Kill Your Completion is back with it's 19th Iteration

[Kevvik]

Almost to the end…

 

Game #5: Fear Effect Sedna 

 

Well, my gaming time reverted back to a more normal pace and I got another hour and a bit in, finishing another chapter. The story is heading a little more into Fear Effect territory but is still pretty sparse. Got the stealth trophy for completing a certain level without being seen, Not really difficult but you can still restart at the last checkpoint if you get spotted while you learn the patterns for the guards.

 

I still haven’t seen anything really standout but the game hits the basics. Still a pretty average game though and the franchise still feels tacked on. Disappointing.

 

Time played: 5 hrs

Trophies earned: 14/25, 43% for A rank

Final score: 5/10

Completion rate: 87.52% (-0.12% for the game, -0.24% for the event)

 

On the plus side, my wife got my Christmas present and while I can’t have it until Christmas, I got to choose it and she got me the box set of Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman from Barnes & Noble’s 50% off sale on the Criterion Collection. I can watch them streaming on the Criterion Channel but I’ve wanted this collection physical for years so I’m jumping around inside a bit.

 

OK, on to the last game for the event…Game #6: In Sound Mind

 

[purgta]

Game #5 Disaster Report 4

 

 

 

Disaster Report 4 is an action adventure game where you are trying to escape a city that has just been hit by an earthquake.

 

You can customize your character at the beginning of the game. I did have a problem where my character looked slightly off from how they looked in character creation but that is nothing new to games. There are a lot of costumes available both as dlc and unlockable through gameplay. The free dlc costumes I downloaded were nice enough but clashed with the games feel. It feels a bit weird walking through the destroyed city dressed as a power ranger or maid. The unlockable costumes look more normal but I have stuck with the default so far. Character models look fine enough. While not the most graphically impressive, they do look distinct from each other which is what you mainly want.

 

Things start pretty mild as far as damage to the city goes. It does not take long for things to start falling apart however. It can feel pretty intense when lampposts fall and almost hit you. You can be an absolute terrible person in this game if you want by only helping people if they give you something in return or selling medicine to people for ridiculous amounts of money. I never really chose those options so my character is always low on cash.

 

You keep bumping into certain people who have their own storylines. They differ from being slightly serious to being a bit wacky in an almost Yakuza substory kind of way. The game is fun so far.

 

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

 

That is the last game for me this event. Some of these games have been in my backlog for quite a while so it was nice to give them a go. Stranger of Paradise was the one I probably had the most fun with. Coffee Talk was nice and feels like the kind of game that would be a great palette cleanser. There have been a few games mentioned here that I will probably be picking up in the future. Great event as always Voodoo_eyes.

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by purgta

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6 - The Occupation - Preview

 

 

Developer: White Paper Games

Publisher: White Paper Games

Genre: Adventure

Price: 29,99€

 

 

This game is made by the same guys that did Ether One. A walking sim, with a fair amount of puzzle solving. The Occupation, from what I know, is more of an investigative intrigue around politics. I do know that this is a timed investigation, which goes against with what I enjoy, like exploring the whole area finding all the little notes and so on.

 

Maybe it makes the game interesting or maybe that system will just ruin it for me.

 

 

[PerryToxteth]

KYC 19

Game No. 5

 

 

The Procession to Cavalry

 

Playing Time: 2 hours

Trophies Earned: 7/22 (32% D ranking)

 

Thoughts: Typically, I fart in the general direction of point-and-click games. The storylines are usually wacky, the inane connection of using Object A with Object B, and the lack of gameplay often times leaves me frustrated. Having suffered through Irony Curtain and Truberbrook earlier this year, I had sworn off point-and-click games for awhile.

  But look up here, look up here! A point-and-click game I actually like! If you haven’t caught on by now, this is a game that reeks of Monty Pythonesque humor, and for a quirky, cheap, short game, I think it delivers as well as an unladen swallow. 
   From beginning to end, the storyline can take anywhere from 15 minutes to more than an hour ( and that’s probably generous). But though the story lacks depth, it is filled with witty banter, blasphemous dialogue, sophomoric jokes, and plenty of references to flatulence. Again, Monty Python is all over this game. Your character is a female knight that goes on a quest. And all sorts of calamity ensues. The game’s “world” is comprised of post-Renaissance, pre-Modern paintings. I’m sure any art historian could identify all the works of art that are used for the scenes. I’m not well versed in that, but I did spot buildings from Florence and Venice in a couple paintings. That scenery style works really well for the game, and you can interact with parts of the scenery to advance the story. I didn’t figure that our right away, and totally forgot about the button prompt that will show you what you can interact with. So I got stuck in the story, accidentally killed somebody, and then went on a murderous rampage to complete the first ending (there are three).

  I am looking forward to going back to replay from the beginning, and this time using the prompt for help. You will need to use certain objects with things to advance, but thankfully they make sense (i.e. a wheel with a broken cart). I despise point-and-click games that don’t do this. As in, “Duh, the remote control needs to be inserted in the alligator’s rectum at midnight! Why didn’t I think of that right away?!?” I still have scars from Day of the Tentacle from crap like that. 
  While you may need to reference a guide to unlock a couple trophies, I think most will probably be earned by just playing through the three story arcs. Again, they won’t take long.

Grade: This isn’t a AAA game. But for what it tries to be, it does well. If you are looking for some teenage boy humor for an afternoon, this one is worth a platinum run.  And if you disagree, you probably smell of elderberries! 
 

Final Game: The Saboteur (PS3)

 

 

1 minute ago, PerryToxteth said:

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by PerryToxteth

[Taruta13]

Unfortunately, I was not able to play FFXII today. I woke up very sore and after playing too much Pokemon Violet, I had suddenly contracted a nasty bug that made me ill for a long time, so I am still recovering from that and I will probably just retire for bed because I have gym tomorrow and I don't want to wake up super ill. I apologize for not spending every day on this game but I just am not feeling it after that horrible illness.

 

I will try to get in a couple of hours on the game before the end of the challenge.

 

EDIT: I did get a few minutes on FFXII this morning, but that food poisoning I got yesterday really ruined my desire to play anything but Pokemon so I apologize. I will try to log in a bit more in the next two days and try to get a log of at least two hours for this last game before the event is over.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Taruta13

[Psy-Tychist]

The Way I Wish Death was Like Simulator

 

Trophies Earned: 5/39 - 8%

Completion Percentage: 70.41% - 0.13%

Personal Arbitrary Rating: 9/10

Times I have hugged Daffodil: 12

 

I will write a much shorter review this time as Kevvik has already explained the info about what happens and you can read them here :Kevvik Review 1 and Kevvik Review 2.

 

My experience with the game is very similar to Kevvik. It is a very cosy game, no worries, no time limits, no need to stress. I have never played a game like this but I assume that games like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing would be similar in the feeling it elicits. The idea that you have taken Charons place and are now ferrying souls to the afterlife would seem like a very morbid one, but the game is so uplifting and chill that you take this information in your stride and take on the task with gusto. Meeting each of the new passengers is enjoyable, they all have different wants but all are so chipper without being saccharine that you want to help them. I really enjoyed meeting Alex, even though his music is highly obnoxious and also meeting Francis, whose music is much more calming and enjoyable to hear on loop. So far, I have the 4th biggest ship, have fully upgraded Gwen's house and finally met Alice, Atul, Summer and Astrid. Lots of threads of stories I have yet to finish, but I feel like I want to delve into travelling all around the map and make it into the areas blocked by ice and rock. 

 

Overall, this game is one you can pick up and play for hours or for 10 minutes and you will still get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. The art and design is beautiful and is timeless to look at and is so charming that you forget are playing a game sometimes and you can stare at the screen as if it were a desktop background. A definite must play.

 

Last Game: Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (changed at the last minute)

Edited November 29, 2022 by Psy-Tychist

[dmland12]

Game #9: Splasher

Trophies: 26 of 47 (44%)

Completion: 93.72% (-0.23%, -3.28% from start)

 

Splasher is a really fun platformer that's going to be tough to plat.  I can see why a lot of people are comparing it to Super Meat Boy: a lot of the movement and especially the wall jumping reminded me of SMB.  There's a lot fewer awkward and very tight jumps here compared to SMB, but the controls are also more complicated and require more coordination.  There's a lot of emphasis on speedrunning here and shooting at things which also reminded me of the non-spaceship parts of Velocity 2X.

 

The main gimmick with this game is the ink that you can shoot onto surfaces and/or enemies.  There's three kinds, water (blue), sticky (red), and bouncy (yellow) and you shoot each with a different button.  Water can kill most of the enemies (they are robotic and short out) and erase other ink on surfaces.  The sticky ink is good at keeping you stuck on the ceiling or sides of walls or even on the ground on the levels where it's really windy.  It's also good at holding enemies in place.  And the bouncy ink will bounce you much higher than your regular jump and also push enemies around (like right into a hazard).  The game starts off fairly simple, but by the time I had unlocked the last ink (bouncy) the difficulty had really started to spike.

 

So overall, I think this is a hard platformer that manages to feel somewhat familiar while also introducing some completely different mechanics and controls.  Throw in some very tough trophies and yeah, it's a good time.  If you like that kind of stuff at least.

 

 

Game #10 Preview

Sunless Skies

 

From the same developer as Sunless Sea (which if I remember correctly I reviewed years ago in another KYC event).  I'm expecting a similar experience, which is to say: a slow and surreal port-trading game.  The first game had you as captain of a submarine in the Unterzee (under-sea) or the sea beneath the sea or the "sunless" sea and it just made less sense from there.  This time it looks like I'm taking a train to outer space or really who knows with these games, lol.

Edited November 29, 2022 by dmland12

[dmland12]

Game #10: Sunless Skies

Trophies: 2 of 32 (2%)

Completion: 93.29% (-0.43%, -3.71% from start)

 

I'm going to wrap this up a day or so early as Sunless Skies plays similarly to their previous game (Sunless Sea) and I'm unlikely to learn much more in a day (or get very many more trophies).

 

Sunless Skies is a port-trading game where you take your locomotive from one sky port to another and try not to succumb to sky madness or just get your train blown up.  It takes place 10 years after the events in Sunless Sea, but like almost all of the lore in these games it's not exactly clear how (or worse it is explained and then makes even less sense somehow).  At each port you could find people who have some quest for you (bring them stuff usually) or people that want you to take them somewhere else.  While you're traveling between ports there's hostile ships or sky monsters and also random events.  If you have any passengers, they might want to talk (and probably tell you some more nonsensical lore) or maybe they'll just up and die if you take too long.

 

You've got to watch your fuel and supplies, but even more important is your terror level.  Just driving around will increase your terror, but negative events can as well.  And it snowballs: with high terror you'll get events like the crew fighting or freaking out about something that's likely to just end up increasing their terror.

 

When you're in port or responding to random events or even just looting an enemy that you've killed you'll often be presented with choices.  You've got 4 stats (hearts, veils, irons, and mirrors) which can influence your chances at various choices and can be leveled up.  Failing a choice usually just means some of your crew dies (which isn't too bad as long as you don't fall too low) and increasing terror.

 

All of this is fairly similar to Sunless Sea, but this game manages to improve in a few key areas.

 

First, dying isn't anywhere near as big of a deal as in Sunless Sea, especially early in the game.  These games are trying to be rogue-like as in you die and pass some stuff on to the next life.  But in Sunless Sea you had to advance the game far enough to make a will before that really worked.  Not so here: when you die you get your ship back (minus an upgrade or two), and somewhere around half of your money.  Plus you can store items in a bank that will be passed on.  And the map!  In Sunless Sea each new captain had a different map with ports randomized to be in different places, but in Skies everything seems to stay put AND you get to keep your map.

 

Second, they improved the trading by adding in that each port will sell something cheap that will fetch profit at a main port, meaning that you no longer need to rely on repeatable quests to have enough money.  It just opens up more choices and in general making money seems more reliable.  And the repeatable stuff is also more varied.

 

Third, it looks like the game is just a lot larger.  There's more to explore, most of which I haven't gotten around to yet.

 

 

 

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

I guess that wraps it up for me.  Thanks to @voodoo_eyes for organizing the event and thanks to everyone that participated.  I'll be sure to check back and see everyone's final reviews!

 

Can't say I didn't enjoy all of the games I've played in this event, but if I had to rank them:

 

Final Rankings (with moon emoji)

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

????? Red Dead Redemption 2

????? Mars Horizon

????? Green Hell

????? VVVVVV

????? Plutobi

????? Kingdom Come: Deliverance

????? Splasher

????? Sunless Skies

????? Curious Expedition

????? Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6 - The Occupation - Final Impressions

 

 

Time played: 6-7h

Trophies earned: 6/16

 

 

I've played this way longer than the game's actual length. Not because I wanted to, or because I wanted to do every possible thing. Unfortunately it ended up being for the worse reasons. The game is a mess. I soft-locked once in Chapter 4 and on 3 different occasion (all of those occasions actually), where you had to print eveidence from a computer, the game wouldn't print i, which while it doesn't break the game it breaks the platinum. On two occasions it also didn't let me "answer the phone" which also was a trophy and lead to an important clue. Instead by picking up the phone it would initiate a call...

 

 

Visually the game is good enough, same goes for the sound. The gameplay is questionable, as it seems to be programmed primarily for mouse control.

 

The game revolves around, you searching for evidence to prove that someone is innocent of a crime while also digging for the truth. The problem is that htey went with a time restriction for this. Since you have to attend meetings to confront certain people involved, and those meetings are scheduled for a specific time, you gotta hurry. It works against this game, as most doors are looked by access cards, which you need to find, or sometimes can avoid by finding a different route.

Some areas are quite big to go through and while the time does not pass rapidly, it's still an issue for exploration. You also can't save during the chapter, which is a pain if you have a busy day.

 

The several bugs have drained my patience and enjoyment for this game. I'm just going to finish up the final chapter and then get rid off it.

 

Had it not been for all those issues it would've been a 6 or maybe a 7, but this was not an enjoyable experience in the end 4/10.

[Kevvik]

It is completed…

 

Game #6: In Sound Mind

 

So no mid-play review this time as I only had about 2 hrs done at that point. I might have some play time tonight but no guarantees so I’ll wrap up now.

 

In Sound Mind is a first person psychological horror game. You start out waking up in the basement of an apartment building which is surrounded by darkness and slowly rising black waters. Working your way into the apartment block past some obstacles of toxic gases which drain your health, you also discover the odd strange glowing creature who will attack you. You build a pistol from found parts so you can defend yourself and break boards and air vent grates to access other areas. You can also hide behind crates to avoid being seen. You will also come across boxes of pills which increase your speed, health, stealth and endurance (for running).  
 

You eventually find your way to the second floor where your office is, also your cat. You are actually a therapist who has had difficulty with certain patients lately. You are also doubting your own sanity a bit. You find apartments in the building which belong to some of your patients even though there don’t live in your building. Phones also ring in the building where you are taunted by a voice questioning your capabilities in treating your patients.  Eventually you get glimpses of your tormentor, a rainbow coloured zombie in old film noir detective getup. You don’t physically interact as yet with him as he generally disappears around a corner or dissolves into thin air in front of you.  You can also hang up on him, which is strangely satisfying, or not answer the phone at all as I haven’t seen it impact events. The atmosphere in the apartment is suitably creepy, especially playing with the lights out.  Some areas don’t have power right away and you will require your flashlight to see your way, finding batteries lying around to restore your declining power charge.  Some areas have that Layers of Fear feel where things change when you turn your back, especially the mannequins in the store, though this can be helpful as well as unnerving.

 

The building main role though is more of a hub. You find cassette tapes which open up alternate worlds when played and these are where the bulk of the gameplay takes place. These represent places significant to your patients. Each takes a few hours to complete, especially tracking down all the pills which are the primary collectible. So far I have been in a haunted department store and a strange coastline with a lighthouse and shipyard. I’ll avoid any further description as to why because spoilers but each has different obstacles, foes and environmental hazards to deal with as well as finding the pills, keys and such.  The atmosphere is well done in each of these areas as well with recordings present in the nightmare world at the start and finish of these episodes which cast a bit of light on the patient’s history and outcome.  In the background as well, there are hints to an overarching story. Is there a connection with these patients? Why did there issues escalate so suddenly and manifest in the ways they did?  So far, the story is very intriguing.

 

So, the gameplay…first person, admittedly not my favourite but that’s the way it goes. Combat can feel a bit imprecise at times but it’s still manageable. I’ve only had an occasional game over from that. Jumping, however…I’ve always found that jumping in first person has been a problematic mechanic and it’s no different in this game. Gauging distance for normal jumps (and when to actually jump when moving forward) or running jumps (ditto) doesn’t always feel natural and I had many game overs from falling to my death. Some falls, such as into black water during the start/finish of each tape, quickly restart you just before the fail as if it were part of a dream but in the main body, it’s a game over.  This brings me to the checkpoint system, as there is no manual save option. In some cases, it feels fair such as saving every time you use the elevator. In the tapes, though, it can feel arbitrary and I’ve had occasions where I went back about 10 minutes of game time to the start of an area after a jumping fail when I felt like there were obvious changes of objective that should have had a quick save. Along with this, you will need to re-collect any pills or objects that you gathered between the checkpoint and death. Another point of frustration at times as there may be multiple items to re-obtain.

 

Overall, this is again a game that has been a pleasant surprise, even with the complaints. The story has caught my interest, the atmosphere is eerie and the location changes help keep is from becoming overly familiar and reducing the dread factor. It’s not as heavy as a Silent Hill or Resident Evil, though it has its spikes amid the slow burn.  I’m definitely interested in seeing where this is going.

 

Time played: 7.5 hrs

Trophies earned: 15/33, 34% for D rank

Final score: 7.5/10

 

Completion rate: 87.39% (-0.13% for the game, -0.37% for the event)

 

So let’s wrap this up, from first to worst…

 

Spiritfarer - 9/10 - my most pleasant surprise of this year, a cozy management game about death which combines charming visuals, great characters and relaxed gameplay to create a truly great gaming experience

 

In Sound Mind - 7.5/10 - creepy first person psychological horror with an interesting story, despite minor quibbles

 

Silence - 7/10 - beautiful point and click game with a really good story but one note supporting characters

 

Ghostwire: Tokyo - 7/10 - great looking FPS with ghosts but slim storyline and more collectibles than I’ve ever seen in a game

 

Fear Effect Sedna - 5/10 - generic squad action/stealth game with Fear Effect franchise feeling tacked on. Not bad but pretty run of the mill 

 

Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story - 4/10 - pretty but generic city builder with RPG influences, ok combat, minimal story but no real charm.

 

That’s it for another event. Thanks again to our host, @voodoo_eyes and to all the other participants for their great reviews ?. I hope everyone has enjoyed themselves as I have and lets others know so they might join next time. Here’s hoping for a 20th run in the spring!  Maybe if we work on @DamagingRob earlier we really can get the band back together.

 

I’m off to shovel my walk. Take care everyone and best wishes for the upcoming holiday season!

[voodoo_eyes]

Bonus game - New Tales from the Borderlands - Review

 

 

Time played: around 15h

Trophies earned: 22/27

 

 

 

I've been playing this one throughout the event and finished my playthrough today, as it's a hassle to hit the requirements, it'll stay at it's current completion of 77%.

 

This is an episodic title similar to the original Tales from the Borderlands. This one is not made by Telltale though, but by Gearbox and boy does it show.

 

Personally I only like two characters in this game, Louie and Fran, the others sounded very forced and unnatural. It's far less funny in my opinion than the predecessor, in fact this might be the cringiest game I've ever played.

 

The episodes are fairly long, dialogues can't be skipped and some choices aren't obvious regarding what impact they have with the other characters. This is a bit of a problem, as it's tied to trophies. It's then quite the headache having to play through hourlong dialogues with a lot of choices and qtes again to hope for a better rating.

 

The PS4 version requires almost double the disk space that the PS5 version needs, which to me is wild. In any case, I highly recommend waiting for a depper sale, if you're interested in this game.

 

For me this was a 5/10.

 

 

 

I'll do a final wrap up of my games on Friday, as I won't have time tomorrow.

 

Thanks to all who joined and participated and since the participation was solid I may consider keeping this going as a biannual event. Probably each May and November.

[serrated-banner9]

1 hour ago, voodoo_eyes said:

Bonus game - New Tales from the Borderlands - Review

 

 

Time played: around 15h

Trophies earned: 22/27

 

 

 

I've been playing this one throughout the event and finished my playthrough today, as it's a hassle to hit the requirements, it'll stay at it's current completion of 77%.

 

This is an episodic title similar to the original Tales from the Borderlands. This one is not made by Telltale though, but by Gearbox and boy does it show.

 

Personally I only like two characters in this game, Louie and Fran, the others sounded very forced and unnatural. It's far less funny in my opinion than the predecessor, in fact this might be the cringiest game I've ever played.

 

The episodes are fairly long, dialogues can't be skipped and some choices aren't obvious regarding what impact they have with the other characters. This is a bit of a problem, as it's tied to trophies. It's then quite the headache having to play through hourlong dialogues with a lot of choices and qtes again to hope for a better rating.

 

The PS4 version requires almost double the disk space that the PS5 version needs, which to me is wild. In any case, I highly recommend waiting for a depper sale, if you're interested in this game.

 

For me this was a 5/10.

 

 

 

I'll do a final wrap up of my games on Friday, as I won't have time tomorrow.

 

Thanks to all who joined and participated and since the participation was solid I may consider keeping this going as a biannual event. Probably each May and November.

meanwhile i actually try to be organised and actually play my game i have a feeling the review won't be posted until tomorrow 

[Taruta13]

 

Final Game
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

 

Time Played: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Trophies Earned: 5 / 41 (7%)

Unearned Trophies: 277
Final Completion: 90.52%

 

So, I was going to take a shower and then write this part, but I got so distracted by Mega Man Maker that I forgot to do the former so now I have to do this in reverse.

 

Anyways, this game. Well, I must say it is very complex. I referred to this game as a poor man's Final Fantasy XIV because this is how it feels like - you don't enter a battle screen when fighting enemies. Instead, you just fight right there and input commands. When you get new party members you can form a team of three and the other guys get controlled by macros called gambits which you can set, like having a party member heal you when you are under 70% health or cast Cure on an enemy if it's undead(because Revive Kills Zombie ). However, I didn't get to the party where you can assign gambits as that's later on in the story.

 

As for the story, it's a tale as old as time: Small nation gets conquered by bigger nation and put under slave rule, street rat wants to steal back the treasure the big nation stole from them, and tries to sneak into the palace only to get ousted by sky pirates, which leds to chaos. This is set in Ivalice, the land of Final Fantasy Tactics lore.

 

This version is an upgrade to the International Zodiac Job System version that Japan developed. In the original FFXII, everyone has the same huge license board and you had freedom to assign whatever you want with only a few spots blocked off by areas which require you to assign Espers(the game's summoned beasts) to a license to unlock those areas. However, in this version, you have one of twelve different job boards based on various classes in the Final Fantasy series like Red Mage, Time Mage, etc. Unlike the IZJS Japan got, the Zodiac Age version lets you assign two job boards to a character. However, you won't be able to assign a second job until 25% of the way through the game, when you get your first Esper. Still, there is a lot of variety and it's easy to get hit with choice paralysis when trying to assign the best license boards for Vaan and his friends.

 

I didn't even get to the part where Vaan sneaks into the imperial palace because there are a ton of trophies involving serious grinds. The trophies I did earn were from grinding out kills and steals and stuff. It gets worse and also involves the other thing added to this game, the Trial Mode - a 100-floor gauntlet of enemy waves that start with rats and lead down to the super-bosses with Trial 100 being (redacted). I have to fight those guys to get a trophy.

 

And with that, I have finished the event and now have six incomplete games on my profile. This has been fun and forced me to start games I swore I'd start in forever. Good luck to anyone struggling to get their last games in.

 

Final Analysis:

9/10: A really solid game from Level-5, I've already plugged it into my Winter Backlog since, once I knock the other four games out, I'll be focusing solely on this. (And Paldea, go ahead and sue me. )

8/10: A decent game but a bit of a grind. But then, what Disgaea game isn't?

5/10: Not looking forward to clearing the remaining six episodes, but once I get the story mode done I'll be able to relax with Kyber Brick collecting. Did 100% of the Space Missions in three of the areas so I should be fine... I hope. I'll probably mute the sound when I run story mode on Episodes 4-6 as I've already seen the movies when I was ten.

9/10: Probably the only other game I have platinumed in an older account(though it was the PS3 version so I had a money dupe glitch, no luck here), so I am familiar with the workings of it and will probably be the second game targeted after I platinum Dark Cloud 2.

7/10: Only a bit low because I was spoiled by the 2D mode even though battles are far faster in 3D mode due to the battle speed option. I am not looking towards the Wheel of Hama but then I shouldn't crucify it: It's a Dragon Quest main title, so it has to have some really challenging trials in post-game.

3/10: Not gonna lie, this game is probably my least favorite of the bunch due to how many RNGs you have to pray to in order to get some of these trophies, like getting all 12 concurrences, and Black Hole is the hardest to proc.

 

I've written down where I left off so I don't forget what I was doing when I eventually have to revisit these titles. Thanks for the great event, it got me playing some games that I wouldn't have played otherwise.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Taruta13

[Lodbizarro]

Game #2

It takes two

 

Hey sorry about the last minute reviews I just had a big move and haven't really had time to write them the good news is that I was able to play the games I just haven't said my thoughts so without further ado I'll begin. So I had the pleasure of playing this little gem with my Fiancée which has been a blast since we don't really get to game together that often so this of course nets this ITT extra points, It takes two is a wonderful Co-op game that has to be played with a partner. This automatically endears me to this game as it takes me back to a time before online multiplayer took over and couch co-op was the norm to this day I have fond memories of playing with my siblings and friends playing Super Nintendo and passing controllers around together we really bonded and worked together(or against each other) and created memories. And while I'm sure you can form bonds online I'm someone who really can't get into the whole online multiplayer scene and sadly couch co-op games are becoming obsolete outside of fighting and some sports games you're pretty much out of luck, I'm so glad that Hazelight studios and (surprisingly) EA put out a adventure game dedicated to co-op and features couch co-op and the fact I was able to play with my fiancée was the icing on the cake. We had such a blast playing a

Spoiler

sadly divorcing

 couple as they try to navigate a magical version of they're house trying to get back to normal and all the time dealing with a ridiculously over the top book whose pettiness constantly made me laugh out loud couple that with my partner struggling to figure out how things worked and dying in the strangest ways made for a incredible and hilarious experience. I don't know if trophies are hard to get or what because we've beaten a few bosses and still haven't unlocked one still I think ITT is a delightful game and if you play with the right partner it's hard not to love this game.

Rating 8.5/10

Trophies 0/21 (F)

Next Game

Legend of Heroes Trails from Zero

[PerryToxteth]

KYC 19

Game No. 6

The Saboteur

 

Playing Time: 5 hours

Trophies Earned: 12/46 (21% D ranking)

 

Thoughts: Holy Nostalgia! I dusted my PS3 off (hadn’t played it since March 2019) and I found a gem! First, this is The Saboteur. Not to be confused with another game called Saboteur on the PS4. I’m pretty sure this has the longest span of being purchased to finally played in my catalog. Apparently, it came out in 2009, during the first Obama administration, and that was four residences ago for me.  Now I didn’t buy it on its release, but I’ve had it for at least eight years (purchased at a Game Stop, do those exist anymore?) and it somehow didn’t get lost during a couple moves. 
  The premise of the game is that you are an ex-pat Irish ruffian, who happens to be stuck in Paris during the Nazi occupation. For personal reasons, the main character Sean dislikes Nazis and stumbles into helping the French Resistance (whom revisionist historians have way overemphasized their role in winning WWII. I digress…).  I don’t think I’m too far into the story, but already the characters have made an impression and the story is intriguing. Some are stereotypical characters like blonde sexpots and masochistic Nazi butchers, but it’s entertaining. I’ve played AAA games for 80 hours and the characters were mundane. 
  Anyways, the game is played open world style in Paris with a few countryside regions on the coast and in Germany. The art style is masterful in that regions start in black-and-white for a cool Noir setting. But once you liberate them (with sabotage missions), they turn to color. Both settings are done well, but you need to remember, this is 2009 graphics. It almost looks PS2 quality for graphics, but they’re still not bad. Ditto with the driving. The controls are a bit rough in that aspect. Probably the worst issue is moving mechanics. They are extremely clunky and the parkour is just horrendous. He can climb fine, but will gleefully fall off a ledge faster than you can say ‘PS One Lara Croft deja vu.’
  There are a variety of things to do. Main storyline missions, optional missions, and sabotage opportunities throughout the world, that will net “contraband” points, which can be spent on ammo, guns, cars, perks. The main grind in this game is these sabotage targets. There are over 1,300 on the map and you have to take them all out. Thankfully, most just take a few seconds. Plant explosives, throw a grenade, collect an item, and you will complete it. Reminds me of Just Cause games with countless opportunities to blow shit up. 
  Sometimes, you will need to be in disguise to complete a mission, so you will need to stealth kill a Nazi and grab his uniform. But there’s good and bad that comes with that. The plus is that you can walk freely with a weapon, the negative is that you can’t run all over. So you need to stay in step or else other Nazi soldiers will become suspicious. 
  This game really reminds me of Mafia II or L.A. Noire. The graphics aren’t as good, but the soundtrack is on par with those two. And the gameplay is great! There are only four missable trophies and I already have three of them. They’re not difficult, you just need to be aware to earn them before the main story ends.

Grade:  I’m loving this! It is a time machine back to some gameplay of yesteryear. It’s not the most dazzling graphic wise, but story and gameplay are damn good! Some company should buy the rights to this and reboot it with modern graphics and streamline mechanics. Keep everything else as is. Likely I will just keep playing this and plat it before Christmas.

 

Next Up: That’s it! I will write a wrap-up tomorrow! 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by PerryToxteth

[voodoo_eyes]

I've had my clear favourites and disappointments from my selection of games this time around.

 

Here's another quick glance over them from best to worst.

 

• Darksiders III - I've had a really good time with this one, and it's the game that kept me wanting to keep going the most.
• Vampire The Masquerade Swansong - It's save checkpoints are the main issue. Having to play 5 whole chapters over again is just dumb. Other than that it's an enjoyable game.
• Close to the Sun - Has more potential than the remaining games on this list. It'll depend on the remaining chapters, how good it'll be in the end.
• Blair Witch - Overstayed it's welcome and was generally a bit dull of an experience.
• New Tales from the Borderlands - The bonus game, that was a bit of a letdown. Nowhere near the quality of the first installment.
• Zombie Driver HD - It's fun for the first few missions, then it becomes boring and repetitive
• The Occupation - Not the game I expected to end up on the bottom of the list. Unfortunately it's a broken mess. From interactions not working, to items not spawning as was the case when playing the last chapter. Key item didn't spawn, so not possible to finish the game without restarting the whole chapter.  What an absolute mess.

 

 

As usual I've also played a good amount of other games here and there throughout the month of November, mostly as filler.

 

Deadlight - A solid side-scroller that has some clunky combat - 6/10

Gran Turismo 6 - Was also decent, it didn't quite hit off with me as I thought it would. I think I expected more of it. Maybe it was the nostalgia for the original PS1 game. 6/10

Yakuza 5 -This one is a solid game, but I just could't get into it. 6/10

Danganronpa Another Episode - I've returned to this one after like 2 years. Another one that is decent so far and the only one of this list I still intend to keep playing. 6/10 for now.

Aragami 2 - It's a solid stealth game, that has some minor issues when it comes to responsiveness or button prompts not showing up, because of the angle being not exactly right. 6.5/10

Modern Warfare 3 - Very mediocre FPS. Never been the biggest fan of military shooters, but this one was pure mediocrity. 6/10

Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX 2 - Should've maybe picked a shorter name and made a better game instead  Not a fun experience

- 3/10

Bayonetta - Probably the most fun out of the bunch, just looks a bit dated. 7/10

Matterfall - Fun little side-scrolling shooter. Very short though. 6/10

The Darkside Detective Season 2 - It had the final DLC released, sothis one was just clean-up. First one was better. 5/10

9 Monkeys of Shaolin - The only game from this list that I got the plat in. A sort of martial arts side-scrolling brawler that is also very short and has potential of soft locking. Still solid though, 6/10

 

 

 

I'll probably be trying to focus mainly on my small remaining PS3 backlog until the next event rolls around. Having already started most of them they won't be featured in this event.

 

Anyways, have a good holiday season and hope to see you next time.

[PerryToxteth]

KYC 19

Wrap-Up

 

 First, great to be back! Great to have some catching up to do this winter! Thanks for reviving KYC @voodoo_eyes, as always, you did a fantastic job! And thanks to everyone for all the great reviews!! I’ve now added Spiritfarer, Last Stop, Kingdom Come, Draugen, Coffee Talk, Closer to the Sun and It Takes Two to my watchlist!

 

Here’s My Rankings:

1. The Saboteur - Unheralded game from yesteryear that is worth a playthrough. I’m sure new gamers of today would balk at it, but for older gamers, you will love the nostalgia. 

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Massive, AAA game that I’ve been craving for months. So much stuff to do once you get past the hours (and hours) long Prologue. But I’m starting to come across some grind stuff that people complain about. I’m so tired of hunting down perfect pelts!  I’m also dreading the online stuff. 
3. Procession to Cavalry - Dumb as hell, but intended to be. Which makes it entertaining. 
4. Dawn of Man - Interesting Stone Age Civ builder. Looks to be a LONG grind and I’m not sure there’s enough depth to make me push to the end. 
5. Hot Wheel Unleashed - Racing the classic toy cars around generic tracks. Hopefully, there’s more to this game then I’ve seen so far. It’s teetering on boredom. 
6. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine - I normally award a ? award to my bottom finisher, but I don’t have any games that were unworthy of it. This game is tough to put at the bottom, but like my bottom three games, games need to expand and grow as you get into them. These all seem like I’ve seen it all after an hour of playing. WTWTLW has an interesting start, and I’m really hoping the story grows, but there’s no signs that it’s going to. Slow gameplay as well.

 

KYC 19

                                                (Pre-event)           (Final Stats)

Games Played/ Finished       192/143                199/144

Trophies Earned                         6509                  6561

Unearned Trophies                      700                   885

Completion %                             90.64                 88.34%

Completion Drop                                                  -2.3%

 

Sadly, I finally dropped below 90%. Half these games are grindy so it should take me a very long time to get back. Even crazier, I now have four E games, and two D titles on my profile. It looks like my report card from my Fall Semester Freshmen Year in college! 

 

Thanks again everyone and happy gaming! 

 

[Lodbizarro]

Game #3

Legend Of Heroes: Trails from zero

 

I know it's December but I want to finish my reviews It's just difficult at times when dealing with a moving but I did play the games and now I'll give my thoughts. I love RPG's just about every type I love storytelling and interconnecting worlds and I love  The Legend of Heroes Trails series because it has both those and more. I got introduced to the LOH series July 2020 with Trails from cold steel during the (panorama) year. The PS3 version of the game on the now (defunct) PS Now which side bar had a lot better game selection then this new PS+ nonsense. I enjoyed the game a lot but due to having to stream had to deal with lag so I bought the ps4 version of the game after I found out that you could transfer your save data to the next gen version of the game. What I discovered was a vast world of great characters and political warfare. So when I discovered that was just one part of a interconnected story with other games in different series taking place at the same time I was excited to discover more. Now the US finally has access to the Crossbell Arc of the story and I'm hear for it. The game is considerably older and originally came out on the psp so the graphics are different but not bad I don't mind playing more 2dish games especially rpgs. The story is a great as ever so far and I'm really loving the main cast the game has a more streamlined cast of four mains as opposed to the 9+ of the TFCS cast which I honestly feel it plays better and the side characters are amazing as well. I honestly find Lloyd to be a more interesting protag then Rean, not that anything is wrong with Rean but he's always more reactionary to the events happening around him while Lloyd is more proactive which makes since with Lloyd being a cop and Rean being a student but still had to be said the side characters and plot are always more interesting then Rean himself. The Gameplay is good not much different from TOCS but also not as hand holdie so it will take a little getting used to. Sadly I haven't got to make it to far in the game from my experience Trails games run long and TFZ is on track to be as after 10 hours in I'm still in the Prologue still I cant wait until things calm down IRL so I can come back and sink some real teeth into this game but I'm loving everything so far.

 

Rating 9/10

Trophies 0/49 (F)

 

Next Game

The Sims 4

[Kevvik]

Just wanted to update that I have completed the platinums for Spiritfarer and Fear Effect Sedna. Both finished up pretty much as they went during my play.

 

Spiritfarer finished out with the remaining characters as well as giving backstory on Stella and maintains as my biggest pleasant surprise if not my favourite (along with P4G) game that I played this year.

 

Fear Effect Sedna slightly touched on Fear Effect lore down the stretch but still reaffirmed to me that this was still really run of the mill and without the Fear Effect franchise tag, there might have actually been some effort to come up with a story that was actually interesting with original characters though perhaps I’m giving the writers too much credit. If you get this, expect a mediocre game. Don’t buy it just because it has Fear Effect in the title the way I did (though it is usually on sale for $2).

[Psy-Tychist]

My Nostalgia Simulator

Trophies Earned: 15/45 - 22%

Completion Percentage: 70.39% - 0.15%

Personal Arbitrary Rating: 8/10

Number of enemies slain so far: 10,934

 

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is a rhythm game in the style of Superbeat Xonic or Just Shapes and Beats in that you hit notes with specific timing to earn the most points, defeat the enemies coming towards you and also enjoy a song from the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

The game itself has all the assets from the games, all the models of the enemies, the characters and the supporting characters as well as the songs; this isn't a half made game, everything is up to the style and standard of a normal Kingdom Hearts game. So what do you do? The story of the game itself is content to just create a condensed version of the Kingdom Hearts story and use that as the vehicle to allow you to play through songs from the series. You start out as Sora, Donald and Goofy going along a music track and hitting the enemies corresponding to the rhythm of the song. Hitting  or  or  will attack the enemies,  will use a magic or limit spell for the crystals that appear and using  you jump over enemies or use it to glide to collect music notes. It will get more complicated as you will have to use the ,  and  buttons together for dual or triple enemies and sometime it will interchange with the  crystals for added complexity. That is the game play in a nutshell. What changes the game is the difficulty system which is the same as the standard settings for Kingdom Hearts: Beginner, Standard and Proud. Each song has a numerical value which indicates its difficulty, Beginner ranges from 1-5, Standard can range from 4-10 and Proud ranges from 9-15. The higher the number, the more complicated the song will be to complete. Besides this, each stage will have 3 challenges to complete which helps you unlock more stages in the game (for the final door you need 180 stars to get to it).

 

Rhythm games wouldn't be complete without grading your performance and timing and the same is true with this game. You can earn ratings from Excellent down to Good and if you are super on the nose, you will earn Rainbow Excellent which the best ranking. Every time you miss, you get hit by an enemy and your life meter will drop, if it drops to nothing, the song ends and you have to try again. If you do complete the song, you will be rated on how well you hit the enemies in time and how few of the enemies you missed and this affects what you receive at the end of the song. You may be thinking, what can you get in a rhythm game besides more songs? Well, Melody of Memory isn't just a rhythm game, it's also a collectible card game too! As if trying to get a Full Chain was not enough, now you have collectibles to win every time you do well. I haven't counted how many collectibles there are, but I know that you can collect 135 keyblades alone, but there are enemies, character cards, story stills, art cards, story FMV's... there is a lot to try and collect.

 

As of writing, I have got through Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2 and had some songs from 358/2 and re:Coded tacked on to make sure they were represented. I have started on the games I haven't played in the series and I'm personally hesitant because I want to play through them first and then get better at the songs, but some of the songs from Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance are bangers making me want to play them now. There are 150 songs to collect/play for the game, some are piano covers, some are the intro and ending songs and some are remixes; all of them have the feeling of Kingdom Hearts throughout and I will enjoy playing through each one. 

 

Trophy-wise, every rhythm game is grindy. This is no different. Expect to be putting in hours and hours of practice to finish the Proud level version of some songs as they have stupid amounts of Heartless streaming the screen. The hardest song in the game being Dark Domination (Credit to Bizkit047 for the video) which has 523 note/enemies to be hit in a song that is less than 3 minutes long. There is only one trophy that is personally annoying, which is Technician. You cannot complete this until you have unlocked all the song available, this is because the Daily challenge picks songs randomly from the entire roster in the game. If you haven't got to the later stages then you can't complete this unless you get lucky or have definitely unlocked all 150 songs. My example for this annoyance was that at 60 songs unlocked, I had 4 Today's Tunes. At 103 songs, I had 2 Today's Tunes. The randomness of this trophy puts a dampener on shooting for trophies in this game for me.

 

Overall, my nostalgia has been tickled, it is very fun to play through the game and enjoy songs that you haven't heard for a while and remind yourself that game soundtracks produce excellent songs that burrow deep and never let go. I know this is going to be a slog as I do suck at rhythm games, but I'm enjoying what I have played so far and will continue to do so until I am truly finished.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Psy-Tychist

[voodoo_eyes]

May is almost here, which means it's time to bring this event back.

 

 

[serrated-banner9]

7 minutes ago, voodoo_eyes said:

May is almost here, which means it's time to bring this event back.

 

 

Nice, not sure if i will join yet or not ( i never did get around to playing aternoblade 2).

[Taruta13]

22 hours ago, voodoo_eyes said:

May is almost here, which means it's time to bring this event back.

 

 

Uh... no. I don't think I will participate this year. Still pounding away at the entries I started last November.

 

Not to say I don't have games I am not fond of starting and need a kick in the pants to get to them... it's just that I have... ah...