From Software 'n such

[Frenetic]

Sorry for the confusion. There was report that there were inflammatory posts against the forum rules, so they were removed. Some posts responded to and quotes the inflammatory content and they were removed too. Apologies.

-Frenetic
Forum Moderator

[Necronopticous]

I just beat alternate final boss of the “bad ending.” Incredible fights!

[Blinge]

Can't argue about games but meanwhile in the politics thread we've got people advocating a whites-only ethnostate.
It's not even a free speech issue because posts that criticise mods just got deleted here.

Whatever.
My evenings have been ending this week with me playing more Eternal Ring, I fall asleep in my chair after roughly half an hour.
I'm struggling with the bonus dungeon. Obviously the rats aren't a problem, i've taken out two of the big boys but neither them nor the fast werewolf dudes show any sign of taking damage from my spells. So like.. what do i do? Spam fire wall because it's quick and won't bankrupt my MP after a few casts? Or use huge spells without knowing if they're actually doing anything.
I have the level 4 spells for all elements except earth.

I gave in, looked at maps and dashed through the whole dungeon. What the hells up with those magic absorbing birds, what are you supposed to do!? I looked at one video and it had someone using some earth spell to freeze the superboss in place so he could slash him, guess I could do that. Then i noticed at around 45, i'm 20 levels below him. o_o
LobosJR seemed to cope with it in the high 50's also.

What were your strategies, whoever did this section? Necron?
I want to buy a ton of MP stones but that involves some gem farming for currency urgh. Am i right in thinking a gem is always worth "one" in the shop no matter how strong it is?

Edit: having a little play around now actually. grabbing some cheap gems in the first dungeon. There's a red door here I can't open.. interesting. Pretty sure I'm supposed to be able to open all these doors now after getting the Fire Key earlier. You can't miss it?

[MX7]

Can't argue about games but meanwhile in the politics thread we've got people advocating a whites-only ethnostate.
It's not even a free speech issue because posts that criticise mods just got deleted here.

Absolutely. As annoying as that guy who likes Dark Souls 2 and Dishonoured for some reason is, he's sharing discourse and driving forward a conversation about videogames (albeit vexatiously). Meanwhile that guy with a funny voice who used to post videos about Mars Matrix is spamming ethnic cleansing shit in the cesspool of the politics threads. If this site was hosted in the UK it would be breaching incitement to racial hatred laws. Oh wait...

ON TOPIC

I'd planned to get Sekiro at the start of the Easter hols to take a good stab at it but the setting looks pretty bland, the stealth stuff doesn't appeal and I'm just not in the mood for yet another fighting game. I'll wait till it's a tenner, or maybe just hack my PS mini and play through King's Field 2.

Blinge I also tried playing an unopened copy of Eternal Ring I got for a pound about 6 years ago just a few weeks back. Gave up after a few hours ) :

[Steamflogger Boss]

Yeah to be clear I didn't report the posts or want them to be deleted.

Hopefully I'll be able to get going on Bloodborne next week. There was some kind of shipping delay and I can't just start the base game because of the region difference.

[Blinge]

I'd planned to get Sekiro at the start of the Easter hols to take a good stab at it but the setting looks pretty bland, the stealth stuff doesn't appeal and I'm just not in the mood for yet another fighting game.

lol speaking of vexatiously!
Can't speak for the setting but there isn't really much to talk about if they're just impressions you have from videos, to me these impressions don't match the game.

I also tried playing an unopened copy of Eternal Ring I got for a pound about 6 years ago just a few weeks back. Gave up after a few hours ) :

Oh yeah, it's really rough compared to King's Field. All I can say is try to wrap your head around the ring crafting system using this terrible, terrible guide - Once you're armed with this knowledge it's more enjoyable.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/19723 ... /faqs/7755

As for me and SEK.. well I think I'm at the end also.
The Palace was GORGEOUS. Possibly enjoyed exploring this area more than any other.

I have 3 choices for things to fight.

The 7 stab mixups spear twat Sumez mentioned before, i think.
Fuck this guy, having to bloodsmoke to even start the fight is hella annoying.
Edit: He's dead - paused after bloodsmoke, switched to puppeteer when I took out the other lackey haha. cheese!

Spoiler

Demon of Hatred - No idea how to even scratch this thing! I die very quickly

Spoiler

Isshin the Sword Saint.
What the fuck is this lore hahahaha. barely made a dent in him but it seems like the final boss so that's okay.

Edit: Also is there a way to squeeze more rewards out of the master? The dude's preaching moderation now. I haven't used either of the special.. things, either. Was holding off until I felt like making a decision.

[Sumez]

Man I'm glad I never decided to peek into the politics threads.
Meanwhile, as much as I tend to disagree with Obscura, I love his presence here, and appreciate hearing his "controversial" takes on video games.

[Sumez]

Oh yeah, it's really rough compared to King's Field. All I can say is try to wrap your head around the ring crafting system using this terrible, terrible guide - Once you're armed with this knowledge it's more enjoyable.

Although Eternal Ring isn't anywhere near as interesting as the KF series, I wouldn't say it's "more rough". Actually, quite the other way around, it feels much smoother to play than any of the KF games, with a faster pace and generally less obtuse system.
The ring crafting honestly never bothered me. I just made some decent ones, didn't care if I got the "best" outcome, and sticked with what I had. You don't really need all that stuff anyway, so if you knock the completionist mindset out of your head, that aspect is perfectly fine as it is, even if it is underutilized.

Edit: Also is there a way to squeeze more rewards out of the master? The dude's preaching moderation now. I haven't used either of the special.. things, either. Was holding off until I felt like making a decision.

I'm assuming you are talking about the big fish? If you got 4 scales, that's all you can get AFAIK. Just go ahead and use one of the special things. Once you've done that you may want to go and visit the place where you fought the ape...

[Blinge]

Although Eternal Ring isn't anywhere near as interesting as the KF series, I wouldn't say it's "more rough". Actually, quite the other way around, it feels much smoother to play than any of the KF games, with a faster pace and generally less obtuse system.
The ring crafting honestly never bothered me. I just made some decent ones, didn't care if I got the "best" outcome, and sticked with what I had. You don't really need all that stuff anyway, so if you knock the completionist mindset out of your head, that aspect is perfectly fine as it is, even if it is underutilized.

It's totally rough. Rough like a hangover. Rough like two weeks growth on a plump lady's armpit.
ER is all these things compared to KF.

'generally less obtuse' ? what are you talking about. What's obtuse about KF's "systems" you slash, you do a magic that you find. you level up.

KF's main leg up over ER is the world and level design imo. ER is quite barren and feels like it was slapped together in a week, to me.
Well maybe you want to learn how to make good enough rings so you can actually deal damage and not shaft yourself by wasting spare lack rings on spells that won't help/ ones you already have.

As for that silly idea I had to melee-only the game. Would people consider healing magic/self buffs fair game?

[tnc]

I'd also like to add that I don't understand why Obscura's posts were deleted either.

[Sumez]

The 7 stab mixups spear twat Sumez mentioned before, i think.
Fuck this guy, having to bloodsmoke to even start the fight is hella annoying.
Edit: He's dead - paused after bloodsmoke, switched to puppeteer when I took out the other lackey haha. cheese!

What? How do you use both bloodsmoke and puppeteer in this situation? I tried the puppeteer approach, but the little guy dies before he makes much of a dent in the main guy.
I really have no idea how to approach this battle. It feels absurdly unfair.

[Blinge]

I stood by the guy that's sat there being dead or whatever. Crouched.
Lackey next to Seven Schlong gradually agros, walks over. Both are aggro'd at this point. Once he's sort of close I smack the sitting dude which knocks him upright, ready for a backstab.
Bloodsmoke.
Switch to Puppet
Stabbu the lackey.

Alternatively I think the battle is fine as long as you can just face Seven Force by himself. So bloodsmoke alone would be enough perhaps.

[Sumez]

Why not just backstab the lackey in the first place?
I'm still sort of unsure what your strategy entailed. How did you actually finish off the bastard?

[Blinge]

I don't backstab the lackey first because they're facing different directions, looked to me like they were covering every approach, if I crept anywhere close to them, they'd agro!

Either that or i'm missing something.

Oh, well.. if you puppeteer the lackey you can just hang back and charge up stabs on sevenschlong while he's fighting. Like Necron did in his battle vs the government ninja in the dojo. By the time you face him alone his HP will be so knackered you can posture break him easy. Try staying close/ dodging past the overhead swipes, you'll have to deal with fewer stabs that way.

[Sumez]

You can sneak the long way around them and approach from the other side without getting seen.
Lackey guy just dies super fast when I puppeteer him. :\ And seven force needs two deathblows when you can't start out stealthing him (but the alternative is fighting two guys at once, so good luck with that).

I just can't really make a dent with him though... at least 80% of his attacks are "perilous", and it's completely impossible to see if he's doing a swipe or a stab or something else, I have no idea how to dodge them. They also have a reach of like 5 km, so you can't just get out of the way either :\

[Blinge]

Right.. we're definitely talking about the same seven sux aren't we?

Spoiler

Endgame, ashina reservoir, right next to the sculptor idol, fire everywhere. Can't get to the moonview tower part anymore..
oh wait, surely not from the original well.. if you come from the dungeon!? I never tried that route.

what's the long way round??

Also if there's a non-spoilerish hint someone could give me as to how to make Emma give me the 'last words' in the castle I'd like that.. I'm missing some sort of secret technique.

[Steamflogger Boss]

I liked Eternal Ring more than KF2. But neither was enjoyable in the way Souls is for me.

[Sumez]

Are you talking Japanese KF2 or western KF2 here?

Right.. we're definitely talking about the same seven sux aren't we?

Spoiler

Endgame, ashina reservoir, right next to the sculptor idol, fire everywhere. Can't get to the moonview tower part anymore..

Yeah. That guy.

[Blinge]

what's the long way round??

Sumez I can grab my clip of the fight later on this evening if you want a reference.

[Sumez]

plz do!

[Blinge]

What do you mean by long way round you fuck!!!
you fuck!"!!!11111

okay. might have to be tomorrow as i'm working late tonight bah.

Edit: Okay so I trawled the internet for some advice on Eternal Ring's bonus area as I wanted to know if i was missing something. I apparently did by just gunning for where I thought the eternal sword would be. I missed the rapid fire melee ring and the insanely powerful kaiser knuckle!?

Went back in, grabbed it, cycled through to kill cockatrices for levels and faced the big man again.
Hello dio.
Time stop, MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!!
Hilarious stuff. I'm grateful to that destructoid blog that hath shewn me the ways of the ora ora.

Now I'm OP with no game left other than to scounge around for blank rings and see if i can craft the whole collection.

[Sumez]

What do you mean by long way round you fuck!!!
you fuck!"!!!11111

Sneaking around the fence thing and approaching them from behind.

[Sumez]

PSA: Seems like there's a pretty prominent missable in this game

I mean it's no surprise that a From game is full of missable stuff, especially lore/story stuff. But aside from being related to one of the game's endings, this one actually unlocks a bunch of new pretty major boss fights, and for some reason all of my searches for relevant missables in the game resulted in absolutely no mention of this item, which is almost impossible to know about witihout a guide.

I've missed it, and only heard about its existance by accident. If you are still at a point in the game where you can go talk to Kuro, take a look at this:

https://sekiroshadowsdietwice.wiki.fext ... Bell+Charm

[Necronopticous]

Dang! Now you will have to play this wonderful game all over again!

[Sumez]

Never
Gonna
Happen

[Blinge]

Argh what the fuck!!
Too late for me too.

Necron you recommend that content for ng+, or a fresher file?

[Illyrian]

Argh what the fuck!!
Too late for me too.

Necron you recommend that content for ng+, or a fresher file?

Trust me, on NG+ Owl will FUCK YOUR SHIT UP. Primarily this is because just blocking, instead of deflecting 2 of his individual attacks in a row will often immediately posture break you.

It's rough.

Better on NG really for that secret boss.

[Necronopticous]

If you are interested in getting 100% achievements then I'd go for NG+ after making sure you've scored all 6 lapis lazulis of your current playthrough. If you don't care about achievements, then I guess it doesn't matter too much. I generally avoid NG+ cycles in From Software games since I just don't find them very interesting (I'd rather impose more interesting restrictions on myself in the more balanced NG cycle). So far I have found that NG+ in Sekiro is overall much less challenging than it can be in Souls titles because you've likely already been forced to learn each fight to such a degree that a few higher variables stacked against you don't matter much at all.

If you do decide on the NG+ route you should know that there is a new optional thing similar to the Demon Bell that you can activate during the tutorial section by giving Kuro a charm item that you start NG+ cycles with. It makes blocking far less effective, punishing you heavily for not getting proper deflect timings, and even stacks with the effects of the Demon Bell if that's your kind of thing. No reward for triggering them, though, beyond personal gratification and bragging rights, I suppose!

Although if it is a challenge you are after, I would really recommend NG cycle, no prayer beads, no skill points used, no shinobi tools. In my challenge run I also did no memories used but the lack of attack power is just awful in the second half of the game.

[Illyrian]

If you are interested in getting 100% achievements then I'd go for NG+ after making sure you've scored all 6 lapis lazulis of your current playthrough. If you don't care about achievements, then I guess it doesn't matter too much. I generally avoid NG+ cycles in From Software games since I just don't find them very interesting (I'd rather impose more interesting restrictions on myself in the more balanced NG cycle). So far I have found that NG+ in Sekiro is overall much less challenging than it can be in Souls titles because you've likely already been forced to learn each fight to such a degree that a few higher variables stacked against you don't matter much at all.

If you do decide on the NG+ route you should know that there is a new optional thing similar to the Demon Bell that you can activate during the tutorial section by giving Kuro a charm item that you start NG+ cycles with. It makes blocking far less effective, punishing you heavily for not getting proper deflect timings, and even stacks with the effects of the Demon Bell if that's your kind of thing. No reward for triggering them, though, beyond personal gratification and bragging rights, I suppose!

Although if it is a challenge you are after, I would really recommend NG cycle, no prayer beads, no skill points used, no shinobi tools. In my challenge run I also did no memories used but the lack of attack power is just awful in the second half of the game.

I might very well do no prayer beads but get the attack upgrades for a challenge or something simple like that to begin with.

[rapoon]

I got the 'bad/shortened ending' last night in NG+ and immediately shelved the game afterwards.

After Great Shinobi – Owl the fights become exhausting. My conundrum was balancing the fun of engaging regular enemies with the stress of fighting the mini-bosses. The idea of tackling

Spoiler

Owl (Father)

in NG+x raises my blood pressure. Antiquated, rubbish camera mechanics that germinated in Tenchu Z and persist to this day; it's an exercise in man vs. camera.
Any issues with the camera are exacerbated in Sekiro by Froms imbecilic omission of the 'auto-correct option'; which is now enabled by default and yields a spastic, seizure inducing response when in a corner.
Froms obstinate refusal to fix an issue people have complained about in 6+ games is fucking infuriating.

There's also the disparity between the PC version and the PS4 (regular). I own both and the difference in difficulty is staggering, all of which can be chalked up to stuttering frame rates
on the PS4, input lag and unrecognized input (the later is rare). It's another issue people have raised for years that From has been incapable of addressing.

Spoiler

e.g. fighting Isshin, the Sword Saint 2nd and 3rd phases on PS4, dashing under his overhead attack to punish him, I'd often have to hit R1 2-3 times before an attack would register. Multiple controllers were tested

Overall an experience that pales in comparison to BB but enjoyable nonetheless, but I'm not sad to see it over.