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Briste's Diary of a Madman


Briste

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On 11/21/2019 at 4:55 PM, det_gittes said:

And by the way, I hope you're feeling OK now, pneumonia actually sounds quite scary 1f62c.png

 

On 11/21/2019 at 8:00 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

Get well soon.

Thanks, the cough will linger for a while but I think I'm on the mend :) 

 

I only have to beat the Countess and I'll be able to start my Stygian run. I really don't like the Crimson Court DLC. It wouldn't be bad except that you need a freaking invitation to enter. I haven't been able to get any of the monsters that drop an invitation to appear unless it is high infestation...after beating each boss, the infestation goes back to none and I have to do like 8-10 dungeons before it gets back up high. I tried farming them before beating the Viscount and had four of them, however after I beat him, my invitations went to down to one :( I tried to get to the Countess and beat her in one trip, but my dudes were too stressed out and I wiped. She is by far the hardest boss I've faced so far...I'm currently trying to get an invitation again and will try with another setup of level 6 resolve. I wiped with a party of Hellion, Hound Master, Jester and Vestal. I am going to try with a Hellion, Hound Master, Flagellant and Vestal I think...my ACC was terrible the first go around.

 

I found that the frame rates drop quite a bit with the Crimson Court battles, but it's not unplayable for me. I am definitely not turning that DLC on when doing my Stygian playthrough though...

 

On 11/21/2019 at 11:22 PM, Spaz said:

I see you’re still working on MLB 19 the Show. 

 

Sounds like there’s no easy way to boost that online trophy. But if you manage to get it, you’ll have a platinum that has almost the same rarity as Super Meat Boy. 

I took a small break. The season reset on 11/21 and I was at around 500 points...If there is a way to boost online, I haven't figured it out. Hitting is just so maddening in ranked play. I'll hit the ball squarely and on time only to ground out to short on a hard ground ball....meanwhile I've had early contact that was ok and hit a bomb or very late contact that was jammed and hit a double. It seems like it is all luck. I'll have in early swing on an inside pitch to a right handed batter only to fly out to right field...the physics doesn't seem possible. Basically, you just have to learn not to swing at most things. It is really hard though. I think I'll get it eventually....but I'm going to finish Alice before I start up again.

 

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I'm not sure if you plan to go back to Super Meat Boy or not. I can't imagine playing this game in my 40s or even late 30s...

 

There are guys out there in that age group who have probably done this game, I'm sure of that. But I definitely know my reflexes and timing aren't what they used to be.

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1 hour ago, Briste said:

Once I finish up Darkest Dungeon, I will go back to Super Meat Boy. I'm on week 20 of my stygian playthrough and so long as I don't get screwed like @det_gittes, I'll be done with this game probably in the next couple of weeks. 

Well, I hope you won't get screwed, but to be perfectly honest, I'm on week 30 of my 3rd playthrough (on Darkest this time) and I don't mind it too much, especially that I am just one trophy away from the platinum trophy and don't have to worry about anything else than finishing the game. Also, this time I'm playing on PS4 and I have to say - much as I enjoyed playing DD on the Vita - the game runs so much smoother on the big console. 

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18 hours ago, Spaz said:

I just got the Super Meat Boy platinum, and I can safely tell you from experience that those last few no death runs are absolutely brutal. 

 

Congrats man....that is surely a feather in your cap! I'll be very happy if/when I can add my name to that list. It's one of only a few games I've taken on specifically because they were difficult and no other reason. It'd be cool to be able to beat that.

 

On 12/5/2019 at 2:35 PM, det_gittes said:

Well, I hope you won't get screwed, but to be perfectly honest, I'm on week 30 of my 3rd playthrough (on Darkest this time) and I don't mind it too much, especially that I am just one trophy away from the platinum trophy and don't have to worry about anything else than finishing the game. Also, this time I'm playing on PS4 and I have to say - much as I enjoyed playing DD on the Vita - the game runs so much smoother on the big console. 

Me too lol I'm pretty nervous since the trophy guide says that trophy can glitch on the Vita...I'll probably do DD on my PS4 also if it fails for me. Other than the load times into the dungeons, and the fact you swap between characters every 3 seconds because of the touch pad on the back of the Vita...I've enjoyed the experience there as well.

 

With regards to MLB 19...I discovered last night that there is no way to give away cards or credits....the game forces you to take the best deal available. So if you are selling a card, it makes you take the highest offer and if you are buying a card it makes you take the lowest offer. You can't search through the auction house for specific prices or the highest or lowest and select that. I read on reddit that it is because they are trying to avoid an RMT market...which makes sense...but this game seems unboostable and you can't even give your cards/stubs away to friends or anything. Anyone who gets this trophy has to do it legit...at least as far as I can see. My win streak came to an end last night as I won 2 games and lost 3....so I netted negative 20 points :( I got really unlucky with my opponents. I'm a bronze level 70 and I faced up against 3 diamond level 100's. To get to diamond level 100...you need to get to level 100 bronze then 100 silver then 100 gold then 100 diamond. My record is 29-31 and I'm a bronze level 70....the guys I was up against had over 500 games played each...I wish you could filter to play against your same level. Anyways....my two week time period may be harder than I had hoped.

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On 12/6/2019 at 1:14 PM, Briste said:

Congrats man....that is surely a feather in your cap! I'll be very happy if/when I can add my name to that list. It's one of only a few games I've taken on specifically because they were difficult and no other reason. It'd be cool to be able to beat that.

 

I spent a good portion of my childhood playing Mario/Sonic and other platformers on the NES/SNES/Sega Genesis, so I learned the finer details of platforming. Platformers are pretty much second nature to me so I knew I had it in me to finish Super Meat Boy. 

 

I had to spend 50 hours or so to really do all the levels for Impossible Boy consistently. Compared to the 10 - 15 hours each I spent practicing Zombie Boy, Girl Boy and Demon Boy. 

 

That’s a huge increase in time, and for most players including yourself you may have to spend more or less. Impossible Boy is a big difficulty spike, so if you really want the platinum, be prepared to set a bit of time practicing. 

 

On 12/6/2019 at 1:14 PM, Briste said:

With regards to MLB 19...I discovered last night that there is no way to give away cards or credits....the game forces you to take the best deal available. So if you are selling a card, it makes you take the highest offer and if you are buying a card it makes you take the lowest offer. You can't search through the auction house for specific prices or the highest or lowest and select that. I read on reddit that it is because they are trying to avoid an RMT market...which makes sense...but this game seems unboostable and you can't even give your cards/stubs away to friends or anything. Anyone who gets this trophy has to do it legit...at least as far as I can see. My win streak came to an end last night as I won 2 games and lost 3....so I netted negative 20 points :( I got really unlucky with my opponents. I'm a bronze level 70 and I faced up against 3 diamond level 100's. To get to diamond level 100...you need to get to level 100 bronze then 100 silver then 100 gold then 100 diamond. My record is 29-31 and I'm a bronze level 70....the guys I was up against had over 500 games played each...I wish you could filter to play against your same level. Anyways....my two week time period may be harder than I had hoped.

 

Most people who buy the MLB games are baseball enthusiasts, who don’t care about trophies or achievements. A number of online players have probably played several MLB the Show games and have a lot of experience in how to beat their opponents. 

 

I would of just given up on the platinum. MLB the Show 17 in comparison was much easier to get the platinum. Just goes to show they really don’t care about trophy hunters. 

 

NBA 2K Games are a lot worse. This is why I haven’t delved into sports titles, because the grinding and time required, as well as some trophies requiring a lot of skill, are just too much. 

 

I have two MLB titles on my backlog. One looks fairly easy, the other one is a bit of luck. After playing Madden NFL 11 I realized you have to adjust the sliders for the opposing team in order to have a good chance at getting a number of trophies. Not exactly fun. 

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I swear my backlog is like Hydra...I cut one head off and two more take its place. So I finished Alice: Madness Returns last week and this week I bought Invisible, Inc and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. They were on sale and I spent just over eight whole dollars for them. I pulled the trigger on Castlevania because it's been on my wishlist for a while and this was the first time I'd seen it on sale. You could do worse for $3.74...

 

I forgot the addiction that is Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII...I started playing it the other night and next thing I knew...two hours had gone by. I won enough good cards where I probably won't need to grind for cards at all and can do everything I need to...so that was good. I'm also loving the 3x speed option as it makes the walking and grinding xp much much faster. I turn it off in town though since I find it annoying to try and maneuver around. I'm hoping to finish this game up by the end of next week...that'll give me a little over a week to try and finish the year with Alien: Isolation. It's probably a little optimistic since I'm also finishing up DD...but I'd like to finish my bingo card up. 

 

Anybody have anything they're trying to finish up before the new year? Or are you smart and don't put arbitrary time limits on when things need to be completed :) 

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35 minutes ago, Briste said:

I swear my backlog is like Hydra...I cut one head off and two more take its place. So I finished Alice: Madness Returns last week and this week I bought Invisible, Inc and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. They were on sale and I spent just over eight whole dollars for them. I pulled the trigger on Castlevania because it's been on my wishlist for a while and this was the first time I'd seen it on sale. You could do worse for $3.74...

 

I forgot the addiction that is Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII...I started playing it the other night and next thing I knew...two hours had gone buy. I won enough good cards where I probably won't need to grind for cards at all and can do everything I need to...so that was good. I'm also loving the 3x speed option as it makes the walking and grinding xp much much faster. I turn it off in town though since I find it annoying to try and maneuver around. I'm hoping to finish this game up by the end of next week...that'll give me a little over a week to try and finish the year with Alien: Isolation. It's probably a little optimistic since I'm also finishing up DD...but I'd like to finish my bingo card up. 

 

Anybody have anything their trying to finish up before the new year? Or are you smart and don't put arbitrary time limits on when things need to be completed :) 

 

I wanted to write that I couldn't play games like y'all do (alway wanted an opportunity to use y'all in a sentence), then I remembered what hoops I jump through to make milestones. It took me three hours today to find a game that'll make me reach the next milestone on point. I have to stall a near-plat to do so, I have to buy a new controller because my old one doesn't register R2 with all games any more (apparently, game developers can control how much pressure the button has to get to register it). I'm just as bad - well, almost. I won't play FF VIII at 3x speed. I'll do it at regular speed.

 

So, while watching the 3rd season of Narcos, I am at least reducing my DVD-TV-series backlog.

 

 

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@Briste Happy to report I'm officially done with Darkest Dungeon. The third playthrough actually turned out to be the quickest one, too (it took me less than 60 weeks) and the cursed (probably just for me) Strict Mode trophy popped without problems. By far the hardest trophy was 300 kills in Color of Madness! I wonder what they will come up with in DD2 :D

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On 12/13/2019 at 11:13 PM, Briste said:

I forgot the addiction that is Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII...I started playing it the other night and next thing I knew...two hours had gone by. I won enough good cards where I probably won't need to grind for cards at all and can do everything I need to...so that was good. I'm also loving the 3x speed option as it makes the walking and grinding xp much much faster. I turn it off in town though since I find it annoying to try and maneuver around. I'm hoping to finish this game up by the end of next week...that'll give me a little over a week to try and finish the year with Alien: Isolation. It's probably a little optimistic since I'm also finishing up DD...but I'd like to finish my bingo card up. 

 

Man I still haven't purchased FF VIII... But yeah Triple Triad is really genious! I didn't fully understand the game back when I played this entry for the first time, but looking forward to getting to it sometime next year (if I can get the game on a sale). 

 

I'm somewhat annoyed by how simple the trophy list is, though I'm trying to care less about it ?

 

 

Quote

Anybody have anything they're trying to finish up before the new year? Or are you smart and don't put arbitrary time limits on when things need to be completed :) 

 

I never set myself "deadlines" when I start a game, but when I'm close to completing it I sometimes do. I want to finish Pier Solar and the Great Architects before Christmas, as I really only have one minigame left to do: The Eternal Slip

 

I tried yesterday for like half an hour and almost made it to the end (one way), so I'm confident that I should be able to get this one soon. ? Or maybe it was dumb luck and I'll still need to practice forever ? It looks more straightforward than it actually is, though. Especially the "staircase"-shaped sections, as you need to input your direction before you actually get to the turn, so your character is somewhat delayed and it can get a bit confusing. 

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On 12/13/2019 at 5:58 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

I wanted to write that I couldn't play games like y'all do (alway wanted an opportunity to use y'all in a sentence), then I remembered what hoops I jump through to make milestones. It took me three hours today to find a game that'll make me reach the next milestone on point. I have to stall a near-plat to do so, I have to buy a new controller because my old one doesn't register R2 with all games any more (apparently, game developers can control how much pressure the button has to get to register it). I'm just as bad - well, almost. I won't play FF VIII at 3x speed. I'll do it at regular speed.

lol ya'll seem to have some funky idiosyncratic things of your own :P However, I get it....that's why I'm in my MLB 19 issue right now. I need to get a new PS3 controller....but they are wicked expensive...not sure if the knockoffs are any good either. 

 

I'm mostly playing FFVIII right now to relive the story...nothing about the game is particularly hard so I don't mind the 3x speed to run around in the open world and during battles. I just finished 'disc 1' and realized I remember next to nothing about the specifics of this game....I remember some key things...but not the context. I'm running up against a minor problem with my milestone though. The goal is DD or FFVIII as 100, however the Batman platinum looms on Christmas...I need to finish both or neither of these games before then or Batman will be 100...which wouldn't be terrible since that was my first Plat...but I'd kind of like some variety....but I wouldn't be terribly upset if 1 and 100 were the same.

 

On 12/15/2019 at 7:53 AM, det_gittes said:

@Briste Happy to report I'm officially done with Darkest Dungeon. The third playthrough actually turned out to be the quickest one, too (it took me less than 60 weeks) and the cursed (probably just for me) Strict Mode trophy popped without problems. By far the hardest trophy was 300 kills in Color of Madness! I wonder what they will come up with in DD2 :D

Congrats! I'm happy to hear that you got it :) I'm at week 56 and will be (hopefully) beating the third trip into DD. My issue is I have a bunch of level 3's or less after that so will need a few weeks to get them up to speed. I was trying to gimp along some low level guys with my max guys that can't re-enter...but the stress is killing them (not literally) and I've had to pull out a few times...I'm thinking I could be done by week 70....maybe this weekend? That 300 kills was challenging and loooooooooong...probably took me a good 3-4 hours since my party was mostly healing and stress mitigation. 

 

13 hours ago, Arcesius said:

I'm somewhat annoyed by how simple the trophy list is, though I'm trying to care less about it 1f605.png

 

I was at first...but after how annoying the IX trophy list was....I'll take it. I would have preferred more trophies that cover everything the game has to offer...so long as there is nothing like the Jump Rope trophy.

 

13 hours ago, Arcesius said:

I never set myself "deadlines" when I start a game, but when I'm close to completing it I sometimes do. I want to finish Pier Solar and the Great Architects before Christmas, as I really only have one minigame left to do: The Eternal Slip

 

This is why I love and hate the events. I love them since it makes me broaden my gaming horizons...but when it gets to the end of the events...I feel rushed to finish something...I need to find that happy balance. 

 

I see you're rocking the Necrodancer :) That is some impressive game playing right there!

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21 minutes ago, Briste said:

I'm mostly playing FFVIII right now to relive the story...nothing about the game is particularly hard so I don't mind the 3x speed to run around in the open world and during battles. I just finished 'disc 1' and realized I remember next to nothing about the specifics of this game....I remember some key things...but not the context. I'm running up against a minor problem with my milestone though. The goal is DD or FFVIII as 100, however the Batman platinum looms on Christmas...I need to finish both or neither of these games before then or Batman will be 100...which wouldn't be terrible since that was my first Plat...but I'd kind of like some variety....but I wouldn't be terribly upset if 1 and 100 were the same.

 

 

What I do ist to keep whatever game(s) are nearing the Plat one trophy short until the plat milestone is done. It's easy to wait out, unlike the trophy number milestones.

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On 12/16/2019 at 3:55 PM, Rally-Vincent--- said:

What I do ist to keep whatever game(s) are nearing the Plat one trophy short until the plat milestone is done. It's easy to wait out, unlike the trophy number milestones.

This is what I generally do as well. Don't have that option for Batman if I plan to do it legit and this year. That one will pop on the 25th...I mean I guess I could hold off on the other two until after that one pops...but I'm going hard at DD. The idea the Strict Mode trophy won't pop since I'm playing on Vita has me spooked. I want to know if I need a third playthrough and that curiosity is trumping my other wants :) 

 

I finished up the 3rd trek into the darkest dungeon and only have the final battle left there....I'm out of high level characters I can use though....I have a level 6 Man-at-Arms, a level 3 Vestal, a level 3 Highway Man and a level 2 Crusader as my current highest levels. I feel like I could beat the last guy if I can get the Highway Man and Vestal to 6 since....well you know what happens. With any luck I can get that platinum tonight...then it'll be a race to finish FFVIII before Christmas! 

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@Briste I just realized you finished that one Vita game you’ve had problems with for a long time. It’s rather grindy from what I’ve heard. I usually get turned off on games that require a large amount of senseless grinding for the platinum. 

 

I don’t think I’ll add much more before this year is over. Guacamelee 2 so far is pretty enjoyable and I’ll finish that within the week. After that I’ll do my best to wrap up Woah Dave! and Vanquish, since I have just one trophy left for both. Resident Evil and Tearaway I will do if I really feel like playing them, but it’s unlikely I’ll finish before the end of the year. 

 

Then in 2020 I’ll just do what I can to reduce my backlog. I aim to get down to 40 - 50 games. A lot less weight on my shoulders having 40 games as opposed to 80 games on my backlog. 

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Platinum #99

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Darkest Dungeon

Got this a few days ago....generally like to do my write ups at work but it's been so damn busy at work I haven't had any time. I'm going to see the new Star Wars in 45 minutes, so figure I'd squeak this in beforehand. I like doing the reviews at work for a couple of reasons....the first being that I don't have a ton of time for gaming so when I'm home, I'd rather spend my time playing than writing. Second, I like the idea of getting paid to write these ? So long as I get all my work done, I don't see the harm...

 

I really enjoyed this game and while I've heard the experience may be better on the PS4, I had a great time with it on my Vita. I love turn based games and there aren't a ton of games out there anymore with that setup. This game was extremely challenging and could get very frustrating at times when the RNG was being a dick...oh you have an 89% chance to hit this enemy....miss....miss...miss a third time....There is a ton of stuff you need to manage in this game and it can be overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it...it adds a remarkable amount of depth and strategy to the game. That is really my biggest gripe with the game....they kind of just set you down and let you go. They have a little bit of a tutorial, but there is so much nuance to this game that I was still learning things during week 50 of my second playthrough. The thing I like the most about this game is that nothing seems terribly over-powered and all the characters are quite balanced. Character types I thought I wouldn't like so much, ended up being very good if you play them right...you really can't go wrong and I enjoyed mixing and matching the groupings.

 

While I enjoyed this game quite a bit...it isn't for everyone. It can be rage inducing with how bad your luck can be and it can be really tedious at points when you need to farm things. Some of the mechanics can get frustrating too. I'd have guys with +45% to their chance of getting a Virtue and get Afflicted all the time. I took it as a challenge and kept going, but man could those afflicted characters gum up the works with their constant taunting of your other guys and their propensity to pass a turn at a key moment or refuse healing. Once they get to heart attack status....good luck. Despite the levels getting tedious over time...I took that as an opportunity to try out different combinations of characters and that was how I was able to cruise through my Stygian playthrough in 55 weeks. So long as I had a Vestal, I could make most combinations work. Overall, the Hellion was my favorite. Her spear is badass and she can hit every spot in the enemy line. Her versatility made her a must have.

 

Some of the drawbacks I felt was that there wasn't a ton of depth to the story and the ending was quite short. I also didn't like the Crimson Court DLC much. The Crimson Curse was a nuisance and the Epic sized maps it introduced were quite the slog. The fact you needed an invitation to play that zone and that you virtually never get an invitation unless you're at high infestation....it made me do a lot of unnecessary runs through levels just to get the infestation high. The Color of Madness DLC was much better, but that 300 kills trophy took HOURS in that one zone. My only real complaint with the Vita was the controls....well mainly just one of the controls. The back touch 'buttons' on the Vita are how you cycle through your characters. You accidentally cycle through constantly and it was a real pain in the ass. I can't tell you how many times I equipped trinkets on a guy I thought was the guy in my party to find out I accidentally moved to the character below him. The frame rates dropped quite a bit for the Crimson Court DLC and the load times were a bit long....but other than that it was great to play on the Vita. Fortunately, I didn't have the glitch that happened for @det_gittes and got my Strict Mode trophy first try. I was so relieved when it popped lol

 

Looking at the Platinum image....I kind of wish I kept it for my 100 milestone because I really like it...but I'm just happy to add another great platinum to my list. I would highly recommend this game if you enjoy the turn based battle games and something that presents a challenge. Nothing is impossible and all it takes is patience.

 

On 12/17/2019 at 10:33 PM, Spaz said:

@Briste I just realized you finished that one Vita game you’ve had problems with for a long time. It’s rather grindy from what I’ve heard. I usually get turned off on games that require a large amount of senseless grinding for the platinum. 

Yes I did :)Space Hulk was a real bitch and I can't begin to say how happy I am to get that off my plate. MLB 19 will take its place as the bane of my existence though lol I'll probably start back into SMB next week some time. I promise that I won't add another Vita game until that one is complete. I need to eliminate my options on the Vita and finally finish that one up. I have Guacamelee 2 in my backlog and will probably play that sometime next year.

 

Well my show starts in 20 minutes....I'm sure this Star Wars will piss me off, but I can't help but give them my money when they put out a movie. I'm part of the problem not a part of the solution :)

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On 12/21/2019 at 3:40 AM, Briste said:

Got this a few days ago....generally like to do my write ups at work but it's been so damn busy at work I haven't had any time. I'm going to see the new Star Wars in 45 minutes, so figure I'd squeak this in beforehand. I like doing the reviews at work for a couple of reasons....the first being that I don't have a ton of time for gaming so when I'm home, I'd rather spend my time playing than writing. Second, I like the idea of getting paid to write these 1f608.png So long as I get all my work done, I don't see the harm...

 

? I could have described how and why I write my reviews exactly in those words. I too write my reviews at work, mostly spread over a couple of days where I find time between meetings and getting work done... I'm sure we're not the only ones, right..? ?

 

 

On 12/21/2019 at 3:40 AM, Briste said:

I really enjoyed this game and while I've heard the experience may be better on the PS4, I had a great time with it on my Vita. I love turn based games and there aren't a ton of games out there anymore with that setup. This game was extremely challenging and could get very frustrating at times when the RNG was being a dick...oh you have an 89% chance to hit this enemy....miss....miss...miss a third time....There is a ton of stuff you need to manage in this game and it can be overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it...it adds a remarkable amount of depth and strategy to the game. That is really my biggest gripe with the game....they kind of just set you down and let you go. They have a little bit of a tutorial, but there is so much nuance to this game that I was still learning things during week 50 of my second playthrough. The thing I like the most about this game is that nothing seems terribly over-powered and all the characters are quite balanced. Character types I thought I wouldn't like so much, ended up being very good if you play them right...you really can't go wrong and I enjoyed mixing and matching the groupings.

 

While I enjoyed this game quite a bit...it isn't for everyone. It can be rage inducing with how bad your luck can be and it can be really tedious at points when you need to farm things.

 

Congrats on the 100%! That's yet another really respectable game on your list ? Glad to read that you enjoyed it.. As you say, it probably isn't for everyone... I've read many negative comments, but the way you describe it, I would imagine that I could really like it as well... Turn-based, complex and somewhat RGN-dependant? Yup, sounds like something I'd enjoy ? Can you save within a dungeon, or are you commited to finish one trip once you start it? Cause it would be even more perfect if you could just do a couple of fights at a time (you know, for those short gaming opportunities). 

 

I might have add this one to my backlog after all... Damn, thanks, Briste... ?

 

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Can you save within a dungeon, or are you commited to finish one trip once you start it? Cause it would be even more perfect if you could just do a couple of fights at a time (you know, for those short gaming opportunities). 

Not only can you save within the dungeon...the game makes you save after every room you've entered. The map setup is the same in every zone...rooms connected by halls. So for example....

 

[ ] = = = = =[ ] 

 

The [ ] is the room and the === is the corridor. You'll start in a room and with the directional pad decide which hallway you want to take. No matter if the hallway leads up, down, left or right, you will always walk from left to right. So the game will save anytime you enter a new room. If there are enemies in the room you enter, a battle will start immediately and the game will be saved at the start of the battle. If you exit out or your game closes...when you load it back up you will be at the start of that battle again. The game will also save again after you win the battle. I also learned that the battles are somewhat scripted and will always act out the same way if you make the same choices. For example, if you attack with a character on the first turn and miss...if you end up quitting out during that fight and reloading...if you select the same attack you will always miss. If you select a different battle option, it will change the flow, however that flow will always be the same if you select that option....so in essence, you can try different combinations of attack options to see if the outcome is different. I didn't need this on my first playthrough...but there were a few battles in the DLC (specifically the 300 enemy kills) and in my Sytgian playthrough where I reloaded a battle a few times to get a different outcome. That is not the case in the hallways. It will not save when you enter a hallway or after battles in a hallway. If you quit out during a battle in a hallway and reload, you will be placed back in the previous room you entered. That is also not the case in the town. It will save immediately after a quest when you return to town, but it does not auto-save after every thing you do in town. You can do that manually though.

 

So to answer your actual question....it is very ideal for doing only a few fights at a time and stepping away. Also, you do not need to worry about forgetting to save and having to do a bunch of backtracking. I think this game is right up your alley :) 

Edited by Briste
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On 12/23/2019 at 5:31 PM, SpaghettiGrabsy said:

@Briste I tried Darkest Dungeon a little while back and really enjoyed it. Reading your experience inspires me to go for the 100% in the new year. Thanks!

Awesome! It's a really satisfying game and it only gets better the more you get to know and understand how everything works together. Definitely give each of the character classes a chance. It's easy to fall in love with one or two, but virtually all can be fun. Only one I couldn't get into was the Antiquarian.

 

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

Best choice for  #100, @Briste. What is # 5.000 going to be?

I will agree :) DD had me wishing I swapped them, but after finishing VIII, I remember why this way is more meaningful. I'll wait until I'm closer to 5000 to figure that out. When I'm about 100 trophies away, I'll see what's on tap and which trophy tickles my fancy. It'll probably be something from ME...provided I don't keep putting it off. I feel like I have a ton of non-series games I want to squeeze in before I dedicate a few months to one series.

 

This'll be a double Platinum review thread....Milestone time

 

Platinum #100

t3nEhzj.png

Final Fantasy VIII

I first played this game back in 1999...I was a senior in high school and I remember really loving this game. I remember thinking the graphics were a little funky and the draw system was different...but I loved the story and really liked Rinoa and Squall as characters. Due to it being my senior year and me heading off to college...I didn't play this game nearly as much as the others in the series and I was truly surprised how much I didn't remember. I remembered the big twist...but couldn't remember why it made sense...I also had thought that the missile sequence in this game was actually from FF IX and was confused when I didn't see it when I played IX last year. When I didn't see it then, I thought I must have completely confused games and laughed when it happened here.

 

I did play this game at mostly 3 times speed except during the story sequences. It really helped with farming spells and getting through the battle grind. I love a lot of the summoning sequences in these games...but they are freaking long and this also helped there as well. This game was a lot shorter than I remember as well. Not just because of the 3 times speed, but I seemed to be blowing through the discs. There would be like three or four big story events and then it was on to the next disc. There was really only about a dozen or so locations you had to visit and the story moved a lot quicker than I remember. I kind of wish they spent more time developing the Seifer/Squall rivalry, but it was fine.

 

Things I like are the story and the junctioning of GF's (Guardian Forces/Summons). I also kind of like that there aren't really any treasure boxes and I loved the Triple Triad card game. I like the draw system and hated it at the same time. I like the idea of junctioning magic to the GF's to boost your stats...but I hate that you have to spend soooooo much time drawing the magic from the enemies. It's not so bad with the triple speed....but it is still rather tedious. I also don't love that as you use the magic, the inventory depletes and your stats go down. I would have liked to see the magic learning similar to how the GF's learn abilities or how they did it in FFVI where you earn AP and can just cast it after you've learned enough. Because using magic weakens your stats...I almost never used magic in the game which is kind of a bummer. By spending the time to draw new spells, you can really make your characters pretty OP early on.

 

The other thing I love about this game is that it has a real ending. I always feel disappointed by a game when I spend hours and hours to play through the story and beat the game to get a quick two minute ending and a 'Thanks for playing!' type of thing. If it's a platformer that isn't story driven...it's no big deal. But I feel like most other game types should give you a real ending that makes you feel like your time invested had a payoff. This ending was about twenty minutes long and it felt satisfying. 

 

I feel like my memories of the game are slightly fonder than how good the game actually is...I also think I related more when I was the age of the protagonists....but due to the nostalgia factor and that I'm a Final Fantasy Fan Boy...I am really happy with my choice for #100. It's not the best game in the series, but it's in the top third for me. Final Fantasy VI will always be at the top for me.

 

 

Platinum #101

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Batman: Arkham City - Return to Arkham

 

I won't spend a ton of time on this game since I already wrote a review of it when it was my first platinum:

Spoiler

This is where it all began for me. I had no idea that trophies existed and was just looking for a good game after retiring from playing MMO's. Based on a recommendation from my cousin, I bought a PS3 and Batman: Arkham City. Other than Final Fantasy XI, the last new game I had played was probably GTA: Vice City on the PS2. I was BLOWN AWAY by this game. I don't think I noticed the trophies right away since I was so enthralled with how good the graphics were and how smooth the combat in this game was. Gliding around and fighting thugs was just so much fun. When I eventually noticed the trophies, I googled them and found playstationtrophies.org. It had cool trophy road maps and I saw that trophies were an awesome tracking system to let you know when you 100% a game and did everything it had to offer. This really appealed to me and I set off on the task of getting the 100% for Arkham City.

 

I did not find this game to be particularly hard at all. Most of it was just patience and perseverance. These are qualities a lot of gamers lack which is probably why the trophies are on the rarer side. If you are patient enough, and prioritize disabling and disarming thugs with guns...the double X evade pretty much keeps you safe forever. The hardest/most frustrating thing for me in this entire game was the A.R. Training trophies. Fortunately, they only take a couple of seconds to attempt and another couple of seconds to restart when you screw up. 

 

The fighting challenges were all easy since all you really need to do is keep your freeflow going and you'll get enough points. I would try to mix up the combinations for the point boost and I found starting with a counter and ending with a ground takedown or two netted the best results. The Predator Challenges usually took a bit longer, but once you figured out the sequence you needed to do the challenges, it wasn't too bad. I found that in most cases, the hardest challenge on the list was the first one that needed to be done before they know you are there and since the AI walk in set rotations, it was just a matter of figuring out the order to tackle them. When it game to the campaigns with the modifiers, I always used the negative modifiers on the combat missions and the positive ones on the Predator missions. I had a lot of fun with these maps.

 

There was only one combat mission I didn't get the three stars on and it wasn't for a lack of trying. The Joker's Carnival challenge I ended up giving up on. I got to 996,000 points once before time ran out...but something would always trip me up and I would either lose the combo, get hit or run out of time. Since I didn't need the one million points for the 100%, I tried for a couple of hours or so before I moved on. Since this game was my first platinum, I chose the Perfect Knight - Day 2 trophy to live in my cabinet. I chose this trophy since it represented doing everything the game had to offer and the Platinum was already on display.

 

Growing up I had always been a team Spider-Man guy...he was my favorite...but between Emo-Spider-Man 3, the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and the Arkham City game, Batman rose to be my #1 Super Hero. I can't recommend this game enough. Because of this game, I have tried to play every Batman game out there.

 

But I do want to say I think it's cool that the timing worked out where this was my 101st Platinum trophy. I started with Batman: Arkham City on the PS3 and since I became a trophy hunter, there are 100 platinums in between playthroughs. I love this series and all of its entries and I would probably play this again if it got released on the PS5. The challenges do get quite a bit tedious, but the story is excellent...the voice acting is excellent...and the combat is generally extremely crisp. This game is almost always on sale and is definitely worth your money. I would highly recommend playing Arkham Asylum first...but mostly because the controls are not as crisp and it can be quite frustrating to go backwards in quality. I thought Origins and Arkham Knight played similarly enough to this where I don't think the controls would make really impact your experience.

 

Well my active game list is back to a manageable number at 3 for me. I had hoped to get MLB The Show 19 done with next, but I tried playing MLB again last night and lost 3 games in a row and am not sure I want to waste anymore time with it until MLB 20 is out. I'll probably play a bit here and there to keep my skills (not that I really have many of those in this game) sharp and if I get on a lucky streak, see what happens.

 

I do have a couple of curve balls on the horizon before I start Mass Effect. I want to start Driveclub VR since the servers are going down in March and I want to get those two online trophies out of the way before that happens. I also want to try and make The Wolf Among Us my fastest platinum before the end of the year. My current fastest is Day of the Tentacle which clocks in in just under 24 hours. I like that game fine, but I love TWAU and I really like the platinum image so I'm sneaking that game in here. After that I may do a couple other non-series games before I go full ME. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah and gets everything done they want before the New Year. 

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Platinum #102

acbvAcd.png

The Wolf Among Us (vita)

 

I've been saving this game until I had some time where I could beat it in one sitting. I played this game for the first time last year and I loved it. I had no idea that there was a Fable comic and I just thought the whole idea was incredible. It was one of the coolest stories and concepts I had seen in recent memory and as soon as I beat it, I had wished I used it for a milestone. I was happy to see that there were multiple stacks of the title and that I would have an opportunity to do so at some point. I don't generally stack games since there are soooo many out there to play that I don't want to keep playing the same stuff over and over. My double dipping of the Arkham series says I'm a liar, however if I truly love a game, I don't mind the double dip.

 

My previous fastest platinum was Day of the Tentacle and I had beaten it in 23 hours and 38 minutes. I knew this game could be beat in about 8 or 9 hours so I just needed a window where that'd be possible. I was able to squeeze that time in from Saturday night to late Sunday afternoon. It turned out to be a god-send as I needed something to distract me from the embarrassment that was the Patriots losing to the Dolphins.....I was able to do it with over two hours to spare! Now I just can't beat anything faster than that :)

 

As far as the game itself....it's all story driven and I love the story so there's not much to say there. As far as playing on the Vita...it kind of sucked. There were a ton of times where the frame rates would skip...which wasn't game breaking most of the time, but when it happened during a QTE sequence, it was very frustrating. Fortunately, none of the QTE's are terribly difficult. The story was just as good as I remembered, and I had forgotten enough of it to where it was still entertaining and I had several 'Oh yeah!' moments. If you haven't played this game you most definitely should, however pick the PS4 platform to do it on so you don't suffer from the crazy lag that I did.

 

Happy New Year to everyone and I'll catch you on the flip side!

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Snuck in a last minute 100% game...or a first minute 100% game depending on how I swing it ;)

 

1eLNjuc.png

VR Karts

 

My kids got me this game for my birthday last year and it was something I wasn't in a rush to play, but since I don't have a ton of games for the PSVR, I knew I'd get around to it eventually. I needed a quick-ish game to finish up my bingo card that had an online component, so it seemed like the time to bust this out. I wasn't expecting much and the reviews are pretty terrible for it. It really is about the most basic racing game ever with decent handling until it is really terrible handling. On straightaways and gradual turns the handling is mostly good, but you can't make a sharp turn and you can't drift into turns unless you have some boost...which isn't a guarantee. The tracks are extremely basic. There is really only 3 different areas with slightly different track layouts. The NPC's are the bullshit type that cheat when you are doing too well. They'll drive faster than you can, get the bullshit power ups to hinder you and make the game more frustrating than it needs to be. The online play is dead basically...I had to search for about an hour before even one other person appeared. It's got a Mario Kart feel without any of the charm or fun. Unless someone gets you this as a gift, there is no reason to buy it...if you do happen to get it as a gift, it is the very definition of mediocre with a few rage inducing moments due to the NPC's.

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On 26.12.2019 at 11:25 PM, Briste said:

I first played this game back in 1999...I was a senior in high school and I remember really loving this game. I remember thinking the graphics were a little funky and the draw system was different...but I loved the story and really liked Rinoa and Squall as characters. Due to it being my senior year and me heading off to college...I didn't play this game nearly as much as the others in the series and I was truly surprised how much I didn't remember. I remembered the big twist...but couldn't remember why it made sense...I also had thought that the missile sequence in this game was actually from FF IX and was confused when I didn't see it when I played IX last year. When I didn't see it then, I thought I must have completely confused games and laughed when it happened here.

 

I did play this game at mostly 3 times speed except during the story sequences. It really helped with farming spells and getting through the battle grind. I love a lot of the summoning sequences in these games...but they are freaking long and this also helped there as well. This game was a lot shorter than I remember as well. Not just because of the 3 times speed, but I seemed to be blowing through the discs. There would be like three or four big story events and then it was on to the next disc. There was really only about a dozen or so locations you had to visit and the story moved a lot quicker than I remember. I kind of wish they spent more time developing the Seifer/Squall rivalry, but it was fine.

 

Things I like are the story and the junctioning of GF's (Guardian Forces/Summons). I also kind of like that there aren't really any treasure boxes and I loved the Triple Triad card game. I like the draw system and hated it at the same time. I like the idea of junctioning magic to the GF's to boost your stats...but I hate that you have to spend soooooo much time drawing the magic from the enemies. It's not so bad with the triple speed....but it is still rather tedious. I also don't love that as you use the magic, the inventory depletes and your stats go down. I would have liked to see the magic learning similar to how the GF's learn abilities or how they did it in FFVI where you earn AP and can just cast it after you've learned enough. Because using magic weakens your stats...I almost never used magic in the game which is kind of a bummer. By spending the time to draw new spells, you can really make your characters pretty OP early on.

 

The other thing I love about this game is that it has a real ending. I always feel disappointed by a game when I spend hours and hours to play through the story and beat the game to get a quick two minute ending and a 'Thanks for playing!' type of thing. If it's a platformer that isn't story driven...it's no big deal. But I feel like most other game types should give you a real ending that makes you feel like your time invested had a payoff. This ending was about twenty minutes long and it felt satisfying. 

 

I feel like my memories of the game are slightly fonder than how good the game actually is...I also think I related more when I was the age of the protagonists....but due to the nostalgia factor and that I'm a Final Fantasy Fan Boy...I am really happy with my choice for #100. It's not the best game in the series, but it's in the top third for me. Final Fantasy VI will always be at the top for me.

 

 

Don't forget the soundtrack. I usually don't remember much of a game soundtrack, but this one is so good and memorable. The scene where the SEEDs are landing in Dollet with their landing crafts - so good.

 

Spoiler

 

 

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