Chatting about games

>If I don't have an HDMI-compatible TV, then I can use the AV cables as an alternative, right? Because I'm doing just that, but that doesn't seem to work. There's nothing displaying, and of course, there's also no sound coming from the TV either.
You can use AV. I used to do that. The image will be worse though.

I assume you've solved this by now. But from what I remember I think you have to go into the PS3 or TV's settings and set the channel to AV. That's why you aren't seeing anything, because the PS3 isn't set to AV. I remember having to do the PS3 settings on another TV that was compatible with the HDMI cable. Then when I took my PS3 home I could plug in AVs and it would run no problem. It's something like that.

>In short, you do not need an HDMI cable to start playing, right? If so, is it possible that the AV port is damaged...?
Looks like you'll need one to do the set up like I did. Find a friend of family member that has and HD TV and cable.

>I should've said that I do have a TV with an HDMI port
Just one port?

>I’m taking a break from games. Haven’t really loved much in the last 6 months or so. I’m always so uninterested in whatever I’m playing and almost nothing on the horizon appeals to me. Nothing but rehashes, homogenous shit, and sellout garbage.
Are you trying to impersonate me?

Though recently I've found some cool stuff. On Switch I bought Cuphead. Straight up simple, brutal challenge. Also grabbed Black Widow and Centipede Recharged. Extremely addictive. Just you and your reaction time. Might grab the Asteroids one when it goes on sale. Didn't like Missile Command because the controller isn't good for it. Seems like a mouse game.

Getting some serious mileage out of Atelier Ryza, though I'm not in the mood to play games these days. Just on and off. Elemental weakeness and debuffs mean alot. The alchemy has a lot of hoops to jump through (especially if you want to maximize stuff) but you can make cool stuff like various bombs and there are tons of traits to carry over to other items.

Watching the speedrun on new game Legendary, I'm starting to think that a possible determiner of a good JRPG is how fast can you speedrun them on a new game. It's at least some kind of indicator that you don't have to grind to win. I've beaten a few bosses without leveling outside of stuff I got forced into or ran into but my bombs and debuffs carried me through.

Take the first boss. Even on normal this dragon has an attack that can wipe my party. I could have leveled up for 3 hours, but instead found this. The dragon has no elemental weakness. But there's a debuff item that has the ability to give and enemy an ice weakness. It also has branches for slow and poison. Made some stun bombs, ice bombs, and built the debuff item, Thorny Embrace, to focus on the ice weakness. Went into battle, had two characters through stuff bombs. When it was stunned, threw Thorny Embrace, then pelted it with ice bombs. The damage was insane and I won so fast. No leveling characters required. Hope the rest of the game works out like this.

>Make that no-grabs haha. It has some very interesting mechanics mind you, the way it handles pinning with the axe to the enviroment is very interesting.
Only thing I liked. Pretty much played mostly throwing.

> GoW throwing axe
It's a really novel mechanic that we haven't seen a lot yet. THere's a few pretty neat applications too. I'd sometimes put the axe in the ground for example behind me, so that when I was flanked I'd recall the axe which would stagger the enemy behind me. Sometimes the axe just 'warps' though which makes it a lot less useful (pathing issues I'm sure).

Are there any other action games where you throw something that hits enemies on return?

Knack 2 kind of does. Any time you're separated from your relics you can hit enemies if they're in the way when called back. Applies to the boomerang too.

In one of the old Gundam Vs games I used a Gundam that could throw this energy boomerang. There was a lot of side dashing in that game. So you could throw it and they'd side step of jump it, then you could respond by sidestepping to get the boomerang to curve into them. Like you want to sidestep to keep them in its path so they had to worry about where it was in relation to your position and what you were doing

Can't think of any others.

DMC with Roundrip perhaps?

Does it hit on the way back in later games? I barely touched it in 5.

Sword Pierce doesn't hit back in DMC3, but Vergil's Round Trip should in that game. For DMC4 and 5 both Dante's and Vergil's Round Trip hit when returning (even DSD's Round Trips), but it's basically useless, even though some combos use that feature creatively.

>DMC4 and 5 return trips.
Never knew this. Barely used it in both.

>used in some combos
Do you have a link to it being used in combos in 5? Or is it common enough I'd likely see it in most videos?

It's not particularly useful, barely does any damage and only hits the enemy once when returning, but it's cool that it does it nonetheless.

>Do you have a link to it being used in combos in 5?
There you go. Sakaki uses the return RT to temporarely stop the Scudo from falling to set him up for a finish with Cross Line.
https://youtu.be/nbGS0qBSOCg?t=86

Too bad it requires forcing it to miss. Doesn't look good for single targets because of that.
Maybe if you could throw it without it locking on. Is that possible?

Would be decent in groups though. Would be possible to create similar setups as GOW by throwing it at one enemy then position to put other enemies in its return path.

>are there other Action games with an attack hitting on the way back too
As in at all or if it can hit going one way, leave their body and come back for a second lick? I can't speak on the latter, but I know SWFU has Saber Toss. They didn't expand on it in the sequel to go full Heavenly Sword (ignoring the motion control crap, just applying time slow *as in the Batman games with some Batarangs* and letting you steer the thing as your player character is left wide open).

Would have liked the option to guide the toss that way, but also a version where I apply it as a Summoned Sword (this is a thing for one sith grandma as I recall) and another for applying Grip to it for manual control (maybe costing Force not to just do that beyond activation, but to perform melee swings with it while extended away would take a bit of meter each time). Don't think I ever saw a time where the return trip went around the forward facing guard of something like a Purge Trooper.

There was an option to charge up a toss, but there just wasn't much else to it. Couldn't so much as augment the blade when sent away from yourself (no lightning/push variants for this special even with MAX upgrading for the sequel with rage). Still, it meets the basic requirement. You toss it somewhere and it will come back to you (even as you change location). Obstacles hit along the way are damaged. Closets you can get to being fancy is a charged toss into an object it'll stick inside for a bit and toss THAT at another thing. You're not able to will the saber to another target before it returns to you.

Ok, so I tested this and turns out I was wrong. Both Sword Pierce and Vergil's RT hit when returning in DMC3. In DMC4 neither Dante's nor Vergil's RT hit when returning. In DMC5 everything hits on return, Dante's Round Trip and Round Trips and Vergil's RT.

>Maybe if you could throw it without it locking on. Is that possible?
With Vergil only in DMC5, since if you throw the sword in 3 where no enemies are present it will just return to you. You can also use DSD Round Trips in DMC5 without locking on and the swords will remain in place if they don't encounter any enemies on the way (they still try to hit nearby enemies, but if you get said enemies out of the way when casted then the swords will remain in place without hitting anything). You can't do it with the normal RT unfortunately (unless you mod reversals back in).

>Would be possible to create similar setups as GOW by throwing it at one enemy then position to put other enemies in its return path
Definitely possible in 3 and 5.

>if it can hit going one way, leave their body and come back for a second lick?
This, yes. And allowing you to move freely after throwing.

So something like the short short (I think) In Castlevania: Curse of Darkness wouldn't count. In that string, in one of the attacks he throws the sword. It spins while flying a certain distance then comes back but doesn't count as an actual disconnection from the character. It's just an animation. You can move freely outside of dodging which will cancel it like any other attack.

>Roundtrip
Too bad I don't have DMC5 anymore. Have 3 but can't be bothered setting it up.
Any unique hit properties on enemies on the ground when returning?

Got a little more time to play the game. Since I didn't get to a save point last time, I redid the beginning fight again, but this time I wanted to see how different it would be if I tried grabs instead of square and/or triangle mashing. Particularly, circle+square. This made Kratos launch an enemy against another. I wasn't paying attention in my previous attempt, but there's ringouts in this first encounter. And using that specific grab made so much difference. Not only I finished the fight with Kratos getting hit once, but the encounter ended significantly faster than before. In the first encounter already, and the game rewards me for trying new things instead of mashing. I am definitely not dropping this game to try another one (not like I was planning to).

Died for the first time in the game, and what a surprise, it was... from 'platforming'. Fell victim to some pointy rocks, though I expected some kind of death animation.

Got to the first save point, and now I was supposed to push a crate to reach the upper level. Crate kept getting destroyed, but didn't take too long to succeed. Was this the 'minigame' that some people on Reddit (the 'patient' gamers one that someone here shared) complained about? Didn't find this bad at all myself... or maybe it's some other minigame. Also got my first spell, that one lightning. It's exactly as I remember it to be. Though up until this point, besides the sea monster and how the save point looks like, I haven't been able to remember anything else very well.

Finished off the bigger sea monster. The lightning spell was pretty good for this fight. Neither blocking or air blocking seemed to work, but I kind of expected this. Dodging worked well enough. Though I didn't quite figure out if there was a consistent way to make the monster flinch (and subsequently drop HP/MP spheres).

Now I saved the game near the sex minigame. The existence of this, I definitely didn't forget, haha.

Raeng:

>roll, attack, roll
Neat, will keep this in mind.

>give it a watch
Perhaps the next time I play the game. Admit that I'm rather curious about how this game came to be.

>Hotel
Said I could handle the setting, but I think I agree with GMG's take, that I should get more familiarized with blocking, chest positions... basically the fundamentals. Maybe I could handle Hard... But I'm comfortable in learning about the basics this way, at least so far.

>no grabs
Even worse, then this means they clearly didn't like old GoW for the gameplay at all.

>outleveling
Also heard that attacks cannot be parried.

>dull
Still somehow sounds like a better time than playing Digimon World 4. And both had multiplayer (!)

GMG:
>block cancelling
Yeah, poor wording choice on my part.

>not all normals can be cancelled
Taking notes.

>upset me
Would you agree with something a DMC fan once told me? He said to play 2 first, then everything else... so it would all feel like upsides from there.

>often
So far, this is definitely case.

>grab that ignores it
Yeah. Often let myself get grabbed for the reversal.

>Hydra King's bite (unblockable)
So my own notes are correct for that attack then. Good to know.

>not so much using it
You're probably correct. I wasn't into mechanics at all back then. Don't even remember playing KH2FM at all by then or even KH1 beyond Normal.

>Perseus's Rage
That one, yeah. Still a bit fuzzy on the projectile, but PR is the most memorable of the two to me.

>early in the game
Not necessarily. Just describing the memory as I remember it. The hard part is remembering how far in the game this took place in.

>barrier stuck around longer than it should have
Pretty strange indeed if that was unintended.

>don't get hit
Could do, yes.

>kill them first
Suppose they still have to be within range?

>make them miss
They were already missing a good number of times when staying still (or so it seemed). Thought them aiming at your actual position was random.

>Hotel
At least he wasn't against the idea of me trying Ascension if I liked all the other games. This did surprise me more than you suggesting it. Of all the things I envisioned you two disagreeing on, I thought this was going to be the one thing for sure.

>steer me right
He does know a good deal about these games, yes. Gave me an explanation about the Blades' usefulness in GoW1 compared to the other entries.

>still three hits to kill
Sounds tasteful.

>pathetic damage
Cyclops?

>petrification
Instant death?

>what is more efficient? The former or the latter?
Guess I could say I experienced this first-hand from my second try against the first game's mob encounter. Even at N, I found Grabs to be better by a wide margin.

>reach out to SBK for DPS talk
Alright.

>T-ten hours
...

>capstone to my experience
If even you aren't against this, then okay. I'll give it a try.

>rather play GoW:A than the other two
Oh?

>NG3:RE
Heard it was notably superior to vanilla 3.

>DmC2
I'd probably chuckle If I hadn't seen this being brought up to death in the DMC5 board (probably by non-fans who get accused for not playing the games *even DmC* when asked for details about them, they just know the name alone will rile up the fans. Seemingly got suspended multiple times). Just a week ago, a topic about it got deleted by the mods.

>Birdman
Oh, hey, Birdman. Been a while since I saw you around here.

>AV issues
Still never resolved them. A guy online told me that it might be the PS3's motherboard if neither AV or HDMI worked (got a spare for the former, still didn't work). The system does turn on, but no image is being displayed, and no sound comes out either. That was a good while ago. No matter, I can now play PS2 games instead, which makes me happier than being able to play with a PS3 (even though the issue now is lack of free time).

Though now that we're on the subject, I want to ask if anyone knows what might be causing my PS3 controller to not charge. Still haven't tried plugging it to the system, but this is definitely nothing common. I bought it many years ago (just the controller) from Amazon, but only used it... 6 or 7 times, maybe 10 tops. Not like I'll get much use out of it even if I can make it to work, but still.

>controller not charging
Sounds like the battery is dead. I don't mean uncharged but actually dead. I once bought a new 360 charger and battery pack. And a brand new PS2. In both cases they'd been sitting in storage for so many years the batteries lost the ability to hold a charge.

You can pretty safely avoid most of his attacks: https://youtu.be/8OuXttKgDwo?t=848
It's not my best run/guide/whatever, but it shows off how you can safely deal with him with minimal knowledge.

> GoW 2018
Your level determins certain enemy interactions yeah. So for an example, the attack of a Travelar can be:
underleveled: cannot be blocked or parried
equal level: can be blocked, but not parried
overleveled: can be blocked and parried

The ability to stagger enemies with your hits is also tied to your level, which sucks doubly.

>PAIN run
Nicely done. One thing I forgot to ask is, when time 'slows down' when you block something, does this serve a function? I figured that evading was the way to go, but I didn't know that being in a blocking stance prevented you from being knocked down to a lower platform.

>level determines what can be parried and what can't
>it also determines the ability to stagger
Sounds terrible.

Later-on you can 'parry' with good timing, which has other options and openings if you can get them. That's the 'slow mo' block basically.

Wright: >tried 360 toss spam
Not as big a gap in effectiveness as when you're low Power % doing as you were before, but it wasn't like you were prancing around on Easy with doubled power and cheats, either. Even then, RO does work. Collisions? Not so much. For such low level foes, it is a light boon as you are now.

The 'grab select' pose (choking) on such foes (offering multiple options) can be jump canceled in GoW1 (then defend from the air or hold block to fall faster into grounded options). You have i-frames during finishers. (EXP) Orb milking slashes on circle don't have them (the ground-and-pound does). Rip-and-tear (Torso Rip) was mostly to just be rid of people. 360 toss is the best means of easily putting foes to work against targets. If you don't pick an option without a few seconds they will break-out (no DMG). You lack armor, so when you take DMG you lose your grip.

NOTE: The air-to-ground grab is finicky. Don't use (L) when going for it (or the 'hug' *Orion's snare* will come out). You can use (L) after tossing out the Blades (when a foe is hooked) to redirect in this entry. Beware that Orion's Harpoon has only one variant in GoW1 (Slam) and it has no i-frames. We can dabble a bit more in advanced talk as we go (though I prefer that be saved for a non-blind run and on the highest setting *and you may prefer puzzling and muddling through to some extent*).

>there are RO
Often are (less and less as the series goes on, you will find *invisible walls*).

>pointy rocks
I suspect you didn't jump let alone miss the prompt's generous timing. No, mentioning this makes me think you misstepped over the central point where you cannot grip the beam if you fall (which, in tandem with the camera moving, makes this early beam the hardest despite lacking foes or hazards). As you get more comfortable with them, you'll be using jumps to hop along these more quickly.

>expected a death animation
GoW will never have any special kills for Kratos (ignoring failure with a QTE *as good as that will get*). Kratos exercises MC privilege to avoid what Dante endured in his first game. He does the executing, not the other way around.

>mini-game
>crate push
What's all thi-

>Reddit
>Patient Gamers
Ah, yes. That whole business. Pretty sure they karma bombed me to avoid further engagement. Might have been the people I slapped around hard enough to complain to another board ('I'm so smart') just to get disciplined there, too. My kindness and generosity was received properly by a select few (it's true), but somehow even helping people flares up the inferiority complex (rightfully earned) by some denizens (as on GFAQs and other casual communities). Roy has seen this a few times (some TC asks for help, wants something discussed in detail, etc. just to get what they want only for others to take issue with the compliance).

NOTE: That bit of hybrid gameplay is sometimes framed as a 'puzzle'. Not really that or traversal or even combat, per se. Don't think I've heard it called a mini-game, but I suppose there is sense the description. Generally, in GoW, that term is used for the context-sensitive grabs confused for QTEs (GoW doesn't quite so often have the real deal as these CS cases).

>some other
No, it is was this one for that lot. They weren't talking about a later object pushing bit (that involves a hazard and a timer rather than enemies as hindrances *a mix will also happen along the way*).

>pretty good
It will be in general. Right now you don't have a single target efficient option (sad for it as once PR hits lvl2 *as it will before long* the likes of Zf can hardly compete even there *really just justifying itself against ranged targets until another spell ends up taking that rarely important role, too*), so PR is the only choice for using resources (MP). The i-frames and decent damage for the cost gives it charm. Repeated hits can be alright for hit count, but more importantly it recovers fast enough to chain into itself or even other things (locking Hydra King *when in the center position after a bite*).

>dodging
Or negating with i-frames (as in the evasion, slow-mo rise *pursue* after the launcher, PR, etc.)...or tanking (if you have RotG from getting enough EXP for lvl2 BoC)...and even just moving aside (it isn't so fast you can't just walk away if positioned well). HK is tutorial tier for sure. Quite easy. Sometimes frustrating for those not familiar (like when it roars to blow you off the mast *not even to kill you, but make you waste time getting back up there*).

It amuses me when people don't use the MP chest by the save point (or the save point), go into the fight and don't think to ever try going back for either. An oversight born of the assumption they won't be allowed to navigate back while it is on-going (yet you can). The only savepoint in the series that is in a boss room. Savepoints are neat in that just going to them and prompting it to ask if you want to save is enough to make a checkpoint (can be bad if you didn't want one, so keep that in mind). A good way to keep progress when things are going well. A variant of save scumming, I'd say.

>consistent flinch
Hitting it after a central bite.

>guarantee HP/MP
Sort of random, but reliable enough when stagger locked. Hard to really plan around for the Hydra Twins below (if lucky they will bleed MP all over you *HP is more likely to happen when you're in critical* as you dump PR for lazy strat enabling).

>didn't forget
GoW:A did. On purpose. Merely tips its fedora to m'lady. Even apologizes for itself profusely against a female boss later on (same person, as it happens) for a trophy during her 'execution' (not really). SSM got more and more compromised as the industry itself has been (in the West particularly).

>keep that in mind
Can use jump between attacks to go slightly faster, but you lose control. Really, in a vanilla run, you will get lvl2+ BoC granting an R1 attack (Hermes Rush) that is both offensive and faster than even the method Rainja noted. Not really needed, but it is nice to move between zones faster (especially if backtracking as can happen when lost or looking for secrets) let alone when up against timers (less needed in a fight until under more pressure than this setting will really apply *not like there is always room enough for such a thing as in one major end-game situation*).

>view the Extras
They're okay. Behind-the-scenes can be somewhat fun for a first viewing. Puts some faces to names for the future. Character Graveyard will let you have a look at my true avatar (not properly realized at any point, sadly). CotG is where it is at, however. There you can get some Normal-locked play with an end-game weapon and a mix of your other tools against various trials. Not all it could be, but still amusing. Some hints at future angles they consider (not exactly how any of them go down, mind you).

Sadly, you would have to hear one 'secret message' (phone call) from me as I'm pretty sure the number no longer works (not built into the game on PS2 *pretty sure they redid the thing for PS3, too*). Actually, I think some other account released a better quality (in terms of audio) version, but lacked the fun visuals I provided (in full WMM fashion). Could link you to a hybrid of the two when the time comes (that you've earned it).

For a moment, thought he was telling you to watch higher level play (vets on VH, doing specialty runs, speeding through the game, glitching it out, etc.). That is also good fun, actually. Often enough a chap like myself is around to give commentary/evaluation, too. Less so for speedruns, mind you (not really my thing). Much of the modern scene is in SA, so Spanish/Portuguese are prevalent languages in the active community (creating a language barrier with some lacking knowledge of the 'old world' *lost to time*). A bit galling that they need help, but I often cannot help them (so I sought go-betweens *bilingual* as students so their works can display that which I've described in English via write-ups *aside from making up for old content no longer available on YT*).

>how it came to be
Not sure all of the tale really gets told for Jaffe's inspiration. Might need some later interviews, too. You'll get a sufficiently good idea. As for the direction it would go with each new case, that doesn't get enough (honest) coverage.

>handle the setting
Sounds like the foolishness he would say. That's hardly the issue. Again, my take on Glorified Normal (H) is that it is really only there for casuals who want to feel like they aren't trash. A setting for them to tackle saying it was the highest available to me on a first (and only) playthrough before coping about VH as being something not really playtested fully (it was tested more than H, actually *N had the lion's share and VH only got a little from the combat devs*). It is for the one-and-dones that want to puff themselves up. No more, no less. It was in bad taste they were enabled further with trophies that only ask for that setting.

I've noted how it isn't exactly a big leap from the default. It is always the smallest gap between settings. The largest is actually between E and N. H to VH is the next largest. If going from N to VH, this is almost as extreme as E to N (still not on its level, actually). I'm entirely justified in brow-beating those that bother with H beyond where forced (GoW1 does NOT allow Costumes on VH even after having cleared the setting, which is a stupid oversight in design, so the best you can do is H with them.

Sometimes you want to see how OP you can be as with the Power % types on E. Can also be amusing to have lowered Enemy Power % via 'armor'. Just that it won't suddenly include a perk like armored frames (single hit being shrugged off during some animation) let alone bathing in hyper armor (no amount of attacks *at a certain level anyway* being able to interrupt) to no-sell much less make foes and even projectiles deflect for (comedic effect *jobbing*). More is the pity they didn't enable more fun with simple value adjustments. Doesn't always have to be complicated. These are effectively cheats for bonus play (not quite NG+), so why not go wild? Not like infinite MP is balanced....

>so far
More of the 'basics' (advanced play with the default kit) can be learned as you do vanilla VH (and more still in higher runs). No need to rush the combat side of things. You'll have plenty of time with that aspect (which has a bit more depth to it than exploration, puzzles and platforming *get those sorted before fretting over the meat best saved for last as the true focus in more engaging conditions*).

>didn't appreciate old GoW
They were already forgetting the formula (betraying it for multiplayer) as of GoW:A. That they did this only to pretend like it was the fault of the old ways (getting stale) is a talking point of great frustration. Quite disingenuous. Some might go further to overlook the obvious truth in explaining away why Ascension did it in the first place (often invoking another lie *regarding the source material inspiring the flavor GoW run off of before changing partners for a different pop culture take to make bastardizing a dead religion*).

>heard parrying goes away
A lot of bad things happen when there is a sufficient level gap. Much of the actual gameplay falls apart in favor of long chip sessions against foes that will no-sell you while responding with unblockable one-shots. Statuses, hit properties, etc. go out the window. As denoted, the good work of Derek (combat dev returning from GoW1/GoWII) is wasted thanks to Jason (sound guy that moved up the ranks as the series went on *to combat dev to combat director to gameplay director by this point*). His poor understanding of RPG systems and fancy for Souls can be felt keenly.

I don't think there is a time in Nu-GoW where you over-level on foes to the point they experience the same sort of 'gap'. Just that they die faster and hurt the player less. You won't suddenly be able to block the previously unblockable, attacks won't lose their hit stagger reaction, etc. Any of you lads able to verify that? Pretty confident it was a one-way road (that should have never been gone down to begin with *not for the base game certainly*). An alternate setting (not even VH) could maybe justify getting experimental to change things up. I've myself suggested this (alt.VH *as you see in some other titles like MGR:R*). I can speak more on it later (you haven't fought even to the mid-game, so I shouldn't speak of things you've not encountered *to note how they might be changed for this different take on VH beyond simple stat changes*).

>play the worst first
No. When the first is so bad you don't want to finish it, you're betting on the person wanting to will their way through on the rest of a franchise they aren't even committed to. That is asking a lot. GoW:A is not THAT awful, but it is a travesty betraying core fans (merely letting down the regulars *Nu-GoW betrays them just as openly as us*). In his situation, that means you play DmC next? Two bad games in a row. This motherfucker must really know they're forced into commitment as I would never expect someone to keep with it through this punishment (must be a streamer paid to deal with this shit or something).

I would sooner say save the worst for last (after you've learned to love the best side of it so you can see why the worst is seen as such *preferably having enough legacy skill to blow through the undesirable experience faster rather than getting accustomed to the filth as a base going ahead*). No, the best way isn't this nor what he notes, nor chronological. The best is order of release. You want to see how the gameplay evolved (though a platform change can throw this off a bit). That's the way to go. See what was good enough to justify sequels in the first place. See how it changed going forward (for better and for worse).

NOTE: Most in the DMC community don't actually care about/for the original. They would have started with DMC3 or even 4. They're in it for cuhrayzee cambows. DMC1 handles that aspect a bit differently (others can speak to this in greater detail). DMC2 manages to be a pretty big departure between these two worlds (experimental take by a B team just rushing out a sequel). This without addressing DmC (after DMC4's unfinished self).

>allow grab for reversal
Your dps is probably pretty close to the reversal, so one can argue in favor of either path. Were this on E, it would be a mistake to bother. On H, you should definitely be favoring the reversal (absolutely what you want on VH, but there is no way to force that *RNGesus, halp*).

NOTE: With enough dps, you can just skip the QTE for the Hall Hydra before this (beat it to death outright). Not possible in many conditions, obviously. Just a fun fact. If you ever play E with a Power-oriented costume and cheats for MAX gear you should easily be able to witness such silliness (even the final boss can be one-shot with the right move at full capacity *little more to it, but it would be spoiling to specify now*).

>Perseus
Poseidon. Let us not reference a particular movie/book series. You'll get our chance to face off with the hero of 'Clash' before long.

>most memorable
It is a bit too good, so that is to be expected. The type of spell it represents are AoEs. These tend to be less efficient for a single target, but better for groups. A panic button when swamped or otherwise under pressure. PR was so good it exceeded the confines (it gets a partner down the line, which made them the dynamic duo of direct damage).

The option that works a system casuals don't play well with depends on knowing how potent your spell is (you won't), how resistant enemies are (you don't), how long you have (not gonna know that either), how much they can take (will have to find out), etc. One has to learn and then factor these things even before trying to get multiple enemies at once (to justify itself in some cases) while unable to be cast in mobile fashion (outside one cast variant), thus needing spacing/positioning and probably also an opening made (they're recovering from something they did or you did to them if not an obstruction preventing them from closing the gap in time).

No, this 'status' is something too complicated to really focus on seriously for the first or even second (vanilla VH) run generally speaking. IF you did a 'fun' run before vanilla VH, you could muck about with it for an early taste, sure. Really, a second go of vanilla VH is probably the best way to learn to respect it (before comparing it to the others in NUR/NUR+ conditions *sometimes high HP types don't have a lot of RES, so it becomes the smart option for MP spending with all the chests around to justify spending at all versus using some other method that is about as easy though maybe not quite so quick*).

NOTE: With so much replay talk, you can see why casuals were unlikely to really work with it. This factors into the treatment it got going forward (recall well whom they are trying to make the game for *before turning on them for an even wider audience*).

>pretty strange
Oddities happen. GoWII's PS3 version introduced a problem where rapid canceling of a sort during rage would freeze the game. That was not well received by vets (casuals didn't care as they were blissfully unaware and not being pressed by extreme conditions to begin with).

>still have to be within range
Reachable, yes. There will be at least one scenario where you have chaps unloading on you from afar that you could have taken care of (and really, probably should *versus trying to tank*).

>missing a bit when standing still
Amusingly, they are more accurate when you move. Just slightly so. However, they are accurate enough that standing still behind the box isn't going to make them not hit it. Leading their shots will do the trick.

>things we'll disagree on
Plenty, you would find (should you continue to ask for his input). Between the two of us, only one is a vet among vets. The other got folded up and made into a bookmark on a run never to be completed. SBK makes it sound like he's suspect even on his focus (MegaMan). Decent, but hardly at the top of the class (and with some pretty questionable judgement for advice).

>tasteful
Don't get used to it. It isn't going to remain the case.

>cyclops
HA! HA! You wish (as do I *wipes away single tear*). No, not even with rage, cheats, etc. will you ever be at a point higher hit properties do more than stagger the big boys (and mostly in a neutral animation). The lad you noted will never suffer an OH nor air OS. Even the times they can be found off the ground won't allow it. GoW never grants downed grabs, either. Stun grabs are just a thing in GoW:A (not a well developed system *Jason*). At best, you will get breakpoints along their HP total giving a chance to do some bonus damage (including an OS that is...actually just OH *even allows redirection by accident, which looks really dumb*).

>instant death
Yes. It works as such. You build it up (slowing foes) enough for a prof of the affliction (or you don't and it wears off *wasting MP*). You've got a bit of time to do some amount of damage (varies with the foe, not tied to their normal HP, doesn't scale with how hurt they were or the level of the spell, etc.) before they escape. If you do enough, they die. If you don't, you've wasted MP again. Because it is stationary without staggering foes or offering armor (much less i-frames), it is asking a lot of casuals to even apply the stuff much less follow-up to BREAK those they do catch (if they had enough MP to even afflict in the first place *GoW1 at least lets you know*).

Have to have the dps to make it happen (without getting tagged or pressured). While this entry is one that sees statues vulnerable to friendly fire, even that isn't always enough. The balancing is quite good (even lvl1 has some clear value and base gear can finish the job generally). Just that you need to familiarize with limits. Casual player doesn't want something that takes more thought than 'dump resource to harm the thing' (thus PR is so heavily favored). From their perspective, it is a waste not to contribute towards the mashing they intend to get up to anyway (offering a way around it is a bit too intellectual).

One example would be an annoying evasive foe (against mashers) that has moderately low RES with an insane break-out speed...except they're glass. If you're ready to execute the moment they change, they're dead. It is quite a good tool in that case. Another 'elite' mob that trashes mashers has moderately high RES with moderate statue HP and escape speed. Catching them isn't super hard when caught recovering (or made to recover) though harder at lvl1 to be sure (without a boundary to exploit). Works around their somewhat high HP and good defensive reactions (evade, block, parry, counter, etc.) including a fake-out taunt (a stance that punishes you for certain attacks *again, made to prey upon casuals and even those slightly above them having finally learned to juggle things in the air*).

No need to go over the matter in too much detail just yet. I still wish the 'freezing' alternative to 'stoning' would have gone another route. Still needs good balancing on the front of enemy RES, shake-off, break-out, etc., but IF it had been about just holding foes still so we can get in free hits (maybe even with a modifier to do bonus damage at MAX) that would probably sit better with the mainstream. Could still have more advanced considerations like using them as blocks to platform with (even pushing/pulling, turning, charge kicking, rapid moving, etc.), sending rapidly into walls for bonus collision damage, dropping for gravity damage (invoking C:SotN just a bit *or even Souls regarding scaling DMG to long falls via percentage of life*), etc.

I still feel like stats tied to foes should have scaled with how hurt they were to help this system out. If they were half life, halve (though maybe not that extreme) their statue HP, double their escape time, halve their RES, etc. Things that help make it work (while also perhaps more than doubly inverting how EXP bonuses scale *worth less and less as you stray from their full life...maybe make the 100% value even higher to really encourage good play when one wants to dump MP for the sake of power-ups*). A fine thing that settings don't adjust this whole affair. Just imagine had it gotten nerfed for VH. Oof. As it stands, it is quite competent there (not like GoW1 ties spells to Power % at all, so the others aren't exactly hurting, either).

>...
RIP that rubberband. It made the credits for a reason. Ain't nobody got time for that.

>Oh?
And that's precisely how it is. Still won't touch DMC2 or NG3. But then, I never did NG1 or NG2 beyond demos, either. Didn't get around to it, I'm afraid (also version differences *check with Royboy on that*).

>notably superior
And still not worth my time.

>non-fans
Probably trolls taking the piss (like me). That or fans who hate the 'style' kids. DMC1 purists don't exactly have a lot of love for them, either.

>mods
Many are among the vicious bottom-feeders in question. Know-nothing weebs that merely pretend at higher level play with one aspect of the game autistically focused on (in error). MAD in more ways than one. Lots of reporting goes on (and gets enforced) when taking on some crowds (not unlike when taking swings at the Gokeks, you would find). Well deserved grief-giving, I'd say.

>serve a function
More chance to react in that case (the series expects you to be pretty terrible, so the timing is also generous). It also has i-frames in a different entry. For this one, just the 'rise' noted previously has them. Sometimes you will see small dips in speed for striking things (meant to sell the blow as with shaking the screen).

>blocking prevents being sent over a ledge
Generally so. Not always. The Hydra King's roar jobs to this tech (even air blocking does the trick for some reason). CotG10 will fuck you up if you count on this. GoW:A has quite a lot more block stun, guard break and block push than other entries. More fun for another time.

>sounds terrible
It's worse to experience, surely.

Ranger: >run/guide/whatever
Playthrough. Bick struggled with making the distinction from a walkthrough. Far better than him just the same. Phoenix, take note that I'm in the comments for this series (can be good to observe the exchanges to give more context). I don't advise much if any watching until after your vanilla VH run, however. Vanilla N is pretty different given your 'easy outs'. Still, what is being highlighted applies across settings (to be fair).

>overleveled enables parries not previously possible
That's something, but not what I would have expected. Parrying should be the thing that you have as equals with normal blocking faltering. I suppose they made it too beneficial to parry, so leaving just a basic block for turtling was considered the lesser reward. Curious.

Played a bit more of the game. Defeated Medusa, and realized there were other non-bosses like her. Don't quite recall this from my previous experience with the game. Definitely remember getting farther than this, because I still haven't gotten to the part where an arrow struck me in the air and I died (remember the environment around me pretty clearly). Pretty sure that if I see the place once again, I'll remember it.

Sure enough, the game does like to mix combat with other activities, as GMG said. I see that getting surrounded is absolutely not what you want in such cases, unless there's a way to deal with such a scenario that I'm not aware of.

Got to the save point that's near the place where there's four minotaurs in the other side of a door which must be destroyed with an arrow. Decided to upgrade the Blades. The next on the line will be PR. Unlocked Rage and some abilities. Tested the thing GMG noted about Hermes Rush for traversal. It's indeed good for it. And I still have quite a lot of moves to unlock, from the looks of it.

Raeng:

>other options and openings
Yeah, I thought that the 'slow motion' effect would have another function other than let the player know that they parried something.

GMG:

>grab select pose can be jump cancelled
>i-frames during finishers
Didn't know about this, will keep these in mind.

>break out of the grab if I take too long to select an action
I noticed. Happened during my 'first' attempt against the first mob encounter.

>armor
Something I'll get later on?

>leave advanced talk on a non-blind run and on VH
Sounds fair to me.

>invisible walls
Why?

>didn't jump
>misstepped over the central point

You're right about the first, but Kratos didn't grip the beam when he fell (prior to reaching the central point). Happened again afterwards (this time it was more or less on purpose since the checkpoint was right there, and thought it was weird that he didn't grip the beam). But from then on, it worked fine. Still didn't want to take the chance and walked slowly.

>executing
Guess the closest that I saw to this was when Medusa landed a hit on me when I was petrified.

>karma bombed you
Not surprising. Most people can't handle the truth, and I'm sure you know this all too well (2-0).

>framed as a puzzle
Apologies. Still have a lot to learn about English (native language is Spanish), and sometimes my wording isn't the best. And by 'sometimes', I mean it can happen pretty frequently, especially on relatively long posts like this one.

>PR is the only choice for spending a resource
Does Magic work like this across the games (only a few if not one being tactically relevant)?

>pursue has i-frames
Taking notes.

>waste time getting back up
Happened two or three times to me, but after I realized Kratos could hang onto the ledge, it wasn't too much of an issue from then on. This was before watching Roy's video.

>don't use the MP chest or the save point
...I am guilty of this. And not because I assumed you couldn't get back there (being blown away by HK's roar was all the evidence I should have needed), but I just... Ignored the possibility. Was entirely too focused on the fight to worry about my surroundings.

>can create a checkpoint by bringing up the save point
>hitting it after a central bite
Noted.

>Ascension forgot
>on purpose
Wh-?!

>Hermes Rush is faster than the other method
Nice to know that this exists, while also knowing that there's an option for no upgrades.

>have a look at your avatar via Character Graveyard
Curious to see this.

>Challenge of the Gods is Normal-exclusive
Should've brought this up earlier, but... Why?

>link
Sure. Will note this down somewhere to remind me.

>around to give commentary/evaluation
Recall seeing you in the comment section of one of SBK's nuGoW Lv 1 videos.

Are your evaluations limited to visual content (videos)?

>might need some later interviews
Seems reasonable.

>playtested
This reminds me, I once saw somebody saying that the Clone fight wasn't playtested.  This true?

>VH was more playtested than H
Interesting. So where did they get the idea that the latter was more tested in comparison?

>not exactly a big leap from the default
SBK noted the same thing. I think I was confused since Hotel said (a long time ago) that Hard was very different compared to Normal.

>The gap between Easy and Normal is the largest (tied to the gap between Normal and Very Hard)
That's surprising. Well, it (Easy) certainly seems like it lives up to its name.

>more of the basics can be learned on VH
Naturally.

>level gaps in nuGoW go one way, but not the other
Expected as much.

>won't be willing to put in the effort to play the rest of the series after playing the worst ones
>want to see how the gameplay evolved by playing in release order
Makes sense.

>DMC fans don't care for DMC1
I noticed. All people ever talked about (before I got to meet Raeng in the DMC5 board, and later this forum) was DMC3 and 4. When they did talk about 1, they said it was 'ok but pretty archaic and 3 does everything better anyway'.

>no way to force the grab
Oh. Well, worth keeping in mind for future reference.

>skip the QTE for the Hydra Hall
Interesting.

>play on Easy with a Power-oriented costume and cheats
No other way to make this work without at least one of these? Just curious.

>Poseidon
My mistake (don't even know how that happened).

>a bit too good
Indeed. I could power up this and then upgrade the Blades a bit later (have 2500+ EXP, should be able to get the rest for PR soon enough).

>fun run before vanilla VH
Does Hard count?

>second run of vanilla VH
How many VH runs do you recommend one should do to prepare themselves for restricted runs?

>can see why casuals were unlikely to really work with it
It does explain quite a lot of things, yes.

>freeze the game
So the PS2 versions are the definitive ways to experience the games?

>slightly more accurate when I move
Another thing to keep in mind, then.

>plenty
2-0 would be one of them, pretty sure.

>never completed that run
In Ascension?

>don't get used to it
Aww.

>never be at a point where higher hit properties do more than stagger
I see... But even so, they can still be quickly dealt with if you have the proper knowledge, right?

>get breakpoints along their HP total giving a chance to do some bonus damage
That's something, at least.

>have to have the DPS to make it happen
Used this against four minotaurs that come out from a door that Kratos needs to destroy with an arrow (there's a save point nearby). Worked pretty great against all four of them. And since I saved the game prior to fighting them, I wanted to load my file to see if arrows affected them, and they do. Kills one of them in one hit. But I missed out on red orbs since I was too far away to get them. Wonder if this works as well for other mobs.

>turning them to blocks to platform with/push/dropping/etc.
I like this idea.

>Castlevania SotN
I need to try this someday... As well as some of the other Castlevania games. But not soon. That will have to wait.

>should have scaled with how hurt they were
I second this.

>won't touch DMC2 or NG3
Understandable.

>Haven't played NG1 or 2
I fear it will be quite some time until I get the means to play either. Took me quite a lot of time to finally get into PS2 games of all things.

>trolls taking the piss
Possibly.

>hate the 'style' kids
Are there other reasons to like DmC other than 'style'? Not sure how much of an improvement the DE is over vanilla DmC, though.

>more chance to react
Hadn't thought about it that way.

>don't rely on the block stance for CotG10
Noted.

>in the comments for this series
I'll be sure to remember it. Should be a good read when I finish a playthrough or two on VH (to get more experience and see what's being talked about).

>don't advise much if any watching
If it helps, ever since I started playing, I've only watched Roy's video. I probably saw other videos (like yours) but don't remember much if anything about them to spoil myself of anything. Still having trouble remembering when exactly did I drop the game many years ago.

@Birdman

I plugged my PS3 controller to one of my computer's USB ports, and it started charging just fine. Other than that, it won't charge (don't have the console with me to try this out to see if it only works with a computer). But still, good to know that it's not dead yet.

>started charging
So the light is on?

My PS3 one gets the light but doesn't hold a charge at all. I guess you need to find a real PS3 to know for sure. Your console could have had a broken port.

Yeah one of the things that makes GoW stand out so much from the rest is that combat is just one part of the fights, there's platforming and puzzles during them as well in different types of variations that are pretty interesting and funky to play.

Birdman:

>light is on?
Yes. I charged it two days ago, and the four lights turn on. In my case, when I plugged the controller in (somewhere other than the computer), the lights wouldn't even turn on at all.

>broken port
Ugh. Let's hope that isn't the case.

Raeng:

>platforming and puzzles during combat
Personally find this kind of thing more enjoyable than KH2's minigames. Wish more of them used combat in some way (there's some of them here and there, but they generally aren't that engaging).

Not sure if we've ever discussed this.

Haven't seen the whole video, but saw people saying that it's best played on PC, since the control scheme is apparently hard to get used to on PS2.

Regarding GoW1, I got to the rooftops of Athens, and I stumbled across what's perhaps my first 'difficult' encounter in the game, a big enemy with a spiked ball that doesn't get stunned and can't be launched, coupled with some enemies that like being underground and attacking me when they get close. I faced the big enemy earlier, but it was easy to deal with since there were no enemies like the ones fighting with him now.

For that fight you can keep most enemies off-screen to manipulate their AI, helps a ton. You can also negate the big guys by staying close to his side, I forget if it was left or right, but he can't hit you there.

Thanks Roy, I somehow didn't remember about the off-screen bit.

Just came across this RE-like game.

Had a bit more time to play GoW1. Got to Pandora's Temple. Upgraded the Blades to Lv 3 and got the ability to counterattack.

Question, when grabbing the minotaurs (when 'circle' appears above them) does it get harder to kill them in the mashing sequence as the game goes on? Early game I had no issues at all killing them this way, but now they've broken free at least twice by now. Or maybe I'm getting worse and I somehow haven't noticed...?

IIRC the mash stays similar in power, though granted I rarely do their QTE as it only gives Green Orbs and no Red Orbs - so unless I'm hurting I stick to regular orb-kills for them.

Yeah I wanted some green orbs because of some screw-ups, but was surprised to find out that they could break free, as I had no issues with this at all. Maybe it's because I'm starting to mash circle before the prompt appears? Really don't know what else could be it other than the possibility that I might be getting worse.

Might be an issue with your controller, as noted I don't recall this being an issue, though I might be wrong. My PS2 is already in the moving-boxes so I can't double check for you sorry to say.

It's alright. Going to pay more attention to this the next time I find a minotaur.

Wright: >defeated Medusa
>saw others like her
Yes, a generic gorgon for the most part.  She lacks the warping and wall-crawling from the intro.  Her odd qualities would be an insane HP pool (if trying to DMG kill *softlocking yourself if you do that*), chance to drop HP orbs on-hit and does not bounce after air OS/OH (neither of which scale with her HP total or she would be one-shot to the wander threshold).  She's not nearly as tough as a later variant in terms of HP.  She lacks a special quality to her petrification use (not even more potent).  It doesn't insta-kill you (breakout disabled), she doesn't have a grab to set it up, she isn't passively just doing it, there are no superior variants (homing shots, AoE, focused beam, etc.), etc.  She's just a strange sub-boss introduction to an enemy type to give you a spell in the end.

NOTE: We can go over tactics for her another time if you like.

>way to deal with being surrounded during traversal combat in GoW1
Don't get surrounded, mostly.  Little else exists.  No i-frames during wall grabs.  Rarely able to leap away from these walls.  If you've got a gap to cross, might be time to escape the pin (so to speak).  On ropes, the first case lets you drop to safety.  Later they are all over kill floors, so you would need an exploit like PR into HJ to invincibly attack and get back to the rope (can't just Icarus Lift after dropping, which sucks).  Grab i-frames during the rope seem to work okay...up until a point, anyway.

>the place with x4 bulls
Those grunts are the perfect targets for that ballista.  Why bother fighting them when you can exploit this rare chance to work an environmental in our direct control?  Might consider trying it for vanilla VH.  Or save it for NUR and higher, I suppose.  Perhaps in the next run you would prefer to use them for 'quick kill' practice or something (still early game, so maybe that has a point).  Might try some other things in a fun run using Wulf's cheat code (aside from normal NG+ activities with infinite MP or being simply OP *blowing through the game with direct DMG*).

>upgraded BoC to lvl2
Ayyy, that opens a lot of doors.  Rush is great for traversal, but even at this point it has another purpose.  Aside from (R) into heavy for quick t1, you can now also do R1 into quick t1.  Recall that Bravery is double the value of Plume in this entry.  It is VERY strong.  It also has a bounce on the second hit (able to set-up air states).  The L1+x (jump special) is an okay auto-rising launcher. The air version can bounce with the final hit (and reaches pretty far down).  They have their time and place in combat (along with movement).

RotG is a super state.  I don't know every single last detail for the values, sadly.  What I know is as follows.  You CANNOT activate it until at 100%.  You have to do the input yourself (won't just turn itself on).  Activation (not passive use) will break-out of being a statue and some escapable throws automatically.  Even at MAX, it isn't going to auto-perform QTEs for you, so don't go hoping it improves on that front.  Passively it ignores petrification.  You will no sell hits (pretty sure nothing will knock you around).  No interruption, stagger, etc.  You STILL take damage, but it is reduced.

In this entry the 'armor' (Enemy Power % is actually being nerfed rather than our defense being buffed in reality, so collisions are weakened while in that state *get that perception adjusted*) scales with the weapon upgrade level.  Because of how this actually works, enemy attacks that DO NOT scale with said stat would NOT be nerfed (enemy grabs remain dangerous and projectiles continue to chip *a room full of archers won't be hitting for less, but you won't be getting knocked about...can't guarantee they won't make you fall into a cliff, so you need to test that one*).  At lvl2 we're just talking 0.75 to whatever hit landed.  If it were 5 (pretty strong for a base move on Normal), it would sink to 3.75.  At lvl3, it becomes 0.60 (3).  For lvl4 we're talking 0.45 (2.25).  At lvl5 (MAX) you're looking at 0.30 (1.5).

Power % is always adjusted to 2.0.  Whatever you were dishing out is effectively doubled.  Mind you, the BoC itself has a unique ground moveset (roughly double the potency of the other one *if that is true for dps is something I cannot speak to, but I doubt it*).  It is poorly explored, frankly.  I feel it needs better coverage (limited nature of the thing causes this to be so *aside from not being a small unique moveset relative to GoWII, for example*).  Non-uniques are straight forward, at least.  But what about the gathering of it?

As I recall, BoC specials will not build rage at all.  Normals will, but it didn't seem much like each built them in a substantially different way.  If just wanting meter, probably best to use lights.  I don't think you get robbed of value per hit by hitting multiple targets (nor would it buff your build-up for doing so).  You can't hit dying animation cases to build the stuff, but there are times you can wail away to exploit the system on a foe like a boss that just sticks around (or even an NPC that won't die, but can be struck *though maybe not in GoW1*).  I don't think object destruction fills the meter, but false OS on objects apparently works (exploitable).  Pretty sure false OS on foes also works, but isn't the safest stunt to pull.

Know that counter to another entry, being hit BUILDS meter.  While doing QTEs (maybe not every part of them so much as successfully completing CS mini-games on foes) can build meter, FAILING them when you take damage can also build it.  Not sure if a 0DMG 'hit' like the push of a minotaur will build any.  Doubt it.  IF it did, that would be something to work with.  Throws tend to build meter, but not all of them are equal to be sure (much wider gaps exist than with normals).  A mid-game boss QTE is worth half the bar.  The final boss full refills.  Sadly, this entry does NOT allow you to turn it back off once turned on. No way to slow the drain, either.  Don't believe there is an 'activation' cost this time.  No building up meter while active comes to mind.  You do keep your block (not just air block), but notes say your parry has no follow-ups at all (pretty lame you can't do the doubled normals much less have access to the uniques).  All the more reason to NOT use said defensive tool when the clock is ticking.  This mode doesn't get a ton of use (sadly), so it isn't super well grasped.

NOTE: I'd be interested in seeing (maybe even doing) a run trying to use RotG for EVERY fight (seeing how frequently you can keep in that state and how far it can take you).


At higher levels it unlocks a new move and even perks (extremely notable).  For now, let's just look at the basic kit:


s1, s2, s3, s4 (s,s,s,s) appears to be the light string I'd long ago dubbed Godly Grace (ender isn't really Valor and looks weird, but is a knockback type).  Plume and Spirit are still a thing, but I think the AoE is lost.  Also, the latter is basically the same (in terms of damage) other than the arcing back part adding an extra hit (secondary like with the normal) for the latter.  The heavy string is t1, t2, t3 (t,t,t).  The odd thing is that notes suggest Plume is the t3 and Spirit is the t0 in this state.  I don't know for sure how all the moves string from one to the next (would have to re-test it), but the implication is that 's,s,t' would end with Godly Spirit while 't,t,t' would end with Godly Plume.  If I had to guess, s3 into a heavy would be Plume, NOT Spirit (penultimates tend to work that way).  Don't think there are any 'quick' whatever cases to speak of (out of evade, off s1 or following Rush) here.

I forget if T has a new animation, but Godly Ascension is hitting for more than just double (I'm guessing it was a unique).  Again, not sure if there is a quick version or not to cue up the input for or what the particulars are.  I imagine it still has the slow-mo pursue with i-frames to use, but people almost never do such a thing.  Could even LACK i-frames for all we know.  That's how neglected the feature is.  Sad.  Given my old coverage has R1 as Olympic Thrust, it might have changed a bit.  Can't say how beyond damage.  Think it might skip the shoulder and go right into the stab (that lvl2 doesn't have).  Might impact rapid movement a bit.  Hard to say.  Anyway, doing another R1 goes into normal Valor (doubled).  Sadly, no adjustment at all (doesn't reach further or do anything special *not even able to charge it*).  The light follow-up is Grace, the heavy follow-up is Plume (not Spirit) and you can chain right into Ascension (not special) with held heavy.

Again, I don't know the strings with absolute certainty, but I would guess they work like the normal path.  So light starter does NOT lead to t2, but t1 (heavy starter).  Should follow all the usual logic.  Just not clear on if there are fast and slow versions for T and t1, so 's,t' might not have a point and 's,T' could be more valid (not necessary to do 's,s,T').  T cannot follow t0 and t3 like it normally can here.  Not suddenly able to follow the light ender (s4) either (normally we have an s5 and the ender is s6).  That's what my notes say, anyway.  I don't recall bounces off any of these though I remember the launch and knockback working as you would expect.  Maybe there was a bounce, but I can't can't recall it off t1, t0 or t3 readily.  Once more, you would need to test for yourself.

A move you unlocked at lvl2 (air R1) is adjusted here.  Hermes Stomp normally has recovery you can evade cancel.  Not a great move.  Mostly for getting out of the sky quickly at an angle (movement technique) versus just air blocking to fall straight down a bit faster.  Not even able to bring a foe with you (not some sort of face grab and pound into the ground situation, not doing bonus damage on downed foes or anything fun like that).  Eventually cancels (unlike air block), but you have to be pretty high up.  The rage version has no recovery (as with using the move in general on platforming elements like a balance beam that change the walk animation).  Diving into water with it would also cancel the recovery (won't make you go especially deep for what that is worth).

Notes say that (R),T just cancels.  So...don't even bother.  Can't use the move after an evade.  Probably a bug.  Speaking of such things, you CANNOT break shields with the unique RotG strikes.  They will, however, go through shields to do direct damage (which bugs out Magic Legionnaires allowing grabbing through their shields).  Apparently non-unique moves augmented by RotG will just harmlessly be blocked (no pierce here).  Two specials come to mind that might bust shields while you're in that state, but I can't say with certainty.  If not already guessed, air moves are not changed.  Hope this helps.

>something obtained later
No, I mean it in the sense that you can take a hit without being interrupted (hyper armor extends beyond that by shrugging off all hits, but still taking the damage *neither case require DMG reduction*).  Sadly, MG doesn't even get that boon with MAX (let alone mobility).

>why invisible walls
Usually to limit a casual playthrough on the ability to quickly clear foes out and burst through the game for a short completion time in their one-off (before a negative review about it being short).  CoO in particular is terrible about this.  Not only are they all over, they let almost nothing through and they are comically tall.  GoW1 is as good as it gets on this front (even it has some head scratchers).

>didn't grip the beam
>not over the cross-roads
Curious.  The only other time I can recall the ledge grab option not coming up is in the odd case of a high block push attack sending us flying over a ledge (ignoring a case like being struck while doing it).

>closest thing
Correct.  Being shattered is about the only case.  I think the CoO final boss has a QTE with use being fried.  GoWII's final boss QTE has fail states that are pretty funny, too.  These are as close as it comes to what is in question (you'll never have a fatal blow suddenly initiate a special kill animation, however).  All the work goes into Kratos looking strong, not the other way around.  He's the goon, they're the jobbers (their function is to sell him *and put him over*).

I forget if I mentioned it, but this is an entry where enemies have friendly fire WITH DMG while in statue form.  No in-fighting or factions exist, however.  FF isn't a thing with DMG elsewhere (ignoring NPCs being attacks and killed as they're non-combatants).  Things can hit other enemies for hit reactions in some rare cases, but don't count on that being a boon (can even be a problem as in GoS).  Would have been sweet to use a Cyclops to bust shields.  Bah.  Still don't see why even MAX charged lvl3 Zf can't take out a shield to sell the might of the 'top god king'.  Likewise, petrification should work around their protection (including from their allies).  Got some gripes with their design (one I'll hold off on until I confirm you're further in).

>2-0
Today?  It was yet another fine day to REMIND them.  As ever.

>next will be lvl2 PR
A fine choice.  Gaining 'wrath' to increase hits and radius helps it quite a bit.  Definitely worth getting lvl3 BoC soon, too.  Counters and t2 (linking t1 and t3) are the main appeals, I'd say.  Having the modifier go up from 1.5 to 2.0 and the thing with RotG 'armor' improving are good bonuses, as well.  CoC is a bad joke.

>work like this across the games
In GoWII, things are better balanced more generally speaking. GoW1 just makes PR and another spell way too good.  MG isn't bad, it is just complex and tough to master effective use of (extremely solid).  Zf, however, IS bad in most cases.  CoO spells on normal...the Zf equivalent is meh.  The PR equivalent is okay as a panic button, but you have to think more when trying to get the most of it (as it has the unfortunate attribute of pushing foes outside the AoE).  It has another spell that is unique.  More on that another time, but it is quite powerful.  GoS has a terrible starting spell.  Its petrification option is extremely overpriced and limited (still has a time and place, but is mostly garbage asking way too much of you and your resources).  The unique is alright.  GoWIII ties them to weapons.  One is a weak AoE.  Another is a decent AoE.  A projectile (slightly nerfed) version of a returning favorite.  Then there is a complicated unique case (not as well developed as it could have been).  Still has plenty of value, just that it tends to get overlooked easily.  GoW:A just gives a bunch of AoEs (some less trash than others).  Pretty bad in that title for sure.

>ignored the possibility
Something to keep in mind for future reference.  Good we caught that early.

>an option for base
Two, technically.  Jump cancel is faster, but linear.  Attack cancel is slightly slower, but more easily steered (also good for going out of a roll then jump canceling the attack to get a leap out of an evade more quickly than is typically possible).

>curious to see this
I'll post the concept art when that time comes.  Let you see what it was trying for (even the Blades were different).

>why
Just are.  Didn't want to put any time into balancing them for other settings at all.  No bonus play option to do things with upgrades, without, with costumes, etc.  A bit restricting.  Handhelds (by way of bug) accidentally allow settings to transfer (can make things rough or an even bigger joke).

>around in the comments
As I often am.

>limited to videos
No.  Just that I rarely have sufficiently capable English speakers to do write-ups with.  It takes way more effort to understand one another and talk things out (painting me a clear picture of what you're doing).  My blank forms with names for areas is for write-ups referred to as run skeletons (filling them is for run coverage).  I have copypasta from many of my finished runs (aside from responses to those of others).

>not playtested
It was, just not a sufficiently so for VH (QA doesn't touch things other than N *combat devs dabble in their freetime for VH*).  A clear method is intended to clear it reasonably.  The alternatives?  Not so reasonable.

>where did they did the idea
Their ass, mostly.  H is the highest non-unlocked setting, but the focus is only ever on N.  Recall what I said about the gap between N and H being the smallest?  That's no accident.  Glorified Normal.

>lives up to its name
I'm just surprised it didn't learn from Bayonetta.  Have a VE setting that does QTEs for you, prevents insta-death from platforming (maybe let them pay in EXP to bypass sections *including puzzles*) Mario style, gives even more favorable stats, perhaps further lowers MP cost and RotG drain rate, maybe boosts chances for orb drops, higher payloads, statue state just holds us still for direct DMG (no insta-kill), traps just do a bunch of DMG rather than insta-kill, etc.  Journo Mode for wretches, children, the handicapped, etc.

>no other way
More recently, Zim found something expanding on that.  Fun for us both another time (even I haven't viewed it yet, but the title suggests finding a way around our lackluster dps to the same ends *no need for the QTE*).  I'm holding off on seeing that (reward) until I finish up with his GoW1 showings (shouldn't take long) other than CotG (saved until he does it again with Artemis later).  I'll do GoS after that.  Then the GoWII redux.  And GoW:A (and still more).  Got Zaser (didn't make a new thread for it) doing CoO right now, AD is still waiting with his excessively restricted stuff, etc.  Wanted to get back with you before I made progress on these fronts.

>does H count
It can.  Certain costumes can certainly provide a better than base advantage with little in the way of cons.  Can even be a challenge depending on your set-up.  Just depends.  Presumably the thought of playing on E where aggro doesn't exist isn't super appealing.  You will find that compared to VH, H feels like enemies are napping much of the time.

>how many are recommended
One is fine.  Just that it is advised you taste vanilla VH a second time with a better understanding of things to try for mastery (but also to dabble in alternative tools and strats overlooked).

>definitive way
I'd say so, yes.  Handhelds translated a bit better as I recall.

>in Ascension
No, he's stuck in a run on GoWII.  He hasn't really done much in some entries, either.  Hotel was most active in GoWIII.

>quickly dealt with
Some big boys don't have that much HP by design (Enforcers).  We're pretty strong to begin with, but notably powerful with upgrades (lvl5 BoC *let alone AB* with RotG is absurd).  Even VH halving us won't change that.  Ignoring the dps front with direct attacking, petrification is often enough a thing for these types (even lvl1 can be a solid option though expensive *still cost effective versus direct DMG spells that don't scale with Power % just as it is with grabs*).  Another would be the environment.  The first Enforcers you fought were open to ring-out, for instance.  Won't always be the case, but the game can sometimes throw you a bone with the tanks (even heavy ones).

>reloaded to try out an ultra rare option
Very nice.  Shame this sort of thing almost never happens in the franchise as a whole.

>try this someday
Pretty neat early on.  Might drag as you become OP quickly and find yourself just exploring and farming/grinding to get 100% (and beyond).  Most challenge melts away fast.  Some curious design choices.  Still, there is good reason it (and Metroid) are the namesakes of a type of title.

>second this
As I also feel about it on us.  If we're at 200% HP, our RES should be higher, our shake-off speed should be faster, our statue HP should increase (meme though doubling it would be), break-out ease should increase, etc.  If we're at 1HP, you better believe it all goes into the damn toilet.  Baseline should see our statue HP a bit more hardy, but the rest can stay the same (just becoming worse for business when beat up).  Being at 1HP and swimming in staring sneks sounds like Hell this way (that's of course without considering the possibility being that weakened prevents escape at all *maybe the last time you can get free is in critical life's threshold of ~20HP).

Having such things apply to foes (with an inverse on rewards as they become easier to take out) just seems best for business to me.  Would drastically improve usability of the spell as a mechanic even without some MAX perk making FF on statues do bonus DMG (or petrification build-up from us or foes translate into direct HP damage on statues *which is a thing by way of a bug in GoS, but more on such things like what GoWIII leans on later*).

>reasons to like DmC:SE beyond 'style'
Being a more competent game to play?

>what's being talked about
Lots of jargon, shorthand, etc.  Good to ask questions.

>aren't that engaging
How I feel about most non-combat bits in even GoW.  I dislike doing much less redoing puzzles.  I think the most insulting was a rythmn game for babies in GoWIII.  I would happily pay 10K orbs to skip that.  Better believe I'd do that in NUR and higher.

>Rooftops of Athens
A few rare things go down there.  Pushing a ballista downhill (slides after a kick a bit), able to destroy some small rails, a backtracking exclusive encounter, rounded walls (lacking proper combat, sadly), the rare wall-to-wall (dropped section was going to be heavy with them with a timer though no archers), lots of side paths (optional), a bit of freedom in the order of things, objects with HP orbs (not many, but they exist), etc.

>Enforcer with Wraiths
No way to pluck the latter from their burrow in this entry (they job hard once you have that).  Shame Ares passing through is just for show (would be funny to have him teamkill).  Likewise, the invisible wall in the back prevents RO on them.  Still, you can play dirty if you put your mind to it.  As for facing them head on as you are, shouldn't be too bad.  Your lvl2 PR would definitely whittle away at the wraiths quickly though maybe more efficient to just set-up an opening to petrify the big boy, shatter him and do the same to the respawn (leaving just wraiths).  RotG for tanking would let you go wild while taking minimal damage in reply (probably focus down on the big guy that can't block *don't use the QTE while rage is active as there is no advantage in this case*).  Your lvl2 BoC on Normal just mean it wouldn't be a long chip process at all, just that if you run up on them and start getting jailed with flurries, knocked around with big attacks allowing the others to combo you, etc. it can get ugly.  Got to be a bit smarter than that.  Grab i-frames can be a big factor, but we're getting into territory better saved for the next run.  You're not stuck here, so let us press on.

>all the way to Pandora's
No talk of things betwixt, eh?

>lvl3
Your parry now has follow-ups (counters).  Essentially instant access to enders.  You can only do them twice in rapid succession, so if you parry cancel one into another a subsequent third will not come out.  Rarely comes up, but it is a thing to know.  The heavy option is Plume, not Spirit.

>get harder
I don't remember that being a thing.  The only mashing case that is notably harder is with a late-game enemy type think 'goat' rather than 'bull'.  That one doesn't even have i-frames during the struggle, but then it is a 'general' type, too (open whenever).  Doesn't hurt the thing much (Hell, the air OS does 0DMG and the OH is like 10 *not a significant portion of its total*).

>because of pre-mashing
GoW doesn't punish this.

>what else could be going on
Controller issue isn't impossible.  Button could wear out among other things.

Anyone getting/got Sol Cresta?

I might pick it up soon, I was skeptical leading up to release but it looks pretty fun and to my tastes.

Not really interested in it to be honest, that said I do hear a lot more positivity about it than I expected since early looks were pretty negative. But high level players are seemingly fans.

I've not really given the Shmup/STG genre a fair chance to know whether or not I like them, but I was interested until I saw the price. I was expecting it to be a bit cheaper, and the fact that the story mode is DLC soured me further. I'll pick it up at some point, probably when I can get it for 50% off.

I don't like the ones where the screen is all bullets. Don't know if this becomes like that but from what I've seen it doesn't.

^Bullet Hell ain't my bag, either.

This game has piqued my interest after watching a review. They described the game as overwhelming and different than most shmups. However, the game is expansive, at least in my country. Also the game's visuals aren't that appealing to me. Platinum's pc port aren't exactly praiseworthy either, so that's also an issue for me. I think I'll wait for the game to go on sale.

I am curious about Kamiya not directing this game though. Considering how obsessed he is with shmups, one would think this was a great opportunity for him to make a shump. He however doesn't think so.

I'm very confused about Kamiya's involvement in things of late. He is a big, big Star Fox fan, yet had nothing to do with Star Fox Zero. IIRC Kamiya was creative-director of this game though. He also wrote the initial pitch.

Ahh.. so he is heavily involved with the game. Guess that also explains why the game feels overwhelming. With star fox it's understandable since he was working on Scalebound at that time. This time though, felt like a good opportunity to make a shump. This raises the question. Will he put the shooting sequences in Project GG or he is done with them after this?

I mentioned Shadow Warrior 3 in another topic and I couldn’t figure out if I liked it or not. Trying to play it again, I don’t think I do.

It’s almost as if they studied Doom Eternal and took the design of it too far, like low ammo, switching weapons all the time, throwing every enemy in to every encounter, etc. The game really becomes a slog way before it’s over(and it’s only a 4 hour game) and I think it’s because of the absolutely insane monotony of the encounters. You’ll go on streaks of arena fights with the same enemy compositions, in the same patterns, with the same number of waves, with the same environmental hazards, a grappling hook spot, etc. It’s not even variations of these things like most games, it’s straight up doing the same thing over and over and over again.

It just shows that core mechanics aren’t everything imo. Sure the game has some nice weapons, a cool ki blast thing, spikes and barrels, finishing moves to get temporary new moves, etc. But when you stick all this shit in such samey situations it completely loses its value. You can’t just throw everything at the wall all the time. I’m not exaggerating when I say the game gets boring after about 20 minutes.

And because I apparently hate myself, I slogged through Uncharted Lost Legacy because it came with the upgrade for 4, and it was the worst thing I’ve played in years. Literal agony.

Anyone end up getting Sol Cresta?

I've been thinking about games that become a slog more and more often (like Razor's Edge). Do you think a game like that would be more enjoyable if you only played it 10-30 minutes per day for example?

> Lost Legacy
Too bad, I was kinda looking forward to giving that a try in the future since I got the collection for free at some point (don't recall how). I still have quite fond memories of UC2 which I consider the highpoint of the franchise to be honest.

> Sol Cresta
Not yet, too busy with Elden Ring.

>Do you think a game like that would be more enjoyable if you only played it 10-30 minutes per day for example?
Yeah, I think so. Because that's really all it takes to see what the game has to offer in the case of something like SW3, since it literally puts everything out in front of you at all times. I haven't played enough RE to have a definite opinion but I feel like there's more going on in that game mechanically, although I recall having the same issue with it: I'd play for 30-60 minutes and feel burned out.

>UC2 highlight of the series
I agree with this. The games aren't especially deep so they really shine with their pacing and flow, which I find 2 does by far the best. 4 has way too much downtime and climbing(if you can even call it that, it's just slightly more visually appealing walking since it's near impossible to fail). I probably hated LL so much because it's a retread of 4 in a lot of ways and I just came off that game, which I found went on for far too long.

Played the FF Origin demo. Not a fan.

Soon as I saw loot drops my heart sank.
Don't like the break thing.

Saw a class video showcase and no sign of a true ranged class.
Lancer would be good if throwing didn't use so much MP. I was using Venom from Duelist then Lance throwing but couldn't get good results due to low MP. I suppose that would change later but I want to start with my favored playtime, not 60 hours later.

Black Mage seemed a good option out of what I was given. Spell range is decent. Fire can set vegetation on fire which can damage enemies (and your party) but I'm not sure if there's a way to switch spells quickly so I found it difficult to use.

Don't think I could play a loot game like this though. Having to manage the equipment menus suck with all the shit you get.

GMG/Raeng: You were both right. The controller was faulty. And the left stick was also about to break (trying to break free from an enemy's grab didn't help). But I did find a new one, and got up to a part where you have to kill centaurs inside a blue circle to open a door.

Just to let you know that I haven't abandoned my GoW playthrough. Sorry for the huge delay. When I finish the game, I plan to address your points, GMG, as well as write about what I did on the parts I didn't elaborate on. But I can tell you this: I remember where I dropped the game the first time I played it, was a bit further from the part where you had to save the Oracle from falling to her death.

>both right
I don't remember talking about a damaged controller, but then my sleep schedule (or lack thereof) and lack of rest over the years probably rules out reliability there. Zim is having technical difficulties, too. A few runners are, actually.

>Centaur Sacrifice
Good times.

>address after first playthrough is completed
I see.

>write-up post-run
Good luck recalling details.

>originally after the Oracle platforming bit
Sewers?

I played the Stranger of Paradise demo and I think it is very good. It is similar to Nioh but it has a strong identity too. I started to like the loot in Nioh after some runs. During your first runs you can just swap to higher level gear when you get it, but only when you reach the last difficulties you are "forced" to make a build.

However, you could balance your build in a different way. Give yourself some defense and use weaker weapons without too many attack bonuses. The final result is a very good action game, but I understand why some of you dislike this "customization". In my opinion the RPG part gives additional depth to Nioh and with the help of some guides (Lupinos on GameFAQs was my main source of info) you can calibrate Nioh the way you want. Magic, Ninjutsu, Bows and Rifles, Living Weapon, etc. can be used in conjunction with weapon skills without being OP.

Stranger of Paradise reminds me of Nioh but what I like of it is its own reinterpretation of the Job System and I'm curious how Final Fantasy Magic can be developed by Team Ninja. We have seen how KH and FFVIIR have transferred some originally turn-based mechanics in real time combat, I'm excited to see how SoP will do the same from a different angle.

^ Looking forward to hear more.

GMG:
>don't remember
It was in regards to how I felt about killing a minotaur via mashing circle (the 'QTE') got noticeably harder the further I got in. At first, it was easy.

>details
While they're not detailed, I'm keeping notes about the game as I progress. They can help me to recall stuff.

>Sewers?
Yeah.