Nag Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Started this yesterday (Rebirth goes on the back-burner again) and I think I've made a fairly good decision to go with Story difficulty as I'm already feeling better about the parry and dodge than I did with the demo. I still feel like the game feels a little janky, especially anything to do with jumping and platforming. When Eve is in a bright location the game looks really nice when it goes to darker areas not so much. After seeing complaints about Eve and her characters lack of emotion I have to admit I quite like her so far... and she is a android after all. I've only got so far as Xion (the city hub area) up to now and left off being able to explore that area, thankfully it does actually have a map now as it didn't when I first entered. After having my enthusiasm dampened by the demo I'm pleased to say that I've really enjoyed the first few hours with it... getting those perfect parries and then hitting them with those retribution finishers is ever so satisfying. 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Perhaps it changes after a few hours, but picking up progress from the demo this game is aggressively boring. If the word 'mid' was a video game, it would be this. That said, most games in this genre don't start off that interesting I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 I'm not gonna pretend it's been the most exciting video-game opening ever but to be honest I'm just happy I'm not being manhandled by trash mobs repeatedly... so I'm taking that as a win.😂 It also probably helps that I got literally nowhere in the demo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 I’ve just done the 2nd boss. I’m really enjoying it very happy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 I don't like having a big moan, I think most of the games the past couple years I've played I've really liked. But SB isn't really doing it for me, despite me thinking it might based from the demo. Least not so far. My issue is it's just sort of vacillates between being either unremarkable or just competent at everything. Nothing is bad as such, but nothing seems great here either. It's just sort of all a plateau of quality. Story and tone is 'Nier at home'. The combat is this stiff thing with a staccato rhythm, where the point is aggression but it's all kinda locked into these prebaked light->heavy alternating combo strings with limited expression. There's stuff to discover, some combo strings will high profile you over sweep attacks, and you can power them up to stun enemies during their own combos, but it's still very regimented. You can't cancel an attack string if it becomes active, which might make sense in theory but it means light strings are harder to cancel than more elaborate ones with extra startup cause of that. So when you're pushing the enemy, the controls feel really unintuitive and the sense of connection with the character feels strained. The things you do in these levels are finding batteries, restoring power, finding data logs, getting passcodes, it feels very rote. You do this over and over, then at the end you fight a spiky rhino thing with no face or a big fat guy or whatever Then there's a hub with sidequests and an open world area with a checklist. Unlike in Rebirth where I was able to look past it cause it was so good in other areas, I don't have anything carrying me through this part. So I'll probably end up ignoring things in the OW if something interesting doesn't happen If it would excel at just one area, like its combat or story or even quest design, it would be interesting. DMC5 has bad levels, but deep and free-flowing combat. Nier has bad combat, but it looks cool and has a great story. Bayonetta has exhilarating boss fights, though not as exhilarating as Metal Gear Rising (tho Bayo's combat is better and more technical). God Hand is hilarious, and has a unique battle system. I'm just not really able to see what sets this one out from the pack. There's nothing so far in the first couple hours which is like 'oh yeah, that is Stellar Blade's "thing"'. It's all a bit "you've been here before". Deja vu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regemond Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 I honestly didn't read much on this game before it came out. I saw bits of trailers and instantly went 'yup, sold'. Now I've started it, it feels a little like Soulsborne-lite to me. This is a good thing. I don't have to think much about combos. That's just hammering buttons. It essentially seems like a Rock-Paper-Scissors system, where I can hit, dodge, block or blink, and once you get into a rhythm it's great fun. Or at least, it is for me. I haven't played a linear action game like this in a while, so it's ticking a lot of the boxes I wanted to it. The complaints from others are valid. It's definitely a deja vu experience. But honestly, I'm ok with it in this instance. Happy to keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 I've seen it compared to PS2 games (in a good way)... I can get behind that, in some ways it's reminding me what games used to be and I'm kinda loving that at the minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regemond Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Yeah I can see that comparison. Not like wanted: dead was. But in a favourable way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 On 27/04/2024 at 20:20, one-armed dwarf said: I'm just not really able to see what sets this one out from the pack I guess my thing is I've not played any games with this feel for quite some time... it feels fairly refreshing to me... even though the side quests are basically fetch quests I'm still finding them to be more interesting than anything in Rebirth or FF XVI (my most recent comparable games probably) I'd guess that boils down to enjoying the combat more and the lore that's discoverable. I've seen this complaint a couple of times now and I can get behind it too... that Eve should be more playful in her sexuality, more akin to Bayonetta... the clothes she can wear, the way she looks, yet she has the sensuality of a plank... it's a shame. If they ever do a sequel the personalities and story need more work. Other than that I've been really liking this... again, that's down to not getting my arse handed to me repeatedly. With NG+ added now once I return for that I'll probably up the difficulty and see how we get on... I'm in no rush to get through this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 55 minutes ago, Nag said: guess my thing is I've not played any games with this feel for quite some time... it feels fairly refreshing to me... This might be it. We don’t get these anymore. & these are my favourite kind of games. Ive just started exploring the wasteland and while I’m slightly disappointed they’ve had to include a generic open area like this. It’s at least a bit more manageable and as with Nag, while it’s the same stuff you do in other games. The trappings around it are making it far more interesting to me. I’m just really enjoying the combat too and the feedback on the parries is spot on. I agree with EVE needing a bit more personality though. I mean she’s meant to be some kind of android but still, they could do better. That other woman/girl is really annoying too. Lot better in Korean (EVE even seems to gain a personality with that) but I keep missing bits of dialogue so had to go back to English and she’s just bad. But mainly, just having a brilliant time with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one-armed dwarf Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 PS2 games are cool, it's the best generation of Sony consoles. Just wish it was more of an Armored Core VI PS2 throwback, a bit more protein. Anyway, not going to force it and hate play it. Will put on the backburner and maybe rediscover something about it at a later point. Hell the first time I played MGR I didn't like it at all so it's possible edit listening to jeff g this week, feel similar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 I've hit a "point of no return" with this (the game tells you) so I'm trying to get everything I can wrapped up in the areas available to me... just in case. So mainly I've spent my time fishing today... so lots of going backwards and forwards with Clyde... Managed to catch all of the fish (and chalk off some noticeboard quests at the same time)... spoiler tags contain the last two fish. I'd advise using the easier fishing settings too, makes it a cakewalk. Spoiler Now I'm on can clean up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 So went through the first "point of no return" and then did the rest of my clean up... currently I'm trying to find a password so I can open a chest and claim one of the better Nano-suits... after that I think I'm ready to hit the climax of the story which you get locked in to with no free roam afterward. I guess it'll be tomorrow or Sunday I see the credits. Thanks to the lack of difficulty related trophies it's a very doable Platinum although it'll require a run through of NG+ as there's three endings... I can save scum two but the other is locked by the Lily meter... All in all I've really enjoyed my time with the game and apart from a glitch where my Drone completely vanished in gameplay and cutscenes... (sorted with a restart) it's played pretty well... although the platforming really is janky as fuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Completed today... the time played on the dashboard says 50 hours but I'm always a little wary of believing that. Overall I really liked the game, I could see that on a higher difficulty some of the boss fights would be pretty epic and require quite a bit of thought... I'll likely up the difficulty for my NG+ run although I certainly won't be going for hard which unlocked on completion. It has to be said that I'm completely baffled how this didn't end up getting censored more knowing how Sony can be, it really is tits and ass the game which I'm perfectly fine with but I can see how it would be a bit exhausting for some. Hoping they've done enough sales wise to continue the story (which both endings point at) and we get a sequel in the not too distant future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regemond Posted Monday at 09:05 Share Posted Monday at 09:05 I've been SLOWLY plugging away at this (thanks to an almost 9 month old who refuses to give his parents any free time). I'm really enjoying it, still. It's dumb, it's fun. Even though I never played it, it reminds me of Bullet Witch. Not just because of the female protagonist, but a lot of the action looks similar from what I've seen. The side quests really are just old-school fetch quests, but to be honest I'm quite happy about that. I like brainless tasks in games. It's not a world beating game by any stretch. If anything I'd say it's a good palate cleanser between big games. But yeah, definitely no complaints about any part of it at the minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Posted Monday at 13:48 Author Share Posted Monday at 13:48 4 hours ago, regemond said: The side quests really are just old-school fetch quests Yeah, there's no real difference between this and something like Final Fantasy XVI whereas it's either go here and kill something or go here and find something and yet I didn't find any of the quests as braindead offensive as that game... weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted 23 hours ago Share Posted 23 hours ago This end boss is really kicking my arse! Not even managed to get it to half health yet after an hour! Having a great time with it still though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfnick Posted 7 hours ago Share Posted 7 hours ago Well, beat it after 2 tries today. It be like that sometimes. Great game. Straight into NG+ going to get all trophies me thinks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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