Hitman_Spinksy1's Backlog of mayhem!!!

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

5 hours ago, Taruta13 said:

Well, good luck on that quest! After 12 and 14, I intend to stop on Final Fantasy, because I don't like the look of any of the other titles. I'd only consider X-2, and that is dragged down by the Mystery Dungeon section, even though I did enjoy Pokemon Mystery Dungeon in its heyday.

14 could be my hurdle because I wasn't a fan of it but maybe I didn't give it a fair shot. X-2 was just a grind in every single way and one of the worst ones I've played both in that it makes zero sense in relation to X and I needed a video guide to go through the entire game because of collectibles. 16 could be my last one though depending on if it is perfection or not. After Crisis Core and discovering a new level of hate I decided that if 16 isn't the best and most perfect game I play I won't support square anymore. 

 

5 hours ago, Taruta13 said:

I really do not plan on supporting Sonic the Hedgehog, let the damn mammal die. And yes, I am sad to trash Sonic because he was a cool character and is my favorite color, but when SEGA uses him to try to one-up Mario, I am so sad.

It's frustrating that they get sonic so wrong and Mario is so right always. I really loved old school sonic but it has no staying power anymore and every direction they've tried has been a failure. Now it is just a mascot to suck in more money for nostalgic fans but never polished. After playing Sonic Forces I'm definitely done with all sonic, at least until I forget how garbage it was 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 124

South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ Platinum Trophy

South Park: The Stick of Truth 

 

 

First off, I really love South Park. I love the humour and how it pushes boundaries, all the characters, how it crosses the line so many times and it didn't hold back on any punches transferring over to the game. If anything it pushed the boundaries even more. If you like the series then you'll definitely enjoy the game but from a trophy hunting perspective maybe not as much. 

 

Story
A war between humans led by Cartman and Elves led by Kyle over the "Stick of Truth" and the holder of the stick controls everything. That's the basis of the plot. You control the new kid, deciding what side you are on and your mission is to make friends and get the stick back. There isn't much more depth to the story ofc, it's south park and revolves around a spaceship crashing which is said to be a new "Taco Bell" Nazi zombies taking over, and full of other wild things. 

Mechanics 

The game is set up as a turn based RPG and it works really well. They really took advantage of the system and made the combat work in an easy to understand way, whilst also keeping that South Park humour. It's a lot of exploring around the South Park area, completely various side quests and also a trip to Canada which is pixelated and 2D which just added to the humour. It's a really simple game to pick up and learn with no complexities that other rpgs can have. 

Trophies

There is 24 missable trophies which is an absurd amount. I don't think the game has enough replay value to warrant another playthrough or more so watching a guide the whole way through is vital to limit it to 1 playthrough and that ruins the experience a lot. Even following a guide I missed a weapon and nearly died thinking I'd need to play everything again just to get it but luckily it wasn't a missable weapon.

Summary

Overall it's a really funny game that pushes all boundaries on humour and the trophies ruin it.

 

Enjoyment 6/10 

Difficulty 2/10  

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 125

This Is What We Do

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

Story 

The guardians find themselves in a pickle when they release a beast into the galaxy when exploring a prohibited sector. The beast goes on to absorb the entire galaxy as Raker begins an enormous cult, trapping people in dreams where they can be with love ones, live the life they wished as they go around sucking up the energy of worlds. The story has some emotional parts where Peter sees his mum get killed before being kidnapped by aliens, finding out he has a child, Rockets fear of water and being tested and tortured for years, but the story is also full of humour and tries to look at every angle from a humorous point of view. The guardians take it into their own hands to clean up their own mess and save the galaxy when Nova flee and leave everyone fending for themselves. Taking help from the creator of the gem that controls this beast and take back his power. Fighting against all odds they succeed but at what cost. 

Mechanics 

The mechanics are very basic and involves basically shooting everything, a few simple puzzles to proceed through the story, some dialogue options that can change the outcomes of certain events and some basic platforming that didn't work so well. The hovering boots were not the best with getting over gaps and the combat could get messy when faced with too many enemies at one time. The game was also a little glitchy at times, the lack of a sprint button was painful and skipping dialogue wasn't really an option in where pressing  would skip part of the conversation and would need to be pressed multiple times causing minor annoyance. 
Trophies 
For the most were the trophies straightforward but there are collectibles scattered throughout and not getting all the outfits or enough collectibles on the first playthrough would force another playthrough on you to clean up as the chapter select would start you with what you had at that chapter rather than carry everything over. This was a hassle as I done the first playthrough blind and had to burn through a second time which I wasn't really feeling but it did go quick when I finally bit the bullet. There are also some rng trophies but I got lucky with them it seems after reading other peoples experience with having to restart checkpoints multiple times.
Summary 

Overall the humour carried the game completely. I laughed so many times at the banter between the crew and it was really well written. The game itself was lacking though and I found it fairly repetitive. That mixed with some not so smooth gameplay didn't leave me wanting the clean it up but more forced to. 

 

Enjoyment 5/10 

Difficulty 3/10

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 126

Master Marsupial 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

 

I finally did it. This was the most painful platinum I've ever attempted and probably my greatest achievement in gaming so far. This was ball busting from the very start right to the finish. I enjoyed my time with the game but by the end I just wanted it to be over. I had no issues with it being hard but there was just so much to do that made it drag so much. I didn't plan on going for the plat and I was just playing casually whilst debating my next game and as I got further I decided to try my hand at the N'Sanely perfect relics alongside getting all the gems. That was a big mistake because then I was invested. By the time I really started to struggle I'd already got so far to give up and I still thought I didn't have the ability to do the time trials and I would leave it there and just clean up the trophies I could do. 

 In the end I done some of the easier time trials and thought it wasn't so bad, went to the first level and got crushed by 20 odd seconds. I had no idea how I was going to shave the time off and began alternating between the triple spin and slide spin and in the end I went with the triple spin the whole way. Unlike previous Crash's there were no easy levels, no getting it first time. It required learning the level, obstacles and timings to be able to execute a near perfect run to stand a chance. I remember the final level "Seeing Double" in where I missed the time by 0.3 seconds. This happened a few times and was mentally exhausting but I'm happy that I managed it because I've proven to myself not to give up and I'm capable of tackling difficult games. Now hopefully I won't brush aside a game so easily if it appears difficult, always being able to refer to doing this. 

 The game itself was really fun and Crash is my favourite mascot above Mario, Sonic, Astro, Spyro and anyone else. He doesn't get the love always but the games still hold up and after so long waiting have been evolved in nearly the right way. 

 If not going for platinum then it would be a top game just going through the levels that offer a ton of variety but even then there is a few downsides unfortunately. 

 First is all the extra characters. I didn't like any of them and I just want to play as Crash though bearable Cortex nearly broke me. His shooting is just awful in where he can't aim, he has no double jump, even his dash is wonky. I can't express how frustrating this is when doing time trials and trying to shoot quickly only for him to miss, hit an invisible wall or fall to his death because he can't make a platform quick enough. 

 Another issue I have with the game is the inverted mode. After playing through the game, getting the N'Sanely perfect relics, time trials, Flashback tapes, the last thing I want to do is go through the game again on an awful filter to get every gem again. It was just unnecessary filler and did nothing positive for the game. There was way too many levels topping in at 38 which is a mammoth amount considering you need to do every level at least 3 times which will be more seen as you won't make the platinum time always, get to the end to find out you missed a box etc. on top of that is 20 flashback tapes, though mostly fairly simple I struggle on 1 or 2 near the end. That brings the total up to 134 levels if you did everything perfect first time around.

 

Speaking of positives there are quite a few actually, even if I'm in too much pain to remember them all lol. I really liked the masks aspect and it added a new dimension to the game, no pun intended lol. The name of the game was also genius because it really was about time for a new Crash Bandicoot. The level design was really nice and there was nothing too similar apart from the timeline levels which again pointless when half of the level is the same though slightly harder. The colours really popped and it was visually pleasing, again apart from inverted mode. 

 

In the end I really enjoyed myself but burnt myself out so much that all the negatives became so blaringly obvious

 

Enjoyment 7/10

Difficulty 10/10 

 

PS: Why did they give Crash a voice at the end.

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 127

Living Legend 

Ghost of Tsushima 

 

What a game!! This exceeded all expectations by a million miles. I'm not really one for samurai games but after hearing all the hype for this game and everyone talking so positive about it I just had to try it in the end and it remained on my backlog for some time after it being added to PS Plus. I just wish I had of played this sooner. It has propelled to the top of my favourite games played behind Pokemon which is just impossible to beat for nostalgic reasons. I wasn't expecting it to be any better than Ragnarök or Forbidden West but it is just miles better. The game looks stunning and the story is so strong that you get wrapped up and immersed from the get go. I couldn't put it down after I started and constantly wanted more. This is a game that's changed my life and makes me want to be a better and calmer person and more thankful of my life and everything I have. 

Story 

The story follows Jin Sakai, the last of the Sakai clan that leads a rebellion against the Mongolian army in order to protect his home and island and drive of the invaders. Along his journey we learn about the man his father was, the one he looked up to so much and the constant battle he faces inside him for not saving his father when he feels he could have done more. Along his journey he adapts from the samurai way in order to be able to defeat the Mongolians and acquiring the nickname "The Ghost" at the same time. This involves assassinating his targets, poisoning them and using any means necessary to fight back the invasion. This is frowned upon in the samurai community and is exiled and hunted for fighting without honour. This leads up to the final battle where he faces his uncle, the man that raised him after his fathers death. This is emotional on so many levels and when the dust settles you can choose to kill your uncle, granting him a warriors death and an honourable death, or stating the fact you have no honour as you turn and walk away, letting him live. 

 Both endings though have no impact in the game are as emotional as the other, leaving my hairs standing up as the events play out. Jin Sakai risked everything to save his home and becomes the enemy, living in exile for doing what was necessary but he comes to peace with it, knowing that he had no other choice than to do what he did if there was any remote chance of winning. 

Mechanics 

There are a lot of mechanics going on and I was confused to start with but everything works so fluidly in the end and just works well. From multiple stances that are more effective against certain enemies, using the bow, assassinating, stealth, ghost mode, different distraction techniques, fire arrows, using resolve for many different abilities including healing. It felt like there was a lot going on but the game eases you into new techniques and everything comes together in such a way and allows multiple styles of play from going in charging with a stand off to sneaking around assassinating everyone. The game can be played stealthy or as an action. There are also side objections like the haiku, bamboo practise, shrines with a small platforming puzzle to get to the shrine, hot springs, fox shrines and a lot of side missions which were actually really fun as well. The side missions contained as much depth as the main mission as you grew closer to your companions. 

Trophies

The trophies were pretty simple with some combat trophies, collectibles and story/side mission trophies. The collectibles were a little too much with the foxes and some of the shrines taking a little time but otherwise it was a easy enough list. 

Summary 

This will take some beating and I just crave more games that are similar now. There's not much more I can say to explain just how good this game is. If I was to add some negative points then it would probably be the platforming that was not so sharp and the occasional mountain you get too and you need to go round in order to get up or down. That is a minor negative though and the game is near perfection 

 

Enjoyment 10/10

Difficulty 3/10 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 128

Ultimate Sim Guru

The Sims 4

There isn't much to say about this game. It's the same as basically all other Sims games previously and was a bit of a letdown. I did have some fun playing it with the family though but playing it solo wasn't really any fun and I probably wouldn't have platted it if it wasn't for the families that can be downloaded in order to unlock the trophies though I did have an issue with getting black widow and circle of life to unlock and just put it on the backlog until I thought of trying it again and succeeding. But yea, not much else to say apart from an easy plat and and best enjoyed with friends and family 

 

Enjoyment 4/10 

Difficulty 1/10

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 129

The Dark Soul 

Dark Souls III 

 

It is finally done. Wow what a grind this game was and such a rollercoaster of liking and disliking it at times. My first playthrough I really enjoyed apart from having to farm covenant items because I went for two endings in my first playthrough and to get all the difficult and complicated things out of the way. I was lucky enough to find someone who helped me with a lot of the covenant farming which still took a couple hours of them suiciding so I cant even express how grateful I am for this random act of kindness. The online was fairly dead which made it not a viable option for farming unfortunately but I probably saved maybe 30 hours through skipping the shackles and sunlight medals. Just farming the proof almost killed me and took maybe a week of a few hours. My other issue is the multiple playthroughs being my third one just going through for rings which just feels pointless. I burnt through each of my NG+ and NG++ with pure force taking a day for each playthrough. I'd already experienced most of the game and wasn't feeling exploring anymore than I already had to. I'm happy to have finally finished the game but it will be a little while before I do another Dark Souls game and hoping the others are not as grindy but I have a feeling they're equally grindy. The difficulty of the game comes more from needing a guide, activating certain dialogues with certain people at certain times and finding everything in order to trigger certain endings and obtaining all collectibles. Otherwise I didn't struggle so much with the bosses and only in one or two areas of the game. 

 

Enjoyment 5/10 

Difficulty 7/10

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 

 130 

I'll Get Everything Back! 
Tekken 7 

 

There isn't so much to say about this game apart from that I didn't really like it. I haven't been so much into Tekken and that might be a reason for it though I do like fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Soul Caliber etc but this one didn't really click with me. I never played it so much growing up either, more the odd game in the arcades so I thought I'd give it a proper try. I didn't really like the story so much but it was quick to blast through as was most of the trophy list but it still felt a chore when having to blast through Treasure Battle and do 50k damage in practice mode. It was an easy plat though taking me a couple of days but yea there was so much I didn't like and probably won't try another Tekken game. The fighting felt all over the place and a bit button mashy but that could also be down to my lack of experience. Maybe if I played it a bit more and tried to get the hang of it more it would click better but for now I'll stick to Mortal Kombat as my number 1 fighting game. 

 

Enjoyment 3/10 

Difficulty 2/10 

 131 

Commendable Service 

Heavenly Bodies 

Wow I hated this game so much. It was just frustrating from start to finish and I would wish for the developers to be shot off to space so they can live this nightmarish game in reality. The only good thing about it was that it was over in less than 24 hours. The controls were clunky and just floating around trying to grab onto anything to be able to propel yourself forward whilst your arms flap around like a fish out of water. I have nothing against hard games and enjoy them from time to time but this was more in the category of bullshit. 

 

Enjoyment 1/10 

Difficulty 6/10 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Hitman_Spinksy1

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 132 

Platinum 

Batman: Arkham City 

I finally got around to it after 11 years in the backlog and I'm glad I did. The game still holds up today and the combat felt smooth. I did try going for it on PS Plus but it was just a pixelated mess so I bought a copy to start getting rid of my PS3 backlog a bit. There's only a few bad things to say about the game and everyone knows one which ofc is the god damn riddles. I also wasn't a fan of doing NG+ which made the game get stale. The things I did like were the story and the inclusion of so many characters like Mr. Freeze, Joker, Harley Quinn, Zsazs, Deadshot, Catwoman, Two Face, etc. Even if most played minor roles, it helped break the story up a bit with side quests that weren't too demanding. Probably my second favourite Batman behind Arkham Knight, it just dragged on too much in the end. The hardest trophy by far is the Perfect Freeflow 2.0 which is a platinum breaker but with patience, practice and perseverance it can be done. 

 

Enjoyment 6/10 

Difficulty 6/10 

 

 133

How's that for a slice of fried Platinum 

Zombie Army 4: Dead War 

Brilliant game. I had so much fun getting this platinum and I'm not one for zombie games usually and it had everything most people hate but it somehow worked. Online co-op where boosting is needed for completing campaign as a 4-player squad though doing the last of each chapter was enough, completing campaign on hard, grinding to level 100, but I had a blast the whole way through. I found a really good boosting group which definitely helped with the enjoyment. It was a simple shooter just blasting zombies the whole way through so there isn't much more to say about the game but if you like zombie games then this is easily one of the best ones. 

 

Enjoyment 8/10 

Difficulty 6/10 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Hitman_Spinksy1

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 134 

Stay Alive! 

Stranded Deep

Well we all know the story behind this trophy but I had actually played it before but didn't like it one bit so autopopping was better than having a 1% that would never get done. I didn't download it for the platinum like most people, I just took advantage of a situation that helped me clean up my profile but I'm not really bothered that I didn't earn the plat through playing. 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 135
Top of the Heap 
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy 

 

I've never actually played a Jak and Daxter game before and I was pleasantly surprised. I always stuck to Crash Bandicoot growing up and was limited to games I could rent when allowed or borrow and this one unfortunately never came up. I had a blast though and it wasn't too long or hard at all. The hardest thing was getting use to the inverted camera which messed me up for quite some time and then messed me up again when I went back to other games after. The mechanics were decent enough for an old game though and the comedy was on point which had me laughing multiple times. My only regret is not trying this sooner. 

 

Enjoyment 7/10 

Difficulty 2/10 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 136 
Platinum Trophy
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 

I finally did it again after saying before that I was done with Skyrim after overplaying it but I decided to see what the PS5 one had to offer and well, I can't really notice any difference from back when I did it on PS3 all them years ago. The only thing noticeable was the no loading screens because that really killed the game back in the day when going in and out of shops and fast travelling to be hit with a 5min loading screen each time so that was a major improvement but also one I had expected. I was surprised though how much the game still held up after getting the plat on PS3 and breaking my PS3 during that time. Breaking the game on PC through alchemy and enchanting and still finding enjoyment again this time around. This is really one of the best games ever made and there isn't many that have that kind of replay ability. I did get burnt out in the end though and tried a bit of the DLC but I just couldn't play anymore. I was a bit disappointed with the dragon flying though as I didn't really fly the dragon, it just circled around in the air. I'm not sure if there is anything else to say about this game that hasn't already been said in it's lifetime but I'm definitely done with Skyrim this time. The VR version makes me sick after 5 mins unfortunately so that's out the question. 

 

Enjoyment 10/10 

Difficulty 4/10 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 137

A New Hope 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 

 

 

I finally got around to playing this game after having it on the backburner for ages but being put off by the rumours of how bad the map was and they're true. Easily the worst ever map I've experienced and it was just confusing half the time as I sat there like an idiot trying to figure out where I was going and how to get to places to get the chests and the 100% maps. It's unfortunate because the story was strong and had me engrossed the entire time, the combat was nice with enough variation and timed unlocks to keep it fresh and it was such a gorgeous game. The map really brings it down and it was maybe a few too many combat related trophies that served little purpose. 

 

 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 138 

Master Assassin

Assassin's Creed Syndicate 

 

 

 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 139 

Completionist 

Watch Dogs: Legion 

 

Wow, what a game. I didn't expect to have as much fun as I did playing an Ubisoft game, especially right after finishing one that was also based in London but this was just so enjoyable despite to bugs and glitches and there was a lot, from cars vanishing, spawning inside houses, random explosions, cars running you down from nowhere etc. I still had a blast almost the whole way through though it did drag on a bit by the end with the collectibles. 

Story

The story follows a hacktivist group called DedSec that are setup to have planted and exploded bombs across London. It's our job to prove who the real culprits are whilst exposing all the other groups involved. There are 4 groups that play a roll in the bombings with the major party "Zero-Day" planning on destroying London and sending Ai across the city into a frenzy. The story is deep, touching all all emotions and filled with twists and turns that I didn't see coming and had me hooked the whole way through. It was a little on the long side of things though unfortunately 

Gameplay 

There is so many different ways to play the game, from being a spy and cloaking yourself for stealth takedowns to infiltrating the base as an Albion operative. Flying into the base on a drone to hijacking their own drones and turning them against one another. I tested out many different ways and it helped keep the game fresh and it felt quite cool driving around in a spy car shooting off rockets. There was also a lot of puzzles on how to get to certain places, unlocking doors and terminals and proceeding onwards which helped keep things fresh. 

 

The issues I had with the game and there wasn't many is firstly and the biggest issue is that they made nearly everyone sound like some kind of London gangster which was annoying as hell. Second was the amount of collectibles needed and that they were a little buggy requiring to do with one person including the buying 100k worth of clothes in one go so I couldn't even buy anything really if I wanted the trophy. It was also annoying when in combat and trying to jam the other persons weapon or so and it wouldn't come up or would hack into a camera. There were some minor bugs and glitches but nothing game breaking and was still a really fun game. 

 

 

[Don_Chipotle]

On 8/15/2023 at 2:29 AM, Hitman_Spinksy1 said:

 139 

Completionist 

Watch Dogs: Legion 

 

Wow, what a game. I didn't expect to have as much fun as I did playing an Ubisoft game, especially right after finishing one that was also based in London but this was just so enjoyable despite to bugs and glitches and there was a lot, from cars vanishing, spawning inside houses, random explosions, cars running you down from nowhere etc. I still had a blast almost the whole way through though it did drag on a bit by the end with the collectibles. 

Story

The story follows a hacktivist group called DedSec that are setup to have planted and exploded bombs across London. It's our job to prove who the real culprits are whilst exposing all the other groups involved. There are 4 groups that play a roll in the bombings with the major party "Zero-Day" planning on destroying London and sending Ai across the city into a frenzy. The story is deep, touching all all emotions and filled with twists and turns that I didn't see coming and had me hooked the whole way through. It was a little on the long side of things though unfortunately 

Gameplay 

There is so many different ways to play the game, from being a spy and cloaking yourself for stealth takedowns to infiltrating the base as an Albion operative. Flying into the base on a drone to hijacking their own drones and turning them against one another. I tested out many different ways and it helped keep the game fresh and it felt quite cool driving around in a spy car shooting off rockets. There was also a lot of puzzles on how to get to certain places, unlocking doors and terminals and proceeding onwards which helped keep things fresh. 

 

The issues I had with the game and there wasn't many is firstly and the biggest issue is that they made nearly everyone sound like some kind of London gangster which was annoying as hell. Second was the amount of collectibles needed and that they were a little buggy requiring to do with one person including the buying 100k worth of clothes in one go so I couldn't even buy anything really if I wanted the trophy. It was also annoying when in combat and trying to jam the other persons weapon or so and it wouldn't come up or would hack into a camera. There were some minor bugs and glitches but nothing game breaking and was still a really fun game. 

 

 

 

This game is dirt cheap and i have been wondering if to get it or not, even with many of the regular complains of the present UBISOFT, but it doesnt look that bad from the review you posted, keep the great job and hope you keep plats coming

 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

8 minutes ago, Don_Chipotle said:

 

This game is dirt cheap and i have been wondering if to get it or not, even with many of the regular complains of the present UBISOFT, but it doesnt look that bad from the review you posted, keep the great job and hope you keep plats coming

 

Thanks, in all honesty I'm not the biggest fan of Ubisoft but this was definitely one of the better titles and I'd definitely recommend it. It's also on PS+ 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 140 

The Chronicler 

Final Fantasy XVI 

 

Spoiler

And thus my journey ends. No words felt truer than when finishing this game. It's sad to feel this way about finishing one of my beloved franchises but it dragged on so much. Twice as quick as FFX and FFXII but felt twice as long. It lacked the spark of the classics and what felt like a truly amazing game to begin with fizzled out. I really thought they had finally done it but after Cid died everything came to a snails pace. From fetch quests for Mid to travelling the realms just to clear waves of mobs. It started becoming filled with nothing and for every hour of filler gave 10 minutes of story. Every time I cleared all the side quests and thought, finally I can carry on with the story, more side quests popped up a few minutes later. The side quests had zero depth and involved fetching items, clearing out areas and just tedious tasks. The longer I played the more glaringly obvious the flaws became and my enjoyment dwindled. What started out as a masterpiece became another mediocre game stuffed with filling and layered with an unnecessary NG+. 

Story 

The story starts of in Rosalith where you are a shield of Rosalith and Joshua's sworn protector who is also the Phoenix. The queen of Rosalith betrays her husband, seeking a higher status and by keeping her bloodline pure in doing so joins parties with the emperor and has her husband killed in front of Joshua's eyes who sees red and calls forth the Phoenix for the first time and by doing so loses control. Through the madness Clive feels helpless as he senses his brothers pain and feeling the same rage ends up calling forth Ifrit. Unknowingly at the time that he is Ifrit they battle fiercely until Ifrit gets the better of the Phoenix and seemingly kills him. This sends Clive in a vengeful ploy to seek at the dominant known as Ifrit and get his revenge. 

The start of the story has so many layers of depth that carry on throughout until around midway through where it dies down and loses any kind of mysteriousness that came with the opening prologue. It ends up being very clear that all you are doing is absorbing every dominants power whilst destroying all the crystals in order to be strong enough to takedown Ultima. There are very few twists or turns, no surprises, just a goal. The amazing voice acting is what carries the story and makes it as good as what it is

Gameplay 

The gameplay felt crisp and responsive but got repetitive by the end with the few clearly better skills that got overused and time was spent waiting for the cooldown on them to be up as other skills just didn't have the same power. Aside from the trophy related objectives, I don't think I ever used Titan and Garuda was only used until I unlocked better skills. The dodging was overpowered with massive iframes that made combat a breeze and I rarely used a potion in the first playthrough. Combat became a chore and in my Final Fantasy playthrough I did everything I could to skip all and any combat to just fly through it as quick as I could. 

 Speaking of Final Fantasy mode. This was just the biggest pointless filling ever to make a game with zero NG+ replay ability extra long. The story didn't work with a NG+ as I already had every skill and every power from the start, it was just to go through on a hard mode that wasn't hard. Enemies just had more health and there were more of them which was just painful when doing 200k+ damage in a stagger took down a fifth of a normal enemies hp bar. Seeing the bar barely move in a boss fight after unleashing every skill possible and every fight was just dragged out. 

Graphics 

The graphics were amazing and the CGI cut scenes blew my mind but the dialogue scenes didn't have that same level of finish with mouth movement being off and characters eyes looking white and blank as they stare off into the distance. These were minor annoyances in what was otherwise a picture perfect game.

Trophies 

Most trophies were simple with the odd kill related trophies tied to every Eikon, finish every side quest, explore every map and story related trophies. The only trophy requiring effort is the Final Fantasy mode and unlocking every skill which requires minor grinding.

Enjoyment: 6.5/10 

Difficulty: 3/10

 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 141

You must be one genius of a driver! 

Grid Legends 

 

Finally done and I hope I never play a racing game as bad as this one for as long as I live. It's games like these that have me questioning myself, do I still like this genre? Am I getting less interested in games? Then I think about all the racing games I've enjoyed like Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, The Crew etc. This was just a poorly made game 

The story felt pointless, made little sense and I didn't even have a name beside Driver 22 which just felt cheesy when winning and hearing them say "Good job 22". The rest of the game followed suit and it just got worse, the longer I played. 

I touched on the story a little bit but there's not so much more to say where that's concerned. The worst parts of the game are to come now. All the cars felt pretty similar within their class. There was no 1 car that I felt, yea that feels smooth or this is a quick track I should use this one instead. Even weather barely affected driving. I could still fly around corners at 150mph whether rain, snow or sun. I got bored so quickly that I spent most of my time figuring out ways to wipe out other racers to amuse myself with which brings me onto the nemesis/rival/team mate system. I didn't understand it at all. The rival affected nothing whatsoever, neither did the team mate. The nemesis would just get pissed if you rammed them too many times and make a half hearted attempt to ram you back. It was a feature that affected nothing and just felt pointless apart from hearing "Your team mate just crashed" every other lap. 

The bugs were also annoying and happened more and more frequently. From just freezing completely for 5-10 seconds to random opponents spinning out on the straight. Said opponents that have spun out might not move again and randomly pop up crashed in front of you. Major graphical pop ins where trees are just a green blob in the distance and the grass looks like something created in paint. 

The combination just didn't work. You could smash into people like an arcade racer but cutting a corner gave a penalty but unsure what that penalty was apart from 1 second if done too many times. The driving was a mix of arcade racing and sim racing where you could slide around corners but not to the same extent as an arcade racer but more than a sim racer. This also combined sim racing tracks and arcade racing tracks minus traffic which left one confused on what type of racer I was playing half the time. All in all, the best thing about this game was the cars looked like representatives of the cars they were supposed to which is bad 

 

Enjoyment 2/10 

Difficulty 2/10 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

Time for a new challenge

The randomizer!!!! 

dun dun dun!!!!

I am currently struggling to figure out what to play, maybe I'm suffering from a little bit of burnout, or too many choices so I've decided to let the randomizer decide and it could have been worse so I'm happy I'm not busting my balls on the first attempt.

So what has the randomizer picked for me to play I hear you ask?

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 142 

Don't Ruin The Moment 

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy 

 

There isn't so much to say about the game that hasn't already been said about other Uncharted games. It plays relatively similar, find treasure, beat the antagonist and get the ultimate treasure. What was done different was that it wasn't Nathan Drake as the main protagonist this time but Chloe Frazer who also had a sidekick in Nadine Ross. It was a decent game as in how decent an Uncharted game can be but was the weakest of the series, possibly from the fact it started as a DLC that evolved into a stand alone. Not much new was tried in terms of mechanics and the main difference was the open world section in chapter 4 which didn't work in my opinion. Whilst fun to drive around the jungles of India, it became tedious very quickly with the amount of treasures that had to be found, a big chunk of them in this section which showed it was their selling point.

     I preferred the linear sections a lot more which spaced out the gameplay between platforming, combat and puzzle solving a lot better compared to driving around after 40 odd collectibles. The difficulty was fairly easy, even on crushing with only 2 sections that I struggled on a little bit, firstly that APC which was just a pain and the helicopter. 

Story 

The story follows our main protagonist Chloe Frazer and her sidekick Nadine Ross in hunting down the tusk of Ganesh through the Indian jungle. Like any good Uncharted game we need a antagonist and in steps Asav. Always seemingly one step ahead as we hunt down the tusk, solving puzzles along the way and through our adventures discover a hidden city. Chloe, dealing with personal emotions with her father who she claims abandoned her in hunt for said treasure, discovers that her father had been to the hidden city after discovering that the trinket she carries around with her that she received from her father was the missing piece to a puzzle. 

   During the hunt they find out Asav's true motives with the tusk as he sells it for a bomb that he plants on a train and plans to detonate in the heart of India, bring chaos along with it. First is to retrieve the tusk and then to become the unknown heroes as we defeat Asav and let him plummet off a bridge along with his bomb.

Graphics 

The graphics were amazing and truly gorgeous, matching anything put out today. I had to stop multiple times as I looked around and took in the views. What was also done well was how the ruins all looked different but still kept that feeling of being in the jungle, chapters changed between night and day, sunny and rainy, it always felt fresh and you was seeing something new. 

Trophies 

The trophies were straightforward and easy, nothing different to any other Uncharted game with your standard crushing difficulty, collect all treasures; chapter cleanup and combat related stuff. The pointless one was getting to chapter 5 without using a gun which needed an extra playthrough. 

Conclusion

I would probably rate it 5.5/10 for enjoyment and 3/10 for difficulty. Whilst I enjoyed the game, the open world section was a drag and there was way too many collectibles for such a short game. The other annoyance was the interaction between the main characters, hating each other one minute then fine the next, their emotions went up and down so many times and made it not believable. 

 

 

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 143

Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels Unleashed

Finally it is done. Such an incredibly grindy game, especially at the end having to grind 100k coins and 25k gears. I despise them trophies so much that force me to grind even though I'm long done with the game. The game was ok but not brilliant, the tracks got repetitive and there was so many races in the story alone, let alone the amount I done online to try speed up the grind which didn't work with the waiting times and everyone always picking the longest possible track nearly all the time. It did make it less boring though but not by much. I preferred the old school Hot Wheels that was on the PS1 with real courses instead of Hot Wheels tracks. The online was too easy which was surprising but I was getting top 3 nearly all the time and quite a lot of 1st places so it was probably a 2/10 difficulty. The time trials weren't so hard as there were shortcuts on most of them.

[Copanele]

Damn, I really missed some good writeups here  

Nice stuff ! Congrats for all the achievements and reviews, you really have some banger games out there!

(will always appreciate a good Cat Quest recommendation 😆)

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

11 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Damn, I really missed some good writeups here  

Nice stuff ! Congrats for all the achievements and reviews, you really have some banger games out there!

(will always appreciate a good Cat Quest recommendation 😆)

Thanks for the kind words, really appreciate it and hopefully it will only grow and get better  

[Hitman_Spinksy1]

 144 

Gadget Master 

Ratchet & Clank

One game I never played as a kid and idk why. It always looked quite cool and I saw it in my library growing up and always thought about loaning it but I never did. Maybe my 11 year old self would have appreciated it more. I did end up playing the remake though before this and I'm thankful I did otherwise I may have not tried others and missed an amazing series. There is a serious amount of issues with this game but they did end up getting fixed in the remake.

The game didn't age well at all, it looks a bit meh, even for the PS2 days and suffered from frame drops like crazy whenever using the Rhino. I still enjoyed the game but I think that might be because I like the series more, because it was so frustrating at times. From the checkpoints being miles back, no aiming or straving so it was to just spam and hope you hit, the dialogue was lacking and the antagonist, well, the less said about him the better but I'm glad he got replaced with Nefarious.

I did glitch the 1M bolts though without realising that a second playthrough gave more bolts lmao so it took from around 1am to 11am to get it but I was asleep so it was fine lol.

Difficulty 3/10

Enjoyment 3/10

 

 145

4 Play

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

Poor Ratchet is about to get trashed on twice in the same post lol. This is by far the worst one I've played in the series so far and I'm half way. I'm not sure if there is anything good I can remember about this game but there's a reason why It's been on my backlog for 5 years and jumping in just to clean up the last couple of trophies reminded me instantly why I hated this game. Every enemy is a bullet sponge to the extreme, like seriously, every guns ammo just to get through a wave. The AI has to be the dumbest around, suitable as I had Quark as my team mate but more infuriating because I just expected him to do something dumb like jump of a cliff edge if I'm dead, wanting to go somewhere else which resulted in the screen locking and me being unable to progress, not attacking the same enemy as me, it was just soooo bad.

Ratchet should never be online or force an AI onto you, especially an incomprehensive idiot. It would have been cool to play as other characters if you could play solo and that brings me onto my next rant.

The bolts. OMG the bolt grind again and this time you're locked into you character because it's 1M bolts in total on a character so if you don't want an extra grind in an already bad game then you're stuck with the character you choose at the start. As the online is dead I ended up grinding the bolts with 4 controllers on my lap rinsing the same 1 minute section just for the multiplier "sounds like fun right"

I'm just glad to get rid of this garbage and I can't see a Ratchet game coming anywhere near as close to as bad as this one so I guess that's a positive.

Difficulty 3/10

Enjoyment 1/10