For anyone who missed the earlier posts that explained this, I am replaying every PS3 game I own and am trying to get through it all before the PS4 launches on November 15th. I own about 40 disc based games that I counted for this, though technically there are over 40 games I am playing through.
At the end of July, I had finished 13/40 titles, with the last of the month being Far Cry 3. In August, I completed another 17, bringing my total to 30/40 complete, with God Of War III being the last of that month. So how did September go?
I began this month with Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite. I played through both, picking up some of the piece of how exactly the two might directly intertwine, which I may share in detail with you all later. Both games are fantastic experiences that really help define this generation. Following that, I moved on to Portal 2. Shockingly, it was even better than I remembered it to be. Every ounce of humor possible was squeezed into this game as though it were from a lemon, and then the lemons themselves that were leftover were converted to grenades and thrown at whomever thought it was a good idea to give Cave Johnson lemons.
After that I played the Uncharted trilogy, back to back to back. To my surprise, I actually wasn't sick of it at any point. I found myself still engaged and having fun throughout all of Nathan Drake & friends' adventures, and even managed to suffer through Crushing difficulty on the third game and gain the platinum for it. So I now have platinums for each game in the trilogy, bringing my total to like 17 or 18, I don't remember exactly.
After I was done looting through the coffins and tombs of ancient explorers, I switched it up by looting through the coffins and tombs of ancient assassins in Assassin's Creed II. Still easily the best game in the franchise, I found it hard to stay focused on speed-running it as was my original intention. Renaissance Italy is just so damn inviting in that game, but I still found the modern bits and the boundaries of where the animus lets you go to be annoying as shit. Especially when my map is telling me that a codex page is literally ten feet away, just on the other side of a boundary that would persist for three chapters of the game. But overall, still loved it.
Following that I engrossed myself in Skyrim. Like a true indecissive bastard, I started four or five times over while debating if I should focus on magica or weapons, and which race to play as. Finally I settled on simply being a Nord who specializes in two handed weapons. Once again, I had originally intended to simply play through the main quest and do a handful of side missions when they were convenient, but I quickly became lost in the world of Skyrim. I conquered every dungeon I came across, and spent a day on the civil war questline. But ultimately I refocused myself and went back to the main quest without going into many others. I wanted to really see the game in a stripped down way; to appreciate just how much there was in this game that wasn't on the main storyline. After defeating Alduin, it set in just how large this game really is, and I've already put 100 hours in once before. Eventually, I will upgrade to the Legendary edition and start the whole thing over again.
With my list narrowing, I turned next to the Mass Effect Trilogy. Much like Skyrim, I decided I wanted to see this world as basically as I could, because I never had before. I always saved everyone, as Paragon or Renegade. I wanted to find out exactly how drastically this world would changed for a Paragon without all the survivors. Without any of the side missions or their consequences carrying over. I discovered something shocking (to me) about Mass Effect 1: it's actually possible to play through the entire first game without ever encountering Cerberus! Given how important they are to the plot of the sequels, I thought for sure at least one of those encounters was on a main mission, but they were not. Despite this, Shepherd still has the ability to hold conversations early in ME2 completely aware of who Cerberus is, and referencing encounters in the past game that never happened. That's kind of amazing. I did fail in my overall objective, because I saved Wrex. Again. But for ME2, I decided I would do no loyalty missions, so I will not encounter him at all in ME2. I wasn't going to wake Grunt at all either, but I got confused when the collector ship mission wasn't prompting after 4 missions past Horizon (it triggers after 5, I just lost count), and thought maybe I had to wake him up. So as far as Krogans go, I keep screwing up. But on everyone else's count, I'm about to find the Reaper IFF without a single loyal teammate, and I will not wake Legion. I think I can finish ME2 by tomorrow at the latest, so I'm going to go ahead and include it with my September triumphs.
So now, there's just three games left for me to conquer in October: ME3, Fallout 3, and MGS4. Once those are done, I will go back and do more with LBP 2 since I only did community levels before. In any case, this should be a piece of cake to wrap up before the PS4 and XB1 come out.
Here's the full list, with everything I've completed crossed out. Remember, I'm starting at the bottom and working my way up (worst to best).
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
- Fallout 3
Mass EffectTrilogyThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimAssassin's Creed IIUncharted 3: Drake's DeceptionUncharted 2: Among ThievesUncharted: Drake's FortunePortal 2Bioshock Infinite / BioshockGod Of War SagaDead SpaceRed Dead RedemptionMortal KombatLittleBigPlanet 2Batman: Arkham AsyluminFamousKillzone 3Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSaints Row The ThirdRock Band 2The Orange BoxDead Space 2Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In TimeFallout: New VegasMetal Gear Rising: RevengeanceHitman: AbsolutionFar Cry 3inFamous 2Killzone 2L.A. NoirePlayStation All Stars Battle RoyaleResistance 3Borderlands 2Deus Ex: Human RevolutionBatman: Arkham CityDead Space 3StarhawkNeed For Speed: Hot PursuitBrütal Legend
If anybody else actually did get on board with this idea, let us know how your progress is coming along too.
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“Never underestimate the human capacity for being disappointing.”
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On This Day In Music (September 28th)
Never Say Die! by Black Sabbath released on September 28th, 1978. Also released on this day:
- Hall Of The Mountain King by Savatage (1987)
- Advance And Vanquish by 3 Inches Of Blood (2004)
- After Forever by After Forever (2007)
- Show And Tell by Silvertide (2004)