Tag: playstation 4

blog, purchases

July Purchases

ohnoitsjade

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True to my word in my last purchases post, I think I did pretty well in July! I see a lot of memes at the moment equating online shopping to the only bit of happiness available during lockdown, and whilst it is funny, it’s also true.

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My first category of purchases this month is games. I did go a little heavy on the games this month, I will say that. Catherine and Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest I picked up preowned for a pretty decent price each, so I couldn’t really say no. Langrisser 1 & 2 was a really spontaneous purchase as I’ve never heard of the series before, or considered it in any way, but it was on sale and I thought, why not? I also bought AI The Somnium Files after it having been on my wishlist for many months. I’ve only heard good things about it!

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Next up, blu-rays. Or should I say, blu-ray? That’s right, this month I only bought one! That’s practically unheard of! I added to my Studio Ghibli collection and bought Tales from Earthsea.  

 

 

 

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And finally, what would a month be without buying some manga? I think this month I’ve actually only bought BL (no surprise there). I finished my collection of Ten Count (finally), and bought the new given volume, but I also bought Replay and Blue Flag, which I haven’t read yet but I’m excited to get stuck into!

 

 

That wraps up July! I think I’m going to try and have another pared back month in August, but we’ll see! I have to go on full lockdown, not even leaving the house for supermarket shopping, as my nan is having an operation, so little deliveries might be the only thing that gets me through!

Games, Platinum Review

Platinum Review: The Nonary Games

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I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to clear up platinum trophies on games I’d already started, and The Nonary Games collection was first on my hit list.

The Nonary Games is a collection of the first two games in the Zero Escape series; 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (999 hereafter!), and Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR). 999 was originally released in the West on Nintendo DS back in 2010, with VLR following up on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS in 2012. The remastered collection was released on Windows and PlayStation 4 and Vita in 2017.

I had played both 999 and VLR prior to The Nonary Games coming out, getting the platinum in VLR at the time. Judging by my 999 playthrough and how little I remembered, I think I only played one route at the time as I felt like I had forgotten almost all of the game, and my memory can’t be that bad, right? I often joke, “I wish I could wipe my memory so I could experience x for the first time again”, and this is probably the closest I’ll ever come to that!

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For reference to anyone who might want to attempt The Nonary Games platinum, it is given as a 2/10 for difficulty with 20+ hours as a guide time on Playstationtrophies.org.

I would tend to agree on the difficulty rating, but the time estimate purely depends on how good you are at puzzles, though solutions are easily found on the internet. It’s worth noting that sometimes though you might think you have solved a puzzle or have figured out the solution, you have to solve it the way the game want you to, but this is often the case with puzzle games.

999 and VLR both have really great (if somewhat confusing) stories. 999 is slightly more tricky to get the different routes on as there’s no visual map of what you’re doing, so you might need to look for a guide for that if you’re set on getting the platinum in the quickest time possible. Over on VLR’s side, the game features a handy flow chart so you can track back to route branches and fill out the whole map. It does get a little confusing as you have to hop around each branch to unlock certain bits of story to progress further on different branches, but that’ll all make sense when you play it!

Whilst The Nonary Games is a fairly straightforward and quick platinum, it’s really rewarding. As I’ve said, the story is incredible, and the series features some really wonderfully written characters. Once you’ve tackled The Nonary Games, you can move onto the sequel, Zero Time Dilemma, which is equally as great.

Games, Platinum Review

Platinum Review: The Sims 4

ohnoitsjade

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It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these, but rest assured, I’m still getting platinum trophies. This year my challenge is to get 20 platinum trophies, and I’ll be honest, things are not going brilliantly, but I’m trying to turn things around!

Early on, I decided I would mop up some platinums for games I’d started, and I had an urge to play The Sims, so I opted for The Sims 4 for my first platinum of the year.

Playstationtrophies.org lists The Sims 4 as a 3/10 difficulty rating, and 26-30+ hours. I have to say, whilst not difficult it did take me a lot longer than the estimated time.

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No trophy is especially difficult, but the fact that so many of the trophies are for getting to the top of each career path and maxing out each skill means they are fairly time-consuming. There are a lot of tips in the forums on Playstationtrophies.org, and these will direct you to some custom content you can download to make things easier; a Sim who is pregnant with triplets being the hardest to come across in the game naturally, but with the custom content, you have a pregnant Sim who you just need to move onto a lot and wait. Simple!

Towards the end of the slog for the platinum, I sort of lost any love I had for the game. I’ve always been someone who loved The Sims, but somewhere along the line grinding for this one (and it did feel like a grind), any enjoyment I had for the game just left me.

I’m glad to have done it, but I don’t think I’ll ever play The Sims in any iteration again.

blog, purchases

February purchases

ohnoitsjade

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Considering in February I was doing my best to curb my spending for my upcoming Japan trip (more on that later…), I was surprised at how much stuff there was for this post!

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I was very kindly given the light novel of I Want To Eat Your Pancreas for Christmas, but after discussing with a few people, I’ve held off on reading it until I could watch the film. Happily, I haven’t had to wait too long as the film was released on DVD and blu-ray in February, though I’ve still not watched it. I have a feeling the cover is deceptive, as everyone I know who has seen it has told me I’m definitely going to cry, and to make sure I have tissues at the ready.

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Octopath Traveler was one of the reasons I wanted a Nintendo Switch in the first place. I was really drawn in by the art style of the game, and I heard so many great things about it so when I got my Switch for Christmas, I was frantically searching for a decently priced copy. What is up with Nintendo game prices never dropping?! I eventually saw that a mutual on Instagram was selling their copy for a reasonable price, so I snapped it right up! I’ve not got round to playing it yet – RIP backlog – but I’m really happy to own it!

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These Witches Don’t Burn has been on my Amazon wishlist for a while, so as a payday treat I bought it for myself. I can’t even remember what drew me to it but I’m very much a book cover person, and I liked the art style of the images on the cover, so it’s probably that. I’ve not started it yet, so I can’t tell you what it’s about!

 

 

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A month can’t go by without me buying BL, and so I bought volume 2 of Candy Color Paradox. It’s a really enjoyable story, about a journalist who has to work with a photographer he doesn’t like. It’s somewhat predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless!

 

 

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Yet more manga, this time Go For It, Nakamura! This manga is about a high school boy, Nakamura, who is in love with one of his male classmates. It’s really cute, and Nakamura is such a funny character who just can’t seem to get it together to talk to his crush. I really recommend it if you’re looking for something funny!

 

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I played and enjoyed the first Ni No Kuni game when it was out on PS3, but I got stuck at a particular bit and then never went back to it. After falling completely in love with Ni No Kuni 2, I decided to get the remastered PS4 version of the first game, so I can go back and finally finish it!

 

 

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I also bought the final volume of Our Dreams at Dusk, a really lovely LGBTQ+ manga. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I thoroughly recommed this manga, it’s really beautiful and well-done.

 

 

 

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Rounding off my March purchases with yet more manga, I bought the latest two volumes of Haikyu!! (though I’ve stupidly photographed them so you can barely see one, trust me, it’s there!). Haikyu! is my all-time favourite, so it’s nice to have an uptodate collection!

 

 

 

 

There’s not as much variety in items this month, and it seems like there’s a lot of books and games in comparison to January’s purchases, but I was holding off on buying anime merchandise because I was going to Japan. Unsurprisingly with the COVID-19 situation the way it is, we have very sadly had to cancel our trip. We’re both obviously devastated, but we will get to go another time. I had a little irrational spending spree to make myself feel better, which sort of worked, so March’s post will probably be quite lengthy!

Game Reviews

Review: Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

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Nippon Ichi’s latest release Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a first-person dungeon crawler where you play Tractie – that is, the Tractatus de Monstrum – a mysterious book with a soul trapped inside, able to communicate by filling out its pages. Tractie is under the control of a witch named Baba Yaga, or Dronya as she goes by in the village of Refrain. The titular labyrinth is a no-go area for humans, so Dronya decides that Tractie is going to explore on her behalf, and throws it down the well that serves as the entrance to the labyrinth.

You’ll need to report back into Dronya after fulfilling a set requirement in order to progress the game. Early on this is a bit frustrating, as it means you have to abandon your position in the labyrinth to get back, but eventually you’ll learn a skill called Mud Exit which creates a one-use portal to teleport back to, making exploration much easier.

Read the rest of my review on Push Square.

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2017 challenges, Challenges

2017 Challenges: The Backlog Post

ohnoitsjade

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Wow. So, we’re almost in July and I’m only just getting round to making this list which probably tells you about as much as you need to know about how this particular aspect of the 2017 Challenges is going!

I’ve been through my game collection for PS4 and Vita and these are the games I own which I have yet to finish a single playthrough on. So much for no more buying new games until the old ones are finished!

I’m still hopeful that I can burn through a lot of these by the end of the year, but also fully aware that I’m fast running out of time!

  1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  2. Final Fantasy X
  3. Final Fantasy X-2
  4. Beyond: Two Souls
  5. Murdered: Soul Suspect
  6. Danganronpa 1-2 Reload
  7. Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls
  8. Trails of Cold Steel
  9. Tales of Zestiria
  10. Tales of Hearts R
  11. Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness
  12. Steins;Gate
  13. Uncharted Collection
  14. Uncharted 4
  15. XBlaze Code: Embryo
  16. Persona 3 Portable
  17. Conception II

I’m hoping that at least a few of these can tie in with the platinum challenge. It looks like I’m clear on new releases until Danganronpa 3 comes out in September, so a good couple of months to focus on these (once I’ve finished Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy). 

Platinum Review

Platinum Review: Nubla

ohnoitsjade

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Desperate times call for desperate measures, and as I faced ending the first half of the year with no platinum trophies I found myself on a forum for “Games with easy platinums” on PSN Profiles. Imagine my delight when I see a game that is hailed as being the easiest platinum trophy ever. I quickly corroborated the fact on PlayStation Trophies, and lo and behold it’s true. The rating on the game’s page was down as 2/10 and estimated time of 0.5-2hrs.

A quick check of the PlayStation Store, and I saw the game was £7.99. Too good an opportunity to pass up.

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So, what is the game? It’s called Nubla, and as a loose plot description it’s about an art gallery that has lost the pictures in its paintings. You control a character and essentially solve puzzles to restore the paintings. For a game that centres around art as you’d expect, the art style is really impressive. It’s unique and charming, and makes the whole game feel like a really special experience.

You get (gold!) trophies for completing each of the games chapters and for collecting each “Dream Memento”, with the platinum popping at the end of the credits.

The collectables are sometimes difficult to spot, and a few are only visible after you trigger a certain art of the environment. There’s no chapter select, so these trophies are missable, but luckily there are some really comprehensive walkthroughs on PlayStation Trophies.

It took me almost an hour to get the platinum trophy for Nubla (around 50 minutes in actual fact), and I used a collectible guide. I’d personally estimate the difficulty at 1/10. The game isn’t diffcult in any way. There are some frustrating moments with the game mechanics, but they don’t affect the playthrough in anyway – you can’t die in the game, there are no platforming moments.

For those interested, there’s also World of Nubla. It’s exactly the same game, but a different trophy list, and comes in at £11.99 on the PlayStation Store.

Games

The problem with Delsin

ohnoitsjade

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inFamous: Second Son was the PlayStation 4 game we were all waiting for. The first proper foray into the capabilities of next-gen gaming. For those familiar with Sucker Punch’s previous PS3 titles, it would be the chance to see where the story of conduits would go post-Cole, but for those taking their first venture into the world, it would be a new opportunity to get behind some superpowers of their own.

There’s no doubting that inFamous: Second Son is a great game, with some spectacularly beautiful graphics and brilliant gameplay, but the experience was marred by the unlikeable main character, Delsin Rowe. Cocky, arrogant and immature, the Second Son protagonist epitomises the worst of all the qualities we’ve become accustomed to as comic books and superheroes continue to bombard popular culture.

With two playthroughs for the good karma and bad karma endings, it can feel like a long ride when the main character just feels like a complete jerk. So just where does it all go wrong for Delsin?

Read the rest of my article at This Is My Joystick.