Summer 2022 Backlog Challenge

[MidnightDragon]

@Doctor Completion Incidentally, how's Dragon's Crown? I've always wanted to play it.

[maxfighter23___]

On 1-8-2022 at 5:34 PM, MidnightDragon said:

Fall signups are now open!

 

 

 

count me in persona5 20% kingdoms of amalur1% curse of the dead gods1% dead island 0%and persona5 royal54%

[MidnightDragon]

Just now, sword-blaster45 said:

count me in persona5 20% kingdoms of amalur1% curse of the dead gods1% dead island 0%and persona5 royal54%

Persona 5 Royal is too high and also you need to sign up on the fall topic.

[Static_Rook]

16 hours ago, Doctor Completion said:

Not to interrupt your awesome reporting of backlog progress, but I've got a question. Chime in if you want.

 

Work sucks. It's ramping up this month, and the grind is real. I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet my backlog challenge goal. For you seasoned challengers out there, d'you ever get down on yourself for not meeting a challenge goal? Do you just suck it up and say it is what it is? I appreciate your take on this. Until then, I'll keep clicking that green up arrow for you all. Take care, friends..

 

Lots of good answers already, but I'll add mine too. I've literally never completed one of my lists for these challenges, but I still sign up almost every time. Even if I don't get ALL my games done, I definitely get MORE done. I probably never would have finished something like Anthem without a challenge like this. It's just enough extra motivation.

 

And even though I never reach my actual goal, participating in these challenges has helped me in plenty of other ways. My impulse buying is way down, and I have a much easier time waiting for new games to go on sale. I make better use of my gaming time too. Instead of trying to pick a game from my entire backlog, I just have to choose from a small portion of it and that has gotten rid of a lot of my choice paralysis. Which in turn has helped me reduce that backlog more in the last two years than I did in the previous 7 combined.

 

I still have plenty of weeks where I make zero progress, but I don't feel too bad about it since I know overall I'm way ahead. Plus, at the end of the day it's just video games. They're a secondary, luxury item in life and should be a source of fun, not stress. 

[SicilianDragon92]

On 08/08/2022 at 6:36 PM, Doctor Completion said:

Not to interrupt your awesome reporting of backlog progress, but I've got a question. Chime in if you want.

 

Work sucks. It's ramping up this month, and the grind is real. I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet my backlog challenge goal. For you seasoned challengers out there, d'you ever get down on yourself for not meeting a challenge goal? Do you just suck it up and say it is what it is? I appreciate your take on this. Until then, I'll keep clicking that green up arrow for you all. Take care, friends..

I have only done a handful of these challenges, but my impression is that everyone is quite relaxed about people actually finishing. As you are about to read, I always seem to push the boat out and have never fully finished a list. I don’t think it is an issue. What it does do though is keep games in my backlog in my mind and give me an incentive to go back and finish (or in some cases, start!) which I think makes it worthwhile even if I don’t get everything completed.

1. Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3) 44% > 64% > 100% 
2. Stray 0% > 79% > 100% 
3. Dishonored 2 14%
4. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey 9% > 21% > 27% > 47%
5. Wasteland 3 9%
6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 5% > 7%
7. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) 1% > 6%
8. Lamentum 0% > 59% > 100% 
9. Hollow Knight 0% > 2% > 100% 
10. Mass Effect 0% > 35% > 100% 
11. Mass Effect 2 0% > 27% > 40%
12. Okami HD 0% > 5% > 8% > 18%
13. Going Under 0% > 4% > 47% > 86% > 95% 
14. Guardians of the Galaxy 0% > 100% 
15. Teslagrad 0% > 100% 

 

Total sum of percentages 110/1500 > 326/1500 > 486/1500 > 616/1500 > 829/1500 > 935/1500

 

Update #5

 

Changes from previous update in Bold, swaps in Purple, completed games in Blue, and additions to the list in Green.

 

A relatively small update today. I’m away for a few days with my wife and children so this will be the sum of my progress at least until the end of this week. Two finished games since last time.

 

1. Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3) 44% > 64% > 100% 

 

The Crystal Dynamics TR trilogy gets a bit forgotten about these days but in my view they still hold up quite well. They did a good job updating the control scheme from the blocky PS1 days while still keeping the bones of what made the old games so enjoyable. They rely a bit too much on physics puzzles and not enough on exploration for my liking, and the secrets in underworld especially are dull as hell (and far too numerous!). I’m considering adding another for the next challenge, though the time trials do kinda put me off.

 

2. Stray 0% > 79% > 100% 

 

Not sure if its the fairly easy trophy list or the game itself but I notice this one has been quite popular on this site lately. I found it to be…ok. A reasonable amount of collectibles, decent skill challenges and a trophy list that is well balanced. Could have done without the speedrun though, dear lord do I hate speedruns, I just find them too stressful. This was not helped by my first attempt at it being 4 minutes too slow. Overall though I can’t find fault per se, but for some reason I just didn’t love it. Found the story to be a bit thin, although this might admittedly be me not paying enough attention.

 

Everything else is me just doing small bits and pieces to decide what to concentrate on next. I’m really enjoying Kingdom Come though its trophy list is hideous, and AC Odyssey is a much bigger game than I imagined it would be. Still got loads to do and I must be nearing 40 hours at this point. I’m using Mass effect and Okami as games I can do a small amount at a time just to keep the trophies ticking over. That lot might have to suffice for the rest of this challenge. Got to start thinking about what to add to my list for September now.

[Doctor Completion]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:15 AM, MidnightDragon said:

@Doctor Completion Incidentally, how's Dragon's Crown? I've always wanted to play it.

 

Graphics shine and the combat is very intense especially as the difficulty increases. Some characters are easier to play than others, and there's no shame in choosing an "easy" player to work up to level 99 for those trophies. If you get jollies mowing everything down on screen, then this game will feed your jones for that. On the downside, the game world is rather constricted. Adventuring gets repetitive because you go back to the same several levels, and the second "harder" boss path that opens up in each level doesn't feel like enough new play. I'm also working on a couple of really grindy trophies that are more than a little frustrating. Truth told, there are more positive qualities to this game than negative, but I'd check a few playthroughs to see if it's a good fit.

[Static_Rook]

Update 10 - 8/10/2022 8/11/2022

 

Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate 44% 8/11/2022

 

Updating a day late because I was still working on Pixeljunk Shooter. Finally finished now and glad to be done with it. I liked the first half of the game but after that it dragged on too long for me. And the final boss plus extra level were annoying because I just wanted to be done. Maybe I would have enjoyed the game more seven years ago. But anyway, that's one more plat done and it's an Ultra Rare as well.

 

Next up is Axiom Verge, and I'll start trying to finish off Croixleur again, too. If I can get both of those done this week that will leave me with plenty of time for Blue Reflection 2. Still on track to finish my list...if I don't get too distracted by the Sunbreak update, and Cult of the Lamb, and Rumbleverse, and...

 

Take care!

 

Full game list(5/8 complete, 3/3 swaps used)

Anthem 6/21/2022
Axiom Verge 5%
Blue Reflection Second Light 26%
Child of Light 100% 7/8/2022
Croixleur Sigma 76%
Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate 44%  8/11/2022
√ Letter 7/10/2022
Stray  7/25/2022

 

Swaps 3/3 used

Darkest Dungeon -> Axiom Verge 6/29/2022
Devil May Cry 5    -> √ Letter 6/29/2022
Skyrim                  -> Child of Light 6/29/2022

[DizzyDavidson]

Update:

• Resistance 3 [PS3] - 40% -> 100%
• MotoGP 18 [PS4] - 10% -> 45%
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom [PS4] - 100%
• Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires [PS3] - 100%
• Papers, Please [Vita] - 0%

 

Since my last update I have finished Resistance 3. And man, that game was awesome. I was a little worried about playing the game on superhuman difficulty because I'm not very good at fps games and while I did die a lot it wasn't that bad. Here's how it went... normal playthrough for funzies and to unlock superhuman, getting through superhuman (you can keep your upgraded weapons), cleaning up misc trophies (about 90% of trophy list) and finishing collectibles. With chapter select the last two went fast.

 

Now I have moved onto MotoGP 18. It's alright so far, plays a lot like some of the more recent F1 games. Trophies are quite easy but they're a bit "off" making them even easier.

I'm going to put this on hold because I'm going to travel and stuff so I'll take my Vita and play Papers, Please while I'm away. I should be able to knock that out quite fast and return to MotoGP 18 when I get back.

 

See y'all later and game on!

[beerwego]

Finished Soma ,I have had this downloaded for so long without starting it .... great story but I got lost so many times it was a bit frustrating ! 

Far Cry 6 has seen me complete the Pagan and Joseph Dlc which I enjoyed .... just the last 4 Mastery challenges to finish.

Onto Guardians of the Galaxy which will probably be my last game to complete  unless I swap the other two .

Fifa 22 PS5......100%

Far Cry 6 PS5.....72%+plat.....>96%+ plat

Soma PS4.....15%.....>100%

We Were Here PS4......24% 

Let's Fish ! Hooked On Vita .......17%.....>18%

Ape Escape .....100%

Guardians of the Galaxy ....0%......>16%

 

On 12/08/2022 at 5:33 AM, DizzyDavidson said:

Update:

• Resistance 3 [PS3] - 40% -> 100%
• MotoGP 18 [PS4] - 10% -> 45%
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom [PS4] - 100%
• Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires [PS3] - 100%
• Papers, Please [Vita] - 0%

 

Since my last update I have finished Resistance 3. And man, that game was awesome. I was a little worried about playing the game on superhuman difficulty because I'm not very good at fps games and while I did die a lot it wasn't that bad. Here's how it went... normal playthrough for funzies and to unlock superhuman, getting through superhuman (you can keep your upgraded weapons), cleaning up misc trophies (about 90% of trophy list) and finishing collectibles. With chapter select the last two went fast.

 

Now I have moved onto MotoGP 18. It's alright so far, plays a lot like some of the more recent F1 games. Trophies are quite easy but they're a bit "off" making them even easier.

I'm going to put this on hold because I'm going to travel and stuff so I'll take my Vita and play Papers, Please while I'm away. I should be able to knock that out quite fast and return to MotoGP 18 when I get back.

 

See y'all later and game on!

 The Resistance series really does need bringing back to the masses.

[DFuzed]

Update #9 for August 6th:

 

Lego Star Wars 3 - 80%

Maneater (PS5) - 0%

Persona 4 Golden (Vita)

Life is Strange: BTS Remastered

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

Slay the Spire - 34%

Telling Lies

Chrono Cross - 22% +18%

Gaps (PS4)

Sakura Succubus (PS4) - 91% +36%

Sakura Succubus 2 (PS4) - 0%

The Order 1886

One Night Stand (PS5)

Pic-a-Pix Color (Vita)

Pic-a-Pix Color 2 (Vita) - 39% +7%

Pic-a-Pix Pieces (Vita) - 0%

 

Swaps - 1/2

 

Current plans:

 

- Play Chrono Cross - currently at Terran Tower and first ending

- Work on Slay the Spire, going for higher heat on three characters - red at +1, green at +6, blue at +1 as well as trying to kill the Spire Heart

- Play Pic-a-Pix Colors 2 on weekends as needed

- Play Sakura Succubus as my back-up game if needed

- Start Sakura Succubus 2 if I finish the first game

[KazaneHime]

Update #8

1. Control - 100%
2. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped - 100%
3. Detroit: Become Human - 100%
4. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - 6% ➡️ 100%
5. Seasons After Fall - 100%
6. Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars - 100%
7. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - 19% ➡️ 100%
8. Block-a-Pix Deluxe - 1% 100%

(8/8)

Swaps (1/3)

 

Hello, hello! I've been off for awhile but while I wasn't up to being on here, I did get through my whole list Had wrist surgery in early July, and so gaming had to take a backseat and I'm surprised I was able to finish Stranger of Paradise at all.

Not going to write out big reviews, but for now I'm going to head over to the Fall thread to get my list ready for that!

[Vulpine9Tails]

Cyberpunk 2077 - 7%

Deathloop - 10% -> 32%

Far Cry 6 - 8%

Final Fantasy VII Remake - 6%

Ghostwire Tokyo - 10%

Greedfall - 0%

Immortals Fenyx Rising - 22%

Judgment - 14%

Jurassic World Evolution 2 - 4%

Kao the Kangaroo - 

Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga - 11%

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - 18%

MX vs ATV Legends - 28%

Planet Coaster - 

Saints Row the Third Remastered - 16%

Sifu - 32%

Skyrim - 4%

Stray -

Tales of Arise - 5%

The Artful Escape - 

The Sinking City - 

Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection - 80%

 

Been a long time since I last updated. That's because I've been playing everything but what is on my list for the Gaming by Numbers challenge, but I did restart Deathloop and made it much farther into the storyline finally. It's fun, but now I'm near the end of the game and it's requiring more patience than I have to complete the last few levels. I really want to just go in blasting away but if you don't do the objectives first you fail the loop and have to redo it. 

 

Uncharted sitting at 80% bugs me but we will see when I start working on it again. I still have numbers left over for my badge in the other challenge so I'm trying to split my attention in too many different ways. I am definitely not doing a list of 20+ games again for the Fall Backlog challenge; maybe only 5 to commit to. 

[Heather342]

Update 11

 

Hi all, hope you've all had a great week. This week's update is a bit of a nothing-burger from me ?. Literally all I have left to do on my current backlog challenge is to finish the DLC for Operation Tango, which is just 10 challenges that have to be completed. There's a trophy for completing them within the bronze time, and then also the gold time. Me and the hubster started this, we've done the first 2 challenges with gold time results. But it turns out trying to do these on the timer gets pretty stressful, and this week we were hit by round 2 of the UK summer heatwave. This meant we were too drained by the time we finished work to muster up the mental fortitude needed for this challenge ?. It's supposed to rain all next week for us in Wales, so hopefully with a drop in temperature we'll be able to finish the DLC ?

 

But it's not been a complete bust this week. Non-challenge game wise I finally managed to complete the gauntlet on Cuphead, so now the DLC is complete and back to 100%. I've also been working on Red Dead Redemption 2 on the online mode. By a stroke of luck the month of August is double xp for the Collector role, and it just so happens that I had that role already. This has really helped speed up the process of getting to rank 50. I started about 2 weeks ago dabbling and I was rank 13, today I am rank 40. So maybe another day or two of collecting item sets and should have that wrapped up soon ?

 

Take care!

 

Trophy progress:

Operation Tango - 95%

 

Completed games

Resident Evil 2 - 20 -> 100%

Resident Evil 3 - 0 -> 100%

Bayonetta - 0 -> 100%

Team Sonic Racing - 4 -> 100%

 

[YaManSmevz]

Update #9

8/14/22

 

What's up, Challenge homies?

 

Skipped a week because I literally made no progress with the Challenge, and for whatever reason found myself playing nothing but unrelated stuff. Got back to the grind this past week though and found that Guacamelee 2 lives up to its reputation of being quite a bit trickier than his older hermano?

 

I got the hard code to work for this one, but surprisingly wasn't having too much trouble for the first third or so. I was enjoying how they upped the platforming and found it fun and creative, though I can tell that there will be a point where I'm pulling my hair out. In fact, I already spent a few hours feeling like this getting stuck on Uay Pek - that battle just goes on and on and on. In the interest of not getting overly frustrated too soon, I decided to take a break from trophy hunting over the weekend, but I'll be back at it shortly. Seems a bit less likely at this point that I'll be adding another game, but we shall see how the week goes.

 

Good to see a lot of peeps closing in, and a huge congrats to @KazaneHime for completing the Challenge, especially while dealing with a recovering wrist! Anyway, thanks for reading?

 

1. Transistor ️

2. Salt and Sanctuary ️

3. Stick It to the Man! ️

4. Guacamelee! ️

5. Unmetal ️

6. SOMA ️

7. Flipping Death ️

8. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge 

9. Old Man's Journey ️

10. Super Time Force Ultra ️

11. Guacamelee! 2 (0-->11%)

 

[The_Head_Crusher]

Update #11

 

Digimon Cyber Sleuth Hackers Memory --->33  10  2  1  = 46/46 100% (Platinum July 17, 2022)

Telltale's Game of Thrones (PS3) --->24  12  2  1    = 49/49 100% (Platinum June 12th, 2022)

Spider-Man Miles Morales ---> 37  10  2  1  = 50/50 100% (Platinum August 2nd, 2022)

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order --->25  11  3  1  = 40/40 100% (Platinum July 28th, 2022)

Call of Duty MW2 Campaign Remasterd ---> 0  0  0  0   = 0/51 0% ---> 37 (+13)  8 (+1)  2 (+1)  0   = 47/51 92%

 

Swaps 1/3

Final Fantasy X-2 ---> Spider-Man Miles Morales

 

Total Progress

145(+13)  46 (+1)  10 (+1)  4   = 205/209 93.78% (+5.22%)

 

Down to the nitty gritty with only 3 mission-specific trophies left before I unlock my final platinum trophy.  I need to shoot down 10 helicopters with stinger missiles, but every time I have tried I only get 9.  I need to save my predator drone in one mission which I thought if I don't use it It won't be destroyed...nope. I have to race to an area before Price says to use the drone apparently.  Last I need to run through the pit and beat of time of 18 or 19 seconds.  So far my best is 28.  I did have a minor scare here today though as the one gold trophy didn't pop for me when I beat the game without dying.  Luckily I popped after completing a random mission that they must not have counted that I completed.

[freddie1989]

Update time and I decided to take a whole new change of direction to help me clear up things in this challenge and the backlog as a whole.

 

Firstly i finished off the plat for Far Cry 6 which uve given my thoughts on, another excellent entry in the series.

 

Ive swapped out Mass Effect Andromeda and Battlefield V and thrown in Spyro 2 & 3. Managed to knock out Spyro 2 with no issues over the weekend so hoping to finish 3 off fairly swiftly as well.

 

Then I am going to be looking to polish off COD Ghosts or take a chunk out of it before the next challenge starts. I'll have to update my fall list this week as it will have 2 completed games on.

 

Happy hunting as always!!

 

Assassin's Creed Origins 100%

Far Cry 6 41% - 60%

Resident Evil 7 7%

Spyro 100%

Spyro 2 0% - 100%

Spyro 3 0% - 8%

[reaperveteran86]

Update 10

- Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories 100%

- Final Fantasy 7 4% -> 7%

- Trials of Mana 100%

- Gal Gun 2 (EU) 15%

- Dragon Quest Heroes Heroes: The World Tree´s Woe and the Blight Below 11%

- Assassins Creed Rogue Remastered 100%

- Azur Lane: Crosswave (EU) 62% -> 100%

- Shining Resonance Refrain 14%

- Ys: Memories of Celceta 11% -> 12%

- Lego Marvel`s Avenger 100%

- Ultra Age (JP)  100% .

- Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series 100%

 

I finished my grind to marry all the shipgirls in Azur Lane: Crosswave and got a new platinum for it. This took longer than I expected, so the only other progress I made (challenge wise) are 3 miscellaneous trophies in Final Fantasy 7 and Ys: Memories of Celceta. I don`t think, that I finish my list, but I try to get as most as I can in the remaining time.

 

Azur Lane:Crosswave(EU)

Some sort of arena shooter in the Azur Lane Universe ( WW2 battleships in the form of anime girls fight against aliens and each other).You can select a team of up to 3 active and 3 support shipgirls to your fleet and than destroy the enemies in form of mass produced ships (minions) and an enemy fleet of shipgirls. The gameplay reminded me a bit of Senran Kagura with guns but without the cloth damage. The platinum was easy but grindy because because for the full gallery trophy you must marry every shipgirl (63 in the main game) and for a marriage you must grind specific items (10 for active and 5 for support characters), get the character to level 100, have her in your team for 10 fights, have her in your team for 10 fights while she is assigned as your secretary and grind 25 items for a wedding ring. The game was fun and the girls are cute so the grind was not so bad but when you only have to grind the marriage scenes and every second dialouge is something like "let us be together for the rest of our life" and then you go straight to the next girl makes you feel a little dirty.

[Fanatixa1]

Hi everyone, 

 

Heres another update from me. I haven’t been able to play a lot since I was on vacation in Greece. I did bring my Vita for traveling and was able to complete more levels for Pic-a-Pix classic 2. I should be able to get the platinum

for both of these before the challenge ends. 
 

I’ve played quite some Last of Us Remastered online before my vacation. I’m actually enjoying it, while I usually never play multiplayer. I’m in week 10 of the hunters playthrough. I really hope I can finish it before the ending of the challenge, but I think I’ll be able to. 
 

Ive played through Stray too and really enjoyed it. I really like cats and I love the little cat quirks they put into this game. I only have the speed run left and the cat needs to slaap one hour before I finish the game. 
 

Im hoping to also finish Salt and sanctuary before the challenge ends. Just need to finish a quick playthrough before I’ll get the platinum. I won’t be able to finish everything but I should be able to finish 7 games this challenge. ??
 

Have a good week everyone! 

Lego: Harry Potter years 1-4 - 100%  

Lego the Hobbit - 100% 

Super Perils of Baking - 100% 

The Last of Us Remastered 50% —> 75%

Cuphead - 32%

Pic-a-pix Classic - 44% —> 60%

Pic-a-pix Classic 2 - 48% —> 70%
Salt and Sanctuary - 91%

Danganronpa 2 - 11%
Lost in Random - 0%

Stray - 4% —> 88%
 

Swaps 3/3

[TalesofGaming]

Update 11:

 

1. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - 100%  6/14/22

2. Maneater - 100%   6/21/22

3. NieR - 100%  7/10/22

4. When The Past Was Around - 100%  7/7/22

5. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated - 100%  7/11/22

6. Stray - 100%  7/21/22

7. NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139... - 100%  8/12/22

 

Swaps (1/3)

LEGO Harry Potter Collection: Years 1-4 -> When The Past Was Around

 

And with that, my list is officially done! Now it's time to work on the other challenge I'm participating in. Hopefully I can join in the Fall Backlog Challenge but we'll see how my gaming progress goes. ?

[StilRh]

Hey guys. Hope it's been a good week.

I've had a 60 hour work week that rotated from days to nights so limited gaming time again. In the time I did have I didn't really get anywhere with my trophy list. I messed around in Rimworld, had a promising colony for a few of the tougher trophoes... but a heatwave wiping out my crops caused a tantrum spiral. It was fun to go down with the sinking ship though, as they say in Dwarf fortress/Rimworld... losing is FUN! The rest of my time has been spent with Cult of the Lamb, not on my list but being in love with everything I've seen/heard it was a must play. I nearly got the platinum (2 flawless boss fights and an ingame bug preventing me getting snails for the final follower form are all that stands in my way) in maybe... 10-12 hours? Lastly I tried The DioFields Chronicle demo, I think I enjoyed it but some things were frustrating like only having 4/8 units on the field... I might get this or just play the Tactics remake.

This week - I think I will dedicate a day off to the Outer Wilds DLC and play some more Rimwold and Salt and Sacrifice.

Have a good one

Spoiler

 

Atelier Sophie 2 28%

Control: Ultimate Edition 100%

Forbidden City 100%

Genesis Alpha One 68%

Hitman 3 26%

Muv Luv: Alternate 20%

Outer Wilds 82% (platinum)

Paradise Killer 100%

Returnal 16%

Rimworld Console edition 51%

Salt and Sacrifice 37%

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 21%

Shadow Tactics 76%

Sparklite 100%

Stray 100%

 

 

[KimBongUn420]

Update 8: 

 

#153 - Life is Strange: True Colors [PS5]

Difficulty 1/10

Grind 2/10

Enjoyment: 9.5/10

Time to Plat: 10h

 

As I mentioned earlier (or if you've been here since the Spring 2022 challenge), I really hated Life is Strange 2, so I was pretty apprehensive for a while about playing this game.  It turned out to be a great experience and my second-favorite game in the series.  Alex is a wonderfully-written protagonist and the stories of those surrounding her are excellent complements to her journey through the game.  The setting is beautiful, and I think Haven Springs is probably my favorite setting of the entire series.  Though small in scope. it is remarkably detailed and again, the well-written stories of the surrounding characters makes Haven Springs seem far bigger and complex than it really is.  

 

Alex's superpower is also implemented in a very balanced way that opens what should be a simple mechanic into a complex set of decisions and choices.  Her journal is one of my favorite things about the game, because it gives a ton of insight into her character and why she is the way she is.  Again, a marked improvement from the last game.

 

The romance options are written well but I don't think it's very even.  There's a clear winner in my book and based on the game statistics at the end of the chapter, it's heavily skewed toward Steph.  Some of it might be that she's a recurring character, but her chemistry with Alex is clearly better.  I chose Ryan to be a contrarian but I get why so many people chose Steph.

 

Though this game is much shorter than the other mainline titles in the series, I found myself appreciating the fact that all 5 chapters take place in the same area.  To me it helped put context around the consequences of your choices in a much more lasting manner than LiS2.  The compactness of the story also helped when making big choices that would impact the remainder of the game.  It was easier to see how your actions would impact things down the line - something that was slightly frustrating in the first two mainline titles.      

 

Criticisms: my first one is about the price.  As good as this game is I don't think it's worth $60.  For 10 hours of content that's a steep ask.  I paid about $35 for it on sale and I think this game deserves to be sold at a $40 price point.  Again, it's a great game but you look at the amount of time you get out of it vs a game like, Yakuza 7, and it's a big difference.  

 

My second criticism is about performance.  The game has a resolution mode and a performance mode.  Resolution mode runs...pretty badly.  It's supposed to be 4K30, but the frame rate drops were massive even walking across the bridge in the game's opening shot.  I ended up playing the game in performance mode (60fps, probably 1080p?) and in a game that's basically a VN, I shouldn't have to do that.  The PS5 is more than capable of hitting 4K30 and for a game like this to not be able to do that consistently means there's more technical work to be done.

 

My last criticism is that there really is no bad ending to the game.  I found that slightly disappointing considering the gravity of some of the choices, and given the ending options for the previous Life is Strange games.  This game dealt with a lot of really heavy issues and for the ending choices to be so neutral left something to be desired.  That being said the ending scenes are incredibly well-written.  

 

Overall, excellent game, just buy it on sale.  8.5/10.

 

Progress:

• Made it through the grand finale event of The Crew 2.  I've enjoyed this game a lot, and while it has some serious flaws, it's a fun arcade racer and is very not-predatory as far as live service games go.  Only 6 trophies left and most of those are the co-op ones that I'll knock out this week.  
• Only thing left after that is to finish off Cyberpunk 2077 which should be very doable.  
• I probably will go back and do the new DLC that just dropped for Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and the DLC for Stranger of Paradise, although per the rules neither are required for this challenge.  Wonderlands is really a great way to mindlessly kill time.

Good luck in the next 2 weeks everyone!

 

List:

1. Cyberpunk 2077 [PS5] - 42%
2.  Shenmue II (July 5)
3. Life is Strange: True Colors [PS5] - 55% ->  (Aug 10)
4.  Lost Judgment [PS5] (July 4)
5.  Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin [PS5] (July 3)
6.  My Name is Mayo 3 (July 3)
7.  Tiny Tina's Wonderlands [PS5] (Aug 4) 
8. The Crew 2 - 51% -> 89%

Games Complete: 6/8

Trophies: 317/347 (91.4%)

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by KimBongUn420

[rcrharvick]

Update for 8/17:

 

Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe - 26%

Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando (Vita) - 5%

The Last of Us: Remastered - 79%  

Assassins's Creed 2 - 0% 

LEGO Batman 3 (PS3) - 100 %  

Sly 3 (PS3) - 100% 

The Saboteur - 100% 

Dirt 5 (PS4) - 100%  

LEGO Incredibles - 100% 

The Walking Dead Season 1 (PS4) - 0% => 100% 

 

Well August has been a crazy month for me, which I did anticipate. Was on vacation last week, but didn't get much of a chance to break out the Vita like I had planned. Its almost a certainty that I'm not going to complete my list with just 2 weeks to go, but that's ok. I did get thru Walking Dead Season 1 and the DLC (Got the damn rock paper scissors trophy first try thankfully). 

 

As far as what is left on my list:

 - I will start AC2 next to finally get it done, but probably won't finish in August

 - Eventually I will get R&C2 done whenever I play my Vita

 - I don't care to go for platinum on AVGN anymore. I got to the last level on part 2 and its just a nightmare, and I can't imagine having the patience to go for a perfect run on it.

 

I'm gonna take the fall challenge off like I've said, but could be back for winter or spring. This was fun and stressful lol, but it did help me get some games off my backlog that I've meant to for a while (mainly the PS3 games). On a side note, I did get 26 platinums in 1 day thanks to all of those "Jumping" games LOL. 

 

Happy hunting!

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by rcrharvick

[gruffiiti]

Final update for Summer event. I finished my list and even added another game this update as well. Im happy with clearing 10 games from my backlog including some that have been in the works for months or even years. Good luck to all those still working on completions and see you all in the Fall event!

 

 

Everybody's Golf

Finished up the grind finally for the platinum. The game itself was a lot of fun but by the time i was done with everything I still needed to grind out 30+ tournament rounds just to fill the gallery and unlock the last Secret VS character. That got old fast but managed to get through it with plenty of time to spare before the server shutdown.

 

Maquette (added)

Had this in my backlog since it was a PS+ title early last year and seeing as how I was looking for a "0" game for the GbN event I decided to give it a go. I didn't really get this game to be honest. The puzzles were ok and kind of interesting but the "story" was a bizarre fit to the type of game. Then having to do a speedrun of each level as well was just annoying. While they weren't incredibly difficult after you had figured out the puzzles it did sour my experience as I didn't see the point other than to try extend length of game.

 

• Elden Ring - 100%
• Tera - 100%
• The Suicide of Rachel Foster - 100%
• Deliver Us the Moon - 100%
• Lake - 100%
• Afterparty - 100%
• 35MM - 100%
• Lost Words: Beyond the Page - 100%
• Everybody's Golf - 78% --> 100%
• Maquette - 0% --> 100%

 

 

Swaps (3/3)

Complete (10/10)

[Static_Rook]

Update 11 - 8/17/2022

 

Axiom Verge 5% 8/17/2022

 

Just completed the Axiom Verge plat. The speedrun / low % / no death run took me a few tries even with save scumming. I followed a video that got it done in just over an hour, but I got stuck on a few parts so it took me closer to two. Still well under the 4 hour limit though, and I beat the final boss on my first attempt so that was nice. I enjoyed this way more than PIxeljunk Shooter and don't feel nearly as burned out from getting the plat. Which is good because I've got two games to go.

 

I still can't get 1st place in any more rankings for Croixleur Sigma, and I can't attempt too many runs in a row because it leaves my hands aching. So I'll be focusing on Blue Reflection 2 since I know I can finish that, and I'll keep attempting runs in Croixleur until the end of the challenge. 

 

Two more weeks to go!

 

Full game list (6/8 complete, 3/3 swaps used)

Anthem 6/21/2022
Axiom Verge 5% 8/17/2022
Blue Reflection Second Light 26%
Child of Light 100% 7/8/2022
Croixleur Sigma 76%
Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate 8/11/2022
√ Letter 7/10/2022
Stray 7/25/2022

 

Swaps 3/3 used

Darkest Dungeon -> Axiom Verge 6/29/2022
Devil May Cry 5    -> √ Letter 6/29/2022
Skyrim                  -> Child of Light 6/29/2022
 

[KimBongUn420]

Update 8.1: I realized after trying to fire up Cyberpunk 2077 that I have no idea where I am in the story and I'm not sure the lists I used to track map locations and side jobs are accurate.  So I've decided to start a new play through and as a result am using my first swap to replace it with Hitman: Blood Money HD, a game that's been sitting in my backlog for over a year.  I'll also probably end up doing Hitman Absolution HD as well.  This is the second time I've kicked CP2077 back to the next backlog challenge, but the platinum is a pain in the ass with a ton of missable trophies so that's how it goes sometimes.  

 

I also finished...

 

#154 The Crew 2

Difficulty 4/10

Grind 5/10

Enjoyment 8.5/10

 

As I mentioned before I had a pretty good time with this one.  There's a lot of variety and different types of vehicles to drive, and it succeeds at being an arcade racer above all else.  There are hundreds of different vehicles to drive, including cars, motorcycles, rally vehicles, boats, planes, jet boats, F1 cars, and hovercraft.  I especially loved the vehicle hot swap mechanic where you can instantly swap from a car to plane to boat mid-air or even in the middle of driving.  Most importantly, I never found myself bored, which is a critical component of a live-service game such as this one.

 

Speaking of live-service, the implementation of that model is surprisingly well done here.  You get the usual menu of "deals" when you log into the game, but 90% of vehicles are available to earn naturally and the ones available through purchase or the battle pass are mainly cosmetic upgrades above all else, though one of the battle pass vehicles does come with max-level upgrades generally.  It's absolutely not a pay-to-win model and the battle pass can be bought for usually under $10, which is honestly fine for something that comes along every 3 months.  There are also events added every year and all of them are still available to play now, even in year 6 of this game.  It's one of the better implementations of the live-service model I've seen.

 

This game has multiplayer trophies but they take ~15 minutes to earn.  I did the entirety of the rest of the game solo.  Also, there's a 60fps option if you're playing the game on PS5 and I highly recommend it - it works wonderfully well.

 

Criticisms: I have them, and most of them revolve around the menu design.  In true Ubisoft fashion, it's bad.  They're slow to load, slow to transition (I've sat in a menu transition screen for over 30 seconds before), and the way things are laid out is bizarre.  It's not Ghost Recon Breakpoint levels of bad, but it's still unpleasant.  The driving physics also aren't the best, but I can forgive some of that since it's an arcade racer.  The acting is likewise terrible, and the story nonexistent, but again: live-service game.

 

The campaign is also really generic and repetitive.  Meet person, beat X number of races, challenge person, win.  There's a nice variety of activities but I would have liked to see some more unique or one-off races to progress the campaign along.

 

Overall, better than I expected, and I'll probably revisit it if I get bored or need a break.  7.5/10.

 

Progress:

• Started the 4th DLC for Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, and hoping to finish that this week.  I want to reiterate how completely stupid time-gated DLC is, and I hope game companies stop doing it.
• Got the 5 silent assassin ratings on Professional difficulty for Hitman Blood Money.  It's amazing how well this game holds up 15 years after it was released, and you can clearly see the influences that it had on the World of Assassination Trilogy.  
• After that, I plan to finish Hitman Absolution and the DLC for Stranger of Paradise, and then that's it!

 

List:

1. Cyberpunk 2077 [PS5] - 42% -> Hitman: Blood Money HD - 0% -> 27%
2.  Shenmue II (July 5)
3.  Life is Strange: True Colors [PS5] (Aug 10)
4.  Lost Judgment [PS5] (July 4)
5.  Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin [PS5] - 83% (July 3)
6.  My Name is Mayo 3 (July 3)
7.  Tiny Tina's Wonderlands [PS5] - 98% (Aug 4) 
8. The Crew 2 - 89% ->  (Aug 17)
9. Hitman: Absolution HD - 0%

Games Complete: 7/9

Trophies: 312/380 (82.1%)

Swaps: 1/3

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by KimBongUn420