Video Games

[mbenigni]

I have Mimic Tear and Tiche as my main summons in the Triangle + D-pad menu. Tiche is top tier. She's pretty fast and can do I think bleed or rot on enemies. 6K health at +10 upgrade too.

The only problem is that the NPC summons are really dumb so they will just run into any AOE attacks, but they can usually get you to phase two of a boss pretty fast.

I have the jellyfish looking thing (for ranged attacks) and the five greatshield guys maxed out. I barely used this mechanic in the base game, so I’m still getting it sorted out.

 

[Jynx]

11 hours in and I think I've 60% done on the main game. It's so easy to fly through everything when you know it. It takes a few hours to set yourself up but once you do you just hammer through.

Literally. I have a strength build going and I'm using the brick hammer. What a devastating weapon it is with a pulverising special attack. I never thought to use it before because I assumed it was a thrash weapon like the pick axe.

 

[Jynx]

If you see the summon sign for Ser Fuxalot that's me.

 

[laxu]

I think I'm pretty close to the end of the ER DLC. The boss I'm facing...damn he hits hard and like the moment you step through the fog door. From needs to make their bosses give the player more time to get ready, or allow summoning before entering. Usually on first try there's more time before the boss starts attacking but after that it's immediate. I wonder if it's a bug in the DLC?

Commander Gaius was a real poor boss design. I like the idea of a boss you need to fight on horseback but the way he can kill Torrent with a few hits and then tends to use that mega hitbox charge move makes it so unfun. The "do you want to revive Torrent" prompt is the stupidest idea and really gets in the way. He is very much worth killing though because the rewards are significant in the area right after.

The armored furnace giant...what a stupid field boss. The regular ones were already a chore and this can basically be only defeated "if you know this one trick."

Midra was a great optional boss.

 

[laxu]

Might give up on the final boss of the DLC. Not having fun with it at all. I'm down so many health vials just getting him to half health and his attacks are absolutely insane at that point. All the worst parts of From boss design rolled into one. Massive AOEs, screen full of particle effects, time to land a single hit between his attacks which does very little damage. 2 summons not helping much.

 

[Devin]

I finished it Saturday morning; final boss was cool but extremely spammy and overtuned

I broke out a straight cheese build and it was still pretty tough; I just didn't have the patience to learn his insane moveset for hours lol

Gonna work my way back to the DLC in NG+

 

[laxu]

Decided to try my level 190 mage character in the DLC. I didn't actually level two characters to that, I duplicated a savegame offline and turned it into another character by respeccing.

Anyway, I pretty quickly got to the Dancing Lion but man it's rough. My strongest spells do about [_] this much damage and the Lion moves around enough that you can't just Comet Azur the shit out of it. I don't know how you would be able to even do this without a summon because there's no time to cast otherwise.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve been back in Death Stranding land for the last week, now the Director’s Cut. This game is just so damn cool and with the better graphics on the PS5, to the point you can tell what kind of material the clothes are made of, some scenes are just ridiculous with the artwork. Cannot wait for the sequel.

 

[Devin]

Anyway, I pretty quickly got to the Dancing Lion but man it's rough. My strongest spells do about [_] this much damage and the Lion moves around enough that you can't just Comet Azur the shit out of it. I don't know how you would be able to even do this without a summon because there's no time to cast otherwise.

For sorcery playthrus I pretty much use Magic Glintblade exclusively; will do around 1K per shot to most things with the right build and is supremely spammable even while on the move. It has the added bonus of throwing off enemies input reading as well

 

[mbenigni]

I definitely underestimated the scale of Shadow of the Erdtree. After wandering around and killing everything in sight, I got my Scadutree level up to 6 or 7 and Rellana went right down. Imagine my surprise when I walked through the door on the other side - having assumed that she was gate-keeping the next chapter of the game - and found a bonfire I'd already rested at.

I've been more or less running around in circles since, occasionally finding minor dungeons to clear for no obvious reason, but mostly literally having no idea what this game wants from me. It's got to be the first time I've ever thought, "This RPG is boring because of how enormous it is."

 

[laxu]

For sorcery playthrus I pretty much use Magic Glintblade exclusively; will do around 1K per shot to most things with the right build and is supremely spammable even while on the move. It has the added bonus of throwing off enemies input reading as well

I need to give that a try. The Glintstone Cometshard and Comet have been my main spammable spells.

 

[laxu]

I definitely underestimated the scale of Shadow of the Erdtree. After wandering around and killing everything in sight, I got my Scadutree level up to 6 or 7 and Rellana went right down. Imagine my surprise when I walked through the door on the other side - having assumed that she was gate-keeping the next chapter of the game - and found a bonfire I'd already rested at.

I've been more or less running around in circles since, occasionally finding minor dungeons to clear for no obvious reason, but mostly literally having no idea what this game wants from me. It's got to be the first time I've ever thought, "This RPG is boring because of how enormous it is."

Yeah the basegame is in general a lot more obvious about the direction you are supposed to go. I defeated the Dancing Lion and am now at Rellana. The gauntlet preceding it was very easy with ranged attacks but Rellana kills me in two hits and my magic damage is again a pile of crap no matter which spells I use.

The DLC basically requires you to go hunt down the fragments because those are the only buffs you can get.

 

[mbenigni]

Yeah the basegame is in general a lot more obvious about the direction you are supposed to go. I defeated the Dancing Lion and am now at Rellana. The gauntlet preceding it was very easy with ranged attacks but Rellana kills me in two hits and my magic damage is again a pile of crap no matter which spells I use.

The DLC basically requires you to go hunt down the fragments because those are the only buffs you can get.

I had a hard time with signposting even in the base game, but there seemed to a lot more substantive content (mainly, legacy dungeons) per square foot there. I did lots of stuff in the wrong order in Elden Ring, but I was always doing something. In Shadow, I actually find myself wondering, "Have I already finished this DLC?? Where is... anything?"

The little wisps of light that sort of tell you to where to go or maybe where you just came from aren't much help once you're lost, since you can only see them if you're looking at them. Meaning: you only get a clue as to where you ought to be if you're more or less already there. (I'm pretty sure I'm not.)

 

[laxu]

I had a hard time with signposting even in the base game, but there seemed to a lot more substantive content (mainly, legacy dungeons) per square foot there. I did lots of stuff in the wrong order in Elden Ring, but I was always doing something. In Shadow, I actually find myself wondering, "Have I already finished this DLC?? Where is... anything?"

The little wisps of light that sort of tell you to where to go or maybe where you just came from aren't much help once you're lost, since you can only see them if you're looking at them. Meaning: you only get a clue as to where you ought to be if you're more or less already there. (I'm pretty sure I'm not.)

The DLC has a lot more verticality so "how do I get there?" usually means "how do I find some tucked away cave that somehow leads to that place?"

I think they meant players to defeat Rellana and continue on with their trip but she's a tough nut and there's not enough easily accessible scadutree upgrades. I think I have my level to something like 5 on my mage after finding all the fragments I remembered and defeating the Dancing Lion. That's still pretty squishy for Rellana.

 

[Whizzinby]

I’m debating whether to give this game a go over the long weekend. Anyone play the Xbox One version? Otherwise, id have to confiscate my son’s Series X.

 

[mbenigni]

I’m debating whether to give this game a go over the long weekend. Anyone play the Xbox One version? Otherwise, id have to confiscate my son’s Series X.

I haven't played the XBox One version, but I imagine it would be a compromise. I played Lies of P on an XBox One S and I was really impressed overall, but the FromSoft stuff is somewhat notorious for frame rate issues. (Elden Ring has some pretty severe pop-in even on a PS5.) Also, reload times will be brutal on a One.

Is this your first FromSoft/ Souls game?

 

[Whizzinby]

I haven't played the XBox One version, but I imagine it would be a compromise. I played Lies of P on an XBox One S and I was really impressed overall, but the FromSoft stuff is somewhat notorious for frame rate issues. (Elden Ring has some pretty severe pop-in even on a PS5.) Also, reload times will be brutal on a One.

Is this your first FromSoft/ Souls game?

Yeah it would be the first one I played from them. It looks awesome, but it also looks like a potential day 1 rage quit candidate.

 

[mbenigni]

Yeah it would be the first one I played from them. It looks awesome, but it also looks like a potential day 1 rage quit candidate.

They're all somewhat challenging, but generally not too bad if you take your time. My main issue with Elden Ring is the open world aspect, which sometimes turns into a snoozefest (IMO). On the other hand, a lot of people are playing it again now that Shadow is fresh out, so the multiplayer features are at their best. (Having a little help from other players is the easiest way to avoid rage-quitting during boss battles.)

If I were recommending a place to start with the genre I'd sooner go with the recent Demon's Souls remake or the original Dark Souls. But the former is PS5 only, and the latter has pretty dated graphics (and no one is playing it.)

 

[laxu]

Yeah it would be the first one I played from them. It looks awesome, but it also looks like a potential day 1 rage quit candidate.

I started playing these games with Bloodborne. It has one of the most brutal first levels in the series. Lots of enemy mobs, some tough enemies, and a boss that takes no prisoners. After beating that first main boss, I was hooked. Beating him just barely had my heart pumping like crazy and the satisfaction of defeating him made all the frustration worth it.

Now, seven From games later I can be more calm about getting wrecked by a boss but still feel frustration, as I've shown in the complaints in this thread. But at least I can be mentally a bit less than "fuck all this to hell throws controller out of the window" level frustrated.

You mostly die because you made a mistake, but I think they do have some bad design here and there where you feel like you got wrecked because the camera is all over the place, or you feel like you avoided an attack but it still somehow hit you. Most of the deaths outside bosses are because you panicked, or didn't spot a enemy hiding somewhere, or got ganged on by multiple enemies.

Elden Ring is at least more lenient to start because you can go to many places first to raise your stats, find better weapons, upgrades to them and so on, then come back to fight the first mandatory boss. Plus you can use NPC summons to help you if no players are available.

For upgrading, weapon upgrades are way more important than character stat upgrades, but putting plenty of levels into Vigor helps, I'd aim for reaching 20 in early game and push for 40 later on. Otherwise it's best to focus on 1-2 main stats based on which weapons, shields or spells you want to use.

 

[laxu]

Beat the final boss of the DLC. I felt like I cheated hiding behind a huge greatshield and poking once or twice when I could.

That whole fight is straight up crap because there's time to do 1-2 hits even with a fast weapon during very few openings. The boss is relentless at launching into another attack. I had to rot and poison him. I did learn to parry him in the first phase but the second is way too much for me. Summoned my Mimic Tear but he was largely useless.

Also beat Bayle before the final boss. That fight is better when you have max scadutree upgrades and use the dragon katana, but it's still a lot of camera going wild and having no idea what is going on. I think that's all the bosses in the DLC unless I missed some dungeon.

Here's a pic of my victorious character "Ballthier of Ulm" and his ballsack chin!