Fall/Winter 2020-2021 Backlog Challenge

[ladynadiad]

1. Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki

2. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV (21%) 15 out of 53 trophies

3. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (57%) 40 out of 55 trophies

4. Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (11%) 8 out of 38 trophies

5. Stranger of Sword City (72%) 35 out of 45 trophies

6. Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk (0%) 0 out of 58 trophies

7. Alphadia Genesis

8. Liege Dragon

9. Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition

10. Cat Quest II

11. Song of Memories

12. Will: A Wonderful World

13. Dragon Lapis

14. Beast Quest (0%) 0 out of 24 trophies

 

372 out of 536 trophies earned.  8 out of 14 games completed

2/5 swaps used

 

So today I decided to be nuts and wrap up act 2 of Trails of Cold Steel IV.  That ended up taking me around 8 hours because both parts were pretty dang long.  At least now I'm getting to the better plot stuff rather than the parts that drag because honestly I think parts 1-3 of act 2 in the game could have easily been combined or otherwise done in a way that didn't feel like the plot was being dragged out.  It's definitely the part of the game I like the least, but hopefully now I'll have no issue wrapping up at least my first playthrough of the English version by the end of the year.  Doubt I'll have the plat in time though..  Also made a bit more story progress in Stranger of Sword City and am getting closer to beating the game at last.

 

And while not on the list, it bears a mention since finishing it up means I can get back to either Sengoku Basara or Rune Factory, but also finished up my second playthrough of Tales of Symphonia.  Only two more to go and I hope to wrap those up by the end of the year so I can get to something else on my PS3 backlog.  Probably will be going back to Sengoku Basara first since I do want to wrap up all the games I started in 2020 as soon as possible.

[gladiatorrrrrrr]

Lovely to see everybody making such good progress!

 

Thief 4

I started this game 6 years ago but never finished it. I cannot remember why. So this game was sitting on my list for ages and that is why I decided to put it on too. I restarted the game from scratch and decided to do my first walk-through on Master and to knock out the trophies Moral Victory - Finish the game without a single kill or knockout  , Clear Headed - Reach the final chapter without using the focus ability , Something to Prove -Finish the game with a custom difficulty of 700 points or more and Hard Times - Finish the game on Master difficulty, in one go. That is a challenge, especially not killing anyone. I am truly loving the game! It has a great atmosphere, good story-line and easy to understand and fluent controls. I am not at chapter 7 (6 years ago I stopped after finishing chapter 5) and in the middle of a very challenging boss fight (remember; I cannot kill him and need to find a way to by-pass him).

 

 

AC Chronicles - trilogy (PSVita)

Making progress, currently on Plus Hard run without killing or alerting one......

 

Current Status:

 

 

Plans for next week:

- Thief 4; finish first run and hopefully do a second (collectibles) straight after

- Progress on AC Chronicles Trilogy

- Progress on Star Wars BF III - MP

Not challenge related:

- Play some Borderlands 3 DLC

 

[Zach]

I've been working on the Ghost of Tsushima Coop DLC. Might be a bit before I return to my list of games.  

[Crispy_Oglop]

Long long overdue update from me. I've been reading everyone's updates to keep me sane over the past week or two, but i've been pretty snowed under with work during the day and in the evenings AC Valhalla has been eating all my time.

 

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla turned out to be a time vampire:

 

So all of my game time since the last update has been spent on AC:Valhalla. I'm 140 hours deep into the game now and I'm estimating that there is about 10-12 hours left of content before I hit the platinum. As far as AC base games go - this one is the largest of the series. For a comparison - Assassin's Creed Odyssey all of the Season Pass DLC + Lost Tales of Greece combined hit 150 hours. Valhalla is a monstrously large game.

 

Is it any good though?

 

In my run time, i've had a rocky relationship with this game. In some ways, it's a definite step forward for the franchise, but in others it's a few steps back, which really puzzles me.

 

It's a visually beautiful game and some of the nicest graphics i've seen on the PS4 version. The historical setting and storyline is interesting and immersive and it works really well with the gameplay loops available - for me they really nailed this part. I love the combat and the heavy feel of coming to blows with an opponent and it does a good job of feeling like I'm controlling a 6 foot tall Viking warrior. They are brutal too and some of the most violent takedowns i've ever seen in an AC game. Seeing Eivor grabbing a larger opponent in a choke hold that turns into a neck break and then shouting at the corpse on the ground in rage is pretty intense. Or strangling an enemy with his own flail chain etc. Tl:dr - lots of beheadings, lots of crunchy sound effects as necks are broken etc.

 

Where the game really stumbles, is the Layla Hassan present day story arc. Since the finale of Assassin's Creed 3 they really lost their way with the direction this seems like it was meant to go in, slowly over time devolving into this sometimes incoherent mess of a narrative that at times is very convoluted. The premise is really cool, the execution is just a shambles. Without going into spoilers, there have been moments in the final acts of the game related to the present day story which have been a bit frustrating and i've either been left with a giant plot gap to try and fill or some weird metaphorical scene to try and decipher, because the storytellers are assuming that you will connect the same dots they did.

 

Outside of that though, I have enjoyed the game immensely overall. I am honestly going to be glad when i'm done with it though and I can put it away long enough to get hyped for the Ireland & France set DLC 2021. Which brings me onto my next point:

 

Sackboy: A Big Adventure ended up being the gift I never knew I wanted:

 

I also added Sackboy as I got it as a surprise gift last week. Perfect timing as I should hopefully be done with AC:Valhalla soon and the idea of going into another 80-150+ hour game again so soon after is horrid. Sackboy is going to be a delightful little palette cleanser I think.

 

I decided to scrap Marvel's Avengers from the list:

 

With little to no sign of Marvel's Avengers picking up at least before the end of this challenge, I decided to scrap it from my challenge list. I very much intend to get the platinum in the game in 2021, I just want them to try and make the endgame a bit more engaging.

 

1.  Life is Strange 2 
2.  Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning 
3.  Odin Sphere Leifthrasir 
4.  Rebel Galaxy 
5.  Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw 
6.  Shadow of Mordor 
7. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla 20% - 73%
8. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope 0% - 20%
9. Watch Dogs: Legion 5% - 7%
10. Cyberpunk 2077
11. Immortals Fenyx Rising
12. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
13. Marvel’s Avengers

 

That's it from me! I hope everyone is doing okay, we made it through November! Not long now before we can put 2020 behind us. I'm also going to update a bit more frequently like I usually do now. Sorry for the delay since the last update.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Crispy_Oglop

[StilRh]

Hi guys, hope everyone is doing ok. I managed to play a loy of demon souls and some spider man this week. I feel like I could have completed one of the aforementioned but I have been experimenting with my PS5 (playing Stellaris, Civ 6, Bloodbourne and Rainbow Six - all seem to benefit++ from the extra horsepower) and did a little dive into old JRPS - no trophies to show for this yet but should make it rain before the years end. Demon Souls is an incredible experience though feels easier than other Souls games. I stopped playing because I was worried about world tendency (the worlds may turn white or black depending on player actions and some unique events/items required for trophies are tied in with this) but after reading some guides it seems like I'm still on the right track. Spiderman feels very average so far but I've been ills on the days I've played it so want to get better to give it a fair shake.

 

Spoiler

13 Sentinels 100%
A Boy And His Blob 100%
Astro's Playroom 100%
Bugsnax 100%
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 32%
Carto 100%
Cold Steel 2 7%
Demon Souls 0% > 24%
Desperados 3 0%
Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood 100%
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek 100%
Erica 0%
Guacamelee 30%
Hollow Knight 100%
Kotodama: the 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa 34%
Medievil 28%
Metro Exodus 71% (FIN)
Spiderman Miles Morales 7% > 13%
Overcooked 2 5%
Rabi Ribi 8%
Return of the Obra Dinn 100%
Town of light 100%
Uncharted: Golden Abyss 100%
Wasteland 3 35%

 

[Static_Rook]

Update 13 - 11/30/2020

 

Yakuza: Like a Dragon 22% 67%

 

I beat the main story in Yakuza and am just getting started on the post game stuff and trophies. The Sub Stories I have left are all tied to specific mini-games or building up Ichiban's personality stats so that's where my focus will be first. Then leveling up for the post-game dungeon. After that I'll just have the super final mega dungeon left, but that's gonna take some real job grinding to get ready for. Seems like you need each character's main job plus 2 or 3 others maxed out to be ready for it. I've read that going through NG+ on Legend difficulty is the fastest way to get job xp, but I'm not sure I want to start from scratch with the Part Time Hero, Management Mode, character bonds, etc. I'll be looking up more guides and info while cleaning up the misc. trophies to see what my options are for grinding.

 

For December I'm going to get crazy and try to finish 6 games. After Yakuza, I'm going to knock out the short / medium length games I have left as quickly as possible, while also working on getting Shovel Knight to 100%. After that I'll only have Batman Arkham Knight and Bloodborne left. So I'll be able to take my time with them, but still have some leeway if I don't finish all the other games as planned.

 

Week 14 plans

-Plat Yakuza: Like a Dragon

-Plat Shovel Knight (2 more playthroughs + some misc trophies left in base game)

 

Here's to another month of backlog clearing!

 

Full game list

Spoiler

Alphadia Genesis 9/23/2020
Avengers  11/1/2020
Batman Arkham Knight 2%
Bloodborne 12%
Control / 100% 10/23/2020
The Deadly Tower of Monsters 9/8/2020
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture 11/9/2020
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered 5%
Final Fantasy XV Pocket HD 9/10/2020
Resident Evil HD 3%
Resident Evil 2 Remake 12%
Secret of Mana 9/18/2020
Sekiro 11/17/2020
Shadow Warrior 10/14/2020
Shenmue II 0%
Shovel Knight Treasure Trove 24%
Super Weekend Mode (Vita) 10/10/2020
Titanfall 2 10/26/2020
Transformers Devastation 10%
Yakuza: Like a Dragon 22% 67%

 

Swaps 5/5

Rocket Arena ->                      Alphadia Genesis                          9/13/2020
Dragon Ball FighterZ ->           Hotshot Racing                              9/13/2020
Hotshot Racing ->                    Super Weekend Mode (Vita)         10/10/2020
MGS Extreme Vs MBON ->     Everybody's Gone to the Rapture 11/4/2020
Nobunaga's Ambition SoI ->    Shenmue II                                    11/4/2020

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Static_Rook

[ArtisticGeek]

Update #6

 

1: Ghost of Tsushima -100%  

2: Oninaki - 100% 

3: Dead or School - 100% 

4: Banner Saga 2

5: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 - 100%  

6: Dragon Age Inquisition

7: Control - 100%  

8: Death Stranding - 100% 

9: Kotodama: The 7 mysteries of Fujisawa

10: WorldEnd Syndrome

11: Persona 5 Royale

12: Shenmue 1 - 100% 

13: Shenmue 2 - 100% 

14: Shenmue 3 - 100%  

 

Back to 100% on Ghost of Tsushima it was fun and I really appreciated my team mates but I’m glad I’m done with the multiplayer.  And I finally went and finished Death Stranding and I’m so glad I went into this completely blind it ended up making far more sense than I thought it would.
I would also like to use up 2 of my swaps on the VtM games since I wanted to play them for Halloween and didn’t meet that goal.

so I’ll swap both games with Yakuza Kiwami 2

and Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal

 

15: Yakuza Kiwami 2

 

16: Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal 

Edited December 1, 2020 by ArtisticGeek

[xItsLesterx]

Update #3 of 6

 

First of all, I want to give a shout out to everyone working hard on tackling their backlog in this challenge. As I only update once a month, you guys' updates motivate me to stay in the grind for trophies. It's hard to believe but already 3 months have passed since the challenge started. We are half way through it and you all are as
motivated as day 1. Love seeing that.

Anyways, since my last month's update, I was able to finish up 100% of Rise of the Tomb Raider and immediately jumped into Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While I don't feel like it was good as the previous installment, I did like it very much. I did not really encounter any problem in the game, not even on my playthrough on the hardest difficulty. 

So, to stay on the Indiana-jones theme, I decided to jump into the Uncharted games and well, it was something. Quite honestly, I did not enjoy the first 3 games. I understand the games are viewed as something of a relic but story line, I was not impressed. The game felt like it was full of cheap deaths, especially on Brutal difficulty for the remastered versions. I did like the exploration, platforming and collectibles but that was about it. Uncharted 1-3 was the same "search for a lost city, fight some monster and leave said city". It was not my cup of tea. However, Uncharted 4 tho? It was a complete different story. When the game first came out, I did watch on YouTube a full playthrough but not that I played myself, loved every minute of it. Naughty Dog showed there was no need to introduce the "super natural" to make a great game. Now, I am working on the DLC and well, let's hope it doesn't take me too long. I'm already getting my ass kicked and I've barely touched its surface so fingers crossed. 

Since I'm slowly making progress through Uncharted 4 DLC, I decided to stay in the 3rd person shooting theme so I moved to Resident Evil 3 and, man, am I disappointed in it lol. Never played the original PS1 version but I read people were upset that Capcom cut of tons of content so the game did feel too short. Then again, I cannot complain since I got the game at a heavy discount lol. 

Well guys, that is it for me. Good job to everyone on their commitment to tackle that backlog. Progress is being made no matter how little it is so stay on it. You never know who you motivate by just posting what you guys have. 

 

List of games:

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (11% => 100%)
2. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (0% => 100%)
3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (0% => 100%)
4. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (0% => 100%)
5. Rise of the Tomb Raider (0% => 100%)
6. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (0% => 100%)
7. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (20% => 100%)
8. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered (0% => 100%)
9. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered (0% => 100%)
10. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered (0% => 100%)
11. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (0% => 87%)
12. Resident Evil 3 Remake (0% => 43%)
13. Resident Evil 7 (4%)
14. Metro 2033 Redux (4%)
15. Metro Last Light Redux (0%)
16. Metro Exodus (0%)
17. NieR (0%)
18. NieR: Automata (0%)
19. Secret of Mana (0% => 1%)
20. Trials of Mana (0%)

Cheers to everyone and Happy Holidays.

[DFuzed]

Another month gone fast and with that I am back with my talking about my gaming experience and related stuff. *pretends to hear the applause in the background and ignores the groans and rude remarks that actually happens*

 

So first off, I was expecting to get a PS5 through work - I work at a chain store that has an electronics section that sells game consoles. I thought it would be similar to how the PS4 was done, a first come, first serve basis. And one of the perks I have is that anything that comes in employees can call dibs on before it goes to the floor. It also helped that I was first on the list. But HQ threw a curve ball; to make things fair, with the limited number of systems available that they randomly select the people on that list and they get to pick first. Sadly I didn't get chosen so I wait for more to come in. 

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla - played this game the day it came out and kept playing it since with exceptions. Nearly platted the game at this point and while I enjoyed it, I am starting to want the series to wrap up. No spoilers but the ending and other interesting revelations seem to make things confusing and too convoluted, although one quest does answer a question that hasn't been answered. And the pop culture and game references are amusing at times too.

 

Lego Batman 3 - Almost had this game done with only to find out that I unintentionally skipped a step to get a suit for Batman that was unobtainable after the fact. So started a new game, made sure to get the missed suit and got the trophy for it. Now I have to 100% the game (I was at 99.6% prior to this) so I can finish it. 

 

Spyro 3 - Literally going to plat this game soon after AC Valhalla is done. Only have a few trophies to go to get this game done. Thinking of using two of my swaps to exchange Spyro 1 and 2 for two other games I want to play since I don't expect to plat them, at least anytime soon. 

 

Mixups - Still at this game as a trophy filler - if for some reason I don't get my two trophies done for the day I play this for some easy silvers. I actually enjoy the challenge of figuring out the words for these puzzles but do rely on an answer page when I cannot.  

 

One Night Stand - I regret picking this up and regret playing it, thinking that it would be a long game, have some sort of challenge or plot or something. Short game, took a night to finish and it's done just because I didn't want it lingering around longer than it has on my to do list.

 

So not many games this month, and with Cyberpunk 2077 coming out in less than two weeks I have my plate full. I guess the next large update will be New Year's Eve. Have a Good Christmas and don't drink too much spiced punch, I'm looking at you Wild-Arms-R!

[Xenoblast91]

UPDATE 5.0.: Hello there, guys! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day to all my American fellas, and had the opportunity to grab a bunch more games in this Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals out of the wild! The winter is coming and that time of the year also, which brings me joy and a lot of expectations since I really love this time around!. Here comes a new entry for the series and let’s see how this develops in the next days as my plan for playing has changed mostly due a game which basically will feature an unobtainable trophy, and thus making the choice to swap if for another, but have a great expectation for this month not going to lie.

1. Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered – 0%100%
2. GTA V – 43%48%
3. Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – 48%70%
4. Final Fantasy XV Multiplayer: Comrades – 0%
5. Final Fantasy VII [OG] – 0%
6. Lego Marvel’s Super Heroes 2 – 0%
   Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - GOTY Edition – 0%
7. Psychonauts – 0%
8. Doom Eternal – 0%
9. Star Wars Battlefront II – 0%
10. Cuphead – 0%

       Swaps used - 2/5: 
       Assassin's Creed OriginsGTA V

       Lego Marvel’s Super Heroes 2Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - GOTY Edition

 

 

After all the incipient experience we were caught during the Doomsday Heists, which become one of my proudest trophies so far. We failed many times and struggled a lot of doing the hardest ones: Elitist & Masterminds. The first one, by barely one freaking second for the challenge in the Act I Finale, we had to start all over. Seriously, pissed us off so deeply that the annoyance was almost unbearable. For the latter, we managed to accomplish the CMM III & IV really smoothly, and the whole team managed to finish their own in the end. But on the top of that, I had to balance my life because my mom was really ill so it was a huge stress time to be playing this around, also the differences in time zones made the thing even harder, as I mention it in my personal log. I also want to congratulate and appreciate my teammates, upon which I found a really comfortable experience and a funny friendship along the way. Honestly guys if you’re reading this you’re the best! And one of the things that has kept us expectant, is that Rockstar is about to release “the biggest GTA Online update ever”, which will add a new location, an additional heist, vehicles and stuff of that sort and along that line, we aren’t sure if they will add a new trophy list with it. Pretty speculative to be honest, since they must update the PS3 version too but probably this will only be featured on the current versions of the game prior of the PS5 full release on the platform. Anyway, only time will say; so waiting until December 15^th and check it out. However, the online portion is completed (as I write this down), don’t have the complete desire to continue with the story, which basically was what drove me to play the game in the first place; you know, walking casually in the street with a huge RPG and you just start blowing up all the pedestrians in the street and then being surrounded by the police or even the army and you blast them and so on and on; that’s what a truly GTA is! So let’s give it a rest by the moment.

 

With GTA out from the road, I focused primarily in finishing other games or at least continue with those already started. With that little relief and recreation time moment in-between my hunt, I chose to play Rocket League and Fortnite a bit before their seasons finish, and having a good time and relaxing playing them. Managed to acquire a bunch of trophies from the football car game and just leaving a few to later, but in all truth I think going to grind since 1 item required for a trophy hasn’t appeared to me, so I think that will be a game played in the periphery of the others, but not so much as is lengthy right now, but anyway… an easy trophy list except for one which I believe is going to take me a while but going to give the best and try it before getting the Platinum as I would like to stack the 100% with it. Continuing with NS: UNS4, noticed that has some pretty hard boss fights (but fun overall at least), which the final one is becoming a pain in the ass right now; I need to practice a bit but just really close to finish it and moving to new ones. This particular game brings me nostalgia, as the voice actors for Latin America are the same from the very first season of the dubbed, localized anime over here which is a pretty cute detail I appreciate a lot. However, the “last battle” between our blonde ninja with the emo guy is pissing me off; even though it is overall easy actually I guess tried +50 times now, so truly want to get over this and finish the game but leaving at least 2 trophies for the Platinum; since this challenge push us forward to attain 100% on everything (which I cherish), this game has an insanely expensive DLC that only has 3 trophies, SMH… Leaving that by side, I think that this one is already over and let’s see what December brings!

 

And talking about the last month, I decided to jump into the rush for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, before the servers’ shutdown. From what I’ve read, it takes around 3 hours to get the trophy that is going to be unobtainable in after December 31^st. I guess just going to play it for that very reason and using a new swap, which going to be for LEGO Marvel, as that game despite its pretty simple premise and a very cheap list have to wait a bit longer. I’m not so much fan of this kind of games, as they are gibberish and sometimes gives me headaches (happened with the Superheroes 1) so that’s a no. Don’t want to pass my holiday season regretting a game which can be played moderately in spring or may be summer, but whatever… Honestly want to play other 2 different games but probably just letting this out of the way should be the best decision since Black Friday cajoled me with such deals that I couldn’t resist. Anyway, another reason to continue in this crazy trend for trophies and challenges LMAO.

 

But continuing with the thread for the last month, we’re half the way on this challenge! I love to read all your progress people, and inspiring me to continue pursing more games and enjoying adventures with expectation and huge hope for the upcoming year. May the storm that fall upon us finally retreat, and we can have our lives back to us again, at least with fewer restrictions and more open to new stuff and innovation for this disruptive change that the planet suffered. Wish the best in these days and see you soon in the next update half of the month as always, LOL. Happy hunting and send you good vibes with hugs with healthy distance!  

 

[Lorajet]

Finally, an update!

 

My Brother Rabbit

Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 0%

Stardew Valley: 4%

Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden 0%

Erica: 0%

The Bunker

Queens Quest 3: The End of Dawn

The Inner World: The Last Wind Monk 0%

South Park: Fractured but Whole 0%

Late Shift

Edited December 2, 2020 by Lorajet

[Zach]

Update: Decided to throw in an easy game since I've been grinding the Legends mode out in Ghost of Tsushima.  

 

Final Fantasy VII (Original)- 0% ---> 100%  date: 14/09/2020

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning- 0% ---> 100%  date: 08/11/2020

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered- 0% ---> 100%  date: 24/11/2020

Root Letter (NA)- 0% ---> 100%  date: 2/12/2020

Dark Souls Remastered- 0%

Cyberpunk 2077- 0%

Kingdom Hearts II (PS4)- 0%

BioShock 2 Remastered- 0%

 

Swaps used 3/5

[Vampirehunter145]

Unfortunatelly, job got the best of me these last days and i did not get any progress. Just chipping away at missions in Borderlands Pre Sequel and that's it. So the thing goes like this:

 

1.- Borderlands: 74%

2.- Borderlands: The Presequel: 7%

3.- Borderlands 2: 0% (Will commence when i finish the main story of Pre Sequel).

4.- Rage: 1%

5.- Tomb Raider: 0%

[Crispy_Oglop]

Update time from me -

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is finally done

 

150 hours....so.....many.....hours. I ended up clocking in at just under the entire runtime of AC Odyssey + all DLC. It's massive. The only other game I can think of that exceeded that runtime was Wolfenstein 2 and all the hours of practice i put in to get Mein Leben.

 

I still don't really know how to feel about this entry into the franchise. I've written lot's of thoughts in my previous posts. But to boil it down to basics - The Viking setting, story and gameplay has been great and ancient Britain has been really beautiful to explore. The present day story has jumped the shark a bit though. They are going to have to go extra hard in the DLC to fill in the plot holes and gaps it's left. It's a shame because the concept is awesome, it's just being fumbled in it's handling. It's a massive massive time commitment though.

 

I have lot's of specific feelings on why I think the present day story is now a bit of a mess after this game. But I'll have to save that for a spoiler thread somewhere  It just really feels like they have no cohesive story vision for the present day stuff and each game gets handed to a different bunch of storytellers with no regulation. It's what the Marvel cinematic universe would look like if they didn't have overseers like the Russo Brothers and Kevin Feige. 

 

If you intend on platinuming this, get prepared and ready for some hardcore gametime. I would actually recommend not doing this in one consistent period of days / weeks - have another game or two on the side you can work on and jump into when you get gametime fatigue in Valhalla.

 

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is pure joy

 

I made a start on this and it's just simple and straightforward loveliness. My first impressions have pretty much been all positive really and some of the stand out areas include the platforming mechanics & variety and the sound design. The movement, puzzles and platforming abilities are actually pretty tight, it's no Mario of course, but they have done a pretty excellent and creative job of bringing some really satisfying platform puzzles to each level - basically lots of things to swing on, uncover, pull, push, drag etc - everything you'd expect. It's just so satisfying. Lot's to collect too - the platinum requires you to pretty much master every single level.

 

The other thing is the sound design - the music for each level is fun and energetic and they have taken a tonne of old and new songs from real life artists like David Bowie and Madonna and re-imagined them in a playful way. I even noticed Girls just wanna have fun in there too. They don't play the original song outright most of the time - Material Girl by Madonna doesn't have any singing for example, it's a classical version with a female choir hitting some of the melodies.

 

I don't think i'm going to platinum this right away - there are quite a few co-op multiplayer trophies and online matchmaking is going to come in a patch later. Local co-op is available though, so you can still technically get them if you have someone with you. I don't have anyone to play it with locally though so i'll have to wait till the patch.

 

1.  Life is Strange 2 
2.  Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning 
3.  Odin Sphere Leifthrasir 
4.  Rebel Galaxy 
5.  Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw 
6.  Shadow of Mordor 
7.  Assassin’s Creed Valhalla 
8. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope 20%
9. Watch Dogs: Legion 7%
10. Sackboy: A Big Adventure 0% - 28%
11. Cyberpunk 2077
12. Immortals Fenyx Rising

[gladiatorrrrrrr]

13 minutes ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

Update time from me -

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is finally done

 

150 hours....so.....many.....hours. I ended up clocking in at just under the entire runtime of AC Odyssey + all DLC. It's massive. The only other game I can think of that exceeded that runtime was Wolfenstein 2 and all the hours of practice i put in to get Mein Leben.

 

I still don't really know how to feel about this entry into the franchise. I've written lot's of thoughts in my previous posts. But to boil it down to basics - The Viking setting, story and gameplay has been great and ancient Britain has been really beautiful to explore. The present day story has jumped the shark a bit though. They are going to have to go extra hard in the DLC to fill in the plot holes and gaps it's left. It's a shame because the concept is awesome, it's just being fumbled in it's handling. It's a massive massive time commitment though.

 

I have lot's of specific feelings on why I think the present day story is now a bit of a mess after this game. But I'll have to save that for a spoiler thread somewhere  It just really feels like they have no cohesive story vision for the present day stuff and each game gets handed to a different bunch of storytellers with no regulation. It's what the Marvel cinematic universe would look like if they didn't have overseers like the Russo Brothers and Kevin Feige. 

 

If you intend on platinuming this, get prepared and ready for some hardcore gametime. I would actually recommend not doing this in one consistent period of days / weeks - have another game or two on the side you can work on and jump into when you get gametime fatigue in Valhalla.

 

 

 150 hours i pretty insane, I hate it that the new cool is making games bigger and bigger, I just love a 10 hour roller coast ride too. Why is almost every development studio thinking that big is always beautiful? Let alone DLC and new game + modes.....I bought it but I am still doubting to start it as it so massive...

[Crispy_Oglop]

2 minutes ago, gladiatorrrrrrr said:

 150 hours i pretty insane, I hate it that the new cool is making games bigger and bigger, I just love a 10 hour roller coast ride too. Why is almost every development studio thinking that big is always beautiful? Let alone DLC and new game + modes.....I bought it but I am still doubting to start it as it so massive...

 

Yeah things seem to be getting bigger and bigger now, Ubisoft definitely seem to be going in that direction. No data to back this up - but I definitely feel like gamers are starting to get a bit exhausted by giant multi-hundred hour game environments - I would love to see hard data on how many PS owners bought the game and what percentage of those actually finished games with this run-time. I don't think it would be very high nowadays. Maybe all this is just a sign of me getting old though ?

 

I think that's why I love the Yakuza franchise so much, the world is actually incredibly small compared to something like an AC game. But they pack the living hell out of that environment with content and fun diversions.

[gladiatorrrrrrr]

2 hours ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

 

Yeah things seem to be getting bigger and bigger now, Ubisoft definitely seem to be going in that direction. No data to back this up - but I definitely feel like gamers are starting to get a bit exhausted by giant multi-hundred hour game environments - I would love to see hard data on how many PS owners bought the game and what percentage of those actually finished games with this run-time. I don't think it would be very high nowadays. Maybe all this is just a sign of me getting old though ?

 

I think that's why I love the Yakuza franchise so much, the world is actually incredibly small compared to something like an AC game. But they pack the living hell out of that environment with content and fun diversions.

 

never tried Yakuza ...probably shame on me ?. But first I need to get rid of a part of my backlog....

[ladynadiad]

2 hours ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

Yeah things seem to be getting bigger and bigger now, Ubisoft definitely seem to be going in that direction. No data to back this up - but I definitely feel like gamers are starting to get a bit exhausted by giant multi-hundred hour game environments - I would love to see hard data on how many PS owners bought the game and what percentage of those actually finished games with this run-time. I don't think it would be very high nowadays. Maybe all this is just a sign of me getting old though 

 

I'd disagree that overall gamers feel this way because one very common complaint you'll see about some games is that they are too short.  I don't think it is so much that gamers want long games, but it's more that gamers expect that they'll get about an hour of entertainment for every dollar spent on a game.  Anything lower than that and people deem the game too short or not worth the money even if the game is otherwise good.  For your average retail release, players expect top notch graphics and enough gameplay time or replay value for them to feel their money was well spent.  If they feel their money wasn't well spent, they aren't going to be inclined to buy DLC or a sequel and they will be more inclined to leave bad reviews and tell friends to avoid the game or wait for it to get a deep discount.  Shorter games are only really accepted if the price tag is lower.  Personally, I agree with you that I'm getting sick of all these long games and I find it a shame that Ubisoft seems to have stopped bothering with shorter unique games for lower price tags like Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War.

[Crispy_Oglop]

1 hour ago, ladynadiad said:

 

I'd disagree that overall gamers feel this way because one very common complaint you'll see about some games is that they are too short.  I don't think it is so much that gamers want long games, but it's more that gamers expect that they'll get about an hour of entertainment for every dollar spent on a game.  Anything lower than that and people deem the game too short or not worth the money even if the game is otherwise good.  For your average retail release, players expect top notch graphics and enough gameplay time or replay value for them to feel their money was well spent.  If they feel their money wasn't well spent, they aren't going to be inclined to buy DLC or a sequel and they will be more inclined to leave bad reviews and tell friends to avoid the game or wait for it to get a deep discount.  Shorter games are only really accepted if the price tag is lower.  Personally, I agree with you that I'm getting sick of all these long games and I find it a shame that Ubisoft seems to have stopped bothering with shorter unique games for lower price tags like Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War.

 

Yeah definitely all good points there and there are of different preferences with lot's of different factors that influence it. Totally agree that price and value for money are a big factor in it all, 70 - 90 euros on a 10 hour game would be scandalous nowadays. It really feels like pricing is all over the place at the moment in general too.

[Lorajet]

Had a bit of time today with the power outage (I'm using a clean generator and just got the internet back for syncing).  First time I've ever played offline, and hoped for the best when syncing.

 

My Brother Rabbit

Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 0%

Stardew Valley: 4%

Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden

Erica: 0%

The Bunker

Queens Quest 3: The End of Dawn

The Inner World: The Last Wind Monk 0%

South Park: Fractured but Whole 0%

Late Shift

[gladiatorrrrrrr]

17 hours ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

 

Yeah definitely all good points there and there are of different preferences with lot's of different factors that influence it. Totally agree that price and value for money are a big factor in it all, 70 - 90 euros on a 10 hour game would be scandalous nowadays. It really feels like pricing is all over the place at the moment in general too.

 

that is also a good way to look at it (also @ladynadiadprevious post). I am purely selfish (I can afford it)  if I say I would pay 70 euro for a roller coaster ride of 10-12 hours instead of buying  a game that drags on for 25+ hours. Great shoot outs on smaller games like Child of Light...loved that on the VITA. I am also not into replaying games but that is me.

[Alternatewarning]

Fall/Winter Challenge Update #10

 

Well I managed to finish up Amnesia World.  Never doing that again!  I still have another Amnesia game to work on that will hopefully be fine.  But ya, sticking to English language games from now on.

 

And now I'm focused on Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk.  It's interesting so far.  I have a spoiler opinion below.  I'm doing a blind playthrough first and then going back to clean up trophies, IMO the best way to play a visual novel.  Beautiful art, as always.

Spoiler

 

I'm a little...disappointed in how they directed the story.  I was intrigued by this female living as a man but then it veered right into the 'but I want to live as a woman' normal trope.  I just wish it was a little more unique.  I also wished they played with the 'Levi clearly has a crush on male Jeb' a lot more.  It had the potential for hints of almost BL and then let me down.

 

 

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (21% > 100%) 
2. Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk (0 > 22%)
3. Chaos;Child 
4. Death Mark (17% > 100%)  
5. Amnesia World (0 > 100%)     
6. Code: Realize - Future Blessings (0% > 100%)     
7. Code: Realize - Wintertide Miracles
8. Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online (0% >100%)    
9. Return of the Obra Dinn (0% > 100%) 

Swaps: 1/5

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Alternatewarning

[dark_moon689]

Update 7:

 

Finished another game and been making slow progress in a couple others. I really should sit and focus on just one but I can't seem to be able to bring myself to do so, despite enjoying them I get distracted or busy and when I am gonna pick up playing again I grab a different game. I liked Beyond well enough, I keep playing these games blind for the first playthrough which is I admit very enjoyable, but when is time to mop up the trophies I get annoyed with myself for not checking first to avoid so much backtracking *shrugs*.

 

I am enjoying Persona 5 a lot, although I feel like you have way too many 'confidants' and it doesn't really flesh out any of them much, since it is the first Persona game I played I don't know if that is just business as usual; they only other Atlas game I played was Catherine but that whole thing happens during a week so it feels more natural to have little character development besides some quick revelations of 'self' within the nightmare world. The other thing that I found odd is that you can apparently start all the romances you want with total impunity, non of the love interest seems to care at all and despite seeing each other often the game seems to track each confidant journey individually with the rest of the characters for the most part completely ignore the story of the others unless is directly linked to the main plot which is a little disappointing... maybe because I am so used to banter like in the Dragon Age games where the backstories and developments of your party members lives are acknowledge by the others often even if it is just passing dialogue.

 

1. (PS4) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition - 10% / 14%

2. (PS4) Darksiders II - 8% /
3. (PS4) Persona 5 - 4% / 32%
4. (PS3) Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishment - 0% /

5. (PS4) The Last of Us Remastered - 18% / 32%

6. (PS4) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - 0% / 100% September 1st

7. (PS4) Letter Quest Remastered - 0% /

8. (PS4) Overcooked! 2 - 0% / 7%

9. (PS4) Here they lie - 0% / 100% September 28th

10. (PS4) Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - 14% /  September 4th

11. (PS3) Infamous 2 - 0% /  September 12th

12. (PS4) Observation - 0% / 100% November 7th

13. (PS4) Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders - 0% / 100% November 9th

14. (PS3) Toy Story 3 - 0% / 27%

15. (PS3) Beyond Two Souls - 0% /  December 4th

 

Swaps 0/5

Games 8/15

Edited December 5, 2020 by dark_moon689
Clarity

[Alternatewarning]

On 12/3/2020 at 5:53 AM, Crispy_Oglop said:

Update time from me -

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is finally done

 

150 hours....so.....many.....hours. I ended up clocking in at just under the entire runtime of AC Odyssey + all DLC. It's massive. The only other game I can think of that exceeded that runtime was Wolfenstein 2 and all the hours of practice i put in to get Mein Leben.

 

*Side eyes the large amount of games I've played over 150 hours * 

I guess it depends on the type of game you're playing but for me 150 is a good, solid game haha!

[Kishnabe]

On 7/31/2020 at 5:10 PM, Kishnabe said:

1.  Sonic & All Stars Racing PS3 17%-->40%

 

2. The Book of Regrets 21%

 

3. Truck Racer 18%-->24%   4. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age 4%   5. Mad Max 0%-->100%  October 12th 2020   6. Splody 21%   7. inFamous 4%    8. Dungeon Hunter Alliance Vita 14% -->57%-->74%-->77%-->100% November 10th 2020   9. A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV 19% ( Want to complete it before FFXV anyways)   10. Birdcakes 28%   11. Vampyr 0%--> 100% October 31st 2020   12. Root Letter PSVITA 0%--100% October 31st 2020   Swapped Section (2/5):   Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online 1% Swapped for Mad Max 0%   Final Fantasy XV 10% for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age 4%

 

Changing inFamous 4% to Shadow of Mordor GOTY 20%

 

Having a blast playing Shadow of Mordor. Chopping Orc Headd, following Gollum missions.

 

Going for the 100% by the end of the month. Might as well swap it to make the event beatable.