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rjkclarke's Carnival of Diamonds and Rust


rjkclarke

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On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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? :) 

Yes, yes I would lol

 

On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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 :D. I wouldn't mind watching them either, its all the time investment that scares me away.

Maybe just choose one, watch a few eps and see what you think? Bit by bit, maybe you'll start to get into a groove with one of them.

 

On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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.

Wowzers, bet the cinema was loving that repeat custom lol

 

On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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.

Yeah I'm the same. You have to be awake and have the energy to focus on something in order to truly appreciate it. Sadly that's a big part of why there's such a massive film backlog for me lol way too tired, and why my playthroughs of RE7 and FF7R have stalled.

 

On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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.

Yep absolutely, there is always (for me anyways) a real excitement but also trepidation when a new mainline FF game comes out. Is it going to be good? What will they have changed? Am I going to like the story? characters? battle system? (Which is all over the place in recent years lol) 

 

On 6/23/2021 at 4:21 PM, rjkclarke said:

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 :D.

Think everyone here will tell you that they are long but engaging and interesting, so think you're good on that front ?

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1 hour ago, Grotz99 said:

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.

 

Thank you!! Much appreciated, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Congrats on finishing 3 - Aside from the two Japanese exclusive titles and the newest one, which I'm waiting to play on PS5 (once I manage to snare trap one of those mythical beasties) Yakuza 3 is the only one I haven't played. Even though I've owned it for ages. I remember around the time I got a PS3, I was super excited because I could finally play Yakuza 3, then I stupidly looked up some clips and saw the dude Suplex a bull, which honestly put me off  the whole series for a long time. When I saw that, I was like what has this series turned into.... I need to go back to it though, but I also just keep putting it off, I think because its the last Kiryu title I have left to tick off - and I had a hard enough time seeing out Yakuza 6 because of how attached to all the characters I had become over a decade or so.

 

That's a tough decision you have there, whether to play Yakuza 4 or Judgment. I'm all for discussion and such, so I'd love to know what you end up thinking of Yakuza 4, well and Judgment as well obviously, whichever you end up going for. Yakuza 4 is probably a shorter platinum than Judgment though if time is a factor. Are you going to take a crack at Yakuza: Dead Souls too? Not joking - I really like that game, if you were a fan of Ryuji Goda in Yakuza 2, he's playable in that and it almost makes me sad that title is non canon. At least I think it is, its very rough around the edges but Dead Souls definitely does offer an incredibly unique experience  I really love the ambition SEGA had with Yakuza 4 and 5, which I think some don't seem to appreciate, they just get bogged down in the fact both titles are quite large - especially 5. 

 

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Maybe just choose one, watch a few eps and see what you think? Bit by bit, maybe you'll start to get into a groove with one of them.

 

That seems like a good suggestion, I'll have to take a punt on one of them one of these days. Definitely going to try and watch through Picard at some point as well, but I'm not sure if that requires knowledge of all the other series too, because I know there are characters from not just Next Gen that make appearances.

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Wowzers, bet the cinema was loving that repeat custom lol

 

He's one of those people the "yoooofs " would call a melt haha :D

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah I'm the same. You have to be awake and have the energy to focus on something in order to truly appreciate it. Sadly that's a big part of why there's such a massive film backlog for me lol way too tired, and why my playthroughs of RE7 and FF7R have stalled.

 

I can definitely identify with that one. RE7 is at least quite short, so that one shouldn't plague you too much time wise. I expect FF7R is quite long though, or perhaps maybe it isn't considering its what like a fifth of the originals story roughly?

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Yep absolutely, there is always (for me anyways) a real excitement but also trepidation when a new mainline FF game comes out. Is it going to be good? What will they have changed? Am I going to like the story? characters? battle system? (Which is all over the place in recent years lol) 

 

That was definitelly the case for me, now I'm not so sure. I think with the way Square Enix handled both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III I'm struggling to get really excited for Final Fantasy XVI whenever that releases.... I expect I'll probably get excited for it closer to whenever it releases though especially now that I've sort of re-found my love for the series. Thanks again lol :D 

 

1 hour ago, The_Kopite said:

Think everyone here will tell you that they are long but engaging and interesting, so think you're good on that front ?

 

Thank you man, I probably needed to hear something like that, I keep second guessing myself all the time about whether to shorten them or not, but then I think if I did, I wouldn't truly be satisfied with them - so I do appreciate that. I'm thinking about doing a few other non- reviewy type things, but I'll put up a separate post about that in the next day or two, on some idea's I've been kicking around.

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10 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That seems like a good suggestion, I'll have to take a punt on one of them one of these days. Definitely going to try and watch through Picard at some point as well, but I'm not sure if that requires knowledge of all the other series too, because I know there are characters from not just Next Gen that make appearances.

 

Yeah it has 2 characters from Voyager and there are small references to other series too, in the first season at least. Rumours that more links to other series will be more prominent in season 2.

 

10 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I can definitely identify with that one. RE7 is at least quite short, so that one shouldn't plague you too much time wise. I expect FF7R is quite long though, or perhaps maybe it isn't considering its what like a fifth of the originals story roughly?

Yes hopefully after finally getting past that Jack chainsaw battle which frustrated the hell out of me, I can finally get going with it properly again soon and get into a rhythm. FF7R is a 60 hour platinum (according to guide on this site) and that includes a 2nd story playthrough on hard difficulty plus other lil extra bits, so in terms of the 1st story playthrough, hopefully it won't be more than 30-40 hours max? We will see. 

 

10 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That was definitelly the case for me, now I'm not so sure. I think with the way Square Enix handled both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III I'm struggling to get really excited for Final Fantasy XVI whenever that releases.... I expect I'll probably get excited for it closer to whenever it releases though especially now that I've sort of re-found my love for the series. Thanks again lol :D 

You're very welcome! :) Yeah I'm excited and worried about FFXVI mainly due to the battle system. Square Enix seems to want to go more and more down the action route with FF, and for me personally, it's not what I want.

 

 

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19 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Are you going to take a crack at Yakuza: Dead Souls too? Not joking - I really like that game, if you were a fan of Ryuji Goda in Yakuza 2, he's playable in that and it almost makes me sad that title is non canon. At least I think it is, its very rough around the edges but Dead Souls definitely does offer an incredibly unique experience  I really love the ambition SEGA had with Yakuza 4 and 5, which I think some don't seem to appreciate, they just get bogged down in the fact both titles are quite large - especially 5. 

Just looked it up on Ebay and it's about $80, but apparently it's on the PS3 store for 20 so I should probably pick that up sooner rather than later. Down to play pretty much anything Yakuza now. I already own 0-7, bought them all after playing 0 lol.

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11 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yes hopefully after finally getting past that Jack chainsaw battle which frustrated the hell out of me, I can finally get going with it properly again soon and get into a rhythm. FF7R is a 60 hour platinum (according to guide on this site) and that includes a 2nd story playthrough on hard difficulty plus other lil extra bits, so in terms of the 1st story playthrough, hopefully it won't be more than 30-40 hours max? We will see.

 

I feel your pain on that chainsaw fight with Jack.. A little tip for the Madhouse version- even if you are using the circular saw, kick the dangling corpses into him, usually staggers him enough to get a few chainsaw swings or grind him up a bit with the saw blade, keeps you at a safe distance and him far enough away that you can control the fight.

Wow FF7R is a 60 hour platinum, that genuinely shocked me, I expected it would probably be about 40 at the most.... Did they really pad that out with pointless side quests, the kind of "run here, get this for me" type of deal? Or is it just that expansive compared to the original.

 

11 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah I'm excited and worried about FFXVI mainly due to the battle system. Square Enix seems to want to go more and more down the action route with FF, and for me personally, it's not what I want.

 

I'm not sure what I want myself from a modern Final Fantasy battle system - so I can definitely understand your trepidation about it. I honestly wouldn't mind them revisiting the gambit system from Final Fantasy XII, at the very least so you could set up how your A.I companions behaved, that might give things a little more fluidity. I'm not sure though, that's obviously just one avenue they could explore. I'd just like it not to be as oversimplified as FFXV's, and at least make magic seem like it has a practical use, because I think I have as many fingers and toes as the amount of times I actually used magic in that title. It seemed a little redundant.

 

3 hours ago, Grotz99 said:

Just looked it up on Ebay and it's about $80, but apparently it's on the PS3 store for 20 so I should probably pick that up sooner rather than later. Down to play pretty much anything Yakuza now. I already own 0-7, bought them all after playing 0 lol.

 

Awesome!! I'm glad to hear it... Not that its $80 obviously, but that you'd like to play it as its part of the series. Be nice if it got a remaster to be honest, so that the newer wave of Yakuza fans that have fallen in love with the series in recent years could get a chance to play it on the PS4. $80 though,that seems mad, I paid £12 for a copy from Ebay only a few years ago. Mind you that copy turned out not to work, but even at the time there were others going for similar prices. So hopping on the PS3 store might be the way to go, that's where I ended up getting it. My physical version didn't work in multiple PS3's and always crashed in exactly the same spot. My copy of the Tomb Raider HD trilogy did the same thing, so I had an unlucky time that year lol :D 

 

I could definitely see why Yakuza 0 would be the thing to convince you to play all of the others, that game is something incredibly special and its weirdly a mixture of being almost, the perfect prequel, as well as being an absolutely accessible jumping in point for the series. If I was going to rank them (which I might in future) myself I'd put it pretty high up near the tippy top.

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I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Thank you @DrBloodmoney so much for basically pointing me in the direction of this War of Mine. I never expected to play something quite like that. But I'm so glad that I did.

 

So that's another game ticked off the backlog. Ironically I think it's both the newest to be added and the quickest to leave. I'll drop  my thoughts on it from the Most Recent Platinum thread down below.

 

This War of Mine: The Little Ones Review

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Platinum #323

This War of Mine: The Little Ones

 

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Epilogue: This War of Mine: The Little Ones
What's next? What do we do? Where do we go?

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

Platinum Earned - 25 June 2021: 2:05:15 AM

Time Taken to Platinum :  6 days, 4 hours, 38 minutes

Platinum Rarity  - 5.57%

Trophy Number - #15,571

 

 

I like where this is going to end up sitting in this Most Recent Platinum thread.. Either just below or a few places below the person who actually inspired my interest in playing the game in the first place. So a big thank you to the Doctor of Blood and Money.

 

I'm going to get the easiest part out of the way first. This game is absolutely incredible on a multitude of different levels. The hard part is going to be actually explaining them in a readable way. It's tough to really describe a game that  is so many different elements all bought into play at the same time. Set in a war torn fictional land, you play as the civilian, not the solider, which I think adds a deeper layer of humanity to this, as it puts relatable people in some of the most horrendous situations where every single small thing is important for survival. Sometimes, you just have to do a horrible thing to help put a smile back on the face of a child, or stop a friend from dying. Having the characters be represented by images of photo-realistic people, probably grants you a slightly deeper attachment to them - as the characters look like regular run of the mill people you could bump into in the street on a daily basis.

 

It's also incredibly hard to really compare it to any other game, it's just such a unique experience and you're probably not that likely to play anything that's quite like it again. I'm actually going to do something I usually wouldn't, which is to reference something from my own thread, but I feel like it's important here to provide a glimpse into what some of my initial thoughts were when starting This War of Mine.

 

This was from a week ago on June 19th.

 

     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. 

 

So, that at least gives the nature of the gameplay away, or at the very least an element of it. If I was going to be really basic about it, I would just refer to this game as a survival and crafting game - but it is so much more than that. So I won't, we'll go a bit further, in detail. Yes the core gameplay is survival, but in your pursuit of survival, the game can take so many twists and turns that you never would have expected, and a situation you thought you were controlling could spiral out of hand almost insurmountably fast. You'll often be faced with incredibly hard agonising decisions that at times make you feel so uncomfortable, because instead of just seeing these things play out, it's YOU who actually end up controlling the outcome - and by extension of that committing those deeds or misdeeds. One of the prime examples of this is the fact the characters can get sick and wounded which end up deteriorating into worsening states unless you get a handle on the situation.

 

During one of my playthroughs (of which there were many, and will be many more even though I have the platinum) one of the characters, Roman in this case had become terminally ill (which means if you don't give him medicine pretty soon, he's dead,dead, diddly dead) so he was essentially bedridden at that point, but he's also the best nightwatchmen so you need him to be healthy, to fend off attackers efficiently. I went out scavenging for some medicine to try and bring him back from the brink and when I came back the next day, the shelter had been raided and someone had stabbed Roman, so he was now terminally ill and wounded - poor guy couldn't catch a break. I was in a party chat with one of my friends when I was playing at that point and he said that was " one of the grubbiest things he thinks he'd ever heard happen in  a video game" well his words weren't that polite, but you can fill in the grubbiness with something else if you like.

 

That's not even really scratching the surface with this game, there are so many variables at play that can both go right and wrong, that although items might be in set locations, the random nature of events means you'll never quite have the same experience twice. What I didn't mention is the mood system, which effects characters motivations and willingness to do certain tasks they have been assigned. I think this feature is probably implemented best when you have a child amongst your group, as it really allows you to see how much incredible attention to detail was put into programming the characters based on the entire mood of the group. The way children behave is almost at times too realistic, but incredibly well implemented. It's one of those things where although you have things to do in your shelter: constructing items, cooking food and general upkeep. You should always go out of your way to talk to the child of the group, because otherwise they end up feeling unwanted and unloved, and easily become sad as a result, which in turn brings the whole mood of the group down.

That might seem like an annoying inconvenience, but it makes sense I think, as the developers clearly want you to have an idea of how real people might react in this situation, so a child having a more extreme reaction to an attack, or an illness makes perfect sense. It's really heartbreaking when a character is wounded or sick and the child starts to become hypersensitive in the situation, worrying that the person that they have become attached to might suddenly die. It ends up being an incredible slice of realism that I don't think I've ever experienced in a video game before.

 

This War of Mine, contains an incredibly bleak but very beautiful art-style. The majority of objects and characters have the look of a moving sketchbook drawing where the only thing the artist had to hand was a singular 2B pencil. for a game like this where the intention of its artistic style is to be both harrowing and unsettling, the sketchbook style is implemented really well. When things in the game start to go downhill, and your characters start to become more and more desperate and disillusioned, the absolute greyness all around really helps evoke a sombre atmosphere.

 

The sound design and the soundtrack found within This War of Mine are incredible. There isn't a whole lot of depth to the soundtrack per se, but what there is, it is used incredibly effectively. It really shines, in things like the transitions between almost relaxing but melancholic ambient music, to something foreboding and scary within seconds when you enter a hostile area or start to encounter or a more precarious situation. I can't praise the sound design enough though, I'll be honest I probably have enough things I could say for a whole review length here, but I'll try and keep it brief and succinct. (Which admittedly I'm never that good at.)

 

There was a tremendous amount of effort that really went into the soundscape within This War of Mine. Soundscapes are rarely done this effectively in smaller budgeted titles, but I'm really glad it was implemented amazingly here. The sound effects you hear end up being a constant reminder of the harsh realities of the situation. This manifests itself in plenty of ways, the weather for example is something you constantly hear, but never quite get used to, especially during the Winter portion of the game -  where things can really start to become desperate and you end up burning all sorts just to keep your shelter warm for just a little longer. The constant whooshing wind sound, really frustrates you, just as I imagine it probably would, were you in that situation in real life.

 

Add to this the fact, you are constantly hearing unsettling noises like shells exploding and far off gunfire, it all helps to really bring home the reality of the situation. It isn't all bleak though, when your shelter is a happier place and you have the ability to have things like a radio, guitars or toys for the children to play with, the game does become a little more harmonious. This is going to sound like a strange reference. However, I think I'd compare something like that to the scene in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1; where it's purely Harry and Hermione alone, slow dancing in a tent as all the worries they have at the time just melt away for that briefest of moments. that's how the quieter more uplifting moments of This War of Mine made me feel, a small comfort - and a welcome respite from the severity of the situation.

 

This section on trophies might seem like it's a little brief, but I think in a game like this you probably don't end up thinking about the trophies all that much. I'm planning to still play this, many times probably, even after obtaining the platinum. I only feel like I've seen a fraction of what the game truly has to offer. The trophies do encourage you to go out of your way to do certain things you might not have done otherwise though, which is always nice. Thankfully however, it doesn't do that to the ridiculous degree that some games do, I'm not sure I would actually have the platinum if the game had a trophy for killing x amount of people or something of that nature, because the misdeeds I did commit during the game made me feel so lousy anyway, I don't think I'd have liked to have gone further in that department to an extreme degree. It isn't a particularly difficult or taxing journey towards the platinum either, but it is one I don't think you'd forget very quickly. This game is incredibly impactful and it's been one of the most interesting platinum's I think I've achieved so far. They could have made it much harder, it isn't like they had a trophy for surviving eighty days with the conflict set to high intensity. Now that would have been absolutely BRUTAL.

 

I think it goes without saying that I recommend this one. It's an experience that I think everyone should probably have at some point. You almost certainly won't play anything like this again, it is truly unique. If you are a fan of the cinematic contributions of film-makers like, Lars Von Trier, Michael Haneke or some of the bleaker outings from British film-makers like Ken Loach or Mike Leigh - then you will probably find this game a very worthwhile experience. Notice that I haven't said enjoyable experience, because it's hard to really tangibly describe "enjoyability" in a  title like this. The game puts YOU  in so many awkward situations, that's what really makes it unique, watching these things is all well and good, but that never once puts you in a position of controlling the actions. But it does at the very least feel like a worthwhile experience. It would be like suddenly waking up in Lars Von Triers Dogville, but also having knowledge of the situation, yet still being expected to do all of the unspeakable things to Nicole Kidman that everyone else does, instead of just watching it unfold. The game puts you in so many uncomfortable and awkward situations, that, at times really play with your emotions, just because of how real it all feels, heck I felt guilty feeding a child raw meat, just because they don't need to eat as well as the adult characters - even though you'd save food and resources that way, it just makes you feel lousy. Just as it would in real life. Video games can't all be fast movement, bright colours and frenetic combat. Every so often, they can be something like this, a genre defying intricate experience. I'm glad that video games are starting to evolve in a way that allows for many more important stories and experiences like this one to be shared in the future.

 

 

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

 

What's Next?

 

Well, I think after This War of Mine I should probably tackle something a little bit more light hearted and perhaps more colourful. So I'm thinking I'll either play Seasons after Fall, Lego Movie: The Video Game or perhaps Yooka Laylee. They all seem like good contenders for a bit of light hearted fun. So I think I'll play one of those three next. As far as another classic review goes. I'm not too sure on that one. I've got loads of ideas on ones I could do. So I guess I'll just decide in the next day or so. I've got like 300 possible games to decide on so at the moment the scope is still incredibly broad.

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that’s a hell of a write up mate! - really glad you felt the same way I did about the game - it’s one that should be played by everyone, but you can’t exactly tell them “you’ll love this”!

 

This really stood out to me:

 

20 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

It would be like suddenly waking up in Lars Von Triers Dogville, but also having knowledge of the situation, yet still being expected to do all of the unspeakable things to Nicole Kidman that everyone else does, instead of just watching it unfold.


That’s both the perfect analogy of for this game, and literally the first evidence I’ve ever seen that anyone else liked Dogville ?

 

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3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

that’s a hell of a write up mate! - really glad you felt the same way I did about the game - it’s one that should be played by everyone, but you can’t exactly tell them “you’ll love this”!

 

This really stood out to me:

 


That’s both the perfect analogy of for this game, and literally the first evidence I’ve ever seen that anyone else liked Dogville 1f602.png

 

 

Thanks man!! I appreciate that. I'm glad I felt the same way about it too. It really is one that should be played by everyone. It's emotionally challenging for sure, but it's an experience like no other. I'm all for that kind of thing. You  can't pretend like this game is filled with wondrous optimism and positivity, so yeah you couldn't really tell people to expect something that they won't receive. That's why I really appreciated the way that you tackled it. Frank and honestly, and in a way that would definitely pique peoples interest. I hope I'm not the only one that ends up experiencing it as a result.  

 

I was torn between using that Dogville analogy or saying that you'd be the person in Dancer in the Dark that pulls the switch that releases the trapdoor underneath Bjork at the end (but even thinking about that makes me a little depressed) . The films of Lars Von Trier are certainly an acquired taste, one I'm partial to I suppose.  I can definitely appreciate the impressive craftsmanship that goes into a lot of them, I just always feel like if I recommend them to someone I have to put a caveat like, "this is great but.... don't expect it to fill your evening with joy" or something along those lines. Otherwise, they'd watch it and you'd just hear "Why did you think I'd enjoy this?" which happened when I recommended someone Breaking the Waves.

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On 6/25/2021 at 8:04 PM, rjkclarke said:

I feel your pain on that chainsaw fight with Jack.. A little tip for the Madhouse version- even if you are using the circular saw, kick the dangling corpses into him, usually staggers him enough to get a few chainsaw swings or grind him up a bit with the saw blade, keeps you at a safe distance and him far enough away that you can control the fight.

Wow FF7R is a 60 hour platinum, that genuinely shocked me, I expected it would probably be about 40 at the most.... Did they really pad that out with pointless side quests, the kind of "run here, get this for me" type of deal? Or is it just that expansive compared to the original.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try to remember it whenever I get to the Madhouse version lol 

The side quests I've done so far have mostly consisted of 'defeat this amount of this enemy' in order to collect data.

 

On 6/25/2021 at 8:04 PM, rjkclarke said:

I'm not sure what I want myself from a modern Final Fantasy battle system - so I can definitely understand your trepidation about it. I honestly wouldn't mind them revisiting the gambit system from Final Fantasy XII, at the very least so you could set up how your A.I companions behaved, that might give things a little more fluidity. I'm not sure though, that's obviously just one avenue they could explore. I'd just like it not to be as oversimplified as FFXV's, and at least make magic seem like it has a practical use, because I think I have as many fingers and toes as the amount of times I actually used magic in that title. It seemed a little redundant

Exactly the same in regards to FFXV - Magic was just practically forgotten about. Then there was the super random and rare summons and that side of the battle system was just lost. Very disappointing. Yes in VIIR, it's nice you can give commands to your companions and have time to do that, so XII's battle system can work too. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Thanks for the tip! I'll try to remember it whenever I get to the Madhouse version lol 

The side quests I've done so far have mostly consisted of 'defeat this amount of this enemy' in order to collect data.

 

I like Madhouse difficulty, it's like a modern take on the classic Resident Evil difficulty, where typewriters are replaced with cassette tapes. There aren't too many of them either, so it can get tight at times.

Oooooooohhh.... That makes me sad. Although, I guess that kind of comes with the territory with JRPG quests. I like a good grind every now and then, so I guess what you described doesn't sound too egregious. I mean, it can't be any worse than oversouling every single enemy in Final Fantasy X-2, that gathers a little too much enemy data haha :D

 

4 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Exactly the same in regards to FFXV - Magic was just practically forgotten about. Then there was the super random and rare summons and that side of the battle system was just lost. Very disappointing. Yes in VIIR, it's nice you can give commands to your companions and have time to do that, so XII's battle system can work too. 

 

I think now that FFXV has been updated quite substantially, unfortunately, in some respects there are even less intricacies to the combat than there was in the first few months of them games release. I mean you can literally kill the Adamantoise with the Ring of Lucii now.. I expect pretty much everything else you can too. I've not dabbled around too much with the newer updates outside of the DLC, but I expect there is plenty of challenge and depth to be found somewhere. I just haven't really bothered to look. So maybe that's a me problem. 

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On 6/28/2021 at 8:44 PM, rjkclarke said:

I like Madhouse difficulty, it's like a modern take on the classic Resident Evil difficulty, where typewriters are replaced with cassette tapes. There aren't too many of them either, so it can get tight at times.

Oooooooohhh.... That makes me sad. Although, I guess that kind of comes with the territory with JRPG quests. I like a good grind every now and then, so I guess what you described doesn't sound too egregious. I mean, it can't be any worse than oversouling every single enemy in Final Fantasy X-2, that gathers a little too much enemy data haha :D

Haha yes nowhere near the level of FFX-2 lol Madhouse difficulty sounds more like classic RE with how you have described it, though I fear dying just before being able to save and losing a lot of progress lol but that's RE for you lol

 

On 6/28/2021 at 8:44 PM, rjkclarke said:

I think now that FFXV has been updated quite substantially, unfortunately, in some respects there are even less intricacies to the combat than there was in the first few months of them games release. I mean you can literally kill the Adamantoise with the Ring of Lucii now.. I expect pretty much everything else you can too. I've not dabbled around too much with the newer updates outside of the DLC, but I expect there is plenty of challenge and depth to be found somewhere. I just haven't really bothered to look. So maybe that's a me problem. 

OMG that Adamantoise battle lol I definitely did that wrong, but knew I could beat it anyways but yeah took me a loooooonnnggg time to do lol Christ that was boring......anyways I will eventually check out those DLC's.

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14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Haha yes nowhere near the level of FFX-2 lol Madhouse difficulty sounds more like classic RE with how you have described it, though I fear dying just before being able to save and losing a lot of progress lol but that's RE for you lol

 

I doubt you'll lose too much progress on Madhouse, they throw loads of cassettes at you in the last few sections of the game, so you don't have to worry about it too much. There's been worse things in RE titles, like the Real Survivor Difiiculty in REmake (I think that was the the name of that difficulty, where you didn't get connected item boxes) that was a toughy haha :D

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

OMG that Adamantoise battle lol I definitely did that wrong, but knew I could beat it anyways but yeah took me a loooooonnnggg time to do lol Christ that was boring......anyways I will eventually check out those DLC's.

 

I also definitely did that battle wrong, I remember watching video's after beating it, seeing  people take it down really quick and I was like....... But.... But..... what did I do wrong? I clearly was doing something VEEERY wrong. Took me at least 2 hours I think. You'll be pleased to know if all goes to plan in the next couple of hours, and I manage to get all the boring real life things done, that come with being an adult. I should be able to FINALLY start Final Fantasy IX.... It's only taken what.... TWENTY + years :)... Still got to do some stuff, then get a review written for The Lego Movie: Videogame, then I should be good to go, don't have to be anywhere tomorrow so I can get some FFIX goodness under my belt.

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Alright... Time to tick LEGO Movie: The Videogame off the list... Which is a game name, I've probably written down wrong, more times than I have right. This is also going to be the last post in this thread written on Old Meg, before she goes off to silicone heaven . (I'll leave that there for any fans of Peep Show and Red Dwarf.) My really decrepit, dying PC with busted RAM chips that is now essentially being kept on life support with 750MB of RAM to play with.. Yes, you read that right.. 750MB of RAM in 2021.

 

So then, to misquote a line from the old Baldy Beardy Bard, William Shakespeare.

 

"Once more unto the breach, Dear Meg, Once More;"

 

Lego Movie: The Videogame Review

 

 

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Platinum #324

LEGO Movie: The Videogame (PS4)

 

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The Piece of Resistance
Unlock All Trophies

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

Platinum Earned - 1 July 2021: 5:56:30 AM

Time Taken to Platinum :  4 days, 3 hours, 36 minutes

Platinum Rarity  - 25.13%

Trophy Number - #15,620

 

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.... EVERYTHING IS AWESOME, WHEN CLEARING YOUR YOUR BACKLOG.. That doesn't really work. It just seemed kind of fitting y'know. I'm actually very fond of the  Lego Movie that this is an adaptation of. For a film that is aimed primarily at a younger audience, the actual subtextual message of the film has an incredible amount of depth! Which will teach children so much about inclusivity and free will, without the film actually having to teach them anything at all. It's just a natural part of the plot, never seeking to preach to the audience at all, but the message is definitely there. I know you could say... "oh dear here comes rjkclarke again waving around a pretentious whacking stick, looking for depth that isn't there." I'm not sure why in this scenario, I made it the whacking day episode of The Simpsons, that's just what entered my brain I guess. I just thought it might be worth mentioning, because I also think the LEGO Movie itself, is a good way to spend a few hours. .

 

Taking all of the above into account though, does its video game adaptation live up to the standard of the product from which it was born? In a word, no, it doesn't. That isn't to say it's bad or anything, because this is by no means a bad video game - it just isn't a particularly faithful rendition of the source material, you can't even put that down to the fact this is a LEGO-ised version of it. Just one that ultimately misses out an incredible amount of detail when it comes to the plot, meaningful character development and themes found within the film itself. If you can let most of that slide (which I can)  to enjoy a decent LEGO game experience, then you'll almost certainly find that here.

 

Whilst, LEGO Movie: The Videogame doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking with the - by this point already established, LEGO game formula, it does have a few things in its wheelhouse that actually keep it fairly interesting to play throughout. One of these is its length, or in this case lack of it. I personally find that some of the more recent entries in the series have an overabundance of just, well, stuff, there's always just so much of it. LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 felt like the biggest culprit in this  department. In this game though, it's quite manageable. You only have seventy Gold Bricks to find, six collectibles to be found within each level and then the twenty Red Bricks from the hub worlds. So in that regard, you aren't that likely to get burnt out playing it, unless you have an incredibly short attention span.

If you were looking for DMC or Platinum Games style combat, in these games you're going to be looking for a very long time, you'd probably have an easier time finding a very specific coloured grain of sand in the Mojave desert. I've always found efficiency to be the best form of combat in LEGO games, so you'll often see me just leaping into the air and hitting square to deal with as many enemies, as quickly as possible. It's functional at least, essentially, if you've played a LEGO title before, then you'll almost certainly know what to expect going in. 

 

I suspect these next parts are going to be rather short, just because there isn't all that much to discuss regarding the games art style or it's soundtrack and sound design. We'll see though. I do appreciate the effort that went into making EVERYTHING in the game out of Lego. In a few of the titles, there are definitely some pieces of environment here and there that definitely aren't built with just Lego, just look like it. I think in the case of this game, it really helps add to the authenticity of it, it also ends up contrasting really well with the theme of the bonus level, which I thought was a nice addition. It's such a huge juxtaposition when compared with everything else you've played up to that point, and I think it was implemented really effectively.

The soundtrack though, this is where we have a little bit of a problem. At least for me anyway, I always try and find positivity wherever I can, but it's incredibly hard to just not be scathing about this one. I don't think the soundtrack deserves a word as polite as generic, but that's the highest praise I'm willing to give it. It isn't really bad per se, it's just the lack of variety really ends up getting to you when you are trudging around the hub worlds listening to the grating music playing - on what seemed like a one minute loop, that never gets interesting - or really changes from the same generic beat. I mean the sound effects are all quite good, so it isn't all bad. But I suspect, there is a sound effects folder somewhere that gets used for most of the Lego titles, so that probably wasn't a difficult or expensive thing for them to add.

 

If you've played a Lego title before, you'll pretty much know what to expect going into this one regarding the trophies. It has quite a lot more miscellaneous trophies than some of the more recent games. Nothing is missable thankfully, and I don't think any of the trophies or completion metrics are particularly buggy, which is a problem that has plagued a fair few Lego titles in the past. So that's all good. I think as far as the actual journey towards the platinum goes it's a very fun experience. I don't think I was particularly bored once, (outside of the music, which yes, I suppose I could have turned down or off) the Lego titles I tend to personally enjoy more, are the ones where none of the elements of free play mode, become tiresome or feel too arduous. This game is almost one of the perfect examples of that done well, no part of it lasts long enough to feel like a grind or outstay its welcome, so in that regard it is an enjoyable way to spend about 12-15 hours. I think that was about how long it took me anyway.

 

Would I recommend this? Yes, I would, but I'm not suggesting anybody rush out and buy it straight away, or anything of that nature. However, it is a nice relaxing way to spend some time. I probably picked the right time to play something like this anyway, as This War of Mine, was bleak (but amazing) to say the least. Perhaps, find it for a good price and save it for a rainy day, when you are in between larger game projects or something of that nature. It's something that you can just sit down and play for a few hours without having to expend much mental energy, so that's always nice.

I only bought it earlier in the year to fill in a few of the gaps in my Lego game collection, it was never a title I was personally that fussed about playing. I'm glad I have though, because whilst it isn't perfect, I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was a little worried it would be really bloated and crammed full of filler. Thankfully, it isn't.

 

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

 

DIsclaimer!!

 

No PC's were harmed in the making of this review!

 

 

What's Next?

 

Final Fantasy IX at last, that's going to take a long time so I'll probably post quite a lot of classic reviews and maybe some other things whilst I'm playing through Final Fantasy IX. I'm really looking forward to it, so that's where I'm headed next. Going in completely blind to a game that's twenty plus years old certainly feels odd, but a nice feeling nonetheless.

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20 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I doubt you'll lose too much progress on Madhouse, they throw loads of cassettes at you in the last few sections of the game, so you don't have to worry about it too much. There's been worse things in RE titles, like the Real Survivor Difiiculty in REmake (I think that was the the name of that difficulty, where you didn't get connected item boxes) that was a toughy haha :D

Yeah that Real Survivor difficulty was sooo fun lol had to follow a video to do that one effectively. Very fun but challenging platinum to go for overall was REmake, but had to get it. Tis my 7th favourite game after all! (RE1 original is 3rd) Well Madhouse sounds like an interesting one!

20 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I also definitely did that battle wrong, I remember watching video's after beating it, seeing  people take it down really quick and I was like....... But.... But..... what did I do wrong? I clearly was doing something VEEERY wrong. Took me at least 2 hours I think. You'll be pleased to know if all goes to plan in the next couple of hours, and I manage to get all the boring real life things done, that come with being an adult. I should be able to FINALLY start Final Fantasy IX.... It's only taken what.... TWENTY + years :)...

Yeah indeed, well we are in the same boat there lol but still managed it anyways. 

17 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

What's Next?

 

Final Fantasy IX at last, that's going to take a long time so I'll probably post quite a lot of classic reviews and maybe some other things whilst I'm playing through Final Fantasy IX. I'm really looking forward to it, so that's where I'm headed next. Going in completely blind to a game that's twenty plus years old certainly feels odd, but a nice feeling nonetheless.

YES! Final Fantasy IX here you come! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that. Take your time and enjoy it. There are so many things right with that game! (A few things not so right, can't so any more there)

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5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah that Real Survivor difficulty was sooo fun lol had to follow a video to do that one effectively. Very fun but challenging platinum to go for overall was REmake, but had to get it. Tis my 7th favourite game after all! (RE1 original is 3rd) Well Madhouse sounds like an interesting one!

 

Real Survivor definitely was something wasn't it. I'm incredibly fond of both versions of RE1 and Remake, REmake is an outrageously fun platinum though. I thought anyway. It was the perfect mix of things to see and do, it makes you feel like you're a complete master of that game by the end of it. Resident Evil 0 is a little bit like that, in that you end up knowing the game inside out, but I don't think it's got quite the same level of re-playability as REmake, makes the platinum only a tiny bit less fun.

 

5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

YES! Final Fantasy IX here you come! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that. Take your time and enjoy it. There are so many things right with that game! (A few things not so right, can't so any more there)

 

That's awesome!! Thanks, I'm glad to hear it. I've not been this excited to start a game for some time actually. So that's usually a good sign. I definitely plan to take my time with it. So I appreciate the good advice. I'm planning to knock out the 1000 skips with the skipping rope early, so that it pretty much leaves the entirety of the game there to be enjoyed at my own pace. Not doing too bad, I managed to nail the trophy for getting 100 within about 45 minutes. So we'll see how brutal the speed increases become.. haha :D, I've got plenty of patience so let's hope it can hold out. If it doesn't I'll just have a hell of a time playing a game I've wanted to, but never played before. 

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On 7/4/2021 at 0:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

Real Survivor definitely was something wasn't it. I'm incredibly fond of both versions of RE1 and Remake, REmake is an outrageously fun platinum though. I thought anyway. It was the perfect mix of things to see and do, it makes you feel like you're a complete master of that game by the end of it. Resident Evil 0 is a little bit like that, in that you end up knowing the game inside out, but I don't think it's got quite the same level of re-playability as REmake, makes the platinum only a tiny bit less fun.

Yeah very true, got to agree by the end of it the satisfaction of the platinum popping for REmake was total, like you had done basically everything in a complete way so it was the right time to end, unlike some other games where you end up having to grind and grind and the platinum overstays it's welcome for example lol RE0 I was going for a platinum for, but I botched up that run in the side mode that I can't remember the name of (too tired lol) and sadly that killed my rhythm and I never went back to it. I can always go back one day and try again if I want that plat, really good game as we have discussed.

 

On 7/4/2021 at 0:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

That's awesome!! Thanks, I'm glad to hear it. I've not been this excited to start a game for some time actually. So that's usually a good sign. I definitely plan to take my time with it. So I appreciate the good advice. I'm planning to knock out the 1000 skips with the skipping rope early, so that it pretty much leaves the entirety of the game there to be enjoyed at my own pace. Not doing too bad, I managed to nail the trophy for getting 100 within about 45 minutes. So we'll see how brutal the speed increases become.. haha :D, I've got plenty of patience so let's hope it can hold out. If it doesn't I'll just have a hell of a time playing a game I've wanted to, but never played before. 

Nice start and that is definitely the way to approach things with the game. Don't let trophies sully the overall gaming experience. I can be guilty of that occasionally and it's something I've tried to get better at over time. With getting the 1000 jumps, the rhythm of the timing changes at various points and it is randomized so getting a true flow is very difficult for such a long period of time. Makes the FFX trophies seem easy in comparison lol 

Keep us updated on your gradual progress, and enjoy the game how and when you want to ?

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10 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah very true, got to agree by the end of it the satisfaction of the platinum popping for REmake was total, like you had done basically everything in a complete way so it was the right time to end, unlike some other games where you end up having to grind and grind and the platinum overstays it's welcome for example lol RE0 I was going for a platinum for, but I botched up that run in the side mode that I can't remember the name of (too tired lol) and sadly that killed my rhythm and I never went back to it. I can always go back one day and try again if I want that plat, really good game as we have discussed.

 

Absolutely... Was it Leech Hunter where something went wrong in RE0, that's too easy to have that happen. I'm actually tempted to do REmake as my next classic review thingy-ma-jig.. I only did it last year so it's still fairly fresh in my brain. Such a great experience, it's one of those platinum's I'd pretty much recommend to anyone. The right amount of difficulty and enjoyment. The difficulty never really feels unfair, even on things like Invisible Enemy Mode. Although I'll be honest I became very fearful of the Hunters when you have to do that complete run through of the game without saving. That insta-kill swipe they have, put me on edge any time that I went anywhere near them. Just shotgunned them in the face or launched some grenades their way, even if I probably should have saved the ammo, didn't want to lose a run to those scaly beasties.

 

10 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Nice start and that is definitely the way to approach things with the game. Don't let trophies sully the overall gaming experience. I can be guilty of that occasionally and it's something I've tried to get better at over time. With getting the 1000 jumps, the rhythm of the timing changes at various points and it is randomized so getting a true flow is very difficult for such a long period of time. Makes the FFX trophies seem easy in comparison lol 

Keep us updated on your gradual progress, and enjoy the game how and when you want to 

 

That's some good advice, thanks. Which I will absolutely be taking on board with Final Fantasy IX. I always try not to let one trophy dampen the experience. I think it's a bit unfair when people rag on a game for having a bad trophy list if the game itself is actually good. There is always the choice to just not have the platinum. (Easier for me to say, I know, as I have a few unobtainable's so 100% is impossible for me anyway) You can still appreciate that game as a good experience. In that situation, I kind of think, what's more important to you? A really good game, or an easy/challenging trophy list. I'd practically play games the same way regardless of whether trophies were involved or not. I would admittedly do less of the do x amount of kills with this gun/ weapon kind of thing though - unless there was some sort of in game completion metric for that like the Yakuza series has. I probably sounded like a bit of a nutbag there so I guess apologies if that ruffles any feathers. I just don't think you can judge a games worth based solely on its trophy list. That's probably why I get less specific about trophies in any reviews/write ups that I do about games, because unless I think they really harm the experience, or, as is often the case actually enhance the experience, I don't quite tend to focus on it so much. Which again, probably seems crazy as we're on a trophy site :D. I know what you mean though, they do make some of Final Fantasy X's more annoying and finicky trophies seem like a cake walk don't they haha!

 

Mini Final Fantasy IX Update

 

In brighter and probably less controversial  news. (Although, what I said above wasn't meant to be controversial, more just my own musings, about why people don't relax a bit more when it comes to trophy hunting, it's still got to be fun right?) I'm actually making steady progress with the Hail to the King trophy... I'm consistently getting to 200 jumps now. From everything I've read the hard part is between 200-300 so once I've actually got that rhythm down and have it learnt, it should just be a matter of concentration. That trophy is definitely a test of focus that's for sure. So I'm actually quite enjoying it from that perspective.. It's frustrating, sure. But every single time I mess up, I know that it's my fault and mine alone. I'm essentially just playing it for a bit until I feel like I'm improving - and if I feel like I'm just getting worse in that session, I stop, and do something else.

 

So I feel like I'm making steady progress. Not likely to get it tonight, but if I can begin to learn the timing for jumps 200-300 that will feel like some major progress from my point of view. It will all feel worth it in the end, when I have an entirely new (to me)  and beloved entry in the Final Fantasy series I can focus most of my gaming attention on. Onwards and upwards as they say. Or I guess in my case as I'm watching Vivi jumping on the screen constantly, upwards and downwards :)

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11 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Absolutely... Was it Leech Hunter where something went wrong in RE0, that's too easy to have that happen. I'm actually tempted to do REmake as my next classic review thingy-ma-jig.. I only did it last year so it's still fairly fresh in my brain. Such a great experience, it's one of those platinum's I'd pretty much recommend to anyone. The right amount of difficulty and enjoyment. The difficulty never really feels unfair, even on things like Invisible Enemy Mode. Although I'll be honest I became very fearful of the Hunters when you have to do that complete run through of the game without saving. That insta-kill swipe they have, put me on edge any time that I went anywhere near them. Just shotgunned them in the face or launched some grenades their way, even if I probably should have saved the ammo, didn't want to lose a run to those scaly beasties.

Yes! Leech Hunter, that's the one. Man that was so annoying not doing that properly (had to watch a video whilst trying) and it took so long it was really frustrating afterwards and I never ended up going back to it, but I think I'll give it a shot again one day in the future. Yeha I agree, even with modes like Invisibile Enemy Mode and having to run through the whole game without saving, it still feels like a balanced and fair trophy list for a platinum of a game of this stature. Running through the game without dying took me 3 tries, and I didn't even die due to those hunters lol would have made the two failures better to take I think lol

 

11 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That's some good advice, thanks. Which I will absolutely be taking on board with Final Fantasy IX. I always try not to let one trophy dampen the experience. I think it's a bit unfair when people rag on a game for having a bad trophy list if the game itself is actually good. There is always the choice to just not have the platinum. (Easier for me to say, I know, as I have a few unobtainable's so 100% is impossible for me anyway) You can still appreciate that game as a good experience. In that situation, I kind of think, what's more important to you? A really good game, or an easy/challenging trophy list. I'd practically play games the same way regardless of whether trophies were involved or not. I would admittedly do less of the do x amount of kills with this gun/ weapon kind of thing though - unless there was some sort of in game completion metric for that like the Yakuza series has. I probably sounded like a bit of a nutbag there so I guess apologies if that ruffles any feathers. I just don't think you can judge a games worth based solely on its trophy list. That's probably why I get less specific about trophies in any reviews/write ups that I do about games, because unless I think they really harm the experience, or, as is often the case actually enhance the experience, I don't quite tend to focus on it so much. Which again, probably seems crazy as we're on a trophy site :D. I know what you mean though, they do make some of Final Fantasy X's more annoying and finicky trophies seem like a cake walk don't they haha!

Yeah, it took me a long time to realise that not every game that I started, that the be all and end all was getting that platinum. I start games in the hope and aim of getting platinums most of the time, but nowadays I taught myself that if it isn't going to work for whatever reason, then just try and get a reasonable amount of trophies (in my case I am for at least half) and then leave it at that, having enjoyed the game for what it is. Too many seem to think the tie between a game's quality and it's trophy list is unbreakable which is a shame. Final Fantasy IX and X are great examples of games which have some very poor trophies that don't need to be there, but also they don't need to ruin the experience of the games as a whole. At the same time, for me personally I haven't been able to bring myself to play (well they aren't accessible at the mo anyways so bit of a moot point lol) either Sonic Unleashed or Final Fantasy Dissidia NT, due to the likelyhood I would end up with minimal trophies, and again I like to try and get half of a trophies list or as close as possible as a minimum (nowadays, my older game list isn't the same lol) especially with titles like those which are from my favourite franchises. Weird quirk I have.

 

11 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

In brighter and probably less controversial  news. (Although, what I said above wasn't meant to be controversial, more just my own musings, about why people don't relax a bit more when it comes to trophy hunting, it's still got to be fun right?) I'm actually making steady progress with the Hail to the King trophy... I'm consistently getting to 200 jumps now. From everything I've read the hard part is between 200-300 so once I've actually got that rhythm down and have it learnt, it should just be a matter of concentration. That trophy is definitely a test of focus that's for sure. So I'm actually quite enjoying it from that perspective.. It's frustrating, sure. But every single time I mess up, I know that it's my fault and mine alone. I'm essentially just playing it for a bit until I feel like I'm improving - and if I feel like I'm just getting worse in that session, I stop, and do something else.

 

So I feel like I'm making steady progress. Not likely to get it tonight, but if I can begin to learn the timing for jumps 200-300 that will feel like some major progress from my point of view. It will all feel worth it in the end, when I have an entirely new (to me)  and beloved entry in the Final Fantasy series I can focus most of my gaming attention on. Onwards and upwards as they say. Or I guess in my case as I'm watching Vivi jumping on the screen constantly, upwards and downwards :)

 

Onwards and upwards indeed, I reckon you'll nab that trophy in pretty short order, and then you'll have had enough of Vivi haha jokes or at least skipping ropes lol

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20 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Mini Final Fantasy IX Update

 

In brighter and probably less controversial  news. (Although, what I said above wasn't meant to be controversial, more just my own musings, about why people don't relax a bit more when it comes to trophy hunting, it's still got to be fun right?) I'm actually making steady progress with the Hail to the King trophy... I'm consistently getting to 200 jumps now. From everything I've read the hard part is between 200-300 so once I've actually got that rhythm down and have it learnt, it should just be a matter of concentration. That trophy is definitely a test of focus that's for sure. So I'm actually quite enjoying it from that perspective.. It's frustrating, sure. But every single time I mess up, I know that it's my fault and mine alone. I'm essentially just playing it for a bit until I feel like I'm improving - and if I feel like I'm just getting worse in that session, I stop, and do something else.

 

So I feel like I'm making steady progress. Not likely to get it tonight, but if I can begin to learn the timing for jumps 200-300 that will feel like some major progress from my point of view. It will all feel worth it in the end, when I have an entirely new (to me)  and beloved entry in the Final Fantasy series I can focus most of my gaming attention on. Onwards and upwards as they say. Or I guess in my case as I'm watching Vivi jumping on the screen constantly, upwards and downwards :)

That jump rope trophy can be soul crushing. I would recommend that after 300 jumps you save it in another slot and go back to it every now and again while continuing the game on another slot.

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14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yes! Leech Hunter, that's the one. Man that was so annoying not doing that properly (had to watch a video whilst trying) and it took so long it was really frustrating afterwards and I never ended up going back to it, but I think I'll give it a shot again one day in the future. Yeha I agree, even with modes like Invisibile Enemy Mode and having to run through the whole game without saving, it still feels like a balanced and fair trophy list for a platinum of a game of this stature. Running through the game without dying took me 3 tries, and I didn't even die due to those hunters lol would have made the two failures better to take I think lol

 

Yeah....... Leech Hunter mode isn't a particularly fun time to be fair.. It's way too easy to mess up and there's so many things you have to remember all at once. All the unlockables do end up trivialising a lot of the rest of the game though thankfully. If you never played Wesker Mode you'll have that to look forward to, it's quite interesting, as Wesker does have a few gameplay quirks that are exclusive just to him. I'd definitely recommend going back to RE0 at some point, just whenever you get the feeling you want to. I love that feeling personally, when you just get that sudden desire to play a game you haven't thought about for a while. 

 

That 0 deaths run in REmake is definitely a little sketchy for sure.. It's a testament to how good that game really is,  that people are willing to replay it after fails though isn't it.  I think I've got you beat for deaths though :D... I died so many more times than I'd like to admit, on some area's that people would just look at me with confusion. You know the underground bit before you fight Black Tiger (Which is a spider, for anyone who didn't know, that reads this, yeah I don't get it either. :) )  or after Black Tiger, I can't remember precisely? I died in that bit where you have to go full Indiana Jones and run away from the boulders, lost several runs to that, one or two to hunters. Got eaten by a shark, trying to do a speedrum trick haha! Which I wish I had recorded, because it was so funny.  Then I think, Lisa Trevor got me a good few times.

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah, it took me a long time to realise that not every game that I started, that the be all and end all was getting that platinum. I start games in the hope and aim of getting platinums most of the time, but nowadays I taught myself that if it isn't going to work for whatever reason, then just try and get a reasonable amount of trophies (in my case I am for at least half) and then leave it at that, having enjoyed the game for what it is. Too many seem to think the tie between a game's quality and it's trophy list is unbreakable which is a shame. Final Fantasy IX and X are great examples of games which have some very poor trophies that don't need to be there, but also they don't need to ruin the experience of the games as a whole. At the same time, for me personally I haven't been able to bring myself to play (well they aren't accessible at the mo anyways so bit of a moot point lol) either Sonic Unleashed or Final Fantasy Dissidia NT, due to the likelyhood I would end up with minimal trophies, and again I like to try and get half of a trophies list or as close as possible as a minimum (nowadays, my older game list isn't the same lol) especially with titles like those which are from my favourite franchises. Weird quirk I have.

 

Well said.. Like, honestly that's a great outlook to have I think. Pretty much a Zen approach. That's sort of where I'm at too, or at least I try to be.  I have Arkham Origins on my list, I don't know that I'll ever platinum it. I could - but I don't really want to, but there are trophies I'd like to go back and clean up a bit in it, because the single player experience is really good. I just don't fancy the online portion of it. That's also why I'll end up platinuming Assassin's Creed brotherhood about 10 years later than I should have done :D. So I'd definitely like to clean that one up, because I never did all the Riddler/Enigma trophies in that title. I had pretty much written off playing Disidia NT and Final Fantasy XIV myself, as I was fairly sure, I wouldn't like them. But it's more the time commitment element to them that I find really off-putting. Is Sonic Unleashed unobtainable now? Or really rare or something, or do you just not have access to the disc still? 

 

Final Fantasy IX and X are good examples of what you mentioned about the trophies not ruining the overall experience.  Get in a cannon and fire yourself into a brick wall full of spikes, lightning bolt dodging trophy ?. I can think of plenty of others too. Ironically I've also played objectively bad games that have had a really fun trophy list that scratched the particular itch I was having with gaming at the time. Whenever I review Risen 3 in the future people are going to be incredibly shocked that I had more fun getting that platinum than I did a title from an incredibly beloved franchise. Back onto better games with iffy trophies though.  Another non Final Fantasy one, I think would be Killer is Dead, very fun gameplay, very quirky but enjoyable story.. Memorable characters with an absolutely terrible grind towards a platinum. It's one of my least enjoyable platinum's, but as a game I actually really enjoyed it and I'd rate it quite highly (or I would if I did the whole score out of ten thing).

 

Actually.. I've got a review already written I've not posted in this thread yet, for a game that all round, is good in a lot of departments, but if you judged its worth based on its trophies it would substantially lower its score, but I can assure you it is a good game. So I think I'll post that after I've written this post. 

 

14 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Onwards and upwards indeed, I reckon you'll nab that trophy in pretty short order, and then you'll have had enough of Vivi haha jokes or at least skipping ropes lol

 

Thanks for the encouragement!!  It's much appreciated. I've definitely got a free couple of hours tomorrow to try and get a little better at it. I've nearly got the rhythm down between 200 and 300, I just get so nervous haha! I'm not going to use the remote play thing either, I know I could - and I have absolutely no problem with anyone who does. That's up to them right? It isn't breaking any of the rules I don't think. I just know it would get in MY head a bit, that I didn't truly do it myself, but that's just me obviously. I wouldn't let the 147 break go in the Snooker DLC in Pure Pool, and I was trying to get that on and off for about two years, but I got there in the end. Only like once or twice a week, nothing crazy, so I'll try and keep at it. I know there's an awesome game ahead of me as my "reward" so to speak. So it still feels worthwhile. Sorry for the giant long reply here. I just thought some of the stuff was worth mentioning.

 

5 hours ago, Grotz99 said:

That jump rope trophy can be soul crushing. I would recommend that after 300 jumps you save it in another slot and go back to it every now and again while continuing the game on another slot.

 

I also appreciate this advice. I really do. It would probably make the experience a bit more enjoyable that way, wouldn't it. I had considered that myself, just continuing with the game and then coming back every now and then for the odd attempt. I might still do that. Or I could use it as an excuse to temporarily break off and do some miscellaneous stuff in some of my other backlog games, like Star Ocean 4 or something similar. I've heard that DE are not adding any more trophies to Warframe. I have a few friends who are always up for playing that, so I could chill out with some friends whilst trying to get my 100% back in that game too. That could be a fun distraction.

 

At the moment I'm trying not to play it for too long at once to really frustrate me.. But I think if I start to break 300 and then fail often it will. It's really annoying getting to like 216 or something and just mistiming one single button press and it's back to square one. that definitely can get you a bit disheartened.

 

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After having a little brainwave after replying to @The_Kopite's last post I thought I should add this review of a game which I actually think quite highly of. It was very ambitious, quite well realised. Very funny in places. But the platinum itself is definitely not the most enjoyable thing you could ever experience. The way it tells its story however most definitely is! So I'll leave my take on it down below. I had actually forgotten I hadn't posted it in this thread yet. I might amend a few grammatical mistakes. But I'm fairly happy with this one, as it is.Quite a short review/ write up compared to my usually, lengthier ones.

 

Stories: The Path of Destinies Review

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Platinum #311

Stories: The Path of Destinies (PS4)

 

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Gray fox is my pup

You have explored the Path of Destinies

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

Platinum Earned - 16 March 2021: 1:51: 33 AM

Time Taken to Platinum :  4 days, 5 hours, 24 minutes

Platinum Rarity  - 13.81%

Trophy Number - #15,073

 

Originally Written: March 16 -  2021

 

This one has been in my backlog for such a long time! I think, since whenever it was included with PSPlus about three or four years ago. Possibly even longer. I'm trying to cut through a bit of my backlog though and this game has been installed on my console for years at this point without me ever actually touching it, so I thought why not give it a spin now. I've heard quite a few mixed things about this, like that it's the most tedious platinum ever, which I find hard to believe for a game that is only at best 25+ hours long. It isn't particularly tedious more arduous, probably more than it really needs to be as well. I find it really astounding that this wasn't ported to the Vita first and then the PS4 later, I think the gameplay loop of multiple short runs, between 20-40 minutes, really suits the pick up and play aspect of a handheld and to be honest Stories: The Path of Destinies, does suffer a bit because of this, I don't think it particularly suits prolonged periods of play, because you end up seeing the same areas and enemies very often.

 

Stories: The Path of Destinies does have a lot to like though, the art style is incredibly charming and it really plays into the storybook aesthetic that the developers were going for. The use of narration I thought in this game, was very unique as well, every character and the narrator are all voiced by the same person, which really helps further the idea of the Stories being retold from a book. The game also includes a nice relaxing OST that I don't think ever really outstays its welcome, possibly because you don't hear it all that often because the game is quite fast paced and there is usually narration to pay attention to. I won't mention too much about the story itself because primarily that is the focus of the game, I guess the clue is in the title haha. I'll just mention how I thought it was handled. This game is VERY VERY self aware about pop culture so if you like little references and Easter Eggs you will probably enjoy quite a few of the stories, so a lot of the titles of the Stories themselves reference various aspects of Novels, Films/TV and Video Games, one I particularly liked was called Return of the Hippie I think, which was quite Star Wars-esque in a few ways that made me laugh. I was a big fan of the process of revealing certain truths as you travel through other story paths, as they all play into the true ending of the game which I think uses all of the acquired knowledge of the stories in a very clever way.

 

The Gameplay and Trophy aspect of this is one of the more questionable areas of Stories: The Path of Destinies a very mixed bag overall.The combat, is very simplistic, not bad just very basic and once you get the character skill for instant kill attacks after a certain combo threshold the game does become a little bit too easy. I don't think I ever really found the combat boring particularly though, because it is very fast paced and you get some decent EXP bonuses for performing well, which is always helpful considering how much EXP you truly need to finish up all the trophies. The trophies themselves all have really nice looking Trophy tiles apart from the maybe the Platinum one which seems a little out of place to be honest, most of them also have a few little references chucked into them. I think the developers were also Metal Gear fans judging by some of them, which I am too, so it was nice to see those. Whilst the trophies look and read quite cool, actually attaining them is more of a problem, Stories: The Path of Destinies absolutely rains down trophies on you within the first 5 hours or so of the game, think I had about 63%ish trophy completion by about that point. after that point though the game becomes a desert for trophies with the odd oasis in-between and then the Platinum just looms in the distance like a mirage as you have no choice but to slowly crawl towards it. I think this is more where peoples frustrations about the game being tedious probably come from.

 

I think I would recommend this to people though, but perhaps on a few conditions. I'd recommend this if it has been in your backlog for a while like it was with me and wanted something fairly simple but enjoyable to play through, just don't expect it to blow you away, maybe don't play it at the expense of other games you'd rather play instead either. That sounded way more negative than it should haha.

Secondly, this might be the perfect kind of game for anybody that has a fairly limited amount of time on their hands and doesn't want to commit to any sort of long story based game as the stories are only about half an hour on average really, in fact this would probably be the best way to approach Stories: The Path of Destinies, so you play maybe the odd playthrough here and there to just chip away at it slowly, because I think this game is probably easy to burn out on.I feel like I have quite a lot of patience and after a few long sessions it was certainly starting to wear a little thin I suppose.

Lastly, if you liked Dust: An Elysian Tail, (which I'd also recommend) there is a good chance you will like this too, they have quite a few similarities in their visual style. I actually much prefer Dust: An Elysian Tail myself, but Stories: The Path of Destinies is very enjoyable too if you go into it with the right mindset and don't get disheartened by the fact the last two or three trophies seem to take forever to unlock!! Very fun game though with some great ideas,  but a very flawed road to the platinum I thought. So perhaps this game would be more fun if the trophy hunting element was taken away? Think I'd have to think on that a bit.

 

 

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On 7/6/2021 at 10:40 PM, rjkclarke said:

Yeah....... Leech Hunter mode isn't a particularly fun time to be fair.. It's way too easy to mess up and there's so many things you have to remember all at once. All the unlockables do end up trivialising a lot of the rest of the game though thankfully. If you never played Wesker Mode you'll have that to look forward to, it's quite interesting, as Wesker does have a few gameplay quirks that are exclusive just to him. I'd definitely recommend going back to RE0 at some point, just whenever you get the feeling you want to. I love that feeling personally, when you just get that sudden desire to play a game you haven't thought about for a while. 

 

That 0 deaths run in REmake is definitely a little sketchy for sure.. It's a testament to how good that game really is,  that people are willing to replay it after fails though isn't it.  I think I've got you beat for deaths though :D... I died so many more times than I'd like to admit, on some area's that people would just look at me with confusion. You know the underground bit before you fight Black Tiger (Which is a spider, for anyone who didn't know, that reads this, yeah I don't get it either. :) )  or after Black Tiger, I can't remember precisely? I died in that bit where you have to go full Indiana Jones and run away from the boulders, lost several runs to that, one or two to hunters. Got eaten by a shark, trying to do a speedrum trick haha! Which I wish I had recorded, because it was so funny.  Then I think, Lisa Trevor got me a good few times.

No sadly I can't say I found it much fun, hence why the annoyance at not getting all the trophies from it was amplified. I will go back to RE0 one day I reckon and carry on with the platinum, I just need to complete that mode properly then I can move onto the next stage of the trophy guide which was probably Wesker Mode, which in itself is intriguing.

 

Oh the first time I did, Lisa Trevor got me good. Trying to get out of a tight spot, and she pushed me off the edge of the platform. Fricking annoying as hell. 2nd time was getting squished by the closing walls in that room, which was my bad as the control scheme got me that time for some reason with the camera switching angles all the time lol so hey, once you get it done then it's almost funny to reminisce about all those terrible terrible deaths lol wow those boulders are so annoying in itself lol

 

On 7/6/2021 at 10:40 PM, rjkclarke said:

Well said.. Like, honestly that's a great outlook to have I think. Pretty much a Zen approach. That's sort of where I'm at too, or at least I try to be.  I have Arkham Origins on my list, I don't know that I'll ever platinum it. I could - but I don't really want to, but there are trophies I'd like to go back and clean up a bit in it, because the single player experience is really good. I just don't fancy the online portion of it. That's also why I'll end up platinuming Assassin's Creed brotherhood about 10 years later than I should have done :D. So I'd definitely like to clean that one up, because I never did all the Riddler/Enigma trophies in that title. I had pretty much written off playing Disidia NT and Final Fantasy XIV myself, as I was fairly sure, I wouldn't like them. But it's more the time commitment element to them that I find really off-putting. Is Sonic Unleashed unobtainable now? Or really rare or something, or do you just not have access to the disc still? 

 

Final Fantasy IX and X are good examples of what you mentioned about the trophies not ruining the overall experience.  Get in a cannon and fire yourself into a brick wall full of spikes, lightning bolt dodging trophy 1f602.png. I can think of plenty of others too. Ironically I've also played objectively bad games that have had a really fun trophy list that scratched the particular itch I was having with gaming at the time. Whenever I review Risen 3 in the future people are going to be incredibly shocked that I had more fun getting that platinum than I did a title from an incredibly beloved franchise. Back onto better games with iffy trophies though.  Another non Final Fantasy one, I think would be Killer is Dead, very fun gameplay, very quirky but enjoyable story.. Memorable characters with an absolutely terrible grind towards a platinum. It's one of my least enjoyable platinum's, but as a game I actually really enjoyed it and I'd rate it quite highly (or I would if I did the whole score out of ten thing).

 

Actually.. I've got a review already written I've not posted in this thread yet, for a game that all round, is good in a lot of departments, but if you judged its worth based on its trophies it would substantially lower its score, but I can assure you it is a good game. So I think I'll post that after I've written this post. 

Sonic Unleashed is in a cardboard box somewhere, as is Dissidia NT. Dissidia, yeah it's the hours definitely, it's such a commitment sadly like FFIV, which I would have no time to ever start it. Have heard so many good things about that game too. Sonic Unleashed, it's the difficulty stated on the trophy guide that makes me wonder if I'll even get 10% of the trophies lol I'll play it one day though. It can be in the future like RE0, and maybe Dissidia....lol Sonic Unleashed is super long as well platinum wise for a Sonic game. I didn't think I'd ever see a Sonic game with a plat time of 65 hours. RPG like in it's length lol

Yeah there are definitely trophies I want to clean up, like the DLC's for FFXV as you know and RE5: Gold Edition. I only just found out by chance, that the PS Plus Collection version of FFXV on the PS5 comes with all but one of the DLC, so that's a bonus so maybe I'll play those in 2023 and beyond lol 

Yeah it's funny how many games are either good ones with terrible trophy lists or one of two really grindy/ridiculously difficult ones, and poor games that have easy/relaxing/fun trophy lists that make you want to go for the platinum and that enhances the experience. Go figure.

 

On 7/6/2021 at 10:40 PM, rjkclarke said:

Thanks for the encouragement!!  It's much appreciated. I've definitely got a free couple of hours tomorrow to try and get a little better at it. I've nearly got the rhythm down between 200 and 300, I just get so nervous haha! I'm not going to use the remote play thing either, I know I could - and I have absolutely no problem with anyone who does. That's up to them right? It isn't breaking any of the rules I don't think. I just know it would get in MY head a bit, that I didn't truly do it myself, but that's just me obviously. I wouldn't let the 147 break go in the Snooker DLC in Pure Pool, and I was trying to get that on and off for about two years, but I got there in the end. Only like once or twice a week, nothing crazy, so I'll try and keep at it. I know there's an awesome game ahead of me as my "reward" so to speak. So it still feels worthwhile. Sorry for the giant long reply here. I just thought some of the stuff was worth mentioning.

Anytime man. Yeah I can imagine the nerves and tension would start to kick on with the number getting bigger and bigger. I enjoy reading your replies btw, short or long so no problems there. Also do the trophy however you want, and yeah you have a great reward for getting it done. Great game, not a perfect game like.

 

On 7/6/2021 at 10:55 PM, rjkclarke said:

Stories: The Path of Destinies is very enjoyable too if you go into it with the right mindset and don't get disheartened by the fact the last two or three trophies seem to take forever to unlock!! Very fun game though with some great ideas,  but a very flawed road to the platinum I thought. So perhaps this game would be more fun if the trophy hunting element was taken away? Think I'd have to think on that a bit.

That was a bit of a grind at the end to get the platinum, but overall a good game and an enjoyable one. It was interesting, and I think personally breaking it up into smaller chunks made it easier to manage, especially that grind at the end.

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5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Oh the first time I did, Lisa Trevor got me good. Trying to get out of a tight spot, and she pushed me off the edge of the platform. Fricking annoying as hell. 2nd time was getting squished by the closing walls in that room, which was my bad as the control scheme got me that time for some reason with the camera switching angles all the time lol so hey, once you get it done then it's almost funny to reminisce about all those terrible terrible deaths lol wow those boulders are so annoying in itself lol

 

You'll have a pretty clear run to the platinum in RE0, once you get Leech Hunter done with. All the unlockables you get pretty much trivialise all the other stuff. You'll nail it eventually though!  Although, beware of those cockwomble frogs (why zombie frogs? I guess there's also a zombie bat and a scorpion so I shouldn't question it too much haha) I almost lost my no save playthrough to those, one grabbed me about 10 minutes from the end. Thankfully, Rebecca was there and I actually remembered to have her equipped with a weapon and she actually ended up saving my skin.

 

I don't mind admitting, even at 30, Lisa Trevor still makes me super uncomfortable. It's the horrible rattling breaths and just the slow plodding way she moves towards you, makes my skin crawl haha :D. She was such a great addition!! I agree, it's one of those things where it ends up being quite funny to reminisce on avoidable deaths that at the time are infuriating, but looking back with hindsight are actually quite funny. I might be misremembering this, because I'm not sure you casn actually get killed by the crows, but I'm sure I did get killed in a no death run  by one of those crows/ravens outside between the mansion and the gatehouse, because I was too stubborn to heal as I came hobbling out of the mansion

.

 

5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Sonic Unleashed is in a cardboard box somewhere, as is Dissidia NT. Dissidia, yeah it's the hours definitely, it's such a commitment sadly like FFIV, which I would have no time to ever start it. Have heard so many good things about that game too. Sonic Unleashed, it's the difficulty stated on the trophy guide that makes me wonder if I'll even get 10% of the trophies lol I'll play it one day though. It can be in the future like RE0, and maybe Dissidia....lol Sonic Unleashed is super long as well platinum wise for a Sonic game. I didn't think I'd ever see a Sonic game with a plat time of 65 hours. RPG like in it's length lol

Yeah there are definitely trophies I want to clean up, like the DLC's for FFXV as you know and RE5: Gold Edition. I only just found out by chance, that the PS Plus Collection version of FFXV on the PS5 comes with all but one of the DLC, so that's a bonus so maybe I'll play those in 2023 and beyond lol 

Yeah it's funny how many games are either good ones with terrible trophy lists or one of two really grindy/ridiculously difficult ones, and poor games that have easy/relaxing/fun trophy lists that make you want to go for the platinum and that enhances the experience. Go figure.

 

One of my friends absolutely swears by Final Fantasy XIV, he loves it. I expect I would too, I'm in a similar boat to you I think, where I like the idea of playing it, but realistically I probably don't have the time commitment available to be able to really experience it, the way I'd like to. 

That's super surprising about Sonic Unleashed.. I thought Sonic's dealio was the whole "Gotta go fast" thing. So the fact one of his games is a 65 hour platinum is quite ironic actually.  You could literally platinum Yakuza 6 in 25 hours less time than it would take to get it in Sonic Unleashed, putting it like that really does make that seem mad.

 

I definitely get the clean-up incentive thing, that's one of the reasons I started this thread, (that, and my own self indulgent desire to review all of the games I've got a platinum in haha :D ) although ironically - I haven't touched a single one of the games I labelled as a high priority in the first post.  I'm struggling to get the motivation to  boost dead multiplayer, it requires, again a huge commitment of time, and flexibility that I'm not sure I have, so they get put on the back burner.

You'll get to yours I'm sure though. Final Fantasy XV's DLC might make you at least feel a little warmer towards it, because it is good, despite what both of our opinions might be on that game, I had a fun enough time with the ones I've done so far. Plus it makes Prompto seem less of a fanny, so I definitely can't complain on that one. What do you have left in RE5: Gold? hopefully not that multiplayer, because that's all I have left for RE5 and I think I might just not bother with it, the other DLC is top notch though, definitely recommend those if you've not gotten to them yet.

 

5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Anytime man. Yeah I can imagine the nerves and tension would start to kick on with the number getting bigger and bigger. I enjoy reading your replies btw, short or long so no problems there. Also do the trophy however you want, and yeah you have a great reward for getting it done. Great game, not a perfect game like.

 

The tension certainly does start to creep in that's for sure!! I'd consider doing it via the remote play thing, but the thing is I think with my internet being as clunky and as temperamental as it is, I think I'd spend as much time trying to get that script to run to completion, than I would just learning it and doing it myself.

I think it's possible I might get it tomorrow though, I think I've got a decent amount of time, certainly in the evening to take a few cracks at it. I was getting closer and closer to nailing that 200-300 rhythm change.........  I know after 300, it's just a matter of focus and concentration.... Then my neighbour started going completely crazy with a chainsaw, sounded like he was just going full Leatherface for about 40 minutes or so. So that completely destroyed my focus  haha :D

 

 

5 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

That was a bit of a grind at the end to get the platinum, but overall a good game and an enjoyable one. It was interesting, and I think personally breaking it up into smaller chunks made it easier to manage, especially that grind at the end.

 

That's exactly it yeah, that game really doesn't lend itself to long play sessions. It's very fun in very small doses, but anything more does start to grate on you, especially close to the end when you know there's not much left to do, yet you still have to sit through those unskippable cutscenes for the 20th time. I would like to play the other title that, that studio made... Omensight, I think it's called. It's one of those ones where I'm not really willing to take a punt on it, unless I see it for a decent price, but if I do. I think I'll have to check it out.

I re-read that review after posting it, I'd forgotten how much I used to talk about trophies in those earlier reviews. I think when I first started posting them I felt way more obligated to talk about trophies, because, well, we're on a trophy site..... So I kind of thought it was a mandatory requirement. It isn't though, so these days I try to explore all the other areas of a game, before even really mentioning trophies.

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8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

You'll have a pretty clear run to the platinum in RE0, once you get Leech Hunter done with. All the unlockables you get pretty much trivialise all the other stuff. You'll nail it eventually though!  Although, beware of those cockwomble frogs (why zombie frogs? I guess there's also a zombie bat and a scorpion so I shouldn't question it too much haha) I almost lost my no save playthrough to those, one grabbed me about 10 minutes from the end. Thankfully, Rebecca was there and I actually remembered to have her equipped with a weapon and she actually ended up saving my skin.

 

I don't mind admitting, even at 30, Lisa Trevor still makes me super uncomfortable. It's the horrible rattling breaths and just the slow plodding way she moves towards you, makes my skin crawl haha :D. She was such a great addition!! I agree, it's one of those things where it ends up being quite funny to reminisce on avoidable deaths that at the time are infuriating, but looking back with hindsight are actually quite funny. I might be misremembering this, because I'm not sure you casn actually get killed by the crows, but I'm sure I did get killed in a no death run  by one of those crows/ravens outside between the mansion and the gatehouse, because I was too stubborn to heal as I came hobbling out of the mansion

Yeah admittedly I'm not exactly looking forward to another no save run. I appreciate in RE2 Remake and I think RE3 Remake, there isn't any requirement like that. Don't think RE7 has it either, but if being successful in Leech Hunter basically trivialises the rest of the game, then I can take that. I will do it eventually, have to be in the mood for it (and the game being accessible again lol). Right, clearly I need to watch out for zombie frogs too now on that no save run. Have partner equipped with a weapon. Got it lol

 

I think the crows can kill you, just extremely slowly but I think I've died to crows before. It's one of those "I can take one more hit, don't want to waste ammo" and then blurrgghh...dead lol Lisa Trevor was a great addition I've got to say. RE1 OG is my favourite Resident Evil, but RE1 Remake is 2nd for a reason.

 

8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

One of my friends absolutely swears by Final Fantasy XIV, he loves it. I expect I would too, I'm in a similar boat to you I think, where I like the idea of playing it, but realistically I probably don't have the time commitment available to be able to really experience it, the way I'd like to. 

That's super surprising about Sonic Unleashed.. I thought Sonic's dealio was the whole "Gotta go fast" thing. So the fact one of his games is a 65 hour platinum is quite ironic actually.  You could literally platinum Yakuza 6 in 25 hours less time than it would take to get it in Sonic Unleashed, putting it like that really does make that seem mad.

 

I definitely get the clean-up incentive thing, that's one of the reasons I started this thread, (that, and my own self indulgent desire to review all of the games I've got a platinum in haha :D ) although ironically - I haven't touched a single one of the games I labelled as a high priority in the first post.  I'm struggling to get the motivation to  boost dead multiplayer, it requires, again a huge commitment of time, and flexibility that I'm not sure I have, so they get put on the back burner.

You'll get to yours I'm sure though. Final Fantasy XV's DLC might make you at least feel a little warmer towards it, because it is good, despite what both of our opinions might be on that game, I had a fun enough time with the ones I've done so far. Plus it makes Prompto seem less of a fanny, so I definitely can't complain on that one. What do you have left in RE5: Gold? hopefully not that multiplayer, because that's all I have left for RE5 and I think I might just not bother with it, the other DLC is top notch though, definitely recommend those if you've not gotten to them yet.

I've got people who I talk to on twitter who love FFIV, and have tried to get me to play it many times, but I simply don't have the time. If I'm stuck barely playing RE7 and FF7R, then what time do I have for an MMORPG? It's a shame, but it's how it is. 

Yeah I know, when I read the trophy guide for Sonic Unleashed, I was really surprised as well lol it's another I'll get around to one day. 

Self indulgence, from you? Well it doesn't come across that way lol oooo dead multiplayer boosting......that sounds like......well something lol

Yeah I'm more intrigued by the FFXV DLC the more I think about it, and most of it being free on PS5 helps lol RE5 Gold Edition I only just got recently, so haven't played any of it. Never got around to buying it back in the day, and the DLC  for that looked good. You recommending them makes me more excited for them. The backlog grows lol the multiplayer sounded horrible trophy wise sadly. Only played the main game back in the day, so hey if you ever wanted to try and work together on that wonderful sounding multiplayer lol I'm always game (time permitting of course, and also whenever I have the game in my possession - wife bought it as a present for me so not actually got it to hand yet lol)

 

8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

The tension certainly does start to creep in that's for sure!! I'd consider doing it via the remote play thing, but the thing is I think with my internet being as clunky and as temperamental as it is, I think I'd spend as much time trying to get that script to run to completion, than I would just learning it and doing it myself.

I think it's possible I might get it tomorrow though, I think I've got a decent amount of time, certainly in the evening to take a few cracks at it. I was getting closer and closer to nailing that 200-300 rhythm change.........  I know after 300, it's just a matter of focus and concentration.... Then my neighbour started going completely crazy with a chainsaw, sounded like he was just going full Leatherface for about 40 minutes or so. So that completely destroyed my focus  haha :D

lol woah, crazy chainsaw wielding neighbour.....you aren't living in a Resident Evil game are you? lol I bet you'll get it eventually. Once you get the 200-300 rhythm change, you'll probably get to 600 minimum, then go up and up.

 

8 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I re-read that review after posting it, I'd forgotten how much I used to talk about trophies in those earlier reviews. I think when I first started posting them I felt way more obligated to talk about trophies, because, well, we're on a trophy site..... So I kind of thought it was a mandatory requirement. It isn't though, so these days I try to explore all the other areas of a game, before even really mentioning trophies.

Yeah I think that seems to be a thing for most people at the start on this and many other websites. Write it how you want, talk about what aspects of the game you want and you'll get into your proper groove like you have been.

Edited by The_Kopite
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