Platinum Update

It dawned on me that I haven’t gotten around to posting about a couple platinum trophies I got recently: Red Dead Redemption and Demon’s Souls! Here are some thoughts.

Red Dead Redemption is a great game. The single player mode has a great story, a huge world to explore and an immersive atmosphere that really pulls you into the game. I am not even really a fan of cowboys/Westerns and I really liked this game. I liked it so much that once I had finished the story I decided I wanted to platinum the game. The single player trophies were very manageable if not easy but then I jumped into multiplayer mode. I found the multiplayer modes to be fun but many of the trophies themselves are very time-consuming to get. For example, grinding your character up to experience level 50 takes way too much time, so much so that I got completely sick of the game and stopped playing entirely. Months later, I found myself monitoring Rockstar’s Twitter account looking for triple XP announcements and thanks to that I was finally able to to grind my character up to level 50. All in all, this is a great game and the online component is very fun, especially with all the newly added online modes. Just be prepared for a grind if you are looking for that platinum trophy.

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Demon’s Souls is a game that I was unsure of when I first bought it but quickly became my favorite PS3 game. Seriously, there are so many awesome things about this game. It is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played and because of that there are some very tense moments. At times, this game had me screaming obscenities at my TV in anger, but I loved every minute of it. It’s difficult to describe, but Demon’s Souls is a really satisfying experience. It’s an old-school type of game in that memorization and trial and error are pretty much required to make it through. It wasn’t easy but I am very proud to finally have this platinum after many, many playthroughs. See you on Dark Souls!

X-Men: The Arcade Game (PS3) Review

Play as your favorite classic X-men characters.

I want to say that the X-Men Arcade Game is a timeless classic that has aged well and is a satisfying gaming experience by today’s standards. I really want to, but I just can’t. The truth is that this is a game where only old-school gamers need apply. Gameplay-wise, it plays a lot like the original Turtles in Time (not the HD remake). Attacking, throwing, jump kicks and special attacks all work the same way. Be prepared to walk to the right while fending off waves of enemies until you reach the boss.

Remember playing on this beast?

The graphics are not bad. The sprites look surprisingly very sharp and colorful and look great on an HD screen (there is also a smoothing option which I have not tested). The game is very short. My first time playing with a 6 person team we beat the game in less than 25 minutes. Back in the day, you probably never realized this game was so short because you didn’t have enough quarters to get anywhere near the end. This new release has the convenience of unlimited lives/continues, so you should be able to make it through the game with relative ease. Thankfully, the game is fun enough to warrant multiple playthroughs and even has a trophy for beating the game with all 6 characters. Playing this game online is a fun experience (the more the better) and the game’s trophies/achievements are easy to obtain due to the game’s unlimited lives. There is not much standing between you and a 100% completed game aside from your own attention span.

Welcome to DIE!!

This game is fun for someone like me who used to play the original arcade game almost 10 years ago, but I just don’t picture younger gamers playing this and enjoying it; not when there are newer, better beat-em-ups available like Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim, both of which offer much more depth and replayability than this game.

Who will enjoy this game?

• People who remember playing this old-school gem in arcades back in the day.
• People who enjoy playing quick games online with friends.
• People looking for easy trophies/achievements to pad their score.
• Fans of classic X-Men.