Treasure Huntin' Like a Baws

So, as I am wont to do, I have been ever-vigilantly tracking down the Platinum Trophy that lies at the end of a fairly long and bumpy road called Uncharted:  Golden Abyss.  I finished my Hard Mode play earlier (I know, I'm a wuss for going Normal first and it only hurts me in the end, since I have to play the game -again-, but at the same time, it's fantastic, so I don't mind so much) and directly after, decided to just get some treasure hunting done before I started on Crushing.  I mostly decided this because I did pretty well on gathering up treasures this time around since I knew where all the previous ones were, as well as knowing just how to find a few more thanks to the tips and tricks I picked up along the way.  Indeed, when I started on the hunt, I decided I wanted to pick off the chapters that had the most treasures missing first.

That's about when I made a horrible revelation:  I more or less went through the majority of the game missing only -one- or -two- treasures per chapter.  And in more than one instance, this single treasure or two were located more towards the end of the chapter, rather than the beginning.  Basically, my point is that I've been grumbling at every point available because of just this fact.  The above pictured treasure (that unfortunately isn't glimmering, but you see the chest symbol which means it's there) is literally, literally two seconds from the end of the chapter.  And you'll likely miss it because you run directly at the PLOT IMPORTANT things rather than where the game wants you to go, which is left and completely around those so you can climb up on a platform and grab a piece of Turquoise out of a crate.  Now, I'm not complaining about the design of it, really, because I don't mind that, more that I'm simply complaining of the circumstances, since it really is rather unfortunate.

Regardless of this terrible burden, I have made some really good progress.  I'm already past the halfway point in Chapter Selecting, which means that there's still quite a bit of stuff to get at, but it's that much more manageable.  The mysteries will be the easy part, at least, whereas the bounty sets will be considerably less so.  I'm really not looking forward to trying to farm those (I imagine that is the method you acquire them) and Near doesn't work for me in the slightest, so I can't rely on trades to help lessen the chore.  It's unfortunate, really, but not too much so since, as I said, the only thing wrong with it is that I have to play the game for an extended period of time to perform the task, and that is simply not an issue in the slightest.  In doing so, I'll be able to mop up the remaining Kill Total Trophies as well, so the process is that much more streamlined.  Of course, I still do need a good place for getting the Steel Fist Expert trophy since I keep getting into situations where I come across an enemy that I simply cannot kill with the Steel Fist, which ruins my streak.  Unfortunate, that.

I have discovered something that I find quite strange, but in a good way while playing through the game again and again.  It is friggin' long.  I never really put much thought into it as I was playing it, but the campaign in Golden Abyss is certainly nothing to scoff at.  It might just be because I have been playing it, but I would certainly put it at the same length that the "Big Boy" Uncharted games require which is an accomplishment unto itself, not to mention that this is for a portable game.  Clearly, this is not the Portable Games of yore, simple bite-sized experiences to be had and forgotten and if nothing else about Uncharted:  Golden Abyss will convince you of this, then the length certainly should.  But there is plenty to be impressed over, with regards to Golden Abyss and its platform, so I doubt that would be the one thing to really tip it over.  It certainly helps, however.

The only problem I find with Golden Abyss in general is that, despite the bulk of content I still have to conquer, I imagine I will be able to do that in relatively short order, perhaps over the weekend.  After that, I'm left with a rather large hole in my game time, as the heat has made using my PS3 a bad idea.  Only a brief reprieve from this is in the future, and once that passes, I will effectively be left with a Vita minus games.  I don't count MotorStorm RC because I begin raging at it approximately two minutes into playing it, and I'm not counting Dynasty Warriors Next either because I'm mad at KOEI and I don't want to deal with the BS surrounding playing Conquest again and again and again and again.  I suppose that is a bridge that I'll have to cross when I get there, but, much as the rope bridge in the early chapters of Golden Abyss, I'm not too fond of the path, nor what lay on the far end of it.