Sacred Symbols+, Episode XXX: Tactical

Man, that's brutal. A 120 hour loss is harsh.

Colin Moriarty

Thanks for writing in!

Colin Moriarty

I don't mind collectible Trophies. Missables I'm split on. I think it really matters how long the game is, what kind of game it is, if you can chapter select, etc.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, that's a good one.

Colin Moriarty

Germans can't do anything right. LOL.

Colin Moriarty

I played Person 5 (my first traditional JRPG) for about 120 hours when I got stuck on the archangel mini bosses before what I assume was the end of the game. It was way too hard for me, and there was no way to leave the area to rank up or stock up on health. After countless tries I gave up. My idea was to wait for my friend (who was a Persona veteran) to catch up because he was about to start the game. A few months later he finally beat it, and when I got around to asking him tips on what he did for that part, he just casually told me he lowered the difficulty. I had never thought to do that in a game in my 20+ years of gaming. After that, I tried to go back to the game, but it had been too long and I just felt lost. I gave the game up for good, and never achieved closure to my 120 hour expedition. That experience still haunts me years later. If I ever come across a similar situation again, I will no doubt lower the difficulty without any hesitation.

Samuel Ashley

Hey Colin, Thanks for picking up my question. I guess the point I was trying to get across (unsuccessfully I might add) was how I should leverage my PS5 for both couch gaming in my living room as well as desktop gaming in my study, without chugging the console from room to room. This would save me having to keep my PC up to date for mouse and keyboard gaming in my study. But I guess I’m just being greedy. Anyway, great ep. I really really like the Sacred Symbols + eps. I feel like you tackle topics from multiple angles and with more nuance than in the regular eps. Keep up the great work. Cheers, Pete

Pete

This is how we make trophies great again. Trophies should be strictly limited to two different categories: (1) “Critical Path” trophies, awarded by completing the game. Some trophies should be locked behind higher difficulty modes. (2) “Time Played” trophies, awarded by simply clocking x number of hours on a game. This approach rewards players for skill under (1) and grind under (2) – the two pillars of trophy hunting. Players can be rewarded with trophies for simply playing the game however they see fit under (2). If you want to go off and hunt collectibles, go ahead – your time will go towards a trophy. If you would prefer to replay sections of the game or mess with online modes – go ahead, your time will go towards a trophy. You can just keep the game running and go off and make a sandwich. The “grind” trophies can be cheesed, but who really cares? The economy of trophies is maintained by (1). You cannot get a platinum without skill at the game. The following are banned from trophy lists: (1) Online trophies; (2) Collectibles; (3) Anything miss-able, including branching stories and dialogue etc. The sheer genius of my proposal is that engaging with any of the above activities will still contribute to earning trophies if that is what you choose to do. Come at me.

Ed White

One mechanic I will always associate with Insomniac Games is weapon upgrades. I appreciate that using each gun is what makes it more powerful and not just finding enough materials to make the stats rise by 5 points.

Mike Carlson

I ate a pretzel in Germany and it sucked. Was hard as fuck and barely salted. Was like cardboard. Pennsylvania does pretzels best.

MeatSpin11

It's up to the developers to enable it into there games and allow people to use it

Simon Payne

Actually listened further in the episode and you brought this up. I totally agree. Congrats on the Twin Breakers trailer on the PlayStation YouTube channel!

Brandon Shallenberger

I did in Fallen Order, too. -_-

Colin Moriarty

We've discussed this in the past. The games will have to account for it, read what your input device is, and then adjust accordingly with matchmaking and whatnot.

Colin Moriarty

Well if you listened to the last episode when I thought it was XXX, I did go there a bit. =)

Colin Moriarty

Okay. =)

Colin Moriarty

It was so fucking hard, I was like... nope! =)

Colin Moriarty

PS4 most certainly doesn't have ubiquitous mouse and keyboard support.

Colin Moriarty

No, because Detroit was better. Also, Red Dead.

Colin Moriarty

I haven't smoked in a couple of months, but I can say from experience that it sometimes heightened my session, sometimes not.

Colin Moriarty

It was a correction made on me when I was at IGN, so I'm glad to pass along the knowledge.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I'm all about the completion percentage and getting good Plats at this point.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, they weren't memorable at all. But they did interrupt the game a bit.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't like God of War. =)

Colin Moriarty

If it had a Trophy system I'd be way more into it, no doubt about it. Especially if the old-school games had 'em...

Colin Moriarty

Look, fat.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, those are the ones. Tasty!

Colin Moriarty

I usually don't drop difficulty but i had to do it in fallen order it really felt like i wasn't in control of the battles like i didn't matter what i did so it didn't have any point for me

SteelChevron

Big point on mouse and keyboard support becoming more common in games that I don't think has been discussed on the show: competitive gaming. In many games, especially shooters like Rainbow Six Siege, mouse offers a competitive advantage over controller. It's immediately noticable when you see a killcam and the enemy does a 90 degree turn at breakneck speeds and pinpoint accuracy, something that is just impossible with a stick. I worry that mouse and keyboard adoption for these games will sour the competitive scene for console gamers, something that I feel has already happened in games with crossplay against PC players ( Hunt Showdown etc.). I hope that if/when mouse and keyboard support becomes more ubiquitous on console that they implement an optional filter on pvp focused games to only play against people with a controller. Otherwise I see many broken controllers in my future.

Brandon Shallenberger

Episode XXX.. I’m surprised I’m the only perv on this comment board whose mind wandered to the gutter on this one. Keep slappin’ those thighs, Colin, you sexy beast. Make Jesus proud. (That’s a Big Lebowski reference, not a Biblical one 🤣)

Tony Rivera

Colin, please make a 16bit rpg.

Ryan Murdoch

The Valkyrie fights and freeing the 3 dragons were the most memorable moments in God of War for me besides the crazy initial Mimir meeting. It was a rewarding platinum even though I agree the queen was insane.

Michael Limauro

I've said this before. PS4 DOES HAVE mouse and keyboard support already.

Simon Payne

Colin, you’re not erotic? Thought you were the ladies’ man. With you getting down on the floor and all. 😄 And you didn’t give God of War GOTY that year which was just nuts.

NeO JD

I can’t play games when I’m high. My perception of time is so off that I find myself analyzing what’s on screen and really thinking about it rather than playing the game.

Tyler

THANK YOU COLIN. “Addicting” and not “addictive” is almost as frustrating as “could care less” This is why I love you.

Dan Parsons

As per the achievement/trophy inquiry: if you’re hardcore into the communities at this point, particularly for achievements, what really matters and what people really care about is 1.) your completion percentage, and 2.) The ratio of your trueachievement score to your gamerscore (because this accounts for difficulty). If your completion percentage is in the 80s or more and your trueachievement score is over double your gamerscore, you get most achievements and you don’t play easy bitch games. Unfortunately, these are monitored through third party sources 😅

Caleb Greer

Lmao I got the platinum for Spider-Man and all the trophies for the DLC and completely forgot about the science lab puzzles. Guess my brain didn’t think it was important enough to remember

Josh Lucas

Colin, the reason that some people have the perception that you don't like "God of War" is because you had a problem with, and this is going from vague memories of podcasts gone by, the map system and the fast travel system. I think those were the only things that held it back from a 10/10.

Joey Rawlings

I don’t touch my Switch because of the lack of trophies. I’m not even exaggerating. If I do touch it, I can only rationalize plying true 1st party Nintendo games, since they only exist on Switch. It’s weird Chris used Skyrim as an example. I’d immediately buy Skyrim for Switch if it had trophies. Wtf why cant some people understand the metagame of trophies, it’s so aggravating at times. And you can just ignore it if you’re not into it, that’s what I really don’t get about “criticism” of trophies.

Zack E

I'm usually coming out the other side of the main show wanting five guys. Now i want a Pretzel. Please stop I'm already fat. 🤣

Aj

I believe the pretzels you are talking about are called Super Pretzel. I actually just bought some of these myself. I found a store that carries the same brand of nacho cheese that theatres use, so having a pretzel with nacho cheese at home is way cheaper. Thanks for another great episode!

Daniel Mitchell

We can't wait to deliver it!

Colin Moriarty

I didn't care for the Fire Emblem game I played on 3DS. Just ain't what I'm looking for. I want something looser, more non-linear, and more customizable.

Colin Moriarty

Every time Colin brings up tactics or strategy RPGs, and now permadeath, I am obligated to mention that Fire Emblem exists and is really good.

I cant wait for your game!

Joey Finelli

That's but a trifle!

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I try to identify if I'm going to try and Plat a game right at the top. I've avoided games because of the Trophy lists, but there are also games I've played more recently (like RDR2, which you brought up) that I knew I'd never Platinum, and didn't really care.

Colin Moriarty

Nooooooo. I'm too OCD to go back now. Roman Numerals are easy, you nerd!

Colin Moriarty

I doubt that'll be the case. =)

Colin Moriarty

Thank you. We will try.

Colin Moriarty

We do 'em whenever they make sense. Perhaps even more than you're suggesting!

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome. Thanks for listening.

Colin Moriarty

I'm glad! We like doing 'em.

Colin Moriarty

Thanks for listening!

Colin Moriarty

Great episode. Just one note, Shakespeare is Modern English. Chaucer would be Middle English.

Jacob Lewis

I totally see both sides of the trophy discussion. I’m at 28 platinums but I only platinum games I really love. Most of the Sony IPs I tend to platinum, but some things I refuse.. I’m going through Red Dead Redemption 2, I know for a fact I’m not going for every trophy. I like meaningful platinums.

D'Ante Almo

Any chance you can switch to regular numbers instead of Roman numerals. Im finding hard to keep track of which ep I'm supposed to be on with all the X's I's and V's 🙄

Tony Colton

How do you feel about the possibility that your game just may have one of the highest platinum attained percentages ever?

Ryan Harvey

Keep up the great work!

Max Stahl

I feel like at the end of every month should be a mailbag episode.

Adamthm

This should keep me awake on my breaks tonight. Thank you

Craig Mcguire

I love mailbag episodes!!!

Anthony J Sanchez

Fuck yeah. Just in time for my train ride back to NJ. Have a great weekend, Colin!

Jason Green