Briste's Diary of a Madman

[Cassylvania]

16 hours ago, Briste said:

I feel like I need to play something happy now...Forgotten Anne is up next as I try to finish up Gaming By Numbers...the title has me a little worried about that though lol @Cassylvania this will be all about sunshine and rainbows right?

 

Geez. You need a tissue after that trio of games? ?

 

Pretty much agree with you on your assessment of all three. I dropped LiS from my list of favorite games on the PS4 after playing BtS, even though I still think they're both really good. WRoEF is something else, though. I'd put it ahead of every other walking sim I've played. Did those games let you play as a shark rolling down a hill? Didn't think so.

 

As for Anne... I'd say it's only slightly less depressing than what you've already put yourself through.

[Briste]

19 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Geez. You need a tissue after that trio of games?

 

Pretty much agree with you on your assessment of all three. I dropped LiS from my list of favorite games on the PS4 after playing BtS, even though I still think they're both really good. WRoEF is something else, though. I'd put it ahead of every other walking sim I've played. Did those games let you play as a shark rolling down a hill? Didn't think so.

 

As for Anne... I'd say it's only slightly less depressing than what you've already put yourself through.

Not a tissue, but maybe a few therapy sessions lol I was pretty tired after playing these games that's for sure.

 

I thought that whole story with the Shark rolling down the hill was really creative and interesting. What I liked most about that game was the narrators and how they moved the story along. With the shark, I got stuck on a tree and had to flip-flop around for a few minutes before I was able to move on. I almost restarted since I thought it glitched, but I was able to finally get free.

 

I started Anne last night and I like the concept a lot so far...I did run into something pretty frustrating, but I decided to move on. Early in the game, one of the Forgotlings asks you to go back to a previous area and get him something for him. When I tried to go back, Anne kept stopping and turning around saying "I'm in a hurry." No matter what I tried to do, it wouldn't let me go get it. I hope it doesn't screw anything up later in the game. The artwork is really cool, kind of reminds me of The Banner Saga a little, but the platforming is pretty sluggish. I'll probably play this game a lot tonight while I've got the football game playing on my PC.

 

I feel like the Bears should win this game...but you can't ever count out Rodgers...even with his scummy molester mustache. The big football news of the day is the Raiders suspending AB...what an absolute clown that guy has turned out to be late in his career. He used to be so mild-mannered and humble in his early days...I get he has some CTE effects from that Burfict hit a few years ago because he is off the reservation now.

[Briste]

Platinum #92

Forgotton Anne

To keep going with my depressing run of story lines, I add Forgotton Anne to the mix. It wasn't as depressing as the last three games, but it was not without difficult decisions and multiple possible endings. I really liked the concept of this game and thought it was a pretty clever story. The game takes place in a forgotten realm, and the inhabitants are called forgotlings. There are those that are trying to bridge the gap from the forgotten world to the real world, and those that are trying to preserve their home. Anne is trying to decide which side she belongs to. There are some great characters and some fun dialogue. My favorite character was Chief Inspector Magnum. I loved his voice and he reminded me of Eric Cartman in the episode where the boys are playing Detective. The game did a great job of making the character match the name and appearance to their role. 

 

The platforming was not very crisp and caused a few instances of frustration, but there isn't a ton of platforming required so it wasn't a huge deal. If there wasn't a few 'racing' trophies that required crisp platforming, it wouldn't have been an issue at all. The puzzles are relatively basic (I didn't use a guide for these parts) but do present some challenge. I don't believe you can die, so it's not particularly hard otherwise. The biggest drawback to the game is that the trophy list pretty much requires you to use a guide if you want to get the platinum. Most of the trophies you can go back and collect after winning (I missed one even with using a guide!), however there are two game-spanning trophies that make it a necessity. It's a short game, so it is easily possible to do a blind playthrough and then use a guide for the Pacifist and Empathic trophies. Since we only have a week left for the Gaming By Numbers event, I didn't have the luxury of taking my time if I wanted to finish all my games. Fortunately, the guide I used was relatively spoiler free. A lot of the trophies require specific responses, so it's not totally spoiler free...but I was still surprised during most of the story and enjoyed the game quite a bit

 

It reminded me of The Banner Saga as far as the artwork and the Pacifist trophy as Alette, but that's where those comparisons end. If you can get this game for less than $10, it is worth picking up. It's pretty short otherwise and probably not worth playing unless you can get it on sale.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Briste

[Rally-Vincent---]

3 hours ago, Briste said:

Since we only have a week left for the Gaming By Numbers event, I didn't have the luxury of taking my time if I wanted to finish all my games.

 

What is it like to play games for an event? Is it forced gameplay or discovering new games? Personally, I don't think I'd have fun playing something right now because I have to do so within the event timeframe.

[Cassylvania]

4 hours ago, Briste said:

My favorite character was Chief Inspector Magnum. I loved his voice and he reminded me of Eric Cartman in the episode where the boys are playing Detective. The game did a great job of making the character match the name and appearance to their role.

 

I remember looking up to see if they had the same voice actor. ?

 

But yeah, the platforming almost ruined that game. I don't know why she had that delay in her jump animation. The one section in the factory where you had to jump onto a falling block and quickly run to the other side to make another jump took me about twenty tries (and there's a collectible right after it that I missed, so I had to do it again). I had trouble with the backstage area and the movable platforms near the end of the game too.

 

Agree on the price tag. I was hesitant to pay $15 for it, but I think it's a good one to grab if it ever goes on a deep sale.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Cassylvania

[Briste]

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

What is it like to play games for an event? Is it forced gameplay or discovering new games? Personally, I don't think I'd have fun playing something right now because I have to do so within the event timeframe.

It's a little bit of both. More often for me it is discovering new games, but every so often it's a little forced. I like joining these events because it does force me to get out of my comfort zone. Most of the time it is enjoyable, but sometimes not. I typically use games that are already in my backlog when I can and generally only buy games that are recommended. Forgotton Anne is a good example actually. This is not a game I would probably have ever played/discovered on my own. However, as part of the Bingo Bonanza, one of the squares was a game recommended by someone on PSNP. I originally was going to play Yakuza Kiwami at @Jensrecommendation, however I generally like to play games in order that are in a series and that was a bit more than I could chew at this time.@Cassylvaniahad played Forgotton Anne and gave it a lukewarm recommendation. I looked at it a little bit and it seemed like something I might enjoy, it was fairly short and only $9.99 on the PS Store so I picked it up. This game will end up counting as credit for a few different events I'm in so it killed multiple birds with one stone. I was going to play it eventually anyway and the event helped determine the timing.

 

Games like Fe, Mulaka, TMNT: Danger of the Ooze,  and Yomawari: Night Alone would have never been on my radar except for events and I more or less enjoyed them. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Wolf Among Us are examples of games that were home runs for me that I may not have played unless in an event. The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, Eekeemoo: Splinters of Dark Shard and Pic-a-Pix Color were examples of misses that I ended up playing for an event...fortunately they were all short.

 

If left to my own devices, I probably would play the same genres over and over. The events have helped me meet some good people, get some good recommendations and given me incentive to try things out of my comfort zone. The only real game that got tiresome for me due to the time contraints was Rayman Legends. I really liked that game, however it would have been a little easier to spread out the grind a bit more than needing a gold trophy every day to finish.

 

So to make a short story long...the events broaden my horizon and help dictate the timing of when I play stuff more than what I have to play.

 

12 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

But yeah, the platforming almost ruined that game. I don't know why she had that delay in her jump animation. The one section in the factory where you had to jump onto a falling block and quickly run to the other side to make another jump took me about twenty tries (and there's a collectible right after it that I missed, so I had to do it again). I had trouble with the backstage area and the movable platforms near the end of the game too.

I had an issue at the same spot in the factory...I actually did the moving block part fine...it took me like 10 tries just to get on to the balcony platform. I kept jumping slightly too late and hitting my head. My other big challenge spot were the two races. You know...the ones you don't realize you are supposed to be racing but there is a trophy attached so you need to race races. In the one on the roof tops, I was either too early and landed on the ground, or too late and grabbed the balcony. There was a sweet spot where you had to job to thread in between them. 

 

12 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

I remember looking up to see if they had the same voice actor. ?

That's hilarious you thought the same thing lol

Edited September 9, 2019 by Briste

[Rally-Vincent---]

I occasionally discover games through browsing profiles here on PSNP, but I still prefer to play them at my own leisure. I barely manage to keep up with my "usual" games, I don't want more than 20 games in my backlog.

[Arcesius]

11 hours ago, Briste said:

It's a little bit of both. More often for me it is discovering new games, but every so often it's a little forced. I like joining these events because it does force me to get out of my comfort zone. Most of the time it is enjoyable, but sometimes not. I typically use games that are already in my backlog when I can and generally only buy games that are recommended.

 

Exactly this. I've only participated in two events thus far, but in both cases I've just played games I anyways wanted to play. But in addition to helping with prioritizing certain games from the backlog, playing for an event sometimes also adds extra motivation to keep at a game ("If I just power through now, I will be done with this game during the event"). Know what I mean?

 

 

How is your progress with Space Hulk going? I want to see you going back to SMB ?

[Briste]

8 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Exactly this. I've only participated in two events thus far, but in both cases I've just played games I anyways wanted to play. But in addition to helping with prioritizing certain games from the backlog, playing for an event sometimes also adds extra motivation to keep at a game ("If I just power through now, I will be done with this game during the event"). Know what I mean?

I generally only sign up for events where the categories match games I already own, or at least the majority of categories. A lot of the events have categories that overlap, so there is not a ton of 'one off' games. I definitely like the extra motivation to keep at a game or pick a certain game...sometimes I'm indecisive about what to play next and the event helps make the choice easier.

 

I mostly feel bad when I beat a game that I spam the forum with like 5 or 6 posts repeating a lot of the same information to update my status in the event. I may not do as many concurrent events next year...however I think it is important to support the different events. I like that there are individuals that try to bring the community together to do something fun. If nobody signs up, then no one will take the initiative.

 

I think I'd like to come up with an event at some point myself...I have an idea, but I want to make sure it is fully fleshed out. I'm pretty busy at work right now so don't quite have the time to get it all setup...maybe next year.

 

8 hours ago, Arcesius said:

How is your progress with Space Hulk going? I want to see you going back to SMB 

Very slowly lol. According to the calculator on my phone, I'm up to 22,637 kills without exiting the game. Due to lag, I can kill about 300-400 in an hour....I've been getting maybe 4-5 hours in per week while watching TV at night. Depending on how many kills during my prior attempts actually count...the trophy could pop at any time or take all the way to about 39,000 kills. I've for sure got at least 1000 that count since I got that trophy...my goal is to finish up by the end of the year. Once it gets dark out earlier, I may get some more opportunities to play. I want to get back to SMB as well and I also want to play Darkest Dungeon.

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Briste

[Briste]

Finished up a couple of games last night:

 

Hue

I'm conflicted with how I feel about this game. I really like the style of game of the puzzle platformer, so it had that in its favor. Even though the music was relatively repetitive, I enjoy ominous piano music so that was also a plus. I also really liked the concept of using the color spectrum so there are a lot good things the game had going for it. This game mainly suffered from some of the clunkiest platforming controls I've ever played. There are several puzzles that require you to jump and change color in midair. In order to change to a specific color, you have to angle the R3 joystick to a specific angle. Nothing is harder than running with the D-pad or L3 joystick, pressing X to jump while simultaneously tilting the R3 joystick a very specific direction. You have minimal wiggle room to mess up or you select the wrong color and mess up the jump. This clunkiness caused more issues than it should have.

 

Overall, I found most of the puzzles pretty satisfying to solve. A few of them really gave me a challenge, but for the most part they are pretty straightforward. Word to the wise...you don't die walking under the paint spouts. I had assumed for several of the puzzles that if you got hit by the paint, you would die and did a lot of extra work to solve those puzzles. I accidentally ran into one and didn't die and it made the next puzzles much easier.

 

My other big issue was the blandness of the story. Normally I don't care since a lot of platformers aren't about the story and are about the game play. The problem was this game tried to make an emotional story line and I just found the narration to be annoying more than adding any real depth to the game. They should have spent more time on making working mechanics on the controller. Batman and Spider-Man had similar mechanics with changing gadgets and they weren't nearly as clunky. Due to the rather clunky controls and meh story, I'd have to say this is the textbook definition of a mediocre game. I needed a '2' game for Gaming By Numbers, and this looked short and interesting. It did end up being relatively short...

 

Platinum #93

Hitman GO: Definitive Edition

I had originally bought this game to play on my Vita, however my Vita backlog keeps extending since Space Hulk is taking forever. I needed a '7' for Gaming By Numbers and I figured now was a good time to give it a try. The exceptionally high completion percentage is usually something I steer clear of, however I really do like puzzle games and I wasn't going to go the cheap way and follow a guide so I didn't worry about it. I had no idea what to expect when I started it and I was really pleasantly surprised. The game plays like a chess game where Hitman (not sure if he has a real name) is like the King piece and can move 1 place in any direction (except diagonal) and each of the enemy types follows a specific pattern. There is no randomness to the maps or the movements so there is always a specific solution. You can find other solutions on some maps by drawing things out, however the maps are all pretty small and it doesn't take a ton of time to figure out what you need to do.

 

These puzzles were more challenging than those in Hue, but they weren't terribly complex save a few maps. The biggest drawback was that each map has three objectives and two of them are almost always at odds with one another so you have to repeat the same maps. One objective may be kill all enemies before clearing and the other may be kill none. One objective may be to finish the grid in a max number of turns while the other is to collect a briefcase and you can't do one without voiding the other. While at first the game was quite fun, it ended up getting repetitive pretty quickly. There isn't a ton of variety and once you get a hang of the mechanics, it really isn't bad. I probably would have enjoyed this game more playing on my Vita and spreading it out over a longer period of time. If I ever play Lara Croft GO, I'll probably go that route.

 

This game had no story, which is fine since it didn't pretend to. The game is great for what it is. If you are just interested in the trophies, you could easily get this game done in a couple of hours following a video guide. It took me probably about 4 or 5 hours on my own. If you like puzzle games, you'll probably enjoy this game. If not, you should find something else.

 

I only have '0' left to finish my gaming slate for the event. I was going to play Alice: Madness Returns, however I will never get that done in two and a half days. I checked the Tableau and found a game I'm excited to play...Doom VFR. I'm excited for a few reasons. First, I played Doom and Doom 2 a ton on the PC as a kid. Second, it will finish up the event. Mostly, I haven't taken advantage of many games on my PSVR since I got it and this gives me an excellent excuse to use it   I generally suck at FPS games, so we'll see how it goes!

[Briste]

Doom V(irtual) F(ucking) R(eality)

 

I picked this game so that I would have a reason to play my PSVR and it also finished up my slate for the Gaming by Numbers Event. I really haven't used my PSVR a lot since I got it and I was looking forward to playing something like this. My initial impressions were a complete disappointment...but I have to say that was entirely my own fault. I played this game without a guide or watching any videos...which I kind of wish I did because I would have enjoyed 100% of my playthrough instead of only 25% of it...

 

Had I watched a video, I would have seen how the movement could/should have been. I am going to blame the game a little bit for my initial perception. The default movement settings for the game are to teleport around or short burst dashes with the D-Pad...If you use the R3 and L3 joysticks, nothing would happen for movement. It was frustrating and stupid for an FPS. I didn't look at the settings for the controls and just assumed this was how the game had to be played. I didn't learn that you could change the movement from segmented and teleport to fluid and running....like a normal FPS until the last couple of levels. It was very hard to control using only teleporting and dashes. The only good thing about my mistake was that I easily got to 1000 teleports for the trophy. If I played the fun way...I would have had to grind that at the end. The other thing I didn't figure out until the end was how to bring up the level maps...which show you the location for the collectibles. Had I noticed this at the beginning, I probably wouldn't have had to replay any of the missions. It was a little fun though to go back and play the missions the fun way.

 

Since I played this game the wrong way...I was supremely disappointed at first. Once I put the controls to the correct setting...this game was amazingly awesome. It truly was like being dropped right into an FPS game. The demons were pretty cool, however the graphics were a little fuzzy on them. The levels were quite clear and very cool to explore. I have the gun controller for the VR and it was really awesome for this game. Once I got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun. I'll definitely play another FPS game on the VR down the road. It was pretty short and the levels are relatively small so it is a bit expensive for how short it is...but it really was a lot of fun and if you are a doom fan, there are Classic levels that you can unlock and play. So if you ever plan on playing this game...for the love of Jeebus, fix the controls before you start. You won't be disappointed.

 

I'm pretty close to my 100th platinum and I have decided to make Final Fantasy VIII be that milestone trophy, so I will be playing a variety of different games until I reach 99 plats. I have started with Tekken 7. I haven't played a fighting games since Street Figher II Turbo on the SNES (I'm not kidding with that either) I played it for about an hour today while watching the Patriots game. So far, I'm not terribly impressed, mostly because I suck at them. I have no idea what I'm doing really so spent a lot of time in the practice mode. I got a few trophies by accident. Hopefully the campaign is decent and I learn how to play this game. I doubt I'll feel the need to play another one for a while though.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Briste

[Arcesius]

Damn, thanks for writing about the settings! Like yourself I haven't played a VR game since Beat Saber (which, by the way, you should get...) and might pick up Doom VFR at some point after reading your positive thoughts on it. Will make sure to change the movement options first thing! ?

 

Do you have a PS4 Pro? Asking cause I have the vanilla one, and VR is obviously better on the Pro. I'm only a bit hesitatnt to start this one cause I guess it's pretty fast paced, and I'm worried that things will be blurry or even cause motion sickness... I haven't had any such issues thus far, but all the games I've played on the VR have been pretty chill (in terms of player movement). 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Arcesius

[Briste]

11 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Do you have a PS4 Pro? Asking cause I have the vanilla one, and VR is obviously better on the Pro. I'm only a bit hesitatnt to start this one cause I guess it's pretty fast paced, and I'm worried that things will be blurry or even cause motion sickness... I haven't had any such issues thus far, but all the games I've played on the VR have been pretty chill (in terms of player movement). 

I do not have a PS4 Pro. I almost got a limited edition Spider-Man one when they were out...but couldn't justify spending the money since my current PS4 works just fine. It's pretty fast paced, however there are no trophies related to the difficulty setting. I tried playing on normal at first, but was getting my ass kicked since I was having trouble turning and shooting and finding the demons. I ended up bumping it down to the easiest setting. I think I would have been fine on Normal had I been playing it with normal movement.

 

It was a little blurry once I had it so I could walk around. It was fine when I was stationary, but a little blurry when moving. I was disoriented for a couple of seconds until I got used to the new movement and I didn't really notice it after a minute or so since I was too focused on not getting eaten by a demon. I don't normally play the VR for more than an hour or so without taking a break just in case. I did fine with it though. This was by far the most active game I've played on the VR to date. I did the Apollo game, which was nothing as far as motion sickness. I did batman VR where there isn't really any movement and was fine there. I do have VR Karts that I'm going to try out soon and see how I do with that kind of motion.

[AJ_Radio]

There's a LOT on your backlog that I've completed. Most of it is fairly easy and straightforward so you shouldn't have problems getting those platinums.

 

Some of the games you SHOULD play are Bloodborne, Sonic Mania and Heavy Rain. Bloodborne is one of the best PS4 exclusives without question. Fairly simple once you figure out the learning curve and has some of the most iconic bosses in gaming. Sonic Mania is a terrific re imaging of the old Sega Genesis Sonic games. A few trophies that may pose some difficulty such as the Golden Medallions, but nothing too hard. Highly recommended.

 

Heavy Rain is easy with a guide with the exception of the Kamikaze trophy. Took me several tries because you can't hit anything and Ethan has to has his car parallel to the police car. You'll see what I mean when you'll play it.

 

Most of the stuff on your backlog is fairly self explanatory. Mafia III you can take it or leave it, while I myself enjoyed the game it forces you to do two playthroughs plus there are some glitched trophies in the DLC.

 

Oh, and please play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. One of the best RPGs of all time.

 

[RuneEyesDragon]

On 5/24/2019 at 4:18 PM, Briste said:

Hitman (not sure if he has a real name)

His name is Agent 47. It was mentioned if you played the actual series.

[Rally-Vincent---]

I liked Heavy Rain - so yes, play that. I liked the other David Cage games as well. Witcher III is a must, but do Mass Effect Trilogy first. And Alien: Isolation is a brilliant game. It catches the atmosphere of Alien really good. Man, why are all these in your backlog and not in your "I wish there'd be more games like that" pile?

[Briste]

19 hours ago, Spaz said:

There's a LOT on your backlog that I've completed. Most of it is fairly easy and straightforward so you shouldn't have problems getting those platinums.

 

Some of the games you SHOULD play are Bloodborne, Sonic Mania and Heavy Rain. Bloodborne is one of the best PS4 exclusives without question. Fairly simple once you figure out the learning curve and has some of the most iconic bosses in gaming. Sonic Mania is a terrific re imaging of the old Sega Genesis Sonic games. A few trophies that may pose some difficulty such as the Golden Medallions, but nothing too hard. Highly recommended.

 

Heavy Rain is easy with a guide with the exception of the Kamikaze trophy. Took me several tries because you can't hit anything and Ethan has to has his car parallel to the police car. You'll see what I mean when you'll play it.

 

Most of the stuff on your backlog is fairly self explanatory. Mafia III you can take it or leave it, while I myself enjoyed the game it forces you to do two playthroughs plus there are some glitched trophies in the DLC.

 

Oh, and please play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. One of the best RPGs of all time.

Those are all games that I plan to play sooner rather than later actually. I almost played Sonic Mania last week as a part of the Gaming By Numbers event, but ended up going with Hitman GO instead since I was in a puzzle game kind of mood. Bloodborne will be played when I tackle the Dark Souls series. I keep putting that off to play other stuff...but that will most likely be the next lengthy series I play after I finish up Mass Effect. It will either be that or Uncharted. I was debating playing the Heavy Rain series right now since I need 6 games to get to 99 before I play Final Fantasy VIII...but I think I want to play some variety so that will most likely be a filler series between Mass Effect and Dark Souls. I'm in the midst of Tekken 7 right now which I don't really like all that much. I suck at fighting games and there are just waaaaaaaay too many combos to memorize. I miss the days of light-medium-hard punch/kick and a few special abilities. It's an easy trophy list so I won't bitch too much, and it's not that it's a bad game so much as I don't really enjoy the genre. 

 

I'm really looking forward to The Witcher 3 but I know it is really long so I want to be mentally ready for that. Plus I feel like that would be a good milestone game. I'm looking at probably doing Tekken 7 ~> LA Noire ~> Game of Thrones ~> Alice: Madness Returns ~> The Order: 1886 ~> Alien: Isolation ~> Final Fantasy VIII ~> Mass Effect series. I'll probably sprinkle a few 100% games in there as well. I was originally hoping to start Mass Effect in early October to finish all four games by the end of the year, however I just want to at least finish the first game by the end of the year so I'll take my time a little bit with these games. The only events right now are the year long ones so I'm not stressed about any kind of timetable. 

 

14 hours ago, RuneEyesDragon said:

His name is Agent 47. It was mentioned if you played the actual series.

I had assumed he was Agent 47 since that is the name of the Platinum image. I just wasn't sure if his actual name was like Jason Bourne or something. I've never played a Hitman game before so have no idea. Thanks though.

 

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

I liked Heavy Rain - so yes, play that. I liked the other David Cage games as well. Witcher III is a must, but do Mass Effect Trilogy first. And Alien: Isolation is a brilliant game. It catches the atmosphere of Alien really good. Man, why are all these in your backlog and not in your "I wish there'd be more games like that" pile?

lol it piles up easy when you spend the better part of a decade only playing one game. I have a lot to catch up on. I'm just happy that I have all this good stuff to play  The hardest thing I have to do is figure out what to play next, because something good will be waiting longer than it should. What I really need to do is become independently wealthy so I can afford to not work and just enjoy all these games! 

[Briste]

Platinum #94

Tekken 7

 

A month or so ago, I saw Tekken 7 on a decent sale on the Playstation Store and it caught my eye. The last Fighting genre game I really played was Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES. I did have the Mortal Kombat Mythologies Sub Zero game on the N64...but I didn't play it a ton and don't really think that would count anyways. I always used to play with my brother or best friend sitting next to me and enjoyed it. I was best with Ryu or Ken, but was able to beat the game on the hardest settings with everyone except Dhalsim. He was just too slow and I could never beat Vega with him. Anyways, I saw this game on sale and figured I'd give the fighting genre a try. The trophy list didn't look impossible for me and this seemed like it could be a good re-entry into the genre.

 

I cannot give this game a fair review because I learned that I do not like fighting games lol I don't think this is a bad game per say, I just found it complicated and boring. If it wasn't for the assist moves, I may have never won a fight. For someone who doesn't play fighting games, this was just overwhelming to learn. There are about 40 characters, with different moves (similarly executed though) and just a lot of nuance. I ended up playing as Marshall Law (get it!?) since he reminded me of Liu Kang and his Rage move seemed to be the easiest to learn. I spent a ton of time in the practice mode trying to get comfortable with the different moves and found myself getting frustrated on not having Law do what I was expecting him to do. The timing on some of the moves is really quick and others not so much. So to simplify, my move set ended up being hold L1, press  to double backflip kick to launch the opponent, keep holding L1 and press  for a double punch move, keep holding L1 and press  for a double kick move to finish the combo. Occasionally mix in a quick jab flurry, sweep the leg or grapple the opponent...then just block until you have an opening. Really repetitive...The main story of the game is really thin, however I've never played a Tekken game before so I have no idea what was going on or if it is a good continuation. I just know Heihachi and Akuma are pretty badass. I played on the easiest setting to limit my frustration and mowed through both the story mode and individual character stories. It only took me an hour or so to be crowned a Warrior through the treasure mode as well...online play was a different story.

 

I tried to get the tournament trophy done first and got smoked several times. Even though I searched for people of a similar rank, I inevitably ended up fighting people with hundreds of wins in tournament play. In one tournament, I got matched up against someone with 9997 wins...I was standing there proudly with my 0 wins and got my ass handed to me. I almost won twice in other matches against closer ranked people and got disconnected both times due to the host of the tournament quitting out. That was pretty frustrating. I ended up getting the trophy for doing 10 online matches before ever winning one. I finally won a tournament match when I decided to host the tournament so I didn't have to worry about the host quitting out. Fortunately, everyone that entered the tournament was with 5 wins or less and I came out victorious in not one but two matches. The player mode and rank match mode I ended up winning back to back fights to finish up the Platinum.

 

Thankfully the trophy list was really easy so I can move on and not feel trapped. I just found the game boring and extremely repetitive. I'm sure if I took the time to develop my skills, I might enjoy it more...but who has time for that? I won't say this game was bad, because it might actually be good...but I don't anticipate myself buying another fighting game anytime soon.

[Briste]

Platinum #95

Game of Thrones

I was a person that waited to watch Game of Thrones until the final season. I have no patience to wait week to week or years to see the next episode. I waited until Lost, Dexter, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and a few other shows ran their course before binge watching the whole series in a few weeks. I think it is different with sitcoms since they don't generally carry over week to week nor end on crazy cliffhangers. But these major drama shows I tend to wait. I picked this game up due to a little bit of a perfect storm of things. First, I have enjoyed the Telltale games and had this on my radar. Second, I had just finished binge watching the series and it was fresh in my mind. Third, it had just been announced slightly after the series concluded that Telltale games would be de-listed. I knew I wanted to play it and was afraid I would lose that opportunity if I didn't pick the game up right away. I didn't want to worry about the digital version so went to Amazon to see what the physical game would cost. The PS3 version was like $20 cheaper so I went with that one...I kind of wish I splurged for the PS4 version...

 

The PS3 version was really just a choppy mess. My first hint that the game would not be a smooth adventure was the nearly five minute loading time to even get to the episode selection screen. It was another few minutes before the story started. The game never froze or closed on me and every trophy popped when it should have so hurrah for them....but the choppiness of the scenes, especially in Episode 6 is nearly unforgivable. The story is very high drama and the frame rates just killed any sense of suspense. The QTE sections didn't seem terribly affected by it in that I never missed a command prompt due to the drops in frame rate...but that was a small consolation. The graphics were also quite poor. The characters didn't seem very crisply drawn and the voices never seemed to match up with the mouth movements.

 

As bad as the game play and graphics were...the story was actually quite compelling. It was very fitting of a Game of Thrones entry and the amount of tough decisions and terrible things that seemed to happen didn't disappoint. I can't say I was very satisfied with how the story ended up...but that is true to the series as I don't feel there were very many instances in the series where everything seemed to work out and/or felt satisfying. My only real gripe with the story was that it was most definitely setup to have a sequel that will more likely than not, never happen. You'll need to use your imagination to figure out what happens.

 

If I could do it over again, I would play the PS4 version because the game play has to be crisper and the story was good enough that I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more. If you liked Game of Thrones and like the Telltale style of game play, this is definitely worth a play through on the PS4...if not, you could probably skip this one.

 

 

I didn't do any gaming over the weekend. I took my family to Boston for the weekend where I brought my son to his first baseball game. We made it just over four innings before he got bored and wanted to go home lol The tickets weren't cheap, but I didn't want him to have a bad memory of the day so I got him a souvenir popcorn helmet and we took a bike/rickshaw taxi back to the hotel and called it a day. I love the idea of Boston, but am really not a city person and was happy to come home  

 

In addition to finishing up Game of Thrones, I finished up everything in Return to Arkham City except for Calendar Man. I have three more dates with him and then I'll get a shiny platinum on Christmas Day. I had forgotten that you had to redo all of the side missions in NG+. It ended up not being too bad. I was dreading redoing the AR missions again, but I ended up getting lucky and none of them took more than three tries.

 

I had flirted with the idea of playing Alien Isolation next but ended up picking LA Noire. I think I'll play Alien a little closer to Halloween. I actually have a decent Halloween line up prepared with Alice: Madness Returns being my next game, followed by Alien: Isolation. That will leave one game available to be Platinum #99 before I make FFVIII #100...then it will be all Mass Effect until I'm done. I'll see what tickles my fancy for #99, but I'm kind of leaning towards Spec Ops: The Line...but that may be too many FPS styles in a row so we'll see.

[Briste]

BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH IT'S OVER!!!! SPACE HULK PLATINUM!!! I'm in New Hampshire with spotty WiFi....if I can't sync this and my Vita explodes before I can there will be murders....

[Rally-Vincent---]

3 minutes ago, Briste said:

BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH IT'S OVER!!!! SPACE HULK PLATINUM!!! I'm in New Hampshire with spotty WiFi....if I can't sync this and my Vita explodes before I can there will be murders....

 

At long last. Congratulations from a secret adm... no, wait.

[Briste]

Platinum #96

Space Hulk

 

I'm home from New Hampshire and have had time to wrap my head around the fact it's finally over This platinum has tested me more than any game prior and I'm really proud of myself for not giving up. I learned something that will hopefully help others if they choose to tackle this abomination of a game. You must save and back out to the main menu for your undo kills to count. I learned the very hard way, that saving is not enough. For my first 46,000 kills, I would save and then press the PS button on my vita and swipe closed the game to reset the lag. None of those kills count. I have to really tip my cap to @Rally-Vincent--- for bringing it to my attention that swiping to quit out may not count my kills. I was about to give up before that glimmer of hope. I had originally planned on not saving and quitting out at all and just grind through the lag, but when I got to about 24,000 kills it became too much. I was only getting like 200 kills an hour with the lag and I didn't want to waste anymore time than I had to. I google searched and saw a comment on the trophy at playstationtrophies.org that specifically mentions you must quit to the main menu for the kills to count...I figured it was worth a try so I saved...quit to the main menu and reloaded the save. To my extreme pleasure, it removed the lag and to my even more extreme pleasure, I was able to get closer to 700 kills per hour with the eliminated lag.

 

Having no idea how many of my prior kill attempts actually counted (I had quit to the menu a handful of times and finished the level a couple of times to check progress) but was assuming I'd need somewhere around 36,000 but was going to go to 45,000 just to be sure. I'm happy to say that the trophy dinged when the calculator on my phone said 31,449 kills I can, with pretty good confidence, confirm that the undo method works and that you must save and exit to the main menu for the kills to count.

 

Now...onto the game itself. It is really close to actually being a pretty fun TBS game that requires some good strategy and a decent challenge. What kills it is how slow and laggy the game gets really quickly. It borders on unplayable at some points due to this. It is also unclear when you need to use the touch screen and when you can use the controls to do certain activities. It took me quite a while to figure this stuff out. Saving and loading for example is via the touch screen...attacking and undoing is via the controls...rerolling is via the touch screen and so on. This adds another element of clunkiness that is just no fun. Maybe the controls are better on the main console...but it is pure garbage for the Vita. It is also very clear that this game is incomplete and will never be finished. There are game modes in the menu that you just can't access. The only thing it has going for it was that it was a free game.

 

It is not particularly hard and just needs a lot of patience to complete. Honestly, if I'd known about the saving and backing out to the main menu, I would have finished this game over a year ago...as it turns out I probably put 130+ hours into this. I don't feel too bad about it since the majority of that time I was doing something else. I'd play it casually while watching TV and never spent a second playing this game exclusively so don't feel quite as bad about the time commitment. I can't in good conscience recommend this, but if you want an easy UR game...this could be ok....just be warned that it mostly sucks lol

 

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

At long last. Congratulations from a secret adm... no, wait.

Thank you sir for your help. Honestly, your comment on the thread in the game forum was a light bulb for me and gave me a glimmer of hope. When the trophy popped yesterday, I was like 'wait...wtf just happened?!?!' I actually got my wife to smile about it since she knows how much effort I put into it since she was around a lot of the time I spent trying.

 

Now I am trying to decide if I just want to go back to SMB and see if I can finally finish up that monster...or go back and play Darkest Dungeon that I started in January and am really looking forward to. My completion % is begging for DD, but my soul wants to finish up SMB....I'm going to take a few days away from the Vita before I decide

[Arcesius]

Well congrats on that one! I remember that you were already working on those kills when I started participating in your discussions with Cassy ? Must feel good to have that done, and chapeau for keeping at it for so long! 

 

43 minutes ago, Briste said:

Now I am trying to decide if I just want to go back to SMB and see if I can finally finish up that monster...or go back and play Darkest Dungeon that I started in January and am really looking forward to. My completion % is begging for DD, but my soul wants to finish up SMB....I'm going to take a few days away from the Vita before I decide

 

Everything makes me wanna play DD... but I watched Joseph Anderson's review on it and while he thought the game was good in principle, he also said that he also had the worst 80 hours of his gaming experience with that game... ? 

It's a bit selfish to ask, but if you end up playing DD, I'd be super happy if you would share your thoughts on it from time to time ? You know that I mostly research the games I play... 

 

And of course if you decide to go for SMB, I'd be happy to help in any way I can  In any case, good luck!! 

[Rally-Vincent---]

1 hour ago, Briste said:

 I have to really tip my cap to @Rally-Vincent---

 

As long as you don't cap your... ah well, forget it. Glad to have been of help. It'd probaly help people if you posted the solution in the mentioned thread as well.

 

1 hour ago, Briste said:

Now I am trying to decide if I just want to go back to SMB and see if I can finally finish up that monster...or go back and play Darkest Dungeon that I started in January and am really looking forward to. My completion % is begging for DD, but my soul wants to finish up SMB....I'm going to take a few days away from the Vita before I decide

 

I am playing DD right now, and after the first two dozen runs, it gets pretty boring. It's too much of the same in every run.

[Briste]

On 10/14/2019 at 2:53 PM, Arcesius said:

Everything makes me wanna play DD... but I watched Joseph Anderson's review on it and while he thought the game was good in principle, he also said that he also had the worst 80 hours of his gaming experience with that game...  

It's a bit selfish to ask, but if you end up playing DD, I'd be super happy if you would share your thoughts on it from time to time  You know that I mostly research the games I play... 

 

And of course if you decide to go for SMB, I'd be happy to help in any way I can  In any case, good luck!! 

I will try to post some periodic updates of DD when I tackle it full on. I try not to say too much about a game unless there is something I feel like I need to say so that I don't water-down my platinum review. There are several people on PSNP whose opinion I respect that love this game and that is enough for me to give it a try. It had been on my radar for quite a while, but I had planned to play it on my Vita and I was concerned that the lack of sound may hinder the game play experience. I generally play my Vita while my wife is watching one of her shows on TV and I try not to be a distraction. SMB is perfect for that and so were most of the Vita games I've played. I'm hoping the experience of DD on the Vita is close to the experience on PS4...if not, my impressions may not be as accurate for your experience. From the couple of hours I played in January...it piqued my interest. It seems like there is a steep learning curve, but I'll try to casually update my thoughts  

 

On 10/14/2019 at 3:14 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

As long as you don't cap your... ah well, forget it. Glad to have been of help. It'd probaly help people if you posted the solution in the mentioned thread as well.

 

Good idea...part of me wants to add it to the Vita version of the games forum too since there are too many GD stacks of this game...

 

On 10/14/2019 at 3:14 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I am playing DD right now, and after the first two dozen runs, it gets pretty boring. It's too much of the same in every run.

Do you mean two dozen runs through quests? Or have you died enough to restart two dozen times lol I assume you are saying the quests get repetitive. If I can survive the Undo Repeat sessions of Space Hulk, I can survive anything  Did it take you long to figure out? Did you read up on it anywhere that helped? I've checked the trophy guide on here briefly and it seems to have some good information.