[EVENT] PSNP Kaleidoscope Challenge! 2023 [ENDED]

[Beyondthegrave07]

4 hours ago, PotrikBerger said:

Thanks so much for adding an extra bit of interest and incentive to getting the Plats this year, and I'll definitely be signing up for next years event if it is due to be repeated. This was the first ever PSNP event I've been a part of and it was great fun.  Its interesting to see so many like-minded people coming together, sharing both their achievements and participating in this event. I've had a blast with it. Thank-you @DrBloodmoney and all the effort you have put into supporting people like myself and organising such a great event to take part in.

 

 

Next year's event is already up. Go ahead and sign up again! 

 

 

[JungleCat20]

Here's my fourth and final card for this year's event. Big thanks to @DrBloodmoney for hosting this great event. It has really been a lot of fun. I wish everyone a safe and happy 2024, I'll see ya in next year's Kaleidoscope Challenge! 

 

[ExistentialSolid]

Hello all! Waaaay back in February, I entered this event with Torment: Tides of Numenera and kinda just vanished afterwards. Even though I've been procrastinating up until the last minute, I did end up filling a card with many of the games I've played since. Certain entries are kinda iffy (I had a lot of trouble with Maroon, Purple, and Deep Purple), but I gave it my best. For the icons without titles: White = Redout 2 // Maroon = Paradise Killer // Deep Purple = Retro/Grade.

I'd also love to enter 2024's event, but wanted to push a quick recommendation towards my personal GOTY before closing out the year!

[Tan] The Talos Principle II: You find yourself in a vast coniferous forest. Pine trees loom large around you as wildlife scurries beneath your feet. You wander, directionless, until you come across a series of unkempt trails. Remnants of humanity, bits of twisted metal, linger along the edges of the trails you follow until you reach a haphazard structure made up of shapes both abstract and impractical. Though it cannot speak, it craves the indulgent comforts of "meaning" and "purpose." Cradled within the layers of seemingly superfluous artistry is an intricate puzzle of light. Lasers, strange tripods, barriers of impenetrable static. It seemingly exists to confound, perhaps to educate. You take note of the puzzle, though it begs to be solved, and continue along the path. You reach a terminal where you read about the collapse of human civilization and, just as you finish gathering your stray thoughts, you spy a magnificent tower sparkling in the distance. If what I've just described sounds like your cup of tea, consider checking out The Talos Principle II! It's a cozy journey through gorgeous biomes filled with mind-bending puzzles and mysteries to unravel. I love it to pieces and you might too! 

[DrBloodmoney]

 

 

What's up, Rainbow Army!

 

 

Only 2-and-a-bit-days left to finish up cards, and secure those end-of-event badges!

 

I thought I'd just make sure everyone is prepared - I know a lot of events have a nice long tail to let people get their ducks in a row after the actual cut off...

....but this isn't one of those!😮

 

I'm a man who likes to keep things moving at a clip, and I look forward, not backwards....

 

....so make sure all those completions you want recorded are in promptly, because Badges shall be getting issued ON THE 1ST of JANUARY!!!

 

 

Therefore, all completions that you want to be counted in the 2023 Rainbows, MUST be posted here by MIDDAY ON THE 1st of January 2024!

 

Anything completed in time, but not declared and posted in the thread by then will not be counted...

...but I look forward to seeing you all in the 2024 Kaleidoscope, as that will be the new reality, and 2023 will be old-hat! ☺️

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Stats:

 

Event Participants: 181

Rainbow Appreciators: 38

Rainbow Warriors: 18

Rainbow Elites: 53

Rainbow Prestiges: 14

 

Highest Prestige Level Reached: Lv.3

 

[Xensid02]

My final card:

https://imgur.com/a/jEV70Ud

 

White - A Space for the Unbound

Yellow - Ebenezer and the Invisible World

Pink - Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters 

Maroon - Minecraft Dungeons

Purple - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

Blue - Astro's Playroom

Light Blue - CounterSpy

Grey - Overwatch 2

Black -  Hitman 3

 

Total: 9 games.

[Panasbananas]

 

9 games. All I could manage for 2023! Sadly work kicked my butt this year so I couldn't play much but I'm still proud of what I've managed to complete. Hopefully next year I'll be able to do a whole card. Thanks for a fun event!

[Kefka1986]

Well, at last, I finished my first and only card!  This year had me working overtime a lot and without any time to do anything else, but next year I hope I'll get to complete more than one card. So...

 

 

Guardians of the galaxy was my last game! 50% because it seemed interesting and 50% because it was maroon 🤣 it was a good name, it has its moments, but I probably wouldn't have bought it, so thank you, PSN plus extra!

Edited December 30, 2023 by Kefka1986

[PraiseTheFluppi]

I'm finally done with my card! 😭

Frogger Returns for green
Bloons TD 5 for light green
 

I'm so glad I could still finish this challenge! I spent a lot of time with MMOs this year, so I havent' been playing as many different games as I usually do. Because of that, I finished a handful of quick (but enjoyable!) games for some colors. All in all, I'm satisfied with how the card turned out! 👌

My ranking of the games I played:

1. The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt (PS5) - white
2. Monster Hunter Rise - deep purple
3. The Legend of Heroes - Trails from Zero - grey
4. Ratchet & Clank 2 - orange
5. Ratchet & Clank 3 - brown
6. Nun Massacre - black
7. Redeemer - red
8. Trove - blue
9. Gods Will Fall - tan
10. A Castle Full of Cats - purple
11. Happy's Humble Burger Farm - maroon
12. Ace of Seafood - light blue
13. KeyWe - yellow
14. Super Chicken Jumper - pink
15. Bloons TD 5 - light green
16. Frogger Returns - green

I can't wait for my rainbow 🌈

[pelagia14]

Card 3 is finally finished, with HUMANITY! 

 

Spoiler

OVIVO

Chants of Sennaar

Serial Cleaner

Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Superliminal

Killer Frequency

Paradise Killer

HUMANITY

Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition

Untitled Goose Game

Man of Medan (Dark Pictures Anthology)

Sable

Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition

The Mooseman

Hades

 

Initially I wanted to do a big ranking post like @Breakingthegreen did with their final card, but I don't have the energy today so it's probably not gonna happen.

 

I forgot to update Card 4 earlier this month with The Banner Saga, which I really enjoyed!

 

Spoiler

Tempus

Saltsea Chronicles

Little Hope

Outer Wilds

The Banner Saga

Unpacking

Divination

Spyro 3: Ripto's Rage

[X]

Assassin's Creed: Mirage

Ratchet & Clank (2016)

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

[X]

Call of the Sea

[X]

The Quarry

 

I'm a little bummed that Card 4 is close to completion - I had been optimistic that I could knock out a few more colors over this holiday period, but that didn't end up happening. While I could knock out something for Light Green tomorrow and probably Grey, I don't have anything fast for Deep Purple. Ah well. 

 

Thanks again for running this fun event, @DrBloodmoney, and I'm excited to start it again in a few days, even if I'm going to focus more on longer games in 2024!

Edited December 30, 2023 by pelagia14

[Caju_94]

Hey guys, haven't posted for a long time, but here is my final card, completed!

 

 

Don't really remember what was the last update I left, but here is a mix of games I platinumed with my girlfriend on co-op this year and also old games I had to complete from previous years and never got the platinum for.

 

Thanks for hosting this event. I will surely participate in the next one!

[Xylobe]

 

My fifth and final rainbow complete, with moments to spare! Annapurna send their regards. They unfortunately haven't published anything reasonable for brown or maroon, and playing Last Stop for light blue seemed like a waste of time, but 13/16 isn't bad! (Please don't Ctrl+F "narrative adventure"; that's half of what they publish!)

 

Sayonara Wild Hearts is raw aesthetic indulgence; alternatively, the lesbianest game I've ever played (sorry, Princess Farmer). Described as a "playable pop album," it plays as a sort of arcade melange, taking frequent stylistic and occasional mechanical cues from rhythm games, high-speed racers, rail shooters, and just about every other genre you could picture in a cabinet. Every second of every level is equal parts enthralling and overwhelming; like Dragon's Lair, it's not a game that can reasonably be sight-read (though unlike Dragon's Lair, the experience is worth it). Absolutely one of the best games I've played this year!

 

Cocoon is the new narrative puzzle game from Playdead veteran Jeppe Carlsen, with its core mechanic being the matryoshka-esque nesting of worlds within worlds. Unfortunately, it reminds me a lot of Viewfinder, in that it's a game I feel is at its best in trailers. Its mechanics are flashy, but terribly underexplored (please play Patrick's Parabox!); its narrative retains the recognizable style and pacing of Limbo and Inside, but like Somerville seemed to lack the substance to back it up; and its art direction... is great! Really great! The whole game world - or worlds? - is this biomechanical, insectoid, child-friendly-Giger hellscape that's quite unlike anything else out there. I don't think I can say that it's enough to carry the game on its own, but if you're going to play it, I do think approaching it as more of an interactive art exhibit is the way to go.

 

Maquette is a first-person puzzle game that, in some ways, is yet another take on that "worlds within worlds" concept. This time, though, they're fixed outside of the player's control and strictly recursive. The hook is that sitting in the center of the limited playable space is a miniature but identical replica of that space; conversely, if you break outside of that space, you'll find yourself in a giant replica, and in theory these continue infinitely in both directions. The puzzles can be hit-or-miss, and for me the narrative was mostly misses, but I ended up having a lot of fun breaking the game while going for its oft-maligned speedrun trophies.

 

Jusant is a fantasy rock climbing game set in a world of heavy desertification, and the latest game from Don't Nod. To the best of my knowledge, it's their first take on a climbing system since their first game Remember Me back in 2013, which followed the Uncharted school of scripted, highlighted handholds. Jusant is quite a different beast: while the overall path you'll be taking is still quite linear, the way forward isn't always clear, and the options you have to try and follow it tend to be quite varied. The act of climbing is also much more interactive than the traditional "hold a button and direction," with the left or right trigger needing to be held for the protagonist to grip with the corresponding hand. It's a beautiful game, and I certainly enjoyed it, but there were a couple of things that held it back for me. The first is that the story and backstory are mostly relegated to contrived text logs scattered across the world, which always comes across as a bit lazy. The second is that there's something that's just off about the game's sense of scale; normally that would be a weird and minor nitpick, but it resulted in this perception that I wasn't actually getting any higher, which is unsatisfying in a game that's all about climbing. (This is made worse by the first couple hundred meters of the climb, where progress would be most noticeable, happening off-screen after the opening cutscene at ground level.)

 

Sea of Stars is the best-looking 16-bit-inspired game I've ever played. Every aspect of the game's presentation, from environments to character animations to UI elements, is well-polished, oozes passion, and retains a functional readability that a lot of games lose sight of. It's a shame that the game falls so flat on other fronts. The combat mechanics start out basic and evolve very little over the course of the game; characters join the party with a meager 3 abilities, and that number never increases outside of ultimate and combo skills, so battles with standard enemies feel more or less identical between the first and final dungeons. Narratively, the game is constantly treading water, battering the player with so-called "stretch quests" in a way that makes it very clear that Sabotage doesn't employ a scenario designer. Dialogue is full of errors, and most characters (including our dual protagonists) receive pitifully little attention and development thanks to the ever-lovable black hole named Garl. There are some interesting points - Torment Peak stands out in my mind as an example - but it was so difficult to get invested in the game's world or plodding plot when I knew that within minutes it would get blown off course by a quest to fetch a MacGuffin that doesn't matter and will never be brought up again. Maybe the story expects to be carried by its tie-ins to The Messenger; I wouldn't know.

 

Thirsty Suitors is a game that's a bit difficult to explain without taking the "Skyrim with guns" approach, so I'll just do exactly that: mechanically, it's Paper Mario's American Wasteland. Narratively, Scott Pilgrim except he's the kid from Venba. Wow, that was easy! I'll further add that both primary halves of the gameplay - skating and turn-based RPG combat - are competent but not great, and are totally disconnected from one another in a way that never stops being a little jarring. The story and presentation are done well enough that it's still an easy recommendation!

 

Kentucky Route Zero is a narrative adventure that shares a lot of similarities with Norco, from one of my previous rainbows. It would be difficult not to with this style of Americana. It's tremendously moving, and dense enough that trying to unravel it is well above my pay grade, but while playing, I felt an occasional twinge of something... inauthentic, maybe? Vernacular that doesn't quite line up with what I'd expect as a KY native, that sort of thing. It's a minor gripe, but enough to dampen the impact of certain moments in ways that Norco just didn't suffer from. Maybe if I were from Louisiana then I'd feel the opposite. It's still a must-play in any case, given that reading Steinbeck in school didn't put you to sleep.

 

The Artful Escape is yet another narrative adventure, this time exploring themes of identity, artistic integrity, and the weight of expectation. It hits at least some of the same thematic notes as Chicory, but rather than a coloring book about painting, it's a sci-fi rock opera about shredding like your life depends on it. It's a beautiful game with some impressive setpieces, but as an experience it's let down by a couple of things. Firstly, the player's opportunities and options for self-expression are both quite limited; that's not the biggest deal, since protagonist Francis is his own defined character, but it's still a bit of a disappointment. The second, and in my opinion much more important, issue is that the game doesn't feel like it's all that interested in celebrating its chosen medium. Francis has a burning passion in his soul for sick licks, to be sure, but the game shows other genres like folk and skiffle a certain derision that, to me, felt more like it was coming from the developers than the character. I can't say those are my favorites, either, but the rhetorical sneering is still uncool, and deflates the experience for me.

 

I Am Dead is one of those games in the PS+ catalog that I was aware of, but never paid heed to until I had the idea of trying for an Annapurna clean sweep. It always occupied the same place in my mind as Summertime Madness - thank the similar images for that - so I was surprised when I first booted it up and found that it wasn't another first-person puzzle adventure. Instead it's more of a hidden object game, with the twist that you can zoom into objects in the environment to view cross-sections and reveal hidden secrets. It's a unique twist, and one that mostly works well! I did have issues handling the controls, though; it would have been a much smoother experience if there were an option to invert the sticks. I'm glad I played it, but if I had to pick, I'd say I prefer the more traditional Artifex Mundi / "find cat" style.

 

A Memoir Blue and Hindsight are both very short, tightly-focused, and questionably autobiographical narrative experiences focused on a character reminiscing and ruminating on their youth. I found the latter much more effective and impactful than the former, but don't have much more to say about either beyond that.

 

Gorogoa is a narrative puzzle game about... something? I'm surprised by how much difficulty I've been having trying to explain it. In any case, it's presented in a 4-panel comic style (think Loss), and its puzzles revolve around physically manipulating, rearranging, and overlapping the panels and the objects within in some really clever ways. It does suffer at times from the kind of pixel-hunting that you'd otherwise only see in a classic point-and-click, and it's a bit more narratively obtuse than I'd like, but it's still very much enjoyable!

 

Donut County is a game about put thing in hole. Sure, if you were so inclined, you could read a little further into its criticisms of conspicuous consumption ("Of course humans love trash. Why else would you make so much of it?"), but instead consider: please put thing in hole.

 

Escape Academy is like the fifth time this thread that I've whined about a puzzle game being unsatisfying due to short length and low difficulty. You know the drill. There are better escape room games out there, even the ones that get caught by the shovelware filter.

 

Twelve Minutes is a time-loop narrative puzzle game with the rare distinction of having a story that's completely unintelligible. Almost nine months on, my mind is still reeling from the nonsense "twists" this game tried to pull. Hilariously, the puzzles are fine!

 

Every last one of you reading this played Stray for yourselves when it was on PS+.

 

Rather than another numbered list, I thought I'd do something a little more colorful and all-encompassing. I based placements on how I feel about each game now, without consulting any of my previous rankings. Mato Anomalies stands out in particular as a game that I terribly undersold before based on poor pacing in its eleventh hour, despite the many other things it does well leading up to that point. I'm sure there would be plenty of other examples of changed opinions if I went back and cross-referenced. Anyway, here's Wonderwall:

 

 

Thanks again @DrBloodmoney for putting on this event! I had a blast with it, and I'm looking forward to next year's!

[woggly4]

Last day of the year and I need to accept that I officially failed the challenge! I only managed to fill 5 colors but nevertheless it was a fun journey. It is impressive how some of you even managed to fill multiple cards, it was always nice to follow your progress, especially when you wrote a sentence or two (or more) about the game you played. I got a lot of inspiration for next year when I will try the challenge again, maybe I can get more than 5 games this time. 😅

 

 

Orange

Spoiler

Mafia

 

I absolutely love the Original but this remake is also very good, you can find a more detailed opinion here: 

They released a more "classic UI" option via patch after I played the EU stack, so I decided to come back 2.5 years later and play it again on the NA stack to see if it improved the game for me (and to also be able to use it as a game here, it would be a shame to not have it on the chart) and, yes, it is better but not perfect, there are still too many markers for a true classic feeling. Most of the stuff I mention in the above linked thread is still true. But overall, it is still a very great experience. However, I kind of hope they will also release the Original with trophies as a PS classic some day.

 

Red

Spoiler

Need for Speed Most Wanted Vita

 

I always like NfS games because of their arcade style. There's nothing better than drifting around the city or up a hill to your favorite music. Whoever is in charge of music selection for NfS games is the right pick for that job! The Vita version of MW is okay graphicwise I would say. I never played the PS3 version and Vita didn't look that bad to me but when I followed a collectible guide that was recorded on PS3 the difference is pretty obvious, especially regarding details and city population. However, it still looks decent and there are no significant FPS drops which would be a killer for a fast paced game. After a while you'll get used to the speed on the rather small display, the angle of view is picked great to see uncoming traffic and the surroundings. Headlights look a little pixelated but are easy to spot. Overall very enjoyable!

 

Purple

Spoiler

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

 

Shadow Gambit is the spiritual successor of Desperados III (which is a fantastic RTT!) and the first self-published game by developer Mimimi Games. It builds onto the very fun mechanics of D3 and introduces very great additions. Normally I don't like heavily "unrealistic" or fantasy games but I'm very glad I played it, to be honest I only did because both Mimimi games that were released before are fantastic. There's a lot to do in Shadow Gambit and even though there aren't that many missions the fun of Mimimi games is always to replay them with different setups and earn the respective in-game badges that force you to play very different between missions, for some reason it never gets boring, at least for me. They also upgraded the storytelling and relationships between the characters, overall a very fun but also challenging game. Mimimi's games always make me play beyond trophies, which very few newer games accomplish.

 

If you don't know Mimimi's games yet and love RTTs, definitely have a look! Unfortunately they decided that Shadow Gambit will be their last game and the studio will be closed soon after one last content drop for SG. Makes me very sad because a possible Desperados IV with the improvements of Shadow Gambit could have been the game of my dreams.

 

Deep Purple

Spoiler

inked

 

What a game! Absolutely beautiful puzzle game with a rather sad backstory but deep message at the end. This puzzler has a very unique art style because everything is painted and you need to solve puzzles by "re-painting" certain objects, in fact it's more "replacing objects" but for the sake of the story let's call it re-painting. It does not have very complex gameplay and is rather short but absolutely beautiful to play! The world is nicely drawn and the soundtrack is also gorgeous.

 

You will need to play it a second time for one trophy so I highly recommend to play this blind on your first playthrough and grab every collectible you see and wrap things up on the second playthrough. Chapter select is available if you plan on not using a guide and getting all collectibles by yourself. But please, do yourself a favor and play this cute little game without a guide on your first run. If you like lightweight puzzle games with relaxing music, this should be on your list.

 

Light Blue

Spoiler

Transport Fever 2

 

If you liked Cities Skylines but always felt you want to have more control about how transport is done this might be the game for you! A thing that always bothered me about CS was that I can't really control how and where transport is happening and TF2 just nails it. You can place signals for railways and build turnout tracks, control where trucks/ships/busses drive and the best part, most of the time vehicles don't drive into or through each other. It's not perfect but the... let's call it "scenery realism" (if that makes sense) is on another level. I could sink hours in CS to "just do a little bit here, optimizing something there" but TF2 gives you so much more options to do that, and to sink even more hours. I spent hours just optimizing stuff and admiring my progress afterwards, and it happened more than once that I forgot the time and fiddled for 5+ hours even though I just wanted to "fix it real quick", and that is a good thing! If you're into CS-typed games and are more interested in the transport aspects rather than citybuilding definitely have a look at TF2. I'd recommend to start the game with the (quite lengthy) campaign because it acts as a tutorial but also as a little history lesson about how transportation evolved in the world. After the campaign you can jump right into free game where the game unveils its full potential (well you could before but the mechanics will be overwhelming without a tutorial first). Trophywise it was fun to just play and don't concentrate on trophies imho, even though some trophies were a little out of place because it's unlikely you'll get that in a normal playthrough. But most trophies are very much attainable on a blind playthrough and I really liked that aspect.

 

 

Thanks to @DrBloodmoney for the fantastic idea to host such challenge and to everyone who participated. It was my first trophy event I joined here on PSNP and it won't be the last, for sure. But I need to work more on the "completion" aspect, perfect time for the first game-related New Year's resolution. 😁

 

Hope you all have a nice 2024! 🎆

Edited December 31, 2023 by woggly4

[Finch_III]

43 minutes ago, woggly4 said:

 

 

Hope you all have a nice 2024! 🎆

How did you find Shadow Gambit? Would you recommend it? I think it’s currently on offer and looked reasonably fun. 
 

A difficult plat? 

[woggly4]

3 minutes ago, Finch_III said:

How did you find Shadow Gambit? Would you recommend it? I think it’s currently on offer and looked reasonably fun. 
 

A difficult plat? 

 

I can only recommend all Mimimi Games as they are super polished, nearly bug free, and absolutely fun to play. If you like the genre and don't mind fantasy settings it's a no-brainer. But even if you're not a huge fan of fantasy, you will still have a lot of fun with the game. As I said in the spoiler their games make me play the game beyond trophies, which is very rare these days for me. The plat isn't overly difficult, especially because they removed the more time consuming tasks like "collectibles" from the requirements in comparison to the first two games. However, there is one trophy that requires multiple playthroughs because you need 85% game completion, depending on your playstyle you will have around 60% after finishing the story. How you achieve 85%, i.e. which badges/challenges you complete, is up to you though. And it might sound bad that you have to do multiple playthroughs but that is the beauty of their games. You can play the mission again with a different setup of characters and will have a completely different experience.

 

If you're like me and normally don't like a fantasy setting you can also have a look at Shadow Tactics and/or Desperados III. You will probably fall in love with this company and play Shadow Gambit too because it's too good to miss. 😅

[Sendai-Horatio]

I didn't forget to finish

[seannyboy913]

Last day of the year and I should post my completed rainbow I finished before it's too late.

 

[Finch_III]

1 hour ago, woggly4 said:

 

As I said in the spoiler their games make me play the game beyond trophies, which is very rare these days for me. The plat isn't overly difficult, especially because they removed the more time consuming tasks like "collectibles" from the requirements in comparison to the first two games. . 😅

Argh, I somehow completely missed your spoiler reviews! But thanks for the additional comments. I’ll certainly think about picking this up - perhaps for this year’s Green kaleidoscope category. That’s always tricky. 

[Dezorak]

im here with hours to spare to say i did it i got a full list

 

 

was a shovelware as pokemon and Ark has taken over my addiction (and spending a lot more time with that somebody special) but it gave me a idea i may wanna try.... 2 rainbows, 1 with actual games and 1 with nothing but said shovelware :D.  thought it be funny considering the time difference it would take to complete :D. 

[Flitterbloom]

Finally got the God of War HD platinum, just in time!

 

 

Orange - God of War (HD)

     I didn't think I'd like this game more than that, I enjoyed learning more about Kratos' story, that's probably what I loved the most in this game. Kinda makes me want to try and play the others!

Purple - Life is Strange: True Colors

     I didn't play LiS 2 (yet) but wanted to try this one, having heard a lot of good things about it. I enjoyed it, more than the first one and Before the Storm. Sure, the game's not perfect but I played it hoping for a good story. The plot got me emotional more than once so it's a win. And even with that, some scenes (the "relaxing moments" that loop) were really enjoyable for my stressed self 😅

 

And that's how I complete my second kaleidoscope, yay! Thanks for hosting this DrBloodmoney!

[Fanatixa1]

Hi everyone! 

 

Last update and last card completed for the year. I have to say my last choices are not the greatest, but I really wanted to finish the last card and had to improvise because Tacoma glitched on me my first try. I did complete some dlc's that I liked and some fun indie games. I really enjoyed this challenge and will definitely join next year. Happy new year everyone and thanks to @DrBloodmoney for arranging this challenge. 

 

upload image

 

Completed cards: 

 

[InfinateEternity]

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! It's been several months since my last update in this thread. But, I've managed to finish my card just in time, thankfully. It's below. In the spoiler at the bottom of my post, I've included links to the games, and links to my write-ups on them. If I haven't written about them, I've limited myself to a few sentences, as I know we're on a deadline with this event, and I can't afford to be super wordy, lol. @DrBloodmoney, let me know if there are any issues. If my tan entry isn't acceptable for whatever reason, I do have Unpacking that I can use as a replacement. Otherwise, thank you for such a wonderful event! Congrats on all of the successes this year, everyone, and I'll see you in the 2024 event!

 

 

Spoiler

White - The Unfinished Swan - Playing this game felt a bit like playing through a fairytale from an artist's perspective, and the story was simple but effectively done. But, what really makes this game shine is the gameplay. A lot of creativity went into it, and I can most certainly see why it won the British Academy Games Award for Technical Achievement (2012). You use different types of paints and water to advance through the world in a first-person perspective, and thematically, all of the levels connect to the artist motif that pervades the game. And, it feels like a cohesive experience when paired with the story. Would definitely play again on a different platform!

 

Yellow - The Artful Escape - I'm glad this was my last game of the year! It's a bit hit & miss for some people. It was a psychedelic, musical space romp that mixed platforming and rhythm game mechanics, and managed to throw in a coming-of-age narrative, and good voice acting, too. Yes, some of the themes and story beats may be a tad cliche. But, I was having too much fun to care, honestly, lol.

 

Tan - Battlegrounds Update (DLC Pack 2) - Gems of War Additional Expansions - I honestly could write an essay on the good, bad, & the ugly about Gems of War as a game, and its trophy lists. (The first trophy list could fill a Rainbow by itself, except for maybe Maroon) But, you really don't want to get me started. So, I'll just say this: This is a match-3 RPG F2P game that is constantly developing and getting trophies added every few months. But, as a game, it's had highs and lows, and is overall an extreme grind with lots of RNG elements involved. If you decide to try this, be aware that you're making a months - if not - years-long commitment. I've played it almost daily for the past 2 years.

 

Orange - Hidden Cats in London - This is a simple hidden object game featuring cats hidden in London. Would not recommend beyond using it as a palette-cleanser between harder games or gaming marathons, to be honest.

 

Red - Virginia - This was an interesting point & click experience based on an actual FBI case. While I appreciate the choice to not include dialog in the game at all, and have the person playing the game piece together the story via the audio-visual cues, I'm not sure if it worked. I played through the game twice, as is required for the platinum, and I still don't think I fully understand the story / what was going on, beyond the major plot points.

 

Pink - Punch Line - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Maroon - Base Game - HITMAN 2 - I started the year playing this because of it's de-listing from the PSN store, and I'm glad I did. I had never played a true HITMAN game before this and HITMAN (2016), and it was far more enjoyable than I was expecting! I'm looking forward to finishing off all of the DLC in both games, as well as playing HITMAN 3 so I can have the full experience for this particular story, too. 

 

Purple - Persian Nights: Sands of Wonders - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Deep Purple - Knockout City - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE. Reminder: This game's servers are closed. All the trophies are now unobtainable.

 

Blue - HiQ Ace Unlimited - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Light Blue - Discovery Tour: Viking Age - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Green  - Crazy Chicken Jump n' Run: Traps & Treasures - Pleasant platformer where you are a chicken embarking on an Indiana Jones-esque artifact and treasure hunt. Easy enough to be relaxing. But, also makes you 100% the game in order to get the plat. This includes getting all coins & artifacts, and defeating all the enemies within all regular and bonus levels. Warning: The trophy list will only install on your PS4/PS5 AFTER you've completed 5 levels (which is also when your first trophy will unlock).

 

Light Green  - A Juggler's Tale - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Brown - Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse - Episode 1 - A well-done point & click adventure game where you must solve the theft of an art piece that is more than it seems. This is only half ofBroken Sword 5. So, I won't comment on it much, except to say that it does leave you on a cliffhanger, and there are a lot of callbacks to previous games. Not recommended for newcomers to the Broken Sword series. If you do want to play the game, I would recommend the PS4 release, which contains the whole story. I will be looking to play that myself in 2024.

 

Grey - KNOT - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

Black - AVICII Invector - Read my thoughts on the game: HERE

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by InfinateEternity
Grammar.

[MD_91]

Just about managed to put together a second card for a double rainbow, ended up having to use the second stack of Catherine I completed for Maroon again and I definitely wouldn't call Light Green the dominant colour for Unpacking but my options for those colours ended up being very limited 😅

 

Looking forward to doing this again next year

 

 

First card 

 

]

[jsisoo]

Everyone scrambling to get a final card completed... Gotta get that next-level badge!

 

 

2nd Card Complete

Some of the colours were quite difficult, and required scrolling back a few months to find something suitable, but I'm pleased with the visual outcome.

 

Big thanks to our host for creating a super-engaging event. It was a pleasure to be a part of.

 

Can't wait for BADGES!

.

Edited December 31, 2023 by jsisoo
image size

[Sendai-Horatio]

I think I can pull off a rainbow prestige

 

[Giulian_Steel]

     Here is my Rainbow!

 

 

 Had to change many of my original ideas due to my PS4 being in maintenance for almost three months. But i'm happy with the final result.

 CrossCode was my surprise of the year. Beautiful pixel art, and really well done battle systems and exploration. Really surprised me the amount of content that is             unlocked in the final third of the game.

 My favourite games were Ys: Memories Of Celceta and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa Of Dana. It was my reconnection point with the series since Ys VI: Ark Of Napishtim. Celceta is a   newer version of Ys IV and really builds upon it, including a very addictive map completion system, which is also present in Ys VIII.

 Lastly, my favourite Game Image Colours, had to be Shenmue and Shenmue II. It still holds up well, and doesn't take long to understand the rhythm of the game and (try) to avoid the many missables both lists have. Good games to play while doing something else, because it involves a lot of waiting, that can take up to half an hour in real time.

 

I really enjoyed the event and the many many rainbows it produced. Happy new year everyone! 

 

 White - Final Fantasy VII

 Yellow - Slipstream

 Tan - Unpacking

 Orange - Torchlight II

 Red - Shenmue II

 Pink - Darksiders III

 Maroon - Shatter Remastered

 Purple - Need For Speed Heat

 Deep Purple - Army Of Ruin

 Blue - Ys VIII - Lacrimosa Of Dana

 Light Blue - Shenmue

 Green - Lost Words: Beyond The Page

 Light Green - Ys: Memories Of Celceta

 Brown - Gauntlet: Slayer Edition

 Grey - CrossCode

 Black - Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls