From Software 'n such

[Blinge]

Yeah final Sekiro boss gave me nowhere near as much trouble as others in the game did.

Honestly spent more time on Genichiro in the castle, and the monk.
Hell i think I spent longer on madame butterfly and some minibosses

[Mortificator]

New AC trailer. Can't tell much about gameplay yet, but I'm digging the aesthetics

[KAI]

All that emphasis on sword and shield... and they promised this wont be a soulslike months ago.
They also seem to have added parry and stagger on it. The sideboost looks cool tho.

I was planning to get a new pc just for this game, but I better wait for the damn thing to come out to see if it's worth it.

[Lander]

Holy shit the size of that Arms Fort. Or its foot, at least...

The gameplay looks nice and boosty; not quite the out-of-control velocity of 4A, but enough to cut a balance between speed and control.
It looks like the mech rotation can detach from the camera now too, Souls-style. That should be nice for movement feel, though I hope the lockbox setup is still present and accounted for.

And I guess Hound is going to be this game's characteristic backhanded nickname for the player?

All that emphasis on sword and shield... and they promised this wont be a soulslike months ago.

I reckon there's enough shootybang in there to avoid going full Soulscore. My guess is that they've taken some moveset cues to avoid melee being nothing but 1-hit combos as per the older games, since they've spent the last couple of decades pushing domain standards on that front.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Yeah final Sekiro boss gave me nowhere near as much trouble as others in the game did.

Honestly spent more time on Genichiro in the castle, and the monk.
Hell i think I spent longer on madame butterfly and some minibosses

Owl Father can eff off, to be honest. Demon gave me trouble too.

[Stevens]

Yeah final Sekiro boss gave me nowhere near as much trouble as others in the game did.

Honestly spent more time on Genichiro in the castle, and the monk.
Hell i think I spent longer on madame butterfly and some minibosses

Owl Father can eff off, to be honest. Demon gave me trouble too.

Owl Father is one of my favorite fights in the game, Inner Father is even better.

Inner Isshin hurt me plenty though..

[Blinge]

Demon fuckin' sucks man

[Stevens]

Demon fuckin' sucks man

I used to feel this way too, fire umbrella helps a ton when he leaps. Parrying his attacks (the ones that can be) lets you stay close while you swing away.

Whistle mostly lets you skip the last phase.

Does he have too much health? Yeah maybe. 15-20% less would probably be perfect. I wouldn't get rid of any of his phases though.

[Sima Tuna]

I've been replaying a ton of salt and sanctuary. Not a very difficult game, but a beautifully-handcrafted one. Even more so considering it was made by a husband and wife team.

What makes it rather easy compared to your average fromsoft fare is the lack of the third dimension. Anything that does not kill you instantly is rather easy to deal with by funneling threats. Even so, it's the only "indie" 2d soulslike I've found that successfully translates the souls formula. Right down to the billion weapon options and all the builds you can make. You can make you dex builds, magic builds, strength builds etc just like in a souls game. A lot of games that label themselves "soulslike" in the indie space don't allow for any of this.

Anyway, Salt and Sanctuary is a game I treasure very highly. It's not Fromsoft in name but I like it more than some official Fromsoft titles. People call it a metroidvania and I guess that term can be used as well. But I mean... That's basically what happens when you move a souls game into 2 dimensions. You do get some new moves, which are mostly used to gate access to particular zones until later in the game. Salt and Sanctuary is also rather linear compared to some Souls games (although many Souls games have certain zones you are required to hit in specific orders.) But I attribute that, again, to the 2d perspective. Loopbacks are nontheless very clever and frequent. There is no world map, which has caused many a metroidvania fan to screech in anger. But the game really doesn't require one. Each zone has a particular look and feel to it (supported by the color palette) and the Guide system allows you to plop down fast travel points at any bonfire you wish. Another great system! It's not as free and easy as DS2's teleportation, since it costs you a valuable resource. But the resource is plentiful enough that you'll usually be able to plan out your Guide sanctuary points to minimize backtracking. But even if you have to backtrack across the entire map, doing so takes much less time than you would suppose. I've done it many, many times across all my playthroughs and there are tons of shortcuts. The island is rather small, besides.

Well, that's all I wanted to say. I love Salt and Sanctuary very much. I play it all the time. I played it on Vita, then I played it on PS3 and now I'm playing it again on Switch. It's like a comfort food game for me. Is it better than Bloodborne? I suppose it's not. Not for most people. But it IS of comparable quality to the majority of big-name souls titles. There's one dungeon and one boss that I'm not crazy about. Everything else ranges the gamut from top-notch to merely good. The game isn't very hard, but that too feels empowering rather than pandering. Circumventing the difficulty is just something that happens as a result of building an OP-as-fuck build. Which feels really good to do. The Claymore is present in this game as well and it's probably the single most broken early game weapon... Which I assume is a reference to DS1's claymore.

[Necronopticous]

What did you think of Salt & Sacrifice?

[Sima Tuna]

What did you think of Salt & Sacrifice?

Haven't played.

[To Far Away Times]

I beat Dark Souls III today, so I've completed all of From's Souls games now.

I know some people are kinda down on Dark Souls III, but I really liked it. I think it's one of the very best. A very smooth game play experience all the way through, and the environments and art design are just so good, probably second only to Elden Ring.

The slightly more linear level design is nice too, making it so you don't have to memorize a twisty labyrinth. You clear a section and you can kinda forget about what's behind you, for the most part.

The amount of I-frames on the roll is glorious. I felt that it was generous enough that after about five hours or so, I started playing most of the game without using a shield, whereas I wouldn't dream of playing most of the other games like that. I also liked how many weapons and upgrade materials the game throws at you.

I think this was one of the easier ones. At no point did I get stuck on a difficult area, and I think all bosses were killed within 3 or 4 attempts. Most bosses were killed on the first attempt.

If Demon Souls/Dark Souls are the little games that punched above their weight, Dark Souls III is what From would do with a much larger budget and years or experience perfecting this type of game.

The shorter, roughly 30 hour run time is appreciated too. This will be one I'll replay at some point.

[Blinge]

it burns my fucking eyes.
holy shit

the whole 'easy' thing is such a closed conversation too.. like. We've litigated it several times over in this thread. I feel like it's done. then someone comes in and there's this urge to just do it all over again.

Dark Souls 2 one of the hardest?

That's... an interesting take.

Actually, pretend I said nothing. I realize even commenting on a Souls game's difficulty will send us back around in circles for the thousandth time.

This pretty much.

The amount of I-frames on the roll is glorious. I felt that it was generous enough that after about five hours or so, I started playing most of the game without using a shield, whereas I wouldn't dream of playing most of the other games like that.

It's worth attacking this one.
This is a player skill thing. there's nothing about 1 or 2 that demands shield use more than 3.
absolutely nothing. except ADP in #2

if anything the amount of spazzy attacks and generally much higher volume of attacks coming your way from enemies and bosses in 3 makes a shield more useful than it was in the older games.

[Air Master Burst]

The amount of I-frames on the roll is glorious. I felt that it was generous enough that after about five hours or so, I started playing most of the game without using a shield, whereas I wouldn't dream of playing most of the other games like that.

It's worth attacking this one.
This is a player skill thing. there's nothing about 1 or 2 that demands shield use more than 3.
absolutely nothing. except ADP in #2

I usually shield up for the stupid Anor Londo archers, but other than that they just slow the action down way too much. Dodge rolling is just flat-out better in like 90% of situations.

If anything, 3 encourages shield use more than 1 and 2 because of the shitty broken poise.

[Sumez]

Dark Souis 3 is a fantastic game. People coming down hard on it is so fucking weird. How high do your standards need to be to consider DS3 an inadequate game?

Right down to the billion weapon options and all the builds you can make. You can make you dex builds, magic builds, strength builds etc just like in a souls game. A lot of games that label themselves "soulslike" in the indie space don't allow for any of this.

Wow, I'm glad they don't. That sounds awful

[Sima Tuna]

Dark Souis 3 is a fantastic game. People coming down hard on it is so fucking weird. How high do your standards need to be to consider DS3 an inadequate game?

Right down to the billion weapon options and all the builds you can make. You can make you dex builds, magic builds, strength builds etc just like in a souls game. A lot of games that label themselves "soulslike" in the indie space don't allow for any of this.

Wow, I'm glad they don't. That sounds awful

And yet you just said dark souls 3 is a fantastic game and it has all of the things I mentioned.

[Sumez]

It's the worst aspect of Souls games, IMO. But even then, the depth of exploration in the Souls games is what facilitates the heavy customization it allows for. I can't imagine building that into a 2D game without the game suffering in other aspects, since you'd usually want the action to be a lot more dense.

Of course, I haven't played Salt & Sanctuary, so I can't realistically comment on how well they made it, it just doesn't read well to me. I didn't like The Dishwasher at all, so I didn't bother with Ska Studios' later games.

[Air Master Burst]

Dark Souis 3 is a fantastic game. People coming down hard on it is so fucking weird. How high do your standards need to be to consider DS3 an inadequate game?

It's a pretty good game if you haven't played any of the other, better Souls games first.

Coming into it after playing the first few just makes the bad bits stand out that much more. The shitty broken poise makes PVE a chore for a ton of builds; and the area designs are mostly either uninspired, recycled, or both (going from Firelink to Majula was such an upgrade, and yet now we're back in an even shittier version of Firelink?).

The one thing I will say for DS3 is that it's actually a complete finished game, which you definitely can't say for any of its predecessors.

[XoPachi]

I've never played an Armored Core game before. 6 looks like a lot of fun. The mech genre I often hear is just not in the best spot which is kind of crazy to me. The last mech game I played was DxM and I...didn't like it. AC6 looks extremely compelling.

[Air Master Burst]

I've never played an Armored Core game before. 6 looks like a lot of fun. The mech genre I often hear is just not in the best spot which is kind of crazy to me. The last mech game I played was DxM and I...didn't like it. AC6 looks extremely compelling.

It's been pretty slim pickings since FROM stopped making Armored Core and A.C.E. games about a decade back. There is a fantastic remaster of Metal Wolf Chaos that I can't recommend enough; an absolutely delightful mech romp.

AC6 is good news; hopefully we'll get a modern A.C.E. at some point (I'd do horrible things for a localization, but beggars can't be choosers and all that). I'd also love a new Chromehounds.

[Sima Tuna]

I prefer real robot mech sims or simcades to super robots flying around, but the genres been dead for either option. I guess I can always hope Armored Core 3 might get an HD port someday.

[Lander]

If you can rely on the market for one thing, tracing From's footsteps is it. Bring on the Core-likes.

I've never played an Armored Core game before. 6 looks like a lot of fun. The mech genre I often hear is just not in the best spot which is kind of crazy to me. The last mech game I played was DxM and I...didn't like it. AC6 looks extremely compelling.

As popular stuff goes, it's mostly been kept on life support by evergreen Gundam arena battlers in Japan as best I can tell. And ZoE2 is still the best version of what DxM was going for.

Hawken was kind of AC-ish (i.e. halfway between real and super) and good for a while, but it died to the F2P multiplayer curse.

There's always MechWarrior 5 for proper stompy real robot stuff, but it pales in comparison to the now-effectively-free MechWarrior 4: Mercs.

[Sima Tuna]

Armored Core 3 and Silent Line are my favorite real robot games, although there are a couple of good Gundam licensed titles like Zeonic Front and The Ace Pilot. AC3 kind of blurs the edges of a real robot game, in that it feels very stompy and somewhat slow when you start, but you can easily mod your mech to fly forever if you want. Even so, you're limited by weapon ammo and missions have a deployment timer (stealth fuel gauge? who knows). So you don't feel too "super." Bipedal designs are also not dominant in any way, so you're encouraged to experiment and you might find yourself with a mech that looks more tank-like than mech-like.

ZoE 2 is the best super robot video game, for sure. Fantastic title.

I need to play that new port of Assault Suits Valken. I hear it's good.

The heyday of mech games was the ps2/gamecube/xbox era. That was when we got all the licensed gundam games (that weren't fighters,) piles of Armored Cores, S.L.A.I., Zone of the Enders 2, Custom Robo, Gotcha Force, Battle Engine Aquila, MechAssault 1 and 2, Metal Wolf Chaos and so many more. The HD era gave us Armored Core 4, For Answer and the first Lost Planet. I'm probably missing a few, but after the early HD era, there was a dramatic drop in the number of mech games coming out. The genre is pretty much dead today.

Old games really loved giant robots. Even in stuff like mega man x, where everyone is a robot, you could still sit your robot inside a BIGGER robot and ride that around. I'm sure there is a relationship between the relative popularity of mecha anime in Japan and the amount of mecha games released in certain decades. As a real robot enjoyer, I haven't heard of a good real robot anime since... Shit, maybe Gundam Unicorn? That one wasn't all that good either. Nothing on the level of Armored Trooper Votoms, War in the Pocket or 08th MS Team has been released since the '90s.

[Air Master Burst]

As a real robot enjoyer, I haven't heard of a good real robot anime since... Shit, maybe Gundam Unicorn? That one wasn't all that good either. Nothing on the level of Armored Trooper Votoms, War in the Pocket or 08th MS Team has been released since the '90s.

Code Geass seems like the obvious example here. Muv-Luv is supposed to be solid. They recently did another Macross and Full Metal Panic. Sakura Wars came back a few years ago, although I have no idea if the new stuff is any good. Pretty sure Five Star Stories(or whatever he calls it now) is stil plugging away, too.

Also Witch From Mercury is supposed to be really good, but I haven't had the time yet.

ETA:

I prefer real robot mech sims or simcades to super robots flying around, but the genres been dead for either option. I guess I can always hope Armored Core 3 might get an HD port someday.

You should go back and watch pretty much any real robot show that isn't Patlabor or VOTOMS again, because they all feature lots of flying around. A.C.E. is literally just a bunch of 80s real robot franchises (Zeta Gundam, Metal Armor Dragonar, Aura Battler Dunbine, Layzner, etc.) mashed together for Gundam style space battles.

Later A.C.E. games bring in Macross, L-Gaim, Nadesico, Full Metal Panic, and a few others.

ETA2: If you want a nice stompy mech game, Brigador is pretty great (and on sale on Steam right now).

[KAI]

Info about the next fromsoft game has been ""leaked"" apparently, it will be a soulslike, what a surprise.

Spoiler

About the game:
>The game has been in development since mid 2021
>Current release window is for Q1 2025 (February-March 2025)
>Earliest possible reveal is a few seconds long teaser during this years TGA
>Earliest possible trailer will be shown in Summer 2024 (Most likely June 2024)
>The game is directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki
>The game will be published by FromSoftware as well. There will be no third party studios publishing the game.
The game will release solely on the next gen consoles and PC (PS5, XSX, PC)
>The game is mainly a spin off of the souls formula with a heavy emphasis on magic (will expand on this more later)
>The game takes place in a late 18th century (1780s-1790s) European inspired fictional world.
>The game is not a spiritual sequel to Bloodborne and the the game has no connections with Bloodborne
The game has one very large legacy dungeon which is the city in which game takes place in and an open world outside it.
The city is about 2-3 times larger than all of Elden Ring's dungeons combined and is probably the most interconnected world From Software has designed so far.
>The open world segment of the game is as big as two to three open world areas of Elden Ring.
>The open world segments of the game contains forests, farmlands, mountainous areas, coasts, villages, caves and smaller dungeons
>Overall the games size is probably slightly smaller than Elden Ring.

Further Gameplay details:
>In this game the main divergence from the is series is that main focus of the game are spells.
>Spells can be wielded like weapons and have movesets like normal weapons (Charged R2, R1 R1 R1 combos, backstep R1 etc.)
>There is no mana/mp etc. bar in the game and spells do not have a finite use. They use stamina which generates like any other souls game.
>There are still melee weapons in the game and melee builds are still a viable option it just that the main focus of the game is on spells.
>There are melee weapons with magical abilities/projectiles etc.
>There is a system similar to the ashes of war system from Elden Ring.
>The game has no set protagonist and there is a character creator
>The game will have multiplayer
>There is no chalice dungeon like system that I am aware of (yet)
>There is a great emphasis on customising your gear and clothing. Customising your gear and clothing gives them various effects that changes them both visually and gameplay wise.
>There are weapons that are similar to trick weapons from Bloodborne but these have a magical stance and a normal melee stance instead of a physical transformation.
>There game in general is a bit more action oriented and less RPG oriented. I would classify it as being much more RPG oriented than Sekiro and a bit less than Bloodborne.
>There are underwater areas in the game and the Player Character can swim.
>The Player Character can crouch, jump and hug walls however they cannot climb.
>There is a day-night cycle in the game however it is mostly visual and it only has some effects on some enemies and select few areas.

The heyday of mech games was the ps2/gamecube/xbox era. That was when we got all the licensed gundam games (that weren't fighters,) piles of Armored Cores, S.L.A.I., Zone of the Enders 2, Custom Robo, Gotcha Force, Battle Engine Aquila, MechAssault 1 and 2, Metal Wolf Chaos and so many more. The HD era gave us Armored Core 4, For Answer and the first Lost Planet. I'm probably missing a few, but after the early HD era, there was a dramatic drop in the number of mech games coming out. The genre is pretty much dead today.

The first 2 Gundam VS games by capcom (Federation vs Zeon and AEUG vs Titans) are incredible if you want games with real robot mechanic, I always loved how heavy and slow everything feels on those games.

[Sumez]

Psh. Sounds like an Eternalringlike to me

[Air Master Burst]

I mean they're all just KingsFieldlikes at the end of the day.

I still maintain that King's Field 4 is the best Souls game.

[To Far Away Times]

Spellbound may be removing the focus from sword and shields, but you know it'll still have the two hallmarks of souls games: barefoot female NPC's and poison swamps.

[Sumez]

Cover also leaked for two different platforms

[Air Master Burst]

Cover also leaked for two different platforms

And it would still be the best FROM game on DS by a long shot.