The Surge 2

[luj1]

Sounds improved in every way compared to the original

I take back what I said. Tried this game and it's one of the worst games I have ever played. Shit story and environments, terrible UI, clunky animations and idiotic combat. It's hot garbage for the console masses and I can't even imagine what the original was like then.

Also, I don't get why you guys are comparing this to Sekiro. This entire pathetic franchise can't hold a candle to Sekiro in any way, shape or form.

 

[cvv]

Also, I don't get why you guys are comparing this to Sekiro. This entire pathetic franchise can't hold a candle to Sekiro in any way, shape or form.

You just compared this to Sekiro.

 

[luj1]

Yes. Because dismissing that notion in one sentence = several pages of discussion

 

[Taurist]

Dropped this shortly after the Delver boss.

Its OK, but it started strong and just got more and more dissapointing. I found it substantially better than what little I played of Code Vein (which seemed outright bad), in fact I outright loved the first few hours of it. I havent experianced such a shift from love in the beginning of a game to indifference in a game since Dying Light

The leveling system just feels so fucking boring. Go to a new area and farm limbs to upgrade your armour. Repeat 15x times. The controls are also a little fucked, its frustratingly easy to swap targetted points accidentally. Limb targeting is an interesting system though, and I did enjoy the level design and general art/lore of what I played though.

 

[cruel]

40% off on Steam right now.

Should I buy this, if I liked all Souls, Nioh, Code Vein, but didn't like the first Surge or Lords of the Fallen?

Does the game offer any memorable moments, excitement, atmosphere, things to remember etc.? Or just soulless Souls copy with decent combat system?

 

[Frank Capicoli]

40% off on Steam right now.

Should I buy this, if I liked all Souls, Nioh, Code Vein, but didn't like the first Surge or Lords of the Fallen?

Does the game offer any memorable moments, excitement, atmosphere, things to remember etc.? Or just soulless Souls copy with decent combat system?

Better than Code Vein, LotF, don't know about first Surge didn't play it. Worse than every Souls, and Nioh. Not a terrible game just mediocre really.

 

[cvv]

I didn't like Surge 1 at all, loving this one. Already done with first playthrough, now in NG+. It's not perfect but neither is Dark Souls. Still, the combat is straight up great and the level design is mindblowing, a Souls fan wet dream.

 

[Haplo]

Bit the sale.
Just had a short look, but damn! The first mini-boss kicked my ass hard. I barely did any damage to him. Not sure if even 1 of my punches connected. Guess I gotta hit the head, like they wrote... but... how?

 

[cvv]

Bit the sale.
Just had a short look, but damn! The first mini-boss kicked my ass hard. I barely did any damage to him. Not sure if even 1 of my punches connected. Guess I gotta hit the head, like they wrote... but... how?

Yep, same story here. The game doesn't tell you how to cycle between body parts - with your left stick.

 

[Haplo]

Using keyboard here, though. Well, need to check how this will work.

 

[Haplo]

The game is seriously fun. And boy, are the locations huge and resembling an actual city. That is... quite a different kind of interconnection that I got used to in the soulslike... kinda like open world city with some stages and gating (by special equipment or by difficult watchmen).

Personally I really love the Heavy Duty weaponry - even though I never parry. But love the visceral impact these arms make. Most enemies are pretty helpless against their staggers/knockdowns/launchers.

Currently using the Endras "Titan" ram - and I wonder if its bugged or just has a display bug - the stats state Impact rating 280 (!), while it obviously should be 28.

 

[cvv]

The game is seriously fun. And boy, are the locations huge and resembling an actual city. That is... quite a different kind of interconnection that I got used to in the soulslike... kinda like open world city with some stages and gating (by special equipment or by difficult watchmen).

Personally I really love the Heavy Duty weaponry - even though I never parry. But love the visceral impact these arms make. Most enemies are pretty helpless against their staggers/knockdowns/launchers.

Currently using the Endras "Titan" ram - and I wonder if its bugged or just has a display bug - the stats state Impact rating 280 (!), while it obviously should be 28.

Game is great. When people loved the feeling of surprise when they first returned to Firelink from Undead Parish...this game is absolutely chock full of moments like that. The interconnectivity is completely mindblowing. Maybe there are too many shortcuts but even though some of them feel useless and show-offy, most are fantastic.

As for heavy duty, they are good but if you don't parry you can't use them in most boss fights. They're way too slow to use against bosses without parrying, just fyi.

A for stats, the consensus in the community is damage stats are mostly confusing. They don't REALLY mean what they say, for instance you can't really compare 100 Twin-Rigged damage vs. 100 Heavy-Duty damage. And the impact numbers are wonky too.

 

[Haplo]

Yeah, I noticed that while the listed damage stat is similar to other categories, a powerful swing from a Heavy Duty will deal like 2-3 times as a single hit from lesser arms (which can chain/spam more). Still, Impact rating of 280 is 10 times more then Impact on any other weapon, including in the same HD category...

And I also thought I may need a faster weapon for bosses, but so far the most difficult by far has been Little Johnny. I tried switching to various other, faster weapon types, without any clear improvement. Movesets I wasn't that familiar with didn't help. Finally I settled for HD... and a lot of patience. And a lot of leap attacks.

Well, I haven't fought many bosses so far - only 3 (and Brother Eli was easily stunlocked to death), so this may very well still change.

 

[Arnust]

The spears are pretty great, really. Reach is invaluable and they've got good moves. They make staves a wee bit redundant (you'd only really lose on some progression boosties like the Negotiator and multi-hit attacks). I eventually moved into Punching Gloves, which are a weird in-between of Single Rig and Twin Rig.

Stats are a bit weird indeed, it *seems* like the damage rating is a base damage that different moves multiply from. Impact isn't that hard to gauge with a bit of testing looking at the purple health bar, and the bigger difference maker for that are your arms, as they can make even the teensiest weapon stun fairly reliably.
Haplo I didn't get too much practice with HD, but once you figure out how to do the spinny combo finisher thing it'll be a fair lot less uphill. Not sure of what to do for bosses though, I switched back to fisties or spears for that.

 

[cvv]

Spears have a great moveset but the energy gain is horrible, eventually I stopped using them. The difference in survivability between 25% gain spear and 100% dual wield gloves is enormous.

 

[Haplo]

Okay, I switched to a Codename Moonlight HD with mere 26 Impact rating (compared to Titan's buggy 280) and I'm happy to report that I'm still stunlocking and ragdolling regular enemies to death. Heavy Duties really rock!

Come to think of it... perhaps such slow, cumbersome weapons shouldn't have the alpha strike ability... once you start swinging, they never get a chance...

 

[Haplo]

Got the RHINO gear set and it's pretty awesome! +56% Impact, charged attacks deal more damage and slams cause shockwaves staggering other enemies near!
Feels mighty! Also looks nicely industrial and yellow! Guess I'm gonna try it for a while.

Although I did feel safest in the Nightfall kit, with its light heal on battery bar charged bonus - and you charge a lot of battery bars while fighting!

Still, its maybe time to move on and the Eclipse set didn't do it for me despite nice stats (Hammer oriented).

 

[cruel]

Haplo, you've played Code Vein as well. Is Surge 2 more fun, or at least comparable?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

 

[Haplo]

Hm, quite different. I'd say Surge 2 is a tighter and more creative game. Code Vein feels like somewhat inferior Dark Souls copy-paste job with some anime, classes and abilities tacked on (with some systems expanded, like magic). Crazy models and weapons (just check Judgement Blade animations).

Mixing and matching abilities is quite fun. Some of them are lovely OP/game changing. Area design is nice, particularly in the 2nd half of the game.

Surge has more grounded, "realistic" style. Gritty industrial even. Even the camera perspective is very different.

The combat also has a lot of innovation and a different feel. You dismember enemies to gather their gear. So the fights are visceral and brutal. And charge energy while fighting, which you can use for healing for example - but also for various other purposes, such as generating ammo for your drone, activating poison resists, armor boosts and such.

The big difference is the setting. Most of it seems to take place in one big city - nearly seamlesly designed! I mean there are area transitions, but they tend to feel natural, not like some area border.

Constantly gathering and upgrading your equipment is addictive. And there is a nice variety of it. What you see enemies use, you can claim for yourself. Pretty awesome.

Yeah the game is fun. Quite different from CV, but also fun.

 

[Haplo]

Initially I thought that both games share a similar difficulty level - that is, both are easy. And sure enough, in Surge 2 you butcher simple opponents you keep meeting troughout the game.

But starting at Gideon's Rock Park I changed my mind about Surge 2. It's actually quite challenging for me. Enemy groups, robotic or heavily armored enemies, difficult to stagger, environmental hazards and status effects, tricky navigation and last but not least, challenging multi-stage bosses.
Currently Commander Ezra is kicking my ass.
The game is not easy for me.

And that's a good thing!

 

[cvv]

Difficulty was perfect for me. About the same level as the newer FromSoft games, except the very hard bosses. I didn't need more than 6 or 7 attempts at any boss in Surge 2 while in DS3 or Sekiro I spent hours fighting some bosses.

And yeah, I've seen a few streamers beat Ezra first or second try, I needed about 5. He is annoying.

 

[Haplo]

Got him after a few tries. But damn, the game pace just keeps getting faster and more deadly. I'm not really used to games getting more difficult as I progress.
Guess the ninetees' difficulty curve called.

 

[Haplo]

After a few tries I skipped Delver Echo Alpha.
I mostly managed to stunlock the original Delver, but this one is hyper-aggressive and deals very heavy damage. Maybe if I upgrade my armor/level a few times...

 

[cvv]

After a few tries I skipped Delver Echo Alpha.
I mostly managed to stunlock the original Delver, but this one is hyper-aggressive and deals very heavy damage. Maybe if I upgrade my armor/level a few times...

This is one of the bosses I warned you about. Some bosses are super difficult to straight up impossible to beat without parrying, especially with slow weapons.

 

[Haplo]

Reached winged Eli. Had an annoying number of reloads yesterday. He doesn't seem that tough but... Guess I need to control my urges and not overextend too much.
Plus I've been trying to destroy his armor pieces to get his better sword... not sure what for, as the game is about to end, I guess.

Been a fun romp in general. However traversing the same/slightly altered locations for like the 5th time and getting lost all the time eventually got old. I guess my orientation skills suck.
Been using Heavy Duty all game (no parrying, a lot of charged attacks).

My favorite gear:
RHINO gear overall plus best HD weapon I can find. The URBN Judgement axe was nice plus another with higher Impact rating. RHINO offers higher damage on charged attacks and vertical earth slams cause shockwaves which damage and stagger nearby opponents. Plus highest Impact bonus out of all the sets - up to 2x +37% for Mark X Arms.

End game kits:
1. 3x RHINO (Arms + Torso) - large Impact bonus, better charged attacks plus 3x Chrysalis (Head and Legs) - Head provides large damage bonuses, set bonus pumps +20 Nano per attack with Living Jawbone (end game Pillar of Oblivion) - hugely destructive. Only issue is most enemies vulnerable to Nano don't survive till execution, so not great for material gathering.

2. 6x Spark Galvanizer Set with URBN Judgement - enemies vulnerable to shock get nearly perma-stunned, also nice for gathering parts.