Kill Your Completion v3. 0

[Mendant909]

22 hours ago, Crimson Idol said:

Sorry to say that but I will drop out of the event due to some personal reasons. Honestly I don't know if I will have the engagement to participate in any events  on this site any longer caused by some recent happenings. On top of that I lack the motivation to start any of the remaining games, even those that I could use as a replacement. Good luck and much fun to everyone else!

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll come back soon as you've been a pretty relaxing person to talk with and your posts were a nice, varied read. It sure won't be the same without you here. Wishing you the best and see ya soon.

[xFalionx]

Game #6: DiRT3 (on PS3)

Second day
Total playtime: about 9 hours

 

Well, despite playing 3 and a half hours today, I didn't manage to accomplish what I wanted to get done. I'm still missing a few challenges in my last event of my first Tour, which I might or might not be able to complete in time for the deadline. Turns out there are so called Gymkhana Tutorials, which you need to finish in the last event. I managed to get the platinum medal on Smash (hit small walls on an obstacle course with your car) and Jump, and tried out Drift, which I barely managed to finish with a bronze metal before I stopped playing yesterday. Tutorials my ass, those things teach you nothing about the way to do these things and are insanely hard. The Smash one took me 2 hours to earn the platinum medal, then I spent another hour getting the plat on Jump and trying out Drift. 

 

The only other thing besides that I did yesterday was to drive a few more races before starting on the Gymkhana stuff. I guess I'll give the MP a try today and see about misc. stuff because I don't think I can manage to get all other tutorial plat medals today.

 

16 hours ago, Melanogaster1987 said:

Good job knocking out that one - it caused me to rage so much. I finished with 25,990 points on just my second attempt, then a few minutes later would have got the 26,000 points, but it didn't count because a drift that is still in progress when time expires isn't added to your score. I finally managed to beat it one and a half hours later... good luck with the rest of those challenges!

Yeah, I can't count the amount of times I was missing less than 100 points with enough time left for another drift, but then ending up hitting a rock or something and loosing the points.

 

Honestly though, this challenge gave me much less trouble than the Gymkhana Smash Tutorial I wrote about above. That one had me raging hard at the end because I failed the 2 drifting sections at the end numerous times. It's especially annoying if the timer stops with 3 walls left which you could have gotten if it weren't for stupid mistake X.

 

9 hours ago, Fredoline05 said:

I played a bit more and got myself a couple more trophies, all bronze so far but that's ok, the rest will follow. The longer I play this game the more I like it. I'm getting used to the bad controls and the story is fun enough to get me going. Even when besides the missions it's one huge grind. But what can I say: I like beating up guys (in the game) and doing all what my parents told me wasn't nice to do

I played this game on Wii a few years ago. I think it was an enhanced version of the original because I don't remember having had any trouble with the controls, and I'm pretty sure my version had auto saves. It's a really fun game thoughand I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think it's a pretty interesting concept to have a GTA-like game in a school setting, playing the guy I hated back in school.  

[PerryToxteth]

I'm back!! 

 

My business trip actually was all about business so I was struggling to keep up with the KYC reviews, much less actually find the time to write one. But I will crank out Hitman Go and Nightmares From the Deep reviews this weekend, and try to find time to play Anna: Extended, and then I will be all caught up. Thank God for the weekend!

 

Sad to see KYC vets Ladynadiad and Crimson Idol have to drop out.  They both provided some fantastic reviews and were just plain good folks that got along with everyone.  Please don't be strangers for long!

 

And I can't decide which video clip was funnier - Billy's "Kung Fury" one or the "History of Japan" posted by Dmland.  I loved them both! 

[Kevvik]

Game #6: Severed

 

Final Review

 

Wow!   I think that best sums this game up. Platinum achieved so no real kill on my completion but I think it just goes to how much I enjoyed it that I didn't want to put it down.

 

The combat stays consistent and had minimal issues with missed strokes. In fact I noticed less and less as time went on so it was more likely my clumsiness. I felt it captured just the right balance of difficulty although the fights on backtracking to find the other secrets were very simple as I was fully upgraded. I had one fight about 3/4 in looking for ads rest that I just couldn't seem to get by so went out, did some more story and upgrading. Came back and still had difficulty until I took a break for the night. Nailed it first try in the morning. Like I said, just the right balance.

 

The other thing I liked was no random encounters. There are just enough things on a full exploration play to fully upgrade with some leftovers. Random encounters would have felt like filler fluff and detracted from the experience.

 

Storywise, it struck the perfect tone. Totally worked for me with a great ending.

 

Not sure I can say anything else about this without looking like I'm rambling or giving so I will close up by saying Play this game!  With being free on plus this month, every vita owner should give it a shot. I credit the high plat% with the quality making people want to play it all the way through rather than being easy.

 

Time played : 11 hrs

Trophies: 25/25, S rank

Final grade: 10/10

 

Trophy completion for event: -1.34%

 

Bunch of RL stuff to do today but maybe get some Risen 3 or Tomb Raider in later.

 

Otherwise, tomorrow I'll start Game #7: Tales from the Borderlands

[Jaguargenie]

Game #6

Initial Impressions

The Talos Principle

Trophies: 8/40 (11%)

Completion: 73.82% (-1.31%)

 

I know this is day 3 but I didn't get to play much until last night. Review will be up tomorrow, but until then, let the gushing begin because this game is awesome!

So what is this game about you may wonder? 3D fp puzzler very much in the vein of Portal in oh so many ways. You play a robot who wakes up and is tasked by his Maker (who goes by the Hebrew name for God) to complete enough puzzles that you "show the way" for "generations to come."

 

The religious undertones for this are awesome since I have my doubts about the legitimacy of any of it. Elohim (your maker) has a real all-knowing-voice-from-above feel to him to the point where he is a bit patronizing. There is a second AI I just encountered last night at the very end of my play session who doesnt  exactly agree with Elohim. So it looks like they are setting up a God/Devil dynamic here? There are also glitches. Visable ones that aren't developer mistakes. They are there on purpose. So a whole wall will pixelate as you walk by and shoot off a static noise. Makes you wonder if this is really reality?

 

As for the game play, it is a 3D puzzler where you use various tools to open rooms that hold tetris pieces. Those then open doors to other puzzles. The first 10-12 are more tutorial than anything. Super easy. I was worried that this would be the game. Any hour in, my brain hurt. I haven't had a game do this in a while, but I have stood there trying at a puzzle for 20 minutes. Love it. I am only about 3 hours in and it's already very tough. I could see it ramping up even more. Oh boy...

 

The only criticism I have up to this point is the openness of it. There are puzzles you have access to early on and I don't think they can be solved without unlocking certain skills. I wish the developers had blocked them off until you had enough to complete them. 

 

So thus far, loving it. I totally get a Glados vibe from Elohim and these puzzles will continue to make my brain hurt. Good times!

 

Edited March 18, 2017 by Jaguargenie

[Hemiak]

Felt like crap the last couple days. Haven't played much and when I have I haven't wanted to really focus on eh something new. Will get game 6 review up when I'm feeling better. 

[Psy-Tychist]

I am still here, promise!

 

 Will get my reviews up soon and crack on with game 6/7.

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6

 

Day #3

Total Time Played: over 2h

Trophies earned: 4/45

 

Didn't get much more progress done to be honest. I managed to play for about another hour, before my vita had to recharge. Once it was done charging I started binge watching Suits (a few years late I know). Anyway, I figured out how to unlock another dungeon, did a few quests and got a new party member.

 

The Good:

 

there's nothing that stands out in this one, it's all fairly mundane. Possibly further on the game might develop something more interesting. So far there seems to be a decent character variety and making your own combos could be promising.

 

The Bad:

• The quests are boring so far, just revolve around farming really
• So far I haven't found a single piece of equipment (Yes, a dungeon should have equipment drops always. if you have an equipment system)
• The whole region balancing through quests so far seems like a feature the game could do without.
• Targeting enemies is just plain bad.

 

I can also already tell, that I'm going to have to grind my ass off in this one.

 

So far it's another mediocre RPG. The main advantage of it, is that I can play it on the go.  But hey, it was like 3€ on a sale, so that's cool I guess. Nevertheless it's a for now.

Edited March 19, 2017 by voodoo_eyes

[xFalionx]

Well, I'm quite sad that I have to part with this one for now. Overall this was a completion killer for me though, since I'm down 0.59% from the start of this event again.

 

Game #6: DiRT3 (on PS3)

Final Review

Total playtime: about 13 hours

Trophies: 11/57 for an C rank

 

 

Another game I got from plus, and also another game that makes me happy to be a plus user.  

 

This game is a realistic rally racing game with many customization options and a huge selection of different locations to race in.

 

When I started this game it felt pretty mediocre, probably because I'm more of the arcade racer type of guy with my favorite being the Trackmania franchise. After spending a few hours with the game, I came to like it more and more. There's some really hard stunt "Tutorials" which I complained about in a previous update, but I noticed that after spending about 6 hours practicing to get the platinum medals required for one of the trophies, the tutorials actually did their job and I've become fairly acquainted with the games driving mechanics. Now that I'm done with the first tour section, I'm pretty upset that I have to play something else already. The better you get at it, the better this game will end up feeling.

 

This game has a whole lot of content, there's the tour, which is basically the SP campaign, there is a kind of free roaming section with three different areas and 80 missions to complete and it's really fun to drive around in. Then you have custom SP games which you can set up to your liking and the MP which features a few additional game modes in addition to the normal ones.

 

In general there are 5 modes: Rally which has participants starting one after another and competing for the shortest time on a set course, Head2Head which has you competing against a single opponent on a track that's divided into two sections, usually with scenic jumps over your opponents side of the track, Trail Blazer which is basically Rally with extremely fast cars, Rally Cross which has all participants starting at once and then competing for the first place in a multilap race, Land Rush, which is basically Rally Cross with beefy trucks and opponents that are bent on ramming you off the course. There's also Gymkhana which is basically stunt racing where participants compete for the highest score.

 

Beyond that there's also the free roaming I've mentioned which is basically like Gymkhana without any time limits, time trials, DC challenges which are also like Gymkhana but only focus on a single aspect, MP Party games which I didn't get to play yet, MP Joyrides which basically have you driving around casually for 20 minutes. Didn't get to play those either. As you can see, that's quite the selection of game modes alone.

 

100% completing the tour will probably last you around 40 hours, on top of that there's also the MP which is still alive and kicking, and the free roaming. Only took me a few seconds to find a session when I tried it. 

 

The only negative points I have about this game are that the game isn't explained very well (someone who regularly plays racing games would probably be fine though), that there is no music while driving, not even through a toggle in the options menu, and that the game loves to shove its DLCs in your face.

 

If you like racing games and got this one for free on plus, you might want to give it a try. If you do end up trying it out, make sure you start on the medium difficulty, as the first one is horrendously dumbed down. Another thing to note is that you should probably try to earn the Gymkhana Academy platinum medals as doing so really helps you improve your driving skills. Make sure to do the tutorial for donuts before the smash tutorial though, I would have been able to prevent a lot of frustrations if I knew how to do donuts back then.

Another thing to note is that there are many online only trophies, as well as some pretty difficult trophies in the mix.

 

Overall I'd probably rate this game 7.5-8/10 and I'm sure to come back to it and at least finish up the single player trophies.

 

DiRT3 final score:

- xFalionx

Next up: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD (PSVita)

Edited March 19, 2017 by xFalionx

[Alpsmile05]

Game 6, Day 3: Bully: Final Update

 

 

playtime: about 10-12 hours

 

I finished chapter 2 and must be close to the end of chapter 3 now, so about halfway through the story. I'm still liking this eventhough the controls still get the best of me sometimes, the missions seem to become harder but that's still ok. I've got 19 trophies so far which is exactly half of the number of trophies that can be obtained. I'm sad I have to start another game now, I wanted to continue this one all the way but that's the game of this event so I'll say goodbye to bully for now.

 

I'll give this game a high  trophy, almost gold but not quite yet, the graphics and the controls don't allow me to do that.

 

Stats after game 5:

 

Total trophies earned: 3811 +19

Platinum trophies earned: 53

Games played: 143 +1

Games finished: 65

Completion: 66.98 -0.26

Unearned trophies: 1528 +19

 

Next up: Lords of the Fallen

 

PS: My goal with this event was to not drop below 66.67%, I guess I'm really in trouble now, with Lords of the Fallen (for which I'll have very little time) and The Crew coming up...

[MarkusT1992]

Game #5: Okage: Shadow King

 

 

@DamagingRob said everything there is to say about this game so I'll keep this short.

 

I was away the whole day so I only could play for about one hour today. In this time I managed to beat the first evil king, the Sewer Evil King, which was a giant rat. He wanted to conquer the world by starting with the sewers.

I gotmy first party member, caled Rosalyn. She got a pink shadow by Stan and wants to get it back to normal. That's not possible at the moment though, because Stan doesn't has the power right now. That's why she joins us in our adventure to defeat the imposter evil kings.

 

Contrary to Rob I have no trouble with the combat so far. I defeated the first ghost in the church with 2 HP left but everthing was fine

I can imaging the combat becoming harder later on. The fights on the way to the second city were all done with a single hit per enemy..

 

One thing I think wasn't mentioned is that there is a quick travel system. There are some stone circles you can use to warp to another place where many stone circles are. There you can take every unlocked one to travel to the corresponding circle in the world.

 

So far I'm enjoying this game.The PS2 was the console I played the most on and I like RPGs. This is one I couldn't play and never heard of untill its PS4 release. The dialoge is hilarious at times.

I think I will continue this game after the event. As my final rating I'll give a

 

Trophies: 2/30

Completion: 4%

Time played: 2h 50mins

[DamagingRob]

@MarkusT1992 Well. you see, that's the thing. I found it fairly easy up to the point you're at. It was immediately after the Sewer King that things got tough. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts, whenever you get back to it. 

 

Day 3- Okage: Shadow King

 

So, yeah, like Markus said, I think I pretty much covered everything in my Day 2 post. I did forget about the fast travel stations, though. I made it to the Phantom King, though, and put as much Luck-boosting equipment as I could on my party. Got the Queen of Hearts drop on my first try.  I'm sure that makes you real happy, @NebbyLunala? Lol. 

 

But yeah, I really like this game. I'll also be giving it a . Not the greatest JRPG out there, but far from the worst. 

 

Time played: 16+ hours. 

Trophy progress: 20/30 for 62%

Did it lower my completion? Slightly. Another .07%. 

[dmland12]

Game #6: Titan Souls

Progress: 28/28 Trophies (100% )

Completion: 88.65% (+0.20%, -7.02% from start)

 

Titan Souls was part of the PS Plus lineup in January for Vita with PS4 Crossbuy, so chances are pretty good you've either played it already or have it in your backlog.  This was the first game I've played in this event that I've gotten from Plus, and also the first that I was able to complete.  I'm still down over 7% from the start, but at least I've stopped the bleeding for now.  

 

Titan Souls asks the question, "what would happen if we built a game entirely around boss fights?"  No story, nothing except boss fights.  You do need to walk around a little to get to each boss, but this game really takes this one concept and runs with it.

 

You are an unnamed character with a bow and an arrow.  Just one arrow, though... let's not get too crazy, now!    Luckily, it's some kind of magic arrow that you can reuse over and over again.  You fire it and then can pick it back up by walking over it, or by summoning it back (although you cannot dodge while doing this, so it may or may not be a good idea depending on what's happening).  The bosses, meanwhile die in one hit.  But there's a big catch.  You have to hit their weak point, and unlike your typical video game boss that will strut around with their glowing red weak point where you can easily hit it.... these guys seem aware of their own weaknesses.  As such, hitting it is often a matter of timing and/or performing some other task to reveal it, while it's trying it's best to kill you.

 

The fights are generally quite short... with you either killing the boss quickly, or him smashing you, or lasering you, or whatever.  The game itself is quite short, if you know what to do and can execute this correctly.  You only need to get through 13 bosses to complete the game, 19 for the "Truth" ending.  But, the catch is that it's all quite difficult.  Sure, a few bosses are pretty easy to cheese and there are others that you can kill quickly with good timing...  but still, it's a tough game.

 

Really, this is only of those short indie games where the main draw is that it's difficult.  Maybe you hate that, maybe you love it.  Personally, I really like these sort of games and am glad I had a chance to play this one through PS Plus.  The music was also surprisingly good most of the time, too.

 

I'll leave you with a video of my Hard Mode fight against a plant themed boss, Vinethesis.  He's not the most difficult...  kind of middle of the road.  No easy way to cheese him or kill him quickly as far as I know, but not one of the more difficult ones either.

 

 

He tries to kill you with his tentacles and poison gas (which you are able to survive for a little while, but not too long).  If you ever touch any of the tentacles -- dead.  Even after you cut them off of him, you'll still die on contact.  To slay him, you need to hit his mouth, which will reveal his weak point.  He'll spin around faster at this point and you need to hit the weak point inside to kill him.  If you don't do this quick enough, he'll close back up and you're back to square one.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

 

 

Game #6: Tearaway Unfolded

Final Review

Total playtime: about four hours and forty minutes

Trophies: 16/35 for a B rank

 

Has not much tearing

Nothing unfolding either

Papercuts are bad

 

Spoiler

So I played this game quite a bit today thanks to me finishing Zelda's story yesterday. I got all the way to what seemed the final level (if you paid no attention to the pause screen's completion percentage), got the expected fake-out, ended up somewhere unknown with who knows how many levels left to go and I decided I didn't like the game nearly enough to keep going.

 

Yes, it wasn't super bad and yes, I will finish the story some day but I didn't feel like continuing right now. It's just too slow and not difficult enough, I'd probably have enjoyed the game a lot more if it had been either VR or co-op.

 

I can admit that the controls are a lot of fun and the graphics are pretty cool. It should be a game I could enjoy but somehow I'm just not feeling it. Might be that I'm just not in the mood, or that first playing Witcher and then Zelda both for weeks has my interests on a different level right now.

 

 

Tearaway Unfolded final score:

Next up: 

Invisible, Inc. (with @dizzyshadow, @Fitzquaid and @Pickle2907)

 

P.S. with Tearaway Unfolded at game six, this is the first game in the event to actually drop my completion percentage. 

Edited March 19, 2017 by BillyHorrible

[Fitzquaid]

Game #6: Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascension

Day 3

 

I was definitely getting more to grips with this in Day 3, thanks to watching part of a Let's Play, reading the few tips I could find online, @dmland12's informative video () and the advanced strategy of trying every menu option I could find.  Even so, I've barely scratched the surface of the game.

 

I started out as a retainer, which is the lowest rank you can hold.  At that stage, all you have control over is a small patch of land.  This plays out like a very small scale city-builder, with you deciding how to best develop your domain by building new facilities, balancing resource income, and responding to requests from townspeople.  You're given sets of missions from your liege lord that you can work towards, usually based on handing over a certain quantity of gold / resources; successfully completing a mission earns you honour, which is the main way to gain status and work towards promotions, and completing a full set lets you expand your town further. 

 

You can also be asked to take part in battles by your lord, which are another way to potentially earn honour.  The battles take place in pausable real time and are fairly abstract / zoomed out, with little red and blue formations marching around the battlefield, but it looks as though you can get into more direct control if you want to.  Meanwhile the other clans are also making progress, with a few being eliminated by warfare in the early years of my game, and there are frequent interludes letting you know about historical events taking place elsewhere.

 

That's all just the first tier of the gameplay, because with each promotion you earn, you gain more power and responsibility.  I was promoted to Chamberlain which means that I'm now in charge of a castle, which is on the main strategic map of the game and completely separate to your personal domain (although you also continue to develop your town and receive the monthly income from it).  There's multiple ranks above that with the highest being Daimyo, at which point you're the leader of your clan and your goal is to unify Japan under your rule. 

 

There's a ton of systems in place that I haven't even seen yet, but it already has a Civilization-y 'just one more turn' appeal.  I think they could've done more with the tutorials and the control scheme to make it approachable for newcomers, but it also seems to be worth sticking with, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with it.

 

Personal Rating: with potential

Time Played: 3 hours-ish, including tutorials and reading help files

Trophies: 4/29 (7%) - Rank E

[Myu]

Day 18 Final Review : Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth 2

 

Trophies : 10/41 (14%)

Time played : 6 hours

Completion : 86.00% (- 2.98% since the beginning of the event)

 

 

Boooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiing. This game is sooooo boring !

Thank you DLC Gods for the 1 euro EXP Plus DLC !

 

This time, all the CP + Nepgear (don't know why Nepgear when all the other CPU Candidates are cosy at home) have been defeated by ACSI, a mysterious and evil organization, and are resting in the Gamindustri Graveyard. IF and Compa go there to try to save them and only managed to free Nepgear. This one decides to find a way to save her sister and her friends.

 

The gameplay is exactly the same as in Rebirth 1 (see @voodoo_eyes' review just above), it's very old-school, not that interesting and repetitive. Lots of characters are coming and going every few minutes, it doesn't make any sense.

 

The new addition is Stella's dungeon which is a character (again, who is she? Never seen her) you can send to previously visited areas to collect items. 

 

Kinda disappointed by the game to be honest. I don't know why that series is so popular (probably because of all the lolis in revealing swimsuits). I've played Rebirth 1, PP and Action U and they are all boring and repetitive.

 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Game #7: INVI⸮IBLE, INC.

First day
Total playtime: about two hours

 

 

First thing I noticed when I started the game was that the "S" in the title is actually a mirrored question mark, so I'm using that as well now. 

 

So the game turns out to be some form of turn-based roguelike, which is the kind of game I normally wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Luckily my last loot in Zelda was a twelve foot pole, so I figured what the hell...

 

I started out getting annoyed by the game because the control scheme makes it easy to accidentally end your turn and the game is kind of unforgiving but it's kind of appealing as well, just like with Flame Over you end up wanting to beat it even more after it knocks you down. I might just have to play this game on beginner though. Also props to the cutscene after the tutorial for springing a great cinematic twist like it's no big deal at all.

 

I can see myself giving this game a or if it can keep up the fun factor during the main game.

Edited March 19, 2017 by BillyHorrible

[dizzyshadow]

Game 6 - Dungeon 2 - Final review

Playtime : 7 Hours

Trophies: 10/20 (36%) - C Rank

 

Dungeon 2 is unsurprisingly the follow up to Dungeons which was a PC only game (haven't played it), both games are essentially a remake of the Bullfrog classic Dungeon Keeper. I very much enjoyed Dungeon keeper when i was younger so was looking forward to this however i was concerned about the controls would work for a RTS game on PS4.

 

You play as the ultimate evil who gets fed up of Heroes invading his dungeon in search of gold an experience points so decides to eradicate good from the world, he's on the brink of winning when he experiences a set back and its up to you to help restore him and get his revenge.

 

The game is pretty faithful to the original dungeon keeper, essentially dig out tunnel, build rooms, hire monsters, train them, fight of invasions however each level also has an above ground section, so the game feels like a cross between Dungeon Keeper & the original warcraft PC games (before World of Warcaft)

 

I've really enjoyed this, the game is fun it has good sense of humour,  lots of "geeky" jokes, the narrator also tells you when you are doing something wrong ("oh i assumed the troops of the ultimate evil would go another way as there is an AMBUSH waiting for them this way"). Its not all plain sailing the controls can be frustrating at times, and some things could be explained better, but i was having so much fun it didn't really bother me. Its actually the first time in this challenge when i really don't want to move on to the next game.

 

Trophies wise its all pretty straight forward, however i think there will be a lot of grind at the end to get the required gold and mana (i've finished 6 or 11 levels and only have 20-30% of what i need so far), However I'll definitely go back and platinum this.

 

Next up : Invisible Inc

[crimsonidol38]

Just wanted to drop in and say thanks everyone for the kind words.

 

On 17.3.2017 at 3:52 PM, Hemiak said:

I'm really sorry to hear that man. You've brought a lot to the events and you will be missed. I hope you're able to resolve your issues swiftly and positively. Don't hesitate to say hi if you do return. 

 

 

That's surprising to hear that I brought much into the events but in a positive way. 

 

On 17.3.2017 at 4:13 PM, DamagingRob said:

Sorry to hear that.  Don't be a Drifter for too long, and come on back to us.  

 

I had to smile as that's a nice reference to Wild Arms.

 

On 17.3.2017 at 9:58 AM, NebbyLunala said:

Are you leaving the forums because of these issues? We're gonna miss you!

 

 

Nah, don't think so. I still promised a follow-up for the Vita-event. It's just that I will reduce my activity in the next few weeks. 

[wtru9]

 

Game #6 - Just Cause 2

Day 3 - Final Thoughts

Playtime: 8 + 3/4 hours

 

You know how in my previous post on this game I said all the characters spoke in foreign accents? Well, I've found an American and OH BOY is that an over the top patriotic American accent/ character if I've ever heard one. I think this guy may be more American than Uncle Sam himself in the way he curses the Swede and the way he says "foreign" with an underlying tone of disgust all whilst preaching American self-righteousness. Having progressed a bit further in the story I can firmly say that it certainly isn't to be taken seriously. But you know what, it's nice to come across an action adventure game that doesn't take itself at all seriously every once in a while (although in saying that, humor has been a major element of 4/6 of my games so far). Minor spoilers ahead as I delve into a few of my experiences with some of the game's zanier moments. (Not story related per-say, but can ruin an unexpected moment for sure)

Spoiler

-One particular mission has you invade a military base to blow up some stuff, you know, the usual Just Cause thing. You make your way to the final objective when all of a sudden the guy over the intercom says "You have intruded far enough. Now prepare to meet your demise at the hands of... (dramatic pause as the camera pans around to show what's behind you) ... my NINJA!". I dunno why I found this particular moment so funny, it just caught me a bit of guard I suppose

- Another mission has you fighting 100 year old Japanese soldiers who still think WW2 is ongoing, on an island where you solve a mystery reminiscent of the Bermuda Triangle.

 

There are a few gripes I have had with the game so far. First of all ammo is really limited for the kind of destruction based game that it is. I'd almost expect every gun to have unlimited ammo, or at the very least a bullet capacity of a several hundred bullets, not just under 200 . There isn't even a nice, cheap and easy way to refill your depleted ammo other than picking it up off of dead guys, or hoping to come across the correct weapon cache for the particular gun in question. Perhaps this is something that gets resolved later in this game (but I haven't seen an upgrade system yet for ammunition), or I'm being incredibly stupid and I've missed something obvious, but nothing kills a spree of mayhem and destruction like having to be mindful of conserving your bullets if you don't want to run out of them in less than two minutes. Part of the reason I've tried to use the helicopter as much as I could is simply because they've got unlimited ammo, whilst your normal guns don't.

 

But overall I've enjoyed the game so far, the island setting is relaxing and varied enough such that it isn't as "same-y" as you might expect with a map this size, even if it feels like it's a bit unnecessarily large (Also according to the wikipedia page it's partly inspired by New Zealand, so that gives it a big tick in my books ). There's been plenty to do and collect (and I mean PLENTY to collect; you thought those AC2 feathers were bad, try collecting all the 3000 collectables in this game!), and the story is, well, something else. The grappling hook has quickly become one of my favourite ways to deal with rooftop snipers in video games, and is just an all around fun game mechanic to abus- I mean use. Mowing down enemies with dual wield rapid fire SMGs is as satisfying as it always is. Just Cause 2 has earned a from me (That's 3 golds in a row now!)

 

Next Up: Tropico 5 (From blowing stuff up, to building stuff up)

[Jaguargenie]

Game # 6

The Talos Principle

Trophies: 14/40 (24%)

My completion: 73.51% (-1.62%)

 

*Full disclosure: I made a statement in my impressions that there were puzzles that couldn't be solved but open to the player. That's not true. I was just to dumb/tired to figure them out at the time. All puzzles I have enountered thus far can be solved at the time you get there. You just have to be able to!*

 

Pros: I love puzzle games. This one makes my brain hurt. So it's awesome. I haven't come across a puzzle yet that is unfair. Some are just incredibly hard. But when you solve it, you get that classic sense of accomplishment that only a puzzle game can give. 

 

The story here can be totally ignored if you want, but the war of words between Elohim and 'the serpent' is escalating. I love it, because they are both starting to very obviously bicker back and forth and try and convince you that their way is the right way. The back story explaining where you are is also tucked away in a digital archive that is slowly revealed to you, but again, completely optional. 

 

The settings are all very cool as well. Environments are as much a setting as part of the puzzle and it's all well done. There are three main stages with similar settings you teleport to in order to access the puzzles. They all feel like ruined pieces of a lost civilization rather than a blank slate like in Portal. 

 

I'll stop there because I'm gushing and I don't want to repeat all the stuff I said from the initial impressions. 

 

Cons: There seems to be a small issue with controls in that the camera stutters when moving up and down. Since this is a first person puzzle game, you look around a lot. It's a bit annoying. The only other criticism I can level is some puzzles are HARD. The level of difficulty on some will turn players off. This is not an easy game by any stretch. 

 

Final thoughts: I havent played a puzzle game with this level of polish and difficulty in a long time. If you like puzzle games, pick it up. No doubt about it. 

 

Overall: (DMC rating scale)

S

 

Platinum Potential: (DMC scale)

S. Multiple endings but it looks like with a little careful management (and maybe some USB save manipulation ), you can get away with one playthrough. But it has to be 100% so that's going to be a tough mountain to climb. 

[DamagingRob]

3 hours ago, Myu said:

(don't know why Nepgear when all the other CPU Candidates are cosy at home)

One thing to keep in mind is, the first Re;Birth was a complete remake. 2 is more of a copy and paste of Mk2, with a bit of added stuff. The rest of the little sisters were originally introduced in this installment. And I think weren't ready for combat, when this was going down. 

 

3 hours ago, Myu said:

(probably because of all the lolis in revealing swimsuits)

There are likely those that play them for that reason. They're not for everyone. But I play them, 'cause I think they're fun, and the characters tend to make me laugh. I really enjoyed the story of this particular installment, and ended up caring more about the little sisters than I did the main cast. 

[NebbyLunala]

2 hours ago, Crimson Idol said:

Nah, don't think so. I still promised a follow-up for the Vita-event. It's just that I will reduce my activity in the next few weeks. 

 

Phew, that's good to know. I'm glad you're still around. I hope whatever is bringing you down gets resolved quickly. If you need to cut down on your event participation, I understand. I'm trying to avoid being in too many events myself.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

2 hours ago, wtru9 said:

 

Game #6 - Just Cause 2

Day 3 - Final Thoughts

Playtime: 8 + 3/4 hours

 

You know how in my previous post on this game I said all the characters spoke in foreign accents? Well, I've found an American and OH BOY is that an over the top patriotic American accent/ character if I've ever heard one. I think this guy may be more American than Uncle Sam himself in the way he curses the Swede and the way he says "foreign" with an underlying tone of disgust all whilst preaching American self-righteousness. Having progressed a bit further in the story I can firmly say that it certainly isn't to be taken seriously. But you know what, it's nice to come across an action adventure game that doesn't take itself at all seriously every once in a while (although in saying that, humor has been a major element of 4/6 of my games so far). Minor spoilers ahead as I delve into a few of my experiences with some of the game's zanier moments. (Not story related per-say, but can ruin an unexpected moment for sure)

  Reveal hidden contents

-One particular mission has you invade a military base to blow up some stuff, you know, the usual Just Cause thing. You make your way to the final objective when all of a sudden the guy over the intercom says "You have intruded far enough. Now prepare to meet your demise at the hands of... (dramatic pause as the camera pans around to show what's behind you) ... my NINJA!". I dunno why I found this particular moment so funny, it just caught me a bit of guard I suppose

- Another mission has you fighting 100 year old Japanese soldiers who still think WW2 is ongoing, on an island where you solve a mystery reminiscent of the Bermuda Triangle.

 

There are a few gripes I have had with the game so far. First of all ammo is really limited for the kind of destruction based game that it is. I'd almost expect every gun to have unlimited ammo, or at the very least a bullet capacity of a several hundred bullets, not just under 200 . There isn't even a nice, cheap and easy way to refill your depleted ammo other than picking it up off of dead guys, or hoping to come across the correct weapon cache for the particular gun in question. Perhaps this is something that gets resolved later in this game (but I haven't seen an upgrade system yet for ammunition), or I'm being incredibly stupid and I've missed something obvious, but nothing kills a spree of mayhem and destruction like having to be mindful of conserving your bullets if you don't want to run out of them in less than two minutes. Part of the reason I've tried to use the helicopter as much as I could is simply because they've got unlimited ammo, whilst your normal guns don't.

 

But overall I've enjoyed the game so far, the island setting is relaxing and varied enough such that it isn't as "same-y" as you might expect with a map this size, even if it feels like it's a bit unnecessarily large (Also according to the wikipedia page it's partly inspired by New Zealand, so that gives it a big tick in my books ). There's been plenty to do and collect (and I mean PLENTY to collect; you thought those AC2 feathers were bad, try collecting all the 3000 collectables in this game!), and the story is, well, something else. The grappling hook has quickly become one of my favourite ways to deal with rooftop snipers in video games, and is just an all around fun game mechanic to abus- I mean use. Mowing down enemies with dual wield rapid fire SMGs is as satisfying as it always is. Just Cause 2 has earned a from me (That's 3 golds in a row now!)

 

Next Up: Tropico 5 (From blowing stuff up, to building stuff up)

 

If Just Cause 2 earns a then I'd really advise Just Cause 3, it's even better (a lot better, actually).

 

P.S. that island you talk about in your spoiler?

Spoiler

It's based on the island from Lost.

 

Also Tropico 5 is cool, a damn shame that I have not gone back to it yet after KYC1.

Edited March 19, 2017 by BillyHorrible

[Myu]

17 minutes ago, DamagingRob said:

One thing to keep in mind is, the first Re;Birth was a complete remake. 2 is more of a copy and paste of Mk2, with a bit of added stuff. The rest of the little sisters were originally introduced in this installment. And I think weren't ready for combat, when this was going down. 

 

There are likely those that play them for that reason. They're not for everyone. But I play them, 'cause I think they're fun, and the characters tend to make me laugh. I really enjoyed the story of this particular installment, and ended up caring more about the little sisters than I did the main cast. 

 

Yeah, it really feels like they were aiming at die-hard fans of the series. Lots of extra contents, lots of characters that are probably from other titles... A bit like in The Awakened Fate Ultimatum. In that game, you unlock several post-game events that are a bit out-of-place. For example, there's an event in which Shana from Shakugan no Shana (an anime I watched several years ago) randomly appears and gives you a weapon. 

When I played Rebirth 1, I was very confused about the CPU Candidates and several other characters that you can unlock by using Plans towards the end of the game. (Again, that feeling of being totally lost, you know, who are those people??). When I started Rebirth 2 and Nepgear is trying to find the other candidates without knowing who they are, I was, again, confused. Maybe I shouldn't have played PP and Action U before the Rebirth games.  

The characters are funny from time to time but once you get used to it, it gets old pretty quick (like Compa's way of talking, or even Red in Rebirth 2.)