Valhalla Knights 3: Skill Master List!

    A couple of weeks ago, Valhalla Knights 3 was on discount on PlayStation Store, for the great price of €4,99 (A joke). Even if I knew this is not the best game ever, I decided to buy it, as the price was luring enough. And now I'm here, playing it here and there on my PSVita.

    As a niche game, it is not easy to find english help for this title, apart from something on http://www.gamefaqs.com/ boards. There is much more material in japanese, where the game met more interest.

    This is why I decided to create a post here and there about this game, with interesting info I'm struggling to find on the internet.

    By the way, I'm liking this title alot, to be honest, as a relaxed game to carry around; moreover it's great on PlaystationTV, too. Pity for the loading times, that are quite annoying.

    So, first post is a list of all Skill Master available for this game; Skill Master are "secret" skills that unlocks for a character when you learn all the skills of a specific profession.

Prisoner
SBP Needed: 4590.
Name: Prisoner 25601.
Effect: Make it possible to equip every weapon (except firearms).

Fighter
SBP Needed: 3760.
Name: Challenger.
Effect:  Increase HP+500 and P. DEF+100.

Mage
SBP Needed: 3150.
Name: Great Magician.
Effect: Increase SP+500 and M. ATK+100.

Priest
SBP Needed: 2500.
Name: Holy Servant.
Effect:  Increase SP+500 and M. DEF+100.

Thief
SBP Needed: 2230.
Name: Thief King.
Effect:  Increase HP+1000 and SP+500.

Akatoki
SBP Needed: 4135.
Name: Unleashed.
Effect:  Increase HP+500 and STRK+100.

Archer
SBP Needed: 3265.
Name: Sharpshooter.
Effect:  Increase HP+500 and SHOT+100.

Soldier
SBP Needed: 3185.
Name: Mercenary.
Effect:  Increase P. DEF+150.

Samurai
SBP Needed: 3850
Name: Swordsman.
Effect:  Increase HP+1500.

Ninja
SBP Needed: 1645.
Name: Shinobi.
Effect:  Increase SP+1500.

Shaman
SBP Needed: 3450.
Name: Archmage.
Effect:  Increase M. ATK+150.

Merchant
SBP Needed: 3920.
Name: Great Fortune.
Effect: Receives 15% discount on all items at the item shops.

Amazon
SBP Needed: 1410.
Name: Warrior Queen.
Effect:  Increase SHOT+150.

Automaton
SBP Needed: ???.
Name: Ultimate Gizmo.
Effect:  Increase all stats.

Bunny Girl
SP Needed: 1950.
Name: Paramour.
Effect: Uses love to get bonuses.

    I hope the SBP Needed voice is correct. All these info are based on what I found over the Net AND from personal experience.

    I'm going to build a collection of game maps, and place them in another post like this!

    Good game everyone!

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - Platinum n° 52

    Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, prequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order is my platinum n° 52.

    Votes:

    - Game: 8/10

    - Fun: 8/10

    - Platinum: 4/10

    This game is a well rounded single-player FPS with a good price, nice graphics, ok-but-not-striking story, great and various gameplay and fun B.J. Blazkowicz moments, especially if you're a Wolfenstein's serie fan since it's first episode in far 1992 ;) .

    The game is fun even at highest difficulty, as it's not so unforgiving if you're an FPS veteran; Moreover, if you adopt a stealth approach, you can skip alot of fights. Sure there are some quite hard fights, but nothing insurmountable.

    Platinum is fast to gain and quite easy. As mentioned the game itself is not that hard, and most trophies just come naturally or just need a bit of farming. Challenges are the true hard part, but after some tries you should be able to get the grip on them. As a general advice, remember that enemies can't clim ladders (not stairs: ladders): exploiting this AI limit can easy up your life alot, trust me ;).

    It took me around 14 hours to plat this game, without using any kind of guide and playing it at maximum difficulty on first run.

    If you don't apply last patches, there even is a glitch that allows you to play all the game on "Can I play Daddy" difficulty and just replay last chapter in "I Am the Death Incarnate" to gain ALL difficulty based trophies (Hero, Super Hero, Uber Hero).

    The game is quite easy to platinum without using guides and such, but if you need any help, here is a good forum where you can find it: http://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/wolfenstein-the-old-blood/.

    I started The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt two days ago; I already checked the trophies list, and I don't think I'll go for the platinum for this title, but I'll play it deeply for sure, as it seems huge, fun, addictive and very well polished, even if the action side of the title (read: combat), is ok but not great at all. Still, game's direction is wonderful.

    P.S.: The digital version of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood has been released on 5/5/2015, which is the 23rd birthday date of Wolfenstein 3D.

PS4 and PlaystationTV marry Power Line Adapters

    This week I decided to buy PlaystationTV, mostly because I was tempted by the possibility to play PSVita titles on the big screen. As soon as the small but powerful console was delivered, I attached it to my 42" plasma, realising that the TV was way too big for the PSVita games, as the graphics really appeared awkward and heavily pixeled.

    Not that great problem, to be honest, as graphics is not the most important part of most the titles I play on the PSVita, but still it was a bit unsatisfying.

    So, in a rush of impulse, I decided to change the initial purpose of the PlaystationTV i buyed, transforming it in a secondary gaming location, basically installed on the bedroom, but easily movable to every place of the house I like.

    Now, the main problem was the router and the Wi-Fi range: my main "gaming" room is located in the basemend (really fresh during the hottest months of the year), with all my books, comics, action figures etc. etc., and with the router too, which is located very near to PS4, PC etc. The signal of my little guy has proved to be pretty strong, even if basement's walls are thick and heavy, but not enough to provide a stable and powerful enough connection for the remote play.

    I considered various solutions for this problem, such as moving the router or buying Range Extenders, but the first did not work very well, and I was not very sure about the latter (i'm pretty new to all this stuff).

     I turned to a local computer shop for an help, and the guy suggested me to try out Power Line Adapter, an ingenious invention that throw your internet signal on the electric wires, allowing it to reach places quite far from the router, as long as the target electric socket is under the same switch of the one where the router's Power Line is attached to. This kind of technology is pretty old, in truth, but today's devices are much more reliable and powerful than the old ones. This is perhaps the best way to extend internet coverage in your house, even if it is not free from issues; the one I was more afraid of was that it's suggested to attach the Power Line adapter directly to an electric socket (i.e.: not to a power strip), in order to avoid interferences from other devices on the same socket: doing this was pretty impossible for me as sockets in the house are all single.

    But the issue proved to be inexistent: after installing the Power Line adapters (an incredibly simple process), I turned up the PlaystationTV, eager to see the results, and they were amazing: remote play work very well with both streaming options set to "High", even if the PS4 is still under Wi-Fi connection. Sure, the game is not as smooth as if it is played on the original console (the gameplay feels somehow "gummy", if you get what I mean), but it still works excellently. I'm trying the remote play with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, and it's very playable, even if you lack a bit of precision and finesse in controls; with a different genre of game, the results can perhaps be better, as FPSs in general require a greater degree of precisione compared to other kinds.

    To complete my new gaming location, I buyed a relatively economic Telefunken TV: 24" and HD Ready are enough to take advantage of PlaystationTV. I meant to spend even fewer euros on it, but this one was the less expensive I founded at the local store.

    So, in the end, here is what this "whim" costed:
    - PlaystationTV (discounted): €59,99;
    - Controller Dualshock 4 (discounted): €59,99;
    - Telefunken Tv Led 24"' Te24275B31T10E: €168,00;
    - AV500 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit (TL-PA4010KIT): €65,00
    Total: €352,98

    Not an inexpensive solution, but hey, still less than buying another PS4 + another TV!

    Next step will be to try bringing all this outside, in the garden. The sun's reflexes will probably make it impossible to see the TV screen well enough to play, but I want to give it a try, as playing outside, during spring/summer, would be fantastic.

    Oh, ok, I'm an extreme Gamer, I know! As always: good game everyone.

Dragon's Crown Artworks

    In the last days, after some weeks on Borderlands 2 (which I founded quite boring, to be honest, and much similar to its predecessor), I'm back to Dragon's Crown on PSVita. The more I play this game, the more I think it's a small masterpiece in the games scene of the last few years. My Fighter finally hit lvl 99, and now I'm climbing the new, almost-infinite, random dungeon added with the last patch. And it's hard!

    I'm thinking about buying this game for PS3, too, in its digital version, in order to have it always installed on the consolle and ready to be played with up to 3 more pals on the same room. This game is somehow similar to Diablo 3 in concept
(action rpg based on farming and gathering equipme
nt). After playing back on both, even if I really enjoy some Diablo 3 run, I ended liking the Dragon's Crown approach more: it's less technical, more simple, each stage take fewer time to be cleared and it's "old school" style really capture me.

    Here follow most of the beautiful artworks you can find in the game. Some of them are secret, and must be unlocked by completing some part of the game, so this is somehow a minor spoiler. Enjoy the beautiful gallery of these 57 arts by clicking on any of the following pictures:

PS4 remote play through PSVita

Assassin's Creed 4 on PSVita through remote play

    I finally tried the PS4 remote play, and I was really impressed.

    Configuring everything is a very simple procedure, and allows the total control of the PS4 through the PSVita. You'll be able to use the dashboard of the last Sony console with ease and efficiency.

    But the real strength of this feature shines on gaming: I have only tried Assassin's Creed 4 and Contrast, for now, but the result was really excellent. The performances are great, although my eyes seems to perceive a slight drop in framerate. Sometimes it can be difficult to follow the game on the small screen of the PSVita, but it is a very little problem compared to the final results. Even the way in which PS4 joypad commands are simulated is extremely functional: the rear touch panel of PSVita, divided into 4 quadrants, is used to allow you operate the keys missing on the portable console. Personally I am not yet very accustomed to this system, but I think it's just a matter of habit (Yeah, I'm a bit refractory to all this late touch-thing :P).

TV above, PSVita below

    The remote control worked perfectly with the PS4 about 2 meters from the router and the PSVita to about 5, without concrete walls but with wooden doors between.

    Overall, it is therefore a very powerful innovation, in my opinion, that allows you to enjoy your PS4 keeping the TV free for others or lying around in another room (in bedroom, out in the balcony, in the bathroom... Uhmmm, the possibilities are endless!).

Dragon's Crown!

    Dragon's Crown is finally out for Europe, too! Guys, it exudes style from everywhere! Musics and graphics are awesome, as is the gameplay, even if the latter becomes a bit confusing when you have one (or more!) Wizard or Sorcerer in your party :) . The RPG components are a great extra: the possibility to develope your character and the huge amount of loot you collect after each mission both add longevity and depth to the gaming experience.

    I'm just at the beginning, so I still can't play multiplayer, but I'm very curious about it. My first choice have been the Fighter, and he kicks asses quite hard, but I think I'll start a Wizard right after completing the first gamethrough!

   The Art Book I bought the game with (bundle for a honest total of €36,29) is full of beautiful draws which illustrate all charaters (with pose list) and locations.

The Kings of Dragons (1991)

    Guys, this game make me feel so nostalgic about my youth, when I played the legendary Golden Axe, The Kings of Dragons, Knights of the Round and Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as coin-ops to the local bar, often with a friend smashing buttons on the "2P" location.

    Now sorry, but I have a kingdom to save and a more powerful sword to drop :D !

Tree Ninja trophy for AC3: Liberation

    Most people farm this trophy during Sequence 3, Mission 3. I think I founded a better place to grind the kills you need: have a look to the embeeded video to discover my super-pro strategy :)!!!

PSVita: Fantasy Wallpapers

    Here are some PSVita wallpaper I've created with GIMP.

    The pictures all come from Elder Scroll Online concept arts. I've created a framed version, which follow the Vita icons curve, and a simpler one.

    The installation is quite simple: just download the pictures you like on your PSVita. Then activate customization mode by keeping your finger pressed in an empty home screen point, than chage the background by touching the related icon!

AC Shrine - Detail 1

    First detail of the AC Shrine. Here you can see a zoom of AC Bloodlines for PSP, AC 3: Liberation for PSVita and the rare Black Edition of AC 2!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Climber trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

    Here's a quick way to get the "Climber" trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation!

    First of all look for a wall without footholds: one that can not be scaled by Aveline. Trying to climb a wall of this type (by pressing Forward + R), you will be credited with 1.5 meters of "climbing".

    Found such a suitable wall, get two rubber bands and something with which they can be secured after crossing the two holes at the sides, bottom, on your PSVita. I found very functional the metal straps covered with plastic / rubber that are used to keep bags closed. At this point, position the rubber bands as in the picture, by passing them below both lever and around the back of the console, pulling them throught the two holes I mentioned earlier. Lock them in that position.

    The left rubber band (looking at the PSVita) need only hold the lever in the "Forward" position, while the right one has to be positioned so as the "R" button is constantly pressed.

    Leave the console turned on in this state and you will get the trophy easily!

    I am forced to give it a look every 10 minutes or so, because on the wall I use, Aveline tends to slide to the left, so I must put her back in place!

    Maybe you will find a better wall than mine ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Assassin's Creed Shrine Overview!

    Here is a picture of my complete collection of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

    Collector Editions of AC 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3. AC Bloodlines for PSP and Liberation for PSVita.

    Official guides for AC Brotherhood, Revelations and 3.

    Four AC Books and all the comics available in Italy so far (DESMOND, ACCIPITER, AQUILUS, THE CHAIN, THE FALL)

    I don't own any special Assassin's Creed first game edition, so I can display only the normal version. I hope to be soon able to buy the rare Assassin's Creed Collector Edition.

    A big overview of my "shrine" ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]