, I only really played games much in the last two weeks of December.

 

How are you finding Dex by the way? I really hope I didn't steer you badly by getting you interested in that one - I really like it for what it is, and once you can kind of use stealth it really makes that game quite playable. I think it's brimming with atmosphere, but I very much could be alone in thinking that, so I'd love to know how you're finding it.

 

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It's important to try, even if for just a moment. I know the struggle with assigning value to yourself all too well, trust - I'm so horrible at letting myself acknowledge that kind of shit. I always have to remind myself that I don't think anybody deserves to feel low about themselves before I can apply it to myself!

 

Anyway. You good people man, and you deserve the reminders.

 

 Thanks a lot! Like really - I'll give it the best try I can that's for sure - as always though man I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'm sure I'll get there eventually fingers crossed.

 

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...and I need to play Valhalla

 

Yes you do! I think it will actually resonate with you a lot more than most - what with the whole job thing you have in common with Jill and everything - but, much like myself it sounds as if there might be a little more that you two have in common too. I think you'll have a good time with it though - I kept thinking that the whole way through playing it.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 7:35 AM, Destructor-8 said:

That was an amazing read dude. I'm really glad that you said everything you wanted to say here. I said a few days ago about not really using this site too much before but ever since I have, there has been a lot of amazing people that have been really friendly & helpful. I'm really glad that I started using this site more as I really needed it & it's always nice to know more friendly people for the future.

 

Thanks so much dude! It might have taken a while but I felt like I had to say all of that - and I meant every word too. Yep we're in total agreement on how much starting to use the site a lot more regularly has been great for the both of us. We can never have too many nice people around, so it's always nice to interact with so many on the regular, that's for sure!

 

On 02/01/2022 at 7:35 AM, Destructor-8 said:

I remember having a chat with you once & it was one that I really needed at the time so I really appreciate it. There are things that you have put here that I think too & I want you to know that I appreciate what you do. It is always nice to have a chat with you.

 

I appreciate that - if I could have helped in any small way then I'm glad to hear it..... I really am.  To be fair we probably don't actually chat enough - and that's probably more on me. I'm notoriously bad at managing time so I usually leave it - what I feel like is too long between replies and then I feel really awkward about it. It's the same with plenty of my friends in the non digital world too. That's totally a me thing though, and something I ought to work on in the future.

 

Likewise, it is always nice having a good old chat with you, especially one of the more recent ones when you thankfully dropped some knowledge on me on Motrocross games and the fact I was thinking of starting one that was different to what I thought it was. That's one of the many many. upsides to having a racing game expert who's also a thoroughly awesome chap to run things by, and make sure you don't make silly mistakes. ..... I'm planning to play NFS: Hot Pursuit Remastered soon, so I wouldn't be surprised if I message you like "TIME TRIALS SO HARD? HOW YOU DO!" - we'll see though,  time trials are some of my favourite things in racers so I'll probably quite enjoy those. 

 

On 02/01/2022 at 9:27 AM, GonzoWARgasm said:

In pledging to myself that I'll put a Gonzo-sized review out once a fortnight this year, I've made a very loose plan about an general order for them... where I'll start from the oldest point in time and work my way to the present. The Witcher series is about the halfway point but I can bump it up a little for you... but it will be on the longer side so I'll want to polish it up quite a bit.

 

Don't stress about getting to it sooner on my account - I don't want to rush you or anything like that..... I'll read whatever you put in front of me. You can be safe in the knowledge that whatever it is you choose to write about, I am absolutely going to enjoy reading it. I'll just treat your Witcherathon as something else to look forward to.... So I think the best course of action is just to wait outside of Pannuci's until it's ready

 

like this loveable little fella

 

 

 

On 02/01/2022 at 9:27 AM, GonzoWARgasm said:

Thronebreaker is fantastic. If you like card games then you'll love this game. It is only loosely based on the W3's version of gwent but it is recognisable. Spoiler: I'll rank Thronebreaker somewhere in the 8.5-9.5 range (not sure what exactly at the moment). Subjectively, I had a lot of fun with it as it was right up my alley.

 

Oh Damn! That is high praise.... I do like card games yes.... Although I'm seriously lacking in card game platinums, so maybe that's something I should remedy in 2022.... That's a higher rating than I expected though - I kind of thought it would be a bit of a soulless feeling spin off - but even the trailers and brief bits of gameplay I've seen, sounds that I've heard, it all looks and feels like it fits neatly and comfortably into that world.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 9:27 AM, GonzoWARgasm said:

The biggest factor I'd consider recommending is finding a guide/waiting for some magical person to write a good one. The game is good but not so incredible that I'd recommend back to back playthroughs, and there's a lot of missables... I *might* (*might*) write a guide for it....... oh god am I a busy man...

 

Edit: the more I think about it, the more I want to write a guide 

 

 

Well - I could think of at least someone who could write that guide - and that would be you..... It's a game you clearly like given your speculative rating, and you have a real special knack for guide writing..... So, if you feel up for it, go for it. I do understand the whole time constraints nightmare though, so obviously don't put too much pressure on yourself.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 10:08 AM, Copanele said:

And look, I am not denying the game's other qualities, like graphics and soundtrack and mood (and shooting lizards) , I am just saying that I've retried the Phalanx boss (and its speedrun) so many times I could have sworn the horse started saying in a very fat voice "ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS TO FOLLOW THE DAMN TRAIN CJ". Controlling Agro is how I imagine steering a Spanish Galleon through a maelstrom.

So yeah, I have a bone to pick with that wheat-eating wheelbarrow.

For what it's worth however, it's the most beautiful game that pissed me off, ever .

 

 

To be fair man - and I don't know if @DrBloodmoney will agree on this one - this might seem controversial, but Phalanx is the only boss I think that is better in the original version/Remastered PS3 version. I don't know if you or Doc ever encountered this glitch but I had it happen to me at least 4 or 5 times where Agro actually got on top of Phalanx somehow - and then just kind of slid off.... That happened to one of my friends too, I saw it with my own eyes, which made me think it's fairly common.  That fight just doesn't quite work as smoothly in the Remake.

 

While I'm quoting you Copanele - little bit of admin regarding the Ultra Rare Cleanup, you know the unlimited swaps thing? Can we swap games out, then swap them back in at a later date? like in Tier 2 or something, because I want to swap out Star Ocean and Dishonoured Definitive Edition (I've decided I won't let myself play 2 until I have the S rank, plus I left a trophy out of the Daud DLC so I had an excuse to go back ?). I kind of want to swap in and take that miserable Lords of Fallen bounty, as that's on my list of games to play at some point ? If it's a problem though I'll just leave it and not worry about it, and stick with what I've put down for now.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Indeed, I heard that Witcher 3 was very buggy when it was originally released. I assume they resolved the issues very quickly though and added the DLC's quickly and with good uality too for it to be held in such high esteem?

 

It's always a real shame when a game can't function properly enough for it to put off people playing it forever. Backing games day 1 is becoming harder and harder.

 

It is getting harder to back games Day 1 I agree - unless it's NieR or Yakuza anyway, which I pretty much always buy Day 1 and then never actually play a launch.... So usually by the time I get around to it they've been patched anyway.

 

Yes, The Witcher 3 is in a really good place now thankfully - I don't know that they resolved the issues quickly, because even when I went back to it a few months after release there was still a fair few problems like major bugs or majorly glitches quests and things, so I think it definitely took them a while to iron out all of the kinks.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Ooooo sounds like there could be a battle brewing between Jacob and Steve Burnside here. Least liked character of yours haha

 

Yeah definitely, I'll bet everyone has at least one major franchise they've never/barely played even when it has multiple entries. Yeah Aveline was an interesting character and I enjoyed it reasonably for what I played of it.

 

I've heard lots of great things about Black Flag, though that was buggy at one point wasn't it?

 

Nah Jacob is far better than creepy Steve - he can stay King of the Dung Mound - in fact he's probably there right now making a sculpture Claire out of some bovine droppings! Absolute wrongen!

 

Absolutely man - I'm sure there are plenty of franchises/ game series  I can think of that I've definitely never dabbled with but should have done.... I've never played a Wipeout for example and I feel like I should have done, never played Twisted Metal. Vigilante 8 was always more my bag, I know it's shameless Twisted Metal clone, but I loved those games.... Even the terrible Star Wars version Star Wars: Demolition made by the same company. 

 

I definitely think you could play Black Flag and have a good time with it -  in kind of a self contained bubble and not worry about the other ones if you just want to play a good game - and considering you are fairly Zen about which platinums you go for you could just tackle the single player component and still come out the other side with a high completion rate. That's a win win in my book.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yes indeed, very true. Met Warwick Davis and got a double autograph of his and the late Kenny Bakers seen as they were so good friends.

 

Lucky you man! I actually went to Star Wars: Celebration in 2016, the one in London, that he was at I think. I didn't get any autographs or things like that though, too much of a cheapskate ? - in fact I didn't really enjoy the whole thing at all, I was meant to be going with some friends from Uni but they cancelled a couple of days before for various reasons - so it was just me by myself.

 

Warwick is awesome though - he seems like a lovely bloke when you see him in interviews and stuff - and one of the few things I like about Rise of Skywalker, that I'll avoid specifying as you've not seen it. is that both him and his son got to be in the film together, which must have been really special for him. I'm glad they gave them both that memory.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

I'd love 100% of trophies for both those franchises but alas it isn't meant to be. Money, time etc etc all the boring stuff haha

 

Money is the main factor I would have thought, that's why I've got 2 out of the six games completed to 100% completion instead of a possible 6 ?..... Haha those DLC's are obscenely expensive and they never went on offer very often even if there were sales on the PSN, but I feel like I ought to just bite the bullet and get them, or just gradually buy a few here and there between paydays maybe, just so it doesn't seem quite so obscene forking out all that much for DLC at once, that just makes my wallet sad.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Wow that is very impressive! Very random too, don't remember that in the original haha bit too action flick like which doesn't quite work as you say.

 

Yep - the irony is Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is unironically the live action anime that Metal Gear always has been - it, or I guess Kojima  just takes itseself a little bit too seriously to really acknowledge it. Whereas Twin Snakes seemed to fully embrace the whole action flick/ anime kind of vibe more than any of the other games did that's for sure.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Pokemon Blue is at least 50quid but probably getting towards double that for a great copy. Sigh.

 

 

In terms of ones that are worth a lot of money:

Resident Evil 2 N64

Resident Evil Gamecube Chainsaw Controller

Sonic Triple Trouble Game Gear

Sonic and Knuckles Mega Drive (JAPANESE VERSION)

are what I can think of off of the top of my head lol

 

Wow - £50 for Pokemon Blue, I guess that makes sense though - we're all starting to get to the age where  - however small the form might take - we want to relive some of our gaming memories from our younger years. People have really cottoned onto the fact that nostalgia sells, and it absolutely does.

 

I don't think it's healthy to go overboard with it - but that little trip down memory lane every now and then can be really satisfying.

 

You know I might have that Game Gear one - or I guess more accurately my Dad might - he used to be really into the Game Gear and he had quite a lot of games for it - that thing had so many mad add ons that we have too - like there was a bolt on thing you could get for it where you could use it as a TV if I remember right, I'll have to see if he does have Sonic Triple Trouble.

 

That's a cool list of some of the ones you're after though - I'd love that RE Gamecube Controller as well, but anything Gamecube related seems to go for insane money these days, I have no idea how much Tales of Symphonia is now Edit: I just looked, and it's £249.99 new - which mine isn't obviously, it looks like preowned copies are around £40 minimum which isn't as high as I expected.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

I saw that they are no longer PPV's anymore. They are Premium Live Events. WWE trying their best to modernise stuff haha 

 

Yes go and watch it and let me know what you can think. Think it was a good enough adaptation of a game that shouldn't really work as a film, and the sequel trailer seems even better so yeah.

 

 

I believe it's on Netflix or Amazon right now, so I might give it a watch one of these days - when I do I'll let you know.

 

Yes...... Premium Events - that isn't what I'd call them. But they have to try and positive spin on them somehow right? These days they tend to just be overly long and you find yourself checking the time far more than actually enjoying what's going on!

 

On 02/01/2022 at 2:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

BTW awards for FFIX and Vivi in your prestigious game awards = 

Happy new year!

 

Thanks man! Vivi had to win that one - if I'd played one more Final Fantasy last year that wasn't A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV I think we would have seen at least one more Final Fantasy character amongst those character rankings. Plus FFIX was always going ton win game of the year - EVERYBODY knows how much I loved that game, so I guess that one was coming a mile off.

 

It's a few days late, but Happy to new year to you too!

 

On 02/01/2022 at 3:52 PM, det_gittes said:

Thank you for your review of Pure Pool, you know that I am a fellow cue sports fan, so of course I read it with great interest, even though I already knew some of your thoughts about this game from previous exchanges. Having played the game for around 60-70 hours myself, I also know what an absolutely admirable feat it is to obtain the Master 8-ball and 9-ball Champ trophies and, most of all, to get a 147, so once again kudos to you on these great accomplishments. While I think the Master Champ trophies are within reach for me, I really lack the practical knowledge of position play to go for the 147, it's a huge "maybe" if I will ever give it a try, especially that I have major gripes with this game and unless I change my attitude to it, it makes me irritated more than relaxed (in short, horrible shot camera and insulting AI, although it would also be a huge quality of life improvement if you could just speed up animations instead of having to wait until your own or your opponent's shot plays out, especially given that there's about 40 hours of grind included once you're done with everything in the base game). Maybe I would play this game more but I also have Virtual Pool 4 on my laptop and whenever I have a pool / snooker itch, I just quickly fire it up and have lots of fun with it.

 

Thank you!

 

I think you're definitely capable of doing it if you wanted to - so don't rule it out. Like you said though, you'd have to want to, and I very much I do understand where you're coming from there.

 

That being said - I totally get the every single one of the frustrations that you have with it -  because I share them too - just to a lesser degree. I think a huge part of that is because for the longest time I had no other alternative available to me. You're so right about that necessary quality of live improvement with being able to speed up your opponents shot..... You probably know what I mean here - but whenever I'd see the A.I play what was essentially "the wrong shot" but still have it go in, and the ridiculous way they'd jack the cue up, that would just add to that level of frustration just that little bit more.

 

It's a shame that I didn't until the middle of last year at least, have a half decent PC available to me - you probably could have powered my old one off of two potatoes and some electrodes. If I'd had something decent I would have checked out Virtual Pool 4, in fact I'm going to do that later anyway, to see what I'm missing out on.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 3:52 PM, det_gittes said:

For a bit of context, I developed my passion for cue sports in 2004, when I was at my parents' for Easter and the World Championship was on. I must have seen snooker before, but it was only then that I decided to learn the rules so that I could comprehend what was going on. I remember Paul Hunter instantly becoming one of my favorite snooker players, so much so that I still remember the day a friend of mine told me about his death a few years later (of course I knew that he had been sick but I guess I expected him to get over it). Then the following year I was doing the work & travel thing in the US for the summer and I got into pool (Efren Reyes was still at his peak, what a treat it was to watch this humble guy), to the extent that on return I bought a set of cues (incidentally, the break/jump cue I bought from one of the better known Polish pool players, Radosław Babica), and for about 5-6 years I played regularly, at least 1-2 times a week. However, I didn't really know many people I could play with and my friends wouldn't be thrilled to play with me once I got (slightly) better, so - fast forward to today - I haven't touched my cue since 2015  What a coincidence that I got back into gaming in 2014

 

 

That would have been the world championship Ronnie was rocking his long hair for a while with that alice band. That wasn't a good look for him .... I could totally see why Paul Hunter would become one of your favourites almost instantly. He had a likeability to him that a lot of people seemed to just gravitate towards. It's such a shame that he died so young - 26, or 27 is far too young.  I think Luca Brecel is a little like that actually, where you just can't help but like them and want to pull for them to win.

 

Again, I could totally see how you'd get into Pool around the time Reyes was at his peak - that's when I started getting into the American Pool scene around the late 00's so a little later than you. When it was easy to find full matches on YouTube my introduction really was watching some of the Snooker players like Williams, Ronnie and Steve Davis playing in the US Open for a few of the years, and it kind of evolved from there.

 

Efren Reyes though - that man is something else - he could do with a cueball that almost no other player could. I sometimes question if he's even human - the Pure Pool A.I couldn't manage some of the kick shots that he plays.

 

You really committed then if you went out of your way to buy a Break/Jump Cue! I never bothered to, I probably should have done - I'm dreadful at jumping balls on an American table - and it's definitely because my cues too long. I do have a few American Pool cues though as does my brother - he names them all though..... His favourite being called Maureen ?..... I 100% know what you mean about friends getting less enthusiastic about playing against you once they know they aren't likely to win very often. Thankfully one of my best friends still does indulge me in playing pool very often, and he just sees it as a chance to improve, and he really has, he is a raw potting machine, if he focused on position a bit he'd be so good.

 

I mean, at least you swapped one awesome hobby for another one.... That's no bad thing!

 

On 02/01/2022 at 3:52 PM, det_gittes said:

Just wanted to say that I played Witcher 3 on PC right after its release and I had tons of fun for about 120 hours that it took me to finish the game - and I don't even remember any major technical problems, so probably it was the console release that was marred by bugs and glitches. I purchased the PS4 GOTY edition maybe a month or so ago as I expected the PS5 upgrade to be available soon - sadly it won't come out until summer.

 

I almost certainly think it was the console version yes, judging by your own experiences on PC... That's a shame that the PS5 version won't be out until Summer, but as you've played it already you already know that you have a fantastic game waiting for you once the summer hits.... And goodness me, being able to play that game with virtually no load time would be an absolute godsend!

 

On 02/01/2022 at 4:28 PM, Slava said:

I finally read your 2021 awards post. There are many games I know about but never had a chance to play yet . It was a great read nonetheless! And thanks for the mention, even though I haven't been too active here. Also thanks for making such a comfy checklist. You can be sure I'll return to discuss the games I'm more familiar with. I also thought about going back to the older reviews, like some Tomb Raider ones.

 

I don't make it easy for people by making them read so much do I? ?...... I'm really glad you enjoyed reading it though. Comfy is a great way to describe it actually I love that, that's exactly what I'd want too, for people to just feel as comfortable and as at ease as possible here. 

 

I look forward to your return - although you might come back more often than you think, as aside from Metal Gear, I'm planning on delving into some Film and TV related posts and doing more with the side series I started last month.I know you're pretty knowledgable about Film and TV so I'm sure you'll have some interesting opinions to bring to the table, which I look forward to. Then again, we'll almost certainly be returning to Metal Gear this year... Your own awesome review of Metal Gear 3, has kind of made me want to finally write my own review of that game - and Peace Walker too, might as well knock them out at the same time.

 

Hey I mean if you wanted to go back and read those older reviews be my guest, I'd love that, and they're easy to find on the first page so long as the spoiler tags don' play up for you - it's not my place to say what I think the quality of those are. However, I can happily say that writing those six Tomb Raider reviews were some of the ones I have enjoyed the most. The first three particularly were the first time I started really go in depth with my thoughts on the specific games I think.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 4:28 PM, Slava said:

As for the award winners, Final Fantasy IX is definitely one of the games that has a reserved space in my bucket list. My problem is that I have yet to play a single Final Fantasy game properly - I have spent 20 minutes with FFX and FFI each, but that doesn't count. Moreover, I've yet to play and beat a turn-based JRPG in general. The only one I beat was a real time action-RPG - Kingdom Heart on PS2. Originally, I was thinking about playing FF 7-10, but lately I've been thinking about going further back in time and starting with the earliest good Final Fantasy. I typically don't mind the old graphics and mechanics as long as the gameplay is enjoyable, so even NES is fine for me in 2022. But yeah, I have enough time to rethink this idea, and decide to just jump straight into the PS1 gen games. Or even start a different series entirely, why not. Dragon Quest, Tales, Star Ocean, SMT, Persona, etc. There's a lot to choose from.

 

They are quite an intimidating beast the Final Fantasy series - there's so many of them, so it's tough to know where to start..... Especially as it's an ever evolving beast, they don't really stay the same across every entry. The biggest upside is that they are self contained stories for the most part. So...... I don't have the warmest of affection for Final Fantasy XV - it's a great game don't get me wrong, but it's not really my cup of tea, but I can't deny that isn't a good jumping in point either. Kopite or Doc if he reads this could probably recommend one of the really good pre FFVII ones if he reads this far down, as he's got a much better knowledge base than I have in that area.

 

Although - as you rightly say, you could even start a new series entirely and maybe that's the way to go.... There won't be a time where I wouldn't recommend playing one of the Tales of' series..... I've heard nothing but good things about Persona 5, I'm personally way behind on Persona I've not played one since Persona 3 on the PS2. Same with Dragon Quest - I have a friend that swears by the latest one and he was a big fan of my favourite Dragon Quest which is DQVIII on the PS2, so Dragon Quest XI might be a good jumping in point in that series too. So you've got a lot of options open to you, which is a good thing really.

 

On 02/01/2022 at 7:34 PM, popnheart said:

This was very fun to read and I don't mind the mention at all, sorry for the late reply! I just got a new charger for my laptop so hopefully that will help me get more active here too since I won't be having to deal with the mobile forum layout as much, which I'm pretty bad at navigating haha. Thank you for the kind words, I really hope to finally crack down on some leftover trophies that have been giving me a hard time for ages this year. I'm always lurking your thread but I'll try to actually speak up more as a sort of new years resolution

 

Thanks so much!

 

I think after how long it's taken me to reply here I definitely can't complain (not that I would,) about late replies .... Oh that's a good shout with the laptop charger, because I find navigating this site on my phone tends to turn my phone into a huge heat block, so it's a bit of nightmare. So I'm only ever on here when I'm near mu computer for that reason.  Which to be honest tells me I probably need a new phone...  You and me both, as far as cracking down on trophies that have been giving us a hard time for ages... I think there will be quite a few showing up this year that'll say things like completion time Ten years plus haha. I have got Little Nightmares lined up to play in the near future too so we might end up with a little discussion going on in here at some point, I know there's a fair few that are big fans of that game, and I've yet to actually play it yet.... Shame on me right ?

 

 

On 03/01/2022 at 7:31 AM, KindaSabbath said:

Just a quick one bud… 

 

I’d like to think that I’m just stylishly late to the New Years celebrations… more likely that I’m just being typical Sabbath - bloody Sabbath. 

 

Thank you for the mention and the kind words my dude. You’re not wrong with web Sabbath being the same as day to day Sabbath (disorganised, typically late to the party, always juggling too many things )

 

The irony of "just a quick one bud" will never not be funny to me....

 

Which reminds me.... If that's the case for web and real life Sabbath that is doubly the case for me too, disorganised, late to the party, and poor time management.... As I've said in the past the only difference is my language is a little more controlled on here.

 

On 03/01/2022 at 7:31 AM, KindaSabbath said:

In all honesty though I have a great deal to thank you for! I think you know throughout the many exchanges between us, that you’ve played a huge part in bringing me out of my shell - especially when it comes to putting words together on a screen and documenting my hobby.

 

Thank you so much for saying that man! That really means a lot - all of the overwhelming positivity all of you have shown over the few last days really has.

 

If I've helped bring you out of your shell, then I'm so happy to hear that, I really am. The insane amount of positivity that you bring along with you everywhere that you decide to post is so damn refreshing.... Obviously around the checklist part of the forums particularly you can't move for positivity, but you just seem to have +10 to all of  your positivity, warmth and kindness stats.... Imagine if humans were actually built like that? There are some real miserable bastards that got the bum deal when it came to some of those stats that's for sure.

 

On 03/01/2022 at 7:31 AM, KindaSabbath said:

especially when it comes to putting words together on a screen and documenting my hobby. In person I’m very confident at how I approach things and in how I engage with people, when it comes to the written word there are definitely barriers, barriers that you have help me overcome more than you would ever know. I just want you to know that I’m grateful and that I just really appreciate you in general! You ever need anything - I’m there bro!

 

Damn man - you trying to make me cry or something? ?

 

I fortunately had a good mentor for that - and I miss him dearly - as much as I don't want to get the violin out and bring Goran up, I kind of have to here. He always encouraged us, whoever it was, to just write to the best of our ability, and to have as much fun doing it as possible. Also to do it in the most comfortable way that is for you.

 

Writing is something I'm hugely passionate about obviously, so I always want people to get as much enjoyment from it as they possibly can. It shouldn't ever feel like a chore. Now you're writing ridiculously awesome reviews and updates/posts on the regular. I really hope that you're getting close to having the same confidence you have in real life interactions on here too.

 

As I said really do appreciate you saying that, and sometimes I worry just words aren't enough to convey it - but I truly mean it.  Likewise I just appreciate you in general too,  same goes for you man, if you need anything, even if it's just a friendly ear, you know where to find me..... I'll try and make sure I don't take offensively long to reply.

 

On 03/01/2022 at 7:31 AM, KindaSabbath said:

As for the Awards - incredible job man! Hell of a read but I enjoyed it start to finish! It’s a gift that you’re able to make these longer reads so damn entertaining! Here’s to plenty more of that in 2022!! 

 

It’s good to see FFIX taking it home for you here and you’re right that it was no surprise! The write-up you put out for the game upon completion was worthy for write-up of the year in my opinion, and it did an incredible job of conveying just how much the game meant to you. Fantastic work as always! 

 

Thanks Dude - Keeley Hawes had to make an appearance somewhere as her Tomb Raider games basically took over the thread for about two weeks back in the middle of last year haha

 

I did think about not making FFIX the winner of game of the year as I thought it was too obvious - but so many of you knew how much I loved it, it just wouldn't have felt right if I didn't. So that's where it definitely have to be. Just like I expect Trials Fusion was probably your favourite from the last year.

 

The 2022 candidates are definitely getting off to a very strong start with Yakuza 3 - so I'm looking forward to a year of good contenders at the end of this one. Hopefully no disgusting foul stinkers this year though.

 

On 03/01/2022 at 7:31 AM, KindaSabbath said:

In all seriousness - I’m excited to see where this year takes us. Especially in this little section of the forum which is where lots of my friends hangout. How many new threads will pop up, how many games will show up across multiple threads solely through the recommendations and engagement from many of us. How many goals will be smashed. You get the point! There’s just a special vibe in this sub-forum and the togetherness of this little community, that has been nothing but a positive in an otherwise shitty 2021, well I’m just excited to see it continue to thrive in 2022!

 

Happy New Year to you and yours Mr Clarke 

Edited yesterday at 07:34 AM by KindaSabbath

 

Absolutely man! I 100% Agree with all of that.... I'm really looking forward to seeing where all of us go over the next year too, and all of the inevitable new checklist buddies that we might make along the way too....... I think it will be awesome!

 

Happy New to you and your giant family dude!

 

I'm off to put my fingers in ice play Yakuza 3 ?

 

 

[Copanele]

Hot mama Yakuza 3 update

To be honest, most of the time when i don't reply to stuff/forget to update the UR cleanup it's because I am so caught up in a game that the forum tends to be forgotten in the background while piling up notifications. What can I say, games are just too much fun  so totally understandable, especially since you got big dude Kiryu going!

 

Speaking of Yakuza 3, obviously a great game, I always FEEL that I need to share my Pool experience whenever someone completed it. Cause my god, the devs did NOT check what they implemented there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvHBr2WPAjM&ab_channel=Copanele

Don't even get me started with Break Ace...took me so many attempts my strat was praying at some point.

Also best of luck with 100% ing it! I wanted to attempt that too, but the hostess minigame turned me off big time. I know it's the first iteration ever but....nah I just gave up  

 

Quote

To be fair man - and I don't know if @DrBloodmoney will agree on this one - this might seem controversial, but Phalanx is the only boss I think that is better in the original version/Remastered PS3 version. I don't know if you or Doc ever encountered this glitch but I had it happen to me at least 4 or 5 times where Agro actually got on top of Phalanx somehow - and then just kind of slid off.... That happened to one of my friends too, I saw it with my own eyes, which made me think it's fairly common.  That fight just doesn't quite work as smoothly in the Remake.

Nope, unfortunately Phalanx did not glitch on me. Would have been a wonderful video, but the boss worked as intended...which means me being yeeted by Agro and completely missing Phalanx.

Not gonna lie, it was a tight boss fight to be honest  

 

Quote

While I'm quoting you Copanele - little bit of admin regarding the Ultra Rare Cleanup, you know the unlimited swaps thing? Can we swap games out, then swap them back in at a later date? like in Tier 2 or something, because I want to swap out Star Ocean and Dishonoured Definitive Edition (I've decided I won't let myself play 2 until I have the S rank, plus I left a trophy out of the Daud DLC so I had an excuse to go back ). I kind of want to swap in and take that miserable Lords of Fallen bounty, as that's on my list of games to play at some point  If it's a problem though I'll just leave it and not worry about it, and stick with what I've put down for now.

Yep, you can swap in as much as you want! Since there are no more limitations, go wild!

Also...thoughts and prayers for when you start Lords of the Fallen. That's a...not very good game ? I admit, adding LotF was my idea, because I want at least one troll game on the Most Wanted list. But man...I will offer those extra points from the bottom of my heart to whoever finishes that. 

DLC INCLUDED

 

Also as a final thing

Quote

 and also why I haven't gotten around to writing the review for The Wolf Among Us yet.

Hot damn I just downloaded that game, planning to play it after I finish punishing myself with Blazblue Chronophantasma. The coincidence  It's probably the only Telltale game I will play but I needed it for a Platinum Difficulty Event and I heard only good things about it so ... yep time to see what's with the werewolves.

 

Ok that's it from my side  good luck with Yakuza 3 and its beautiful combat system! The game where Komaki Parry is better than Komaki Tiger Drop.

[PlutoRico]

On 1/2/2022 at 0:58 AM, rjkclarke said:

The Witcher 3 is my favourite game of the PS4 generation.

That's a pleasant surprise my friend, The Witcher 3 is my favorite video game of all time. Till this day, I haven't played a game that I enjoyed more nor one in which I was as invested as The Witcher 3. I completed 2 stacks on my former account. I loved the Witcher folklore so much that I decided to read the books, I would like to finish them all before going for another stack to have a better in depth knowledge of the game. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of references that I might have missed during my 2 playthroughs 

 

I was also super excited about the Netflix series but it turned out to be pretty dull. How to fail at adaptation. I was very disappointed when I binge watched the first season, I don't know if the second is better as I don't have a Netflix subscription at the moment. 

 

On another note, I would encourage anyone to play The Witcher 3 with both DLCs, whether you never started it (@GonzoWARgasm) or if you indeed started but never came back to it (@DrBloodmoney). I would read all of your reviews with great interest, I just hope you guys will like the game as much as I do ?

 

By the way, where is your Witcher review Rob ? I went back to your OP looking for a link and was very sad to see a white title instead of a blue one. You haven't done one yet ? ?

Edited January 5, 2022 by PlutoRico

[Slava]

2 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I'm planning on delving into some Film and TV related posts and doing more with the side series I started last month.I know you're pretty knowledgable about Film and TV so I'm sure you'll have some interesting opinions to bring to the table, which I look forward to.

 

Oh nice. That sounds interesting. 

 

Yeah, I've watched hundreds of films and dozens of shows, so I might have something to bring to the potential conversation. BTW, did you deduce that just from me talking about Star Wars a couple of times and mentioning The Godfather in Copanele's thread? ? 

 

2 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

So you've got a lot of options open to you, which is a good thing really.

 

Right. There's probably not just one perfect JRPG serving as an ultimate jumping-off point to the genre, but rather many equally good ones you can't go wrong with. I'll just pick a game that will appeal to me the most at that point in time 

[Platinum_Vice]

4 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

On another note, I would encourage anyone to play The Witcher 3 with both DLCs, whether you never started it (@GonzoWARgasm) or if you indeed started but never came back to it (@DrBloodmoney). I would read all of your reviews with great interest, I just hope you guys will like the game as much as I do 

 

I'm already double stacked at 200% my good man. Definitely in my top 5 for that generation.

 

I too bought books: both short-story collections and then the first in the series. My enjoyment with them was pretty average and I didn't finish that first book in the series proper.

 

And I didn't get past the second episode of Season 1 (my wife loves it, but her standards are different than mine, and she doesn't mind a bit of old Henry).

 

However, I loved W3 enough to have played W2 and have W3 double-stacked, and to then go and play Thronebreaker, and then Gwent PS4, and then Gwent on mobile... sooo... yeah I prefer CDPR's handling of the franchise the most ?

[Copanele]

6 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

That's a pleasant surprise my friend, The Witcher 3 is my favorite video game of all time. Till this day, I haven't played a game that I enjoyed more nor one in which I was as invested as The Witcher 3. I completed 2 stacks on my former account. I loved the Witcher folklore so much that I decided to read the books, I would like to finish them all before going for another stack to have a better in depth knowledge of the game. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of references that I might have missed during my 2 playthroughs 

 

I was also super excited about the Netflix series but it turned out to be pretty dull. How to fail at adaptation. I was very disappointed when I binge watched the first season, I don't know if the second is better as I don't have a Netflix subscription at the moment. 

 

Heyo there fellow Witcher fan! Witcher 3 is my favorite of all time as well, main reason being the wedding from Hearts of Stone DLC  

But that's besides the point, I just showed up to tell you....do. NOT. watch season 2. Just remember it as being a meh show where only Henry Cavill shined as Geralt and move on.

Season 2 is something I struggle to erase from my memory. It has nothing to do with the books anymore, just the main plot of entire kingdoms and mages going "Where's Waldo--I mean Ciri". Other than that it's just Hollywood rewriting of the books.

 

It's bad. Really bad. Play Witcher 1 instead. Or heck, check the original (kinda bad but understandable) Polish version of the Witcher  

[det_gittes]

8 hours ago, Copanele said:

Cause my god, the devs did NOT check what they implemented there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvHBr2WPAjM&ab_channel=Copanele

Wow, words fail me now ? what an abomination of a pool game ?

 

49 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Or heck, check the original (kinda bad but understandable) Polish version of the Witcher  

Didn't know it's even available (as in: subtitled) outside of Poland. To be honest, I haven't seen the Polish series myself but I know for a fact that it's the meme-generator in Poland  As for Witcher 3, I think it's the only game in recent years where I switched the language to Polish - I tried playing it in English but there's just so much linguistic creativity in names and the language of the period (taken from the Witcher books, obviously) which I felt was partly lost in translation - though I doubt it will ever bother a non-Polish speaker  

 

1 hour ago, Copanele said:

Witcher 3 is my favorite of all time as well, main reason being the wedding from Hearts of Stone DLC  

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed Witcher 3, but never returned to it after DLCs came out - which makes me quite excited for a fresh playthrough later this year.

[DrBloodmoney]

8 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

On another note, I would encourage anyone to play The Witcher 3 with both DLCs, whether you never started it (@GonzoWARgasm) or if you indeed started but never came back to it (@DrBloodmoney). I would read all of your reviews with great interest, I just hope you guys will like the game as much as I do 

 

Haha, I'm afraid that despite the acclaim for The Witcher 3's story elements (which sound great, to be fair,) I can't see me diving back into that one! Unless I win the lottery or somehow end up in possession of a couple dozen spare consoles, I don't think I'll ever risk loading another CD Projekt Red game again - not after the technical problems The Witcher 3 caused me when I tried it!

I've only had to pull the plug outta the wall twice in the whole lifespan of my PS4, and both times were within an hour of loading that game!

 

If CD Projekt Red ever make a technically competent game, I'll be right there playing it with everyone else - and probably loving it -.... but after witnessing the slow-motion car-wreck that was the Cyberdebacle Cyberpunk launch, I'm not holding my breath on that one! ?

[The_Kopite]

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

 

It is getting harder to back games Day 1 I agree - unless it's NieR or Yakuza anyway, which I pretty much always buy Day 1 and then never actually play a launch.... So usually by the time I get around to it they've been patched anyway.

 

Yes, The Witcher 3 is in a really good place now thankfully - I don't know that they resolved the issues quickly, because even when I went back to it a few months after release there was still a fair few problems like major bugs or majorly glitches quests and things, so I think it definitely took them a while to iron out all of the kinks.

Haha yeah I've done that with games I've got for Collector Editions. Marvel at the CE content, have the game, install it, test that it works.......and then know that I have such a backlog that I can't get to it yet as I'm half way through another big game and it sits there for months lol

 

Ah ok, that is interesting. So I'm guessing that the bigger reaction to the state of Cyberpunks release compared to Witcher 3 was that they had built up all the goodwill from them finally getting Witcher 3 right and what they had done before so it turned out to be a bigger disappointment as people had put down their hard money for pre-orders due to trusting them?

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Nah Jacob is far better than creepy Steve - he can stay King of the Dung Mound - in fact he's probably there right now making a sculpture Claire out of some bovine droppings! Absolute wrongen!

 

Absolutely man - I'm sure there are plenty of franchises/ game series  I can think of that I've definitely never dabbled with but should have done.... I've never played a Wipeout for example and I feel like I should have done, never played Twisted Metal. Vigilante 8 was always more my bag, I know it's shameless Twisted Metal clone, but I loved those games.... Even the terrible Star Wars version Star Wars: Demolition made by the same company. 

 

I definitely think you could play Black Flag and have a good time with it -  in kind of a self contained bubble and not worry about the other ones if you just want to play a good game - and considering you are fairly Zen about which platinums you go for you could just tackle the single player component and still come out the other side with a high completion rate. That's a win win in my book.

King of the Dung Mound lol definitely a far cruddier version of the King of the Ring title haha

 

For the game series you mentioned that have passed you by:

Wipeout - Hardly played one really myself. Always found them extremely difficult. Pity as I like the premise and visual style.

Twisted Metal - Never played them either. Those games never appealed to me though tbh. Maybe the rumoured PS5 one will be the one I give a try?

Vigilante 8 - Never heard of it lol I'm sure you'll divulge more info on it.

 

Yeah, with Assasin's Creed if I was ever able to play one properly I'd just want to play the one and then be done. It's very offputting otherwise considering how many games there are. If I do it, then I'll make sure it's Black Flag.

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Lucky you man! I actually went to Star Wars: Celebration in 2016, the one in London, that he was at I think. I didn't get any autographs or things like that though, too much of a cheapskate  - in fact I didn't really enjoy the whole thing at all, I was meant to be going with some friends from Uni but they cancelled a couple of days before for various reasons - so it was just me by myself.

 

Warwick is awesome though - he seems like a lovely bloke when you see him in interviews and stuff - and one of the few things I like about Rise of Skywalker, that I'll avoid specifying as you've not seen it. is that both him and his son got to be in the film together, which must have been really special for him. I'm glad they gave them both that memory.

 

Very grateful for the opportunity to get to meet everyone I've met, including Warwick. Ah that's a bummer, definitely those types of experiences are better with people that you can share it with. Ah cool, that's awesome! I'll look out for it!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Money is the main factor I would have thought, that's why I've got 2 out of the six games completed to 100% completion instead of a possible 6 ..... Haha those DLC's are obscenely expensive and they never went on offer very often even if there were sales on the PSN, but I feel like I ought to just bite the bullet and get them, or just gradually buy a few here and there between paydays maybe, just so it doesn't seem quite so obscene forking out all that much for DLC at once, that just makes my wallet sad.

Yes, sadly the PSN Store (certainly the UK one) can make anyone's wallet sad. Would never want to rely on that to buy all games for many reasons but certainly the lack of sales for certain games and DLC's is pretty absurd. Imagine buying a Digital Edition PS5 and being locked into that store?! Farcical

 

I think you should bite the bullet and buy them at least in stages. Make it seem less painful and know that you'll have them all before Sony eventually does something stupid....

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Yep - the irony is Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is unironically the live action anime that Metal Gear always has been - it, or I guess Kojima  just takes itseself a little bit too seriously to really acknowledge it. Whereas Twin Snakes seemed to fully embrace the whole action flick/ anime kind of vibe more than any of the other games did that's for sure.

I wonder why that is. Is there a story behind the making of that game that might explain these choices?

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Wow - £50 for Pokemon Blue, I guess that makes sense though - we're all starting to get to the age where  - however small the form might take - we want to relive some of our gaming memories from our younger years. People have really cottoned onto the fact that nostalgia sells, and it absolutely does.

 

I don't think it's healthy to go overboard with it - but that little trip down memory lane every now and then can be really satisfying.

 

You know I might have that Game Gear one - or I guess more accurately my Dad might - he used to be really into the Game Gear and he had quite a lot of games for it - that thing had so many mad add ons that we have too - like there was a bolt on thing you could get for it where you could use it as a TV if I remember right, I'll have to see if he does have Sonic Triple Trouble.

 

That's a cool list of some of the ones you're after though - I'd love that RE Gamecube Controller as well, but anything Gamecube related seems to go for insane money these days, I have no idea how much Tales of Symphonia is now Edit: I just looked, and it's £249.99 new - which mine isn't obviously, it looks like preowned copies are around £40 minimum which isn't as high as I expected.

Yeah indeed. I got a OG Yellow Game Boy last year (was the version I originally had) and definitely want Pokemon Blue back in my collection again. A goal for the future.

 

Yes I agree.

 

Yeah lol Sega loved to bring out so many random add ons like the TV Tuner you mentioned. First time I've had one so playing Sonic on there is fun lol If your Dad does have Triple Trouble then he's got a desirable game there for any Sonic/Sega fan ?

 

Yes the Chainsaw controller just looks absolutely awesome! 

 

Tbh £249.99 new sounds about right as long as it is factory sealed. Factory sealed older games have a lot of value. £40 pre owned is very reasonable. 

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I believe it's on Netflix or Amazon right now, so I might give it a watch one of these days - when I do I'll let you know.

 

Yes...... Premium Events - that isn't what I'd call them. But they have to try and positive spin on them somehow right? These days they tend to just be overly long and you find yourself checking the time far more than actually enjoying what's going on!

Haha yes I wouldn't call them that either but there you go. WWE are a bit desperate sometimes.

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Thanks man! Vivi had to win that one - if I'd played one more Final Fantasy last year that wasn't A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV I think we would have seen at least one more Final Fantasy character amongst those character rankings. Plus FFIX was always going ton win game of the year - EVERYBODY knows how much I loved that game, so I guess that one was coming a mile off.

 

It's a few days late, but Happy to new year to you too!

Vivi is such a wonderful character with a really powerful story. Most people can connect with it, like a fair few characters from FFIX. Yes it was coming a mile off but still, always nice to see!

 

EDIT - My Sonic Colours guide got nominated for an award! Well chuffed about that lol Nice to check out everyone's guides here and cast your vote if you wanted. Respect to everyone who creates these awesome guides. Some of them are truely immense. @Shrooba Thought you'd be interested in this news too. Thanks for the feedback you gave me for it previously ?

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by The_Kopite
Updated information

[PlutoRico]

9 hours ago, Copanele said:

Heyo there fellow Witcher fan! Witcher 3 is my favorite of all time as well, main reason being the wedding from Hearts of Stone DLC  

But that's besides the point, I just showed up to tell you....do. NOT. watch season 2. Just remember it as being a meh show where only Henry Cavill shined as Geralt and move on.

Season 2 is something I struggle to erase from my memory. It has nothing to do with the books anymore, just the main plot of entire kingdoms and mages going "Where's Waldo--I mean Ciri". Other than that it's just Hollywood rewriting of the books.

 

It's bad. Really bad. Play Witcher 1 instead. Or heck, check the original (kinda bad but understandable) Polish version of the Witcher  

Copanele and me just became best friends ? I agree that the wedding is a great quest, from the place, the atmosphere, the different activities, the reconnection with Shani, everything was so well done. As for me, I honestly don't know what quest would be my favorite. Maybe the whole storyline in the Blood and Wine DLC and the final boss which was nothing like we had seen before. 

 

Honestly I'm not surprised. Season 1 left a bitter taste in my mouth so I wasn't getting my hopes up. I guess I'll just stick to the books as I still need to read over half of them. I would love to play the first two installations of the Witcher in the future tho, I've seen videos of the Witcher 2 and it really looks good for an older and less polished version of the Witcher 3 ?

 

[rjkclarke]

Damn - the last huge post I wrote is littered with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes I want to correct but I can't because it broke the forum software..... Sad times....

 

So I want to make something clear to @KindaSabbath - who I'm sure took my reply the way I hoped you would anyway, but as I'm fairly anxious and overthink things, and as you yourself know, I very much worry on the regular about "saying the wrong thing." I just want to make it very clear that I should have elaborated on the fact that Goran's influence on me is why I always encourage everyone else with their writing.... Especially when I think they are doing an awesome job of things, but they struggle to see that themselves. I don't think I made that clear at all I just waffled a bit. So apologies for that, I was pretty tired when I wrote that, hence all the spelling mistakes.

 

That's totally what I meant by the "I had a good mentor for that " thing.

 

If any encouragement I have given you has helped you in any sort of positive way - then I truly am overjoyed to read that, and as ever I appreciate the thoughtful words. I really do. 

 

Time for some more replies, which hopefully won't rip a hole in the space time continuum bust the forum software again.

 

On 04/01/2022 at 11:42 PM, Copanele said:

Hot mama Yakuza 3 update

To be honest, most of the time when i don't reply to stuff/forget to update the UR cleanup it's because I am so caught up in a game that the forum tends to be forgotten in the background while piling up notifications. What can I say, games are just too much fun  so totally understandable, especially since you got big dude Kiryu going!

 

Well I definitely understand it, it's tough to pull yourself away once you start to get in the groove of playing Blocking Simulator...... I mean Yakuza 3 ..... Even if it's something fairly slow paced like catching a giant Tuna fish using a meal deal as bait? Because why not I guess. Time just passes you by.

 

On 04/01/2022 at 11:42 PM, Copanele said:

Speaking of Yakuza 3, obviously a great game, I always FEEL that I need to share my Pool experience whenever someone completed it. Cause my god, the devs did NOT check what they implemented there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvHBr2WPAjM&ab_channel=Copanele

Don't even get me started with Break Ace...took me so many attempts my strat was praying at some point.

Also best of luck with 100% ing it! I wanted to attempt that too, but the hostess minigame turned me off big time. I know it's the first iteration ever but....nah I just gave up  

 

I just watched that vid again - I thought it was the one you posted alongside your review and I wasn't disappointed - man that Pool mini-game is terrible, and I hope that it's not quite as bad in the PS4 version of Yakuza 5 otherwise you're going to have a nightmare with the puzzle pool mini-game completions.

 

Break Ace was the worst man, as you know.... I think praying is the most logical solution to be fair. I can't tell you the amount of times I completely missed anything on the break let alone even hitting the 1 ball first. Nightmare!

 

The only way around Pool I could find was to just not pull the thumbstick back very much - which meant the shots were all low power, but it seemed to eliminate a lot of the times where you'd send the ball in completely the opposite direction to where it's saying it'll go.

 

I don't think that hostess minigame counts towards 100% completion - just dating them does. Likewise you don't have to raise Haruka's trust to max either, but I might do it just so the eventual 100% screenshot looks a bit nicer.

 

On 04/01/2022 at 11:42 PM, Copanele said:

Nope, unfortunately Phalanx did not glitch on me. Would have been a wonderful video, but the boss worked as intended...which means me being yeeted by Agro and completely missing Phalanx.

Not gonna lie, it was a tight boss fight to be honest  

 

 

I found a video of that glitch where Agro gets stuck on the Colossus and just slides away

 

I'll leave it here - it's like 20 seconds long, but I managed to get a bit further up than the guy in the video I was in the middle of its back.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1JqlDCDao

 

I never minded Phalanx as a boss fight - there are worse ones I'd say, like I always dread doing the Eel one.... The one that I said looked like a football sock with Christmas lights on, that one can get in the sea, well it's already there actually so it can get in the bin.

 

On 04/01/2022 at 11:42 PM, Copanele said:

Yep, you can swap in as much as you want! Since there are no more limitations, go wild!

Also...thoughts and prayers for when you start Lords of the Fallen. That's a...not very good game  I admit, adding LotF was my idea, because I want at least one troll game on the Most Wanted list. But man...I will offer those extra points from the bottom of my heart to whoever finishes that. 

DLC INCLUDED

 

Also as a final thing

Quote

 and also why I haven't gotten around to writing the review for The Wolf Among Us yet.

Hot damn I just downloaded that game, planning to play it after I finish punishing myself with Blazblue Chronophantasma. The coincidence  It's probably the only Telltale game I will play but I needed it for a Platinum Difficulty Event and I heard only good things about it so ... yep time to see what's with the werewolves.

 

Ok that's it from my side  good luck with Yakuza 3 and its beautiful combat system! The game where Komaki Parry is better than Komaki Tiger Drop.

 

Thanks for the info - I'm also assuming that you don't have to have the last trophy you unlock be an ultra rare trophy, because of there being DLC's and stuff that don't have them in that might make that harder.... So I'm just going to assume as long as you complete it, and one of the trophies you finished was an ultra rare then you are all good ?

 

I have heard the very same about Lords of the Fallen, but I also love Venetica which were made by the same people. I'm not expecting to like Lords of the Fallen, but I'll try and find a positive somewhere, I already have it and it's DLC installed and ready to go.

 

Have the fun with The Wolf Among Us dude - I am far from Telltale's biggest fan, I've really got to be in the mood for their games, but that one I really liked - just not finished writing the review for it, because Kiryu, Tuna, Koi Koi, substories and all that good stuff you know the drill.

 

23 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

That's a pleasant surprise my friend, The Witcher 3 is my favorite video game of all time. Till this day, I haven't played a game that I enjoyed more nor one in which I was as invested as The Witcher 3. I completed 2 stacks on my former account. I loved the Witcher folklore so much that I decided to read the books, I would like to finish them all before going for another stack to have a better in depth knowledge of the game. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of references that I might have missed during my 2 playthroughs 

 

 

I think The Witcher 3 is probably the most I've been absorbed by a game over the last seven or eight years I'd say - it's just so damn good to the point where you struggle to put it down right?

 

Nice to see that you love it as much as you do - you really take that to a whole new level! Fair play for reading all the books - I've read the first one and I didn't get on with it all that well, I found it pretty heavy going to be honest. I think playing Witcher 3 with all the knowledge from the books though would almost certainly enhance the experience even more!

 

23 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

I was also super excited about the Netflix series but it turned out to be pretty dull. How to fail at adaptation. I was very disappointed when I binge watched the first season, I don't know if the second is better as I don't have a Netflix subscription at the moment. 

 

I actually really enjoyed The Witcher Netflix series for what it's worth (the first one anyway, I've not seen the second yet). I think they kind of created a problem for themselves in that they are very much doing their own thing.... They are cherry picking what they want to from the books and basically just telling their own story, it's not really a true adaptation of either the books or the games. I don't really mind that, but I can see why people find it frustrating. 

 

23 hours ago, PlutoRico said:

By the way, where is your Witcher review Rob ? I went back to your OP looking for a link and was very sad to see a white title instead of a blue one. You haven't done one yet ? 

 

I think a huge part of it is that I know that review is going to take a long time. I've got to cover a hugely expansive game - and two bloody excellent DLC's, so every time I even think about it I talk myself out of it because of how long it will take to write.

 

So no I've not done one yet, even before finishing up the DLC in I think 2020, it was still a year before starting this thread, it's one of the old ones I've not gone back to.  You can always request it to be reviewed if you're really eager for it..... Then I'd have to get to it sooner... ?... I'd almost certainly enjoy writing it, I know that much.

 

22 hours ago, Slava said:

Oh nice. That sounds interesting. 

 

Yeah, I've watched hundreds of films and dozens of shows, so I might have something to bring to the potential conversation. BTW, did you deduce that just from me talking about Star Wars a couple of times and mentioning The Godfather in Copanele's thread?  

 

That's not 100% the reason that I deduced that, but part of it - it was actually from one of @DrBloodmoney's status updates from - oh ages ago now. Probably like more than half a year ago (I just have a pretty good memory,) where it was a discussion about sequels and good examples of ones that are better than the original compared to in games where it seems to be the other way around. I remember you bringing up quite a few examples that made me think you were more than just a little bit knowledgable.

 

I couldn't say how many films I've seen at this point - it's got to be nearing a thousand - I used to have a mantra where I'd try and watch one film that I hadn't seen before every day, but I'm finding that too hard to maintain these days.

 

22 hours ago, Slava said:

Right. There's probably not just one perfect JRPG serving as an ultimate jumping-off point to the genre, but rather many equally good ones you can't go wrong with. I'll just pick a game that will appeal to me the most at that point in time 

 

That is absolutely the right approach - ultimately it has to be something that will appeal to you, because those sorts of games are a big time commitment so if you know going in there will be at least some aspects you like going in that'd definitely help.

 

15 hours ago, det_gittes said:

As for Witcher 3, I think it's the only game in recent years where I switched the language to Polish - I tried playing it in English but there's just so much linguistic creativity in names and the language of the period (taken from the Witcher books, obviously) which I felt was partly lost in translation - though I doubt it will ever bother a non-Polish speaker  

 

 

I might have to try that out next time I fire the game up - I usually find games feel the most authentic when they are in the language that they were basically designed for or the locations derived from.... So I think I'll have to give that a go just to see what the difference is like. I'm assuming the game would let me do Polish with English Subs. 

 

15 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

If CD Projekt Red ever make a technically competent game

 

That's about as likely as Ron Howard making a film that isn't turgidly directed and manages to temporarily cure my insomnia...... It just seeems VERY VERY, unlikely. I love the state Witcher 3 is in now, but as I've said before, I had similar issues to you when I booted up Witcher 3 at launch.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha yeah I've done that with games I've got for Collector Editions. Marvel at the CE content, have the game, install it, test that it works.......and then know that I have such a backlog that I can't get to it yet as I'm half way through another big game and it sits there for months lol

 

Yep - it is the curse of the backlog.

 

I had FFIX literally sat my console installed ever since the launch day on PS4 and it took me until 2021 to play it..... So I am not someone to lecture anyone on that kind of thing.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Ah ok, that is interesting. So I'm guessing that the bigger reaction to the state of Cyberpunks release compared to Witcher 3 was that they had built up all the goodwill from them finally getting Witcher 3 right and what they had done before so it turned out to be a bigger disappointment as people had put down their hard money for pre-orders due to trusting them?

 

I think that's the case yeah - they'd released a bunch of free DLC's and things like that to really help get people on board - each copy of The Witcher 3 also had a little thank you letter by the developers that personally thanked the customer for buying the game, then there was all the free DLC they released. They really tried to ingratiate themselves with the people that had bought their product and they did. Then Cyberpunk happened..... Some of the fault is on fans for putting pressure on the game getting released I think, as it clearly wasn't ready - and I think CDProjekt Red knew that - but were under pressure to do so anyway, and then what happened, happened and here we are. With people having little to no faith in them as a company.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

For the game series you mentioned that have passed you by:

Wipeout - Hardly played one really myself. Always found them extremely difficult. Pity as I like the premise and visual style.

Twisted Metal - Never played them either. Those games never appealed to me though tbh. Maybe the rumoured PS5 one will be the one I give a try?

Vigilante 8 - Never heard of it lol I'm sure you'll divulge more info on it.

 

Yeah, with Assasin's Creed if I was ever able to play one properly I'd just want to play the one and then be done. It's very offputting otherwise considering how many games there are. If I do it, then I'll make sure it's Black Flag.

 

I don't know why those three were the ones that jumped out at me, there are probably better examples - like I never played the Resistance games, and I think technically as I never finished The Last of Us you can say that's another franchise I missed out on. For now at least.

 

Well I can't exactly claim Vigilane 8 is really mind blowingly good or anything, but it's a fairly fun vehicular combat game - it's got like a time travel theme to it, so parts of it are set in the future present day and the past.... So there was quite a lot of variety going on between those two games.

 

Black Flag is actually one of the games I'm really astonished has never been given away free with PS+ yet.... At least I don't think it has. Put it off long enough and you might just get it for free one day

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yes, sadly the PSN Store (certainly the UK one) can make anyone's wallet sad. Would never want to rely on that to buy all games for many reasons but certainly the lack of sales for certain games and DLC's is pretty absurd. Imagine buying a Digital Edition PS5 and being locked into that store?! Farcical

 

I think you should bite the bullet and buy them at least in stages. Make it seem less painful and know that you'll have them all before Sony eventually does something stupid....

 

I can definitely see the upsides to having a Digital Edition PS5..... It sure would save on shelf space, and as much as the PSN Store can be a bit of a bummer sometimes, you can make some really great savings too...... Oh and there's like the huge upside to the Digital only version being substantially cheaper, so that's always a bonus.

 

I'd miss being able to have at least a few physical purchases though, so I'm not sure it'd be something I could commit to.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

I wonder why that is. Is there a story behind the making of that game that might explain these choices?

 

There probably is - I don't know it though, if I ever find out, I'll let you know haha! I've never really bothered to find out - I like that game for the fact I own it as a collectors item more than actually something to play....... If I wanted to play MGS1 I'd just fire up my PS3 and have at the original, not whatever the hell Twin Snakes is ?

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah indeed. I got a OG Yellow Game Boy last year (was the version I originally had) and definitely want Pokemon Blue back in my collection again. A goal for the future.

 

Was that the one they called the Pocket Gameboy, the yellow one that was a little smaller than the big fat grey brick one? I still have the big grey brick one somewhere, it's really tatty though and I think the border around the screen has come off as well somehow. My Dad had one of those yellow ones too, he used to be fixated on playing battleships on it.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Tbh £249.99 new sounds about right as long as it is factory sealed. Factory sealed older games have a lot of value. £40 pre owned is very reasonable. 

 

I thought Tales of Symphonia would be more than £40 preowned as Tales of ' is a pretty big franchise now, and it has grown a lot in popularity over here in the last few years or so, and a lot of people's favourite one is Symphonia, myself included so I'm surprised it is like a quarter of what Pokemon Colloseum is preowned, and that game isn't even good haha.

 

13 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

 

EDIT - My Sonic Colours guide got nominated for an award! Well chuffed about that lol Nice to check out everyone's guides here and cast your vote if you wanted. Respect to everyone who creates these awesome guides. Some of them are truely immense. @Shrooba Thought you'd be interested in this news too. Thanks for the feedback you gave me for it previously 

 

Congratulations man! That's amazing! 

 

I'm really pleased for you, you absolutely deserve it too with the huge amount of effort that you put into that one! I'll have to go and place my vote. So long as it isn't like the guide itself where you can't rate it unless you own it.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by rjkclarke

[YaManSmevz]

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I guess whilst I'm here I'll turn this into a semi-update on my progress on Yakuza 3 whilst I'm on the subject.

 

Much like in every other Yakuza title where getting the platinum doesn't include the 100% (At least 3,4 and 6 don't require it)...... I have also decided with Yakuza 3 that I will accept nothing less than 100% completion, because the platinum is just not quite enough - sure, it might take a little bit longer, but to be able to drink in even a few hours more of the atmosphere that these games have to offer will be so worth any extra time involved. I might not have a trophy to show it - but I'll have a screenshot and the satisfaction of knowing I did it - and for me that's enough.

 

Hell yeah, dude! I'm really liking this development - I sense a fun lead up to the eventual review, a la FFIX. Get that shit, homie!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Oh boy - you know how we were only about four or five days ago now talking about how much so many of us love playing Pool? Well I'd forgotten how terrible the Pool minigame truly was in Yakuza. 1. The physics don't work. 2. The opponent A.I is ludicrous, and makes Pure Pool's A.I look practically tame. 3. Nothing works like it should do on a pool table,cushions have no slide, pockets have NO GIVE, are too tight and you miss far more for reasons that are out of your control (terrible imprecise controls, which are not your fault).

 

That kinda sucks - you were just talking about how much a pool game with mechanics you throughly enjoyed, and then get dropped into a shitfest! At least it's done now - and that's awesome how you got it! Nothing like pulling off something like that on your own terms, and going to bed feeling accomplished. Props!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I'm bloody loving it so far - the story is a little pedestrian, but I'm not even a third of the way in so far, so I'm sure it'll pick up. I'll try and pepper in some little updates here and there if I have any progress to mention - I think like I usually do if I'm playing something long, I'll double down on writing Classic Reviews. It'd be good to get a few more of those out, especially as I need to do Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2, so it might get a little Yakuza heavy in here in the next week or so, but I'll do some other things too so it doesn't get too stale to have to read through.

 

Yo I'm all about Yakuza week! Especially given your deep love of the series. And every time you talk about it I get a new wrinkle in the newly formed Yakuza mini-district in my brain - Kiryu as a drunk with a heart of gold watching over orphans? Man, this series really does go all over the place, huh?

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I had heard that myself actually - that FFIX is a little but of a divisive one - it's definitely quite the departure from what FFVII and FFVIII were. Yet I still quite like the fact that IX ended up going in the direction it did.

 

I remember that being a big thing at the time, the whole back-to-basics approach that IX took. A lot of us were definitely hesitant - like we already played that old style, we wanted more in the vein of VII and VIII (well that one's a whole other thing?) Then it ended up being incredible so we all kinda had to eat crow on that one!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That does seem to be both of our takeaways from Vampyr what an all over the place time that whole game was... I would play a sequel though to be fair, it did get it's hooks into me enough that I don't dislike the idea of another one.

 

I've been putting off reviewing that for a while... lately I've been trying to take advantage of a random surge in a desire to write, so maybe I'll finally do that! I would play a sequel too, most definitely! Or at least something in the same territory. One thing I will say, it was a great game to play during a pandemic!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

As am I, I think...... I kind of took for granted how much time we had left - but then I sat out most of December, I only really played games much in the last two weeks of December.

 

How are you finding Dex by the way? I really hope I didn't steer you badly by getting you interested in that one - I really like it for what it is, and once you can kind of use stealth it really makes that game quite playable. I think it's brimming with atmosphere, but I very much could be alone in thinking that, so I'd love to know how you're finding it.

 

Dude I actually wanted to thank you for Dex! I really enjoyed it. It's not perfect, but as you said, for what it is it's pretty solid. I loved the look of it and how well they nailed the aesthetic, and I loved the soundtrack. The gameplay was no slouch either - I had so much fun doing stealth kills that I got that trophy way early?

 

The one gripe I had is that bit where you have to go with either Raycast or Iain at the end, I got the impression that it would be a Beholder 2 type thing where from the last section there would be a plethora of endings to go with - but look at me, whining about getting only three endings! Just goes to show how spoiled we are by these great games?

 

Yeah, I'm tryin to set up an outline for what I want to do with the last of the games I've got.. some real heavy hitters, and if I'm not mistaken that's your situation as well! Oh well.... swap city bitch, swap swap city bitch!

 

....sorry, that song just popped in my head!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Yes you do! I think it will actually resonate with you a lot more than most - what with the whole job thing you have in common with Jill and everything - but, much like myself it sounds as if there might be a little more that you two have in common too. I think you'll have a good time with it though - I kept thinking that the whole way through playing it.

 

Aw, thanks - it's nice to be thought of?

 

I'll have to keep an eye out for it - I'm really trying to limit purchases this year, but does it count if it's something I wanted from the previous year and I'm just waiting for it to go on sale? Also i have a full day to decide if I wanna pull the trigger on the Dark Souls games???

 

For what it's worth, I'm not quite there with the whole "I'm a man, and I have value!!" thing either. It's just something we all have to work towards, I guess!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Yep - the irony is Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is unironically the live action anime that Metal Gear always has been - it, or I guess Kojima  just takes itseself a little bit too seriously to really acknowledge it. Whereas Twin Snakes seemed to fully embrace the whole action flick/ anime kind of vibe more than any of the other games did that's for sure.

 

I remember being so excited for the remake of that game, and was heartbroken when I heard all the negative reviews... to this day I've never played it.

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

The 2022 candidates are definitely getting off to a very strong start with Yakuza 3 - so I'm looking forward to a year of good contenders at the end of this one. Hopefully no disgusting foul stinkers this year though.

 

I have to confess though... that stinker category is a fun one to read?

[PlutoRico]

3 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think a huge part of it is that I know that review is going to take a long time. I've got to cover a hugely expansive game - and two bloody excellent DLC's, so every time I even think about it I talk myself out of it because of how long it will take to write.

 

So no I've not done one yet, even before finishing up the DLC in I think 2020, it was still a year before starting this thread, it's one of the old ones I've not gone back to.  You can always request it to be reviewed if you're really eager for it..... Then I'd have to get to it sooner... ... I'd almost certainly enjoy writing it, I know that much.

 

Honestly I don't know how you do that, I completed my second stack on January 2020 and if you asked me to do a review today, I know I wouldn't have as much inspiration as when I finished the game right off the bat. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of details I forgot or stuff I need to refresh my memory about.  

But it doesn't seem to be a problem for you, as you're able to go back to games you completed years ago effortlessly. Props to you man, that's definitely inspiring. 

 

With all that said, I officially request a review for The Witcher 3 ? But I don't want you to rush it just because I asked for it, take as much time as you need, it could take you months and I'll still be happy to see the finished product on verdict day. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by PlutoRico

[KindaSabbath]

10 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

So I want to make something clear to @KindaSabbath - who I'm sure took my reply the way I hoped you would anyway, but as I'm fairly anxious and overthink things, and as you yourself know, I very much worry on the regular about "saying the wrong thing." I just want to make it very clear that I should have elaborated on the fact that Goran's influence on me is why I always encourage everyone else with their writing.... Especially when I think they are doing an awesome job of things, but they struggle to see that themselves. I don't think I made that clear at all I just waffled a bit. So apologies for that, I was pretty tired when I wrote that, hence all the spelling mistakes.

 

That's totally what I meant by the "I had a good mentor for that " thing.

 

If any encouragement I have given you has helped you in any sort of positive way - then I truly am overjoyed to read that, and as ever I appreciate the thoughtful words. I really do. 

Hey man it’s all good! I knew exactly what you were trying to say, so no worries there at all! 
 

I also worry that I don’t get my point across exactly as intended, pretty much all the time ?… you’re the one who put my mind at ease in that regard! Just goes to show how much thought and love you put into everything you write - reviews/replies everything. The site can’t take your love though ? - there’s just too much of it! 
 

Hope you’re enjoying your time with Yakuza 3 dude. I know that one is a little mixed among the fans and from reading above it sounds like some of the mini games are frustrating - but that’s part of Yakuza right? To have at least some frustrating mini games? Well, that’s the vibe I’ve gotten from reading into the games after my casual play through of Zero with my son! 
 

I also need to read your thoughts on Wolf Among Us as I’ll be loading that up in the coming days… it’s not typically my kinda thing but @DrBloodmoney rates it, so it should be good!

[The_Kopite]

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Yep - it is the curse of the backlog.

 

I had FFIX literally sat my console installed ever since the launch day on PS4 and it took me until 2021 to play it..... So I am not someone to lecture anyone on that kind of thing.

Haha yes well for some that is a dream. A quality game like that in the backlog, sitting there ready for the right moment to savur it's awesomeness! I'd love to go through that game again for the first time, such a wonderful experience.

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think that's the case yeah - they'd released a bunch of free DLC's and things like that to really help get people on board - each copy of The Witcher 3 also had a little thank you letter by the developers that personally thanked the customer for buying the game, then there was all the free DLC they released. They really tried to ingratiate themselves with the people that had bought their product and they did. Then Cyberpunk happened..... Some of the fault is on fans for putting pressure on the game getting released I think, as it clearly wasn't ready - and I think CDProjekt Red knew that - but were under pressure to do so anyway, and then what happened, happened and here we are. With people having little to no faith in them as a company.

Ah I see. That's a quality thing to do (The thank you letter). I'd certainly appreciate that as a customer. I forgot about the free DLC, I mainly just think about Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone (Is that their names?) as being the DLC released for that game. Yes I do feel there can be a little bit of blame attached to fans sometimes in these instances due to their desperation to play the game. Still it mostly falls on the developers and mostly the CEO's of the game companies who will put out a game when it is clearly not ready. 

Look at Rockstar with GTA Definitive Edition - It's certainly definitive in something.....just not what they wanted.

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I don't know why those three were the ones that jumped out at me, there are probably better examples - like I never played the Resistance games, and I think technically as I never finished The Last of Us you can say that's another franchise I missed out on. For now at least.

 

Well I can't exactly claim Vigilane 8 is really mind blowingly good or anything, but it's a fairly fun vehicular combat game - it's got like a time travel theme to it, so parts of it are set in the future present day and the past.... So there was quite a lot of variety going on between those two games.

 

Black Flag is actually one of the games I'm really astonished has never been given away free with PS+ yet.... At least I don't think it has. Put it off long enough and you might just get it for free one day

You've never played the Resistence games?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

What have you been doing with your life?!?!?!?!

 

Nah I'm joking lol In all seriousness, all 4 are well worth playing. Sure there are better FPS' out there, but the story is good overall and it went somewhere I didn't actually expect it to. Characters could have been better, but the locations are cool (like being in England in parts) and the weapons are creative and fun to use. Also the enemy designs are pretty distinct and they are fun to play. Fall of Man has no trophies, 2 you can't get the platinum for and 3 I'm not sure but all worth playing. The Vita one is worth it too, even if it's too easy for it's own good. Bonus is that it was an easy and enjoyable platinum.

 

Vigilante 8 sounds fun, I mean time travel when done well is cool and I haven't played enough vehicular combat games personally lol

 

There you go, you've made up my mind. I'm going to put it off until it is given away for free. Which will probably be never lol

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I can definitely see the upsides to having a Digital Edition PS5..... It sure would save on shelf space, and as much as the PSN Store can be a bit of a bummer sometimes, you can make some really great savings too...... Oh and there's like the huge upside to the Digital only version being substantially cheaper, so that's always a bonus.

 

I'd miss being able to have at least a few physical purchases though, so I'm not sure it'd be something I could commit to.

O yeah I can see the upsides too and for some people that's the best one for them and all power to them. For me though, it's a definite no. In the long run, you'd save a ton of money on the games compared to the digital and of course I'm a collector anyways so yeah.

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

There probably is - I don't know it though, if I ever find out, I'll let you know haha! I've never really bothered to find out - I like that game for the fact I own it as a collectors item more than actually something to play....... If I wanted to play MGS1 I'd just fire up my PS3 and have at the original, not whatever the hell Twin Snakes is

Haha thanks! Definitely a cool collector's item to own. 

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Was that the one they called the Pocket Gameboy, the yellow one that was a little smaller than the big fat grey brick one? I still have the big grey brick one somewhere, it's really tatty though and I think the border around the screen has come off as well somehow. My Dad had one of those yellow ones too, he used to be fixated on playing battleships on it.

No they released the yellow colour version afer the grey one but it's a brick just like the grey one. 

 

 

Didn't realise the pic would be so big lol sorry about that, but yeah not literally my gameboy in the pic but yeah you get the picture, well literally lol

 

Never played Battleships there but the list of Gameboy games I used to play on it, man good times.

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I thought Tales of Symphonia would be more than £40 preowned as Tales of ' is a pretty big franchise now, and it has grown a lot in popularity over here in the last few years or so, and a lot of people's favourite one is Symphonia, myself included so I'm surprised it is like a quarter of what Pokemon Colloseum is preowned, and that game isn't even good haha.

 

Is that Pokemon one an N64 game or a Gamecube game? Couldn't always keep up with the spinoffs lol Well then it sounds like you should put down your hard earned cash and buy a nice copy of Tales of Symphonia for your collection ? Before it goes up in price with it's renewed popularity lol

 

13 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Congratulations man! That's amazing! 

 

I'm really pleased for you, you absolutely deserve it too with the huge amount of effort that you put into that one! I'll have to go and place my vote. So long as it isn't like the guide itself where you can't rate it unless you own it.

No the voting process for GOTY doesn't work in the same way as giving a star rating to a guide. The rules are all there so that'll give you a better picture of how it all works. ? 

BTW it is totally your choice if you want to vote for my guide in the awards or give the guide (insert number here) star rating whenever you buy a copy of Sonic Colours: Ultimate. Just wanted you and Shrooba to know at the time as I really appreciated the positive feedback from you both and wanted to share the good news 

[rjkclarke]

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

Hell yeah, dude! I'm really liking this development - I sense a fun lead up to the eventual review, a la FFIX. Get that shit, homie!

 

Fingers crossed it won't take me quite so long to get through Yakuza 3 as it did with Final Fantasy IX I really slouched on that one - but in a way I'm glad I went at my own pace with it.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

That kinda sucks - you were just talking about how much a pool game with mechanics you throughly enjoyed, and then get dropped into a shitfest! At least it's done now - and that's awesome how you got it! Nothing like pulling off something like that on your own terms, and going to bed feeling accomplished. Props!

 

Yep that Pool minigame is terrible -  there are plenty of mini-games in the Yakuza games that I will quite happily play for fun.......I can categorically say that Pool will never be one of them.

 

You know I think the Pool mini-game from San Andreas actually functions slightly better than this one does, and that's pretty messy, and like one of the least important components of an absolutely huge game. But it still isn't offensively bad like Yakuza's Pool is.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

Yo I'm all about Yakuza week! Especially given your deep love of the series. And every time you talk about it I get a new wrinkle in the newly formed Yakuza mini-district in my brain - Kiryu as a drunk with a heart of gold watching over orphans? Man, this series really does go all over the place, huh?

 

He's not meant to be drunk in the story ?..... I just rocked up having pounded a load of expensive whiskey at the local bar - so the icon on the screen was telling me I was hammered.... Oooooops.

 

So if writing The Wolf Among Us review after this post can get my writing arm going a bit, then if all goes to plan I'm hoping to get the Yakuza Kiwami review out on Sunday,no promises though, but that's when I'd like to get it done.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

I remember that being a big thing at the time, the whole back-to-basics approach that IX took. A lot of us were definitely hesitant - like we already played that old style, we wanted more in the vein of VII and VIII (well that one's a whole other thing) Then it ended up being incredible so we all kinda had to eat crow on that one!

 

I think I was probably one of those people that were put off for those same reasons, funnily enough - hence why I didn't touch it for 21 years.... Jokes on me I guess, I should have just played it at the time and had my little nine year old heart exploded with sadness over Vivi haha..... Poor little dude, he really does go through the wringer.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

I've been putting off reviewing that for a while... lately I've been trying to take advantage of a random surge in a desire to write, so maybe I'll finally do that! I would play a sequel too, most definitely! Or at least something in the same territory. One thing I will say, it was a great game to play during a pandemic!

 

Well you definitely have taken advantage of that desire to write- you've put some fantastic things out in the last week...... I was struggling with Vampyr when I wrote mine too - because there's so many glaring unavoidable technical issues going on that can completely destroy the fun with that game.

 

It's a weird one - one of those where I really desperately want to like it more than I actually do - then when it comes to writing a review of it you end up feeling like you've been overly negative. I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

Dude I actually wanted to thank you for Dex! I really enjoyed it. It's not perfect, but as you said, for what it is it's pretty solid. I loved the look of it and how well they nailed the aesthetic, and I loved the soundtrack. The gameplay was no slouch either - I had so much fun doing stealth kills that I got that trophy way early

 

The one gripe I had is that bit where you have to go with either Raycast or Iain at the end, I got the impression that it would be a Beholder 2 type thing where from the last section there would be a plethora of endings to go with - but look at me, whining about getting only three endings! Just goes to show how spoiled we are by these great games

 

Yep I got that stealth kill trophy pretty early myself..... It's a little too satisfying not to go the stealth kill route.

 

Oh man - that would have been so awesome if we'd gotten a kind of Beholder 2 type of deal where there were a boatload of options for endings instead of what we actually got..... What we got was fine, but yeah I think there was definitely a little more scope to do more than what they did.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

Yeah, I'm tryin to set up an outline for what I want to do with the last of the games I've got.. some real heavy hitters, and if I'm not mistaken that's your situation as well! Oh well.... swap city bitch, swap swap city bitch!

 

That's my thing too yeah - I did single out the two I think I'm going to swap out - I just don't know what I'm going to swap them with yet. I'm thinking one should Medievil because that's at least short-ish and I've never played that first game, yet I've wanted to for the longest time. I'm not sure about the other thing though - maybe something point-and-clicky been at least a month since I last played one with trophies.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

I remember being so excited for the remake of that game, and was heartbroken when I heard all the negative reviews... to this day I've never played it.

 

Well....... Take my advice and don't purchase the Gamecube just to play that game.......  You'll soon end up realising that there are an absolute mountainous amount of awesome games on that console and The Twin Snakes is not one of them ?

 

On 06/01/2022 at 0:16 AM, YaManSmevz said:

I have to confess though... that stinker category is a fun one to read

 

I'm hoping at the end of this year that I'll have to get creative and won't have quite such a list to pull from for crap games,so I'll have to create new categories - I didn't exactly play loads of bad ones last year, but the bad ones were REALLY bad.... There wasn't much middle ground there haha

 

 

On 06/01/2022 at 3:28 AM, PlutoRico said:

Honestly I don't know how you do that, I completed my second stack on January 2020 and if you asked me to do a review today, I know I wouldn't have as much inspiration as when I finished the game right off the bat. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of details I forgot or stuff I need to refresh my memory about.  

But it doesn't seem to be a problem for you, as you're able to go back to games you completed years ago effortlessly. Props to you man, that's definitely inspiring. 

 

Thanks Pluto!

 

I have had a few instances where I've sat down to review something I haven't played or thought about for a while and I practically remember nothing - so it isn't always smooth sailing. That's usually when I have to dip into a bit of gameplay or story on YouTube  (or even replay bits myself) to kind of re-jig my memory a bit. That's why I almost always listen to those OST's of the games I'm reviewing as I almost always find that's helpful to jog the memory on occasion.

 

It depends how much I really enjoyed them I guess - we haven't gotten to any games that I really feel indifferent towards in Classic Reviews yet, I will eventually and those are the toughest to write about, where you don't have much of an opinion on them. Be that good or bad, so that'll be a test.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 3:28 AM, PlutoRico said:

With all that said, I officially request a review for The Witcher 3  But I don't want you to rush it just because I asked for it, take as much time as you need, it could take you months and I'll still be happy to see the finished product on verdict day. 

 

Fantastic! I'll add your name to the list then..... I'll definitely get to it sooner rather than later - I've just really been slacking with filling in some of those gaps with older game reviews.... I ought to get back at that soon though I think.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 11:01 AM, KindaSabbath said:

Hey man it’s all good! I knew exactly what you were trying to say, so no worries there at all! 
 

I also worry that I don’t get my point across exactly as intended, pretty much all the time … you’re the one who put my mind at ease in that regard! Just goes to show how much thought and love you put into everything you write - reviews/replies everything. The site can’t take your love though - there’s just too much of it! 

 

That's great then - I assumed you did..... I just wanted to make it crystal clear - because I read it back and I thought " That only made sense to me what I just wrote in that rambly mess of a response." 

 

I appreciate you putting my mind at ease anyway.....  I can't foresee a time when I don't overthink things.

 

That's the silly thing with me, I'm always trying to encourage people not to get caught up on stuff like that, and then I go and do that exact same thing! Silly old cycle.

 

Well I guess my love has to go somewhere Haha! ?...... It's that or buy as many cats as you have kids and just become a crazy cat man .... I know which one is the healthier option right about now.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 11:01 AM, KindaSabbath said:

Hope you’re enjoying your time with Yakuza 3 dude. I know that one is a little mixed among the fans and from reading above it sounds like some of the mini games are frustrating - but that’s part of Yakuza right? To have at least some frustrating mini games? Well, that’s the vibe I’ve gotten from reading into the games after my casual play through of Zero with my son! 
 

I also need to read your thoughts on Wolf Among Us as I’ll be loading that up in the coming days… it’s not typically my kinda thing but @DrBloodmoney rates it, so it should be good!

 

Yep - you're spot on with that..... Each game seems to have at least one really frustrating mini-game that's just on a whole other level than when they appear other times in the series..... I've done practically none of the story, so I don't know for sure, if peoples gripes come from the story, I'll have to see what I think.

 

Yakuza 4 seems to have quite a few as well (probably why I like it the least)..... Actually it just has too much hostess mini-game stuff going on. I'm not into that part of the games... If it was like the cabaret club manager from Yakuza 0 I'd love it.... But not the whole chatting to hostesses, and then training hostesses thing, that bores me senseless. Le tme go out on the street and smash someone's face in with a bicycle please ? - much more fun!

 

I'm going to sit down and bust that Wolf Among Us review out after this.... I've been procrastinating on that so much it's ridiculous. I ought to just get it done. It's just a case of formulating my thoughts on it without offending the people who love Telltale games ?

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Haha yes well for some that is a dream. A quality game like that in the backlog, sitting there ready for the right moment to savur it's awesomeness! I'd love to go through that game again for the first time, such a wonderful experience.

 

I thankfully have quite a few like that - that people seem to rampantly love, but I haven't played yet..... I'm still sitting on God of War(2018) which I absolutely need to remedy this year.... I expect you've probably got quite a few yourself what with having fairly limited time to play games?

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Ah I see. That's a quality thing to do (The thank you letter). I'd certainly appreciate that as a customer. I forgot about the free DLC, I mainly just think about Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone (Is that their names?) as being the DLC released for that game.

 

I think the way they saw the free DLC - was that they really wanted to make Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine feel like worthy expansions instead of just a few dribs and drabs of content here and there. So they gave away those ten free ones as a way of being like "Hey, we don't feel comfortable charging you for this, have these until the REAL DLC is ready" Some of the free quests were actually very good too.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yes I do feel there can be a little bit of blame attached to fans sometimes in these instances due to their desperation to play the game. Still it mostly falls on the developers and mostly the CEO's of the game companies who will put out a game when it is clearly not ready. 

Look at Rockstar with GTA Definitive Edition - It's certainly definitive in something.....just not what they wanted.

 

Yes the definitive edition - the one that's a remaster of a mobile port - and not even the PS2 game..... Yep good show on that one Rockstar, way to not only screw the pooch, but also screw years of good will from your fanbase... I guess a fair few people were a bit jaded by turning GTA:Online into the cashcow it is already though. Then there's the whole constantly releasing GTAV infinitely thing, which of all the GTA games to constantly release why that one? Show GTAIV some love please! I love that one.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

You've never played the Resistence games?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

What have you been doing with your life?!?!?!?!

 

Nah I'm joking lol In all seriousness, all 4 are well worth playing. Sure there are better FPS' out there, but the story is good overall and it went somewhere I didn't actually expect it to. Characters could have been better, but the locations are cool (like being in England in parts) and the weapons are creative and fun to use. Also the enemy designs are pretty distinct and they are fun to play. Fall of Man has no trophies, 2 you can't get the platinum for and 3 I'm not sure but all worth playing. The Vita one is worth it too, even if it's too easy for it's own good. Bonus is that it was an easy and enjoyable platinum.

 

Clearly not playing resistance

 

Now I feel like I've missed out - they sound quite interesting actually.... Perhaps it's one of those things that might get a little remastered trilogy at some point in the near future like the Crysis trilogy got. My backlog on PS3 is actually so low now that I really don't want to start adding more to it. So I'll cross all my available things to cross and hope for a remastered trilogy/quadrilogy as the Vita game sounds good too from what you've said.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Vigilante 8 sounds fun, I mean time travel when done well is cool and I haven't played enough vehicular combat games personally lol

 

There you go, you've made up my mind. I'm going to put it off until it is given away for free. Which will probably be never lol

 

You never know..... It could be given away free at some point - they haven't done an AC game as a PS+ offering for a while, so it could happen.

 

Heck I haven't bought Darksiders: Genesis yet because I'm about 90% sure it'll be free at some point, the others pretty much all have been - watch me have to eat my words on that one though haha

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

O yeah I can see the upsides too and for some people that's the best one for them and all power to them. For me though, it's a definite no. In the long run, you'd save a ton of money on the games compared to the digital and of course I'm a collector anyways so yeah.

 

That's definitely a plus when it comes to the rare few games that never seem actually go on offer digitally- something that is doubly frustrating when it comes to games that don't have a physical edition.

 

Looking at you Styx: Master of Shadows...... Not redeeming a PS+ title has never quite bitten me on the arse the same way as forgetting to do that did, now that I actually want to play it, and don't want to pay full price for it so that me and a friend can co-op the second one......... because.....erm......erm? I'm a....... *cough* cheapskate ?*cough* ..

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Didn't realise the pic would be so big lol sorry about that, but yeah not literally my gameboy in the pic but yeah you get the picture, well literally lol

 

Never played Battleships there but the list of Gameboy games I used to play on it, man good times.

 

I don't think I've ever seen that version of the Gameboy before - I don't know, that's odd.  I don't know why. It just seems alien to me. I've only ever seen the big brick ones in grey so that's completely new to me.

 

Whereas I've only ever seen the mini one in that colour.

 

It looks better than the Grey one to be perfectly honest - as much as I liked my big grey brick it wasn't the nicest thing to look at.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

Is that Pokemon one an N64 game or a Gamecube game? Couldn't always keep up with the spinoffs lol Well then it sounds like you should put down your hard earned cash and buy a nice copy of Tales of Symphonia for your collection  Before it goes up in price with it's renewed popularity lol

 

Already one step ahead of you regarding Symphonia - I own that game probably too many times.... Gamecube, PS2,PS3 (Digital and Physical) yet somehow the Gamecube version is still the best version as it runs smoother than even the PS3 version.... Weird, right?

 

Colosseum was the Gamecube one, I think there was an even more expensive one called Gale of Darkness or something that I haven't seen out in the wild since it released I don't think  - I think Stadium was the N64 one.... I think those are quite rare now too.... But then everything Pokemon has a high old price to it doesn't it these days.

 

On 06/01/2022 at 1:42 PM, The_Kopite said:

No the voting process for GOTY doesn't work in the same way as giving a star rating to a guide. The rules are all there so that'll give you a better picture of how it all works.  

BTW it is totally your choice if you want to vote for my guide in the awards or give the guide (insert number here) star rating whenever you buy a copy of Sonic Colours: Ultimate. Just wanted you and Shrooba to know at the time as I really appreciated the positive feedback from you both and wanted to share the good news 

 

I will absolutely be voting on that - I just need to actually get around to doing it. I'll just have to show up. wear my Vote Kopite badge - make my post, pretend that I'm totally unbiased and impartial and then leave ?.... Nobody will suspect a thing, unless they look at our respective profiles and notice we've been consistently interacting since about July or earlier haha.

 

Off to write that Wolf Among Us review, before I put it off for one more day.

 

 

[Shrooba]

On 5/1/22 at 9:54 AM, rjkclarke said:

Much like in every other Yakuza title where getting the platinum doesn't include the 100% (At least 3,4 and 6 don't require it)...... I have also decided with Yakuza 3 that I will accept nothing less than 100% completion, because the platinum is just not quite enough - sure, it might take a little bit longer, but to be able to drink in even a few hours more of the atmosphere that these games have to offer will be so worth any extra time involved. I might not have a trophy to show it - but I'll have a screenshot and the satisfaction of knowing I did it - and for me that's enough.

This is what gaming should be all about! Gaming first, trophy hunting second, as KindaSabbath told me once. If you feel that you want to do more beyond the platinum, then go for it! ? From what I can tell, the Yakuza games are like that of Persona, in that they take a loooong time to finish. So with that, I can already tell there's a ton of content that the platinum doesn't ask for. Good luck on your journey!
 

Spoiler

 

 

On 5/1/22 at 8:52 PM, The_Kopite said:

@Shrooba Thought you'd be interested in this news too.

Just popped into the votes, your guide was fantastic and is awesome for those new to the Sonic series since Colours is a good entry game! ? Not sure if I've already said, but I like how you went the extra mile and went into good detail explaining even the different items and whatnot, with a plethora of images to guide the player. Well done!

Edited January 8, 2022 by Shrooba