Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[AJ_Radio]

I do like that non-platinum titles are also somewhat of a priority to you. When a lot of people look at a title that is basically all bronze trophies, it discourages them and prevents them from playing the game. 
 

But you care more for the actual games, not for the trophies.

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Spaz said:

I do like that non-platinum titles are also somewhat of a priority to you. When a lot of people look at a title that is basically all bronze trophies, it discourages them and prevents them from playing the game. 
 

But you care more for the actual games, not for the trophies.

Well, despite me being on a trophy hunting site, I aim for the game first and then the trophy list. If it catches my interest then I will play it. Platinum, 100%, doesn't matter, as long as it's good then I am sold  I don't compete for leaderboards or anything anyway. 

I know that I also completed some duds in the past too, not gonna lie, but eh, I can't have them all good. 

[AJ_Radio]

25 minutes ago, Copanele said:

I know that I also completed some duds in the past too, not gonna lie, but eh, I can't have them all good. 

If you do this hobby long enough you will play some duds, even if you try to avoid them.

[Copanele]

 No. 120 : Bioshock Remastered

+ 💯 completed

 

Platinum Name : Platinum Trophy 

Hardest Trophy : "Worlds of Hurt" - Expert  

Difficulty : 3/10 with exploit, 5/10 without

Personal impression : 9.7/10

 

Leave it to a pre-2010 game to blow me apart with its concepts and quality. Despite being critically acclaimed and been considered a "videogame as an art form" by many, I never actually got to playing Bioshock until 2020. After finishing it now, I can see why this game won all those awards.

 

Bioshock is a 2007 first person shooter set in 1960 . You are an average somebody called Jack who has a plane crash right near a lighthouse. By entering the lighthouse and using an elevator, you descend in the magnificent underwater city of Rapture, build and run by multimillionaire magnate Andrew Ryan. After a glorious introduction in the 1960 style, you arrive at the docks only to be attacked by some derranged mutated humans and be saved by a man from a radio station called Atlas. You quickly realize that this city is not actually that magnificent and you are actually stuck in an underwater nightmare with no way to go out.

 

Just from the beginning this game hits you with the atmosphere. It's like a post-apocalyptic city set in 1960, with all the era specific songs and billboards. Rapture is wanted to be a city of progress, an actual utopia isolated from society where only the most brilliant minds in all domains can reside. But with the discovery of a sea slug called ADAM which basically gave humans superpowers, struggles of power appeared and as any utopia, Rapture also fell. So as Jack what you got is a city full of superpowered zombie-crazed humans led by a derranged dictator.

 

Since it wouldn't be too fun to fight mutants with only guns, you also get a small dosage of ADAM and unlock your superpowers called plasmids. Starting with a small electric shock (which is one of the best skills in the game ) you slowly unlock more and more skills, tonics and upgrades in order to face the hordes of flaming artists and electric engineers. However, to get more plasmids you need more ADAM which ain't easy to come by. The only way to get more ADAM is to collect it from Little Sisters, zombified little girls who also harvest it from dead splicers (all while singing and jumping around). Normally this would sound like an easy job, however these Little Sisters have a certain guardian : Big Daddies (the guys on the cover). They are very attached to the Little Sisters and won't let you just collect ADAM as you would please.

 

Ok I will stop with the introduction here, because I don't want to become IGN or something. In my opinion, this is one of the decade-defining games. I know, it's kinda late to say that in 2020, but now I fully understand why this game is so beloved. Hot damn they did an awesome job with it. It got me with the presentation and the voice of Andrew Ryan (god I love this character), the enemies, the atmosphere. I don't know, it kept me interested and always wanting to see what the hell is happening for 90% of the game (which is a huge lot). Enemies are creepy as hell and the Big Daddies are stupid tough to defeat. Even on Medium I had troubles fighting the Big Daddies, they are the toughest enemies in the game by far.

What can help you in this game is an unique "weapon" : a camera. You can take photos of your enemies and grow in a research rank. The bigger the rank the more info you get about splicers and inflict more damage. It's so fun to become the hunter yourself and stalk the splicers like a mad paparazzi  

 

But what got me to love this game by far is this instance : entering into a vintage ransacked bar, with an incinerator plasmid equipped in one hand and a shotgun in the other hand, the Jukebox starts playing this . A splicer dressed into a white tuxedo comes whistling, sees you then goes "Git da hell outta my place" and attacks you. While you blast him several others come with Tommy guns from the neighboring rooms. You clean them up, then the jukebox stops and you get mauled by a spider splicer from the ceiling that you missed. The game is FULL of these moments and I fkin LOVED it.

 

From all these moments, one level stands out : Fort Frolic. There are many moments in this game (the infamous Medical Pavilion) but by far this level is the most memorable. While you chase Andrew Ryan and are helped by Atlas, you stumble in this place and all communications are cut. A third person Cohen takes over and gets you in his derranged games. 

I heard rumors about this level but I did not expect it to be a vintage version of a mall, but well with good taste. This place is ran by Sander Cohen, a demented artist with a flair for dramatic. I think I explored every nook and cranny of this goddamn level because it was SO GOOD! Especially Cohen who easily became my favorite NPC in the game, with his insanity and weird requests. Also it's by far the most disturbing level for me. It's one thing to be butchered by a medic and another is to be transformed into a piece of art. It wasn't a jumpscare horror type, it was psychological terror and I loved it. 

 

I won't tell anything about the story for spoiler reasons (duh). The game loses abit of its momentum after a grand reveal but regardless this is one of the best stories ever because it shows the worst in the society, how utopias are doomed to fail every single time and how nothing is what it seems. I strongly recommend to scrounge and find every piece of audio tape and not only collect them for a stupid trophy, but to actually listen because they will immerse you in the world. But yeah, the story is easily a 10/10 here.

 

And this is where I will stop. Because I could describe all kinds of moments but that will take too much time. So what I can say is : TRY THIS GAME. If you love it, bonus points for me. If not, eh it can be glitched to be done in one go and it costs like a McDonalds burger now anyway. I'd say this is one of the best experiences I had lately and oh how I wish I get these kinds of goosebumps with the newest games   This is some good vintage stuff!

Now I need to return to Bioshock Infinite ASAP!

 

P.S. I have heard many complaining about the controls in this game. Maybe I missed a piece of info, but I had no issues with the actual gameplay. I am absolute ass when it comes to shooters and I found this game to run smooth as butter. Maybe the PS3 version had issues.

 

THE GOOD:

- one of the best atmospheres ever

- visuals that hold up even for today standards

- ah the songs  

- Andrew Ryan is one of the best villains out there

- fun combo between guns and plasmids

- little sisters crying for "Mr. Bubbles"

- basically, 99% of the game is in "THE GOOD" department

 

THE BAD:

- game loses abit of momentum after the big reveal, KOTOR 1 style

- the final boss fight is kinda goofy for all the buildup

Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele

[jonesey46]

Yes Yes Yes! You finally played it! One of the only games I rate 10/10. Everything about is superb. So glad you enjoyed it with the rest of us!

[Copanele]

3 minutes ago, jonesey46 said:

Yes Yes Yes! You finally played it! One of the only games I rate 10/10. Everything about is superb. So glad you enjoyed it with the rest of us!

Yep it deserves the title of masterpiece. I kinda rushed at the final level because I was expecting the ending so I couldn't give it a clean 10 but regardless it's way up in the top for me. Made me miss the good old games for abit  

 

Even the challenge DLC was strangely fun. The combat rooms were interestingly developed and what I appreciated was the message at the beginning "this is not related to the story, just have fun".

[Arcesius]

Damn, I had quite a different experience.. also played this game for the first time in 2020, and I was kinda disappointed... The atmosphere and plot is what I rated the highest, but the gameplay I felt was very, VERY dated... The hacking minigame also started to get on my nerves by the end, holy shit ?

 

I was hoping to enjoy the game more, but after playing the first one I actually kinda lost the motivation to play the second and third game.. I dunno, I guess my expectations were set a bit too high ? Glad to read that you enjoyed it though! 

[Copanele]

14 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Damn, I had quite a different experience.. also played this game for the first time in 2020, and I was kinda disappointed... The atmosphere and plot is what I rated the highest, but the gameplay I felt was very, VERY dated... The hacking minigame also started to get on my nerves by the end, holy shit 

 

I was hoping to enjoy the game more, but after playing the first one I actually kinda lost the motivation to play the second and third game.. I dunno, I guess my expectations were set a bit too high  Glad to read that you enjoyed it though! 

Hahah yeah I understand what you mean, playing this game for the first time in 2020 can have both kinds of reactions...it's a 13 years old game after all.

But honestly considering my list of games lately (old games, only exception being AC Valhalla which controls like a 2005 game lol), I kinda entered the mood of the good times. I had no issues with the gameplay, I used the "good ol' one-two" tactic mentioned by Atlas in the beginning and put all my tonics into hacking and researches. Plus by the end I was swimming in cash and was buying/inventing auto-hacks so I didn't have to deal with the minigame anymore. I stopped hacking by the middle of the game I believe.

 

About the sequels...again, I don't know what to say. Might be a hit or miss. I liked Infinite but there was something missing for me there. 

 

[jonesey46]

1 hour ago, Copanele said:

Hahah yeah I understand what you mean, playing this game for the first time in 2020 can have both kinds of reactions...it's a 13 years old game after all.

But honestly considering my list of games lately (old games, only exception being AC Valhalla which controls like a 2005 game lol), I kinda entered the mood of the good times. I had no issues with the gameplay, I used the "good ol' one-two" tactic mentioned by Atlas in the beginning and put all my tonics into hacking and researches. Plus by the end I was swimming in cash and was buying/inventing auto-hacks so I didn't have to deal with the minigame anymore. I stopped hacking by the middle of the game I believe.

 

About the sequels...again, I don't know what to say. Might be a hit or miss. I liked Infinite but there was something missing for me there. 

 

Infinite is a great game by itself but as a BioShock game it just doesn't stack up. It's a straight up action shooter, where as BioShock is an immersive sim.

 

BioShock 2 was a huge disappointment. Nice seeing different bits of Rapture but the gameplay and story and everything else is just so lackluster. 

[Grotz99]

Bioshock was probably the 2nd game I got for PS3 and for some reason stopped early on playing it. But then I went back to it about 6 months later and really got immersed in the atmosphere and absolutely loved it. Gave a weird sci fi twist on the 1950s gangster motif. Never played 2 because of what I heard about it and and played Infinite about 5 years later on PC, which I enjoyed, but was less about the mystery and more about action.

 

When there is a game that one of my non-gamer friends comes up to me and wants to discuss the story about, you know it is something special.

[Copanele]

On 12/18/2020 at 7:49 PM, Grotz99 said:

Bioshock was probably the 2nd game I got for PS3 and for some reason stopped early on playing it. But then I went back to it about 6 months later and really got immersed in the atmosphere and absolutely loved it. Gave a weird sci fi twist on the 1950s gangster motif. Never played 2 because of what I heard about it and and played Infinite about 5 years later on PC, which I enjoyed, but was less about the mystery and more about action.

 

When there is a game that one of my non-gamer friends comes up to me and wants to discuss the story about, you know it is something special.

You totally nailed it there @Grotz99 about Infinite. Great game but i still enjoyed 1 more. However the whole thing was a special experience and it still makes me think about stuff even now. And boy did I feel like writing/talking about this game.

 

 No. 121 : Bioshock Infinite

+💯 completed

 

Platinum Name : Platinum Columbia 

Hardest Trophy : Blue Ribbon Champ - complete all Ribbon challenges in Clash in the Clouds 

Difficulty : 4/10 - not as bad as expected, CitC is the hardest part of this game

Personal impression : Main game - 9/10

                                    Clash in the Clouds - irrelevant/10

                                    Burial at Sea 1+2 (they are basically one story) - 6.6/10

 

 

WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW

 

So I finished Bioshock Infinite. I am glad that I played Bioshock 1 first, otherwise I wouldn't have enjoyed this game as much. So, after hearing songs of praise about Infinite and all the awards that it got, do I think that it's better than Bioshock 1? The answer is yes and...no.

 

Bioshock Infinite happens in the city of Columbia way up in the sky. As a private investigator, Booker deWitt goes there to rescue a girl Elizabeth to "wipe away a debt". While the city looks like a small piece of heaven, the environment suddenly turns hostile on you and you must escape with the girl once you find her and fight the hordes sent by Prophet Comstock, the ruler of this city.

 

First thing off, the city of Columbia is amazing. It is not as atmospheric as Rapture (I doubt anything can beat that sea coffin) but still it's a very free place. You travel from air platform to air platform with sky hooks on several rails, which gives the feeling of freedom and fluidity. The game emulates the year 1912, so expect to see a lot of age specific themes (including the less pleasant ones regarding non-white people). Visually and audio , the game is phenomenal, I won't deny it.

Booker himself is a way better protagonist than Jack from Bioshock 1. He has a personality, a background and reactions (and a voice thank god). The best part of course is the interaction with Elizabeth, the other protagonist. I didn't find Elizabeth all that likable at first , I know that's just me, but once she interacts with Booker and grows a personality I actually started to like her more and more. So in that part, the characters are rather interesting, apart from Comstock, but we will get to him later.

 

Gameplay...the gunplay is way better than Bioshock 1. I personally liked the Vigors way more than the Plasmids, because they are more diverse and way, WAY more overpowered. You can finish the entire game with Posession only, but it's recommended to use them all. Guns function way better than in Bioshock 1 (duh) and have more oomph to them. 

Unfortunately the enemies are...mediocre to say the least. While I enjoyed the personality of the Splicers and Big Daddies, I can't say the same about  Comstock's Army/Vox Populi. They are just regular grunts, crow grunts (emulating Houdini splicers but not as fun) and armored grunts. That's all. Possession to everyone.

A specific variation of Big Daddies appear in this game too, called Handymen - sick people trapped into a huge mech. They are an utter ANNOYANCE to fight. They are VERY agile for their size, they do a ton of damage even on Easy difficulty and they have the bad habit of shaking the camera. Good luck aiming for them, despite them being big. The only way to effectively fight them is jumping on sky rails, waiting for them to electrocute the damn things and jump off and shoot them while they hang around. You will never fight a Handyman by himself, so Sky rails will be your best friend.

 

Now for the story SPOILER SPOILER:

 

If I may do an analogy to one of the best RPGs ever made Knights of the Old Republic, I'd say it like this : Bioshock 1 is like KOTOR1 and Infinite is like KOTOR 2. And in this case...I will have to say the odd thing out : I enjoyed the Infinite story more, but I enjoyed Bioshock 1 as a whole more than Infinite.

 

The thing with Bioshock 1 is : You get that bombastic WTF 10/10 reveal that changes your life in that 2/3 part of the game. It's wow, it's amazing and after that...the game kinda loses its momentum. You know the truth, you have to get it to the end.

Infinite however holds that mistery RIGHT until the end. The final moment of the game is where you have the revelation. AND NOT EVEN THEN! You HAVE to play the game TWICE to fully understand what is going on. Unless you are a literature master who can see nuances like the best psychoanalists (or you didn't rush throughout the game like me ) you will not get the full picture the first time around. And PERSONALLY THIS IS MY OPINION I enjoy the way Infinite does it more. I like that way of storytelling way more than the sudden revelation mid-story. 

However the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore as a whole, Bioshock 1 has a better synergy than Infinite because of some little flaws that prevent Infinite from being a total masterpiece.

 

What follows is my understanding of the story, pieced together.

The basis of Infinite's story is right in the title - multiverse theories. There's an infinite worlds with infinite possibilities. The game covers the aspect of CONSTANTS AND VARIABLES : there will always be a man (Booker DeWitt), there will always be a city (Columbia/Rapture) and a girl (Elizabeth). These are the constants. However variables are what causes these worlds to appear, basically choices. And our hero here Booker is the most variable variable of the world. 

 

Booker DeWitt is a horrible man. I've seen yells about Joel being a monster in The Last of Us, my boys wait until you meet boyo Booker here. He's a war criminal, a hypocrite, a drunkass, call him however you want. At some point Booker wants to atone for his sins, therefore a constant appears : THE BAPTISM. This is the most important aspect of the story, because there is always a baptism regardless of the universe. Our Booker rejects the baptism (some little shower won't cleanse his sin) HOWEVER in other realities he accepts the baptism and changes into a man of the cloth, a devout follower of Jesus Christ, a crazy man with the power of seeing into the future. That man is Comstock, our villain.

 

Now this might sound like a mumbo jumbo, but what sets into motion the whole shebang is not Booker, Elizabeth or Comstock : it's actually a scientist called Rosalind Lutece. This woman due to her brilliancy discovers the parallel universe travelling (she is from Comstock's world), where she meets her "twin" Robert Lutece from our Booker's world and they communicate, as the scientists that they are. The fact that they can open these portals allows Comstock to grab more advanced techonology and build Columbia intending it to become a dreadnaught to cleanse the world. However due to lots of experiments, Comstock becomes sterile among other diseases, so he needs an heir. And what better heir than her own daughter from another parallel world.

So, of course, with the help of Robert Lutece, they meet our Booker who has a daughter with some ...whatever woman, he's a ruin of a man deep in debts and Lutece promises to solve his debts in exchange for the girl. Booker accepts but then soon regrets it and chases Comstock and the Luteces towards the interdimensional portal. In the struggle Elizabeth is taken but she loses her finger due to the portal closure.

And now the key explanation to Elizabeth's portal jumping abilities : She exists in 2 planes AT THE SAME TIME and the Universe tries to correct that (check Lutece Voxophones and the peas and the porridge analogy). That's why Elizabeth can hop between dimensions and bust open tears.

 

Fast forward towards the end of the game - cause I ain't writing the whole story, you play it for yourself. Elizabeth unlocks her full powers and is omniscient and omniprezent, she is basically a god at this point. However since universes are infinite, there will always be a different Booker and there will always be a different Comstock and there will always be misery. Variables will be variables. But what about constants? 

The baptism is the key to this : as a result to the baptism, there's either Booker or Comstock. No inbetween. The solution to this infinite struggle I find it to be genius - Booker must die. But not in any point in time, we already killed Comstock and it didn't change shit. Booker must die AT THE BAPTISM. Delete the ultimate constant, this node in time. And this is where I finally got the idea and I applaud the smarts : Baptism was the one node that caused it all and there was no third option. It's like in programming : instead of setting a variable to TRUE or FALSE, just delete the FALSE and TRUE entirely and the whole program changes (well you receive a Syntax error but that was the point of infinite, fuck Comstock forever).

 

HOWEVER...if it only was for that, I would have given a huge score to the game. Unfortunately there's a continuation to this....

 

BURIAL AT SEA SECTION

and how to ruin a brilliant premise

A Comstock escapes this Baptism purge. How? fuck if I know. And Elizabeth chases him and must make him pay for all his suffering. This I can accept because at the end of Infinite Elizabeth takes in all her multiverse copies and becomes THE ONE, including all their sufferings and it's understandable that she loses her marbles abit. Kinda off for an omniscient being but whatever.

 

This DLC exists only to link Infinite to Bioshock 1 and I hate it. On one hand, Rapture is amazing and the stealth mechanics in DLC2 are awesome, wished I had that in the main game. But the story...oh lord the story murders both games in one shot. As I mentioned in a status update, it's like linking 2 modern highways with a shitty country road full of pot holes. The ending of infinite is cancelled (Comstocks are erased but not really, Elizabeth is omniscient but not really since she gets mauled by a Bouncer Big Daddy, Atlas is a warfare genius but not really and Elizabeth dies like a dumbass). I don't wish to cover this story. This story created a fuckton of paradoxes that Infinite masterfully avoided. It makes no sense and I hated it. It felt just like a cheap trick to link the 2 games and soured the experience.

 

 

 

 

SOOO I wrote a lot and not that coherent either. What do I think about Infinite in the end? It's a game that made me think a lot. I loved the logic behind it but I also found flaws (Tears are some very convenient McGuffins for our immediate plot). Characters are likeable but not 100% likeable. There's always one small imperfection that prevents me to fully enjoy the game. It's like installing an epic videogame and at 99% you get a 18+ pop-up ad inserted by the developers. It doesn't ruin the game, but what the heck was that popup? 

Good game in conclusion, I just wished it had walked that extra mile to be better than Bioshock 1.

 

THE GOOD:

- graphics and audio are top notch as usual

- improved gameplay

- sky lines are endless fun

- Booker and Elizabeth interaction

- the story of the main game is super good

 

THE BAD: 

- uninteresting enemies

- Tears are awfully convenient

- the DLCs are ruining the entire game storywise (Burial at Sea) and gameplay completionist wise (Clash in the Clouds)

- it just doesn't do well enough to be better than Bioshock 1

Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele

[AJ_Radio]

Great job.

 

You got a bunch of games where you're literally only a trophy or two away from 100 percent completion. Too bad about PES 2015 and Titan Quest being unobtainable.

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, Spaz said:

Great job.

 

You got a bunch of games where you're literally only a trophy or two away from 100 percent completion. Too bad about PES 2015 and Titan Quest being unobtainable.

Yep, Skullgirls will be my 125th plat, saving that(for how low the percentage is, the trials are a piece of cake compared to ssf4) Kof13... I am still working on it! Can't explain how mind boggling these shits are! 

 

I don't really mind about PES2015, i am kinda glad that online is dead because otherwise i would have forced myself to play that and man... Its not fun. But I am salty about Titan Quest. I love the game and those bugged trophies would take me literally 15 minutes to get. Buuut they won't get patched any time soon sadly. 

[AJ_Radio]

Just like what happened to Cassylvania and Indivisible being unobtainable for 100 percent.

 

Getting every single game to 100 percent is just not worth it. I have a few unobtainables on my list but I'm perfectly fine with that. Trophy hunting for five years or so, you're bound to get something that you either can't get because of lack of skill or the online servers are down.

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Spaz said:

Just like what happened to Cassylvania and Indivisible being unobtainable for 100 percent.

 

Getting every single game to 100 percent is just not worth it. I have a few unobtainables on my list but I'm perfectly fine with that. Trophy hunting for five years or so, you're bound to get something that you either can't get because of lack of skill or the online servers are down.

Oh absolutely! Honestly if I had a 100% list I would probably be afraid to grab potentially good games just because of a stupid number on a site. Human brain be monkey like that sometimes. 

 

But like this... Heck if I can't complete any of the other games that I have, no big loss. I can't have 100%anyway so I aim for as much as possible while having as much fun as possible also! 

[AJ_Radio]

Put Super Meat Boy on your list. That will put a dent in straying away from 100 percent completion.

[Copanele]

2 minutes ago, Spaz said:

Put Super Meat Boy on your list. That will put a dent in straying away from 100 percent completion.

Admit it, you would like to see me suffer like that considering how in pain I was after Crash Bandicoot  

I might as well add Crypt of the Necrodancer. Considering that I failed the QTE at the end of God of War 2 around 10 times in a row, imagine how well I'd do in a rhythm game.

 

Serious 100% breaker game though, I really am set in putting Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai on my profile. Chances of platinuming that are lower than 0.1% but heck at least I'll try. But not before I complete DarkStalkers. That's the training for Koihime Enbu. 

 

[AJ_Radio]

Expect to spend a few hundred hours on Koihime Enbu. Looking at the platinums achievers list, those guys are Japanese/Koreans. Not surprising, because we all know how much better they are in gaming than Americans and most Europeans.

[Copanele]

57 minutes ago, Spaz said:

Expect to spend a few hundred hours on Koihime Enbu. Looking at the platinums achievers list, those guys are Japanese/Koreans. Not surprising, because we all know how much better they are in gaming than Americans and most Europeans.

Several months most likely. And yes I wish to start that game just to see how far can I get. I do not expect to platinum it at all.

[Copanele]

Oh right, forgot to add this new entry

 No. 122 - Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection

Platinum Name : A True Samurai Spirit 

Hardest Trophy : A Maiden's Sacrifice - defeat the final boss of SamSho 2 as Nakoruru  - Nakoruru is a trash character and you can't convince me otherwise

Difficulty : 2/10 - Save States trivialize this game

Personal impression - 8.2/10

 

I actually played every single game in this franchise available on PS4, I have covered the initial impressions here. Basically a SNK fighting game that removes the need for combos and replaces it with huge damage and well timed strikes. You can literally end an opponent in 2 hits if you know when to attack. I played this collection just to have them all done on my profile  

I love this series. They have that specific charm and attention to detail that few fighting games have. Even Samurai Shodown I is surprisingly good and that game came out in 1994. 

 

Not much to say really. I recommend them , especially since the collection is discounted in January sales. If you want some samurai action and stylish background, get these games. 

 

THE GOOD:

- classic SNK fighting game

- games look good and feel nice

- Mina is still the best

- if you don't enjoy this collection, at least the trophy list is super easy to do.

 

THE BAD:

- online is empty - couldn't connect to anyone after 1 hour of trying

- Samurai Shodown III has the most bullshit AI in the whole series

 

[AJ_Radio]

May pick up the NeoGeo collection in the future. Definitely a classic series, but I’ll be damned if I have to do some crazy combo. 
 

There’s a similar classic fighting collection called Art of Fighting Anthology. I don’t know much about the games but they came out during the Street Fighter II craze. Very difficult platinum from what people have told me, but nowhere near as hard as Koihime Enbu. I won’t be picking up Art of Fighting, I’m not a big fan of old fighters. 
 

Also missed my chance to get Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection at a discount, however I can buy the collection used on Amazon. Just need a good boosting partner for the Blue Belt trophy and everything will be golden.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Spaz

[Copanele]

5 hours ago, Spaz said:

May pick up the NeoGeo collection in the future. Definitely a classic series, but I’ll be damned if I have to do some crazy combo. 
 

There’s a similar classic fighting collection called Art of Fighting Anthology. I don’t know much about the games but they came out during the Street Fighter II craze. Very difficult platinum from what people have told me, but nowhere near as hard as Koihime Enbu. I won’t be picking up Art of Fighting, I’m not a big fan of old fighters. 
 

Also missed my chance to get Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection at a discount, however I can buy the collection used on Amazon. Just need a good boosting partner for the Blue Belt trophy and everything will be golden.

You are safe here, Samurai Shodown is one of the few collections where you don't need to know any combos. Hell I haven't used a combo in any of these games ever. Bosses can be cheap however so abuse the save states. 

 

So here's the catch with Art of Fighting : it is a SNK game. SNK games are infamous for their difficulty and cheap ass bosses. SamSho is an exception of course but right now I am playing King of Fighters the Orochi Saga, it took me 3 hours to beat Rugal, the final boss of KoF94. He reads your every move and his attacks can fuck up 80% of your health bar in 1 hit. I have found a consistent strategy to beat him but my god beating him legit is nigh impossible unless you have godlike reflexes. 

 

So what I am trying to say, if you ever see a cute retro fighting game which has the SNK label, you would wish to stay away games are super good but also super cheap. 

I might attempt art of fighting just for kicks. I have practiced with the protagonists Ryo and Robert in other games until my thumbs bleeded so I might have a chance at them. 

 

If you get SF 30th anniversary, just for funsies try to beat Akuma in sf2 you will have the time of your life. 

[Copanele]

And for the final platinum of the year, a fitting end for 2020..

 No. 123 - Shadow of the Colossus

 

Platinum Name : The Horned Boy 

Hardest Trophy : Reach the Gate all your progress leads up to this, you have to max out everything and cross a 5 minutes run bridge.

Difficulty : 5/10 because of the controls only. With a proper gameplay this would be a 2/10.

Personal impression : 5.6/10

 

Nostalgia can make a huge difference when describing a game. I am heavily favorably biased towards game that I have fond memories for, even if they are not that great objectively. For instance, I tend to love and praise the Prince of Persia games, even if nowadays they haven't aged well at all. Or Dark Souls 1, which is a clunky mess compared to Dark Souls 3. On some games, the age simply shows its mark despite your fond memories of them.

 

This game has been recommended by 90% of my friends list as being one of the greatest games of the PS2 era and probably of all time. So when i saw that there's a remake of the game that leaves the experience untouched I was thinking "hey, it's the perfect time to check this marvel of a game, see what's the deal with it". Well with that introduction that I did and the personal impression...you can pretty much guess what my experience with Shadow of the Colossus was.

 

To not be completely awful and trash an old game, Shadow of the Colossus is fantastic artistic wise, even though it wasn't my cup of tea. The graphics are brilliant, comparing with the old PS2/PS3 game I largely prefer this game. World looks absolutely beautiful, there is a charm in its desolation, it's you, the horse, 16 future colossal victims and the occasional birds and fishes. Oh and the girlfriend/sister/grandniece that is taking a nap on the altar, but she's not...quite alive so yeah. Game's presentation and the intro is strong and hits hard. 

The colossi that you fight are imposing and terrifying. It's basically you versus a mountain. Imagine Kratos vs Chronos from God of War except Kratos is a wimpy kid with a stick of a sword and some bow that does nothing but anger the colossus. Climbing the colossus is one hell of an adventure, figuring out what's the proper path and what's the strategy for each of these behemoths. I have to admit, I loved that aspect of the game.

 

And that's where the praises stop. Presentation wise the game fooled me for the first 5-10 minutes, until I actually started PLAYING the game.

 

Have you ever seen that video with the guy playing Dark Souls 3 with controllers made out of bananas(how's that for an analogy @Honor_Hand ) ? Video here btw . Other than the dude being a total badass, that was pretty much the feeling that I had with this game's controls. It was complete bananas. 

It is by far the WORST controls that I have ever encountered in a videogame. Yes I played some old 1998 atrocities and even those controls weren't this bad. Since your boy Wander is just a boy he stumbles across every rock and needs to hold for his dear life on the colossus' hair or ledges. Pretty normal I'd say EXCEPT half of the time the controls work randomly. Wander stumbles across the regular floor, no stone in sight. He loses his grip even though I am holding the R2 down and I have more than enough stamina. The colossi can stunlock you into shaking like Shakira in her old clips. IT IS BEYOND FRUSTRATING. Did I mention stumbling? Well Wander stumbles like an alcoholic most of the time. 

 

Another beautiful aspect is the camera. Yes the glorious camera, it shows you every single nice and beautiful detail INCLUDING in the middle of a battle or a chase. Whenever you are on a colossus, pray for your dear life for your camera to not go "My time has come" and do a triple barrel roll and thus losing any idea of your position on the colossus. Jesus I thought the DMC1 camera was bad, I AM SORRY. This one is way worse.

 

But perhaps the biggest issue with this game, the thing that murdered me the most was Agro the horse spawn of Satan. Jesus Christ this fat tub of salami was the bane of my existence. I don't think I would have had half the issues with this game if it wasn't for THIS useless 4 legged monster. In a game where 80% is exploration, having the travelling equivalent of a wheelbarrow with a flat tire is absolute hell. Agro controls like crap, if she meets any little pebble/stone/corner that must not be cut/being in a vicinity of a ravine or a hole she FULLY STOPS NO MOVING FORWARD GO FUCK YOURSELF, entering a forest or a building forcefully slows down Agro and you move at a snail's pace (BECAUSE LOOK AT THOSE GRAPHICS FUCK ACTUALLY GALOPPING THROUGH THE FOREST) and it can get so badly that Agro can actually be a hindrance when you fight colossi. There's been countless times when I was chasing a Colossus only for Agro to jump between me and the beast and thus losing the advantage that I had.

What's worse, you can't kill the fucker. Unlike you, Agro is immortal, she's like a Terminator that can't be stopped or get rid of. There is a tear jerking moment related to Agro where you are supposed to have feelings, I laughed like a maniac there. 

Also for those who say "uhhh you control the reins not the horse itself" - I come from the countryside and I know how to ride a horse. Eastern Europe is magical. REAL LIFE HORSES AREN'T THAT DIFFICULT TO RIDE! So the reins are not a valid excuse. Just put a fucking GPS on the stupid thing or idk make it control like a regular vehicle, don't have to go big brain mode with this.

 

So ...yeah. Gameplay is absolute garbage, it's that bad that it actually killed my mood for this game. I don't think I ever had that happen in a videogame before where I could simply abandon the story and the atmosphere because of the gameplay. I even had some small videos recording my beautiful interactions with this game under my YouTube channel Copanele , called "Shadow of the Colossus is a wonderful game". I just couldn't bear to like this game. I respect people that grew with this game and think it's the best game that they ever played. I can't comprehend how, but regardless it's their opinion and I respect that.

But for me, this is by far the game that I hate the most. It's not the worst game that I played, it's not the worst game in existence by any means, but it's a game that I fully despise and I have a heart full of hatred for wasting my time and my hopes and dreams(but mostly my time). Next time I will properly document myself before touching stuff like this.

 

THE GOOD:

-looks good

-sounds good

-atmosphere

-you can unlock the Queen's Sword who one shots sigils and the Nuke Arrows

-the satisfaction from deleting this game was immeasurable

 

THE BAD:

-the controls are the equivalent of this:

- you cannot kill Agro

- there's not a single moment where the controls actually get better

- if you can't get past the controls you will hate your life

- Agro is unkillable. Trust me, that horse has plot armor.

- it made me wish to play DMC2 instead.

[Puppeter04]

5 hours ago, Copanele said:

 

Jesus Christ this fat tub of salami was the bane of my existence.

I DIED LAUGHING!!!! HAHAHAHA god 

 First of all, congrats ?! 

This game is one of those that separates our community, some of us like it, some hate it. Basically the controls are the problem to the ppl who do not like it, but if is true that is a good remake/remaster (don’t know now what it is) for us who enjoyed it on PS2  

 

Looks, sound and atmosphere play a HUGE role on this, just like AC2 or some Resident Evil.

 

But after all it’s just a normal game, nothing too fancy but wishing to play DMC2 instead?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

 

Again, congrats, 123 is a huge amount, and my fav number btw ?

[realm722]

8 hours ago, Copanele said:

Have you ever seen that video with the guy playing Dark Souls 3 with controllers made out of bananas(how's that for an analogy @Honor_Hand ) ? Video here btw . Other than the dude being a total badass, that was pretty much the feeling that I had with this game's controls. It was complete bananas. 

It is by far the WORST controls that I have ever encountered in a videogame. Yes I played some old 1998 atrocities and even those controls weren't this bad. Since your boy Wander is just a boy he stumbles across every rock and needs to hold for his dear life on the colossus' hair or ledges. Pretty normal I'd say EXCEPT half of the time the controls work randomly. Wander stumbles across the regular floor, no stone in sight. He loses his grip even though I am holding the R2 down and I have more than enough stamina. The colossi can stunlock you into shaking like Shakira in her old clips. IT IS BEYOND FRUSTRATING. Did I mention stumbling? Well Wander stumbles like an alcoholic most of the time. 

 

But perhaps the biggest issue with this game, the thing that murdered me the most was Agro the horse spawn of Satan. Jesus Christ this fat tub of salami was the bane of my existence. I don't think I would have had half the issues with this game if it wasn't for THIS useless 4 legged monster. In a game where 80% is exploration, having the travelling equivalent of a wheelbarrow with a flat tire is absolute hell. Agro controls like crap, if she meets any little pebble/stone/corner that must not be cut/being in a vicinity of a ravine or a hole she FULLY STOPS NO MOVING FORWARD GO FUCK YOURSELF, entering a forest or a building forcefully slows down Agro and you move at a snail's pace (BECAUSE LOOK AT THOSE GRAPHICS FUCK ACTUALLY GALOPPING THROUGH THE FOREST) and it can get so badly that Agro can actually be a hindrance when you fight colossi. There's been countless times when I was chasing a

 

Bahahaha excellent job on this. First of all, on achieving this platinum in the 1st place. But my goodness... I downloaded Shadow of the Colossus when it became free for PS+ Users but REFUSED to play it until I at the very least, platinumed The Last Guardian. It's the latest game by Colossus' developer, Team Ico. I don't know how else to say this... I despise that game with ever fiber of my being. It is the worst Playstation 4 game I have ever played, and I have beaten the game 6 BLOODY TIMES and yet don't have the plat (need to do an unbelievably annoying hear all hints trophy+do a whole playthrough without leaving spears in your monsters companions body. To see that the EXACT same awful control problems are present in their title that led them to superstardom on a global stage boggles my mind. 

 

So having read your review, thank you for your sacrifice. For it tells me - yanno what, don't ever play this game, or at least if I want to, do it on a 2nd account and only do a 1-time playthrough. I can do and handle difficult games that require skill and precision. Wanting to fight the game CONTROLS themself though and have an infuriating experience? I'm good dawg. Don't need that in my life. Hell of a platinum to end 2020, I salute you.