4 years w/o playing new games - anything I missed? (PC sp)

[nomask7]

Not sure how you like total conversions, and I am not in a mood to explain or review stuff... but the last good game I've played (apart from that addiction Dominions 3 and 4) was Nehrim At Fate's Edge total conversion for Oblivion

Actually I've played Nehrim, now that you mention it. Somewhere I got the impression from reading about it that it would have a lot of freedom and some heavy C&C. I liked the beginning, but as it progressed linearly I started losing interest and the last straw was there was some stupid annoying quest that I couldn't avoid and couldn't solve except in one predetermined way. So I read more about the game and got the impression that it doesn't have much freedom to speak of. I lost interest and stopped playing.

You mention great dungeons though, and since I'm a sucker for dungeons I may have to go back to the game.

 

[nomask7]

I noticed that Arx Fatalis has been modded into modernity:

http://arx-libertatis.org/

They're even planning redoing the graphics, although I'm not sure why as the game already looks great with this mod.

I tried Arx Fatalis a long time ago but couldn't progress and didn't want to use walkthrough so stopped. This time I used walkthrough and my God, why does it have to have such stupid requirements for progress? Like I have to free a goblin so I can get a signed authorisation. Does that make any damn sense to anyone? Would anyone think of freeing a goblin-nobody when they need a signature from the goblin boss? WTF? There's literally no way to progress except by accident in this game apparently. So much potential, such retards as quest designers.

 

[Zibniyat]

Not sure how you like total conversions, and I am not in a mood to explain or review stuff... but the last good game I've played (apart from that addiction Dominions 3 and 4) was Nehrim At Fate's Edge total conversion for Oblivion

Actually I've played Nehrim, now that you mention it. Somewhere I got the impression from reading about it that it would have a lot of freedom and some heavy C&C. I liked the beginning, but as it progressed linearly I started losing interest and the last straw was there was some stupid annoying quest that I couldn't avoid and couldn't solve except in one predetermined way. So I read more about the game and got the impression that it doesn't have much freedom to speak of. I lost interest and stopped playing.

You mention great dungeons though, and since I'm a sucker for dungeons I may have to go back to the game.

Yeah, the main quest is pretty linear. But it didn't bother me, as I tend to approach most games in a way similar to movies, or books - I let them show me what they have to show me. But that is me.

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl

my second favourite game after deus ex - play it on master

Fallout: New Vegas

 

[nomask7]

Yeah, the main quest is pretty linear. But it didn't bother me, as I tend to approach most games in a way similar to movies, or books - I let them show me what they have to show me. But that is me.

Well, the whole point of what makes games what they are is freedom. You're not just reading or watching, you're actually interacting. Since the element of interaction is fundamental to games, it should be capitalised on, especially in a genre that's all about the illusion of YOU doing things. When I can't progress in an adventure/action RPG except in one way, what's the point? Still, I often play for mood because there's not much to choose from, so I'm not adamant on non-linearity. But I don't want to accept it either: game designers should be pushed toward non-linearity instead of letting them get away with this linear nonsense. Let them write novels or make movies if that's what they want to do.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Interactivity is one of the strong points of Dark Souls, and i'd say it is an interactivity of movement. It is how you move versus how the enemy moves versus what type of movement the environment allows. This game is like music, things are "free" in the sense they are in a constant rhythmical flux.

As for the openness of the environments. They are pretty open and they are all interconnected. In fact, the game is basically one large area and whenever you see something in the distance you know you are going to get there at one point, and the layout is pretty clever too (totally unlike the second game from what i understand). That said, they are not really maze like nor is the game a sand box. This is mostly due the fact the game is extremely concentrated. There are no wasted spaces. Think of Doom 2 compared to Doom 1. The maps aren't extremely huge but it takes a great deal of time to get through them, that kind of thing.

 

[Renegen]

Alien Isolation? You probably haven't played a horror game yet and it's a great one.

 

[nomask7]

Interactivity is one of the strong points of Dark Souls, and i'd say it is an interactivity of movement. It is how you move versus how the enemy moves versus what type of movement the environment allows. This game is like music, things are "free" in the sense they are in a constant rhythmical flux.

As for the openness of the environments. They are pretty open and they are all interconnected. In fact, the game is basically one large area and whenever you see something in the distance you know you are going to get there at one point, and the layout is pretty clever too (totally unlike the second game from what i understand). That said, they are not really maze like nor is the game a sand box. This is mostly due the fact the game is extremely concentrated. There are no wasted spaces. This of Doom 2 compared to Doom 1. The maps aren't extremely huge but it takes a great deal of time to get through them, that kind of thing.

I remember now the main controller issue I had with the game: my controller kept pushing the camera toward the ground so I had to use keyboard and mouse. Could be faulty controller. I'm certainly interested in trying the game more, though I'll probably use walkthrough to get out of the first dungeon.

Alien Isolation? You probably haven't played a horror game yet and it's a great one.

Reading about it a little on wikipedia, it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks.

 

[nomask7]

I'll probably use walkthrough to get out of the first dungeon.

Walkthrough? Hahahahah!

Yeah, what was I thinking. I got the game working acceptably, and learned that I had to actually beat that tree-sized ogre thing with ridiculous range. Fortunately I managed to do so after several tries, though that was mainly luck.

The game is pretty crazy though, kind of like Zelda II. It has suspense and mood once you get out of the starting dungeon, but those are somewhat spoiled by regular dying and having to repeat the same stuff.

It's actually crazier than Zelda II, obvious already soon after starting the game. Two monster ghosts at the same time seemed manageable, but then - I survive an ambush by one ghost - as if that's not enough, suddenly I have to deal with four or five at once. I didn't expect that at all and instead of running away, stupidly tried to fight them and died. Then I was on my way back to reclaim the humanity points and souls I lost. And, seriously, when I'm fighting a creepy ghost and press attack button, I want something awesome to happen, I don't want to thrust myself into a deadly fall off a wharf without even realising that might happen. I lost 4 humanity points that I can't recover now! Argh! I'm lucky in that I never harm my controllers.

Game looks good in high resolution and plays well enough with a controller. A little improvement would be if you had to time your button presses to succeed at combos. Combat system in general doesn't seem as good as it should be in a game like this (definitely popamole compared with Gothic 2).

Starting to like the game though. (God why does it have to be so hard?)

Lyric Suite

 

[Dreaad]

I don't want to ruin too much... but you really shouldn't be fighting ghosts straight after tutorial dungeon, don't get me wrong you can do it, but it's a dead end area until much later in the game.

As for being worse than Gothic combat. Not really comparable. Both are very good, but work within their own game world and not vice-versa.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Walkthrough? lol, git gud scrub.

Losing souls isn't a big deal at the beginning because you'll get a lot later on. Don't lose humanities though. They are a pain in the ass to grind.

 

[nomask7]

I don't want to ruin too much... but you really shouldn't be fighting ghosts straight after tutorial dungeon, don't get me wrong you can do it, but it's a dead end area until much later in the game.

Well, that's probably what one NPC said basically, but I couldn't find any other place to explore for some reason and I had forgotten what the two places were called that I was supposed to go to, so I just assumed I was supposed to explore this place.

Walkthrough? lol, git gud scrub.

Losing souls isn't a big deal at the beginning because you'll get a lot later on. Don't lose humanities though. They are a pain in the ass to grind.

Yeah, I suspected as much from reading about souls and humanity points.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Just go up towards the bridge on the right and follow that path. When you know the game inside out you can "brave" those harder areas with a fresh character if that's your thing but the first time you are better off going the easy route.

As for the combat. This isn't a button masher, but it is still more of a combat game than your average RPG. I guess it falls somewhere in between. The game is very hard at the beginning for two reasons: you don't have enough stamina to block the stronger attacks, which means you HAVE to learn how to move around bosses and their attacks, since you can't just hide behind your shield and wait for the right opportunity. And two, you don't have an upgraded weapon, so your damage is shit. For the record, this game is really not that loot centered. You get special weapons, which can be godly early on, but for the most part all basic equipment can be viable end game (at least in PvE at any rate) once upgraded, so don't feel like you have to avoid upgrading your weapon until you find a "better" one, at least up to a certain point (taking a weapon to +5 is no big sweat. Taking it to +10 may require a bit of grinding if you chose to upgrade another weapon. I would not recommend upgrading a weapon to +14 unless you know you are going to keep it and don't upgrade it to +15 unless you are really sure about it, since you only get an handful of Titanite Slabs per play-through. Needless to say, never use slabs on armor pieces. The difference between a +14 weapon and a +15 weapon is considerable enough. For armors, it is minimal). The first time around i beat the game with an upgraded Elite Knight Armor, an upgraded Claymore and a plethora of medium shields i used depending on the situation.

 

[nomask7]

That area that has Taurus as the boss is easy now that I've found armor that has great poise. I can usually block anything without staggering. The armor make my character slow as heck though - roll dodging is like a fat Kwanzan trying to roll.

The boss itself is pretty annoying. I'm a big sceptic when it comes to the utility of having boss fights in a game, so I figured I'd just grind my way through the boss since it's an area where killing the undead enemies gives you humanity points and you sometimes get a shard as a drop (three so far).

It's getting a little tiresome though and I'm probably insane to have grinded this much. I'm level 23 now and leveling up in that place is pretty slow now. I hope the lightning resins I found can be used to buff one of my weapons. I'll probably manage to beat the boss this way. Wish I had found them earlier. (I almost beat the boss once after reading tips from a wiki but that was mostly luck and later tries just made me want to avoid the fucker).

People talk about learning attack patterns in boss fights but so far to me it seems a fair amount of luck is required.

The non-boss combat mechanics are interesting enough thanks mainly to stamina. I also like the concept of souls and humanity points and how you can lose them. Game design in general seems quite good. They should make a game like this with only optional boss fights (would anyone complain? I don't think so).

 

[Bester]

That area that has Taurus as the boss is easy now that I've found armor that has great poise. I can usually block anything without staggering. The armor make my character slow as heck though - roll dodging is like a fat Kwanzan trying to roll.

The boss itself is pretty annoying. I'm a big sceptic when it comes to the utility of having boss fights in a game, so I figured I'd just grind my way through the boss since it's an area where killing the undead enemies gives you humanity points and you sometimes get a shard as a drop (three so far).

It's getting a little tiresome though and I'm probably insane to have grinded this much. I'm level 23 now and leveling up in that place is pretty slow now. I hope the lightning resins I found can be used to buff one of my weapons. I'll probably manage to beat the boss this way. Wish I had found them earlier. (I almost beat the boss once after reading tips from a wiki but that was mostly luck and later tries just made me want to avoid the fucker).

People talk about learning attack patterns in boss fights but so far to me it seems a fair amount of luck is required.

The non-boss combat mechanics are interesting enough thanks mainly to stamina. I also like the concept of souls and humanity points and how you can lose them. Game design in general seems quite good. They should make a game like this with only optional boss fights (would anyone complain? I don't think so).

It's unrelated to luck, some people go through the whole game being level 3 so that they can invade people of all levels on their second playthrough or something like that (I'm starting to forget the exact mechanics).
Also understand that with a slower roll, you have less invincibility frames, so avoid playing with the slow rolls for now. Also there's a mini boss Havel on the lowest level in the tower before Taurus and he's got a nice ring, something like -25% weight, so you can wear heavy stuff and still roll fast. Go kill him.

And don't hang out in the same area for too long, at this point it might be the death of your DS career, cause it'll start getting annoying, this is where I abandoned the game when I played for the first time. You need to kill Taurus very soon and move forward - tons of interesting stuff ahead, go get him!

If you're having troubles, use soft humanity at the bonfire (or use solid humanity just in front of the entrance to Taurus) to become human and then summon some help (summon somebody either at the bonfire or near the entrance to Taurus... you'll see white/yellow writings on the floor - use them to summon some help... don't use red ones, that's for PvP... if you don't see the writings, wait a few minutes, sometimes it takes time), they'll deal with him while you just try to survive. Also be aware of the fact that you can be invaded while human, so as soon as you're human, start summoning somebody! And preferably engage the boss as soon as possible.

 

[Grim Monk]

nomask7 did you try the "tower leap, rinse, repeat" method of attacking the Taurus.


In Dark Souls "if it works it isn't considered cheap".

People talk about learning attack patterns in boss fights but so far to me it seems a fair amount of luck is required.

Yes memorizing attack patterns really helps in many (but not all) enemy & boss fights.

They should make a game like this with only optional boss fights (would anyone complain? I don't think so).

The bosses are one of the highlights of the game.


Did you find the Merchant NPC in the Undead Burg?
You can buy some really useful stuff that would make your game experience more enjoyable.


Try to avoid using walkthroughs/wikis too much since one of the best things about DS is figuring out/finding stuff for yourself.
If you get really frustrated or stuck just ask Bros here for a hint.

 

[Lyric Suite]

The only time i've grinded in this game is to get materials. And i never gave up on a boss though i came close to it twice, once with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in Anor Londo and the other with the Four Faggots, but i got gud and succeed eventually.

 

[nomask7]

Also understand that with a slower roll, you have less invincibility frames, so avoid playing with the slow rolls for now.

Good to know, thanks. I didn't realise roll caused invincibility. Isn't that kind of stupid? Because then it doesn't matter if you actually manage to dodge the attack, you'll just take zero damage either way due to invincibility. But yeah, that certainly explains how boss fights could be about skill with no luck involved.

Regarding the rest...

I'm not really looking for spoilers relating to where I can find what.

I'll have to read about the summoning mechanic.

I totally slaughtered Taurus after applying lightning resin to my weapon. Probably a waste of the resin. Oh well.

You're right, the game gets interesting again once you start progressing, although I'm not a fan of the regularity of tough foes that I'm encountering now (steel bull, full plate mail knight with a tower shield).

But again, not looking for spoilers.

The only time i've grinded in this game is to get materials. And i never gave up on a boss though i came close to it twice, once with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in Anor Londo and the other with the Four Faggots, but i got gud and succeed eventually.

Did you ever save (quit) just before a boss fight, then backup your save and load it if you failed? Because I used to not do that and it gets pretty ridiculous wading through the same area and same monsters to get to the boss just to study his moves.

The bosses are one of the highlights of the game.

Bosses can motivate grinding and looking for bonus areas, but so can optional bosses. I don't really see a reason to force them on people who don't like that sort of thing. If lightning resins were more common, the bosses would be practically skippable the way they are in Gothic 2 due to the availability of summon demon and fire rain scrolls. But instead of giving opportunitites to slaughter them easily (spoiling them for those who like a challenge), why not just make them literally skippable? It's not really necessary to impose your preferences on others when optionality is easy to implement.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I don't think you are getting this game if you think bosses should be skippable. If you think the game is unfair now, wait until you get to Sen's Fortress, or Anor Londo.

And save scumming in this game is bad. Takes much of the fun out. All you need to do is make sure you have nothing to lose before entering a white portal. Like, if you have 50000 thousand souls, get rid of them first (by leveling up, buying upgrades and so forth) then go in the new area (which may or may not be harmless, but you never know). The only time i used a back up save was with the last boss. When you kill him you are sent straight to NG+, and since i didn't want to do that i reloaded a previous save after killing the boss.

 

[Bester]

Isn't save scumming bannable? Or is it only in DS2?

Also sorry about the spoiler, it's just such a game changing ring, that it'd be a shame if you missed it entirely and came back to it only after finishing the game. You wouldn't be able to wear lots of stuff without it.

 

[nomask7]

I like the sense of attrition provided by ordinary enemies and no rest points nearby. Bosses kinda ruin this.

I'm not playing online. Don't like multiplayer or anything to do with it except with real-life friends.

I decided I would save before bosses and other unfair fights, plus from time to time if anything stupid happens, like I fall through the ground due to a glitch.

 

[Bester]

It's like playing an mmo offline, half of the game is in online features.

 

[Carrion]

Did you ever save (quit) just before a boss fight, then backup your save and load it if you failed? Because I used to not do that and it gets pretty ridiculous wading through the same area and same monsters to get to the boss just to study his moves.

It can get pretty annoying at times, yeah, especially if you get to a point where the regular enemies of a particular area pose no actual threat whatsoever, but in most cases it's possible to just run past (almost) everyone and get to the boss fight in a couple of minutes or less. The game probably gets a bit more lenient with bonfires towards the end, actually, although that might just be an illusion caused by the superior equipment you'll probably have at that point.

 

[Grim Monk]

I like the sense of attrition provided by ordinary enemies and no rest points nearby. Bosses kinda ruin this.

I'm not playing online. Don't like multiplayer or anything to do with it except with real-life friends.

I decided I would save before bosses and other unfair fights, plus from time to time if anything stupid happens, like I fall through the ground due to a glitch.

Without the online "Player Messages" system it will probably very hard to find much of the cool stuff.
Items/Bonfires/Shortcuts/Hidden Passages & Areas.
Much of this stuff is well hidden and relies on player "shared knowledge" to be found.

You can play the whole game online and never PvP anybody along as you stay hollowed.
If you not going for PvP Human form has little benefit:
Kindling Bonfires.
Summoning allies for boss fights (AI or Other Player.)
Some NPC "invasions" events which will only happen if you are in human form.
That's about it...

Don't know about the risks of save scamming while online, I played it the hard way.

Isn't save scumming bannable? Or is it only in DS2?

Can't recall hearing of anybody getting banned for save backups in DS1, but I did finish it before it switched over to Steam.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

The only thing I really hated & found retarded in DS "difficulty" (meaning readjusting mostly) was making attempts at bosses.

Losing attempts like you should, until you figure it out? Too bad, try again and again after going through hundred times through those 8 or so annoying faggots on your way to the fog 5 kilometers away from the bonfire. Enjoy your stay.

You have to git gud at yolorunning straight to the fog, in order to not ragequit repeatedly.