Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[zizimonster]

40 minutes ago, Copanele said:

copanele_san

I refuse to call him that. Copanele senpai is the way to go.

[Copanele]

Just now, zizimonster said:

I refuse to call him that. Copanele senpai is the way to go.

Agreed, Copanele senpai appreciates it ?

[Yuber6969]

Congrats! It looked like an interesting game from the little bit that I saw during our boosting session. I'm looking forward to this one.

[Copanele]

4 hours ago, Yuber6969 said:

Congrats! It looked like an interesting game from the little bit that I saw during our boosting session. I'm looking forward to this one.

Better prepare your turbo controller ? there's 2 trophies that require quite a lot of CP (in-game currency), had to leave the game grind itself overnight in Vs mode to get the required amount

[Copanele]

 No. 236 - Soulstice

 

Platinum Name - The Solstice of Souls 

Hardest Trophy - They wanted yet another monster... complete the game on Chimera difficulty while obtaining Platinum rating or above in all levels

Difficulty - 7/10

 

Goddamnit this game was so close to being great...

So, so, so very close...

 

As you may or may not know, I am a Devil May Cry fan. I absolutely love the franchise, the gameplay, the style, the monsters, the characters, the everything. DMC gives me a level of "freedom" in the game that few other games can give. In a weird way, I'd associate DMC with ... Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, if you were to skate towards monsters on a flying rocket punch. Simply put, I love crazy combat but with precise controls that reward mastery.

The problem with this is...there really aren't many "DMC-like" games out there. There are several God of War clones (like Dante's Inferno, Castlevania Lords of Shadow), but no true DMC clone. The closest game to this would be Metal Gear Rising, where you kinda have the same freedom and zany combat with zanier characters..but the game doesn't really reaches that "hype" point during combat, simply because it focuses too much on parries. And no, I am not counting Bayonetta, that first game would have been great if not for the abysmal story and constant "bullet hell" sections.

 

And then there was Soulstice. A game which seemingly appeared from nowhere, with a gameplay that promised to give exactly what I wished for, with an interesting setting and a compelling main character. A game that initially hooked me from the cover itself. And since the game is now free on PS Plus (or Ps Now?PS something) I said it's high time I play it. 

What I got is an interesting mix of a game, where the highs are super high, but man the lows are underground level of low.

 

First of all, the premise, which is a highlight of the game: you play as Briar, a half-human half-demon warrior also known as a Chimera. You are in service of the Order of Ashen Blade and you are tasked to investigate and close the Tear that opened in the nearby city of Ilden, this Tear being the equivalent of a portal that unites the human world with the ethereal world and which allowed specters known as Wraiths to invade the humans. These Wraiths can turn anything they touch into demons so Briar has to save whatever it's left of the besieged city.

You are accompanied by your sister Lute in form of a shade, offering support and insight about the ethereal world and all the enemies that show up. Through a ritual, Chimeras are created by unifying two linked souls, this resulting in the Knight (Briar) and the Shade (Lute).

 

Briar and Lute

 

The sisters aren't all alone in this quest however. They are aided by an Overseer called Layton, a snarky man who will act as a merchant and will allow you to upgrade your equipment and skills (and will be the constant source of new weaponry). Later on the road, they will encounter another Knight called Donovan, their superior and a mentor of sorts with his own bag of secrets.

 

I have to say, I enjoyed the characters and the story. The sisters are compelling characters, with Briar being the broody and violent sister, while being tempered by the more level headed and innocent Lute. Layton is also a super fun addition, his remarks and involvement in the story really being a highlight of the game. Also the whole Dark Fantasy tone really fits this game, obviously being inspired mainly by the manga Claymore (the story and premise) and Berserk (Briar's design). Those who read the manga Claymore especially will kinda know where the story is going, but even then I found the story to be quite well written and with some interesting twists.

What also helps is the surprisingly good voice acting in this game, almost unexpected from an AA game. The line delivery is VERY good I would say, easily convincing me of the gravity of the situation. Again, Layton kills it with his snark in this department.

 

The city of Ilden looks very interesting at first. It resembles the Boletarian palace from Demon's Souls, a medieval fortress besieged by various monsters. However, unlike Boletaria, the city quickly becomes boring, with areas repeating themselves and the constant greyness dulling the excitement. I'd say that while design-wise the city looks great, it quickly becomes mundane and uninteresting.

Better get used to this view - it's what you'll see for the majority of the game

 

Now to get to the big thing about this game - THE COMBAT

 

The combat in itself is utterly amazing. The way it is applied though...oh boy.

 

Briar's main weapon of choice is a 2 handed sword. A sword too big, too thick, too heavy and too--ok sorry, Berserk mode aside, you have one huge ass sword as your weapon, sword that Briar can swing around effortlessly with her superhuman strength. Things get interesting when you can switch this sword into a hammer, for the more "intimate" encounters where you simply have to BONK the shit out of the enemies. With the help of Layton, you will get other weaponries such as a bow, a whip, a gauntlet, a pair of daggers and two modified iron tonfa cannons that can blow everything around the screen. The best part about all this, you can change your weapons mid-combo in any way you wish, creating some really sick combo situations. 

Things get even spicier once you upgrade Briar's abilities, unlocking new combos and types of attacks for each weapon, this really unlocking a crazy variety of attacks and approaches.

 

Lute is not as combat oriented as her sister, however she's far from useless. Being a Shade, Lute can use her magic to parry any incoming attack. At first she can only parry small attacks from grunts or arrows, but as you level her up on her separate skill tree, she grows stronger and stronger, being able to parry hits from large monsters and bosses even. What's more, she can counterattack with magic arrows, damaging, binding and even freezing enemies into place. Lute can also conjure special auras, a blue aura for Wraiths and a red aura for Possessed enemies, allowing Briar to inflict damage to normally impervious enemies.

 

Another important mechanic is the unity between Briar and Lute. If you continuously attack without being hit, a unity icon loads up in the upper right corner. This will increase Lute's offensive capabilities, being able to parry and deflect even more attacks. If you load up the unity high enough, you will be able to perform synergy attacks, big area of effect attacks that will severely damage every enemy around you. Every weapon has a synergy attack and you can unlock them from Lute's upgrade menu.

 

Later in the game, Briar will unlock a special mode called Rapture, activated at max unity. While in Rapture mode, Briar taps into her demonic side, gets stronger, faster and ignores any attack (while taking damage still if hit). This acts as a sort of "Devil Trigger/Rage of Sparta" mode, with 2 extra upgrades that are again a reference to Berserk/Claymore. These modes were absolutely amazing in their usage and the way they are activated.

When you combine everything above, you can get some really sick situations. Nothing explains better than a video so this is what I got after max-ing everything out in the game.

 

 

Unfortunately, I also mentioned that the way the combat is applied is not good. And while Briar's moveset in itself is smooth, it falls completely flat if the monsters you're fighting as are not properly programmed.

The monsters in this game are, to put it bluntly, absolute garbage to fight. The regular grunts aren't too bad, they are simple minded and just attack you, waiting to get mauled in return. However, the problem appears when the color coded enemies appear. I mentioned before that Lute can conjure auras, blue to attack wraiths and red to attack possessed. I absolutely despise color coded enemies in H&S games simply because they slow down the gameplay. And this is especially bad in Soulstice, where the color coded enemies have a fuckton of health, several phases, when they die they release blue wraiths that have to be defeated under a time limit else they revive the downed enemy...

AND

NOT TO MENTION

WORST OF ALL

THE ENEMIES HAVE A TENDENCY TO RUN AWAY FROM YOU!

Why would you do that in a H&S?? What's the purpose of making all the enemies evade you?? Having a confrontation and nonstop offense IS the purpose of an action game. And it's not only one enemy, it's about HALF of them! 

It gets endlessly frustrating to keep chasing an electric ghost that simply zaps around and occasionally electrifies everything around, while the other monsters try to bite your ass. Try to focus on the other enemies however? The electric ghost will absolutely start throwing every crap at your direction, not letting you breathe for a second. Higher difficulties shuffle the enemy placement in an even more frustrating way, which absolutely killed my mood for this game. 

There is also a targeting system that would technically help you focus on an enemy better...if not for the camera. There have been several complaints about the shitty camera of this game and, while I played way worse (DMC1 comes to mind), the moment you focus on an enemy, the camera suddenly becomes possessed and positions itself in the worst place possible. Say goodbye trying to even make sense of what is happening on the screen.

Just like above, the best example is via a video:

 

The true problem appears when you go for the platinum in this game. Soulstice has a scoring system similar to DMC4, where damage inflicted, damage received and the amount of time spent in combat influence your final score. Basically you need to be fast, be efficent, don't get hit and combo as much as possible in order to get the required Platinum Rank or even the fabled Diamond Rank, the highest rank possible.

Well...add some color coded teleporting enemies to the mix and a wonky camera and you can imagine how frustrating the whole ordeal was.

 

This is way more aggravated by the fact that the game is really really long. You have 25 missions and only 7 or 8 of them are boss fights. With the exception of Mission 1 and 2, the rest of the missions are simply waves after waves of crazy monsters in a bland setting. The sad part is that you could easily cut down 6 or 7 missions and you won't notice a single difference in the game. The game is way, way too long for its own good here.

 

And lastly...I personally loved this game, despite its flaws, but man it has some glaring flaws. I could only recommend it if you absolutely love Devil May Cry combat or the dark fantasy setting and even then, I would be hesitant.

It's a diamond in the rough however and I have faith that with proper feedback, the devs could do a better Soulstice 2 if they wanted to. The story ends in a cliffhanger so there's definitely plans for a second installment. I would definitely play it if it ever comes out, because despite all the stupid flaws, I got too invested in Briar&Lute's story to back down from the sequel.

Just...at least fix the camera please.

 

THE GOOD:

• Briar and Lute are a well written duo
• A very good Dark Fantasy setting that reminds me of Berserk and Claymore
• Story is actually well written
• It's not a Soulslike
• The combat is smooth and precise
• It really has no bugs actually

THE BAD:

• The camera can take you for a spin
• Color coded enemies - why are they still a thing?
• The enemy selection is more frustrating than challenging
• The rating system feels arbitrary at times

Recommendation 1 - DmC Devil May Cry  you know, stupid story aside...this game was actually pretty fun. I feel that gameplaywise the devs inspired directly from this entry and...not a bad choice. So yeah, the games are quite similar in the gameplay department

Recommendation 2 - Claymore (manga)   If you fancy yourself some reading and enjoy the manga format, I really can't recommend Claymore enough. A strong dark fantasy setting with a great protagonist. Not the best ending but hey it's worth a read!

[DrBloodmoney]

12 hours ago, Copanele said:

 No. 236 - Soulstice

 

Was an emotional rollercoasterfollowing your time with that game - big swings from "This is great" to "fuck this game!" and everything in between ?

 

Interesting reading where you eventually came out on it - especially for a DMC-Agnostic such as myself, and the gameplay in that vid looks mad (though, admittedly, my closest forays into that kind of combat are always of the 2D variety)...

...but it all ended with a funny write up, so what more could I ask for! ?

[Copanele]

35 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Was an emotional rollercoasterfollowing your time with that game - big swings from "This is great" to "fuck this game!" and everything in between 

 

Interesting reading where you eventually came out on it - especially for a DMC-Agnostic such as myself, and the gameplay in that vid looks mad (though, admittedly, my closest forays into that kind of combat are always of the 2D variety)...

...but it all ended with a funny write up, so what more could I ask for! 

Maan, the emotions, the excitement, almost convincing Sabbath to play it also...

 

But yeah, it was an interesting game regardless, one that I did not hate weirdly enough  AND it was fun to write about it too, ngl  

[Copanele]

💯 No. 61 - Hawken

 

Hardest Trophy - Crushed  land on top of a mech and crush it - damn tin can is hard to control

Difficulty - 2/10

 

From time to time I do partake in some form of onlinery, if I am invited, especially if it's a free UR choked game that can be done in an afternoon  Such is the case with Hawken here, a free to play mech shooter, where you get into a stupid robot and battle other stupid robots. Pretty stupid...but also pretty fun.

 

I did this one together with @AihaLoveleaf, @Yuber6969 and my US cousin Copanele_US?? from US obviously  ? I gotta admit, trying to sync with each other, my alt cousin being sent to a NL server while we were all waiting in a NA server, having to deal with randos who play this game legit and had the correct tendency to obliterate us....realizing at the very end that this game has specific servers and we could just have joined one instead of trying to match each other...I see why people like the online part of games  it was unexpectedly fun!

Also it was quite hilarious to get EMPowerless legit, throwing an EMP bomb on a rando and just blasting him because he ruined our synchronization. Makes me think that this game can be done legit...if it was populated, that is. Sadly the game is pretty dead so without boosting, it would be a legit pain to get the entire list done.

 

Other than that...not much to say about the game. It sure helped me with some PSNP events!

 

THE GOOD:

• it's free
• fun if you like mechs
• if you find a populated server, it can be enjoyable
• helped me with a lot of PSNP events

THE BAD:

• you need Hawken currency to unlock powerful mechs - the caveat of a F2P
• I don't like robots
• not much to do other than deathmatch and team deathmatch

 

RECOMMENDATION - Metal Wolf Chaos   a TRUE AMERICAN MECHA GAME made by the Japanese. For the President of the United States of America only!

Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele

[AihaLoveleaf]

Great sesh yesterday. ?

 

4 hours ago, Copanele said:

Hardest Trophy - Crushed  land on top of a mech and crush it - damn tin can is hard to control

Falling in general is cursed; had a heck of a time inflicting fall damage on myself with the rando in the lobby that was determined to get the W no matter what. ?

[Honor_Hand]

Happy to read about the boys enjoying a mech game together. I actually did this one a long time ago, so it was fun reading your comments on Discord while you were going for it. Also, pretty sure I boosted this one on an Oceania server where it was almost impossible to find randoms at the time. Not sure if you guys had the chance to try that out.

 

On 2/8/2023 at 3:11 AM, Copanele said:

RECOMMENDATION - Metal Wolf Chaos   a TRUE AMERICAN MECHA GAME made by the Japanese. For the President of the United States of America only!

 

I soooo want to play this game. xxD

 

 

 

[Copanele]

On 8/5/2023 at 2:30 AM, Honor_Hand said:

Happy to read about the boys enjoying a mech game together. I actually did this one a long time ago, so it was fun reading your comments on Discord while you were going for it. Also, pretty sure I boosted this one on an Oceania server where it was almost impossible to find randoms at the time. Not sure if you guys had the chance to try that out.

Hah yep we tried Oceania, but we also got one sucker that would follow us and then go tryhard mecha mode on our robot wheelbarrows.

On 8/5/2023 at 2:30 AM, Honor_Hand said:

 

I soooo want to play this game. xxD

 

 

 

You really have to - this game will put a smile on your face  I really wonder who wrote this stupid ass script, I couldn't help but laugh throughout the entire game. Jody has some of the most ridiculous lines out there.

 

[Copanele]

 No. 237 - Tunche

 

Platinum Name - Legend of the Amazon 

Hardest Trophy - Devil May Care  achieve an SSS rank

Difficulty - 4/10

 

Whenever I have no mood to play any big games OR get tired of grinding shit in Diablo 2 (still playing that one lol) I like to browse for games that I would use as entry for events. 

Such is the case with Tunche here, a game that I discovered after struggling like crazy to find a green entry for the PSNP Kaleidoscope Challenge (shoutouts to @DrBloodmoney for making me realize that I have no clue about detecting colors  )

 

Tunche is an indie beat'em up with Roguelike elements, set in the Amazon Rainforest. You pick one of the 5 available characters and go deep in the rainforest in order to find Tunche, the local deity. Each character has their own motivation and reason to find this seemingly all-powerful god that could fulfill any wish.

Your gang of misfits, chilling at the bonfire (central hub)

 

FIrst of all, the best part of this game: the artstyle. Holy crap is this game CUTE. The characters, the enemies, Hat Kid's animations -- everything is full of personality and adorableness. Even the enemies look goofy and cute, to the point where you end up underestimating them. You shouldn't - these enemies pack a mean punch! This also blends in well with the South-American tunes, the soundtrack nailing the atmosphere. As expected, since the developers are from Peru (Leap Game Studios, if you are curious).

Hat Kid is simply VIBIN'

 

In terms of gameplay, the mechanics are split between beat'em up section and roguelike section. 

The Roguelike section has all the textbook mechanics that you would find in games like Hades or Curse of the Dead Gods: You have procedurally generated rooms, each rewarding you with various items or currencies should you complete them: Money for upgrades, Experience for skills, list goes on. You have rooms where you can find special items called Spiritual Cores that will add you in your quest (e.g. Life Leech, Lightning bolt etc.). In some special rooms you can either find a merchant, a story piece for your active character or even a Llama that challenges you with various tasks and rewards you if you manage to complete the task.

 

One of the possible room rewards and one of the best upgrades you can find

 

The meat of the game is in the beat'em up section. You have to pummel, style, combo and absolutely demolish the adorable Amazon critters that stand between you and your goal. The more you combo the enemies into oblivion, the more your style rank increases, DMC style. Having a high rank not only activates your various skills that you may collect, but also fills the Ultimate Meter that allows you to use your special attacks.

And this is Tunche's most awesome and at the same time most boring section - the gameplay is fun, hype and alert...if you play with the right characters. Because some characters are better than the others and unfortunately the game is not really that balanced in that aspect.

 

Speaking of, there's 5 characters in the game - 4 natives and one guest character

 

Rumi - She is a shaman in training and the main character on the cover. She is an all-rounder, meaning that all of her moves are pretty average, not specializing in anything. Her strongest attacks are the magic pellets that she shoots with the help of her pet bird. She's a decent character to learn the game as. Funny enough, for a game so cute, she's the most insufferable of the bunch, acting like a spoiled brat in every section of her story.

 

Qaru - is a little hunter who has been cursed together with his brother to slowly turn into a bird. He is very fast, with quick combos, unfortunately he is not very strong. His attacks are also rather weak and his ranged potential leaves a lot to be desired. I had the least amount of fun playing as him.

 

Pancho - is the muscle of the group and a musician at heart. Pancho loves to speak in rhymes to the annoyance of others and all he wants is to bring joy via his guitar solos. Gameplaywise however, Pancho is the equivalent of the Hulk, absolutely mauling everything on screen. Really, Pancho is one of the more fun characters to play as, having fun combos and a mean guitar solo ultimate attack, that easily counter his slower speed. Pancho was a very fun character to use, but even he pales in comparison to...

 

Nayra - a female warrior who uses a snake-turned-spear as a weapon. With Narya, you can see the full capabilities of Tunche's combat, because she's simply the absolute best. Nayra really feels like a Samurai Shodown character really, she absolutely demolishes enemies with her spear combos, ranged magic (venom spit) and ultimate attack that summons snakes from the ground. She is also the easiest to raise the rank levels. Nayra is pretty much the best and I can tell that the devs absolutely loved creating her.

 

Hat Kid - the crossover character, Hat Kid got lost in space-time and she needs to find a hourglass in order to return to her timeline. I didn't play "A Hat in Time" so I assume her schtick is to go into the multiverse. Anyway, in terms of combat, Hat Kid absolutely sucks ass, all of her attacks are a headache, low range, low damage and an ultimate that summons an explosive scooter. Her only decent attack is a beam combo where she shoots a laser from her umbrella. BUT! She is SO DAMN ADORABLE in this game that I can't help but put her above Qaru. Her little dances and expressions make me forget how much she sucks as a character  

 

In terms of enemies...they are varied, HOWEVER each map (4 in total) have ONE stupid ass enemy that will absolutely piss you off and is specially designed to ruin your combo. In map 1 you have some random ass monkeys that throw coconuts at you from across the screen. In map 2 you have something called a caraprawn, which is a...fish in a log that does some crazy AoE damage or an unreactable clam chomp and runs away like a coward if you kick it from under the log. In map 3 you have the stupid raccoon wizards that shoot tracking pebbles and some cloud farts that stick to you. And finally, in map 4 there's the stupid pink bats that zap across the screen and shoot toxic clouds at you. I absolutely hated these enemies and always focused on them first.

Bosses were pretty decent. They were pretty well made and the final boss was an actual challenge the first time I faced it as Rumi. However, they simply become punching bags after the first time you see their tricks, difficulty still remaining the generated rooms.

 

 

Unfortunately, Tunche is not without its share of faults. First of all, the gameplay can become a real slog. Despite there being only 4 maps, each map has 10 mandatory encounters and some enemy layouts can be a complete pain in the ass. Worst part however is the upgrading system - experience is scarce (you really need to focus on the EXP chambers) and the only way to permanently increase your health and damage is by defeating the bossses with each character. That forces you to go through 3 or 4 runs with each character and...the game is not diverse enough to warrant the fun in so many playthroughs. 

The experience does not transfer to the other characters, so if you have 400 exp points as Rumi, if you switch to Qaru he will have 0 exp points and no skills and you'll have to restart the whole levelling system again.

 

That being said however, Tunche is a cute enough game to be worth purchasing at a discount. It will not reinvent the genre by any means, but it might be a fun enough time to spend when you have nothing to play and just want to get a cute beat'em up.

 

Also the world needs more South American themed videogames  I feel that the mythology is still an untapped wealth of inspiration for potential games.

 

THE GOOD:

• adorable artstyle
• 5 fun characters
• combat is fluid
• once upgraded, the characters can demolish the game
• Nayra should have her own game

THE BAD:

• it takes a long time to grind for experience
• some characters are worse than others (Qaru, Hat Kid)
• you might get bored after a few runs, if you play with a character that you don't vibe with

Recommendation: Curse of the Dead Gods an absolutely fantastic Roguelike with Aztec themes and some unforgiving bosses.

[jonesey46]

13 minutes ago, Copanele said:

 No. 237 - Tunche

 

Platinum Name - Legend of the Amazon 

Hardest Trophy - Devil May Care  achieve an SSS rank

Difficulty - 4/10

 

Wow. That art style is incredible. Might have to check it out on that alone.

[Copanele]

 No. 238 - The King of Fighters XV(PS5 edition)

 

Platinum Name: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV

Hardest Trophy: Master - Get Rank 16 

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

 

A very hot take comes after playing this game - I believe that King of Figters character design is way better than Street Fighter character design  

To explain - I enjoy Street Fighter, don't get me wrong, even SF6, but man there's something about SNK games that absolutely makes me LOVE whatever they're releasing. Funny personalized characters, top tier looking ladies, lots of styles, a silly story AND protagonists that FEEL like protagonists...I don't know, I love this series a lot more (it's double hilarious considering that I absolutely suck massive ass at KoF compared to SF)

Also, this series has attacks like this:

Spicy take, over!

 

I won't repeat what I said in the original review - game's a fucking banger. With the PS5 version I tried 2 DLC teams - team Garou (Rock Howard, B Jenet, Goto) and team Southtown (Geese Howard, Billy Kane and Yamazaki) and they felt mad fun. I will definitely purchase the rest of the DLC later on, I really want to play this game and support the devs. 

I replayed through the entire list, the only trophies that autopopped were the online ones - I couldn't do anything about it, there's a common account online, shared between PS4 and PS5. The only trophy that I had to replay online was the Rank 16, of course , with boosting because...well...this was the alternative

 

 

I specifically asked for level 5 connections (what you see there is my alt), the game would instantly pair me with level 1 connections. So the online is still SNK levels of abysmal, rollback didn't change anything in its quality  

 

If you like KoF or SNK, grab this one ASAP. Boost the online and just enjoy the absurdity and the mad good soundtrack. I will go back to it and unlock all the gallery because yeah...no PS4->PS5 progression download.

 

P.S. If this review seems rushed/lazy, it's because I rushed to finish it, just to return and go for more trials. Goddamnit Angel!

Edited August 15, 2023 by Copanele

[Cassylvania]

On 8/9/2023 at 4:55 AM, Copanele said:

THE GOOD:

• Nayra should have her own game

 

Truer words have never been spoken.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Cassylvania

[Copanele]

4 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

 

Truer words have never been spoken.

You could see where most of the developer's resources went when creating the characters  

Also she was the most unhinged in her story, girl had no chill damn!

[FreshFromThaDeli]

Well done on the completion but yikes at that hot take. ?

 

You know where I stand with SF. ?

[Copanele]

54 minutes ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Well done on the completion but yikes at that hot take.

 

You know where I stand with SF.

Honestly, minutes after posting that, I legit had a "oh no, wait until Deli sees this " moment  

BUT I will stand by with my take and...I don't think it's actually that hot....because while Street Fighter is ace in every other department (fame, gameplay, sales), it lacks one thing:

 

D R I P

 

Ah sorry wrong image

 

Or better put, the dress code is way better in this game  

 

As for why I love KoF more...well I played Street Fighter 6, had loads of fun with it, it will definitely be my fighting game of the year and definitely one of the best fighting games I have ever played, completed most of the World Tournament mode because that mode is hella fun screw you haters, I played a few more matches and...that's it, waiting for tournament patch. I'll try whoever comes out and mad waiting for Akuma (crossed fingers that he doesn't look like a clown SF5 style)

 

IN COMPARISON: I re-played KoF15 (PS5, dogshit online never forget) AND I started re-completing all the arcade entries INCLUDING the extra non-canon teams despite not needing it for platinum, fallen into a huge rabbit hole by watching a huge ass 4 parts KOF retrospective, each part having 2-3 hours, wishlisting the DLC, PRACTICING SOME COMBOS IN THE TRAINING MODE (when have you ever caught me doing that????) AND trying to grab some KoF merch online.

I know where my allegiances stand here ?

 

SOOOOO in conclusion:

 

 

(Sometimes I have to disagree with you, as fellow Battle Fantasia veteran ?)

[Copanele]

💯No. 62 - Verdict: Guilty

 

Hardest Trophy - Reese's Story Mode  took me 4 tries to beat the final boss with this guy

Difficulty - 2/10

 

I did mention before that I find all manners of games when going for certain site events. It was the case with Tunche, a very cute beat'em up/roguelite that I actually enjoyed.

However, sometimes I also find some MAD DUMB GAMES. Like dear god they are SO dumb. 

 

Enter Verdict: Guilty.

This game is a "Cops and Robbers" fighting game, a 16bit fever dream of a fighter where you have a roster split between men of law and scoundrels of villainy. You have to choose between 8 characters, with the action set in New Seoul. Each of the characters have their own motives and stories to do ...whatever they are doing, from revenge, to purging corruption, to...finding a missing dog...to finally shooting the entire city to collect money for your dying mother. 

Honestly, every character has a basic yet compelling story, which helps with the immersion in the game.

 

The game actually looks pretty interesting, a mix between anime and ...noir film...and Korea of the South kind

Immersion which goes out the window the moment you actually PLAY the game 😂 

And my god did I laugh my ass off, the moment I played on the police's side.

 

As mentioned, your roster is split: you have 8 characters to pick from, 4 cops and 4 robbers. 

The robbers are pretty straightforward, villains with a heart of gold: you have the misunderstood terrorist/zoner Yohan, the good-natured Yakuza Jae who has some mad breakdance skills, the wrongfully convincted brawler Gun and the typical Payday2 robber Hyuk who has an entire arsenal of guns and grenades. The best of them is Hyuk, easily the strongest character in the game, being able to perfect the entire roster with his cheap machine gun spray.

 

ON THE LAW & ORDER SIDE HOWEVER!!!!

 

We have the hard-boiled chaotic lawful detective Gyeong, who is accompanied by his trusty revolver and trustier bottle of moonshine.  Siu is a rookie cop who desires to purge every evil from the city, with his trusty revolver and his pet pigeon who can home in and do the most amount of damage in the game. You have Reese, a government agent in hunt for aliens, himself with unnatural powers like stretching Dhalsim style ...and....electricity...and Yoga...ok Reese is weird.

 

But none of them - NONE OF THEM - compare to the actually strongest character in the game: Minso, the parking lot officer

Minso is probably the BEST and the most MENACING character in the game. Imagine that she is Shao Kahn with boobs, or Akuma with a skirt. She is the Alpha and the Omega of this town, the beginning and the end. When she gives you a parking ticket, you better pay or you're getting parked FOR LIFE.

 

This character cracked me up for the entirety of her story mode. Minso is an airheaded parking officer who is searching for her missing dog and she accidentally foils an entire government evil scheme by utter mistake. What murdered me with her is how insane her whole story mode is.

As mentioned, her whole purpose is to find her dog. The first person she encounters happens to be Reese who is an US agent, her reaction being: 

 

After she finally finds her dog, she encounters detective Gyeong:

 

How does she deal with a tipsy detective? As any true officer of the law should - by sending the dog to do what a dog does best:

 

Finally, she eventually foils the evil politician's plan and she does apply the only solution she knows works best:

 

Minso is the ultimate Korean Judge Dredd of the game and I absolutely love her for it. Whoever dares to move, gets the dog!

She also has a tazer which gives a new layer of irony when it's used on Reese.

As for gameplay...there are combos...special moves...stuff, you know. But each character has a gun. Or a grenade. Or a machine gun. Or...a pigeon. Or the dog. So everything devolves into spamming gun. Why use kick when we can gun, what is this the Middle Ages? 

You also do have a funny "handcuffing" grab attack as the lawmen, but why detain the suspect when you can perma-arrest him with a bullet?

 

So after all that, do I recommend the game?

Well...if you find it at a super discount...or if someone offers it to you...sure I guess? It's a funny little game but other than the Minso mayhem, I kinda felt like I wasted my time with it 😅

If you want to grab every fighting game under the sun, then yeah get it, otherwise...eh you're better off playing something else.

 

THE GOOD:

• Minso single handedly cleans up the streets from filth
• It has an oddly good story

THE BAD:

• Everything devolves into GUN.
• Really not knowing why anyone would legit play this seriously

RECOMMENDATION - Mortal Kombat 9/ Mortal One Kombat as Stryker  the best character in MK hands down. No other character can hit Shao Kahn with a baton then taze him and yell "Police Brutality coming right up" like Stryker.

Stryker for president!

 

Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele

[Copanele]

 No. 239 - Thymesia

 

 

Platinum Name - Thymesia 

Hardest Trophy - God of the Fools  the only trophy that I had to check for an online video, the boss made no sense

Difficulty - 3/10 if you played Sekiro or Bloodborne, 6/10 if not

 

Welcome ,welcome, in the beautiful land of "Soulslikes"! Or rather in this case, Bloodborne/Sekiro likes, because we evolved a bit from the old games 😆

Today, I present to you...Thymesia, a game developed by Team17 who is heavily inspired from the aforementioned games. Will this game rise above its station and make a name for itself? Or it will "Lords of the Fallen" itself into the ground and be forgotten in 1 month? Let's find out!

 

The premise of Thymesia is pretty straightforward: There is London a land ravaged by an unknown plague. One by one, kingdoms fall, succumbing to the disease. All but one : The Kingdom of Hermes, who apparently found a cure to the plague via alchemy, creating the "pure blood". However, like in any good Soulslike, this "solution" does more damage than good, because while some people can be cured, others get infected with a mysterious "vile blood" and start to mutate into hideous monsters. Now there's beasts all over the shop!

 

You are Corvus, a plague doctor/assassin for hire who arrived into this kingdom to figure out a cure for the plague and cut down anyone who is infected. Probably. I suppose. I guess. It is never specified WHAT is Corvo's relationship to the plague and the kingdom at any point in the story. You obviously get "plagued" by a great sword from an even greater knight and get resurrected by a .... let's call her a memory keeper. From that point, you have to "recollect your memories" and see what exactly caused the massive outbreak.

 

Honestly, while I like the premise, the writers forgot to actually involve the main character. It's just vaguely mentioned that Corvus is "involved" with all the events that has transpired and he himself is an experiment, but really you never get any details about HIM. You do get more details and a background of the kingdom of Hermes, a kingdom who is sick in all kinds, not only via the plague, but the main character...you are Sekiro without the entire Sekiro background. Which is a bit disappointing..

 

 

The kingdom of Hermes in itself is an interesting playground...in all of its 3 levels  being an indie/concept, the game is very short, having to deal with only 3 areas. You have the "slums", a veritable high definition Blighttown, the Royal Gardens, that remind me of a level from Alice Madness Returns and the Hermes Fortress, which was clearly inspired by the  Archdragon Peak in Dark Souls 3. Each of these levels are rather linear, with various shortcuts and checkpoints that allow you to traverse them faster.

The sad part is that...you see what a level has to offer from the very first 2 rooms that you explore. The levels are incredibly bland and you will soon get bored of the same paths and crossroads that look similar no matter what you choose.

The devs added a bit of "variety", by allowing you to select sub-missions, Nioh style for those who played the game. You are put in a different spot of the map and have a different target to approach each time you pick a sub-mission. There is a bit of variety here, true, but if you learned out the layout of the level, there's nothing that could surprise you there.

 

 

Where the game truly shines however, is the combat. It's obvious that the devs put most of their effort here, because my god is the combat a delight! 

Corvus has 3 main attacks: his sabre that inflicts normal damage, his claw that deals plague damage and his ranged feather attack. Moreover, Corvus can also deflect enemy attacks with a special dagger. All these mechanics are well explained in the first tutorial map and you can immediately practice versus the grunts there.

 

Thymesia does bring a new mechanic here - the Plague counter. Since your enemies are plague afflicted mutants, regular damage won't do. Every enemy has 2 health bars - a "regular" health bar which is white, and a "plague" bar that is green. Inflicting regular damage via the sabre will reveal the plague bar, however, this second meter can only be damaged with your claw. Failing to reduce the plague bar will cause the monster to regenerate his full white health, negating your progress. It is an interesting mechanic that keeps you on your toes and always demanding you to be on the offensive. Once you reduced the plague meter to 0, the enemy is vulnerable to a critical attack, where Corvus mercilessly executes the poor sucker.

This regular meter can also be depleted via Thymesia's most enjoyable mechanic - the deflection. If you time well, you can deflect almost any of the enemies' attacks. This mechanic, way more demanding than in Sekiro (lower frame windows), is crucial in fighting various bosses and minibosses in the game. You can dodge and inflict regular damage and then plague damage, but this will severely drag the battles on, so learning how to deflect is more efficient.

The enemies have another type of attack, a green charged attack that can't be deflected, instead you have to counter it with your feathers. The feathers act as a ranged option, however I found them to be very weak, so instead I grabbed a certain skill that makes you jump on the enemy when they charge attack, inflicting way more damage than the feathers. 

Finally, the bosses have one type of "red" attack that can only be dodged. However, I've seen this attack only twice on 2 bosses, so you shouldn't be too concerned with this one.

 

All these mechanics combined create a very flowy and satisfying combat. Even with the boring setting, believe me, you won't get bored by this combat at all. You can do some sick attack strings in this game!

 

 

Another unique mechanic that this game has is the Plague Weapon. Corvus can "steal" with his Claw the weapon that the enemy uses. You can use only use the stolen weapon once. However, the enemies have a chance of dropping various "weapon shards" , which allow you to craft the weapon and use it as many times as you want, provided that you have the "energy" for it - a small mana bar that depletes every time you use a Plague Weapon. There's a lot of weapons in this game, the best being by far the Scythe which recovers life per hit and the Bow which is straight up broken in terms of damage.

 

In true Souls fashion, you have a similar upgrade mechanic. Defeating enemies yields memory which can be used to upgrade one of the three stats : Strength for regular damage, Vitality for health and Plague for plague damage. Levelling up gives you one skill point, that you can allocate in a skill tree which gives you various bonuses: Dodge modifiers, larger parry windows, more plague damage etc. It's a neat skill tree but half of the options there are largely useless. I never put any point in the Feather tree and I ended up being stupidly overpowered anyway.

Finally, you use the classic potion to recover your health, these potions being replenished at the checkpoints. You have 3 types of potions: A regular potion that works like Bloodborne's vials, a long effect potion that has a long activation time but it can recover way more health over time, and a quick effect potion that instantly heals you but it does so at a smaller health rate. You can add various herbs to apply effects to the potions that you use, creating some interesting alchemical reactions.

 

The enemies in this game are...average so to speak. They are your regular spearmen, swordmen, crazy ladies with a kitchen knife, the absolute basic troops that you would find in a medieval based strategy game. They can hit like a truck however, so you should never underestimate them, no matter how dingy and scrawny they look. I was constantly taken by surprise by the crazy ladies who wield knives, my god can they shish kebab you in seconds. In places, you find minibosses, buffed up version of the enemies that you regularly encounter, who have an extended array of moves and can absolutely murder you if you are not on top of your game. Probably the most headaches I've had were with the circus ladies that kept jumping around and threw knives followed by random kicks at me.

 

Bosses in this game...they are a delight honestly. I enjoyed fighting every single one of them. They are full of personality, they are all a decent challenge and they drop fat rewards if you beat them. You can fight them as many times as you need by replaying the level. Wish they were voiced though...

 

So...this is Thymesia. An interesting experimental game, that has a fantastic gameplay but it's bogged down by a bland and uninteresting world and a defocused story. I played it as a PS Premium package so I can't complain, but if you want to purchase it, better do so at a discounted price

 

Still, this was quite an interesting experience. I wouldn't mind another game like this from Team17 if they manage to nail down the atmosphere a bit.

 

THE GOOD:

• Fantastic gameplay
• Game being on PS5 only, looks good and feels good
• Corvus has a nice design
• Very fun bosses
• The plague mechanic is actually enjoyable

THE BAD:

• Game in itself is very bland
• You won't understand what's Corvus' deal with the story

 

Recommendation - Sekiro Shadows Die Twice  the clear inspiration for this game, Sekiro is the real deal. Crazy combat, deep story, mad good bosses. A Fromsoft classic

 

[DrBloodmoney]

So.... it's set in a facsimile of Dickensian London, it's ravaged by a plague, you play a guy in a hood and a metal mask, and his name is Corvo Corvus?

 

Crikey... those devs REALLY played themselves some Dishonoured, didn't they!? 🤣

 

 

Seems alright for a quick Soulslike fix though - I'm gonna read between the lines, and say.... this is one of those "if it hits under £12, get 'er bought!" kinda deals?

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, DrBloodmoney said:

So.... it's set in a facsimile of Dickensian London, it's ravaged by a plague, you play a guy in a hood and a metal mask, and his name is Corvo Corvus?

 

Crikey... those devs REALLY played themselves some Dishonoured, didn't they!? 🤣

 

 

Seems alright for a quick Soulslike fix though - I'm gonna read between the lines, and say.... this is one of those "if it hits under £12, get 'er bought!" kinda deals?

Yep, yep, yep and uh...yep again XD Damn, all the signs should have been there, but man I forgot about Dishonoured being an influence too 😂

But yeah, if you find it at a super low price, it's worth a play! 

[FreshFromThaDeli]

On 8/16/2023 at 3:23 PM, Copanele said:

Honestly, minutes after posting that, I legit had a "oh no, wait until Deli sees this " moment  

BUT I will stand by with my take and...I don't think it's actually that hot....because while Street Fighter is ace in every other department (fame, gameplay, sales), it lacks one thing:

 

D R I P

 

Ah sorry wrong image

 

Or better put, the dress code is way better in this game  

 

As for why I love KoF more...well I played Street Fighter 6, had loads of fun with it, it will definitely be my fighting game of the year and definitely one of the best fighting games I have ever played, completed most of the World Tournament mode because that mode is hella fun screw you haters, I played a few more matches and...that's it, waiting for tournament patch. I'll try whoever comes out and mad waiting for Akuma (crossed fingers that he doesn't look like a clown SF5 style)

 

IN COMPARISON: I re-played KoF15 (PS5, dogshit online never forget) AND I started re-completing all the arcade entries INCLUDING the extra non-canon teams despite not needing it for platinum, fallen into a huge rabbit hole by watching a huge ass 4 parts KOF retrospective, each part having 2-3 hours, wishlisting the DLC, PRACTICING SOME COMBOS IN THE TRAINING MODE (when have you ever caught me doing that????) AND trying to grab some KoF merch online.

I know where my allegiances stand here ?

 

SOOOOO in conclusion:

 

 

(Sometimes I have to disagree with you, as fellow Battle Fantasia veteran ?)

Apologies for the late reply. I been so busy with work and then spending what little free time I have playing MK1 Beta. 

 

Funny you thought I would chime in when I saw your post. Your right, I did 😅 I am a bit of a hermit these days on these forums. I just read and give rep. 

 

Back to the topic. Honestly, KoF XV is a great game make no mistake. I can see why you would enjoy it more or let's say prefer it over SF. It has that fast hard rock fighting style with some real quirky sometimes goofy characters. 

 

Can't say I have been impressed with the DLC characters after Season Pass 1. Just mirrors and below average characters like Sylvie Paula Paula 🤔 Who asked for her?

[Copanele]

4 minutes ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

Can't say I have been impressed with the DLC characters after Season Pass 1. Just mirrors and below average characters like Sylvie Paula Paula 🤔 Who asked for her?

Yeaaah, I will super agree that SPP is absolutely worthless in this game. I did her combos and fumbled abit with her and...uh yeah....she is NOT fun.

There are 2 mad fun characters however - world's most lovable idiot Shingo and Kim Kaphwan, with newly animated pants. Still confused why he ain't part of a Korea team but...eh.

[AihaLoveleaf]

7 hours ago, Copanele said:

Yeaaah, I will super agree that SPP is absolutely worthless in this game. I did her combos and fumbled abit with her and...uh yeah....she is NOT fun.

Sad to hear that SPP turned out so badly when she has my favorite design:

 

Not even worth buying DLC, then.