AJ_Radio's Disappointing Backlog and Wishlist

[AJ_Radio]

Platinum #291: Mega Man 11 (October 28th, 2021)

 

 

 

Difficulty: 7.5/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 12 - 15+ Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: Survival Skills ( Complete Dr. Light's Trial for the first time )

 

 

Everything that Mighty No 9 wanted to be, only Mega Man 11 executes it with far more precision.

 

This is the latest entry in the long time running classic Mega Man franchise. Mega Man of course has more going for it, but I'm only mentioning classic Mega Man, which Capcom mostly shoves under the rug these days.

 

Not much to speak about here. Mega Man 11 was given a new paint job, drifting away from the classic NES look and giving it a modern day appeal. This definitely felt more like a game I would play on the PS2, yet it still retains its 2-D appeal and gameplay.

 

Like with all the other classic Mega Man games, Dr Light and the gang are here. Dr Wily is the villain once more, and you have to defeat eight Robot Masters before you take on the Wily stages. You defeat a Robot Master, gain their ability, and use that ability to capitalize on the next Robot Master's weakness. Rinse and repeat.

 

As expected, Mega Man 11 is NOT an easy platinum. I've done plenty of speedruns for trophies on my account, but Mega Man 11's speedrun is definitely one of the more difficult ones. The time restriction is tight, only giving you 60 minutes to beat the entire game from start to finish on Normal difficulty. Plenty of practice is required, and this game will punish you if you play carelessly.

 

Thankfully Mega Man 11 keeps the save features from Mega Man 10, making the game more accessible for newcomers and veterans alike.

 

The platinum breaker here is Dr Light's trial. This easily took the most time out of everything else I had to do for the platinum. It's essentially a challenge run, as you have to go through 30 rooms without losing your lives. You can get a couple additional lives later on after you defeat a couple bosses, but that doesn't make this trial all that easy as you will be failing a lot. I spent over seven or eight hours just replaying this trial as one mistake could cost you a bit of health or maybe even the loss of a life.

 

In regards to 'Very Rare' platinums according to rarity on PSNProfiles, Mega Man 11 is one of my prouder achievements. It's not easy, and frankly, I can't name a single Mega Man that was a cakewalk. The only Mega Man entry I am missing trophy wise is the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, which I am waiting for a good sale to pick up because $29.99 is just asking too much.

 

Good classic fun.

Edited September 19, 2022 by AJ_Radio

[Destructor-8]

On 06/09/2022 at 11:00 AM, AJ_Radio said:

100% Game #35: Horizon Chase Turbo

 

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Excitement Rating: 7/10

 

Thankfully the Senna events offered here are not difficult, just a little time consuming as you will have to spend a few hours getting all the trophies. This is a tribute to Ayrton Senna, a man who lived a short life, but whose memories and legacy lives on. The developers of Gran Turismo 6 also dedicated their DLC to Senna, and in contrast to this game, it is far more difficult. More details when I eventually cover that game on this thread and on my status update review.

 

Was this worth it? Depends on how much you like this game. As a completionist, it was annoying for me to have to reinstall the game on my PS4, but it was worth it for the history lesson alone.

 

I was meant to post on this the other day. I have this one free but haven't got around to trying it out & I see the DLC goes on sale quite a lot. I've had this recommended many times so maybe it might be worth trying out. I don't think I've played much like this as it's a different style to what I usually do. I might as well get the DLC when it's on sale again. I'm looking forward to more of your reviews.

[AJ_Radio]

12 hours ago, Destructor-8 said:

I was meant to post on this the other day. I have this one free but haven't got around to trying it out & I see the DLC goes on sale quite a lot. I've had this recommended many times so maybe it might be worth trying out. I don't think I've played much like this as it's a different style to what I usually do. I might as well get the DLC when it's on sale again. I'm looking forward to more of your reviews.

It’s pretty easy. Horizon Chase Turbo is a throwback to old on rails racers like F-Zero on the Super Nintendo and Super Hang On on the arcades. 
 

I’ve been slow going, and I’ve been terrible at keeping up with reviews. But I’m trying. ?

[modest_undue1]

I have quite the backlog:

*AS OF 25/09/22*

PGA Tour 2K21 (PSPLUS)

Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown (PSPLUS)

Battlefield 5 (PSPLUS)

Remnant: From the Ashes (PSPLUS)

MultiVersus

PUBG

Yazuka: Like a Dragon (PSPLUS)

Little Nightmares (PSPLUS)

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PSPLUS)

Enlisted

Uncharted 4

Mafia II Def Edition

Mafia III Def Edition

First Class Trouble (PSPLUS)

Mortal Kombat X (PSPLUS)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PSPLUS)

Resident Evil 5

InFamous Second Son

Blacksad: Under The Skin

 

 

I SWEAR I WILL GET TO THEM ??

Edited September 28, 2022 by modest_undue1
Update

[AJ_Radio]

Platinum #292: Fallout 4 (December 1st, 2021) + 100% Trophies

 

 

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Excitement Rating: 7/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 75+ Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: ...They're Action Figures ( Collect 20 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads )

 

 

I'm being very generous with the 7/10 excitement rating I'm giving Fallout 4. I did my very best to enjoy this game from start to finish. But compared with Fallout 3 and New Vegas... and the far superior Fallout 1 + Fallout 2 package, Fallout 4 is to me the weakest Fallout entry in the franchise. Well, Fallout 76 is actually weaker, but I'm not wasting time on a MMO.

 

There was a lot of hype surrounding this game back in late 2015. I was one of millions of people who bought their copy of Fallout 4 for $60 around Thanksgiving time. When it came time, I was ready to play. The poster paper that showed the available skills came with my physical copy, so it looked exciting.

 

After being suspended in ice due to a nuclear apocalypse, I break free, kill some giant Radroaches, enter the outside world, and help Preston Garvey and his Minutemen fight against the Raiders. Then... I stopped playing. 

 

Something about Fallout 4 didn't seem right. Some people may say it's the outdated game engine, but that wasn't my problem. It was probably Fallout 4 being more of a looter shooter than a real RPG. Let's be honest here. Fallout 4 was aimed at the mainstream masses and they got what they wanted. For me personally, as someone who dives deeper than the average person when it comes to video games, it felt like a boring slog.

 

So I left this game for years. Tried at various points to come back but always felt rejected and ended up playing other games. Finally last year I decided to play this game to the end because I practically wasted $60 on it. Money that could of been spent on other things, and not just gaming.

 

I'm one of the biggest fans of the old Fallout 1 and 2 titles because they are to me some of the best of the best in western RPGs. Younger people and casuals will regard Fallout 4 as a solid western RPG but in my opinion it feels shallow. Bethesda basically dumbed down a lot of RPG elements so the game could appeal to a bigger audience. The game soundtrack was dull, with only two or three tracks that sounded decent. NPC interactions really don't matter as much as they should. In the old Fallout games having a good karma and picking the right dialogue choices meant everything. In Fallout 4, those choices mostly don't matter, except for the storyline choices where you side with the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad and the Institute. They were the only things that kept the Fallout 4 story from being utter boredom. You are a wanderer in a world forever changed by nuclear war, but your overall impact doesn't seem to strike a nerve like it did in the older Fallout games.

 

The first person shooter element didn't bother me. VATS was fairly good, the option to strike specific parts of an opponent is satisfying as that gives you time to strategize on an enemy weakness. Finding the power armor took a bit more work, as getting one of the best suits like the one in the platinum screenshot involved me going out of my way to a select location to grab it.

 

Unlike many, I didn't find Benevolent Leader to be so bad, probably because there are literally dozens of internet guides floating around. The Vault-Tec Bobbleheads were a bit of a chore as collectibles generally are, making you explore the Commonwealth including the ruined city of Boston and the surrounding areas.

 

What can I say? Fallout 4 was a big anticipated title for 2015, that released with mostly positive results. The DLC is fair to okay. Far Harbor and Nuka-World were the only two DLC packs that were the slightest bit interesting and the latter DLC had a tendency to crash on me a lot. But what do you expect from Bethesda, all of their games have a tendency to crash.

 

If you favor looter shooters, Fallout 4 may be up your alley. If you're looking for a deep RPG with deep lore attached to it, look elsewhere, because Fallout 4 is utter shallow when it comes to RPG elements.

[AJ_Radio]

Platinum #293: Nex Machina (December 4th, 2021)

 

 

Difficulty: 7.5/10

Excitement Rating: 8.5/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 20 - 30 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: Veteran ( Complete Arcade mode on Veteran difficulty )

 

 

Nex Machina. Not the most popular of Housemarque games, but one of many titles worth playing from the Scandinavian developer.

 

This is a shmup that brings elements from the past and combines them with modern features. Housemarque was always good about bringing newer audiences into their games, and given the success of Returnal, they are still valuing gameplay above all else.

 

Nex Machina is pretty similar to Resogun, only that you control one humanoid. Whereas Resogun lets you control a ship that moves from left to right, in Nex Machina you basically move in all directions as you tackle endless waves of enemies. The level structure is also similar, with several portions of a level that must be beaten in order to take on the boss, who is a challenge in its own right.

 

I would argue this is the hardest Housemarque game I've done in regards to the platinum. Only Resogun's Commando Mode was harder. For most people, beating this game on Rookie and Experienced is hard enough. But then you have Veteran difficulty, which will require decent skill and commitment. As in Resogun, enemies are more aggressive, quicker and tougher to kill on harder difficulties. All of the bosses have extra attacks and phases on harder difficulties. The Architect boss on Veteran difficulty was the main roadblock to my platinum journey. It is technically a stationary boss, with several phases that could easily kill you in a seconds notice if you're not careful. Many, many attempts were needed to beat it.

 

The game has good music, good flow and presents a good challenge for most players. Rescuing a lot of the humans works similarly to Resogun as you get additional perks, but they're not all too easy to get. Like their other games, Housemarque consistently presents a challenge for the player to overcome, and I daresay it even presents challenges to the most hardcore skilled gamer. Does Master difficulty and Hero difficulty sound fair and tempting? Probably not, but thankfully I only needed to beat the first level on Master difficulty.

 

Last but not least, Nex Machina has a bunch of feats which are basically objectives for you to fulfill. They don't do anything other than provide a checkmark to let you know you've done the objective. For the platinum trophy you have to do 100 of them, and while many weren't too hard, a few of them were almost on par with Veteran difficulty, which was tough.

 

Overall, I have to say this game is much better than Matterfall, which I will get around to reviewing in due time. I only have Alienation and Super Stardust Ultra left, and if I can get my hands on the PS5, I would like to try out Returnal in the near future.

 

For arcade shoot em up fans, Nex Machina is a good game worth playing.

[AJ_Radio]

100% Game #36: Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space

 

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Excitement Rating: 7/10

 

Sam and Max is a beloved series created by Steve Purcell before LucasArts started making the game franchise. Beyond Time and Space is one of the early TellTale games, initially released in late 2007 on Windows PC but later ported to other systems.

 

Personally I found this to be an enjoyable TellTale series from the days before TellTale Games started making formulaic crap that copied the gameplay template of The Walking Dead. I'd give this about the same rating as Strong Bad, not the best point and click games but worth your time if you enjoy the genre.

 

This is the sequel to TellTale's previous Sam & Max entry Save the World, which recently got trophy support so hopefully I can get around to that game in the near future. Plenty of missables as can be expected from the older TellTale titles, but nothing difficult at all. This was an episodic series with five episodes,

 

100% Game #37: Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse

 

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Excitement Rating: 7/10

 

The Devil's Playhouse is the follow up game to TellTale's Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space.

 

This was more of the same humor you can expect out of Sam & Max. Witty and humorous without being condescending or lecturing. The big problem I had with this episodic entry was the game seemed to chug sometimes on my PS3. That could be TellTale Games being rather poor at optimization, but it was definitely apparent in some areas when I moved Sam & Max from one room to another. Only a minor inconvenience, and it didn't take away from the gameplay. 

[AJ_Radio]

So this is more of a personal update since I haven’t had the will to keep this checklists thread up to the current date and year. 2023 is already here, for us on the West Coast we are behind most of the world. 
 

Nothing I generally set as goals are set in stone, as I tend to change my mind half a dozen times in a given week. My buying habits have been the bane of my backlog and while I have reduced my count from 80 - 85 titles to under 50 these past few years, I feel I have a fair bit to go. 
 

So I start off with 42 listed games on my backlog. NiGHTS into Dreams and King’s Quest will be the first two I play, so after those the backlog will be at an even 40. Then it’s likely Assassin’s Creed III Remastered and Dark Souls II, with another game sandwiched either in-between or just after I finish King’s Quest. 
 

Some titles like Call of Duty Infinite I don’t have on my backlog because frankly I’m not sure if I can finish them. The Spaceland stuff is a bit off the wall and I hear really difficult solo. The DLC is even harder from what I’ve been told. In regards to PS Plus games I have dropped around 10 - 20 titles overall from when I started subscribing to the service. While one may argue they’re “free”, you lose the privilege to access them once the subscription ends. 
 

I joined a platinum challenge thread with 10 listed games so I hope to get around to all of them. The thermal paste has made a huge difference and I can finally play AAA games proper without a jet engine clogging out the sound and music. 
 

Finally, I hope to get around to most if not all games on my backlog with online trophies. This includes Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker and The Last of Us Remastered. I should get the online before the inevitable server shutdown, especially Dante’s Inferno given the trials. I don’t know if I will actually do the 2P co-op trials, but this is a game I’ve been wanting to play for over a decade, just never got around to it. Rayman Legends should be another priority, as one of the versions had its online shut, thankfully the PS4 is still pretty active. 
 

Here’s to a year of gaming accomplishments. The big focus will be reducing the backlog, and once I finish up some bigger games I can relax a bit.

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Hope the backlog eases up for. I'm in the same boat and still have dozens of games to play. Hoping to make a considerable dent in the backlog in 2023.

[You]

Perhaps he reminisced about the 80s and 90s one time too many.

 

So is AJRadio permanently banned from this site?

 

 

[BrandedBerserk]

47 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

Perhaps he reminisced about the 80s and 90s one time too many.

 

So is AJRadio permanently banned from this site?

 

 

 

Is he banned? Haven't seen any of his lectures in awhile I was wondering what happened. 

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, BrandedBerserk said:

 

Is he banned? Haven't seen any of his lectures in awhile I was wondering what happened. 

According to his rank...yep he kinda is

[BrandedBerserk]

8 minutes ago, Copanele said:

According to his rank...yep he kinda is

 

Didn't agree with a lot of his ramblings but I don't see what could of possibly gotten him banned 

[janzor88]

Jim Ryan got him finally.

[Baker]

Free AJ! ??
 

This site isn’t the same without him.

[Infected Elite]

 

 

On 15/02/2023 at 8:26 PM, enaysoft said:

Perhaps he reminisced about the 80s and 90s one time too many.

 

So is AJRadio permanently banned from this site?

 

 

 

he went on a rant about how women fake being abused and deserved abuse etc. i dont think he will ever be back. lol