From Software 'n such

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Stevens
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Stevens »

Shittiest boss in the game by a country mile.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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I have rejoined the hoont, can't resist.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Stevens »

I'm always down for jolly co op.

In my own game I'm up to the lecture building. In the dlc Laurence. NG +3 or 4, but I don't remember.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

Image

Enigmatic. :o
drauch wrote:BILborne is so great, been diggin' all the vids and the write-ups. Good job on the Kos. He was toooooo scary for my first time :oops:.
Cheers bud, been a punishing pleasure. Image Image
Stevens wrote:I think my 1st time with Kos took me five or six tries. Ludwig? Lets not discuss that, close to 30.
Interesting, for me it was almost the opposite (I'm pretty sure I had at least forty goes at Orphan on Tuesday night, haha... some of 'em like ten seconds apiece :mrgreen:)

I wonder if the Saw's serrated/anti-beast effect helped me VS Ludwig. Once I understood his bellyflop's tracking, I was able to carve him up pretty good. I'd have thought I was a bit over-levelled, but then Kozmo seemed carved outta granite. I was tempted to buff up another weapon, in case he had some resistance to the saw - but the absolute primal fury and horror of that second phase (those deaths where the camera fades out as a screaming Kozmo smashes your corpse into pulp Image) were too rare to walk away from, and I was getting down-to-wire attempts before long, besides.

Moth flame etc. Image Image
Kos's 2nd phase is just mayhem. He loses his shit...
BB's duelling has reminded me a lot of ZOE2's Extreme difficulty bosses, between the orbiting lockon, explosive rushes, and razor-sharp iframe dodges. Kos mkII's speed and artillery are very near an actual ZOE2 boss. :lol: I loved capturing that bit where he backhanded me clean out of the water and onto the rocks, thought he'd killed me. Immensely charismatic boss design, my favourite of the whole set so far.

I was mildly proud to immediately go for the water, mostly because I detected a hint of the game's one real mechanical flaw - the tendency of parried foes standing on higher ground to deny your V-Attacks. Also, I just liked the vibe.

Speaking of beasts and bonesaws, Ashy Larry went down quick once I realised how his forms progress... I was bewildered at first by the seemingly "one per customer" parry, where you pop him in the nose early on for an easy stun, only for this to seemingly never happen again. A quick go-behind dash + R1 barrage sent him down - at which point, getting cornered by the camera became a far bigger threat than poor crawling, barfing Larry himself.

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Went back and combed over the Research Hall, as that locked balcony door was burning in muh brain. Reluctantly did the 'orrible deeds to open it - I like that From didn't mandate true NPC murder here (just attempted Image) - would've felt like my hand was forced, if the poor things didn't get back to their cheerful selves post-clobbering. Already felt like shit that I'd taken out floor 3's gardener bro beforehand, in case he had a key. Image (I'd put down the ones pleading and writhing in the pitch-black ward on my first pass - again, I appreciate there's no incentive/detriment, beyond simple light role-playing)

Sublime melancholy in the garden. Tried to keep the groove amiable and this happened. BB don't run on sympathy, not usually anyway Image

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Been dungeoneering yesterday/today. I like how discrete this feels from the main game, almost like a hypothetical PS2 version might've been. In aesthetic terms, while Pthumeria and Hintertomb were agreeably grim (and Elder is a cool boss design), I'd really been looking forward to sandy Loran, ever since its evocative description post-Nightmare Frontier. Wasn't disappointed, got the stygian opulence (and even the bronzed hues and deep black shadows) of my beloved Vagrant Story Image

Was glad to see the Old Yharny crew again. Blimey, to think two weeks ago I regarded Bag Boi's claw flurry as anything but "SHOOT ME PLS." Was still pleasantly surprised by me ol' pal Marvin, in extra-fit form! I don't recall him having an instakill grab in Yharny, and sure as shit not his off-season cameo in Hunter's Nightmare! That's some mean shit Marv. Sadly he got a charlie horse, even slapping the shit out of him wouldn't help. Unstuck him with a jumping R2, he thanked me with a clothesline. Noped out with a mark and restarted the match, I ain't do Marvin like that.

Felt the sad after, when I realised I shoulda led Gatling Hunter into Chibi-Marv's Mosh Pit Of The Damned, to let mechanised carnage ensue - but when I went back to Hunter's Nightmare, both were gone. :sad: Just zakobeasts and Bag Bois in there now. Ah well, something among many things for NG+.

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Oi Burinju, seems like the Hemswick Killa Crew are Insight-triggered :o At least after the initial excursion. Once I hit the 99 cap, I splurged on bloodrocks, and suddenly, whenever I'd go to my usual reload spot (SNIPERMANIA aka VIETYHAM), no more red light specials. Now that I've crept back up to ~30, seems I'm back on their radar. :o Hm. Maybe they're jealous. :shock:
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Nice!!! Yeah that's one of the things about insight!
DIDJEWKNOW - You get frenzied more easily with higher insight.

Also, with high Insight at the beginning of the game you can see all the Amygdalas all over Cathedral Ward early.
ALSO with high Insight check the lanterns being carried around by the churchmen :!:

Ah Birru... The chalice dungeons remain constant even if you go to NG+.
You'll retain progress and they don't scale with higher loops. They just doin their own thing.

I tend to see a lot of chalice concepts as the cutting room floor of BB, which is fine, I think they're fucking great if you're in the mood for some dungeon delving. Couple of unique bosses too.

did you notice that Marvin's flappy bits are the skin off his back? :shock:
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Holy fuck I'd no idea :shock: I thought he was running around like Dumb Donald from the Cosby Kids.

Spoiler
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^ The terror of Old Yharny, he killed the fucks who strung up his twin brother Hungry Harv :o

Spoiler
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^ Nightmare Ver, off-season and distracted

Marvin had a hard life. Come to think of it, so did my other favourite sparring partner Sacky-kun. The motherfucker never did manage to afford pants, before that fateful day when Rom Jeremy got hit, and CartyBois and GoreWolfs took advantage of the power vacuum to mop up the No Pants Crew. I'm glad he lives on in Chalice World at least - fittingly, as it's where I first bumped into him. 3;

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Interesting, I'd thought the Church enforcers' lanterns were tied to storyline progress! I noticed the badass Iron Cross duo guarding Ammy's door vanished around the time of Eileen's downfall. I miss 'em, that's a badass grapple they have (smashing the head of the cross into your ribs, then hauling you skyward for Extreme Frenzy Action - not that they're any less trivial to snipe than the rest of their gang)

Speaking of, I remember hearing SoulsBorne had some Berserk references... the Church Rifle's wide-brimmed hat, and later Alfy's Wheel Of Breaking that he busted out when he lost his marbles, totally brought to mind Mozgus and his goons from the Conviction arc.

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A glimpse of melancholy daylight? Hell yeah, we totally Vagrant Story now. :cool:

Was enjoying sparring with Abhorrent Beast, aka Mysterious Beggar Chalice Label. I'd assumed he couldn't be parried, at least not by gunfire... then got a random parry bopping him on the nose after his Psycho Crusher whiff. Hm! That's only the third Right Hand parry I've discovered, AFAIK, after the Church Giants and Miggy-san (Transformed R1 chops to the heads of both). Ended up putting him down on what was meant to be a dry run. Sensing a distinctly higher pressure than previous areas/depths, though still nothing near the main storyline's most harrowing encounters.

Spot the random Bell Spider doggedly trying to sneak into the room and steal my echoes while I was away. :lol: If he'd managed, I'd have been FRESH OUTTA FUCC too, with Loran III being the first Lamp I've seen where enemies will show up and kill a dozing respawn.

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God damn that's a nice haul, I'm starvin like Marvin Image

Mildly proud to catch a small but significant typo in the flavour text (makes me feel all Professional Game Tester Image). The Eye Pendant refers to "two cathedrals in the Hunter's Dream," one past the river of blood, the other housing the Research Hall. Made me wonder if there was some incoming twist, where the Hunter's Dream and Nightmare were in fact the same place (as much as "places" matter in metaphysics). Aykshually though, the Japanese text is:

狩人の悪夢には、大聖堂が2つある
Google wrote:The Hunter's Nightmare has two cathedrals
I hope they'll patch it up, maybe on PS5 - BB's a remarkably enjoyable read, I wish all my ARPGs had this much effort and style put into their inventories.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Good Doctor, do you have the Living String?
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Nope! Seems I've got a few sights left to see before heading round the back. Just found the stump. :mrgreen:

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From must have some consummate home & garden types, what a comfy joint.

Oh duh. In addition to Church Giants, Miggy, and Horace, I forgot about Undead Giants' right-hand parry. Crunch! Dats gotta hoit!
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Re: From Software 'n such

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Yeah birru.. uhh. If you dropped that brain in Mensis into the Dark..

A new elevator has appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the main building/Mergo's loft where those meatcleaver and chainwhip bitches are. Time to make some long, uncomfortable eye contact
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Haha, I did indeed take out Lampy-sama, shortly after Nursey-san (around the time this happened Image). I'll have to do my best semaphore, cheers. :cool: I did find a couple of strange elevators, and nervously crept around the abyss dropping coins, but that was a while back.

Been enjoying clearing out Lower Loran and meeting strange new friends. My favourite is the crazy-ass Sadako girl (?) who moves like the titular nightmare from Guillermo Del Toro's Mama. Very satisfying parrybait. Image

---

Holy fuck that was intense. :shock: The vulnerability, brr. It's strange, though - I must've gone down there before I found the self-destruction switch. That was very much what I was expecting, was a little sad (yet simultaneously relieved - first-rate horror) when I found seemingly just an empty pit for Yeet Roaring enemies into. Unless I just missed him, but I was pretty squirrelly down there, used up like sixty coins making a sparkly vista recalling Contra Hard Corps' game over animation.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Haha.. is the deed..done?

Meanwhile in the latest episode of Blinge gets mad at morons online
I've found a host of YT commenters that insist "Bloodborne is a metroidvania" And so are all the souls games except DeS
I might listen to such a claim about DS1. but it's ds1 only

brb, gotta go back in time and perform some abortions
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Re: From Software 'n such

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The terms "Metroidvania" and "Castleroid" are dumb to begin with, ignoring 50% of their professed equation. As shorthand, they're mildly useful. Anything more, vapour.

SOTN is a sidescrolling ARPG, like a million before it (Zelda II, Faxanadu, Battle of Olympus, Ys III). It's set in a Metroid-styled uberdungeon: game-length, moderately nonlinear, driven by character expansion. Its action is easygoing; forgiving and consequence-light, a world away from the Draculas its JP title's "X" distinguishes it from.

Dragon Slayer IV did all this, to the letter, a decade earlier. Is that game a "Metroidvania," too?

Furthermore, if Bloodborne is a "Metroidvania," so is Castlevania II - making the entire label redundant. Unless we are going to credit Nintendo's game with the entire canon of sidescrolling ARPGs?

https://shmuplations.com/castlevania/
sonnayuumi wrote:Given the “exploration action” nature of Simon’s Quest, I asked Akamatsu whether Metroid was an influence on the development. He told me, “If I had to say, I was thinking more of Konami’s own Maze of Galious.”
Metroid does predate Galious by several months (86 vs 87). Even being as charitable as possible and crediting Metroid for Galious, I don't think an umbrella so overstretched as to make the aforementioned sidescrolling APRGs (and Bloodborne) mere Metroid offshoots is good for much.

A game amenable to this silly term would be Holy Diver (FC). A genuinely Castlevania-styled action/platformer incorporating Metroidesque character expansion, and a hint of its exploration, though the path forward is always set in stone.

But then, Metroid's action is actually a lot like Castlevania's. Both are built on treacherous footing; sturdy heroes bumped to their doom by trifling nips. Metroid is distinguished by its projectile-dominant combat, floaty air handling, and absence of instakill pits. Holy Diver copies Metroid's handling, while eliminating that final distinction. Now, just like Castlevania, sudden death is often one zako bump away. HD even copies Metroid's final escape for its own climactic scene, then adds hordes of zako pests and a death penalty for falling.

But thenner, HD also lifts enemies, spells, and... a lifebar (Tecmo approves) from Zelda II - which is also full of pits, and sine-wave pests trying to bump you into them! Why do mainstream commenters liken Holy Diver's action to Castlevania's, and not to Metroid's (its handling source), or Zelda II's (if Castlevania didn't exist, this would be the pre-eminent Treachery Platformer of its day)?

I suspect it's the horror/action styling that both Konami and IREM's games share. Metroid is science fiction with mild cosmic horror, Zelda II is sword n' sorcery. Castlevania is vampiric bloodletting, down to its original JP title. HD leans more to the occult (actually prefiguring CV's later, overtly diabolic tone), but it's near enough. So even here, the term "Metroidvania" is novelty.

TLDR: Words mean things. Choose the best, most descriptive words to win the nerdfight. Image
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Re: From Software 'n such

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BIL wrote:
Been enjoying clearing out Lower Loran and meeting strange new friends. My favourite is the crazy-ass Sadako girl (?) who moves like the titular nightmare from Guillermo Del Toro's Mama. Very satisfying parrybait. Image
God I've killed so many of them. Fun fact - some of them attack you with wrapped corpses.
Blinge wrote:
brb, gotta go back in time and perform some abortions
You can't fix stupid homey. And only one - the person who came up with the term. I never understood how a game that came out in fucking 1997 gets so much god dammed credit for starting a genre.

I mean shit to add to BIL's list of games that precede SOTN by almost a decade - Wonder Boy III on the SMS has Metroid influences. And where does Zillion fit in here? Sega's answer to Metroid. Sci Fi, underground, alone, level up (though you never really get new skills), floaty jumping, and an escape sequence.

Here is what I think is the non TAS/glitch less WR - https://www.speedrun.com/zillion/run/9yo5nljz

EDIT - Nope. Here is a run from the same guy posted earlier this month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyYqvOP6Rd0

A truly impressive game to speed run based on the randomness of the room codes.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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I'm glad to see some Metroidvania moniker hate. It drives me crazy. Search Action does sound odd, much like Immersive Sim, which drives me bonkers, but I guess I can't think of anything more suitable that doesn't encompass other games that are slightly different. There needs to be a committee to settle this. We need an Ace Attorney-like where Choices Matter to solve this Dilemma-Lite.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Oh I like the monniker when it stays where it belongs. It's a functional term for ease of description, altho I must note; it is used way more for modern offerings than past. I tend to lean towards functionality with genre labels rather than watertight accuracy.


sotn, smet (need to replay it tbh), hollow knight, ori, axiom verge. *nods*
Ive never seen a 3D game that genuinely fits. DarkSouls1 is the closest. Bloodborne!? GTFO
I also don't have a problem with applying the title retroactively.. :mrgreen:

I don't know if Wonderboy III qualifies tbh, it's a fringe case. It's hard for me to consider it one when there isn't really a cohesive world but more new scrolling screens hidden behind doors. Maybe that's a me problem.

Haha oh god, I don't dare start the thread Drauch. As a forum we're not mature enough to have a civil discussion.. maybe it should be invite only.
I don't want THAT GUY to come in and say "ackshully call of duty is a metroidvania because you can see the chain of influences between Zelda 3 and Night Trap."
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Re: From Software 'n such

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fuck immersive sim. people have tried to explain what that means to me many times and i still don't get it.
no i'm not dumb u r
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Trust me, I felt bad even typing in immersive sim (gag). I don't like going too crazy with semantics, but fuuuuuuck this one sucks. Metroidvania? Yeah, it's goofy but it at least makes sense. But not the former. What is it, am I simulating immersion? Is it a JC Denton simulator? I get pretty immersed in most FPS games or RPGs. When I play a Sim game I'm typically simulating something, like life, or a more realistic interpretation of an occupation or construction or something. Getting maaaaaaaaaad.

(sorry in advance for the hopefully short derail!)
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Just took Laurence out solo. Not sure of the NG cycle - 3 or 4 - but what a fuck he is.

He has so much health.

I got cornered by his vomit in phase three and thought for sure I was done. I somehow quick stepped out of it and dodged his swipes while I did it.

Ill take it.
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Re: From Software 'n such

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Blistering lava-hot take: Larry convinced me that, while they're great spectacles, the game's most massive bosses (mainly Paarl, 1Reborn and Ebrietas, somewhat Cleric/Ammy/Larry) came at some cost to visibility. The midsized monster bosses - chiefly Marvin and Abby of Horrence - are just as intimidating, maybe moreso, with their vicious feral pugilism, and best of all - I can get in close without losing visual orientation, or getting a loving view of my own taint. (I know avoiding lock and going manual helps a lot there - still early days, just getting into NG+)

Loran's Bloodletting Beast is FOOKIN HUGE MON - but maybe due to his using Abby's cagey middleweight moveset, I find him similarly easy to parse, while likewise putting up a vicious fight. (I rove the way Bloody and Abby deliberately punish your healing animation! RAWR, STAY OFF THE BLAHD SONNY JIM)

I have a good routine with my homie Parl (I drop the second "a" when we chillin Image). I don't like fighting Parl head-on, either my build, my skills or my equipment makes it a losing war of attrition. So instead, at the start of the fight, be we in Yargy or Lower Loran, I run in, unlocked. Parl will try to fuck my face up with a big sweeping electro-claw, so I diveroll through it. Now I'm under him, and can do damage. Parl will do one of three things in response:

DENGEKI NO MEOW MIX:
1) Bugzapper. Needs a carefully-timed diveroll to evade. I aim to stay under him - fleeing the AOE undoes my advance.
2) A mean slap. See above, but the timing's subtly different.
3) Parl will run away like the overgrown housecat asshole he is, and I'll have to chase him down. Repeat pursuit.

These all rely on extra-visual cues and learned timing, combined with manual camera tracking. I often can't see Parl in toto, but in aggregate, I know what he's up to. I fought him immediately after Marvin, and got my ass roasted to a screenful of blue fur (and Parl mugging at the camera like an asshole! oh you!) repeatedly. Once the above sank in, all good, roasted Parl's nuts on an open Flamesprayer.

He and the other megabeasts remind me not of Hard 3D Action yardstick DMC1 (even its titans are only ROM-scaled tiddlers by BB standard, though Kamiya's boss design gives them intense presence), but Castlevania 64. Before a barrage of rotting produce flies my way (I will quickstep it! apologies, reflex! I had a fuckin quickstep dream the other night), lemme say I love CV64, so nice I bought it not twice, nor thrice, but fuckin FICE (both editions in US + JP, yeee boyeee I'm ballin!) - but its massive bosses can be a handful similarly.

I feel like they should've either added a "boss cam" option (I'd be so down controlling a tiny little dude doing BIG FUCKOFF DAMAGE), or kept the beasts a bit less treetop-tall. I don't think it'd harm the aesthetic. Marvin is palpably starvin, and Kozmo is a horror/action landmark for the ages - easily the most terrifying encounter of my first run. Among the most intimidating (yet pitiable, which makes his primal rage even more unnerving) bosses I've seen in any game period.

Anyhoo, I'm sure I'll get better at tracking the big dudes with time. I should stress, I don't find any of them less rewarding to kill - it's not a hard complaint per se, only a tweak I'd be amenable to. I'm more a fan of the nose-to-nose duels, they're what drew me to BB/From. Besides Koz, that Cainhurst shithead who took out Eileen was perhaps my most intense fight. Not terribly looking forward to killing him again, judging by NG+'s buffed enemies being barely less deadly than the first run's. I sure as shit will though Image

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I gotta write up my last hurrah but I'm beat, will return as this ghastly jaunt is far the fuck from over. TLDR: whacked Gear Man (wasn't gonna submit, loved his leering intro, but was undeniably overlevelled after Loran, Isz and DLC... I was thinking "Gramps you talk an ill game, but I'm about to fuck your ass harder than Alfy's choirmaster, and then I'm gonna stomp out your teeth and do the same to your mouth, unless you have dentures, which will save us both some hassle." GEARMAN DOWN - then I got GROPED BY MOON PREZ :shock: Creepy. Teh HOONT begin again! Dr. Biruford will return to take down that last surviving creepy fuck. Image
Stevens wrote:God I've killed so many of them. Fun fact - some of them attack you with wrapped corpses.
I totally missed that :shock: :mrgreen: That's the third common BB enemy I know of that can batter you to death with the dead (I'm guessing whoever's in Sacky-kun's bag isn't doing so great... and just last night while making some GIFs, I noticed Carty Boi's projectile is not a JoJo Vampire-style high pressure blood jet, but a an entire fucking impaled corpse fired at hypersonic javelin velocity :o

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...rad. :lol:

Whomped Central, Oldetown, Yarghy and Hemwick, then snuck into Cathedral Ward proper via the Workshop before calling it a night. Loved seeing Hemwick in daylight, especially as its dark places (teh barn mostly) are just as murky. I kinda like the lack of Killa Squad, feels more organic without them popping up every time you hit a new clearing.

Had a weird ambient noise experience post-Witch boss. Standing near the room's entrance produced an incredibly violent roaring, like a storm gale... it reminded me of KCET's Silent Hill quartet, particularly SH2, which loves occasionally giving random places utterly bloodcurdling ambience, for no more reason than to fuck with you (clock room return, a blind angle into the dark where a corpse had inexplicably appeared earlier... hairs on the back of my neck are standing up at the memory, teeth-gritting horror!

this is why I'm so adamant to play BB and other freakier games at night, as SH1-4 and ReMake (and MGS3 >_>) were enjoyed in a literal ruined house I was caretaking during repairs. that said, the Depth 5 chalices taught me that BB is an intense affair even in breezy afternoon light)

Unfortunately, the game crashed right as I went to save a video, and from light googling, seems it's a known bug. Still, cool.

Discovered on accident (AH SWEAR) that you can set Hungry Harv's church the fuck on fire Image :shock: :lol: Was up in the rafters, went to chuck a pebble at a Bag Boi, but I goofed and pressed R2 - smacking what I now know was an oil urn :oops: This not only sent me crashing to the ground for BROOTAL fall damage, it also dumped a shit-ton of Napalm onto the beastly congregation. Yeeee :cool:

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GAAHH GODDAMNIT I SET HARV'S FEETS ON FIRE I'M SORRY MARV 3;<

This is permanent too, the fire will still be raging if you return. Sadly, speaking of ambience, it seems to end the area's awesomely morbid moan/groan. I will remember to savour on future runs!

Didn't realise Big Bag Boi (actually females, going by the game files)'s scream, besides being startling, actually hypes up the smaller beasts, and also any nearby wolves. Small beasts will lose their pyrophobia, and wolves... tbh I dunno, but this is why the one lurking past the jumpscare wolf in Ol' Yharny has red eyes - the BBB in the alleyway buffs him with a scream as you approach.

Can't overstate my love for Ol' Yharny, perhaps neck and neck with Forbidden Woods for my favourite area. I really go for ruin and overgrowth... the "nuclear winter" effect, with all the ash and smoke in the air making lower reaches practically night-dark is a killer detail. As is the river underneath it all. Beasts need a water source, right? Such a sense of trespass, not unlike Innsmouth what feels like a lifetime later on.

AH FUCK ME I DELETED ALL MUH CLIPS >_< I loved how this run's Djura went. Quickstep through gunshot, followed by Yeet Roar - poor foolish, kind Djura flying off into the distance, then hitting the ground so hard his badge is left hovering in midair. :lol:

I know now why Squire calls this desert island material, it totally is. If I wasn't wiped (and if it weren't obscenely late) I'd fire it up now. So much to experiment with.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Stevens »

Great write up Bil.

Now maybe we can do some jolly co op? Or get a few of us together for co op and invasions if people are down.

Really interested in a boom hammer build, but I'm not ready to start another character yet. I am quite fond of my current one.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

I'd love to give co-op a go, but sadly my place seems to have moth-eaten internet, damn thing struggles hard just to upload short clips. :lol: I'll have to give it a shot tonight though, just to see if it'll even let me online. I've had this apartment forever and we've never figured out why the internet's so shit, my school and later office connections are like IRL eldritch devices. However, I can't so much as browse these threads due to workplace nanny. It says my posting style contains too many "threats of violence" (libellous! only on the sacred ground of KMF is my hog unleashed! :evil:), and "personal weapons" :shock: (as opposed to impersonal ones - I too have trouble leaving my trusty tools behind, we have been through Some Shit together :cool:)

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BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAA Image

...

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HE ROLLIN LMAO :shock: Stop it I can't concentrate! Seriously lost lost my shit discovering this chap, zombies kept whacking me on the back of the head. :lol: Dunno what's more impressive, them rolls or DEM ROLLS Image

Hang on - is that guy a Souls reference? I saw lots of dudes rollin around @ the speed of sound / chasin dat booty in those. Hm!

Reminds me of GRRM. TANGENT TYME: happened across a copy of The Forsaken, a chapter from the upcoming (Image) Winds of Winter, which I printed out two years ago, when it was TOTES COMING SOON. Great stuff. If Georgy's good at two things, it's 1) loving descriptions of badass armour and weapons, and 2) dynastic tales of valour, evil, and evil valour.

“The bleeding star bespoke the end. These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits.”

Ah jeeze, now I'm blue remembering that utter piece of dog shit that was TV Euron. Book Euron would glossectomise him, then strap him to the mast and run a train on him so big and so black, nobody would ever so much as whisper the word "diversity" around HBO again.

But then there's Victarion, who mercifully wasn't in the show at all. Vic would interrogate TV Euron, then strangle him and chuck his corpse to the sharks. Not as diverse as his vile bro? LOL NOOB, Vic is missing a hand! :cool:

I'm actually kinda interested in his contributions to Elden Ring, despite my preference for BB's NeoVictorian cosmo-oneiric horror, and my being absolutely done with GRRM's horse shit. :lol: A From take on the Vicky & Euron show could be rueful jet-black farce. A bit like that gang war I kicked off between Alfy and Cainhurst!

Might as well get something outta the dude >_> Friendship with A SCHLONG OF ASS ON FIRE ended! Now, BUMSOFT is my best friend :shock:

Gotta say, slowpoke.jpg I know, but the post-boss PREY SLAUGHTERED (and the rarer NIGHTMARE SLAIN) fwoosh is up there with the best of laser-precise JP prose, the DESTROYED AT A TIMEs and MISSION ALL OVERs. Never gets old.

Aku wa yurusan!
Spoiler
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Also gotta say I did Ammy-chan wrong. She's not a visibility issue at all compared to Ricky and Larry, imo. Her room's similar to Larry's, but her moveset's a lot more conventionally push/pull.

Fuck me though, she reminds me of why I'm leery to use projectiles in battle. Such a windup/cooldown on the Numbing Mist, she backhanded the shit outta me on a misplaced throw. Poor Ammy. Aaand just got mildly punked, my Insight went over 60 post-Ammy for free Mergo FM. Yeee Image

Screams for a Maxell parody, I'm sure it's been done right? Got some cracking side-on clips. :cool:

Getting more used to really chasing after bosses with front quickstep now. What a great mechanic Image It's not "new" to me, per se - fairly screams PS2 Shinobi, as does the devastating power of hard hits to the exposed spine - but pairing it with this punishing Castlevaniaesque momentum (going in hard might save you, but make the wrong call and you will be beaten like a rug) and pulverisingly heavy blows is. My stamina's not great, probably needs work there. I wanna start mastering the Saif too, I suspect it's meant to be graduated to from Saw. Hard to leave the sheer practicality of my hideously toothy pal though. So much blood VS beasts, SHRRRRKKK. It's enough to make a man sick. It's enough to raise a man's prick. Image


Beasts all over teh shop
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Blinge
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Blinge »

BIL wrote:
Hang on - is that guy a Souls reference? I saw lots of dudes rollin around @ the speed of sound / chasin dat booty in those. Hm!
Haha I've always thought he is, yeah!
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

I knew he was reminding me of something... :mrgreen:

Burinju does Hunter's Nightmare not scale up as much in NG+? I was figuring it wouldn't, being DLC and all. While I've had to watch my ass in the OG areas - easier on account of XP both in-game and in-brain, but I can definitely die if I fuck around - HN feels like it did when I left off. Quite comfy tbh.

God I love Boomy-kun's VA. :lol: Takes me back to that amazing first hour in Central. If I was back home and not in a tiny flat next to nice ol' granny, I'd scream along with him.

BLOOOD! NOOOOOW!

This is the first time I noticed - not only is the Boomer who attacks if you cheese those scurred Beasts on the roof (by Larry's cathedral steps) a different spawn from the one lurking the courtyard, he's also a Red Eyes variant (like the Saif Killa whose statistical superiority convinced me to leave the DLC alone until I'd finished the OG areas, and the Cutter Killa beyond the Nightmare Church, who gets that SHA-WEEET intro with his shadow on the wall).

TY 4 Vermin drop, Boomy-kun ;-;7 He gets a pretty nice intro too - pan the camera up to see him dive out of the tower overhead, comin' for that booty! (and comin' to kill your nosy, kill-stealing fuck ass!) Saif Killa meanwhile plays it cool, you might run right into him standing stock-still in the tall grass, I know I did first time. :o

...wait. That's a tasty clanking noise. WTF? Look at this varmint tryin' to sneak me while I'm typing this post. :shock: You motherfucker!
THE EIEN NO SENJOU REMAINS TERRIBLY UNFORGIVING Image Image

Speaking of fucking around, discovered FRENZY CANCEL - if you're about to explode Hokuto Shinken-style, and you're in V-ATK when the bar pops, the Frenzy will be nullified. Dunno if that applies to other afflictions? Handy vs Ammy's guards, in case one claps you with his Cross Of Frenzy, and I supposed Winter Lanterns, though fuck those things up the ass seriously. Still don't know a good tack beyond rush in, shred 'em, then bolt down ME PILLZ to quell the incoming EBOLA NO KEN. They do have a very comfy parry window though! Hmm.

Ah jeeze. Image Like a nice lasagne stowed in the fridge, HN reads even better the next time around.

Image

Oh wow :o I spotted the Miggy head, first time (hard not to, with my noob self cowering from the Front Gats in that nook, AND the Side Gat that'll scurr you for not diverolling past the barrage and taking out the gunner). Didn't step back to see it was an entire fossilised/petrified/dustified Miggy, though. Poor ol' Larry in his burning repose hits different too, now that I know it's his remains on the altar behind Ammy, and him in the memory opposite Willem.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Stevens »

Yeah Winter Lanterns aren't too bad once you know how to deal with them, and they are almost always solo.

Two charged l2's from the church pick will also send them off proper. "I want to hug you" HUG THIS. Whomp. Scrappppppe.

For as close to perfect as the game is, it isn't. Their grab range is some bullshit.
My lord, I have come for you.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

Ahh, good reminder! Church Pick was one of my... ImageImageImage PICKS LMAO for NG+ buff.

Image

What an utter primal horror this weapon is - hurts just to look at. Image Not in the fantastically obscene manner of Bloodletter, which legit looks like some vicious pathogen you'd see under a microcope... just pure function, like a Hard Actionized version of the warhammer Bobby B used to cave in Rhaegar's sternum at the Trident. God dammit! I'm gonna nerd out x2 if I don't keep the GRRM shit at bay.

I'm looking at fooling with Uncanny Saw too. Not exactly a departure, but I'm liking that Triangular gem slot. Misadventures in Loran and Isz left me with a haul the OG Saw can't support. Not that it isn't serving me well, but what's an ARPG without The Tweakening?

Dolly's pretty tall for a chick huh, must be a Dutch model. Also had some cracking shots of me and Gaz out on the town too, I'd never noticed how he towers over poor Dr. Biruford (a self-described brawny military veteran, having seen many fierce and desperate 1CCs in a dimension foreign to this Image). Or maybe my dude's just a bit short. >_>

How cruel, Gaz's house being just the other side of the gate where he can be summoned to teh hoont. "When Daddy forgets us, we play this song for him and he calms down" Christ BB has some sad shit :shock:

Speaking of... seeking to destroy Moon Prez, I decided to experiment a bit this run, sending NPCs to horrid fates and picking a fight with poor Simon. Didn't want to, but knowing his sad end - poor bastard couldn't quite make it to the beach - and having done him a solid by taking out Cosmo after, not to mention that telephone toughguy jagoff Captain DingDong, this is non-canon Dr Biruford, imo. Lawful Evil run. Image A dangerous chap, though Black Beast Fist is muteki VS mansized non-boss foes, as ever.

Speaking of x2... I didn't realise the nearby Beastman Hunter (green chap with dual Beast Claws) is actually using Yeet Roar. Thought he was just losing his shit, like most of the blood-drunk hunters in HN. I only did this for a laugh in the first run (OG?), but it's legit a great way to fuck him up. :lol: To say nothing of foes fought near death drops, the natural habitat of KOKUJUUKEN aka Parl Fist Image

Image

Forbidden Woods, more like givin' me wood Image The rustic killing floor I dreamed of long ago with MGS3, a valiant effort of the time held back by mandatory load breaks. FW was one of those rare "can't believe my luck" situations in game design, thing goes on and on and on, ever downward. That bit where I had a dude's head exploding with snakes down the lane, a living wall of pork thundering obliviously past my perch, and an army of hydras headed up by a jumbo SMB2 motherfucker creeping outta the bushes was exactly what I wanted from a horror/action night in the woods.

While it's not got a showstopper boss or cutscene, it's that interstitial nature that helps makes it my favourite locale. I love it when devs take "A to B" areas as deadly-seriously as the marquee spots. Also home to Valtyr, another crazy motherfucker I'm gonna pick a scrap with and probably yeet down a windmill. I like him tbh - good Yorkshire accent and a blistering psychopathic hatred of Vermins. Who likes vermins really? Pfft!

...come to think of it, I wonder if he's the Younger Brother mentioned in the Butcher Mask's description. The one-eyed hood rings a bell. And he sure as shit seems crazy enough to have been raised by snakes. Hm. Then again, "BEAST EATER" recalls the tale of the Constable's Gloves. What a lovely work this is. While I'd snap up that rumoured quickloading 60FPS PS5 release in a heartbeat (as long as it's handled by From themselves, or at least copied direct from original code - no interest whatsoever in a remake), this is the kind of story I hope isn't followed up on, at least not directly/literally. The last narrative game I enjoyed with this balance of rugged content to troubled mystery was my beloved Silent Hill 2.

...which technically did exactly what I just railed against (a sequel to an evergreen horror mystery), but did so with a vanishingly rare grace (familiar setting, sparingly expanded upon, telling an unrelated and comparably harrowing story - arguably making SH1 stronger than it already was in isolation). Didn't even involve the OG creator Keiichiro Toyama. So I guess I'd chance me arm if the right people were involved.

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EDIT: Bwaaa, I love this game so much. Popped into Central to test out me Church Pick techs prior to buffing it up, and gave a door a knock. Stood there enthralled by an unfamiliar voice, yet it was speaking needlingly familiar words. Then I realised it was none other than That Bitch Patches, who I'd heard from in OG at the Forbidden Woods' kennels.

I'd probably have gone straight to that same cabin, and continued with the delusion that Patches was actually attached to it. Instead... so the bahstahd is able to find you anywhere in the world? Makes me feel like this place and time is more metaphysical than it lets on. A dream of a place, rather than a place proximate to dreams. Maybe the "Nightmare Frontier" is being arrived at from the interior, and not the reverse as I'd assumed.

"Not even death," huh. Yeah Simon I'm definitely thinking I helped you and a bunch of other poor SOBs (and Marny-chan 3;) out with that Kozm business. Image "You know not the value you possess..." Patches, did you use me to whack poor Miggy? Image Or was Miggy supposed to get me, to keep me from some further goal (like assassinating Gear Man / Moon Prez?). Hm. One thing I do know, amidst all this wonderful, Hard Action-driven mystery: unlike OG canon, with its amiable wandering chiropractor, this time around, Patches will have good reason to shit himself when I drop through the ceiling behind him. Image

No one is safe ♫
When I close my eyes ♫
I've come to take your life ♫


...I'm not whacking poor long-suffering Dolly. Or Hooker-san/Emo-chan. Or me nan. I will be disappointed if those are on the cards. >_< Unless one's a TLB obviously. Image
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Blinge »

I need to sit and read biruford's posts in detail and answer almost every point

but not now i'm tired after a long day of reeling in the gash....


...


Anyway aw shit mane I've never really buffed or tried the church pick much! i do like the relentless downsmashing.
Also, find yourself some beast claws and slot the Beast rune. that's a wailing of a time.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by Blinge »

now and then I enjoy having a good bitch with my kingsfield bros on discord..
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

No rush, it'll keep :cool: also got more time for teh hoont now that daylight's not an issue, so imma rabbit on more besides Image

Image

Fuckin rawwwk Image Bloody brawling in the streets. Bitchass Choirmen can attack me five-on-one and bring their Giants and dogs too - these punks can't withstand an Executioner. Image What? Y-yeah, ok, I grabbed my official hoodie off a dead dude at Cainhurst. Fuck you ok I got Alfy on speed dial :oops:

EDIT: Ayup, Frenzy Cancel works a treat on Winter Lanterns. I almost wonder if that was intentional, given how reliable (relative to their extreme threat level) the parry layup is. Triggers without fail when you enter range, has a lengthy (and nicely symmetrical) startup animation, then a big obvious lunge that's just asking for a LEAD SALAD Image

Wait. I just realised mid-sentence. Do Lampies even have other physical attacks? I can't recall seeing any. :o Not that they're great to be around; I could easily be mistaken.

Delighted to see you can hit up Nightmare Frontier immediately after Ammy. :mrgreen: Would've done Yarghy mkII, if that was available, but I'm guessing the big doors don't open until Rom Jeremy's demise. Still, this works out even better, given how badly Miggy got screwed in my OG.

I'm shit at playing villains. Stumbled into Eileen vs Henry_K, stomped the Yellow Devil before I realised what I was doing - AGEEN! (ta for gear Henny-san, lifesaver vs BLACK BEAST TYPE). I think I have a chivalry complex Burinju :oops: Oh well. I told em, no women no kids. Unless they get hinky. Image

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It's too late mom, I've done some horrendous shit to man and dog alike 3;

Speaking of, put down the pair of hostile hunters in Frontier... the first didn't really register, but the second made me think - Emo-chan's wearing the Black Church Doctor set when you find her in Yarghy, isn't she? Hm.

See you around, Migs. I'll hit you up post-Ammy on my next OG bro, whenever that is. Probably in like a year. :lol: Definitely the easiest of the game's superheavyweights, imo. It's all due to his passive moveset. Phase 1 is near-harmless. Phase 2, when he gets (Image) ARMED AND DANGEROUS... his lasers (both the heat tracer and the concussion shots) can still be sidestepped, or even side-walked easily. Poison discharge, just hang back. His huge, double-overhand slams, provided you don't run smack into them, are simply another opportunity to chop his downturned head (RAD "miniature galaxy" effect).

The dangers are 1) his horizontal sweeping blows, which hurt and can tangle you up, and 2) his jump. The former can yet again be backed away from, the latter I dodged like six times consecutively by rolling toward him, pretty much a beta ver of Ludwig's bellyflop.

Giving him a quick, scurrying forward charge (I'm surprised they didn't, with that arachnophobia-inducing body shape... I just realised, I'm thinking of Okami's spider bosses) would change everything. I suspect it just wasn't the boss design they wanted, though. He's a big, majestic icon that isn't troubled to chase you down, and leaves himself wide-open with every earth-shattering god-slam. TBH, with how frenzied this game's bosses tend to be, I like the change of pace.
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Re: From Software 'n such

Post by BIL »

Man fuck, I'm not gonna run up on Valtr. Man is my cross-dimensional KMF brother. I know a hardened VG KILLA when I see one! Death to all VERMINS Image

All
Vermin
Are
To
Be
Crooshed
Image


Wait. Why am I seeing vermins everywhere. Oh well. Got a great big fuckoff spikehammer to crush 'em with Image

Church Pick Transformed L2 = secret sauce on my MURDERBURGER Image Rude bunt that knocks even heavyweights off-balance; great for ruthlessly shutting down momentum both on approach and evasion. Reminds me of Gratia, fittingly with both attacks replacing your gun. Enjoying having big, crowd-reaping horizontal sweeps on tap - the Saw's Transform L2 can do 'em, but it's dangerous with the startup.

The charge attack is indeed a riot, Stevens. :lol: As if the godhammering first hit wasn't enough (I've yet to see a creature it doesn't leave pancaked... seems to have an explosion AOE too), the followup golf swing is the most functionally satisfying thing I've seen yet. Sends the poor fucks flying Image

Haven't used the sword form much, tbh it's the first sword-type weapon I've even used other than a bit of Rakuyo, whose monster hitboxes I was enjoying. Rakuyo, Pick and Saif, those are the three Right Hand armaments I'm messing with mostly.
Last edited by BIL on Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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