[SilverEars]

I'm really happy to see games like this being mad today. It takes me back to Terraenigma and Alundra. I always knew it was a great genre.

 

[wowsuchricky]

Currently playing the hell out of Escape from Tarkov, has to be one of the most addicting, satisfying, yet punishing and unforgiving games I have ever played.

Also of course, the perma-RuneScape and WoW addictions.

 

[SilverEars]

Finished Elden Ring awhile back.

Some of the pluses. Torrent is much much better than the horses in Breath of Wild (BOW). Easy to access with the ring, and makes open world traversal a breeze, and much quicker than it could have been. Myriads of weapon types and very very good weapon designs. This opens up for many playthrough with different build types. I luve the enemy varieties as with all Soulsborne games. Very good legacy dungeon designs. The open world visuals are outstanding! Leyndell visuals are ridiculous! They made the NPC questlines much easier to deal with in this game. You can get all endings with one save file in this game.

Armors are outstanding! I luv the varieties of armor types. I really luv the armor designs in this game.

Minuses. Magic is over powered later in the game. This is good for those like that sort of thing, but it just breaks the game. I guess the smarter thing to do is, not use the OP magic if wanting some challenges. STR build are gimped. Bosses are kinda meh. Boss design gets pretty bad toward the end. I find the open world kinda gets old after awhile. Legacy dungeons is where the fun is at, and I prefer that they scrap open-world for their future titles. I just want pure dungeon action from From Soft since they excel at it.

I also don't like melee on horses. Combat isn't as deep as you fight on foot.

Puzzles suck in this game. Find the wise beast puzzles are too simplistic of a design and I just hate the way they designed it. Dungeon puzzles are ok. However, I thought one dungeon puzzle was kinda cool. The dejavu one. It blew my mind!

What's with the emphasis on bleed and katanas? I really don't like that for a fantasy game. Having a samurai class is kinda odd as well. Make a separate samurai game for this. Bleed being OP really imbalances the game.

I don't like the crafting of items. This so unlike FromSoft. It feels so gimmicky. This is not some low tier gimmicky game like zero horizon dawn. Just give us the items.

At the end of the game, I ended up with surplus of golden seeds and stonesword keys. This makes exploring not so rewarding if they put out surpluses of those items. It should be limited like lockstones from DS2 or exactly the amount of locks as the keys that can be found.

Ok, so I started on a pure sorcerer build to see how much different it would be from melee. And I like it. It's nice to not be upfront with the enemies. Early game, sorcery is weak, but with staff upgrades, I think it will balance out. I'm an astrologer as a pure mage. I'm tempted to supplement with melee, but I want to keep it pure, and just use the stock short sword, and try to get through it with spells only.

Now I understand why spirit summons exists. It's for sorcery builds. Sorcery would be too difficult without spirit summons that distract bosses. I think it exists due to Elden Ring having enemies that's that the quickest has been since previous From Soft Souls games.

As a pure magic user, I do use spirit summons on bosses. I find that it's necessary to do so. For a pure melee build, I don't use spirit summons.

For melee builds, the bosses didn't feel all the worthwhile in this game. I don't like the spirit summons, but I also understand it's necessary for pure sorcery builds.

 

[SilverEars]

Your thinking process turns into this once you play enough SoulsBorne games. It turns you into suspicious person that has check every corner for items. lol.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tr4u8c/how_to_enter_a_building_like_a_tarnished/

I like the comments about how anxiety provoking it is when there are multiple paths that comes up. lol. You know you have to cover every path, so when multiple paths occur, it worries you that you may not cover all the paths, and get lost in one. There's always a secret path some place, and you may not be aware of it.

Just by the fact that the game evokes such thoughts tells me that they have a good idea what they are doing when designing dungeons. That's the best part of From Soft games IMO. It's the mazes and paths you explore. Along with some scenarios they've devised with the enemy placements that sometimes can really irritate you. lol.

This is why all I care about is their dungeons. I really don't care about the open world. It would be interesting if they can continuously produce different dungeons by time, like monthly or quarterly. I would pay a subscription if they would have a subscription services of dungeon releases. To me, playing their dungeons is like comfort food.

 

[whirlwind]

Just recently build my new pc and have been quite enjoying it.

Currently playing Mafia 3 and it has been a lot of fun so far.

Just finished Titanfall 2 which was a lot of fun !

 

[F208Frank]

Tekken 2, graphics trash, damn.

 

[SilverEars]

Doing another run of Sekiro. This NOT an NG+. I don't do NG+ because I start out OP and it's boring just one shotting everything. The most interesting stage of From Soft games are the early underpowered challenges and overcoming the obstacles. It gets really boring once you powered up enough. Also, the bad thing about consecutive run of the game is the predictability of everything. It really dilutes the intended experience.

First playthrough was a real struggle to be honest. This time, I genuinely feel like I 'got gud,' lol. I'm so surprised how easily I can take down bosses now that I know the methods. The boss fights in this game requires some figuring out to take them down. In comparison to Dark Souls where you just hone dodging skills, this game requires some ingenuity from the given consumables/tools upgrades.

I got gud to the point I rarely use my healing gourd on normal enemies. And mikiri counter just come natural now. It is a fairly easy game once you beat it once without any cheating. This experience really proves your muscle memory does last awhile. And people get gud with practice.

Normal enemies are too chumpy in this game, and that's my gripe. I wish there was some challenge with normal enemies than doing fatal blow all the time. I guess later on in the game the samurais do give you good challenges.

I wish the level design was up to par like Dark Souls. It feels more open, but also feel too linear at the same time. I definitely like Dark/Souls or Bloodborne castle dungeons much better. I get bored fast with the level designs in this game.

I think the boss designs is where this game really shines. Bosses are a real challenge if it's your first playthrough. There's much fighting pattern variations that bosses arn't all that predictable in terms of strategies and patterns.

I find consumables mostly useless, and I really don't like the Devine Confetti requirements for certain enemies like Headless.

I really don't use most of the prosthetics due to lack of good practical applications, and I mostly use them on certain boss fights (this is the ingenuity). I use the shuriken and flame vent mostly. Shuriken just for the convenience of taking down small creature like dogs, and flame vent doing significant damages to ninjas. There's no avoiding using axes on rats and shielded enemies. Those are the limited application for the usage. I think it would be more fun if I had access to more ninjitsu and tools earlier on in the game to use on simp enemies.

I like the lore and how they presented the lore in this game. They presented the lore very clearly in this game. I also like the characters, and I think character designs are tops in this game. Probably From Soft's best game for character development/designs. Compared to Dark Souls, the lore develops like a cinematic experience. Dark Souls feels very mechanical in how the lore is presented. This one feel much more organic. This shows that From Soft can do cinematic experience really well.

Sound mastering is very good. From Soft's audio engineering is just superb!

This game shines with combat, particularly boss fights that require deflect patterns. A lot of enemies are to simple in this game to be fun in combat. However, I think the deflect/posture mechanics is real genius of a design in this game. Different experience from Dark Souls, and it's very engaging to do the deflect patterns because it feels like something that you can improve in skills with more experience.

I think Suzy Lu is a natural at this game. When I first played it, it was rough. lol She has a much smoother time starting out. Suzy Lu is a great presenter.

 

[SilverEars]

Man, Sekiro is just so well designed when it comes to opening up the user to use their ingenuity to figure out which tools that were given will give them an advantage.

Check this True Corrupted Monk fight. If you don't use any of the tools, the fight can be gueling. Or if using the tools, you can avoid the 2nd phase, and 3rd phase you can just take it out real quick. This is the genius of this game. This is why this game has the best boss design of any From Soft games.



Not only that, I think the enemy placements in the levels are placed intentionally for the play to figure out how to use the tools to get through the levels. If you don't use ingenuity, these levels will seem impossible. This game is so genius in this respect.

Fighting Cowboy has the right idea in how to approach the game. Just check out how he handles the mob of enemies. Just a like a true shinobi! I struggled with Owl Father, but Fighting Cowboy's aggressive playstyle takes him out quick. It's funny how different people figures out different aspects of the game. I would jump the Owl fire sweep attack, but Cowboy would try to dodge?! Everybody has their hiccups in this game. lol I like seeing how different people tackles obstacles in this games in different creative ways. This game opens up for player to get really creative with solutions.



The game design actually is fitting for a game about shinobi. It's a Shinobi game, and it wants you to play like a shinobi with all the shinobi tools given to you. There's no other game like this one in what it wants you to do without telling you what to do. This game is a good reason why From Soft never tells you how or what to do. They want you to discover your ingenuity in tackling obstacles. It's much much more rewarding this way.

I feel like this game is opposite to other From Soft games in the respect that the game gets better toward the end. All the Elden Soulsborne games I've played, the game gets dull toward the end. This game is opposite of their trend. It gets better and better as you keep playing. I always found Demon's/Dark Souls or Elden Ring just more fun at the beginning when exploring the medieval dungeons with the dragon breathing fire down on you.

Thinking about Metal Gear Sold, Solid-Snake is pretty much a future-istic Sekiro. Solid-Snake is essentially a shinobi. Navy Seals, spec ops are modern day shinobi.

Everybody has differences in what style they do well in. Like I said earlier, this seems to be a game that Suzy Lu seems to have an innate ability for. Conversely, some people will struggle hard with this game. I've seen people really struggle with Chained Ogre, but she takes him out easily 2nd try even without flame vent!

 

[SilverEars]

I found Suzy Lu's first Souls game run. First time blind Souls game playthrough is always interesting to see. The problem is, most people will likely die non-stop on Iudex Gundyr, and that gets dull. I think the most dull to see first that playthrough would be Elden Ring. I bet the newbie would just run around everywhere since open world, an d that would be dull. Dungeons are where the fun is at.

Also, I see that she's in her denial phase while fighting this boss. "It's not fair! He hits me and I fall off the cliff!" lol. It is actually fair. The game mechanics just doesn't prevent random occurrences like that from happening. This is why there are so many comedic things that can happen in this game (If you are the spectator, not the player. lol). Dying is the part of the comedy in these games. It is the central theme in the game. Miyazaki even says don't take dying in this game too seriously. He's thinking that the player would laugh off when player die from various situation (like ambushes, etc..). The thing is, if you die, you learn why and how you died at a location, and know the enemy location. So, you can avoid it the next time. Pretty much like 8-16 bit video game days.



Scottish?! And I thought she was from the US? Interesting/weird phenomena. Makes sense when she says she doesn't talk to people in her environment outside her family. She probably communicated mainly with Americans.

 

[SilverEars]

Playing Dark Souls Remastered, and this game really reminds me how ancient this game is in terms of graphical fidelity and controls. Controls are just horrendous (Compared to the most modern From Soft titles, but respectable for it's time)! This is why I like Dark Souls 3 the best. DS1 controls are just clunky. Movement sucks. Combat just doesn't feel right at all. Also, I die quite a bit due to slipping off things due to bad controls. Unnecessary. I really enjoy this one the least. There is no warping from bonfires to bonfires. It just all around sucks. I don't understand why people regard this one so highly. I had much better time with Demon's Souls Remake.

I will say though, the controls in this game is pretty revolutionary for it's time. I tried Dragon's Dogma and Skyrim, and controls are even worse in those games. Which is why those two games are unplayable for me. After you experience, Sekiro, Bloodborne, DS3, and Elden Ring, it's difficult to play other arpgs with clunky dated controls.

Even the newest witcher 3 is just clunky feeling. Same for Red Dead 2.

From Soft really knows how to do arpg controls (except the jump buttons. lol).

This game feels so much shorter after experiencing Elden Ring.

Sen's Fortress is not as bad as I recall. Same for blight-town. I was expecting mage would be easier in this game based on what I read online, but it's no different from DS3. Same lag when casting. I think pyromancer is worse due to more delay and not enough casting numbers.

I will say though, for a mage build, early game is kinda rough. Most difficult early game I've encountered of the series.

I had no idea you can take out the giant early to stop the balls. This makes Sen's Fortress a cinch. For first time players, they need to go in blind, or you don't get the experience intended. It's most fun to discover stuff like this after you go through the struggle. It's most rewarding that way.

 

[SilverEars]

I really enjoy this. People generally despises this game first time around. how many times does he say "I hate this game!" lol. It's meant to be that way. It's really a comedy if you watch first time players. Game just feels like a social experiment.


This is a comedy. Look at the fat demon you got to beat by hitting it butt? lol. This game is so ironic, it's funny. Putting you into a small room to fight Capra demon is comedy as well. I luv the background music in this fight. Dark Souls had the most epic music.


This is gold. He got curse. lol

 

[SilverEars]

I see why this is considered imbalanced of the Souls games. Worse than OP magic in Elden Ring.

 

[Skrowski]

Witcher 3 ( i know ive been putting it off to long) 9/10
Fallout 4 8/10

 

[SilverEars]

Beat Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139. Not bad, but not really great either. Graphics are outdated since it's remake/remaster of 2010 Nier Replicant. So, the world visuals goes back to 2010 tech. Character rendering and animations are the update.

Since this remaster came out after Automata, they've updated the combat and the rendering of the main characters. Although, it's kinda weeby character design, I think the character design is visual pleasing, especially Klaine (lol. lingerie). Jokes aside, I do think the visuals of Klaine is very aesthetic. Her movements, etc.. She walks like a model. I know it's similar for 2B in Automata. The way the movement visuals are done. I think elegant is the right terms to describe the movement animations. Costumes are pretty good as well.

Combat is a standard hack and slash. It is kinda repetitive, but does't get too dull. It's just not fine tuned all that well. It was designed to be like Devil May Cry like combat. Not likes Souls, which I prefer. So, boss battles are really easy, and you can get through the whole game without dying once.

Dialog is fine. It doesn't seem to be too much like Tales series (particularly Arise). Sufficient dialog, but not the most coolest sounding dialog, but typical jrpg weeb style, which I'm not so into. As long as they keep it under minimum, I'm fine.

Side Quests are your standard fare. Go fetch stuff. I get tired of this formulaic crap. This is why I don't do side quests in majority of games, including this one. It's a waste of time. It's nothing creative, but feels like a filler to waste your time.

Level design is nothing special. Puzzles are super easy to figure out, and it's standard 'get keys.' The funny things is, keys are always located nearby the doors. lol. A little more thoughfulness would have helped. Very simplistic.

I disliked that you had to go through the same level again. I hate repetition.

The strength of this game is a fairly good plot and soundtrack. It has a good soundtrack.

Now, I'm giving Automata another try.

Upon playing Demon's Souls 2nd time, but the PS3 original the 2nd time, I find that combat has much improved since this game. Dodging is terrible in Demon's Souls. Precision is the worst of all the souls series. When I dodge diagonal, I always dodge to the side, or worse, toward the enemy swing because the controls are so old.

I think the general movement of Demon's souls is better than DS1 and 2, but the roll controls is the most primative of the series.

So generally, DS3, Bloodborne, Sekiro has the best controls. For people that require precise controls, the controls makes the games easier due to the precision.

 

[SilverEars]

Nier Automata has some questionable design decisions after playing Replicant. I'm perfectly fine with Replicant with it's save system, etc.. I actually like the combat better. Less flashier, but it tells you that you can parry, and etc..

On the other hand, Automata has some real stupid crap like no save until you get through 30min of gameplay. You die, you have to start over and do the 30min of game again. BS. In Dark Souls etc.. never does this. And their boss fights are relatively short that you can do over again. Same for levels. Nier series has BS long boss fights that just unnecessary. What is the point of making it so long? It's so drawn out that it's rediculous.

And then the quest system is dumb. It doesn't tell you what the main quest is. Most of the time, I have no idea what I'm doing.

For Dark Souls, etc.., this works since game doesn't care where you go. In Automata, it's a linear game. This is dumb. Now it's coming back why I really dislike this game.

Combat feel more watered down than Replicant. You can spam dodge all you want, and no consequences. This is even more of a mindless button mashing. Combat just feels worse in cases when it turns into 2.5d view point. Totally unnecessary viewpoint style. I really don't get why it turns into it. It should just pick 3rd person view or 2.5d. 2.5d changes the combat. Also, I can't even see what I'm doing at times during combat. it's just button smashing hell due to the speed of combat.

Map design sucks. The chip system is stupidly designed. Why do I have to move that crap around? It makes no sense why I lose my chips when I die when I can just reload the game and I get my chips back!

Also, at the save point, why don't they replenish health? If I travel somewhere, it replenishes. Why not when I save? This is just totally unnecessary! What is so weird is that there is a room to sleep and rest for replenishing (makes no senses). Totally dumb.

I'm really starting to lose interest in this game due to dumb design decisions. I don't know where to go in a linear game. I googled and I must do something that isn't that obvious? Another totally unnecessary bs. Whoever designed it is autistic.

When I went down and saw Adam and Eve, I was like "this is totally a weeb design!" They need to do away with such cliche character designs. This isn't' 1990's anymore.

This guy brings up some good points.


Oh yes, his point about boss battles that triggers cutscenes is spot on. What a nuissance!