Topic: 🍁 PUSH SQUARE GAME CLUB 🍁 | November | The Plucky Squire ⚔️

@R1spam That was the first thing I went to when I got Dreams. Well… maybe the second thing after playing the “Art’s Dream” main campaign. But as soon as I could Dreamsurf the user creations I found that PT game re-creation so I could experience it, since I also never downloaded and played the famous demo before it was pulled.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by PT. Perhaps the Dreams version isn’t nearly as good as the original PT demo, but I was just expecting more.

@crimsontadpoles noice! 👍

I think I'm the same with collectibles but my interest in a game will probably dictate how far down the rabbit hole I go!

Sometimes I'll even try and find collectibles that aren't even recorded in the game (like fully upgraded armour sets in BotW), I just make up completion criteria if I like the game that much 😂. On the other hand though, there's plenty of games where I'll just whizz through the story only picking up stuff that's obvious on the way lol

TS2 - Level 8

Fairly straightforward. Had a bit of a tough time with the zip line race. I also accidentally left the level after one of the tokens so I had to dive back in lol. The music was pretty intense in this level, bit like an old episode of Star Trek TOS!

Edit 2: Oh yeah, forgot upload this screenshot of the 2D ballpit texture with 2D balls coming out of it. Looks so weird but cool!

Edit: TS2 - Level 9 Boss

Finally had to learn how to defeat those shielded guys in this (spin attack all the way!)

@Th3solution it's just got such a mystique about it and I've never even played a Silent Hill game! I'll still have to try it out.

TS2 - Level 10

Had to make use of the emulator's rewind mechanic to rewatch a cut scene that was interrupted by an I'll timed postman IRL 😂.

I must admit that I'm not sure whether I'm playing as Buzz or the imposter Buzz at this point 😂. The cut scene implies the latter but my memory of the actual film serves me poorly for additional context. My character didn't have the belt in the game. I suspect they've probably just used the cutscene to explain the level but decided to ignore that it's not our real Buzz in it lol.

This was another memorable level that I actually sort of forgot 😂. What I remember mainly is seeing the spikes at the top of the elevator shaft when I was a kid and it reminding me of that scene in Mission Impossible where the guy gets his face impaled on the same spikes when he gets stuck on top of the elevator. I think there was a brief period when I was scared of elevators as a kid after seeing that movie 😂

I got some action shots too of me grappling out of danger (though you'll notice my health bar is visible so I definitely did get hit by the fire 😂

Also this bit is a little too similar to a certain slide level in Mario 64. Thankfully it was easier though as this one has edges lol

Anyway, I've got the grappling hook now so back to Alleys and Gullies I go!

Edit: TS2 - Level 5 Redux

I see what you mean now @crimsontadpoles regarding the long climb to the boss. I'm ashamed to admit that after getting the highest duckling, I fell to the ground and I just rewound it instead of climbing up again 🫣😂

Otherwise, I got the last two pizza planet tokens so onto Level 11!

Edit 2: TS2 - Level 11

I actually don't remember this level at all. It makes me wonder whether I actually finished this game but I feel like I must have because I remember a level set in the baggage conveyor bits in the airport. Unless I'm thinking of a Splinter Cell game 😅. I guess I'll find out shortly.

I did like this level and I liked the western style music. The rising water level but was quite good too.

Not sure why Jessie sounds like she's smoked 40 cigarettes before she turned up in this level though.

Also I couldn't work out how to get the Life out of the burning fireplace

Edit 3: TS2 - Level 12 Boss

Further muddies the waters as to which Buzz I am supposed to be controlling 😂. Imposter Buzz leaped into action in the cutscene before the boss

Additional Memory/Thought - it's not the case here because I don't know how the virtual memory cards on PS4 work but I remember on the original game, the save/load screen would display icons from other games saved on the same memory card.

It was quite funny seeing my very inappropriately named THPS2 career show up in a Toy Story game 😂

Edit 4: TS2 - Level 13

And here is the airport level I vaguely remember!

Can't believe that muscly toy thing is called Rocky Gibraltar (or Gilbraltar as this game misspells it lol). It just never clocked that his head looked like the Rock of Gibraltar, I just thought it was some weird muscle man with a flat top.

I guess Level 13 was a bit unlucky. I actually gave Hamm the coins and then went and did another pizza token and exited the level without realising I hadn't collected the Pizza token from Hamm -_-. I think I was quite justified in doing a rewind at that point so I could go and collect the pizza token I earned.

Guess I'll go back to Al's Toy Barn now I have the final upgrade which is the Hover Boots!

P.S. Bleurgh!

Additional screenshots:

Samus Aran, eat your heart out!

Not only does Jessie sound like she smokes 40 a day in this game, she looks like a character from Bioshock.

TS2 - Level 7 Redux and a bit of Level 2

Had a quick go on Level 2 to see how the rocket boots perform in that race. They're quite hard to control and there are two ramp jumps over wet cement on the track and you only have rocket boots activated for 1 of them which is kind of wack. I already had this pizza token anyway so I was just giving it a try.

But level 7, Jesus. Those chicks were a real pain in the neck. Firstly just finding them again. The last one threw me because it's that race with the skateboard, trampoline and a zip line that you get a pizza planet token for completing the second time but I forgot the first prize was one of the chicks.

The main pain in the neck one was the bucking hay bale where you have to rocket across a load of checkouts, foot stomp a jack in the box in a trolley. Swing across horizontal poles from the gumball machines before the bale bucks you to the chick. Too much could go wrong and did, as well as having to walk quite far away to reset the timer before you can try again. I thought I'd just start off today and "quickly" get the final pizza planet token from this level but it wasn't quick at all. Anyway, I got it now, finally lol.

This is probably the most obscure token because you need two different power ups to get it 🫣

Edit: TS2 - Level 14

Pretty long level because of its size and waiting for that plane to come round to where you want it to be was pretty tedious.

I noticed that light sources have a green dot above them. I wonder if these are only visible because of the game being emulated on a big TV. I noticed it on the construction level above lightbulbs which confused me briefly then because I thought it was something to collect.

I've seen the splash screen saying I have all 50 tokens now! Onto the Final Showdown!

Edit: TS2 - Level 15 Boss

3 baddies in one, I just spammed them with attacks. Had enough lives to see it through.

Game complete!

I'll post some final thoughts in a new post.

Ok some final thoughts.

Overall I very much enjoyed it. I think I found it interesting to dissect this game level by level, blown up on a massive TV and being able to spot weird little things that would have passed me by as a kid.

Not the sort of stuff that the movies had like adult content/themes which this game has none of, just like technical things and viewing it through a 2023 lens. Overall I think the game looks great, I mean its ugly but it's so beautifully ugly if that makes sense.

It's not the hardest 3D platformer but it doesn't have to be. It's a solid game that spreads it's time across combat, platforming challenges and collecting. It doesn't outstay it's welcome, especially if you are interested in the Toy Story theme.

I like the ability to take screenshots playing it on PS4 (this may have been obvious 😂).

I remembered another game I used to play a lot on PS1 as I was playing this. That game was Rugrats: Search for Reptar - another title that I'd like to see get a similar revival. Admittedly though, I spent way too much time playing the crazy golf mini game in Rugrats despite it having a similarly robust story mode!

@AgentCooper I vote for Death’s Door or Outer Wilds. Can we add Tren and Humanity? Have we settled on a way to curate the list for when it becomes too long?

@AgentCooper Any update on a game for August? I'm looking to start a new game currently, so I could perfectly tie that in with participating here this month. No rush of course if you're busy or anything!

@Kidfried cheers, yeah it was the same for me reading yours and CTs thoughts on it from the perspective of people coming at it without nearly as much of the nostalgia.

Not sure what to do with this information now though 🤪. What is this world I live in if Toy Story 2 isn't unanimously considered the best game ever?! 😂 I am completely kidding of course!

Our game for August is Death’s Door everyone!

I’ll put together a proper post later today.

Thanks all, for your patience 👍

Good day to one and all, I hope you are all well? Summer holidays are something else, I just haven't had the time to stop, you might say i might be on death's door by the conclusion of this 6 week break. Which brings us onto our game for August, Death's Door. I believe it was recently added to the plus service so should be available to most of us. Download and start as you please and I look forward to following the discussion. Let's run this one through Sunday 3rd September 👍

As always find a few details here courtesy of HLTB 👍

Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it's honest work for a Crow. The job gets lively when your assigned soul is stolen and you must track down a desperate thief to a realm untouched by death - where creatures grow far past their expiry.

Main story: 9 Hrs
Main + Sides: 11 1/2 Hrs
Completionist: 15 1/2 Hrs

Now, onto the second order of business. As I mentioned last month and didn't receive a definitive answer from the community, how do we propose amending the shortlist? Shall I replace it with the suggestions from this month?

Thank you all for your participation, positivity around this and excellent discussion in regards to the games we play. I appreciate you all.

One love 👍

@Pizzamorg @Mr_B021 @QualityGeezer @KilloWertz @Th3solution @Ryne-Gaia @crimsontadpoles @RogerRoger @Hallowmoonshadow @R1spam @CaptD @Th3solution @ralphdibny @LobsterJohnson @SillyBoyJudas @kidfried

As always, if your name isn’t here and you want to be added, please let me know! Happy Gaming!

I don't think I'll be joining in for Deaths Door but I will say that I had a bit of a go on the same developer's previous game Titan Souls a few years ago when I was blitzing through PS Plus games.

I remember thinking it was really cool, had a bit of a 2D Shadow of the Colossus feel to it. I never finished it because I didn't think it would turn out to be my cup of tea but I was tempted and I thought it was really cool.

I played the game last year and it’s a wonderful little game. It looks great, is well written, and combat is enjoyable. The end game stuff is pretty obtuse but can be skipped.

If anyone is going to go for the platinum as part of game club, note that you need to use only the umbrella (the first weapon you find) up until the end game stuff. I didn’t find using just that impacted on my play through too much.

@Kidfried yeah, I got to try the different weapons in the end game and there is some nice variety there to mix things up.

@Tjuz I’ve only just realised you aren’t on my tag list, sorry. See post above ⬆️

Would you like to be added to future updates?

I finished the game recently so I’m looking forward to everyone else’s thoughts.
I think the balancing is just right. Never even completed any of the health/magic upgrades. It’s a pretty solid game. One of the better additions to PS+.

Betsy I found tough. Unless you get upgrades you can only get hit 4 times & she is super aggressive.
The game had some interesting lore behind it that I wished they explored a bit more.
For example you’re in a world where you can’t die, but you must turn in your ‘assignment/soul’, but we know time passes & characters age (Grey Raven).
Would’ve loved a Sifu-style mechanic were each death aged the character a little.

@AgentCooper Is it an idea to make a top 10 and eliminate any game on the shortlist which doesn’t receive a vote two months in a row?

@AgentCooper No worries! I don't think I ever asked to be added, so you didn't forget me or anything. Would love to be there in the future for sure. I will be participating this month with Death's Door. Not usually the type of game I go for, but I said the same about Hades earlier this year and ended up loving it. Going to give it a shot and see if this might end up the same way!

I know very little of this game so a good game for me and very happy to jump in