Darling Baphomet's Altar

[Darling Baphomet]

5 hours ago, Spaz said:

Funny we're both doing the Spyro games at the same time.

 

Compared to some frustrating experiences I've had in the past few games, Spyro is a breath of fresh air.

Yeah, they're fun games, and relatively straight forward. I have to remind myself not to sell my soul for awful platinums again - that's how I usually end up getting tired of chasing trophies.

[Darling Baphomet]

20 hours ago, Spaz said:

Funny we're both doing the Spyro games at the same time.

 

Compared to some frustrating experiences I've had in the past few games, Spyro is a breath of fresh air.

 

Did you catch them on that one sale a few weeks ago?

 

And yeah, Spyro is definitely a breath of first air, the first one especially. The third one seems to be a fantastic game too, although it wasn't quite given the polish of the first two, which is disappointing, because I'm enjoying what I have so far. Activision remains a very cheap publisher unwilling to properly invest in their games, I guess.

 

Edit: ...I actually completely forgot I'd already replied to that. Oh well.

 

Either way, Spyro 3 is going well - almost had an encounter with a game breaking glitch at Ice Peaks, but restarting the level seems to have fixed it. That cannon trophy is no joke.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Darling Baphomet

[Darling Baphomet]

Well, I've successfully avoided the Vulture trophy which was similarly glitched to the Ice Peaks one, which is good. The rest of the game should be a clinch with that in mind. But... god damn, is Spyro 3 a disappointing remake. The assets they reused from the previous games look fantastic, but much of the new content is copy pasted between levels, and sometimes the terrain looks like it's from a PS2 game. On top of that, the controls in certain minigames are hideous - although they were so in Spyro 2 as well, so, eh. I just gave up on doing tricks during the skate races because they inevitably ended up in me crashing. The fact that the remake was rushed is ironic, giving that the original was also supposedly rushed.

 

Either way, it's a great game, and I'm enjoying it. I just wish it got the same attention to detail that Spyro 1 and 2 got - Spyro 1 looked like an absolute masterpiece. Spyro 3, in many places, looks like a prettier than average indie platformer. But it has much more content than the previous two, and the new characters and the amount of content is great.

 

Also picked up Subnautica, since it's on sale and my partner highly recommended it, as well as the Count Lucanor for 2$. Seems like an easy platinum. Really gotta stop buying games for a while now, lol. At least until I plat a few more.

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #61: Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon

So, in all honesty, I was unfair on this game in previous posts. It is a solid Spyro game. Granted, some of the minigames are beyond horrendous, and it lacks the polish of the first two in some areas (as well as being way glitchier), it's overall a very good game. In terms of content offered, I greatly prefer it over 2. It builds on 2's story telling and quests alongside some returning elements from 1, e.g. levels having more gems as you go forwards, egg thieves, and so on and so forth. It's worth noting that two trophies (Cannon Fodder and Man the Cannons) are glitched, and may require backing up saves if they don't pop, but I personally got them to pop by doing a combination of the following: restarting the level, restarting the game, using different cannons to shoot things. It's also a shame that the other characters played so clumsily, which is an area that could greatly have used improvement. Spyro 1 definitely feels like a PS4 game - Spyro 3 feels like a PS1 game with a fresh paint of coat.

 

Either way, after having marathoned all three Spyro games, I'm definitely ready for a break, as good as they were.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Darling Baphomet

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #62: Xenon Racer

 

Okay, so, this game is weird. It's a solid arcade racer plagued by issues and jankiness. When it came out, it was a buggy mess, although playing it now on my slim it seems to perform quite admirably, although it very rarely turns super low res. I've also seen the game's controls complained about a lot, although once you get used to the tight drifting and having to hard brake, it actually plays quite smoothly - much better than most racers nowadays, I feel, which tend to be too sim-y for me.

The graphical style has also been criticized a lot, and I see where it's coming from? The style can definitely look blanched at times, although it does manage a cohesive aesthetic, and there's an odd graininess to the game - not just film grain, but the models themselves get grainy, which is bizarre. The soundtrack is fantastic, though, which is always a big plus - looking at you, Dangerous Driving.

But besides that weirdness, it is, again, a solid arcade racer. I'd rank it as a solid 8/10. It's difficult at times, but not too much so, with a reasonably sized campaign and trophies that aren't too insane (note that you can wait in an empty lobby and let it fill with bots for online trophies). I almost wish there was more to do in it, although I am satisfied with what I got. Hopefully if they make a sequel they can iron out the graphics and make it a bit less buggy.

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Darling Baphomet

[Darling Baphomet]

Currently balancing a few games, so I'll go game by game.

 

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey - After a few weeks of not playing it, I've finally jumped back into this game. I've gotten past the awkward first 5 hours where I lose every other monkey I send out, and now I'm able to avoid deaths altogether, although I can't say I've gotten that good a grip on the rest of the game's mechanics quite yet - my combat neurons (abilities, basically) go out much farther than anything else. Still, it means I won't have that much trouble defending myself while I'm figuring out how to advance apekind.

 

Subnautica - Got to the first island, and am currently exploring stuff. It's kind of a shame that both this and Ancestors only have 14 trophies, although thank god they still have a platinum. I'm a bit disappointed with games that barely have proper trophy lists - there are plenty of fun trophies I could think of Subnautica, but all they have is exploration based stuff. Anyway, it's an absolutely gorgeous game, and swimming has never felt so fun. It's also genuinely dread inducing, as you're alone in a massive, seemingly infinite ocean. I think I'm getting the hang of it as well, though.

 

Dangerous Driving - I haven't been playing this one as much, although while watching stuff with my partner I've been grinding miles. I think I've talked about this game before, but it's... interesting. It's glitchy, it lacks a lot of polish, and you can tell it was made by a small team, but it's also aesthetically pleasing, and the controls, while initially weird, take me back to past Burnout games. At its worst, you're fiddling with weird controls, accidentally jumping out of the map, or glitching through the map. At its best, you're feeling what Burnout feels like in 2020. I can only hope that Dangerous Driving 2 improves on this - I wish Three Fields would just do a kickstarter for a proper Burnout successor already, rather than these incremental games.

 

Trover Saves the Universe - Almost done with this one, just have to bother putting the headset back on for the final level and the DLC. It's a fun game, and I do enjoy Justin Roiland verbally shitposting at me for hours on end. The plot and dialogue styles kinda remind me of satiric fanfiction I used to write back way back when.

 

Honorable mention to Age of Wonders: Planetfall - I'm still getting into this, and I'm not actively trying to hunt trophies in it (nor will I for a while yet - it's a big game), but it's very refreshing being able to play a proper strategy game again, and it definitely is that.

[Darling Baphomet]

I ended up picking up The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse on sale. I'd been fighting myself on it for a while - the graphics and soundtrack absolutely captivated me, but every review I saw was very much mixed. I finally just said, "fuck it" and decided to get it and... damn. I've been playing it all day since yesterday morning. The graphics are cute, the combat actually has weight, and the music is fun and video game-y in a way we don't often see anymore. Might end up being my next platinum at this rate, although I lost my first playthrough and apparently need to complete a half dozen before I can platinum it. So we'll see if my infatuating with this game lasts that long.

 

Anyway, great use of 7.50. It's already paid for itself with that whole dollar for hour thing. ?

 

At this rate I might never go below 9k unearned trophies, though.

[Darling Baphomet]

Swords of Ditto is going well - 2 playthroughs left until I should get the true ending. Still don't have the 'collect all toys' trophy, but hopefully that pops soon and I don't have to wrestle the RNG into submission. A bit glitchy overall - every other NPC quest doesn't start and just has stuff like [QUEST_NPC] in the dialogue - but still a fun game, although by my 7th playthrough I'm definitely going to be ready to play something else. Still, it did not deserve the mixed reception it's gotten - a solid 8.5 in my book.

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #63: The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse

I've talked about this game quite a bit lately, and now my obsession for the last week is finally done with.

All in all... this is a good game. I'd even say a great game, although it does start to wear on you and it has a few quirks and glitches. The consensus for this game is around a 6-7/10, and there's good reason for that. It has a lot of things that may put people off, but if you appreciate it for what it is, it's captivating.

At its core, it's a fun, randomly generated Legend of Zelda-esque game where you save the world (or fail!) and that determines the next 100 years of the world. It becomes dark and gloomy, or bright and cheerful accordingly. It also has a surprisingly deep lore, told through tablets you collect on your journey. The music is cheerful and video game-y, and the graphics are cute. The toys are fun to play with and diverse. The random level generation isn't that wild - you begin to recognize sections and such - but in the context of this game that can actually be beneficial, as the game world, while different every run, is always nostalgic.

The biggest gripe I have is that the ending, while going for some cool metaphysical stuff, felt a bit rushed. By the end of the game, I was so OP that I was killing everything with ease, and I killed the final boss in 4 hits... which was disappointing.

 

But all in all? I adored this game. I was absolutely addicted for the first few days and couldn't put it down. Even with the terrible crate grinding for legendary stickers, I was having fun. This is a game I'll remember for a long time, and may even pop back in for a run or two in every now and then. Most indie games do not leave much of an impression on me - but I'll remember Swords of Ditto as a gem. I originally passed on buying this game a few times during the mixed reviews, but the art style and music drew me in, but all in all, this game is DEFINITELY worth the 7.50$ I spent on it, and the full 15$ as well.

 

Worth noting if you're going to play this that there's a PS4 exclusive Loco Roco dungeon, and selling the sticker you get from it gives you 5k coins, which is a lot if you need money.

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #64: Trover Saves the Universe

 

This one's been a long time coming - I first started this game several weeks ago, but never bothered putting in the second playthrough to clean up trophies up until recently. The reviews for this game are pretty accurate - it's a good, albeit sometimes shallow, VR platformer. If you want to explore colorful worlds with relatively great graphics for PSVR while getting ranted at by Justin Roiland... this is your game. If you want Astrobot 2... this is not your game.

The game basically rides entirely on Rick and Morty-esque, rambling humor - it's ridiculous, the plot is honestly nonsensical, and it's hilarious. If you don't care for it, this probably won't be your type of game, although it is a solid, albeit short, 3D platformer nonetheless. The platinum for this was pretty easy - I did a mostly blind run for my first playthrough, then a second playthrough as Jopo to clean up + get the Jopo trophy, and then I ran through Important Cosmic Jobs - a free dlc - which proved to be solid, albeit only 30-45 minutes long. I'm not going to say this was the best game I've ever played on PSVR, but it was a genuinely fun one. Highly recommend it on sale.

[Darling Baphomet]

So, good news and bad news. The good news: Far Cry 5 is pretty good, and the HDR looks great. The bad news? I still have a spending problem. Picked up the Outer Worlds for 30$ because I've wanted it for quite a while, and 30$ is the highest I'm generally willing to pay for base games. I also picked up PVZ: Battle for Neighborville, since I'm going to need another grindy multiplayer game (not Overwatch) to play once I've platinumed Battlefront 2. Will check it out once I platinum Far Cry 5.

 

Besides that... it's been a Far Cry week. Tried playing Far Cry 5 since I'd ordered it alongside Blood & Truth and Trover in a Gamestop sale last April, and decided to pick up the season pass since it was on sale and included Far Cry 3. But Far Cry 5 I'd gotten pre-owned, and the disk wouldn't install after something like ten attempts. So I contacted support and figured I'd play Far Cry 3 in the meantime (which is a great game, by the way!). Did that for a few days, then I tried Far Cry 5 again, reluctantly, after a week with no answer from support, and all of a sudden it works again. ? Some people.

 

I actually haven't played any of the Far Cry games since 2 - which I thought had a meh campaign, although I was a very ADHD kid, so I might appreciate it more now. I wasn't really a fan of the change from Far Cry 1's monster infested jungle island to open world, though I did play a fair bit of 2's multiplayer. I always looked at them as rinse and repeat, generic shooters, although having played both Far Cry 3 and 5 a far bit, I can now safely say that, 2 aside, I very much appreciate the series. I'll likely platinum Far Cry 5 first, then finish up 3, then move onto the Outer Worlds. I've also been playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 with a friend a bit, hoping to inch in on that level 50 trophy at some point in the near future - it's been years since I bought it, so it's about goddamn time I got the platinum. I've gotten really handy with the rocket trooper - although I despise the new First Order trooper they've added, I'm able to dominate the leaderboards regularly with the other. The heroes don't seem quite as useful as they were back when you could snowball with HP regain. I tried out Call of Duty: WW2 as well, not realizing that it has dozens of DLC trophies I'll likely never get. Doesn't look like I'm going to every drop below 9k unearned trophies at this rate, lmao.

[EcoShifter]

8 hours ago, Darling Baphomet said:

So, good news and bad news. The good news: Far Cry 5 is pretty good, and the HDR looks great. The bad news? I still have a spending problem. Picked up the Outer Worlds for 30$ because I've wanted it for quite a while, and 30$ is the highest I'm generally willing to pay for base games. I also picked up PVZ: Battle for Neighborville, since I'm going to need another grindy multiplayer game (not Overwatch) to play once I've platinumed Battlefront 2. Will check it out once I platinum Far Cry 5.

 

Besides that... it's been a Far Cry week. Tried playing Far Cry 5 since I'd ordered it alongside Blood & Truth and Trover in a Gamestop sale last April, and decided to pick up the season pass since it was on sale and included Far Cry 3. But Far Cry 5 I'd gotten pre-owned, and the disk wouldn't install after something like ten attempts. So I contacted support and figured I'd play Far Cry 3 in the meantime (which is a great game, by the way!). Did that for a few days, then I tried Far Cry 5 again, reluctantly, after a week with no answer from support, and all of a sudden it works again.  Some people.

 

I actually haven't played any of the Far Cry games since 2 - which I thought had a meh campaign, although I was a very ADHD kid, so I might appreciate it more now. I wasn't really a fan of the change from Far Cry 1's monster infested jungle island to open world, though I did play a fair bit of 2's multiplayer. I always looked at them as rinse and repeat, generic shooters, although having played both Far Cry 3 and 5 a far bit, I can now safely say that, 2 aside, I very much appreciate the series. I'll likely platinum Far Cry 5 first, then finish up 3, then move onto the Outer Worlds. I've also been playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 with a friend a bit, hoping to inch in on that level 50 trophy at some point in the near future - it's been years since I bought it, so it's about goddamn time I got the platinum. I've gotten really handy with the rocket trooper - although I despise the new First Order trooper they've added, I'm able to dominate the leaderboards regularly with the other. The heroes don't seem quite as useful as they were back when you could snowball with HP regain. I tried out Call of Duty: WW2 as well, not realizing that it has dozens of DLC trophies I'll likely never get. Doesn't look like I'm going to every drop below 9k unearned trophies at this rate, lmao.

 

Far Cry 2 is basically a prototype for the rest of the series. No person should compare or base their opinion of the series on just that game, not because it's bad but because the series was still trying to figure out what it wanted to be exactly. Far Cry 3 is the installment that revolutionized the series because it's not only an incredible game in itself, but it's also the installment that gave the series its full identity. It's a lot of people's favorite, though many, including myself, believe Far Cry 4 bested it. Its evolution may'be isn't as significant as FC3 from FC2, but it took and improved a lot of things that made FC3 as good as it is and added some newly fun features of its own. Haven't played FC5 yet, despite having purchased it two years ago. Heard and seen things about it that's going to make it a very conflicting game to compare to the rest of the series because of its simultaneous gameplay improvements and more realistic design which ended up hurting gameplay as well <_>.

Edited June 6, 2020 by EcoShifter

[Darling Baphomet]

23 minutes ago, EcoShifter said:

 

Far Cry 2 is basically the black sheep of the series and one no player should compare or base their initial thoughts on the series from. Far Cry 3 is the installment that revolutionized the series because it's not only an incredible game in itself, but it's also the installment that gave the series its footing and identity. It's a lot of people's favorite, though many, including myself, believe Far Cry 4 bested it. It didn't change as much as FC3 did from FC2, but it improve things from FC3 and added some more fun features. Haven't played FC5 yet, despite having purchased it two years ago. Heard and seen things about it that's going to make it a very conflicting game to compare to the rest of the series because of its simultaneous gameplay improvements and more realistic design which ended up hurting gameplay as well <_>.

 

Really? I've always seen nothing but praise for Far Cry 2. But yeah, I'm considering getting Far Cry 4 on sale next time I see it since I've been enjoying 3 and 5, maybe Primal and New Dawn as well, but that might be a bit too much Far Cry for this year. Far Cry 5 seems pretty fun so far, definitely way more streamlined gameplay wise than Far Cry 3, although you do get abducted as part of the story pretty frequently in FC5 which you may or may not find annoying - I don't mind it so much yet. I highly recommend getting into FC5 if you like 3, especially since the multiplayer is still somewhat active, which you'll need for some trophies.

[EcoShifter]

6 hours ago, Darling Baphomet said:

Really? I've always seen nothing but praise for Far Cry 2. But yeah, I'm considering getting Far Cry 4 on sale next time I see it since I've been enjoying 3 and 5, maybe Primal and New Dawn as well, but that might be a bit too much Far Cry for this year. Far Cry 5 seems pretty fun so far, definitely way more streamlined gameplay wise than Far Cry 3, although you do get abducted as part of the story pretty frequently in FC5 which you may or may not find annoying - I don't mind it so much yet. I highly recommend getting into FC5 if you like 3, especially since the multiplayer is still somewhat active, which you'll need for some trophies.

 

I'll make an edit. Far Cry 2 does get a lot of praise, but it gets criticism for some of its unpolished and underutilized mechanics and features (e.g., controls, aiming, animals, etc). It was a great step in the right direction after the previous FC games, but aside from its impressive physics, it still has had room for notable improvement. So basically a middle ground game. Black sheep is perhaps more fitting for Primal because of its lack of staple FC mechanics like gun shooting and riding vehicles. However, the replacements (i.e., stone age weapons and animal riding) are indeed fun still, though  I think Primal does fine with what it explicitly tries to be. Main thing that's kept me away from FC5 are the trophies, online and DLC. I tend to focus or put most effort on newly started games. Haven't been wanting to commit to that yet. I'm looking to start it after the next series I do, since I recently finished a game with demanding online trophies and another game with 3 story expansions. That's good backlog progress, so I don't have to delay FC5 much longer

[AJ_Radio]

Far Cry 2 came out in 2008. It’s an old game now, but compared to Assassins Creed 2 it has aged poorly. 

 

Far Cry 3 did to the Far Cry franchise what Assassins Creed 2 did to the Assassins Creed franchise. Both set their mark and the rest is history. 

 

Far Cry Classic is by far the worst game but is a pretty easy platinum. 

[Darling Baphomet]

4 hours ago, EcoShifter said:

 

I'll make an edit. Far Cry 2 does get a lot of praise, but it gets criticism for some of its unpolished and underutilized mechanics and features (e.g., controls, aiming, animals, etc). It was a great step in the right direction after the previous FC games, but aside from its impressive physics, it still has had room for notable improvement. So basically a middle ground game. Black sheep is perhaps more fitting for Primal because of its lack of staple FC mechanics like gun shooting and riding vehicles. However, the replacements (i.e., stone age weapons and animal riding) are indeed fun still, though  I think Primal does fine with what it explicitly tries to be. Main thing that's kept me away from FC5 are the trophies, online and DLC. I tend to focus or put most effort on newly started games. Haven't been wanting to commit to that yet. I'm looking to start it after the next series I do, since I recently finished a game with demanding online trophies and another game with 3 story expansions. That's good backlog progress, so I don't have to delay FC5 much longer

 

I've been thinking of picking up Primal since it's like 11$ right now, but I'm going to give it a few days and see if I don't tire myself out of Far Cry. But yeah, Far Cry 3 definitely seems like a much better game than 2, and it has way more in common with 5 than 2 did. I did appreciate some aspects of 2 - for instance all the different playable characters, and the friends you could make.

 

The trophies aren't too bad, not sure about the DLC yet though. You can grind the online for a while or you can get someone to boost with real quick, but luckily it's not too exhaustive one way or the other.

 

3 hours ago, Spaz said:

Far Cry 2 came out in 2008. It’s an old game now, but compared to Assassins Creed 2 it has aged poorly. 

 

Far Cry 3 did to the Far Cry franchise what Assassins Creed 2 did to the Assassins Creed franchise. Both set their mark and the rest is history. 

 

Far Cry Classic is by far the worst game but is a pretty easy platinum. 

 

I grew up with the first Far Cry and remember it seeming revolutionary at the time. But I'm sure nowadays it would just seem like a pain in the ass to play. But I did appreciate the 'stuck on an island with mutants' setting. I wish the newer games would do something like that too.

[Darling Baphomet]

Doing pretty well with my Far Cry 5 playthrough, will probably have platinumed it in a day or two. Currently working through the DLC, starting with Lost On Mars - which is ... very mediocre. It's kind of like if The Pre-Sequel had just been a DLC with an even lower budget. It has some good ideas, but tries to do something completely new without enough content to make that "new" worth it.

 

That being said, Lost on Mars isn't a *bad* DLC. The enemies are bullet spongey, you move way too slow for my liking, and the writing is uninspired, but it is still fun to run around on Mars, even if the speed of your run is questionable and your enemies all take ages to kill. Definitely ready for it to end, though.

 

All in all, though, my return to Far Cry after... a decade? Has definitely been rewarding. Far Cry 5 and 3 have been genuinely entertaining, much moreso than other Ubisoft games I've played have been. I like the three factions in 5, although the kidnappings are a bit excessive, and the gunplay and vehicle controls are solid. I'll probably buy FC4 to complete my collection once it gets another sale.

[Darling Baphomet]

Finished Lost on Mars. As I've previously said, overall a fairly mediocre DLC, but somehow still the best of the three. I admire Hours of Darkness' effort, and it definitely feels more complete than Lost of Mars did - probably because it's building on what was in FC5, not trying to make an entire new game - but Vietnam's never been my scene. Dead Living Zombies has a lot of potential, and its zombies are fun to kill, but the levels are painstakingly short. If it had been given an open world map, it'd be pretty great. Speaking of zombies, since I played Days Gone while I was on hiatus from platinuming games, I'm going to be replaying it at some point.

 

The main game is going pretty okay - finished catching all the fish, now I just need to catch the Admiral, finish my hunting challenges, and complete the story. I may take a break after platinuming it because I'm not sure I have it in me to grind Dead Living Zombies right now. I may do a second FC5 playthrough just to get the Infamous trophy and a 100%.

 

A new sale landed today, too, which is a shame, because it has a few games I want - namely Wreckfest - for a good price. But I just bought Superhot VR, Far Cry Primal, and New Dawn, so I'm not allowing myself to spend any more money for at LEAST a few weeks. Hopefully much more, but I tend to have an itchy wallet.

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #66: Far Cry 5

 

After nearly a decade, I've finally made my way back to the Far Cry series, and honestly? I'm not disappointed. Far Cry 5 is just about everything I wanted it to be - save for the mediocre story and worse endings, although the individual characters were written pretty well. It's chaotic, it controls well, the combat is fun, and it's a gorgeous game. The multiplayer, too, is interesting, since not many games let you create your own maps these days, although it's let down by the lack of objective based modes, making it much more shallow than it could have been.

It also has tons of side quests, to the point of oversaturation, and unlike a lot of other games, its side quests are actually pretty fun and well thought out - it is a bit unfortunate that the trophies don't require you to 100% complete the game, although I'll probably pop in to do more side quests and clear the last few outposts. It's currently on sale for 15$, and for that price, it's a steal - the season pass isn't bad either, but I recommend waiting to get it on sale, because the actual DLC are mediocre and Far Cry 3 is the main draw.

Being able to customize your character is also a win, although it's unfortunate that that only really matters in co-op or in the mediocre multiplayer.

I did run into a glitch or too, namely for the death from above trophy, you have to use the Carmina, as other plane types seem to have bombs that bounce up, which is ridiculous.

 

Overall, I'd give this game an 8.5/10 in terms of gameplay, 4/10 in terms of Platinum length, and probably a 3/10 or so in terms of Platinum difficulty.

[Darling Baphomet]

Dangerous Driving has a lot of issues. It doesn't have a proper soundtrack, and relies on Spotify integration (which also barely works, requiring you to re-verify whenever you log into the game, and sometimes desyncs mid-game). The menu is average. It lacks really interesting cars, but does have diverse classes of cars. The tracks aren't the most impressive, all nature tracks with no cities. The trophies are super grindy, with one that requires you to gain 1k miles on a single car, which will take hours of grinding.

 

But you know? Besides all that, it is a genuinely fun game. It manages to genuinely feel like a modern Burnout sometimes.

 

Except... for the persistent wrecks. This is such a terrible gameplay decision. I can't fathom how this got past playtesting. It's all well and good to have the occasional wreck left behind on a two lap race, or even a three lap race. But on longer races, it leaves the game nigh unplayable. The tracks essentially turn into a minefield, with multiple wrecks strewn across every corner, just waiting for you to accidentally drift into them. The AI, of course, magically avoids these obstacles. This is the most bizarre form of artificial difficulty I've ever encountered. Just... why? For the love of god, why? I've had to restart this one 5 lap elimination race a dozen times now, because I keep crashing at this turn before the finish lap, then the AI pass me while I'm respawning and I get eliminated.

 

Besides that, I'm currently playing Far Cry New Dawn, occasionally a bit of Battlefront 2 (probably hit level 50 in 2-3 weeks at this rate, we'll see), and I'm doing a relatively blind run of the Outer Worlds for my first playthrough, then I'll start cleaning it up.

 

The Outer Worlds is pretty good so far, albeit very graphically unpolished. The dialogue is great, it's awesome to have a return of OP Fallout skill checks, and the gunplay is pretty good, as are the companions. Far Cry New Dawn is... well, more Far Cry 5, although the leveling and post-apocalyptic-esque survival and resource gathering does a lot to make it more interesting, and if it were a full game, like Far Cry 5, it would be an excellent one.

Edited June 15, 2020 by Darling Baphomet

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #66: Star Wars Battlefront 2

Talk about a minimalist trophy design, huh?

This platinum's been in the works for years. I first got this game in 2018 on sale. Back then, BF2 was one of those games that you couldn't so much as mention without somebody popping in to comment on what a terrible game it was. That being said, with the lootbox fiasco dealt with, the game was actually pretty fun. Not much in the way of cosmetics to buy, and there's a LOT of grinding involved (it's basically grind to win), but it's fun. The maps are gorgeous, and the singleplayer, while the story is a bit generic (true to the series?) is well crafted and satisfying.

There's been a *ton* of new content added since 2018 - I've been through the Clone Wars updates, the addition of a bunch of new enforcer types (thank god, we don't have floods of Wookie warriors in every single era like we used to), Ewok Hunt (a personal favorite), Supremacy... they even added those little ball drones as playable heroes recently. Unfortunately, they didn't really add any new Starfighter Assault maps, and all we got was Heroes vs Villains Starfighters which... is kinda a terrible concept.

Besides all that, the game is grindy. It really is. At first, you're going to have no idea what you're doing, your characters will be underleveled, and you'll be lucky not to be stuck in last place for the entire match. The game is a grind, and the trophies are grindy, too. There's a bunch of trophies that you'll spend dozens of hours working towards, such as grinding towards rank 50 - the last trophy I had left after years of playing it on and off.

Luckily, though, the new co-op mode they added gives insane EXP. I recommend playing the modern age Empire missions, as those give you access to some of the best crowd control heroes (Bossk, Iden, and to a lesser extent, Boba Fett) and seemingly infinite hordes to fight. On my best run, I managed to get something like 68k points in a single match, and combine that with double XP on Wednesdays, and... you level quickly.

 

Anyway, Battlefront 2, controversy aside, is a solid game. I'm looking forward to Battlefront 3, if they end up making that, and if they don't neuter it with lootboxes like they tried to with 2, I'll probably pick it up and platinum it as well.

Overall, I'd give BF2 an 8/10 in terms of Gameplay, 9/10 in terms of Platinum Length, and 4/10 in terms of Platinum Difficulty.

[Darling Baphomet]

Weekend update!

 

My attention has been pretty scattered, as usual - played a bit of The Crew 2, although I'm not where near close to platinuming it. Made a lot more progress in Far Cry New Dawn, probably a bit over halfway to that platinum. Slowly chipping away at Fallout Shelter and making decent progress with that. Also going on and off with The Outer Worlds, doing a blind run (save for misc trophies, like groin shots) before I start seriously trophy hunting in it.

 

I've also picked up Bow to Blood again, a fantastic little PSVR game that I bought a year ago, but never really put much time into. Seems that most people did the same, since out of over a hundred players here, none of them won a season, which only takes a few hours. Past the tutorial, this game is actually brilliant - it's a ship combat simulator, not necessarily that incredible, except that it's also a survivor-esque game where you have to forge alliances with AI to avoid being eliminated off. Once you get into the groove with the combat, it becomes absolutely exhilarating. If I don't get sidetracked, maybe I'll get to be the first person on the site with a platinum in it - although there are a few very hard looking trophies, e.g. killing three enemies with a single use of a limited ammo laser that fires straight forwards. 

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #67: Far Cry New Dawn

Far Cry 5 was an amazing game with an ending so bad that it soured the entire experience. Far Cry New Dawn is... not that. It's a good game, with a decent ending.

Far Cry New Dawn builds on Far Cry 5's gameplay, but for everything it adds, it takes away a lot. It's set on a much smaller map, for starters. Everything is pink and wastelandy. The cars, guns, and characters all look stunningly post-apocalyptic. Repeatable outposts with enemies getting stronger each time, and expeditions add for variety and a satisfying rank-gating system. Scavenging for crafting supplies is fun, although by the endgame you'll have a ridiculous abundance of everything and incredibly overpowered weapons. 

The concept is cool, and the story is decent, although it lacks the charisma that Far Cry 5 channeled all the way up until its ending, and suffers from its limited scope. I'm not sure I'd want to play an entire game with Far Cry New Dawn's leveling system, but it was, at the very least, a fun quirk.

 

8/10 for Gameplay, 3/10 for platinum length, 4/10 for difficulty.

[Darling Baphomet]

It's been a hectic week! Since platinuming Far Cry New Dawn, I've started playing Far Cry Primal, but not gotten very far in it yet - I picked up Ziggurat again, a fun FPS roguelike where you shoot people with wands, and I've been grinding out trophies for it for the last few days - I have all of its hardest trophies done with, namely winning the game on hard (2.75% rarity on PSNP!), reaching the second floor without taking damage, and completing a speedrun on normal with one of the characters.

 

Now I have something like 10 playthroughs left; 1 with each character, plus an extra one where I die to the final boss, since apparently I'm too good at this game for it to happen naturally, then I need to... kill myself 25 times, since I haven't been dying enough. Fun!

 

I've also been grinding miles in Dangerous Driving while watching Netflix - I can safely report that Space Force is cringe, and Ace Ventura hasn't aged that well - and am at something like 600/1000 miles. Once that's done with, I just need a little bit further to go on the campaign, and maybe 600 miles on individual cars to grind out. Fun!

 

Fallout Shelter is also going okay, although I had to cull a large portion of my population after I learned that raiders stop showing up regularly past a population threshold. Almost all of my dwellers are at max endurance now, though, which is good for me. Yay, eugenics?

[Darling Baphomet]

Platinum #68: Ziggurat

 

My second rarest platinum, after Battleborn, at 2.62%! Ziggurat is a fun FPS roguelike where you run around shooting enemies with wands, staffs, spells, and steampunk-esque contraptions. It's chaotic, fast paced, has interesting perks that greatly change how the game plays, and is a difficult, but rewarding platinum. My one gripe is that, while the variety for characters is huge - perks, weapons, amulets, and playable characters, there's not much level or boss variety - you end up with wildly different playstyles, but always playing through very similar levels. This isn't that bad a thing, necessarily - in Swords of Ditto the repetition created familiarity - but in Ziggurat there's no such reason for repetition.

 

The platinum wasn't too difficult - I finished my hard mode run relatively early on, so after that all I had to do was grind easy mode runs. I actually had to grind 50 deaths and dying to the final boss because I never had that happen to me naturally. Anyway, onto other, even grindier, roguelikes!

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Darling Baphomet