Metal music game! (& game info)

[esstee11]

Metalheads rejoice!  🤘

Described as a metal music album presented as a (shortish) story driven game, the first of it's kind, a great team of rockers/dev's spent 6 years working on it, and imo, it's bloody brilliant!
Yes the graphics are a bit dodgy in places, but what makes up for it is the artistic vision, there's a lot going on in the story, exciting, interesting, songs go with the story ofc, the female protagonist doing some duets with the.. roary metal bad guys etc kinda like a rock opera! And I've been having an absolute blast with it! 
There are a lot of time sensitive exploration/puzzle solving/decision making, loads of different paths to take the game however you wanna play. It's a little like a more exciting more action packed rocky version of Life is Strange in a way lol, I know female rockers will love this, and I'm sure plenty of rocker blokes will love it to 😁

Letting you know its currently on sale in PSN store for 3 more days till the 7th. (that's how i discovered it)

It deserves attention. Especially if you are a rocker. The content is excellent. It's just the graphics that are not high budget don't expect AAA graphic quality, but it's worth it for the content.

Plus there is a pretty good guide on steam: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2494599060
it's mostly there, just fill in a few holes. It's one of those games that felt hella satisfying when you accomplish a trophy.

 
I was able to mop up any missed trophies with this guide.
Just on my last trophy now, apparently the hardest one, 'Apex Legend'. you have 20 bullets.. to shoot 20 bottles.. in 28 seconds... should be fine... I've just tried about 10 times I'm sure I'll get it eventually!

Guesstimates with all but one trophy done:
4/10 difficutly?
5-10 hours to platinum?

Trailer:

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by esstee11

[djb5f]

Oh, I’m definitely interested, thanks for sharing!  Getting an Evanescence vibe from the trailer.

[esstee11]

16 minutes ago, djb5f said:

Oh, I’m definitely interested, thanks for sharing!  Getting an Evanescence vibe from the trailer.

Oh yea some of the tracks def have that vibe! Cuz it's the characters singing, sometimes the bad guys, sometimes the female protagonist, sometimes duets, just all good stuff though ?

The website here lists the featured artists just scroll down a bit, one of the guys is ex- evanescence or something  : https://ofbirdandcagegame.com/

 

Loved the music (but love the gameplay just as much too!), one of the levels i had to replay a few times while i was figuring the puzzles out, and you'd think i'd get tired of it the same track replaying, but it did not get old i never stopped loving it lol

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by esstee11

[esstee11]

And if anyone feels stuck with a trophy, feel free to just @  me I'm quite happy to let you know how to get them all ??

 

(Cuz there is just a couple of little hole/differences from the steam guide.)

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by esstee11

[Glorious Fury]

I enjoy metal alot, so I might give this a try at some point. Had no idea it existed as I'm fairly clueless on the indie game front, so thanks for sharing. Got some really talented musicians involved too from bands I enjoy, Bumblefoot is an absolute monster on guitar.

[esstee11]

On 6/4/2023 at 10:51 PM, Glorious Fury said:

I enjoy metal alot, so I might give this a try at some point. Had no idea it existed as I'm fairly clueless on the indie game front, so thanks for sharing. Got some really talented musicians involved too from bands I enjoy, Bumblefoot is an absolute monster on guitar.

 

Oh yea theres definate talent in there

 

Ikr I didnt know about the game either! So glad I found it in this recent sale by chance though! Shame it didnt get much coverage on release then as it seems the team put there heart and soul into making this

Edited October 22, 2023 by esstee11

[shakie19]

You should both give metal hellsinger a try!

[esstee11]

4 minutes ago, shakie19 said:

You should both give metal hellsinger a try!

 

Never heard of it, just looked up a trailer, nice a more metal DOOM ? I'll play it if I feel like blowing some shit up lol

 

Of Bird and Cage is more story, give yourself chance to get into it though it ramps up, doesnt disappoint

[Pray_4_the_End]

Seems like some metalhead played Life is Strange a couple of times and thought it would be dope mixing that gameplay with some metal music lol. Looks cool though, might end up checking it out at some point in the future.

[esstee11]

2 minutes ago, Pray_4_the_End said:

Seems like some metalhead played Life is Strange a couple of times and thought it would be dope mixing that gameplay with some metal music lol. Looks cool though, might end up checking it out at some point in the future.

 

Yep maybe and I'm not against that ??

Infact I'm more than here for it! I'm glad they did ?

[djb5f]

3 minutes ago, Pray_4_the_End said:

Seems like some metalhead played Life is Strange a couple of times and thought it would be dope mixing that gameplay with some metal music lol. Looks cool though, might end up checking it out at some point in the future.

It’s on sale now, I’m definitely getting.  

[esstee11]

Oh YES! I just got the last trophy Apex Legend on today's first attempt when i just turned my PS5 on with my morning coffee!! Oof I just made it by an absolute hair of the timer ! hahaa ?? Dam that was satisfying ?
So yea if I a silly old biyatch with terrible gun skills can get this, then any of you can too ?

Platinum Done!
I was worried it was going to be horrendous with only 1 platinum achiever,  but nah it's just that no one's playing it! Which is a travesty! 
 

(I don't know why that video is being fuzzy quality^)

 

 

I will give you a heads up though, that you do have to be a little patient, because it's good that there is scene select in this game, however ofc this trophy has to be at the end of a scene where the bad guy is telling his side of the story... You can just sit the controller down though until you get to the bottles bit, the time bars will auto get there whether you do anything or not. So I would set my phone timer for 5 mins 30 secs (that's how long you have to wait until you can try again.. which is the annoying part..) yea get on with with something else until you can have another go. Not toooo bad though like i said it took me about 10 go's last night and first try this morning, and I never really play shooty games so anyone with game aim experience I'm sure will be fine!

Apex Legend Tip: I Had turned look sensitivity down to the lowest to try get better precision, however that possibly makes it just a bit too slow to make it, i then changed look sensitivity to one notch up from the lowest and that is the setting i was on that i got the win ?? then just try to be fast and don't miss ?

So yea final opinion:
4/10 difficulty (just for a couple of trophies, rest is easier)
~ 10 hour platinum.

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by esstee11

[djb5f]

15 hours ago, esstee11 said:

And if anyone feels stuck with a trophy, feel free to just @  me I'm quite happy to let you know how to get them all

 

(Cuz there is just a couple of little hole/differences from the steam guide.)

 

Congrats on the plat!  ?

 

What were the differences from the Steam Guide?

[esstee11]

On 05/06/2023 at 2:43 PM, djb5f said:

Congrats on the plat!  

 

What were the differences from the Steam Guide?

Thanks! ?

Probably mainly the steam guide only lists 2 of the 3 collectable types, it lists all CD locations, all Vision locations, but not all the 'story item' locations for the Storyteller trophy. You can track your progress though so you know where to look, like end scene of each of the 3 acts, and also after the epilogue will tell you your collectable stats.

Epilogue end screen / total amount of collectables in the game:
CD's - displays how many you have out of the possible 16 total.
Story items - Displays how many you have out of possible 29 total.
Visions - Displays how many you have out of possible 5 total.

Broken down via acts - 

Act One end screen:
CD's - */8.
Story items - */12.
Visions - */2.

Act Two end screen:
CD's - */5.
Story items - */13.
Visions - */1.

Act Three end screen:
CD's - */3.
Story Items - */4.
Visions - */2.

To help you know where to look. Also each Act has 5 scenes (each scene about 5-10 mins long), all individual scenes accessible via level select. Also from level select on the left will show you a checklist of possible things you have done or could do in a scene. For example Scene 02 'Beauty and the Beast' I had an unchecked box that said 'open the vent' I thought yep i havent seen or done that, go back replay and sure enough there was a letter story item in the vent. So clues can be in the checklist. (another one is scene 14 'Father' checklist said write a note, you can't get to the pen in the RV glovebox unless you tie him up -by winning fight- so you can get past him, writing then reading that note i think was my last one to find!)
There are plenty scattered around in time sensitive explorations sections too, for example there about 5 in Ari's penthouse in Scene 02, some in all bedside cabinets, camera in the closet, stuff like that, and a few scattered around on the floor in the prologue etc. 
Also clues can be in the steam guide under seemingly unneeded extra achievements, steam has 50 achievements, we have 30 playstation trophies, so I was scooting through to what seemed relevant, however read the full steam guide as their extra steps can sometimes lead us fortunately to extra story item collectables, for example in Ari's penthouse taking a key from Ari's neck while he sleeps and opening his drug stash box in there is another story item ? so yea clues are there ? I didnt find any in disgustingly obscure dark corners etc, you'll find them around in normal places ?

And other misc trophies in steam guide, like 'home alone' it just says solve the puzzles. With no help, Ofc its kinda fun figuring puzzles out so it's not a big deal, but I would laugh going why have I lost 30 mins looking for a dam hammer in all obscure dark corners of every room... when all along it was just hanging on the wall like a tool rack or something which should have been obvious but I was being dumb lol silly little things like that ?
 I think you'll all be fine playing this and getting the trophies but it was just if anyone did feel stuck they can just ask  

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by esstee11

[djb5f]

26 minutes ago, esstee11 said:

Thanks! 

Probably mainly the steam guide only lists 2 of the 3 collectable types, it lists all CD locations, all Vision locations, but not all the 'story item' locations for the Storyteller trophy. You can track your progress though so you know where to look, like end scene of each of the 3 acts, and also after the epilogue will tell you your collectable stats.

Epilogue end screen / total amount of collectables in the game:
CD's - displays how many you have out of the possible 16 total.
Story items - Displays how many you have out of possible 29 total.
Visions - Displays how many you have out of possible 5 total.

Broken down via acts - 

Act One end screen:
CD's - */8.
Story items - */12.
Visions - */2.

Act Two end screen:
CD's - */5.
Story items - */13.
Visions - */1.

Act Three end screen:
CD's - */3.
Story Items - */4.
Visions - */2.

To help you know where to look. Also each Act has 5 scenes (each scene about 5-10 mins long), all individual scenes accessible via level select. Also from level select on the left will show you a checklist of possible things you have done or could do in a scene. For example Scene 02 'Beauty and the Beast' I had an unchecked box that said 'open the vent' I thought yep i havent seen or done that, go back replay and sure enough there was a letter story item in the vent. So clues can be in the checklist. (another one is scene 14 'Father' checklist said write a note, you can't get to the pen in the RV glovebox unless you tie him up so you can get past him, writing then reading that note i think was my last one to find!)
There are plenty scattered around in time sensitive explorations sections too, for example there about 5 in Ari's penthouse in Scene 02, some in all bedside cabinets, camera in the closet, stuff like that, and a few scattered around on the floor in the prologue etc. 
Instead of being vague I might replay the game on a guest account and jot down where exactly the ones are i found

And other misc trophies in steam guide, like 'home alone' it just says solve the puzzles. With no help, Ofc its kinda fun figuring puzzles out so it's not a big deal, but I would laugh going why have I lost 30 mins looking for a dam hammer in all obscure dark corners of every room... when all along it was just hanging on the wall like men do like a tool rack or something lol silly little things like that 
 I think you'll all be fine playing this and getting the trophies but it was just if anyone did feel stuck they can just ask  

 

Wow, thanks so much for the detail!  You rock!!  ?

 

See what I did there ? 

[Cobbsquatch]

Brilliant game, fantastic music. Just bangers all the way through. Some graphical problems, controls aint great, gameplay isn't much, but having a lot of fun with it so far. Just wish there was a more comprehensive guide for the Storyteller trophy, but I'm nearly there.

[dieselmanchild]

Sounds like an interesting game. Thanks for the recommendation! Tbh I’m not even a huge metal head but I had an absolute blast with some heavy metal themed games like Doom, Valfaris, and Slain: Back From Hell. I’m always interested in checking out something with a similar vibe. This one also looks to have that Life is Strange vibe too which is cool.

[Cobbsquatch]

Apex Predator is rough.. The hitboxes aren't great and the movement isn't either and having to wait 5ish minutes between each try isn't helping.

[Cobbsquatch]

Right.. I dunno what happened, but Storyteller popped when I was at 27/29 I believe.. Not sure why.

 

And Apex Predator popped when I did 18 of 20 and ran out of time? .. Not sure why. But hey. Platinum Earner No.3 Recommend the game, especially for metalheads.

[esstee11]

@Cobbsquatch you got the plat congrats! ?

7 hours that's a fast time, nice, did you practice on an alt before or something or is that just your start to finish time?

 

Yea a couple my trophies unlocked a little early too, like the all endings (4) unlocked for me when I reached 3 endings.. but i still carried on to unlock the 4th ending cuz i really wanted to see what would happen lol cuz some of those endings were crazy and great! 

I just see some trophies unlocking early as a bonus so that's fine haha ?

 

Also yea I was sure I hit the bottles sometimes and they'd still be standing, I didnt know if it was me or the hit boxes, so yea it's a little rough but as your own time shows it still isnt tooo bad just be a little patient. I wouldn't of been shooting bottles for any more than like 2 hours.

[esstee11]

My storyteller collectable trophy def unlocked early too, I'm sure I found some in the 5 visions and the 4 epilogues and wondered if they counted as extra's? As collectables stats screen is before credits, and epilogues are after the credits.. who knows? But any collectable trophy unlocking early in any game is a good thing, especially a game with no definitive list of said collectables ?? 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by esstee11

[Cobbsquatch]

7 hours ago, esstee11 said:

@Cobbsquatch you got the plat congrats!

7 hours that's a fast time, nice, did you practice on an alt before or something or is that just your start to finish time?

 

Yea a couple my trophies unlocked a little early too, like the all endings (4) unlocked for me when I reached 3 endings.. but i still carried on to unlock the 4th ending cuz i really wanted to see what would happen lol cuz some of those endings were crazy and great! 

I just see some trophies unlocking early as a bonus so that's fine haha 

 

Also yea I was sure I hit the bottles sometimes and they'd still be standing, I didnt know if it was me or the hit boxes, so yea it's a little rough but as your own time shows it still isnt tooo bad just be a little patient. I wouldn't of been shooting bottles for any more than like 2 hours.

 First time playthrough through it, I'm naturally pretty curious in games so like exploring every corner, so I found most collectables before my clean up, the steam guide helped and apart from that wire for chapter 10? I found the game pretty easy overall  

 

I also don't have a life so I can just sit on a game for 7 hours lmao

[esstee11]

@Cobbsquatch The wire lol, just innocently sat on a table in the office ? that is my hammer incident all over again lol.

 

Someone else has come in to be the 4th plat achiever! ? I'm just glad some people are finally playing the game ??

[Cobbsquatch]

7 hours ago, esstee11 said:

@Cobbsquatch The wire lol, just innocently sat on a table in the office ? that is my hammer incident all over again lol.

 

Someone else has come in to be the 4th plat achiever! I'm just glad some people are finally playing the game

I honestly checked that office like 7 times too, I'm an actual idiot lmao