Buff_Cupcake's Trophy Gym

[Buff_Cupcake]

Hello!

 

It’s a whole new year and I thought setting up a year-by-year checklist thread for myself to share updates, thoughts and progress would keep me more focused and accountable with my gaming time. I figured, I track everything at the gym and it really keeps me motivated, so why not apply the same approach to maximise the time I spend with my favourite hobby! 

 

 

Goal planning:

 

It took me a while to figure out what goals I would personally find the most satisfying, so I started with a few main overall ideas to start with that I could keep in mind when I'm choosing and playing my games this year. I wanted to bring some challenge to my year gaming-wise, as well as try some new titles and genres. So I developed this list to help me figure it out and to make sure that the goals I define would be the most enjoyable to me:

 

• Challenge myself with some very difficult trophies
• Experience some long running franchises
• Play some PS3 only games
• Play through most/all contemporary Resident Evil games
• Try some genres I wouldn't normally be into
• Don't neglect indie/smaller titles.

 

After that I spent about a week looking at other peoples trophy lists and trophy checklists to get some inspiration, as well as to think about what I might really like from a title point of view. And I came up with a set of 10 goals for this year that will help me stay on track and also enjoy my gaming time over the next 12 months. I'm not setting any 'earn x amount of platinums' or 'x amount of ultra rare trophy' related type goals, but I would like to retain a high completion percentage if possible.

 

2023 Goals:

1. Platinum at least one game in the Legend of Heroes series

2. Platinum at least one game in the Atelier franchise

3. Platinum at least one game in the Yakuza franchise

4. Platinum all Wolfenstein titles developed by Machine Games (except Youngblood)

5. Platinum all modern/remade Resident Evil games (RE2 remake, RE3 remake, RE4 remake, RE7 & RE Village)

6. Play at least 5 PS3 specific titles

7. Play at least 5 indie titles

8. Try at least one racing genre game.

9. Try at least one fighting genre game

10. Platinum at least one Crash Bandicoot game

 

I think the elephant in the room as far as the goals are concerned is the infamous Mein Leben trophy in Wolfenstein 2 but i'm fully prepared to give it a shot. The idea of practicing over and over again, optimising and iterating my routes/approaches then actually achieving it sounds pretty great. So i'm going into that one completely prepared. But we'll see how it goes!

 

Updates:

I figured a weekly update would be a good start and I'm a big collector of gaming and pop culture memorabilia so I'm also going to share some photos of that as we go. Most of my friends aren't into video-games so it will be nice to share that stuff with a community that is. Basically my updates will be both goal related and a mixed-bag of other stuff. 

 

Anyway, that's me for now! If you are still reading - thank you for reading this far and giving your valuable time to my opening post! I'm off to finish up Dead Space 2 and figure out which goal to start with this week✌️

Edited January 25, 2023 by Buff_Cupcake

[Buff_Cupcake]

Platinum # 33 - The Outer Wilds

Goal progress: Play at least 5 indie titles [1/5 complete]

 

 

 

 

I absolutely loved this game. I recommend everyone go into this completely blind. Just start playing and figuring out, because I think part of entire point of the game is based on discovery. It's a low risk gameplay structure and even though you have this 22 min timer hanging over you, it's surprisingly non-stressy in general.

 

Figuring out the gameplay

 

It took me a while to adjust to the 22 min loop structure, but once I had figured out what you retained with each loop reset and got used to the ship navigation controls, it just turned into a wonderful game through and through. It's a pretty simple premise - explore a small but dense solar system in your space craft and pretty much just learn about it, unravelling a series of mysteries and rumours to follow up on as you go. There are no RPG mechanics or stats, no enemies that you can kill, no guns or magic so all you carry over between each loop reset is the knowledge you've uncovered from pursuing your leads and rumours.

 

Story Mechanics

 

The stories and plot threads you need to uncover are really interesting and once you have a good lead, you end up really looking forward to the next loop to start so that you can maximise the amount of time to dig into it. The planet design is really great too, everything has a location to explore and all of it is relevant to a part of the story. It's all thoughtfully placed and while you might not get the connection with something when you first encounter it, at some point you might find another clue which makes it nicely fall into place.

 

The 22 min loop

 

The loop structure really gave me a Majora's mask vibe, where the more you loop in, the more familiar and nice the world becomes. You get to a point where you end up missing the characters and the world once you have found the ending to the game. I'm already thinking about the game and it's themes way after finishing it.

 

Trophies

 

Okay, let's talk trophies - they were actually pretty random and somewhat throwaway. Less about the story and uncovering things and more skill based, quirky challenges to do within each loop. There were a couple that were genuinely frustrating though.

 

  

 

Hotshot - was an absolute pain in the butt. You basically have to fly parallel to a small structure orbiting the sun. The sun is one of the small handful of things that can kill you/end your run. So you have to literally fly parallel to this small structure, then eject yourself into a small airlock. It was pretty much this scene from a movie called Sunshine, minus the epic soundtrack with twice the amount of screaming.

 

Spoiler

 

 

The other trophy that really frustrated me was actually from the DLC -

 

 

Tubular - Ride the crest of a wave that occurs once per loop and which is located in the DLC area. It's probably the one trophy that gave me the most challenge. So many attempts. The real issue was that you had to reset the loop each time, wait until halfway through the new loop and try each time to get it. In the end it just felt like that surfing scene in Escape from L.A.

 

Spoiler

 

 

And that's it for Outer Wilds! I queued up my playlist for the next three games I'm going to be playing, two of which are related to my yearly goals. In hindsight, these are pretty much all horror related.

 

 

Not related to my goals in the slightest, but probably my first most anticipated game of 2023. Dead Space is one of my favourite horror games of all time, actually scratch that, one of my favourite games in general of all time. I'm a little weirded out by the way they changed the entire look of Isaac Clarke. The original look was so good because he was basically a guy with greying hair and tired eyes. I do get why they changed him and he now looks way way closer to the guy that voices him, which is a good thing, especially if they mo-capped him too. But it's just so strange to see him look so different to what he was originally drawn as. I'm sure it won't take long to adjust to it though. I have deliberately stayed away from all press and footage, bar some screenshots. I want to go into this and be surprised as much as possible about the new visuals, animations and audio. Can't wait for this!

 

 

Probably the second ever horror game I played back when it released, the first being the OG Resident Evil. I was waiting for a re-release of this classic on PS4/PS5, but with all the work Konami are doing with the franchise and no mention of treating the original games with care. I think I'm just going to play the HD version on PS3. I hear this Platinum can be quite challenge, but it's was a near-masterpiece for its time, so i'm definitely willing to take it on.

 

 

Potentially one of the greatest remakes of all time of one of the best horror games of all time. I'll be starting RE2 Remake as part of my platinum journey through the remakes - starting here, moving to RE3 and then landing firmly in my second most anticipated game of 2023 - Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Buff_Cupcake

[Buff_Cupcake]

Games & Goals updates

 

I made some nice progress since my last update, completing a trio of remakes. As a horror fan (in both movies, books and games) I'm eating well at the moment!

 

Platinum # 34 - Dead Space Remake

Spoiler

I'll be honest on this one, I went into it with some apprehension. But after the first 5 minutes that all melted away and I was firmly on the remake train. I loved every minute of it. I honestly think this is a benchmark remake up there with Resident Evil 2 Remake.

 

Even the facial changes to Isaac look more realistic compared to the original game, it still feels weird seeing him as he is. I know he is modeled on the actual voice actor, but I think the original grey haired, middle aged and tired looking Isaac fit way way more in line with the character and situation.

 

I really hope they give Dead Space 2 the same treatment, but i'm not sure about the third game. I think they would need to do quite a few re-writes and strip out the monetization gameplay mechanics that EA plopped in.

 

Platinum # 35 - Resident Evil 2 remake

Goal Progress: Platinum all modern/remade Resident Evil games (RE2 remake, RE3 remake, RE4 remake, RE7, RE Village [1/5 complete]

Spoiler

Arguably the best remake of all time in virtually every measurable way. As a huge fan of the original game, this was just a joy to play from start to finish. Slick and smooth gameplay and a really compelling pace that makes those S-Rank trophies really enticing and fun to go for.

 

I really hope we see the same level of depth and polish in the Resident Evil 4 remake. I'm deliberately staying away from all of the trailers and promo stuff on RE4 so i'm going in as unaware as possible.

 

Platinum # 36 - Resident Evil 3 remake

Goal Progress: Platinum all modern/remade Resident Evil games (RE2 remake, RE3 remake, RE4 remake, RE7, RE Village [2/5 complete]

Spoiler

I really enjoyed this, but it honestly felt like a bit of a rush-job. It didn't have the same amount of depth as the RE2 Remake and gave off DLC vibes more than anything else. It looks amazing and plays really well, but it didn't really have the soul that the RE2 remake had. 

 

Next up on my 2023 playlist:

 

 

Stepping into the shoes of a stoic Yakuza and an alternate WW2 timeline war hero. It's a weird combination, but it will make a nice change of pace from horror games before the RE4 remake drops.

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Buff_Cupcake