Tuesday, March 28, 2023

PrinceWatercress plays Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time - Part 4 of 48


In this entry, we get our first shot as playing as one of Sly's ancestors, which is a bit of a nice touch for this game.


Sushi House Startup

You'll be starting this one as Sly.

There is fodder such as chicken in stages that you can hit for money, and if you need health, they can randomly drop it much like the enemies and anything that contains coins. Keep that in mind.

For this job, you'll be reclaiming the sushi restaurant. Unfortunately, the front entrance is the only way in, and you'll have to be in disguise in order to get in, even if El Jefe does not want anyone going in or out. Put on the samurai armor and approach the entrance, and Sly will dismiss the guards and help Rioichi get in.

Once Rioichi is in, you'll need to find Rioichi's kitchen utensils in order to get further into the restaurant. Once you start using the spire jump that Rioichi himself perfected, you'll learn the Focus Jump. To do that, you'll need to be standing on a spire point, then you need to hold R2 and jump. If you see a brown arrow pointing at something while you are holding R2, you can continue to hold R2 and press X to jump to it. You'll have to be looking at the point that you want to jump to before you can use the Focus Jump, however.

You'll eventually reach another room in the sushi house. Watch out for the spotlights, as you will be zapped if you get caught. As for the guard, get behind him and pickpocket him to get the carving knife, then go up to the door and press Circle to open one of the locks with the carving knife. If you want, you can perform a stealth slam on the guard much like you did with Sly. The Cooper ancestors all have stealth slams, and each ancestor does theirs a specific way. 

From here, you'll need to spire jump onto the horns of the rhino statues and use the Focus Jump to get across the laser grid. Wait for the guard to fall asleep, then get past him. At the spotlight, jump off the trampoline and get on the metal bar to get to the next guard and pickpocket the fillet knife from him. Use it to unlock the next door.

To get past the laser trap, spire jump onto the nearby bonsai tree, then Focus Jump from one bonsai tree to another so that you don't run into the moving lasers on the way to the other side. Make sure you do not waste too much time on the bonsai tree, as they will break under your weight and send you crashing into the laser grid where you will get shocked and forced to start the section over. In the next room, get up top and stay there are ou go around the room to another area. 

After another laser trap, pickpocket the guard that you see so you can get the cleaver. Stealth slam the guard if you wish, then unlock the nearby door. Before you pull the lever, climb up the nearby pole to find a Sly Mask. After that, you can pull the lever to turn on the ovens and lights. The sushi house is open again. You're done here.

Pretty In Pinker

You'll need to play as Rioichi to start this job.

The ancestors have charge attacks that you can execute by holding Triangle and then releasing it when the whirring sound stops. Riochi's charge attacks allow him to throw shurikens a short distance.

To use a hook, latch onto one with Circle, then hold Down on the left analog stick. When you're ready to launch upwards, immediately move the left stick up and jump at the same time to get a big jump. While I do it here with Rioichi, Sly can also perform this move.

For this job, Bentley reveals that El Jefe only goes outside to head to the Geisha House to talk to Madame Geisha, and the Geisha House is usually locked up tight. At the moment, however, Madame Geisha is on vacation, but El Jefe does not know this. The plan this time is to break into the Geisha House and steal her costume so that somebody can disguise themselves as Madame Geisha. The only way to get in will be through the roof, and this is where Rioichi comes in.

Get to the roof of the Geisha House and press Circle at the hatch to drop in. You'll find out that Madame Geisha's costume is under glass, and the container for the costume is only opened remotely. Rioichi will have to find and active the control devices in order to get the costume.

Go up to the balcony and make your way through the doorway. From here, you'll need to watch out for the spotlights as you follow the path, as some of them can move suddenly. The rats and frogs act as fodder that give coins and health. At the areas where you have to use the focus jump to get across the pools of water, watch for the searchlights so they do not spot you. You'll eventually have to go to ground level when you see the fans, but if you spire jump onto the fans and break the boxes at the platform on the other side, you'll find a Sly Mask.

From that Sly Mask, drop down. and make sure not to alert the rat guards. You'll need to enter the doorway to the side and quickly use the Focus Jump to get across the pool of water without getting crushed by the metal crushers. Drop down in the next room and carefully Focus Jump across to the other side, then jump over the lasers on the laser field. In the next room, walk across the pipes and avoid the flames, which will burn you and take you back to the beginning of the section. You'll find a computer on the other side; press Circle at it to start a hacking mini-game.

This mini-game is a different one, as you will have to use the SixAxis motion controls of the PS3 controller's gyroscope in order to move the ball from the beginning to the end before time runs out. There will be quite a few things that will bump you around and there will be pits, but these motion control minigames are doable, if a bit frustrating. The purple icons add two seconds to your time, and can be worth a lot if you find and pick up a bunch of them at once.

As you go, you will see narrow, rope-like tracks that you can travel across, and sometimes, you will see them in pairs. You can switch between them by pressing the D-Pad in the direction of the nearest track.

If you fall down at any point in these motion control mini-games, you'll be sent back to the start and you'll have to start all over.

Once you beat this hacking mini-game, you'll be able to unlock the door at the top of the container holding the geisha costume. Once you're done, continue down the path and climb towards the top of the container. Murray will drop in and break the container, but when the smoke clears, Murray will already be in geisha costume.

From here, you'll have a rhythm-based mini-game. You'll have to press the buttons in time when they move onto the squares on the right side of the bar, and the bar itself will pulsate to the beat of the music so you'll have an idea of when to press the button when it is above the square. If you miss any buttons or if a button press is off, you will lose health. If you lose too much health, you'll be caught out and you'll have to start all over. If you do well enough at these, you'll be able to get some bonus coins along the way.

Unlike the PS2 sequels, where the length of these things were just right and they were actually enjoyable without veering towards being over-the-top, the mini-games have about as much cringe as something out of a PG-rated movie, and because of that, I don't necessarily like these kinds of mini-games in this fourth game compared to what was going on in the PS2 games, especially the sequels.

After three rounds of this, the boar guards will just sit there completely mesmerized, and you'll be able to escape and get back to the hideout. This job is complete.

Abilities:

Cane Swat Combo (Sly): Press Square, then Triangle for a two-hit combo. The second hit shoots a projectile a short distance forward.

Mega Charge Attack (Sly): Holding Triangle and releasing it when the charge is finished unleashes an even stronger attack.

Collectibles: 

Sly Mask #5 - Use the focus jump at the beginning of "Sushi House Startup" to get to a platform away from where you need to go in order to find a Sly Mask.

Sly Mask #6 - Before pulling the lever at the end of "Sushi House Startup," climb the nearby pole to find a Sly Mask.

Sly Mask #7 - At these fans in "Pretty In Pinker," Focus Jump across the fans and break the boxes at the platform on the other side to find a Sly Mask.

Controls:


Left analog stick: move
Right analog stick: move camera
X: Jump and double jump (hold X on second jump for hover jets as Bentley)
Square: attack
Circle: 
  • interact (usually with anything that has sparkles) (Sly)
  • steal from enemies (from behind) (Sly, Bentley)
Triangle:
  • knock enemies upwards (from behind; press Square to slam enemies down for stealth slam) (Sly)
  • spin attack (hold to charge) (Sly)
  • throw bombs (Bentley)
  • Thunder Flop (in mid-air) (Murray)
  • spin attack (hold to perform) (Murray)

L1: bomb aim (Bentley)
L2: equip costume (Sly)
  • hold for costume select menu (Sly)
    • hold down to stay in menu; use D-Pad or left stick to make selection
L3: activate compass
R1: run (hold while moving to perform)
  • Paraglide (Sly; in air; must buy on ThiefNet)
R2: Focus Jump (Rioichi; hold and press X to perform Focus Jump when arrow appears while standing on spire)
R3: Binocucom
  • Right analog stick: move
  • Left analog stick: zoom in and out
  • R1: take picture (when applicable) (Sly)

Start: pause menu
Select: map
  • Left analog stick: zoom in and out, switch between map and status
  • Right analog stick: move map
  • Circle: back

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