Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Grotz99 said:

Oh man SFIV trials are brutal. I made the mistake back in the beginning of my account's time to borrow and play a little against my roommate, who owned the game on my ps3 then ended up buying Super Street Fights IV. I have both games on my list, which will never get complete and its what I'll have to live with. This was before i was worried about earning all trophies as that came more recently. Luckily I have so many other trophies to earn on my account, I stopped worrying about the Street Fighter games, but they were great fighting games for back then, very technical.

Oh yes, Street Fighter IV even now is a wonderful game, SUPER technical and tough. I can whole-heartedly say that it's a super tough game. I mean, ok, you can do Hadokens and Shoryukens but the moment you dive into FADCs (Focus attacks Dash Cancels) that's where shit goes bonkers for me  Way, WAY more fun that Street Fighter V that's for sure.

Honestly I WANTED to add this one on my list. I was fully aware that's an absolute beast of a game to complete (I started playing on PC initially, so I knew what I was getting myself into) and I still want to conquer it. 

Got 2 characters done so far in the trials - Hakan and T Hawk so there's still hope!

[Grotz99]

15 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Got 2 characters done so far in the trials - Hakan and T Hawk so there's still hope!

Alright, you made me fire up the game to see what I have. I'm actually at 69.64% completed with the trials and have completed M. Bison, T. Hawk, Guy, Dudley and Hakan. The online trophies seem like a drag, not sure how those servers are holding up, but I might try to slowly knock out the trials trophy itself and maybe a few of the other single player ones. I have forgotten how to really play this game though and probably lost all skill since it's been 10 years so I might pass for now...

 

Also, omg the instruction manual in the case...forgot how big it was.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Grotz99

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Grotz99 said:

 Alright, you made me fire up the game to see what I have. I'm actually at 69.64% completed with the trials and have completed M. Bison, T. Hawk, Guy, Dudley and Hakan. The online trophies seem like a drag, not sure how those servers are holding up, but I might try to slowly knock out the trials trophy itself and maybe a few of the other single player ones. I have forgotten how to really play this game though and probably lost all skill since it's been 10 years so I might pass for now...

Oh boy going wild  well from what I know, the servers on PS3 are absolutely atrocious, load times are criminal. I did the online part on PS4 and i wanted to shoot myself, it was THAT bad.

Buuuut yeah trials are fun. Really, they require perfect mastery.

Lowkey jealous, you could complete Bibson, a charge character. I suck so bad with charge chars.....

[Litha]

12 hours ago, Copanele said:

Yeah, the reason I dropped the game first time was because the lag was simply annoying at some point. Not sure how I am going to deal with that, but eh I've played worse games on PS3 (Skyrim almost blew up my console)

The trophy list is pretty simple. The only ones I had 'difficulty' with are:

 

A Graug's Heel: Capitalize on a Warchief's Fear - Poorly worded. This means make a Warchief flee in terror and then kill him yourself. Pretty easy once you know what you need to do.

 

The White Rider: Liberate 20 slaves in 300 seconds while riding a caragor - Easier than it sounds. Persistence is key. (The PS4 list says 180 seconds. Weird).

 

A Mighty Doom: Acquire a level 25 Rune - The most difficult, but still pretty easy with appropriate preparation. The guide on this site is pretty good in explaining how to get this trophy, however I will add a bit. When going for this trophy there is a distinct possibility that the Warchief will drop an epic rune, which is unleveled and will not net you the trophy. The only way to ensure that he does not drop an epic rune is to either kill him with beast attacks or by another orc. Get his health down to green, grab him and let his buddies use him as a punching bag and you should be good. 

 

A pretty easy game overall. Your biggest challenge will be making sure your console doesn't take off to Jupiter.

[Copanele]

7 hours ago, SpaghettiGrabsy said:

A pretty easy game overall. Your biggest challenge will be making sure your console doesn't take off to Jupiter.

Thanks for the tips mister! Yes honestly I need to pray for my console to not explode. It received a pretty nasty beatdown from Skyrim (honestly I am not sure that the CD Reader is even working properly anymore after that mess of a game, thanks Todd) and...I am pounding the living shit out of it with Mortal Kombat. I am terribly sorry, I love my console, it doesn't deserve the abuse from "My Kung Fu is Stronger". Will definitely pay proper respects to it after I am done with all my stupid games.

Anyway, noted down the info you said, I really have no mood to bother too much with that game. Glad there are no missable trophies at least!

[Copanele]

 No. 92 : Mini Ninjas

Platinum Name : Platinum 

Hardest Trophy : Completist - collect all Jizo statues 

Difficulty : 2/10

Personal impression : 8/10

 

Every once in a while a break from tough/angry/gory games is required. A game where everything is lighthearted, with nice tones and where the protagonist is a cute warrior/fighter/mage/ninja.

This is the case with Mini Ninjas, a cute shiny game that throws you into a funny adventure against the forces of evil.

 

In this game you are Hiro, a ninja in training whose mission is to vanquish the evil Samurai Warlord. With the help of your trusty friend Fuuto (another ninja in training who wields a huge mallet), you need to rescue your captured friends, save the animals of the country who have been transformed into evil samurais and defeat the evil minions of the Warlord.

 

From the first few minutes of the game you realize that this is not a serious game. You start in a dojo where you are taught the mechanics of the game by a Tengu warrior (who is just a funny bird with old chinese master voice) and off you go! You have all the typical ninja tools available : a katana, wall running, shurikens, various potions and bombs and the best item ever , a hat that serves both as a protection against arrows and as a mini boat that helps you to traverse bodies of water. Each little ninja has a special ability : Hiro can teleport and insta-defeat enemies, Fuuto can charge with his mallet and so on. While traversing the game, each ninja that you release will join your party and will be playable with his/her own unique skills. 

Of course, compared to the other ninjas, Hiro has an unique ability : He can use kuji magic, basically jutsus. From basic shrine detection, to possessing other animals, thunder spells and later meteor storms, all of the jutsus are perfectly functional and fun to use.

 

The whole game, while not difficult, it's not pathetically easy either. It does not insult you, offering various challenges. The enemies are pretty basic (blue/red samurais, archers, big warriors and later on speedy ninjas) but they do offer a challenge if they attack in packs. You have the option to both go katana blazing among them or sneak behind like a true ninja and assassinate them one by one. Defeating each samurai releases the animal that was transformed and gives you experience, mana or energy points. If you gather enough experience you level up and improve your stats, from extra health to extra ki or enhanced abilities.

 

Bosses are super fun to fight. They are behemoths and normal fighting is not advisable, instead each of them have a specific gimmick that you must figure out, like a puzzle boss ( if you still don't figure it out, the game gives you a hint at some point. Pretty nice of them since the game was intended for kids the first time). The only true challenge was the Evil Warlord, on Hard mode it took me a number of tries to get to him.

 

What I liked about this game is that it offers just the right amount of challenge. It is quite easy to complete (collectibles are more or less pretty obvious to find, no convoluted stuff to do in order to get them) but it does require you to full explore the level. Levels are pretty much linear but diverse enough so it won't get you bored. The feeling that I got was that the developers really wanted to respect the players of this game and nailed the right level of difficulty and fun.

 

Overall, a fun game, as fun as Cat Quest, perfect for a break from other serious games or gritty topics.

 

THE GOOD:

 

- cute ninjas with unique gameplay

- pretty artwork with ambiental music

- game knows exactly what it wants to be

- bosses are super fun to fight and figure out

- trophy list is neither insulting nor difficult

 

THE BAD:

 

- the first level is a slow start and might get you bored; game begins to be fun from level 2 onwards

- finding caged animals in castle levels might be abit of a headache

[Copanele]

 No. 93 : The Last of Us Remastered 

+100%DLC

 

Platinum Name : It can't be for nothing! 

Hardest Trophy : Grounded Mode+

Difficulty : 5/10

Personal Impression : 8.6/10

 

After a long time (around 2 and a half years) I finally I managed to complete (and 100%) The Last of Us on PS4. It is widely regarded as one of the best exclusives on the Playstation, if not the best so it was obvious I would have to play it as well. I completely missed the hype when it appeared on PS3 back in the day and I largely avoid communities, so I could make my own mind regarding this game. And well...although overall I agree that this is a fantastic game, there are some points where I have to disagree with the community and fans.

 

So for whoever doesn't know (maybe people who never touched a playstation before) Last of Us happens in a semi-post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been attacked by a fungal virus who transforms people into mindless zombies. You play as Joel, a grumpy angry man who is tasked to escort a kid Ellie to the rebellious faction of the Fireflies ( the army is controlling the population and they are oppressive, Fireflies are revolutionaries , typical stuff skipping over that). You have to reach the firefly base while dodging both the infected, the army and the various groups of rogues called Hunters : basically bandits who shoot on sight and loot the dead.

 

The reason why this game is so good is because of the atmosphere it creates and especially the relationship built around the characters. At first you play as the daughter of a young Joel right at the beginning of the outbreak. After the bloody prologue (really, the game loves kicking you in the nuts there), you switch to an older more angry Joel 20 years later. You start at first with your companion Tess and slowly learn about the world and what's happening in it. Since Joel is a smuggler who would do anything for money, that's how he comes into contact with Ellie, whom he has to "smuggle" out of the army-protected city and right across the country.

I believe the game truly starts when you encounter Ellie. The relationship at first is extremely rocky : Joel really has no mood to take care of a kid and Ellie is an "annoying brat" (for good reason) who doesn't want to deal with Joel either. Gradually they do build a steady relationship that really catches height at the final chapters of the game. Due to my policy of not really spoiling the story in my impressions (unless it's a trash game), I can only tell that the story really deserves a 10/10 here. All of Joel and Ellie's actions are believable and understandable and it really can move your heart to follow their development, even if the story itself is largely predictable. A predictable story can still be perfect if it has awesome characters.

 

Another part the game excels at is the sound and voice acting. Joel is voiced by none other than Troy Baker and Ellie's voice actress also does a remarkably good job. All the voices are pitch perfect, like in a high budget movie. The soundtrack also reflects on the mood of the game and despite it not being more than a few guitar strings,it really is more than enough for the environment the game is set in.

 

Gameplay...eh I really was not a fan of it honestly. It's barebones survival mode, where you have to manage your resources. You have the classical pistol, shotgun, rifle etc. , the craftables molotovs, nail bombs and medkits and special items called shivs. They can both be used to execute people and certain infected faster but their real usage is opening Shiv Doors, locked areas that give you more goodies and upgrades. All items can be upgraded at workbenches with parts found throughout the world. On easy and normal the game is a walk in the park but on Grounded (highest difficulty level, DLC) it can be absolutely atrocious : if you don't save your resources from the get-go you are absolutely screwed the entire playthrough. 

 

You face 2 types of enemies : infected and regular humans. Infected are pretty simple to deal with : Runners who are weak but can see like sharpshooters and alert everyone else, clickers who are completely blind but can locate you through sound and are deadly if they grab you (unless you have shiv upgrades) and  bloaters, armored behemoths that act as bosses and are incredibly tough to kill. Most of them are pretty decent to deal with and with the exception of certain sections, fighting infected has never posed any kind of trouble.

But then...you have to face other humans. That's where the AI can get infuriating especially on Grounded Mode+. They are vicious, can see from miles away, alert everyone in a blink of an eye and can even pop randomly out of nowhere. I hated fighting hunters since I almost always had to use some ammunition on their asses. 3/4 of the time was spent on fighting stupid humans and their stupid 20/20 vision and accuracy. 

 

Apart from using ammunition, you have the widely recommended stealth options : you can choke enemies undetected (except clickers and bloaters) and you have "distraction" tools : bottles and bricks that you can use to attract enemies or even down a single enemy at the expense of the tool. I have to admit I absolutely loved using the brick : it was my weapon of choice in the entire game (even dubbed myself the Brickomancer), it can down a clicker in 3 hits and stun most enemies, perfect to follow with a barrage of fists on them. While gameplay wasn't my favorite, I loved the brick gameplay. Definitely one of my favorite weapons in videogames.

 

The game has a multiplayer section too, where you have to choose between hunters and fireflies. There are 3 game modes, you can choose from several classes... it's a generic multiplayer mode. I liked it but got bored of it quickly. It did take some time to gather all the trophies from the multiplayer but it wasn't that bad, just....very generic.

 

And now comes the "controversial" part according to the fans of this game : I wasn't very invested into it. Sure, the game is good, I understand all its merits and awards, but PERSONALLY I wouldn't add it in my top 20. I don't know, it didn't touch my feelings that much (despite it having lots of crazy moments) - somehow I had the impression that the story tried abit too much, like forcing me to love and cry with the characters. I ...didn't really like it. Like yeah I get the tragedy, let me continue playing. I am more of a WTF NIER ENDING fan or God of War moments where I already know how much of a monster Kratos was and how he tries to be a barely decent human being towards his son Atreus. Compared to that...Last of Us felt abit too...chill and mundane. But that's me, I am a guy who loves Devil May Cry  I am a sucker for flashy stuff,  Naughty Dog games are really not intended for me.

 

Still a great game that I can recommend to friends

 

THE GOOD:

- fantastic story with great characters

- top of the notch soundtrack and voice acting

- decent gameplay and stealth mechanics

- bricks are OP

- solid multiplayer

 

THE BAD

- the whole Pittsburgh level can be ridiculously tough for a middle area

- human AI tends to go rogue

- random stupid encounters, especially on Grounded Mode

- for a game who focuses on stealth, being forced out of hiding by a script event can be annoying

- screw the Ellie and David cabin defense mission

[KN_Kirai]

36 minutes ago, Copanele said:

snip

 

Great review, I see you finally got around to complete it. I can imagine how hard Grounded+ difficulty can be when done the normal way, with having to manage your ammo very accurately and having to retry some points over and over: I say this because I went for the easier way of first doing a playthrough on Easy+ with the excuse of picking up the collectibles I had missed on the first one, and then doing another playthrough on Grounded+ in reverse, which means most of the time I didn't have to worry about wasting a lot of ammo and items. That and watching a guide sometimes to avoid dying because you don't remember where the enemies are.

 

Because of that, I don't remember having much trouble in the Pitsburgh chapter apart from screwing up and aggroing every enemy possible while cornering myself in some building and managing to kill off all that came after me with the strategy of the battle of Thermopylae from 300, since they had to pass in front of me to get to me. What I really struggled with was the beginning of Chapter 9, with the zombies that two punch you out of existence and me forgetting how to aim and use a bow after 30+ hours of playing. And of course, how you decided to do Grounded+ doesn't really matter in that chapter, so the matter of having more ammo is meaningless; I think I even had to do the "glitch" for the bloater segment.

 

And I agree, the brick really does come in handy a lot of times, especially on Grounded difficulty. I wasn't much of a Brickomancer ? as you were, but I made use of them accordingly.

 

[Copanele]

4 hours ago, KN_Kirai said:

 

Great review, I see you finally got around to complete it. I can imagine how hard Grounded+ difficulty can be when done the normal way, with having to manage your ammo very accurately and having to retry some points over and over: I say this because I went for the easier way of first doing a playthrough on Easy+ with the excuse of picking up the collectibles I had missed on the first one, and then doing another playthrough on Grounded+ in reverse, which means most of the time I didn't have to worry about wasting a lot of ammo and items. That and watching a guide sometimes to avoid dying because you don't remember where the enemies are.

 

Because of that, I don't remember having much trouble in the Pitsburgh chapter apart from screwing up and aggroing every enemy possible while cornering myself in some building and managing to kill off all that came after me with the strategy of the battle of Thermopylae from 300, since they had to pass in front of me to get to me. What I really struggled with was the beginning of Chapter 9, with the zombies that two punch you out of existence and me forgetting how to aim and use a bow after 30+ hours of playing. And of course, how you decided to do Grounded+ doesn't really matter in that chapter, so the matter of having more ammo is meaningless; I think I even had to do the "glitch" for the bloater segment.

 

And I agree, the brick really does come in handy a lot of times, especially on Grounded difficulty. I wasn't much of a Brickomancer as you were, but I made use of them accordingly.

 

I have heard that I should do the chapters in reverse, but I stubborned myself to do it "as intended". Damn it was tough  

I don't know...I never liked Pittsburgh area ... starting with the hotel, the financial district, the part where the stupid armored car is shooting you...i am just bad at that section.

For the cabin, David was the best meat shield ever. Aiming had no use so I used his cannibal ass to attract everyone  Totally not playing this game as a survivor emotional game. Exploits ftw!

 

But yeah...was fun after all. Doubt I will play it again however. Will see how Last of Us Part 2 ends up being (given the whole controversy and all). I will NOT miss the multiplayer though.

[KN_Kirai]

45 minutes ago, Copanele said:

For the cabin, David was the best meat shield ever. Aiming had no use so I used his cannibal ass to attract everyone  Totally not playing this game as a survivor emotional game. Exploits ftw!

 

? Exploits come in handy especially if you've been playing that one scene and dying for the 30th time in a row. Ain't no side character gonna be safe from that ?

 

52 minutes ago, Copanele said:

But yeah...was fun after all. Doubt I will play it again however. Will see how Last of Us Part 2 ends up being (given the whole controversy and all). I will NOT miss the multiplayer though.

 

Neither will I: not a fan of the multiplayer in general, especially not of one inside a single player game. I'd appreciate the MP of Part 2 to be separate from the single player campaign, IF there is one planned. If not, guess I'll have to suck it up and play it.

[Copanele]

 No. 94 : Death's Gambit

 

Platinum Name : Glory of the Immortal Slayer 

Hardest Trophy : Chosen of Death - slay all bosses in Heroic 

Difficulty : 6.5/10

Personal impression : 7.6/10

 

Death's Gambit is an interesting indie Souls-like Metroidvania game that has been showing a lot of promise when it was announced. At the time, it was one of the promising indie games, alongside Eitr, Salt & Sanctuary and Blasphemous, who wanted to deliver a souls like experience while still being unique enough. From that list...Eitr is stuck in development hell, but Salt & Sanctuary and Blasphemous have proven to be fantastic games.

 

I actually preordered this game before launch, being excited by what it was promised. However when it was first launched, this game was a broken buggy mess that was barely playable. I dropped it and re-picked it after 2 years, since most of the stuff was patched. Now I had a completely different experience with it and I can say it was worth the wait.

 

You follow the story of Sorun, a young soldier who was killed prematurely by the enemy general while leading a raid. By doing a contract with Death itself, he became an immortal, meaning that no matter how many times he will die he will respawn at the bonfire--erm Death idol. I like how the game makes light fun of this whole immortality concept : Sorun simply doesn't give a hell, he even banters about how he cannot die with the other NPC's, to their annoyance. Death also is a super fun individual, rather enjoying himself with the whole situation, throwing jokes and random illusions to Sorun (even making a slight joke at the expense of Dark Souls, smashing the lordvessel with his head or something). I like how the devs wrote these two characters, despite being in a rather bleak and depressing world. Voice acting overall is quite credible, I liked especially Endless and Ione's voices (I believe they have the same voice actress?)

 

Graphically...game is nothing impressive. Your average 16bit background, with minimal animation, focus being on Sorun and the bosses. One mention though, the place that really messed up my mind was Amulvaro's and Thalamus' boss fights : They are really unique and you won't see that coming.

 

It wouldn't be a souls-like if there wasn't something about gameplay : Well, if you've played Salt & Sanctuary, the gameplay is basically the same. You have to choose a starting class, you pick a weapon and you go onwards. There's the usual stamina bar and a new Action bar that fills as you attack enemies. That bar is required to use special attacks that pack quite a punch and are vital for most bosses. A slight annoyance is that rolling in this game eats up a ton of stamina for no reason. It's not as bad as when the game was launched(rolling twice would let you out of stamina instantly) but still...unless you put a buttload of points in endurance, you won't be able to do much rolling around. Combat is pretty basic but satisfying, augmented by a talent tree where you put points once you defeat the various bosses around the world.

 

Speaking of bosses...After the patch they are finally defeatable. They were utterly broken before but now they are actually enjoyable. Bosses in this game are interesting, each with multiple phases and special gimmicks. I can see that the main focus of this game was on these encounters, since they have a pretty decent quality.

Their Heroic version however...god have mercy. After defeating a boss, you have the option to fight him again in a "Heroic" mode. The boss gets a power and health buff and has different attacks. They can be quite tough to defeat on heroic even with a good build. Fortunately the game also gives you lots of options to deal more damage, for instance you can sacrifice feathers (this game's estus flask) to get a damage boost percentage : fewer healing items in exchange for more power. Interesting concept, I liked it.

 

The platinum is quite tough to achieve right now, given that most exploits and the debug room were removed entirely. Now everything must be done legit. The game also has a 4 hours level 1 speedrun trophy, but honestly it's not that difficult in comparison with how much punishment the bosses can deliver on Heroic. I did a lot of mistakes and I still finished the game in 3 hours 30 minutes.

 

All in all, the game was pretty decent. Wouldn't really recommend buying it fully priced, but it's worth having a look at a discount. It's a good game though, waiting for more announced patches and DLC.

NOW GIVE ME EITR!

 

THE GOOD:

- a nice indie game that can keep you engaged.

- Sorun and Death are well written.

- bosses are unique and interesting enough

- the combat is satisfying

 

THE BAD: 

- had to wait 2 years in order to even play this game properly

- some bosses on heroic are straight cheap - Endless, Amulvaro, Inquisitor

- rolling eats up tons of stamina

- nothing really original in terms of story and mechanics- most of it is borrowed from other Souls games

[Copanele]

 No. 95 : Blur

Platinum Name : Platinum Trophy  

Hardest Trophy : Challenger - Master the Blur Challenges  - multiplayer madness that it's tough even with boosting

Difficulty : 8/10 - this game pulls no punches, you need to work your ass off for the platinum

Personal impression : 8.6/10

 

Blur is my first racing game platinum on a console. It is an arcade racing game that combines the NFS gameplay with...Mario Kart/Crash Team Racing/Re-volt power up system - basically you pick a car and try to win while throwing bombs, mines, shocks and nitros at the opponents. This game is loads of fun, however if you aim for the platinum the road won't be easy (game is an 1.60% UR platinum at the time of writing this).

As any respectable racing game, Blur is split in 2 main modes : Career (single player) and Multiplayer.

 

Single Player is where you should start at. When starting the game, you are quickly introduced to the mechanics by a fellow racer Shannon , you can pick from a small selection of cars and off you go! In career mode you have to participate in various "campaigns", each of it having some sorts of requirements. Fulfilling those gives you the opportunity to face the boss of that campaign in an one-on-one race. If you win, you get the car, which usually it's better than whatever wheelbarrow you are racing...at least in the beginning of the game.

 

You have 3 main event types : Racing - pretty straightforward, be 1st place while blasting the other racers' asses with powerups, Checkpoint - again rather straightforward, get through the gates before time runs out and Destruction - unique events where you have to destroy a set number of cars under a time limit, each car destroyed adding time to the clock. Winning these races earn you a number of fans, who are the main currency of this game : You need fans to accomplish certain tasks and earning enough fans will level you up, unlocking more and more cars.

 

The concept is super simple, no high IQ required, HOWEVER actually practicing it is another matter. While on Easy mode, the game is pretty forgivable in the beginning, once you aim to do the campaigns on hard the rules change drastically. What I love about this game is that it's one of the few racing games that doesn't have a rubberband concept - you won't have enemies glued to your ass regardless of how perfect you race. That is because...they don't need to. Since this game is based on powerups, on Hard mode the AI gets ultra aggressive and knows when to blast your ass with mines and shunts. I loved this kind of challenge since it actually required you to be good at the game without being cheated on. The only annoying event on Hard were the Destruction events, my god some cars just didn't want to die and the requirements were crazy.

 

Multiplayer however is where the true racers show up. First of all, for the more complex trophies , don't even think on trying to get them without boosting - the current players in multiplayer (game is pretty populated even today) are racing monsters that have been playing this game since 2010. If you can beat them and get the trophies I bow down to you. I didn't bother really  went straight for the Boost option for those ugly trophies. And I have to mention...even with boosting, completing multiplayer is no easy feat - you have to race A LOT, reach fan level 50 and be on top of your game even moreso than in single player. Fortunately this game has a fantastic multiplayer and servers. I never had any issues or interruptions, apart from the moments when the host was disconnecting or rage quitting.

 

There isn't much to say about this game apart from the requirements of the trophies. As mentioned, you really have to be good at the game and play a lot in order to unlock everything. You have to be very good in every event, master every powerup available and learn the tracks inside-out (of course for a seasoned racing games player, this is not required, i mean only for beginners in the genre). Still, this game is super fun and I rarely got bored from the races. I recommend it if you want to have fun blasting cars left and right or as a couch co-op game - this is a great game to play with friends!

 

NOTE: For those who start the game now, some friend request trophies are bugged/unobtainable. Not sure why this happens.

 

THE GOOD

 - fun responsive gameplay

- blasting enemies apart with shunts never gets old

- super responsive multiplayer

- it's one of the few games that never gets boring

 

THE BAD

- multiplayer will seriously kick your ass unless you have a team to help you slowly progress - it's very noob unfriendly

- some challenges are kinda ridiculous on hard

- friend challenges option is bugged for new accounts

[Arcesius]

Congrats on getting Blur done! First console racer, mhm? Will it be the last? ? 

 

Reading the review, I got reminded of WipEout... Racing game that kinda throws in the "Mario Kart" aspect of weapon pick-ups to spice things up. Did you get it from PS+ a couple of months ago? Unlike Blur, multiplayer trophies are scarce and easily boostable. However, you mention rubberbanding not being present in Blur.. It sure is present in WipEout... ?

 

You sure are getting URs done, man! What a pace! ?

[Copanele]

7 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Congrats on getting Blur done! First console racer, mhm? Will it be the last?  

 

Reading the review, I got reminded of WipEout... Racing game that kinda throws in the "Mario Kart" aspect of weapon pick-ups to spice things up. Did you get it from PS+ a couple of months ago? Unlike Blur, multiplayer trophies are scarce and easily boostable. However, you mention rubberbanding not being present in Blur.. It sure is present in WipEout... 

 

You sure are getting URs done, man! What a pace! 

It won't  be the  last racing game that's for sure (despite  of what I said in the status update hahah, i tend to change my mind fast) HOWEVER - I need a certain feeling towards a racing game in order for me to play it.

 

Bit of a history - I actually played quite a number of racing games, was a fan of NFS series : Starting from NFS Porsche 2000, Hot Pursuit  (the old crap one that I actually enjoyed), NFS UNDERGROUND - and this one was the kicker, Underground 2 ,Most Wanted and Carbon. Loved Most Wanted the most. Also played mad arcades like Re-Volt (I keep mentioning it, it's one of the best games I have ever played), Mashed and Trackmania THE FIRST ONE!!!!!! I know you worked on that game, well imagine that I played the first version ever. It was stupid broken but god I loved that game. It was so good for its time. The sequels...didn't really make me want to play Trackmania though.

 

However...Around Need For Speed Pro Street the charm has worn off. I will never touch the racing simulators like Dirt, Toca Racing, GT...something or Forza (I believe that one's not even on PS?) but Arcade Racing kinda left me disappointed. I always wanted some sick ass jumps, with a crazy soundtrack and why not slap the most generic chaiwanese dragon with flames and rims for days on my stupid cardboard box with wheels, put some NOS and RACE! I played abit of NFS Undercover but man that one was a pile of dung.

 

ANYHOW Blur gave me that kick that I wanted. It reminded me of the good old days where you can just NOS off a small road bump and fly over all the other participants while you crush into an invisible sky wall and finish 1st with only one wheel spinning properly. It's that kind of arcade-y nonsense that I love + NO RUBBERBANDING which is like the equivalent of sparkly unicorn playing guitar level of rareness in racing games. So yeah...if EA (cursed be thy name) would actually remaster the old games or idk...god forbid...learn how to do a FUN NFS game...hell I will be back on track! Or any other racing game that gives me the " Heck yeah imma race with a lime Volkswagen Garbage Compactor while listening to Prodigy" feeling.

 

I do have WipeOut and from the looks of it, it looks quite interesting. However....I want to clean up the backlog abit before attempting that or Trackmania that everyone is scared of. Mashing at those UR ain't no easy feat mr Crypt of the Necrodancer  (god have mercy on your soul with that game, I checked it and it looks like the most wet nightmare ever)

[Arcesius]

9 hours ago, Copanele said:

I actually played quite a number of racing games, was a fan of NFS series : Starting from NFS Porsche 2000, Hot Pursuit  (the old crap one that I actually enjoyed), NFS UNDERGROUND - and this one was the kicker, Underground 2 ,Most Wanted and Carbon. Loved Most Wanted the most. Also played mad arcades like Re-Volt (I keep mentioning it, it's one of the best games I have ever played), Mashed and Trackmania THE FIRST ONE!!!!!! 

 

Ok I understand now why you specified that it was your first racer on a console ? You sure have a racing history otherwise! 

 

 

Quote

I do have WipeOut and from the looks of it, it looks quite interesting. However....I want to clean up the backlog abit before attempting that or Trackmania that everyone is scared of. Mashing at those UR ain't no easy feat mr Crypt of the Necrodancer  (god have mercy on your soul with that game, I checked it and it looks like the most wet nightmare ever)

 

Lol. Well both Trackmania Turbo and WipEout are fun, but they are entirely different. You know for sure, having played the first Trackmania.. I actually enjoyed Trackmania a lot more than WipEout, since it was just about improving your own time, no external factors.. I love that. You, your skill level, and no skill ceiling, so it's just about getting better. 

 

With WipEout.. the game was a lot easier than Trackmania, to be honest, and most of the game modes (like in Blur.. Denonator aka. Combat events, weird Zone events, etc...) weren't that interesting most of the time. The regular races against AI opponents were alright, but in the higher speed classes the rubberbanding and especially the sabotaging AI was just ridiculous. 

 

But that's just me... I prefer my own skill cap to stand in the way of a challenge, not chance.. unless it's a roguelike of course, as you mentioned Crypt

 

Given your experience with racing games.. I suspect that you won't have have the hard time I had with Trackmania. It was just ridiculous for me (but I'll be damned if I'm not glad I did it!), but it was also the first racer I ever played seriously on any console / videogame device other than Mario Kart. By 'seriously' I mean that I might have played some PS2 NFS race or two, but never more than that.  

Edited May 22, 2020 by Arcesius

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, Arcesius said:

 

Ok I understand now why you specified that it was your first racer on a console  You sure have a racing history otherwise! 

 

 

Lol. Well both Trackmania Turbo and WipEout are fun, but they are entirely different. You know for sure, having played the first Trackmania.. I actually enjoyed Trackmania a lot more than WipEout, since it was just about improving your own time, no external factors.. I love that. You, your skill level, and no skill ceiling, so it's just about getting better. 

Now I remembered! I played both Trackmania and Trackmania Sunrise, the sequel which was way better (and way more punishing). 

I always thought of starting this game, i think I even have it bought. I do remember you posting updates  about this game and actually enjoying it, who knows I should give it a go one day. That is what I loved also - your greatest enemy was you. You still have to race your own ghost in order to improve your time no? This series is abit hazy in my mind

 

I also heard it's quite challenging. But if it's as fun as the first 2 that I played I would definitely enjoy it. Just after I clean up the backlog abit, not a good idea to overcrowd myself else I will mix up controls and start doing combos with cars. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Copanele

[Copanele]

 No. 96 : Dragon Ball FighterZ

Platinum Name : Trophy Triumphant 

Hardest Trophy : My power level is 530.000BP  - online ranked mode, best way is to boost this one.

Difficulty : 3/10 - without the Zeni glitch and the BP boost it's easily 8/10

Personal impression : 6/10

 

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a fighting game coming from ArcSystem Works (the guys behind Guilty Gear and BlazBlue) and is one of the most famous and well made Dragon Ball fighting games out there.It's very detailed, faithful to the series, with moveset and characters that look like they were ripped straight out of manga pages, it should satisfy every Dragon Ball fan's wish and desire for a GOOD DB fighting game. However, this is also by far one of my least favorite fighting games ever (if I don't count Street Fighter 1 lol) and I will soon explain why.

 

First of all, I have to admit that this game LOOKS GOOD! Stages look great, characters are 1:1 with the ones from the show, all the particle effects, kamehamehas, projectiles, Krillin's bald head, everything is a straight 10/10. Each character comes with their signature looks, moves and artstyle from the manga/anime. I mean, if they managed to make Yamcha into an actual playable and versatile character, well these guys really did their homework.
And not only the graphics, all the references are there. While defeating the opponent with a super causes a dramatic finish (arena explodes, massive laser engulfs the earth etc) , certain matches have different conditions. For instance, Yamcha vs Nappa have different special hilarious endings depending on who wins. Again, I can see a lot of love and care put into this game.

 

Another good thing that this game does is that, as a fighting game, it's VERY accessible. If anyone wants to enter the unique world of fighting games then this one is the game to start with. It's easy, accessible, with a decent tutorial and trials, simple commands and simpler executions. You even have an autocombo mechanic where you just press buttons and cool shit happen. For a complete newcomer, this game is godsent. You don't need insane skills and execution to become decent at this game, just abit of synchronization and combo memorizing.

 

However...for me personally, this is where I am going to stop with the praises, because I had some personal issues with this game.

 

Honestly, the biggest gripe that I have is that this game is absolutely boring. While there's cool shit you can do, I never felt amazing for pulling a sickass combo, when most combos look the same. I never felt the urge to power up my kamehamehas, nor did i feel the need to learn this. Autocombos absolutely ruin the fun for me online, where let's be honest, at low level it's just a mashing competition, who has the greatest square. While the roster is...big, you also have around 11 friggin Goku variations, Ultra Instinct Goku being the latest addition to the roster. That is right, you don't have a base Goku that can transform ,you have each variation and transformation of Goku in the game. Same goes for Vegeta.

Most characters FEEL the same. Yeah Goku fires Kamehamehas and Vegeta fires Big Bang attacks but...they feel the same! Visuals are flashy but without any major oomph to them. I never felt that I really applied a true Kamehameha to the face of the poor opponent. 

 

Online is...well ArcSys online. For whoever knows these games, the connectivity is ass, unless you are playing with someone really close to you. I absolutely hate how they created the main menu, you directly choose if you want to be online or offline and you are directly thrown into a lobby like some sort of MMO, where you can choose from the modes there. It's kinda tasteless from my perspective, I preferred something simple like a "new game", "tutorial"  and so on. Call me old fashioned if you will.

 

The story...oh lord the story is so long and uninteresting it hurts. There's a new android, Android 21 who is basically a pink female version of Cell merged with Buu. All I can remember is that she looks hot as hell (ArcSys fine work there) and she...eats....stuff. Yeah Goku is an idiot as usual, Beerus just fucks around and in the end Android 21 is defeated with the power of friendship. Honestly I didn't even bother paying attention to the matches, I just mashed R2 and square to quickly stunlock the idiotic AI. You don't need any other buttons in this game apparently.

 

Trial combos were nice. By far the easiest combos I ever had to do, they were still mildly fun and decent to make. Some were tougher than others but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

I have to admit, I was lucky with the Zeni and the online BP farm. Acquiring 20million zeni is a horrendous task in this game, however with a limited gift of 3.5 mil zeni from the devs there also appeared a glitch which allowed the duplication of these money. So I was spared the pain and got the 20 mil zeni in around 5 minutes. 

The BP however...had to do the old fashioned grinding. Since I couldn't be bothered to learn this game ,I had a friend help me, trading wins until we both got to the required 530.000. I have to admit, winning and losing BP is dumb in this game. The further away in the rank, the less BP you win/lose. Not sure what's the thought process here but i had to struggle to stay in the same bracket as my friend.

 

So yes...this review is mostly rambling. I had high hopes about this game, but sadly I got disappointed. I doubt I will ever touch it again. It's sad, because this game had the most potential for me. I just didn't like the direction it went to. But as long as it appeals to DBZ fans, that's what matters  

Myself, I will return to the punishing world of Street Fighter

 

THE GOOD:

- superb graphics faithful to the series

- lots of characters to pick from

- easy to learn

- a true dream come true for DBZ fans

 

THE BAD:

- boring as sin

- autocombos make me not want to bother with the game

- stupid story

- too many Goku variations

- uninteresting DLC

- typical Arcsystem shitty netcode

[Copanele]

  No. 97 : Berserk and The Band of the Hawk

 

Platinum Name : True Berserk 

Hardest Trophy : Jeweller - collect all accessories  not as bad, but if you miss an accessory by any chance...tough luck. You need to be careful what to sell.

Difficulty : 3/10

Personal Impression : 7.8/10

 

One of the few decent adaptations of the incredible "Berserk" manga by Kentaro Miura, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk follows the adventures of Guts, from the very beginning of the Golden Age arc up until the Kushan invasion arc. It's a Musou type game, which means it's you against the world, slashing through thousand of minions while occasionally facing a boss just as angry as you. However compared to the other Musou games, this one doesn't overstay its welcome and it was quite enjoyable, especially given the cast of 8 characters.

 

You start playing as Guts through the story and you are slowly being taught the mechanics of the game. There is a light RPG element, you can equip up to 3 items, 4 consumables and a horse, items boosting your stats. Going through story mode you unlock more items, costumes and sub-weapons for Guts. The story itself is a pretty decent depiction of the action events happening in the manga, although it doesn't cover nearly enough of the true core of the manga.

 

The most time you will spend in this game however will be in Endless Eclipse : A level based "tower" where you progress by fulfilling "desires" or basically quests. The deeper you go the more difficult it becomes, final target is facing Femto at floor 100. You can go even further than 100 but there's no real reason to do so. You have to do this with all 8 characters in order to unlock everything the game has to offer.

 

Intro and boring facts aside, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE GAMEPLAY. The meat of the game, the developers really managed to nail the impact of a metric ton of steel and badassery. Combat feels REALLY good, playing as Guts in the beginning is mandatory since his Dragonslayer really lays waste on enemies.

In combat apart from the life bar you have 2 other bars : A frenzy bar and  a death blow gauge. Hitting and killing enemies (combos with Square and Triangle) will slowly fill the Frenzy bar. Activating the Frenzy bar once it's filled with circle will send the character into a "berserk" state (wow), where he hits faster, stronger and meaner. But what's most important is that now while the Frenzy bar slowly depletes, the Death Blow gauge fills. Succesfully filling the Death Blow gauge can allow you to pack an ultimate mean attack from hell that instantly cleans up the screen and deals massive damage to the bosses. Certain characters (Guts, Wyald and Zodd) can use their Death Blow gauge to suffer a second transformation (Guts activates Berserker Armor, Wyald and Zodd go Apostle Mode) which further improves their damage potential. Simply put, going HAM on this game is so fun and satisfying, this is the reason why I didn't get bored playing it. 

Also by messing with the stats and items (especially those oh-so-rare stats that constantly regen your Frenzy bar or fill up your Death Blow gauge in 2 hits), you can become a powerhouse that barely has time to rest.

 

What I also appreciated is how different the characters feel gameplaywise. No 2 characters play the same and even the weaker ones (Casca) are still potent with the right strategy. I like that the game does reward creativity and encourages experimentation with various stats and skills depending on the chosen character.

 

A minor complaint that I have with this game is the music. I am used to the awesome soundtracks from both anime and Berserk Guts' Rage by Susumu Hirasawa, they really convey the struggling life of Guts. In comparison...the soundtrack in this game sounds flak and really forgettable. With the exception of Mozgus' battle theme, I don't think I will remember any song from this game. Also the game itself is very forgettable, despite being well made. There's nothing out of the ordinary that would make me go "holy crap I will never forget this".

 

Despite all that, it's a very relaxing game (if you consider slashing 1 million grunts relaxing), good for some pastime and pretty chill platinum wise.

 

THE GOOD:

- It's Berserk

- Combat is satisfying as hell

- Interesting characters

- Nice options in terms of customization

 

THE BAD:

- disappointing music

- forgettable as a game; Doesn't stand out.

 

Now, because the review itself ain't that great (really, it's a game where you whack monsters), time to do a CHARACTER RANKING!!!!!!!! Be warned, spoilers ahead

Worth noting, apart from Guts whom I used to gain all the required materials in order to make my characters OP, here's the items that I used : 

 

3x Hawk of Light+9

 

Rapacity

Atk Up

Force

Dazzle

 

Atk Up

Death Blow Power

Regeneration

Resurgence

 

Frenzy inertia

Death Blow inertia

Regeneration

Frenzy Offense

 

My stats were 8000HP, Max atk, Max def and 860 Technique. Also used Skull Knight's Horse for maximum Equine resurgence (recovers Frenzy bar like crazy). So...here's the ranking.

 

No. 8 : Casca

 

Casca might be the only character that is genuinely weak in this game unless built accordingly. Her combos aren't that great, her Death Blow attack is the worst in the game - sending a group of Hawk members in a straight line and being stunlocked by the measliest grunts. Her strengths lie in her sub-weapons - Counter and Hand to Hand combat are very powerful and her Triangle Dash Cancel attack. By pressing Triangle she does a kick which does a lot of stun damage, it can be easily cancelled by dashing with X. Still, she requires patience to be played and it's not that fun altogether.

No. 7 : Wyald

 

Despite his motto, there's not much enjoyment or excitement while playing as the leader of the Black Hounds. Wyald is an Apostle, which means he can use his Death Blow gauge to transform. He is a powerhouse in his apostle form, easily one of the most damaging characters out there, but in his human form he is absolutely pathetic. Basically the plan with Wyald is struggling to charge the Frenzy Bar just to go Apostle mode, which guarantees an instant win. His good sub-weapon is the roar that stuns everyone around him, bosses included. Otherwise, he is the only character that I did not enjoy play as, just because of his gimmicks and the fact that he's unpleasant altogether.

 

No. 6 : Griffith

The leader of the Band of the Hawk, Griffith is the best character when going against hordes of enemies. He has lightning fast thrusts and cuts with his sword and can cover the field in matter of seconds. He is incredibily fun to use, his only downside is that he is not as versatile against bosses. I had the hardest time fighting Femto as him. Still he is leagues above the previous 2.

NOTE: I do not cover the Femto costume here, since it would be unfair. Femto is unlocked after 100% ing the Endless Eclipse and is basically the most OP costume out there.

 

No. 5 : Judeau

Another member of the Band of the Hawk, I initially thought I will have issues with Judeau. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he's one of the most versatile characters out there (a true Jack of All Trades, just like in the manga). His sub-weapon is also the main focus of this character : Judeau throws knives at enemies, the more enemies it hits the more the Frenzy Bar charges. His death blow throws a ton of knives in an arc then covers the area with even more knives. With the mentioned build, 2 sub-weapon knife usage instantly fills the Frenzy gauge. Judeau is truly a boss killer due to his knives.

 

No. 4 : Serpico

A member of Guts' Travelling Party, Serpico is a fencing master that uses both his rapier and the Wind Sword Sylph. He is easily the most fun character to use, since he is nimble and can cause chaos on the battlefield with small wind tornadoes. He is an upgrade from Griffith honestly, Frenzy Mode fully unlocking the Sylph sword potential, mowing down both enemies and bosses alike. He loses in terms of raw power compared to top 3 characters (who are easily interchangable).

 

No. 3 : Guts

 

The main man himself, Guts is exactly what you'd expect to be : a slow powerhouse of a man. His Dragonslayer does absurd amounts of damage, his arm cannon sub-weapon is incredibly good and his Death Blow cleans up the screen entirely. What's more, with the story mode complete, Guts has access to the Berserker Armor, where he goes flipping and dipping and doing massive damage to everything that moves and breathes. He is quite tough to control in his Berserker Armor however so this is why he's only nr 3 (although still an OP character).

 

No. 2 : Schierke 

The mage of Guts' Travelling Party and a vital character to most of the events, Schierke is an unique character in the game, since she is the only one who doesn't go up and personal versus enemies. 

HOWEVER!! She is by far the most damaging character in the entire game (yes even more than Nr 1 ). In her regular state, she needs time to cast the more advanced spells covered by Triangle. In her Frenzy mode, there is no casting time, which means she can summon boulders and fiery wheels instantly. Her death blow is a ray of light that pulverizes everything around her and her sub-weapons are basically a black hole and a stunlocking poison cloud. It's the only character that defeated Femto without taking damage, she is a force to be recognized. 

The only reason she is losing to Nr1 is because Nr 1 trades abit of OPness for pure badassery.

 

No. 1 : Nosferatu Zodd

 

 

A true god of battlefield, Nosferatu Zodd is by far the best, most damaging and pure badass character in the entire game. His attacks pack a mean punch, his death blow is insanely powerful (plus it has that OOOOMPH damage), all of his sub-weapons are super useful and if that wasn't enough, his Apostle form is even MORE POWERFUL. The unique thing about Zodd is that all his movesets are so good, it's usually tough to decide what to even use. He's the only one that can "technically" have an infinite Frenzy Mode, if you use your sub-weapons and Death Blows in the correct sequence. 

He is simply the absolute best, there's no denying it. There's few games where you can summon a tornado with the wings then punch the living shit out of the enemies through it. Plus he is the inspiration for Daimon in Dragon's Dogma so even bigger props.

 

This is the list, sorry if anyone got any spoilers(tried to keep them on a minimum), I used only manga panels (the true way of enjoying Berserk). Really glad that I played this game  

Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele

[Grotz99]

7 hours ago, Copanele said:

  No. 97 : Berserk and The Band of the Hawk

 

This is why I like to read these forums, not only are there reviews on games from a trophy hunting point of view, but you find out about random games you didn't know exist. Berserk was one of the first anime series I watched after watching DBZ, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop and others on TV. I started to order (which I know now) bootleg anime DVDs from overseas and this was one of the first ones I got. I still remember the beginning where Gut stood against and defeated 100 men with his giant dull paperweight of a sword.

 

From how the combat sounds in the game and looking at videos, I might have to try this out. Although, not sure if you played any of the Dynasty Warrior type games, but it looks exactly like that. The game play is usually fun for a while in those as you slaughter thousands of people to take points, but then starts to get repetitive. Anyways, thank you for the awesome review and I like the reviews for the characters.

[Copanele]

7 minutes ago, Grotz99 said:

This is why I like to read these forums, not only are there reviews on games from a trophy hunting point of view, but you find out about random games you didn't know exist. Berserk was one of the first anime series I watched after watching DBZ, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop and others on TV. I started to order (which I know now) bootleg anime DVDs from overseas and this was one of the first ones I got. I still remember the beginning where Gut stood against and defeated 100 men with his giant dull paperweight of a sword.

 

From how the combat sounds in the game and looking at videos, I might have to try this out. Although, not sure if you played any of the Dynasty Warrior type games, but it looks exactly like that. The game play is usually fun for a while in those as you slaughter thousands of people to take points, but then starts to get repetitive. Anyways, thank you for the awesome review and I like the reviews for the characters.

So far I played only one other Musou game, One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 and that was my main issue with it, it gets repetitive as hell ( you can see my thoughts on the game here). However this specific game did not feel boring at all because the levels were compacted and got to the point really fast, PLUS somehow the devs really managed to implement the feeling of slamming someone with a huge slab of iron  . Not eager to start any other Musou honestly, this might be the only exception from the whole genre.

Thanks for reading , appreciate it!  

[Copanele]

 No. 98 : Mortal Kombat

Platinum Name : Platinum Trophy 

Hardest Trophy : My Kung Fu Is Stronger 

Difficulty : 7/10 - although the skillwise trophies aren't THAT bad to get, My Kung Fu Is Stronger is ridiculous in terms of grinding.

Personal Impression : 8/10

 

After lots of time invested, I finally conquered this behemoth of a game. Mortal Kombat 9 (I will call it like that from now on) is a reboot of the world's most violent fighting game series that ever existed. In this game everything is thrown into Kombat as Earth's mightiest Kombatants struggle to defeat the world cheapest boss, Shao Kahn.

 

Unlike all other lazy fighting games, MK9 has a full fledged serious story mode. I have to admit, I was thoroughly impressed of how much attention to detail did the devs show to the script (despite the plot itself being lazy as hell, Raiden being the worst god ever ). There's not only the story mode that tells everything that has happened in the universe of MK, each character has their own personal "what if" story, in the Arcade Towers. 

 

But lets be honest, people didn't buy a MK game for the story or plot. They bought the game for the blood, gore and Mileena's "plot".

Although it's outdated now (MK10 and 11 are way better), when it appeared this game was brilliant. Gameplay is quick and responsive, combos are super fun to pull and every character has a completely unique playstyle. They are easy to learn but tough to master, which was best observed in online mode, where experienced players could really kick your ass. Honestly the way I learned certain combos with my character of choice (Smoke) was to go online mode and fight other Smoke players. By far the best way to learn the game. Sadly the servers are closed so online mode is permanently dead and thus the platinum unobtainable. Fortunately, the game's training mode is competent enough to teach you the basics.

 

MK9 also LOVES its towers. You have the classic towers that can be done with each character, Test your Might where you have to mash buttons in order to destroy an object (god bless the turbo controller), Test your sight which is basically find the object under the cup, test your luck that is a tower with modifiers. By far the most interesting was the main Tower missions, where you had to complete 300 different missions, each more crazy than the other, ranging from shooting zombies, to facing 3 Shao Kahns as Stryker. I got to say, the game has some good diversity.

 

 

Ok now that I talked about the stuff that game has to offer, let's talk about  THE PLATINUM. It's the first platinum that I've rated a 10/10 in terms of difficulty so far. That is because, despite the requirements themselves not being this demanding (purely skill based difficulty, this game would be a 6/10), the time investment required for this game is absolutely ridiculous.

Besides the usual story mode and Classic Tower requirements, there were 3 sections that were incredibly demanding : Online, Tower Missions, Secret Fights and My Kung Fu is Stronger.

 

Online had one stupid requirement : Getting 2500 Respect Points in King of the Hill fights. Stupid trophy that had to be boosted like most online, since nobody ever played that mode anyway . In truth, all the trophies had to be boosted, since the Online was pretty much abandoned. It has also been closed so this platinum is now unobtainable.

 

Tower Missions consists in completing 300 missions, each with some weird requirements. Most of them are easy to medium, but there are some missions that can be insanely difficult, such as fighting a buffed up Shao Kahn as Shang Tsung (the worst character in the game) or the final mission where you had to fight  Mileena, Goro, Kintaro and Shao Kahn with one life bar. Pretty demanding requirements.

 

Secret Fights again was a pretty difficult trophy. Unlocking Secret Fight 1 was the most difficult skillwise trophy out there, since it asked lots of flawless victories and defeating Shang Tsung with a double perfect. This meant that I had to dodge every single attack and not even block, since blocking means chip damage. It was a very frustrating trophy that took me a lot of time to achieve.

 

But everything pales in comparison to My Kung Fu Is Stronger. By far the most idiotic trophy ever made, it required to accomplish the following FOR each of the 28 characters in the game : 24 hours played, 150 x rays, 100 fatalities and 10.000 blood spilled. The trophy requires an absurd amount of dedicated time and it takes FOREVER to achieve. Even with the codes, getting X Rays and Fatalities was incredibly boring and annoying. But...after getting this one, the satisfaction was equally huge.

 

So ... this is it. My first under 1% truly annoying game, completed. MK9 is a game that demanded alot but I have finally conquered. Suffice to say, I will never play it again anymore  I had enough of it.

Not going to lie, I am low-key proud that I managed to platinum this one 

 

THE GOOD:

 

- a very good game that revived the MK franchise

- diverse cast

- newcomer Kratos is fun to play

- loads of fun modes and towers

- story mode is actually good

 

THE BAD:

 

- forgettable, compared to its sequels

- abysmal trophies and grind

- secret fight conditions were unforgiving

Edited September 21, 2020 by Copanele

[Arcesius]

19 hours ago, Copanele said:

So ... this is it. My first under 1% truly annoying game, completed. MK9 is a game that demanded alot but I have finally conquered. Suffice to say, I will never play it again anymore  I had enough of it.

Not going to lie, I am low-key proud that I managed to platinum this one 

 

Ha, I hadn't noticed, but congrats on your first sub-1% plat! ? Definitely a respectable achievement! I guess the big-ass pizza helped in seeing it through ?

 

The requirements sure sound stupid though.... Now go get your #100! ?

[Copanele]

44 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

 

Ha, I hadn't noticed, but congrats on your first sub-1% plat!  Definitely a respectable achievement! I guess the big-ass pizza helped in seeing it through 

 

The requirements sure sound stupid though.... Now go get your #100! 

Many thanks! Yeah the pizza was a god-sent. Had it not been the perfect setting, MK9 would have been into the "unobtainable" bin, alongside PES2015.

Definitely not recommending this platinum though...

TIME TO GET ON STREET FIGHTER 5 WOHOHO

 

 

By the way big congrats for Trials Fusion, missed the opportunity (had no idea it's an 100%). Another tough game completed by you  No wonder your signature is "Challenge accepted"

[Copanele]

 No. 99 : Under Night In-Birth Exe : Late [st]

 

Platinum Name : UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe: Late[st] - Rebirth of a Champion 

Hardest Trophy : Veteran of War  Clear Arcade Mode on difficulty 5, minimum of 3 rounds without losing.

Difficulty : 2/10

Personal impression : 8.2/10

 

I admit, I used this game as a buffer to get working for No. 100. However I was actually suprised to discover that... UNIST is actually pretty good!

Sadly I did not fully explore the story of this game, nor did I bother too much , because the premise is the usual overpowered high-school students with magical weapons fight to the death for...something. I focused mainly on the gameplay and how "cool" the characters are. Suffice to say, I wasn't disappointed.

 

Under Night is the typical anime style fighting game, where the emphasis is put on long crazy flashy combos. Since ArcSys had a hand in developing this one, I have found a very good and detailed tutorial mode that explained me the ropes. This game feels like a Guilty Gear entry, with extra mechanics to differentiate itself from the rest. You have various defensive options and block mechanics. Sadly I didn't have time to fully comprehend them (since I platinumed this game in 2 days, I can't say I fully discovered yet what the mechanics were capable of). 

All I can say is that...gameplay is hella fun, there's a diverse roster of whacky kids that can do inhuman shit.

My favorite was Akatsuki, a guy dressed like a general with a white costume who uses electric punches and fists(bottom row, third guy from the left in the posted picture). In games that put an emphasis on weaponry I usually like to pick the brawler types. I have to say, Akatsuki was the most fun to use since he is a nice hybrid between Slayer in GG, Ryu and Ed from Street Fighter.

 

The music is also hype and alert. I actually lost a couple of matches vs AI because I was messing around listening to the music  not all tracks are that good, but Gordeau's and Eltnum's are super fun and catchy.

 

Sadly, the final boss was kinda meh (Hilda, a woman who just spammed spears, she was stupidly easy to defeat even on hard difficulty mode) and...I did not manage to try the online, mainly because nobody plays this one. Maybe I have to get the cl-r update. Sadly I don't feel like it.

 

So...yeah. A nice game, for who is in a mood for some good old anime brawling, not bad on visuals and music and pretty generous with the newcomers. I kinda understand why there's a fanbase around it. I'll keep it installed, I wish to do more trial missions, since those are super fun to do in any fighting game. But for now...time to work on mighty No. 100! At least this game ain't a "My name is mayo" entry  

 

THE GOOD:

 

- good gameplay and mechanics

- good soundtrack

- very well made tutorial

- lots of game modes

 

THE BAD:

 

- poorly layered story - it's written as a Visual Novel , made me skip through it

- forgettable final boss.

- online was utterly abandoned

[Copanele]

 No. 100 : Street Fighter V

Platinum Name : The Never-Ending Path 

Hardest Trophy : Let's Fight someone strong!  Reach Gold in Ranked Mode. By far one of the toughest trophy in the series.

Difficulty : 10/10 - even if you are a pro online, the amount of grinding and survival mode required will get to you. The hardest platinum on my profile so far.

Personal impression : It's a love/hate relationship, can't grade it.

 

My 100th platinum (yey triple digits) is an unique entry. I can't say that Street Fighter 5 is my favorite game, not even that it's a good game overall. However this game gave me a kind of motivation and desire to improve myself that I rarely have with videogames. The only game that gave me this feeling is Dark Souls, so yeah I can say that SF5 is an important step towards my development as a gamer. I really had to get good at a fighting game therefore...yeah it deserves number 100 on my list.

 

Cheesy entry aside, onwards to the actual game.

 

Street Fighter 5 was initially a disappointing game when it first launched. Capcom wasn't the brightest with its choices here. Game had a very small roster of characters, the graphics were weird and the gameplay was super simplified compared to the previous, way more loved Street Fighter 4. However with updates, patches and new roster additions, this game has been thoroughly improved and it's actually an enjoyable experience...for the most part.

 

The first notable thing is that this game HAS A TRAINING MODE! It finally teaches you how to move, attack, defend, mechanics and so on, things that were severely missing from previous games. After the tutorial is done you can start the game itself. I do suggest going through the story mode first, because although the story is absolute crap (really they didn't even try here), you at least have a small idea who is who later on, especially if you have not played the previous entries. There's many plot points and characters from Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter 3 series.

 

Typical of a fighting game, this game has 2 parts : Offline and Online component. The platinum really makes you go through both modes extensively and really get decent at them. Now with the champion edition, there's tons of diversity on both sides.

 

Covering offline mode first, since it's the easiest and straightforward experience. Each of the 40 characters can be levelled up by doing several actions. Levelling up gives you 1000 FM (fight money), final goal of the game platinum-wise is achieving 1 million FM. You can tackle the classic Arcade modes, ladders of a certain number of fighters ending with a typical boss, the training mode where you can practice all of your character's moves, and Extra event modes. There you can see demonstrations of every character's tactics, can attempt the infamous Trials combos ( although way, WAY easier than their SF4 counterpart), Mission Mode (certain quests that can be only achieved online and reward you with money), Extra Battle (every week/month you can go for a chance to win a special costume, fight a boss or a powered up soldier for extra EXP) and the most daunting of them all, SURVIVAL MODE.

 

While the previous modes are pretty intuitive, Survival Mode is a special beast. You basically have to go through waves of opponents without dying. If you lose and wish to continue you need to spend 800 FM. If you are a beginner at fighting games, I do recommend leaving Survival Mode for last since the AI can really be a pain in the ass most of the times.

Survival mode comes in 4 difficulties : Easy (10 fights, enemies are punching bags), Normal (30 fights, your average arcade mode), Hard (50 fights, AI starts pulling some stupid stunts) and Extreme (100 fights, you'll find the cheapest things ever in this mode). After each fight you gain some points according to how well you've done into the respective fight. You can spend those points on various stats (health increase, attack, defence) or you can even bet your points and get a debuff but the reward in the next fight is doubled or tripled. For instance, if you get the 1HP debuff, you will start the next fight with only 1 HP, but if you win your score is 10x . You also have the option to utilize several items that can be gained only if you completed other survival modes with other characters that can further help you. Survival mode is now pretty easy with the new patch that gives you retries at the cost of 800 FM, but pre-patch it was one of the hardest trophies in the game, mainly because the AI cheats hard in Extreme mode.

 

Online Mode however is where your true skills are put to the test, since you have to take it up with other players as determined as you. There's 3 main ways to play online : Ranked, where you compete on points, Casual, where you are paired just like in Ranked but no points involved, and Battle Lobby, where you basically create a room and can fight with anyone, no restrictions imposed. While Casual and Battle Lobby are pretty chill, you just connect and have fun (winning or losing doesn't really matter), Ranked mode is a completely different beast altogether.

 

INTRODUCING RANKED MODE: The hive of scum and villainy in Street Fighter 5  The way Ranked mode works : You start as a Rookie (0 League Points), winning battles will award you LP, but most importantly LOSING will cut you those hard earned LP. The better you do, the more you advance in ranking. This is the typical fighting game system. The following image shows all the ranking titles you can achieve (lowest Rank is rookie, highest rank is Warlord, ignore the player count)

 

Normally, if you defeat someone the same rank as you, you gain around 55 points, losing will cut you 33 to 50 points. Defeating a higher ranked player will give you more points, losing to a lower ranked player will cut a big chunk of points from you. 

All this mumbo jumbo aside, the goal was reaching Gold Rank, 4000 points, no boosting allowed ( yes it is possible but it's a major pain and it's dumb). And thus started the arduous path to Gold, full of rage, bullshittery, disappointment and ultimately relief.

ROADMAP TO SUCCESS

(always wanted to write that)

First, I had to choose my character. After fiddling around with many options and some  "easy " chars that just weren't doing it for me, I stuck with Cody, the former Final Fight ruffian turned mayor of Metro City. I instantly fell in love with his simple yet effective playstyle and ESPECIALLY his V-Skill, possibly the best anti-air move in the game (yeah even better than Shoryuken). With Cody I finally managed to get out of Bronze and start playing the game for real.

 

Rookie to Bronze wasn't hard. Most of the players are absolute beginners that tend to jump and press all manners of buttons . After curing myself from the STUPID HABIT of jumping like an idiot or swiping with R2 (both options deal huge amounts of damage but my god they are easy to punish), I slowly started to progress. Bronze and Super Bronze is where I learned the fundamentals of the game, however I spent the most amount of time in Ultra Bronze. I believe Ultra Bronze were the toughest wall I have to overcome, since players were still playing "rather" fair and the Silver opponents were absolute beasts ( at the time). Had to learn the movesets well, some matchups (most players play as Ryu, Ken, Zangief so I had how to counter them) and finally...reached the sweet sweet Silver rank...

 

...and that's where the nightmare began .

 

Silver rank is the cesspool of Ranked mode. The Blighttown of onlinery. Swear to god I never had a shittier experience online or offline than in Silver. All manners of cheaters, laggers, straight up bots (if you play vs PC players, NEVER DO THAT), rage quitters and rage messagers. Silver showed me the worst part of this community and was the point where I honestly was considering dropping the game. Because holy crap when you finally manage to defeat a Rashid only for it to lag like a motherfucker and just teleport behind you (after 1 round of perfect internet connection), you KNOW something stinks. Super Silver was even worse, because the laggers were GOOD laggers. I hated ranked mode here.

 

Ultra Silver felt like a survival mode. No more laggers, but people here were actually playing properly and they were difficult to fight. Had to learn actual combos, frame data (a thing I dreaded but it proved to be vital here, basically what move can be punished and what not) and this is where I formed the reflexes. Here's where I tried to see if boosting works (due to Silver ranked making me hate my life) but I dropped it since I had to conquer this game properly. 

And then...REACHED GOLD RANK, after some tough fights against mad Kage players. It was one of the most satisfying trophies I have ever gotten, grinding was irrelevant, I finally got good at a game....

 

...I'd wish. Truth be told, Gold Rank in this game only shows that you are slightly understanding how Street Fighter 5 works. Gold Rank doesn't mean you are GOOD at the game, it's more along the lines of  "Not that bad, kid". I did play some ranked and managed to somehow hold my Gold Ranking (around 4150 points right now, defeated a Super Gold and I am very proud of it). However I entered Battle Lounge and asked a Diamond player to fight me. Suffice to say he drove me into the ground, every move I did was perfectly read and no he was not cheating. 

This game requires HUGE amount of dedication and work. Of course, for those versed in fighting games, this game is one of the easier Street Fighter games. But for me, who just played Guilty Gear like a madman, this was a completely different beast altogether. I understand why Capcom fighting games have their reputation and how some intricate mechanics and utter bullshit ones at times can still be fun.

All I can recommend if anyone wants to actually learn these games (and not just go for some worthless bling) is : Pick the character that you can connect with the most, I don;t know, the whackiest looking, the one that looks cool and TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN until you choo choo into oblivion. There's no easy way out, this game requires dedication and desire to improve.

 

Overall, was this game enjoyable?  I wouldn't say so. Was it UNIQUE? Hell yes. I won't delete this game any time soon, can't wait for Season V characters and maybe I will finally figure out how to do Menat trials. That girl knows how to play with balls :> (she has an actual crystal ball you pervs)

If anyone wants to have a few rounds in Battle Lounge, hit me up. As long as we are having fun, I am available anytime  

 

THE GOOD:

 

- first Street Fighter game with tutorials

- Trials that actually teach you something

- fun diverse cast of characters

- decent online modes

- a whole array of tools that help you learn the game.

 

THE BAD:

 

- stupid story even for Fighting game standards

- online can break you

- Capcom is really greedy when it comes to FM, you have to grind your ass for that dough.

- mechanically not as great as its predecessor SF4

 

P.S. I will soon follow up with some ranking posts regarding the "current" 40 characters in the game, once I have some more spare time. Can't wait to do it tbh !