toxicitizen

Nioh Killed the bad guy and credits rolled, so I'm assuming that's the main campaign done. Now it's time for the DLC regions and achievement hunting. Not sure if I'll have enough time to get it all done before Kiwami 2, though. Anyway, this was pretty damn good. Not perfect by any means but I was completely hooked the entire time. It was nowhere near as hard as I expected, though. Once I switched to the Odachi as my main weapon (which I later found out was a weapon type added in one of the DLC), I started just fucking everything up with ease. And then I found out about the Sloth spell, which completely trivializes almost every single boss. Combined with a defense debuff, the one aspect of the game that was still pretty hard turned into a complete joke. In the second half of the game, most bosses were basically debuff -> living weapon -> over in seconds lol. I'm not complaining, though. After Sekiro, it felt pretty damn good to just steamroll my way through the game. I'd say the overall package isn't as high quality across the board as a From game but it's definitely the best Soulslike I've played and it's not even close. Hell, I consider Sekiro the better game but Nioh had me hooked in a way Sekiro didn't. I would play it for hours at a time and when I'd stop I'd be thinking about it again within minutes. I think the mission-based structure just made it easier to commit to doing "just one more". Some things I didn't like: the story's kinda shit. For most of it I had no idea who was who or what the fuck was supposed to be happening. Hell, calling it a story is probably being generous. It's really more of an excuse to keep going forward. Stuff starts ramping up near the end but by that point I seriously didn't give a shit about any of it. Also, having a randomized loot system in an action game remains an objectively terrible idea. I mean, this is arguably an action-RPG but it's not exactly Diablo. Skill plays a big part of combat and constantly sifting through garbage on the off-chance I'll find something slightly better than what I currently have really isn't my idea of fun. Eventually I just started ignoring it and only looked if I had anything better when I either hit a difficulty spike or needed to clear out my inventory. Things I was mostly indifferent about: enemy variety. I swear there's like 6 mini-bosses in the entire game and you just keep fighting stronger reskins until the end. At some point some early bosses start showing up as mini-bosses, which is something I guess? It didn't really bother me all that much (especially compared to how much I've seen people complain about it) but it's definitely the area where there's the most room for improvement in the sequel. People also seem to complain about the level design a lot but it didn't strike me as egregiously bad or anything. There's a few levels I didn't really enjoy exploring but I thought it was mostly serviceable. Again, there's room for improvement but I was okay with it. And for the good: well, the combat is what kept me going through the entire game, so I'd say this is one aspect they knocked well out of the park. I especially loved the Ki Pulse mechanic. Stamina management is a huge part of these games and if you master the timing here you can basically stay on the offensive as long as you like. From's games don't exactly have the most amazing combat ever, so it's not like the bar was super high here but still. This is like halfway between Souls and a character action game. There's just enough variety to your move set to almost scratch that itch and that's not even factoring the fact that most of the weapons play completely differently. I also really dug the mission-based structure. It's not as good as the interconnected world of Dark Souls but for me it went a long way towards giving Nioh its own identity instead of just being another imitator. Another plus is that you don't have to commit to this game's version of NG+. It's a difficulty setting on mission select, so you can go farm and level up and come back to finish bullshit NG sub-missions with overpowered gear. I've seen people say they hope the sequel goes interconnected world but this is one thing I really hope stays the same. So yeah, really glad I came back to this one. I don't remember what made me stop the first time but this definitely would've been a GOTY contender back then if I'd stuck with it. Here's hoping the sequel will be day and date on PC because it's gonna suck waiting out a timed exclusivity period again now that I know I'm a fan.

I know what you mean. Like I said above, I'm finding Nioh much easier than before. I almost never die to trash mobs, only on bosses. I'm further than I was the first time now, and today I ran into the first boss that was actually as difficult as I remembered the game to be. I was starting to get frustrated but then I remembered that the game has coop, so I summoned someone and the fight turned into a joke lol.

Wait, really? Not Sakura, the first one? It's like one of the easiest minibosses in the entire game lol.

Now that I'm done with Sekiro, I reinstalled Nioh and hopefully will manage to finish it by the time Kiwami 2 comes out on PC. It's been so long (almost 2 years somehow???), that I just deleted my save and started over because I figured I'd have forgotten everything about the combat. Turns out it all came back to me very quickly, to the point where I feel like I absorbed it all much better after redoing the tutorials. Pretty sure there's a few mechanics I didn't quite get the first time. I don't know if I approached it too much like a Souls game or if my still-fresh Sekiro skills (and DMC5, now that I think about it) are just more directly transferable but I feel like I'm having a much easier (and fun) time with it now. I remember getting stuck on the very first boss for a while and then again on Hino-Enma but I got past both of them after very few attempts this time. I also started using the Odachi as my primary weapon and instantly went "Yep, that's my playstyle" once I realized how much it just fucks shit up. Especially when you've got multiple enemies coming at you. edit: Ok now I've also beaten that one sub-mission boss that's supposed to be one of the hardest in the entire game really quickly. Either I somehow got much better without playing or I was doing something seriously wrong last time lol.

Like once or twice really early on, back when I was still struggling with the game. Then I got better at it and just kinda forgot about it (and the ceramic shards, too).

Oh what the shit. I wasn't even anticipating the game but now I kinda want it pretty bad. What a genius fucking move to use that in a trailer lol.

NG++, and roughly an hour, yeah. I didn't really pay attention, it might have been a bit more. I only needed 20 more skill points for the last tree (the one that unlocks when you max out all the other ones). At that point, each skill point was around 50-70k exp and at ~20k per run it didn't take very long to get one. Although I'm only talking about my grinding at the very end. I did short grinding sessions throughout the game. Whenever I was close to getting a skill point, I'd go grind a little to make sure I wouldn't lose my progress to a boss.

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.