I know I swore off the whole narrative, but I wanted to review the year and all the platinums I had earned. A year ago tonight, I had earned 9 platinum trophies(most of them being LEGO games) but now I've gotten 36 more trophies, and I wanted to talk about them in my avatar, DetectiveCJ. Enjoy and have a happy and safe new year! ^_^ (I actually posted this after the ball dropped but I had to complete my Rival Battles in Pokemon Sun and Moon first! :D)
As I heard the fireworks going off and nursed a bottle of Mountain Dew(the throwback kind, not that artificial kind) and watched the TV broadcasting the ceremony for the ball dropping in Times Square, I thought back upon my career as a video game universe detective in the past year; what I've accomplished, what I failed to do, and what I plan to do in the next year...
It all started with a return to Hogwarts in the LEGOverse to relive tragic deaths and the demise of Voldemort. It was simpler that time around but no less poignant. I heard that I could visit Hogwarts in the 4th Dimension, but decided not to go revisit that place. With the future uncertain for Harry Potter, at least his demons were banished. I even watched him compete in a dueling tournament that the school was holding to train Aurors. Their magic was amazing to replicate villains like Peter Pettigrew and that witch whose name I forgot already, but who was really cruel-hearted.
Platinum #1: LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 (Vita) (January 2)
Since I knocked out the platinum for the console version, I knocked out the one for the handheld version of this game. It's a little easier as the stages are just long stretches of sub-levels with exit portals that appear most of the time, and the game tracks all of your collectible progress(and there is only the entrance hall of Hogwarts as the hub so you won't have to worry about hub collectibles). There is the Dueling Club you have to complete 100% but dueling is a joke if you are careful enough to pay attention to cues. I only lost one duel(and I think it was rigged).
There were less cut-scenes and they were mostly ripped from the PS3 game with a few exceptions, so the game was easy to get through and it dethroned X-BLAZE LOST for my fastest platinum yet. Sadly, it lagged badly at parts, so it wasn't as quick as a future entry...
The next thing I had to investigate was the return of the Joker in Gotham City. I swore that they were only paying me to be a meat shield, but I got through it with my life and body intact. Still, having to do those VR missions was brutal.
Platinum #2: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Vita) (January 4)
The game is easy - like the last Vita Platinum, it has a small hub world and a bunch of segmented levels. There are battle challenges you have to do which bump up the difficulty a bit, but other than the one involving a lot of electric barriers, it's not as bad as you might think. The Lexcorp Lobby and War Room are the worst because you have to throw Wonder Woman's tiara at some enemies in the air and they always get the jump on me. Needless to say, I am so glad I never have to do those challenges again. After that, it was just a matter of clearing all of Free Play and being done with it. The hub has no collectibles so once you get 100% in Free Play, you're done. :)
I barely had had time to breathe when the alien Brainiac started causing havoc with his shrink ray and mind control. But I worked behind the scenes to ensure the Bat and his League saved the Lanterns Corps(even the evil ones, but we took their power cores in compensation) and stopped that mad alien.
Platinum #3: LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (Vita) (January 5)
But this game is still pretty decent and has the ease of the other LEGO remakes; the hub is smaller and the levels are split into sublevels which track your collectible progress. The most aggravating parts of this hunt were getting a couple of the Joker Cards(which are in rail-shooter levels and they are easily missed as they only appear for a split second, or the items holding them do) and the fact that my game started to glitch out a lot. In fact, the game crashed TWICE, which has never happened before! My least favorite level - the one where you have to do a rail-shooter with Superman to get him to the Brainiac ship and getting the Joker Card - it's in a satellite that rushes by in a split-sec!
Regardless, I managed to buy the last character, get 100% and pop the remaining trophies and the plat around 1 AM, woo! I still had this game for the PS3 coming from GameFly at that point, but after conquering the PS4 version, I was expecting a lot of inferior product and tons of crashes. ;)
After that, I was called back to Jurassic Park - the dinos had escaped again. I recalled how my very first case had been investigating the conspiracy that was causing people to die in the park when they got trapped in dino pens. I couldn't summon giant skeletal dinos this time and was very restricted in my exploration of the park, but I got the job done.
Platinum #4: LEGO Jurassic World (Vita) (January 5)
The Vita version severly nerfs the exploration but it has multiple hubs with a major hub and has two dinosaur hubs where you can play with small dinos and where you can play with the big boys. ^_^
Everything else is pretty much the same. For the Vita Versions, I decided to mute the audio when I couldn't skip cut-scenes so I didn't have to hear the whole thing all over again. Ironic that the Vita version of my first game got unlucky number #13 on the list. Well, it could be because the last trophy I ended up getting, once again, was the dreaded "Hold Onto Your Studs" trophy which requires a LOT of grinding. I was stuck with the Gyrosphere Bonus Level race for an hour once I got all the Stud Multipliers. (But this is tame compared to the TEN billion you need for the LEGO Tolkien games.)
For some reason, I was summoned to a ninja dojo to investigate corruption inside it. It turned out to be supernatural ninjas stealing some power called "Spinitzu" but a job is a job.
Platinum #5: LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin (Vita) (January 6)
My nephew has fallen in love with the Ninjago toys and LEGOs so I hope he started getting platinums in these games. XD This is an easy platinum because the overworld is really bare-bones and after you get all the overworld collectibles, which is really easy to do, you have no reason to meander there anymore. The trophies aren't that bad but dealing with the free play is a bit difficult. I did have trouble with one challenge involving not touching any lava because the level is a slide which is easy to fly off, but I managed to get it done.
After that, I was taken to a world where animal-people existed and helped a lion prince called Laval recover something call Chi. I have no clue what was happening but I did my job and got my pay. That was my least memorable case.
Platinum #6: LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey (Vita) (January 7)
This was my first LEGO Vita platinum on my other account and my last(thus far) on this account. It scrapes the bottom of the barrel - there is no point to the story and it was just piddling around with animal-humans. There is no 100% completion trophy which is an oddity for this LEGO game. Some of the trophies required characters to be purchased and they were easy to buy once I traded in the right stuff. Needless to say, boring. At least the main hub world is big and beautiful.
Then I finally got an actual case - I went to Paris but forgot that it was in the animal-people world, so I was ending up infiltrating a thief's gang called the Cooper clan to bring them down, but I found out they were trying to recover the pages of a book stolen by a far worse criminal organization. I helped them out and even released the fox police woman who got chained to a railing. *sigh*
Platinum #7: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (Vita) (January 9)
I had gotten the platinum on my older account and fell in love with this series. Having played Jak and Ratchet, I wasn't too keen on the cartoony Sly Cooper, but this raccoon proved to me that his great adventures in stealth and puzzles was just as fun as shooting and jumping about.
Then I managed to escape the animal world... and ended up in a weird-bizarro version of Jurassic Park. I think I was on drugs at the time, I dunno. :(
Platinum #8: LEGO Jurassic Park (PS3) (January 14)
I wish I could say that I enjoyed my final romp in the world of LEGO Jurassic World... but I didn't. Being an inferior product and after my rental of LEGO Batman 3 for the PS3 went south immediately, I was braced for all sorts of bugs... and the game didn't disappoint, unfortunately.
Three times the game locked up like it did with LEGO Marvel, once while loading, and a zillion times the game forced itself to pause while loading up something or other. Worse, the loading screens were twice as long which really delayed stuff.
Not one of my shining moments, but that was when I stopped stacking trophies for the PS3 version of LEGO games and most other games as well.
Then I finally returned to Solana to help that silly Lombax and his robot sidekick defeat Chairman Drek. Things were a bit tricky but all went very well. I was getting a little frustrated that I wasn't investigating the corruption of Captain Copernicus Qwark, but what can you do?
Platinum #9: Ratchet and Clank (PS3 HD) (January 16)
I took a long time to get this game to plat because of the hoverboard trophies. I really did not like the Speedy Trophy - if it had been 1 minute and 40 seconds, I would have gotten this platinum sooner. Oh well. The first trophy I ever got on my current account was in this game and now the cycle had closed with the platinum. Phew! The worst trophy was getting a time of 1:35 or better on the hoverboard races... and they didn't fix it in the reboot. :(
I finally returned to the office to do a full review and filing of the Sly Cooper case. It was boring work but it reminded me of the times I had spent with Sly Cooper, Bentley and Murray.
Platinum #10: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (PS3) (February 5)
I rented the Sly Cooper collection on PS3 from GameFly(which I probably will never use again since they took too long to deliver the games) and managed to make it through this version much faster from muscle memory. I strongly suggest you try this collection out.
As I was sifting through my files, I found a strange artifact I had never seen before. I had dreams about the artifact's world and a strange energy called Eco and the boy who saved that world from the Dark Eco, whatever that was.
Platinum #11: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS3) (February 9)
Having been the first platinum on my old account, I decided to try this on my new account. Then I tried Jak 2 and remembered why I had hated that game. :( But either way, this game is easy to platinum save for the zoomer segments and almost all of The Precursor Basin.
I went out and helped Carmelita Fox try to arrest Sly again but found out that they were still not doing anything bad - in fact, they were trying to stop the reassembly of a giant evil clockwork owl, the same one they had fought earlier! I lost contact with them in Canada, sadly, but I heard that Carmelita finally bagged her man... and let him escape AGAIN. :)
Platinums #12 & 13: Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS3) (February 11) / (Vita) (February 13)
Yes, I platinumed both versions of the game within two days of each other.
I was reluctant to do Sly 2 as it had a trophy for dancing with Carmelita Fox. Luckily, the rhythm game is so freakin' easy my nephew could do it, and he's only three! (As of the date that I typed all of this.) It was a bit difficult, especially the jailbreak - oh my gawd, I wouldn't wish Bentley's fate on my most hated enemy :( - but I thank Carlioo3 for his videos to save my sanity. A great sequel which involves Sly and his two companions tracking down stuff to prevent the final boss of the Fiendish Five from coming back to life. The whole game is mission based and you have to use all three characters. The clue bottles only account for three trophies and you don't need to collect any more after you get 30. The main focus is gathering money and loot to pawn on the black market for $$$ to buy special moves. Great story, great game, but very tricky.
Wish I could have said the same thing about Sly 3... :(
After that hectic case, and with no girlfriend, I spent Valentine's Day reading a book of old legends and came across a legend of a young boy who followed his destiny to save his home from a tyrant who controlled the power of lightning... sadly, the last page detailing the epic battle was lost.
Platinum #14: TESLAGRAD (PS4) (February 27)
Sly 3 was going to be my next platinum but issues caused it to fail and I had to return the game. Next up on the rental chopping block, a game I enjoyed playing on my old account. While LEGO Chima had no trophy for 100%, the platinum for this game is basically collecting all the collectibles, 16 scrolls detailing the story of the town and its evil ruler while solving puzzles with magnetism. You will die a lot if you play this game, but be assured that you never have to fight the final boss for the platinum. All in all, a great indie game.
Another legend in the book was about a young boy who lost his home to an evil genie and gathered a group to help him defeat this evil creature, traveling all over the world and to the moon as well!
Platinum #15: Dark Cloud (PS2 Classic for PS4) (February 29)
2016 was a Leap Year, so I earned a platinum on the odd day out. I enjoyed completing the game on PS2 (although Dark Cloud 2 was my favorite game in the series) and LEVEL-5 made so many games in the future that I did them all justice. Luckily, this game was one of the few that got a chance to be reborn(aka imported) to the PSN Store as a digital download with trophy support.
Sly Cooper asked me to hold the fort for him while he and his friends went back in time to rescue his ancestors. I had no idea who was doing this but later found out and felt bad for Bentley. I helped him set up his new arcade downtown to make him feel better.
Platinum #16: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS Vita) (March 2)
One of my favorite games in the series. Too bad some of the trophies were annoying. I wouldn't have cross-saved it for PS3 if certain trophies didn't take forever to redo. Still, great game.
I tried to fiddle with the strange artifact again and regretted it as I relived the dreams of Jak and Daxter on their world.
Platinum #17: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Vita) (March 11)
This took longer on the Vita due to an error on my part and bad controls. The error was not realizing that they added a trophy involving the touch screen and I had already completed the quest involving that trophy, which meant I had to redo some of the game. I hate it when I have to redo a game from the beginning just for one trophy which is why OKAGE almost didn't ever get a platinum. :(
After chronicling my dreams, I recalled the time I spent in the Phantom Field and that strange girl called Nobody who was harassing me the whole time. What a weirdo!
Platinum #18: X-BLAZE LOST: Memories (Vita) (March 22)
My fastest platinum save for the cross-save to the PS3 version of Thieves in Time, it only took five hours. This was because the Vita version of the game had an option to mash through dialogue, though you have to be careful not to mash too fast or you'll answer the wrong things for the final true ending.
Again, probably my only visual novel in the account.
I then remembered how I ended up in the Phantom Field... because I had been trapped in LEGO Middle Earth by a freak wormhole! What a bad experience that had been! :(
Platinum #19: LEGO Lord of the Rings (Vita) (March 22)
GameFly finally delivered this version of the LEGO game I had platinumed as one of my first nine. Nothing to say here. Other than the fact that most of the Red Bricks were as expensive as Mithril Chain Mail, the game was pretty simple. It was an okay change to do another LEGO game after a couple of months of drought after a glut of LEGO games being the foundation for my account, but it's time to do some sexual punishment and maybe get some ubers for the ultimate fights to come, but fantastic and digital. ;) Unlike the PS3 version, this version doesn't have as big an overworld and thus no stupid gold brick collectibles.
I began to get very ill and had to be hospitalized as I went into a coma and had fever dreams... first, I dreamt of a papercraft world where I had to guide a message to my hands while fighting evil Scraps.
Platinum #20: Tearaway (Vita) (April 12)
I had failed to platinum any LittleBigPlanet game, but the creators of those games created the Tearaway games as well. I had my reservations about these games but they were foolish - these games were fun and it was an epic journey guiding the Messenger to the You, seeing my face as I was the You and helping atoI(I choose the female character in both versions of the game) out; the hardest trophies were the no-dying ones but I got through them after some trouble.
Then I dreamt I was a warden in Hell and escorting several young girls back to the mortal world while punishing them with various sexual tortures. I felt so dirty molesting them but in the end they all fell in love with me and became my lovers. What had happened? O_O
Platinum #21: Criminal Girls: Invite Only (April 17)
Yes, I platinumed one of those R-rated games involving anime sexual molestation of nubile young girls. Sue me. I didn't get horny at all while doing the 'motivations' and I was moved by the story. If you make a save before making a girl a knight, you can reload your save at the final battle and make another girl a knight and get all her trophies, so you don't have to do multiple plays, and that's good because the battles are grotesquely hard - I died a few times! I don't know if I'll ever touch the sequel but I heard it's just as good.
Eventually I recovered, just in time to help Captain America and his Avenger buddies stop the violent robot Ultron and put down Hydra. Great times!
Platinum #22: LEGO Avengers (PS4) (April 25)
This is not a 100% as I don't intend to do the DLC missions, which is a shame as I bet they were as good as the LEGO Batman 3 ones. The last level collectibles were tricky to recover but other than that, the game was fun and not as hard as Marvel Heroes especially since they fixed the flying races.
As I listened to the minutes counting down, I recalled that I had had not a single case in the entire summer. I guess even detectives need to rest... but then...
I found a magic doll in a chest and it took me to the world of Ni No Kuni, a strange and weird world filled with fairies and animal-people... but somehow I was not as disturbed as before and helped young Oliver get over his mother's tragic death while saving the world from The White Witch.
Platinum #23: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (August 4)
Yeah, I earned a lot of regular trophies in the summer but not a single plat, but I did finally, as part of a backlog challenge, complete this game at long last. I had tried to complete it on my old account but got frustrated at how slow the trophies came in the beginning. The Solosseum trophy was the hardest trophy I got but the collection trophies were not so bad once you find a way to craft Jumbo Drops quickly and easily. I cannot wait for the sequel!
A dragon told me that I had until Christmas to live so I decided to die with a bang, starting with the defeat of Dr. Nefarious and his Tyhrannoids.
Platinum #24: Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS3 HD) (August 6)
I tried to do a few challenges in PSNProfiles and failed them all miserably, but this was the first of the Summer Backlog Challenge. The vid comic time trials were painful but everything else wasn't.
Then I helped a girl investigate some creatures called the Unversed, but lost her mid-stride. I hope Aqua is okay... I think I am in love with her... ^_^
Platinum #25: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix (PS3 HD) (October 1)
I swore I'd get a Kingdom Hearts platinum, but the games are very tough to platinum. This one didn't have issues and the Critical Mode was the easiest critical mode in a Kingdom Hearts game due to the melding command system, but even so, the secret uber-bosses were no joke and one mini game involving ice cream Stepmania took FOREVER because I suck at rhythm mini-games. Still, I finally got everything and hit the platinum at the first day of October. :D
Then I saw a movie about Ratchet and Clank, though the writers did create some liberties with how events with about with Chairman Drek and the Blarg. Whoever cast Drek in that movie should be lynched, my gawd he ruined the image of that villain! X(
Platinum #26: Ratchet and Clank (PS4) (October 26)
After a dry spell of three weeks, I dropped out of the Platinum Rain Day event and this was the first game on that list that got its platinum trophy. I am never participating in a Platinum Rain Day again. I really enjoyed the reboot of the original game, based on a movie of that game.
Also, I blame Pokemon Sun and Moon for stopping me from grinding trophies. :(
After that, I helped Ratchet and Clank stop a conspiracy to spread violent Tribbles through the Bogon Galaxy. Thank goodness it was just Captain Qwark!
Platinum #27: Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando (PS3 HD) (December 2)
Yes, another dry spell, this time in November. Tried to do some other games but got messed up on them. Almost platinumed Crack in Time... but then my game froze during a cutscene not once but twice! I had to trash that disc and now I can't trust my PS3 to work anymore... ;(
At least it let me get the platinum for the last game in the R&C HD collection so I could trade it back in for store credit.
After that, I helped Ratchet and Clank stop some very dangerous criminals who were bringing in dangerous supernatural beings from another dimension. The life of a video game detective is never easy, is it? And the pay sucks too. :(
Platinum #28: Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus (PS3) (December 2)
Since most of the games in this month were on the Platinum Rain Day list, I had almost completed them so I only had to earn one last trophy on each of them. Funny fact - I forgot to save up money for the Nether Armor so I was far from affording it. Luckily someone on Youtube gave me a money route to get money fast.
The rest of the month was bizzare: I had cases investigating corruption in a summer camp for telepaths and had to wear a special cap to avoid getting brain-probed by curious zealots...
Platinum #29: Psychonauts (PS2 Classic for PS4) (December 2)
This was another game I enjoyed on the PS2 when it came out there. It was weird and difficult but fun at the same time. Double Fine was really one heck of a gaming company and I hope the rumors of a sequel are true! ^_^
Then I ended up in some bizarre world of chibi-people called Grymoire where a cactus conducts a train and people live with Final Fantasy monsters...
Platinum #30: World of Final Fantasy (PS4) (December 2)
My gawd, I love this game - I've lost faith in Final Fantasy but this game's chibi versions of famous Final Fantasy heroes and settings and the story of two teenage siblings who find out they can control the monsters(aka Mirages) and set out to find their family and memories took many twists and turns and, in the end, was beautiful. (I wanted to keep the game to try out the Kingdom Hearts DLC but I had to fund my MMO addiction. :( ) Hardest trophy: Collecting all of the treasure chests.
I ended up in the LEGO universe again, only this time it was a dire situation - an alien being sought to control the power of the LEGOs. I did what I could and rallied together all of the LEGO realms.
Platinum #31: LEGO Dimensions (PS4) (December 7)
This is one toy platform I am going to gift my nephew when I am done with all the DLC; I spent good money on the starter pack! I also got the Fantastic Beasts story pack for my birthday and enjoyed it, almost makes me want to see the movie! I will buy future packs for 100% completion eventually. The speed run through the PORTAL level was a bit tricky but I got through it. Everything else was easy.
(Since you won't get all the abilities without packs, the platinum doesn't require you to get 100%.)
I sat down with my mythology book again and read about a story where the bad guys win, but then a heroic builder rebuilt the world and defeated the monsters, even though he didn't have any power of his own. A touching story.
Platinum #32: Dragon Quest Builders (Vita) (December 17)
The reason I waited until December 17 to platinum this game was because that was the date of the original Japanese PS Vita launch. But I could have gotten the platinum at any time. The one challenge to complete the chapter in a certain amount of game days is trivialized by CSVFF and his guides to complete the speed challenges by managing resources. I strongly suggest you check it out if you are trying for the platinum of this game. Also, this game and World of Final Fantasy have a shared trophy list so it doesn't matter which version you get your trophies on, although World of Final Fantasy PS4 is easier to grind in. If you love Terraria, you'll love this game.
My next case was investigating a series of murders done by a hitman but the trail grew very cold.
Platinum #33: Hitman GO (Vita) (December 18)
I started working on a project to earn platinums which had the first letter of their titles spell out a word. This word was PIKACHU. I wouldn't have touched this game otherwise. It's a very easy game if you follow a guide on the Internet for the puzzles. The miscellaneous trophies are a no-brainer.
I then investigated Seattle for rumors of paranormal entities, but the investigation became a battlefield and I barely escaped with my life.
Platinum #34: inFAMOUS: Second Son (PS4) (December 22)
Created by the same guys who made Sly Cooper, this game was part of a series about people who gained super-powers from absorbing energy. I was warned that the first two games in the series were really bad so I avoided them. I avoided this game as well but eventually had to play it as there were very few games starting with "I" for my PIKACHU project. I was in luck - one of my favorite Let's Players, kalonzombie, did a Let's Play of this game on both paths. I did the Evil path first, on Easy, to get it out of the way, then I did the Good path on Expert. Despite dying a lot, I managed to get the hang of the super-powers and eventually got everything. A very interesting game and I might try First Light if I need another "I" game. :)
Christmas came and went and, with the year winding down, I decided to curl up with that old book one final time. I read about a hero who journeyed the land to stop a vile empire from using the power of a magical tree called the Tree of Mana. It was very romantic and fantastic.
Platinum #35: Adventures of Mana (Vita) (December 30)
Probably one of the most memorable platinums I earned... this game is a remake of Final Fantasy Adventure
, an ancient game for the Game Boy which was a gaiden spin-off of the Final Fantasy series which morphed into the Seiken Densetsu series, which had classics like Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana. I did miss a couple of things and had to backtrack but the game wasn't too hard as the last platinum of 2016. ^_^
"10.... 9... 8....!"
As the final countdown began, I thought about what I would do in my future. I drained the last of my soda and tossed the bottle in the trash, smiling at my trophy cabinet. I had come so very far and earned so many plaques of honor for my services. I knew I had so many adventures to go on in the upcoming years. I nodded and opened the shades to watch the fireworks.
"3... 2... 1...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"
The fireworks went off as 2017 officially began... and I smiled and adjusted my cap, grabbed my coat and went out of the door to join the festivities in the streets below.
"2017, you'd better be ready, as the Detective Prince is coming!"
Have a happy new year, everyone, and here's to more platinums! ^_^
