So seeing as it's kind of (actually entirely) my fault that Kyle tried to Platinum Rush Rayon Riddles today I just wanted to apologise!

Firstly Calendar for macOS for some mad reason defaults timezone support to off, meaning my alert for the stream was off by 12 hours so I missed it live. I had so hoped to be on live to help out, and could have apologised there.

Second because it was ultimately futile; Try Hard does indeed seem to be bugged on PS4. I'm not sure who found a discussion on the topic as I looked everywhere and still can't find it. Gutted that Platinum is currently impossible as a result, but the developers are really friendly and helpful so I've sent a message to see if they're able to push out a patch for that.

If they do then I will make doubly sure of the timing so that I can actually be around next time, as there were a bunch of things I could have helped with.

The Pebblehenge trophy for example that Kyle gave up on, is possible, but requires two attempts as you need to add 12 pebbles total, but there's already one on there that the game doesn't seem to account for. Fortunately the counter doesn't reset between attempts, so restarting and throwing another pebble or two on there triggers it. The other trophies should definitely be possible.

In my defence though, I did indeed 100% the game on Steam (so the guide is still perfectly applicable to the Steam version):
https://steamcommunity.com/id/haravikk/stats/433480/achievements/

Even so, I hang my head in shame at my failures on this, and throw myself to the judgement of the EZA community!

@black-cell I'd second F.E.A.R., it's much more action-oriented with only a very few jump-scares. I'd argue it's not really a horror game specifically, but its horror elements make it a good way to ease your way into the genre. In a similar vein I'd maybe put the Bioshock games; again those have horror elements and can be tense, but aren't really all that scary.

Evil Within 1 & 2 are definitely good choices for a first "proper" horror game; enemies are tough but you can defeat them if you have the resources, and you can usually run if you have to. Both games have some (intentionally) hideous bosses, but aren't too bad on jump scares, they rely more on shifting the environment around you which I'd say is more unsettling than out and out scary; they're survival horror games heavy on the survival element.

My favourite horror game series is Silent Hill, but it's been a long time since I played the first few games (haven't played the remaster(s) yet), my favourites being the ones that don't really let you arm up, it's all about the atmosphere and dread, and the way they transition from mostly safe in the day time to horror-fest at night mean they're not too jump-scary from what I remember. I'll let someone with more recent experience comment on which might be a good starting point (are the remasters any good?)

The work that must have gone into this really shows, and the result is just fantastic. The whole thing feels so polished; after recovering from my initial surprise that this was actually a show (and not just an elaborate prank), I was worried it might just be a spoof of anime tropes but while there are obvious nods, everything is so slick and tightly choreographed that nothing feels forced, it just flows naturally from start to finish.

In short, I both loved and respected it, and am now afflicted by a physical inability to wait for more episodes!

Sorry to bump this, but after finally watching Hall of Greats #5 the topic of theming the picks is still one I'd love to discuss; as once again it feels a lot like there isn't a level playing field. Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree that the picks deserve to be chosen as greats, but it feels a lot like the others, some of which are very arguably greats as well, didn't really stand a chance, and this has been the case in every episode.

Don for example has some great picks, and he always presents and argues for them so passionately, but they're also often of a genre removed from most of the other choices, and tend to be things that were overlooked for various reasons, so it often feels like they don't get the consideration they deserve when other titles are ones that most of the allies have played and enjoyed. Now, obviously it'd be difficult to judge the games solely on the quality of presentation, but when presenting a title that few have played, it seems a shame for them to be dismissed on that basis.

Of course, doing themed episodes won't solve the problem completely; Hall of Greats is always going to be polarising and subjective, and there's no way to run a perfect contest of this type. But I think it would go some way to solving some of the problems where a genre of games has a particular advantage over other picks, it might also force some of the allies out of their comfort zones and to try some titles in a genre they're less familiar with before making a pick, which I think could make for some very interesting choices.

Plus, I would just love with every fibre of my being to see how Huber would cope with being only allowed to make one choice in a horror/survival horror themed hall of greats, and what the other allies would choose, especially now that two of the obvious picks have already been taken care of.

I also wonder whether it'd be worth tweaking how the votes are assigned; so currently the allies get 6 chips, and can make a vote of 3, a vote of 2 and a vote of 1, but what if each choice had to be of a certain type? e.g- each ally must pick one for best presented, one for personal favourite, and one as a wildcard, and can decide how many chips to award for each. So for example, if one is very well presented, but unknown to an ally, they could award 3 chips for best presentation, and then 2 to their personal favourite game, and 1 however they like (e.g- to save a title from the freezer).

Sorry if I sound too critical; I do love hall of greats, love seeing the picks, and love seeing each presentation, but I just wanted to discuss some ideas of how it could be refined even further. Love and respect!

After the latest episode of Easy Update (I Just Want to Play Monster Hunter) we get a shot of Ian presumably playing Monster Hunter on a projector, and it piqued my curiosity about what kind of setup that is, as we've seen a more traditional monitors setup for gaming in previous episodes.

Maybe the projector was just because it gave a better wide shot for that clip, but it got me curious about more details. We have a pretty good idea of what Brandon's setup is like since it's the one the allies use for group streams etc. (unless there's another?), but what about the other allies?

Anyway, I was just wondering; is there anyone else that would be interested in seeing the allies (at least those that are willing) just doing a quick series of vids showing off their setups and discussing what they prefer and why? Doesn't have to go into detail about hardware, but I just thought it might be interesting to get their opinions on what works and what doesn't for them.

So I've enjoyed every Hall of Greats episode, but one thing that stands out to me is that certain games don't really stand a chance depending upon the mix, even if they had a really good case made for them. It's not that I disagree with any of the winners as such, but it feels like maybe it would be better if the Hall of Greats had a theme for the picks, so that it's more of a level playing field.

For example, in the last episode I felt that Ian made an excellent case for Myst, and I think it's absolutely a game that deserves to be labelled a Great of the Adventure genre, but not all of the allies favour Adventure games, so it did very poorly when the mix included more mainstream picks like Pokémon, even I felt Pokémon's presentation and Q&A was weaker.

So it'd be nice in future to see an Adventure Games Greats episode for example, so we could see Myst stacked up against games like Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Zork Nemesis etc., and have the allies argue why one is better than the others.

Anyway, keep up the great work!