PSN Platinum Trophy Thoughts No.211 - No.220

Original post:
https://forum.psnprofiles.com/topic/81083-astray404s-trophy-shelf/

#211 - Astro’s Playroom

Difficulty: 2/10

A short masterpiece that introduces the versatility of the new PS5 controller. Easter eggs that cover from classic PS titles such as FF7 and MGS to newer ones. Time attack stages are also fun to play without stressing out players. A great start for your PS5 playing and it is highly recommended for everyone.

#212 - Hello Neighbor 2

Difficulty: 4/10

Somehow I found this game pretty confusing without a guide the first time I tried to play it. There are houses everywhere but which one shall I enter first? Some of them are not even interactable. My confusion continued until I learned that quick-reloading the game will bring you to the next level immediately. However, once enter the “correct” house, the gameplay experience is much better. Game designers state that they implemented AI to control NPCs’ actions, but those NPCs may still act stupidly which is fun to tease them a bit.

#213 - Genshin Impact

Difficulty: 5/10

It took me about 2 months to obtain the plat trophy but I feel worth it to do so. It is already 4.6 so I would expect that the Spiral Abyss would be harder than before, but with Neuvillette and Arlecchino it is not that hard to beat 12F. Overall it is not a bad game, though other than the main and side quests it might be frustrating when collecting Oculi and Chests.

+ Side quests and areas that are fun to play, such as the Chasm (underground) and Tsurumi Island

- Only 4 event wishes in one month, which means that you may wait more than a year to pull your fav characters

- Collectable runs are frustrating, and other than collectables there’s nothing much you could interact with the world after finishing all main and side quests

- Artifact farming is also horrible

#214 - Cat Quest

Difficulty: 4/10

As an indie game, the actional gameplay and combination of magic and melee attacks make it simple to handle but also fun to play, reminding me of the Mana series a little bit.

+ Amazing music

+ Exciting boss battles, although overall the game is not difficult

- The healing magic does not heal that much

- It would be better if there were more categories of melee weapons to choose from (such as bows and lances)

#215 - Cat Quest II

Difficulty: 3/10

This game is more like an expansion than a sequel. Other than the new weapon system, I have nothing to comment on.

#216 - Horizon Forbidden West

Difficulty: 4/10

When game development of open-world games morphs into assembly lines, the development procedure will become an insoluble dilemma between designing contents delicately but with a much longer time allocated, and fully stuffing replaceable contents such as cliche minigames and tedious side quests to save time for developing. Unfortunately, this game fills into the last category.

+ Extensive melee combo system, although 90% of the time you will never use it

+ Cauldron exploration

- Mini-games such as Machine Strike force you to watch a video guide

- Blue objects for the grappling hook blend into the environment, which is hard to detect for tritanomaly players like me

#217 - Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

Difficulty: 2/10

Playing this on PS5 instead of PC will lose 50% of pleasure since messing around with game asset files brings easter eggs also. Overall, adding meta elements to the game makes it creative, though it probably won’t rank in the top tiers among all AVG I’ve played since the story in detail is not that appealing. (Not to mention that lots of AVG do include meta elements in the story)

#218 - Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

Difficulty: 4/10

I really wish that SE could release an official controller that is identical to the TFFAC controller for this game since playing purple charts (ultimate difficulty?) is almost torture to my hands.

+ More than 300 songs in total, with DLC songs from other titles

+ Most quests are fun to challenge

+ Leveling a character from 1 to 99 is not that grindy which brings a variety of team builds

- Controller issues. It is hard to keep pressing L1 and R1 while holding two joysticks

#219 - Astro Bot

Difficulty: 6/10

What a shame that Sony closed the Japan Studio years ago. It is hard to find a game delicately designed for a console these days, especially for PS5. As a celebration of PlayStation’s 30th Anniversary, this game presents solid gameplay and maximizes the capabilities of the DualSense controller. Overall this game is as amazing as Super Mario Galaxy, though it could be better to add one or two more worlds.

+ Combination of the DualSense’s full power with game mechanics, such as the adaptive triggers and the microphone

+ It is good to see some old friends like Ulala and Reiko Nagase

+ Challenge stages are fun to play, especially the Master Challenge Stage

+ The mecha-bird could save lots of time on collectable items

- 20 hours of gameplay is a little short on content

#220 - DJMax Technika Tune

Difficulty: 5/10

This could be the most disgusting platinum trophy I got this year (so far). The S+ rank on Club Mode is not the most nasty one. Instead, the lv.99 trophy, the 99999 combo trophy, and the 999 song cleared trophy are. To prolong the time of gaming, these trophies force you to grind and grind, forever. Fortunately, some songs/maps are enjoyable to play, making the progress less tedious a little bit.

Personal favourite songs:

• The MAX
• Silent Clarity
• Back to Life
• Y
• Cozy Quilt
• Dual Strikers
• AD2222
• Kung-Fu Rider
• My Heart, My Soul

+ Good music

- Too grindy

- On my Vita PCH-2000, double notes sometimes will not be registered even if I press them correctly

- The screen seems too small that notes of low-BPM songs are hard to read, although I might take this as a “feature” for music games