DeathscytheX

I believe this is this studios first major game, and it is surprising since Gearbox has apparently helped them... but being a big release like this without being a major named studio, they probably don't have the resources to run a game as a service. It will be interesting to see the longevity of this game. They'll really have to make it in the spirit of Diablo 2 where there is enough variation to keep coming back. Although this is early stage development footage, and there probably is all of that.. the lack of UI might be the way of the future. If you ever play Ghost of Tsushima you'll get to experience a game, that in my opinion, is the first to successfully implement the environment as the UI. The lack of clutter on the screen while not having to check a map or objective every 3 minutes really added to the experience. It wasn't perfect, but I'd like to see this strategy for more non competitive games. Tsushima had the HP/Resolve meter in the bottom corner and that was it, aside from special objectives progress when doing camps/strongholds. Any abilities/weapon menus only popped up when you pressed the button to switch, and there was no need for a minimap with the the guiding winds, and ludicrous draw distances you could see. Maybe it was a little less convenient at times, but climbing a tower or cliff and looking around, or seeing a smoke plume, or other type of signal from ground level, really enhanced the experience rather than looking at menus and symbols.

If I have time tomorrow I'll try to dig mine out. I had a carrying case for my pogs. We were obsessed with 8 ball pogs. Which is funny to me since it was probably a cocaine reference but we just thought it was a billiards reference. But yes there were metal slammers and plastic ones. The plastic ones were triple the thickness I guess to make up for the weight... but they were still half the weight of the metallic ones. You were at a severe disadvantage not having a metal slammer.

I just watched the first part of this? Its labeled oddly as C1E1-E6. Dunno what C means in place of season. But only 6 episodes are up. Its pretty grim. It's not super violent nor does it contain strong language or mature themes, its just grim for something rated Y7. Like yo kid would get depressed watching it.

ROTFLMAO wtf? I still got my pogs somewhere. It was so huge in the early 90s. Like you could get them anywhere. I remember a friend and I got dragged to Old Time Pottery with our moms only to get excited when they had a steel tub full of pogs. It was like 20 for $1 or something. We'd sort through them for the coolest ones. I don't think we ever played for keeps, but we played. You had a board to slam on, and you had to have the metal slammers, because they hit harder than the thick plastic ones. Good times.

I got platinum on this game. It's only the second game I've ever gotten all the trophies for. Thats how a feel about it in the end.

Interestingly enough the poll doesn't show from the main hub page with the most recent topics.

Maxing stances doesn't help outside of avoiding getting hit (Auto parry on spear guys is pretty useful). It just keeps you on an even playing field. Now that you're in Act II you'll start to notice it. Shield and Spears, and eventually sword guys will start staggering you before you can fully break their guard to land strikes, by Act III they'll parry too. Even with a broken guard they'll recover faster. I was heavy on the smoke bombs like you at your point, but after a while I did a lot of Bow and Blowguns to thin out crowds. Kunai are always handy as well as you've noted. The blowgun is the single best weapon in the game. In act 2 there is a middle grassland and an area in the northwest to farm the darts, by Act III they're everywhere. The hallucination darts are what I was talking bout earlier. Pop a spear guy and he'll single handedly take out 3-4 other guys. I recorded this after a few runs of this happening. The real ease comes from the mythic abilities being able to be performed in duels. Once you get Heavenly Strike and Dance of Wrath, you can basically just go easy mode and open up with a lot of damage, pocket a few resolve in case you need to heal and when they're low enough pop them again and finish it. Things become even easier when you get Way of the Flame and the final stance of the game half way through Act II. If you go into a showdown fully loaded, its over in seconds... mechanics need not apply. Way of the Flame can't be blocked like the others and it uses ammo instead of resolve. So you can just mercilessly brutalize the opponent. I'd pop one, get regular strikes in, and pop the next when their guard returned. It's extremely busted tbh, but it does make you feel super powerful. It doesn't bother me like it will probably some people that like challenge. Edit: Yeah I felt the same way as you did and picked that ending. You're feelings will be even more validated after you take the second castle.

I posted this before finished it so warning.. he throws up.

I beat this today. This is hands down the best game Sucker Punch has made, and falls just below God of War and Breath of the Wild on my favorite first party games this gen. I will say it did get incredibly easy at the end once I had all the skills maxed out and the best charms. Rarely did I ever have to fight head on. By the time you get to Act III spear guys are annoying AF even more so. The only way to hit them is to parry, ghost weapon or do the shoulder ram and kill them. You'll never hit them straight up, and if they hit you it'll take 95% of your HP at the maximum. I'm sure its possible, to fight 100% honorably outside of the few times the game makes you otherwise in main quest lines.. but fuck that. Anyone that's not a masochist will resort to some sort of tactics... especially when the Act III Mongols are all fully armored, including the head. Headshots will the bow require a smaller window and they have to be facing towards you. Act II was my favorite. It has all the watershed moments and turning points. The ending was satisfying, even if the final two showdowns were the easiest. In the end I'd say my favorite NPCs were Kenji and Norio. My favorite side quest lines were Ryuzo's, Norio's, and Sensei Ishikawa's.

I know my company has made record profits since this has all started. I've been compensated with an extra raise, and multiple $100 gift cards. A lot of the younger generation in my company are crying about how its a gift card for our company and not to use whatever they want. But in reality, it is. I mean you HAVE to buy groceries, even if you eat out 3 times a day... you need TP and detergent. Now that's money you don't have to spend on groceries, and can spend how you want. With how irresponsible this generation is, it's helping them more than they know probably. If they got a cash card they'd spend all the money on dumb shit along with their grocery money and then cry how they're starving and they aren't making a living wage. These people can't see the benefit in long term investment. They see Walmart and Target giving out cash bonuses, while we got an extra raise on top of the 2 we already get per year. I'll take the raise, the bonus is nice but the raise has way more longevity. I rather get paid more for what I do than get a one time pay out. We're already closed on thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Easter. We get free company stock based off how many hours we've worked. You can literally work as a peon if you could afford to for 30 years and become a millionaire if you play your cards right with minimum effort. There are people that never bought extra stock and just accumulated what they earned for free and have $90k dividend checks. So yeah, while giving out gift cards for your own company can be seen as just a big tax write off.. in reality its serving a dual purpose. Walmart closing on Thanksgiving is hilarious, like it's something special. My former company started doing it last year only because my current company moved into the state and has been doing it for years. At one point my former company was trying to justify opening on Christmas as well. It was volunteer only for double pay. They lost money every year but was waiting for the one year they made a profit so they could say it was mandatory every year. Walmart only did this because of the profits and because everyone else is doing it. There has been a big push over the last few years to pressure companies to close on Thanksgiving. In this industry its nice to have more than 1 guaranteed day off a year.

Well you can crash into objects and not die so I'm more interested now. The one thing I hated about Battlefront 2 was you could graze a ship hull with the tiny corner tip of your tie fighter and the whole ship explodes.

The story may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I get that, but to say its dull is just crazy. Yes its full of grim sorrow, but the emotion is heavy and real. The voice acting is phenomenal and the music is as beautiful as the visuals. Even the side quests and minor quests have depth for story to the point I forget its not the main story. Some of the missions manage to be action packed while being a cinematic show piece A Message in Fire and Ghost in the Smoke probably my favorite missions so far. Both drastically different from each other. The combat hasn't gotten stale to me. Once you take the first castle. The enemies are stronger and fight differently. They do have more HP but its quickly negated once you get certain armor and upgrade your katana more. The enemies from the first section of the island stay the same and you'll see them around, they die even faster when you're stronger. They also throw in a new faction of enemies that fight much more skillfully. But yeah, fuck spear guys. I've unlocked Heavenly Strike and Dance of Wrath. I spam it on those guys now because the newer ones have excellent guard, and stagger ability. To give you an idea how tough they are. Later you get a weapon with a certain ability to make enemies turn on each other temporarily. I've used it on several types but the spear guys are the best choice. I watched as one spear guy took out 2 brutes, a shield guy, and an archer before he was taken down by another spear guy. They are also the only ones I've observed take down bears and not get ragdolled everywhere until they die.

Ok. This game checks all my boxes. It's not brutally difficult on the normal setting. It requires some strategy and patience, but overall the combat is simple, satisfying, and just fun. Its about as casual as a Zelda game but with different mechanics that aren't really comparable. I'm fully into the ghost style play now. I just got the longbow with explosive arrows, and a few new armor sets. Smoke Bomb is my favorite quickfire since I have the assassination tree maxed. If I ever screw up in get caught I can just pop smoke and initiate chain assassinations to thin out big groups surrounding me. The duels are visually stunning. I've done The Heavenly Strike and The Curse of Uchitsune so far and the imagery SP was able to pull off in this game is almost next gen worthy. Also f*ck all the reviews that bashed the story. I'm loving this story so far. Its def an old school samurai tail with eastern influences when it comes to story telling.