#(i like dark souls but again. its not actually a soulslike)

[spitblaze]

Not that Returnal is bad per se but I see the words 'roguelike bullet hell soulslike co-op' to describe a single game and my eyes glaze over

[tokiro07]

Thinkin’ about the term Soulslike again (though I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about it here)

I really dislike the idea of naming genres after specific games on the basis that it leads to stagnation in the development of games and doesn’t actually tell you anything about those games if you aren’t already familiar with the source

Metroidvanias, for example, by and large either try to perfectly mimic Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night to the point where a lot of them will practically use the same upgrades with different visuals or names in my experience, rather than reimagining or refining the core experience of exploration and discovery (some people have called these games Sprawlers, but I like to call them Explorers)

Roguelikes, fortunately, have now boiled down the genre to just two major, generalized mechanics, procedural generation and permadeath, but for some reason have retained the name even though they are nigh unrecognizable as “Rogue” games anymore. Some Roguelikes have even cut down on the permadeath with a persistent upgrade system that have resulted in them being called “Roguelites,” even though they already had nothing in common with Rogue aside from being Procedural games

“Soulslikes” at the moment seem to be leaning towards the former for the most part, though they are slowly but surely drifting away from that. Now, I haven’t played many Soulslikes, but from what I’ve seen, almost all of them have the following:

a limited, slow-use health restoring item

a currency that is dropped upon death (usually retrievable at the point of death)

a checkpoint area designated for the usage of said currency, recovery of the health item, and/or upgrades and customization (these may vary, but there’s usually a combination of these) BUT also restores all of the enemies in an area (if applicable)

enemies with high damage output but consistent predictable and exploitable attack patterns

combat heavily based around animation speed

a dodge or parry mechanic that helps give the player control over the pace of the battle

obscure lore often told through environmental storytelling or vague item descriptions

Dark Souls itself also has several elements that are frequently seen in its clones, but not necessarily all of them, including:

character customization

variable weapon builds

an RPG-style leveling system

a stamina-bar that recovers over time

an item that increases health and allows for a mechanic that makes combat easier at the risk of inviting some form of danger

a semi-open world that encourages familiarity and creates shortcuts over time

With all of these elements, Dark Souls itself is effectively an Exploratory Action RPG, with its world functioning similarly to a Metroidvania and while having a customizable/upgradable character that can perform real-time combat. The question is what Dark Souls does differently within these genres that makes it unique, much like how Rogue differentiated itself from other turn-based RPGs of the time (procedural generation and permadeath)

I think when most people think “Soulslike,” they think games that emulate the look and feel as closely as possible, like The Surge or Nioh for 3D games or Salt and Sanctuary or Hollow Knight for 2D. These all, to my knowledge, use similar kinds of currency systems and combat systems

These systems have led to people like Yahtzee Croshaw labeling Soulslikes as “Recursive games”, on the basis that they encourage one to throw themselves at one challenge again and again until they learn it by heart, often through asking the player to specifically face the thing that defeated them rather than go another way. 

While I see the argument here, I think that this definition is actually too broad. A linear platformer will do the exact same thing, but if you die repeatedly to a  specific enemy or obstacle in a Mario game and keep trying until you get it, does that make Mario a “Soulslike” game? Not at all, but any video game that has a failure state is, by its very nature, recursive. Not all games do this, but all that do can’t be referred to as “Recursive games”

Dead Cells, for example, inherently lacks this feature. Sure, its procedural nature promotes a “just one more go” mentality, but what you’re doing is inherently different every time. You aren’t facing the same challenges, as enemies and item builds are always different. However, what remains is the combat-style

I’ve always felt that the most important part of something being similar to Dark Souls is the enemy encounters that are dictated by health/stamina management and pace control. Because this is so heavily rooted in Dark Souls’ unique method of combat, I’ve been referring to it as a Precision Combat game, as precise inputs and timing are often necessary for survival, and an understanding of how both the player and the enemies behave is necessary for progression 

What muddles this is that we already have terms like “Action” and “Fighting” to define specific genres, and those terms are just too close. Fighting games are, in a sense, Precision Combat games that remove everything extraneous: no level progressions, no upgrade systems, just pure mechanics in typically one-on-one battles against a specific character being used by an opponent. Action games, however, basically mean anything that has some kind of combat encounter in it at all, allowing it to span Platformers, Fighters, Shooters, Brawlers, Puzzlers, anything, so much so that it’s a near pointless concept. One could argue that by calling something a Combat game, it immediately implies a greater focus on the precision of the action, thus making the “Precision” in Precision Combat redundant. We could also call it “Precision Action,” but that comes with its own problems

Many games have had precision action elements since the inception of gaming. The most notable that I can think of from the NES days would be Ninja Gaiden and The Mysterious Murasame Castle, both of which require quick reaction time and strategic attacks, generally not allowing players to simply brute force their way through. However, while these could strictly speaking be called Precision Action games, that doesn’t mean that they are “like Souls,” nor do they resolve the fact that modern games are taking inspiration from Dark Souls’ unique mechanics to spawn a new genre. It just becomes the same problem that Recursive had: it can apply to too many things that already exist rather than honing in on what makes Dark Souls itself unique

A friend of mine called Dark Souls a “Strict” game on the basis that the failure to act in a precise manner is entirely on the player, that Dark Souls is “tough but fair,” but honestly I think that’s just a fancy way of conveying the same idea.

In the same conversation that Recursive was introduced, Yahtzee’s associate Jack Packard suggested that Soulslikes be called Fight-or-Flight games to highlight the decision making process that the player goes through: “do I have the right items for this encounter?” “How far am I from the checkpoint?” “Should I avoid the enemies to preserve health, or fight them to get their drops?” Jack and Yahtzee determined that this couldn’t work because the player can’t run from boss encounters, and thus those moments remove a core gameplay element that Fight-or-Flight would imply. I, however, think they were on the right track

For one, the bosses are the very reason one has to consider whether to fight or flee in the first place; there is always going to be something that the player needs to save their resources for, something that they can’t flee from, so the question is what to do in the moments where that choice is available. However, I think there’s a way to potentially reconcile this issue while retaining the high focus on player choice: Risk/Reward

Now, many games have elements of risk and reward, particularly procedural games where if the player is having a good run, they may want to play more cautiously, but “Soulslike” games have a particular way of baking these sorts of choices into every single moment. Every attack animation is a risk because they’re exploitable by an enemy, every usage of the healing items is a risk because they’re exploitable, every enemy is a threat that can cause the player to lose their precious items, every enemy attack, even from bosses, is exploitable but reacting to them may leave the player open. “Do I attack now?” “Do I heal now?” “Do I fight this enemy?” “Do I run past them?” “Do I use my currency on this upgrade/item, or save it?” These are all ideas that are present in other games, but Dark Souls and its contemporaries utilize it in such a specific way that I think one could make the argument that it’s their defining feature

Risk/Reward also has the benefit of removing the necessity for combat altogether, whereas Fight-or-Flight explicitly states that combat is an element of it. This could allow non-action games to potentially recontextualize Dark Souls’ Risk/Reward mechanics into something else entirely, similarly to how Toki Tori 2 took out Super Metroid’s action-centric upgrade system and replaced it with a consistent moveset used for puzzle-solving, and all “upgrades” were actually moments where the player would discover new ways to use what they already had to progress

I don’t necessarily think Risk/Reward is a perfect solution, as like I said it can technically be applied to a lot of other games (ex: in any turn-based RPG, one can choose to attack, defend, or heal, risking the enemy’s actions), and it’s not the most elegant thing to say (ex: to encompass all that Dark Souls is would require calling it a Risk/Reward Exploratory Action RPG), but I think it’s a step in the right direction

If nothing else, it helps make it clear why a game like Sekiro, which removes nearly all of Dark Souls’ mechanics and even boils the combat down to a single weapon type, can still be considered a “Soulslike;” moving the enemy into a vulnerable position potentially leaves Sekiro vulnerable as well, but the player needs to take that risk to win a fight

I’ve also seen the word “dynamic” used to describe the combat in both Dark Souls and Sekiro, which ties back into what I was saying about controlling the pace of combat. This could also work and may be useful in conveying the idea of decision making, but it may have more difficulty in translating to other genres. That said “Exploratory Dynamic Action RPG” sounds better than that mouthful I said before, even if it’s still a bit long

It may be years before we get a good answer to this question, and it really will be determined by what elements survive the refinement process and remain recognizable, but for now, I think I’m going to start trying to work either “Risk/Reward” or “Dynamic” into my conversations about Dark Souls until I hear something better

[booyaxboy]

Thoughts on The Surge

If you ask any Dark Souls fan what that game was missing, somewhere on list someone is boud to say “robots”. Action/RPG title The Surge attempts to tackle this exact issue. Released in 2017 The Surge is the second attempt by Deck 13 to make its mark on a relatively new genre.

WHAT IS IT?

In the simplest terms The Surge is a “Soulslike” or an Action/RPG title with an emphasis on timing and the conservation of precious resources against relentless foes, each more devious than the last. Where The Surge blazes a new trail is the added layer of having to target and sever specific limbs off enemies in order to collect their sweet sweet loot. Like all Souls-likes defeating an enemy rewards the player with currency that can exchanged for upgrades to their character or gear with ever increasing cost, known here as “scrap”. Engaging with the limb targeting system will also reward the player with new gear and upgrade materials. The system is simple: decapitating an enemy wearing a helmet will reward the player with said helmet, if the player doesn’t already own it. If that piece is already part of your collection than the player is rewarded in upgrade materials that correspond to that particular body part. If the arms are targeted there is the added bonus of collecting a new weapon or weapon upgrade materials. Each part (head,body, arms, legs and weapons) uses their own unique material so there is no worry of overlap, and any farmer of materials can be focuses with no worries of a random drop not given you what you need. There are also many enemies that may not have armor equipped, these areas can be stuck for bonus damage bring the fight to a quicker close. The system even extends to non-human enemy types, as different parts of the robot enemies can be targeted and broken to slow them down or reduce their offensive vocabulary.

The Surge is also visually distinct from the Souls games that inspired it. This adventure trades the Souls medieval fantasy swords and sorcery setting for a high tech future of robots and exo suits. The story begins with a man named Warren who signs up for a new job with tech giant CREO. Warren begins the game bound to a wheelchair but thanks to the exo suit technology of his new position is able to walk again. The player takes control after the surgery to graft the exosuit to Warren’s body goes very, very wrong. Instead of being put under for the operation the automated process begins with Warren fully conscious and what could only be described as pure torture plays out. Screws and bolts are drilled directly into his body, including his head, until Warren eventually passes out. The game begins in earnest an unknown amount of time later when Warren awakes in junkyard with most of the CREO facility in ruins. From here its up to the player to survive against malfunctioning robots, exosuit wearing psychos, and a militaristic security force trying to keep Warren from unraveling the secret of what CREO was really up to.

THE NEGATIVES

The biggest issue that I had was, funnily enough, with the mechanics of the combat. Not the controls or the UI elements, but with the invisible numbers behind the scenes. Back when I first tried Dark Souls I got a grip on the flow of combat fairly early. After leaving the initial tutorial area I wandered, like many into the nearby graveyard. Unlike the enemies in the tutorial zone that felt in line with my stats, the skeletons in the graveyard were taking whole chunks of my health with a single attack with I did barely any damage at all. I had come into Souls knowing its reputation for difficulty, but this initial outing led me to think that difficulty came from a lopsided power curve opposed to any form of elegant design. I eventually figured out by watching a Let’s Play that I was heading the wrong way, and would go on to become a fan of the series. The surge is this first feeling of lopsided stats, but through the whole game. No enemy save the small drones is more than 2 hits away from taking Warren down. But said drones are never alone, and should a hit land they present a very real threat of stun locking the player until a heavier hitting baddie finishes the job. The amount of times I was one-shot but a scrub level enemy was absurd, and the amount of ambushes that occur mean there will be many a loading screen between being able to learn what you did wrong and being able to execute what you learned. Unlike in Souls when each level up gave the player a slight boost in defense, The Surge’s upgrades are tied to a plug-in system. Health and stamina boost, healing items, and this game’s version of a ranged attack are all mapped to one of a limited number of slots, and limited in effectiveness by the players power level. They system works and brings something new to the table (more on that later) but having any kind of survivability meant loading up on health boosters and heals, leaving little to no room from anything else not related to being able to tank 3 hits at a time. I can see advance players being able to do without the boosters, and a no damage run is definitely possible, but for a newcomer learning the games patterns and traps it was choice between limiting add-on to health or getting very familiar with the games loading screen.

Other smaller issues are present as well. The game takes place entirely in the CREO complex, as such doesn’t have a lot of diversity when it comes to environments. Warren moves from on ruined concrete structure to a darkened factory and back again. Literally back again, close to a full third of the game takes place backtracking through a single manufacturing complex at different points of the story. Each of the locations is also honeycombed with identical maintenance tunnels, that can keep the player running in circles if they are not careful. Adding to the confusion is a lack of general direction with level design. While most times it works fine just working through the path of least resistance, there were two spots in particular where I had to look up what my next move should be, due in combination of a lack of signaling that I should return to a previous zone and the level’s labyrinthian design preventing the game from presenting a clear goal. The visuals area to area are so similar it prompted by wife to ask, after three evenings in a row, if I had made any progress at all as what was on screen now was so similar to what was there all week, despite my location in the game being two zones later.

The sameness of the environment also bleeds into the enemy roster. An overwhelming majority of the foes in Warren’s way are other humans in different armor types with one of a limited type of weapons. Most of the games later half has Warren facing off with the CREO security force, all wearing identical armor and weapons. One new heavy variant is introduced in the second to last area, but that is also a de-powered copy of boss from just minutes before that area. They are also flanked drones, but even those are just palette swaps of enemies seen through the whole game. The truly imaginative designs come in the games last area with two new types of enemy. Both are based on nanomachines: one a shape shifting blob and the other another humanoid, but one that can change his armor locations and weapon type on the fly. Of course the earlier statements of difficulty by numbers holds true, and I never bothered engaging any blobs that weren’t immediately outside a safe room due to the myriad of ways an encounter could go south.

THE POSITIVES

If it seems like I’m down on this game I’m not, it’s just kinda like that friend you only want around occasionally because he gets really aggressive for no reason, makes every one else really uncomfortable and once in a while breaks something, but mostly he’s a good time.

The general feel of combat is the games strongest point. Weapons, even those in the same class, feel distinct thanks to variations of moveset. Animations and sounds create a visceral portrait of the future that had me looking for the next fight. The aforementioned upgrade system allows for a wide range of experiments without worrying about being locked into a build, if the player is competent enough to shed some of the health upgrades. Even in the face of the blandness of the levels, the intricate design of each on a wireframe level was very cool. Following the path forward would eventual cut back into itself, unveiling a shortcut back to the level’s safe room. If a player got the layout down then no destination was more than a minute or so away, despite a level being hours long from start to end.

An undeniable win was the games approach to boss battles. Each fight could be approached is classic video game style, hit the guy till the bar goes away, or in a new way unique to each fight. Fighting a bibedial machine not unlike the big thing from Robocop I was able to trick its own homing missiles to hit the boss instead. A late game example was being able to trick a boss into damaging the environment around us to prevent reinforcements from joining the fight.

THE SUMMARY

The Surge was worth the time I put into it at the end. I can’t say it was worth the money, as I got the game for free through Xbox’s Game Pass program. It presented a new wrinkle in the Souls-genre and unlike the studio’s last outing, Lords of the Fallen, kept me interested enough to see it through to credits. The game presents a challenge for those looking for one, and the number of options presented to the player makes the road to success feel like your own despite the limited number of actual options. Fights are tense, enemies are readable if overpowered, but no challenge ever feels impossible despite seeming unfair.

Overall: Positive

[+] Intense, gritty combat is always engaging

[+] Criss crossing level design makes every shortcut a welcome sight, and keeps whats around the next corner a mystery.

[+] Limb targeting for loot makes farming player driven without the worry of random drops.

[+] Boss battles are unique and memorable

[-] Enemies and environments lack distinguishing features, leaving a feeling of sameness past the game’s second area.

[-] Most of the games challenge comes from over powerful enemies, even basic units can kill in a single hit.

[-] Conveyance of the next objective is not always clear, often going objectives are found by following the path of least resistance as opposed to being presented as a goal.

[mattgambler]

My thoughts on Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice

TLDR: I talk about what I liked and disliked about Sekiro and why it in my eyes is probably* the best game From Software has released to date. Which means I also compare it to Dark Souls a lot.

*I havent played Demon Souls or Bloodborne, so I cant really talk about those. As someone who played through all three Dark Souls games as well as several other soulslikes on stream, I always stood by the unpopular opinion that Dark Souls 1 is a good game, but also a vastly overrated one - with one of the most unbearable fanbases out there, right up there with Undertale, albeit for very different reasons. My opinion is of course strongly coloured by my interactions with diehard fans of Dark Souls, both on stream as well as everywhere else on the Internet, but at the end of the day I never hated Dark Souls. I wouldnt have played through all three games otherwise. I *did* hate smaller aspects, like the fact that I ended up entering the tomb of the giants without ever finding a lantern and therefore  being forced to crawl through that place in near complete darkness until I found the emergency lantern in there, simply because I was unlucky enough to have none of the necromancers drop one for me. Or how the curse mechanic in the sewers got me trapped in a place that i already struggled with, but now with only 50% of my original HP. Or the entire “Git Gud” mentality that is so grossly abused to defend poor game design that the travesty that is camera control in the Ornstein and Smough fight looks like a piece of art in comparison. Onionbro and Solaire would weep if they knew. There were other things that I didnt enjoy, like what the Souls games count as a story, but I have an easier time pinning that down as personal preference and something that just isnt for me. Vaatividya makes good videos. The tomb of the giants without a lantern however, that just shouldnt exist in any game, not to mention a game that is glorified to such an extent that it could get its dick sucked every day by a different dude without running out for centuries. Can you taste that sweaty salt yet? Along comes Sekiro, a game by the same dev studio, with the same feel, minus many of the things that I have hated and criticized for several years now. Guess what, I like it.    This isnt a review, Im not trying to tell you if you should buy, Im not telling you that there are no microtransactions in the game or what framerate it isnt capped at. There are tons of videos online that jump-attacked all over that on day 1 of release or earlier. Im telling you why, in my opinion, this game is so vastly superior to Dark Souls that it simply warms my heart. Let me start a list and then never finish it: - You can swim - You can jump - You can talk - You dont immediately die when you fall off a cliff - You cant accidentally walk over a cliff like a moron, at least most of the time. - You can’t simply rely on dodgerolls and invincibility frames all the time - You can understand the story without having to go to Youtube to have it explained to you by someone - You can’t kill strong enemies simply by chain parrying them over and over, or at least it is hell of a lot harder - You can’t simply kill strong enemies by knocking them off a cliff (I think) - You can’t abuse magic for an immediate easy mode - You can’t abuse coop for an immediate easy mode

... I’m getting a little unfair here, I know. I actually think coop is a cool feature, even though I personally never used it and even the multiplayer pvp invasions are an original and interesting concept, although I’m not personally into it. Magic is cool too, although poorly balanced and therefore in my opinion less interesting. The reason I added those last two points to my unfinished list is not because I dislike them, but because of the lately relevant “does Sekiro need an easy mode” controversy. Especially the most elitist diehard fans of the souls franchise strongly disagree with the addition of an easy mode, which is funny... ... given that Dark Souls 1 has several. Personally I dont think Sekiro NEEDS an easy mode, but it sure wouldnt hurt anyone. I personally wouldnt have minded playing on a lower difficulty, I had three or four bosses greatly overstay their welcome before I finally managed to smash their asslike faces in. ...but Im rambling. On a surface level, just looking at the feel of combat, movement and overall story coherence Sekiro is already miles ahead, but I can understand that it therefore feels less like a Souls game and that not everyone will like that. I can understand and respect that. DarkSouls 1, as well as 2 and maybe even 3, have a couple of features that I greatly appreciate and that partly even surpass Sekiro in my otherwise overly critical eyes. Dark Souls 1 has the best and most memorable map in my opinion. Dark Souls 2 has incredible DLCs, especially Frozen Eleum Loyce was awesome and beautiful, with the minor exception of that retarded snow zebra area and how you would respawn *before* the loading screen to get there again instead of after. I also liked the Pursuers concept a lot, as well as the idea of despawning mobs if you killed them often enough. I dont remember much about DS3, it was okay as far as Im concerned but I enjoyed it the least out of the three, probably because of burnout as I had played through all three (blind) in a row. Im mentioning all of this because I want to clarify that in my eyes Sekiro is not THE TIMELESS MASTERPIECE NOBODY WILL EVER SURPASS that Darksouls 1 is often celebrated as. But in many ways it is headed in a direction that makes more sense to me than “if you are not enjoying it then you are doing it wrong and you should maybe think for once”. (Not that Sekiro streamers werent told exactly that just the same) Let me tell you, there were many instances in Sekiro where I also didnt think, didnt consider every possible option the game had given me, honestly Im pretty sure I sucked most of the time, in the eyes of your usual GITGUD-Bro. But I struggled, I improved, I succeded, and I had a way better time during it all, even though I did the same shit in the Souls games as well. Just without falling off edges in waist-high water every 10 minutes, or being invaded by some bowing edgelord, or losing 50% of my max hp as punishment for dying to the wrong enemy. There is this myth going around online that Dark Souls might be a harsh mistress, but at least a fair one. The one spreading that rumour must have been the Bed of Chaos herself, because that is nothing but horseshit. Sekiro isnt exactly fair all the time either, there are many moments in the game that feel all too familiar in their GOTCHA nature. Like how the game conveniently places the key to one of the hardest areas of the early game in your path so you go check it out just to get crucified there by Lady Butterfly and a special drunkard, just for you to learn after finally breaking both of them that you would have had a way easier time if you had simply ignored that area and soldiered on on your original path. Sure, one could have simply abandoned that area and returned later, but how many of you did? I sure didnt. The game likes to oneshot-kill you if you fail to dodge the wrong attack, be it a giant carp, a giant snake, or a giant TERROR man. Even worse, in Sekiro you cant even get your souls back! You die, you lose 50%. ALso 50% of your cash. Suck it. Im not particularly happy about that myself and Im not sure what the motivation behind that design decision was, but you take the good with the bad, right? Another thing that Sekiro does that I dont understand is how the game has you collect loot. Every time you kill an enemy you need to hold a button to collect. You can kill several in an area and then grab everything at once if they arent too far apart, but at the end of the day it eludes me why From Software didnt simply go for autocollecting instead. It’s not a big deal (even though I would forget about picking up loot every now and then) but at the same time it isnt adding any enjoyment to the game either, no matter how hard I try and emphasize with whatever a gamer who likes this might possibly think. It is not hard, its is not really relevant,  and I cant think of a single advantage it has over autocollecting. Maybe holding that button is supposed to feel rewarding? I consider it meaningless at best and tedious busywork at worst. At the same time the game introduces a stealth system that actually means something, while at the same time keeping it both well integrated as well as completely optional. Im truly impressed by how that is even possible. I also like the immortality mechanic, that results in you only truly dying if you go down twice, and even refreshes that revive if you kill enough enemies inbetween deaths. It doesnt help that much, as it doesnt refill your estus fl.... healing gourds, but it allows for a little bit more practice against tough enemies before you die, a little bit more lenience while exploring in an area where it is easy to fall, a little bit more standing power in a world where a giant carp can simply eat you. I appreciate it and it is far from making the game anything close to easy. Its more like an extra gourding flask. I could keep going and praise this (surprisingly satisfying enemy style and variety given the setting) or criticize that (less replayability because of fewer possible weapons and builds), but at the end of the day my opinion is crystalclear - Sekiro is stunningly beautiful, very enjoyable, hard as fuck, and while I have heard people say that “it is not a true soulslike”, I have to shrug and agree. It is better.

[entergamingxp]

Mortal Shell Might Be the Most Challenging Soulslike Yet

July 2, 2020 11:00 AM EST

Mortal Shell is very much a Dark Souls wannabe, although it might be integrating enough new systems and mechanics to make it stand on its own.

Over the past decade, many games in the Soulslike genre have borrowed ideas that FromSoftware first implemented within its own Souls series. From Nioh (and its follow-up, Nioh 2) to franchises like The Surge and Code Vein, many publishers have released games within the past few years that either rode the coattails or elevated the increasingly popular subgenre. However, of all the Souls “clones” that have emerged in recent years, Mortal Shell, which was revealed in April, might wear its inspirations on its sleeve more than any other game.

Set in a similar dark fantasy world with enemy types and loading screens that look like they’ve been directly lifted from Dark Souls, Mortal Shell wants you to know that it is directly inspired by FromSoftware’s beloved series. Despite having so much in common with Dark Souls, however, the upcoming project from the 15-person team at Cold Symmetry luckily seems like it might be doing enough to make the final release stand on its own.

Recently, I was able to go hands-on with a preview build of Mortal Shell that let me get a better idea of how the game functions. My demo, which took me somewhere between 90 minutes and 2 hours to complete, let me primarily test out the intricacies of combat in a couple of different areas–both of which were pretty small. Before venturing through these two locations, though, I had to get familiar with two of the most significant differences in Mortal Shell compared to other titles in the genre.

As the title indicates, Mortal Shell allows your main character (a faceless, white Prometheus-looking fellow) to possess the bodies of different “shells” that you’ll find around the environment. Each shell has a different playstyle and skill trees to level-up throughout the game. In the demo, I got to try out two of the four various shells that will be available in the full game.

‘Harros, The Vassal’ was the first shell that I came across and he plays mostly like a general knight/tank class. While movement might not be Harros’ forte, he has more health than other shells–in short, you won’t be so quick to die. The second shell that I utilized was known as ‘Tiel, The Acolyte.’ The opposite of Harros, Tiel came with far more stamina which meant I could more easily dodge attacks from enemies. The logical trade-off here comes with his health, of which there isn’t much to speak of. If you don’t dodge properly when facing off against foes as Tiel, you’ll go down pretty quickly.

Mechanically, Mortal Shell plays very similarly to Dark Souls with a few vital differences. Likely the most significant difference in the way of general combat comes with the ability to “harden” your character. This feature is the first thing that Mortal Shell teaches you how to do in the game’s tutorial, and for good reason. Hardening your character essentially makes them invulnerable for a few moments, which becomes exceptionally vital in many situations. I was getting absolutely trounced by nearly every enemy thrown my way until I started learning how best to use this tactic both in defensive and offensive techniques.

Mortal Shell also has a little bit of Sekiro’s key “Shadows Die Twice” mechanic, too. When your health drops to zero, you won’t outright drop dead. Instead, your actual character (that weird-looking pale dude that I mentioned before) will eject from its current shell. If you can then get back to your shell and reintegrate with it before losing the small portion of health you currently have, you’ll be fully revitalized. This can only happen once, though, and then you’re dead for good the next time your health drops to zero.

When it comes to improving your character in Mortal Shell, this is perhaps where the game differentiates the most from its counterparts. While you still gain a basic currency, that is known as Tar, upon defeating any enemy in the game, you don’t then cash this currency in to upgrade broad stats. Instead, in addition to a secondary currency called Glimpses, you can purchase specific improvements to your different shells that give you passive bonuses. For instance, with Harros, I could buy an ability that would improve the capability of my hardening.

What I found to be a bit annoying with this system is that Tar and Glimpses didn’t transfer between different shells. For instance, if you happen to pick up some Glimpses as Harros, you can’t switch to Tiel and still have that same amount of currency on-hand. I understand that the reason behind this is likely that the dev team wants you to only level-up shells that you’re actively using, but it also kind of stinks to have your Tar and Glimpses tied to one shell. This especially became annoying for me as about halfway through my own time with the game I started to prefer using Tiel rather than Harros. Sadly, all of my Glimpses and accompanying Tar had already been given to Harros, essentially stranding themselves on this shell with no discernible way to transfer them over.

While my brief demo of Mortal Shell gave me a decent idea as to how the game will play in a general sense, I was left with a ton of questions and potential concerns. Items are a bit awkward in Mortal Shell, for starters, mainly because the game doesn’t explain to you what they do until you use them for the first time. One instance had me picking up a nearby mushroom only to consume it and immediately be poisoned, which was super fun. There’s a familiarity system in the game as well that seems to improve items the more that you use them. I’m not sure what this system will look like for the full game, but it has me curious.

I also found that the lack of an Estus Flask equivalent in Mortal Shell made combat situations awkward. The only healing item I came across was yet another mushroom, this time of the healing variety. However, rather than healing a set amount all at once, the mushroom regenerated my character’s health slowly over a set period. This style of health regeneration led to combat encounters, and especially boss fights, being really stilted. If I was ever extremely low on HP, I mainly just had to keep away until I had a fair amount of health again. This made combat a drag at times and slowed down things way more than I would have liked.

Speaking of boss fights, I also only came across one in my own time with Mortal Shell, and as you would expect, it was freaking difficult. After a few attempts, I was finally able to best the Enslaved Grisha monster that stood between myself and the demo’s end, but it took a fair amount of screaming at my computer monitor to pull this off. Even though a high level of difficulty is always expected in Soulslikes, Mortal Shell seems like it could be for the most extreme masochists of all. Cold Symmetry even sent us over a note saying the game has been designed specifically “for battle-hardened Soulslike fans.” I’m legitimately worried to see what the rest of the game has in store.

Despite having played a fair amount of Mortal Shell, I’m still unsure where I stand with it. Mechanically, I started to think that it was doing some interesting things by the time that my demo wrapped up, but some of the surrounding systems are still leaving me with doubts. There’s a lot of promise with Mortal Shell, and Soulslike fans should keep it on their radar in the coming months. Hopefully, Cold Symmetry can end up making good on its exorbitant attempt to fill the space that Dark Souls has left behind.

Mortal Shell is set to launch later this year on Xbox One, PS4, and PC via the Epic Games Store.

July 2, 2020 11:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/07/mortal-shell-might-be-the-most-challenging-soulslike-yet/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mortal-shell-might-be-the-most-challenging-soulslike-yet

[8bitsupervillain]

End of the Year 2019: Games of the Year

Hello everyone, it's that special time of year again! Time for me to shower praise upon some games that I absolutely adored, while mentioning some games that I liked, but not really enough to put on this list. For a remarkable change of pace I have a full list of ten for the best of 2019, however I only have four for the pre-2019 so that's a bit disappointing. If you notice any glaring omissions for the best of the year the simple explanation is that I probably just didn't play it, or I didn't play it enough for it to enter consideration. I also didn't really play anything this year that stands out as particularly bad, there was maybe one game, but I don't have it in me to write a full length thing to expound upon its terrible state. There are also some games that I'm disappointed I didn't get to play, but hopefully I'll be able to in 2020.

Honorable Mentions:

God Eater 3. I've sunk almost twenty hours in to this game, but I haven't played enough of it to really make a declaration that I think it's good. I still intend on playing the game to the finish, but for all I know the game could take a real nose-dive in quality towards the end. I have a desire to go back and play the previous God Eater games as well, so I guess that could be considered an endorsement. I like the visual style in this game, the models all look very nice, and the monster designs are pretty neat to look at as well.

Remnant: From the Ashes. I never quite got to finishing this game, but from what I played this was a pretty fun little co-op shooter. There are some things that the game does that I don't particularly care for, some of the one-shot enemies in the swamp level, the confusing design of this one dungeon in the desert area being particularly troublesome things I remember. I would love to go back and finish this one, but as it stands it'll have to stay with an honorable mention.

King of Fighters XIV. I'm not great at fighting games, but I still enjoyed this game a whole hell of a lot. But like I said I'm not great at the game, but it's a fun one to pop in every once in a while just to get annihilated by all the killers online.

Death Stranding. Please don't post spoilers here. I've greatly enjoyed my time with this game, but as with Remnant and God Eater 3 I didn't finish this one. I've played maybe about twelve hours into this one, but I don't know if that's enough to really comment on the games overall quality. As with God Eater 3 for all I know it could take a real nose-dive in quality.

Hollow Knight. I played a very little amount of Hollow Knight, but I liked what I've played so far. Hope to go back and finish this one before Silksong comes out.

The Elder Scrolls Legends. I quite liked the Alliance War and Jaws of Oblivion expansions. It's a shame they've cancelled all further expansions for this game, because I liked the story based ones they've put out in the past and I was hopeful for more sets in the future. It was never a particularly great game, but I liked what they had going for the longest time.

Pre-2019 Games of the Year

04: Death Mark

This is a fun little RPG/Visual Novel horror game that came out in 2018 that I got a chance to play back in May. It's an investigation game where your character and a host of other characters are trying to solve the mystery of their death mark. A strange design that looks like a bite that materializes on their bodies one day. If they don't get to the root of the problem they die a horrible grisly death. I like the episodic nature of the game with each chapter revolving around a mystery involving a different type of vengeful spirit than the other chapters. There is a small combat element that happens toward the end of each chapter that isn't particularly deep to deal with as it's more puzzle-based rather than being an actual combat engine. It doesn't feature much in the way of blood and gore, but what's there is frankly mortifying to look at. I played it on the Switch, but the game is available on the PS4 and PC as well. Death Mark is definitely worth playing through at least once.

03: Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate

I'm ever so slowly going through my 3DS backlog and finally played through this one. I can understand why people say that 4U is their favorite Monster Hunter game because it is just an absolute blast to play through. I really like the design of the monsters in this game especially Gore Magala and Masharu Magala. I don't know if I would recommend it over World or Generations Ultimate but I had a hell of a time playing through this game.

02: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I love the way the combat in this game feels. I love how you can climb on the monsters and start stabbing away at them. Magic and ranged combat feel really good, and I especially like the Pawn system so you can keep trying out other player's pawns until you hit that sweet spot of the type of combat you want to have for the game. The story is a little basic, kind of your typical "slay the evil dragon" storyline even though it's great how the game gives you a personal reason to want the dragon dead. Guy stole your heart after all, literally ripped it from your chest. I liked the story towards the end when you actually face off with the dragon and all that occurs from then on that was great fun. I played this on both the PS4 and the Switch port that came out earlier this year (I guess I could've put this in the 2019 category), and I was surprised at how well the Switch was able to play the game. The game doesn't look completely awful in handheld mode, and it kept a stable framerate throughout my playthrough. The PS4 and PC versions look better of course, but the Switch version keeps the spirit of the game rather well and is just as good to play there as on the other consoles.

01: Nioh

Bill Nioh's adventures in feudal Japan was a great time. This game made me consider the notion of a mission/loot based Diablo done in a Dark Souls style to not be the worst thing I've ever heard. My only major complaint with the game is that there's too much vendor trash in this game. There's also the problem that you'll be constantly switching from one version of your weapon to another with barely any time to gain "familiarity" with your weapon. Familiarity means you hit slightly harder than you would with another version of that weapon, but with how many variations on whatever weapon your using you'll constantly be scrapping older versions of your weapon and armor without really raising your familiarity. I wish that the game would've gone with an experience meter per-weapon deal rather than loading you up with a million variations of each weapon. Like a leveling bar for Katana, Dual-Blades, Nodachi, and so on, there's already a skill-tree for each weapon, so I think an experience meter for each weapon would work better. It's not a deal-breaker by any means, but I think it might work better.  I like the mission-based focus of this game rather than being a pseudo-open world affair like most Soulslike games. I still need to play through the expansions before Nioh 2 comes out.

Games of the Year 2019

10: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

This was a good Metroidvania to play through, and certainly better than I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed the various weapons you can acquire throughout the game, the spear and great swords were particularly fun in my playthrough for instance. I have some minor complaints that arise towards the end of the game, but they're not major issues. A boss fight or two will just absolutely destroy the framerate while you're fighting them (I can only imagine how they play on the Switch if the game was dying on the PS4 Pro). I liked some of the extra bosses you can fight like the Millionaire's Bane and the bonus boss that's Definitely Not Simon.

09: Untitled Goose Game

An amusing game to play, and I had a fun time playing it. It's definitely not the deepest or longest game to come out this year (from start to finish the game is maybe four hours long), but it's a fun enough "nuisance simulator." It reminds me of playing a game like Hitman, cause Goose Game is definitely a stealth game, even if every time I completed an objective I unfurled my wings and honked to assert my dominance over the people in the village.

08: Samurai Shodown

As previously mentioned I am not good at fighting games. Yet despite my being bad at them I find myself constantly going back to SamSho just to get obliterated online. I positively adore the art style in this game and the completely vicious gameplay. Unlike some other fighting games you can be destroyed within mere seconds of the match starting. If you play super poorly your opponent can cut your lifebar down from 100% to next to nothing with one or two moves. It's very exhilarating when that happens, or when they do a super that just destroys your lifebar. It reminds me a lot of samurai movies in that way where guy does the move and the opponent just stands there for a second then falls over dead. I get the impression that this is going to be a "small pond" scenario where there's the handful of godlike players and everyone else will just get bodied everyday, but I really love this game. I absolutely despise the final boss in the arcade mode.

07: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Speaking of games that are absolutely torture to play. Sekiro is really insidious, the first half or so of the game is relatively easy, but then you hit a certain boss and the game decides its done toying with you and will just start absolutely and utterly destroying you. Every single boss fight from that point forward are some of the most brutal and agonizing fights that have been put in a video game. I had to give up on playing this game for a few weeks because I was getting too tired of throwing myself against the wall in the hopes that this time I'll get the best of this bastard. After finally killing the final boss I had vowed to never play the game again. Then two days later I started a new-game plus playthrough. Whoops! I love the verticality of this game, being able to jump and use a grappling hook was absolutely great. Despite my complaints about the sheer difficulty of the bosses  I love the combat in this game. It is particularly exhilarating when a guy makes to stab you with a spear and you stomp it into the ground and take him out yourself. Masataka Oniwa and the Divine Dragon are hands down the best fights in the game, with the final boss being a particularly noteworthy bastard of a fight. Oniwa and the Dragon are great because of the sheer spectacle of the fights, whereas the final boss is great because of he is a great amalgamation of everything the game has thrown to you at that point. I liked this game a lot, but I certainly don't hold it against anyone who decides the difficulty is too much.

06: Nioh 2 Beta

Meanwhile Nioh 2's beta was an absolute gem of a thing that I played this year. Sadly I didn't get into the private alpha towards the start of the year, but I did download the public beta and proceeded to sink nearly thirty hours into it. I love the new weapon they added to the game the switch glaive, which is a combination knuckle weapon/spear/scythe depending on your stance. In low stance it's a lot like Bloodborne's switch-axe or spear in that the blade covers your fist and you punch it into enemies. Mid-stance it turns into a spear, and high turns it into a scythe and I had great fun trying out all the forms in this beta. I adore the fact that the game gives you a devil trigger for your spirit animals, and I love the fact that this game has a character creator. It seems like they're keeping the volume of the drops to the same level as the first game, but that's fine. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full version.

05: Devil May Cry 5

This was a great game, filled to the brim with some amazing set-pieces and great moments. It very much feels like a "greatest hits" version of Devil May Cry combining all the elements from the four original DMCs and also bringing over some stuff from DmC. I was worried a bit about the game being similar to DMC 4 and splitting the action into "Here's the Nero section, here's Dante's, and V's" but it worked out pretty well. It gives you a mission or two to get used to how the characters play but not too much time that it feels like "you've learned this character, but screw that learn Dante." It all blends itself really well. They each have their own feel which works really great with their differences in character, but for my money Nero is the best to play as. The story is also really fun to play through, it has some amazing moments even if some of the stuff is really silly. Also the game gives us Nico, and she's really great.

04: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

The jump in difficulty from the High-Rank quests to Master-Rank was crazy. Maybe it's because I got rusty, not having played World since roughly February, but I was not really prepared for the increase in difficulty. That said I still adore this game, plus they added both Zinogre and Stygian Zinogre, the only way they could've made an already great game even better is if they were like "and here's Gore Magala and Masharu Magala." I like the new hunter's hub, and they made the game so much better with all the variations of monsters they added to this game. I like the Seething Bazelgeuse and Blackveil Vaal Hazak a lot, and the Ebony Odogaron has an amazing looking set of armor. My only wish was that they add some variations to other monsters, I would've loved to see a variation to Kushala Daora or Teostra and Lunastra. I like the clutch-claw very much even if it's the reason my deaths in hunts has skyrocketed. I can't help but wonder what they're going to do for the next Monster Hunter. What can they do to improve this for the inevitable PS5 and Xbox versions? HD version of Gen Ultimate?

03: Blasphemous

The past couple of years I've grown really dismissive of pixel-art 2D games. Just something about the way they look made me grow weary of them, and maybe I've missed out on some amazing games. Then I believe it was E3 2017 I saw a trailer for Blasphemous and I was instantly drawn to it. There was some combination of the religious horror and gore that just made me very excited. Then the game more or less disappeared, then I laid eyes on this game's trailer and I was instantly back in. This game is absolutely wonderful to play, I love the unlockable moves the game gives you as well as the amazing bleak tone and atmosphere in this game. I like the fact that the more you die in the game the more the game covers up your available MP meter, that's a nifty little mechanic, and I liked the paying money to cure yourself from that problem. It's flavorful, and fits with the tone very nicely. I plan to one day go deeper into why I think this game is as good as I think it is, from both a gameplay and aesthetic sense, but I don't think here's really the place to do it. It's a very good 2D exploration game, and I love it to pieces even if I do think some of the bosses aren't good.

02: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Aside from Monster Hunter and Samurai Shodown I probably spent the most time with this game. One campaign playthrough took me over a hundred hours, and I'm presently ten hours into a second playthrough (of four). I went with the Blue Lions for my first playthrough and I really liked the story the game presented to me. It's not without its faults but overall I quite like what it did, I felt that it was a nice upgrade from the storyline from Fates. I get the distinct impression that there was originally going to only be the Red Eagles and Blue Lions routes but then someone at IntSys just went "give the Golden Deer a path" and so here we are. I don't entirely understand why there's the weapon degradation system in this game, for the relic weapons sure, but for your standard weaponry it doesn't make sense. That said I do really enjoy the missions in this game, there aren't any that really stand out as horrible. I like most of the characters in this game, and it kept me gripped for the entire length of the campaign. A ton of fun this game.

01: Resident Evil 2

I played through this game six times in a month, and once more while I was writing this list. I really, really enjoyed my time with Resident Evil 2 and it is positively astounding that Capcom did such a great job with this game. There are some minor complaints I have with the game, the second run having the completely silly and superfluous handgun with its own ammo certainly stands out. However the game is positively gorgeous, sounds phenomenal and is just ridiculously fun to play. In addition to the wonderful base campaigns there's also the revised 4th Survivor and Tofu modes, then in the summer Capcom released the Ghost Survivor DLC missions which are fun little challenge modes to play. I love everything about this game Capcom really knocked it out of the park with this one, and I cannot wait to see what they do with Resident Evil 3.

The real game of the year was all the War of the Spark pre-release, and the drafts I did. Both IRL and in Magic Arena and Online. That and Core 2020 Pre-release.

[exe-cmd]

Games of 2016 that I quite liked

It was an immense year for games, with a plethora of major studio titles and reboots of classics, and the year that VR’s rocket touched down on the moon (here’s a great spot for a topical reference to Earthlight). I didn’t play through enough games in 2016, but I collected and tested many of them. I’m sure some of them will make it onto my “Games of 2016 that I quite liked but didn’t have time to play” too.

Last year was filled with a lot of surprises, which usually give me some sort of anxiety. It was a big year for me personally, from beginning to meet my industry peers, exploring the world of games in Australia, GCAP and Melbourne International Games Week, not to mention all the actual personal changes. You’re not here for that, maybe not yet. Let’s get to know one another first then I’ll spill my beans and give some context over how this list of media has importance to me.

No time like the present! In no particular order;

GONNER for its attention to uncomplicated but incredibly smooth mechanics, and for being a roguelike without all the doom and gloom and with an engaging soundtrack. I heard about it in relation to Downwell, but GONNER has this extra dollop of extra creamy charm that adds a missing flavour.

Stellaris for its sheer scope, execution and support for its community going forward. This will be one of those games you spend forever discovering things in and more than a few friendships will be tested. This is the evolution of real time strategies and tabletop gaming.

Necropolis for its humour, charm, well crafted visuals and the hype I felt while waiting for it. It’s style of writing on release was probably definitely too vague for most people, but it spoke to my heart. It felt like an alternate universe of Kingdom of Loathing had it transitioned into a 3d rogue like…

Furi for its tight gameplay, invigorating soundtrack and for combining bullet hell elements with a fighting game. That game was a hell of a ride. It’s soundtrack combined so well with the gameplay mechanics, and really got the blood pumping. It’s multi-stage boss fights and HP reward system were some of the shining examples of it’s clever design and innovation within the realm of bullet hells and brawlers. A game that rewards patience, with it’s insistent tempo to trick you into rushing and making mistakes.

Grow Up for making me feel like a kid again, encouraging exploration and revelling in joy itself. I’m not often big on sandboxes and I feel sort of aimless and the centre of the universe and both of those things feel uncomfortable. Grow up presented a sandbox world that felt the most like an actual sandbox since I played in a sandbox as a kid. Sand sand sand! The simple puzzles were still engaging and the ability to treat the planet as your own or enjoy being a guest in its eco system, made it almost feel like a virtual holiday back to my youth.

INSIDE for being artistically stunning, and with wonderfully crafted puzzles and an atmosphere that is almost palpable. Anything I say about this game will be nothing new. The more mature edition of Limbo, I guess. We all know why this game is on the list.

Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor for using games as a window into the worlds of people, and creating a very human experience about the feeling of having dreams but just getting by, without it feeling monotonous or too much like real life. I came to enjoy playing this game when I needed to relax; it was like gardening for the soul.

Dark Souls 3 for being the first Soulslike that I could finish, or that didn’t give me chronic anxiety. This feels like a bit of a wooden spoon but holy crap did finishing that game send me down a rabbit hole of lore and concept exploration. My YouTube recommendations are evidence of the obsession. It made me consider narrative and world’s more closely than ever before, with details hidden in the cracks of everything.

DOOM for genuinely surprising me while technically being a remake of a FPS. I think surprised is overused here but I wasn’t expecting such a clever and subtle narrative in a game as boisterous as Doom with its gameplay. Being a metal head, I found the soundtrack really engaging also, and it was done by an Australian artist, so all the more praise!

Enter the Gungeon for scratching my Binding of Isaac itch, and for being so well crafted. The emphasis on 3D and mechanics usually present in other types of games, gives Gungeon a welcome depth to it’s gameplay. A delightful soundtrack also, and one of those games that’s skill ceiling is bigger than the time I have to explore it.

The Witness for the beautiful and confidence building journey that it was. The language of the puzzles was one of my favourite things to have come across this year, and like Braid I never felt frustrated or without the tools, only ever lacking in imagination.

Devil Daggers for giving minimalistic/low poly shooters a new meaning and a cooler haircut, and then coercing it to join a gang of Rogue likes. I’m so fascinated by this game, and it’s immense difficulty and ruthlessness. Worth playing if you like that intensity but entrancing to watch if not.

Oxenfree for treating young adults like human beings, and telling a supernatural story that doesn’t feel like a completely unexplainable mystery. Also, the dialogue was probably one of the most naturally flowing out of nearly every game I’ve played recently.

Hyper Light Drifter for proudly telling a story about illness without shying away from the trauma. Also, most impressive was it’s non-verbal exposition which did exceptionally well when teaching the player what was happening in the world. It gave me a lot to think about from a designers perspective, especially regarding storytelling.

Firewatch for its compelling narrative and it’s beautiful visuals. The conversational tone was a really relaxing aspect of it and I look forward to seeing more of that being done (such as games like Oxenfree). There’s a lot to be said for games that talk about the human experience, but they often explore the traumatic episode itself as it happens. What is beautiful about Firewatch is that it explores the character coming to terms with the events, instead of them being the driving factor in things occurring.

Honourable mention: Darkest Dungeon for finally releasing from early access and for showing people just how a game matures and develops through earnest development of a concept. It was like you smelling your mum making a chunky soup, and every trip to the kitchen you could see and smell it becoming fuller, with such precise additions and changes to the formula.

Those were a number of games I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about this year. Sorry if your favourites didn’t make the cut, I probably still enjoyed them or I didn’t play them. Let me know what they were and what they meant for you (I’m very serious about this last part).

[terryblount]

Code Vein – Review

It is another souls game that is released this year, but with a twist of being anime-fied despite one of the developer themselves quoting that –

Tomizawa: We took quite some time until we arrived at this [kind of] picture-making. It’s neither anime-style nor realistic. There is an intention to build uniqueness in a presentation that’s made in Japan, in the Game CG genre.

But we all had to disagree on that, it’s definitely in anime kind of game category. I have been waiting for this game ever since they announce Code Vein will be delayed and further release in 2019. Thus, here we are with high enthusiasm to create our waifu into the immortal world where death is your best friend while losing a portion of memory just cause why not.

Presentation

Straight up starting the game in the main menu, the orchestral music absolutely shatter my eardrums alas, its a pure music. Grinding throughout the game massacring undead called Lost, the music definitely brings out the game.

My personal favorite OST sang by Saori Hayami

The game was developed on Unreal Engine 4 where it will focus on game physics to give a boost in a sense of realism. The graphics on PC are outstanding. The map is very well detailed and small amount needed to backtrack in each map. However, each map is very straightforward, literally walk straight and you will find your way, unlike any other soul game where you multiple routes can be taken to explore the map.

Character Creation

The best character creation ever existed until the year 2019. It feels like modding your car back in NFS Underground 2. Everything is available and the only limitation is our creativity. A lot of people in the Code Vein community flexing their character/waifu either it’s based on the hot subject of anime/game characters. This feature alone is worth the delay.

Definitely one of the best RPG character creation out there.

Gameplay

Each movement that the character made has this small window for wind up but it only took us a few hours to get used to it. Despite the game fluidity in their controls, there are 5 main weapons which are, swords (one-handed), big sword (two-handed), a short sword with a long handle (spears, halberd, and polearm), a rifle with a short knife (bayonet rifles) and the bonkers (two-handed hammer). Plus, the body armors are very unique and each to their own.

Stats buff aside, this is Fashion Souls: Killing Enemy in Style.

Upgrading the pieces of equipment are relatively easy but trying to have them enchanted is the hardest part unless. . . .

Abilities are complex and there are many class codes where each of them provides different base stats. Depending on your playstyle, each code has its unique skills that can only be used in that particular class. Making some class, overpowering the other when you have the correct build. Despite the need for making the meta build, players have absolute freedom to do various combat styles varied from melee build, range build, caster build, one-shotter, etc.

Multiplayer exists but, it’s too much of a hassle. Not worth the time.

Content [ Light Spoilers For God Eater Series ]

The flow of story content isn’t the pleasing but the developer added a bit of spice in the Code Vein storyline. Code Vein is the prequel of God Eater 3 but in another unknown region. Since Code Vein world is covered by Red Mist where there is a storyline in God Eater as the Aragami is evolved to a greater being when exposed to the Red Mist which theoretically, enhanced the blood power of revenants in Code Vein into the Aragami. However, in God Eater 2, an antagonist of the story found the blood technique which is implemented in God Eaters, thus, we can safely assume that the timeline is in between God Eater 2 and God Eater 3.

Despite all those nonsense that was spouted, the game actual story is very plain. You go and hit big boss > they are related with our comrades > go save them > do it again till you found a mad scientist who just wants to escape the Red Mist and explore the outer world after facing the Great Destruction.

I guess being kept as a cage can make anybody go crazy, even immortals. Ironically that scientist’s research partner is the one who set up the Red Mist. Oh, how everything is circulated only between these people.

The game has 4 endings where certain criteria are required to be fulfilled to unlock the type of ending you’ll be seeing.

Personal Enjoyment

I have been grinding soulslike games a lot this year and my opinion is kind of indifferent towards souls game but with our waifu as a playable character, death is just a fast recall. In spite of going through typical Bandai Namco mediocre storytelling until the climax of the game, it’s okay.

Moreover, I’ve spent more than 4 hours just to see and experience the unique idle animations while being in the home base. 100% worth the time.

I play this game more than once. Enjoyable indeed while acknowledging that death is our friend.

Verdict

Code Vein is an okay, albeit easy soulslike game. If you’re more of an anime fan, the in-depth character customisation and flashy combat will get you hooked. And tolerate the rather predictable story. If you’re a soulslike fan, the game’s simple map design and relatively easier gameplay can be a turn-off.

Code Vein is more for anime fans that want to dabble with soulslike, rather than anime Dark Souls.

Played on PC. Review Copy purchased by the Reviewer.

  Code Vein – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[tokiro07]

I’ve realized a flaw in my perspective on renaming Soulslikes; not in my conclusion, more in my thought process

I maintain that “Opportunistic” is a good description for the combat in Dark Souls, and since every Soulslike I’ve seen thus far has mimicked that combat style, it would not be wrong to refer to every extant Soulslike as Opportunistic Action games (which is also coincidentally an indictment of their decision to capitalize on Dark Souls’ popularity)

However, in thinking of how the majority of Soulslikes copy and resemble Dark Souls, I’ve inadvertently done exactly what I was trying to prevent with this thought exercise: I limited myself to games that actively resemble Dark Souls. I tried to avoid overlap with games like Monster Hunter or For Honor because they are not “Soulslike,” despite the fact that you can accurately refer to their combat as Opportunistic in much the same way. The point of distancing the genre from being like Dark Souls is to be able to include and ultimately create things that are decidedly not like Dark Souls. Avoiding other properties because they are too different defeats the purpose

Furthermore, I’ve also been limiting myself to only one term. In my mind, everything inspired by Dark Souls had to be able to fit into just one, universal term, but doing so again limits my options to things that completely mimic the feel of Dark Souls rather than becoming their own thing

The other day I decried Yahtzee’s suggestion of Recursive games because that term is applicable to any game with a fail state, and while I still think that’s true, it also misses the point. Recursive games are games that don’t just include “repetition until mastery” as all games do in some way, but expect and encourage it in unique ways. The currency drop system from Dark Souls encourages one to take the same path as before rather than go somewhere else that may be easier. The Shade in Hollow Knight does much the same thing but is more of a non-option on the basis that it retains some of your Soul Meter, limiting your ability to cast spells; this reinforces that Hollow Knight is a Soulslike game, independently of the fact that the combat is Opportunistic. Shovel Knight, however, does not have Opportunistic combat, but retains and enhances the Recursive elements by retaining the currency drop system and introducing a customizable checkpoint system. 

Shovel Knight may not be hard in the same way that Dark Souls is, but it encourages the player to push their own abilities both by reaping the rewards of risking the loss of checkpoints and attempting previously lost challenges again with the added wrinkle of trying to retrieve lost currency. By ignoring the influence that Dark Souls had on Shovel Knight, I missed a major way in which a game can be like Dark Souls without remotely resembling it. Who knows how many games encourage the same kind of skill pushing repetition?

Furthermore, I have heard from multiple sources (GMTK and various friends) that Dark Souls’ approach to lore, being “obtuse and unknowable,” is the most essential part for making a game “feel” like Dark Souls, more so than the controls or mechanics. I initially ignored this because this is more a matter of narrative and worldbuilding than an aspect of gameplay, but it easily can be. The lore of Transistor is unlocked as a reward for experimenting with the weapon combinations, at least subtly incorporating the game’s mechanics with its story. Mystery games like Return of the Obra Dinn base their entire gameplay around the obfuscation of their own lore, requiring the player to pick up the puzzle pieces on their own and shape them into a cohesive whole rather than being fed the answers like most mystery games would. Even if Dark Souls itself doesn’t gamify its lore, that style of obfuscated storytelling most definitely can be made into a major game mechanic. Even if the games don’t resemble Dark Souls, the point isn’t to resemble it, but to refine the mechanics that people associate with it. I think we can call games like this Cryptic, which I think makes a clear connection to the Mystery genre without explicitly pigeonholing these games as Mysteries

Because Dark Souls’ vulnerability-based combat, encouragement of repetition in the face of adversity and cryptic storytelling are all intrinsically linked to Dark Souls’ identity, a game could take inspiration from any of those and technically be called “like Dark Souls.” A “Soulslike,” however, is generally one that takes two or all three of those and adheres strictly to mimicking the feel of Dark Souls, often removing the other, less closely tied concepts like Exploratory gameplay or RPG customization

I think that is actually what really illustrates the problem with insisting that “Soulslike” is a genre in and of itself. It means that Dark Souls itself is a genre-defining experience that can only be strayed from in the most subtle ways rather than being a point of inspiration for people who would see any number of mechanics as Dark Souls’ most core element

The goal is for those mechanics to form an identity of their own, to develop and change into games that are wholly unrecognizable from their origin in Dark Souls. Most procedural games these days don’t resemble Rogue at all, having completely ditched the turn-based, dungeon-crawling RPG mechanics and focused solely on procedural-generation in other contexts like action platformers (Dead Cells) or recontextualized those ideas by putting it all to a rhythm mechanic (Crypt of the Necrodancer). Whether you can see the traces of inspiration or can’t recognize them at all, the purpose of having a genre is to explore different approaches and perspectives in order to refine and innovate on the base ideas, not recreate the same experience ad infinitum

The only problem is that if so many mechanics stem from Dark Souls to create a variety of genres, Dark Souls itself will fit into all of those genres, so giving a complete picture of what kind of game Dark Souls is will require a lot more explanation. Instead of being an Exploratory Action RPG, Dark Souls would become a Recursive Exploratory RPG with Opportunistic Combat and Cryptic Lore. Granted, I think many games require multiple qualifiers like that (Action Adventure Survival Shooters with Crafting elements come to mind)

Still, I think that’s just the price you pay for having a game that means so many different things to so many different people. There are so many ways that Dark Souls differentiates itself from other games that it’s not surprising it would lend itself to creating multiple genres, and inadvertently forcing itself to bear the names of all of those genres is really just proof of how influential it is, and should be seen more as a badge of honor than a point of contention

So that’s where I am now. Dark Souls presents too many unique aspects to be summed up in just one term, and thus games that seek to draw inspiration from Dark Souls shouldn’t try to emulate all of those aspects, but choose one and build on it in their own, unique ways. Opportunistic combat, Recursive challenges, and Cryptic storytelling are all worth analyzing and expanding in their own right and all have the potential to spawn their own incredibly fun and varied genres, much more so than simple clones of an existing, popular title

I still expect to find new developments in this conversation, but I think this is an extremely important step that illustrates exactly why this conversation needs to be had. We don’t want to restrict the possibilities of what can come from Dark Souls or other landmark titles, so it’s only appropriate that we not limit ourselves to deriving only one genre from them either

[entergamingxp]

Nioh 2 review – a vast and engrossing if dutiful follow-up to a landmark Soulslike • Eurogamer.net

The measure of a good Soulslike isn’t the might of its (Nameless) kings, but the deviousness of its pawns. Marquee adversaries like Ornstein and Smough might command the lion’s share of Youtube uploads, but they aren’t, or shouldn’t be, the source of all dread in the moment. Nioh 2 offers plenty of bosses, most plucked from the grottier tracts of Japanese folklore and all endowed with the ability to shift the proceedings into the “yokai” or spirit realm, where their attacks are more ferocious – a nifty variation on the idea of boss phases. My standouts include a massive owl demon who periodically turns off the lights, forcing you to track the creature by its glaring red eyes. But this terrific, if conservative and overloaded follow-up to 2017’s blend of Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls isn’t really about the giants. It’s about the dirty little bastards in the undergrowth, the rank-and-file grunts with tricks up their sleeves.

Nioh 2 review

Developer: Team Ninja

Publisher: Koei Tecmo/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Platform: Reviewed on PS4

Availability: Out March 13th on PS4

For instance: you’ll meet a demon hag whose abilities include a sort of arthritic spin attack, cackling and flailing around as though trying to free herself from a net. It’s easily evaded and rather silly, more senior moment than special move. Often, it ends with the hag tumbling over in a heap. But sometimes, it ends with her bowling a knife at your head. Elsewhere you’ll encounter bandits who are easy prey till they’re about to die, whereupon they’ll Hulk out and wrestle you to the floor, and deceptively polished samurai who are host to demons that spit fire and poison.

Worst of all, though, are the pot-bellied Gollum equivalents who infest the game’s Sengoku Japan setting, a world of cherry-blossom villages, spoiling castles and torchlit carrion fields. It’s not just that they’re fond of playing dead near treasure. It’s not just that they spew paralysing fluid when you punch them too hard, or that they sometimes accompany larger threats – bouncing stones off your skull like unruly children as you duck under blows that will kill you instantly. It’s that when you knock one flat, another may pounce on and devour it, tripling in size. You skitter out of reach, and whoops, it turns out one of those hags was lurking in a closet behind you. These are the reversals that really set Soulslikes apart, the moments when no amount of levelling, gear bonuses, abject pleading or apoplectic rage can stop you dying at the hands of the very first enemy type you killed, 40 hours before.

If Nioh 2 is full of such surprises, it is not a surprising sequel. Branding it Nioh 1.5 is too much, but this is definitely a case of ornamenting the grip rather than changing the blade (forgery nerds, feel free to chime in here with a more apposite comparison). Set before the first game’s events, it casts you as Hide, a custom-created adventurer with yokai blood – a trait that allows you to wield the abilities of slain demons and briefly assume yokai form yourself. Early on you fall in with a wandering ragamuffin, Tokichiro, who embroils you in a quest for fame and fortune.

The gimmick is that you’re enacting the secret history of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the real-life daimyo credited with unifying a wartorn Japan, who in this retelling was actually two people. The real Hideyoshi’s feats include confiscating swords from all over Japan and melting them down into a statue of the Buddha – a source of some irony here, given that you’ll spend much of Nioh 2 wondering how to dispose of all the worn-out gear filling your inventory. The first game was hardly feted for its storytelling and the second offers much the same, lavish but scatter-brained mix of period celebrities, eccentrics and pantomime manipulators. The dialogue and acting are sparky, but there’s little narrative backbone. Ultimately, it’s just a bunch of interludes stuffed into a campaign where you pick main and side missions from a Total War-style overworld view.

Returning players will find Nioh 2 looks and handles mostly as was, give or take some more lifelike animations and a richer colour palette. From Souls, Nioh derives the idea of dropping your collected XP at the point of death, granting you a single opportunity to recover it, together with moody, winding levels pegged together by shrines full of friendly sprites who restore you while also resurrecting non-boss enemies. Unlike in Souls, these are separately loaded areas, but they’re governed by a similar emphasis on unlockable shortcuts. Most consist of three or four shrines positioned near doors that must be opened from the other side, once you’ve fought your way round to it. The major geographical change-ups over Nioh are dark zones where the border between mortal and yokai realm has collapsed. Shrines and treasure chests are off limits, here, till you’ve purged the midboss responsible for the psychic overspill.

To Ninja Gaiden, meanwhile, the game owes its elaborate melee combat system, with dozens upon dozens of weapon-specific combos backed up by ninja tools such as poisoned shuriken, Onmyo spells such as fireballs or lifesteal, and the nuclear options conferred by your character’s Guardian Spirit. Of the weapon types – axe, katana, dual blades, switchglaive, spear, odachi, tonfas, kusarigama, hatchets, switchglaive – only the last two are new, and the remainder recycle most of their combos, parries and specials from the first game. Each weapon can be wielded in three stances with diverging movesets: high stance trades speed for power, low stance power for speed, and middle is… in the middle.

The supporting role-playing systems are essentially as before but with a lot more meat on them. Besides spending “amrita” or XP to level up stats that correspond to weapon types, and allocating points to each weapon category’s sprawling unlock tree, you build Familiarity with individual weapons that lets you deal more damage with them. This encourages you to master each one, rather than casting it aside the second you find a rarer specimen with higher base capabilities – which in my experience, happens roughly every couple of minutes. To all that, add armour effects like health regen when you imbue your attacks with the water element, together with the bonuses afforded by your choice of Guardian spirit. It’s a lot to swallow, and that’s before you start combining and forging your own equipment between missions, transferring bonuses to higher-level blades or dismantling them for parts.

A role-player this top-heavy needs something to catalyse the emotions in the moment. That thing is once again Nioh’s clever redefinition of stamina as “ki”, the all-pervading vital energy from traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. Swing a weapon and you’ll scatter ki into the air, like sparks from a torch. Exhaust the bar and you’ll be unable to perform any action at all, not even the sagging blows that result when you empty the tank in the Souls games. Take a hit in this state and you’ll be stunned for a good couple of seconds, opportunity enough for pretty much any opponent to finish you off. So you do your best to keep the bar full – not just retreating and dropping your guard to regain poise, but tapping R1 as ki leaves your body to suck it back in.

Doing this also dispels puddles of ki-sapping static conjured by demons – bosses, especially, slop this vampiric substance all over, forcing you to nail those pulses or stick to uncontaminated areas. Ki restoration isn’t as punishing as it may sound – if you’re struggling to stir it into your combos, there are unlocks that trigger ki pulses when you dodge or perform other routine actions. But the system gives your presence in this world a certain poetic charge. It’s not just about catching your breath so that you can clobber somebody with your axe, but aligning inner and outer equilibriums, becoming one with your environment – and clobbering somebody with your axe while you’re at it.

The weapons themselves are a joy to wield, whether you’re crushing enemies into the floor with the odachi’s 12-foot blade or wrapping them in the kusarigama’s chain. The new toys aren’t transformative but have their share of lethal quirks: the hatchets can be thrown, returning to your hands by magic, while the switchglaive (a nod to Bloodborne) unfolds from a rapid-slicing razor into a sweeping polearm and a scythe for messy finishers. I’m less convinced by the new yokai abilities, which are equipped by plugging cores dropped by demons into your Guardian spirit. The possibilities range from yanking an enormous flaming hammer out of your backpocket, to bursting through the ground as a legless ogre.

They’re good fun visually, but some much more useful than others, and their tactical applications are blunt – either dealing a ton of damage at once or trying to stagger a foe (or both). Demon cores also add to the pressure on your inventory, which frequently saw me dumping helmets and cuirasses by the roadside (a less wasteful way of shedding weight is to trade weapons for currency at shrines). I also have mixed feelings about the new yokai transformations, which replace Nioh’s Living Weapons. Each of the three yokai forms has its own weapons, moveset and a “Burst” counter for use against more devastating attacks that are pre-empted by a boiling red glow. There’s another layer of skill here, but I mostly used transformations to spam my way out of corners or finish bosses I couldn’t be bothered to murder scientifically.

In general I feel like Nioh 2 is rather bloated, a feeling that intensifies over the course of the game as you spend less time clashing with monsters and more time taming the hydra-headed spreadsheet equation that is character customisation. I was dismayed to find, 30 hours in, that I’d unlocked yet another layer – one of those abstract “clan battle” modes where you join and donate items to a faction in return for passive bonuses. A man may tire of passive bonuses, even when he’s not on deadline. More controversially, this feature seems to have taken the place of regular PvP, though this is made up for by the expanded co-op options. You can now summon the AI-controlled shades of other players as both opponents and allies – handy indeed when there’s nobody online to help you through a bossfight, though the AI is too inept to serve as more than a distraction.

The more you play, too, the more you notice the project management that structures the levels. Each has its guiding conceit, such as a central elevator or a network of dams that expose patches of loot-rich riverbed when lowered. But the cadence of shrines and shortcuts, optional areas and boss chambers is the same throughout, which slowly erodes the curiosity generated by the game’s otherwise absorbing architecture. In Dark Souls, the world is an interlocking, eldritch conundrum. In Nioh 2, it’s a series of fiendish puzzle boxes. Engrossing and oppressive, for sure, but not that startling or intriguing.

Hence, perhaps, my delight when some grubby spearman in home-made armour catches me off guard. It’s the dose of adrenaline an oversaturated game needs, like discovering a razor blade inside your seventh slice of wedding cake. Nioh 2 is a work of immense skill and scale, but Team Ninja’s next project needs to be more about changing things than adding them. After all, no amount of equipment buffs can protect you against the element of surprise.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/nioh-2-review-a-vast-and-engrossing-if-dutiful-follow-up-to-a-landmark-soulslike-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nioh-2-review-a-vast-and-engrossing-if-dutiful-follow-up-to-a-landmark-soulslike-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net