From Software 'n such

[Sumez]

If you want to play Elden Ring on PS5, get the PS4 version and play that. The visible difference between the two is really small, but performance is much better

[BIL]

PS4 ver on PS5 seems the best way to play ER on Sony console. I had a great time with it... teleport/respawn loadtimes are impressively trivial, outside of the barely-longer loads @ endgame areas in base and DLC. Nothing like Dark Souls 3 via BC, where the base game loads lightning-quick, but the DLCs get almost Bloodborne-long. (10sec, DS3/BB's upper limit, isn't insufferable; but it's far longer than my mask ROM-bred ass can overlook, outside of exceptionally good games like these)

Its 60fps seemed nigh-unshakeable, too. Insane levels of onscreen action without the tiniest hitches. I do know a couple specific, particle-wracked scenarios where slowdown can occur, typically involving pollen; say, having five gigantic flowers all doing their BEE STORM while on fire and exploding in tall grass. (spot in Weeping Peninsula, near Maggie) But it's strictly in that situational realm, 95% of the time you can plunge through the maddest scenes with confidence.

Heard about PC framedrops @ the DLC finale, never saw anything on my end. I'm sure their graphics were fancier, but it's never worth compromising fluidity for, imo. Hard Gaming is as much felt as seen, a tactile process; something shitbird poseurs like Digital Eclipse will never understand.

I do like the PS5/PC's taller grass, being a rustic rambling aficionado, and will probably replay on PC some years down the line, when I can get it at similarly rock-solid 60fps. Again, didn't seem worth tolerating framerate drops for.

Ohshi- EDIT: Yeah what Sumez said ;3

[Lemnear]

If you want to play Elden Ring on PS5, get the PS4 version and play that. The visible difference between the two is really small, but performance is much better

It's hard to insert the PS4 version disc into a PS5 Digital , Yes I know I could have put the external reader but that bump on the console is obscene!

Hard Gaming is as much felt as seen, a tactile process; something shitbird poseurs like Digital Eclipse will never understand.

Ah...Digital Eclipse are not good ? (at least with things like Atari50 or Tetris Forever???), because they seemed a bit "M2-like", with a lot of care and a bit documentary-like too, which makes it very cool.
I've never tried anything by them, but maybe that's why there are no topics about them here...if they suck

Anyway I had to kill Patches, his clothes are too nice *-* and they look better on me.

[BIL]

Second time through, with all my fancy endgame gear, I accidentally killed Patches mid-surrender. He threw his hands up at the start of an Eleonora MONDO CHOMBO and I couldn't stop so he got mowed down, felt bad man. 3; I actually thought the game would break it up, maybe I coulda manually broken the lock-on and aimed myself away from him...

LOVED his dying quote though.

Spoiler

"Well... It was bound to happen some day.
What a shitshow..."

I never kill him in DS1, BB or ER. DS3... he's rather tough there and it's a good scrap, so I'm 50/50 on it.

DS3 Endgame Spoilers

As Lapp, I mean. Treacherous fucker can take - and give - a vicious beating, and his weapon art can be nasty in that tiny, ledge-bound cell! Explains why he's so damn strong versus the Demon Prince.

Ah...Digital Eclipse are not good ? (at least with things like Atari50 or Tetris Forever???), because they seemed a bit "M2-like", with a lot of care and a bit documentary-like too, which makes it very cool.
I've never tried anything by them, but maybe that's why there are no topics about them here...if they suck

I bought SNK 40th Anniversary specifically for Search And Rescue, only to find they hadn't bothered to fully emulate its rotary controls. You've got to manually hold [right stick] in place to strafe; otherwise your dude will just aim in whatever direction he's moving. Imagine a DOOM port where strafing left causes you to look in that direction, and you've got to hold [right] to counteract it.

On top of that, a potential workaround destroys the game's framerate. On top of that, both sticks randomly freeze up, forcing you to waggle them frantically to unfreeze them. This happens in several other titles in the collection including Ikari, Dogosoken, and Guevara. Nothing improves do-or-die arcade gaming like randomly freezing controls!

So I said "Wow this is fucked" and personally asked the producer about a patch, and was told that it was now "super old" (less than two years...) and none of this would ever be fixed. Then I found out it was even more fucked at release. This was enough for me to write off DE.

Then they released a collection of TMNT games including the arcade beaters, which have something disgusting like 8f additional input lag, and went on record saying it didn't matter because there'll "always be input lag." As if +1f and +8f are the same thing.

(I roll my eyes hard at comments like "Well I could 1CC it so the lag can't be too bad." I can 1CC Gun.Smoke, a game that reliably skullfucks people, on the noticeably laggy Capcom Arcade Stadium. (PS4) It feels like shit compared to the PS1 port and MAME. Don't people enjoy playing their games?)

So yeah, in short, fuck Digital Eclipse. They're not serious archivists like M2 or Hamster. They're nostalgia merchants serving up slop to the lowest common denominator. Could throw in comments from key staff about 80s/90s games not being worth playing without rewind - a feature that would certainly help when your controls are randomly freezing up - but that's just overkill.

I don't know if their more recent products are less shit. It'd be nice. I'd rather Hamster finish porting the rest of the games they ruined on SNK40th, like Search And Rescue.

[ryu]

It runs like total shit on PS5 too lol.

Is there no option to prioritize framerate over graphics?

[Lemnear]

Second time through, with all my fancy endgame gear, I accidentally killed Patches mid-surrender. He threw his hands up at the start of an Eleonora combo ender and I couldn't stop so he got mowed down, felt bad man. 3;

LOVED his dying quote though.

Spoiler

"Had to happen sometime. What a shitshow..."

Yes the audio is always the same (in ENG I mean), but the subtitles translate it for some reason into this (retranslated from the text):

Spoiler

"Had to happen sometime...what a pile of shit!"

He's still my favorite character,

Spoiler

I love how it's implicitly explained in DS3 that he's some sort of dimensional traveler, he himself claims to have "visited 1000 worlds and that all were dominated by greed". I like to think it's THE SAME PATCHES in all the titles.

, too bad he's not in Dark Souls 2...but in 2 there are Creighton and Pate who are totally psychopathic and dangerous.

Spoiler

One is the Patches of the moment (Pate), the other pretends to be a knight but is a ruthless murderer and each accuses the other of being a coward/liar.
The shocking truth at the end of their quest is that they are both shits...if you save Creighton, he will try to kill you because there must be no witnesses...but if you save Pate, he will give you the keys to his house which is nearby and tells you that there is a chest with a precious object that he wants to give you as a reward. In reality when you open the chest it explodes immediately killing you.
That thing shocked me, I fell all over myself, but when he said "I'll give you the keys to my house", I totally trusted him, that is, it wasn't the usual thing like "hey look there, there's a treasure, take it!", he gave me the keys to his house! He seemed reliable at that point, i.e. YOU SAVED HIS LIFE!!! Instead he places a BOMB in a chest for you! (in his "alleged" home)...
also when you return to him, Pate is not there, he will disappear from the game forever.

BTW
I remember you wanted the SNK 40th Anniversary (and said it was shit) but I didn't know it was theirs
Thanks for the heads up >_>

[Lemnear]

It runs like total shit on PS5 too lol.

Is there no option to prioritize framerate over graphics?

Yes , there are (and even raytracing) BUT:

Quality ranges from 40 to 50fps in native 4K.
Performance ranges from 50 to 60fps, unstable, in dynamic 4K, down to a minimum of 1512p [Digital Foundry].
RayTracing is like Quality mode but tends more towards the low end and only works in some areas.

The problem is pop-in everywhere in every mode.

[BIL]

I remember you wanted the SNK 40th Anniversary (and said it was shit) but I didn't know it was theirs
Thanks for the heads up >_>

Hand on heart, Search And Rescue is so phenomenally good, I actually don't mind keeping SNK40th around for it. The busted controls are a shame, but it reminds me of when I used to play rad games in busted emulation in the late 90s. Some fun to be had. I would just get a PCB, but I'm loathe to get into those until I can open an arcade or at least lend out to one. Something for later in life.

I hope it'll appear on ACA someday, like a chunk of other games on there did - TANK, Ikari, Dogosoken, Guevara, ASO, Sasuke vs Commander, and Psycho Soldier are all perfect on ACA, as are Athena, Datsugoku, and Ikari III, even though those three suck imo. Would love to see ACA Battle Field, Bermuda Triangle, Vanguard, and especially the rad hori STG, Genshitou 1930s, too.

But Search And Rescue is the best topdown rotary run/gun they or their rivals DECO ever did, imo. One of those rare perfectly-balanced arcade games. It's generous on mobility and firepower, and parlays that directly into white-knuckle intensity. Immense style too; a fire-breathing pastiche of Carpenter's biohorrific Thing and Cameron's xeno-militant Aliens, given a dark jolt of the occult unlike either.

Ah, anyway. Enough wish-thinking on my part. I should make use of this PS5 to enjoy some 60fps Sekiro, that was my #1 motivation after DS3 and ER. I hear The Evil Within runs at 60fps too. That's pretty much why I got this machine, the bump to God's Framerate and quick loadtimes. I just can't be arsed to sort out a gaming PC right now. Even when I do, it'll be primarily for capturing my console gameplay. Or 60fps quickloading Bloodborne.

Yes the audio is always the same (in ENG I mean), but the subtitles translate it for some reason into this (retranslated from the text):

Spoiler

"Had to happen sometime...what a pile of shit!"

He's still my favorite character,

Spoiler

I love how it's implicitly explained in DS3 that he's some sort of dimensional traveler, he himself claims to have "visited 1000 worlds and that all were dominated by greed". I like to think it's THE SAME PATCHES in all the titles.

, too bad he's not in Dark Souls 2...but in 2 there are Creighton and Pate who are totally psychopathic and dangerous.

Spoiler

One is the Patches of the moment (Pate), the other pretends to be a knight but is a ruthless murderer and each accuses the other of being a coward/liar.
The shocking truth at the end of their quest is that they are both shits...if you save Creighton, he will try to kill you because there must be no witnesses...but if you save Pate, he will give you the keys to his house which is nearby and tells you that there is a chest with a precious object that he wants to give you as a reward. In reality when you open the chest it explodes immediately killing you.
That thing shocked me, I fell all over myself, but when he said "I'll give you the keys to my house", I totally trusted him, that is, it wasn't the usual thing like "hey look there, there's a treasure, take it!", he gave me the keys to his house! He seemed reliable at that point, i.e. YOU SAVED HIS LIFE!!! Instead he places a BOMB in a chest for you! (in his "alleged" home)...
also when you return to him, Pate is not there, he will disappear from the game forever.

DS2+DS3 Spoilers

I was a little sad to see Creighton is technically in DS3 (invades you in Irithyll, one of Rosaria's Fingers), but is a totally mute combatant. What a great memorable character, as was Pate! Perhaps they took his tongue, or maybe he gave it willingly.

Yeah, I was caught off-guard by he and Pate's nihilistic plotline, too. Was so rad standing back and watching them furiously go at it in Tseldora, I didn't know who to root for... IIRC, I sided with Pate on my first game, then left them to it in NG+. It turns out, per BB's Gehrman, it's not something to think too hard about.

[Daytime Waitress]

Heard about PC framedrops @ the DLC finale, never saw anything on my end.

I've not got a hugely beefy machine, but I can run ER on high settings very comfortably.
Yet I was frankly a little bit shocked at how badly it shit the bed in areas like the Church of Consolation when there's bugger all going on.
(The perfumer's encampment a little past the greatbridge was more understandable, even if the decision to pack that many particle-chuckers into one area wasn't).
I think what got me most was how it doesn't look that much better.
Maybe it does in super-duper ultra HD 4K or whatever and I'm just missing out?
But to not see any visual improvement and get hit with performance issues is a right kick in the sarong.

Feel a bit odd shitcanning ER for performance when I've just for the first time hit that section of Old Yarnham where the game makes sad Dreamcast noises trying to load the London Town Fog (TM).
For some reason, though, I find that kind of endearing - "ganbatte, PS4-chan".

[BIL]

I reluctantly started BB after a couple years' ACA/ShotTriggers - it was midsummer, and I insist on TEH DARK for my horror/action ents - and was amazed to hear my slim's fan for the first time.

Aha, I remember Church of Consolation. PS4 via PS5 chops a bit in the forest nearby, with the Logan cosplayer. (Mahvel, not Big Hat) The grass, I guess? Good memories... buddy kicked my ass pretty hard when I arrived on my brand new file. (technically my third run) That was when I resumed clearing out the post-capital endgame and optionals, before coming back. I love that "I shouldn't be here but fuck it" sense, in my ARPGs, but there's a sensible limit.

Also happened in BB; wandered into the DLC at early/midgame, noped out after just barely bringing down a common foe with my most savagely back-ripping ripostes, right as his six homies rolled up on the horizon.

Elden Ring DLC Ending Spoilers

Something about the DLC I didn't like; the total absence of regard from the base. I headcanon it that the DLC is meant to take place after you've cleared the base, right up to the "Start New Journey Y/N?" prompt. Everyone that would care is either fallen or gone away. Melancholy!

Bloodborne & Dark Souls III DLC Spoilers

BB has a nice nod, and DS3 a famously moving one. Well, some say "U WOT! THAZZIT?!" of the latter, but I loved it. ;w;

My solemn tribute to DS3 TRVE LastBoss AND Taito ;w;7 WARNING ITS NOT 4 NOOBS :O

[Lemnear]

I'm racking my brains trying to find the most game-melting PVE build possible, something that brutally trivialize everything until the last boss of SOTE. I want supreme optimization!

[Daytime Waitress]

My solemn tribute to DS3 TRVE LastBoss AND Taito ;w;7 WARNING ITS NOT 4 NOOBS :O

DDD's ostensibly whimsical soundtrack has such a menacing intensity to much of it that it would fit right at home <3

[BIL]

My solemn tribute to DS3 TRVE LastBoss AND Taito ;w;7 WARNING ITS NOT 4 NOOBS :O

DDD's ostensibly whimsical soundtrack has such a menacing intensity to much of it that it would fit right at home <3

Ha, true! Much of ZTT canon would make for eccentrically killer SoulsBorneRing edits... darkly enveloping "Tranquilizers" from Darius Gaiden springs to mind, as does the sunny hymnal of Gun Frontier's "To The Wilderness" (reminds of Astora/Catarina yore), and the ghastly skitterings of Metal Black's "DIO PANIC." Another app for that mythic gaming PC. (ack! my trivia brain recalls Gun Frontier technically isn't ZTT,, but I want to believe Fukumori appreciates his inclusion!)

[ryu]

I'm racking my brains trying to find the most game-melting PVE build possible, something that brutally trivialize everything until the last boss of SOTE. I want supreme optimization!

Isn't that just the sorc build with Comet Azure or whatever it's called?

[Lemnear]

I'm racking my brains trying to find the most game-melting PVE build possible, something that brutally trivialize everything until the last boss of SOTE. I want supreme optimization!

Isn't that just the sorc build with Comet Azure or whatever it's called?

I had a full-int build but it's basically like having a full dex build with a bow except that you shoot in many different ways and forms (darts, mortar, cluster, laser, etc.) and you have Frostbite among the statuses. Aesthetically it's the most beautiful build you can do, but it's "limiting", you have no utility of any kind.

The last run I did when the DLC came out was STR/DEX/FTH with the Blasphemous Blade + Sword of Milos , with HP Regen, Mana Regen, Bleeding of the Sword of Milos and a lot of damage/poise damage being two greatswords. Plus you have Flame Grant Me Strength + Golden Vow.
I liked it because not only was it functional, but it was also "lore-wise", a sort of fiendish knight more than anything else in the Land Betweens and Shadow Lands .

I can't find anything as functional as a stat-ability combination, where everything fits together perfectly and isn't a jumble of different things that don't fit together.

DEX builds are cool but not very functional, you have mobility, but many hit-boxes are bigger than any leap you can make, and the fact that you can't stun anyone with attacks is a big minus.

[Lemnear]

Noble's Slender Sword (KEEN) + Square Off is the ultimate Stance Breaking combo
With just ONE Square Off (R2) you stun the Trolls in Limgrave, with 2-3 even the bosses...ridiculous!

I don't know if I want to continue the whole game like this though mmm

[Immryr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgpHOwU5SQo

Switch 2 exclusive fromsoft game. Crazy

[ryu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgpHOwU5SQo

Switch 2 exclusive fromsoft game. Crazy

And possibly another game with Fortnite inspiration like Nightreign. I suppose we'll see.

[Lemnear]

Oh my god this is awesome, everything I wanted from Bloodborne 2, and more! Even though I can see all the recycled assets.
Elden Ring is coming to Switch 2...at that price of course...

[ryu]

https://www.fromsoftware.jp/duskbloods/ ... 402_1.html

本作は、最大8人のプレイヤー同士の戦い、そしてプレイヤーと敵との戦いが展開されるPvPvEベースのマルチプレイアクションです

They point out that it's a game with up to eight players supporting PvE and PvP. I have no idea if this means the multiplayer is obligatory or if it's just refering to the usual Souls formula. But the weird trailer makes it look more like a multiplayer game where you pick a premade character unfortunately.

[Lemnear]

I hope it's not another piece of crap like Nightreign...anyway, 90€ for games on Switch 2...have they gone crazy?

Spoiler

Nightreign:
"Souls-royale"

The Dusckbloods
"Extraction-Souls"

???

[bcass]

According to their twitter, it's a PvPvE game. As a super hardcore From fan, this does not excite me much. It also being a Switch 2 exclusive is a misstep IMO. What pains me most is that Miyazaki himself is directing this, rather than crafting an all-new single player game.

[Stevens]

Was excited for about five minutes. Then saw PvPvE.

They also showed zero actual combat. Hard pass as of this moment.

[Daytime Waitress]

That Nightreign's not out the door and therefore they can't see what worked and what didn't before doing another variation on whatever the hell this new formula is doesn't enthuse me.

Spoiler

I'm sure there's some parallels between the actual project times for the "experimental" fighters like Darkstalkers before we got to "mainline" Alpha's and III's back in the day, and fuck me if that didn't seem to work out for the good...

But exploring lovingly-crocheted level designs is a significant chunk of what I enjoy about these games, so NUMBERS GO UP ONLINE CONNECTIVITY SPRAWLING OPEN WORLD also does bugger all for me.

I actually feel kind of lucky coming into From so late - if this new direction is just not for me, I've still got a sizeable portion of their back catalogue to rattle through

[Lemnear]

That Nightreign's not out the door and therefore they can't see what worked and what didn't before doing another variation on whatever the hell this new formula is doesn't enthuse me.

Spoiler

I'm sure there's some parallels between the actual project times for the "experimental" fighters like Darkstalkers before we got to "mainline" Alpha's and III's back in the day, and fuck me if that didn't seem to work out for the good...

But exploring lovingly-crocheted level designs is a significant chunk of what I enjoy about these games, so NUMBERS GO UP ONLINE CONNECTIVITY SPRAWLING OPEN WORLD also does bugger all for me.

I actually feel kind of lucky coming into From so late - if this new direction is just not for me, I've still got a sizeable portion of their back catalogue to rattle through

I feel lucky instead to have started exactly the day after the JP release of Demon's Souls (PS3), bought blind without knowing what it was.

It seems that Miyazaki is listening to the toxic part of the Fandom.. that is, the PVP players, even if I myself was part of it in the past, but I only wanted the groups of players and their sunbros friends not to reach the boss , not the duels, pff...

However, I prefer Darkstalkers

[Stevens]

if this new direction is just not for me, I've still got a sizeable portion of their back catalogue to rattle through

If they are indeed headed in a new direction they are leaving the door open for Neowiz to walk through. Love From, but those kids at NW have the chops to pick it up and run with it.

[Sumez]

I think it's totally cool for From to do multiple different things, rather than getting stuck in the same loop of Souls games.

But I really have no interest in playing a multiplayer game

[Lemnear]

I think it's totally cool for From to do multiple different things, rather than getting stuck in the same loop of Souls games.

But I really have no interest in playing a multiplayer game

FROM saw how active the community dedicated to PVP is evidently (and it is extremely active and not even small), they simply took the ball at the bounce, especially after 2 GOTY, they glimpsed the possibility of a successful GAAS.

[bcass]

It's not just a PvP thing. The PvE co-op community is also still very active on DS3 and Elden Ring. I say this from first hand experience.

[bcass]

Regarding GaaS, I wouldn't be completely opposed to that, so long as it is fully inclusive of PvE aspects, like Destiny. A 3rd-person From game with Destiny-style raids could be amazing. That already seems to be something they are experimenting with in Nightreign, although they are still some way away from the levels of team co-operation needed for the raids found in Destiny.