Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

[Cassylvania]

@Br1ste Well, I took your advice. I played Arkham Knight for two hours and FINALLY beat Crime Alley as Batman without getting hit. It took me about fifty tries. I was so nervous when I was down to only three thugs that I thought for sure I was going to mess up. But I kept my cool and came out on top.

 

I MIGHT try Robin tonight, but my fingers are kinda tired. I have no idea how people can play games like Guitar Hero that require so much button tapping.

 

I haven't watched much of the draft, but the Browns seem to own every other pick. Seriously. Every time I looked over at the TV, they were up. I think the Patriots traded back once or twice, and the Vikings selected some guys I've never heard of (just like the entire class). The only thing that was worth tuning in for was David Akers. If you haven't seen his roast of the Cowboys, you should check it out. It made the Eagles winning the SB totally worth it.

 

Word on the street is that Browns fans are pissed off -- even moreso than usual. I guess they don't see much of a talent difference between the top four or five QBs in the draft, so they feel Mayfield was a wasted pick, when they could have gotten him or an equally good QB at #4. I...actually feel the same. I'll admit that I don't watch much college football, but there are enough red flags surrounding Mayfield that I don't think it's worth the risk of having another Johnny Manziel. I'd like to be wrong, but if there's one thing the Browns have been consistently good at, it's making big mistakes.

 

Also, it's about time the Colts got some protection for Andrew Luck.

[Briste]

On 4/28/2018 at 9:13 PM, Cassylvania said:

Well, I took your advice. I played Arkham Knight for two hours and FINALLY beat Crime Alley as Batman without getting hit. It took me about fifty tries. I was so nervous when I was down to only three thugs that I thought for sure I was going to mess up. But I kept my cool and came out on top.

 

I MIGHT try Robin tonight, but my fingers are kinda tired. I have no idea how people can play games like Guitar Hero that require so much button tapping.

Well done! I sneaked a peak at your profile and saw you got one of the other combat ones completed too. Only one to go! Hopefully it went pretty smoothly for you and it didn't feel quite like pulling chattering teeth. That last one you have to do is very similar to the Joker's Funhouse one from Arkham City. It's annoying considering how long you have to keep the free flow going to get enough points, but it is a little more forgiving since you can get hit or lose free flow and still get the trophy. It's just easier if you don't. There is light at the end of that tunnel!

 

On 4/28/2018 at 9:13 PM, Cassylvania said:

I haven't watched much of the draft, but the Browns seem to own every other pick. Seriously. Every time I looked over at the TV, they were up. I think the Patriots traded back once or twice, and the Vikings selected some guys I've never heard of (just like the entire class). The only thing that was worth tuning in for was David Akers. If you haven't seen his roast of the Cowboys, you should check it out. It made the Eagles winning the SB totally worth it.

I didn't watch any of the draft after the first round but it seems like there were a lot of troll jobs during the second round. I saw Akers, which was made even funnier by his high squeaky voice, and there was also Deion Branch of the Pats trolling Dallas. It was pretty funny but after the first ten picks or so, I didn't know anyone so stopped paying attention.

 

On 4/28/2018 at 9:13 PM, Cassylvania said:

Word on the street is that Browns fans are pissed off -- even moreso than usual. I guess they don't see much of a talent difference between the top four or five QBs in the draft, so they feel Mayfield was a wasted pick, when they could have gotten him or an equally good QB at #4. I...actually feel the same. I'll admit that I don't watch much college football, but there are enough red flags surrounding Mayfield that I don't think it's worth the risk of having another Johnny Manziel. I'd like to be wrong, but if there's one thing the Browns have been consistently good at, it's making big mistakes.

Yeah I was puzzled by that choice as well. It felt like the consensus was one of the other guys would go first, so they could have easily taken either Barkley or a defensive guy (or traded down slightly for more picks) and still gotten Mayfield at 4 or 3 if they could have swindled the Jets. I mean, I guess good for them to get the guy they wanted...but I can totally understand the fans thinking they could have gotten more.

 

On 4/28/2018 at 9:13 PM, Cassylvania said:

Also, it's about time the Colts got some protection for Andrew Luck.

Hopefully it's not too late. Do they know when he's coming back for sure? He may be damaged goods at this point. Irsay originally said he'd be back for week 1 last year and then he missed the whole season. It would be too bad if he never regains his form because Indy never protected the guy.

[Cassylvania]

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Well done! I sneaked a peak at your profile and saw you got one of the other combat ones completed too. Only one to go! Hopefully it went pretty smoothly for you and it didn't feel quite like pulling chattering teeth. That last one you have to do is very similar to the Joker's Funhouse one from Arkham City. It's annoying considering how long you have to keep the free flow going to get enough points, but it is a little more forgiving since you can get hit or lose free flow and still get the trophy. It's just easier if you don't. There is light at the end of that tunnel!

 

Yeah, I ended up doing Robin after that post, and then Nightwing in the morning. Took me a few tries, but I eventually got it.

 

I actually found The Curtain Falls easier, even though you would think it'd be harder because you have to not get hit AND keep a combo going. The open space makes all the difference. My strategy was to jump over an enemy, punch him (if he wasn't a brute or holding a shield), and repeat. Nothing fancy. Any time I got a combo, I'd use a special takedown, but that's it. I ended up having to do Batman and Nightwing twice because for some reason my combo in Round 4 didn't take, but I didn't even mind. Think I got Nightwing on my very next try.

 

I tried the Killer Croc stage twice last night. The first time, I got 212k. The second time, I got something like 516k. I should be able to do it this week.

 

Honestly, at this point, I'd rather do all of these trophies twice than try to get that stupid Tartan scene to trigger in HM. I've seriously wasted about 15-20 hours on this thing. I've tried giving him presents, visiting his house at different times of the day, buying/selling stuff, planting crops, raising new animals... I'm out of ideas. And this is the kind of stuff I hate the most. I don't mind a challenge or a small grind, but I at least want to have some clue what about I need to do.

 

From now on, when I reminisce about older games, remind me of HM:AWL.

 

8 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Hopefully it's not too late. Do they know when he's coming back for sure? He may be damaged goods at this point. Irsay originally said he'd be back for week 1 last year and then he missed the whole season. It would be too bad if he never regains his form because Indy never protected the guy.

 

No idea. It's weird to think he and RG3 might share similar careers after all.

 

I just visited the NFL website to see what's going on, and apparently the Vikings re-signed the 80-year-old Terrance Newman. That's...interesting. I like the guy, but it does beg the question: at what point does youth trump experience?

[Briste]

@Cassylvania Congratulations!!! I see that nice shiny new 100% sitting on your profile  After getting that monkey off your back, you should reward yourself with that AAA game you were talking about. It seems like you got that last challenge done pretty quickly, how many times did it end up taking?

 

14 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Honestly, at this point, I'd rather do all of these trophies twice than try to get that stupid Tartan scene to trigger in HM. I've seriously wasted about 15-20 hours on this thing. I've tried giving him presents, visiting his house at different times of the day, buying/selling stuff, planting crops, raising new animals... I'm out of ideas. And this is the kind of stuff I hate the most. I don't mind a challenge or a small grind, but I at least want to have some clue what about I need to do.

These are the types of trophies that take a fun game and make it a bad experience. Back before trophies, you wouldn't have cared since you probably wouldn't even have known that part of the game existed. I never understand why developers intentionally add trophies that will detract from the gaming experience...Considering how nutzoid people are about trophies these days, they have to know people will avoid their game if the trophy list looks too ridiculous. I'm not saying get rid of hard trophies. I love hard trophies that are in the context of the game. Another area where XCOM has it figured out. That is a very challenging trophy list and the only really grind-y and maybe unnecessary trophy I can recall from that series was beating the game from all 5 starting locations. But even that trophy wasn't hard...it just took patience. It's those completely reliant on RNG or those that take something from the game and make you do it a ridiculous amount of times (I'm looking at you 40,000 kills in Space Hulk). It's too bad since you seem to enjoy that game otherwise.

 

14 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I just visited the NFL website to see what's going on, and apparently the Vikings re-signed the 80-year-old Terrance Newman. That's...interesting. I like the guy, but it does beg the question: at what point does youth trump experience?

He is really old...older than me even. I remember when he was drafted my senior year in college. I used to pay more attention to the college game back then. I want to say he was a rookie in the Madden year that had Vick on the cover. I had the game on Xbox and used to play dynasty with my friends. I used to draft the best O-Line you could and then just draft the fastest rookies available. I think my QB was Seneca Wallace and my RB was Willis McGahee (who wasn't fast but had a high rate of breaking tackles). Good for Newman. It's not like he plays a position where speed and quickness isn't the hallmark quality. Hopefully he isn't getting burned all season for you guys.

[Cassylvania]

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

@Cassylvania Congratulations!!! I see that nice shiny new 100% sitting on your profile  After getting that monkey off your back, you should reward yourself with that AAA game you were talking about. It seems like you got that last challenge done pretty quickly, how many times did it end up taking?

 

It was one of the most chill trophies ever. I was actually playing Harvest Moon last night when I FINALLY triggered the Tartan scene. I was so relieved that I just saved the game, quit, and turned on Batman. Got 937k on my first attempt, and dinged the trophy on my second. Didn't even break a sweat.

 

I must have ice in my veins because I didn't even care when I broke my combo the first time. I knew I'd get it on my next attempt.

 

I think that was the easiest of the combat trophies. All of them boiled down to the same strategy: evade, punch the guy you just jumped over (unless he's a brute/shield guy/electrified guy), repeat. Use the full combo meter for weapon disarms and special takedowns. Use the Batclaw Slam when a guy is electrified. I didn't do anything else.

 

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

These are the types of trophies that take a fun game and make it a bad experience. Back before trophies, you wouldn't have cared since you probably wouldn't even have known that part of the game existed. I never understand why developers intentionally add trophies that will detract from the gaming experience...Considering how nutzoid people are about trophies these days, they have to know people will avoid their game if the trophy list looks too ridiculous. I'm not saying get rid of hard trophies. I love hard trophies that are in the context of the game. Another area where XCOM has it figured out. That is a very challenging trophy list and the only really grind-y and maybe unnecessary trophy I can recall from that series was beating the game from all 5 starting locations. But even that trophy wasn't hard...it just took patience. It's those completely reliant on RNG or those that take something from the game and make you do it a ridiculous amount of times (I'm looking at you 40,000 kills in Space Hulk). It's too bad since you seem to enjoy that game otherwise.

 

Yeah... Trophies have been around for almost ten years now. You would think developers would get the hint that trophies should be a part of the gaming experience, not a ridiculous waste of time. If it were up to me, most trophies would be something you'd earn through natural completion of a game (generally on the highest difficulty setting). That's why XCOM and Dark Souls, in addition to being both great and challenging games, have some of the best trophy lists out there. You get trophies for doing things you were going to do anyway, or at least could consider doing if you're up for an added challenge. When that "challenge" comes from bad game mechanics, that shouldn't be a trophy. (For example, the tank controls in Grim Fandango. One of the worst trophies ever.)

 

I'm willing to give HM:AWL the benefit of the doubt, because Harvest Moon games are notorious for having mechanics that nobody fully understands (even years later), but it's still not a very good trophy list. One of the biggest reasons for that is that you could technically "complete" the trophy list in two in-game years, even though the game itself is six years long. (You'd still have to finish out the other four years, but you can simply sleep through them.) That's bad planning and even worse pacing. If I at least had something else to work towards -- such as raising my kid to learn certain skills, or growing x number of crops -- it wouldn't be so frustrating.

 

That's where I actually have to give No Man's Sky credit. For as shitty as that game was on release day, at least the trophies complemented each other. You could work towards multiple trophies at the same time, which actually made it kinda fun. Like, you could explore a planet to find all of its natural fauna, but you'd also be keeping an eye out for monoliths or bases, while also gathering resources and building up your step counter. Of course, a better game would have you complete all those trophies around the same time, not leave you needing to grind one of them out because it takes so much longer than the others.

 

I'll have to give some thought to what game has the best trophy list out there.

[Jens]

[...]

Edited September 28, 2019 by Jens

[Cassylvania]

1 minute ago, Jens said:

Do you consider Stardew Valley for the future on your profile? That's another example for a trophy list ruined for a lot of people because of one single trophy... (the rest is just huge patience, but those games are meant to be played like that, so that's reasonable I guess ). I'm sitting on this trophy because my girlfriend lost interest in this game despite me sweating blood to get this stupid arcade game done flawless. I just cried for a short while about it when nobody was watching...

And the other (kinda selfish) question, would you recommend Axiom Verge? This question may be a blast from the past for you, but as a metroidvania fan I always look at it on sales, but it always feels slightly too expensive even on 50% or something along those lines.

 

So, Stardew Valley is a game that -- perhaps more than any other game on the PS4 right now -- I really want to play. I actually do own the game (I bought it when it was on sale last year), and I have played it on PC, but I haven't gotten very far. I do know about the one awful trophy, but that isn't the reason I've been avoiding the game. Much like The Witcher 3 and Persona 5, I just know that once I begin it, I'm going to have no life for the foreseeable future. That's a risky proposition.

 

Honestly, it's those kinds of the games that are the hardest for me to decide on. On one hand, I know they're really good games. I don't need any convincing there. If I was twenty years younger, I'd be all over them. But I'm also reaching an age where I simply don't have enough time in the day to devote to a 100+ hour game. That equates to something like half a year. I know it might look like I have more time based on my trophy list, but a lot of times I'm playing games in short 30 minute bursts or with my brother or sister. I just don't have those big chunks of time that I devote to playing longer, more immersive games.

 

So, typically, I find it more beneficial to play, say, ten 10-hour games, rather than one 100-hour game, just because it's an easier commitment. In fact, I remember hesitating to even begin Arkham Knight at this time last year, just because I knew what I was getting into. (I think I did Skyrim last summer too, but that was a game that I had been playing for years, so it was more like a speedrun for me.)

 

That said, I probably will play Stardew Valley sometime this year, despite the stupid trophy. I just want to reach 100% trophy completion first, because I may never be this close to it again.

 

Axiom Verge is... Well, you probably haven't heard me complain about it before. I did not like it. You probably would (especially if you liked Metroid), but the backtracking, controls, speedrun, and ESPECIALLY the final boss got on my nerves. I'm reminded of that game every time I pick up my PS4 controller and feel the crack that I put in it when I threw it at the floor. That said, much of my aggravation comes simply from the trophy list. It's entirely possible that I missed out on what should've been a great game, just because I was more focused on the platinum than the gaming experience. That, again, is why I think developers should consider their trophy lists more carefully.

 

TL;DR -- I wouldn't pay more than $10 for Axiom Verge.

[Briste]

On 5/1/2018 at 6:09 PM, Cassylvania said:

It was one of the most chill trophies ever. I was actually playing Harvest Moon last night when I FINALLY triggered the Tartan scene. I was so relieved that I just saved the game, quit, and turned on Batman. Got 937k on my first attempt, and dinged the trophy on my second. Didn't even break a sweat.

 

I must have ice in my veins because I didn't even care when I broke my combo the first time. I knew I'd get it on my next attempt.

 

I think that was the easiest of the combat trophies. All of them boiled down to the same strategy: evade, punch the guy you just jumped over (unless he's a brute/shield guy/electrified guy), repeat. Use the full combo meter for weapon disarms and special takedowns. Use the Batclaw Slam when a guy is electrified. I didn't do anything else.

Awesome! It's not often one finds themselves in 'the zone' but when you are there...nothing beats it. You seem realistically close to getting 100% completion ratio. Are there any crazy trophies standing in your way?

 

I'm going to throw my support behind Dad of War again for your next AAA game. This game is AWESOME. It has taken so many things I love about other games in this genre and has pretty much perfected it. I have had zero crashes, glitches or game play interruptions due to bad programming. It has some challenging puzzles and zones, but they aren't so massive that you spend several hours exploring. You can feel like you've accomplished something even if you only have a little time to play. The story is fantastically deep and interesting and I'm having a hard time finding a stopping point each night because I want to see what happens next. Even the downtime due to traveling is filled with interesting lore and backstory due to the conversations between Kratos and Atreus. You don't feel lost because it has markers similar to HZD that sends you in the right direction and the game play itself is as easy or hard as you want it to be. There is a very steep difference between the difficulty settings.

 

While I was originally going to go back and do the Souls games after Dad of War...I may hold off for a little bit and do a couple of shorter games. One of my goals for the year was to get my trophies per day up over 1.00. I've been sitting at .98 and it's taking me about 4-5 weeks per game with these epics I've been playing. At that rate I won't hit my goal. I did buy The Banner Saga the other day because i did a little more research on that game and it seems like something I'd really enjoy. I also have picked up a couple of the free PS+ games that seem a bit quicker that I may sprinkle in there as well.

 

Another note...I stumbled upon the Angry Video Game Nerd on Amazon Prime last week. I know he has been mentioned in this thread before and it showed up on my "Things you may enjoy" feed so I figured I'd give it a whirl. You can't see season 1 for some reason so I started in Season 2. I have to say I really enjoy and really don't like it at the same time. His reviews and reactions to the actual games are hilarious, however he seems to have a major fascination with diarrhea and shit. I mean, I get that he reviews shitty games so that he may say the word shit a lot. I say the word shit often enough where I can't really give him too much shit for using the word shit so much...but shit, does he have to do skits where things are being shit on constantly? He has the phrase "buffalo diarrhea in his ear" during his theme song. I think if I was 9 years old, that stuff would be funny...but those jokes aren't particularly clever and I just cringe at those parts of the episode. However, the rest of his stuff is clever and interesting enough that I'll probably watch them all. It's also nice that they are only about 10-15 minutes each.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Br1ste

[Cassylvania]

5 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Awesome! It's not often one finds themselves in 'the zone' but when you are there...nothing beats it. You seem realistically close to getting 100% completion ratio. Are there any crazy trophies standing in your way?

 

The craziest trophy left is probably Construction Worker in HM:AWL, which requires me to build all of the buildings. I need 115k to do that. I'm just not sure what is the best approach. From what I read, it's banana trees, but they take a full year to grow...and then you have to use the Seed Maker to convert them into seeds, which apparently sell for a lot. They're also pretty expensive to buy initially. My approach right now is just to sell the milk from my Star Cow, which sells for 400-600, depending on the quality and haggling. But it does mean feeding the cow, milking her twice a day, and keeping an eye on the weather. A third approach that I just found out about is to create a dessert that sells for 2k each. All it requires is a dhibe (a hybridized crop that Tartan can make), milk, and one egg. I'm going to try that tonight.

 

The Banner Saga is supposed to be a fairly hard game, though, so that might give me some trouble. And I know nothing about the new Shantae DLC, but if it's anything like FttE, it won't be a cake walk.

 

6 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I'm going to throw my support behind Dad of War again for your next AAA game. This game is AWESOME. It has taken so many things I love about other games in this genre and has pretty much perfected it. I have had zero crashes, glitches or game play interruptions due to bad programming. It has some challenging puzzles and zones, but they aren't so massive that you spend several hours exploring. You can feel like you've accomplished something even if you only have a little time to play. The story is fantastically deep and interesting and I'm having a hard time finding a stopping point each night because I want to see what happens next. Even the downtime due to traveling is filled with interesting lore and backstory due to the conversations between Kratos and Atreus. You don't feel lost because it has markers similar to HZD that sends you in the right direction and the game play itself is as easy or hard as you want it to be. There is a very steep difference between the difficulty settings.

 

Sounds pretty good. It'd be nice to play a more action-orientated game too, since I feel I've mostly been playing RPGs.

 

6 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Another note...I stumbled upon the Angry Video Game Nerd on Amazon Prime last week. I know he has been mentioned in this thread before and it showed up on my "Things you may enjoy" feed so I figured I'd give it a whirl. You can't see season 1 for some reason so I started in Season 2. I have to say I really enjoy and really don't like it at the same time. His reviews and reactions to the actual games are hilarious, however he seems to have a major fascination with diarrhea and shit. I mean, I get that he reviews shitty games so that he may say the word shit a lot. I say the word shit often enough where I can't really give him too much shit for using the word shit so much...but shit, does he have to do skits where things are being shit on constantly? He has the phrase "buffalo diarrhea in his ear" during his theme song. I think if I was 9 years old, that stuff would be funny...but those jokes aren't particularly clever and I just cringe at those parts of the episode. However, the rest of his stuff is clever and interesting enough that I'll probably watch them all. It's also nice that they are only about 10-15 minutes each.

 

I agree. I've watched and re-watched every episode, but there are some I can't stand (such as Toxic Crusaders, which is unfortunate because it's actually a really good episode if all the disgusting bits were removed). It's the same thing with swearing. I know he's said out-of-character that he realizes he doesn't have to be foul all the time, but it's become a part of the character he portrays. Fortunately, the amount of actual shit (or something that's intended to look like shit) isn't that much.

 

Do you have a favorite episode?

[RockyJokerPL]

Just a couple more weeks...

A few stressful days...

Then it will all be over...

Rest at last...

[Briste]

20 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I agree. I've watched and re-watched every episode, but there are some I can't stand (such as Toxic Crusaders, which is unfortunate because it's actually a really good episode if all the disgusting bits were removed). It's the same thing with swearing. I know he's said out-of-character that he realizes he doesn't have to be foul all the time, but it's become a part of the character he portrays. Fortunately, the amount of actual shit (or something that's intended to look like shit) isn't that much.

 

Do you have a favorite episode?

I've only seen about 15 of them so far. I just finished watching the Superman 64 one last night which was pretty good. I never played that game before and it is truly amazing how horrible that game looked. He has a perfect frowny face look when something happens that is truly asinine in a game. Actually, the last three I watched were all good. The Indiana Jones one was pretty funny and so was the Star Trek one. I laughed pretty good at the NES accessories one where he was wearing the Power Pad as a cape. I see quite a few coming up on the episode list that I'll be pretty interested in. Which one is your favorite? While we're on TV shows...did you finish The Office yet?

[Cassylvania]

4 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I've only seen about 15 of them so far. I just finished watching the Superman 64 one last night which was pretty good. I never played that game before and it is truly amazing how horrible that game looked. He has a perfect frowny face look when something happens that is truly asinine in a game. Actually, the last three I watched were all good. The Indiana Jones one was pretty funny and so was the Star Trek one. I laughed pretty good at the NES accessories one where he was wearing the Power Pad as a cape. I see quite a few coming up on the episode list that I'll be pretty interested in. Which one is your favorite? While we're on TV shows...did you finish The Office yet?

 

I haven't watched The Office in a while. Haven't really been watching anything, even movies. The weather's been too nice, and I've been spending my spare time knocking out trophies. Speaking of... See below.

 

I'd have to really think about my favorite AVGN episode. The first one to come to mind is Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, which is probably the one you were referring to when you said he has a massive obsession with shit. But I think that episode is the best representation of the AVGN character. Pretty much any episode that features a guest character (e.g. Ninja Gaiden, Spider-Man, Battletoads, Ikari Warriors) is fantastic. And, obviously, I like all of the Castlevania ones.

 

Platinum #108 - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

 

I have never been so relieved to earn a platinum before. That seriously took two to three times longer than it should have. If anybody is ever going to attempt this platinum, do yourself a favor and focus on making/selling dhibe cakes. It's by far the best way to earn money. And try your damnedest to get those cutscenes to trigger early on, because you really don't want to have to load up an earlier save.

 

I'm going to go play a good game now.

[Briste]

On 5/4/2018 at 5:42 PM, Cassylvania said:

I haven't watched The Office in a while. Haven't really been watching anything, even movies. The weather's been too nice, and I've been spending my spare time knocking out trophies. Speaking of... See below.

Congrats on the Platinum! You had a good week  We finished The Office about a month ago now. I was getting pretty nervous that it was going to end poorly, however I think they did a good job. It's worth seeing to the end when you get the time. I agree though, Spring finally showed up and it has been pretty beautiful out. I mowed my lawn for the first time this weekend and started some of the spring clean up chores. Not quite as fun as ripping apart Draugr's in Dad of War...but it was nice to be out in the sunshine.

 

On 5/4/2018 at 5:42 PM, Cassylvania said:

I'd have to really think about my favorite AVGN episode. The first one to come to mind is Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, which is probably the one you were referring to when you said he has a massive obsession with shit. But I think that episode is the best representation of the AVGN character. Pretty much any episode that features a guest character (e.g. Ninja Gaiden, Spider-Man, Battletoads, Ikari Warriors) is fantastic. And, obviously, I like all of the Castlevania ones.

lol you're right with the Bugs Bunny one. That episode perfectly encapsulates everything I love and hate about the show. He was hilarious playing the game and yelling at Bugs...but then it just got too weird for me with all the shit stuff. He actually was mellowing out a little bit with all the shit jokes through the past few episodes I watched...until the Deadly Towers review where he let the fans write the script. Considering how many awful shit similes and jokes were in that one...I guess he was just giving the audience what they wanted. The Battletoads one was pretty good. I had forgotten there was friendly fire in that game. The Batman Episodes were pretty good too.

 

I'm off from work tomorrow and Wednesday and maybe Thursday so I'll definitely have Dad of War done by then. I'm toying with the idea of saving it for my 50th plat since I've enjoyed the game so much...however, I've never saved a platinum before and I don't know if I have the discipline to wait. I'm 5 plats away, and at the pace at which I get to play it could be Christmas before I ding it. We'll see how I'm feeling at the time. If I don't I have several other good games lined up that would be a good 50th choice.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Br1ste

[Cassylvania]

@Br1ste I probably wouldn't be able to sit on the platinum either. The only time I ever really did that was for last year's Halloween event, and I had to plan every one of those games in advance. But the 50th plat is a pretty big milestone. Unfortunately for me, that's when I started hating milestones, because I got my 50th plat right after they switched how the system works. I was so excited that my 25th plat would finally be displayed as a milestone, and I got...nothing. Heck, I didn't even care what my 50th plat was. It ended up being that mediocre Sherlock Holmes game, just because that's what I happened to be playing at the time.

 

Personally, I wish they'd just give us customized milestones or get rid of milestones altogether. I'm tired of seeing what somebody else considers "worthy" whenever I look at my profile. (Or maybe at least have some sort of consistency when it comes to milestones. It's ridiculous right now.)

 

Anyway, while we're on the subject, I'm coming up on what I consider to be a TRUE milestone: the marathon trophy, Mr. 5k! At the time of writing this, I have 125 trophies to go. I am considering double-dipping, by having my 5000th trophy also be the first to put me at 100% trophy completion. But that might require more planning than I have the energy for. There's also a chance that some new DLC list will appear on an existing game -- looking at you, Shovel Knight -- and mess me up. Plus, doing it that way would severely limit the trophies I could choose for that milestone. (It'd have to be a platinum or a DLC trophy.)

 

My trophy milestones have been kinda sporadic. I tried to stick to a horror theme, but that hasn't always worked out. And obviously it made more sense when the old milestones were in place. But I was thinking of doing another Shantae trophy for 5k, since I already have three Shantae milestones, and there just happens to be another DLC out. Unfortunately, all the trophy images are of Shantae, not Rottytops, and I don't see any really good ones. Might just roll the dice and see what I get.

 

Also, you may have noticed my newest game is A Hat in Time. I've only played it for a few hours, but I have to say it is probably the best game I've played all year. Great graphics, an amazing soundtrack, and one of the best 3D platformers I've seen in a long time. It's probably what Yooka-Laylee should have been. (Even though I liked that game too.) If you haven't heard of it, definitely check it out. I know it looks kinda cartoonish -- and it is -- but it takes inspiration from some of the best games of the past few decades. Oh, and that Queen Vanessa's Manor level is scarier than anything I've seen in a Resident Evil game. No joke.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Cassylvania

[Avalynch]

16 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

My trophy milestones have been kinda sporadic. I tried to stick to a horror theme, but that hasn't always worked out.

 

Also, you may have noticed my newest game is A Hat in Time. I've only played it for a few hours, but I have to say it is probably the best game I've played all year. Great graphics, an amazing soundtrack, and one of the best 3D platformers I've seen in a long time. It's probably what Yooka-Laylee should have been. (Even though I liked that game too.) If you haven't heard of it, definitely check it out. I know it looks kinda cartoonish -- and it is -- but it takes inspiration from some of the best games of the past few decades. Oh, and that Queen Vanessa's Manor level is scarier than anything I've seen in a Resident Evil game. No joke.

Have my next couple milestones planned out, 1337 trophy milestone will be "Japanese Collector Edition" or "We all float up here" (IT reference) from Destroy All Humans 2. 20th Plat will hopefully be "Insanity" from Amnesia Collection. Since my 10th was from Until Dawn. Gotta plat DAH 1 and 2 back-to-back to satisfy my OCD. Same with Amnesia, and Outlast.

 

A Hat in Time looked great at launch, same as Yooka Laylee, just hadn't had the money to buy either. 

[Jens]

[...]

Edited September 28, 2019 by Jens

[Cassylvania]

Yeah, I picked up A Hat in Time because I saw it was on sale. I knew very little about it going in, but a quick Youtube search was enough to convince me. The only real downside is the length -- unless you're like me and think 10-15 hour games are a godsend.

 

Unfortunately, I've been too preoccupied with The Banner Saga to finish AHiT. TBS is fairly challenging, so I at least want to get through my Hard campaign before I put it back on the shelf. It's a short game too, but bad planning (and a mostly blind first playthrough) is going to force me to do a third playthrough. There is an upside, though. Apparently, there's a TBS2 and you can import your save from TBS1, which not only makes the sequel easier (by carrying over your Renown, which is like your experience/money), but is practically necessary for a trophy.  Thus, I don't consider that a wasted playthrough at all.

 

For @Br1ste (and anybody else who picks up TBS), I would probably recommend the three playthrough approach as well. Do the first playthrough on Normal (focusing only on Forced March, Warmonger, or both), the second on Hard, and the third on Easy. There are too many conflicting trophies to do it on one playthrough, and High Spirits is annoying on Hard. I suppose it's possible (very possible, actually), but you need to plan in advance, because they really put you in a bad position at the start of Chapter 4. I've given up trying to get that trophy on this playthrough. (You basically have to keep your entire clan in good spirits for the entire journey, but you HAVE to save up Renown in an earlier chapter so that you can buy enough supplies when you begin Chapter 4, or you'll never make it to the first town.) Very bad game design there.

 

As AVGN would say, "It's like in Super Mario Bros., if you reach World 1-2 without collecting exactly 36 coins and 2 mushrooms in World 1-1, you start the stage above a pit and a fuckin' koopa flies into you."

[Cassylvania]

Let it rain trophies! I don't often get giddy, but there's something extremely satisfying after beating a really hard game and being rewarded with the *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* of multiple trophies.

 

Was TBS really that hard? Well, no. Even on the "Hard" setting, I didn't find it all that difficult. The combat is a bit like a chess match, but there are a few tricks you learn to sway the battle in your favor, such as leaving weaker enemies alive to take the turns that would belong to the stronger enemies, or blocking larger enemies so they have to take the long way around to get to your troops. It's a bit...unusual to play a grid-based tactical RPG that has you taking turns after every move (rather than basing it on speed, or allowing every character on your team one or two actions per turn), but I suppose it's fine. Not every team has to be XCOM or Fire Emblem. And, for what it's worth, it's done nicely. I really like the animation in this game, and the story isn't terrible. I do think the programmers made some poor design choices, though...especially when it comes to soft-blocking your playthrough. Without knowing what's coming up, you could easily put yourself in an unwinnable situation. I said that in my previous post, but that was in a relation to a trophy. The FINAL BOSS, however, should NEVER have the potential to force you to replay the entire game if you aren't planning in advance. That nearly happened to me, when I arrived at the final town with very few clansmen/fighters, low morale, and had several of my best units injured, with no way to heal them. It doesn't help that the final mission forces you to use two specific characters. If you haven't been using them, you're basically screwed on Hard. The final boss does that thing where you have to pour on enough damage that it will overcome his regenerating health, or you simply can't win.

 

After much save scumming, I was able to beat him, thanks to Egil being a GOD with a shield, and Oddleif basically one-shotting him once his armor was broken. And I don't want to spoil the ending, but you have a choice right before the final mission that determines the ultimate outcome. I've done it both ways now, and...I'm not really sure which one makes more sense, from a canon perspective, or which I'll pick on my easy/clean-up mode run. I assume the decision carries over to TBS2, though, so it might be worth investigating.

 

I'll also need to decide which characters I like the most. Iver is probably the coolest varl (they're like giant vikings), but the human characters are more interesting. Yrsa is pretty awesome as a fire arrow-wielding "witch," but I think Ekkill is the most interesting. He reminds me of Stephen from Braveheart. Definitely want those guys on my roster for TBS2.

[Briste]

On 5/7/2018 at 6:16 PM, Cassylvania said:

I probably wouldn't be able to sit on the platinum either. The only time I ever really did that was for last year's Halloween event, and I had to plan every one of those games in advance. But the 50th plat is a pretty big milestone. Unfortunately for me, that's when I started hating milestones, because I got my 50th plat right after they switched how the system works. I was so excited that my 25th plat would finally be displayed as a milestone, and I got...nothing. Heck, I didn't even care what my 50th plat was. It ended up being that mediocre Sherlock Holmes game, just because that's what I happened to be playing at the time.

Yeah so I couldn't sit on the Plat I got it last night (well early this morning.) Overall the game was pretty awesome. There are too many good things to say about it so I'll just say it's one of my favorite games ever and lived up to my expectations...it's what Final Fantasy XV should have been (in my mind.) My only really small gripes were the over the shoulder camera, that I got used to but still could have been better, and the world map. It was really hard to figure out where some zones were. Most of the areas just say "Lake of Nine" even though you can clearly see you're in another area. During normal game play it wasn't an issue at all, but when you are going back to get the collectibles, it gets very hard to find all the areas on the map to see if you've completed them or not.

 

I decided to just finish the game since I haven't really been paying attention to the milestones so far and none of the trophies are really anything significant to me. Similarly to you, I would like to set my own milestones. If it changes to every 25 Plats, then I'm sitting pretty since my 25th Plat was XCOM 2. I'm four Plats away from 50 now so I'll pick something from my backlog that is good. Maybe Bloodborne...maybe Shadow of War (however that Plat is pretty boring to look at.) I like my first trophy "I am Batman" but most of my milestones double up on games. First trophy from Arkham City...first Plat is Arkham City; 500th trophy Dad of War III...tenth plat is  Dad of War III and so on. I'm definitely in your camp though that the milestone customization needs some work.

 

On 5/7/2018 at 6:16 PM, Cassylvania said:

Also, you may have noticed my newest game is A Hat in Time. I've only played it for a few hours, but I have to say it is probably the best game I've played all year. Great graphics, an amazing soundtrack, and one of the best 3D platformers I've seen in a long time. It's probably what Yooka-Laylee should have been. (Even though I liked that game too.) If you haven't heard of it, definitely check it out. I know it looks kinda cartoonish -- and it is -- but it takes inspiration from some of the best games of the past few decades. Oh, and that Queen Vanessa's Manor level is scarier than anything I've seen in a Resident Evil game. No joke

lol gdi...I'm quickly getting a backlog that I will never be able to finish. With your gaming experience, that is pretty high praise and worth taking a look at. I'm going to get the 100% in FFXV and then maybe I'll sneak that in before The Banner Saga. Speaking of which, thanks for the heads up with that game. There is no trophy guide here but I did see one on playstationtrophies.org that I'll probably use. You seemed to get through that game pretty quickly, so that is promising. The version of the game I bought has TBS2 as a part of it so maybe I'll bang those out back to back if they're quick enough. Actually...I kind of like The Banner Saga plat trophy image so maybe that can be my 50th. Too many decisions!

 

Well I have the day off and no kids home so this will be a day completely dedicated to video games Hopefully I can knock out most of these FFXV trophies today. Slight rant on one of them though. For the "Pursuit of Knowledge" trophy you need to get 80% of the data log filled out....which normally wouldn't be bad except they added this in a DLC and you don't get credit for areas you've already been to when playing through the first time....seriously wtf is that bullshit. I have to revisit most of the game for that one trophy AND i read that if you utilize the chapter select to get to certain areas...it will mess up the log and not save properly. I'll be following a guide for that one for sure. I'm really hoping this doesn't end up being a three week trophy...well happy gaming!

[Cassylvania]

On 5/9/2018 at 8:32 AM, Br1ste said:

lol gdi...I'm quickly getting a backlog that I will never be able to finish. With your gaming experience, that is pretty high praise and worth taking a look at. I'm going to get the 100% in FFXV and then maybe I'll sneak that in before The Banner Saga. Speaking of which, thanks for the heads up with that game. There is no trophy guide here but I did see one on playstationtrophies.org that I'll probably use. You seemed to get through that game pretty quickly, so that is promising. The version of the game I bought has TBS2 as a part of it so maybe I'll bang those out back to back if they're quick enough. Actually...I kind of like The Banner Saga plat trophy image so maybe that can be my 50th. Too many decisions!

 

Yeah, the PST guide is pretty good. There's also a few good walkthroughs online that I suggest you at least bookmark. (Game Pressure has a decent one.) The reason is, like Oregon Trail, there are a lot of "random" events that occur (they're not really that random), and it's useful to see the possible outcomes for the choices you are presented. For example, you might find a group of bandits who want to join your caravan. Letting them join you might give you more fighters, but they also might poison your food or steal your supplies later in the game. It's not always obvious what the "right" choice is, so having something like that can be handy on your later playthroughs, or when you're going for specific trophies.

 

Also, pay attention to Forced March and Warmonger. They are...somewhat conflicting, but you should go for at least one of them on your first playthrough. You don't want to be attempting them during your Hard run.

 

I'm going to try to wrap up TBS tonight, so that I can begin (and finish) Life is Strange: BtS this weekend. Once I do that, I'll tell you a little bit about my plan for Toogie's summer event.

[Cassylvania]

Platinum #109 - The Banner Saga

 

Final boss took me more retries than I expected. I was trying to save all of my Renown on my Easy playthrough for TBS2 (I guess it carries over?), so basically my entire team was at level 1. I'm also...I dunno, a little unsure if I like the ending I chose for what's ultimately going to be my entire TBS trilogy playthrough. But no going back now! Well, I mean, unless I load up an earlier save and beat it again, or simply use my Renown-less playthrough where I chose the other ending.

 

Iver is definitely an awesome plat image. This is worthy of a milestone in my opinion, @Br1ste.

 

Been looking forward to playing more AHiT all week. Going to go do that now!

Edited February 23, 2019 by Cassylvania

[Briste]

Congratulations on another Plat! You are banging them out left and right  I have decided that Banner Saga will be my 50th platinum. I will make sure to follow your advice when going after the trophies and do three separate playthroughs. The playthroughs seem short enough and it'll be nice to have a stress free play through on easy. Definitely do easy as the third playthrough for cleanup? or is it worth doing it that way first? I'll also have to look more into how the two games relate since I'm a little lost on how the ending of the first Banner Saga will impact the second. Do you have to play the first one in order to play the second? or is that just an added wrinkle if you did play the first? You may not know either since you haven't played the second one yet, but it seems like an interesting dynamic.

 

So, I decided to play AHiT at the same time as you. It has gotten rave reviews and I want a change of pace for my next game. I should finish FFXV today or tonight and then I will get immersed in AHiT too (as much as I can.) My order to 50 right now will look #47 will be AHiT, #48 will be the Telltale Batman: The Enemy Within #47-49 could be Space Hulk, but I really have no idea how close to 40,000 kills I am. It could also be #60. I play it for about 30-60 minutes every few nights while I'm watching TV, but damn is that a stupid grind. If Space Hulk does not ding by 49, it will go on hold until I beat Banner Saga. I may do Ratchet & Clank for #49 since I still have that queued from when it was free or I may do Dark Souls 2. I may wait until 51 to get back into the Dark Souls series since I would like to just get to 50 and that may slow things up a bit. We'll see how it goes.

 

I also want to change my stance on my FFXV rant slightly. It has been actually fun playing the game again. I'm a little mad at SE since I think they rushed this release...which is ridiculous when you realize it was in the making for several years...but the Royal Edition seems to be a more complete version with a better told story (at least the end) and it is what they should have released all along. It's like they released a director's cut version of the game with an alternate ending. That's fine for movies but is a little ridiculous for a game when you spend over $100 on it. I thought that getting 80% of the data log was going to be me repeating a lot of the game over, but it's actually uncovered some new stuff. I never did the "Menace" dungeons on my first playthrough since there was no reason to, but I had to for this trophy and it was kind of fun. Some of the things they added make you ridiculously overpowered...but that was actually kind of fun too. I should have finished this yesterday, but I got sidetracked in a secret dungeon that was not necessary for the trophies, but was a puzzle zone with no enemies. It was interesting/frustrating at the same time and took me about an hour and a half to beat. To top it all off, I forgot to save it after I beat it and I ended up crashing the car/airship into a mountain on my takeoff and my previous save was right before I entered the dungeon. I beat it in about 45 minutes the second time...but it was a wasted 3 hours or so altogether with regards to trophy hunting. Having said that...the prize made the Omega fight ridiculously easy. After this weekend, FFXV will be back to 100% (for now) and I can move on again.

 

I hope you have a good weekend!

Edited May 12, 2018 by Br1ste

[Cassylvania]

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Congratulations on another Plat! You are banging them out left and right  I have decided that Banner Saga will be my 50th platinum. I will make sure to follow your advice when going after the trophies and do three separate playthroughs. The playthroughs seem short enough and it'll be nice to have a stress free play through on easy. Definitely do easy as the third playthrough for cleanup? or is it worth doing it that way first? I'll also have to look more into how the two games relate since I'm a little lost on how the ending of the first Banner Saga will impact the second. Do you have to play the first one in order to play the second? or is that just an added wrinkle if you did play the first? You may not know either since you haven't played the second one yet, but it seems like an interesting dynamic.

 

From my understanding, the trilogy is like one big story, similar to LotR. You don't have to play the first, but your decisions, Renown, characters, and items (maybe?) can be carried over from TBS to TBS2. Without giving any spoilers away, the choice you make at the end of TBS will impact your hero in TBS2. There's no "right" choice as far as I know, but I think you can simply start a new save file in TBS2 if you'd rather accept the other ending.

 

I'd do a Normal, Hard, Easy run if were you. Normal isn't that difficult, but Hard (and Easy, if you're trying to save all of your renown) can be a bit tricky. I focused on Forced March on Normal and Warmonger on Easy. The other tricky one is High Spirits. Those are probably the ones you're going to have the most trouble with, because you need to be aware of their requirements very early on in the game to have any chance of earning them at the end. (There are others too, but they mostly relate to decisions you make throughout the game, and you can earn them fairly easily on any difficulty.)

 

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

So, I decided to play AHiT at the same time as you. It has gotten rave reviews and I want a change of pace for my next game. I should finish FFXV today or tonight and then I will get immersed in AHiT too (as much as I can.) My order to 50 right now will look #47 will be AHiT, #48 will be the Telltale Batman: The Enemy Within #47-49 could be Space Hulk, but I really have no idea how close to 40,000 kills I am. It could also be #60. I play it for about 30-60 minutes every few nights while I'm watching TV, but damn is that a stupid grind. If Space Hulk does not ding by 49, it will go on hold until I beat Banner Saga. I may do Ratchet & Clank for #49 since I still have that queued from when it was free or I may do Dark Souls 2. I may wait until 51 to get back into the Dark Souls series since I would like to just get to 50 and that may slow things up a bit. We'll see how it goes.

 

I like your plan. You might even be able to hop aboard the Dark Souls Remastered train, since I believe that's coming out in two weeks. I'm eagerly awaiting a trophy list, but I doubt it will be any different than the original.

 

As for AHiT, some of the trophies are a bit trickier than you might expect. It took me quite a few tries to get Secret Intruder and The Perfect Parade. They both require playing certain levels to perfection. The Perfect Parade is particularly annoying because you have to avoid falling into the crowd below, but you spend much of the level in the air, and it's VERY frustrating when the game skips to a cutscene while you're airborne, giving you almost no time to react when it cuts back to Hat Kid. Plus -- and this is my only gripe with the game -- the camera is not very good at times.

 

Good luck on your FFXV mission. I'm working on a list of games for Toogie's summer camp event. I'm going to try to do a game for all 13 categories (we all know how well that worked out last time), but I want them all to have a summertime theme too. Like, I could probably play any sport for the "Play a Sport" category, but snowboarding or curling just wouldn't feel right. (Plus, if they made a curling video game, you'd have to tie me to a chair to get me to play it.)

 

Expect a lot of shorter, 100% only games.

[Briste]

On 5/12/2018 at 3:03 PM, Cassylvania said:

From my understanding, the trilogy is like one big story, similar to LotR. You don't have to play the first, but your decisions, Renown, characters, and items (maybe?) can be carried over from TBS to TBS2. Without giving any spoilers away, the choice you make at the end of TBS will impact your hero in TBS2. There's no "right" choice as far as I know, but I think you can simply start a new save file in TBS2 if you'd rather accept the other ending.

 

I'd do a Normal, Hard, Easy run if were you. Normal isn't that difficult, but Hard (and Easy, if you're trying to save all of your renown) can be a bit tricky. I focused on Forced March on Normal and Warmonger on Easy. The other tricky one is High Spirits. Those are probably the ones you're going to have the most trouble with, because you need to be aware of their requirements very early on in the game to have any chance of earning them at the end. (There are others too, but they mostly relate to decisions you make throughout the game, and you can earn them fairly easily on any difficulty.)

That's pretty cool actually. The order of operations for difficulty makes a lot of sense too if the items and stuff are carried over in TBS2. Based on what I read, it does seem like getting those three trophies in one playthrough is tricky. I believe the Forced March is for beating it within a certain number of days while the Warmonger is for winning 40 battles and the High Spirits is never getting low morale. It seems like it would be impossible to do that all in one run and trying to would end up screwing up all of them. I feel like I'd do forced march on Normal, Warmonger on Hard and High Spirits on Easy. Unless battles are too difficult on hard. I did read that if you utilize some mechanic at the end of the battle (continue on?) each fight can count as two battles. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

 

On 5/12/2018 at 3:03 PM, Cassylvania said:

I like your plan. You might even be able to hop aboard the Dark Souls Remastered train, since I believe that's coming out in two weeks. I'm eagerly awaiting a trophy list, but I doubt it will be any different than the original.

I have put a lot of thought into maybe doing that one again on release...however I'm not sure I want to play it back to back...but then again I might since everything is fresh in my head. I'll have to see where I'm at with the march to 50 plats.

 

On 5/12/2018 at 3:03 PM, Cassylvania said:

As for AHiT, some of the trophies are a bit trickier than you might expect. It took me quite a few tries to get Secret Intruder and The Perfect Parade. They both require playing certain levels to perfection. The Perfect Parade is particularly annoying because you have to avoid falling into the crowd below, but you spend much of the level in the air, and it's VERY frustrating when the game skips to a cutscene while you're airborne, giving you almost no time to react when it cuts back to Hat Kid. Plus -- and this is my only gripe with the game -- the camera is not very good at times.

I got the 100% in FFXV the other day without issue so it's back on the shelf until the next DLC comes out. I read somewhere (probably on here) that they have four more DLC's planned for 2019...It's already to the point where someone who only played the base game and got the platinum has a 50% completion on the game. I wonder how low it will go.

 

I started AHiT right after and my initial thought was how much it reminded me of Super Mario 64 (which is a good thing) with some added wrinkles. I stumbled into three trophies really quickly by accident and have already had one glitch for me in a positive way. The trophy for going down the big slide popped at a weird place. I tried several times sliding down the slide with no luck on it popping. I kept running down it or getting stuck when sliding and it wasn't working. I decided to come back to it later. But then when I was doing "She Came From Outer Space" Act, I was chasing the mafia guy for the time piece and jumping from section to section to follow. I missed one of the ledges and as I was falling the trophy popped. Not sure exactly what triggered it, but I'll take it. The game is a ton of fun so far. There is a lot going on in the screens and you were right that the camera is a little wonky. I don't like that you can't really look up, but that's my only real gripe at this point. It will take me some time to figure out the areas, but it's a game that I won't mind exploring. I'm really glad I picked it up since I haven't played a game like this in a long, long time.

 

I noticed your signature has a new game on it. How is "Life is Strange"? Based on the trophies it seems like a Telltale game with a little extra for trophies. Is that pretty much what it is? 

[Cassylvania]

3 hours ago, Br1ste said:

That's pretty cool actually. The order of operations for difficulty makes a lot of sense too if the items and stuff are carried over in TBS2. Based on what I read, it does seem like getting those three trophies in one playthrough is tricky. I believe the Forced March is for beating it within a certain number of days while the Warmonger is for winning 40 battles and the High Spirits is never getting low morale. It seems like it would be impossible to do that all in one run and trying to would end up screwing up all of them. I feel like I'd do forced march on Normal, Warmonger on Hard and High Spirits on Easy. Unless battles are too difficult on hard. I did read that if you utilize some mechanic at the end of the battle (continue on?) each fight can count as two battles. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

 

You do NOT want to do Warmonger on Hard. That mechanic you're talking about doesn't revive or heal your troops from the previous battle, so you'll very rarely be able to handle two battles in a row. You could probably knock it out on your first playthrough, though. The key would be doing every battle (and the war battles twice), but utilize backup saves (or quit out of the game via the XMB window) if things go poorly, because you don't have time to rest if you're trying to get Forced March. Personally, I did Forced March on Normal and Warmonger/High Spirits on Easy. High Spirits can be done on any difficulty (i.e. I don't think it's necessarily harder to do on Hard), but you really should play through the game once first, because the morale system takes some time to get used to.

 

3 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I started AHiT right after and my initial thought was how much it reminded me of Super Mario 64 (which is a good thing) with some added wrinkles. I stumbled into three trophies really quickly by accident and have already had one glitch for me in a positive way. The trophy for going down the big slide popped at a weird place. I tried several times sliding down the slide with no luck on it popping. I kept running down it or getting stuck when sliding and it wasn't working. I decided to come back to it later. But then when I was doing "She Came From Outer Space" Act, I was chasing the mafia guy for the time piece and jumping from section to section to follow. I missed one of the ledges and as I was falling the trophy popped. Not sure exactly what triggered it, but I'll take it. The game is a ton of fun so far. There is a lot going on in the screens and you were right that the camera is a little wonky. I don't like that you can't really look up, but that's my only real gripe at this point. It will take me some time to figure out the areas, but it's a game that I won't mind exploring. I'm really glad I picked it up since I haven't played a game like this in a long, long time.

 

I definitely see the Super Mario 64 inspiration. One of the great things, though, is how the game completely goes off the rails after the first chapter. I don't want to spoil anything, but that's what separates it from Yooka-Laylee. In that game, the developers were always TOO happy to remind you of Banjo-Kazooie. Like, the whole game was, "Remember THESE characters?" or "Remember when THIS was a thing?" In AHiT, they're more like, "Okay, we showed you something you've seen before. Did you have your fun? Good, because now we're doing our own thing. Buckle in, kiddos." And it is so amazing.

 

I hope future developers take note.

 

3 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I noticed your signature has a new game on it. How is "Life is Strange"? Based on the trophies it seems like a Telltale game with a little extra for trophies. Is that pretty much what it is? 

 

Yeah, the whole point of this being called The Storm Patch for the last two months was that I was going to finally get around to playing LiS: Before the Storm. It's very much a Telltale-like game. I would certainly recommend it. The one I'm playing is a prequel to the original (does that make it a sequel?), but you probably want to play Life is Strange first. I would say it's better than any Telltale game I've played, with the exception of Tales from the Borderlands, but it's even better than that in some ways.

 

The downside, though, is it's very much a teenage drama, which, for older gamers like you and me, may be a bit of a turnoff. I think you're open-minded enough to get some enjoyment out of it, but I could also see you rolling your eyes at some of the things that happen.

 

Still, it's one of the better games to come out in the past few years.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Cassylvania