rjkclarke Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, emmajessica12 said: Wow, so many awesome platinum trophies! Congratulations. Great to see all those Lego games up there! Also, great to see you have Lord of the Rings: War in the North. I have recently picked it up and I’m super excited to play it! Thank you - I really appreciate that. I'm still having fun after all these years.. Deciding to review all of those games I've gotten a platinum trophy in, in this thread however - that's a huge task that still scares me haha . One that I welcome though, so it's all good. I'll be interested to hear what you end up thinking of the Atellier games if you ever go back to them - I probably spelt that very wrong haha, I have a few friends that have played them and they always tell me they'd be too Anime for me.. I'm not really a big anime guy. Outside of Makoto Shinkai films and Studio Ghibli, but then I've played every Tales of' title that I can and I really love those, so I really don't know whether I'd like them or not. Guess I'll have to just try one for myself at some point right? That's awesome that you picked up War in the North by the way.. That's quite a good title actually, doesn't, seem to get talked about very often. Although I'll be honest I'll play most things with a bit of Lord of the Rings/ Middle Earth type flavour, so I might be a little bit biased.. haha ?. It's on my list of games to go back and grab the platinum for. I hope you have a lot of fun with it. I can't remember if it has split screen co-op or not, I think it does though, so you should be able to have a blast playing that with your partner, so that could end up being a really fun time for the both of you. Which I hope that it is. @The_Kopite - I am going to properly reply to you in detail by the way... Probably in the next post I still don't have Hail to the King lol, although I've not played it all that much lately. Apart from yesterday/early this morning. I think if I was a little less tired I would have gotten it. I've learned the 200-300 rhythm change, now I'm just having to tell my brain to slow down,because you don't have to tap as fast as you think you do and not let the nerves creep in ?. My brain started to feel like it was going to melt though so I had stop .. I'll give it another go tomorrow. Because I won't have any time to try and do it later on today. Glad I didn't leave this to the end, I am, believe it or not, still enjoying the challenge, it's really satisfying every time you know that you're improving, even if it's just a tiny bit! Edited July 13, 2021 by rjkclarke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Thank you - I really appreciate that. I'm still having fun after all these years.. Deciding to review all of those games I've gotten a platinum trophy in, in this thread however - that's a huge task that still scares me haha . One that I welcome though, so it's all good. Reviewing every game you have the platinum in?!? - that's a ridiculous task! ? What kind of unstoppable moron would even attempt such a foolish endeavour?! Edited July 13, 2021 by DrBloodmoney 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 9 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Reviewing every game you have the platinum in?!? - that's a ridiculous task! What kind of unstoppable moron would even attempt such a foolish endeavour?! I wonder............... A mad scientist maybe, a doctor perhaps? Hmmmm..... Very Interesting .... OR an even madder scientist, driven only by a desire to gain trophies. - who's failed creation got trapped in a burning windmill on a hillside after being chased there, for failing to express his opinion eloquently enough, by the villagers who had a different opinion to him regarding Ratalaika games... He thought the only way to rescue his poor creation was, to attempt a platinum rain day so big that it would flood the windmill and wash the creature free... The Scientist succeeded, but hated himself in the process.. Weeks passed..... As he tried to teach the creature the ways of "fun" trophy hunting, playing games for enjoyment and not numbers or statistics.. The creature would often say "yesssssss...... Platinum..... goooooooood" ....Until one day, by a lake The Scientist was absent mindedly playing Aabs Animals on his Vita... This enraged the creation, for some reason - and he picked up the scientist and threw him into the lake with all of his might.. Thus ended the story of Platenstein. Well... That escalated quickly - and probably made it look like I had Mescaline for breakfast ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 minute ago, rjkclarke said: I wonder............... A mad scientist maybe, a doctor perhaps? Hmmmm..... Very Interesting .... OR an even madder scientist, driven only by a desire to gain trophies. - who's failed creation got trapped in a burning windmill on a hillside after being chased there, for failing to express his opinion eloquently enough, by the villagers who had a different opinion to him regarding Ratalaika games... He thought the only way to rescue his poor creation was, to attempt a platinum rain day so big that it would flood the windmill and wash the creature free... The Scientist succeeded, but hated himself in the process.. Weeks passed..... As he tried to teach the creature the ways of "fun" trophy hunting, playing games for enjoyment and not numbers or statistics.. The creature would often say "yesssssss...... Platinum..... goooooooood" ....Until one day, by a lake The Scientist was absent mindedly playing Aabs Animals on his Vita... This enraged the creation, for some reason - and he picked up the scientist and threw him into the lake with all of his might.. Thus ended the story of Platenstein. Well... That escalated quickly - and probably made it look like I had Mescaline for breakfast ? - that's entirely true - even the parts that are untrue! you have also just reminded me that I have cursed myself with my own rules - at some point, I am going to have to review Aabs Animals with the same level of scrutiny that I treat other games... Thank god that games proceeds went to charity, bacuse at least there will be something positive to say ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 46 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: - that's entirely true - even the parts that are untrue! you have also just reminded me that I have cursed myself with my own rules - at some point, I am going to have to review Aabs Animals with the same level of scrutiny that I treat other games... Thank god that games proceeds went to charity, bacuse at least there will be something positive to say Oh man - We've both made rods for our own backs here I think - and not the inanimate carbon rod kind either ?, that would almost certainly have been our saviour..... Obviously You've got your Aabs Animals problem and I've got my Linger in Shadows problem.. Like you said, at least you can say that the proceeds went to charity.. With Linger in Shadows, I'm struggling to think of something less memorable that I actually have on my list... So other than to say "It was a game" I'm going to really struggle with that one haha! Surely we can both come up with something for those games? To me that game is essentially the video game equivalent of squirting whipped cream into your mouth straight from the can - it seems like a good idea at the time, but then when you look back on it you just kind of think why? ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 2 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Oh man - We've both made rods for our own backs here I think - and not the inanimate carbon rod kind either , that would almost certainly have been our saviour..... Obviously You've got your Aabs Animals problem and I've got my Linger in Shadows problem.. Like you said, at least you can say that the proceeds went to charity.. With Linger in Shadows, I'm struggling to think of something less memorable that I actually have on my list... So other than to say "It was a game" I'm going to really struggle with that one haha! Surely we can both come up with something for those games? To me that game is essentially the video game equivalent of squirting whipped cream into your mouth straight from the can - it seems like a good idea at the time, but then when you look back on it you just kind of think why? Haha - Well, Linger in Shadows at least comes off more as a kind of 'experimental' thing, in the same vein as .detuned - it was novel at the time based on the unusual use of the six axis motion control - and was theoretically something of a tech-demo tutorial for the user - I'd class it more in line with something like The Vita Welcome Park - if Welcome Park cost actual pennies, and was make by David Lynch... ...or at least Hélène Cattet... ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 22 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Haha - Well, Linger in Shadows at least comes off more as a kind of 'experimental' thing, in the same vein as .detuned - it was novel at the time based on the unusual use of the six axis motion control - and was theoretically something of a tech-demo tutorial for the user - I'd class it more in line with something like The Vita Welcome Park - if Welcome Park cost actual pennies, and was make by David Lynch... ...or at least Hélène Cattet... I guess that's fair yeah... If not a little terrifying haha!!... I think I'd have to replay it anyway to get another sense of what it truly was like... Speaking of terrifying... I just read a review of Aabs Animals... Because somehow I'd made it all the way to 2021 without knowing what the hell it was.. I just knew it had easy trophies, that was it.. But the first image I saw was a cat with the roundest head I've ever seen... I mean it would put Karl Pilkington to shame.. I'll post a link HERE... Allegedly the game takes 315 seconds to get all the trophies... But, If I had a cat that looked that much like Zippy from Rainbow... I don't think I'd be sleeping for the next 315 years, let a lone 315 seconds ?.. I'd still find a way to love it... Just maybe not look directly at it? Edited July 13, 2021 by rjkclarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 4 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I guess that's fair yeah... If not a little terrifying haha!!... I think I'd have to replay it anyway to get another sense of what it truly was like... Speaking of terrifying... I just read a review of Aabs Animals... Because somehow I'd made it all the way to 2021 without knowing what the hell it was.. I just knew it had easy trophies, that was it.. But the first image I saw was a cat with the roundest head I've ever seen... I mean it would put Karl Pilkington to shame.. I'll post a link HERE... Allegedly the game takes 315 seconds to get all the trophies... But, If I had a cat that looked that much like Zippy from Rainbow... I don't think I'd be sleeping for the next 315 years, let a lone 315 seconds .. I'd still find a way to love it... Just maybe not look directly at it? ? I admire the dedication of the reviewer to truly give it a fair shake - though it does beg the question - If this is a 5/10, how little a game does a game have to be to get a 1/10? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 23 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: I admire the dedication of the reviewer to truly give it a fair shake - though it does beg the question - If this is a 5/10, how little a game does a game have to be to get a 1/10? I believe, the particular things that might elicit a 1/10 are released every Sunday - and probably contribute towards at least two thirds of the toxicity that can be found on this site.... Although I best not mention any names, or I might get chased into a burning windmill like Platensteins Monster from earlier ? Edited July 13, 2021 by rjkclarke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmajessica12 Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 2 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Thank you - I really appreciate that. I'm still having fun after all these years.. Deciding to review all of those games I've gotten a platinum trophy in, in this thread however - that's a huge task that still scares me haha . One that I welcome though, so it's all good. I'll be interested to hear what you end up thinking of the Atellier games if you ever go back to them - I probably spelt that very wrong haha, I have a few friends that have played them and they always tell me they'd be too Anime for me.. I'm not really a big anime guy. Outside of Makoto Shinkai films and Studio Ghibli, but then I've played every Tales of' title that I can and I really love those, so I really don't know whether I'd like them or not. Guess I'll have to just try one for myself at some point right? That's awesome that you picked up War in the North by the way.. That's quite a good title actually, doesn't, seem to get talked about very often. Although I'll be honest I'll play most things with a bit of Lord of the Rings/ Middle Earth type flavour, so I might be a little bit biased.. haha . It's on my list of games to go back and grab the platinum for. I hope you have a lot of fun with it. I can't remember if it has split screen co-op or not, I think it does though, so you should be able to have a blast playing that with your partner, so that could end up being a really fun time for the both of you. Which I hope that it is. Yeah, I don’t envy you for having to write those reviews, you sure have a lot to get through! But I cannot wait to read them. Yeah, I had a great time with Atelier Sophie, apart from the challenging extra bosses you have to do for the trophies. But I think I didn’t craft the best weapons that I could. It’s a very different type of game. I’m not sure how I’ll fare with the others as they have time limits for you to do your task. I much prefer exploring and don’t know how I will cope having to do tasks with a deadline. Yeah, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about War in the North. I think you are the first account (apart from my boyfriends) that I have seen has it. I too, will play anything surrounding middle earth. I used to love playing Lord of the Rings: The Third Age on PS2 when I was younger. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 12 hours ago, rjkclarke said: @The_Kopite - I am going to properly reply to you in detail by the way... Probably in the next post I still don't have Hail to the King lol, although I've not played it all that much lately. Apart from yesterday/early this morning. I think if I was a little less tired I would have gotten it. I've learned the 200-300 rhythm change, now I'm just having to tell my brain to slow down,because you don't have to tap as fast as you think you do and not let the nerves creep in . My brain started to feel like it was going to melt though so I had stop .. I'll give it another go tomorrow. Because I won't have any time to try and do it later on today. Glad I didn't leave this to the end, I am, believe it or not, still enjoying the challenge, it's really satisfying every time you know that you're improving, even if it's just a tiny bit! Edited 11 hours ago by rjkclarke Looking forward to the response whenever you get around to it. No rush, no worries. Glad that Hail to the King is getting closer lol keep at it! ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 This is going to be a long one, replying to all of these. But here we go @The_Kopite On 09/07/2021 at 8:57 AM, The_Kopite said: 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. That's high, but I think deserving praise for RE1 and Remake too... Both such stellar games. You nailed it haha . It's one of those where you think I don't need to waste ammo or healing items I can take one more hit, then you run into a snake you forgot was there and it gives you a tiny little nip... Then you just fall to the floor and die... Definitely watch out for those zombie frogs haha! They look harmless, but they aren't ? On 09/07/2021 at 8:57 AM, The_Kopite said: 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) I know what you mean... MMORPG's are a bit beyond me at this point.. I've come to terms with that and I don't really mind too much. I was never big fan of them anyway, but I think I could have gotten onboard with a Final Fantasy flavoured one. I'm glad you are looking forward to the FFXV DLC's too. Thankfully they aren't much of a time sink. I think you can do most of them in about 8-10 hours, probably less if you don't stop to read the pieces of lore and stuff. From what I understand Comrades and Royal Edition extra's are what takes the most time... I did do some of Comrades, I was playing it all offline because the update making it unobtainable had just dropped and I hadn't got it finished yet. Then my console updated itself whilst I was at work I think, (least I assume that was what it was, it was a few years ago so I can't remember exactly) so now I'd have to roll it back to an older patch to do it - and honestly I'm not sure if I can be bothered haha! That still surprises me about Sonic Unleashed.. What's next a Crash Bandicoot platinum that takes upwards of 50 hours?..... Oh wait... That did happen ? I guess, self indulgent was the wrong word.. If I was being self indulgent I'd post them all in the Most Recent Platinum thread - which would utterly confuse people in there why someone is posting platinum write ups of platinum's earned as far back as 2011 as "Most Recent" haha .. Someone was doing something similar in there a while back.. But I assume they were after rep points more than anything... Which if that's what drives them, fair enough I guess. Who am I to judge if that brings them some sort of happiness. If we have the same version of RE5 I wouldn't mind trying to tackle the multiplayer at some point if you wanted to, but I only have the PS4 version,, I think RE5-Gold is the PS3 version from what I remember? RE5's non multiplayer DLC is excellent though, it really is - one of my friends and I, had a really fun time playing the Desperate Escape DLC on Professional difficulty, lost a lot of attempts to us just laughing at some stupid things happening. On 09/07/2021 at 8:57 AM, The_Kopite said: lol woah, crazy chainsaw wielding neighbour.....you aren't living in a Resident Evil game are you? Y'know, I was beginning to wonder why he always wore a burlap sack over his face - and only ever responded to being called Doctor Salvador... All this time I assumed he was just faithfully cosplaying as Joseph "The Elephant Man" Merrick, but it seems like it was something much more sinister and I actually live amongst the Ganado's..... ? @emmajessica12 On 13/07/2021 at 11:53 AM, emmajessica12 said: Yeah, I don’t envy you for having to write those reviews, you sure have a lot to get through! But I cannot wait to read them. Yeah, I had a great time with Atelier Sophie, apart from the challenging extra bosses you have to do for the trophies. But I think I didn’t craft the best weapons that I could. It’s a very different type of game. I’m not sure how I’ll fare with the others as they have time limits for you to do your task. I much prefer exploring and don’t know how I will cope having to do tasks with a deadline. Yeah, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about War in the North. I think you are the first account (apart from my boyfriends) that I have seen has it. I too, will play anything surrounding middle earth. I used to love playing Lord of the Rings: The Third Age on PS2 when I was younger. That's nice to hear, thanks!! Luckily, I really enjoy writing them so I don't mind that it's a lot to get through.. Although admittedly I've been very slack on writing them lately. I've not done one for about a week or two. So I'll have to get back to that soon. I did hear about those time limits in in some of the other Atelier titles.. That was another thing putting me off.. I think I'd be in a similar place to you in that "exploration" regard.. I like the breathing room that no time limits allows for you, so I'd be a bit disappointed if I felt I couldn't wander off the beaten track and do things at my own leisure. I think I'd find it a bit stifling. Funny that you should bring up Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, I played that a hell of a lot when I was younger too.. Although initially I was very bad at it. I remember being stuck for the longest time on the battle with the Ring Wraiths at the bit just before Rivendell. From what I remember, I was more just unwilling to put the time in to learn the better skills, so I always ended up with little to no battle strategy, because I didn't have good enough skills.. I'm sure that game had like a little extra mode after completion, where you played through some of the battles as the opposite side, but I might be misremembering it.. I loved that game though, I thought it actually weaved itself fairly naturally into the plot even if it did seem a little jarring that Berethor and Elegost and all the others were on the bridge with the Balrog too.. They tried at least . Gotta give them that. Have you played Aragorn's Quest on PS3? That's quite a good little title. A little bit janky and simplistic gameplay wise, but it isn't really long enough to outstay its welcome.. Plus Sean Astin comes back to voice Sam, so it's quite nice to see some of the events that are "Post Return of the King" being played by one of the films stars.. Gave it a nice extra bit of authenticity I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: That's high, but I think deserving praise for RE1 and Remake too... Both such stellar games. You nailed it haha . It's one of those where you think I don't need to waste ammo or healing items I can take one more hit, then you run into a snake you forgot was there and it gives you a tiny little nip... Then you just fall to the floor and die... Definitely watch out for those zombie frogs haha! They look harmless, but they aren't ? for RE1 OG and REmake. Definitely no ? for frogs, snakes, crows or any other little annoyances that whittle your health down little by little until you fall to the floor and die lol so annoying. 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I know what you mean... MMORPG's are a bit beyond me at this point.. I've come to terms with that and I don't really mind too much. I was never big fan of them anyway, but I think I could have gotten onboard with a Final Fantasy flavoured one. I'm glad you are looking forward to the FFXV DLC's too. Thankfully they aren't much of a time sink. I think you can do most of them in about 8-10 hours, probably less if you don't stop to read the pieces of lore and stuff. From what I understand Comrades and Royal Edition extra's are what takes the most time... I did do some of Comrades, I was playing it all offline because the update making it unobtainable had just dropped and I hadn't got it finished yet. Then my console updated itself whilst I was at work I think, (least I assume that was what it was, it was a few years ago so I can't remember exactly) so now I'd have to roll it back to an older patch to do it - and honestly I'm not sure if I can be bothered haha! That still surprises me about Sonic Unleashed.. What's next a Crash Bandicoot platinum that takes upwards of 50 hours?..... Oh wait... That did happen I guess, self indulgent was the wrong word.. If I was being self indulgent I'd post them all in the Most Recent Platinum thread - which would utterly confuse people in there why someone is posting platinum write ups of platinum's earned as far back as 2011 as "Most Recent" haha .. Someone was doing something similar in there a while back.. But I assume they were after rep points more than anything... Which if that's what drives them, fair enough I guess. Who am I to judge if that brings them some sort of happiness. If we have the same version of RE5 I wouldn't mind trying to tackle the multiplayer at some point if you wanted to, but I only have the PS4 version,, I think RE5-Gold is the PS3 version from what I remember? RE5's non multiplayer DLC is excellent though, it really is - one of my friends and I, had a really fun time playing the Desperate Escape DLC on Professional difficulty, lost a lot of attempts to us just laughing at some stupid things happening. Yeah, me too. If I was ever going to play an MMORPG, it would have been a Final Fantasy one, but alas it's not meant to be. Yeah I'll definitely play all the character specific DLC's for FFXV. As for Comrades, I haven't looked into that trophy sets inner workings properly, but I've heard about having to roll the game back etc etc which sounds awkward. Sorry about your experience there with it. Ah Crash Bandicoot, very slowly I try and chip away at that trilogy (no time for the new one) and see how many trophies I'm able to achieve on them. No platinums is very likely lol Yeah RE5 Gold is the PS3 version. Don't know if the PS3 and PS4 versions have separate online servers or not. I haven't got around to getting any of 4, 5 or 6 on the PS4. Like FFXV, I'm really looking forward to those story DLC's for RE5 too. 6 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Y'know, I was beginning to wonder why he always wore a burlap sack over his face - and only ever responded to being called Doctor Salvador... All this time I assumed he was just faithfully cosplaying as Joseph "The Elephant Man" Merrick, but it seems like it was something much more sinister and I actually live amongst the Ganado's..... Haha! I knew it lol Right that's it, get the S.T.A.R.S back together, there's trouble a foot lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 19, 2021 Author Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) I actually forgot I hadn't posted this review until reading a post earlier from @realm722 ....... There's your tag for this, just in case you don't get around to seeing it. I dropped a follow on your thread earlier, as I felt like I probably should have done that a while ago, it's one of those where I just sort of click on it whenever I see it updated, but now I'll have something to take me straight there.. Ease of access and all that ? I'm going to add a little extra bit to the end of it about the Q of Hearts, because it seems to be the thing that gets people the most riled up and frustrated with this trophy list. It is a pain for sure, but it shouldn't hinder anyone too much on the road towards a really enjoyable platinum experience.. So let's get down to Okage: Shadow King. Okage: Shadow King Review Platinum #308 Okage: Shadow King (PS4) Shadow King Unlock all trophies A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 1 March 2021: 11:24:28 PM Time Taken to Platinum : 5 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes Platinum Rarity - 10.12% Trophy Number - #14,997 Originally Written - March 2: 2021 Okage: Shadow King is a game that I have always wanted to go through, I'm firmly in the camp that the PS2 was the king of RPG's so I had always heard good things about this one. Unfortunately it was never released in the UK on the PS2. So I never got a chance to play it, until it was released under the PS2 on PS4 line a few years ago. I actually bought this a long time ago and has been sitting on my PS4 for ages. I just hadn't really felt the need to get around to it until recently, I think it was probably the fact I had so much fun playing through the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed II that made me want to go back and play something older too. I guess twenty years old just about fits that criteria haha!! I won't mention the story particularly because I always worry about spoilers, even taking into account this is twenty years old I'm sure there are still people out there that might want to check this out at some point, or like me just have had it for a while but never started it. However, I will say that for a game that is twenty years old it is actually one of the earliest instances I can think of off the top of my head, of a game with a few fairly metatextual elements weaved into the plot. In that regard at least, Okage is quite ahead of its time.I don't claim to be a video game historian so I'm sure there are other examples out there. I think for a game that is very sparse as far as voiced dialogue goes, it does a very good job of keeping everything flowing nicely, apart from maybe one or two overlong dungeons where there is little to no actual story development between them, that is certainly a bit of a negative. Not everything can be perfect of course, but it does plenty of other interesting things to make up for, admittedly, only one or two fairly lengthy dungeons. This game is absolutely filled to the brim, with great and memorable characters. When you consider how easy it is to take for granted that in 2021, we are so used to seeing voiced characters, the fact that barely any outside of the narrator are ever heard - yet still manage to stand out and be memorable, to a ridiculous degree is very impressive indeed. Even the names are brilliant, everyone refers to the shadow as King Stan, or Evil King Stan, but his full name is hilarious check this one out - Lord Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV, that's barely even scratching the surface when it comes to this sort of thing. The art style and the music have a lot of charm to them and I mean a lot. Okage visually sort of looks like a strange hybrid mix of Henry Selick and Tim Burton Cinema, Dark Cloud and Original Final Fantasy VII, which is certainly interesting to say the least. The OST itself reminded me of Dark Cloud in a lot of ways too, every area feels and looks very distinct, it is almost a shame this game never got the full HD remaster treatment, because I think a bit of remastered audio and polished visuals could have done wonders for this, but I understand this is probably quite a niche title anyway so was never likely to get that. Gameplay and trophy wise though, I think considering the game is twenty years old it plays very well. I only ever experienced any sort of slow down once, which was in the final dungeon for maybe a second or so when turning through a corridor filled with a lot of assets. The game plays like, pretty much any sort of turn based RPG you would expect, although I think because your health pool is quite limited on a few characters throughout the game it does often allow for a few more tactical battles involving careful health management, when not to attack etc.. I've seen a lot of guides that say the platinum takes between 20-30 hours, although I think you could probably do it in about 18 without too many problems if you get lucky and RNG goes your way. It didn't for me though, I spent a LOOOOONG time farming for the Q of Hearts weapon. Probably added at least 4 hours if not more to my game time, but I suppose you should expect that with something that has a 1% drop rate, then I had bad luck spawning the enemy groups that snag you at least one level per fight. All the other trophies though will pretty much come naturally through story progression and finishing side quests, there are very few things regarding trophies that are truly missable so that is a bonus I guess. The trophy tiles look great too, which is always a big plus for me. All in all though,I'm not sure whether I would recommend this to anybody who doesn't already have some sort of interest in the game or the type of genre this is. Purely based off of the fact, that the game itself is very niche, even for the type of game that this is, yet incredibly enjoyable - a little obtuse when it comes to progressing the story, but it's a game that is so worthy of peoples time and energy. I just thought I ought to forewarn anyone that reads this that unless you have a specific interest in it, this might not be your thing. Even though, it very clearly was mine. It is a very good game and I had a lot of fun with it, and will probably return to it in the future for the odd playthrough. I think if you like old school JRPG's/RPG's even modern indie takes on these and you have about 20- 30 hours to spend on it then you will definitely like this game if not love it. I'm so glad the PS2 to PS4 thing exists even if they seem to have abandoned it now as it has allowed me to finally experience this game so I'm very thankful for that. I was really looking forward to getting the platinum/ 100% whichever it ended up being in Summoner and Summoner 2 that was rumoured a long while back. Hopefully it gets resurrected in some form, because there are a lot of games from that era that I'd love to go back and trophy hunt through and I know I'm not the only one! The Irony of the Q of Hearts! Feeling Lucky? Acquire the Q of Hearts weapon. That sub-heading almost sounds like the title of a book a hipster might write, about the perils of gambling. I just thought I'd bring this trophy specifically up, as I've seen a lot of people complaining about it. I'm fairly sure this trophy was put in the game for a deliberate reason. It wants you to go after this item, that in all fairness is fairly arbitrary - yet even when this game was released 20 years ago would have been somewhat of a collectors item. The trophy description is a little snarky sure - add to this the fact it's super RNG dependent (hence the irony I suppose) and It isn't a weapon you are ever likely to use! It's for a character you end up acquiring so late into the game, that every other character you have will practically be better geared up and over-levelled. In a way it does represent - metaphorically, exactly what it was originally intended to be in the PS2 version, which was something that was just there for completionists to go after if they wanted it. I actually read quite a few message board threads around the time I was farming for it, just to see if there were any ways to maybe speed up the process (there isn't unfortunately) and there were so many comments saying things like "you don't need it, there are better weapons" or " why get it, it doesn't add anything" or "it's just there for those who want every weapon" , in a way this sort of encapsulates some of the less talked about aspects of trophy hunting, that it is - all things considered, optional. I've seen plenty of people say things that are of a similar note to those above, when talking about trophy hunting. So maybe, it's an example of an already meta-textual game, going that extra bit further when it came to a trophy. After thinking about this a bit, I really came to like the idea that this trophy is even here at all, yes it's a bit frustrating sure, but the Q of Hearts weapon was a trophy, years before trophies were even a thing, something you could get if you wanted to, if you liked the game enough, much like some people view trophy hunting now. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it all, but it was fun mini-dive anyway. Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 @The_Kopite - Sorry I've taken a super long time to reply, I've not really checked my own thread much in the last week outside of posting a review.. So I'll reply now. On 14/07/2021 at 9:18 PM, The_Kopite said: for RE1 OG and REmake. Definitely no for frogs, snakes, crows or any other little annoyances that whittle your health down little by little until you fall to the floor and die lol so annoying. I think I need glasses, because when I first read that back, the bit I emboldened in your quote I totally read as "cows on motorcycles" at first glance, mind you, it is fairly late right now, so sleep deprivation probably contributed a bit ?. Now I want a Resident Evil game with cows on motorcycles... Or, well, just any game with that in. On 14/07/2021 at 9:18 PM, The_Kopite said: Yeah, me too. If I was ever going to play an MMORPG, it would have been a Final Fantasy one, but alas it's not meant to be. Yeah I'll definitely play all the character specific DLC's for FFXV. As for Comrades, I haven't looked into that trophy sets inner workings properly, but I've heard about having to roll the game back etc etc which sounds awkward. Sorry about your experience there with it. Ah Crash Bandicoot, very slowly I try and chip away at that trilogy (no time for the new one) and see how many trophies I'm able to achieve on them. No platinums is very likely lol Yeah RE5 Gold is the PS3 version. Don't know if the PS3 and PS4 versions have separate online servers or not. I haven't got around to getting any of 4, 5 or 6 on the PS4. Like FFXV, I'm really looking forward to those story DLC's for RE5 too. This is true, I could have at least 10 years ago anyway, tried to make room for a Final Fantasy MMORPG... I did consider trying out Nosgoth a few years ago, due to my unwavering devotion to the Legacy of Kain series, as it is a part of the series in some roundabout way... Oh no! I mentioned it again haha.. I might just have to write that totally off topic, set of reviews on those games just so I stop turning into Homer prattling on about Thomas Edison. For Nosgoth though, I definitely would have done, if it had been on console - and it wouldn't have required me trying to run it on a PC that probably ran slower than the onboard computer that took Neil Armstrong to the moon ?. You can get the Crash games done man!! I platinumed all 3 with a screwed left thumb-stick on my controller. The only way I can describe it, is that Crash would kind of run himself into the ground. The problem was stick drift I think, or a form of it, as you'd be running along at a good pace, and then kind of stop. It was weird. I played those games A LOT, when I was younger though so that probably helps.. Although I'm dreading tackling Crash Team Racing at some point in the future, I've heard plenty of horror stories from one of my friends who has the platinum in that. On 14/07/2021 at 9:18 PM, The_Kopite said: Haha! I knew it lol Right that's it, get the S.T.A.R.S back together, there's trouble a foot lo Getting S.T.A.R.S back together might not be such a bad idea!! Or at least stopping me from becoming Nemesis and running around my neighbourhood screaming STAAAAAAARRRRS... Haha!! ? That same chainsaw dude I mentioned, literally came home the other night on his motorbike right when I was at 638 skips on the jump rope minigame, I just couldn't maintain my concentration after that. I can't be angry about it though, it wasn't malicious at all, I actually laughed at the time and said "of course that would happen now" I haven't been playing it all that much anyway in the last week, just when I get a spare hour or so free, but I'm pretty much there now, I would probably have gotten it tonight but I've had a splitting headache all day, I think from trying to cut down on caffeine - I've heard that's a side effect of drastically cutting down caffeine intake. I think once I do get it, I'll play something that isn't FFIX for a few days. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted July 23, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 23, 2021 (edited) Major Final Fantasy IX Update!!! I finally did it!! Hail to the King is mine!! What a roller-coaster that was!! I haven't felt this much elation from getting a trophy in a long time! That is one of the most unique experiences I think I've ever had in gaming.. But it's a tiny part of Final Fantasy IX. I'm so happy I can just relax and enjoy the rest of the game now. Hail to the King Jump rope 1000 times without tripping and obtain King of Jump Rope. This trophy, has essentially broken the back of this platinum now.. Actually not just broken the back of this platinum but ground it down into a fine paste so that I can make a lovely Alan Partridge style Bap!! Haha. Yes, I know there is a trophy for getting 10,000 kills, but a mindless grind just gives me a nice excuse to catch up on some audiobooks or Podcasts - so to be honest no complaints there from me. If anyone is interested I dropped a post in the Last Trophy You Earned Thread.. Which, more or less devolved into me talking about how trophies like this remind me why I still find trophy hunting an enjoyable experience after ten years. But it was very cathartic to write nonetheless, so if anyone wanted to read it.. You can find it HERE. Think I'll play something else for a bit before returning to Final Fantasy IX, but I shouldn't be too long before I come back to it. Might finish of WWE 2K Battlegrounds and then try out Peaky Blinders: Mastermind or something like that.. It really does feel amazing to finally have Hail to the King done, that is a monkey off my back the size of King Kong!! (I know he's technically an Ape, but the analogy doesn't sound as good if it's about getting a gargantuan Ape off my back ?) Considering how much I adore Monkey Island I really should have said "get this three headed monkey" off my back !! Edited July 24, 2021 by rjkclarke 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 On 7/22/2021 at 3:57 AM, rjkclarke said: I think I need glasses, because when I first read that back, the bit I emboldened in your quote I totally read as "cows on motorcycles" at first glance, mind you, it is fairly late right now, so sleep deprivation probably contributed a bit . Now I want a Resident Evil game with cows on motorcycles... Or, well, just any game with that in. Haha hilarious! Who knows, in 20 years time after the original will have been released, we can look forward to the Cows on Motorcycles remake lol It'll moooove PS10's off the shelves On 7/22/2021 at 3:57 AM, rjkclarke said: Oh no! I mentioned it again haha.. I might just have to write that totally off topic, set of reviews on those games just so I stop turning into Homer prattling on about Thomas Edison. Go for it man! Do it if you are passionate about it ? On 7/22/2021 at 3:57 AM, rjkclarke said: it wouldn't have required me trying to run it on a PC that probably ran slower than the onboard computer that took Neil Armstrong to the moon . That sounds like one sloooooow PC lol On 7/22/2021 at 3:57 AM, rjkclarke said: You can get the Crash games done man!! I platinumed all 3 with a screwed left thumb-stick on my controller. The only way I can describe it, is that Crash would kind of run himself into the ground. The problem was stick drift I think, or a form of it, as you'd be running along at a good pace, and then kind of stop. It was weird. I played those games A LOT, when I was younger though so that probably helps.. Although I'm dreading tackling Crash Team Racing at some point in the future, I've heard plenty of horror stories from one of my friends who has the platinum in that. Full respect for you getting all 3 of those plats! Yeah haven't even bought CTR, that one is another I wouldn't likely get a plat for. Sounds like a controller breaker sadly lol 11 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Major Final Fantasy IX Update!!! I finally did it!! Hail to the King is Mine!! What a roller-coaster that was!! I haven't felt this much elation from getting a trophy in a long time! That is one of the most unique experiences I think I've ever had in gaming.. But it's a tiny part of Final Fantasy IX. I'm so happy I can just relax and enjoy the rest of the game now. Wooooooooooo, I knew you'd get it eventually lol Congrats man, and yep take a little time away from it and then get tucked into it properly, relax and enjoy it ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 (edited) On 24/07/2021 at 10:36 AM, The_Kopite said: Haha hilarious! Who knows, in 20 years time after the original will have been released, we can look forward to the Cows on Motorcycles remake lol It'll moooove PS10's off the shelves Haha!! I'd buy it... !! It will have strong competition though... In twenty years time there is a small possibility that Square Enix would have finally released all of Final Fantasy VII Remake.. Although, by that point most of its target audience would probably have atrophied hands, or at the very least claw hands, so they most likely couldn't play it anyway.. I will be 50 and a half in twenty years, which is frightening to say the least ? I genuinely think I will write those Legacy of Kain reviews at some point.. Although I need to get some more of my older games reviewed as I'm really slacking on that, I don't think I've done one since Judgment so I might have to remedy that soon. My old PC being slow is an understatement, I didn't realise for the longest time, that at least one of its RAM chips was completely corrupted and wasn't working, I actually suspect it was more than one, judging by how slow it was towards the end..I probably would have had a more productive time with one of those V-Tech things that kids have haha ? (don't know if they still do, I know I had one when I was very young) On 24/07/2021 at 10:36 AM, The_Kopite said: Full respect for you getting all 3 of those plats! Yeah haven't even bought CTR, that one is another I wouldn't likely get a plat for. Sounds like a controller breaker sadly lol Thanks man!! Appreciate that, although I definitely think you can get those plats as well.. They are definitely a huge test of patience though, that's for sure. Have you ever actually broken a controller out of frustration? I never have, but I've been tempted a few times, one of my friends bit a chunk out of his original Xbox analogue stick once, (I think it was losing a race on Need for Speed Most Wanted on Xbox, but might have been PS2, from what I remember, I'll have to ask him) going "NYYYYAAARRRRGH" which was absolutely hilarious. On 24/07/2021 at 10:36 AM, The_Kopite said: Wooooooooooo, I knew you'd get it eventually lol Congrats man, and yep take a little time away from it and then get tucked into it properly, relax and enjoy it Thanks, I really appreciate the faith and support that you and everyone else has shown, that I could actually get it done... It felt so satisfying.. I've nearly finished WWE 2K Battlegrounds so once I've done that and written a review of it, I'll either go back to FFIX or I'll play one more thing before going back, I've not quite decided yet, but I'm looking forward to it whichever way that goes. I'm not sure how I'm going to format writing about FFIX, I know it's going to take a while, so I'm undecided on whether I'm going to do what I have been, which is posting the odd update about it here and there and then doing one big review, or do like mini-updates on my progress as I go and then do a big one.. I'll have a to see as I get closer I suppose. Edited July 25, 2021 by rjkclarke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted July 26, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 26, 2021 (edited) That's WWE 2K Battlegrounds finished. I'm going to stick up my review for WWE 2K20 too, I'm not really going to edit the 2K20 one as there isn't anything else I want to elaborate on with that game, it doesn't really have anything else worth talking about that I don't mention in that review. It's just a very unremarkable entry in the series. I do want to have all my reviews in one place though (this thread, obviously), so I guess I better put two abominations together right? I always try to be as optimistic and as positive at all times, as possible, but with these games. It was really tough. If I was hypothetically going to do an end of year post about what my most negative review/post of the year was, I suspect it's going to end up being this one. However, I did really enjoy reading @Briste's review of WWE 2K Battlegrounds.. So it isn't all negative. It was really interesting reading someone's experiences with the game from the viewpoint of a lapsed or at least former wrestling fan or at least someone who was one for a short period at least. It definitely gave a very unique perspective on his time with the game, so give it a read if you haven't already. I guess I'd better post mine then.... Batllegrounds first, then WWE2K20. WWE 2K BattleGrounds Review WWE 2K Battlegrounds (PS4) A Few Trophy Stats 100% Earned - 26 July 2021: 6:44:54 AM Time Taken to 100%: 4 days, 2 hours, 11 minutes 100% Rarity - 3.47% The best way I can think of to describe this game, is to paraphrase a promo by one of the wrestlers featured in the game, Roman Reigns. I remember a very long winded promo delivered by him, but about him - "not being a good guy, not being a bad guy, I'm the guy" well in this games case it's "not a bad game, it's not a good game, it's just a game." I went into this game with a very open mind, but I'm scratching my head trying to think of who the target audience actually is for this game. This game is a strange dichotomy indeed. There are elements of it that would really appeal to long time wrestling fans, (Legends, alternative and niche costumes,to name but a few),but there are equal parts things that would make them turn away in disgust (Well probably not, that would be a bit extreme, but you know where I was going with that). I would love to know if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has any idea how his likeness was used in this game, I mean it is so unlike his actual wrestling persona, it's almost insulting. This game is just so bizarre, I strongly suspect, as others do, that this game was originally going to be a free to play game, that ended up being a rushed retail release on account of WWE 2K21 being cancelled due to its predecessors incredibly poor reception. Plenty of people will have gotten this with the July 2021 PS+ offerings, I did too, technically at least, but I also bought this months ago bundled with WWE 2K20 so I felt like I had to at least try and get the 100% in the Campaign mode, to at least feel like I'd gotten my moneys worth. So let's discuss the campaign mode a little bit, or what the game constitutes as a story. I never usually mention plot points, in case of spoilers but unless you've recently had a pneumatic drill pushed straight into your brain, and needed to understand something really simple, I don't think you have to worry about spoilers. When I reviewed WWE 2K20, I remember being incredibly scathing about its MyCareer story mode, this atrocity, makes that games story seem like a newly found work by Charles Dickens or any other literary great you might chose to fill that blank with. They couldn't even be bothered to put any voice-overs or video packages into the story mode - all they seemed to be able to muster were some comic style panels, featuring the wrestlers and which often look very little like their real life counterparts, even taking into account the game itself is overtly cartoonish, from a visual standpoint. The story itself, just felt like it might have been written by aliens from the planet Flarg, that have infiltrated our society and become wrestling video game writers, after watching a particularly bad episode of Raw from 1995, featuring a wrestling Bin-Man. Yes, that actually happened, look up Duke "The Dumpster" Droese if you wanted to see how that particular experiment turned out. WWE All Stars, which was released all the way back in 2011 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 managed to have those - and is an altogether better game than this is. The story itself, consists of several new recruits fighting in a new WWE style system called Battlegrounds, you essentially get every character to Wrestlemania and then you complete the matches at Wrestlemania, then you are done. The game does at least have a few side paths where you can unlock a few wrestlers and creation options, but these also offer no extra bits of story, or new information to gleam, it's just there to unlock a few additional things. This is where you will ultimately, spend the bulk of your time with the game, at least if you are playing it solely for the trophies. Visually, this game honestly wouldn't look out of place on a PS2, but then saying that, the wrestling games released on PS2 also look better than this. You can't excuse objectively terrible visual design and just view it as "cartoonish and whacky" like I think the developers would have you believe - Daedalic Entertainment, employ a very cartoonish art style in many of their games, and those games are often incredibly visually appealing, so why couldn't the effort have been made here, to make things look good. As I mentioned previously, WWE All Stars also has an incredibly bombastic and unreal art style, which in that games case was achieved really well, all the wrestlers just looked like very stylised versions of themselves, just turned up to eleven. In this games case, they all basically look identical, the body proportions are basically all the same, just with different heads and wrestling gear on. The game does have a halfway decent soundtrack though, in the sense that all of the different areas of the game feel distinctly different, so there are a few positives to be gleamed. The sound design itself, is at least quite well made too, the sound effects themselves are quite satisfying when you hit a string of moves and then hit your finisher you are often greeted with a big cacophony of noise, which in a game that seems to pride itself on chaos is actually a good thing. This game does mercifully at least have fairly enjoyable gameplay. It's overly simplistic yes, but it is quite enjoyable once you start to actually get to grips with it. One thing I was really grateful for, was that in the campaign mode each of the wrestlers that you play as at least has their own fairly distinct style, so you never get stuck doing the exact type of gameplay for too long. I thought, the fact that you can parry strikes in this game, similar to how you can in action games where it affords you a second or two of opportunity to riposte and get in some damage was a nice addition, once you start to master those, a lot of elements of the game become quite a bit easier. I think the actual fighting, probably could have done with a little more fluidity, a lot of the moves feel very singular - considering this game is more inclined towards the fighting aspect, you'd think it would be easier to chain moves and combo's together a bit better. Another thing that WWE All Stars did better. Everything is just a little too bare-bones. I don't think I'd level this criticism at the game if it was free from launch (which it probably should be), but this at one point cost actual money, there should have been much more effort into the game having some sort of re-playability, because it really doesn't. There were lot's of characters I would have liked to have played as, but those are all locked behind in game purchases or the dreaded micro-transactions, so unless I wanted to spend hours, re-doing the campaign to unlock one person it's better to just move on. I could just go back and play WWE All Stars, which didn't hide content behind a paywall. The trophies in this game don't take long though, you're looking at 8-10 hours if you only go through the main path of the campaign, probably less to be perfectly honest - and you'll more than likely unlock the majority of the trophies anyway just by playing through the campaign mode. I'm not too sure why this game doesn't have a platinum, I'm not overly bothered either. I'm not going to not play a game because it does, or doesn't have a platinum. But there certainly is enough content here for one, although it's probably better that it doesn't, because it might have a horrendous trophy requirement, like "Complete all of Battleground Challenge" which is a mode exclusive to created wrestlers and didn't seem remotely appealing. They do have some decent challenge though, I had to retry the trophy for winning the Royal Rumble several times, just because the A.I seemed to just go crazy targetting me like I was a flower and they were a swarm of bees. Would I recommend this? Well, under certain circumstances, sure. It really isn't a dreadful game or anything, but if you expected it be like any other wrestling game you might have played before, it won't be. If you are lucky enough to have gotten it for free, there is no harm in at least trying it. It isn't very long, so even if you felt like you had to force yourself to finish it, you wouldn't be spending too much time with it, so it can't hurt to try. I would have played this anyway, as I would have felt like I had a gap n my collection of WWE games if I didn't. Unfortunate. I can't hide the fact, that I don't feel like the money I paid for this game, was money well spent, even though it wasn't all that much. I'm sure if I had gotten it via PS+ I probably would have had at least a slightly more optimistic outlook, but I really don't know. As a wrestling fan, this definitely does leave a lot to be desired - and I just can't stop thinking, that it could have been so much more. I mentioned WWE All Stars a lot during this review, but that game, is this game, but done right - yet also done nine years previously, so I don't think it's an unfair comparison. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WWE 2K20 Review Platinum # 302 WWE 2K20 (PS4) All Trophies Earned Earn all trophies. A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 2 February 2021: 4:45:05 AM Time Taken to Platinum : 4 days, 9 hours, 23 minutes Platinum Rarity - 4.27% Trophy Number - #14,800 Originally Written - February 2 2021 have a feeling I lucked out a little bit with this one by starting it after it had at least had a few patches. Not that this really helped all that much. Luckily I didn't seem to have any of the odd graphical glitches that quite a few people did early on. where peoples faces were melting together or ones like that famous AC: Unity one from a few years ago. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this game at launch, which is putting it mildly. I remember thinking a few times whilst playing it that I have seen better looking PS2 games than this. There are a few cutscenes in the game that really reminded me of the blocky animation from the early 2000's GTA titles. That isn't an attack on them, more an attack on this game for having animation and cutscenes like that in a late era PS4 title released in late 2019, that is kind of unacceptable. To give it a little bit of context I played Hitman 2 not that long ago and there are literally pedestrian NPC's in the Miami map (which is quite a crowded map if anyone is unfamiliar) that look better than 90% of the in-game models in 2K20, where there is usually a maximum of 8 people on screen at once. However, even though the graphics were very poor, the game at least does run quite smooth on the latest patch. I was playing on a 500GB base PS4. I only ever experienced very low frame rate a few times when there were multiple people in the ring at once. But I suppose I can't really say anything that new about how awful the game is. Because that just seems too old hat at this point, but I did actually enjoy MOST of my time with it, but I'll get to that haha. I did like the inclusion of a female centred Showcase mode, as well as a female character to play as in Mycareer mode. WWE have started to represent their female talent a bit better in recent years, so it was at least good to see that translating to the video games too. Trophy wise, the game is not particularly hard at all. There are a few trophies that I found a little finicky that should have unlocked but didn't at first. Thankfully it was just a case of going back and doing the same thing again until they unlocked. Obviously if anyone does want to platinum this most of the difficulty is probably going to come from grinding out the 50 online wins (which can be done against the CPU thankfully at the monthly PPV events, seems the least taxing way to approach it). The game does sort of force you to see mostly all the features a game has I always think games deserve bonus points for that!! Although, please don't leave MyCareer until last I found it quite torturous to be honest. The best analogy I can think of for how the story is written is if several really daft monkeys were left in a room with a few typewriters, a limited amount of ink and a whole lot of paper and a fairly limited amount of time, in which they bashed away at the keys for a while maybe made the odd word here and there and then decided to just throw their feces at the paper for the rest of the time before the paper was removed and turned into the script for the story mode in this game. Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 20 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Haha!! I'd buy it... !! It will have strong competition though... In twenty years time there is a small possibility that Square Enix would have finally released all of Final Fantasy VII Remake.. Although, by that point most of its target audience would probably have atrophied hands, or at the very least claw hands, so they most likely couldn't play it anyway.. I will be 50 and a half in twenty years, which is frightening to say the least I genuinely think I will write those Legacy of Kain reviews at some point.. Although I need to get some more of my older games reviewed as I'm really slacking on that, I don't think I've done one since Judgment so I might have to remedy that soon. My old PC being slow is an understatement, I didn't realise for the longest time, that at least one of its RAM chips was completely corrupted and wasn't working, I actually suspect it was more than one, judging by how slow it was towards the end..I probably would have had a more productive time with one of those V-Tech things that kids have haha (don't know if they still do, I know I had one when I was very young) Haha well yeah I'm hoping it'll be a bit quicker than that lol probably take me 20 years to finish it though! Yes indeed, get onto those when you can. Rotate those between play sessions on FFIX? Wow one of those RAM chips being completely corrupted would certainly slow the PC down sadly. Yes I think they still do the V-Tech laptops lol Microsoft Office is optional haha 20 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Thanks man!! Appreciate that, although I definitely think you can get those plats as well.. They are definitely a huge test of patience though, that's for sure. Have you ever actually broken a controller out of frustration? I never have, but I've been tempted a few times, one of my friends bit a chunk out of his original Xbox analogue stick once, (I think it was losing a race on Need for Speed Most Wanted on Xbox, but might have been PS2, from what I remember, I'll have to ask him) going "NYYYYAAARRRRGH" which was absolutely hilarious. No thankfully I haven't ever broken a controller. Especially nowadays, the price of them are ridiculous, and their reliability isn't exactly top notch. Biting an analogue stick?! That's a new one to me lol bet that was hilarious. 20 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I'm not sure how I'm going to format writing about FFIX, I know it's going to take a while, so I'm undecided on whether I'm going to do what I have been, which is posting the odd update about it here and there and then doing one big review, or do like mini-updates on my progress as I go and then do a big one.. I'll have a to see as I get closer I suppose. Mini Updates which are reasonably substantial sound like a winner to me ? Just my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 1 hour ago, The_Kopite said: Haha well yeah I'm hoping it'll be a bit quicker than that lol probably take me 20 years to finish it though! Yes indeed, get onto those when you can. Rotate those between play sessions on FFIX? Wow one of those RAM chips being completely corrupted would certainly slow the PC down sadly. Yes I think they still do the V-Tech laptops lol Microsoft Office is optional haha Well as I seem to periodically just "miss" a Final Fantasy title, like FFIX - there's a substantial possibility that I'll leave FF7Remake to twenty years from now. So you'll be finishing it, as I'm starting it!! ? I think that's a good idea, pop in the odd review here and there between FFIX sessions, I'm not avoiding them because I don't like doing them, it's more having the time to sit down and try and gather some memory fluff together haha!! Plus, I think at the moment I have a little too much choice when it comes to things I could potentially write about. I guess they all have to be written at some point, so I should just pick one and go with it. I appreciate the input though. Imagine that, being a kid, getting a V-Tech and then it asks you to install Microsoft Office - unfortunately when you're a kid you can't remortgage a property to be able to afford Microsoft Office either haha!! 2 hours ago, The_Kopite said: No thankfully I haven't ever broken a controller. Especially nowadays, the price of them are ridiculous, and their reliability isn't exactly top notch. Biting an analogue stick?! That's a new one to me lol bet that was hilarious. Haha! Yeah, that does kind of hammer it home to you NOT, to smash them up doesn't it, they are unreasonably expensive. As you say, pretty unreliable too, I've had 4 different DS4's so far, one I think I could still use because the just sticks now and has next to no resistance now, it just sort of flaps when you press it, the other two just got unusable stick drift, and I only really use them if I'm playing a racer or something that doesn't require precise movement. I guess I could use the busted one, for any games that don't require , like a racing game or something. That original DS4, and it's went out on a high as it died the same day I got the platinum on Tales of Berseria. I have a habit of things like that happening, my shoes fell apart the day I left secondary school too, totally fell apart too, like turned into those "mouth shoes" that stereotypical hobo's have in Film and TV. The current "main" one I have, is fine, ** Knock Wood** thankfuly. Yeah biting an analogue stick!! You can probably order a dish like that from Heston Blumenthal ? - It's honestly one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed, the noise, the sudden anger that quixkly turned into absolute hysterics from both of us, was so brilliant. 2 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Mini Updates which are reasonably substantial sound like a winner to me Just my opinion. This does seem like a good way to do it. Again thanks for the input man. They'll probably make quite good reference points too, for when I eventually have the whole game done and need to talk about something specific, that I might otherwise have neglected to mention. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 10 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Well as I seem to periodically just "miss" a Final Fantasy title, like FFIX - there's a substantial possibility that I'll leave FF7Remake to twenty years from now. So you'll be finishing it, as I'm starting it!! I think that's a good idea, pop in the odd review here and there between FFIX sessions, I'm not avoiding them because I don't like doing them, it's more having the time to sit down and try and gather some memory fluff together haha!! Plus, I think at the moment I have a little too much choice when it comes to things I could potentially write about. I guess they all have to be written at some point, so I should just pick one and go with it. I appreciate the input though. Imagine that, being a kid, getting a V-Tech and then it asks you to install Microsoft Office - unfortunately when you're a kid you can't remortgage a property to be able to afford Microsoft Office either haha!! Haha well then I won't spoil it for you lol would be weird to have finished it before even one other person haha Maybe there is a system you could come up with in regards to picking which reviews to do? Maybe if it's a game's anniversary, or do them by genre or system or something? Ah yes, well at least a version for a V-Tech should include the paperclip thing that used to bounce around the bottom right corner of the screen and annoy many a folk lol 11 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Haha! Yeah, that does kind of hammer it home to you NOT, to smash them up doesn't it, they are unreasonably expensive. As you say, pretty unreliable too, I've had 4 different DS4's so far, one I think I could still use because the just sticks now and has next to no resistance now, it just sort of flaps when you press it, the other two just got unusable stick drift, and I only really use them if I'm playing a racer or something that doesn't require precise movement. I guess I could use the busted one, for any games that don't require , like a racing game or something. That original DS4, and it's went out on a high as it died the same day I got the platinum on Tales of Berseria. I have a habit of things like that happening, my shoes fell apart the day I left secondary school too, totally fell apart too, like turned into those "mouth shoes" that stereotypical hobo's have in Film and TV. The current "main" one I have, is fine, ** Knock Wood** thankfuly. Yeah biting an analogue stick!! You can probably order a dish like that from Heston Blumenthal - It's honestly one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed, the noise, the sudden anger that quixkly turned into absolute hysterics from both of us, was so brilliant. Sticking buttons is definitely a thing I've had a lot from the few DS4's I've owned. It can get pretty bloody annoying, like having to press the button twice just to get it to pop up into place again. I see, so instead of trophy/platinum milestones, you have item milestones where things fall apart of stop working after something positive has happened. Got ya lol lol it sounds funny just from reading it, so actually being there and experiencing that moment must have been ridiculous hilarity lol 11 hours ago, rjkclarke said: This does seem like a good way to do it. Again thanks for the input man. They'll probably make quite good reference points too, for when I eventually have the whole game done and need to talk about something specific, that I might otherwise have neglected to mention. Yeah true, and anytime ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 (edited) 13 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Haha well then I won't spoil it for you lol would be weird to have finished it before even one other person haha Maybe there is a system you could come up with in regards to picking which reviews to do? Maybe if it's a game's anniversary, or do them by genre or system or something? Ah yes, well at least a version for a V-Tech should include the paperclip thing that used to bounce around the bottom right corner of the screen and annoy many a folk lol I'm hoping that it doesn't deviate so much from the original that I wouldn't have to worry about spoilers anyway ... Like if a certain very famous death happened as a result of being run over by a unicycle, instead of being turned into the worlds most adorable Shish Kebab!! ? Figuring out a system is probably a good idea yeah... I was actually most productive reviewing those older games,during mental health awareness month, where I knew that I had a dedicated thing to focus on and those games were all pretty much relevant to that, in some way or another. So that's a really good idea from you there, thanks again. I'm all for organic improvements in this thread so that's sounds like a good plan. I guess as I'm currently playing Final Fantasy IX I guess, I could do a Final Fantasy one, but I'm not sure.. I feel like if I did FFXIII I'd feel like the next two would probably need to be FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns I suppose? I'll try and figure something like that out, I had an idea to review all of the Tomb Raider games from the PS2 era (so all the ones from the HD collection on PS3) I thought that could be a fun one to revisit, maybe do all 3 in a week and space them out a bit, or put them in one gigantic post. I'll just try and make it sound like something readable instead of what I think it will be.. Which is me writing "I love Keeley Hawes 400 times and then passing out on my keyboard" haha!! ? Oh man, that paper clip was a dick-head!! So condescending... When I was quite a lot younger, it's sad to admit, but I used to spend ages just writing the most stupid nonsense and then making the Microsoft text to word read it out.. What can you say when you are a tubby 13 year old that lives in the countryside that ate two dinners, there wasn't much else to keep me entertained haha! 13 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Sticking buttons is definitely a thing I've had a lot from the few DS4's I've owned. It can get pretty bloody annoying, like having to press the button twice just to get it to pop up into place again. I see, so instead of trophy/platinum milestones, you have item milestones where things fall apart of stop working after something positive has happened. Got ya lol lol it sounds funny just from reading it, so actually being there and experiencing that moment must have been ridiculous hilarity lol Those sticking buttons are a pain, that does eerily similar to the problem I had. I would imagine playing something like Spyro or Crash, that would probably be a nightmare, well I guess depending on the button, if it was in Crash and you couldn't spin when you wanted to, I could imagine that being a nightmare. By that item milestone logic, whenever I get married, I'll probably have my trousers rip completely down the middle on the first dance, or I'll chop a finger off whilst cutting the wedding cake haha!! I guess at least theres a chance I'll get £250 from You've Been Framed, if that show is still on the air ? Edited July 27, 2021 by rjkclarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) Foxy new platinum time!! I ended up deviating a lot from Final Fantasy IX and playing all of Seasons after Fall.. In a way I'm a little gutted I didn't play this sooner as I could have included this with my posts about Mental Health Awareness Week/Month not too long ago. Especially as it was nature themed this year. I'm also a little sad as a Snooker fan (Probably in more ways than one, I do after all, enjoy seeing chaps hit balls around some green felt with a stick ?) but after this post my threads no longer going to be sat at 147 (The perfect snooker break) replies. Still it was fun while it lasted. Onwards and upwards as they say. I'll drop my thoughts about Seasons after Fall from the Most Recent Platinum Thread down below. Platinum #325 Seasons After Fall Master of seasons Unlock all trophies for "Seasons after Fall". A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 30 July 2021: 4:08:41 AM Time Taken to Platinum : 1 day, 9 hours, 29 minutes Platinum Rarity - 46.70% Trophy Number - #15,657 It's getting to play games like this, which has pretty much been the reason why I've been having so much fun going through some of my backlog in the last few months. This has turned out to be another game that I wish I hadn't slept on. I could find so many protracted adjectives to describe how visually stunning this game is, and that's without even mentioning how incredibly well utilised sound is in this game. I ended up playing this in-between making progress on Final Fantasy IX, but I ended up liking it so much I practically played the whole thing. What is Seasons after Fall? Well for any who didn't know (which admittedly, won't be many, I think this game is quite popular on this site) it's basically a light puzzle platformer, that is quite heavily story focused. I know that sounds like an incredibly basic description, but there is so much more to the game than just those elements. This game has absolutely bucket loads of universal appeal. That isn't hyperbole either - it just works so well on so many levels. In much the same way ICO has massive universal appeal, Seasons after Fall has the rare quality in a video game, where you can, depending on your age, or preferences, experience some of the story beats this game offers in very different ways. It doesn't restrict the way it tells it's story to only be appealing to a few demographics. I absolutely love the idea, that if you played this as a child you would probably still have a similar level of enjoyment that you would as an adult, but in a different way. I think the very storybook-esque visuals and simple platforming would be very appealing to a young audience - particularly the focus on controlling a cute looking animal. Whereas, an adult perspective is more likely to think about some of the richer and philosophical elements that the games story presents, there are a lot and they are very cleverly woven into the narrative via the use of the secrets. These really help to flesh out the minutiae of the world this game inhabits. I'm not for a second saying adults and children can't be enthralled by both of these things I'm mentioning, just the majority of either side, will probably have a differing but still enjoyable experience based on who they are. If you were to view this game, purely from just a visual stand point, this game would still hold up remarkably. In a way it reminds me of Dust: An Elysian Tail, but with much more attention to detail in making the game look like a story book does, Dust is stylised in an altogether different, but great way. Seasons after Fall, particularly reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are - even the way the cover art has been presented reminds me of that book. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn it was an inspiration for the developers here. One of the most striking visual elements I found was actually tied into the story of the game itself. As I don't ever mention the story in these write ups, I'll skirt around it as best I can, because this one is rather important, but anyone who reads this that have played the game will probably know which bit I mean. The Sanctuary area, effectively acts as the hub area of the game, where you travel to each of the different seasonal realms. A very abrupt and I guess you could say distressing thing happens at the centre of the sanctuary, but unlike some titles, where the events might be washed away or absent from view, every time you enter the central part of the sanctuary, you are greeted with a constant reminder of the events that took place there. Visually this was so tremendously well done and unfortunately, I'm probably going to sound pretentious now, but I can live with that, talking about this - that constant reminder really helps motivate you to learn more about everything that's going on and helps you to build a much stronger bond with the character you are playing as. I can't neglect to mention, the incredible attention to detail that went into specifically animating all four seasons in every single area in the game. They aren't just a slight visual difference either, like a slight change in colour, or something equally low-key, there was a conscious effort in place to make the changing seasons, and thus your ability to change the seasons themselves, look like it has had a very noticeable and in some cases a drastic effect. It was a brave decision, because that could have gone very wrong, thankfully though, it didn't. I'll be honest I really want to deep dive into the music and the sound design of this game, but I'll try and keep this as neat and tidy as possible. If I still feel the need I can always go into that in greater depth in my own thread. The music itself, is primarily comprised of a mixture of Cello and Violins. I absolutely adored the music in this game, the entire Original Soundtrack is on YouTube too if anyone wanted to listen to it at any point, it's still incredible music even without the context of the game. It's exactly the right balance of differing things at all the right times. Absolutely melancholic, when it needs to be - yet also joyous and vibrant at several different spots. Much like the visuals, there was a definite decision to give each season it's own thematic musical tone, just like with the visuals, this was achieved really well. There are a few interesting uses of juxtaposition to be had throughout the events, as you often find yourself surrounded by vibrant colours yet sombre music due to the region you are in, yet having to change the season there to solve puzzles can quickly turn both of those things completely the opposite direction. The musical direction as well as the sound itself in this game was very evocative of Jessica Curry's work on Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. Which is high praise indeed, because I think the way Jessica Curry utilises music in the works she's involved with is absolutely masterful - there are few in the video game industry that can build atmosphere with music the way she can. The sound effects themselves have all been produced with very crisp detail too, recording sound of just wind or a light breeze are actually much harder than you might initially expect, so full credit to the sound designers and the Foley artists in this game, because they did a very impressive job - practically everything sounded as it should. I should mention too, that whilst there are only two voice actors in the game, both of them do an astounding job of carrying the story forward. Adeline Chetail as Seed, particularly excels here, the character she plays is actually very complicated, and arguably, rather unlikeable. Yet she articulates an impressive range of emotions conveyed in a very short space of time. There are scenes where she shows signs of sorrow, petulance, inquisitiveness and remorse all in the space of a section or two, and manages to believably portray all of those things. Seasons after Fall, does however suffer a tiny bit as far as gameplay goes. There just isn't much of it. It doesn't significantly bring the game down or anything like that (the charming visuals and amazing music will almost certainly keep you interested), it's just one of those things you can't help but notice when it comes to the game - it's very simple. Unfortunately, it's also something you can't really ignore in the pursuit of reviewing a game objectively. Once you've seen the shifting of the seasons and you've partaken in a spot of rudimentary platforming you've pretty much seen all of the gameplay quirks this game has to offer. Where it does excel however, is the way the puzzles are constructed, be they collectable related or progression based. One of the puzzles in particular, involving fireflies, is incredibly well designed, yet quite unpopular (not with me). It's definitely slow and a little obtuse, but that firefly puzzle was a head scratcher at first, until you start to play around with the few gameplay quirks you have available to you, so in that regard they used what little they had, but refined it into a very strong, yet fairly simple puzzle. As far as trophies are concerned in Seasons after Fall, they are all fairly simple and I believe none of them are missable. There are quite a few collectables to be found, but you can go back for those after the story, if you so desire, so you don't have to constantly reference a guide if that is something that particularly irks you.The platinum itself will probably take you between five to six hours, possibly less, depending on if you are rushing or using a guide. Purely from that perspective alone the game is never long enough to outstay its welcome. It has some absolutely beautiful trophy tiles too, I personally always like to see some nice looking tiles when I can. It's an easy platinum sure, but this game is wonderful and I'd honestly be surprised if you spent very much of your playtime even thinking about its trophies. I know I personally wasn't dwelling on them. I was just enjoying the ride. I think that it goes without saying that I recommend this one. It's short, it's succinct (unlike this review haha) and it's got some tremendously memorable visuals - plus, you can usually find this game on offer for a very good price. I think I picked this game and another game I plan to play in the future up for under £3 in the same bundle. An incredible price really when you think about it. If I'd paid close to full price for this game I still would have been satisfied with my purchase. I'm hoping my backlog will unearth a few more treasures like this one too. It's been a blast. What's up Next? Well.... I really am going back to Final Fantasy IX this time. So looking forward to playing some of that whenever I can. I'll try and do some Classic Reviews too, as I've been slacking on those so much lately. Either way, I'll try and keep it fun and light hearted. Edited August 28, 2022 by rjkclarke 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 Great write up on Seasons After Fall mate! I liked that game a lot, and was pretty surprised when I got into it how much focus it had on its puzzle mechanics - the marketing materials for it I had seen prior to purchase were all pretty focussed on the platforming side, so that was a nice surprise! In a weird way, it's got a lot in common with Hue - the idea of changing the seasons is a lot like changing the colour of the background in that game, but with Seasons, there is the additional benefit of just seeing the artwork of all 4 seasons, because the game looks so nice. It's also such a cool idea for a metroidvania, in the sense that, once you get access to a new season, there is a lot of fun in going back to old areas, just to see what they look like in the other seasons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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