Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[DrunkenEngineer]

If you are enjoying UC3 I think that trajectory will continue with UC4.  I recall (and it's been awhile!) the general tone of the games get's more and more mature as you move through the series.

[Copanele]

2 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said:

If you are enjoying UC3 I think that trajectory will continue with UC4.  I recall (and it's been awhile!) the general tone of the games get's more and more mature as you move through the series.

Oh thank the Lord, it means Nate graduated from highschool  😂

[Boni_Neto]

Agreed, if you think that The Last of Us is a masterpiece, you'll think the same of Uncharted 4 (I imagine). It has everything the original trilogy has and so much more, the graphics are stunning, the maps are even bigger, the story is the best one in my opinion, the villain is also great, anyway, it's an experience. Also, don't miss The Lost Legacy, many people underestimate it because Nate is not the protagonist, but the quality remains with the new duo of female protagonists. It's simply an amazing series of games.

[Copanele]

1 hour ago, Boni_Neto said:

Agreed, if you think that The Last of Us is a masterpiece, you'll think the same of Uncharted 4 (I imagine). It has everything the original trilogy has and so much more, the graphics are stunning, the maps are even bigger, the story is the best one in my opinion, the villain is also great, anyway, it's an experience. Also, don't miss The Lost Legacy, many people underestimate it because Nate is not the protagonist, but the quality remains with the new duo of female protagonists. It's simply an amazing series of games.

Will definitely play Lost Legacy too! In fact, I will straight out go for the PS5 version whenever it's discounted, it has both games in one.

At this point I gotta finish the series what a weird commitment have I gotten myself into...

[Super_Mep]

13 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said:

If you are enjoying UC3 I think that trajectory will continue with UC4.  I recall (and it's been awhile!) the general tone of the games get's more and more mature as you move through the series.

I have the unpopular opinion that I like UC3 more then UC2. The levels on the boat are awesome.

 

My quick list is: UC4, UC3, Lost Legacy, UC2, then UC1.

[graphic_violins8]

4 hours ago, Super_Mep said:

I have the unpopular opinion that I like UC3 more then UC2. The levels on the boat are awesome.

 

My quick list is: UC4, UC3, Lost Legacy, UC2, then UC1.

I was thinking of a list somewhat similar myself. But mine would be UC4, UC3, Golden Abyss, UC1 then UC2.  I haven’t finished Lost legacy tho.  I just really don’t think UC2 is much to talk about.  Maybe at the time but I think it’s been done much better since.

[Copanele]

Well...I just finished my first Uncharted 3 playthrough on Hard.

Just a light spoiler...the review for this game will not be the same as the one for Uncharted 2 😂(yeah I loved this game)

[Super_Mep]

3 hours ago, graphic_violins8 said:

I was thinking of a list somewhat similar myself. But mine would be UC4, UC3, Golden Abyss, UC1 then UC2.  I haven’t finished Lost legacy tho.  I just really don’t think UC2 is much to talk about.  Maybe at the time but I think it’s been done much better since.

I've never played Golden Abyss so I can't rank it unfortunately. I'd rank UC1 above UC2 but the clunky controls lose points in my book. But the story and set pieces I liked better in UC1.

 

In a somewhat unrelated note when I went back to try to get as many trophies as I could on the original trilogy on PS3 I must admit the using L1 and R1 for aiming and shooting was so unnatural to me but when I first played them it was fine. I got used to it just thought I'd mention that tid bit haha.

[Gommes_]

That Uncharted 2 rant was fun to read . I liked this part the best like pretty much everyone else but I don't have the strongest feeling about this franchise either. It's a fun and kinda dumbed down popcorn game. That's it. I still need to platinum part 3 though...

Edited December 10, 2023 by Gommes_

[zizimonster]

Senpai! 👋

 

I'm here, once again, to recommend another Japanese PS3 game for your backlog. Please have a look:

 

 

[Copanele]

19 hours ago, zizimonster said:

Senpai! 👋

 

I'm here, once again, to recommend another Japanese PS3 game for your backlog. Please have a look:

 

 

Interesting game, not gonna lie

Will add it to the "maybe" list, there's something about the artstyle that doesn't quite tickle my fancy. But the gameplay looks neat!

[Copanele]

No. 258 - Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception (PS4)

+ 💯completed

 

Platinum Name - Platinum

Hardest Trophy - Charted! Brutal

Difficulty - 5/10 with tweaks, 10/10 without

 

It seems that once again I disagree with the Uncharted fans here while previously I disliked the widely acclaimed Uncharted 2, I was warned that I will find Uncharted 3 "more of the same" and "if I wouldn't like the second entry, the third entry will definitely not convince me".

Well...to my surprise...I actually loved this game! Holy damn was Uncharted 3 fun!

 

Now, I can see why most of the fans weren't too charmed by this particular entry - while Uncharted 2 starts with Drake dangling for his dear life on a falling train, all bloodied and at the lowest point of his adventures, in Uncharted 3 Drake and Sully are in an English pub, trying to trade Drake's trademark ring for a huge sum of cash. Of course, the deal goes wrong and it results into a bar brawl. Compared to the bombastic and explosive start of the previous game, this one feels a little toned out, almost generic.

With one exception, that weirdly enough caught my interest even more than the falling train - why would Drake trade his most prized heirloom for cash? That sounds like a mystery!

 

Drake after saying he prefers to drink Guinness directly from the can

 

Unlike the previous game (and this will be a theme throughout this review), the story in Uncharted 3 starts slowly and slowly progresses and gets flashier later on, compared to a string of explosions, each time bigger. The story in itself is again some simple treasure hunting (finding the lost city in the desert called The Atlantis of the Sands, following Sir Francis Drake's notes, mysterious cult etc), however this time there's more focus on Drake's personality and actions: the side characters actually point out how batshit insane Drake can get and how he's always oblivious to all the dangers surrounding him and his friends. Nathan Drake himself starts to see that too and he actually starts to think if all the treasure hunting is worth putting the lives of Sully and Elena into danger.

 

Speaking of characters - they're great. Sully has way more screentime, there's a new character Charlie Cutter who simply cracked me up every time he was on the screen, Elena is just as glorious and glamorous as ever (with some oddly glowing hair) and even Drake is really likeable this time around. We get more details about his backstory, his motivation, why he's so obsessed with tracing Francis Drake's steps. The cast is really solid this time around.

 

Sadly...the villains are still cookie cutter. There's a secret society organization that doesn't really do much. The only promising character is Talbot, the English counterpart of Drake, but he's severely underutilized, as if the writers forgot to actually explain why he's so competent and does the same shenanigans as our dear protagonist. It was a missed opportunity, since Talbot was pretty much the only villain who actually was a real threat to Nathan Drake so far.

 

Slick, dangerous and underutilized

 

This kind of story and action approach also helps with the pace of the game, or rather it's my preferred way of approach: the action starts slow - English Pub, then the underground, some small chase, a French castle ; then goes strong with an impressive ship graveyard, that plane scene that's on the cover, a desert chase and finally the hidden city itself. The "pure wtf " action setpieces are used more sparingly and thus they were more impactful.

Small note - I am fairly sure that the French Chateau level was a sort of "testing ground" for the upcoming The Last of Us. That dilapidated castle gave me the "oh shit a clicker is coming" feeling

 

Using the action moments more sparingly also meant that there was a bit more of a focus on puzzles. And my god the puzzles in this game are actually entertaining. They're way more competent than the previous 2 games, you don't have the solution in Nate's magical book, you actually have to use your brain on those. Some puzzles are even impressive, like the mechanical body parts puzzle where you had to create a shadow that stabs a statue. Well done Naughty Dog, I was actually impressed this time around!

 

Now, there's not to say that Drake doesn't have his own share of insane moments - the ship graveyard is probably the most imposing level of the game and an insane playground for Drake to go shooting and looting. It has no actual story relevance, feels almost like a filler, but damn if it wasn't the most enjoyable level to play and traverse. Modern pirates aren't fooling around!

 

Yep, you have to traverse all that and reach the fancy yacht. And blow it up while you're at it

 

Where I think the game took a slight step back is the actual enemy encounters. Weapons, while good, don't feel as good as Uncharted 2. There are a wide variety of weapons but this time they felt a bit...off? And I don't mean the aiming or shooting, because the accuracy is way better. But the handling was different. Somehow the weapons in Uncharted 2 and even Uncharted 1 had more personality. Either that or I am losing my mind from all these playthroughs 😂

 

Enemies however - god they're annoying this time around. In all fairness, they're way smarter than the goons from the previous iteration and that leads to some frustrating moments, especially on harder difficulties: the dimwits can sit behind cover for minutes at a time without even taking a peek at you. The moment you try to move and lose sight of their hideout, they come out guns blazing. And in Crushing and Brutal difficulty, that's an instakill for sure. So yeah...they're smarter...and that pisses me off

 

But truly, there's only one noticeable flaw in the game - the hand-to-hand combat. It is way more fleshed out in this game and...they shouldn't have done that. Uncharted is mainly about firing guns, punching people to death should be a simple yet effective method of dispatching the "too close for my own comfort" enemies. In Uncharted 3 you have punches, counters, grabs and interactive attacks, all that sound very good on paper, until you try to run from a group of enemies and roll with circle, only for Drake to magically grab a nearby enemy (circle acts as a grab too) and get shot by the other 8 goons with machine guns. Half of the deaths in this game were caused because Drake decided to simply grab a dumbass instead of rolling around, or the enemy randomly going brawl mode and teleporting to my location with a punch, stunlocking me.

 

The other half of deaths were the iffy controls. Somehow Nathan Drake slips way more and can't grab a hold properly in this game. Or he grabs the wrong ledge instead of an escape ladder and ends up being gunned down again. The controls were a bit weird in this game...I'll blame the remaster for this one.

 

Funny enough, the horse chase scene is one of the best gameplay sections in the game

 

As for trophies...while I found Uncharted 3 to be easier overall, it had a select few bullshit moments that were more frustrating than Uncharted 2. Some parts I just died over 50 times because on Brutal I had to pray the enemy misses me (ship graveyard section where I had to hang on a ledge and shoot pirates). However the speedrun mode was way more lenient, finishing the run with 30 minutes to spare.

Now that the game is more serious and Nate is not a bumbling fool anymore, I didn't find the Donut Drake costume as funny as in Uncharted 2.

 

In the end, this game saved the series for me. I know many do not agree, but I feel that Uncharted 3 is a huge improvement over 2, even if it's not as explosive or as wow in terms of Michael Bay-isms. The miracles that a well written protagonist can do for a story...

 

I'll take a break before tackling Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy though - don't want to experience severe burnout

 

THE GOOD:

• ey we actually have good characters this time around
• explosions reduced in quantity but increased in quality
• the entire ship graveyard level
• THE DESERT
• Sully, Elena and Cutter

THE BAD:

• Chloe is severely underutilized here
• The villains feel like they had their plot dropped midway, especially Talbot
• some iffy control moments
• brawling is a pain

RECOMMENDATION - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade yes, another movie, but I feel that the relationship between Nate and Sully was inspired by this movie fantastic movie even.

Too bad they never did any other movies after the original trilogy (no, Crystal of Skull and Dial of Destiny are just bad dreams)

 

 

[Copanele]

God of War Ragnarok - Valhalla DLC

 

Hardest Trophy - God of Hope: Master Valhalla and master thyself

Difficulty - 4/10

 

The Valhalla DLC really took me by surprise. After concluding the story in Ragnarok, I was really wondering if, and more importantly HOW will Santa Monica continue the saga of bearded angry man Kratos and his teenage-finally-likeable son Atreus. But well, out of nowhere, here comes the announcement:

 

- New DLC for God of War Ragnarok....ok

- It will continue the story after the main game ... damn you got me curious there!

- It will have Roguelike elements .. Santa Monica, please, you already convinced me, don't make me buy it twice!

- IT WILL BE FREE - " insert that Vince McMahon falling off the chair gif here, actually adding it would kinda ruin the whole post 😂"

 

I have covered God of War Ragnarok in this post here and to be fair - I can't say I was a fan of it. I mean, I enjoyed the game, it was a good game, but it wasn't that "something" that I was looking for, especially when it came to combat and builds. Well, with this DLC all of the combat shame goes out the window, the roguelike element made me actually enjoy the combat and boss fighting for a change here! I can't believe that getting rid of the stupid builds would actually make the game better. At least for me. But we'll get there

 

The "Shit, here we go again" look

 

In this DLC, Kratos has been summoned by a mysterious letter to the shores of Valhalla, promising to help him "make a choice" and that Valhalla itself will bring "clarity". Since peace is rather boring for our newly retired God of War, Kratos goes to investigate only with Mimir as his companion.

I think this moment makes me appreciate Valhalla from the very start. While I enjoyed Atreus and Freya, it's actually pretty refreshing and fun to see only Kratos spreading mayhem, only with Mimir acting as a commentator/warning head. I don't have to share enemies with any other support characters, it's only me and my weapons!

 

Since Valhalla has its own rules, Kratos cannot use his beautiful sets of armor collected throughout his adventures. All of his equipment is lost, even the shield, all that Kratos retains are his 3 weapons fully maxed with all the abilities. Note: Runic attacks are NOT abilities, those will play an important part later.

 

Now, since Kratos is "naked" now, means all of his levels are gone and he's back to level 1. After the first mandatory death (because you're god of pancakes without any equipment), Freya, Sigrun and 2 other valkyries show up (obviously, since Valhalla is part of their job description if you know your Norse mythology) and explain the rules to Kratos. Valhalla has a mind of its own and what you find in each of its rooms is randomized. You can pick what shield and Rage of Sparta you want for a particular run. Runic attacks, relics, bonuses for strength dexterity etc. are all possible rewards from rooms. With each run, you get a set currency that you can spend on permanently increasing your health, rage meter and stats at an altar outside of Valhalla's entrance.

 

I absolutely love this approach. Armors have been reduced to being purely cosmetic, you can go bonkers with all your stats as long as you have the currency for it. In a way, it's like the old games where you had to trade red orbs in exchange for upgrading your weapons and damage, only now it's used for stats. Having to actually find runic attacks will set you on certain builds and approaches, similar to an actual Roguelike game. What's interesting is that this time around it's better to focus on one weapon per run rather than trying to spread your bonuses for all 3. Because you can also get bonuses like "successful running axe attack may apply a bonus of Cooldown on your runic skills" and boy you would love to have one powerful main weapon there.

 

Now, to be completely honest, this DLC has Roguelike elements, it is not a pure roguelike. Its main focus is the story, the roguelike elements are quite barebones. They get their job done, don't get me wrong, but there's no crazy  flavor or build planning here. Runic builds are still the most broken ass builds out there, maximizing Runic, Cooldown and Luck first enables you to constantly spam magic your way throughout this DLC even at a moderately high difficulty.

 

Now, where this DLC shines and in my opinion it's what kinda fixes the rushed ending of Ragnarok, it's the story.

I will have to use spoilers here though, because my god this whole DLC is a big fat spoiler:

Spoiler

Turns out that you have been summoned by Tyr, the ACTUAL Tyr, who is the Norse God of War. He wishes to help Kratos overcome his past at long last and take his position as the new Norse God of War. For that, Kratos has to overcome Valhalla, which acts as a reflection of the mind. And by that, Kratos actually has to face his old enemies and monsters from the Greek world, which is one of the most fantastic way to make a callback to the old games. An interesting bit is that one big story chunk covers the Chains of Olympus events, a game often overlooked because it wasn't deemed as important to the plot.

 

Well here, all the games get cover and shoutouts, even Ascension. It was pure perfection.

 

As for the fight with Tyr himself...holy shit you can see why he was the God of War. The best boss fight in the whole game, in my opinion easily beating Thor in terms of epicness. If you remember, Tyr was shown as being a benevolent god who traveled around the world and interacting with various civilizations. First time you fight him he uses his trademark spear and shield. But when I faced him a second time and he whipped an Aztec stone club, I actually let out a "FUCK YEAH BOY LET'S GO". It was absolutely AMAZING

 

Spoilers aside, this DLC acts like a sort of epilogue that also opens a door of insane new possibilities. The ending of this DLC really feels like a new beginning and I am so, SO glad that Santa Monica managed to pull this crazy thing off from something that kinda spelled "yeah, Kratos' story is done, we are gonna play as Atreus from now on and IIIIII Don't feel like it really". Not the case anymore

 

Now, I have seen many complaints on the forum about this DLC. Will ignore the ones that cry that this reveal "ruined their 100%", they don't matter in this discussion. What I want to cover is this - should I actually bother with this DLC? Is it worth it?

 

My answer is a big, fat, chunky, even obese YES. And the biggest reason? The DLC is free.

 

It's the biggest wtf that I had with Valhalla - why is this DLC free? This quality of writing, this new fresh approach, why would we get it for free? What's the catch Santa Monica, are you sending subliminal messages from Kratos' beard?

 

Now to be fair, AC Valhalla had a free DLC update too, "Forgotten Saga", that brought roguelike elements too. But...that one was pretty lame, it brought nothing to the story and it just reused assets from the main game, going "here, we did a roguelike now". In comparison, Santa Monica went full on quality production mode, sparing no expense and actually moving the story forward. Even more, if you really dislike the Roguelike stuff, just shove the whole thing on "Very Easy" and be done with it in 2-3 hours.

 

For me, this DLC alone actually pushes Ragnarok above GoW 2018 alone in terms of story finally. I can't recommend it enough, to the point where I'd recommend those who have the main game but not started this DLC to redownload it and play this ASAP. It's good, believe me.

 

THE GOOD:

• An unexpected "epilogue" of sorts that made me eager to see what is Santa Monica planning next
• The roguelike change made me enjoy combat more compared to the set based combat in the main game
• Final boss in the DLC is the best fight from the Norse saga for me
• THE STORY - this counts as a spoiler
• IT IS FREE!

THE "not really for me" PART BECAUSE THIS THING HAS NO BAD STUFF REALLY:

• if you truly dislike roguelikes, unexpected DLCs or Kratos being a developed character instead of a tool for mayhem or destruction, this DLC won't change your mind

[Slava]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:17 PM, Copanele said:

Uncharted 3

 

Congrats.

 

I remember watching a full playthrough of this game on IGN's separate YouTube channel (made specifically for that type of videos) pretty much the day it came out. They used to upload entire games with no commentary.

 

The plane level was indeed mind-blowing at the time. If set pieces from Uncharted 2 didn't cement Drake as an unkillable protagonist who can survive anywhere, then that part certainly did. I want that man's luck lol 😁. Anyway, that was my last time watching a Naughty Dog game on YouTube. For better or for worse, I've gotten a console by the time TLOU came out. 

 

Speaking of which,

 

On 12/13/2023 at 12:17 PM, Copanele said:

Small note - I am fairly sure that the French Chateau level was a sort of "testing ground" for the upcoming The Last of Us. That dilapidated castle gave me the "oh shit a clicker is coming" feeling

 

I'm pretty sure TLOU was in development in parallel to Uncharted 3. I also believe that was the last time they'd split the team to work on multiple projects at once. I don't know how much the teams contributed to and influenced each other's work, though. Although it wouldn't be too unnatural if there were artists who have done something for both games. At least I know that there's some kind of easter egg that references the fungus from TLOU (or something like that), it's in some newspaper you cam find in the game. 

 

On 12/13/2023 at 12:17 PM, Copanele said:

RECOMMENDATION - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

 

I still haven't watched that one. I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Temple of Doom ages ago. But not the movie that ended the trilogy. 

 

I'm doing this weird thing now. I watch stuff in release order. I want to tackle the filmographies of Scorsese and Miyazaki first, then probably Stanley Kubrick, and after that - Spielberg. Surprisingly, I haven't seen Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saving Private Ryan, or Schindler's List. So in my mind it makes sense to just watch everything including Indy and his adventures. But at the same time, it seems like I'll be done by 2049. There's always too much stuff! I'll never understand the people who say "I have nothing to watch/play" 😁.

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, Slava said:

 

Congrats.

 

I remember watching a full playthrough of this game on IGN's separate YouTube channel (made specifically for that type of videos) pretty much the day it came out. They used to upload entire games with no commentary.

 

The plane level was indeed mind-blowing at the time. If set pieces from Uncharted 2 didn't cement Drake as an unkillable protagonist who can survive anywhere, then that part certainly did. I want that man's luck lol 😁. Anyway, that was my last time watching a Naughty Dog game on YouTube. For better or for worse, I've gotten a console by the time TLOU came out. 

Yep, Drake really looks like he stacked up on a full Luck build there 😂horse shoes, rabbit feet, 4 leaves clovers, everything he could find. Man is pretty much unkillable at this point since every misfortune he somehow redirects.

Quite a good ability in his line of work

2 hours ago, Slava said:

Speaking of which,

 

 

I'm pretty sure TLOU was in development in parallel to Uncharted 3. I also believe that was the last time they'd split the team to work on multiple projects at once. I don't know how much the teams contributed to and influenced each other's work, though. Although it wouldn't be too unnatural if there were artists who have done something for both games. At least I know that there's some kind of easter egg that references the fungus from TLOU (or something like that), it's in some newspaper you cam find in the game. 

 

I managed to finally get one nod to the other games, in Uncharted 3 Drake finds "a precursor relic" which is an Assassin's Creed reference. Most of the other references flew over my head, never played other ND series other than Uncharted and the first Last of Us

 

EDIT: It's a Jak&Daxter reference lmao. Shows that I really don't know those series

2 hours ago, Slava said:

I still haven't watched that one. I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Temple of Doom ages ago. But not the movie that ended the trilogy. 

 

I'm doing this weird thing now. I watch stuff in release order. I want to tackle the filmographies of Scorsese and Miyazaki first, then probably Stanley Kubrick, and after that - Spielberg. Surprisingly, I haven't seen Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saving Private Ryan, or Schindler's List. So in my mind it makes sense to just watch everything including Indy and his adventures. But at the same time, it seems like I'll be done by 2049. There's always too much stuff! I'll never understand the people who say "I have nothing to watch/play" 😁.

 

Yeep, I promise you it will be a good watch

 

You know...I haven't seen any of the movies you mentioned either because well, I didn't have access to them. I absolutely agree with your approach, there's so much stuff to do/watch/play that you really can't get bored of...anything really. On the contrary, at times it feels like you have TOO much shit to do 😂

Even games, I have stuff that would give me occupation for at least 4-5 years. Imagine if I tap into other hobbies like movies or such

Edited December 14, 2023 by Copanele

[Platinum_Vice]

12 hours ago, Copanele said:

After the first mandatory death (because you're god of pancakes without any equipment)

 

Sounds pretty dope to me! 😅

 

12 hours ago, Copanele said:

What's the catch Santa Monica, are you sending subliminal messages from Kratos' beard?

 

Chuck Norris' beard may hide another first, but Kratos' beard is where he keeps his character development. The bigger the beard, the more complex his character becomes.

 

On 12/13/2023 at 5:17 PM, Copanele said:

[Uncharted 3]

 

Funny enough, the horse chase scene is one of the best gameplay sections in the game

 

Oh man this game had the worst story in the whole series but the gameplay was better than anything before it. 

 

Prediction: Uncharted 4 will be your favourite.

 

[Copanele]

2 minutes ago, Platinum_Vice said:

 

Oh man this game had the worst story in the whole series but the gameplay was better than anything before it. 

 

Prediction: Uncharted 4 will be your favourite.

 

You know TO BE FAIR, the story is pretty dumb to the extreme now that I think about it. The U3 secret society seems to be full of bald British people

But this time around the characters were so fun to be around that I completely ignored the story.

Hey at least I got to blow up another crazy city! That's 2 in a row!

 

Yeah, the way it sounds, Uncharted 4 might be my game.

 

5 minutes ago, Platinum_Vice said:

Chuck Norris' beard may hide another first, but Kratos' beard is where he keeps his character development. The bigger the beard, the more complex his character becomes.

Bless his beard then because that's some FINE character development. This time I'm hacking harpies as therapy 😂

[pelagia14]

On 12/14/2023 at 5:41 AM, Copanele said:

God of War Ragnarok - Valhalla DLC

 

...

 

I think this moment makes me appreciate Valhalla from the very start. While I enjoyed Atreus and Freya, it's actually pretty refreshing and fun to see only Kratos spreading mayhem, only with Mimir acting as a commentator/warning head. I don't have to share enemies with any other support characters, it's only me and my weapons!

 

"To see only Kratos spreading mayhem" - Did this DLC's "solo" experience remind you a bit of the PS3 era combat? I've only played GoW 2016 and Ragnarok, so I'm curious to know if it is somewhat reminiscent of the older games where it was just Kratos. Even if it isn't, Kratos causing chaos with Mimir's snarky commentary sounds like a fantastic time!

 

On 12/14/2023 at 5:41 AM, Copanele said:

I absolutely love this approach. Armors have been reduced to being purely cosmetic, you can go bonkers with all your stats as long as you have the currency for it. In a way, it's like the old games where you had to trade red orbs in exchange for upgrading your weapons and damage, only now it's used for stats. Having to actually find runic attacks will set you on certain builds and approaches, similar to an actual Roguelike game. What's interesting is that this time around it's better to focus on one weapon per run rather than trying to spread your bonuses for all 3. Because you can also get bonuses like "successful running axe attack may apply a bonus of Cooldown on your runic skills" and boy you would love to have one powerful main weapon there.

 

Honestly, in both of the games I played, I picked armor mostly for its appearance and then picked runestones that were geared toward my playstyle. Build craft wasn't vital to the game (especially since I was playing on Normal difficulty, I think) and so having to deal with different armor sets and upgrading them was kind of annoying to me. It's great to hear that in this DLC they have focused on weapons and combat abilities instead!

 

On 12/14/2023 at 5:41 AM, Copanele said:

Now, where this DLC shines and in my opinion it's what kinda fixes the rushed ending of Ragnarok, it's the story.

I will have to use spoilers here though, because my god this whole DLC is a big fat spoiler:

 

Spoilers aside, this DLC acts like a sort of epilogue that also opens a door of insane new possibilities. The ending of this DLC really feels like a new beginning and I am so, SO glad that Santa Monica managed to pull this crazy thing off from something that kinda spelled "yeah, Kratos' story is done, we are gonna play as Atreus from now on and IIIIII Don't feel like it really". Not the case anymore

 

//Will read the spoiler section after I finish the game.

 

I'm so excited to hear that the DLC seems to make a strong case for more Kratos-centric games. While it's possible Santa Monica could create an incredible Atreus game, Kratos is what I'm more interested in - playing as him in combat is ridiculously fun, and his gruff, pragmatic outlook cracks me up. (Plus the Atreus combat in Ragnarok wasn't a highlight for me.) Ever since Ragnarok showed us tapestries of Tyr traveling to other realms and including symbols from other mythologies like Ancient Egypt, I've been hoping that there would be a compelling reason for Kratos to explore those other mythologies. Whether or not that is the case, just knowing that Kratos' story no longer feels bookended is so exciting!

 

On 12/14/2023 at 5:41 AM, Copanele said:

For me, this DLC alone actually pushes Ragnarok above GoW 2018 alone in terms of story finally. I can't recommend it enough, to the point where I'd recommend those who have the main game but not started this DLC to redownload it and play this ASAP. It's good, believe me.

 

THE GOOD:

• An unexpected "epilogue" of sorts that made me eager to see what is Santa Monica planning next
• The roguelike change made me enjoy combat more compared to the set based combat in the main game
• Final boss in the DLC is the best fight from the Norse saga for me

 

I'm trying to wrap up a few last 2023 PSNP Challenges, but this is definitely going to be at the top of my gaming list for January!

 

Also - the final boss was the best fight in the Norse Saga for you!? 😲 Considering the Norse Saga has a couple of pretty epic fights already, I'm even more excited to get around to the DLC now!

[jonesey46]

What were your roadmaps for the uncharted games? How many playthroughs? I'm surprised how quickly you managed to finish U3 actually. Great work! 

[Copanele]

2 hours ago, pelagia14 said:

 

"To see only Kratos spreading mayhem" - Did this DLC's "solo" experience remind you a bit of the PS3 era combat? I've only played GoW 2016 and Ragnarok, so I'm curious to know if it is somewhat reminiscent of the older games where it was just Kratos. Even if it isn't, Kratos causing chaos with Mimir's snarky commentary sounds like a fantastic time!

 

Yes and no. It reminded me of the old era but I can't tell why because spoilers  

What I meant mostly is, when with Atreus/Freya, Kratos always felt like he has to "tone it down", don't be too nasty in front of others. But with Mimir, it's "me and the boys" vibes 😂

 

Of course, Kratos himself doesn't change in behavior, but I just liked the idea. 

2 hours ago, pelagia14 said:

Honestly, in both of the games I played, I picked armor mostly for its appearance and then picked runestones that were geared toward my playstyle. Build craft wasn't vital to the game (especially since I was playing on Normal difficulty, I think) and so having to deal with different armor sets and upgrading them was kind of annoying to me. It's great to hear that in this DLC they have focused on weapons and combat abilities instead!

 

One thing that annoyed me were the "menus" and the whole RPG aspect, it felt too stuffy for a God of War game and you needed stats and armor combinations in order to make Kratos powerful? What???

 

In comparison, the DLC is braindead fun - put strength point so that Kratos' beard can punch harder. Easy and to the point. No need to go full on "If I put the Dreki helm with Sindri's underwear I get a +5 to luck" silly stuff.

2 hours ago, pelagia14 said:

//Will read the spoiler section after I finish the game.

 

I'm so excited to hear that the DLC seems to make a strong case for more Kratos-centric games. While it's possible Santa Monica could create an incredible Atreus game, Kratos is what I'm more interested in - playing as him in combat is ridiculously fun, and his gruff, pragmatic outlook cracks me up. (Plus the Atreus combat in Ragnarok wasn't a highlight for me.) Ever since Ragnarok showed us tapestries of Tyr traveling to other realms and including symbols from other mythologies like Ancient Egypt, I've been hoping that there would be a compelling reason for Kratos to explore those other mythologies. Whether or not that is the case, just knowing that Kratos' story no longer feels bookended is so exciting!

 

EXACTLY THAT!

 

I have no problem with Santa Monica going with some Atreus games, as long as they don't call that God of War. That would be an awful decision imo.

 

But Kratos' story is not so done anymore and boy oh boy do I love that! Especially because of Tyr tapestry,  

 

You have NO idea how hard it is for me not to spoil stuff.

2 hours ago, pelagia14 said:

I'm trying to wrap up a few last 2023 PSNP Challenges, but this is definitely going to be at the top of my gaming list for January!

 

Also - the final boss was the best fight in the Norse Saga for you!? 😲 Considering the Norse Saga has a couple of pretty epic fights already, I'm even more excited to get around to the DLC now!

 

So, this is purely my opinion, but the only fight that felt 100% satisfying was the Thor fight in the whole saga. The Valkyries and the Berserkers felt challenging, yes, but you know...once you see Kratos beating the shit out of Hercules or defeating Cronos in GoW 3...fighting warrior ladies with wings and the Norse embodiment of Connor McGregor doesn't hit quite right. 

Thor was the only imposing one out there. I really felt like I was fighting a GOD.

 

The DLC boss gave me the same vibe, even more. The boss is not something mad crazy or epic or "wow Kratos barely won", but you again feel that you fought something BIG in terms of importance.

 

Hope it makes sense  

 

 

1 hour ago, jonesey46 said:

What were your roadmaps for the uncharted games? How many playthroughs? I'm surprised how quickly you managed to finish U3 actually. Great work! 

I finished U3 because I was super trained by U2. At that point it was really a breeze.

Here's how I played it, please don't laugh at me 😂

 

UNCHARTED 1:

• first playthrough on Normal difficulty, play casually
• second playthrough on Hard, get all collectibles and unlock tweaks
• third playthrough on Crushing, with tweaks
• fourth playthrough on Brutal, with tweaks
• fifth playthrough Speedrun Mode
• cleanup for anything that I've missed

UNCHARTED 2:

• first playthrough on Normal difficulty, play casually
• second playthrough on Hard, get all collectibles and unlock tweaks
• discover that I am an absolute dumbass and I have an already patched version of the game, so third playthrough on Hard on a different version of the game
• fourth playthrough on Crushing with tweaks (game downgraded)
• fifth playthrough on Brutal with tweaks (game downgraded)
• sixth playthrough Speedrun Mode
• cleanup for anything that I've missed

UNCHARTED 3:

• Since I am Nathan "Wick" Drake at this point, first playthrough on Hard
• Second playthrough on Crushing with tweaks
• Third playthrough on Brutal with tweaks
• Fourth playthrough Speedrun Mode
• cleanup for anything that I've missed

 

Believe me, it helped immensely that the games' combat is so satisfying 😂

[Copanele]

 No. 259 - Blade Arcus from Shining EX

Platinum Name - Shining Master

Hardest Trophy -  All-round master - finish Arena mode with all characters

Difficulty - 7.5/10

 

Did I mention before how participating into the A-Z Platinum/Non-plat/Platinum Name challenges made me discover fascinating games that I wouldn't have encountered otherwise? Well hot damn it do be like that sometimes 😂 another perfect example here is Blade Arcus from Shining EX, a JP only fighting game that I bought for my "Non-english" entry for one of the events. It was a fighting game, it was UR, you bet I wanted it.

I played the newer version Rebellion From Shining, covered in this review. I thought it was a neat little game, but it didn't quite stick to my mind. Well the EX version finally did because of one reason - it was damn tough this time around  

 

Your average game where an elf goth lolita uses an explosive umbrella against a kung fu master with lightning kicks

 

Now, do not ask me what happens in this game, because I am not proficient in the Ancient calligraphy arts of the Land of the Rising Sun. Basically, some sexy ladies, buff dudes, a magic midget and a wolf are fighting with each other in order to find some magical stones or something. At the end of their journey they fight their dark counterparts. It's all fine, dandy and skippable, all I am here for is the gameplay.

 

And gameplay is...well for once it is fun and for twice it is busted. The controls are crisp, you use square, triangle and circle for light, medium and heavy punches and with X you call in your support to whack the opponent. I could say that the controls can be abit unforgiving at times, you really need proper timing in this game, else you'll drop your combo and your health bar instantly.

The reason why I said this game is also busted is because with some characters you can actually kill the opponent in 3 combos. And I don't mean some fancy mad combos, I mean 2 hits cancelled into a grab kind of combo. The game is borderline kusoge and while it was fixed a bit in the Rebellion From Shining version, some characters are simply busted. Characters like Rage or Sakuya can win entire games without even breaking a sweat, while characters like Misty, Melty and Rouna have to bust their asses for some measly combos that do 1/8 damage.

Too bad that icecream does pitiful damage compared to the eyepatch guy's laser of murder

Compared to Rebellion, this game is very barebones - you only have Arcade, Versus and Arena Mode. Winning in each of the modes will give you money to buy totally nice totally not family friendly 😏artwork to marvel at. However, for the purpose of the platinum here, we'll only discuss Arena Mode

 

Arena Mode is the game's Survival mode, where you have to defeat 30 opponents in a row with 2 health bars, health bar regenerating depending on how much time you spent on fights. Basically the faster you kill the opponent the more HP you will get back. The first 15 fights or so are pretty chill, things getting more and more serious as you progress through the Arena Mode. Stages 27-30 are absolute nightmares, where the AI can rip you to shreds in a few combos. The best part? You have to do this with all 15 characters.

 

And this is where I kinda fell in love with this game. If the controls are tight I can enjoy a good survival mode, it was a similar experience with Persona 4 Arena. Having to finish with all 15 characters...woo boy did I have to learn some of them. Some characters like Rage, Dylan or especially Sakuya were "one-button kill", all I had to do was pressing some buttons, maybe a super and then that's it I won. Others however...the shithead Melty from above is absolutely useless and you need to play 5D chess in order to be moderately proficient with her. Or the sexy fox maid ninja Rouna, whose damage is so pitiful you need to pray to the gods of Anime that the AI remains dumb and continues to run into your attack.

Or...you can simply be unlucky. In my run with Rick, a dude with a sword and shield, despite winning, I was one fart away from death each time because the AI decided to be more asshole than usual. I have this example here ,timestamped where it matters. The AI just ass blasted me with all of the attacks available before I even managed to attack properly:

Bruh let me attack!

 

Despite all that, I loved learning and figuring out how to control each character. It is weird how I find enjoyment in the simplest of games  

Despite all that, which might be a shock (not really), I recommend skipping this one. It's only in JP stores, you won't understand a thing and the Arena mode will appeal only to fighting game fans that want an UR as well 😅 It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but you really need to accomplish too many conditions in order to like it.

Being eager to play silly fighting games is one of those conditions

 

THE GOOD(SAME AS REBELLION FROM SHINING):

 

• Quite a solid fighting game
• Fun gameplay
• A diverse cast with unique characters

THE BAD:

• Truly a barebones experience

THE UNCULTURED:

• Without Japanese lessons you won't understand the story. Thankfully the menu is in English

RECOMMENDATION - Chaos Code New Signs of Catastrophe  I have an unnatural love for this game  too bad there's barely any progress with the sequel. Or merch. 

[Copanele]

2023 Game of the Year Awards

(my art keeps getting better and better)

Welcome, welcome, to the 2023 Game of the Year Awards, Copanele Edition, where I praise, or kick around, all the games that I've been playing this year. 

Compared to 2021 and 2022 editions, I feel that 2023 was even better, I really enjoyed a lot of the games I've played this year. Also this is the year where I also upgraded to a PS5 so you know what that means: I get to play old games on a brand new system!

 

First, the games that populated my list this year:

JANUARY

• Shadow Man: The Horror DLC
• SkyScrappers
• Dead or Alive 6
• Melty Blood: Type Lumina
• DNF Duel
• Phantom Breaker: Omnia
• Darksiders Warmaster Edition
• Street Fighter x Tekken
• Kill la Kill: IF
• Chaos Code
• Dead or School

FEBRUARY

• Wildcat Gun Machine
• Street Fighter IV
• One Piece Burning Blood
• LIT Bend the Light
• Doodle God

MARCH

• Dragon Ball Raging Blast
• Yakuza 5
• Yakuza 6 The Song of Life
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore Black Dahlia DLC

APRIL

• PS5 acquisition (not a platinum)
• Dead or Alive 5
• Demon's Souls PS5
• Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver DLC

MAY

• Devil May Cry 5 PS5
• Marvel vs Capcom 3
• Cult of the Lamb: Relics of the Old Faith DLC
• Metal Hellsinger
• Hades PS5

JUNE

• Horizon Forbidden West
• Arcade Archives: Savage Reign
• Arcade Archives: Kizuna Encounter
• The Rumble Fish 2

JULY

• Guilty Gear Strive PS5
• Demon's Souls PS3
• Egg Runner
• Blade Arcus Rebellion From Shining
• Soulstice

AUGUST

• Hawken
• Tunche
• The King of Fighters XV PS5
• Verdict Guilty
• Thymesia
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Turok
• Dark Awake: The King Has No Name

SEPTEMBER

• Million Arthur Arcana Blood
• Sonic the Fighters  
• Street Fighter 6
• Vambrace Cold Soul
• Street Fighter 3rd Strike
• Girl Fight
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD Version
• My Hero One's Justice 2
• Feeding Frenzy 2
• Xenon Racer
• Puss in Boots
• Ricochet HD

OCTOBER

• Hampuzz
• International Snooker
• Ziggurat
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R
• Ghost of a Tale

NOVEMBER 

• Uno
• Diablo II Resurrected
• Hidden Cats in London
• SoulCalibur V
• Black&White Bushido
• Assassin's Creed Mirage
• Zeno Clash II
• Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax
• Dead or Alive Ultimate
• Dead or Alive Last Round

DECEMBER

• Uncharted 2 Among Thieves
• Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception
• God of War Ragnarok:Valhalla DLC
• Blade Arcus from Shining EX

 

Now that I covered all the games, with links to the posts, it's time to finally share my picks for this year. 

Definitely copying the format from last year with:

 

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK - EASIEST PLATINUM/100%

Sonic the Fighters

 

While some could swear on Sonic's blessed red shoes that this game is a combo-heavy intricate game, the trophy list itself takes between 5 and 10 minutes to 100%, depending on how much you're laughing while you frame perfect donkey kick the characters with Amy's polygonal Timbers. Quality aside, this really IS the easiest game I had to complete this year.

HONORABLE MENTION - Girl Fight

While my jokes about Sonic comes from a place of love(no, really), I don't feel like joking about this silly ass game that brings nothing memorable to the table. The only joke is the trophy list, which I turbo'd most of the time. Shows how good the game is...

 

WHY ARE WE STILL HERE? JUST TO SUFFER? - HARDEST PLATINUM

Dead or Alive 5

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, this game really tested my fingers. DoA5 the original release is a cruel and unforgiving game that will trash you at every step while its pretty girls smile, giggle and bounce around. It's one of the few games that actually deserves its 10/10 in terms of difficulty, mainly because of its 100 matches in a row Survival mode with an AI so evil it can end your run in mere seconds.

Still a fantastic challenge  

HONORABLE MENTION - Dragon Ball Raging Blast

This lost by a small margin to DoA5, but mainly because you can somewhat exploit the AI after you lose 10000 times. Unlike DoA5, this game was not a joy to play, it had a hard trophy list for all the wrong reasons.

We'll see this bad boy later down the road...

 

BACK TO THE MINES - GRINDIEST PLATINUM

Diablo II Resurrected

535 hours. That's how much it took to get the platinum for this monster. Beating Hell with every character and especially reaching level 99 with a hardcore character was a half year task. And it was "only" half a year because the game was patched to give you more exp now. Imagine how it was before.

Still, I'll take these hours over the 3000 hours that it would actually have required.

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Yakuza 5

5 characters, 5 time the grind, 5 time the minigames. Yakuza 5 is probably the most demanding Yakuza of them all, you having to 100% everything in this game. It took a while.

Also, why is Pachinko a thing, Japan? Why do you insist on focusing on that shitty ass balls game? I know the gambling laws are cruel there but still!

 

A SIGHT TO BEHOLD - PRETTIEST GAME

Assassin's Creed Mirage

 

I am not quite sure how Ubisoft managed to pull this off...but man was this game BEAUTIFUL. It was a while since I have been utterly enamored by an AC game. For me, "the return to the roots" actually worked when it came to this game, a smaller map meant more effort concentrated in one spot. Baghdad was an absolute treat to traverse.

Even the surrounding desert, as empty as it was, had some beautiful vistas to screenshot and admire.

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Horizon Forbidden West

Despite my grievances with this game, even I can't deny that it looks fantastic. The wilderness, the robots, the weird cities...graphics is definitely one of the departments where Horizon always excelled.

 

MUSIC TO MY EARS - BEST SOUNDTRACK

METAL HELLSINGER

It would be a crime against the drum ear to play this game and not give it the award for the absolutely most banger soundtrack. A hectic rhythm based FPS on the music of Stygia, Trivium or System of a Down only deserves the top spot.

I only wish my skills would've matched the glory of this game  

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Yakuza 5

 

Typical of a Yakuza game, the soundtrack will always be fire. 

And oddly enough, I even enjoyed Haruka's pop idol songs 😂 it's hilarious, since this is probably my least favorite Yakuza game, yet it got 2 mentions already

 

SMOKING SEXY STYLE - BEST GAMEPLAY

Street Fighter 6

 

I do believe that Street Fighter 6 truly re-re-revolutionized the fighting game scene by raising the standards so much it actually might pose a problem to the other fighting game companies. A fully fleshed fully interactive story mode, actually working fun lobbies (unless you go for tournaments), a silly customizable character and probably the most fun and satisfying gameplay out there. The game gives you all the tools and more to enjoy the game at its fullest, you can feel the oomph behind the hits and the Drive Impact mechanic is the most fun "GET BLASTED FOOL" attack I've ever met so far.

 

Well done Capcom!

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Demon's Souls PS5

 

Although there were more games with bigger and better gameplay out there, I have to give the mention to Demon's Souls remake simply because of how they improved the gameplay over the original. While I love the old game more, even I have to admit that the gameplay wasn't exactly the best out there. The jump in quality was substantial for me.

 

STAY AWHILE AND LISTEN... - BEST STORY

Soulstice

 

A game that I truly wish it was more polished, Soulstice follows the story of half man half monster fighter Briar and her ghost sister Lute. The story is heavily inspired from the manga Claymore with a few dashes of Berserk. It's a sad, captivating and exciting story with quite memorable characters. This is one of the few games where I am looking forward to a sequel.

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Ghost of a Tale

 

Who would've thought that a story of a captive minstrel mouse trying to find his wife would catch me like that. This is a one-man game that has a surprisingly deep lore hidden at every step, further enhanced by the well written characters. You truly don't need many words to convey a good story.

 

MEMORABLE FIGURES - BEST CHARACTERS

Briar & Lute (Soulstice)

 

Among all the characters I had the pleasure to play as, Briar and Lute stood out the most to me. It's a rare case where the sisterly bond is actually written correctly, showing each sister's part of the story and how they best work together. This is even present in a gameplay section via  a "synergy" bar. 

Again, what a great underrated game this was...

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza 6)

 

I feel that Yakuza 6 is "peak Kiryu" for me (of course, out of all Yakuza games that I played so far). Suddenly promoted to the "dad of Dojima", Kiryu has an unexpected challenge this time, having to find out what happened to Haruka and what's the deal with the little child. In pure Yakuza fashion, this involves beatdowns, feelings, drinking minigames and a ship. Fantastic ending also.

 

THIS IS WHY I LOVE VIDEOGAMES - THE MOST SATISFYING EXPERIENCE

Diablo II Resurrected

 

Blizzard has been notoriously destructive when it came to their old IPs, best example being Warcraft III Reforged that scored a ridiculous 0.5/10, and for good reason: The remastered game was in every way an insulting version of the original. So when I heard that there will be a remaster/remake of the widely acclaimed Diablo 2, a game dear to me, I kinda quaked in me boots.

 

Well...it wasn't the case. Diablo 2 Resurrected was in every way a fantastic remaster and a true love letter to the classic. In my eyes, this is how a remaster should be, it has to give you the "i swear to god this is how I remember the game" feeling when you don't really remember anything but the good bits. Everything was top quality, all the good mechanics were left intact and there were even some neat mechanics added (like Terror Zones). From the first until the last hour, this game has been an absolute treat.

(also knowing that Blizzard will inevitably fuck this game up too, I rushed towards completing it  )

 

HONORABLE MENTION - Street Fighter 6

 

Street Fighter 6 was the game that make me go "you know, maybe sometimes it's good that they don't make games like they used to anymore" because dear god this was such a fun game to play! Never would have thought that I'd end up playing as a buff Italian girl that uses the Greek Pankration fighting style and her main strategy is "PUNCH. HARD".

 

This game was such a blast....even the shitty Tournaments that kept disconnecting, getting a win there felt GOOD.

 

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? - BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE YEAR

Ghost of a Tale

 

You know that moment when you start a game expecting to have a moderately good time and you're simply blown away because of how much fun you're having? Well, Ghost of a Tale was exactly this: a game with a simple premise (mouse out of the jail) that quickly turns into a stealth adventure simulator with a dash of Dark Souls interconnectivity and storytelling. A game that's so compelling it actually made me eager to see a sequel for it.

 

Really, why didn't I play this game until now?

 

HONORABLE MENTION 1 - ASSASSIN'S CREED MIRAGE

 

It is safe to say that I kinda lost my faith in the Assassin's Creed series with the latest entries. While Origins was good but too close to nonsense for my own taste, Odyssey completely dropped the whole "Assassins" schticks and delivered a fun game that has nothing in common with the series. And Valhalla..well...Valhalla was its own can of bloated worms. 

When I played Assassin's Creed Mirage however...it really felt like a proper Assassin's game. Fun city ready to be explored, actual assassination planning, Basim not being an immortal god emperor of mankind... it really was a great AC game.

Probably the last good one we'll see for a long time too 😂

 

HONORABLE MENTION 2 - SHADOWMAN THE HORROR DLC

 

It wasn't enough for Nightdive studios to deliver one of their best remasters ever with the classic Shadow Man. Nuh-uh, it wasn't enough that they reinstated scrapped levels and a boss fight and straight out fixed the controls and the collectibles and added the physical map in the game. No sir, they also had to get some concept arts from the old developers, use those concept arts to add a brand new boss that is lore related and was never seen before AND add a new difficulty mode so brutal that you really have to rethink the way you play this game. The nerve!

 

You know, they announced the release of Turok 3 Remastered. I think I'll pay full price for that game. Nightdive studios has one odd habit of releasing pure quality. I don't want them to stop 😂 can't believe how much passion these people have for the old games!

MY DISAPPOINTMENT IS IMMEASURABLE... - MOST DISAPPOINTING GAME

Horizon: Forbidden West

 

And now for the "ugly" section of the awards - the game that disappointed me the most was Horizon Forbidden West. In my opinion, this game had none of the charm of the previous game. Here Aloy was a "know-it-all" Mary Sue that could defeat anything and everything, the plot was absolutely stupid, the sidequests and characters were blander than a slice of white bread. In fact, only the graphics and shooting megazords with a bow is what saved this game from a total snoozefest.

 

The DLC was a different beast altogether, with a relationship so forced I legit loved being the smug and asshole Aloy for once. The Hollywood map did not improve the mood at all and the final boss, although spectacular, just enforced the fact that Aloy is a goddess among peasants that cannot be killed by anything.

So...no. I will definitely not play Horizon 3, whenever that will come out.

 

DISHONORABLE MENTION - Dragon Ball Raging Blast

 

This game is in a league of its own when it comes to disappointment. As a game adaptation, it's 100% faithful to the source material, to the point where that's a disappointment too, you being forced to fight battles that take no more than 5 minutes in the anime. An anime who prides itself with having a multiple episodes battle.

 

Add in shitty controls and frustrating camera and you have a crappy Dragon Ball Z game on your hands

 

...AND MY DAY IS RUINED - WORST TROPHY LIST

 

Dragon Ball Raging Blast

 

While it barely secured the second spot as the most disappointing game of 2023 for me, the platinum was by far the absolute worst I had to deal with this year. Having to finish all 100+ battles in story mode twice (once on Hard mode), having to perform all moves on a crazy AI, a minigame more painful than the beatdown Mr Satan regularly gets from others and by far the insane requirement of destroying all the destructible objects on all maps in the game, with no way of tracking what you destroyed or if it even counted, makes this game the absolute worst in terms of trophies. 

 

I legit need to sell this game so I will remove the possible curses it may have.

 

DISHONORABLE MENTION - SoulCalibur V

 

Despite my attempts to enjoy the game...man did this platinum suck complete ass! Having to play a lot of online matches with crappy connectivity was painful enough, but having to defeat 240 random AI opponents, half of them being cheap bastards that were straight out cheating the system? Utter pain.

I wouldn't say that the game itself was that bad, but damn it if its trophies didn't try to hinder me at every step.

 

WORST GAME OF THE YEAR 2023

 

Dragon Ball Raging Blast

 

There's not a shadow of a doubt for me - Dragon Ball Raging Blast has been the worst experience I had this whole year. Awful camera, broken AI, tons of unpleasant gameplay moments and trophies so bad I considered hiding this game,  a thing I never would even think of. I struggled through it but I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone that respects their own time.

 

There's quite a few good Dragon Ball fighting games, this one is not one of them.

 

BEST GAME OF THE YEAR 2023

Diablo II Resurrected

 

I initially planned on doing some semi-pompous presentation, like nominations, who might it be? Would I consider Ghost of a Tale a good contender? Or maybe Street Fighter 6.

But no, this year there's no need to pretend - Diablo II Resurrected is the true game that occupied most of my year, playing and playing day and night, grinding away for the elusive level 99 and those beautiful uniques, building my characters, figuring out strategies and hoping that I get all the good stuff eventually (still haven't gotten my Herald of Zakarum shield).

 

What makes this game the true GOTY for me...is that even after those aforementioned 535 hours, I still wasn't bored. Really, if I haven't forced myself to move on already and play other games I would've probably still farmed for...god knows what. This game was so good it started to get dangerous  

 

Definitely not a game for those who value their time, Diablo II Resurrected continues the legacy of old but gold dungeon crawling and it truly shined for me, in a year of good games. Well done!

 

 

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

 

So, this wraps up 2023 i terms of gaming for me. A year where my mood for pressing buttons didn't seem to stop at all, even more, I got more and more motivated to find fun games and experiences. 

It's really a pleasure to keep writing about silly stuff here, but it would be impolite to not mention the people that influence the need for ramble and purse abuse. So, in no particular order:

• @AihaLoveleaf, @Honor_Hand, @Yuber6969 - the main victims of  "LOOK WHAT I GOT IN DIABLO 2" screenshots and for helping me with the most obscure gaming requirements/challenges/translations
• @DrBloodmoney, @Platinum_Vice, @YaManSmevz, @The_Kopite, @Billie__227, @DrunkenEngineer, @PlutoRico, @KindaSabbath, @rjkclarke, @Shrooba for being the "you goddamn donkey " voice in my head whenever I say Uncharted 2 sucks ass
• @Destructor-8 because I warned you 😂 Garfield Furious Kart when?
• @PooPooBlast for being the most pleasant person to disagree with, ever. Even in terms of Yakuza
• @MissShake for being the most unexpected Jamie dance partner and always be up for some stupid grind at stupid hours
• @Gommes_ for always being there when I need help with some rowdy online, even if SoulCalibur 5 finally defeated our European alliance  
• @Zguvat because I know he'll read this and go "Hitman Blood Money when?" and I just love to refuse him
• @zizimonster , one day I WILL play a game recommended by you, I swear 😂
• @FreshFromThaDeli for being one of the most passionate fighting game players out there, even if don't share his love for SF5 or MK 💔
• @Slava because the rum is gone and I realized that he's a fellow "hard to get bored" player  
• all of you that I interacted with and somehow missed because I had just a bit too many glasses of rum with cola and my memory sucks at this moment. If I did skip, it was not intentional

 

Thanks again for sharing this passion and joining up with a comment or a reply here, it's what makes this hobby fun. I wish you all happy holidays and a bountiful server-shutdown-free 2024  

Edited December 20, 2023 by Copanele

[zizimonster]

1 hour ago, Copanele said:

one day I WILL play a game recommended by you, I swear 😂

So far, I have recommended three games: Drakengard 3, Onechanbara Z: Kagura, and Killer is Dead. You can choose at least one. 😅

[Copanele]

Just now, zizimonster said:

So far, I have recommended three games: Drakengard 3, Onechanbara Z: Kagura, and Killer is Dead. You can choose at least one. 😅

I choose Aquapazza 😂

[Gommes_]

That was a great read mate! Even if Namco defeated us hit me up any time