Video Game Thread

[Chris-L]

Well, I'm heading to a medical procedure in about 10 minutes that will leave me pretty well zonked-out for the rest of the day due to sedatives, but I can give some early thoughts.

It is a Souls game in all but name. The big gameplay difference is that there are no shields, which makes the game faster and more offensive. There's also a system in place now where if you attack an enemy shortly after being damaged, you can get some of your health back... again, they're encouraging a more offensive style.

I have to tell you, even as a hardened Souls veteran, the lack of a shield left me frustrated for the first couple of hours. I actually ended up starting over so that I could pick a different starting weapon: Hunter's Axe instead of Saw Cleaver. That really helped. The two-handed strong charge attack with the axe is pretty great... uses a ton of stamina, but does a double spin attack that will knock most enemies over. I've been leaning on that attack pretty hard, and I've done well with it. Feels kinda cheesy, actually, but there's no such thing as cheesing in these games. You do whatever works.

Oh, and by the way, there doesn't seem to be any sort of viable ranged build. You have a gun in your left hand, but this is designed to stun enemies rather than damage them. No more ranged magic build to lean on, which to me was always the easiest way to play a Souls game when it came down to it.

In any case, I could go on for a while about all the tiny changes they made to the formula (like the fact that equip load no longer exists, and potions are now finite rather than being automatically restocked at bonfires), but the details don't really matter so much. What matters is that the game is very good indeed. Miyazaki's touch is back after being absent from Dark Souls 2. The bosses are much better, and the world feels more organic than it did in Dark Souls 2. The only real downside is what fishonjazz already mentioned: the load times blow, particularly since you'll be dying a lot. I'm talking 30-40 second load times every time you die.

All that said, if you love the Souls games, and you own a PS4, this is a no-brainer. Get it now. Hell, if you're a Souls fan and don't own a PS4, now may be a good time to get one. On the other hand, if you never liked the Souls games to begin with, I think this probably still won't be your cup of tea.

About 6 hours in I unlocked the Kirkhammer, sold my hunters axe to afford to buy the hammer, and realized i was 4 strength short of equipping it. No other weapons for sale. i spend the next 2 1/2 hours killing townsfolk by hand to save up the 10k echoes needed to lvl STR up. I was so pissed. Other than that the game is awesome. I find the difficulty more in line with the original demon souls, with the exception of boss battles. The 2 boss' I've killed have been pretty easy. The new combat system is stellar. As someone who never really used a shield in any of the previous games, I find this system a lot more enjoyable for the way I play. I also love the lack of gear drops and availability. Everything you find is that much more exciting and meaninful. It doesn't knock demon souls of it's perch, but so far I think I'm going to end up liking it more than either dark souls games. It's a must own game for sure.

 

[fishonjazz]

About 6 hours in I unlocked the Kirkhammer, sold my hunters axe to afford to buy the hammer, and realized i was 4 strength short of equipping it. No other weapons for sale. i spend the next 2 1/2 hours killing townsfolk by hand to save up the 10k echoes needed to lvl STR up. I was so pissed. Other than that the game is awesome. I find the difficulty more in line with the original demon souls, with the exception of boss battles. The 2 boss' I've killed have been pretty easy. The new combat system is stellar. As someone who never really used a shield in any of the previous games, I find this system a lot more enjoyable for the way I play. I also love the lack of gear drops and availability. Everything you find is that much more exciting and meaninful. It doesn't knock demon souls of it's perch, but so far I think I'm going to end up liking it more than either dark souls games. It's a must own game for sure.

What about the load times doe?

 

[//r00t 4 Jazz]

I wonder if the Digital download will help (it's downloading as I type this) with the load times, even if it does I doubt it is more then 1-2sec.

I also never was one for shields and I know that the magic builds was the popular way to go but I guess I just wanted to make things more difficult on myself and used bows and then would flip to a fast sword when they got close so I guess as a plus I don't have that style/experience to unlearn from. I never did play DSII I think I bought the PS4 just around the time that game came out so couldn't justify spending money on a PS3 game.

Reading your guys' posts and what I've read online I do think it sounds like it will be more like Demon Souls then Dark Souls, not that there was huge differences nor am I as knowledgeable as Priest or Chris but I think there was subtle differences between them and like Demon Souls better.

At any rate thanks for the replies.

 

[addictionary]

I must have some unknown curse on me.

So I'm starting Fallout 2 with the latest Restoration Project once again.

Well, can you consider life a waste of time if you enjoy it? So I'll call this one a good thing.

War...War never changes.

 

[Chris-L]

What about the load times doe?

It's not that bad. Gives you a chance to calm down and relax before giving it another go.

 

[Chris-L]

BTW the graphics have been greatly improved, I'd assume that has a lot to do with the loading times. The game is beautiful. And the Blood Vials (health pots) are super common, which makes it a lot funner to just jump in and get your hands dirty.

 

[Chris-L]

I wonder if the Digital download will help (it's downloading as I type this) with the load times, even if it does I doubt it is more then 1-2sec.

I also never was one for shields and I know that the magic builds was the popular way to go but I guess I just wanted to make things more difficult on myself and used bows and then would flip to a fast sword when they got close so I guess as a plus I don't have that style/experience to unlearn from. I never did play DSII I think I bought the PS4 just around the time that game came out so couldn't justify spending money on a PS3 game.

Reading your guys' posts and what I've read online I do think it sounds like it will be more like Demon Souls then Dark Souls, not that there was huge differences nor am I as knowledgeable as Priest or Chris but I think there was subtle differences between them and like Demon Souls better.

At any rate thanks for the replies.

it definitely feels a lot like the original demons souls. hunters deam is the new nexus. I never did like the overall layout of the dark souls games.

 

[Hekate]

I must have some unknown curse on me.

So I'm starting Fallout 2 with the latest Restoration Project once again.

Well, can you consider life a waste of time if you enjoy it? So I'll call this one a good thing.

War...War never changes.

Goddammit. You made me remember my laptop getting stolen. I was playing fallout on it and I never got to finishing it.

 

[Safetydan]

Ive got an itch and the only medication is more soulz games.

My wife might file for divorce if I do but I still might, accidentally, go and purchase ps4 just so I can play Bloodborne

 

[AtheistPreacher]

About 6 hours in I unlocked the Kirkhammer, sold my hunters axe to afford to buy the hammer, and realized i was 4 strength short of equipping it. No other weapons for sale. i spend the next 2 1/2 hours killing townsfolk by hand to save up the 10k echoes needed to lvl STR up. I was so pissed.

Hah, that sucks. I did find it interesting that in this game when you don't meet a weapon's requirements, you just can't use it at all, since of course in the Souls games not having the stats for a weapon simply meant that you took a massive damage penalty while using it, and probably swung it slower, but you could still equip it.

Couldn't you have just bought one of the three starting weapons rather than grinding 10,000 echoes bare-fisted to up your strength? I thought those only cost like 1k-2k souls? At least then you would have had a weapon to do your farming, and you can equip two anyway.

 

[addictionary]

Goddammit. You made me remember my laptop getting stolen. I was playing fallout on it and I never got to finishing it.

You should save your save files into your e-mail account. Technology is never perfect. Don't trust HAL 9000.


I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I cannot do that.

 

[Chris-L]

Hah, that sucks. I did find it interesting that in this game when you don't meet a weapon's requirements, you just can't use it at all, since of course in the Souls games not having the stats for a weapon simply meant that you took a massive damage penalty while using it, and probably swung it slower, but you could still equip it.

Couldn't you have just bought one of the three starting weapons rather than grinding 10,000 echoes bare-fisted to up your strength? I thought those only cost like 1k-2k souls? At least then you would have had a weapon to do your farming, and you can equip two anyway.

The starter weapons arent for sale until you get a mark from a chest down in the sewers. You gotta kill that big boar thing first...and that wasnt happenening lol. Just one of those things where when it's happening you're like "wtf this isn't fair or fun" but then after you get it done you feel awesome. It's what makes these games so great.