Sony The PlayStation Platinum Club

[Smacktard]

On today's episode of "Do Raine and Teli have any clue what they own?" it turns out that we don't have any of the Dead Space games on PS3

Ahh so you must have them on Xbox then..
...r... Right?

Here's what we've got at the moment:

DAMN! Y'all some jRPG fangirls I feel bad about neglecting JRPGs in my life, but almost any time I ever attempt one, I never really enjoy myself that much. Out of all of the JRPGs you have there, which one do you think would be most appealing for me? FWIW I really enjoyed Tales of Symphonia.

 

[Raine]

Ahh so you must have them on Xbox then..
...r... Right?

Yes! That side of things is much easier to keep track of with more mainstream games, since even while blatantly ignoring the backlog in favor of MMOs we were still picking up (and sometimes playing!) games. For a good ~5 years we didn't really do anything to/with/for PlayStation at all, and are only just recently pulling that out, seeing what we want, and seeing what's actually available for a good price. (Read: Not most of the missing RPGs! )

DAMN! Y'all some jRPG fangirls I feel bad about neglecting JRPGs in my life, but almost any time I ever attempt one, I never really enjoy myself that much. Out of all of the JRPGs you have there, which one do you think would be most appealing for me? FWIW I really enjoyed Tales of Symphonia.

JRPGs can be pretty hard to get into, yeah. For a long time they were plentiful because they're really cheap to make, relatively easy to design/balance and can serve as an outlet for amateur/aspiring authors. ...Which now that I type that out actually really lays out why they fell off so hard, too. Combined with the move to HD decimating large swathes of the industry.

I ain't gonna lie: PS3's JRPG selection is dire. There's a lot there, but also a lot of it just isn't good. Idea Factory/Compile Heart games in particular are the bane of my existence.

As for a recommendation, I think a lot of that depends on what you liked about Symphonia. The safest option is a lateral move to another Tales game, but each game has different strengths or weaknesses. Like if you're in it for the characters, I quite enjoyed the cast of Graces F and it easily has the best combat of the PS3 games (since Vesperia isn't available in English outside Xbox/PS4). The overall narrative is kind of not great though. Xillia, meanwhile, has a pretty decent narrative, combat is pretty good but a couple characters really hurt my personal enjoyment.

Outside of Tales, I'll always plug Nier. It's a straight-up Action-RPG, and I adore it - jank and all. There is not a single aspect of that game that I didn't like - characters, narrative, gameplay, the music. But! Butbutbut. Expectations are a motherfucker. Cavia had a shoestring budget and you should not go into it expecting a shining AAA/Classic™ experience. Just take it as it comes/is.

Resonance of Fate is also really good, though there's nothing "traditional" about it in terms of gameplay. Also, steep ass learning curve - both in what's there, and what it's actually safe/preferable to ignore. It's the tri-Ace game I would recommend, though that's kind of sad because 1) Tales and Star Ocean are effectively siblings and 2) Star Ocean is very enjoyable, but Q) Star Ocean 4/The Last Hope is an absolute chafing train wreck of a game outside of its combat system. Which, A+ combat. Would not have gotten the ~550 hour completion if that wasn't great.

If you want a good turn-based game, it's hard to not state the obvious that is Persona 5. Though obviously the PS4 version shares the same list and performs better. P5 is my least favorite of the modern Persona games, but P3 and P4 are so high on my all-time lists that that isn't necessarily indicative of a bad time.

 

[Smacktard]

You named all of the games I have lmao, except for Star Ocean. I have Nier, Tales of Graces F, and Tales of Xilia. I also have Persona 5 Royal for the Switch (gifted). So I'll get around to all of those... eventually...

The Persona series is kind of a mindfuck for me. There's so many different versions and titles that I don't know what to make of it. What is like the Persona 5 game to have? Which console?

 

[Fire Queen]

i’m a persona hater (have only played 3-5, 3 is my favorite of the three, 5 was okay, 4 was rough) but because of writing reasons more so than story reasons. smtiv was fun! i own smtv but haven’t touched it yet

automata is the only nier game i played but it kicked ass. i wanna play replicant next. i have heard so much about kainé #girl

the two tales games i have played to completion are symphonia as a kid and vesperia as an adult. i liked both

genuinely i also recommend the xenoblade chronicles trilogy (sorry about 2). i’ve heard good things about the other xeno games

random encounters make me like rpgs less. tales of symphonia spoiled me

 

[Smacktard]

What made you prefer 3 over 5, and 5 over 4, FQ?
I should've mentioned I'm a Xenowhore. I've played all the releases since Wii, except for XC3. I still have it, but I'm waiting for Ramadan when work timings will be chill AF and allow me to get a lot of gaming done.

 

[VashTheStampede]

3 > 5 > 4 is my preferred Persona Story Order as well.

Just a couple more weeks until the 3 remake...

 

[Fire Queen]

What made you prefer 3 over 5, and 5 over 4, FQ?

3 has aigis

5 has some good music and characters even if the story is eh

4 is the one that has the most infuriating relationship with what it considers its themes and that’s before you even get to the fact that you have to put up with teddie

 

[VashTheStampede]

3 has aigis

5 has some good music and characters even if the story is eh

4 is the one that has the most infuriating relationship with what it considers its themes and that’s before you even get to the fact that you have to put up with teddie

This is 100% a perfect take.

My friends think I'm crazy because I cannot fucking stand Teddie.

 

[Raine]

I'll catch up and reply over here soon-ish. But, hold the phone!

Petulant, sexist, homophobic raging megadouche Yosuke Hanamura is right there and we're gonna dunk on beloved national idiot treasure Teddie instead? I'm wounded!

I haven't played P4 since like 2009, so I do wonder how my perceptions will change once I get around to playing P4 Golden in 2089.

 

[Fire Queen]

yosuke i at least feel bad for since they took his romantic social link out of the game. the thing is that rpgs (indeed, media in general) has evolved beyond the need for the Weird Womanizer trope

 

[VashTheStampede]

Yosuke is the Dipshit Buddy, the easiest to ignore of the Persona Tropes

 

[Raine]

the thing is that rpgs (indeed, media in general) has evolved beyond the need for the Weird Womanizer trope

Oh, absolutely. It always feels out of place and is completely unnecessary, plus routinely ends up clashing with other themes for what are (usually) one-off gags. Like the whole thing with P5's Ryuji only doesn't top my annoyances list because Yosuke has such a strangehold on being a dickbag.

Yosuke is the Dipshit Buddy, the easiest to ignore of the Persona Tropes

I used to actually like Junpei, amusingly enough.

Boy did FeMC route change that though. ...Bonus points for VA Vic McSexpest having been cast for that role. Perfect fit in retrospect, aged like milk. Here's hoping Reload fares better!

 

[Raine]

You named all of the games I have lmao, except for Star Ocean. I have Nier, Tales of Graces F, and Tales of Xilia. I also have Persona 5 Royal for the Switch (gifted). So I'll get around to all of those... eventually...

The Persona series is kind of a mindfuck for me. There's so many different versions and titles that I don't know what to make of it. What is like the Persona 5 game to have? Which console?

Any console should be fine. There are essentially just two versions of P4 and P5, and three (soon-to-be-four) versions of P3.

P5: Original release, PS3/4 only. Dungeons are notoriously padded, some more than others.
P5 Royal: Upgraded release, available on all platforms (except PS3). Some parts of dungeons have been streamlined, there are two new Social Links, and there's an epilogue/"third semester" with new story. Said new content is entirely missable if certain prerequisites aren't met.

P4: Original release, for PS2. Might have been a PS2 Classic on PS3 at one point I don't remember off-hand.
P4 Golden: Upgraded/remaster release, available on all platforms (plus Vita). Has 2 new Social Links and epilogue chapter/expanded ending that is, again, completely missable if certain prerequisites aren't met.

The actual clusterfuck:
P3: Original release, PS2 only.
P3 FES (Festival): Expanded version of original game, PS2 + maybe PS2 Classics. New Social Links (Aegis!), new scenarios and cutscenes, new post-game epilogue scenario ("The Answer") that expands on the original ending and is exceedingly, frustratingly difficult.
P3 Portable: Massively stripped down PSP release. You control a cursor over a prerendered background instead of having a 3D avatar. Cutscenes are portraits only with no 3D models doing animations. You can directly control your party members finally, Persona Fusion and Skill Inheritance have underdone extensive QoL adjustments. Is based on the vanilla game and does not necessarily include all additional scenarios added in FES, IIRC. Biggest addition: The ability to select a female main character, who has her own Social Links (including the male party members) and some slight tweaks to the story - like Junpei being a sexist pig to you for a lot of the game.
P3 Reload: Comes out next month, seems to be using a modified version of assets rigged up for P5. Is based on the vanilla version of the game, but does at least contain Aegis's Social Link. May or may not include all of the scenarios and events added in FES, such as the school festival. Does not include The Answer nor the female protagonist; ergo, there is still no definitive version of this game.

I should've mentioned I'm a Xenowhore. I've played all the releases since Wii, except for XC3. I still have it, but I'm waiting for Ramadan when work timings will be chill AF and allow me to get a lot of gaming done.

If Switch is an available tinker toy for experiencing RPGs, grab Grandia HD Collection. I can't speak for the quality (or lack thereof, depending) of the "Remastering" effort, but the first Grandia is in many respects the joy of adventuring in a JRPG made manifest. The series also has a pretty nice take on the Active Time Battle combat system, where it's technically turn-based but your actions can delay/cancel enemy turns. Grandia II, meanwhile, is held up as one of the best RPGs out there - and from what I can remember, I agree it's a great game. Regretfully my memory of the time period I played this is complete shit and "Yeah, I really enjoyed it" is about the entirety of what I can say.

 

[Smacktard]

I'll definitely check out Grandia then, thanks!

One thing about P4 I heard is that the Gold edition is actually a downgrade from vanilla. I'm not sure why, and I know not everyone thinks this, but I guess that's why I find it a little confusing.

 

[Raine]

One thing about P4 I heard is that the Gold edition is actually a downgrade from vanilla. I'm not sure why, and I know not everyone thinks this, but I guess that's why I find it a little confusing.

Hmm, without having played Golden (in a timely manner) I couldn't weigh in too much on finer details/changes. I can at least say that it's not a downgrade like P3/FES -> P3P is, so if anything it would probably fall more into the category of the new content distracting from the original story pacing-wise. Or concerns over difficulty, perhaps? Though I would be surprised if P4G doesn't have difficulty modes to potentially alleviate that.

You're probably fine just doing P4G and not worrying about P4, if you wanted to take that particular entry for a spin.

 

[Smacktard]

Finished 100%ing Dead Space 2 today. I booted up my GTA4:CE hoping to get started on the main game missions, but the game doesn't want to cooperate with my PS3 :/

I get to the part where I can choose which game to play, and when I choose the main game, I get a few "trademark" and logo screens, and then the screen just goes black and the game never loads. What a pain in the ass :/

edit: aaaaaaaaand it's working. After I installed the Ballad of Gay Tony, I had no problems loading up the main game and installing it.

edit2: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand after the initial cutscene I get stuck on the loading screen forever. wth

 

[Spiner202]

With the release of The Last of Us Part II Remastered today, it presents an interesting problem. It seems the game will auto-pop if you have a save file on your Playstation. You can stop this by deleting (or transferring to the cloud) your save file. I will definitely buy the game because I'd like to play No Return and experience the other bonus content, but I'm not sure if I should save myself the ~60 hours and take the auto-pop, or actually get the platinum a second time. I don't really like either outcome; it would have been better if this game only added the DLC trophies for No Return.

 

[Raine]

I notice a ton of PS4 -> PS5 cross-buys/cross-progressions/upgrades/Remasters do this. There's either a concerted effort to try to drive engagement by publishers/developers, or Sony has another really silly policy in place.

I'd take the "free" trophies/Platinums personally. Can still totally replay the game if we wanted, just removes the obnoxious parts.

Now if I could just convince Sony and Microsoft to allow all multiplatform games to do it I'd be totally set for life. I mean outside of the ones that sort of do because they have dedicated, independent servers like FF14/PSO2/Master Duel.

I get to the part where I can choose which game to play, and when I choose the main game, I get a few "trademark" and logo screens, and then the screen just goes black and the game never loads. What a pain in the ass :/

edit: aaaaaaaaand it's working. After I installed the Ballad of Gay Tony, I had no problems loading up the main game and installing it.

edit2: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand after the initial cutscene I get stuck on the loading screen forever. wth

Oof, that sucks. I know on the Xbox side, the game is wonky insofar that people with the DLC downloaded via the marketplace and those with the DLC installed from the Episodes from Liberty City disc can't connect to one another for some asinine reason or another. Haven't heard of anything like this before though.

 

[Smacktard]

So GTA4 won't load the opening cutscene anymore. I've given up on it. I think it's an issue with the disc. I noticed a scratch shaped like a hook drawn by someone with hand tremors near the edge of the disc. That could be causing the problem. I guess I'll have to shelve my GTA4 attempt for the time being. I'm just perpetually in fear of servers going down forever. Anyway, meanwhile I guess I'll work on my Dead Space 3 platinum. There's an online component, so I'mma try to bang that out as quickly as possible too.

 

[Raine]

On the subject of GTA, there was a very subdued and generally short notice announcement regarding Grand Theft Auto V losing some functionality that I only happened to catch while browsing TA out of boredom:

Article:

Rockstar is shutting down the Rockstar Editor for the Xbox One version of GTA 5, and unfortunately, it looks like up to ten Grand Theft Auto V achievements will be discontinued because of the change.

The Rockstar Editor will be removed from GTA 5 on Xbox One and PS4 on February 20, 2024, and as per a Rockstar support page, the developer says the change is "necessary to allow us to support ongoing updates to these games on both platforms."

From what we can tell, the removal of the Rockstar Editor will potentially discontinue up to ten achievements in GTA 5, specifically from the Grand Theft Auto Online Freemode Events update. They are as follows:

• First Time Director
• Method Actor
• Animal Lover
• Vinewood Visionary
• Ensemble Piece
• Cult Movie
• Location Scout
• Majestic
• Humans of Los Santos
• Cryptozoologist

While it's possible that achievements related to the Director Mode may not be discontinued, we've included them just in case, as the mode is tied heavily to the Rockstar Editor.

Of course, the achievements listed above in the Japanese Grand Theft Auto V Xbox One stack will also likely be impacted. The Xbox Series X|S stack of GTA V will remain unaffected as the removal of the Rockstar Editor only applies to the Xbox One version.

Source: https://www.trueachievements.com/news/gta-5-xbox-achievements-rockstar-editor-discontinued

 

[Smacktard]

Ohshi- I guess time to start working on GTA5. Kind of surprised that that's ending considering how many people still spend money on GTA5

 

[Spiner202]

Wow, thanks for the update. I'll have to look into getting as many of those as possible, since I'm playing the PS4 version. Based on True Trophies, it looks like all of those pertain to a DLC that only takes 2-3 hours to get, so I'll make it a priority to knock those out this week.

 

[Smacktard]

Wow, thanks for the update. I'll have to look into getting as many of those as possible, since I'm playing the PS4 version. Based on True Trophies, it looks like all of those pertain to a DLC that only takes 2-3 hours to get, so I'll make it a priority to knock those out this week.

Only if you've completed portions of the main game. The DLC trophy timing assumes you're not starting from scratch.

If you're crunched for time like me, this guide streamlines the whole 100% process. Normally I like playing at my own pace, but missables are a pain in the ass -- especially in a game as big as GTA5

 

[Smacktard]

Wow, thanks for the update. I'll have to look into getting as many of those as possible, since I'm playing the PS4 version. Based on True Trophies, it looks like all of those pertain to a DLC that only takes 2-3 hours to get, so I'll make it a priority to knock those out this week.

Guide included this time:

GTA V 100% Total Completion Strategy Guide

Introduction and Table of Contents The purpose of this guide is to set out a strategy to achieve 100% completion, all single player achievements/trophies, and all interactive content as efficiently as possible. This will cover every single task required for you to reach the goal (nearly 400 separ...

gtaforums.com

 

[Spiner202]

Wow, that is incredibly detailed. I might consider using that if I replay the game. Although I'm not very deep into the trophies, luckily I have beaten the game already, so I'm hoping I have access to whatever mode is needed. I'm away from my Playstation for a few days, but I'll check it out afterwards.

 

[Smacktard]

*starts the 40 hour download of a 50 gig update file for GTA5 """"complete"""" edition*

Edit: up to 78 hours now, thx Saudi internet

 

[Spiner202]

Just checked my GTAV trophies, I'm at 14% lol.

That's a cleanup that ain't happening.

Is that of the platinum or including DLC? Looks like I'm at 24% of the platinum but 12% including DLC.

I do plan to take a stab at it eventually, but I've heard one of the DLCs is near impossible, so it might be only a plat for me.

 

[Raine]

I do plan to take a stab at it eventually, but I've heard one of the DLCs is near impossible, so it might be only a plat for me.

Without even looking at the details:



Those ratios are fucking nuts. Twice as high as the highest ratio'd achievement I have to date.

I would assume bare minimum you'd require a static group that's good at coordinating.

 

[GwJumpman]

Here's my current list. And if it matters, I 100%'d Journey but that didn't have a plat:

Alan Wake II
Control
Armored Core VI
Spyro the Dragon
Spider-Man
The Last of Us

 

[Raine]

This game was not what I expected in the best way possible. Came to the catalog in December and has reinvigorated me into gaming. It's a blend of Nioh and Final Fantasy with a minimalist story (not a lot of cutscenes either) with an extremely extensive post-game.

Unexpected success story, huzzah!

The season pass is on my watch list. It's $20 now, if it drops to $10 I could see myself getting it.

Not sure if PSNProfiles has one or not (they probably do, I just haven't really clicked around the site much), but I love the TrueX websites for their price trackers.



Seems to go on sale about as often as the rest of Square's stuff, so probably March at the latest and it'll be back to $9. ...Or whatever that translates to in Top Hat currency.

 

[Spiner202]

The price tracker I like is Deku Deals. Despite the name, it tracks both Nintendo and Playstation games.

 

[Mark]

@Mark
Can we get a badge for this?

Name: GWF Platinum Trophy Club
Description: Awarded to members of the GWF Platinum Trophy Club who have obtained at least one Platinum trophy.

I'll take care of distribution if you can make it.

Unexpected indeed, and actually quite enjoyed. I also really enjoyed the story at the end, the twist, and the way it all tied into FF1. Glad I gave it a second chance. Jack is hilarious.

Top Hat currency.


It's nice that the PS App now sends push notifications when items on your wishlist go on sale but I had no idea about those trackers. Thanks for sharing!

Under general.

 

[Fire Queen]

whittling away the yakuza: like a dragon plat. have been LOVING this game so far. ichiban is such a good protagonist. anyway i have only four trophies left! and i haven't even beat the game yet! (though i am in the finale chapter) all that's left to do is finish the game, do the two postgame dungeons, and get the final honk-honk.

 

[Smacktard]

whittling away the yakuza: like a dragon plat. have been LOVING this game so far. ichiban is such a good protagonist. anyway i have only four trophies left! and i haven't even beat the game yet! (though i am in the finale chapter) all that's left to do is finish the game, do the two postgame dungeons, and get the final honk-honk.

Man, I really have to get to playing the Yakuza games some day.

 

[Fire Queen]

i'm honestly really impressed with how well the series adapts to rpg. if you move through battles quickly enough it does still kind of feel like the button-mashing greatness of kiryu and others, but with four people as opposed to just one. related, it opens up so many more opportunities for characterization and depth. my current party is ichiban, the two girls, and either joon-gi han or zhao. nanba is fine. the former cop dude annoys me to no end. but eri and saeko kick ass, especially when you put them into one of the crazier jobs lol. there's a dominatrix one where you can do big heals by grabbing another party member's crotch (and yes it works on eri too LMAO)

really excited for infinite wealth which drops later this week, but i'm planning on going through gaiden first

 

[Jon]

Am I supposed to post here for a badge? I don't push for plats, but I have like... 5?

Yes, I'm a badge whore.

 

[Jon]

Not sure what app you all are linking to, but the PSN profile is Fayngz...

 

[Spiner202]

Got one more plat: Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair. Very fun game overall, and an amazing trophy list.

I will say that the title of this game is no joke. The Impossible Lair is the last level, and it's not even comparable to the rest of the game in terms of difficulty. Supposedly the original version of the game that launched didn't even have checkpoints in the last level, but I found it immensely frustrating. I wouldn't say it was the hardest thing I've done; in fact, it probably only took 2-3 hours for a 25-minute level, but wow is it frustrating! Final level aside, this was a great platinum.

 

[Raine]

Alright, updated through here.

Surprise weekday productivity? Madness!

 

[Spiner202]

As a quick follow-up to the GTA V discussion earlier, I've started working on that DLC set. About half of the trophies can be unlocked in under an hour (I got 5 of them already). There are 2-3 more trophies that require some work - mostly just driving around to certain spots on the map. It *appears* that 1 of these trophies is missable if you've beaten the game depending on which ending you got (unfortunately I have no idea which ending I got back when I beat the game, so I'll try to go for this trophy and see what happens). And then there are maybe a couple of trophies that take basically no time but are dependent upon the 2-3 more time-consuming trophies.

Edit: I'm doing a bit more reading elsewhere, and the speculation is that only two of the trophies (pertaining to the Editor itself) will become unobtainable. Those are 2 of the ones that take less than 15 minutes to get. If true, that's definitely not as concerning, but I'm going to try and get them all to be safe.

 

[Smacktard]

As a quick follow-up to the GTA V discussion earlier, I've started working on that DLC set. About half of the trophies can be unlocked in under an hour (I got 5 of them already). There are 2-3 more trophies that require some work - mostly just driving around to certain spots on the map. It *appears* that 1 of these trophies is missable if you've beaten the game depending on which ending you got (unfortunately I have no idea which ending I got back when I beat the game, so I'll try to go for this trophy and see what happens). And then there are maybe a couple of trophies that take basically no time but are dependent upon the 2-3 more time-consuming trophies.

Edit: I'm doing a bit more reading elsewhere, and the speculation is that only two of the trophies (pertaining to the Editor itself) will become unobtainable. Those are 2 of the ones that take less than 15 minutes to get. If true, that's definitely not as concerning, but I'm going to try and get them all to be safe.

My understanding is that it's all trophies related to this mode:

 

[Smacktard]

I'm currently working on Odin Sphere, I did it in December with 2 of the 5 characters but it was feeling tedious so I gave it a break. Gonna try to wrap it up before moving to other things.

This one's been in my backlog for a while. I don't think it takes toooooo long to play, mercifully

 

[Fire Queen]

one trophy left for yakuza like a dragon! was really satisfied with the ending to the game. the first postgame dungeon wasn't so bad, but my characters were turbo overleveled (like, 75-80 when the final boss was level 60 lol). i haven't tried the last postgame dungeon yet but i hear that one's a doozy. gonna take my first stab at it tonight

 

[Spiner202]

Update 2 on the potentially disappearing GTA trophies: I finished the DLC pack today. Overall, it is very easy and probably takes about 5-10 hours. It depends on your familiarity with the game and if you're far enough to do what you need to do. It took me a while to get back in the groove of where to find helicopters, but it was very easy after that.

 

[Raine]

From what I was reading in the early comments on TA, people suspected the unlocking of characters - that is, doing some amount of the main game story - would take the bulk of the time. So that's good news!

 

[Spiner202]

Sorry, that is a valid point. My save file had beaten the game but done 0 side content. I had all of the story characters except for one. I had 0 of the 21 animals. And I had 0 of the 12 special characters. I guess the story characters could take a while, but I genuinely have no idea at what point in the story you'd have them all unlocked.

I would say not to risk it if you plan to go for these trophies/achievements and start working on them ASAP.

 

[Fire Queen]

ez

 

[Raine]

Woo, congrats!

Will get that added in tomorrow.

 

[Fire Queen]

i will say that you can’t even think about attempting the True Final Millennium Tower until this is what your party looks like. that said it’s not too much time grinding with this One Weird Trick (finding where the big EXP enemies spawn and reloading them over and over)

 

[Raine]

Finally stopped being lazy, and connected my PS3 and PS4. Apparently for the first time in 5 years. Got those updating, working on reconnecting the X360 and Xbone... need to figure out where the hell I'm going to find room for the Series X...

But whee, one step closer to actually playing a god damn video game!

inb4 my save files are corrupt or some shit. I swear on everything unholy if I ever have to do Drakengard 3's Ending E again...