This weekend I beat Moonlighter on the switch. I'll echo what I've seen others say - Amazing art, soundtrack, and concept but there is so much wasted potential. The combat is fairly shallow, the dungeons are all fairly basic, and the shop gameplay could have used a few more wrinkles to make it more interesting. Biggest positive in my book was the enemy design. I'd say it is good enough to recommend, but thought it overstayed its welcome a bit. Really excited to hear if they will make a sequel that expands on it, because it really could be amazing.
After beating it, I started up Steamworld Heist which has been fun for the first few missions.
My biggest issue with AAA games is that they focus way more on the presentation still pushing the envelope instead of like, caring about how it plays.
I think there's a fair amount of indie games that are more concerned with presentation than gameplay as well. Games that are designed to showcase the work of the artists and/or writers rather than designed to engage the player. Games that are more concerned with being clever instead of being fun.
Of the farming games I've played, I would definitely say Gleaner Heights is the weirdest.
Small little town, seems happy at first but then you start to notice people are hiding secrets, abandoned boarded up houses, strange visitors in the middle of the night, monsters in the local mine (well...thats actually pretty normal for this genre) and things get pretty dark from there.
Earlier, went on an evening stroll for flowers and then found out my neighbor is a drug dealer that beats his wife.
This weekend I beat Moonlighter on the switch. I'll echo what I've seen others say - Amazing art, soundtrack, and concept but there is so much wasted potential. The combat is fairly shallow, the dungeons are all fairly basic, and the shop gameplay could have used a few more wrinkles to make it more interesting. Biggest positive in my book was the enemy design. I'd say it is good enough to recommend, but thought it overstayed its welcome a bit. Really excited to hear if they will make a sequel that expands on it, because it really could be amazing.
After beating it, I started up Steamworld Heist which has been fun for the first few missions.
What puts me off of trying out Moonlighter is whenever I see it I'm thinking that I'd probably be happier replaying Recettear. Not really Moonlighter's fault, but it's definitely a barrier.
While I hate to say it, I'm done with The Messenger. It started off fun, but transitioned into something I did not like. I get that they wanted a twist, but it's just not for me. Looks like I'm joining ya' @Dodge Aspen.
Spoilers:
When the game turns into a Metroidvania, I just couldn't take all the backtracking and questing. The area to area, stage based stuff in 8-bit mode was far more fun. I'm sure a lot of people love the switch to a different genre and game type, but not me.
Also, my frustration at the attack, double jump mechanic boiled over tonight. Like, easily another 30 deaths trying to make very specific jumps. If it was a simple double jump mechanic, I'd have had a lot more success.
All in all, a good game, but not without shortcomings. Fun writing and lots of surprises, but held down by overly complex mechanics and a total gear switch at the midpoint of the game. Your mileage my vary. I'll probably just watch the ending on youtube.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I'm powering through it, but that double jump mechanic really is annoying. Especially on segments when you need the extra boost from the glide-stab combined with the jump to reach your goal. There's a power seal that requires you to do it off rows of irregular fireballs, and I just about snapped my controller after the 50th failed "jump, glide, attack, jump, glide, attack, jump, atta-F%&K" moment.
I'm powering through it, but that double jump mechanic really is annoying. Especially on segments when you need the extra boost from the glide-stab combined with the jump to reach your goal. There's a power seal that requires you to do it off rows of irregular fireballs, and I just about snapped my controller after the 50th failed "jump, glide, attack, jump, glide, attack, jump, atta-F%&K" moment.
I looked ahead to see what the Power Seals unlocked and it was underwhelming. Saved me a lot of time and stress not worrying about those areas. I saw the fireball one you’re talking about and just noped out.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
While I hate to say it, I'm done with The Messenger. It started off fun, but transitioned into something I did not like. I get that they wanted a twist, but it's just not for me. Looks like I'm joining ya' @Dodge Aspen.
All in all, a good game, but not without shortcomings. Fun writing and lots of surprises, but held down by overly complex mechanics and a total gear switch at the midpoint of the game. Your mileage my vary. I'll probably just watch the ending on youtube.
I enjoyed the platforming - difficult and finicky esp. when trying to dodge attacks and do the hit/jump. But man, the metroidvania portion just sucked. So much SLOW slow backtracking. I also found it almost impossible without the map hints you can purchase - and even one of the hints is really poorly laid out so its not obvious how you even get there. Wasted a couple hours of backtracking trying to figure that one out going back and forth to different spots before i just looked it up.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Finished off Crosscode last night and it ended really well. Hope we see more of these characters in the future.
I very nearly bought that (and Steamworld Dig 2) last big sale becuase the demo is so damn good but I ended up putting a pin it.
Trying to be very careful with the amount of games I start up. Realized long ago if I start more than two playthroughs, I rarely finish things.
Its a high priority for me though, for sure. Its one of those indie games that was in development/early access forever and you can tell it was worth the time they invested in it.
I'd highly recommend playing Steamworld Heist or Dig 1/2. All three are excellent games that don't overstay their welcome. Definitely worthy of our play time.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
I'd highly recommend playing Steamworld Heist or Dig 1/2. All three are excellent games that don't overstay their welcome. Definitely worthy of our play time.
Seeing "steamworld" in the title is like a guarantee you're in for a good time at this point.
I'd highly recommend playing Steamworld Heist or Dig 1/2. All three are excellent games that don't overstay their welcome. Definitely worthy of our play time.
Seeing "steamworld" in the title is like a guarantee you're in for a good time at this point.
Getting sucked back into Armello with the 2.0 update. My main strategy continues to be "Do the Quests, kill the King", though I'm branching out into attempting Spirit Stone victories.
But now that there's a rudimentary level-up system for the heroes, I feel like I ought to pick one and stick with them. At least until they're leveled up. But picking a single main between River, Magna, Elyssia, Horace, and Scarlet is tricky because I kind of want to play all of them, so I'll probably just end up rotating between them like I've always done.
Oooo Armello! I have not played that since they added the Stranger stuff, didn't love that extra bit of RNG, but loved the base game. Glad to hear its still getting some love, should probably go back and check out the new stuff and characters.
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
New characters are great, and the new UI, cards, and bug fixes are all really good. There's still some pretty blatant bugs though, like there's a ring that's supposed to give you +1 Prestige and +3 gold for killing guards, but you still lose Prestige and don't gain any gold for using it. So yeah, hit or miss on some stuff.
River will always be the best for me because you can snipe king during the last turn if you're desperate, but Fang is dope.
I managed the Last Turn River Snipe exactly once, against the AI.
Somehow it never quite comes together for me when playing against real people. Then again, I do usually go for the King as soon as I'm able. Still, I don't think River's really set up to lounge about comfortably until the last moment, because everybody else will know exactly what the River player is going to try and pull.
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
I managed the Last Turn River Snipe exactly once, against the AI.
Somehow it never quite comes together for me when playing against real people. Then again, I do usually go for the King as soon as I'm able. Still, I don't think River's really set up to lounge about comfortably until the last moment, because everybody else will know exactly what the River player is going to try and pull.
Yeah, I did say last ditch effort. I usually just play the quest + prestige game and hunt other players before hand. It pretty much keeps River ahead while making sure that no one else can enter the palace unless they collect cards or get lucky.
Last game of Armello got pretty intense at the end there.
I was the first one into the Palace, so of course everybody starts throwing their spells and trickeries my way. Barnaby manages to take me out, sending me back to my Clan Grounds. He's a Spirit Walker, so if he can attack the King, he wins.
Fortunately, when day breaks, the King's Guards manage to take out Barnaby. So I stroll back into the Palace, and load up with defensive gear. Ellysia, who stole my treasure and has been targeting me with her trickeries all game long, tries to dislodge me, but doesn't manage to break through my defences.
So here I am, still in the Palace. It's my last turn on the last Night. The King is down to 1 Health.
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
Thanks for the info. So I should be more concerned with 1) keeping the cities safe and 2) not losing a Mech on a map (although sacrificing hp is ok) in that order?
I wonder if I should dig up the old Breach thread to ask these questions?
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
Thanks for the info. So I should be more concerned with 1) keeping the cities safe and 2) not losing a Mech on a map (although sacrificing hp is ok) in that order?
I wonder if I should dig up the old Breach thread to ask these questions?
Nah, city damage is acceptable if you'd lose the mech entirely. Losing your levels is going to hurt the run more.
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
Thanks for the info. So I should be more concerned with 1) keeping the cities safe and 2) not losing a Mech on a map (although sacrificing hp is ok) in that order?
I wonder if I should dig up the old Breach thread to ask these questions?
Nah, city damage is acceptable if you'd lose the mech entirely. Losing your levels is going to hurt the run more.
What levels? Like pilot XP or something?
I guess I should play more before asking a bunch of silly questions. :P
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
Story-wise, I don't think there's more to it than: Bugs are attacking across all timelines. You do your best to clean this timeline up, and if you succeed then handshakes all around, grab a sandwich, and meet up at the next affected timeline. If you fail? Well... there are still other timelines to defend, and even if this one has to be abandoned, your job isn't over yet.
In terms of game strategy: Maybe if you're incredibly skilled and incredibly lucky, you can do a perfect run where no one ever takes any damage, but I highly doubt that this is actually possible in practice (especially at higher difficulties).
I would very much encourage you to play the game on "Easy" for a few runs. "Normal" is totally not, it will really challenge you and kick your butt. "Easy" decreases the number of bugs per level, so you can kind of catch your breath and plan some stuff out; I felt very overwhelmed when I started playing on "Normal". This is one of those scenarios where playing on "Easy" doesn't fully prepare you for higher difficulties, because increasing the number of bugs isn't a quantitative jump in difficulty (which would be a bug doing more damage/having more hp/etc), but a qualitative jump in difficulty. More bugs means you need to adapt your strategies and develop new ones. But! I think that playing on "Easy" will get you familiar and comfortable with the basics, to the point where you will be able to develop those new strategies.
In terms of getting a perfect run: Like I said, it becomes harder at higher difficulties and further into a run, but here are some things to think about:
- Using one of your mechs to block an attack from a bug is viable (and, I think, even necessary later in the game). Remember that mech hp is a resource (just like your hp in Hearthstone). It doesn't matter if a mech ends a game with 5 hp or 1 hp, because it'll be at full health for the next level anyway.
- Be mindful of how you can position units on the map using special abilities. I think every team gets something that lets them push or pull units, friendly and otherwise. If your punchy mech can't quite reach someone to punch them, maybe you can use a special ability to give them an extra nudge to get them in range. Maybe you can't kill a bug or block it's shot with normal movement, but you can pull one of your own units into the line of attack.
- Take note of the order in which actions will execute during the enemy's turn. If you can line it up so Bug #2 shoots and kills Bug #5, then you won't need to block Bug #5's shots. Likewise, sometimes there are buildings that perform actions before the bugs act that can be used to knock some bugs out.
- You can block a bug that'll emerge next turn. It will do 1 point of damage to the blocking unit, but taking 1 damage might be better than having to deal with an entire full-health bug next turn. If you can shove a bug to block an emerging bug? Even better. If you can shove a 1hp bug to block an emerging bug? You're the king, you get high-fives all day.
- If damage is unavoidable, I would say the order of preference for what takes damage, from "least bad if this takes damage" to "most bad" is:
Mech that won't be killed by the attack -> power grid -> (mech that WOULD be killed by the attack, mission objective)
That last one is kind of a personal preference. Mechs that get destroyed are disabled for the rest of the mission, but are still available for the next mission - but their pilot will be dead, so the mechs will have decreased stats and will lack any special abilities granted by the pilots. You might pick up extra pilots during a run, so this might not be a big deal - it might be worth fully sacrificing a mech to protect a mission objective.
- Note that a mech that gets fully killed but then gets healed by another mech (there are a couple special abilities you might find that let mechs heal other mechs) does not count as killed! So you might be able to sacrifice a mech and then just revive it next turn.
- Try as hard as you can to complete every objective on a map. If you complete all objectives on an island, you will get a freebie after you finish that island; if I remember correctly, it's your choice of: +2 to power grid, a pilot, or a mech equipment. If the pilot and the mech equipment aren't interesting to you, it might be worth taking the pilot because on the screen where you spend reputation to buy new gear, you can just sell the pilot for two points of reputation. It might be worth taking a simpler level with fewer/simpler mission objectives just to make sure you get the freebie at the end.
- Prioritize missions that reward you with reputation (the stars). A reactor costs 3 reputation at the end of an island, and it's probably the best purchase in the early game. If I remember correctly, you can often get 9 rep in an island (doesn't always work out because you might not have enough two-star missions next to each other), which translates into 3 reactors. Grid power isn't a very useful reward (unless you've only got like 1 left) because you can always buy more grid power after you finish an island at a rate of 1 rep = 1 grid power; rep is more versatile in that way.
Just to reinforce Delduwath's post a bit, focusing on the objectives can really pay off. Earning Power will offset building damage taken, earning stars/cores will allow for upgrades and reinforcing power at the end of an island. You can game that a bit if you stop short of max power to afford a core or item, then target missions with Power as a reward on the next island to catch back up.
With that in mind, it's not always the best move to kill a bug, at least, not in terms of reducing hp to 0. Knockback is your best friend. You can push bugs into dangerous tiles (freezes, air strikes), force them to attack nothing, or even each other. You can bump non-flying bugs into craters, water, and lava. Some are too large to drown or resistant to fire, but the tooltips will tell you that.
When your turns run out they just leave anyway, and there's no penalty unless you're short on a kill count objective or left an HQ boss standing.
In theory, kills get your pilots XP, so I guessssss one can make the argument that killing a bug is better than not - but in practice, I'm usually scrambling to avoid damage, and stuff like maximizing XP gain is not even on my list of priorities. If I can bump a bug so it will shoot at empty air, I count that as a huge success.
I mean, you know, if you can easily get a kill on a bug with Mech A or Mech B AND Mech B has a low-level pilot while Mech A has a maxed out pilot AND it doesn't negatively impact your plans for your other actions for the turn, then sure, make the kill with Mech B. Otherwise? Do what you gotta do to make your things not take damage. Everything else is whatever.
I tried out Into the Breach the other day. It's...weird? Even with the tutorial, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. I guess there's time-travel involved somehow?
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
Thanks for the info. So I should be more concerned with 1) keeping the cities safe and 2) not losing a Mech on a map (although sacrificing hp is ok) in that order?
I wonder if I should dig up the old Breach thread to ask these questions?
Nah, city damage is acceptable if you'd lose the mech entirely. Losing your levels is going to hurt the run more.
What levels? Like pilot XP or something?
I guess I should play more before asking a bunch of silly questions. :P
If a mech ends a mission with 0 health, then you lose the pilot. You keep the mech, but the new pilot is just an AI that can't gain any XP.
Why am I only finding out now that Monster Boy (A brand new sequel to the excellent Wonder boy remake) came out in December?
Apparently a demo comes out on Thursday but I'll be grabbing this as soon as I get home.
Edit: Oh... $40 USD. Yeah I hate to say it but I guess I'm waiting on the demo after all. I'm sure I'd love it, and maybe the demo will blow me away to the point that I'll have to get it... But in a world where Hollow Knight is $15, this probably needed to be at least $10 cheaper.
Why am I only finding out now that Monster Boy (A brand new sequel to the excellent Wonder boy remake) came out in December?
Apparently a demo comes out on Thursday but I'll be grabbing this as soon as I get home.
Edit: Oh... $40 USD. Yeah I hate to say it but I guess I'm waiting on the demo after all. I'm sure I'd love it, and maybe the demo will blow me away to the point that I'll have to get it... But in a world where Hollow Knight is $15, this probably needed to be at least $10 cheaper.
Hollow Knight really skews a lot of prices in my head. Just a phenomenal amount of content and polish for 15 bucks.
Why am I only finding out now that Monster Boy (A brand new sequel to the excellent Wonder boy remake) came out in December?
Apparently a demo comes out on Thursday but I'll be grabbing this as soon as I get home.
Edit: Oh... $40 USD. Yeah I hate to say it but I guess I'm waiting on the demo after all. I'm sure I'd love it, and maybe the demo will blow me away to the point that I'll have to get it... But in a world where Hollow Knight is $15, this probably needed to be at least $10 cheaper.
Hollow Knight really skews a lot of prices in my head. Just a phenomenal amount of content and polish for 15 bucks.
Yeah comparing Hollow Knight's price point to anything is ridiculously unfair.
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
I was surprised, though happy, to see Kenshi selling well on Steam.
It is a SciFi Swordpunk post-post-post(?)-apocalypse RPG/RTS/City Builder/Warlord sim. Made by a very small team, Kenshi is one of those games in which you walk away with a fun story each time you play.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Into the Breach: It is also OK to lose mechs/pilots at times, and is sometimes even the right choice. I have beaten the final mission plenty of times with only 1-2 real pilots. With some of the teams this is a lot more viable tactic, I really can't remember which though, probably ones with repairs or strong base abilities regardless of stats?
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After beating it, I started up Steamworld Heist which has been fun for the first few missions.
Edit: a gift for TOTP Moonlighter - Uncontrolled Variables
I think there's a fair amount of indie games that are more concerned with presentation than gameplay as well. Games that are designed to showcase the work of the artists and/or writers rather than designed to engage the player. Games that are more concerned with being clever instead of being fun.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Small little town, seems happy at first but then you start to notice people are hiding secrets, abandoned boarded up houses, strange visitors in the middle of the night, monsters in the local mine (well...thats actually pretty normal for this genre) and things get pretty dark from there.
Good times.
What puts me off of trying out Moonlighter is whenever I see it I'm thinking that I'd probably be happier replaying Recettear. Not really Moonlighter's fault, but it's definitely a barrier.
It has been a long time since I bookmarked a thread, thank you!
This makes me feel surprisingly proud.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Spoilers:
Also, my frustration at the attack, double jump mechanic boiled over tonight. Like, easily another 30 deaths trying to make very specific jumps. If it was a simple double jump mechanic, I'd have had a lot more success.
All in all, a good game, but not without shortcomings. Fun writing and lots of surprises, but held down by overly complex mechanics and a total gear switch at the midpoint of the game. Your mileage my vary. I'll probably just watch the ending on youtube.
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I looked ahead to see what the Power Seals unlocked and it was underwhelming. Saved me a lot of time and stress not worrying about those areas. I saw the fireball one you’re talking about and just noped out.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Twitch: akThera
Steam: Thera
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/03/assault-android-cactus-switch-shooter-aussie-game/
Full disclosure, a friend of mine is the artist and does programming. But it's a really good tlwin stick shooter!
I enjoyed the platforming - difficult and finicky esp. when trying to dodge attacks and do the hit/jump. But man, the metroidvania portion just sucked. So much SLOW slow backtracking. I also found it almost impossible without the map hints you can purchase - and even one of the hints is really poorly laid out so its not obvious how you even get there. Wasted a couple hours of backtracking trying to figure that one out going back and forth to different spots before i just looked it up.
Trying to be very careful with the amount of games I start up. Realized long ago if I start more than two playthroughs, I rarely finish things.
Its a high priority for me though, for sure. Its one of those indie games that was in development/early access forever and you can tell it was worth the time they invested in it.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Can't wait for Quest.
I hate card games, and I am absolutely going to buy the fuck out of this because anything with Steamworld in the title is GOLD
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
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But now that there's a rudimentary level-up system for the heroes, I feel like I ought to pick one and stick with them. At least until they're leveled up. But picking a single main between River, Magna, Elyssia, Horace, and Scarlet is tricky because I kind of want to play all of them, so I'll probably just end up rotating between them like I've always done.
River will always be the best for me because you can snipe king during the last turn if you're desperate, but Fang is dope.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
Somehow it never quite comes together for me when playing against real people. Then again, I do usually go for the King as soon as I'm able. Still, I don't think River's really set up to lounge about comfortably until the last moment, because everybody else will know exactly what the River player is going to try and pull.
Yeah, I did say last ditch effort. I usually just play the quest + prestige game and hunt other players before hand. It pretty much keeps River ahead while making sure that no one else can enter the palace unless they collect cards or get lucky.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
I was the first one into the Palace, so of course everybody starts throwing their spells and trickeries my way. Barnaby manages to take me out, sending me back to my Clan Grounds. He's a Spirit Walker, so if he can attack the King, he wins.
Fortunately, when day breaks, the King's Guards manage to take out Barnaby. So I stroll back into the Palace, and load up with defensive gear. Ellysia, who stole my treasure and has been targeting me with her trickeries all game long, tries to dislodge me, but doesn't manage to break through my defences.
So here I am, still in the Palace. It's my last turn on the last Night. The King is down to 1 Health.
And I'm playing River.
So that turned out nicely in the end.
Story aside, I've got gameplay questions. On the second tutorial level, I got swarmed (pun intended) by bugs and didn't feel like there was much of a way from stopping them from destroying a city building. From what I've read, the game is procedurally generated, so there's not like an "S rank" guide you can use to defeat each level. Is it possible to get perfect runs or should I just focus on mitigating damage as much as possible? Like even on the first level, I didn't see a way to push/punch/drown the last bug from hitting one of my cities. If it's not always possible, that's cool, I just need to know now so I don't lose my mind trying to figure things out.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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It is usually possible to perfect each level. It's more a puzzle game than strategy game in that regard.
Remember that only the last HP on your mech matters. The rest is healed without penalty after each map.
And yes, there is time travel. Basicallly taking future tech mechs back to fight off bugs. And if you fail... abandon the timeline and try again.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
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PSN: AbEntropy
Thanks for the info. So I should be more concerned with 1) keeping the cities safe and 2) not losing a Mech on a map (although sacrificing hp is ok) in that order?
I wonder if I should dig up the old Breach thread to ask these questions?
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Nah, city damage is acceptable if you'd lose the mech entirely. Losing your levels is going to hurt the run more.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
What levels? Like pilot XP or something?
I guess I should play more before asking a bunch of silly questions. :P
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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In terms of game strategy: Maybe if you're incredibly skilled and incredibly lucky, you can do a perfect run where no one ever takes any damage, but I highly doubt that this is actually possible in practice (especially at higher difficulties).
I would very much encourage you to play the game on "Easy" for a few runs. "Normal" is totally not, it will really challenge you and kick your butt. "Easy" decreases the number of bugs per level, so you can kind of catch your breath and plan some stuff out; I felt very overwhelmed when I started playing on "Normal". This is one of those scenarios where playing on "Easy" doesn't fully prepare you for higher difficulties, because increasing the number of bugs isn't a quantitative jump in difficulty (which would be a bug doing more damage/having more hp/etc), but a qualitative jump in difficulty. More bugs means you need to adapt your strategies and develop new ones. But! I think that playing on "Easy" will get you familiar and comfortable with the basics, to the point where you will be able to develop those new strategies.
In terms of getting a perfect run: Like I said, it becomes harder at higher difficulties and further into a run, but here are some things to think about:
- Using one of your mechs to block an attack from a bug is viable (and, I think, even necessary later in the game). Remember that mech hp is a resource (just like your hp in Hearthstone). It doesn't matter if a mech ends a game with 5 hp or 1 hp, because it'll be at full health for the next level anyway.
- Be mindful of how you can position units on the map using special abilities. I think every team gets something that lets them push or pull units, friendly and otherwise. If your punchy mech can't quite reach someone to punch them, maybe you can use a special ability to give them an extra nudge to get them in range. Maybe you can't kill a bug or block it's shot with normal movement, but you can pull one of your own units into the line of attack.
- Take note of the order in which actions will execute during the enemy's turn. If you can line it up so Bug #2 shoots and kills Bug #5, then you won't need to block Bug #5's shots. Likewise, sometimes there are buildings that perform actions before the bugs act that can be used to knock some bugs out.
- You can block a bug that'll emerge next turn. It will do 1 point of damage to the blocking unit, but taking 1 damage might be better than having to deal with an entire full-health bug next turn. If you can shove a bug to block an emerging bug? Even better. If you can shove a 1hp bug to block an emerging bug? You're the king, you get high-fives all day.
- If damage is unavoidable, I would say the order of preference for what takes damage, from "least bad if this takes damage" to "most bad" is:
Mech that won't be killed by the attack -> power grid -> (mech that WOULD be killed by the attack, mission objective)
That last one is kind of a personal preference. Mechs that get destroyed are disabled for the rest of the mission, but are still available for the next mission - but their pilot will be dead, so the mechs will have decreased stats and will lack any special abilities granted by the pilots. You might pick up extra pilots during a run, so this might not be a big deal - it might be worth fully sacrificing a mech to protect a mission objective.
- Note that a mech that gets fully killed but then gets healed by another mech (there are a couple special abilities you might find that let mechs heal other mechs) does not count as killed! So you might be able to sacrifice a mech and then just revive it next turn.
- Try as hard as you can to complete every objective on a map. If you complete all objectives on an island, you will get a freebie after you finish that island; if I remember correctly, it's your choice of: +2 to power grid, a pilot, or a mech equipment. If the pilot and the mech equipment aren't interesting to you, it might be worth taking the pilot because on the screen where you spend reputation to buy new gear, you can just sell the pilot for two points of reputation. It might be worth taking a simpler level with fewer/simpler mission objectives just to make sure you get the freebie at the end.
- Prioritize missions that reward you with reputation (the stars). A reactor costs 3 reputation at the end of an island, and it's probably the best purchase in the early game. If I remember correctly, you can often get 9 rep in an island (doesn't always work out because you might not have enough two-star missions next to each other), which translates into 3 reactors. Grid power isn't a very useful reward (unless you've only got like 1 left) because you can always buy more grid power after you finish an island at a rate of 1 rep = 1 grid power; rep is more versatile in that way.
With that in mind, it's not always the best move to kill a bug, at least, not in terms of reducing hp to 0. Knockback is your best friend. You can push bugs into dangerous tiles (freezes, air strikes), force them to attack nothing, or even each other. You can bump non-flying bugs into craters, water, and lava. Some are too large to drown or resistant to fire, but the tooltips will tell you that.
When your turns run out they just leave anyway, and there's no penalty unless you're short on a kill count objective or left an HQ boss standing.
I mean, you know, if you can easily get a kill on a bug with Mech A or Mech B AND Mech B has a low-level pilot while Mech A has a maxed out pilot AND it doesn't negatively impact your plans for your other actions for the turn, then sure, make the kill with Mech B. Otherwise? Do what you gotta do to make your things not take damage. Everything else is whatever.
If a mech ends a mission with 0 health, then you lose the pilot. You keep the mech, but the new pilot is just an AI that can't gain any XP.
Apparently a demo comes out on Thursday but I'll be grabbing this as soon as I get home.
Edit: Oh... $40 USD. Yeah I hate to say it but I guess I'm waiting on the demo after all. I'm sure I'd love it, and maybe the demo will blow me away to the point that I'll have to get it... But in a world where Hollow Knight is $15, this probably needed to be at least $10 cheaper.
Hollow Knight really skews a lot of prices in my head. Just a phenomenal amount of content and polish for 15 bucks.
Yeah comparing Hollow Knight's price point to anything is ridiculously unfair.
It is a SciFi Swordpunk post-post-post(?)-apocalypse RPG/RTS/City Builder/Warlord sim. Made by a very small team, Kenshi is one of those games in which you walk away with a fun story each time you play.