Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

[Baker]

20 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Fair enough - I defer to your knowledge on the subject, which certainly eclipses mine - granted, most of my JRPG experience is FF / Ni No Kuni, Persona etc. - I haven’t delved into some of the other big franchises.

 

I still think often the genre seems to be considered synonymous with extreme length though, whereas something like rogue-likes or arcade style run-based games aren’t as much - yet those can absolutely chew through your time something rotten without you even realising 

Well it’s from my perspective ofcourse. Not counting Final Fantasy I can only name a few more that I’ve played that can be done in one playthrough. But I also haven’t played quite a few yet that I know do only require one playthrough. Maybe I’ve been playing the wrong ones. ?

 

I agree with the second part. Not that there aren’t JRPG franchises where every game easily goes over 100 hours, but the majority doesn’t. But with all the crap that’s being released today I guess most think 50 hours is already a very long game. ?

[rjkclarke]

Hello Cassy! This is a very long overdue comment.... Much like the one I wrote to @Copanele a few days back - I've been a very long time reader but this is my first post in here.

 

I loved your review of Stranded Deep - I picked that up for free like many  others did so I think I might have to attempt playing that at some time in the future. I'm sure there are plenty of other games of that genre you'd recommend over that, but realistically it's the only one I have access to right now.

 

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, and I definitely won't be the last - but you have a very fascinating way with words. I mean that in the nicest possible way too, I really do. It's incredibly anecdotal and conversational. This quote from you honestly made me laugh out loud for a good half a minute at least. It paints such a hilarious image... 

 

" I had an awful time getting the night snakes to spawn, so I spent the better part of the game with a bunch of dead pig carcasses in my raft. Well, I managed to kill the eel, but a heavy storm kicked in. When I tried to get back on my raft, it capsized and I watched in horror as all my little piggies and four chests full of loot began to sink the bottom of the ocean floor. I made a mad scramble to save them. There was even a moment when I was diving straight down and could imagine me extending my hand to grab one of the little piggy's foot, but I had to let him go. My raft was sailing away without me. I climbed back on (pretty sure it was still capsized at the time) and rode the storm to the nearest island, heartbroken. I didn't even get the chance to eat that little guy."

 

That cracked me up so much... I could just imagine someone telling that story after asking "how's your day been?" and they just respond with well..... The above - made it seem even funnier.

 

The image of a person sailing the seas with a raft full of dead pigs is so surreal, but I can't help but smile about how funny that would probably look in video game form.

 

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by rjkclarke

[AJ_Radio]

17 hours ago, Arcesius said:

 

I'm just going to throw something in since I keep seeing you state this argument... You just finished AC Odyssey in more than 100 hours, right? Well.. Final Fantasy X can be completed in a shorter time...  And it's probably the better game, too.

 

You do seem to have the time..  

 

I’m far more versed in Assassin’s Creed than in Final Fantasy. You haven’t even played Assassin’s Creed. I think you’re underestimating the time it takes to finish the more recent games. 
 

Valhalla is so far the longest game in the series. I did Odyssey at roughly the 118 hour mark, and that’s with me skipping a lot of stuff in the main game world. Origins took me 75 hours to finish. Unity and Black Flag I finished within 50 - 55 hours each, and that includes the multiplayer grind. 
 

Final Fantasy X I hear is around 100 hours or more. You’re a lot more experienced with Final Fantasy than I am, therefore you’re a lot more familiar with the series. 
 

17 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Remember AJ - AC Odyssey was 190 hours, The Witcher was like 180, AC Black Flag and San Andreas were circa 150 each.

Even games not really generally considered quote unquote "long" games like Shadow of Mordor or Mafia III can be well over 100 hours each -  and I'd say those kind of times probably dwarf most (or at least a good portion of) jpgs out there - or at the very least, are comparable.

 

The real difference is that with a JRPG, you know you're going into a long and winding story that will take that kind of time - with something "shorter", but needing more playthroughs, it may seem shorter on paper, but you may well end up spending more time overall to get that plat - I know my times in some rogue-likes are testament to that 

Black Flag is NOT 150 hours. Maybe if you played the multiplayer legit, getting to level 55 takes a long time if you’re not grinding it out in Wolfpack. 
 

The single player can take around 50 hours if you did everything. The uncharted chests don’t have a convenient fast travel point so you’re spending a great deal of time just reaching them. I enjoyed Black Flag, and played it a bit even well after I obtained the platinum. Only downside is the boring multiplayer. 
 

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas definitely wasn’t 150 hours.
 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor isn’t 100 hours long either. Mafia III, maybe if you had to replay that game because of glitches, it can take that long, but it’s doubtful. 
 

For a newcomer, they will likely take a long time to finish even Final Fantasy VII (original, not the remake). They’re generally long games, which has been standard ever since Final Fantasy X. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[DrBloodmoney]

6 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

Valhalla is so far the longest game in the series. I did Odyssey at roughly the 118 hour mark, and that’s with me skipping a lot of stuff in the main game world. Origins took me 75 hours to finish. Unity and Black Flag I finished within 50 - 55 hours each, and that includes the multiplayer grind. 

 

Black Flag is NOT 150 hours. Maybe if you played the multiplayer legit, getting to level 55 takes a long time if you’re not grinding it out in Wolfpack. 

 

The single player can take around 50 hours if you did everything. The uncharted chests don’t have a convenient fast travel point so you’re spending a great deal of time just reaching them. I enjoyed Black Flag, and played it a bit even well after I obtained the platinum. Only downside is the boring multiplayer. 
 

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas definitely wasn’t 150 hours.
 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor isn’t 100 hours long either. Mafia III, maybe if you had to replay that game because of glitches, it can take that long, but it’s doubtful. 

Sorry, I think you’re missing what I was saying - I’m saying those are your play times - not necessarily the average plat times - just the number of hours you put into the game total.

 

That’s just some of the higher play-time, non-jrpgs on your account, is all - It was just saying sometimes games can take up a lot more time than they feel like they do

Edited August 14, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[Arcesius]

7 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I’m far more versed in Assassin’s Creed than in Final Fantasy. You haven’t even played Assassin’s Creed. I think you’re underestimating the time it takes to finish the more recent games. 
 

Valhalla is so far the longest game in the series. I did Odyssey at roughly the 118 hour mark, and that’s with me skipping a lot of stuff in the main game world. Origins took me 75 hours to finish. Unity and Black Flag I finished within 50 - 55 hours each, and that includes the multiplayer grind. 

 

I think you didn't properly read what I wrote. I'm not underestimating the time it takes to finish the newest AC games. I'm actually saying that it takes longer to finish AC Odyssey and AC Valhalla than it takes to finish FF X. You probably spent also more time with Super Meat Boy, The Witcher 3 and many other games on your profile (see @DrBloodmoney's post above) than what it would take to finish FF X. 

 

What I'm saying is that it is hard to understand your argument that "you cannot commit to a 100 hour game" when you do it all the time. 

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Sorry, I think you’re missing what I was saying - I’m saying those are your play times - not necessarily the average plat times - just the number of hours you put into the game total.

 

That’s just some of the higher play-time, non-jrpgs on your account, is all - It was just saying sometimes games can take up a lot more time than they feel like they do

I did not miss what you said. I don’t know where you got the 150 hours from regarding Black Flag. Even a slow player is very unlikely to spend that much time on the game. 
 

150 hours on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? Absolutely. 200 hours is definitely possible on The Witcher 3. I played the game past the trophies and did most of everything in the Blood & Wine DLC. 
 

Casually, a lot of people would put in significant lower play times as opposed to average plat times. 

[DrBloodmoney]

4 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

I did not miss what you said. I don’t know where you got the 150 hours from regarding Black Flag. Even a slow player is very unlikely to spend that much time on the game. 
 

150 hours on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? Absolutely. 200 hours is definitely possible on The Witcher 3. I played the game past the trophies and did most of everything in the Blood & Wine DLC. 
 

Casually, a lot of people would put in significant lower play times as opposed to average plat times. 

It’s just offa here:

https://www.exophase.com/psn/user/AJ_Radio/
 

All I’m saying is the time a game feels like it takes, and the time a player can actually sink into it can often be quite different…

 

I know for me, that is definitely the case ?

Edited August 14, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[AJ_Radio]

Just now, DrBloodmoney said:

It’s just offa here:

https://www.exophase.com/psn/user/AJ_Radio/
 

All I’m saying is the time a fame feels like and the time a player can actually sink into it can often be quite different…

 

I know for me, that is definitely the case 

 

That is probably counting the time I had the game paused. The actual playtime is around 50 to 60 hours.

[DrBloodmoney]

8 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

That is probably counting the time I had the game paused. The actual playtime is around 50 to 60 hours.

fair enough - that one will be a bad example then - and for sure there are issues with the tracking (I know for a fact I’ve spent far longer in Hitman 3 than it shows for example- in reality, it’s a much more embarrassing giant number?), - though the issue is usually showing too little time, rather than too much) 

I always find it fascinating to see the disparity between how long a game felt and the actual play time though - and I think my point still stands, whether that Black Flag one was an outlier or not - Stuff like Shadow of Mordor - as an example - it never feels that long (and is probably generally considered to be in the 30-40 range),  but we both put well over 80 hours into it to get the S-Rank!

[Cassylvania]

On 8/13/2021 at 3:53 PM, rjkclarke said:

Hello Cassy! This is a very long overdue comment.... Much like the one I wrote to @Copanele a few days back - I've been a very long time reader but this is my first post in here.

 

I loved your review of Stranded Deep - I picked that up for free like many  others did so I think I might have to attempt playing that at some time in the future. I'm sure there are plenty of other games of that genre you'd recommend over that, but realistically it's the only one I have access to right now.

 

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, and I definitely won't be the last - but you have a very fascinating way with words. I mean that in the nicest possible way too, I really do. It's incredibly anecdotal and conversational. This quote from you honestly made me laugh out loud for a good half a minute at least. It paints such a hilarious image...

 

Appreciate it! Thank you and welcome to the pile, where I sift through crap and find what's worthwhile. (That's my new slogan for the thread. Like it?)

 

And yeah, there are lots of games I'd recommend over Stranded Deep, but at least it's free. As long as you're not a hardcore completionist, I don't think you have anything to lose by giving it a try. I will say it will probably take a couple hours to get used to the controls, though. It doesn't handle great, and after playing The Forest (yeah, I'm doing that now), I think it'd be hard to go back.

 

Enjoy your time here! I have to catch up on your thread. (Well, a lot of yours... Seems everybody has a checklist these days!)

 

Um... what else... The rest of you are talking about the ridiculous length of JRPGs and some AAA games. I dunno. I just started Days Gone. That's like 100+ hours with all the DLCs. I'll probably start Ys 8 soon too. That will take me twice as long as the trophy guide says, just like every other JRPG. Both of the games don't look like a cakewalk either. But since I won't be platinuming Cozy Grove until at least sometime in mid-2022, it's not like I have a completion percentage to worry about. In fact, I just went ahead and downloaded 10 games on my PS5... Speaking of which, I almost made a TERRIBLE mistake. I bought a PS5 game (by mistake -- I thought it was for the PS4) and I started playing it. It's apparently a Rata game, which would have been hilarious as my first PS5 trophy, but it seems different from the rest. It's called Rise of the Slime, and I bought it because it looked similar to Slay the Spire, but that I'm looking at reviews... I might have jumped the gun. Probably should have just waited for Monster Train.

 

I also began The Forest, like I said. Might have a review by the end of the month. For now, I'll just say three things about it: I like it, it's disgusting, and I'm really disappointed by the trophy list. Unlike other games, though, I don't think the trophy list is bad because it's grindy or boring. It HAS grindy and unnecessarily tedious trophies, but the bigger problem is you can do almost everything on Peaceful difficulty. Normally, I don't care, but a MAJOR part of the gameplay is lost by not playing on Normal or higher (namely, there are no enemies). I got to a point in my initial playthrough where I realized it would be quicker and easier to just start a new game on Peaceful, catch up to where I was, and beat the game like that. There just isn't much incentive there to build a base and fight back against the cannibals where you're better off saving your resources to advance further in the game. And you could say, "Well, that's your choice for doing it that way," but my argument is that it's different than when a game like Celeste offers an Assist Mode. In Celeste, that removed all challenge, but the story and gameplay remained the same. In The Forest, the gameplay changes dramatically because now your main focus is on survival rather than base-building and survival. It essentially makes it more like Stranded Deep, where hunger, thirst, and temperature can still kill you, but there are very few monsters to worry about. I'd argue that Peaceful difficulty in The Forest is still a game worth playing, unlike Celeste on Assist Mode, where the story is still worth paying attention to but the gameplay is not. The reason I say this is because I feel there are two vastly different ways to enjoy The Forest, and I'm a little disappointed that players aren't pushed harder to do the one that's more challenging and uncomfortable. If you are going to play it, I'd definitely suggest playing for at least a few days on Normal. It's so much more terrifying that way.

 

Now, the reason I brought all this up before my review is because I want to talk about the trophy that broke my TV. Yes, that's right, guys -- after 309 games, over 11.7k trophies in the span of nearly six years, Don't Save The Forest killed my TV. And no, it's not because I got so frustrated that I threw my controller through the screen, even though I wanted to. This ridiculous trophy requires you to chop down 1,000 trees. The problem is the developers forgot to program it so that you can save the game and pick up where you left later on. You have to do everything in one sitting (or so I hear -- I wasn't risking it). Now, this would take several hours to do manually and would be TERRIBLY boring, but there's a workaround. You can play on Creative Mode (unlocked by beating the game once on any difficulty, including Peaceful) and build an unlimited number of explosive traps. By running into these traps, you can knock down several trees at once. So, I started doing it...for an hour...then two hours...then I started getting really annoyed because it was way past my bedtime and the stupid trophy wasn't popping. There's no counter, so I just assumed I had to be close to 1k. Any time I wanted to go to bed, I thought to myself, "What if I'm at 999 right now? Just one more tree." It was never one more tree. Finally, I'm just like, "Fuck it, I'm leaving my TV on all night."

 

Well, I had also left it on all day to work towards the trophy for surviving 100 days...

 

When I woke up, my TV was dead. It was having none of my shit. I tried to revive it, but too many long gaming sessions and blue chirpnados did it in. Rest in peace, old friend. Always thought the PS4 would give up the ghost first.

 

Anyway, I'm replacing it with a 55" smart TV.

[AJ_Radio]

I already saw The Forest via gameplay footage on YouTube, and it's yet another game that I'm just going to pass on. I honestly don't know how you get into some of these games Cassylvania, but I do know that half of your profile are games I wouldn't give a day in the sun.

 

Your tastes are in more ways than one, interesting, and definitely a far cry from the tastes I have in gaming.

Edited August 18, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[det_gittes]

2 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Yes, that's right, guys -- after 309 games, over 11.7k trophies in the span of nearly six years, Don't Save The Forest killed my TV.

Sounds like a blessing in diguise with the new console on board  But I wonder what a typical lifespan is of modern TVs used for gaming -  last year I replaced my old TV after 9 years (6 years gaming), but it wasn't broken yet, in fact my mother-in-law still enjoys it  

 

PS BTW, when you're afk, it's just as well if you turn off the TV, isn't it?

[rjkclarke]

8 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Appreciate it! Thank you and welcome to the pile, where I sift through crap and find what's worthwhile. (That's my new slogan for the thread. Like it?)

 

And yeah, there are lots of games I'd recommend over Stranded Deep, but at least it's free. As long as you're not a hardcore completionist, I don't think you have anything to lose by giving it a try. I will say it will probably take a couple hours to get used to the controls, though. It doesn't handle great, and after playing The Forest (yeah, I'm doing that now), I think it'd be hard to go back.

 

Enjoy your time here! I have to catch up on your thread. (Well, a lot of yours... Seems everybody has a checklist these days!)

 

sift through crap and find out what's worthwhile.... Haha... I like it!! It's definitely got a hook to it.

 

I'll have to ask you for some of those other recommendations if I like what I see in Stranded Deep. I can't complain about the price tag at the very least. Although I've read this thread for a very long time, I can't remember every single game you've played, but I know survival games are a genre you are particularly fond of, so I'm sure you could point me in some great directions, if I decided I wanted to explore that genre a little bit more.

 

I will! Don't feel obligated to read my thread by the way, if you want to, great, that'd be awesome. But I definitely can't seem to manage concise reviewing, I tend to get very invested in what I'm writing and it just spirals out of control from there. There does seem to be a lot of checklists springing up at the moment, which is nice to see. Plenty of them I'm sure would have been very heavily influenced by your own adventures too along with some of the other lifers in this part of the forums!

 

 

[Rally-Vincent---]

Too bad about your TV. Then again - new TV, yay?

 

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Enjoy your time here! I have to catch up on your thread. (Well, a lot of yours... Seems everybody has a checklist these days!)

 

I don't. You're welcome?

 

(Why so many questions? <-- There, it happened again)

[Grotz99]

On 8/17/2021 at 9:29 PM, Cassylvania said:

Enjoy your time here! I have to catch up on your thread. (Well, a lot of yours... Seems everybody has a checklist these days!)

 

I use to be able to keep this part of the forums from not being bold font (unread) until this summer. A lot of new threads popped up. It's not a bad thing, it's actually great to have more content to read and see other's opinions about games, not to mention meeting new people. I have been slacking on mine, but I'm waiting to finish all of Mass Effect to write something about it (should be soon).

Edited August 19, 2021 by Grotz99

[Cassylvania]

On 8/18/2021 at 1:56 AM, AJ_Radio said:

I already saw The Forest via gameplay footage on YouTube, and it's yet another game that I'm just going to pass on. I honestly don't know how you get into some of these games Cassylvania, but I do know that half of your profile are games I wouldn't give a day in the sun.

 

Your tastes are in more ways than one, interesting, and definitely a far cry from the tastes I have in gaming.

 

Huh, I didn't think I'd get called out for The Forest of all games... That has more owners than my entire summer catalog combined. ?

 

What is it about that game that doesn't appeal to you? If it's the atmosphere, I can understand. It's horrifying. If it's the gameplay, though... I mean, it's more than just chopping wood. It's not as linear or narrative-driven as something like Alien: Isolation, but I never felt lost or without something to do. (Note: feeling lost is not the same as being lost, which I often am in the game.)

 

On 8/18/2021 at 3:23 AM, det_gittes said:

PS BTW, when you're afk, it's just as well if you turn off the TV, isn't it?

 

It actually was off. I just wasn't able to turn it back on again. I'm not sure if it even had anything to do with the PS5 being on all night... I doubt it. But now I've upgraded!

 

On 8/18/2021 at 9:08 AM, rjkclarke said:

I will! Don't feel obligated to read my thread by the way, if you want to, great, that'd be awesome. But I definitely can't seem to manage concise reviewing, I tend to get very invested in what I'm writing and it just spirals out of control from there. There does seem to be a lot of checklists springing up at the moment, which is nice to see. Plenty of them I'm sure would have been very heavily influenced by your own adventures too along with some of the other lifers in this part of the forums!

 

I sometimes forget I can post in this thread without platinuming a new game. That was sorta my idea with this checklist, to give regular updates as I go, and I'm glad other people are better at it than me. It's hard to keep the material fresh sometimes and not slip back into talking about XCOM 2 or comparing every game to Dark Souls.

 

On 8/18/2021 at 1:31 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I don't. You're welcome?

 

Rally's Rally Cry. You know you wanna.

 

On 8/19/2021 at 0:09 PM, Grotz99 said:

I use to be able to keep this part of the forums from not being bold font (unread) until this summer. A lot of new threads popped up. It's not a bad thing, it's actually great to have more content to read and see other's opinions about games, not to mention meeting new people. I have been slacking on mine, but I'm waiting to finish all of Mass Effect to write something about it (should be soon).

 

I have so many bookmarked. I usually have a little spare time in the morning before I go to work. But this is definitely the only part of the forums that has seemed to retain its sanity, for what it's worth. I don't know what else goes on out there. I just mind my own business. Maybe play a few games. Maybe whack a few goblins. Maybe start another game I won't finish. Why don't we just see what happens if I have 20 active games at once?

[AJ_Radio]

1 hour ago, Cassylvania said:

 

Huh, I didn't think I'd get called out for The Forest of all games... That has more owners than my entire summer catalog combined.

 

What is it about that game that doesn't appeal to you? If it's the atmosphere, I can understand. It's horrifying. If it's the gameplay, though... I mean, it's more than just chopping wood. It's not as linear or narrative-driven as something like Alien: Isolation, but I never felt lost or without something to do. (Note: feeling lost is not the same as being lost, which I often am in the game.)

 

I never said the game is bad in any sense, let's not confuse ourselves. It's just not a game I'm interesting in playing.

 

You don't like a lot of shooters, particularly first person shooters, and that's perfectly fine. We all have different tastes in games.

[Grotz99]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I have so many bookmarked. I usually have a little spare time in the morning before I go to work. But this is definitely the only part of the forums that has seemed to retain its sanity, for what it's worth. I don't know what else goes on out there. I just mind my own business. Maybe play a few games. Maybe whack a few goblins. Maybe start another game I won't finish. Why don't we just see what happens if I have 20 active games at once?

There is only three places I usually check in these forums: this area, sales and deals, and community events. Sometimes if I get steered towards some drama elsewhere though, I might check it out...but it's best to usually stay out of it.

[rjkclarke]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I sometimes forget I can post in this thread without platinuming a new game. That was sorta my idea with this checklist, to give regular updates as I go, and I'm glad other people are better at it than me. It's hard to keep the material fresh sometimes and not slip back into talking about XCOM 2 or comparing every game to Dark Souls.

 

I think that was probably the case with lots of people (myself included) - I was expecting to just be updating mine every time I'd gotten a platinum or every time I decided to review one of my older games. I love it when it sometimes just spirals into a lot of friendly people shooting the breeze.

 

Don't worry about keeping the material fresh! It's great - or worrying about talking about XCOM2 or Dark Souls. I'd be one of the biggest hypocrites on this site if I criticized you for that. After all, I can't seem to go very long before I invariably bring up either Monkey Island of the Legacy of Kain series haha. It's too easy not to end up referencing back to something you love, or even something you really can't stand sometimes isn't it.

[Briste]

11 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

I never said the game is bad in any sense, let's not confuse ourselves. It's just not a game I'm interesting in playing.

 

You don't like a lot of shooters, particularly first person shooters, and that's perfectly fine. We all have different tastes in games.

Not to come across as condescending....but I don't think you understood what Cass was referring to.

 

This:

13 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Huh, I didn't think I'd get called out for The Forest of all games... That has more owners than my entire summer catalog combined.

 

 

is a reply to this:

 

On 8/18/2021 at 1:56 AM, AJ_Radio said:

I honestly don't know how you get into some of these games Cassylvania

 

Because your statement was implying that the games choices are obscure. Cass just thought it was funny that one of the more popular games that they have played recently is the one that is being called out as 'some of these games'.

 

And then this:

13 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

What is it about that game that doesn't appeal to you? If it's the atmosphere, I can understand. It's horrifying. If it's the gameplay, though... I mean, it's more than just chopping wood. It's not as linear or narrative-driven as something like Alien: Isolation, but I never felt lost or without something to do. (Note: feeling lost is not the same as being lost, which I often am in the game.)

 

 

Is an honest question as to why:

On 8/18/2021 at 1:56 AM, AJ_Radio said:

I do know that half of your profile are games I wouldn't give a day in the sun

 

Cass didn't say anything about you thinking they are bad games, just wondering what you see in these games that would put them under the category of 'I wouldn't give a day in the sun.'

 

Your reply seemed more defensive than necessary? I'm actually curious too about what you didn't like since you have tons of genre's on your profile. I've actually picked up a handful of games that Cass has recommended and enjoyed them all. It's been fun to travel outside my comfort zone at times.

 

I feel I structured this reply in a way that will come across as being combative, but I'm really not...I'm just curious as well.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Briste

[AJ_Radio]

6 hours ago, Briste said:

Not to come across as condescending....but I don't think you understood what Cass was referring to.

 

I did.

 

6 hours ago, Briste said:

Because your statement was implying that the games choices are obscure. Cass just thought it was funny that one of the more popular games that they have played recently is the one that is being called out as 'some of these games'.

 

I think Cassy is one of the best people on this website in regards to writing honest game reviews, so I respect and cherish each and every review she writes. A lot of her games I literally never heard of until I looked them up on Wikipedia and YouTube.

 

6 hours ago, Briste said:

Is an honest question as to why:

 

Cass didn't say anything about you thinking they are bad games, just wondering what you see in these games that would put them under the category of 'I wouldn't give a day in the sun.'

 

Your reply seemed more defensive than necessary? I'm actually curious too about what you didn't like since you have tons of genre's on your profile. I've actually picked up a handful of games that Cass has recommended and enjoyed them all. It's been fun to travel outside my comfort zone at times.

 

I feel I structured this reply in a way that will come across as being combative, but I'm really not...I'm just curious as well.

 

A chunk of her list is stuff that isn't my cup of tea. That isn't to say I don't like the games, as I never played them. But I generally pick out games I'm interested in. She has an interesting trophy list, a lot of obscure stuff so her profile is one of the better ones on this website.

 

You can sort of say Max Payne 3 is a game that has me stepping out of my comfort zone. But it's still a pretty well known and popular game in a genre that's been long established. Cassy's trophy list is far more diverse, and it's pretty impressive that in just six years she has over 11,000 trophies with barely any stacks. A lot of her games are fairly time consuming as well, yet for a number of them I have looked at via gameplay footage, I decided I wasn't interested in picking them up.

[Cassylvania]

15 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I think Cassy is one of the best people on this website in regards to writing honest game reviews, so I respect and cherish each and every review she writes. A lot of her games I literally never heard of until I looked them up on Wikipedia and YouTube.

 

Don't worry. I got ya covered. Surely everybody has heard of...

 

Platinum #268 - Trigger Witch

 

If the title didn't give it away, Trigger Witch is a 2D twin-stick shooter where you play as a witch (named *sigh* Colette) armed with an arsenal of guns. For whatever reason, somebody thought those two things should go together. They also took the best part of witches out of the equation by giving Colette no magical abilities other than a short dash move and health potions. Makes you wonder "why witches?", doesn't it? Well, it's because of the clever pun in the title, guys.

 

There's actually a plot here that tries to explain why there are witches running around using guns, but I don't think this is the kind of game you want to play for the story. If you do, your head is probably going to hurt from how batshit insane it gets. I'm still trying to get over the last 20 minutes of the game. Basically, Colette is on a mission to save the world of Evertonia from the mysterious Man in Black, and is accompanied by her two best friends, Sally and some bitch. I don't know why some bitch is her friend, but there ya go. Overall, you complete five or six dungeons, kill some bosses, do some broom-riding sections where the game becomes a bullet hell, and turn the entire monster population into blood soup (or confetti soup if you want to play with gore mode off, which I actually don't suggest because it makes it more difficult to see the gems that drop).

 

This is one of those games that I don't know who it was made for. It sounds like something for kids, until you realize how gory it is. It also has some political commentary that I don't want to get into. You might think it's for adults, but the story isn't that complex, the dialogue is mostly cheesy, and all of the characters remind me of something on a Saturday morning cartoon. It almost feels like somebody got the OK from the boss to make a game about witches with guns and then the boss woke up the next day with a hangover and was like, "Huh, wait, we can't do this," and decided to play it safe with all the decisions going forward. I just kept waiting for the game to do something innovative, but it really doesn't outside of that initial charm.

 

That's not to say it's a bad game. I rather liked it. I think there are five difficulties and I played on the one in the middle, which felt right. I died quite a few times early on and even had the drop the difficulty for the final boss. It's very easy to get surrounded in this game. You get a bunch of different guns and they all have their uses, but you can shortcut a few and just use those for the entire game, which is what I did. Ammo regenerates magically, so you don't have to worry about running out, but it does take a bit of time. When you run out of ammo for your special guns, you switch back to your revolver, which is probably the gun you want to upgrade first because of how often you'll be using it. There are also some light puzzle elements in the game. None of them are difficult, though.

 

I bought this game on release day because I needed a 4 for Gaming by Numbers and I didn't want to play A Knight's Quest, which I own but is supposedly buggy on the PS5. I was a little worried at first because I thought this might be a sub-5 hour game, but it took me a good 12-15 hours and I don't think the platinum rarity will reach 50%, but I could be wrong. It was 25% when I bought it and it's at 37% now. Rainbite's other game is Reverie, which is I hear is on the easier side of things but is still a good game.

 

I won't recommend this because it's niche, but if you like pixel art and mindless fun, it could be a good buy if you can grab it on sale for under $5.

 

Let's see if we can find some artwork to cap this off.

 

 

Nothing about this is right.

[AJ_Radio]

You said “characters remind me of something on a Saturday morning cartoon”. Jesus Christ, they haven’t been around since... the 90s? God I feel old now. 
 

Trigger Witch is..... interesting. I still think Hotline Miami is the king of top down violent shooters. Art style is a sort of throwback to old 90s JRPGs. 

 

It’s either this, or an interactive movie called The Bunker. Max Payne 3 is pissing me off for the time being.

[winter_bird_22]

On 8/17/2021 at 11:29 PM, Cassylvania said:

Always thought the PS4 would give up the ghost first.

Still have my PS4 after ten years of cats sitting on it and spilled drinks. It's still running. Sadly, my controllers won't say the same thing - if I leave the PS4 on rest mode too long, the controllers fail to activate so I have to unplug my PS4 and reset it, which gives me the annoying "You are a bad boy for not turning off your PS4 normally" error. I hate that error. It popped up when I got home from gym because as I was going into a POWGI rant, somehow my neighborhood's electric grid burst and I was out of power for half an hour, which means "YOU FAILED TO TURN OFF THE PS4 PROPERLY, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL!" error, which AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!

 

What really sucks? I can't multitask PS4 games because when I boot a PS4 game I bought on my PS5, the PS4 suspends my PS4 playtime. I know you aren't supposed to do a PS4 game on both systems because it uses your same account, but I wish it did, I could multitask more trophies.

 

Also, I want to talk about Ikenfell, an 8-bit indie RPG about a Hogwarts magic school where a girl finds she can fling fire from her fists. The reason I want to say this title is because I saw someone speedrun it, clip out of bounds to skip 99% of the game and fight the final boss severly underleveled and won...

 

AND THEY FAILED TO MEET THEIR INCENTIVE. ($23000+ OUT OF $30000) So no superboss Allcat.

 

I found this game is on the PS4 and has a platinum. Interesting...

[Cassylvania]

On 8/22/2021 at 6:22 PM, AJ_Radio said:

Trigger Witch is..... interesting. I still think Hotline Miami is the king of top down violent shooters. Art style is a sort of throwback to old 90s JRPGs. 

 

Looks neat. Kinda bloody. I like it.

 

On 8/27/2021 at 1:26 AM, winter_bird_22 said:

Also, I want to talk about Ikenfell, an 8-bit indie RPG about a Hogwarts magic school where a girl finds she can fling fire from her fists. The reason I want to say this title is because I saw someone speedrun it, clip out of bounds to skip 99% of the game and fight the final boss severly underleveled and won...

 

Well, I mean, you can already skip every fight with the win-a-game button... I think you'd still have the play through the game legitimately for the platinum.

 

Platinum #269 - Space Otter Charlie

 

Did you know otters are very cute? It's true. As a professional marine biologist, I can confirm this. It's also one of the many otter facts given in this game.

 

So, believe it or not, there's actually a plot here. It's the year 2500 or so. Humans have fucked up Earth beyond repair, so they piss off to find a new planet to destroy, leaving all the poor animals to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, it gets a little too hot for the otters (did you know they can have as many as one million hairs per square inch on their body? I didn't and I'm a marine biologist), so they decide to build a rocket and find a new planet too. The first two missions (Alpha and Bravo) are a failure, but the third -- Space Mission Charlie -- is a success! Sorta. You just gotta help Charlie navigate through space and repair their ship. And as ridiculous of a plot as that might be, it's better than the story of a lot of games I play.

 

I struggle to call this game a platformer. It kinda is, but Charlie is "glued" to the walls and you move him by aiming in the direction you want to go and pushing off those walls. You can make minor corrections in the air (or, um, space) by using a jetpack, which has limited fuel but quickly refills whenever you land. Most of the game is spent navigating around this way. Lasers, moving platforms, monsters, and lava for some reason are some of the common obstacles you have to avoid. Fortunately, like all otters, Charlie has a gun, so the game is part shooter too. There are various spacesuits you can find and equip, and each suit unlocks a different kind of gun, but there are only a couple of guns that are required for beating the game. There are a few bosses. None are hard.

 

As far as I know, there are no missable trophies and you can do everything in 5-6 hours. The only trophy to give me trouble was Furry Fashion Plate, which requires crafting five of the six spacesuits. This wouldn't be such a big deal, as you'll be gathering crafting materials throughout the game to upgrade your equipment, but there's one collectible that only exists in finite quantities and there's NO tracking system for which ones you've collected. When I got to the end of the game, I needed a few more of these and it basically required replaying every level to look for secret areas I had missed. (I have a theory that they usually exist near data log collectibles, which ARE tracked in-game, so you could try going after those first if you end up in my situation. You don't need to find all the data log entries for the platinum.)

 

The game isn't hard, some of the platforming is trickier than you might expect. There are certain obstacles that will kill Charlie instantly if he touches them. Sometimes I got a little annoyed about how far back I was sent when this happens. But since you could probably beat this game in one sitting...eh.

 

"But C-otter," you say. "Is it worth playing?"

 

Mm, sure. I mean, I don't remember what I bought it for (probably full price since I literally picked it up the day it released), but I could see it as a weekend rental or an under $5 sale. It's a little buggy and needs some polishing. I ran into several instances where dialogue would trigger multiple times, like the programmers forgot to add the option to disable it. A better tracker for collectibles would be nice too. They let you know what resources you can farm in each level, but not the ones that exist in finite amounts.

 

Did you know otters use their poop to communicate with each other? It even has its own name. Spraint. Scientists can tell a lot about otters by smelling their spraint! Don't tell me you never learned anything in this thread.