What Games Are You Playing?

I've just finished Final Fantasy VI. It's a very enjoyable game that suffers from way too many random encounters and one or two areas that were extremely tedious to get through. Something I've noticed with this series is that towards the end when the last objective is at hand that the game throws a slog of extra stuff to do that just drags everything out. However the final battle with Kefka and the overall cast were fun.

Out of the Final Fantasy titles I've played so far I rank it amongst the following:
1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Final Fantasy XV
4. Final Fantasy X
5. Final Fantasy VI
6. Final Fantasy VIII

I think VIII is the only title so far I found to be disappointing and kind of a waste of all the hours I put into it (damn trading card mini game)
 
I've just finished Final Fantasy VI. It's a very enjoyable game that suffers from way too many random encounters and one or two areas that were extremely tedious to get through. Something I've noticed with this series is that towards the end when the last objective is at hand that the game throws a slog of extra stuff to do that just drags everything out. However the final battle with Kefka and the overall cast were fun.

Out of the Final Fantasy titles I've played so far I rank it amongst the following:
1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Final Fantasy XV
4. Final Fantasy X
5. Final Fantasy VI
6. Final Fantasy VIII

I think VIII is the only title so far I found to be disappointing and kind of a waste of all the hours I put into it (damn trading card mini game)

That's interesting. 8 is my fave, I felt it held together nicely till the end whereas 7 is really overrated... The first disk is amazing but after that it gets pretty boring and just becomes a run around the world chasing X game.


I found 9 overrated too though. I kept expecting it to improve because of how amazing people say it is but I got up to the final dungeon & didn't want to crawl through encounters to the end.

(second favourite is 10)
 
That's interesting. 8 is my fave, I felt it held together nicely till the end whereas 7 is really overrated... The first disk is amazing but after that it gets pretty boring and just becomes a run around the world chasing X game.


I found 9 overrated too though. I kept expecting it to improve because of how amazing people say it is but I got up to the final dungeon & didn't want to crawl through encounters to the end.

(second favourite is 10)
Well that's the great thing about the series, it's games are rather different and what some may dislike others really enjoy. I think a lot of people would be surprised to see XV above a classic like VI but I really enjoyed XV and think it's main characters are amongst the best in the franchise
 
Here are the new titles I've completed & started recently:

SR21.jpg


Completed Game #02:
Saints Row 2
[PlayStation 3]
As mentioned a few days ago I started playing Saints Row 2, about a couple years after playing Saints Row 3 & 4. I have now finished the game and it's pretty good with some interesting storylines for each gang throughout, though the final act was quite lackluster compared to the later games. The gameplay is pretty good but the controls are quite dated and it did cause issues during various moments like the weapon selection not displaying properly.

The mini-missions you get throughout are as good as what I have played in the later instalments and they get better as you go along. My only gripe is with the game's loading times which can actually break the game at random, and it's really annoying. Overall Saints Row 2 is a solid instalment in the series and it's pretty much a soft reboot to the series as it introduces some characters that return later in the franchise. Story-wise it actually took me about 14 hours and 30 minutes including the mini-missions that you have to sort out in order to unlock the story missions so it's shorter than I had expected (HowLongToBeat noted the game as 20 hours).

My backlog so far:
Nintendo 3DS:
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss

PlayStation 3:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Far Cry 3
Mafia II
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Sengoku Basara HD Collection
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2

PlayStation 4:
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Persona 5
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
Ys Origin

PlayStation Portable:
Corpse Party
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

PlayStation Vita:
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Soul Sacrifice
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni

Steam:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

Completed Games Collection of 2018:
  • #01 | Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3)
  • #02 | Saints Row 2 (PS3)

Black - PlayStation 3 / Blue - PlayStation 4 / Red - PlayStation Vita

Platinum Trophy Collection:
#01 | 2014 | PS3 - Saints Row: The Third (+ All DLC)
#02 | 2015 | PS3 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
#03 | 2015 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia
#04 | 2015 | Vita - Dekamori Senran Kagura
#05 | 2015 | PS3 - Steins;Gate
#06 | 2015 | PS3 - NieR
#07 | 2015 | PS3 - No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
#08 | 2015 | PS3 - Asura's Wrath (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#09 | 2015 | PS3 - Saints Row IV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#10 | 2015 | PS3 - The Darkness II
#11 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2
#12 | 2016 | PS3 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD
#13 | 2016 | Vita - Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
#14 | 2016 | Vita - Gravity Rush (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#15 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
#16 | 2016 | PS4 - Resogun
#17 | 2016 | Vita - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
#18 | 2016 | PS4 - Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game
#19 | 2017 | Vita - Miracle Girls Festival
#20 | 2017 | PS4 - Senran Kagura Estival Versus
#21 | 2017 | PS4 - The Wolf Among Us
#22 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy XV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#23 | 2017 | PS4 - Amplitude
#24 | 2017 | PS4 - Root Letter
#25 | 2017 | Vita - IA/VT -Colorful-
#26 | 2017 | Vita - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
#27 | 2017 | PS4 - Gravity Rush Remastered
#28 | 2017 | PS4 - NieR: Automata
#29 | 2017 | PS4 - The Silver Case HD
#30 | 2017 | PS4 - Steins;Gate 0
#31 | 2017 | PS3 - Under Defeat HD
#32 | 2017 | PS4 - Tales from the Borderlands
#33 | 2017 | PS3 - Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection
#34 | 2017 | PS4 - Life is Strange
#35 | 2017 | PS4 - Sword Art Online: Lost Song
#36 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot HD
#37 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD
#38 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD
#39 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
 
Let's try that again, and in the right area this time...

I'm kinda addicted to They Are Billions right now. Really fun base building strategy game where you have to fight off a zombie horde. Starts off pretty easy and you're only attacked by actual hordes now and again (although you do get small groups constantly attacking), but they get bigger as the match goes on and grow to mental sizes. I reached the final horde attack my last playthrough (well I assume as I set it to 100 days and I was on day 93) and there was so many of them from every side that my FPS dropped to 16 lol but yeah really like it but it's an early access game and wouldn't be everyones cup of tea.
 
I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lately. I'm up to Chapter 5 and have already put in around 80 hours, needless to say, I love this game!
 
Finished LA Noire, which I enjoyed, though had issues with the driving and shooting sections, as well as the ending.

Now I'm playing Yakuza Kiwami
 
I started Infinite Undiscovery- 19 minutes in the disc craps out (unreadable) nothing physically wrong with the disc though, turns out it one of the "problem" titles where the discs used had high failure rates.

Tomorrow I start Tales of Vesperia instead while I wait on a replacement copy of I.U
 
Here are the new titles I've completed & started recently:

SBHD1.jpg


Completed Game #03:
Sengoku Basara HD (the Japanese version of Devil Kings)
[PlayStation 3]
The third completed game for 2018 is the first title in the Sengoku Basara HD Collection. Now this game is a bit muddy in terms of completion because the campaign mode only lasts an hour for a single character, so I decided that it wouldn't be complete if I hadn't gone through the mode without playing through all 16 of them. And I have managed to finish the mode with all 16 characters thus completing the game.

Sengoku Basara is the original name for the franchise, as Capcom decided to localise the game and edit it as Devil Kings to tie into the Devil May Cry franchise. It failed of course, but the original PS2 game was never brought over to the west in its original form so the HD collection is a nice treat. Long story short, the Sengoku Basara franchise is essentially Dynasty Warriors meets Japanese history and it works pretty well with some fantasy elements added into the mix for fun.

The gameplay is relatively simple, you hit people and when you fill the bar you can perform a super move to take out loads of enemies and a bunch of HP from the bosses. The game's difficulty is for the most part pretty good but there are two occasions were it can be absolute crap - the one where you have two bosses who tag along together and another who is an overpowered terminator who can KO you with a few hits. It's stupid and can completely ruin the mood of the game because it takes ages to reach that point during the battle.

Some characters are pretty weak to control while others are better than I had expected, but overall Sengoku Basara HD is worth a shot and it's 100% import friendly. There is an option in the HD Collection main menu where you can set the character levels to 19 (of 20) and unlock all of the characters and stages at the start - this is actually worth implementing as it doesn't affect your experience whatsoever since it still takes some time to get through the fights.

Trophy-wise I managed to acquire around 44% of it. The games does require you to spend at least 100 hours playtime and reach MAX level for all characters among a bunch of other things. Overall it looks like it's possible but it's a pass for me.

I'll be tackling Sengoku Basara 2 HD and Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes HD very soon.

My backlog so far:
Nintendo 3DS:
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss

PlayStation 3:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Far Cry 3
Mafia II
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Sengoku Basara HD Collection (2 & 2 Heroes)
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2

PlayStation 4:
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Persona 5
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
Ys Origin

PlayStation Portable:
Corpse Party
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

PlayStation Vita:
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Soul Sacrifice
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni

Steam:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

Completed Games Collection of 2018:
  • #01 | Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3)
  • #02 | Saints Row 2 (PS3)
  • #03 | Sengoku Basara HD (PS3)

Black - PlayStation 3 / Blue - PlayStation 4 / Red - PlayStation Vita

Platinum Trophy Collection:
#01 | 2014 | PS3 - Saints Row: The Third (+ All DLC)
#02 | 2015 | PS3 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
#03 | 2015 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia
#04 | 2015 | Vita - Dekamori Senran Kagura
#05 | 2015 | PS3 - Steins;Gate
#06 | 2015 | PS3 - NieR
#07 | 2015 | PS3 - No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
#08 | 2015 | PS3 - Asura's Wrath (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#09 | 2015 | PS3 - Saints Row IV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#10 | 2015 | PS3 - The Darkness II
#11 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2
#12 | 2016 | PS3 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD
#13 | 2016 | Vita - Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
#14 | 2016 | Vita - Gravity Rush (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#15 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
#16 | 2016 | PS4 - Resogun
#17 | 2016 | Vita - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
#18 | 2016 | PS4 - Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game
#19 | 2017 | Vita - Miracle Girls Festival
#20 | 2017 | PS4 - Senran Kagura Estival Versus
#21 | 2017 | PS4 - The Wolf Among Us
#22 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy XV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#23 | 2017 | PS4 - Amplitude
#24 | 2017 | PS4 - Root Letter
#25 | 2017 | Vita - IA/VT -Colorful-
#26 | 2017 | Vita - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
#27 | 2017 | PS4 - Gravity Rush Remastered
#28 | 2017 | PS4 - NieR: Automata
#29 | 2017 | PS4 - The Silver Case HD
#30 | 2017 | PS4 - Steins;Gate 0
#31 | 2017 | PS3 - Under Defeat HD
#32 | 2017 | PS4 - Tales from the Borderlands
#33 | 2017 | PS3 - Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection
#34 | 2017 | PS4 - Life is Strange
#35 | 2017 | PS4 - Sword Art Online: Lost Song
#36 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot HD
#37 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD
#38 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD
#39 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
 
Working on Rise of the Tomb Raider(PC) at the moment and about 8 hours into the game so far. 32% completion and only a couple areas that i've covered not fully 100% yet. So there is a lot to collect and do. Should keep me busy for a couple more days, but i imagine i can beat this game quite quickly. Absolutely gorgeous to look at and runs really well on my PC at max settings all things considered. slight stutter at the start of loading, but smooth sailing all the time afterwards. Some companies could learn from this level of optimisation honestly.

Next game after i finish this will be Pyre(PC) so i can't wait to get started with it soon too.
 
Working on Rise of the Tomb Raider(PC) at the moment and about 8 hours into the game so far. 32% completion and only a couple areas that i've covered not fully 100% yet. So there is a lot to collect and do. Should keep me busy for a couple more days, but i imagine i can beat this game quite quickly. Absolutely gorgeous to look at and runs really well on my PC at max settings all things considered. slight stutter at the start of loading, but smooth sailing all the time afterwards. Some companies could learn from this level of optimisation honestly.

In case you didn't know, if you're wanting to 100% the game and missed any collectibles or challenges in the prologue you can go back there after the end credits as a couple of extra camp sites are added.
 
In case you didn't know, if you're wanting to 100% the game and missed any collectibles or challenges in the prologue you can go back there after the end credits as a couple of extra camp sites are added.

Ahh cool. I was able to get everything from the prologue at least so that will save me some time going forward. I've basically 100% everything so far to where i am where possible, but once i get explosive and fire arrows i'll go back and finish the rest off
 
Finally got the Plat on Danganronpa v3 as i had to clear a huge backlog of anime i'd built up first. Anyway back to 100% trophy completion.

I daresay there'll be a lot less people with this platinum than the previous entries. Some of the minigames were annoying to S Rank...

Anyways reckon i'll go for Secret of Mana remake in Feb next, used to REALLY love that game when i was young
 
Here are the new titles I've completed & started recently:

SBHD1.jpg


Completed Game #04:
Sengoku Basara 2 HD
[PlayStation 3]
The fourth completed game for 2018 is the second title in the Sengoku Basara HD Collection, which was never released outside of Japan. For many, Sengoku Basara 2 is the reason why they would pick up this HD collection because of the fact that it comes with both the main base game and also the Heroes expansion pack. For this completion update I have only finished the main base game (the expansion pack will be next).

Much like Sengoku Basara HD, the second game in terms of completion is also a bit muddy - there are two modes this time around; story mode and unification mode (the same mode from the first game). The trophy list doesn't have any relevance to the story mode so I only focused on Kenji's campaign. Kenji is the main focus for this game so I felt that it made sense to just focus on him for the story mode rather than the others. The story mode is pretty decent, offering in-game cutscenes and some story segments in-between.

What a lot of the progress has been made is actually through Unification mode. This mode is the same as the first one except it's got some improvements added into the mix. First off, each area has a bonus item that you can earn if you achieve victory in that territory and these items are random thanks to a random generator that appears when you begin your conquest. Almost all of the levels are completely new with the remainder revamped versions of what they were from the first game. The difficulty is also much better than last time, and one of the biggest complaints that I had with the previous game was with the overpowered terminator - thankfully he has been fixed in this game so the pacing is much better. There are also a total of 22 characters to control in contrast to the 16 that were in the first game, and all of the playable characters from the previous instalment do return.

During Unification mode you will also encounter a random guy called Musashi who gives you a timer to defeat him in order to win a lot of money. The money is the in-game currency that will let you unlock new items and build up the abilities. If you fail to defeat him you can still progress through the game with no penalty.

Each campaign in Unification mode took me around 30-50 minutes each in terms of rushing as I decided to use the Level 99 unlock that the HD collection offers. Bear in mind that it doesn't really make much of a difference either way as you do need to unlock items to help you out.

Overall Sengoku Basara 2 HD is a huge improvement over the first game and I recommend folks to pick this one up if you can. Like the first game this is also 100% import friendly. Trophy-wise I managed to acquire around more than half of it. I'll be tackling Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes HD very soon however that one as I mentioned before is an expansion so playtime-wise it'll be shorter than the others.

My backlog so far:
Nintendo 3DS:
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss

PlayStation 3:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Far Cry 3
Mafia II
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Sengoku Basara HD Collection (2 Heroes)
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2

PlayStation 4:
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Persona 5
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
Ys Origin

PlayStation Portable:
Corpse Party
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

PlayStation Vita:
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Soul Sacrifice
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni

Steam:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

Completed Games Collection of 2018:
  • #01 | Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3)
  • #02 | Saints Row 2 (PS3)
  • #03 | Sengoku Basara HD (PS3)
  • #04 | Sengoku Basara 2 HD (PS3)

Black - PlayStation 3 / Blue - PlayStation 4 / Red - PlayStation Vita

Platinum Trophy Collection:
#01 | 2014 | PS3 - Saints Row: The Third (+ All DLC)
#02 | 2015 | PS3 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
#03 | 2015 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia
#04 | 2015 | Vita - Dekamori Senran Kagura
#05 | 2015 | PS3 - Steins;Gate
#06 | 2015 | PS3 - NieR
#07 | 2015 | PS3 - No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
#08 | 2015 | PS3 - Asura's Wrath (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#09 | 2015 | PS3 - Saints Row IV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#10 | 2015 | PS3 - The Darkness II
#11 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2
#12 | 2016 | PS3 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD
#13 | 2016 | Vita - Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
#14 | 2016 | Vita - Gravity Rush (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#15 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
#16 | 2016 | PS4 - Resogun
#17 | 2016 | Vita - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
#18 | 2016 | PS4 - Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game
#19 | 2017 | Vita - Miracle Girls Festival
#20 | 2017 | PS4 - Senran Kagura Estival Versus
#21 | 2017 | PS4 - The Wolf Among Us
#22 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy XV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#23 | 2017 | PS4 - Amplitude
#24 | 2017 | PS4 - Root Letter
#25 | 2017 | Vita - IA/VT -Colorful-
#26 | 2017 | Vita - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
#27 | 2017 | PS4 - Gravity Rush Remastered
#28 | 2017 | PS4 - NieR: Automata
#29 | 2017 | PS4 - The Silver Case HD
#30 | 2017 | PS4 - Steins;Gate 0
#31 | 2017 | PS3 - Under Defeat HD
#32 | 2017 | PS4 - Tales from the Borderlands
#33 | 2017 | PS3 - Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection
#34 | 2017 | PS4 - Life is Strange
#35 | 2017 | PS4 - Sword Art Online: Lost Song
#36 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot HD
#37 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD
#38 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD
#39 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
 
New backlog update!

I have played through a couple of hours on Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes HD and while it's a solid expansion I decided it's not worth trying to consider it as something that I would try and beat. A few notes:
  • The game is an expansion pack, not a sequel. It reuses assets from the previous game which makes the gameplay repetitive at times.
  • The conquest mode in Heroes has expanded to 30 characters, but using the same techniques as before with a few tweaks added in. I just can't be bothered with repeating the process all over again from scratch.
  • I did go through one character's story mode, one character's conquest mode, and one character's free battle mode. I got the full glimpse of the whole expansion but it's just going to be a step by step repeat for each character which can be jarring considering I have spent 2+ weeks on this franchise already.
  • The save file from Sengoku Basara 2 does carry over towards Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes and vice versa, which is a good thing but I don't believe the 100 hour trophy carries over.
Overall with that said I don't mind going back to the game at a later point, but I won't consider it as a 'complete game' for the completion list. As such the HD collection for me is done and dusted.

I'll decide what game I want to play next at some point.
 
Here are the new titles I've completed & started recently:

hotlinemiami21.jpg


Completed Game #05:
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
[PlayStation 4]
With the Sengoku Basara HD Collection back on the shelf I decided to pick a game at random from my backlog and went with Hotline Miami 2. Hotline Miami 2 was picked up back in March 2015 (nearly 3 years have passed since) and the last time I had played it I was around half-way through the story mode on PlayStation 3. Thanks to the cross-save support I decided to go back and continue progress through the PlayStation 4 version and while I was sent back to Act 2's stage 7 I did in fact manage to finish the game a day later (at stage 25 in Act 6).

For those who aren't familiar with the Hotline Miami games, they are essentially a bird's eye view action (twin-stick?) shooter where you have to kill all enemies in an area without dying in order to proceed. Dying results in an instant retry which contributes to the fast-pace that the game has, and it's a good thing because you will die a lot. Now you could argue this game is basically trial and error but the gameplay works really well. You use the LS and RS to aim and move with R1 to shoot, L1 to switch/throw weapons, and L2 to check areas around you from a far distance (which will help you a lot trust me), and also pressing RS to lock at an enemy.

There are some minor issues with the game. First is the lock button, this can break you at times because it will mess up the camera and get you killed. It's only useful when you have an enemy that's close by and nothing will get in your way in terms of moving around (otherwise you will either miss the enemy or get hit by an enemy from a different angle). The other issue is a bug during one specific jungle level with the aim cursor stuck in one area of the map, it was pretty annoying and affects all versions of the game apparently. And the last issue is not the music itself but the volume - it's rather loud. Don't get me wrong the music in this game is great but it's pretty loud and can annoy neighbours (I remember my flatmates at Uni complaining that it was loud despite the fact that the game's audio was at normal level).

Overall Hotline Miami 2 is a solid continuation to the first game and worth checking out. The PlayStation version supports cross-save and cross-buy between PlayStation 3, 4 & Vita while the PC version apparently offers a Level Creator.

My backlog so far:
Nintendo 3DS:
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss

PlayStation 3:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Far Cry 3
Mafia II
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2

PlayStation 4:
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Persona 5
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
Ys Origin

PlayStation Portable:
Corpse Party
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows

PlayStation Vita:
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Soul Sacrifice
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni

Steam:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

Completed Games Collection of 2018:
  • #01 | Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3)
  • #02 | Saints Row 2 (PS3)
  • #03 | Sengoku Basara HD (PS3)
  • #04 | Sengoku Basara 2 HD (PS3)
  • #05 | Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PS4)

Black - PlayStation 3 / Blue - PlayStation 4 / Red - PlayStation Vita

Platinum Trophy Collection:
#01 | 2014 | PS3 - Saints Row: The Third (+ All DLC)
#02 | 2015 | PS3 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
#03 | 2015 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia
#04 | 2015 | Vita - Dekamori Senran Kagura
#05 | 2015 | PS3 - Steins;Gate
#06 | 2015 | PS3 - NieR
#07 | 2015 | PS3 - No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
#08 | 2015 | PS3 - Asura's Wrath (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#09 | 2015 | PS3 - Saints Row IV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#10 | 2015 | PS3 - The Darkness II
#11 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2
#12 | 2016 | PS3 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD
#13 | 2016 | Vita - Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
#14 | 2016 | Vita - Gravity Rush (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#15 | 2016 | PS3 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
#16 | 2016 | PS4 - Resogun
#17 | 2016 | Vita - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
#18 | 2016 | PS4 - Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game
#19 | 2017 | Vita - Miracle Girls Festival
#20 | 2017 | PS4 - Senran Kagura Estival Versus
#21 | 2017 | PS4 - The Wolf Among Us
#22 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy XV (DLC Trophies not acquired)
#23 | 2017 | PS4 - Amplitude
#24 | 2017 | PS4 - Root Letter
#25 | 2017 | Vita - IA/VT -Colorful-
#26 | 2017 | Vita - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
#27 | 2017 | PS4 - Gravity Rush Remastered
#28 | 2017 | PS4 - NieR: Automata
#29 | 2017 | PS4 - The Silver Case HD
#30 | 2017 | PS4 - Steins;Gate 0
#31 | 2017 | PS3 - Under Defeat HD
#32 | 2017 | PS4 - Tales from the Borderlands
#33 | 2017 | PS3 - Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection
#34 | 2017 | PS4 - Life is Strange
#35 | 2017 | PS4 - Sword Art Online: Lost Song
#36 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot HD
#37 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD
#38 | 2017 | PS4 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD
#39 | 2017 | PS4 - Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
 
I'll be interested to see what you think of Gravity Rush 2. I adore the first game but the second one introduced a lot of things that I didn't get on with at all and I ended up not finishing the game because of it. :(

I have only played up to the bit where you unlock the online features, which I have now unlocked all the dusty tokens reward. I got to play a bit more before I post my opinions, but so far I am preferring the first game.

Completed Nights of Azure 2 today, as much as I love the first game, I love this one a lot more. All the characters are awesome and I'm diving straight back in to get the other trophies for the platinum.
 
Still playing Overwatch badly lol.

I hate how Toxic the community is and I hate how on Competitive people still don't do the objective. This isn't Quick Match! SR and ranking is at stake and still no one cares! Can definitely tell a lot have 2 accounts as I'm teamed with those not arsed about sh*t SR on one account lol.
 
Still playing Overwatch badly lol.

I hate how Toxic the community is and I hate how on Competitive people still don't do the objective. This isn't Quick Match! SR and ranking is at stake and still no one cares! Can definitely tell a lot have 2 accounts as I'm teamed with those not arsed about sh*t SR on one account lol.

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who has had to go through this.
 
Back
Top