Arcesius' Pursuit of Completion

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Arcesius said:

Didn't you play this with your girlfriend?  

 

 

Thanks man! It's not like I have a lot of time to do these kinds of things, but I had to see it through regardless... You know, having the checklist look how I imagine it to keep me motivated with updating it regularly  

 

How are those ranked wins coming along? 

Nope, she just watched, laughed and was occasionally "where the hell did you find that game this time?" before resuming her anime or whatever she was watching.

 

And...71 wins. Getting closer but damn the online is Dial-Up levels of quality.

[Joe Dubz]

2 hours ago, Copanele said:

As the official representative of the "I'd rather play alone" group, members : me, I can guarantee that this game is hella fun even solo 

Good to know I'm not the only one in this group ?

 

@Arcesius I have very much been enjoying following this thread! You have quite the way with words and I very much have been enjoying your reviews ? I hope you keep it going anyway. I like the looks of your new method too, just for the record!

[Arcesius]

15 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

Good to know I'm not the only one in this group ?

 

@Arcesius I have very much been enjoying following this thread! You have quite the way with words and I very much have been enjoying your reviews ? I hope you keep it going anyway. I like the looks of your new method too, just for the record!

 

Well, I was in the same boat, mostly playing single player games and, from time to time, convincing my girlfriend to grind out levels in FF XII while I was doing something else.. ? Ah those times... 

 

But then, thanks to this thread, @Mori approached me asking if I would do Badland with him... Well, we have since played so many games except Badland.. ? Soon I hope. 

In any case, I'm really greatful. It took this hobby that I enjoy so much but added a social component that I welcome a lot. And I mean, I only play in coop twice a week due to family and other commitments, but I enjoy those evenings a ton, and I have meanwhile played incredible games I would not have played otherwise (most recent example is of course Vermintide). 

 

Thanks a lot for the nice feedback!  Always very happy to read that my reviews are well received! 

 

 

 

Speaking of coop-games... Let's review Risk of Rain 2! This time, I had the pleasure to tackle this game with @Mori and @Koro249, and was the first game I got to play with @Exhuman1988 . Let it not be the last! 

 

 

 

Risk of Rain 2

 

 

 

The Pitch

With a unique visual style and fun, responsive third person shooter gameplay, Risk of Rain 2 manages to stand out from the giant catalogue of rogue-like games, becoming quite hectic at times and definitely offering decent fun, especially in multiplayer. 

 

 

 

 

The Best

I usually enjoy run-based games, but when runs start out slow, starting over can become frustrating with time. In the case of Risk of Rain 2, not 5 seconds after having dropped into Stage 1 for the first time we were already killing hordes of enemies left and right  It was a surprise, that's for sure, but a good one! 

And the action just doesn't stop. Enemies keep spawning from everywhere, and you are frantically (at least while you are still new to the game) trying to find the portal that will spawn the Boss and progress the run, all while picking up strange items, interacting with shrines that you don't know what the hell they are going to trigger, and trying to get to the next closed chest to grab the item inside before your coop-partners even notice it   

 

I mentioned in a previous review that I really enjoy when the items you pick up stack, instead of replacing the ones you picked up previously... This is again the case here. Only that in Risk of Rain 2, you can (and often should) have mutliple copies of the same items, which then simply increase your chances of the effect triggering (for example landing a critical shot, proccing missiles to launch, etc...). Now - and I will go into this in more detail later in the review - I had the most fun with this game while I was still learning how everything works, when coming across a new item and picking it up, ready to be surprised by its effects... It is an exciting experience ?   

 

 

The Worst

I don't really have a lot to say here. Nothing is particularly bad other than maybe some performance issues. The game can and will get very busy at some point, with many enemies, items, drops, etc.. present on the stage at the same time. There are also certain pickups that will periodically release other items, such as planting "War Banners", for example. So the more time you spend on a stage, and the further you advance in a run (and consequently the more items you have), the busier the game becomes. 

 

Now, every single instance (enemy, item, drop, etc...) is tracked constantly, so as the number of instances increases, the performance of the game suffers. A lot. Lag is pretty much unavoidable if you make it far into a run. On a regular PS4 (Pro), it is not uncommon to experience game crashes regularly. This becomes even more of a problem in multiplayer, and can be pretty frustrating for sure. 

 

Other than the technical issues... I dunno, it felt a bit weird to be playing a rogue-like where the layout of the stages is not randomized ? Sure, there are several locations in each stage where the portal can spawn, but since the stage itself is always the same, eventually you know the possible spawn locations. 

 

Oh, and the "final" boss... (Mithrix) What the actual fuck? First of all, the path leading to this dude is unbelievably (and unecessarily) long, and the boss fight itself is pretty awkward. Maybe I'm missing something, but I really don't like the fight. It is not in line with the rest of the game  

 

 

The Challenge

So, this is a weird one, because whether this game is or isn't challenging depends on whether we are talking about going for the in-game challenges tied to trophies, or trying to also complete all other in-game challenges. But I didn't bother playing past the 100%, so that's what I will focus on here ?

 

You saw my challenge rating above, didn't you? This is, if you want it to be, a very easy game... but that wasn't always the case. A game update after release introduced "Artifacts", which once unlocked can be activated before starting a run and change the gameplay in very dramatic ways. And I truly mean "dramatic". One of the artifacts, the "Artifact of Command", makes it so that whenever an item drops, you can choose what you want it to be... Yes, this artifact pretty much gets rid of all item-RNG (the only random factor now is the rarity of the item), making it very straightforward to consistently put together a god-build, and pretty much trivializing this game's tougher challenges. 

 

With the "Artifact of Command" active, completing 20 stages in a single run was an absolute joke. We would have made it on our first try, but the game crashed during Stage 13... ? A known issue, apparently, as I mentioned above... We then switched to Koro as the host and thanks to the power of his PS5, we completed the run on our next attempt with a lot of lag at certain points, but luckily no crash ?

 

Anyways... the challenge... is pretty much absent if you want it to be. To be honest, the most fun we (I) had with this game was during our first session, when we didn't use Artifacts an were playing on a higher difficulty setting. I am well aware that it is up to us players how we choose to play our games. In this case, the introduction of Artifacts and the trophy list guided us towards choices that I believe hurt our overall impressions of the game, and really prevented us from getting hooked by it. 

[Arcesius]

... Since one cannot delete posts and I - accidentally - pressed the key-shortcut to send a post while writing my next review... This edited post is what you get ?

 

Review for 10 Second Ninja X incoming soon..!   

 

 

While we are here.. I might as well write an update on the two games I'm actively playing: 

 

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

In contrast to Vermintide 2, now that we are familiar with the mechanics of these games, we managed to get pretty much everything done in only 3-4 sessions... We are currently playing through the campaign on Cataclysm difficulty, and might be done tonight, depending on how well we play. 

 

I've also been playing this game solo quite a bit since we will all need to reach lv. 100, and we needed to grind 200 badges in survival mode. Getting those 200 badges was painfully braindead, and consisted of around 15 hours of playing the frist two waves over and over and over and over.. ?

 

But hey, the trophy is called "Tenacious", and just look at the image:

 

 

Anyone recognize this? Yes, it's a rat-version of the pick from "Pick of Destiny", by Tenacious D ? That might be my new favorite Easter-Egg related to trophies. 

 

Anyways.. once we are done with the campaign I'm probably looking at another 9-10 hours of mindless grinding to reach lv. 100... 

 

 

 

Final Fantasy VII: Remake

I... kinda stoped playing this game. I wrote a status update about my initial impressions not too long ago, but haven't played since. I love seeing my well-known characters so realistically pictured, to witness their interactions, to hear their voices... The visuals are (mostly) great, and many of the iconic scenes from the original game are untouched, so that nostalgia is present all. the. time. 

 

However, both the combat AND linearity of the game are getting on my nerves. I've been told that once I get to Hard mode I will get to know how deep the combat is, but so far it's just FF XV all over again. Engage in combat, hold square until everything is dead, continue. 

 

About linearity... I'm not talking about missing side-quests (there are even some available), but rather about the level design and item placement. I don't want to get into too much detail yet since I'm pretty early in the game (finished Chapter 7 I believe), so hopefully the game will surprise me soon! 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Arcesius

[Arcesius]

10 Second Ninja X

 

 

 

The Pitch

The bearded Captain of a floating ship, obsessed with breaking the spirit of the fastest Ninja on the planet, has just kidnapped you, and your only way out is to overcome the shortest time trials you have ever seen! 

 

 

 

The Best

I would argue that 10SNX is more a puzzle game than an actual platformer. Sure, proper execution is crucial to get three stars in each level, but to me, the main challenge was figuring out the fastest way to finish each stage. 

And it is this combination of puzzle-elements and platforming-execution, all with the unusual time-constraint that I enjoyed more than I would have though initially. The game starts out simple enough, so that knowing where to shoot one of your limited projectiles, and where to rather slash with your sword is pretty easy to figure out. But in the latter worlds / stages, where portals, switches and grappling hooks are introduced, you might be scratching your head for a while ??

 

But this game would not be equally fun if not for the incredibly tight time constraints. If you have a look at the leaderboards, you will see that most (but the top) players that achieve 3 stars are often only a couple of hundredths of a second apart. There is absolutely no leeway, and going a couple of pixels too far to one side can already result in a big enough time-loss to not be awarded the highest rating. 

 

Oh and while each level needs to be completed within 10 seconds, as the title suggests, the time for 3 stars almost never exceeds 4-5 seconds, and many stages can be completed in merely 1-2 seconds ?

 

 

The Worst

There are two things that got on my nerves pretty good while playing this game.

 

The first one was the constant interruptions to continue the "oh so important plot"... Sure, have a plot in a game like this if you want, but man, when I'm halfway through a world, the last thing I want is to be forcefully be taken out to the hub to continue a plot of no substance. You see, story-progression is not tied to finishing a world, but rather to the number of stars you collect. That means that the plot does not continue when you finished an entire world, but rather as soon as you've collected enough stars, which moslty happens when you just finished stage 3/10 or 5/10 or 7/10 or whatever other stage of the world that you are trying to finish. 

Why in all hell would you take me out of 'the zone' to go switch on a fucking generator and have the Captain talk down to me? I don't get it, and I was annoyed every single time it happened. 

 

The second issue I had has to do with a stylistic choice that is rare enough that you don't hear me complain about it too often, but everytime I see this in a game I gotta ask myself who really finds this to be a good design choice. Have a look at the following: 

 

 

Can you guess what I mean? Yeah, the text. I absolutely despise it when the text is alligned this way, starting in the center, becoming wider as the sentence gets longer, even spliting over two lines eventually. It makes it so freaking annoying to read, and has no advantage over other choices whatsoever. I hate it, it is bad design, and it makes me not wanna read what you have to say. 

 

 

The Challenge

So, this turned out to be much, much easier than I had anticipated. As mentioned above, probably the harder part about this game was figuring out a fast enough route for each of the stages. Once you find that route, execution is usually not a problem, maybe with a couple of exceptions. However, those exceptions are rare, and each world will usually only have 1-2 stages that you might fail from time to time. 

 

Otherwise, the challenge sounds more daunting than it actually is, with the hardest thing the game has you do being to X-rank all Marathon modes. Each world has a Marathon mode, where you need to play all levels back to back, getting 3-stars in each level without dying, and without retrying. What sounded like a good challenge turned out to be pretty manageable, as the levels are so short that one entire marathon only takes 30-40 seconds to complete, so after a couple of tries you will already have built up enough muscle memory to manage to get an X-rank in a shorter time than you'd imagined. 

 

Only the marathons in World 1 and 6 took me a bit over an hour, with the remaining 9 marathons taking 30 minutes or less. However, I feel like it was my own fault that World 6 took me that long, since I attempted it pretty late and was already tired. Once you got World 1, the rest will be a piece of cake. 

 

 

Overall, this game is a short and fun title. It is definitely not worth its full price, but I could recommend it if you get it during a sale and have a couple of hours to spare   

Edited April 1, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

I will agree that 10 Second Ninja X's attempt at a story was pretty pathetic. Made no sense but I felt that ultimately the story didn't matter at all.

 

Not the best platformer obviously but one I ended up enjoying. Doing the Marathons with a X rank kept me busy for a few hours. Nothing too overly difficult.

[Arcesius]

Alright, there is no going back now. 

 

There is a lot going on right now that I hope I will be able to cover soon. After finishing Vermintide 1 a couple of weeks ago I though I'd have a bit more time to review the game before finishing the next one, but I was wrong. I have meanwhile also finished Final Fantasy 7 Remake AND Rise & Shine... So that's three games waiting to be destroyed on a public forum ?

 

However, what I mean by no going back is... I finally started Splasher! That's right. I feel in the mood to tackle what is probably the hardest game I own after Crypt of the NecroDancer. After a casual playthrough and getting all Misc trophies out of the way, the next step now is to go for the ridiculously tight Platinum Medal times in each of the individual levels... 

 

I believe that there will be plenty of time to review all my pending games before I make any significant progress in Splasher, soooo... ?

 

Anyways, here is my Platinum Medal for Level 2... I'm not going for top-placements on leaderboards or anything. Just getting the Platinum Medal is enough for me. 

 

 

 

Depending how draining these Time Trials are, I might start another game on the side to make some progress when I don't feel like grinding miliseconds. 

 

 

Alright, that was a short update from my side... Take care everyone! 

[AJ_Radio]

God, Splasher looks brutal. I don’t know, maybe I can do it? You’ve already done stuff like Trials Fusion which already tells me you got the skills and sheer perseverance necessary to tackle hard as nails game. 
 

Nah, I think I’m going to settle with Nex Machina whenever the next sale comes. I’m not paying $19.99 for it. Matterfall also looks tempting, but Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition will likely come before either of these. 
 

Still need a partner for the rank trophies in Resogun. Awesome shmup if you haven’t played it by this point. 
 

Good luck on Splasher. Looking at those platinum achievers, those guys have some real serious gaming skills. Especially Danny_Johansen, that guy is a fucking beast.

[Arcesius]

11 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

God, Splasher looks brutal. I don’t know, maybe I can do it? You’ve already done stuff like Trials Fusion which already tells me you got the skills and sheer perseverance necessary to tackle hard as nails game. 

 

There is only one way to get a game done... and that's by playing the game ?  

 

In all honesty though, while probably really tough, Splasher also offers the kind of challenges that I love in games. It has tight speedruns and a challenging no-death run... Especially the time attacks should be really fun to go for! So far I did the first 4, don't know if I will be able to keep the pace though since the latter levels are really complicated. In the video I just posted I can only shoot water. Eventually, you have three different types of ink that you can shoot, so things get messy. 

 

 

11 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

Nah, I think I’m going to settle with Nex Machina whenever the next sale comes. I’m not paying $19.99 for it. Matterfall also looks tempting, but Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition will likely come before either of these. 

 

I own Matterfall but somehow cannot bring myself to start it. It looks clunky and far inferior to Nex Machina... But maybe it would be the perfect game to start parallel to Splasher ? We'll see! 

[BrandedBerserk]

9 hours ago, Arcesius said:

I own Matterfall but somehow cannot bring myself to start it. It looks clunky and far inferior to Nex Machina... But maybe it would be the perfect game to start parallel to Splasher  We'll see! 

 

Matterfall is nowhere near nex machina but still an enjoyable game in its own ways. It's been awhile since I played it but clunky wasn't one of the weak points. 

[Arcesius]

Alright, time for an update! 

 

Splasher is going... actually great! It is such a fun game, let me tell you... I dunno, time attacks are just so freaking fun to beat! ? So far I beat 15/22 individual time trials, with #15 being generally considered the hardest one, though that is probably just due to it being a rather rough difficulty spike. It's the first level where you have all three types of ink available, and so getting used to using all of them within the same level requires a bit of practice... 

 

I just barely beat the level by like 40 hundredths of a second, and that was pulling off two almost frame-perfect skips! ? Overall it took me a good 1.5 hours to get this one done... 

 

Here is my attempt (I have been uploading all of my clears, just in case you are interested): 

 

 

We will see how difficult the remaining time attacks are. The goal is to beat all 22 of them and then go over to the full-game speedruns. Not really looking forward to those, I think these individual levels are probably more fun to go for, but we'll see when we get there! 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

You can do it. You got the skills.

[Baker]

These Platinum Medal time trials sure look like a lot of fun. I guess once you master all the levels the full game speedruns shouldn’t be too bad right?
 

Hmmm ?. I might reconsider this game. First I’ll wait for your review though.

[Arcesius]

20 hours ago, Baker said:

These Platinum Medal time trials sure look like a lot of fun. I guess once you master all the levels the full game speedruns shouldn’t be too bad right?
 

Hmmm . I might reconsider this game. First I’ll wait for your review though.

 

Oh they certainly are... I'm now done with all 22 individual levels, and going for those times has definitely been really, really fun... And the times are super tight, too! Reminded me a lot of Action Henk ?

 

However, I did those time attacks over the last 5 days or so.. so the first levels are not fresh in my mind anymore. This morning I had my first attempt at the first full-game speedrun, the Selfish speedrun, which is basically an any% run... no collectibles, just going through all levels in a row. The platinum medal for that speedrun sits at around 43 minutes, and my time was 56 minutes... So sure, I'm happy that my first attempt was in under an hour, but I still have plenty of practice ahead of me despite having nailed all individual platinum medals... ? My playtime is roughly 35 hours so far, but I guess that it might double before I'm done with this game. 

 

Also, the runs with collectibles will need a different routing, so I'm not really sure how I want to approach that. And there is of course the trophy for completing the entire game without dying, which is probably going to be the hardest thing to do in this game. 

 

That also means that I'm probably not going to be making progress as fast as I have been so far. I was able to get most of the individual levels done in 20-40 minutes (with exceptions... some levels took me 2 hours), but one single attempt at a full-game speedrun takes 50-70 minutes depending on the run, so I won't be getting many attempts each day... 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

You ever considered Super Rude Bear Resurrection?

[Arcesius]

15 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

You ever considered Super Rude Bear Resurrection?

 

Well, it does not necessarily look like something I'd want to play, but @Miles speaks highly about it and he's someone that knows his platformers... So I'll probably end up getting it on a sale at some point. 

 

(Now if only I would have an influence as well and he'd do The End is Nigh... ?)

 

Do you have any interest in SRBR yourself?

Edited April 25, 2021 by Arcesius

[Arcesius]

For the next review, it will be impossible to not mention Warhammer: Vermintide 2... But I will try my best to keep the comparisons to a minimum! I will just leave the link to the V2 review here, just in case  

 

And once more, huge shoutouts to my team - @Mori (Saltzpyre), @Koro249 (Sienna) and @Floriiss (Kerillian) - and here's to hoping more Vermintide content will reach the PS soon!  

 

 

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

 

 

 

The Pitch

The End Times are upon us, and its up to your team of peculiar but deadly characters and their trusted weapons to let the Skaven heads roll over the fields and through the caves of Übersreik. 

 

 

 

The Best

The reason I fell in love with this game (or, well, with its sequel V2) is, mainly the combat and general gameplay. And while End Times - Vermintide would probably make a better impression if played without having seen all the improvements that Fatshark implemented in the sequel, End Times - Vermintide still easily outclasses most other games I've played in this aspect. 

 

Now, in contrast to V2, this game is... what's a good word... way more crude, raw, rough... There are no special abilities, no talent trees, character customization or different classes for each character. Instead, it's just you and your choice of two weapons (one melee, one ranged weapon) againts hordes of enemies. That makes it way more difficult to clutch, but also puts a much bigger emphasis on your skill to read the situation and act accordingly. There is no plan B. And this is a good thing! At least partially. The replayability of the game, respectively the "getting hooked" factor suffers a bit, especially since I don't see a good reason to stick to End Times - Vermintide when V2 keeps getting new content and updates, but the lack of "panic button"-abilities also forces you to properly learn how and where to fight the different types of enemies and wave compositions. 

 

And of course, the enemy composition is still one of the things that makes combat incredibly engaging. There are only Skaven in this game, no Chaos or Beastmen, but you still have regular mobs, armored elites and sneaky specials that you need to keep track off. There is only one boss, the Rat Ogre (Roger), at least in the base game, but it should not be underestimated!  

 

 

The Worst

This is easy.. the crafting / forging system in this game is atrocious. First of all, after you finish any mission, you have seven random weapons / trinkets that you can get as a reward, in various rarities depending on the difficulty you are playing. You roll some dice, and voilá, you get the weapon that corresponds to your dice-roll. 

Now, unless you care about Veteran items (highest rarity), where you'd be forced to do Cataclysm missions with all Grimoires just to even have a chance at aquiring such a weapon, this is not THAT much of a deal... 

 

Now, assume that you want to forge a specific weapon.. Well.. you cannot ? You can forge a weapon for a specific character, but the weapon you get is a random one from that character's weapon pool. For my character that meant a 1/6 chance of successfully forging the weapon I was looking for. The ressources, especially at the beginning, are really scarce though, so you often cannot afford to take chances. 

 

But wait, why would you want to forge a weapon in the first place? I'm glad you asked, dear reader. Well, in order to play higher difficulties, you need weapons in better quality... Assume you have a blue Axe and want to upgrade it to an orange one. If you only have a single blue Axe, the cost of upgrading this weapon is abysmal. For any further blue Axe that you have, the cost of upgrading decreases... So should you use your ressources and HOPE to get a blue Axe? Or should you keep them and pay a ridiculous amount just for a single upgrade?

 

But wait! Now that you finally have the weapon you want, you still need to roll the traits that you want on it! And since there are SO. MANY. TRAITS, you will most likely run out of currency before you get the three that you want (since, you know.. you don't roll one trait at a time.. you roll the set of three at the same time and either keep the old set, or choose the new one). 

 

Seriously, the new system in V2 is still crap, but SO much better than this... it's a grindy mess, but unfortunately unavoidable if you want to gear up for Cataclysm difficulty. 

 

 

The Challenge

I will begin this section by stating the following: Without prior experience, and without a dedicated group... achieving 100% in this game is a very, VERY daunting task. Forget the grinding, the randomness of the loot (which needs to be in your favor for the DLC weapons) and everything else.. if you want to 100% End Times - Vermintide, you pretty much need to become quite the pro at this game. 

 

And I mean it, as a full playthrough of the main campaign on the highest difficulty, Cataclysm, is required to complete the game. And ooooh boy does Cata differ from the other difficulties... Here, every character has only 100 HP, which means that a single overhead-attack from a Stormvermin is a one-hit kill. Even a regular attack from a trash mob means 1/3 of your health is gone. With how scarce healing items are on this difficulty (and with the density and frequency of hordes on this difficulty), the single most important thing that you need to learn is how to avoid taking damage. 

 

But once you master your character, once you can swing your weapon of choice effortlessly (and precisely), conquering mission after mission sure feels rewarding and, most importantly, hella fun!  

 

Now, if you have never played a Vermintide game before, reaching the level of mastery required to survive on this highest difficulty can take a very long time. Luckily, completing the 80 ranked weaves in V2 tought us enough that completing all missions on Cataclysm wasn't a big deal. 

 

 

Would I recommend the game? Sure, it is nothing short of excellent... but if you are interested in simply trying out the franchise, I would go with Vermintide 2 instead. Especially if you don't have a group, since the servers in End Times - Vermintide are pretty empty these days. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

That's a lot of work to get Warhammer done. I don't have the strength to do a game like that. Long time consuming games with a bunch of grinding are my weak point.

[Arcesius]

On 28.4.2021 at 5:37 AM, AJ_Radio said:

That's a lot of work to get Warhammer done. I don't have the strength to do a game like that. Long time consuming games with a bunch of grinding are my weak point.

 

I don't see it as work. As stated before, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is probably the best game I've played in recent memory. Sure, we spent 200 hours to get the list to 100%, with 100 hours spent on one trophy alone, but it was so much fun that it really didn't bother any of us (I think I can speak for all of us  ) 

 

Vermintide 1 went much quicker after having played V2 for so long. And I say "so long" as if 200h were a lot... there are players with way over 4500 hours in these games ?

 

 

Anyways, I'm here because I need to let off some steam. For the past couple of days I have been focusing on getting the platinum medal for the Splasher Selfish Speedrun (Any% run). That's all 22 levels, back to back, and the required time is 43:44. 

 

And let me tell you.. this game is kicking my ass like there's no tomorrow ? After my initial attempt, where I finished a run in roughly 56 minutes, I've been trying to get closer and closer to that platinum threshold. I was on pace yesterday, arriving at level 22 with over 4 minutes to complete the level (it's a long one, but still manageable in that time)... and I proceeded to chocke and died 10+ times, even though I can normally do that one deathless... ? It's all in the head. 

After a break and with a clear head I went back for another attempt and got a new PB with 43:55, 11 seconds over the target time. 

 

This is soo bloody hard! ? And it's not even the hardest task the game asks of you! 

 

I mean, I'm not really frustrated.. I went into this game well aware of the fact that it is brutal... But holy shit it has been a long time since I felt this challenged by a videogame ?

 

I'm hoping to earn that platinum medal soon... I'm not yet sure whether I want to attempt the deathless run next, since it's the same routing as the any% run, or move on to the other remaining speedruns... We'll see when we get there... one challenge at a time! 

 

Anyways, FF7R review coming next week!  I have been swamped with work this week so unfortunately didn't find the time to write it. Soon! 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

9 hours ago, Arcesius said:

I don't see it as work. As stated before, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is probably the best game I've played in recent memory. Sure, we spent 200 hours to get the list to 100%, with 100 hours spent on one trophy alone, but it was so much fun that it really didn't bother any of us (I think I can speak for all of us  ) 

 

Vermintide 1 went much quicker after having played V2 for so long. And I say "so long" as if 200h were a lot... there are players with way over 4500 hours in these games 

 

I didn't see The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as work either. Yet it took me 135 hours to get 100 percent completion trophy wise. Enjoyed every minute of it.

 

I spent over 9000 hours on Runescape and around 2000 - 3000 hours on World of Warcraft, I don't think I'll ever play another game where I spend that much time.

 

9 hours ago, Arcesius said:

And let me tell you.. this game is kicking my ass like there's no tomorrow  After my initial attempt, where I finished a run in roughly 56 minutes, I've been trying to get closer and closer to that platinum threshold. I was on pace yesterday, arriving at level 22 with over 4 minutes to complete the level (it's a long one, but still manageable in that time)... and I proceeded to chocke and died 10+ times, even though I can normally do that one deathless...  It's all in the head. 

After a break and with a clear head I went back for another attempt and got a new PB with 43:55, 11 seconds over the target time. 

 

This is soo bloody hard!  And it's not even the hardest task the game asks of you! 

 

I mean, I'm not really frustrated.. I went into this game well aware of the fact that it is brutal... But holy shit it has been a long time since I felt this challenged by a videogame 

 

What did you expect? You told me yourself, Splasher is one of the hardest platformers on PSN.

[Baker]

Those damn Full Game Speedruns!
 

Maybe it’s a good idea to play a relaxing coop game on the side. I’ve noticed Dragon’s Crown Pro is on sale and I think you would enjoy it. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a coop partner either...

Edited April 30, 2021 by Baker

[Arcesius]

Before we get into the review, I need to quickly write a few words about my history with and love for the Final Fantasy franchise just to have some context. 

 

I didn't grow up with videogames. In fact, I never owned a console until I was able to buy one with my own money when I was 16 (it was a PS2). But before I got my first console, I used to go over to a friend's place and play stuff together. The first game we played, and one of my first experiences with games in general, was Final Fantasy VII. I instantly fell in love with that game and from that moment on would always follow news about the upcoming entries in the series. I have meanwhile played every single entry multiple times on PC, on my PS2, on my X360 and now again on my PS4 (except FF I and II, and the MMOs XI and XIV), and for a long time this series would pretty much be the only games I was interested in. 

 

But then I got a PS4... and after finishing FF X and X-2 for the n'th time (with n being larger than I care to say ), I started looking for other games.. I discovered Bloodborne, later Furi and the vast and amazing indie-market in general, and I noticed that I was losing interest in the FF franchise... So much so that I barely watched the trailer for Final Fantasy XVI and have no idea what's going on with that game.. I just don't care ?

 

A similar thing happened with FF7R. I was as excited as evey single person in that E3 showroom when the game was announced.. I couldn't wait, it was what every fan wanted... and some years later the game came out... and I just didn't care... I knew I would get to it eventually, and thanks to PS+ I didn't even have to pay for it ? 

 

What am I trying to say? Well, in the case of FF7R, which is the game I'm reviewing, a HUGE part of my enjoyment of the game and even my interest for the game in the first place come from my memories from my starting days with videogames, from my nostalgic feelings, not from being currently intersted in playing a Square-Enix RPG. Consider that when I tear the game to pieces in the review! 

 

 

P.S. Oh, and despite it being my first Final Fantasy game, FF VII is not my favorite entry. It is probably still in the top-3, but FF IX takes the top spot, no contest there   

 

 

 

 

Final Fantasy VII Remake 

 

 

 

The Pitch

Return to the Mako-powered city of Midgar and join the ranks of the Eco-terrorist organization Avalanche led by the gun-armed and charming as always Barret, in an effort to take down Shinra and save the planet from being sucked up dry. 

 

 

 

The Best

Alright so if there is one thing that is undisputable, it is that the characters are incredibly well portrayed. Each and everyone of them, be it a Turk, an Avalanche member, Cloud, Hojo... they are FULL of their own unique personality that is noticeable with every single word they say. The interactions between characters are engaging, too, and the language used is... or rather, is NOT, prettified, which is honestly something I would have expected from a game such as this, aimed at as a broad audience as possible ? 

 

I truly enjoyed every single cutscene, every single line of dialogue tied to story progression. In the original game, for example, I didn't particularly care for Barret. Sure, he's always had a tragic and intriguing background-story, but his polygons just didn't stand out in any particular way. His character was a boring, shapeless mix of brown and green, and oh wow, he has a gun for an arm... Who cares. In FF7R... he very quickly became my favorite character. He reaks of personality, and I dunno, he is portrayed with an incredible passion, very well voiced, and always speaking his mind in a rough but clear and straightforward fashion. Just... awesome through and through. 

 

Truly, this is as amazing, as captivating, as good as it gets, and I was, and still am, very positively surprised. Despite having played this game (.. the original) so many times, I was hooked from start to finish when it came to the plot and the interactions. 

 

And man, if there is one thing they did well was to create a game that is engaging for newcomers, but also hit all of those nostalgia notes for veterans. All of the iconic scenes, be it crashing into Aerith's church and escaping through the roof, seeing Aerith's beautiful house for the first time, the toilet-blocking person in Wall Market, etc... all of these small and not so small things that are so iconic are present in the remake, it's fantastic.

 

Additionally, they gave Biggs, Wedge and Jessie their own stories, and made me care for them like I never did in the original game. They expanded the original story in a way that doesn't feel "wrong" whatsoever, and I am happy with the result. 

 

 

The Worst

Unfortunately, there are also many things that I didn't like quite as much. Even more unfortunately, they are not minor details that I can simply overlook. 

 

First of all, the combat, at least before you unlock Hard mode (which you don't until you finish the game for the first time). Basically, if you know anything about the Materia system (which, you know... if you have played the original, you will), combat amounts to the following: Hold / Mash . 

 

Yep, that simple. That's my combat guide, you're welcome ?

 

You'll be pretty successful with that in Hard mode, too! With the exception of boss fights, for which you'll have to think a bit more, simply link whatever element the enemies are weak to to your weapon and hold square. You might need to dodge from time to time when the enemies are holding a shield and approaching you at a snails pace, or use Wind-magic whenever you encounter those flying helicopter-motherfuckers but otherwise you can pretty much ignore the battle system entirely.

Now, I don't recommend doing that... There are a couple of battles that will require quite a bit of micro-management, and it's those battles where it is recognizable that the combat system is, at its core, pretty intricate and deep! But fact is: you won't need more than attack and dodge for 95% of the game, provided that you manage your materia well enough. That's a shame, it makes the sections where you are running through corridors and fighting enemies a chore, and you'll be constantly hoping to hit the next cutscene soon so that you can go back to enjoying the game. 

 

Aaaaand that's already touching upon my second significant gripe with this game: The level design. Holy mother of lizards, it takes a special kind of narrow-minded designers to create such linear maps. And don't get me wrong.. I'm not talking from the perspective of the plot and the side-activities. The original game was pretty linear during the Midgar-part, so obviously you cannot expect an open world (and I wouldn't want one). I'm literally talking about the level design. 

 

Here, this is 90% of the game: 

 

 

"Come on, Arcesius.. you are clearly exaggerating..." Nope, I really am not. Every single map is basically a curved corridor. The slums might have a couple of intersections, but otherwise you'll be navigating a corridor, finding enemies every couple of steps, having hidden loading screens behind forced slow-movement sections, trying to keep up the illusion of realism but, at least for me, breaking the flow. 

 

Maybe I'm being too harsh, I dunno, but this was, from the very beginning, one of the biggest problems I had with this game. And it doesn't get more apparent than during Chapter 17. Here you'll be exploring Hojo's lab. This is a part that was added to the Remake, it wasn't part of the original game... so hey, there you go designers, be creative, do your best! You even have Red XIII with you, and he can jump over some gaps, this surely opens up all kinds of crazy setups, right??? I mean, it's the perfect setting for having amazing secrets hidden all over the place... 

 

You know where I'm going with this, right? This lab, this chapter, full of potential, screaming for some non-linearity for once... Is just as linear as everything else. There is nothing intersting to find, no interesting application of Red XIII's wall-jump ability, no hidden paths... nothing. Just another corridor shaped differently than the others... but a corridor nonetheless. ?

 

 

The Challenge

For the first playthrough you can either play on Easy or Normal. I did an entire blind playthrough on Normal and, as mentioned above, didn't encounter a single difficulty spike. Naturally I was hoping for one when I got to my Hard mode playthrough, and sure enough I had to think a bit more about my Materia setup, especially during boss fights, but since I didn't really use items during my Normal playthrough either, this restriction wasn't really noticeable. 

 

Now, there are certain chapters on Hard that are definitely a bit more challenging than others. Especially Chapter 17 is definitely no pushover since you'll be facing 4 bosses pretty much back-to-back, and you can run out of MP (and they don't regenerate). In fact, I had to defeat The Arsenal without using any MP, but even that was very manageable. 

 

Then there is of course the ultimate challenge to overcome, which is the VR-mission that has you fight against some Aeons followed by the "Ultimate Weapon". I will admit I was stuck on this challenge for a bit. But it was my own fault. I was trying to rush through the challenge, even going as far as looking up some speedrun-strats and setups to get this done within a couple of minutes. After failing a couple of times, I decided to forget about what other players do and don't do, set up my characters as I saw fit, decided not to listen to all those people that pick Tifa over Barret and... got the challenge completed on my next attempt. 

 

And that really is what I think is the most important lesson to learn... don't try to copy what other players do. Keep fighting through the entire game with a setup that you are comfortable with and you'll be just fine. In the end, this is a relatively easy game with no notable challenge to mention ?

 

 

 

Alright, I hope you don't lynch me for being a bit harsh here, but the above is my honest opinion ?. As things stand I have no interest in playing the DLC that's coming out for the PS5 version, I am not really eagerly awaiting the release of the next part... Maybe things will change, we'll see. 

[S_y_n_e_IR_g_Y]

Nice Review, as always.

If i had to choose my top 3 Final Fantasy Games, i would say:

 

Final Fantasy 6

Final Fantasy 9

Final Fantasy 7 or maybe 10

 

But to my mind nothing beats Chrono Trigger???

I miss these Days of good JRPGs, was Pier Solar kinda similar? Its already in my Backlog ??

[Joe Dubz]

12 minutes ago, S_y_n_e_IR_g_Y said:

Nice Review, as always.

If i had to choose my top 3 Final Fantasy Games, i would say:

 

Final Fantasy 6

Final Fantasy 9

Final Fantasy 7 or maybe 10

 

But to my mind nothing beats Chrono Trigger

I miss these Days of good JRPGs, was Pier Solar kinda similar? Its already in my Backlog

Niiiiice, if I remember this correctly, FF6 was released in the U.S. as FF3 back in the day? If that is correct, FF6 is also my all-time fave FF game, followed by 8 then probably 10 for me personally. Not to mention Chrono Trigger is up there with my fave JRPG classics ?

 

To answer your question about Pier Solar, I was absolutely stunned at how well that game hit all the old JRPG feels!! I really felt like I was playing one of the old FF games, similar to FF6. If that sounds at all interesting to you, I would very highly recommend that game!! But be warned, the Eternal Slip mini game is the plat blocker for most, so make sure you check that out first before you buy just in case ?

 

 

[DrBloodmoney]

1 minute ago, Joe Dubz said:

Niiiiice, if I remember this correctly, FF6 was released in the U.S. as FF3 back in the day? If that is correct, FF6 is also my all-time fave FF game.

 

You are correct - on two counts here.

 

Correct that FFVI was FFIII in the states, and correct that FFVI is absolutely the best game in the series!