What are you currently playing?

[NerfedFalcon]

One of the things that pulled me into these games for years was that odd rhythm where one day you're stuck one annoying area or enemy and then a couple days you go on this massive slaughter run of victory, due to some combination of locking into your build and play-style, running into a series of enemy types that you're comfortable, or just generally being "in the zone" like a musician or athlete on their best day.

Edit to add: and I think a big reason I get turned off by the post-Sekiro souls-likes is that the whole waiting for parry feel throws that rhythm off. You can't go on unga-bash-athons or wizardy zap-athons to lay waste any more. And even Sekiro allowed raw aggression and I was able to take those victory lap slaughter tours on NG+(+(+)).

It hasn't been entirely on purpose every time, but there are instances where I've been able to smack a boss during the wind-up for one of their 'charged' attacks and still get control back soon enough to dodge the attack. There's also learning to jump over 'shockwave' attacks and throw out a JR1, or using boosted poise from a Weapon Art to trade and secure a stance break... Elden Ring might be kind of wacky compared to Dark Souls 1, but I've found there's still plenty you can do to dominate a boss.

 

[Bartholen]

After finishing Lies of P on NG+, I decided to dust off my PS3 for the first time in like 4 years and boot up the original Demon's Souls. After the extravagance and polish of all the titles that followed it, it feels refreshing to go back to the one that started it all. It's like listening to the first album of a famous rock band: you can clearly see the seeds of future greatness, but it's marred by some rough edges, yet at the same time those rough edges give it its distinct identity. The graphics aren't great even for the time, but they have a kind of nostalgic jankiness to them that was gone by the time even Dark Souls came out. The combat's a lot floatier than the following titles, and after the Soulsborne difficulty arms race reached its bullshit apex with Shadow of the Erdtree, Demon's Souls feels donwright quaint in comparison. I think the fact that this was considered super difficult at the time speaks more about its uniqueness rather than its actual challenge: this kind of methodical, slow-paced gameplay hadn't really been executed on this level before. Enemies die in just a few hits, have really simple movesets and easily exploitable weaknesses, but all of this was completely unheard of back then. Having also been with the healing system introduced in Dark Souls for almost 15 years now, Demon's Souls' grass system feels like an experiment that ultimately didn't work. The fact that you don't get any checkpoints feels somewhat balanced by the plentifulness of the healing items, and the fact that enemies drop them feels like the game is pushing you to keep going with just that bit more healing right around the corner. Of course it was terribly unbalanced, but I think there was potential in this system based on more on long-term commitment rather than trying to rush to the next checkpoint.

It's still got an atmosphere all its own that hasn't been replicated in any Soulsborne to this day. It has a dreamlike, ethereal quality that makes it feel like it's operating on nightmare logic. This is reinforced by almost all aspects: the seemingly pointless grandiosity and emptiness of the Nexus, the levels having zero connection or cohesion with one another, and how you're almost completely alone and surrounded by hostiles in every environment. Unlike Dark Souls' sense of exploring a tragic world fallen to ruin, Boletaria feels more like a world that's been malformed by some unseen, unspeakable force, making it feel alien and unwelcoming in a way all of its own.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

[snip]

Once I've cleaned up Elden Ring, I was wondering whether to go for Lies of P next or try to track down a copy of Demon's Souls (the PS5 version; unfortunately, I haven't got a working PS3 controller anymore). Any recommendation?

If it helps, my ranking for the From Software games I've played goes like DS1 > Sekiro > Bloodborne > DS3 > DS2; I haven't decided where Elden Ring goes in that list yet.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Anyway I managed to traverse Leyndell, eventually. Anybody who says Elden Ring is a boss game is lying; regular enemies can definitely kill you, anywhere at any time, and especially if you don't properly check your corners. Leyndell has plenty of tough mobs who use elemental damage, come in groups, ambush you, and generally are difficult to take down, requiring a patient and methodical approach. That also covers most of the exploration, because Leyndell, despite being a self-contained area, is pretty mazelike and extremely open-ended. How you get from the East Ramparts to the Sanctuary is up to you, but rest assured none of the routes are going to be easy.

Unlike the Golden Shade, who moves fairly quickly and hits like a truck, but it's nothing you haven't seen from other bosses like him; with the amount of experience you should have by the time you get to him, dodging his attacks is free and he goes down quickly.

The boss after Golden Shade has a fog gate before you even fight them, meaning that the devs really don't want you going into that fight unprepared. I'm currently trying to hype myself up to head in there and take him on, especially since I've seen enough spoilers to know exactly who it is. With only one more Golden Seed needed for another flask sip and a lot of unexplored space on West Altus Plateau, it might be time to circle back there and see if I can't upgrade my flask any more before I go for it...

 

[Worgen]

Got past chapter 12 in FF7 Rebirth. Holy shit, FF7 can go over the top and it is the game of faffing about. You think you're done then suddenly more faffing and more bosses.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Once I've cleaned up Elden Ring, I was wondering whether to go for Lies of P next or try to track down a copy of Demon's Souls (the PS5 version; unfortunately, I haven't got a working PS3 controller anymore). Any recommendation?

If it helps, my ranking for the From Software games I've played goes like DS1 > Sekiro > Bloodborne > DS3 > DS2; I haven't decided where Elden Ring goes in that list yet.

I haven't played Lies of P so I'm not comparing but I really really enjoyed the Demons Souls remake.

I'm coming from the perspective where these games have gotten too fast and annoying and futzy in favor of mood and interesting or weird enemies, and that I don't inherently value OPEN WORLD.

Demons Souls usually criticized for a couple of things I will defend:

- Hubword + levels.
Instead of the interconnected worlds of Dark Souls and Elden Ring you get your hub safe space and gates that spoke out into levels, and you basically take turns progressing through parts of each. The interconnected world of Dark Souls deserves its praise and for sure was a great addition to what Demons Souls laid down but the level design of Demons Souls I found to be its own reward. They are good levels!

- "Gimmick" bosses.
At the end of each sublevel is a boss fight of course and sometimes it's just, as Yahtzee puts it, "roll behind them and stab them in the bum." But sometimes you gotta run around a turret and take out a bunch of archers first, or you have to duck in and out of cover to avoid the lava a spider spits on the ground, or you gotta sorta-stealth a dragon's gaze so you can get to a ballista to knock him down. It seems people don't like that stuff but I do, it mixes things up. I dunno maybe it's because people feel that they invested all this time in their builds and they're not being rewarded for it but I personally am more interested in the individual encounters and how the gameplay mixes with the implied lore and any specific moment.

And of course as a FromSoftware fan it's just too delicious an opportunity to see where some of your favorite b.s. comes from: a boss you can really only beat with one stupid sword you can pick up in that arena; bosses you can cheese with status effects and youtube videos, or do infinite chip damage you position yourself in the exact right way; and of course the OG poison swamp. There are also mechanics and systems that were abandoned that are really interesting and- at least when I played- an awesome Discord where folks help each other exploit to get all the trophies.

Frankly I think it behooves any FromSoftware fan with a PS5 to play this game.

 

[Bartholen]

Once I've cleaned up Elden Ring, I was wondering whether to go for Lies of P next or try to track down a copy of Demon's Souls (the PS5 version; unfortunately, I haven't got a working PS3 controller anymore). Any recommendation?

If it helps, my ranking for the From Software games I've played goes like DS1 > Sekiro > Bloodborne > DS3 > DS2; I haven't decided where Elden Ring goes in that list yet.

Lies of P is easily the best non-Fromsoft soulslike I've played, and definitely recommended over either version of Demon's Souls. For a first game from a studio it's incredibly polished and lean; there's hardly a system in it I haven't engaged with. It mixes the various elements of different Fromsoft combat systems and creates a combination that feels perfectly in harmony, though it can be quite punishing at the start. It does feel AA in certain aspects though: it's completely linear, and exploration even in the levels themselves is very limited. But that might actually feel refreshing amidst all the bloated open worlds. If you do end up getting it, one word of advice: forget about the big slow weapons. They're basically useless, because there's no poise or hyperarmor systems to make them viable. Take the blades from the big weapons and stick them on small, quick handles, that's how you do it.

What I've seen of the Demon's Souls remake unfortunately looks like it doesn't really capture the atmosphere and feel of the original, and I'm not the only one to think so. It looks more like a Hollywood remake of a successful arthouse film with a lot of departures taken with the artstyle and design, which inadvertently ends up affecting the narrative of the world.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

More F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch.

The jank is strong. You walk into a room and it's not quite done loading, fine. But sometimes the door gets stuck in the opening animation (the gear spin endlessly) and not even quitting to title will help, you have to quit the game altogether to give it another shot.

The combo training also really brings out the worst in the gameplay, which is how sluggish attacks are relative to button inputs. Game wants you to light attack, light attack, heavy attack, uppercut, mid-air attack, dash, switch weapon, two mid-air heavy attacks, dash, ground slam, switch weapon, triple light attack, heavy attack, switch weapon, whip attack, hold for charge, etc. And there's just no Earthly way. Half the time weapon switching doesn't even take in the middle of a combo! Really frustrating.

I did eventually warm up to the game because the platforming and exploring are good enough, and the environments are pretty enough, and you can work around most of the sluggishness with the big ass drill + ground slams, but I'm not exactly tempted to go out of my way to try and pull MK moves on mobs. Especially when every single enemy attack stuns you and sends you flying across the screen.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Demon's Souls remake

Lies of P

Well that was helpful. /jk

Guess I'll just have to see which one goes on sale first once I've capped off Elden Ring.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

After finishing Lies of P on NG+, I decided to dust off my PS3 for the first time in like 4 years and boot up the original Demon's Souls. After the extravagance and polish of all the titles that followed it, it feels refreshing to go back to the one that started it all. It's like listening to the first album of a famous rock band: you can clearly see the seeds of future greatness, but it's marred by some rough edges, yet at the same time those rough edges give it its distinct identity. The graphics aren't great even for the time, but they have a kind of nostalgic jankiness to them that was gone by the time even Dark Souls came out. The combat's a lot floatier than the following titles, and after the Soulsborne difficulty arms race reached its bullshit apex with Shadow of the Erdtree, Demon's Souls feels donwright quaint in comparison. I think the fact that this was considered super difficult at the time speaks more about its uniqueness rather than its actual challenge: this kind of methodical, slow-paced gameplay hadn't really been executed on this level before. Enemies die in just a few hits, have really simple movesets and easily exploitable weaknesses, but all of this was completely unheard of back then. Having also been with the healing system introduced in Dark Souls for almost 15 years now, Demon's Souls' grass system feels like an experiment that ultimately didn't work. The fact that you don't get any checkpoints feels somewhat balanced by the plentifulness of the healing items, and the fact that enemies drop them feels like the game is pushing you to keep going with just that bit more healing right around the corner. Of course it was terribly unbalanced, but I think there was potential in this system based on more on long-term commitment rather than trying to rush to the next checkpoint.

It's still got an atmosphere all its own that hasn't been replicated in any Soulsborne to this day. It has a dreamlike, ethereal quality that makes it feel like it's operating on nightmare logic. This is reinforced by almost all aspects: the seemingly pointless grandiosity and emptiness of the Nexus, the levels having zero connection or cohesion with one another, and how you're almost completely alone and surrounded by hostiles in every environment. Unlike Dark Souls' sense of exploring a tragic world fallen to ruin, Boletaria feels more like a world that's been malformed by some unseen, unspeakable force, making it feel alien and unwelcoming in a way all of its own.

Latria was downright creepy as fuck, and was basically a precursor to some Bloodborne shit imo.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Speaking of FROM games, this might be of interest in terms of the type of gameplay -



It’s always neat hearing different ways of approaching these things.

 

[BrawlMan]

Street Fighter Alpha 2 - I decided to go for the Dan Hibiki experience. Pretty fun lethal joke character, if you know how to use him. I did an arcade run with him.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PS1) - I finally got past Bison in World Tour mode. The mode is fun, but I hate the fact you have to do all fights over, if you lose a match on the final opponent. What the hell Capcom? I would use save states, but my emulation device won't work on this game for some reason.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Well that was helpful. /jk

Guess I'll just have to see which one goes on sale first once I've capped off Elden Ring.

Hahah, yeah, and, come on, to be expected.

The cool thing about this was how u/Bartholen and I came at your question from different places so we're both right. I was coming to Demons Souls as much as a historian/tourist so seeing all the proto-references was a big part of the fun (and also why I don't mind if it didn't truly capture the details of the original in favor of some QoL and graphical updates).
Lies of P appreciators like u/Bartholen like its spin on the souls formula and, most importantly, core gameplay. By the time I tried the Lies of P demo I realized I was kind of losing interest in delay-parry + 2 phase boss battles so it was not going to be something for me. Maybe if I hadn't already platinumed 6 FromSoft games in 4 years I would be more receptive.

Soulslikes- it's not you, it's me.

 

[BrawlMan]

that the whole waiting for parry feel throws that rhythm off. You can't go on unga-bash-athons or wizardy zap-athons to lay waste any more.

Those parries are there, so people can flex! What would the gamers have if they're not allowed to do that?!/sarcasm

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

The outer wilds
Well being sober as fckin miserable as it is, has allowed a tad more patience to deal with this bullshit properly instead of spinning off into space and having to quit to save mind from the dizziness of the infinite void of meaningless death. I look forward to ageing even faster and not having to avoid every single tiny spoiler every single person who played this coyly dances around.

Star of Providence
Bigmode new game, kinda cute, kinda catchy. But I'm shit at it I'm so goddamn shit goddamn it.

Good game though.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

The outer wilds
Well being sober as fckin miserable as it is, has allowed a tad more patience to deal with this bullshit properly instead of spinning off into space and having to quit to save mind from the dizziness of the infinite void of meaningless death. I look forward to ageing even faster and not having to avoid every single tiny spoiler every single person who played this coyly dances around.

Star of Providence
Bigmode new game, kinda cute, kinda catchy. But I'm shit at it I'm so goddamn shit goddamn it.

Good game though.

Star of Providence looks freaking amazing. I really am just too intimidated to play it, though. During Dunkey's promotion he specifically addressed folks like me who are scared of all those visual inputs and claims that you get used to it but... I don't trust myself.

Congrats on sobriety.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Star of Providence
Bigmode new game, kinda cute, kinda catchy. But I'm shit at it I'm so goddamn shit goddamn it.

Star of Providence looks freaking amazing. I really am just too intimidated to play it, though. During Dunkey's promotion he specifically addressed folks like me who are scared of all those visual inputs and claims that you get used to it but... I don't trust myself.

Star of Providence was originally called 'Monolith', but had to be changed for trademark reasons after a few years of getting away with it. Around the same time, they picked up Bigmode as their new publisher, switching away from... I wanna say Devolver Digital but that doesn't feel right.

Anyway, can confirm it's actually a lot easier to get into than it seems like. The important thing to keep in mind is that most of those bullets will not go anywhere near you; once you start learning to tune out the noise and focus only on the bullets that matter, it'll start to come together for you.