[CubaLibre]

[another god]

So, level 3-1 is *fucking genius*. The screams of all the prisoners, the lady singing, and the bell chiming squid headguards (Mind Flayers I think they're called) creep me the fuck out.

I really like how some of the "badguys" don't damage you at all. They are just crazy with fear and run around screaming. Did you guys look at their faces? They don't look any different than the ones that want to kill you, so you just slaughter them all. Jesus. And the guys in the jars? WTF? Yeah, they took murdering the poor and unfortunate to an extreme.

FROM Software did something else with this game. A lot of people say that the game is really hard, but I don't think that's the case. I think the game really needs you to work hard to enjoy it. This prison level isn't hard, you just have to be patient. Most of the badguys won't kill you, but you're always on the lookout to figure out which of them will. And when you do find the dangerous ones, they just slowly walk up to you with a bell...
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interdimensional

[gooktime]

Yeah, 3* is probably my favourite part of the whole game. The 3-3 boss is fucking genius.

Might be time to man up and new game + this shit.

[analogos]

[Toptube]

[8128]

hooray
_________________

[somes]

Bought this from some chinese guy off ebay yesterday; 69.99, no shipping! Already shipped. YES.

[Sketch]

So last night I rinsed the bosses in 5-3, 4-2, and 4-3. I love how each major boss is its own unique puzzle, or has an interesting twist on how to defeat it.

Sadly due to my high level (65) multiplayer isn't possible with most people who posted in the topic, but the randoms I've found have been pretty cool.

Best of all though:
I hunted down and slayed an invading phantom.
Often I've died when they invade (bastards!), or there's a bit of a tussle and an accompnaying blue phantom takes them out or they fall off a cliff, but this time was different.

He had thief's ring equipped so snuck up on us in 4-2, quickly dispatching my two summoned blue phantoms. I though was wearing the graverobber's ring, so he missed me.

Anyway, infuriated, I make chase but lose sight of him. And we're both invisible to each other, so it's kind of like that bit in Predator, where Arnie's covered in mud.

I eventually find him hiding in the Saint Urbain cave, we tussle briefly and I take down a bit of health and he runs away up the stairs. I obviously give chase.

At this point the most wonderful cruelty overcame me, and I began shouting at the TV, mostly the words "Run" followed by maternally-themed profanity. The audacious hunter was now being hunted, and I revelled in the chase.

Cheeky bastard runs out the lower room, up some stairs and then tries to hide behind the altar, and then I see him try to heal with herbs, so while his animation activates I lock on, side-step to his rear, and then thrust my rapier into his spine in slow motion.

PHANTOM DEFEATED.

Pure, unadulterated vindication, and satisfying in a way difficult to articulate.

[gooktime]

65 aint high level :)

acid & death cloud are hilarious for pvp, I don't think anyone keeps anti plague stuff to hand

I was just thinking, wasn't White Knight Chronicles supposed to have multiplayer in a similar fashion?

[Sketch]

I always have anti-plague and poison stuff to hand. Always...


OK, I've been burned by the resetting world glitch (damn!).

So, all worlds are neutral, but I want to get world 1 to pure white. I've defeated the main bosses up to 1-3. Will the following work for me if I play in offline mode?

Reach pure black tendency by getting killed.

Defeat Black Miralda.

Defeat Red Dragon.

Defeat any Black Phantom NPCs en route to Primeval Demon (the Wiki mentions... about 4?).

Defeat Prime Demon.

Return to Nexus.

[schild]

[Sketch]

I know! Ultimate protection is good for most BP NPCs, but I worry that Miralda would be a little too tough.

Are primeval demons tough? Screens make them look like sacks of sleeping lard.

[schild]

[Sketch]

Translated interview with the developers here.

And so much of what they say is so right, like there being too much communication in online games (playing Outrun 2 one guy was rambling incoherently).

Interestingly, the 3-3 boss the testers wanted removed, because it proved difficult to playtest. I'm glad they left it in. Apart from 2 people tonight pulling the plug and cancelling the fight, it was like nothing I've played before.

[Moogs]

Goddamnit, guys.

I finally sat down and read thru this thread and got all excited and was ready to import... then I remembered that my PS3 still won't connect to my WPA encrypted network.

FUCK!

[Sketch]

It's still fun offline. Can't you like, type in the WPA code or something?

[Red_venom]

[Moogs]

[another god]

[rabite gets whacked!]

Got mine from NCSX!

Starts by refusing to connect me to the internet. Why would this be an issue if I can sign onto PSN and all without a hitch?

Spent a really long time in the character editor, then proceeded to die a for an hour or so. Appearance of the tutorial boss, despite having watched the intro video, borders on hilarity: "Got those controls? Good. Now die." Can you actually go back there?

I ran around the temple, learned about gravity by falling off the top step upstairs, went to that first castle thing. Looked at the first fog wall, ran back and looked at the swirling lights in the hole in the floor, jumped in, died. Died on a bunch of dudes with flaming sticks in a stairwell somewhere- I'm super flammable like that.

This is all kind of a marvelous experience of discovery. I'm refusing to look at the manual for now to interpret the various symbols in my inventory; the game seems to tell me to take things at a leisurely pace. There's no great rush, let's all hang around in the nexus for a bit.
_________________

[Moogs]

I should mention I have AT&T U-verse and whatever wireless router/box they provided with the service. I had WRT54GS before this and it worked fine! I had WEP on there, though.

I don't want to turn this into a tech help thread, though, so continue on!

[Bennett]

Ok I bought a PS3 and a copy of this game, and I have to agree it's as froth-worthy as everyone is making out. First current-generation game that I've felt is worth the effort.

To answer my earlier question, it really is a spiritual successor to Blade of Darkness. It has almost everything that made that game great (except dismemberment and nice light) and a whole lot of other things are done better - especially the inventive level designs.

It also fills the niche in my life previously filled by Tower of Doom, which is a relief because if I play that game any more times some counting-monster is going to descend from heaven and give me a blue ribbon to signify that I played it more than anyone else in history.

[Moogs]

Ordered a copy of the Asian version off eBay.

I'm excited!

[EU03]

I'm finally getting someone to toss me over a copy in Korea for 40 bucks!
Well, that's if he actually goes through with it.
_________________

[Cossix]

So I've passed 1-2 and 2-1. I've been spending a lot of time dicking around in 3-1 and 4-1 (Those skeletons at the beginning of 4-1 are pretty easy with a large shield, and they seem to drop a lot of souls). I've got a decent set of stuff and I've freed Freke, so I guess I'm gonna press on in 2-2.

[another god]

Did anyone have trouble with the 2-3 boss?

I breezed through it and was kind of disappointed. :(
_________________
interdimensional

[gooktime]

The *3 bosses are all like that, I found! In fact, you can cheese just about all of the bosses. I beat the 1-4 boss by hiding and casting death cloud on him, then having a shower and coming back to find him dead.

lol.

[Sketch]

That's what I love about the *3 bosses - they're something of a puzzle, and less of a boss fight.

I'm not going to spoil it too much, but each of the final bosses had some kind of new tactic to use (firing harpoons, using a sword to slice open the sky, fighting another player etc), which made of them very refreshing. The fact they were all easy-ish was kind of a relief, since it allowed you to breath and savour the moment.

If you want a boss you can't cheese, try 3-2. Well, you can cheese him, sort of, but that was the first boss where I put away the range attacks and went at it with the holy sword of light or whatever it is.



Otherwise...


FINISHED IT!

I think I'll give it a week before rinsing Game+ and getting all the trophies. The weapon upgrade trophies should be easy. In theory.

[Bennett]

You know the best thing about this game? It lets me know that no, I'm not just getting old - you really can make modern commercial games that I would be excited to play. It really is that they 'don't make them like they used to', and not just that I'm a crabby old man who is wearing nostalgia glasses. This game is evidence that they can still make games which are for me. Playing it has inspired me to go looking for other gems which will all certainly have been critically panned for being too hard.

So... can anyone recommend other underrated games which I will like, for the PS3, PSP, DS, Wii or PC?

[Sketch]

Valkyria Chronicles is my joint favourite PS3 game alongside Demon's Souls. It's a strategy game, but not too difficult except for HARD and EX HARD modes.

But I know what you mean. This is the perfect anti-thesis to the glut of games with regenerating health bars and quick-saves.

Anyway....

I should really add a bit more about my final battle in DS, since I cruelly exploited a blue soul.

Now, I’d already seen the final boss. I’d done my old trick of getting summoned so as to see the rest of the level and gather souls in safety – dying when summoned, you keep all the souls you’ve collected and warp back to your world. It creates a crude form of checkpoint system.

The game’s final boss has a cruel attack, where he permanently drops you down a level and causes a loss of stats. It’s an exquisitely awful attack since it can set you back quite considerably if you were originally a high level (equivalent to losing 40K souls with each soulsuck), and it really brings home how important this battle is. I almost wish every death set you back a level, just to see how it affects the play dynamic. This attack though is very slow, with a very long animation, leaving the boss wide open.

Anyway, I was dropped a level, survived the attack, but then got killed. So I thought to myself: a few blue souls could distract him, allowing me to whittle down his energy. So I cleared the entire level in soul form, revived using a stone of Ephem Eyes, and then went to the start of 1-4, looking for summons. Looking for bait. And I found one. His name was Lazarus.

In the elevator ride up to the boss I watched my fuzzy blue lamb. Watched as I held him between forefinger and thumb, watched as he stood in ignorant bliss unknowing of what I was about to use him for. I knew full well he would probably die, and had I the resurrect magic to return him to his world as flesh I wouldn’t have used it. Lazarus needed to be sacrificed so I could finish the game.

At the top we climbed the stairs side-by-side, seemingly comrades in arms with a common goal. Facing the enemy I gave it my all, yet always cautious should he attempt to soulsuck one of us. And then the joyous moment. My live bait was ensnared, leaving me free to attack the quarry at will. Slice after delicious slice into my opponent, as he drained my ally. I was powerless to stop him, not that I would have. I must have taken at least 50% of his energy bar down, using the Demonbrand sword. Rather I ironic I thought, since it’s meant for those pure of heart.

I had hoped Lazarus would survive so as to continue distracting the boss, but alas his use was spent. No matter though, he’d served his purpose and I took great glee in avenging his death and then giving him an S rank for his troubles.

Truly an astounding game.

[zombieman000]

The 1-4 boss was a major pain in the ass, and I wouldn't have been able to beat him without summoning somebody. Apparently, the Death Cloud spell works for the blue dragon too, and it seemed like my buddy cast it, since its health was visibly draining away, but we had to fight the boss directly for some reason (maybe my partner had no spice left). I felt bad for the summoned guy because he kept getting caught in chokeholds, but he had some awesome-looking equipment on so I wasn't too worried about him. (actually, the partner might have been letting himself get grabbed so I could wail on the boss while his back was turned. What a nice guy!)

I thought 2-3 was a nice change of pace. Getting the rubble cleared out was the hardest part for me, but you can get the boss to punch it out of the way.

[schild]

[jjsimpso]

The 3-2 boss(es) does seem like a total ass. I'm actually quite relieved to hear that the *-3 bosses aren't even harder! I melee basically everything, but that didn't stop me from cheesing 2-2! After beating 2-2 I'm finally starting to get some decent equipment, but I believe I'll summon help for 3-2.

Killed my first invading phantom yesterday. What a rush that was!

[schild]

[rabite gets whacked!]

I'm so far behind this thread.

Today I played for the second time and found that merchant in the castle! I bought a longsword from him but I think I like the axe I started with better. I've adopted a strategy of running two handed power attacks. I've also stopped using a shield in favor of a second sword.

I also apparently suck at this game. I haven't gotten to a boss yet beyond that tutorial one which killed me. Still having fun though!

I like the notes people leave like "Weapon there" by the edge of a precipice. It's endearing.
_________________

[Sketch]

[gooktime]

Yeah I had to disconnect from PSN to do 3-3, you just get a generic then.

I'd say 3-2 has to be done co-op, man I had a ton of trouble with that.

[schild]

[gooktime]

I cheesed 4-2 by throwing soul arrow at him, pausing when he roars and repeating. It took a while, but yeah. Flamelurker was a lot of running around and throwing soul arrow, also.

[Drem]

I have been playing this game since I got it a couple of months ago and I've only beaten 2 bosses (1-1, 2-1). I pretty much hit a wall after every boss. I run around, getting slightly deeper into a level before giving up and deciding to try somewhere else. Then I'll get a little deeper into there, then give up and try somewhere else. In this slow and methodical process, I eventually make a breakthrough and manage to reach a boss in one of the areas. It's still a pretty fun game.

The Cthulhu guy at the beginning of 3-1 keeps me from getting out of the opening area. I think I've only taken him down once. I spent a lot of time in 1-2 and got to the boss, and then realized I should probably save it for later. So most of my attention has been exploring 4-1, 5-1, and 2-2, in that order.

[Cossix]