Arcesius' Pursuit of Completion

[Joe Dubz]

3 hours ago, Arcesius said:

 

 

 

 

@Joe Dubz I'm tagging you here since I promised to share my video... Good luck on your attempts, you got this!   

 

Awesomesauce Arc, I appreciate that!! Woooh boy that was intense... that last fight had me on the edge of my seat, even tho I knew how it inevitably ended!! This is very much helpful, looking forward to giving it another go soon. (also out of rep points ?, you will be getting one as soon as I can ?)

 

3 hours ago, Arcesius said:

The hardest challenge in the game is a low% Boss Rush, that is with no weapon upgrades and only one healing item for the entirety of the run. While not as daunting as Hollow Knight's Pantheon 5 (which now has me wonder where the rarity in that game would sit at if there was no exploit), this run still takes some practice. In contrast to Hollow Knight, some fights are much more chaotic here, and taking damage is unavoidable. And no, you cannot "git gud" and not take any damage. It's literally unavoidable. 

I remember the time before the HK exploit came out... I think then it was sitting in the low 4s, so you figure with it being a PS Plus free game, it would probably be sitting around 3% or so. 

 

Last but not least, I hope you enjoy your time away! Absence does make the heart grow fonder, after all ?

Edited July 23, 2021 by Joe Dubz

[Trumpet_Boi_208]

11 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Here is my successful attempt at Boss Run: Impossible. This was my first video captured with the PS5, and what I didn't know is that the Dual Sense Mic are on by default... So you hear me clear my throat a couple of times, and also sigh "gschafft" (done) once the run is over 

 

 

 

 

 

@Joe Dubz I'm tagging you here since I promised to share my video... Good luck on your attempts, you got this!   

Impressive run! I never realized there were safe spots during the King Cone and Murk boss fights, but the fact that your strategy against Bram actually worked could be a game changer to anyone who wishes to attempt this platinum! I should definitely update the guide with some of these strats when I can! Thanks for sharing your run!

 

9 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Hmm... Not even sure who's type of game this is  Personally I had a lot of fun with it, but while I'm going to pre-order Silksong (Hollow Knight's sequel) as soon as possible, I don't think I'm in a hurry to play Wuppo 2 if there ever is such a game. It's hard to recommend this one honestly. Since it combines so many gameplay elements there's definitely something for everyone here. 

Fun fact: There is actually a multiplayer spin-off of Wuppo currently in development. While it is set to release exclusively on Steam, a console release is not ruled out, if that answers your question at all. Not insisting that you should play it when it does release, I'm just pointing that out to anyone who's curious.

 

If anyone is curious, here's a link to the Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1321160/Wuppo_Breft_Festival_Forever/

Edited July 23, 2021 by Trumpet_Boi_208

[Arcesius]

13 hours ago, Trumpet_Boi_208 said:

Impressive run! I never realized there were safe spots during the King Cone and Murk boss fights, but the fact that your strategy against Bram actually worked could be a game changer to anyone who wishes to attempt this platinum! I should definitely update the guide with some of these strats when I can! Thanks for sharing your run!

 

Thanks! 

Well, let me elaborate on the strats a bit then, if you want to mention them in the guide  

• King Cone: So if you move too far, King Cone will actually turn around. The spot is not too precise, but you need to find that sweetspot where he doesn't turn, and you are still safe from the projectiles. That's roughly the white part of his "shoe". 
  Now, this works with him facing either direction (you know, in case you mess up the first try), but you really want to have him facing left. This way, you are 100% safe from his projectiles in the second phase as well, until his HP bar is at one circle. At that point, you might have to dodge 2 projectiles (which I failed to do in the video...). If you have him facing right instead, you will have to dodge way more projectiles during the second phase. 
   
• Murk: The spot is safe as long as you keep the steam-clouds away. Now, in my successful run, Murk only did one of his two attacks. There is a second spit-attack where he will spit four vertically aligned "balls" alternating high and low. During his attack, you'll need to back off a little bit every time he spits low. Avoiding damage is still no issue though, but just mentioning it since it's not showcased in the vid. 
   
• Bram: Ideally, you want to be patient and execute the strategy as I did in the first half of the fight. I was (still am) sick while attempting the runs, and so really staying focused during a drawn-out fight was not easy... So I start to play more impatiently during the second half, and consequently take more damage. You really want to react to his "bazooka-loading" quickly, and double jump towards him so that 1. Your projectiles drop on his head when he closes in on you again and 2. His bazooka shots explode close to the center of the room, so that you can avoid taking damage from them close to the right wall. 
  Also, the angle at which you need to fire your own shots is a bit tricky to get right. It's usually steeper than you'd think! 
  
  Due to my impatience I took more damage than I'd liked in my run above. But I had another run where I executed the strategy way better and ended up taking only 15-20 damage against him. If you manage to stay below 30 damage against Bram AND the Bib Fnakkers are cooperative and kill themselves quickly... Yeah then there is a good chance you can keep your Ice Cream for Bankkrent 2

 

Hope the explanations make sense! If there is anything else you want me to elaborate on, just ask ahead!  

Edited July 24, 2021 by Arcesius

[Destructor-8]

Congrats on the progress so far & finishing your recent games. Awesome job! As for your 100th Plat recommendation, I like the idea of something that you either enjoy or something that is insanely hard. I decided this recently as well & went for something I enjoy (has a good trophy tile too), since I'm already working on an insanely difficult DLC trophy. The ones I recognised that were suggested for you were Super Meat Boy: Forever or Nuclear Throne & both would look really good. I've heard Nuclear Throne is extremely difficult, but then Super Meatboy: Forever is too & has quite a nice trophy tile lol.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Destructor-8

[AJ_Radio]

I haven't checked this thread in well over a week, and I just saw you completed Wuppo. Crazy stuff dude. Out of everything you've done these past few months, Trine 3 and Trine 4 are by far the easiest games, that also happen to be the most boring.

[Arcesius]

23 hours ago, Destructor-8 said:

Congrats on the progress so far & finishing your recent games. Awesome job! As for your 100th Plat recommendation, I like the idea of something that you either enjoy or something that is insanely hard. I decided this recently as well & went for something I enjoy (has a good trophy tile too), since I'm already working on an insanely difficult DLC trophy. The ones I recognised that were suggested for you were Super Meat Boy: Forever or Nuclear Throne & both would look really good. I've heard Nuclear Throne is extremely difficult, but then Super Meatboy: Forever is too & has quite a nice trophy tile lol.

 

Hehe since you mentioned the DLC trophy, I'm pretty sure I know which game you picked as your #100  Has a cool trophy name, too! 

 

And yeah I think right now Nuclear Throne and Super Meat Boy Forever are, together with Hades, the three games I'm actually considering. I have a strong preference, but that can change of course. It's still going to take a while before I'm ready to pop #100, since the games I am planing on playing next are not what I would call short and easy! 

 

 

10 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I haven't checked this thread in well over a week, and I just saw you completed Wuppo. Crazy stuff dude. Out of everything you've done these past few months, Trine 3 and Trine 4 are by far the easiest games, that also happen to be the most boring.

 

Haha yeah I got it done quicker than expected! It "only" took me 25 hours, I was expecting Wuppo to take me a bit longer than that. Did you buy the game at some point? It's currently on sale for like 2$... 

 

For sure. Both Trine 3 and 4 are probably in the Top 7 easiest games I've played.... If I were to name the easiest games I've played, I think only Undertale, Oxenfree, What Remains of Edith Finch, Detroit: Become Human and Déraciné (If you guys didn't know... This was FromSoftware's first and so far only VR game!) are similar in terms of (absence of any sort of) "challenge". Still, while Trine 3 was, in my opinion, really bad, I thought that Trine 4 was at least a step in the right direction again, and probably the most polished out of the 4 main games. 

 

 

Looking back at all the games I've completed in 2021 so far (20 games guys... that's a LOT for me, and it's still July...) I can honestly say that I have been pretty lucky with my choices. Some games didn't live up to my (admittedly high) expectations, but I enjoyed almost every single game at least to some extent. 

 

Let's hope that the trend continues!  

[BrandedBerserk]

Nuclear throne is an excellent game but you better get ready to dedicate at least two months to play only that cause its a brutal and long one. I'd recommend xcom 2 as your 100th plat, difficulty is nowhere near nuclear throne or super meat boy forever but it's one of the best games I've played and the dlcs are excellent as well so the whole 100% is just a blast to play which is rare for a sub 1%. You don't need a guide for anything really as the list is pretty straightforward so just start it up and play.  The only downside for me was the long loading times (should be solved since you'll be playing on ps5) and the fact that after playing this you'll have a really hard time finding another game in the genre that can surpass xcom 2. 

Edited July 25, 2021 by BrandedBerserk

[AJ_Radio]

I did an Experienced difficulty playthrough in Nex Machina on my other account the other night. I tried out Veteran and it is downright brutal.

 

As you know there is a particular level and boss that is only available on Experienced difficulty and higher. This boss gave me real fits. I only have 10 continues on Veteran, and somehow I'm supposed to beat all six areas including that boss. Of course, with Veteran, the bosses have new patterns.

 

Nex Machina is going to be a tough nut to crack.

[Baker]

15 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I did an Experienced difficulty playthrough in Nex Machina on my other account the other night. I tried out Veteran and it is downright brutal.

 

As you know there is a particular level and boss that is only available on Experienced difficulty and higher. This boss gave me real fits. I only have 10 continues on Veteran, and somehow I'm supposed to beat all six areas including that boss. Of course, with Veteran, the bosses have new patterns.

 

Nex Machina is going to be a tough nut to crack.

Only The Architect is a run breaker, even on Veteran. Don’t even look at the 10 continues, because if you die there you might as well start over, as starting without your upgrades in that fight is not realistic. In fact you should aim for a no death run, because starting without upgrades in some of the later levels can also be very difficult.
 

But nothing a little bit of practice can’t overcome. Good luck!

[DrBloodmoney]

6 minutes ago, Baker said:

Only The Architect is a run breaker, even on Veteran. Don’t even look at the 10 continues, because if you die there you might as well start over, as starting without your upgrades in that fight is not realistic. In fact you should aim for a no death run, because starting without upgrades in some of the later levels can also be very difficult.
 

But nothing a little bit of practice can’t overcome. Good luck!

This is key - TBH, on veteran, they should really have just made it a single life, as continuing after dying and losing the upgrades is basically a waste of time - you need everything available to you for the end part of that run. 
 

I actually put together a little list of tips right after finishing Here if you fancy - hopefully can help a little

Edited August 8, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[Miles]

17 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

This is key - TBH, on veteran, they should really have just made it a single life, as continuing after dying and losing the upgrades is basically a waste of time - you need everything available to you for the end part of that run. 
 

I actually put together a little list of tips right after finishing Here if you fancy - hopefully can help a little

 

Yeah, I'd always just restart after death, but I guess it just depends at what point you die at, I know some players would just recover and carry on but I cba playing with basic loadout personally lol. 

 

Also, AJ_Radio, the fight is fairly doable with the smart bomb strat. I think I wasted around 5 hours with Rocket Launcher before I decided to look it up. 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Miles

[Arcesius]

Alright it has been a while since I wrote here.. apologies! I had holidays for two weeks, one of which I was abroad... I also was just gone over the weekend, so really didn't have much time to keep up with what's going on here  

 

Anyways, I'm back to work this week, which translates into "more time for PSNP"  I'll try to give some updates on my current game, and maybe discuss what's planned in the near future... For now, let me just answer to you guys! 

 

 

On 25.7.2021 at 10:33 PM, BrandedBerserk said:

Nuclear throne is an excellent game but you better get ready to dedicate at least two months to play only that cause its a brutal and long one. I'd recommend xcom 2 as your 100th plat, difficulty is nowhere near nuclear throne or super meat boy forever but it's one of the best games I've played and the dlcs are excellent as well so the whole 100% is just a blast to play which is rare for a sub 1%. You don't need a guide for anything really as the list is pretty straightforward so just start it up and play.  The only downside for me was the long loading times (should be solved since you'll be playing on ps5) and the fact that after playing this you'll have a really hard time finding another game in the genre that can surpass xcom 2. 

 

Alright, so with XCom 2 I have the same "issues" than with "Invisible Inc."... I have no idea what's waiting for me, I don't know if I'll like it, and I can't gauge if I'm going to be somewhat good at this game at some point, or just suck completely throughout my time with it... ? I don't think I will make it a milestone, but I do want to play it very soon. 

 

Now, I'll be honest... I am a little scared to start this game. I know it is praised to the moon and back, some of the "game design" content creators I like to watch often mention this game as a positive example when they talk about certain aspects in games, it has a huge following... But I also know literally nothing about what will be asked of me. 

 

So... Since I have your attention and I know the completion on your account is not the first time you've played this game... If you don't mind me asking, what would you say is a fun and somewhat beginner-friendly way to get this game to 100%? ? You know... Playthrough 1 on this difficulty, Playthrough 2 do this and that, etc...  

 

 

19 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I did an Experienced difficulty playthrough in Nex Machina on my other account the other night. I tried out Veteran and it is downright brutal.

 

As you know there is a particular level and boss that is only available on Experienced difficulty and higher. This boss gave me real fits. I only have 10 continues on Veteran, and somehow I'm supposed to beat all six areas including that boss. Of course, with Veteran, the bosses have new patterns.

 

Nex Machina is going to be a tough nut to crack.

 

I honestly still don't understand why you play games on an alt account ? But that's none of my business.. 

 

Anyways... The sixth boss, Supreme AI, really is a pushover (or better said.. will be a pushover once you've played a bit more). There is only one attack that can really damage you, and that's when she charges towards you with a star-shaped laser rotating around her body. But since you should be able to reach her with full health and the Rocket Launcher, she'll probably only get to do that attack once. Everything else is pretty easy to dodge, so don't worry... If you make it that far on a Vet run, you should get a clear   

 

Now, about the continues... If you are at a point where you are worried that you only have 10 continues, then you are not yet in a position to be attempting full-game arcade runs on Veteran. If you want to clear that mode, you will have to clear it with at most 1 continue used, just as @Baker mentioned. Just keep at it. At some point you will be able to fly through the individual worlds without having to think at all, and only "The Architect" will have the potential to end your run. Still, if you learn how to fight him with the Smartbomb, you should be able to beat him without too many issues. It's a really safe strat that does not prolong the fight at all. I had the same experience as @Miles wrote. You can beat him with the Rocket Launcher.. In fact, speedrunners use the Laser... But the Smartbomb is a easy to learn, safe strat. Practice it, and you'll have an easy(ish) time!

 

Good luck! 

 

 

3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

This is key - TBH, on veteran, they should really have just made it a single life, as continuing after dying and losing the upgrades is basically a waste of time - you need everything available to you for the end part of that run. 

 

3 hours ago, Miles said:

Yeah, I'd always just restart after death, but I guess it just depends at what point you die at, I know some players would just recover and carry on but I cba playing with basic loadout personally lol. 

 

Yes and no. I mean, if you have to use a continue at some point in the middle of a world or during a boss.. Then yeah, just reset ? But as I wrote in the trophy guide, it can be a good idea to suicide on purpose and use a continue., In my successful Veteran run I actually suicided after The Architect since I started World 6 with only 2 lives. I used a continue on purpose on 6-1 and had the entire world to get extra lives and all upgrades, and finally could beat the world with no issues. 

 

That's also why, before attemting full-game runs, I made sure to beat each world individually from scratch at least once. That way I knew that - if I needed to suicide - I would still be able to potentially finish the run  

[Baker]

36 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

 

Yes and no. I mean, if you have to use a continue at some point in the middle of a world or during a boss.. Then yeah, just reset  But as I wrote in the trophy guide, it can be a good idea to suicide on purpose and use a continue., In my successful Veteran run I actually suicided after The Architect since I started World 6 with only 2 lives. I used a continue on purpose on 6-1 and had the entire world to get extra lives and all upgrades, and finally could beat the world with no issues. 

This is actually exactly what I did too ?. I purposely died at 6-1 because I knew I could get my upgrades back here without any problems. This is the only way you should use continues.

[BrandedBerserk]

1 hour ago, Arcesius said:

Alright, so with XCom 2 I have the same "issues" than with "Invisible Inc."... I have no idea what's waiting for me, I don't know if I'll like it, and I can't gauge if I'm going to be somewhat good at this game at some point, or just suck completely throughout my time with it...  I don't think I will make it a milestone, but I do want to play it very soon. 

 

Now, I'll be honest... I am a little scared to start this game. I know it is praised to the moon and back, some of the "game design" content creators I like to watch often mention this game as a positive example when they talk about certain aspects in games, it has a huge following... But I also know literally nothing about what will be asked of me. 

 

So... Since I have your attention and I know the completion on your account is not the first time you've played this game... If you don't mind me asking, what would you say is a fun and somewhat beginner-friendly way to get this game to 100%?  You know... Playthrough 1 on this difficulty, Playthrough 2 do this and that, etc...  

 

Hmm not an easy question considering I started on the hardest difficulty with perma death enabled and still had a lot of fun. 

 

Do your first playthrough on a difficulty of your choice with all dlcs enabled to learn the game then second playhrough on legend/Iron man with no deaths and your last playthrough  will be the four man squad speedrun on a lower difficulty which is the run you'll have the least fun on. After this you'll have war of the chosen expansion left which is an entirely new game honestly. Apparently attempting the base game within this expansion will make things harder but after seeing how much better the expansion was, I wish I did but the choice is up to you. 

 

Despite technically being within the same genres, I wouldn't compare invisible Inc to xcom 2. One of em is rather basic with focus on stealth with random levels (for better or worst) and specific characters while the other has better much deeper mechanics such as base building, resource management, character management, character creation and overall just a lot more variety and shit to play with. You feel like you've seen it all after 30 hours on invisible Inc but the same can't be said for xcom. Think of it as darkest dungeon but with grid style movement, a lot more customization and bigger emphasis on the manor, I know that's a game we both loved and the only thing you've played that I can compare it to. 

 

There's quite a few videos on YouTube of beginners tips and all sorts of guides for gameplay strategies that I recommend watching to get a better idea along with a smoother start. 

 

Oh and it's actually the first time I played the game, never touched it before but considered playing it for a very long time due to all the praise it gets .

 

[AJ_Radio]

6 hours ago, Baker said:

Only The Architect is a run breaker, even on Veteran. Don’t even look at the 10 continues, because if you die there you might as well start over, as starting without your upgrades in that fight is not realistic. In fact you should aim for a no death run, because starting without upgrades in some of the later levels can also be very difficult.
 

But nothing a little bit of practice can’t overcome. Good luck!

That’s a pretty tough order, because that means I have to be on my ‘A game’ throughout the entire experience. Definitely a lot harder than Resogun or Super Stardust.

[Rally-Vincent---]

As someone new to XCom (and to tactical turn based combat games?), I'd recommend to learn the mechanics before diving into the trophy hunt. In the long run, learning what to do - and more important, what not to do - will prove for a better experience. One of the most valuable lessons certainly is not to trigger an enemy pod with your last move, but the lesson sticks so much better if that mistake wipes out your entire squad than reading it on an Internet forum.

 

If you have at least an idea which tech you want and how to get there quickly, you'll have a better experience. XCom is designed that you struggle at the beginning, while it gets easier later in the campaign when you have better weapons, experienced soldiers and a developed base. If you don't have the milestone pressure, why not get a good grip on the genre?

[Arcesius]

13 hours ago, BrandedBerserk said:

Do your first playthrough on a difficulty of your choice with all dlcs enabled to learn the game then second playhrough on legend/Iron man with no deaths and your last playthrough  will be the four man squad speedrun on a lower difficulty which is the run you'll have the least fun on. After this you'll have war of the chosen expansion left which is an entirely new game honestly. Apparently attempting the base game within this expansion will make things harder but after seeing how much better the expansion was, I wish I did but the choice is up to you. 

 

Thanks for the answer! Should I then disable all DLCs for the second playthrough, or just keep everything enabled at all times? I don't care about the DLCs making the game a bit harder if the content is good

 

 

13 hours ago, BrandedBerserk said:

Oh and it's actually the first time I played the game, never touched it before but considered playing it for a very long time due to all the praise it gets .

 

Oh, my bad! I though you had already played this game on your old account, shouldn't have assumed anything  

 

 

13 hours ago, Rally-Vincent--- said:

As someone new to XCom (and to tactical turn based combat games?), I'd recommend to learn the mechanics before diving into the trophy hunt. In the long run, learning what to do - and more important, what not to do - will prove for a better experience. One of the most valuable lessons certainly is not to trigger an enemy pod with your last move, but the lesson sticks so much better if that mistake wipes out your entire squad than reading it on an Internet forum.

 

If you have at least an idea which tech you want and how to get there quickly, you'll have a better experience. XCom is designed that you struggle at the beginning, while it gets easier later in the campaign when you have better weapons, experienced soldiers and a developed base. If you don't have the milestone pressure, why not get a good grip on the genre?

 

Exactly! That's what I'm hoping to do. Now, my question was maybe a bit wrongly worded... Let me make clearer what I meant. 

 

I always try to do a blind playthrough in any new game I play. There are several reasons for it, one of which is that I just hate looking up stuff in guides if I don't already know the game I'm playing (cause it's distracting), and because I love to experience how a game teaches the player how to play the game. I belive that XCom will be fantastic with this second aspect, which is why I want to play it blindly, too. 

 

Now, when I play a new game in a genre I'm familiar with, I know how to choose what my first playthrough should be... With games like God of War 2018 or Horizon Zero Dawn, I knew that I would have the most fun playing on the highest (or close to highest) difficulty, and so I did. Even if my profile might not look like it, I always put fun first, trophies second. So even if in the two examples above there are no trophies for playing on those difficulties and I could have made things easier for myself, I still chose to play in a way that I knew I would have the most fun. 

 

But with XCom.. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how to choose my first playthrough. I don't know which difficulty won't be fun for a newcomer to the genre, I don't know anything. And so my question was more about getting tips from you guys about how to approach this game in a way that I have fun playing it (but always considering that I want to go for the 100% as well). 

 

I hope this made things a bit clearer  

[elpoko]

Good to see you playing XCOM 2, I can't praise that game highly enough. You will have fun no matter how you approach it.

If you are new to the genre give it a plathrough on normal with no dlc enabled just to get the hang of it.

Also, I'm still trying to get through Nex Machina with the help of your guide, my game time is extremely limited so I should platinum it by the end of next month.

Edited August 9, 2021 by elpoko

[Joe Dubz]

@Arcesius I received inspiration from you to try another game: The Metronomicon!! I must say I am not at all disappointed thus far, are you liking it as well??

 

I played the first 2 songs on easy, then decided to switch it to normal to get better practice for the harder stuff later on! Man some of those songs get BRUTAL tho ? I imagine this is quite like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, in the sense that practicing and learning the songs makes it much easier in the long run. 

 

I'm also wondering if there is some way to cheese the No Pee Breaks trophy? 50 songs in a row without pausing sounds rough... That's gotta be close to 4 hours non-stop, maybe even more! Makes me think of the Bladder of Steel Award trophy from RB2 anyway. 

[Rally-Vincent---]

8 hours ago, Arcesius said:

But with XCom.. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how to choose my first playthrough. I don't know which difficulty won't be fun for a newcomer to the genre, I don't know anything. And so my question was more about getting tips from you guys about how to approach this game in a way that I have fun playing it (but always considering that I want to go for the 100% as well).

 

XCom 2 has story missions, but inbetween them, missions (of several mission types) are semi-randomly created. For a first playthrough, it really depends if you want to do an honest-man (meaning accepting mission outcomes, even with squad wipes instead of reloading earlier saves), or if you reload to see how to do it better. For the former, I'd say normal difficulty for a beginner to the genre in the first game (just so that you get far enough to learn mid- and late game content), maybe Commander for the latter approach. It's not easy to say because of the RNG element in combat. If two guys in a row miss their >90% shots, all can go down south on any difficulty.

 

You shouldn't start on Legendary difficulty, because build and research times are artificially longer than in the other difficulty modes. Legendary isn't the mode to learn the game. Also, don't bother with easy.

 

The WOTC DLC changed XCOM2 into XCOM 2.5. I'd say save WOTC for later. You'll get two good experiences out of the game (unless you don't enjoy the base game, then to save time...). Also, the Chosen probably are too annoying for a first game.

 

So I'd say: normal on your first playthrough, not ironman mode, but no redoing. If it's too easy, then choose a new game on veteran. Base-game only, then the first two DLCs on the next run. Then do L/I to your own choosing and confidence. WOTC is the icing on the cake (game-play wise). You probably won't play base game without WOTC.

 

Final step: Buy XCOM2 on PC as well and choose from the great mods that exist. If only I had more time and my PS4 backlog wasn't that large...

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Rally-Vincent---

[Grotz99]

7 hours ago, Arcesius said:

I always try to do a blind playthrough in any new game I play. There are several reasons for it, one of which is that I just hate looking up stuff in guides if I don't already know the game I'm playing (cause it's distracting), and because I love to experience how a game teaches the player how to play the game. I belive that XCom will be fantastic with this second aspect, which is why I want to play it blindly, too. 

 

Now, when I play a new game in a genre I'm familiar with, I know how to choose what my first playthrough should be... With games like God of War 2018 or Horizon Zero Dawn, I knew that I would have the most fun playing on the highest (or close to highest) difficulty, and so I did. Even if my profile might not look like it, I always put fun first, trophies second. So even if in the two examples above there are no trophies for playing on those difficulties and I could have made things easier for myself, I still chose to play in a way that I knew I would have the most fun. 

This is pretty much my philosophy too. I did that for XCOM 1 and 2 on PC. If you use the guide from the start on here, it has you starting with Ironman on Commander difficulty, which just sounds frustrating if you have no idea what's going on.

 

Some parts will get frustrating even when you try to play super safe due to there still being dice roll outcomes, like missing a shot that has 90%+ chance of hitting. Luckily you can reload saves for non-ironman modes. I would also resist trying to use cloud saves for Ironman once you get the hang of things.

[Cassylvania]

44 minutes ago, Grotz99 said:

This is pretty much my philosophy too. I did that for XCOM 1 and 2 on PC. If you use the guide from the start on here, it has you starting with Ironman on Commander difficulty, which just sounds frustrating if you have no idea what's going on.

 

I wrote a guide on PST.org that has you starting with Commander difficulty and not allowing any soldiers to die (which would require skipping the tutorial), but that could be equally difficult. I'm also not sure why I didn't just suggest combining Exquisite Timing with The Untouchables, since you can't really afford any deaths in that run. I think because there are just so many different ways to play through the game. I also wrote the guide before WOTC came out, so that could change things.

 

Here's my suggestion for your first playthrough: Commander difficulty, Ironman off, no DLC, play through the tutorial, and accept any deaths. That gives you a vanilla run to learn the game's mechanics, with plenty of future runs to focus on trophies and additional content. Once you enable WOTC, it'll be hard to go back, so I'd wait on that until the end. Four or five playthroughs is nothing when every one of them will feel unique.

 

Or you could take up my offer of trying to finish the entire game in two playthroughs. I said I'd buy a beer for anybody who can do it. ?

[Rally-Vincent---]

5 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

 

I wrote a guide on PST.org that has you starting with Commander difficulty and not allowing any soldiers to die (which would require skipping the tutorial), but that could be equally difficult. I'm also not sure why I didn't just suggest combining Exquisite Timing with The Untouchables, since you can't really afford any deaths in that run.

 

I did both together in one run, but one should have some experience at least for that combo. If I remember correctly, the online trophy only matches you with people who have the same DLC installed - that was XCom 2, was it? Something to remember should you find no online matches.

[Cassylvania]

2 minutes ago, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I did both together in one run, but one should have some experience at least for that combo. If I remember correctly, the online trophy only matches you with people who have the same DLC installed - that was XCom 2, was it? Something to remember should you find no online matches.

 

Yeah, there's no way you should be trying Exquisite Timing on your first run. It's the rarest trophy in the game, but it's actually not that difficult once you know what you're doing. I'd save it for last or second to last.

 

If you wanted to do the hypothetical two playthrough run, you'd need to one run on Legend difficulty with all DLC enabled and then a run simply for Exquisite Timing. One of those would have to be played on Ironman. One would require no deaths. I...hm.

 

You know, I might try that on an alt account. July 1 on Ironman with no deaths is definitely doable. Worst case scenario is you fail, but none of the trophies would pop until the end anyway, so you wouldn't even have to consider that a playthrough unless it was successful.

[Arcesius]

Alright, I cannot say 100% that I understand everything you just mentioned, but I can see that I will have amazing support when I start to go for this game Thanks @Rally-Vincent--- and @Cassylvania, appreciate the input! I will go over your posts once more before starting the game and hopefully have a fantastic time with it. 

 

 

20 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

@Arcesius I received inspiration from you to try another game: The Metronomicon!! I must say I am not at all disappointed thus far, are you liking it as well??

 

I played the first 2 songs on easy, then decided to switch it to normal to get better practice for the harder stuff later on! Man some of those songs get BRUTAL tho  I imagine this is quite like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, in the sense that practicing and learning the songs makes it much easier in the long run. 

 

I'm also wondering if there is some way to cheese the No Pee Breaks trophy? 50 songs in a row without pausing sounds rough... That's gotta be close to 4 hours non-stop, maybe even more! Makes me think of the Bladder of Steel Award trophy from RB2 anyway. 

 

Alright, I'm using your comment here as an incentive to write a little update about this game  Just a heads-up though about the last part.. No, there is no cheese for No Pee Breaks.. But it is "only" about 2.5 hours long. The hardest trophy will probably be beating 30 songs in Endless mode though. As far as I know, after each round you get a random negative modifier that you can remove with earned currency during that mode, but you cannot afford to remove every single modifier. That run might be pretty tough. Haven't unlocked the mode yet, so we'll see! 

 

 

The Metronomicon

 

I will use this space now both to update you all on my progress, but also to explain a bit how I'm approaching this game. There is almost no information about this game out there, and while I thought it would be cool to write a trophy guide, I don't think I will ? I'm having a good time, but I don't feel like I'm good enough at it (yet) to be giving advice (outside of my own checklist) on how to approach this thing. 

 

 

Controls: 

Finding controls that felt comfortable was the first hurdle I had to overcome. You see, each character has abilities that can be used in battle (from regular physical attacks, to Tier 3 magic attacks, healing spells, etc..), but to cast those attacks, you need to press the correct buttons as they come down the lane of the character you want to cast: 

 

 

Standard controls allow you to use both the D-pad and the face buttons to clear the lanes. In this case, I could clear the yellow arrow that's coming next either with  or , then the red one either with  or , etc... 

 

Now, what I did is remap stuff to play with DJ Max Respect standard controls for 4 lanes. So, my left thumb only presses  and  for the two left lanes, my right thumb takes care of the right lanes with  and . I needed to get used to this, but it really makes the game comfortable to play on a controller, and I have had no issues with double-note combinations either. 

 

You can further switch between characters with  and . 

 

Now, you see the coloring of the arrows, right? There are different options here, too. The standard coloring has each arrow in the color of the corresponding face button. Since I'm not using standard controls, having standard coloring wouldn't make sense, either. 

Instead, I have the arrows colored by "timing". Thinking in eighth notes, the red arrows are on beat, the blue are off beat. The yellow ones are sixteenths in-between, and then there are syncopated notes that are green  

 

The coloring has actually been way more helpful than I'd thought! 

 

 

RPG-Elements: 

These are definitely not just secondary. Each song has two ratings: Song-difficulty and Enemy-difficulty. This means that even if you are a pro at this game and can clear hard songs no problem, the enemies might still be too difficult to defeat (have high defense, deal too much damage, etc...). So you really need to level up your characters, use the gear that you get as reward from battles, etc. 

There are also many positive buffs you can use in battle, and enemies have elemental weaknesses, can cast debuffs on your party, all of which results in pretty fun battles. If they cast "blind" on a character, you only see the arrows much later. If you are "color-blind", you only see black arrow-silhouettes. If you are "dizzy", the notes start spinning around... 

 

It's pretty clever ?

 

You also get to recruit more party members. But... I am only using one non-starting character... Maybe I should experiment a bit more, but I found a party that works well, covers all elemental bases, heals well... why change things up if it's working? ?

 

 

Progression and Difficulty: 

So.. overall there are 5 worlds in Adventure mode, and beating each world boss unlocks 5 challenges in the Arena. As mentioned above, each song in Adventure mode has both an enemy difficulty rating, and a song difficulty rating. The enemies become more manageable as you level up, equip gear and learn new spells. 

 

The song difficulty.. is locked. You can play each song on three difficulties: Easy, Normal and Hard. 

 

Now, what I did first is play everything in the first 4 worlds on Normal. This allowed me to get used to the controls without getting bored at all, as Normal was already unusually challenging at times for someone that has never played a game with this type of controls. 

 

Before tackling the last world, I went back to the beginning and started clearing songs on Hard. 

 

Progress 12 hours into the game: I have everything cleared on Hard in World 1, and everything except the boss fights cleared on Hard in World 2 and 3. I'm currently clearing songs on Hard in World 4, though the difficulty is ramping up here... 

 

Now, I'm still a banana when it comes to this game... but yesterday I managed to beat my first song on hard rated 9/10  It looks something like this: 

 

 

I also cleared the first four Arena challenges on Hard, and the fifth one on Normal (since I couldn't beat Hard ?). 

 

To be honest, I don't have a progression path that is set in stone. If a song is too challenging, I go play something else to get better at the game... If I hit a wall now in Adventure mode, I will probably go back to the Arena and clear some more challenges there on Hard... 

 

It's a fun game so far... Very unique. My only complaint is that I don't have time to watch the enemies dancing away on the battle field, since I have to constantly keep casting stuff ?

Edited August 10, 2021 by Arcesius