Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[FreshFromThaDeli]

I got the reply I wanted ? 

[Grotz99]

I'm excited for Elden Ring, I hope it's as good as it looks in the end. It's too bad you don't have KOF 14 as your 150th, then you could of had all 3 in a row ?.

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, Grotz99 said:

I'm excited for Elden Ring, I hope it's as good as it looks in the end. It's too bad you don't have KOF 14 as your 150th, then you could of had all 3 in a row ?.

Same, I can't wait to see what Elden Ring brings.

And yes, it would have been a good idea in hindsight ? but given how ass the online was (6 players needed) + my inability to hold a game with 1 unachieved trophy just for a milestone, it just didn't work  

[Yuber6969]

Congrats on MHA! Your review made it seem kind of fun but since you said that it wouldn't appeal to non-fans of the anime, I guess I'll pass on it.

Excited for P4A!

[Copanele]

Well, the time has come. After all this time, the main target has been achieved.

 

 175 - Persona 4 Arena

Platinum Name: I am Thou...

Hardest Trophy: C'est Magnifique! - complete Score Attack with all characters 

Difficulty: 10/10

Personal impression - 10/10 - another staple in my gaming "career"  

 

My god this game was a journey. Widely regarded as one of the hardest fighting game platinums, Persona 4 Arena was my final target and hurdle ever since I got into platinuming fighting games on Playstation. It was a long journey but I am glad to say that it really paid off in the end. It really is satisfying to see you finally achieve a target after putting in the work  

 

Now, this will not be an usual "impression" post. I won't speak about graphics (phenomenal), soundtrack (any Persona fan knows that it's a 10/10) or Story (Labrys is a sweet maiden that has to fight Hitler Teddie with the help of Yu Narukami, and that's all I care about). Instead I will write something...abit different.

 

How it all started - I have to confess something: I started to seriously play fighting games on 17th January 2019. Took me a bit of digging, but according to my Trophy History I started to care about this genre the moment I achieved the following in Street Fighter 4:   Clear arcade mode on Medium or Harder.

Now don't get me wrong, I have played fighting games before. My favorite is Guilty Gear XX Reload- Midnight Carnival and I also played some Street Fighter 4 and Street Fighter 3rd Strike way before I joined the site. But it was at the level of "ha ha Sol Badguy goes brrrr" by pushing buttons and doing cool flames. My greatest achievement was managing to input a super which meant a half circle back to forward and pressing circle at the same time. I had no idea what "frames" are, did not know how to input a Dragon Punch, had no idea that trials or challenges are a thing, I was at the level of entering online, pressing buttons and not understanding a damn thing. I did watch some tournaments and knew personalities from the area but I did not truly understand the depth or complexity of the games they were playing.

 

How did I get to Persona 4 Arena of all games - In 2019, 2 months after joining the forum, I too did check my previously started games to see what I haven't completed, what people usually play etc. I was very surprised to find out that man, people feared this genre. I saw some users that would gladly play some crazy shit like Super Meat Boy, Splasher, Ikaruga, Project Diva or other 1500 Japanese IQ games, but when it came to the good ol' punchy kicky games, this was the equivalent of Antichrist in fighting games ? So obviously, since I really REALLY loved Guilty Gear and played a ton of Street Fighter IV (mega super duper casual level), I was "hey ok, let's give this genre a serious go". And so I started learning and documenting myself, checking videos etc.

I also "lurked" on various forums because I was curious what is the hardest platinum in the "business" of fighting games. Almost everyone pointed out to this peculiar game Persona 4 Arena. Not Ultimax, that's a different version. Apparently this is the final boss in terms of FG platinums, the God, the Alpha and Omega, you get the idea. So, with a new target in mind, I started my newfound journey of mashed buttons and blistery thumbs.

(Yes, I later found out that Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai is truly the worst FG plat but we'll get to that later, at the end of this post  )

 

How did I approach this challenge - Now, I could have simply started with the game and be done with it. Yep, platinumed the game, yay me, congrats, moving on. I did not want that. I also wanted to experience the thrill of going through all the games, starting from the easiest FG plat to the hardest. I didn't want this experience to feel like a skip to the final boss, I wanted to start from the tutorial. So I started with the EZPZ platinums, Samurai Shodown and Mortal Kombat 11. Fantastic games, but in terms of challenge....yeah you might not even know how to control a character and still get the platinums in these games. Obviously I could not even dare go through this journey without my true sweethearts Guilty Gear Accent Core and XRd games, so I grabbed those as well. That's where I learned how important it is to learn combos and timings, because some challenges in GG XRd Revelator heavily penalize sloppiness in execution. 

 

Now fast forwarding a bit (won't bore you with details about Mortal Kombat's "My Kung Fu is stronger"), I reached the mid-boss of my challenge, which I dub them the Ornstein & Smough of my list: Street Fighter V and Ultra Street Fighter IV. SF5 was the Online beast, where I had to reach the Gold Rank, while USF4 was the offline monster with its terrifying trials. Regardless, I raged a LOT in both of the games, ultimately deciding that SF5 was the harder of the two. Online truly is the equivalent of a swamp, with lots of ogres, stench and danger lurking everywhere.

Street Fighter games really made me feel that I kinda levelled up in this department and I am not a scrubby "how do I press this button" player anymore.

 

Anyway, while I was getting plastered by Street Fighter, I discovered another soon-to-become love: The King of Fighters made by SNK. They are kings(heh) in terms of AI cheapness and brutal trials, especially in King of Fighters XIII, a game that I still believe has the hardest trials out there and no other game tops them. Luckily the platinum only asks you to do 200 out of 330 so you are spared of the more brutal ones.

Now King of Fighters XIII is where my love for this gaming genre reached its peak. The art, the characters, the details, the complexity...if I am to be honest, when I got into the game, heard the theme "Goodbye Esaka" and saw those smooth sprite animations, I was something similar to this:

That's when I knew my choice of poison was right. From that point on I tried almost every fighting game franchise available on console(avoided a few like Tekken and DoA due to personal preference, sorry  ) , found a lot of people with the same passion as mine and just piled up experience over experience in preparation for the final boss. It was one of the best journeys I had up until that point.

 

The end of the road - So, after I cleared out all the Guilty Gears, the Blazblues, some Street Fighters, not enough Mortal Kombats and way too many Injustices, I reached the big boss himself: Persona 4 Arena. I played Persona 4 Arena Ultimax but to be honest, other than the DLC characters which had some tricky trials, that platinum wasn't that much of a headache. Of course, Ultimax doesn't ask you to do challenges with all the characters so obviously it was a way easier challenge.

 

Now, 95% of P4A list is fairly easy. Reach a rank online, play through the story, do x moves with a character blah blah the stuff that anyone can do. Those are the things you can clear out in a day at most casually. What's truly scary in Persona 4 Arena are the following trophies:

1. C'est Magnifique  - Complete Score Attack with all characters.
2. Combo Crazy  - Complete Challenge Mode with all characters.

To further explain, there's 13 characters in the game, they are from both Persona 3 and Persona 4. Persona fans might recognize some of them: Mitsuru, Aigis, Akihiko, Elizabeth, Yu, Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, Naoto, Kanji, Teddie, Labrys, Shadow Labrys. All of them are completely different from each other and have a completely different playstyle, so I was in for some trouble there. 

Luckily, Persona 4 Arena has one of the cleanest gameplay I ever experienced in a fighting game so whatever issues I was experiencing, it was mostly my own fault. 
So with all that in mind, I started with the first ordeal:

 

SCORE ATTACK MODE

(if Arcsys is ever going to develop an AI and let it loose, we are doomed)

 

The rules of the game are pretty simple - in theory. You have to defeat all of the cast in Persona 4 Arena with each of the characters. Example, say you pick Akihiko, you have to fight the following:

Yosuke -> Naoto -> Yukiko -> Teddie -> Kanji -> CHIE -> Mitsuru -> Akihiko -> Aigis -> Yu -> Shadow Labrys -> Labrys -> Elizabeth.

If you complete with one character, you get their glasses and move on. 

 

Now, I said in theory the rules are simple. In practice:

1. If you die, you get sent back at the beginning. You have to win 2 out of max 3 rounds.
2. Every character has a specific ability active at all time e.g. Yosuke is always in super speed mode, Yukiko will always have level 8 flames on her etc.
3. The difficulty is set on Developer Mode. Developer mode means that the difficulty is one level higher than the available difficulty to set in the game. Which means, you can't even practice against the AI in order to perform better.
4. Every character is like a puzzle fight. They have a certain weakness and pattern, it's your job to find it though.

This mode was UTTER HELL. By far the hardest trophy in the game. It took me 1 day to figure out Yosuke just to be plastered instantly by Naoto. I resorted to Pause abuse (pausing to see what the AI would do) but even then the AI was RUTHLESS. Every mistake, and I mean EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE could easily get you killed. No room for error.

And that's for the first half of the roster.

You might notice that I put Chie's fight in Bold. That's because she is the end of the "Easy" characters to beat in Score Attack. Starting with Mitsuru the difficulty increased even further. Hardest to deal with was Mitsuru herself, any of her attacks would freeze you if landed, and you BET she would attack a lot. Took me a lot just to figure out how to beat her.

It took a lot of video analyzing, thinking of strategies and retries to get it all done with all characters. It was quite the mad ordeal and not going to lie, I was mad frustrated. This mode is designed to be unfair and to murder you in the most sadistic way possible. Yet, when I finished the final run, the satisfaction was so high it was the equivalent of getting a re-release of a childhood game  I was pretty hype. 

My last character to finish Score Attack with was Mitsuru. Remember her, she will show up again soon.

Well with score attack out of the way, all that remained was challenge mode. I took an extensive break because MAN I was exhausted but I was certain that what was worst has passed and Challenge Mode was just some dessert to savor afterwards. After all, I did KoFXIII trials, how hard could it be?

....well pretty fucking hard to be completely honest ? hubris be damned!

 

CHALLENGE MODE

(The only instance where Atlus went for the thumbs instead of the toes)

 

Challenge mode - each character has 30 challenges, do them all sucker. Challenges mean that the game gives you a list of combos that you have to link. If you do that succesfully without missing a beat, you pass the challenge. It's kind of a rhythm game where you have to score a perfect each time, only the songs differ.

If you might remember, I mentioned that every character played differently. And I mean VERY DIFFERENT from each other. Labrys has an axe and does charges. Akihiko punches hard. Mitsuru has a rapier. Teddie is a piece of shit. No two characters played the same and I had to learn their stuff.

The first 25 combos were pretty easy, had no issues in executing them.

The last 5 combos ranged from medium difficulty to "oh god why did I ever considered platinuming this game?". Seriously what kind of mad person devised such combos? Not only they are impractical, they are utterly devious, clearly meant to put as much stress on your thumbs. I actually developed a small blister on my left thumb (won't show it due to graphical content), that's how tricky those buggers were.

 

The thing is, 10 of those 13 characters still had sensible combos. Sure they were mad tough but they didn't utterly kick you in the nuts with their stupidity. The last 3 however...

3. Aigis "the toaster" - Aigis is a Persona 3 character - a sexy robot girl with a wide arsenal. Perfect for romancing, horrible for comboing. All of her attacks were unnatural or plain stupid. Her most common combo move was Orgia Mode where you had to switch her jetpacks on. From that point, all of the combos were changed, you had extra moves and had to carefully press buttons so you won't send her away with her jetpacks.

She was the equivalent of 2 characters in 1. Plus her voice was annoying.

2. Teddie "The ?" - Teddie is the mascot of Persona 4, which means he is super unpredictable, using hitting bats, boxing gloves, rockets and some other Deadpoolish shit. He was a garbage character and I hated him to no end. His final trial was dropping from the sky, do a combo then hit off screen while the dummy was dropping.

JUST HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT CONSISTENTLY? I admit, I did it by sheer luck. I can't stand these type of characters.

1. Mitsuru " The Queen of Executions" - Told ya she will appear again. Yes she is the hardest to clear challenge mode with as well. For the hottest girl, you really have to put in the most amount of work ? Her thing is that she is a Charge character, which means if you hold down the "back" button(the button opposite of the direction of the dummy) for half a second then press "forward" (towards the dummy) + an attack, she will do a rapier strike. All of her trials had rapier strikes called Coup Droits, which culminated in her trial 30, do 10 Coup Droits in one combo. 

This really was the hardest trial I ever had to do. I will simply share the video with her madness (second 43):

 

This trial was pure hell and really busted up my thumb. I was so tired I couldn't even properly celebrate after finally doing it. My wife however was more than happy for me (mainly because she didn't have to hear my constant button mashing for hours )

 

So yep, after clearing out Trial 30 I also got the Platinum and my target has been achieved  

 

What's next? Well...I will finally relax. Enjoy some Artifex Mundi games. Play KoFXV which is nowhere as brutal. Wait for Elden Ring which will be another beast altogether. But surely I won't play anything this remotely difficult any time soon.

Will I play Koihime Enbu RRR? Good question, I am not sure. Koihime Enbu RRR is like the ultimate boss in terms of Fighting game trophies, that game truly is mad brutal in ways I can't even begin to explain. However...I don't like the game. I tried it just out of curiosity and it's not clicking for me. And no, it's not because of the lolis and charming ladies, but the gameplay feels rough. The thing with Persona 4 Arena was that the gameplay was perfection, having to do 1-frame links with clunky controls is definitely a no go. It's not a bad game in terms of gameplay, but for that platinum I demand perfection from the combat and sadly the game doesn't have it.

On the other hand, give me 1 year of Fighting game drought and I believe I will go back on my word and start the damn thing. Lately the difficulty of fighting game plats are either shitty online grind (Virtua Fighter someNumber) or lame ass list (Guilty Gear Strive). Hopefully Street Fighter 6 will deliver us from laziness.

Is this the hardest fighting game out there? I don't believe so. In my opinion, KoFXIII still reigns champion there. Had the devs ask us to do ALL trials in KoF XIII, that game would send Persona 4 Arena on the reserve bench. If you don't believe me, google "KoFXIII Ash trial 8" and you will understand what I mean. So I don't think Persona 4 Arena is the hardest fighting game, but for sure it's the hardest fighting game platinum for me.

Is this the hardest platinum? Fuck no, Crypt of the Necrodancer is out there. But that's not a fighting game so I don't care about it  

Why a 10/10? Because this game indirectly made me fall in love and appreciate a certain game genre. Because now I really consider playing Persona 4, despite me still not liking JRPG. Because it was mad fun talking with everyone about this particular game and how much of a stupid refrigerator Aigis can be.

 

So yep, that's my Fighting game experience on Playstation in a nutshell. I will continue to mention that I am not a pro by any means, I never been in an Arcade and I might pretty much be kicked around in Online. I just like to beat the challenges in this particular genre and have a good time overall.

It was mad fun, thanks for supporting everyone who posted images of toasters ? special thanks to the usual @Yuber6969, @AihaLoveleaf and @Honor_Hand for dealing with my "WHY THE FUCK WON'T THIS CONNECT THIS IS BULLSHIT" moments  

 

See you in the next one!

 

THE GOOD:

• Peak Arcsys quality in terms of visuals, sound and gameplay
• Makes me want to play a jRPG and that is saying a lot
• Made me love fighting games even more

THE BAD:

• I can't forgive Atlus for doing both this AND Catherine. Days without shitting on Catherine: 0
• The game is Console Region locked. You can't play a NA release on an EU console, which is dumb.

 

Recommendation - The King of Fighters XIII  - I raved enough about this game, so play it. For the graphics, music, challenge, Mai. It's good. VERY good.

[AihaLoveleaf]

Congrats, man. Really. P4A is a big boy completion among fighting games, certainly one of the biggest. That platinum was long overdue to join the cabinet of our local fighting game encyclopedia, guru and master. ?

 

Great write-up, too. My favorite part was the section about your fighting game history. Going from basically newbie to expert in three years, with most of the hardest platinums in the genre to show for it, is an amazing accomplishment. I'm certainly inspired to do better, and go as far as the fighting game rabbithole will take me. Wait for me, BlazBlue. ?

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Good stuff! Great write-up. Interesting to hear your story of growing to like the  genre more only recently in 2019. That was the best part. This game is infamous for it's tough trophies but I feel it's overlooked by the FGC at large. I'm hoping the upcoming release of P4AU exposes the game to a wider audience.

 

My own personal qualms with it lacking rollback netcode aside, I think Persona as an IP and fighting games in general are more popular now than they were when vanilla P4A came out. So it should spark an interest in ASW and Atlus to green light a Persona 5 Arena. 

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, AihaLoveleaf said:

Congrats, man. Really. P4A is a big boy completion among fighting games, certainly one of the biggest. That platinum was long overdue to join the cabinet of our local fighting game encyclopedia, guru and master. 

 

Great write-up, too. My favorite part was the section about your fighting game history. Going from basically newbie to expert in three years, with most of the hardest platinums in the genre to show for it, is an amazing accomplishment. I'm certainly inspired to do better, and go as far as the fighting game rabbithole will take me. Wait for me, BlazBlue. 

Hah big thanks, BLAZBLUE AWAITS!

I can't wait for you to try Kagura, just to see how awful charge characters are ?it's like ... why make life even more difficult than it already is?

2 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Good stuff! Great write-up. Interesting to hear your story of growing to like the  genre more only recently in 2019. That was the best part. This game is infamous for it's tough trophies but I feel it's overlooked by the FGC at large. I'm hoping the upcoming release of P4AU exposes the game to a wider audience.

 

My own personal qualms with it lacking rollback netcode aside, I think Persona as an IP and fighting games in general are more popular now than they were when vanilla P4A came out. So it should spark an interest in ASW and Atlus to green light a Persona 5 Arena. 

Thanks  yep, this game really felt abit overlooked, despite players really loving it. 

I think Arcsys would be interested in a Persona 5 Arena but I doubt Atlus would be on board with it anymore, given how uninterested they are in even bothering with Rollback netcode. But we shall see. Definitely crossed fingers for at least a decent trophy list!

 

And...yeah, I did realize it would be best for me to explain when I exactly started to seriously approach fighting games  I still lack the Old Man Arcade experience. Glad you guys enjoyed the small history piece  

My main strong points still remain DMC and Dark Soul, as usual  

[Destructor-8]

On 13/02/2022 at 8:44 PM, Copanele said:

Well, the time has come. After all this time, the main target has been achieved.

 

 175 - Persona 4 Arena

 

Platinum Name: I am Thou...

Hardest Trophy: C'est Magnifique! - complete Score Attack with all characters 

Difficulty: 10/10

Personal impression - 10/10 - another staple in my gaming "career"  

 

My god this game was a journey. Widely regarded as one of the hardest fighting game platinums, Persona 4 Arena was my final target and hurdle ever since I got into platinuming fighting games on Playstation. It was a long journey but I am glad to say that it really paid off in the end. It really is satisfying to see you finally achieve a target after putting in the work  

 

See you in the next one!

 

I wanna give you a massive Congrats on getting this done! I know you did quite a lot of this awhile ago & still had some hard stuff to finish off but it's nice to see that you have officially finished it off. It's yet another fighter that you have completed. I'm always extremely impressed by the hard fighters since the technical skill to get these done is so high. I have tried some things that fighters that I couldn't comprehend on trying to do & I know that you would probably show how it's done lol. This is one fighter that I've heard so much about & considering what is required, well there isn't really that many games as hard as this one. If you eventually go for Koihime Enbu RRR then I'm sure you will absolutely get that done. It's great to see you have pretty much everything done. I'm sure that there will be some funny posts if you decide to do Koihime Enbu RRR though lol. It looks like that you have a lot of great games to get on to so I hope you enjoy those. Well done again on finishing this game.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Destructor-8

[Yuber6969]

Congrats once again for this colossal achievement!

 

It was really cool to read your story about your evolution as a fighting game player. It never really clicked in with me how feared this genre is until you pointed out that there are people with some brutal plats out there that won't touch a fighting game.

 

If I ever attempt this game, I still feel like I'm going to have a harder time with the trials than with Score Attack Mode. Either way, it'll be a rough time. I just looked up some RRR trials and dear god does that game look janky.

[Copanele]

6 hours ago, Destructor-8 said:

 

I wanna give you a massive Congrats on getting this done! I know you did quite a lot of this awhile ago & still had some hard stuff to finish off but it's nice to see that you have officially finished it off. It's yet another fighter that you have completed. I'm always extremely impressed by the hard fighters since the technical skill to get these done is so high. I have tried some things that fighters that I couldn't comprehend on trying to do & I know that you would probably show how it's done lol. This is one fighter that I've heard so much about & considering what is required, well there isn't really that many games as hard as this one. If you eventually go for Koihime Enbu RRR then I'm sure you will absolutely get that done. It's great to see you have pretty much everything done. I'm sure that there will be some funny posts if you decide to do Koihime Embu RRR though lol. It looks like that you have a lot of great games to get on to so I hope you enjoy those. Well done again on finishing this game.

Thanks friend! Well, since you completed Trackmania Turbo yourself, you would understand it: just as racing, fighting games are a matter of practice  and yeah, you wouldn't have many issues with the genre, despite it looking like a 2 headed Godzilla monster from afar  

And again, just like racing games, the only true condition is to like the genre. If you aren't into it, it will be a messy relationship  

As for Koihime Enbu RRR...perhaps. I'll get to the details in the next quote, because RRR has something...different from Persona 4 Arena.

 

1 hour ago, Yuber6969 said:

Congrats once again for this colossal achievement!

 

It was really cool to read your story about your evolution as a fighting game player. It never really clicked in with me how feared this genre is until you pointed out that there are people with some brutal plats out there that won't touch a fighting game.

 

If I ever attempt this game, I still feel like I'm going to have a harder time with the trials than with Score Attack Mode. Either way, it'll be a rough time. I just looked up some RRR trials and dear god does that game look janky.

I am waiting for the day when you go for your Tager 19 life story as well ? 

Yes, to be honest, I said Score Attack was harder just because I had more experience with trials in general. Score attack is still no joking matter, especially when you reach Elizabeth, where you must do some mental gymnastics to predict her movement. She has so many instakills and insta full heals it's annoying.

 

And about Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai, I was looking forward to that game, but after playing it for 10 minutes, as you may recall, I said the platinum would be impossible for me. Now, to lay down the reasons why, for others that might also read:

• The trials are just as brutal as the harder KoF XIII trials, if not more brutal. Really, even in P4A, I think Mitsuru and Yukiko with her delays come close. So yes I am not ashamed to say that it might be beyond my skill. I know my limits hahah
• There's so many frame perfect instances, if ThanatosNinja invested over 100 hours in this one, it would take me way too more to reasonably bother with. I don't love the trophies THAT much that I lock myself out from playing something else just for some moe fighting game. And before people might think that I avoid games due to platinums, here's my next point:
• Game's really not that good. It's like a shitty version of Arcana Heart where the characters are not as Arcsys and have more jiggle instead. I think the devs started with boobs and then built the rest around them. Exception being the lolis obviously  If I want some "quality" content, I know where to find it without having to explain to my wife why I am trying to dragon punch a little girl with my massive badonkers in a Japanese game.
• I am not subjecting myself to torture if the gameplay is not pixel perfect. I played some trials and reached the dreaded "1 frame links" or whatever links they were. In Persona 4 Arena the gameplay was working silky smooth, engineered to perfection. In RRR...yeah the moves would come out whenever, OR they would feel very un-natural. Like, take a character who swung her Naginata. You have to wait for her to finish her swing AND readjust her idle animation by flipping her hair or something, because that's part of her move (even though it's aesthetic and not gameplay related), and only AFTERWARDS you can try and connect that frame attack. I...don't like this kind of nonsense ? Plus, I already played Injustice 1 and I don't want that kind of stupidity ever again.

 

So yeah in conclusion....it's not that the trophies scare me from trying an awesome game, it's the opposite. The game is not good enough for me to even try to get the trophies in it. At least in my opinion, I could simply focus on other, better games out there  

[rjkclarke]

15 hours ago, Copanele said:

 175 - Persona 4 Arena

 

Yes!!! Congratulations dude... Watching that video of the Mitsuru trial hurt my thumbs even watching it, let alone thinking about it!

 

Go you man! That was a hell of a good read..... and that's an understatement!  Loved the approach you took, too, of your gradual journey from Grasshopper to Mr Miyagi.... If I ever need someone to catch a fly with some chopsticks I know who I'm going to track down first ....

 

I think these kinds of games that you gradually chip away at over time - then finally conquer, truly do end up being some of the most satisfying ones, and the ones you tend to remember for some of the longest time, in the best way possible..... This one particularly must have really gotten under your skin if its got you considering playing Persona 4. (I wish that would come out on PS4/5.) Especially as JRPG's will eat up your time faster than a fatty at an all you can eat buffet, so the fact you are even considering it is a huge ? for the game!

 

15 hours ago, Copanele said:

Enjoy some Artifex Mundi games

 

B-but..... they are so hard......Why would they be relaxing ?..... Nah, seriously though, I endorse that, I hope you have a good time with those too, they are nothing if not relaxing and Jesus, do you deserve a relaxing time after putting this one to bed, so chuck some slippers on, and go find some hidden objects..... Hopefully you won't have to consult google like I do sometimes when I read an object description that I don't know what the heck it is and have to do a great big "NANI?"

 

You've got some infectious positivity man! You've even got me second guessing whether I should dabble with another fighter or two. After only really playing two.....Might be better to leave it to the Daniel sans of this trophy hunting world though ?

 

Congrats again though dude!

[DrBloodmoney]

Outstanding effort, my man!

 

- and great to see this...

 

15 hours ago, Copanele said:

Difficulty: 10/10

Personal impression - 10/10 - another staple in my gaming "career"  

 

... that even after the brutality the game visited upon you, that you are out the other side still liking it!

 

Knowing so little about fighting games, there's not much I can say other than... I know the reputation that game has, and that vid only cements that notion! ?

 

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

 

I think these kinds of games that you gradually chip away at over time - then finally conquer, truly do end up being some of the most satisfying ones, and the ones you tend to remember for some of the longest time, in the best way possible..... This one particularly must have really gotten under your skin if its got you considering playing Persona 4. (I wish that would come out on PS4/5.) Especially as JRPG's will eat up your time faster than a fatty at an all you can eat buffet, so the fact you are even considering it is a huge for the game!

Yes, to be honest, the whole ordeal was the most fun I've had in a while. And yeah, I couldn't help but discover who the hell those characters are, what's their deal and why is Chie so crazy about Kung Fu. We may never know but at least I started watching some Persona 4 content and clips from the anime.

Yeah I know how the game ends already, but I don't mind too much  from my point of view, it seems that Persona is at its strongest when it comes to relationships between characters, not the Final Fantasy bosses that show up along the way. Or well, maybe that's just me.

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

 

B-but..... they are so hard......Why would they be relaxing ..... Nah, seriously though, I endorse that, I hope you have a good time with those too, they are nothing if not relaxing and Jesus, do you deserve a relaxing time after putting this one to bed, so chuck some slippers on, and go find some hidden objects..... Hopefully you won't have to consult google like I do sometimes when I read an object description that I don't know what the heck it is and have to do a great big "NANI?"

Hah truth be told I am pretty clueless when it comes to clues ? so I might have to resort to good ol' search engine if I get stuck. I sure hope I won't though!

1 hour ago, rjkclarke said:

You've got some infectious positivity man! You've even got me second guessing whether I should dabble with another fighter or two. After only really playing two.....Might be better to leave it to the Daniel sans of this trophy hunting world though

Hah, my corruption works in mysterious ways  well, it's never too late to get into the genre you know!

 

1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Outstanding effort, my man!

 

- and great to see this...

 

 

... that even after the brutality the game visited upon you, that you are out the other side still liking it!

 

Knowing so little about fighting games, there's not much I can say other than... I know the reputation that game has, and that vid only cements that notion! ?

 

Hah thanks, yes this is the kind of "I appreciate this kind of difficulty" game. Definitely not gonna forget it any time soon.

Yeah, not gonna lie, when rewatching that video myself, I could say that the devs went just a bit overboard with the requirements...

[Honor_Hand]

As I said in your status update yesterday, outstanding work my man. I'm so glad to see you come triumphant in this titan of a fighting game platinum. I have to admit, reading your journey here, from when you started venturing into the genre, all the way to the levels of mastery you have now, it all proved quite inspiring. No need to be so humble, we all know here you're well on your way to becoming the next Mr. Miyagi of PSNP.

 

Couldn't help but to chuckle out loud and that Ratatouille moment of revelation when you found the King of Fighters series, lol.

 

But anyways, well earned. If there was one someone out there that had the talent to come out victorious in this one, it was you.

 

20 hours ago, Copanele said:

Will I play Koihime Enbu RRR? Good question, I am not sure. Koihime Enbu RRR is like the ultimate boss in terms of Fighting game trophies, that game truly is mad brutal in ways I can't even begin to explain. However...I don't like the game. I tried it just out of curiosity and it's not clicking for me. And no, it's not because of the lolis and charming ladies, but the gameplay feels rough. The thing with Persona 4 Arena was that the gameplay was perfection, having to do 1-frame links with clunky controls is definitely a no go. It's not a bad game in terms of gameplay, but for that platinum I demand perfection from the combat and sadly the game doesn't have it.

 

On the other hand, give me 1 year of Fighting game drought and I believe I will go back on my word and start the damn thing. Lately the difficulty of fighting game plats are either shitty online grind (Virtua Fighter someNumber) or lame ass list (Guilty Gear Strive). Hopefully Street Fighter 6 will deliver us from laziness.

 

Mark my words, everyone, Copanele will be playing Koihime before the end of the year.

 

This man just loves punishment. He can say whatever he wants about the titties on Koihime not being "firm enough" or whatever, but those are just excuses, I'm sure he is eager to develop even more thumb blisters before this year is over. ?

 

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, Honor_Hand said:

Mark my words, everyone, Copanele will be playing Koihime before the end of the year.

 

This man just loves punishment. He can say whatever he wants about the titties on Koihime not being "firm enough" or whatever, but those are just excuses, I'm sure he is eager to develop even more thumb blisters before this year is over.

 

 

I would so like to contradict you. But you are awfully accurate in predicting games I will play  

And yeah...after a half a year of easy fighting plats, I am afraid I will bite the bullet and start it. I REALLY HOPE I WON'T THOUGH!

Goddamnit Honor_Hand why you do this to me ?

[Joe Dubz]

Huge congrats to you, @Copanele my dude ? I knew I've been referring to you as the King of Fighters yourself for a very good reason ?

 

Geezus man, just watching that video you posted has me trying to wrap my head around how long that would take me to pull something like that off, let alone the rest of the challenges... I look at fighting games the way you look at platformers: nope, hell no, naw, never ever gonna happen ?

 

I played some fighting games back in the day, yano, the first few MKs and Street Fighters, even a little King of Fighters back in the cabinet days. I was never really great then and that still stands today ? Mad props to you for yet another stellar victory my man! Bravo ???

[Copanele]

45 minutes ago, Joe Dubz said:

Huge congrats to you, @Copanele my dude  I knew I've been referring to you as the King of Fighters yourself for a very good reason 

 

Geezus man, just watching that video you posted has me trying to wrap my head around how long that would take me to pull something like that off, let alone the rest of the challenges... I look at fighting games the way you look at platformers: nope, hell no, naw, never ever gonna happen 

 

I played some fighting games back in the day, yano, the first few MKs and Street Fighters, even a little King of Fighters back in the cabinet days. I was never really great then and that still stands today  Mad props to you for yet another stellar victory my man! Bravo 

Hah funny that you mention King of Fighters cause man am I having a bad time with that particular game right now  

But many thanks man  yeah I can understand why the games can be scary from a certain point of view!

You still have more arcade experience than me, those things were virtually inexistent at my place. Had to deal with an old dusty keyboard on the PC ?

[Arcesius]

Holy shit Copa, you got it! ?? Huge, and I mean HUGE congrats for finishing this one. Forget the obscure Koihime Enbu RRR... Among the titles that are known to more than 5 people on earth, this game really is the one to beat. The top dog that is waiting to be sent back home with its tail between its legs. And you are sitting now in its place, at the peak of the mountain. 

 

Now, with all those hyperboles out of the way... The write-up was fantastic to read, too. Nice seeing where you are coming from. I didn't join this site much earlier than 2019, which is also when you started your checklist. You have always been known to me as "the guy to ask about fighting games". That's the genre I, and I think many of us, associate with you. Your Pikakratos will forever be associated with fighting games in my head. 

 

And so, it is crazy to think that only three years ago, you were still a noob at the genre. That just speaks for itself. It must have taken a lot of practice, tons of endurance but also a very strong will to stick with the genre and really master it! And for that... I offer you the following: 

 

 

(I just wanted to re-use this again ???)

 

Again... huge congrats on this achievement... You earned it! 

 

 

[Copanele]

10 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Holy shit Copa, you got it!  Huge, and I mean HUGE congrats for finishing this one. Forget the obscure Koihime Enbu RRR... Among the titles that are known to more than 5 people on earth, this game really is the one to beat. The top dog that is waiting to be sent back home with its tail between its legs. And you are sitting now in its place, at the peak of the mountain. 

 

Now, with all those hyperboles out of the way... The write-up was fantastic to read, too. Nice seeing where you are coming from. I didn't join this site much earlier than 2019, which is also when you started your checklist. You have always been known to me as "the guy to ask about fighting games". That's the genre I, and I think many of us, associate with you. Your Pikakratos will forever be associated with fighting games in my head. 

 

And so, it is crazy to think that only three years ago, you were still a noob at the genre. That just speaks for itself. It must have taken a lot of practice, tons of endurance but also a very strong will to stick with the genre and really master it! And for that... I offer you the following: 

 

 

(I just wanted to re-use this again )

 

Again... huge congrats on this achievement... You earned it! 

 

 

Hah many thanks  Now I kinda understand why people yelled to return to my original avatar when I first wanted to change it ?

It did take a ton of practice and busted fingers, not gonna lie, but man, receiving the "Lord Bathoryn" medal, it was fully worth it  

[Destructor-8]

On 14/02/2022 at 7:32 AM, Copanele said:

Thanks friend! Well, since you completed Trackmania Turbo yourself, you would understand it: just as racing, fighting games are a matter of practice  and yeah, you wouldn't have many issues with the genre, despite it looking like a 2 headed Godzilla monster from afar  

And again, just like racing games, the only true condition is to like the genre. If you aren't into it, it will be a messy relationship  

As for Koihime Enbu RRR...perhaps. I'll get to the details in the next quote, because RRR has something...different from Persona 4 Arena.

 

That's cool. Yeah I know what you mean with that as some games I'm so comfortable on that I don't realise what it's like to not be used to it whilst there are other games out there that I'm not comfortable with where I think the other way around. Yeah I think that's a really important thing there as the better a game is or the more you enjoy it then the more likely you will be better at it. I read what you put about Koihime Enbu RRR & it seems like it might not be worth it since it won't be like all the other games. I think you have done so many that without Koihime Enbu RRR you have done absolutely everything out there & you were able to finish off with the one that is above all the other ones.

[Copanele]

Ok, after getting Persona 4 Arena platinum, I decided I needed a break from fighting games.

Therefore, I platinumed another fighting game. If you came to this page searching for any logic, you're in the wrong neighborhood friend ?

 

 176 - The King of Fighters XV

 

Platinum Name: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV

Hardest Trophy: Master - Get Rank 16 

Difficulty: 4/10(with boosting), 7/10 (without boosting)

Personal Impression: 8.1/10

 

Other than KoF XI(not on Playstation yet) and XII (impossible to get my hands on), I have played every KoF legacy game out there. Therefore it was a no-brainer that I will play the latest entry as soon as possible  I have a very soft spot for SNK games ever since I played KoFXIII (imo still the best in the series) so I aim to eventually play everything from their catalogue, from main games to Arcade Archive ones. Rarity percentage be damned, I need my crazy combat and fancy clothes fix!

 

A small bit of history: After recovering for another bankruptcy( SNK is awful at having a profit as a company), KoF XIV was a thing. Gameplay was fun but the graphics were butt ugly. XIV was probably the ugliest SNK game of late. Fortunately the game had some success, so they afforded to go bigger and better on their next release. And...the improvements were substantial.

Andy Bogard got cured from his tuberculosis (right) and actually looks like a man worthy of Mai Shiranui(left)

 

The game looks actually very good right now. Of course it will never match the sprite works of past games but as a game with 3D models, this is a great success. Characters look greater than ever, animations are on point and everything is feeling silky smooth.

As characters, SNK doubled down on nostalgia and they brought A TON of old characters. The legacy players will love to see characters like Chris, Yashiro, Shermie (team Orochi debuted in '97), several NESTS characters and even a "newcomer" called Krohnen (which some might recognize as K9999, a controversial character from 2001). The story mode is especially satisfying, solving several plot points while introducing new characters. Isla is a fun newcomer, a grafitti painter from Chile with a foul mouth and tons of style. I have no idea how her gameplay is but who cares, she hits enemies with ghost hands and spray paint!

 

What stands out are the girls. SNK has always been bountiful in the damsel category but WOW they went full power in KOF15 ? Unreal proportions? Yes. Do we care? Absolutely not!

 

My favorite part of this game was the DJ Booth. If you complete the Story Mode with specific character teams (aka Kyo, K', Ash as team Legendary Heroes) you unlock an entire soundtrack of a past game. You get ALL soundtracks from KoF '94 up until XIV and to be honest, I missed unlocking content via playing instead of paying. You can put ANY song to ANY stage you want, even the main menu and character select can be customized. It's an amazing feature and I love it, since there's some old soundtracks that I really dig.

 

It was also a pleasure to discover that KoFXV has a somewhat more challenging list compared to the snoozefest that XIV was. SNK removed the abysmal online grind (thank GOD) and instead gave us a somewhat more challenging trials, finishing the game with lots of teams and reaching rank 16 online. Trials are nothing special compared to the old games but they are not as easy as you might expect. Also, since you have to collect 50 titles for a trophy and each character completion allows you a title, expect to do quite a lot of character trials, unless you want to grind the online.

 

So overall I had a lot of fun. However there was a point where I almost dropped the game in frustration. I got to a point where I legit had 0 fun and was annoyed by my purchase.

Warning! The following are some hot takes that would rustle some Fighting game veterans. These are my own opinions so if you don't agree with them...I will continue playing fighting games either way  

 

BOOST THE RANKING MODE TROPHIES!

(or why I will never be ACTUALLY good at fighting games)

 

Like many other players around here, I believe that generally online trophies suck. Yes, there's a selected few who actually enjoy countless hours of grinding and going toe to toe vs others, but if you go to completely different games with different gameplay you can't expect to know them all. Especially in King of Fighters, which is a completely different fighting game compared to everything. Even compared to Street Fighter, if you think you'll get around by playing KoF like a SF title, you won't get too far, despite the controls being somewhat similar. There's no logic in priority (you can throw a huge ass punch and you still can throw ANOTHER huge ass punch with no repercussions), all that matters is speed and how well you can jump around.

 

Now to explain what my experience was online. I first played a couple of Room matches, to accustom myself with the game. It was super fun, I loved the Draft mode where each player chooses a team member, thus locking it for the other player and viceversa. I assembled a quick fun team consisting of Iori, Robert and King and went Ranked mode.

I obviously forgot my abysmal experience with Street Fighter V because once I hit ranked I got the following:

• Crazy laggers (in a Rollback Netcode game, where the netcode was supposed to be good)
• Lag Switchers (yep, found those as well)
• People with Level 4 connectivity that felt like Level 1(worst level). That enters in the lag realm
• A select few actually strong players that will pulverize your team with one character.

 

I tried to have fun. My god I tried to. I started at rank 12 after getting through some AI matches, won a couple matches and then I started losing like I was the worst player in the world. Imagine having to fight a dude who just teleported across the screen due to lag, hit him, him losing health then regaining it because lag, fail a combo because LAG and him beating your ass out of the blue. You just prepare your tactic and then BOOM YOU LOST.

 

I HATED this shit. It's what I had to deal with in Street Fighter 5 and unlike that game, I really love KoF. So I had to make a choice - either learn the game, get legit good at playing KoF with lag and hate the game OR boost the stupid ass ranked matches and actually enjoy the product that I paid for MINUS this garbage ass mode.

 

Decision was simple - I boosted the online. Won't tell you how, you go poison yourselves. Yes, I gave up on the "good fighting game player" title (the skill in fighting games is dictated by how good you do online vs other players and your legit online rank, not trophies, trials or other stuff like that. It's a harsh reality but that's how Fighting Games work, simple law of the jungle  ) BUT I HAD FUN AFTERWARDS. Once I got out of that shitty mode, I enjoyed a great story, awesome mechanics, sweet DJ Booth and the other online modes. You'll be surprised but Casual Matches and Room Matches worked without any problems because people didn't fuck around with McDonalds internet.

 

So to summarize, how you should approach KoF XV Ranked mode:

1. If you are a legit fighting game player who has experience under his/her belt, dealt with crazy netcode, has a respectable amount of wins and good rank in games like Street Fighter, do this thing legit. Rank 16 is not that hard to reach, you will do more than fine ever if you never played KoF before.
2. If you don't give a rat's ass about FGC fame or want to even remotely reach a local tournament, don't waste your time and boost this crap. Yeah the trophy rarity will be botched, who cares go have fun with your purchased item. Finish Ranked Mode then go be impressed at Mai Shiranui's running animation or something. 

 

NOTE: I do not condone boosting IF THE ONLINE IS ACTIVE AND WORKS AS INTENDED! If Guilty Gear Strive had the same Ranked system as KoF you bet your ass I would have done that shit legit even if it took me years. But if your game lags and is as slow as a goddamn East European Government, screw that crap man! I am not going through Street Fighter V hell ever again.

 

So in conclusion - I will keep playing KoF XV. Got more to unlock, there's some sweet DLC coming (B.Jenet :> ) and I got some friends I want to play against for fun. Overall, my KoF collection is again completed!

(I still have to find a KoF XII copy somewhere)

 

THE GOOD:

• Finally some good graphics
• The ladies
• Amazing soundtrack
• GOOD STORY!
• SNK is back on track

THE BAD:

• Ranked can legit ruin your experience
• For Christ sake SNK, just stop adding muscles to Ryo and give him some brain so he can finally date King

Recommendation - Garou Mark of the Wolves  Maybe a weird recommendation, but y'all need to play as mature Terry, Rock Howard and B. Jenet  Plus the game is beautiful.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

OK I SWEAR, NO MORE FIGHTING GAMES FOR  A WHILE! I bought the Imaginary Realms bundle (Thanks @DrBloodmoney and @rjkclarke for recommendations) and THURSDAY IS ELDEN RING DAY! Soooooo we are getting in the "games I am proficient at" realm  

Edited August 15, 2023 by Copanele

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Well done on completing the KoF collection again. All I have left (after finishing XV) will be 2002 UM and KoF Collection:The Orochi Saga. Got to admire the attention to detail in the character designs. I also love the DJ Station and every fighting game should be doing this from now on. Nothing like playing 'goodbye Esaka' in the background when pummelling your opponent. ?

 

I can't believe I'm even considering the same thing and just boosting this ranked mode. I have been robbed of wins because of the lag, not to mention the cesspool of Robert users who spam divekick and fireballs all day makes it unbearable to play. There's good rollback netcode and then there's the bad rollback netcode like SFV and now KoF XV. MK11, Killer Instinct and Guilty Gear -Strive- remain the gold standard for fighting game netcode (from the ones I played)

 

I LOVE SFV and have been playing it since the day of launch. I can bear the netcode in that game a lot easier, of course SF, along with Tekken is my favourite fighting game franchise so there is a vested interest in wanting to stick with it over something like KoF.

Edited February 19, 2022 by FreshFromThaDeli

[Eqill5]

On 14/02/2022 at 7:32 AM, Copanele said:

If I want some "quality" content, I know where to find it without having to explain to my wife why I am trying to dragon punch a little girl with my massive badonkers in a Japanese game.

Please never change Copanele, your writing is honestly hilarious. I sometimes read snippets of it to the wife and we both have a good laugh at some of the things you say regarding games ?

 

Also congrats!! It’s really cool to read about your journey in fighting games, I’d assumed you’d always been the master at them and not only started a few years back! To say you’d earned it would be an understatement, I can’t fathom the effort and dedication that would’ve gone in from learning to completing a whole genre! Amazing work!

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Well done on completing the KoF collection again. All I have left (after finishing XV) will be 2002 UM and KoF Collection:The Orochi Saga. Got to admire the attention to detail in the character designs. I also love the DJ Station and every fighting game should be doing this from now on. Nothing like playing 'goodbye Esaka' in the background when pummelling your opponent. 

 

I can't believe I'm even considering the same thing and just boosting this ranked mode. I have been robbed of wins because of the lag, not to mention the cesspool of Robert users who spam divekick and fireballs all day makes it unbearable to play. There's good rollback netcode and then there's the bad rollback netcode like SFV and now KoF XV. MK11, Killer Instinct and Guilty Gear -Strive- remain the gold standard for fighting game netcode (from the ones I played)

Goodbye Esaka is my choice of soundtrack as well (wow such surprise  ). It just works wonders!

 

And this is what hurts me. If even you consider the unholy method of boosting, especially since I know how much you love fighting games, it shows how a bad netcode really can ruin the experience. In comparison, MK11, for all my complaints, had PERFECT netcode. And GG Strive...yeah we both know how well that works, no wonders there.

 

2 hours ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

I LOVE SFV and have been playing it since the day of launch. I can bear the netcode in that game a lot easier, of course SF, along with Tekken is my favourite fighting game franchise so there is a vested interest in wanting to stick with it over something like KoF.

 Yeah here I can agree. I would have gladly went through the abysmal netcode of GG XRd Rev 2 too...if the game was alive anymore. The things we do for love hah.

 

2 hours ago, Eqill5 said:

Please never change Copanele, your writing is honestly hilarious. I sometimes read snippets of it to the wife and we both have a good laugh at some of the things you say regarding games 

 

Also congrats!! It’s really cool to read about your journey in fighting games, I’d assumed you’d always been the master at them and not only started a few years back! To say you’d earned it would be an understatement, I can’t fathom the effort and dedication that would’ve gone in from learning to completing a whole genre! Amazing work!

Many, many thanks  wait until I eventually platinum Catherine, that will be quite the comedy (and tragedy for me). I do have some things to say about that game!

I did have to beat down some reflexes in order to survive the fighting games ordeals, but it was worth it in the end  If only platformers worked the same...

Edited February 19, 2022 by Copanele