Kill Your Completion (Event finished)

[Hemiak]

Game 3 - Ico
Update 1 of 1, initial - > final thoughts
10:30pm - 2am, 3.5 hours

Somebody has been a bad boy. Who? Me, of course. What did I do? Apparently I was born with horns, which must have been hell on my mom's nether regions. Apparently the crime of being born different necessitates a long ass horse and boat ride to a decrepit ass castle in the middle of nowhere. I was then placed in a small container and told it was for the good of the village. Side note, there were about 100 other containers in the room, and I get the feeling I'm not the first this had happened to. Anyways, shit breaks, I escape, and my adventure begins.

To start, the game's graphics, and even his move set, look exactly like Shadow of the Colossus. Which isn't a bad thing. Unfortunately the controls are pretty similar as well. They can be fully customized however, so this isn't an immediate deal breaker. After fixing that mess I moved on to the game.

The story so far. I rescued a girl who glows in the dark, speaks in hieroglyphics, can open magic doors, and has a Disney-princess level of trust. We got attacked by shadow creatures of various shapes and sizes. Alternately ran and fought the shades off, and solved some puzzles. I then met a lovely woman who claims to be the Queen and also Yorda(my new gf)'s mom (who has a white glowy face like Yorda, but a body covered in the same black shit the shades are made from). She told me I was misguided, threatened me, then offered to let me leave. Plot twist: she locked the giant gate, and I can't open any of the doors without Yorda. :/ Apparently that offer wasn't entirely sincere. Anyway, we set of again, battle more shades, solve more puzzles, find a sword(which does more damage than the ever burning block of wood I had been beating shades with) and use a giant reflector to energize one half of the giant gate and open a door to another area. The Sword can also be used to cut ropes for more puzzle solving options. I then saved the game and went to bed.

Much of what Stalker said holds true for me. The game primarily focused on exploration and minor puzzle solving. Usually once you realize you're in the right place, figuring out how to do stuff isn't that bad. The combat is pretty simple and boring. You basically have a 3 hit combo, and a completely useless jump attack. Yorda is both your biggest liability and your best weapon. If you have to solve a puzzle before leaving she is almost useless. She does a very minimal amount of running on her own, but is invariably snatched up within seconds, you then have 15-30 seconds to rescue her or it's game over. Most of the enemies will come close, and then back step to lead you away while another grabs her. I say she's almost useless, because she makes awesome bait. You just back up a couple steps, and then when one swoops on her you can run up and pummel it to the ground. Let's just say it's a good thing that she can be hurt by my attacks, because I've probably hit her more than enemies at this point. Also if you leave her in a perfectly safe area but get too far away, she'll immediately be snatched up and there's a good chance you won't be able to get back to her in time. I'm guessing a huge part of the speed run is knowing just how far you can push this specific limitation.

Remember how I said she's also your best weapon? Well, here's the one awesome thing about her. When she opens the magic doors, huge ropes of lightning shoot out of her, which have the added benefit of completely clearing a room of shades. So if you can see magic doors blocking your way out of a room or corridor, you can just grab her hand and drag her straight through the area. When she reaches the door and does her thing, Presto! No more shades. The enemies are slightly faster than you, but with a little serpentine running they're not too hard to avoid.

All in all I'm enjoying the game. I'll definitely go back and finish the story, I'm a little over halfway there I believe, looking at a walk through play list. I'll almost certainly earn the Plat as well, since I'm one of those masochistic bastards that enjoys speed runs.

I typed this entire thing on my phone, so allow for any auto correct fails or misspellings

Also, I'll go back and quote people and respond to things later, it's a pain on the phone.

Fun fact: at one point I miss-typed blocking, and it tried to insert glockenspiel. o.O

Edited July 17, 2016 by Hemiak

[voodoo_eyes]

Game 6 - Day 1

 

 

 

Hours played: a bit over an hour

Trophies earned: 8/51

 

 

I figured I might just as well post the update now, as I probably not going to go back to this game today (I'll be hooked on Soma, which I've been wanting to play out for quite a while now).

Anyway, another racing game, this time with bikes. Which is sort of a first for me, considering the only other racing game I played with bikes, was Road Rash on PC decades ago.

So I boot this game up and create my racer to start career mode. I'll check different settings and options and have trophies pop left and right . The first few races are to prove yourself and get noticed by teams to take you under their wing. So I do just that by starting the races, 4 in total.

What is it with racing games always putting you on the last position at the start of the race? There wasn't even a qualifying and I still had to start from all the way back >.< . So first race I finish 14th, 2nd race I get 10th place, 3rd race I make 6th and last race I was 3rd until shortly before the finish line, some prick drives into me and makes me do a triple flip with my bike and I end up 6th again .

 

That's how far I got, Did I mention that I'm terrible at racing games?

[MarkusT1992]

 

Game #5

Day 3

 

 If you want to play an Animal Crossing game with combat in between the collectathon that this game is for you.

Or you could play Rune Factory when you don't like One Piece.

 

I started to watch One Piece a month ago I guess and allready bought six out of currently 13 DVD boxes.

[MStalker58]

So, we're halfway there... How's everybody feeling?

 

I still like this way of trying out new games, as far as I'm concerned I'd definitely like to continue on into August.

 

I'm enjoying the event and all of the games I've played so far. It reminds me of video game rentals back in the day. As a kid, I grew up right next door to a local movie/game rental shop. I was constantly renting random games, playing them for a couple of days, and then renting something else. I still remember the mystery and excitement of trying a new game every few days. This event brings back some of those memories. 

 

Normally, I'm the type that prefers to complete a game before moving on to the next one. Now, I don't buy much DLC so I'm not a true completionist, but I still try to at least get the platinum before starting a new game. Obviously this event is messing up the OCD part of me, but it's been a nice change of pace and it's been fun trying out all of these games. I'm also enjoying reading everyone's thoughts on their games. I've already added a couple of your all's games to my checklist of titles I want to give a try and will eventually buy.

 

At the same time, my feelings on this event are similar to the Platinum Rain Day event. Glad I joined and I'm having fun, but I'd need a break before trying it again with a fresh list of 10 new games. I'm definitely going to revisit all of these games and try to finish them after the event. The trophy hunter in me just won't let all of these unobtained trophies sit on my profile for too long. 

 

Since we are halfway through, might be a good time to share some stats and a ranking of my games so far.

 

Starting Completion: 88.72%

Current Completion: 87.10%

 

Trophies Earned: 89

Unearned Trophies: 107

 

Game Rankings:

1. DuckTales: Remastered (no surprise here)
2. Helldivers
3. Mamorukun Curse!
4. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
5. ICO

Please note that those are ranked solely on how much fun I had with the games in the 3 days for the event. I'm not considering overall quality of the game, story, graphics, or anything else. Just rating my fun factor for those days. Obviously the longer games like Castlevania are at a disadvantage since I just got through the basics, but oh well. Time to stop rambling and start my next game: Demon's Souls. 

[effdeegee]

July 16-18

Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest

Time for game #6, folks. Although the game is from 2011, I still had a sealed new one on my shelf. I tear off the plastic and take a whiff of that new game smell.

This time it's a Move "required" game about a young boy, the heir to the throne, that gets cursed and ahh I don't know wtf is going on here. It's a nice story and there's countless, what can best be described as, adequate drawings to help you get the gist of it, but who cares? This is about a young man swinging his magic wand in front of a webcam and getting an old man to give me his fortune.

Oops, sorry. I meant, uh... ahem.

MOVING ON.

It's not a bad game. You can reach the wand up over your shoulder, pull the trigger, and simulate pulling out an arrow from the quiver. You can hold the PS Move button and that'll pull out your shield. Point the wand at the floor, pull the trigger and raise forward, and that's your grapple hook gun, and the basic wand swinging is your sword. Four simple moves and we're off.

The controls are pretty responsive and the levels aren't overwhelming. I did the training and the first level. A couple of trophies later and I'd say it was a good experience. Not a bad workout either.

[MarkusT1992]

Tales of Zestiria (Day 1)

 

The Tales of series is, as far as I know, a well beloved one.

I have to admit that I only played two Tales of games befor Zestiria. The first being Tales of Symphonia on the Wii and the second being Tales of Vesperia on the 360. But that's probably because most of the Tales of games were only released on consoles I didn't have. Or because I wasn't interested in them

 

This game follws the human Sorey who lives among the Seraphs. The game start with you being in some ruins in search for signs of the "Shepherd" who allways appears when darkness comes over the land to protect the people. After finding such a sign (of course) a young Seraph called Mikleo apperas and dark clouds rise upon them. Trying to run away they both fall in a hole and land deep in the ruins.

In this ruin the find a unconscious human girl called Alisha. Oh and humans apparently can't see Seraphs except for Sorey. The three of them continue looking for the exit of the ruin to go back to the village Elysia where Sorey and Mikleo live. There Alisha prepears her leave to go back to the city Ladylake. After Alisha left a Hellion, creatures made uot od darkness, appears in Elysia searching for Alisha. He gets defeated by Sorey and Mikleo and disappears. Sorey is wooried about the safety of Alisha so he decides to follow her. Mikleo has the same concern and accompanies him. So they head to the city of Ladylake.

That's where I am right know. Because it's obvious Sorey becoms the next Shepherd to save the world.

 

I can't remember the battle system of the other two Tales of games I played but I think they were the same.

You can hit the eneimies with normal attacks and special attacks and that's it basiclly so far. Maybe ther will be more later on.

The battles occure on a seperate battle screen but in real time and not turn based. You can see the enemies on the world map so you can avoid them if you don't want to fight.

I prefere this type of battle system because random encouters are one of the worst things games have done.   Maybe that's why I loved FF 12

 

The menus are very interessting in this game. You even have an extra menu timer in the statistics. You need to invest some time in the menus to equip your best armor. In zhis game you can have better armor with equipping worse things than you currently have through the combination of abilities. Equipping arme with the same type can add special perks for your character which the better armor wouldn't have.

 

I like the game so far and want to see what comes next. I especially like the trophy descriptions. They are like novels. I mean here an example:

 

"This is proof that you've equipped items that activate an Elemental Union bonus skill. Basic skills all correspond to one of five different elements. Equip skills of the same element that line up directly adjacent to each other, and you'll form an Elemental Union based on how many skills are in the line. Check it out on the skill sheet!"

 

See? And all this to basiclly say equip two items with skills of the same element.

Edited July 17, 2016 by MarkusT1992

[Mendant909]

Game 6

Day 1

 

Wow, Sorcery Saga is a vast improvement over Hyperdevotion Noire. Enemy designs, aside from the Mer-Maid, are pretty good and a bit are creatively bizarre like the chickmunk. Even the slime in this game is able to do a rollout and looks like a meatbun. I'm hoping future enemies show more creativity as I do want to see what else there is and boy is it a major upgrade from Noire and the stupid bored orange from Dungeon Travelers 2.  Unforutnately environmental design is still cluttered with needless detail and low textures. The story is another positive as Pupuru, the main character, is a character that I could root for. Pupuru doesn't appear to the sharpest crayon in the box but she's able to analyze a situation quickly, like how an item went missing or why a certain group left her. She seems like a sociable person as she tends to be wants to be friendly with people unless she gets provoked, like with the man in charge of a curry chain. My main gripe with the story so far is the manner in which exposition is presented. With the introduction to Pupuru and her graduation status we got that information through a teacher that told Pupuru information that they both should know. What seems to be more common is the telenovela style of exposition in which Pururu goes off-screen and another character shows up to give a monologue I'm hoping that if bad guy shows his presence throughout the story that he does lead to certain events, unlike how Noire kept showing Arfoire and only brought her actions for the final two chapters. I'm mainly boosting some gear so I'm still at the beginning. The story could fall flat in its face like Noire did after its third chapter, so I'm anxious to see if this story follows that path. I'll talk about the gameplay tomorrow as it does remind me of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

[The Chosen Undead]

If you guys do this event again, would it be possible to adjust the rules to maybe 'games you only have a couple trophies on'? I'd like to play next time around but I only have 1 unplayed game...

[MesopithecusUK]

If you guys do this event again, would it be possible to adjust the rules to maybe 'games you only have a couple trophies on'? I'd like to play next time around but I only have 1 unplayed game...

 

It wouldn't really be kill your completion though then, as just continuing on with games you have already started is just improving the completion 

[Edunstar84]

If you guys do this event again, would it be possible to adjust the rules to maybe 'games you only have a couple trophies on'? I'd like to play next time around but I only have 1 unplayed game...

 

 

It wouldn't really be kill your completion though then, as just continuing on with games you have already started is just improving the completion 

 

Or maybe for next time the person who hits the lower the completion? Now that I think about it, it might not work especially if someone has completed all their games and has a higher completion. But I'm really horrible in math, so what do I know...

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

If you guys do this event again, would it be possible to adjust the rules to maybe 'games you only have a couple trophies on'? I'd like to play next time around but I only have 1 unplayed game...

  

It wouldn't really be kill your completion though then, as just continuing on with games you have already started is just improving the completion 

  

Or maybe for next time the person who hits the lower the completion? Now that I think about it, it might not work especially if someone has completed all their games and has a higher completion. But I'm really horrible in math, so what do I know...

For me it's less about killing completion and more about trying out games in your backlog that aren't high on your list.

If I wanted to fully kill my completion, I would not play ten games for three days each but I would play all unplayed games I have until I have one trophy, then move on to the next.

Taking that into account, I could agree with a spiritual successor to this event where the rule is a maximum of one trophy obtained. I would not say multiple trophies obtained is allowed, however, since that would probably mean you've put a bit of time in them already.

Zombie Jesus, are you sure you have only one unplayed game? Have you put all PS+ games in your library? :-)

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Game #6: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2

Second day
Total playtime: about an hour and a half

 

 

 

Fuck this game. There, I said it.

 

Played half an hour today. Got through level 3 and then, a long way into level 4, I lost all my five lives. Not because I suck but because of the lousy controls. This game can, as was said in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, get F'd in the B.

[crimsonidol38]

Game #6:
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition ()

 
I'm sure many know the classic adventure-series Monkey Island, a story about a guy called Guybrush Threepwood who wants to become a pirate and soon gets in a conflict with the fearsome ghost pirate LeChuck. The Special Edition is an improved version of the original adventure with updated audio and visuals and a new interface.

 

For me personally it's the first Monkey Island ever played so I don't know what awaits me. I was too young when the first game was released and back in my childhood I was more the type of person that enjoyed playing platformers or racing games on my GameBoy or SNES so I barely came in contact with point-and-click adventures (the only ones I remember are the Discworld-games my brother played). I only started to play adventures one or two years ago with my highlights being the revamped Day of the Tentacle on Vita and the Deponia-series on PC. And compared to those games the PS3-version of Monkey Island ain't that much fun. Main reason as you may guess are the controls.

An analog stick is not designed to replace a mouse. Especially when there's no possibilty to alter the sensitivity.    I already had some struggles while finding the cooking pot for a task as it was not much fun to navigate through the kitchen of the scumm bar and find that thing. It's nice that the game has a hint system telling you what you should do next but an item highlighting (like in DotT) would have been much more useful. Another thing I still have to get used to is the actions menu which is activated by pressing as it happened to me quite often that I lost the action by choosing the wrong order. Still don't know for sure if I have to choose either action or the item first.

 

Can't say much about the story yet except the fact that Guybrush has to complete three trials to become a pirate: Fight against a sword master, finding a treasure (which I found by accident) and stealing an item. The save file tells me that I already finished 15% of the game (after one hour) so this may be the first game where I will be able to finish the story during this event.

 

On a sidenote:
As I was so frustrated of Monkey Island I decided to play another hour in Battle Princess. Yes I know I didn't like it that much but I realized that I had several rings in my inventory that gave the characters plus 20% on movement speed. And guess what? The movement speed went from sloth to geezer for some characters and from geezer to normal person for others. Now the gameplay is a lot better IMO and it's somehow fun to play other characters now. Even leveled up some characters from the lower 10s to late 10s or mid 20s. (e.g. Violone). 

[crimsonidol38]

I like the game so far and want to see what comes next. I especially like the trophy descriptions. They are like novels. I mean here an example:

 

"This is proof that you've equipped items that activate an Elemental Union bonus skill. Basic skills all correspond to one of five different elements. Equip skills of the same element that line up directly adjacent to each other, and you'll form an Elemental Union based on how many skills are in the line. Check it out on the skill sheet!"

 

See? And all this to basiclly say equip two items with skills of the same element.

 

 

Oh god, they pulled that again. I always thought they just want to test the maximum length a trophy description may have. Seems like the descriptions are as long or even longer than the ones from Tales of Hearts R. An example:

 Unbreakable Bond: Kor and Chalcedony

This award stands as proof that you have forged an unbreakable bond between Kor and Chalcedony. Over the course of their many battles, both against one another and by each other's sides, they have learned an enormous amount. May the friendship between these brothers in arms last a thousand years!

[effdeegee]

Yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and leave this right here.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Platform lovers beware, I just found Type:Riders on PSN. Seems like a fun platformer.

[Hemiak]

So, we're halfway there... How's everybody feeling?

 

I still like this way of trying out new games, as far as I'm concerned I'd definitely like to continue on into August.

I'm having a good time, and I'm thrilled with the amount of participation we're getting.  I'm still planning on catching up and playing a portion of every game on my list so I'm not the big failure here.

 

Last night I started TBoUT2 with my wife since it seems like the kind of game she'll enjoy watching.  I then fired up Starwahl once she fell asleep on the couch.  I'll post my updates later, but I think using this method I'll be able to get all 10 in before the buzzer, though I'll play SSX only during the 7th game slot.

 

Game #6: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2

 

 

 

Mèh.

 

Right from the go, this game annoyed me with the faux 8-bit techno music. Then, the game annoyed me with bad controls and a main character that did not do what I tried to get him to do.

 

I'm not sure you're aware, but the original Bionic Commando WAS actually an 8-bit NES game.  It's actually one of my favorite on that console, and I played a ton of games back then.  Bionic Re-armed was an updated version of the original game.  They added a few things, and changed almost all the bosses, but for the most part the level design is exactly like the original game.  The music is also roughly the same, though cleaned up a bit.  They also didn't change the controls much, though it is more responsive.  In the first game you can't even jump   I haven't played the 2nd one, but I'm imagining it's very similar.  If you go in expecting a ps3 psn title I could imagine being sorely disappointed.  If however, you go in expecting a remaster of a great NES game, it's a little easier to deal with.

 

 

 

Mamorukun Curse!

Day 3

Trophies: 31/66 (51%)

 

 

Every once in a while though, you'll find a gem. Mamorukun Curse! was fortunately the latter and was $1 well spent. It was a good introduction to the shmup genre and the learning curve wasn't too steep. Even if you have never played these types of games before or just suck at them, you can learn the basics on the lowest difficulty settings and make it through the story and arcade levels without too much trouble. However, truly mastering the game and completing the harder difficulties appears like it could be very difficult.

 

Really glad you enjoyed it.  I picked it for for $2 and didn't play it forever.  When I finally got around to it earlier this year I had a great time.  It was also my first real Shmup game and I was able to get it with effort, I believe in you!

 

 

 

July 16-18

Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest

The controls are pretty responsive and the levels aren't overwhelming. I did the training and the first level. A couple of trophies later and I'd say it was a good experience. Not a bad workout either.

Got this game with my move as well.  My kids played about an hour one day, and I keep meaning to go back and earn the .44% platinum, but I keep having other stuff to work on.  I'm glad you say it's actually kind of fun, will be looking forward to the rest of your updates.

 

 

If you guys do this event again, would it be possible to adjust the rules to maybe 'games you only have a couple trophies on'? I'd like to play next time around but I only have 1 unplayed game...

It's been answered but I'll give you the "official" response.  As Rach said it's not actually so much about Killing the completion % as it is trying out games you own and just haven't gotten around to yet, I just thought the title was catchy. :shrug:  There might be a spin-off event at some point where we focus on games with low % to start with, which seems like it might be more your bag.  I only say this as you mentioned you only have 1 un-started game. 

 

also, lol @effdeegee.  I didn't recognize his name right off the bat.  However, as this is an event you get to choose your own games to play I think it's a slightly different beast, and I wouldn't immediately disqualify him from participating.

 

 

 

Game #6:

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition ()

 

I bought these a couple months ago because my wife after I tried the demo and it seemed funny.  They were not as good as I hoped, but I don't regret spending the very low amount I did for both of them.  It can be extremely annoying occasionally, as it's very unclear what you're supposed to do, as with the seagull (if you haven't done that yet)  I had to regularly look at a guide when I got stuck, since I don't like walking back and forth through the same 4 areas 8 times looking for the one item I missed.  They were good for an occasional small laugh, but not real fun to actually "play".  Hope it gets better for you.

[MStalker58]

 

Demon's Souls

Day 1

Trophies: 0/38 (0%)

 

My very first Souls game. This was the game I was most hesitant to include in my list just because it was so time consuming and I knew I wouldn't make much progress in 3 days. However, I've put this series off for too long and also have Dark Souls and Dark Souls II just sitting in my backlog. Figure it's time to give it a try. So, yesterday before starting on the game I attempted to glance at a guide and some info on the game. That was a mistake. After looking at a wall of information that included links to several other sub-guides on specific features of the game, my head started to hurt. Screw all that! I'm just going to do a completely blind playthrough and treat this like a 3 day demo. Whenever I come back to this game I'll probably just start over completely. That way I don't have to worry about missing something or totally screwing up right now.

 

I spent some time editing my character's appearance and information. Decided to choose the Royalty class because that's the only thing I remembered from glancing at the guide and who doesn't want to be a royal? After that it was on to the training level. To start the game I have a basic shield in my left hand and a rapier in my right hand. Make my way through the tutorial until I stumble upon a boss. Yes, a boss in the tutorial. I'm guessing this boss was just to familiarize myself with the "You Died" screen. Have a feeling that I'm going to be seeing that screen a lot.  After getting smashed by the boss, I am transported to the Nexus which appears to act as the hub for the game. Not much to do right now though. I talk to a couple of people, check out a blacksmith but can't afford much right now so I enter the portal to the first level.

 

I died several times within the first few minutes of entering Boletarian Palace. Right near the beginning I was jumped by several enemies. Feeling overwhelmed since I was still learning the controls, I decided to back away from them. Unfortunately, I wasn't too aware of my surroundings and backed directly into a fire that burnt me to a crisp. Next up, I came to a hole in the ground but there was some shiny blue light coming from the hole and I could see some objects down there. Surely I can just jump down there and explore some, right? Wrong. I died once again.

 

Finally, I made some good progress as I slowly inched my way through the area killing enemies until I came to a branching path. Decided to go straight and check out that route first. Went into a building that seemed to go down forever into the darkness, so I decided to turn around and check out the other area first. By the way, there are messages scattered throughout the game. Some of these are from the actual game, but some are left by other players I believe. Anyways, I inspected a message that warned me of a formidable foe ahead. Pfffft...I got this. So I turn the corner and spot some knight with glowing red eyes off in the distance. The Soul Arrow has killed most enemies with 1 hit so far, let's try that out on this guy. Direct hit and....nothing. I think I just pissed him off because now he's moving around a little.......OH SHIT he's running straight at me. I run away to buy some time to change weapons and prepare to fight. Turn around and.....I'm dead. 

 

For anyone who hasn't played the game, I should point out that when you die, you lose all of the souls you have collected. I knew this was an element of the game but it's not as bad as I imagined and I think it's an interesting mechanic. Luckily you don't lose your equipment, items, or anything like that. Just the souls, which appear to be like the currency you use to upgrade things in the game. Once you die, you respawn at the beginning of that area and have to backtrack to reach the point where you previously met your demise. If you make it back, you can touch your bloodstain to reacquire all of your lost souls. If you die before making it back, you lose all of them. I'm sure I'll be cursing it later on, but right now it really adds some tension to the game.

 

After backtracking through the level, I recovered my souls and decided to call it a day. We'll explore that other path today and just avoid that red-eyed knight for now. 

[voodoo_eyes]

 

 

Demon's Souls

Day 1

Trophies: 0/38 (0%)

 

 

 

So it's finally time for you to play my favourite ps3 game . I actually imported the US version of the game back when it released, as the EU version was only going to be released almost a year later. RIP first ps3 I owned.... Anyway, there's one thing you should know. It has a unique mechanic which is world and character tendencies., The whiter it is, the easier are the enemies, but its also less likely to get loot, while dark tendency has the opposite effect. and also opens up mini boss fights throughout the game. It's generally advised to try to get to max white tendency on the first run and only later turn it dark  The change depends on certain boss or mini boss kills, as well as dying in human form, among other things. Also, when playing online, it changes tendency to a global server one that can't be influenced. so even if it seems counter-intuitive, It'd advise against doing so, if you're going for the plat. I had to do 4 or 5 additional playthroughs, because I went online on my first one...

[MStalker58]

Game #6: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2

Second day

Total playtime: about an hour and a half

 

 

 

Fuck this game. There, I said it.

 

Played half an hour today. Got through level 3 and then, a long way into level 4, I lost all my five lives. Not because I suck but because of the lousy controls. This game can, as was said in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, get F'd in the B.

 

Nah man, you just suck. 

 

I'm joking, the controls and swinging mechanics can take a while to handle and get used to. Can't tell you how many times I'd swing or shoot my claw in the wrong direction, usually resulting in my death. Once you get more comfortable with the controls though, the game is fairly easy. Do you have the health regeneration upgrade equipped? It makes combat and the bosses a joke. Doesn't help much if you are dying from falling in pits or spikes though. 

 

I'm not sure you're aware, but the original Bionic Commando WAS actually an 8-bit NES game.  It's actually one of my favorite on that console, and I played a ton of games back then.  Bionic Re-armed was an updated version of the original game.  They added a few things, and changed almost all the bosses, but for the most part the level design is exactly like the original game.  The music is also roughly the same, though cleaned up a bit.  They also didn't change the controls much, though it is more responsive.  In the first game you can't even jump   I haven't played the 2nd one, but I'm imagining it's very similar.  If you go in expecting a ps3 psn title I could imagine being sorely disappointed.  If however, you go in expecting a remaster of a great NES game, it's a little easier to deal with.

 

Really glad you enjoyed it.  I picked it for for $2 and didn't play it forever.  When I finally got around to it earlier this year I had a great time.  It was also my first real Shmup game and I was able to get it with effort, I believe in you!

 

I played Bionic Commando on the NES back in the day but I haven't played Bionic Commando Rearmed. One of those games that I'll probably pick up if I see it at a good price in a sale. It should be pointed out that Rearmed 2 almost universally got lower reviews than the original Rearmed. This one wasn't a remake of a classic so it's all original levels, story, etc. They also added a jump button which was a weird choice given the franchise. You can find a lot of weapons and upgrades but most aren't necessary at all. You can get through the entire game with just your basic pistol. A couple of the upgrades like the grenade launcher are helpful and used to find hidden items, but most items aren't even needed or useful. It was an alright game that had a few good qualities and highlights, just nothing special. I'd like to play the original Rearmed since most people say that is a better game.

 

As for Mamorukun Curse!, I got the 1 cc trophies for Fululu and Luchino yesterday. Might try to sneak in a few more before the event ends. Thanks for the confidence. Going to need all the support I can get.    

 

 

I can already see why people love these games. The world tendency mechanic was one of those things I didn't fully understand and made my head hurt when I glanced at a guide. How do you avoid going into online mode? Just stay signed off of PSN while playing the game? Also, if I started the game online, can I switch to offline or do you have to start over to do that? The game hasn't mentioned much about world tendency yet so I haven't worried much about it. Doesn't really matter for this event I guess since I'm probably going to start a fresh game when going for the platinum. Still good to know these things so thanks for the info. 

Edited July 17, 2016 by MStalker58

[voodoo_eyes]

I can already see why people love these games. The world tendency mechanic was one of those things I didn't fully understand and made my head hurt when I glanced at a guide. How do you avoid going into online mode? Just stay signed off of PSN while playing the game? Also, if I started the game online, can I switch to offline or do you have to start over to do that? The game hasn't mentioned much about world tendency yet so I haven't worried much about it. Doesn't really matter for this event I guess since I'm probably going to start a fresh game when going for the platinum. Still good to know these things so thanks for the info. 

 

Yeah, not signing in does the trick. IIRC there's no way to revert tendency once online, therefore starting from scratch is the best bet (unless the online world tendency was actually closer to white than greyish or black). The game doesn't really bother to explain tendencies very well, if at all. Some items drop from specific enemies/npcs that only spawn at full white others only at full black tendency and are a plat requirement, if memory doesn't fail me.

 

The best info I could find on them when I played was here:

 

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/world-tendency

 

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-tendency

Edited July 17, 2016 by voodoo_eyes

[Hemiak]

 

 I can already see why people love these games. The world tendency mechanic was one of those things I didn't fully understand and made my head hurt when I glanced at a guide. How do you avoid going into online mode? Just stay signed off of PSN while playing the game? Also, if I started the game online, can I switch to offline or do you have to start over to do that? The game hasn't mentioned much about world tendency yet so I haven't worried much about it. Doesn't really matter for this event I guess since I'm probably going to start a fresh game when going for the platinum. Still good to know these things so thanks for the info.

The only thing to keep in mind about tendency(for now) is that dying WHILE HUMAN makes the world darker(harder), and killing bosses moves it one step lighter. There's no penalty for dying if you're already dead. While undead you only get 50%hp, but you can get a ring that makes it 70% and is a huge help. Being dead also prevents you from being invaded or joined.

You will resurrect any time you kill a boss. To combat this immediately go back to the nexus, run to the top, and jump off. Dying in the nexus has no adverse affects, other than you know, killing you. Don't forget to pick up your Souls. Then go back to whatever level and continue.

I did most everything in the game before worrying about any of the tendency and was still able to finish this way. Saving one boss per world is the only thing you need to consider, cause you'll need it to reach full white eventually.

Another thing you might have seen mentioned and a huge help. The levels are not linear in terms of difficulty. I had major troubles with 1-2, and did almost every other, X-1 and X-2 level before I went back and finished it. Move around if you get stuck or have trouble with a level.

[MStalker58]

You will resurrect any time you kill a boss. To combat this immediately go back to the nexus, run to the top, and jump off. Dying in the nexus has no adverse affects, other than you know, killing you. Don't forget to pick up your Souls. Then go back to whatever level and continue.

 

So that's what those people were doing. I kept touching bloodstains and watching people run up there and jump off the very top in the Nexus. Thought they were just goofing around or something. That explains a lot. 

[The Chosen Undead]

 Zombie Jesus, are you sure you have only one unplayed game? Have you put all PS+ games in your library? :-)

I actually don't have PS+ lol. I can't see the need to shell out $50/year for a subscription that only gives out games I don't want to play. I also don't have a PS4, which would effectively mandate the subscription. On further examination of my backlog, I actually have 9 unplayed games, which I can provide upon request.

 

Yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and leave this right here.

While I agree that it was more than a bit on the selfish-asshole side of the behavior spectrum to do what I did, I feel the need to point out that my poor performance in that competition was due in part to my non-understanding of the rules of the game. I was not prepared for what I was asked to do, and, as I have apologized for that already (or, if I haven't, this post should serve as that apology), I feel your latent hostility towards me for that incident is a bit overwrought. I may be missing something, though. Anyway, as the rules of this event state that only games you already own are to be played, I feel I am in no danger of having to drop out, since I only buy games I am willing to play, and there is nothing in my backlog I would not play for at least 3 days.

 

~

 

All that being said, I have examined my backlog and discovered 8 games I was not aware i owned, bringing the total to 9 unplayed games. Unfortunately, that still leaves me a bit short of the required 10 (even less so if you consider that one of the 9 is just the first episode of a series and so probably doesn't count), so unless I can get in with 1 game I only have a couple trophies on, I'm going to have to take advice and not play. Thanks for the consideration, though.

[Hemiak]

Game 4 - The Book of Unwritten Tales 2

Update 1 - .5 hrs

Purchased 12/24/2015, $2

 

I bought this game on a whim.  I saw it on sale just before Christmas and it looked like something my wife would enjoy.  The game opens with a short narration, then you get "control" of who I'm assuming is the main character, who is currently falling from a very great height.  You get a few prompts to hit x to grab or climb up other falling items, and then you have a somewhat funny conversation with a genie, who apparently is the cause of your plight.  After some arguing the genie finally saves you.  Next was the opening credits, which kept "breaking down".  Then you'd have to use a small robot to find and fix parts of the machine controlling the credits, basically a small tutorial.  After mastering that Like A Boss, I met one of the other main characters, an Elven princess named Ivo (I think) who is arguing with her mother.  After that scene ended and I got control of her I saved the game, as Mim had fallen asleep on the couch.  Not really too much to say about the game now, seems like it's pretty much exactly what I was expecting, only thing is whether or not it's written well, and how fun the puzzles are.

 

 

 

Game 5 - Starwhal

Update 1 - 2 hrs

Purchased 12/09/2015, $3

 

So I read several status updates from Rayrooz last year about this game.  I had heard of it but didn't know anything about it.  After noticing it had a 1-2% UR platinum I decided if it hit a sale and I had cash I would buy it, and here we are.  To start, the game is pretty much exactly what I thought it was.  There is no story to speak of, there is basically a set of 32 challenges, and versus mode, and that's it.  I don't even think the versus matches can be played online. 

 

Basically, you take control of a neon Space Narwhal who flies around trying to accomplish specific objectives.  You can customize your color ( I went purple), head accessory ( I used the Sun-bro helmet ), and waist accessory ( I used a shield).  There seem to be quite a few items you can use in either spot, and they have absolutely no affect on the gameplay.  You also have a heart that is the opposite color of your Starwhal that sits right about where a heart should be. 

 

First off the controls.  You hit   to fly fast, but apparently there is now gravity in space, so you're constantly falling unless you angle upwards.  You can taunt with , which apparently does absolutely nothing except make noise.  You use left and right to angle your character, and he flies in whatever direction he is facing.  The fun part: The Starwhals are incredibly hard to control.  The slightest pressure can send them spiraling off in crazy ass directions.  The tail also whips around when you change directions, further complicating things.  Basically you fly around like a balloon losing all of it's air, except with less control.  If you embrace the hilarity of the situation it can be rather amusing, but it can also be incredibly frustrating when attempting precise maneuvers.  

 

The challenges come in 2 varieties, obstacle, and target.  In obstacle you just have to go from start to finish cube as fast as possible.  You are ranked bronze -> platinum depending on your time.  You have to make contact with the finish cube for the level to end, and it's very easy to overshoot your objective, and waste 5-15 seconds trying to maneuver yourself back to it.  In target you have 5-??? target hearts you have to run into, and are again judged on your overall time.  You can tail whip them, nick them with your horn, or full on body blast them, it doesn't really matter.

 

Versus mode comes in four varieties. 

•    Classic is basic elimination death match.  Each Starwhal gets a number of lives, and when they're gone you're out.  Last man standing wins.  A life is lost when any other player stabs your heart with their horn.
•    Score attack is basically death match, with infinite re-spawns.  You set a score limit, and a timer, and the game ends when one or the other is reached.  Player with the most points wins.
•    Zone mode has two or more nodes around the area.  When you hit one with your horn it flashes and turns your color, and you collect points from it.  It also blasts all other players away from it when it changes owners.  Holding multiple zones makes your score rise much faster.
•    Heart Throb is basically a game of keep away.  There is a heart in the level, once you pick it up it's yours until you get killed.  You get points as long as you hold it, first to reach the score target wins.

 

I played a little bit of all the different modes and challenges.  I decided to take a look at the trophies since I had already seen everything the game has to offer.  Apparently the big challenge is to get platinum ranks on all 32 of the levels.  I've played about 16 or so levels, and obtained plat on a little over half the ones I've played.  Some of these took waaaaay more retries than I care to admit.  The otehr potential platinum blocker is the grindiness.  There isn't a level system in versus mode, so you're basically playing the same modes over and over again to reach the targets.  4096 points from score attack, and stabbing 3k hearts in classic mode are the two biggest offenders.  I have to play a grand total of 1k versus matches, but that will be very close when the other two conditions are met.  The trophies for Zone mode and Heart Throb were incredibly easy and fast, and I don't actually have to do anything else with either of those.

 

All in all the game is quirky, fun, and challenging.  I'll keep playing it and see just how far I can get before the event ends.