Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[Honor_Hand]

18 hours ago, Copanele said:

Ok, I will have to make a short announcement, a trophy that might not mean much for most people who visit my profile. However it will concern @Yuber6969, @AihaLoveleaf and especially @Honor_Hand because he was right.

I have earned the following trophy: 

 

 Ebullience

Watched the tutorial movie and won against CPU.

 

It. Is. ON!

 

 

 

See? Was I right or was I right? I saw this one coming light-years away. It was just a matter of time before he admitted it, but here we are, lol.

 

As Aiha mentioned up above, "Ballsiest Trophy Pops of 2022" for sure. Mad respects to you if you manage to conquer this one up, Copanele. If there's anyone out there that has the talent and is ballsy enough to try this one, that's you, man. I will be cheering for you to obtain this hard as fuck platinum! I will also look forward to all the cursing and frustration that will inevitably come out as soon as you reach the latter challenges. ?

 

[realm722]

On 3/25/2022 at 6:24 PM, Copanele said:

Child of Light is a simple yet impactful game. It doesn't break any norms, however it really has that kind of identity that Ubisoft's main franchises seem to have lost. It's an awesome 100% game and you can't go wrong with playing this one. This really made me want to try more Turn based games, been a looong while since I played a serious one.

 

Every time I see someone on here review Child of Light and enjoy it, I always think I must be the weirdo who didn't rock with it lol. I'm 99% sure I was suffering from "PGGD" since out of 150+ games I have it ranked as the 8th worst of my collection. I just remember thinking the combat was excruciatingly slow, the rhyming was NOT charming whatsoever, and I didn't even enjoy the art style. But I've seen enough different people rate it highly that I think it's just one that went over my head. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

On 3/28/2022 at 4:09 AM, Copanele said:

OFF TOPIC question - Yakuza 4 or Batman Arkham Knight? Hit me with your best option  

 

I know you picked Yakuza 4 but I freaking love Arkham Knight. So much so, I kind of want to replay it, make a new series on my thread called "The Replayables" and bum its rating up to a 9 I remember it so fondly. I do not agree at all with the people who whine about "too much Batmobile" since I think the tank mode is solid, mindless fun. I know I'm in the minority of loving it as much as I do but I think it's the pinnacle of the Arkham series and I can already imagine you ranting over how difficult the DLC trophies are ?? (which lemme tell you, are RUTHLESSLY hard)

 

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, Honor_Hand said:

 

 

See? Was I right or was I right? I saw this one coming light-years away. It was just a matter of time before he admitted it, but here we are, lol.

 

As Aiha mentioned up above, "Ballsiest Trophy Pops of 2022" for sure. Mad respects to you if you manage to conquer this one up, Copanele. If there's anyone out there that has the talent and is ballsy enough to try this one, that's you, man. I will be cheering for you to obtain this hard as fuck platinum! I will also look forward to all the cursing and frustration that will inevitably come out as soon as you reach the latter challenges.

 

Yep, the moment you said in a previous post "Mark my words he will start the game soon" I was "who am I kidding  ofc I will" 

Yep for sure I will keep you updated. I did press some buttons and while the combat isn't bad, the timing of the links is ridiculously off. So...unlike the other games, I will really take it chill and see if I can do it. I kinda already reached my goal with P4A, let's see how this game will fare!

The funniest part is that I found people legit playing this game while trying to self boost  the jiggle game is strong!

 

18 minutes ago, realm722 said:

 

Every time I see someone on here review Child of Light and enjoy it, I always think I must be the weirdo who didn't rock with it lol. I'm 99% sure I was suffering from "PGGD" since out of 150+ games I have it ranked as the 8th worst of my collection. I just remember thinking the combat was excruciatingly slow, the rhyming was NOT charming whatsoever, and I didn't even enjoy the art style. But I've seen enough different people rate it highly that I think it's just one that went over my head. Glad you enjoyed it!

Damn, I found your review, it's before I started to seriously get into Trophy Checklists  but I think this game speaks differently to each individual player, instead of being an overall "damn this game is sick". Plus, I usually like turn based games (despite me not having any on my profile), so yeah this game worked for me. I don't think it was a masterpiece by any means, it just...worked.

 

And well...I think it really is PGGD as you said! You played this game after Dead Cells from what I've seen(killer game, I NEED to play it), while I played this after...Jedi Fallen Order.....the Force really wasn't with that game. So yeah in comparison Child of Light was a ray of light for me. Heh.

 

Never gonna judge anyone for not liking an usually acclaimed game however! Remember my opinions about Shadow of the Colossus?  cause I sure do!

 

22 minutes ago, realm722 said:

 

I know you picked Yakuza 4 but I freaking love Arkham Knight. So much so, I kind of want to replay it, make a new series on my thread called "The Replayables" and bum its rating up to a 9 I remember it so fondly. I do not agree at all with the people who whine about "too much Batmobile" since I think the tank mode is solid, mindless fun. I know I'm in the minority of loving it as much as I do but I think it's the pinnacle of the Arkham series and I can already imagine you ranting over how difficult the DLC trophies are  (which lemme tell you, are RUTHLESSLY hard)

 

Honestly I was initially planning to finally start Arkham Knight first, since I loved the series (and I've been to the new Batman movie which I surprisingly enjoyed). BUT I noticed I don't have the Season Pass with all those 16 DLCs(!) so I said to pick up Yakuza 4 while I collect my monthly slave income from work.

 

Also I heard the DLCs are difficult and such BUT

A BIG BUT! Catwoman level of BUT(T)

 

If the combat works, then it can't be a worse experience than Batman Arkham Origins multiplayer trophies. It simply can't. Give me combat, give me tanks, give me Joker eating nuclear pies, just don't put me through a 5 hours boosting session with 7 other people again for the love of GOD!

[MissShake]

Man... That trophy pop is as great of an excuse as any to give this thread a follow. I just gotta know how this goes...

[zizimonster]

35 minutes ago, realm722 said:

I freaking love Arkham Knight. So much so, I kind of want to replay it, make a new series on my thread called "The Replayables" and bum its rating up to a 9 I remember it so fondly. I do not agree at all with the people who whine about "too much Batmobile" since I think the tank mode is solid, mindless fun. I know I'm in the minority of loving it as much as I do but I think it's the pinnacle of the Arkham series and I can already imagine you ranting over how difficult the DLC trophies are ?? (which lemme tell you, are RUTHLESSLY hard)

Sorry bro, I've asked Mister @Copanele to play Strider first.

 

And, yeah, Arkham Knight is a masterpiece.

[Copanele]

@zizimonster every time you ask me to play Strider, a child's dream gets unfulfilled ?

THUS BEING SAID, I promised someone I would play Aragami "FOR SURE BRO THAT GAME LOOKS SICK" and I ended up playing Child of Light.

Nobody can predict what I will play next. Not even myself.

[Copanele]

22 minutes ago, MissShake said:

Man... That trophy pop is as great of an excuse as any to give this thread a follow. I just gotta know how this goes...

That trophy pop kinda got more attention than most of my platinums lol ?

[MissShake]

15 minutes ago, Copanele said:

That trophy pop kinda got more attention than most of my platinums lol 

 

It's kind of a big deal! I totally believe that you're gonna be the guy who brings the number of plat owners of Koihime into the double digits

[zizimonster]

43 minutes ago, Copanele said:

@zizimonster every time you ask me to play Strider, a child's dream gets unfulfilled 

THUS BEING SAID, I promised someone I would play Aragami "FOR SURE BRO THAT GAME LOOKS SICK" and I ended up playing Child of Light.

Nobody can predict what I will play next. Not even myself.

 

I have Aragami in my backlog, too.

[Joe Dubz]

If there is one thing I've learned about you @Copanele over the last year or so, you are not gonna back down from any challenge... Okay unless it's maybe Catherine we're talking about  (but you'll get there eventually too!!).

 

As you know, I'm not exactly a fighting game aficionado, however just hearing you guys all speak about this game the way that you do, it sounds extremely daunting to say the least! But if there's anyone that can conquer a beast of this magnitude, it's gonna be the King of Fighters Copanele!! You've got this bro ? looking forward to following along with your progress! 

[Copanele]

Damn, you guys really want me to suffer in Koihime Enbu Ryorairai  

Big thanks for the support. I will try my best to master this madness of a game. And if not...eh at least I tried  but yeah, apparently I can't run away from this genre of gaming. I seriously started considering buying old stuff for PS3 as well (such as Street Fighter x Tekken) despite there being an awful lot of grinding involved. What can I say, it's fun!

9 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

If there is one thing I've learned about you @Copanele over the last year or so, you are not gonna back down from any challenge... Okay unless it's maybe Catherine we're talking about  (but you'll get there eventually too!!).

I fear no game, but that "EDGE" sound scares the shit out of me. 

One day, I swear. ONE DAY!

[Copanele]

Warning: The following "experience" post will be egregious, nonsensical and completely and utterly random. ALSO SUBJECTIVE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

It also will have a way overall better quality than the following game(at least in my eyes .

So please bear with me in one of the rare instances where I go completely random because I wasted an entire weekend with this game and I WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN GODDAMNIT.

Also Story Spoilers obviously. Not that anyone should actually care about the story but eh...letting you know in advance.

 

Here we go...

 

 No. 183 - Marvel vs Capcom Infinite

 

Platinum Name: Master of Infinity 

Hardest Trophy: Master Class Complete all missions for 5 different characters.

Difficulty: 4/10

Personal impression: 5.2/10

 

I can't consider myself either a Marvel or a Capcom fan. Sure, I did watch the MCU movies and have a general knowledge of the heroes BESIDES the MCU. I still remember Iron Man cartoon show and the old X-Me--oh whoops they are not under Marvel anymore, sorry Wolverine, contract doesn't allow me to put you under Marvel brand even if you are a Marvel Comics hero. From Capcom side, the only series that I truly am in love with is Devil May Cry series. The rest...can't play Resident Evil due to my inability to play horror games, I like Street Fighter, but I can't say it's my favorite, Darkstalkers WAS good but Capcom is a dumb company and MegaMan/Arthur/Spencer/Haggar...yeah not my thing. 

 

However, I do love crossovers. I did play Marvel vs Capcom 3 and, while not completely selling me on the fun factor, it was a solid game. It's a great crossover product that honestly deserves its spot as one of the best fighting games out there, despite not being my jam. Yeah I still dream of a true Guilty Gear x Blazblue crossover, but that's besides the point.

 

Anyway, ever encountered that situation when you take a game that is good, with beautiful roster/characters, a certain atmosphere, with an unique identity, that fans universally praise and uhm...just shit on it? Like Taco Bell level of doo doo followed by a good, strong, firm double flush down the drain? 

Well to me, that's Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, a beautiful downgrade of a game where everything that could go wrong went wrong and any semblance of fun or creativity was thrown out the window in order to replace it with the tastiest MCU characters. Because that's what Marvel fans love no? Marvel stuff wheee!

...fuck off Capcom fanboys you go dream at Felicia's ass--oh she wasn't added either. Oh no.

 

SO! I played this game a grand total of 2 days. I knew that it had a pretty bad reputation but people really struggled to praise it. "IT'S NOT THAT BAD, GUYS!" people cried. One of my favorite youtubers Maximillian Dood actually swears that the game is really not that bad and while yeah, game is not that great, gameplay is pretty solid (Not sure if he said it's one of the best). I usually am on board with Max's impressions, but here I have to heavily disagree: This game is hot garbage at an entire creative level.

 

But why do I dislike this game so much? What's wrong with it? Well, let's get into details shall we? FIRST ON THE MENU!

 

GRAPHICS

 

The graphics of this game are easily the worst part. Not sure what happened, how it was released, I heard that the game at launch was looking horrendous but they patched and re-patched it and now the characters look actually good.

Now if that's what they call by good then...I don't know what to tell to them:

 

Look at Dante. Look at his painful look. He looks like Lady stole his pizza again. Or that he snorted another line of Devil Trigger. What did you just do to my poor dude? AND WHY IS CAPCOM STILL USING DMC 3 DANTE, WHEN DMC4 DANTE WAS OUT THERE BEING FRESH AND ALL THAT? Like ok I get it, Dante is bare chested and all that in DMC3 but DMC4 is a serious upgrade in terms of looks. Let's evolve a bit please for the next MvC game. Not going to ask for DMC5 Dante, that would be too much

 

 

Still not convinced? What about reporter extraordinaire who covered wars, Frank West from Dead Rising? He ain't a beauty by any chance but my god what's with his face in MvCI? Morrigan looks decent but not nearly close to her UMvC3 version.

 

And honestly that's the entire game's look. Even the stages look washed up, the characters feel soulless despite having a Soul Stone, most of them are simply ugly as sin or Botox'ed to oblivion. Unlike other games, fighting games NEED awesome graphics in order to draw in audience and this game just doesn't do it!!!!

What does look good in this game...the color of the Infinity Stones and Morrigan/Gamora's rears. Yes that really was the only things I enjoyed looking at.

Oh and Rocket Raccoon. He is cute.

 

SOUND

 

Shocking enough, this game fails in the Sound department as well! Not necessarily on the voice acting, although the Marvel characters try their goddamn best to sound like MCU characters (where's my drunk Scottish Rocket Raccoon???????). But the soundtrack, OH THE SOUNDTRACK....

I will just share samples down here, again for Dante's theme "Devils Never Cry" because I found it to be the most egregious. If you want to understand why I find this soundtrack horrible, just click the links below:

 

Devil May Cry 3

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite

 

Cause who needs rhythm in our soundtrack, am I right MvCI? 

 

?️GAMEPLAY?️

 

Ok I will admit, the best part about this game is the gameplay. Not much of a praise, considering how crap the rest of the experience was. Gameplay was pretty decent.

But

BUT

BUT

 

Compared to UMvC3? This game is a total joke. The stupid autocombos are back. And yes, while the absolute newcomers might love mashing the square for cool shit to come out, the stupid autocombo just ruins the fun in the long run.

The very first combo that I learned in UMvC3 was the basic  -> launch in air ->  -> you slam the opponent back to the ground at the end of the combo. It might look daunting at a first glance until you actually get the controller in your hand and try to press the buttons. IT'S NOT THAT MUCH OF A BIG DEAL! You don't need intricate timing or some wealth of knowledge, just remember those buttons and nice stuff will come out.

Well apparently that was too hard to do, because MvCI implements the same combo...with the press of the square button.  x 8 will yield the same result in MvCI. And yes it would sound appealing...until you actually play and you realize that the need to learn cool shit has greatly diminished. It may not make sense to someone who doesn't play fighting games, but it's like earning a platinum that you worked for (UMvC3) vs an EZPZ Zx The Ball Breakthrough Arcade(MVCI). 

And yes, that reflects in the other combos as well. All of them are washed out versions of UMvC3. And that's the mega issue - everything is a washed out UMvC3 version.

 

STORY AND CHARACTERS

(spoilers ahead)

 

If graphics are the very worst part, the story is a close second. Granted, UMvC3 had no story....but if the alternative is THIS, then I am happy it had no story.

The main plot: 88 days after the convergence between Marvel universe(minus X-Men, cause fuck em) and Capcom universe (minus everything that was released after 2010, cause fuck'em), Ultron Sigma, an unification between Ultron the Robot and Sigma the...Sigma Male Program from Megaman, grab 2 out of the 6 infinity stones and start mass controlling the population. The rest of the team, lead by Iron Man and Capiten Amerique (and Chris Redfield when he's allowed to) , try to get their hands on the remaining 4 Skittles Stones via the most stupid decisions ever and stop Ultra Sigmund from turning the entire Universe into Washing Machine land. They are also aided by none other than Thanos, who secretly helps them just so he can get his hands on the ultimate power : SATSUI NO HADO FROM RYU--wait did I read that right?

 

---yeah I did read that right.

What the f--

 

The story is abysmal. It's like a fanfic written by a promising 10 years old that discovered the wonders of putting words on paper way too late on his age. What in the name of Tetsuya Nomura is this Kingdom Hearts 3 ass story? How much glue was sniffed while writing this "plot". Did the script writers spend all their money on Pachinko with Morrigan and Felicia and what was left was invested in this? Holy damn the story was so bad I could not even skip it. I am a major plot skipper in fighting games but THIS THING...hot damn.

The only good part about this story was Rocket Raccoon. He's by far the best character in the entire game, just casually shooting shit, stealing stones of infinite power and going "NOBODY CARES" every single time any of these clowns open their mouth.

 

Speaking of clowns...the roster is LAME! Capcom side is the same UMvC3 roster MINUS X-Men MINUS Vergil/Trish MINUS some other cool characters PLUS Megaman. Marvel side however...hope you love the MCU because we have the bootleg versions of them. If they look comic book-y awesome in the previous game, well expect the Bollywood version here:

 

So yeah...excuse me if I am NOT impressed by this fine selection.

 

WHAT DID I LIKE ABOUT THE GAME? Well, for starters, the Infinity Stones as a gameplay gimmick is actually interesting. You can select any of the 6 stones at the start of a match, each with their own properties and unique powers. They are not as epic as in the MCU movies, but they do their job.

Second, at the starting screen, you can choose who shows up on the screen. That is a fun addition and I wish more games would do that.

Lastly, platinum wise, this game is a free 1.2% UR IF you have a second PS4/someone in your area that wants to boost with you. Otherwise to get to Rank 10 is going to be hell. If you want more details, please check the super detailed guide on the site.

 

Conclusion: I do not hate this game. I am just terribly TERRIBLY disappointed. This is obviously a rushed product that honestly insults the original material. All that work that was put in animations and such could have been better focused in other aspects of the game. That's my main gripe with the game, not that it's a BAD game, it's just UNSATISFACTORY. I expected way more from this.

Oh and for the love of god can someone GET RID OF THE AUTOCOMBOS?

 

THE GOOD:

• 
• The Infinity Stone mechanic is way better than X-Factor
• Start screen customization

THE BAD:

• 
• Roster is half the roster of the previous game
• Story made me lose half of my neurons - and there wasn't much left prior to that anyway
• The entire gameplay resumes to this 

 

Recommendation: . Want a nice crossover? Get UMvC3 instead. Hell I praised it the entire post. 

 

[AihaLoveleaf]

My god, this game is worse than I originally thought. ? How glad I am that I chose to pass on pursuing the platinum for Infinite. 

 

Between Capcom's infamously terrible but unfortunately standard online trophy experience, the forced autocombos, the horrendously ugly character models, and all the other wrappings of this glorious shit sandwich, Infinite just looks all kinds of bad. Morrigan might have the best backstory (and frontstory too), but babes like her can only do so much to redeem a terrible experience. At least we got a spicy meatball of a review out of it. Well done, Copinator. ?️

[Thedah]

Hahaha love your write up. Following this game leading up to it's release was hilarious as well. Combofiend's "function" quote on why there were no Xmen characters will forever be a meme.

 

Here are some gems from the FGC "shilling" the game.

 

LI Joe and KBrad going crazy about the game and Fchamp calling the game "open world"

 

 

 

There were a bunch of leaks about the DLC chararcter and some detective work matching the curtains exposed Fchamp as the leaker

 

https://twitter.com/MechaMacGyver/status/930317270894616576?t=NBWt-THWC5f_kUHi-wOg0g&s=19

 

Also, it didn't help that DBFZ was announced before this game was released effectively killing the game lol

 

I was so excited for the game. I think I'm the first person in the world to platinum this game too. But in the end the game sucked.

 

Good times.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Thedah

[Copanele]

21 hours ago, AihaLoveleaf said:

My god, this game is worse than I originally thought.  How glad I am that I chose to pass on pursuing the platinum for Infinite. 

 

Between Capcom's infamously terrible but unfortunately standard online trophy experience, the forced autocombos, the horrendously ugly character models, and all the other wrappings of this glorious shit sandwich, Infinite just looks all kinds of bad. Morrigan might have the best backstory (and frontstory too), but babes like her can only do so much to redeem a terrible experience. At least we got a spicy meatball of a review out of it. Well done, Copinator. 

To quote (yet another) DMC3 moment, Capcom releasing MvCI be like

 

8 minutes ago, Thedah said:

Hahaha love your write up. Following this game leading up to it's release was hilarious as well. Combofiend's "functuon" quote on why there were no Xmen characters will forever be a meme.

 

Here are some gems from the FGC "shilling" the game.

 

LI Joe and KBrad going crazy about the game and Fchamp calling the game "open world"

The curtains exposed Fchamp as the leaker

 

https://twitter.com/MechaMacGyver/status/930317270894616576?t=NBWt-THWC5f_kUHi-wOg0g&s=19

 

Also, it didn't help that DBFZ was announced before this game was released effectively liking the game lol

 

Good times.

My god I am so sorry that I missed the shitshow that was the release of this game  Characters are "Functions", now that's a new one! Good to remember the next time I complain about Magenta not being in my Marvel vs Zelda game ?

 

I like how Yipes and Justin Wong simply Matrix dodged the questions while FChamp is the classic "thought I was playing Skyrim" mode. Yeah, might dig more about this game just for the fun. Trying to recover my time wasted with it!

 

11 minutes ago, Thedah said:

Also, it didn't help that DBFZ was announced before this game was released effectively liking the game lol

 

Good times.

Oh...ohh...that must have definitely hurt. Had my fair share of issues with DBFZ but that game was a love letter to Dragon Ball. Goddamnit Capcom ?

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Well done. As a hardcore Capcom fanboy, MVCI was promptly shelved after I completed the story on launch day. Explains the long gap between the first trophy and last trophy for me. Will stick to MVC2 for my crossover fix, that game is timeless!

[Copanele]

On 4/5/2022 at 10:52 AM, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Well done. As a hardcore Capcom fanboy, MVCI was promptly shelved after I completed the story on launch day. Explains the long gap between the first trophy and last trophy for me. Will stick to MVC2 for my crossover fix, that game is timeless!

Yeah, if even you had issues with that game..imagine me  

But man, I tried some MvC2 on my laptop a few months ago. That game was fire, no wonder people loved it so much!

[Copanele]

Well, since I have no mood to start a completely new game and also no desire to write anything about Yakuza 4 yet - laziness be damned - it's time to start my other project that I've been thinking about : Elden Ring SL1 Run.

 

Biggest challenge so far is to find out how many bosses are there, dungeon bosses included  

Not sure if I will be able to complete this challenge run but I'll be damned if I won't at least try!

[Copanele]

 No. 184 - Yakuza 4 Remastered

 

Platinum Name: Master of Kamurocho 

Hardest Trophy: Ultimate Challenge - clear all Ultimate Skill missions 

Difficulty: 5/10

Personal Impression: 8.2/10

 

Fourth entry completed and damn this series still holds out strong. Just how did the devs manage to create such a compelling franchise despite the large number of entries   

I honestly was looking forward to Yakuza 4 since I've heard it being a controversial entry in the series, mainly due to the story. And while agreeing that the story is indeed cuckoo to the max...I think I liked Yakuza 4 way more than Kiwami 1 and Y3. Some fans might be shocked but hey, I like dumb shit in my videogames.

 

Unlike the previous entry, you spend the entire game in Kamurocho (with the exception of few select levels). Honestly, that's a downside compared to Yakuza 3 and its beautiful Ryukyu town. As fun as Kamurocho is, it really gets tiresome at some point  buuut at least the levels and fights that are taken outside of Kamurocho are interesting enough. 

Overall, if you played the other games in the series, you won't need the GPS at this point, you should know the streets and alleyways by heart at this point.

 

What I noticed however is that the devs did not focus that much on the city, main focus was instead on the main characters of the game. If it wasn't obvious from the presentation, The Dragon of Dojima ain't the sole protagonist this time around, you will control 4 characters instead, each having their own way of dealing with issues and dishing out heat actions. I will have to issue a mild SPOILER WARNING for those who want to be completely in the dark regarding the characters.

 

Unlike the other characters, you won't start as the almighty Dragon of Dojima. You start instead as Shun Akiyama, a laid back loan shark whose only care is to sleep, pester his secretary Hana-chan and lend money to everyone and anyone, provided they can pass his weird challenge. At first I was abit worried, thinking that Akiyama is another "too cool for this world" protagonist. It took a grand total of 5 minutes to have that thought dispelled. I can honestly and safely say that Akiyama is honestly my favorite protagonist in Yakuza 4, topping even Kiryu  

I am glad to see that the Yakuza team is still ace in writing protagonists.

Akiyama's fighting style is based only on kicks (although he can occasionally punch too). He is the "weak but fast character", however while his individual kicks are weak, he makes it up with speed. His special combo involves kicking multiple times and those kicks really add up. Considering he also has a "Tiger Drop" kind of kick, Akiyama is a solid character and I had no troubles playing as him.

 

Next up in the squad is Taiga Saejima, the sworn brother of our beloved pirate Majima, who was in prison for 25 years for taking part in a Yakuza assassination. Obviously, he escapes (else we wouldn't talk about him) and he tries to find out his dear "kyodai" Majima. Not going to spoil why, those who played Yakuza 0 know already.

Unlike Akiyama, Saejima is the powerhouse of the group. He has only a 3 hit combo but he can charge his hits, gaining hyper armor and releasing a devastating attack. Saejima's gameplay is super simple yet incredibly damaging, at least after you upgrade him. While I like Akiyama more, I think I had an easier time as Saejima, simply because I just punched my way through everything, disregarding the damage taken.

Also Saejima is pretty funny, seeing how the world evolved in 25 years and trying to catch up.

 

The third mariachi is Masayoshi Tanimura, a community cop who is involved in all kinds of stupid stuff from gambling to extorting illegal business around Kamurocho. He is not a bad kid however, everything he does has a purpose. 

Sadly I didn't like Tanimura that much. I tried to, but I felt that he is the weakest of the protagonists. His fighting style didn't help either, since it was all based on parries and grabs, which meant waiting for the enemies to hit you. Of course, the enemies did hit me, but often when I least expected it. He was decent but can't say he was too memorable for me.

 

And lastly Kiryu the Dragon. Can't have a Yakuza game without him. I think that Kiryu is at his strongest so far, at least from what I've experienced. He has all the moves from the prior games, his tiger drop hits like a goddamn truck (and you don't even need to bother too much to learn it even) and I don't know...Kiryu is easy mode, even on EX-HARD difficulty. The only enemy that posed a threat was Amon as usual, but even he was eventually defeated without too much trouble.

However ... I think the game would have worked fine without Kiryu. I mean, sure, him being in the game was great, but thinking about it...he didn't contribute much to the story, other than saving the clan again. Swear to god how did the Tojo manage to stay afloat without the Dragon himself? Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the story but anyway, can't complain too much since I had a blast playing as him.

 

With all these 4 characters combined, I have to say that RGG studio nailed it big time. Combat was smooth, gameplay itself was tight, bosses were some of the best in the series (minus a certain Prison warden, seriously fuck that guy) and the soundtrack OH GOD the soundtrack is probably the second best after Yakuza 0. After beating the game I made sure to add Receive and Bite you to my playlist  best Beyblade fight I had in a videogame.

 

Now, this might sound like an awesome Yakuza game, right? However, this is also the most controversial game in the series. And I have to agree here, this game has one glaring flaw, something that kinda spoils the entire fun. Didn't spoil MY fun, but thinking back, comparing it to the other games...wtf RGG Studios?

 

And that glaring flaw is THE STORY.

 

My god the story is on crack. Not the good smooth kind of crack, the "mixed with flour and little glass shards" kind of crack. Game's story starts up well enough then at the mid point it just derails like a rollercoaster in flames. Twists over twists, random betrayals, "who the fuck are you?" moments, stupid as hell plans (the back and forth with the mountain of cash made me legit laugh), THE EVERYTHING IS RUBBER MEME that I finally understood! Damn I can finally embrace the memes and also say that Kiryu did nothing wrong cause fire is made of rubber?

 

Obviously I can't say in too much detail WHY the story is bad. To be honest, I recommend approaching the Yakuza 4 story as you'd approach one of the silly substories, at least you will have some nice chuckles. Else you would be terribly disappointed, especially considering the previous games' stories. 

 

Trophy wise, this is the easiest yakuza so far. You don't have to complete any minigame except some dumb Pachinko shit, there's the least amount of subquests and you only have to deal with Kamurocho. The only difficult parts of the journey might be the Ultimate Challenges (I found them to be the hardest out of all Yakuza so far) and the battle against Amon who is again a cheating bastard. Had I gone unprepared, he would have smoked me.

 

It's really hard to talk about this game without spoiling anything, so I will end up with my conclusion: this is a great and worthy Yakuza game, despite the dumb story. I really enjoyed it and I am truly looking forward to playing Yakuza Dead Souls next.

 

Current personal ranking of Yakuza games, best to "worst" (there is no actual worst Yakuza game):

 

Y0>YK2> FotNS Lost Paradise > Y4 > Y3 > YK1

 

THE GOOD:

 

- 4 amazing protagonists

- fire soundtrack

- good and solid combat

- a worthy Yakuza game

- 

 

THE BAD:

- clown ass story

- Tanimura ain't as fun as the other characters

- The Warden Boss fight was a pain

- I miss Ryukyu town from Yakuza 3

 

Recommendation: Yakuza 0. If you haven't started the series, what are you waiting for?  

Edited April 12, 2022 by Copanele

[Slava]

On 10.03.2022 at 2:22 PM, Copanele said:

Elden Ring

 

Haven't been here in a while. But I've gone and read your Elden Ring review post since this game has been on my mind lately and I know that you're a Souls games enjoyer ?.

 

For context: I haven't played any Souls games before. Before DS3, I had no interest in them at all. After seeing DS3 and learning a bit more about previous games like Bloodborne, I thought I'd check some of them out one day. Now, after watching several Elden Ring streams, I think they made a game that truly spoke to me. I guess, that open world full of surprises was actually the missing part for me. Which is also a bit weird because I've rarely been interested in fantasy open world titles.

 

On 10.03.2022 at 2:22 PM, Copanele said:

The mysteries don't quite work as well in an open world game

 

I take it, these NPC interactions and the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand is part of the charm. But it's true, when the game is so big, even the experienced players might be lost with some quests.

 

Also, not entirely related, but there were some parts I've seen in streams, where you're expected to rest at the sight of grace 3 times to activate some NPC's monologue and move the story forward. Or something like that. How are you supposed to know that? 

 

This reminds me of the times before game wikis when people used to talk to each other about the games and ask "have you found this thing?" - "no, how do you find it?" - "you have to do this". And that's how you learned about secrets and other stuff. Souls games probably still have that social aspect, that goes beyond the in-game messages on the ground. I'm sure that the Souls community likes to learn things together and pass the knowledge. 

 

If you're a newcomer though, there's a higher chance those cryptic and hidden quest trigger will just be frustrating. 

 

On 10.03.2022 at 2:22 PM, Copanele said:

Melania Blade of Miquella

 

Oh man ?. I watched a stream of someone fighting this boss. Even with the mimic summon, it took the guy 5+ hours to win. And I think I know exactly the attack you're talking about. Malenia ended many of his attempts with that move. It looks impossible to dodge out of. 

 

I've also heard from a friend, that even some Souls fan rage quit this game because of her. OOF.

 

On 10.03.2022 at 2:22 PM, Copanele said:

Game starts to feel all over the place - With all their flaws, Dark Souls felt focused, precise, knew what it wanted. Yes it had stuff like Tomb of the Giants, Frigid outskirts and fuck knows what, but it never went TOO far. Elden Ring feels outstretched, exagerated at some points. Too many Poison Swamps (really Miyazaki did NOT JOKE when he said he was doing a ton of swamps), lots of weird areas, lots of side paths to the point of annoyance.

 

Miyazaki is like: "I've heard people point out how every game I make has a poisonous swamp area. So what do you think of this idea - a lake of scarlet rot!"

 

Fans: "What's the difference?"

 

Miyazaki: "It's red." 

 

But I think I know what you mean about the focus and overabundance of stuff. After the first trailer, I saw someone tweet saying the art style was all over the place, and it felt like the trailer showed multiple games instead of one. I remember rewatching the trailer and feeling the same way. So maybe there is some lack of consistency in the design of the game itself.

 

But at the same time, I thought about it, and maybe it's like real life ?. If you visit two places on the opposite sides of a big country, they won't look similar. Elden Ring's world is just so big, that it also becomes too diverse in many aspects, including architecture and monster design. 

 

In any way, making a big game feel diverse and consistent at the same time must be hard. (Although, a giant enemy lobster is still an interesting choice lmao ?)

Edited April 13, 2022 by Slava

[Copanele]

21 minutes ago, Slava said:

 

Haven't been here in a while. But I've gone and read your Elden Ring review post since this game has been on my mind lately and I know that you're a Souls games enjoyer .

 

For context: I haven't played any Souls games before. Before DS3, I had no interest in them at all. After seeing DS3 and learning a bit more about previous games like Bloodborne, I thought I'd check some of them out one day. Now, after watching several Elden Ring streams, I think they made a game that truly spoke to me. I guess, that open world full of surprises was actually the missing part for me. Which is also a bit weird because I've rarely been interested in fantasy open world titles.

 

Yeah, Elden Ring is built differently  because you never know what you'll find at each corner, that seemingly unimportant cave can lead up to some other previously inaccessible area and so on.

Granted, there's some empty spaces in the game, but what game doesn't have them?  

21 minutes ago, Slava said:

I take it, these NPC interactions and the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand is part of the charm. But it's true, when the game is so big, even the experienced players might be lost with some quests.

 

Also, not entirely related, but there were some parts I've seen in streams, where you're expected to rest at the sight of grace 3 times to activate some NPC's monologue and move the story forward. Or something like that. How are you supposed to know that? 

 

This reminds me of the times before game wikis when people used to talk to each other about the games and ask "have you found this thing?" - "no, how do you find it?" - "you have to do this". And that's how you learned about secrets and other stuff. Souls games probably still have that social aspect, that goes beyond the in-game messages on the ground. I'm sure that the Souls community likes to learn things together and pass the knowledge. 

 

If you're a newcomer though, there's a higher chance those cryptic and hidden quest trigger will just be frustrating. 

 

THANKFULLY a patch added an icon on the map that shows each NPC's position now. THANK GOD, what convinced Miyazaki to implement that idk but finally I can also see what I missed during my first playthrough.

Yeah Miyazaki did plan on us communicating with each other, this game is MEANT to be played by talking to others....but I think even he forgot that this game is absurdly huge  

When I was playing in parallel with a friend it took us around 30 minutes to finally pinpoint a stupid NPC, since none of us could give actual good directions. And the game was still fresh out, that NPC wasn't even documented online. It was a bit of a headache not gonna lie.

21 minutes ago, Slava said:

Oh man . I watched a stream of someone fighting this boss. Even with the mimic summon, it took the guy 5+ hours to win. And I think I know exactly the attack you're talking about. Malenia ended many of his attempts with that move. It looks impossible to dodge out of. 

 

I've also heard from a friend, that even some Souls fan rage quit this game because of her. OOF.

 

Malenia is a piece of shit. However it's not her AoE that pisses me off(can be safely dodged), or her mega damaging stuff or her Rot explosions.

It's the fact that she heals even if I block. That I find absolutely garbage. Sadly from a mechanical point of view, Malenia might be my least favorite boss in the game, just because of that ?because you suddenly have to unlock your inner Sekiro in order to beat her.

Granted, you can cheese her with a ton of underhanded tactics, but if you approach her as a solo melee player (as many do), you're gonna have a very bad time.

 

At least by the time I reached that boss I did realize that the hard cap is 99 for ...every stat, really. No more Dark Souls shenanigans.

21 minutes ago, Slava said:

 

Miyazaki is like: "I've heard people point out how every game I make has a poisonous swamp area. So what do you think of this idea - a lake of scarlet rot!"

 

Fans: "What's the difference?"

 

Miyazaki: "It's red." 

 

But I think I know what you mean about the focus and overabundance of stuff. After the first trailer, I saw someone tweet saying the art style was all over the place, and it felt like the trailer showed multiple games instead of one. I remember rewatching the trailer and feeling the same way. So maybe there is some lack of consistency in the design of the game itself.

 

But at the same time, I thought about it, and maybe it's like real life . If you visit two places on the opposite sides of a big country, they won't look similar. Elden Ring's world is just so big, that it also becomes too diverse in many aspects, including architecture and monster design. 

 

In any way, making a big game feel diverse and consistent at the same time must be hard. (Although, a giant enemy lobster is still an interesting choice lmao )

Ah if only the Lake of Rot was that silly  it's not "just red", it inflicts a different kind of poison that makes your life go BRRRRR in seconds, compared to the regular poison that can be shrugged off. I am glad though that I can use the horse to traverse most of the damn Shrek Swamps without much trouble.

 

As for design...i think this is mostly a personal preference, I am sure others saw it differently. It's just my feeling that the game direction sidetracked, something didn't connect properly, especially in the end with all the secret areas. Gorgeous areas, don't get me wrong, there's 0 ugly areas in this game.....but I don't know they felt disjointed.

Or maybe I was nitpicking hard here I don't know ?

 

And of course, all these nitpicks and I still whole heartedly give it a 9/10. This game is too damn good.

 

As for my SL1 run...I busted 2 random bosses on my quest of finding all the titanite shards required for my beautiful Morningstar, then I got sidetrack by Eldest Souls, an izometric boss rush game. Shameless rip-off of a name, but the game is quite decent (also hard).

[Copanele]

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Umbrella DLC

 

Skullgirls released a second DLC character which is Umbrella, the smaller sister of Parasoul (sexy redhead woman that fights with an umbrella herself). Since each character is $10 a piece, I decided to pick this up and see how the new character controls and what she can do.

 

First of all...this is probably the most animated character of the roster. It's funny to say that, given how unique the cast is, but Umbrella might be my favorite in terms of reactions and behavior. She is adorable and her love for the monstruous umbrella companion Hungern is funny as hell.

Her moveset is also varied, resembling Order Sol from Guilty Gear Accent Core (first DLC character Annie played a lot like Sol Badguy from Guilty gear...hmmm). Her main gimmick is Hungern's "food meter", controlled by eating (grabbing) your opponents, where your moveset changes depending on how hungry he is. If your umbrella is "in the green zone", you will be fast and dish normal damage. If you are in the "overeat" zone, you will hit like a truck but you will be slow. And if you are "hungry", you will be very slow and won't do much damage.

 

In terms of story, the devs really evolved from the first story panels. Umbrella's interaction with Parasoul is funny and more light is shed on the whole Skullgirls business. Plus another new character is introduced so we might be looking for even more DLC.

 

Third character will be a maiden assassin, Black Dahlia. Kinda looking forward to the new DLC releases, I like that Skullgirls is as quality as ever, I enjoy returning to this game even now and then.

[Yuber6969]

Thank god I took a gamble and bought the season pass while it was on sale. I'm glad to hear that Umbrella's story was good, cause I never liked her. Always excited for more Skullgirls story though!

[Copanele]

On 4/17/2022 at 6:17 AM, Yuber6969 said:

Thank god I took a gamble and bought the season pass while it was on sale. I'm glad to hear that Umbrella's story was good, cause I never liked her. Always excited for more Skullgirls story though!

You know, I expected her to be your textbook brat that just whines and wants x and y (kinda like that waste of pixels Marco from Battle Fantasia, cursed be his name). Actually....she was pretty decently written, especially in comparison to her sister Parasoul. Not often you see a little kid that you DON'T want to immediately punch in a fighting game ?

 

Ok, so I had one of the most "unique" gaming challenges in the past days/months/years. This happened in a little game called Eldest Souls, a boss rush izometric souls like whatever game that kinda reminds me of Jotun.

The hardest trophy in the game is defeating a boss no damage. That boss is your typical fire/ice floating orb that alternates his attack randomly and at some point splits into 2 different fire AND ice orbs. How hard could that be?

 

 

 

That's right, 749 tries. Every time I got hit I let the boss kill me. You can subtract around 20 tries because I had a boss prior to this one which gave me serious headaches, that leaves...around 730 tries. 

This is Persona 4 Arena level of retries here  I am either going senile and can't play OR this game is a hidden monster of a game. NOT AS HARD AS JOTUN but my GOD I can't believe how hard of a time I had with this thing here. I am so playing something easier after this game...because there's still 6 more bosses and a no death run to go.

Also the video for who wants to see the struggle:

 

[Copanele]

 No. 185 - Eldest Souls

 

Platinum Name: Conqueror of the Eldest 

Hardest Trophy: Iron Eos - defeat Eos while taking 0 damage 

Difficulty: 8/10

Personal Impression: 7.6/10

 

There's few games out there that manage to severely bamboozle me like this game did  Most of the times I do know what I am getting myself into (even though i regret it afterwards). But from time to time I get blindsided so hard by a game that I actually start regretting even starting it  

 

Eldest Souls - inspired name, I know - is an isometric boss rush game that "just happens" to have the "Souls" name in the title. You control a little warrior with a greatsword and your quest is to defeat the spirits/deities that are plaguing the land. You are introduced to a "Dark Souls-esque" kind of story that tries to sell you on a deep lore about a conflict between humans and gods, but that lore is dropped the moment you start the game. You also encounter various NPCs and can perform minor sidequests (most of them will get you towards an ending), but the only actual danger in the game are the bosses. There's no enemies, very few environmental hazards, the bosses are the only ones that stand between you and the end of the game.

 

The game inspires heavily from the Dark Souls way of telling a story and at some point I can even call it a rip-off (I mean, check the name...). THANKFULLY, the game itself is quite different from your typical Souls copy. You have your typical square attack, holding down the square button will make you dash forward and charge your sword on contact with the enemy. By pressing circle, you release a heavy slash that does a great amount of damage and also heals you. You also have 3 stamina bars that get consumed only when you dash by pressing X. Dashing through attacks renders you invincible for a few frames, but the stamina regenerates slowly and is probably the main cause why you will die or get hit in this game.

Every time you defeat a boss you get one skill point and his Soul which will enhance your abilities and power.

 

Skill points can be used to improve any of the 3 Fighting styles: Windslide, focused on speed and stamina regeneration, Berserk Slash which is aimed primarily on massive bursts of damage and low defense and Counter which focuses on defense and parries. Each style has 2 different branches with various abilities. You can have only one Fighting style at once, but you can respec at any point free of cost, if you do not like your build or wish to try a different style.

Boss Souls (or Shards, as called in the game) are various passive buffs that you get once you infuse a boss soul in one of the 5 sockets: Active shard where you summon the direct power of a boss, Bloodburst (your circle attack takes the boss soul's properties), charge attack, dashing and fighting style ability. If you levelled up your character enough, you unlock a 6th socket to infuse the branch that you put points into. 

Honestly, from this perspective, the game does a brilliant job in terms of builds and replayability. The game does a great job in making you think which boss is best to tackle next also: you will be severely underpowered for a specific boss, but beating him makes the bosses that follow easier to tackle. I actually enjoyed having to plan and think of an optimal "Boss" route, even though in the end Berserk Slash tree vastly outperforms the other 2 fighting styles.

 

On paper, this game is pretty simple and with some little brilliant ideas. Everything changes if you take the trophy list into consideration, because your experience vastly differs if you aim to platinum this game. 

This game IS TOUGH!. Holy hell I had a ton of headaches with it. Finishing the game aside, you have to unlock various endings that are linked to a main seemingly unimportant questline. Then finishing the game on NG+ is easier said than done, because the bosses don't only get a massive boost in damage and health but they also get new moves that can one shot you if you are not careful.

But everything pales in comparison to the NO DAMAGE TROPHIES. That's where unfortunately I can see the flaws of the game. First of all the stamina recovery in this game is absolutely shit. Why do I have only 3 stamina segments in a game where every boss can turn in a bullet hell minigame? Some bosses were utterly ridiculous due to how hitboxes work and how underpowered I was. Hardest boss to no-damage was Eos, which took me 700+ tries. I described the reason in the post above, suffice to say that this stupid boss drove me nuts with its bullshit and random damage moments. I really cursed this game at those moments. Fortunately, after I was done with this boss, the rest weren't nearly as insufferable. The second hardest boss only took me around 130+ tries, which is nothing at this point  

 

So yeah...this has been a weird experience. This game wasn't awful, it had some great innovative things, too bad it has that stupid name. At least it was tougher than the Souls games trophy wise ?

 

THE GOOD:

• nice artstyle
• bosses are unique and have interesting attacks
• the whole upgrade tree is actually fun to tinker with
• several endings

THE BAD:

• story gets lost on the way
• the stamina management system is trash and must be discarted
• you see the flaws in the game when you go for the no-damage trophy (wonky hitboxes, bugs in terms of collision etc)
• Eos is a bullshit boss

 

Recommendation - Jotun Valhalla Edition  another boss rush game with tons of personality, however this game is WAY HARDER than Eldest Souls. It also gains quite the negative attention on this site for some reason, I personally loved it (even though the RNG was abysmal in this case  )

 

 

 

Random thought: I just discovered I had Batman Arkham Knight Season Pass purchased all this time. So yeah, I think that's what I am going to play next!

...16 freakin DLCs. What the hell is going on in that game???