Fall/Winter 2021/2022 Backlog Challenge

[TheLordJusticar]

On 18/11/2021 at 5:58 PM, dieselmanchild said:

Update #5
 

PS4

 

1. Guacamelee 2 -  100%

2. Dead Island: Definitive Edition -  100%

3. Resident Evil 2 -  100%

4. Hollow Knight - 0%

5. Bioshock 2 -  100%

6. Lords of the Fallen -  100%

7. Zombie Vikings -  100%

8. Grip - 0%

9. Dead Island Riptide: Definitive Edition -  100%

10. Life is Strange 2 -  100%

11. Yoku’s Island Express -  100%

12. Metro Exodus -  100%

13. Celeste - 37%

14. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan -  100%

15. Alan Wake Remastered -  100%

16. Resident Evil 4 - 5%

 

PS3

 

1. X-Men Origins: Wolverine -  100%

2. Spec Ops: The Line - 0%

3. South Park: The Stick of Truth -  100%

4. Dead Space 2 - 0%

5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 0%

6. Dead Space: Extraction - 0%

7. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 0%

 

Unfinished Games I am pledging to try and finish this Fall (NOT INCLUDED in this event):

 

1. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition - 67%

2. SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption - 51%

3. Sound Shapes - 86%

4. Max Payne 3 - 92%
 

=====

 

 

 #244 - RESIDENT EVIL 2

 

So this marks by 3rd Resident Evil game (after Resident Evil HD & Resident Evil 0) and at this point I’m totally hooked on this series!

 

I never grew up on the original RE2 like many other people and so I can’t compare the remake to the source material, but even so it’s pretty obvious they did a fantastic job remaking this game. The graphics, lighting, and animations are completely stunning (I think RE2 has some of the best looking zombies in the entire industry), the controls and over-the-shoulder 3rd person perspective feels comfortable and modern, yet at the same time the gameplay, puzzles, and labyrinthian environments still feel completely true to the original style of Resident Evil games.
 

It makes for one hell of a survival horror experience!

 

I’ve really enjoyed my experience with the series thus far for a number of reasons. The trophy lists in all 3 games so far have been the perfect mix of fun and challenge. I also love the way these games have pushed me outside of my comfort zone a little bit and forced me into a different mindset. I’ve always found speedrunning to be quite fascinating but only have a tiny experience with speedrunning myself, usually only when a game forces it on me with a particular trophy.
 

But with each RE game so far, I’ve been forced to adopt the mentality of a speed runner. I normally hate having to replay games right away, but Resident Evil has some of the best replayability of any game I’ve ever played. With each run you finish, you just want to jump back in straightaway and do it again, trying each time to up the difficulty and increase your completion time. It’s incredibly satisfying and fulfilling as a gamer to see your skills and knowledge of the game improving exponentially with every run you complete, and this has really helped me understand why people find the concept of speed running so rewarding and so competitive.

 

Out of all my runs, the one I actually found the most fun and intense was a Standard difficulty run where I combined the Frugalist (no healing items used) & Minimalist (no item box) trophies. Excluding the item box meant no access to any infinite ammo weapons or indestructible knife and required a lot of strategy when it came to item and inventory management. The lack of healing as well meant that I spent most of the game hobbling around in a severely injured state, trying desperately to avoid Mr. X or any contact at all with zombies. It was super intense and got my heart pounding on multiple occasions. As far as I’m concerned, THIS is the true Resident Evil/survival horror experience!

 

Out of all the trophies, the most challenging by far was the ‘Hell of a Sheriff’ trophy from the No Way Out DLC. More than half of my friends list who have played this game have not bothered with that trophy and after struggling with it for a few hours it’s easy to see why. It is undoubtedly a highly frustrating mode, but once again it was packed with incredibly tense and nail-biting, pulse pounding moments that made it highly rewarding to complete, and a very fun time overall.

 

=====

 

- I am adding Resident Evil 4 to my list since I’m obsessed with RE right now and couldn’t resist diving in to this one. I’ve heard so many people say it’s a masterpiece and the best entry in the series, so it’s time I found out for myself!

 

- I’m up to the final chapter and 37% trophy completion in Celeste, another game that has been very challenging but incredibly satisfying to play. It’s shaping up to be the most impressive 2D platformer I’ve ever played.

 

- The Trophies to Fight Cancer (event) is wrapping up at the end of this month. With Resident Evil 2 being my last submitted Orange game, I am trying my best to finish both Celeste and Sayonara Wild Hearts before the 30th so I can submit them as my final Pink games. It’s still not too late to join and knock off a couple games to submit and help kick cancer’s ass! 

- Looking ahead to December, I am trying to decide if I should dive into Hollow Knight, or if it’s time to show some much-needed love to my neglected PS3 list. I also have my eye on Batman: Arkham Asylum and Spec-Ops: The Line which are strong contenders for the next game. They all look super fun!

 

=====

 

Excellent work on your progress everyone, and thank you for sharing your journey with the rest of us. As always, I have a great time reading through all your posts and I find inspiration in each one. Keep kickin ass y’all.

Congrats on Resi 2, Fantastic Game. 

[Heather342]

12 hours ago, rjkclarke said:

 

Big congrats on this one.....

 

.... Although I'd be lying if I wasn't a little sad that, that's the last of the awesome Alien Isolation updates, those were a blast to read, but congrats nonetheless.

 

 

Thanks ?. There were so many moments in that game, most were terrifying, some kinda funny that happened to me, but as mentioned the alien AI is unscripted so you could never replicate certain scenarios. Playthrough 1 and Playthrough 2 were very different in that regard.

 

One more funny Alien Isolation story for you all. I'm playing through the missions and hubby @TheLordJusticar walks in, looks at the screen and says to me 'I remember this bit, there's gonna be an explosion'. I also know there's gonna be an explosion, because I'm on my second playthrough. Explosion happens, I jump a mile, and he's just laughing at me ?. Ah, good times, good times ?

Edited November 24, 2021 by Heather342

[TalesofGaming]

Update 22:

 

1. Tales of Arise - 100%  9/19/21

2. Human Fall Flat - 29%

3. Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition - 100%  9/7/21

4. Dark Souls III - 67% -> 72%

5. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince - 100%  10/28/21

6. Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist - 100%  10/23/21

7. Overcooked! All You Can Eat - 100%  9/30/21

8. Maquette - 100%  10/24/21

9. Operation: Tango - 0%

10. Bugsnax - 100%  11/16/21

11. Crash Bandicoot: Warped - 27%

 

I grinded out a few covenant items in Dark Souls III and finally got all sorceries and pyromancies! Just two more covenant grinds left...

 

Swaps (1/5)

Shining Resonance Refrain -> The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince

[dieselmanchild]

6 hours ago, TheLordJusticar said:

Congrats on Resi 2, Fantastic Game. 

Thanks man!

[freddie1989]

A good update for me this evening!!

 

Days Gone plat is complete finally. I loved the ride. It was a bit of a grind towards the end but well worth it. I'll come back to the rest of it later because I can't cope with another playthrough straight away.

 

Next up will be a combo of Shadow of War and The Last of Us so we keep rolling!!

 

Middle Earth: Shadow of War 0%

Days Gone 36% - 70%

Worms Battlegrounds 100%

Sonic Mania 23%

Emily Wants to Play 0%

Assassin's Creed Unity 40%

Late Shift 100%

The Last of Us Remastered 0%

Rage 2 0%

Need for Speed Payback 93%

Borderlands Pre Sequel 41%

Sims 4 27%

 

[Zach]

Might be a bit before I make progress on my list. Currently working on the Ghost of Tsushima DLC. I need to get to chapter 2 since I lost my cloud saves to access the DLC. Why did I lose my cloud saves? Who knows. I made sure when I sold my PS4 when I got my PS5 that my cloud saves were there. Now? Magically mostly gone. ?

[L0sT_NZ_Kazekage]

Made a bit more progress in Ratchet and Clank but to be honest can only play for an hour at a time it seems.

I am really enjoying it though! Making one more swap (seems to be happening a bit lately.) I will swap out Valhalla for Sackboy.

Been playing Sackboy with my partner and we are having a great time with it! I do kinda miss the side scrolling from LBP though.

To be honest wasn't any I really wanted to swap but I want to finish 10 games this event and Valhalla would take another 2 months by itself with how much I play.

 

1. Sackboy: A Big Adventure (0%) -- > (17%)

2. Darksouls Remastered (5%)

3. A Way Out (100%) 

4. A Plague Tale: Innocence (100%) 

5. Until Dawn (100%)  

6. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (100%) 

7. Death Loop (11%)

8. Ruined King: A League of Legends story (0%)

9. Spiderman: Miles Morales (100%) 

10. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (31%) --> (54%)

 

Games Complete: (5/10)

Swaps Used: (3/5)

[Heather342]

Update 16 

 

So I don't really have any trophy progress this week. I've mainly been doing Ghost of Tsushima multiplayer levelling up. I now have 3 of the 4 classes at rank 20, so a few more evenings of doing the co-op story levels should finish up that trophy. My gear level is currently 110, think I'll need to upgrade it to 120 to be fully raid ready.

 

But as we are approaching the halfway point of the challenge, I thought I'd do a quick overall progress check in ?

 

Games completed:

- Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry

- Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight

- Spyro 3 Year of the Dragon

- Demon's Souls

- Alien Isolation

 

Ongoing games:

- Crash Team Racing - 23 -> 76%

- Crash Bandicoot - 34%

- Ghost of Tsushima - 8 -> 13%

- Assassin's Creed Black Flag - 18%

- Two Point Hospital - 42 -> 52%

 

My plans moving into the second half of the challenge is to try and finish 2 games per month, and continue to grind all the stars needed for Two Point Hospital. Ideally I would like to finish them all, but if I can get the platinum on that game before the challenge ends I'll consider it a win. Trying to get all 81 stars is a big grind (I'm currently on about 32 and I've put well over 100 hours into the game by this point).

 

December schedule I'll be looking to finish up CTR. I stopped before because my hand/thumb were injured, but it seems ok now, so back to perfecting the drift boost ?. I'll also be getting back into AC Black Flag, I've been looking forward to this one for a while. As a Swansea girl myself, it's pretty cool to see the Welsh representation in a mainstream video game ?. I'm also gonna keep a count of how many times Edward Kenway tells someone to shut their gob ?

 

Keep up all the great progress everyone!

 

[damcrac5]

Completions 10 & 11(Swap 4)

 

I added The Touryst to my back log a couple months ago when I ordered my LG C1 OLED.  I wanted to see a game at 120hz.  The Touryst has had some very positive reviews, with digital foundry giving it Switch GOTY potential, so I finally got around to it.  The game is a very straight forward 4-6 hour 100%.  Only tricky part with no guide would be finding museum scrolls at the end, but a guide will make them very easy.  It is a simple puzzle platformer that is very intuitive to play with a surprising amount of level and adversary variety.  Enough to keep it fresh the whole time, but not so long as to not enjoy the game any more.  I decided to use it as a switch because I don't see myself getting through all of my list saying I swapped Demon's Souls and Dark Souls Remastered in for much shorter games.

 

Sly 2 was another great example of a PS2 game that is perfect for the Vita.  Just like the first installment, I mainly played while on break from work or if traffic was unusually light and I got there early.  Missions are little 5-15 minute sets that make it easy to pick up, play and put back down.  So far, the Sly trilogy has been fantastic on Vita and I look forward to knocking out 3 and Thieves in Time.  However, I may look to add on God of War 1 and 2 before jumping into Sly 3.  

 

Not sure I'll finish another game before I got dark for a couple of weeks so I'll just put it this way.  Halfway through this challenge and I am very happy with the games that I have played.  It would be easy for me to go out and buy some new games, such as Deathloop and Hades and just play those, but this event has given me more incentive to continue to chip away at my backlog.  It is hard for me to prioritize going forward...  Do I knock out Horizon Zero Dawn so I'll be ready for Forbidden West?  Spider-Man Remastered is also a great game that I should get completed as well.  BUT! I can't get back to a 100% profile until I work my way through the 4 Uncharted games in order since I already have the DLC trophies for U4 already completed.  

 

Either way, I will make some great progress between now and the end of the event (end of feb?).  Then maybe ease up a bit and try to get Elden Ring or Forbidden West done much closer to release.  But then again, maybe I should play DS2 and 3 before Elden Ring.  Either way, Happy Hunting.  Hopefully I'll check in with a completion on Full Frontal Assault prior to going dark.  

 

In Progress:

Ratchet & Clank Full Frontal Assault ----> 12%

 

Completions: (11/29)

 MLB 14 The Show (VITA)  

 Maneater (PS5)  

 Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus (Vita)

 inFamous Second Son

 Kena: Bridge of Spirits

 Demon's Souls (PS5)

 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

 Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando

 Dark Souls Remastered

 Sly 2: Band of Thieves

100% The Touryst

 

Swapped in: (4/5)

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Rift Apart

Dark Souls Remastered 

The Touryst

 

Swapped Out

R&C: Into the Nexus

R&C: All 4 One

R&C A Crack In Time

Spyro 3

 

Yet to be started:

• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
• Uncharted Drake's Fortune: Remastered
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered
• Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception Remastered
• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
• Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
• Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked
• Madden 22 (PS5)
• Madden 11
• Spyro
• Spyro 2
• The Wolf Among Us
• Game of Thrones (PS4)
• Sly Cooper 3: Honor Among Thieves (Vita)
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Vita)

 

[YaManSmevz]

Toasty War Journal #11

11/25/21

 

Hey there, all! I hope y'all had a pleasant Thanksgiving (there I go being a typical Yank, assuming everybody celebrates the same holidays)!

 

I'm noticing that with my current, weirder schedule, it can be difficult to discern when the proper time is to update. Last time around it was easily Sunday, because that was the end of my work week. Meh. I'll figure this out yet - and thankfully, I have some progress to share!

 

FINALLY conquered The Challenge, but not The Witness itself. There are an unknown amount of puzzles left to solve even after plattening it, so while I can consider it completed trophy-wise, there is still much work to be done.

 

Hitman 2 is so addicting that I (largely) haven't even gotten past the content of the first game and I'm already about it, no questions asked. This is gonna be a fun completion.

 

Red Dead Revolver is literally down to its last bounty mission, and what an annoying prick it has been! Excited to write about it once it's completed, it has such a unique spot in Rockstar history.

 

Anyway, enough nerding out! Thanks for posting and thanks for reading, I appreciate all of y'all!

 

1. Resident Evil 5 (34%)

2. Yakuza 0 (22%)

3. Hitman✅️

4. Final Fantasy IX (8%)

5. Cities: Skylines (12%)

6. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 (40%)

7. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (28%)

8. Afterparty✅️

9. The Witness (91-->100%)✅️

10. Hotline Miami✅️

11. The Wolf Among Us✅️

12. Sleeping Dogs (0%)

13. Red Dead Revolver (63-->94%)

14. Hitman 2 (11-->28%)

Edited November 26, 2021 by YaManSmevz

[DTFds]

Time for my third update!

 

Reading trough this thread always peaks my motivation, so thank you guys for that!

 

I finished the Spyro Reignited Trilogy and it was a blast. I never played the originals, so it was quite the experience. I want to play the originals in the future, maybe trough the PS Vita re-release, seeing that the prices on Ebay for PS1 copies are to high for my taste.

The Speedway levels always got me, since I suck at flying in games (and real life) in general, but I got most of them after a couple of tries. The rest of the games were quite easy, but that's what you can expect from kids games

 

So, whats next? To finish the PS4 games on my list, I will continue with Persona 5 Strikers. I started the game shortly after release but never got to the first boss, so its time to do that. I will also continue Saints Row IV, so I don't burn out of P5 Strikers. That tends to happen for me with "longer" games, so for my next update I will have finished them both.

 

All in all, i am now at 6/11 , not sure if I can make it but I already did a huge dent into my backlog ?

 

❌ - Spyro the Dragon - 0% (PS4) ➡️ ☑️ - Spyro the Dragon - 100% (PS4)

❌ - Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! - 0% (PS4) ➡️ ☑️ - Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! - 100% (PS4)

❌ - Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon - 0% (PS4) ➡️ ☑️ - Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon - 100% (PS4)

Link to full list

Edited November 26, 2021 by DTFds

[Static_Rook]

Swap #5 - 11/27/2021

Metal Gear Survive 45% - > Freedom Wars 43% 

With the news that the online service for Freedom Wars is ending on Dec. 24 2021, I'm swapping it in. Gotta get that plat. Now I just have to remember how to play.

 

Updated game list (10/31 complete, 5/5 swaps used)

Spoiler

Assassin's Creed II 11/20/2021
Dark Souls III 14%
Darksiders 2%
Dead Space 2 14%
Demon's Souls (PS3) 2%
Deus Ex Human Revolution 11%
Diablo III (PS3) 20%
Disco Elysium 0%
Doraemon Story of Seasons 14%
Drakengard 3 8%
Dungeon Encounters 10/20/2021
Final Fantasy VIII 11/2/2021
Final Fantasy XIII 5%
Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn (PS4) 11%

Freedom Wars 43%
Gran Turismo Sport 51%
Heavy Rain (PS3) 10/29/2021
Just Cause 2 4%
Just Cause 4 1%
Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII 18%
Metal Gear Survive 45%
Nier Automata 10/4/2021
Pyre 9/19/2021
Quake Remastered 29%
Rayman Legends (PS3) 94%
Resident Evil 7 2% 
SaGa Frontier Remastered 7%
Strider 10/1/2021
Unravel 9/13/2021
Untitled Goose Game 11/3/2021
XCOM Enemy Unknown(plat only) 4%
Ys IX Monstrum Nox 10/28/2021

 

Swaps 5/5 Used
Dead by Daylight - >            Gran Turismo Sport 9/13/2021
Stellaris - >                           Nier Automata 9/27/2021
Curse of the Dead Gods - > Diablo III(PS3) 11/1/2021
Resogun - >                          Untitled Goose Game 11/1/2021
Metal Gear Survive - >         Freedom Wars 11/27/2021

 

 

[Kishnabe]

On 8/6/2021 at 7:00 PM, Kishnabe said:

My List:

 

1. Judgment 40%-->100% September 11th 2021
2. Mafia 1%
3. inFamous 4%
4. inFamous 2 20%
5. inFamous Second Son 0%
6. Toukiden: The Age of Demons 32%-->60%
7. inFamous First Light 0%
8. Final Fantasy VII 0%
9. PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate 25%--> 100% November 2nd 2021
10. Final Fantasy XV • NA 18%
11. Final Fantasy VIII 0%
12. Final Fantasy IX 0%
13. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age 0%

 

Swaps (1/5):

 

Control 0% for Mafia 1%

 

 

 

Finished Pixeljunk.

 

Swapped Control for Mafia Definitive Edition. 

[Bl4ckb1rd92]

Update:

 

Coming up on the end of another holiday weekend.  Got in a little bit of DSII.  Set myself up to pop some more plats after the big guy takes the 150 spot, but it's slightly slow as my friend and I are more focused on just having fun with it rather than just barreling through as fast as we can.

1. Dark Souls II - started at 50% --> currently at 85%  Benhart and Lucatiel are all set up to finish their dialogue and borrow their gear.  Just two more souls to trade with Straid and then a mad dash through NG++ to visit Wellager.  It's going to be much faster to run through the four main bosses on NG++ than it will be to grind souls, so it's looking like that's the option we're going with.  Planning to release Navlaan this time around to see what mischief he causes before I'm done with the game.
2. Spyro 2 - started at 19% -->  06SEP2021
3. Control - 13% --> Currently at 78%  It took me maybe 5 minutes of playing to remember why I stopped in the first place.  Woo-wee.  I only need to seize 3 or 4 more enemies to pop the plat, so even with the DLC I'm going to hold off so I don't accidentally make this game my 150 milestone.  After I pop DSII, I'll return to this one to 100% if only because I said I would.
4. FFVII - started at 10% -->  currently at 98%  I ran back through following a guide specifically for best bromance.  5 hour run and sitting outside North Corel to head to the Saucer to see if it worked.  I'll find out after DSII.
5. Dark Cloud - started at 0% -->  12NOV2021 
6.  Spyro 3 - started at 8% -->  30OCT2021 
7. Call of Cthulhu - started at 22% --> I don't remember why I dropped this one to begin with, so I'll probably be starting over when I get to it.
8. Naruto: UNS - started at 10% -->  01NOV2021  
9. Greedfall - started at 14% -->  Another game that I don't remember why I dropped it.  Found a really in-depth guide that I'm going to be using, looking forward to this one after FFVII since I took Berserk off the list.
10. Fernz Gate - started at 1% -->  12NOV2021  
11. Antiquia Lost - started at 0% --> currently at 97%  I'm sitting at 100 steps short so I don't pop the plat until after I finish DSII.  Guide is awaiting review after initial revision per @Dreggit's wonderful guidance.
12. Revenant Dogma - started at 0% -->  currently at 5%  Tried looking up information for the game and found it's in the same state that Antiquia was in.  I'll just write down everything as I go again, planning on spending a couple hours on this one tomorrow.  
13. Gravity Rush - started at 5% -->  currently at 10%  I'm glad I picked this one up again, nice game to play during lunch or when I get a break at work.  Except for the sliding levels.  Those aren't too fun.

So I've completed 5/12 games on my list, used 1/5 swaps (because Berserk deserves a milestone slot), and 1/2 games started above 33% (but still below 50%).  The second guide is up for review, looks like I'll be publishing two guides over the course of this challenge.  Sitting at 149 plats with a count of 3 plats waiting behind Dark Souls.  I think my completion has gone up almost a full 2% since I started tackling my backlog.

[DFuzed]

Update #13 for November 27th:

 

Diablo II Remastered - 44% +1%

Doki Doki Literature Club - 91%

Epic Word Search Collection 2 (Vita) - 62% +45%

 Life is Strange 3 (PS4)

 Life is Strange 3 (PS5)

Life is Strange Remastered - 0%

Life is Strange: BtS Remastered - 0%  

 Procession to Calvary

Lego Batman 2 (Vita) - 71%

 Link-a-Pix (PS4)

 Link-a-Pix (Vita)

 Spiderman (PS4)

Lego Star Wars (PS3) - 80%

Persona 5 Royal - 71% +14%

Trials of Mana - 0%

Borderlands - 0%

Borderlands the Prequel - 0%

 The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

 

These are without the DLC included in them. 

 

Swaps: 0/5

 

Current Plans:

 

   - Work on Diablo II Remastered on the side, currently gave up on trying to clear the game on Hardcore Mode. Now just trying to beat the game on Normal; best attempt is at level 45, my current run at 34.

   - Finish Persona Royal 5. 

   - Play Epic Word Search Collection 2 (Vita) if necessary. 

   - Return to DDLC when they fix the one CG

[Crispy_Oglop]

Update 14 - 

 

I don't know what happened to my concept of time, but it looks like we are just a few weeks out from the end of 2021, what? At the moment I'm getting sorted for Christmas as far as food is concerned and slowly figuring out some decorations to spritz the house up a bit in December. Oh and also, keeping my head down and away from all the fresh pandemic news which also seems to be trying to give us a fresh gift of its own.

 

The weather has been pretty stormy where I'm located so I have had plenty of time to play games under a blanket. I managed to knock out a couple of platinums and I also discovered what is now one of my all-time favourite games in that process. (Updates in spoiler tags to avoid a mega long post).

 

Platinum 197 - Psychonauts

Spoiler

I am ashamed to say that I never played Psychonauts back when it originally released. I had seen how critically acclaimed the sequel which released this year was, so I made my mind up to play both games back-to-back. I can say with no doubt, that I am so happy I did.

 

First things first, the game itself definitely came out in 2005. By that I mean, some of the clunkiness that you might experience in a game of that era is definitely present. You can also see some wear and tear in graphical fidelity as the game tries as hard as it can to work on non CRT Television/monitor screens - they basically didn't really do anything hugely noticeable with upscaling or smoothing and it feels more like a port than anything. So with that in mind, expect some muddy, grainy and rough textures. None of this is a complaint though, it was actually quite a nice feeling because it felt as though I was playing a little slice of history when I was playing it. The only complaint I have is the responsiveness and quality of the platforming was, at times, quite frustrating. I couldn't figure out whether it was down to clipping or how the game managed depth of field, but there were more than a few occasions where jumps were missed and I plummeted to my doom because my character didn't react when close enough to the next platform or ledge.

 

If you aren't one to get too frustrated with that kind of thing, then beyond that is an action-puzzle-adventure-platformer with an inventive and incredibly well-written story. There is a strange darkness to the game too (which can sometimes borderline on horror) as you start to explore the minds of the people around you, the deeper you go, the more you uncover about their past and the tragedies hidden away. The level design was quite ahead of it's time with some really creative and unique environments to travel through all tailored and themed around the psyche of the character who's head you are rummaging around in.

 

Trophy-wise it's mainly straight forward, but there are a few tricky points - A handful of missable trophies that you need to take care of before hitting the final level. Similarly you need to have all of the collectibles bar the final level wrapped up before you hit the point of no return. This is before New Game+ became more prominent by today's standards, so once it's finished, it's finished.

 

If you can get past some of the dated aspects, this is well worth at least a story playthrough. A true classic and arguably way ahead of its time as far as game narrative goes.

 

Platinum 198 - Psychonauts 2

Spoiler

Psychonauts 2 is absolutely my game of the year for 2021 and has also cemented itself as one of my all-time favourite games. There, I said it. The story takes the characters and formula from the original and grows it out into some truly wonderful and engaging directions. We get to delve into the history of 1st generation of Psychonauts who are now older and feeling the effects of one particular series of past events that changed their lives forever and which are now affecting the current generations of psychic soldiers. That's about all I want to divulge there because this game is way better going in completely unaware of anything.

 

The writing is once again amazing and full of comedy, tragedy and profound ideas. One minute i'm laughing at some clever toilet humour, the next i'm thinking about my own life and where it has taken me. All of the characters are multi-layered and full of depth and you will draw your conclusions about them in how they behave, talk and how they choose to look. Some things are handed to you in terms of information, others you have to figure out an opinion on your own - something which I really appreciated because sometimes it feels like games narratively treat us like we are idiots in some cases and tend to take for granted the fact that we can all draw our own conclusions and make our own opinions without something having to be 110% defined.

 

The platforming is way better than the original too, and paired with the incredible visuals - one of the prettiest games i've ever played. It is way more of a tight and sleek package than its predecessor. The worldbuilding and the visuals are also fantastically paired and you can really tell that everything, every drop of content, was placed with care and attention. Basically the visual creativity and inventiveness of the first game but really opened up and let loose with modern graphical power.

 

A fantastic game and one that I'm really rooting for to win the Game Awards 2021 game of the year.

 

Next up - 

 

I'm going to finish Life is Strange: True Colours, then pop the Resident Evil 0 platinum this week to hit my big 200th milestone.

 

I'm also going to use my 4th swap on Lost Judgment and bring in a game called Chorus. It was meant to release sometime in 2022, but they recently announced it is coming out this December. I've had my eye on Chorus for a while, it looks like a really really cool space shooter. Lost Judgment will undoubtedly appear in a 2022 challenge list for me so it's not gone forever.

 

Spoiler

1.  Deathloop 
2. Lost in Random 0%
3. Hades - 0%
4.  Judgment 
5. Lost Judgment - 0% > Chorus - 0%
6.  Psychonauts 
7.  Pyschonauts 2 
8. Resident Evil 0 - 84% > 96%
9. Kena Bridge of Spirits - 0%
10.  Tales of Arise 
11. Far Cry 6 - 0% > 2%
12.  Guardians of the Galaxy 
13. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Blackwater - 0%
14.  The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope 
15. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes - 20% > 23%
16.  Carrion 
17. Life is Strange: True Colours - 0% - 40%

 

[StilRh]

heyo folks. A quick update from me. I've been able to get a few short gaming sessions in over the last week (the week before nothing really so I didn't even update). I've dabbled with Muv Luv, Tales of Arise and made a good start to Moonlighter (always wanted to platinum this but it had a reputation for losing progress when grinding for the kill trophies).

Thinking about my second "wave" of games to add part-way through the challenge, I've played a few off-list games which I'm going to add - Airborne Kingdom (got the plat for this one, yay!), Voice of Cards and Death's Door. I'll probably add Rune Factory 4 special when it comes out in December and then for my 30th slot for this challenge I'll decide on my second >50% title of the challenge (maybe Persona 5 or Shadow Tactics).

This week: Hopefully will be able to finish the next section of Tales and get through another chapter or two of Muv Luv, and then for the weekend drill deep into one of my halloween games that I've yet to finish. Have a good week, stay safe if you guys have snow.

Spoiler

Age of Wonders: Planetfall 55%

Alan Wake 25%

Catharine: Full body 10%

Cities: Skylines 9%

Corpse Party 10%

Cyberpunk 19%

Deathloop 28%

Hades 33%

Judgement 41% - stopped?

King’s Bounty 2 10%

Labyrinth Coven of Refrain 36%

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2 10%

Moonlighter 13% > 26%

Nier Replicant 31%

Tales of Arise 19%

Tales of Iron 100%

The Riftbreaker 73%

The Messenger 100%

The Witness 91%

Visage 11%

 

Dangnronpa V3 Killing Harmony 30%

MuvLuv Alternate 7%

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove 13%

Spy Chameleon 17%

Tokyo Xandu 21%

 

NEW:

Airborne Kingdom 0% > 100%

Death’s Door 0%

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars 0% > 30%

 

[L0sT_NZ_Kazekage]

Another one done!

 

Really enjoyed Rift Apart, shows off the PS5 amazingly. Some thought it was too short but for me was just right.

2nd Favourite game for the system so far, #1 still goes to Demons Souls though! Been enjoying Sackboy with my partner on the side, will be playing this

co-op with her while working on single player stuff at the same time.

 

1. Sackboy: A Big Adventure (17%) -- > (37%)

2. Darksouls Remastered (5%)

3. A Way Out (100%) 

4. A Plague Tale: Innocence (100%) 

5. Until Dawn (100%)  

6. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (100%) 

7. Death Loop (11%)

8. Ruined King: A League of Legends story (0%)

9. Spiderman: Miles Morales (100%) 

10. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (54%) --> (100%) 

 

Games Complete: (6/10)

Swaps Used: (3/5)

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by L0sT_NZ_Kazekage

[dark_moon689]

4th Update:

 

Got the Darkest Dungeon platinum and taking a break of it because I can't seem to get the correct team to do the endless mode and after two parallel playthroughs the excitement of the game has worn off. In the mean time I did the Paragon run of infamous and I am getting the collectables/miscellaneous trophies before going for the Evil run, is a so so game, I liked Infamous 2 better.

 

1. (PS4) Judgment 0% - 100%  September 28th

2. (PS3) God of War 11% -

3. (PS4) Nier Automata 0% - October 29th

4. (PS4) Infamous Second Son 2%  - 42%

5. (PS4) Murdered: Soul Suspect 43% - 50%

6. (PS4) Control 0% 

7. (PS4) Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor 4%

8. (PS3) God of War II 0%

9. (PS4) Darkest Dungeon 0% - 80%

 

Games completed: 2/8

Swaps: 0/5

[damcrac5]

Completion #12

 

Fun little game.  Don't expect it to really be Ratchet & Clank, but the mechanics of this Tower Defense title were fun.  The only downfall to the whole experience was it taking about 90 minutes at the end of just flying around the zone building up mileage hovering or boosting.  The "Over the Top" trophy wasn't difficult, and unless playing with someone else who is proficient, is pretty easy to do solo if you get your Buzz Blades to level 5 and don't unlock any other weapon.  Another cool feature is the cross save.  It was kind of nice to be able to upload my save from PS3, then download on my vita and knock out some weapon levels while traveling.  Niche, I know, but still kind of cool.  It is done in game and not via the cloud for what its worth.

 

Next up?  I am leaning towards actually starting the Uncharted Series.  Considered going after 4 first to get my list back to 100%, but I am going to use it to drive me towards getting the first 3 games done.  Hopefully I won't struggle too much on brutal.  While I have the remaining 2 Sly titles on my list, I may add the God of War titles and knock them out next.  Need a little break from Sly for now.

 

Sadly, work calls and I will be radio silent for a while.  I should still be able to make progress, but I will have to get back to you guys in a bit, hopefully with several completions!  Happy gaming, and stay safe during the holidays.  Always remember, if you need help, please ask for it.  These aren't always the easiest and happiest of times for people.

 

Completions: (12/29)

 MLB 14 The Show (VITA)  

 Maneater (PS5)  

 Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus (Vita)

 inFamous Second Son

 Kena: Bridge of Spirits

 Demon's Souls (PS5)

 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

 Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando

 Dark Souls Remastered

 Sly 2: Band of Thieves

100% The Touryst

 Ratchet & Clank Full Frontal Assault

 

Swapped in: (4/5)

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Rift Apart

Dark Souls Remastered 

The Touryst

 

Swapped Out

R&C: Into the Nexus

R&C: All 4 One

R&C A Crack In Time

Spyro 3

 

Yet to be started:

• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
• Uncharted Drake's Fortune: Remastered
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered
• Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception Remastered
• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
• Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
• Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked
• Madden 22 (PS5)
• Madden 11
• Spyro
• Spyro 2
• The Wolf Among Us
• Game of Thrones (PS4)
• Sly Cooper 3: Honor Among Thieves (Vita)
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Vita)

[The_Head_Crusher]

Update #7

 

Final Fantasy VIII ---> 12 8 0 0 = 20/35 40%

Another World ---> 9 3 1 ---> 13/13 100% Finished Sept 30, 2021

Spirit: Lucky's Big Adventure ---> 4 10 7 1 = 22/22 100% Finished Nov 28

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet ---> 19 1 0 0 = 20/63 24%

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age  ---> 26 10 4 1 ---> 41/41 100%  Finished Nov 28, 2021

 

Phase 2

PGA Tour 2k21 ---> 0 0 0 0   = 0/30 0% ---> 17 5 7 1 ---> 30/30 100% Finished Oct 24, 2021

Digimon Cyber Sleuth Hackers Memory ---> 0 0 0 0 = 0/46 0%

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (PS3) ---> 4 0   = 4/18 19%

Legend of Korra ---> 8 2 0 0 = 8/31 18%

God of War 3 Remastered ---> 0 0 0 0 = 0/35 0%

 

Finally finished Final Fantasy XII.  The bestiary was a grind and a half that I do not wish to experience again, particularly the rare game and monsters.  Just glad to finally put this one aside.  Also sat down with my daughter here this evening  to push through the remaining Trophies on Spirit: Lucky's Big Adventure.  For a game that could probably take 4-5 hours to play through it offered alot of gold (7) trophies and they are all story related.  I mean yes it is a kids game, but that seems a little high especially when you consider games like Final Fantasy 8 and 12 have combined 8 gold trophies between them.

 

I will probably wrap up Final Fantasy 8 next as it will take the least time.

 

Phase 1 Total Progress

25 20   12 2 ---> 43/117 54.63% Progress

 

Phase 2 Total Progress

17 5 7 1 ---> 30/146 25.2% Progress

[DizzyDavidson]

I hope everyone had a great week (I know I did) and made good progress in their games (from reading the posts it looks like some of you did).

I had some goals set for my games for the long weekend I had, but I fell a bit short as I was getting some much needed R 'n R.

Folks, don't forget to catch your breaths every once in a while.

 

As for the gaming part:

 

Update 12:

 

1. Resident Evil 3 [PS4] - 100%
2. Shadow of the Tomb Raider [PS4] - 0% -> 3%
3. Farming Simulator 14 [Vita] - 0%
4. Skylanders Trap Team [PS3] - 100%
5. Darksiders [PS3] - 100%
6. Metal Gear Solid 3 [PS3] - 100%
7. F1 2021 [PS4] - 100%
8. Mugen Souls Z [PS3] - 0%
9. LEGO Dimenisons [PS3] - 0%
10. Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear [PS3] - 100%
11. The Good Life [PS4] - 61% -> 76%

 

The Good Life: I feel like I'm getting close to the end. I have worked out a route and schedule how to go about the grind in-game. I think the one remaining problem is still the money I have to make in the game. So far I made 90k of 500k and I feel like I can ramp it up a bit more once I don't have to go collect materials. Unfortunately one of the money making methods, sheep racing, was nerfed a bit. Another way is mining but that requires luck getting large diamonds or perhaps digging up ancient fossils that take too long for the dig spots to reappear. Maybe I'll have the plat by the end of the year.  

 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Well I only just started so I can't say much about it, other than it pretty much plays and feels like the previous two games so far. Put in a couple of hours, but I like to search every nook and cranny (and still miss stuff) which means things are going slow. However I can tell already that Deadly Obsession difficulty (hard difficulty with no checkpoints other than campfires) is probably going to be a pain.

 

Next week: Continue the story in SotTR and the grind in TGL.

 

Peace out!

[RoastedPeanut]

Update #14

 

Wasn't the best of weeks for me, but still a little progress is better than nothing. I went back to Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection and collected the final two demon orbs I was missing so that I could also grab the true ending trophy. I managed to pick up a few more umbral bees along the way. I only have 5 left, but they're all the ones that are hidden in chests with somewhat specfic requirements. Starting to rip my hair out a bit, lol. I also kept playing Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty. I was able to finish my 100% speedrun on easy, so now all I have left is a 100% run on hard and that platinun will be mine. Luckily I can play it on my PS4 because my Vita's screen is starting to die on me. Not really sure how much longer it will last me, so I might fire up Atelier Ayesha Plus and try and knock that out as far as possible.

 

Happy hunting, everyone! 

 

Mary Skelter: Nightmares (Vita) - 100% (34/34)   

Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (Vita) - 100% (49/49)  

One More Dungeon (Vita) - 100% (16/16)  

Furwind (Vita) - 100% (19/19)  

Dragon Quest Builders (Vita) - 100% (20/20)  

Kandagawa Jet Girls (PS4) - 100% (43/43) 

Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita) - 100% (52/52)  

Kaze And The Wild Masks (PS4) - 100% (26/26) 

Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection (PS4) - 65% - > 82% (29/32)

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty (Vita) - 52% - > 82% (34/37)

Samurai Shodown (PS4) - 80% (39/45)

Sonic Colours: Ultimate (PS4) - 51% - > 52% (25/47)

Samurai Shodown: NeoGeo Collection (PS4) - 52% (15/30)

Alice: Madness Returns (PS3) - 46% (31/51)

Until Dawn (PS4) - 25% (8/19)

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3) - 23% (15/37)

Dead Space (PS3) - 16% (11/49)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (PS4) - 15% (9/51)

Atelier Ayesha Plus (Vita) - 7% (5/41)

SteamWorld Heist (Vita) - 0% (0/47)

Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion (PS4) - 0% (0/44)

Hollow Knight (PS4) - 0% (0/35)

Crysis 2 Remastered (PS4) -0% (0/36)

Senran Kagura Estival Versus (PS4) - 0% (0/50)

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (PS4) - 0% (0/39)

 

Completed Games: 8/25

Total Trophies: 480/949

Swaps Used: 5/5

[xItsLesterx]

4 hours ago, DizzyDavidson said:

However I can tell already that Deadly Obsession difficulty (hard difficulty with no checkpoints other than campfires) is probably going to be a pain.

Don’t stress it. It’s not. If anything, one platforming section where you don’t have the indicators was the most annoying section.

[Static_Rook]

Update 13 - 11/29/2021

 

Final Fantasy XIII 5% 7%
XCOM Enemy Unknown 4% 15% 

 

I had more time for games than I thought I would, but that didn't translate to much trophy progress. This was more of a setup week. I'm starting from scratch on most of my PS3 games since I never used to back up my saves much. So I spent the week getting back to where I was on 4 different games. I got one trophy in FF13, but I also played Just Cause 2 and Demon's Souls. I should start getting trophies in those two games this coming week. I also swapped in Freedom Wars to try and get the plat before the 24th. I have the trophy for unlocking Code 6 operations but my cloud save was only on Code 4 so I have some catching up to do there, too.  I'm already on Code 5 ops so at least it's going quick as I re-learn how to play. I made the most progress in XCOM. Still on my first easy playthrough but it's going well so far. And still grinding out challenges in Rayman Legends, too.

 

Probably no plats again this week, but over the next 3 weeks I should finish off some longer games. If the Black Friday sales games I got don't distract me too much. Oh and Luke and Happy Chaos coming out for SFV and Strive, too. I'll want to try them out. And Endwalker...but at least FFXIV is on my list. 

 

Bring on December!

 

Full game list (10/31 complete, 5/5 swaps used)

Spoiler

Assassin's Creed II 11/20/2021
Dark Souls III 14%
Darksiders 2%
Dead Space 2 14%
Demon's Souls (PS3) 2%
Deus Ex Human Revolution 11%
Diablo III (PS3) 20%
Disco Elysium 0%
Doraemon Story of Seasons 14%
Drakengard 3 8%
Dungeon Encounters 10/20/2021
Final Fantasy VIII 11/2/2021
Final Fantasy XIII 5% 7%
Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn (PS4) 11%
Freedom Wars 43%
Gran Turismo Sport 51%
Heavy Rain (PS3) 10/29/2021
Just Cause 2 4%
Just Cause 4 1%
Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII 18%
Nier Automata 10/4/2021
Pyre 9/19/2021
Quake Remastered 29%
Rayman Legends (PS3) 94%
Resident Evil 7 2% 
SaGa Frontier Remastered 7%
Strider 10/1/2021
Unravel 9/13/2021
Untitled Goose Game 11/3/2021
XCOM Enemy Unknown(plat only) 4% 15%
Ys IX Monstrum Nox 10/28/2021

 

Swaps 5/5 Used
Dead by Daylight            - > Gran Turismo Sport 9/13/2021
Stellaris                           - > Nier Automata 9/27/2021
Curse of the Dead Gods - > Diablo III(PS3) 11/1/2021
Resogun                          - > Untitled Goose Game 11/1/2021
Metal Gear Survive          - > Freedom Wars 11/27/2021

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Static_Rook