Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

[Rally-Vincent---]

13 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

 

I just assumed Atelier reviews were the equivalent of Peggy episodes in King of the Hill (aka insta-skips).

 

The latest game did sound interesting - except the "characters from previous entries" bit. I had that in Trails of Cold Steel IV where characters from the previous Heroes series take part, and since I didn't play that, I don't feel much for their characters.

 

 

15 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

Oh, I bought a PS5, by the way. Did I forget to mention that? They went on sale one day and I got lucky enough to get one. Actually played Nelke on it as my first PS5 game, even though I have it for PS4. At least I know it works. It transferred all my save data from the PS4 to the PS5, which is a nice feature... Just took a few hours.

 

Nice. And they announced black controllers, did I read that right somewhere? Hopefully, when I start looking for a PS5, a black plates + black controller version is available.

 

[AJ_Radio]

4 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Oh, I bought a PS5, by the way. Did I forget to mention that? They went on sale one day and I got lucky enough to get one. Actually played Nelke on it as my first PS5 game, even though I have it for PS4. At least I know it works. It transferred all my save data from the PS4 to the PS5, which is a nice feature... Just took a few hours.

 

People have been doing this to autopop a lot of trophies by transferring their saves from PS4 to PS5. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered basically gives you all the trophies you already earned on the PS4 except for the one DLC pack that is exclusive to the PS5 version. Even so, I hear it only takes around 30 - 60 minutes to get them all.

 

It's just an incredibly cheap way to earn a lot of trophies, at this point it's just collecting stamps. Sure I got some games in my collection that I autopopped but those were the exception rather than the norm. Most of everything I stacked I had to play through a second time, but just about all of those games were ones I really enjoyed such as Ratchet & Clank, so I didn't mind doing that.

 

I don't know. I still cannot get a PS5 in my area and even if I could it's far too expensive. I would have to pay overprice for one since there is still a great shortage of PS5 consoles. My golden rule is I don't generally switch until two or three years after the launch of a console.

 

I waited until July 2015 to pick up my PS4 that came shipped with a copy of Batman: Arkham Knight, and that was literally the perfect time to switch over. This time around, I'm reaching a point in my life where gaming just isn't wowing me nearly as much as it used to. I got family responsibilities, bills, a couple kids to look after every now and then, and everything else that is keeping me away from gaming.

 

That's great that you have one. But for me I'm content with what I have at the moment.

[Cassylvania]

On 5/25/2021 at 5:31 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

Nice. And they announced black controllers, did I read that right somewhere? Hopefully, when I start looking for a PS5, a black plates + black controller version is available.

 

I'm not sure. I like my white controller. I have a white one for the PS4 too, which fortunately works on the PS5 because I'd be really upset if I had to stop gaming every time I need to recharge my controller.

 

On 5/25/2021 at 10:13 PM, AJ_Radio said:

People have been doing this to autopop a lot of trophies by transferring their saves from PS4 to PS5. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered basically gives you all the trophies you already earned on the PS4 except for the one DLC pack that is exclusive to the PS5 version. Even so, I hear it only takes around 30 - 60 minutes to get them all.

 

I don't think I'd do that, even if I got the PS5 version for free. I like to think of every platinum as a journey. Kinda defeats the purpose if you have two platinums that are the same. Even moreso if one is an autopop.

 

But that's just me. I wouldn't mind platinuming something like Dark Souls again.

 

Anyway, speaking of Souls...

 

Platinum #257 - Crossing Souls

 

Back in the Ronald Reagan days, when we put satellites in space...

 

Man, the 80's were simpler times. It's one thing to have a retro renaissance in today's market, but it's another to actually set a game in that era. Why haven't we seen that done more often?

 

I'm going to make this one simple, guys. Buy it. I don't care if it's on sale or not. It's up there with Children of Morta, Ikenfell, and Obra Dinn for great storytelling and presentation. I may even like it more than all three of them. I'm not sure how all these indie games with pixelated graphics are absolutely wrecking the competition for GOTY this year, but maybe it's time we start feeling embarrassed for AAA titles.

 

I will say the combat is a little dull, some of the puzzles are annoying, and I'm not in love with the platforming, but all that takes a backseat to the characters, the journey, and the great soundtrack. This is a prime example of a game where the gameplay is NOT what matters. I don't think you need to have grown up in the 80's or even the 90's to appreciate what they did here, but it certainly helps.

 

And that's all I really want to say. Anything else would be spoiler territory.

[AJ_Radio]

Had to wait 13 days for a response. I guess you've been pretty busy.

 

2 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Man, the 80's were simpler times. It's one thing to have a retro renaissance in today's market, but it's another to actually set a game in that era. Why haven't we seen that done more often?

 

I'm going to make this one simple, guys. Buy it. I don't care if it's on sale or not. It's up there with Children of Morta, Ikenfell, and Obra Dinn for great storytelling and presentation. I may even like it more than all three of them. I'm not sure how all these indie games with pixelated graphics are absolutely wrecking the competition for GOTY this year, but maybe it's time we start feeling embarrassed for AAA titles.

 

I will say the combat is a little dull, some of the puzzles are annoying, and I'm not in love with the platforming, but all that takes a backseat to the characters, the journey, and the great soundtrack. This is a prime example of a game where the gameplay is NOT what matters. I don't think you need to have grown up in the 80's or even the 90's to appreciate what they did here, but it certainly helps.

 

And that's all I really want to say. Anything else would be spoiler territory.

 

I can live with the 90s and early 2000s. The avatar and part of my old signature are from an old computer game in the early 90s. Commander Keen. Nobody will know him unless you were around in the old days.

 

I personally think indie games are absolutely wrecking the competition when it comes to original content. I absolutely loved Transistor and Bastion, they were both unique and told their stories in unique ways. For the more traditional platformer, Shovel Knight is up there as one of the best. Such an awesome game, one that I really need to go back to wrap up the DLC.

 

If you don't mind some old style point and clicks, one I can recommend is The Little Acre. Has that old 80s/90s cartoon style animation, and it really tells a cute story. Gameplay isn't its strong point, but in games like that it doesn't need to be.

 

Unfortunately for many AAA titles in my opinion, they're beginning to feel too corporatized, if you get my meaning.

Edited June 7, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[winter_bird_22]

Who'd like me to make a 16-bit RPG styled after Miitopia and put it out for people to plaster a trophy list on it? I don't even care if they make it a Ratalaika game which you only need to do 10% to get the platinum, Miitopia is kicking trophy hunting's ass right now, especially the Switch version which lets you feed a horse curry and make it belch fireballs that destroy enemies with goofy faces.

[realm722]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I'm going to make this one simple, guys. Buy it. I don't care if it's on sale or not. It's up there with Children of Morta, Ikenfell, and Obra Dinn for great storytelling and presentation. I may even like it more than all three of them. I'm not sure how all these indie games with pixelated graphics are absolutely wrecking the competition for GOTY this year, but maybe it's time we start feeling embarrassed for AAA titles.

 

And that's all I really want to say. Anything else would be spoiler territory.

 

Woooo! I'm happy to hear it. You convinced me to put Ikenfell on my Wishlist for when it goes on sale and coincidentally enough I bought Crossing Souls since it was on sale for $3.74 a few months ago in April and now you've made me bump it up my priority list. It hit that perfect sweet spot for me of having a good rarity plat but also not being too long that I just blindly pulled the trigger without knowing the gameplay. It sounds like it's one of those games you just like to "hang out in" even if the gameplay isn't the most stellar and I'll easily take that for a game of it's ilk.

 

As a side note... I can't help but notice you're playing a number of games simultaneously that I've always been a bit curious about. I don't mean for you to spoil your future rivals but if you can I'd like to hear a few of your thoughts.

 

1) Wargroove - I nearly bought it on sale awhile back, but the ultra rare plat + essentially 0 trophy guide help held me back. I can see you're still early on, but you enjoying it?

2) Kingdom: Two Crowns - I quite enjoyed my time with New Lands, platted it in Feb. 2020, while you got it in Nov. 2018. Is this kinda like a DQ Heroes situation where you signed up for a grind in the sequel just because it had been awhile since you played the original?
3) Torchlight II - Game I know the least about but is on sale for $6 atm. Lean positive or negative? 

[gruffiiti]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Platinum #257 - Crossing Souls

 

 

This is still one of my favorite games I have played and coincidentally I just finished Children of Morta last night which was also worthy of being in my favorites as it was excellent! I was also thinking the other day that its funny how some of these pixel games are much more fun to play and seem to hold my attention far longer than a lot of AAA games out now. If you put Ikenfell on the same pedestal as these games I'm off to buy it right away.

[Cassylvania]

4 hours ago, realm722 said:

1) Wargroove - I nearly bought it on sale awhile back, but the ultra rare plat + essentially 0 trophy guide help held me back. I can see you're still early on, but you enjoying it?

2) Kingdom: Two Crowns - I quite enjoyed my time with New Lands, platted it in Feb. 2020, while you got it in Nov. 2018. Is this kinda like a DQ Heroes situation where you signed up for a grind in the sequel just because it had been awhile since you played the original?
3) Torchlight II - Game I know the least about but is on sale for $6 atm. Lean positive or negative? 

 

Wargroove is OK. It's very similar to Advance Wars, which is another game I liked back in the day. The trophy list is probably going to ruin it, though. You have to get an S-rank on every mission, which means playing on the hardest difficulty AND finishing that mission under a certain number of turns. I really hate "speed"-based trophies in strategy games, even if you can take as long as you want every turn. (I should also point out that the game has been patched since a lot of guides/walkthroughs were made, so you can't use follow a video 1:1 and expect to get the same results. Prices of unit have changed and so has the AI.)

 

If you played New Lands and liked it, I guess you could play Two Crowns, but don't expect a lot of new content. In fact, I spent a good chunk of time thinking that they had released the same game under a slightly different name. I think the big difference is that you can play co-op, and maybe the way you go about killing the Greed is different...? I refuse to call it a sequel. It's a repackaging of an older game that should have been DLC or a 1.10 patch.

 

If you get Torchlight II, you can play with me and @Briste and whoever else buys it. It's OK. I hate not being able to respec and I think the grind might suck, but it's mindless enough to be fun. Sometimes I just don't want to think.

 

I'm probably not going to recommend any of them because of the trophy lists. Two Crowns in particular pisses me off. There's a trophy for having 20 max towers on a single island, but I can't do that because none of my islands have enough spots to build those towers, so I need to start a brand new game and hope I get better RNG on the one of the later islands (since the earlier islands are too small to spawn 20+ locations). Naturally I found this out after wasting two hours getting every tower maxed out on my final island.

 

4 hours ago, gruffiiti said:

This is still one of my favorite games I have played and coincidentally I just finished Children of Morta last night which was also worthy of being in my favorites as it was excellent! I was also thinking the other day that its funny how some of these pixel games are much more fun to play and seem to hold my attention far longer than a lot of AAA games out now. If you put Ikenfell on the same pedestal as these games I'm off to buy it right away.

 

I'll have to think about their placements. I put CoM on my favorite games list, I didn't put Ikenfell there, and I'm on the fence about Crossing Souls. I think if I were to compare them to each other, their storylines and characters are all comparable (you know, equally amazing), but CoM has the best gameplay. Ikenfell has a...win-the-game button, which is appreciated, I guess, but they're all fairly challenging. I'd say 4 or 5 out of 10, if you aren't abusing Ikenfell's Victory Mode and you're playing CoM on Hard difficulty (as you should). Crossing Souls just has a few bosses that can be a pain in the ass if you aren't stocked up on lollipops.

 

Really cool to play through all these games in the same year. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Ikenfell, since it's probably the least known game on the list.

 

14 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

Had to wait 13 days for a response. I guess you've been pretty busy.

 

Yeah, I hate having to navigate to the second page to post an update...

 

Chalk it up to laziness. I was out of town for a couple days somewhere in there.

[AJ_Radio]

Life gets in the way. Happens to all of us.

[Together_Comic]

22 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I'm going to make this one simple, guys. Buy it. I don't care if it's on sale or not. It's up there with Children of Morta, Ikenfell, and Obra Dinn for great storytelling and presentation.

 

Welp there goes $15.  @Cassylvania strikes again.

[winter_bird_22]

They just announced Two-Point Campus on the Summer Games show, Cassy. I mention this because I was wondering if you plan to platinum that game when it comes out since you did Two-Point Hospital. It looks really cool.

 

Also, a D&D game is coming to PS5. I can't wait to bust out my halfling monk.

[Cassylvania]

On 6/10/2021 at 6:08 PM, winter_bird_22 said:

They just announced Two-Point Campus on the Summer Games show, Cassy. I mention this because I was wondering if you plan to platinum that game when it comes out since you did Two-Point Hospital. It looks really cool.

 

Hm. Maybe. I'll probably wait for all the DLC to drop first. The Jumbo Edition of TPH was priced a little high for my liking. I'm also getting tired of having to relearn games like Cities: Skylines, Prison Architect, The Long Dark, and soon-to-be Graveyard Keeper, just because the developers have the audacity to release new content years after release.

 

And hey, while we're on the topic of new content years after release...

 

Platinum #258 - Kingdom: Two Crowns

 

I was about twelve hours into this game when I realized, "Hey, I've done this all before." I actually had to check to see if this was actually a new game or a re-release of Kingdom: New Lands. Turns out there IS some new content here, but it is really not worth your time if you've played the original. The only exception to this, and I'm too lazy to check to see if it works, is if you're able to play Dead Lands (a modified version of the main game) to get the base game trophies. That one is actually kinda fun because the textures and models in the game change, and you can play as one of several Bloodstained characters in a weird 505 Games crossover. It doesn't change the overall mechanics, but their special abilities are nice.

 

Otherwise, it's more of the same if you've played the original. Here, you're trying to clear out the Greed on five islands. On each island, you have to rebuild your ship, fend off the Greed, and sail to the next island as quickly as possible. In the original, I think winter is eternal (essentially end-game content), but there are seasons in this game. Every 16 days constitutes one season, and every day is about four real world minutes. You spend your days expanding your kingdom and your nights cowering behind your walls while the Greed try to murder you by stealing your hat. Unfortunately, what they DON'T tell you is that the Greed continue to get stronger, even when you sail to another island. This caused me to game over on the fourth island because I stayed for too long and essentially made the Greed too powerful to survive the first day on the fifth island. You really want to get to the fourth island in the first year, unlock the iron upgrade, and sail back to the first island by winter. From there, you can focus on clearing out the Greed on each island (impossible until you get the upgrade) and start on the fifth island before the second winter. You're probably not likely to do this on your first try unless you're a veteran of the original game.

 

If you haven't played the original, then yeah, I think this is worth a buy. It's a neat twist on a tower defense game. If it wasn't for the artificial time limit, this would actually be a very relaxing game, but some of the trophies are really dumb. Beware of the one that requires having 20 max towers on one island. This is impossible to do if you build certain upgrades because it cancels out your ability to place towers in certain locations. I had to start a new game just to do this. The trophy for retrieving your crown 300 times is also a troll by the devs. As is sailing to a new island in co-op 50 times. (Which reminds me. If you have two controllers, play in co-op split screen. Doesn't matter if you have no friends. Just sit the second player at your base while you explore the island. He can gather coins from your archers and help with your expansions/recruits. It really made my later playthroughs a lot more efficient, even if you lose some screen space.)

 

Dumbest trophy of all is having to wait 200 days before returning to an island and fixing a wall. That's why I didn't platinum it until now.

 

On a side note, I made the badges look nicer on the first page. Organized them by year. Kinda wanted to put all the Gaming by Numbers ones together, but this made more sense...

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #259 - Banner of the Maid

 

Yes, it's a game about French maids. Yes, it's developed by an Asian studio. No, it's not what you think.

 

Banner of the Maid is probably the closest thing to Fire Emblem I've seen on a Playstation console. In this game, you play as Pauline Bonaparte (real world sister to Napoleon), in what I can only imagine is a very accurate depiction of the French Revolution. You may not have known this, but certain women throughout time, like Joan of Arc, have been blessed with THE POWER OF THE MAIDS, which grants them the special ability to inspire the people around them. She also may or may not have magical powers. The game is very vague about this.

 

In reality, this is a much more "realistic" turn-based strategy game than Fire Emblem. By that, I just mean the amount of "fantasy" elements in here is pretty much limited to the number of women on the battlefield and the clothes they wear. There are no mythical beasts or spellcasters, which is actually a nice change of pace. Instead, you have light and heavy infantry and light and heavy cavalry, which form a sort of weapon triangle (I guess it's more of a square). You also have artillery, which are like your long-range casters, and military bands, which are your bards (that heal and inspire your troops, like wannabe Maids). I kinda like this approach because I always thought it was a little weird in Fire Emblem games how a small team of super soldiers could fight off entire armies and save the world. Here, your individual units are commanding a battalion, and when that battalion is defeated, they retreat. This gives you the best of both worlds because your units aren't just faceless characters, like they are in Advance Wars and that Wargroove game I'm playing now, but you still feel like death is happening on both sides of the battlefield. This game isn't particularly emotional when it comes to that, but it's still a nice compromise.

 

The story is OK. It's obviously an alternate reality, and you have to just accept the Maid narrative. They're surprisingly tactful about it. While I could do without the comically large boobs on Marie Antionette, I felt like every character was about as well-written as you can expect from a Fire Emblem-esque game, which is to say they're unique enough to be different and they come across as actual people. That's not the impression I would've gotten solely from looking at the artwork.

 

Now, if you're played an FE game before, you're probably wondering if there's a permadeath system. There's not. I'm on the fence about whether that's a good or bad thing in other games. In FE games, I like it because it lets me kill off the characters I don't like. It also allows me to commit to challenge runs. However, it makes it difficult to balance the game. In order to keep the player from getting soft-locked (or something close to it), you'd have to constantly introduce new characters and give players alternate ways to complete certain maps. In BotM, every character feels important. That's something I want to stress if you're going to play it. You may not like a character, but that weapon square I talked about before? Yeah, it matters. For the majority of the game, you'll be using almost every character on your roster, and it's kinda critical that you level them up together. This game is actually comfortably challenging on the hardest difficulty, which is what you'll need to play on for the trophy. (You'll also want a guide. Some of the trophies are missable.)

 

Certain maps have additional challenges, such as clearing the map in x amount of turns or not letting a certain character take any damage. (It's really stupid when that character is controlled by the suicidal AI.) I didn't like these. You'll need to complete most of them for a trophy, but you can skip a few. I probably restarted more battles than I should've because I got the trophy with about eight chapters to go...but not every mission has a challenge objective.

 

We have to choose a waifu, of course. But it's not easy for this one. For the first 1/3 of the game, Oscar was probably my best character. She eventually fell off and only redeemed herself in the final chapter, where she cleared an entire side by herself. For the middle part of the game, Adélaïde (that was a pain to type) was a GOD. I'd usually use her as a decoy because her dodge was so high. That she started dying in a couple hits and you can't really control which direction your character faces (unless you're attacking), so it was easy for her to get flanked... And in the final stretch of the game, it was all Cosette. She gets this ability called Heroic Reload that lets her move/attack again up to two times per battle, which is great for clearing out swarms of enemies or making a break for the boss.

 

In the end, I'm giving it to my girl Pauline for being the only one female dressed appropriately (relatively speaking -- not sure about those boots) for the time period.

 

I also pumped her full of every stat-boosting item I could get my hands on since it's game over if she dies.

 

There's a lot more I could talk about when it comes to the combat, but I just want to say that this is one of those rare examples where I see a game try to imitate another series and actually do it right. When I talk about my issues with games like The Surge and Phantom Doctrine, it's not that I think they're being unoriginal -- it's that I think they're imitating the wrong things. BotM feels like a game that saw what Fire Emblem was doing, took the good aspects, and added their own spin. I'm cool with that.

 

It is a little weird to hear French characters speaking Chinese, though...

 

So, yeah. I'll recommend this game to my hardcore TBS friends. You're looking at probably 40-50 hours here, if you do most of the side missions and actually read the story, which is presented in visual novel format (similar to the FE games). I think I bought it full price, and I think it's worth that. If you're not into strategy games...eh, there's probably not much here for you. This is a tactical game through and through, and it's one of the best ones I've seen.

 

Also, where else are you going to see Napoleon Bonaparte as an anime boy?

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Cassylvania

[winter_bird_22]

9 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

Yeah, it matters. For the majority of the game, you'll be using almost every character on your roster, and it's kinda critical that you level them up together.

This sounds like Miitopia. At first you get three characters, they get kidnapped, you get three new characters, they get kidnapped, you get three more characters, they get kidnapped, and you rescue everyone and find you have nine (bleep bleep) companions who have to share room and start gift exchanges that piss off other companions. And if you don't level everyone to your level, they will DIE against the final boss of the game because EVERYONE has to fight it.

 

At least they put in a stage where you can farm Rare Snurps to get 64000 EXP if you can kill them quickly before they flee. Rare Snurps are kiwi bird creatures that are the Metal Slimes of Miitopia. Also, my cleric got sick and I had to use my stupid weak flower to heal. *cry*

[realm722]

15 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

So, yeah. I'll recommend this game to my hardcore TBS friends. You're looking at probably 40-50 hours here, if you do most of the side missions and actually read the story, which is presented in visual novel format (similar to the FE games). I think I bought it full price, and I think it's worth that. If you're not into strategy games...eh, there's probably not much here for you. This is a tactical game through and through, and it's one of the best ones I've seen.

 

Yanno Cassy, I like to think of myself as a pretty nice gem finder of obscure, intriguing, unique games most people who play PS4 don't really bother to look at or think twice about. I'm usually caught up on most latest releases, know every time a major one goes on sale, and at this point - there isn't much that's worth playing that I haven't heard at least the title of.

 

But this one takes the cake. I've never seen or heard of "Banner of the Maid" in my entire life. I don't even know how that's possible. It's literally the only game besides The Banner Saga series that pops up if you search "banner" on the "Games" section of PSNProfiles. It's never been on sale, so that prolly contributes to it - so I did some digging on the rather absurd aspects as you purported in your review and good lord. What a game man. I can't believe it's GOOD with such a ridiculous premise as you stated at the outset. 

 

As for whether I'll pick it up or not, forgive me if you've talked further about it elsewhere but my only experience with the Fire Emblem franchise is I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Switch over a year ago, picked the blue team, had a frigging AWESOME time with it since I enjoyed the turn-based aspect of creating your squad, having to be careful with them to avoid perma-death (I killed Ingrid accidentally :(, but Mercedes was my favorite), but once I finished the 1st act of the game - and then just... dropped it. I don't remember not wanting to continue playing. I should get back to it some day. Is there any social aspect ala Persona/Fire Emblem where you rank-up certain members or nah not really? 

[Together_Comic]

9 hours ago, realm722 said:

 

Yanno Cassy, I like to think of myself as a pretty nice gem finder of obscure, intriguing, unique games most people who play PS4 don't really bother to look at or think twice about. I'm usually caught up on most latest releases, know every time a major one goes on sale, and at this point - there isn't much that's worth playing that I haven't heard at least the title of.

 

But this one takes the cake. I've never seen or heard of "Banner of the Maid" in my entire life.

 

Cassylvania is the undisputed GOAT when it comes to Niche games.   Half the stuff they play has me saying what the f*** is this. ?

[Rally-Vincent---]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

So, yeah. I'll recommend this game to my hardcore TBS friends.

 

Too late. Already stalked your profile earlier, had a quick look what this is, bought it.

 

11 hours ago, realm722 said:

As for whether I'll pick it up or not, forgive me if you've talked further about it elsewhere but my only experience with the Fire Emblem franchise is I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Switch over a year ago, picked the blue team, had a frigging AWESOME time with it since I enjoyed the turn-based aspect of creating your squad, having to be careful with them to avoid perma-death (I killed Ingrid accidentally :(, but Mercedes was my favorite), but once I finished the 1st act of the game - and then just... dropped it. I don't remember not wanting to continue playing. I should get back to it some day. Is there any social aspect ala Persona/Fire Emblem where you rank-up certain members or nah not really? 

 

I watched a whole playthrough. I would have liked to play it myself, but I can't even keep up with my backlog without getting another system.

[Cassylvania]

16 hours ago, realm722 said:

As for whether I'll pick it up or not, forgive me if you've talked further about it elsewhere but my only experience with the Fire Emblem franchise is I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Switch over a year ago, picked the blue team, had a frigging AWESOME time with it since I enjoyed the turn-based aspect of creating your squad, having to be careful with them to avoid perma-death (I killed Ingrid accidentally :(, but Mercedes was my favorite), but once I finished the 1st act of the game - and then just... dropped it. I don't remember not wanting to continue playing. I should get back to it some day. Is there any social aspect ala Persona/Fire Emblem where you rank-up certain members or nah not really? 

 

So, for those of you who haven't played an FE game before, what he's referring to is the ability to increase the "support" between two characters by having them fight alongside each other in battle. This would unlock new dialogue and give those characters a temporary boost to their stats whenever they were near each other. Basically, this was shipping before the internet ruined it. But it was neat at the time because it introduced a system that rewarded you for sticking to a smaller cast or your favorite characters and then punished you when one of them died in permadeath mode. Still probably the best way I've seen to get me emotionally invested in virtual people. (And yes, XCOM did it too, and it's why I praise that game so highly.)

 

Unfortunately, Banner of the Maid has no such thing. It wouldn't really work anyway since the majority of the playable characters are female. (Or, I should say, the majority of the ones I used were female. Desaix is the only dude I thought was even remotely useful. And yes, Oscar is a girl.) I think what most of the people want in a support system is the ability to get two characters (who aren't canonically related) romantically involved, but you'll have to live out those fantasies in your head or your DeviantArt drawings. It's unfortunate too because much of the narrative is about how the various factions of France view Pauline, so there is a sort of built-it "support" system already. It just doesn't apply to individual characters. Instead, you might be given a choice of whether to execute a traitor or put him on trial. There are no wrong answers, but your decision will increase your support from one of the factions, which in turn allows you to buy better items from that faction's shop. So, the reward system is there, but the execution could've used a little work.

 

As for how I even found out about this game... https://www.50gameslike.com/

 

You can type in any game and find a list of games that are similar. It's great for niche genres, like farming sims and deck builders, and you can filter out games by platform. That's actually how I found out about that other Banner game you mentioned. It just kept popping up when I'd search for stuff like Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles. The site isn't perfect (sometimes they get the platforms wrong and I don't always agree with the tags), but it's a lot easier than trying to research every new game that comes out only to find out it's another Ratalaika. I'd say that's where the majority of my "What the f***?" games come from.

 

So, just to walk you through my process... After playing BotM, I might be like, "Yeah, I could go for another game like this," and I'll start searching: https://www.50gameslike.com/games-like/banner-of-the-maid/ps4

 

Assuming you see the same list as me, I've already completed about half of those games on the first page. Ryza is not a TBS. I don't know why Persona 5 and Yakuza 7 are there. I guess because they're Japanese. Some of them are 2021 releases, like Mercenaries Blaze, which I've been keeping an eye on. I'm not loving the look of Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom. I see similar assets to what they used in Marenian Tavern Story, which I despised. Crystal Ortha might be worth a deeper look. (I look on PSNP and it has a plat rarity of 52%. I probably wouldn't pay $15 for that, but maybe on sale.) Liege Dragon has bad reviews. Wasteland 3 came up again... I come across this one a lot.

 

You can also search for the top games in each genre. For example, here are the top 50 tactical PS4 games: https://www.50gameslike.com/best-games-by-type/tactical/ps4

 

That's where I found Wintermoor and Phantom Doctrine. You can see they say Phoenix Point and Into the Breach are on PS4, when they're not (yet). I like to watch "top _____" YouTube videos too, but they miss a lot of the more obscure games.

 

7 hours ago, Rally-Vincent--- said:

Too late. Already stalked your profile earlier, had a quick look what this is, bought it.

 

Hope you like it. Be sure to use a guide to know which trophies are missable. You need to reach level 3 with every faction, but that's not too hard. You also don't have to recruit every character or do every side mission, but you need to do some. The important trophies are related to searching certain areas on specific maps. If you miss one of those items, I imagine you'd have to replay the whole game. But there is a Story Mode, so you might be able to blast through it...

 

I also forgot to mention the difficulty options. On the hardest difficulty, you're allowed ONE save per chapter. (You could suspend your game and back it up to the cloud if you're desperate, but I never found a reason to do that. Most chapters are done in 12 turns in less.) I think that's a good compromise too. I'd usually save my game about halfway through the chapter. Sometimes after finishing off the first wave of enemies. It's usually easier for me to reload an earlier save than having to start a battle from scratch, if only because it gives me something to work with.

 

More weird niche games to come.

[Rally-Vincent---]

16 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Hope you like it. Be sure to use a guide to know which trophies are missable.

 

Oh no. First playthrough is blind. I don't mind clean-up work with a good game (goes well with watching let's plays on youtube, and if the game is bad, I won't plat it anyway.

[realm722]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:08 PM, Cassylvania said:

As for how I even found out about this game... https://www.50gameslike.com/

 

You can type in any game and find a list of games that are similar. It's great for niche genres, like farming sims and deck builders, and you can filter out games by platform. That's actually how I found out about that other Banner game you mentioned. It just kept popping up when I'd search for stuff like Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles. The site isn't perfect (sometimes they get the platforms wrong and I don't always agree with the tags), but it's a lot easier than trying to research every new game that comes out only to find out it's another Ratalaika. I'd say that's where the majority of my "What the f***?" games come from.

 

So, just to walk you through my process... After playing BotM, I might be like, "Yeah, I could go for another game like this," and I'll start searching: https://www.50gameslike.com/games-like/banner-of-the-maid/ps4

 

Assuming you see the same list as me, I've already completed about half of those games on the first page. Ryza is not a TBS. I don't know why Persona 5 and Yakuza 7 are there. I guess because they're Japanese. Some of them are 2021 releases, like Mercenaries Blaze, which I've been keeping an eye on. I'm not loving the look of Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom. I see similar assets to what they used in Marenian Tavern Story, which I despised. Crystal Ortha might be worth a deeper look. (I look on PSNP and it has a plat rarity of 52%. I probably wouldn't pay $15 for that, but maybe on sale.) Liege Dragon has bad reviews. Wasteland 3 came up again... I come across this one a lot.

 

You can also search for the top games in each genre. For example, here are the top 50 tactical PS4 games: https://www.50gameslike.com/best-games-by-type/tactical/ps4

 

Thank you for the clarification on BotM - and wow... what a website! Dunno how I haven't stumbled upon it in the past. The website is a bit laggy for me but it's definitely one I'm gonna keep in the holster. Some interesting finds from some of my favorite games that I searched.

 

Pyre - So many sports games lol, Banner Saga 1, Videoball, Asdivine Cross?, but mostly stuff I've heard of and am not interested in

Gravity Rush 2 - Olija?, Narita Boy? Basically every major PS4 entry, Minoria?, 

Dead Cells - Abyss Odyssey?, Chasm (LMAO), Eagle Island Twist, Steredenn

Slay the Spire - DungenTop, Rise of the Slime, Roguebook, Neoverse

Persona 5 - Tokyo Xanadu, Earthlock, DQ11, Disgaea, Ikenfell?, Shadows of Adam

 

Okay I've gotta admit - I'm super impressed. There were obviously a lot of "off" suggestions (games I've played that I 100% wouldn't compare to one another) - but due to the shotgun spread of suggestions, you're gonna find something that looks interesting based on the screenshot that'll catch your eye. Thanks again!

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #260 - Phantom Doctrine

 

Quick. What's your favorite thing about XCOM?

 

If you said something about combat, you're probably not going to like this game. If you said something about character creation, you might. If you said the poor graphics and long load times, then you'll love this. (Also, what is wrong with you?)

 

DocCOM, much like DuckCOM (Mutant: Year Zero, if you remember my review), is a stealth-based game that uses the XCOM combat system. And just like with DuckCOM, the biggest problem is that you're actively discouraged from fighting. In DuckCOM, many battles are simply impossible until you reach a certain level. It's a numbers game. You might have to sneak by some enemies in one zone, kill all the enemies in the next zone in order to gain the necessary experience, and then backtrack to the previous zone so that your attacks do enough damage to kill all the enemies in one turn before they can call for reinforcements. It's not a bad system, but it is formulaic -- and it gets old fast.

 

I think DocCOM is worse.

 

Let me explain why. For the most part, you start every mission in Infiltration mode. This is similar to Concealment in XCOM 2. You only switch to Combat mode if you fire an unsuppressed weapon, get recognized by an enemy agent, or get caught doing something naughty, like killing someone or carrying around an unconscious body. Trespassing is also frowned upon, but it's perfectly OK to jump out of a second story window. Once you're in Combat mode, you're fucked. Just restart the mission or load an earlier save. Reinforcements get called in and THEY NEVER STOP. This is the fatal flaw of the game. You need to avoid combat for as long as possible. In XCOM 2, it was fun trying to set up an ambush because whether you were successful or not, you felt like you could deal with the situation. The outcome of the mission generally didn't rely on that single turn. In DocCOM, the moment you break stealth, a timer begins. You have only a few turns to finish your objectives and get out before reinforcements start spawning. And they do it every few turns after that. This becomes especially problematic in missions that require killing every enemy on the map because, yes, the counter will continue to climb as more enemies enter the area. It's very possible to end up in a situation where you simply don't have the firepower to kill every enemy before more appear.

 

Now, this would be okay if the game was designed around stealth (like Invisible, Inc., which did a fantastic job of giving you the tools you needed to sneak through every mission), but almost every skill and perk in DocCOM is based around combat. You know how many stealth skills there are? One. It's called Actor. And it's broken. In fact, it's so broken that the developers added the option to disable it. It basically allows any character to walk freely around the map. They don't get recognized by enemy agents, they can't be caught trespassing, and you can simply delay your turn indefinitely if you need to wait for an enemy or civilian to turn their back so you can plant a bomb or loot a safe. If you have two agents with Actor, you can have one silently take out an enemy and the other dispose of the body on the same turn. If that sounds hilariously broken, it is, but it makes the game boring. Every mission is going to start to feel the same.

 

Admittedly, things get trickier on the Hard playthrough, where you can no longer dispose of bodies (for some reason). Taking out more than one guard on a single mission seems to alert enemy agents too, as they'll start moving around the map and destroying evidence/restoring cameras. Personally, I think the first playthrough on Normal was sorta fun when I could dispose of bodies, and I think the second playthrough on Hard was sorta fun when I was forced into combat more often. I think the game would've benefitted from having a single difficulty where disposing of bodies is an option but combat is sometimes unavoidable.

 

What's the problem with endless reinforcements? Well, besides the obvious, it means missions can't just end when you complete all objectives. You always have to call in an evac car, you always have to wait a few turns for it to show up, you always have to watch the same cutscene when it arrives, and you always have to move all of your agents onto that space. Doesn't matter if all the enemies are dead or if you're still in Infiltration mode. This CAN make the mission more exciting. Reinforcements often spawn near evac zones, so it's entirely possible that you'll have to deal with a pincer attack as you're making a break for the exit. One of my favorite missions involved two of my agents getting ambushed. They began on the top floor of this building and one of my agents jumped out of a window while the other covered him with a sniper rifle. They had to quickly switch roles when the enemy busted through the door behind my sniper. It was intense because they were both taking heavy damage from all sides, but they protected each other all the way to the evac zone. That's the kind of stuff that happens all the time in XCOM, but it's sorely lacking here. That mission only existed because it was (partially) a story-based one. And it's frustrating because DocCOM is very close to being up there with the best turn-based strategy games, but it shoots itself in the foot by having too many contradicting features. You're further penalized for engaging in combat because you have to deal with added Heat (forcing you to buy new identities for your agents) and Danger (forcing you to move your hideout).

 

So, OK. It's a stealth game. I won't lie -- I'm not a fan of the genre. Spy Chameleon is one of my most hated games on the PS4. I generally dislike stealth sections in any game because I feel it slows down the action. But I like it in games that are DESIGNED around stealth, like Mark of the Ninja and Invisible, Inc. Those games were fun to me because I felt the developers started from a core concept and then added features that complemented it. DocCOM feels to me like a game where the developers wanted to do something like XCOM, but they weren't sure how, so they took the combat system and then tried to change it without realizing why the game was designed that way. This is similar to the Dark Souls clones out there that think "tough bosses" and "rolling mechanic" is all it takes to make a good action RPG.

 

Anyway, the graphics are not good. The character models would look more at home on a PS3, if not PS2. There are about six maps in the entire game. The investigation board is one of the most boring features imaginable. It's literally a matching game. You read a document, highlight a code name or location of interest, and then try to find that name or location on another document. You can assign your agents to do that for you, but in one of the most hilarious trolls ever, the developers actually put in a trophy that requires you to do all the investigations manually for an entire playthrough. And if you're wondering, the investigation board is necessary for story progression.

 

I slammed this game pretty hard, but it comes from being very passionate about this genre. To some, this might be a better game than XCOM. I don't know. The Cold War theme is interesting. I'm generally more interested in history than science fiction, so I was actually into the story for a while. You can play as either the CIA or KGB, and since you need to do two full playthroughs (technically 2.5), you'll get to experience events from both sides. The character portraits are actually very nice, even if the models leave something to be desired. I like how characters go by code names instead of real names. (You probably won't be naming your agents after your friends and family. You'll be changing their name every time you buy a new identity, but their code name stays the same.) The voice acting is fine. The cutscenes are OK. I don't love the still artwork style and it's annoying having to watch the van scenes all the time, but I never played XCOM for the story or presentation. If there is one thing I'm on the fence about, it's that you can have random "events" take place that affect your agents. For example, your agent's ex might call in making wild accusations about her being a spy and you'll have to figure out how you want to deal with it. Your choice might earn her trust or cause her to switch sides. Similarly, one of your agents might ask for a vacation, and you'll have to figure out whether their happiness is worth having one less body around. Unlike XCOM, agents you aren't using on missions are still useful. You can have them forge money, craft items, investigate suspicious activity, solve the investigation board on your second playthrough... And some of them can join you as tactical support. My favorite support power was the sniper. You can use them to silently take out enemies, as long as they have a clear shot. Not as useful in the Hard playthrough because you can't hide bodies, but very good at weakening enemies or clearing a path to the evac zone. I recommend a full squad of them.

 

I don't think I can recommend this game, but I would be lying if I said there weren't times that I had fun. It's like an Adam Sandler film. Sure, it has flaws and overall it wasn't very good, but if you can look at it as an ordinary person instead of a critic, I think there might be something here. The passion is evident. Unfortunately, I am a critic (in this thread anyway), and DocCOM is listed under one of the genres I happen to be the most familiar with, so it's only natural that I compare it to the giants. To that end, I think it falls short. However, I would like to stress that almost all of the problems I have with this game are self-inflicted, and I think it could be very fun if you're willing to handicap yourself or completely ignore the platinum.

 

Take that for what you will.

[Rally-Vincent---]

To be fair, endless reinforcements are not so much different from XCOM 2's turn limit. Phantom Doctrine's biggest problem is the small number of maps, making fights repetitive. And for a heavily themed game, a few more story missions would have made the game much better.

[Cassylvania]

On 7/1/2021 at 5:15 AM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

To be fair, endless reinforcements are not so much different from XCOM 2's turn limit.

 

That's probably the biggest knock on XCOM 2. The difference is XCOM 2 has other mission types, while every mission in PD has endless reinforcements. I'd also argue the timed missions in XCOM 2 aren't THAT bad, as they basically just require you to play more aggressively. That's a lot more fun to me than spending the majority of the mission moving slowly around the map to learn enemy locations and routes.

 

But again, I'm not a fan of stealth games. I could see some people preferring the spy approach.

 

Platinum #261 - Monster Sanctuary

 

I'm going to let you guys in on a secret. I like Pokemon. Most of my favorite games as a child involved raising animals, whether it was to feed and care for them or to have them murder each other. And while the title of this game makes you think you'd be doing more of the former, this is a battle simulator with a heavy focus on team synergy.

 

So, let's get the similarities out of the way. You are a child (I guess?), you pick one of four elemental monsters (while your rivals are assigned the other three), and you go around battling wild mons on a quest to save the world. Honestly, the characters and story are about as shallow as you can imagine. The game would've been better off removing dialogue altogether. That said, I picked the frog starter, so maybe picking the eagle or wolf would've given a far more epic story.

 

But that's kinda where the similarities end. You see, the game is part-Metroidvania. Each mon has a special ability that you can use outside of battle. The frog, for example, can break walls. He cannot swim...for some reason...but that can be useful for unlocking new areas. I imagine the eagle can fly, which can allow you to reach higher areas. I'm actually not sure about that. The wolf probably does something too. And there's a fourth starter that I can't remember... But there are like 100 mons in the game, and some of them share the same ability, so it's not like you're locked out of certain areas just because you picked the coolest-looking starter. I got a bird early on that let me hover for a bit in the air. You'll eventually be able to do all sorts of stuff that make traversal and puzzle-solving much easier. And best of all, you can carry all your mons with you at once, so you're not going to the PC all the time just because you forgot to bring that stupid Abra that knows Flash!

 

Battles are also different. They are threesomes with monsters. Each of your mons gets to use one move, then your opponent can do the same. The strategy is figuring out which mons work well together and what order they should attack in. For example, let's say you have Tuna, Platypus, and Dog. (This is about as creative as the game is with their names.) They each have several moves, but let's just say you plan to attack with Tuna, buff with Platypus, and debuff with Dog. In that case, it'd make sense to have Tuna take his turn last, as he'll be buffed and the enemy will be weakened. You also build combos throughout your turn, so having your heavy hitters go last is usually the best strategy. But you also have to consider type advantages, status effects, and passive abilities... It gets fairly complicated. I imagine competitive play is intense.

 

I think what I like most about this system is that EVERY mon is viable. From the first mon you encounter to the legendary piece of shit that forced me to find cheese for the game, you can make any team work. You don't even have to evolve them. I mean, you do for a trophy, but I don't think an evolved mon is necessarily stronger. I used my unevolved fire caterpillar until late in the game. I also fell into the trap of using a team full of goblins. I didn't particularly want to, but they each had an ability that made them stronger when other goblins are around, so...

 

My favorite team was Yowie, Frosty, and Mad Eye, but I'd be lying if I said I was creative or original in coming up with that. It's rather broken.

 

Graphics are good. Music is fine. The forest theme is a little weird. I kept thinking somebody was in the next room talking to me.

 

All in all, I think it's worth playing, especially if you see it on a sale. $15 for this is a much better deal than $60 for the sad excuse of recent Pokemon games.

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #262 - Lair of the Clockwork God

 

I want to be very careful in writing this review because this is one of the most genuinely funny games I've ever played. The assholes behind this have the same sense of humor as me and they probably grew up with the same kind of games. If you are reading this and you value my opinion based on the other 200-ish reviews I've done, just buy this game (it was dirt cheap on the last sale) and go into it completely blind. That's what I did and you will not regret it.

 

For those of you who at least want to know what kind of game this is...well, that's going to take some explaining. Your two main characters are Ben (the stuffy white guy dressed like Marty McFly) and Dan (the...gnome?). You can swap between them throughout the game by pressing L1 and you will need to do so because they're constantly at odds with what genre of game they want to be in. Ben wants this to be a point-and-click, so he can pick up items and talk to other characters, but he can't jump or move heavy objects. Dan can jump and move heavy objects, but he can't interact with most other things. You can think of them as the brains and the brawn, but Dan comes across as the introspective one, while Ben has very little regard for the well-being of those around him, so they're probably more like Beavis and Butthead.

 

Most of the humor in this game centers around video game tropes and self-awareness. None of it feels forced or annoying, like in Yooka-Laylee, and there were several jokes that had me rolling. But I must stress this is NOT a game for kids. You probably wouldn't guess it going in, but there are a lot of sex references and foul language, which is fuckin' fine by me. One of the power-ups is downright disgusting.

 

Trophy-wise, there's a Chapter Select, so there's only one missable trophy that I can think of. You just have to make sure to find the four invisible barriers in a single playthrough. (Use a guide for that.) There are some annoying trophies. Not dying in the ANGER construct is...frustrating, but that may have been the point. There are others that I'm not sure how you'd figure out without a walkthrough, like Supplemental Emotion: Chronophobia or at least one of the collectibles that is hidden in a very annoying area to reach.

 

It's rare for me these days to buy a game without doing extensive research first, but I trusted my gut on this one and it didn't let me down. Guess we're 1-for-2 this year, gut.

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Cassylvania

[Cassylvania]

Haven't posted one of these in a while, so...

 

Not a Platinum #RightfullySo - Toren

 

This is probably the most pointless review I'll ever make because it will likely take you longer to read this sentence than finish the game. OK, it's not that bad, but we're talking a 2-3 hour game at my speed. Maybe add a few minutes if you decide not to use a walkthrough for the missable trophies, but why would you when there is very little replay value here...

 

So, what is Toren? Toren is a young girl who...what do you mean "Toren" is the name of the tower? That's stupid. That'd be like if Celeste was the name of the mountain.

 

Anyway, Toren is a young girl who is trapped in a tower for seemingly her whole life. You begin her adventure as a baby and then I think you transition between her childhood and adulthood Ocarina of Time-style to confront an evil dragon that has imprisoned you here. Throughout the game, you will solve "puzzles" and engage in "combat" and...yeah, it's kinda bad, guys. You know those bird/snake/dolphin puzzles in Skyrim? That's about as advanced as you're going to get here. The combat isn't any better. Outside of the dragon (who you only fight indirectly), the only enemies you face are little black goobers that die in one hit. And somehow, the devs fucked up even that. The controls are bad. Like, really bad. Fortunately, you might not even notice because you'll be too busy trying to get the camera to cooperate.

 

I'll admit. I only bought this game because Toren looks like a badass. I just think the developers weren't sure what kind of game they wanted to make. It feels like a walking/climbing simulator with a rather weak narrative and a combat system that was shoehorned in at the last minute. At least the graphics are nice, so it's not like you'd be throwing $2.49 down the toilet if you got this on sale. You'd just be leaving it in the toilet to stew for a while. But since my formula for determining a game's worth is one hour of content = $1...well, I guess they nailed that price tag.

 

I'm sorry, Toren. You belong in a better game.

 

Anyway, if you've been stalking my profile lately, you'll see my hope of ever getting down to three or less active games is absolutely fucked.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Cassylvania