Most Recent Platinum

[SmileSlice]

Platinum #102 

NightCry

PS Vita

Edited August 21, 2022 by SmileSlice

[percy547389126yv]

#1,438 PS5 version of The Jumping Kebab

[RoastedPeanut]

 # 200 - Stranded Deep

 

Stay Alive

 

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

 

I really wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but damn what a fun game! I played most of it online with a non-trophy hunting friend of mine, so he was occasionally getting sick of me doing unnecessary things for a couple of trophies, but overall we both had an awesome time. I was lucky enough to find an awesome island quite close to all the main objectives, so that made things less of a hassle, especially when it came to not using a compass to complete the game. I can definitely see myself continuing after the platinum and just building ridiculous things on my island. Resources can be quite scarce after awhile, especially things like sticks and clay, but thankfully you can replace islands with your own custom ones and pretty much have an infinite supply of resources for the entire game

 

 # 201 - Wonder Boy Returns Remix

 

 

Wonder Boy

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

 

Ahhh Wonder Boy. One of the first games I ever played on the Sega Master System and a big part of my childhood. I picked up this remake when it first released in 2019, but only decided to go for the platinum yesterday. Initially I was a bit worried about clearing one coin mode, but it really wasn't that bad. You start with 10 lives and there's no saving. You just have to finish in one go, but if you collect the three letters (CFK...used to be SEGA in the original) you get an extra life when revealing a 4th letter, so that was handy to keep the lives topped up.

 

The remake first launched in 2017, but it wasn't that great. The remix edition is a much closer direct remake of the original. While the first remake added new enemies and levels, the remix edition does a great job of keeping close to the OG version while also adding the ability to charge your tomahawk (or boomerang if playing as Tanya) which was a great way to deal with rocks and boulders.

Edited August 21, 2022 by RoastedPeanut

[Phoenixofadranon]

Hello everyone. My latest is metal gear rising. Really incredible game, for sure in the top 3 hack and slash with ninja gaiden and devil may cry. 

[Revvie]

#318

 

Closed File
You left no unfinished business

[percy547389126yv]

#1,439 PS4 version of The Jumping Kebab: TURBO

[Nelson_]

 #370 - Eve Ghost Enemies

 

 

 #371 - Umineko Symphony of Cat Box and Dreams

 

WHEN THEY CRY 4+

Edited August 21, 2022 by Nelson_

[Evrenosi]

 #65 - Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

The New Colossus

 

Perseverance always wins in the end. 

[Dantes_994]

MASS EFFECT 

N7 Elite
ME1: Acquire all trophies

FUN: 10/10

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

PLAT NO. 20

Spoiler

A classic that just keeps getting better with age! Makes me so happy that this is my plat no 20  The whole game from the first line of dialogue to the final ending theme is just planned so perfectly, written so masterfully and such an immersive experience that I will probably need a few days to adjust... or just start the 2nd game right now eh?

 

The plat itself is not difficult even on Insanity and I see it as the defacto way to play the game and the series in general. It just feels so good to fight through waves of enemies, scraping through and fighting side by side with your companies which are some of the best in any game. Liara is the only romance option I need in the series and it feels so refreshing to go through it again. She is so adorable and plucky yet strong both when it comes to her biotics and her personality that you just cannot help yourself but love her. 

 

All of the cast in fact, is just as brilliant as they were 15 years ago (fuck has it been that long) that each of them can serve as a character from whom you can learn a lot. I really think video games like these, that are true works of cart, can help you overcome great ordeals in life and make you a better person.

 

I know this game has done so for me. 

 

Onto the  next game which will be platinumed as well! 

 

P.s. love that there is a completely separate list of trophies that spans the whole series! Makes it rewarding and fun to go through with one character  

 

 

[voodoo_eyes]

#609 - Don't Be Afraid

 

 

Decent enough horror game. Not really scary or anything, but interesting enough. Definitely room for improvement though.

 

 

Enjoyment: 6.5

Difficulty: 2

[chaoticescape]

plat #3

south park the stick of truth  

[NetoStyle]

#158

Bugsnax + 100% DLC (The Isle of Bigsnax)

 

Bugsnax Master
Obtain all of the trophies.

 

 

Very entertaining videogame and joyful experience. Plus the DLC is completely free and also very entertaining expansion with new content!

 

 

 

[percy547389126yv]

#1,440 PS4 version of Nump Jump

[NorthPaul93]

#85 Friday The 13th 

Killer Franchise 

 

This game was one hell of a grind ?.

Edited August 21, 2022 by NorthPaul93

[Janire1911]

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

 Biosplattered 

#421

 

Another game that I thought I'd never platinum, horror games are really not my favorites. I started this back in early 2018 but didn't get very far before abandoning it. Later in 2018 I got a few more trophies but again abandoned it quickly. A few days ago I decided I'd at least finish the playthrough I started and after getting that done I thought I'd try the speedrun as it didn't seem that hard especially with the help of a guide and then I only had the Madhouse-difficulty run left. I was really dreading that one but again with the help a of a good guide and the items you get from the previous playthroughs it wasn't that hard.

 

[NorthPaul93]

#86 The Order 1886

The Grail

 

Probably one of the easiest plats I've got so far.

[percy547389126yv]

#1,441 Rereleased version of Round Invaders 

[JadedDragos]

#136

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

 

Both this and 137, and probably 138 will be AC games, for obvious reasons.

[percy547389126yv]

#1,442 PS4 version of Drift Journey

[Mirrors1118]

Platinum #255: South Park: The Stick of Truth

What a brilliant game! Only watched the first few seasons of South Park but got most of the references. The story is pretty funny and it got me laughing throughout the whole game. Was worried the game would be more challenging due to Jew class only but Jew class is actually super op. Was saving Cartman's Ass of Fire trophy for the last but unfortuanately the platinum screenshot didn't capture him farting fire so that was kinda a fail. Also got Fratured But Whole looking forward to playing it.   

 

[DrBloodmoney]

  531

 669

 

My Friend Pedro

 

A fast-paced arcade shoot-em-up and debut game from Swedish developer DeadToast, My Friend Pedro came to Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019, with a port to PS4 following in 2020.

Taking the role of an unnamed, amnesiac protagonist, the player wakes in a butcher shop, with little context for his surrounding... aside from those given to him by Pedro - a floating, sentient banana.
Pedro provides the player with their instructions throughout the bizarre, hyper-violent, and tongue-firmly-in-cheek proceeding... namely, who to kill, and where to go to kill them. Across 40-odd levels, comprising 5 distinct areas, the player must shoot, parkour, flip, spin and destroy their way through a litany of guards and enforcers, in pursuit of several criminal big-bads, to put them in the ground.

The narrative of My Friend Pedro is silly and throwaway - by design. The world in which it takes place is a heightened, silly one - a crime-riddled, dilapidated and drug-induced-sci-fi-psychedelic near-future, that plays off the same desensitised-to-violence dystopian vibes of Robocop or Demolition Man. It is never really given much in the way of context or fleshing-out - indeed, the mere fact that the player character is very clearly out-of-his-mind (did I mention the talking, floating banana?) is really the most concrete and clearly defined aspect of the narrative...and given that that is true, the lack of true context to everything else is largely acceptable. 

DeadToast clearly understand that in a game like My Friend Pedro, the narrative is by far the least important element, and really don't lean into it. That isn't something particularly negative - I certainly didn't feel the lack of narrative investment to be a big detriment to the game - however, I do think that a game simply not requiring a great narrative to work is necessarily a reason not to have one. A game that is likely to be referenced several times in this review is Hotline Miami. That is for gameplay reasons primarily, but it's worth noting that Hotline Miami is also a game that does not require a functional, deep narrative to work, but benefits quite a bit from managing to have one anyways. It is actually rather well fleshed out, as little screen time as it has, and does so without it ever drawing from the more important shooty-smashy-bloody elements.

Mechanics are where My Friend Pedro places all its bets, however, and so mechanics should be the main area of concern. 
In terms of gameplay, My Friend Pedro operates somewhere between Hotline Miami, Guacamelee, and Little Big Planet... and if you can spot the odd-man-out in that trio, then you can also, unfortunately, spot where the game's biggest weakness lies. 

Levels are in a 2D plane, and take the form of jumping / light-puzzle platformer, but actual shooting is done via-twin-stick aiming, run-n-gun-style. The player (and the enemies) are relatively fragile - taking only a few shots to dispatch - and the pace of action in the game is furious. The player is extremely nimble, able to roll, wall-jump, dive, shoot and spin their way around at high speed, however, enemies are also very fast, and remarkably good shots too. The game would, therefore, be virtually impossible to play, were it not for the game's primary mechanics - time slowdown.

At any point, with a click of the L3 stick, the player can slow time to a crawl. This does not speed the player up relative to the enemies or the level - the player slows down to an equal degree - however, what it does do, is allow the player fine control over multiple inputs in an incredibly short time envelope. 
They will not be able to, for example, outrun a bullet, however, they will be able to activate their dodge manoeuvre with the precision required to avoid one... even while also picking which enemy to fire at, which wall to jump on, which torso to kick, and which frying pan to ricochet off in order to maintain their ever-depleting combo score multiplier.

That score multiplier is the key to the game's longevity, difficulty, and skill ceiling. Unlike Hotline Miami, My Friend Pedro is not a difficult game at all, if the aim is simply to complete it and see credits. Indeed, simply seeing each level through, without attempting to set a high-score or reach the coveted, (and Platinum Trophy required,) S-Rank is a very simple task. Levels are heavily check-pointed, and the player is (on most difficulty levels) given a generous health regeneration mechanic. However, where it gets closer in spirit to Hotline Miami, is in that simply seeing the game through to completion is merely the stage setting for the bulk of the game's challenge - getting the scores required for S-Rank in each level.

 

Each type of kill, or each fancy manoeuvre the player is able to pull off involving a kill, is worth varying levels of points, and each kill/ shot that hits a target also refills a continually depleting combo meter. In order to achieve the scores required for the coveted S-Ranks, the player needs to not only be as stylish as they can in the ways the dispatch the enemies in a level, but also to move through in a flowing, rhythmic way that allows for continual refilling of the combo meter, (and avoids incoming fire, which markedly deletes it.)

It's a familiar system, (incredibly so for Hotline Miami veterans,) and the slowdown mechanics and chaotic, freeform platforming does lend it an interesting edge. Certainly, it is a system that - when working well, and the player is performing well - can look stylish as hell...

...however, it is not necessarily the best implementation it could have been, for a number of reasons:

Firstly, the controls. The actual platforming control the player has in My Friend Pedro is remarkably loose. There is a floaty imprecision to the movement of the character (hence the Little Big Planet reference,) that works rather well for the game when in the middle of a chaotic firefight or bouncing around a level without a high-score or combo in mind. However, when attempting to maintain tight combos in difficult areas - where the difference between success and failure can come down to making a specific wall-jump with millisecond precision - it can often be a source of real frustration. 
The twin-stick controls of the game do not allow for the d-pad to be used as an alternate to the left stick, and this tends to exacerbate the issue, as the throw on the sticks are not conducive to precision movement. 

Secondly, there is the shooting. Shooting in My Friend Pedro is not a precise science - it is an art. Aiming is by way of a rough "snap-to-target" style, and it works well for the most part, however, there is an element of randomness to the individual bullets. Because the player with often be firing in slow motion, while simultaneously leaping / spinning / bouncing around the level, the approach to shooting is more of a "spray in the general direction" than a "pick your target" affair. 
That is fun, for sure, however, the S Rank requirements rarely seem to take account of this element. In the majority of levels, there will be one or two specific, distinct "pinch-points". Sections where getting from one section to the next while maintaining a combo requires a very careful, systematic approach and a very specific order enemies must be dispatched in. Often, the difference between success and failure in these already fraught and tight sections can be the difference between a single bullet landing or not... and it can be crushingly disappointing and frustrating to do the full section perfectly, only for the combo to be dropped due to a bullet sailing wide through no fault of the player themselves.

That frustration can magnify at a logarithmic level, when it happens multiple times in a row... and make no mistake: it will happen multiple times in a row!

That is a problem in games like My Friend Pedro, which derive the majority of their lasting appeal from the pursuit of higher-scores. Hotline Miami is a difficult game, requiring extreme combos to achieve the required scores for the higher-end trophies, however, the controls are blisteringly tight and precise. As such, every failure feels like a lesson - and every player death leads to a greater understanding of what not to do in any situation. 
Even Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, which suffered in many areas as compared to its prequel, and introduced a fair amount of "unfair" issues, (deaths from offscreen, for example,) still retained a tightness of control and shooting that meant even "unfair" deaths could be learned from. 
With My Friend Pedro, however, this isn't really the case. Dropping a combo, or failing isn't necessarily always an issue with the player's own input. The very same method or route through a section that fails once, may succeed another, and as such, it is more difficult to discern, upon said failure, if the player is genuinely at fault, or simply was unlucky. This makes the process of engineering a good run more frustrating, as each failure must be repeated many times, before it can be truly ruled out as a solution, rather than simply a victim of randomness. 

This leads to the third issue with the combo system - the scoring. While arguably the most unique, most fun hook in My Friend Pedro is the freeform ability to kill in a variety of skilful, visually stunning parkour ways, and points  do vary based on variety and intricacies of kills... the fact remains that very rarely is this really the deciding factor in achieving an S-Rank. 
The way the scoring is set up, it heavily favours combo retention, over combo finesse. While at the extreme high echelon of the scoring leaderboards for each level, the difference between scores will be impacted by the incorporation of more elaborate, fancy moves, at the level in which regular players operate, a basic long combo is rewarded with significantly more points than a shorter, more elaborate one. As such, many of the more impressive visual and mechanical elements of the game are rather side-lined in these runs - which (particularly to the trophy hungry) will likely be the bulk of their time with the game.

All that being said though, the fact remains, that even with the myriad issued My Friend Pedro has in terms of tightness and the uneasy pairing of loose controls with tight scoring parameters... it remains incredibly fun to play. Levels are short, and the game moves with a speed that feels fantastic, and really contrasts well with the "bullet-time" mechanics. A good run feels great to pull off, (arguably even more so, given the randomising elements that must be overcome,) and the game looks and sounds great doing it.

The levels are nice and varied in terms of mechanical design - some are simple affairs focussing on kills only, and those are the most fun. Some mix in puzzle platforming, which is enjoyable, if a little tough to manage in the S-Rank runs, and very occasionally there is a "pure" platforming level. these are where the game stumbles, for the reasons outlined already - the controls aren't there to back up the requirements... but these levels are few and far between.

Visually, the game is good, but not great - the backgrounds and designs are relatively indistinct and rarely stand out, nor do the NPCs... though the player character himself is quite unique looking. The game does a good job of standing out more in terms of the visuals of the action itself. The player's pirouettes, jumps, and moves all look good, and while they can occasionally get awkward if too many inputs are made during a slow-motion sequence, resulting in an odd looking limb-spasm, they still hold up pretty well for the most part. 
The game is not the psychedelic eye-gasm players might expect from, say, Housemarque fare, but a good run is an impressive, cool looking thing to see, and some props must be given to DeadToast for managing to convey a lot of complicated information to the player at a very high speed, without making the whole game feel impenetrable.  

Audio is fairly sparse - there is no spoken dialogue, and only Star-Fox-style blippy-blippy-blips are used to punctuate the on screen text, but the score is good - thumping, drug-haze electronica and grinding synth-pop tracks accompany the action - and they compliment it well. 
To be honest, this soundtrack is actually better than good - under normal circumstances, I might call it great... but once again, My Friend Pedro suffers a little by its proximity to Hotline Miami. 
Because the game is playing in that same genre, the comparison is impossible not to make... and Hotline Miami had one of the best electronica soundtracks ever to grace a video-game, so My Friend Pedro tends to shrink a little by comparison!

Overall, My Friend Pedro is a fun, silly, action-good time, and a game that cannot help but bring a smile, even as it occasionally infuriates. 
Its narrative is nothing of note, and it suffers a little when it gets into the higher echelons of its skill ceiling, due to less than precise controls, but does manage to remain admirably fun and playable, even though its most extreme instances of frustration.
It is a game that certainly takes cues from Hotline Miami in many areas - and that's a tough thing to do. There is a risk involved in taking cues from, and in invoking, a game as good as Hotline Miami... Just ask LA Cops.  
Some of those risks do bite My Friend Pedro in the ass a little... but it still manages to be fun, silly, tricky and have its own signature style that evokes Hotline, but never feels entirely derivative or slavishly devoted to it.

 

It's no Hotline Miami, for sure... but it's far closer to it than it is to LA Cops, and that alone makes it worthy of a players time. 

 

(For original review and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

Edited August 22, 2022 by DrBloodmoney

[percy547389126yv]

#1,443 PS5 version of Nump Jump

[DrBloodmoney]

  532

 670

 

 

RiffTrax: The Game

 

A party game developed by Wide Right Interactive, and working as something of a loose re-skin of their previously developed What The Dub? game, this time in collaboration with the RiffTrax people (formally of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fame,) Rifftrax: The Game is a simple concept, made easy enough to use that even non-gamers can play, and with a core design that - like the best party card-games - is endlessly repeatable, and as variable as the players' own imaginations, and senses of humour. 

Casting players in the role of the riffing joke-misters, The game presents various 5-10 second clips from a pretty sizeable bank of weird and wacky movies / TV shows / Public Service broadcast and the likes - generally featuring a few existing lines - before silencing the audio and keeping the clip running. 
The players are then tasked with filling in the blank, with as funny a clip as they can think of.
At the end of each round, the clip is replayed, with each player's riff inserted into the proceedings, and the players are given the opportunity, upon hearing all the variations, to vote on which they found most amusing, with the game keeping score.

Mechanically, the game is very simple. Astoundingly so, in fact, considering players need not even understand how to use a controller. While the Duel-shock / Duel-sense is used to start a game, once in play, the controller can be set aside, as all players control their game simply via any browser-enabled device. A phone / an iPad, a laptop - if it can go to a website, then it can be a controller, and that allows for the typing-under-pressure aspect of writing a riff in time to function.

There are two game modes contained within RiffTrax: The Game.

In one - "Pick a Riff Mode" - a small selection of pre-made riffs are given to each player - out of context - and they must chose which feels the most appropriate / funny for the random clip. 

This version feels adjacent to the popular physical party card game Cards Against Humanity, in the sense that the game comes as much from figuring out which clip seems at least tangentially related, if not outright funny for the situation. 
There is certainly ample opportunity for the player to be left with absolutely no riffs that seem in any way apropos to the clip itself, which should, by rights, seem less than ideal, however, in a party setting, and where every other player is subject to the same whims of RNG, there is actually as much opportunity for hilarity in the form of complete abstractionism as there is for on-point joke-making. 

The other mode - "Write a Riff Mode" - (by far the better of the two, in my opinion,) allows players to write their own riffs, and they are translated via a text-to-speech program in the riff playback. 
This is the real meat of the game, and the reason for the game having genuine long-lasting, repeatable gameplay. The players are free to write anything they please into the game, and there is, therefore, ample scope for variation of tone within it. A group of friends who know each-other well will be able to crack jokes within the game that would make no sense to anyone outwith their circle - and that makes it feel tailored in a way few party games can - however, in any online game, universality is king. The best way to win a game, is not just to be funny, but to be funny in all time-zones!

As said, I much prefer playing the "Write a Riff" Mode, though it does have some drawbacks in online. If playing an online game with people across the world, the game does a fine job translating actual text in its text-to-speech generator, but it is often very clear where it has correctly translated the words, but the humour has been lost. Comedy, of course, requires more than simple understanding, there is nuance and cadence involved, and so language issues can still rear their head. 

In some instances, in fact, even games where all players speak the same language can have some issues, as the text-to-speech synthesised voice is always read in a flat, dull cadence. Sometimes this is funnier, sometimes it isn't... though players who know each-other do tend to hear cadence anyway, as they add it in their own minds!

 

The game does offer some additional punctuation too, in the form of a library of sound-effects that can be added to riffs, (the Wilhelm Scream, or Mortal Kombat "Game Over" are personal favourites!), as well as offering players who are truly stumped the opportunity to have the game "Riff for Them", with one of the pre-made riffs substituting. (Though, I have found that, because these pre-made riffs are in different voices, they are instantly recognisable as such, and rarely get any votes. Players tend to appreciate effort, even if it's not successful, more than falling back on the safety net!) 

"Chose a Riff" mode does have some distinct advantages - because all the pre-made riffs are by the 3 RiffTrax guys, there is a certain tone and cadence to the humour (familiar, of course, to any MST-3000 or RiffTrax fans) and because they do, there is a cross-language barrier aspect to them. It makes for a somewhat more level playing field, in the sense that everyone is choosing from the same scrabble-bag of pre-made jokes, and simply seeing who makes best use of the hand they are dealt... but there is limited longevity to the mode. Eventually, all pre-made riffs will be heard, and the cycle becomes less funny, and more mechanical in nature... 
...and to be perfectly honest, the levelling of the play-field is not really important here. If anyone is playing RiffTrax: The Gamejust to win... they are kind of missing the point. The point, is to laugh... and not to care who wins! 

There's little to really say about the usual technical aspects with Rifftrax: The Game - visually... well... it's clips of terrible movies. So it looks... terrible?
No, but really, what visual aspects the game needs are all there - the UI is a fun little riff on old VHS, and the pizza-box game-joining screen, where each player filling a room takes a slice is fun, clean and simple. The whole game is clearly designed to be as clean and simple as possible, allowing a whole room of non-gamers to easily understand the proceedings, and as long as a single person is present, who understands to basics of the PS4 / PS5 UI, they will not have any trouble explaining the concept to the others.

Audio discussion is similarly moot here - the clips sound like the clips (so often awful!) but the background music in menus etc is fine, and tone appropriate. The vocals are good, and the text-to-speech works as intended.

The game takes clear note of streaming / party atmosphere - if playing online, games can be dropped in and out of very easily... though there is a slight hindrance, in that if a player drops out, their avatar remains, taking up a slot, until the host actively "kicks" them. This does add a slight annoyance to the proceedings if playing long sessions (and can cause an issue, as any player "kicked" cannot rejoin,) however, it is manageable. 

The game also allows for more players to join than can actively riff - the maximum number of players in any game is 6, however, anyone who joins beyond that number will be able to see the riffs of those 6 players, and vote as an "audience member". 

There is also some head-nod to making games easier to start, in that a game with only 2 players (wherein voting would be moot,) is given an additional "AI" player, who's riffs are selected from the bank of pre-made ones, giving the game some variety to the voting, before any additional players join.

Really, there isn't too much to say about Rifftrax: The Game other than this: It is simply good fun. 

If you like MST-3000 / RiffTrax - or, indeed, any of the litany of Bad Movie Podcasts out there (My personal favourite is How Did This Get Made?,) - or if you simply have a love for dumb comedy, silly movies, and want to have a fun time with friends (or online randoms) RiffTrax: The Game works well.
It has more than enough fodder (with more being added in free updates,) and has plenty of opportunity for laughs.

This is a game that won't be leaving my console, even after getting the platinum, and I can see it being cracked out whenever there are like-minded folks around!

 

(For original review and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

[DrBloodmoney]

  533

 671

 

 

 

Untitled Goose Game

 

A tongue-in-cheek combination of Puzzle Game, Sandbox, and modern Adventure Game, the amusingly titled Untitled Goose Game, from House House Studio sees the player take the role of the devil in anserine form, honking, flapping, and causing untold chaos in a small, idyllic English country village!

Across a short campaign that comprises 4 main sandbox regions which fill out a large, contiguous space, the player in goose form must use their Goose abilities, (namely, stealing items, moving things, HONKing loudly, and flapping their wings,) to visit various dastardly deeds upon the hapless, unsuspecting denizens of the town. Each area features a small area to explore, along with a small selection of humans engaged in various clockwork tasks... and a list of nasty mischiefs that must be completed (with such hideous malfeasances as stealing a man's slippers, pulling a chair out from under an old man, smashing a prize vase, or scaring a child into a phone-box.) 

Each task is generally relatively simple in nature, however, some can be quite tricky to figure out how to achieve with the limited set of abilities the goose has. There is a challenge in puzzling out how each NPC will react to different actions, and so interacting with each element within the level, and exploring what chaos can be caused with each of them is both fun, and a necessary step in solving each of the checkbox tasks. 

In fact, while the game is wildly different in tone, there are genuine similarities to the current incarnation of Hitman, in some ways. (I know, I know - but seriously, hear me out!)

Both games encourage stealth as a primary mechanic, yet facilitate "Going Loud" when things go sideways, both games spin significant comic hay from the chaos that can be visited upon hapless NPCs, both game operate on the basis of "checklist challenges"... really, there is more in common than one might think on the surface!

Agent 47 is looking for a clean, silent way of killing a target, whereas the goose is looking for a way to force a boy to buy back his own model airplane from a woman's garage-sale... but the fundamentals are oddly similar. Explore, Observe, Tinker, Distract, and see how variations of NPC patterns can be manipulated to engineer the situation to the players advantage!

Mechanically, the game is - if you will forgive the phrase - an odd duck. The actual controls of Untitled Goose Game are (I think, quite deliberately,) awkward - as, I would imagine, the human world likely is to navigate with only wings and a bill. In some ways, Untitled Goose Game actually operates somewhere in the vicinity of that style of game to which Surgeon Simulator, Octodad or I Am Bread belong - wherein dealing with purposefully obtuse or awkward controls in a physics-based environment is a fundamental element of the game, and of the challenge. 

The actual reactions of NPCs (most of whom will interfere if they see the goose doing something untoward... which is always!) will vary based on both RNG, and a loose "hierarchy of badness" (i.e. will stop dealing with one thing, if something more important comes up,) and so achieving certain tasks can become an oddly precarious balancing act of distracting them, setting up objectives, then manipulating them to react certain ways, in order to achieve the desired outcomes - all the while fighting the physics-based object movements with the peculiar, tank-control goose.
This remains a merely academic and largely trivial element in upon first play-through, however, each area also features - beyond the defined objectives, both a list of secret objectives, (tied to trophies, and actually made explicit upon completion of the main campaign,) as well as a "speed challenge". These speed challenges are where the player is really tested on their ability to spin plates - each area's 7 objectives must be completed within a fairly strict time limit of 6 minutes, and doing so requires not only skilful control and dexterity, but also quick reflexes, and an analytical approach to the whole list. These times can only be achieved by dealing with multiple objectives simultaneously, and so require a "finessing" of an optimum route, and on-the-fly management of the random elements of the NPC behaviours.

 

Visually, the game looks just fantastic. The whole game is highly stylised, with a pastel colour scheme, and a clean, cell-shaded aesthetic. It's an unusual looking game - cell shading is not hugely unique, however, Untitled Goose Game does it a little differently to most - there are no outer lines or edges to anything, nor is there lines of discerned detail within them, and any single shot of the game looks quite beautiful - as if created using cut-out coloured paper, without any pens or pencils. It's a look relatively familiar to anyone who played equally silly and fun indie nonsense-simulator Donut County, in fact - though I'd argue in Untitled Goose Game, that stylistic leaning is lent even more artistry, and looks even better.

NPCs are simply drawn, however, they have enough detail to be instantly recognisable for the archetypes they represent, and the goos himself looks and moves very well. Visually, Untitled Goose Game is about as distinct from recently reviewed Stray as it is possible to get, yet those games share one thing in common - they are the only two games I have played, where the player controls an animal, and that animal really moves and feels like its real-life counterpart. 

Of particular note in the game is not only the visuals in game, but the UI - menus are fun and lovely to look at - the clean, unadorned aesthetic is maintained here too, and the whole game is really presented beautifully.

There is no voice work in the game at all, except the HONKing of the eponymous goose (which is tied to a button press, and - like Stray - very difficult to not be constantly pressing!) however, the game does have some great audio in the form of its score. The whole game is scores with a calming, piano-jazz theme, which is both nice to listen to, and quite reactive - the music manages to swell and change in tone based on the actions of the player - and the level to which the NPCs are aware of him - without ever seeming to cut or change in style. I can only assume every part of the score was played in multiple versions, and the game dynamically switches them as required. Whether that is the case or not though, the effect is quite impressive.

The one downside to the game is its length. Any way one slices Untitled Goose Game, it is notably short.

Each individual area has a small selection of things to be messed with, and not every one is related to the checklist of chaos... but a good proportion are. There isn't an enormous amount of scope for further bad behaviour beyond what leads directly to game completion, and most objectives are only achievable one of a couple of ways, so replayability really comes down to personal enjoyment of the artistry of the game beyond the 4-6 hours it takes to complete the campaign, and master the speed-runs. 
There is a co-op mode, added as a patch after the fact, but this is just an additional player in the standard levels, fun for some sandbox silliness with a friend, but not offering much in the way of additional longevity.

Overall though, despite its limited length and repeatability, Untitled Goose Game is an unusual, joyously silly romp that looks fantastic, sounds lovely, and offers some genuine laughs and some light puzzling fun for the entirety of its limited length. Like a Pixar version of GTA, it taps into the fun of player-generated chaos, but without any of the child-inappropriate elements, and is tongue-in-cheek and unusual enough in premise to stand out, even in a crowded indie scene.

 

 

(For original review and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

[FocusDR]

 

Platinum #475

The Sims 4.

First time I’ve ever played sims