Astray404's trophy shelf

[Astray404]

Just now, Neptuos said:

Damn, that's a lot of progress in one go, you have a pretty cool list going on, congrats on the 90% and make sure it never stops growing.

 

Btw, i saw that you finished RE Revelations 2, i'll go back to it now thanks to the Summer Backlog Challenge, but how hard are the Countdown and Invisible mode? and which one do you think is better to start with? i'd only finished the campaign a few months ago, and both of those modes sound kinda scare

IIRC Countdown mode is based on Normal mode, and Invisible mode is based on Hard mode, so I would recommend go for Countdown mode first. Invisible mode sounds scary but you could back to the checkpoint and retry as many times as you want. Besides Moira and Natalia are good navigators that could sight and inform you about enemy positions so don't worry about it. There are plenty of video guides on YouTube and basically practice will make progress. Good luck on getting the platinum!

[Yuber6969]

We've played a lot of the same games! Good luck on RDR 2. I hated platting the first one (good game though) and I heard the second is even more tedious.

[Astray404]

1 minute ago, yuber1234 said:

We've played a lot of the same games! Good luck on RDR 2. I hated platting the first one (good game though) and I heard the second is even more tedious.

Thanks! I bought this years ago and have only played the "prologue" for like 20 mins and I could already feel the tediousness

[Astray404]

Plat #161 - Tekken 7

Difficulty: 3/10

 

Surprisingly the trophy list is not grindy nor technically difficult, but the battle system is really hard to start with, which is the most challenging part for all FTGs. The offline mode is pretty freshman-friendly: I haven't played any FTG before, but I have no problems beating the story mode using Heihachi and other characters due to the auto combo system, and for the treasure mode, it is not that hard to reach Warrior after being familiar with basic combos as long as I could block the opponent's moves.

 

Only two things that I am confused about: (1) Why would Namco put the left dodge and jump the same button? It makes me wanna get a Hitbox controller because it's too difficult to "feel" the input time using a PS4 controller, and there's a chance to mistakenly press the up button; (2) Either the player or the opponent could perform a super-long combo, which could do a 50% - 70% damage. This sounds more reasonable in action games, but I feel it's unfair in fighting games, even if the damage per hit is drastically decreasing as the combo number gets higher.

 

Plat #162 - Gintama Rumble

Difficulty: 3/10

 

I've heard from the Internet that this game is glitchy, but fortunately, none of the trophies got glitched. However I have to admit that this game is horrible: the enemy glitched out of the map, frequent CE-34878-0 errors, extremely long recovery frame after attack and dash, frustrating boss battles, etc. Besides, it seems that the dev team had forgotten the most important thing: since this is a game for Gintama fans, how could they turn all those cutscenes into lecture slides? And for those in-battle character lines, at first, I thought that those audio files were glitched out, but later when I re-checked my controller speaker, those audios were played through my controller. *sigh*

I guess Bandai is almost equivalent to "LJN", at least in anime game publishing...

 

Plat #163 Midnight Deluxe

Plat #164 36 Fragments of Midnight

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Cleaning my Ratalaika backlog...

 

Plat #165  - Assassin's Creed Rogue (PS4)

Difficulty: 3/10

 

Wow, another glitchy s**t made by Ubisoft, and their programmers still didn't fix the fatal glitch from the original PS3 version. I followed the original PS3 trophy guide but the author didn't mention the Templar armor glitch at all. Until I got the armor and fast-traveled to my ship. All in-game huds were gone and it became uncontrollable except for the right stick and option menu. Fortunately, I've finished most trophies and I uploaded the save yesterday so it's acceptable for me to download the cloud savefile back.

 

Other than this glitch, the gameplay is as tedious as other titles in the AC series: a clumsy character that couldn't do jumping and climbing smoothly, collectibles that waste your time, etc. That's it, no more Ubisoft games.

 

Plat #166 - Avicii Invector

Difficulty: 2/10

 

Not a fan of Avicii or progressive house, but his music sounds great and fits the rhythm game well. This game might be the easiest rhythm game I've played so far (not sure which one is easier, this one or Senran Kagura Bon Appetite), and it only has two problems: (1) The timing of perfect and great seems unstable. Even if I'm pretty sure that my timing is correct, it's hard to get a 75% perfect on any track; (2) On higher difficulties, some Left/Right notes are not displayed, which somehow makes me uncomfortable due to extra mental efforts.

 

Plat #167 - Guacamelee 2

Difficulty: 5/10

 

Guacamelee has been my favorite Metroidvania game for years, and this sequel is as impressive as the first one, but the gameplay's mainly shifted to platforming, making it much harder than the first one. However, the most difficult holy hen stage is still beatable, although it seems frustrating at first. With DLC characters, hard mode is not challenging at all if you are familiar with boss patterns. An awesome game and I highly recommend it.

 

Plat #168 - SD Gundam G Generation Genesis

Difficulty: 2/10

 

There are not many good Gundam games on PS4, especially a good Gundam game that I could enjoy playing offline only. As a fan of the UC timeline series, however, I really enjoyed playing this game. The playable content is solid, including stages and MS/MA/battleships from most parts of the UC timeline, from original 0079 to Unicorn, with Hathaway's story in DLC, and other side stories such as MS Igloo and Blue Destiny. It took me around 150 hours to finish all quests and to finish some of them, save & reload to make sure hitting/dodging is necessary. Only two problems: (1) Bandai used the story of MS Zeta movies instead of the original Zeta TV anime, and (2) There's one mistranslation in the quest menu.

 

Plat #169 - Dark Souls 2 (PS4)

Difficulty: 4/10

I bought this several years ago but hesitated to actually try it, and now I can understand the debate regarding this game after playing it. The art is great, the map design is great, Majula is a great town, and the bonfire ascetic system also brings innovation to the gaming experience. HOWEVER, this is a perfect example that a bad level design could ruin the gameplay.

 

(1) The level design of No Man's Wharf is horrible when compared to Cathedral of the Deep in Dark Souls 3. Both maps only have one bonfire, which is fine. In Cathedral of the Deep, you start from the bonfire, try different routes, unlock shortpaths, and eventually you'll go back to the main bonfire, but in No Man's Wharf, you start from the bonfire, run through most of the map, and unlock one shortpath at the end, which brings you back to the bonfire. There's a lack of complexity, and if you die before unlocking the short-path, it could be frustrating to restart again and again.

 

(2) It seems that those level designers love spamming enemies in order to make this game difficult: If placing only one enemy here is too easy, let's add more of them instead of redesigning the enemy's AI pattern or the map. Most of the non-dlc bosses are much easier than normal enemies because obviously most of the deaths have happened while running from one bonfire to another bonfire, or from one bonfire to the boss. For example, in Executioner's Chariot at Huntsman's Copse and Demon of Song in Shrine of Amana, running to their fog gates is much more frustrating than actually fighting them. Thankfully a specific enemy will disappear after being killed several times, but it's still disgusting.

 

(3) Those designers also spamming bosses: Royal Rat Authority, Royal Rat Vanguard, Ruin Sentinels, Gargoyles, Skeleton Lords... It's just horrible without summoning an NPC.

(4) Weird back-stab position. Sometimes when I face the enemies' back and press R1, the back-stab won't trigger, but sometimes when I face the enemies' flank it triggers.

I'll say that Dark Souls 2 is definitely not a perfect game, speaking of its level and battle animation design. However, compared to most 3A titles these days, it's still enjoyable and worth trying. (especially 3 DLC stages)

 

Plat #170 - Donut County

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Feel like this game is similar to Katamari since both of them are aiming at collecting objects while getting larger, in order to collect even larger objects. The final boss no-damage trophy needs some practice but it's not frustrating. This game is somehow beyond my expectations.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Astray404

[Astray404]

Plat #171 - Ratchet & Clank (2016)
Difficulty: 2/10

 

Forgot where I got this for free, maybe the COVID play-from-home event? Have to admit that this game is a little bit mediocre and boring. Every planet is an almost linear stage, and all I did was to turn Mr. Zurkon on, run to the end while shooting every enemy. Puzzle-solving parts are fun to play though... Besides, the control during rail riding is weird. Sometimes Ratchet won't switch to the left or right rail even if I push the joystick in the corresponding direction. Can't say I enjoy this game, but at least it's not bad.

 

Plat #172 - Idolm@ster Must Songs (Red / Blue Disc)

Difficulty: 4/10 (With the Red Disc), 6/10 (With the Blue Disc)

 

The best "collabo" game I've ever played: The rhythm game system of Taiko no Tatsujin fits well with Idolm@ster. Besides, there are also some Idolm@ster features such as performing a live- medley. The red disc has more old songs, while the blue disc contains songs from the anime and later titles. Both discs are worth playing, although I would prefer songs on the Blue disc. Most songs are not that difficult to clear, even on Oni difficulty. However, not many songs have 600+ combos, making コンボ６００ a little bit challenging, especially on blue disc. Other trophies are pretty player-friendly, except for some end-game money grinding.

 

Only one thing: players could use the touch feature to interact with their customizable taiko (idol), but there is no touchscreen control to use while playing the rhythm game, which will definitely make the game easier.

 

Plat #173 - IDOLM@STER Stella Stage 

Difficulty: 3/10

 

I've heard that this is much less grindy than the previous one. Haven't played that one yet but somehow I could feel it. Without buying DLC mails (though I usually do), the story content seems not sufficient. Since it's defined as an Idol Simulator, the game has a repetitive weekly routine of taking class, performing a live concert, or taking a rest. Allocate the stamina for everyone is necessary for the trophy レジェンドプロダクション that requires clearing all contests in one year. I would rate it as a decent  IDOLM@STER game but if there are more Commu events it could be better. 

 

Plat #174 - Gris

Difficulty: 2/10

 

Being an eye candy won't change my impression of this game as a tedious "walking simulator". Most puzzles are not thinking inspiring -- just try every direction on the screen... The gravity stage is the best stage with complex route design compared to previous stages, but that's almost the end of the game. Speaking of its sound design, the music is bland but sometimes it fits the stage well. Overall, it's mediocre and barely acceptable, as a game.

 

Plat #175 IDOLM@STER Starlit Season (w/ leaderboard #7)

Difficulty: 3/10

 

After Platinum Stars and Stella Stage, now we have a real IDOLM@STER game on PS4 finally.

 

+ The story attracts me more than the previous ones. It took me around 40 hours to beat the main story on my 1st playthrough. Then on NG+, new Commu events are added, making the 2nd playthrough more grindy but much more fun to play. After all, I buy the game just for those Commu events. 

+ Better character models, which makes me wanna buy the Steam version also.

+ Better costume design, with more varieties of styles to choose from.

+ The Pre-order version has BGM music from the IDOLM@STER Arcade. Nostalgic.

- Not everyone can sing all songs, which is sort of... unusual on a console im@s game. Although you can use everyone to "perform" every song on NG+, there's no corresponding vocal. Besides, this makes the 1st playthrough a little bit challenging.

- Frequent CE-34878-0 crash on the Daily Check menu. Not sure why this happens, but there's a high probability that the savefile of this game has some issues during reading and writing.

 

Overall I would highly recommend this game if you are fluent in Japanese or Chinese or Korean. Now I can take a break and back to my real life. 

_:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_

[Astray404]

Plat #176 - Alien Destroyer

Plat #177 - Funny Truck

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Cannot quite complain about those indie games that look like someone's final assignment since they only cost 5 HKD each. Hmmmmmmm...

 

Plat #178 - The Sexy Brutale

Difficulty: 1/10 (With video guide)

 

Got this from PSN+ this month, and somehow it's better than I expected.

+ Story. At first, I thought it was Resident Evil without battles, but after I went deep through the game, I started to enjoy those conversations with NPCs;

+ Music. This game has some jazz and chilling music that is definitely worth listening to, although sometimes they suddenly stop upon conversation starts;

- Tutorial. It has a whole prologue as a tutorial, but it's still hard for me to understand what I was supposed to do when I started to play this game. After I got used to the system, the time reversing system makes the game fun to play though;

- Without a guide, collecting cards and invites could be frustrating.

 

 

Plat #179 - Daedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz

Difficulty: 1/10

 

I've heard the Jake Hunter series before, but haven't tried it. Unlike other visual novels that I've played, the story of this one sounds bland and somehow tedious to me. As a mystery adventure game, it is even less fun to play than the Sherlock Holmes series made by Frogwares.

+ Fantastic background artworks with panoramic views, which is the most attractive thing in the game, ironically;

+ Soothing music, but a little bit repetitive;

- Unrealistic character design. The story took place in New York, and all the main characters are grown-ups. However, characters such as Abbie and Ben act like they are typical high school students in Japan, which does not match the story's background.

 

 

Plat #180 - Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2

Difficulty: 2/10

 

A great 2d side-scroll shooter game. Looks like it's inspired by the Metal Slug series, although there is definitely something weird in this game.

+ Great visual effects and sound effects that bring excitement during battles;

+ Jazz music;

+ Challenging boss battles that encourage players to remember the pattern;

- Character's facing could be only turned by using the right stick, which is also the aiming button. Besides, it is also difficult to aim at the head;

- Switching weapons by the weapon wheel won't pause the game. This is a little bit annoying since there are too many weapons.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Astray404

[Astray404]

Plat #181 - Neptune Re;Birth1

Difficulty: 4/10

 

First time playing a title in the Neptune series. It's definitely not a perfect game, but it's fun to watch the story and play.

+ Story and memes. That's why I bought this;

+ Impressive character design. It seems that almost everyone around me who has played this has at least one fav character;

+ Battle system. Looks like a combination of a strategy and turn-based RPG game, although sometimes I need to use d-pad buttons to slightly adjust the character direction;

- No auto-save. In that notorious chapter 2, consecutively fighting 2 bosses without auto-save or retry is horrible. Although there are also consecutive battles in later chapters, they are not challenging as this one;

- Money grinding trophy. It's just... frustrating.

 

 

Plat #182 - Aer: Memories of Old

Difficulty: 2/10

 

Got this from the End of Year Sale. Unfortunately, the AS/HK version has "fixed" the glitch, so the trophy Hide and Seek is unlocked differently from what the guide states.

+ This game emphasizes the flying experience, which is unique, although there's one stage that requires the player to fly through circles;

+ Details while flying, such as the effect when your character flies through clouds;

- Tedious puzzles that always ask the player to use the lantern to light something that opens a new pathway;

- Weird jumping animation frames that make me feel like wandering on the moon;

- Boring ambient music.

 

 

Plat #183 - It Takes Two

Difficulty: 2/10

Although I could feel the creativity of this game, it still makes me wonder how did this game win the GOTY award, since it is not even perfect (or almost perfect) because of the lack of gameplay and I would only rate this game around 8~8.5/10.

+ Innovative experience delivered as a collaboration-focused game;

+ Appropriate amount of comedy atmosphere and memes;

- The puzzle-solving and platforming gameplay are not as impressive as its cinematic cutscenes. Most stages are linear and could be beaten just by running through without thinking about the strategy. The only time I and my friend got stuck was in the winter village stage; 

- Camera angles. It is sometimes difficult to locate my character since he/she is too small. Besides, the camera angle sometimes also ruined my platforming experience. For example, since the camera is too far from my character while playing the Hell Tower, trees near the bottom of the tower would often block my view;

- Story ending. There's only one "happy" ending, where Cody and May repaired their broken relationship and continued living as a family. It seems somehow "cliche" for me but it's just my personal view.

 

Plat #184 - Elden Ring

Difficulty: 5/10

 

Although it's not as fascinating as DS3 (battle) or Bloodborne (story), Elden Ring is still my favorite game this year so far.
+ Well-designed dungeons such as Stormveil Castle and Miquella's Haligtree;
+ Traveling through the open world with your mount Torrent while sightseeing is fun;
+ If you have trouble fighting against enemies, switching to another area or doing some leveling becomes a solution;
+ No stupid covenant item farming this time;

- Bad boss battle design. (1) Seems that the Tarnished is a little bit weaker than the Ashen one due to input latency of dodging and using items, but damn, all bosses in this game look like stimulant overdosing, making using melee weapons (except weapons with Frost Stomp or... Moonveil) much more challenging, since it is necessary to give them a stun-lock to prevent them from attacking, or you'll have to attack them using spells. For example, Margit and Godrick, two early bosses in this game, fighting with them without summoning NPCs or Ashes makes the battle almost equivalent to the battle against Dancer in DS3, or even harder. (2) Some enemies such as Godskin, some Knights, and some NPC invaders read players' input commands like a cheater. For example, during the battle, right after pressing the , even before the drinking flask action starts, those enemies start to react as they've already known your action.

 

One more interesting thing, it seems that all my friends playing this game told me that their first story-related boss was Margit. However, compared to Margit, is Leonine in Castle Morne more acceptable? Or are we all deceived by Miyazaki?

 

 

Plat #185 - Nurse Love Addiction

Difficulty: 1/10

 

It overall looks like a cute Yuri VN for weebs, but after reading all those BEs, it was horrifying as hell. The story has almost no relationship with Nurse Love Syndrome, so no difficulties in understanding the story background without playing the first title.

+ Full voice and awesome artwork;

+ All Good Endings (and the Normal Ending) looks fine;

- Some Bad Endings, similar to Root Letter, are too surreal;

- The medical dictionary is removed in the English version.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Astray404

[Astray404]

Plat #186 - STEINS;GATE Senkei Kousoku no Phenogram

Difficulty: 1/10

 

It looks like a collection of side stories from different timelines of the original SG. Some chapters add details to the original storyline, others are some "if-story" chapters that have almost no connection with the original storyline.

 

+ Most stories are fun to read, although it seems that there is more than one author, which makes the quality of the text varies a lot;

+ Music;

- The email system. It does not relate to the story at all, so attempting to save/reload to collect all emails are sort of meaningless.

 

 

Plat #187 - Senran Kagura Estival Versus (PS4)

Difficulty: 2/10

 

Revisiting this game 7 years later brought me some brand new experiences. Marvelous had added lots of costumes and Finisher cutscenes, which makes the "All Collectibles" trophy harder to track, but the game itself is still fun to play.

+ More characters and more stories compared to any other titles in the series;

+ Memes in those cutscene dialogs;

- Actions such as attacking and dodging are more clumsy than later titles such as Burst Renewal;

- Sometimes enemies may glitch out of the map.

 

Plat #188 - Carto

Difficulty: 4/10

 

This might be the most astonishing game I've played this year so far. Ideas such as creating a puzzle by giving players fragments of a map and encouraging players to solve the puzzle by rotating and rearranging the map fragments are innovative (although I've seen a similar idea in a game jam demo). Playing this game even with a text guide is challenging due to plenty of combinations, but it is definitely fun and worth it.

 

Plat #189 - Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD

Difficulty: 2/10

 

A condensed version of the original FFXV, this game concentrates on the main quests of the original game, while ditching most side quests. A good one for those who would only like to know the main story of FFXV.

+ Adorable art style;

+ Solid gameplay;

- Frustrating AP farming; (and there's no autosave after the battle against Cactuars)

- Tedious and lengthy chapter 8. (Original chapter 13) Sorry, I'm not a fan of stealth games.

 

 

Plat #190 - STEINS;GATE: My Darling's Embrace

Difficulty: 1/10

 

As a spin-off or fandisk of STEINS;GATE, this one has a better story than Phenogram since it brings more fun and delightful experience while reading. Most characters' routes are not related to the "gadget", but all routes come with a romantic storyline. Moeka's and Kurisu's routes are my favorites, especially Moeka's route. I never pay too much attention to her while playing STEINS;GATE, but she created a totally different impression in this fandisk.

 

Besides, it was the first time that I had read all text and emails in a STEINS;GATE game, and the English translation was better than I thought.

 

Plat #191 - STEINS;GATE ELITE

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Haven't played the original STEINS;GATE yet, but this is more like a Director's Cut Edition of the anime. It's not bad actually, however, although I still need to play the original version on my Vita, since I've heard that there are storywise differences between those two games.

 

[Astray404]

Plat #192 - Fate/stay night [Realta Nua]

Difficulty: 2/10

 

It is hard to review this in 2022, really.

Back in the 2000s, it was a great visual novel commercially released by Type-Moon, with a proper storyline. Although its straightforward story was not as solid as Kara no Kyoukai (nor Tsukihime), which Kinoko Nasu also wrote, when compared to its Anime movie adaptations, it offers more textual details. I've already played it years ago on PS2, so I skipped most stories on this PS Vita version. The new PS Vita version offers full voice (like the PS2 version), new opening movies, and a new arrangement of BGMs (although it still sounds awful), making the reading experience a lot better. The only horrible thing is collecting all events: without an informational guide, it's like achieving 200.6% area completion in Castlevania SotN. This is why I gave it a 2/10 on difficulty instead of 1.

+ Story

+ Full voice

+ New opening movie

- Frustrating all-event trophy

- Music

 

Plat #193 - Wattam 

Difficulty: 4/10

 

What a shitty game... and I'm not joking. (′゜ω。‵)

 

It is hard to not compare Wattam with other Namco titles such as Katamari and Noby Noby Boy since these games are developed by the same game producer. This game shows creativity in gameplay, art, and music. It is fun to switch between different characters to solve the puzzle, or wander between islands. The prince and Noby Noby Boy serve as easter eggs at the end of the game although I'm not surprised when found them. Trophies are also straightforward and not grindy.

 

However, indie games are usually glitchy, and so does this. First, there's a frequent framerate drop during gameplay, and while there are too many characters on one island, there is a possibility that the game will crash. Sometimes small-size characters will stick with the toilet in a glitchy way, making the flush difficult. Besides, there's a chance that the snowman will disappear and you will not be able to obtain the trophy "Struck Gold" unless starting a new game. I would suggest using the tree to transform the snowman into a fruit or mushroom to reduce the chance of glitches.

 

Overall I would not recommend this game if you are looking for an easy-plat game, but if you are looking for a game to relax, this could be a good choice.

 

Plat #194 - Neptunia X Senran Kagura Ninja Wars

Difficulty: 4/10

 

Can't say it's difficult based on the 1.04 version, but those Yomi trials might be challenging for characters that are not lv 50, especially for those who have low defense stats such as Noire and Goh.

 

The story is not as enjoyable as previous Senran Kagura titles, and it is short. It only took me around 7-8 hrs to finish the main story, and 15 hrs to obtain the plat trophy. Besides, the whole system is a little bit boring (in my own opinion) since it relies on Spirit Gems, which could be upgraded only using gems in the same category, and you'll need to grind a lot.

 

Basically, it is a good game to kill time, but even so, I highly recommend buying this during a sale.

 

BTW, the box edition looks nice.

Spoiler

  

 

 

Plat #195 Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Thank TYPE-MOON for bringing everyone back to the golden age of Visual Novels. Although it only contains half of the original story, it took me almost around 40+ hours to read stories from all 2 routes.

 

Don't get deceived by the first playthrough, since Arcueid's route conceals all conspiracies with a "boy-meet-girl" romantic facade. Once getting into Ciel's route during the second playthrough, the distinct "TYPE-MOON" -ish complexity of the story starts to show up. Even bad endings are fun to watch instead of frustrating and punishing readers.

 

I wish not to spoil the whole story, so my review of the story ends here. If you possess the ability to read in Japanese, I would highly recommend this, and also Tsukihime -The other side of red garden-, which will be released in the future.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Astray404

[Astray404]

Plat #196 - Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster)

Difficulty: 3/10

 

Already played this many years ago on my GBA when I was a kid, and I still remember that it took me an afternoon to level up my characters and yet I'm not even to reach the deepest floor in Cavern of Earth. Somehow levelling in old FF titles makes me frustrated and give up playing easily, especially when saving the game is only available in the field.

 

Revisiting this game in the FFPR bundle brings new experiences, especially when I discovered the contents I missed. Booth and auto-save are definitely live-saver. Although bonus dungeons and Labyrinth of Time are missing, the gameplay is still enjoyable.

 

Plat #197 - Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster)
Difficulty: 3/10

 

Now it’s time for enjoying the most innovative and controversial one among the whole FF series. IIRC this game did receive mixed reviews back when released, mostly due to its new EXP and growth system.

+ Great story, probably the best one in the Famicom trilogy
+ Great music
+ Using MP to release magic instead of limiting the number of uses (I’m really not into the DND system)
+ Chocobos
- Although the new weapon skill level system is acceptable for me, the weapon exp indicator is obscure and does not show how far have I progressed and how many left to level up (I would say that FF11 has a much better weapon skill system but this game is 14 years later than FF2)
- Easily getting one-hit killed because of accidentally stepping in high-level areas on the world map (imagine visiting the desert by mistake at the start of the game and getting killed instantly by the Antlion thing), and there is no gaming mechanics to prevent me from doing this, nor signs marking area levels. Thankfully, the auto-save could save lots of time on trial-and-errors
- Normal random battles are being triggered too frequently. Once every 5 or 6 seconds a normal random battle will start, forcing me to turn off encounters
- Messy bestiary due to its sorted by creature types instead of spawn location by default. It's horrible for trophy hunters
- Story-wise, guest NPCs keep sacrificing themselves and it almost turns into something cliche

 

Plat #198 - Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster)
Difficulty: 4/10

 

With a more advanced job system, once again, 4 warriors of light are saving the world... again. Overall the gameplay is more enjoyable than FF2, though it is slightly more challenging due to its unique gameplay designs.

+ New job system. More jobs and more fun!
+ Free to switch between jobs. It gives me more freedom in gameplay, especially when caster characters run out of MP in the dungeon. Being able to switch to melee jobs at least is a choice to let those characters have some damage output
+ Large world map. The floating continent is actually a small part of the world map! Besides, finding that the airship could travel undersea brings fresh experience.
+ Free HP/MP recovering service after getting the Invincible
+ Bosses are more challenging and fun to fight
- Unlike FF1, there is no Ether for MP (more appropriate, spell usage) recovering, which means you will have to be prudent and conservative on magic spells usage, especially in dungeons. It just considerably limits the damage output of magic-oriented jobs such as black mage and magus. This is the main reason why I rate FF3 as 4/10 on the difficulty
- MP will be emptied upon job switching
- You will need to grind a lot to level up your characters. Not only for character leveling but also for job leveling, and there are specific dungeons that force you to switch to a specific job, forcing you to do some job leveling work

 

Plat #199 - Senran Kagura Bon Appetit! (Physical Version)

Difficulty: 2/10

 

The joysticks on my vita got drifting badly but fortunately I'm still able to plat this.

I have to say that it requires lots of grinding... Clearing 200 songs is too much.

Checking the trophy records of the digital version of this game makes me wonder how I beat all songs on Hard mode since I probably did not know the cheat code back then... 

 

Plat #200 - Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster)

Difficulty: 3/10

 

200th platinum!

 

As the first FF on Super Nintendo, the music, art and story are much better than previous ones, and its gameplay also evolved in a fantastic way. It's a good start on SNES.

 

+ Thanks to the new ATB system and the inclusion of more battle gimmicks, battles now bring more excitement and surprises. Almost every boss has absorbing or countering, such as Mist Dragon and Rubicante. It takes turns to figure out a proper time to attack, and the most efficient strategy to defeat the boss without reading a walkthrough guide

+ A fantastic story and character depiction, although cutscenes appear slightly too much

+ The world map, including the above-ground world, the underground world and the moon, is definitely fun to explore

+ Save points in dungeons. What a lifesaver!

- Lacking a job system makes the game more story-focused. Sometimes I wish Cecil could switch his job between Dark Knight and Paladin, and the usage of his jobs brings different endings

- Requiring lots of grindings. I'm not a victim of stupid RNG but I've heard that it might take hours to farm summon magics and the pink tail

[Astray404]

Plat #201 - The Gardens Between
Difficulty: 2/10

 

It is a lovely indie puzzle game with adorable graphics that took me around 2.5hrs to finish. A good choice to kill time.
+ Player-friendly control and easy-to-follow tutorial. Although the whole game does not contain a single word, unlike those games that have a redundant paragraph to introduce, the tutorial is smooth and comprehensive
+ Graphics and scene design. Each island has its unique landscape that is related to the puzzle, such as the dinosaur skeleton that could change the path
- Since it lacks storytelling, the whole story is confusing until the end of the game

 

Plat #202 - Life is Strange: True Colors

Difficulty: 3/10

 

Last night I thought that I could quickly plat this game and go to bed, but I never expected it to end in spending almost an hour to figure out how to make the game not crash at the last cutscene. This game quality is not worth 60 bucks, though I got it from the PS+ collections.

 

+ The story compared to LIS 2 is much better, at least there is no subjective political bias shit stuffed everywhere in the main story. It has a great start, and the girl's motive to search for the killer of her brother sounds reasonable. Although the character depiction in Chapter 5 is not as amazing as in LIS 1, it is still stunning.

+ The role-playing gaming part in Chapter 3 is a fresh experience and it is enjoyable.

- The game keeps crashing during the last cutscene, which is definitely unacceptable, given there are lots of QA specialists displayed in the credit list.

- Boring music. It would be better if they could use something else that is not an acoustic guitar.

- Exactly 731. Using the number 731 to imply some teasing should be okay somewhere like 4chan, but this kind of humor is not suitable for a formal place such as console games.

 

 

Plat #203 - Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

Difficulty: 3/10

 

I don't think that this game is difficult, although the trophy Proud Chain Master may sound scary at first glance.

Overall it is not bad, but compared to the Theatrhythm series it looks a little bit mediocre.

+ 150 songs covering from KH1 to KH3

+ The addition of a One-button mode might be useful for someone who doesn't have much experience with rhythm games

-  Although each team has its HP and other stats, the battle system is not "RPG" enough, especially when compared to Theatrhythm series, since there is no actual combat scene

- Maps are hard to read, and since orchestra music usually changes bpm every bar, it is challenging to determine when to press the button

- Clearing all 450 maps and defeating 100k-enemy are too grindy, forcing players to spend more time on the game

 

 

Plat #204 - Unpacking

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Ｄｏｅｓ　ｃｏｎｓｕｍｅｒｉｓｍ　ｅｎｔｉｃｅ　ｕｓ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｕｎｌｉｍｉｔｅｄ　ｐｕｒｃｈａｓｉｎｇ？

Anyway, with the accessibility feature on, it is just a clicking simulator, although the art style looks cute. 

 

Plat #205 - Last Stop

Difficulty: 2/10

 

The last chapter is totally beyond my expectations, and it does not seem to connect well with the preceding contents. Kinda weird.

 

Plat #206 - LEGO The Incredibles

Difficulty: 4/10

 

My turbo controller saved my life again.

Like other Lego games, this game is pretty glitchy, but overall it's not that awful. 

+ Everything adapted from the movies is awesome (story, music, etc)

- If you enter the game before downloading complete, you will enter a lava scene. Although it is a good place for That Was Totally Wicked!, there is no description, which may cause confusion

- Loading time. It takes forever to return to the city

- Nasty glitches, especially in chapter 8. Your characters will stuck in the ground, silver safe with the minikit cannot be bombed, etc. Restart the level will somehow solve those problems, but it is frustrating

[Astray404]

Plat #207 - Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Difficulty: 4/10

 

Similar to FF14, this game gave me the feeling of a Final Fantasy theme park, with stage designs that are inspired by previous FF titles such as FF14, FF13, FF11, etc. The battle system is solid as usual. However, as its weak spot, the storytelling is not appealing enough.

+ Job system and weapon system enrich the gaming experience, although I would prefer using mages

+ Boss battles are fun to play, and it is challenging to beat them in Chaos mode, although I still cannot beat Tiamat even in Action mode, and I don't get it 

+ Music

- Equipment grinding makes it like a Sagyō game. Running through stages just for high-level equipment is kinda frustrating, but the game forces players to do so

- Offline experience is not as cheesy as online experience since the game allows using Phoenix Downs on your player when playing with others

 

Plat #208 - Romancing SaGa 2 (AS)

Difficulty: 4/10

 

It was the second time that I finished this game, but this time I tried to finish it in a more challenging way, and I found it doable to just plat this game in only one playthrough. Will start writing the trophy guide soon. (Update: guide here)

+ Open world & open event system -> careful, this game's gotta softlock you everywhere

+ Music

+ A new maze was added in the remastered version

- Although the game displays every mob's location (unlike FF), it's frustrating 

 

Plat #209 - Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5)

Difficulty: 1/10

 

Have to say that the savefile transferring is much better than Elden Ring 🤣

 

 

Plat #210 - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Difficulty: 2/10

 

An amazing 40-hour experience with 3 titles introducing Apollo Justice, which makes the characterization of AJ much better than Phoenix Wright.

+ The power of lines. Although there are no fancy and complicated cutscenes, what characters speak represents their personalities and positions, moving the story along nicely

+ Superficial elements may cause lacking rigour, but they make the story more enjoyable.

+ Amazing music, especially AA6

- In AA6, objects are hard to point out during the ceremony