RealM722's Trophy Cabinet

[realm722]

Game: Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below

 

Analysis: This game was a mistake.

 

Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration but still not really. Let's go through how I got this game. There was a deal at Gamestop that was "4 for $20" which meant for pre-owned games under $10 you could get 4 of them and hey get them $5 each, good deal right? I got this game, Uncharted 4, Final Fantasy XV, and Batman: Arkham Knight. For whatever reason and I forget why - I decided to play this one first. First of all, NEWSFLASH TO ME: This is not the actual legit Dragon Quest franchise like Dragon Quest 11 or whatever. It's a spin-off with DQ characters but the gameplay is from Dynasty Warriors! Hah, that would have been nice to know. Anyways, I enter and of course, I see the lackluster visuals, clunky attack mechanics, and think what the hell have I gotten myself into. Jebediah and Catherine on a mission with King Doric, Terry, uh... Alyssa? uhh... the Russian chick, her helper, a bunch of other dudes, and Maya/Bianca? Yeah, never played a DQ game before this. 

 

Anyways - this game was basically spamming attacks against mammoth amounts of enemies. I won't lie and I will give this game credit - I thought it was actually cool to see the sheer number of enemies on screen. Too bad they're lumbering brain-dead creatures with AI that only kicks in when it's a boss or a giant amount of them. I got the platinum in early May and it took me 2 weeks and 19 hours to get through this monstrosity because you have to do A LOT of killing.  I finally beat the main story campaign after going really hard for 3 days and getting past the lackluster gameplay elements. The story is basically save the world with cheesy no personality I'm an analytical protagonist and your companion. After that, I had to go look up strategies to use Bianca's bow mechanic to kill metal king slimes. Then I had to kill hundreds of them. Why? I need all the mini-medals. Why? Cuz the game says so. Attain every accessory. Defeat every monster and veteran monster. Craft 100 accessories. Attain every weapon and orb. Reach Level 99. Etc... I mean seriously - was it all necessary? The platinum rarity isn't even all that incredible at 11.25% platinum rate that I feel like I conquered the highest mountain. It was a grind albeit with a ton of content and if for whatever you LOVE this gameplay - hell all the more credit to you since I sure as hell don't ever want to play another Dynasty Warriors-like game ever again. Hell, this may have killed DQ interest for me.

 

Panda Score: 4.75 / 10

Edited July 9, 2021 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Mahjong

 

Analysis: Got Mahjong for $0.99 in late April 2019, and I gotta say it was probably one of the most average experiences I've ever had. It took me just under 4 days to fully complete for the 100%, and it's not anything too tricky other than completing all 70 levels. It has a 34.24% 100% completion rate, and it took me a minute to figure out how to play and not get locked out of completing the level but once I did it was smooth sailing. It's just fine, good mindless podcast game to play for a buck.

Panda Score: 5 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Unholy Heights

 

Analysis: Got this game for a record low $1.39 back in late April 2019 - and I gotta say it was a solid little game given it's price. It's an interesting spin on the tower defense style genre where you take-over as the Underlord himself and rent out apartments to monsters who defend you against those vile villagefolk who have come to fight you for whatever reason. Cute concept with some cute designs. I had no idea it was as old as it was (TotalBiscuit did a little review on this game) and regardless it was a good little time! It took me just about 1 week to platinum it. You get a lot of trophies early on but defeating the legendary hero, completing all quests, and just in general grinding the zombies up to a strong enough health to take the hero down as a bit time consuming. Finally I got the bestiary trophy and $1,000,000 gold needed to unlock the 14.77% rarity platinum! Not the greatest game in the world but not a game I dreaded playing either, good stuff!

Panda Score: 6.25 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Guacamelee! 2

 

Analysis: So a little bit of story first. Bought this when it went on sale for $11.99 in mid-February 2019, and I finally got around to playing it in mid-March. I was just playing it casually for a week getting the feel for it here and there and then I got hooked on a Monday and got a crap-ton of trophies as I binged through it. Eventually I opened the Golden Door, got the Holy Hen's message, got 100% completion, and beat the game on Hard Mode to get the platinum but I went back and got the 2 DLCs for $1.04 and $1.34 to wrap up the finally remaining trophies. So what are my thoughts? Guacamelee 2 is a genuinely phenomenal game that deserves more love than it has gotten. I played the 2nd before the 1st, but the 1st will get a review later and it'll also receive praise but this game did a magnificent job on expanding on all of it's features. Being able to do damage with the chicken now was a delight, the wonderful crafted Mexican aesthetic and humor of a game that knows it's a game is wonderful. The Dankest Timeline. Other timelines. Not even realizing former enemies were now helping me out. I'm honestly kind of shocked that the platinum rate is at 33.21% and the 100% rate is at 8.10%. This game can be difficult as hell sometimes with some of the challenge rooms and things they ask you to master with the platforming. Regardless, a wonderful experience and a game I will recommend to all I come across now as a wonderful indie.

 

Panda Score: 8.25 / 10

[realm722]

Game: What Remains of Edith Finch

 

Analysis: Always been intrigued by this game but it never went cheaper than $8, and then it was free for PS+ Users for the month of May so hey I scooped it up! I have to preface this by saying I had everything spoiled in a masterful 50-minute video by a YouTuber by the name of Joseph Anderson, who released a magnificent video on this game titled "The Villain of Edith Finch". If you have even a mild interest in this game I highly recommend it. Anyways, there are some lovely visuals thorough-out and some fun narration and story-telling. The Lewis section of the game towards the end is the grand finale and is really delightful despite the dark significance behind it. It's a jolly good time. Nothing difficult trophy wise as it has a 46.36% 100% completion rating but it's a good game to have finished just to say you experienced it. 

 

Panda Score: 6.5 / 10

Edited September 3, 2021 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Okami HD

 

Analysis: So I had actually bought Okami HD ages ago when it went on sale for $13.99 (prolly May 2018) around there. Anyways, after having marathoned through Dragon Quest Heroes and playing a few other short games, I wanted to take a blast to the past and enjoy an older game I had never touched in Okami, I had no idea what I was getting involved with but what drew me in was the art style. You play as Amaterasu (or Ammy for short), and you have to go about re-collecting the brush techniques. You also have the tiny Issun as your companion (who has some phenomenal dialogue may I say) and you journey about dealing and fighting with Susano, fight Waka, the Spider Queen, help Princess Fuse, defeat the Crimson Helm and Orochi, out-run a Water Dragon, defeat more bosses like Ninetails and True Orochi, and eventually like save the world or something from darkness. It's an adorable story with a magnificent art style produced by Clover Studio (who also made God Hand in the same year). The biggest thing that jumped out to me is after playing so many modern games, I was surprised to enjoy such a relic from the past with a much older mindset - and it manifested itself in a good way. I discovered afterwards people said Okami is inspired greatly by Zelda, and the subtle but memorable interactions with characters absolutely rings true. In terms of trophies, the fishing, bestiary, treasure tome, and stray beads are all the rarest along with a few missables like Barking up the Cherry Tree - but in the end nothing proved too difficult for me. Overall, it's a wonderful 14.13% rarity platinum that took me 1 week and 5 days to complete. Here are my end game-screen stats. I also quite enjoyed this video by YouTuber SoberDwarf on Okami HD as well. All in all, I'm really glad I played this. The gameplay is a ton of fun with hack and slash, it has witty fun dialogue with Issun, memorable characters, good environment, and just something different from the mainstream. The only part that frustrated me was this stupid skit with the falling log where I couldn't get the damn brush strokes to connect to the points but once I moved past that, it was smooth sailing (the devil gates got rekt at the end with items) - and it's my level 20 trophy!

 

Panda Score: 8.25 / 10

Edited July 9, 2021 by realm722

[djb5f]

16 hours ago, realm722 said:

Game: What Remains of Edith Finch

 

Analysis: Always been intrigued by this game but it never went cheaper than $8, and then it was free for PS+ Users for the month of May so hey I scooped it up! I have to preface this by saying I had everything spoiled in a masterful 50-minute video by a YouTuber by the name of Joseph Anderson, who released a magnificent video on this game titled "The Villain of Edith Finch". If you have even a mild interest in this game I highly recommend it. Anyways, there are some lovely visuals thorough-out and some fun narration and story-telling. The Lewis section of the game towards the end is the grand finale and is really delightful despite the dark significance behind it. It's a jolly good time. Nothing difficult trophy wise as it has a 46.36% 100% completion rating but it's a good game to have finished just to say you experienced it. 

 

Panda Score: 6.5 / 10

 

This reminds me, I need to play this!

 

btw, I like your avatar.  Did you create it yourself or find it online?  I am thinking of ones with my teams  

[realm722]

4 hours ago, djb5f said:

 

This reminds me, I need to play this!

 

btw, I like your avatar.  Did you create it yourself or find it online?  I am thinking of ones with my teams  

 

Yup actually did make it myself lol, found 4 cool designs individually and in photoshop I slapped them together. They should be pretty easy to find for your teams. Of course, I actually need to get around to updating it since the Marlins/Panthers have completely over-hauled since I made it 3 years ago and even the Dolphins I went with a retro. 

[realm722]

Game: Dead Cells

 

Analysis: This game is a masterpiece. Let me say that first and foremost. I had first heard of Dead Cells after the IGN drama about the stolen video review, and then had heard about it's overall rave reviews for being a roguelite and just having fast challenging combat with good pixel art. Instead of getting it on the Playstation Store, I got it at Gamestop for the incredibly cheap price of $17.50 and dove into the world of Dead Cells. Let me say out of the gate holy crap I got my ass kicked. I was dying in Promenade of the Condemend, couldn't survive the Ramparts or the Toxic Sewers, and it took me close to 5 hours to finally beat the Conciurge. I finally made my way to Stilt Village, picked up some weapons, the Ossuary, Clock Tower, and finally tookdown the Time Keeper after a number of runs. Nearly 5 days after initially starting and on my 24th game - I achieved my 1st Dead Cells win on 0BC. I defeated Hand of the King with my beloved Rapier II+ and had the incredible Double Crossb-o-matic to boot - and it I beat HotK on my 3rd attempt facing him! Let's just say I was feeling pretty chuffed, but then I realized the difficulty went up to 4BC, and the grind and rise to get over that 1st hurdle would appear minuscule by the time I was done with this game. 

 

I kept playing on 0BC to get accustomed and get a variety of different weapons and tools. I slayed 100 elites, somehow beat the Time Keeper without getting hit before I beat the Conciurge without getting hit (something I thought would be impossible when I first started playing), and eventually I beat 1BC after around 1 week and 4 days of playtime. That's when I hit the 2BC wall. It's the hardest leap in game difficulty in my opinion. I went back down to 0BC and beat HotK without getting hit with the cursed sword. I then finally beat 2BC around a week later, beat Conjunctivius without getting hit which was brutal, and then conquered 3BC and finally 4BC after 3 weeks and 22 hours for the magnificent 3.62% rarity platinum. I eventually moved on from my love of melee and the Rapier in order to do this as utilizing tactics and Heavy Turrets was INCREDIBLY vital for my victory. The Frantic Sword + Heavy / Ice Crossbow were what won me 4BC. I had a 3 / 33 / 5 and 1 hour 20 minute playtime on my last run. Even though I've achieved the platinum and haven't gone back since being victorious, I still follow the Dead Cells subreddit. I've made some pretty great memes such as this one. As well as this one. I even started watching some smalltime twitch Dead Cells streamers which was fun to pass the time and see them do their best. YouTuber and streamer by the name of Veedotme has some great vids on this game for anyone who wants to dive in. The difficulty is brutal, but man this is a wonderful game and I recommend it to anybody out there looking for a challenge and something just a bit different.

 

Panda Score: 9.25 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Child of Light

 

Analysis: After the high of playing a game as phenomenal as Dead Cells, it was only natural for us to come back down to earth. Bought if for $4.49 back in mid May or June of 2019. I had heard some good things about it as a turn-based RPG and figured what the heck, I really enjoyed Cosmic Star Heroine why not take another shot at one of these. Eh... pretty under-whelming to be honest. The art design did not appeal to me whatsoever. The constant rhyming as kids in every sentence and the side characters of Rubella, Finn, Norah, etc... didn't intrigue me whatsoever. Aurora was fine, and the ability to fly around the entire world is really cool - but the slow ass timed turned based combat turned me off. It became a huge slog to get through towards the end since I kept dying over and over at a certain point but in the end I did manage to obtain the 22.16% rarity 100% completion. I really wouldn't recommend though since I think the game after this one honestly surpasses it due to how ridiculous it can get.

 

Panda Score: 5 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Dragon Sinker

 

Analysis: I bought Dragon Sinker when it went on sale in late April 2019 for $5.99, the cheapest it had ever been to date. All I knew was that it was a pixelated RPG that was cheaper on mobile but hey, I figured it'd be something different to play. As it turns out - it was alright! The one thing I'll say is how slow you move as Abram early on across the world is a bit annoying, but the banter you have with Mia who's the princess and plot is actually pretty decent. It's not outstanding, but the blushy crushy elements were cute. I got all the different animals in the lottery after playing it enough, grinded enough fragments to make my character literal GAWD tier, mastered all the jobs, and finally took down Enah across 10 different rounds to achieve the 40.97% rarity platinum! Yeah, that's a lot more common than I expected but with only a little over 1k game owners it makes sense. Still, for a game that only took me 6 days to beat it isn't so bad. 

 

Panda Score: 6 / 10

Edited September 3, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Tropico 5

 

Analysis: I got this game back in March of 2016, I don't even remember how much I purchased it for but hey, it's been out for a super long time. This was actually the 4th platinum I had ever earned back in July of 2016, and it took me a little over 3 months to achieve it. This game has some real ultra rare trophies, from completing "Hope" and me having to go back and forth on the final few missions since I had botched my economy so badly but I managed to pull it out in the end, to the multiplayer trophies, to "Friends with Benefits" that actually was a level-up trophy for me. The toughest and final one was gathering all 7 dynasty members after starting a new game enough times, but once it popped I was done and satisfied with my 2.40% ultra rare platinum!... untilllll the DLC went on sale again finally! The Waterborne and Espionage DLC's went on sale for $3 each and I scooped them up! I managed to maintain the pearl and defeat Captain Plant, as well as complete the Espionage Campaign and complete a sabotage action on multiplayer thanks to user X-GerAt helping me out! It's a very jokey game and doesn't overstay it's welcome - while being a fundamentally solid city builder. When Tropico 6 goes sub-$20 on PS4, I may just pick it up to get the experience all over again!
 

Panda Score: 7.75 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

 

Analysis: Bought this masterpiece when it went on sale for $2.99 back in mid-May 2019. It hadn't been on sale in awhile and I had completed Guacamelee 2! so i was glad to finally scoop it up. Man, what a delightful experience yet again. Obviously it's an older game even if it got an update and had the full on super turbo mode but still, it was extremely well done. I'd say it was easier than the 2nd game but maybe that's just because I had experience with the first games mechanics though it had been a few months. Got Gold Medals on all the Infierno challenges, and I beat the game my 1st time through on Hard Mode, cuz, c'mon, had to do it to 'em. The DLC with the Frenemies pack was easy to accomplish as well. Very player-friendly trophies and in the end I achieved the 9.89% rarity platinum and even rarer 2.17% 100% completion! It's very well done metroidvania and I recommend it to anybody who hasn't played it since it's a bit of a difference experience than a lot of games out there.

 

Panda Score: 7.75 / 10 

[realm722]

Game: Dark Mystery

 

Analysis: Got this for $0.79 back in mid-March 2019 and finally played it. Not gonna lie, very often I don't buy games just for the trophies but in this case I 100% did. I hate getting platinums north of 50% but this was a mere 100% game so i didn't feel bad about it. Completed it in the 1st day taking a little over 7 hours after playing for just a little bit. You just gotta play all 30 levels and avoid the unbearable floaty controls and annoying buginess. It's a 39.38% 100% completion when you get the job done. Not worth, but now I know. There's a lot better games you can get for a dollar or two more in the future. 

 

Panda Score: 4 / 10

Edited September 23, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Knowledge is Power

 

Analysis: Got Knowledge is Power when it became free for PS+ Users in the month of August 2018. I staved off on playing it for quite some time when I saw you'd need up to 6 devices in order to get the 6-player trophy. Finally though in late July I caved and figured what the heck, I have enough of the devices, can download the app, and figure out the rest from there. It turned out to be a shockingly easy platinum given I earned a ton of trophies within just the first few games of learning the game mechanics. Within the first 1 hour and 30 minutes I earned 28 of the 47 trophies. From there I just kept playing the games which was a slow grind but I watched some YouTube / Netflix while binging it. In the end I played all 30 games and achieved the marvelous 1.95% ultra rare platinum in just 2 days and 2 hours! As of right now, it's the 41st fastest 100% completion of the game. Overall it wasn't that bad of a game, the sports/geography/movie/history questions intrigued me the most and some were far too easy, but it wasn't unbearable. Solid to play with friends for 4-5 games. Anything more and you start pushing your luck. 

 

Panda Score: 6 / 10

Edited October 5, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: FEZ

 

Analysis: I bought FEZ for $3.24 in July of 2019 as it was the first time it had gone on sale in 2 years. All I knew about the game was that it was an indie darling ages ago although the creator since then has gone scorched earth with the industry and hasn't done anything since. Regardless, I figured I'd give a shot to see what all the puzzle fuss is about. May I say, it's a pretty decent time! I've never been the biggest fan of incredible difficult puzzle games and I used some aid to get the anti-cubes, but in the end just going throughout the various landscapes and seeing the meta narrative of it was pretty fun. Across 2 days and 2 hours, I achieved the 7.83% rarity 100% completion! My only recommendation would be 100% don't feel guilty for using a guide. The things this game asks of you is nuts sometimes. 

 

Panda Score: 6.25 / 10

Edited October 7, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: A Hat in Time

 

Analysis: This is a game I had my eye on for ages. It had been on sale a few times for $20 and $18 but due to the poor things I had heard about the devs not supporting the game on Playstation 4, I held off. Finally in August of 2019, I bought it for $14.99. All I knew heading in was that it was a 3D platformer greatly inspired from the likes of Super Mario 64. After having played it, I can safely say it's an incredibly adorable indie game with an extremely fun movement system. Dealing with the Owl Express and then also facing off against DJ Grooves and the boss battle against him was utterly sensational. I remember playing it live and thinking it was magnificent for a boss fight. Going through Mafia Town is just an utter delight to mess around in. I wasn't super fond of Subcon Forest, but the battle with the toilet and the terrifying ghost/demon monster didn't help, but Alpine Skyline was nice to see all the mechanics be tied together. Besides the One Punch trophy for beating a boss without getting hit, the trophies are very simple and straightforward leading to an obtainable 35.34% rarity platinum. It took me just 6 days and a few hours to complete, and it ended up being my Level 21 rank-up trophy for the plat! Overall, very enjoyable, recommend to anybody since it's also quite witty. 

 

Panda Score: 7.75 / 10 

[realm722]

Game: Onrush

 

Analysis: This is yet another PS+ User game that was available for free in December of 2018. I largely ignored it, but eventually caved since I heard it was more of a grind and less challenging and there were a few series I wanted to listen to on YouTube without having to focusing too hard on getting trophies. Started playing it on August 1st, and 2 weeks and 4 days later I had the platinum! The key factor is I only played Onrush thoroughly enough in order to lineup the Level 21 upgrade for A Hat in Time, and then I returned to playing Onrush, so there was an 8-day break between me getting the first few trophies early on and then getting some of the more difficult ones. Once I won the Founders trophy, got the 100 game time medals, max out my Superstar rating, collected 250 gear items, and got 50 checkmate medals, I achieved the 10.26% rarity platinum! Pretty damn thrilled with that. All in all, it only took me about 18ish hours. I don't think it's a great game, but to turn your brain off and get a fairly rare platinum, while listening to podcasts/watching some stuff on Netflix, it's perfect. 

 

Panda Score: 6.5 / 10 

[realm722]

Game: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

 

Analysis: Do you want to talk about a wonderful trip down memory lane... I love the old Harvest Moon games. It's a damn shame that my favorite (Harvest Moon: Magical Melody) is only available on Gamecube, but I also remember playing A Wonderful Life way back in the day, and after having my fix with Stardew Valley (a game I played for 150+ hours and fell in love with) I knew I wanted to go back and get a taste of HM on a new console. Granted, the sandbox of taking over a farm isn't going to appeal to everybody but for me it's been my jam since I've been little. So how does this edition hold up? Well first of all I purchased it when it was on sale for $5.99 back in April of 2018. Quite a ways back, I know. It was either this or Save the Homeland and I knew I wanted to play something I was familiar with. I got to playing it and enjoyed listening to a bunch of Kanye's old music from College Dropout, Late Registration, and even Graduation. It was a pleasant trip down memory lane. Haggling with Van, going to the mines, plenty of fishing, dealing with crazy doctor Daryl, and so forth. I was balancing playing this and Stardew, but once I hit my trophy cap on SV I tried really hard to go for the platinum on this, but there was a tiny problem. One of the trophies is a glitchy mess. I had constructed all the buildings, gotten all the tools, completed all the chapters, but the stupid damn Lights in the Sky trophy where you had to collect all the nices wasn't happening. The cutscene wasn't popping, I got frustrated, gave it a few more attempts, and then legitimately gave up for well over a year. Then, out of the blue, I passed through the "collecting nices" thread on this forum and saw the wonderful user Kallume claim he had found a solution. I decided to give it a shot, and voilá! It popped! You need post-chapter 3, 10 hearts female cow, and her to be pregnant and it'll work. I got my 4.26% rarity platinum after 1 year and 3 months. Perhaps now the exact speed I would have loved to achieved it, but it's done, and now I add this wonderful throwback experience (even if it hasn't aged the greatest in a lot of ways) to my catalogue!

 

Panda Score: 6.25 / 10

Edited October 16, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Bastion

 

Analysis: This game was bittersweet for me. I bought it for $3.74 back in late-August 2019, but by finally playing it - it meant I would have played the final Supergiant game that I had not touched. I had played Transistor, didn't click with it at first, a month went by, and then I fell in love with it. I became intoxicated with Pyre and it is one of my Top 3 games I've played in 2019, and now by buying Bastion I would be playing the indie masterpiece that sent the small studio into orbit while meanwhile eliminating any future plans to play their next SG game until Hades (Epic Games exclusive) finishes up development. Nonetheless, I took the plunge. I achieved the 1st ending in just a little over 2 days, and after having adjusted to the combat and style I was enjoying myself - but a great amount of the fun came from tackling the Vigil's, various Shrine Idol challenges, and different weapon focused proving grounds. By my 5th day I was hooked to finish and after achieving the 1,000,000,000 points in Score Attack Mode, I wrapped up the game in 5 days and 2 hours to achieve the nifty 11.90% rarity platinum! It's an enjoyable game. I can easily tell how much Supergiant have progressed with their latest games and giving players the ability to play in a style that suits them, but the core of a SG game (art style and music) was very present here and I'm glad I can say I've played all 3 of their games on PS4. Until Hades!
 

Panda Score: 7.5 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Rogue Aces

 

Analysis: This is another free PS Plus game that was available in February 2019. I didn't play it for quite some time, the platinum rarity kind of held me off since it was quite rare before it became free, but finally I figures screw it since the trophy guide said it was only a 4/10 difficulty and shouldn't take more than 16ish hours depending on skill. I dove in on a Tuesday and finished on Wednesday so that should tell you it wasn't so bad at all! A fair amount of the trophies have no business being as rare as they are. I had a cloud save on hand to make sure in case I screwed up I always had a back-up to not have to replay all the missions. I got to 50, defeated the Mecha Baron X, got to 100, captured all bases, and then took care of the other game mode content that really wasn't all that difficult in the end. I completed everything in 1 day and 3 hours, achieving the 8.79% rarity platinum! It wasn't so bad at all. It was a decent mindless game to play as you really just blow stuff up and shoot airplanes out of the sky. Not a bad game!
 

Panda Score: 6.5 / 10

Edited October 26, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: Silence

 

Analysis: I bought Silence a fair while ago back when it went on sale for $8.99 honestly as far back as like November 2018. I was scared off to obtain the trophies though for quite some time due to there being a reported glitch trophy. Eventually a patch was released that fixed this, and since I wanted to keep working towards aligning my next level up platinum I decided what the heck, now's the time to play another adventure type game. It's... okay. Weird fiction setting on a girl named Renie caught between a magical realm between life and death. Her older brother Noah is built on some seriously soft baby charmin. There's a cute creature named Spot that has his moments. There is one trophy titled "Shut up, clown" that took me an extra bit of playthrough to achieve but it finally popped saving me some misery. I really wanted to get everything done with the game though so I did both playthroughs in a single day, got the 22.22% rarity platinum - and I ended up being the 24th fastest person to achieve it completing it in 10 hours and 39 minutes. The only real memorable thing otherwise is the creature that is your enemy throughout - it has a very unique and freaky design. Overall, it's mediocre at best.

 

Panda Score: 5.5 / 10

Edited October 27, 2019 by realm722

[realm722]

Game: InnerSpace

 

Analysis: I bought InnerSpace for $4.99 when it went on sale in mid-September 2019. I figured hey, I needed another games worth of trophies to align my next level-up trophy and Innerspace fit that mold perfectly. It had a relatively easy platinum, but not one so difficult I wouldn't be able to achieve it in time. With only 15 trophies to earn, I dove in, and followed the wonderful trophy guide arranged by user rubhen925 on YouTube. The one sucky thing about this game is that it's disorientating at times since you don't know where the hell you're going on occasion, and it's one of those vague artsy games where you just fly around as this plane getting collectibles and encountering these lost titan animals of the past, but thankfully it didn't prove to be too tricky as I completed it in 1 day and 8 hours in order to achieve the 27.86% rarity platinum! Not special or very memorable, but for 5 bucks to add a sub-30% plat I'm happy. Plus it has a very cool aesthetic colorwise that defers from a lot of the dreary black and grey you see on too many game icons on your profile. 

 

Panda Score: 6 / 10

[realm722]

Game: FIFA 20

 

Analysis: Mistakes were made getting this game, playing this game, and platinuming this game. Where do I even begin? First of all, paid $80 for the game to get a few days early access cause my stupid face thought it released on a Tuesday on September 24th when in reality it releases across the board on September 27th. So paying an absolute premium for this product, awesome. Second of all, I'm deeply conflicted on how to rate my sports games enjoyment. I hate what EA has done to career mode to basically stream-line EVERYBODY into FIFA Ultimate Team. Because it makes them the most money. Awesome. I'm a career mode guy at heart who doesn't get to enjoy the very buggy and flawed mode because I don't want to invest as much time in them as they used to but man... I wish the trophies were tied to those as opposed to FUT. Regardless, FUT is actually the Ultimate Team mode I enjoy the most across all sports games (though Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show has made a run at it) - and I decided to start ticking trophies off the list. I got a number of the basic Rivals, Squad Battles, SBCs etc.. won a King of the Hill match, and all while working towards building up my team to a respectable level to compete in Division Rivals. I managed to get an awesome pack like this. Somehow, on October 1st, within a week of buying the game, I climbed my way into Division 4! This was the glorious team that got the job done for me. This took me 2+ months to accomplish on FIFA 19, so I was pretty chuffed to say the least to earn the gold 9.32% rarity trophy so early on.

 

From there I recognized it was time to focus on Volta football and some of the career mode trophies, little did I know one specific volta trophy would be downright miserable. Basically, play on beginner difficulty, go to the Miami 3 v. 3 arena, and then just spam goals after goals with your player getting your rating up to an arbitrary number that EA has set. Something like 700+ games of this in all likelihood. Even if they only take a minute each to get through each game, it's still mindlessly dull. I watched The Roosevelts documentary by PBS on Netflix to pass the time - that was good to learn some stuff about Teddy and FDR. This post on TrueAchievements helped me greatly. The game glitched on me and wouldn't let me enter the Volta mode for 10 hours (which is just great and has happened to others so it's a known bug) - but, it eventually let me back in and at 1:48AM - the 1.16% ultra rare gold trophy popped! The next morning I then spam quit 200 games on FUT (only had like 90ish to go after playing originally to get the Div 4 trophy) and it popped! I had my Level 22 trophy, a 0.81% ultra rare platinum! Not only that - became the 10th person on PSNProfiles to achieve it and the 4th fastest in the world taking just 1 week and 4 days! I'm not sure it was worth it (timewise or for my own sanity) - but I'm kind of proud what I accomplished? Not everybody can do what I did - and I was one of the first to do it. I haven't really touched FIFA 20 since. I think in the future, I'd rather not have the absolute rush to kill myself to get the plat and just enjoy some football. But I'm glad that as a one time thing - for a number as special as FIFA 20 - I did it!

 

Panda Score: 7.5 / 10

[realm722]

Game: Dragon Quest Builders

 

Analysis: I don't think a game has ever left me as conflicted to report on it as Dragon Quest Builders has left me. I bought it off Amazon for $15 back at the start of 2019, at the start of February. I thought the aesthetics were frigging adorable and figured hey, I needed something to tap into that love I have for Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley/Minecraft and this game seemed like the perfect fit. Right off the bat, it really was! Building up Cantlin, filling out the blueprints, getting to know some of the villagers like Pippa was a great deal of fun. I did notice that the speedrun challenges in order to get the gold trophies for each chapter may be a bit annoying, but I could do 2nd playthroughs for those. After like 1 week and a half through playing though... I became disinterested. I was midway through Chapter 2, lost my progress that I had worked on since you move to a different area of the world, and everything was just gloom and doom. I almost NEVER don't play a game all the way through except on rare occasions (like Transistor) - so for me to stop like this was rare. I went back for the odd trophy to line-up the level ups, but for several months DQB stayed in the D-rank on my PSN profile since I just did not want to bother with it.... until the beginning of October 2019. I just blasted through FIFA 20 to get the plat, what now? Let's tackle DQB! This time I played with a trophy guide and this wonderful resource from user "optimusmart" on Neoseeker! I somehow enjoyed the game more playing this way! Knowing what resources to get, building up the blueprints, obtaining the accessories, I wasn't as invested in the plot (builder saves the world... but he's not a hero) and there's some dark elements that happen in Rimuldar like the villages you saved dying and becoming zombies, but eventually I also got all the challenges in Kol & Galenholm as well as Tantegal! Finally I tookdown the final boss in one hell of a last fight and got my 12.78% rarity platinum! It merely took me... 8 months and 4 days! I was kinda sad when it was over. So how the hell do I rate this game? I want to play DQB 2 when it goes on sale since I've heard it's had grand improvements scalewise, and I didn't mind the resource gathering / fetch quest style of this game that for many others may get too rudimentary. I think I'll remember this game fondly in the end, and for that it gets a positive score from me. 

 

Panda Score: 7.1 / 10