Behold, [Elden Ring]! Don't Give Up Skeleton! (SPOILER WARNING!)

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  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    Elendil wrote: »
    i was gonna say, wasn't surge 2 supposed to be okay? maybe they learned? but i just checked and i guess the publisher handed it off to some brand new dev company lol

    who knows, man

    art's cool

    Yeah I mean

    Their intentions are pretty clear because it's just called The Lords of the Fallen. They aren't even pretending the old game exists, they just put a "The" at the front of the name.

    So they're pulling a Suicide Squad on it?

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  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Lords of the Fallen was pretty bad, but it's still not the worst on my list; that honor goes to Ashen, despite its incredible charm on the front end.

    Kamar on
  • Marty81Marty81 Registered User regular
    Butters wrote: »
    Jubal77 wrote: »
    Moridin889 wrote: »
    Jubal77 wrote: »
    The ease of respec in ER was great im just kind of sad it is capped per run heh.... but if there is a game where it makes sense to cap respecs it is souls/ER just sucks in the souls line heh.

    Capped? What do you mean? You can farm the material for respec

    Really? What mob can drop larval tears repeatedly? I dont remember reading that in the wiki.

    The sphere enemies drop them and they respawn but maybe there is still a set amount. Still, I think there are plenty per run. I respec'd like 6 times on my last character and had like 5 tears left without ever intentionally looking for them.

    Huh. I've only found one so far, so I haven't respecced yet. I'm like 50 hours in and I've just beaten the boss of the capital. Pointers for where to get more?

  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    i think pidia in carian manor sells one, i think a merchant in siofra does

    the painting puzzle in liurnia hives you one

    there's mimic guys around who turn into more dangerous monsters; one is in limgrave on a cliff overlooking the road with the caravan, one is in altus one the road leading to lansseax from the windmill villages.

    there's a bunch in the lore appropriate area of ranni's quest.

    Elendil on
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Never played Lords of the Fallen, my experience is basically that Iron Pineapple video about it.

    Though it looked like hammered ass in the video, with the wonderful pairing of stupid slow everything and *checks notes* animation cancelling, ensuring nothing will hit ever

    jungleroomx on
  • OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    I’ve played Lords of the Fallen and The Surge 1 and they’ve got a long way to go to convince me that they’ve learned anything about how to make a game in that genre

    Their animation design is among the absolute worst I’ve ever seen, like unpredictably, unusably, skin-peelingly bad! It’s a real study in how those games require an attention to mechanical detail in order to work at all

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  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Olivaw wrote: »
    I’ve played Lords of the Fallen and The Surge 1 and they’ve got a long way to go to convince me that they’ve learned anything about how to make a game in that genre

    Their animation design is among the absolute worst I’ve ever seen, like unpredictably, unusably, skin-peelingly bad! It’s a real study in how those games require an attention to mechanical detail in order to work at all

    Different teams, though.

    Don't know a thing about the new team either, so

  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    I'd say LotF is like a 4/10, don't play it unless you just have to know. The Surge is a 6/10, if you like what it's offering aesthetically or storywise you'll probably get some fun from it despite its blemishes, but it's not going to wow anyone. The Surge 2 is a 7 or an 8, I think if you like the genre you'll probably enjoy it.

    I'd say Surge 2 is in the same space as Nioh or Code Vein in being competently made Soulslikes that some people might enjoy as much as FromSoft offerings, even if they have their blemishes (I think FromSoft's Soulsborne games are 9s and 10s, for the record). In my case, Code Vein is the one I enjoyed as much as any real Soulsborne game despite the stagger system and some animations making things feel floaty. YMMV.

    While I'm at it, I'll put Mortal Shell (no input queue feels terrible) and Ashen (you've seen everything except the ludicrously overtuned final boss after the first 30 minutes) in my bad pile. Steelrising is a maybe good? I have to finish it but it's held up for the first few hours. I'd expect any second attempt in the genre from the devs behind any of them to be worth trying, though.

    Kamar on
  • GoodKingJayIIIGoodKingJayIII They wanna get my gold on the ceilingRegistered User regular
    This game sold ridiculously well. More than double what DS3 sold in its first year. Without sitting next to Miyazaki and watching him work, I am 99% certain they are making DLC.

    Sure you'd think so, but we're coming up on the 1 year release anniversary in February with not a single peep or non-debunked rumor about it.

    I don't really see what that has to do with anything, other than it has been longer than we'd like for them to announce DLC.

    They made more DLC for games that sold less. They would be crazy not to sell a follow up.


    PS - should we start a new thread?

    Battletag: Threeve#1501; PSN: Threeve703; Steam: 3eeve
  • ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Elendil wrote: »
    i think pidia in carian manor sells one, i think a merchant in siofra does

    the painting puzzle in liurnia hives you one

    there's mimic guys around who turn into more dangerous monsters; one is in limgrave on a cliff overlooking the road with the caravan, one is in altus one the road leading to lansseax from the windmill villages.

    there's a bunch in the lore appropriate area of ranni's quest.

    Yeah Ranni's quest will lead you to two different underground levels where there are a bunch.

    PSN: idontworkhere582 | CFN: idontworkhere | Steam: lordbutters | Amazon Wishlist
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    Steelrising is okay, better than the other crop of lower budget soulslikes, but the enemies are extremely repetitive, and — critically — the animations for the weapon I was most excited about, the giant clock bludgeon, are very bad and look weak and awkward.

  • furlionfurlion Riskbreaker Lea MondeRegistered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    I'd say LotF is like a 4/10, don't play it unless you just have to know. The Surge is a 6/10, if you like what it's offering aesthetically or storywise you'll probably get some fun from it despite its blemishes, but it's not going to wow anyone. The Surge 2 is a 7 or an 8, I think if you like the genre you'll probably enjoy it.

    I'd say Surge 2 is in the same space as Nioh or Code Vein in being competently made Soulslikes that some people might enjoy as much as FromSoft offerings, even if they have their blemishes (I think FromSoft's Soulsborne games are 9s and 10s, for the record). In my case, Code Vein is the one I enjoyed as much as any real Soulsborne game despite the stagger system and some animations making things feel floaty. YMMV.

    While I'm at it, I'll put Mortal Shell (no input queue feels terrible) and Ashen (you've seen everything except the ludicrously overtuned final boss after the first 30 minutes) in my bad pile. Steelrising is a maybe good? I have to finish it but it's held up for the first few hours. I'd expect any second attempt in the genre from the devs behind any of them to be worth trying, though.

    I can agree with you about The Surge, Code Vein, and Nioh as I have the platinum in all three and put some time into them. They each fail in different ways compared to From Soft, although I think Nioh gets closest. I thought Mortal Shell was good right up until the no shell final boss fight. The fight is so fucking long and even with a maxed out weapon there is no way to speed it up and if you take literally one hit you die. And on top of that suck salad you get the bacon bits of it being buggy as shit. Fuck that fight. I never bothered with Lords of the Fallen despite being such a huge souls fan because it was pretty universally panned.

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  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited February 2023
    I think nioh is the most successful of those three because it's kind of doing its own thing with the combat, not just copying fromsoft's homework badly

    BahamutZERO on
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  • Alistair HuttonAlistair Hutton Dr EdinburghRegistered User regular
    Code Vein I picked up in a bundle and to be honest didn't even realise it was supposed to be a Soulslike until I'd played quite a bit of it because the early combat and monsters are so easy and your health levels are so forgiving that I was just treating it as a button mashing 3rd person brawler before so many of the other "Souls components" made themselves obvious that I went "ooooooh".

    I think I didn't see it at first because I'd spent so long rolling my eyes at the gratuitous opening breasts that I blinded myself.

    I have a thoughtful and infrequently updated blog about games http://whatithinkaboutwhenithinkaboutgames.wordpress.com/

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  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Nioh rocked. Nioh 2 was a ton of fun.

    I couldn't get into Code Vein. The combat felt weightless and the aesthetic, for someone who really isn't too big into anime, was a little much for me.

  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    I think Code Vein is pretty high up in my ranking of Souls games.

    Probably goes something like DS1 -> DS2 -> Code Vein -> Sekiro -> Elden Ring -> Nioh 2 -> Dark Souls 3.

    Steam ID: Right here.
  • Jubal77Jubal77 Registered User regular
    Of the Souls like ive played so far ive liked the Salt games the best. I havent beat them but I will jump into them more once i finish the fromsoft games heh

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    If we're willing to really let the definition of "soulslike" be a bit broader

    Elden Ring > DS3 > Sekiro > Hollow Knight > Nioh 2 > DS2 > Salt and Sanctuary > Unsighted > Nioh > DS1 > Blasphemous

    I think Sekiro and Unsighted are far closer to each other than all the rest and might not qualify

    jungleroomx on
  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Code Vein I picked up in a bundle and to be honest didn't even realise it was supposed to be a Soulslike until I'd played quite a bit of it because the early combat and monsters are so easy and your health levels are so forgiving that I was just treating it as a button mashing 3rd person brawler before so many of the other "Souls components" made themselves obvious that I went "ooooooh".

    I think I didn't see it at first because I'd spent so long rolling my eyes at the gratuitous opening breasts that I blinded myself.

    Code Vein becomes one of the harder Soulslikes if you don't bring the NPC partner. Fair, every move can be dodged and makes sense, but it's unforgiving.

    Kamar on
  • WhelkWhelk Registered User regular
    If we're willing to really let the definition of "soulslike" be a bit broader

    Elden Ring > DS3 > Sekiro > Hollow Knight > Nioh 2 > DS2 > Salt and Sanctuary > Unsighted > Nioh > DS1 > Blasphemous

    I think Sekiro and Unsighted are far closer to each other than all the rest and might not qualify

    This has convinced me to finally get Unsighted, so thanks for that.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Whelk wrote: »
    If we're willing to really let the definition of "soulslike" be a bit broader

    Elden Ring > DS3 > Sekiro > Hollow Knight > Nioh 2 > DS2 > Salt and Sanctuary > Unsighted > Nioh > DS1 > Blasphemous

    I think Sekiro and Unsighted are far closer to each other than all the rest and might not qualify

    This has convinced me to finally get Unsighted, so thanks for that.

    Unsighted is fucking rad. I think it's a hugely underrated game. It feels Sekiro-ish becuase your combat is based around a parry mechanic. The combat is somewhere between Zelda and Sekiro (with guns, too!) and mechnically it's perfectly executed.

    The timer mechanic where you and every NPC will die (including shopkeepers) is great. It actually gives a sense of urgency these kinds of games try to convey but always seem to miss. You can turn it off (and you can extend certain peoples lives, there's an item for it), but I wouldn't.

    jungleroomx on
  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Jubal77 wrote: »
    Of the Souls like ive played so far ive liked the Salt games the best. I havent beat them but I will jump into them more once i finish the fromsoft games heh
    I really want to play Ender Lillies (that one might just be metroidvania), Vigil and Grime.

    So many 2D Souls I've yet to touch. Hollow Knight was excellent even if the optional endgame stuff was a lil too balls in a vice for me.


    Dr. Chaos on
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  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    I think Hollow Knight might be the best game?

    Like, period.

    Not necessarily my favorite, but the game that is the most successful in what it attempts to do, with what it attempts to do also being good.

  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Kamar wrote: »
    I think Hollow Knight might be the best game?

    Like, period.

    Not necessarily my favorite, but the game that is the most successful in what it attempts to do, with what it attempts to do also being good.
    I think Hollow Knight has an awesome visual presentation and world but I think the combat system could be a lot better. I'm not huge on that aspect.

    Dr. Chaos on
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  • KamarKamar Registered User regular
    Dr. Chaos wrote: »
    Kamar wrote: »
    I think Hollow Knight might be the best game?

    Like, period.

    Not necessarily my favorite, but the game that is the most successful in what it attempts to do, with what it attempts to do also being good.
    I think Hollow Knight has an awesome visual presentation and world but I think the combat system could be a lot better. I'm not huge on that aspect.

    A simple moveset with room for mastery, then a ton of different fights to really explore every nook and cranny of possibility for that moveset, for my money that's the ideal. It's why I like Soulslikes.

  • HamHamJHamHamJ Registered User regular
    Bloodhound Fang is so good. First time around I gave up and just summoned a couple of other people to carry me through Radagon and the Elder Beast. But now in NG+ I just summoned Tiche because while I could and did solo Radagon I didn't feel like going through that whole fight every time just to get to the Elden Beast, and with Alexander's talisman for extra damage and the Carian crest one for cheaper skills I could just backflip to win and kill both in only like 4 or 5 full combos.

    While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
  • knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    Not really a fan of the cap on flasks

    I’ve got 10 golden seeds in my inventory I can’t do a thing with

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
    -Indiana Solo, runner of blades
  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    knitdan wrote: »
    Not really a fan of the cap on flasks

    I’ve got 10 golden seeds in my inventory I can’t do a thing with
    Oh shit...I guess that also means there might be more stonesword keys than you'll ever need.

    Becuase I've bought a shitload of them. Thats a lot of lost runes.

    Dr. Chaos on
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  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    i wish the flask cap was exactly one higher

    why a stupid number like 14 when it could be 15

  • knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    I don’t know exactly how many stone sword keys there are but I do recall early on thinking there weren’t enough and now I have I think 7. I know of at least one door I still need to open but I suspect there may be more stone sword keys than you need

    Which makes sense, they wouldn’t expect every player to find every place

    I’ve been working on filling out my book collection and realized there was a cave on the Weeping Peninsula I’ve missed entirely

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  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    There are more Golden Seeds and Stonesword Keys than you need.
    Kamar wrote: »
    Dr. Chaos wrote: »
    Kamar wrote: »
    I think Hollow Knight might be the best game?

    Like, period.

    Not necessarily my favorite, but the game that is the most successful in what it attempts to do, with what it attempts to do also being good.
    I think Hollow Knight has an awesome visual presentation and world but I think the combat system could be a lot better. I'm not huge on that aspect.

    A simple moveset with room for mastery, then a ton of different fights to really explore every nook and cranny of possibility for that moveset, for my money that's the ideal. It's why I like Soulslikes.

    This may actually be why I'm so garbage at Hollow Knight. I die so god damned often just moving from one place to another and there's no way to level out of the situation. I'd just have to be better, but I'm not better, and I'm not going to get better. In respect to close quarters combat I am already at the ceiling of my skill before I even begin, and range only isn't an option from the word go. Any close quarters fighting where I take damage contacting enemies and don't have a shield might as well just kill my character at the outset and be done with it. Even without those two things I'd still continue to struggle. I just have a low capacity for improvement when it comes to quick decisions in tight spaces, and my first impulse is always to run, get some distance. Get space to think.
    Whelk wrote: »
    If we're willing to really let the definition of "soulslike" be a bit broader

    Elden Ring > DS3 > Sekiro > Hollow Knight > Nioh 2 > DS2 > Salt and Sanctuary > Unsighted > Nioh > DS1 > Blasphemous

    I think Sekiro and Unsighted are far closer to each other than all the rest and might not qualify

    This has convinced me to finally get Unsighted, so thanks for that.

    Unsighted is fucking rad. I think it's a hugely underrated game. It feels Sekiro-ish becuase your combat is based around a parry mechanic. The combat is somewhere between Zelda and Sekiro (with guns, too!) and mechnically it's perfectly executed.

    The timer mechanic where you and every NPC will die (including shopkeepers) is great. It actually gives a sense of urgency these kinds of games try to convey but always seem to miss. You can turn it off (and you can extend certain peoples lives, there's an item for it), but I wouldn't.

    That sounds like the kind of mechanic I'm totally uninterested in, and would turn off immediately. It instantly penalizes full exploration, and all games get one and only one play (I have 400+ other games), so it's not like it'd be encouraging me to play it again.

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Kalnaur wrote: »

    That sounds like the kind of mechanic I'm totally uninterested in, and would turn off immediately. It instantly penalizes full exploration, and all games get one and only one play (I have 400+ other games), so it's not like it'd be encouraging me to play it again.

    Every NPC has a different amount of time. The game allows for the extension of NPC's lives, like your favorite ones, via a certain item. It gives weight to your decisions and there's consequences to it.

    It's layout is a 2D overhead like Zelda LTTP, so it's not like some vast Elden Ring world. There is some exploration there's also generally speaking enough time and resources for your and some favorite NPC's. I think it's brilliant. It's the solution to the annoying "OH GOD THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING but you can look at things for 122 hours if you wish" storytelling trope that's so pervasive in gaming.

    That being said, it can be turned off, but the games entire soul resides within making your actions carry weight and making the reality of the entire game plot make sense. The decision to extend an NPC's life is some really great player-driven world building and ambient ludo-narrative storytelling. NPC's dying in a soulslike is just par for the course.

    jungleroomx on
  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    I . . . don't really get favorite characters. Like, I don't care about a single character in any of the Dark Souls games I've played thus far, they kind of blend together. In most games, or media, I might have only a scant few "favorite" characters in my 40+ years of life. What I do care about is completion, having done "the thing" in a character's quest is more important to me than the fluid and varying nature of their lives and how especially in Dark Souls games they can be botched with a simple slip-up. I care more about the check-mark.

    So when it comes to games where the world is meant to end but I can dink about for time unending . . . that's actually sort of my ideal situation? It doesn't bother me at all, I'd rather have that instead of being rushed to do things within a time frame, to have to choose what I finish and what I miss. I already have to do that in life, and it's ultimately shitty every single time. I hate it. If I could alter life as it exists I'd make it so I wouldn't have to choose.

    Which is why I'd turn it off. And why I play Souls games with a guide and map open at all times. That's what feels comfortable to me, or at least as comfortable as these sorts of games get.

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  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    I wholeheartedly recommend Tunic and Grime.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • GoodKingJayIIIGoodKingJayIII They wanna get my gold on the ceilingRegistered User regular
    I dont know if it counts as a souls-like, but one of the ER streamers I like just recommended Death's Gambit and that thing looks rad as hell.

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  • Dr. ChaosDr. Chaos Post nuclear nuisance Registered User regular
    edited February 2023
    Basilisks...out of all the DS1 enemies to survive.

    Fuck my life.

    Dr. Chaos on
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  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    Dr. Chaos wrote: »
    Basilisks...out of all the DS1 enemies to survive.

    Fuck my life.

    There is a line in the Castlevania animated series, when Trevor Belmont finds a cyclops able to turn things to stone with its laser eye gaze below a city. The line is "God shits in my dinner once again".

    I said that line when I first found the basilisks in Elden Ring.

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    edited February 2023
    One of the bigger laughs Elden Ring got out of me is when I first encountered Basilisks. Look at these stupid mother fuckers with their stupid googly eyes and little hopping animation.

    Huh, what's this? Another status bar? It's not normal poison, or the red poison...or the ice status, what's going o-

    <DEATH>
    You just get impaled out of no where by this fucking tree branch. It's so sudden. Made me laugh

    Then like fifty hours later you run into the same goofy assholes in an actual lake of rot!

    MegaMan001 on
    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • Jubal77Jubal77 Registered User regular
    Yeah Basilisks suck and all but those damn tentacle horror thingys were worse heh.

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    I love that the basilisks have false eyes. Like, someone thought about real animals enough to make those creepy little bastards.

    What is this I don't even.
This discussion has been closed.