@crimsontadpoles “ Completed my first game of 2021, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. It's a decent enough Ace Attorney game and a lot of fun, though I'd argue it's not quite as great as the Phoenix Wright trilogy.”
I played this game on the DS in the day, not the best in the series, only pretty good. You are correct, the Phoenix Wright trilogy is much better.
The PSVR is the best VR system on the market today.
Finished Horace there, even got the million junk to get the best ending. I welled up far too many times, it’s an stone cold classic. I really hope as many people play it as possible, it truly lives up to NLife’s 10/10 score and more. It’s hard to describe my emotions about the game without giving too much away, it benefits a lot from a blind playthrough. It’s been a long time since a game has affected me in this way though.
@RogerRoger Yikes, that's a pretty scathing assessment of ICO! I haven't touched it since the PS2 and did admittedly find it a somewhat difficult game to get into. I think my biggest gripe was the combat. Development supposedly started on the PS1, which may explain certain design decisions. I know you've said you don't want to play Shadow of the Colossus, but I will say that the music in that is absolutely magnificent, so would still recommend giving it a listen on any of the music services.
@RogerRoger Oh wow, those are some interesting thoughts. It's pretty much the exact reverse of my opinions on Ico and The Last Guardian.
I wasn't keen on the combat in The Last Guardian. That was just hiding behind Trico until it stomped on all the enemies. The combat in Ico wasn't exactly great either, but at least it was a bit more involved. Plus there's always a fun childish appeal about waving a big stick about.
Plus I found the puzzles in Ico to have more variety to them. Most of the ones in The Last Guardian was just about signaling to Trico until it eventually did what you wanted.
One thing I'll agree with you about is that Trico is wonderful. I'm not sure if it beats a luminescent waifu (the world needs more of these), but Trico is a good doggo.
Anyway, each to their own. It would be boring if everyone liked the same things.
You guys are sleeping on this game. It is billed as a spiritual successor to PT and this is one of the rare cases where it absolutely lives up to that marketing speech.
It is the best psychological horror game on console, and - in my opinion - the scariest game I've ever played. It unseated my previous favorite, Amnesia. Not high on jump scares like recent entries in the genre but endlessly more atmospheric and effective at creating a real sense of dread.
Just finished it. Negatives about the experience are a clumsy inventory management system and while the graphics are pretty darn good, the human models look fairly poor graphically (it is first person). Also, this is a horror game - you are walking around twisting door handles and picking things up, not shooting things with a shotgun. Be forewarned haha.
Also, the game is pricy for a digital-only title at $35 and seems resistant to sales. It is worth it though, every penny.
If you like psychological horror... give it a try!
Beat the ‘story’ on Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker today but still a ways to go on scratching that Platinum. S Ranking every main mission and extra op is gonna mean I’m sticking with it until at least the end of January I’d imagine.
Interesting to hear that you found this so similar to TLG that it actually felt like a bit of a clone, considering how different SotC is gameplay-wise. There are definitely games I've played that felt like strict improvements on what came before them, to the point where they made their predecessor game irrelevant. It sounds like this is a similar case for you.
One interesting similarity between TLG and SotC is the way it creates a bond between the player and an animal companion (I know a LOT of people who played the latter formed an emotional attachment to Agro, Wander's loyal and invaluable steed as he slays colossi throughout the wastes). It seems like that's missing in Ico, and perhaps it requires less of a push for the player to bond with animals, whose silence we expect, than a translucent waifu who, if I had to guess, probably doesn't receive much, if anything in the way of development.
How's the performance? SotC, while impressive in scale, felt like it ran at 15 fps on PS2.
@UnlimitedSevens Interesting. I've never even heard of that game. Is there any sort of combat, or is it strictly an Amnesia-like in the sense that you hide from enemies?
@RogerRoger Wonderfully entertaining mini-impression piece on Ico. 😄 Reading your experience has me certain that I look back on it through rose-tinted glasses since I don’t recall being put off by the gameplay. It was my first Ueda game and so the environment felt unique, and foreboding yet charming. Nostalgia has me remembering the exploration and combat to have been perfectly acceptable at the time for the PS2. But it has obviously not aged well and time has marched past it. Thanks for warning me to not waste my time and go back to it! I’ll just keep the warm fuzzies that I once felt intact. 😅
You may or may not have noticed that one of my 2021 goals was to replay some old favorites. I was inspired by you and other users on here that have posted about returning to enjoyable games from years ago. Ico was actually on my short list of about 10 games that were candidates for that goal. Welp... the short list is now even shorter. 😃
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger I loved ICO and I think it was pretty much for the exact same reasons that you mentioned as being the good parts! The scale and that castle, I just love ridiculous castles in games for some reason. I couldn't get into SotC when I played it tbh but I will get around to finishing it some day. I haven't played the last guardian yet either but I have it on disc and will play it some day. What did you mean about seeing the castle again in TLG, is it set in the same place or something? The HD version also supports 3D, I really want play it in 3D at some point if I can secure the now hard to find at a reasonable price technology to do so!
@colonelkilgore well done on finishing Peace Walker! Have you finished the final chapter where you have to keep finding that guy and beat Metal Gear Zeke at Mother Base? Also did you manage to unlock the two Date missions and the Monster Hunter crossover missions? I can't remember the exact method of getting it but there is a weapon called the Fulton Cannon or something that is absolutely brilliant for those stupid tank and armoured vehicle missions because you can Fulton a bunch of enemies with one well aimed shot.
@ralphdibny so gone and found Zadornov 7 times and then beat you know who atop mother base and had a date with Paz. The date with Kaz hasn't become available yet though. Still playing through the 2nd and 3rd generations of the various ai's so I havent gotten to the Monster Hunter crossover ops yet either.
I was playing some co-op earlier this week and my partner had the fulton cannon, that paired with the infinity bandana seems a pretty OP combination. I don't have either yet but will be looking to get them ASAP.
@ralphdibny As far as the Ico setting, I can’t be overly confident because it’s been a while since I played it, but I don’t think the castle is point-for-point the same structure as The Last Guardian, but I think Rog was referring to the fact it is thematically, artistically, and functionally the same basic kind of structure as the castle in Ico, just less well done. The awe and wonder of seeing it would certainly be blunted after seeing TLG’s more sophisticated rendition.
But here’s where it gets a little touchy, not trying to spoil things — if/when you play Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, there are plenty of theories about the three games being in the same universe and interconnected. In fact I think it’s fairly safe to say they are. As for whether the exact locale is supposed to be identical, I don’t know. I don’t think so. Definitely there is a shared world amongst Ueda’s games.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger Haha! We are not only on the same wavelength, but the exact same timeline too! 😂
Edit: As far as the list — the leading games are the Uncharteds 1-3. Especially 1&2 have been a long time since I played and thoroughly enjoyed them. Pretty sure those will be some of the ones I revisit. BioShock Infinite, Mass Effect trilogy, and some old MGS games are also all in the mix
@RogerRoger If I play the Mass Effect games, it will be through the remaster / Legendary Edition for sure. In fact, I never played the first game and only jumped in at #2, thanks to the added mechanic that the PS3 version included to make some quick decisions from ME1 in order for the narrative to make sense. It would be nice to go back and actually play ME1 and make those decisions in the context of the actual game. Also, I’d probably go for a Fem-Shep run since my Shepard was male the first go.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger I didn't attempt the platinum trophy for The Last Guardian. There's a few tedious ones that require playing through again multiple times, such as feeding Trico 96 barrels. There's only a maximum of 48 available in a single run.
I'm guessing that Ico has similar annoying trophies. It seems to be a theme in these games. Likewise, Shadow of the Colossus has one to max out your health and stamina bars, which requires a few playthroughs of the game.
@RogerRoger@Th3solution ah fair enough! I think I'm going to try and give all 3 a whirl when my partner's finished their stint of work and we can play them together. I'm sure ICO had a two player mode that unlocked after you beat the game but I don't know if it would be worth playing like that. Will be some time before I play them though I think.
Interesting that you mention Rochester castle there Rog! It's a small one but it absolutely scares the kaka out of me. I've never made it to the top of that castle because the way it's laid out makes me scared I'm going to fall over the edge, even around the inside of it. Not to mention that the last time I went there it was a proper windy day and I didn't want to blow away haha
I can imagine the Bluepoint ports being half decent in 3D because they are decent without it. I mentioned my distaste with the frame rates in the similarly branded splinter cell trilogy ports though so I can only imagine something like that would only get worse in 3D
@colonelkilgore nice one! I had to look up where to find zadornov on that last one, I don't think there's any clues in game to say that you find him in the first training mission. Unless I missed something!
Fulton+infinity is definitely OP, doesn't work totally on every level though, I still think you need to keep swapping into other items for certain things if I remember correctly. I can't remember the process for getting the Fulton Cannon but I remember it being very long winded, like getting your teams up to a certain level to be able to develop it which if course would be much easier if you had the Fulton cannon which you are trying to develop!
How many hours is your save file at out of interest?
Visage kind of snuck onto PSN on Halloween with no fanfare. There's only a handful of reviews for the game on the internet, so I know it's going under the radar big time. I think the high price point ($35) is killing it, and no sales as of yet being it is digital-only.
And yeah, ultimately it is a "walking simulator" - no combat, similar to Amnesia, Layers of Fear, and Outlast. If you just dont like that type of thing, this won't win you over. But there is a lot of exploration and the puzzles are amazing. The run and hide sequences are thankfully very sparcely used (I hate those).
There are a lot of set piece scares where I was like... I dont think I've ever seen that done in a horror game. I'm a big horror buff when it comes to movies and games, and for the first time in my life I had to stop playing this game because it was getting to me... twice! Can't recommend it enough.
Its a great homage to the Silent Hill and Resident Evil games of old while still doing its own thing.
One more possible negative: the puzzles are intentionally vague and obtuse but very, very well done. Clues as to what you are supposed to do are very sparse but materialize as you wander the house. You can be stuck for 30 minutes at a time but I wouldn't use a guide as that obtuse lack of direction is part of the design I believe.
I got about 70 hours logged... a lot of those were where me and some guy just left the game running a death match cycle though to get the 20,000 camaraderie for the Vic Voss trophy (probably around 30-40 hours). Still that was the trophy I was most concerned about what with the game being so old and such... thought I would have little hope of finding anyone to even play one game with, let alone 30-40 hours worth.
Yeah, I had to look up where to find Zadornov that last time, don’t think I would’ve ever found him otherwise. My R&D is currently around 65 so I need to recruit quite a few high level staff in that area for the top items... think it needs to be in the high 70’s. I’ve planned 2021 out in regards to what games I’m playing and how many plats I want to earn. I planned to have MGS: PW done and plat’d by end of Jan/beginning of Feb, so I’m kinda on course so far I reckon.
@UnlimitedSevens Thanks for the recommendation. I loved P.T. and enjoyed the story of Soma, so I think this style of game can be done well. I'm just not a huge fan of stuff like Outlast where it feels like I'm constantly on the run from something. But even then, I do want to play Alien Isolation, so even that isn't a total dealbreaker.
I'll be adding this to my Steam wishlist and checking it out the next time there's a big sale on that platform. I love horror games when I do play them, but I'm also a gigantic chicken when I have no way to defend myself, so I have to steel myself before playing them.
Any interest in The Medium if it ends up coming to PS5?
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