Most Recent Platinum

[percy547389126yv]

#1,076 PS4 version of The Longest Road on Earth

[EIdain]

 

 Platinum #76 - DiRT 5

 

DIRT LEGEND - Uncommon: 26.21%

My 3rd platinum in the DiRT series and the 4th one I've played. Rather disappointingly this is the one I've enjoyed the least. Maybe this one was a bit too arcade-y for my liking, but I didn't enjoy how a lot of the cars handled, especially the off-road vehicles. I also thought it lacked a lot of variety. Love it or hate it (I rather enjoy them), at least the Gymkhana events feel different from the other events. I quite liked the pathfinder one too, but there were far too many circuit type events. The lack of variety wasn't helped by the amount of tracks in the game either, there was probably no more than 10 unique tracks, just with those tracks ran in reverse or with a slightly altered layout. Overall ok for a PS+ title, but glad I didn't pay money for it outright.

From a trophy hunting perspective the list is kinda short, which I'm generally not a fan off, but also incredibly easy. It does however have one of the worst trophies I've come across on the list. Spare Some Change for Gas? is the first time I've ever had to use a rubber band to afk farm a trophy, these sorts of trophies add no value to the game whatsoever. Just hope it didn't mess up my Dualsense trigger too much.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Difficulty: 2/10
Playtime: 23 hours, inc. 6 spent afk.

Edited February 3, 2022 by EIdain

[MatThaRiPP3R84]

 

 Legendary Warrior

Fun Factor : 6

Difficulty: 5

 

pretty good game initially released on PS2. has some pretty great mechanics, gore effects, takedowns executions etc and some grit to the story and the way it's told. game is not too bad but near the end you have to do some arenas and their challenges and it's a right bastard. This 3rd person stealth 'em up is similar to tenchu, and well worth a play.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by MatThaRiPP3R84

[percy547389126yv]

#1,077 PS5 version of The Longest Road on Earth

[RedRodriguez87]

 

#369: I'm the greatest ninja!

 

I finished Generations, one of the side games in the Storm series.

 

Like Revolutions, it falls into the filler camp, pointless to the overall story and lacking in content; no boss battles, no story relevant plots, and lots of padding. The individual modes are ones that come with the mainline entries without anything exciting added. I know, a filler game to buy time for another main entry, but still, Revolutions had more unique ideas on the table at least. Unlike Revolutions though, only the survival mode is the grindiest part, but damn what a grind it is, with CPU cheapness still running rampant. Every trophy requirement involves fighting numerous battles over and over and over again, with little to nothing to spice them up. The card collection took the longest of course, but thanks to doing my research, it never got annoying to me.

[Moridin83]

 

 #196 NeuroVoider

 

This was a fun change of pace. I haven't done a twin stick shooter in a while, so this scratched the itch for a little while. It's on the easier end of the spectrum, and can be made even easier due to save scumming. You shouldn't need it for the most part, but it is available if 2 looping Voider mode is being problematic. There's a good variety of weapons, but a few of them are clearly superior. You can play with almost any build, but you're gimping yourself significantly if you don't go with the best weapon types. Good soundtrack as well. Shoutout to @Dark_Overlord for the tip on multiple daily runs per day.

[Lordguwa]

platinum #587 Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One Shot Adventure 

completed in 6 days and 21 hours

platinum rarity 18.66% rare

platinum name: Dragon Keep Assaulted

 

going to catch up on borderlands GOTY arena content. then complete Hentai Vs Evil (ps4)

edit: need to scale back some of my plans didn't realize how long the DLC takes. have to do it all over again.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lordguwa

[MrGarland]

Platinum #133 Rez Infinite

 

 

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

 

The classic Sega Dreamcast title is brought to the present day with some additions. I never heard of this before I saw the trophy guide here and bought it some time after that.

 

What can I say about the game? For one thing, it's a rail shooter. I hardly play any of those, so this was pretty much my first time playing such. It honestly felt like a mix between Resogun and Sayonara Wild Hearts. The gameplay is pretty good, but once again, the thing that I found the most enjoyable was the music. It sounds great.

 

I'll have to admit a couple of things straight away. I prefer to play the game by mashing , even though the game instructs otherwise. This is because of one reason. I find it's much easier (and sometimes faster) to shoot down enemies by doing that. Not to mention, many of them shoot missiles which are annoying to deal with if I'm holding the button. This doesn't work with all the modes, like the score attack mode where you have to play it normally.

 

I also have to admit that I found the game a little bit challenging, at least for a while. Actually, the only part I had some trouble with was level 5. I lost to the final boss a few times before I decided to take a break and watch the video about it. Once I did that, I managed to beat it without any difficulty. Sure, I took a hit or two whenever I had to face it on other modes, but other than that, it's a very easy battle.

 

Finally, I have to mention that I encountered the most odd thing I ever saw. The first time I made it to the final phase of the said boss, we both managed to land a final blow on each other so that both of us died at the same time. The ending cutscene played normally, as did the credits, but I didn't get the trophy nor did I get a game over. Honestly, I was left speechless when I saw that happen.

 

If I have to name one thing I enjoyed the most besides the music, it's Area X, which kind of acts as a sequel. It was a rather unique experience, since you can move freely when compared to the rest of the game. It's short, but enjoyable. It also looks great with all the bright colors.

 

As for negative, it's the grind for the score attack mode. It's not the worst one I've had, but that's not a compliment. Your reward for playing the level(s) 30 times? A different colored bullet, in case you want to take out your enemies with style. Not that I expected anything special, but...

 

By the way, I'd post the platinum image, but because it's just a black screen, I'm not going to bother. Don't you just love when the game takes the trophy screenshot at the wrong time? Many of them were like this.

 

Overall, I'm satisfied with this. I didn't test the VR mode, but I'll do it someday.

 

Next project: resuming Gravity Rush. After that, I'll get back to the lovely world of Atelier Ryza.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by MrGarland

[madbuk]

#450 - Darksiders III

As a Darksiders fan, I was so excited for this game that I pre-ordered it... considering it has taken me 3 years to actually finish it, I think it's safe to say my excitement wasn't warranted. It's not really a bad game, it's just not what I look for in Darksiders at all. It's very Souls-like, and the lack of direction + unforgiving combat + unforgiving death penalty just combined to make it not very fun for me. If the combat was identical to how it is now, but with less punishing consequences for dying (respawning enemies, last checkpoint being miles back (due to copying the campfire system from Souls), losing all your souls upon death and having to reclaim them before you die again), I might have enjoyed this a lot more. But the annoyances of dying + having absolutely no clue where to go next ultimately had me resorting to a guide and just following that for the rest of the game. The game does give you a compass to tell you where to go next, but it really doesn't help whatsoever.

 

Once I began following a guide, I did enjoy it more. It's still easily my least favourite Darksiders, but it wasnt as bad as my first impressions had made it out to be. The platforming and puzzles were fun (swinging is very satisfying in this game despite being very simple and easy to perform), the different hollows you get change things up a bit, and the fact enemies don't respawn if you don't die is much appreciated after having played more FF13 recently where your path is constantly blocked by respawning enemies every time you leave and re-enter a zone.

[ShimizuGear09]

 

#335

 

Almost eight years ago, I started this game with my life partner @shiny12 over Skype while we were still dating in a long distance relationship and now we've have finally completed it, but this time while playing into our very own house. Not the best Final Fantasy game but I'll remember it as a special platinum due to these circumstances ?

 

#336

 

 

This is one of the funniest and relaxing games I've ever played, not much else to say about it ?

[JoaLoft]

 

#278 - Dishonored: Definitive Edition

 

Today's platinum post is one of a game that is ten years old (and that I platted for the first time with the PS3 version), and still stands pretty strong today.

 

In Dishonored, you play as Corvo Attano, Lord Protector of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, who gets framed for her assassination at the start of the game. Her daughter, the future empress, is kidnapped, and you are sentenced to death. As you quickly suspect, you're nothing more than a scapegoat for a much more sinister plan. Thanks to some very cool powers you acquire from the mysterious Outsider, you escape the prison and meet up with a group of loyalists who scheme in the dark to stop the conspiracy and save the late Empress's daughter to secure the throne. All with the city of Dunwall in the background, which is slowly buckling under the pressure of a rat plague.

 

What makes Dishonored so special, is its replayability. You can think of Dishonored like a first-person Hitman game with special powers. You have a level design, there's a target. And aside from that: there are no rules. You can explore anywhere you can (within the boundaries of the level), you have several options at your disposal (both lethal and non-lethal) and they are yours to handle as you see fit. There's teleportation, possession, time manipulation, and so on. Most missions even offer some optional exploration, where you could stumble upon a safe and search for the combination. None of these are difficult, but they do reward you with a nice sum of extra cash, which can be invested in better equipment and upgrades.

 

The way you handle missions influences the outcome. There are two possible endings: a positive one and a negative one, depending on your actions. If you decided to show mercy to high-value targets, stay in the shadows and not kill a single soul throughout your entire playthrough, you'll get what's called the "Low Chaos" (positive) ending. (There is some leeway to getting this if you do want to lethally kill some enemies, I'm just mentioning it because there's a trophy for not alerting anyone and killing no one throughout the entire game). If you run through the streets of Dunwall like a madman and kill everyone, you can be damn sure you'll get the "High Chaos" (negative) ending. And making those decisions has an impact on the game world while you're playing too: leaving a trail of bodies attracts more rats in future levels, which could attack you or open up more possibilities again for distraction or possession.

 

And both playthroughs feel so satisfying: taking the stealthy route makes you think and plan before acting, knocking guards unconscious and hiding them, sneaking around in aristocratic mansions to collect as many documents and valuables as you can. Taking the violent high-paced action route, well, that one feels like a guilty pleasure. You get to dump all the stealth formalities, whip out your gun/crossbow and sword (and all the other lethal gadgets) and shoot every guard you see, turn lethal security devices against the troops of Dunwall, ... There is a lot of gameplay variety to be found here. There are the extremes (purely non-lethal stealth or all-round murder mayhem) and a huge area of grey in between.

 

Dishonored can be played any way you want. There are consequences, mind you. But you'll never feel cheated or let down: no matter how you approach it, it rewards you in its own unique way. It is rightly considered to be a modern gem.

 

Oh, and the Definitive Edition also includes three expansions, among which are two story expansions, telling the captivating story of the real assassin of the Empress and how he fits into the whole story. Well worth playing!

 

Most frustrating trophy - ...

 

NONE!

 

For all the miscellaneous requirements you'll need to fulfill in Dishonored, there's not really any frustrating trophies to speak of.

 

Sure, you'll need to act meticulous and careful when you go for a purely stealthy non-lethal playthrough. But that's what made it extra fun: blinking to the rooftops and lanterns, possessing people and animals to deceive enemies, finding creative ways beyond security checkpoints, discovering the methods to eliminate high-value targets without killing them.

 

You'll need a minimum of two playthroughs to nail the platinum, but both are sweet in their own respective way.

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

#100 & 101 Fortnite [PS4 & PS5] 

Difficulty: 4/10

Enjoyment: 2/10

Grind: 10/10

Rarity: 0.10% [PS4] & 0.51% [PS5]

About Fortnite: Fortnite is a mutiplayer game with seasonal updates, You battle players and survive till you are the only person alive, You can also buy cosmetics to impress friends or look cool.

About the Trophies: You are required to buy a $15.99 pack to unlock a mode to unlock trophies. The story isn't too difficult if it is difficult bring some friends. Towards the bottom of the trophy list there are 5 trophies that want you to do something 1,000 or more times. There are 4 trophies you can boost with other players the trophy Unspeakable Horror cannot be boosted since you cannot share kills with friends. You can start inviting friends to make your experience more fun, Start a play with others match you do not want to play with randoms they will waste your time, Then explore the map till you get a badge notification then you can stop, Then Finish the mission as fast as possible. Building 500,000 will be tough but bringing friends to storm shield endurance will save you so much materials Build then break your structure you keep your materials Don't build too much the game will kick you and take away your progress. Start the mission after you break the structures you built, Survive wave 1 then fail wave 2 you will keep your progress. 20,000 Mist monsters are mini bosses they don't date your objective but expose your builds you can farm The kills in Storm shield Endurance Plankerton survive and defend your objective kill as many mist monster as you can. Saving 10,000 is the most annoying trophy Survivors don't have weapons you have protect them if you lose a survivor they don't respawn, Rescue the survivors is the best mission to farm you can get 15 survivors rescued but you have to wait a 20 minute timer. One more thing Successful means you cannot leave after building a few structures your progress will not count the mission must end for your progress to count.

Spoiler

Twitch Channel: gamercris066

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by gamercris066

[Splathew]

#85 Skyrim 10 years later but kinda proud of this one lol

 

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

#100 & 101 also took 2 in the half years and 800 hours. Also proud since Its in the rarest trophy cabinet.

Edited February 3, 2022 by gamercris066

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

1 hour ago, Splathew said:

#85 Skyrim 10 years later but kinda proud of this one lol

 

Congrats 

[Darghel]

#132 All Complete (DEAD OR SCHOOL).

Difficulty: Frustrating, frustrating, and more frustrating. At least on normal

Time to Complete: 27 hours

Recommended: If you play on easy, yes

Total score: 5/10

 

First things first, this isn't the platinum icon: the real one is MUCH more...problematic and I didn't feel safe showing, so I picked the ending icon which should've been the real platinum icon.

Second, the trophies are in japanese, but according to the screenshot (which has english translations) it says All Complete, so I'm going with that.

 

With that said, oh boy, this wasn't a fun ride. I don't even know where to start with this game, it had potential but I really didn't enjoy at its fullest. I mean where can I start? The needless stamina meter that only breaks the combat flow, forcing you to recharge in the middle of a fight against dozens of enemies? And why do I need to recharge stamina when shooting a gun?!

 

And what about the awful checkpoint systems where if you don't reach the new point, all enemies respawn à la dark souls and you gotta do those forced combat section. It wouldn't be a problem if there was NO WAY TO RECOVER YOUR HEALTH. Only later near the end of the game I finally found a decent weapon that had an ability which recovered hp whenever I hit enemies. It saved my bacon a lot of times.

 

And speaking of weapons, oh man, most of them are really bad: the sword is decent but the hammer and big sword are absolutely atrocious to use, they practically have zero range and unless you hug your enemy you are NOT going to hit anything. The chainsaw is your saving grace...it's like the sword's heavy attack but much faster, and uses less stamina. Most guns are also very forgettable: they work but at one point you just want the flamethrower, as it hits multiple enemies in an area without requiring the lvl 25 talent and...well it actually does a lot of damage! As for the explosive weapon I just went with a graviton. They're meh, but the graviton is less meh. And while not a big deal, most of the early talents in the tree are very meaningless and only become important later, like more hp and stamina.

 

And lastly, but not least, the camera! Oh my God the camera keeps moving around and hiding enemies from my sight when fighting! It was especially bad during some puzzle sections where I must jump upwards, since it didn't show where to go until it was too late. I don't get it: why have the camera being so janky in such large areas?! And why is everything so dark?! I had to turn on the gamma on my tv!

 

But still, I really can't fully say it's a bad game: there is definitely some cure put into it, there's a lot of variety in combat and the action (but poorly balanced), the puzzles are a nice touch and break the monotony (but often hard to figure out at times) and there is a lot of customization in weapons and abilities (but also too convoluted since you need a lot of money for upgrades: I ended up with over 1200 gears because I couldn't upgrade as much as I could).

 

If you play on easy then the game is pretty much doable, you might die once or twice but at least it's less frustrating. The trophies are surprisingly easy and it's all about collecting stuff and achieving some milestones (like spend enough money or get enough hp). The trophies are in japanese though so a guide for that is very recommended.

 

Overall....eh, not the worst game I played, but it could've been really fun if it was better balance. It was an easy plat, but I wish it was also a fun game. 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Darghel
Wrong platinum number!

[Ya_Boy_James]

#58 - BLOODBORNE

 

 Bloodborne

All trophies acquired. Hats off!

[rjkclarke]

Platinum #343

+ 100% In-Game Completion

Yakuza 3 (PS4)

 

 

World's Greatest Dad
Earn all other trophies in the game.

 

 

 

It’s been a long path, but Kiryu and I have finally reached the end of our road together. I guess that means addressing the elephant in the room? Hello Elephant, that’s a nice back tattoo you have of a Dragon. I joke, I joke (badly too, I know) – in all seriousness, why did I choose Yakuza 3 as the last game to play with Kiryu as the protagonist?

 

That is a question that isn’t too simple to answer without some context, so I’d better give some for any that aren’t aware. It’s necessary context too, because it was a huge factor in why I approached this game the way that I did. You might have noticed the screenshot underneath the platinum image – which to me is better than having the platinum itself, in Yakuza 3 I decided to go beyond trophies and aim for full 100% in-game completion.

I digress though; time to return to a little context. I’ll try and simplify it, just for ease, more than anything. After failing to finish Yakuza 2 on the PS2 (through no fault of my own, I ran into an infinite loading screen glitch,) I didn’t play another Yakuza game until Yakuza 5 on the PS3. This is, I think at least, the reason why I like Yakuza 5 so much, because it’s the game that made me fall in love with the series again.

For that reason I ended up playing the series in a pretty strange order. It is an order which I think I’ll list though, because it really is quite strange when you see it written down in black and white.

 

If you’re reading this in my checklist thread, then this game order probably isn’t new to you, but I’ll mention it again nevertheless. My order of play was this:

“Y1 (PS2)> Y2 (PS2)> Y5 (PS3)> Y4 (PS3)> Y0 (PS4)> Kiwami (PS4)> Y6 (PS4) > Kiwami 2 (PS4)> Y: Dead Souls (PS3)> Judgment (PS4) > Y3 (PS4)”

As you can see, I darted around the Yakuza timeline considerably. Is this the ideal way to play through the series? Almost certainly not, it does offer some fairly unique perspectives, but, outside of that unique wrinkle, I’d still always recommend people play them chronologically, now that the option is open to folks.

 

Most of you are probably thinking why didn’t you save Yakuza 6 for last, you massive twit? Essentially, it was down to this, before the remastered PS4 versions had come out, finding a copy of Yakuza 3 for a decent price in the UK was pretty much a pipe dream more than a realistic prospect. So that’s exactly the only reason I skipped over Yakuza 3 until now.

Here’s the thing, having already played Yakuza 6, and the emotional rollercoaster that it took me on. After a while I felt like I owed it to myself to finally play through Yakuza 3.  I pretty much picked up the remastered collection when it was released, but it sat unopened until the very start of this year. When I finally decided – now was that time.

 

I think I left it so long, partly because I’d gotten into the headspace that I didn’t quite want to say goodbye to Kiryu as a playable character just yet. I think I also thought – wrongly, it would turn out, that playing Yakuza 3 would override or erase the feelings I had going into Yakuza 6, as the true end of the road for him as a playable character.  I can pleasantly say though – that it didn’t. Yakuza 6 still feels like the end of the road. All of those complex emotions I was feeling, I still feel, that is still the end. That was my own specific hang-up, and I hold my hands up to that.

Now I see it like this – until I played Yakuza 3, Kiryu’s story as a playable protagonist was like a book that had unfortunately had an entire chapter ripped out, the only pages left were odd bits and pieces of information gleamed from playing later titles. Now that book feels complete, and I feel like I can safely put it down with a peaceful smile on my face.

 

If you’ve read this far – thank you, first of all. Everything I just mentioned felt like it needed to be said just so that people can better understand some of my thoughts about this game. To be clear – this is a game I very much enjoyed, but I feel like a huge part of it, is what the entire experience meant for me as a whole, more than the game itself being of the highest quality, because to be perfectly honest, Yakuza 3 is not the brightest of lights in the entire series. It is one that’s definitely worth experiencing, but there’s certain issues it has that just can’t quite be ignored.

 

I will try my utmost to keep everything from now on as relevant to just Yakuza 3 as possible, if you haven’t read any of my previous reviews on the Yakuza universe, they’re quite easy to find on the first post of my checklist thread, but I don’t want to get too caught up with repetition of aspects I’ve already covered in other reviews, so I’ll try and keep them to just this game.

 

I won’t delve too much into the story outside of a few character specific things. However, in my review of Yakuza Kiwami 2, I briefly alluded to the fact that in the first few Yakuza games – Kazuma Kiryu and Michael Corleone share a few character similarities, at least on a base level, bear with me for a moment here. Yakuza 3 like The Godfather Part III is not a universally loved property (The Godfather Part III is a better film than anyone gives it credit for though, Pacino gives an incredibly strong performance).

The ironic thing is – a famous line of Cornelone’s can also be applied to the plot in this game. “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” A huge part of the plot in Yakuza 3 is essentially a real estate war, as Kiryu tries to save the Orphanage that he’s now made his home, protect the lives of the children that live there, the life he’s built for himself and in the process invariably gets embroiled in more Yakuza drama with the Tojo Clan.

  

Now – this might seem like a strange comparison here – hear me out though, Yakuza 3 falls into some of the same pitfalls and traps that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 does. Both have abundantly got potential – unfortunately to varying degrees it is potential that isn’t quite realised. Not just the obvious “haha, you mean, third entry in a series” thing. Fundamentally they both suffer from some of the same glaring issues – an overabundance of villains, or should I say, well developed antagonists.

Yakuza2/Yakuza Kiwami 2 admittedly isn’t just limited to just Ryuji Goda as an antagonist, he’s the main one, yes, but he isn’t the only one. That being said, he still feels like the most important one. Yakuza 3 on the other hand is packed to the rafters with antagonistic characters, some familiar, some not so familiar, the problem is next to none of them are developed in any kind of meaningful way. It’s just a vague bit of exposition here, or, a really uninspired flashback there, to try and give a little more substance to their actions, for me it wasn’t quite enough. 

 

Whilst I think it’s quite commendable that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio decided to try and keep you guessing throughout the story of Yakuza 3 on who exactly is pulling the strings, and which character exactly is the true mastermind behind everything. What you’re ultimately left with however, was for me at least, a pretty unsatisfying conclusion, that honestly had me sitting there thinking “was that it?”

Therein lays the antagonist problem – having too many, and not nearly enough development for that greater number, really hampers the quality of the games story. The ultimate antagonist, unfortunately just felt completely lacking. But I’ll get into that more, shortly. Usually, I’d be one of the first people to praise certain story elements in a Yakuza game, but here I’d say it’s probably the weakest element of this entire game.

 

There’s still plenty of positivity to be taken from it though. If you could capture a small portion of this games story in a vacuum and only that portion, it would contain some of the very best moments from the entire series. Chapter Seven where you do battle with an old friend, up to the end of Chapter Eleven and the events  leading up to what takes  place in the bull ring are some of the very best moments in the entire series. That scene in the bullring, Takaya Kuroda (Kiryu) take a bow sir, you absolutely broke my heart.  It’s just a shame that the story had one more chapter afterwards that felt a little bit tacked on. I understand its purpose, but I remember sitting there thinking, really?  This is who I’m having a shirtless fight against on top of a tall building? Okay game, if you say so.

 

An interesting thing of note is that whilst Yakuza 3 is on an older engine. This is one of the first instances where the studio had a lot more options open to them regarding certain pieces of technology. Which meant that on a visual level, Yakuza 3 actually holds up incredibly well, even by 2022 standards, and that’s even taking the fact this version is a remaster out of the equation. Facial animations look incredibly detailed for a game that was released more than a decade ago.  Whilst I can’t say this is a cinematography master class – it is very good, and there’s certain bits here and there that really do shine, have some excellent shot framing, and really wouldn’t look too out of place on film.

 

The best thing of all though for me – was that the game actually managed to surprise me visually, something I really wasn’t expecting, more than a few times too. After playing almost every game in the series available to me that isn’t a Japanese exclusive (except Like a Dragon so far) I have admittedly gotten a little bit tired of Kamurocho, don’t get me wrong, I love that place, but I also feel as if I know it about as well as the city I live in, so when the series presents an entirely new location like Ryukyu I always get so excited at the prospect of having an entirely new location to explore to its fullest. I’d seen Ryukyu briefly in Yakuza 4, but you don’t get to explore it as extensively in that game as Yakuza 3. It’s smaller than Kamurocho, that’s undeniable, but it’s still a real treat to have something that feels pretty fresh and exciting to explore.

 

They say a picture says a thousand words, but I did extensively take quite a few screenshots during my time with this game, so I might as well share some of them with you all.

 

For all of the issues I have with some elements of this games story, it still carried a hell of a lot of emotional weight behind it for me.

Venturing into the opening  of the game, and seeing Kiryu and Haruka walk hand-in-hand through the Tenkaichi Gate for what felt like the final time (for me) absolutely hit me right in the feelings, like an unexpected knife out of nowhere.

 

 

It’s small isolated moments like that, which absolutely remind me why I love this series so much. There’s a lot of attention across all of the games to really minute details, how those familiar geographic locations end up reminding you of previous events n the series. It isn’t the final time I took a screenshot around the Tenkaichi Gate either.

 

As the lead in for the final Chapter, the scene with Kiryu and Haruka at the Tenkaichi Gate is absolutely fantastic.  It is understated at its brilliant best.  It’s small; it’s fairly simple and low key, but it means a lot, not just for me as a player and viewer, but for Kiryu contextually as a character.

 

I’m not here to spoil a single thing about the plot, however, when this takes place, Kiryu is probably at his most vulnerable that he has ever been. He’s at his wits end, he basically thinks he’s probably marching towards his own death, and by taking Haruka with him to Kamurocho, yet still ensuring her safety, he allows himself one selfish act, one that he desperately, desperately needs. 

 

To see a character who can look like this....

 

 

Then, within an hour or so, look like this, it can throw you off your guard just a little bit.

 

 

 

In the same way Frodo’s words to Sam of “I’m glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things” at the end of the film version of Return of the King never fails to strike an emotional chord with me, this felt like the Yakuza series equivalent of that.

 

 

 

 

Those two might not be Father and Daughter biologically, but the bond those two share is pretty damn powerful, for as much as this game has a little bit of a villain problem, I'll forever appreciate how much depth and humanity this game bought to Kiryu as a character.

 

Was the fact this was my swansong with Kiryu a big part of why that resonated with me more on an emotional level? Perhaps, but I’m glad it did.

 

I mentioned a little further up how impressive the facial animations are, and I think this screenshot of the children desperately trying to protect their home, Kiryu’s orphanage, that is under threat, is a really fine example of this.

 

 

The look of fear and dread on their faces, alongside Haruka’s brave determnination is – I think at least, a really good example of how impressive some of the games facial animations are, especially for a game originally released in 2009. 

 

Alright this one is purely for fun, and to lighten the mood  Kiryu's face here makes me laugh to even think about. I got this screenshot completely by accident, I pressed the share button the moment I saw the haircut, which for some reason has always made me laugh. The fact it captured Kiryu looking either confused, or disgusted(you decide) was sort of the icing on the cake.  

 

 

Sorry I couldn’t resist at least one screenshot of him. I found that haircut so much funnier than it’s intended to be.

 

On an auditory level Yakuza 3 is a little bit all over the place – it has some outright startlingly good instrumental pieces and some incredibly unusual combat specific pieces of music too. For as much as I criticised who the final boss encounter is with, the actual fight itself is brilliant – I’d be an absolute fool not to mention how good the piece of music that plays during the final boss fight is. I’ll leave a link to it here, for anyone that wants to give it a listen – it does give away who the fight is against, so you’ve been warned.

It’s thematically almost perfect, it feels like it should be the culmination of something huge – Kiryu going into battle for what he feels will be the final time, screeching guitars never felt more appropriate as you kick, punch and parry your way to victory. I love the way there’s a certain audio cue during the fight itself, where the music slows to a deliberate crawl as you know the fights won, and it slowly reaches its conclusion, a small but excellent touch.

 

I won’t dwell on voice acting too much – it’s almost a given that in the Yakuza series it is usually universally excellent. Takaya Kuroda did break my heart as Kiryu in the bullring scene though – some of the anguished cries that he gives are honestly quite harrowing, it’s not something you expect from a character like Kiryu, so I absolutely respect the fact the game explored his more vulnerable side here. Tatsuya Fujiwara is also a real standout as Rikiya, Fujiwara does a really good job of accentuating some of Rikiya’s more naive qualities, something a lesser actor might have gone completely overboard with. Any of you that have seen Battle Royale would probably recognise his voice at least, as he plays Shuya in that film.

 

Like I did with the previous few Yakuza reviews I’ve written it’s probably easier to combine talking about gameplay with the trophies, and flit in-between those two things. This part will probably read a bit more like a journal of my experience, more than it might a detailed critique, so apologies if it does, it feels like the best way to approach it here.

As I went for one hundred percent in-game completion in this game, there’s probably the odd thing that won’t be as relevant to the trophies, but I still feel as if they’re worth discussing at least a little bit. It’s fairly unusual in terms of a trophy list, as the trophies encourage you to do a lot of the available mini-games and side activities, but unless it’s required for the Mini-Game Master trophy you can usually just get away with doing the bare minimum if trophies are all you’re after.

 

I ought to address the combat in this game too, I really enjoyed playing through a Yakuza game on this older game engine again, I must say. Anyone who’s read my Kiwami 2 review will probably be sick of me complaining about Kiryu on the Dragon Engine. I am too, so let us just move on from it. At least until I get around to reviewing Yakuza 6, then I might bring that up again.

 

I’d be lying if I wasn’t glad that Kiryu’s punches felt like punches again, and his kicks felt like real weighty forceful kicks. Well – that would be the case if there wasn’t a mighty awful caveat to that in Yakuza 3. Yes, combat feels more satisfying in some areas, and then in others it makes you want to put your face into a pillow and scream. I always thought people were going overboard complaining about how often the enemy A.I blocks in this game, turns out, they were right. I heard someone once jokingly refer to this as Blockuza 3, and they aren’t actually far off.

 

My advice is this, if any of you decide to play this. Play aggressive! Unlike in some of the other Yakuza titles there’s definitely something to be said about playing defensively, and parrying attacks more than perhaps you, yourself would attack. In Yakuza 3? Take the fight to them – what I mean is, start off a combo string that you know they’ll block, which is almost all of them actually. When they’ve blocked and you’ve finished attacking, this will usually prompt them to attack you, which gives you an opening to slip behind them and either combo them from behind, or put them down swiftly with a Tiger Drop or a Komaki Parry provided you’ve learnt it. The enemy A.I really doesn’t attack very often (even on higher difficulties,) so it’s easier to bait them into attacking than having to wait for it.

 

Once you get past the incessant blocking, the combat itself is actually very satisfying – I’d actually argue, it’s even more fun when you’re trying to initiate every single Heat Action (special move/finisher) for the completion points for the full completion. There are some really interesting ones that are completely unique to this game, and some of its locations. For example there’s one that can only be triggered if you’re near the bridge overlooking a river in Ryukyu as Kiryu just picks the enemy up and throws them straight into the river. There’s also a really brutal looking one that’s exclusive to the Public Market in Ryukyu, in which Kiryu just throws an enemy face first down a flight of stairs, not only does it look brutal, this games immaculate sound design makes it sound immeasurably painful.  

 

To go alongside the usual raft of Substories (side quests) in Yakuza 3, of which I personally thought Yakuza 3 contained far too few meaningful ones. Yakuza 3 introduced Hitman Missions. More on that shortly, back to substories briefly though. To tell you the truth, 119 seems a little excessive when barely any of them amount to more than “go to a location, and then use a waddling fat man as a punching bag.”

They aren’t all like this of course. The inclusion of substories that have cutscenes with voiced dialogue does do a good job of making them feel important. Yet, unfortunately, that also becomes a double-edged sword as it makes the others seem a lot less impactful or important, as a result of the voiced ones, feeling more significant.

 

I must commend the inclusion of the Hitman missions though, these are awesome – a simple gameplay element in practice, but a really interesting one nevertheless. Not only do they serve as an interesting little side story – one that ties quite neatly into the plot of the original Yakuza too, they’re also some of the most fun I had during the entire game.

You’re essentially tasked with fighting rogue Hitmen, to try and – well, for want of a better word, tame and eventually reform them. I know, strange concept, I was confused by it too. Strangeness aside – these are – for all intents and purposes – twenty extra boss fights. Boss fights with increasingly harder opponents the more Hitmen you subdue. I loved these, some of them require you to be quite knowledgeable of the combat system too, otherwise you’re probably a roasty, toasty Kiryu. They’re also some of the best sources of money in the game too, so they do serve a practical purpose.

 

I had a look at the trophy guide before writing this just to see what the estimated time to platinum was. Apparently it’s one hundred hours. Which I’d say is probably on the higher end of the spectrum, and an eight out of ten difficulty. I had about seventy-seven hours clocked by the time I was very close to attaining the platinum. All I had left was doing the hostess substories (which were terrible by the way,) fighting Amon, and then clearing one last mini-game (which I could have done about thirty hours earlier if I’m being honest). All that would have taken another eight or so hours at a guess, so I would have clocked in at about eighty-five hours for the whole platinum.

 

However, if you look at the screenshot at the top of this review, full completion took me about another thirty-five. So I can pretty comfortably say – even looking at it with cold hard facts, I absolutely got my money’s worth out of the experience.

Do I agree with the difficulty? Perhaps, it’s hard to tell, difficulty is subjective, so you can never say for sure. I struggled at a lot of the chase sequences when others would probably breeze through them. This is one of the few times where playing the later games like Yakuza 4 and 5 first gave me a distinct advantage, I think. I wasn’t quite prepared for how much I wanted to use my controller as the world’s most expensive Frisbee on occasion though.  

 

There are very few instances of a Pool mini-game, in almost any game, being worse than in this game. This is a Pool game made by someone who’d only ever seen any form of Billiards for about five seconds before having their eyelids glued shut, then asked to make the game from memory. It’s overly sensitive, everything about it feels wrong, and the A.I would make Paul Newman in The Hustler look as capable a player, as someone’s one armed Grandmother.  If you couldn’t tell I thought it was awful, am I a Pool purist? Maybe, but even without that, this mini-game is just terrible.  

Still, when tackling the EX Hard Batting though, that is undeniably hard, whatever trick you use (for an aiming reticule) for it, patience and perseverance is absolutely key, but even then, my nerves were jangling more than a Medieval jailers keys (one of these days I’ll write a review that doesn’t contain a vague analogy, but it is not this day).

 

In all honesty though – the platinum itself almost seems like plain sailing compared to some of the requirements they ask of you with full completion. So, I was pretty vocal about how much EX Hard Batting frustrated me in the Batting Centre right? Well to create every single item in the game on the completion list – you have to basically replicate getting the mini-game completion for that part of the Mini-game Master trophy a further four times. You heard it right, all that effort for some lousy Chunks of Ash, sad times.  

There has been very few times where I’ve felt as crestfallen as I did when I learned that I needed to do that four more times. If it wasn’t the last thing I needed for the one hundred percent completion I might have just gone “You know what Kiryu, old buddy, old pal, you know the grand plan I had to end our time together in style? I’ve changed my mind.” The only logical next step for me would be that I run away screaming, leaving an rjcklarke shaped hole in the nearest wall.

 

You know what else I wish I knew? When you load up Premium Adventure (post game) your difficulty is set to Normal mode by default. What did I do, like the world’s most enormous ninny? I did all of the Coliseum Completion points (fighting all seventy opponents) BEFORE finishing the story on Hard mode, when it turns out I didn’t even need to. To quote Maurice Moss, “Egg and my face, were in alignment.” So instead of struggling through days of trying to beat Vallery Garrett in Tag Team Tournament (he’s harder than any fight in the game except maybe Amon, yes, even harder than the final boss) I might have given myself a slightly easier time of it by attempting it in Premium Adventure.

 

Ultimately, I don’t think I mind – I had a strange inner peace during my attempt to beat all the Coliseum opponents. At that point, I basically knew the platinum was in sight – yet spending almost a week doing all of the other gameplay elements required for one hundred percent was really cathartic. It allowed almost laser pointed focus.  It was almost Zen like at times, where trophies weren’t even remotely in my mind, all I was focusing on was the game, sadly the more I got absorbed with everything I was doing, the more it dawned on me that the end was rapidly approaching, and eventually it did.

 

Upon finally reaching that one hundred percent completion, it wasn’t the sad feeling I envisioned, it was of a quiet reflection that pretty much everything I had set out to do, had felt like it had been worthwhile. At that point, all that was left was one final playthrough on Legend difficulty.

 

To take it back to trophies for a moment, and send this review home – most games made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio contain a trophy for finishing the story, usually titled Thank You. Honestly, I feel like I should be the one thanking them, for the hours and hours of laughter, tears (so many of those,) and joy that this series has given me over the years. I feel like I’m in a very strange position here – Yakuza 3 is very far away from being my favourite game in the series – or, even if we’re speaking objectively, one of the best in the series. However, I will always look back on this incredibly fondly for being my final adventure with Kiryu, one that I saw out on my own terms, in the best way I thought possible.

 

Do I recommend this one? I obviously love this series, so, yes I do – but I also have to be honest here. From Yakuza 3 onwards the series does go in a slightly more experimental direction, a lot of those things, I personally like, and some I don’t. So from here on out, it does get somewhat tougher to recommend them, but if you’re playing them chronologically then by this point your eyes are almost fully open to what the series is. Obviously I don’t think I’d quite recommend this for a first entry in the series, but as a last one? Sure, why not, it hasn’t done me any harm. Indecisive I know, but if I didn’t at least think a lot of this game, and the series as a whole I wouldn’t have written so extensively about it, and will continue to, when I end up writing reviews of Yakuza 4, 5 and 6 in the future.  

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by rjkclarke

[Biscoito18]

January 2022 Platinum Trophies:

 

 #112 - Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions

The Final Illusion

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Enjoyment: 5/10

 

 #113 - Days Gone

One Percenter

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

 

 #114 - Dirt 5

DIRTY LEGEND

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Enjoyment: 6/10

 

 #115 - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Done

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

 

 

 

[Mr_Wright95]

MrWright95 - Platinum Challenge #2 

The Ultimate PS3 Clean-Up

Goal: 15 PS3 Platinum's in 2022

Update #1

Platinum #103 & 104

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

--------------------------------------------------

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

--------------------------------------------------

2 PS3 Platinum's' in the books so far for 2022. It has been quite satisfying tackling these older games in the backlog... yet this has had an inverse effect of what I planned. I have now started the dangerous journey of buying the PS3 games I do not own that I wanted to own, so at this stage the PS3 Backlog is growing faster than I am playing it.

 

Tekken was a bit of a grind, but a fun Platinum which I enjoyed. I have bought Tekken Hybrid to get the last Tekken Platinum I do not currently have so that will be a fun milestone!

 

Ratchet and Clank was a great experience, as are almost all Ratchet Games. I started this a while ago but am so glad I came back to it and its reignited my itch to play the rest of these games in the series!

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

 February 2022 Platinums 

 

#108: Spongebob heropants [PS VITA]

Difficulty: 2/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Grind: 2/10

 

#109: Aliens Fireteam Elite [PS5]

Difficulty: 8/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

Grind: 7/10

 

#110: Unknown

[Jamescush147]

  Platinums 296 & 297 

What if?
Unlock all other trophies from Life is Strange Remastered

10.75% Rare

 

Bring on the Storm
Complete all other trophies

19.23% Rare

 

Life is Strange Remastered - Platinum in 14 hours, 32 minutes

Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered - Platinum in 1 day, 13 hours

 

And so the original Life is Strange is the first game I've had three Plats for. ?

Edited February 4, 2022 by Jamescush147

[Guest]

These are easy ezpz plats but the descriptions are too good not to post.

 Like a Baseball Outta Heck I'll be Gone When the Platinum Comes

You got all the trophies! Congratulations!

 

When the night is over, like a baseball outta heck I'll be gone, gone, gone.

Like a baseball outta heck I'll be gone when the morning comes.

But when the game is done,

And the sync goes down,

And the mosaic's shining through...

Then like a hunter before the stacks of trophies,

I'll come crawling on back to you

 

On Platinum Wings

Collect all other trophies. Thanks for playing!

 

...

 

By now, you might be asking yourself... "Wait? Where's the tower?"

 

Well, a weird thing happened during playtesting.... We got rid of the tower.

 

And we forgot to rename the game.

 

0/10 - literally unplayable

8 hours ago, balotelli_boy45 said:

Seriously will this thread ever die? 52000 replies fml

Eventually, everything will die. PSNP may cease to exist at some point, for whatever reason. The site may be abandoned, or discontinued. Until then, this thread will live on with glorious and well-done write ups. There are countless shared experiences here, people writing their greatest achievements in their favorite games, genuine interaction between people who share the same hobby. in fact, there are entire huge game reviews here, as well as interesting discussions to read. this thread is legendary, the environment provided by it is simply magical and wonderful. I will always come back here to read and share. Don't want this thread to die, do the opposite: help keep it alive, you are more than welcome to participate 

[Brainswashed]

Platinum: God Of War (2018)

Difficult: 3/10 

Fun: 10/10 ( Masterpiece )

Time: 4 days 15hr

[cr1s]

 #600 - Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Vita)

 

 

Ultimate All-Star
Earn every Trophy in the game

 

Game Enjoyment: 8/10

Platinum Difficulty: 6/10

 

Sonic Transformed marks my first Sonic game since Sonic R way back in the early 2000s. I was in the mood to revisit the series in 2020 and decided to pick up the PS3 version of this game. It was an excellent choice, as I enjoyed it a lot and made the platinum my 22,000th trophy. I subsequently bought the Vita version to stack it, and here I am with my 600th platinum! The Vita version is a great port and well worth playing; however, some technical issues such as framerate drops and crashes keep it from being an excellent one. Also, the Vita's small analog stick meant that weapons would occasionally be fired the wrong way. I still had a lot of fun with it, though.

 

The road to platinum is divided into several parts:

• World Tour: You're required to obtain all 232 stars in this mode, i.e. beat every World Tour event on Expert difficulty. However, that difficulty is only unlocked after completing the first 5 tours or all 10 Grand Prix tournaments on any other difficulty (Easy, Medium, or Hard). There are many types of events with varying objectives, such as racing without any weapons, destroying a tank, beating the clock, avoiding traffic, and so on. Things can get quite challenging here as each type has some difficult events, but it's not too crazy.
• Grand Prix: This mode features a series of 10 tournaments. The first 5 tournaments are unlocked in the beginning, whereas the last 5 - mirrored versions of the first 5 - are unlocked once you beat the first 5 on any difficulty. This mode was actually fairly easy even on Expert difficulty, as you need to finish first in every tournament (as in your overall position at the end of the tournament and not every race). You don't have to win every single race and the A.I. tends to alternate finishing positions after each race quite a bit, so there's a decent amount of leeway here in case you don't finish a certain race in first position.
• Time Attack: The other challenging part, you have to beat all the Staff Ghosts... unless you do the Yokozuna glitch. While it was patched and you need the DLC in the PS3 version, neither is the case in the Vita version. Basically, this glitch allows you to get the trophy after beating one specific Expert Ghost, thus giving you some breathing room and letting you pick the easier Expert Ghosts for your Triple-Star License.
• Miscellaneous Trophies: These trophies vary in requirements and difficulty, but most of them are easy and come naturally (although a few are a bit luck-based, as they require a certain weapon). The hardest one to do against the A.I. is Justice Shot, but you can always boost it if need be. And speaking of boosting...
• Online Trophies: Thankfully, there are only a few of those and they don't take long to finish. The only notable one is Team Sonic, which requires a total of 5 players. What the trophy description doesn't mention though is that you also have to win the race. Many thanks to @Honor_Hand and @CypherNova139 for the help with the online portion, especially the Team Sonic trophy!
• Triple-Star License: This trophy requires you to reach 100% completion (out of 110%). You'll definitely be very close after completing the above list, and the one thing not mentioned here is mod grinding, which you'll need to do by replaying events to earn XP and unlock most of the character mods.

All in all, a fun and challenging kart racing platinum to go for. Highly recommended, especially if you're familiar with those SEGA characters!

Edited February 4, 2022 by cr1s