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GameMatter's Crucible of Completion


AnEldritchThing

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE 9.17.19

 

I haven't made a lot of progress the last few weeks due to some work stuff and an out of town vacation I took. The impulse buy of the Sims 4 that distracted me A LOT more than I expected. Having good fun with it though. Borderlands 3 is also finally out but has a relatively easy trophy list that I think I should be able to complete within the next two weeks.

 

 I should be able to wrap up some games this week, particularly looking at DOOM, to officially add to the Completion list.

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UPDATE 9.24.19

 

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Platinum #3 achieved with Wreckfest. I'm not a big fan of racing games as a whole, but a good old fashioned demolition derby style game? Wreckfest drew me in for that reason and it sometimes lived up to the promise of chaotic bouts of destructive racing. I say sometimes because while going through the game's career mode I found way more typical racing events over full on demolition style ones then I was expecting. I personally found the latter way more entertaining due to the much more ridiculous circumstances they placed you in. A mini bus attempting to survive multiple laps against 11 school buses = hilarity. Really wish there were more tracks in the overall game though; not enough visual variation and a woefully small number made it feel like I was driving down the same stretch of road over and over for hours on end. It particularly got bad towards the end of the career with the much longer events.

 

As for the trophy hunt itself, not too bad overall. Nothing really stood out as being annoyingly difficult but the Human Lover trophy (Win 20 Events in Multiplayer) did start to feel a little grindy for me when I kept getting bad luck with playing in lobbies that had players who were way better at the game than I was. But obviously that trophy could vary a lot for different people. The ability to set up custom lobbies also allow you to 'cheese' trophies for grinding levels or earning credits (demo derby race vs all lawn mowers with realistic damage and a ton of laps=easy money / leveling).

 

Wreckfest ended up scratching an itch I didn't even know I had for a demolition derby racing game and I really enjoyed the more over the top aspects when they popped up. While I did have a lot of fun with it overall, a lack of more demolition derby deathmatches I was expecting and the underwhelming amount of tracks made things feel laboriously repetitive towards the end of the hunt. 

 

Glad I gave the game a shot but I am personally happy to be moving on. Just not my cup of tea.

Edited by GameMatter
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  • 3 weeks later...

UPDATE 10.9.19

 

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Platinum #4 achieved with The Sims 4. And boy, did this one turn out to be a frustrating one. Initially I picked this one up on a sale as a nostalgia trip, since I played the first entries in the series religiously when I was younger. Started off great-I spent a copious amount of time messing around in the building mode and earning the career trophies. I managed to get the dreaded, RNG trophy Triple Play easily with the Dogs & Cats expansion (also picked up on sale) by having litters of puppies.I felt pretty good getting the supposed hardest trophy out of the way pretty early. And the others--while time consuming--came with time.

 

Then the bugs happened.

 

For whatever reason, the Black Widow trophy--which requires a Sim to outlive 5 of their spouses--became an absolute nightmare. I didn't see anyone else having this issue but on my chosen Sim's 3rd spouse, she just. Wouldn't. Die. I tried starving her to death by locking her in a doorless, windowless shed but her Hunger need kept resetting on the final hour of her death countdown. I tried setting her on fire with 13 rugs piled into the room, surrounded by 3 fireplaces. I tried exhausting her to death in an inescapable pool deathtrap. I eventually had to divorce her and move onto another 'target' and it happened AGAIN. And AGAIN. The Sims 4 had turned into a sick murder simulator as I had to try it 8 other times until I finally got two random Sims to sacrifice themselves on my trophy alter by finally dying as intended. This trophy easily became the largest time sink on this game as I kept retrying (each attempt roughly took 3 days in game) and reloading previous saves. It truly felt like the game was working against my vile intentions at every step of this trophy but eventually it finally popped. After that, I had a handful of clean up trophies to complete and the platinum was finally mine.

 

Despite the game seemingly punishing me for my wicked ways with the Black Widow trophy, it was a nostalgic, mostly fun time. I know I have a dark sense of humor but having to continuously plot and watch the slow, attempted murders of digital lives over and over began to wear on me. I AM mentally stable, I swear. Trophies otherwise were very easy but time consuming as there was a lot of simply waiting around (particularly for the career trophies).  I'm also incredibly thankful that there were not any trophies for the ridiculous amounts of paid DLC this game has.  I probably would have gotten this platinum completed a lot sooner--outside of the bugs I suffered--if I wasn't unleashing my inner architect and interior decorator in the building mode but it is easily my favorite aspect of the Sims series, so I allowed myself to indulge.

 

For now, I am done playing god / babysitter with the digital lives of the Sims. 

Edited by GameMatter
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On 10/9/2019 at 9:14 AM, GameMatter said:

I managed to get the dreaded, RNG trophy Triple Play easily with the Dogs & Cats expansion (also picked up on sale) by having litters of puppies.I felt pretty good getting the supposed hardest trophy out of the way pretty early. And the others--while time consuming--came with time.

 

I wish I had thought of that. I don't normally approve of pay-to-win scenarios, but a.) that expansion sounds awesome, and b.) that trophy SUCKED. I definitely fell in the longer-than-average category when it comes to how many hours I spent popping out babies for Triple Play.

 

Sims 4 is fun, but...yeah, it's a buggy pile of mess. These kinds of games are almost always better played on PC.

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24 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

 

I wish I had thought of that. I don't normally approve of pay-to-win scenarios, but a.) that expansion sounds awesome, and b.) that trophy SUCKED. I definitely fell in the longer-than-average category when it comes to how many hours I spent popping out babies for Triple Play.

 

Sims 4 is fun, but...yeah, it's a buggy pile of mess. These kinds of games are almost always better played on PC.

 

Funnily enough, I didn't mean to start the Sims 4 on my 100% profile. I booted it up on the wrong one and unlocked the first few trophies before I realized my mistake. So by that point I was locked in. I heard the game was a bit buggy just by word of mouth so I was pretty worried about the RNG or a bug popping up that would mess it up.

 

I can't take credit for the solution to Triple Play though. I saw it pop up a few times on forums as a much easier work around but I was hesitant to drop more money on the game to complete it. But like you said, the expansion sounded awesome and it mostly was. It made the experience a much more entertaining than it would have been. For me, just by having a singing cat named Duke accompany my Sims through my trophy hunting / spouse murdering escapades made it infinitely better. He even came back as ghost as I finished up the experience. He was with me the whole time, cheering on my murders with musical accompaniment ?.

 

I agree with your assessment though--Sims 4 is a fun but buggy pile of mess. More than a bit relieved to be moving onto some more creepy games for the Halloween season.

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10 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Sims 4 is fun, but...yeah, it's a buggy pile of mess. These kinds of games are almost always better played on PC.

 

Civilization VI is coming. Knowing this from when I played it on PC, they’re going to have to really dumb down the game in order to make it playable. 

 

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is the only popular PC game I’ve seen that has actually translated well on consoles.

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UPDATE 10.13.19

 

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Platinum #5 achieved with Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered. Not much to say about this one, besides it being a great nostalgia trip, which seems to be the theme of my platinums so far this month. I loved this game last gen for how authentic it was to the Ghostbuster movies (longtime favorites of mine...I even used to have a monogrammed uniform as a kid) and how unique the gameplay was. Most of that has held true but this is a bare minimum effort of a remaster so some of it has not aged well. Those poorly aged parts were really evident during my playthrough on the Professional difficultly needed for the Are You A God? trophy. A fair number of the enemy encounters felt extremely unfair or poorly balanced in terms of enemy composition along with how fast they can take you down. Paired with the the really weak dodging mechanic, the difficulty run was simply not fun. Besides that, everything else in the game was a great time. Really wish we could have another game in the series like this someday but I don't think it is likely. 

 

Highly recommend giving this game a try for it's really unique, entertaining gameplay and if you are a fan of the movies it is pretty much a no brainer. Just be warned that Professional mode can be a pain in the ass.

Edited by GameMatter
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UPDATE 10.20.19

 

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Platinum #6 is DOOM (2016)spacer.png. I've earned the platinum for this masterpiece before on my old profile and it still stands as one of my favorite shooters upon recompleting it. Action was immaculate, the demons look badass, and the soundtrack is perfection--ripping and tearing never felt so great. I think it is also worth mentioning that despite being a silent protagonist, the Doom Slayer had plenty of great comedy moments with his interactions in the environment that never failed to get a laugh out of me. A relatively painfree platinum to earn as everything basically came naturally through just playing and enjoying it, minus a very small handful.

 

The only difference here from my past playthrough was that I went for all the multiplayer DLC trophies. Initially I was dreading it but the multiplayer turned out to be some of the most fun I've had in a competitive shooter since Titanfall 2. Most of the grind was simply about getting to a high enough level to get the needed equipment/customization options to earn their related trophies. While at times it felt tedious simply due to how high of a level was needed to get the last armor trophy (Beauty is Pain), the grind was barely noticeable for me personally and the servers were surprisingly active whenever I went to play. I really hope that it makes a reappearance in DOOM Eternal next year when it comes out. 

 

DOOM will forever stand as an example of a shooter done right.

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE 11.1.19

 

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Platinum #7 is CelesteFULL DISCLOSURE: I did make use of the controversial 'Assist Mode' to complete the notoriously difficult B and C Side levels by turning on invincibility. I completed most of the game without it as I have beaten it before without it but since this was a replay, I wasn't going to punish myself for wanting to play through it again with minimal stress. I had a wee bit of a hard month mentally and I really just wanted to go through the excellent story again for a mental pump up. I recognize that many will see that as de-legitimizing a platinum's worth but as far as I am concerned, if a developer puts a tool in a game it is fair game. I agree with the sentiment that Assist Mode should probably disable trophies for the duration but that is not the case here. Sorry if that annoys others but my Completion List, my rules and judgement.

 

That being said, I didn't mind using Assist Mode where I felt necessary since Celeste is such a masterpiece of a game that I wanted to be able to see, hear, and appreciate all parts of the game I may have otherwise not been able to experience again. It tells a meaningful, heartfelt story for a bit-style platformer but it does so much with it's artstyle that it still looks gorgeous. It's soundtrack is still one I listen to with regularity because it is so damn good. Despite this being my third time beating the game, it still invoked all the same emotions it hit me with then.

 

Beating the harder parts of Celeste using the Assist Mode is going to be one of my few easy platinums I am going to give myself for the Crucible. Planning some more 'punishing' games in the near future to atone for my completionist sin ?.

 

  

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UPDATE 11.8.19

 

Hey, it's a two-fer update!

 

Platinum #8 - Outer Wilds

 

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I really didn't have any expectations going into Outer Wilds and maybe that contributed to how much this game blew me the hell away. I walked away from this experience with so many moments that legitimately blew my wind with just how creative the environmental puzzles were and the pure sense of discovery the game granted when something finally clicked that I knew that this game had immediately entered my pantheon of favorite games of all time.

 

For the unaware, Outer Wilds is best described as a deceptively simple space exploration sim. Instead of favoring a massive galaxy like most games of this type do, Outer Wilds goes in the opposite direction. The solar system consists of only 9 planetoids but each ones hides a surprising amount of depth, with their own unique environmental quirks to navigate and mysteries to unravel hidden beneath the surface (sometimes literally). The real catch is that--minor spoilers--you are stuck in a real-time 22 minute time loop before the sun goes supernova, eliminating all life in the solar system. Breaking this cycle is the ultimate goal of the game and following the trail of breadcrumbs across the system in an attempt accomplish this was constantly engaging. It also delivered one of the best, most nuanced stories I've played in recent memory. It's ending stuck with me long after beating it.

 

As for the trophies, it has a pretty varied and interesting list to complete, ranging from completing story beats to accomplishing specific feats (or failures). One of the most memorable from the game--and even the entire year--for me was the Hotshot trophy. It required a ton of precision with the flight controls, some heart-stopping zero-g leaps of faith, and was an incredibly intense experience. Very satisfying trophy to earn, easily the hardest from the list. The trophy You've met a terrible fate. was also a lot of fun for me simply because it is a reference to one of my all time favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Getting it also earns you a 'joke' credit sequence I really enjoyed.

 

So yeah, play the Outer Wilds. Phenomenal game.

 

Platinum #9 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

 

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I don't have much to say about this one. I was on the fence about picking this one up for quiet sometime due to the various broken promises in the past by Activision but when I saw that the trophy list focused entirely on the campaign--easily my favorite parts of the Call of Duty franchise--I took the dive. And it was just okay. I didn't find it as intense or groundbreaking as some reviews made it sound but it ended right as I was getting tired of it's predictability so no harm. My one major complaint I can't get out of my head was how generic and easy this one felt (although I am very happy about the absence of zombie mode trophies). My Veteran difficulty run was extremely easy because there were far too many sequences in the game that felt like it was playing itself. Definitely not something I play a Call of Duty game for. The trophies were a little better in this regard though, as some of them did require some creativity in approaching situations but they still felt pretty typical. I still think the gold standard for campaign modes in the franchise is Infinite Warfare. It by far had the best scenarios, intense missions, and overall variety in gameplay and trophies.

 

Next up in the Crucible will be Remedy Entertainment's Control!

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UPDATE 11.15.19

 

Platinum #10 -  Control

 

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Every once and a while a game releases that feels like it was tailor made for my tastes. Control is one of those games. I really loved getting the platinum here and it is my first major milestone for the Crucible. Basically a third person shooter / metroidvania that has obviously been heavily inspired by writings on SCP Foundation--a site I have loved for many years--Control hit almost all of the right notes for me. My enjoyment didn't overwhelmingly come from it's power based combat--but it is still fantasti--but from the way it sets it's engrossing tone and incredible level design/creative use of music, imagery, and dialogue/text for storytelling. One of my favorite level segments of the year in in Control and will be the sole reason why I am happy there is a mission select option on the menu so I can replay it. This is one of the few games where I didn't find hunting down collectibles or doing the side mission content for the trophies to be tedious but a goal I actively pursued because I enjoyed reading and experiencing them so much. There was a nice, consistent flow of surprises from the side missions as well that kept them fresh. As for downsides, the game featured some frustrating checkpoints--particularly when it came to boss fights--and on my standard PS4, there were some extreme frame rate dips. They were largely limited to much larger battles and when exiting the pause menu. I also found weapon and personal mods that provide buffs to your abilities and weapon(s) to be a little lackluster and unnecessary. Didn't really add much to the experience. 

 

The trophies were just as enjoyable too and easy overall. I had unlocked most of them by just playing the game and I never felt like I had to go out of my way to do anything since I was so invested in the worldbuilding the side missions and collectibles provided. I did note however a few odd things though. The Master Parautilitarian trophy which requires you to unlock all ability upgrades unlocked for me well before I had completed the ability tree. It saved me some time so no harm on my part but it was a little surprising. A similar incident happened with the collectibles as well and the Bureau Archivist trophy popped early. Again, no real issue as there are so many collectibles in the game that you'd have to actively avoid picking them up to not earn the trophy. 

 

I can't say everyone would get the same amount of enjoyment from Control as I did. It has a very dense way of telling it's story that I can definitely see be off-putting to some; this game will not hold your hand with making sense of it's story. But it has some of the most unique and compelling lore in the gaming market today, it's obvious inspiration from the SCP Foundation nonwithstanding. Plus it was a solid power trip that never failed in making me feel like a bad ass while playing it and a non stressful platinum to earn. This is one of the few games I've played in recently memory that has me incredibly excited to see what it's DLC will bring to the table so I can return to the world of Control

 

Not sure what is up next in the Crucible of Completion. It's not that I have nothing to play--my backlog is just intimidatingly immense. Maybe some suggestions?

 

 

Edited by GameMatter
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On 11/16/2019 at 4:06 PM, GameMatter said:

Not sure what is up next in the Crucible of Completion. It's not that I have nothing to play--my backlog is just intimidatingly immense. Maybe some suggestions?

 

Nice review on Control! I'm actually intrigued by that game, but I also only have a vanilla PS4 from 2013 and having about all the performance issues... I dunno. Maybe I'll pick it up at some point later. I have never seen it being described as a metroidvania though ?

 

I would like to read your thoughts on Remnant... I reminds me a lot of Immortal: Unchained, but with a more interesting world and enemy design. So if you have a hard time picking which game to complete next, my vote goes to that one :) 

 

How are you liking Red Dead Redemption 2? I liked the first one so much that I didn't even think too much about getting the sequel (I once said to my girlfriend that I'm not sure if I wanna pick it up and she asked me if I'm feeling sick or what ?), but it turned out to be a bit too slow for me. 

Edited by Arcesius
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I would have done the same for Celeste if I was going for the plat.

I had that discussion with a friend and we both agreed that is not worth the hassle of not using the assist mode because there isn't an ultra rare yo back it up. Very different from enduring something like Super Meat Boy in which you have the rarity to show for your efforts.

 

So, don't worry about it. I doubt many people (if any) have done it without the assist mode.

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Cood luck on your goal I found DOOM a bit of a weird spot though you said you don't really play MP games/focussed MP trophies but by far the MP trophies took the longest (for me at least) also the MP can be considered grindy as it takes quite long. But nevertheless a great enjoyable game! 

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18 hours ago, ZoutjeNL said:

Cood luck on your goal I found DOOM a bit of a weird spot though you said you don't really play MP games/focussed MP trophies but by far the MP trophies took the longest (for me at least) also the MP can be considered grindy as it takes quite long. But nevertheless a great enjoyable game! 

 

I try to avoid them--multiplayer centric titles-- but like my caveat on that rule says, it can be malleable depending on how much I enjoy the multiple and how bad the grind potentially is. DOOM was certainly grindy in multiplayer trophy terms but I also really enjoyed it. The grind felt pretty negligible in the end. So I resolved to finish it for the Crucible. ☺️

 

20 hours ago, AndresLionheart said:

I would have done the same for Celeste if I was going for the plat.

I had that discussion with a friend and we both agreed that is not worth the hassle of not using the assist mode because there isn't an ultra rare yo back it up. Very different from enduring something like Super Meat Boy in which you have the rarity to show for your efforts.

 

So, don't worry about it. I doubt many people (if any) have done it without the assist mode.

 

The argument I see pop up frequently is that it was because of the assist mode that the rarity of the trophies all went down therefore delegitimizing the platinum all together since it effectively destroys any difficultly the game has. I don't disagree about the effect that assist mode had on the rarity though but I already explained my reasoning as to why I don't really care about it in terms of my own completion list. I completed as much as I could without assist on so there was an attempt regardless. I was a little worried about finishing Celeste for the Crucible due to some potential backlash or drama from readers but I am glad that hasn't been the case so far. So thank you.

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On 11/18/2019 at 3:52 AM, Arcesius said:

Nice review on Control! I'm actually intrigued by that game, but I also only have a vanilla PS4 from 2013 and having about all the performance issues... I dunno. Maybe I'll pick it up at some point later. I have never seen it being described as a metroidvania though 1f602.png

 

Thanks! Metroidvania might have been a poor descriptor. Control definitely has some elements from the genre though, namely in getting new abilities allows you to access previously inaccessible areas, secrets, and missions in places you've been before. It was the closest comparison I could make genre-wise. 

 

As for performance, I can actually count the amount of times on one hand where the framerate dropped significantly enough for it to effect gameplay and I am playing on an OG PS4 as well. The only consistent performance issue I had was exiting the pause menu led to some painful game shuddering but I was also exiting the menu constantly to use photo mode so....take that for what it is worth. ?

 

On 11/18/2019 at 3:52 AM, Arcesius said:

I would like to read your thoughts on Remnant... I reminds me a lot of Immortal: Unchained, but with a more interesting world and enemy design. So if you have a hard time picking which game to complete next, my vote goes to that one :) 

 

 

I am seriously enjoying Remnant and along with Outer Wilds it is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. I got a lot further on my previous profile with it but when I started it on this one the Gamepocalypse 2k19 season started and all my new games started flooding me so it just got buried in my backlog. I haven't played Immortal: Unchained so I can't rightly say how similar it is but I love the world and enemy design in Remnant too. I was really digging it's character and weapon progression as well. It is definitely has the best developed procedure generated content system I've seen in action.  It is certainly near the top of my list to finish in the near future, it is just a more lengthy platinum to earn over the shorter games in my backlog I am trying to wrap up first. 

 

On 11/18/2019 at 3:52 AM, Arcesius said:

How are you liking Red Dead Redemption 2? I liked the first one so much that I didn't even think too much about getting the sequel (I once said to my girlfriend that I'm not sure if I wanna pick it up and she asked me if I'm feeling sick or what 1f602.png), but it turned out to be a bit too slow for me. 

 

love Red Dead Redemption 2. I beat the story last year and it was one of the highlights of the 2018 gaming year to me. I've never played a game that had such a fully realized and living open world like it. There are few games I can say got me as immersed in it's world as it did. I lost countless hours to getting sidetracked from the story with exploring and hunting. And the narrative itself was fantastic and is easily one of my favorites of all time. It was just extremely poignant and kept me invested the whole time. I'll acknowledge thought that it is absolutely a s-l-o-w game in that regard and I understand why everyone wouldn't enjoy it like I did. Rockstar does really need to update some of it's actual gameplay systems--looking at you shooting / cover mechanics--next time around. As much as I love their games I'll be the first to admit that RDR2 suffered a little due to those outdated systems. 

 

I started it up this year to knock out the multiplayer related trophies since the big online update came and my friends were really active on it again. It was much easier and faster than I anticipated to knock those trophies out (my advice, the Collector job role is stupid easy money / XP when using a guide). I am holding out on getting the actual platinum done due to how massive the story mode is and how time consuming the related trophies are. Since I love the game I am thinking of making it one of my milestone platinums (20, 30, 40 etc) which will give me sometime to finish some titles in my backlog I haven't gotten a chance to finish yet. Having already beaten RDR2 before, that automatically kicks it down my current priority list. But it will be 100% at some point--when I am feeling less intimidated by tackling that monster platinum there. ?

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UPDATE 11.20.19

 

Platinum #11 - The Order 1886

 

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Did you ever hear the tragedy of The Order 1886? I thought not. It's not a story Sony would tell you. (Sorry I got Star Wars on the mind since Jedi Fallen Order is so good but I digress...)

 

The Order 1886 released early in the PS4 era and kinda flopped. Released at full retail price (60.00 USD), only about 6-7 hours of playtime, and severely lacking in the player agency department--gameplay is extremely simple for a third person shooter--it was felt that it was almost a glorified tech demo of what the PS4 could do graphically. It is still one of the best looking games on PS4 to this day. Playing through it now, I was still blown away by the particle effects made by the weapons and the visual fidelity of the environments and character models. But good graphics doesn't always equate to a good game and unfortunately at launch The Order 1886 fell into that category.

 

I however, was not one of the early adopters of the game. I picked it up much later on a PSN sale for 8.99 about 2 years ago and honestly really enjoyed my time with it. I can see all the shortcomings of the game--the story is ploddingly slow, there isn't much gameplay besides running from each simple firefight to the next, and it a very short game for a AAA title with no replay value outside of ogling the visuals--but it has a lot of merit nonetheless. It sets up an interesting, more technologically advanced 1886 British Empire sprinkled in with some gothic horror monsters and the Knights of the Round Table lore (the titular Order). Despite being overly simple at times, combat is spiced up with these science weapons that always left a lasting impression on me after using them. But unfortunately they are used too little to fix the other shortcomings in the game. And the previously mentioned visuals are still worthy of praise, several years later. The Order 1886 is probably the closest thing to playing an interactive movie outside of Until Dawn or Detroit: Become Human. Unfortunately these strong aspects were overshadowed by the high price of admission for so little. If it launched as a budget title similar to Hellblade, I think it would have met a lot more success overall. But as it stands now it frequently ends up on sales that puts it below the 10.00 (USD) mark and that makes up for it's issues overall. Its definitely worth checking out now.

 

The platinum is also extremely easy. It took me only 5 hours to earn and I wasn't really rushing the game either. There really isn't much to say about the trophies themselves as it is a typical list of third person shooter. Kill X enemies, collect all the things, etc. It was fun to revisit this game near the end of this console cycle though and I am going to hold out hope that we might see a reboot that fixes its shortcomings. There is some great potential in the world the devs made.

 

Other games...

 

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I had a long weekend so I decided to do some hard drive cleaning by completing some shorter, non-platinum games before I removed them to make some space. I made a special listing for them in the Crucible of Completion since they do not have the platinum criteria I've listed. Not going to do full reviews for them but the stand outs were easily Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Gone Home. Each of them are fantastic, quick narrative experiences and I highly recommend them! Firewatch in particular holds a special place in my heart.

 

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UPDATE 11.22.19

 

Platinum #12 - Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order

 

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I never would have expected that a Star Wars game that borrows elements of Soulsborne combat, the environment traversal from Uncharted and Titanfall 2, and metroidvania exploration would come out of the other end as one of the best in recent memory. But Jedi Fallen Order achieves just that. It did a good job at blending all of these clear inspirations from other franchises and genres into an enjoyable, cohesive game. It's particularly surprising considering this is a a licensed Star Wars game and it took so many risks that could potential alienate people due to it's genre mashup.

 

But it certainly clicked with me. Exploration was a lot of fun and finding a chest always rewarded some form of customization in game through different outfit colors, lightsaber parts, skins for your ship or your droid companion, BD-1. Combat was very reminiscent of Sekrio: Shadows Die Twice with it's focus on well-timed parries to control the flow of combat but the inclusion of the force powers spiced it up to make it really something special. Combined with the very satisfying character progression the combat takes off and lets you utilize some really entertaining tactics. It's also worth mentioning that this might be the best introductory game to the Soulsborne style on the market due to it's really well communicated difficulty options. It shows exactly what you are getting into with each difficulty level that I can see many appreciating a lot and makes this game style much more approachable to newcomers. The story got me surprisingly invested too--I haven't really cared about the Star Wars mythology in recent years but Jedi Fallen Order pulled me in. It took a surprisingly deep take on the survivor's guilt and accompanying trauma the characters suffered from surviving the Jedi purge that I wasn't expected but definitely welcomed. The cast was overall great with BD-1 winning the cutest droid in the Star Wars mythos award. Topped off with some really awesome set pieces, it was simply a great experience. The highlight for me was easily the...

 

Spoiler

run like hell from the Darth Vader finale. It was totally unexpected and I loved seeing the return of the Jason Voorhees style, unstoppable juggernaut Vader introduced to us in the Rogue One movie.

 

The trophy list looked very daunting at first glance with it's trophies to collect all secrets / chests and uncovering 100% of the maps--those types of trophies always intimidate me--but it wasn't too bad as along as you venture off the beaten path during the story enough. Combat trophies also provided some fun challenges to do and even taught me to do some new tricks that I regularly utilized after I learned how to do it. Overall a solid, enjoyable list. I will warn though, I can easily see the A Galaxy Far, Far Away trophy for uncovering 100% of the maps can potentially be a MASSIVE headache. I was very thorough during my playthrough but I had a few maps sitting at 93% percent near the end because I missed walking on a single catwalk or platform that is not visible on the map in anyway unless you go onto it. Just a word to the wise for those going for the platinum: literally go onto every surface or platform in the game even if you have no reason to do so. It will potentially save a load of time aimlessly looking for what you missed.

 

So this is an easy recommendation from me. Jedi Fallen Order is EA finally doing something good with the Star Wars license with a solid, enjoyable, and complete single player experience. I hope it performs and sells well so EA might get the hint and continue this trend (plus Respawn is a wonderful game studio and should get all the support it has so rightfully earned this gen). It's a great game and a relatively easy trophy hunt.

 

Not 100% set on what the next game up in the Crucible is but I am looking at taking up @Arcesius on the Remnant: From the Ashes recommendation. We will see!

Edited by GameMatter
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  • 3 weeks later...

UPDATE 12.11.19

 

4 new platinums to talk about!

 

Platinum #13 - Remnant: From the Ashes

 

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Definitely one of my favorite releases for this year, Remnant: From the Ashes delivers on a premise I never knew I really wanted: a procedurally generated Dark Souls-esque experience...but with guns. Typically I find procedurally generated games to be very hit or miss but this one felt just right. Level layouts, enemy compositions, item locations, available quests, and even the bosses --which for the most part were cool, challenging encounters--are all subject to the random generation and it truly made each run of the campaign feel fresh each time. It is truly impossible to see and collect all the items in a single run so replayability was never a concern. This really helped make the character progression feel really meaningful as well, particularly in terms of weapons. While Remnant doesn't have an endless pool of different guns to loot like in Borderlands, it's smaller selection of weapon drops are each truly unique. It was always really cool to finally topple a difficult boss and craft a wholly unique, powerful weapon or weapon mod from their remains that could totally change my playstyle. My personal favorite: a side arm that fired a radioactive shotgun blast with an alternative fire mode that made each individual pellet from the shot do extra damage and ricochet off surfaces until it hit a target. Really fun stuff and it is only one of many unique guns that you can find in game. Some bosses even dropped a different weapon if you accomplished certain tasks during the fight like doing enough damage to part of a boss for it to fall off during it's fight.

 

Due to the randomly generated nature of the game, the trophy list was pretty challenging. It required collecting everything and seeing nearly every quest and boss encounter Remnant had to offer. As I previously mentioned, seeing all of them in single campaign run was impossible so I had to start mine over multiple times in an attempt to get a specific quest or boss to spawn in my game. You could also try joining other player's games in hopes that their world may have what you need but I personally found this to be a much slower, unreliable method. There is an option to launch 'Adventure Mode' which allows you to generate a single world / level from the game, which is pretty handy for narrowing down your grind if you know what you are missing. It is still very RNG dependent but I found it much easier than the alternative. There were some unreal difficulty spikes depending on some of the bosses too (particularly the last one) but everything can be played cooperatively, if you find yourself struggling.

 

NOTE: If you choose to play the game in co-op however be aware that only the host of the session will receive credit for story related trophies and they WILL NOT carry over to your personal save. The only things that carry over are your loot and your character progression. Similarly, the trophy Untouchable seems like it can only be earned in a session you are hosting. I actually highly recommend you attempt this one solo and on one of the Earth final bosses called Singe. It's attacks are by far the easiest to avoid since they are extremely telegraphed. I can see trying it on other bosses as being very difficult.

 

Remnant comes with my highest recommendations for at least playing it but if you are not a fan of RNG in your platinum hunts I might suggest you avoid the platinum for this one. I personally didn't find it too bad since the game gives you some tools to lessen the grind and it didn't really matter to me anyway as it was simply right up my alley as a game. And I forgot to mention that it is a budget title too, with it only being $39.99 USD. So yeah...pick it up.

 

 

Platinum #14 - Stretch

 

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Not much to say about Stretch. I picked it up on the PlayStation Store for .99 cents just because and played it. It is an incredibly simple premise--reflex / timing based button prompts in a wave based format. So...basically button prompts the video game. I was tearing my hair out on the last level since it felt much, much harder than it should have been for me and had me questioning my gamer cred. But overall a short, forgettable game featuring some funny, demoralizing level descriptions. I may have broken rule #4 on this one though. *shrug*

 

Platinum #15 - Gris

 

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What a gorgeous game. Gris is a relatively simple puzzle platformer with a really unique, remarkable graphical style. I find it hard to actually describe it but it incorporates splashes of watercolor into the actual environmental animations in ways I've never seen before. Art direction was similarly awesome with each level being incredibly distinctive visually with it's color hues and locales. Each level also introduced a new gameplay quirk that you have to navigate so there was a nice ramping of the mechanics thrown at you. I did find the game quite short though but I couldn't really complain with it's price tag and for how visually stunning the whole thing was. The soundtrack by the Berlinist was also noteworthy. 

 

As for trophies, the list isn't hard by any means but even with the level select you unlock at the end of the game some of them were a wee bit annoying. I am mostly speaking about the Eel trophy here as I found it a bit difficult to tell what the fail state was for this one due to animations (being vague as to avoid spoilers). The level select also drops you at really inopportune junctions of the levels that are not close to trophy objectives so if you miss one, you have a fair amount of replaying to do to reach them. 

 

But these are minor gripes to an otherwise beautiful experience. Definitely worth playing.

 

Platinum #16 - Titanfall 2

 

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Titanfall 2. Easily one of my favorite games of this gen. This was a replay for me and I hadn't gotten the platinum my first time around but I really didn't care as Titanfall 2's campaign is simply brilliant and I loved playing through it again. Gameplay is nearly perfect, the sense of camaraderie between you and your Titan BT-7274 was believable, and there are just so many memorable set pieces throughout the entire duration. It's multiplayer is probably my most played of this generation as well and I am really happy to see the community revitalized by the new players coming on board due to this being a PS+ title now. I'm a sucker for anything with mech combat in it and Titanfall 2 just hits the spot.

 

Trophies are a decent spread too, with many coming from just playing the game and others requiring a bit of finesse with completing challenges. But then there is the big kahuna of trophies in this list, ...Becomes the Master. By far the most difficult trophy here, it requires a perfect run of the game's time based gauntlet run. Complete mastery of the game's traversal system is necessary here and I had to run it countless times to finally get it barely. It is hard for me to give advice as to how to actually accomplish this one but this video done by the actual record holder for the gauntlet definitely helped me the most. This trophy requires repetition. Lots of it. Good luck.

 

 

 

Edited by GameMatter
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5 hours ago, GameMatter said:

Remnant comes with my highest recommendations for at least playing it but if you are not a fan of RNG in your platinum hunts I might suggest you avoid the platinum for this one. I personally didn't find it too bad since the game gives you some tools to lessen the grind and it didn't really matter to me anyway as it was simply right up my alley as a game. And I forgot to mention that it is a budget title too, with it only being $39.99 USD. So yeah...pick it up.

 

Nice review! Makes me wanna start the game soon ? I have meanwhile been told that in multiplayer, only the host gets certain trophies, which was a bit of a concern, especially since you cannot just replay the exact same game twice due to the random nature of the game... So it is great to read that replayability is not an issue with Remnant. 

 

 

5 hours ago, GameMatter said:

 I may have broken rule #4 on this one though. *shrug*

 

To be fair, watching some footage, the game doesn't look like an easy 30-min platinum... So since it wasn't a deliberate choice to go for an easy plat, I think it's fine ? 

 

 

By the way, I keep checking your Blog from time to time... Have you any plans to keep it updated, or has this thread turned into your main blog? :) 

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7 hours ago, Arcesius said:

 

Nice review! Makes me wanna start the game soon 1f605.png I have meanwhile been told that in multiplayer, only the host gets certain trophies, which was a bit of a concern, especially since you cannot just replay the exact same game twice due to the random nature of the game... So it is great to read that replayability is not an issue with Remnant. 

 

 

 

To be fair, watching some footage, the game doesn't look like an easy 30-min platinum... So since it wasn't a deliberate choice to go for an easy plat, I think it's fine 1f600.png 

 

 

By the way, I keep checking your Blog from time to time... Have you any plans to keep it updated, or has this thread turned into your main blog? :) 

 

Your comment on the Remnant review actually reminded me that I completely forgot to talk about that detail when it came to the trophies. Going to update that tidbit with more info. So thanks!

 

As for my blog, I am going to be doing somewhat of a soft reboot for it in 2020 to include all of my Crucible of Completion stuff and to start writing up full on game reviews again. I had to take an unfortunate hiatus it because I simply burned myself out trying to do too much all at once. I work an unfulfilling, 60 hour a week job...on top of that I was trying to play way too many games, write up extensive review notes for them,write up the reviews, tried to maintain a reasonable streaming schedule for said games, kept up with the GameMatter social media accounts...way, way too much.

 

I took a break to readjust my expectations, to figure out a definite direction for the blog, and what I actually wanted to accomplish with it. I knew I loved trophy hunting so the idea of creating an account to aim for 100% game completion and blogging about my trophy hunting chronicles came to mind. Thus the Crucible of Completion was born. I've been using the post here to ease myself back into it and to make sure it was what I definitely wanted to do. It was, so I've been working on creating a more realistic release window for my reviews / blog posts to prevent future burn out. I'm actually wrapping up some of my top 5's of 2019 now so I'll have stuff ready to launch in January, along with some reviews I'm just starting on for newer games. I'm also starting a (hopefully) much better job in February too, so that certainly helped with healing my mood too.

 

TL;DR -  Yes, the blog will start getting regular content again. Burned myself out, found new motivation, set up realistic expectations for myself. Revamped blog will commence in January. Stay tuned. ☺️

Edited by GameMatter
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On 10/20/2019 at 5:52 AM, GameMatter said:

UPDATE 10.20.19

 

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Platinum #6 is DOOM (2016)spacer.png. I've earned the platinum for this masterpiece before on my old profile and it still stands as one of my favorite shooters upon recompleting it. Action was immaculate, the demons look badass, and the soundtrack is perfection--ripping and tearing never felt so great. I think it is also worth mentioning that despite being a silent protagonist, the Doom Slayer had plenty of great comedy moments with his interactions in the environment that never failed to get a laugh out of me. A relatively painfree platinum to earn as everything basically came naturally through just playing and enjoying it, minus a very small handful.

 

The only difference here from my past playthrough was that I went for all the multiplayer DLC trophies. Initially I was dreading it but the multiplayer turned out to be some of the most fun I've had in a competitive shooter since Titanfall 2. Most of the grind was simply about getting to a high enough level to get the needed equipment/customization options to earn their related trophies. While at times it felt tedious simply due to how high of a level was needed to get the last armor trophy (Beauty is Pain), the grind was barely noticeable for me personally and the servers were surprisingly active whenever I went to play. I really hope that it makes a reappearance in DOOM Eternal next year when it comes out. 

 

DOOM will forever stand as an example of a shooter done right.

What an amazing game. I recently did all the multiplayer DLC trophies too and I was dreading it at first but it ended up being a total blast! Very excited for Eternal next year. I wonder if we bumped into each other online? ?

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