The Darksiders 2® Catch-All

I got a spare GameStop pre-order PS3 code, the Death Rides pack I believe it was (just a 108 KB key har har), but I think I'm waiting to see if a friend of mine will need it.

Aaron D. wrote:

My game arrived!

woot

Mine just shipped from the UK.

That's it, I'm out for the next 4-10 business days.

Spoiler:

Stopping reading this thread is the only way I'll stop myself from buying it locally as well.

OK so I watched Total Biscuit's WTF video and discovered the side quest to defeat Thane in a duel. This is when you can actually defeat him. The duel ends if you take enough damage but it is not a "one-hit" fail state.

Crappy design. The option to duel should not have even been there until I acquired the quest.

The first dungeon doesn't end with some sort of magical boss key, a special new item or a boss fight.

Gotta confess, it left me a bit underwhelmed. I felt like I completed some minor quest that didn't matter. I know it's a bit silly to be all "You're not enough like Zelda!", but bah humbug.

That said, it was still a lot of fun and I'm beginning to question why I shut the game off.

Too be fair, the area did have a few mini-bosses, and took less than an hour to complete. But, I'd agree it is weird to end without a bang when over 25 years of this medium have taught us to expect otherwise. At least the pacing has been much more agreeable than the first game. The first dungeon in Darksiders took me around three hours to complete my first time playing, and close to 1:45 on another go-around.

Oh, and damn are these side dungeons brutal. In each one so far (three), about half-way through they have a mini-boss that's just incredibly tough given your level. Gear is important in this game, but I'd rather them just stick to having progress gates be attached to abilities and items.

Dude, I'm addicted to the side dungeons. I see a bunch of bricks on the side of the road on my way to the next dungeon and its like "EXPLORATION!"

ccesarano wrote:

Dude, I'm addicted to the side dungeons. I see a bunch of bricks on the side of the road on my way to the next dungeon and its like "EXPLORATION!"

Absolutely, which is why I wish I could complete them!

I played the first 10 rounds of the crucible a bunch of times trying out different specs. I wish I knew a while ago that the gun is really good at regenerating wrath. In fact, a little nifty combo I liked in my experimenting is getting the skill for the teleport slash that increases wrath generation after you teleport for like 40% because you can teleport slash, do damage, get a bunch of health back and then spam your gun to get a lot of the wrath back. The ghouls with the tanking skill also seems really good for now but their health doesn't scale so I don't know how long that will last. Good on Vigil to make respeccing cheap and easy.

8 hours later and I finally figured out a use for the first skill you buy from Thane, I think it's called Meteor Strike (the move that makes Death slam into the ground if you press RB in the air). I thought this skill was kind of useless since Death jumps so low but what's it's great for is canceling animation/continuing a combo. For example, a combo that is fun to do is X+A (this launches the guy up) then spamming X or doing an air combo your purchased from Thane (like X+X+pause+X). What you can do if you have Meteor Strike is X+A(launch the guy up) X+X and then here, you can press RB to Meteor Strike canceling the animation allowing you to continue juggling the enemy without having a long animation at the end to sort of forcibly stop your combo; something like X+A(launch the guy up) X+X(air combo)+RB(meteor strike), RT+RT+RT+RT (gun juggle) A, X+X+pause+X(air combo with arcane reaper finisher). I hope what I wrote makes sense.

I got to the second area yesterday and man this game is huge. I really like how the world feels just large enough that I want to explore it but not large enough to overwhelm me. And when I'm not exploring, the Dungeons do a great job of leading me down a path for a great balanced experience. I can't wait to play a bunch this weekend.

I'm sorry, combos? I just hack and slash until the next Prince of Persia segment.

Yea the little side dungeons are cool but I came across a miniboss in one of them who killed me in a single hit Definitely need to wait a few levels before trying him again.

I got about an hour in last night (end of the first dungeon) and am pretty stoked so far.

** Female Doggo session **

In regards to camera controls, they are pretty disappointing. I've come to terms that I just can't move my character, on foot or horse, and hold a steady control of the camera at the same time. This is a drag because soaking in visuals as I roll up on a big building, structure, etc. is one of the things that make me marvel over talented and interesting visuals. With the default camera angle I roll up on a 10-story building with the camera ostensibly locked on only the first 2 or 3 floors. Lame.

I've also noticed that the stick acceleration on the X and Y axis is completely different. Up/down is set way higher than left/right (which also feels laggy for L/R)...and there's only a single bar to control the sensitivity. Lame X 2.

On the plus side the camera works fine when standing still. I've simply resolved myself to doing all my sightseeing when stationary. It's a sad concession because the art direction and level design is pretty drool-worthy, and it seems undermined by a bad camera that should have been an easy problem to solve, esp. considering the first game had zero issues of this nature.

** end Female Doggo session **

All that aside, the world and its inhabitants are pretty incredible. I've come across the first two major people you talk to and I was taken aback at how wonderful and unique their character design was (even better than Death, imo). Truly top notch.

Traversal is fast and fluid, as is the combat. Fighting seems to have a nice payoff of fast and slow, heavy attacks. It's fun to rip someone up in quick succession and the deal some final, fatal blows with the heavier weapons.

Voice acting and soundtrack are freakin’ ace, as has been mentioned numerous times.

All and all I’m having a blast so far and I’ve barely gotten started yet. I hope there is an eventual patch that lets you toggle camera auto-centering off as well as individual sliders for the X & Y axis, but if that never happens, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.

ccesarano wrote:

The first dungeon doesn't end with some sort of magical boss key, a special new item or a boss fight.

After getting a bit ahead of this, I don't think that really counts as the first dungeon. Maybe the first third of the first "dungeon".

That aside, the robot thingy was a boss, wasn't it?

I guess so. As I said, though, I'm also coming at it with the "Not enough like Zelda!" mentality, which is an unfair complaint anyway.

Very nice tips, BNice. I had forgotten about Meteor Strike.

The Cauldron is okay so far. I'm wandering around to try to find where to go next. I already used the first skeleton key thing. Dust isn't very helpful either.

So do you guys Auto Collect or no?

I have it turned off so I can deliberate over each piece, but then again am early on.

Does switching it on automatically equip a better pickup?

I have it off for the same reason.

Auto-Collect, for sure. All is does is put it in your inventory, where you can then get stats comparison, and equip it or feed it to your possessed weapon.

Right now I'm carrying a possessed scythe I got in the first dungeon, leveled four times, and a really good gauntlet off of one of the bosses I've faced. Also, the drop for beating Gorewood, the first side-dungeon's hidden boss, is an incredibly good lvl10 hammer.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/cyrax1/...
http://steamcommunity.com/id/cyrax1/...
http://steamcommunity.com/id/cyrax1/...

Yeah, I found Gorewood by surprise today, and while he was difficult I felt like a bad ass for beating him. Really good times.

It's amazing how much I can get sucked into this game. I don't know if my feelings are changing about more open games or they're just learning to make them better, but between this and Dragon's Dogma I'm just in exploratory heaven this year.

Ah yea Gorewood is the guy who one-hit me. Probably shouldn't try to take him on at level 3

I wandered into Gorewood's lair on my way to the first dungeon and promptly got served. After I came out, I tried it again (at around level 4-5-ish), and while it was pretty tough, I managed to beat him after a few tries. If you learn how to dodge his attacks and such it's fairly easy. Though I obviously still tackled him way earlier than the game wanted me to, since I still can't even use the gear he dropped (going into the 3rd 'main' dungeon in the first area).

I also went ahead and beat the guy in town. There's no real incentive to beating these guys so early on, but dammit, if they're there I'm going to beat them one way or the other.

I'm part way into the land of the dead, and I am loving this game. The music, voice acting, and art design are all top notch. The climbing controls and camera are sometimes a little wonky, but not enough to seriously impact my enjoyment.

Also, that crow ability gets really good when you sink a bunch of skill points into it. Definitely my favourite ability so far.

The dude in town wasn't as hard as I had expected him to be, and it turns out he rewards you with a more essential ability than I expected. I think you were supposed to challenge him early on?

I tried Auto-Collect and didn't like not being able to see what I was picking up without going into my inventory.

Most of the time, unless you are very near to the item, it doesn't pick them up, so you'll usually get a chance to see what it is on the ground. Even when you open a chest, and it gets sucked up, there's enough of a split-second for me to see. Besides, I actually much prefer going on a room or two (10-15min), and then checking out all the goodies I've collected with stars conveniently placed on them.

Game opinion update: Still really good. Think I'm about to go to the second area/chapter. I really want that darn grapple/hook ability that's impeding some of my chest collecting. Need to explore more!

Anybody interested in some Achievement hunting through item exchanging?

You get one for gifting and item and another one for receiving an item.

My gamertag is below if anyone wants to send me something (anything, really...quality doesn't matter), and I'll return the favor by sending it back your way.

I played a bunch this weekend and man is this game huge. I thought I was almost done with the game but I thought wrong.

Unfortunately, there is a level in the game that is a big low point in the adventure.

Spoiler:

Earth

. This area was just not fun and I'm glad I finished it up in one sitting. I also found yet another use for Metor Strike. If you Meteor Strike and immediately hit Y, if you get the timing right you will do a charged Y move without having to charge it. And definitely try the unique weapons that bosses drop. Sometimes the damage seems low but that's because the special attribute is crazy good.

I tried to send Certis an item but got bored scrolling through my list of friends so I turned to Cyrax instead. Said he didn't have any save data so I couldn't send it. Gave up at that point but I'm willing to try again. I actually have a pair of level 15 possessed scythes I wouldn't mind giving away to a good home. They look awesome and have good base stats (unupgraded) but don't do as much raw damage as my other pair of level 15 possessed scythes.

And on that note, last night I found two pairs of level 15 possessed scythes! In the same room, in fact. You know that quest Vulgrim gives you, to bring back 10 pages from the Book of the Dead? When you sell them to him (like selling any other item) you get a key to the tomb in the Forge Lands. You might remember a door near the Forgotten Temple with 4 different colored gems on it. That's the door. Within there are two big chests, four small chests, five weapon racks, and a whole mess of gilt.

I am not 15, but would happily take a pair of possessed scythes. That's something I hadn't seen yet. Plenty of possessed secondary weapons, but no scythes.

Tyrian wrote:

I am not 15, but would happily take a pair of possessed scythes. That's something I hadn't seen yet. Plenty of possessed secondary weapons, but no scythes.

They're my fifth pair. Mostly I use my possessed gauntlets. They have increased critical chance, increased critical damage, health restore on critical, and ice damage. I almost never need to use a health potion and they do pretty insane damage, especially since they'll occasionally encase an enemy in ice for a while.