Kill Your Completion 9

[Kevvik]

Game #5: Outcast: Second Contact

 

Initial/Day 3 Impressions

Time played: 4.5 hrs

 

Outcast: Second Contact is a 3rd person action/adventure title that is pretty much a graphics upgrade of the original game, Outcast, which came out in 1999.  Outcast was one of, if not the, first open world games. I played the original which was a really ground breaking title for its time. By really only updating this game's graphics though, the publishers did it a great disservice. This game has not aged well.

 

You play Cutter Slade, the typical special ops guy who had a mission go bad and now drinks a lot. Brought in to go through a dimensional portal to another world, the port goes bad and Cutter is separated from his team and equipment. You interact with the local race, the Talan, for whom you represent the Ulukai, a messenger from the yods (yes, I spelled that right). The Yalan are normally a peaceful race but they have been forced into servitude to Fae Ranh who takes everything for his army.  Your mission, whether you accept it or not, is to help the Talan while trying to find your team and complete your mission.  There's lore to this game which is still interesting but doesn't really add a lot to it.

 

While the game area feels really large (and felt huge 20 yrs ago), it's remarkably empty of things to do as open world games like Elder Scrolls, GTA and Red Dead have evolved and realized that running across an area does not constitute "doing stuff" (ok, maybe Red Dead hasn't realized that yet). There aren't a lot of quests to do and running from one end of an area to another and back gives a lot of unnecessary filler to the game. You also run awkwardly which is a distraction while playing, jump awkwardly and fire your weapon awkwardly. For a game played with a controller, I'm really looking for a mouse which made combat feel far more intuitive in '99. I may be waxing nostalgic but I remember combat in this game feeling smoother 20 years ago.

 

You can craft ammo, or rather have a recreator Talan do it for you by bringing them resources that it feels like you are tripping over. I've never struggled for ammo though as if you attack areas with soldiers you can find stockpiles of ammo for your weapons even though you can use the weapons of the soldiers.  You can find health kits or have the Shamaz heal you with his Tai Chi moves.  An important find is the teleporter tools which allow you to activate in one place, run to another and then warp back. Finding two allows you to go back and forth which speeds things up.

 

I completed the first large area (post-tutorial area) along with all the quests (I think) and have moved forward to the second area. I was fairly thorough in clearing but spent a lot of back and forth running until I found the teleporter tools.  I don't mind this game but again, it hasn't aged well. Some of the characters are a little stereotypical in ways that feel a bit crude now. I'll keep going, especially for nostalgia's sake but it's no longer anywhere near the ground-breaking title it was.  I would have loved to see a remake from the ground up with a modern engine and implementation of the features that open world gaming has become rather than what it was at its inception 2 decades ago.

 

Trophies earned: 15/40, 31% for C rank

Score so far: 4/10

Completion Rate: 83.02% (-0.34% for the event)

 

Next up: Game #6: Omega Quintet

 

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6 - Tomb Raider: Legend - Preview

 

 

Contrary to most of my previous choices for this KYC, this game has stellar reviews. Although it needs to be said, that they were stellar back in 2006.

 

I'm not the biggest Tomb Raider fan, regarding anything pre-reboot (and the top-down twin stick shooter ones). I played the original a few years after release and thought it was crap, with it's bad camera angles, muddy look and clunky controls. It needs to be said I used to play mostly on PC back then and my go-to genres tended to be CRPGs, FPS, and RTS. I enjoyed Tomb Raider II a bit more, but still wouldn't consider it more than just OK. Pretty much skipped every game since then, until I tried TR Underworld a few years ago. Again, it was fairly mediocre and still had the somewhat clunky gameplay and awful camera angles.

 

Taking the above into consideration, I'm kind of expecting a similar feel to Underworld. I'm sure the things that bothered me there will still bother me in this one. But hey, it'll probably be better than the last 4 games, so there's that .

Edited March 16, 2019 by voodoo_eyes

[Kevvik]

6 hours ago, voodoo_eyes said:

I'm not the biggest Tomb Raider fan, regarding anything pre-reboot (and the top-down twin stick shooter ones). I played the original a few years after release and thought it was crap, with it's bad camera angles, muddy look and clunky controls. It needs to be said I used to play mostly on PC back then and my go-to genres tended to be CRPGs, FPS, and RTS. I enjoyed Tomb Raider II a bit more, but still wouldn't consider it more than just OK. Pretty much skipped every game since then, until I tried TR Underworld a few years ago. Again, it was fairly mediocre and still had the somewhat clunky gameplay and awful camera angles.

 

While the original games were certainly not flawless, I've found that the reboot didn't have that sense of exploration that pervaded the original games and the "tombs" had all the complexity of a messy closet. 

 

As well, for all the hype the reboot had about how Lara had to do what she did to survive (you know, because men are such horrible people), she had no issue mowing down hundreds of people (bad men) by the end of the game (surely the trait of a bad person) without so much as a stoic glance and to me it felt way more like Uncharted featuring Lara Croft than a Tomb Raider game. The tacked-on MP only added to that feeling.

 

I realize games evolve. In the age of walkthroughs being in peoples' hands before they even start a game it really removes that exploration factor. Unfortunately, for me, that exploration was why I hung out with Lara in the first place.

[PerryToxteth]

1 hour ago, Kevvik said:

 

While the original games were certainly not flawless, I've found that the reboot didn't have that sense of exploration that pervaded the original games and the "tombs" had all the complexity of a messy closet. 

 

As well, for all the hype the reboot had about how Lara had to do what she did to survive (you know, because men are such horrible people), she had no issue mowing down hundreds of people (bad men) by the end of the game (surely the trait of a bad person) without so much as a stoic glance and to me it felt way more like Uncharted featuring Lara Croft than a Tomb Raider game. The tacked-on MP only added to that feeling.

 

I realize games evolve. In the age of walkthroughs being in peoples' hands before they even start a game it really removes that exploration factor. Unfortunately, for me, that exploration was why I hung out with Lara in the first place.

 

  Thank You! That's a perfect summarization of my TR feelings as well. In the original, Lara was frustrating as all hell when she'd run off cliffs, but the puzzle-solving, platforming and exploration were great.

  I couldn't completely pin point why I didn't care much for the reboot, but you answered for me. And the MP was absolutely atrocious. One of the worst I ever played.  Everybody was hopping around to avoid getting shot. It was like playing with a bunch of gun-toting bunnies. 

[voodoo_eyes]

3 hours ago, Kevvik said:

 

While the original games were certainly not flawless, I've found that the reboot didn't have that sense of exploration that pervaded the original games and the "tombs" had all the complexity of a messy closet. 

 

As well, for all the hype the reboot had about how Lara had to do what she did to survive (you know, because men are such horrible people), she had no issue mowing down hundreds of people (bad men) by the end of the game (surely the trait of a bad person) without so much as a stoic glance and to me it felt way more like Uncharted featuring Lara Croft than a Tomb Raider game. The tacked-on MP only added to that feeling.

 

I realize games evolve. In the age of walkthroughs being in peoples' hands before they even start a game it really removes that exploration factor. Unfortunately, for me, that exploration was why I hung out with Lara in the first place.

 

Personally I thought there was plenty to explore in the reboot, although I would agree that the puzzles were a bit lackluster.. While the platforming is different, I prefer it the way they did it in the 2013 iterration, as platforming with a camera that doesn't want to cooperate is something I'll gladly do without. The online is crap though. Yet the overall feel

[Edunstar84]

Game#3 - Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization - First Impressions

 

Playtime: 1 hour 45 minutes

Trophies: 0/53

 

Playingnthis game takes me back to my early manga days when I first read the series, and unfortunately, the first game I bought SAO: Hollow Fragment. But it was also the main reason why I decided to choose this game for the event.

 

The premise of this game is...ummm..I actually don't really know because I didn't read or watch anything past the the fairy SAO series. All I know is that this new game SAO: Origin is a spiritual successor of former SAO. You know, the one where if you died virtually, you were dead in real life. Well, this one seems to be what the original was supposed to be. A fun MMO experience with your friends.

 

The game starts off with little introduction, but gets right into the tutorial. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to stun an enemy before I had to look it up online. The battle system is very action-oriented where you have a mapping system that is flexible and at first very complicated. The L1 button is put to work as you can map out different skills and potions on the directional and shape pads. For me, I would need to a bit more time to get used to it. I remember having the same trouble with Hollow Fragment. It took me hours to understand the system, and will take me just as long when I finally decide to plat it. Pro-tip: (well at least for me) If I'm going to play theses types of games, I'd have to stick with them until I finish them. I don't want to come back and have to relearn everything from scratch.

 

Other than the battle system learning curve, I love the character interactions and conversations. It felt very nostalgic. I also want to include the character creation option. You can be a total purist and go with Kirito, the male protagonist, or you can create your own character, male or female. Except that you'd have a male voice during the character interactions and possibly be referred as Kirito. I didn't choose Kirito because I'd like my plat image to include my avatar instead.

 

Anyway, this game is promising, and I'll try to at least get far into the game to earn a trophy. This will prove very difficult as I'd most likely play Ys 8 again.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Edunstar84

[DamagingRob]

@Kevvik @PerryToxteth 

I also ate up the old games, but still loved the reboot. I stacked that shit like a madman.

[PerryToxteth]

2 hours ago, DamagingRob said:

@Kevvik @PerryToxteth 

I also ate up the old games, but still loved the reboot. I stacked that shit like a madman.

 

I might grab the latest installment- Shadow of TR.  Reviews said the gameplay is similar to old Lara with puzzles and exploration and less gun play. And no MP! 

[DamagingRob]

25 minutes ago, PerryToxteth said:

I might grab the latest installment- Shadow of TR.  Reviews said the gameplay is similar to old Lara with puzzles and exploration and less gun play. And no MP! 

But you haven't lived until you shoot a poison arrow into your co-op partner, and it stays there making noise the entire session.

[Arctic Cress]

Game #2 - Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal

 

 

Trophies: 19/51 (28% - D)

Play Time: 3 hours

 

Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal is a 3D remake of Senran Kagura Burst, a sidescroller game for the 3DS (which in turn was an updated rerelease of the first Senran Kagura game that only came out in Japan). Chronologically, it's the first game in the series, starting off with just the Hanzo students and Homura's Crimson Squad before their expulsion from Hebijo. Back when this game released the 3DS had the more story-heavy Senran Kagura games rather than what the Vita tended to have, so the tone in the storyline for this one is a little more serious than previous games. I hope they also remake Deep Crimson at some point as well, but who knows. It's also nice to finally have a physical copy of this game, as the original 3DS release was digital-only and never saw a physical release.

 

Anyway, the transition to 3D makes it most similar to Shinovi Versus. Aerial raves, successful burst attacks, and ninja arts are the key to getting the most out of this battle system, and really only the 3* difficulty is any challenging. The guide on pst.org thought you shouldn't fight the first "secret" enemy when you reach him the first time - still beat him on 2* difficulty despite being low on health after the fight. I could see the reasoning but the enemy could be easily comboed to death. The only challenging 2* fights are the ones against enemy shinobi, and so far there's just been Asuka vs. Homura and 2 Yagyu vs. Hibari fights. It makes sense story-wise, don't worry.

 

The first chapter of Hanzo's story has the five students going through some basic training exercises and enjoying their life as shinobi students. At the end of the chapter, though, the Hebijo group shows up at Hanzo Academy and challenges them to a fight. Asuka fights Homura and Katsuragi fights Hikage, and both Hanzo students lose horribly. Chapter two starts with the Hanzo students going through more training for when Hebijo returns. Pretty standard fare so far, though having played the 3DS version I know how the story plays out already. The Hebijo story line is definitely the more exciting and well-developed of the two routes in that version, so I expect the same here.

 

There's not much else to say about this game other than the above. I got 19 trophies in 3 hours, including all the Dressing Room ones early on so I wouldn't have to go back there. Judging by the trophy list I should have almost all of the trophies by the time I finish both story lines. I estimate that it shouldn't take more than 15-20 hours to platinum, but that will have to wait.

 

Starting completion: 69.87%

Current completion: 69.65%

Difference: -0.22%

Yakuza 0: 8/55 (11% - E)

 

Another 0.11% drop. Because of the large amount of trophies I managed to collect in this one (plus some Jump Force trophies in the middle there), my completion did not decrease as much as it could have. Still, they were all bronze trophies so it still fell a good amount.

 

Next up, the game I said I was going to play first originally before I decided to play Yakuza 0 instead. It's time for South Park and its Fractured But Whole.

[ImBossy83]

On 16.3.2019 at 3:48 AM, Kevvik said:

I completed the first large area (post-tutorial area) along with all the quests (I think) and have moved forward to the second area. I was fairly thorough in clearing but spent a lot of back and forth running until I found the teleporter tools.  I don't mind this game but again, it hasn't aged well. Some of the characters are a little stereotypical in ways that feel a bit crude now. I'll keep going, especially for nostalgia's sake but it's no longer anywhere near the ground-breaking title it was.  I would have loved to see a remake from the ground up with a modern engine and implementation of the features that open world gaming has become rather than what it was at its inception 2 decades ago.

 

I feel you. I played outcast a few weeks ago and i had the exact same reaction to it. Just so many things have moved forward since then. Back in the day when it released the game was groundbreaking in so many ways. The Game did not only revolutionize open world as a Genre, it was the first Game to have a full orchestral soundtrack, it had 3D sound, which in itself was just mind-blowing to me and in the German synchro, Slate was voiced by Manfred Lehmann who is also the voice of Bruce Willis. Oh the Nostalgia is strong with this on. Sadly the game really didn't age well. But THQ Nordic just bought the IP so maybe all hope is not lost.

Edited March 17, 2019 by ImBossy83

[voodoo_eyes]

I ended up skipping TR for the day to wrap up a couple of previous games.

 

Finished Syndrome, but seemingly missed a collectible somewhere, so no plat. Would have to play the whole game again for that, and I don't have masochistic tendencies. I did however get the plat for X-Blades, and I'll actually lower the score for it as it is so utterly boring to play through. So it's now a . Pretty poor game overall, still better than Syndrome though.

[Upendo_Vitani]

So I think joining this event and having the sense of obligation finally got myself in the mindset I have been after for so long; I'm finally not afraid of starting a new game, regardless of completion. So once this event concludes, I am going to go through my backlog and apply the same kind of rules. I'm going to decide which games I actually want to play and hide the junk. I will enjoy each game for three days and then move on to the next, UNLESS I absolutely fall in love with the game and have to keep playing it. The idea is to get out of this funk of not knowing what to spend my time on, and to reinvigorate my love for gaming. Thank you to the organizer of this event, it has inspired me to make the most of my gaming time and finally just play the games I want to play.

[PerryToxteth]

9 hours ago, coldsphinx93 said:

So I think joining this event and having the sense of obligation finally got myself in the mindset I have been after for so long; I'm finally not afraid of starting a new game, regardless of completion. So once this event concludes, I am going to go through my backlog and apply the same kind of rules. I'm going to decide which games I actually want to play and hide the junk. I will enjoy each game for three days and then move on to the next, UNLESS I absolutely fall in love with the game and have to keep playing it. The idea is to get out of this funk of not knowing what to spend my time on, and to reinvigorate my love for gaming. Thank you to the organizer of this event, it has inspired me to make the most of my gaming time and finally just play the games I want to play.

 

That's why I love this event so much.  This event cured me of my gaming OCD. I've learned to move on without stressing. @Hemiak was the originator, @voodoo_eyes Is the protége.  A BIG thank you to them both for arranging the events, as I've participated in 8 of 9 KYC's. 

Anybody got a perfect record of 9 for 9? 

[MidnightDragon]

@voodoo_eyes Any ETA on when you'll do KYC 10?

[voodoo_eyes]

@PerryToxteth I participated in every single one .  It's still my favourite type of event, as it's always fun.

 

@MidnightDragon It'll be throughout the month of July

 

 

[crimsonidol38]

I hate to say this as it's the second time already but I will bow out from this iteration of KYC.

The last few days made me realize that playing any game with some constraints (for a limited time, with specific requirements, etc.) ruins the for me right now. Even if we can freely switch the planned and played games during the event the thought that I "have to" play something and that I want to stick to my plan still stays in my mind and that can't be turned off so easily.

Nonetheless it was fun to read all reviews so far and I will gladly read all upcoming ones.

[MarkusT1992]

8 hours ago, PerryToxteth said:

 

That's why I love this event so much.  This event cured me of my gaming OCD. I've learned to move on without stressing. @Hemiak was the originator, @voodoo_eyes Is the protége.  A BIG thank you to them both for arranging the events, as I've participated in 8 of 9 KYC's. 

Anybody got a perfect record of 9 for 9? 

I participated in all 9 but not always with 10 games. I think I did one with 5 and two with 7.

[PerryToxteth]

KYC 9

Game No. 5

 

Maize

 

Playing Time- 2 hours

Trophies Earned: 4/14 (19% E rating)

 

Final Thoughts: So I bought this game thinking of how much fun it'll be to play a cartoonish corn-on-the-cob character, I mean how many times does that happen in your gaming career? Thirty seconds in and I find out, it's first-person play. 

  I've made it through the first two chapters and they are radically different from each other. Chapter One starts like Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" as you wander through a maze in a corn field and eventually stumble on an abandoned farm.  The music is eerie, so it gives the game an ominous tone, which is nothing like what the game trailer implied.

   As you explore, you will find random items to pick up, and scraps of paper that are collectibles and hint at the story, though it's very veiled.  This plays like "Everyone's Gone to the Rapture," except there's a run button.  As you grab stuff, you can interact with certain objects in the farm world.  Unfortunately, it so many of these games, they don't follow any logic. Example: put a tub stopper into a sink, fill it with rancid corn oil, then drop a severed hand into the sink. ???

  As you complete these tasks, new areas in the world open up to explore.

  So I thought I had figured out the premise of this game (dark, haunting, apocalyptic), and then Chapter Two happened. And now we are to the comedic portion of the game.  You leave the farm for a completely new setting, (I'll avoid spoilers), and there's back-and-forth notes between two characters that are humorous. And you earn a companion, a Teddy Ruxpin-like bear named Vlad that speaks Russian.  Yep, the game has officially gone off the rails.

  And that's as far as I got.  The story has opened up, but nowhere near setting a path as to where it's going with a completely opposite chapters. I will say I am enjoying Chapter Two more than One. I'm not sure I will 100% this as there's a speed run under two hours and you can't pause. 

As with so many of these rankings, it feels best to rank it an incomplete. But for what I've got out of it so far, I'll give it a .

 

Next Up: Batman (Telltales)

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #6 - Tomb Raider Legend - Final Impressions

 

 

Time played: around 1h30m

Trophies earned: 6/42

 

 

Well, this is unfortunate. Once again a game I can't continue, because the controller I have isn't adequate. Managed to get to the 3rd level, where I seem to have to manually aim to progress. Thing is Pressing L/R3 doesn't do anything on the controller I have, therefore I can't manually aim. At this rate, I won't have another choice, but to buy another Dualshock 3 controller. Problem is there aren't all that many new ones being sold and if they are, they're stupidly expensive (and I'd prefer a new one, due to having made bad experiences with used ones)..

 

 

Anyway, from what I played, it's exactly as I expected. A lot of jumping, swinging, shooting and falling to your death because the camera does whatever it wants. While the environments are still passable and the gunplay is fine, the enemies just look downright ugly (with the exception of the animals). The puzzles so far are simple enough and exploration is minimal.. There's the odd diverging short path or something hidden behing a building or inside of it, but that's pretty much it.

This one also has environmental kills, which I don't remember other TR games to have. Most of the times they are ineffective though, as enemies rarely stick around to be in range for them. Speaking of enemies, the AI is piss poor. The human enemies don't run away from grenafes and the animals can't walk up ledges that are basically at ground level. Unfortunately this game one also has a motorbike section, same as TR Underworld did. They are bad, boring and don't belong in these games.

 

I've been playing on hard and it's not really been difficult at all so far. Most deaths I had was through falling thanks to the camera swaying away from the direction I wanted to jump to. It's a decent game overall, with  several small annoyances that get in teh way of the fluidity of the gameplay.

[ImBossy83]

Final thoughts Game #3

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition

 

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition is a Remaster of one of my favorite Adventure Games. It's from the Golden Age of Lucas Arts Adventure Games and is certainly in the top five of my favorite Games from that age. The remaster certainly was part of the learning experience for Tim Schafer to bring these old Games to console and let to my absolute Favorites of that time (Grim Fandango and DotT) beeing remastered for console. It already has the ability to switch between old and new textures and it also has an Audio Commentary. 

In the game you play as wannabe Pirate Guybrush Threepwood. You have just defeated the evil Pirate LeChuck and are now stranded on Scabb Island. In your attempt to escape the island you somehow set things in motion that lead to the resurrection of LeChuck who now seeks Revenge. The game certainly is a long adventure Game. If you don't use a Guide this game will take you some time.

I played through the game with audio commentary turned on and i played mostly from my memory but used a guide when I got stuck. In the end I got all Trophies except the speedrun Trophy. Sadly the Game doesn't feature a Platinum, so going back just for that one bronze Trophy isn't too enticing. The game holds up very well and i enjoyed every second of it. I mainly used the old school graphics for the added Nostalgia.

 

I played for about 8- 10 hours and I got 11 of the 12 Trophies for an A Rank.

[Upendo_Vitani]

On 3/17/2019 at 0:32 PM, coldsphinx93 said:

So I think joining this event and having the sense of obligation finally got myself in the mindset I have been after for so long; I'm finally not afraid of starting a new game, regardless of completion. So once this event concludes, I am going to go through my backlog and apply the same kind of rules. I'm going to decide which games I actually want to play and hide the junk. I will enjoy each game for three days and then move on to the next, UNLESS I absolutely fall in love with the game and have to keep playing it. The idea is to get out of this funk of not knowing what to spend my time on, and to reinvigorate my love for gaming. Thank you to the organizer of this event, it has inspired me to make the most of my gaming time and finally just play the games I want to play.

 

11 hours ago, Crimson Idol said:

I hate to say this as it's the second time already but I will bow out from this iteration of KYC.

The last few days made me realize that playing any game with some constraints (for a limited time, with specific requirements, etc.) ruins the for me right now. Even if we can freely switch the planned and played games during the event the thought that I "have to" play something and that I want to stick to my plan still stays in my mind and that can't be turned off so easily.

Nonetheless it was fun to read all reviews so far and I will gladly read all upcoming ones.

 

I am also thinking that I will bow out. I feel like I actually want to play games again, not just focus on trophy hunting. I've bought a few games that I simply cannot wait to play, and starting them during this event seems like it kind of defeats the purpose of having a list of games to play specifically for the event. I am proud of myself for finishing up to this point, I am willingly dropping out of an event that I was more active in, and didn't just wait it out to be put in an inactive pile, so there's that. Again a huge thank you to the organizers of this event and good luck to the people still in it. ?

[voodoo_eyes]

Game #7 - Blue Reflection - Preview

 

I'm ot sure what I'm getting myself into with this one. All I know is that it's an a turn-based RPG with female protaonists. Which coming to think of it, most JRPGs have female protagonists.

 

I try to get interested in the story iof JRPGs, but it either becomes silly or just non-sensical a few hours in and I lose interest. So my main focus tends to be the gameplay. So here's to hoping it's good. The guide here says it's Persona-esque, now that's putting the bar way up there. Critically the reception has been pretty meh, but genre aficionados seem to think quite highly of it.

 

Anhow, I'll see what's it all about soon enough. I do wish though, that the dialogues don't constantly interrupt the flow of the game.

Edited March 19, 2019 by voodoo_eyes

[Gretchen27]

Game 3: Final Impressions
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Enjoyment: 6/10
Play time: ~19 hours
Percent change: -1.14%

Well I'm done with my third game a bit early, & by done I mean earned. It wasn't difficult being a Vita game it worked out best playing in short bursts on the go. I wanted to finish it up quickly though because as I mentioned in my initial impressions, the menu map sucks. I was certain if I moved on I'd hate relearning the map. Better to get it done while fresh in my mind. I know that isn't the point of this event, that's just how it worked out.

Guess you could say I found out Metroidvania isn't in my top gaming genre. I appreciate the level design, I can only imagine the planning & trial & error that went into a map that let's you choose the route you take. That is a cool feature. But going through a playthrough is enough to explore the map. I don't see the point forcing 2 additional playthroughs. The only change is what endgame bombs or hostages you need to deal with before the final boss. They could have just as easily set it up where once you beat a main boss they set their special items & you deal with them before moving on to the next boss.

The collectibles were a nice challenge to find. They consisted of suit parts & upgrade pieces for the Bat suit. & then lots of detective clues to fill in what happened during the prison riot. I got most on my own, used a video guide for the rest. Everything but the upgrades carry over to NG+, much to my dismay on the last playthrough when I realized I had to track down the upgrades for a second time. You can also find an ultimate suit by the end of the first playthrough that makes Batman impervious to all damage. Virtually making the subsequent playthroughs merely busy work.

Black Mask & Joker fights were good, a bit of problem solving with the former & some tactics learning with the latter. The Penguin fight was infuriating though, hated going through that one 3x even with the impervious armor. & the final boss fight was very stringent on timing. I'll say they were varied at least.

Like I said before, the cutscenes were nicely done & the ulterior motive for Catwoman was great. Though they missed an opportunity for a final boss fight with one inmate.

On deck: Megadimension Neptunia VII. Might be a little late starting/posting for it.

[Kevvik]

Game #6: Omega Quintet

 

Initial/Day 3 Impressions

Time played: 8 hrs

 

Omega Quintet is a turn based RPG from Idea Factory/Compile Heart which will give some people an idea about what I've gotten into. You are Takt, a boy who grew up with a girl so oblivious that you probably had to make sure she kept breathing, ate and all these other tasks typical people take for granted. She is reasonably obsessed with a girl who fights other-dimensional evil creatures in the land called The Blare. You don't get the obsession (because you appear to have a brain) but you look after Otoha, who likes practicing her singing in abandoned parts of town, dreaming of becoming a Verse Maiden and fighting The Blare, regardless of her incompetence.

 

Of course, Miss Momoka's (the last? Verse Maiden) battles are televised like a typical Idol and her rabid fans are people who were too dumb to leave the city when The Blare showed up years before.  She getting a little long in the tooth to keep fighting The Blare, even though she still looks like a teen.  After a battle, Otoha goes to practice her singing and gets attacked by Blare. Momoka's shows up and fights them off but is too tired to fight when more show up. You sacrifice yourself to let them get away but Otoha grabs Momoka's weapon and beats the Blare that attacked you. You both collapse and awaken in The Office where you find out Momka is retiring and Otoha is going to be a Verse Maiden (no matter how ineffectual). She tries out, screws up, you go and save her because she can do this when you are around to support her (sometimes) and you get recruited, Otoha as Verse Maiden and you as manager and bodyguard. There are a couple of other girls that Momoka has found and the girls team up to become Verse Maidens.

 

 Momoka acts like a typical bitch, putting the girls down all the time and the only other support you have is Ayumi, the current manager you will eventually replace, who sets up and acts as commentator for the broadcasts. Got all that? Throw in a rival manager who used to be Momoka's partner and her protege and you can picture the storyline mixed amongst the endless tutorial sessions. I'm in episode three and they are still coming regularly between missions. You also have some mild fan service thrown in during events which are designed to improve the affection relationship between you and each girl which raises powers supposedly.

 

So we get to combat. You have a physical attack with your weapon/microphone as well as special mic oriented moves and other actions similar to spells. These attacks damage the Blare, some are AOE, others healing or buffs, fairly generic. You can combo things together and slowly raise your popularity with viewers. These give bonuses to XP and EP to raise levels and use for creating items, weapons, armor (dresses), new skills and stuff.  I haven't reached the tutorial to unlock Live Concert Mode yet which should allow me to use this popularity in battle.  Another feature is that you have moves where you can assist one of the girls with either supporting attacks or defence by button pressing at the right times. You have a limited number of these moves during each battle though you can unlock increases like the girls unlock skills.

 

There's been a lot of description from me to describe what is actually a rather unexciting game. The girls are fairly cookie cutter IF/CH heroines, Otoha being more oblivious than the usual, though Nene's occasional infatuation with weapons and mayhem inducing objects ("I don't want to leave because then I wouldn't be allowed to use my guns") is left understated behind her painful shyness and I hope it gets explored more as it seems to be the only feature thus far that isn't totally by the numbers. The others won't appear unfamiliar to anyone. Likewise, there's the occasional implied impropriety about a boy living with a bunch of girls that your character just doesn't  seem to understand and nobody wants to bluntly address. Genre cliches abound.

 

While there's nothing exceptional going on, likewise it isn't bad either. It's greatest sin, in a game about Idols and fame, seems to be the feeling of mediocrity and utter routine activity that pervades the game. Gameplay just sort of keeps going and you brainlessly progress because there doesn't seem to be a good reason to stop. If it keeps going the grinding shouldn't be too painful because I should be numb by that point.

 

Trophies earned: 9/55, 12% for D rank

Score so far: 5/10

Completion Rate: 82.85% (-0.51% for the event)

 

Next up:  Game #7: Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken