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Post by Tross on Jul 10, 2019 12:34:23 GMT -5
I think I may take a break with Zelda II myself. My goal is to have the 6 preliminary dungeons completed (still have 2 to go), and then I'll leave the Great Palace for another time. The road to getting there is treacherous at best, and is nearly impossible to traverse without losing all 3 lives. When I eventually pick it up again, I plan to utilize the 3DS' save state function (I can hop out of the game at any time by pressing the Home button and pick up precisely where I left off later) to grind for lives. Once your Strength, Magic, and Defense stats are maxed out at 8, subsequent level-ups give the player an extra life. So I thought maybe I would take the time to grind until I have, say, 40 lives, that way I'll know I have enough lives to survive the journey to the Great Palace, and hopefully enough to clear the Great Palace itself. Zelda II sounds lovely. As I've been off with a foot injury, I finally finished all of the DLC for Shantae Half Genie Hero, finished the first Trine and started the second, did a bit of retro gaming via Sega Genesis Classics, and I was craving a metroidvania, so I finally got around to checking out Hollow Knight and it's a lot of fun. Also, I bought a month of PS+ for $12CAD because there was a huge sale with PS+ discounts that saved me $73CAD when I bought a handful of games (because apparently I don't have enough). So, I'll see about trying the Unraveled games and Degrees of Separation in the near future. Yeah, I've been playing a lot of 2D indie or retro titles lately. I guess it's keeping me occupied though.
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Post by OttselHero on Jul 16, 2019 11:40:34 GMT -5
I took a break from Zelda II as I have previously vowed to do. I'm actually feeling quite satisfied with having cleared the first 6 dungeons, but as I've described, the last dungeon is very much a marathon, so the time has come to put it to bed...for now.
I'm really enjoying Uncharted: The Lost Legacy so far. The chemistry between Chloe and Nadine works incredibly well, and the game is doing a lot to develop Nadine's character, considering what little we saw of her in Uncharted 4. There is a level that is basically a copy-paste of Madagascar, repurposed as the Western Ghats. Similarly enough, I'm surprised at how many of the treasures I was able to find in such a wide expanse.
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Post by Tross on Jul 16, 2019 17:38:43 GMT -5
I took a break from Zelda II as I have previously vowed to do. I'm actually feeling quite satisfied with having cleared the first 6 dungeons, but as I've described, the last dungeon is very much a marathon, so the time has come to put it to bed...for now. I'm really enjoying Uncharted: The Lost Legacy so far. The chemistry between Chloe and Nadine works incredibly well, and the game is doing a lot to develop Nadine's character, considering what little we saw of her in Uncharted 4. There is a level that is basically a copy-paste of Madagascar, repurposed as the Western Ghats. Similarly enough, I'm surprised at how many of the treasures I was able to find in such a wide expanse. Nice! I still haven't checked that one out actually, but I really should since I'm a big fan of the Uncharted series. I decided now was the time to finally check out Hollow Knight, so I've been hooked on that. It's an interesting metroidvania with environmental storytelling and a souls-esque system where if you die you lose all your currency and can only get it back if you find the place where you died and defeat a specter that appears there. If you die again before defeating it, it will be overwritten with a new specter. There is a shaman in the main hub that can summon your specter if it's in too difficult a spot to retrieve without risking death, so there's that. I've only lost all my currency twice, but the second time I lost over 16,000, which stung quite a bit. In any case, it's a fascinating game where the best way to experience it is without a guide, at least until you've gotten an ending and are interested in seeing what else there is in the game. Most of the game is optional too, with only a select few bosses being mandatory. Other than a few individuals to take care of, who appear on the map once you've come across a certain point only two of which have bosses guarding them, and a final boss who will be accessible in a pretty obvious point on the map once you've done that, and one instance early game where you can't progress until you've bested an adversary, I'm quite positive you can not bother with the rest. That isn't to say the game is easy if you just limit how much you see and do. It just means that the game can range from somewhat challenging to "are you insane?" depending on how far you want to push yourself. I don't find the game that difficult for the most part (at least when it comes to standard exploration and certain boss battles), but it's not really for those who flee at the first sign of a challenge or send a very emphatic message to devs demanding an easy mode (which this game doesn't have). Moreover, exploring more can be beneficial as doing so can help increase health and soul capacity (the game's equivalent to SP), damage upgrades, additional abilities, and things called charms that augment the player's abilities and make things easier. Some bosses can be quite challenging, and then there's a lot of additional content that's just crazy. Even in the base game you can unlock a mode where if you die the game ends, and I think beating that is essential to getting the platinum (which I'm not going for). In this colosseum that's added via dlc (but is included in the PS4 edition), the third challenge is not only insanely difficult (despite being a challenge I wish to overcome), but I've heard there's the option to take on bosses without taking a hit, which is just crazy and not something I'm ever going to attempt. There's other craziness going on too. I'm content with seeing what I can in the standard game mode, and taking on bosses with a full health bar and all my abilities intact, thank you very much.
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Post by OttselHero on Jul 18, 2019 10:46:22 GMT -5
I took a break from Zelda II as I have previously vowed to do. I'm actually feeling quite satisfied with having cleared the first 6 dungeons, but as I've described, the last dungeon is very much a marathon, so the time has come to put it to bed...for now. I'm really enjoying Uncharted: The Lost Legacy so far. The chemistry between Chloe and Nadine works incredibly well, and the game is doing a lot to develop Nadine's character, considering what little we saw of her in Uncharted 4. There is a level that is basically a copy-paste of Madagascar, repurposed as the Western Ghats. Similarly enough, I'm surprised at how many of the treasures I was able to find in such a wide expanse. Nice! I still haven't checked that one out actually, but I really should since I'm a big fan of the Uncharted series. I decided now was the time to finally check out Hollow Knight, so I've been hooked on that. It's an interesting metroidvania with environmental storytelling and a souls-esque system where if you die you lose all your currency and can only get it back if you find the place where you died and defeat a specter that appears there. If you die again before defeating it, it will be overwritten with a new specter. There is a shaman in the main hub that can summon your specter if it's in too difficult a spot to retrieve without risking death, so there's that. I've only lost all my currency twice, but the second time I lost over 16,000, which stung quite a bit. In any case, it's a fascinating game where the best way to experience it is without a guide, at least until you've gotten an ending and are interested in seeing what else there is in the game. Most of the game is optional too, with only a select few bosses being mandatory. Other than a few individuals to take care of, who appear on the map once you've come across a certain point only two of which have bosses guarding them, and a final boss who will be accessible in a pretty obvious point on the map once you've done that, and one instance early game where you can't progress until you've bested an adversary, I'm quite positive you can not bother with the rest. That isn't to say the game is easy if you just limit how much you see and do. It just means that the game can range from somewhat challenging to "are you insane?" depending on how far you want to push yourself. I don't find the game that difficult for the most part (at least when it comes to standard exploration and certain boss battles), but it's not really for those who flee at the first sign of a challenge or send a very emphatic message to devs demanding an easy mode (which this game doesn't have). Moreover, exploring more can be beneficial as doing so can help increase health and soul capacity (the game's equivalent to SP), damage upgrades, additional abilities, and things called charms that augment the player's abilities and make things easier. Some bosses can be quite challenging, and then there's a lot of additional content that's just crazy. Even in the base game you can unlock a mode where if you die the game ends, and I think beating that is essential to getting the platinum (which I'm not going for). In this colosseum that's added via dlc (but is included in the PS4 edition), the third challenge is not only insanely difficult (despite being a challenge I wish to overcome), but I've heard there's the option to take on bosses without taking a hit, which is just crazy and not something I'm ever going to attempt. There's other craziness going on too. I'm content with seeing what I can in the standard game mode, and taking on bosses with a full health bar and all my abilities intact, thank you very much. I've been hearing a lot about Hollow Knight since it released. It might be something for me to check out someday, if I can fit it into my backlog. If you enjoy metroidvania, I highly recommend Dust: An Elysian Tail. It's easily one of my favorite games. I've actually had the PS4 version for quite some time, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I'm not sure if I would try it on the hardest difficulty, though; I can imagine that playing on a controller would feel odd since my first playthrough was on the Mac version.
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Post by Tross on Jul 20, 2019 12:49:20 GMT -5
Nice! I still haven't checked that one out actually, but I really should since I'm a big fan of the Uncharted series. I decided now was the time to finally check out Hollow Knight, so I've been hooked on that. It's an interesting metroidvania with environmental storytelling and a souls-esque system where if you die you lose all your currency and can only get it back if you find the place where you died and defeat a specter that appears there. If you die again before defeating it, it will be overwritten with a new specter. There is a shaman in the main hub that can summon your specter if it's in too difficult a spot to retrieve without risking death, so there's that. I've only lost all my currency twice, but the second time I lost over 16,000, which stung quite a bit. In any case, it's a fascinating game where the best way to experience it is without a guide, at least until you've gotten an ending and are interested in seeing what else there is in the game. Most of the game is optional too, with only a select few bosses being mandatory. Other than a few individuals to take care of, who appear on the map once you've come across a certain point only two of which have bosses guarding them, and a final boss who will be accessible in a pretty obvious point on the map once you've done that, and one instance early game where you can't progress until you've bested an adversary, I'm quite positive you can not bother with the rest. That isn't to say the game is easy if you just limit how much you see and do. It just means that the game can range from somewhat challenging to "are you insane?" depending on how far you want to push yourself. I don't find the game that difficult for the most part (at least when it comes to standard exploration and certain boss battles), but it's not really for those who flee at the first sign of a challenge or send a very emphatic message to devs demanding an easy mode (which this game doesn't have). Moreover, exploring more can be beneficial as doing so can help increase health and soul capacity (the game's equivalent to SP), damage upgrades, additional abilities, and things called charms that augment the player's abilities and make things easier. Some bosses can be quite challenging, and then there's a lot of additional content that's just crazy. Even in the base game you can unlock a mode where if you die the game ends, and I think beating that is essential to getting the platinum (which I'm not going for). In this colosseum that's added via dlc (but is included in the PS4 edition), the third challenge is not only insanely difficult (despite being a challenge I wish to overcome), but I've heard there's the option to take on bosses without taking a hit, which is just crazy and not something I'm ever going to attempt. There's other craziness going on too. I'm content with seeing what I can in the standard game mode, and taking on bosses with a full health bar and all my abilities intact, thank you very much. I've been hearing a lot about Hollow Knight since it released. It might be something for me to check out someday, if I can fit it into my backlog. If you enjoy metroidvania, I highly recommend Dust: An Elysian Tail. It's easily one of my favorite games. I've actually had the PS4 version for quite some time, but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I'm not sure if I would try it on the hardest difficulty, though; I can imagine that playing on a controller would feel odd since my first playthrough was on the Mac version. That's another game I've heard a lot about. I'll add that to my list too. I've actually changed my mind about going for the platinum, only because as it turns out, the more sadistically difficult stuff that's required for 100% Steam achievements is not required for the Platinum. There's this one boss I can keep fighting and after a few rounds he will start dealing one extra point of dmg after each subsequent time I beat him. Apparently that caps out at 8 dmg, and to put that into context, I have maxed out HP at 9. I can augment that with charms, but even so, I would still be hard pressed to make it so I'm not dead in two hits. I think it's possible with the right combination to have 22 HP, but that would be sacrificing any other buffs I could be using, and the ability to heal. Apparently after beating this guy for the 10th time will make a gold statue of him appear. Thankfully, as it turns out, there's no reason for me to do that. There's another boss I can fight four more times who can deal up to 5 dmg depending on how many times I beat him, but apparently, I don't have to do that either. There also doesn't appear to be a trophy for completing the mode where the game ends if I die even once, or much of the craziness I've heard about in the Pantheon of the Gods. So, yeah, I might just go for the platinum. I had a difficult time completing the third trial in the colosseum, as well as this one boss at the end of a DLC side-quest, but I did it. There's another annoying mission where I had to take an item from one point to another without taking any damage, as if I dd the item would break and I would have to restart the mission. Thankfully I managed to get through that too. I even got the Kingsoul charm, which requires getting through the most difficult platforming in the game by far, and that's saying a lot. I've gone back and fought all the dream warriors and am two away from finishing the hunter's journal (the game's bestiary), and I know exactly where I need to go to get those other two (one of which is the final, final boss who I have no plans to fight just yet, and I'll encounter the other while sacrificing one of my charms for one I need to complete the game, which I'll hold off on for just a while longer. Now all I need to do is complete the Pantheon of the Gods, which I don't think requires a lot of that craziness I heard about as I think some of that's optional. I also just heard there's an excellent charm I missed out on but it would have required doing something different in a DLC quest, and wouldn't have earned me a trophy. It still might be worth doing in a future playthrough. I"m glad there's no trophy for that as it would literally necessitate replaying the game and getting to that point. There is a Steam achievement for that apparently which reinforces the notion that console gamers have it much easier. Edit: Scratch that. The third pantheon is really giving me a hard time and I have to complete one more after that to get that gold trophy for 112% completion. Then, there's another trophy that will require me to complete a 5th. I may just have to abandon this game after 70 hours...but it's so frustrating. I really don't know what to do as I've put so much time into the game, so just giving up would seem like a waste (even though I have gotten one ending and have been thorougly entertained by this game). I could always go and get the second and third endings and come back, but...I don't want to come back to that accursed pantheon. Maybe I'll get the next couple endings and quit after that. I'll see. I'm not going to make a decision on that just yet and may try a little bit longer. Edit 2: After spending a whole evening of frustration trying to beat that stupid third pantheon I decided not to follow my usual rule of not going to sleep until I beat it. I literally felt myself getting more and more drained and felt that a break of 12 hours or so would help refresh me. Well, I did that and after several tries today I finally got it! There's still a fourth pantheon to go. I've heard it's slightly easier than the third but I'll have to see. For now I felt like taking a break though. I may attempt the fourth pantheon tonight or I may hold off until tomorrow, because...this is one of those cases where I feel wiped after finally accomplishing the thing I set out to do. I'm now at 111% completion though, which is a start. Beating that pantheon also unlocked Godseeker Mode, which is basically an entire mode of just the Godhome content. In other words, I'll pass. Edit 3: This game is stressing me out, so I'm going to stop playing it and shelve it for the foreseeable future. The last boss in that fourth pantheon is not unbeatable, but I can't do it consistently enough, and I have to get through 9 other bosses to challenge him again (which is why I hate boss rush content in general). I've also tried tackling the true final boss and she's really difficult too. So, I'll leave off at 111% and two endings. As much as I would love to go for the platinum and get through that last little bit, I don't think the reward will be worth it. I probably can do it eventually if I push myself hard enough, but I play games to have fun, and I've stopped having fun. I love Hollow Knight and highly recommend it, but there are things I do not need to do, and maybe I should just not bother pushing myself too hard to try and do them. I've gotten what I've wanted to out of the game, and I think I did pretty well all things considered. There are many more games I could be playing right now though, and I've decided I'll go and play one of them instead. Maybe one day I'll come back and do a playthrough where I go for that other charm that after 7 hits will negate damage 90% of the time. I'll have to give up one of my favourite charms to do it, but it's probably the only way someone of my skill level can comfortably tackle that more difficult content. I could technically just replay the game right now, but at almost 80 hours in, I'm not in a hurry to do so. I mean, a second playthrough will probably be faster, but will still take a long time. Perhaps I'll do it shortly before playing the upcoming sequel. It doesn't have a release date yet and will probably not come to the PS4 for a good while yet, so I'll see.
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Post by OttselHero on Jul 25, 2019 9:33:33 GMT -5
Oof, any game with a boss rush mode is doing a very bad deed. There was an objective in Kingdom Hearts: A Fragmentary Passage that required the player to clear a boss rush mode; thankfully you could do it on Beginner, plus you don't have to start from the beginning when you die (which is a godsend because the last boss is a doozy, even on Beginner). I'm glad to hear you still enjoyed it, though. It pleases me to see games with beautiful art styles, and I hope that momentum doesn't stop. I also hope games like Ori and the Blind Forest make their way onto PlayStation eventually; it's another one of those games that are simply on the wrong console and are therefore unable to maximize sales versus if they were on PlayStation or Switch. I finished Uncharted: The Lost Legacy! Overall, I think I liked it more than Uncharted 3, Drake's Fortune, and Golden Abyss (in that order). It's easy to see why it was meant to be treated as a full-fledged game rather than as DLC. It has a complete narrative, and it does wonders to develop both Chloe and Nadine as characters when compared to who they were when we first met them. I've just begun cleaning up the rest of the trophies (which will exclude the one for completing the game on Crushing; I'll save that for a future playthrough). Then I'll probably endeavor to finish Zelda II. It bothers me not to at least finish a game's story, so that one was never going to be left unfinished for long.
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Post by Tross on Jul 26, 2019 12:42:19 GMT -5
Oof, any game with a boss rush mode is doing a very bad deed. There was an objective in Kingdom Hearts: A Fragmentary Passage that required the player to clear a boss rush mode; thankfully you could do it on Beginner, plus you don't have to start from the beginning when you die (which is a godsend because the last boss is a doozy, even on Beginner). I'm glad to hear you still enjoyed it, though. It pleases me to see games with beautiful art styles, and I hope that momentum doesn't stop. I also hope games like Ori and the Blind Forest make their way onto PlayStation eventually; it's another one of those games that are simply on the wrong console and are therefore unable to maximize sales versus if they were on PlayStation or Switch. I finished Uncharted: The Lost Legacy! Overall, I think I liked it more than Uncharted 3, Drake's Fortune, and Golden Abyss (in that order). It's easy to see why it was meant to be treated as a full-fledged game rather than as DLC. It has a complete narrative, and it does wonders to develop both Chloe and Nadine as characters when compared to who they were when we first met them. I've just begun cleaning up the rest of the trophies (which will exclude the one for completing the game on Crushing; I'll save that for a future playthrough). Then I'll probably endeavor to finish Zelda II. It bothers me not to at least finish a game's story, so that one was never going to be left unfinished for long. To be fair my pet peeve with boss rush content isn't exclusive to that. I just don't care for the trope of padding out difficulty where the player has to do a whole bunch of difficult stuff in a row to get to the next part, and has to redo all of it just to try again at the thing they're having difficulty with. It can manifest itself in a really challenging platforming sequence with infrequent checkpoints so that if the player has a difficult time with one jump they have to go back and do a bunch of other difficult parts again just to try again at the one thing tripping them up. In both cases the player has proven to be capable of completing all that previous stuff, but upon going back and trying to rush through it to get to the part they want to take another stab at, can easily end up messing up on that previous stuff and have difficulty even getting to the thing giving them difficulty. That's where the frustration lies. I prefer more organic difficulty where there are frequent checkpoints and no need to redo too much previous stuff, that again, I've proven I can do. I can put up with a little bit of it, but 10 bosses in a row and having to restart entirely after losing to the 10th is quite frustrating. I know this is somewhat of a retro-inspired game, but there's difficulty and then there's...that. Hollow Knight's difficulty usually feels fair, but the Godmaster DLC seems to take that and crank it up to 11. Oh well. I played a bit more of Trine 2, then I played through another small indie title called Degrees of Separation and quite enjoyed that. I just picked up a heavily advertised Steam game called Night Call, which is kind of like Hotel Dusk with a nighttime taxi driver in Paris, except with more of a time-management spin, and the player is tasked with helping the police solve murders while trying to make enough taxi fare so as not to end up going bankrupt within a week's time. Not all passengers have anything at all to do with the case (in fact most don't), but some might have good info and even those who don't are kind of fun to converse with. It's kind of interesting. It has that black and white film noir style, and involves a lot of reading, but I happen to enjoy games like that.
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Post by OttselHero on Aug 5, 2019 9:43:05 GMT -5
I've rounded up the trophies that I wanted to in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, so now I suppose I will return to finish Zelda II. We'll see how that goes.
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Post by OttselHero on Aug 13, 2019 8:03:17 GMT -5
I finished Zelda II, so that's finally behind me. I did it with save states, but it's good enough for me. The game definitely falls into the category of games whose penultimate boss is better than the actual final boss (i.e. FFX, FFXV). Thunderbird was extremely tricky, but Dark Link only requires the constant spamming of the B button while healing occasionally. That said, I started Spyro the Dragon from the reignited trilogy and I am adoring it so far. It's pretty much exactly how I would imagine the first Jak and Daxter were it made today.
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Post by Tross on Aug 27, 2019 13:25:05 GMT -5
I finished Zelda II, so that's finally behind me. I did it with save states, but it's good enough for me. The game definitely falls into the category of games whose penultimate boss is better than the actual final boss (i.e. FFX, FFXV). Thunderbird was extremely tricky, but Dark Link only requires the constant spamming of the B button while healing occasionally. That said, I started Spyro the Dragon from the reignited trilogy and I am adoring it so far. It's pretty much exactly how I would imagine the first Jak and Daxter were it made today. I still need to get the Reignited Trilogy. There are way too many games in this day and age. As you know I've been steadily plugging away at Horizon: Zero Dawn (the meaning of the name becomes apparent when you reach the point in the story I'm at). Without spoiling too much, it's best described as being set in a post-post apocalyptic world. It's apparent early on that time passed and technology progressed, and at some point some kind of cataclysmic event happened that caused the complete collapse of society. However, the game takes place at least several centuries later at a point when new societies have long since emerged and a new world order has been established. People have regressed technologically and have formed largely tribal and/or medieval-style societies, and some groups even have a deep distrust for anything mechanical, but there are also machines wandering around, and people who know how to make use of their components. It takes some time to find out why there are robot beasts wandering around as no one alive knows the answer, but suffice to say the setting plays an important role in the game, and the main character does eventually get to the bottom of things like that. Oh, and there are a couple moments that got a chuckle out of me as the NPCs are so ignorant of the "artifacts of the old ones" that it's kind of funny. Coming across what they label as "vessels" amused me, as did listening to one merchant speculate about their use, and his explanation for why he disagrees with one of his cohorts. In short, it's a great game and I highly recommend it. If you're on a Zelda run though, this isn't the kind of game you should play on the side or as a bit of a distraction as it's a big game in its own right and best played as a main game. I've been taking breaks from it here and there to play other smaller games, such as the newly released FMV game Erica, but I don't think I would try another open-world game or anything along those lines.
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Post by OttselHero on Sept 6, 2019 11:37:35 GMT -5
I finished Zelda II, so that's finally behind me. I did it with save states, but it's good enough for me. The game definitely falls into the category of games whose penultimate boss is better than the actual final boss (i.e. FFX, FFXV). Thunderbird was extremely tricky, but Dark Link only requires the constant spamming of the B button while healing occasionally. That said, I started Spyro the Dragon from the reignited trilogy and I am adoring it so far. It's pretty much exactly how I would imagine the first Jak and Daxter were it made today. I still need to get the Reignited Trilogy. There are way too many games in this day and age. As you know I've been steadily plugging away at Horizon: Zero Dawn (the meaning of the name becomes apparent when you reach the point in the story I'm at). Without spoiling too much, it's best described as being set in a post-post apocalyptic world. It's apparent early on that time passed and technology progressed, and at some point some kind of cataclysmic event happened that caused the complete collapse of society. However, the game takes place at least several centuries later at a point when new societies have long since emerged and a new world order has been established. People have regressed technologically and have formed largely tribal and/or medieval-style societies, and some groups even have a deep distrust for anything mechanical, but there are also machines wandering around, and people who know how to make use of their components. It takes some time to find out why there are robot beasts wandering around as no one alive knows the answer, but suffice to say the setting plays an important role in the game, and the main character does eventually get to the bottom of things like that. Oh, and there are a couple moments that got a chuckle out of me as the NPCs are so ignorant of the "artifacts of the old ones" that it's kind of funny. Coming across what they label as "vessels" amused me, as did listening to one merchant speculate about their use, and his explanation for why he disagrees with one of his cohorts. In short, it's a great game and I highly recommend it. If you're on a Zelda run though, this isn't the kind of game you should play on the side or as a bit of a distraction as it's a big game in its own right and best played as a main game. I've been taking breaks from it here and there to play other smaller games, such as the newly released FMV game Erica, but I don't think I would try another open-world game or anything along those lines. Horizon sounds thoroughly fascinating! I love it when that much thought and care goes into a story. A deep narrative with so many layers like that will be sure to translate into a future favorite of mine. Though with a backlog so deep, I may not get around to it until the PS5 comes out, which may not be so bad since the PS5 will have 4K support and backward compatibility. I don't have a 4KTV presently, but I think I may get one when I decide to pick up a PS5 (which likely won't be at launch). The point I'm trying to make is that playing Horizon in 4K might be a cool way to experience the first playthrough. I finished Spyro 1 in the Reignited Trilogy. This was the first time I ever played a Spyro game and I enjoyed everything about it. It has so much charm that it's almost overkill, lol. The only complaint I have is that the load times are a little long, which adds more consequence to dying than just losing a life.
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Post by Tross on Sept 7, 2019 22:14:42 GMT -5
I still need to get the Reignited Trilogy. There are way too many games in this day and age. As you know I've been steadily plugging away at Horizon: Zero Dawn (the meaning of the name becomes apparent when you reach the point in the story I'm at). Without spoiling too much, it's best described as being set in a post-post apocalyptic world. It's apparent early on that time passed and technology progressed, and at some point some kind of cataclysmic event happened that caused the complete collapse of society. However, the game takes place at least several centuries later at a point when new societies have long since emerged and a new world order has been established. People have regressed technologically and have formed largely tribal and/or medieval-style societies, and some groups even have a deep distrust for anything mechanical, but there are also machines wandering around, and people who know how to make use of their components. It takes some time to find out why there are robot beasts wandering around as no one alive knows the answer, but suffice to say the setting plays an important role in the game, and the main character does eventually get to the bottom of things like that. Oh, and there are a couple moments that got a chuckle out of me as the NPCs are so ignorant of the "artifacts of the old ones" that it's kind of funny. Coming across what they label as "vessels" amused me, as did listening to one merchant speculate about their use, and his explanation for why he disagrees with one of his cohorts. In short, it's a great game and I highly recommend it. If you're on a Zelda run though, this isn't the kind of game you should play on the side or as a bit of a distraction as it's a big game in its own right and best played as a main game. I've been taking breaks from it here and there to play other smaller games, such as the newly released FMV game Erica, but I don't think I would try another open-world game or anything along those lines. Horizon sounds thoroughly fascinating! I love it when that much thought and care goes into a story. A deep narrative with so many layers like that will be sure to translate into a future favorite of mine. Though with a backlog so deep, I may not get around to it until the PS5 comes out, which may not be so bad since the PS5 will have 4K support and backward compatibility. I don't have a 4KTV presently, but I think I may get one when I decide to pick up a PS5 (which likely won't be at launch). The point I'm trying to make is that playing Horizon in 4K might be a cool way to experience the first playthrough. I finished Spyro 1 in the Reignited Trilogy. This was the first time I ever played a Spyro game and I enjoyed everything about it. It has so much charm that it's almost overkill, lol. The only complaint I have is that the load times are a little long, which adds more consequence to dying than just losing a life. I've also heard that the PS5's SSD will improve things like loading times and that to me is a much bigger deal than 4K (probably partially because I don't even have a 4K TV). But yeah, Horizon is a great looking game and 4K will probably make it look even better. I'm playing it on an original model PS4 and I don't know how much difference that makes but while there isn't much loading, it takes a while to load up the game initially and I get a similar load time whenever I warp or die, and sometimes have to wait a little bit for cutscenes. I'm really enjoying the game though, and may go for the platinum (I'll have to see). I finished all the cauldrons (a term for a part of the game you'll understand when you get around to playing it), and purged the map of all the bandit camps. I also have all of the Blazing Suns from the hunting trials (basically gold medals). I haven't done a story mission in a good while come to think of it. I've just been doing side objectives. The story is really good though IMHO when I do get around to advancing it. I even did this annoying and pointless task for a bronze trophy: www.google.com/search?q=horizon+zero+dawn+grazer+dummies&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA854CA854&oq=horizon+zero+dawn+graz&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.8445j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8I haven't gotten the Reignited Trilogy yet but I'm sure it will really take me back in the same way the N Sane Trilogy did. I'll keep loading times in mind with that collection too.
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Post by OttselHero on Sept 9, 2019 11:53:50 GMT -5
Horizon sounds thoroughly fascinating! I love it when that much thought and care goes into a story. A deep narrative with so many layers like that will be sure to translate into a future favorite of mine. Though with a backlog so deep, I may not get around to it until the PS5 comes out, which may not be so bad since the PS5 will have 4K support and backward compatibility. I don't have a 4KTV presently, but I think I may get one when I decide to pick up a PS5 (which likely won't be at launch). The point I'm trying to make is that playing Horizon in 4K might be a cool way to experience the first playthrough. I finished Spyro 1 in the Reignited Trilogy. This was the first time I ever played a Spyro game and I enjoyed everything about it. It has so much charm that it's almost overkill, lol. The only complaint I have is that the load times are a little long, which adds more consequence to dying than just losing a life. I've also heard that the PS5's SSD will improve things like loading times and that to me is a much bigger deal than 4K (probably partially because I don't even have a 4K TV). But yeah, Horizon is a great looking game and 4K will probably make it look even better. I'm playing it on an original model PS4 and I don't know how much difference that makes but while there isn't much loading, it takes a while to load up the game initially and I get a similar load time whenever I warp or die, and sometimes have to wait a little bit for cutscenes. I'm really enjoying the game though, and may go for the platinum (I'll have to see). I finished all the cauldrons (a term for a part of the game you'll understand when you get around to playing it), and purged the map of all the bandit camps. I also have all of the Blazing Suns from the hunting trials (basically gold medals). I haven't done a story mission in a good while come to think of it. I've just been doing side objectives. The story is really good though IMHO when I do get around to advancing it. I even did this annoying and pointless task for a bronze trophy: www.google.com/search?q=horizon+zero+dawn+grazer+dummies&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA854CA854&oq=horizon+zero+dawn+graz&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.8445j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8I haven't gotten the Reignited Trilogy yet but I'm sure it will really take me back in the same way the N Sane Trilogy did. I'll keep loading times in mind with that collection too. Ooh, I had nearly forgotten that the PS5 will do away with load times! So many games will benefit from that, the Reignited Trilogy being one of them. Naughty Dog's recent games take a while to load in the initial boot-up as well, so it would be nice to see those go away too. It would be even better if Sony did somehow manage to make the PS5 backward compatible with all console generations (though I'm not holding my breath, despite the fact that they have filed a patent to at least look into it), that way I can happily replay Sly 4 without the horrendous load times, which was easily the only thing dragging that game down (that and a laughably easy final boss).
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Post by Tross on Sept 14, 2019 22:27:13 GMT -5
I've also heard that the PS5's SSD will improve things like loading times and that to me is a much bigger deal than 4K (probably partially because I don't even have a 4K TV). But yeah, Horizon is a great looking game and 4K will probably make it look even better. I'm playing it on an original model PS4 and I don't know how much difference that makes but while there isn't much loading, it takes a while to load up the game initially and I get a similar load time whenever I warp or die, and sometimes have to wait a little bit for cutscenes. I'm really enjoying the game though, and may go for the platinum (I'll have to see). I finished all the cauldrons (a term for a part of the game you'll understand when you get around to playing it), and purged the map of all the bandit camps. I also have all of the Blazing Suns from the hunting trials (basically gold medals). I haven't done a story mission in a good while come to think of it. I've just been doing side objectives. The story is really good though IMHO when I do get around to advancing it. I even did this annoying and pointless task for a bronze trophy: www.google.com/search?q=horizon+zero+dawn+grazer+dummies&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA854CA854&oq=horizon+zero+dawn+graz&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.8445j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8I haven't gotten the Reignited Trilogy yet but I'm sure it will really take me back in the same way the N Sane Trilogy did. I'll keep loading times in mind with that collection too. Ooh, I had nearly forgotten that the PS5 will do away with load times! So many games will benefit from that, the Reignited Trilogy being one of them. Naughty Dog's recent games take a while to load in the initial boot-up as well, so it would be nice to see those go away too. It would be even better if Sony did somehow manage to make the PS5 backward compatible with all console generations (though I'm not holding my breath, despite the fact that they have filed a patent to at least look into it), that way I can happily replay Sly 4 without the horrendous load times, which was easily the only thing dragging that game down (that and a laughably easy final boss). And the age of instant gratification will only intensify. Oh well, I'm looking forward to it, and yes, BC would be nice though it's understandable if it's too difficult to make that work. At the very least, PS4 BC is highly likely. I have officially finished the main game of Horizon Zero Dawn and got the platinum. As much as I ranted about that one pointless trophy, there is plenty of opportunity for the game to be filled with extraneous tasks to get trophies and it doesn't do that. I've missed a few datapoints in most of the categories for example, and requiring the player to collect 100% of those would have been aggravating. Every task in the game other than knocking down those Grazer dummies is pertinent to actual things the player will do in the game, and is self-explanatory. Aside from collecting all the power cells (which tend to be acquired by finding them during main storyline missions while exploring off the beaten path) and making a point of using them in an "ancient armory" to acquire some lit armor that makes the final battle much easier, everything else is just a matter of doing all the side tasks, collecting all the collectibles and finishing all the side quests. There's a point of no return at which a character in-game will say as much where it isn't possible to complete any more tasks until after the game is completed, and there's one final side-quest line introduced at that time. The only uncompleted task I have now is Into the Frozen Wilds, which is the gateway to the DLC and I won't be starting that tonight.
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Post by OttselHero on Sept 16, 2019 8:55:29 GMT -5
Ooh, I had nearly forgotten that the PS5 will do away with load times! So many games will benefit from that, the Reignited Trilogy being one of them. Naughty Dog's recent games take a while to load in the initial boot-up as well, so it would be nice to see those go away too. It would be even better if Sony did somehow manage to make the PS5 backward compatible with all console generations (though I'm not holding my breath, despite the fact that they have filed a patent to at least look into it), that way I can happily replay Sly 4 without the horrendous load times, which was easily the only thing dragging that game down (that and a laughably easy final boss). And the age of instant gratification will only intensify. Oh well, I'm looking forward to it, and yes, BC would be nice though it's understandable if it's too difficult to make that work. At the very least, PS4 BC is highly likely. I have officially finished the main game of Horizon Zero Dawn and got the platinum. As much as I ranted about that one pointless trophy, there is plenty of opportunity for the game to be filled with extraneous tasks to get trophies and it doesn't do that. I've missed a few datapoints in most of the categories for example, and requiring the player to collect 100% of those would have been aggravating. Every task in the game other than knocking down those Grazer dummies is pertinent to actual things the player will do in the game, and is self-explanatory. Aside from collecting all the power cells (which tend to be acquired by finding them during main storyline missions while exploring off the beaten path) and making a point of using them in an "ancient armory" to acquire some lit armor that makes the final battle much easier, everything else is just a matter of doing all the side tasks, collecting all the collectibles and finishing all the side quests. There's a point of no return at which a character in-game will say as much where it isn't possible to complete any more tasks until after the game is completed, and there's one final side-quest line introduced at that time. The only uncompleted task I have now is Into the Frozen Wilds, which is the gateway to the DLC and I won't be starting that tonight. Congrats on the plat! Speaking of pointless trophies, I signed up for the 14-day free trial of PS Plus in the midst of playing Spyro 1 to clean up some online trophies (something I treated myself to for reaching a milestone in a side project). I started with Uncharted 4, which was easy enough to do, save for two trophies relating to clearing Survival mode on Crushing (this was hard enough on Light; I suspect that the game expects you to have more than 2 people in your party on higher difficulties). Anywho, I popped in my copy of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot (which, of course, is another game I've had in my backlog for a while) to try my hand at its online trophies. On the whole, they're more doable than I thought they'd be considering how difficult it was to find other people who are still playing it. But one trophy that should not exist is one for taking out 20 players with the turret. The turret only exists on 2 or 3 different maps, and most people are wise enough to stay out of the turret's line of sight, so that trophy is easily one of the most elusive. There is also one trophy for winning ranked matches in all modes, which is problematic a.) because each mode as a "ranked" and "casual" option; if you want to stand a chance at finding people to play with, you pretty much need to find a match via Quick Match, which always throws you into a casual match, and b.) it entails winning a match of Free-For-All. So that trophy is impossible simply because the multiplayer is dead. I thought going into it that the trophy for reaching LVL 60 would be out-of-reach, but surprisingly I was able to reach LVL 25 by the time the trial period expired, so maybe that one isn't impossible after all. All-in-all, Tomb Raider's platinum trophy is unlikely due to the fact that the multiplayer trophies are required to earn it, which of course is one of my [as well as the Completionist's] pet peeves.
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