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I put in about 20 hours for Dark Souls III, I got to the swamp and i just was sick of it after a while, but maybe ill give it another shot at some point...

i already have ghost of tsushima i havent finished the dlc of it yet cause i had to upgrade it on my ps5 but dont know how to 🙁 and it is amazing game i dont know why it didnt win game of the year last yr 😔

im about to buy this game right now ahh so excited to play it

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
(update)



So I take back any negative implications that I might have made in my previous posts regarding Sekiro.

I put at least half an hour in one night last week and really enjoyed the experience. This offers more action than Dark Souls did, which is part of what I felt was missing. The repeated gameplay after death was frustrating, but in a later attempt I decided to stop playing stealth and just take on all enemies head-on. That changed the game for me. Stealth is generally my preferred playstyle when available, and it feels pretty good in Sekiro but the problem is that killing characters from behind teaches zero defense. That's a problem when encountering higher mob-level enemies.

So that time around, I learned how to deflect an attack and to dodge. For my efforts, I survived the first mini boss type encounter and the play was so much more fulfilling. Something cool that I discovered a bit later in my play is that there is a character, Hanbei, the Undying, you can communicate with to request practice fights. He will use tactics to help you learn how to use specific techniques as you learn them in the game, depending on what menu request you make while chatting with him. That is pretty great to spend your time with him to learn rather than losing all of your coin and progress dying in the game.


I now have a sword and a proper task, which also provides more of a line to follow in game where as the initial few screens felt confusing and misguided. As I understand the basics of my story, my character is a shinobi sworn to protect his master, a young boy (I think?) named Kuru, The Devine Heir, who is in danger due to his blood line. I'm not sure if it's so literal, as I feel there may be some magic element within his blood. That's only been alluded to so far. My first task was to find this boy, find an escape route from this prison, then escort the boy beyond the castle walls.


Unfortunately, beyond the castle walls stood what I assume to be the big endgame boss man who engaged me in combat and quickly put me down by cutting off my arm. This game is a bit gruesome, by the way. It is very cartoony (in a good way) and the blood fits right in with something along the lines of Attack on Titan. Anyway. With an arm severed, my character collapses and the child is taken away.


This is where the game starts.

The character awakens in a strange Buddhist monastery having been rescued by an old, gnarly "sculptor." This sculptor has attached a shinobi prosthetic arm where his was removed a scene earlier. This arm is great. From the start you are able to use it as a grappling hook to launch against anchor points along you game path. And they are numerous. If you want to sneak around some guard, just grapple up a level to the wall, grapple up to a temple roof, whatever, and sneak around to drop down behind the guard for a quick kill. I'm not joking by describing my play as a samurai Spider-Man. So for that mechanic alone, the game moves much faster than anything from the DS franchise. Still, the bosses are as difficult as anything I experienced in DS, and that they're also faster, requiring a little more reactionary moves and timing, I still want to smash my face into a brick wall.


While I've only crawled through the starter "tutorial" level and briefly explored early areas of the first real game level, things feel less rigid than the mostly linear first pass within Demon's Souls. The environment looks like I can explore. Having this grappling arm that gives me access to higher platforms and being able to scale up/down cliff faces or narrow ridge footings all at least mask over the level limitations making me feel as though I'm exploring. So far, it all still appears very linear, but I can at least take actionable steps to walk into a level directly, climb around and over it, or explore some short paths here or there to eventually return to the two earlier options of walking or climbing around. I'm OK with that for now. It still feels less of a play-on-rails game with this simple mechanic addition and, who knows? Maybe later levels will open up even more.

I just found an upgradable part for my arm. After warping back to the Sculptor's temple (there are little sculptures scattered around the game levels that you can use to warp around to other discovered statues. One location is, of course, the previously mentioned temple. There you can train with the ghost warrior, rest to heal and to replenish your healing potion (and reset level enemies, so be mindful of that too!), or speak to the Sculptor. In this instance, he was able to take the part I found and upgrade my arm. Now I apparently can fire shuriken from the prosthetic. The only problem is that doing so requires some form of spirit energy that can either be found in game or bought from him. By the way, you lose half of your currency with each death, so maybe it's just best to spend it while you got it? There is a hint that you might be able to recover some of your losses but currently that doesn't seem to be an option.

Sculptor's Idol used to port around to discovered areas.

I think this could be a great game, in the end, but I can't help but recommend other games that do the particulars so much better. If you want to play samurai, just get Ghost of Tsushima because that's a very well designed and smoother gaming experience, and it just does samurai better. If you want the action of fighting with bits of questline and mystery, then Witcher III does it better with more depth. If you like the hard death penalties and level puzzle exploration side, then jump back into one of the Demon's Souls titles. They just do it better! On the other hand, if you've already played through all of the above and are curious what a game might be like taking bits and pieces from each of these other titles, then this might be the game for you. I'm still on the fence, but I'm good to give it more time. My only problem now is that I restarted Batman: Arkham Asylum last night and I'm worried that I won't be able to put it away until it's complete. Again.

Following is a clip I found showing the first actual game level, after having taken the prosthetic arm:

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It...is here...

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that looks pretty incredible, do you know if it's just online multiplayer or there's single player mode?

It's a From Software game, so it's primarily single player, with a smattering of multiplayer using their tried and true mode that all FS games have. You basically play the game single player, but you can summon other players or be summoned to fight bosses or PVP if you so choose. It's sort of an open world version of Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Sekiro games.

While I appreciate the From software stuff in the abstract it's usually too much of a commitment for me to get into, but with the exploration ramped up a bit here (I suspect not a ton, but somewhat) I might give Elden Ring a try.

lol, Arkham Asylum is so gewwwwd!!!
sigh. I'll never finish Sekiro =*( now someone is taunting another game up there *points*. I may have to lurk back into Madden to clear my soul again cuz Outer Wilds is still open and I actually logged back into The Long Dark when I was sitting my nephew not long ago.

like that kid in The Last Samurai, all with his broken english, "Too many game." Or something like that.

So, is it as hectic and fast-paced as DS3? I didn't particularly enjoy that, and much prefer the slower-paced combat of DS1 and Demon's Souls.

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Slow down, From Software! Yeah, I know, it's many years in the making.

I still haven't finished Dark Souls 2 - the part in Drangleic Castle where you have to fight all of those Ruin Sentinels made me rage quit - and I just started Dark Souls 3, killing the first boss. No complaints so far. It seems a lot like the first one.

But anyway, Dark Souls may be my favorite game of the last decade. It's neck and neck with Hotline Miami. Maybe except for Mega Man 2 (NES), it gave me the strongest sensation of accomplishment I've ever felt after completing a game.

It is ramped up a ton, at least so far. While the Soulsborne games were not completely linear, once you chose an initial path, they progressed along in a pretty linear way, as you reached each bonfire checkpoint, then go t to the area boss, which allowed you to progress to the next area and so on. That's not to say there wasn't exploration, because getting through each puzzle-like area required plenty of exploration and secret discovery.

Once through the small tutorial dungeon in Elden Ring, it's a full open world. After that initial area, for the remainder of the time I played in my first session, which is all I have done so far, I was exploring all over the place. This game has crafting, as well, so I was collecting various plants and crafting materials, none of which I have any idea how to use yet. These games haven't held the player's hand in the past, and that hasn't changed. There is plenty to discover on your own.

The atmosphere is amazing. I was getting drawn into the world pretty quickly, as the visuals and music have been pleasant so far. Although the game does feel like a Souls game at times, using sort of the same game systems and looks to the character designs, the world most definitely does not seem like Souls, as stuff is actually, you know, alive and stuff! There is wild life and thriving plants, which Souls just didn't do. The game seems much more vibrant as a result, even if it still has that overall melancholy lore and tonality in place.

Combat has a great feel, with weight and heft to the engagements that is the best in any game in recent memory. When you block a strike with a shield and then go in for a counter, you really feel it! My only caveat for you would be that I can't really imagine this game plays well with mouse and keys, but I have always played these games with a controller, so maybe it's me.

Anyway, unsure if you would like it or not, but so far, great game.


I started with Confessor class, and am sort of leaning into a sword and board style at this point. At least with this character, the combat seems to be not quite as fast as Bloodborne or DS3, and is perhaps somewhere in between DS1 and DS3? Honestly, I am not sure I haven't done enough battling to really draw a conclusion, and since I am not playing my usually dodge roll, shield-less style - it might seem slower to me simply due to my style choice this time. I tend to not like shields, so I may lose it after a while, but I randomly picked a starting class and it seemed sort of Paladin-ish, So I just went with it.

It hasn't felt hectic to me, but more so methodical, with counters and timed attacks. Again, may be the Confessor style.

Sounds promising. I'm still going to wait for a while (lots of Steam reviews complain about poor optimization, so few patches wouldn't hurt, and I'm currently occupied by Lost Ark). It's a game I'll most likely play at some point, though.

Fair. My experience has been pretty smooth so far, but I did notice a hiccup or two here and there. I pretty much never buy a game out of the gate, but since I had never played along with the Souls community for a launch, I figured I would give it a shot this time around.

Fextralife, the Souls community I tend to interact with here and there, is playing live right now if you want to check out the speed of the gameplay. This guy is playing what looks to be one of the faster builds, so i would think this is near the top of the speed spectrum...

Fex Live on Twitch

I mostly watch speedrunners like distortion2, qttsix and Santzo84 when I want to see Souls gameplay. But I'll be checking other streams too during these early days just to see how the game feels like.

dont tell me its like dark souls D= i hate hard games

The gta series of games for me will always be

Quick update on Elden Ring after about 7-8 hours played.

Some encounters definitely get speedy, especially against mounted enemies. In one case, I found myself jumping on and off my horse pretty quickly, while sort of jousting and then wildly flailing at the total ****ing ******* of a boss that was just handing me my ass. Speaking of...

Hard game is hard! This could be due to me not being used to a Fromsoft game having an open world, and wandering into areas/situations I am not ready for. In fact, I am pretty sure that is it. Luckily, each time, I have returned to the earlier areas and found content I can chip away at and get past. Still, this is definitely a Fromsoft game!

That said...I definitely found myself getting immersed into the world pretty quickly. Amazing music, and a million little nooks and crannies to get killed in explore. I haven't had time to play since this weekend, but I am looking forward to another session!

Okay, would like suggestions on good games to run around in/explore without a lot of battle/combat. I love open worlds to meander around, but not a fan of battle.

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There are a lot of games that are about exploration solely. They get decried as "walking simulators" or "non-games", but they are often very enjoyable experiences (and sometimes really terrible ones). They are sometimes a bit like adventure games, at other times just like interactive movies. I'm thinking Firewatch, for instance. Or The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Or Lifeless Planet. I haven't played No Man's Sky, but it seems focused around peaceful exploration too, as many crafting/building 3D games (though most of them, like the fantastic Subnautica, can be stressful in terms of resource management and hungry fauna).

But : there are also gorgeous combat-games that allow you to somewhat avoid combat or at least spend long stretches of the game without it. I'm a big tourist, in open world games, I love just trot around without caring for the quests, just taking in the virtual scenery. I'm currently enjoying Red Dead Redemption 2, which is quite beautiful and relaxed (until a cougar leaps at your throat, or outlaws ambush you from all sides). It's a shooty game, but depending on how you play, you can ignore this aspect for a long while. And while big RPGs à la Elder Scrolls throw monsters at you every ten meters, they're also games where I tend to avoid fast travel systems, in order to slowly migrate through the landscapes.

So, I'd say it's a matter of degree. If you tolerate combat as long as it gets dwarfed by other activities, you could look at combat games with a lot of side activities, and make them them main ones. For what it's worth, the ruthless bloodbaths of Red Dead Redemption 2 (and the infuriating console-induced clunkyness) are details in my eyes, compared to the pleasure of chilling out on its great plains and mountains. The question is your own personal annoyance threshold when it comes to the occasionally unavoidable shootouts.

Edit: Other borderline cases are games such as Mad Max. Brilliant vehicular combat, tedious fistfights, but if you ignore roads, plots and outposts, it's one of the most eerie environments to explore. And Ubisoft has a few franchises encouraging relaxed exploration, such as Watch Dogs (if you're okay with urban settings - Watch Dogs 2's San Francisco is a joy to stroll in, and the map is deliberately filled with famous landmarks to visit) or Assassin's Creed (most of its actions are the assassinations, the rest is just about hopping from roof to roof or walking in crowds - in fact they had released Assassin's Creed Unity for free when Paris Notre-Dame had burned, in order to let people visit the in-game version at leisure, which says a lot about the "touristic" aspect of the gameplay). I'd even say that IO's take on the Hitman franchise offers magnificent little environment to explore at your pace, which is actually part of the gameplay (as you seek your targets and opportunities to provoke accidents).

I wish I could also suggest the Far Cry and Shadow of Mordor series, but their strikingly beautiful environments may be too crowded with respawning nasties for your enjoyment.

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