Popular Post dany4k_93 Posted January 5, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 5, 2022 #41 Control Ultimate Edition (PS5) Like this game so much I got the plat on PS4 and now on PS5 ? 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NullRay85 Posted January 5, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 5, 2022 SoulCalibur II HD Online #50: Tale of Sword and Soul Unlock All the Trophies SoulCalibur II is my favorite fighting game of all-time and my proud 50th platinum! The diverse stages, cool characters (Ivy, Cassandra, Talim, and Nightmare were my faves) are the reasons why I love the game and continue to play it years later. Granted, the AI can be cheap and easily read your moves at times (which was a pain in Weapon Master) and the balancing was off, but SCII was a fun time. Also, unlocking characters and modes by playing the game itself was way more rewarding than buying them via like DLCs nowadays. Really hope Bandai Namco would make an HD Remaster/Collection of their past fighting games (Tekken and SoulCalibur included) since the only one I haven't played yet is SoulCalibur III. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post aarnettbraun Posted January 5, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 5, 2022 (edited) Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy (PlayStation 5) This Is What We Do Win every trophy. Difficulty: 3/10 Time: 40+ Hours Screenshot When Earned: Edited February 25, 2023 by notandrebraun 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post chibikitsune_ Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #1 Persona 5 ___________ Legendary Phantom Thief 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mizz Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 Plat 2: mw2 game was very fun to play not very difficult either 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StrayEidolon Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Platinum #114: Fall Guys Most of my playtime on this game was back during its first season. Fun to play as well as to watch, so it can be a good game to take turns with others and laugh at the chaotic silliness that occurs. I remember liking Slime Climb the most. After a while, the fun converts to rage at your fellow bean people. Especially the grabbers. Curse the grabbers. Back then all I had left to obtain were the Infallible and Squad Goals trophies. The closest I got to Infallible was 4 wins in a row before giving up. I was capable of it but there were just too many random factors in different game modes getting in the way. So I took a break. I came back to the bean game sometime last summer. Apparently I missed some glitch that made Infallible easy last May or March? Fortunately a new “special show” had begun in July and was my biggest saviour. I believe it was called Hoverboarding Time. Everyone who could survive the obstacle-ridden hoverboard ride until the end was awarded a crown. This seemed to be unintended as it was patched after the first day it was available. In any case, I never have to suffer from beans who invade my personal space and drag me into slime hell ever again. Bonus Vids: Hardcore parkour in Fall Guys - YouTube Fall guys Titanic [Meme] - YouTube Edited January 6, 2022 by GunBlade 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Matrim_Drasgen Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 My latest Platinum is my 75th Platinum and 4000th trophy! It is Star Wars: Republic Commando and I am happy to have it done. Enjoy the Platinum image below. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kkulifay Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) LEGO’S Marvel’s Avengers My son and I got our 5th LEGO platinum. This one has definitely taken the longest. Took us 43 hours to collect 150 mini kits, 250 Gold Bricks, 35 Stan Lee situations, 195 character & vehicle tokens, 15 Red Bricks, and tons of leisure opportunities to fly, drive, and race around in various themed sandboxes. Fun game but grindier than the standard LEGO run. Edited January 6, 2022 by kkulifay 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post percy547389126yv Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #1,043 Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[cl-r] 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qhaotic Rebellion Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (3 years 9 months) ? Yep, still playing on Vita... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jermster_91 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #90 Life Is Strange: True Colors (PS5) After getting the platinum trophy for the PS4 version of Life Is Strange: True Colors, I got the Platinum for the PS5 version. The PS4 version took 10 hours while the PS5 version took me 9 hours to achieve. Well worth it to get two platinum's in 20 hours or so. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post erwint0920 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #52 Mafia II Platinum Trophy Unlocked when all trophies collected. Thank god I am done with this piece of **** of a game. I bought the trilogy after really enjoying Mafia III and went to play Mafia II thinking it would be the same since I only heard good things about it. Sadly, this didn't happen the game has a ton of glitches and bugs. - Gates that become indestructible when hit by a car. - Entire building just disappear so you can't trigger a cutscene. - It lags about every turn you make and has constant frame drops. - Multiple game carshes. I hope that Mafia I will redeem the series for me when I get to excually play it. It crashes everytime I try to load. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Deluziion90 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #472 - Riders Republic King of the hillObtain all other trophies Fun: 9/10 Difficulty: 4/10 Overall time taken: ?? A lot I've played way more then needed for the platinum. Full review: https://forum.psnprofiles.com/profile/216675-deluziion90/ 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post xJustDax Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #29 - Bloodborne Bloodborne All trophies acquired. Hats off! One of those games that should be played at least once in a lifetime, even if like me you have never played any title of the souls series (yes, i'm a little ashamed of it and maybe i'll recover them in the future if time allows me because i'm extremely busy with work) Just the first day was traumatic, i had to get used to the mechanics of the title that i had never experienced before, i was thinking to myself, who made me do it... From the second day it was all a downhill path. I didn't find the main story who knows how much difficult, except for a few bosses (Blood-starved Beast and Vicar Amelia.. yes i'm talking about you two) However the real difficulty in achieving the much-coveted platinum are the chalices, especially the cursed one... OMG!!!! Let's just say that facing bosses with half life and them with almost infinite life with attacks that can one-shot you instantly it's not the best that can happen to you ? In my opinion a work of art rather than a video game, excellent soundtrack. 10/10 I Plan to play The Old Hunters DLC in the near future! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Biertje373 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 Platinum #47 Minecraft Awarded all trophies Fun: 8/10 Dificulty: 3/10 Time: 6 years Most times I put the playtime in my platinum info, but I've played this throughout the years so this seemed like that better way to do it. Since 2013 I've hunted for quite a few platinums, one that I bought 6 years ago because I expected it to be a quick platinum was Minecraft, as you can see I was wrong because 6 years later I finally got the platinum. I've played Minecraft since the beta on PC and something I loved was the creative freedom and the constant updates that would either add a new building palette or new ways to play the game, be it new biomes to explore, more redstone stuff that I don't get, new bosses or a new build height and depth. Some of these updates felt minor, others felt like huge updates that (as some YouTubers put it) changed the game forever. But one thing that never changed, even when Mojang became a part of Microsoft, was the heart and soul of the game and the community. Sure people joined and left the community but aside from some drama there was always a lot of wholesomeness in this community. This platinum feels very special not because of how long it took me, it feels special because of how long I've loved it even though this game burned me out more then once, I can't stop loving this game. And I have to say, the console gameplay doesn't feel as nice as the PC gameplay personally, I was surprised with how well it worked! Here's the platinum screenshot, I find it funny that it shows a 2 in the exp. bar as this is my 2nd platinum of the year, I'll kid you not it was by accident. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mirrors1118 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Platinum #234: Yakuza: Like A Dragon They did a great job turning the game into a turn-based rpg. I'm excited to see what Kasuga's story goes in the next game. Also I feel like I always take a selfie for the plaitnum screenshot in the yakuza series.? Edited January 7, 2022 by Mirrors1118 format 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jermster_91 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #91 A Plague Tale: Innocence (PS5) 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) 485 ? 618 Psychonauts The first game developed by Tim Schafer under the banner of his Double Fine studio, Psychonauts continued a tradition already set by his previous game (and last to be developed for Lucas Arts - Grim Fandango) of being extremely good, wildly imaginative, critically lauded... and commercially unsuccessful. Psychonauts, in fact, almost managed to pack a double punch of commercial disaster - not only did its commercial flop come close to bankrupting Double Fine, it was also the primary catalyst for the demise of it's publisher - Majesco - who picked up publishing rights to the game at the eleventh hour, after Microsoft short-sightedly dropped the game after 4 years of development. One might think, absent other information, that the game in question - one that was dropped by one publisher, nearly killed its developer, and actually killed its new publisher - has to be in some way a messy or ill-conceived product, but nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, Psychonauts' failure to connect with a 2005 audience is evidence, really, only of the lack of imagination in the 2005 gaming landscape than any failure on its part to excel. Google 2005 videogames, and have a look at the images that pop up... Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 4, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hell, Splinter Cell, God of War, Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 2, Mercenaries, F.E.A.R... if there's one thing that begins to become clear, it's that in 2005, the videogame-playing public were in the midst of a torrid love affair with serious military shooters, grim, snarling protagonists, dour, serious tones, and simple, straightforward narratives. (Full disclosure - I like a lot of those games - but you have to admit... there was a distinct theme going on!) At the time, the few bright, cheerful that did release were primarily aimed at children (Lego Star Wars/ Animal Crossing: Wild World) and those more tonally esoteric or interesting games aimed at grown ups, (Shadow of the Colossus/ Black & White 2 etc,) suffered disappointing sales. The fact remains, however - as the long tail and cult status Psychonauts has enjoyed for 16 years since then attests - Psychonauts' quality was never in question, only its initial success. The plot centres around circus runaway Razputin Aquato, a young, psychically gifted boy who, having snuck away from his psychic-averse family to visit the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp - a retreat for children, run by legendary psychic do-gooder society the Psychonauts - is discovered by the camp faculty and allowed to stay while they wait for his parents to arrive and take him home. During the short time he is there, he meets the various children of the camp and their troupe leader Coach Oleander, along with working Psychonauts Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello and semi-senile ex-psychonaut Ford Cruller, (who's dissociative identity disorder sees him fulfilling virtually all duties in the camp, from janitor to gardener to shopkeeper,) and stumbles upon a plot by crazed dentist Dr. Loboto to remove the brains of all the budding Psychonauts-in-training, to fulfil a nefarious plan. Using his psychic powers, (which are unlocked over the course if the game in a semi-metroidvania sense,) Raz must dive into the minds of various eclectic characters, solving personal emotional and mental issues within their personified minds in order to foil the plot, recover the other children's brains, save the day... and even kiss a girl! The gameplay of Psychonauts is an interesting mash-up, splitting the difference almost right down the middle between 3D action Platformer and Tim Schafer's old wheelhouse, Adventure games. The way the game is laid out is as an open-hub area, (the Whispering Rock Camp, with its various areas,) with each individual Mind-Based level being entered via a mystical, portable door Raz can attach to various character's heads, in order to psychically project himself into their minds. The Whispering Rock areas are very much in the traditional 3D platforming genre - exploration of these areas yields a lot of incidental conversations with the different characters, as well as a large amount of collectibles, access to which is generally gated by access to the new powers Raz will acquire as he progresses through the narrative. Inside the minds of the characters though, is where level design - both in term of writing, art direction, style and mechanics, become radically different from level to level, and really begin to showcase the originality and imagination Tim Schafer was already known for, and Double Fine have since become synonymous with. Most characters Raz projects into has some mental or emotional issue, and these are represented in the broad design of the levels, as well as in the writing and mechanics. When inside the mind of Milla, who is emotionally stable, but simply fun-loving - the teacher wanting to help her students excel - her entire level is a disco party, wherein Raz must continually move upwards, getting more and more proficient. When in the mind of a Lungfish that is under forced control of an evil force, however, Raz becomes a terrifying interloper - a Godzilla style monster, stomping around the city of "Lungfishopolis", being fought by the armies of the controlling force, while the citizens flee from him. While in the mind of faded actress Gloria (clearly a reference to Gloria Swanson's magnificent performance as faded Hollywood star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard) the level becomes a play, with Raz taking some directorial duties, allowing him to change the sets around to access different parts of the level. In the mind of paranoid Security Guard Boyd Cooper (a personal favourite), the level becomes a bizarre, non-Newtonian suburbia, filled with 'secret' agents, pretending to be the citizenry and where everyone has a secret agenda and every task must be done via trickery and subterfuge. It is in this constant realignment of the mechanics and the artistic and tonal direction of the level design that Psychonauts really stands above virtually all other 3D platformers of it's era - and really, still maintains a high spot among those that have come and gone since. The game feels like a singular piece, cohesively joined by it's fundamental design and by the excellent writing and sense of humour, but since everything else is malleable from level to level, the player never gets a chance to get bored or feel the length of the game, as every new section adds new, unique elements. The levels are all different and clever - both interesting to see from a pure gameplay point of view, but also fascinating to play in a narrative sense. Because most characters Raz projects into are broken or wounded in some way, there is often an emotionally dark element to each level providing an undercurrent to the humour, and the ways the game finds to personify complex psychological problems in a light-hearted, but somewhat serious and respectful way is really laudable. From the most basic - finding the 'emotional baggage' collectibles, for example, represented as actual luggage that can be heard sobbing in hard-to-reach spots - to representing Boyd Cooper's convoluted though-processes as both gravity-defying tangles in the environment, and in convoluted adventure game gameplay that seems initially unintuitive and cryptic on the surface, yet has it's own bizarre internal logic to it, the game never fails to find a way to represent the issues it addresses in a way that is fun, goofy, and well thought out. Visually, from a 2005 stand-point, Psychonauts is in a strange spot. It is undeniable that the game looks its age from a technical point of view, however, the artistic design of the game is great - the character work in particular. If Psychonauts were the only game in it's franchise, one could be forgiven for assuming that the highly stylised artistic design of the characters - a Nickelodeon mishmash of odd and unusual - was a choice made, at least in some regard, as a way to compensate for the technical limitations of the graphics available... but, while there may be some nugget of truth to that, it has been proven to have longevity. Indeed, both in 2017 VR sequel Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, and 2021 sequel Psychonauts 2, both of which have vastly more technologically advanced hardware to play with and much higher levels of graphical finesse, that style that originated in this first game remains great to look at, and a signature-staple of the series. That that style looks so good on 2021 hardware, without anything really changing stylistically from this first game is a real testament to the strength of the design - and while the game can be rough to look back at now from a technical point of view, the art design carries it forward far more easily than many of its 2005 peers. Audio is great across the board - voice acting is well done, and the sharp, funny writing is helped by this - when the game goes for a joke, the performances hit it consistently. The characters are also notably well cast, in the sense that even minor characters are memorable and distinct, and despite the rudimentary graphics, the player knows a lot about the personalities of the various kids in the camp, despite having relatively little interaction with them, primarily due to the writing and their vocal performances. The music is fun and varied, fitting the tone of each level very well, and a lot of the tracks are genuinely catchy and memorable. The base mechanics of the game are fine, though it must be said, there isn't the perfect handling or mechanical fluidity of some games, even of that era - and there can be some issues in terms of camera control or fine-accuracy in jumping / swinging etc. These issues are not atrocious, or even particularly noticeable outside of a few specific instances, (the benefit of the constant mechanical variations in the gameplay mean there are few areas of 'pure' 3D platforming, which is where these problems tend to arise,) but there are some. There is a sense that the basic movement never quite lived up to the desired level design in a few spots - in particular the finale of the game, the Meat Circus, where a long section of precision jumps and wall-scaling is required, and can get a little frustrating. There is also some better finessing that could have been done in terms of inventory use and Raz's psychic powers - both are selected from within the same menus, and only 2 powers can be mapped to use buttons at any one time. There can often be a rather 'Mega-Man-esque' feeling of having to go into menus a little too often during sections that require multiple power uses. This is mostly acceptable, though one or two boss fights do require more than two powers, and constantly accessing menus during these fights does tend to deflate the sense of tension and the humour of them. These issues, however, are small beer when playing a game that one is carried through easily by the tight narrative, great story, great art design, varied and interesting gameplay, and genuine, honest-to-God originality. Even the least interesting levels (I have never personally loved Black Velvetopia,) still contain more cool art design and good narrative elements than many other games can muster in their entirety, and the best levels - The Milkman Conspiracy, Waterloo World, Gloria's Theatre - stand out in a way that almost no other 3D platformer can boast. It's the little flourishes in Psychonauts that really make it stand out - the game constantly finds ways to keep the player engaged in the game, whether by varying the mechanics, or the narrative, or the art, or simply by filling the open hub-area with secrets, or by allowing Raz to view himself as others see him via clairvoyance, adding a wealth of visual jokes, or just by adding so much incidental, funny dialogue. A brilliant, smart, funny, highly original game, mixing genres with aplomb, and telling a smart, sometimes serious narrative with a deft touch and light tone, Psychonauts is, and remains, the very definition of a cult classic - and rightly so. That the game finished on a cliffhanger and then sold so poorly that - at the time - a sequel felt improbable, if not impossible - was a genuine tragedy... luckily, many people came to feel that same way, and it was not the last we saw of Raz! (For original review and Scientific ? Ranking see HERE) Edited January 6, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) 486 621 Psychonauts 2 The game no one ever expected back in 2005, it took until Double Fine's 2011 requiring of the IP from flailing Majesco for the original to even be released on modern consoles, and a 2016 crowd-funding campaign to even get Psychonauts 2 off the ground. With a development cycle lasting several years, and an interstitial VR game released in 2017, Psychonauts 2 finally released in 2021... ...Thank goodness it was worth the wait! Picking up directly after Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, and only a day after the end of Psychonauts, Raz, Milla, Sasha, Coach Oleander and Lili Zanotto finally arrive at Psychonaut headquarters, (with their semi-comatose leader Truman Zanotto in tow.) Raz, now a Psychonaut junior cadet, is swiftly enrolled in the Psychonaut training programme, complete with a new set of kids to meet (and be hazed by!) and is, in short order, swept up in a mystery, involving the founders of the Psychonauts - the "Psychic Six", most of whom are believed missing or dead - their old adversary Maligula, Ford Cruller and his fractured mind, the origins of Raz's circus performing family, a mail-room clerk with a missing brain, and a long-buried secret at the heart of the Psychonaut order. Narratively, Psychonauts 2 is a real triumph. The game maintains the franchise's ability to address genuine sadness and real mental disorders and emotional issues with fun, goofy, silly and light-hearted playfulness, yet walks a tightrope, avoiding feeling disrespectful or flippant about the serious aspects, while also avoiding being bogged down by them. Raz remains a genuinely likeable and funny protagonist, and relative straight-man to the wild and wacky cast of surrounding characters - and in this case, the inclusion of both Psychonauts, the students and his own family (who arrive to visit him in their ramshackle wagon, and set up home in the adjacent forrest's aptly names "Questionable Area?",) piles multiple additional dynamics on top of his primary narrative through-line, adding significant textural flavour to the proceedings. The game, if anything, doubles down on the serious elements of the first game, and gets much more into genuinely dark undercurrents in terms of the psychological trauma that the various characters Razputin projects into are wrestling with. With the Psychic Six, Double Fine play the narrative as broadly allegorical to a set of baby-boomer hippies - once idealistic youngsters out to change the world and make it a better place, now broken, and traumatised by the ways in which they failed, unintentionally destroyed their own ethos, their world and each other. A large part of the game involves Raz seeking out these members of the original group, in order to learn their secrets, as well as heal some of their old wounds, and while the overall tone remains light and fun, it is impossible not to be drawn into the genuine emotional struggles some of these characters have faced. For all the goofy fun the game revels in, it isn't afraid to tackle some issues lesser games would do better to steer well clear of, and it never falters in this regard. Mechanically, the game is playing pretty much entirely with one side of the original game's mechanics - the 3D Platforming. While the games engine is narrative, the Adventure game tropes of the original are largely gone, along with the 'usable items' inventory, and while this does simplify the game somewhat, it is compensated for by the marked finessing of these 3D Platforming mechanics. Unlike the original game, the mechanics of the game are very sharp here - camera control works just fine, Raz jumps and moves cleanly and well, and the platforming sections are much less finicky, and much tighter. Yes, there is a simplification of the mechanics in some sense - the lack of adventure game tropes means the game moves quicker, and where, in the first game, each level had a mechanical variety that matched the artistic variety, here, while the art still varies - even more so, in fact - the actual mechanics are somewhat more curtailed. There is no level quite as unique as the adventure-game-heavy Milkman Conspiracy, or the completely different Lungfishopolis. All levels in Psychonauts 2 tend towards action platforming, more akin to something like a Ratchet and Clank design, however, there is still significant scope for mechanical and thematic variety within that, and the artistic variety is really buoyed by the visual prowess of thd game now. On those visuals, Psychonauts 2 is not messing around. The game looks incredibly good. The original artistic direction is maintained completely, but now, the graphical fidelity is of an extremely high level, and lighting and smoothness of animation really make the Nickelodeon, Saturday-morning-cartoon aesthetic pop in a way it never could before. This visual jump is not merely aesthetic either - it bleeds into gameplay. Where in the first game, collecting the 'figments of imagination' in each mind-level, (represented as floating, 2D neon outlined images,) was something of a burden, due to their slight transparency, and the lack of ability of the tech to make them stand out from the scenery. Here, that exact same mechanic is still present, but with the modern graphics, it is much easier to see them. Audio is really great - actually surpassing both the original Psychonauts, and Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, with music doing a lot of work in levels to set the distinct tone of each mind, and voice work hitting every joke perfectly. Voice work is of the same high standard, but there is even more of it, and the new characters fit right into the tone set by the returning ones. In terms of the modernisation, I really think Psychonauts is an almost perfect example of a forward-looking franchise being modernised so well, that it is able to bring far more of the original game's aesthetic, tropes, mechanical elements and gameplay design forward than one might have expected. These are polished up with modern day graphics and made to feel completely befitting the modern gaming landscape. Yes, in some sense, Psychonauts 2 does feel like a throwback - after all, 3D Platforming is not the landscape dominating genre it once was, and it is genuinely remarkable how much the new game retains from the mechanics of the original - however, that those elements still works so well in a 2021 game is a testament to Double Fine, both for being so ahead of their time with the original game, and of knowing that, and sticking to the spirit of the original game, while modernising all the trappings in Psychonauts 2. I'm not a 3D Platformer kind of guy - I never have been - and yet the original Psychonauts won me over despite being at least half-way a 3D Platformer, and Psychonauts 2 did it again, being wholly one! A wonderful, funny, smart sequel to a wonderful, funny, smart game, Psychonauts 2 is a game I'm delighted to see having got made, and was even more delighted to play - start to finish. That's now 17 years of real life time... and we've covered about 4 days of Raz's life... ...seems to me, there is plenty of scope for more, Double Fine! (For original review and Scientific Ranking see HERE) Edited January 6, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) 488 624 Lost Words: Beyond The Page The debut game from small developer Sketchbook Games, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a word-based puzzle-lite platformer, written by Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of the late, great Terry, and who has considerable videogame credentials to her name, including BAFTA award winning writing on Heavenly Sword, and Writer's Guild Award winning writing for Overlord.) The game is aimed squarely at a young audience - or specifically, at a family audience, and occupies a curios space in that regard. It is a game broadly educational in nature - I bought the game to play in the presence of, and in conjunction with, my autistic son, who loves words, but who's communication skills are limited, as he has difficulty finding the correct ones - however, it is actually educational on multiple fronts, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. The game is essentially split into two separate game styles, connected loosely via metaphor, and hops from one to the other intermittently, with each section being educational is a slightly different regard. The broad narrative follows a young girl - Izzy - in who's journal, and imagination, the game takes place. Each chapter consists of two parts. the first takes place entirely within the pages of her Journal, with the narrative following the real-life story of Izzy coming to terms with her grandmother, with whom she is very close, first suffering a stroke, then hospitalisation, then finally dying, and Izzy attending the funeral. These sections are very much in the "emotionally educational" camp, with the word-association aspects being mostly about emotions and feeling, and finding the right word to express them - an area very well suited to youngling's education generally, but autistic youngling's especially. As autistic children often have difficulty reading expressions in the facers of others, or articulating their own feelings, this is an area very welcome in the Bloodmoney household. Gameplay in these parts is very much abstracted, and consist of very light platforming, as a personified Ink-splotch Izzy jumps around the pages, using her journal's handwritten words as platforms, and hitting specific spots to continue the narrative and add new words to jump to and progress. Occasions decision sections, where a choice of which word best fits her emotion are used as barriers, allowing an easy point at which a parent can involve the child, allowing them to decide on the right word to fit a sentence. These points are well chosen - they do not happen on a whim, but rather are included at the most appropriate spots where a parent would likely want to slow down anyway due to the emotional content of the narrative, and discuss the heavier elements with the child, helping them to process what is, actually, quite weighty and universal subject matter. The 'other side' of the game is much more fantastical, and certainly more artistically varied, as it follows another young girl who's name the player chooses, (a proxy, of course, for Izzy,) within a fantasy tale that Izzy is writing in the journal. These sections are more traditionally 'gamified' and present as light puzzle-platformers in a fantasy realm. The hook here, is that the girl in the story has a magical book, capable of 'capturing' and containing words - which she can then use on various objects in the environment to make changes, allowing progression. The word "Rise", for example, can be pulled from the page, and used on elevators to raise them, "Burn" can light torches in dark areas, "Break" can destroy rocks and boulders blocking the path, and "repair" can... well... you get the idea. These sections are much more traditionally 'academically educational', as they are concerned primarily with use of simple words in context. While the basic concept does in some ways harken back to the Lucas Arts / Sierra style of Adventure games, with the available words taking the place of a "Verbs list" in such a game, that concept is very much simplified here, in order to make the educational aspects appropriate for the littlest members of the audience. In terms of the overall narrative, I do think the game works in both sections, and is age-appropriate for its audience, however, there is perhaps a little more of a hard-cut between the two narratives than the game intends - particularly for the young ones. There is a clear thematic resonance to Izzy's fantasy story, as it relates to her feelings about her 'real-life' goings on, however, the metaphor is generally purely thematic, rather than overtly analogous. Particularly in the middle sections, I found I needed to do some protracted mental gymnastics to correlate her fictional writings to her feelings about her grandmother. While a purely thematic connection is perfectly acceptable, for the intended audience of 6-10 year olds, I do think a more 1-to-1, beat-to-beat connection may have been more appropriate. That audience is still very young in terms of understanding the nuance of literary allegory and contextual metaphor, and as such, that aspect does feel liable to be a little over their heads. The result being, the game might feel like two completely distinct games being played in parallel - one that is a game first and a story second, and one the other way around - as opposed to two sides of the same narrative coin. I do think, also, that the 'real' story of Izzy and the stages of her coming to terms with the illness and eventual death of her grandmother is very compelling - much more so than the fantastical tale which forms a more significant portion of the gameplay. The gameplay does suffer a little in the fantastical sections, due to the often fiddly controls required when moving the action words from the book to the environmental objects. The process can be a little cumbersome - the player must identify they need a word, open the book, find the word, then drag it to the correct spot in the level each time using a button-hold and analogue-stick movement - and can get a little confused when multiple words are on screen. There did not appear to be any way to put a word back in the book once removed, so if the wrong one is selected, it tends to hang around the environment until the player moves past it. In some later sections, where multiple words are required, they could end up interfering with one another - for example if a barrier requires 'breaking' right next to a portcullis that must be 'risen' the words could overlap, requiring quite specific placement that can be tricky to get right with the analogue stick. Artistically, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a real treat though. The 'real-world' parts - taking place entirely in the journal pages - might seem like they would be the more artistically uninteresting section, but they are, in fact, the visual highlight of a generally great looking game. The pages and writing look lovely, and are accompanied by beautiful, sketch-book water-colour illustrations that bring to mind the work of Shirley Hughes (children's author, and staple of both my, and my sons, childhood bedtimes!) The fantasy sections are bright and vivid and beautifully rendered too - these have a somewhat cell-shaded aspect to them, bringing to mind a slightly more 2D-parallaxed version of something like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood or a 2D-scrolling Rime. There is a slightly staccato rhythm to the actual animations that, I must admit, was not entirely to my tastes - it feels like there are slightly too few intermediary poses in the animation cycles - however, I will say, I do not believe this is in any way an issue of frame-rate or lack of effort, but simply a stylistic choice I didn't particularly care for. That aside though, it is hard not to see the game in motion, and be immediately swept up by the art design and the visuals. Sound is an interesting one with Lost Words: Beyond the Page. In terms of musical score, I think it is relatively pedestrian. Certainly nothing was bad, or a detriment to the game, but I found the music to be largely inoffensive, unobtrusive and forgettable. The voice work, on the other hand, I found to be a real boon for the game. Izzy's voice, provided by Sidonie Maria Šakālis is excellent - enthusiastic and playful at times, yet able to convey complex emotion where required. (It's notable how good the performance iis, given that that Šakālis is not a voice-actor by trade, but was a one time animation student who worked on the game in its early stages and provided a temporary voice track, which proved unable to be outdone throughout casting sessions, and she was asked to provide the final track on the strength of that early performance. Overall, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a game that while not quite holding together its two distinct halves in a narrative sense, does manage to make both interesting, charming, visually pleasant, educationally appropriate for the intended audience, and for the most part, mechanically sound. I do think that the intended age-group may have some difficulty with the raw controls of the game, as they can be finicky and a little unwieldy towards the later sections - particularly when required to be done under a time limit, however, this really just highlights the true intent of the game: I believe, based on the subject matter, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is intended to be played side-by-side with a parent, and in that instance - with the game-savvy parent controlling the game, and the child involved in a story-telling sense - I think the game is quite the little gem. (For original review and Scientific Ranking see HERE) Edited January 6, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Quink666 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #404 Anthem Grandmaster 6,13% Difficulty: / Fun: / Trophies: / Time to Plat: 72 Hours (1 Year &11 Months) When i started Anthem almost 2 years ago i thought i would plat it then. Turned out i really didn't feel like grinding the random collectibles at the time so i took an almost 2 year long break. But out of fear that the server might some day be shut down i decided to nut up and do the remaining collectibles trophies. Just a fyi for anyone deciding to start this game, you do not need to collect the 200 Chimeric Compounds/200 Chimeric Alloys. My No Stone Unturned trophy popped without those 400 collectibles. At least now i am done with the game. Anthem had a ton of potential but fell short on almost every single aspect. The only redeming quality of the game is the actual gameplay, it's fun and action packed. But after you have experienced all strongholds you quickly realize that that is it, there is nothing else to do really. The free roam is tedious and most people only do it for the collectibles. Don't get me started on the faction collectibles.... Random spawning collectibles = baaad idea. Thankfully there are some routes known now that can heavily reduce the grind. Still nothing i ever want to do again. Trophies are a mix of different collectibles, and a few story ones. A very bad trophy list imo. You can still get a few hours of fun out of the game while you are still gearing. But when you are full legendary everything becomes super duper easy, even at GM 3. This is definitely a bargain bin game that i would recommend you do no pick up for over 10 bucks. #405 LEGO DC Super-Villains Here's to Mischief 21,17% Difficulty: / Fun: / Trophies: / Time to Plat: 35 Hours (100%) My very first Lego game ever and probably my last aswell. Far to many collectibles for me to enjoy the platinum journey. If you count everything you need to collect on the side mission and all "normal" collectibles there have to be close to 1000 collectibles. Story was goofy and fun but nothing spectacular. I always had an interest in the LOTR Lego games but not anymore. At least i got this game for free so i don't fell robbed => #406 Hades God of Blood 26,31% Difficulty: / (With God Mode for the harder trophies) Fun: / Trophies: / Time to Plat: 50 Hours I totally understand all the GOTY nominations this game got now. It is abundantly clear that this game is made with a lot of love and passion. Attention to details has been put into everything. My first 20 hours with the game were amazing and the last 30 hours weren't all that bad. Just a lot of grinding to get the last keepsakes to max level. Luckily i managed to get all prophecies done fairly quickly aswell. Getting some prophecies to start was a hassle since the person you need to speak with might be busy or he might not even spawn. Shouldn't take to many runs/suicide attempts to be able to interact with them. I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled on anything Supergiant Games might develop in the future. Highly recommend this game! 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jamescush147 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 Platinum 292 Ultimate Vault Hunter Unlock all Borderlands 3 Trophies. 11.45% Rare Platinum1 week, 1 day, 14 hours Second time getting the Plat for this game. Much easier this time. So this is my 8th Borderlands Plat and the first Plat for 2022! Now on to the DLCs. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Moridin83 Posted January 6, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2022 #187 Carrion This started out feeling like a metroidvania, but it really isn't. The game is largely linear, with very little backtracking, and almost no need for any hidden items at all. Unfortunately, the game also got less fun for me as it went on. The largest form of your character can be extremely unwieldy to navigate, and was more frustrating than fun. I didn't hate the game, and it's short enough to not wear out its welcome, but the last couple hours were less enjoyable than the first. Trophy wise, nothing difficult, except the hidden upgrades. They aren't hard either, but the lack of a map can make navigating back to the few you need to revisit, a bit of a chore. Still, a simple plat, doable in one longish session. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MilanYildirim Posted January 7, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2022 #248. Diablo 3. Now, onto Diablo 3 RoS edition before l can even dare to think about Diablo 2 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StrayEidolon Posted January 7, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2022 Platinum #115 - 119: Assorted Vita Cross-Buy Games An assortment of games I fired up my PS Vita for. A couple of arcadey, retro-style games, a platformer, a puzzle game and whatever the heck My Name is Mayo is. Nice and simple gameplay experiences that are not bad at all for when you’re on the go. They were also good reasons to blow the dust off the old, abandoned handheld. Which reminds me, I still need to get around to Media Molecule’s Tearaway! That has been waiting in the backlog since nearly as long as I’ve owned the Vita probably. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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