rjkclarke's Carnival of Diamonds and Rust

[rjkclarke]

2 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Music is very powerful and something that most people can experience very easily.

 

I completely agree, I better start posting music from the Legacy of Kain series then, might make people play them. Ok I'll seriously shut up about those now, at least on this page of the thread haha   I've practically mentioned them in everything I've written on the last page. Its almost like the Simpsons episode where Homer gets obsessed with Thomas Edison ?

 

2 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

I'm glad I got the Gold Edition, because comments like this about the DLC make me more excited to experience it! I don't have experience really with roguelikes much, so that mode sounds interesting. 

 

Did you ever play Final Fantasy's attempt at a Roguelike, with Last Mission in FFX-2? If you didn't then that might not be a bad starting point for a roguelike, its really fun too. Today that would have just been a DLC, but it would have been a bloody awesome one if it had been. Wouldn't have fitted the whole game to be like that, but that little side story bit is definitely interesting.

 

Resident Evil 7's DLC is marvellous I think, especially the two more story centric ones. There have been very few times where I've bought DLC and truly felt as if I absolutely got my monies worth out of it. Fallout New Vegas probably comes close, but that game on a PS3 performs as well as -  a dog with wheels instead of back legs being expected to make its way down a cobbled street with treacle in between the cobbles. I love Resi 7's DLC is the short answer

 

2 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha that's fair enough, everyone is different. You have to do what is right for you. Can't say I've played a Monkey Island game before, though I've heard they are classics.

 

My planned 225th platinum is Sonic Forces. Not the best critically rated Sonic Game out there, but I loved Sonic Generations (Was my 2nd ever platinum) and Forces is more of the same but of lesser quality, but it'll be my first solely Sonic platinum milestone  (1st and 100th are the Sega Collections for PS3 and PS4, both of which had the classic and best Sonic games of course lol)

 

This is very true -  Milestones are always a nice little novel thing to look at anyway aren't they, even on other peoples profiles. It does sometimes give a really good indication of the type of games they like.

 

Ahh so its a sonic one! Nice, I sort of lost touch with Sonic games after Sonic Heroes and I had Shadow the Hedgehog but I don't think I even got close to finishing it, so its a nice to see you flying the flag for the series, it doesn't seem to get a whole lot of love these days - which seems a shame. That should be cool though, because like you have in your sig, you are a fan of Final Fantasy, Sonic and Resident Evil. So that should look pretty nice having a completely Sonic Milestone on display.

 

Do you recommend Sonic Forces? I'm fairly sure I have it so I could always add it to my never ending backlog at some point in the future.

 

Those Sega Collections were great too, I quite enjoyed that compilation, quite a few Sonic games I'd never gotten to play myself. In fact talking about Milestones prompted me to have a little scan at mine and the PS3 Sega Collection is my 20th so its on my list of them too I guess I never had a Mega-Drive so a lot of those games were completely new to me, so I really enjoyed playing those.

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

7 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I completely agree, I better start posting music from the Legacy of Kain series then, might make people play them. Ok I'll seriously shut up about those now, at least on this page of the thread haha   I've practically mentioned them in everything I've written on the last page. Its almost like the Simpsons episode where Homer gets obsessed with Thomas Edison ?

I remember playing one of them back in the day. Couldn't really get into it too well sadly. Haha at Simpsons reference.

 

7 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Did you ever play Final Fantasy's attempt at a Roguelike, with Last Mission in FFX-2? If you didn't then that might not be a bad starting point for a roguelike, its really fun too. Today that would have just been a DLC, but it would have been a bloody awesome one if it had been. Wouldn't have fitted the whole game to be like that, but that little side story bit is definitely interesting.

I actually can't remember if I did or not. I might have given it a little go and then not really got it possibly. I did finish PS4 version of FFX-2 (no where near the plat lol wasn't going for it at that point to be fair) Maybe I'll have to try it again properly some day.

 

7 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I love Resi 7's DLC is the short answer

Well you definitely have me pumped for the DLC, whenever I get to it! lol

 

7 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Ahh so its a sonic one! Nice, I sort of lost touch with Sonic games after Sonic Heroes and I had Shadow the Hedgehog but I don't think I even got close to finishing it, so its a nice to see you flying the flag for the series, it doesn't seem to get a whole lot of love these days - which seems a shame. That should be cool though, because like you have in your sig, you are a fan of Final Fantasy, Sonic and Resident Evil. So that should look pretty nice having a completely Sonic Milestone on display.

Yep, Sonic is my first gaming franchise I really became a proper fan of from the Mega Drive days. RE and FF I first played both on the PS1. Yeah it was always the plan to have a proper Sonic game as a milestone. Basically those 3 franchises will be pretty much all my milestones from now on, barring a couple other franchises that aren't properly represented that I really like (Streets of Rage for example)

 

7 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Do you recommend Sonic Forces? I'm fairly sure I have it so I could always add it to my never ending backlog at some point in the future.

 

Those Sega Collections were great too, I quite enjoyed that compilation, quite a few Sonic games I'd never gotten to play myself. In fact talking about Milestones prompted me to have a little scan at mine and the PS3 Sega Collection is my 20th so its on my list of them too I guess I never had a Mega-Drive so a lot of those games were completely new to me, so I really enjoyed playing those.

Haha doesn't everyone have a never ending backlog? Well I haven't played it much so far but it depends if you liked Sonic Generations or not really in terms of recommending it. If you did, then yes though it't not as good, if not then well both are a mix of 2D Sonic and 3D Sonic, so you have to like or at least get on with both in order to enjoy it. I would highly recommend Sonic Generations, that is a great game. Forces is more of the same, but not as classic feeling if that makes sense. They tried to be more creative by throwing an avatar character into the story and gameplay, which is interesting.

 

The Mega Drive was a brilliant console to have back in the day, and had so many great games. Sonic, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Gunstar Heroes etc etc. Glad you were able to play the PS3 collection at least and it being a milestone is cool! If you want another Mega Drive plat and an excuse to play those classics again, get the PS4 one!

[rjkclarke]

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

I remember playing one of them back in the day. Couldn't really get into it too well sadly. Haha at Simpsons reference.

 

Well they have incredibly janky gameplay but one of the richest stories and lore of anything I've played - so I'm not too surprised most people struggle to get on with them. I'm noticing more and more that I seem to have quite the high tolerance level for bad gameplay if the story or another element of it is really good.

 

The Janky gameplay though, is one of the reasons I don't think they'd probably ever get remastered, because a modern audience would rag on them even more than one from the time would have. That Simpsons reference is about the best analogy I could think of for how much I seem to bring the that series up right now haha!

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

I actually can't remember if I did or not. I might have given it a little go and then not really got it possibly. I did finish PS4 version of FFX-2 (no where near the plat lol wasn't going for it at that point to be fair) Maybe I'll have to try it again properly some day.

 

FFX-2's platinum is one of those where you sort have to have a guide either glued to your face, or at the very least have one tied around your neck like a cow bell so you can tick things off as you go through. So the platinum does end up being a bit arduous to say the least. Even if you don't end up going for the platinum I'd honestly recommend giving Last Mission a try, its separate from the main story and I think its only about 10 hours long from what I remember so it ends up being a nice little Final Fantasy roguelike experiment.

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yep, Sonic is my first gaming franchise I really became a proper fan of from the Mega Drive days. RE and FF I first played both on the PS1. Yeah it was always the plan to have a proper Sonic game as a milestone. Basically those 3 franchises will be pretty much all my milestones from now on, barring a couple other franchises that aren't properly represented that I really like (Streets of Rage for example)

 

That's pretty cool, your fandom certainly goes back a ways. Not trying to make you feel old, we are probably a similar age so I should shut up haha I got into RE and FF through the PS1 as well, Mega Drive I sort of missed out on. I had a SNES instead, it seemed to be back then unless your parents were particularly wealthy most people either had one or the other. Those Milestones are definitely going to end up representing what you like, so that's going to look cool I think. 

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha doesn't everyone have a never ending backlog? Well I haven't played it much so far but it depends if you liked Sonic Generations or not really in terms of recommending it. If you did, then yes though it't not as good, if not then well both are a mix of 2D Sonic and 3D Sonic, so you have to like or at least get on with both in order to enjoy it. I would highly recommend Sonic Generations, that is a great game. Forces is more of the same, but not as classic feeling if that makes sense. They tried to be more creative by throwing an avatar character into the story and gameplay, which is interesting.

 

I think everyone does have a never ending backlog yeah - couldn't agree more. I thought starting one of these threads might help me lessen mine a bit, which it has. But I ended up reading about what other people are playing and then I end up adding new things, because the games others are playing or have played look like a blast. But hey, its not like that's worth complaining about, its a good thing if anything. I've basically got you and a few other people to thank for reigniting my passion for Final Fantasy so its all good!!

 

I might have to look into Sonic Generations then, sounds interesting. its been literally over a decade since I've played a Sonic title, if you discount playing them in that PS3 collection at least. So it might be about time I start playing a few at some point.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

19 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

The Janky gameplay though, is one of the reasons I don't think they'd probably ever get remastered,

Who knows? If they sold well back in the day and the company who owns the IP thinks there could be a market, maybe a remake for modern audiences could happen?

 

19 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

FFX-2's platinum is one of those where you sort have to have a guide either glued to your face, or at the very least have one tied around your neck like a cow bell so you can tick things off as you go through. So the platinum does end up being a bit arduous to say the least. Even if you don't end up going for the platinum I'd honestly recommend giving Last Mission a try, its separate from the main story and I think its only about 10 hours long from what I remember so it ends up being a nice little Final Fantasy roguelike experiment.

Yeah now that you mention it, I think that (and the fact I believe X-2 is well below what X was - just my opinion) meant I just wanted to go through the game, enjoy it for what it was and leave it at that. I remember now that you mention it that the Last Mission is separate so yes I will try and have a go on that properly with the knowledge you've given me......one day lol

 

21 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

That's pretty cool, your fandom certainly goes back a ways. Not trying to make you feel old, we are probably a similar age so I should shut up haha I got into RE and FF through the PS1 as well, Mega Drive I sort of missed out on. I had a SNES instead, it seemed to be back then unless your parents were particularly wealthy most people either had one or the other. Those Milestones are definitely going to end up representing what you like, so that's going to look cool I think. 

Haha I'm old enough, let's leave it at that lol Yeah definitely, I feel like it's a cool extra thing that a site like this offers and I really appreciate it, hence why early on I became a premium member. Definitely like to show what I love in regards to gaming. Yeah of course, unless you were super rich, it was either MD or SNES and we were a Sega household. Not like not having a SNES meant I missed out on FF or anything, as they never came here until the 7th one!

For me, classic Sonic will always beat classic Mario.

 

As for being a small part of getting you back into FF, then I'll pat myself on the back lol though sorry for extending your backlog of games lol I would recommend you give Sonic Generations a try at least. Ask anyone which is the best PS3 Sonic game, or from that era and I'd say at least 85% would say Sonic Generations. Let me know if you ever do try it!

 

[rjkclarke]

4 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Who knows? If they sold well back in the day and the company who owns the IP thinks there could be a market, maybe a remake for modern audiences could happen?

 

I think Square Enix has the IP, so unfortunately unless it was titled Final Fantasy VII: The Legacy of Kain - I don't think they would give a flying fig. Square at the moment seem to, for the most part be just releasing FFVII related content and games because I think they know that's at least going to always sell due to tapping into peoples nostalgia. But yeah, fingers crossed like.

 

4 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah now that you mention it, I think that (and the fact I believe X-2 is well below what X was - just my opinion) meant I just wanted to go through the game, enjoy it for what it was and leave it at that. I remember now that you mention it that the Last Mission is separate so yes I will try and have a go on that properly with the knowledge you've given me......one day lol

 

Its definitely nothing like the main game that's for sure. I know what you mean about X-2 I don't disagree with you about it either. It sort of exists in a weird bubble of ultimately being quite pointless -  outside of the 100% ending giving people the finalethat they clearly were clamouring for with FFX. I guess now you could just watch that on YouTube and not even bother playing the game at all
 

4 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha I'm old enough, let's leave it at that lol Yeah definitely, I feel like it's a cool extra thing that a site like this offers and I really appreciate it, hence why early on I became a premium member. Definitely like to show what I love in regards to gaming. Yeah of course, unless you were super rich, it was either MD or SNES and we were a Sega household. Not like not having a SNES meant I missed out on FF or anything, as they never came here until the 7th one!

For me, classic Sonic will always beat classic Mario.

 

As for being a small part of getting you back into FF, then I'll pat myself on the back lol though sorry for extending your backlog of games lol I would recommend you give Sonic Generations a try at least. Ask anyone which is the best PS3 Sonic game, or from that era and I'd say at least 85% would say Sonic Generations. Let me know if you ever do try it!

 

Once the first digit of your age starts to have a 3 in it then you kind of just prefer to not mention it right? At least that's where I'm at lol.

 

I'm going to side with the tubby red hatted plumber on that one, purely because I haven't played enough of the blue spiky ones catalogue to form an accurate enough opinion. Both are pretty awesome to be honest. I know that's an easy sat on the fence response, but its the one I'm sticking with

 

I was planning to get premium membership myself, but then I got really lucky and someone gifted it to me - I have no idea who, but clearly they must have enjoyed reading my platinum reviews or something because I was pretty much only posting in that thread at the time - whoever they are though, they are awesome for doing that. Just like you I like the freedom that Premium affords you to be able to showcase the games/ game series that you love. Or use the cabinet feature to do something very unique like @DrBloodmoney  has done, because that's pretty awesome too.

 

Please, don't ever apologise for recommending me an awesome game that might make my backlog longer. I appreciate all the suggestions people have made so far.  What is there to complain about if I end up having some more awesome games to play, that I might not have done otherwise. That's the thing I'm really enjoying about all of this is all the possibilities of discussion that end up being opened. So for me, if my backlog gets longer, then it gets longer. I guess from a positive perspective it should mean I'll always have something worthwhile to look forward to going through.

Edited June 14, 2021 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think Square Enix has the IP, so unfortunately unless it was titled Final Fantasy VII: The Legacy of Kain - I don't think they would give a flying fig. Square at the moment seem to, for the most part be just releasing FFVII related content and games because I think they know that's at least going to always sell due to tapping into peoples nostalgia. But yeah, fingers crossed like.

Ah yes, well that pretty much ruins that idea lol although if someone from Square Enix happened to read this thread........lol

 

8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Its definitely nothing like the main game that's for sure. I know what you mean about X-2 I don't disagree with you about it either. It sort of exists in a weird bubble of ultimately being quite pointless -  outside of the 100% ending giving people the finalethat they clearly were clamouring for with FFX. I guess now you could just watch that on YouTube and not even bother playing the game at all

Yeah I've seen it, and yes it was the first sequel to a FF game and didn't exactly show that sequels needed to be done......

What I do need to watch is the ending of Lightning Returns: FFXIII considering I couldn't defeat the final boss no matter how many times I tried. So infuriating...

Also did you know there is a FFX-2.5 book? I've read the general plot of it (There is no official English version that exists) and well it basically destroys that perfect 100% ending to FFX-2....

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Once the first digit of your age starts to have a 3 in it then you kind of just prefer to not mention it right? At least that's where I'm at lol.

Well yeah sadly lol

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I'm going to side with the tubby red hatted plumber on that one, purely because I haven't played enough of the blue spiky ones catalogue to form an accurate enough opinion. Both are pretty awesome to be honest. I know that's an easy sat on the fence response, but its the one I'm sticking with

Most would go with Mario, and I totally get that. For me a big part of Sonic is nostalgia, growing up with those games and the Mega Drive. I get that Mario has had many more critically acllaimed games and deservedly so, as they have dealt with the various console generations very well, and Sonic well....didn't. Still it'll always be the blue blur for me lol

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I was planning to get premium membership myself, but then I got really lucky and someone gifted it to me - I have no idea who, but clearly they must have enjoyed reading my platinum reviews or something because I was pretty much only posting in that thread at the time - whoever they are though, they are awesome for doing that. Just like you I like the freedom that Premium affords you to be able to showcase the games/ game series that you love. Or use the cabinet feature to do something very unique like @DrBloodmoney  has done, because that's pretty awesome too.

Wow, well if you ever find out who that person is, I know you'll be sending them a massive thank you. Very generous and nice of them to do that. The trophy cabinet feature of this site is another very cool idea it has.

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Please, don't ever apologise for recommending me an awesome game that might make my backlog longer. I appreciate all the suggestions people have made so far.  What is there to complain about if I end up having some more awesome games to play, that I might not have done otherwise. That's the thing I'm really enjoying about all of this is all the possibilities of discussion that end up being opened. So for me, if my backlog gets longer, then it gets longer. I guess from a positive perspective it should mean I'll always have something worthwhile to look forward to going through.

That is very true and very well said ? Right then, I'll have to throw more games at your backlog lol

[rjkclarke]

12 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Ah yes, well that pretty much ruins that idea lol although if someone from Square Enix happened to read this thread........lol

 

If they read through this thread I might have scuppered the chances even further haha !! Purely by, me and you both, calling out Square Enix for how they decided to implement season passes and how much that put us off them a little as a company.

 

12 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah I've seen it, and yes it was the first sequel to a FF game and didn't exactly show that sequels needed to be done......

What I do need to watch is the ending of Lightning Returns: FFXIII considering I couldn't defeat the final boss no matter how many times I tried. So infuriating...

Also did you know there is a FFX-2.5 book? I've read the general plot of it (There is no official English version that exists) and well it basically destroys that perfect 100% ending to FFX-2....

 

Yep, I don't think it really did much to sell people on the idea of the Final Fantasy series needing sequels that's for sure.

 

Definitely check out the ending to Lightning Returns, I found it incredibly bizarre - I mean, the entire narrative of that trilogy is really. A friend and I  often joke about some bits of LR's ending. The final boss was a pain in that game yeah, from what I remember anyway. Its a huge jump in difficulty compared to everything else.

 

If its the same book I'm thinking of where:

Spoiler

Tidus goes to kick a blitzball and his head explodes, and Yuna ends up resurrecting him.

then yeah I'm at least somewhat familiar with it. That one was a real head scratcher for me. Then there's that even more bizarre Final Fantasy X: Will, audio drama that is on the remastered version, which sort of hints at a possible FFX-3 in the future and also destroys FFX and FFX-2's ending all in the space of about half an hour. that is a sequel which I hope doesn't happen. I've used the word bizarre a bit too much here, but it really REALLY is.

 

12 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

For me a big part of Sonic is nostalgia, growing up with those games and the Mega Drive. I get that Mario has had many more critically acllaimed games and deservedly so, as they have dealt with the various console generations very well, and Sonic well....didn't. Still it'll always be the blue blur for me lol

 

Nothing wrong with that, I'm nostalgic with Mario for similar reasons, although less so.

 

Sonic fans seem to get such a rough deal I think, considering how loyal that fanbase seem to be, you'd think one of these days there would be some more streamlined to I don't know "Make Sonic Great Again" - actually maybe don't use those exact words haha The blue lad deserves a game with some more universal critical acclaim, hopefully it might spark a more universal interest in the character again.

 

My favourite Mario game has you controlling Yoshi (Yoshi's Island/ Super Mario World 2) so I'm not sure I'm the best qualified to go to bat for Mario. I've not played one since Super Mario 64.

 

12 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Wow, well if you ever find out who that person is, I know you'll be sending them a massive thank you. Very generous and nice of them to do that. The trophy cabinet feature of this site is another very cool idea it has.

 

That's absolutely it, it was so kind and so generous. I was really surprised, but really happy about it. I guess they really don't want their identity to be known though, I thought I figured it out, but they seem pretty certain it isn't them either, so perhaps I'll never know. I'm very grateful to whoever it is. In a way the secret benefactor thing is even more admirable, because it sort of shows that they didn't do it for any reason other than a nice one.

 

It would absolutely be a massive thank you - I'm a little worried I'm actually incapable of writing a short message anyway even if I tried to  

 

12 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

That is very true and very well said  Right then, I'll have to throw more games at your backlog lol

 

Thanks!! I look forward to it!

[The_Kopite]

22 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

If they read through this thread I might have scuppered the chances even further haha !! Purely by, me and you both, calling out Square Enix for how they decided to implement season passes and how much that put us off them a little as a company.

 

That is true lol 

 

23 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

Definitely check out the ending to Lightning Returns, I found it incredibly bizarre - I mean, the entire narrative of that trilogy is really. A friend and I  often joke about some bits of LR's ending. The final boss was a pain in that game yeah, from what I remember anyway. Its a huge jump in difficulty compared to everything else.

Yes it was, and I was using two of the DLC outfits to help me (Clouds and Yunas) and in the end, with that final boss difficulty jump it is possible I was over reliant on them. I don;t know but yes I need to check out the ending one day. Again, even though I enjoyed FFXIII-2 (Some of the music as you know was magnificant), XIII on it's own was fine and could have stayed that way. 

 

25 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

If its the same book I'm thinking of where:

  Reveal hidden contents

Tidus goes to kick a blitzball and his head explodes, and Yuna ends up resurrecting him.

then yeah I'm at least somewhat familiar with it. That one was a real head scratcher for me. Then there's that even more bizarre Final Fantasy X: Will, audio drama that is on the remastered version, which sort of hints at a possible FFX-3 in the future and also destroys FFX and FFX-2's ending all in the space of about half an hour. that is a sequel which I hope doesn't happen. I've used the word bizarre a bit too much here, but it really REALLY is.

Yeah, that's the one. Who thought that book was a good idea? I just read a plot summary of the audio drama, and again wow why bother with that? The problem I have with Final Fantasy and it having sequels, prequels etc etc is that Final Fantasy as a game series was pretty much fantastic as telling a complete story with interesting characters and an intriguing world. Now I get that people would want more of those worlds, characters etc and I've felt the same way but clearly writing these sequels etc is something writers at Square Enix just aren't able to do well for this specific series, and thus these games never (imho) match the originals. It is a pity, but to me it is the truth.

 

32 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

Sonic fans seem to get such a rough deal I think, considering how loyal that fanbase seem to be, you'd think one of these days there would be some more streamlined to I don't know "Make Sonic Great Again" - actually maybe don't use those exact words haha The blue lad deserves a game with some more universal critical acclaim, hopefully it might spark a more universal interest in the character again.

Indeed, there have been rough times with some very poor games. Sonic Forces is decent, Team Sonic Racing is decent and Sonic Mania is really good and those are all recent so it's something.

 

33 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

My favourite Mario game has you controlling Yoshi (Yoshi's Island/ Super Mario World 2) so I'm not sure I'm the best qualified to go to bat for Mario. I've not played one since Super Mario 64.

Don't think I've ever played that one. Not played a whole load of Mario games overall tbh but Super Mario 64 was a wonderfully made game and the music was fantastic for some levels. Mario Kart 64 was great as well, and I always have a soft spot for Super Mario Land 1 and 2.

 

34 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

That's absolutely it, it was so kind and so generous. I was really surprised, but really happy about it. I guess they really don't want their identity to be known though, I thought I figured it out, but they seem pretty certain it isn't them either, so perhaps I'll never know. I'm very grateful to whoever it is. In a way the secret benefactor thing is even more admirable, because it sort of shows that they didn't do it for any reason other than a nice one.

 

It would absolutely be a massive thank you - I'm a little worried I'm actually incapable of writing a short message anyway even if I tried to  

?

[rjkclarke]

On 15/06/2021 at 10:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yeah, that's the one. Who thought that book was a good idea? I just read a plot summary of the audio drama, and again wow why bother with that? The problem I have with Final Fantasy and it having sequels, prequels etc etc is that Final Fantasy as a game series was pretty much fantastic as telling a complete story with interesting characters and an intriguing world. Now I get that people would want more of those worlds, characters etc and I've felt the same way but clearly writing these sequels etc is something writers at Square Enix just aren't able to do well for this specific series, and thus these games never (imho) match the originals. It is a pity, but to me it is the truth.

 

" The problem I have with Final Fantasy and it having sequels, prequels etc etc is that Final Fantasy as a game series was pretty much fantastic as telling a complete story with interesting characters and an intriguing world "

 

You certainly make a great case for there not being any need for them. Well said

 

That's basically the crux of the problem ironically - they are almost too good at telling complete stories with interesting characters and a fleshed out world. If they go in with the idea of telling one finite story, which they certainly used to  back then at least;  then its hard to really manufacture any sort of a plot when they end up closing so many story threads. That's when it all starts to feel really contrived. Then you have the problem of expanding characters a bit too much, to the point where they end up either outstaying their welcome, or being so far removed from what they started as that their end point doesn't feel remotely like natural progression for that character/person. I think a few of the characters from the FFXIII trilogy fall into that bracket, however much I might like that series.

 

I honestly can't actually think of a Final Fantasy game that has a sequel where it truly feels justified outside of maybe Lightning Returns (but that's a sequel to a sequel, so that shouldn't count), whether I like the sequels or not. There's absolutely no shame in creating one definitive story crafted for one game. I know that fundamentally goes against the idea that these developers are also there to make as much money as they can to stay financially secure, but there's surely only so far you can go without creating new and original idea's.

 

As for who wanted all of those extra books and titbits of information for FFX? Who knows, I don't actually know of anyone who is a fan of that game that actually have anything positive to say about those additions. Heck its pretty hard to find people who are willing to be positive about X-2 (I like it for what it is), let alone everything else. There's literally a wiki for Coronation Street, so everyone is entitled to like whatever they want  I suppose, but I'd love to talk to someone who is a fan of those FFX additions just to ask why? Genuinely too, I wouldn't ever want to feel like I'm patronising them, I'd just love to know what it is they liked about it. Always nice to have some more perspectives to think about.

Edited June 17, 2021 by rjkclarke

[rjkclarke]

A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV certainly took way less time than I expected. I mean it took me a while to actually start it but once I did it flew by. I'll leave my thoughts on it below. I'm going to add an extra section unique to this thread that I didn't post in the newest 100% thread to the bottom, about why I think people should not only play this but go for the 100% too.

 

A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV Review

 

 

A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV

 

 

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

100% Achieved - 16 June 2021: 8:49:38 PM

Time taken to 100%: - 16 hours, 22 minutes, 12 seconds

100% Rarity - 7.14%

 

 

 

This is another one of those games that I really regret sleeping on. The reason I did was because Final Fantasy XV is pretty low down in my personal list of Final Fantasy titles - I'm not saying its a bad game by any stretch (in fact its very good) I'm just not particularly fond of it. So I kind of assumed because its associated with that, I probably wouldn't have a very enjoyable experience with it. How wrong was I though? This game is awesome for what is, the game doesn't once outstay its welcome. I'd usually put a thing in here about not telling people how to spend their money, but this is free (at least it was, and probably still is) so you wouldn't have anything to lose by at least trying it - well apart from a bit of completion percentage if you decided you didn't like it I suppose.

 

A King's Tale has such a charming art- style. The amazingly crafted 2D Pixel art felt really reminiscent of the conversational transitions found in the first two Monkey Island games. They are obviously reminiscent of other older entries in the Final Fantasy series, but I never miss a chance to reference Monkey Island. One of the things I really like, is how the aesthetic manages to expertly balance the new and the old. Whilst the 2D art feels very nostalgic, the actual character designs themselves are incredibly faithful to the art design found within Final Fantasy XV. I expect this is something that would have much more resonance with someone who has a deeper fondness for the Final Fantasy XV universe than myself - and who, would really love another adventure set within that universe. I do quite like the small bits of expansion this game does to some of the characters you meet in Final Fantasy XV, it was nice to have some extra depth added there.

 

Nevertheless, I can still appreciate the effort that went into crafting this - just like the art style, the soundtrack found within A King's Tale is very reminiscent of older  entries in the series but also feels very fresh. When going for the Dream Battle Challenges, you end up hearing a lot of the soundtrack - so for it to never feel repetitive, despite there being a limited number of tracks was quite the achievement. I want to dedicate a small bit of focus to how well made the sound effects are, I really love the deliberate distortion on select things: swords, magic and monsters for example - have such distinctive sounds and the extra bit of warping on the sound really helps build the atmosphere of playing something older despite being fairly recent. A small but very Important bit of attention to detail.

 

The gameplay found within A King's Tale;  like almost every other aspect of it, is harkening back to older titles like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage and Golden Axe. If you enjoy those sorts of titles and are a huge Final Fantasy fan, then you are almost certainly going to love this. The combat might not seem like much on the surface, but it actually has a tremendous amount of depth to it, that you only really start to notice once you start attempting the Dream Battles. Magic, is incredibly fun to use in this game. Ironically I think I used magic more in this game than I ever did whilst playing through Final Fantasy XV - magic does end up being really useful for controlling the flow of battle though, so it really helps for the challenges where you can't take damage.

There isn't a whole lot to speak about when it comes to the games trophies - you'll essentially play the story, perform some miscellaneous tasks that can be a little finicky sometimes, then spend the rest of your time playing the Dream Battles. Which is probably where I had the most fun actually, as it really requires you to think about what you can truly do with the games combat mechanics. A King's Tale has gorgeous trophy tiles though, I'm a bit of a sucker for a nice looking trophy tile, so to have 13 trophies that contain the same beautifully crafted Pixel Art as the game itself, is nothing short of awesome.

 

I'd definitely recommend this one, its quite short too - my completion time ended up being around 16 hours, but realistically it was much shorter, as that was done over two separate  play sessions. I don't really see much to be negative about in a game that both costs nothing and doesn't eat too much into your free time. It might seem like I'm being overly positive about this game, but there really aren't that many negatives that are worth discussing; they are all so minor, you end up just forgetting about them. 

 

 

Why do I think you should go for the 100%?

 

Whilst  the game itself is very good. As is what little story content there is - like I said above it does a good job of adding some depth to some of the characters found within Final Fantasy XV. I don't think you'll probably appreciate how good it is until you really start to tinker around with some of the Dream Battle Challenges. Now I'm not saying this game is genre defining, or that its reinventing the wheel or anything of that nature. But it is so much more than the simplistic combat system than it appears to be, from just playing through the main story. Going for these specific trophies really added a whole lot to the experience for me.

 

 

Sweet Dreams
Complete all Dream Battle Special Challenges.

 

and

 

 

Combo King
Perform every move in one combo string.

 

I wasn't kidding in the main review when I said this is probably where I had the most fun. Quite a few of these battles are incredibly frenetic and fast paced - but also have a nice little bit of difficulty to them. Are these the hardest trophies or most skill based trophies ever? Of course not, but in a game that is relatively short, they ended up taking up almost the perfect amount of time, to the point where I didn't feel bored once. Which I expected to, because seeing the same locations and backdrops a further 25 times did give me the initial impression that I might.

 

I found it to be one of those wonderful experiences wherein, however much you made mistakes or died, you always knew it was your fault and felt the need to jump back in right away to try again. By the time you've finished you pretty much know all of the tricks to the combat inside out. It probably helps that it included one of the things I probably look for most when thinking about gameplay in a video game and that's variety. I can deal with some mediocre gameplay if I find the story particularly engaging, so it only makes sense that the opposite would also apply. The story isn't boring obviously its just very limited so the bread and butter of the game isn't really the story anyway. I just thought I'd add this section here,  purely because I didn't feel like I had really seen enough of what the game had to offer until I started playing the extra stuff. I think in this instance the 100% really elevates the experience - which isn't always the case. So it ended up being an incredibly pleasant surprise.

 

   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

What's Next?

 

Well I did  say that Final Fantasy IX was going to be next, but I think I'm going to try and make that Platinum #325. Its probably something to do with all the discussion I've been having about milestones lately. I know that isn't a milestone on the site or anything, but it seems like a good number. I'll find two things in my backlog to get me to #324 - as its always nice to chop that down a bit.

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

14 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That's basically the crux of the problem ironically - they are almost too good at telling complete stories with interesting characters and a fleshed out world. If they go in with the idea of telling one finite story, which they certainly used to  back then at least;  then its hard to really manufacture any sort of a plot when they end up closing so many story threads. That's when it all starts to feel really contrived. Then you have the problem of expanding characters a bit too much, to the point where they end up either outstaying their welcome, or being so far removed from what they started as that their end - point doesn't feel remotely like natural progression for that character/person. I think a few of the characters from the FFXIII trilogy fall into that bracket, however much I might like that series.

Can't agree with you more!

 

14 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I honestly can't actually think of a Final Fantasy game that has a sequel where it truly feels justified outside of maybe Lightning Returns (but that's a sequel to a sequel, so that shouldn't count), whether I like the sequels or not. There's absolutely no shame in creating one definitive story crafted for one game. I know that fundamentally goes against the idea that these developers are also there to make as much money as they can to stay financially secure, but there's surely only so far you can go without creating new and original idea's.

Preaching to the choir here. I like some of the sequels, don't get me wrong, but yeah they really should go back to what they did best in all honesty. A notable prequel I haven't played yet is Crisis Core, which I have been told by many good people is worth playing and really leads into FFVII well, so I will have to get around to that one day. There are some other sequels that people probably forget even exist, even if they are decent like FFXII Revenant Wings. 

 

14 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

As for who wanted all of those extra books and titbits of information for FFX? Who knows, I don't actually know of anyone who is a fan of that game that actually have anything positive to say about those additions. Heck its pretty hard to find people who are willing to be positive about X-2 (I like it for what it is), let alone everything else. There's literally a wiki for Coronation Street, so everyone is entitled to like whatever they want  I suppose, but I'd love to talk to someone who is a fan of those FFX additions just to ask why? Genuinely too, I wouldn't ever want to feel like I'm patronising them, I'd just love to know what it is they liked about it. Always nice to have some more perspectives to think about.

We will have to try and find someone who feels that way about those additions, and have a reasoned discussion with them. Could provide some insight or something that I have personally overlooked with them. Again, FFX-2 did give us some great music - the theme on the start menu screen and the piano version of 1000 Words are wonderful.

[rjkclarke]

3 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Preaching to the choir here. I like some of the sequels, don't get me wrong, but yeah they really should go back to what they did best in all honesty. A notable prequel I haven't played yet is Crisis Core, which I have been told by many good people is worth playing and really leads into FFVII well, so I will have to get around to that one day. There are some other sequels that people probably forget even exist, even if they are decent like FFXII Revenant Wings.

 

Crisis Core is good yes, it does maybe tie itself up a bit too much in knots as far as the plot goes. I'd agree with that though, that it definitely leads into Final Fantasy VII quite well. I think video game prequels are often done much more effectively than cinematic ones are. Usually with video games you don't have to worry about actors visibly ageing, so they at least aren't weighed down by that sort of problem for one, unless of course something happens to their voice that makes them sound different. Like I guess Hayley Joel Osment playing Sora from Kingdom hearts as a young teenager when he's into his 20's by that point in things like KH-Re:coded - and his voice his clearly somewhat changed due to well... Biology . I've always wanted to play FFXII Revenant Wings. I was really hoping that would be included with the remaster of FFXII, if I ever have the means to play it I'll probably try to because it looks quite good. I guess people also forget things like FFVII: Dirge of the Cerberus exist too..... Maybe that one for good reason though.

 

3 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

We will have to try and find someone who feels that way about those additions, and have a reasoned discussion with them. Could provide some insight or something that I have personally overlooked with them. Again, FFX-2 did give us some great music - the theme on the start menu screen and the piano version of 1000 Words are wonderful.

 

Well as we've both mentioned before, you can pretty much always rely on Final Fantasy to deliver some good music.

 

I'd love that though, if we do manage to find someone, that could end up being a really interesting discussion I think. That's exactly it - it'd be nice to at least have some insight into what it is that they actually find appealing about it all, I'm all for thinking about something from a completely different angle I might not have thought of too. ESPECIALLY that FFX-2.5 book, because that one still seems weird.

 

To me that's like someone finding the fan fiction I started to write for Metal Gear Solid when I was about 13 and it actually getting published. Oh dear - what a horrible and scary thought, because that truly was something dreadful lol . That FFX-2.5 book just seems like a fan fiction written by someone who either hates the characters, or just failed to understand what was appealing about them to begin with. and wanted to see them miserable or something.

.

[The_Kopite]

27 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

Crisis Core is good yes, it does maybe tie itself up a bit too much in knots as far as the plot goes. I'd agree with that though, that it definitely leads into Final Fantasy VII quite well. I think video game prequels are often done much more effectively than cinematic ones are.

Yeah indeed. It's certainly one I need to get around to playing. I need a PSP first though lol

 

27 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

I've always wanted to play FFXII Revenant Wings. I was really hoping that would be included with the remaster of FFXII, if I ever have the means to play it I'll probably try to because it looks quite good. I guess people also forget things like FFVII: Dirge of the Cerberus exist too..... Maybe that one for good reason though.

To be fair to it, Revenant Wings was pretty decent. Massive departure from normal FF of course, but yeah it was interesting, but at the same time why only release a sequel like that on the Nintendo DS? Bit confusing really. As for Dirge of Cerberus, I haven't played that too much actually, can't even remember what I thought of it. Clearly that memorable lol

 

29 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

To me that's like someone finding the fan fiction I started to write for Metal Gear Solid when I was about 13 and it actually getting published. Oh dear - what a horrible and scary thought, because that truly was something dreadful lol . That FFX-2.5 book just seems like a fan fiction written by someone who either hates the characters, or just failed to understand what was appealing about them to begin with. and wanted to see them miserable or something.

Haha that's a good point, it kinda does read/sound that way lol like someone deciding that they wanted to bold and confrontational to stand out from the crowd and yep that characters changed and they are different and I'm going to render this whole plot point meaningless etc etc lol Wow fan fiction for MGS, sounds like an interesting read lol

[rjkclarke]

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

To be fair to it, Revenant Wings was pretty decent. Massive departure from normal FF of course, but yeah it was interesting, but at the same time why only release a sequel like that on the Nintendo DS? Bit confusing really. As for Dirge of Cerberus, I haven't played that too much actually, can't even remember what I thought of it. Clearly that memorable lol

 

It never made much sense to me either why they'd put that out for the DS, it probably deserved a larger platform considering how well though of it seems to be, but there you go - they did. I haven't ever finished Dirge of the Cerberus. Or owned it either, I played it at a friends house a long time ago (but not in a galaxy far , far away) I always thought it was weird that they would dedicate an entire game to a character that was only ever optional in Final Fantasy VII. I guess stranger things have have happened, I mean the entire NieR franchise exists due to the joke ending of Drakengard all the way back on PS2, so its fascinating where some ideas and games ultimately end up springing from. I think Assassin's Creed came from an abandoned sequel for Prince of Persia too, there's plenty of those odd little gaming curiosities like that I expect. 

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha that's a good point, it kinda does read/sound that way lol like someone deciding that they wanted to bold and confrontational to stand out from the crowd and yep that characters changed and they are different and I'm going to render this whole plot point meaningless etc etc lol Wow fan fiction for MGS, sounds like an interesting read lol

 

I'd say probably that audio drama probably suffers the most from what you mentioned there. It just sort of creates problems and conflict out of  nothing, just to cling onto the hope, that maybe - one day that might give them a reason to go back and revisit that world again. Realistically they don't need to. Its been what twenty years nearly since FFX was originally released. I guess one day we might see them go back, but I'd expect its more likely to be an FFX remake more than another sequel.

 

Yes - a fan fiction for Metal Gear Solid..... Yikes.  Thankfully I never finished it and it won't ever get published or see the light of day, but I guess I can give my 13 year old self a pat on his hefty fat back (I was super tubby, when I was that age) for trying to be creative I guess lol . I expect that's a good thing it won't see daylight though - because that was edgy to say the least. I remember at least the first "chapter" I guess you could call it, was some internalised monologue by Liquid Snake as he was wandering around Shadow Moses Island. Even writing that just now almost made by toes curl with cringe haha! We have to have a sense of humour about these things though.

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by rjkclarke

[Slava]

Man, I should've checked your profile and/or checklist sooner. What an impressive collection. Nice collections of Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, God of War, Hitman, Infamous, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, Prince of Persia, Ratchet & Clank, Tales of, Tomb Raider, WWE, Yakuza and other completed games. I also like the amount of Playstation mascot titles on your list (Crash, Spyro, Sly, Jak, Ratchet) as well as presence of some racing games here and there. I'll make sure to read some of your reviews ?.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Alderriz

[The_Kopite]

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

 

It never made much sense to me either why they'd put that out for the DS, it probably deserved a larger platform considering how well though of it seems to be, but there you go - they did. I haven't ever finished Dirge of the Cerberus. Or owned it either, I played it at a friends house a long time ago (but not in a galaxy far , far away) I always thought it was weird that they would dedicate an entire game to a character that was only ever optional in Final Fantasy VII. I guess stranger things have have happened, I mean the entire NieR franchise exists due to the joke ending of Drakengard all the way back on PS2, so its fascinating where some ideas and games ultimately end up springing from. I think Assassin's Creed came from an abandoned sequel for Prince of Persia too, there's plenty of those odd little gaming curiosities like that I expect. 

Yeah I've heard those other two you mention, which seems so odd to me, especially the NieR one. Crazy where some game ideas come from lol as for Dirge of Cerberus, in my original playthrough way back when, I never even realised there was an optional character called Vincent, so when I saw the game as it first came out, I was like "Who is this guy?" lol 

 

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

I'd say probably that audio drama probably suffers the most from what you mentioned there. It just sort of creates problems and conflict out of  nothing, just to cling onto the hope, that maybe - one day that might give them a reason to go back and revisit that world again. Realistically they don't need to. Its been what twenty years nearly since FFX was originally released. I guess one day we might see them go back, but I'd expect its more likely to be an FFX remake more than another sequel.

Indeed. In X-2 you get the perfect ending and 

Spoiler

Yuna and Tidus are reunited

and so they could have just left it there. Personally I think the whole story and ending of FFX didn't need to be expanded on.

 

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

I remember at least the first "chapter" I guess you could call it, was some internalised monologue by Liquid Snake as he was wandering around Shadow Moses Island. Even writing that just now almost made by toes curl with cringe haha! We have to have a sense of humour about these things though.

Sounds interesting in it's own way but those games stories have confused me as is lol Being creative is never a bad thing.

[rjkclarke]

11 hours ago, Alderriz said:

Man, I should've checked your profile and/or checklist sooner. What an impressive collection. Nice collections of Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, God of War, Hitman, Infamous, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, Prince of Persia, Ratchet & Clank, Tales of, Tomb Raider, WWE, Yakuza and other completed games. I also like the amount of Playstation macot titles on your list (Crash, Spyro, Sly, Jak, Ratchet) as well as presence of some racing games here and there. I'll make sure to read some of your reviews .

 

Wow!! Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. There are some fairly big gaps in some of those series that I'm planning to fill in eventually. I'm waiting to get the mythical PS5 to play Hitman 3 for example - same with Crash 4. Yakuza 3 is a weird one. I know I could play it at any time, but its the last entry in the series apart from the new one and the Japanese exclusive titles that I haven't got the platinum in - and honestly its more that I don't want to say goodbye to that series just yet, well I guess "see you soon" is more appropriate as I'd only really be saying goodbye to Kiryu.

 

You've got some really awesome stuff on your own list as well by the way. Awesome to see you have the platinum in Peace Walker, that's in my top 3 Metal Gear games, really underrated story and just game in general I think - well, it would be if I actually did end up ranking them!!

 

I've pretty much had a great time going for every single one of the platinum's I have. One of the reasons I created this thread was to end up going back through all of them and reviewing them all, that's going to end up being the thing that takes the longest. I'm sure I'm going to have a really fun time doing it though. I'll try and remember to tag you in any reviews I write about Metal Gear if you like? I tend to write really long winded reviews though as I always feel like I have a lot to say, so I just thought I should give you fair warning on that one

 

Thank you for the kind words though.

 

9 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah I've heard those other two you mention, which seems so odd to me, especially the NieR one. Crazy where some game ideas come from lol as for Dirge of Cerberus, in my original playthrough way back when, I never even realised there was an optional character called Vincent, so when I saw the game as it first came out, I was like "Who is this guy?" lol 

 

HAHA!! Don't worry - I'm not mocking you, far from it. I did the exact same thing. I don't think I found out until I was older than I'd like to admit that there was more than one optional character in FFVII. That shows you just how much has changed now, these days there would be a YouTube video from IGN making PSA style videos informing us "Don't Miss out this awesome party member" or it would be in one of those "Things I wish I had known before starting Final Fantasy VII" style videos.

 

9 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Indeed. In X-2 you get the perfect ending and 

  Reveal hidden contents

Yuna and Tidus are reunited

and so they could have just left it there. Personally I think the whole story and ending of FFX didn't need to be expanded on.

 

Again I couldn't agree more really. It would be like making a whole trilogy after the end of Return of the Jedi.... Oh wait that did happen lol. Nevermind, I'm not going to get into a  debate on Star Wars. That's dangerous these days. Can turn the most reasonable of people into maniacs. I really love one film out of that new trilogy and it isn't the one people are fond of. So in fear of being chased away with flaming pitchforks and torches I'll shut my face on that one!!

Edited June 18, 2021 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

19 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

HAHA!! Don't worry - I'm not mocking you, far from it. I did the exact same thing. I don't think I found out until I was older than I'd like to admit that there was more than one optional character in FFVII. That shows you just how much has changed now, these days there would be a YouTube video from IGN making PSA style videos informing us "Don't Miss out this awesome party member" or it would be in one of those "Things I wish I had known before starting Final Fantasy VII" style videos.

Haha too true! I'll bet loads of players did that back in the day. Makes Dirge of Cerberus all the weirder!

 

19 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Again I couldn't agree more really. It would be like making a whole trilogy after the end of Return of the Jedi.... Oh wait that did happen lol. Nevermind, I'm not going to get into a  debate on Star Wars. That's dangerous these days. Can turn the most reasonable of people into maniacs. I really love one film out of that new trilogy and it isn't the one people are fond of. So in fear of being chased away with flaming pitchforks and torches I'll shut my face on that one!!

Another franchise that I like, although I do like a couple other ones that begin with Star, and one I prefer more although they are trying to cock it up at the moment a bit lol Haven't got around to even watching The Rise of Skywalker, but tbh I must be in the minority who liked both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The amount of hate videos after The Last Jedi was crazy, then the same thing happened with The Rise of Skywalker, so who knows how I'll feel about that film whenever I eventually watch it lol

 

You know how I have a game backlog (like many lol), well life as it is right now means I have a film backlog too! Haven't even watched the Sonic film yet lol

 

[rjkclarke]

On 18/06/2021 at 6:27 PM, The_Kopite said:

Another franchise that I like, although I do like a couple other ones that begin with Star, and one I prefer more although they are trying to cock it up at the moment a bit lol Haven't got around to even watching The Rise of Skywalker, but tbh I must be in the minority who liked both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The amount of hate videos after The Last Jedi was crazy, then the same thing happened with The Rise of Skywalker, so who knows how I'll feel about that film whenever I eventually watch it lol

 

You know how I have a game backlog (like many lol), well life as it is right now means I have a film backlog too! Haven't even watched the Sonic film yet lol

 

Is that "other one that begins with Star" the other franchise that J.J Abrams had his paws all over? If it is I'm fairly unqualified to mention that series. My knowledge base extends to Next Generation (which I thought, was pretty excellent) but that's about it really.

 

Your particular Star related thing could be a multitude of things though. Starship Troopers has ironically almost become the type of series that it was originally a satirical commentary of - strange how things like that go. 

 

I guess I'd also join the minority of people who like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I think the main criticism people level at Force Awakens about it being fairly lazy and derivative of the original Star Wars is a fair one, but it always had to be that way realistically. Disney wanted something to generate insane amounts of ticket sales, how do you achieve that? Strongly influence your narrative to feel similar to the formula of the film that launched the franchise in the first place.

 

Ironically The Last Jedi gets lambasted for ironically doing the exact thing  that apparently George Lucas sold the franchise originally to see - he wanted to see people do new and original things with the IP. (I'm fairly sure I remember reading an interview with him around 2015 stating as much) Which Rian Johnson did, I've always said to people  that The Last Jedi is an excellent film, but not a good Star Wars film - thankfully I seem to be able to separate myself from the fact I'm a big fan and just enjoy it for what it is, a film with - yes an admittedly at times illogical script,  but some absolutely tremendous cinematography, sound design, acting and an artistic flair that the series hadn't seen for quite some time. Typical me - says he won't mention much about Star Wars, then continues to write two paragraphs defending the recent trilogy. What a waffle head. What I'm not going to do though is defend Rise of Skywalker, if you ever watch it I'd love to know what you think of it. I won't mention my thoughts on it purely because you haven't seen it.

 

I have an equally large film backlog as my gaming one, probably larger actually. The fact you haven't seen the Sonic movie seems odd to me (I haven't seen it either) purely because you're a huge Sonic fan. Not the fact you haven't watched it yet -  more the fact that my Dad has seen the Sonic movie, despite never actually playing a Sonic game, that I know of at least.

 

I mentioned in I think my review of Broken Sword 5, that I'm actually more passionate about film than I am about gaming. I know a gaming site is a strange place to make that known - but having insomnia does have a few upsides I suppose, as it does allow me to keep on top of both backlogs a little bit better.

 

I was planning to get the latest Classic Review out - which is going to be Judgment. I think I'll make a conscious effort to write it later on tonight. I would have done it yesterday but....... Well..... Erm.....

 

@DrBloodmoney- has by virtue of his incredibly articulate review of This War of Mine, got me absolutely bloody hooked on that game. I guess I should say thanks in advance? Or maybe send the Queen (because we're both from the UK, so we are obviously on speaking terms with her majesty) the inevitable therapy receipt that I'm probably going to need, because man, what a unique and addictive experience that game has been so far.

 

If it was possible to both play the game and view it  with my hands over my eyes I would. I've not even played it very much but it already has taken me to a dark place. I was in the top corner of the map scavenging where I stupidly hadn't read the area description and I wandered into a house with two lovely old folk, who I ended up stealing some medications and components from. I had wrongly assumed that the old man was going to try and fight me (he didn't, he just calmly asked me to leave)  I got a weapon out - before I had to take a second step back and think " what am I doing? He's done nothing to me, he isn't hurting me" before I put the weapon away, and  a few of the things I'd taken back before running away back to my shelter in shame. I felt so awful.  I don't think that I've ever experienced anything truly like that in a game before. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by rjkclarke

[DrBloodmoney]

21 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

 

 

@DrBloodmoney- has by virtue of his incredibly articulate review of This War of Mine, got me absolutely bloody hooked on that game. I guess I should say thanks in advance? Or maybe send the Queen (because we're both from the UK, so we are obviously on speaking terms with her majesty) the inevitable therapy receipt that I'm probably going to need, because man, what a unique and addictive experience that game has been so far.

 

If it was possible to both play the game and view it  with my hands over my eyes I would. I've not even played it very much but it already has taken me to a dark place. I was in the top corner of the map scavenging where I stupidly hadn't read the area description and I wandered into a house with two lovely old folk, who I ended up stealing some medications and components from. I had wrongly assumed that the old man was going to try and fight me (he didn't, he just calmly asked me to leave)  I got a weapon out - before I had to take a second step back and think " what am I doing? He's done nothing to me, he isn't hurting me" before I put the weapon away, and  a few of the things I'd taken back before running away back to my shelter in shame. I felt so awful.  I don't think that I've ever experienced anything truly like that in a game before. 

? Glad to hear this mate!

 

Yup, there are some emotions in games that can be tapped by plenty of other media - a book or a film or a TV show can certainly make you feel sad, or happy, or thrilled, or excited, or even lonely or fearful or disgusted…

 

…but there is one emotion that only games can play with - guilt.

 

Only with their interactivity and active player agency of a game, can a piece of media tap into player guilt as a string to be tugged at and toyed with - and This War of Mine is one of the undisputed kings of tugging at that thread!

[rjkclarke]

3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 Glad to hear this mate!

 

Yup, there are some emotions in games that can be tapped by plenty of other media - a book or a film or a TV show can certainly make you feel sad, or happy, or thrilled, or excited, or even lonely or fearful or disgusted…

 

…but there is one emotion that only games can play with - guilt.

 

Only with their interactivity and active player agency of a game, can a piece of media tap into player guilt as a string to be tugged at and toyed with - and This War of Mine is one of the undisputed kings of tugging at that thread!

 

That is so true. Well said as always , I'm glad that  experimental games like this are starting to play around with those elements that are less rooted in the  seen or heard aspects and more in the realms of play or experience. It effectively opens an absolutely incredible amount of possibilities going forward.

 

Its all well and good having plenty of empathy towards a character we like in a film or television show - but even in one where we control the narrative in something like I don't know Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, yet we still don't truly control it. We just have a say in that specific outcome.

 

Games sometimes play around with that notion to a degree, but so far This War is Mine seems to present it in an incredibly raw way that I haven't quite gotten over how real it feels yet. In a way it reminds me of the Milgram Psychological Shock Experiments, testing obedience  from the 60's and 70's (which if you aren't familiar, they are a fairly fascinating read at the very least) which you could argue are slightly unethical from a modern perspective. In a sense though so far This War of Mine seems to fall into that trap of giving you pretty much all the power and control and seeing how far you are willing to go with it, yet presenting it in a way which really feels emotionally weighty.

 

Let's face it nobody questions the fact they are essentially stealing peoples livelihoods in RPG's when you  just wander into peoples houses and rummage through their chests - because the game often doesn't confront you with any kind of an idea that, that might be wrong, despite the fact you'd never likely do it in real life. Whereas, This War of Mine confronts it in a realistic way an old couple living in a war torn city might actually react and that's kind of where a lot of that realism hits you, did for me anyway. Oh dear... If I can write this much now, that review is going to be massive   when I finish it.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by rjkclarke

[rjkclarke]

Important Update (but not really) regarding terminology.

 

Alright then let's get back on the "Classic Review" train for a bit, but first I think I need to elaborate on something a little, which if I don't it might end up getting puzzling eventually, so let's tackle that first. I think I'm just going to go ahead and label every review of a game or a platinum from before Platinum #299 (which was my first foray into reviewing titles) as a classic Review, at least until I can find a snappier name. It only really occurred to me just now, that calling a game I played in 2020 a Classic Review might seem like a bit of a stretch - but I do have to call them something. Maybe I'll try and date them or something, like.... I don't know, a game from 2011-2012 can be a "Mesolithic Review" or something? Nah that won't work either probably but we'll see, for now though I think I'll just put everything pre Bound by Flame under the "Classic Review" umbrella. Now then, that probably uninteresting bit of admin is out of the way lets get down to the actual game. 

 

Classic Review

Platinum #266

Judgment (PS4)

 

 

 

The Greatest Detective
Obtained all other trophies.

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

Platinum Earned - 22 June 2020 - 8:03:09 AM

Time Taken to Platinum :  2 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour

Platinum Rarity  - 4.58%

Trophy Number - #13,255

 

 

 

Looking at those stats, I'm reviewing this almost a year to the day since I got the platinum, a happy coincidence but interesting nonetheless.I did play around with the idea of reviewing my first ever Yakuza platinum which is Yakuza 4 (weird place to start I know) but my history with the series goes back way further than my first platinum, so as far as the mainline Yakuza series go I haven't quite decided what order or the format to how I'll tackle reviewing them. My love for the Yakuza series started all the way way back on the PS2 in about 2007 when I first played the original game.  Also yes, for any people that weren't aware Judgment is tangentially connected to the series - I'm not just writing this for the sake of it. I wanted to review part of the series and here we are, I just thought I'd give a little more context.

 

The series as a whole though has now become one of my favourite video game series of all time, for a multitude of reasons,  one of those being that I'm a huge fan of Japanese Cinema, my favourite Film Director is Akira Kurosawa and there's plenty of homages and allusions to his particular brand of film-making found throughout the Yakuza series, as well as here in Judgment. I expect, I'll probably elaborate upon some of the other area's of fondness in a bit more detail once I actually get to the reviewing the mainline Yakuza titles. For now I'll try and maintain my focus and mention the Yakuza and Judgment connection only when it really seems relevant.

 

Where does Judgment fit into the timeline of Yakuza you ask? You didn't, oh... Well I'm going to tell you anyway. It falls between Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Like a dragon within the series timeline. Some of the continuity between Yakuza 6 and the inaccessibility of some area's of Kamurocho are an insanely well crafted piece of attention to detail.  (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong of course.) I struggled for the longest time with the idea of how Kamurocho might feel without the looming presence of The Dragon of Dojima  upon the city. However, one of the strongest elements of Judgment is how much it really stands apart independently from the well loved series from which it was born - yet at the same time manages to feel like that familiar place I yearn to go back to on a regular basis. I noticed I've played at least one Yakuza game a year since 2017, so I must be treating Kamurocho subconsciously  as a virtual holiday destination at this point. 

 

If you've read any of my reviews before, you'll know that I never mention the story outside of talking about characters and how effective or ineffective I tend to think they are. I will say this though, if any fans of the series read this and haven't played Judgment yet, I'd put Judgment on a similar level, quality wise, to Yakuza 0. It tackles a lot of very interesting philosophical idea's later on that I never expected it to. For me Yakuza 0 has always been the narrative peak of the series so far. (The no- spoilers thing is something I may have to change in future reviews of things like TellTale Games, but I might have to just spoiler-tag those - otherwise there would be very little to actually discuss)

 

Judgment deserves some extra focus here though, because there's a few I specifically want to highlight. The game it is absolutely littered with incredibly rich and interesting characters. We'll start with Yagami, the games protagonist. I've always been a big fan of natural character growth and Yagami's character growth over the course of the game is both phenomenal and believable -  it was refreshing to see a character start out Jaded and seemingly carefree, then start to really get his desire and passion back as the narrative pushes forward. By the end you really understand his character. I can't understate enough how good some of the facial motion capture work is for Yagami, video games sometimes miss some of the small intricate movements in a human face as they are conveying emotion, but Judgment did a really astounding job of getting the depth of the characters emotions across on screen in a way that some video games unfortunately fail to.

 

I've often joked with a few of my friends about how Kaito is essentially just a Tesco Value Kiryu (Insert your own idea's of budget store branding here if you aren't from the UK) it's really only in look that they have any sort of similarity though. Kaito really shines as a character in some of the side cases, where you get to see a few different sides to him outside of his fists first, almost brutish nature that elements of the story would have you think is his main characteristic. Just like with Yagami though his character gets developed in some very interesting areas. Ironically via the use of flashbacks which is often a fairly hit and miss choice when it comes to exposition, sometimes it can feel really contrived, here it really doesn't.

 

Hamura is a very well realised antagonist - this isn't really a spoiler. (there is more than one antagonist) Hamura is one of the most detestable characters I've ever encountered in a video game, but that's also a testament to how well written and realised they actually made him, its an area the series has always really excelled in. I should probably have mentioned this earlier but my experiences with these characters is all based on the Japanese voice acting, whilst the characters will obviously remain the same I can't imagine they are in any way as likeable in the English dub from the scenes I've actually seen of it. So I think had I played with the English dub I may have had a very different impression of the game.

 

I'd love to write a really detailed and in depth write up about how great this game looks, but it just looks astounding. Kamurocho has never felt so vibrant and colourful. I know that seems like a cop-out to just say that - but it does, I could quite easily extol all of the virtues that this game possesses purely visually but if I did, its more than likely Lost Judgment would have released by then, so I'll do my best to keep this bit brief. As always the sound design and the soundtrack itself in Judgment are pretty immaculate, especially in the latter portion of the story as the revelations start coming at you thick and fast.  Although the lack of karaoke in this game was a sad and disappointing exclusion. Strange considering how popular it is. I guess if I'm mentioning sound, then I can't not mention the incredible Japanese voice acting in this game, sometimes bombastic and often very poignant and well delivered. To be able to move someone emotionally with just their voice is a very impressive gift indeed, so I can't really not mention it. Its very well balanced though, during side cases for example when  the characters are facing slightly lighter more humorous situations.the more light hearted nature of those things lends itself to some over-acting which ends up being very funny, very often.

 

It isn't all an incredibly fun ride though. Some of the gameplay does leave a little to be desired, some of which I hope is considerably different in Lost Judgment. Unfortunately if you are making a game where you play as a detective, you should at least make sure some of the gameplay elements pertaining to, well, detective work are actually fun and enjoyable. They are for the most part to be honest - but tailing? No, that can get right in the bin. I'm not suggesting scrapping it completely of course, just hopefully in Lost Judgment it might feel a little bit more dynamic and less frustrating - because those tailing sections are LOOOOONG and there are plenty of them - maybe too many to be perfectly honest. Just like its sister/brother the Yakuza series Judgment contains a whole raft of side activities to sink your teeth into, some of them could probably even comprise their own small game, they have that much depth to them.

There are a lot of side cases in this one, but a manageable amount, I think they reduced the amount slightly in favour of expanding their stories slightly. Replacing the shorter form sub-stories of the past with smaller friendship missions, where Yagami makes friends with many weird and wonderful citizens of Kamurocho .The Drone Racing, mini-game is one of those things that is almost equal parts frustrating and satisfying at the same time. I hear a lot of people talk quite negatively about attempting the Puyo-Puyo section of the Mini-Game portion of KamuroGO, but its actually really fun - but, in no way easy. I think I had a slight advantage over most, because I ended up going for the 100% completion in Yakuza 6, even though it isn't required for the platinum, but that has you do the exact same Puyo-Puyo requirements that Judgment did, so I pretty much knew what to expect with that one.

 

I feel like I should mention the combat a little bit. As its such a huge part of the Yakuza/ Judgment series as a whole. I'm not actually a fan of how Kiryu controlled using the newer Dragon engine introduced with Yakuza 6 - I always felt like his actions are a little heavy for an engine that has often had quite "floaty" movement. Thankfully, in Judgment's case - that "floatiness" actually fits Yagami's fighting style perfectly, his actions often see him darting around a lot and bouncing off of walls, all the while maintaining some semblance of control. In Judgment this really works. Fans of the series will also be able to unlock the overpowered Tiger Drop move in Judgment so that allows another layer of familiarity for pre existing fans. I actually beat the final boss with a Tiger Drop when I was doing my hardest difficulty playthrough. It just felt right y'know?

 

Judgment is one of those games I have often mentioned, where the pursuit of the platinum really enhances the experience in my eyes. You'd certainly get your monies worth out of this title. If I was going to offer any advice, I'd say to probably balance the amount of side content you do with the main story, because if you leave all the side activities to the end it will end up probably feeling like a really long inorganic grind. Which it needn't of been. There is so much to see and so much to do. It isn't all easy and it will take a long time, but its a rewarding experience that I think is really worth the effort. If you are one of those  Ultra Rare Platinum type of people, then, this is one, so I guess that might be an incentive for people too. I also think, Judgment is an incredibly good entry point to the series - as, whilst it is connected to an already established series, you'll literally miss out on nothing by not having played a single other Yakuza title, outside of the odd reference here and there. So it would end up being very accessible to any trophy lovers that might want to dip their toes into the series and see if they like it. The Yakuza series have always essentially been JRPG's and now they quite literally are a JRPG, so its nice that Lost Judgment seems to be keeping the series more traditional gameplay elements alive, moving forward.

 

This one's been a really fun game to revisit - I knew it would end up being a very long write up, but they won't all be like this. Not because I'm not fond of other games I've played, more that some of them don't have quite as much scope for material that's really worth talking about in great detail. You never know - my opinion on that might change as I end up writing them. I thought I'd end up having not much to say about plenty of games, where I've actually ended up eating my words, like a person who's had a dictionary drop-kicked straight into their face. I've really enjoyed writing this one though.

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

On 6/19/2021 at 8:26 PM, rjkclarke said:

Is that "other one that begins with Star" the other franchise that J.J Abrams had his paws all over? If it is I'm fairly unqualified to mention that series. My knowledge base extends to Next Generation (which I thought, was pretty excellent) but that's about it really.

Yes, Star Trek and also Stargate. Stargate needs and deserves another series (imho) in order to give it a proper conclusion for the franchise as a whole. Star Trek, well, tbh has too many series going at the moment so yeah. TNG was and is a great show. DS9 was and is great as well. Best one imho is Voyager.

 

On 6/19/2021 at 8:26 PM, rjkclarke said:

I guess I'd also join the minority of people who like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I think the main criticism people level at Force Awakens about it being fairly lazy and derivative of the original Star Wars is a fair one, but it always had to be that way realistically. Disney wanted something to generate insane amounts of ticket sales, how do you achieve that? Strongly influence your narrative to feel similar to the formula of the film that launched the franchise in the first place.

 

Ironically The Last Jedi gets lambasted for ironically doing the exact thing  that apparently George Lucas sold the franchise originally to see - he wanted to see people do new and original things with the IP. (I'm fairly sure I remember reading an interview with him around 2015 stating as much) Which Rian Johnson did, I've always said to people  that The Last Jedi is an excellent film, but not a good Star Wars film - thankfully I seem to be able to separate myself from the fact I'm a big fan and just enjoy it for what it is, a film with - yes an admittedly at times illogical script,  but some absolutely tremendous cinematography, sound design, acting and an artistic flair that the series hadn't seen for quite some time. Typical me - says he won't mention much about Star Wars, then continues to write two paragraphs defending the recent trilogy. What a waffle head. What I'm not going to do though is defend Rise of Skywalker, if you ever watch it I'd love to know what you think of it. I won't mention my thoughts on it purely because you haven't seen it.

Very fair analysis of those two films. I will let you know about what I think of Rise of Skywalker, there are so many films I've got to watch (with the wife) but RoS is in the top 5 defo.

 

On 6/19/2021 at 8:26 PM, rjkclarke said:

I have an equally large film backlog as my gaming one, probably larger actually. The fact you haven't seen the Sonic movie seems odd to me (I haven't seen it either) purely because you're a huge Sonic fan. Not the fact you haven't watched it yet -  more the fact that my Dad has seen the Sonic movie, despite never actually playing a Sonic game, that I know of at least.

Yeah I know, trust me it's odd lol but that's life sadly, it gets in the way a lot at the moment. The Sonic film is the 1st film I want to watch when me and my wife are able to.

 

On 6/19/2021 at 8:26 PM, rjkclarke said:

I mentioned in I think my review of Broken Sword 5, that I'm actually more passionate about film than I am about gaming. I know a gaming site is a strange place to make that known - but having insomnia does have a few upsides I suppose, as it does allow me to keep on top of both backlogs a little bit better.

One positive to Insomnia that I have never thought of before tbh. The word Insomnia just reminds me of the very cool trophy name from FFXV. (There were some cool things about that game, but it just didn't come together and feel like a proper FF game.....)

 

Keep the reviews coming ?

[rjkclarke]

23 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yes, Star Trek and also Stargate. Stargate needs and deserves another series (imho) in order to give it a proper conclusion for the franchise as a whole. Star Trek, well, tbh has too many series going at the moment so yeah. TNG was and is a great show. DS9 was and is great as well. Best one imho is Voyager.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a single episode of Stargate. I've seen the film but that's it. I've thought about trying to watch it a few times. But there is so much of it and it would be such a ridiculous time sink just to watch SG1, let alone all the other things that are part of that universe. You'd probably recommend I do though I expect?  

 

I often get told to watch both DS9 and Voyager. I went to school with someone who was incredibly fanatical about Voyager, to a ridiculous degree as well haha. That was equally like listening to Homer talk about Thomas Edison . I wouldn't mind watching them either, its all the time investment that scares me away.

 

I'll definitely be interested to hear what you think about Rise of Skywalker, after you've gotten to Sonic of course. That could be a very interesting discussion considering you have positive things to say about the other two.  I do know someone who watched Rise of Skywalker 7 times at the cinema, which is, well that's dedication I guess. No - it isn't me either lol. I'd be surprised if I saw it that often in the next 10 years.

 

23 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

One positive to Insomnia that I have never thought of before tbh. The word Insomnia just reminds me of the very cool trophy name from FFXV. (There were some cool things about that game, but it just didn't come together and feel like a proper FF game.....)

 

Keep the reviews coming 

 

I guess there has to be an upside to everything. Although, strictly I try not to watch films if I'm too sleep deprived I always worry that I won't take all the information in properly. Whereas, with gaming it does lend itself more to focus and concentration even under extreme tiredness, I guess  because its more involved than sitting down and staring at a screen. It has an extra component where you staring at a screen whilst using a controller haha - so I suppose not as much difference as I thought.

 

I know the trophy you mean from FFXV and it is a very cool name  - yeah, we have pretty similar opinions on that game I think. If I could bottle my original hysteria and keep my brain the way it was when the game first released I think I'd be saying very different things. Initially I loved it, but I think I was probably just happy to have a new Final Fantasy to play through. Then the further I got into it and realised how disjointed and unfinished it felt, I just started to feel more and more lousy about it. But as we've said before it is by no stretch a bad game.

 

I'll definitely try and keep the reviews coming, hope they aren't too long or boring for people. I'm ridiculously self aware about how long they are (or at least how long I think they are) some I think could have been longer and others should have been shorter. Maybe I'm just over thinking things too much. I always try and be as concise as possible, but that clearly doesn't end up happening. I usually find there's certain things I really want to prioritise talking about with certain games and I worry it gets a little too long sometimes.

 

Long story short, I don't mind them being long, I'm more worried they'd be really uninteresting for anyone else that might read them haha .

 

[Grotz99]

On 6/20/2021 at 6:30 PM, rjkclarke said:

Platinum #266

Judgment (PS4)

 

 

 

Great writeup! I have also become a fan of the series, since playing from Yakuza 0 last year. Currently, I just finished Yakuza 3 (except for some minigame and battle cleanup) and debating wether to play Yakuza 4 next or take a break since I'm halfway through Kiryu's story and start up Judgement, especially since the 2nd one is announced to come out.