Post your newest 100%

[Luckman]

Bejeweled 3

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

This is one of the best puzzle games. I use to play this on the PC all the time. It was really fun so I pick this up for nostalgic reasons. Getting the all nonelite badges to gold wasn't too bad, it was just luck-dependent to get the highest score and the fastest times to 100%. The Gambler Badge took me a while because you need to get 60 Flushes in Poker. To get Flushes you need to match 5 of the same color gems in a row. After I got that it was all easy from there. Overall, Once you start playing this game you won't stop.

 

[MidnightDragon]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:03 PM, Luckman said:

Bejeweled 3

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

This is one of the best puzzle games. I use to play this on the PC all the time. It was really fun so I pick this up for nostalgic reasons. Getting the all nonelite badges to gold wasn't too bad, it was just luck-dependent to get the highest score and the fastest times to 100%. The Gambler Badge took me a while because you need to get 60 Flushes in Poker. To get Flushes you need to match 5 of the same color gems in a row. After I got that it was all easy from there. Overall, Once you start playing this game you won't stop.

 

Nice work! Having trouble getting the Diamond Mine gold badges. Most of the ones I don't have are cumulative. Any tips?

[Luckman]

7 hours ago, MidnightDragon said:

Nice work! Having trouble getting the Diamond Mine gold badges. Most of the ones I don't have are cumulative. Any tips?

You need to keep making flame gems, star gems, and hypercubes every time you get the chance and trigger the star gem at the very bottom so it would clear the whole row to get more time. If you trigger two hypercubes together it will clear everything and it will give you a 90 second bonus time instead of 30 seconds and most importantly is to be fast. Hope this helps ?

 

 

[Phoenixofadranon]

good topic. i think that a game with platinum but no dlc done isn't worth it. there are still trophies to get and  a platinum without 100% is wasted. btw mine is Cod Infinite Warfare, speaking about games with dlcs. 

[da-Noob123]

It took several months but at long last I have 100% Hitman 2. I do need to finish the second list for it but the 125 trophies for the main list is complete. ?

 

I really enjoyed this game and it is incredibly replayable. I even went for all of the Silent Assassin, Suit Only and  Master Sniper Master challenges (following MrFreeze's excellent guides on YT) because I couldn't get enough of Hitman. I'm really sad I missed out on the Elusive Targets but even without them the game is bursting with content. I do have Hitman 3 in the backlog so I will get to that next year probably and autopop a bunch of trophies when I synch my game completion from 2.

[Elvick_]

Royal Defense 

 

I have a like/hate relationship with these and it stems from the publisher (I assume it’s their call) making it fucking annoying to 100% without spending crystals a certain way. I don’t think it’s even possible to do one of these maps 3 star without unlocking the tower spaces on the level for it. That this is even a thing at all is so annoying, but no worries you can buy crystals in case you’re a fool who thinks tower upgrades are more interesting/fun to do! Sucker! And I’ve got two more of these in my library  
 

otherwise they’d be decent tower defense games, nice for a little side venture. Other than the awful grind for 30k enemy kills for no reason. Despite many a failings on a few maps, and those heroic ones (before buying the spaces with crystals) I wasn’t even close.

 

i did discover that “tracking” thing on PS5 though, that’s interesting. Shame it can’t actually track trophy progress. But it’s nice for brain dead trophies to have it on screen for when you unlock it, in case you miss it. I’ve done that many times before and wasted a lot of farming/grinding time not realizing I was done. No more! (on PS5 at least). 
 

(Idk why the alignment options don’t appear in the editor, the mild annoyance)

Edited December 27, 2021 by Elvick_

[Quink666]

 

Game:

 

LEGO DC Super-Villains EU

 

Trophy:
Well played, well planned 31.38%

 

 

Got the season pass so i could 100% the game. Did not particularly enjoy my time with the game, and i'm really happy it is now over. Faaaaaaaaaar to many collectibles imho. If you count evreything you collect in the side quests there are probably close to 750 collectibles. Thankfully none were especially hard to get.

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Quink666

[breakdance1989]

Need for Speed: Payback (with 100% of the Speedcross DLC):

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by breakdance1989

[Mizz]

finished up welcome park very quick and easy free game for vita

[Matrim_Drasgen]

My latest 100% game is also my 75th Platinum and 4000th trophy! It is Star Wars: Republic Commando and I am happy to have it done. Enjoy the Platinum image below.

 

[Elvick_]

The Keeper of 4 Elements

 

if not for constant crashing (and corrupted saves as a result) and the pointless grinds trophies od 8 hour playtime, 30k kills, 2.5k kills with the monk, 1.5k built towers….. it would’ve been okay, if poorly balanced. Easy and hard felt legitimately the same to me. 
 

I don’t know why devs do those kinds of grindy trophies. Your content doesn’t support it, so don’t. It just sours the experience. I could overlook the bad balancing. Or the magic being trash mostly until it works for the field. 3 of the 4 do anyway, the fireball sucks; the problem is the cursor moves soooo sloooow and the fireball falls so slowly too. The others at least get upgraded to effect the whole field or travel from the default position (base) to the end of one of the paths.

 

glad that’s over, do not recommend. 

[DrBloodmoney]

? 619

 

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

 

It's interesting looking at the legacy the original Psychonauts has, now that there are three games in the franchise, particularly when looking at the ways in which the two sequels sprout from that original game.
In terms of pure narrative, the franchise is following a very direct 1-2-3 line, with each game directly following the previous in series, though mechanically, it is more akin to both subsequent games stemming directly from the first, on diametrically opposing paths - each taking one half of the original game's duel-genre, and running with it. 

 

Psychonauts and the Rhombus of Ruin, narratively, could not be more direct a sequel if it tried. Despite releasing a full 12 years after Psychonauts launched, the game picks up literal minutes after the close of the original game - with Raz in the Psychonauts jet, along with Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello, Coach Oleander and Raz's... girlfriend?... Lili Zanotto, heading off to investigate and save the head of the Psychonauts (and Lili's father,) Truman Zanotto, who has been kidnapped.
When the jet arrives over the ocean, above a mysterious underwater gulch and laboratory in the even more mysterious region known as the Rhombus of Ruin, Raz unravels a short mystery involving an old (well, a few days old, according to the narrative time-line!) adversary, and sets about rescuing Truman Zanotto... as well as the other members of the Psychonauts, who's minds are quickly ensnared and beguiled by the psychic forces of the Rhombus of Ruin!

 

In terms of mechanics, there is a distinct difference here - in the sense that while Psychonauts was a mashup between 3D Platformer and Adventure game, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a VR exclusive, and dispenses entirely with the platforming elements, adopting a pure Adventure game posture.
The game is played in first-person this time, with the player once again controlling Raz, but this time, his clairvoyance power is the key feature. The game essentially works as a series of vignettes, in which Raz is either voluntarily or involuntarily immobilised, and can solve his way through the situations by hopping from one mind to another among the living creatures in each area, interacting with different elements of the environment via his various powers.

 

These vignettes are relatively short - as is the game, in fact, a full, first-time run clocking in at around the 3-4 hour mark - however, they are great to see, and not at all lacking in the imaginative design work and writing who's high bar was set by the original Psychonauts. It is a testament to the strength of the adventure game credentials of the original game that, despite eschewing the 'primary' genre of 3D platforming, the game never feels lacking, nor does it feel tonally or narratively separate from the original game. Indeed, while many 'VR Experiences' sprung from larger franchises (Iron Man, Batman, Final Fantasy XV etc)  feel, (and generally are,) unimportant, superfluous or severely tangential side-story content, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is anything but. This is a required and important narrative beat between Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2 - a fact confirmed by the inclusion of much of its narrative in the introduction cutscenes of Psychonauts 2, as catch-up for players who missed Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, or were unable to secure a VR headset to play it.

 

Here, the writing remains great, and while there are clear limitations that have been contended with in terms of what is possible (and acceptable) within a VR game, Double Fine are clearly fully cognisant of them, (no doubt owning to their previous experience with making the ONLY good, functional Kinect game - Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster!) They have been smart enough to make use of some of the aspects that VR can excel at more than any other platform - using player height, scale, position and ability to peer around corners and into objects - both cleverly, and sparingly - without over-doing it. 
It feels like each one of the 7 or so vignettes has a specific hook, and a specific primary mechanic and VR-specific element it plays with, but each is also filled with little easter-eggs and silly things to do. Indeed, a lot of the funniest moments of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin come not from the required narrative beats, but from the goofy uses of Raz's powers within each location -  goofing around and trying random things to see what happens is an element that games like Job Simulator, Accounting+, VR VR Simulator and Vacation Simulator all proved are one of the biggest draws of the platform, and Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin won't be left out!

 

The VR works really well - because the movement is fixed-point, there were no issues of motion sickness, and the environments are filled with artistic flourishes and things to catch the players attention. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is also the first glimpse any player had of the signature artistic style of Psychonauts using more modern, higher-fidelity graphics, and works - immediately - to prove the validity and charm of that art-style, divorced from it's original technical limitations.

 

Audio is good once again - there is good use of foley, the music is minimal, but includes an excellent, delightfully silly James-Bond-style intro theme-song and abstracted intro movie that sets the tone of the game perfectly, and voice work remains great - I'm not sure if every character retains the same voice actor as the original game, but if anyone did change, there is no evidence of it (or of the 12 year gap) whatsoever.

 

Overall, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is, of course, a much shorter game than both its predecessor and its descendent, however, this is par for the course with VR games, (indeed, 3-4 hours is, I think, the perfect length for a game requiring a more convoluted set-up to play.) While the scope is more limited, no one told the writing, the narrative, the art design or the sense of fun and wonder. The game continues the narrative well, feeling like it really does take place mere minutes after the original game, but tonally is perfect, and looks just great. 

The game is a VR beat in a non-VR song, yet is an integral part of the overall melody - a statement that few VR games can boast.

Anyone with access to a VR set-up would be missing out if they jumped straight from Psychonauts to Psychonauts 2, without making the short stop-over in the Rhombus of Ruin!

 

(For original post and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

[baby_bobbie]

Spider-Man Remastered!

[DrBloodmoney]

 620

 

 

 

You Are Being Followed

 

An interesting product, You Are Being Followed is not actually a paid-for game, but rather, a student project created by Abertay University graduate games studio Uncommon Chocolate, having started life as a project for the "Professional Masters in Games Development" degree course, with support from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PlayStationFirst academic programme.

 

It is a relatively simple game, in which the player takes the role of Emma - a blind woman who suffers from extreme feelings of paranoia and anxiety, going for a walk in the city she has returned to after an absence, accompanied by her (now quite old) guide dog, Sam.

 

The game works on a lot of similar principles as previously ranked indie-game-with-a-blind-protagonist Beyond Eyes, in the sense that the world is indistinct at a distance, and invisible to the player, except where sounds indicate the surroundings. 
Unlike Beyond Eyes, however, the protagonist here is a grown woman, rather than an innocent young girl. There is no element of confusion to add to the mechanics - when Emma hears something, she knows what it is, and so the element of the fantastical melting into the pedestrian is gone, and - also unlike Beyond Eyes - Emma has Sam, her faithful dog, who acts as both protector and beacon in the dark, indicating the rough direction required to progress through the short narrative.

 

Mechanically, the game functions as a Walking Sim - there is no interaction with the world beyond simply observing it and moving through it, and is distinctly short - a 'speed-run' through the game clocking in at around 12-15 minutes, and even an exhaustive exploration lasting little more than an hour or so, however, that exhaustive playthrough does have some good elements that are worth seeing. I'd hesitate to refer to You Are Being Followed as a 'horror' game, but there are some creepy elements, and these are often the most interesting and compelling parts. 

 

The game is designed around making manifest the anxieties and fears of its paranoid protagonist, and when poking and prodding at the world, these elements often really work, though interestingly, they do tend to fail if the player simply moves from A to B to C without exploring. A huge number of the creepy elements are only encountered if the player takes the counter-intuitive step of trying to back the way they came. That makes sense narratively of course - if Emma remains headstrong and steady, her fears cannot catch up to her, and if she waivers or falters, they manifest... (the game is, after all, called 'You Are Being Followed', not 'Look out Ahead of You'!)... but from a pure 'gamer' point of view, that doesn't always work. We, as gamers, are programmed to push forward in games. We don't tend to want to turn around and retrace our steps unless forced to! I pondered this, and consider that this might be an instance where a few collectibles might actually help the game function - in the sense that if the player is trying to make sure they have found everything in an area, they may be more inclined to move backwards more often, giving the game a chance to show off it's strongest elements in a more organic way.

 

The game is graphically very simple - the auditory world Emma occupies is represented as little more than vector graphic lines - a sort of 3D, realistic Vib-Ribbon if you will, however, this is effective in context - the world tends to jitter and move as different sounds highlight different parts, and the effect works - it gives the city an unnerving and off-kilter feel.

 

Audio-wise, the game is both good and not-so-good. There is little score to speak of aside from ominous tones, and these work, even if they aren't terribly interesting.The voice work is - it must be said - a little spotty, with characters sounding a bit unnatural - however, sound design is very good, and effective use is made of contextual and spacial sounds to increase anxiety. The audio during moments of high-tension and fear, wherein Emma hears whispery voices that will overwhelm her with negative or fearful and paranoid goading is very effective, and genuinely unsettling. 

This brings us to input - and here, there is an issue... or at least, there was for me.

I am not particularly well versed in VR - PSVR is the only headset I have tried, and my exposure to games is fairly limited. For the most part, games I have played and enjoyed are either of the static variety (where the player is stationary while looking around,) or 'point-to-point', (where the player turns in set angular intervals, and hops from one point to another to traverse distance.)
You Are Being Followed is the first game I have played in VR where there is full, analogue movement via a controller, of the variety found in a standard first-person game, but the headset is free to move at the same time. 
To say this motion made me feel queasy would be a massive understatement!

I began to feel a little sick while playing for the limited time required to S-Rank the game, however, when I finished, and took the headset off, the 'land-sickness' I felt was extreme, and lasted a long time. I mean a LONG time. 3 days later, MsBloodmoney went to the pharmacy and picked up some seasickness pills, which helped, but I was still feeling vaguely nauseous almost a full week later.

 

Now - I am perfectly willing to accept that I am (clearly) susceptible to 'VR sickness'. Possibly more susceptible than most. As a result, I do not want to necessarily hold this against the game too much - however, I do think it is notable that this is the only game to make me feel this way... and also the only game to use this kind of analogue movement. There is - clearly - a reason most games opt for some alternative to this type of motion, and I would wager this is the reason. While some people may find this perfectly fine, and feel no ill effects, it certainly seems that if anything is going to bring on the motion sickness, it is this. As a result, this game really does have to come with a serious caveat - if you are ever going to get motion sick, this is probably the game to do it!

 

Overall, You Are Being Followed is a small game of limited scope, but it is one that has a strong central hook, and manages to work within that hook pretty well. Certainly it is not likely to hold a players attention for terribly long, however, there is merit in seeing the work, and fun (and some scares) to be had in the journey with Emma and Sam. It is also free, which counts for something - there is really no reason not to give it a try if you have a VR headset... but fair warning - it might well be the game to test your boundaries vis-a-vis motion sickness!

 

(For original post and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

 

[DrBloodmoney]

 631

 

 

 

Statik

 

Statik: Institute of Retention (to give the game its Sunday name) is a PSVR exclusive Puzzle box game from Tarsier Studios - creators of the awesome Little Nightmares games - in which the player is presented with a series of elaborate looking 3D puzzle-box contraptions they have to solve, in order to move onto the next one. No instructions are given, and little help is given via UI, and so tinkering with the contraptions and investigating them is the key to solving them, with the player having to experiment, see what different inputs do, and establish how to complete each one...
...wait... 
...haven't we done this before?

 

Yes, I understand - you may be feeling a little déjà vu right now - and with good reason!

Eagle-eyed readers of this thread might notice that I have shuffled the order of these write-ups around a little, letting Statik jump the queue a little, in order to review back-to-back with Access Denied. There is a reason for this - two reasons actually.

 

Firstly, the entire reason I even played Access Denied. It was as a result of Statik. 
Not to get too far into the weeds of my personal proclivities here, but I became aware of Statik primarily when the "Bingo Bonanza" Community Event required me to seek out some VR games to play. I realised Statik seemed a perfect fit for me, and bought it immediately. However, it was still 2021, and the event I bought it for hadn't started, but I now had a hunger for some puzzle boxes! I bought Access Denied to tide me over, and get the Puzzle-Box monkey off my back in the mean time.

 

Secondly, because I was right. Access Denied is similar to Statik in terms of genre. 
Both games are un-guided puzzle-box solving games, both feature unknown engineering / laboratory settings and unseen / unknown reasons for the game being played. Luckily though, that is where the similarities end. In every area in which Access Denied is acceptable, Statik excels, and in every area in which Access Denied is lacking, Statikexcels even further!

 

Let's just get this statement out of the way right now: Statik represents, as far as I am concerned, both a best-in-class entry in the Puzzle-Box genre (certainly as far as Playstation consoles are concerned, but even beyond that,) and the best use of PSVR I have so far encountered, in my (admittedly limited) foray into the platform. 
Statik is brilliant.

 

The set-up of the game is fairly simple and ambiguous. Sitting in a nondescript, white-walled laboratory, strapped to a chair in front of a nondescript, infinitely patient and condescendingly soft-spoken scientist (whose face is always curiously blurred no matter what angle you look from, as if to protect his identity in news-reel footage,) the player finds that their hands are trapped within a strange box-device. The emotionless scientist explains just enough for them to know they need to solve the box for some unknown reason, but little else... then proceeds to sit next to you, breathing softly, sipping his coffee, and occasionally jotting down notes (presumably about you) or passing occasional, condescending comments about the actions you attempt, with cold, clinical objectivity. His demeanour is something between a stern parent and an eerily passive kidnapper - as if he graduated summa cum laude from the GladOS School of Etiquette and Engineering.

 

The use of VR in the game is remarkably well done. Because the game uses the Duel-shock controller, rather than the move controllers, Tarsier is able to so something really clever with the simulation - the motions and position necessitated by the use of the controller maps perfectly to the configuration in which the player's avatar's hands are trapped within the box. That means that, immediately, the simulation feels accurate - it is completely believable that the players hands are trapped inside the box, and able to press all the buttons within it, as the controller serves as a perfect 1-to-1 with the box. Tilt the controllers to the side, and the box tilts, so they can see the sides. press any button, and the corresponding box action moves and functions with eerie synchronicity. That might feel like a strange accolade - "The buttons do a thing on the screen!" - given that all games do that, but because the box actions are generally mechanical, and not electronic, this really does have a strangely tactile sensation to it. Being able to press a button, and watch a small servo motor turn, unscrewing a piston and watching the mechanisms work, while being able to tilt the box and peer right inside the revealed internals is mesmerising and fascinating, and allows the player to lose all concept of reality... slipping into the game in a way even VR often fails to effectively do. 

The fact that the laboratory rooms change each level - and indeed, come to contain solutions in the environmental details (both for the puzzle being conducted, and - spoiler - for really sneaky, smart "alternative" solutions to other level's puzzles, the completion of which leads to a secret ending - mean that each new puzzle is not only satisfying in a tactile sense, but in an exploratory one too. Because so little context is given about the facility, but because it is so interesting in its design and the experiments so mysterious, I found myself frequently scouring the environments for clues not only to the solutions, but to the environmental storytelling.

 

Each puzzle box is unique and uses a variety of different, unique hooks, in a way that never gets boring or trite, and really showcase exactly what can be done within the Puzzle Box genre, if properly applied. Indeed, there are only 9 main puzzles in the game, (as opposed to 30-odd in Access Denied,) however, because each is so wildly interesting and so carefully and thoughtfully designed, the game feels much longer, much better and much more interesting than Access Denied ever did.

 

The visuals are wonderful in the game. It is a simple aesthetic, which makes sense for the narrative and the genre - think Portal or Q.U.B.E or The Turing Test - but these environments are rendered really nicely. It lets contextual clues stand out a little, while never feeling like a lantern is being shone on them - and actually, the sterile and cold, clinical feel of the laboratory showcase just how well the VR elements are implemented. Because the environment is one of right angles and straight lines, any sag or yaw of the environment would be very obvious. Here, the surroundings remain perfectly rigid, further letting the player completely buy into their surroundings, and letting the real world melt away into this bizarre new landscape.

 

Audio is the game is truly fantastic. There is very little in the way of music - unlike Access Denied - which tries to add a feeling of tension by putting oddly ill-fitting 'tense' music over the non-tense puzzle solving - Statik instead adds considerably more tension by simply being silent, with only the occasional comments, sighs, grunts, coughs, coffee-sips or scribbling sounds of the mysterious scientist to accompany the player. It is a hard thing to properly articulate, but there is something fascinating about just how unnerving it feels to be sitting in silence, desperately struggling to solve a puzzle for unknown reasons, as a person sits 3 feet away from you, observing everything you do. Sound plays into this a great deal - while creepy scientist is never particularly noisy, there is just enough ambient shuffle and breathing to never forget he is right there, and that means when the player is struggling they feel both stupid, small, helpless... and tremendously uncomfortable!
All the little noises that emanate from the boxes when actions are performed sound great too - whirring servos, clunking mechanisms, buzzing oscilloscope sounds and whirring electrics combine with the duel-shock vibrations to create a real feeling of tactile, haptic feedback.

 

The puzzles themselves are not outrageously difficult, but they are very varied and always interesting - and while the player is likely to get stuck fairly often, they can always rely on the two most important factors in a game if this kind: The controls are perfect, (with each button on the controller doing something - and usually something satisfying to feel / see,) and the solutions, once realised, are always clear. While a section might at first feel impenetrable, or obtuse, you can always rely on the knowledge that you do have the clues to solve it. They are there - whether in the box, or in the environment, or in the sounds or the comments of the scientist - you just need to figure out the significance of what you are being told.

Overall, Statik: Institute of Retention is a fantastic Puzzle Box game, a fantastic VR game, and just a fantastic game overall. It is not a terribly long experience - clocking in at around the 4-5 hour mark to solve for the 'normal' ending, but it does have significant secrets buried for uncovering that could increase it's length considerably, and what is there is a creepy, unusual joy from start to finish.

In general, my comment having played a good puzzle game is that "anyone who likes Puzzle Games should check this one out", however, in the case of Statik, I would go further, and state that anyone who has, or has access to, a PSVR NEEDS to play this game... Puzzle Game fan or not. 
The ways in which it uses VR - from the tactility, to the technical aspects, to the smart use of the format for creating fear out of quiet and proximity to an NPC... these are elements that are not just to this game's credit - they go further, and actually cement the viability of PSVR in a way no previous game did for me. 

 

A Remarkable achievement from start to finish - and a crime the game seems to have been largely ignored or forgotten. Between Little Nightmares, Little Nightmares II and now Statik, Tarsier Studio has elevated in my mind to that rarified pantheon of developers alongside Arkane, Klee, Supergiant, Night School, No Code and Playdead - where I will buy anything they make now, sight-unseen!

 

(For original post and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

[MrGarland]

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

 

This game most likely doesn't need introductions. The one that introduced us to the world's fastest hedgehog.

 

Getting everything here was pretty easy. Even the speedrun wasn't too hard, as I had about 10 minutes to spare. In other words, it leaves some room for errors. As long as you save the save feature wisely, you should make it.

 

 

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

 

Things got better with the sequel. With the improved gameplay, more levels and the 2-player co-op, these facts made this game so enjoyable.

 

Like with the previous game, getting everything here wasn't a problem. Some of the Special Stages took a couple of attempts, but that was pretty much it. Even the speedrun went somewhat well, if I don't count all the reloads from the Metropolis Zone. The main reason for that is enemy placements. Some of them are in annoying spots that will send you falling back if you're unlucky. Other than that, the one hour time limit is very generous.

 

 

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

 

The final game is easily the best of the bunch. Two reasons: gameplay and most importantly, OST. Time traveling to see each Zone's different layout was a great idea. Not to mention, the remastered version uses the JP/EU soundtrack, which is the superior one. Need I say more?

 

When it comes to this game's trophies, this is the hardest of the bunch. The requirement for the Time Attack mode isn't very forgiving. You pretty much need to know every level in and out. You also have to clear the game twice, and that's because collecting all the Time Stones makes the remaining robot teleporters destroyed. They won't count towards that trophy, so that's why you have to clear it twice.

[DrBloodmoney]

 630

 

Stories Untold

 

Split into 4 parts, with each treated like a new episode in an anthology TV show, (complete with VHS Box aesthetic and stylish, 80's cult-TV inspired intro repeating the beginning of each,) Stories Untold takes 3 seemingly unrelated - and mechanically dissimilar - tales, each of which plays with some version of isolation, of miscommunication, and of the slow, queasy, horror of dissimilating forbidden knowledge, and over these 30-60 minute stories, builds to a Twilight Zone / Outer Limits-esque finale both on a micro level - within the individual episode - and on a macro level - with the final episode serving as both wrap-around, and stylish re-contextualisation of the previous proceedings.

 

In 'The House Abandon', the player is sitting at an old Commodore 64-style computer in their long-abandoned family home, playing a version of an old text adventure. This starts out fairly ordinarily, however, it becomes quickly apparent that the character in the game is the character who is playing the game, and the house they are exploring is the very house in which they sit.

 

In 'The Lab Conduct', the player plays a lab assistant, conducting experiments on some piece of an extra-terrestrial device, at the command and behest of two unseen scientists... and possibly by the alien artefact itself. (Here, the gameplay resembles, interestingly, some of the future Observation-style, with the player interpreting manuals and commands to control different scientific instruments on a work-station.)

 

In 'The Station Process', the player plays a signal operation in a remote Greenland monitoring station, once again following commands of his peers and boss in other stations, deciphering and decoding signals as they are routed to him. As eerie tension builds, it becomes apparent something terrible has happened in the populated areas of the world, to which the player has no point of reference outside of the other remote contacts.

 

All three of these episodes are - as said - distinct and separate, however, there are occasional odd coincidences, or significant worlds or names in the documents and instruments that cross-over, and offer the first hints that there is something not quite right about the whole construct. 
The fourth episode, however - entitled - 'The Last Session' - turns the whole game on its head, and pulls them all together with a sharp - and quite effective - recontextualising of all three stories... that I won't spoil. Suffice to say - I enjoyed it very much, and thought it did a very good job of resetting the player's interpretation of what they had played, and casting it in a new light.

 

Mechanically, Stories Untold is relatively simple. Essentially, most of the gameplay boils down to one of two aspects - either the Zork-style text adventure, or the more Papers, Please/ Observation style gameplay of receiving instructions, and looking back and forth through rules and instruction manuals and code-books to identify what to do with that instruction.
Both of these styles are certainly acquired tastes as videogames go - certainly I'd wager that the 80's throwback aspects of the game are not purely stylistic, there is a real benefit to having at least a passing familiarity with 80's gameplay tropes to enjoy the text-adventure parts - however, in both cases, No Code do a bang up job with knowing exactly how much of this gameplay is palatable, and where quality-of-life improvements or streamlining are required. For example, when inputting text, this is done via selection of set pieces of script, rather than analogue typing, allowing the player to make a lot of entries quickly, without having the old problem of "I thought this didn't work, but it turned out I spelled "Garden" wrong".

The other side of the gameplay - the following instructions and interpreting information is clearly in the same style as Observation, and while Observation did have more variety in this regard, Stories Untold still manages to make it seem satisfying and smart, without being overly burdensome or a chore.

Visually, the game is just great. Like Observation, there is a focus on realism here, and also like Observation, the use of video-effects and filters is able to make game graphics look almost photo-real. In many cases, the rendered instruments and workstations are indistinguishable from actual real-life ones, filmed on an 8mm camera and recoded on VHS.
The design aesthetic is very much in the Spielberg / Stephen King / Stranger Things 80's throwback wheelhouse - the whole style of the game is based around a kind of "Tales from the Crypt" cheesy 80's kitsch, mixed with Cronenberg-esque unease, and it works marvellously. 

 

The audio is an absolute triumph in the game - the tone is dark and odd and ominous, and the music plays a huge role in maintaining that, and voice work is very good. There is no overblown or "Hollywood" dialogue here - that every character is playing things very sombre and low-key is part of the eerie, creepiness of the whole endeavour.

 

It is worth noting - Stories Untold, has something of a backwards legacy on Playstation, as it was the first game created and developed by indie developer No Code, (released on PC in 2017,) who followed that game up with the awesome Observation, two years later. However, while Observation was released on PS4 simultaneously with PC, Stories Untold was not released on PS4 until 2020, and so, for Playstation players, (myself included,) it plays more like a follow up to Observation.
That anomaly is - it should be said - not particularly to Stories Untold's benefit. While Stories Untold is a genuinely fascinating game, and one I enjoyed a great deal, it isn't really on the same level as Observation in terms of technical prowess or narrative grandeur, and so playing after Observation does make it feel a little smaller than it might otherwise. If someone had not played either game before, I think I would probably advise them to start with Stories Untold, and move on to Observation afterwards - following the 'real' chronology, rather than the PS4 release chronology - as that gives a much truer reflection of No Code's evolution. I do think Stories Untold fares better when considered - as it was - a blisteringly original, and clever debut game form a new studio, who's sophomore follow-up doubled down on their unique style and set it to work on a grander, more meaty narrative, than it does the other way around.

Overall, Stories Untold is a very unusual game - much like Observation, that came after it - and in fact, Stories Untold is in many ways has an even more "cult hit" kind of feel. It's a game that feels odd that it is episodic at first, but toys with that formula very effectively, and when it's done, it makes complete sense, and manages that which is quite rare in game - a genuine turnaround for the player, and real re-contextualisation of their own actions leading to the finale.

 

While I do think the overall narrative doesn't quite meet the high bar set by Observation (and the fact that the narrative doesn't reveal itself to be a totalitarian narrative at all until the final act) does make Stories Untold a slightly harder sell, it nevertheless remains a really interesting and enjoyable experience from a developer who are wholly unique, with a great design aesthetic, a fresh perspective, and a keen eye from what games can do with sci-fi horror without relying on over-dramatics or gore.

 

 

(For original post and Scientific  Ranking see HERE)

[MidnightDragon]

 

I enjoyed the first two Croc's World games for what they were, but this one was definitely less fun and more frustrating. I didn't use the kangaroo character, so not sure if there's any difference besides cosmetic. You need 145 stars to complete the game. I had exactly 145 after the second to last level. There are 180 stars total, so there is some wiggle room. I mainly used a video guide. I felt the first 30 levels were harder than the last 30. Maybe that's why the trophies for world 2 were  instead of . 

[Viper]

100% #62

Firewatch

 

I really enjoyed this game...well most of it. 

 

It hits really hard right from the start, giving you choices to make that, while don't matter for trophies, you might find are just hard to make as a person, one of those "what would you do if you were actually in this scenario" type of situations. And as the game actually gets going, you're thrust into budding relationship between Henry (your character) and Delilah, your supervisor you talk to on the radio the entire game. They come off as real and genuine, and you tend to like Delilah regardless of the situation Henry has put himself in. 

 

The one issue I have with the game is the ending. It's soooo unsatisfying.  You spend the whole game building to something, and having this mystery going...and it just falls flat. Actually if anything, it feels too....grounded and realistic. Like something you'd expect to happen in real life rather than a narrative you're creating that needs that grand sendoff, that epic or happy ending you're expecting. 

 

Great game, worth playing for sure, but it left a lot to be desired. 

 

[xItsLesterx]

Nioh 2

 

Fucking A, and more importantly, fuck its NG++. Most annoying part of it. Glad it's over tho ? Time to move on to something easier and more relaxing.

[Mizz]

brothers a tale of two sons I found the game pretty boring, the puzzles are really easy and a chore to do. 

[MidnightDragon]

 

On 12/15/2021 at 4:13 AM, Luckman said:

You need to keep making flame gems, star gems, and hypercubes every time you get the chance and trigger the star gem at the very bottom so it would clear the whole row to get more time. If you trigger two hypercubes together it will clear everything and it will give you a 90 second bonus time instead of 30 seconds and most importantly is to be fast. Hope this helps

 

 

I'll keep that in mind. Going to play some this evening. Thanks! 

Edited January 31, 2022 by MidnightDragon

[MidnightDragon]

It was a short, but enjoyable game. In it, you play the Moonchild who is climbing the tower to slay a dragon. However, there's more to the game than meets the eye. There are several dream sequences that give you more insight into the events that lead to the story. Definitely was interesting and enjoyed it. 

[kkulifay]

I’ve been anticipating this day. The day that I post about this personal milestone. It was a marathon and I met some very cool people on the journey via co-op. Definitely the best zombie game I’ve ever played. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by kkulifay

[MidnightDragon]

It's an old school style first person dungeon crawling rogue-like RPG game. It does take a little getting used to and you'll probably die a few times before that, but it's not a bad game. The arena can be a bit frustrating. If you screw up, you have to start over and I had to complete it twice to pop the trophy. The game is a bit on the short side, but again, not bad.