DrunkenEngineer Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 Platinum #34 - Dex (July 1, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Music is appropriately 16-bit and synthy A well-established sense of place in Harbor Prime The Bad Combat is a drag and can be trivialized with a stun-stealth combo Weird shadow glitches Full disclosure: my experience with Dex was definitely colored by my desire to be efficient with the playthrough. The game is absolutely riddled with missable trophies, and it’s likely the developer’s intention was to provide motivation for multiple playthroughs. Staring at a trophy guide can be really distracting in this kind of story driven, branching path, action role playing game. That last statement is a little generous towards Dex, however, as there are really only 2 endings that amount to “which button did you push?” It’s a stylish 2-D sidescrolling indie immersive sim mashup, with very cool music, appropriate pixel art (with some bizarre technical issues with the lighting), but it does have a bothersome hacking minigame and some truly bland combat. Play it on “casual” and invest in skills that let you stun bad guys and then you can exploit the one-hit-kill sneak attack mechanics. The main story itself is truly predictable, it’s the side quests where the world building really shines. Oddly enough the platinum will pop before the credits roll. Imagine if Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and Hackers walked into a bar and hooked up with Deus Ex, the resulting baby of uncertain parentage would be Dex. This is Dex’s strength; it’s unashamed of it’s blatant influences and and expects the player to appreciate that. And if that fails to connect with the player, you’ll come out of the experience a little cold. I know I did. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 34 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Platinum #34 - Dex (July 1, 2022) Great write-up, my G!! 34 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Full disclosure: my experience with Dex was definitely colored by my desire to be efficient with the playthrough. The game is absolutely riddled with missable trophies, and it’s likely the developer’s intention was to provide motivation for multiple playthroughs. Staring at a trophy guide can be really distracting in this kind of story driven, branching path, action role playing game. That last statement is a little generous towards Dex, however, as there are really only 2 endings that amount to “which button did you push?” My experience was about the same, but I don't think it detracted toooo much. I have a dumb habit of following the guide and then deviating away in this dismissive "I'm having fun, I got this!" attitude... only to run back like "crap, did I miss anything??" That simple ending was a bit disappointing for me too. I guess it's a testament to what the game accomplished up to that point, but it seemed like the ending was rushed or something! 34 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: It’s a stylish 2-D sidescrolling indie immersive sim mashup, with very cool music, appropriate pixel art (with some bizarre technical issues with the lighting), but it does have a bothersome hacking minigame and some truly bland combat. Agreed pretty hard on all counts but one, I actually kinda liked the hacking minigame! Bein real though, those last couple just kinda kept going, they didn't wanna end and that got kinda old? plus by that point your hacking is so overpowered you're just like "yeah, can we wrap this up?" 34 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Imagine if Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and Hackers walked into a bar and hooked up with Deus Ex, the resulting baby of uncertain parentage would be Dex. This is Dex’s strength; it’s unashamed of it’s blatant influences and and expects the player to appreciate that. And if that fails to connect with the player, you’ll come out of the experience a little cold. I know I did. Well said! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 It's been a grip! I've got two completions to report, the charming Stray and the difficult, but cool as hell, Dead Cells. Write ups will be forthcoming! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted September 4, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 4, 2022 Platinum #35 - Stray (July 25, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Cat cat cat cat! Accessible gameplay & environmental puzzles Fantastic & creative art direction The Bad Speedrun trophy that just seems tonally at odds with the total experience A little too short for the asking price This review is easily influenced by the fact that I have a cat sitting on my lap as I type this out. Stray was released to much fanfare and aplomb as “that cat game”, and while the feline aspects are remarkably well done, this isn’t just a game for folks who subscribed to Cat Fancy magazine. We have a solid 3D adventure game with easy environmental puzzles that ultimately breaks down to a lot of “press x” at the prompt, but it controls like a dream. What spoken dialog exists is in a machine language translated to text by our little robot companion; our feline hero communicates in meows at your command via the O button and I expect most folks unlocked the “A Little Chatty” trophy first! Our little stray becomes separated from their pack at the outset of the game, tumbling down into the depths of a post-apocalyptic city that masterfully shows the grime and decay and the marching on of years since the human residents disappeared. We find that in their stead are robot denizens, presumably the servants of the now extinct humans who have evolved into their own society. Teaming up with a floating robot drone who appears to be more than meets the eye we’ll tramp through the city avoiding the Zurks, nasty little bioengineered tardigrades that are their own class of environmental hazards. The game is almost criminally short, clocking in at about 8 hours to S-rank it casually. The trophy list is fairly easy, but with one addition that really irritated me. No, it’s not the “Can’t Cat-ch Me” (did I mention how fun the cat puns are?) trophy, but rather a speed run trophy. For a game that rewards careful exploration for world building, jumping on and off ledges knocking off books, lamps, etc., it kind of spoils the gravitas of the ending to go “well, time to run it back, but this time skipping everything that just gave you the feels!” It’s a little hard to recommend it at the retail price of $29.99 given just how short it is, but I would have paid that price again for the experience. Come for the cat, but stay for the unique environments, thought-provoking story, and overall fun time! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted September 20, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 20, 2022 Platinum #36 + DLC 100% - Dead Cells (August 8, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Gorgeous, flashy, pixel art graphics Extremely addicting - I stayed up way too late many times saying "one more run!" The Bad The developers like to tinker with the game; coming back after a long absence can be overwhelming 5BC runs are insanely hard, and really anything above 3BC starts to get uncomfortable This game is just slick. Dead Cells is a roguelite 2D action-adventure game with very light Metroidvania elements and a persistent upgrade mechanic. When released in 2017 the game seemed to capitalize on a craze started in the early 2010s and ended up presenting one of the more polished examples of the category. The story is sparse, the emphasis is all about getting in and smacking and dodging away. I really enjoyed the varieties of valid builds between the three attributes (melee, ranged, health) with lots of crossover mutations that encourage a mix and match of types to augment your playstyle. I found myself navigating most towards glass cannon builds inherit in the ranged tree. I have the benefit of playing the game extensively on Steam, so I knew how to get through the trophy list pretty effectively. The guides here on PSNP are excellent, and the recent addition of an assist mode (controversial to some, welcome to others like me) will make the S-rank more achievable, but by no means easy. It's still a roguelite, after all. And a long one at that. Your average clear takes between 30 to 50 minutes depending on pathing taken, and that's per the in-game timer that pauses during the intermission stages where you can change mutations, upgrade weapons, refill health flasks, etc. Look to take 50+ runs to get this one done! The post-launch support for this game has been truly something else. There have been multiple free and paid DLC packs that are all of high quality, but by no means required to enjoy the base game at it's fullest. Personally, I wish the developers would just put a stop to the updates and additions so they can focus on the next product. This one comes as a definite recommend. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted October 8, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 8, 2022 Platinum #37 - DOOM (1993) (September 14, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Classic FPS gameplay that is timeless - "boomer shooter" retro FPS titles are thing for good reason Soundtrack that is wholesale ripped off from awesome metal tracks The Bad Nightmare co-op is an actual nightmare; missed the mark by not providing remote co-op options While Wolfenstein 3D predates it, DOOM is the game that started the first person shooter (FPS) genre as we know it. Released in 1993 through a brilliant proto-crowdsourcing campaign (Shareware!) it took the world by storm. I remember blasting away at demons huddled in my basement on a Intel 486 PC, probably a little too young for such a game but hey, I turned out OK! This game still plays well, even today. DOOM is presented as a 2.5D shooter, where the environments are fully 3D and the items and characters are 2D sprites. There is no vertical mouselook; the game tracks the heights of enemies in relation to Doomguy and makes the appropriate adjustments when firing. It can still be finicky, and countless times I've blown myself up with a rocket when trying to tag that fireball-chucking Imp just on that ledge over yonder. The gameplay is fluid and crisp, controls are tight, and the soundtrack absolutely rocks. The whole goal is to make your way to level exit by any means necessary, collecting keys and weapons as you blast through hordes of hell spawn. This would be a very easy trophy list save for one "Not So Bad" - complete the original 3 episodes in Nightmare Co-op. There are several challenges with this. First, co-op is local only via splitscreen. Having a buddy play over a network connection would have been welcome. Second, nightmare difficulty introduces more enemies, makes them especially aggressive, and adds random respawns. To further add insult to injury, a recent update changed the behavior to be in line with the original 1993 PC release, where enemies have double animation speed, including movement and attacks. Most people elect to play it solo, with the second controller tucked away. Thankfully, player respawns are infinite and progress made in the level carries forward. This trophy will consist of brute-forcing levels, making incremental progress until finally reaching the exit. I created a playlist on Youtube of clears for what I considered the most troublesome levels. Here is an example of the torment one will face: It's possible to downgrade the game to an earlier version, pre-fast monsters. This would take the game from a 9/10 difficulty down to maybe a 6, I'd expect. I did the whole thing on the latest patch, and if I can do it it's well within the capability of a dedicated, focused player! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 On 10/8/2022 at 8:18 PM, DrunkenEngineer said: Platinum #37 - DOOM (1993) (September 14, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Classic FPS gameplay that is timeless - "boomer shooter" retro FPS titles are thing for good reason Soundtrack that is wholesale ripped off from awesome metal tracks The Bad Nightmare co-op is an actual nightmare; missed the mark by not providing remote co-op options While Wolfenstein 3D predates it, DOOM is the game that started the first person shooter (FPS) genre as we know it. Released in 1993 through a brilliant proto-crowdsourcing campaign (Shareware!) it took the world by storm. I remember blasting away at demons huddled in my basement on a Intel 486 PC, probably a little too young for such a game but hey, I turned out OK! This game still plays well, even today. DOOM is presented as a 2.5D shooter, where the environments are fully 3D and the items and characters are 2D sprites. There is no vertical mouselook; the game tracks the heights of enemies in relation to Doomguy and makes the appropriate adjustments when firing. It can still be finicky, and countless times I've blown myself up with a rocket when trying to tag that fireball-chucking Imp just on that ledge over yonder. The gameplay is fluid and crisp, controls are tight, and the soundtrack absolutely rocks. The whole goal is to make your way to level exit by any means necessary, collecting keys and weapons as you blast through hordes of hell spawn. This would be a very easy trophy list save for one "Not So Bad" - complete the original 3 episodes in Nightmare Co-op. There are several challenges with this. First, co-op is local only via splitscreen. Having a buddy play over a network connection would have been welcome. Second, nightmare difficulty introduces more enemies, makes them especially aggressive, and adds random respawns. To further add insult to injury, a recent update changed the behavior to be in line with the original 1993 PC release, where enemies have double animation speed, including movement and attacks. Most people elect to play it solo, with the second controller tucked away. Thankfully, player respawns are infinite and progress made in the level carries forward. This trophy will consist of brute-forcing levels, making incremental progress until finally reaching the exit. I created a playlist on Youtube of clears for what I considered the most troublesome levels. Here is an example of the torment one will face: It's possible to downgrade the game to an earlier version, pre-fast monsters. This would take the game from a 9/10 difficulty down to maybe a 6, I'd expect. I did the whole thing on the latest patch, and if I can do it it's well within the capability of a dedicated, focused player! Forgot to post here saying congrats for getting a super hard platinum! Respect to you! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted October 30, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 30, 2022 Platinum #38 - The Order: 1886 (September 19, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Cool weapon designs Fun set pieces Straightforward, linear 3rd person shooty shooty The Bad Incredibly short play length Unskippable cutscenes Clunky controls at times And another bites the dust with The Order: 1886 smashed to bits. I can understand why this game had a bad reputation at launch. It's very linear, with lots of cutscenes and QTEs, and a short campaign of only 7 hours or so. The launch day hype was pretty lofty and I think people just weren't expecting what they got. However, what is here is incredibly polished with exquisite graphics and gorgeous world-building. The shooting aspects are reasonably competent, but the cover mechanics can be sticky and honestly no game has done that well since perhaps Mass Effect 2. The guns are cool as hell, the concept of Nikola Tesla being the armorer and principle inventor of alt-steampunk Victorian England is fun shit, and who doesn't love seeing Victorian facial hair? The story is wildly predictable, but what's there is well executed and very well acted. The game ends with enough hooks for a sequel which would be great to get after all these years, but the forecast isn't looking great on that. If you are looking for a third person shooter where you can just jump in and go, this ain't it. But if cool set pieces and a reimagined Knights of the Round Table vs. Werewolves & Vampires shtick sounds cool, this is worth checking out on the cheap. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted November 7, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2022 (edited) Platinum #39 - Slain: Back From Hell (November 6, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Heavy Metal, The Game (tm) Unenterprising action platformer that rewards timing and patience The Bad A little shallow; style over substance Lots of bullshit deaths via traps and dicey platforming A mashup of Castlevania and Dark Souls with a heavy dose of metal music. What we have here is ultimately shallow, but can be a fun time with tempered expectations. My initial impressions were "damn, this game is punishing". Miss a parry and you are hosed. Whiff a jump and you die. But at least the level checkpoints are plentiful and the metal soundtrack is inspiring. The trophy list is sort of a mixed bag, with the no-death runs and boss no-damage trophies ultimately becoming a test of persistence and tedium, rather than skill. By my fourth run through I had the game on autopilot and it did feel like a well-earned victory lap. Check out a trailer, if what you see looks good it's worth a buy. But there really isn't anything there beyond the amazing soundtrack. Edited November 7, 2022 by DrunkenEngineer grammar 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted November 12, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2022 Platinum #40 - DOOM II (Classic) (November 6, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Super shotgun is introduced to the world! More enemies, more levels, more variety Some truly sadistic level design The Bad Nightmare Co-op just about broke me Bigger, badder, nastier - Doom II cranks it up to eleven. The addition of the Super Shotgun and a handful of enemies differentiates this from it's 1993 predecessor. Technically there aren't many advancements save for iD Software becoming comfortable with levels of sadism that couldn't be done with Doom. The early, easier levels of Doom II completely dwarf Doom endgame levels both in size and monster population. On the easiest difficulties it's still quite manageable to get through, and the whole experience would be a moderate trophy list. Except for, you know...nightmare co-op. It's back, and even nastier than before. When the console ports were released nightmare mode was considerably easier, but still hard. Common to pre and post-patch are increased monster populations, more aggressive behavior, and random respawn timers. A majority of the co-op levels require brute forcing, dying over and over making incremental progress until you can scrape by to the level exit. Some levels this approach is impossible, and have to be cleared in one go or the difficulty becomes insurmountable. Eventually an update was released for both Doom and Doom II to restore the original PC version nightmare difficulty, which had all of the above and double monster animation and attack speeds. Doom was manageable with fast-monsters, while its sequel become completely insane for me. I depatched to v1.06 and was still faced with the hardest platinum challenge to date. After popping that bastard of a platinum I went back and let it update and cleared the most notorious level, just to really put my stamp on this doozy of a game. Pre-fast monsters this is a 9/10 difficulty, and 10+/10 on the current branch. An immensely stressful experience, I'm glad it's done, and really wish I could have used a keyboard & mouse! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted November 30, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 30, 2022 Platinum #41 - Valfaris (November 26, 2022) Trophy Statistics The Good Amazing soundtrack Completely badass pixel art Laser pistols! Plasma shotguns! The Bad Upgrade system feels out of place A trophy for finding secrets? Blech Much like it's predecessor, Slain: Back From Hell, this is a 2D action-platformer additionally with heavy doses of run-n-gun carnage. And again, like it's predecessor, the game's charm comes from the insanely awesome pixel art and heavy metal soundtrack. I personally found some of the risk-reward gameplay more welcome than it's predecessor - exchanging Resurrection Idols for checkpoints vs. increased power made subsequent run throughs a power trip. The weapon and upgrade system fell flat as you'll have barely enough materials to dabble much - better to figure out early on what weapons you like and resource dump them. On paper this looks like a difficult platinum, and it still is, but save-scumming completely neuters much of the challenge. And I generally suck at these kind of games and made it through without much frustration. Again, like Slain, what you see is what you get. Definitely worth a play if the trailer inspires you! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 Rise, rise from the grave! I took the month of December off from any sort of serious trophy hunting. New year and all that, so it's back to business as usual. I've got a completion for Middle Earth: Shadow of War that I'll provide a write up in the next couple of days. I hope to log even more completions than last year, but life tends to circumvent our best laid plans. Still, with the aid of some awesome community challenges I'm looking to another great year to shred out the old backlog. My major goalposts for 2023 are as follows: Clean up the last outstanding multiplayer trophies. That leaves two titles: Death Stranding Red Dead Redemption 2 Continue to participate in community challenges Happy New Year ya'll! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 Platinum #42 + DLC 100% - Middle Earth: Shadow of War (January 17, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Orc personalities have been taken up a notch Crunchy Arkham-style combat Looting and crafting system that stays in it's lane Exceptional graphics and production values The Bad We are still living in an age where we hold "X" to run in a game with analog walking controls The story is better than the first game, but that's not saying a whole lot. Tolkien purists will riot. Middle Earth: Shadow of War is a sequel in the most classic of videogame senses. Every knob and dial present in the first game has been turned up to eleven. More skills, more systems to juggle, more online features, bigger DLCs, more maps. At first it can be pretty overwhelming, but the game does a great job of slowly introducing the new features, and for the most part all of them feel natural. The real meat and potatoes - "fucking with Orcs" - has been preserved and is by far the strongest feature of the game. The Nemesis system really does emergent gameplay well and it would be fun if we saw it in more games. I found the second DLC, The Desolation of Mordor to be a pleasant surprise and an interesting take on the trials we saw in the previous game. From a trophy hunting perspective, this one is much much easier than the first. Probably the most difficult has you killing a Captain with an Olog, riding it buckin' bronco style. I did find the online stats finicky, and spent a rather long time leveling up my Fortress Defense ratings and becoming frustrated when the numbers in the online menu wouldn't match what I was seeing out in the game world. I avoided this for a rather long time as I felt Shadow of Mordor was just the perfect amount of schlock and any more layers to it would be unwelcome. I'm glad I was wrong! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted February 21, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 21, 2023 Platinum #43 + DLC 100% - The Evil Within (February 19, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Survival horror tour-de-force Fantastic use of lighting and shadows to create a supremely creepy atmosphere Agony crossbow, especially the crowd control ammo, is a delight. Follow up with a match and watch them burn! The Bad Noticeable input lag; framerate locked to 30FPS with no PS5 update in sight AKUMU is more about persistence over skill, and seemed rather unnecessary. The Evil Within is a nostalgic love letter to survival horror games of yesteryear. The gameplay is highly inspired by Resident Evil 4, sharing Shinji Mikami's credit. Monster designs are brilliant and heavily influenced by Silent Hill. The story stumbles a bit, but that's honestly never been what's attracted me to survival horror games. The dopey dialog and cheesy characters and melodrama are here in spades. Inventory management, scraping by enemy encounters, knowing when to fight or run - that's well represented. Everyone knows about AKUMU, and it's not quite as bad as I anticipated. Definitely do this trophy last, as the several runs you'll have under your belt beforehand will be the best preparation. It's mostly an exercise of persistence and perseverance over raw skill. Given the age of the game there are many guides on AKUMU so if you do your homework and consult one often, it's very manageable. The DLCs do an admirable job of fleshing out little background bits of the game, and even introduce a interesting playthrough mechanic in KURAYAMI ("Darkness") in the Kidman DLCs, making the only illumination come from your flashlight. It's absolutely harrowing and I loved it! The controls are a bit clunky, and sometimes the presentation isn't exactly the best, but the overall package is strong and great fun for survival horror veterans. For fans of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Space it's an easy recommendation. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassylvania Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Nice job with The Evil Within. I keep hearing AKUMA isn't as hard as it was first made out to be. I feel like I say I'm going to get around to that game every Halloween but never do because of all the other games I play around that time. Are you looking forward to the sequel? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share Posted February 22, 2023 17 minutes ago, Cassylvania said: Nice job with The Evil Within. I keep hearing AKUMA isn't as hard as it was first made out to be. I feel like I say I'm going to get around to that game every Halloween but never do because of all the other games I play around that time. Are you looking forward to the sequel? It really wasn't that bad, to be honest. I can wholeheartedly recommend the game year round, why wait for Halloween? Hah! The sequel is great. I've actually played both games on PC so I was pretty excited to revisit them on PlayStation. It's a bummer that Tango Gameworks is parented by Microsoft, so we won't be seeing any further games on this platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted April 2, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2023 100% Completion - Leo's Fortune (March 28, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Charming visuals Story with a heart (of gold) Physics actually respond pretty well if you use the D-pad The Bad Hardcore mode Hardcore mode Hardcore mode Hardcore mode This is an utterly sneaky bastard of a game. Hidden beneath the cute veneer of a dyed bathtub lint ball is an absolute bastard of a completion. Leo's Fortune is a 2.5D mobile port platformer that has polished visuals, a sickly sweet soundtrack, and nerve wracking gameplay. It's my first real attempt at a "hard" platformer and on the surface it doesn't appear too bad. The individual levels are relatively easy to clear on their own and the gold star challenges are straightforward. Hardcore Mode is where the terror comes in. I had to beat all 20 levels in a row, in one sitting, without dying. I made a couple of mistakes in my prep (use the D-pad, not the analog stick for platformers!) and my successful run involved me muting the game audio and listening to podcasts in the background to help steady my nerves. This was a solid 9/10 difficulty for me, but I'm a complete boob at platformers. People with legitimate experience with the genre will find this challenging but perfectly manageable. For posterity, my successful run below. There were several spots where I definitely experienced some anal puckering! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Vice Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 You're going to hate me for saying this... but... you've kinda sold me on getting this game thanks to your gameplay. Looks fun. No sarcasm. Leo is dope. He's like one of these guys: ... and when he puffs up he kinda looks like Ned Flanders. And his little comments and grunts? And the music (especially around the 51 min mark)... I think you've inadvertently sold it. Desert/underwater cave levels looks cool too. When I started watching this at first I hesitated after five minutes worrying about spoilers. I thought you were cooked at 49.50 let alone the next minute. If you can bounce off the gears like you did at 50.46 then why even try to avoid them at all? ? 4 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: There were several spots where I definitely experienced some anal puckering! tell me more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, Platinum_Vice said: You're going to hate me for saying this... but... you've kinda sold me on getting this game thanks to your gameplay. Looks fun. No sarcasm. Leo is dope. He's like one of these guys: ... and when he puffs up he kinda looks like Ned Flanders. And his little comments and grunts? And the music (especially around the 51 min mark)... I think you've inadvertently sold it. Desert/underwater cave levels looks cool too. When I started watching this at first I hesitated after five minutes worrying about spoilers. I thought you were cooked at 49.50 let alone the next minute. If you can bounce off the gears like you did at 50.46 then why even try to avoid them at all? tell me more. You are absolutely correct with those points you called out where I should have been toast. Those close calls were where my "anal puckering" comment came from. I ripped some of my chair fabric I clenched so tight! I cannot emphasize enough how much you should play the game with the D-pad. A majority of my struggles were with using the analog stick, and not realizing that the up and down inputs don't do anything. Many puzzles (like at 38:48) took me hours to clear when practicing in a consistent manner because of the damn analog stick. Switch to the D-pad, consistent every time. I was tempted to run through it again on Steam just to really bully the game, but @Copanele called me names and told me not to ? Edited April 2, 2023 by DrunkenEngineer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 34 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: I was tempted to run through it again on Steam just to really bully the game, but @Copanele called me names and told me not to To the good games pile with you!!! ? Congrats and all but don't torture you with a second green ballsack there ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted May 14, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 14, 2023 (edited) Platinum #44 + DLC 100% - Ghostrunner (May 13, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Awesome music Slick graphics Fantastic parkour and platforming The Bad Dorky story Bosses are an exercise in frustrating pattern recognition This is like playing Hotline Miami, Mirror's Edge, and Cyberpunk 2077 while cracked out on Russian Dubstep. You will die. A lot. Or maybe you don't suck as bad as me, and you won't. But I doubt it. Ghostrunner is a first person parkour cyberpunk platformer that is completely unabashed in flaunting its influences. The story is ham fisted and derivative, and honestly I had a hard time following it just because I was so enamored in the gameplay. The music is intoxicating electronica that really sets the mood. More than once I felt that if a camera were trained on me, the scene would be like one of those hacker montages from classic movies of the 80s & 90s, complete with dilated pupils and a controller in hand (instead of the quick cuts of keystrokes and mouse wrist flicks) as my character leaps from surface to surface, bouncing from kill to kill. Until I get tagged by a goon and die in one hit. And then I hit triangle to immediately restart from a convenient checkpoint. Try again! The trophies are pretty straightforward, nothing is missable. Several are skill based. The base game has an obnoxious challenge for killing 23 enemies in a row, while the DLC furthers the sadism with a complete no-death level run. But we are talking an hour or two max to get these done, the rest of the difficulty is just clearing the story naturally. For those that have played Titanfall 2, the entire experience was akin to my time trying to clear the "...Becomes the Master" trophy. Often times frustrating, but immensely rewarding. Edited May 14, 2023 by DrunkenEngineer date error 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted June 6, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 6, 2023 Platinum #45 + DLC 100% - Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (May 30, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Solid, no frills shooter Linear levels with amazing attention to detail You get to kill Nazis "Mein Leben" is an utter thrill The Bad In-engine, unskippable cutscenes that become excruciating to sit through for the billionth time when running "Mein Leben" Collectibles can be rather irritating and there are a lot of them "Ghost" trophy is buggy - pick a district you like (Roswell) and ghost it the first time through How can I put in to words the experience that is Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus? On the surface it's a pretty standard linear, single player, story driven FPS with all the world building environments and gun blasting that I tend to gush over. But if you really want to experience the Five Stages of Grief in a compressed window of time, look no further than "Mein Leben", the infamous permadeath, no saves, highest difficulty level trophy. Denial: "That didn't happen, holy...wow...am I really at the menu screen? No way, I didn't fail a run right after the last boss fight...all I had left was to face Frau Engel." Anger: "You goddamn stupid piece of shit how could not see that mother fucking grunt that was watching right there! Look, rewind the recording....HE'S RIGHT THERE!!" Bargaining: "Argh...if only I hadn't bungled that, all I needed to do was slow down and take greater care and I'd have this trophy!" Depression: "This is never happening...what is wrong with me? Why am I doing this to myself?" Acceptance: "It's a new day, I can persevere. This won't get the better of me." And even if one doesn't want to subject themselves to the sadomasochism that is the Platinum trophy, what's here is absolutely worth experiencing. Amazing set pieces, very cool (if obnoxious to track) collectibles with lots of backstory, some heartfelt acting and dialog, and of course...blasting Nazis. Come for the harrowing trophy journey and feather in the cap, but stay for the honest to goodness, actual fantastic video game. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted August 13, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 13, 2023 Platinum #46 - Dead Space (August 12, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good The fully upgraded Force Gun literally turns bad guys inside-out The UI with the diegetic indications was a literal game changer in 2008 NG+ reward unlock is a foam finger gun that one-shots baddies while Isaac says "pew pew pew!" Videogame version of a lived in future a la Star Wars and Alien The Bad Peter Mensah's fantastic casting was not carried over Sometimes the R2 haptics get in the way of rapid firing I remember how much of a tectonic event Dead Space was when it released in 2008. EA produced a game that looked like a mash up of Resident Evil 4 and Event Horizon and no one had any faith they would pull it off. I was surprised as hell when I played it on the X360, and the Dead Space remake proved that it wasn't just nostalgia; this is just a damn good game. Most impressive was the amazing sense of "lived in"-ness of the USG Ishimura. It's a mining ship, it's modeled as such, complete with ore processing zones, engineering decks, crew quarters, and other locations that actually make sense. No big deal in 2023, but back in 2008 many games weren't there yet. I'm relieved that the remake is very faithful and captures all those feelings I had at release. Dead Space is a game that really only needed a remake in the most basic sense; the original 2008 PC port ran terribly, and on console it was stuck on PS3 (and X360, with probably good back compatibility support). The gameplay is still fresh enough that it just needed the most basic of porting jobs. Maybe some graphics tweaks, but leave the rest as-is. And near as I can tell that was done, and done well. The weapons being repurposed mining tools, the introduction of limb dismemberment, and the lighting and effects all feels as relevant as it was in 2008. Isaac Clarke was a famously silent protagonist in the original, and while he's voiced now it's not near the distraction I feared it would be. The trophy journey is an easy one, though you will be tied to 2 playthroughs, minimum. "Impossible" mode is really just the hardest difficulty with one save slot and permadeath. Don't let it intimidate you, Dead Space is famous for long, gruesome, and awesome death animations and during those you can quit to menu and reload your last save. I definitely recommend stacking impossible with the "One Gun" trophy for only using the Plasma Cutter. Just like in 2008, not only is the Cutter one of the best weapons, it frees up ammo limitation and upgrade resources to only dump those in the suit and weapon. And then in NG+ the foam finger hand cannon is the perfect victory lap over all those monster closet jump scares. It made for a necromorph-blasting good time! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrunkenEngineer Posted September 3, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 3, 2023 Platinum #47 + DLC 100% - Alan Wake: Remastered (August 24, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Signature Remedy, through and through The Bad Collectibles are virtually impossible to track and there are a lot of them Gameplay that just can't figure out what it wants to be Alan Wake is what you get when you give Sam Lake a bottle of absinthe and lock him in a room with a typewriter, a stack of Stephen King novels, and Twin Peaks on repeat in the background. The influences are so obvious it could be eye rolling, but so obscure (especially for early 2010's gaming) that I can't help but smile. As for the gameplay - it's a bit of a mixed bag. We have a third person action game set up in an episodic format with a heavy emphasis on internal narration, mediocre shooting, and some incredibly frustrating platforming in the DLCs. Counterbalancing this are moody, high production graphics and set pieces, and signature Remedy ooze. Even the background characters are all relatively fleshed out and unique, and several have direct Twin Peaks analogs (hello Log/Lamp Lady!). One real positive thing to note is Remedy learns. Every subsequent release iterates on the failings of the previous title. Quantum Break cooled it on the collectibles, but still maintained mediocre 3rd person gameplay. Control solved the gameplay issue, while retaining the batshit insane stories and core trappings that make all their earlier releases so enticing. This is by far the most polarizing of their games I've played, and the trophy journey doesn't help out it's reputation. By all accounts Alan Wake 2 should continue this trajectory and be Remedy's best game yet. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 Platinum #48 - Super Time Force Ultra (September 26, 2023) Trophy Statistics The Good Deceptively deep gameplay loop Unique, platform specific characters - Sir Galahad slays Helladeck level are hella hard, but hella good The Bad Tutorial is a little lackluster and there is no way to revisit The most 2010s humor you can imagine This is probably the most schizophrenic completion I can recall. Hot off a really tough game streak, I popped into this one back in June of 2023. And I immediately noped out of it. Super Time Force Ultra is a 2D Contra-like with a time rewind mechanic and early 2010's puerile humor. The latter was really the cherry on the top of what appeared to be a shit-sunday. Between that and the sparse tutorial I really failed to connect with the game at first. However, being the person I am, I was not going to let this game get me down. All of my friends have raved about how good it is, it's consistently ranked as an under-the-radar "easy" Ultra Rare completion (owing to PS+), so I knew I was coming back to it. And once I did I discovered this game truly is a gem. To go from struggling to get through mission roadblocks with an outrageous scrum of phantoms, to progressing smoothly and only rewinding a handful of times, sometimes very strategically, was immensely satisfying. Just know what you are getting into with this game. If you are someone who doesn't typically play 2D platforming shooters (*raises hand*) you'll want to start with something a little more straightforward. Oh, and absolutely work on the Helladeck levels as they unlock; they are really the Tutorial 2.0 and do a fantastic job of introducing the little tips and tricks that make the campaign runs more fun! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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