What Games Are You Playing?

NormanicGrav · 18 June 2019

Time to go back to the original PlayStation 2 era... again!

Completed Game #17:
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD [PlayStation 3]

Back when I was younger I used retailers like Choices or Blockbuster to rent PS2 game. I played a lot of games and honestly I didn't really get along with them that much, yes even titles like Jak and Daxter. Many years have passed and I knew that I had missed out on a lot of classic games for the console, so when I got a PlayStation 3 the HD collections were a great opportunity to revisit them. Eventually, I managed to get my hands on the Jak and Daxter trilogy remastered, going for the PS3 version instead of the PS4 version due to technical issues with the latter.

Playing Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy at this present time gave me the same exact feeling that I had when I played the first Crash Bandicoot game on the PlayStation and PlayStation 4. It felt simple and more so a technical experiment for the developers at Naughty Dog when tackling a new original IP. And honestly this game is simple, but at the same time has some charm to it.

The goal is similar to Spyro the Dragon, you collect items in order to proceed to the next area. There are two main items you ideally need to collect (though there are three but I'll get to that in a second) - Precursor Orbs and Power Gems. The orbs are like the gems from Spyro, there are 2000 across the entire game and they help get you more Power Gems as you progress through the story. The Power Gems are the main piece you need to collect in order to make proper progress through certain areas, like getting enough to unblock a path that was blocked. The third item you can collect is Scout Flies, where if you can collect all 7 in an area you can earn a Power Gem.

Unlike Crash and Spyro, there is no Game Over. You can get Jak killed in some satisfaction and there is no punishment. This may be considered a bit generous, but you can die quite easily throughout this game. You are able to regenerate your health by collecting Green Eco after hitting enemies or breaking chests, quite similar to Crash and Spyro in fact. The difficulty in this game is just right, where it's not hard but simple human errors can cause consequences and the checkpoint system can be rather frustrating so try not to die too much. Daxter does take the piss out of you if you do die.

Overall Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was a decent game. For its time it does the job and it holds up fairly well remastered. I was able to gather all of the collectibles, earning a 100% rating and also a Platinum trophy. This game actually marks my 50th Platinum trophy overall, so that's neat. The playtime overall took around 9-10 hours due to backtracking and getting the remainder of the trophies.

My backlog so far:

Key: PS4 - PS3 - PSVita - 3DS - PC/Steam

428: Shibuya Scramble
Bullet Girls
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Chaos;Child
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Demon Gaze
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Folklore
Freedom Wars
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3
Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed
Jak II
Jak 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Nights of Azure
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank 2
Ratchet & Clank 3
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper
Sly 2
Sly 3
Soul Calibur V
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of Zestiria
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Touch My Katamari
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
Warriors All-Stars
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Completed Games Collection of 2019:

#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
#08 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#09 | Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (for PlayStation 4)
#10 | Ys I Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#11 | Ys II Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#12 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#13 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#14 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#15 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue (for PlayStation 3)
#17 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)

Platinum Trophy Collection:

#01 | 2014 | Saints Row: The Third (for PlayStation 3)
#02 | 2015 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (for PlayStation 3)
#03 | 2015 | Hyperdimension Neptunia (for PlayStation 3)
#04 | 2015 | Dekamori Senran Kagura (for PlayStation Vita)
#05 | 2015 | Steins;Gate (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | 2015 | NieR (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | 2015 | No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (for PlayStation 3)
#08 | 2015 | Asura's Wrath (for PlayStation 3)
#09 | 2015 | Saints Row IV (for PlayStation 3)
#10 | 2015 | The Darkness II (for PlayStation 3)
#11 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 (for PlayStation 3)
#12 | 2016 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (for PlayStation 3)
#13 | 2016 | Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (for PlayStation Vita)
#14 | 2016 | Gravity Rush (for PlayStation Vita)
#15 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | 2016 | Resogun (for PlayStation 4)
#17 | 2016 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (for PlayStation Vita)
#18 | 2016 | Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game (for PlayStation 4)
#19 | 2017 | Miracle Girls Festival (for PlayStation Vita)
#20 | 2017 | Senran Kagura Estival Versus (for PlayStation 4)
#21 | 2017 | The Wolf Among Us (for PlayStation 4)
#22 | 2017 | Final Fantasy XV (for PlayStation 4)
#23 | 2017 | Amplitude (for PlayStation 4)
#24 | 2017 | Root Letter (for PlayStation 4)
#25 | 2017 | IA/VT -Colorful- (for PlayStation Vita)
#26 | 2017 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night (for PlayStation Vita)
#27 | 2017 | Gravity Rush Remastered (for PlayStation 4)
#28 | 2017 | NieR: Automata (for PlayStation 4)
#29 | 2017 | The Silver Case HD (for PlayStation 4)
#30 | 2017 | Steins;Gate 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#31 | 2017 | Under Defeat HD (for PlayStation 3)
#32 | 2017 | Tales from the Borderlands (for PlayStation 4)
#33 | 2017 | Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection (for PlayStation 3)
#34 | 2017 | Life is Strange (for PlayStation 4)
#35 | 2017 | Sword Art Online: Lost Song (for PlayStation 4)
#36 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot HD (for PlayStation 4)
#37 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD (for PlayStation 4)
#38 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD (for PlayStation 4)
#39 | 2017 | Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (for PlayStation 4)
#40 | 2018 | Corpse Party: Blood Drive (for PlayStation Vita)
#41 | 2018 | Persona 5 (for PlayStation 4)
#42 | 2018 | Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (for PlayStation 4)
#43 | 2018 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night [Japanese Version] (for PlayStation 4)
#44 | 2018 | Marvel's Spider-Man (for PlayStation 4)
#45 | 2019 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#46 | 2019 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#47 | 2019 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#48 | 2019 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#49 | 2019 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#50 | 2019 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)

BlazinWolf · 18 June 2019

Bought Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX on the Switch a few days ago(Have FF7 on my laptop didn't get to far into it but I prefer to have it on the go plus the laptop is going a little iffy.)

So far only just done over 2hrs on FF7 and today played Final Fantasy IX and just arrived at Lindblum.
Really liking FFIX ,I'm probably gonna focus on FFIX first.

NormanicGrav · 27 June 2019

THOU ART PLAY TAIKO

Completed Game #18:
Taiko no Tatsujin V Version [PlayStation Vita]

You all know that I am a huge fan of the music rhythm genre for video games, but it's surprising that it's taken this long for me to finally acquire a game from the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise. For those who don't know, Taiko is a huge music rhythm franchise in Japan, with numerous arcade and game installments over the past decade and a half.

The Vita version was the one that I had been after for the past couple of years but the price was quite high, and eventually I finally picked up a pre-owned copy for a good offer. I started playing Taiko when I got back home for the weekend last week and after getting used to the controls I did the insane thing - tackle Oni difficulty, the hardest difficulty in the series. Surprisingly, and thanks to the weird logic used in the game settings, I was able to acquire the hardest trophy after a day or two. From there I began to tackle the story mode called Donder Quest which is where a lot of my time was spent.

Donder Quest has a simple concept - get through the song at the best performance possible to defeat your opponent. Hit a bomb or miss notes and it will damage your team's health. You need to either completely take your opponent's health, reach 50%, avoid missing a few notes, or hit a number of points during your journey. The twist here is that you will need to upgrade your equipment along the way because otherwise getting their health down will be challenging.

Once you finish the story, there's an additional trophy that requires you to hit 100,000 XP which can be done by going through the side-missions but those have their own difficulty levels so you could run into an Oni difficulty mission out of nowhere.

As for the rest of the game, the setlist has an interesting variety of J-Pop, Anime Theme Songs, Video Game Music, and Vocaloid music as well as some original music for the game. There is of course more songs you can download through the PlayStation Store but that's only possible if you have a Japanese account and are playing the game through that (on Vita you can only have 1 account attached to the device whereas PS3 & PS4 allows multiple).

Overall Taiko no Tatsujin V Version is a good challenge and a decent Platinum trophy trip. I used Type B for the controller scheme as I felt it work right to go for the Red and Blue drum notes.

My backlog so far:

Key: PS4 - PS3 - PSVita - 3DS - PC/Steam

428: Shibuya Scramble
Bullet Girls
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Chaos;Child
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Demon Gaze
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Folklore
Freedom Wars
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3
Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed
Jak II
Jak 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Nights of Azure
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank 2
Ratchet & Clank 3
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper
Sly 2
Sly 3
Soul Calibur V
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of Zestiria
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Touch My Katamari
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
Warriors All-Stars
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Completed Games Collection of 2019:

#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
#08 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#09 | Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (for PlayStation 4)
#10 | Ys I Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#11 | Ys II Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#12 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#13 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#14 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#15 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue (for PlayStation 3)
#17 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)
#18 | Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (for PlayStation Vita)

Platinum Trophy Collection:

#01 | 2014 | Saints Row: The Third (for PlayStation 3)
#02 | 2015 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (for PlayStation 3)
#03 | 2015 | Hyperdimension Neptunia (for PlayStation 3)
#04 | 2015 | Dekamori Senran Kagura (for PlayStation Vita)
#05 | 2015 | Steins;Gate (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | 2015 | NieR (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | 2015 | No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (for PlayStation 3)
#08 | 2015 | Asura's Wrath (for PlayStation 3)
#09 | 2015 | Saints Row IV (for PlayStation 3)
#10 | 2015 | The Darkness II (for PlayStation 3)
#11 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 (for PlayStation 3)
#12 | 2016 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (for PlayStation 3)
#13 | 2016 | Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (for PlayStation Vita)
#14 | 2016 | Gravity Rush (for PlayStation Vita)
#15 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | 2016 | Resogun (for PlayStation 4)
#17 | 2016 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (for PlayStation Vita)
#18 | 2016 | Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game (for PlayStation 4)
#19 | 2017 | Miracle Girls Festival (for PlayStation Vita)
#20 | 2017 | Senran Kagura Estival Versus (for PlayStation 4)
#21 | 2017 | The Wolf Among Us (for PlayStation 4)
#22 | 2017 | Final Fantasy XV (for PlayStation 4)
#23 | 2017 | Amplitude (for PlayStation 4)
#24 | 2017 | Root Letter (for PlayStation 4)
#25 | 2017 | IA/VT -Colorful- (for PlayStation Vita)
#26 | 2017 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night (for PlayStation Vita)
#27 | 2017 | Gravity Rush Remastered (for PlayStation 4)
#28 | 2017 | NieR: Automata (for PlayStation 4)
#29 | 2017 | The Silver Case HD (for PlayStation 4)
#30 | 2017 | Steins;Gate 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#31 | 2017 | Under Defeat HD (for PlayStation 3)
#32 | 2017 | Tales from the Borderlands (for PlayStation 4)
#33 | 2017 | Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection (for PlayStation 3)
#34 | 2017 | Life is Strange (for PlayStation 4)
#35 | 2017 | Sword Art Online: Lost Song (for PlayStation 4)
#36 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot HD (for PlayStation 4)
#37 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD (for PlayStation 4)
#38 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD (for PlayStation 4)
#39 | 2017 | Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (for PlayStation 4)
#40 | 2018 | Corpse Party: Blood Drive (for PlayStation Vita)
#41 | 2018 | Persona 5 (for PlayStation 4)
#42 | 2018 | Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (for PlayStation 4)
#43 | 2018 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night [Japanese Version] (for PlayStation 4)
#44 | 2018 | Marvel's Spider-Man (for PlayStation 4)
#45 | 2019 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#46 | 2019 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#47 | 2019 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#48 | 2019 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#49 | 2019 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#50 | 2019 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)
#51 | 2019 | Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (for PlayStation Vita)

ayase · 29 June 2019

[Warning: First link, while comical in nature, is still a potential game spoiler. As is everything under spoiler tags, obviously]

I've been playing SOMA. Simultaneously beautiful and horrifying, just like being alive.

Aside from the fact I got lost in the ocean quite a lot, I had only one issue with what I otherwise thought was a fantastic game. It's an issue I have with games which are a narrative rather than an RPG, but still allow you to make moral choices - Simon, the player character, did not speak for me. The choices I made (as Simon) throughout the game were based on my own understanding and beliefs - Which were clearly not Simon's understanding or beliefs. Which made for a bit of a dismal ending to the game when I was 100% agreeing with Catherine and finding Simon's utter childishness equally infuriating. No, of course your consciousness didn't get transferred from your body into the Ark, Simon 3.0. Did you not understand that from when you yourself were created from a scan of Simon 2.0, and he continued to exist? You dense muffin fluffer.

I exaggerate. That's far too harsh on the game's really quite excellent writing. Much as I might have been occasionally annoyed by Simon's attitude, he and Catherine are obviously there to provide different perspectives on what they consider to be life or consciousness - SOMA really isn't about the destination, it's about the journey which forces the player to confront some pretty heavy ideas potentially far more terrifying than any of the game's admittedly creepy monsters (though is it fair to call them that? Perhaps not). Speaking of the monsters, I am a huge fan of the decision to make the picture break up worse and worse the closer the player gets to them. That is an ingenious way of solving the problem so much horror media has of all suspense being thrown out as soon as you see the thing causing it (because clearly nothing can live up to the expectation of unimaginable, unknowable terrors that for whatever reason still reside somewhere deep inside us all). Much as I still enjoyed Amnesia, Frictional Games' previous outing, as soon as I'd seen the monsters in that game up close and laughed out loud a lot of the magic was gone.

And boy, does it ask those tough questions on that journey. Do you unplug someone who's suffering terribly but clearly wants to live from what is essentially a life support machine? Is a robot with AI more, less, or equally as sentient as a robot possessing a copy of a human consciousness? Does humanity have the right to destroy a new and potentially superior life form? Would a simulation of reality, indistinguishable to those inside it from the real thing, be equal in importance to reality itself? These kinds of questions of the nature of reality and consciousness have fascinated me for a long time - That didn't make them any easier to answer or base decisions on, but I applaud Frictional for asking them. Because with the way VR, AI and our understanding of the human mind is progressing, it might not be long at all before we have to start asking them for real.

unknownfate · 29 June 2019

Started playing Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory recently. "I'm a Kangaroo, boing" Jumping is fun

Aaron · 29 June 2019

I got Kotodama the other day and I’m a few chapters in. Pretty good. The VN sections don’t drag on too long and the puzzle game bits (kinda like Bejewelled) are fun.

Totally worth the £20 I paid!

Adam-M · 30 June 2019

I've started Oblivion again with a shed load of mods so that's my free time gone for the next month or so

DragoStark · 30 June 2019

Playing through Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice when I have time during the DAY because NOPE NOT PLAYING IN THE EVENING BEFORE BED.

Captaaainuniverse · 30 June 2019

DragoStark said:
Playing through Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice when I have time during the DAY because NOPE NOT PLAYING IN THE EVENING BEFORE BED.

the hell level, right before bed. this is a challenge

NormanicGrav · 3 July 2019

Completed Game #19:
Utakumi 575 [PlayStation Vita]

When I reached the main menu, I was shaking. I was about to play a unique and different music rhythm game, that involves matching the correct Japanese characters in Hiragana/Katakana while also hitting the notes on each side of the screen without fault. This is what Utakumi 575 is all about, using a special 5-7-5 style of singing for the two main girls. Utakumi 575, despite the anime cover art (done by the illustrator behind Eromanga Sensei and Oreimo), is actually a vocaloid project with music and development done by the same members behind the Hatsune Miku Project Diva games.

The game is split into numerous chapters, and each one is based on a school academic year with 2-3 songs available. These songs are split into three versions; short, middle and long. Short and Middle are essentially cut down versions of the full song, comparable to anime theme song length, while Long is the original with a lot of challenge added to it.

As mentioned, the game is based on matching the correct Japanese characters displayed on the screen at a timed window. The characters can range from 1-5 and sometimes the game may even provide a hint with a single character placed in the slot to help you out. The timed window can be generous at times, but also pretty tough especially when you have to hit the notes at the same time.

I should also mention that this game is entirely touch-screen exclusive, with only the start button being used to pause the game. You could argue by doing this control scheme that the game feels like a smartphone. Well, fun fact Utakumi 575 is part of Project 575, which also involves a smartphone and an anime series. As such you need to use the touch screen to press the notes that are displayed on the screen and also the characters. The notes themselves are split into three different versions; the first is the usual red/pink like notes which you use the square slots on each side to press when timed correctly, the second is an orange line which you need to hold until the line concludes, and the third is blue notes which require you to tap the back end of the PlayStation Vita.

The most interesting aspect about the Japanese character sections is that even if you make the wrong choices, the girls will still sing those parts so it's like a tweaked version of the song itself. When you finish the song, the results selection will also display the lyrics and show you where you went wrong. You can even access the version of the song with the correct lyrics (like Project Diva's music video mode) to see which one you need to select for the best rating.

You can also customise the character's clothes, the background, create an arranged version of the song by mixing your own Japanese characters of choice, and also adjust the settings to mute the vocals (which interestingly the girls themselves just keep their mouths shut rather than have their mouths open during the lyrical part, so I give SEGA credit for going the extra detail on that) and also support left-handed users and toggle anti-aliasing.

Overall Utakumi 575 was a fun music rhythm game even if I had to use a guide to get the correct characters for each song. Eventually when you have to replay or restart I ended up remembering select parts of the song so that helped. The trophies in this game are in the same difficulty vein as Taiko where most are easily acquirable, but then you have the one trophy which requires you to perfect every song on every difficulty which can throw people off. I was able to do it in the end surprisingly and got the Platinum trophy.

My backlog so far:

Key: PS4 - PS3 - PSVita - 3DS - PC/Steam

428: Shibuya Scramble
Bullet Girls
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Chaos;Child
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Demon Gaze
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Folklore
Freedom Wars
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3
Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed
Jak II
Jak 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Nights of Azure
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank 2
Ratchet & Clank 3
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash!
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper
Sly 2
Sly 3
Soul Calibur V
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Super Robot Wars V
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of Zestiria
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Touch My Katamari
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
Warriors All-Stars
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Completed Games Collection of 2019:

#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
#08 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#09 | Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (for PlayStation 4)
#10 | Ys I Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#11 | Ys II Chronicles+ (for PC/Steam)
#12 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#13 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#14 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#15 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue (for PlayStation 3)
#17 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)
#18 | Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (for PlayStation Vita)
#19 | Utakumi 575 (for PlayStation Vita)

Platinum Trophy Collection:

#01 | 2014 | Saints Row: The Third (for PlayStation 3)
#02 | 2015 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (for PlayStation 3)
#03 | 2015 | Hyperdimension Neptunia (for PlayStation 3)
#04 | 2015 | Dekamori Senran Kagura (for PlayStation Vita)
#05 | 2015 | Steins;Gate (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | 2015 | NieR (for PlayStation 3)
#07 | 2015 | No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (for PlayStation 3)
#08 | 2015 | Asura's Wrath (for PlayStation 3)
#09 | 2015 | Saints Row IV (for PlayStation 3)
#10 | 2015 | The Darkness II (for PlayStation 3)
#11 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 (for PlayStation 3)
#12 | 2016 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (for PlayStation 3)
#13 | 2016 | Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus (for PlayStation Vita)
#14 | 2016 | Gravity Rush (for PlayStation Vita)
#15 | 2016 | Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (for PlayStation 3)
#16 | 2016 | Resogun (for PlayStation 4)
#17 | 2016 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (for PlayStation Vita)
#18 | 2016 | Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game (for PlayStation 4)
#19 | 2017 | Miracle Girls Festival (for PlayStation Vita)
#20 | 2017 | Senran Kagura Estival Versus (for PlayStation 4)
#21 | 2017 | The Wolf Among Us (for PlayStation 4)
#22 | 2017 | Final Fantasy XV (for PlayStation 4)
#23 | 2017 | Amplitude (for PlayStation 4)
#24 | 2017 | Root Letter (for PlayStation 4)
#25 | 2017 | IA/VT -Colorful- (for PlayStation Vita)
#26 | 2017 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night (for PlayStation Vita)
#27 | 2017 | Gravity Rush Remastered (for PlayStation 4)
#28 | 2017 | NieR: Automata (for PlayStation 4)
#29 | 2017 | The Silver Case HD (for PlayStation 4)
#30 | 2017 | Steins;Gate 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#31 | 2017 | Under Defeat HD (for PlayStation 3)
#32 | 2017 | Tales from the Borderlands (for PlayStation 4)
#33 | 2017 | Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection (for PlayStation 3)
#34 | 2017 | Life is Strange (for PlayStation 4)
#35 | 2017 | Sword Art Online: Lost Song (for PlayStation 4)
#36 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot HD (for PlayStation 4)
#37 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back HD (for PlayStation 4)
#38 | 2017 | Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped HD (for PlayStation 4)
#39 | 2017 | Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (for PlayStation 4)
#40 | 2018 | Corpse Party: Blood Drive (for PlayStation Vita)
#41 | 2018 | Persona 5 (for PlayStation 4)
#42 | 2018 | Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (for PlayStation 4)
#43 | 2018 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night [Japanese Version] (for PlayStation 4)
#44 | 2018 | Marvel's Spider-Man (for PlayStation 4)
#45 | 2019 | Akiba's Trip 2: Undead & Undressed (for PlayStation 4)
#46 | 2019 | Spyro the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#47 | 2019 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage HD (for PlayStation 4)
#48 | 2019 | Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon HD (for PlayStation 4)
#49 | 2019 | Tekken Tag Tournament HD (for PlayStation 3)
#50 | 2019 | Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy HD (for PlayStation 3)
#51 | 2019 | Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (for PlayStation Vita)
#52 | 2019 | Utakumi 575 (for PlayStation Vita)

HWR · 5 July 2019

Finished Final Fantasy IX Digital Edition (PS4) (Playtime: around 40 hours.) This version improves a lot of the flaws with FF IX that were irksome with the PS1/PSN version, such as slow battles and enemy encounters. Stealing still felt temperamental but the improved character models and cleanup of the graphics in general give the game a better look. FF IX has a rather dark story despite its exterior and is all the better for it, rating high in my overall FF list. 4/5

Now onto Detroit Become Human I think as it was free with this months PS Plus.

DragoStark · 8 July 2019

I'm done with Hellblade, and my mate has lent me his PSTV and a few of his vita games, as well as whatever he has on his PS account that I can download and play.
So I'm currently playing through Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni when I can. Planning on going through the Metal Gear Solid series as well at some point. He has a few VNs like Steins;Gate and Root Letter as well that I'd like to play through too. Plenty to keep me occupied.

BlazinWolf · 8 July 2019

Currently been playing Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled (PS4) Been mostly doing the stuff for the Grand Prix .Its super fun and I'm highly impressed with what Beenox have done with CTR despite the bugs.
The original on the PS1 was great but I'm absolutely loving this.

Winkuru · 10 July 2019

Atelier Lulua

Played it around 8 hours and it seems like this series is getting back to the track with this entry. This seems to closer to E&L (which is great thing in my books) than the two games that came after this (though i didn't make far in the first PS4 game)

Aaron · 10 July 2019

I'm skipping through Muv-Luv Unlimited so I can get the platinum trophy and trade it in/sell it/lash it in the canal.

Extra was tolerable, but Unlimited is the absolute pits. I struggled through it for hours, hoping it would become enjoyable and it never did. A couple more minutes of holding R and I can banish it from my home for good.

At some point in time, I also bought Alternative (and the anime). I think that may have been a mistake.

HWR · 13 July 2019

Completed Detroit Become Human (Playtime: around 10 to 15 hours?) Played through this and got the good ending for all the characters, it’s certainly an interesting narrative though I’m not about to spend ages unlocking everything in the flow charts. 4/5

Not sure what to play next.

NormanicGrav · 13 July 2019

HWR said:
Not sure what to play next.

GOLF.

Because that's what I had been playing recently. Everybody's Golf on PS4, you can thank my random addiction to Let's Play multiplayer golf videos on YouTube. Granted those were mini-golf games, but I am planning on downloading Everybody's Putter Golf on PS3 which is essentially mini golf at some point lol.

ayase · 14 July 2019

Been on a bit of a horror binge after finishing SOMA. I finally got around to finishing Outlast and its Whistleblower expansion (or rather replayed the game entirely as after reloading my save game from nearly two years ago I couldn't remember where I was or what was going on).

I could really have done with less of the night-vision camera. I get what the game was going for, it's essentially a make your own found footage horror film. But once I got so far into the game I was pretty much having to use it constantly (I refuse to ruin horror games for myself by abusing the gamma setting) its brightness was really tiring on my eyes in an unlit room and also detracted quite a bit from the game's environments. It seemed almost like there wasn't a whole lot of point creating nicely detailed or coloured environments with dramatic lighting when the player is going to spend most of their time looking at them through a blown-out grainy green and white filter.

Rather than just using the camera to become budget Sam Fisher, I can't help but think the whole idea of documenting important events with the camera was a much more interesting one that could have had a better use within gameplay than simply working towards an achievement - In both games, the very reason your character is there and in possession of a video camera is to document what's going on, but whether you actually bother to do so or not seems to have no effect on the outcome of the game. The potential for people to discover these tapes you've made and the contents of them should have held more weight. When I first started the game I wrongly presumed due to the timestamp the footage was actually being recorded for playback later in the game or as an extra, which would have been a nice touch - Though as mentioned above part way through it would just have turned into a rather boring game recording rather than a catalogue of disturbing events.

I've noticed that quite a bit of criticism has been levelled at the game's ending - I personally had zero problems with it. I understand people's desire to feel like they've achieved something by their actions, but characters striving only to be faced with the fact it was all utterly futile is at the core of the best horror stories. Seeing someone lose when they deserve to win sure is dark and depressing, and it's supposed to be. Except for weirdos like me who think becoming the Walrider is probably a far greater prize than any other ending would have been.

Whistleblower gives it even more weight by having Miles become the final threat to Waylon - One that, precisely because of the first game's ending, you genuinely don't know if he'll escape. It's probably a good job I wasn't in charge of writing this game because the idea that the e-mail Waylon sent to Miles not only resulted in all the horrible events that subsequently happened to him but also ended up bringing the person there who prevented his escape right at the last moment would have been too delicious to resist. I thought the Julian Assange ending was kinda anti-climactic to be honest.

What I did find a bit odd was that most of the events of Whistleblower are clearly meant to take place concurrently with those of the original game, and while that produced some nice moments (Father Martin writing the messages that guided Miles in the first game, the mercs finding Trager's body and particularly the almost joyous realisation Waylon could escape because Miles had left his car) something didn't feel quite right - In the first game I'd presumed the lunatics had taken over the asylum days, possibly weeks ago from the state of things, but in Whistleblower that timescale is revealed to be... Twelve hours. Twelve hours? The inmates were clearly very efficient in their destruction (Eddie Gluskin must have been going through subjects like a production line to get that gymnasium so fully decorated) or were all former Hollywood set dressers who immediately set about making the place look just right for their visitors to live up to that creepy abandoned hospital vibe.

I wrote far more than I intended there, so I'll save Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs for another post.

ayase · 16 July 2019

Horror games part the second - Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, or another lesson in why I should never be granted any kind of power by any earthly or unearthly force.

I ignored this for the longest time after hearing that it didn't live up to the original Amnesia, but I really shouldn't have. And being just a little over a single quid in the Steam sale tipped the balance in favour of giving it a go. I can totally see why so many fans of The Dark Descent were disappointed. Several major gameplay elements were totally done away with - By removing the sanity meter, giving the player an unlimited light source and removing the inventory (and therefore all puzzles that required finding items to complete) what you have is not so much a tense survival horror as a walking simulator with stealth elements (which perhaps shouldn't really have come as a surprise given that developers The Chinese Room were best known at this point for more or less originating the genre with Dear Esther).

Something I'm actually quite pleased A Machine for Pigs ditched though is Frictional's patented "touch this weird thing for a window into the past to advance the story" they've been relying on since Penumbra, and I think next time it would be good to see them do likewise. I think it makes for a better experience to discover the story from information and characters that can be found within the environment rather than unexplained infodumps fed directly into your brain.

Despite its gameplay shortcomings, I found the story and the process of gradually uncovering it far more engrossing than that of The Dark Descent. In both games (and SOMA, which is really a third entry in all but name with technology substituting for the occult - in fact A Machine for Pigs bridges the two quite nicely with its industrial setting) you play as someone who is missing memories and has to discover what the Hell has been going on (hence the title). In both Amnesia games you discover that you've been a pretty monstrous human being, but in rather different ways. I personally feel Mandus' story in A Machine for Pigs is a lot more thought-provoking than Daniel's in The Dark Descent - Daniel became a monster out of fear in order to save himself, whereas Mandus became a monster to try and save the world from itself. I feel like A Machine for Pigs has more to say about the potential of anyone to do horrific things if they can convince themselves they're for the greater good, and that's what makes it a great story that will stay with me. It's not terrifying in the same way as Outlast with it's scares and twitchy sense of fear, but it is terrifying on a whole other existential level.

Where Daniel was led astray by someone far more amoral and manipulative than himself (and who he lays a lot of the blame on for becoming the man he did - Indeed his first instinct is revenge on Alexander rather than to any kind of self-reflection) Mandus was taken down his dark path by his own misanthropic, dehumanising side. He has no-one to blame but himself for the things he's done and as an industrialist, there's the strong implication he was simply taking industrialisation and paternalistic Victorian attitudes to their logical endgame, the reduction of people to "human resources" - Cogs in his machine, replacement "children" to his benevolent god, at least more benevolent than any that would allow the world to exist in its late 19th Century form with its fat idle rich and teeming, starving poor - Both equally detestable and useless to society in Mandus' industrious eyes.

The most burning question I came away from the game with was, despite his own harsh judgement of and drive to redeem himself, is Mandus really any more a monster than those "The Engineer" saw in his vision of the future? The politicians and generals of the world wars, the dictators and engineers of production-line genocides? Would his Pig Man World really have been any worse? The titular machine, after all, isn't Mandus' machine:

This world is a machine. A machine for pigs, fit only for the slaughtering of pigs.

And there might be no revelation so potentially horrifying as the realisation that machine is still running, and you and I are maintaining it.

HWR · 3 August 2019

My replay of Final Fantasy X has gone smoothly asides from limited hours due to working but hiding vital sigils for the ultimate weapons behind repugnant mini games like Chocobo dodger and lightning dodging has soured my mood. Having to play hours of blitzball didn’t help either.

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The Quintessential Pouts

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Time-Traveller

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CCG’s Reaper

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