Chindie

We were immense today.

We made Newcastle look dire. The score flatters them. It easily, easily could have been 6 or 7.

This team is brilliant. Emery is elite level. This is a side with Ashley Young collecting his pension before kick off at RB. Watkins, couldn't score in a brothel, never in the box, turns into one of the best strikers in the league. Ming's playing the best football of his career arguably. Luiz goes from nearly being sold to being one of the best midfielders in the league. McGinn goes from looking a bit broken under the fraud to a complete menace of a midfielder who does everything. Ramsey is suddenly a seasoned box to box goal threat and knife like ball carrier. And the one big signing made, a 29yo left back in the shape of Moreno, has been revelatory.

Up the fucking Villa.

Newcastle have been absolutely schooled today.

UTV

I fucking love this team.

YES

Fuck off

Guimaraes appears unable to get a card.

We've absolutely destroyed Newcastle. The scoreline is saving their blushes.

Please Villa. Please don't regret not putting some of these chances away. Please beat these bastards.

Surviving Edged Weapons is a work of art.

The video on Vader's suit was what introduced them to me, and me and my partner can watch it and be in tears laughing within a couple of minutes.

Isn't there pretty constant talk of WB Games being for sale? I wouldn't be surprised if the top of that company is a complete basket case at the moment.

The issue, as said above, is the game is fundamentally just not one that people are enthused about. You can't fix that. The foundation of the game is not one that's going to sell gangbusters or blow people away. They made a mistake in the very earliest decisions they made (no doubt at the behest of the suits who want to nickel and dime every title).

Sadly those bad decisions could be fatal. Rocksteady hasn't put a title out for so long that they might not be able to take a flop, and given some big figures at the studio have left...

It says something about this game that one of my 'highlights' from playing came in the Water Hall section where Ashley goes off to raise the platforms and you have to defend her.

I was low on health, low on ammo, and not the greatest of shots. I was fighting off the monks coming for me when Ashley screams. I managed to put down the immediate threat to me, swing my aim to her, in panic hit the monk carrying her in the leg, he lets get go, and my panicked firing gets a second shot off that hits her clean in the head. Best headshot of the run. Wrong head.

Quit. Reload.

I got linked to this video the other day. It's a negative review that also essentially castigates games journalism and game design. I kinda hate it. 

It's one of those videos where a fanboy can't accept that the original has some flaws, or things that push away some players, or things that the industry moved away from... Down to the frankly maddening 'the old one looks better', which is the hallmark of the loss of any sense of balance.

28 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

And done!

 

 

(How is the rank decided?)

 

I died six times in total and did all the side-quests. I got all bar one of the bastard Castellans, too.

 

I'm hungry for more, so I think I'm going to immediately play through it again, but I'm undecided on what to do. I was thinking of going straight into a hardcore NG+ run with all of my equipment, but just handguns and knives sounds fun.

 

What would you recommend @Chindie, and anyone else who has completed it multiple times already?

If you want to platinum it you need (amongst the other random trophies)

A 100% run (all treasures all merchant requests all Castellans)

A handgun and knives only run

A no merchant run

A no healing run

Finish on Pro with an A rank

Finish on Standard with an S+ rank

Finish on Hardcore with an S+ rank

So... Do a 100% run which will also let you unlock the Primal knife.

It's best to combine the handgun and knives run with a no merchant run, and the best way to do that is with the fully upgraded Primal knife and a fully upgraded handgun on NG+. The best way to do that is to buy the primal knife in the bonus menu, reload a save from the last merchant in Chapter 16, buy the knife and upgrade it to the max, upgrade your pistol to the max, do the boss again, and go to NG+. With that set up you'll blitz through until about the back half of the castle, then it gets a bit harder. You can use some other weapons at specific points and not void the run - the machine gun turrets on the island for instance.

It's good to have the armour for Ashley which unlocks with an A rank Hardcore run.

Then do the Pro A rank using the infinite rocket launcher. That unlocks the Chicago sweeper which upgraded fully is infinite ammo.

The S+ ranks need you to complete a new game within 5hrs (5.5hrs on Hardcore).

You also need to get the handcannon for the platinum, the best way to get this is S rank all 3 Merc maps. This is quite easy, just play to unlock Hunk and then go wild.

Dean Smith returns to the Premier League with the task of saving Leicester.

And platinumed. 

What a fucking game.

Hardcore S+ rank done. Another skin of the teeth one but managed it with about 2 minutes to spare.

Just the one trophy left - I need to either S+ rank the 3 Mercenaries maps or complete a Pro run without any special weapons. I know I can do the latter but it'll be a slog. I'm not very good at Mercenaries. I dunno whether I commit to learning Mercs or use that time to just crack on through the Pro run...

It's still a big ask but we have to fancy ourselves for it. We're putting in seriously professional performances at the moment.

23 minutes ago, davidcotton said:

Not missing Gerrard then? 😛

We miss him in the same way you miss having norovirus.

6th!

6th!

Standard S+ rank run complete. By the absolute skin of my teeth. Came out of the Krauser fight with 22mins left. Basically ran constantly, stopping only to heal, thankfully got lucky with the helicopter section and managed to run through to the boss fight with a rocket launcher already bought so just about did it with barely a minute or so left on the clock. The cinematic walk section feels about a million years long when you're clock watching...

Hardcore feels doable now.

No heal run done. 

Professional run done. S rank, about 4hrs30. Infinite rocket launcher run. Makes the game ludicrously easy bar a couple of points where it arguably makes things harder on some respects (the castle water room particularly). But very fun.

Probably going to go for a no heal assisted run next.

I don't think I've got it in me to S+rank a run sadly so won't plat it 

Cooper is in the waiting room to be sacked. Which is harsh but that's the game now.

Since Emery was appointed, only Arsenal and Citeh have picked up more points than Villa.

It says a lot about how fucking dire Gerrard was that despite that stat, we only got into the top half on Saturday, and Emery hasn't really changed the squad much - he bought a LB, Moreno, over from Spain, brought Traore back from loan, and a prospect for the future in Duran who has barely played so far. The change in the side is revelatory and even when we aren't playing well you fancy us to scrap for it still.

7th.

7th.

7th!