Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

[Cassylvania]

On 9/28/2019 at 2:08 AM, Spaz said:

Just checked in today and saw Cities: Skylines getting more DLC. That basically confirms that I will NOT be buying this game anytime soon, I hate developers who add in DLC long after the initial game is released. I'm still waiting for King Knight in Shovel Knight, only reason I haven't done the feats yet.

 

I want to defend Cities, because I really do think it's the best city-building sim out there, but this business practice is making it very difficult to do so. I think I'd be okay with it if one of the following things was true: (a) there's a substantial amount of new content available to players (such as XCOM 2's War of the Chosen DLC, which honestly could have been marketed as XCOM 3 -- and more than made up for XCOM 1's lackluster expansions), or (b) the new content is free (such as in Minecraft, which is a much older game than Cities: Skylines). I'm OK with it in Shovel Knight, because the Plague Knight/Specter Knight campaigns were practically brand new games, with different abilities, movement sets, and level layouts. Cities just adds a few new buildings from time to time, but the core gameplay remains the same.

 

What irks me is that I bought the game on a sale last year, with the season pass included. I assumed at the time that this meant I got the base content, the three existing expansions, and any DLC that would later be released. Of course, a few months later, they release a fourth DLC, followed by another, and another, before finally offering the "season pass 2" (AFTER I had already purchased the new expansions individually). No doubt this Campus DLC will be included in season pass 3. And if these were reasonably priced expansions, it probably wouldn't' be a big deal, but you're looking at $13-15 per DLC. If we assume there end up being 9 DLCs, and you buy each of them individually (let's say at the minimum price I've seen), along with the base game at the original $60 asking price, you can expect to pay (13*9 + 60) $177 for the "complete" game. That's BEFORE taxes, people. Not as bad as Sims 4, sure, but completely inexcusable for a finished product that more or less plays the same as the base model.

 

I got my eye on you, Paradox Interactive.

 

On 9/28/2019 at 5:26 AM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I am very excited for The Last Of US 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 in the Triple A range. So excited in fact I won't read any more articles in order not to get spoiled too much. The next Dark Pictures game Little Hope is releasing 2020, I like the Until Dawn game type, even if Man of Medan got multiplayer trophies and I won't get the Plat. And there is Phoenix Point (on PC, unfortunaterly no PS4), to ease the XCOM itch. The enemy mutation system sounds promising.Those four games are set.

 

I haven't heard of the latter two (although, while we're on the subject of XCOM-like games, next year's Empire of Sin looks promising), but I've seen a lot of hype for TLoU2 and Cyberpunk 2077. You'll have to let me know how those are. I might just watch a Let's Play of TLoU2 and call that "my playthrough".

 

I can't overstate how much of a chill game Atelier Lulua is. The Restock feature and Interrupt system took me a while to understand, but they basically allow you to go bananas with consumable items in the field. Upgraded armor and weapons seem less important this time around. Maybe it's because I'm mainly relying on the three alchemists in battle, but you can just obliterate trash mobs with the right items. The alchemy system is a massive improvement over the previous games too. It just takes a little time to understand the whole elemental thing.

 

Dunno how far I am in the game. I just reached Chapter 9 out of I believe 11, but post-game is always big in any JRPG. If it's anything like Meruru DX, it'll be almost as long as a second playthrough.

 

I bought RE7 (since it finally fell to a price I deem fair), and I'm going to try out PS Now for at least a week...and then maybe subscribe for one year at the discounted rate, if I feel my internet can handle it. I don't really see a ton of games on there that I want to play and don't already own, so maybe you guys have some suggestions. I think if we can get maybe...I dunno, ten games, then I'll feel like I got my money's worth. Part of the problem, I think, is that a lot of the PS4 games you can download directly onto your console were free PS+ titles not too long ago.

 

On 9/28/2019 at 5:26 AM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

With Death Stranding, I couldn't be less impressed by all the uh-secrecy. Unless I know what the game is all about, why bother with it?

 

New marketing system...maybe? Yeah, I'm not buying it either.

 

Literally. ?

Edited October 2, 2019 by Cassylvania

[AJ_Radio]

2 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

I want to defend Cities, because I really do think it's the best city-building sim out there, but this business practice is making it very difficult to do so. I think I'd be okay with it if one of the following things was true: (a) there's a substantial amount of new content available to players (such as XCOM 2's War of the Chosen DLC, which honestly could have been marketed as XCOM 3 -- and more than made up for XCOM 1's lackluster expansions), or (b) the new content is free (such as in Minecraft, which is a much older game than Cities: Skylines). I'm OK with it in Shovel Knight, because the Plague Knight/Specter Knight campaigns were practically brand new games, with different abilities, movement sets, and level layouts. Cities just adds a few new buildings from time to time, but the core gameplay remains the same.

 

I really want to play and platinum a simulator building game someday but I can’t be arsed with so much DLC. I got too many games to keep track of and while Cities: Skylines looks great and plays well, this is a good example of why I’m not a 100 percent completionist. 

 

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove should of done more than just add two trophies for Plague Knight and Specter Knight. Those two silver trophies alone take up more time than it does to platinum the base game. That’s why I haven’t done them. 

 

Plus we still got King Knight coming, whenever the hell Yacht Club Games finally decides to release it. 

 

7 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

I bought RE7 (since it finally fell to a price I deem fair), and I'm going to try out PS Now for at least a week...and then maybe subscribe for one year at the discounted rate, if I feel my internet can handle it. I don't really see a ton of games on there that I want to play and don't already own, so maybe you guys have some suggestions. I think if we can get maybe...I dunno, ten games, then I'll feel like I got my money's worth. Part of the problem, I think, is that a lot of the PS4 games you can download directly onto your console were free PS+ titles not too long ago.

 

===

You STILL won’t do The Last of Us?

===

 

I don’t see the point in using PS Now to play PS4 games. 

 

I got a lot of PS4 games from sales, and my last several physical games I got cheap from GameStop and other retail outlets. 

 

If I was just starting and wanted to experience a selection I would subscribe to PS Now. 

 

The sad thing is my internet is subpar, I would have to bring my PS4 somewhere to get a decent connection. Easier said than done.

[NaseemJohn]

On 2019-09-26 at 0:53 AM, Cassylvania said:

The problem with water is that you generally have to filter it, which means making a filter, which eats up precious supplies, which means you spend most of the game in your inventory screen. Unlike most survival games, you actually have three inventory screens (yours, your dog's, and your raft's), so there's a lot of shifting items around. Fortunately, it's very user-friendly.

 

Water is also an issue because it rains ALL THE TIME. 

The constant rain is actually a good thing. On one hand you’re gonna get wet if you aren’t dressed properly but on the other you have unlimited supplies of clean water. When it’s raining you can fill up all your jars with fresh water without needing to filter. 

[RuneEyesDragon]

On 9/18/2019 at 0:16 AM, Cassylvania said:

The internet has already tainted the image of Wendy to me, thank you very much.

Oh yeah, forgot Rule 34 exists. I'm sure that I can find naughty fan art of Jade and Rab from Dragon Quest XI somewhere on Deviantart. (Don't pretend it won't exist - some people have the sickest most twisted minds when regarding an old man traveling with a young woman.)

 

By the way, I think "Jade" is going to be my favorite female name from now on... considering I accidentally mistook a Sim in the Sims 4 whose name was Jade Bheeda for a boy because her child model had Shirley Temple hair.

 

Here are all the Jades I know:

• My favorite character from Jackie Chan Adventures, a little scamp who always tries to involved in "Uncle Jackie's" adventures. She was the hero when Shen-Du rewrote history so he was the winner.
• The photographer protagonist of Beyond Good and Evil, too bad it never to trophy support when they ported it to PS4 and the sequel which is in development hell doesn't look like Jade will be returning.
• That Sim I mentioned and another Sim woman called Jade Rosa.
• And, of course, our favorite martial artist from Dragon Quest XI. If I did a dream crossover, it would be the Jackie Chan Jade(the future one from the final season, the teenaged Jade) helping the Luminary alongside this Jade.

Who thought that a dull green gemstone prominent in oriental art would become such a famous girl's name!

 

Oh right, on topic...

 

Quote

I'm going to try out PS Now for at least a week...and then maybe subscribe for one year at the discounted rate,

 

Yeah, it's nice that Sony decided to make PS Now more affordable by slashing its monthly sub rate by half. Now that they've started putting PS4 games on it, they knew they had to make their streaming service more accessible. It might replace GameFly for temporary playthroughs for some games. (Some games - GameFly still has a bigger library of older games.)

 

Welp, have to end this post. Have to go over to my sister's house and make sure it's clean. I swear, her dogs were well-behaved last time and I only had to wipe up one doo-doo on the floor, and now the poop piles are drawing tiny flies.

 

[Briste]

18 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I bought RE7 (since it finally fell to a price I deem fair), and I'm going to try out PS Now for at least a week...and then maybe subscribe for one year at the discounted rate, if I feel my internet can handle it. I don't really see a ton of games on there that I want to play and don't already own, so maybe you guys have some suggestions.

Were you planning on getting those Castlevania Harmony of Despair trophies out of the way during that week? If so, let me know and I'll use my free week too so we can knock them out!

[Cassylvania]

23 hours ago, Spaz said:

You STILL won’t do The Last of Us?

 

I already platinumed it once. Not doing three playthroughs + two multiplayer campaigns again. But I'll watch somebody play through TLoU2 for the story, if I decide not to pick it up.

 

23 hours ago, Spaz said:

I don’t see the point in using PS Now to play PS4 games.

 

Depends how much you play. If you play two PS Now games a month, at the annual subscription rate, you're looking at $2.50 per game. That's basically the cost of a one-night rental, but you get to keep the game for a year (or longer, if you renew). The shortest games I play are about 5-6 hours to platinum/100%, which is why I said that playing at least ten PS Now games over the course of a year would justify the cost (using my $1/1 hour of gameplay formula). Not being able to keep the game or having it on physical disc is a bit of a bummer, but I'd primarily be playing it for shorter games that don't have a physical release anyway.

 

23 hours ago, NaseemJohn said:

The constant rain is actually a good thing. On one hand you’re gonna get wet if you aren’t dressed properly but on the other you have unlimited supplies of clean water. When it’s raining you can fill up all your jars with fresh water without needing to filter. 

 

Ooooooh. That's good to know! I think I even said something sarcastic to myself like, "If I could drink this rain, I'd never be thirsty again."

 

By the way, it rains a lot in Lulua too. ?

 

11 hours ago, RuneEyesDragon said:

Who thought that a dull green gemstone prominent in oriental art would become such a famous girl's name!

 

I've always been partial to the name Ruby, but you make a good case for Jade. Not sure where she ranks among my favorite Dragon Quest girls, though. Bianca was pretty damn awesome in DQ Heroes.

 

5 hours ago, Briste said:

Were you planning on getting those Castlevania Harmony of Despair trophies out of the way during that week? If so, let me know and I'll use my free week too so we can knock them out!

 

Hm... Depends if you can download PS3 games onto a PS3 console. I don't trust my internet to be able to stream it on my PS4. We'd need five players too. My idea was to hook my PS3 and PS4 up to separate TVs so we'd only need two other people (one, if you did the same), but I need to make sure I can get a stable connection. Did we have somebody else who wants to get Boned too? (Hehehe...)

 

By the way... Fall scented candles > all other candles.

[AnEldritchThing]

9 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

By the way... Fall scented candles > all other candles.

 

Absolutely. 100%.

[Briste]

On 10/2/2019 at 10:12 PM, Cassylvania said:

Hm... Depends if you can download PS3 games onto a PS3 console. I don't trust my internet to be able to stream it on my PS4. We'd need five players too. My idea was to hook my PS3 and PS4 up to separate TVs so we'd only need two other people (one, if you did the same), but I need to make sure I can get a stable connection. Did we have somebody else who wants to get Boned too? (Hehehe...)

You can download PS3 games onto a PS3 console. My version of Alice is digital and I downloaded it last week so I'm ready to play it when I'm done with LA Noire. I don't have two TV's, but I can easily switch my input back and forth if needed. I think @Jenssaid he'd do it with us with his free week as well. We could probably get Boned relatively quickly I'm actually off of work on Wednesday this week coming up so could pretty much do anytime that day or late-ish on Tuesday or whenever if that doesn't work lol

[Cassylvania]

16 hours ago, Briste said:

You can download PS3 games onto a PS3 console. My version of Alice is digital and I downloaded it last week so I'm ready to play it when I'm done with LA Noire. I don't have two TV's, but I can easily switch my input back and forth if needed. I think @Jenssaid he'd do it with us with his free week as well. We could probably get Boned relatively quickly I'm actually off of work on Wednesday this week coming up so could pretty much do anytime that day or late-ish on Tuesday or whenever if that doesn't work lol

 

That could work. Let's try to find Jenny Chicken. He seems to have disappeared from this world.

 

In the meantime...

 

Platinum #186 - Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland

 

You guys probably thought I was joking about finishing every Arland game in the Atelier series before Ryza drops on Halloween. (If you weren't, you have more faith than me in my persistence.) I figured I'd try to take on the original trilogy and only attempt this one if I had at least a month to spare, but I didn't expect to clear all four games...or to be done in the first week of October. That speaks volumes to how addictive these games are. Or how big of a time sink they can be.

 

My earlier impressions of the game held until up until the end, which means I don't really need to praise the game anymore. If anything, I think this is the best entry into the series, even if some of the dialogue and references won't make much sense to newcomers. I'm not usually one to like stereotypical anime girls, but I've found the female leads in each of these games to be increasingly more likable, with Lulua being damn near adorable. Her perky attitude and "It'll all work out...probably!" catch phrase made me almost want to do something meaningful with my life.

 

One really nice feature this game has is a difficulty slider, which is a life saver if you hate the post-game min/max obsession of most JRPGs. In the first three games (and ESPECIALLY Meruru, if you're playing the Plus/DX version), it was almost critical to spend hours at the end of the game crafting the best possible gear and items, which is not as easy as you might think. Remember: these games are all about crafting. Transferring traits across multiple items can give you a headache, as you have to keep in mind what can be synthesized with what, how you're going to combine some traits with other traits to make better traits, and how many points (TP, in this game) are needed to put all the traits you want on that item. Here, I was able to beat up to the final chapter on Normal, with very little focus on upgrading my armor or maxing out my abilities. Once I got to the ridiculously OP post-game bosses, I dropped the difficulty down to Easy, but I still kept my basic armor. That led to some good, balanced boss fights that tend to only exist in the beginning stages of most JRPGs I've played.

 

I think every team is feasible in this game, but I don't know you'd want anybody but Lulua and Rorona in the front and Piana behind them. I just switched out the others to build up their friendship.

 

I did make one major fuck-up by saving over my game file after the credits. Be careful with that, because you need an earlier save to watch all of the endings. (Fortunately, I had a backup that only sent me back about an hour.)

 

All in all, another fun Atelier game that isn't nearly as girly as the title might suggest.

 

 

[ZoutjeNL]

Nice job on Atelier! I am not familiar with the series.. I don't know much about most JRPGS but the description you wrote sounds like I finally should give one a shot. According to reading here it is the 21th game in the franchise, wow! How haven't I heard of the series haha. Maybe its more known on console then on PC. Either way I start liking Japanese games more and more now is just the question which one to buy. The one series I am familiar with is the Tales series. Which game would you recommend to start out with? 

[Rally-Vincent---]

On 2.10.2019 at 4:10 AM, Cassylvania said:

You'll have to let me know how those are. I might just watch a Let's Play of TLoU2 and call that "my playthrough".

 

I'll gladly answer questions, but I don't feel like proactively hijacking your thread. And with TLOU 2: Why not do both? I like to watch Let's Plays of games I have played to see which decisions the guy I watch chooses.

[Cassylvania]

3 hours ago, ZoutjeNL said:

Nice job on Atelier! I am not familiar with the series.. I don't know much about most JRPGS but the description you wrote sounds like I finally should give one a shot. According to reading here it is the 21th game in the franchise, wow! How haven't I heard of the series haha. Maybe its more known on console then on PC. Either way I start liking Japanese games more and more now is just the question which one to buy. The one series I am familiar with is the Tales series. Which game would you recommend to start out with? 

 

I don't think I'd start with an Atelier game as your first JRPG. (I'm not even sure it technically qualifies as a JRPG, except for the fact that it was developed by a Japanese company and has some light RPG elements.) If you are going to do that, I've only played the four Arland games. You should probably start with Rorona if you want to get the most out of the story, but it's the most difficult to platinum (unless you're doing the Plus/DX versions, which makes Meruru the hardest). Lulua would be the most confusing to start with in terms of the plot, but it has the best gameplay, and you wouldn't have to worry about the time factor that makes the other games in the series so stressful.

 

If you want a really good JRPG, I'd go with Dragon Quest XI. It's the best of a crowded genre. Ni no Kuni and Digimon Story are also worth a play, if you like pretty graphics and Pokemon-esque gameplay, but the trophies kinda suck and I haven't played the sequels. I'd have to defer to someone else for Tales/Persona/Final Fantasy. My experience with them is limited to a few hours of Tales of Vesperia on Xbox, that Persona 3 dancing game, and World of FF (which I liked, but may or may not count as a main game in the series).

 

I'm not sure what qualifies something as a JRPG, but it seems to be an ungodly amount of grinding at the end game. If that doesn't turn you on, you might consider I Am Setsuna, which has all of the elements that make a JRPG good...but packaged into a compact, 30-40 hour experience.

 

27 minutes ago, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I'll gladly answer questions, but I don't feel like proactively hijacking your thread. And with TLOU 2: Why not do both? I like to watch Let's Plays of games I have played to see which decisions the guy I watch chooses.

 

A lot of times, I double up by playing one game while watching someone else play (or review) another. It makes the grind more bearable, but it's also the only way I'm going to experience some games, because my backlog is simply too long at this point. I have major titles like The Evil Within and NieR: Automata that have been sitting on my shelf for years. I have over 120 games in my PS4 library. Realistically, I'm not going to get to them all, as every game I play comes with the added consequence of putting off all the others. So, if the best thing I can gain from TLOU2 is the story, and I can get that story from an LP, then it makes a lot more sense for me to do that next year than to shell out $60 for a game that's going to collect dust until 2022.

 

On the other hand, it might work out great, as I was finally able to get Resident Evil 7 (WITH all the DLCs) for $20. That's the deal I've been waiting for. I started playing it a couple of nights ago. I'm doing a bit of a weird first playthrough, where I'm trying to get all of the collectibles, but I'm also trying to get the speedrun trophy, so I'm doing some sections multiple times to shave off a few minutes. Unfortunately, I was so busy focusing on that and trying to keep my pants dry that I forgot some of the missable trophies along the way. Hopefully I can grab them in my Madhouse playthrough, because I'd like to platinum this game in two runs.

 

But yeah, that's kinda how I want to handle AAA games from now on: wait a couple years for a price drop and pick up the complete edition.

 

In sports news, a team from Minnesota actually beat a team from New York. No, it wasn't the Twins -- it was your friendly neighborhood Vikings, laying waste to only the second-worst looking team in the NFC East. (The first just jettisoned their coach.) For a brief week, we can tune out the drama, and I can wear my Case Keenum jersey with pride.

 

Well... Maybe not that.

[Rally-Vincent---]

31 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

A lot of times, I double up by playing one game while watching someone else play (or review) another. It makes the grind more bearable, but it's also the only way I'm going to experience some games, because my backlog is simply too long at this point. I have major titles like The Evil Within and NieR: Automata that have been sitting on my shelf for years. I have over 120 games in my PS4 library. Realistically, I'm not going to get to them all, as every game I play comes with the added consequence of putting off all the others. So, if the best thing I can gain from TLOU2 is the story, and I can get that story from an LP, then it makes a lot more sense for me to do that next year than to shell out $60 for a game that's going to collect dust until 2022.

 

On the other hand, it might work out great, as I was finally able to get Resident Evil 7 (WITH all the DLCs) for $20. That's the deal I've been waiting for. I started playing it a couple of nights ago. I'm doing a bit of a weird first playthrough, where I'm trying to get all of the collectibles, but I'm also trying to get the speedrun trophy, so I'm doing some sections multiple times to shave off a few minutes. Unfortunately, I was so busy focusing on that and trying to keep my pants dry that I forgot some of the missable trophies along the way. Hopefully I can grab them in my Madhouse playthrough, because I'd like to platinum this game in two runs.

 

But yeah, that's kinda how I want to handle AAA games from now on: wait a couple years for a price drop and pick up the complete edition.

 

My backlog is not big enough to wait years to play a game, and I wouldn't save on a gaming expenses since I'd have to get other games to play in the meantime. I don't count DLC - the only DLC I bought are the Wither III DLC and XCOM 2 DLC. Apart from preorder boni or "complete editions" if I didn't discover the game at release, I don't buy DLC unless the game is superb and the content is worth its money. Luckily, I don't have to take DLC into consideration.

 

Also, have a random song from Jimmy Sommerville that you probably didn't expect:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by Rally-Vincent---

[gruffiiti]

Sounds like a good deal on RE7. I still haven't picked it up yet as my backlog is a mile long too.

At that price though I probably would have anyways. haha

 

 

Since my Seahawks played on Thursday night I watched the Vikings yesterday afternoon. Cousins threw some really great footballs.

 

[Cassylvania]

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

My backlog is not big enough to wait years to play a game, and I wouldn't save on a gaming expenses since I'd have to get other games to play in the meantime. I don't count DLC - the only DLC I bought are the Wither III DLC and XCOM 2 DLC. Apart from preorder boni or "complete editions" if I didn't discover the game at release, I don't buy DLC unless the game is superb and the content is worth its money. Luckily, I don't have to take DLC into consideration.

 

Yeah, a lot of DLC doesn't seem worth it. I'd just rather pay half price for more content, if developers are going to keep holding games back at release. I might feel differently if I knew what additional content we might expect for every AAA game that comes out. For TLOU2, I expect about 18 DLCs, with at least one story campaign, a harder difficulty, and several unnecessary multiplayer trophies. I don't know what the pricing will be, but that tells me I'm better off waiting.

 

23 hours ago, gruffiiti said:

Sounds like a good deal on RE7. I still haven't picked it up yet as my backlog is a mile long too.

At that price though I probably would have anyways. haha

 

I think it's worth it. I finished my first run in just under 4 in-game hours (for the speedrun trophy), but it was probably closer to 12 in real time, since I was following a collectibles guide and reloading earlier saves once I had a better idea of what I was doing. I expect Madhouse difficulty to take just as long, so I'll get at least 20 hours worth a play, even before the DLC is considered. (And, from the looks of it, that might be where the majority of my time is spent.)

 

23 hours ago, gruffiiti said:

Since my Seahawks played on Thursday night I watched the Vikings yesterday afternoon. Cousins threw some really great footballs.

 

I'm going to start calling him Kirk "1 PM on Sundays" Cousins. ?

 

Kidding aside, Rams/Seahawks was the best game this season, and that Lockett TD may be the best catch I've seen all year. I have no idea how he kept his feet in bounds. Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice of which other prime time game to watch, as I opted for the Mayfield meltdown over Colts/Chiefs. At least the Twitter comments on Booger McFarland are entertaining.

 

Platinum #187 - The Adventure Pals

 

You've never heard of this game. Don't lie. 

 

I only picked this up because the giraffe on the cover looked so ridiculously stupid, but it ended up being a surprisingly good platformer/hack-and-slash. The graphics, combat, and pun-based humor reminded me a lot of Cat Quest -- even though the developers were clearly using Adventure Time for inspiration. And why not? This game does a better job at capturing the magic of that show than either Jake & Finn Investigations or Pirates of the Enchiridion. No, it's not on the level of Guacamelee or Shantae, but it's a decent enough time-waster for the 6-8 hours it takes to platinum. The trophies are also what trophies should be: fun, easy to do without a guide, and only somewhat more challenging than the game itself. You'll probably only be missing a few cupcakes or stickers when you beat the final boss, and the only real grind I had to worry about was killing myself nine times. Yes, it's that hard to die.

 

If I had a complaint, the game becomes a bit tedious towards the end. There are four or five islands, each island has four or five stages, and each stage has five levels, which honestly don't feel very different. You're mostly doing the same thing every time: follow the coins, whack a few baddies, and flip the switches until you find the path to the exit. Later stages throw in a few new obstacles (like spiked blocks and ziplines), but they feel more like novelties than added challenges. I think I would have preferred longer levels, with a greater variety of gameplay elements, as the overall presentation was a bit too cookie-cutter for my liking.

 

Still, how can you not love this giraffe?

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Cassylvania

[Rally-Vincent---]

Since today, I can add another "worst movie" we talked about in this thread in August. Aliens vs. Predator 2. What an awful, awful movie. Compared to it, Detention of the Dead (which I watched two days ago) was a masterpiece.

[RuneEyesDragon]

On 10/7/2019 at 4:33 PM, Cassylvania said:

If you want a really good JRPG, I'd go with Dragon Quest XI. It's the best of a crowded genre.

I definitely agree. I am so addicted to the Switch version's 2D mode, trying to find all of the Pastwords.

Spoiler

I got bodied by Baramos in the Altar of Salvation. Compared to that, the big bad of the main game is a joke. I honestly wish that they could make Tickington DLC for the PS4 version, I would gladly get the trophies for completing all of the altars.

Also, to Cassy...

 

Spoiler

I've played to Trial Isle on the Switch version and Durstan is not a genie. He just severed his soul from his body to become immortal to help the Luminary by providing requests similar to the Divinegon in the remake of Dragon Warrior III, which makes sense because I was spoiled to the ending and found out that Dragon Quest XI is the precursor to the ENTIRE ORIGINAL ERDRICK TRILOGY!!!! Yes, I DO intend to go to Trial Isle for the platinum trophy, but I have yet to get to Gondolia in the PS4 version. I am probably going to just make it a daily thing after I get back to my converse home in two days. Right now I am working on Dark Cloud 1. Again. (Yes, I made it part of an event to platinum the other Level-5 games!)

 

On 10/7/2019 at 4:33 PM, Cassylvania said:

A lot of times, I double up by playing one game while watching someone else play (or review) another.

 

May I suggest watching speedruns from RPG Limit Break? I know speedrunning RPGs is an oxymoron, but these guys make it happen and it allows you to see the best of a game's mechanics without having to watch cutscenes.

 

EDIT: Sorry to anyone who is playing the Switch Dragon Quest XI, I didn't mean to spoil one of the Altars. I put that in spoilers.

Edited October 16, 2019 by RuneEyesDragon

[Briste]

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

Since today, I can add another "worst movie" we talked about in this thread in August. Aliens vs. Predator 2. What an awful, awful movie. Compared to it, Detention of the Dead (which I watched two days ago) was a masterpiece.

I saw this in the theater when it came out...what made it even more disappointing was that the first AVP was actually good. Normally I wouldn't have had terribly high expectations for a sequel on a movie like that...but it was one of the worst movies I've seen too.

 

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Kidding aside, Rams/Seahawks was the best game this season, and that Lockett TD may be the best catch I've seen all year. I have no idea how he kept his feet in bounds. Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice of which other prime time game to watch, as I opted for the Mayfield meltdown over Colts/Chiefs. At least the Twitter comments on Booger McFarland are entertaining.

There wasn't as much scoring, but that Chiefs/Colts game was tense with a lot of drama. Sunday had quite a few good games actually with that Thursday game being the best probably. I hope the Vikings stuff the Eagles in a locker this weekend...I can't stand Philly.

 

As a Pats fan I won't complain...but has there ever been a softer schedule to start a season? No one knew the Steelers were going to suck before week 1...but in hindsight the Pats first 8 weeks have been/will be Pitt (1-4) - Miami (0-4) - Jets (0-4) - Bills (4-1) - Redskins (0-5) - G-Men (2-3) - Jets again (0-4) - Cleveland (2-3)...those teams are a combined 9-25 with four of those wins owned by Buffalo. The Patriots are the first team in history to have potentially 7 of their first 8 weeks of a season be a bye...Buffalo was the only real team so far and I can't see a scenario where the Giants do anything this week with Barkley, Shepard and Engram all missing the game due to injury and a rookie QB who only has three days to prepare and no weapons. I see a heavy dose of Sony Michel again on Thursday since the Pats WR corps is a bit banged up too. I read some rumors that they could be going after AJ Green...they could use the depth, but he hasn't played yet this season.

 

On 10/7/2019 at 3:44 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I'll gladly answer questions, but I don't feel like proactively hijacking your thread. And with TLOU 2: Why not do both? I like to watch Let's Plays of games I have played to see which decisions the guy I watch chooses.

 

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Yeah, a lot of DLC doesn't seem worth it. I'd just rather pay half price for more content, if developers are going to keep holding games back at release. I might feel differently if I knew what additional content we might expect for every AAA game that comes out. For TLOU2, I expect about 18 DLCs, with at least one story campaign, a harder difficulty, and several unnecessary multiplayer trophies. I don't know what the pricing will be, but that tells me I'm better off waiting.

I would like to think I have the discipline to wait for a complete edition...but I loved TLOU too much that I know that'll be a day 1 purchase. I'll put other stuff on hold for this game. I've never watched a Let's Play of a game before...not sure I could get into that since I feel like I'd rather play it. I've watched a few speed runs of stuff here and there, but always of something I've already played. It makes sense if you don't plan on playing a game to get the experience but I don't think I could do it.

[Cassylvania]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:33 PM, RuneEyesDragon said:

May I suggest watching speedruns from RPG Limit Break? I know speedrunning RPGs is an oxymoron, but these guys make it happen and it allows you to see the best of a game's mechanics without having to watch cutscenes.

 

Maybe I'll check it out. I typically don't watch speedruns of games I've never played, as I usually can't appreciate them, but I do like seeing how players can abuse a game's mechanics. It makes me giggle like a madman.

 

On 10/9/2019 at 0:43 AM, Briste said:

There wasn't as much scoring, but that Chiefs/Colts game was tense with a lot of drama. Sunday had quite a few good games actually with that Thursday game being the best probably. I hope the Vikings stuff the Eagles in a locker this weekend...I can't stand Philly.

 

So far, the Vikings have done exactly what I expected this season: W, L, W, L, W. I have that pattern continuing for two more weeks. I'd be okay with a loss to Philly if the rest of my predictions hold up (I have the Vikings going 10-6 and making the playoffs as a wild card), but I didn't expect the NFC North to be this competitive. 3-2 and yet in last place? That's a bit disheartening, but somebody's gotta lose in Lions/Packers. ?

 

Think your Pats will be fine tonight.

 

Anyway, rant time.

 

The Flame in the Flood and I are going to have a little throwdown. I think I messed up. Some trophy descriptions have lines that read something like, "Survive 40 days in Endless Mode without picking your nose," but I took that to mean 40 days in a row, not necessarily the first 40 days. So, naturally, I spent the first 20-30 days of the game preparing myself to go a full 40 days without picking my nose, but I'm pretty sure that negated the trophy. Which sucks because -- in all seriousness, the actual trophy I'm referring to requires not eating plants for 40 days -- doing that ALSO hurt my chances of surviving 200 miles (which is probably the most time-consuming trophy in the game), as I depleted my entire jerky stock. I didn't realize how much harder food was going to be to find after 100 miles. So, now, I'm probably going to have to kill myself and start from scratch for both trophies.

 

The good news is that you can give a few items to your dog, which carry over to your next playthrough. I think I'll save the 200 miles trophy for last, once I have an EPIC stock of jerky and supplies. This will give me time to work on other stupid trophies, such as "Die in every way possible" and "Contract every affliction." Yes, this game really wants you to rub yourself in poison ivy and get syphilis for a trophy.

 

Also, I don't know what it is about the Resident Evil series, but these are by and large the most...unsettling games I've ever played. I'm not even sure that's the right word. They're not scary, and they're not particularly hard, but they make me very uncomfortable or anxious. Some of that comes from knowing that if I die, I'll have to do that same section over again, but that can't be the only reason. That's standard with every game. Is it that I don't WANT to do that section over again? It made me rage sometimes in Dark Souls and gave me a little jump scare in Alien: Isolation, but I didn't dread failure the way I do in Resident Evil. There's also this physical exhaustion I get when I finally complete something. Like, last night, I managed to beat the Nightmare DLC. I don't think it was hard. I failed maybe five or six times before I unlocked the Circular Saw, which made everything except the Jack fight fairly easy (and even that wasn't hard, because I had access to plenty of ammo and traps). But this is the exact same feeling I got while playing Raid Mode in Resident Evil Revelations. It's a mixture of anxiety and physical exhaustion. Am I broken? Why does this put me on the edge, when other games do not? What is wrong with you, Capcom?

Edited October 10, 2019 by Cassylvania

[Cassylvania]

It's been a while, but I've been at war with the games on my list. The Flame in the Flood to a Kiss from a Rose on the Grey fucked me over for the last time. Because it takes like eighteen hours for the game to load, I went to the kitchen to make a sandwich and came back to find my character dead and my save file deleted. I was about 110 miles down the river. Like I said before, I had PLANNED to start over (for the 200 mile journey), but on my own terms. I was going to collect supplies. I was going to work on some more trophies. When I saw that game over screen, I immediately suplexed my TV, loaded a backup save I had made the night before (yeah, I foresaw this bullshit), and went the remaining 90 miles on nothing but a stack of cattails and a prayer. Didn't get every trophy I wanted, but that does knock the most time-consuming one out of the way.

 

I also finished my first playthrough of RE7, if I didn't mention that already, and I'm about halfway through Madhouse difficulty. I do like how the higher difficulty has different enemy placements and new jump scares. (Well, maybe "like" isn't the best word...) I've also been chipping away at the DLC trophies. I saw a lot of people struggled with 21, but I got all three trophies on my first or second try. I MIGHT have gotten them all on my first try, but I didn't realize your damage carries over to the next round in 21 Survival+. That cost me in Round 6, when I decided to lose a hand because I didn't want to use up my best trump cards.

 

Ha, lose a hand... I'm so funny.

 

Anyway, I'm wondering if they patched the game to make it much easier, because I thought it was very fair. I even managed to kill Mr. Bighead. Not the guy from Rocko. But I did like the reboot. I wonder if they're going to make more episodes, or if that's all we'll be getting.

 

I also watched El Camino. That was pretty good. Didn't feel like it was a cheap cash grab, and I think it did a decent job wrapping up what was perhaps the biggest question from the Breaking Bad finale, without spitting on the memory of the original series. Don't watch it if you haven't seen BB, but maybe give it a once-over if you're tired of binging TV shows on Netflix.

 

I'm getting sidetracked. I also bought the stupid Campus DLC for Skylines. This is probably the most worthless expansion to the game yet, since it literally adds features that were already in the base game: schools. Yay. And of course it has to come with some really tedious trophies, like having 15,000 students on campus at the same time. I'm not even sure how that's possible without a ridiculously large population, which I don't have in any of my towns. What I do have, though, is Chirpnado Alley, with an almost limitless supply of money, thanks to how long it took to pop that natural disaster trophy. That makes most of the trophies a breeze, but I am starting to lose money...

 

That's why I started using toll roads. Yeah, see, the AI is stupid. You can have a hundred toll roads in a row and cars will stop at every one of them, dropping money in your pocket. You want to enter my city? Toll. You want to leave? Toll. Gotta go to work? Toll. Meeting a friend for lunch? Toll. Picking the kids up after school? Toll. Barber shop? Toll. Grocery store? Toll. Free body wax? Toll. Everywhere you go -- TOLL, TOLL, TOLL, TOLL, TOLL, TOLL, TOLL. Now I can see why EA loves this so much.

 

I also...no, I think that's it. I just popped another trophy in Cities, so I think I'm done with this game for a while. I might need a new strategy for Education Nation. I think if you have a city with maybe, I dunno, 100k semi-literate people, and then you open a university, they might all enroll at the same time and trigger the trophy. That seems a lot better than slowly trying to get your enrollment up after decades of successful higher learning.

 

Just wait 'til those kids see how much it will cost to take the campus bus.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Cassylvania

[RuneEyesDragon]

15 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

It's been a while, but I've been at war with the games on my list. The Flame in the Flood to a Kiss from a Rose on the Grey fucked me over for the last time. Because it takes like eighteen hours for the game to load, I went to the kitchen to make a sandwich and came back to find my character dead and my save file deleted. I was about 110 miles down the river. Like I said before, I had PLANNED to start over (for the 200 mile journey), but on my own terms. I was going to collect supplies. I was going to work on some more trophies. When I saw that game over screen, I immediately suplexed my TV, loaded a backup save I had made the night before (yeah, I foresaw this bullshit), and went the remaining 90 miles on nothing but a stack of cattails and a prayer. Didn't get every trophy I wanted, but that does knock the most time-consuming one out of the way.

 

I feel sorry you got screwed over. I am glad I didn't touch this game and this warns me never to touch it. Shame, these indies need some help but not if they are nothing by digital manure.

15 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Now I can see why EA loves this so much.

If the Sims 4 wasn't so goddamn addicting, I'd have deleted Origin and boycotted Origin for the rest of my natural life because of the BS they pulled with their games. The Sims 3 and 4 were the only EA-funded games I will ever play. Glad you finally found a way to be a proper politician.

[Cassylvania]

On 10/16/2019 at 2:40 PM, RuneEyesDragon said:

I feel sorry you got screwed over. I am glad I didn't touch this game and this warns me never to touch it. Shame, these indies need some help but not if they are nothing by digital manure.

If the Sims 4 wasn't so goddamn addicting, I'd have deleted Origin and boycotted Origin for the rest of my natural life because of the BS they pulled with their games. The Sims 3 and 4 were the only EA-funded games I will ever play. Glad you finally found a way to be a proper politician.

 

It hasn't helped much. The only purpose of money is to keep from going bankrupt. When it comes to getting trophies, you're still at the game's mercy...and, unfortunately, I think Education Nation is even more evil than What the...?, because at least that trophy didn't require your undivided attention.

 

I'm not sure how the game expects you to have 15,000 students at the same time. The problem is that not every person who is eligible for university will go to university, and eventually your town is full of people who have already graduated, so they're obviously not going to go back. The best option seems to be to start a new city, build up a huge population WITHOUT building a university, and then try to hit 15k with that first "pulse" of enrollments. I tried that a couple times last night, but it seems to peter out at 9k, even though about 30k people are eligible. Growing the population more doesn't seem to increase the eligibility number. I've tried building one university at the center of the city, multiple university spread throughout the city, and turning my entire city into one big campus (with dorms on every block), but the game continues to give me the middle finger. I've even tried removing all my offices/industry so that people have no choice of what to do with their lives. Apparently moving out of my city in droves is preferable to four more years of school.

 

I also noticed that my city has about 60k people who have "graduated" from university, despite not having one available in my town. This leads me to think that I need to play some Careless Whisper, wait nine months and eighteen years, and then try to build a university again. That SHOULD solve the problem.

 

Anyway, I feel bad for anyone trying to start this game from 0% right now. You'd have such a nightmare of trophies ahead of you.

 

I might start something new this weekend. Between Cities, RE7, and The Flame in the Flood on a Boat with a Goat, I think I'm starting to lose my mind. I need a game where I'm not a victim anymore. I want to rage and scream and smash stuff.

 

WHERE IS MY GOD OF WAR!?

[Briste]

4 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

WHERE IS MY GOD OF WAR!?

Did you get GoW III Remastered when it was free on PS+...that could get your angst out  You could also build a voodoo doll of Matt Stafford and stab it as well....that could work too.

 

Or you could be like me and maybe make a very bad decision...I'm going to start Path of Exile this weekend I think to casually play online. It may be nice to have something constant to change the pace a bit...we'll see if it is a choice I end up regretting lol

[Cassylvania]

55 minutes ago, Briste said:

Did you get GoW III Remastered when it was free on PS+...that could get your angst out  You could also build a voodoo doll of Matt Stafford and stab it as well....that could work too.

 

Or you could be like me and maybe make a very bad decision...I'm going to start Path of Exile this weekend I think to casually play online. It may be nice to have something constant to change the pace a bit...we'll see if it is a choice I end up regretting lol

 

You're a braver man than me. It's been on my Amazon wish list since the console release, but what a slog for the platinum. PoE, Neverwinter, and Final Fantasy XIV could easily last you until 2029.

 

I do have GoW III Remastered, but I'd start with the original GoW on PS3 (even though I did platinum it on my old account) and work my way up to it. Probably not this weekend, though. I remember how much my fingers hurt after Challenge of the Gods #10.

 

I have one game in mind, but I'm going to keep it a secret for now, in case I end up playing something else.

 

By the way, I just got Education Nation, after three days of trial and error. I don't know if I outsmarted the game...and if I had the time, I'd play around with it more just to be sure...but, honestly, if the solution is really as simple as I think it is, I'm probably going to throw my PS4 in a lake. It's disgusting if that's what you have to do to get that trophy to pop.

[RuneEyesDragon]

10 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I might start something new this weekend. Between Cities, RE7, and The Flame in the Flood on a Boat with a Goat, I think I'm starting to lose my mind. I need a game where I'm not a victim anymore. I want to rage and scream and smash stuff.

 

WHERE IS MY GOD OF WAR!?

 

Why don't you calm down and put those games away and play a nice EZPZ visual novel? I don't know whether you said you liked visual novels, but I've just platinumed A Winter's Daydream and it's very relaxing and has lots of calming music.