CelestialRequiem Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 20 hours ago, ElfenLied2003 said: oh man congrats on the 50th platinum friend looking good Thank you very much! 20 hours ago, Jeanolt said: You have to make another difficulty scale for humans, like I played the demo once and it's tough lol Congrats on the 50th platinum! Back on the Wii U or on PS4? The game is pretty tough... it's got a lot going into it mechanically, and I don't even think infinite hours with a demo would be enough to grasp the game, lol. Thank you, friend. 8 hours ago, jonesey46 said: Man, this is such a good feeling! Replaying a great game with no overhanging goals, no guides to look at, no optimisations to work out, just play the game at your own pace and chill the F out. Great review friend! Oh man, it was great. And I'm sure I'll be returning to it soon, knowing I've done everything. I do want to get Pure Platinum in all operations on the hardest difficulty some day. I really appreciate the kind words, man. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsoleteWoman Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) On 5/6/2024 at 1:48 PM, CelestialRequiem said: Once the platinum popped, the first thing that struck me was "I'm free to replay this game, with no trophy obligation." So I did. I replayed Operation 101, without my bullshit, and had a blast. I feel great knowing that whenever I have the itch to play this immaculate game, there are no more trophies for me to earn. Oh man, I feel this. I've had it both ways: one on hand, there are games I've replayed on Playstation that I originally played on Xbox because I wanted to get the achievements/trophies again. But I'm also currently playing FF7 Rebirth, and I'm almost done with all the minigames and keep thinking "man, I can't wait to replay this and enjoy the story without having to worry about some of these damn minigames" lol Congrats on the trophy by the way! Edited May 7 by ObsoleteWoman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelestialRequiem Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 I'm a little behind on project closures right now, only because it is very unusual to earn multiple platinums for me in one day. I had started a bunch of games throughout the past 8 months and had the opportunity to close some out. I'll be posting them eventually, just going to space them out a bit as it's multiple reviews I need to write. Plus I'm starting a new game today, which I'll post about later. 16 hours ago, ObsoleteWoman said: Oh man, I feel this. I've had it both ways: one on hand, there are games I've replayed on Playstation that I originally played on Xbox because I wanted to get the achievements/trophies again. But I'm also currently playing FF7 Rebirth, and I'm almost done with all the minigames and keep thinking "man, I can't wait to replay this and enjoy the story without having to worry about some of these damn minigames" lol Congrats on the trophy by the way! Hey, friend -- great to see you here! I still think about how we knew each other from Discord not realizing we're both on PSNP, lol. Yeah... that's definitely what I experienced here. Good luck with Rebirth! I've heard it's a nightmare. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsoleteWoman Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 4 minutes ago, CelestialRequiem said: Hey, friend -- great to see you here! I still think about how we knew each other from Discord not realizing we're both on PSNP, lol. Yeah... that's definitely what I experienced here. Good luck with Rebirth! I've heard it's a nightmare. I mostly just casually trophy hunt (trophy hunt but move on before getting the platinum and sometimes come back later lol) but I still enjoy this site even if I'm not a hardcore trophy hunter like you and others! The weirdest coincidence was finding out that not only does Ruhyah live in my city, but now he attends the school I work at! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 8 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 8 Project Title: Demon's Souls (NA) Project Start Date: 05/08/2024 Project Deadline: 06/01/2024 Platform: PS3 Objective: Pursuing the platinum Risk Analysis: Servers are offline, though everything can be achieved offline anyway. The game's difficulty isn't a concern given personal familiarity of Soulsborne titles. General Information: Hidetaka Miyazaki's third directed title, and first "Souls" game in the Soulsborne sub-genre. So, I actually imported this game from Asia way back in '09. FromSoftware has been a big part of my gaming history, starting with the original Armored Core on the PS1. A major standout with FromSoft for me was Evergrace on the PS2. A very unique RPG with an incredibly strange (but good) OST. Even though my obsession with gaming is with PlatinumGames, I do want to play as many FromSoft games as I possibly have available to me. Back when I did import the game, I thought it was even weirder than their other RPGs. With very little information on this game in 2009 until it released in the West, it took me quite some time to get through the game. Anyway, I haven't played this game since 2015, and with negative interest in the remake on PS5, I'm really excited to revisit Demon's Souls and see how I like it compared to my favorites from Miyazaki (Dark Souls OG, Bloodborne). 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonesey46 Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Can I ask why you aren't interested in the Demon's Souls remake? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 8 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 8 (edited) 43 minutes ago, jonesey46 said: Can I ask why you aren't interested in the Demon's Souls remake? Sure! Just to preface my feelings, I want to make sure it's understood that I do find the remake of Demon's Souls inherently impressive. Its graphics and performance are definitely a real marvel, even nearly four years later. Bluepoint is a remarkable studio that has some of the strongest grasps on tech in our industry. I've been a fan of their ports/remasters for a long time -- and I am grateful for bringing so many excellent games to the present at the time of their release. They even really elevated my appreciation of the Uncharted series, given how great those ports were. Not even really a fan of Uncharted myself, but with improved load-times, and 60fps, I was able to have a great time with the trilogy back when it released on PS4. However, those are ports. The original experience, just enhanced with modern tech. The voice acting, visuals, art-style(s), etc. -- all of those remained intact. With Demon's Souls, it's a total remake and a total deviation of what I really loved about Demon's Souls with its art-style, music, atmosphere, and other artistic changes. It's not to say that they're bad, because obviously they aren't. They're impressive -- and to many people, they're probably superior. For me, I want the original game, just enhanced. Back before the game was announced, it was rumored that the game was just getting a remaster on PS4. That, ideally, is what I would have wanted. My original beloved game, just with an enhanced resolution and FPS. It's sort of like the MGS3 remake that's on the way. I don't need the remake, when I have the Bluepoint port on PS5. I'm satiated. I want replayability of my games in a stronger form, not for them to be replaced outright. I know that this ideal may not be totally common and sort of unique to how I feel. The one thing I will give Demon's Souls is that despite how I feel about its aesthetics, it's obviously incredibly faithful gameplay wise. That I absolutely appreciate. It isn't like the Resident Evil "remakes" where they are just re-imaginings. Those are totally different games, which is interesting, but I'd prefer just having the original games accessible to make for platforms that are newer than the PS3/PS Vita. Ideally, it'd be nice to have both, like what Konami is doing with MGS3. EDIT: I will say, there are some exceptions to the rule. Like the NieR Replicant remake. That keeps the original gameplay, emulates the original music and art-style well, and has additional content. That might be one of the best remake examples I can think of, and I'm eager to finally play it. Edited May 8 by CelestialRequiem 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 10 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 10 Project Title: #51 - Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Initial Start Date: 05/21/2023 Project Closure: 05/07/2024 Platform: PS4 Personal Difficulty: ★★✩✩✩ Enjoyment: ★✩✩✩✩ Project Conclusion: Impossible to Recommend Man. Hopefully this will be the only time that I'm this negative about a game, because I really don't have much to say. Let's get the good out of the way. I'll state now that I like the original game a lot, but my favorite entry in this series is Marvel UItimate Alliance 3: The Black Order on the Switch. This was my first time playing MUA2 -- and if I had known how abysmal I would have found the game, I wouldn't have started it; UR plat be damned. Don't worry! This won't take long. If you're really into Marvel, this game probably is really enticing. In particular, this game's story line is based on the Civil War story form the comics. Even though it has fewer playable characters compared to the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Though the game has long been delisted and was only available digitally on PS4, the online mode is perfectly operational and works well, unlike the first game. Like the original MUA, this game is like a top-down Beat-'Em-Up just like the original. I've heard that this series has some soft similarities to Diablo if that were to interest anyone. Oh right, the good parts about the game... Roster of Marvel heroes Co-op is fully operational Great, that's out of the way. Usually, I'm a "Less is more" sort of person. I find that a lot of games or media could do with reducing content and instead refine what's there. Given this game is comically short compared to the original game, less is indeed less here. You're working about 5 IIRC fewer characters than the original title, with half of the game's duration. Annoyingly, the collectibles in this game are heinous and pretty boring. Between Marvel trivia, optional dialogue, and these "Boosts" items that you need to collect, the monotony builds up fast. If anyone caught the initial start date, I WAS planning on platting this game when I started it; but it was so boring, that the idea of powering on my PS5 for a game that I was NOT enjoying disgusted me enough to partake in other games/other hobbies. I told myself "I'll finish this game after TW101" just so I could justify putting it off. Anyway, sorry. I'm pretty good at complaining; complete with hyperbole and sensationalism, even if I don't like to. I'll try to refrain from that as much as I can and explain what I disliked about the game. The moment-to-moment gameplay isn't that different from the original game. The game introduces a new element called "Fusions" where you're able to do powerful attacks. These are put into three categories: Guided Targeted Clearing Guided is where you're able to control the attack for a duration. Targeted, it's a powerful attack against a singular target (pretty good for boss fights). Clearing is like a large AoE attack to destroy mobs. On the surface, even with this new gameplay element, weaker roster and shorter duration, this doesn't mean it's a bad game compared to the original, necessarily. It's just a diluted experience compared to the original game. If someone were to crave more MUA, then I guess on the PlayStation side, this is the best you can do, given that MUA3 is unlikely to leave Nintendo platforms. However, with a duller game, and a more monotonous plat, my feelings toward it are pretty sour. With these Fusions, you need to do each one with every possible pairing of the base-game heroes. I saved this for last as it takes a couple of hours, even with the fastest possible method -- but it's hard to believe that anyone got this trophy organically. More annoying than that, are the Boosts I had mentioned earlier. They can vary from collectibles on the level, leveling up characters/unlocking costumes, as well optional dialogue throughout the game. You need to collect 200 of these things, so it's a high volume of bullshit. Bouncing back and forth in level select to not involve myself in combat, the best part of the game, despite being weaker than the original, was sort of agonizing. It's a good thing that MS Excel is one of my favorite programs, because seeing the visual progress to keep track of everything helped reduce the mental terrorism that this game inflicted (sorry, needed to sneak that in there). Even the level design compared to the original is really dull. In the original game, it really capitalized how varied Marvel can be -- from going to Atlantis (and being able to breathe underwater, somehow), being on a space-ship, doing weird shit in Canada -- what the game lacked in technical gameplay, really made up for it with the variety of everything else. I'll save more of my thoughts for the eventual write-up on that game, but please know that for me liking two entries out a trilogy, is pretty good, in my opinion. In short, if a diluted version of the original game is enticing somehow, look into acquiring this somehow, I guess. But the platinum is not organic to how most people would play this game. Maybe that's true for a majority of trophy lists, but it hurts more when the game is inadequate. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 11 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 11 (edited) Project Title: Call of Duty: Black Ops III Project Start Date: 05/11/2024 Project Deadline: TBD (gonna take a while...) Platform: PS4 Objective: Getting the MP done + chipping away at the Zombies/DLC trophies Risk Analysis: Weird reports regarding this game's multiplayer. Something about the online being compromised on PC. IDK, I still want to do it -- and I don't think the game is going anywhere anytime soon. Regardless, I'll enjoy my time with the multiplayer and getting annihilated. General Information: This is one of the few CoD titles I'm interested in, and I was an avid CoD player back on the Xbox 360 days. I'm excited for a CoD title that's really challenging and a huge investment. My "last" CoD was Modern Warfare 3 on 360 and PS3, though I've sort of always paid attention to the series to see if I'd ever return for an entry. I did get the remastered version of Modern Warfare, since that was my first Call of Duty, and I got the 1000G back on Xbox 360. I also did platinum Black Ops 1 back on PS3 on my American account, but I'm wanting something I haven't experienced before. I'm sure this will be an open project for like a year or something, lol. __________________________________________________ Project Title: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Project Start Date: 05/12/2024 Project Deadline: 06/12/2024 Platform: PS4 Objective: Complete the game and have it be my next platinum. Risk Analysis: None. Unless the RNG wants to really screw me. General Information: This is one of the few CoD titles I'm interested in, and I was an avid CoD player back on the Xbox 360 days. I'm excited for a CoD title that's really challenging and a huge investment. I platinum'd the original NieR on PS3 back in 2015 on my American account. Funny how the topics of remakes came into dicussion -- because to me, it seems clear that this remake would provide a superior experience to the original game. Not only with 1:1 gameplay, but with additional content, improved framerate, and re-orchestrated OST. This was a really special game for me nearly 10 years ago. I am hoping Yoko Taro comes back for another RPG, someday. Edited May 13 by CelestialRequiem New Project Initiation 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 15 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 15 (edited) Project Title: #52 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine Initial Start Date: 02/16/2024 Project Closure: 05/07/2024 Platform: PS3 Personal Difficulty: ★★✩✩✩ Enjoyment: ★★★✩✩ Project Conclusion: Recommended So, we've returned to Marvel once again. I probably should have mentioned this in my review for MUA2, but I'm not really a Marvel or comic book fan of any sort. The closest I get to that realm is my love for manga. That being said, I don't discriminate against licenses at any level when it comes to gaming. As long as it's fun, it could be any license/property, regardless of my personal tenure with it. Anyway, I knew what to expect with this game as I played it when it released. More specifically, I downloaded the demo on Xbox 360, and then pleaded with my dad to let me rent it from Blockbuster, as even he knew that paying full price for a movie tie-in game was out of the question -- especially as he took me to see the movie when it released. That film has pretty much largely left my brain (which, by the sounds of things, it seems like I should be grateful for), so I don't know what's accurate here and what isn't. Wolverine is an action game very similar to something like classic God of War. When it comes to this genre, I have a high bar for what I would consider to be "good" and a low bar for what can be considered "fun". Because this is in the genre that I love the most, I can enjoy the more simple entries like the aforementioned God of War, or the incredibly technical like Bayonetta. This is more toward the former than the latter in terms of execution and what kind of game it is, but honestly, the intent is clear with this game. It isn't meant to satiate those looking for a complex combat system -- this game is here because you want to be Wolverine and comically annihilate your enemies. Honestly, I think this game really usurps the games it's trying to emulate. Raven Software being the developer is a peculiar choice, given their association with shooters. They developed the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance title (the good one, don't worry -- when I revisit that game, I promise I'll be speaking favorably about that game) though this doesn't play anything like MUA. From what's been reported, Raven sought out to make a Wolverine game after MUA, as they really liked the character. Curiously, this game also did not start off as a movie tie-in game. Raven was already working on a Wolverine game for Activision -- but fate intercepted, and allowed it to become a game related to the upcoming movie. This is an M-rated title for a PG-13 movie, so I think we got lucky with being blessed with gore and dismemberment. Even though I'm a fair weather Wolverine fan, I at least know that they did playing as him justice with this game -- something I'm skeptical that Insomniac will be able to pull off based on the leaked game footage of the PS5 Wolverine game (I won't be talking about the upcoming game and its contents further -- it'd be unfair to spoil the surprise of what that game is like for people who are avoiding all content of it, especially when it came from a data breach). Sorry for a bit of an exposition there with the game's development story. I found this video over a year ago when I was looking to return to the game. If this game's history somehow interests you like it did for me, I recommend this as a watch when you need some background noise: ...Right, sorry, back to the game. Wolverine is structured very similarly to God of War even beyond its moment-to-moment gameplay. You'll have some light puzzle solving throughout the game, whilst you're tearing people apart. What makes the game particularly fun are Wolverine's mobility and combat options. Something unique to this game that I don't see in the genre much, is a specific input for closing the distance between you and an enemy. The closest thing I can think of is in DmC when you have the ability to yank enemies toward you, or pull yourself toward them. More specifically, Wolverine lunges through a powerful jump with his claws out first, penetrating them into the enemy upon landing. This works excellently as a way to do damage, as well as stun an enemy. You can't do this to everything, of course -- but you can do it to pretty much any basic-bitch dude. Wolverine does something in games that I think gets a little overlooked, which is violence. Obviously a highlight of the game is its barbarity, but what purpose it serves mechanically. Ninja Gaiden and Wolverine are really good examples of what this mechanic. Striking an enemy and seeing a lot of blood come out of them isn't just meant to satisfy a player's blood-lust -- but it also signifies contact. Specific attacks can yield an enemy basically being blended by Wolverine. At the surface level, it's amusing, seeing someone have all limbs and their head totally divorced from their body; but it's a bit deeper than that, I think. The enemy is no more, and it's time to focus on other enemies. Same thing goes for if you're able to get an enemy to blow its head off with its own shotgun. Sure, it is REALLY funny, and the game always made me laugh whenever I played it; but it's Raven trying to indicate that you can focus on other aspects of the fight. Ninja Gaiden handles this a bit better, but I'll go into that another time. ...But you'll also have moments like this: All right, yeah. Maybe a lot of it is for comedy, and the mechanical aspect of it may just be ancillary; but this scene in particular is what REALLY sold me from the demo when I was a kid. I mean, wow. I know violence in games is used as political fodder for my fellow Americans here, but I think even our own Jurassic politicians knew that this is just hilarious, and isn't harming anyone. Combat upgrades and new abilities that you possess are present, of course. And they do well to extend the nature of this game and help diversify what is your basically a genocide throughout this game. You aren't really helping people much, beyond giving them to God sooner than they expected. ...And this is something I've talked about with my friend that I've always found amusing, and seems to be present in every super hero/comic book game. These basic enemies think they're going to be the ones to stop YOU? It's just such a hilarious concept to me. No doubt that these guys have heard that Wolverine butchered all of their friends and comrades. But yep, you'll stop him. For sure. Like the goons throughout the Spider-Man games. YOU'LL stop me? Right. Something that the game does have some weakness with are the boss fights. Every time I ran into one, I was ready to go back to fighting normal enemies. Normally in action games, bosses are supposed to be the past part of the level -- and allow you to really be tested with what you've learned. Sure, this game definitely does that -- but with great monotony. Dodge rocks thrown at you, lunge to a specific part of the body of this rock monster, etc. It seems like with games like these, their combat engines are great for multiple enemies on the screen, but get boring when it's time for a boss. That's not to say all bosses are like that -- because Sabertooth in this game is a really cool fight; but for once, I'm grateful that an action game like Wolverine didn't have a boss rush (one of my favorite elements in games when it actually does happen). I don't want to spend too much time on what I didn't like about the game, so I'll itemize them: Performance -This game is rough on PS3. Because it runs on Unreal Engine 3, you'll have a lot of screen-tearing, low FPS drops, and long loading times Duration -Many games could stand to be shorter, in my opinion. It's not about getting to as many games as I can, but refining what you have. Wolverine is almost 10 hours long, which is pretty incredible for a movie game, but unless your mechanics are deep enough to justify that sort of length (like The Wonderful 101), then this game could have definitely been more condensed Price of Entry -As everyone here probably knows, the retro game market is totally fucked. Completely molested by the worst possible people, shit that used to be accessible and cheap is now hard to come by. I paid $60 USD for my copy, when copies for the game are going for over $100 USD. Even with what I paid, it's still unacceptable -- and makes it hard to recommend the game. Worth noting that my last point isn't really a dig at the game itself, just the situation this game is in. A fun action game that is now way more than it's worth. If you like action games like this, or are a Wolverine fan, I'm "recommending" the game under the context that once you get your hands on it, it's fun. But because there was no digital version of the game, you can't even bum it off of a friend who has it on their account. You have to buy the disc. In my case, yes, $60 was worth it to relive the game, and get the platinum, since nostalgia is my most consumed recreational drug [citation needed]. I'll be lending the game to a friend in the future, only because I don't want this game to be so inaccessible to people. I guess I'm in a position to even sell it twice the amount of what I got it for, but despite me likely not ever going to return to it now that I've had my fill, it's really hard for me conceptually to part with the game. It'll only get rarer over time, and fewer people will play it. That's really shitty for the average dude who's looking to finally give this game a shot. I'd rather my copy get played by people who want to play it, in some manner. If the disc gives at any point, then it was better to have Wolverine shared than for it to go to some troglodyte's "collection" just collecting dust. ...Right, sorry, I covered more topics than I had intended, but with the historical elements of Wolverine, and where the gaming market is today, I felt like it was needed to touch on them. Yes, the game is worth playing, in my opinion. Just know what you're getting into for what price you may pay. Edited May 26 by CelestialRequiem 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Good shit, my dude! 19 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: More specifically, I downloaded the demo on Xbox 360, and then pleaded with my dad to let me rent it from Blockbuster, I'ma stop you right there and old man rant about how "these kids just don't know." We were both there though and already know all the words, so I'll stop typing and just say the rant out loud to spare anyone reading this the trouble. 19 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: Dude, now I wanna play it🤣🤣🤣 Did you ever see that movie Shoot Em Up? That clip reminds me of the levels of absurdity that one went to... dude literally delivers a baby and shoots the umbilical cord, like what the fuck😂 19 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: ...And this is something I've talked about with my friend that I've always found amusing, and seems to be present in every super hero/comic book game. These basic enemies think they're going to be the ones to stop YOU? It's just such a hilarious concept to me. No doubt that these guys have heard that Wolverine butchered all of their friends and comrades. But yep, you'll stop him. For sure. Like the goons throughout the Spider-Man games. YOU'LL stop me? Right. Hahaha yeah this has always been a good laugh - surely you'd think that the crumpled bodies of all your peers that you've presumably trained with for moments like these would be enough to make somebody like "Ayo I'm out." Sleeping Dogs aaalllmmoooost did this, with how enemies would stop in their tracks and wince when you'd snap somebody's arm or leg, but then they'd go right back into Nah, I Totally Got This mode. 19 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: Performance -This game is rough on PS3. Because it runs on Unreal Engine 3, you'll have a lot of screen-tearing, low FPS drops, and long loading times Duration -Many games could stand to be shorter, in my opinion. It's not about getting to as many games as I can, but refining what you have. Wolverine is almost 10 hours long, which is pretty incredible for a movie game, but unless your mechanics are deep enough to justify that sort of length (like The Wonderful 101), then this game could have definitely been more condensed Price of Entry -As everyone here probably knows, the retro game market is totally fucked. Completely molested by the worst possible people, shit that used to be accessible and cheap is now hard to come by. I paid $60 USD for my copy, when copies for the game are going for over $100 USD. Even with what I paid, it's still unacceptable -- and makes it hard to recommend the game. Thank you, you're real af for adding this! A very sobering finish, reminding me that I have plenty of super hero gaming to tend to in my life😂 Again, great work! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelestialRequiem Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 3 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: I'ma stop you right there and old man rant about how "these kids just don't know." We were both there though and already know all the words, so I'll stop typing and just say the rant out loud to spare anyone reading this the trouble. Yeah man, honestly. This will be one of our first conversions to being a "boomer" to our future adolescents. Blockbuster was such a big part of American culture. For my family in particular, we'd always get one film that was for everyone to watch, one film for my folks, and one video game for me. This occurred nearly every Friday -- and was always so exciting. Before my relocation to Japan, I visited the last Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon. I know it's largely transformed since 2018, but it WAS the exact experience I remembered. Complete with your own membership card. It's going to be a really sad day when that one closes its doors for good. 3 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Dude, now I wanna play it🤣🤣🤣 Did you ever see that movie Shoot Em Up? That clip reminds me of the levels of absurdity that one went to... dude literally delivers a baby and shoots the umbilical cord, like what the fuck😂 "Eat your vegetables": That movie was really insane. Again, another Blockbuster film my dad rented that I ended up watching. Hadn't thought about this film in so long -- but may need to rewatch it now. It's not even my kind of film, but I know I'm going to really dig its absurdity. I vaguely recall the scene you mentioned happening after this one, so I'm eager to see it for myself. 3 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Hahaha yeah this has always been a good laugh - surely you'd think that the crumpled bodies of all your peers that you've presumably trained with for moments like these would be enough to make somebody like "Ayo I'm out." Sleeping Dogs aaalllmmoooost did this, with how enemies would stop in their tracks and wince when you'd snap somebody's arm or leg, but then they'd go right back into Nah, I Totally Got This mode. Haven't played Sleeping Dogs yet, but did you play the True Crime series? I had a bunch of those as a kid -- and I know Sleeping Dogs sort of started from that series. Maybe I should give it a shot since I have great fondness for True Crime. That is hilarious, though -- all of these peons having delusions of grandeur, lmfao. 3 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Thank you, you're real af for adding this! A very sobering finish, reminding me that I have plenty of super hero gaming to tend to in my life😂 Again, great work! Of course! It's a flawed product, even if I think it's worth experiencing. However, we only have a finite amount of time. You can and will get better experiences than Wolverine that are also less expensive. If I hadn't already had rapport with the title, it's likely that I would have sort of shrugged it off. Thank you so much, man. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEI2EK Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Just chiming in to say, play Sleeping Dogs. I didn’t expect much from it when it came out in 2012 and my friend gave me his steam code he got with his graphics card, but it became one of my favorite games. Highly quotable, fun combat, great characters. Shame there will be no sequel ever. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 2 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: "Eat your vegetables": That movie was really insane. Again, another Blockbuster film my dad rented that I ended up watching. Hadn't thought about this film in so long -- but may need to rewatch it now. It's not even my kind of film, but I know I'm going to really dig its absurdity. I vaguely recall the scene you mentioned happening after this one, so I'm eager to see it for myself. Aaaaaahahahahahahaha🤣🤣🤣 I forgot, he had a thing for carrots. I remember him slipping one into a pistol's trigger guard and shooting people with it for whatever dumb reason... yeah I gotta slap that one on again😂😂😂 2 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: Haven't played Sleeping Dogs yet, but did you play the True Crime series? I had a bunch of those as a kid -- and I know Sleeping Dogs sort of started from that series. Maybe I should give it a shot since I have great fondness for True Crime. That is hilarious, though -- all of these peons having delusions of grandeur, lmfao. I have not! I never did play a True Crime game, I just know that those serve as Sleeping Dogs' origin (as you mentioned). Dynasty Warriors has the same thing... "He killed 2,000 of our soldiers, and almost all of our generals!! I'll bet the three of us could take him thou-AAAUUUGGGHHH!!" 1 hour ago, DEI2EK said: Just chiming in to say, play Sleeping Dogs. I didn’t expect much from it when it came out in 2012 and my friend gave me his steam code he got with his graphics card, but it became one of my favorite games. Highly quotable, fun combat, great characters. Shame there will be no sequel ever. 100% facts! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 26 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 26 Project Title: #53 - Dante's Inferno Initial Start Date: 09/06/2023 Project Closure: 05/07/2024 Platform: PS3 Personal Difficulty: ★★✩✩✩ Enjoyment: ★★★✩✩ Project Conclusion: Recommended* Back to the action genre once more, we have a title that's a little less exciting, though still worth experiencing. I have a strange history with Dante's Inferno, which I'll touch up on toward the end of the review. Developed by the now defunct Visceral Games, this is one of their more unoriginal works. For good or for bad is up to the player, but given there was only one two more classic God of War games after this one, it's safe to say the market sort of had its fill of titles such as this one. Formerly known as EA Redwood Shores, Visceral started off as a support studio, working its way into developing original titles, and then coming full-circle and providing development assistance toward the end of the studio's life. Personally, I thought Visceral's greatest output were the Dead Space games, which I certainly will cover in the future. However, I did like this title from them. I originally got this game for my Xbox 360. I think for a lot of people, the real novelty of this game was that Xbox players finally had their own God of War experience. Even during the rough early years of the PS3, I remember my friend group talking about this game -- and wondering if there would be other clones of Sony games available on Xbox 360. Even though I had access to a PS3, me sort of junior analyzing this game at 16 years old upon its release, made me think Xbox would be getting its own God of War series. Spoilers: Spoiler It didn't happen. Indeed, this game really must not have done well. Despite Visceral gaining a lot of popularity due to Dead Space, this game wasn't flying off of the shelves. To call Dante's Inferno a clone/ripoff of God of War would certainly be putting it delicately. If you've played the older God of War games from 2005-2013, this is going to immediately feel comfortable. It sort of apes everything, from the camera angles, combat, controls (including using the right thumb-stick to dodge), bosses, and a morally corrupt protagonist. It's widely known that the book is an adaptation of The Divine Comedy, something I haven't read yet, though admittedly don't have much interest in, as it isn't my sort of fiction -- once more using religion as its basis for its story. Platforming and puzzles are also comparable to God of War. Including "chests" that you open for health, magic, and upgrade points. Even the game's physics and weird gravity for the playable character seems to be 1:1 -- at least going by memory. The story itself is whatever. You "kill" Death at the start, (I knew I was in for some stupid bullshit when this happened, so I'm glad that the game was telegraphing to not take it seriously) and descend to Hell because you yourself were killed at the start of the game. I don't know anyone who is realistically playing games like this to be engrossed by a game's narrative. Frustratingly, I couldn't skip all of the cut scenes, so they were constantly getting in the way of my enjoyment. One unique aspect about the game is having the agency to redeem or condemn souls within Hell. Reading these were a cool touch to the game, as some of them are barbaric, while others are either understandable, or relatable, due to humanity's imperfect nature. ...Except for this loser, though. Plowed my scythe deep into this coward's skull. Of course, I was either "Punishing" or "Absolving" for the sake of trophies, But, I did permit myself sending this dude to eternal damnation twice per my second playthrough. You upgrade Dante through "Holy" and "Unholy" points. The former is focused on divine magic, and usually related to a crucifix that Dante possesses -- and the later are all upgrades toward your scythe. Despite the game emulating God of War as much as possible, I kind of prefer it, even if dumb reasons. For one, I LOVE scythes in games. I know they sort of started as a gardening tool, but when action games can get the satisfaction right by carving and gathering multiple enemies with one swipe, it's a big win for me. And the scythe actually has some sick moves too, thanks to its ability to transform. Such as a fast jabbing attack that can be performed mid-air, or the ability to hook/grapple specific enemies. All of the tools that you unlock, and with one of my favorite game-isms, New Game +, it does make the combat for this style of game pretty damn fun to play. Replayability sort of ends there in the base game. Action games like these are incredibly front-loaded in terms of enjoyment. With basic combat, basic enemy design, and no chapter select-- you're left with sort of starting the game from the beginning with no diversity. Sure, you can throw the game on higher difficulties; but the game doesn't remix itself in any meaningful way. It's one of those games where you can take care of its platinum in a weekend, and likely never revisit. Although I love games like these, there's no doubt that the genre has struggled to emphasize returning to them, unless you're something like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. Boss fights in the game are classic God of War, as well. Complete with QTEs. The video is time-stamped to one of my favorite bosses and it's early-ish in the game. Seeing how this game runs when being emulated is really cool. If I ever feel like doing a replay of this game, however unlikely that may be -- I'll certainly be ripping my PS3 copy to my PS3 and trying it out. Some positives are worth speaking about, especially on PS3. To my surprise, it runs well! Incredible, really. Games on PS3 are known to run like shit, (looking at you, Wolverine.) however, this game is somehow 60fps on PS3. It's miraculous, really -- and it goes a long way with me. Performance to me in games is pretty important, as it does impact the responsiveness of my inputs. Just feels and looks better in general, and yep -- this game did something incredible with 256mb of ram. I'll touch on some of the bad again really quick, because I do need to get this out of the way. So, I won't bother boring people here with how my gaming setup is, but I'll try to explain it briefly so that it's possible to empathize with my situation. My game consoles' audio goes directly into my PC, so that I can have my PC audio and game audio going to the same wireless headset. This is incredibly convenient for doing things like listening to podcasts or music whilst I'm gaming, but usually to master the audio in the way I would want; such as lowering my game audio, or my PC audio, and having one being louder than the other. Also works great for Discord calls as well. Couple that with my headset being wireless, it makes for a seamless experience. ...Well, it did. Until this game showed up. This game has NO audio settings. No way to adjust volume of ANY sort within it. Which really sucks, because this game has one sound profile: LOUD. Now I could technically adjust it in Windows from a specific input, but it was a pain in the ass because instead of calibrating it per game through their audio settings, I would have to change it specifically for THIS game, and then revert it whenever I played anything else. It was annoying. When I helped someone with the co-op for this game a couple of years ago, I thought of easier solutions because I was getting pissed. I'm a slave to convenience, and look to make complex things simple and ubiquitous. So, I bought this stupid thing: Spoiler I bet no one was expecting this for my review of Dante's Inferno. In short, this is an analog audio controller. This thing solved my problems, and actually made talking while I was playing the game possible. It also meant that I no longer needed to adjust a game's audio settings; and I can do it by just reaching over to this device. But seriously, how the fuck does a game not have ANY sound settings? No permissions to change the overall volume, voice volume, agonizing screams volume, music volume -- nothing. You got what you got, and the game's audio was what it was. I have never seen a console game do this before, and I will absolutely make sure in anything I develop, we'll have robust sound settings. At the very least, this game lacking a basic feature definitely lead me to a purchase that would enhance my setup. We arrived at the right place for the wrong reasons, but that's fine. Like Wolverine, eh, the game is a little too long for my tastes. At just about 8 hours to beat the game, it can make the game a little monotonous toward the end. I'm sort of coming to the point of realization that games like this are tolerable up to a point. I'd say that this is more of an issue with the game itself than the duration, as if it was more interesting to play beyond just being a GoW clone; then I would likely not feel this way. The conclusion to the game didn't immediately strike me as being sequel-worthy, anyway. It's pretty conclusive, and while I don't know if Visceral themselves were interested in returning to this game, I think most would agree that their talents were better allocated elsewhere anyway. Well, I feel that way at least. Let's get into its expansions: The game has two DLCs: Dark Forest A sort of prelude to the game? IDK, your progress doesn't carry over, and it's just more combat and puzzles. It's whatever, who cares. Everything I've talked about regarding the game is just the same here. It's like 15 minutes long Trials of St. Lucia This is where the real fun of the game is, and where it really shines Trails of St. Lucia is was this game's version of challenge rooms. However, it introduced online cooperative play, and I played with the awesome @AihaLoveleaf -- so many thanks to him for aiding me with the online trophies, when he didn't have to. He already got the online out of the way, though was fine with assisting me with the game. This to me is the star of the show. In action games like this, you RARELY ever see co-op, and this is where the game beings to be really fun. Because there is actual challenge to it, you're really expected to perform in this mode. With a total of 40 Visceral-designed missions (25 being solo missions, and 15 being cooperative ones), there is actually a lot here, and they do really vary in tasks. Ranging from "No Damage" to "Time Limits", or killing enemies in a specific, but peculiar way. Some of the community events were also designed to make some trophies more easily attainable, which was a huge help. A memory that immediately stands out to me, would be the mission "Ascension": Both players are forced to play as St. Lucia (who I actually believe is more fun to play as than Dante, as she can fly, and fire projectiles whilst attacking), and you need to suffer through a long and arduous trial of bullshit. Comically, we would have runs where the game froze, or it spawned ME specifically, into a death animation. EA brought a solution though, and that was shutting it down! ...Yeah, this game mode is gone. My favorite part of Dante's Inferno was terminated, and officially sunset. It did have a great run, though -- it lasted from 2010 until late 2023. Not even modern games with larger player bases get that kind of support. So, kudos to EA for allowing players like 6 months to get the online down before closure, and for keeping it online for so long. Now, this was not the first time that the serves went down. Back in late 2016, my friend and I were attempting to do this game on my old account, and the servers randomly went offline. The biggest issue with this was that the DLC was still being SOLD on the PSN store, so it didn't seem like a deliberate termination. Some server probably got choked up in microtransaction data or something and shut this poor game down. Frustratingly, for months, EA wouldn't get back to me despite the support tickets I put in, capturing the issue in high quality with my capture card, and reminding them that if they couldn't restore online functionality, they would need to delist the DLC and refund everyone who had purchased it after its issues with connectivity. However, someone named EA_Tom came to the rescue, and got Visceral to restore the game's servers hack in early 2017. Not only did I jump on the opportunity to finally clear the DLC all those years ago, but I let EA_Tom know that I was not hopeful about the situation, and that he really proved himself as being an absolute legend in reaching a resolution for the game. To this day, my friend and I joke whenever a bug occurs in this game, that we'll page EA_Tom to fix it -- a sort of inside joke that's almost a decade old at this point. Also, EA_Tom, known known as Straatford87, climbed his way up from customer support to being a community manager for the series Battlefield. As someone who started in free QA in games, it's always really cool to see someone scale the corporate ladder and make something of himself. Anyway, all of my fun and stupid anecdotes aside, I DO recommend this game, but want to make it known that the 100% is impossible, thanks to the second DLC being offline. However, the platinum will always be attainable, and the game was never expensive. If you're somehow in the mood for classic God of War without Kratos, then you really can't get a better clone than this. My next project closure is for Demon's Souls. It's about time I get to write passionately about the game -- but forgive me if that's also a little late to being posted. I am working on it, however. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 27 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 27 Project Title: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Initial Start Date: 11/06/2023 Project Deadline: 07/01/2024 Platform: PS4 Objective: Returning to the game earn the platinum trophy Completing Within Deadline?: Likely Status Report: After NieR Replicant, this game will be my next RPG that I'll focus on. I started this game in the autumn, when I wasn't really too interested in trophy hunting, and just wanted to play something for fun. Well, my experience with Dragon's Dogma during the week I played it, was absolutely incredible, and I'm really excited to sink my teeth in deeper, and finally platinum it. I'm not too into RPGs, so when I find ones that I really dig, they're sacred to me, and I'm not looking to rush the experience. ________________________________________________ Project Title: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Project Start Date: 05/27/2024 Project Deadline: TBD Platform: PS4 Objective: Starting the campaign on the hardest difficulty, and getting the singular MP trophy out of the way Risk Analysis: There's a multiplayer trophy known as "Dominion" General Information: This is one of the few CoD titles I'm interested in, and I was an avid CoD player back on the Xbox 360 days. I'm excited for a CoD title that's really challenging and a huge investment. Yeah... for some reason, I've been getting REALLY back into Call of Duty. Specifically, it's the sci-fi/futuristic ones that have really piqued my interest. The taste of that in Advanced Warfare and Black Ops III has been leading me to explore their other games. I may look to earlier titles as well down the line, but I think the these three CoDs should satiate me. In general, I've been in a shooter mood, so I'm capitalizing on that. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Copanele Posted May 28 Popular Post Share Posted May 28 On 5/27/2024 at 2:32 AM, CelestialRequiem said: #53 - Dante's Inferno Oh man, this game...reading your review made me go "huh, that's right, I played this game..." because for the love of me, all I could remember about this game was Dante's dual pump cross shotgun, that Cleopatra fight and Lucifer's staff 😂 I don't know why I couldn't remember this game's main campaign. Trials of St. Lucia though...oh boy that was the one place I actually enjoyed the game. They were fun, they were tough and it was one of the rare instances where the co-op worked (when the servers decided to cooperate). Big shoutout to that mysterious Greek dude that was a beast with Dante and helped me 100% the game. I too enjoyed playing as Lucia, spamming orbs and random combos while Dante was all Serious Sam with his cross. (seriously, more games need a holy Cross Repeater in their games) 13 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Best of luck with this one it will be a relief for you to hear that this one is an Action-RPG heavily leaning into the Action side. Also the story is messy so you do not need to follow it. Just prepare to hear your pawns spam "SOAKED TO THE BONE" nonstop. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted May 29 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 29 On 5/16/2024 at 5:58 PM, DEI2EK said: Just chiming in to say, play Sleeping Dogs. I didn’t expect much from it when it came out in 2012 and my friend gave me his steam code he got with his graphics card, but it became one of my favorite games. Highly quotable, fun combat, great characters. Shame there will be no sequel ever. Soooooo I did end up purchasing this. Don't quite know when I'll get to it; but it was cheap enough. Technically I think I own it on PS+ on PS3, but I want the best possible experience, so this works. Thanks to you and Smevz for talking me into it. Eager to relive those True Crime days from nearly 20 years ago. On 5/28/2024 at 2:35 AM, Copanele said: Oh man, this game...reading your review made me go "huh, that's right, I played this game..." because for the love of me, all I could remember about this game was Dante's dual pump cross shotgun, that Cleopatra fight and Lucifer's staff 😂 I don't know why I couldn't remember this game's main campaign. Trials of St. Lucia though...oh boy that was the one place I actually enjoyed the game. They were fun, they were tough and it was one of the rare instances where the co-op worked (when the servers decided to cooperate). Big shoutout to that mysterious Greek dude that was a beast with Dante and helped me 100% the game. I too enjoyed playing as Lucia, spamming orbs and random combos while Dante was all Serious Sam with his cross. (seriously, more games need a holy Cross Repeater in their games) Dude! It's interesting how people had such disdain for the co-op online, but that was the BEST content the game had -- for sure. Even during solo-play. And yeah, the Lucifer fight... I'm sure someone was happy about that, lmfao. Certainly is memorable for how ridiculous it is. Even complete with physics that can compete with DoA, LMAO. I'm sure it was for pure shock value, and boy, they got everyone with that. Wow, got it all done with a rando? That's pretty cool. I'm always scared to put my faith into that sort of thing. On 5/28/2024 at 2:35 AM, Copanele said: Best of luck with this one it will be a relief for you to hear that this one is an Action-RPG heavily leaning into the Action side. Also the story is messy so you do not need to follow it. Just prepare to hear your pawns spam "SOAKED TO THE BONE" nonstop. Oh boy, don't I know it. I didn't know RPGs could be this fun -- and Itsuno knows how to bring excitement into his games. Helps too of course with how Berserk-inspired it is. It's always interested me how much dark fantasy I like that comes from Japan, and not the Western world. A Japanese optic on certain genres, even if Western-cultivated ones, always seems to bring in some sort of unique experience that I get obsessed with. Hahaha, I have heard all of the quips from these guys, and I do seriously love it. How else would I know that wolves hunt in packs? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 7 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said: Soooooo I did end up purchasing this. Don't quite know when I'll get to it; but it was cheap enough. Technically I think I own it on PS+ on PS3, but I want the best possible experience, so this works. Thanks to you and Smevz for talking me into it. Eager to relive those True Crime days from nearly 20 years ago. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfSeajay7 Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 (edited) On 5/6/2024 at 3:48 PM, CelestialRequiem said: So I did. I replayed Operation 101, without my bullshit, and had a blast. I feel great knowing that whenever I have the itch to play this immaculate game, there are no more trophies for me to earn. That's sort of the feeling I enjoy with the Dragon Quest Builders series. I reinstalled the original DQB on my Vita and am going to do all the challenges again without any obligation to build a super fort for Cantlin just to get 3000 placements and 3000 items destroyed achievements, and DQB2 gives you three islands to dick around and create your own little homes. I'm trying to recreate Rosenhill from the latest Dragon Quest Monsters guy but that tower is such a tough cookie to build. I might abort the project and create a new Buildertopia island with a new biome that you can build on. If I ever get bored because I can't play any games on my account due to event start dates, I know that if all else fails, I can go into DQB2 and spend some time building up a tower without popping trophies and ruining my completion track record. Edited May 30 by ProfSeajay7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honor_Hand Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 Hey there! Catching up with your writing here now. Excellent coverage of that X-Men Origins: Wolverine game. I remember that one making strides when it came out thanks to it being a pretty darn competently designed licensed videogame. Or, at least, that's how I remember people describing it at the time. Between that and the somewhat shocking violence the character exhibited, it sure captured people's attention. That helicopter scene, in particular, was heavily shared around and I always wondered if people were more into it just for the violence or maybe because it was so violent at times that it ended up being comical instead. Regardless, it's a solid action game all throughout. One that I would like to experience at some point. As a personal anecdote, I remember finding a used copy of it at a local videogame store a few years back, and when I asked for a price, the guy quoted me a ridiculous number, like $2,500 or something. Take in mind that, even though this was during our peak inflation times, his price had nothing to do with that, as he had other games priced around $10-40 depending on their rarity. But this one, oh no, since this one was "super rare" and "a collection piece," he justified his price by telling me that what he had was quite "the gaming gem" and that he wouldn't be able to part with the game for anything less than that. And I knew the game was rare and it would normally cost more, but like, I wasn't expecting such a crazy price, you know. Interestingly enough, I was not aware the game had been developed by Raven Software. Those guys have been responsible for some really solid games in the past: Heretic, Hexen, the Star Wars Jedi Knight games, and their often underappreciated hidden gem, Singularity. =D So, like, yeah, maybe not the best games ever, but they've certainly produced some top-quality B-tier stuff. Too bad Activision relegated them to working on the Call of Duty mines as assistants and we've never seen anything new from them since. ^^;;; As for Dante's Inferno, that one is another title that's worth playing. It's still conspicuously missing from my collection. It may be a GoW clone of sorts but there's no denying it was competently done. Its whole theme of the character traveling through the different circles of hell and seeing all the warped, messed up stuff in it has always sounded interesting to me. Its combat looks enjoyable as well. Even though it's a shame its 100% is no longer attainable due to server closures, if I ever spot a copy around for a good price, I'll be sure to purchase it. Also, yeah, I can empathize with you about the game being dumb for not giving players a way to adjust sound settings. That's like a basic feature every game should have for the sake of convenience. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelestialRequiem Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 (edited) On 5/30/2024 at 1:02 AM, ProfSeajay7 said: That's sort of the feeling I enjoy with the Dragon Quest Builders series. I reinstalled the original DQB on my Vita and am going to do all the challenges again without any obligation to build a super fort for Cantlin just to get 3000 placements and 3000 items destroyed achievements, and DQB2 gives you three islands to dick around and create your own little homes. I'm trying to recreate Rosenhill from the latest Dragon Quest Monsters guy but that tower is such a tough cookie to build. I might abort the project and create a new Buildertopia island with a new biome that you can build on. Don't know much about Dragon Quest Builders, but my Vita is the Dragon Quest Builders model that I bought while I was in Japan. Sleek device, that one is. On 5/30/2024 at 1:02 AM, ProfSeajay7 said: If I ever get bored because I can't play any games on my account due to event start dates, I know that if all else fails, I can go into DQB2 and spend some time building up a tower without popping trophies and ruining my completion track record. Yep, games first -- always. It's nice when I play on Steam or my Switch and never have to worry about that sort of thing. On 5/30/2024 at 9:38 AM, Honor_Hand said: Hey there! Catching up with your writing here now. No rush at all, man. Always happy to have you around -- and no one is slower to the checklist section than myself. I usually try to set time aside to read and reply to what I can. On 5/30/2024 at 9:38 AM, Honor_Hand said: Excellent coverage of that X-Men Origins: Wolverine game. I remember that one making strides when it came out thanks to it being a pretty darn competently designed licensed videogame. Or, at least, that's how I remember people describing it at the time. Between that and the somewhat shocking violence the character exhibited, it sure captured people's attention. That helicopter scene, in particular, was heavily shared around and I always wondered if people were more into it just for the violence or maybe because it was so violent at times that it ended up being comical instead. Regardless, it's a solid action game all throughout. One that I would like to experience at some point. As a personal anecdote, I remember finding a used copy of it at a local videogame store a few years back, and when I asked for a price, the guy quoted me a ridiculous number, like $2,500 or something. Take in mind that, even though this was during our peak inflation times, his price had nothing to do with that, as he had other games priced around $10-40 depending on their rarity. But this one, oh no, since this one was "super rare" and "a collection piece," he justified his price by telling me that what he had was quite "the gaming gem" and that he wouldn't be able to part with the game for anything less than that. And I knew the game was rare and it would normally cost more, but like, I wasn't expecting such a crazy price, you know. Thank you very much! Yeah, it's cool that it still has such a strong reputation after all these years. In an era were expectations were low for a lot of licensed/comic-book games, Raven definitely did well. Even if part of it was serendipity, it's clear that this game is going to be remembered for forever. And dude... that's... USD? What? I mean, it's not a cheap game -- but not even rare FromSoftware PS2 games go for that much. Jesus, what a joke. Wonder if he has the one version of the game that doesn't run like shit on PS3. On 5/30/2024 at 9:38 AM, Honor_Hand said: Interestingly enough, I was not aware the game had been developed by Raven Software. Those guys have been responsible for some really solid games in the past: Heretic, Hexen, the Star Wars Jedi Knight games, and their often underappreciated hidden gem, Singularity. =D So, like, yeah, maybe not the best games ever, but they've certainly produced some top-quality B-tier stuff. Too bad Activision relegated them to working on the Call of Duty mines as assistants and we've never seen anything new from them since. ^^;;; Man, Singularity. I actually recently purchased that, because I've never played it before. Looking forward to trying it. Somehow, the game's online is still around, and trophies can still be obtained. Definitely getting into it this year! On 5/30/2024 at 9:38 AM, Honor_Hand said: As for Dante's Inferno, that one is another title that's worth playing. It's still conspicuously missing from my collection. It may be a GoW clone of sorts but there's no denying it was competently done. Its whole theme of the character traveling through the different circles of hell and seeing all the warped, messed up stuff in it has always sounded interesting to me. Its combat looks enjoyable as well. Even though it's a shame its 100% is no longer attainable due to server closures, if I ever spot a copy around for a good price, I'll be sure to purchase it. Also, yeah, I can empathize with you about the game being dumb for not giving players a way to adjust sound settings. That's like a basic feature every game should have for the sake of convenience. Hope you enjoy it when you get to it, man. I think it's still worth playing -- even if you can't 100% it. Easy plat, too! Edited June 1 by CelestialRequiem Missed a quote. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honor_Hand Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 On 6/1/2024 at 1:25 PM, CelestialRequiem said: And dude... that's... USD? What? I mean, it's not a cheap game -- but not even rare FromSoftware PS2 games go for that much. Jesus, what a joke. Wonder if he has the one version of the game that doesn't run like shit on PS3. Yep, it was in USD. That's the currency we use for most transactions here. Wait. Is there a version of the game that has better performance? I thought there were only the Uncaged versions on newer hardware and the all-ages versions on older hardware. 🤔 Quote Man, Singularity. I actually recently purchased that, because I've never played it before. Looking forward to trying it. Somehow, the game's online is still around, and trophies can still be obtained. Definitely getting into it this year! Awesome. Give it a go whenever you can. The multiplayer isn't anything to write home about, and frankly, it ran quite poorly back then and only had a meager selection of modes. I've heard from other friends that boosting that one nowadays is quite a pain due to how unstable the servers are, so best of luck there. The single-player portion of the game is quite a good time, though. It may not be on the same level as the most highly acclaimed shooters, but it sure is an interesting use of the CoD engine at the time to present a time-twisting story with some fun weapons. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CelestialRequiem Posted June 8 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 8 (edited) Project Title: #54 - Demon's Souls Initial Start Date: 05/08/2024 Project Closure: 05/12/2024 Platform: PS3 Personal Difficulty: ★★✩✩✩ Enjoyment: ★★★★✩ Project Conclusion: Highly Recommended It had been almost ten years since I last played Demon's Souls, and much to my surprise -- the game holds up incredibly well. Even more so than future PS3 games by From. I'd like to preface that I'm not sure who will be reading this -- so a lot of information may be well-known in the Souls circle on this site; but I'm assuming that at least one person isn't familiar with Demon's Souls' game and history, so it's being covered here. Sorry if any of it seems redundant -- only trying to offer my own optic and interpretation of the game and the circumstances that lead to it. ___________________________ Demon's Souls started off as a project for Sony in which they wanted their own new popular RPG series. Sony sought out FromSoftware, likely due to how cheap they were at the time, to bring such a project to market. The initial creator of the game was placed elsewhere, and an Armored Core designer and director took the reigns to make something more unique, as the project was started to be treated with flippancy after poor focus-testing. Here's a cool video on the subject: ___________________________ Immediately, I was awestruck on how well this 15 year old PS3 title was holding its own. Decent performance, an excellent art style -- and incredible atmosphere that I'm not sure From has been ever been emulate since then. Out of From's recent games, this one has more of a "cartoony" look to it than future Souls games, but that has done it an incredible amount of favors. Models and graphics are definitely dated -- which rarely ever bothers me anyway; but man, the PS3 was really permitting some incredible stuff in spite of itself. First, something that struck me when I initially imported this game was its insane opening: Ignore the title. Doesn't seem any different from the regular trailer despite the claim of A.I., but most of YouTube is filled with footage of the 2020 remake now. I loved this cinematic. Because it's not highlighting any sort of story of the context of whatever conflict is happening in Demon's Souls, but instead, visually elucidating how fucked and bleak the world is. Also, the dragon shown here, known as Dragon God, has a particularly horrific design. Two jaws within its mouth with eyes hard to make out, and its teeth growing beyond what its form can hold for them to be practical. I don't know, it's just such a crazy interpretation of a dragon. Upon loading into the tutorial, I was even more excited to revisit the world within Demon's Souls, Boletaria. I think to the average dude playing this game, this would feel like some sort of Western-designed game. You've got Western fantasy, knights, and a mix of old-ass Germany and Scotland as its setting. But obviously, this is a game made by a Japanese company. And now we're met with a fascination of mine: Western worlds and Western fantasy crafted by Japanese creators. This style of world(s) really captivate me -- and I'm not even sure if my theory on analysis why Western worlds by our Eastern friends feels so much cooler. My hypothesis is that because it's a bit more foreign culturally, that it gets analyzed on a much deeper level. Instead of it being glamorized, or just trying to be a visual/memorable exposition of what fantasy is like -- it's trying to be as austere as possible. Yes, historically, fantastical elements divorced -- there is accuracy in how media like this is trying to portray. Poverty, rape, war, government in its infancy -- and everything negative of from this human experience. I'll dive more into it more another time, but it's clear that a lot of Western-inspired Japanese media, specifically has looked toward Berserk (a Japanese comic based on Western fantasy, to those who may be unaware) to making worlds like this. I don't know what it says about me, but when situations feel hopeless or dreary, that's when I'm at my most excited. I'm ready for what the world is like -- because there's something emotionally engaging to me on a personal level. ...And this didn't just start with Demon's Souls, mind you. That's just when a large part of the world was exposed to it. This isn't the case specifically for me, but many From fans like what this does at a meta level. Through cryptic and enigmatic elements to a story, you'll get people trying to break it down for easier consumption: Spoilers abound in this series, obviously. ...Though Demon's Souls' narrative is largely passive, as the story-telling is done through item-descriptions and environmental elucidation, this game does an incredible job of even bringing out my curiosity, as someone who is largely apathetic to the narratives within games. From is no doubt absolutely magical on getting the collective's attention and eagerness to showcase their worlds. The game despite its shorter length has some great diversity in environments. With exploring castles, churches, caves, New Jersey swamps, and fighting cliff-side to a flying sting-ray -- they definitely took their Lunchable budget and delivered something very impressive. Gameplay wise, it's easy to classify this as a "Souls" game, now that a precedent has been set. Souls games are a sub-genre of Action-RPGs. More specifically, most of the design isn't in the numbers/statistics (though that does play into it a bit). Instead, it's very much an "Action" game, in these types of A-RPGs. The moment-to-moment gameplay is basically all combat, and rarely, will you even be in a position where you can't even participate in it. Including NPCs, they're available to be decimated, though doing so is (usually) foolish. Because of this, the world will never not feel hostile. You yourself are a thread, so it needs to be managed carefully -- such as not accidentally smacking an NPC with your great-sword whilst they're trying to explain something to you. What combat usually plays like, is a real-time experience that use a lot of action-game methodologies. Blocking, parrying, dodging with invincibility-frames, boss fights -- everything from the nature of those kinds of games. Proficiency can come from two avenues: Knowing the game well enough to tackle any fight, regardless of (usable) equipment and player level Being so over-leveled that you don't need the former, and your character can basically button-mash their way to victory It's hard to know which one is more common than the other, but it gives players who are not good at action games a way out. Can't handle the game? Be decent enough to grind to grind for Souls and make your character stronger. In my opinion, the games would be better served with a total absence of this system, and relying only on your own reflexes and understanding of the game. I've heard that Sekiro is like this, but the only time I really played the game was at a Disc Pier by my home in Osaka. It's really short -- and I was really excited to play it a little early. ___________________________ Anyway, back to Demon's Souls. The game's level-design is absolutely excellent. While the game has some really exciting boss fights, the real danger is felt through just exploration and breaching the unknown. It's so easy to die from some crazy bullshit. You know what to expect with a boss -- and there are plenty of them here -- but taking in all of the atmosphere and figuring out the path forward is where a lot of the fun is. One of my favorite things about Demon's Souls are its loading screens. It's beautiful art, showing you the characters within Demon's Souls. Some of them you won't even meet until the late-game stage of your journey: Please marry me, Yuria 🥰 These only offer a small peak as to who they are contextually. Yuria, for example, will teach you dark magic. The game doesn't tell you here how important she is, only that she's important enough to get her own loading screen. Getting to her is actually a little unusual, and one of the few times where I NEEDED a guide back in the day. What games these games so special, to me at least -- are their mysterious nature, so I'm going to tread carefully with exposing context on certain things. Quest-lines in this game are very peculiar. There is no quest board, no real direction beyond spoken context. One of my favorites involves some optional spoilers, so I'll mark it for now -- but please know that I'm not getting deep into it in case you're curious: Spoiler One of the quests administered from an NPC, is you becoming an agent for her fetish of murder. NPCs who have bartered with you, aided you -- are all now at the libertine nature of this character. You can proceed, and you're rewarded -- which IS required for the platinum. Speaking of the platinum since it was mentioned in the spoiler tag, this game set a new standard for From when it came to achievements and trophies. I actually find the list to be very straight-forward on the surface: Create specific weapons Collect all rare weapons Collect all spells Beat all bosses Now, the nature of some of these tasks can be obtuse AND grindy (I especially no-lifed the shit out of this game last month, as I didn't have much work to do), but it doesn't compare to getting 10,000 wins in ranked matches of Armored Core: For Answer. With all of their Souls-styled games moving forward, the trophies will always be possible, even if their online was shut down (like the PS3/OG version of Demon's Souls). It's nice knowing that these games will always be there for new players -- awarding them with the "full" experience even post shutdown. The personal difficulty rating of my Project Closure isn't meant to portray this as an easy game, because it isn't -- it's just hard to now imagine myself as a neophyte to these types of games, as I've been acclimated to them since I was a teenager. If you lack the hardware to play the original, then play the remake -- but I plead with people to at least play this version of the game. You want the FromSoftware experience in its purest form; not an adaptation/interpretation of the experienced (as well emulated as it may be). Get both if you want -- but be sure to get the original. Edited June 8 by CelestialRequiem 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted 16 hours ago Share Posted 16 hours ago On 6/8/2024 at 3:54 AM, CelestialRequiem said: #54 - Demon's Souls Bit late, but great write up there. The game that started an unexpected series that changed gaming habits for a lot of people Can't add anything more other than yes, Demon's Souls is an amazing game and the fact that it was initially a doomed project makes it even more amazing. Actually Demon's Souls is one of the reasons why I ported myself to the PS3 environment (this game and God of War). Playing an unreasonable amount of Dark Souls, my first entry in the "Souls" series, I was mad curious to see the "prototype". And boy was it an experience! The game completely kicked my ass and I loved every second of it. I loved especially how unapologetically obtuse it was I mean, it took me 3 NG runs to realize that World tendency and Character tendency are 2 different concepts. Also did the mistake of playing online and it was crazy to see that I did all the white tendency bullshit, just to be thrown into black tendency because some online goober decided to die nonstop in human form. Such a fantastic game 😂 As for the remake, I personally believe that Bluepoint has made a great job, considering that the original can't be played outside of PS3, PS Premium service (PCSX3 for the PC users). However, I also do recommend for the fans to play the original too, if possible, just for the artistic differences. P.S. I have to personally mention that Demon's Souls sure kickstarted a new generation of toxic PvP players with the Scraping Spear weapon that would break your equipment. Having a miniature swamp as a weapon must have been Miyazaki's childhood dream! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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