Shaking It Up

[Copanele]

Eyy you know what, I will cheat and actually load up your profile list as well, to dig up long forgotten history  

That being said, order of picks would be the following:

• Guacamelee! - an amazing Metroidvania that was epic from start to finish. That sweet sweet gameplay!Weirdly enough that would be my first pick!
• Transistor - because it's ???????????????????
• KoF98 - because that you can complete in a lazy afternoon why is that still there???
• Jump Force - The sooner you are done with that nightmare the better
• Shadow of the Colossus - ....I just want to trash talk the game ?
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Collection - For good music
• Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend - COMBOS!

 

That's what I would pick for starters, to get in the "cleanup" mood :> after that you can fire up Yakuza 0  

[MissShake]

20 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Eyy you know what, I will cheat and actually load up your profile list as well, to dig up long forgotten history  

That being said, order of picks would be the following:

• Guacamelee! - an amazing Metroidvania that was epic from start to finish. That sweet sweet gameplay!Weirdly enough that would be my first pick!
• Transistor - because it's 
• KoF98 - because that you can complete in a lazy afternoon why is that still there???
• Jump Force - The sooner you are done with that nightmare the better
• Shadow of the Colossus - ....I just want to trash talk the game 
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Collection - For good music
• Blazblue Chronophantasma Extend - COMBOS!

 

That's what I would pick for starters, to get in the "cleanup" mood :> after that you can fire up Yakuza 0  

 

Hell yeah, I love the variety you gave me! (Ofc with an emphasis on the fighting games lmao.) I'll get the picker wheel ready

[Yuber6969]

If you have the time for it, I'd definitely go with Yakuza 0. One of the best games I've ever played.

[AihaLoveleaf]

I haven't played all of them (yet), but I decided to choose based on which ones fire off the most neurons at the moment. ⚛️

 

Action-Adventure

Transformers: Devastation

RPG

Final Fantasy VIII

 

Rhythm

PaRappa the Rapper 1 and 2

[FreshFromThaDeli]

I could be 'that guy' and pick all the fighting games....but instead i'll still be 'that guy' and pick:

 

RE4, RE4make

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by FreshFromThaDeli

[DrBloodmoney]

I’m gonna be the nice guy, who only recommends one, genuinely good, chill game:

 

Broken Age…

 

…but with an added caveat!

 

Should you go back to it, you first must treat yourself to watching all of the fantastic documentary series “Doublefine Adventure” following the whole process from Kickstarter to release of the game….(all episodes are free on Youtube,) …

…it is almost assuredly the best insight into the game development process for smaller studios I’ve ever seen,

and is super funny, and watchable and at time oddly exciting…,

AND gives you a really deep affection for the game!

Edited May 26, 2023 by DrBloodmoney

[visighost]

YES! That documentary is amazing! You can also pick up the blu-ray set for like $5. It’s amazing from start to finish.

…and I also need to finish that Broken Age speedrun…

[MissShake]

Damn, I have some great variety here! Looks like the picker wheel is gonna be more full than I expected

 

EDIT: I've span the wheel and we have two games that are coming up! You guys will just have to wait and see what they are

Edited May 26, 2023 by MissShake

[MissShake]

#107: Hogwarts Legacy

Trophy Triumph
Obtain all other trophies

 

Guess I'm on a bit of a nostalgia kick, huh? First Sly 2, now a Harry Potter game. I, like many people on the internet, grew up with the Harry Potter books, so I was anxiously waiting for this game ever since its leak all those years ago. However, as much as I did enjoy my time with this, I'm glad I bought it used. (This was more because I don't like JK Rowling, but still.) This plat ended up being a fucking nightmare, and it reminded me why I tend to get so burned out when I go for a plat in an open world game.

 

There's a lot of good in this game, make no mistake. I like the fact that it doesn't revolve around Harry and his time at Hogwarts for once, we've played that storyline and we've seen those characters enough. Instead Hogwarts Legacy takes place a hundred years prior to the events of the books, in the late eighteenth century. You play as a new arrival, a late admittance who seems to have a strong connection to a long forgotten form of ancient magic. I have a couple of questions. Why am I being admitted as a fifth year? When you first find out about your connection to ancient magic your mentor seems to be shocked, so I assume no one knew about your special powers. Also, what is my character's bloodline? Am I pureblood, muggleborn, halfblood? Where did I come from? A lot is left up to interpretation about your player character, and while I understand this allows for roleplaying it also just makes the main character quite bland. You're quick to pick up on pretty much any assignment thrown at you immediately, I honestly can only think of one quest line that shows any flaws with the main character. Quite simply, it's boring, and it honestly doesn't help that the voice actress for the female main character is so monotone. In such an interesting world, your main character stands out for very wrong reasons.

 

This of course means that the supporting cast does a lot of heavy lifting, but even then not everyone is fascinating. Like the main villain? Ranrok? Well he sucks. Nothing about his plot is engaging, the game frames it as Ranrok being responsible for a goblin uprising, but like... Why this guy? There's absolutely nothing about him that makes me think "oh yeah I could see people being insanely loyal to him!" And the secondary villain? Rookwood? He also sucks. He's just evil for the fuck of it. Cool, I guess! But the meh characters aren't just villains... I don't know how popular this character is, but I gotta get this off my chest: I don't care about Professor Fig. He doesn't really do much except send you on fetch quests and not teach any classes whatsoever. When anything bad happened related to him, I honestly just felt nothing. And he's supposed to be your mentor!

 

Luckily, the characters that you actually spend a lot of time with aren't half bad. The three characters that are tied to trophies are interesting and fun to interact with, and in many cases they expand the Wizarding World in their own right. Like Natsai Onai is a Gryffindor who transferred from a school in Uganda, so you get to learn more about a school that isn't Hogwarts if you want to. There's also Poppy Sweeting, a Hufflepuff who loves animals, so much of her quest line showcases more magical creatures that you won't see in class. And finally, there's Sebastian Sallow, a Slytherin who is desperate to cure his sister from what looks to be a permanent curse. I'd say that his quest line is the standout of the game, with moral choices that did make me consider pros and cons more than any moment in the game. Of course you do get more time with other students of Hogwarts, and they were all likeable except Imelda (fuck Imelda), but for my money I'd say one of the most interesting characters was actually Sebastian's best friend Ominis Gaunt. That last name might be familiar to you if you've read the books: it's a powerful family within the Wizarding World, one that tends towards evil, so Ominis sticks out due to his disdain for dark magic. (He's also blind, so he's blessed with not having to look at some of the dumb bullshit you and Sebastian do in this game. And trust me: Sebastian gets you to do some dumb bullshit.)

 

I love interacting with (some) of these characters, and I'd say that interacting with the world itself was also a mixed bag. The atmosphere of Hogwarts is awesome, but aside from a handful of places outside of the castle (Hogsmede of course) I found myself bored of the open world. The detail of the world is incredible, I love how the seasons change as the story progresses, and the weather effects are truly a sight to behold. That is, they're a sight to behold until the wind blows just a bit too hard and your cape ends up clipping through your body. I'm not a stickler for graphics, I can appreciate a game even if they look like they're from the prehistoric ages, but when you're being forced to walk to Hogsmede four times for the trophy grind and every single time your cape clips in weird ways... Yeah it's gonna take you out of the moment.

 

But even then, I found myself enjoying a few of the activities presented to you within the Hogwarts valley. I don't know why, but I especially had a lot of fun capturing and breeding magical creatures. (Is that morally questionable? Probably! Don't think about it too much.) These animals range from incredibly cute to morbidly fascinating to outright dangerous, and it felt cool to care for these vastly different animals. I wish there were more of them! You only have thirteen animals that you can take care of, one of which you can't even breed, so it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to fill out the game world and make it feel a bit more alive. The NPCs that you see just wandering around don't exactly do much, it definitely feels like the devs spent most of their time filling the world with various collectibles. That's fine if your goal is to torture trophy hunters and all, but a few more random events would have been more interesting. There's only so many times I can find Peeves torturing a student or a howler going off at some poor kid funny.

 

"Shake... Did you say collectibles?" Why, yes. Yes I did. And boy do I have a lot to say about those! Merlin's beard, if I have to do one more Merlin trial I will burn Merlin's beard myself! These are small puzzles you find throughout the world, nothing that a five year old wouldn't be able to solve, but the problem comes with the sheer volume of them. Ninety five. Ninety five boring puzzles! Do you see the problem here??? They weren't really engaging the first time, or the fifth time, or the thirtieth time, so why do you need ninety five of these again? Ah yes, right, for the trophy. I love open world collectibles!!!

 

But the Merlin trials are absolutely nothing compared to the collection items. You need over six hundred for the plat, and while I wouldn't exactly say that any of these are particularly difficult to get it does feel like you're dying inside. Let's see... Revelio pages are pages of lore about the world itself, so I understand the appeal of these. You can also obtain different looks for your character, and I of course get why this is appealing. Wand handles, potion ingredients, gear upgrades... These all make sense, so I wouldn't say it's necessarily the contents that are the problem. I think I might be salty because I had a chest glitch on me. I was flying around on my broom, looking for the last item in my collection, when I saw it: a bandit camp that had an unopened chest. So I flew back there and... The chest was open. I panicked, as one does, and off to Google I went. I had done the hidden chests in the Room of Requirement, so that wouldn't do. I wondered if I'd maybe missed another chest and the item itself was just in one of those, but the tracker on the world map just said the one was missing. Fun fact: there are these chests called butterfly chests, and they require you following a group of butterflies until they reveal a hidden chest in a batch of flowers. For some reason these do NOT count on your chest tracker, so I again flew around looking for an unopened butterfly chest. Lo and behold, there it was, and my trophy popped. Another fun fact: the item in your chest randomizes until you have unlocked every collection item, so the only reason I got this trophy was because the game has extra chests that don't count on your tracker. I can't tell if this is awesome or terrible game design. On one hand, it's cool that you're never locked out of getting everything unless you get remarkably unlucky. On the other hand, maybe chests should just work at all times? I don't know, maybe that's just me.

 

And even with all of the bitching I just did... I feel satisfied. I kind of want to go back into this world, and I know that's the nostalgia talking. It was amazing to go to classes, to explore Hogwarts, to get sorted (Hufflepuff for life, only cowards hate Hufflepuffs), to make friends with people that can do cool stuff with a stick. When I was eight years old I wanted to be Hermione. As an adult I think realistically I'd probably be more of a Ron, but who cares? I'd still be able to do cool stuff with a stick. Hogwarts Legacy is the closest we are ever going to get to have that kind of magic, and like many games the magic is ruined when you go into it mostly for the plat. Open world games like this always have trophy lists that can hurt the experience, so my best advice to anyone that may want to play it is this: don't bumrush this platinum. Savor the moment. No matter what you do you are always gonna be a muggle, so why not enjoy the magic of being a wizard for just that little bit longer?

 

I may have to play those Lego Harry Potter games sooner than I'd like to admit.

Edited July 6, 2023 by MissShake

[MissShake]

Alright alright, now that my Hogwarts Legacy essay has been written, I can get on to…

 

Cleanup Crew Update!

 

So the picker wheel has spoken...

 

 

The first two games for this game will be Guacamelee! and Resident Evil 4 (2005 edition)! These are definitely interesting games to start with. I did a full playthrough of RE4 back in the day, but I never finished Separate Ways and I DEFINITELY never tried the hardest difficulty, so it’ll be fun to compare it to the new remake (that I’m playing very slowly). Guacamelee, though… That one is gonna be a completely different experience since I actually never beat it! I started the game and then just never came back to it a looong time ago. We’ll see how I like it!

 

I also went ahead and asked my sister to pick a third game from the backlog, one that wasn't already picked for the wheel, and I can't exactly say I'm shocked with her pick:

 

 

Her favorite game is the original on the DS, so it makes sense that she thinks I should give the sequel a proper run! The soundtrack is already a banger, so I am pretty hyped for this pick

[Copanele]

5 hours ago, MissShake said:

#107: Hogwarts Legacy

Congrats for this one! I was also initially interested in this game when I saw the gameplay (it actually looked like a proper Harry Potter game), too bad that it sounds like a generic open world with spells  

At least you got selected in the best stoner House out there ?

5 hours ago, MissShake said:

 

"Shake... Did you say collectibles?" Why, yes. Yes I did. And boy do I have a lot to say about those!

.......

But the Merlin trials are absolutely nothing compared to the collection items. You need over six hundred for the plat

While old Harry Potter games were also notorious for those frog cards collectibles...

SIXHUNDREDCOLLECTIBLES??? 

Congrats for surviving that....

 

4 hours ago, MissShake said:

Alright alright, now that my Hogwarts Legacy essay has been written, I can get on to…

 

Cleanup Crew Update!

 

So the picker wheel has spoken...

 

 

Hell yeah Guacamelee won! Good pick there, best of luck with Tule Treetop, don't curse me ?

[MissShake]

4 hours ago, Copanele said:

Congrats for this one! I was also initially interested in this game when I saw the gameplay (it actually looked like a proper Harry Potter game), too bad that it sounds like a generic open world with spells  

At least you got selected in the best stoner House out there 

 

Honestly? It's not a BAD game really, it's just a horrendous plat! Definitely has some fun storylines, especially the Sebastian stuff, so it's worth it if you can get it for cheap. Not 70 USD worth imo, but still fun

 

Us Hufflepuffs are trying our best, sometime our best requires a bit of weed

 

4 hours ago, Copanele said:

Hell yeah Guacamelee won! Good pick there, best of luck with Tule Treetop, don't curse me 

 

It's already installed on my system and ready to boot up after my work weekend is all done! Very interested in seeing what Tule Treetop is D;

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Enjoy RE4 the GOAT ?

 

 

[MissShake]

#108: Beyond Blue

Master of the Sea
Earn all other Trophies

 

Today is World Ocean Day, at least it is here in the United States, so I figured today would be a good day to go ahead and get a platinum for a game all about the ocean! Beyond Blue is a game published by the same company that brought us Never Alone, but this time you play as Mirai, a deep sea diver with a particular fondness for whales. You can definitely see the similarities between Beyond Blue and Never Alone: from the get-go, both games are clearly meant to teach people about their subjects, and they both even have short videos that teach more about the topic in a more documentary styled way. I was honestly excited for this game because I absolutely love the ocean, so learning more about some of the creatures and aspects under the surface was incredibly appealing to me. Luckily this was going to be the biggest part of this platinum as well, so it felt like killing two birds with one stone.

 

Your main gameplay feature is all about scanning animals you encounter, revealing more about the animal with each scan you do. After you do tasks such as scanning specific animals or collecting samples, you end up back in your small sub where you take calls and wait to get back in the water. Sure, there's a story in these sections revolving around Mirai's family drama and her colleagues getting in disagreements, but honestly everything revolving around this felt like a distraction. I understand that you need to unlock each map, but I feel like the game could've just cut out these parts and only revolved around the whales and their behaviors and nothing would've been lost. Being in the different maps is really a chilled out experience, so it was always nice to jump back in. The movement of each animal is fluid and realistic, but they aren't exactly groundbreaking. It's cool to swim up to a group of fish and see them sort of spread out to get away, but if you get in the way of a whale they never stray from their path. On top of that this game has no fail state, which I suppose makes sense for the relaxing experience Beyond Blue is going for, but it's not exactly realistic for me to swim up into a predator's personal space and not deal with any consequences. I feel like if you're looking to really interact with the ocean's creatures you're probably better off with a game like Abzu (at least from what I remember, it's been a while).

 

That being said, this game is definitely more of a teaching tool than anything, and in a way your plat adventure is very tied into these teaching tools. You have to scan everything in each map for various trophies, which in turn means you unlock more info about these animals. You can of course never read anything about the animals if you so wish, but it would be taking away from the real point of Beyond Blue to not at least look at animals that you find particularly interesting. Likewise, for trophies you need to watch every video you unlock, but if you really don't care you can just fast forward to a moment close to the end and the trophies will pop. None of these videos are anything longer than three minutes though, so I think there's really no harm in just giving them a watch.

 

All in all, I think Beyond Blue is interesting. You aren't getting some epic adventure that is going to absolutely break your mind, but I think this game is perfect for relaxing on the couch with a drink in hand and just... Chilling. I especially recommend it if you find the ocean fascinating, I found myself writing this with whale sounds playing on YouTube because it made me wish I knew how to at least scuba dive lol. I am quite interested to see what this developer does next: games are an untapped teaching tool, so it's nice to see a company that is trying to educate players!

[MissShake]

#109: UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r]

Rebirth of a Champion
Unlocked all Trophies for UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r].

 

Yup! Did this one again! I don't know what exactly compelled me to try for this platinum again. but who am I to say no to my gut? My plan for this platinum was to try and read the Chronicle Mode in its entirety, but that um... That didn't exactly happen. I don't mind visual novels, all it takes is a glance at this very checklist to tell you that I love them! But this one? Damn, talk about dull. I went a bit into more detail about it in my Evo checklist, if you're curious. Even so, Under Night is such a great time! If you want to play a fighter that has an easy platinum but still has some depth to it, then Under Night is worth it. The game is sleek, the characters are fun to play as, and nothing on this trophy list is incredibly difficult. A perfect starter fighting game!

 

#110: Astro's Playroom

You've Only Done Everything
Found all trophies in ASTRO's PLAYROOM. See you in our next adventure!

 

I, like a lot of people on this site, grew up with Playstation consoles. I've been on this train since the PS1 era and I only skipped the PS3 generation, so I'd say I'm a bit of a Playstation loyalist. Astro's Playroom is not only a solid tech demo and a fun platformer, but it's also made for people like me: those of us that laugh like crazy when they remember the Eye Toy and the fact that you basically needed a boomerang to play with more than two people on one console in the PS1 days. This gem is full of references to every hardware that Playstation made (I think there's even a Vita is life joke in there somewhere), plus the cute little robots act out all sorts of scenes from games tied to Playstation. Trying to place all the references became a bit of a game in a game, with my favorite one obviously being a nod to Tekken.

 

Finally, Bloodborne 2.

 

It's a bit difficult to talk about this game on any meaningful level because it's quite obvious that this was meant to be all about the new PS5 controller and what it's capable of. I think I lost a bit of that magic since this wasn't the first game I played on the PS5, I already knew about the triggers and the speakers in the controller. (My dad was particularly interested in the speakers: he was watching me play RE4 and thought it was so cool that Hunnigan was calling from the controller lol.) Even so, I really think this game is a bit of a must for anyone with a PS5. It's such a fun game and it's full of love for Playstation. This is the perfect game to play when you want something short but fun, like a filler plat that actually takes a bit of effort.

[MissShake]

Gaming for the Animals Plat #1

 

#111: Stray

All Done
Unlock all trophies.

 

I think I'm going to upset some people with this particular post, but here it goes... I started this game up because of two time sensitive events: my Gaming for the Animals event and I needed to get this done before it left the PS Plus Catalog. Otherwise this game would have probably sat on the backlog forever. What I'm about to say is probably gonna make me look like a conceited nonce, but when everyone was excited for this last year my first thought was "is there anything else to the game besides playing as a cat?" I mean... There's some stuff? I guess? After finishing this game I've come to the conclusion that I'm really not going to feel anything more about this game after I finish writing this post.

 

I'll admit that I am not the biggest cat person, so maybe I came in at a bit of a disadvantage. Don't get me wrong, I like cats, my family owned cats my entire life. My sister has a little devil of a cat with a bum back leg that I'll admit is pretty cute. But as I've grown up I just haven't been as attached to cats as others are. Having said that, I think Stray is at its best when you are just... Being a cat. A few puzzles rely on the player thinking like a cat, and it's refreshing to navigate areas with your cat's size and abilities in mind. It takes a bit of adjusting to remind yourself that you aren't a human, so that small hole over there? Yeah, you can fit. Doing fun cat things like walking all over keyboards and knocking paint over are really highlights since we all know how little fucks cats give. This is where Stray shines.

 

Unfortunately this does ware off a bit too quickly, and the game devolves into just another indie styled puzzle platformer. What I haven't mentioned is that Stray is ultimately a game about robots in a cyberpunk world who are trying to return to the earth's surface after being confined underground by a plague. Your cat's drone buddy, B-12, is where the real story takes place, with most of the revelations about this universe revolving around him regaining his memories of what happened to the world. Not only this, but every ability your cat gets is because of B-12 and his capabilities, so the feeling of being a cat and really having to put yourself in that mindset gets lost because if him. Early on in the game there are these parasites that chase your cat around, and you're forced to run from them. You can shake them off of you by (I'm assuming) biting them, but other than that you can't do much. But at one point in the game, B-12 gets this heat lamp that can be used to explode them. See, here's what I don't get: cats scratch at things. They'll even scratch their owners for no good reason. Why is it that I can scratch specific carpets and trees and stuff, but I can't scratch to defend myself? Like I'm not saying this has to be overpowered, I'm not even saying that you really have to get rid of the heat lamp thing. It just feels weird because such a huge huge HUGE part of this game's marketing was the ability to play as a cat! In truth you're playing as a cat and a robot at the same time, and it just isn't all that unique in the vast world of indies that are out there.

 

As a trophy hunting experience, though, I'd say this game is actually pretty solid. Lots of variety in the trophy list. There are collectibles (they aren't so bad), trophies tied to doing specific cat-centric actions, and a speedrun trophy. Nothing in here is particularly difficult, not even the speedrun. I actually died a couple of times while going for that and I still managed to make it under the time limit handily. This is a pretty simple platinum experience, probably a good filler plat if you're in need of some. But I'd do it while it's free, because honestly I wouldn't pay anything more than like ten bucks for this game. It's fine. That's it, really. It's just fine. There are better indies out there that you could experience instead. Guess I sound like a dog person...

[Copanele]

Big congrats! As a cat lover (I simply adore the little spawns of Satan), it was really awesome to see another opinion about this game from someone who ain't as easily charmed  

17 minutes ago, MissShake said:

What I'm about to say is probably gonna make me look like a conceited nonce, but when everyone was excited for this last year my first thought was "is there anything else to the game besides playing as a cat?" I mean... There's some stuff? I guess? After finishing this game I've come to the conclusion that I'm really not going to feel anything more about this game after I finish writing this post.

 

Honestly, I think it would have been better if you only screwed around as a cat. My main criticism of the game was the moment when you suddenly solved puzzles like a human would, not like a cat would.

And....yeah, the whole trick was "you play as a cat". Nothing else  it either stuck or it didn't.

 

What cracks me up though, while I loved the game....I really felt nothing else after finishing that game. Think I went on another rant about Assassin's Creed Valhalla or some stupid thing.

Which really makes me go "huh...it really wasn't that memorable"

17 minutes ago, MissShake said:

I'll admit that I am not the biggest cat person, so maybe I came in at a bit of a disadvantage. Don't get me wrong, I like cats, my family owned cats my entire life. My sister has a little devil of a cat with a bum back leg that I'll admit is pretty cute. But as I've grown up I just haven't been as attached to cats as others are. Having said that, I think Stray is at its best when you are just... Being a cat. A few puzzles rely on the player thinking like a cat, and it's refreshing to navigate areas with your cat's size and abilities in mind. It takes a bit of adjusting to remind yourself that you aren't a human, so that small hole over there? Yeah, you can fit. Doing fun cat things like walking all over keyboards and knocking paint over are really highlights since we all know how little fucks cats give. This is where Stray shines.

 

I think level 4 was my favorite level because it really highlighted how a cat should be: You meow, you fit through tight spaces, you enter a room just to exit and frustrate the robots...that's the true cat behavior.

 

Quote

Unfortunately this does ware off a bit too quickly, and the game devolves into just another indie styled puzzle platformer. What I haven't mentioned is that Stray is ultimately a game about robots in a cyberpunk world who are trying to return to the earth's surface after being confined underground by a plague. Your cat's drone buddy, B-12, is where the real story takes place, with most of the revelations about this universe revolving around him regaining his memories of what happened to the world. Not only this, but every ability your cat gets is because of B-12 and his capabilities, so the feeling of being a cat and really having to put yourself in that mindset gets lost because if him. Early on in the game there are these parasites that chase your cat around, and you're forced to run from them. You can shake them off of you by (I'm assuming) biting them, but other than that you can't do much. But at one point in the game, B-12 gets this heat lamp that can be used to explode them. See, here's what I don't get: cats scratch at things. They'll even scratch their owners for no good reason. Why is it that I can scratch specific carpets and trees and stuff, but I can't scratch to defend myself? Like I'm not saying this has to be overpowered, I'm not even saying that you really have to get rid of the heat lamp thing. It just feels weird because such a huge huge HUGE part of this game's marketing was the ability to play as a cat! In truth you're playing as a cat and a robot at the same time, and it just isn't all that unique in the vast world of indies that are out there.

That's a....valid point actually. I couldn't scratch anything other than pre-determined scratch posts and mattresses ?

Quote

As a trophy hunting experience, though, I'd say this game is actually pretty solid. Lots of variety in the trophy list. There are collectibles (they aren't so bad), trophies tied to doing specific cat-centric actions, and a speedrun trophy. Nothing in here is particularly difficult, not even the speedrun. I actually died a couple of times while going for that and I still managed to make it under the time limit handily. This is a pretty simple platinum experience, probably a good filler plat if you're in need of some..

I actually have to recommend this thread to you ? the amount of people malding over that  "don't get eaten by headcrabs" trophy gives Super Meat Boy a run for its money.

 

Quote

But I'd do it while it's free, because honestly I wouldn't pay anything more than like ten bucks for this game. It's fine. That's it, really. It's just fine. There are better indies out there that you could experience instead. Guess I sound like a dog person..

 

And I think this is the part that got me. I loved the game way a lot, but in the end I reached the same conclusion  fun little thing, get it at a discount.

Or...Play Cat Quest :> 

[MissShake]

2 minutes ago, Copanele said:

I actually have to recommend this thread to you  the amount of people malding over that  "don't get eaten by headcrabs" trophy gives Super Meat Boy a run for its money.

 

Oh yeah, I actually totally forgot about this part! I had trouble too lmaooooo. I think I did this one section for like thirty minutes, felt so satisfied after it was done! But yeah, it's not SMB level

 

3 minutes ago, Copanele said:

And I think this is the part that got me. I loved the game way a lot, but in the end I reached the same conclusion  fun little thing, get it at a discount.

Or...Play Cat Quest :> 

 

I'm considering it, actually. Game looks a little more up my alley than Stray was, really

[MissShake]

#112: Stranded Deep

Stay Alive!
Collected all trophies

 

I have nothing to say. I am simply a gremlin of chaos and I love dumpster fires. I will laugh at this day for years to come.

 

 

My PS5 worked so hard to get me in the fastest plat leaderboard ?

 

[Copanele]

On 7/10/2023 at 7:55 AM, MissShake said:

#112: Stranded Deep

Stay Alive!
Collected all trophies

 

I have nothing to say. I am simply a gremlin of chaos and I love dumpster fires. I will laugh at this day for years to come.

 

 

My PS5 worked so hard to get me in the fastest plat leaderboard

 

Becoming a part of PSNP history is always worth it????one of the rare moments that truly united the community.

[Aceterix]

On 12/05/2023 at 10:09 AM, MissShake said:

#105: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
 

I had never heard of this and now I have it sounds bloody tremendous from your write up, many thanks - I have added it high up on the backlog!

 

Please add sleeping dogs to your pinwheel, please please. Even if you aren't doing the pinwheel any more.

 

Also guacamelee was a worthy winner of the first spin of skill/fortune and other people mentioned it but Yakuza 0 is incredible (and a fun platinum journey too).

Edited July 12, 2023 by Aceterix
I saw the pinwheel post later

[MissShake]

15 hours ago, Copanele said:

Becoming a part of PSNP history is always worth itone of the rare moments that truly united the community.

 

I mean... PSNP was all here but idk if they were united. It was a mess LMAO

 

11 hours ago, Aceterix said:

I had never heard of this and now I have it sounds bloody tremendous from your write up, many thanks - I have added it high up on the backlog!

 

Please add sleeping dogs to your pinwheel, please please. Even if you aren't doing the pinwheel any more.

 

Also guacamelee was a worthy winner of the first spin of skill/fortune and other people mentioned it but Yakuza 0 is incredible (and a fun platinum journey too).

 

I'm so glad you liked the write up! Exocolonist is such a fun and interesting game and I am so glad it influenced you to give it a try!

 

I can add Sleeping Dogs to the wheel, sure! It's a game I was already thinking about revisiting so that kind of works out! And yeah, Yakuza was fun from the bit I played so it'll be interesting to give it another whirl

[MissShake]

Gaming for the Animals Plat #2

 

#113: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

Master Thief
Unlock all trophies for Sly Cooper's final outing. . . final? Really?

 

I am back from San Diego Comic Con! After a lot of walking, way too much money spent, two games previewed, and one disappointing afterparty, I am ready to talk about my most recent plat for Gaming for the Animals! (Don't worry, I'll talk about some of the con eventually.)

 

It felt good to come back to the Sly Cooper series, especially knowing that this was the last of the trilogy that I loved so dearly as a child. I think I mentioned this already, but my sister played these games more than I did, so I think this may have been the first time I actually beat this game myself. The difference with Sly 3 is apparent immediately: when you start the game up you are very quickly shown the silhouettes of a variety of character that are helping the trio out on a heist, and it creates intrigue as to who these people are right from the start. (Persona 5 stole this from Sly 3, it's just fact! ) After a rather easy introduction level, we find out that Sly and the gang are heading to the Cooper Vault, which is full of riches and treasures that have been stolen by Sly's ancestors. There's one problem, though: a mad scientist has taken up camp at this island, and he has very tightly fortified the island to lock others out so he can have the treasure for himself. This time the gang is looking to expand its ranks, not steal back parts of Clockwerk or pages to the Thievius Raccoonus, which I appreciate because at least the MacGuffins for this game have some personality to them! These characters are often new to the series, but a few characters are throwbacks to the previous games. There's even a boss from Sly 1 that makes a guest appearance as a nuisance you have to deal with, and it's really fun to have that "oh I remember him!" moment, especially since I played all three of these games semi-recently.

 

I'd say this is one of Sly 3's aspects, but unfortunately it also ties into one of the more annoying aspects of this game. Each new member of the gang has their own play style, and all of these are really a mixed bag. It feels like this is the game's attempt to change things up in the way they did with the mini games in previous games, but they don't feel quite as good as in the other games. I'm sorry, I don't wanna dive underwater with wonky controls or drive a mini car. The characters that at least have some similarities to Sly, Bentley, and Murray aren't quite as annoying to play as, but that's really only half of the new cast. This means that even if the characters themselves are fun, playing as them is just more of a mixed bag overall.

 

This also really applies to the platinum experience. It's super chilled out and fun for ninety percent of the game, but then you have the challenges, which can range from incredibly easy to "this was nowhere near as annoying in the main game what the fuck happened???" If you expect this game to be the simple plat that the other two games were you'd be in for a rude surprise... But in a way I kind of like that? If you've played three of these games then chances are you know what you're doing, so why not have a little challenge? It's like a final test of your skills, and it felt incredibly satisfying to finally overcome that last challenge. Definitely my hardest plat that has an over thirty percent plat rate though!

 

As a goodbye to the PS2 Sly games, I'm gonna do something a bit different! Click under the spoiler tag if you want to see some more (rather specific) opinions that I have! (Spoilers for Sly 1, 2, and 3!)

 

Spoiler

Most Underrated Episode:

A Starry Eyed Encounter (Sly 2)

When people talk about Sly 2, you almost ALWAYS hear about the first episode. And it's a great level, don't get me wrong! But for my money, the second episode is better. I love the atmosphere of India, and Rajan has a better design than Dimitri. (Sorry, sorry, I can hear the boos from here!) Plus the real reason: this game has a fun rhythm game you get to play twice, where you dance with both Neyla and Carmelita. I am a total sucker for this mini game, and it's made A Starry Eyed Encounter one of my favorite levels ever since I was a kid.

 

Favorite Opening Episode:

An Opera of Fear (Sly 3)

There's a couple of aspects to this episode that make it stand out for me. One: Venice looks great. And two: there is a funny opera battle with a mini game that's like the one in A Starry Eyed Encounter. I laughed way harder at this boss fight than I care to admit, but I think that this level has a lot of high points that just do wonders to make the player excited to play the rest of Sly 3! Again, I know the Paris fans are going to give me crap, and that level is great too! I just prefer An Opera of Fear overall.

 

Favorite Setting:

Dead Men Tell No Tales (Sly 3)

I don't know if I mention this often, but I am a sucker for water stuff. I was that weirdo whose favorite level in Kingdom Hearts III was the Pirates level, so you clearly know where my priorities are. But I think levels like that and Dead Men Tell No Tales really bring a sense of adventure that I personally only feel when I'm faced with the open ocean, so this was an absolute blast for me.

 

Favorite Final Episode:

The Cold Heart of Hate (Sly 1)

I'm a bit shocked I went with this one in the end. I struggled getting through this one for a little while, and while at the time I found it annoying I feel like The Cold Heart of Hate was the most satisfying finale episode. Every aspect of the gameplay comes together in a cohesive way, even the mini games, and the feeling of conquering this level makes it much more memorable to me than the other finale episodes. Plus Clockwerk is absolutely terrifying, so it feels right to have him as a final boss.

 

Favorite Boss Battle:

Mz. Ruby (Sly 1)

I like her accent. It's fun. I also like the rhythm game mini game. It's fun and the first time in this series that I felt challenged. After I was done with it I wished I'd made another save file just so I can come back and experience this fight again!

 

Favorite Villain:

 

Neyla (Sly 2)

As fun as most of the villains in this series are, none of them really have that much of an impact on me. Yes, I know that Dimitri is hilarious, but even with his contributions to Sly 3 there's really not much to him except being funny. Of course this makes sense since Sly is a series for kids, but I like Neyla better. I remember how crushed I was when she betrayed Sly back when I was a kid, and I still thought she was fun to watch in action during this playthrough. I recently read that she actually had more to her that was cut out of the game, and I really wonder what that would've included since she already has one of my favorite presences in the series!

 

Favorite Side Character:

Carmelita Fox

It's absolutely no contest. There's a lot of charming characters that show up within the series, but none have as much of an impact as Carmelita. She's cool, she's a fun contrast with Sly and the gang, her design is nice (I can only imagine the amount of furries that had their awakening because of her), and she has the most amount of development of any character that isn't Sly or Bentley or Murray. The series absolutely would not be the same without her!

 

Time to say goodbye to Sly though... It was a good time, I loved revisiting my childhood, and I think this series is absolutely worth a playthrough! Sly 3 has some problems, but it's a nice little finale to a series. It was great to go on one last heist...

 

 

For now.

[MissShake]

Gaming for the Animals Plat #3

 

#114: Endling: Extinction is Forever

Endling
Unlock every other trophy in the game.

 

Forgive me for the absence! Ever since Rashid dropped in Street Fighter 6, I have been pulled back into World Tour mode and have been going ham trying to master every fighting style in the mode. (Now if THIS had a trophy tied to it I bet the game would be at a low 100%... Even though it's at zero because tournaments are borked lol.) I did, finally, get a bit bored of this and found motivation to start up Endling. (Which also took a while, I got so sick that I couldn't stay awake longer than three or four hours lolol.) Of course this game fit perfectly with Gaming for the Animals, so I absolutely had to make it my last game for the event! But would I recommend it overall?

 

The basic idea is a fairly interesting one. You take on the role of a mother fox, and very early on one of your (really adorable) cubs gets kidnapped by the worst evil one can imagine... Humans! It's up to you to not only track down your lost baby, but take care of three other babies. This means finding new shelter when necessary, making sure your cubs are fed, teaching them means of survival, protecting them from predators... Needless to say your plate is gonna be pretty full. When I think back on this game, one word comes to mind: stressful. Since foxes are nocturnal animals, you have to work during the night, and the game is VERY ADAMANT that you need to get back to your lair before the day starts. This is all fine and good, but holy shit the nights are way too short. I'd feel like I got maybe two food items for the cubs before I'd get the dreaded notification that the sun is coming out, then I'd be rushing back to the lair, then I'd hear the BAAA NAAA of the guitar that comes with the arrival of the furrier, then I'd panic and run right into him and my mamma fox would be injured and I would be limping to the lair and... Then on my second playthrough I was out in the daylight and what happened? Would you be shocked if I said nothing? Yup, I just walked right back to the lair and moved on to the next day.

 

That's not to say that all of my thoughts on the time management are null and void. Unless you're religiously following a guide it almost feels smarter to have maybe one or two tasks in mind for each night since enemies seem to patrol pretty relentlessly the closer you get to daylight. The game sort of silently dictates what days you'll use for what, since on specific days you'll catch a "scent" of your lost cub, and you just have to follow the smell to each clue. I'd be fine with this, but navigation in this game is an absolute mess, so once that scent is gone you're on your own. I may have accidentally run into the furrier more times than I'd like to admit, but quite frankly I only accept part of the blame because of just how shit the navigation is. You always see the side of your fox, never an over the shoulder view and never its cute face head-on, but your map doesn't work like this. Sometimes you'll jump to a higher ledge that should theoretically make the fox walk away from the player, but then the camera will quickly snap so that it's back to a more 2D look. This absolutely fucked my sense of place more than once, so I'll think I'm heading back to the nearest lair, but I'll actually be going the opposite direction? The map honestly feels so massive even though it really isn't, and that's definitely due to how confusing this game's navigation is.

 

And of course, to add on to the stress of getting from point a to point b, you have your children to take care of... Which I really didn't find that bad. I found that you can run pretty far ahead of the cubs without them losing track of you, so they aren't a hindrance in that respect. But for the platinum you need to make sure all of your cubs survive, and if one of the cubs dies the game continues on regardless. This was also never a huge factor when I played, mostly because I saw a guide that showed a trick for helping slow down the rate of hunger for the cubs. The fact that your cubs learn how to do things like dig and climb means they can help you out, so this particular escort mission doesn't feel quite as deflating as others might. It's quite easy to get attached to the cubs, they're just so cute no matter what colors you pick. So I mean... At least there's that.

 

I haven't been quiet about wanting games to be used as a teaching tool more often, and in a way I feel like this is the angle Endling should take when advertising itself since it really is great at making you struggle like an endangered animal. Endling is not a fun game to play, it is meant to simulate the amount of work that goes into the life of an animal that is fighting for all they have. This is a feel bad game, as should be expected with a title that has EXTINCTION IS FOREVER in it, and my lord does it feel like the devs are bludgeoning you with this idea. Nothing good ever happens in this game, not in the gameplay, not in the story, and if you are a Negative Nancy like me I can pretty much guarantee you'll guess how this game ends. If you want to actively feel stress you could play this. If you hate humans and just want more of a reason to, you could play this.

 

...At least the graphics are nice?

Edited August 13, 2023 by MissShake

[MissShake]

Trophies to Fight Cancer Plat #1

 

#115: Venba

Subam
Obtain all of the Trophies.

 

Been a minute, hasn't it? I don't know what happened, really... I was playing a LOT of Baldur's Gate 3, then I wasn't, then I got a new job and a lot of my time off from my first job means I have to be on call for that one, then I went to the Sonic Symphony, then I started going to the chiropractor twice a week, then that first job got really busy and and and... You know how it is lol. Luckily I'm finally starting to find some sort of rhythm, so I think I can manage to properly fit some gaming into the schedule now! (Maybe. Hopefully.)

 

Anyway, let's talk about Venba! Cozy gaming is all the rage right now, and I would definitely fit this little indie into that category. You follow the life of the titular Venba, an Indian immigrant to Canada, and watch as she raises a child in a culture completely unfamiliar to her and her husband, who definitely gets more than his fair share of racism thrown at him. She struggles with stability in this new environment, especially since a lot of Venba's credentials just aren't taken seriously in Canada, but I'd say the biggest conflict she has is with her son. Venba is incredibly proud of her home country, and she does her best to help Kavin (NOT Kevin) feel the same way, but his priorities are more centered around fitting in with his environment. She often finds herself disheartened by how little she can relate to her son, and it's difficult to watch. There's one particularly gut wrenching moment where you read Venba and Kavin's texts, which I won't spoil, but it definitely does a great job of showcasing just how much their priorities differ.

 

The story is told via short visual novel sections, but the main gameplay loop is via cooking! Venba brought an old recipe book from home, but due to its age some of the writing has faded. This means that a good chunk of the gameplay is reading what you can through the recipe book and using the power of deduction to figure out what steps are missing. One part that's particularly strong in my opinion is a moment when Kavin has to be the chef, and he realizes he's lost pretty much all of his ability to read Hindi. When you are playing as Venba the recipes are all in English, signifying that she can read Hindi, so it's definitely a nice challenge to have to rely on diagrams once this section begins.

 

I don't know what half of these dishes are, but man I'd like to eat them all!

 

The process of cooking and seeing all of these dishes I've never eaten come to life made me think of the Czech dishes my mother used to make on special occasions. I'm technically the firstborn American on that side of my family, but my grandmother brought my mom to the states when she was incredibly young, so she is quite "Americanized." She never taught me how to speak Czech, and it's only recently that I've attempted to really learn anything about the Czech Republic. This game makes me wonder if I'm glad that she made it easy to fit in or if I wish I'd been a bit more in tune with that part of myself. On one hand, there is definitely a lot of tension between Kavin and Venba, and I definitely was one who didn't want to stand out much as a kid. On the other hand, one of the great parts of America (and Canada, as shown in this game) is that there are so many of us that come from so many parts of the world! It's a question I'll never really know the answer to, but it's interesting that Venba made me consider it at all.

 

The biggest negative for this game has to be with the price. This story is nice and the gameplay is quite relaxing in its own way, but Venba is a very short experience. The only reason this plat took me ten hours is because I had to head off to work, if I'd had the time I know this could've been finished up in like an hour and a half. That's not to say that fifteen dollars USD is expensive, per se, but I know that it may sour some people to have spent that much on something so short.

 

Either way, I think that making some time for Venba at some point is worth it! A relaxing platinum that gives you the motivation to finally give your mom a call can't be the worst thing in the world, right?