KYC 777

[ImBossy83]

21 hours ago, vin_rob said:

And does someone might know if it's wrong to play disgaea 5 before I played the other parts? if so what would be the right order ? ^^ 

I only ever played disgaea 4 but as far as i know the stories are not connected in a way that you need to play the older games before. 

[vin_rob]

37 minutes ago, ImBossy83 said:

I only ever played disgaea 4 but as far as i know the stories are not connected in a way that you need to play the older games before. 

thnx, I might give it a go at the next KYC then

 

and I wanted to finish a game befor posting my starting stats.. 

Games Played: 116

Completed games: 48

Completion: 63.04 Never been this high..

unearned trophies: 1957

trophies a day 1.34.. 

[Hemiak]

Uh, been busy with other stuff, but occasionally checking in. Feel free to begin your first game if it's the first of July where you are. 

[eigen-space]

6 hours ago, Crimson Idol said:

I wonder if it will meet the fate of the other JRPGs I played during KYC (Atelier Rorona in KYC #1 and Tales of Graces f in KYC #2) and won't be played at all after the event. Knowing the fact that I already abandoned it on the PS2 years ago it's likely. But we will see if it helps that I can play it while not having to sit in front of a TV. 

 

Two of my favorite JRPGs..... sigh....

[xFalionx]

Since it isn't the first of July everywhere in the world yet, would it still be possible to join? I just saw this on a random visit and I'd love to attend another KYC event. I'm sure I'd be able to gather 5 unstarted games despite my broken PS3 laser and my by now nonexistant PS+ membership. 

 

If I'm allowed to join, I'll be posting my list as soon as I find the time to browse through my download list in an hour or two.

 

Edit: @Hemiak, mentioning you for dramatic effect.  

Edited July 1, 2018 by xFalionx

[crimsonidol38]

51 minutes ago, eigen-space said:

 

Two of my favorite JRPGs..... sigh....

 

That I didn't return to a game doesn't mean that I disliked it. Tales of Graces f was a game I enjoyed when I played it back in November 2016 but there is a whole bunch of other games I also enjoy playing and I can't really force myself to play a game even if I enjoy it. I somehow need to have the mood for it. E.g. a good example:
Another game of KYC #2 was Driver: San Francisco. Besides Zero Escape: The Nonary Games this was probably the game I enjoyed the most while playing it during the events and although I don't have much left to do in the singleplayer I still haven't gone back to it. But there's quite a few times where I feel like that I have to go back to it but then I lack the motivation to start the game. Can't explain why.

 

Atelier on the other hand... Back in the day I didn't like the interaction between the characters and I also didn't really like the alchemy-system. Crafting is not really my cup of tea, which I also realized when I forced myself to play through Ar Nosurge. Maybe Gust-games aren't for me. IIRC it also felt rather slow and that's a thing I really dislike nowadays. I prefer my games to have a faster pacing, whether it's the story or the gameplay.

[eigen-space]

7 minutes ago, Crimson Idol said:

 

That I didn't return to a game doesn't mean that I disliked it. Tales of Graces f was a game I enjoyed when I played it back in November 2016 but there is a whole bunch of other games I also enjoy playing and I can't really force myself to play a game even if I enjoy it. I somehow need to have the mood for it. E.g. a good example:
Another game of KYC #2 was Driver: San Francisco. Besides Zero Escape: The Nonary Games this was probably the game I enjoyed the most while playing it during the events and although I don't have much left to do in the singleplayer I still haven't gone back to it. But there's quite a few times where I feel like that I have to go back to it but then I lack the motivation to start the game. Can't explain why.

 

Atelier on the other hand... Back in the day I didn't like the interaction between the characters and I also didn't really like the alchemy-system. Crafting is not really my cup of tea, which I also realized when I forced myself to play through Ar Nosurge. Maybe Gust-games aren't for me. IIRC it also felt rather slow and that's a thing I really dislike nowadays. I prefer my games to have a faster pacing, whether it's the story or the gameplay.

 

Zero Escape  

 

I can totally see what you mean about Rorona though. It definitely does feel slower because a lot of the things you do have to be planned out quite a bit. I personally like having to make very calculated decisions... it would be rather amusing to record my synthesis sessions because I'll take 5+ minutes trying to craft just one item because I want to make sure to get everything just right (and the most recent Atelier games make it much more puzzle-like, so it's easy to just get lost in synthesis).

And I personally didn't like Ar Nosurge either  

[Hemiak]

3 hours ago, xFalionx said:

Since it isn't the first of July everywhere in the world yet, would it still be possible to join? I just saw this on a random visit and I'd love to attend another KYC event. I'm sure I'd be able to gather 5 unstarted games despite my broken PS3 laser and my by now nonexistant PS+ membership. 

 

If I'm allowed to join, I'll be posting my list as soon as I find the time to browse through my download list in an hour or two.

 

Edit: @Hemiak, mentioning you for dramatic effect.  

Sure Fal. Jump on in. I got the thread up a bit later than usual so I'm going to be pretry lenient. Plus you've been a part of the community for a while so I know you won't bail. 

[xFalionx]

19 minutes ago, Hemiak said:

Sure Fal. Jump on in. I got the thread up a bit later than usual so I'm going to be pretry lenient. Plus you've been a part of the community for a while so I know you won't bail. 

Great! Here's my list then, if you don't like my voting shenanigans, just take the first choice as my pick.

 

xFalionx:

Completion: 61.94%

1. Catherine (PS3)
   This has been sitting on my console for a while since there's a level that's made easier in local coop iirc but I've never owned a second PS3 controller.
2. WipEout 2048 (Vita) OR MotorStorm RC (PS3) (up to vote)
   Two of the less trashy games that came with my Vita memory card. You'll be deciding the pace I'll be racing at. (Voting will end on the dawn of the 7th July, when I have to switch games.)
3. Lost Planet 3 (PS3)
   Don't know much about this franchise, guess it's time to find out what it's about.
4. Jak 2 (PS3) OR Jak 3 (PS3) (up to vote)
   Two of the games that made me the gamer I am but still two games that I never managed to finish. Jak 2 was simply too hard for my grade school gaming skills and Jak 3 was a used game that had a scratched CD. I noticed that when the game started crashing like a fourth of the way in. You'll be deciding which nightmares I'll be facing in the coming month: Will it be the nightmares of frantic tank chase sequences and a police force that will alarm the whole city if you just look at them in a way they don't like or will it be the nightmares of broken game CDs? (Voting will end on the dawn of the 19th July, when I have to switch games.)
5. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
   I totally forgot that I bought this game but I'm glad I checked because I remember that I've always wanted to play a Tales of... game. I guess I just never was in a mood for RPGs when the game was on sale. Looking forward to this one.

 

I thought I'd have some fun by letting others decide some of the games I'll play, let's see how this turns out.  

Edited July 1, 2018 by xFalionx
Added Strawpoll links

[vin_rob]

@voodoo_eyes and what did you think of my list?

[voodoo_eyes]

28 minutes ago, vin_rob said:

@voodoo_eyes and what did you think of my list?

 

Good variety overall. I've played about half of them. The rest s part of my backlog except World of Final Fantasy, as I can't find a copy for under 30€ anywhere. I'm probably one of the few people that liked Murdered Soul Suspect .

[DamagingRob]

4 hours ago, Crimson Idol said:

Crafting is not really my cup of tea, which I also realized when I forced myself to play through Ar Nosurge.

 

4 hours ago, eigen-space said:

And I personally didn't like Ar Nosurge either  

TRIGGERED. But I also didn't really care for the Atelier game I tried. Didn't mind the story or gameplay, but that time limit stuff just made me drop it.. 

 

 

Horizon Zero Dawn- Day 1 

 

Kinda early, but eh, I already played for 5 hours, and kinda want to get back to Steins;Gate.  

 

You play as a girl named Aloy, who is considered an outcast and kicked out of her tribe. All for not having parents. Pretty harsh. A man named Rost, who is also an outcast (for reasons unknown), raises you. But because you're an outcast most people won't talk to you, other kids throw rocks at you, and you end up wanting to find out who your parents were and why your life has to be this way.

 

Rost says there may be a way, and that is to win the Proving tournament. This is basically the only way for an outcast to become a member of the tribe. And the winner gets to ask the elders (or whatever they're called) anything they wish. But it will require years of training. Of course, you'll do anything to find out, so cue the training montage! At the end of which, Aloy is now an adult. Yay! 

 

Not sure how much more I should say about the story, but let's just say shit hits the fan during the tournament. And machines seem to have made everyone revert back to a more primitive society. 

 

Game is simply gorgeous, and the open-world map appears to be quite large. There's a lot of crafting in this game. Ammo, upgrades, potions, and more. Materials can be harvested all over the place, or obtained from enemies or animals you've killed. 

 

There are many weapons and ammo types you can buy and use to take down your robotic foes. Most of them different types of bows. I haven't tried them all yet, but there are normal arrows, precision arrows, fire arrows, shock arrows, and more. The shock arrows are more for setting traps. The enemy walks into one, and they are temporarily stunned. 

 

There's an element of stealth to it, too. Hiding in tall grass can keep you out of sight, while you quietly pick off enemies. Or you can get spotted, and try to fight them with your spear. Since you don't have regenerating health in this game, having to rely on healing with potions or your supply of food, the stealthy approach might be best. 

 

As you kill enemies and complete quests, you'll gain XP and level up. Allowing you to buy new skills with points you receive.

 

And I guess that's about all I have to say, so far. It seems like a really good game, though. Looking forward to getting back to it.

 

Time played: 5 hours.

Trophy progress: 6/79 for 6% and an E rank.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Fidel

[Metal Slime King]

@xFalionx Online servers for WipeOut 2048 on Vita have already shutdown. Plat is unobtainable if you don't have the online yet, just so you know!

[PerryToxteth]

Here's my Pre-KYC777 stats:

 

KYC777 Statistics 

Games Completed - Played 99/72

Trophies Earned - 3441

Unearned - 473

Completion % - 86.79

 

I am up from 82.75 from the end of KYC 6. Even more surprising, My completion percentage is up from before KYC6 (86.04). I just realized I haven't turned on my PS3 since January so I might sub in a game from that, depending upon what's on my download list. I can't remember any recent PS+ offers for the PS3 that were any good.

 

On 6/30/2018 at 2:39 AM, Myu said:

Here's my list for this event :

 

1. Chaos:Child

2. Zero Escape : Zero Time Dilemma

3. The Legend of Heroes : Trails of Cold Steel

4. Hakuoki : Kyoto Winds

5. Tokyo Xanadu

6. Tearaway

7. Bad Apple Wars

8. The Caligula Effect

9. Rime

10. Mary Skelter : Nightmares

I might encounter a storage problem with so many Vita games...

 

edit : starting completion rate : 87.58%, unearned trophies : 656

 

Good to have you back! I hope you are doing better in RL since the last KYC. 

[Sardavanua]

Ahh I think I messed up 

 

I was just rereading the OP and the previous KYC thread and realized that the days are supposed to be set, right?

 

Like only 1 game within the 6/3/2 time period.

 

In my case (I picked 10 games) I'm only allowed complete one of the chosen games within Jul 1 - Jul 3 and not move on until Jul 4 - Jul 6, right?

If that's the case I indeed messed up as I already moved on *sigh*

 

Would anybody be so kind and clarify things for me by confirming this or proving me wrong? I'm freakin tired right now and can't seem to figure it out on my own. (Also new to KYC)

[PerryToxteth]

57 minutes ago, Sardavanua said:

Ahh I think I messed up 

 

I was just rereading the OP and the previous KYC thread and realized that the days are supposed to be set, right?

 

Like only 1 game within the 6/3/2 time period.

 

In my case (I picked 10 games) I'm only allowed complete one of the chosen games within Jul 1 - Jul 3 and not move on until Jul 4 - Jul 6, right?

If that's the case I indeed messed up as I already moved on *sigh*

 

Would anybody be so kind and clarify things for me by confirming this or proving me wrong? I'm freakin tired right now and can't seem to figure it out on my own. (Also new to KYC)

 

You are now on double-secret probation!!

 

Just kidding, don't sweat it. We usually keep a set time frame for review purposes. You are free to play any games you want during the event, including games not involved in the KYC event. Typically, people will give first-impression takes within the first day of starting a game, then give a more thorough review at the end of the time slot. It helps keep people on pace with others, though it will be a bit different this go-around with some playing 5 and others playing ten games.

But welcome! It's always nice to have some new blood along with the salty vets in these KYC events. I hope you have fun! 

[Metal Slime King]

Well my first day experience with Evolve was that it has a 16Gb update download to get started. Check back tomorrow for further details.

[jasondm300]

Played a couple of hours of Alienation.  Pretty good twin stick shooter so far.  I'm not very good at it, but it is definitely the most polished of games like it I have played (Dead Nation, Helldivers).  No trophies yet to show for it, but I just got back to Alaska, so should be pretty soon to getting something

[Kevvik]

And so it begins...

 

Game #1: Tomb Raider Anniversary

 

Initial Impressions

 

Time played: 3 hrs

 

So I don't think Lara Croft and Tomb Raider need a lot of introduction but we'll walk that path anyway.  This is a revamp of the original PC Tomb Raider title done for consoles. A 3rd person action adventure where you play Lara Croft, a British pack of attractively arranged pixels who likes rummaging through tombs looking for treasure. Lara is hired by the leader of an global enterprise to find the Scion of Atlantis, a mysterious artifact that both Lara and her father were obsessed with before his disappearance years before. As Natla has discovered the tomb where it is supposed to be hidden, Lara sets out to hunt through the tomb.

 

The opening area introduces you to the basic mechanics, running, jumping, climbing, etc. You defend yourself from predators (bats, bears, wolves) with your trusty dual pistols. Eventually you learn adrenaline dodges and head shots, running through bullet time motion.  The real key here though is exploring the tomb. While not as open as some titles, the tombs are much more explorable and involved than the tombs in the reboot a few years ago. Extra trophies are available for finding artifacts and relics which are a bit off the beaten path within the tomb.  There are also a few quick time events which show up, running through them being fairly straightforward.

 

Tomb Raider Anniversary looks much sharper than its original PC incarnation and runs smoothly. Jumping around controls well as you scale walls within huge cavernous areas, solving lever and other environmental puzzles. The camera isn't a hindrance and I haven't had a cheap feeling death yet though there are time trial trophies which I'm sure will drive me crazy later.

 

The difficulty isn't bad, I'm playing in hard mode right now to save trophy time later. I have finished the first area (Peru), broken up into 4 levels and picked up all the trophies except the time trial.  I'm about to move on to the second location after an attempt by my employer to double cross me.

 

I'm enjoying this and am constantly reminded that this is what Tomb Raider was before the reboots turned the games into Uncharted starring Lara Croft.  Huge tombs for exploring and not these endless mobs of enemies for innocent Lara to wipe out broken up by tombs slightly bigger than my closet.  I'm having a lot of fun with this.

 

Trophies earned: 10/42, 16% for D rank

Score so far: 8/10

 

Edited July 2, 2018 by Kevvik

[MidnightDragon]

Going to skip it this time since it’d interfere with my plans. Maybe next time.

[xFalionx]

6 hours ago, Metal Slime King said:

@xFalionx Online servers for WipeOut 2048 on Vita have already shutdown. Plat is unobtainable if you don't have the online yet, just so you know!

Yeah, I figured there would be some unobtainables in my remaining unplayed games but I've already got games on my profile that I know for certain I will never get back to because of difficulty or other reasons, so I already stopped myself from ever achieving 100% completion. I'm fairly certain that a fast paced racing game like WipEout would fit into that category of plats I wouldn't have earned anyway. 

 

Also, I'm clasping at straws here. I've got like 8 unplayed games overall, some of which are repeats of the same genre, which I'd like to avoid for the sake of variety. All in all, this KYC my choice of games was severely limited by the fact that I can't use any of my physical PS3 games as well as PS+ games, so I'm fairly happy to have an interesting list despite that.

 

3 hours ago, Metal Slime King said:

Well my first day experience with Evolve was that it has a 16Gb update download to get started. Check back tomorrow for further details.

Those are the times I'm glad I still don't own a PS4. My friend came over with his PS4 once and we were like "let's play some Mortal Kombat" only to find out that there's a huge update waiting... PS3 updates are far and few between and they usually don't surpass 3GB.  

 

Anyways, for my own first day update:

 

Game #1: Catherine (PS3)

1st day

Total playtime: about 40 minutes

 

So, Catherine is a Puzzle game with Visual Novel-like storytelling think Persona 4 and replace the JRPG with Puzzle, that's pretty close.

 

The story revolves around 32 year old protagonist Vincent Brooks who can't bring himself to take his long lasting relationship with his girlfriend Katherine to the next level. One day he starts having really weird nightmares that make him feel like he really could have died there. This starts troubling him even more when he learns of the mysterious death of one of his acquaintances, who was just found dead in his bed after the same night Vince had his first nightmare. Incidentally, there was a voice in that nightmare telling him, that they would meet again should the both of them survive this. 

 

The gameplay is split between nightmare sections and bar sections. The nightmares are the Puzzle part of the game. You have to climb a staircase-like construction of blocks by rearranging them into pathways before the blocks below you fall down into the abyss. So far the controls are simple:  to move and climb,  to push and pull blocks. 

I've completed the first stage fairly easily and stopped after dying in the second. Overall the gameplay feels responsive and well-paced but the game punishes mistakes and rushed decisions as I've found out in the second stage where I continued to block my own path by trying to create a new one. You can also press  to undo a move on normal difficulty and below but I was too frantic to make use of that.

 

The bar sections, or the daytime, is when the story advances. Vince sits around in a bar and gets himself drunk while answering texts on his phone. These texts as well as other decisions play into the Karma system, which apparently decides which of the million endings you will get.

 

What struck me first is that you get a fully narrated main menu. It's pretty funny to have a deep voice telling you what you can do int the settings. Speaking of settings, they are very lackluster and basically come down to inverted controls. What I really don't like is that there's no option to play the original Japanese dub, that would always be nice to have, but I do feel that English suits the game fairly well. 

 

What I also really like is the artistic design of the whole game. From the main menu to over the cutscenes to the actual look of gameplay, it's all in it's own style and looks very appealing. Same goes for the sound design and music choices, everything fits well together to create an immersive experience.

 

I'm positively surprised and I'm sure I'll have a great time playing this casually. I'm pretty certain the platinum is going to be hell, especially if the difficulty continues to ramp up as more and more mechanics are introduced. Also, I've got to replay the second half of the game like a million times to get all of the numerous ending trophies. I feel like this is one of the games where the biggest difficulty lies in a few trophies while many are not that hard to get.

 

Right now I'd give the game a rating of somewhere around 8/10.

 

Edit:

I'm back for one day and I've already managed to run out of reputation to give for the day. That's how you know you're part of KYC.  

Also, I totally spent more time writing this short first day review than I actually did playing the game...

 

 

Edited July 2, 2018 by xFalionx

[eigen-space]

Well, Day 1 went better than expected. I didn't think I'd actually complete this in a single day but.... well....

 

This game was rated at 15-20 hours on PST, but it took me 11.5 hours from first trophy to last which lands me at spot #11 on the Fastest Achievers board. Had I not took a break for lunch and housekeeping duties, I could have maybe nabbed a top 5 spot. That'll teach me to have proper nutrition! Bah humbug.
I didn't even think I was playing through this quickly 

Anyway...

 

This game really great. I wasn't expecting much from a game published by GameStop, but this far exceeded any expectations I had for it. From the moment I started my game, I was hooked. It starts off with some backstory and really nice illustrations to go along with it as well as a narrator who has this really fantastic accent (that I can't place). From there, you're quickly introduced to the game's mechanics, which did take some getting used to. After dying a couple times, though, I finally got the hang of things.

 

This game is mostly puzzles, with a little bit of dexterity thrown in here and there. A couple puzzles involving reflecting light off mirrors can be tricky because you have to manually reflect the light, and the controls are super sensitive... feels like playing one of those crane games to be honest.... you think you have everything lined up, but if you're even a millimeter off, you won't get the result you were hoping for (extremely unforgiving).

And there's one part where you really have to have good reflexes... which I don't have... so my husband had to come into the room and shut the door because I was yelling expletives at the television... 

 

Overall, though, the game isn't terribly challenging. It's mostly just observing patterns in either your surroundings or seeing how the enemies attack.

The boss battles also aren't difficult at all.... you just have to figure out what the "trick" is for the fight and then everything is pretty easy. 

 

Nearly all the trophies are story-based, but the descriptions of the ones that aren't story-based are pretty straightforward. There's one trophy for getting all upgrades for your submarine, which seems tedious at first, but the game gives you plenty of treasure and money from defeating enemies. I think I was able to get that trophy done with about 75% of the treasures plus the loot drops from monsters. All treasures are marked on the map, and you can always go back to get anything you missed. In fact, the game will have you travel back to places you've already been for certain objectives... and the game also gives you brand new features to your ship throughout the game, so if you can't get to a treasure when you first see it, don't worry about it... chances are you just don't have whatever upgrade you need.

You shouldn't need a guide at all so long as you're adequate at puzzle games.

Oh, and, I definitely teared up once or twice during the game. Despite that the game is short, they do build a really good story.

 

But the best thing about this game is the soundtrack. Just listen.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2018 by eigen-space

[Myu]

6 hours ago, PerryToxteth said:

Good to have you back! I hope you are doing better in RL since the last KYC. 

 

Those last months were a real roller-coster but I feel way better after getting surgery. The main problem is not entirely gone but the pains definitely disappeared. ?

[crimsonidol38]

Game 1, Day 1:
Final Fantasy X HD (PS Vita)

 

I'm sure everyone's aware of the fact that Final Fantasy is a long-lasting and critically acclaimed JRPG-series that exists for more than 30 years and spans over nearly 20 main releases and a countless numbers of spin-offs. FF X was the first game of the series on the PS2 and I guess similar to FF VII on the PS1 it was probably one of the main entry point to Final Fantasy for many people (my first FF was the 8th installment btw). X HD is a slightly remastered port of the original PS2-game with slightly better character models and a newly arranged soundtrack. And AFAIK it was the first time US-peeps were able to use the game's advanced skill tree.

 

The game takes place on a planet called Spria and the main protagonist is Tidus, who acts like a spoiled kid and holds some kind of hatred towards his father. The game starts off with introducing him and his occupation, as he's a player of the fictional sport Blitzball, which seems to be rather popular on the planet. Shortly after, Tidus's hometown Zanarkand gets attacked by some big monster called Sin and soon after he finds himself stranded in some foreign place with a completely different culture, people talking ghibberisch and monsters trying to kill him. I won't go into detail about the further story but so far I reached the point that Tidus met Yuna and they are now on a pilgrimage. I had to fight Sin (or parts of it) on a boat and I'm currently at Kilika.

 

A fun fact: I mentioned that I already tried to play the game a few years ago (2011 or 2012) but didn't play it very far as I just checked the guide book and the most I can remeber is that I finished the Kilika Temple, which is about three and a half hours into the game. Main reason why I stopped playing the game years ago was the cast, which barely has any likeable character for me. The only ones that seem to interest me are Auron, Rikku, and Kimahri. Maybe my sympathy for the other characters will change but I assume it's very unlikely for Tidus and Wakka. Tidus seems to be a mix between a spoiled brat and an airhead and Wakka seems to be another airhead and a do-gooder that reminds me too much of Xell from FF 8.

 

When it comes to the gameplay FF X seems to be rather standard compared to most JRPGs. Unlike the previous entries of the series it features a more simple turn-based battle system without any active time elements. The only complex element is the skill tree which is called sphere grid. To sum it up: When defeating enemies you get so called AP (Ability Points). If you gain enough APs you will get the possibility to move one space on the grid. While moving on the grid, you can activate different nodes of it which give you abilities and increased stats. But to activatee them you have to get some specific items as drops from fighting battles. There are some restrictions in which paths you can take at first but it seems to open up later on.

 

So far I think the game is okay'ish. Can't really find a thing to dislike but there's also not much positive to say. It just seems to be yet another JRPG from that era. *duck and hide*

Edited July 4, 2018 by Crimson Idol

[Caju_94]

Wow, this seems a rather interesting event. However, I'm already participating in others and I can't just kill my completion and start lots of games like that yet... I'm trying to platinum/100% I've been leaving behind... But if you could give me a date prediction for the 8th edition, I would certainly participate.

 

I'll be reading your reviews, meanwhile!