From Software 'n such

[Steamflogger Boss]

Froms obstinate refusal to fix an issue people have complained about in 6+ games is fucking infuriating.

So I like some of their games but yeah, absolutely no surprise here. Hell I half figure that they did Sekiro as offline only so that they never have to update it to potentially fix mp issues, balancing etc...

[Blinge]

Input not registering? I'm gonna be obnoxious here and just say "nah."

I figure any time this has happened to me it's because I've already queued an input that negates the one i currently want.

also re:owl. you guys really don't care about spoiler tags any more huh??

Input not registering? I'm gonna be obnoxious here and just say "nah."

I figure any time this has happened to me it's because I've already queued an input that negates the one i currently want.
Also I don't notice any lag, probably because i'm not directly comparing to a PC version, so i'll leave that as is.

also re:owl. you guys really don't care about spoiler tags any more huh??

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!

No trophy? Fuck that m8

Re: Wall camera.

Yeah the camera sucking near walls I hear a lot. Are you saying that auto-wall recovery is enforced in this game? ew.
Okay so.. what's a 3rd person game that actually has good camera in claustrophobic situations?

[Durandal]

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.

After beating him on NG+1 with Bell/noKuro Charm I can tell you

Spoiler

you need to dodge his attacks more rather than parry them. His posture bar is super large and regens fairly quickly, so you need to make draining his vit your top priority. Only after reducing him to about 35% HP can you really start focusing on breaking his posture, and the only way to do that is to dodge through his attacks and hit him while he's recovering. That way you should be able to take him down around a minute, whereas if I tried to bruteforce him by constantly forcing him to block it'd take upwards of two and a half minutes, nothing to say of his second phase.

[Steamflogger Boss]

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.

Just saw this. Actual KF2. The game released as simply KF in the US.

[Necronopticous]

Wow, damn! Eternal Ring over King's Field 2 eh? Different strokes for different folks, I guess! I didn't dislike Eternal Ring, but it was more of an appetizer for King's Field IV for me than anything. I had a lot of thoughts on it that I posted much earlier in this thread if you want to dig them up.

Edit: I found them for you!

viewtopic.php?p=1327017#p1327017

viewtopic.php?p=1327406#p1327406

[Steamflogger Boss]

To be clear, neither tickles my pickle nearly as intensely as a Souls game, or an Armored Core game for that matter which is definitely right there with Souls for me as my favourite From franchise.

Unless the USPS really screws the pooch, I'll have Bloodborne EU GOTY Wednesday. Gonna fire that fucker up right away, can hardly wait.

Edit: Reading your Eternal Ring review. Appreciate the link for easy access.

[BrianC]

I ordered Sekiro PS4 from an Amazon fufilled seller and got sent the EU version. No problem since it was slightly cheaper than the US and is region free.

[Sumez]

Just saw this. Actual KF2. The game released as simply KF in the US.

KF3 has clear issues, but damn. "Actual KF2" is a masterpiece, man.

That said, Eternal Ring definitely plays vastly more smooth. Movement speed is frisk, enemy animations and attacks have more of a weight to them, and the game runs mostly without slowdown.

[Sumez]

Returned to Sekiro for a short while yesterday. I think this is the first time I've played the game for a week outside of a quick popping in to get nailed by already-discussed spear guy and immediately deciding that I wasn't having fun.

Managed to take down a bunch of the easy end-game bosses.

Spoiler

The Sakura Bull (easy, but took a couple of attempts, not because I died, but because it just ran off and healed up)
Headless in Ashina Outskirts (ok this is early-game, but I'd postponed it until now)
Double ape fight
Two Sashimi Warriors (one showed up where the apes were, only discovered it by total accident)

I've been trying to maintain which ones I have left. It's kind of hard to know what else is out there, so if anyone know of bossfights that I somehow overlooked, can you fill me in with the missing ones?
This is my to-do list:

Spoiler

Seven spears guy at the reservoir
The fire-breathing variant of the drunkard/glutton guy
Elite Samurai guy where Isshin used to be
Some guy at the serpent shrine behind Ashina castle
Headless in the forest
Headless in the moat
Two more Headless (sigh) under the fountainhead palace
Demon of Hatred
The final boss rush

From what I can recall, I've taken out the chained ogre that appeared in the castle, and the poison guy in the dojo where the other elite samurai used to be.

[Necronopticous]

if anyone know of bossfights that I somehow overlooked, can you fill me in with the missing ones?

The total number of prayer beads in the game is:

Spoiler

40, so you should have a total of 10 necklaces if you tackle all of the minibosses and find the few that are hidden in the environment

So, I'm still practicing the final boss on my no upgrade/no tool run. I have attained Absolute Mastery of the first phase, so I finally have an example to show you guys just how absurd this actually is. Final boss phase 1 spoilers.

Also, if any of you are interested, my wife & I just started our 2P1C (shared controller) challenge earlier tonight. We will probably be streaming after work and on weekends for the next couple weeks or so.

[Sumez]

The total number of prayer beads in the game is:

Come on now -_-

[Blinge]

Hahaha. yeah I'm scratching my head a bit, will go and look at how many necklaces I have later.
Just been struggling all morning on Hater Demon.. bah! Id carry on if i had time.

Sumez here's SevenForce
https://youtu.be/LZHAGvU4u5c

[Sumez]

will go and look at how many necklaces I have later.

Considering the game has a missable "area" (which as I understand it is just a Nioh-style re-visit), I assume you're gonna have to subtract an unknown number of beads from your total count though.
It really was the least possibly helpful answer to my query. I guess I'll just have to look up a complete list of bosses somewhere, if anyone has compiled that yet.

[Sumez]

Sumez here's SevenForce
https://youtu.be/LZHAGvU4u5c

Thanks! Seems like what I tried to do (except I had no idea you could involve the guy sitting there, I thought he was dead). I wonder if it's possible to make both of those guys into a doll.

My guy died long before I was able to get even one deathblow into spearjerk though.

I'm surprised how successfully you're able to "dark souls" the second part of the fight.

[Illyrian]

The total number of prayer beads in the game is:

Come on now -_-

You would never get all of them on your first playthrough without a guide. Some are tied to bosses who are only available for a short period of time in the story or disappear later etc.

I finished my first playthrough with 7.

[Necronopticous]

Some are tied to bosses who are only available for a short period of time in the story or disappear later etc.

I may not be 100% accurate on this, but I don't think you can miss prayer beads permanently...I think any that are tied to minibosses/areas you lose access to will go to the Offering Box by Hanbei for purchase with sen.

[Blinge]

My guy died long before I was able to get even one deathblow into spearjerk though.

I'm surprised how successfully you're able to "dark souls" the second part of the fight.

Haha that surprised me too, tbh! especially during the sweep, i think I tried it for the first time in that video then kept doing it as it seemed to work.

Often I find if I can't Sekiro certain bosses or attacks I'll try to dark souls them instead. I definitely did a dark souls vs Honkey Kong.

As for your pupeteering, make sure you're interrupting Spearmint a lot more/ getting him to refocus on you, give him less opportunities to harm your new buddy.

[Necronopticous]

Actually, puppets will not die from traditional damage! They will only die due to timeout, and you can refresh their timer by activating the ninjutsu again and again.

[Sumez]

Yeah I saw you doing that vs. the poison guy. Couldn't get that to work for Shake-Spear tho. No more backstab prompts after the first.

And yes, Honkey Kong was a complete Souls boss! For his re-fight I got a lot braver though, and spent most of the fight up in his fight, he went down way quicker.

[Blinge]

welp. Only the final bossu boi left to go for me I think

Everything on Sumez' checklist is dead now.
Might there be something I've missed?

Also how does one eavesdrop on emma and kuro? Hide behind a folding screen?
It's too late for me now tho I understand.

[Necronopticous]

Also how does one eavesdrop on emma and kuro? Hide behind a folding screen?
It's too late for me now tho I understand.

Yeah, it's a specific spot behind the folding screens--specifically the ones behind the incense burner.

[Blinge]

Man I don't get whether the hat gremlins or 'rats' are from the interior ministry or what.
Are the normal ones scrounging about and beefin' with Blackhat on the same side as the red ones that turn up later?

It's confusing to keep track of which group is pro ashina or not.

Spoiler

but when the shit hits the fan I felt like backing up muh ashina cru.. despite being the primary factor in Ashina's defense being compromised as ol' Sekky kinda cut through all the best men on his way up. Ah well!

I did laugh at how even the monkeys get involved!

I liked the re-contextualising of areas tbh, doesn't feel like "AAA" padding to me like Sumez said.
It's a nice change from "okay i have done this area and have no need to go back" ala most of souls.

edit: The ease with which Pat Fucc-boivin took out the first seven spear azzhole has made me question my entire identity as a gamer. :[
https://youtu.be/4crZuiup51o?t=7916 ( 2:11:56 )

I never managed to time the mikiri for the huge stab. I'd hit circle and get run through anyway.

[Necronopticous]

Man, this is good.

[rapoon]

Input not registering? I'm gonna be obnoxious here and just say "nah."

*shrug* ok...

I'm sure as shit not the only person whose complained about this, and like I said it was rare. Digital Foundry has a 15 min vid on the games performance and incessant frame stuttering on base model XBOX and PS4.
That will contribute to input lag and/or dropped input. In my example I had nothing queued.

what's a 3rd person game that actually has good camera in claustrophobic situations?

Any camera that doesn't have a spastic outburst when my character is pinned in a corner? Every 3rd person game not made by From.

Spoiler

you need to dodge his attacks more rather than parry them. His posture bar is super large and regens fairly quickly, so you need to make draining his vit your top priority. Only after reducing him to about 35% HP can you really start focusing on breaking his posture, and the only way to do that is to dodge through his attacks and hit him while he's recovering. That way you should be able to take him down around a minute, whereas if I tried to bruteforce him by constantly forcing him to block it'd take upwards of two and a half minutes, nothing to say of his second phase.

Spoiler

I had more problems with that fight than any other boss, especially that second stage. I'd go in for the punish and he'd vanish; probably spent half the time panning the camera around trying to re-lock. It felt far more rewarding to take him down than Isshin or Demon

[Illyrian]

Some are tied to bosses who are only available for a short period of time in the story or disappear later etc.

I may not be 100% accurate on this, but I don't think you can miss prayer beads permanently...I think any that are tied to minibosses/areas you lose access to will go to the Offering Box by Hanbei for purchase with sen.

Whaaaaaaaaaaat....

Okay didn't know that at all, that is awesome!

[Blinge]

Jeez that sword saint (dumb name) first form is a real problem for me. That slight delay on the swing timing vs the immediate input for the Mikiri Counter, which i've pulled off maybe twice and got skewered 50 times.
I've made it to the second form once and almost got him but fumbled it at the end. Ah well, was out of heals anyway. brutal boss.
That casual way he just swats at you.
Fuck knows how you're supposed to deal with his whirlwind slash if you're caught in its range - can he be interrupted?

Hatoful Demon was an epic struggle also, i think i blocked maybe twice, with the umbrella
I just went full Dark Souls + NASCAR for this one. I'd be interested to see Necron's play vs this guy!
Especially if anyone went for blocks and deflects.

Also after plying someone with booze at some point they mentioned Genichiro staring at a particular cloud formation for ages. I've had a look around for it now but it's night time so am I too late? Are there some special clouds to look at?

Digital Foundry has a 15 min vid on the games performance and incessant frame stuttering on base model XBOX and PS4.
That will contribute to input lag and/or dropped input. In my example I had nothing queued.

Ah my bad. didn't factor in that i'm on ps4 pro.

what's a 3rd person game that actually has good camera in claustrophobic situations?

Any camera that doesn't have a spastic outburst when my character is pinned in a corner? Every 3rd person game not made by From.

I wasn't being snarky with that question tbh. I'm generally curious as to what 3rd person game with free camera doesn't get weird when you're up against a wall. And by weird i mean either reduced visibility or the 'correction.'

Is there something wrong with me? I've never found the camera to be much of an issue. It's screwed me over maybe twice all game. You could complain about auto-wall recovery being shit in the souls games sure, but you can just turn it off there sooo..
I do have 'fond' memories of that buttress in Anor Londo to reach the painting/rafters building and the camera spazzing out as you go under the arch. scary. That's what prompted me to turn the option off.

I see friends get cornered in soulsborne or a streamer perhaps, camera points down or their visibility is impaired to any degree "I CAN'T FUCKING SEE. WHAT IS THIS CAMERA." instant righteous fury, shit play, almost give up on the spot.
My thought process when i'm in that situation is "shit, get some space" and carry on playing.

I'm probably just used to it.

[Sumez]

The camera screws me over in this game, in basically every single boss fight. It's the same camera as in Souls, but due to the increased mobility, it also becomes infinitely more annoying once you try to actually make use of that. I hate it.

[Blinge]

How? It kept locked on for over half of the demon of hatred's arena for me..

Although I didn't like lock-on for that fight when up close, mostly free-cammed it.

Anyway, just beat the game.
It's crazy how bosses like sword saint seem insurmountable at first, like actually impossible. Then a few attempts later you're breezing through their early forms and nearly beating them.
Christ, my fight was so desperate at the end though, running around trying to get enough distance to pop a pellet, used a divine grass and immediately got twatted for 70% of my HP

After I complained about not being able to Mikiri Counter the first phase's stab?
Killed him with it.

After I wondered if you can deflect the huge grey slash? 3rd phase?
Deflected for the final blow.

ending spoilers

Spoiler

That ending was rough man. I didn't think Immortal Severance would be immediate for the poor kid. I caught a feel.

I love how people rolled their eyes at the wolf having a child to protect at the beginning, calling triple AAA bullshit.
Hows that father-son thing going now, wolf?

This is FromSoftware, after all.

My main reason for battling through the Ashina outskirts in endgame was to check on Kotaro and merchant, too.

[Sumez]

Man I wish I could get in the mood to actually start up this game again.

Can't wait for Dark Souls 4.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Can't wait for Dark Souls 4.

Man, I really pay no attention to gaming news so I didn't know this was coming. Excited.