Topic: Games you've recently beat

Just watching the credits roll after getting to the end of Man of Medan. It was fine, not a game I would highly recommend but not a game I disliked either. - I have seen many worse horror films. It used a bunch of horror movie cliches and had an over-reliance on jump scares, which often didn't work but was fairly enjoyable overall.

Will probably have another playthrough to see if I can make my trophy list a bit more respectable (I definitely didn't achieve the good ending!) but I'm unlikely to push myself to do the multiple runs required for the platinum

If you have access to it via PS+ and have any interest it's probably worth a go. Think it took around 4-5 hours.

@sorteddan That’s a pretty consistent response I’m seeing about MoM. I have been on the fence about it, and wasn’t really inclined to play it until now I hear the Dark Anthology series gets progressively better with the latter installments, so I feel like I need to start with this first one, even though I think each entry is narratively independent. Now that I subscribe to PS+Extra, the second of the series is on that, if I’m not mistaken. Reckon you’ll have a stab at it?

@sorteddan I honestly didn't like Man of Medan that much. It takes way too long before you get to the horror part of the game, like 2-3 hours. Then it gets fun, but at that point it's too late.

@Th3solution
I only had PS+extra for about a month at the end of my subscription and then went back to essential. As I have no free access to the sequel I don't currently have any intention to seek it out. Though if it turns up cheap enough in a future sale I may well pick it up.

@LtSarge
Yeah I get that. I felt the prologue/tutorial part was largely unnecessary and felt really disconnected from the actual story when it began. I completed it over three sessions so never actually spent more than an hour or so on it at once, maybe that helped me not get too bored by it.

Just rolled the credits on Red Dead Redemption 2… and it’s been a helluva ride! Really glad I went back to this at a time when I had nothing but time (which is a very rare occurrence). Even when I tried it back in 2018, before ultimately dropping it in Chapter 2… I knew on some level that it was a masterpiece but I just couldn’t click with it no matter how hard I tried.

It’s nowhere near perfect mind you, as no game is… and in many ways this has been the most frustrating game I’ve played in a long time. The way it controls (both on foot and on hoof), the loading times, the sheer amount of time that even the most simple of actions take for the animations to complete… the list goes on and on… but even considering my frustrations it’s an incredible experience.

The narrative, characters and actors are just top tier. I’ve always liked Rockstar’s games and feel that all of their stories have been very good… this one tops them all though. My father is the biggest western fan (I really enjoy them too) and his absolute favourite - The Wild Bunch - seems a real heavy inspiration, as are others. I could’nt help but think on many occasions during my playthrough that I should buy the old man his first PlayStation and a copy of this to go with it. He has never had any interest in gaming whatsoever… but he’d frikkin love this if he could get past the initial pain a 68 year old non-gamer would naturally feel when trying to partake in something that would be so alien to him.

Special mention goes to the hunting though… and well just the ‘natural’ eco-system of the game world really. I had just dipped my toe for the longest part of my playthrough but going for the platinum has pushed me to hunt certain animals and yield a certain quality of pelts. It’s both simple to master but very deep with multiple layers at the same time. Very surprisingly, it has produced some of my favourite memories of my time with the game so far.

Still got bits and bobs to mop up for this gargantuan trophy list but I can definitely say that working towards 100% has elevated my experience. Can’t remember the last time I put this many hours into a game… Skyrim maybe… so over 10 years ago!?!?

It’s funny that as I watch the credits roll with a suitably appropriate western score accompanying the images, i can’t help but feel this game was the end of an era in terms of Rockstar games in much the same way that the Wild West was in its final death throws during the events of Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. I really hope that the Housers return to create games following their departure from Rockstar as they weave a particular type of cinematic-open world narrative that no one else can do. I don’t know where I’d place the actual game in my all-time list… but purely as a game narrative it’s up there. Maybe top two… maybe one! Such an amazing prequel to the events of Red Dead Redemption, which was probably my favourite Rockstar narrative previously.

@colonelkilgore Couldn't agree more with that assessment, mate - absolutely spot on. As a wiser man than me once said, it's not only one of the best videogames ever made but one of the best Westerns ever made and that's quite the achievement.
PS Your dad has great taste - "The Wild Bunch" is brilliant.

That actually encapsulates it perfectly in all honesty 👍

@colonelkilgore Yeah, all well said, colonel. I agree with your assessment of RDR2. Sometimes while playing it I felt some annoyance, but the overall package was so overshadowing brilliant that it made the little things matter less. To squeeze that game world and it’s intricacies out of the the PS4 is simply an amazing feat. I didn’t get anywhere near the platinum and I never even booted up the multiplayer, and yet I got dozens and dozens of hours; many times over the value of paying launch price for it. And it’s a game that after you finish it you ponder for days, weeks, and months afterward. I love games like that — the games with gripping narrative and performances that just make you think about the messages they portrayed. For sheer emotional and psychological impact, RDR2 is up there with PS4’s greatest, if not even the greatest of all time.

@Th3solution funnily enough sol, I’m pretty sure that it was during a chat with your good self that RDR2 was put back on my radar. I think I was moaning about how disappointed I was by the game back in 2018… and that even though I absolutely loved the previous RDR that I just could not glean any enjoyment from its sequel. What followed was a decent bit of subtle but effective convincing by yourself that it might be worth me giving it another shot at some point. Well it certain was dude, so I appreciate the nudge 👊

@colonelkilgore I'm another who would agree with your assessment of the game. It's an amazing achievement to build a world this detailed. The more you play it and spend time looking around you realise that every single thing has been carefully thought out and I would say that even extends to the controls that are so frustrating. It's like they've distilled the essence of a cowboy who's had one too many whiskeys in the saloon and managed to translate that into the animations that are present in the game. It's something that annoyed the hell out of me when I initially got the game but began to appreciate it over time. It was similar coming back to it and having played lots of faster moving games recently it felt doubly frustrating but again I've started to cancel that out a bit.

There's just so much to do in the game in general that I actually think they could have easily left some of the content out and it still would have been a massive game. The fact that I'd already completed the story yet since returning to do the online trophies I'm now spending a ton more time in the single player is testament to how varied the different tasks within the game are and how much I just appreciate the world itself even without having any additional story elements.

Good luck with the rest if the trophy mop up, I'll be a way behind you but I'm ok with that

@ThereThere there are a few missables mate… but as long as you’re thorough, you should be okay. Most importantly make sure that you do all ‘side’ missions before you close out a chapter, as some of them are required for a trophy and they can only be done during the chapter that they are applicable.

Other than that, try and get a decent chunk towards having positive honour by Chapter 6 as there is a mission that is required for the plat that only generates if you are honourable. The amount of honour that is needed to trigger this mission is fairly difficult to pin down, so just make sure that when you click on your honour from the menus that shops are giving you a 25% discount.

Couple of other things, if camp mates request items try and prioritise doing that, as well as if they want you to do activities with them. There are trophies attached to these two things also, that eventually become missable.

I was quite lucky that during my time with the game back in 2018 that I had somehow done all of the required missions up to the point in the story that I had gotten, I was very honourable… and I’d also made good ground on camp requests and activities.

@render totally mate… funnily enough, I saw an article just the other day about how a load of content was actually removed from the game prior to its release! Can you imagine how long the 100% playthrough might have been if it had been included?!?!

I like your explanation for Arthur’s & John’s ‘manoeuvrability’ too 😂, works for me so I’m gonna have that in the forefront of my mind as I play on. Doesn’t explain my bloody horse though… unless she’s also on the sauce! 😅

Just compared our progress on PSN now… and we’re actually in a very similar place. Both on 82% with the only difference being that we each have a bronze that the other is yet to get.

@colonelkilgore Ah, I had forgotten about that conversation but credit to you for keeping the open mind. Glad that it worked out and didn’t lead you astray. 👊🏼

Not sure how the platinum roadmap is shaking out, but a good contrasting game to play next would be Returnal. It’s equally magnificent and will give you a large dose of kinetic excellent gameplay with minimal yet satisfying narrative to keep balance and n your gaming universe. 😄

@colonelkilgore You convinced to give RDR2 another go. I tried it once last year, but the start was soooo incredibly slow with nothing really happening, that it bored me. It was kinda the same problem i have with kingdom come: deliverance. I don't mind if a game slows down here and there, but starting out so slow, didn't really draw me in. And normally big open world games are my jam. The witcher 3 still is my favorite game of all time, so this one should also resonate with me. SO i hope another playthrough will give me the same feeling or at least makes me feel better than the first time playing it.

@colonelkilgore Perhaps all those times we've been hitching our horses outside the saloon they've been getting a few crafty ones in. The annoying thing with the horse for me is that even though I've reached the max bonding level the thing clearly only thinks about itself and throws me off at the first sign of trouble, leaving me to die while it escapes unharmed 😆

That trophy percentage is way closer than I thought it would be. The big one for me is going to be the golding the 70 story missions as I've not gone back and looked at any of those yet. I'm hoping that I can get all the low hanging fruit and just have to push myself on a few of the more difficult ones.

@Th3solution yeah I get why Returnal would be the perfect counter-point to RDR2. I am super keen to play it too as I have a good idea that I’m gonna connect with it. It’s not gonna be next for me though as I’ve already kinda settled on chipping away at the GTAV online trophies while I wait for GoW:R to release. Once I’m over the hill though (100 plats) I’m gonna be far more relaxed on my schedule and will doubtless fit Returnal in sometime early next year.

@Lavalera well, hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy it a bit more when you restart it. What I will say is that I think this game in particular really comes down to what frame of mind you’re in going in. I’m naturally always in a rush (though my missus would strongly disagree 🤣) and the pace of RDR2 really triggered me because of this. As a result, if you are intent on going back to it, I’d wait until you have a whole lot of time on your hands with little else to do.

@render I’m currently on 62 golds so just the 8 more to go. I’m pretty sure that I have a few missions that I can get gold on after a few attempts too… so that should be okay. It was the 10 skills challenges (each with 10 different challenges) and studying and killing each and every animal that I was severely behind on though.

I’ve kinda caught up now as I’ve been consciously chasing the skills challenges in particular. So I think I have roughly 20 challenges left and maybe 50 animals… ish.

@colonelkilgore Glad you loved Red Dead Redemption 2 so much. It’s such a special game for me, not just because I adored it but also because it was the first game that really showed my mum how cinematic and sweeping games could actually be. It’s both a technical showcase and also just a bloody good story.

@nessisonett I’ve noticed that you’ve mentioned your mum and the fact that she games a few times over the time that I’ve been on here. So RDR2 was the game that got her involved then. That’s really cool… as I said in my post, I’d love nothing more than my father to give RDR 2 a proper go, as I honestly think it would give his upcoming retirement a boost of something to be interested in.

@colonelkilgore As much as people go on about RDR2 having complicated controls, I can say for a fact that the way the game shows the controls on screen depending on the context of your actions is really helpful. It being relatively slower paced compared to other third person shooters also helps. I’d say it was a perfect game for your father, it’s got loads of content without it feeling overwhelming and there’s a narrative to keep him hooked.

@colonelkilgore I bought it for my Dad, as he found God Of War 2018 too fast paced, so thought it would perfect for him as loves a good open world to get (literally) lost in. But, alas it didn't click with him and he did play it for a fair few hours.