rjkclarke's Carnival of Diamonds and Rust

[DrBloodmoney]

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Looks Like The Kid Found Himself A Shiny New Platinum!

 

Take a bow, Kid, You earned it....

 

Loved reading this mate!

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Bastion has now joined a long list, one that will probably continue to grow too, – a list that is so long that if it were written on real paper, you’d probably have to roll it up, like a scroll. What is that list, you ask? It is the list of games I really regret not starting sooner (some of you might have heard that one once or twice from me,) because of how awesome they turned out to be. Not the catchiest of titles for a list I’ll grant you.

 

I have now played two out of four of the games from Supergiant games, and I have yet to be disappointed.  Nor do I think I’m likely to become disappointed once I play the others. Time will tell, but this might end up being a fun statement to look back on.

 

Oooooohhhhh - I know it's getting ahead of myself, but with your penchants for adventure games , narrative and music, I am already looking forward to your take on Pyre  ?

 

...waiting for that disappointment in a Supergiant marathon is like waiting for Godot ?

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Bastion, originally released in 2011, then later in 2015 for the Playstation 4 and Vita is an Action RPG and the first video game released by excellent development team Supergiant games.

The basic premise is this – you, The Kid are thrust into a world that has been devastated by a catastrophic event called “The Calamity.” Your task? Rebuild The Bastion, and put a stop to “The Calamity.”

 

I realise that is a ridiculously basic description, but this is a game world where I think you should know as little of the details going into it as possible to get the most enjoyable experience. Discovering the interesting character revelations, or gaining knowledge of the events leading up to the time and situation where the game takes place was an element of the game that felt particularly illuminating, and enjoyable. The way the game tells its narrative has an amazing way of almost stopping you in your tracks midway through combat (which can be very frenetic and intense) as you pick up a specific piece of dialogue, suddenly realising that NOW is the time to listen.

 

World building is an element that in my experience, Supergiant seems to be able to excel at particularly. Bastion itself has this fascinating balance of a charming visual aesthetic, but an incredibly rich, dark and very deep world bubbling away beneath the surface, just waiting to drag you underneath.

Something that Bastion achieves incredibly well is synergy, how almost every component of the game feels perfect for the vision that the developers had in mind. For example, more often than not you’ll find that the original soundtrack provided for a location will marry together magnificently with the visual design of the area.

 

absolutely - it's such a cool thing that the visuals kind of disarm people - make the game look like a beautifully polish, easy-breezy iOS style game, then before they know it, the story,  the music, Logan Cunnningham and the combat have dragged them into a fighting pit and they're completely subsumed!

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

In an interesting twist on the “silent protagonist” trope, your entire playthrough is narrated by one of the characters you interact with most often over the course of the game, Rucks.

 

For me this is one of the very best aspects of the game – yet ironically, it’s also one that had it not worked as well as it does – then the game would have really suffered for it. Rucks dialogue is written in such an interesting way that if it was delivered by anyone but Logan Cunningham, I truly believe it might not have worked quite so well.

 

In a sense his dialogue reminds me of Johnny Cash, but not just any Johnny Cash, the talking Coyote from The Simpsons episode where Homer eats an outrageously spicy Chilli, mixed with a little bit of Tom Waits. It’s the way his voice floats in and out as you’re playing, taking the role of both guide, and storyteller, yet also quite friendly and warm, even when retelling horrific events.  

If you’re familiar with the films of Jim Jarmusch, then much of Bastion’s dialogue will feel astonishingly familiar, I expect. Rucks has an absolutely effortless cool factor to him. It’s really impressive how his line readings manage to bring so much depth and life to characters that have either no spoken dialogue, or very little.

 

? Jim Jarmusch, Jim Jarmusch, will you do the fandango? ?

 

...ahem, sorry. ?

Old habits die hard.

 

I know exactly what you mean though!

 

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think when something as innocuous as a weapon description, or a little piece of flavour dialogue about completing a Vigil (side-quest) can be as compelling as it is here, then that mixture of writing and sound design came together almost perfectly.

 

I’ve always been one that will talk up some excellent sound design in a video game, and that is no exception here. It might not be important to some, but it really can enhance the experience. I seem to be talking about marriage a whole lot in this review, but my goodness, the sound mix in this game is superb. This one must have been a real tight-rope walk for the individual in charge of the mix, because there was no time where I found the various sounds cancelling each other out, like I have in a few games I’ve played recently.

 

The original soundtrack provided by Darren Korb is spectacular. You could listen to it in a vacuum without ever having played the game, and have some fantastic music to listen to. There are elements that are soothing, relaxing, unsettling and sorrowful. Yet, the way it seems to tonally fit EVERY single situation of the game is brilliant. As someone who played Transistor before any other Supergiant game, it was a real treat to hear Ashley Barrett’s voice on a few tracks, much like Emiko Evans can, I feel she can enhance a piece of music with just her voice alone.

 

I've had that one on Spotify rotation for years, and can attest first hand how listenable it is out of game!

 

It's funny, my kid is seven now, but when he was like 18 months, he used to have a hell of a time getting to sleep (goes hand in hand with Autism, I'm told). I'd drive him around at night, because the car would be the only place he would settle, and listen to music - anything without lyrics would work - regardless of tone. We played a lot of completely inappropriate music - Aphex Twin, Carpenter Brut, Perturbator... and the Darren Korb soundtracks.

 

There's one track in particular on the Bastion Soundtrack - called "Mine Windbag, Mine" which has a kind of rhythmic clang in it - like a hammer hitting an anvil.  I distinctly remember when he was like 3, going to one of those parks that have the outdoor instruments (percussion stuff) - and him hitting the tubulars with a perfect rhythm. When I came over to see what he was doing, he was humming that tune to himself under his breath, and recreating it with the  ?

 

He was non-verbal then (still has a lot of trouble with vocalisation, even now,) but I still play that track for him, and he'll tap along with it... you just have to be careful driving with it on, because it's so cinematic and exciting that you suddenly realise you're doing 90mph and glaring intently and suspiciously at the horizon! ?

 

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

If you couldn’t guess by the fact I pretty much had nothing negative to say about it, I absolutely recommend this one, don’t sleep on it like I did. I really thought the game was fantastic, and as you’re only likely to spend fifteen hours with it at most, I found there was pretty much nothing that outstayed its welcome. The trophy hunting side of the game also requires you to explore almost everything that the game has to an offer, something that I thoroughly enjoyed.  

 

Hear here!

 

6 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

 

I'm hoping that doesn't read too clinical or disjointed. It might do, but I'm feeling a little, numb right now.....

 

Which brings me onto something, if you're reading this far, thank you obviously. I need to mention something just in case it leads me to disappearing from the forums for a little bit. I don't want to, but it all depends on how I'm feeling.

 

Okay, here we go. This is a bit heavy.

 

So I vaguely skirted around something during the Trophies to Fight Cancer event, something that was one of the things pushing me to try and complete as many things as I could during those two months. I mentioned that it was someone who was keeping me really motivated.

 

I don't really want to go too much into the specifics on here right now, but she was a beautiful lady called Ann, and someone I really, really loved. Today (yesterday now as it's 1AM) I found out that she'd died. It's something that I knew was coming at some point, but it isn't something that you can ever quite prepare yourself for.

 

62 is no age. I'm really not using hyperbole here, but she really was one of the loveliest people you could ever wish to meet - almost altruism personified, she would do anything for anyone, whether they were family or not. Nor is this hyperbole, the world truly is a darker place now, because she's no longer in it.

 

I know it sounds like a silly cliche, but really, if you haven't told someone you love for a long time, that you do love them, please, just do it, because you never know when that horrible, soul crushing day will come when you can't ever say that again.

 

I think me disappearing from here for a bit is unlikely, but I just thought I'd clue people in just in case.

 

Damn dude - terribly sorry to hear that. Hope you're doing okay, and that her folks and friends are keeping well.

Keep your chin up - and if real life is getting you down, you got a network of checklist-obsessed weirdos here to keep you buoyed if we can ?

[Copanele]

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Looks Like The Kid Found Himself A Shiny New Platinum!

 

Platinum #352

Bastion (PS4)

Damn that was a great read. Need to catch up with Bastion and Pyre from my side, but given how you loved this game, I guess I also need to start this game as soon as possible.

Need to emotionally prepare for it first, SupergiantGames know how to kick me in mi corazon, so to speak  

 

9 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

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

Sorry to hear about that man... Take all the time needed to heal, and as the good Doctor already mentioned, if needed you have the "checklist crowd"  here, to support as much as we can . 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Copanele

[The_Kopite]

On 5/10/2022 at 6:54 PM, rjkclarke said:

I know haha - I was kind of like "who are these guys" when I first heard the Eurosport team too, it wasn't a knock. The BBC are even trying to make a little bit of a big deal out of the World Seniors Championship too, but unfortunately mostly that's about as interesting as watching paint dry in slow motion, aside from the odd match or two.

 

Yeah, judging by what you wrote further on, that is the one you've played on PS3. Hey I mean you could always go back for a little cleanup with it if you wanted, and still have it.  I think a playthrough of the career mode would probably get you above or very close to that 50% threshold of trophies I know you like to push for sometimes.

Yeah won't be watching the World Seniors Championship personally either. 

 

I don't own it anymore, but possibly in the future if I can get it for cheap and my backlog goes down a lot, then it's possible I'd get it again and push the percentage up.

 

On 5/10/2022 at 6:54 PM, rjkclarke said:

Oh I'm definitely in the minority with my "Drake problem" haha. I do like that Uncharted 4 directly addresses some of the issues that bother me about the character so that was a nice little surprise that they actually acknowledge how much of a fanny he can be when he has an awesome person like Elena in his corner.

 

I always feel like I have to say...... "but I do like the Uncharted series" some folks deal in absolutes, and might think if I said that I'm not huge on Drake that I don't like the series itself.

That's true. Uncharted 2 is my favourite one of the series but UC4 is definitely a great one including those moments. Also playing Crash in the game was just awesome haha.

 

I can understand and respect your opinion. Sadly as you say, others wouldn't due to this absolutes thing that seems to be all the rage nowadays. You're either for something or against it. Something is the best ever or the worst. It's ridiculous.

 

On 5/10/2022 at 6:54 PM, rjkclarke said:

Definitely! There's a whole lot of fun to be had there.

 

If you haven't played it, she might also like Catlatteral Damage, I haven't played it myself yet, but I remember reading about it in Copanele's thread, and thought it looked pretty interesting. So that might be another one to suggest for her if she's a big cat lover haha! 

 

Plus @Slava posted this funny as hell gif, or one very similar .......

Looking forward to it!

 

That gif sums up that Catlatteral Damage game! lol maybe I'll have to mention it to the wife haha. She will probably want to play Stray when it comes out as well if it's a game she will enjoy.

 

On 5/10/2022 at 6:54 PM, rjkclarke said:

Yeah I guess that does show the size of your backlog in a way..... but look at it like this, it'll go up even higher once you pop all of those platinum's. Sounds like you're almost at the point where you could start throwing on those bigger games that you seemed to be looking forward to. I guess that'll be a weight off, to start playing those.

 

I couldn't think of anything I'd like to do less than a platinum rain day/week. It'd be like giving myself a mountainous backlog of reviews all at once. That's very much a me specific problem though and one that I definitely don't want.

 

I will enjoy Resident Evil 4, thank you! It's something I know where I'm at with, so it'll be nice to go in knowing that I'll probably enjoy myself. If I finish Bastion tonight, I might even start RE4 later on.

O yeah definitely! Yes absolutely. I'm just sticking to RE2R as the main game at the mo, but after that is plat 250 then it's a case of what to choose next. Trying (like with the smaller ones to reduce the backlog) to focus on ones I've had for...well too long tbh. So games like Lost Sphear, Days Gone, Secret of Mana etc. would be high candidates.

 

lol yes a Platinum day/week really wouldn't work for you!

 

Enjoy!

[rjkclarke]

First off, thanks for the lovely messages, I really appreciate them. I can't say I'm not struggling a bit right now, but it's natural. Don't think that I don't appreciate the support though.

 

Ann was the type of lady who would have said, don't dwell on it, keep going, move forward. Easier said than done, of course, when someone as amazing as her disappears from the world. She always had a habit of underestimating how important she was to so many people.

 

13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said:

That is heavy indeed. I'm so sorry to hear that bro, I hope you're holding up okay.

 

And that's always good advice. There's no feeling quite like just wanting to hug a person, or tell them that you love them, but not being able to. Can't take it for granted when you can!

 

I think you need to allow yourself whatever you think will help in the grieving process, it's one of those times where it's 100% okay to put yourself first!

 

Thanks man, I really do appreciate that, and that you took the time to message me last night, I will reply to the last one, it was about 3 AM at that point, and I had to be up in the morning, so I tried to grab some sleep (and failed as usual ?) my brain went into overdrive a little bit.

 

I think if anything, having a few distractions will probably help right now, so I might end up doing the opposite of what I thought I might - I'm not running away from what's happened obviously, but it isn't really something I want to spend all of my time agonising over either, that's equally unhealthy. 

 

13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said:

 

So um... ah yes, video games!

 

Great review, and a great nudge towards not just finally getting into Bastion, but getting my ass in gear and handling Transistor! I'm going to hear you and Doc urging me to play Bastion til I finally start it up

 

Cheers dude! Doc and I might well do that, that's true, then urge you to play Pyre too, and then Hades probably as well ... I think there's a lot you'll really like in Bastion, I think if you enjoy Transistor then it's almost a lock that you'll have a good time with Bastion too. I think you'll definitely get a kick out of the absolutely awesome soundtracks that both games have.

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Take a bow, Kid, You earned it....

 

Loved reading this mate!

 

 

Thanks Doc!

 

I really appreciate you saying that actually, as I felt more than a little distracted when I was writing it, so I thought it might turn out a bit crap, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was one of those that I kind of went on auto-pilot for.

 

I'm still in a bit of a writing mood, and as I said, could probably do with my mind being occupied, so I'm going to write the review of that very Clay heavy game that I talked about a little bit in your thread, and post that up whenever I can.

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

absolutely - it's such a cool thing that the visuals kind of disarm people - make the game look like a beautifully polish, easy-breezy iOS style game, then before they know it, the story,  the music, Logan Cunnningham and the combat have dragged them into a fighting pit and they're completely subsumed!

 

Yes! Disarm is almost the perfect analogy for it actually, wish I'd used that one myself. It's a perfect description. I personally like when you go into a game with a certain thing in your head, only for it to make you think or feel a completely different way instead.

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Oooooohhhhh - I know it's getting ahead of myself, but with your penchants for adventure games , narrative and music, I am already looking forward to your take on Pyre  ?

 

...waiting for that disappointment in a Supergiant marathon is like waiting for Godot ?

 

Pyre is actually one of the ones I'm most looking forward to, purely because it looks like such a bizarre hodgepodge of different genres blending together, that just the idea of it alone is incredibly intriguing. The reason I actually went back to do Bastion before any of the others, is because I'd heard a few people say its a little more simplistic, so its better to play it now, and then not unfairly compare it to some of Supergiant's later output.

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

? Jim Jarmusch, Jim Jarmusch, will you do the fandango? ?

 

...ahem, sorry. ?

Old habits die hard.

 

I know exactly what you mean though!

 

I read that in Roberto Benigni's voice for some reason, probably the Jim Jarmusch connection I guess.

 

I SCREAM YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!

 

Wait.... erm.... yeah, right, Bastion!

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

I've had that one on Spotify rotation for years, and can attest first hand how listenable it is out of game!

 

It's funny, my kid is seven now, but when he was like 18 months, he used to have a hell of a time getting to sleep (goes hand in hand with Autism, I'm told). I'd drive him around at night, because the car would be the only place he would settle, and listen to music - anything without lyrics would work - regardless of tone. We played a lot of completely inappropriate music - Aphex Twin, Carpenter Brut, Perturbator... and the Darren Korb soundtracks.

 

There's one track in particular on the Bastion Soundtrack - called "Mine Windbag, Mine" which has a kind of rhythmic clang in it - like a hammer hitting an anvil.  I distinctly remember when he was like 3, going to one of those parks that have the outdoor instruments (percussion stuff) - and him hitting the tubulars with a perfect rhythm. When I came over to see what he was doing, he was humming that tune to himself under his breath, and recreating it with the  ?

 

He was non-verbal then (still has a lot of trouble with vocalisation, even now,) but I still play that track for him, and he'll tap along with it... you just have to be careful driving with it on, because it's so cinematic and exciting that you suddenly realise you're doing 90mph and glaring intently and suspiciously at the horizon! ?

 

My older brother had to be driven around in a car to music as well to make him sleep.

 

That does sound like he had a pretty good sleep soundtrack when he was very young though. I have fallen asleep to the Ambient works albums by Aphex Twin more than a few times actually , but I might have had some outside interference from a certain plant as a helping hand.  ??

 

I know exactly the song you mean - I had that on in the background whilst I was writing that review...... Wow that's really impressive that he was doing that at three, that's really cool. Child prodigy perhaps!  That piece of music must have had a pretty profound impact on him then when he was being driven around to some clanging lullaby's, if he could hit them in a perfect rhythm at that age, that's amazing! ?

 

That's awesome that you still play it for him too - I wonder what his reaction might be if he ever gets an interest in gaming and tries out Bastion, if it'll be odd for him that he knows almost instantly where a lot of music he's probably quite familiar with comes from.

 

I haven't gotten to the point where I can drive with music on yet, I find my brain still melts a little just trying to remember everything I need to, to go forwards and back ?

 

8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Damn dude - terribly sorry to hear that. Hope you're doing okay, and that her folks and friends are keeping well.

Keep your chin up - and if real life is getting you down, you got a network of checklist-obsessed weirdos here to keep you buoyed if we can ?

 

I appreciate that man!

 

I'm just coping, but I'm sure the people that are even closer to her are hurting even more, my Mum sure hasn't taken it well, when you've been friends with someone for 45 years, to the point where they're basically an extra aunt to your kids, and Godmother, to at least one of her Grandchildren, that's obviously going to be really tough.

 

5 hours ago, Copanele said:

Damn that was a great read. Need to catch up with Bastion and Pyre from my side, but given how you loved this game, I guess I also need to start this game as soon as possible.

Need to emotionally prepare for it first, SupergiantGames know how to kick me in mi corazon, so to speak  

 

Cheers Copanele, glad you enjoyed it!

 

I need to fill in Pyre and Hades now... I think you'll really like this one! I don't know that you have to prepare yourself for it emotionally though. I can't say for sure, everyone reacts to things differently, but from what I remember of your Transistor review, that game resonated with you (and a lot of us, that I played it I suspect) for fairly similar reasons. But there are certainly some spots in Bastion that might hit you in one or two of your feelings ?.

 

5 hours ago, Copanele said:

Sorry to hear about that man... Take all the time needed to heal, and as the good Doctor already mentioned, if needed you have the "checklist crowd"  here, to support as much as we can . 

 

I appreciate that! I certainly will take a step back if I feel that I need to. Thanks though, it's nice to know you lovely folks have got my back! That means a whole lot!

 

3 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Yeah won't be watching the World Seniors Championship personally either. 

 

I don't own it anymore, but possibly in the future if I can get it for cheap and my backlog goes down a lot, then it's possible I'd get it again and push the percentage up.

 

Well take it from someone who did watch the World Seniors this year, DON'T BOTHER NEXT YEAR ..... unless you really need a Snooker fix...

 

I have seen a fair few copies in my local CEX for £1-2, so if you ever fancy going back to it, it still plays very well..... although obviously nowadays it might just be easier to hit up a copy of Snooker 19, which I also recommend!

 

3 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

That's true. Uncharted 2 is my favourite one of the series but UC4 is definitely a great one including those moments. Also playing Crash in the game was just awesome haha.

 

I can understand and respect your opinion. Sadly as you say, others wouldn't due to this absolutes thing that seems to be all the rage nowadays. You're either for something or against it. Something is the best ever or the worst. It's ridiculous.

 

Uncharted 2 is my favourite one as well. I think whenever I probably go to review Uncharted 4 I'll probably think about it more favourably than I did at the time.  I've had this discussion with Smevz a few times, where occasionally you get yourself in a pickle where you just aren't feeling a certain game, and then your lasting impression of it is a bit tarred by that. I've always considered UC4 to be objectively good, I just seemed to have a really miserable time with it when going for the trophies.

 

I'm glad you're on my wavelength with the series as a whole though, that's good to know! ?

 

3 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

O yeah definitely! Yes absolutely. I'm just sticking to RE2R as the main game at the mo, but after that is plat 250 then it's a case of what to choose next. Trying (like with the smaller ones to reduce the backlog) to focus on ones I've had for...well too long tbh. So games like Lost Sphear, Days Gone, Secret of Mana etc. would be high candidates.

 

lol yes a Platinum day/week really wouldn't work for you!

 

Enjoy!

 

Have you made anymore progress with the Resi 2 remake, or are you still plugging away at that Speedrun?

 

Yeah, not a bad choice actually! I should follow that logic and attack the few I have left from oldest first too I think. You could always try doing what I've seen some people do, where they finish an old game, then allow themselves to start a new one, then finish that, then go back to an old one you've already started, that seems to keep some people focused as they aren't constantly going backwards, which I've heard a few people say can be quite draining depending on the person. 

[The_Kopite]

 

Firstly,

I wanted to say I'm really for your loss. I completely missed that before I responded to you the last time and I'm sorry for that. That's my bad. I've been under the weather recently but that's no excuse. Hopefully it didn't come across as being insensitive or anything. Apologies again.

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Well take it from someone who did watch the World Seniors this year, DON'T BOTHER NEXT YEAR ..... unless you really need a Snooker fix...

 

I have seen a fair few copies in my local CEX for £1-2, so if you ever fancy going back to it, it still plays very well..... although obviously nowadays it might just be easier to hit up a copy of Snooker 19, which I also recommend!

 

I will trust your opinion and not bother, thanks.

 

Yeah I figured it would be around that price. I might decide to get it again and add some trophies in the future. Snooker 19 too is one you've talked up a good game about.

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Uncharted 2 is my favourite one as well. I think whenever I probably go to review Uncharted 4 I'll probably think about it more favourably than I did at the time.  I've had this discussion with Smevz a few times, where occasionally you get yourself in a pickle where you just aren't feeling a certain game, and then your lasting impression of it is a bit tarred by that. I've always considered UC4 to be objectively good, I just seemed to have a really miserable time with it when going for the trophies.

 

I'm glad you're on my wavelength with the series as a whole though, that's good to know!

Good to know! Sometimes the trophies in Uncharted games can be a bit infuriating from my experience, but overall I've always enjoyed the experience. Certainly tricky trophies or not being in the mood can affect your opinion of a game overall.

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Have you made anymore progress with the Resi 2 remake, or are you still plugging away at that Speedrun?

 

Yeah, not a bad choice actually! I should follow that logic and attack the few I have left from oldest first too I think. You could always try doing what I've seen some people do, where they finish an old game, then allow themselves to start a new one, then finish that, then go back to an old one you've already started, that seems to keep some people focused as they aren't constantly going backwards, which I've heard a few people say can be quite draining depending on the person. 

I managed to get the Leon B Standard run done! 2hours and 45 mins in the end so 15mins below the 3 hour target. Closer than I'd have wanted it to be, but it's given me more confidence now with the future runs and was nice to see some trophies pop again for it! Was so close to the 14000 step trophy too.

 

That is a fair point and an interesting one too. Certainly I've got loads of old ones to play including FFVIII, FFIX, FFXII, RE3R, Sonic Unleashed along with the ones I mentioned previously but eventually I'll have the Intermission DLC for FFVII Remake, RE Village, Horizon Forbidden West which was newer (relatively speaking) so certainly getting a balance can be tricky sometimes. 

Certainly have a bit of time to think on what will be next main game, but definitely will be an older one. I've got that urge and so I have to work with that. 

[DrunkenEngineer]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:25 PM, rjkclarke said:

I'm hoping that doesn't read too clinical or disjointed. It might do, but I'm feeling a little, numb right now.....

 

Which brings me onto something, if you're reading this far, thank you obviously. I need to mention something just in case it leads me to disappearing from the forums for a little bit. I don't want to, but it all depends on how I'm feeling.

 

Okay, here we go. This is a bit heavy.

 

So I vaguely skirted around something during the Trophies to Fight Cancer event, something that was one of the things pushing me to try and complete as many things as I could during those two months. I mentioned that it was someone who was keeping me really motivated.

 

I don't really want to go too much into the specifics on here right now, but she was a beautiful lady called Ann, and someone I really, really loved. Today (yesterday now as it's 1AM) I found out that she'd died. It's something that I knew was coming at some point, but it isn't something that you can ever quite prepare yourself for.

 

62 is no age. I'm really not using hyperbole here, but she really was one of the loveliest people you could ever wish to meet - almost altruism personified, she would do anything for anyone, whether they were family or not. Nor is this hyperbole, the world truly is a darker place now, because she's no longer in it.

 

I know it sounds like a silly cliche, but really, if you haven't told someone you love for a long time, that you do love them, please, just do it, because you never know when that horrible, soul crushing day will come when you can't ever say that again.

 

I think me disappearing from here for a bit is unlikely, but I just thought I'd clue people in just in case.

 

 

 

Hey man, I didn’t catch this until now.  Truly sorry for your loss.  If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

Fuck cancer.

[rjkclarke]

On 13/05/2022 at 9:11 AM, The_Kopite said:

Firstly,

I wanted to say I'm really for your loss. I completely missed that before I responded to you the last time and I'm sorry for that. That's my bad. I've been under the weather recently but that's no excuse. Hopefully it didn't come across as being insensitive or anything. Apologies again.

 

Thank you.... It isn't a good week for deaths this week, my Great Uncle passed away today too. So it's one thing after another at the moment.

 

I was expecting quite a few people to miss that part of the post anyway. It was at the end of a review, and one that was quite near the bottom of the page anyway, I didn't really want to make a huge thing out of it, so I didn't. I just put it there just in case I happened to disappear for a little bit.

 

I didn't think you were being insensitive at all, I just assumed you hadn't seen it, so no worries at all man! Sorry to hear you've been feeling a little under the weather, hope that improves for you soon!

 

On 13/05/2022 at 9:11 AM, The_Kopite said:

I will trust your opinion and not bother, thanks.

 

Yeah I figured it would be around that price. I might decide to get it again and add some trophies in the future. Snooker 19 too is one you've talked up a good game about.

 

I mean the final of the World Seniors was okay, so I mean SOME OF IT, might be worth a look next year ?

 

Yep, yep! I suspect I'll be flying the flag for Snooker 19 for quite some time, although it does feel slightly outdated now, when you look at the roll of honour list in the game and see Judd Trump on 10 or 11 Ranking titles, when he's on, 23 or something now. But it does seem to be on sale a lot, and for an ever decreasing price, so hopefully one of these days you might decide to pick it up, because I really do think it is very good.

 

On 13/05/2022 at 9:11 AM, The_Kopite said:

Good to know! Sometimes the trophies in Uncharted games can be a bit infuriating from my experience, but overall I've always enjoyed the experience. Certainly tricky trophies or not being in the mood can affect your opinion of a game overall.

 

Absolutely, infuriating trophies was my experience with Uncharted 4, of my own making too. I kept having to retry the speedrun trophy, because I was too stubborn to use that workaround that basically guarantees it...... in the end I think each successive time I had to play the game I found more and more things that really wound me up about the experience haha ?

 

I think once I review it, and probably play it again, I'll probably be quite a bit more positive about it as a whole.

 

On 13/05/2022 at 9:11 AM, The_Kopite said:

I managed to get the Leon B Standard run done! 2hours and 45 mins in the end so 15mins below the 3 hour target. Closer than I'd have wanted it to be, but it's given me more confidence now with the future runs and was nice to see some trophies pop again for it! Was so close to the 14000 step trophy too.

 

That is a fair point and an interesting one too. Certainly I've got loads of old ones to play including FFVIII, FFIX, FFXII, RE3R, Sonic Unleashed along with the ones I mentioned previously but eventually I'll have the Intermission DLC for FFVII Remake, RE Village, Horizon Forbidden West which was newer (relatively speaking) so certainly getting a balance can be tricky sometimes. 

Certainly have a bit of time to think on what will be next main game, but definitely will be an older one. I've got that urge and so I have to work with that. 

 

Congratulations! That seems like an unusual trophy to have to make 14000 steps. I can't say those aren't pretty common in Resident Evil games to have a weird trophy like that though. Like there's that one in the remake of RE1, where you've gotta have every single room in the whole game come up green on the map to show that you've thoroughly explored it, even if there's literally nothing useful in it, you still have to pick t up and shove it in your item box ?

 

I think that's a good way to look at it yeah, go on whatever your urges are at the time. Hey I mean Final Fantasy X-2 could be your next old game............. That is SOOOOO worth your time ?, and even giving a milestone to like I did accidentally haha

 

On 13/05/2022 at 4:24 PM, DrunkenEngineer said:

Hey man, I didn’t catch this until now.  Truly sorry for your loss.  If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

Fuck cancer.

 

Thanks man! I appreciate you stopping by to say that..... That's really nice of you! ?

 

Couldn't have said it better myself, Fuck cancer indeed. Piece of shit disease.

 

In less depressing news, all of your awesome progress with Dishonoured lately, has definitely reminded me I need to go back to it. After all, it's on my list for the Ultra Rare Cleanup as well, and I haven't actually gone back to it yet like I meant to!

 

I guess I'd better go finish off that review I was writing!

 

Thanks again everyone!

[rjkclarke]

Classic Review

 

Armikrog (PS4)

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

100% Achieved - 29 December 2020 : 2:45:07 PM

Time taken to 100%: - 3 hours, 21 minutes, 28 seconds

100% Rarity - 29.6%

 

Armikrog is a curious game – it’s one of those titles where just the idea of it alone is almost enough to sell a person on it, just on a conceptual level. It’s one of those games that I had no real idea about going into it. However, I think part of your enjoyment – or I suppose potential lack thereof, will come from how much you’re drawn in by the concepts being offered.

 

With that in mind, what exactly is Armikrog? In essence, Armikrog is a spiritual successor to another intriguing game, Neverhood a claymation point-and-click adventure title released in the mid 90’s. Much like Neverhood, Armikrog is also a claymation point-and-click adventure comedy title, that does lean quite heavily into the comedic side, yet also has some quite wondrous reflective moments. As I mentioned above, it is very possible your enjoyment of the game will depend on your fondness for both claymation and point-and-click adventures, I am very fond of both of those, so for me, this was almost a recipe for success just at a glance.

 

As the player, you take the role of Tommynaut and his sidekick Beak-Beak (a strange bird-dog thing,) as you traverse the huge fortress-like structure Armikrog, in search of P-Tonium a resource necessary for saving Tommynaut’s populace from extinction. Along the way you encounter all manner of interesting characters ranging from a talking plant/ant named Abrahant Lincoln (complete with hat) to a baby named P, and many more in between. (The name is a little unfortunate, if you’re from the UK and have a good memory, I don’t advise looking that up, if you aren’t aware, THAT WILL NOT BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY, trust me.)

 

Armikrog is one of those instances where its singular components are the thing that shine brightest, and above all else. As a whole Armikrog is a good game, but I’d hesitate to say it’s a truly great one – yet it is absolutely undeniable, that it has some truly great elements to it. Considering the game isn’t really much more than about five hours long, I never found myself dwelling too much on the areas I didn’t enjoy, the zip-kicker traversal system being one of them.

 

An element that Armikrog does remarkably well is world building and atmosphere – for me the tower of Armikrog was a location that I really wanted to explore, and uncover the secrets of. This atmosphere itself is an element of the game, that really does work as a whole, and the art, music and area design all combine into one fascinating whole atmosphere. During the course of the game you’re drip fed tiny little titbits of information about the planet you’re visiting and its inhabitants. Armikrog had such a well realised implementation of the otherworldly and alien atmosphere that it was trying to evoke.   

 

However from a design standpoint, Armikrog is probably one of the most fascinating experiences I had in 2020, and I played a lot of games that year. The idea of an almost completely stop-motion point-and-click adventure game is a fascinating one. Armikrog is very much in the Nick Park style of Claymation, with vibrant and interesting colours aplenty. The fact that Armikrog is an alien structure gave the art designers a little more freedom to really explore what they could do with that as a concept, and it’s something I think they did a tremendous job with.

Something I found fascinating was the imperfections in the environment – you could argue its laziness, but I think as Armikrog as a structure, is one that can rebuild and change itself – be moulded into something else, if you will – the fact there are slight imperfections here and there, like they’ve been shaped by an organic hand really add to the alien, and living feel of the place.

 

The animation itself is also of a pretty high standard – there’s a lot of it too. It would have been very easy for the developers to cut corners and make sure that the environments contained a lot of aspects that don’t move, instead there’s plenty of instances where there’s movement among the back and foregrounds within  the various areas of Armikrog. Even the humanoid characters like Tommynaut and P are incredibly well animated, as is Beak-Beak. A huge helping hand was how well voiced their characters were, but we’ll get to that. They all really help bring he characters to life in a satisfying way.

 

Strap in people, it’s time for some sound analysis! Armikrog has a soundtrack that is almost better than the game itself, provided by Terry Scott Taylor. That isn’t a knock on it, but it is so much better than I feel it has any right to be, I think the reason this interesting little curiosity of a game still pops into my head on a fairly regular occasion is in fact down to its soundtrack. It just works, so well– I don’t mean functionally – that part is obvious, what I mean is that every single part of it matches the tone of the area you’re in. Whether that’s the opening theme that sounds so much like a piece you’d hear as a theme song for a Saturday morning cartoon, or the fantastic track Hallowed Hall of Heroes, written as a thank you to some of the Kickstarter backers that supported the game through development, it all just works wonderfully.

 

Not only does the soundtrack itself work magnificently, so too does the sound design. The sound effects of the various contraptions littered all over Armikrog are absolutely fantastic, some sound like things you’ve never heard before – which almost certainly means a huge effort was made to create that specific sound effect, something that I can absolutely appreciate. The familiar ones sound lovely, clear and crisp.

Armikrog also boasts a pretty rich voice cast. Each giving very strong performances, ones I think the game would greatly suffer for without their inclusion. Rob Paulsen and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) being the standouts for me personally. Heder plays the villain so well I thought; he walks the tight-rope between funny and absolutely evil so well in places.

 

I’ve saved my most negative thoughts until last, and those come in the form of the gameplay. No this still isn’t opposites day – I am about to be quite critical of some point-and-click gameplay. I must point out, the pointing and the clicking is not the issue, that aspect is fairly responsive and smooth. Nor is the hilarious way that Tommynaut can push objects inside of himself as an “inventory.” All of those aspects are your normal standard fare, they aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they absolutely work.

My main issue with Armikrog is how basic the puzzles feel – dare I say it, unimaginative. They go to the well far too many times with the same type of puzzle. You get asked to do the same type of slide puzzle at least three times, and these take a long time, and aren’t particularly taxing or fun to solve either. I think if the game was longer, it would be less of an issue, as you wouldn’t encounter them quite so often. There are some absolutely great ones too, but I felt like they almost got submerged in a sea of less memorable ones, which is ultimately a shame.

 

I think repetitious puzzles are probably the reason I’ll struggle to want to go back and play Armikrog until I’ve almost certainly forgotten some of the solutions.   

 

Despite the fact I was a little less enthused by some of the puzzles in Amikrog, I still feel it is a game that I’d absolutely recommend to people. It’s a fascinating curiosity of a game, with some real charm to it. I really don’t think there’s anything quite like it available on Playstation. The trophies are all pretty straightforward and you can complete the game in well under five hours, so it isn’t like it’d be too taxing on your time either.

 

 

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

 

That was nice and cathartic to write about something point-and-clicky..... I think I needed that one!

 

One of these days I really will finish that Final Fantasy X review, and all the other ones I have bubbling away. Don't worry, all of you that put in requests I haven't forgotten them, I just want to make sure I give them my all.

 

If you want to read the almost opposites day version of my review, from someone who isn't as much of a fan of point-and-click adventures and doesn't like claymation, then I'll leave a link to @realm722's review of it. If you wanted to see where both of us sit on it. I'll leave it here. 

 

There are a lot of very valid points in that review, which is why I mentioned in mine how whether or not you enjoy this or not will more than likely come from how inclined you are towards claymation and point-and-click adventures.

 

Catch you all in the next one folks!

Edited May 16, 2022 by rjkclarke

[The_Kopite]

On 5/15/2022 at 5:58 PM, rjkclarke said:

Thank you.... It isn't a good week for deaths this week, my Great Uncle passed away today too. So it's one thing after another at the moment.

 

I was expecting quite a few people to miss that part of the post anyway. It was at the end of a review, and one that was quite near the bottom of the page anyway, I didn't really want to make a huge thing out of it, so I didn't. I just put it there just in case I happened to disappear for a little bit.

 

I didn't think you were being insensitive at all, I just assumed you hadn't seen it, so no worries at all man! Sorry to hear you've been feeling a little under the weather, hope that improves for you soon!

Damn man, that's dreadful. I'm truly sorry. 

 

Yeah it's a bit up and down with me at the moment, but it'll be alright.

 

On 5/15/2022 at 5:58 PM, rjkclarke said:

I mean the final of the World Seniors was okay, so I mean SOME OF IT, might be worth a look next year

 

Yep, yep! I suspect I'll be flying the flag for Snooker 19 for quite some time, although it does feel slightly outdated now, when you look at the roll of honour list in the game and see Judd Trump on 10 or 11 Ranking titles, when he's on, 23 or something now. But it does seem to be on sale a lot, and for an ever decreasing price, so hopefully one of these days you might decide to pick it up, because I really do think it is very good.

Okay, so maybe the final is worth a look then lol Gotcha!

 

Well yeah, sports titles are always out of date by the next year let alone 3 years after the fact lol I will certainly keep it in my thoughts but I would be more likely to pick up WSC Real 11 for really cheap and try add some more trophies to that first tbh.

 

On 5/15/2022 at 5:58 PM, rjkclarke said:

Absolutely, infuriating trophies was my experience with Uncharted 4, of my own making too. I kept having to retry the speedrun trophy, because I was too stubborn to use that workaround that basically guarantees it...... in the end I think each successive time I had to play the game I found more and more things that really wound me up about the experience haha

 

I think once I review it, and probably play it again, I'll probably be quite a bit more positive about it as a whole.

Ah yes, the speedrun trophy. The workaround would certainly have taken a lot of frustration out of getting that one lol Yeah if you are playing a game over and over or a certain section etc it would certainly hurt the experience overall sadly.

 

I would expect that playing it again in a calmer fashion, not caring about speed and just going with the flow so to speak, that it will be something you enjoy a lot more.

 

On 5/15/2022 at 5:58 PM, rjkclarke said:

Congratulations! That seems like an unusual trophy to have to make 14000 steps. I can't say those aren't pretty common in Resident Evil games to have a weird trophy like that though. Like there's that one in the remake of RE1, where you've gotta have every single room in the whole game come up green on the map to show that you've thoroughly explored it, even if there's literally nothing useful in it, you still have to pick t up and shove it in your item box

 

I think that's a good way to look at it yeah, go on whatever your urges are at the time. Hey I mean Final Fantasy X-2 could be your next old game............. That is SOOOOO worth your time , and even giving a milestone to like I did accidentally haha

Yeah you have to complete the game in less than 14000 steps for a trophy, so again the speedrunning part has that extra edge to it. All about planning ahead but then that's RE games in general lol 

 

Yes that one in RE1 is a pesky one in it's own right as you say. Would you like to pick up the useless item that serves no purpose apart from taking up a space in your precious limited inventory? Yes please! lol

 

Haha! You know what, in terms of the high difficulty of getting X-2's platinum, if I ever was able to actually get it then I'd probably make it a milestone for that reason alone lol I still need to try that roguelike tower mode at some point.....

 

 

[rjkclarke]

On 17/05/2022 at 4:09 PM, The_Kopite said:

Damn man, that's dreadful. I'm truly sorry. 

 

Yeah it's a bit up and down with me at the moment, but it'll be alright.

 

 

It is, but at least he went peacefully and in his sleep, so it isn't as if he was in any pain that we know of.

 

Sounds like you're sort of on the mend, I guess as it's taken me even longer to reply you're hopefully even better than when you sent that reply.

 

On 17/05/2022 at 4:09 PM, The_Kopite said:

Well yeah, sports titles are always out of date by the next year let alone 3 years after the fact lol I will certainly keep it in my thoughts but I would be more likely to pick up WSC Real 11 for really cheap and try add some more trophies to that first tbh.

 

Or..... You could get both! Seriously the Gold Edition of Snooker 19 goes on sale pretty often for a great price, so you could pick up WSC Real 11 from CEX or somewhere similar, and get Snooker 19 and you might not even break double figures on the old £'s front.

 

Not that I'm in any position to tell you what to do with your own money ?

 

On 17/05/2022 at 4:09 PM, The_Kopite said:

I would expect that playing it again in a calmer fashion, not caring about speed and just going with the flow so to speak, that it will be something you enjoy a lot more.

 

That's what I'm thinking, and hoping too. Although my opinion on Mr Drake and his terrible bouts of verbal diarrhoea aren't likely to change, I doubt I'll find myself leaning towards negativity like I would have after just getting the platinum.

 

One of my poor friends had to put up with a lot of my frustrations whilst I was going for that speedrun trophy haha. 

 

On 17/05/2022 at 4:09 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yeah you have to complete the game in less than 14000 steps for a trophy, so again the speedrunning part has that extra edge to it. All about planning ahead but then that's RE games in general lol 

 

Yes that one in RE1 is a pesky one in it's own right as you say. Would you like to pick up the useless item that serves no purpose apart from taking up a space in your precious limited inventory? Yes please! lol

 

Haha! You know what, in terms of the high difficulty of getting X-2's platinum, if I ever was able to actually get it then I'd probably make it a milestone for that reason alone lol I still need to try that roguelike tower mode at some point.....

 

 

That is startlingly accurate having just beaten Resident Evil 4 on professional last night (review to come in a little bit ?). If you go into it even having half a plan about what you're going to be doing in each area it will help. It's odd because Resident Evil doesn't appear on the surface to be one of those games that you'd expect to have to have a plan for. Yet they really can reward efficiency and I really like that. 

 

Resident Evil 1 does have quite a few of those ultimately useless items as well, but nope, pick them up run to an item box, drop them off and then get back to what you're doing haha.

 

Well I've banged on about you and others starting that roguelike tower too much....and I also don't want to bring the game up because it's an unwelcome reminder that I have that game down to review as a request , but I keep procrastinating on both that and FFX. they'll get done, I've just not been feeling the whole sit down and write for ages thing lately. 

[rjkclarke]

"What Are Ya Buying?" My Newest Completion, Resident Evil 4 Please!

 

Resident Evil 4 (PS4)

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

100% Achieved - 19 May 2022: 7:43:58 PM

Time taken to 100%: - 6 days, 22 hours, 25 minutes

100% Rarity - 12.82%

 

Continuing my strange trend that I can’t seem to quite escape from, my whole gaming life of playing games in the wrong order – here I am with Resident Evil 4 completed, mere months after nailing down the one hundred percent completions for Resident Evil 5 and 6.

 

This time it was a little more deliberate, my intention was to save the best until last. In a way I’m glad that I did, because it really was a blast to revisit this one, as I came to the sudden realisation in a few places how truly special some of the games elements are. Ultimately what became one of the greatest issues for me was playing this after the quality of like improvements that the controls of Resident Evil 5 and 6 possess, but I’m getting ahead of myself, I’ll get into that a little later on.

 

Resident Evil 4, developed as you’d expect by Capcom and originally released in 2005, with this version being released all the way back in 2016.  You play as BlandyMcCurtainsface Kennedy..... Sorry, sorry, that’s wrong.

 

Ahem, you play as Leon S. Kennedy, as you’re tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter Ashley Graham from some strange ladies and gentleman in a rural village in Spain, where the local police, sound startlingly like a very white person trying to sound “Spanish/Mexican”, but I guess that is one of those inescapable things in media.   

Along the way you’ll encounter all sorts of malevolent things. Including a tiny little pest that I often forget is an adult, not a child, despite what his diminutive height and petulant behaviour might lead you to think.  

 

It is so easy to see when playing Resident Evil 4 how truly revolutionary this was at the time and how much this games influence is still felt within the wider gaming landscape, even to this day. That is a real legacy that this game is leaving in its wake, and one that Capcom have a little of a bit tough job on their hands remaking it, when you consider how beloved this title is by so many people.

 

There aren’t a whole lot of new things to add to the discussion regarding Resident Evil 4, even regarding its story that hasn’t been said already. That being said – from my perspective I do think this is one of the better plots of a Resident Evil game. I did feel as if Leon was a little bit over the top with some of his cliché action hero one liners, and general cockiness, it’s been a long time since I’ve played Resident Evil 2, we’re quite literally talking about twenty years, but I don’t remember Leon from two and four being all that similar, or how he is in six for that matter, wildly inconsistent. I didn’t dislike him at all; I just have always struggled to warm to him in this game. The interplay between Leon and Ada Wong is very true to both characters though, so I did very much appreciate that aspect of it.

 

Something that I personally think Resident Evil 4 does extremely well – is it’s villains. I don’t think until Resident Evil VII: Biohazard came out, did we get villains as good as these again. If you’re reading this and you’re a Resident Evil fan, ask yourself this.  How many villainous characters that appear after Resident Evil 4 do you really remember whose last name doesn’t end in Wesker? I’d be surprised if the amount even came close to the amount of villains you will remember from Resident Evil 4. Whether it’s the wild obsession with control and power by Saddler, or the absolutely – and almost instantly detestable –  Salazar, for one reason or another, you’re likely to remember them, and that’s purely just mentioning two.

 

An aspect of Resident Evil 4, that I found genuinely refreshing after playing Resident Evil 5 and 6 most recently, is a sharper focus upon horror. Obviously Resident Evil 4 has a heavy focus on action too, but I think this game more than the others strikes a much healthier balance between action and horror. Its roots are still planted firmly in the Horror genre, so to speak.

 

Atmosphere alone can sometimes go a long way into making video game experiences that much more memorable, and the way in which Resident Evil 4 establishes atmosphere, is at times absolutely spectacular. One fine example is the way in which you first enter the village – initially you see the Ganados (this games version of zombies) milling around aimlessly and potentially harmlessly, until you’re quickly thrust into a swarm of them, forcing you into an absolute trial by fire right off the bat.

 

I’d argue that the gameplay itself also directly factors into the games atmosphere and indeed, as a result, the horror element. It’s not quite tank controls, but it’s not far off, given the perspective shift brought about by the new camera angles. Unlike Resident Evil 6, there’s no way to shoot and move, much like the earlier Resident Evil titles, you’re rooted to the spot the moment you aim your gun. This can be tense enough on Normal difficulties, but crank that up a notch on Professional when enemies move at twice the speed, and you really do feel under threat. It’s one of those times where, fluid controls do make for more enjoyable gameplay, yes, but I honestly feel like some of the fear factor the game instils in you might be somewhat lost had the controls been buttery smooth.

 

An area that Resident Evil 4 absolutely excels in is its art design, but not only that, its level design too, but I’ll get to that. The various monster designs are excellent in their own right, but it’s the smaller elements that I particularly enjoyed noticing. As the Ganados and Cultists are not technically Zombies in the truest sense, they were designed very specifically to reflect that they aren’t truly zombies. In a sense, I think that adds an extra layer of creepiness to them.

Particularly when you look at their eyes, famously Zombies have pretty vacant dead eyes, but if you catch a Cultist or a Ganado getting too close to you, or you watch their face through a sniper barrel, then you’ll almost certainly see that those are not the eyes of a cold dead husk. Instead they are in fact the eyes of a living breathing, brainwashed individual. The dark circles, red glow and perpetually enraged faces of some of them, really can unsettle you.

 

The character designs are of a pretty high quality this time around – I remember being quite gobsmacked when I initially played this all those years ago, at how good some of the character models look. For a little context, I went straight from Resident Evil 2, to this one, I was too terrified to play Resident Evil 3, because of Nemesis.  

The quality is only enhanced here with the HD Remaster. One thing of note though, is that I think this is probably the best of all of the character designs of Ada Wong across her multiple appearances.  The other ones are fine, sure, but here she looks Chinese-American, and I don’t think she quite does in some of her other appearances, so I really appreciate the effort in making her quite a bit more authentic here.

 

In Resident Evil 4 there is a real tight and deliberate feeling to how each of the games areas are designed and it’s something that I really think is done exceptionally well. Capcom really made fantastic use of the fact that the camera position is in a locked perspective – what it essentially does, is give you a false sense of security. A wide open room with seemingly few enemies in it can sometimes give you a little confidence, until you start to hear the sound of a mace rattling behind you, or incessant unsettling chanting to the side of you. I’m really glad that Capcom fully utilised what was available to them here, as having enemies amble towards you from all angles not being seen until sometimes it is too late is a fantastic way of keeping your concentration tight and your thoughts ever present. Nowhere ever feels quite safe, and I really like that aspect to it,  

 

For a game that really doesn’t go much beyond twelve hours, I think the amount of versatility in the individual areas is quite something extraordinary. Yet it is never jarring, and I think that’s something that really is worth highlighting.  Unlike the trap some games fall into, practically every single area of Resident Evil 4 really feels as if it fits both geographically and tonally with everywhere else. It also plays really well into the horror aspect, as each successive area feels that much more perilous to explore.

 

Each time I play this game – and admittedly the gap between plays this time had been far longer than it should have been, I usually notice something new. That’s part of the beauty of truly good pieces of media you can experience them plenty of times, yet still find something interesting you might never have noticed before. For example, the previous time I noticed the clever little animation tweaks that Leon has if Ashley is wearing her Special Two Costume (The Suit of Armour) when Leon is catching her from a great height, his knees buckle slightly, as it’s meant to be a whole lot heavier. This time I noticed the fact he makes a pained gesture towards his lower back sometimes when he stands up afterwards, which I thought was a clever little touch.

 

Discussing the sound in Resident Evil 4 is a little trickier than usual as it is more than a little unconventional. Personally, I still think it’s very good, but it’s rather unusual for a video game soundtrack, in that it doesn’t quite have a cover-all composition. It has a soundtrack, sure, but it isn’t present the entire way through certain sections or scenes. The soundtrack of Resident Evil 4, is in all honesty, more akin to incidental music found in Television shows, in that it appears whenever the composers feel it needs to. I like that, others might not. I still think it works, quite well too, there are just a few times, where I thought even the slightest bit of ambient music might have heightened the situation, but that is quite possibly just personal preference creeping in.

 

That being said – the specifically dedicated musical themes for areas, are indeed, very good, and there are plenty I could go into great detail with how well they work, and why (but let’s be honest if I did, I’d be here all day). After all, I can talk about sound until the cows come home, well, then promptly turn into cow zombies because they've died of old age from me incessantly talking about sound design... Anyway, I have heard plenty of people fondly mention their time spent listening to the various Safe Room themes found in this game. Those really are brilliant compositions too – excellently conveying that sense of instant relief you often get when you’ve gotten through a particularly tricky section as that relaxing music gently settles your nerves a little bit.  

 

The sound design itself is, and I’m trying not to be too hyperbolic, but it really is astonishingly good. Capcom must have had a terrific level of faith in the ability of the Sound Designer here. Some of the ambient soundscapes are absolutely fantastic, and it might not seem like much – but there is a genuine art, to knowing when to, and not to, use silence.

Resident Evil 4 achieves that masterfully, adding just enough silence for you to become uncomfortable, and then within seconds, you could hear rhythmic chanting of the cultists, or the horrible clicking of a Novistador, so you very rarely feel at ease.

Personally it was always the Regenerators/Iron Maidens that have always unnerved me the most. It’s the horrible rattling breathing as they make their way towards you that is genuinely unsettling  alongside the absolutely alien sound you hear when you pierce their bodies with any kind of bullets. I imagine it was a real joy to create some of those sound effects too.  

 

The use of the foley sound is excellent too, whether it’s the crisp and satisfying noise of reloading the chamber of a weapon, or the firing of weapons themselves, they’ve all been crafted so well. The voice acting is all around quite good, Ashley is suitably bratty, given that she’s the President’s daughter. I have always really enjoyed Rino Romano’s performance as Luis Sera, he’s a very enigmatic character, and I think Romano does a wonderful job of bringing enough charisma to the part, that you always find yourself wanting him to stick around longer, to learn more about them instead of the fleeting bits and pieces of his character you see here and there.  

 

So then – do I recommend Resident Evil 4? Yes, I do, I really do. Don’t be too put off by the fact it doesn’t have a platinum trophy, I think whenever this gets remade, that almost certainly will have one. However, this game is still absolutely worth experiencing even in 2022. If you haven’t played it, then you’ll probably see how this game has influenced some of the games you almost certainly have played.  The controls are a little clunky, absolutely, but I don ‘think they feel particularly unfair either. Professional mode can be more than a little brutal in places, but if you get stuck on a certain situation it does require you to strategise a little on the fly, and that’s an element to the game that I really enjoy.

 

I’m also incredibly pleased that the trophies encourage you to play Ada’s mini campaign, which I think if excellent. I’d be genuinely really disappointed if they didn’t integrate it into the remake, or keep it as a feature of some sort. It lends some really important context to the story, and you even find out that a certain characters true fate is not quite what you might have thought it was.  It took me a while to get around to it (story of my gaming life, right?) but I’m so glad that I played this again.

 

 

 

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

 

Whew that took a bit of back and forth in the old edit, I initially meant for that to be a bit shorter, then I got carried away talking about sound (who knew haha ?).

 

I'll throw out a tag for @FreshFromThaDeli as I know this is one of your favourite games I believe. So you can either read it, or you can shoot my head off and then throw a flashbang at my head if a Plaga spawns, if you're particularly offended that I summoned you here .... and @The_Kopite because, well you seem to like Resident Evil in practically all its forms, so this one might interest you too. @Billie__227 I'll chuck one out for you too, as we were quite literally talking about how much we both really like this game earlier, so y'know MORE LOVE FOR RESIDENT EVIL 4!

 

I could probably tag quite a few of you who I'm pretty sure like this game actually , but I don't want to turn into some big sea of blue thing again, so don't think I forgot you, I didn't, trust me.

 

I haven't quite decided what to play next just yet. It's either going to be Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, God of War (2018), my final trophy in Limbo, or Evoland. I guess that's my problem to have to figure out though ?

 

Catch you all in the next one folks!

Edited May 21, 2022 by rjkclarke

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Appreciate the tag mate. This is indeed my favourite game of all time along with Ocarina of Time. Very well written and constructed review. This game is the pinnacle of gaming for me and I'm sure many others. 

 

I remember I rented this from my local Blockbuster around launch and I beat it in 2 days. For me, back then as a kid, it was a major accomplishment as this game can be tough in a portion of the areas like Salazer's Castle. I did one better and beat RE5 on PS3 in one sitting on launch night on PS3 so I had a thing for going through these RE games at a breakneck pace. 

 

I loved it so much that I went back and rented it again as I didn't have enough money to buy the game until a year later where I played it all over again. Fun fact: My original Gamecube save has been cleared about 14 times. I have effectively done new game + on the Gamecube over a dozen times in my life. Not to mention the many many many other playthroughs on other hardware over the years.

 

As it stands, this is my most replayed game ever and I make a point to replay this masterpiece at least once a year. I've never experienced a game with as much replay value as RE4. Just last year's playthrough alone I used the Mine Thrower in my whole playthrough and I discovered how much I like this gun after ignoring it for so many years in favour of ballistic weapons instead. That's 17 years later that I have found a new way to play the game, what an incredible feeling it was to have to use the Mine Thrower on the Mine cart ride in the underground tunnel section. 

 

I just recently completed the Dead Space trilogy and I can draw many comparisons to RE4 in that regard. I have the itch to replay RE4 now so it may be time to go back to suplexing Illuminati members and button mashing my way through QTE's. What a thrill ride!

 

I can go on and on and in fact I think I already have. Love this game dearly ❤️ 

[The_Kopite]

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

It is, but at least he went peacefully and in his sleep, so it isn't as if he was in any pain that we know of.

 

Sounds like you're sort of on the mend, I guess as it's taken me even longer to reply you're hopefully even better than when you sent that reply.

Well at least that is something. Still sorry.

 

Yeah bit better now thankfully. Cheers.

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Or..... You could get both! Seriously the Gold Edition of Snooker 19 goes on sale pretty often for a great price, so you could pick up WSC Real 11 from CEX or somewhere similar, and get Snooker 19 and you might not even break double figures on the old £'s front.

 

Not that I'm in any position to tell you what to do with your own money

lol can you imagine if you controlled someones money in terms of gaming. "Right, you haven't played these snooker games so I command you to buy both!" lol 

 

I will have a think about it definitely. 

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That's what I'm thinking, and hoping too. Although my opinion on Mr Drake and his terrible bouts of verbal diarrhoea aren't likely to change, I doubt I'll find myself leaning towards negativity like I would have after just getting the platinum.

 

One of my poor friends had to put up with a lot of my frustrations whilst I was going for that speedrun trophy haha. 

I feel sorry for them lol Yeah I think your opinion on the game will change, at least in that the positives will be more pronounced and you will be able to appreciate certain aspects far more.

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

That is startlingly accurate having just beaten Resident Evil 4 on professional last night (review to come in a little bit ). If you go into it even having half a plan about what you're going to be doing in each area it will help. It's odd because Resident Evil doesn't appear on the surface to be one of those games that you'd expect to have to have a plan for. Yet they really can reward efficiency and I really like that. 

 

Resident Evil 1 does have quite a few of those ultimately useless items as well, but nope, pick them up run to an item box, drop them off and then get back to what you're doing haha.

 

Well I've banged on about you and others starting that roguelike tower too much....and I also don't want to bring the game up because it's an unwelcome reminder that I have that game down to review as a request , but I keep procrastinating on both that and FFX. they'll get done, I've just not been feeling the whole sit down and write for ages thing lately. 

Just seen that review is there to read so gonna read that ?

 

Yep agree 100%. Getting my wife through RE1R was trying to get her to plan accordingly and think "Okay, what items do you have? Where can they be used? What is the most efficient route in order to progress?" etc etc. Being her first RE game ever, she enjoyed it overall but certainly I was being a helpful coach lol

 

What would Chris, Jill, Leon, Claire etc do without the good old item box? lol

 

Hey, it's all good. You write those reviews when you have the energy and focus to do so. Just remember how great FFX is. 

 

Right, off to read your RE4 Review!

 

Oh, did you hear the news about Syphon Filter PS1 classic being added to the new PS Plus tier with trophies including a platinum? It's a no brainer to drive subs for their new tiers, but still surprised Sony are actually putting time and effort into doing it. Can you imagine the original RE PS1 trilogy added with platinums?! Would be bloody awesome.

[DrBloodmoney]

On 21/05/2022 at 1:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

 

Resident Evil 4 (PS4)

 

 

Continuing my strange trend that I can’t seem to quite escape from, my whole gaming life of playing games in the wrong order – here I am with Resident Evil 4 completed, mere months after nailing down the one hundred percent completions for Resident Evil 5 and 6.

 

Nice! ?

 

 

On 21/05/2022 at 1:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

If you’re reading this and you’re a Resident Evil fan, ask yourself this.  How many villainous characters that appear after Resident Evil 4 do you really remember whose last name doesn’t end in Wesker?

 

Oh... there's one I remember very distinctly...

...though probably not due to the writing or the character per se...

 

 

...I can't quite work out what it is, but there's definitely a couple of memorable parts about her.... ?

 

 

 

 

On 21/05/2022 at 1:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

 

An aspect of Resident Evil 4, that I found genuinely refreshing after playing Resident Evil 5 and 6 most recently, is a sharper focus upon horror. Obviously Resident Evil 4 has a heavy focus on action too, but I think this game more than the others strikes a much healthier balance between action and horror. Its roots are still planted firmly in the Horror genre, so to speak.

 

Atmosphere alone can sometimes go a long way into making video game experiences that much more memorable, and the way in which Resident Evil 4 establishes atmosphere, is at times absolutely spectacular. One fine example is the way in which you first enter the village – initially you see the Ganados (this games version of zombies) milling around aimlessly and potentially harmlessly, until you’re quickly thrust into a swarm of them, forcing you into an absolute trial by fire right off the bat.

 

I’d argue that the gameplay itself also directly factors into the games atmosphere and indeed, as a result, the horror element. It’s not quite tank controls, but it’s not far off, given the perspective shift brought about by the new camera angles. Unlike Resident Evil 6, there’s no way to shoot and move, much like the earlier Resident Evil titles, you’re rooted to the spot the moment you aim your gun. This can be tense enough on Normal difficulties, but crank that up a notch on Professional when enemies move at twice the speed, and you really do feel under threat. It’s one of those times where, fluid controls do make for more enjoyable gameplay, yes, but I honestly feel like some of the fear factor the game instils in you might be somewhat lost had the controls been buttery smooth.

 

An area that Resident Evil 4 absolutely excels in is its art design, but not only that, its level design too, but I’ll get to that. The various monster designs are excellent in their own right, but it’s the smaller elements that I particularly enjoyed noticing. As the Ganados and Cultists are not technically Zombies in the truest sense, they were designed very specifically to reflect that they aren’t truly zombies. In a sense, I think that adds an extra layer of creepiness to them.

Particularly when you look at their eyes, famously Zombies have pretty vacant dead eyes, but if you catch a Cultist or a Ganado getting too close to you, or you watch their face through a sniper barrel, then you’ll almost certainly see that those are not the eyes of a cold dead husk. Instead they are in fact the eyes of a living breathing, brainwashed individual. The dark circles, red glow and perpetually enraged faces of some of them, really can unsettle you.

 

The character designs are of a pretty high quality this time around – I remember being quite gobsmacked when I initially played this all those years ago, at how good some of the character models look. For a little context, I went straight from Resident Evil 2, to this one, I was too terrified to play Resident Evil 3, because of Nemesis.  

The quality is only enhanced here with the HD Remaster. One thing of note though, is that I think this is probably the best of all of the character designs of Ada Wong across her multiple appearances.  The other ones are fine, sure, but here she looks Chinese-American, and I don’t think she quite does in some of her other appearances, so I really appreciate the effort in making her quite a bit more authentic here.

 

In Resident Evil 4 there is a real tight and deliberate feeling to how each of the games areas are designed and it’s something that I really think is done exceptionally well. Capcom really made fantastic use of the fact that the camera position is in a locked perspective – what it essentially does, is give you a false sense of security. A wide open room with seemingly few enemies in it can sometimes give you a little confidence, until you start to hear the sound of a mace rattling behind you, or incessant unsettling chanting to the side of you. I’m really glad that Capcom fully utilised what was available to them here, as having enemies amble towards you from all angles not being seen until sometimes it is too late is a fantastic way of keeping your concentration tight and your thoughts ever present. Nowhere ever feels quite safe, and I really like that aspect to it,  

 

For a game that really doesn’t go much beyond twelve hours, I think the amount of versatility in the individual areas is quite something extraordinary. Yet it is never jarring, and I think that’s something that really is worth highlighting.  Unlike the trap some games fall into, practically every single area of Resident Evil 4 really feels as if it fits both geographically and tonally with everywhere else. It also plays really well into the horror aspect, as each successive area feels that much more perilous to explore.

 

Each time I play this game – and admittedly the gap between plays this time had been far longer than it should have been, I usually notice something new. That’s part of the beauty of truly good pieces of media you can experience them plenty of times, yet still find something interesting you might never have noticed before. For example, the previous time I noticed the clever little animation tweaks that Leon has if Ashley is wearing her Special Two Costume (The Suit of Armour) when Leon is catching her from a great height, his knees buckle slightly, as it’s meant to be a whole lot heavier. This time I noticed the fact he makes a pained gesture towards his lower back sometimes when he stands up afterwards, which I thought was a clever little touch.

 

 

Damn - you're doing it again - making me want to check out the game, despite knowing I wasn't the biggest fan the first time round! ?

 

On 21/05/2022 at 1:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

So then – do I recommend Resident Evil 4? Yes, I do, I really do. Don’t be too put off by the fact it doesn’t have a platinum trophy, I think whenever this gets remade, that almost certainly will have one. However, this game is still absolutely worth experiencing even in 2022. If you haven’t played it, then you’ll probably see how this game has influenced some of the games you almost certainly have played.  The controls are a little clunky, absolutely, but I don ‘think they feel particularly unfair either. Professional mode can be more than a little brutal in places, but if you get stuck on a certain situation it does require you to strategise a little on the fly, and that’s an element to the game that I really enjoy.

 

I'm actually quite looking forward to the remake of this one - I know many folks think it's unnecessary or whatever, but since this is the one I feel most out of step with - I never got along with it as much as everyone else seemed to, but never had much ability to articulate exactly why, I'll be interested to see if a slightly new take on it gels more with me.

 

On 21/05/2022 at 1:03 AM, rjkclarke said:

I haven't quite decided what to play next just yet. It's either going to be Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, God of War (2018), my final trophy in Limbo, or Evoland. I guess that's my problem to have to figure out though

 

Noice - never tried Evoland myself, so part of me is hoping for that so I can read about it... on the other hand, Hellblade is just so darned good, that I'd struggle not to recommend it anyways!

[rjkclarke]

 

Where The EXPLETIVE  Did You Disappear To This Time, Part #48! (haha)

 

 

 

So before I get into replying properly I think it's only right that I throw out another apology for taking a while to..... y'know reply and all. It wasn't because I'm overly depressed or sad or anything like that. I'm doing better than I was a week or so back, and that's all I can ask for.

 

I wrote that Resident Evil 4 review, then the next day was the wedding of one of my best friends.

 

That was such an amazing day, and the kind of thing I think I needed to help keep me positive and upbeat, or at least put me back on that path, recent events have made me stray away from. Seeing two people who love each other so much, finally get married on a beautiful day, surrounded by plenty of friends are moments that you should always cherish if you can, it was such a pleasure to be a part of. Did my mind, body and soul hate me the next day for hitting the local bars until 3AM in my Groomsman suit, alongside the Bride & The Groom? Maybe, but it was damn sure worth it. We ended an already great day, in spectacular fashion. 

 

Then Monday, I went out to see my friends band play..... for a little context the best way to describe their musical stylings is Hardcore Punk (British Punk to be more specific)...... So what do I do? About the most anti-punk thing possible by seeing a weird thing at the bar and thinking....... "Mango Cider, huh? That sounds delightful ?".... well it was, but still pretty anti-punk.... Awesome night too. 

 

Right I was going somewhere with this, and it sort of turned into a lifestyle blog of my weekend sorry..... Erm, basically I just wanted to make sure I had the time to actually reply to you in detail, like usual instead of being a bit briefer than I'd like.

 

What you're Likely to see/read for the rest of the month!

 

I haven't forgotten all the reviews I have in the pipeline, some started some unfinished..... they will all get done, trust me..... but, and this is a big wide one! I always planned to dedicate as many Classic Reviews as I could manage in May to align with Mental Health Awareness month, like I did last year.

 

The problem is, as many of you will know, lots of pretty terrible things happened in a short space of time in my life and I kind of took a little bit of a step back to take care of my own mental well-being.

 

I still want to see what I can manage to get written in the time that we have left of the month though, so I'll see where I can go with that. Thankfully I can get at least one of the requests I have left knocked out at the same time, so that's progress at least, as I feel increasingly worse that I'm not getting to those promptly enough!

 

So tonight I'm going to post up a review of the original Steins;Gate game, not because it directly deals with mental health, but because Steins;Gate 0 does, and I want to be able to have the context of the first game talked about first. Then from there we'll see where I decide to go with it. I've got a few things in mind, but whether they'll materialise or not the way I want them to, who knows.

 

 

Right! Time to get back to you awesome people!

 

On 21/05/2022 at 8:34 AM, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Appreciate the tag mate. This is indeed my favourite game of all time along with Ocarina of Time. Very well written and constructed review. This game is the pinnacle of gaming for me and I'm sure many others. 

 

I remember I rented this from my local Blockbuster around launch and I beat it in 2 days. For me, back then as a kid, it was a major accomplishment as this game can be tough in a portion of the areas like Salazer's Castle. I did one better and beat RE5 on PS3 in one sitting on launch night on PS3 so I had a thing for going through these RE games at a breakneck pace. 

 

Thanks so much man! I very much appreciate that considering your fondness for the game! It's one I'm pretty high on myself, I skipped RE3 and Code Veronica initially, so the leap from RE2 to this one was huge for me.

 

That is very impressive to plough through the game in a couple of days. Man! That is impressive managing to go through Resident Evil 5 that quick. I replayed that recently, and it took me way longer than that, and that was with all the extra weapons and stuff, impressive stuff!

 

I know when I was younger there were a few sections I got stuck on for a good while. I didn't really understand the need to upgrade weapons in the game when I was younger, I used to just buy the new ones ?..

 

Bit me on the arse when I ran into every encounter that had Novistadors, and they were eating too much of my precious ammo. That clicking they do still unsettles me  a little bit haha

 

On 21/05/2022 at 8:34 AM, FreshFromThaDeli said:

I loved it so much that I went back and rented it again as I didn't have enough money to buy the game until a year later where I played it all over again. Fun fact: My original Gamecube save has been cleared about 14 times. I have effectively done new game + on the Gamecube over a dozen times in my life. Not to mention the many many many other playthroughs on other hardware over the years.

 

As it stands, this is my most replayed game ever and I make a point to replay this masterpiece at least once a year. I've never experienced a game with as much replay value as RE4. Just last year's playthrough alone I used the Mine Thrower in my whole playthrough and I discovered how much I like this gun after ignoring it for so many years in favour of ballistic weapons instead. That's 17 years later that I have found a new way to play the game, what an incredible feeling it was to have to use the Mine Thrower on the Mine cart ride in the underground tunnel section. 

 

 

I totally get where you're coming from on that one, where you'd just rent the game from Blockbuster for a weekend, because you couldn't quite afford the whole package. Was often pretty cruel if it was an RPG you were playing.

 

You know what? I have heard a few people tout the Gamecube version as still the best version. I don't know if I agree with that, I haven't played that version for a while. It's possible though, it's not the same, but I think the best version of Tales of Symphonia is the Gamecube version, and that even has a PS3 Remaster. It's odd how that works!

 

How was that Mine Thrower playthrough? I think I've only ever used it once or twice. I can imagine that would be quite fun come to think of it! My brain always tell me, ROCKET LAUNCHER TIME, so I love the fact that you challenged convention by playing the game like that!

 

On 21/05/2022 at 8:34 AM, FreshFromThaDeli said:

I just recently completed the Dead Space trilogy and I can draw many comparisons to RE4 in that regard. I have the itch to replay RE4 now so it may be time to go back to suplexing Illuminati members and button mashing my way through QTE's. What a thrill ride!

 

I can go on and on and in fact I think I already have. Love this game dearly  

 

 

I don't know how I never made that RE4 to Dead Space comparison till I read your status update, but it is so fitting. Reminds me I ought to play the other Dead Space games, I only put off the other two because I assumed they'd get remastered, but it never happened.

 

I think you're right, perhaps an RE4 playthrough is in order for you!

 

You know - and this is something that anyone who has read this thread for a long time, and that is that I must have really loved the game to completely forget that it has QTE's when I wrote the review, as I usually hate them. I don't love them in RE4 but they definitely aren't awful, they're functional so I appreciate that much. I even quite like the ones with the big Salazar statue chasing you.

 

Well said by the way - it was a pleasure to read some of the reasons why you've loved this game for so long!

 

On 21/05/2022 at 10:17 AM, The_Kopite said:

lol can you imagine if you controlled someones money in terms of gaming. "Right, you haven't played these snooker games so I command you to buy both!" lol 

 

I think if I had control over peoples money in terms of gaming there might be a few ruffled feathers. .....

 

First off, anybody who sticks rigidly to one genre would be disappointed that they had all these games from different genres appearing in their libraries, and then they'd be potentially even more sickened when their libraries get full to the brim with a boatload of point-and-click adventures and Snooker/Pool games of course, apart from Hustle Kings, because FUCK HUSTLE KINGS!?

 

On 21/05/2022 at 10:17 AM, The_Kopite said:

I feel sorry for them lol Yeah I think your opinion on the game will change, at least in that the positives will be more pronounced and you will be able to appreciate certain aspects far more.

 

I feel sorry for them too! ?.... Yep, yep, I think my opinion of Uncharted 4 will have mellowed, BUT I'm sticking by what I said however long ago it was that I had more fun getting the platinum in Risen 3 than I did in Uncharted 4, even though Uncharted 4 is obviously the vastly superior game!

 

 

On 21/05/2022 at 10:17 AM, The_Kopite said:

Just seen that review is there to read so gonna read that 

 

Yep agree 100%. Getting my wife through RE1R was trying to get her to plan accordingly and think "Okay, what items do you have? Where can they be used? What is the most efficient route in order to progress?" etc etc. Being her first RE game ever, she enjoyed it overall but certainly I was being a helpful coach lol

 

What would Chris, Jill, Leon, Claire etc do without the good old item box? lol

 

Hey, it's all good. You write those reviews when you have the energy and focus to do so. Just remember how great FFX is. 

 

Try not to be too offended when I call Leon, Blandy McCurtainsface ?

 

That's actually pretty good advice to give her to be fair. "Now Dear...... you see all those crows? Try not run too close to those" RE1 really does have a whole lot of items that seem like you shouldn't need them, but your brain just tells you to pick them up anyway.

 

My brain was conditioned for a while that unless the game offered me the chance to get rid of the item, then I might still need it haha

 

I always react pretty badly when people try and give me what is actually helpeful advice if they're in the same room. I remember being a real arse to my Dad once years and years back when he was only trying to be helpful, and apologised immediately because I felt so bad haha.

 

They would be royally screwed without that item box - Leon would have nowhere to keep his pictures of Westlife that he so clearly models his hair on

 

I can't forget how great FFX is, which is half the problem I have when I write anything about it. There is an overwhelming amount of ground to cover when reviewing that game. One of these days I'll actually commit to finishing it though.

 

On 21/05/2022 at 10:17 AM, The_Kopite said:

Oh, did you hear the news about Syphon Filter PS1 classic being added to the new PS Plus tier with trophies including a platinum? It's a no brainer to drive subs for their new tiers, but still surprised Sony are actually putting time and effort into doing it. Can you imagine the original RE PS1 trilogy added with platinums?! Would be bloody awesome.

 

I did, and all the other games that it looks like are going to be coming along with trophies. Very interesting! I'm not holding out too much hope for the games with odd licenses that I see people getting really hopeful about, but never say never. Let's just hope this lasts, unlike the PS2 on PS4 thing that I wish had gotten a few more titles from.

 

I can't say I ever imagined I'd be able to earn a platinum in Ape Escape, but the fact I might be able to is awesome! Heck of a good game that one. Syphon Filter being on there gives me hope that there will be a few more unexpected ones cropping up. Looks like Dino Crisis might be on the way too, which I'm pretty pleased about. I bet you're well excited!

 

So LEGACY OF KAIN: BLOOD OMEN, when? I'd better get my Sonic foot tapping gif at the ready haha!

 

 

On 23/05/2022 at 8:53 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

Oh... there's one I remember very distinctly...

...though probably not due to the writing or the character per se...

 

 

...I can't quite work out what it is, but there's definitely a couple of memorable parts about her.... 

 

It's the jewellery isn't it?.......

 

.....wait, no the earrings......

 

.... the delightfully retro phone.....

 

.....the belt?....

 

.... oh I see .....

 

 

Say no more Doc, you filthy animal! ?.............

 

On 23/05/2022 at 8:53 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

Damn - you're doing it again - making me want to check out the game, despite knowing I wasn't the biggest fan the first time round! 

 

Sorry.....NOT SORRY

 

I can't promise you'd like it the same amount I did, but who knows. I've always really liked this one. What was it about it, that didn't quite grab you the first time you played it? I know you aren't the only one that has that opinion of it either.

 

On 23/05/2022 at 8:53 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

I'm actually quite looking forward to the remake of this one - I know many folks think it's unnecessary or whatever, but since this is the one I feel most out of step with - I never got along with it as much as everyone else seemed to, but never had much ability to articulate exactly why, I'll be interested to see if a slightly new take on it gels more with me.

 

Haha! I just realised you answered the question I asked in your own post..... That's a bit of a doh, from me!

 

I've got my foot in both of those paddling pools - I know, I know, dirty little fence sitter! I'm definitely up for a remake, but I'm not sure that it truly needs one. The thing is, if its done right it could really be something very special, and potentially hit some of hose highs that it didn't quite do for you the first time you played it.

 

On 23/05/2022 at 8:53 AM, DrBloodmoney said:

Noice - never tried Evoland myself, so part of me is hoping for that so I can read about it... on the other hand, Hellblade is just so darned good, that I'd struggle not to recommend it anyways!

 

Welllll........ As it turns out, I have started both. Evoland is 2 games inside 1 game. So I got all of the trophies available for Evoland 1 and then decided to start Hellblade, which if I've got time I'll finish later. Hellblade is indeed very good, I wholeheartedly agree..... BUT I feel sorry for all of you that are going to end up reading a whole lot about the intricacies of sound design in that game, because it is something really special that deserves a lot of attention!

 

Having played the first Evoland to completion I feel pretty confident that you'll like it, and it might possibly be one of those ones I ended up making your backlog/wishlist a little bigger again with, we'll see when I get to the whole review. Not sure how I'll structure it as it is two games.

 

I almost know for sure some of the things in it that I really dug, you would too, so I'm looking forward to getting into Evoland 2 as well, and tackling that one!

Edited May 25, 2022 by rjkclarke

[gruffiiti]

13 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

Having played the first Evoland to completion I feel pretty confident that you'll like it, and it might possibly be one of those ones I ended up making your backlog/wishlist a little bigger again with, we'll see when I get to the whole review. Not sure how I'll structure it as it is two games.

 

I almost know for sure some of the things in it that I really dug, you would too, so I'm looking forward to getting into Evoland 2 as well, and tackling that one!

 

Evoland 2 is much bigger than Evoland 1 and even more fantastic. It will be the single greatest ride down memory lane you have this year gaming.

[rjkclarke]

24 minutes ago, gruffiiti said:

Evoland 2 is much bigger than Evoland 1 and even more fantastic. It will be the single greatest ride down memory lane you have this year gaming.

 

I'm not usually one for short replies....... but......

 

........This sums up my reaction to reading that, sounds like I'm in for a treat!

 

 

 

 

[rjkclarke]

Classic Review

 

Platinum #173

Steins;Gate (PS3)

 

 

Sky Clad Observer
Unlocked all trophies.

 

A Few Trophy Stats

 

Platinum Earned - 1 June 2018 : 8:47:09 AM

Time Taken to Platinum :  1 week, 4 days, 5 hours

Platinum Rarity  - 46.50%

Trophy Number - #9,249

 

 

After scouring my profile, I believe Steins;Gate is actually the first visual novel to appear on my trophy list. As such this is going to be a little bit of a tough game to conventionally review. As so much of a visual novel is dependent on the story, and often the story alone – and bearing in mind I always keep spoilers to the very minimum this might end up a little briefer than you might expect (spoilers in the Edit shut up Rob, stop saying that, you always get carried away).

 

I’ll talk about it as vaguely as I can, with a plan to discuss why I feel like you should/shouldn’t play this one, with perhaps more than a little of my own experiences of the game thrown in for good measure.

 

So without further ado, crack open  an intellectual drink for the chosen ones (Dr Pepper) pull up a chair and hear the ramblings of the great mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, because as you’ll find out, that is the choice of Steins Gate. Let’s start, Hacking to the Gate!

 

I promise, I didn’t just have a mental breakdown at my keyboard, those are all references and lines littered throughout the game – it should be obvious by now that I really love Steins;Gate (I’ll just refer to it as Steins Gate from here for ease). Was Steins Gate the game my first exposure to the story of Steins Gate? No it wasn’t, one of my best friends constantly recommended the Television series to me for years.

I watched one episode, wasn’t enamoured, and then for some reason went back years later, as I wholly trust his opinion on Anime, I thought it must have been a me problem, it turns out, it was. Before any of you start scratching your head, the television show is an adaptation of the game, not the other way around.

 

To say that I binge watched part of the show would be an understatement – I’ll say this much, the show has an incredibly pedestrian start, as does the game.  But, I feel it is a necessary one, as it does a ridiculous good job of establishing and exploring characters, allowing you to become fond of them, before the story really goes through the gears at a prodigious rate. I remember sitting down, and watching fourteen episodes in one sitting. I had to be up the next day, but it was so worth it, I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more and now I’m so glad to have one more awesome thing in common with one of my best friends, not to sound too saccharine or anything.

 

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself here. What is exactly is Steins Gate? Steins Gate is a visual novel (with voiced dialogue) and the second part in the Science Adventure series. Released in 2009, for a multitude of consoles including the PS3, the format I experienced this on, and developed by 5pb and Nitroplus.

 

To give a brief, yet spoiler free summary of the beginning of the story. Protagonist and Mad Scientist Okabe Rintaro (Hououin Kyouma), stumbles across the scene of a murdered young woman in a pool of blood, he then sends a friend a fateful text, only to see the young woman alive and well the next day. These events kick-starts, what I can only describe from my own perspective – as a pretty riveting plot, with twists, turns, time travel aplenty, and a whole host of characters you’ll almost certainly find yourself gravitating towards. A cafe owner that dresses like a cat, a lady that text almost at the speed of light, a rotund hacker, they’re all just brimming with such unique charm. They’re a real endearing and ragtag bunch.

 

Ask yourself this.  Have you ever wondered what it would be like for a person to effectively time travel via text or should I say D-Mail (short for Delorean Mail,) via the use of a microwave and a phone?. If you haven’t, why haven’t you? Steins Gate is very at home in the realms of time travel fiction, it pulls from it substantially, usually in the pursuit of humour, but almost never in a derivative way.  There’s also a very slight feasibility to some of the science, or so I’ve been led to believe, by an actual, living breathing Scientist no less.

 

As I’ve established, I actually saw the television adaptation of this game, before playing this one. Here’s the thing – the visual novel version of Steins Gate does a far more effective job of building up the characters, and the story as a whole, it’s more expansive, purely because you spend more time with them. I’m not going to go into explicit detail with every single one of them, because I love them all. I really do, they’re great, no unnecessary hyperbole here. Even the more antagonistic characters are layered beautifully well, to the point where you can completely understand their motivations and why they make the choices they make.

If you’re particularly empathic, some of their individual stories will really tug at your heartstrings (or nearly rip them clean out, if you’re me). For what it is worth, I’m very fond of both, and there are genuinely aspects of both media properties that I think are better in the individual version, an aspect that I can always appreciate.

 

The gameplay is, as you’d expect, from a visual novel, very bare bones. The most you’re likely to do is click buttons at specific times. I could envision people having a little trepidation when confronted with that notion, but so long as you don’t try and experience it all in one sitting, it can still be a very fulfilling experience, going at your own pace.

The game also incorporates multiple endings, many of which aren’t seen even within the television adaptation. These range from broadly hilarious to incredibly tragic, one particularly shocked me, and it’s one the television show handles completely differently, yet in an equally sad and slightly more subtle way.   

 

One of my favourite aspects of Steins Gate is its art-style. Some of the CG images are a little inconsistent, as they don’t align too accurately with those found in the main game. I’m eternally thankful, that for the most part, Steins Gate doesn’t over sexualise its female characters. They’re guilty of it once or twice, remarking on Mayuri’s, let’s just say, larger chested proportions. Admittedly this is a fairly rare occurrence, I really appreciate the intent on the writer’s part, to let the characters personalities ultimately be the focus.

 

There might be a little personal preference at play here, when it comes to my enjoyment of the art-style of Steins Gate. I’ve always really loved the near pastel-anime aesthetic, and the prevalent use of autumnal colours. The autumnal – and in areas, drab colour palette do a wonderful job of accentuating the ordinary people, thrust into an extraordinary situation, especially when contrasted with how vibrant and outlandish the character models are of characters like Faris.   

 

It’s not relevant to the game itself, just my own enjoyment of it, but I love the subtle differences between some of the character designs in the different versions. For example, I’ve always favoured the visual novel version of Kurisu, over the anime series version, she’s slightly more enigmatic and intriguing looking here, and it plays directly into the nature of her character.

 

When it comes to the audio in Steins Gate – for some people, this will be the saviour of the game for them. Practically all of the games chapters contain voiced dialogue to some extent. They are in Japanese, but those voice lines are terrific. The whole cast are outstanding, most importantly, the group all sound and react like friends, a testament to both the writing and the voice acting quality. Especially as the dynamic slightly changes as the group starts expanding, yet that’s reflected in the slightly cautious way, characters react to the new additions.

Mamoru Miyano as Okabe and Asami Imai as Kurisu, are absolutely dynamite in this game. To be perfectly honest, this game would suffer a lot if the performances of these two were even slightly lesser than they are. Miyano has a really impressive range and versatility to his voice, something he showcases even further in Steins Gate 0. He possesses a talent similar to that of Takaya Kuroda (Kazuma Kiryu,Yakuza) in that he has the startling ability to project such agonising pain through his voice, and when a story delves into the more emotional realm on occasion, that ability is so welcome.  

 

I was listening to the games original soundtrack as I was writing this review. I had quite a literal laugh out loud moment, as the Gate of Steiner theme played. That track has been my ringtone for the past four years, so for a moment I was scrabbling around to find my phone, before I realised it was the soundtrack. Yes, I did feel stupid; no, it isn’t really relevant, I just thought it’d be funny to include it in this write up.

 

Steins Gate’s soundtrack is rather interesting across the board, it contains a raft of ambient music, but these are necessary, and do a wonderful job of not being overbearing during long sections of text reading, of which there are a few. Those that aren’t ambient, are almost always tonally appropriate, there’s a specific piece that plays in a beautifully melancholic section where a character visits a graveyard, and it just fits the tone so phenomenally well. It’s not melancholic per se, but it has a twinkling sadness, tinged with optimism. It sums that character up so perfectly, and I haven’t forgotten that scene, I remember it so vividly despite playing this almost exactly four years ago.

 

Do I recommend Steins Gate? Yes, but not necessarily this one. Steins Gate Elite exists now on the PS4, and that is essentially this game, with more dynamic animation, as this game is essentially just barely moving 2D Images. It’s a game I’m planning to play myself in the future. However, this game has things exclusive to this version though, so if you decide you’re a fan, don’t rule out experiencing this one either, it has a real charm to it. I couldn’t think of a game/story I’d rather have had as my first visual novel.

 

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

 

This is another one of those examples of why you should probably listen to your friends if they think you’d like something. My friend and I still send stupid references to this to each other very often and long may that continue!

 

One of these days I'll stop getting carried away writing about something specific, before realising a truckload of words are now on the page, BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!

 

That was a fun one to write about though. So we'll delve into Steins;Gate 0 for the next Classic Review.

 

As I specifically want to discuss some of the ways that game tackles mental health, due to the nature of its gameplay, or lack thereof as a participant you've got no choice but to confront some of what's being tackled head on, and I think that was quite a bold move, but I'll save that for next time. As I said in my previous post, I still want to try and tackle as much as I can during Mental Health Awareness month, even if there is less than a week left. It's just a shame they aren't spaced out a bit more like I planned them to be.

 

Anyways! Catch you in the next one folks!

[The_Kopite]

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I think if I had control over peoples money in terms of gaming there might be a few ruffled feathers. .....

 

First off, anybody who sticks rigidly to one genre would be disappointed that they had all these games from different genres appearing in their libraries, and then they'd be potentially even more sickened when their libraries get full to the brim with a boatload of point-and-click adventures and Snooker/Pool games of course, apart from Hustle Kings, because FUCK HUSTLE KINGS!

Is that because you'd buy a big bag of feathers and ruffle them? lol

 

Haha now I'm thinking did I ever play Hustle Kings? If I did, it's probably on my profile at 1% lol too many of those sadly

 

15 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I feel sorry for them too! .... Yep, yep, I think my opinion of Uncharted 4 will have mellowed, BUT I'm sticking by what I said however long ago it was that I had more fun getting the platinum in Risen 3 than I did in Uncharted 4, even though Uncharted 4 is obviously the vastly superior game!

lol hey you have to stick to your guns sometimes, and if that's how you feel then there you go! Sometimes better games do have trophy lists that detract from the fun rather than amplify it. FFX's trophy list wasn't exactly the best in some regards.

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

Try not to be too offended when I call Leon, Blandy McCurtainsface

 

That's actually pretty good advice to give her to be fair. "Now Dear...... you see all those crows? Try not run too close to those" RE1 really does have a whole lot of items that seem like you shouldn't need them, but your brain just tells you to pick them up anyway.

 

My brain was conditioned for a while that unless the game offered me the chance to get rid of the item, then I might still need it haha

 

I always react pretty badly when people try and give me what is actually helpeful advice if they're in the same room. I remember being a real arse to my Dad once years and years back when he was only trying to be helpful, and apologised immediately because I felt so bad haha.

 

They would be royally screwed without that item box - Leon would have nowhere to keep his pictures of Westlife that he so clearly models his hair on

 

I can't forget how great FFX is, which is half the problem I have when I write anything about it. There is an overwhelming amount of ground to cover when reviewing that game. One of these days I'll actually commit to finishing it though.

I will try my best! haha

 

Yeah exactly! In fact, I think when she walked into the room full of crows and the paintings on either side of a middle wall, she stood there for a bit trying to figure out what she needed to do, not realising the crows would come down and start trying to peck her to death! Bloody crows! lol

 

Yep, I'm still that way inclined nowadays. Get to the final boss battle of a game with items I could have used to make previous battles far easier, because sadly there are a few games out there where missing or selling or destroying one item ruins a whole platinum run, and it's bleeding stupid game design. Or bleeding stupid trophy/platinum requirements design. 

 

Westlife's hair clearly got them all the ladies attention back in the day. lol

 

Yes, your review might have to have the reasonably equivalent content in it as the game itself, or maybe my guide lol

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

I did, and all the other games that it looks like are going to be coming along with trophies. Very interesting! I'm not holding out too much hope for the games with odd licenses that I see people getting really hopeful about, but never say never. Let's just hope this lasts, unlike the PS2 on PS4 thing that I wish had gotten a few more titles from.

 

I can't say I ever imagined I'd be able to earn a platinum in Ape Escape, but the fact I might be able to is awesome! Heck of a good game that one. Syphon Filter being on there gives me hope that there will be a few more unexpected ones cropping up. Looks like Dino Crisis might be on the way too, which I'm pretty pleased about. I bet you're well excited!

 

So LEGACY OF KAIN: BLOOD OMEN, when? I'd better get my Sonic foot tapping gif at the ready haha!

Hopefully it will last, but if Sony actually get it right and can convince the other companies it is worth it and they will benefit, then the potential is immense. The classic games that the PS1 had is quite extraordinary really.

 

I was excited just to see the Syphon Filter news, then there's Everybody's Golf which maybe I would play. However, seeing that image of Regina for Dino Crisis was extremely exciting! If Capcom are one of those companies that can be convinced that putting their games on the service and implementing Platinums will be a good thing for them (and it would, they'd make good money) then the likelihood of the OG Resident Evil trilogy appearing on there with Platinums! OMG, sign me up! lol

 

Likewise, I hope for you that at least one of the Legacy of Kain games appears on there, whether there are trophies or not. Would be awesome for you, and a platinum would make it all the sweeter!

 

Fingers crossed for us both!

 

16 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

It's the jewellery isn't it?.......

 

.....wait, no the earrings......

 

.... the delightfully retro phone.....

 

.....the belt?....

 

.... oh I see .....

@DrBloodmoney clearly appreciates the difficulty of being a villain and having your immaculate hair in a bun. C'mon man. lol

 

 

[FreshFromThaDeli]

@rjkclarke Oh the Mine thrower playthrough breathed some life into the game for me. I played it on Normal all the way through and certain parts like the mines really tested my patience. I recommend you go through just using the Mine Thrower, once it's fully upgraded you will be having so much fun exploding and bombing your way through the levels. My next challenge I will set myself will be the Mine Thrower playthrough on Professional difficulty. God help me with that one but I'll be loving having to figure out how to shoot down gems and pick up collectibles while conserving what little ammo drops there are.

 

Also, I myself love the Gamecube version, the textures move and react to the wind for example, which isn't present in the PS2 versions or the subsequent HD versions even going up to the PS4/Xbox One versions. The Wii version used the same Gamecube build and is easily playable in 480p thanks to how easy it is run to Wii games in 480p thanks to the component cables being easily obtainable otherwise compared to the £100+ prices for the Gamecube component cable. Plus, the PAL version of the Gamecube doesn't even support the Component cable even though it is built into the hardware.

 

The Wii version also comes with the motion controls which admittedly was one of the best play thoughs I have done of RE4. Last time I played it on Wii was around 2010 so it;s been a while since I played it. I am in the camp where  prefer the Gamecube or Wii version. Nothing beats the big A button on the Gamecube controller where the QTE's feel more satisfying to pull off. Not to mention the game was designed with the Gamecube controller in mind and it feels at home to play it on the Gamecube. Unfortunately, the Switch version is based on the PS3/360 port and not the Gamecube/Wii build which means the visuals and sound are not as good as the original release.

[rjkclarke]

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Is that because you'd buy a big bag of feathers and ruffle them? lol

 

Haha now I'm thinking did I ever play Hustle Kings? If I did, it's probably on my profile at 1% lol too many of those sadly

 

Yes, yes it is! Good guess!

 

Well, I had to go look after you said that, and yes you have played Hustle Kings, you've got a whopping 5%.... and I have a gargantuan 6 % ?..... I can't imagine that will change anytime soon, I just could not get on with that game. Any game where the pool balls feel like they're made of concrete, did not translate to a particularly fun time.  The funny thing is, even though we have such tiny completion percentages for that game, we still have an A rank haha.

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

ol hey you have to stick to your guns sometimes, and if that's how you feel then there you go! Sometimes better games do have trophy lists that detract from the fun rather than amplify it. FFX's trophy list wasn't exactly the best in some regards.

 

Exactly! I'm sure plenty of us will be discussing that in the future too once I actually throw that first list of games together to write that little thing about GREAT GAMES, BAD TROPHY LISTS, and you know the other side of that one too!

 

I really like the game Killer Is Dead, but it is probably one of the least enjoyable grinds to a platinum, as it ends up being one long money grind as you've pretty much done anything that had satisfying gameplay before that point.

 

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yeah exactly! In fact, I think when she walked into the room full of crows and the paintings on either side of a middle wall, she stood there for a bit trying to figure out what she needed to do, not realising the crows would come down and start trying to peck her to death!

 

I don't blame her, if anything that original RE game definitely instils the fear in you that every single animal or plant you come across might be potentially lethal ?

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Bloody crows! lol

 

 

Don't worry pal! I'm here to correct your mistake.....

 

..... what I think you meant to say was....

 

 

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Yep, I'm still that way inclined nowadays. Get to the final boss battle of a game with items I could have used to make previous battles far easier, because sadly there are a few games out there where missing or selling or destroying one item ruins a whole platinum run, and it's bleeding stupid game design. Or bleeding stupid trophy/platinum requirements design. 

 

So much this! I really feel you on that one... That was the exact situation I found myself in on Professional Difficulty on RE4 recently, I had like 6 full heals and more ammo than I would ever have needed going into the final boss fight. Poor Mr EyeMouth didn't stand a chance..... Bloody merchant made a pretty penny out of me in that playthrough, trust me haha!

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

I was excited just to see the Syphon Filter news, then there's Everybody's Golf which maybe I would play. However, seeing that image of Regina for Dino Crisis was extremely exciting! If Capcom are one of those companies that can be convinced that putting their games on the service and implementing Platinums will be a good thing for them (and it would, they'd make good money) then the likelihood of the OG Resident Evil trilogy appearing on there with Platinums! OMG, sign me up! lol

 

 

I'm hoping it gets some nice little trophy lists out there for games that pretty much stand no chance of getting the full remake or remaster treatment..... Be a nice way for a new audience to experience some of those obscure yet awesome games. Weird little esoteric games like Silent Bomber for example, that game was very cool, and actually ran so well for a PS1 game, but it's one I couldn't ever see getting a remaster.

 

Syphon Filter has actually held up fairly well. I mean the running animations are a bit awkward, the main guy runs like he's crapped himself, and is desperately trying to stop something falling down his trouser leg, but other than that it does play quite decently. Good chance you might enjoy that one!

 

Likewise, it'd be good to see a game that both @DrBloodmoney and I are pretty fond of, in Shadow of Memories. That game is so odd, but it's one I'd quite like to be able to add to my trophy list.

 

I wouldn't say no to the OG Resident Evil Trilogy either, might give me an excuse to finally play Nemesis. Despite the fact his tinny voice still REALLY UNSETTLES me even now!

 

On 26/05/2022 at 3:08 PM, The_Kopite said:

Likewise, I hope for you that at least one of the Legacy of Kain games appears on there, whether there are trophies or not. Would be awesome for you, and a platinum would make it all the sweeter!

 

It's one of those series where it kind of has to be all or nothing almost. They have such a rich tapestry of lore in them, and a weirdly confusing continuity that does make perfect sense if you play all the games, that just putting up one would be a bit of a shame! But yes, I hope for one at some point, as they just don't seem likely to get remasters. My fingers and toes are crossed ?

 

 

 

9 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Oh the Mine thrower playthrough breathed some life into the game for me. I played it on Normal all the way through and certain parts like the mines really tested my patience. I recommend you go through just using the Mine Thrower, once it's fully upgraded you will be having so much fun exploding and bombing your way through the levels. My next challenge I will set myself will be the Mine Thrower playthrough on Professional difficulty. God help me with that one but I'll be loving having to figure out how to shoot down gems and pick up collectibles while conserving what little ammo drops there are.

 

You know - I might just do that! That sounds really fun. It's one of those unloved guns that I've never really tooled around with too much.

 

You ought to record that whenever you go for that Mine Thrower only, on professional run. That'd be awesome to watch.  Do you allow yourself the use of glitches for those challenge runs? Like would you allow yourself to use the Ditman glitch for extra speed for example, or do you count that as voiding your run because you had to equip the Striker to do the glitch.

 

For some reason I'd be most worried about the room in The Castle where Ashley has to deal with all of the crankls. I suppose having her in the armour would make it a bit easier as she's grab and explosion proof.

 

9 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Also, I myself love the Gamecube version, the textures move and react to the wind for example, which isn't present in the PS2 versions or the subsequent HD versions even going up to the PS4/Xbox One versions. The Wii version used the same Gamecube build and is easily playable in 480p thanks to how easy it is run to Wii games in 480p thanks to the component cables being easily obtainable otherwise compared to the £100+ prices for the Gamecube component cable. Plus, the PAL version of the Gamecube doesn't even support the Component cable even though it is built into the hardware.

 

It was such a good console wasn't it the Gamecube. It does get a lot of love of course, but it really does deserve it.... That's nuts how much those component cables cost for the Gamecube. I literally brought my Gamecube for £12 on Ebay with controllers Memory Cards, all the cables and some games..... When you see how much certain Gamecube games go for these days, it's mad to think about how lucky I got with that Ebay purchase.

 

I had no idea the textures react to the wind in that version though! That's cool as shit, and I own both versions too. Yet I've never noticed that. Maybe I'll dust off my Gamecube actually next time I play RE4, you might have given me a little bit of a nudge to want to experience that version again.

 

9 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

The Wii version also comes with the motion controls which admittedly was one of the best play thoughs I have done of RE4. Last time I played it on Wii was around 2010 so it;s been a while since I played it. I am in the camp where  prefer the Gamecube or Wii version. Nothing beats the big A button on the Gamecube controller where the QTE's feel more satisfying to pull off. Not to mention the game was designed with the Gamecube controller in mind and it feels at home to play it on the Gamecube. Unfortunately, the Switch version is based on the PS3/360 port and not the Gamecube/Wii build which means the visuals and sound are not as good as the original release.

 

You'll get no complaints from me about a version having more satisfying QTE's!

 

I've not played the Wii all that much. I tried Wiifit back in the day, it told me I had the physical health of a 70-ish year old, I think I took it as a personal insult and sort of didn't bother with the console all that much. Y'know running on the spot when playing Wiifit probably didn't help, even if it did look hilarious my friend and I racing, but not realising we should be sat down

 

However, I can totally see how fun Resident Evil 4 could be on the Wii, I bet it feels super satisfying to do those head/knee shots into kicks or suplexes using the Wiimote, I bet that felt even more satisfying, with the slightly more user involved controllers. You've made that version sound pretty awesome too, I must say!

[DrBloodmoney]

21 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

Likewise, it'd be good to see a game that both @DrBloodmoney and I are pretty fond of, in Shadow of Memories. That game is so odd, but it's one I'd quite like to be able to add to my trophy list.

oh man - all my thoughts about the classic games thing has been about PS1 games… I’ve been getting my knickers in a twist thinking about Pandemonium and No One Can Stop Mr Domino…

…  I barely even considered the idea of a Shadow of Memories Platinum! ?

 

Can’t say such thing is likely, but if we would both buy it, that guarantees predicted sales of…

well… 

2 copies.

 ?

 

If that happened, I’d just want every trophy to be for hearing the most crazy-line reads in the game!

 Plus. if they didn’t call the Platinum Trophy “Homunculus”, they’d have done goofed! ?
 

 Homunculus

Congratulations, You heard the word “Homunculus” more times in the last hour than you will for the rest of your life!

 

 

[rjkclarke]

3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Can’t say such thing is likely, but if we would both buy it, that guarantees predicted sales of…

well… 

2 copies.

 

 

 

Wellll....... I mean, there's our two copies.... then if we try really REALLY hard. Through our use of review writing we might be able to get the game maybe, five more sales each if we're lucky ..... although it just occurred to me, that those five sales would probably the same people we'd both convinced..... but erm, seven, seven sales is better than potentially none, right? Haha! ?

 

3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

If that happened, I’d just want every trophy to be for hearing the most crazy-line reads in the game!

 Plus. if they didn’t call the Platinum Trophy “Homunculus”, they’d have done goofed! 

 

It would be like that trophy in The Last Guardian where you have to activate and hear every single hint..... Except, y'know actually a joyful time, because Shadow of Memories, is as mad as two boxes of frogs filled with a limitless supply of Cocaine, and tied together with multicoloured silly string.... I'm all for it....Let's start a petition ?

 

If there isn't a trophy called "Hello, my name is Eike Kusch" I'd be disappointed. For some reason the way he always announces his full name whenever he introduces himself always really tickled me.

 

3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 Homunculus

Congratulations, You heard the word “Homunculus” more times in the last hour than you will for the rest of your life!

 

Brilliant!

 

 

He can tell me to choose life all he wants.... BUT I CHOOSE THIS

 

 Homunculus

Congratulations, You heard the word “Homunculus” more times in the last hour than you will for the rest of your life!

 

Great, now we've gotten ourselves excited about something we're unlikely to ever see

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by rjkclarke

[insaneloki]

This, truly, is the choice of Steins gate.

 

 Really amazing reads on here and charming summaries. Makes me wanna play games I said I would never touch.

[rjkclarke]

25 minutes ago, insaneloki said:

This, truly, is the choice of Steins gate.

 

 Really amazing reads on here and charming summaries. Makes me wanna play games I said I would never touch.

 

EL PSY KONGROO! CHAOS, AND INVADE! ?

 

Bloody hell man! I had to do a legit double take just then, when I saw your name pop up as a notification.... I was like, did I just fall asleep at my keyboard or something? .

 

Thanks for the kind words! One day I might actually get you to play a point-and-click adventure game, or another one.... You know what I mean.

 

Have your first rep point my friend........ HA..... That feels weird to say in this context....

 

So I guess it's introduction time....  @insaneloki...... DUN DUN DUN, *Drum Roll* .... Is also one of my best friends, an absolutely stand up awesome guy! I'm pretty damn shocked that you  signed up for the site and left a comment, but I really do appreciate it! 

 

There's actually a fair few games that will show up in this thread because you recommended them to me....and what did I do in return, I made you play Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, I'M SORRY ..... and I haven't yet held up my end of the bargain by playing Last of Us.... Shame on me right? 

 

This feels very surreal anyway, but it sure is nice to have you here.

Edited May 28, 2022 by rjkclarke