[EVENT] PSNP Kaleidoscope Challenge! 2023 [ENDED]

[Xylobe]

 

Update day! Update day for the Wii Shop Channel PSNP Kaleidoscope event! This time it's Call of the Sea for brown and Axiom Verge for deep purple.

 

Call of the Sea is one of those ever-popular first-person puzzle/adventure games; on a scale from Portal's claustrophobic test chambers to Obduction's wide open areas, it falls squarely in the middle. I picked it up from the holiday sale when I discovered it was from the same studio as the upcoming American Arcadia, which is the only game shown at last year's Summer Games Fest that's managed to stay on my radar. I'm glad I did, as I had a great time with it and am looking forward to their next game even more now. Puzzles that hit that perfect "head-scratcher-but-I-don't-need-a-guide" sweet spot, lush tropical environments, a Lovecraft-addled atmosphere that rides that eerie line without veering into horror, and an emotionally satisfying ending. What's not to like?

 

Axiom Verge wasn't the first of the modern indie metroidvanias, but as we're approaching its 8th birthday, it was certainly an early one. I'd played a bit of it on Steam when it first came out, but dropped it pretty quickly; as much as I love the genre it named, I've never been a fan of the Metroid series, and Axiom Verge is about as Metroid as it gets (I made it about halfway through Dread before I couldn't bear another second). To be honest, the only reason I came back to it was its sequel being one of this month's PS+ offerings. I'd say it's a fine enough game, but in my opinion it really relies on having been made by a single person to make an impact. If that weren't the case, the complaints I had would be much bigger dealbreakers. I won't go into all of them, but the two biggest were the bizarre pacing that front-loads the first 4 bosses and leaves a massive dry spell before the fifth and sixth, and the controls at large (but in particular the "double-tap a direction to dash" powerup, which forces you to stick with the d-pad for movement by activating more or less at random when using the analog stick). Overall it was a rough mix of easier than expected and immensely frustrating, but as a fan of the genre I'm at least glad to have given it its due day on the catwalk, and I'm all the more interested to see how the sequel turned out.

 

This part is only (very) tangentially related to the event, but as @Taruta13 has been hunting shiny Pokemon to go along with their platinums, I thought it might be fun to give that a try in my own casual playthrough of Pokemon Violet. I took a bit of time after finishing up Call of the Sea, and managed to find this little chestnut-brown mouse! It took about an hour to find, which is nowhere near the 50-hour hell that was Temtem's luma trophy, but still long enough that I don't plan on doing it again. Still, it was fun as a one-off!

Spoiler

 

[Cassylvania]

I'm blue, da be dee da ba di.

 

 

That may be the most platinums I've ever gotten in a single week. They won't all be this quick.

 

Also, using the PS4 image again. Maybe I should've just used the box version of this image.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Cassylvania

[Heather342]

5 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

 

Also, using the PS4 image again. Maybe I should've just used the box version of this image.

It bugs me so much that PS5 images are squares, but everything else is rectangles ?

[Copanele]

Hallelujah... finished a game that's not red OR blue...it's maroon (i was lucky with it)

 

 

Dead or School - anime, schoolgirls, zombies and chainsaw katanas. A nice combo between lollipop chainsaw and Serious Sam  

[Sylvanticore]

13 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Hallelujah... finished a game that's not red OR blue...it's maroon (i was lucky with it)

Dead or School - anime, schoolgirls, zombies and chainsaw katanas. A nice combo between lollipop chainsaw and Serious Sam  

 

Nice! I have that on my backlog and was wondering if I should use it for the event, just wasn't sure of the colours and was looking for something Maroon that wasn't Marvel's GOTG!

[Taruta13]

23 hours ago, Xylobe said:

This part is only (very) tangentially related to the event, but as @Taruta13 has been hunting shiny Pokemon to go along with their platinums, I thought it might be fun to give that a try in my own casual playthrough of Pokemon Violet. I took a bit of time after finishing up Call of the Sea, and managed to find this little chestnut-brown mouse! It took about an hour to find, which is nowhere near the 50-hour hell that was Temtem's luma trophy, but still long enough that I don't plan on doing it again. Still, it was fun as a one-off!

  Hide contents

 

Nice to see I made a shiny hunter out of someone on this forum! Trust me, with the power of sammies, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are much easier to shiny hunt than in earlier games. Congrats on your cute chocolate Dedenne! (I tried to hunt that thing but found that the only places Dedenne frequent have another electric type as well - Voltorb and Electrode around Medali and Kilowattrels in North Paldea, so I scrapped that plan.)

 

Actually am going for the first trophy in my black game, which will be Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the original. I wanted to start from the beginning and I wanted to do the crazy thing I did on my last account - earn Heartless Hunter by slaying 2000 Shadows in Destiny Islands. I am on Proud Mode for this run because 2000 EXP = Level 18 and therefore Sora will be much less squishy.

 

Also, I didn't realize that I was a Rainbow Appreciator for a long time, never noticed the titles before, so yeah, I got that rank after clearing all of my easy platinums.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Taruta13

[Breakingthegreen]

Hello again friends, I've managed to to achieve the 7th game and therefore gain the "Rainbow Appreciator" rank after nearly a month.

This game is a brown one, it's F.I.S.T Forged in Shadow Torch (PS4).

 

 

Mini Review thing time, no rank gained will stop me from wasting my time on these things. FIST is a Metroidvainia that came to Playstation after the China project effort, I don't imagine that this one was as successful as Genshin Impact, but I enjoyed it. It's a melee focused game where you gain moves and weapons, it's got a lot of combos almost akin to a basic fighting game, I imagine that you could look the game's combat look 10x more stylish than I did.

I was playing this on a base PS4 which lead to some pop in, and by that I include the walls and floors not spawning in for a few seconds when I was rushing during clean up. Otherwise it's graphically really impressive with properly 3D environments and really detailed characters... Who are animals ?! 

I didn't mention this but all the animals are anthropomorphic animals, the lead is Rayton (Who I've chosen to believe is Judy Hopp's cousin from Zootropilis) a gruff veteran who after his friend gets arrested, decides to overthrow Rabbit Hitler. Yeah... story is where this game fails, the story is very basic and relies on character backstory that they have to tell us in the moment in order for the story to make sense, it's not bad, its not even mediocre, but it's the worst part of the game. There's only like 5 cutscenes in the game which look tonnes better than the typical text boxes.

I do recommend the game I had a very good time. Happy Year of the Rabbit ?

 

My Progress

 

Now that I've ranked up, I'll post the template, which I hadn't done before now.

 

 

I'll rank them so far:

1. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist: I love this game, a densely written story with so many characters that I love being with. 10/10
2. Moss: Book II: One of my favourite VR games, a better sequel, and an adorable mouse, if you're picking I a PSVR2, play this duology. 9.0/10
3. F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch: General high quality Metroidvainia, a bunch of fun. 8.5/10
4. Hoa: Very beautiful 2D platformer that could have been better with better if it focused on one aspect of the gameplay. 6.5/10
5. Super Stardust Portable: Good fun, but not a game genre I like. 6.0/10
6. Teacup: Cute game whose story is kneecapped by his length and the shear number of characters in the game, none of whom get nearly enough dialogue to flesh them out 5.0/10
7. Pinball Heroes: It's Pinball. ?/⚽

[Cassylvania]

SMO-O-OKE ON THE WATER. A FIRE IN THE SKY. *bangs head*

 

 

And yes, it counts for my mini theme too. Rain is totally wet.

 

Oh, by the way... All my reviews for these games are in my checklist thread below. That's why I'm not talking about them here. (But I'll probably give you my recommendations once I finish the list.)

[Taruta13]

Do games without platinums count for this event?

[DrBloodmoney]

Adding a new game, with Tetris Effect!

 

 

 

An obvious Black, plus has a nice rainbow within itself!

 

 

Tetris is awesome.

 

This version is one of the mostest awesomest I've played - the main mode is sort of Tetris' answer to it's only genuine, real rival - Lumines - in that it is far more built around the combination of changing sights and sounds - with a pretty great rotating soundtrack to go along with it.

 

The specific challenge modes are all pretty much here- I've not played every version of Tetris out there (for I am not an insane person,) but pretty much every memorable single player "standard" variant and challenge is represented - including a few I've not personally seen elsewhere, like Mystery.

 

The "Connected" update added multiplayer, which has been fleshed out since, and now has quite a few different good multiplayer modes in there - plus, even years after release, the "weekly rituals" are still going on each weekend, in which different modes are encouraged, give additional XP and avatars, and have event specific leaderboards.

 

A really good, really complete version of Tetris, that runs perfectly, looks better than Tetris ever looked, and contains pretty much everything a Tetris fan could want.

 

Awesome!

 

[DrBloodmoney]

52 minutes ago, Taruta13 said:

Do games without platinums count for this event?

 

Absolutely - no non-plat discrimination here!

[Sgznr]

So far this is what I have done. Hopefully I've got this right ?

 

[DrBloodmoney]

13 minutes ago, Sgznr said:

So far this is what I have done. Hopefully I've got this right 

 

 

Mostly all good - a few are a little tenuous, as there are larger "other colour" sections that draw the eye...

...but I would recommend the following:

 

Move Sagebrush to Green, as it's much more green than Maroon, and make room for it by switching Syphon Filter to Light Green.

Stick Nerved in for Light blue, (as it's quite a blueish tint), and the current Light Blue for Blue... that leaves the Grey space for Opus, (since It's primarily Grey).

I'd maybe then move Without Escape to Red, as Caretaker is pretty minimal in it's "redness"... 

...and move Hohokum to White (and thank goodness, because white backgrounds are harder to find than you'd think!)

 

 The only ones that leaves you with as doublers is Caretaker and Dreaming Sarah both for Black....

...but at the rate you're going, I wouldn't call that a waste, as you will almost certainly be able to do a second rainbow to prestige after this one, and if you do so, you'll already have black covered for it! ?

[Sgznr]

33 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Mostly all good - a few are a little tenuous, as there are larger "other colour" sections that draw the eye...

...but I would recommend the following:

 

Move Sagebrush to Green, as it's much more green than Maroon, and make room for it by switching Syphon Filter to Light Green.

Stick Nerved in for Light blue, (as it's quite a blueish tint), and the current Light Blue for Blue... that leaves the Grey space for Opus, (since It's primarily Grey).

I'd maybe then move Without Escape to Red, as Caretaker is pretty minimal in it's "redness"... 

...and move Hohokum to White (and thank goodness, because white backgrounds are harder to find than you'd think!)

 

 The only ones that leaves you with as doublers is Caretaker and Dreaming Sarah both for Black....

...but at the rate you're going, I wouldn't call that a waste, as you will almost certainly be able to do a second rainbow to prestige after this one, and if you do so, you'll already have black covered for it! 

 

Following the Doctors advice - I have updated my list. It now looks like this:

 

[DrBloodmoney]

2 minutes ago, Sgznr said:

 

Following the Doctors advice - I have updated my list. It now looks like this:

 

 

Nice work!

 

I think looking now, Purple is a little bit of a reach, and maybe worth replacing if another purple happens to come along, but I'd accept it - it feels more purple than anything else...

 

...and with that (and even without it, actually,) that puts you in as the first to reach the rank of "Rainbow Warrior"!

[Sgznr]

3 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Nice work!

 

I think looking now, Purple is a little bit of a reach, and maybe worth replacing if another purple happens to come along, but I'd accept it - it feels more purple than anything else...

 

...and with that (and even without it, actually,) that puts you in as the first to reach the rank of "Rainbow Warrior"!

 

Thanks! 

 

I'll definitely swap out purple then. Got plenty of time left ?

[Squirlruler]

Next update!

 

Monster Monpiece • JP: For Tan. This is the second time I have played this game, and loved it even more than the first time. The first time, I ended up skipping a bunch of extra battles, but didn't do that this time. I am also going to keep playing since I am still missing a bunch of cards. If anyone wants to play the JP version and needs a boosting partner for the online, hit me up. (You can get online only packs that have rare cards and I am ready to open them and be disappointed that I am not getting any of them lol). The game is a card battler, 3x7 grid, summon girl monsters to attack the enemy base. Simple game, fun to play.

[Finch_III]

11 minutes ago, Sgznr said:

 

Thanks! 

 

I'll definitely swap out purple then. Got plenty of time left 

 

Yeah, you've got the whole year to add replacements if need be! My personal opinion is that red (Without Escape), light blue (Nerved) and purple (Transference) are somewhat iffy to be honest. 

I'm of the opinion that some games just don't lend themselves very well to this particular challenge. Anything that has an equal amount of different colours is always going to be difficult to place unless there was a "rainbow" category. 

But as DrBloodMoney said in his original post, it's your list, so if you think it fits, it does! 

[JayDeLosDioses]

I'd like to be added to the big sexy participants list please @DrBloodmoney

No idea about the games yet, but there gotta be enough in my backlog file to fill all the spots

[Sgznr]

1 hour ago, Finch_III said:

 

Yeah, you've got the whole year to add replacements if need be! My personal opinion is that red (Without Escape), light blue (Nerved) and purple (Transference) are somewhat iffy to be honest. 

I'm of the opinion that some games just don't lend themselves very well to this particular challenge. Anything that has an equal amount of different colours is always going to be difficult to place unless there was a "rainbow" category. 

But as DrBloodMoney said in his original post, it's your list, so if you think it fits, it does! 

 

I appreciate the feedback and because there is the whole year to get it done, I will gladly swap out Without Escape, Nerved and Transference to make room for games that fit the colour better. ?

 

EDIT: Would this count as yellow or not? I'm not too sure ?

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Sgznr

[DrBloodmoney]

8 hours ago, Sgznr said:

 

 

Ideally that would be black, as I generally revert to the background colour if it’s a solid block like that one… BUT - in a case like that, where the text is super bold, and super distinct, I think using for Yellow would be fine.

 

 

[Sgznr]

1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Ideally that would be black, as I generally revert to the background colour if it’s a solid block like that one… BUT - in a case like that, where the text is super bold, and super distinct, I think using for Yellow would be fine.

 

 

Because it’s questionable I will do a different game that is primarily yellow. Thank you Doc. 

[shxrpay]

Pink down! Finished inFamous: First Light for my second game, which was surprisingly enjoyable since I disliked Second Son. Even the arena mode was really fun, which surprised me even more since I'm usually not one for that type of game. The main story was cool, the combat's fun, and the light dash ability is unlimited from the beginning which was a huge QOL improvement in my opinion. Overall a short, fun game which I definitely recommend to anyone who hasn't played it.

 

Also I'd kind of like a second opinion about the color choice, although I'm not sure what else it would count as.

 

[RaxxisOmega]

I have a few entries so just checking that they'll pass muster.

 

 

any feedback will help

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by RaxxisOmega

[slicknick3822]

3 minutes ago, RaxxisOmega said:

EDIT: well nuts, how do I make the image appear??

 

[ Img ] and [ /img ] without spaces around the outside

 

Or in the bottom right it'll say insert other media and you can insert it via URL

Edited January 31, 2023 by slicknick3822