Lordguwa Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 (edited) platinum #552 Glittering Sword (ps4) completed in 2 hours and 53 minutes platinum rarity: 80.79% common platinum name: Master Sword one more game done before the end of the night. cant start anymore till the morning. going to download The tower of beatrice (ps4). seems i have 2 listings so i'll delete the ps4 listing once i get through with it. Edited September 16, 2021 by kingdrake2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 #914 & 915 PS4 & PS5 versions of Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoKu08 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Life is Strange: True Colors #255 Haven Maven Collect all Trophies in Life is Strange: True Colors 46.44% Uncommon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 (edited) - 471 ? - 604 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Based on on a late 70's - early 80's trilogy of children's morning-matinee space-adventure films, in which a small group of royalist terrorists battle to overthrow the galactic government to reinstate a family of deposed hierarchical monarchs as the ruling class, all the while, enlisting the help of the remaining members of a disbanded order of extremist, psychokinetic monks names 'Jedi' who fight with buzzing glow-sticks, 'Star Wars' has, over the years... ... ...just kidding! (Can you imagine?!) No. I didn't, in fact, grow up under a rock - I know Star Wars... somewhat! Look - I am not a Star-Wars guy. I know they are huge, and I know the franchise is one that inspires a level of love and affection in its fan-base that is virtually unparalleled - one does not need to be actively engaged with the IP to know that! I enjoyed the original trilogy when I was young, but checked out after seeing "Episode One" in theatres and haven't seen any of the filmic fare since. I am what could really be described as 'Star Wars Agnostic' - I am neither ardently engaged with the property, nor do I have any ill-will towards it. I am simply indifferent and uninformed about much of the nuance, and the majority of my understanding is rooted in that original 70's / 80's trilogy, and, latterly, via videogames. As such, my perspective on the games - and specifically, here, on Jedi: Fallen Order - is one very much approaching from the 'video-games' angle, rather than as a fam of the property itself, and it is worth noting that. I fully understand that existing love for a property can go a long way to carrying a player through otherwise less enjoyable gaming fare (When Terminator Resistance gets its time in the ranking spotlight, this concept will no doubt be visited from the other side of the street!) and I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. People should love the things they love. No game is perfect, and so all games do, to some extent, hinge on the player prioritising certain aspects over others - the parts you love carry you through the parts you don't - and believe pre-existing love of a narrative IP is a perfectly legitimate component to lean on in striking that balance. It just isn't one I am personally able to lean on in this particular case. I write all of this preamble, in order to ensure that the statement I am about to make is taken in the correct context: I think Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the least enjoyable, most fundamentally flawed big-budget games I have played in many, many years. A 3rd-person, action-combat platformer with a metroidvania structure and 'Souls-lite' combat, Jedi: Fallen Order is the first foray into the 3rd-person side of games from (extremely well thought of and competent) developer Respawn. Across a 15-20 hour narrative plot, the game follows former Jedi-in-training, current derelict-space-ship-destruct-labourer and full-time Jimmy-Hopkins-from-Bully-look-a-like Cal, as his secret origins are revealed - both to the player, and to the nefarious Jedi Hunters employed by the Empire to root out "force users" - he flees, and is rescued by a former Jedi, Cere Junda, and her comic-relief side-kick Greez, and embarks on a quest to recover a 'Holocron' - a list of "force-Sensitive" children (i.e. potential future Jedi) from a secret vault, as both a potential cog in the reconstruction of the Jedi's fallen order (get it?) and, more importantly, to keep it from the covetous hands of the Empire's sadistic and brutal Jedi Hunters. The game's plot plays out fairly well. There is a good amount of dialogue, and it is written, acted and performed well for the most part. The tone of the game does largely stick to that set by the filmic universe it springs from - there is a lightness and a playfulness to the game that takes the edge off the more threatening elements of what is actually a fairly gritty tale beneath its glossy veneer. That goes a long way to keeping the game suitable for the younger audience most actively engaged with IP itself, though there are some specific elements of plot that veer further from this than one might expect. The playful back and forth between Greez and Cal, or the interactions of Cal's helper-bot BD-1, who's anthropomorphic antics fall somewhere between a helper monkey and a playful puppy and who communicates in Star-Wars staple bleeps and bloops, coherent to the listener but not the audience, are pitch-perfect for the Saturday-morning-matinee feel. Some aspects though, such as Cere's fearful withdrawal from her prior calling due to experience with the "dark side" of the force - treated here as analogous to a brush with hard drugs, or some addictive, destructive vice - and her struggle to remain 'sober', or the backstory of the "Sisters" - the former Jedi, tortured and broken, serving as Jedi-Hunters for the Empire - are weighty and conceptually bleak in a manner that feels a little less appropriate for youngsters. At best, these elements would sail over the heads of the target audience, but at worst, they may be too dark, and prone to scare or unnerve them. Certainly, I would be much more reticent to show the plot of this game to a 10-12 year-old than I would the original trilogy of films, which, while having some weight concepts, do a much better job of keeping even their darkest aspects playful and light in presentational tone. Narratively, the nature of the game - as a metroidvania - means that the actual 'world' of the game is fairly small. The game features 6 primary 'levels' (planets), and the plot weaves between them, with Cal returning to previously visited locations as he gains more abilities, giving him increased access to different areas. That is, of course, inherent to the metroidvania genre (and an aspect I love, that can be done very well - see Arkham Asylum for example) - however, in a Space-based game like this one, it does have a negative effect. The resulting game (and the plot) feels... small. For an IP that is broad and spans an entire galaxy, the plot of Jedi: Fallen Order does feel remarkably contained and unimportant in the grand scheme. While no game, of course, can genuinely span an entire galaxy, especially one opting for the kind of visual fidelity Jedi: Fallen Order aims for (and largely succeeds in striking,) it is notable how much smaller this game feels than, for example Mass Effect. That is not necessarily as a result of the size or number of actual game locations - indeed most Mass Effect games have a roughly similar amount of actual gaming 'space' and participatory level design, but it really highlights how much of the background heavy-lifting Mass Effect's tertiary trappings were doing. While Mass Effect showed a huge number of planets, only 7 or 8 of which were actually playable in a meaningful way, the others being simply flavour and dressing - Jedi: Fallen Order only shows the playable ones, and as a result, it feels less like a galaxy-spanning, globe trotting narrative, and more like a small tale taking place on a tiny corner-neighbourhood of one system. A game that takes place across 6 planets should feel epic - like a Mass Effect. Instead, Jedi: Fallen Order's scope feels closer to something like the original Uncharted - a game that took place entirely on a single, contained island. As said above - visually - the game is doing it's job very well. Character models are impressively detailed, and facial expressions and character movement are smooth and graceful. The levels look great across the board, and each planet is distinct in design, if a little invariable within the levels themselves. There is a broad artistic style (direct from the IP) which is well implemented, and particular props should go to the excellent texture work on environments. Rock formations, water, plant-life, rusted metal - everything looks excellent and the environments are a treat to see. Unfortunately, some of the same resulting issues that recently ranked Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart creep in here as a result, however. The visual fidelity is gained at the expense of mechanical fidelity. Little care has been taken to ensure the stunning looking environments function well with the exploration-heavy nature of the mechanical game, and so the game is awash with invisible walls blocking Cal from climbing what appears climbable, instant-death falls occur when jumping to what appear to be accessible areas, and the game camera - competent functionality of which is a key component of a game featuring soul-like combat and Uncharted-like traversal - is woefully unable to keep up with the game. Falling off a ledge is not heavily penalised, (the game quickly - and mercifully - resets the player to the last 'hard surface' they were standing on with only a minor heath reduction,) but this seems to have been done as an easy, band-aid solution to a major issue with the game - it is finicky to control, and the priority in environmental design is purely aesthetic. Cal will often fail to grip a ledge that he should, or make a jump he should be able to, or grab a vine he needs to. These things are not gameplay-input issues - doing the exact same action a second time will often work as intended - and so the quick-reset feels more like an admission of failed mechanical finesse than a specifically intended gameplay function. This prioritisation of aesthetic over mechanical gameplay, and the watering-down of difficulty as a solution to sloppy mechanical problems - wall-papering over them with lack of punishment for failure rather than doing the harder work of improving the mechanics themselves - is never more evident than in the "souls-like" combat. The combat is, for what is ostensibly a "triple-A" game, shockingly poor. Cal has a reasonably varied move-set, however, enemies do not, and the animation-priority combat has been borrowed from the Souls games in a remarkably inept way. Each enemy encounter seems designed not to be difficult necessarily, but to be incredibly irritating, and to punish varied engagement. Low level enemies are introduced in swarms, and attack as such, meaning that while individual attacks do little damage to Cal, they have a tendency to time out in such a way as to stun-lock him for 10-12 hits in a row, dealing death by a thousand tiny bashes. Tougher enemies - ones that require more concentration and parry/riposte style combat to defeat are almost always surrounded by ranged weaker enemies on high platforms, meaning the cadence of each of these fights boils down to running in a circle, reflecting blaster shots to clear out ranged enemies until they are gone, so each move is not interrupted in the 'main' fight. Hit-boxes are incredibly poorly implemented, and difficult to gauge. Virtually every enemy has the uncanny ability to instantly jump back the exact distance required to keep them out of Cal's animation range, for the exact amount of time it runs, then attack before his recovery, beginning the stun-lock in perfect time for everyone else to pile in. Camera clipping, or the camera getting 'hung-up' on environmental and decorative features is a constant issue, and the camera has a habit of swinging around to aim at nothing but Cal's face if he strays near any environmental detail, meaning the last thing the player sees is him being stun-locked by an unseen enemy until he goes limp. All of this would be a major problem in terms of progression in what is a game that borrows the "bonfire" mechanic that Souls games use in terms of its level design, however, rather than fix any of it, the game simply reduces the difficulty instead. Yes, the "bonfire" mechanic - in which death sends Cal back to the last bonfire (meditation point here) - is borrowed, but it has little impact, as there are so many of them. In a Souls game, making it through a section to light a new bonfire comes with a tremendous sense of achievement. Here, I routinely passed 5 or 6 of them without ever dying - or even really being challenged - in between. There is a skill-tree of moves Cal is able to unlock, and there are fun for the most part, however, the animation priority has issues here too. Because most of Cal's moves (Force Pull, Force Push, even healing) have a sizeable wind-up animation, and because each can be interrupted, it means each new move generally serves to simply enable the eradication of combat interplay, rather than add nuance to it. The Force-Push ability, for example - with which Cal can psychokinetically 'throw' enemies back - is really only useful when he is a fair distance from the group he is aiming at, as it can be interrupted by them. As a result, using it is often a way to simply bypass a fight - Cal can blast all enemies off a cliff at the beginning of an encounter - which is much more viable than actually engaging with the melee combat. The 'slow' mechanic, in which Cal can trap an enemy in vasty reduced time-bubble, can be useful to give him a chance to heal, but the games combat does not actually obey the rules it lays out. An enemy, reduced to a 'slowed' animation, still continued its attack, and if it lands during the slowed animation, it still has the same physical impact on Cal that it would at normal speed. Yes, 'Slow' allows him to potentially get a free swing of his lights-sabre in, but it is not useful as a way of, for example, strafing around to the rear of an enemy, as they still spin bizarrely on their own axis, to face him, at normal speed, even as the move they are doing is slowed. It is really just a free hit, and nothing more. Bosses too, are essentially trivialised with these abilities. Cal can simply stand at a distance, 'force pushing' over and over until their guard is broken, slice them a few times with his light-sabre, then back off, and rinse-repeat. Each boss will easily go down this way, and in fact, most boss fights are over very quickly, as, despite the presence of a boss health bar, the cinematic desires of the game almost always take over. I'm not sure there is a single boss in the game where the fight consists of beating them until their health is gone - in most cases, after either a set amount of health reduction, or a set time (I could not often tell which), the cut-scenes take over, and Cal finds himself surfing down yet another water-slide style jumping section to his next location. (Seriously, these planets seem to have been terraformed using the Rollercoaster Tycoon build-a-coster' editor - every planet is filled with 'downhill skiing' sections for Cal to Legolas-Elephant-trunk-slide down! Audio in the game is good for the most part - light-sabres and blasters have their IP-specific signature sounds, audio from the characters and enemies sounds good, dialogue is, as said, well done, and foley work, like footfalls on rock or snow, and creaking environmental sounds are excellent. There is however, a serious issue with the audio in cut-scenes. On multiple occasions, all throughout the narrative, random cut-scenes would become, as time passed, wildly out of sync. The audio seems to be playing a frame or two slower than the on-screen visuals, and so, by the end of a 60 second scene, the audio is a full 5 or 6 seconds behind the on-screen action, making the scene unwatchable. I was unable to correct this, and as a result, played with subtitles on, and simply muted my TV whenever a cutscene played. Not exactly the best way to experience a narrative! I am aware this issue seems not to affect everyone, but it did affect me. All of these issues add up to a game that is aesthetically pleasing, but not mechanically sound, or particularly fun to engage with. Given the competent (if small and not particularly stand-out) narrative, that might be tolerable for the duration of the main story. If the game was over at that point, Jedi: Fallen Order would be destined to be ranked somewhere in the middle of the current list. Not good, but not so terrible as to be egregious - simply a forgettable, lacklustre experience... ...However - there is the matter of the platinum. I don't often bring up the trophy requirements in these reviews - I don't usually feel they warrant a mention, unless they are particularly, notably beneficial, or particularly, notably detrimental to the gaming experience. With Jedi: Fallen Order, they are among the most detrimental I have seen in my trophy hunting days. Jedi: Fallen Order is, as stated, a 15-20 hour game, that should have been largely forgettable. The platinum requirements - specifically, the collectible requirements - turn it into a 40-50 hour game that will live in infamy. The collectibles in the game - and the trophy requirements associated with them - are outrageous. There are a huge number of collectibles, from chests with different locks, scannable architectural and environmental features, seeds for planting, "force echoes" (essentially sense-memory locations from which Cal gleans some snippet of a past side-story,) and scannable enemies. Collecting these is, in this game, a grotesque chore. Each level is convoluted and winding in its design - an aspect that is laudable and beneficial in terms of the narrative through-line of the game - however, it makes navigating each large map post-game a nightmare. The map available is woefully inadequate, and does very little to help. While each level keeps a count of some collectibles (Chests & Secrets) - even going so far as to indicate how many have been found and remain in each level area, some collectibles such as seeds and "Force Echoes" are not tracked in the same way. Combine this with the lack of coherent direction, the lack of fast-travel, the previously mentioned sub-par traversal mechanics and presence of invisible walls and barriers, and lack of readable map shortcuts, and it means each area must be scoured multiple times to find everything. More than once, I left an area - and indeed, an entire planet, assuming I have cleared it out based on the percentage counts, only to have to return later, (slogging my way through the whole level again,) as one collectible or other was not tracked. Because finding your way around is so laborious, I ended up deliberately not "meditating" at any of the bonfire-like checkpoints, deliberately, to ensure that I had an easy "fast-travel" equivalent to return to my ship when finished (by walking repeatedly off a cliff until dead and respawning at the ship.) However, this had a downside too - the levels are often designed to be "one-way-streets". If I passed too far, I could not get back to re-check an area without dying and re-running the entire level yet again. In a game where the mechanics were better, (again, the similarly narrative-heavy metroidvania Arkham Asylum provides a good counter-point,) this would feel less of a chore, but here, it simply serves to force the player into endless repetition of poor traversal and even worse combat mechanics, over and over, in the same 5 levels. What these collectibles actually amount to in game is also rather spurious. Some - the force echoes and the scannable items - do provide some little narrative nuggets, but I never found them to be particularly interesting. Chests are a different kettle of fish though. Aside from 10 'special' chests, which provide extra 'healing stims' for BD-1 (basically extra sips from the Estus Flask,) and are therefore gameplay beneficial, EVERYTHING else is purely cosmetic. There are outfit colour-swaps for Cal, his poncho, BD-1 and the ship they travel in - none of which have any gameplay impact. There are also cosmetic items for light-sabre customisation. This is a really odd mechanic in the game, as it is incredibly detailed, allowing a huge amount of customisation of an item that can be barely seen in the actual game. There are 4 or 5 different interconnected parts than can be swapped and customised making up the handle of a light-sabre, but really, aside from the colour of the glowing blade, none of it is ever visible outside the actual customisation menu. While I fully accept these collectible parts may not be so much of an issue for a non-trophy-hunting audience, this is exactly the reason I refuse to review a game until I have the S-Rank. Playstation games do have trophies, and as such, they are part of the game. 80% of the time, I think they are innocuous, and 10% of the time, they are beneficial. Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the other 10%. Its trophies make a bad game massively worse. Overall, Jedi: Fallen Order is a bit of a mess. It looks nice, and has some charm, but it is absolutely saturated with problems. Poor gameplay design, audio-issues, a lack of care in implementing combat design, and a lack of general mechanical finesse. In terms of narrative, it works, however, there is a smallness to the story that is unbecoming of such a storied and revered franchise, and the significant audio-issues meant that what narrative there was, could only be enjoyed through a muted (get it?) lens. Take away the narrative - as you have to in the overlong platinum-seeking post-game, and it falls apart like wet newspaper. Quickly, and permanently. Jedi: Fallen Order looks like a solid-gold AAA game on the surface, but that veneer is simply gold-leaf. Scratch at it even once - from any direction - and it comes away under your fingernails, revealing nothing but a haphazardly thrown-together B-tier game - one unworthy of the IP, unworthy of the console it appears on, unworthy of a developer of Respawn's calibre, and unworthy of your time. (Review orginally posted HERE) Edited September 16, 2021 by DrBloodmoney 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 - 472 - 605 Life is Strange: True Colours Summary: The fourth instalment in the Life is Strange series has a feeling of a 'return to roots' for the series. That is conceptually interesting, considering it comes from Deck Nine (developers of Life is Strange prequel Before the Storm) and not series originator, DotNod. Before the Storm was something of an outlier, in the sense that it eschewed the "magical realism" side of the franchise, leaning instead on the emotional weight, arthouse style and symbiotic relationship the series has with its indie music soundtrack. Life is Strange 2 set itself apart further still, by following a more atypical narrative structure, opting to follow two characters as they move across America, and dealing more with discrete, broader societal themes in each standalone episode than weaving a tale around a static set of secondary players. Life is Strange: True Colours, on the other hand, feels to be something of a maturing for the franchise - having learned from the previous two iterations, but using that knowledge to come back to the broad structure of the original game (a single location, a supernatural power, a grand mystery, a smart but un-self-confident female protagonist, and static cast of well-rounded characters,) with a confidence instilled by the series', at this point established, commercial success. Set in the small, idyllic Colorado mining town of Haven Springs, Alex Chen arrives having been invited by her estranged brother, Gabe. Both Alex and Gabe grew up together, but after losing their mother to cancer, and their father to despair, they were separated in the foster care system, and both had an extremely rocky road to the point in which we meet them - particularly Alex. Imbued with a sort of superpower/curse, Alex is able to empath with other people, feeling their emotions and, in moments of extremes, be taken over by them. Having spent a lot of time in group homes, (some of the trials of which are hinted at, both in her comments to Gabe, and in text messages on Alex's phone, which can be accessed and scrolled back to read) Alex is emotionally distant and withdrawn around people - fearful of her own power and emotionally delicate, yet strong and driven in a way that befits someone hardened to anguish by years of feeling unwanted or unseen. Over the course of the 5 chapters, (True Colours is, curiously, the first Life is Strange game not to be released episodically, yet retains the broad structure of the games that birthed it, splitting it's story accordingly,) Alex, and the town, endure a terrible tragedy, and she is forced to make a choice about whether to remain in the town, living with the memories of that tragedy, and try to make sense of them, or to move on, simply adding Haven Springs to a long list of places to which she feels she does not belong. She chooses the former, for a while at least, and throughout the game, she investigates the tragedy, the seedy relationship the beautiful and picturesque town has with the mining corporation that is both the primary employer, and life blood of the local economy, and gets to know a smattering of the locals, slowly becoming a part of the town, and slipping into its rhythm even as she tunes aspects of it to hers. As is the case with most narrative games, I am deliberately talking around the plot, as spoilers are a problem when the game is purely narrative, but I think it's worth touching on the broad elements. While I won't go into detail, I will say, the actual structure of the plot of the game is good here. The story is simpler than the original game - though longer than Before the Storm. The characterisation is extremely strong, not only for Alex, who I find to be incredibly likeable and endearing, but of virtually every secondary character too. The cast is relatively small in this game - closer in scope to that of Before the Storm than Life is Strange or Life is Strange 2, but the longer narrative means each of these characters gets a chance to shine in different spots, and it means than as the story progresses, speaking with and checking in with the secondary players is not a matter of checking boxes, but a pleasure and the meat of the game. While there is certainly less specific points being made here about aspects of culture, as was the wheelhouse of Life is Strange 2, there are still significant areas in which the game tries (and broadly succeeds) to address real-life concerns, though much more in the spirit of Life is Strange and Before the Storm. These are generally aspects of human interaction than broad societal concerns of LiS2. Grief, Loss, Guilt, Loneliness, Friendship and Love are much more at the forefront here again, and while I enjoyed Life is Strange 2, I feel like that is a good thing. That is the areas best served by the tone of these games, and they are areas which the series can navigate most effectively. The game certainly retains the unusual player-to-protagonist relationship that has become a staple of Life is Strange as a series. Because Alex, like Max Caulfield, Chloe Price and Sean Diaz before her, comments on items, objects and people in a semi-narrative, conversation way, in part directly to the player, the player resumes the role of guardian and friend, far more than controller or observer. In True Colours, in fact, the developers lean even more into this notion, right at the outset, by having our first introduction to Alex be direct to camera, as she uncomfortably answers questions from an unseen supervisor in the group home she is leaving. Her tone, expressions and discomfort in being observed is clear to see, and because she is looking directly at us as her emotions are laid bare, even as she tries to steel them from us, it forms an instant emotional connection to a character in a way few visual or narrative devices can do. Unlike previous Life is Strange games, where I came to empathise and feel for the protagonist characters based on observing their stories and actions, here, I didn't need that. The smart inclusion of these scenes as our first glimpse of Alex, meant that I felt an instant and powerful paternal/human desire to keep her from harm, prior to even knowing what harm there was out there for her to find. That is an emotional and human connection only possible through that kind of 'direct to player' interaction, and as a result of extreme fidelity and verisimilitude of expression and writing, and it is done masterfully here. Retaining the episodic structure, despite the full release of the game as a single entity is beneficial in most senses. It allows the game to work using discrete 'time-cuts' in the same manner Life is Strange 2 did, and allows the player to retain one of the most specifically 'series staple' aspects of the Life is Strange games - to review the choices the player made, both against the global norm, and those of their PSN friends, however, there is a slight wrinkle as a result of the full game being released at once. Because the game no longer has the roll of credits between episodes, the jump between episodes is much faster, and it can make the time cuts feel a little jarring - occasionally, it feels like there a few lines of dialogue spelling out how much time has passed since the previous chapter, and if missed, it can be up to the player to figure it out. Visually, Life is Strange: True Colours is a massive leap forward from even the Life is Strange 2. The game is a PS5 exclusive, and while I am confident it would work on a PS4 with only minor reductions in fidelity, it is still remarkable what a visual difference there is here from the previous games. The broad art style is retained - the characters here are not 'realistic', but rather, artistically befitting the art-house style, and the staples of the series are present - white, sketchbook outlines on objects of interest, blobby, painterly interpretations of photographs etc. - however, the fidelity in things like character facial animations and movements are a big step up, and the environments are massively more detailed. Haven Springs is - it has to be said in no uncertain terms - fucking beautiful. The town is literally the most idyllic place I can imagine. This is a town that makes Stars Hollow from the Gilmour Girls look like Megaton from Fallout 3. The Main street, the bar, the apartment Alex lives in above it, the Flower Shop, the Weed Dispensary (Colorado, yo) - every location is not only rendered beautifully, it is a beautiful rendering of a beautiful place, and with the art-style Life is Strange affords, and the heightened colour palate of the game (on show in full HDR) it is lent a feeling of 'home' immediately. Voice work and audio are excellent as usual. Alex in particular, I was surprised to learn, is not a prolific voice actor, and this appears to be her first gig according to IMDB, though I'd be extremely surprised if it was her last. The soundtrack (a Life is Strange staple) is, once again, a well cultivated compilation of indie pop, this time featuring such artists as Novo Amor, The Kings of Leon, Phoebe Bridgers, Radiohead and Far Caspian - and True Colours follows the path laid out in Before the Storm, actively leaning into the soundtrack as a major component of the game. Music is a big part of the lives of Alex, Gabe, and particularly Steph Gingrich (the only retained character from Arcadia Bay, here, a little older and working as a record store DJ,) and the game treats music as an integral player in the overall experience. Throughout, there are moments where the player can take a moment, relax, and simply listen to a song, as the game provides a montage of the environment ands a quiet 'Zen moment', and in a lot of cases, the music is diagetic, with the player listening to it along with Alex. The mechanics of the game work in a very similar way to the previous games - Life is Strange as a series is not concerned, really, with offering gameplay puzzles or mechanical obstacles, but rather, simply adds simplistic versions of these as a means to exploring the town and the environments, and furthering the plot. They work as intended, and a few little PS5-specific flourishes are added, by way of the haptic feedback and rumbles, particularly around Alex's powers, and the internal struggles they invoke. Overall, Life is Strange: True Colours is a wonderful experience. Shedding the aspects of Life is Strange 2 that were more divisive has renewed the series ability to craft, over the course of a relatively short experience, a more complex emotional investment with a wide collection of characters. Alex retains the crown as our closest companion, but the game does not feel like 'us vs. the world' in the way Life is Strange 2 did, but rather, a slice of a bigger story, in which a tapestry of characters are living a life, and we are living with them for a spell. (Review orginally posted HERE) 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Celestial_Lily Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 Platinum #90 - Tales of Arise (PS5) Fun: 9/10 Difficulty: 3/10 Time taken: 50 hours This was the first JRPG I've finished in a super long time, and I was a bit worried going in that I wouldn't have the attention span required for it but I am so glad I bought this day 1! I had a super awesome time with it, I loved the cast of characters and the story too. It was definitely emotional at parts and I've been listening to the ending song on repeat since yesterday, and I doubt that's stopping any time soon. It wasn't perfect, by any means. I didn't enjoy the combat system much unfortunately, so any super long boss fights ended up being a bit of a drag, and I wish there had been a bit more enemy variety too other than hey this is that earlier monster, but a different element colour. But honestly it was worth it for the story, because I was absorbed in it and became so attached to everyone that I was genuinely sad when the credits rolled that I knew my time was up. I'm not sure if any Tales games get dlc since this was my first one that I've finished, but even if not I hope there's some side stories or books or something so I can continue to spend time with them even after. I'll definitely not be forgetting this game any time soon, and dare I say it may be the best one I've played this year! I mean there's still a few months to go but this is a really really strong contender. ? 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_Radio Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 2:30 PM, AmazingNoeder said: Not the last but i was a bit lazy to post Platinum 424 and 423 + 20,000 trophies http://imgur.com/gallery/CcRBSax Mighty No. 9 ps4 and ps3 The game was very good, I made it first on PS3 and it's totally broken I've never seen a game so broken in terms of fps, and look, I've played a lot of game with fucked up performance on vita ? On ps4 it was extremely easy, like it was a walk in the park, I even got the platinum on ps4 in 10 and a half hours and on ps3 I have no idea of playing time I managed to make challenge 36 completing the game without dying and without saving the first try on ps4 At min 23:24 (video comment marking) I got a close call from a totally lucky/bad lucky event But on ps3 only on the last level I died twice because the fps dropped to zero and I was teleported to death ? and look, I already knew all the parts that the game resets the fps I was pretty pissed off Well done. Glad you're one of those guys who offers commentary. Also, kudos on that NYMHC trophy. Must of felt real good popping that trophy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sorelhoshi Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 Plat #7 arcana heart 3 jp plat difficulty 6/10 enjoyment 10/10 going through and getting all the stacks for this game 2/6 complete 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingNoeder Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 2 hours ago, AJ_Radio said: Well done. Glad you're one of those guys who offers commentary. Also, kudos on that NYMHC trophy. Must of felt real good popping that trophy. Thanks man,i actually felt extremely happy when i got the NYMHC basically on first try, normally i just fell "i m finally free" on this kind of trophy like on wolfenstein 2, finally i got lucky and not a lot of bad lucky and rng bullshit on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Valzentia Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 #26 - Saints Row: The Third Remastered Difficulty: 4/10 Fun: 10/10 Only reason I don't give this a difficulty rating of 3/10 is because of that goddamn Escort activity in the Airport district. HOLY BALLS does that shit get immensely irritating, not to mention that I now have a phobia of news vans thanks to the unholy amount of punishment that the activity inflicted on me. #27 - My Name Is Mayo 2 Difficulty: 0/10 Fun: 4/10 This was basically taken as a cheap motivation booster so I could push myself through NieR: Automata...before I knew that i'd be playing it non-stop every chance I got. #28 - NieR: Automata Difficulty: 3/10 Fun: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000/10 Holy fuck, this is one of the greatest games I have ever played in my entire life. Drop whatever you're doing right now and go play it immediately. You will NOT regret it. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damage_6-9 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 #1001- Super Destronaut DX-2 #1002- Donuts 'n' Justice • AS #1003- Donuts 'n' Justice • NA #1004- Donuts 'n' Justice #1005- Infestor • AS #1006- Hentai vs. Evil • AS #1007- Hellbreachers #1008- Hellbreachers • NA #1009- Hellbreachers • AS #1010- Pinkman+ #1011- One Escape #1012- Pinkman+ • NA #1013- Cross the Moon • NA #1014- Super Destronaut DX-2 • NA #1015- ZJ the Ball: Level 5 #1016- ZJ the Ball: Level 5 • NA #1017- Bai Qu: Hundreds of Melodies • NA #1018- Bai Qu: Hundreds of Melodies • NA #1019- Baseball Bout: Otterrific Arcade • NA #1020- Angels with Scaly Wings • NA #1021- Angels with Scaly Wings • NA 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post voodoo_eyes Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 #563 - Anna's Quest Another decent pointand-click game by Daedalic. Story was alright, but some of hte hotspots for the collectibles were janky as hell. Enjoyment: 6 Difficulty: 2.5 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Undead Wolf Posted September 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2021 #374 - Far Cry: New Dawn Conqueror Earn all Trophies. This is the follow-up to one of Far Cry 5's endings. I enjoyed that game way more than I thought I would, so I wanted to see what this was all about too. New Dawn is an interesting take on the Far Cry formula with them implementing a tier system to the enemies, weapons, vehicles, etc. So if you come across a tier 3 enemy, you better hope you have a weapon of the same tier or higher, or else you're not going to be able to damage them very well. So long as you make better weapons when available though, it doesn't really play much different than a regular Far Cry game. I do like that you can choose to give up outposts in this one in exchange for resources, and taking them over again is more difficult than the last time. The setting was kind of neat. It's the FC5 map, but with more foliage and the colours are made more vibrant. Looks good on a HDR screen. The antagonists in this game were very underwhelming compared to Joseph in FC5. I didn't care much for them. Joseph returns in this game, but I feel like they kinda did him dirty. I wish we got a better pay-off with him at the end. The trophy list is about what you'd expect from a regular Far Cry game, just a bit more condensed. None of the trophies are particularly noteworthy. I enjoyed the game, but it definitely didn't grab me like FC5 did. It's a decent game. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordguwa Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 platinum #553 The Tower Of Beatrice (ps4) completed in 6 hours and 21 minutes platinum rarity 81.79% common hardest challenge: mesmerizing puzzle this one wasn't enjoyed at all. mostly due to that puzzle. i have to clear one of my drawer games since it'll overload soon. next game will be Katamari Damacy Reroll (ps4). i'm sure i'll enjoy this one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mr_Wright95 Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 Control Ultimate Edition: Director of the FBC Platinum # 84 Fun: 6/10 Difficulty 3/10Review: First Game Platinum' since deciding to tackle my backlog. In the time it took me to finish this game I bought 3 more games so 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Regardless this game was my first experience playing a 4K 60FPS game on the PS5 and graphically it looked awesome. The story captivated my imagination during the early stages and the office setting felt very unique for a game. I must say towards the end the game did get frustrating as the FBC office can be a maze at the best of times. Overall I would say that I enjoyed the story but the Platinum clean up got slightly tedious. I own a copy of this on PS4 as well so at some stage I will Plat this again, but not for a fair while. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Suminya Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) #312 - Hanayamata Yosakoi Live! (ハナヤマタ よさこいLIVE!) コンプリート! すべてのトロフィーを獲得しました 最後までプレイしてくれてありがとう! Time: 8 hours, 47 minutes Difficulty: 1.5/10 #313 - Blue Reflection Brilliant Etoile Congratulations! You collected all trophies. Time: 3 days, 3 hours (31 hours 45 minutes 39 seconds, according to the clear save file) Difficulty: 2.5/10 Edited October 28, 2021 by Suminya 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post zid2016 Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 Platinum : #99 and #100 Dirt 5 PS4 and PS5 versions Difficulty : 2/10 Fun : 6/10 Dirt 5 has a easy trophy list. Most of the trophies unlock during career mode run. Hardest trophy is stuntmasta, where you need to get a score of 30000. My favorite race type was sprints, where you could drift the full length of those short tracks. Most time consuming trophy is driving 1000 miles, fortunately it can be done by rubber banding the controller. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post blacklight-nero Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) Platinum: #355 Bought this game a few years back on PS3 and just completed it and all I have to say is how did I miss this on the PS2 it’s just fantastic. Edited September 17, 2021 by blacklight-nero 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gamer-Girl-Noire Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 #160 mass effect 2 time to platinum 25 hours difficulty 2/10 a pretty fun game honestly. was nice seeing how different stuff went from 1 to 2 especially when both are fresh in my mind. i'd argue if you never played 2 much it would be a 3/10 pushing more so 27 hours as a few parts are a pain if you don't know them like horizon is a bit of a spike. there's also because some upgrades are missable you might have to reload to go back to grab it or spend more time looking for it as some are in weird places and you can't really trust shadowbroker to give you the upgrade you need for 7/7 upgrades as rng is a pain. now it's time to start 3 and finish this fight and experience dlc's i never played. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voodoo_eyes Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 #564 - Darkestville Castle Pretty good point-and-click game. Solid inventory system that's easy to use, only the moving around was a bit tedious. Enjoyment: 7 Difficulty: 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damage_6-9 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 #1022- Super Destronaut DX- 2 • NA #1023- Bai Qu: Hundreds of Melodies #1024- Bai Qu: Hundreds of Melodies #1025- Cross the Moon • NA #1026- Freddy Spaghetti #1027 & trophy #29,000- Freddy Spaghetti • NA 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 #916 Oktoberfest Break Head to Head 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy547389126yv Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 #917 & 918 PS4 & PS5 versions of Dojoran 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valzentia Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 #29 - Earth Marines Difficulty: 1/10 Fun: 2/10 I was bored and needed motivation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Geninjo Posted September 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2021 #82 - Final Fantasy VII Remake #83 - It Takes Two #84 - Dodgeball Academia #85 - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart #86 - Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered #87 - Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales #88 - Deathloop 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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