Well, it's that time again, another month has come to an end and it sure was an interesting one for me.
Just one more to go and Santa is packing his sleigh ready to deliver some gaming goodness to us all, I hope.
In the meantime, let's recap what I played last month:
Butter & Friends: Babysitter Sim Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
So to kick off the month, I just had to get this game's Pure Gold Rush Plat!!! Took a while to get to the EU store (and I'm *still* waiting for Linelight...yeah, never gonna happen)
The trailer pretty much speaks for itself, the objective of this game is to make sure the baby/babies don't get abducted by the various kidnappers that will come in and take them, presumably for lunch as they're all food items.
It's also REALLY easy to get the Plat overall, though
might be a bit difficult for some as you don't have the entire screen to play with if you do it solo with guest accounts, you can play with 4 players...if you can find 3 other trophy hunters living nearby as I doubt most would want to play this for very long with the vast wealth of other games available. Then again, it'd likely be enough. :P
Overall, for what it is, it's alright...the problem being that there really isn't very much. There are only 3 difficulty levels with a different aesthetic attached and each game lasts a couple of minutes and plays out pretty much the same way, save for the order the kidnappers will come, which is randomised.
Interesting to note: if you look at the comments in the YouTube video, the dev added a Day 1 patch to make it substantially EASIER for trophy hunters...I wonder if this game could've actually been much better with that added challenge. Though it still wouldn't have been that good imo.
So yeah, pretty much a trophy-hunter only game, I'm afraid, though compared to some, it's far from the most painful game to play for trophies, believe me.
Still, PGRP ftw!!!
Personal Difficulty Rating: 2/10 Personal Game Rating: 1.5/5
Licky The Lucky Lizard Lives Again Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
Safe to say this one was the straw that broke the camel's back for some people with regards to the perceived quality or lack thereof of games being released on Playstation store.
Nonetheless, I was still intrigued to play it as it looked like it could be fun for what it was so decided to give it a go.
Sadly, it really wasn't.
The objective of the game is to guide Licky away from the rising lava in a never-ending level via means of using his tongue to swing from platform to platform or using a small handful of environmental objects (basically, fans and water rocks) to aid his ascent/slow down the rising lava respectively.
I found it utterly frustrating to play on so many levels.
Firstly, the controls: they scarcely work, VERY awkward to use and be consistent with, there's really no point using the automated targeting (which is playable) as you'll soon get caught by the lava, you're pretty much *forced* to use manual targeting and *that's* where the awkwardness comes into it.
Secondly, the RNG, ooh boy, the RNG. If a game that's supposed to be skill-based includes it,
that never gives a good first impression to me regardless but when you play a game like this, you want your skill to determine whether or not you'll get the highest score but alas, it's virtually all down to luck past a certain point.
Finally, the lava: eventually, it starts rising so fast that no matter how many water blocks you use to slow it down, it *will* catch you unless you can use fan after fan after fan as mere swinging will not be enough.
Of course, this is kinda tied into the RNG as well but I feel the lava itself is a big enough issue to mention.
You have a temperature gauge on the side indicating how close the lava is to you...but absolutely NO indication how FAST it's actually coming to get you at any one time. Such a massive design flaw,
I think and another aspect that changes the game from fun to frustrating.
Literally, the only really good aspect about this game is the music...except there's only one damn tune in the whole game!
I suppose the trophies are fairly easy too so that's arguably another positive...the game got under my skin that much, though, I wasted nearly half an hour going for
when I'd already got it, thinking I needed 40,000 to make it. My fault for not double-checking, I suppose but I thought the name of the trophy was referring to something else, like number of swings or w/e.
I know it's a budget title and the person's first game and I hate to slag it off as much as I have,
I really hope that he can build on it and improve in the future...but that doesn't mean I should sugar coat it if I genuinely think there are problems with the game.
So yeah, not especially fun and I would recommend you skip it.
Personal Difficulty Rating: 3/10 Personal Game Rating: 1.5/5
Spiral Splatter (EU) (Vita) Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
With a week left to go, I was only at just over 5,000 TT with my 10K target looking unobtainable so unfortunately, I had to D-D-D-D-Double Up!! with this game and the next one.
I quite enjoyed this game on PS4...sadly, like with many Vita ports, this proved to be frustrating.
As usual, frame-rate was an issue and the controls hamper progress more than they ever should,
though to a certain extent, the game is designed that way. i.e. to be strategic with when you go fast and slow.
Had a strange bug, a la Energy Cycle, where I accidentally pressed the x button and seemed to skip levels on a couple of occasions (e.g. completed 2-2, then skipped ahead to 2-4 and 2-3 was still locked) don't know if that's only on Vita or PS4 as well.
Also had to restart the game a few times because the level complete message wouldn't go off the screen.
It's not entirely unplayable, though, like the next game almost is at one point...so doubling up isn't the most painful thing to do if you want another GRP but if you're not interested in that, stick to PS4 if possible!
Personal Difficulty Rating: 2/10 Personal Game Rating: 1.5/5
Alteric (EU) (Vita) Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
So the other game I decided to D-D-D-D-Double Up!! on due to needing to get my 10K goal...
As I mentioned in the previous blog, I enjoyed this one quite a bit despite some of the problems it had.
This one, once again, I did too overall...
Until I hit Level 24!
Like the PS4 version, it has slippery controls. Like most Vita ports, it has borderline awful frame-rate.
Mix that in with more imprecise controls when precision is needed on a particular level...and you have a nightmare on your hands!
Seriously, on the PS4, it probably only took about 20 minutes if that to beat Level 24, it's tricky but it's not *that* hard...
On the Vita, it took me 3 hours!!! It's borderline impossible! No joke!
Realistically, you *need* to adjust mid-air to be able to make it through the saw blade section, else you won't make it. With the set-up on Vita, though, that's practically impossible.
I have no idea how the ratio for this is so low, presumably because most of the people who played this one will be trophy hunters too, this also makes it difficult to gauge the *actual* difficulty for my rating as well, coupled with the fact it didn't take me *that* long to beat for it to warrant a 9 or 10/10 rating, for instance.
I also presume the nasty 3rd World Boss glitch is still present in this one but as I knew about it, I made sure to account for it and beat it first try so don't know for sure.
In any case, unless you want a juicy GRP, AVOID this one like the plague!!! Stick to PS4 again!
Personal Difficulty Rating: 6-7/10 (Due to awful conversion) Personal Game Rating: 1/5
Blue Rider (Asia) Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
So it's safe to say I had more than a few frustrations with this one, if you're on my friends list, you can attest to that!
In any case: after initially hating the game, I *did* eventually come around to it to a degree.
It's a top-down shoot-em-up game, as if you couldn't tell, that's actually pretty darn tough.
Overall, it's pretty solid. A decent variety of enemies and boss mechanics with the onus definitely being: "Practice Makes Perfect!"
I liked the way the levels linked to one another, each level starting off in the area of the preceding one before linking to the main body of the level, that was a neat touch.
The music was also pretty decent, though I'd say largely just to accompany the gameplay experience rather than overshadow it.
However, it's not all brilliant, there are some fairly major issues with it too that drag the score down.
Firstly: the ship's movement. Instead of being able to move left and right instantly, there's a certain level of delay/inertia when you do so, which can definitely take a while to get used to and make it take longer to master levels than it really should.
Secondly: it's not always 100% clear which parts of the environment will impede you and which won't, so when there are a load of bullets on screen, you might try to hug the wall to avoid them but instead hit a rock/tree and get killed, other times, such objects won't impede you. This pretty much forces you to be more strategic and proceed through levels slowly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but that does depend on how you like to play these games.
Another major issue I had with it (and probably the worst aspect in general): RNG for the pickups!
Seriously, at times when you need health, you seldom seem to get it most of the time, yet others when you have nearly full health, the game will drop it like candy. Really aggravating, it has to be said!
Finally: seriously, just screw Level 8!
In a game where you've largely been forced to be strategic, the game forces you to be far more gung-ho as the floor will disappear from underneath you if you stay too long and you'll be damaged by lava constantly, all this while still trying to avoid enemy fire.
However, you do have an abundance of extra hidden pickups you can get from the crystals, which the game does not tell you, so it's not *quite* as bad as it initially seems but still a bit annoying.
Oh, and that scorpion boss can go to hell! I must've been playing for 6 hours minus breaks just to get
all because of him 75% of the time.
Of course, many of these points aren't necessarily valid reasons to lower score drastically and are more related to personal frustration but I do feel that the RNG of items and the movement to a degree are pretty much what hold this game back.
This is my 2nd hardest Plat now but I should count myself lucky, the Xbox One version requires you to beat the game in 30 minutes!!!!!!!!! God knows how you're supposed to do that!
If you're thinking about picking this up, you could do much worse for sure, just please try and get either this version or the Japanese one if you can so you have a Plat to show for it. Seriously insulting how the hardest trophies are mainly silver (and Untouchable is bronze!!!) in the standard digital versions!
Personal Difficulty Rating: 8/10 Personal Game Rating: 3/5
SUPERHOT Trophies 200th PLATINUM!!!!!!!!!!! *** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
"It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years!"
So it's safe to say when this first came out, I was rather intrigued by it.
However, I wasn't really sure I was willing to pay the price they wanted for it. Plus it wasn't available on PS4 until recently so that put me off a bit.
Oh, and the bored achievement was glitched. :P
Fast forward a bit of time to the PS4 version, which also had to be patched for trophy glitches and I *finally* got round to playing it.
It's a unique First Person Shooter/Puzzle hybrid, where the objective is to beat each level by killing all the red guys.
That's fundamentally it. Doesn't sound all that impressive when you put it like that.
However: it's the WAY you have to do it that's interesting!
Time only moves when you move, save for one of the challenge modes and so do the enemies/bullets/objects too.
It's initially slightly strange to get used to but once you do, man, is it fun!
The story is also very interesting and very Matrix-inspired (at least, if my memory of that movie serves as it's been years since I watched it) as well as some of the quotes (presumably also from movies) that pop up from time to time as you play.
There aren't too many issues I had with this game. The *main* one for sure was the collectables, seriously, the worst ones I've come across in any game save for the squirrels in Trials Evolution/Fusion.
Seriously, let's just try to go through a random wall for no reason and happen to find where one is.
I suppose the other one being a lack of variety in aesthetic, which I would say is very minor and perhaps the challenges getting a bit too repetitive towards the end (you'll probably start getting sick of the levels by the end) *but* this does serve as good practice for the norestart (how it appears in-game) challenge.
The endless grind, I found strangely fun and therapeutic, though, really was cool to put into practice what I learnt!
So would I recommend this game? Hell yeah, I would! It really is one of the most innovative games I've played in years! Though I would recommend getting it on sale as the full RRP is a bit steep imo.
Personal Difficulty Rating: 6/10 Personal Game Rating: 4/5
Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden Trophies*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***
So to round off the month, I decided to play this fast-paced beat-em-up...
I mean Artifex Mundi title.
Once again, another pretty solid outing from the team, nothing remarkable to note from previous titles, really.
The premise is that you have to go to the underwater settlement of Eden to rescue a lost explorer, whilst trying to uncover the mystery behind the demonic presence that has overrun it.
It's very clearly inspired by Bioshock, at least for the location, not so much the plot.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed it, VA as ever is somewhat dodgy. Not so keen on the copious amount of jump scares for the first parts of the game (they just suddenly stop after a while too, bizarrely).
So yeah, if you liked their previous games, get this. If you didn't, don't and it's not too bad a game to start with if you've never played one before.
As of the time of writing, no new game has come out so the monthly streak will likely come to an end.
Personal Difficulty Rating: 2/10 Personal Game Rating: 3.5/5
So that completes this round-up of completions, now for the games I didn't beat...
And that rounds up all the games I didn't beat.
Wait, you're kidding me, right? 2 months in a row with a perfect record?!? And with 2 actually difficult games thrown in there? Amazing!
Guess I'd better move on, then.
7 Games Started, 7 Games Played, 7 Games Completed (Jackpot! Thanks
biff_beefcake!) :D
120 trophies for 7,365 Trophy XP worth 11,406 TT!
Milestones Achieved
Playstation Level 41
225 Completed Games
7.500 Trophies Won
True Level 57
440,000 TrueTrophy Score
230 Completed Games
Well, with no new AM game to play, it'll be interesting to see what I decide to do this time. :P
Also: the on-going
Twelve Days of Christmas will no doubt dictate it to an extent as well.
In any case, there's one game that I really, really, *really* wanna at least finish the story for, can you guess what it is?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?
I think most of you will know but just in case you're new:
Rabi-Ribi TrophiesOther than that, I don't think I'm going to say anymore. I think the element of surprise might be better just this once.
As much for me as for you, anyway, with the current challenge. :P
Well, that's that, another month rounded up and just one left to go, it's been one heck of a year in so many ways but I'm certainly looking forward to what 2018 may bring at this point, I certainly feel it could be a good one.
Still been enjoying my work on the GI team, it was a busy month, what with all those flag submissions we've been having for the contest! Really grateful to everyone that has helped out with that.
On a related note: we also had some new additions to the team for it and one of my awesome friends has recently been added.
biff_beefcake, I hope you'll enjoy your time with us!
Thankfully, last month was a bit better on a personal level than the last 2 but it's still been a bit of a struggle at times. Nearly didn't make my 10K TT a month target again but fortunately can turn it on when I have to. Just one more month to go and I don't have to be as stressed about it anymore. :P
It was also very nice to get my 200th Plat, took substantially less time than the first 100, that's for sure. I look forward to continuing on my journey to even greater heights!
I also got my first Switch game in advance...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Collector's Edition, was never gonna miss out on that, I just hope that it doesn't prove to be a waste of money like X was.
Goodness knows when I'll play it, maybe next year or the year after, I'm in no hurry to buy a Switch when I have literally 3 games I want for it and the 2 I don't have, I could easily have passed on this time (Super Mario Odyssey and LoZ: BotW). There's Metroid Prime 4 as well, I believe but it's the same story every time, just those 3 series by and large, very little of any real interest to me personally.
It'd be nice to see another DKC or Yoshi game, though! :D
I'd sooner get PS VR but even that isn't something I'm in a hurry to get right now. I suppose it doesn't help that money is a bit tight currently but it's something I can save for, so no problems there.
It might be my big choice next year: PS VR or the Switch. Xbox One X, not interested, same with the PS4 Pro, unless it proves to be effectively essential for VR...or my current one breaks, of course.
Anyway, I'm digressing completely there. :P
Also: I've been dying to do some different blogs on here, not had as much time as I'd like for that. Hopefully, I can do at least one of them before next year but chances are, it'll have to wait until 2018.
Would also like to spruce up the older ones to match the current style, which may actually be having some tinkering in 2018, more on that when we get there.
Finally: I would like to say once again, thanks very much for your continued support and friendship to those of you who read this and interact with me regularly, I'm really humbled to have found so many cool people on here.
So what have you sexy readers been doing with yourself in November? And what are your plans for December and beyond? Be even sexier and tell me in the comments!