- Feb 7, 2011
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Ok, I've got a couple of fragrant branches of yore, where is it worth using them? I'm sick of seeing statues blocking my path from goodies all over the place.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Dragons Dogma was never exceptionally worried about throwing you to the wolves if you stepped slightly out of line. Even without the DLC, if you took the Witch wood quest to find (name eludes me), you'd end up rolling into mega bandit captain who would destroy you on the way there.
I don't recall any big shifts in the AI ( I was already levlled up by DA coming out). I always recall that Drake being kind of a pest if you were in the area.
On the bright side, there are exactly as many branches as statues. On the downside, some statues are fare more useful then others.
From the wiki, there are your first priorities for the branches. Notably the ones with the estus shards and the one that blocks the way into the Shaded woods.
- Things BetwixtDissolve a statue in front of final door - now guards an Estus Flask Shard.
[*]Majula: Dissolve Rosabeth of Melfia at the entrance to the Shaded Woods for access to Pyromancies and the ability to upgrade the Pyromancy Flames. This is required to progress into the Shaded Woods.
[*]Heide's Tower of Flame: Dissolve a statue in the flooded corridors after the Dragonrider fight and before the No Man's Wharf bonfire to gain access to an Estus Flask Shard.
[*]Lost Bastille: Entrance to the Ruin Sentinels boss fight - leads to the Servants' Quarters bonfire and Belfry Luna (past a Pharros' Contraption)
[*]Lost Bastille: Dissolve the petrified Straid of Olaphis to have access to his spells, armours, and boss soul items, as well as the Straid's Cell bonfire.
[*]Black Gulch: Dissolve a statue blocking the last bonfire (second) as well as a summon sign for Lucatiel of Mirrah.
Here’s where all the branches are for reference. Like Dalisclock said at least you won’t be missing any. I thought there was a map somewhere or where they can be used but haven’t found it.
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Played a fair amount of Spiritfarer. Yeah, I can really see where the feels come in. It's not immediately apparent in the first few hours but it does eventually hit hard what this game is all about and it does show that behind the ghibli artwork and fantasy setting is a rather sad and touching game about helping people accept death. It's not so bad for Gwen but Summer and Alice's character arcs have been hitting pretty hard lately and I'm about ready to send them through the everdoor, but there's those conflicting "I really like these characters and don't want to see them go" and "I hate watching them suffer like this and it's better to let them go".
I am getting the sneaking suspicion that game is hiding something from me. For a game set in the spirit world, nobody really acts or even refers to themselves as being dead or waiting for the afterlife. In the Southern Parts of the map there are numerous islands that look like they're supposed to be pieces of New York City, like moments in space and time split off onto their own little areas. Maybe the spirit world is weird but maybe there's more going on. There's also the fact a lot of the Spirits you run into seem to have some kind of connection to Stella and don't seem to be randos(though I'm not sure about Mickey and his buddy).
It's like a much cuter and less violent/sweary Chapter 6 of Red Dead Redemption 2 all over again.
Otherwise still wrapping up the Red Dead 2 post game. FInishing up the stranger quests I didn't complete before and finally got down to New Austin to explore. And it just feels really empty. It's very pretty much there doesn't seem to be much to actually do in that area. Thieves landing is a gang hideout, McFarland Ranch is there but there's nothing to do there, Armadillo is a ghost town, with bodies and dead people in the streets(but at least I can shoot Herbert Moon in the face without even getting a bounty or a loss of honor, so there's that) and the only real town seems to be Tumbleweed. Mexico is inaccessible but considering how empty New Austin feels I don't feel like I'm missing much.
Hell, if the Van Der Linde gang had made it down there they would have died of boredom before too long. More seriously, it lends a lot of credence to the theory the dev team ran out of time and this is why New Austin is locked off in the main storyline. OTOH, if Rockstar wants to remake RDR1, they've already got the New Austin and West Elizabeth completed to work from. Hell, using assets from RDR2 to remake RDR1 would save them a substantial amount of time and resources.
I am getting the sneaking suspicion that game is hiding something from me. For a game set in the spirit world, nobody really acts or even refers to themselves as being dead or waiting for the afterlife. In the Southern Parts of the map there are numerous islands that look like they're supposed to be pieces of New York City, like moments in space and time split off onto their own little areas. Maybe the spirit world is weird but maybe there's more going on. There's also the fact a lot of the Spirits you run into seem to have some kind of connection to Stella and don't seem to be randos(though I'm not sure about Mickey and his buddy).
It's like a much cuter and less violent/sweary Chapter 6 of Red Dead Redemption 2 all over again.
Otherwise still wrapping up the Red Dead 2 post game. FInishing up the stranger quests I didn't complete before and finally got down to New Austin to explore. And it just feels really empty. It's very pretty much there doesn't seem to be much to actually do in that area. Thieves landing is a gang hideout, McFarland Ranch is there but there's nothing to do there, Armadillo is a ghost town, with bodies and dead people in the streets(but at least I can shoot Herbert Moon in the face without even getting a bounty or a loss of honor, so there's that) and the only real town seems to be Tumbleweed. Mexico is inaccessible but considering how empty New Austin feels I don't feel like I'm missing much.
Hell, if the Van Der Linde gang had made it down there they would have died of boredom before too long. More seriously, it lends a lot of credence to the theory the dev team ran out of time and this is why New Austin is locked off in the main storyline. OTOH, if Rockstar wants to remake RDR1, they've already got the New Austin and West Elizabeth completed to work from. Hell, using assets from RDR2 to remake RDR1 would save them a substantial amount of time and resources.
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Yeah, and also this -
I like New Austin for the scenery and nostalgia mostly, along with finding some good unique loot and legendary hunting. The Strange Man has a couple good video features on it, most notably about Tumbleweed.
On topic, I've been surprisingly (well...not exactly) pulled away a bit longer than expected from my RDR2 platinum run by more MK11shenannigans. After finishing both of the Aftermath outcomes, I cleaned up what I'm pretty sure is the last of the fixed Krypt loot. Also started the 18th of 20 Gauntlet towers and finished the third character tower for my female main Skarlet, which yielded some good stuff. Also did some random brutal towers for a couple neat skins and a couple new brutalities. Thinking I got her how I like her
As for gear she's rocking a mythic set:
Ancient Blood Magic mask (a rare maskless skin, but that's ok because its namesake contains special properties which nullify covid)
Red Widow's Tear dagger
Ichor of Dead Lovers blood vial
After playing her Hemorrhage variation for a while I'm going to switch to Heart Piercing with this set as a new default. I think I'll rename it "Bloody Mistress".
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I saw another video talking about tumbleweed(Fizhy, who does a lot of RDR2 vids) but I'll take a look at that one as well.
Holy Christ, I didn't realize just how big that island was. That looks like it's half the size of the main map in RDR2. Yesh, between that and new Austin I can only imagine the original plans they had. No wonder they didn't bother with Mexico.
Speaking of which, one small nitpick I had with the main plot was the whole "We need to get some money and flee the country" because of how badly they were wanted by the Pinkertons. Dutch starts going on about the South Pacific, which isn't he other side of the planet from where they are, but nobody brings up the whole fact that Mexico(or the Caribbean) isn't that far away and they could probably get to either one very easily from St. Denis(and probably a hell of a lot cheaper then trying to get to Tahiti in one go). They'd(presumably) be out of Pinkerton Jurisdiction and safe to lie low until someone can go back to Blackwater and grab the ton of cash they got stashed there and then grab a boat to T A H I T I.
I realize, yes, that would require Dutch to be pragmatic over dramatic and wouldn't mesh with the open world but the fact(to my knowledge) nobody(not even Hosea) even floats the idea to Dutch irks me a little.
Or maybe that was supposed to be the original point behind Guarma, where they would have taken refuge on the island only to get dragged into the revolution/civil war going on there and be forced to flee back to the US.
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Try Nioh 2 if you haven't had your fill yet. It's absolutely incredible. Immensely satisfying combat that is deeply customizable and a major step up in level design and enemy variety compared to the previous game. The only downside is that it's also still a Diablo style loot grind. But it's not that intrusive and tinkering with weapon abilities and collecting armor sets for accumulative bonus has it's own rewards.
I just completed Hollow Knight. The only thing I can say against it is that some of the hitboxes feel a little bit off. Absolutely everything else is perfect. If you haven't played Hollow Knight, it's on every system under the sun and barely costs anything. Go do it. You won't be disappointed.
Next: Once again, I'm in this position where I don't know what to play next. Nioh 2, Devil May Cry 5, God of War 4, Spiderman, Astral Chain... so many good games, so little time.
Next: Once again, I'm in this position where I don't know what to play next. Nioh 2, Devil May Cry 5, God of War 4, Spiderman, Astral Chain... so many good games, so little time.
I thought you’d already played God of War. I vote that one, especially if you’ve played any of the classic games. Interested to hear your thoughts about the changes.
Played it, never beat it. Didn't get that far either, only up to meeting the World Serpent the first time. Never played any of the originals.
If you haven't played the previous GoW games, GoW 4, while still awesome, will probably have far less impact for you. I'd still recommend it, as it's a really excellent game, both for story and mechanics. But, yeah it's kind of like coming into Return of the Jedi without seeing any of the previous films. The broad story strokes can be understood, but a lot of little bits here and there will be lost on you without the frames of reference. For example you will probably not get why Kratos looks very pensive at a vase in a particular scene. Still, really excellent game.
If you haven't played Spiderman for the PS4 yet, I highly suggest that one. Super fun game, especially if you are a fan of Spidey. Really good cast, good acting, dialogue. The gameplay is tight as shit, and it really captures and improves on the swing mechanics that made Spiderman 2 such a beloved game. Movement and combat are both fun and fluid. Just really solid.
I half expected you to criticize the map system, if only because that seems to be the one big thing it gets hit for by a lot of people. I personally think it's fine but I know a lot of people disagree on that.
Did you do the godmaster/carnival troupe content or just finish the main game? What ending(s) did you end up getting?
I think as long as he has some knowledge of the trilogy he'll be fine. It's not like GoW has much of a plot anyway. It's mostly "KRATOS MAD! Kratos sad. KRATOS MAD! Repeat" with some rage against Olympus and daddy issues thrown in.
Yeah like I said it's not a big deal, but some of the more subtle callbacks would be lost on him.
“You’re Zeus’s son??...Well, that explains a lot!”
Plus the blades scene wouldn’t have nearly the impact if the trilogy hadn’t been played.
Yes, also The end when he kills Baldur, and repeats the very words Zeus said to him, as HE was the angry god child, raging at HIS negligent parent.
Again, the game is still VERY playable all on it's own, no doubt. But some of the subtle little call backs will have less oomph.
I forgot to mention this scene and the one with Nero in DMC5 is partially why I spared Jin's uncle. Hell, I am still surprised I flashed back to both the cycle ends here dialouge.
Never played the DMC series so can't comment, but yeah that would make sense. I spared him mostly because I just don't like killing people when given the choice not to. especially when it's clearly over something as dumb as "honor" like it's presented in that game. Jin's response as to why he didn't kill him was pretty perfect for me. "I don't kill family." I was like, yep, that checks out. Well done Jin.