Kill Your Completion... Again(Finished)

[DamagingRob]

7 hours ago, Edunstar84 said:

I think I'm halfway through the story line of my 9th game: Conception II. And I have to say the game's boring! The battle system offers no variety, and the only thing I look forward to is the cutscenes and the dates. I seriously rush through the dungeons and quickly beat the bosses. There's absolutely nothing to take in. With that said, I'll still plat the game. 

I loved the story and characters, but the dungeons do get tedious. Especially, when you just want to get through them, and there are multiple paths to choose from. Many resulting in dead ends, with some item you probably don't need, and a handful of battles you didn't need to do.. 

 

39 minutes ago, jaehyun1009 said:

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like Noire, it's just that story wasn't really that interesting. The dialogue at the end of chapter 2 between Noire and Resta was hilarious, though, but that's pretty about it unfortunately.

 

You got 4 characters done right now so the worst is over. Once you start to complete about half of the characters it'll start to feel much faster. I would say you can get the rest of the lily ranks done in 20 hours, plus 5 hours for finishing lily ranks for the rest (Vert, Lid, Wyn) and level 99.

I found a lot of scenes/characters quite funny. Even went ahead and read all the Events, which likely added a bit to my playtime.

 

I'd say the 6th and on will be shorter, so there is that. The 5th will still need to boost with 17 others, so it'll be as long as the first 4. 

[MStalker58]

I haven't played any of these games since the event ended and still have several games from the original event that need finishing. I really need to stop buying new games until I clear some of this backlog. Think I've bought around 10-12 games just since I got my PS4 near the end of the event. Starting with the new year, I'm going to try following a specific strategy or order to clean up some of these games and the rest of the backlog. Something like:

 

1: New game I recently bought and dying to play

2: Random game from PS+

3: Choose a game from these 2 events to go back and finish

 

Then just keep repeating that process and rotation until I have these games completed. At least that's my plan. Might have to delay it a little since I'm going to join an event in January which I'll be playing specific games for. After that though, promise I'm going to try getting back to some of these games. 

[PerryToxteth]

On 12/13/2016 at 4:32 AM, Crimson Idol said:

. Don't know about Dirt 3 honestly. Like I said it's a game I want to continue but the motivation is rather low atm. Feels more like I will be jumping through the list of unplayed games for now.

 

 

For Dirt 3 motivation, do you want to boost the DLC MP trophies sometime? DiRT 3 is pretty funny, I gave it the lowest rating among the KYCers but after November, I probably have put more time into it than anyone else. If I only have 30 minutes to play, I'll knock out a few of the season races.  I also came across a great booster, he was going for platinum but needed to level up in MP so he handheld me through all the 2-person MP trophies.  I think I knocked off six or seven trophies with him!

[Mendant909]

In the last couple of days I managed to complete both Wolverine and Mass Effect. I had the misfortune to get a game-breaking glitch during a boss fight in Wolverine, making me refight the boss about five times. Mass Effect, meanwhile, had several instances of the game running at a single digit frame rate despite nothing cluttering up the screen, several enemies being absorbed into the environment and waiting to see if the game would count that as clearing the objective, and seeing space itself when the walls and floors disappeared during the final boss fight. Not to mention the handful of times the game crashed. In retrospect I should have placed Resonance of Fate above Mass Effect as it's not poorly optimized.

 

Speaking of poorly optimized games I finished the fourth and final story of the visual novel with fighting sections, Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus. All of the stories seem to be set on their own universe as there are several conflicting plot points like when one group trained another group, in which order a group fought another group and even who's the ultimate victor. Even the lore doesn't make sense as the main villain from a previous game returns and isn't mentioned until the fourth story, even though he's the boss of the school from the third story. Several girls still want to gain the title of Kagura even though that requires the elimination of another school, so it looks like nobody knows what it requires as even the one who knew has forgotten that detail. The father figure of the girls from the second story dies in his bed yet jumps in to stop a fight at the end of the first story. How did someone allow all of this mess to get a pass without a second glance? Dynasty Warriors 8 has a set story that is all logical and hardly anything from the three campaigns contradicts another plot point, aside from the secret missions that screws with the canon set upon by the source material; even then it doesn't have a significant impact aside from having an extra character in a few missions. The only thing I can conclude when it comes to the stories in Shinovi Versus is that they were just a big waste of time and merely doubled the cast.

[crimsonidol38]

18 hours ago, PerryToxteth said:

 

 

For Dirt 3 motivation, do you want to boost the DLC MP trophies sometime? DiRT 3 is pretty funny, I gave it the lowest rating among the KYCers but after November, I probably have put more time into it than anyone else. If I only have 30 minutes to play, I'll knock out a few of the season races.  I also came across a great booster, he was going for platinum but needed to level up in MP so he handheld me through all the 2-person MP trophies.  I think I knocked off six or seven trophies with him!

 

We can do some races sometime next week if you want to. Don't know how's it time-wise for you though. I normally can ensure to have some free hours starting around 8pm UTC/GMT. 

[crimsonidol38]

On 15.12.2016 at 7:39 AM, BillyHorrible said:

Good luck finding something to play!

 

Just wanted to say that by now I found a lot of games I'm really enjoying right now. And as some of those were mentioned by some KYC-members (not in this thread but in others) I want to write about them. If anyone isn't interested, feel free to skip the text.

 

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (might be interesting for @MStalker58, and @Mendant909):

Spoiler

 

If you enjoyed playing games like Shovel Knight or DuckTales Remastered I'm sure you will also enjoy this one. Shantae: HGH is the fourth installment of the same-named series and the first one to hit the PlayStation-platforms that isn't a port of the (3)DS-games. Graphics-wise it looks similar to DuckTales Remastered with 2D-sprites placed on a 3D-background and it both games play rather similar, too (which is no surprise as it's the same developer).

The game itself is your standard 2D-platformer with some (more or less) big levels to explore and boss fights at the end. To traverse the levels you have either to rely on your normal platforming and battle skills (jumping, using your hair as a whip or casting some magic you can buy) or you can use one of the many transformations you can find throughout the game. E.g. you can transform into an ape to cling onto walls or turn into an elephant to smash some large boulders (or withstand some wind that would blow you away otherwise). Nearly all of those transformations open up new passages in former levels and the game is designed in a way so that you have to explore the levels again to find some items to continue the story (which is nothing special btw). There are also some other power ups which you can find or buy that grant you some new abilities or enhance the existing ones.

There's a total of five normal levels which are accessed via an overworld map. If you want to collect everything the game takes about 6:30hrs (blind run) but there are also two speedrun-related trophies which should add another 4hrs of playtime (at least). If anyone enjoyed playing the former games in the series I'm sure you will enjoy this one, too. For anyone who hasn't played a game yet I would say you can try out this installment and you will still enjoy it. There are some random references in the relationships between Shantae and her friends but personally I would say you can still fully enjoy the game without knowing anything from the predecessors. I for myself only played a bit of the second game (Risky's Revenge) on Steam and still enjoyed it.

 

I personally really enjoyed my first playthrough and I will try to go for the speedrun in the next few days/weeks.

 

And for both of you mentioned above: You might want to check your private messages.

 

 

Volume (might be interesting for @BillyHorrible, @MStalker58, and @Mendant909):

Spoiler

 

Anyone ever played the VR-missions of the first Metal Gear Solid on PS1? I did and TBH it was the only part of the game which I really enjoyed (heck, I didn't even make it past the second boss in the main game ). Volume is a game with the same mechanics. You take control of a man called Robert Locksley who finds a device to simulate different heists. The heists are represented in a top-down view and your goal is to collect all the gems in a level and make it to the endpoint which opens up right after you collect all gems. The way to the gems and the endpoint is blocked by various enemies which you can't take out (at least in the first quarter of the game).

To not get into the enemies's field of vision (which is shown BTW) you can use basic mechanics like leaning on walls or you can whistle to distract enemies and lure them to other paths to open up your way. There are also some random items to collect which give you other possibilities to distract the enemies. So far I found three different ones in the levels. One of them is a bugle which you can throw around and trigger some noise far away from you (but still in the hearing range of the enemies) to lure them to some other places. One other item is the so-called oddity. Again this is an item you can throw around and if it's placed in the guard's vision they get distracted by it and keep on staring at it for a longer time, while ignoring all noises around them. The third item I got so far are some kind of special sneakers which give you the ability to run for a short amount of time and make no noise at all. This items is e..g used when you have to walk across some panels which would create a sound while walking on them.

 

I'm currently at level 23 or 24 (of 100) and I'm enjoying the game so far, although I normally don't like stealth-games. Maybe it's the combination of the rather short missions (ranging from half a minute to two minutes) and the well-placed checkpoints that helps to keep my interest up high.

And for those who enjoyed Mike Bithel's first game Thomas Was Alone for the dialogs and narratives: Although Volume is a completely different genre, the game again features various text snippets you can find throughout and some dialogs between the player and an AI. The tone of the texts is completely different (more serious than fun) but IMO it's still enjoyable to listen to or read them. The only downside to the dialogs is that they pop up while you make your way through the missions and it's a bit distracting sometimes. You either have to stand still for a minute or two to listen to them all or you might get distracted while sneaking through the levels.

 

 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

4 minutes ago, Crimson Idol said:

 

Just wanted to say that by now I found a lot of games I'm really enjoying right now. And as some of those were mentioned by some KYC-members (not in this thread but in others) I want to write about them. If anyone isn't interested, feel free to skip the text.

 

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (might be interesting for @MStalker58, and @Mendant909):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

If you enjoyed playing games like Shovel Knight or DuckTales Remastered I'm sure you will also enjoy this one. Shantae: HGH is the fourth installment of the same-named series and the first one to hit the PlayStation-platforms that isn't a port of the (3)DS-games. Graphics-wise it looks similar to DuckTales Remastered with 2D-sprites placed on a 3D-background and it both games play rather similar, too (which is no surprise as it's the same developer).

The game itself is your standard 2D-platformer with some (more or less) big levels to explore and boss fights at the end. To traverse the levels you have either to rely on your normal platforming and battle skills (jumping, using your hair as a whip or casting some magic you can buy) or you can use one of the many transformations you can find throughout the game. E.g. you can transform into an ape to cling onto walls or turn into an elephant to smash some large boulders (or withstand some wind that would blow you away otherwise). Nearly all of those transformations open up new passages in former levels and the game is designed in a way so that you have to explore the levels again to find some items to continue the story (which is nothing special btw). There are also some other power ups which you can find or buy that grant you some new abilities or enhance the existing ones.

There's a total of five normal levels which are accessed via an overworld map. If you want to collect everything the game takes about 6:30hrs (blind run) but there are also two speedrun-related trophies which should add another 4hrs of playtime (at least). If anyone enjoyed playing the former games in the series I'm sure you will enjoy this one, too. For anyone who hasn't played a game yet I would say you can try out this installment and you will still enjoy it. There are some random references in the relationships between Shantae and her friends but personally I would say you can still fully enjoy the game without knowing anything from the predecessors. I for myself only played a bit of the second game (Risky's Revenge) on Steam and still enjoyed it.

 

I personally really enjoyed my first playthrough and I will try to go for the speedrun in the next few days/weeks.

 

And for both of you mentioned above: You might want to check your private messages.

 

 

Volume (might be interesting for @BillyHorrible, @MStalker58, and @Mendant909):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Anyone ever played the VR-missions of the first Metal Gear Solid on PS1? I did and TBH it was the only part of the game which I really enjoyed (heck, I didn't even make it past the second boss in the main game ). Volume is a game with the same mechanics. You take control of a man called Robert Locksley who finds a device to simulate different heists. The heists are represented in a top-down view and your goal is to collect all the gems in a level and make it to the endpoint which opens up right after you collect all gems. The way to the gems and the endpoint is blocked by various enemies which you can't take out (at least in the first quarter of the game).

To not get into the enemies's field of vision (which is shown BTW) you can use basic mechanics like leaning on walls or you can whistle to distract enemies and lure them to other paths to open up your way. There are also some random items to collect which give you other possibilities to distract the enemies. So far I found three different ones in the levels. One of them is a bugle which you can throw around and trigger some noise far away from you (but still in the hearing range of the enemies) to lure them to some other places. One other item is the so-called oddity. Again this is an item you can throw around and if it's placed in the guard's vision they get distracted by it and keep on staring at it for a longer time, while ignoring all noises around them. The third item I got so far are some kind of special sneakers which give you the ability to run for a short amount of time and make no noise at all. This items is e..g used when you have to walk across some panels which would create a sound while walking on them.

 

I'm currently at level 23 or 24 (of 100) and I'm enjoying the game so far, although I normally don't like stealth-games. Maybe it's the combination of the rather short missions (ranging from half a minute to two minutes) and the well-placed checkpoints that helps to keep my interest up high.

And for those who enjoyed Mike Bithel's first game Thomas Was Alone for the dialogs and narratives: Although Volume is a completely different genre, the game again features various text snippets you can find throughout and some dialogs between the player and an AI. The tone of the texts is completely different (more serious than fun) but IMO it's still enjoyable to listen to or read them. The only downside to the dialogs is that they pop up while you make your way through the missions and it's a bit distracting sometimes. You either have to stand still for a minute or two to listen to them all or you might get distracted while sneaking through the levels.

 

 

 

You are correct in thinking Volume might be something for me, I think so myself as well

It's on my shortlist of games to buy when my backlog has been reduced some more, might not even wait until that if I get another VR set since it has a VR expansion. It's been on a less-than-€5 sale a few times already though so I will definitely wait for a price like that.

[crimsonidol38]

 

35 minutes ago, BillyHorrible said:

 

You are correct in thinking Volume might be something for me, I think so myself as well

It's on my shortlist of games to buy when my backlog has been reduced some more, might not even wait until that if I get another VR set since it has a VR expansion. It's been on a less-than-€5 sale a few times already though so I will definitely wait for a price like that.

 

As I only play Volume on the Vita (and without Cross-Buy possibility as it's the physical version) and as I have no PS VR I can't comment on that but from what I read it's basically the same game only with a different perspective. Only found some random Reddit-posts like this one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/comments/58oskx/any_volume_coda_reviews/

(side note: I had the random embedding and link continuation of the forum)

 

BTW: Did you sell your PS VR or do you want to buy a second unit for your missus?

 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

1 minute ago, Crimson Idol said:

 

 

As I only play Volume on the Vita (and without Cross-Buy possibility as it's the physical version) and as I have no PS VR I can't comment on that but from what I read it's basically the same game only with a different perspective. Only found some random Reddit-posts like this one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/comments/58oskx/any_volume_coda_reviews/

(side note: I had the random embedding and link continuation of the forum)

 

BTW: Did you sell your PS VR or do you want to buy a second unit for your missus?

 

 

The only way I'd play Volume on the Vita is if it was on PS+ without cross-buy

 

My original VR unit had a defect... apparently, the screen on the inside was not lined out perfectly with the headset itself. I did not notice this at first (since you can just re-adjust your central view) but it became very obvious once I played EVE Gunjack. The cockpit moves along with your view, and because the screen was not in line with the headset. the cockpit was always tilted. And no, this is not something that can be fixed by re-centering your view since something that's supposed to be seen at a fixed angle (the cockpit in Gunjack, or subtitles for instance) do not depend on the screen centering but on the screen itself. So everything that moves around with your headset at a fixed point will be tilted.

 

I was given a new set, which had the same defect... Asked for my money back, but I really want to get back to VR since it was a great experience. I will buy a new set once an updated headset is released, might get PS4 Pro before that time. I think VR is a lot of fun and quite a few games have been released since day one that make me want to get it even more.

[crimsonidol38]

44 minutes ago, BillyHorrible said:

The only way I'd play Volume on the Vita is if it was on PS+ without cross-buy

 

As expected.
The Vita-version sure has it's flaws, yet it's playable. But If one prefers the PS4 I would suggest to play it there. For me the PS4 is more for games I like to play in longer sessions and Volume is a good game to play in between.

 

44 minutes ago, BillyHorrible said:

My original VR unit had a defect... apparently, the screen on the inside was not lined out perfectly with the headset itself. I did not notice this at first (since you can just re-adjust your central view) but it became very obvious once I played EVE Gunjack. The cockpit moves along with your view, and because the screen was not in line with the headset. the cockpit was always tilted. And no, this is not something that can be fixed by re-centering your view since something that's supposed to be seen at a fixed angle (the cockpit in Gunjack, or subtitles for instance) do not depend on the screen centering but on the screen itself. So everything that moves around with your headset at a fixed point will be tilted.

 

I was given a new set, which had the same defect... Asked for my money back, but I really want to get back to VR since it was a great experience. I will buy a new set once an updated headset is released, might get PS4 Pro before that time. I think VR is a lot of fun and quite a few games have been released since day one that make me want to get it even more.

 

Sounds like real bad luck. But at least you were able to realize that it's a technical defect and not just a strange design decision or a wrong handling. But at least it didn't spoil your impressions.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Crimson Idol

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

3 minutes ago, Crimson Idol said:

 

As expected.
The Vita-version sure has it's flaws, yet it's playable. But If one prefers the PS4 I would suggest to play it there. For me the PS4 is more for games I like to play in longer sessions and Volume is a good game to play in between.

 

 

Sounds like real bad luck. But at least you were able to realize that it's a technical defect and not just a strange design decision or a wrong handling. But at least it didn't spoil your impressions.

 

I usually just play on the PS4, the Vita games are only there for when I'm either not at home, or when I'm at home but don't want to use the television for whatever reason.

 

I'm just glad the people at the store helped me with the first, and gave me a refund without any trouble with the second (which I immediately spent (mostly) on paying off my South Park and Horizon Zero Dawn pre-orders with them, by the way). Now, it's like I got to try VR for a few days, and I have played enough to realise I really want to play more at some point.

[DamagingRob]

Well, despite taking part in more of the story than jaehyun1009 did, it still only took me around the same amount of time to complete Hyperdevotion Noire.  Thought I'd be closer to the 70 hour estimate, but finished at 61 hours and 39 minutes. So, about 29 hours of postgame grinding.. 

 

Played 2 out of 3 of the Dishonored DLC packs. Skipped the first, for the time being, to play the ones with story. Plus, it sounded like a pain in the ass to complete.  Although, to be honest, they all kind of are. :/ But it's more of the same, with some new enemies, and a few new abilities. You play as Daud in both, and really get to know the guy. Story spoilers: 

Spoiler

Daud is the assassin who kills the Empress and kidnaps Emily at the beginning of the main game. 

I enjoyed 'em, but they seem harder than the base game missions. And the trophy requirements for the second kind of turned me off, and I quit playing it for what has been a few days now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ladynadiad]

I've been slowly chipping away at Mind 0 and Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll mostly, though I did pick up Muramasa Rebirth for a bit to get its trophy rank to a C and ended up playing enough to get it to an A instead (though to be fair, its average completion is 11%, A rank isn't too hard to get).

 

I'm up to 13 trophies in Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll, which is a vast improvement from the 1 I got during the event.  Mind 0 is two trophies away from the plat, just the one for beating on expert and the one for skill cards left.  I thought it best to leave the skill card one for a NG+ run on expert.  On my NG+ run I'm up to phase 6 out of 11 (technically there are 12 but the last is just cutscenes).

 

And I did get my completion back above 70%, yay!

[Hemiak]

18 hours ago, ladynadiad said:

And I did get my completion back above 70%, yay!

ME too.

 

I'm at about 95% in Lego Marvel and so I decided that's good enough for this year. I went back to Dragons Dogma from the first event. It was one of my two favorite games for the whole year. I'm on my 2nd run and I'm cleaning up all the quests I missed in my first play through. I finished everything that needed to be done before chapter 5 and I'm still in chapter 3.

 

I'm only at something like 150/350 pieces of equipment for one trophy though.  I still haven't touched the DLC area island however, and there's a ton of stuff to get out there. I also haven't taken the time to kill the big post game Dragon either. He drops a bunch of gear and stuff worth like 1.5 million gold. The guide recommends taking him out a couple of times to get the 10 mil gold trophy and to get enough money to clear out all the vendors. Trophies like this Piss me off. I live this game but upgrading gear feels pointless for the most part, especially armor. Why the hell do I need to buy all this crap I'll never use. Give me a speed run, no death run, or difficult challenges over a completely pointless grind any day. 

 

We took the kids to an amusement park yesterday as their big Christmas present is a season pass, and we had to go pick them up in person. Because of that I didn't get home until midnight and didn't play anything yesterday. 

[DamagingRob]

2 hours ago, Hemiak said:

ME too.

You may need to recopy and paste the trophy card in your sig, as it's saying otherwise.

[Hemiak]

25 minutes ago, DamagingRob said:

You may need to recopy and paste the trophy card in your sig, as it's saying otherwise.

Damn it, lol. I've been using mobile since the update and so I never see my card. I'll do that later... Probably. 

[DamagingRob]

1 minute ago, Hemiak said:

Damn it, lol. I've been using mobile since the update and so I never see my card. I'll do that later... Probably. 

Now that you mention it, I don't see either of mine on the Vita. The non-Premium one used to show up. All images from the new site don't seem to work on mobile, in fact. Very odd..

[Edunstar84]

Wow, Conception II took a turn for the worst real fast!

 

EDIT: I mean the plot. Didn't think things would get so morbid.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Edunstar84

[Mendant909]

9 hours ago, Edunstar84 said:

Wow, Conception II took a turn for the worst real fast!

 

EDIT: I mean the plot. Didn't think things would get so morbid.

Sounds like someone died in a grotesque manner. Is there something you can compare it, like Danganronpa or Game of Thrones, to so that there's a better sense of its severity?

[ladynadiad]

1 hour ago, Mendant909 said:

Sounds like someone died in a grotesque manner. Is there something you can compare it, like Danganronpa or Game of Thrones, to so that there's a better sense of its severity?

 

Having played the game, it's not quite Game of Thrones or Danganronpa sort of morbid.  I'd actually compare more to The Walking Dead, since it falls into a common thread in The Walking Dead of having to make a decision that one normally wouldn't make due to an extreme situation at hand.  It's not as gritty and violent though since it is a T rated game if I'm remembering right.

 

That's probably the best that it can be explained without spoiling what exactly happens.

[Mendant909]

7 hours ago, ladynadiad said:

 

Having played the game, it's not quite Game of Thrones or Danganronpa sort of morbid.  I'd actually compare more to The Walking Dead, since it falls into a common thread in The Walking Dead of having to make a decision that one normally wouldn't make due to an extreme situation at hand.  It's not as gritty and violent though since it is a T rated game if I'm remembering right.

 

That's probably the best that it can be explained without spoiling what exactly happens.

Hmm, there's a lot of screwed up things that have occurred in The Walking Dead, so I'll make a few guesses as to what it could be before I play it in the future.

 

1. Two friends are in immediate danger and you can only save one. Most likely scenario is a friendly classmate has gone off the rails and pulled out a lethal weapon.

 

2. A character is dying and the player has to decide whether to euthanize that person.

 

3. It turns out that the monsters were originally people and now the characters face a morality crisis. At least the people weren't turned to Soylent Green.

 

I guess I'll be trying out Conception II next time, alongside Crimson's mention of Thomas Was Alone. I hope the gameplay isn't as boring and repetitive as Edunstar has described before.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Mendant909

[ladynadiad]

On 12/22/2016 at 11:13 AM, Mendant909 said:

I guess I'll be trying out Conception II next time, alongside Crimson's mention of Thomas Was Alone. I hope the gameplay isn't as boring and repetitive as Edunstar has described before.

 

Not really any more than any typical turn based JRPG's random battles.  If I am remembering right, it does have auto battle options which can always help.  The plat will require farming for some stuff, but it's nothing too horrible or with low chances of a drop.  The main issue is the game doesn't really challenge you that much, but it's obviously meant to be a less difficult game.

 

Not gonna comment on your guesses to avoid spoiling the fun twists.  I just hope you enjoy the game.  I personally found it a fun game and it's not a difficult platinum either.

 

Anyway, an update from me, I did get the platinum in Mind 0 a bit ago.  Expert difficulty on NG+ was a lot easier than I thought it would be, even more so once you figured out the cheesy ways to deal lots of damage.  That's now my 24th platinum and 50th completed game.  On Vita I'm going to move over to playing some non-event games, namely Demon Gaze and Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, but I'll still be chipping away at some event games on PS3 until I have plats in Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll and Time and Eternity, though next month I am also going to start Tales of Graces f on PS3 as well.

[DamagingRob]

16 hours ago, ladynadiad said:

Anyway, an update from me, I did get the platinum in Mind 0 a bit ago.  Expert difficulty on NG+ was a lot easier than I thought it would be, even more so once you figured out the cheesy ways to deal lots of damage.  That's now my 24th platinum and 50th completed game. 

Hmm.. Maybe I should redownload and give that mode a try sometime. Congrats on Platting it.

 

Puppeteer Platinumed. So. Many. Collectibles and junk. DX So tedious to do them all, and then I somehow missed one of the actions for The Wooden Shoe Drops trophy.. .Thankfully, it was pretty early on in the game(3rd level). So, that's half of the games from the event already Platinumed. Well... technically. I'm going to pop the final Noire trophy for Crimson Idol's "Vita's 5th Anniversary" event. Should have my completion back to what it was sometime in the near future, with any luck. 

[ladynadiad]

5 hours ago, DamagingRob said:

Hmm.. Maybe I should redownload and give that mode a try sometime. Congrats on Platting it.

 

Yeah, if you restart from a save where you got all the other trophies (except maybe well-adjusted) it's not hard.  Levels don't get carried over, but everything else does.  Start off by equipping all your best stuff and give everyone an ares' textbook and the person who can't get the divine armor the armor that gives experience + 15%.  That means you'll gain levels faster, but you'll also speed through dungeons more quickly so after the first couple of phases you'll need to ensure you gain enough levels per phase.  The trophy guide notes levels for the battles to beat each phase, make sure you are at or above those levels.  I beat the game at level 65 on expert.  Also on NG+ you have access to all the best healing items right off the bat, so make sure to have a nice stock of silver rosaries, quick remedies, therapeutic nanobots, calling flutes and unpleasant bassoons.

 

Then to really cheese the battles once you have access to Moment (or before you restart) you want to max out the Greater Boost skill cards for each party member you plan to use.  Most recommend Kei, Sana and Kotone after phase 6 and just use the initial 3 up until phase 6 is done.  So that would be water, wind, and fire.  Then give them the highest level single enemy attack skill of that element so Neptune's Wrath, Aeolus' Devestations and Vulcan's Roar and max those out.  Then before the boss, unequip the ares' textbooks and equip the accessories that give the same element attack +50%.  Otherwise I gave them some of the font of ____cards to boost some weak categories and enhanced those (couldn't get max on everyone) and made sure everyone otherwise had star theta, panacea technique theta, full soul technique and regeneration.

 

To give an idea of how cheesy this can be, Kotone and Sana were doing nearly 3k damage on the final boss with their skills..  He didn't even have a chance to use his hit everyone potential to kill the whole party skill the trophy guide warns of, that's how fast the battle was (the one before had half its HP knocked out from the whole party using their skills).  Without this trick my beginner party was at best doing about 1.7k and was closer to level 70.  Then once the person runs out of MP, have them use a therapeutic nanobots on themselves which will recover all HP and MP, plus using an item gives back 3 TP so you will be ready to use another skill once they can summon their mind again, or a round later.

 

Otherwise, make sure to save often.  A surprise attack from normal mobs can be a game over in later phases.  When moving in a dungeon save once per floor and I also added saving whenever someone gains a level.  That ensured I didn't tend to lose more than a few minutes of progress.  In the final dungeon if you need to grind, do it on floor 1, the mobs are easy and with your experience bonuses it's possible to get 54k experience from the 4 monster mobs.  The ones on the 15th floor were more of a pain and often didn't net as much experience.

 

But yeah, expert is way easier than one would think it would be from a NG+.  I'd really recommend doing it that way rather than as the guide recommends since some of those requests (namely Kotone's) are very hard even on beginner and it just make the game misery.  It took me maybe a max of 25 hours to finish a NG+ run, I admit I lost track of how long since I was playing mostly at work between calls so it was most likely less than that, but I think in the end I didn't spend that much longer than the trophy guide said on both runs plus post game stuff.

[PerryToxteth]

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to my KYC...A friends!! Hope your special day is spent among family and friends - the gifts are exciting but the memories will last longer! 

 

Cheers!