Arcesius' Pursuit of Completion

[DrBloodmoney]

19 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Update

Hello Everyone! It has been a while since I wrote here... And there are a couple of reasons for it. I'll get straight to them. The first one, I believe, is the surge of new, amazing checklists that we have had the pleasure to witness over the last couple of months. Now, why the hell would this fact influence the upkeep of my own checklist in any way? 

 

Well, because I use my checklist for two purposes... The first one is to review the games I finish. The second one is to engage with you guys and discuss games / talk about games. Since I finish games at a veeeeery slow pace, the second aspect was the one that kept my checklist alive in-between reviews, and this worked well because when I started this checklist, there weren't too many active ones around otherwise. 

 

Now there are, and so I don't feel the urgency to discuss everything in my own checklist, but can choose to engage in any discussion going on in any of the other great lists I regularly read. This results in less activity here in-between reviews. 

 

 

You're not wrong here man - someone must have spread some new compost, because the number of new Checklists sprouting up now has been amazing - I'm starting to feel like I'm no longer the 'new kid' ?

 

 

 

Quote

 

 - Descenders 

 

Very quick update on this one. After experiencing a save-glitch when I was almost done with the DLC, forcing me to do everything again (luckily I still had my platinum save on my PS4...), I am currently the first and only 100% achiever on the EU-version of the game! 

 

 

That's awesome, man!

 

the only one out of over a thousand players is a hell of a thing! ?

 

 

Quote

 

 - It Takes Two

 

Speaking of coop... I bought this one a while back to play with Ms. Arc. We played one session so far (the game is still an F-rank on my profile, we are playing entirely blind, I don't even know what kind of trophies this game has), and it really was a lot of fun. Ms. Arc needs to get used to the controls and the Dual Sense still, but she's doing great   

 

I cannot yet comment on the gameplay itself, other than it feels very responsive and fluid. But after having experienced the first chapter, I think this game will still surprise us quite a bit going forward  

 

The best part... Ms. Arc wrote yesterday from work something along the lines of "I WANT TO PLAY!... ". Any game that can make her, a non-gamer, say that is amazing! Only Overcooked managed thus far 

 

 

Haha - I'm playing this with MsBloodmoney (still) - and holy hell - I fully expect to see you post on here in like a month, going "Jebus, this game is long!" ?

 

I cannot believe how long the game is - seriously - for a co-op game, where you need to get two people free at the same time, there is an absurd amount of content, and a totally ridiculous length to it!

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[Destructor-8]

1 hour ago, Arcesius said:

Update

Hello Everyone! It has been a while since I wrote here... And there are a couple of reasons for it. I'll get straight to them. The first one, I believe, is the surge of new, amazing checklists that we have had the pleasure to witness over the last couple of months. Now, why the hell would this fact influence the upkeep of my own checklist in any way? 

 

Well, because I use my checklist for two purposes... The first one is to review the games I finish. The second one is to engage with you guys and discuss games / talk about games. Since I finish games at a veeeeery slow pace, the second aspect was the one that kept my checklist alive in-between reviews, and this worked well because when I started this checklist, there weren't too many active ones around otherwise. 

 

Anyways... While I will slowly keep at it (I'm almost ready to attempt full runs of my first Dark World), I don't think I want to rush this game, and I don't think I want it as my milestone. I also don't want to put that much thought into a milestone in the first place  But depending on the trophy list, I think I will go with Solar Ash, which is releasing in two weeks. My hopes are that the game is as good as Hyper Light Drifter, in which case it would be a perfect fit 

 

I saw you on a few of these games this week so I'm sure it'll be good to go from game to game as you get through these. Nice to see that you have decided to go with that game instead as it sounds like that's the best thing to do. It's always good to go with something that you really want to instead of something you aren't sure about after awhile. It looks like a lot to look forward to here.

[Baker]

Good session indeed yesterday.
 

I tried to get to 300 medals too, but I feel you were just very lucky or I’m just very unlucky because for me the MP is dead. ? I did find one person I did two runs with and I did a little bit of solo grinding as well and I am now at 255 medals.

 

It’s good we knew about the tower of trials but let’s look at the trophy guide for Code Vein on this site. I think it’s so poor. Not to mention it has info that is just incorrect.

 

I still check .org for guides as I feel as a whole they are far superior to PSNP. If you compare the two Code Vein guides there is no doubt which site has the better guide.

[Arcesius]

2 hours ago, Copanele said:

Now I saw something that interested me:

As a person who grinded Proof of Concord Kept / Sunlight Medals / Wolf Grass / whatever dumb stuff that I needed for Covenant +3 to the point where even Umbasa wasn't helping, hearing about the grind in Code Vein really bummed me out, especially since I really want to give this game a go. BUT since it seems you found a quick method, it means there's a chance I won't shoot myself while going after those anime medals when I will start the game that's good news for me

 

Yeah not only that. In the Souls games you always had the option to grind offline if you wanted to. In Code Vein you couldn't initially. Now you could in theory also grind those marks offline in the Tower I mentioned, but then you'd be getting only 6 guaranteed marks every run. So running the tower coop is still the fastest method, but you can do it solo as well if you prefer. 

 

@Baker mentioned that he didn't have much luck finding randoms online, personally I got 100 marks with randoms without issues, but maybe it has to do with which days / hours we were looking for players... 

 

Of course if you have a partner, that's the best option  

 

 

2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Haha - I'm playing this with MsBloodmoney (still) - and holy hell - I fully expect to see you post on here in like a month, going "Jebus, this game is long!" ?

 

I cannot believe how long the game is - seriously - for a co-op game, where you need to get two people free at the same time, there is an absurd amount of content, and a totally ridiculous length to it!

 

It's that long, huh? ? When Ms. Arc agreed to play this with me, the first thing she said was "but don't nag me every evening about getting back to the game!". I promised I wouldn't, so this might take a while then ? 

 

I just hope it stays entertaining for as long as it takes. I know the devs are not fans of content "just for filler", they are not a fan of collectibles, for example, so I'm hoping that if they made a game this long, they at least had a good reason to! 

 

 

1 hour ago, Destructor-8 said:

I saw you on a few of these games this week so I'm sure it'll be good to go from game to game as you get through these. Nice to see that you have decided to go with that game instead as it sounds like that's the best thing to do. It's always good to go with something that you really want to instead of something you aren't sure about after awhile. It looks like a lot to look forward to here.

 

Honestly it's SMBF that pushed me to start other games as well. I just didn't feel like playing it most of the time, so I decided to, you know... go against what I usually do and accept that I can have more than 2 games started at the same time ?

 

I think it was the right choice. And I truly hope that Solar Ash lives up to my expectations! I know it will be a very different game from HLD, but it still looks very promising! 

 

 

1 hour ago, Baker said:

Good session indeed yesterday.
 

I tried to get to 300 medals too, but I feel you were just very lucky or I’m just very unlucky because for me the MP is dead. ? I did find one person I did two runs with and I did a little bit of solo grinding as well and I am now at 255 medals.

 

It’s good we knew about the tower of trials but let’s look at the trophy guide for Code Vein on this site. I think it’s so poor. Not to mention it has info that is just incorrect.

 

I still check .org for guides as I feel as a whole they are far superior to PSNP. If you compare the two Code Vein guides there is no doubt which site has the better guide.

 

Yeah I agree. I didn't follow anything this guide mentioned. The playthrough order is suboptimal, the grinding methods outdated, and you still need a ton of external sources for many things. 

 

And man, you are really unlucky! I swear I never had issues finding players ? But it doesn't matter, I'll obviously keep running the tower until we are both done  

[DrBloodmoney]

2 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

 

It's that long, huh?  When Ms. Arc agreed to play this with me, the first thing she said was "but don't nag me every evening about getting back to the game!". I promised I wouldn't, so this might take a while then  

 

I just hope it stays entertaining for as long as it takes. I know the devs are not fans of content "just for filler", they are not a fan of collectibles, for example, so I'm hoping that if they made a game this long, they at least had a good reason to! 

 

It's up and down - I haven't found every part great, but there is a good level of variety, and most of the less good bits shorter than the good bits, so I think on average it's been pretty good overall ?

[Joe Dubz]

Ahhh, the infamous SMBF... It really seems like one of those games where either you love it or you hate it! Out of the 5 people I've had discussions with, including my own opinion, it is split right down the middle interestingly enough. It is a shame that it seems to have a bit less of that wow factor to it, which you can't help but feel is because Edmund isn't in the picture anymore!

 

5 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Now, speaking of challenge. Is this game really THAT difficult? Yes, yes it is.The original SMB had a somewhat monotonely increasing challenge curve, which helped in getting better at the game over time without causing frustration at all, since the next challenge was always only a bit more difficult than the last. SMBF has one that looks like this: 

 

(What is this mathematical function explicitly, you nerds?  )

 

All Light Worlds feel more or less equally challenging. From what I've been told, the Dark Worlds also more or less are qeually challenging. But there is no smooth transition in challenge. The change is super abrupt and dramatic. And that is stupid. 

 

Not only that... Each level in SMB was pretty short (10-30 seconds), and even the hardest deathless runs become more manageable by being able to tackle the indificual levels in whatever order you want to. Even for Impossible Boy, there are arguably 4-6 levels that are really tough to get through consistently, but by placing those 4-6 levels first in a run, you make the entire deathless run much easier. 

With SMBF, this strategy doesn't work quite as well. Each world only consists of 6 levels, but each level consists of multiple chunks. I would interpret one chunk to be the equivalent of an entire level in SMB. Now, each level in SMBF might contain 1-2 chunks that are really inconsistent for a total of 6-12 difficult chunks overall. But you cannot simply place all those chunks as the first ones in your run. You can only decide in which order you want to tackle the 6 full levels.

 

You see the difference? If you are really unlucky, the 6 hardest chunks in any Dark World in SMBF might be found one in a different level each. This leads to much more inconsistent runs overall, which is why I believe @Joe Dubz felt like it was more difficult to get a good run going in SMBF as compared to SMB. 

I will say I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one that found it excruciatingly difficult... It just kinda reaffirms my choice to set it at 10/10 for my guide! Which as I mentioned in Ex's post, it really kept me up one night deciding to do so. 

 

You are dead accurate here tho. The difficulty curve was a very sharp increase, but not at all consistent from one Dark World to the next. I really spent the most time on The Clinic (world 2), whereas the final level, The Other Side (World 5), ending up being middle of the road! Just not at all what I was expecting in that regard. 

 

I think you put it best in how you lay out the chunk scenario. If the hardest ones are spread equally across all 6 levels, you are going to have a much tougher time than if they are mostly in 1 or 2! It was really inconsistent in that regard for me. Whereas with the original, you knew what to expect after a few runs and could easily knock those tough ones out first pretty consistently, after enough practice of course. 

 

5 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Anyways... While I will slowly keep at it (I'm almost ready to attempt full runs of my first Dark World), I don't think I want to rush this game, and I don't think I want it as my milestone. I also don't want to put that much thought into a milestone in the first place ? But depending on the trophy list, I think I will go with Solar Ash, which is releasing in two weeks. My hopes are that the game is as good as Hyper Light Drifter, in which case it would be a perfect fit 

 

Sorry for the long update, kudos if you managed to read everything and understand my confusing, convoluted rambling ? 

I don't blame you at all for the milestone decision. Honestly man, I dunno why I put so much effort into doing so! Before I even started visiting this site regularly ~3 years ago, that was something that wasn't on my radar and I never payed attention to it. It does look cool sometimes, but honestly we are truly the only ones who care about our own profile anyway!

 

Very interested to check out Solar Ash myself, now that you mention it. But perhaps I should follow through and finish HLD first?!! Stupid video game ADD, it's always on to the next shiny thing for me ? Been trying to be more consistent as of late and at least follow through with new stuff I start, but lets be real... There is no hope of me ever having a respectable comp% and I'm okay with that! At any rate, I hope you have fun with that and that it is a worthy milestone choice for you ?

 

 

I'm curious to hear how you are liking Badlands? I've certainly had my eye on that one recently. However I think a lot of those trophies are co-op dependent, if I'm not mistaken? And not online co-op either, which is wherein the problem lies for me. I don't really have any RL friends who like to play stuff like that, and not sure if I could get the Mrs. on board for something that will be as challenging as that one is! I suppose SharePlay is still an option, but that would mean finding someone to help who really doesn't have anything in it to their benefit either, so...! 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Joe Dubz

[Arcesius]

16 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

Ahhh, the infamous SMBF... It really seems like one of those games where either you love it or you hate it! Out of the 5 people I've had discussions with, including my own opinion, it is split right down the middle interestingly enough. It is a shame that it seems to have a bit less of that wow factor to it, which you can't help but feel is because Edmund isn't in the picture anymore!

 

I mean.. I don't hate the game. ? As I mentioned, I still think it plays great, I like the puzzle solving and the mechanics are great and surprising. But I don't think the deathless runs are, due to the nature of the game and the difficulty curve, fun to grind out. And that's a shame, since going for the deathless runs in the original SMB was really a lot of fun. Not so here, unfortunately. 

 

 

16 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

I don't blame you at all for the milestone decision. Honestly man, I dunno why I put so much effort into doing so! Before I even started visiting this site regularly ~3 years ago, that was something that wasn't on my radar and I never payed attention to it. It does look cool sometimes, but honestly we are truly the only ones who care about our own profile anyway!

 

Yeah same. It's kinda something that this page forces upon you. There are a couple of milestones that have been randomly defined, and you have no choice but to display them on your personal page. No customization, nothing. I don't like that it's that way, and it's also the only reason why I have been thinking about this milestone in the first place. If I had the option to disable milestones, I would do so without thinking twice! 

 

Just give me a second panel similar to the "Trophy Cabinet" where I can display not trophies, but entire games and I'll be happy!  

 

 

16 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

Very interested to check out Solar Ash myself, now that you mention it. But perhaps I should follow through and finish HLD first?!! Stupid video game ADD, it's always on to the next shiny thing for me  Been trying to be more consistent as of late and at least follow through with new stuff I start, but lets be real... There is no hope of me ever having a respectable comp% and I'm okay with that! At any rate, I hope you have fun with that and that it is a worthy milestone choice for you 

 

Both games seem to be very different in nature, but share at least the color palette ? HLD is a game you could finish pretty quickly, and Solar Ash won't be out for 2 more weeks! 

 

The trophy list is available on Exophase, and it reinforced my choice for a milestone... Similar to HLD, you have to complete the game on Hardcore, you need to attain 100% on a single save file, you need to beat the game in under 3 hours... On paper it looks like a great list that could offer some challenge!  Now there's to hoping that the game will be awesome ?

 

 

16 hours ago, Joe Dubz said:

I'm curious to hear how you are liking Badlands? I've certainly had my eye on that one recently. However I think a lot of those trophies are co-op dependent, if I'm not mistaken? And not online co-op either, which is wherein the problem lies for me. I don't really have any RL friends who like to play stuff like that, and not sure if I could get the Mrs. on board for something that will be as challenging as that one is! I suppose SharePlay is still an option, but that would mean finding someone to help who really doesn't have anything in it to their benefit either, so...! 

 

Yeah the game is 50% coop. You have 100 levels with 3 missions each (survive with 1 try, save x clones, collect all powerups, etc...), and then you have the same 100 missions in local-coop with some sections and the missions adapted to coop-gameplay. 

 

But it is definitely a good game! At least from what I can tell so far. I think I have finished all missions in the first 14 or so levels, so I have still a long way to go. I have heard the description "Flappy Bird on Steroids", and it somewhat encapsulates how the game feels to play ? But it is much deeper than that. It has tons of different power ups, obstacles, and you need to really think about how to approach specific missions. 

 

If you care to finish the game, then I would definitely recommend finding a partner that is willing to spend time with you in Shareplay... You can do many of the coop-missions (I believe I have been told about 150, which is half the missions) with two controllers just leaving the second player to die at the start. The unfortuante part is that you need to get help via Shareplay, and then need to help your partner as well since you cannot earn trophies using shareplay ? So you'd be playing many of the coop-missions twice. 

 

 

In other news, Code Vein is done! Review coming soon I hope  

[Joe Dubz]

Duuuuuuuuude, I just watched a video on SA.... Man that looks absolutely exquisite!! ? I have one game in mind I'm getting after Slime-san is done, but after that I'm making sure to finish HLD so I'm ready for SA after it releases. Not sure if they are tied together or whatever, but I've been meaning to finish HLD nonetheless cuz it was alotta fun. Thank you for putting this on my radar bud!

 

7 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Yeah the game is 50% coop. You have 100 levels with 3 missions each (survive with 1 try, save x clones, collect all powerups, etc...), and then you have the same 100 missions in local-coop with some sections and the missions adapted to coop-gameplay. 

 

But it is definitely a good game! At least from what I can tell so far. I think I have finished all missions in the first 14 or so levels, so I have still a long way to go. I have heard the description "Flappy Bird on Steroids", and it somewhat encapsulates how the game feels to play  But it is much deeper than that. It has tons of different power ups, obstacles, and you need to really think about how to approach specific missions. 

 

If you care to finish the game, then I would definitely recommend finding a partner that is willing to spend time with you in Shareplay... You can do many of the coop-missions (I believe I have been told about 150, which is half the missions) with two controllers just leaving the second player to die at the start. The unfortuante part is that you need to get help via Shareplay, and then need to help your partner as well since you cannot earn trophies using shareplay  So you'd be playing many of the coop-missions twice. 

Thank you for breaking this down for me ? It sounds enticing as I love platformers and I think it might be worth the effort to shareplay through it twice!

 

BTW congrats on your Code Vein plat ? Looking forward to your review on that!

[Briste]

On 11/18/2021 at 8:21 AM, Arcesius said:

Honestly it's SMBF that pushed me to start other games as well. I just didn't feel like playing it most of the time, so I decided to, you know... go against what I usually do and accept that I can have more than 2 games started at the same time 

lol this is how it starts my friend....you go from only one or two active games to all of a sudden looking at your profile and have something like 11 'active' games. Hopefully you have more willpower than I did Congrats on the first achiever as well! That's a cool thing to have under your belt!

[KindaSabbath]

On 18/11/2021 at 10:15 AM, Arcesius said:

The first one, I believe, is the surge of new, amazing checklists that we have had the pleasure to witness over the last couple of months. Now, why the hell would this fact influence the upkeep of my own checklist in any way? 

 

Well, because I use my checklist for two purposes... The first one is to review the games I finish. The second one is to engage with you guys and discuss games / talk about games. Since I finish games at a veeeeery slow pace, the second aspect was the one that kept my checklist alive in-between reviews, and this worked well because when I started this checklist, there weren't too many active ones around otherwise. 

 

Now there are, and so I don't feel the urgency to discuss everything in my own checklist, but can choose to engage in any discussion going on in any of the other great lists I regularly read. This results in less activity here in-between reviews. 

 

I've noticed so many new ones pop up recently and it's so good to see that this side of the site is very healthy, because its my favourite place to hang out on PSNP! 

 

Given the reasons you've stated on what gets you posting in here - it's totally understandable why you wouldn't post in here as regularly as you have done in the past. I will say though, keep this bad boy flowing as I'm sure you know - it's one that has inspired many of the newer ones popping up!

 

On 18/11/2021 at 10:15 AM, Arcesius said:

The second aspect is my lack of motivation, the culprit being Super Meat Boy Forever... As you can see on my profile, I have currently 6 games I'm playing ? and SMBF has a lot to do with why that is. Let's get into my game-updates ?

 

It's unfortunate to read that SMBF hasn't been everything that you would of wanted for a sequel and that it's zapped your motivation, even just a little bit. 

I have no doubt that you will destroy every challenge that the game can throw at you... but I know how much you enjoyed SMB so it's a shame this one misses the mark.

 

On the bright side - it seems you've found plenty of other games to enjoy as a result. I'm sure you'll finish them all up, no problem, and enjoy SMBF a little bit more than if you were to solely focus on the one game until its done.

 

On 18/11/2021 at 10:15 AM, Arcesius said:

 - Descenders 

 

Very quick update on this one. After experiencing a save-glitch when I was almost done with the DLC, forcing me to do everything again (luckily I still had my platinum save on my PS4...), I am currently the first and only 100% achiever on the EU-version of the game! 

 

 

Massive congrats on this one mate! That's huge! I did notice you'd already smashed out a guide for the DLC. Fucking legend. I like the look of this game, so nice to know there's a solid guide for the game + DLC.

 

On 18/11/2021 at 10:15 AM, Arcesius said:

Anyways... While I will slowly keep at it (I'm almost ready to attempt full runs of my first Dark World), I don't think I want to rush this game, and I don't think I want it as my milestone. I also don't want to put that much thought into a milestone in the first place ? But depending on the trophy list, I think I will go with Solar Ash, which is releasing in two weeks. My hopes are that the game is as good as Hyper Light Drifter, in which case it would be a perfect fit 

 

 

Best of luck with the Dark world's dude. I'm keen to see you tackle them. Not that I ever plan on playing SMBF - however, I'll likely play SMB, which will likely lead me there one way or another ?

 

Hope Solar Ash ends up being the perfect milestone for you! 

[Arcesius]

On 11/19/2021 at 4:27 PM, Joe Dubz said:

Thank you for breaking this down for me  It sounds enticing as I love platformers and I think it might be worth the effort to shareplay through it twice!

 

Oh, but beware, it's not a platformer! You are controlling a floating herd of clones in a side-scrolling setup (it has an auto-scroller element). There are no platforms at all ? It's just basically an obstacle course with different powerups. Still very atmospheric, and a very good game for simply making a bit of progress for 10-15 minutes if you don't have more time or feel like playing something else  

 

 

On 11/20/2021 at 5:20 AM, Briste said:

lol this is how it starts my friend....you go from only one or two active games to all of a sudden looking at your profile and have something like 11 'active' games. Hopefully you have more willpower than I did Congrats on the first achiever as well! That's a cool thing to have under your belt!

 

Haha yeah I'll try not to let that happen! 

 

The numbers also look "worse" than they are... I am basically only playing 2 games on my own, and only plan to start Solar Ash regardless of how many open games I still have. So basically, my open games at the moment are as follows: 

• Crypt of the NecroDancer - on hold. 
• Super Meat Boy Forever & Badland - solo gaming time! 
• Warhammer: Chaosbane - 4 player online coop. 
• It Takes Two - 2 player local coop. 

Darksiders Genesis might get on that list before finishing anything else though, that would be 2-player online coop for whenever our 4-player group doesn't find time... 

 

 

On 11/21/2021 at 9:08 PM, KindaSabbath said:

Given the reasons you've stated on what gets you posting in here - it's totally understandable why you wouldn't post in here as regularly as you have done in the past. I will say though, keep this bad boy flowing as I'm sure you know - it's one that has inspired many of the newer ones popping up!

 

I don't know about that, but thanks ? And yeah I was by no means implying that I'm thinking about closing this one. I mean, initially I started this thing just to document my own progress, and using the "review" as a method for spending one more moment with a game after being done with it, reflecting on what I enjoyed and what I didn't. This checklist gave me a lot more though than I was expecting, even changed my gaming habits to some extent! 

 

 

On 11/21/2021 at 9:08 PM, KindaSabbath said:

On the bright side - it seems you've found plenty of other games to enjoy as a result. I'm sure you'll finish them all up, no problem, and enjoy SMBF a little bit more than if you were to solely focus on the one game until its done.

 

Best of luck with the Dark world's dude. I'm keen to see you tackle them. Not that I ever plan on playing SMBF - however, I'll likely play SMB, which will likely lead me there one way or another

 

Yeah definitely. I still fire up SMBF once a day or so to not get rusty. I have only done two full runs of my first Dark World and my PB is 7 deaths. With a bit more practice, I should hopefully nail it soon. 

 

It's fucking stupid though, even after having practiced the levels quite a bit, I'm still finding new ways to approach specific sections in a safer way. That's where a reference video would definitely allow for faster progress and less headache. I don't plan on giving up on my save and start with a known seed though. As stupid as it sounds, while on the one hand I hate the feeling of "isolation" that I explained in my previous post, I also kinda like knowing that I'm playing through my very own levels and not somebody elses ? If that makes any sense. 

 

And yeah, you will play SMB for sure, there is no way you can resist the temptation ? I can even see you grinding for top-10 times on certain levels. I know that I still hold some spots on there, even though I never grinded for good times   

 

 

On 11/21/2021 at 9:08 PM, KindaSabbath said:

Hope Solar Ash ends up being the perfect milestone for you! 

 

Man, I hope so too! My plan is to enjoy the hell out of that game, and write a guide while playing through it. I'm usually not the fastest gamer due to my limited gaming time, so chances are that someone else will finish the game and a guide first, but whatever... I don't know how many people are aware of this game or even considering buying it day 1, so we'll see. 

[Grotz99]

On 11/18/2021 at 2:15 AM, Arcesius said:

Update

Hello Everyone! It has been a while since I wrote here... And there are a couple of reasons for it. I'll get straight to them. The first one, I believe, is the surge of new, amazing checklists that we have had the pleasure to witness over the last couple of months. Now, why the hell would this fact influence the upkeep of my own checklist in any way? 

 

Well, because I use my checklist for two purposes... The first one is to review the games I finish. The second one is to engage with you guys and discuss games / talk about games. Since I finish games at a veeeeery slow pace, the second aspect was the one that kept my checklist alive in-between reviews, and this worked well because when I started this checklist, there weren't too many active ones around otherwise. 

 

Now there are, and so I don't feel the urgency to discuss everything in my own checklist, but can choose to engage in any discussion going on in any of the other great lists I regularly read. This results in less activity here in-between reviews. 

 

The second aspect is my lack of motivation, the culprit being Super Meat Boy Forever... As you can see on my profile, I have currently 6 games I'm playing ? and SMBF has a lot to do with why that is. Let's get into my game-updates ?

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks this way. I have become busy and been wanting to spend any free time I have actually playing my games, but I will update my checklist soon, especially since I want to talk about how I'm going about gaming now. Even though I haven't 100% finished some of the games, I would still love to talk about them. I use to be able to keep this section as read up to date, but now it's impossible...in a good way. I love reading other's views on the games they play and engaging discussions and it almost seems endless, especially when it's like reading a novel, some of you know who you are ?

 

Was curious Arc if you had any intention of playing Dead Nation. I started to play it as part of my plan to slowly get old games on my profile to at least A rank and I can see this game being quite a challenge.

[DrunkenEngineer]

I'm glad you are mega-hyped for Solar Ash, I think I'm going to buy it on release and tackle it as well!

[Arcesius]

On 11/30/2021 at 4:32 AM, Grotz99 said:

Was curious Arc if you had any intention of playing Dead Nation. I started to play it as part of my plan to slowly get old games on my profile to at least A rank and I can see this game being quite a challenge.

 

Yeah definitely. I already own Returnal, and have both Resogun and Dead Nation on my wishlist. I enjoyed Alienation in coop, so I expect Dead Nation to be similar and equally fun  Are you playing solo? (Hmm.. I guess you are, since you don't have the trophy for completing a Mission in coop!). 

 

 

On 12/1/2021 at 6:33 PM, DrunkenEngineer said:

I'm glad you are mega-hyped for Solar Ash, I think I'm going to buy it on release and tackle it as well!

 

Well, this is my cue... Solar Ash, the game I've been anticipating for quite a while, is my platinum #100!  Not a very difficult game, but a gorgeous and - most importantly - very fun one! 

 

 

This game is something special... I don't know if you are enjoying it, @DrunkenEngineer... I don't think it is a game for everyone. But it is definitely a game for me personally, and one that definitely made an impact on me. It is all about movement, fluidity, and scale. The level design, the boss fights.. everything encourages speedrunning (the devs themselves actually stated that they are creating the game with speedrunners in mind), and I just had a ton of fun exploring the world and taking on the giant remnants roaming around. But I'm getting ahead of myself... I will write down my thoughts in the upcoming review

 

Not only that, but I also already finished and submitted the guide! That's also the reason why I have been absent this past week... I just focused everything on getting the guide done in time, while the game is still new. Hopefully it will be published soon. 

 

In the meantime, here is a video of all anomalies and the boss fight in the sixth Area of the game, Luminous Peak (I have a video for each area) on Hardcore difficulty. What Hardcore does, among other things, is reduce the time you have between the attack-points. The timing is extremely tight, and you really cannot make any mistakes! 

 

 

 

Next up is my review for Code Vein. I already wrote most of it, I'm only missing the "The Best" part ? 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Arcesius

[Grotz99]

9 hours ago, Arcesius said:

 

Yeah definitely. I already own Returnal, and have both Resogun and Dead Nation on my wishlist. I enjoyed Alienation in coop, so I expect Dead Nation to be similar and equally fun  Are you playing solo? (Hmm.. I guess you are, since you don't have the trophy for completing a Mission in coop!). 

Yeah, I did the normal run solo to see how it is, but this game would be a lot of fun coop. Doing the harder difficulties solo would be ridiculous as well. I might try another run on a harder difficulty, but I would rather play it coop next time.

 

I have Returnal on my wishlist, just waiting for a price drop or sale. Resogun is also a lot of fun, was the first game I played on PS4. 

[DrBloodmoney]

@Arcesius

 

Well... I suspected this would be the case anyways, but you've just smashed Solar Ash onto my wishlist so hard it left a crater - nice aim ??

 

Question for you - do you think there is any real reason to hold off on SA until after playing Hyper Light Drifter?

I have HLD, and plan on playing both, but for some reason, Solar Ash feels more my current mood, but I'd be open to holding off until post-HLD if the experts (you) think that's the better way to go for some reason?

[Arcesius]

2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

@Arcesius

 

Well... I suspected this would be the case anyways, but you've just smashed Solar Ash onto my wishlist so hard it left a crater - nice aim ??

 

Question for you - do you think there is any real reason to hold off on SA until after playing Hyper Light Drifter?

I have HLD, and plan on playing both, but for some reason, Solar Ash feels more my current mood, but I'd be open to holding off until post-HLD if the experts (you) think that's the better way to go for some reason?

 

? Nice! Haha and I have not even written my review yet... ?

 

No, I don't think there is a "right" order. The two games have nothing in common other than the dev studio and the color palette ? They focus on different gameplay aspects, too. HLD is really all about arena-style combat sequences, while Solar Ash is really a traversal-focused 3D platformer. Now, I know some people get sick in their stomach whenever they read "3D platformer", but this is not a traditional platformer, and I found it's implementation to be really well done. 

 

In any case, if you are in the mood for Solar Ash, go for it!  

 

 

 

Code Vein

 

 

The Pitch

Welcome to Buff-souls, a story (not lore) – driven take on the souls formula featuring oversexualized, vampire-like main characters suffering from amnesia and an insatiable thirst for blood.

 

 

 

 

The Best

Good things first then… Although this time it’s a bit difficult to really find something that stands out as particularly great. Don’t get me wrong, Code Vein is not a bad game, it’s just that it’s pretty mediocre in all of its aspects.

 

There is something here for people that like soulslike-combat but don’t particularly enjoy the unique and vague style of storytelling and lore-focused narrative of the original games. Code Vein is the first game in its genre to be explicit about its plot. Due to its RPG-nature, it is an explicitly story-driven game, and even though I personally didn’t care much for the story (?), it is (mostly) well written and properly paced. There is a lot to learn about the main cast of characters if you want, though the implementation of those "background-story" sequences is questionable (and will be touched upon in the next section) ?

 

However, what I probably appreciated the most about this game is how it handles character customization. Not cosmetically... I really mean in terms of build diversity and how free the player is to experiment with different options.

You see, while there are specific games that I think are better due to the fact that you have only limited options to respec your character (Diablo II >>>>>> Diablo III, for many reasons, but the fact that it truly matters what skill-tree path you choose is certainly one of them), Code Vein doesn't even give you the opportunity to make a mistake in the first place. Stats are entirely dependent on gear, you have no attribute points at all to assign, and thus no need to respec. Instead, you have “blood codes” that determine your class, and can be swapped at any point during the game. You want to play as a ranged character? No worries, just swap your blood code to one of the ranged options, your stats will be adjusted accordingly. Wanna cast magic? Sure, just swap your blood-code again. 

This system makes it very easy to experiment with different builds and eventually find your preferred playstyle. You can also adapt on the fly to any situation that might be giving you trouble (which, honestly, should not really happen often... but you get my point).

 

 

The Worst

I was debating whether this really belongs into this section, but it is something that certainly made me uncomfortable at times, so I guess the answer is yes… Let’s see if you can tell what these three pre-designed characters have in common:

 

    

 

Well? I mean, there are characters in here that have less clothes on than your character in Dark Souls with fully unequipped gear. There is one other female character with reasonably sized breasts, but she then wears the shortest hotpants you could imagine instead ?

 

“Arc, you really that much of a prude?”. It has nothing to do with being prude. But come on… I need a bit more distance between my games and my porn. I mean, I know the world is going to shit, but there must be a jacket lying around somewhere, no?

 

Ok, let’s move on to some more important issues ? If you disagree with me here, at least you have some pretty pictures to look at ?

 

As mentioned in the pitch and the previous section, the characters in this game do suffer from some light form of amnesia (they traded their memories for the power of being able to be revived after death), and their memories can be found out in the world in form of “vestiges”. Find the right vestiges, and you can restore the memories of the NPC they belong to.

In principle, this is a pretty nice way of getting to know the characters, where they come from, what they have experienced, what makes them them. But in practice, this is implemented very lazily. When you are restoring a memory, you enter a “dream-like” static space where you can only move veeeeery slowly. On the way to the exit, you will come across different static, colorless scenes accompanied by some dialogue. Only when the scene is over, you can proceed to the next static picture.

 

It’s so freaking boring! Not the dialogue, not the background-story... but the way it is implemented. Initially I was really interested in learning about my companions, but eventually I just started skipping the memories. I couldn’t be bothered to walk at a snails pace. And there are a ton of memories to restore... ?

 

Ok so we have touched upon character design and some “optional” story-bits… There are two more important issues that I think are need mentioning.

 

First of all, the combat. For the most part it’s fine, but the tracking is horrendeous! On one hand, you have the tracking from the enemies and bosses. Even if you move out of the way while the attack animation has already started, enemies are capable of doing spontaneous 180s and still hit your character after being locked into the attack animation. In Code Vein you can both parry (without a shield... there are no shields) and block. If you play this game that way, this issue probably isn’t that noticeable. But that’s not my playstyle. I’m all about dodging and punishing, which is why the awful tracking was so noticeable to me.

Secondly, your own tracking does not follow the same rules. I would often roll behind an enemy without being locked onto the enemy, then quickly lock onto the enemy and activate a skill pretty much simultaneously. In other similar games, locking onto the enemy after dodging behind it would result in the next attack forcing the character to face the enemy and hit it. Not here. More often than I would have liked, the locking would register but not affect where my character was facing, and the used skill would just hit the empty air.

 

Lastly, there are a couple of levels (areas) with horrible level design. For one, the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood. It’s a complicated, confusing area where you will be often dropping onto lower-level ledges that are only visible if your camera is placed above the player. This would not be that big of an issue if this "secret" wasn’t overused. You will be dropping to a ledge aaaaall the fucking time, it's ridiculous! 

 

Then there is the Crypt Spire, one of the last levels in the game. This is pretty much the opposite of the cathedral. Your path forward is often blocked by a locked door. This is not the first area where you’ll encounter locked doors. But in this particular area, you don’t need to go out of your way to find the key since it is always a drop from an enemy right in front of the door. What looks like a nicely designed area (it is very vertical), turns out to be a linear corridor. Disappointing, especially given that previous areas with similar mechanics were much more interesting to explore.

 

 

The Challenge

Code Vein is, from the souls-inspired games I’ve played thus far, without a doubt the easiest one. While the combat definitely borrows from other souls games – there is a stamina bar, attack animations that you are locked onto, bosses with multiple phases, etc... - this is first and foremost a story-driven RPG. Combat is satisfying, but not as punishing as in other entries, and there are plenty of abilities to both become extremely powerful, and also extremely tanky. 

 

Furthermore, while other souls games are definitely made easier by summoning other players, Code Vein has, in addition to a similar coop system, a NPC that will permanently fight at your side. You can select one of your main buddies to go fight with you, and they make every encounter (including boss fights) very manageable. Not only do these NPCs deal massive damage, they can take quite the punch before going down, will constantly buff you and themselves, and will even bring you back to life if you are killed (and they have enough ichor left to cast the corresponding skill).

 

Also, whenver you start a new NG+ cycle, you can choose to enhance the difficulty of the game, or play the game on the current difficulty again but with your current level and gear. Without enhancing the difficulty, subsequent playthroughs become an absolute joke, to the point where you will be one-shotting many of the bosses encountered early in the game ?

 

Code Vein is definitely the most accessible game in the genre, but also one of the weakest depending on what you usually enjoy about these types of games.

 

Also, shout-out to @Baker for grinding the Marks of Honor with me. Thanks, it really was a quick grind, made more bearable by doing it in coop!  

Edited December 10, 2021 by Arcesius

[DrBloodmoney]

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

 

 Nice! Haha and I have not even written my review yet... 

 

No, I don't think there is a "right" order. The two games have nothing in common other than the dev studio and the color palette  They focus on different gameplay aspects, too. HLD is really all about arena-style combat sequences, while Solar Ash is really a traversal-focused 3D platformer. Now, I know some people get sick in their stomach whenever they read "3D platformer", but this is not a traditional platformer, and I found it's implementation to be really well done. 

 

In any case, if you are in the mood for Solar Ash, go for it!  

 

Cheers mate - good looking' out!

 

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Code Vein

 

The Best

Good things first then… Although this time it’s a bit difficult to really find something that stands out as particularly great. Don’t get me wrong, Code Vein is not a bad game, it’s just that it’s pretty mediocre in all of its aspects.

 

There is something here for people that like soulslike-combat but don’t particularly enjoy the unique and vague style of storytelling and lore-focused narrative of the original games. Code Vein is the first game in its genre to be explicit about its plot. Due to its RPG-nature, it is an explicitly story-driven game, and even though I personally didn’t care much for the story (), it is (mostly) well written and properly paced. There is a lot to learn about the main cast of characters if you want, though the implementation of those "background-story" sequences is questionable (and will be touched upon in the next section) 

 

However, what I probably appreciated the most about this game is how it handles character customization. Not cosmetically... I really mean in terms of build diversity and how free the player is to experiment with different options.

You see, while there are specific games that I think are better due to the fact that you have only limited options to respec your character (Diablo II >>>>>> Diablo III, for many reasons, but the fact that it truly matters what skill-tree path you choose is certainly one of them), Code Vein doesn't even give you the opportunity to make a mistake in the first place. Stats are entirely dependent on gear, you have no attribute points at all to assign, and thus no need to respec. Instead, you have “blood codes” that determine your class, and can be swapped at any point during the game. You want to play as a ranged character? No worries, just swap your blood code to one of the ranged options, your stats will be adjusted accordingly. Wanna cast magic? Sure, just swap your blood-code again. 

This system makes it very easy to experiment with different builds and eventually find your preferred playstyle. You can also adapt on the fly to any situation that might be giving you trouble (which, honestly, should not really happen often... but you get my point).

 

 

The Worst

I was debating whether this really belongs into this section, but it is something that certainly made me uncomfortable at times, so I guess the answer is yes… Let’s see if you can tell what these three pre-designed characters have in common:

 

    

 

I get it!

 

...they all have pointy chins, right? 

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Well? I mean, there are characters in here that have less clothes on than your character in Dark Souls with fully unequipped gear. There is one other female character with reasonably sized breasts, but she then wears the shortest hotpants you could imagine instead 

 

“Arc, you really that much of a prude?”. It has nothing to do with being prude. But come on… I need a bit more distance between my games and my porn. I mean, I know the world is going to shit, but there must be a jacket lying around somewhere, no?

 

Haha - I totally know what you mean here - I mean, I love a good pair o' diddies as much as the next man, but there's a reason we draw the curtains before logging into "The Hub"... I don't want to feel like a letch when I'm just trying to save the world in a game ?

 

My smell-test for this kind of stuff is - would I be embarrassed if someone was obviously looking over my shoulder if I played this on a bus...? ?

 

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

As mentioned in the pitch and the previous section, the characters in this game do suffer from some light form of amnesia (they traded their memories for the power of being able to be revived after death), and their memories can be found out in the world in form of “vestiges”. Find the right vestiges, and you can restore the memories of the NPC they belong to.

In principle, this is a pretty nice way of getting to know the characters, where they come from, what they have experienced, what makes them them. But in practice, this is implemented very lazily. When you are restoring a memory, you enter a “dream-like” static space where you can only move veeeeery slowly. On the way to the exit, you will come across different static, colorless scenes accompanied by some dialogue. Only when the scene is over, you can proceed to the next static picture.

 

It’s so freaking boring! Not the dialogue, not the background-story... but the way it is implemented. Initially I was really interested in learning about my companions, but eventually I just started skipping the memories. I couldn’t be bothered to walk at a snails pace. And there are a ton of memories to restore... 

 

hmmm... 

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

First of all, the combat. For the most part it’s fine, but the tracking is horrendeous! On one hand, you have the tracking from the enemies and bosses. Even if you move out of the way while the attack animation has already started, enemies are capable of doing spontaneous 180s and still hit your character after being locked into the attack animation. In Code Vein you can both parry (without a shield... there are no shields) and block. If you play this game that way, this issue probably isn’t that noticeable. But that’s not my playstyle. I’m all about dodging and punishing, which is why the awful tracking was so noticeable to me.

 

yeah - I'd imagine that would be an issue for me too - I'm like you, Parrying is a secondary option to just rolling like a breakdancer out the way... in the words of Apollo Creed, "stick and move, baby, stick and move!" ?

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Lastly, there are a couple of levels (areas) with horrible level design. For one, the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood. It’s a complicated, confusing area where you will be often dropping onto lower-level ledges that are only visible if your camera is placed above the player. This would not be that big of an issue if this "secret" wasn’t overused. You will be dropping to a ledge aaaaall the fucking time, it's ridiculous! 

 

Then there is the Crypt Spire, one of the last levels in the game. This is pretty much the opposite of the cathedral. Your path forward is often blocked by a locked door. This is not the first area where you’ll encounter locked doors. But in this particular area, you don’t need to go out of your way to find the key since it is always a drop from an enemy right in front of the door. What looks like a nicely designed area (it is very vertical), turns out to be a linear corridor. Disappointing, especially given that previous areas with similar mechanics were much more interesting to explore.

 

That's a bit of a shame - those kind of levels can get grating really really quickly. There's a way to do it well, but know when to reign it in, level designers!

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

 

The Challenge

Code Vein is, from the souls-inspired games I’ve played thus far, without a doubt the easiest one. While the combat definitely borrows from other souls games – there is a stamina bar, attack animations that you are locked onto, bosses with multiple phases, etc... - this is first and foremost a story-driven RPG. Combat is satisfying, but not as punishing as in other entries, and there are plenty of abilities to both become extremely powerful, and also extremely tanky. 

 

Furthermore, while other souls games are definitely made easier by summoning other players, Code Vein has, in addition to a similar coop system, a NPC that will permanently fight at your side. You can select one of your main buddies to go fight with you, and they make every encounter (including boss fights) very manageable. Not only do these NPCs deal massive damage, they can take quite the punch before going down, will constantly buff you and themselves, and will even bring you back to life if you are killed (and they have enough ichor left to cast the corresponding skill).

 

Don't know if this is right, but that's giving me a little Dragon's Dogma feeling, with the NPC companion bit?

 

5 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

Also, whenver you start a new NG+ cycle, you can choose to enhance the difficulty of the game, or play the game on the current difficulty again but with your current level and gear. Without enhancing the difficulty, subsequent playthroughs become an absolute joke, to the point where you will be one-shotting many of the bosses encountered early in the game 

 

Code Vein is definitely the most accessible game in the genre, but also one of the weakest depending on what you usually enjoy about these types of games.

 

 

Great write up mate - feel like I've dithered around this one on the store a few times, but good to know a bit more about it!

[KindaSabbath]

2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Quote

The Worst

I was debating whether this really belongs into this section, but it is something that certainly made me uncomfortable at times, so I guess the answer is yes… Let’s see if you can tell what these three pre-designed characters have in common:

 

    

 

I get it!

 

...they all have pointy chins, right? 

 

C’mon man, I think we’re all wise enough in here to talk about what all these lovely ladies really have in common - they’re all wearing a necklace. ??

 

in all seriousness - If Mrs Sabbath saw all that bling bouncing around on our living room screen, she would smack me upside the head and ask what the fuck I’m playing ??? 

 

2 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Code Vein

Awesome write up man!

This game piqued my interest when browsing through the souls games and souls likes. The art style kinda pops and stands out as unique compared to a lot of other titles in the genre. 
 

2 hours ago, Arcesius said:

what I probably appreciated the most about this game is how it handles character customization. Not cosmetically... I really mean in terms of build diversity and how free the player is to experiment with different options.

This section was pretty cool to read - I really dig the ability to heavily customise as much as possible in games. It’s good to know that you couldn’t get locked into a particular play-style/build that you end up regretting further down the line - and would therefore have to start over like can be the case in other games. The ability to adjust on the fly and be a little more reactive to the situation at hand, sounds awesome!

 

2 hours ago, Arcesius said:

The Worst

Quite a bit here that although I wouldn’t say has completely put me off - definitely knocks it down the list in terms of what I’m in a rush to play. I guess if I see it heavily discounted, I’d probably still pick it up for when I’m out of ideas on what to play. 
 

I’d also be mindful to play this when the Mrs is not chilling next to me on the sofa ? - with all that five-knuckle-shuffle provoking jewellery on display….
 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by KindaSabbath

[DrunkenEngineer]

@Arcesius7 I picked up Solar Ash a couple of days after release and I really enjoy it!  An hour in I was thinking the voice acting wasn’t really working (compared to Hyper Light Drifter with no text at all), but I warmed up to it and I’m having a blast.  I’m traveling so I only get to play an hour or two every other night, but the time I get with it is perfect.  It’s gorgeous, the traversal is fluid, and damn if it doesn’t have a lot of charm.

 

Once I finish up the platinum it’s making me want to boot up Hyper Light Drifter and go for completion.

[Mori]

11 hours ago, Arcesius said:

    

 

6 reasons to buy the game.

 

Great review as always.  I watched Koro playing through Cathedral of the Sacred Blood, better known as Anor Londo for poor people, and it didnt look that bad. Though I havent played through the game multiple times yet, let alone once, soo.. who am I to say anything.  

Edited December 10, 2021 by Mori

[Grotz99]

12 hours ago, Arcesius said:

 

    

 

Was looking to play this with a friend, maybe this will now persuade him. Did you play any of it in Coop? Sorry(?) for filling your thread up with boobs.

[Briste]

18 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Well? I mean, there are characters in here that have less clothes on than your character in Dark Souls with fully unequipped gear. There is one other female character with reasonably sized breasts, but she then wears the shortest hotpants you could imagine instead 

 

“Arc, you really that much of a prude?”. It has nothing to do with being prude. But come on… I need a bit more distance between my games and my porn. I mean, I know the world is going to shit, but there must be a jacket lying around somewhere, no?

lol I feel you here. Maybe it's because I grew up in the Mario Bros era....but it always seems awkward and weird to me in video games with sex scenes/naked people in them. I also don't think of myself as a prude....but it rarely feels organic to the story. I mean, at least they are obvious with what they're doing....but still lol

[Copanele]

21 hours ago, Arcesius said:

Code Vein

I will be kind enough and not tag the three "very well endowed" ladies in my reply as well ? although not gonna lie, I won't have any issues with them. Umbasa unlimited!

 

Anyway...Congrats for the platinum! I actually waited for you to share this review since I have the game ready and all. Unfortunately, you pointed out most of the issues I was afraid this game would have, like tracking & janky hitboxes ( the "I’m all about dodging and punishing, which is why the awful tracking was so noticeable to me." is exactly my playstyle as well, so I am pretty much doomed), lame slow walking sections and shitty level designs. That one hour I played had the most boring level layout ever, even though the combat was not that bad.

 

And the grind...yeah, might start this game once someone else wants to go for it. I'd play this game as well just for the "Souls" feeling, but I won't be in any rush to do so  

[Arcesius]

Ok, I neet to write the following down: Never open page 33 of my own checklist while in public! ? 

 

 

23 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Haha - I totally know what you mean here - I mean, I love a good pair o' diddies as much as the next man, but there's a reason we draw the curtains before logging into "The Hub"... I don't want to feel like a letch when I'm just trying to save the world in a game 

 

My smell-test for this kind of stuff is - would I be embarrassed if someone was obviously looking over my shoulder if I played this on a bus...? 

 

21 hours ago, KindaSabbath said:

in all seriousness - If Mrs Sabbath saw all that bling bouncing around on our living room screen, she would smack me upside the head and ask what the fuck I’m playing  

 

4 hours ago, Briste said:

lol I feel you here. Maybe it's because I grew up in the Mario Bros era....but it always seems awkward and weird to me in video games with sex scenes/naked people in them. I also don't think of myself as a prude....but it rarely feels organic to the story. I mean, at least they are obvious with what they're doing....but still lol

 

Hey that smell-test really has something... ? And just to be clear, Ms. Arc found the male characters just to be as oversexualized as I found the female ones, though they don't have as obvious.. ehm.. assets? that you can depict THAT clearly ?

 

I mean, don't get me wrong... there have always been oversexualized characters in some of my favorite videogames... Don't forget Tifa's exquisite polygons, or Lulu showing tons of cleavage... Cindy in FF XV is pretty obvious... or to change franchise for a second, 2B in Nier: Automata, etc...  But in this game, they just went a bit overboard. It also doesn't help that in many cutscenes, the camera will sloooooowly follow the entire body of one of these protagonists (in particular the one in the first pic) ? I would often find myself thinking "are you serious?"

 

I don't know, man... maybe it's a cultural thing, I just don't get it. I'm also not into Anime, like at all, so it might just be a "me"-problem. 

 

 

23 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

yeah - I'd imagine that would be an issue for me too - I'm like you, Parrying is a secondary option to just rolling like a breakdancer out the way... in the words of Apollo Creed, "stick and mo

 

12 hours ago, Mori said:

Great review as always.  I watched Koro playing through Cathedral of the Sacred Blood, better known as Anor Londo for poor people, and it didnt look that bad. Though I havent played through the game multiple times yet, let alone once, soo.. who am I to say anything.  

 

21 hours ago, KindaSabbath said:

Quite a bit here that although I wouldn’t say has completely put me off - definitely knocks it down the list in terms of what I’m in a rush to play. I guess if I see it heavily discounted, I’d probably still pick it up for when I’m out of ideas on what to play. 

 

2 hours ago, Copanele said:

Anyway...Congrats for the platinum! I actually waited for you to share this review since I have the game ready and all. Unfortunately, you pointed out most of the issues I was afraid this game would have, like tracking & janky hitboxes ( the "I’m all about dodging and punishing, which is why the awful tracking was so noticeable to me." is exactly my playstyle as well, so I am pretty much doomed), lame slow walking sections and shitty level designs. That one hour I played had the most boring level layout ever, even though the combat was not that bad.

 

So, I would argue that the game is easy enough that even being punished due to the poor tracking on both sides, it's not quite as frustrating as it could be. You can still tank a lot of damage, and should be revived by your companion anyways should you go down despite having dodged the attack (or.. despite thinking that you dodged the attack, rather )... It just makes what could have been fun combat.. less fun is all. 

 

As for the level design, definitely, it doesn't look THAT bad. The level design is very varied in this game I'd say, it really is all over the place. It's just that the two areas I mentioned are the ones that stood out as being the least fun to go through. The Cathedral is fine the first time around, but remember that you will be playing through this game at least 3 times. Even if you know exactly what the fastest way through the Cathedral is, it still takes over 15 minutes to reach the end. That's not due to the size of the map, it's just how fucking convoluted everything is. I'm not exaggerating either, it really takes that long even skipping everything and just speedrunning the level. 

 

As for the Crypt Spyre.. it's just a shame because it looks like one of the more interesting areas in the game with its verticality, but then turns out to be a linear corridor. I had the same issue with Hojo's Lab in FF7R... With Red XIII's ability and everything that's going on switching between the two parties, it would have been a perfect location for loads of secret paths and things to uncover. A location close to the end of the game where things can open up a bit, where you can be creative in the level design. And then also turns out to be a linear path in disguise. It would probably be less noticeable if the Crypt Spyre would be the first or second area in the game, but it is almost at the end of the game, and preceeding areas were much more interesting. 

 

All in all, just to reiterate.. It's not an awful or even bad game. It's just all over the place, and very mediocre in all of its aspects. Especially when compared to the better and best games in the genre. 

 

 

11 hours ago, Grotz99 said:

Was looking to play this with a friend, maybe this will now persuade him. Did you play any of it in Coop? Sorry(?) for filling your thread up with boobs.

 

Well, @Baker and myself tried to play in coop, but it has the same coop system as any other soulslike. You can only summon someone that has already unlocked the area you want to summon him for, and since the progress only saves for the host, you would need to play through every area twice if you want to do everything in coop. Also, the client cannot open chests, open doors, etc... and is automatically sent back to his world when the boss in the area has been defeated. 

 

Also, in case that's important for your friend.. trophies only unlock for the host. 

 

So, in the end, we played through the game solo (I joined @Baker on a couple of fights since I played through the game before he did) and then we just did the 4 hour "Marks of Honor" grind at the end (yes, it only takes 4 hours despite all guides stating 8-10 hours... you just need to know what you need to do). 

 

 

20 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said:

@Arcesius7 I picked up Solar Ash a couple of days after release and I really enjoy it!  An hour in I was thinking the voice acting wasn’t really working (compared to Hyper Light Drifter with no text at all), but I warmed up to it and I’m having a blast.  I’m traveling so I only get to play an hour or two every other night, but the time I get with it is perfect.  It’s gorgeous, the traversal is fluid, and damn if it doesn’t have a lot of charm.

 

Once I finish up the platinum it’s making me want to boot up Hyper Light Drifter and go for completion.

 

Glad to hear that you are liking the game!  I think many people will be comparing it to HLD and maybe consequentially have a lesser opinion of it, but I tried to see it as its own game (which it obviously is) and really enjoyed my time with it. It's a bit on the short side, and after 3 playthroughs I didn't really feel like there was anything else left to do (even outside of the trophy list), but they are already collecting suggestions on discord and I've already seen stuff mentioned like boss rushes and whatnot... so there is to hoping that we will see some new content eventually! 

 

 

Alright guys, I'm out for the weekend, but just finishing this post with the following statement: 

 

Fuck Super Meat Boy Forever. I haven't felt this demotivated to grind for a difficult challenge ever since Pier Solar. 

 

Alright, bye! ?