Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

[Cassylvania]

6 hours ago, Jens said:

If I could forget FF12 for a while to check out Ni No Kuni 2... you can do it as well  

 

How is Ni No Koons (as I call it) the second? I really liked the first one. It was like playing an anime, with some of the best animation I've seen in a video game. I'm hoping they port it to the PS4 at some point, because I never did get the chance to platinum it.

 

I decided to continue with Dragon's Dogshit. I still have to do the "DLC," which I guess is supposed to be pretty hard, and I might as well get that out of the way before I get distracted by another game. We all know what happened the last time I took a break from Double D...

 

What's everybody else playing this weekend?

[Darling Baphomet]

5 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I decided to continue with Dragon's Dogshit. I still have to do the "DLC," which I guess is supposed to be pretty hard, and I might as well get that out of the way before I get distracted by another game. We all know what happened the last time I took a break from Double D...

 

What's everybody else playing this weekend?

 

Eugh. Whenever I put down an RPG it usually takes me weeks to pick it up again. I don't think I've touched Inquisition in a month. At least it's a pretty fun game, just I always find something new to play and never end up getting back to longer games. 

 

Need for Speed: Rivals, and a bunch of co-op games (Borderlands 2 / TPS, Rocket League, Portal Knights) with my gf. Got frustrated with trophy hunting after one too many shitty games. (That one series of QTE events in Uncharted: Golden Abyss was the last straw)

[Briste]

16 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

What's everybody else playing this weekend?

Much to my surprise, Black Panther is still in the theater so I am definitely going to see it tonight. It's a 9:30 showing so my kids will be sleeping and my wife told me to have fun. I'm looking forward to it and I'm glad I'll be able to see it on the big screen. In Dark Souls, I killed Gwyndolin last night. That was my least favorite boss fight so far. It wasn't hard...just annoying. After the movie I'll probably farm the Hoplites for 30 minutes or so before I go to bed. I'll need about 400,000 souls to get all the large shards I'll need to upgrade the weapons in preparation for the Knights Trophy. I farmed about 100,000 last night after Gwyndolin so I'm hoping about 30-45 minutes and I'll be done with those.

 

So what's the new game? You're teasing it pretty well so it must be something exciting!

 

11 hours ago, regularegg said:

Whenever I put down an RPG it usually takes me weeks to pick it up again.

I try to never put down an RPG in the middle. I always forget where the hell I left off and need to start from the beginning which ends up making the first attempt a waste. The only RPG's I can do that with are ones that I've played several times and know immediately based on where I am what I was doing. However, if it's a game I know that well, I probably picked it back up again for fun and would complete it anyways. 

 

@Jens I've wanted to play Ni No Kuni and 2 as well, but there are so many freaking games I want to play and they all take so many hours to beat that I'll never catch up. How are you liking FF12? I just finished that one a couple of months ago. I really liked the gambit system but was kind of surprised at the lack of depth in the main story. I felt like there wasn't quite as much character development that I've grown accustomed to from the Final Fantasy series. When I'm done with Dark Souls, I have to re-100% FFXV...this game just will not end and for me has been a massive disappointment. It's not that it's a bad game exactly...it's just that my expectations were off the charts and it was going to have a hard time living up to them no matter what.

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by Br1ste

[Cassylvania]

@Br1ste More on the new game soon! I might get to it today.

 

Dragon's Yomama continues to irk me. It turns out you can mess up your access to certain merchants if you don't do their questlines, which I...already kinda knew, but I didn't realize how important Conqueror's Periapts were until I shredded a boss on Hard Mode in just a few seconds. Serves me right for trying to play the game fairly.

 

I also came to a catch-22. The longest/hardest remaining trophies are: (1) beating the game on Hard Mode, (2) speedrunning the game (again, why?), (3) reaching level 200, (4) killing the Ur-Dragon, and (5) doing all the shit you need to do on Bitterblack Isle. The problem is that Bitterblack Isle is very difficult, and playing on Hard Mode makes it even harder. But if you lower the difficulty, you can't return to Hard Mode without restarting the game. But you earn the most experience on Hard Mode. But killing the Ur-Dragon gives you the most experience and is the easiest way to reach level 200. But I can't kill the Ur-Dragon yet, because I'm too low of a level. But it doesn't matter what difficulty you face the Ur-Dragon on, because it always defaults to the same difficulty. But I fucked up my playthrough by allowing Fournival to die. Or get arrested. I can't remember. I don't care about him. It's not like he's my one true love or anything. 

 

SOOO... I decided to beat the game on Hard Mode, which I did last night, and continue to NG++. I had to redo my progress on Bitterblack Isle, but I hadn't gotten very far anyway. Just to the second boss, I think. I dropped the game down to Easy Mode, so I'm hoping I can beat the DLC easily, which will gain me enough levels to kill the Ur-Dragon, which will give me enough experience that it won't matter that I'm not playing on Hard Mode. And at some point we'll do that ridiculous speedrun trophy...that exists in an RPG...for no good reason.

 

(Oh, and enjoy the comic. Not sure who made it, but I found it when trying to Google the merchant's name. So, credit to whoever you are!)

 

[Jens]

[...]

Edited September 27, 2019 by Jens

[Briste]

@Cassylvania lol it seems from that comic that you are not alone on your feelings about Dragon's Dogma. Speed runs in RPG's are the worst! Hey we made this in depth RPG that is supposed to be full of story and adventure, but we want you to skip all that to beat it in a stupid amount of time. Sounds like a good time to me!

 

@Jens I didn't play 12 on the PS2. It came out while I was engrossed in FFXI and I didn't play any new games from like 2003 to 2010. I was really happy when they released it for PS4 with trophy support. the 2x/4x speed did make the game a lot less painful. The normal speed was just soooo slow. If I'm being completely honest...I hated FFXV too. The only thing I've enjoyed from it for the most part was the soundtrack and getting to hear a lot of the old songs in the car. I would just drive around, getting AP listening to all the golden oldies. I really hope this last DLC is the last DLC so I can finally retire this game.

 

So I saw Black Panther last night and it was really good. I didn't like it quite as much as Thor: Ragnarok even though the story was probably better. Thor was just more fun and Black Panther was pretty serious as far as the comic book genre goes. There were moments of humor, but nothing like the rest of the movies. I'm definitely glad I went to see it in the theater.

 

I'm currently in the Duke's Archives for Dark Souls. I have to take another break to farm a bit though since I didn't have enough souls to buy all of the spells from Unnecessarily Large Hat Logan. I need about 50k more souls and I know I need to buy them all before I advance so I'll probably try and farm the Channeler's Trident while I'm at it. This area has been pretty cool so far. My son woke up from his nap today while I wasn't in a good spot to stop. He decided he wanted to play navigator for me and was telling me which way to go. It was actually pretty awesome since he decided to narrate as we went as well. He kept pointing out the knocked over books and chairs and was telling me where he saw the crystal skeletons. He was convinced that a Dinosaur got loose in there and caused all the ruckus and he wanted me to search for it. We did that for about 20 minutes and called it quits. I'm hoping to get to the Crystal Cave tonight.

 

Are we having a reveal party for your new game?

[Cassylvania]

7 hours ago, Jens said:

I don't want to burst any bubbles, but so far I'm slightly worried. I'm no elitist guy who needs everything to be as tough as nails or a RPG prodigy who builds everything perfectly, but this game is REALLY easy. It's so easy that I skipped fighting altogether in the second bigger area and that was a worrying sign for me. It feels like Kingdom Hearts when you go back 3-4 worlds to collect treasure chests and just mow down everything.

But after a while some things started to get going (no spoilers for something brandnew, not even tiny ones ) and now it's overall alright. Not more than that, because it still remains  obscenely easy and that may be a big burden for such a long game (probably). But the story seems to turn out as whimsical as in Ni No Kuni 1  

 

That's been a concern of mine. I remember my general opinion of NNK1 being something like, "This is a game I would have really loved...20 years ago." I loved the animation, but it was just a little too easy, and the story was just a little too sweet for my tastes. You know how much I prefer violence and horror in my games. If I'm not getting stalked by a killer alien or being ripped apart by a bloodthirsty monster, it's just no fun. (Though, I admit, I still like the Skylanders games, even if they're sickeningly sweet too.)

 

But easy isn't always bad. Sometimes it's fun not having to redo the same part over and over again for an hour. Sorta like I've been doing in DragQueen's Drama, as I grind my way to level 200. You thought the speedrun trophy was going to be bad? Get a load of this. I have to kill the Ur-Dragon like sixty times, or kill about eighty-seven thousand skeletons (from some enemy that spawns them endlessly, but only at night), to get even close to that. Doesn't that sound like fun?

 

If you said yes, come on over. I got cookies. The good kind.

 

5 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I'm currently in the Duke's Archives for Dark Souls. I have to take another break to farm a bit though since I didn't have enough souls to buy all of the spells from Unnecessarily Large Hat Logan. I need about 50k more souls and I know I need to buy them all before I advance so I'll probably try and farm the Channeler's Trident while I'm at it. This area has been pretty cool so far. My son woke up from his nap today while I wasn't in a good spot to stop. He decided he wanted to play navigator for me and was telling me which way to go. It was actually pretty awesome since he decided to narrate as we went as well. He kept pointing out the knocked over books and chairs and was telling me where he saw the crystal skeletons. He was convinced that a Dinosaur got loose in there and caused all the ruckus and he wanted me to search for it. We did that for about 20 minutes and called it quits. I'm hoping to get to the Crystal Cave tonight.

 

You're getting close to the end of the game! I think that's the only area I needed to resort to a guide for, my first time playing the game. It's just such a confusing maze, having to rotate those staircases. And another thing that Souls games made me realize... When you get to an elevator -- in any game really, not just a Souls game -- do you get a sense of dread when it moves down as opposed to up? I noticed this sometime during my playthrough of Bloodborne, I think. When I would reach a new area and come across an elevator, I was always much happier when it went UP. Like, it somehow feels safer going up, as if you've been there before. Going down generally means going somewhere darker, deeper into the unknown, even if that isn't necessarily true. (Although I think, most of the time, deeper in a Souls game = closer to the next boss.) Maybe it's just me, but I feel that way in just about any action/horror game. Up is good. Down is bad.

 

Not sure what any of that has to do with Duke's Archives, but the Souls games made me more aware of my thoughts as a player.

 

5 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Are we having a reveal party for your new game?

 

I decided to wait. I have some other projects I want to work on this week, and I still have to finish Double Dragonma and Peggle. No sense in starting a new game that I won't be able to finish. (That's your first clue -- it's a game that'll take me at least 60 hours to platinum!)

 

Anyway, what else do I have to report...? Well, I got some annoying DD trophies out of the way, such as killing 3000 enemies, reaching level 100, and earning 10 MILLION Gs. Now if only that last one were true in real life...

 

This is also a momentous day because we're now down to single digit trophies in every remaining game: 9 in DD, 7 in Peggle, and 6 in Batman! That's only 22 trophies to go.

 

TOO BAD THEY ALL SUCK.

[Cassylvania]

Thirty-six minutes. It took thirty-six minutes to beat Dragon's Dogma for the speedrun trophy. There isn't really a time to beat (you just need to complete the entire game in a single sitting without dying), but that's ridiculous. I've put almost a hundred hours into this game and THAT was all it took to save the world? Hell, I could have done it in under twenty minutes if it wasn't for Mercedes and her stupid ox. (Yes, I know you can speed it up by kicking the ox, but that's animal abuse.)

 

Well, other than reaching level 200, turning my pawn into a cross-dresser, and an assortment of miscellaneous trophies, we're just about down with Tenacious Dogma. I don't quite want to platinum it yet...mostly because I'm way too lazy to grind more skeletons...but I do want to introduce the next game I'll be playing. I was going to give more clues, but then I realized nobody here has likely heard of this game, let alone played it. As is the case with most games that have deep Japanese roots.

 

So, without further ado, the next game that will ruin my completion percentage is...

[RockyJokerPL]

It's good to hear you're nearly done with Dirty Dangma. You guessed it, never heard of this game. In fact, I'm not really fond of Japanese games. Hence their lack on my profile. The only JP games I played were Dust, Okami and Nier (I guess). I don't like the anime style art. There's something to it that discourages me. Maybe it's the hair? Or the big eyes? Or being shiny all the time and wrecking havoc all over my TV screen so that I don't know what is even going on? Maybe it's all of these ? Who knows? Well I should... 

[Briste]

12 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Thirty-six minutes. It took thirty-six minutes to beat Dragon's Dogma for the speedrun trophy. There isn't really a time to beat (you just need to complete the entire game in a single sitting without dying), but that's ridiculous. I've put almost a hundred hours into this game and THAT was all it took to save the world? Hell, I could have done it in under twenty minutes if it wasn't for Mercedes and her stupid ox. (Yes, I know you can speed it up by kicking the ox, but that's animal abuse.)

lol. I have to admit, I wasn't thinking it was going to be that quick. Even my speed run in Final Fantasy IX with the 4x speed turned on it took me about four hours.

 

On 3/25/2018 at 11:04 PM, Cassylvania said:

This is also a momentous day because we're now down to single digit trophies in every remaining game: 9 in DD, 7 in Peggle, and 6 in Batman! That's only 22 trophies to go.

 

TOO BAD THEY ALL SUCK.

Congrats! That is pretty exciting (temporarily)  Are you hoping to have them done by the summer? Or are you just waiting for the muses to properly inspire you to eat your broccoli? I know you have the new five active game threshold so you'll be walking that tightrope soon. I also have never heard of God Wars. I'll google it later, but is this a series you've enjoyed? How did you decided to take this game on next?

 

On 3/25/2018 at 11:04 PM, Cassylvania said:

You're getting close to the end of the game! I think that's the only area I needed to resort to a guide for, my first time playing the game. It's just such a confusing maze, having to rotate those staircases. And another thing that Souls games made me realize... When you get to an elevator -- in any game really, not just a Souls game -- do you get a sense of dread when it moves down as opposed to up? I noticed this sometime during my playthrough of Bloodborne, I think. When I would reach a new area and come across an elevator, I was always much happier when it went UP. Like, it somehow feels safer going up, as if you've been there before. Going down generally means going somewhere darker, deeper into the unknown, even if that isn't necessarily true. (Although I think, most of the time, deeper in a Souls game = closer to the next boss.) Maybe it's just me, but I feel that way in just about any action/horror game. Up is good. Down is bad.

 

Not sure what any of that has to do with Duke's Archives, but the Souls games made me more aware of my thoughts as a player.

I have honestly never really thought about it until you brought it up here...and I'll have to agree. I feel like when you go up, it tends to get brighter in the game so it seems less ominous. Even in real life I feel like going down (depending on speed) you get that pit/butterflies in your stomach whereas going up it's different. I'll tell you what made me really uncomfortable...the invisible walkways of the Crystal Cave. I was using my bow to shoot directly in front of me to see if it was safe and I still fell off once. This area and the Tomb of the Giants have been my least favorite areas...actually now that I think about it...there are a lot of areas that I'm not a huge fan of. It was too easy to fall to your death since you can't see anything or the walkways or so narrow that there is no room to maneuver during fights. They don't make the game miserable or anything, but I've had more than a few annoying deaths due to narrow walkways and camera's bouncing off of things causing me to turn 90 degrees off a ledge. I've really enjoyed the game and if there is one thing I would've liked to see different, it's that.

 

I (almost) killed Seath three times. I needed to cut off his tail for a weapon and the first two times I brought him down to a sliver of health, only attacking his middle tail, and it didn't fall off. What I discovered was that I was hitting his tail too close to his body and I needed to strike the very end for it to come off. He really wasn't too bad. The Oyster people outside his lair were more annoying than him. I think I only have two locations to go and then I'll be able to beat the game. I am cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to finish my first play through by this weekend and then kind of blitzkrieg to the areas I need to for the second.

[Cassylvania]

3 hours ago, RockyJokerPL said:

It's good to hear you're nearly done with Dirty Dangma. You guessed it, never heard of this game. In fact, I'm not really fond of Japanese games. Hence their lack on my profile. The only JP games I played were Dust, Okami and Nier (I guess). I don't like the anime style art. There's something to it that discourages me. Maybe it's the hair? Or the big eyes? Or being shiny all the time and wrecking havoc all over my TV screen so that I don't know what is even going on? Maybe it's all of these ? Who knows? Well I should... 

 

I like it, but I don't always get it. But any time I see that NIS America logo, I know I'm in for a treat.

 

These are the same people who published the Disgaea and Atelier series.

 

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Congrats! That is pretty exciting (temporarily)  Are you hoping to have them done by the summer? Or are you just waiting for the muses to properly inspire you to eat your broccoli? I know you have the new five active game threshold so you'll be walking that tightrope soon. I also have never heard of God Wars. I'll google it later, but is this a series you've enjoyed? How did you decided to take this game on next?

 

I'm not sure when or if 100% will ever happen. I could probably plat DD and Peggle in a couple of days, if I really wanted to. But Batman... I don't know about that one.

 

As for God Wars, I was looking for another tactical RPG to try out. It's one of my favorite genres, and the selection is sorely lacking on modern consoles. There's always Valkyria Revolution, but...no, I don't want to do that to myself. I heard they butchered the series. (Fortunately, VC4 should be coming out this year, and that should be a lot better.)

 

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I have honestly never really thought about it until you brought it up here...and I'll have to agree. I feel like when you go up, it tends to get brighter in the game so it seems less ominous. Even in real life I feel like going down (depending on speed) you get that pit/butterflies in your stomach whereas going up it's different. I'll tell you what made me really uncomfortable...the invisible walkways of the Crystal Cave. I was using my bow to shoot directly in front of me to see if it was safe and I still fell off once. This area and the Tomb of the Giants have been my least favorite areas...actually now that I think about it...there are a lot of areas that I'm not a huge fan of. It was too easy to fall to your death since you can't see anything or the walkways or so narrow that there is no room to maneuver during fights. They don't make the game miserable or anything, but I've had more than a few annoying deaths due to narrow walkways and camera's bouncing off of things causing me to turn 90 degrees off a ledge. I've really enjoyed the game and if there is one thing I would've liked to see different, it's that.

 

Dark Souls is at its best when it's being a combat game. It's at its worst when it tries to be a platformer. I REALLY hate the sections where you're actually required to jump to reach a distant location. And do you think they improved that in the sequels? Of course not. They somehow made the jump "button" even harder to pull off.

 

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I (almost) killed Seath three times. I needed to cut off his tail for a weapon and the first two times I brought him down to a sliver of health, only attacking his middle tail, and it didn't fall off. What I discovered was that I was hitting his tail too close to his body and I needed to strike the very end for it to come off. He really wasn't too bad. The Oyster people outside his lair were more annoying than him. I think I only have two locations to go and then I'll be able to beat the game. I am cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to finish my first play through by this weekend and then kind of blitzkrieg to the areas I need to for the second.

 

Shouldn't be too hard from here. The final boss is a bit tricky, but what would you really expect from a game like that?

 

I might start God Wars tonight. I've been playing a little Peggle to pass the time, but I still have 31 objectives and 13 trials to complete, and I can't make headway on any of them.

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #104 - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

 

Would you believe this wasn't even my longest platinum?

[Briste]

Congrats! That's a headache off your plate  It seems you were able to get to 200 faster than you thought. I was able to look up God Wars and it seems like another game up my alley. It says it's a TBS game so I'll be curious to hear how you like it. It is also available on the Vita so that could be a game I play there.

 

I did some odds and ends stuff last night in Dark Souls. I was able to get the last sorcery AND I made a cool discovery. The game doesn't autosave when you are at the blacksmith until after you close the screen. I was able to use the same Blue Slab to upgrade the Magic and the Enchanted weapon by using the PS button to exit the game while still in the blacksmith menu. I wish I had thought of this with the White Titanite Slab. Fortunately it's in an area I have to complete in NG+ so it won't be that big of a deal. If you want to keep the weapon that you make, then you'd obviously have to farm for both, but if it's just for getting the trophy it works well. I got to the first bonfire in the Demon's Ruins and called it a night. I'm hoping to beat that area tonight, but we'll see. The demons you fight in there are pretty hard.

[Cassylvania]

8 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Congrats! That's a headache off your plate  It seems you were able to get to 200 faster than you thought. I was able to look up God Wars and it seems like another game up my alley. It says it's a TBS game so I'll be curious to hear how you like it. It is also available on the Vita so that could be a game I play there.

 

Getting to 200 was a pain, but you get double XP on Hard Mode, double XP by using a Pilgrim's Charm, and double XP by holding a Blessed Flower. They all stack, so it's not hard to get a level every 5-10 minutes, if you know where to go. I just had to spam the square button for a few hours while watching a movie.

 

Anyway, I was about to start God Wars, and then I realized I've had enough of knights and dragons. I can only take so much of that. So I decided to start another fuckin' zombie game instead.

 

RER2, we meet at last.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Cassylvania

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #105 - Peggle 2

 

Didn't expect that one, did you? That's right. While I was taking a break from RER2, I reached GOD STATUS on Peggle 2. Apparently the DLC characters, Windy and Jimmy, make most of the objectives a joke. It also helps that they add 60 additional objectives to the game, but you only need 180 for the platinum. Hooray for challenges you can skip.

 

[Cassylvania]

Well, guys... It would appear I got the shitty ending on RER2. I knew there was a good and bad ending -- I even knew the part that determined which ending you get -- but I didn't know what choice I had to make. Apparently, not the obvious one.

 

Now, of course, you could say something like, "But the ending you get has no bearing on trophies" or "It's a Resident Evil game, so you're probably going to have to play through the game fourteen times anyway," but that's not the point. I like my first playthrough of every game to feel genuine. You know, dialogue-rich and spoiler-free. This is the playthrough where I actually care, before I make a mockery of the game and its characters. That's especially true in horror games, where the jump scares are gone in subsequent playthroughs.

 

In my defense, though, how could a game about zombies have a happy ending anyway?

 

I'd like to point out that today is the first day of @2G53's Spring Fling event. For those of you not following that topic, I have chosen the following games as my entries: God Wars: Future Past (okay, I already mentioned that last week), Life is Strange: Before the Storm (did I mention we're now a storm patch?), and Batman: Arkham Knight. Yes, that's right. We're finally taking on Bats and his stupid, stupid challenges. We're going to eat thunder and crap lightning! We're going to become a very dangerous person!

 

BRING ON THE STORM!

[donut_plz]

Good luck with Bats Cassy. Be following along in Toogs event thread too. 

[Briste]

Congrats on Peggle 2! I definitely thought that one would linger on your trophy list a little longer.

 

On 3/28/2018 at 8:04 PM, Cassylvania said:

Anyway, I was about to start God Wars, and then I realized I've had enough of knights and dragons. I can only take so much of that. So I decided to start another fuckin' zombie game instead.

 

RER2, we meet at last.

Was not expecting this twist either lol. So I have never played a Resident Evil game...I saw my friend play the first one back when I was in high school, and I wasn't really into zombies so never tried them. I've seen most of the movies...but I somehow feel like it's not the same. Are they actually good? I had the impression they were kind FPS games and I never really liked those too much either. I feel like it's one of those series that I'll have to play at some point...but I'm not sure if it is something I'll like. I do really like your enthusiasm with starting this one

 

20 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Well, guys... It would appear I got the shitty ending on RER2. I knew there was a good and bad ending -- I even knew the part that determined which ending you get -- but I didn't know what choice I had to make. Apparently, not the obvious one.

It seems like a quick game? Maybe not so for the trophies, but I'm surprised you got all the way through it already.

 

20 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I'd like to point out that today is the first day of @2G53's Spring Fling event. For those of you not following that topic, I have chosen the following games as my entries: God Wars: Future Past (okay, I already mentioned that last week), Life is Strange: Before the Storm (did I mention we're now a storm patch?), and Batman: Arkham Knight. Yes, that's right. We're finally taking on Bats and his stupid, stupid challenges. We're going to eat thunder and crap lightning! We're going to become a very dangerous person!

If you've got the eye of the tiger, I think you'll get through Batman just fine. You seem to be in the prime of your gaming career...but what about my prime? At least you had a prime! I'd love to take part in some of the events on here, but I don't think I'll get anything out of them at this point. I can't play enough to really compete in some of them and I already have my next like 5 games figured out. Maybe some day!

 

I finally beat my first play through of Dark Souls tonight! I should be able to fly through it this next play through. I have everything ready to be upgraded and all the items except the souls and the a couple slabs. Gwyn was really hard. He moved so damn fast, the first three times I tried I didn't even get a swing off. I needed to look up a strategy for him. Even with the Iron Skin/tanking method, I died like ten more times. I finally was able to get lucky with some stunning him with some two handed swings and bring him down. The game was really fun...definitely room for some improvements, but I'm looking forward to NG+. It won't feel like a chore. I need to practice parrying this run...apparently I'll need it at the end this time around. G

 

Good luck in the Spring Fling event!

[Dessane]

On ‎31‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 11:57 AM, Cassylvania said:

Platinum #105 - Peggle 2

 

 

Nice job with Peggle, the DLC characters definitely lower the challenge a bit with the requirements still a good one to earn

[Cassylvania]

On 4/1/2018 at 11:09 PM, Br1ste said:

So I have never played a Resident Evil game...I saw my friend play the first one back when I was in high school, and I wasn't really into zombies so never tried them. I've seen most of the movies...but I somehow feel like it's not the same. Are they actually good? I had the impression they were kind FPS games and I never really liked those too much either. I feel like it's one of those series that I'll have to play at some point...but I'm not sure if it is something I'll like. I do really like your enthusiasm with starting this one

 

I might not be the one to ask, since I haven't played any of what I assume to be the "best" games in the series, like RE4. (People hate RE5 and RE6, right?) My only experience has been with Revelations 1, Revelations 2, and the Resident Evil HD Remaster that I played last year. Why is that a bad thing? Well, the RER games are on the PS4 and Vita, so they don't exactly play like a traditional console game. It's hard to explain, but the controls aren't as fluid as other action games or shooters. And RE1 has a fixed camera with pre-rendered backgrounds, which is a product of its time. I wouldn't compare any of those games to, say, Uncharted or Tomb Raider.

 

But it does some things better than those AAA titles. The jump scares are real. Even when things aren't popping out at you (and they don't do it often -- this isn't like FNAF), there's always the sense that something will. Alien: Isolation did it best, but the RE games are good in their own rights. Not #1 at anything, but good enough at most things that I'm willing to look past that.

 

None of the ones I've played are like FPS games. They're more like third-person shooters. RER and RER2 are over-the-shoulder, while RE1 is...its own thing.

 

On 4/1/2018 at 11:09 PM, Br1ste said:

It seems like a quick game? Maybe not so for the trophies, but I'm surprised you got all the way through it already.

 

RER2 has four episodes. Each episode has two parts (one with Claire and the other with Barry), and each part only takes about an hour, so it's a relatively short game. The trophies, however, take longer. There's the usual crap (collectibles, kill a certain amount of enemies, killing enemies in a certain way, etc.), but then there are challenges that require you to beat each stage on Countdown Mode (basically, a time attack) and Invisible Mode (basically, bullshit). You also have to beat Episode 1 with the knife only, which looks like a pain in the ass.

 

I finished both modes on Episode 1, and I'm trying Episode 2 now. I actually found Countdown Mode to be a little harder. You only get three minutes, but there are hourglasses sprinkled throughout the level to increase the timer. You really need to know where you're going in order to beat the level in time. Invisible Mode sucks too because all of the enemies are, well, invisible, but Claire and Barry both have playable partners that make things easier. Claire has Moira, who has a flashlight that makes enemies visible for a few seconds, and Barry has Natalia, who can see the outlines of enemies (even through walls). Plus, knowing where the enemies are beforehand is a huge advantage. You just gotta think fourth-dimensionally, Marty.

 

On 4/1/2018 at 11:09 PM, Br1ste said:

I finally beat my first play through of Dark Souls tonight! I should be able to fly through it this next play through. I have everything ready to be upgraded and all the items except the souls and the a couple slabs. Gwyn was really hard. He moved so damn fast, the first three times I tried I didn't even get a swing off. I needed to look up a strategy for him. Even with the Iron Skin/tanking method, I died like ten more times. I finally was able to get lucky with some stunning him with some two handed swings and bring him down. The game was really fun...definitely room for some improvements, but I'm looking forward to NG+. It won't feel like a chore. I need to practice parrying this run...apparently I'll need it at the end this time around. G

 

 

Sweet. I remember Gwyn sucking a lot. I had some strategy to beat him with my mage, but I dread the day I face him as a tank.

 

Are you going to move onto DS2 when you're done in NG+, or is it time for Bloodborne? I don't think you'd be missing out by waiting on DS2. I liked it more than most people, but you can definitely feel it wasn't made by the same team.

[Briste]

2 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I might not be the one to ask, since I haven't played any of what I assume to be the "best" games in the series, like RE4. (People hate RE5 and RE6, right?) My only experience has been with Revelations 1, Revelations 2, and the Resident Evil HD Remaster that I played last year. Why is that a bad thing? Well, the RER games are on the PS4 and Vita, so they don't exactly play like a traditional console game. It's hard to explain, but the controls aren't as fluid as other action games or shooters. And RE1 has a fixed camera with pre-rendered backgrounds, which is a product of its time. I wouldn't compare any of those games to, say, Uncharted or Tomb Raider.

I might try to squeeze one of these games in at some point then. So long as it isn't straight FPS then I'll probably like it. I took a quick glance at the trophy guide. i was expecting it to be longer since the platinum is relatively rare, but according to the guide it should only take around 25 hours. I'm sure a lot of that is skill dependent, but usually they are pretty good about times to complete. With Dark Souls it says 80 hours. I beat the game my first time through in about 70 hours. Since I have no farming or anything to do this run and I can avoid a few places, I'll probably get through this game in around 90-100 hours. I tend to move pretty methodically through areas the first time, so my playtime runs a little bit longer for most games.

 

2 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Sweet. I remember Gwyn sucking a lot. I had some strategy to beat him with my mage, but I dread the day I face him as a tank.

 

Are you going to move onto DS2 when you're done in NG+, or is it time for Bloodborne? I don't think you'd be missing out by waiting on DS2. I liked it more than most people, but you can definitely feel it wasn't made by the same team.

I haven't played as a mage at all in this game, so I have no idea how that would work. I beat the game at soul level 72. I should get a ton of soul levels in NG+ since you get more xp and I won't be saving for any spells, etc. I can spend all of my souls on levels. I'm working on getting my strength up a bit so I can hold a sturdier shield. I think that will help a lot. I've been practicing the parry a little bit too and it's not too difficult (at least on the chumps.) I blew through and rang the first bell and then killed the Stray Demon for the titanite slab in just about an hour last night. Tonight I'll try to ring that second bell and then either take on Sens tower again or go after yours and my favorite wolf. Now that I have a pretty good understanding of the maps and what I need to do...it's really fun.

 

I'll probably do DS2 next for the souls games but I have to clean up FFXV first. There are ten new trophies I have to do from new DLC. Nine don't seem like they will be too bad, but one of them seems really annoying. It sounds like I'll have to replay a large portion of the game for collectibles I have already got to re-register for the trophy....

 

I have Bloodborne downloaded, so that is good to go whenever, so after FFXV it'll be DS2, DS3 and then Bloodborne....probably GOW4 sprinkled in there as well.

[Cassylvania]

@Br1ste Sounds good. The mage is kinda looked down upon in Dark Souls because they're a little overpowered. I remember being able to kill Smough and Ornstein in about five seconds in NG+. I'm not even joking about that.

 

I managed to beat Episode 2 on Countdown Mode. It was harder than Episode 1 because there are two bosses: one at the end of Claire's campaign and one at the end of Barry's campaign. Technically, though, Claire can kill the boss earlier in the chapter. It's much harder because there are other enemies around (and Claire doesn't carry a whole arsenal with her like Barry does), but I decided to do it anyway to make Barry's section easier. Boy, that was dumb. Not only did a die a bunch of times, but I wasted so much ammo that I had very little left for the actual boss. I spent most of the battle swinging my knife around and trying to pick up ammo off the floor. Finished Claire's section with only seven seconds on the clock. I did NOT want to have to redo that part.

 

I have an idea on how I might be able to bypass the second boss entirely on Invisible Mode, but I'm less worried about that because I have unlimited time.

 

Oh, and you remember Raid Mode from RER1? You know, that thing that almost made me quit gaming and wasted a good 40-50 hours of my life? Well, it's back. And this time... It's a joke. I literally earned all the Raid Mode trophies in under an hour. All three of them.

 

-----

 

LATER THAT NIGHT...

 

Well, I finished Episode 2 on Invisible Mode. It was, as expected, a pain in the ass. I wasn't able to kill the "optional" boss in Claire's chapter, which is just as well, because I wouldn't have even had time to shoot with invisible assholes wailing on me from every direction. I burned through most of my supplies just trying to survive long enough to reach the next section. Of course, this meant Barry had to deal with the boss, but he was more than ready with a pocketful of Molotovs (Motolovi?). We burned that zombie to the ground.

 

I still have to play through the episode again for medals (basically, mini-challenges, such as killing ten enemies with a headshot or opening three chests), but I wanted to catch a glimpse of what's waiting for me in Episode 3. It's...pretty much ass. I completely forgot how long Claire's section is. There's like three parts, and each part feels like an entire chapter. And, of course, there's another boss at the end.

 

I'm worried about both modes. Countdown Mode will suck because it's entirely possible to put yourself in an unwinnable situation, thanks to the terrible checkpoint system. You would think that there would be a fail-safe that would prevent you from hitting a checkpoint when you have an unreasonable amount of time left on the clock -- say, ten seconds -- but you would be wrong. Once you hit that checkpoint, the timer is locked in, with no additional time if you die. So, if it's not possible to reach an hourglass or kill an enemy (which adds a few seconds to the clock), you basically have to start over. Great programming, huh?

 

I suppose I'd prefer that over a no death speedrun, but it's still cheap.

 

Invisible Mode will suck because look at the name. It wouldn't be so hard if I had memorized where every enemy spawns, but there are a lot of them in this episode, and their behavior is erratic. I might have to resort to just running through most sections. And when I run into the boss?

 

I got a pocket, a pocketful of Molotovs

I got a love, and I know that it's all mine

OH OH OHHH

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cassylvania

[Briste]

@Cassylvania lol Natasha Bedingfield would be proud...the RER Re-Mix. You seem to be making some great headway in this game. Is there a reason in the plot for them being invisible or is it just a challenge setting? I think that mode would drive me nuts. Fortunately it sounds like they aren't 100% invisible...but still that would be frustrating. Do you think you are going to power straight through this game or do you foresee a sticking point for you?

 

22 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

The mage is kinda looked down upon in Dark Souls because they're a little overpowered. I remember being able to kill Smough and Ornstein in about five seconds in NG+. I'm not even joking about that.

I didn't realize they were overpowered to be honest. I played as a mage in Demon's Souls and was not a huge fan of the change made from a MP pool to limited number of casts in Dark Souls. I thought it would be too restricting so I went melee instead. I guess with the fact they refill at the bonfires, it wouldn't have been that restricting, but I've really not explored that side of the game much at all. I've used Pyromancy sparingly, but mostly I've been a shield and sword/spear guy. I may try more two handed action in NG+.

 

Not sure if you've seen it yet, but there was some football news for my Patriots. I was pretty surprised to see they traded away Brandin Cooks after just one year. I really thought they would try and sign him long term. I really shouldn't be surprised with how willing they are to trade away guys a year or so before they are out of their prime to get something back in return...but this dude is 24 or 25. They have 4 picks now in the first couple of rounds which is a nice change of pace. There have been tons of rumors circulating on the radio about the Pats possibly trading Gronk and I really hope that isn't true. At some point, I just want to root for my guys and not always worry about the value of the position. Outside of Cousins, I haven't heard too much on the Vikings front about big signings or trades. Mostly just guys who have walked. I'll be really curious to see if Cousins will bring them to that next level.

[Cassylvania]

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

You seem to be making some great headway in this game. Is there a reason in the plot for them being invisible or is it just a challenge setting? I think that mode would drive me nuts. Fortunately it sounds like they aren't 100% invisible...but still that would be frustrating.

 

There's absolutely no reason for the enemies to be invisible, other than to waste my time. If there's one complaint I had to make about the RE games, it's that their trophy lists are crap. The REmake (I think that's what all the cool kids call it) was like that too. They could have been creative with their challenges, but instead they settled for inviso-mode and a speedrun.

 

That said, there are enemies in the game that are intended to be invisible. They're called glasps, and they're disgusting. Probably the one truly horrifying thing about this game. When they're nearby, the screen turns blurry, and it's instant death if they reach you. Natalia can see them, but she can't use weapons, so she tells Barry where to aim his gun (to the left/right, higher/lower, etc.). It's actually a pretty cool concept for the game, but it's not utilized enough. I'm okay with it, though, because they're giant bugs and they make a horrible buzzing sound that creeps me out.

 

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Do you think you are going to power straight through this game or do you foresee a sticking point for you?

 

There's not much left. Ignoring the miscellaneous trophies, I only have to beat Claire 3 on Invisible Mode, Barry 3 on both modes, and all of Episode 4. Oh, and all of Episode 1 with the knife only.

 

Yeah, you remember how I said RE has crap trophy lists? That's they same thing they pulled in the remake -- making me play through the entire game with only the knife.

 

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I didn't realize they were overpowered to be honest. I played as a mage in Demon's Souls and was not a huge fan of the change made from a MP pool to limited number of casts in Dark Souls. I thought it would be too restricting so I went melee instead. I guess with the fact they refill at the bonfires, it wouldn't have been that restricting, but I've really not explored that side of the game much at all. I've used Pyromancy sparingly, but mostly I've been a shield and sword/spear guy. I may try more two handed action in NG+.

 

The key to mages is to make good use of bonfires. You basically explore the area a little, grab whatever loot you can, and then hike back to the nearest bonfire to reset. (Honestly, that's the safest way to play a Souls game anyway.) Once you've reached a boss, there's almost always a way to reach the fog door without having to deal with any enemies, so the shortage of spells is rarely a problem.

 

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Not sure if you've seen it yet, but there was some football news for my Patriots. I was pretty surprised to see they traded away Brandin Cooks after just one year. I really thought they would try and sign him long term. I really shouldn't be surprised with how willing they are to trade away guys a year or so before they are out of their prime to get something back in return...but this dude is 24 or 25. They have 4 picks now in the first couple of rounds which is a nice change of pace. There have been tons of rumors circulating on the radio about the Pats possibly trading Gronk and I really hope that isn't true. At some point, I just want to root for my guys and not always worry about the value of the position. Outside of Cousins, I haven't heard too much on the Vikings front about big signings or trades. Mostly just guys who have walked. I'll be really curious to see if Cousins will bring them to that next level.

 

I haven't even been paying attention. I logged onto NFL.com right now to see what I've been missing, saw RG3 just got signed by the Ravens, and immediately logged out.

 

Some things aren't meant to be seen by human eyes.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cassylvania

[Briste]

18 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

There's absolutely no reason for the enemies to be invisible, other than to waste my time.

Ugh...seems like lazy programming to me. I hate features that seem like an afterthought. With things like this, I just imagine a group of stoners sitting around going, "dude...what if they were invisible...that'd be so bad-ass man." It's more fun when it is relevant to the story and less a tack-on to add some content.

 

19 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I haven't even been paying attention. I logged onto NFL.com right now to see what I've been missing, saw RG3 just got signed by the Ravens, and immediately logged out.

 

Some things aren't meant to be seen by human eyes.

I laughed way harder at this line than I probably should have

 

My kid turns four this weekend, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for gaming. I would like to get at least half of the souls needed for the Lordvessel...maybe beat Priscilla properly this time to get the dagger. I saved last night just outside of Pinwheel, so maybe I'll get Nito done.