Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Jimmer-jammer I think I had a similar experience with AC Origins. I left a lot of side content and parts of the map untouched; not that I wasn’t enjoying the game, but it didn’t seem different enough to compel me to spend another 20-40 hours clearing everything. I hear they Odyssey is even worse about the filler content and having a lot of bloat. And then Valhalla even takes the overkill to another level. I have Odyssey in the backlog and just need to try it. Instead I decided to play Immortals and it has a fresh take thematically to the mythological Ubi-open world.

@Th3solution That ultimately became my problem as well. I reached a point where the combat and quest design completely plateaued and the overarching lore/narrative hadn’t gripped me enough to persevere. Again, the world itself was awesome but couldn’t carry another 20 hours for me. I also had some consistent bad luck with design elements, such as the wretched “get out of conflict” message I fought with the entire game…Not a bad game, just a lot of ups and downs. I may have to check out Immortals sometime. It sounds a little more creatively unshackled.

I see you recently finished Little Nightmares. I thought it was great as well, though I share your frustrations with some of its trial and error elements. The sequel was a mixed bag for me as well, as the environmental design and overall presentation is a clear step up from the first but it unfortunately leaned even harder into that trial and error scenario design, leaving me a little baffled as to how to feel about it. I’ll be curious to see what you make of it when you get around to it.

@Jimmer-jammer Fair warning — Immortals: FR doesn’t take itself very seriously and it leans heavy into satire. For me it works though and I laugh out loud from time to time. But sense-of-humor is very individual.

If Little Nightmares II drops on PS+ then I’ll probably play it. I actually saw a hard copy of it at the game shop yesterday and thought momentarily about getting it.

@Jimmer-jammer @Th3solution Same here with AC Origins. After I finished the story I had all intentions in clearing up the map, but after awhile I could feel the gameplay getting stale, so stopped playing before my overall experience soured too much.

@Jimmer-jammer @Th3solution @JohnnyShoulder I cleared up the map in AC Origins after having finished the game and there's really not much else to discover after exploring the main areas. Most of the other regions are just empty deserts. I have no idea why they included these areas because there's literally nothing to do in them. So you guys didn't miss anything by skipping the rest of the map.

Just watching the credits roll after getting to the end of Man of Medan. It was fine, not a game I would highly recommend but not a game I disliked either. - I have seen many worse horror films. It used a bunch of horror movie cliches and had an over-reliance on jump scares, which often didn't work but was fairly enjoyable overall.

Will probably have another playthrough to see if I can make my trophy list a bit more respectable (I definitely didn't achieve the good ending!) but I'm unlikely to push myself to do the multiple runs required for the platinum

If you have access to it via PS+ and have any interest it's probably worth a go. Think it took around 4-5 hours.

@sorteddan That’s a pretty consistent response I’m seeing about MoM. I have been on the fence about it, and wasn’t really inclined to play it until now I hear the Dark Anthology series gets progressively better with the latter installments, so I feel like I need to start with this first one, even though I think each entry is narratively independent. Now that I subscribe to PS+Extra, the second of the series is on that, if I’m not mistaken. Reckon you’ll have a stab at it?

@sorteddan I honestly didn't like Man of Medan that much. It takes way too long before you get to the horror part of the game, like 2-3 hours. Then it gets fun, but at that point it's too late.

@Th3solution
I only had PS+extra for about a month at the end of my subscription and then went back to essential. As I have no free access to the sequel I don't currently have any intention to seek it out. Though if it turns up cheap enough in a future sale I may well pick it up.

@LtSarge
Yeah I get that. I felt the prologue/tutorial part was largely unnecessary and felt really disconnected from the actual story when it began. I completed it over three sessions so never actually spent more than an hour or so on it at once, maybe that helped me not get too bored by it.

Just rolled the credits on Red Dead Redemption 2… and it’s been a helluva ride! Really glad I went back to this at a time when I had nothing but time (which is a very rare occurrence). Even when I tried it back in 2018, before ultimately dropping it in Chapter 2… I knew on some level that it was a masterpiece but I just couldn’t click with it no matter how hard I tried.

It’s nowhere near perfect mind you, as no game is… and in many ways this has been the most frustrating game I’ve played in a long time. The way it controls (both on foot and on hoof), the loading times, the sheer amount of time that even the most simple of actions take for the animations to complete… the list goes on and on… but even considering my frustrations it’s an incredible experience.

The narrative, characters and actors are just top tier. I’ve always liked Rockstar’s games and feel that all of their stories have been very good… this one tops them all though. My father is the biggest western fan (I really enjoy them too) and his absolute favourite - The Wild Bunch - seems a real heavy inspiration, as are others. I could’nt help but think on many occasions during my playthrough that I should buy the old man his first PlayStation and a copy of this to go with it. He has never had any interest in gaming whatsoever… but he’d frikkin love this if he could get past the initial pain a 68 year old non-gamer would naturally feel when trying to partake in something that would be so alien to him.

Special mention goes to the hunting though… and well just the ‘natural’ eco-system of the game world really. I had just dipped my toe for the longest part of my playthrough but going for the platinum has pushed me to hunt certain animals and yield a certain quality of pelts. It’s both simple to master but very deep with multiple layers at the same time. Very surprisingly, it has produced some of my favourite memories of my time with the game so far.

Still got bits and bobs to mop up for this gargantuan trophy list but I can definitely say that working towards 100% has elevated my experience. Can’t remember the last time I put this many hours into a game… Skyrim maybe… so over 10 years ago!?!?

It’s funny that as I watch the credits roll with a suitably appropriate western score accompanying the images, i can’t help but feel this game was the end of an era in terms of Rockstar games in much the same way that the Wild West was in its final death throws during the events of Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. I really hope that the Housers return to create games following their departure from Rockstar as they weave a particular type of cinematic-open world narrative that no one else can do. I don’t know where I’d place the actual game in my all-time list… but purely as a game narrative it’s up there. Maybe top two… maybe one! Such an amazing prequel to the events of Red Dead Redemption, which was probably my favourite Rockstar narrative previously.

@colonelkilgore Couldn't agree more with that assessment, mate - absolutely spot on. As a wiser man than me once said, it's not only one of the best videogames ever made but one of the best Westerns ever made and that's quite the achievement.
PS Your dad has great taste - "The Wild Bunch" is brilliant.

That actually encapsulates it perfectly in all honesty 👍

@colonelkilgore Yeah, all well said, colonel. I agree with your assessment of RDR2. Sometimes while playing it I felt some annoyance, but the overall package was so overshadowing brilliant that it made the little things matter less. To squeeze that game world and it’s intricacies out of the the PS4 is simply an amazing feat. I didn’t get anywhere near the platinum and I never even booted up the multiplayer, and yet I got dozens and dozens of hours; many times over the value of paying launch price for it. And it’s a game that after you finish it you ponder for days, weeks, and months afterward. I love games like that — the games with gripping narrative and performances that just make you think about the messages they portrayed. For sheer emotional and psychological impact, RDR2 is up there with PS4’s greatest, if not even the greatest of all time.

@Th3solution funnily enough sol, I’m pretty sure that it was during a chat with your good self that RDR2 was put back on my radar. I think I was moaning about how disappointed I was by the game back in 2018… and that even though I absolutely loved the previous RDR that I just could not glean any enjoyment from its sequel. What followed was a decent bit of subtle but effective convincing by yourself that it might be worth me giving it another shot at some point. Well it certain was dude, so I appreciate the nudge 👊

@colonelkilgore I'm another who would agree with your assessment of the game. It's an amazing achievement to build a world this detailed. The more you play it and spend time looking around you realise that every single thing has been carefully thought out and I would say that even extends to the controls that are so frustrating. It's like they've distilled the essence of a cowboy who's had one too many whiskeys in the saloon and managed to translate that into the animations that are present in the game. It's something that annoyed the hell out of me when I initially got the game but began to appreciate it over time. It was similar coming back to it and having played lots of faster moving games recently it felt doubly frustrating but again I've started to cancel that out a bit.

There's just so much to do in the game in general that I actually think they could have easily left some of the content out and it still would have been a massive game. The fact that I'd already completed the story yet since returning to do the online trophies I'm now spending a ton more time in the single player is testament to how varied the different tasks within the game are and how much I just appreciate the world itself even without having any additional story elements.

Good luck with the rest if the trophy mop up, I'll be a way behind you but I'm ok with that

@ThereThere there are a few missables mate… but as long as you’re thorough, you should be okay. Most importantly make sure that you do all ‘side’ missions before you close out a chapter, as some of them are required for a trophy and they can only be done during the chapter that they are applicable.

Other than that, try and get a decent chunk towards having positive honour by Chapter 6 as there is a mission that is required for the plat that only generates if you are honourable. The amount of honour that is needed to trigger this mission is fairly difficult to pin down, so just make sure that when you click on your honour from the menus that shops are giving you a 25% discount.

Couple of other things, if camp mates request items try and prioritise doing that, as well as if they want you to do activities with them. There are trophies attached to these two things also, that eventually become missable.

I was quite lucky that during my time with the game back in 2018 that I had somehow done all of the required missions up to the point in the story that I had gotten, I was very honourable… and I’d also made good ground on camp requests and activities.

@render totally mate… funnily enough, I saw an article just the other day about how a load of content was actually removed from the game prior to its release! Can you imagine how long the 100% playthrough might have been if it had been included?!?!

I like your explanation for Arthur’s & John’s ‘manoeuvrability’ too 😂, works for me so I’m gonna have that in the forefront of my mind as I play on. Doesn’t explain my bloody horse though… unless she’s also on the sauce! 😅

Just compared our progress on PSN now… and we’re actually in a very similar place. Both on 82% with the only difference being that we each have a bronze that the other is yet to get.

@colonelkilgore Ah, I had forgotten about that conversation but credit to you for keeping the open mind. Glad that it worked out and didn’t lead you astray. 👊🏼

Not sure how the platinum roadmap is shaking out, but a good contrasting game to play next would be Returnal. It’s equally magnificent and will give you a large dose of kinetic excellent gameplay with minimal yet satisfying narrative to keep balance and n your gaming universe. 😄

@colonelkilgore You convinced to give RDR2 another go. I tried it once last year, but the start was soooo incredibly slow with nothing really happening, that it bored me. It was kinda the same problem i have with kingdom come: deliverance. I don't mind if a game slows down here and there, but starting out so slow, didn't really draw me in. And normally big open world games are my jam. The witcher 3 still is my favorite game of all time, so this one should also resonate with me. SO i hope another playthrough will give me the same feeling or at least makes me feel better than the first time playing it.

@colonelkilgore Perhaps all those times we've been hitching our horses outside the saloon they've been getting a few crafty ones in. The annoying thing with the horse for me is that even though I've reached the max bonding level the thing clearly only thinks about itself and throws me off at the first sign of trouble, leaving me to die while it escapes unharmed 😆

That trophy percentage is way closer than I thought it would be. The big one for me is going to be the golding the 70 story missions as I've not gone back and looked at any of those yet. I'm hoping that I can get all the low hanging fruit and just have to push myself on a few of the more difficult ones.