it really is souls as heck, at least like some of the games I’ve played (I haven’t played souls myself, but I’m aware of the style of the game)
The mobs get much easier once you find a better weapon than the pipe seriously dude gimme that hammer and let me handle this
Finished Nioh, not sure what the playtime was. This is a fun if sometimes frustrating game that offers reasonable challenge but a really naff stamina bar, which was the cause of most deaths. The story and characters were so-so though I did enjoy some of the side missions and collecting the Kodamas rewarded exploration. Overall this took me ages to complete due to now working full time but I’m glad I finished it.) 3.5/5
Not sure what’s next-tempted to replay Silent Hill 2 or delve into the original DMC trilogy. Failing that I keep getting an urge to replay Breath of the Wild for like the fifth time.
Finished Resident Evil 2 Remake (playtime: 03:44:43 [Claire] 07:35:11 [Leon]) A pretty solid entry in the franchise, though one of the guns is nearly useless and Zombies can be bullet sponges. I also came across an issue where I had saved the game but it didn’t register meaning I lost progress in a pretty difficult scenario during Leon’s run. 3.5/5
I'm playing through the Metal Gear Solid series at the moment. Only on the first one and going through it slowly. In the meantime (when I don't have access to the TV), I'm playing through the Spyro Trilogy on PC. Loving it so far.
I am currently playing Spintires - Mudrunner. What a game, haha. If you like heavy russian trucks and machinery and want to test your skill agains nature and a lot of mud, this simulation is the one for you. It simply is so different to all the rehashing games that it is really interesting. I enjoy it and you can literally feel the effort from the small studio that went into the game. Bought it with a massive discount currently on PSN. I played it for around 10 hours now and still got lot of wood to move and trucks to drive
Played two more games throughout the month of October. Going to keep both games brief than usual.
Completed Game #28: Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash (for PlayStation 4)
A continuation of the events of Senran Kagura Estival Versus and the first console spin-off title in the series. Honestly, this game was a lot of fun and I loved the concept behind it. The story is very basic and the ending was rather amusing with a teaser for what's to come for the series (7EVEN). The gameplay works pretty well but I feel that it needs more content to make the game more replayable. The character roster is great and I actually didn't mind the gacha-like card system in the end. Overall a fun little venture and once again I was able to get the Platinum trophy for the game.
Completed Games #29: Warriors All-Stars (for PlayStation 4)
Been a while since I have played a Dynasty Warriors title that's not based on an existing anime/game IP like Attack on Titan or Dragon Quest. The game was pretty decent and works just like any other musou title in the past. I liked the idea of controlling other characters while you have your main during combat but my main issue is the difficulty which spikes up a lot more than you would think would be sensible. For instance, it would take ages to kill an enemy and by the time you kill it the battle ends because a friendly got killed - stuff like that is frustrating and expects you to grind when you can't even fast level your own character (only your teammates) at the base. Overall a decent game, I managed to get the True Ending route surprisingly.
My backlog so far:
-- PlayStation 3 -- 23 total -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Folklore
Katamari Forever
Killzone 2
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Puppeteer
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus HD
Sly 2: Band of Thieves HD
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves HD
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
-- PlayStation Vita -- 14 total -- Bullet Girls
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
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
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Touch My Katamari
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
-- PlayStation 4 -- 51 total -- 428: Shibuya Scramble
Blue Reflection
Chaos;Child
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Fate/Extella Link
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Megadimension Neptunia VII (Victory II)
Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (Victory II Realize)
Nights of Azure
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Super Robot Wars V
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of Berseria
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Zestiria
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyria Chronicles 4
WORLDEND SYNDROME
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
-- Personal Computer -- 2 total --
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
-- Nintendo 3DS -- 2 total -- Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss
Completed Games Collection of 2019:
January
#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
February
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
March
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
April
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
I once again completed Silent Hill 2 (playtime: 4 hours 27 minutes). This game still does the trick in terms of building an unnerving atmosphere with a sublime soundtrack. A shame that Konami destroyed that with an awful HD collection. Stick with the original. 4/5
Haven’t played loads of SH myself, but I did play through The Room, and Shattered Memories, I’d say The Room was far better, I really wanted to see Silent Hills too, but Konami are obsessed with pachinko these days it seems. Why make games at all when you can just get your customers to gamble?
Time to talk about another completed game! One that is well-known and one of the more longer titles in my backlog.
Completed Game #30: Star Ocean: Til the End of Time (PlayStation 2 port for PlayStation 4)
Star Ocean: Til the End of Time is an Action RPG developed by Tri-Ace and published by Square Enix. It is the third main installment in the Star Ocean series and takes place after the events of the first two games (Star Ocean: First Departure, Star Ocean: Second Story) and also the first in the series to use 3D models and gameplay in contrast to the 2D designs.
Let's start with how the gameplay is because while the Star Ocean franchise is well-known, I don't see many people talk about it that much. Basically it's very similar to the Tales franchise, so when you bump into an enemy you can freely move around and attack enemies, use items and heal your party, and use a few other tactics such as scan enemies, lure enemies, run away, control other party members and use special abilities. The combat is quick, easy and rather addictive once you get a good grasp of it. There's also the Fury meter where if you have 100% power you can attack the enemy at your best, whereas if it runs out (0%) you won't be able to attack until you stand still which can make you vulnerable.
In addition, we also have another meter on the top right of the screen which when filled at 100% will give you special bonuses until you take a certain amount of damage - Triple EXP, Double Money, Increased Recovery Rate and Increased chances of special items. You start off with one of the bonuses but you can get all four of them as long as you maintain the meter across many battles. This will be very helpful if you need to grind up levels. The combat also has a catch - you have to make sure that your HP - and - MP doesn't reach 0 because otherwise, your character is KO'd and will require items to bring you back into the fight. Don't worry if your main character is KO'd because you won't get a Game Over until all three party members are taken out.
Outside of the combat, the game is mostly linear with the option to backtrack and explore some areas. There are also optional dungeons and local towns where you can rest, save progress, buy new items and accessories, and also invent. Inventing is very crucial to tackle the difficulty of the game once you reach the lava dungeon portion of the story because it can become problematic if you aren't able to progress properly. The difficulty is balanced until that point and from there on combat can get pretty scary at times because you'll be in situations where you're fighting enemies that can easily take down your entire party if you are not careful enough especially during the final quarter of the story.
Back to inventing, you can upgrade your weapons using synthesis and recruit inventors to help increase the chances of a successful creation. For instance, you have three people with high levels of Alchemy to create Orichalcum (which can appear at around 5000-5800 money during the original creation process) which will offer 500 ATK if you can synthesis it with a sword, and this can be done up to 8 times if you really need to breeze through the game that fast. The twist here is that Synthesis materials are very limited so you have to choose wisely when you are doing so.
Now let's talk about the story. The western release of Star Ocean: Til the End of Time is the Director's Cut version of the Japanese release, as the original suffered from incompatibility issues which apparently Sony was to blame for. The story is very long and can be split into different acts entirely, but for fans of the Star Ocean franchise, this game is the most divisive of the lot because of how the direction goes. It left a lot of sour tastes and it's best experienced when you play the game because of how insane it is. I overall really liked the story and while I can acknowledge some of the flaws, I had a good time and the cutscenes for 97% of it were in-game so the PS4 port turned out pretty well.
The story took me around 44 hours and 10 minutes to complete. It's a very long game and there's quite a lot of content throughout, not to mention the game was split across 2 DVD discs back when it came out on PlayStation 2 in 2004. You do have post-game content if you want to spend more time going through it, and there's even Battle Trophies (not to be confused with PlayStation Trophies) where you can unlock little achievements for doing things like defeating enemies without getting hit or defeating a boss in 1 minute. I was able to get around 23% and there's a lot of them.
Overall Star Ocean: Til the End of Time was a lot of fun, and I do recommend the game. The issue with recommending the game is if you are a newcomer to the franchise and want to start with this one because of the story direction that may put you off from going into the other games of the series. My personal recommendation is to play the other four games if you have access to them, Star Ocean: First Departure is coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch this December, and you already have Star Ocean: The Last Hope on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (and 4K/Remaster on PlayStation 4 and PC) and Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness on PlayStation 4.
My backlog so far:
-- PlayStation 3 -- 23 total -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Folklore
Katamari Forever
Killzone 2
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Puppeteer
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus HD
Sly 2: Band of Thieves HD
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves HD
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
-- PlayStation Vita -- 14 total -- Bullet Girls
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
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
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Touch My Katamari
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
-- PlayStation 4 -- 53 total -- 428: Shibuya Scramble
Blue Reflection
Chaos;Child
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Fate/Extella Link
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Megadimension Neptunia VII (Victory II)
Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (Victory II Realize)
Nights of Azure
Our World Is Ended
Punch Line
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Super Robot Wars V
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of Berseria
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Zestiria
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyria Chronicles 4
WORLDEND SYNDROME
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
-- Personal Computer -- 2 total --
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
-- Nintendo 3DS -- 2 total -- Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss
Completed Games Collection of 2019:
January
#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
February
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
March
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
April
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
Time to talk about another completed game! This one I decided to play immediately after finishing the other title from the same franchise.
Completed Game #31: Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (for PlayStation 4)
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is an Action RPG developed by Tri-Ace and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth and latest main installment in the Star Ocean series and takes place between the events of the second and third games (Star Ocean: Second Story, Star Ocean: Til the End of Time).
So I don't own The Last Hope, which is the fourth title in the series, but this one was picked up a few years ago so I figured that since I had finished the third game I should jump right into this installment and see how different it is. Well after playing the game there is quite a lot of changes done. Starting with the gameplay, they have kept the Action RPG approach but it's now instant with no transitions whatsoever so it's best compared to Final Fantasy XV in that sense (oddly enough both came out in the same year). The combat in this game is, for the most part, really good and a bit of an improvement. What I liked was being able to have every party member in the battle compared to just a few like SO3 was, so everyone is better balanced and isn't falling behind on progress to the point where they would end up being useless. Another positive is how quick and easy you can transition between party members and also customize their roles during combat. The roles system is pretty good and helps make progress a little easier.
The graphics are very good and the presentation looks great with the character models looking alright for the most part. The English dub I found to be acceptable though there is no lip-syncing for the English voices whatsoever so it looks unpolished in a lot of places. Due to the game's short length of averaging 19-20 hours, the speed of which you level up is pretty handy so getting through the game wasn't too much of an issue except for one specific part due to a sudden difficulty spike (Chapter 10).
Now let's dive into the more negative aspects of the game. The characters are fine (I like Fiore and Anna) but they are not as memorable as the cast from SO3, which is made worse by the fact that character development is mostly kept exclusive to side-quests and private actions which are very easily missable and honestly tedious to deal with and feels like a time-waster. I didn't bother with the side-quests because they were basically fetch-quests which I always find to be the developer's way of padding. The inventory part barely got touched at all and felt wasted compared to SO3, and the special EXP/Fol/SP system during combat is confusing and not as exciting to make use of compared to SO3. The only positive I could give about that system is how you can use a special ultra attack which is very helpful but somehow it doesn't always use the character of choice when I activate it so it feels wasted as a result.
Another disappointment is the story. What I liked about SO3 was the isekai style approach it had where a person from an advanced world ends up in a medieval world and interacting with the characters during their journey. In SO5 it's the reverse and while I'm fine with that, the characters don't make up for it. The final boss or villain of the whole game was alright but it didn't feel like an endgame boss compared to SO3.
Overall Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is an okay game in the series but it's hard to recommend as an introduction to the franchise as it does a disservice in a number of areas. It does have a lot of non-story content throughout but when the story and characters are not as interesting, I find it hard to see players bothering with the rest of the content outside of the combat system and nice presentation. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is available to download and in disc form for the PlayStation 3 in Japan and on PlayStation 4 worldwide.
My backlog so far:
-- PlayStation 3 -- 23 total -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Catherine
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut
Dragon's Crown
Drakengard 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Eternal Sonata
Folklore
Katamari Forever
Killzone 2
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Puppeteer
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Siren Blood Curse
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus HD
Sly 2: Band of Thieves HD
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves HD
Soul Calibur V
Tales of Xillia 2
Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord
White Knight Chronicles
White Knight Chronicles II
-- PlayStation Vita -- 14 total -- Bullet Girls
Demon Gaze
Freedom Wars
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
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies
Muv-Luv
Muv-Luv Alternative
Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls
Touch My Katamari
Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni
-- PlayStation 4 -- 51 total -- 428: Shibuya Scramble
Blue Reflection
Chaos;Child
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online
Danganronpa 1 Reload
Danganronpa 2 Reload
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star
Fate/Extella Link
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
Gal*Gun: Double Peace
GOD EATER Resurrection
GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst
.hack//G.U. Vol.1: Rebirth Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.2: Reminisce Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.3: Redemption Remastered
.hack//G.U. Vol.4: Reconnection
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
Megadimension Neptunia VII (Victory II)
Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (Victory II Realize)
Nights of Azure
Our World Is Ended
Punch Line
Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Shining Resonance: Refrain
Steins;Gate Elite
Steins;Gate: Linear Bound Phenogram
Super Robot Wars V
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
Tales of Berseria
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Zestiria
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Toukiden 2
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
Valkyria Chronicles 4
WORLDEND SYNDROME
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Ys Origin
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
-- Personal Computer -- 2 total --
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
-- Nintendo 3DS -- 2 total -- Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Tales of the Abyss
Completed Games Collection of 2019:
January
#01 | Yakuza 0 (for PlayStation 4)
#02 | Yakuza Kiwami (for PlayStation 4)
#03 | Onimusha: Warlords (for PlayStation 4)
February
#04 | Kingdom Hearts III (for PlayStation 4)
March
#05 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (for PlayStation 3)
#06 | Lollipop Chainsaw (for PlayStation 3)
April
#07 | Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (for PlayStation 4)
This month I partook in a peculiar December tradition of mine and replayed Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories & Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Both games are great, though the PS3/PS4 emulation can be glitchy at times.
I’m now working through Batman: Arkham Origins as a festive affair that I haven’t played since summer 2016.
I've gone back to Skyrim. Instead of my usual sneaky sniper roll that I use in these Bethesda RPGs I've been trying a battlemage play style. It's been good fun, but I still occasionally have to cheese it with the sneak close enough, shot arrow, slink away and wait till the target loses interest, rinse and repeat. Mainly because I've also put the difficulty a notch and the tougher boss enemies are a bit too difficult up close and personal ATM.
I've also made sure not to do the mission that triggers the dragons appearing all over the map!
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
