Copanele's collection of trophies and experiences

[Copanele]

 No. 277 - 60 Seconds! Reatomized

 

Platinum Name -  King of Cans

Hardest Trophy - Dead Hand - win a game in every mode in Tsar Bomba difficulty

Difficulty - 4/10 - RNG can mess you up

 

In order to avoid @Yuber6969's ordeals with 3D Dot Heroes for the A-Z Challenge (and spare my wallet from a massive money waste), I decided instead to tackle this fun bunker-centered game. And boy am I glad that I did that, because not only is this game way easier than expected...but also actually enjoyable!

 

In 60 Seconds! Reatomized, which is a re-release of the 60 Seconds! game, you play as a family of four who has to take cover in a nuclear bunker after a nuke drops on their house. You have the protective, if rather useless father Ted, the overbearing mother Dolores, the little boy Timmy and the annoying tuba playing daughter Mary Jane. Your target is to ratio your food and drink between the family members and partake in various actions that will either lead you to your salvation or to your doom. All of these actions and events are governed by the almighty RNG so no two runs are truly the same.

 

Finally, the family is all together. Maybe not in the best of circumstances though...

 

The full game experience has 2 modes: Scavenge and Survival. In Scavenge mode you are a race against the clock, to collect as many family members and items as possible and drop them into your bunker. You have 60 seconds before the nuke drops. This will put an interesting pressure on you, because you will have to prioritize certain items: do you grab the cans of soup and bottles of water, or do you grab the suitcase and the map? Should you pick the gun or the axe? You definitely cannot get all the items in time, but all of the items are easily recoverable through your trips in the wasteland in Survival mode.

 

What can't be recovered are the family members: in order to survive, you need at least 1 parent, either Ted or Dolores. You can save all the family members or you can save none and just jump into the bunker all by yourself, choice is yours. 

 

Bug spray, wife and a bottle of water. Survivability guaranteed.

 

Survival Mode is the true meat of the game. You sit in the bunker while days are passing by, trying your best to use your items as wisely as possible. Your main target is to keep everyone fed and healthy, using the cans of soup as food and bottles of water as drink. The family members will tell you all of their needs, whether they are hungry, thirst, sick or hurt. Fail to feed them or treat them and they will die or run away. 

 

Rationing the food is the biggest dilemma you will face in this game: having all 4 members active means a serious dent in your supplies. Having only one or 2 members ensures survivability, but also a string of unwanted side results. Certain family members have certain quests which can't be fulfilled if they are dead or missing, and lower number of family members means a toll on your sanity. 

You can also send family members to scavenging hunts, where they might return with various items, OR they can be captured or killed. RNG is a cruel mistress in this game and it hits the worst when you send your happy family members away.

 

You have several items at your disposal that will prolong your survivability and even be key components of your escape. The ever-trusty radio is used to catch Army messages or, why not, even alien signals. The axe and gun are self-explanatory, perfect when it comes to defending the bunker from raiders. A map will always prove to be invaluable when it comes to exploration (and why not, even helping others!), and a Scout Guidebook can turn into the most lethal of weapons when it comes to dealing with spiders, mutated bugs or even learning how to fix a leaking.

 

Not many options for Timmy's birthday...

 

There are a lot of events in this game and you will have to learn which ones are worth doing. There are several rescue parties (Army, refugees) that will react to you if you fulfill their quests (give them items, listen to broadcasts etc). You will also have to deal with various merchants and NPCs roaming the wasteland and contacting you, some of them trading you or simply looking to swindle you. Of course, raider parties are also a massive inconvenience, always attacking when you least expecting and trashing your camp if you have no defensive manners (leading to a Game Over most of the time). And then there's the family interactions, where you carefully have to decide what's best for your family - playing charades with Timmy is good for his sanity, however you can randomly knock over and break that medkit that was crucial in healing Dolores' scratches.

 

There's a lot of RNG involved, however after a while you will slowly predict how the events will unfold. There are several secret hilarious endings too, most of them involving a russian cat, so make sure to keep an eye for those!

 

Just don't ask what happened to Mary Jane...

 

I have to say, this game actually was a great time! From hilarious encounters to Ted going constantly crazy and talking to a sock, finding a dog Pancake who proceeded to eat our resources and find random bullets, this game was surprisingly fun! There were some annoying events here and there (Ted refusing to shave his beard with the axe no matter how much I waited), but overall this is a really well made game that doesn't overstay its welcome. So, at a discount, give it a go!

 

THE GOOD:

• surprisingly fun gameplay loop
• lots of decision making that hits the perfect middle ground of relaxing but not TOO relaxing
• hilarious endings
• the music 

THE BAD:

• being a RNG based game, you will have some nasty runs no matter what you do
• it might remind you of the whole COVID quarantine stuff

RECOMMENDATION - Papers Please  Honestly...I had no other idea in mind. This one is on a Vita, I played it on PC, it's one of the best "border control" games ever

 

 

[Yuber6969]

Congrats! You sold me even more on the game. I wish I knew about it before spending so much time and money on 3D Dot. Can save scumming make a big difference in the time to plat?

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, Yuber6969 said:

Congrats! You sold me even more on the game. I wish I knew about it before spending so much time and money on 3D Dot. Can save scumming make a big difference in the time to plat?

Without save scum it took me 1 day and 20 hours (enjoying it at my leisure, so it doesn't make that much of a difference), but in some instances it can actually save you some time.

 

For instance, there's this trophy  Lumbersexual (the only one where I tried savescumming too) where you have to shave Ted's beard with an axe. Ted's beard fully grows around day 40. From that point it's only a matter of RNG until you get the notification that Ted wants to shave with his axe. Normally you have a 50/50 chance of success (Ted can either successfully shave OR get hurt in the process). 

Once that event occurs, I quit to the main menu, backup my save to the cloud, reload and check the event. If the event fails (happened to me twice) I just redownload the save and try again.

 

There are a few trophies where savescumming makes your life easier, but usually the runs are so quick you won't need to resort to it, unless RNG REALLY hates you  

[Copanele]

Goddamn is it GOOD when you see the PS3 game lists thinning out. 

Under 10 games left out there, hope it remains this way 😂

 

 No. 278 - Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage

 

Platinum Name - Ultimate Rage Master

Hardest Trophy -  Whomp Raoh - defeat Raoh in Kenshiro's Legend mode

Difficulty - 3/10

 

I really struggled when deciding if I should play this game. On one hand, I absolutely love Fist of the North Star, it's one of the mangas of old with a deceptively deep story, covering the misfortunes of Kenshiro, the successor and master of Hokuto Shinken, a forbidden fighting style. The manga covers his quest of finding his lost love Yuria in a world devastated by nuclear wars. It's one of my favorite mangas out there, being outclassed only by stuff like Berserk.

On the other hand...this is a Musou game. I have a kind of disdain towards Dynasty Warriors type of games, where you kill 10000000000000000000000000 enemies by spamming a button and conquering zones. The one exception to the Musou genre is Berserk Band of the Hawk, a game that I actually enjoyed, but I believe it's mostly because of the IP itself, otherwise I loathe these types of games because they're way too braindead even for me.

 

In the end, I caved in and picked up the game. As grindy as it is, it's a game with Kenshiro, so it can't be that bad. Well...it wasn't really bad...but I can't say it was really good either. Somewhere in the middle  

 

 

Time to charge up and poke enemies to death

 

The game has 2 modes: Legend Mode and Dream Mode.

 

In Legend Mode, you play through the entire story of Kenshiro, which is pretty well covered. You get all the important moments from the manga, from Kenshiro saving Bat and Rin to meeting Rei, battling Jagi, finding his lost brother Toki, clashing with Thouzer and finally facing his big brother and sword rival Raoh. I was actually surprised by the quality of the cutscenes and the faithfulness of the characters. One extra point goes to Mamiya, the beautiful yet deadly female leader of an impoverished village. Holy damn they made one hell of a fantastic character out of her. Of course, fan service couldn't be absent (not that I mind) but even as a character Mamiya was so great that I really forgot I was supposed to save Yuria  

 

You can also play the Legend Mode from the perspective of all the other characters ...and here's where the first problem of the game appears: literally every other character is more enjoyable to play than Kenshiro. Sure, you can upgrade Kenshiro and make him learn moves via an intricate skill tree called Meridian Chart, but from the moment I started controlling Toki, Raoh, Rei or even Mamiya herself, I really couldn't bring myself to return to Kenshiro's gameplay. The other characters were simply too much fun.

Kenshiro might be the protagonist, but Raoh is the most efficient

 

 

In Dream Mode, a mysterious hooded seer visits every single FotNS character and shows them "how would the story had they did different choices" . Basically Dream Mode is a "what if "scenario where the characters used more of their brain and less of their fists. What if Kenshiro actually finds Yuria and abandons his Hokuto Shinken style? What if Toki got cured? What if Raoh actually wanted to be a benevolent leader? These are all interesting scenarios that actually add a lot of flavor to the story. I'd say I genuinely enjoyed this part, especially the scenario with Jagi, one of the slimiest and most irredeemable character in this universe. His weird antics and accidental hero moments were really hilarious and I'll want to give props to the devs for coming up with that idea. Also another interesting scenario was with Mamiya, her replacing Yuria and really altering the timelines.

Of course, this is all an excuse to cave in even more skulls, but it's a fun unexpected twist.

 

Compared to the other fighters, Mamiya uses dual crossbows. It's shocking to see how deadly she is with them.

 

In terms of ideas, I think this game is a real treat. However... let's get to the part that I disliked. 

Unfortunately, this game is one of those brainless "kill 10000000 enemies until your thumb bleeds" kind of game. You are on a map, you have objectives and tons of spawning points that throw gutter trash at you. The only real danger are the bosses, the enemies are just nuisances that serve to get stomped by your might. 

In order to make this fun, I believe you have to group enemies in a certain way, because believe me, having to hunt down 1 or 2 stragglers really gets on your nerves after a while. Unfortunately that's exactly what happens in Ken's Rage, enemies having a nasty tendency to split around and run like crazy. You can technically group them together by taunting, but the taunt animation is so long you don't really have time to retaliate until they split again.

There's also the elite enemies that can simply ruin your fun. There's a special kind of enemies, covered in spikes, that can only be hit by projectiles and can ruin your combos with a simple whack on the face. Those are the most annoying of the bunch and I do not understand why they were added in the game.

 

As for the murdering itself, there are 3 styles in the game: Hokuto Shinken (enemies swell and explode), Hokuto Ujoken (enemies get in a state of euphoria and explode), Nanto Seiten (enemies get sliced and diced). Ken and Raoh use the Hokuto Shinken style, their approach being the slow but brutish "imma punch you to death"; Rei and Thouzer use the Nanto Seiken, which makes them incredibly fast and certain attacks put them into an "install" type, transforming them; Toki is the sole user of Hokuto Ujoken style, his gameplay being a mix of previously mentioned styles.

The only character with a "special" style is Mamiya, because her style involves using crossbows. Guns are always a reliable martial art.

 

 

Toki is the "Nuclear Jesus" of the series. He promotes peace and harmony and even his enemies experience complete euphoria right before they explode.

 

The most egregious part was the platinum. It's one of those platinums where the difficulty is low but the grind is high. I have spent 54 hours in this game and I got bored of it at the 30 hours mark. The game asks you to finish both the Legend and Dream mode with all characters, which is rather reasonable. However the plat also requires 5000 kills with every style: Hokuto, Nanto and Ujoken. Paired with the fact that enemies are a pain in the ass to group consistently, this leads to some mindless grind and consuming decent amounts of second rate podcasts. 

 

Ultimately, that's my issue with the Musou genre trophies - it's a power trip, sure, but every list asks you to kill a million billion idiots. This game is rather good when it comes to story, but once you're done there's really no incentive to keep on playing unless you go for the plat.

 

And so, I'll give a rather unique rating to this game - if you love Fist of the North Star, then yes, you may try to get a copy for this PS3 game. However, for everyone else, I think you're better off skipping this game. It's not bad, but it offers no value for those who aren't interested in Kenshiro's story.

 

I am now fairly convinced that I won't go after Ken's Rage 2.

 

THE GOOD:

• A very good Fist of the North Star game.
• Surprisingly good soundtrack - forgot to mention it in the review, songs are bangers
• Characters are fun to play as
• Dream Mode is a good "what if" addition

THE BAD:

• Kenshiro is the least enjoyable character
• Musou game, means that it will get stale after a while
• Hard to get a copy since it's a PS3 game

RECOMMENDATION - Berserk Band of the Hawk  Not sure if it's my love for the IP or the fact that combat felt better, but it's the only Musou game that I liked so far.

 

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

 

A very quick review for another game that I tried ...and almost gave me a heart attack.

 

 

So I received this glorious game as a Christmas gift from my sister. Despite it having no trophies, I said "what the hell let's play it". I could play 15 minutes of what it would count as a life changing harrowing experience.

 

So, I insert the disc. All good, all nice, game starts, game doesn't load....wait the game is not loading properly...boom I wake up in some sort of countryside backyard, where Remi is sampling food. However, there's no voices in the game...

"What the shit" I wonder. I turn the volume up, I have some minimal song and my dear rats aren't talking at all. "Great, off to a good start" I think. I let the cutscene continue, then I start the game where I have to follow a fat rat called Emile . Controls inverted, I fumble around, finally I could make my little Remy run around. I smack some barrels...the game's sound is still painfully low, despite turning the volume up big time.

 

And then...it happens....

 

...a voice yelling....

 

GET A MOVE ON REMY

The game STARTS BLASTING MUSIC, SFX, RATS SQUEAKING, BIRDS CHIRPING, SOME GRANDMA YELLING SACRE BLEU SOMEWHERE IN THE BACKGROUND, while my TV was around 90% volume. I have to say, I almost had to find a new pair of trousers. This fucking game had a lag when it came to sound, but once it caught up holy shit it skyrocketed my heart rate. 

 

I managed to turn down the volume, apologized to my startled neighbors via the group chat (they wondered if something blew up in the apartment), said "what in the everloving France was that" and continued.

Emile the fatass taught me how to...fight...with my butt. Remy had combos where he was spinning and hitting enemies and crates with his butt. Very Street Fighter-ish of it. I continue...just for the sound to disappear again. 

I wasn't about to fall into that trap again so I just set the volume to a respectable 20% waiting for Emile to set me right once more.

....and he did....

...Get a move on Re...chhh....ACHKKK...vrrm... the game has crashed, together with my console.

 

Yep, let's remove the disc and never speak of this game again. Guess we ain't eating good tonight, lads.

 

 

 

PS3 GAMES BACKLOG

 

1. Castlevania Mirror of Fate HD
2. Castlevania Lords of Shadows 2
3. Catherine 🤢
4. Mirror's Edge
5. Quantum Conundrum
6. Tomb Raider Anniversary
7. Tomb Raider Legend
8. Tomb Raider Underworld
9. Ratatouille
10. Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage

[YaManSmevz]

8 hours ago, Copanele said:

Goddamn is it GOOD when you see the PS3 game lists thinning out. 

Under 10 games left out there, hope it remains this way 😂

 

Aayyyyy way to slay the PS3 backlog! I need to get back on that mission my damn self...

 

8 hours ago, Copanele said:

 No. 278 - Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage

 

Good shit as always, my dude!

 

I still, even as a grown gamer, have a soft spot for musou shit, even though I know full well it's garbage and would never defend it to anybody ever. So I do have to admit my interest was piqued!

 

Also the name made me ponder if there's a porn equivalent called "Fisting the North Star," but the foul scenario that played in my head soured any potential interest pretty quickly😂

 

8 hours ago, Copanele said:

So, I insert the disc. All good, all nice, game starts, game doesn't load....wait the game is not loading properly...boom I wake up in some sort of countryside backyard, where Remi is sampling food. However, there's no voices in the game...

"What the shit" I wonder. I turn the volume up, I have some minimal song and my dear rats aren't talking at all. "Great, off to a good start" I think. I let the cutscene continue, then I start the game where I have to follow a fat rat called Emile . Controls inverted, I fumble around, finally I could make my little Remy run around. I smack some barrels...the game's sound is still painfully low, despite turning the volume up big time.

 

And then...it happens....

 

...a voice yelling....

 

GET A MOVE ON REMY

The game STARTS BLASTING MUSIC, SFX, RATS SQUEAKING, BIRDS CHIRPING, SOME GRANDMA YELLING SACRE BLEU SOMEWHERE IN THE BACKGROUND, while my TV was around 90% volume. I have to say, I almost had to find a new pair of trousers. This fucking game had a lag when it came to sound, but once it caught up holy shit it skyrocketed my heart rate. 

 

I managed to turn down the volume, apologized to my startled neighbors via the group chat (they wondered if something blew up in the apartment), said "what in the everloving France was that" and continued.

Emile the fatass taught me how to...fight...with my butt. Remy had combos where he was spinning and hitting enemies and crates with his butt. Very Street Fighter-ish of it. I continue...just for the sound to disappear again. 

I wasn't about to fall into that trap again so I just set the volume to a respectable 20% waiting for Emile to set me right once more.

....and he did....

...Get a move on Re...chhh....ACHKKK...vrrm... the game has crashed, together with my console.

 

Yep, let's remove the disc and never speak of this game again. Guess we ain't eating good tonight, lads.

 

Thank you sir, that was hysterical🤣🤣🤣

[Copanele]

6 hours ago, YaManSmevz said:

Aayyyyy way to slay the PS3 backlog! I need to get back on that mission my damn self...

A glorious mission 😌 better get to it, the old girl deserves the attention (provided it can still run games  )

 

6 hours ago, YaManSmevz said:

Good shit as always, my dude!

 

I still, even as a grown gamer, have a soft spot for musou shit, even though I know full well it's garbage and would never defend it to anybody ever. So I do have to admit my interest was piqued!

 

Also the name made me ponder if there's a porn equivalent called "Fisting the North Star," but the foul scenario that played in my head soured any potential interest pretty quickly😂

 

I wouldn't personally search 😂 fairly sure there is, especially since the main series involves burly men, beautiful ladies and pokes. 

The script is writing itself at this point 😂

 

 

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

 

A small writeup for a game that keeps adding DLC.

 

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Marie DLC

 

Skullgirls 2nd Encore keeps adding characters! Which I will admit, it's a very admirable effort (especially since the characters are very well designed) but...is there anyone playing this game even? I sure hope so!

 

Anyway, Marie is the final boss of the Skullgirls world and now she arrived as a playable character, with new movesets! In terms of gameplay, Marie feels like a combination between Rachel (Blazblue) and Dizzy(Guilty Gear), using a skeletal vacuum cleaner instead of an umbrella and using her familiars to lay waste on the screen. An interesting character but not quite my style of play.

 

What I appreciated about her however is her story mode. Finally we get some closure for the story of this game, Marie being able to somewhat stave off the influence of the Skull Heart. You see her whole background story, her relationship with Peacock and who are the true antagonists of this universe. It felt satisfying to draw the curtains at last and open up for a potential new game.

 

....I sure hope the devs will work on a new game, right? Let this one rest already they already started editing stuff from the previous team and people are not happy about it.

[Copanele]

Hear ye, hear ye! Stumble master extraordinaire, Copanele, also known as 2-left-feet Copanele, also known as "platforming in God of War scares me" Copanele , managed to MAKE SOME PROGRESS IN MIRROR'S EDGE

 

A for effort - Get 35 stars in Time Trial

 

From time to time I grind out at this behemoth of a game, the wall kicking equivalent of Moby Dick, a first person platformer that makes my shoes shudder. As many may know, I am absolutely dog shit at platformers, my brain can't comprehend how these blasted games work. So getting a time trial trophy in Mirror's Edge is the equivalent of a platinum to me 😂

 

With getting 35 stars I evolved from this:

 

To this:

 

 

I landed on my feet so it counts!

 

Unfortunately, in order to even accomplish such a feat...I had to resort to an ugly trick. See, in this game, you jump by pressing L1. Which to my Crash Bandicoot scarred brain, it's an incredibly stupid input. However, the game won't let me remap the buttons (because developers are scared that the people will see something like Edit Controls and will faint or some shit, amirite console players?). 

 

Thankfully, I own a Hori Pad FPS plus, which I use for its Turbo functions in stupid grindy games. However, this beauty also has an Assign button, which lets me remap any button on the controller. With this beautiful little asset, I swapped L1 and X, so I could now jump with the X button. 

The results were staggering! Yes, I still flopped like a frog on the pavement, but the X button was more responsive and I could wall run and jump way more accurate. From barely getting 1 star in the Time Trials, now I managed to get 2 and even 3 stars!!

Great success!!!

 

...of course, once I tried to learn the niftier tricks like wall kick and side dash, well, it was back to square one. (thank you @PooPooBlast, I am sure that your explanations were more than sufficient, unfortunately I am a goddamn baboon and I failed at your tutorial)

 

Clearly I have more to work on those moves  BUT! PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!

 

I still like the game, I just suck at it 😌

 

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Now, remember when I said I won't add any more PS3 games?

Well...I also discovered that beautiful thing called Hong Kong Store. Which apparently has some games that the "go digital, you'll never lose the games I swear on my Jim Ryan" Sony team forgot to delist. 

Therefore, 2 games are added in the mix:

• Soulcalibur II HD Edition - This one is widely praised and from a few online matches (had to boost) I can see that it's definitely more enjoyable than SC5 or SC6. I can't tell what it is, it just feels more charming.
• XCom Enemy Unknown - I really wanted to start with the first new XCom, however the delisting of the DLC bummed me out. Except that the HK store still has the DLC!! So of course I had to make the purchase. Been a while since I played an XCom/UFO game, heck, been a while since I played a strategy/tactics game, so it's best to start with this one  

 

PS3 GAMES BACKLOG

 

1. Castlevania Mirror of Fate HD
2. Castlevania Lords of Shadows 2
3. Catherine 🤢
4. Mirror's Edge
5. Quantum Conundrum
6. Tomb Raider Anniversary
7. Tomb Raider Legend
8. Tomb Raider Underworld
9. Soulcalibur II 
10. XCOM Enemy Unknown

[Gommes_]

Nice job! You will do it eventually. I sucked at it too but managed it somehow. And great that you were able to get Soul Calibur II.

[zizimonster]

Just had a thought!

 

Since you were deeply disappointed at Sifu, have you played Sleeping Dogs?

 

It would mend your broken heart. 👍

[Copanele]

Just now, zizimonster said:

Just had a thought!

 

Since you were deeply disappointed at Sifu, have you played Sleeping Dogs?

 

It would mend your broken heart. 👍

I have it in the backlog, but when I'll play it...that's a question for another day 😂

I have heard it's good though, so I am interested to try it at some point!

[DrBloodmoney]

3 minutes ago, Copanele said:

I have it in the backlog, but when I'll play it...that's a question for another day 😂

I have heard it's good though, so I am interested to try it at some point!

As someone who also accidentally played Sifu, I agree - SleepyDogs is a good recommendation…

 

…it asks one of the important question of our age:

What if Sifu… but good?

[Copanele]

1 minute ago, DrBloodmoney said:

As someone who also accidentally played Sifu, I agree - SleepyDogs is a good recommendation…

 

…it asks one of the important question of our age:

What if Sifu… but good?

Ahh music to my ears then!

But yeah, Sleeping Dogs will have to wait unfortunately  no time for the streets of Hong Kong yet.

[Gommes_]

Sleeping Dogs is great indeed. One of the best titles for the PS3/PS4 imo.

[Copanele]

4 hours ago, Gommes_ said:

Sleeping Dogs is great indeed. One of the best titles for the PS3/PS4 imo.

You guys are really hyping this game up 😂 thank god I grabbed it at a massive discount.

 

But until then, imma cover one more PS3 game

 

 No. 279 - Soulcalibur II HD Online

 

Platinum Name - Tale of Sword and Soul

Hardest Trophy -  Swordsman's Soiree - unlock all characters

Difficulty - 4/10

 

The reason I bought this game was...XCom: Enemy Unknown for PS3. And @Beyondthegrave07 in a weird twist of events😂

 

If you wonder how I got from a Turn Based game to a fighting game...a thing that should surprise noone by this point...I wanted to give a try to XCom for a while and Grave finally convinced me to go for the original too. I could find an XCom 1 copy easily, however the DLC is delisted everywhere EXCEPT in the Hong Kong PS3 store. Luckily, I know a cousin who knows a brother who knows a merchant that has access to this said HK store 😆 sooo this merchant called...Copanele_HK... hooked me up with the game. 

But since we were in the browsing games phase, I actually stumbled on Soulcalibur II as well, a game that was also delisted from every other store. Now I remember this game, a game that is universally praised by many and hated by one 😂 Of course, having that in mind + the fact that it's a bloody fighting game, "convert to HK Dollars" button was pressed and the games were purchased.

 

Thank you, Copanele_HK

 

Back to the actual game, Soulcalibur II is, from my understanding, probably the best SC ever made. A large number of those that are a fan of the franchise hailed this as the best iteration of the series. Now having it tried myself...I can reasonably see where they are coming from  even if I wasn't as mindblown as everyone else.

 

A tale of swords and souls...and whips

 

In this game, everyone is as usually searching for the Soul Edge. Or Soul Calibur. Or something along those lines, people want the big bad sword, I never paid attention to the story. You have an entire cast of weirdos, each with their own weapon and styles, from the iconic barely dressed Ivy with her whipblade, the wandering samurai Mitsurugi, the zombie axe wielding Astaroth and speedy ninja Taki, you have quite a selection of characters to pick from. The game also brings in the guest characters Heihachi from Tekken and Spawn to fill the roster. You also can find Yoshimitsu in this game, although I believe he's a permanent addition at this point  

 

 Quite some options out there. If you pick Voldo, we aren't friends.

 

What I appreciated about this game more than Soulcalibur 5 and 6 (the only ones that I played) is how simple yet focused this game is. Menus are on point, not too many bells and whistles, but the combat and the moveset is incredibly focused and enjoyable enough to keep your attention. Catching and holding my attention was the thing that was lacking from SC5 and SC6, where I was too easily distracted by...anything else. In comparison, I was way more focused in SC2 and therefore, I enjoyed it more.

 

The eternal battle of zweihander vs katana

 

In terms of controls, you have the basic horizontal slash (square), vertical slash (triangle), kick (circle) and guard (x). The moveset of each character is easy to learn but hard to master, you being able to pull some impressive combos. Unfortunately for me, I preferred bonking the AI in the head with Nightmare and not pay too much attention to what flashy things a nunchuck wielder like Maxi could do. Despite the options, I felt that it's way more fun to do a big OOMPH attack in Soulcalibur, similar to Samurai Shodown.

 

There are some other mechanics like Guard crush, Guard counters, charging moves and such, which I am sure that they would be interesting in the online environment. Sadly the online is kinda dead, so those mechanics are just there for those who want to experience more of the game  for me, the regular triangle bonks followed by the occasional square swoosh were more than enough to complete all the game requires of me.

 

And boy does the game require a lot. Besides the classic Arcade, Versus, Survival, Time attack etc, this game also has a mode called Weapon Master, where you travel on a map and have various encounters, trying to find the Soul Edge and the Soul Calibur in a custom mode style of play. In order to get the platinum, this mode requires you to have over 100 fights, every level having an Extra variant where you fight harder opponents. 

This was probably my least favorite part of the game. The idea is good and you can unlock characters and skins via this mode, but the grind and the cheapness of the AI that can randomly one-combo you kinda wore its welcome pretty fast. It wasn't really THAT difficult (Nightmare Bonk worked on every enemy) but it was tedious.

 

Each of those squares has 5-6 fights, each fight has an Extra variant, some of those fights are dungeons with 15-16 fights in it. Quite the grind.

 

Overall, this is one of the games that I wish I had played when it released. I couldn't share the massive love that the Soulcalibur fans have for this game in particular, but I can definitely see the quality in this game. Overall I had quite some fun with SC2 and I am glad I decided to ultimately purchase it. Also, massive thanks to @Honor_Hand for helping me to quickly cover the online portion of the game, since nobody really plays this game anymore  

 

P.S. Voldo is one of the most awful characters I have ever seen in a fighting game though. Why did they have to add a gagged BDSM character that humps and makes weird noises? He's the worst character to fight against too!

 

THE GOOD:

• Simple yet focused fighting game
• Fun and unique characters
• You can feel the oomph in the hits in this iteration

THE BAD:

• Weapon Master mode is too grindy for my liking
• Voldo should be removed

RECOMMENDATION - SoulCalibur VI  Amazing character creator, a way better World/Weapon Master/whatever roam mode, you can play as Geralt

 

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

 

PS3 GAMES BACKLOG

 

1. Castlevania Mirror of Fate HD
2. Castlevania Lords of Shadows 2
3. Catherine 🤢
4. How to train your dragon 2 [NEW]
5. Mirror's Edge
6. Quantum Conundrum
7. Tomb Raider Anniversary
8. Tomb Raider Legend
9. Tomb Raider Underworld
10. Soulcalibur II 
11. XCOM Enemy Unknown

One game out, one game in! I found a copy of How to train your dragon 2 on an Used Products store that I visited and...couldn't help myself, I loved How to train your dragon! 

Plus it will help me with the A-Z challenge  I just hope it ain't TOO bad of a game.

 

Edited April 2 by Copanele

[ShadyWARcotix]

Sleeping Dogs is til this day one of my fav open world games ever. I love the city. I love martial art. I loved the setting and story. I LOVE EVERYTHING about this game (except for this 1 trash dlc. What were they thinking? The other one is okay / good. Liked the idea behind it + it's not that long.)

 

This reminds me of Tony Jaa, I have to watch more martial art movies hahaha.

 

Man I laughed so hard about your Ratatouille experience. I need to test out the PS3 game on premium if this is also full of sound bugs. The volume of this game will be on the lowest. Jusrt to be sure lol and good job for your progress in ME!

Edited April 2 by ShadyWARcotix
formation

[Copanele]

41 minutes ago, ShadyWARcotix said:

Sleeping Dogs is til this day one of my fav open world games ever. I love the city. I love martial art. I loved the setting and story. I LOVE EVERYTHING about this game (except for this 1 trash dlc. What were they thinking? The other one is okay / good. Liked the idea behind it + it's not that long.)

 

This reminds me of Tony Jaa, I have to watch more martial art movies hahaha.

 

Man I laughed so hard about your Ratatouille experience. I need to test out the PS3 game on premium if this is also full of sound bugs. The volume of this game will be on the lowest. Jusrt to be sure lol and good job for your progress in ME!

Hmm I wonder if Sleeping Dogs will be a hybrid between Yakuza and GTA. From what I see here it sounds more and more promising

 

Hah please let me know about Ratatouille 😂 i really am curious if it's just my disc that is faulty here or the devs decided that everyone deserves a busted eardrum

 

 

[ShadyWARcotix]

3 minutes ago, Copanele said:

Hmm I wonder if Sleeping Dogs will be a hybrid between Yakuza and GTA. From what I see here it sounds more and more promising

 

Hah please let me know about Ratatouille 😂 i really am curious if it's just my disc that is faulty here or the devs decided that everyone deserves a busted eardrum

 

 

Yeah it fits and like @DrBloodmoney said the fighting is like Sifu or the Batman Arkham games. You will enjoy it. I know it! And yes I will do hahahaha

Edited April 2 by ShadyWARcotix

[zizimonster]

3 hours ago, Copanele said:

I wonder if Sleeping Dogs will be a hybrid between Yakuza and GTA.

I can tell you that it isn't as bloated as  Grand Theft Auto, and isn't as demanding as Yakuza.

 

 

This was how I felt after completing that game:

 

[YaManSmevz]

For what it's worth....

 

 

 

 

.....they're all right. Sleeping Dogs is fantastic.

 

 

...also, and hypocritical as this may be, stop making me want to play SoulCalibur VI😂

[Nikythekiller98]

Always happy to read these threads, might convince me to do one myself! Your collection looks insane Copa

[Copanele]

4 minutes ago, Nikythekiller98 said:

Always happy to read these threads, might convince me to do one myself! Your collection looks insane Copa

Thanks thanks   you do have some nice games on your profile too, you'd have a lot of material for a thread  

[Nikythekiller98]

Thank you!
I envy a lot of your fighting game plats though. I'm good at many genres, but fighting games are my Achilles' Heel.

[Copanele]

21 minutes ago, Nikythekiller98 said:

Thank you!
I envy a lot of your fighting game plats though. I'm good at many genres, but fighting games are my Achilles' Heel.

I vibe really well with that genre  however, I'd gladly trade some of those skills for a bit of platformer skill. I am absolutely abysmal at anything that involves precision jumping.

Edited April 3 by Copanele

[Copanele]

Hot damn I am actually making progress in Mirror's Edge!

 

 Still counting - get 50 stars in Time Trials

 

After the revelation that was switching the jumping on X, I slowly started to get more and more proficient at these trials. And by "proficient" I mean it only takes me 2 hours of practice instead of 3 😂 it kinda is disheartening to see people go "uff this was abit tricky, it took me 10 tries" on levels where it took me over 50 tries only to learn the first half. I guess that's what happens when one is absolutely abysmal at platformers.

 

Now, by all accounts, I should have all I need for the platinum and I should practice for the speedruns. Except...I want that sweet sweet 100%, so...back to the grinding board, aiming for 90 stars. Easier said than done..when I see levels like Actino Rise where you have to do 10325142461351 turns and flips, I feel like quitting and playing something else 😅

Seriously, how do people even get proficient at this kind of game??

 

But either way, progress has been made! Who knows, maybe 2024 is the year when I nuke one of the 3 great backlog games...

 

Also, a quick "revert to previous version" regarding PS3 backlog.

 

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

 

PS3 GAMES BACKLOG

 

1. Castlevania Mirror of Fate HD
2. Castlevania Lords of Shadows 2
3. Catherine 🤢
4. How to train your dragon 2 [NEW]
5. Mirror's Edge
6. Quantum Conundrum
7. Tomb Raider Anniversary
8. Tomb Raider Legend
9. Tomb Raider Underworld
10. XCOM Enemy Unknown

 

Sooo...I tried How to train your dragon 2.....lord @Yuber6969warned me that this game is garbage.

First 10 seconds of the game where I tried to control Toothless and I was convinced..

Followed by me looking at the controller and then at the game and then at the case and then back at the controller...

 

So...yeah...gotta sell that game because I am NOT playing that thing!  

[Copanele]

It...is...done...for now

 Superstar - Attain a Time Trial rating of 90 stars

 

I will start with a clickbait title - For me, this game is way, WAY harder than Persona 4 Arena.

In fact, I do believe it's the most difficult game on my profile right now (still haven't seriously attempted Koihime, don't shoot me just yet).

Normally, if it was only for the platinum, chances were that I would have already gotten it. And true, getting 50 stars, the minimum requirement for the plat, isn't that much of a chore, especially with the DLC maps. However, my monkey brain won't let me consider the game finished until I get the 100% done. Which meant...I had to get 90 stars out of max 99 possible throughout all the normal maps and the Pure Trial maps.

 

And thus, already scarred by the numerous failed attempts, I proceeded to grind these damn things...and my god was I in a world of pain. For you see, the game, as solid as it is in its mechanics, is not build around Pure Trials maps.

 

You may wonder now, what are Pure Time Trials? Simply put, they are devious time trials only maps created by the developers to further challenge you. In these maps you have to climb and run along various shapes in the sky while praying to all the gods that you will figure out the correct path. And my god are these maps utterly brutal, to the point where even with skips and odd jumps you will still barely make it to the end.

 

Your average Mirror's Edge map - clean, precise, you can see where you have to go, a joy to traverse

 

Your average Pure Time Trial map. Where do you have to go? What path is the best? Will Faith fall through the map randomly? 

 

I hated the Pure Time Trial maps. With very few exceptions (Chroma, Reflex Redux), they are absolutely insane, nonsensical AND broken. Kinetic is a map full of boxes that all look the same, you having no idea what's climbable and what's not. Razzmatazz (picture above) is a long ass map full of tight platforms where one misstep means you plunge to your doom. Actino is one insane horizontal maze and Actino Rise is one SUPER insane vertical maze. These maps are definitely a result of some twisted dev mind who said "ah so you thought the main game is easy? Just you wait"

 

The newest problem with these maps is...the game "cracks" and issues start to appear. Due to the insane number of floating polygons, sometimes you'll trigger completely different actions that you did not intent. Say you want to jump on a springboard to be launched into the sky, now most of the time Faith will vault over the springboard for no reason. Or random jumps magically sticking you to the nearby walls. Ledges not always being grabbable. The textbook "fall through the map" appears here as well. If the main game maps had no issues...well these pure time trials are real stinkers.

 

Add in to the mix my true platformer genre abilities and you can imagine how tough this crap was

 

But after countless hours, countless tries and countless curses at the Nike Gods, I managed, star by star, to collect 90 of those buggers. The funniest part is, unlike most of my games, I do not feel that I've particularly improved. Even now, I can't do a proper wall run into speed boost, I can't estimate jumping distances for the life of me, it took a consistent 2-3 hours per map both when I had 2 stars and when I had 88 stars. All I can say is that I brute forced this stupid ass game until it magically worked. The textbook "beat it with a stick until it works" 

 

Me trying to comprehend what @PooPooBlast and some youtube dudes meant by "side jump boosting"

 

So ... yeah, 90 stars achieved and with that, the DLC is complete! That exhilarating feeling of success, relief, pain, joy, excitement, VICTORY....

...and then I look at the list. Fuck, I have to do the speedruns as well.

 

Oh no the hubris...

 

Oh well...milestone 300 is coming... might as well save this game for later XD and no, I won't forget the controls anymore. I re-re-re-re-re-started this dumb ass game 5-6 times already, I am NOT forgetting how it's played.