Kill Your Completion 9

[Metal Slime King]

Game #1 - LEGO Worlds ()

I've put a bit of time into this game now. It's a LEGO game by TT but it's quite different than the other IP focused titles. Although the introductory and tutorial voice overs may make you think you're getting into a Little Big Planet game it's more of a cross between Minecraft and the conventional LEGO titles. There isn't much of a narrative, the sole purpose of the game is to collect gold bricks to become a master builder. There were 3 introductory levels that opened up the games tools and they had an easy to follow path and then you are free to muddle about randomly generated worlds with poorly defined quests to search for more bricks and I got kind of lost after that. Unlike the other TT LEGO games this one has a UR plat and the main reason for that seems to be the Collect a Billion studs as there are no red brick stud multipliers so it looks like I've got myself into a rather unstructured grind. On the plus side, unlike all the other LEGO games there is an actual build feature where you can construct and save actual LEGO models which is pretty interesting. Maybe another reason the plat is UR is most people made 'something' that got their account banned before they could complete the grind.

 

After putting in some more time in this game I feel I'm ready to give it a score. As a game I would give this a but as a virtual LEGO simulator I would give it a so I'll split the difference and give it a . I'd say the biggest flaw as a game is the absolute breakdown in structure after the first 3 introductory levels. You just generate a random world and see what gold bricks you can find on it. Although the worlds are generated randomly the quests that happen on them seem to be set by biome so there's not even a lot of variance there and the quests aren't even very interesting. If you've played a more conventional TT LEGO game imagine none of the levels were present and the only game content was what was found in the hub worlds (minus the races) and that's about it, from what I've seen anyways. Different game play tools are locked behind getting a certain amount of gold bricks so maybe more interest content lies ahead. Graphics and sounds wise it's about par for any of the other LEGO games. The game play is a little different, you can't move around with the d-pad, only the analog stick. You certainly have more control over the worlds. You can raise and lower terrain and create anything anywhere. You can also scale any incline so you don't get stuck on terrain.

 

As a LEGO modeller app this game probably isn't as good as freely available PC apps but it does let you then put the things you make in a world and mess around with them. It's fairly simple but a little time consuming to make anything but I could see it being a little frustrating for younger children to use. Probably a great thing to play with kids and certainly a lot cheaper than going out and buying an infinite amount of LEGO.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Metal Slime King

[kingofbattle8174]

I really hate doing this. I hate having to back of a contest that I just agreed to enter. My wife though asked me if I would give up gaming for lent. I think I will do so. There a number of things I can work on during this that I have not really neglected but could be doing better. So I wish everyone luck and I will see you all around soon.

[Edunstar84]

Having a great time with my game, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana. I wanted to do a mid review, but since I have 1 day left, I'll just leave my thoughts for the final one.

[voodoo_eyes]

29 minutes ago, kingofbattle8174 said:

I really hate doing this. I hate having to back of a contest that I just agreed to enter. My wife though asked me if I would give up gaming for lent. I think I will do so. There a number of things I can work on during this that I have not really neglected but could be doing better. So I wish everyone luck and I will see you all around soon.

 

It's all good. There's always the next KYC (yes, I'll keep pushing these out there every few months ). Feel free to drop by and follow/comment along though.

Edited March 4, 2019 by voodoo_eyes

[crimsonidol38]

Game 1, Day 1 to 3:

Gal*Gun Double Peace (PS Vita)

Previous Posts: Preview

 

The good right at the start: Like I already mentioned and as a few of you already know Gal*Gun Double Peace is a rail shooter with quite a lot of fanservice and I have to say that it seems to be kind of fanservice that's still tolerable for me so it's a game I partially enjoy. Why only partially, well, that will be mentioned in a few paragraphs.

 

First of all the story premise is rather simple. The game resolves around the high school student Houdai Kudoki who is your average guy and was in no relationship so far but there are the two sister Shinobu and Maya whom he likes. But Maya was away for quite a long time (3 years) and just returned recently and Shinobu seemed to ignore Houdai for that same time period. He heard of a rumor that once you see an angel you become super popular with the girls and so he hopes to see one someday. Lucky as he, an angel called Eroko appears and wants to shoot him with some kind of cupid's arrow but due to some unforeseen circumstances he not only gets the normal dose but 32-times of the normal dose. That results in two things:
1. All girls of the school he attends fall in love with him (even the female teachers)

2. If he doesn't find his true love until the end of the day he will never be loved by any person

 

To find his true love Houdai has to fight off all those girls that just feel affection towards him due to the overdose of that cupid's arrow. Eroko gladly hands Houdai a gun that's able to shoot so-called pheromone shots and with enough of those given, the girls will feel euphoria and resign shortly after. Now that's the part where the actual gameplay starts. Like some rail shooters Houdai walks on a predetermined path and from time to time the girls start to appear from all sides. To fend them off he can either use normal shots or charged shots (so-called ecstasy shots) which might give the girl some instant pleasure resulting in a direct win against them. Both shots are initiated by pressing . The reticle can be moved via the left analog stick and there's the possibilty to slow down it's movement by pressing  and to zoom in by pressing . The latter is required to better aim at some collectibles and to shoot girls that hide behind some obstacles. And to take their measurements after buying some specific items. 

Besides normal shots there's also the so-called Doki Doki-mode (short DDM), in which you have to rub the girls to raise their pleasure and make their heart beating like a drum aka going full doki doki. This mode can be activated by pressing after shooting enough girls to fill a specific bar. The bar can have multiple levels which results in the fact that you can rub multiple girls at the same time. Similar to many other games with rubbing mechanics each and every girl has some personal weakspots but most of the time it seems to be sufficient to rub all over the screen. Once DDM is finished successfully the girls vanish in some kind of explosion that also OHKOs all other girls on the screen. From time to time Houdai can also choose some routes in the levels to walk some different paths.

 

After finishing a level you get rated in three categories: damage taken, accuracy of your shots, and the time needed. The better your ratings, the higher your score which seems to be needed for one trophy called Gal God and maybe one of the endings. Before and after finishing a level you might get to see some static story sequences similar to many other japanese games like Senran Kagura, any Hyperdimension, etc. From time to time you also have some choices to make.and which decided which which character route you are locked into. But those choices might be limited based on the four stats knowledge, athletism, style and lewdness. Those stats can be changed by entering DDM with some specific girls or by purchasing some items in a store that can be accessed between levels. The shop also offers items to increase your stats, to better fend of some girls, or to trigger one specific ending tied to the shopkeeper herself.

What's kinda neat is the fact that before entering the next level you might get a choice to select the actual location itself. E.g. you might select to enter a specific floor or section of the school, like the courtyard, gym, or pool. There's also some random requests you can read before entering a level and which earn you a bit of the in-game currency to purchase new items.

 

Trophy-wise the game seems pretty straightforward. There are trophies for reaching all true endings, getting perfect scores in some boss battles or touch-based minigames, and what's probably the most time-consuming trophy: Complete all girls profiles to a given level. To reach that level you have to find that the student's book, get their measurements by zooming at them and give them full doki-doki while they wear their normal uniform, outfit for physical education, and their swimsuit. Luckily there's some guides that describe the locations of the books and also where you can see the girls in the different outfits.

 

So far I spend about 4 hours and reached the ending tied to the shopkeeper and I also reached the good (but not true) ending for Shinobu, one of the two sisters. After struggling with the controls for the first few sections I learned how to handle them later down the road and overall it went quite smooth. Nothing to be proud of but sometimes I even got 3 out of 5 possible stars for accuracy.

The gameplay is IMO quite solid, although all those suggestive sounds like moaning and the girls screaming when you gave them euphoria are a bit annoying. The shooter-segments are rather simple and luckily the devs decided to not overload the game with many mechanics. The fanservice-related minigames feel kinda unnecessary though. Rubbing a girl long enough so she can free herself from the window she got stuck in? Well, yeah.   The same goes for some of the CGs which are more than just suggestive.

Graphics-wise it looks like your average japanese games. The environments look rather bland but the character models look crisp at least.

 

What really rubs me the wrong way (pun intended) are the loading times, though. It's normal that a game might need a little longer when loading for the first time. But Gal*Gun takes about two minutes once you start it. Each and everytime! And if you expect the game to load rather fast afterwards, well try another one. It may take up to 30 seconds to traverse from story-dialogs to the actual levels or the story-modes main menu and the other way round.  This clearly shows that the devs either didn't care to optimize the game or that they choose an engine that's not well-suited for the PS Vita which is kinda sad as it feels like a nice game to play in short bursts.

 

I hope to finish at least one other route by the end of the game's time slot but I will probably focus a bit more on other, non-event, games first. As it feels like I have already seen all of the game's features I'm sure I won't see any new surprises later on.

[Upendo_Vitani]

So I actually finished my first game a couple days early and got the platinum in Murdered Soul Suspect. I will do my final review now.

 

Game #1 Final Review: Murdered Soul Suspect

 

The story is really good in this game. It opened strong, the lore is great, and the ending wrapped up nicely and explained how the murders took place with one shocking twist that was very well executed in my opinion. There were a ton of collectibles with only a handful being missable in one location but as long as you are aware of that it is no big deal. The game also tells you when the point of no return is, and it's right before the final area which is pretty much all cutscene with a little bit of urgency put in. All in all, I really enjoyed my time with the game. Usually I stay away from dark and spoopy games, but this one really isn't bad. The enemies are few and far between. They are very scary in their appearance, but they are more of an annoyance than anything. If you aren't expecting them, their screams can be quite terrifying, but you can press a button to see their location at all times, so it should never truly scare you.

 

I give this game 7/10

 

And instead of wasting another post, I will do a preview for game #2 which I will start on the appropriate date so I keep the 5/6 structure.

 

Game #2 Preview: Darksiders Warmastered Edition

 

I have played Darksiders back on the PS3 but that was years ago. And a few profiles ago lol. I have been itching to play it again since the third one has recently come out. I want to play this and Darksiders 2 before getting 3. Hopefully by then it gets the price cut it needs, since I don't think sales have been in it's favour. I don't know what is different about this "Warmastered Edition" but I am very excited to play it again after all this time. I remember it starts off a little slow after the prologue and the collectibles are abundant. There are also a few missable trophies and I remember one of them took many tries to get. But with some save file management, none of them will be missed and will all eventually be gotten.

 

[Fuzedog_]

43 minutes ago, voodoo_eyes said:

 

It's all good. There's always the next KYC (yes, I'll keep pushing these out there every few months ). Feel free to drop by and follow/comment along though.

 

I just found this event, do you have any idea when you will be doing the next one? I'd like to save some games until then so I can participate in the next one.

[voodoo_eyes]

9 minutes ago, Fuzedog_ said:

 

I just found this event, do you have any idea when you will be doing the next one? I'd like to save some games until then so I can participate in the next one.

 

The cycle usually has been March, July, November. So the next one will probably be in July.

[Kevvik]

Game #1: Monster Monpiece

 

Day 3 Impressions

Time played: 16-17 hrs?

 

OK, so I've advanced the story far enough to realize it is still pretty generic and predictable.  I've done more battles and I really haven't seen anything new, just a few new cards, my strategy really hasn't changed much at all.  Just a matter of finishing the story, a little bit of post game and then grinding out wins, cards and crush rubs. I really don't see anything changing my opinion of this and I'll put this behind me as soon as I'm done.  Overall, it's not very good though I think if the focus were actually on the game, it could have had potential.

 

Final score : 3/10

Trophies earned: 44/51, 82% for A rank

Completion rate: 83.35% (-0.01% for the event)

 

Didn't really drop my completion rate. Hopefully we'll see more in the next title...

 

Coming up: Game #2: The Bard's Tale

Edited March 4, 2019 by Kevvik

[MidnightDragon]

My plans for this event have clashed with something else I planned. After talking to @voodoo_eyes I have decided to convert my list to 4/7 and will not be playing Harvest Moon for this event. I’ll be sure to be more ready next time.  

Edited March 4, 2019 by MidnightDragon

[dizzyshadow]

Game 1 ; Unravel

 

 

 

 

Unravel is a sidescrolling platform game with an emphasis of puzzling, you are Yarny a character made from wound up wool who literally unwinds as he progresses through the level, the aim of each level is reach the end and recover a small token (also made from wool) which unlocks the photo album and memories telling the story of a family. However to be honest the "story" is very light touch and is really not what the game is about, the major focus is the platforming puzzles.

 

The unwinding (or unravelling if you prefer) plays a major part in the gameplay, you can only progress so far before Yarny runs out of wool and can't progress without finding the next stash of wool. The trail of wool he leaves behind also plays a major part in solving the puzzle, it can be tied to various points to create a trampoline, or can be used to swing and reach new areas, and if you fall you can climb a back up your "tail". This makes for a fairly neat experience and is a nice twist which does set it apart from other games i've played like this. However overall i didn't think there was anything special here to really make me want to play it further. Its a a solid game but not a spectacular one.

 

For those that like a challenge the platinum requires a no death playthrough, which adds a bit of challenge (or possibly frustration), but to be honest given i've finished the story i'm not sure there is enough here to draw me back to it and want to finish it off.

 

 

Playtime: 6-7 hours

Rating: 

Trophies: 19/26

Completion: 56.75% (-0.02%)

 

 

Next  up: 11-11 Memories Retold

[Edunstar84]

Game #1 - Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana - Final Impressions

 

Playtime: 18 hours 45 minutes 

Trophies: 10/51

 

Wow. Just wow! The game got pretty dark, rather quickly, and I enjoyed every second of it. I've played a lot of Ys, and I finally reached the 2nd main protagonist's storyline and get to see how her story is related to the other main character Adol. 

 

The action-adventure aspect and the battle system of the game is still pretty tight. I prefer playing 2 of the characters, but I'm glad there are trophies for having to play all the characters for a set amount of time. Slashing the enemies to bits and using the skills back-to-back feels very satisfying, especially picking up the spoils afterwards. 

 

The combat, the adventuring, finding new chests and harvest points are the highlights of the game for me. So when developers feel the need to separate and break the plot a little with something new, I get frustrated. In Ys, it's called Interceptions. Where Adol has to go back to the village and defend it against waves of incoming enemies. Now this wouldn't be so bad, but I believe that a couple of trophies are tied to completing them, and maybe S ranking them, too. Oh well, I've done worse for trophies, so it's not a deal breaker, but every time I'm forced to do them, I get a bit disgruntled.

 

Other than that,I definitely recommend this game and see myself getting the plat in the near future.

[crimsonidol38]

6 minutes ago, Edunstar84 said:

Where Adol has to go back to the village and defend it against waves of incoming enemies. Now this wouldn't be so bad, but I believe that a couple of trophies are tied to completing them, and maybe S ranking them, too. Oh well, I've done worse for trophies, so it's not a deal breaker, but every time I'm forced to do them, I get a bit disgruntled.

 

The number of interceptions was a bit annoying but later on when you have much more ressources to perform the various upgrades it also becomes way easier to tackle them. Seeing your trophy progress you haven't even seen the best part yet, which starts once the group decided to climb that mountain. Have fun!  

[PerryToxteth]

4 hours ago, dizzyshadow said:

Game 1 ; Unravel

For those that like a challenge the platinum requires a no death playthrough, which adds a bit of challenge (or possibly frustration), but to be honest given i've finished the story i'm not sure there is enough here to draw me back to it and want to finish it off.

 

Thankfully, the "no death" run can be achieved through Chapter Select, though it still is a bear to achieve the platinum.  My clean up found me constantly dying at a specific spot in each level, and taking umpteen attempts before finally perfecting it. Inevitably though, I would stumble at another part; or try to rush through things and end up dying stupidly on a part that wasn't hard.  

  For an "artsy-fartsy" game, the platinum was harder than anticipated. But, I liked the music so much, I purchased the soundtrack on my iTunes and have it play in the background every so often as I read my daily dose of "fake news" in our local paper.

 

- Has anyone played Unravel 2? I'm thinking about getting it but it looks like the platinum requires a co-op run. How difficult is that?

[voodoo_eyes]

Well, my adventure with Syndrome might come to a close earleir than expected. Played for a bit over two hours and then the game got stuck at a section that's vital for story progression. Loaded a previous save several times, still the same issue at the exact same spot. Going to start over on a new save and hopefully it'll let me progress then. Guess I was right with my suspicion, it's a broken mess.

[PerryToxteth]

KYC 9

Game No. 1

 

 

1979 Revolution: Black Friday

 

Playing Time: 3+ hours

Trophies Earned: 28/40 (55% C ranking)

Percentage Drop:  0.33%

 

Final Thoughts:  So I managed to get through the entire story of this game and I was impressed.  It does a really great job of developing characters in a short amount of time.  As I stated earlier, much of the game involves watching cut scenes with occasional QTE prompts, and a few sections of third -person command while you search for items or take pictures (to unlock collectibles).

  Even though the subject matter is 40 years old, it's still very contentious in today's world, and the script writers did a brilliant job of story telling without taking sides.  Instead, they chose to showcase the traditional Iranian culture and provide a human element to a fascinating society that is all too quick by some in the West to characterize it as a nation of jihad-crazed fundamentalists.  I've realized the more you travel across the world, the more your realize the common people across the globe place importance on the same things; family, love, freedom, shared culture, etc.

  You play as Reza, a 20s-something young man who has recently returned to Iran after spending a few years in Europe.  As the chapters progress, you meet an array of characters that all have some bits of good, bad and ugly in them.  The story is history-heavy but it plays out like a cinematic political thriller. If you are worried about being overdosed on paragraphs of history, fear not; it's movie-style storytelling means quick changes of scenery and fast-moving dialogue.

  My only gripes on the game is it's too short (3 hours at most for one playthrough) and it's non-ending. Or rather, no ending.  I'm not sure if the devs just did this game to generate enough money off sales to produce more installments, but it should of been done like Life is Strange with a couple episodes within a full game. Leaving with a big cliff-hanger is a let down.  

  Trophies: Fairly up front with half just coming from progressing the story. A minimum of two playthroughs is needed to unlock a few trophies. There's a bunch for collectibles but with chapter select, those won't be that tough.

Conclusion: I really liked this game. Too short, but it conveyed a powerful story in a small amount of time. Compare that to say, a Just Cause game that takes 70+ hours to complete, and I couldn't tell you the basic premise of that story for the life of me.  This would garner a  but only gets a  because I have no idea if a sequel is coming out to give me a damn ending! 

 

Next Up: MXGP3

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by PerryToxteth

[MarkusT1992]

Game #1: Murdered: Soul Suspect

 

 

In Murdere: Soul Suspect you play a guy whose name I forgot that gets killed at the beginning of the game. Stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead you have to find your murderer to cross the bridge and find peace.

As a cop you know the drill. You have to investigate different places to find clues which will lead to a conclusion. Being a ghost is very helpfull in doing so. You can posses people to get otherwise unobtainable clues. You can walk trought most walls but not trough the outer walls of a building what is explained with buildings being blessed and ghosts can't enter blessed buildings through walls, only through an opening.

 

The areas are connected through a kind of open world. You can walk around in Salem (the city the game is set in) and reach all the areas you need to go to from there.

Besides the main mission you can help other ghosts to settle their unfinished bussines which is done like the normal investigation of the main mission. Find clues and figure out what happened and why they died so they can move on.

Then you have collectables. A ton of collectable. There are over 170 of them scattered around the town of Salem and the various other places. Most of them are very easy to find and you can come back to get them later if you missed some except for one area.

 

I like detective games a lot so I also enjoyed this game so far. Some of my favourite games are the Ace Attorney series, L.A. Noire or Danganronpa. That being said, most of those games are better than this one. Still I'm always looking for more such games and enjoy most of them.

 

Time played: 5-6 hours maybe.

Trophies: 22/49

Rating:

[Kevvik]

Game #2: The Bard's Tale

 

Initial Impressions

Time played: 2 hrs

 

OK, so another remastered PS2 title but not just for PS4 as I am playing it on my Vita (yay!).  Haven't had too much time so far but here goes.

 

This is a 3rd-person action RPG and a spiritual successor to the original Bard's Tale games (though not official, IIRC, because I don't think they actually owned the rights).  You play "The Bard", a bit of a rogue who is just looking out for himself and anything he can get on the side.  You choose where to allocate stat points through the traditional set (strength, dexterity, etc) and get a couple points to add when leveling up (xp gained for kills and completing quests). You equip weapons and attack enemies, you also have a lute which can be used for "spells", primarily summoning once you get the right song for it.  It's gameplay is similar to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games for those who remember them.  The main story is a little vague as I am still only in Chapter 1.  When taken straight up, the story is fairly straightforward and a little generic.  Every now and then I've gotten a bit of lag on the Vita during combat but nothing that has killed me so far.  I've also got a bow for fighting at distances but the combat is not so bad that it is unmanageable at close quarters thus far. 

 

Where the game truly shines is in its personality.  The Bard is voiced by Cary Elwes (of Princess Bride fame) and he really gets to have fun here.  You can choose between nice and snarky responses during conversations, some of which will get better results than others.  The Narrator is also a major player as well, providing traditional narration with intermittent non-traditional responses.  There is also interaction between The Bard and the Narrator under the premise that The Bard hears everything said and responds to it.  The dialogue is smart, funny and totally sends up traditional tropes.  I've laughed out loud several times and smiled even more.  This shows that great dialogue and writing can elevate otherwise average material.  Elwes sinks his teeth into the dialogue with the tongue firmly planted in the cheek.  Commentary from villagers and quest givers/participants follows the same vein and I'm enjoying this immensely, far more than the generic gameplay would normally merit.

 

More playing tonight and we'll see if the storyline develops beyond the norm.  The Bard's utter amazement at the predictability of situations twists the generic into amusing entertainment and I look forward to continuing the adventure for the characters alone.

 

Trophies earned: 9/52, 21% for C rank

Score so far: 8/10

 

 

 

 

[Gretchen27]

Game 1 Final Impressions

The Witcher 3

 

Enjoyment: 7/10

Play Time: 5-6 hours

Trophies: 2/79

Percent Change: 0.79%

 

The open world RPG that needs no introduction after all the awards it has received. So I’ll start off with the bad. The biggest disappointment being I didn’t get more time to play! On a more serious note; the control scheme just refuses to click with me. For example: is the standard run & interaction prompt (pet peeve of mine when commonly used actions are on the same button). is for shooting the crossbow when selected. & holding down is how you aim the crossbow. I’ve tried to grow accustomed to it but frequently mix up buttons. When I dive back in I might have to look into changing the control map (if the game allows). One of the first settings I immediately had to change involved the camera rotation speed. Right at the early platforming tutorial I realized the camera motion was going to be a problem. I’m hoping the control map for combat will be just as lenient.

 

Turns out Ciri (the daughter character I recalled) is actually the emperor’s daughter & Geralt’s ward. That’s who I’m supposed to be tracking down. I have very little faith in Geralt if it took him 2 years to find Yennefer (who leaves a badass trail of wreckage by the way). Seriously can I switch to a mage? 

 

My side quest predictions have already been checked off. A ghost exorcism (read monster slaying) of a murdered young woman. Actually this fight was more difficult than the chapter boss fight as the ghost had moments of invulnerability.

Spoiler

Also, I found it funny the purpose of this quest was to allow access to the well the ghost was haunting. The only well around with clean water which the quest giver needed for his sick daughter. I found the ghosts body hanging in the well. She’d been rotting there for about 2 years…Doubt Geralt mentioned that to the quest giver when he said the well was clear. Ah RPG logic.

 

Then there was the lost (suspected dead) brother on the battlefield. No need to explain how this one went, right? Nah, didn’t think so. But my fav side quest so far involved a granny & her skillet. Apparently some strange man stole her skillet pan for no discernible reason. I encountered the old lady standing outside the hut the robber fled to. Literally staring through the window at her stolen skillet. Geralt has nothing better to do though, we’ll investigate the hut & retrieve the skillet. Turns out the man needed the soot off the pan to write a letter, & now this poor woman has a clean pan. Dishes will never be as great without a seasoned skillet.

 

The horse’s name is Roach by the way. Just Roach in a world with Geralt, Yennefer, Vesemir, Cirilla no one could get any more creative than that... I just have to nitpick in good fun sometimes.

Spoiler

Like when Yennefer says the Wild Hunt specters found her because she was using magic to locate Ciri. She decides to back off the magic for now & then immediately offers to open a portal & send Geralt to a new region the easy way. Geralt didn't go for it so she opens one to use for herself. Did you not just listen to your own dialogue Yennefer 

 

There was an interesting scene in the emperor’s castle that must relate to previous games. A sort of carry your choices over via a quick Q&A session. It was absolutely useless to someone like me unfamiliar to the series so my answers were random. Though how that’ll relate to later events & alliances should prove interesting. Otherwise the only purpose I could gather was allowing for longer screen time with a shirtless Geralt than was necessary. I could have paused & looked up a synopsis for 2, but didn’t want any spoilers. I wished they’d handled it similar to Mass Effect 2 with a short storyboard recap before making you choose.

 

Currently, I’ve returned to White Orchard to check on the map (?) marks. They can range from bandit camps, hidden treasure, & places of power (which helpfully give an ability point on the first visit). Overall, I’m glad I finally got around to starting The Witcher & look forward to playing more. From what I've seen of the other region maps, I've got a ton of ground to cover yet. 

 

 

On deck: The Sims 3: Pets (might even have time on Thursday to do a first impression post instead of preview version).

[crimsonidol38]

The time for my first game hasn't ended yet and I still hope to play at least one or two hours today so I can maybe get the true ending for Shinobu, so my review for it will follow tomorrow. Nonetheless I will already post the preview of my second game, which is the other Vita-game I chose.

 

Game 2, Preview:
Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly (PS Vita)

 

Like I already mentioned in my initial post I barely know anything about Psychedelica. It's a Visual Novel that's part of the otome-subgenre so the main character will be a girl/woman (with red hair, so already a plus ) surrounded by attractive men that try to gain her affection. So it's more or less the complete opposite of Gal*Gun, gender-wise.  The synopsis I read on VNdb hinted at a horror/mystery story. But maybe it will also be an escape room adventure similar to the Zero Escape-, or DanganRonpa-trilogy (read something of escaping a mansion and lost memories)? Who knows? Not me.

Seeing some screenshots it also seems  like this VN will have some kind of gameplay-elements. Hope it won't be as bad as the various minigames of the Danganronpa-games.

 

[voodoo_eyes]

Alright I?m wrapping up my 2nd game, as it's starting to drive me mad.

 

 

Game #2 - Syndrome - Final Impression

 

Time played: around 4 hours

Trophies earned: 7/22

 

Fuck me... where do I even begin with this one.

 

Think of it like Alien Isolation, if it had been made in the early 2000s and worse in every aspect.

 

You explore a spaceship with several floors that are only connected by an elevator. You keep getting instructions from random people over the intercom on what to do next. For the most part you're running back and forth between decks trying to get things to work.

 

Let's start with the visuals. Stale as hell with lackluster ship design for the most part. 90% of it is grey/metallic and mostly corridors that look the same. Most rooms you can enter will have a PC screen in it and other than that there's nothing that stands out. The kitchen area, which you spend about 10 seconds in to pick up items, is the most exciting thing visually. Also something is up with the gamma in this game, I've had to restart the game several times and every time the lighting in the first area was different (there is no way to adjust gamma in the options btw).

 

The sound design is obnoxious. Every other minute the character let's out some sort of shivering sound that is supposed to imply that he's afraid I guess. There's constantly random sound effects that are supposed to create tension, but given that they are a constant, they actually end up being extremely annoying.

 

The gameplay, now this is where you seem to get punished for everything you try to do. You want to walk, prepare to get stuck on every other object laying on the ground, or a doorway or anywhere really. You want to jump, play a differnt game, cause you can't  You want to crouch, be prepared for the weirdest limping crouched movement you'll ever see. You want to explore, well be prepared for the game to actually break. You want to create separate save files, well you can, but the 2nd file will overwrite the first file as well regardless. You also can't load the game from the pause menu and opening inventory or map, does not pause the game. This is what makes healing in combat  a horrible situation as there's no qucik use button.

 

The fun ain't over yet though, because there's a stamina bar in this first person shooter/horror game. Which depletes after 5 seconds of running and then takes 30 seconds to refill. Let's not forget the combat. At first you are restricted to melee combat, which is as clunky as you'd expect. Hitting enemies will almost always result in you being hit by the enemy at the same time. Making the block function completely pointless (btw blocking  makes you take just as much damage). Furthermore the enemies take a lot of hits to go down. Later on you get access to a pistol, which still takes at least 5 head shots to kill an enemy. Needless to say, there's bugger all ammo to be found. Overall extremely poorly balanced combat. Oh and stealth doesn't really work, except for one enemy type who can't see. The others you can go through doors and cut corners break line of sight, and yet they will find you anyway.

 

That's the baseline of what you have to deal with in general. Then there's the unexpected occasions where the game just breaks out of nowhere.

 

On the first day of playing this, I got to a room where you get a hacking tool (yes there's a crap hacking minigame as well). Using the tool on the computer in the room turned the game completely unresponsive. This was after around 2 hours and 20 minutes of playing.

Went back the next day, started from the last save and tried the room again, same thing happend twice. Deleted save file and started over from the beginning. An hour in, almost being back at the spot where I got literally stuck before, the game breaks again. This time while taking the elevator back from floor 4 to floor 5, because I forgot to do something on that floor. After entering the elevator, pushing 5th floor and getting the loading screen for it, the game tells me elevator can't be used. So I ended up stuck in the elevator not being able to continue the story once again.

Still during the second day, I started it a 3rd time from scratch. Actually made it past all the areas I had been before. While the save file isn't actually messed up like in all previous cases, the game broke once again. This one was more of a glitch than anything I guess... While hiding in a closet from a monster, the beast actually grabbed me through the wall of the adjacent corridor and pulled me out through said wall and killed me.

Went back today, got a bit further than last time and while trying to hug a wall to hide from a monster, the character clipped through into nothiingness. I think it's more than time to step away from this game for a while.

 

 

Not knowing, if this game can actually be finished I'll have to give it a . One of the worst games I've played ever. Actually there's only one that comes to mind that was more broken, which is Count Lucanor.

Edited March 14, 2019 by voodoo_eyes

[GraniteSnake]

Game 1 Review (Sort of): Rise of the Tomb Raider

 

Game rating: ?/10

Time played: ~2 hours

Trophies earned: 5/125

 

I haven't been in much of a gaming mood this month, and it was a struggle for me to even start this game in all honestly. I can definitely see myself enjoying it in the future, but for now I can only comment on the short amount of time that I've spent with the game.

 

I've managed to get through the opening two sections, and have stopped just after facing a bear for the first time. The game plays a lot like it's predecessor, and features familiar aspects such as base camps, skill points and an inventory that can be upgraded. Again this entry appears to be rich in collectibles, and I found myself getting lost in each level trying to collect everything before moving on. The combat so far has been very basic, and the lack of regenerating health has made the game more engaging (I started on Survivor difficulty) The focus on crafting and self healing seems like it's well implemented, and further encourages exploration. The step up in graphics compared to the PS3 version of Tomb Raider was instantly noticeable. Lara and places she visits look stunning, and I can't wait to see the other places she'll eventually traverse. Big fan of Lara's voice actor as well!

 

Overall it's been a very pleasant introduction to the game, and it's just a shame I'm not in much of a mood to game.

 

Let's hope I can show the next game on my list a bit more love ?

 

Next up: Assassin's Creed IV: Blag Flag

[DamagingRob]

Game 1, Final Review:

.hack//G.U. Last Recode

 

Long time, no post. Lol. It's certainly got a different feel to it, only going with five games.. But this game is so much fun, that I haven't wanted to play anything else these past six days. I just love it, and all the crazy stuff you'll see should you play it. 

 

There's a couple of pig-like creatures called Grunties. One is made of metal, and you'll find it lying around in dungeons/fields. If you give it some Chim Chims, it will blast off into the sky and drop an item. It's hilarious to see, trust me. Then there is the one that looks like Haseo, and is an obnoxious little shit. Oh, man.. This game. Animals can also be found in dungeons/fields, and talk in silly voices when you catch them. They also give you a reward of some sort. 

 

After awhile, you will get a motorcycle for faster travel in town and on fields (sadly, can't be used in dungeons). This thing was terrible in the first game, though. The handling was atrocious, and I hated using it. They seem to have fixed this in the second game. And added stuff for it. You can now upgrade its stats, and take on timed challenges. 

 

Another addition to the second game, is a sort of card game. Basically, you just set what cards you'll use, and the game plays itself while you're doing other things. It's not all that interesting, but there are a few trophies tied to it.

 

There's a battle arena, where you can take on teams of 3 AI players with up to 3 of your party members. And one more thing you may find in dungeons/fields are these blue battle rings. Now, these things will have you attempt to save an AI person from a player killer or monsters. But one of these is where I suffered my only Game Over, and lost an hour and a half or so of progress..

 

Normally, this game is super easy. Even if you're 5 or 6 levels under the dungeon/field level, you'll likely be fine. So, why did I die? I didn't realize a super strong bounty could show up in these blue things, and I had just unlocked the quest. Little did I know, I was going to find an enemy that could kill me in 1 or 2 hits. :/ So yeah, don't do what I did. Save often, or only mess with these when you're max level. 

 

Now, I really like this game. But I don't know if it's for everyone. It's far from perfect. The dungeons and fields are largely the same, and it can get kind of repetitive. I usually put on Spotify when doing some menial task, so I haven't really gotten tired of it yet. But it's a possibility. 

 

The presentation could also be better. A lot of the scenes with voice acting have the characters' mouths not moving. The occasional higher quality ones will, but it's something that stuck out as odd to me. And while some of the voice acting is great, in my opinion, some isn't so good. Yuri Lowenthal and Johnny Yong Bosch are awesome, though. Graphically, it's probably fine for a PS2 game. Nothing mind blowing. 

 

The one missable trophy is kind of annoying, too. I don't want to have to restart all this from scratch, so I'm trying to be very thorough. The good thing is, it's only missable if you move on to the next game before doing everything in the previous one. Doing damn near everything in Vol. 1 took me about 32 hours. Probably looking at a 100+ hour journey with this one. ?

 

So yeah, I'm probably somewhere between a and a rating. There are a series of video summaries included for the previous games, if you want to know what happened in those. And a Parody Mode that might be good for a laugh. So much content packed into one disc! Can't wait to see the rest~

 

Time played: 44 hours. 

Trophy progress: 36/52 for 55% and an A rank. 

Completion drop: 0.07%. Yeah, that didn't change much. Lol.

 

Next up is Deus Ex, which I don't have a whole lot to say about. I love stealth games and the previous game in the series, so it should be fun. 

Edited March 7, 2019 by DamagingRob

[Metal Slime King]

Eh. My intro paragraph for LEGO worlds was still spot on, so I just edited my last post with my final review. It's still at the top of this page. Up next is some Gauntlet Legends or just Gauntlet as it shows up on the PS4 library. Either way it should be downloaded tomorrow and ready to go.

[dizzyshadow]

On 05/03/2019 at 4:22 PM, PerryToxteth said:

- Has anyone played Unravel 2? I'm thinking about getting it but it looks like the platinum requires a co-op run. How difficult is that?

 

Haven't played it yet obviously, but i did pick up the double pack so its sitting in my backlog, will get to it sometime after KYC has ended.