Video Games

[laxu]

As stated previously, I found Shadow of the Erdtree to be a bit odd – fun but unsure of replay value. Watching some of the online reviews of Shadow of the Erdtree is also a mixed bag, from “Greatest Ever” to “It Broke Souls” and everything in between.

Not all, but many of the negative reviews I’ve seen have been from the crowd who had some kind of quasi-religious experience with Dark Souls, and claim to have a special understanding of the essential essence of the “Souls experience” by never summoning or using any tools made available by the game itself, and this special understanding is broken by ER and Shadow in particular, what with having a method to increase the potency of the Spirit Summon (Revered Ashes).

As another put it, go back and play Dark Souls now you’ve been playing Bloodborne and ER for years. See how slow and clunky it is, how easy the bosses are by comparison? When DS1 was released it may have been hard by the standards of the day, but “Soulslike” is now an entire gaming genre. How are FROM meant to keep upping the ante/challenge now people can play their games on a dance pad?

If playing solo is your thing, fine, but please don’t claim some kind of special understanding by choosing that way of playing. NPC summons and Invasions have been around since Demon’s, clearly displaying the multiplayer aspects inbuilt into the game. Communities and friends trading items online has also been around since inception. If you choose to play solo, fine. I choose multiplayer.

Strangely, the most popular Mod on PC is for Seamless Co-op, which now includes Invasions. And I confess I have some slight schadenfreude with these folks getting told to “git gud” and resenting it.

I do understand the frustrations of the PvP crowd and the vanilla colosseums, and Invasions being Gank-fests. The PvP crowd also claim that they are the ones who keep the game alive years after release.

Who are they invading?

Oh well, time to start the long wait for the next FROM title. I may take my level 55 into Shadow for the hefty pots and consumables – not to kill anything. Which is an odd motivation.

I've never gotten big into Souls game multiplayer because I don't like the PvP very much and for co-op I've mainly helped some people with bosses in DS3 but it's just been a very tedious process because you have to wait around in the area for someone to summon you. Elden Ring's ability to summon from further away is nice, but it's still kinda crappy system. Not being able to co-op seamlessly throughout the game without using mods is straight up bullshit and From's lack of effort in improving many of its core systems.

The thing with previous Souls games was that summoning (NPCs or real players) was an option, not an expectation. You could get help, or you could try to take on the challenge on your own. To me From has built Elden Ring so heavily around the summon playstyle that other options have become less viable, instead of being an option.

With the NPC summons in Elden Ring you are expected to use them for bosses and many can get pretty hard if you don't. There's no way I would be able to do e.g Dancing Lion with my mage build without having NPC summons help, because that boss takes poor damage from spells and you don't have a lot of time to fling multiple hits. Similarly Rennala was very aggressive and quite magic resistant so you desperately try to pull off a cast that takes as long as a greatsword swing only to make pitiful damage.

Bloodborne is deliberately built for the faster paced gameplay where you have quick dodges and the regain feature where you can gain back some health by attacking immediately after taking damage. To me From made a mistake in making the DS3 and ER gameplay work the same way, without having the tools to properly support that gameplay loop like BB does.

For a modern game that plays basically like Dark Souls 1, you can look at the Demon's Souls Remake on PS5. That still has the "rolling takes a lot of stamina" and slower paced gameplay and it works just fine. I've been plays Dark Souls 1 on the Nintendo Switch and IMO it's still not easy by any means, the boss fights just aren't these super long ordeals with tons of phases and super long attack chains.

 

[Aelred]

The lack of Seamless or semi-seamless co-op is a gripe - especailly after Lords of the Fallen showed how easy it coud be done while their other online systems sucked - but all you do is join a Group (or Communities in the past, which I preferred) and ask or just see where the action was. I have consistant random action, but if quiet I just ask.

Just about the first items you pick up in ER are the co-op items, the first thing next to the grace is a Summoning Pool and an NPC for Invasions (once the dialog is active). In many Souls titles previously you had a Blue Knight right there, or Solaire quickly opining about Jolly Co-operation - and if you were online you got Invaded (also NPC Invaders). I bought Lords of the Fallen and not Lies of P or Sekiro because of no multiplayer.

Until ER there were Covenants dedicated to co-op and invasions, which Bloodborne messed with the Vilebloods vs the Whoever-They-Were covenants the DLC fixed with the Hunters. DS2 had special items - not trophies - for no bonfire and no death runs., and Bonfire Ascetics and Rat Levels to set up the map the way you wanted. Speed runs, no hit runs... People make the game fun as they choose to from the code provided to them. And that's on PlayStation without Mods!

It was very obviously multiplayer from the first time I loaded up Demon's Souls all those years ago. That people can choose to NOT use the inbuilt mechanisms of the game that they play is their choice and not any special design essence by the Devs - who want to make money from their games and code. Making ER "Accessible" turned out to be marketing genius but seems to have mortally offended the "sword and board, tools and spells are cheese" crowd I laugh at. Go back and play DS1 now - the bosses are so slow it's just funny.

An online friend did the DLC at level 11 NG7 (Scadutree level 19) solo but prefers the chaos of co-op. So once again, from persoanl experience, if you are having difficulties with a Boss solo...

Git Gud. (it took 100 Rune Arcs for her to defeat Gaius, so it does take patience!)

Me and my friends are having a ball using all the gear available inbuilt in the code as well as the online communities FROM has encouraged since inception. It's a mixed bag but with these games you can determine the fun that you allow yourself. Pining for the old Dark Souls 1 solo experience is not something I have ever done.

YMMV

 

[laxu]

Finished Jedi Survivor. This would have honestly been a good Dark Souls-meets-Uncharted game if it wasn't such a mess for performance.

It has so many shader compilation issues, despite supposedly compiling shaders for a long time every time you start the game (which should not happen unless you update drivers). Whenever a new cutscene would show up, you likely missed the first 2-4 seconds of it because the picture would just get stuck until the shaders compile while the cutscene still runs in the background (you can hear the audio).

The game looks great, decent enough story and characters, and has a reasonable enough enemy variety. Well designed levels that combine platforming with combat sections and encourage you to explore them again as you gain new abilities, without forcing you to go through them again in the story.

The combat is solid, a bit janky. Being able to only wield two lightsaber stances at a time is such a stupid move. I modded the game to be able to switch between them as I please and it's much better like that. The different stances allow for some variety in playstyles and some are better against some enemies than others.

There's enough costumes, lightsaber and robot parts, upgrades, valuable items and challenges to find throughout the game that searching nooks and crannies feels worth it. Challenge rewards are bad though as you mostly just get one skill point which is not worth much.

I just can't believe EA would basically just leave the game in this state and keep selling it. If they just fixed the performance problems it would be a good game.

 

[Aelred]

I guess Black Myth: Wukong is next - although single player doesn't attract me so much. Maybe I should get Sekiro.

 

[Devin]

I guess Black Myth: Wukong is next - although single player doesn't attract me so much. Maybe I should get Sekiro.

You definitely should. Though Sekiro is also entirely single player

I'm def grabbing Black Myth

 

[Jynx]

Speaking of Sekiro - This platformer inspired by it is Hollow Knight levels of great.

 

[Devin]

Anyone playing Black Myth yet?

 

[Jynx]

I'm waiting 'til Black Myth is on sale before I buy it. My days of rushing out on day one and spending 70-80 quid are over. I wait until they are €20 or come onto PS Plus for free. Whichever comes first.
With some exceptions like a multiplayer I might want to play with friends. Or any Fromsoft game.

 

[Jynx]

New series from the creators of Love Death + Robots. 15 shorts based around video games.

 

[mbenigni]

Speaking of Sekiro - This platformer inspired by it is Hollow Knight levels of great.

Wow, I'd never seen this before. It looks amazing. I wish there were a console version; I'll have to see whether my crappy laptop will run it.

Anyone playing Black Myth yet?

I had no idea this was out already. Actually, until maybe two days ago, I had no idea it existed. It really came out of left field somehow. I assume this will be closer to a Ghost of Tsushima than a Nioh.

I've managed to become completely addicted to Rogue Legacy 2 again. That game never gets old.

 

[Devin]

I've put a couple hours in to Black Myth so far. Incredible looking game and the vibes are there for sure

Combat has a decent chunk of jank to it, but overall it's quite fun


Closest thing I can compare it to is like a different take on the modern God of War games, with a focus on combos

 

[Jynx]

This game is great. It's like XCOM mixed with Enter The Breach with all the British humour of a Terry Pratchett novel.



You can reset a stage as often as you like and the goal here is not simply to make it through, like in XCOM, but to do it in as few turns and with as much style as possible, synergizing the wizards' spells to caused as much damage as possible per turn, hence the Enter the Breach element, making each combat situation a puzzle.

Highly recommended.

 

[BahamaDada]

This game is great. It's like XCOM mixed with Enter The Breach with all the British humour of a Terry Pratchett novel.



You can reset a stage as often as you like and the goal here is not simply to make it through, like in XCOM, but to do it in as few turns and with as much style as possible, synergizing the wizards' spells to caused as much damage as possible per turn, hence the Enter the Breach element, making each combat situation a puzzle.

Highly recommended.

Had me at Pratchett

 

[Devin]

So now I'm about 30 hours in to Black Myth and it has all clicked for me

SO MANY BOSSES and the majority of them are super fucking cool

The art direction/lore/atmosphere is unbelievably good

There are also tons of not-so-obvious secrets that are super fun to figure out

I dare say the game is a masterpiece and is probably my 2024 GOTY thus far

 

[Devin]

Oh yeah I'm also not even halfway through the game yet

 

[Orvillain]

 

[Jynx]

I've managed to become completely addicted to Rogue Legacy 2 again. That game never gets old.

This game is crack. I decided to give it little a go after this comment, remembering that it's in my list of games I got for free once. I ended up putting everything else on back burner becauseI got so addicted to it.

I did finish it last night (well, it's not really the type of game you ever finish, I beat the final boss), just in time for Space Marines 2 today.

 

[Jynx]

Been playing and loving Space Marines 2 over an hour now. It just feels so good to play.

Though going by the reviews that have come out today it looks like Astro Bot, released tomorrow, might be GOTY.

I'm happy with my choice.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Not that it compares to all you hardcore gamers in the thread, but the wife and I have been playing through gears of war 4 again, just for fun.

I have to say the current trend of lack of local co op, split screen, offline console games is kind of a bummer.

We have played through just about every one.

(Not gonna lie, Hot Wheels 2 is our current go to )

 

[Devin]

This game is crack. I decided to give it little a go after this comment, remembering that it's in my list of games I got for free once. I ended up putting everything else on back burner becauseI got so addicted to it.

I did finish it last night (well, it's not really the type of game you ever finish, I beat the final boss), just in time for Space Marines 2 today.

I forget exactly how it works but you can go back thru and fight "prime" versions of the bosses if you fulfill certain requirements. I never did them all but some of them are crazy fuckin tough