Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag New Game - No Upgrades / No Harbourmaster / No General Store (Challenge)

How I ended up after completing this mental challenge

In this playthrough of the gorgeous Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, I am doing a raw, insanely mental "classic mode" challenge gameplay without any upgrades for Edward or the Jackdaw. I am not buying any ammo either, and don't open any chests, except for when this is required for optional objectives (namely, in "Nothing Is True" and "Diving For Medicines"). For ammo, I loot bodies and also hunt animals so as to have bones available to craft darts. And I use only Edward's default inventory until the end. I do not buy anything either from the Harbourmasters or the General Stores, and strictly use the market the times that are obligatory by the plot itself, specifically:

-to buy the first pair of swords in "Lively Havana", which the game requires as part of the story
-to get the intermediate hull in "Prizes and Plunder" as the first obligatory upgrade
-to buy the intermediate cannons in "Raise The Black Flag" as the second and last obligatory upgrade
-to get the Diving Bell in "Diving For Medicines" which is required for the completion of the mission

I do not craft any upgrades for Edward, except the first two which are obligatory in "This Tyro Captain": the Health Upgrade I and the Pistol Holster II. As mentioned above, I only resort to crafting when I need to refill my darts pouch.

The game restores the ship's health at the start of every new sequence; additionally, just off Abaco Island where you find yourself with fast traveling, there are always two schooners that you can easily defeat and board to repair the Jackdaw if needed. Every time you get desynchronized during a naval battle, the ship's health is restored when you resurrect, which you can see happening during the naval battle in "Royal Misfortune". 

I complete all optional objectives except for those that cannot be achieved due to the lack of the required upgrades. The challenge covers only and strictly the main story; I did not go for any side-activities or side-missions. I did not include the Present Day segments in the episodes, as they are not affected by the lack of upgrades in the main story, and besides I wanted to keep the story flowing without distractions. 

This challenge was quite an experience, as it turned out to be much tougher than it was theoretically. Having no upgrades for Edward was not much of an issue; in fact it was not an issue at all - except for one very specific case near the end. But having no upgrades for the Jackdaw was really brutal; or better, "brutal" is just a pale understatement. Luckily, it turns out the game offers cleverly designed alternatives for the cases of tough naval battles where literally the game switches to Hardcore Survival Mode when you play without upgrades.  

EPISODE 1: SEQUENCES 1 & 2

https://youtu.be/FzbNUa5-2L8?si=AeybHs8kjMXPFigb

By far the easiest part, as there is no difference with regular gameplay. You don't get any upgrades at that point anyway, and you don't have the ship yet until mission "The Treasure Fleet", but even then the Jackdaw is by default as is, so it is just the same. Piloting the ship through the unforgiving storm is the biggest and toughest challenge in this part, as well as an epic moment of the game, thanks also to the ingenious music piece that accompanies it.

Edward Kenway (Prologue): (100%)
Lively Havana (100%)
...And My Sugar? (100%)
Mister Walpole, I Presume? (100%)
The Man They Call The Sage (100%)
Claiming What's Due (100%)
The Treasure Fleet (100%) 

EPISODE 2: SEQUENCES 3 & 4

https://youtu.be/j-sffCs9C-4?si=DNzTQv_ltPHh-E1B 

Again there is not much difference here in comparison with a regular gameplay, as technically you don't yet have the resources to make any big upgrades to the Jackdaw. Boarding ships with Ben in "Prizes and Plunder" and "Raise The Black Flag" is done the exact same way, as this is when you get the first obligatory upgrades, which are also the ones which I stick to for the rest of the game in this insane challenge.

In "Proper Defenses", you are supposed to buy the Heavy Shot upgrade for the ship, but as I am neither doing any upgrades nor using the market for any reason, I ignored that one too. This means that the one of the two optional objectives in this mission is not achieved.

This Tyro Captain (100%)
Now Hiring (100%)
Prizes and Plunder (100%)
Raise The Black Flag (100%)
Sugarcane and Its Yields (100%)
Proper Defenses (90%)
A Single Madman (100%) 
This Old Cove (100%)
Nothing Is True (100%)
The Sage's Buried Secret (100%)
Overrun and Outnumbered (100%)

EPISODE 3: SEQUENCES 5 & 6

https://youtu.be/ZbHBhd04-M0?si=pp0f0bpBWtD4DjzN 

Like in the previous part, here too you are consulted to buy the Mortar for the Jackdaw, but my raw gameplay did not need that either. I must say that of all the upgrades, this was the one that I desperately missed during certain naval combat sequences. Subsequently in "The Forts" memory I did not get the one of the two optional objectives. Fighting the Fort with just the slightly upgraded broadside cannons and the default shots and swivels was rather tight, but thankfully there is the patrolling ship which is cleverly placed there to serve as an indirect restoration strategy for the ship mid-battle: you can easily defeat it and board it, thus repairing the ship to go on with the main fight against the fort.

The remaining missions of Sequence 5 take place in Kingston, and there is nothing particularly difficult that has to do with the limited upgrades; maybe having very few darts and smoke bombs can get a bit tricky in "Unmanned", but like Edward says in another instance, there is always another way. Sequence 6 is very easy; it does not involve any naval combat with the Jackdaw, as in "Devil's Advocate" you thankfully throw yourself in battle with Blackbeard's ship.

The Forts (90%)
Traveling Salesman (100%)
Unmanned (100%)
Diving For Medicines (100%)
Devil's Advocate (100%)
The Siege Of Charles-Towne (100%)

EPISODE 4: SEQUENCES 7 & 8

https://youtu.be/XSlxEfrlS7I?si=gJgTLZDhhJsHLezf 

Sequence 7 takes place almost entirely on dry land, as we are trapped on the island of Nassau for the full three of the four memories it consists of. The very limited darts here may seem like an issue, as there is the optional objective in "The Gunpowder Plot" which requires hitting 10 enemies with either sleep or berserk darts, but I took care to have hunted enough animals beforehand so as to be able to craft darts on the spot, and sometimes you can also find a few with looting bodies. I usually abuse the darts in this game, so from this aspect this challenge was a great chance to make me come up with different strategies. The naval mission that ends the sequence, "The Fireship", is rather easy, but again I was not able to get the one of the two optional objectives, as I did not have the Mortar upgrade.

Sequence 8 has some nasty surprises if you play like I do in this challenge, the first one being the battle with the Man O' War in "Do Not Go Gently...". This looks like a tough battle, but truth is you can defeat this specific ship with relative ease if you follow the right strategy. Just shoot it with broadsides and all available shots when it is sailing, and take care to drift away from its mortars when it attacks. It takes a bit of time, but it is feasible. I missed the optional objective of this part, though, as I did not have the Heavy Shot upgrade.

What I found was not feasible the standard way was the battle at the end of "Vainglorious Bastards" with that unassuming slaver frigate. As I did not go for any side activities either, all forts remained hostile including that of Cabo de Cruz which, if captured, can be of great aid during that mission. Because the fort was hostile, it fired at the Jackdaw and not the enemy ships; and the slaver ship turned out to be quite a nightmare as it is able to fire three consecutive full broadsides that can literally tear your ship apart. Defeating the accompanying ships to have them available for boarding if necessary could work, but there is so limited space to move, that you will most often than not find yourself desynchronized by the slaver ship's attacks as soon as you have restored the Jackdaw's health. At some point, I had nearly beaten it, but got desynchronized before I was able to shoot the final hit. After several unsuccessful attempts trying various strategies and manoeuvres that all failed majestically, I noticed that suspicious piece of land just in the middle of the canal leading to the open sea. I also noticed the the Royal African Pearl would never leave its scripted space and would keep moving in circles every time that the Jackdaw sailed away from it towards the narrow canal. When the enemy ships have that yellow circle around them, you can never get to them with swimming as they regularly fire their cannons and you end up dead before being able to get near them, which is also the case in this mission if you attempt to reach the slaver ship while swimming. However, I found a workaround. I moved the Jackdaw back to the canal, as close as I could to the main battle area but far enough to make the detection sign of the Royal African Pearl turn yellow. This meant I was no more in open conflict and thus was able to leave the wheel. I had Edward swim towards the piece of land, and apparently because open conflict was halted, there was no attack made neither from the fort or from the accompanying ships which I think also disappeared at that point. I reached the part of the land near to where the slaver ship was sailing in circles, to the closest point that I could get to it, and swam towards it. Because there was no active conflict, there was no yellow circle around the ship now, and although it did shoot a couple of times, the distance I had to cover was very brief so I managed to reach the ship and climb on it in one piece. I killed the crew, then back to the Jackdaw to shoot a final blow to the Royal African Pearl and initiate the boarding cutscene. It may look a bit clumsy and messy (you can hear the dialogues overlapping each other), but I found it was the only way to get past this point. And I suspect that the developers placed that piece of land there on purpose, as an ultimate survival strategy for the players who may have reached that part without having done any upgrades to the Jackdaw beforehand. In this mission, I did not get any of the optional objectives, as I did not have the Ram upgrade and additionally I could not have the hostile fort work on my side. 

The bottomline is, this part may not be completely impossible to do the standard way without upgrades (as mentioned above, I nearly had it in one retry) but chances are the Jackdaw will not be able to survive the battle 9,5 times out of 10. The most surreal part during this crazy sequence was Adewale yelling at me to not sink the slaver ship, while I was on board of it fighting the enemy crew on my own.

We Demand A Parlay (100%)
The Gunpowder Plot (100%)
Commodore Eighty-Sixed (100%)
The Fireship (90%)
Do Not Go Gently... (90%)
Vainglorious Bastards (80%)
Marooned (100%)  

EPISODE 5: SEQUENCES 9 & 10

https://youtu.be/ZMcmbU2_ZuM?si=WOqLCVzq5Uq1D2HC 

The highlight of this episode was definitely reaching the coast of Principe in "Trust Is Earned". I did something similar with the fight in "Vainglorious Bastards", only in this mission there are no yellow circles around the enemy ships for some reason, and you can swim to the Man O' War safely, as it keeps shooting at the Jackdaw (which however does not lose health as it is immobile and not involved in open conflict) and defeat the crew, then shoot cannons enough times to sink the ship as easily as that. 

Chasing Ben without upgrades in "Murder and Mayhem" may look tough but it is easy in itself, as The Benjamin is an extremely fast schooner but not very strong; although I had to reload at the start of the chase because the much more powerful accompanying ship caused a nasty desynchronization. I usually fight Ben in the open sea, but this time due to the lack of upgrades, the battle took longer, and subsequently Ben moved The Benjamin towards Santanillas, which was quite realistic because that is where he indeed ends up in the last part of the mission. 

Imagine My Surprise (100%)
Trust Is Earned (100%)
Black Bart's Gambit (100%)
Murder and Mayhem (100%)
The Observatory (100%) 

EPISODE 6: SEQUENCES 11, 12 & 13

https://youtu.be/8s8ZiBDKiKM?si=4U4XAACPIPud0MHo 

Sequence 11 is easy and straightforward with no surprises; then in Sequence 12 things go crazy. "Royal Misfortune" was very tough during the naval battle, but then I realized that as long as I kept a bit away from the hullabaloo around Roberts, the British ships would take care to relentlessly bombard the Royal Fortune, forcing Roberts to fight them and not the Jackdaw. He would occasionally attempt to throw mortars towards me, but I kept away from the battle area and he could not reach me, moreover since he was trapped among his other attackers. When his ship had lost enough health, I joined the fray and shot it enough times to make it available for boarding. It was quite intense, but it worked; and I suppose that having the British ships attacking at that point, apart from being a plot necessity, is also a device to help the players carry out the battle in case the Jackdaw is not strong enough by then.

"Tainted Blood" is in fact the only mission where the lack of upgrades for Edward really hits badly. As I used his default pistols without having upscaled them, the already tough fight with El Tiburon became a royal pain in the arse. You need to shoot him way more times, both because you don't have enough bullets and because the default pistols are very weak. Thankfully, ammo crates magically appear in several spots every time you are close to emptying your guns, but you need to be anonymous in order to open them, which means hiding from El Tiburon and the random guards that show up, which is rarely an easy thing to do.

In the last mission, "Ever A Splinter", there is this ominous Armada guarding the entrance to the Observatory. To get past it, I resorted to the well-known harpooning trick: I sailed towards the Great White Shark location without passing through the yellow circle, so that the ships would not spot me, and initiated the harpooning event. I immediately got back to the ship and then approached the beach slowly, as the two huge ships were starting to fight each other, so I was able to go on with the mission having skipped the tough battle (which I always carry out in regular gameplays).

To Suffer Without Dying (100%)
Delirium (100%)
Everything Is Permitted (100%)
A Governor No Longer (100%)
Royal Misfortune (100%)
Tainted Blood (100%)
Ever A Splinter (100%)
...The End (100%)
How Grand, Master Kenway! (100%)

PLAYLIST: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaFKBQnTX0V2-F4JJEknh4QncfIllr-oU&si=tebEFMbvDSIfELQq

 

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag All Memories 100% Synch (Playlist)

All the memories of the epic and legendary Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, in New Game with 100% synch on all optional objectives.

Related playlists: 

Modern Day Sequences
Templar Hunts
Assassin Contracts 
Naval Contracts 
Naval Forts
Treasure Maps & Buried Chests 
Jackdaw upgrades
Legendary Ships 

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Longplay Video Series, Nightmare NG+

This is a Nightmare NG+ Longplay series of Assassin's Creed Odyssey focusing on one theme per episode. I wanted it to be in New Game, but levelling up in this game is dependant on the secondary quests as much as on the main ones, so it would be nearly impossible to make significant progress with just the obligatory missions, let alone in the Nightmare difficulty level. So this playthrough is still in Nightmare but in New Game Plus after completing the game once only, which means that upgrades are still to be done and Alexios is not super powerful yet, making this Longplay series as close to a New Game version as possible. For the sake of realism, I am not using any armor, weapons or enhanced skills rewarded or found in the Atlantis episodes, with just very few exceptions where I used only a couple of special abilities in very specific boss fights, namely Brontes, the Minotaur, the Medusa and the Immortals, but I did so with caution, because the game suddenly seems to not like it if you become immortal or invincible in the middle of a fight and will do its worst to kill you off even if this means resorting to cheap means like teleporting enemies onto Alexios without warning or dropping a huge rock on his head out of nowhere. To keep the stories in the episodes flowing, I have edited out some long travelling journeys (either on foot, horseback or ship) where nothing happens, and I also have not included the upgrading / crafting instances that are not part of the action. I have also left out the fast-travelling segments to save time.

Episode 1: Odyssey

This part which is naturally the longest includes only the main story, so I am doing solely the obligatory quests. This is mainly to save time and keep the video within permitted limits, but also to focus on the central plot without any distractions. This meant leaving out quests that are important, but not necessary so as to progress the story, like Kleon's quests in Athens and Pausanias's mission in Sparta. I made three small exceptions though, one with including the very brief mission "A Growing Sickness" in Athens, which is not obligatory but ties along with the main story without obstructing it; one more with including also the quest "Brewing Love" in Boeotia which again is not necessary to do, as you can track Drakon down directly, but completing this quest results in him losing his armor, therefore becoming a lot easier to defeat; and another one with including "Sibling Revenge", again in Boeotia, which is not necessary either as you can find and kill Deianeira directly too, but this mission helps in separating her from her cousin Astra, making the target easier to kill; plus I would never leave Timon out of my ship crew. This episode also includes the eliminations of those Cult members that are part of the main plot (ie, Elpenor, Silanos of Paros, Pausanias, etc)

Episode 2: The Gates of Atlantis

I went for Thera, the meeting with Pythagoras and the hunt for the four Atlantis artifacts right after finishing the main story, because it felt the most logical thing to do. Alexios needed to know the truth about his past and his destiny so as to become strong enough to deal with the Cult in full consciousness. This part includes the four stories that lead to locating the four artifacts and going back to Thera to place them in their steles and complete this chapter.

Episode 3: Legacy of The First Blade

I know some believe that the Legacy trilogy should be done before the Gates of Atlantis, but to me it feels far more logical that Alexios would seriously consider securing his bloodline after his lengthy discussion with Pythagoras in Thera's depths, because only by then he would be fully aware of his destiny. The Legacy chapters are a trilogy that I do not enjoy that much anyway, what with its obligatory decisions which feel way too forced, and its so gloomy and extremely stressing atmosphere which almost ruins the euphoria that the rest of the game provides even in its darker moments. Most of the Legacy story itself doesn't even make sense in relation to the main plot (why would the Order need Darius and Neema to draw Alexios out, since they already had the super powerful Cult of Kosmos to lead them to him?); it is abrupt, full of bad decisions from part of the characters, and feels awkward and out of place most of the times. Even with the romance choices that I usually make for Alexios, I wouldn't mind have him decide to do something so as to secure his future generations, but why of all the fascinating and vibrant personalities he gets to meet in his travels he would suddenly think it's a great idea to hole up with the two most depressing and grumpy people on earth and even start a family with them, isolating himself from the rest of the world, is beyond me. It's not that Darius and Neema are unlikeable, because they are far from being so; in fact Darius can be pretty cool, in spite of his sourness, when he is not playing his father-in-law role, plus he used to be dashing in his youth as we can see through brief glimpses of a rather fascinating past. The problem is that Neema, albeit quite nice, is unfortunately too bland and one-dimensional and has null chemistry with Alexios, unlike Darius and nearly every other character in the Legacy episodes who all seem to connect with Alexios on so many different levels. Aiantides, for example, has perfect chemistry with Alexios although his appearances are very brief; Amorges is a fantastic antagonist for both Alexios and Darius. Because of this non-existent chemistry between Neema and Alexios and the lack of depth in Neema's character, the game fails terribly in being convincing about why the infamous obligatory bonding should absolutely happen, even in its toned-down, marginally friend-zone version that was later added. This development and its consequences make even less sense if you go for any of the good endings in the main story, where the hero ends up with all or most of their family members alive and in good terms, which renders the decision to send the baby away with Darius not only unexplainable but also unneeded. I can't think of a safer and more secure environment for Elpidios to grow up in than if being protected by his demigod parent and any (if not all) of his super powerful immediate family members. And as far as the romantic aspect is concerned, Odessa, Thyia, Roxanna (if you have spared her), Kyra (if you haven't sent her to her doom like I usually do for the sake of Thaletas), Xenia, Daphne (again if you have decided to spare her), even Anais, all seem way more fitting as potential family partners for Alexios on whom he could consider investing for securing his bloodline, like Myrrine did with Pythagoras before settling down with her true love Nikolaos, as he has so much more in common with all aforementioned ladies than he has with Neema. Of course this would require a totally different approach, which however would tie the Legacy trilogy with the main story in a far more logical and sensible way. Same goes for Kassandra if you play as her, because Natakas, Neema's brother who is also Kassandra's destined "husband", albeit slightly more well-shaped as a character than his sister, is still too bland to make a difference and justify Kassandra's obligatory decision. Although admittedly if you play as Kassandra your alternative choices are extremely limited, as the serious male romance options are very few and, among them, only Thaletas and Lykaon could be the most appropriate and reliable partners. Then again if you play as Kassandra, there are more serious problems to consider in the Legacy trilogy; with Kassandra as the lead, the Legacy story becomes a mess of a plot full of inconsistencies, unlikelihoods and plot holes, especially when the birth of the baby comes into play. Thankfully the Legacy story is cut short after its dramatic turn of events that, albeit tragic, actually sets our hero free of all obligations. And the only elements that somehow rescue this stressful trilogy is the story of Gergis the Magi in Messenia, especially if you decide to not kill him the first time, the segments involving The Tempest in Achaia, the terrific villain Amorges in Messenia and his tumultuous relationship with Darius, and us having the chance to meet Aiantides The Proud, an unforgettable character and a great ship lieutenant if you decide to recruit him.

Episode 4: Shadow From The East

The next episode includes the eliminations of the remaining Order members in all three regions (Makedonia, Achaia, Messenia). As they are very few, this part is naturally very brief compared to the other episodes of this Longplay series. I have also included the quest "Remnant of the Ancients" which is essentially the epilogue to the "Shadow From The East" chapter.

Episode 5: Selected Adventures

This episode features some of my favourite side missions, those that I always enjoy playing and include in my full playthroughs of the game. I generally followed a logical route in the video, starting from North and going South, also taking into consideration the lieutenants that I was going to hire along the way via some of the included adventures.

Episode 6: From The Shadows

This part features the eliminations of all the remaining Cultists that had not been killed as part of the main plot in Episode 1, as well as the stories that reveal some of them (ie, Diona, Podarkes, Melite). I think it makes more sense to leave the Cultists for last, because the need to rid of the Cult is being discussed several times throughout the main story, implying that it is going to be a long and slow process which, apparently, goes on for a rather extended period of time after the main plotline has ended.

 

Episode 7: The Keeper's Story

 

This last part includes the three chapters of Fate of Atlantis and the Korfu expansion. I decided to tie the latter together with the FOA DLC because it also revolves around Alexios's role as the Keeper, which is why I gave the title "The Keeper's Story" to this episode. Because the three FOA levels are quite lengthy and involve a lot of grinding, I had to omit a few segments that were not extremely important: I edited out nearly all that has to be done to lower Persephone's power in Elysium, for which I only included the first fortress that you have to clear as part of a mission in full, and for the rest I left in the parts where I am killing the Overseers, and I included the destruction of just one Marble Maiden Statue for reference purposes. In the Underworld, I didn't play Charon's missions because they are not obligatory, and went directly for the armor pieces and the Guardians. Although the questlines of Phoebe and Brasidas are not obligatory either, I included them in the episode because they are very important for a variety of reasons. In Atlantis, I didn't include every single instance of scanning the Data Caches, and although I played the parts to get the Dikastes armor, I edited them out because they are time-consuming, and I only needed the armor pieces so as to get them on a higher level, as I already had the outfit from my previously completed New Game. Unlike the armor of the Fallen, which is needed as part of the plot so I went for it for the sake of consistency, the Dikastes armor is not necessary to get (although it's quite useful). In Korfu, I included the side-quest with Barnabas's treasure hunt as it is in fact the starting point of the story's conclusion.

Vampyr - Pandora's Box Quest & Secret Vault Puzzle Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough post for "Pandora's Box", a fascinating and complicated quest in Vampyr. It spans through several main missions and is connected with a subsequent brilliant puzzle that opens a secret vault which, in turn, rewards you with a cool weapon, a special collectible and an achievement.

Main mission "Unnatural Selection": after you find your way via the sewers to reach the Temple Church area but before you go to meet Aloysius Dawson, run around the perimeter of the church to locate an underground passage. At the end of this passage, an Indian fortune teller, Usher Talltree, will be sitting surrounded by curios, doing his magic. Talk to him to get one important hint for Aloysius Dawson, and also have him offer you his quest, Pandora's Box, to find his stolen notebook. If you have enough money, you can ask him to "read the cards" and every time you do this, he will give you hints on several residents. I skipped this part, since it is not needed for the quest.

Go to the Dawson mansion and deal with Aloysius Dawson, making sure your decision about him won't drop the district's status to Hostile. I preferred to charm him, just to be safe. To be able to charm him, you need to have unlocked one more hint about him, given by Carolyn Price, the lady who runs a store with her daughter close to the church. Charming him will make the Ascalon Club furious with Jonathan, but it will hopefully keep the district into a stable status which will progressively become healthy. 

Main mission "Science Without Conscience": after dealing with Geoffrey McCullum at the hospital's attic (it doesn't matter what you choose to do with him), go to Doris Fletcher's theater to find Edgar. Kill the first bunch of hunters and find the key to the basement together with Geoffrey's journal. Down in the basement, find the key that opens the door to where Edgar is held, and locate the locked safe. Look above it and a bit to the left to find a pinned note informing you where to find its key. Go back out to the stage again, and in the corridors to find a new group of hunters, one of which will drop the key for the safe when killed. Return to the basement and open the safe to retrieve Usher's notebook. Do not read it! You won't be able to access the secret vault if you do!

Deal with Edgar (your decision about him shouldn't affect the side mission) so as to be able to complete the episode. Keep in mind that if the district's status drops to Hostile, Usher Talltree will almost instantly die. This will lock you out of the side quest, as not only you won't be able to go back to him, but additionally there is a high chance that there will be no pinned note near the safe, nor extra hunters to drop its key.

Main Mission "Antidote": go back to Usher to give him his notebook. As long as you didn't read it, he will give you a collectible with a cryptic diagram which will help you unlock the secret vault outside his lair. His quest "Pandora's Box" will conclude successfully here. 

 

Now you can proceed with the brilliant vault puzzle. The diagram on Usher's collectible "Origin of the Brotherhood" (from collectibles section The Brotherhood of Saint-Paul Stole) shows a simple map of the small anteroom with the four pressure plates on the floor. Each pressure plate corresponds to a symbol (a circle, a square, a fish and a diamond). 

You will have to check your collectibles to find those that have these symbols on them. You don't need to have found all collectibles but make sure you have the following six: 

The Crime of Lost Knowledge (from collectibles section The Great Hunt)
Laughing at the Guard (from collectibles section The Guard of Priwen)
The Myth of the Horned Vampire (from collectibles section The Legendary Vampires)
Rare Species of Vampires (from collectibles section Species of Vampires)
Origin of the Skals (from collectibles section The Skals)
Blood as Addiction (from collectibles section The Need for Blood)

Each of these collectibles will feature one of the diagram's symbols along with a number of dots which is translated in which order you will need to stand on the respective pressure plate. As there are six symbols and four pressure plates, you will have to step on two of them twice. The puzzle can have a different solution in each playthrough, but I will describe mine which should give an idea of how it should work in any case.

My diagram was the following:

The left side depicts the corridor leading to Usher, the down side depicts the exit. So now you have a rough idea of how to orient yourself while solving the puzzle.

The symbols on the six collectibles were as follows:

The fish symbol is accompanied by one dot, which means I first need to step on the pressure plate corresponding to it. The circle symbol is accompanied by two dots, therefore I then have to step on the respective pressure plate, and so on. To keep it simple, the order in which I have to step on the plates is:

Fish (1 dot) - Circle (2 dots) - Square (3 dots) - Circle again (4 dots) - Fish again (5 dots) - Diamond (6 dots). So basically you check the dots, check the symbols that they accompany, and it is easy to work out the layout of the puzzle and in which order to step on the pressure plates.

After you step on the pressure plates in the right order, one of the walls in the small anteroom will open, revealing the secret vault. Inside, you will find a super powerful sword, the True Dragonbane - just in time for the final boss(es) - and the collectible "Recollections of Paulus Aurelianus", which will also reward you with the Bloody Roots achievement the first time that you unlock it.

Video walkthrough:

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Nightmare Selective Playthrough / "Invulnerability" + Poison Build / Exploration mode (NG+)

This NG+ playthrough of "Odyssey" is centered around combat mostly; I am using an "Invulnerability" build which consists of several perks and engravings combined with the Mythical Heroes Legendary set (customized) and Neokles's special Spartan Javelin, all engraved with additional perks that add up to result in an almost invincible build. This "Invulnerability" build is not 100% damage-proof as certain attacks can still get you, but you are immune to most hits and it is nearly impossible to die. I am also using mostly, but not exclusively, poison-based attacks.

Armor, arsenal and engravings

Spartan Javelin (30% Melee Resistance) +50% Crit Damage

Arachne's Stingers (poison-imbued dagger) +20% Damage with Overpower Abilities

Fanged Bow (Normal arrows become poison arrows) +30% Damage with Full Health

Perseus Crown +30% Ranged Resistance

Bracers of Theseus +30% Ranged Resistance

Jason's Golden Fleece +40% Poison Resistance 

[since poison attacks are the most dangerous and can drain your health even with this build, adding the Poison Resistance engraving makes you essentially immune; poison can still get you, as the health bar becomes green and your character still reacts by coughing, but their health does not drain at all]

Hippolyta's Belt +100% Crit Damage with Full Health 

Atalanta's Sandals +10% Crit Chance with Full Health

Additionally, I have several related Melee skills enabled and upgraded (like, CRIT chance with full health, CRIT damage with full health, Elemental Resistance, Elemental Buildup, Melee Resistance, etc), as well as some specific ones like Damage with Fury of the Bloodline, Damage with Hero Strike, Damage with Overpower Abilities, Assassin Damage, Adrenaline Per Hit, Damage on Elites and Bosses, etc.

What is included in this playthrough

I am playing in Exploration mode, which means that most objectives do not appear with a marker, except those for which specific directions are given by the mission givers. I am covering only the main Odyssey story, the Gates of Atlantis (the quests for the four Atlantis artifacts) and From The Shadows (uncovering and eliminating all Cultists), plus very few optional missions that are one way or another connected to the story or its main characters. 

Playlist:

 

Links to episodes: 

Episode 1: https://youtu.be/HOkwHA55D1A 

Episode 2: https://youtu.be/2Ue-ux3StPA 

Episode 3: https://youtu.be/tYEhABEi93w 

Episode 4: https://youtu.be/rdo9u8PKHcY 

Episode 5: https://youtu.be/y4zB4Hw-kcY 

Εpisode 6: https://youtu.be/DHKlCrUjROg 

Episode 7: https://youtu.be/WqS4CGZ4Z5U

Assassin's Creed Odyssey - New Game - Hard (Full Playthrough, from Lv1 to Lv 82)

As much as I love replaying Odyssey, in my opinion nothing beats that first time exploration and discovering everything from the beginning. For this reason, I decided to record a playthrough in New Game, where I start from Level 1 and get everything from the start. There is a lot of grinding of course, which for some people may be tiresome or boring, but personally I enjoy it in this kind of games, and Odyssey especially which, moreover, is among the games that I love the most. My intention was to reach Level 99+, but after covering everything (and more), the highest that I managed to achieve was Level 82.

What I cover:

Basically all the stories and everything that is on the map, namely:

-The main Odyssey story

-The modern day story

-The Gates of Atlantis (the four artifacts)

-From The Shadows (the Cultists questlines)

-Legacy of the First Blade

-The Lost Tales of Greece and the two special blue-colored bounties

-The Heir of Memories including the three Underworld episodes (Elysium, Underworld, Atlantis)

-The Korfu addendum

-All the quests that are / appear on the map with the yellow exclamation mark

-A few random extra quests that are triggered after a certain action is done

-All map objectives that are marked with a question mark, including tombs, forts, camps and caves, temples, underwater locations, leader houses and other buildings and points of interest.

-All legendary items including armors and weapons that can be found by killing mercenaries or looting legendary chests.

How I play:

Instead of upgrading stuff, I rather switch to stronger weapons when I find them and regularly dismantle those that I don't use. Same goes for armor pieces, which may result in Alexios having a weird or even funny look at times due to random combinations, but I don't mind that and I also find it a bit entertaining, to be honest. I don't do any engravings, and instead I invest in upgrading the ship, which is vital for the naval battles later on.

Each episode covers one region (or more in a few cases when they are brief), with the necessary occasional backtracking or side-tracking to start or (fully or partly) complete a quest or kill a cultist. Most episodes include several quick backtrackings, but the respective regions are not included in the titles - for instance, Phokis is not listed every time that I return to Daphne, nor is Attika whenever I return to Demosthenes, but usually (if not always) backtrackings of this kind are done at the end of each episode. Sometimes I may intentionally leave out certain areas because I know I will be backtracking there in a later episode. For example, because the Lost Tales of Greece do not become available until after you complete the main quests in Athens, you cannot go for the two of them (Daughters of Lalaia and Socrates's Trial) that take place in Phokis the first time you visit that region. So I ignore some of the map objectives there in order to complete them when I revisit Phokis for those two quests. Because I may pass from areas, however, without going for quests the first time, weird things may happen, like the pirate ships from "A Really Really Bad Day" being destroyed long before said questline is initiated. I guess such goofy things are doomed to happen anyway.

Difficulty level:

I wasn't sure if I should go for Hard or Nightmare for a New Game playthrough, but I finally decided to go with Hard for three main reasons:

-Since it takes a long time to decently upgrade the ship, the Adrestia is quite weak for most part of the main story, which renders certain naval battles a royal pain in the arse when you play in Nightmare.

-There are a few parts in Legacy of the First Blade that are really exhausting in Nightmare, and since this DLC is not my favorite anyway, I didn't want to complicate things further.

-Certain quests in the Atlantis episode, namely hunting down the Dikastes's armor pieces, are extremely difficult because the Isu polemarchs that hold said pieces are insanely strong and resilient, so I needed this to be a bit toned down since Alexios is not super-powerful yet.

Playlist:

Links to individual parts: 

Part #1 - Kephallonia & Ithaka: https://youtu.be/BEFrTFDTmCo
Part #2 - Megaris: https://youtu.be/5eRXJ4l9pnU
Part #3 - Phokis: https://youtu.be/CbC5iw5wljU
Part #4 - Abantis Islands & Andros: https://youtu.be/Vfs7FHxHDi4
Part #5 - Attika: https://youtu.be/BuUN8cYSuQM
Part #6 - Phokis Redux, Malis & Lokris: https://youtu.be/s8-Zu57M36k
Part #7 - Argolis: https://youtu.be/nrmO_qOEjFs
Part #8 - Korinthia: https://youtu.be/O8rTZSs3hz0
Part #9 - Attika Redux & Obsidian Islands: https://youtu.be/kRo9Cu_nTuY
Part #10 - Pirate Islands, Salamis & Athens: https://youtu.be/r0wn5GNDwyc
Part #11 - Naxos & Paros: https://youtu.be/wh8daCATm2w
Part #12 - Makedonia: https://youtu.be/u05-_evhikg
Part #13 - Thera & Kythera: https://youtu.be/8xxRIaAg7PE
Part #14 - Achaia: https://youtu.be/XtJ7Oq0pjFc
Part #15 - Messenia: https://youtu.be/IxH_AsJa3wE
Part #16 - Lakonia: https://youtu.be/g_kuvnpUY-M
Part #17 - Elis: https://youtu.be/OEvsk6POYw8
Part #18 - Boeotia: https://youtu.be/1y4AH1VG_m4
Part #19 - Hephaistos Islands: https://youtu.be/dMBysDPwK58
Part #20 - Arkadia, Sparta & Pylos: https://youtu.be/z6378C6y7fI
Part #21 - Athens & Elis Redux, Amphipolis, Sparta & Boeotia Redux: https://youtu.be/Gx-BKFWxUsA
Part #22 - Krete: https://youtu.be/1kz0QC68YS0
Part #23 - The Silver Islands: https://youtu.be/hOM-xqQcSC8
Part #24 - Petrified Islands: https://youtu.be/IQO7ampWe4I
Part #25 - Thera Redux, Southern Sporades, Serifos, Argolis, Boeotia & Attika Redux: https://youtu.be/q8giP8Xdn1g
Part #26 - Elysium: https://youtu.be/th225IF1uPk
Part #27 - Underworld: https://youtu.be/N9_3EBbiSmY
Part #28 - Atlantis: https://youtu.be/5B78GmrByAU
Part #29 - Korfu: https://youtu.be/Ya5lsgTzfMs

Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Deadly Obsession Longplay

I recently reinstalled this gorgeous game in order to play its seven DLC stories that I already had aquired but had forgotten about them completely. They turned out to be absolutely wonderful, but in the process I realized that although I own the game since many years now, I had never attempted to play it in its hardest difficulty level, which is Deadly Obsession.

In reality, Deadly Obsession is not exactly a difficutly level. If you have played the game in its standard hardest mode, One With the Jungle, you already have mastered its most difficult version. Deadly Obsession is essentialy the One With the Jungle difficulty minus the automatic checkpoints. You can only save on base camps, and thankfully the game offers a few free checkpoints during sequences that are too extended or too demanding, namely: 

-During the prologue, due to the lack of base camps, there is one free checkpoint just before you meet the local archaeologist outside the dig site.

-Again during the prologue, there is one more checkpoint when the flood begins.

-After the plane crashes and you find yourself in the Peruvian Jungle (kind of useless since there is a base camp pretty close).

-After leaving Paititi on boat and Rourke's helicopter attacks, Lara finds herself alone on the beach of the Porvenir oil fields. There is a checkpoint just before the series of areas where you need to move with stealth because you have no weapons.

-In San Juan, there is one last checkpoint at the beginning of the mudslide (thank God for that, because I died about a dozen times during that evil mudslide).

I played Deadly Obsession in New Game Plus mainly because I wanted to stay focused on the progression of the game without having to worry about leveling up, which would require going for side quests and challenge tombs so as to gain as many XP as possible. Lara is wearing the outfit of Six Sky for the most part, which helps avoiding a certain amount of damage from projectiles and regenerating health faster. As I mentioned above, the actual level of difficulty in Deadly Obsession is more or less the same as in One With the Jungle. What makes Deadly Obsession so nasty is the lack of checkpoints, which results in certain sequences being extremely hard to complete, not because they are difficult but because of all that climbing and jumping where there is hardly any room for mistakes. Playing with all skills or with no skills doesn't make much of a difference, because you are much more likely to die from a stupid fall or a miscalculated jump than from gunfire. I would say that the percentage is 90%-10% (90% for fall deaths, and 10% for the gunfire), or even 95%-5%. To be more specific, there are certain sequences that are guaranteed to test your nerves and your patience.

-The Trial of the Eagle. This whole part is a test of precision, where most of the times you will find yourself being knocked off to your death by an unforgiving beam. And when you finally manage to reach the top, you will most likely miss that last jump to solid ground. But at least there is a base camp just before the trial room, so you "only" need to repeat the whole trial over again.

-The Cenote stage. The lack of base camps in this section is pure evil. The stage per se is alright, with maybe the first Yaaxil ambush taking you by surprise, but I died only once during that part, and in the end I was able to kill most of them with Dodge Kills, preserving lots of valuable ammo. The water puzzle itself is quite easy to memorize, and the subsequent part where you need to escape the Cenote can be done easily too. But then it's the hard road back to Paititi. Although "road" isn't the word to describe it. You need to make a series of jumps above an abysmal chaos, where Lara suddenly may decide to commit suicide for no obvious reason. This means that you are then forced to repeat the whole Cenote part from the beginning, only to find yourself again in the dreaded situation of falling to your death while struggling to perform a lateral jump inside a peaceful, enemy-free cave. 

-The sequence where you go to free Unuratu. The path to her cell involves a ton of climbing and jumping, and several times you will find yourself totally helpless while witnessing Lara falling right into the raging waters and breaking all her bones on the rocks. Then you will be holding your breath while struggling to survive the ambush in the yard of the Emperor's Tomb, although technically this should not be as bad as it looks as long as you have resources to keep crafting special ammo and are able to move around with stealth.

-The Porvenir Oil Fields. There is a base camp just before the second part, which I thought I would take advantage of to go back and save after completing a new area. It worked for the first area, but when I went back to save again after the second one, I saw that the enemies there had respawned. I don't know if this was done on purpose or if it's a leftover, but it was very annoying, and more so because there is again a nasty sequence with jumps afterwards, where of course Lara had to suffer a humiliating death more than once. I wanted to make those saves because I was dreading the helicopter part at the Refinery, but this went surprisingly well.

Overall Deadly Obsession was quite an experience which however I don't know if I am ready to relive any time soon. I also got the achievement with this run, but unfortunately Bandicam does not record Steam pop-ups, so it didn't capture the achievement popping up. My general impression is that, when it comes to games that rely so much on their platformer aspect, it is very risky to not give the players the chance to save more often (or at least change the placing of save points to be a bit more forgiving) when it comes to challenges like Deadly Obsession. Resident Evil 3's Inferno and The Evil Within's Classic Mode also don't have checkpoints, but those are both games that rely almost entirely on the player's strategy and you are able to be in total control almost all the time. In games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where you are many times found in the tough position to perform series after series of very risky jumps in between demanding battle sequences, a few more checkpoints or a couple more bonus base camps could make a huge difference and save us from unnecessary extra frustration.

Tomb Raider I: Atlantean Scion & Unfinished Business Playthrough

 

The last playthrough in my Tomb Raider Nostalgia Series is that of the very first game, both of the classics and the series as a whole. The original Tomb Raider game is a pure vintage gem with so much sentimental value that it makes up for the fuss that you have to go through in order to decently run and record it on a modern computer system. 

The resolution is a bit low in the main game, but everything is smooth and running well in Unfinished Business, the Gold expansion, which, by the way, is one of the two classic Tomb Raiders that I have played less (along with The Lost Artifact, as I mentioned in my Tomb Raider III report). Now playing UB again, I remembered why: although it is beautiful visually and very elaborate as far as gameplay and puzzles are concerned, I soon got fed up with those mutant mummies with their annoying (insert non-decent characterization here) screeching noises. Regardless, the Gold expansion, like the main game, is a lovely game, and very interesting too from a technical aspect, because in it you can see how elements from the main game were expanded to an impressive degree.

Like with all previous playthroughs of this series, I don't go for all pickups and kills (although I complete most of these objectives), but I do find all the secrets in every level. I have again split the playthrough in parts, one per region.

Part 1 is Peru: Caves, City of Vilcabamba, The Lost Valley, Tomb of Qualopec.

Part 2 covers the Greco-roman levels: St Francis' Folly, The Colosseum, Palace Midas, The Cistern, Tomb of Tihocan.

Part 3 is Egypt: City of Khamoon, Obelisk of Khamoon, Sanctuary of the Scion.

Part 4 is Atlantis: Natla's Mines, Atlantis, The Great Pyramid.

The last part includes the four levels of the Gold expansion "Unfinished Business": Return to Egypt, Temple of the Cat, Atlantean Stronghold, The Hive.

Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft & The Lost Artifact Playthrough

Next up in my Tomb Raider Nostalgia Playthrough Series is Tomb Raider 3, the third installment of the classics. There were quite a few innovations in this game compared the to the first and the second, the most memorable being the fact that, after the first section was completed, you could play the subsequent three adventures in any order you wanted. Like in Tomb Raider 2, a brief but fabulous bonus level would unlock if you completed the game with all secrets found.

Since these playthroughs are going to be a one-time thing - that is, I will probably won't be replaying the classic Tomb Raiders in full, any time soon at least - I am trying to cover as much stuff as possible. Random kills or pickups that have no interest or are simply in the regular path, may be left behind, but I do find all the secrets and if there is exploration involved (including pickups) in areas that are optional, I go for them as well. In this game in particular, I am referring to the legendary River Ganges level from the India section, where at some point you have to choose between two possible paths. At first, covering both paths was considered impossible, but later several players found out a way to visit them both. In my playthrough, I also do this; I cover both paths so as to explore as much of the terrain as possible. All this involves some really tricky jumping that may even put to shame many contemporary games that are considered difficult in that aspect. You can choose between paths in other levels as well, but in those cases you cannot cover both alternatives, so I will be taking the longest possible path.

This game includes one of the toughest sequences I have ever encountered in gaming - and trust me, I have played many difficult games! I am referring to the notorious kayak sequence in the Madubu Gorge stage of the South Pacific Islands section. Driving any vehicle is a tough business in the old Tomb Raider games, but the kayak is on another level. In fact it is almost literally an up-the-creek-without-a-paddle kind of level, almost because you do have a paddle but it's a royal pain in the ass anyway because even though you have a paddle, those wild rapids are definitely the devil's work. At the same time, it's a quite fascinating experience, because who can forget the impressive finale with Lara driving the kayak down that roaring whirlpool.

Tomb Raider 3 also includes one of my most cherished sections, the one that takes place in London. This section is perfection, even with today's standards. In its turn, it features one of the most difficult sequences in the whole series, the flooded / underwater section of the Lud's Gate stage. Like in the Tomb Raider 2 playthrough, in this one too I have included its Gold expansion, The Lost Artifact. Each video covers one section of the main game, and the Lost Artifact has its own separate video.

A NOTE ABOUT THE LOST ARTIFACT: this is the one of the two classic Tomb Raider games that I have played the least (along with TR1's Gold expansion) - which is weird, by the way, given how much I like most of it. Moreover, the only working version of it that I could find (that is, the only version that would even load on my Win11 PC) was an extremely buggy one that featured every single bug that has been reported so far concerning this game. For these reasons, I didn't insist much on achieving good scores, as I just wanted to record a playthrough for historical reasons mainly. Regardless, all secrets are again included, as well as almost all the pickups that are well-hidden or require taking complex routes.

Part 1 is India, the introductory section including: Jungle, Temple Ruins, The River Ganges, Caves of Kaliya.

Part 2 is Nevada: Nevada Desert, High Security Compound, Area 51.

Part 3 is the South Pacific Islands section: Coastal Village, Crash Site, Madubu Gorge, Temple of Puna.

Part 4 is London: Thames Wharf, Aldwych, Lud's Gate, City.

Part 5 is Antarctica: Antarctica, RX Tech Mines, Lost City of Tinnos, Meteorite Cavern.

Part 6 is the bonus level, All Hallows.

The last part is a longplay of The Lost Artifact.

Tomb Raider: Chronicles Playthrough

Going on with my Tomb Raider Nostalgia Playthrough Series, I am now playing Tomb Raider: Chronicles, the fifth game of the classics.

I remembered Chronicles fondly, and when I started to play it again after so many years I realized why, but then I got to the notorious VCI section and everything got a bit messy. The last three levels of the game are among the best of the classic Tomb Raiders, and maybe the most original and innovative compared to the rest of the series of that era, but at the same time they are so hard and so incredibly buggy that eventually the VCI adventure turns into an assemblage that could only be compared to Stefano Valentini's morbid creations: on the one hand the bugs can be hellish; from frustrating to literally game-stopping. Although sometimes said bugs may also have fortunate outcomes: as you will see in my video, at some point I tried to make Lara stealthily neutralize a guard, which she refused to do; at that point, the guard surprisingly turned around and left the room, totally ignoring her, so I managed to go on with the level undisturbed. In an other section, a ceiling trapdoor that was supposed to open never did so, but Lara was nonetheless able to climb in the room above; the consequence of this was that two extra guards that were supposed to appear when the trapdoor would open, never showed up. I am not complaining for bugs like these. On the other hand, there is great atmosphere in the VCI, fantastic stealth sequences, enemies that are not only tougher than usual but also cunning, and some of them have traits or accessories that make them extremely hard to kill. Lara doesn't have her trademark pistols, which means we don't have the unlimited ammo luxury available, and the developers have implemented new elements, like having Lara equip a rifle with a scope for the first time, as well as a grappling gun, and use chloroform to neutralize the enemies while moving with stealth. Considering all that stuff in retrospect, I am thinking now that the three VCI levels (The 13th Floor, Escape With The Iris and Red Alert!) were maybe an attempt to prepare the ground for a - then - future Tomb Raider that would probably shift towards a different direction, a game that could have elements of stealth and heavy action involved; something that unfortunately never happened back then.

Setting that aside, however, the rest of Chronicles is pure old Tomb Raider as far as the stories and the environments are concerned, with the Rome section being a reminiscent of Venice from Tomb Raider 2, and the Submarine levels bringing back memories from Tomb Raider 3's Antarctica. The Ireland section, in which we get to play with a teenage Lara, is also somewhat different, because our heroine doesn't have any weapons in those levels - thankfully there are neither enemies that need to be shot - and the whole story is set around local folklore and magic.

Like in the previous - as well as in the upcoming - playthroughs of the classic Tomb Raiders, here too I am not going for all kills or pickups, but I do find all secrets in each level. That said, if a pickup is very tricky and challenging, I do go for it anyway for the sake of exploration and discovery which are both so important in Lara's adventures. My playthrough is split in four parts: 

Part 1 is Rome: Streets of Rome, Trajan's Markets, The Colosseum.

Part 2 is The Submarine: The Base, The Submarine, Deepsea Dive, Sinking Submarine.

Part 3 is Ireland: Gallows Tree, Labyrinth, Old Mill.

Part 4 is the VCI Headquarters: The 13th Floor, Escape With The Iris, Red Alert!

At the end of the VCI section / video, I have also left the flyby's that show after the credits, because they offer some interesting bonus scenes.