toxicitizen

Finally! It wouldn't have taken so long if I had planned out my save scumming a little better but whatever. It was a great game and I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Your grinding spot saved me some serious time, Jack. I had only skimmed the video so I didn't realize it got you like 20k exp per run. Ended up only having to grind for about an hour or so, which wasn't as bad as I expected. No idea if DLC is in the cards for this one but if so then I'll gladly jump back in for another go once it's out.

Lol, I was really hoping it wouldn't be a late game area. I've been using Fountainhead as my go-to grinding spot (Flower Viewing Stage idol has 3 enemies right behind it that can get you like 3k exp in like 15secs). This seems a bit better and pretty low risk but it looks like I'll have to backup my save and keep going after doing Shura either way. ?

Some frustration during NG+ made me consider giving up on getting all the achievements but I somehow found my second wind in NG++. I powered from the start of the game all the way to Corrupted Monk in a single session, without dying to a single boss once. Curb-stomping Genichiro like a fucking trash mob in, no joke, less than two minutes has to be the most satisfying moment of my entire time with the game. All that's left is to do Shura ending (which I already did but I poorly planned my save-scumming, so I need to redo it for the beat all bosses achievement -_-) and then grinding for the last 20 skill points. I'm not looking forward to the latter but at this point I kinda feel like I have to...

Man, after spending such a long time stuck on this motherfucker on my first run it was pretty goddamn cathartic to make him fall to his death hahahaha. I forgot that he dropped two lapis lazuli, so my plan to just ignore him wasn't viable, anyway. Hope they never patch this exploit because fuck this garbage boss lol.

You know, when someone says they're arachnophobic posting a big-ass picture of one generally isn't a super cool thing to do... ? Video game spiders usually don't bother me that much but I figured the EDF ones might have a more realistic look and yeah... think EDF is gonna be a hard pass for me.

Even when it first came out the game looked like ass, tbh. IIRC, even the console version had a shockingly low internal rendering resolution. I guess they figured that was a corner they could cut since the game was gonna look blurry as fuck anyway. That's actually a new one. At least, it certainly isn't a common complaint about the game as far as I'm aware. Like you said, running past enemies works most of the time so it's not like it's a huge hassle. If anything, I'd argue that Sekiro throws idols around way too willy-nilly. I mean, some of them are literally like 10-15 seconds away (or even within sight) from each other. Once you know where they are, some areas can essentially be bypassed entirely by simply bee-lining the idols. Finding a new bonfire isn't supposed to act like a normal checkpoint, it's supposed to be a relief after blindly venturing into danger! As for fast travel, I think it's only in the game at all because you just climbed all the way up to Anor Londo only for the game to go "now backtrack all the way back down and even deeper, bitch!". Having it from the start in the sequels sadly resulted in much less interesting level design. It's convenient for sure but I personally prefer the way Dark Souls 1 did it. Glad to hear you don't regret giving the game another shot, though! Like I said in the other thread, YMMV with Dark Souls 2. It's weirdly divisive and my take on it is that the people claiming that it's a genuinely bad game are every bit as crazy as the people saying that it's the best of the trilogy. Make of that what you will.

I saw the same exploit used on the horse dude you fight in the same area at the start of the game. It never even occurred to me that it might work on Demon of Hatred as well hahaha. I was gonna ignore him on my NG+ run but now i'm thinking I'll give the exploit a shot just for shits and giggles lol.

Oh right, forgot about the DLC area. There's one of the best bosses of the entire game in there. And yeah I want to play Bloodborne, I just lack the PS4 to do it. I just found out it's available on PS Now, though. I installed the PC client, so I'll be checking it out in the near future I think. Not sure what to expect but hopefully it'll be playable enough despite being streamed.

Well, I know that people seemed to compare DS3's combat to Bloodborne a lot. I assume because it's a little faster, but I can't really comment since I haven't played Bloodborne. Personally, the original has a soft spot in my heart due to its borderline metroidvania level design which the sequels dropped (I'm guessing because being able to warp between bonfires right from the start made it kinda redundant). Dark Souls 3 definitely has some improvements (graphics being the obvious one) but I'm not sure if I'd necessarily consider it better. It does feel like the direct sequel to the original that Dark Souls 2 wasn't, though (and it was directed by Miyazaki, unlike Dark Souls 2). I'm not sure I'd recommend skipping Dark Souls 2, though. It's weirdly divisive and is the one I personally consider the weakest of the three (although some people consider it the best one) but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination. And you don't seem to have any kind of attachment to the original, so YMMV and all that. Also, I'm assuming that that terrible boss was Bed of Chaos? It's generally regarded as a terrible boss even among the fan base, so you're not an outlier there. It's also the general consensus that the second half of the game (post-Lord Vessel) isn't as well designed as the first half, so you're not off the mark here. I mean, everything about Demon Ruins is pretty bad, including the fact that it being loaded into memory when it shouldn't have is allegedly the reason why Blighttown ran like shit in the original release lol. I think most people just find that the good far outweighs the bad and is enough to push it into great game territory.

It's not coming out for another month or so but there was a decent deal over on Fanatical, so what the hell. I have to say, I'm really happy with how quickly we're getting these. Normally I'd say space them out a bit more but I just can't get enough of this series. I mean, I'm glad that the Atelier series is on PC but it feels like I played Sophie not that long ago and there's already like 7 fucking games to catch up on lol. But with Yakuza I'm ready to jump into the next one like five mins after finishing the campaign. That doesn't exactly answer my question now does it lol.

Yeah, it's the most useful starting gift for sure. It's great for players that know what they're doing, like speedrunners. It's just that the game uses locked doors to funnel you down the right path early on, so the master key is a good way for new players to end up in areas where they shouldn't go yet. Sounds like it wasn't a problem for you, though.

The worst that'll happen is you'll die quickly and you'll learn you're not supposed to go there just yet. Although tbh, the only places that come to mind are the cemetery next to Firelink at the very start and the area that comes after if you make it past the skeletons. Unless you took the master key (which is a terrible starting gift for new players), I can't remember any other areas you could accidentally wander into that you shouldn't. Seriously, you got through Sekiro. There's nothing in this game you need to be afraid of lol. Especially if you beat O&S on your first try. I mean, shit, I don't think I ever beat them solo. I always summon another player or Solaire because I hate having to fight more than one enemy at once in these games.

You're already past Ornstein and Smough?! Lol geez, just how much free time do you have??? I'm just sitting here, nowhere near being done with Sekiro lol.

That reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. I got one of the EDF games from Humble monthly a little while back. As someone that's uh... not exactly a fan of spiders, should I even bother?

Doesn't weapon durability reset at bonfires as long as the weapon isn't broken? Or is that something the sequels added? It's been a while since I played the original. Also yeah, probably should've mentioned it but upgrading your weapon is actually more important than leveling up lol. Sorry! Stats scaling isn't quite as important, it just means your weapon won't suddenly become worthless down the line. A lot of new players get fucked over because they find the drake sword early on and rely on it without realizing how quickly it'll become useless because it doesn't scale. Also, Blighttown isn't a platforming section. It's a "watch your step" section. It's a pain in the ass to navigate the first time but once you know where everything is it's ridiculously easy to rush through.

Oh, right. I was looking for something more along the lines of the other 3 lol. Yeah, I don't think either Ghost or Nioh have confirmed dates. I just listed all the samurai games I could think of.

Sekiro, Ghost of Tsushima, Nioh 2... what am I forgetting?

Goddamn, they're getting faster at this. Yakuza Kiwami 2 coming to Steam May 9th, pre-order is up now. Also Octopath Traveler on June 7th, for some reason. I mean, cool and it looks really nice but everything I've heard points to it being super underwhelming so uh... yeah.

For what it's worth, in the first Dark Souls you can essentially opt-out of multiplayer by remaining in hollow form. It won't reduce your health and it'll prevent invasions, but you won't be able to summon help unless you return to human form. As for the lack of pause,, it's a valid concern but in practice it's honestly never really been an issue for me. Due to the way enemies behave, if you're in a safe spot then you can often just leave the game unattended. Worst case scenario, you can also just use the quick menu to instantly quit out to the main menu. When you reload, you'll be exactly where you were and IIRC the game state won't have reset (unless you were in a boss fight or something). Dark Souls II brings back the reduced health bar thing but it's never as egregious as in Demon's. It's not an instant reduction, it's gradual with each death and you still get a ring or something to reduce the effect.

The teasing has begun! Their publisher page's avatar was changed to a Kiwami 2 reference. They usually like to release quickly after teasing, so Kiwami 2 might be coming much earlier than anticipated. Kinda surprising since Kiwami 1 came out just a couple months back. I was personally expecting an announcement at the PC Gaming Show like last year. Hopefully this means they have something bigger and better for E3. Not sure what that might be exactly but personally I'm thinking maybe a JRPG of some kind???

Out of curiosity, what was your problem with the Dark Souls games? The complaints I usually hear are about enemies respawning and shit like that and this is all still in Sekiro. If anything, Sekiro is harder (especially early on) given how much faster it is and your limited options to help with bosses. Maybe you should give Dark Souls another shot.

Lol See that's why I was hesitant about using save manipulation for the endings. I heard the skill points get super grindy, to the point where I've seen people strongly recommend against using them to upgrade attack power. If I'll have to do at least 3 playthroughs anyway, then I might as well just roll with it and do them clean.

Have you done multiple endings yet, Jack? I'm still early in NG+ but I'm not sure which one to go for next. It's tempting to save Shura for last since it's the shortest one and by that point I imagine the game will be pretty hard but since there's a different boss I'm worried about screwing myself into a tough spot by leaving an unfamiliar boss for NG++++ lol. Then again, I could just backup my save and fuck around with the cloud files to not have to do four full playthroughs...

Kinda half-forgot it was coming but this finally releasing on PC means this should be the last time I buy these games. Hopefully this will also be the time I finally finish them all. IIRC, I played all the way to the third one on NDS but never finished it and only ever played the first one on the 3DS version, so I never even touched Apollo Justice and the other sequels.

Oh, absolutely. These games will fuck you up if given the chance, so I'll take any advantage I can get. I spent the entire game abusing the enemies' terrible short term memory. Especially with mini-bosses to get that first stealth deathblow right off the bat.