Ollie beats the shit out of his backlog

[probablyoliver]

6 minutes ago, 9 to 5 said:

Triggered.

I've got 72 platinums and Road Dogg was shit.

[Colly]

21 hours ago, Ollie said:

I've got 72 platinums and Road Dogg was shit.

Jay-Z's rejected first draft.

[probablyoliver]

13 minutes ago, Colly said:

Jay-Z's rejected first draft.

If you're having trophy problems because Road Dogg sucked, son

Cause I got 72 platinums and I preferred Billy Gunn.

[9 to 5]

Reported.

[probablyoliver]

An update!

I just got the platinum on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (my 4000th trophy, no less, I bet Niner will be livid) and oh boy, what an absolute brilliant shame that game was.

It was every bit as good as God of War from 2018, yet completely marred by dreadful performance issues, occasionally dreadful AI and Fallout level glitches. It's clear they wanted this game out before Rise of Skywalker and/or the holiday season, because it seriously could have used six more months in the oven. And that's such an incredible shame because if not for that, it would have been a genre defining masterpiece and one of the all time best games of this generation. The story, characters and general gameplay are all phenomenal, and yet if it wasn't for the Star Wars branding, I doubt I would've seen it through to the end.

I won't go into spoilers but there's an extended sequence where you're without your lightsabre, except I had mine. I couldn't use it but it was just glowing, on my back, making all kinds of noises. It was the worst kind of immersion breaking. But when the game was working and everything was happening as it should have been, oh boy, it was some of the hypest shit I've ever played through. I would 100% recommend for anyone who's a fan of Star Wars, Uncharted and/or Dark Souls, but I would also press everyone to wait until it drops in price. I'd also totally recommend avoiding any and all trailers because holy shit, they're spoilerific.

 

I also played and completed Ori and the Blind Forest on the Switch, and that has recently joined the very short list of games which have brought me close to tears. If you enjoy 2D metroidvanias or precision platformers, I implore you to pick this game up either on Switch or Xbox, because it was an absolute joy from start to finish. The combat left a little to be desired, but as far as carrot and stick games are concerned where you're constantly and continuously getting more power-ups and skills, and yet always being taunted by not having the right tools for the job are concerned, this is up there with the best of them.

It's also incredibly adorable, the art style and sound design are unforgettable, it's a game you can just stop and stare at for hours. I will say that the combat left a little to be desired, it more often than not came down to just mashing the Y button until whatever I was up against blew up, but in the grand scheme of things that didn't matter, because everything else was just so tightly held together that it kept its appeal throughout. It was also a tad tough to play handheld, purely because of how small everything looked, but that's more a hardware issue than the game itself. It's absolutely one of the most joyous games I've played this generation, and I can't recommend it enough.

 

I've not yet decided what's next. I'm considering jumping back into Control because I loved what I played but was in no mood to play when I started it, although I worry it's a little too close to Fallen Order as far as gameplay is concerned. Instead I might spend the day in a VR coma, because Blood and Truth has been calling out to me recently. As far as handheld is concerned, I started playing Hollow Knight yesterday, although only the first thirty minutes or so. I'll definitely be jumping into that more over the next few days, because oh boy, it's a bit special.

[OctoberRaven]

On 10/12/2019 at 16:15, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

I like Heavy Rain and the other David Cage games. The consensus seems to be that they're a little far up their own butt, but that was part of the charm for me. Also Heavy Rain has JASOOOOOOOOOON! JASOOOOOOOOOOON!

Indigo Prophecy is peak David Cage for me, as he literally calls himself the greatest storyteller of all time. Plus the utterly silly fight scenes.

[Krabby]

30 minutes ago, OctoberRaven said:

Indigo Prophecy is peak David Cage for me, as he literally calls himself the greatest storyteller of all time. Plus the utterly silly fight scenes.

Indigo Prophecy freaking rules, i love that game, so quality and yet so so cheesy.

[probablyoliver]

Yeah I've not picked up any of the shiny recent games I said I'd play next, instead I've started Assassin's Creed Revelations again.

I absolutely adored the AC games, with the first one being one of the sole reasons (the other being Fallout 3) that I got an Xbox 360 in the first place. I played it at a friend's house and was hooked immediately, it truly felt like a massive step up from the previous generation. In hindsight, the first Assassin's Creed has aged like milk, but it still cemented itself as a cornerstone of my gaming history.

When Assassin's Creed II came out and introduced us to that lovable rogue Ezio Auditore da Firenze, it changed the game entirely. It was a gigantic improvement on every aspect of the first game and it joined the ranks of Final Fantasy and Metal Gear as one of my favourite game franchises ever made. Brotherhood improved the formula even more, streamlining everything and adding some extra finesse to an already stellar game.

Then Revelations came out and the cracks began to show, it was, for all intents and purposes, a carbon copy of Brotherhood, and whilst it was still a brilliant game, all it seemed to do was add an awkward bomb mechanic, an even more awkward tower defense mini-game and a yellow hue over everything to make it look more middle Eastern. The story wasn't particularly engaging, and although it was nice to see and play as Altaïr again, it never quite hit the highs of the previous two games.

So even though I bought it day one, I never finished it. And even though I was super interested in the following year's Assassin's Creed III, I never actually bought it because I was so invested in the story that I refused to pick it up until I'd powered through Revelations.

Eight years later and I still haven't finished Revelations, which means I'm now sitting on a pile of unplayed Assassin's Creed games (curse me not being able to say no to a decent sale) just waiting for me to finish doing runny jumpy stabbies throught Constantinople.

Last year I replayed II and Brotherhood, and although technology has come a long way since their humble beginnings, they've held up pretty well. That may or may not be nostalgia speaking, but Ubisoft absolutely nailed the open world collectathon that can be seen in basicay every franchise now. I'm currently about 5/6 hours into Revelations, and I'm appreciating it a whole lot more than I did originally. It's flawed, but it's still video game crack in the most shameless sense. Seeing the map open up and greyed out icons turn white and having my army of assassin's level up and bring me money is just an absolute joy.

 

Also, I think this is what this thread might turn more into. Not just me telling y'all about completing games but also just telling stories and shit about why these games mean so much to me. I just fucking love talking about video games, you guys.

[probablyoliver]

Aaaaaand that's the platinum on Assassin's Creed Revelations, a very good if not totally rushed and flawed entry in the AC franchise. The gameplay was every bit as good as II and Brotherhood, the storyline was fun but woof, all the current day stuff was an absolute drag and it was capped off by one of the most infuriatingly pointless DLC's ever released.

I was going to jump straight into Assassin's Creed III, but the DLC of Revelations legit killed my interest in carrying the franchise on right away. I think Control is calling to me, but I might switch it up and play something first person, because the last, like, four games I've played are all third person adventure-y type games. Maybe Far Cry 5 or Titanfall 2. Y'all are free to throw out suggestions.

[Paton]

Titanfall 2 is a great game. I suggest you move on to that.

[BuddyAwesome]

I applaud you getting the platinum. I hated the Desmomd sequences and after the first didn't want to bother with the rest of them.

[probablyoliver]

13 hours ago, BuddyAwesome said:

I applaud you getting the platinum. I hated the Desmomd sequences and after the first didn't want to bother with the rest of them.

Yeah, they're rubbish. What made them worse is that in the DLC there's two trophies for doing specific sequences without dying and they're so ridiculously precise.

I think I've decided that Control is next, because I've been aching to play it. I played the first couple hours when I first bought it and loved it but I wasn't really in a gaming mood at the time. Plus, by all accounts it's not a particularly long game. 10-15 hours and that's the sweet spot, especially after a collectathon slog like Assassin's Creed.

[Benji]

• Bastion
• Batman: Arkham City
• Dying Light
• Resident Evil 2
• Resident Evil VII

If you get around to any of these then let me know. They're all on my own backlog list and we can talk/share tips.

[probablyoliver]

53 minutes ago, Benji said:

• Bastion
• Batman: Arkham City
• Dying Light
• Resident Evil 2
• Resident Evil VII

If you get around to any of these then let me know. They're all on my own backlog list and we can talk/share tips.

Well I'd happily play Dying Light with you!

I've already completed RE2 but only the once. I got about half way through the second playthrough and dropped off. It's not a priority but I do want to play through the rest before I get RE3 later this year.

REVII is a game I'm determined to play in VR. I made it about half hour in last year before I wimped out.

Arkham City I started playing last year after I'd completed Arkham Asylum. People always rave about it but I didn't like it being open world, I thought Asylum's metroidvania style worked way better.

I've never even touched sticks on Bastion but I've always wanted to. It definitely looks like a bit of me.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Add me to the Dying Light crew @Ollie @Benji, still looking for an excuse to play it again.

[Colly]

On 11/12/2019 at 12:08, Colly said:

I'm working through Heavy Rain and Arkham City too. I'd say I'd race you but it'll probably take me two years.

I finished Heavy Rain, strange game but I enjoyed it once I got into it. I'd like to see some of the other endings, but backlog and that.

Sorry to hijack your quest...

[probablyoliver]

Last night I completed and got the platinum in the PS4 remake of MediEvil and woof, time has not been kind to that game and nostalgia is not to be trusted.

I remember when I got that game originally when I was like 9 and it was my favourite game ever. I think I got it for my birthday and I used to think it was awesome. It was funny and silly and the world's were that perfect kind of cartoony spooky and I used to play it pretty much every night after school. Always held a candle to that game along with things like Tony Hawk's, Final Fantasy VII and Spyro.

I've since replayed those three games and they've all held up brilliantly. The physics in the first couple THPS games is a little off, but it makes up for it with killer level design, great controls and those soundtracks are still awesome. FFVII deserves it's place amongst the GOATs and Spyro remains a standout 3D platformer in an age where 3D platformers were ten a penny. MediEvil though, yikes, it does not hold up and putting it on a pedestal with those games was a bad decision on my part.

The design aesthetic is still brilliant, especially with a modern day coat of paint, pretty much every spooky trope is accounted for with zombies and ghost ships and pumpkins and witches and demons and that's still super fun, but pretty much everything else about it is subpar.

The level design is decent at its best and mind bogglingly bad at its worst with some of the levels being so poorly put together that some levels take three or four times as long as they should because of how easy it is to get lost, and that's before the camera decides to flip out and change without notice, causing all kinds of further problems. The combat is a total crap shoot, there's no startegy, you literally just smash square and hope to kill whatever you're killing before it kills you, and the bosses are a lot less interesting than I remembered them being.

MediEvil is a bad game. Don't play it. Or do because of nostalgia because that was fun for the first hour or so but yikes, that ran out fast.

[Kaney]

Aw man that's devastating. I loved Medieval and had totally planned picking it up but now I don't want to tarnish it

[probablyoliver]

Yeah, I can't in good faith recommend it. I imagine it'll be going for dirt cheap in CEX and I guarantee it'll be a PS+ game at some point in the future, and I'd say it'd be worth picking up at that point just for that wave of nostalgia in the first hour or so. It just doesn't last.

Still, I got the platinum because apparently I have a problem.

[Colly]

I finished Arkham City (bar riddles, a couple of side missions and Catwoman, but fuck that). I'm on a bloody roll.

I got the Uncharted trilogy on PS+ having never played any. Is it worth starting from the beginning?