Platinum #131 - Dirt 5

Platinum Difficulty Rating - 3/10

It will always pain me to feel like I'm being overly critical of games within series that I've hugely advocated for in the past. I have 5 previous Dirt titles within my collection, all completed to 100% and it's still one of my favourite racing series of all time.

So it gives me no pleasure to declare that Dirt 5 is definitely a dip in form for the series. That can be taken as a positive inditement to the strength of the games that have come before it, but even looking at it from that perspective, there's just too much that misses with Dirt 5.

The biggest standout disappointment is the lack of content on offer. The Career mode is lengthy, and robust in terms of the volume of races, but it practically makes up the entirety of the game.

There's an Arcade and Time Trial mode for recreational free-racing, as well as an Online mode to fulfil the Multiplayer obligations, but there's just no depth and these modes are also practically completely excluded from the trophy list. Why is my only option within the public Online mode to instantly matchmake and end up being thrown into a completely random race? No event/car class preferences, no ability to set up my own public lobby with my own race parameters and settings, no ability to choose to play my favourite party game modes. Just completely restricted and devoid of choice.

The new Playgrounds mode allows users to create, share and play each others creations, and this is a nice touch if you're into this sort of thing. However, like all games that open their doors to user-generated content, you get the good, bad and the ugly, and once you've played a couple of tracks and realise there's nothing worth while awaiting your investment other than a spot on a couple of leaderboards, the novelty quickly wears off.

Even the Career mode, where you'll spend most of your time if you're gunning for the Platinum trophy, has it faults. The story is told through the recordings of a Podcast called Donut, with intermissions between events including soundbites from interviews between racers and personal ramblings from the hosts. The dialogue is just annoying and cringey, and I'd honestly just prefer a complete omission of it altogether.

There are still some positives though. The environments are vibrant, full of colour and excellently contrasted and the variety of terrains and weather conditions are perfectly captured. From the bi-polar sun-kissed, drenched rainforests of Brazil to the icy, rocky mountains of Norway - this has always been the most consistent strength of Dirt games, and really showcases the graphical capabilities of the console.

The gameplay will feel like it leans too far across towards an arcade vibe for some, but I've always felt like the Dirt games have favoured this option on the whole outside of Dirt Rally. It felt like the more technical aspects of racing simulation were reserved for the Rallying games in the series, and Dirt just allowed for that extra flexibility. I've never been a huge fan of heavy levels of customisation via vehicle tuning and modifications, and choosing colour schemes and liveries is about as detailed as customisation goes, which is fine by me.

There is a healthy selection of different vehicle types from different eras. Rally cars, Trucks, Buggies from the 80's, 90's and Modern day - It's a solid collection and they all they handle differently depending on their size, statistics and age. However, despite a few shining positives, it is the weakest entry into the Dirt series to date for me, just purely for how stripped back and shallow everything feels compared to before.

The step back even extends to the trophy list, with just 21 trophies on offer within the base game.

As mentioned, the trophy list is very heavily focused towards the Career mode, which sees you start your racing journey as a rookie under the tutelage of Alex Janicek (AJ). He is looking for you to progress to the very top and take down Bruno Durand, an untouchable, longstanding rival within the Motorsport community.

To do this, you'll need to progress through a series of different events, unlocking Showdowns against rivals, taking them down one by one until you reach Bruno Durand in the Grand Finale. It's a very familiar template that's been replicated in previous games in the series.

The "No Event Left Behind" trophy, awarded for Completing every Career Event will take you through practically the entirety of this whole list. Specifically, there are 125 events to get through, and the list does not require you to even win every event for the Platinum trophy. This has been a normal requirement in previous Dirt games, but to fulfil the obligation of this trophy, you merely just need to progress via collecting stamps.

There are 375 stamps to collect throughout the Career - 3 for each of the 125 events on offer. Stamp requirements are tied to the event objectives within the event, and these can be as simple as performing 10 overtakes or exceeding a certain speed limit at any point during the race. The more stamps you collect, the more events you'll open up and this is the key to reaching the end of the game. The game does not set an expectation of you to win and you can even re-roll event objectives until you see a list of objectives you're happy to tackle.

There aren't any difficulty sensitive trophies at play here either, and you can choose to play on more challenging difficulties if you wish, but I would question what the point is when the progress of the game is not determined by winning or losing. I played on hard, which is one level off from the toughest difficulty, and still found the game fairly trouble-free, but the lack of motivation to truly push myself due to the low-commitment nature of the trophy list made it difficult for me to see beyond this game as anything more than just an exercise of progression.

The AI is very passive too. Most drivers will behave like they're normal road-obeying users and even on the harder difficulty, there is a very distinct lack of aggression shown by the rest of the field. It just fits in line with the whole vibe of the game being an overly-casual experience with no real sense of drive to push you on to feel challenged in any way.

It really couldn't be much easier, and I do feel like the overall vibe of the game, right down to the trophy list, has been designed to make it as accessible to as many people as possible. I don't have an issue with this, but I also believe there should be a challenge to be sought for those who want it, and it doesn't even seem like you can do that.

The 125 events are well covered, with 8 different disciplines providing further variety across a range of different locations, track variations and vehicle classes. I just wish it promoted more of a challenge and I had 98% of all trophies unlocked by the time I had reached the end and finally unlocked this trophy, which put me just 1 trophy away from the Platinum. It wasn't too surprising, given the small size of the list, but it also evidences how heavily favourable this list is towards the Career mode and how you can practically beat the entire list through some light, natural progression.

There are a couple of trophies dedicated to actions within Playground mode and exploring vehicle customisation options, but this requires light dabbling at best, and barely worth mentioning. There are no trophies dedicated to the Arcade or Online portions of this game whatsoever. From a personal perspective, this is a huge disappointment for me because Dirt games have produced some fun journeys through online trophies in the past, and it's sad to see it neglected entirely for this instalment to the series.

As a consequence of this, there are no other notable trophies to mention - After all, why would there be when you can unlock 98% of the entire list through striving towards just a single trophy? There is a slight bit of deviation into other modes, but the majority of the the list is very progression-heavy, and you'll fulfil everything you need to by the time you beat that final event and conclude the journey. It's quite a rare occurrence to unlock so much of a list without even really having to think about it or plan ahead.

Even with my best attempts to artificially inflate the challenge by aiming to come first in each event, I still sit here and question whether or not I can justify this Platinum even being as high as 3/10 in difficulty. My save file clocks in at just over 47 hours, which makes it a reasonably lengthy game, and if nothing else, there is at least a respectable amount of legwork required to make it through to the end.

However, there are alot of combined elements that allow you to almost sleep-walk through this entire list. A lack of necessity to win races, underwhelming opposition, a high volume of purely progression-based trophies and a rigid trophy list that lacks depth. Despite having a chunky time-sink, it doesn't really break any boundaries elsewhere.

It does make for a really disappointing list, especially when you look back at previous Dirt games and their trophy lists, which always promoted extensive exploration of multiple game modes and encouraged a wider participation of the Online parts of the game, which is always where Dirt really excelled for me. 

There is a part of me that believes they knew their extra-curricular modes outside of the Career were a bit too bare and dysfunctional, so they made a conscious decision to exclude them from the trophy list. As a result, it makes for a very easy Platinum, and Dirt 5 is not a bad game - It's just not forward progress for the series.

Notable Trophies -

No Event Left Behind - Complete every Career Event.

Hardest Trophy -

No Event Left Behind

Complete every Career Event

DLC #182 - Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course 1

Whilst I appreciate I was somewhat late on arrival, and therefore, did not have to come to terms with fully waiting for half a decade for some form of additional content, it's still a peculiar set of circumstances to see post-game content arrive so late.

It's bizarre if only for the fact that 5 years is longer than a typical development cycle for a full game, let alone a single piece of downloadable content.

From the less-cynical perspective, The Delicious Last Course is just a little bit more Cuphead, and that will never be a bad thing. There are some notable additions, mainly the fact you can now play as Ms Chalice - whose ghostly figure has been trapped in the Astral Plane. Cuphead and Mugman are promised by Chef Saltbaker that if they can defeat Inkwell Isle IV's selection of bosses, and collect all the necessary ingredients from them, he can bake a recipe that will release her.

Ms Chalice isn't just a re-skin though - She comes with her own unique abilities and superpowers. She has an invincibility roll, which, if timed right, can pass through and evade any attack - Something Cuphead and Mugman do not possess. She can also double jump which often gives you greater ability to avoid attacks, and her parry mechanic involves pressing R2 to dash-parry, rather than X. You can still choose to use Cuphead and Mugman if you prefer, but Ms Chalice offers a fresher experience.

There are also a range of new weapons to purchase from Porkgrind's shop to use in the small selection of fresh boss battles, as well as an alternative to the Run N' Gun levels of before in the form of the King's Gauntlet, which sees you play through a selection of mini-bosses akin to the pieces found on a chess board. The catch is, you can only pass the level using the parry mechanic, and offensive weaponry is barred from this mode. It's clever and a nice change of pace from the regular game.

Now for the more cynical perspective. For something that took 5 years post-release of the main-game, it does feel very limited. The new selection of bosses are excellently vintage. Wild, full of character, cleverly presented and provide a chaotic experience with every fight, but there are just 6 of them to get through before you've exhausted all the content on offer.

I'd managed to go through all these bosses within a couple of hours, and this included most of the King's Gauntlet too. The trophy list promotes a healthy amount of replay value here, and there is still great intrinsic satisfaction to be had going back through some of these boss fights on the toughest difficulty to A-Rank them, but it definitely leaves you wishing there was just a bit more to it all, and that viewpoint of mixed appraisal should be taken as a testament to the quality of the game and the high standards it had set for itself.

Regarding the trophies, there are 12 in total to earn, and this list mainly fits within the same standards as the main game.

Progressing the questline and defeating all 6 bosses in order to recover all the key ingredients for Chef Saltbaker's recipe is where most of the focus lies, and there is a pro-active promotion of Ms Chalice within the trophies, with a couple of dedicated tasks specific to her so it makes sense to choose to play as her whilst you progress the questline. You will sacrifice your charm slot due to the fact you have to equip the Astral Cookie charm in order to play as Ms Chalice, but her stronger ability set compared to Cuphead and Mugman offsets this nicely.

The "Ranger" trophy, awarded for Obtaining an A-Rank or Higher on all bosses in Inkwell Isle IV, is the exact same standard set for defeating bosses as the main list, and whilst there is a noticeable continuity in the difficulty of bosses carried over from the end of the main game, this shouldn't be too much of an issue if you have already earned the Platinum trophy.

It's also definitely worth looking into the range of new weapons offered up for purchase in Porkrind's shop. Once I'd purchased the Crackshot ability, the challenge to strive towards an A-Rank for each boss became noticeably more manageable, due to it's auto-lock nature. You can win the coins to purchase these abilities via the King's Gauntlet, which you'll need to progress through separately for a couple of extra trophies within the list anyway.

You'll only have access to the "Simple" and "Regular" difficulties for each boss from the outset, and beating them on "Regular" will unlock "Expert". However, you can still earn an A-Rank on "Regular" difficulty - albeit an A- rating - though this does still count towards the Ranger trophy, so there isn't a necessity to unlock and beat each boss on it's hardest difficulty mode. However, you will also need to beat just 1 boss to an S-Rank, which can only be done on the hardest difficulty.

The biggest thing that makes Cuphead so endearing is the fact that it's the sort of game that relies on the right kind of trial and error. The bad version of this involves tons of randomness, broken game logic and usually only rewards the player success through luck or fortune. The good version involves mastering pre-set attack patterns, but still tweaked enough to include a little element of randomness to keep you on your toes and realisation that the reward comes through practice.

If you're like me, and you already had the Platinum trophy, you'll probably jump straight back into this without having to negotiate a learning curve, beat the bosses with relative ease and even go back through to obtain the A-Rank for each of them after purchasing a few key abilities, ultimately finding this fairly trouble-free. Including the King's Gauntlet, and a couple of miscellaneous trophies in-between, I reckon you could wrap this whole package up within 5-6 hours.

It's a nicely balanced piece of content, with enough of a challenge to keep you on your toes, but not to the point where it hits some of the lofty difficulty heights of the main game. It is a shame there wasn't a bit more to it, but it's great whilst it lasts.

DLC #181 - Metal Gear Rising : Revengeance - Sam's Side Story

Going from an extension of Metal Gear Solid VR Missions into some story-based content felt like a very welcome change of pace on face value. The reality of what you get is straight out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

I think Metal Gear Rising : Revengeance is a great game, but I'm tired of it's deficiencies and constant desire to just be unreasonably difficult all the time.

Challenging content is absolutely fine, but when the challenge involves running into the same issues that have always plagued the game and leave you feeling completely at the mercy of luck, then it dampens the experience, and these are the things I'm eventually going to remember this game for, which is a shame.

Sam's Side Story is a brief experience that tells the tale of how Jetstream Sam came to join the Desperado's, and how this ties into his relationship with Senator Armstrong.

It's a cool twist to be able to take control of a different character aside from Raiden, and Jetstream Sam definitely has his own learning curve. He feels a bit clunkier and less mobile than Raiden, and sacrifices the ability to vault over obstacles for a double jump and mid-air dash. The effectiveness of his attacks is also determined on the ability to "taunt" enemies, through pressing up on the D-pad, which makes them susceptible to more damage, but in turn, enhances their attack power too.

Given the fact the side story is roughly 2 hours in length, there are no extensive customisation options for Sam, and he only has access to one weapon - The HF Murasama Blade he wields against Raiden within the main game.

I thought the concept of playing from the perspective of a different character was a neat idea, but there isn't a lot of depth without the same level of customisation options present, and you'll encounter the same enemies - including the 3 boss fights - as you did in the main game, all spread out across the same environments. It's a little bit disappointing, but the fast and frenetic gameplay is still hugely engaging at least.

There are 4 trophies in total, and you'll grab half of them by just completing the episode for the first time and cumulatively killing 100 enemies across multiple playthroughs, but the other half bring the pain in wholesome amounts;

Master of the Wind - Complete DL-Story 01: Jetstream on Revengeance difficulty in one hour or less.
You're Hired - Defeat Sen. Armstrong without taking any damage on Hard difficulty or above.

The "Master of the Wind" trophy, awarded for Completing DL-Story 01: Jetstream on Revengeance difficulty in one hour or less, is effectively the warm up for what's to come later, but still felt like it was harder than it should have been.

The aggressive rules of Revengeance difficulty still apply for this DLC package. Enemies are still tougher, dealing blows that can kill you in one hit and fighting against larger groups can really see the odds stacked against you.

I attempted this trophy straight after beating the story once, and quickly came to a couple of realisations;

The first one is the fact that, you have to use the "restart" feature to your advantage. An hour really isn't alot of time in the context of a side story that takes only 2 hours to finish, and every time you die, your previous time is counted towards this total - Unless you pause and restart from checkpoint, which resets the time. This can be tough to negotiate on Revengeance difficultly, where it's so easy to get killed quickly without the chance to hit pause and restart, and I ran into a couple of segments where this was happening too frequently, and gradually accumulating time that I couldn't get back, so I had to re-strategise.

Therefore, this forced me to switch my approach by running through the story on easy difficulty and collecting enough nanopaste to carry forward into a fresh Revengeance run. This would not only provide me some insurance in the event of near death, and therefore, giving me a chance to restart where I needed it, but it also actually allowed me to progress. Another issue I was finding was that I was just getting destroyed during segments with tougher enemies, and needed the nanopaste to just get through the challenge - Another reminder of the unforgiving nature of this game.

Frustrating to have to do it this way, as it added a fair amount of unnecessary rework, but the worst was still to come. 

The "You're Hired" trophy, awarded for Defeating Sen. Armstrong without taking any damage on Hard difficulty or above, is where this challenge really lies. 

This was a staple trophy within the main list, appearing 5 times for every main boss battle you encounter within the story. The Monsoon and Senator Armstrong fights are notoriously difficult, and it's hard to believe there was any further room to squeeze out a more difficult challenge, but it's no doubt the toughest boss fight to beat without taking damage in the entire game, and many of the reservations I've had about Metal Gear Rising : Revengeance can easily be summarised within this trophy alone.

The biggest issue here is the fact that, simply put, the fight is just broken. This version of Senator Armstrong is slightly different to the version you fight as Raiden within the main story, and whilst you can still expect to see mostly the same attacks, there are a few new ones to account for. However, this isn't the main problem, and the new attacks are easy to understand and develop a combat strategy in order to contain them.

The problem is the fact the attack patterns are wildly unpredictable and glitchy, which does not follow the normal pattern of boss fights within the main game, and when attempting to beat a boss without taking any damage where the margin for error is zero, this becomes hugely troublesome.

The key to success with these boss fights is all about learning the predictable nature of the attack patterns, after which point it just becomes a matter of getting the timing right to parry and counter these attacks, and for whatever reason, this is completely abandoned within this particular battle. Senator Armstrong suddenly has no predictability with the moves he chooses and there is no logic to the fight. A few of the unblockable attacks are also really badly designed - For example, he has a fierce charging attack that can go back and forth anywhere between 3 and 6 times. It's meant to travel in a straight line and pass directly through you, but on the odd occasion it'll whip around in a circle and become impossible to evade. I'm not sure if it's just a glitch or purposeful, but either way, it compounds an already frustrating experience to see these sudden inconsistencies.

It also effectively means that the route to success alters from being about learning and understanding battle patterns, to pure luck. I never felt at any point throughout this fight that I was in control of the outcome, and it ultimately boiled down to relying on seeing a specific move set play out that includes many of his easy attacks to safeguard against.

It's also worth noting that there are 2 phases to this fight, which split at 50% of Senator Armstrong's health. In the second phase, Senator Armstrong's arsenal contains alot of grabbing attacks that cannot be parried and have to be dodged, so the fight suddenly becomes much less combat-centric. I've rarely had to use the dodge mechanics so aggressively prior to this, so to have a sudden learning curve this deep into the experience made this second phase feel like a few extra notches up in difficulty.

It took me 2 sessions to earn this trophy, with around 4 hours dedicated to phase 1 of the fight, and around 7 hours dedicated to phase 2. I genuinely feel like this is a open-ended timescale, based on my firm belief that the biggest factor of success here is luck. There are effective ways to combat individual attacks, but with no obvious attack patterns at play and some cheap, unavoidable range of moves, it's a genuine struggle that many won't persevere with.

And yes, the camera is still absolutely awful in this game when it comes to directional parrying.