Kill Your Completion V

[Metal Slime King]

Game #5 - Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse - Episode 1 & Episode 2

That title is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? BS5 is a 'Slide and Tap' (the game's own terminology, as opposed to being a point and click) adventure game currently available as a (NA) PS+ freebie. You tap on the screen to move the character around the current scene and interact with available objects and characters to solve puzzles in order to advance the story. You play mostly as Fred the blond pretty-boy from Scooby-Doo George, an insurance claim investigator(?) and sometimes you play as George's sort-of partner Nico, a french reporter. Since I mainly played for the story I'll talk most about that, I found the story pretty interesting and I was surprised that I had a decent amount of fun going through it. The first thing that caught my attention was that the prologue was in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930's which is currently relevant as Catalonia has been in the news recently. (IRL) The regional Catalonian government held an 'illegal' referendum on whether Catalonia should seek sovereign independence from the country of Spain and as a result the federal government have taken direct control over Catalonia. There have been concerns that this incident could spark another civil war in the region. I'm not a Spanish citizen and don't know anything more about this situation than what I've read in the news I just thought it was weird timing that this game went on PS+ now and I was just curious if this was a deliberate choice by whoever is in charge of picking PS+ games. Without spoiling the story too much, the first episode is mostly focused on investigating a painting stolen from a family in Catalonia which has since resurfaced in the Paris art community. The second episode is focused on investigating a lost Gnostic artifact in the Catalonia region. The first episode was goofier and comic relief characters were more predominant in the story while the second episode had a more serious tone and I found it far more interesting. The game talks a lot about it's interpretation of the Gnostic belief structure and I did actually find some historical reference to the idea that a small group of Cathars (a sect of Gnostics) had escaped the Roman Catholic crusade of Southern France to the Catalonian region carrying treasure, which the game employs. In the writing of it's characters the game itself seems to favour (it's interpretation of) the Gnostic viewpoint as being the most rational. From the little reading I did on the Gnostic belief structure after playing this game, it didn't quite match up to reality but they did capture the sense of dualism which made Gnosticism 'heretical' to the Roman Catholic church.

 

Funny how this game review turned into some kind of high school research project, sorry about that (especially to the one teacher in this thread) . I'm giving this game a (+). Graphics and sound were alright, nothing special but they functioned to create a coherent space that you could navigate. The interface was awkward at times, mostly when trying to combine items in your inventory. Other criticisms I have are probably better directed at the genre itself, so if you like the genre this might be your game of the year. Weird game logic, of course in these games you're supposed to pick up every weird thing and use them in every weird way until one of those weird ways solves whatever arbitrary roadblock you're at, usually to comic effect. In this regard the game is probably the least offensive in the genre. I didn't really like any of the ancillary characters but I particularly disliked the ones that were in a useless state until you solved their silly problem. In all of those cases it seemed like the most logical solution was just yelling in their face "Wahh! Get over it, you useless tool!" Regardless, my interest in the story made going through the game a worthwhile experience.

Edited December 11, 2017 by mking_63

[PerryToxteth]

Game No. 5

Battlefield 1

Final Review

 

 

Trophies Earned: 8/41 8% E rating

Time Played: 8+ hours

Overview: This genre normally isn't in my realm of gaming. I played a multiplayer Call of Duty eons ago and quickly got turned off by the snot-nosed, cuss-laden juvenile degenerates of the gaming society.  What prompted me to purchase this game though were three things:

1.  The era - World War I. An underappreciated decade of the 20th century that had lasting implications. Every major player in WWII had their destiny set out for them by the actions and consequences of The Great War. One could argue today's world was shaped more by the end of WWI than WWII.

2. A lengthy campaign. I'm all about the single player experience. Early reviews stated that the Campaign experience was just as lengthy and detailed as the expected MP side of a Battlefield game. It wasn't a half-hearted add-on like the Star Wars: Battlefront games. 

3. Non-grindy MP trophies. Reading trophy guides, it appeared the multiplayer trophies were "doable" for a non-MP guy like myself. So over the top, away we went!

     Eight hours in and I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. This game is MASSIVE in scale, playing options, and levels and maps. It tackles every major arena in the War with the Western Front, Eastern Front, Middle East (think Lawrence of Arabia), and my favorite, the Italian-Austrian/Hungarian front in the Isonzo/ Soča valley (truth be told, I visited parts of that battlefield this summer. FYI - it's also where Rommel earned his first battlefield honors!). The history is well done, and the devs really did their homework in the research. One can delve as deeply as they want with information regarding all subjects in the War, or one can just hit  and skip the narration. Either way, it educates the player as much as entertains. 

Campaign

    I put in a good four-hours into the Campaign and have yet to complete a level. I chalk that up as a good thing for one who has heavy interest in this game as single-player. There are 5-6 levels and they are broken down into four missions each. Each mission can take 30-60 minutes with checkpoints along the way. I am playing on Hard difficulty (there's a trophy for that) so that's probably why I haven't completed a level. There are also collectibles to grab along the way and each mission has parameters (the game calls it codex) that need to be achieved to unlock items (and more trophies). Codex include going stealth for a mission, eliminating all enemies, etc

    I concentrated on the tank level and have had fun with that. The gameplay definitely doesn't encourage a Rambo-style of play. Going slower and doing some recon before engaging will be more successful. Also, there are other levels focusing on aviation, FPS, etc. The graphics and sound are incredible in this game, I'm not sure I can compare to another war-themed game. And there is a story with each level, centering around a specific soldier and their experience, so there is plenty of cinematic eye-candy. 

Multiplayer

     First, it's not just a first-person shooter because you can drive tanks, armored trucks, etc., ride horses, and fly fighter planes, bombers and Zeppelins.  The mechanics work pretty well for each vehicle and are each fun in their own way. Riding as a Top Turret gunner on a dirigible is a completely difference gaming experience than driving a tank filled with other MP players. And of course, you can play the FPS aspect as well. Players have options to have their soldier be focused on Assault (grenades), Medic (revive other players), Support (extra ammo, heavy gun), or Scout (sniper). With each soldier-type, comes different weapons and like any EA game, there are plenty to unlock (or buy via microtransaction. F__K OFF EA!).  At this point in the game, I'm a Noob with poor weapons so I get my ass handed to me every time out. But I'm still having fun and not getting frustrated. 

     There are different styles to MP game, with your proverbial Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Domination. My favorite was Operations, where one side was the attacker, one side the defender, and the attacker would have have to capture a few checkpoints, before the retreat order would be sounded, and the defenders would fall back to the next position. Having clear-cut battle lines lessened the blindspot kills so that are frequent in MP games for people like me, who haven't memorized the maps.  The only negative with the Operations is that a single game can last close to an hour.

     Finally, the crown achievement for this game is the grand scale of the maps and levels. Although the Campaign plays a more linear-style, the MP maps are huge, have a ton of variety to them, and are well thought out. An entire map for Uncharted MP would just be one checkpoint location for Battlefield 1.

Trophies: They can be split into thirds - MP-based, collectibles, and single-player advancement. None appeared to be grindy, but after playing for eight hours, the four trophies that will take the longest are to achieve Rank 2 with each soldier type in MP play. I'm sure good players can achieve them in one night but I've played two solid hours as a medic and haven't even come within sniffing-distance of Rank 1.  But it is"doable." There's no Get 10,000 kills bullshit bronze trophy or something like that in this game

 Final Thoughts: I'm highly enjoying this one. The MP is much more fun than I anticipated (and thankfully, mics can be muted, though I haven't even needed to do that for a single player yet). The MP levels are simply incredible. And I am enjoying the Campaign as well. My only knock is that there are minor glitches. I experienced a campaign glitch (I AM the Glitch Magnet BTW), in that a codex unlocked on the screen but didn't unlock a trophy. Looking back at my statistics, it didn't register either, but I CLEARLY saw it and didn't die soon after so not sure why it didn't count. Also, I have hit an occasional glitch in MP. I tried to check the scoreboard mid-game and got the typical spinning-wheel loading icon for a few minutes, then got kicked for inactivity. But I will definitely return to this game. It's marvelous! .

 

KYCV Statistics 

Pre-KYC numbers are in ().

Games Completed - Played 85/60    (79/60)

Trophies Earned - 2876                      (2809)

Unearned - 496                                  (330)

Trophy Rarity - 43.92.                         (43.51)

Completion % - 83.81.                       (88.68)

Down - 4.87%

 

Next Up - The Sexy Brutale

    

[Hemiak]

Ok everybody. We're halfway through the event and I'm seeing a lot of good stuff. Hopefully everybody is still having fun and staying motivated. I look forward to reading more as we move into the second half of the month. Keep up the good work. 

[DamagingRob]

Final Review- Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator

 

Well, this was a really fun one. And will probably be the first game in this KYC I give a  rating to. Lots of crazy characters to play as, and modes to choose from. You have a witch with a guitar, a vampire, a dude named Bedman who fights attached to a bed, a girl that uses her blond hair like a sword, a girl that fights with a dolphin, the guy that wears a bag over his head (I mentioned him in the first review), and more. The witch with a guitar (I-No) is who I've been using the most. And when Faust (bag-head guy) uses that move on her... well, umm... let's just say her reaction is wrong on so many levels.  

 

Missions seem a lot more challenging than the Combo Challenges. I completed 34, but need 70 out of 92 (guide says 98, but 6 don't appear to be there). They will be my biggest hurdle in Platinuming the game, I think. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do on a lot of them, when it says "do x amount of damage after executing the move." There's a video guide that shows them all, but I have no idea what moves he's using to get the required damage. It would have been a lot better if he had that information displayed on the screen, instead of just expecting people to know what he was doing or to figure it out. 

 

For whatever reason, there's a silly fishing minigame that's not even really a game. You just stand by the water, and tell your avatar to fish. Then you get an item determined by RNG. You can dress up the avatar, and people will see him in online rooms. That's really the only reason you would want to do this. 

 

I didn't play online, but I did watch a few matches as a spectator. And I'm pretty confident it would not have ended well. Lol. The online rooms in this game resemble the new DBZ game Beta I played (same dev, so not all that surprising). You can walk up to an arcade machine with an open seat to fight, one with both seats taken to spectate, or just walk around the room and chat. 

 

M.O.M. mode has you fighting enemies and gaining medals/items for doing so. Fighting ones with stars over their heads yields better rewards. The more stars, the better the rewards. Then you can spend the medals on items in the shop to increase your level, or get better items/equipment. Damage carries over between fights in this mode, but losing doesn't seem to really hurt. After enough successful wins, though, a Wanted fight will appear. These characters have 3 stars above them, and fighting enough of them raises your rank. It was a fairly entertaining mode, and I didn't really get bored with it (unlike Arcade runs.. These are commonplace in almost all fighting games, though, so meh). 

 

I didn't do much in Story Mode, but it's basically just a long movie with no fighting. Not having played any of the previous games, I felt kind of lost.. But it seemed alright, and different than a lot of fighting game stories. No forced fighting and apologizing to move the story along. Other fighting games should take note, and make better narratives without fights. 

 

So yeah, really good game here. Hopefully, I can eventually complete enough of those missions, and am able to Plat it. If not, it's not the end of the world. Still had a lot of fun with it. 

 

Time played: No idea. I'm going to guess 10+.

Trophy progress: 26/43 for 57% and an A rank. 

Did it lower my completion? A bit.  

[Edward_FOX_86]

Game # 3 Dark Cloud

 

 

But before...

 

FFXV (Bonus)

 

 

 

 

Can't say much that hasn't been said before. Great addition to the FF series, the story seems as good and FF X (which is still my favourite). The combat is better than the predecessors and the Cooking/Photography etc seems like a nice feature to include (I think there's fishing If I'm not mistaken)

 

Energy Balance (Bonus)

 

 

 

 

I plat this in 2 days yeah me!!! My fastest plat but yeah its a pretty easy game although I bought it because I really like Math and this game was a cheap relieving of my Math Studies I guess. 

If you enjoy math and a quick Game/Plat then this game is for you. (I did it with no guides and I advise you do the same)

 

 

Back to Dark Cloud

 

I bought this cause mr @voodoo_eyes told me it was good and... Yes! It is . I'm really glad I got this and I intend to Buy Chronicles/2 on the store once it goes on sale.

Really nice Action RPG nice graphics even for the time (PS2) and It aged pretty well.

Besides the combat not beeing turn based I really enjoy the additional features and details of the game. The fact that weapons detiorate and water is an essential really influences you and so it weights on your gameplay and its an add on on how you approach the game and it gives space to strategy. So I would say this games envolves some basic strategy elements that nonetheless make this game more appealing at least in my point of view. 

 

The collecting is fun and it serves a purpose as you enter a sims mode similar to fallout 4 but way more basic and straitghtorward . 

 

For now I would say its a solid 8/10 on my list but off course this can change.

 

I've also been playing lots of FIFA 17 and 'm on my way to plat it. This will be my second PS4 game plat Energy balance being the 1st and I,Zombie being the 1st 100%

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Edward_FOX_86

[Jaguargenie]

Game 5 Final Review

Not much new to say. I've only gotten through one more 'memory' but my earlier position still applies. This might be the best walking sim I've played. 

One interesting thing to mention: each memory has a different feel or asethic. For example, the first is like a first person platforms. The 4th is like a hand drawn, first person melee game. Very different feel for each one. Highly recommended!

 

Personal Rank: A

Trophies: 4/9 for 20% and E rating

Completion: 74.68% (-.1.01%) 

 

Now starts my first stretch of none gaming so I'm going to miss game 6 in the rotation. Won't really play again til Sunday. 

 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

14 days and 9 games left to go...

 

I am not picking up my Star Wars Battlefront II pre-order. Too much negative shit in the game, and while I do not care about the multiplayer, I definitely do care about a rushed and disappointing story campaign that's over in just four hours on the normal difficulty. There's "short but sweet" and there's "way too short". It really pains me how horrible the game section of Star Wars is going since EA got the monopoly.

 

Seeing as I'm not getting Battlefront II, I think I will spend this weekend playing a few shorter games, as well as trying to get more done in Assassin's Creed Origins as it shames me to say that I still haven't played through the game even though I love it.

[Metal Slime King]

6 hours ago, Edward_FOX_86 said:

I bought it because I really like Math

 

If you like Math and Logic in a puzzle game and are not allergic to the occasional PC game then I cannot recommend SpaceChem enough. It was my favourite puzzle game and one of my favourite games of all time. I'd pick it up again in a second if it came out on a Sony platform, sadly that's not going to happen.

 

Another substitution for me on my 6th game, why did I bother making a list? Well you know sometimes things happen.. my 6th game is Marvel Heroes Omega, a beat-em' up style action-RPG MMO which probably boasts the widest range of Marvel characters in any Marvel game. It certainly wasn't my intention to start two MMO's in one month, I'm not that insane but I was interested in this game and when the news broke of the upcoming server shutdown (Dec 31st, 2017) my hand was forced. Sometimes when server shutdowns are announced due to a general lack of interest those servers don't actually go down (Kill Strain, Batman Origins, LBP Karting) but this server is going down. For the purpose of this thread I'm not going to bother speculating about the particulars.

 

Gamin' on the edge (of server shutdown ?)! There's nothing quite like news of a server shutdown to motivate me to play a game. The added tension of a concrete deadline. The impending unavailability of that UR plat. Plus there's a real party going on right now in MHO ?. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play an MMO if you just had too much damn money for your own good sitting around? Well this is your chance to find out because the devs have lowered the costs of everything you used to buy with real money to 1 unit of an in game currency! You can grind xp at warp speed with all the paid free boosts you could ever need. Buy whatever characters you like friend, forget that free Daredevil, they're all free now. The fastest completion times before "the event" were under 2 weeks which was obviously with the assistance of paid boosts, boosts you can now get for free, so completion should be no issue. Unfortunately you might not be able to download it if you haven't yet already. Shortly after I started downloading it I read that it had been delisted. I checked the store (NA) and couldn't see it so I assumed that was the case but later heard that it was still available in Europe and a friend of mine in NA said he did start downloading after I did, so I don't know. If you're interested, check it out for yourself.

 

Regarding the game itself my initial opinions have matched closely with @Jaguargenie who reviewed it as his first game, which is to say it's addictive fun. How have you been enjoying the new cost structure Jaguar?

[voodoo_eyes]

1 hour ago, Cubone said:

14 days and 9 games left to go...

 

I am not picking up my Star Wars Battlefront II pre-order. Too much negative shit in the game, and while I do not care about the multiplayer, I definitely do care about a rushed and disappointing story campaign that's over in just four hours on the normal difficulty. There's "short but sweet" and there's "way too short". It really pains me how horrible the game section of Star Wars is going since EA got the monopoly.

 

Seeing as I'm not getting Battlefront II, I think I will spend this weekend playing a few shorter games, as well as trying to get more done in Assassin's Creed Origins as it shames me to say that I still haven't played through the game even though I love it.

 

There's also the "short and shit" option, which this seems to fall into (according to many that have gone through it). Shame, as I thought a story mode set in the Star Wars universe could be really cool. 

 

Funnily enough EA currently disabled microtransactions, which coincides with the lifting of the review embargo. Supposedly they now want to listen to players and fix things, which is again bs. They're doing it because they're taking a nose dive in the stock market.

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

1 minute ago, voodoo_eyes said:

There's also the "short and shit" option, which this seems to fall into (according to many that have gone through it). Shame, as I thought a story mode set in the Star Wars universe could be really cool. 

 

Yup. Short, rushed, not keeping focus on the main character, lack of an ending so they can keep people around for DLC, not enough of the amazing starship segments... The first reviews released this week praised the story but since then enough honest reviews have popped up for me to make up my mind.

 

1 minute ago, voodoo_eyes said:

Funnily enough EA currently disabled microtransactions, which coincides with the lifting of the review embargo. Supposedly they now want to listen to players and fix things, which is again bs. They're doing it because they're taking a nose dive in the stock market.

 

Yeah, only 'currently' as in the same statement they already admitted that it will be making a return in the future. Best bet: too many cancellations of pre-orders, so they're keeping the microtransactions out until either a few weeks from now or until after the holiday shopping rush.

[DamagingRob]

Battlefield Hardline- Day 1

 

Well, Battlefield Hardline is turning out to be a great purchase just for the campaign alone. I was enjoying it so much, that I binged almost the entire thing yesterday. Haven't even touched multiplayer. Lol. 

 

The story has been great, but has so many twists and turns, that it's hard to say a lot about it without spoiling the experience. But you play as a cop, and most of the time have an AI partner. Together, you put the bad guys away. I didn't really encounter any bugs with them not doing what they were supposed to. 

 

For enemy encounters, you can go in guns blazing, or take the sneaky approach. The latter is the better option, as enemies can gang up on and kill you fairly quickly. Or I'm just terrible at this game.. Not to mention, they can call reinforcements if you haven't disabled the alarm. Plus, certain enemies have warrants, and capturing them alive gives you more XP (and makes progress towards a trophy). 

 

You can throw shell casings to lure guards away from one another for stealthy knockouts/arrests. Arrests give you more points, but take longer to do. Similar to games like Far Cry and Hitman, a white bar shows when enemies can see you. If it fills up, you've been spotted. But flashing your badge just before, will make up to 3 (!) enemies stop in their tracks. I'll call this a beginner's stealth game, for that reason. Lol. 

 

During each episode, you can find pieces of evidence. Your watch buzzes when you're near one. These also give you XP, and add a bit more to the story. But more importantly, finding entire sets unlocks new weapons. I've already maxed out my level, so that's a good incentive to keep finding them (and trophies). 

 

So yeah, it's a fun game with a fun trophy list. Not sure what the hardest difficulty will be like, if I'm already dying on Officer.. But I'm sure I'll manage by being stealthy. You can chapter select to pick up anything you missed. I did this in Chapter 5 for a trophy. But you can't skip cutscenes, so you''ll have to sit through those again. 

 

Time played: 7-8 hours? Not really sure. 

Trophy progress: 27/63 for 29% and an A rank. 

[Jaguargenie]

9 hours ago, mking_63 said:

 

Regarding the game itself my initial opinions have matched closely with @Jaguargenie who reviewed it as his first game, which is to say it's addictive fun. How have you been enjoying the new cost structure Jaguar?

I'm of two minds on this one @mking_63. Part of me is upset that this happened and am saddened because 'my game that i enjoy will no longer work in a little under 6 weeks.' 

On the other hand, I'm psyched because everything is free, I don't have to do a ridiculous grind anymore, and I can enjoy everything the game has to offer without worrying about costs. 

It's just such a shame that this game is getting canned. I very much was enjoying. Oh well. I hope the holidays don't get too much in the way and I'm able to play. The plat seems achievable now...

[jasondm300]

Game 5, here we go

 

Mark McMorris Infinite Air

15/42 Trophies 24%

Rating C

3 hours

 

Uggg, this game was pretty bad.  It is a standard snowboarding game, but not as fun as any of the other ones I have played, such as SSX and 1080 snowboarding on the N64.  The controls remind me of Skate in that the tricks are pulled off by analog stick movements.  The controls seemed really off to me, in that I tried to pull off some tricks and they were either doing the tricks really slow, so I would bail, or would just blatantly not do the movement I wanted to do.  The point requirements seem really high, and with some practice, I'm sure I could get more proficient in it, but the problem is it just isn't fun.  The graphics are pretty boring to look at, and the voice-over and music selection are really bad.  I'm used to extreme sports having a great puck/rock mixture.  I won't be coming back to this game anytime soon.  I'm just glad that my next game I'm playing (Ratchet and Clank) is really good.

 

Updated list of my ranking

 

1. Root Letter

2. Wild Arms 3

3. Deadlight

4. Infamous: Second Son

5. Mark McMorris Infinite air

 

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by jasondm300
duplicate comment

[Melanogaster1987]

Game #5 of 10: Sleeping Dogs

 

A Grand Theft Auto style open world game set in Hong Kong. You play as Wei Shen, a police officer sent undercover to infiltrate and destroy the Sun On Yee Triads gang.

 

Because you are a police officer posing as a gangster, you have two different sets of missions to complete - gang missions and police missions. The gangster missions early in the game mostly centre on driving to hideouts and fighting rival thugs. This revolves around melee combat - you don't get guns until later on.  In melee combat, you can press square to punch, hold square for a heavier attack (and use combinations of taps and holds of square to execute combos), use circle to grapple, and triangle to counter enemy attacks. I'm finding that this doesn't work terribly well; sometimes, I can't grapple even though I'm pressing circle when right next to an enemy, and the fact that the same button is used for regular and heavy attacks means that it can be difficult to pull off the combo moves that I want. I would have preferred a separate button for heavy attacks, allowing combos to be executed by mixing up presses of two different buttons, God of War style. The last gang mission I played during my 3 days introduced gunplay, and it was a real highlight - an explosive firefight in a drugs warehouse. The shooting is largely cover-based, a la Uncharted, and it works quite well. It doesn't feel as fluid and polished as the Uncharted games, but that's to be expected, given that this is just one of many gameplay styles in Sleeping Dogs.

 

The other half of the mission tree consists of the police tasks, and I'm finding these to be a bit more varied and enjoyable. There's been a couple of the usual "just beat people up" missions, but there's also been a good deal of variety in this part of the game. One mission involved photographing a drug dealer in order to gather the evidence needed to bust him, whilst remaining out of sight - some simple stealth gameplay that was fun while it lasted; I'm hoping for a bit more of this later on. There was also a mission which consisted of breaking into your gangster buddies' HQ and planting bugs. This involved some short and snappy mini-games to carry out lock picking, setting the frequency of the bug's receiver and hacking security cameras. There's not much gameplay here (it only takes a few seconds for each of these tasks), but I thought it was implemented very well by actually giving you a small task to perform rather than just being a case of pressing a button to see an animation of the task being done. I particularly liked figuring out the code for the security cameras - if you like Mastermind (the code breaking board game), you'll enjoy this, as it's almost exactly the same thing. Finally, the last police mission I did introduced racing to the game, and it worked really well. Unlike many open-world games like this, the course is very clearly marked, and, best of all, the NPC cars not in the race are removed, which makes it all about your skill, rather than being about both driving prowess and being lucky enough to get a run where some random NPC doesn't suddenly change lanes into your path (I'm looking at you, GTA Vice City). 

 

Overall, the police quests have been the better half of the story missions so far in my opinion, but that could change if there are more good gunplay missions on the gangster side, like the last one I played. As well as the main campaign missions, the are also numerous side quests (or favors) you can do for NPCs scattered around the city. These can be any of the kinds of missions I've already discussed, and can be completed to earn extra money and experience points.

 

Sleeping Dogs also implements some RPG elements. There are three different types of experience points that you can earn - Triad XP for beating up and downing enemies in the gang missions, Police XP for beating the police missions without causing too much damage to property or people, and "Face" XP for doing favors for designated NPCs. These allow you to unlock new abilities and bonuses such as discounts from stores. You can spend money that you earn from missions at food stalls to earn health or damage boosts which last for a certain length of time, and at clothing stores, which offer more than just cosmetic changes - equip a full set of the correct gear to earn power ups such as small damage boosts in fistfights. It all adds depth to the experience without making things too complicated, as well as adding replayability, because you can can always retry previously-beaten missions to earn more XP by putting in a better performance.

 

However, it's the environment that steals the show in Sleeping Dogs. I've never been to Hong Kong in real life, but the version shown in-game looks and feels exactly what I imagine the real thing to be like - a vibrant, bustling city, packed with bright lights and street food stalls, especially at night - quite something to behold. There is lots of attention to detail shown; you're not just buying generic food for performance boosts, you're buying actual Chinese dishes such as pork buns and roast duck. The Cantonese language used in the dialogue and on street signs and posters also seems to be accurate, from what I've read. Also, you drive on the left, just as Hong Kong does in reality. And there's good reason to explore, rather than just sticking to the direct routes between locations. You can find many collectibles dotted around the landscape, from health shrines that boost your life bar, to boxes full of money, to jade animal statues (which, of course, represent the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac) that let you learn new melee attack combos. It's all well worth going out of the way for - given some of the difficulties that melee fighting caused me, you'll be glad of those upgrades.

 

However, this painstaking attention to environmental detail comes at a price. Some of the character models look barely better than PS2 standard, there are some clipping issues with both animations (Wei Shen constantly putting his hand through the peak of his cap) and walls (which resulted in me having to restart a mission once when somebody I needed to beat up got stuck in the wall), and the frame rate can feel a bit sluggish at times. I played the PS3 version - I hope the PS4 version did better here, as this is one game that would very much benefit from remastering.

 

My rating: Gold/Gold/Silver Some iffy melee combat and graphical issues stop this from earning a higher rating, but there's plenty to like here.

 

---
 
Trophies earned in this game: 11 (11) for 165 points [12% completion]
Total trophies earned in this event: 53 (2, 9, 42) for 1,080 points
 
Current completion rate: 57.50% [Down 2.33% since start of event]
 
Down 0.88% due to Pinball Arcade
Down 0.58% due to Thief
Down 0.09% due to Ratchet & Clank
Down 0.59% due to Broken Age
Down 0.67% due to Sleeping Dogs
Up 0.48% due to other games not part of this event

Edited November 17, 2017 by Melanogaster1987

[PerryToxteth]

4 hours ago, Ditto said:

Battlefield Hardline- Day 1

 

Well, Battlefield Hardline is turning out to be a great purchase just for the campaign alone. I was enjoying it so much, that I binged almost the entire thing yesterday. Haven't even touched multiplayer. Lol. 

 

The story has been great, but has so many twists and turns, that it's hard to say a lot about it without spoiling the experience. But you play as a cop, and most of the time have an AI partner. Together, you put the bad guys away. I didn't really encounter any bugs with them not doing what they were supposed to. 

 

Voodoo and Rob,

 

This game really intrigues me after your reviews and the fun I'm having with Battlefield 1. That one MP trophy sounds like a real bitch, will you let me know if either of you try for it and see how doable it is? Is there any way you can buy the weapons via microtransaction to avoid a 30+ MP slog? 

1 hour ago, Melanogaster1987 said:

Game #5 of 10: Sleeping Dogs

 

A Grand Theft Auto style open world game set in Hong Kong. You play as Wei Shen, a police officer sent undercover to infiltrate and destroy the Sun On Yee Triads gang.

 

Because you are a police officer posing as a gangster, you have two different sets of missions to complete - gang missions and police missions. The gangster missions early in the game mostly centre on driving to hideouts and fighting rival thugs. This revolves around melee combat - you don't get guns until later on.  In melee combat, you can press square to punch, hold square for a heavier attack (and use combinations of taps and holds of square to execute combos), use circle to grapple, and triangle to counter enemy attacks. I'm finding that this doesn't work terribly well; sometimes, I can't grapple even though I'm pressing circle when right next to an enemy, and the fact that the same button is used for regular and heavy attacks means that it can be difficult to pull off the combo moves that I want. I would have preferred a separate button for heavy attacks, allowing combos to be executed by mixing up presses of two different buttons, God of War style. The last gang mission I played during my 3 days introduced gunplay, and it was a real highlight - an explosive firefight in a drugs warehouse. The shooting is largely cover-based, a la Uncharted, and it works quite well. It doesn't feel as fluid and polished as the Uncharted games, but that's to be expected, given that this is just one of many gameplay styles in Sleeping Dogs.

 

So I've been on the fence about this one for awhile. Somebody played this game a few KYCs ago. love the sandbox idea of it in Hong Kong but I haven't pulled the trigger bc of the combo fighting. Is it better or worse than the Batman games? I HATED the combat combo fighting in Arkham Asylum and does Sleeping Dogs do it better than that game? Or are combos a key fighting aspect, because if they are, I will continue to steer clear. Thanks.

[Jaguargenie]

24 minutes ago, PerryToxteth said:

 

So I've been on the fence about this one for awhile. Somebody played this game a few KYCs ago. love the sandbox idea of it in Hong Kong but I haven't pulled the trigger bc of the combo fighting. Is it better or worse than the Batman games? I HATED the combat combo fighting in Arkham Asylum and does Sleeping Dogs do it better than that game? Or are combos a key fighting aspect, because if they are, I will continue to steer clear. Thanks.

I have to agree w @Melanogaster1987 that there is a lot to love. I played this on my ps3 years ago so the gripes don't stand out in my memory. What I do remember is loving the open world and having so much fun I 100%'d it. 

 

As far as the combat, Wei is just a cop. Maybe a cop really good at fighting but still a cop. He's not Batman so if the acrobatic fighting of the Arkham games bothered you, you won't find it here. It's smaller groups, and the environment plays a big part in the fighting. See a fish tank? You can probably put someone through it. Stuff like that. So it's a slower and more deliberate version of the same system. Make sense?

[voodoo_eyes]

28 minutes ago, PerryToxteth said:

 

Voodoo and Rob,

 

This game really intrigues me after your reviews and the fun I'm having with Battlefield 1. That one MP trophy sounds like a real bitch, will you let me know if either of you try for it and see how doable it is? Is there any way you can buy the weapons via microtransaction to avoid a 30+ MP slog? 

 

So I've been on the fence about this one for awhile. Somebody played this game a few KYCs ago. love the sandbox idea of it in Hong Kong but I haven't pulled the trigger bc of the combo fighting. Is it better or worse than the Batman games? I HATED the combat combo fighting in Arkham Asylum and does Sleeping Dogs do it better than that game? Or are combos a key fighting aspect, because if they are, I will continue to steer clear. Thanks.

 

Regarding Hardline. I'll put it bluntly (for the sake of the final impressions I'm still gonna write). The campaign was fun (about 7h long), MP was not. I played about 30 minutes and had enough, but then again I rarely enjoy the MP of "military-shooters".

 

When it comes to those MP weapons, you can't buy neither of them. However, the shotgun can be found on one of the maps form the Betrayal DLC. The Mac.10 is grind only. Unless you know someone "willing", who has those weapons unlocked, you can technically boost those kills in a fairly short time.

 

Personally I can't be arsed to do the long route, so I'll content myself with what I fet out of the campaign.

 

 

Now for Sleeping Dogs, the combat feels completely different from the Arkham games imo, I'd rather compare it to the Yakuza games if that serves as reference at all. It's definitely one of the best sandbox games I've played so far. It's different enough to be worth a play I find.

[DamagingRob]

@PerryToxteth I'd like to get the Plat at least. But yeah, I think boosting is a must if you don't want it to take that long. If you find someone with the weapon in multiplayer, it's possible to pick it up and earn kills that way.

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6 - Final Impressions

 

 

Well, it looks like I miscalculated my days with Yonder and ended up starting Hardline a day early. Since I finished the campaign in Hardline already I might pick up the previous game for a little bit before swapping games on the 19th.

 

Speaking of the campaign, it was actually quite the original and fun experience. Although I could really have done without the driving bits, especially the one with Paris Hilton ( @Scyther will know who I'm referring to). There isn't anything else that I have to add to my previous post about this game when it comes to gameplay. The game could've have used a little bit more polish though, as there are still a few bugs around.

 

I've put roughly 30 minutes into the Multiplayer, which I disliked completely. Spawn camping is still a thing, which is inexcusable even though you can occasionally spawn on a team mate who's somewhere else on the map. FUrhtermore I felt that something was off with the balancing in some aspects. Fired three sniper shots at someone, who didn't end up dying (one of them was a headshot)  On the other hand I got killed by just one sniper shot . For some reason the game also wouldn't allow me to cash in a few of the vouchers I got from the "loot bags". So yeah, the MP wasn't a good experience, just as I had expected.

 

Needless to say that I won't be getting any of the DLC either.

 

 

Time played: about 8h in total

Trophies earned: 34/63

Edited November 18, 2017 by voodoo_eyes

[DamagingRob]

15 hours ago, voodoo_eyes said:

Well, it looks like I miscalculated my days with Yonder and ended up starting Hardline a day early. Since I finished the campaign in Hardline already I might pick up the previous game for a little bit before swapping games on the 19th.

Lol. I was wondering if we were really that far apart in time, when you posted your first review. Also, if that's the one I'm thinking of, I failed numerous times.. Either by getting my car stuck on something and getting shot to death, or driving it into the river. :/ 

[voodoo_eyes]

15 minutes ago, Scyther said:

Lol. I was wondering if we were really that far apart in time, when you posted your first review. Also, if that's the one I'm thinking of, I failed numerous times.. Either by getting my car stuck on something and getting shot to death, or driving it into the river. :/ 

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why I how I came to the conclusion that I already had been working on Yonder for 3 days.

 

I think the driving bit you mean is a few episodes earlier. I'm referring to episode 8 where you're driving through the desert, listening to the blond and daft one for several minutes.

 

I actually started to play on Hardline difficulty and it's incredibly easy so far. Episodes 6-8 were a bit of a pain, but nothing compared to Veteran mode in any COD game.

[DamagingRob]

45 minutes ago, voodoo_eyes said:

Yeah, I'm not sure why I how I came to the conclusion that I already had been working on Yonder for 3 days.

 

I think the driving bit you mean is a few episodes earlier. I'm referring to episode 8 where you're driving through the desert, listening to the blond and daft one for several minutes.

 

I actually started to play on Hardline difficulty and it's incredibly easy so far. Episodes 6-8 were a bit of a pain, but nothing compared to Veteran mode in any COD game.

Lol. Okay. I thought you meant an annoying driving section, not an annoying conversation. I liked the entire cast, so that part didn't really bother me.

 

Well, that's good to know. I figured it probably wouldn't be, if I just played the way I did the first time (avoiding firefights and taking enemies out quietly). I wasn't expecting another Killzone 2 experience, at least. ^^' I'll probably just play some more multiplayer today, if anything. I have all the DLC, so I just need to unlock the Mac-10 and I should be good. 

[PerryToxteth]

19 hours ago, voodoo_eyes said:

 

Regarding Hardline. I'll put it bluntly (for the sake of the final impressions I'm still gonna write). The campaign was fun (about 7h long), MP was not. I played about 30 minutes and had enough, but then again I rarely enjoy the MP of "military-shooters".

 

When it comes to those MP weapons, you can't buy neither of them. However, the shotgun can be found on one of the maps form the Betrayal DLC. The Mac.10 is grind only. Unless you know someone "willing", who has those weapons unlocked, you can technically boost those kills in a fairly short time.

 

Personally I can't be arsed to do the long route, so I'll content myself with what I fet out of the campaign.

 

 

Now for Sleeping Dogs, the combat feels completely different from the Arkham games imo, I'd rather compare it to the Yakuza games if that serves as reference at all. It's definitely one of the best sandbox games I've played so far. It's different enough to be worth a play I find.

 

Alright! Sleeping Dogs and Root Letter are already on my Play List for KYCVI! Woo-hoo!

 

Thanks for your take on Hardline. If the single player is that good, I might just pick it up, knowing full well I won't be getting the platinum.

19 hours ago, Jaguargenie said:

I have to agree w @Melanogaster1987 that there is a lot to love. I played this on my ps3 years ago so the gripes don't stand out in my memory. What I do remember is loving the open world and having so much fun I 100%'d it. 

 

As far as the combat, Wei is just a cop. Maybe a cop really good at fighting but still a cop. He's not Batman so if the acrobatic fighting of the Arkham games bothered you, you won't find it here. It's smaller groups, and the environment plays a big part in the fighting. See a fish tank? You can probably put someone through it. Stuff like that. So it's a slower and more deliberate version of the same system. Make sense?

 

Thanks for the advice. My biggest problem in Batman was the Combat rooms (or whatever they were called). I just could not string together a combo past 20-25 moves. As long as I don't need to keep a 50-move combo going in SD, then I should be good.

[Myu]

Day 18 - Game 3

Criminal Girls 2 Party Favors

 

 

 

Time played : 5 hours

Completion rate : 86.07% (-1.65% since the beginning of the event, thank you new FFXV DLC pack!)

 

 

I apologize for being quite silent for the past few days. Work is kinda overwhelming right now and I can barely find time to do the things an adult is expected to do (grocery shopping, cooking, paying the bills, you know). I started this game on Friday and I've tried to play as much as I could, that is to say, about 5 hours. I managed to clear the Tutorial and the 1^st dungeon. I hope it will be enough to create a review as close as possible to what the game has to offer.

 

Criminal Girls 2 : Party Favors is a dungeon crawler and the sequel to Criminal Girls : Invite Only.

You are, again, an Instructor in charge of leading a group of 7 girls to Redemption by climbing the Spire, a place between Earth and Hell. Those girls are Delinquents, meaning that they died without commiting a crime but were very close to. (if I understood correctly). While climbing the Spire, you have to get to know these girls, discover what put them in this situation and try to help them overcome their problems. If you happen to fail, they will get sent to Hell.

 

Oh, and of course, you have amnesia ! (because why not? seems to be very popular these days!)

 

The thing is, there is a breach in the security system and Convicts (the real baddies!) are invading the Spire. You get thrown in the Depths of Hell and you now have to find a way to go back.

I don't remember if it was the same in the 1^st game but the girls are arguing and bickering non stop right now and it becomes kinda annoying after a while. The reason ? Your team was supposed to be composed of 6 girls only and a Convict has managed to infiltratre your group. This results in endless tensions in the group. « Maybe it's you ! », « Well, maybe it's you ! », « Maybe it's her ! », « Maybe it's that butterfly ! » « Maybe it's that rock ! »...

 

The gameplay is pretty similar to the first game. You can have up to 4 girls in your active team and you have to « motivate » them to develop new skills. « Motivation » is gained through mini-games such as spanking and using electric shocks and each time their motivation level goes up, you can choose between two skills, putting the girls into the S or M category.

These categories impact the bonuses the girls can get (ATK bonus for S girls and DEF bonus for M girls for example) and the way they react when you scold or praise them when they are fighting.

 

 

Each girl also has her own specificities, some will specialize in healing skills, others will specialize in taunting and guarding, others in magic attacks, etc.

In battle, each girl gives you one possibility on how to spend your turn. And you have to choose from what they're telling you, meaning that if all four girls want to use skills, you will have no choice but to indulge one of those, even if you were planning on saving your precious MPs for boss fights. The AI is well done and the girls act according to the situation. If the enemy is preparing a big attack, the Paladin girl will ask to guard. If one of your girls gets a lot of damage, the Healer will ask to heal. It can still be frustrating sometimes, especially when you really want the fire attack and the Mage girl asks for something else. 

 

 

I used to take screenshots from the first game because the lines were pretty funny. As of now, I haven't seen something as funny but I'm only at the beginning of the game.

 

I must admit that the animations are pretty good, way better than the first game.

Despite what I said about the girls arguing all the time, I really like Criminal Girls 2 and I already know that I'll enjoy getting the plat.

 

Also, look at those pretty trophy pics !

[Kevvik]

On November 15, 2017 at 9:50 PM, Kevvik said:

Next Game: For a change, I know what it is. Needing to kill time waiting for my son, I started Ys Origin on the Vita. More to follow tomorrow though I don't know how much gameplay I'll get. 7 hours of teaching and my god daughter coming over in the evening. Just finished the first big boss and enjoying it a lot. Think this already was done by someone earlier (too lazy to look back right now) so we'll see how we compare but I'm liking it. Similar feel to other Ys games but no Adol (usual series main character). 

 

Wow, I've got to stop planning things. No gaming on the 16th, about an hour late yesterday but I got some time in today. So without further ado...

 

Game #6: Ys Origin

 

Day 3 Impressions

 

Time played: 6 hrs

 

Ys Origin is meant as an opening story for the long running Ys series, normally starring Adol a redhead who fights monsters and saves the day.  In this incarnation, no Adol (though apparently he can be unlocked).  You choose either Yunica, a knight, or Hugo, a Mage. I chose Yunica to start with, an apprentice knight who wheedles her way into a rescue party trying to find the two goddesses of Ys who disappeared from the floating city.  This is where everyone lives now because things used to be happy, then a bunch of demons showed up, started killing people and the goddesses ripped a big chunk out and made it float where the demons couldn't get them. Then the demons started to build a tower to try to get to the city. Yunica's dad went out to fight and didn't come back.

 

While descending to the ground, the party gets attacked and separated. Yunica talks to a tree, gets sent to the tower and starts killing monsters while finding out their is a plot of other bad guys/girls looking to kidnap the goddesses as well. Cue monster and boss fights in action packed combat.  You can find elements to add to your weapon since Yunica can't do magic. You have a burst meter that builds up that strengthens you when activated, a few special weapon attacks based on the elements and some gear which helps out for things like breathing underwater.

 

The action is real-time, smooth and fun. Bosses have patterns you have to figure out. Nothing earth shatteringly new here but what's here is done really well. It looks and sounds great and I'm enjoying it a lot. Apparently, you need like 7 playthroughs using the two main characters and a third on multiple difficulties so this is going to take a while.  Here's hoping it doesn't get stale but I'm not expecting it to. Looking forward to see how the other characters feel when playing them.

 

Trophies earned: 4/31, 5% for D rank

Score so far: 8/10

Completion Rate: 79.77% (-1.71% during event)

 

Next game:  I'm not even going to try to predict this (out of 4 games). We'll see what tomorrow brings.  This has been a pretty good event so far for choosing good games, only 1 crappy one so far and several really good ones. Hope that trend continues.