Hey gang, new game incoming!
But first - these are the guidelines for these playthroughs -
1. Games should be at least 1 calendar year old. That makes it easy to find games that are either a) on most people's piles or b) cheap to pick up(I am thinking 10-15 bucks max).
2. Games should be either episodic or broken up into easily agreed upon stopping points (i.e. achievement for ch.1 or reaching certain checkpoint). I would like it to be about an hour to an hour and a half for each "assigned" session, no more than 5-6 hours a week needed to participate.
3. Games shouldn't be more than 20 hours.
4. No console exclusives. Has to be on Microsoft/Playstation/PC platforms.
For February we are going to try something a little different - Lords of the Fallen! This is a game that has interested me since it launched, being marketed as a somewhat easier and more user friendly Dark Souls clone. I am excited to dip my toes into this dark fantasy world and see what it is all about.
I hope you will play along with us!
I am using http://www.vg247.com/2014/10/29/lord... to gate content.
I am attempting to acquire/borrow a copy of this. If I succeed, I will try to play along!
Complete Edition, PS4, $30
Complete Edition, Xbox One, $30
Basic version, PS4 and Xbox One, $20
Basic version, Steam, $50
I have the basic version already. I'm probably going to pick up some of the DLC. A bunch of it is weapon packs, or early game stat boosts, but there are 2 of note.
Ancient Labyrinth is a new dungeon, which based on reviews is about an hour. That's $8 on consoles.
Monk's Deciper is the more interesting thing to me. It is a from the sound of it very small dungeon, but at the end you get an item (I assume called Monk's Decipher) which will ping when you are near secret areas.
I got the basic edition on Amazon for $18. I just don't have a good track record of playing DLC in games.
I got the basic edition on Amazon for $18. I just don't have a good track record of playing DLC in games.
Same usually. Well, depending on whether the DLC is out already when I'm playing the game, and whether it's integrated, or a separate item in the menu. And it's really a crapshoot when it's worth it either way.
Reviews didn't sound particularly excited about Ancient Labyrinth, so I might skip it. Probably gonna pick up Monk's Decipher though. I'm down with an item to make the game even more Dark Souls for babies, and it's only $2.
Edit: Found this review of the Ancient Labyrinth
The eight-dollar asking price may sound reasonable, but it is important to understand what you are getting: a skimpy maze that amounts to three hallways, a few levers to pull, some skeletal archers, and a few other cronies to defeat. A difficult boss battle puts the cap on this miniature adventure, which includes about 30 minutes of content and a finale that stretches that half-hour into a masochistic stretch of trial-and-error bashing and blocking that could substantially extend your play time, depending on how quickly you learn The Keeper's tricks, and how flawlessly you execute your attacks.
But then also this one, which couldn't be more different.
The Ancient Labyrinth is a small area that consists entirely of a maze-like rotational ring-puzzle where the various segments and walkways can shift around a central point via the use of a series of levers located inside the puzzle itself. The ultimate goal is find the path through the rings to reach the centre. This is much harder than it sounds due to the segments of the puzzle being filled with long narrow, curved corridors with poor line of sight (perfect for enemy ambushes) and having to backtrack to try different combinations of platform rotation to find the right fit....
For $10 the Ancient Labyrinth provides players with a 2.5-6 hour (skill dependent) side-adventure whose environment, minor puzzles and combat feel like a natural extension of the main game.
(to be fair, there is some hedging after that segment, but still)
So... short and boring, vs decent length and engaging. This sounds like if you like the game, you'll like the DLC, and if you don't, you won't, I guess? I'm going to go ahead and get it, since I enjoyed what I've played of the game already and it's not too expensive.
My copy gets here today. As with Thief, I'm going to get started on it early so that I don't fall behind.
I'm plugging through Mad Max right now, and loving it, but I don't think I'm anywhere near the end. I may have to put it down at the beginning of February so I don't fall behind on LotF.
So this one has been sitting on my Steam pile for a while and I am going to be doing some traveling for work this month, will need a PC game to play. So I really am in this time! Although I suck something awful at these kinds of games. Maybe this can be my gateway to DS/Bloodbourne since it is supposed to be a little easier.
Oh and Sally, check you PMs.
This is, as promised, a somewhat simpler and easier Dark Souls. They made a few changes to the formula to make this happen, and what's different is as interesting as what's the same. I'm definitely curious to play more and looking forward to more of you joining in.
I've played this before, but I'm tagging this here for, well..
If you're playing on PS4, definitely take the time to download and install the 1.05 patch. It adds a few nice touches like being able to toggle off the objective text reminders, and it significantly improves performance.
Also, for what it's worth, I've found Cleric to be a much more accessible starting build than Warrior.
Also, Rogue is hard mode.
Doesn't surprise me. Rogue starts without a shield, as near as I can tell, and lower HP.
Also, I discovered that backstabbing mid-fight is a thing in this game, just like Dark Souls. That makes some of those early enemies a cakewalk.
Yeah, they have lower base HP from a lower base Vitality stat. Also they use Light Armor which isn't going to have much damage reduction, but makes dodging easier. To compensate though, they start with more health flasks.
My first attempt was a Rogue, and I got a decent chunk into the game, and got my butt handed to me by the third boss. I was streaming at the time, and that's when someone told me Rogue was hardmode, so I restarted with a Cleric, and enjoyed that a lot more.
Now, if I remember right, like Dark Souls, classes are basically just starting points... sort of. The equipment side, anyway.
Classes are made of of magic type and equipment type, 3 choices each for 9 classes total. However, nothing's stopping a Rogue from putting on heavy armor and wielding a hammer, as long as they have the stats.
What you can't change is magic type. Once you choose it, all your magic points have to go into that same type of magic. Though you can choose an additional type for NG+.
Now, 2 bits of more specific advice:
- You can get a monk staff early one. In a stairwell, after the first boss, if I remember right. That was my favorite weapon to use.
- At a certain point, fairly early on, you will meet an injured man, and have the option to give him a health potion. If you do, you are permanently reducing the number of flasks you have by 1. I did not realize this until after. I'd assume I'd keep the bottle and refill it at the next checkpoint. Now, according to the wiki, there are empty flasks you can find, but that guy is also not the only quest where you "donate" them.
I will probably restart, since it's been quite some time and I don't remember where I was. I'm considering cheesing it a bit, and starting with Rogue equipment for more health potions, but then building towards Cleric.
This is on sale at the PS Store. Digital may be my ticket in.
EDIT - And it's downloading! I haven't opted in for any of the DLC.
This is on sale at the PS Store. Digital may be my ticket in.
EDIT - And it's downloading! I haven't opted in for any of the DLC.
I don't see it for sale.
It must be a UK (or perhaps Europe) only deal. I had a look on the US PS Store and right enough, there is no discount on the game. Whilst here in the UK it is showing a 75% discount. That sucks.
Physically copies are super cheap. I got mine for $18 through Amazon. The digital price is inexplicably still $60.
I think I'm down for this one. Probably will do a physical copy given the drastic price difference. Is there any benefit to the complete editions other than the extra content? Weapons/classes/etc.?
I'm choosing magic type as we speak. Or trying to. The problem is that both Solace and Deception sound interesting.
EDIT - So, I opted for Solace and chose a Rogue.
Copy ordered. Xbox copy was 18 bucks. I've been curious about it for a while.
I'll hop in on this one. I've been looking for an excuse to check out this game.
I'm interested to see how it compares to the Souls games.
Dyni, I bet you $5 that you hate it.
I played around in the opening areas for a time. I have a feel for the movement and the controls. It's very familiar. More Demon's Souls than Bloodborne.
I read of some folks struggling with the visual cues for timing dodges. I'm familiar with both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne, and haven't found an issue here. I've had success blocking with a buckler, and evading whilst dual wielding daggers. Early days, though.
I held off on progressing so to keep pace with everyone else. I'd like to see just how well a few hours here and there per week can work. I'm thinking it could avoid burn out, and aid the desire to come back for more, to (hopefully) consistently chip away until it crumbles. Group conversation will definitely help.
I went full speed ahead with Fallout 4 only to sicken myself of the wasteland. Binge playing is not only difficult to come by, but I don't think it works for me any longer.
:lol: Dyni, I bet you $5 that you hate it.
Heh, maybe. I've seen enough of the game to think I might enjoy it. Hopefully, I'm right. We'll find out soon
I beat the second boss. He took me a few tries largely because of two things:
First, the additional enemies he spawns in. They're not significantly challenging by this point, but they're also not total pushovers. They had potential to shave a nice chunk off my health.
Second, he's magnetic. This actually really frustrated me. Many of the enemies so far have had an irritating habit of turning toward the player while in the middle of an attack, but this boss kicks it up a notch by not only turning toward the player mid-attack but significantly closing range. He has a set of two swipe attacks, and if you move out of range of the second attack, he'll actually glide across the arena mid-swing to hit you.
I took a lot of damage to some of those magnet attacks.
My strategy to beat him was:
Simply stay fairly close to him, and wait for him to either do his shield pound attack or to do his charged projectile attacks. Then I'd scoot up close and whack him a couple times. Dodge everything else, although aim to block the second attack in his pair of swings. It made for a tedious fight, but it wore him down eventually.
I'm still enjoying it. I'm starting to get a little wish list of things I wish had been done somewhat differently, but that's normal for most games.
Eurogamer has a nice guide for this. It doesn't list cheevs, though. Sorry, Sally.
I remember that fight. The third one (or at least the third one I stumbled into in my first attempt) is even more annoying. His schtick, if I remember right, is make the entire ground shake and then throw stuff at you.
I only played a few hours of the Dark Souls games, so my frame of reference here is Bloodborne. So I'm not sure if this is a Lords of the Fallen thing or a Souls thing, but with the boss fights (no specific spoilers, but just in case):
Spawning minions in throughout the fight is really, really annoying and makes them significantly less fun. I don't mind fights against multiple enemies, and in fact think that can be really fun, but continuously summoning new trash into the fight just feels cheap and frustrating. It's like they couldn't figure out how to evolve their fights across multiple phases and so just threw in adds to keep things spicy. It feels like poor balance in the name of maintaining a certain expectation for difficulty.
From what I've played of Dark Souls ( a significant chunk, but still early content wise I guess) you are generally just fighting the boss. Except for one fight with 2 dogs also and that is generally considered one of the hardest in the game.
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