Souls-likes

[Taiso]

I SHOULD be playing Clair Obscur Expedition 33 but I'm being distracted by stuff like this:

I've really been enjoying it. Dark fantasy soulslike vibe, an interesting crafting system and compelling progression. I'd describe it as a 'metroidvania' because of the side scrolling and map based exploration but the crafting system is rather unique. You find NPCs throughout the world (like a souls game) and recruit them to your hub. Then, you have to level them up by finding diagrams unique to their trade and also crafting mats to make whatever items they offer relative to their level. And eventually you can unlock other builds (magic, rogue, etc). The hub building mechanic is the thing that keeps me going. Combat is good, bosses are tough but fair (requiring some repetition and 'gittin' gud') and it's got a pretty engrossing environment and vivid NPCs. For less than 30 bones, I'd say it's money well spent.

 

[Lagduf]

Are you me? I haven’t played Shadow of the Erd Tree much this last week because my friend got a steam deck so we’ve been playing dumb shit on Steam.

We’re currently playing V Rising which is an excellent survival game with a sort of linear progression and story, similar to Grounded (in that you can “beat” the game and it isn’t merely a sandbox pvp game.) I’ve had the game since its early access days and already had 100+ hours across two playthroughs but never beat the game. So been fun replaying and progressing farther than I’ve ever been before.

The game has some pretty solid MOBA like combat and probably 50+ bosses that are all mostly fun to fight (some are fucking hobags lol.) Varied weapon types, magic, and the ability to enthrall npc enemies to become your servants or merely keep in a cage to drink their blood is both a fun and thematic mechanic.

 

[Taiso]

My attention is currently divided between too many games:

Mandragora
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Street Fighter Duel
Wizardry Variants Daphne

And now Brown Dust II, a booby gatcha game on mobile that isn't something I'd normally sink much time into but they're having a Goblin Slayer crossover and I really like Goblin Slayer so I'm going to give that a go here very soon.

I almost tried out the Berserk collab with Diablo IV but when I read that getting all of the related items in game would cost $150 for cosmetics, I noped out. I wouldn't play Diablo IV after the collab was done and at that price, I can skip it.

I fixate on a particular game way too much, sinking hundreds of hours into it, so it's nice to just take it easy and play stuff in shorter bursts now and again. Probably a big reason I haven't jumped headlong into E33 yet. I'm not really 'ready' to give that much of myself to a game right now.

 

[Lagduf]

So….A24 confirms Alex Garland to direct a live action Elden Ring film.

 

[Average Joe]

I don't want anyone making an Elden Ring movie.

 

[Lagduf]

I don’t get it either.

 

[Taiso]

I fully expect that it will understand and honor the source material.

Spoiler:

No I don't. It'll be a woke disaster filled with faggits and women. Miyazaki will disavow it.

 

[mmsadda]

Nobody really wants games with black gay women as the leads, and as certain as you are of the motives behind the poll, I'm 1000% more certain of my own conclusions.

No one wants to hear your culture war bullshit

 

[mmsadda]

I don't want anyone making an Elden Ring movie.

It seems like a terrible idea. So unnecessary. I wouldn't mind seeing Miyazaki make an unrelated movie of his own though

 

[mmsadda]

So is Clair Obscur souls-like or turn-based? Or neither? I've heard folks say things along both lines

 

[Lagduf]

So is Clair Obscur souls-like or turn-based? Or neither? I've heard folks say things along both lines

It’s turned based but has some active inputs during battle like in FF7 remake or Yakuza:Like a Dragon.

 

[jro]

CO makes a really good first impression, I got it on Gamepass and put about 2 hours into it with no complaints. But then, yeah, I went back to Mandragora as well, and thought hmmm also still need to get through AI Limit and Emperyal and well, pushed down the list.

Then I started into Blades of Fire yesterday and haven't put it down since other than for a few rounds of HotWheels in Forza Horizon 5, It's like God of War combat slowed down to proper SL type with pretty cool weapon forging systems. Feels awesome to play.

There really is a ton of good stuff to play in the genre right now

 

[Taiso]

I hit a wall in Mandragora with the vampire boss. Luckily, his first stage is exploitable but it's pretty boring getting through it so fatigue, much like reading any criticism from mmsada, it's just kinda lame and you have to wait it out to get to the important part where something interesting happens.

I downloaded the demo for Blades of Fire but just couldn't get into it. I'm not sure how I feel about the implementation of forging your own weapons to use in combat. At least it isn't just 'spend XP and use some mats to make your weapon better'. I intend to try the game again but right now, Mandragora has got me. That's probably the real issue with me getting into it right now. I definitely like the art direction. It's colorful and a little cartoonish and has a vivid world from what I can see.

 

[Taiso]

Beat the vampire boss in Mandragora. The second stage was way simpler than I was making it. It's almost stupidly easy if you just remember your basic vampire lore.

Game is legit.

 

[2Heed]

How could a coherent, self-contained Elden Ring movie be made? The game's plot is built on "tell don't show", with a silent protagonist, very few major characters to interact with, enough boss characters for a half-dozen films, and so much exposition that it would halt any sense of flow or momentum. Godefroy being the main villain might pique my interest, though.

 

[Taiso]

It'll probably be a 'prequel' explaining how the world became that way.

Because, you know, that's the interesting part of the game. Everything you didn't get to do.

Prequels are pretty big with Hollywood fagets.

 

[Taiso]

Not a soulslike, but I started playing Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon yesterday (home sick) and really enjoyed it. Not sure if it'll hold up for me in the long run but it has a nice dark fantasy twist on Arthurian mythology, is easy to play and understand and has atmosphere for days. I've owned it in early access for about half a year and never played it. Now that it's finally in full release and everyone is 'glazing' it, as the kids say these days, I decided to give it a go.

Not sure why it's called 'polish Skyrim' but I'm down.

 

[Lagduf]

They do have all the material that George R.R. Martin wrote.

I absolutely don’t expect the film to be a retelling of the games events.

Be cool if it was about the Lands Between falling to the control of the Greater Will.

 

[Taiso]

Having the material doesn't mean they'll properly adapt it.

I mean shit, I don't really want to be negative about it but I have seen this play out too many times.

People that don't understand the source material and don't care about it see something that they think they can profit off of.

They get a bunch of people that couldn't give a shit about the source material the creative reins and they're told 'make this for a 'global audience' when it already HAS a global audience.

They proceed to demonstrate how little they understand. or care about, said source material or why it even matters in the pursuit of social media engagement and access media fluffing.

When it fails, the fans are blamed when all they wanted was something that respected them even a little bit.

They could literally adapt the gag manga, page for page, and it would be a more faithful adaptation to the source material than anything Hollywood will ever come up with. And that story's protagonist is an idiot who runs around naked for the first four volumes.

I'd rather just have an anime of the gag manga, to be honest.

Or just make the movie about Vyke. If they told a Vyke story and honored the material, it COULD work. But the idea of theme escapes the Hollywood machine.

 

[Average Joe]

Apparently Garland is a legit crazed Elden Ring fan, so that is at least something.

 

[Taiso]

Apparently Garland is a legit crazed Elden Ring fan, so that is at least something.

I'd definitely be willing to hear him explain why he's a good fit to direct beyond being a rabid fan of the series. Randy Orton is supposedly a maniac for it as well but I've never heard him talk about the deeper context of the narrative. Which, as fate would have it, is necessary for a cinematic production of this type.

Also, waiting for the inevitable Hollywood machine to step in and demand these changes be made.

Honestly, the whole thing sounds like a fucking nightmare. Just don't get your hopes up, I guess.

 

[Average Joe]

Oh, I still don't want this at all.

But I guess I'd rather have someone that is at least a fan at the helm than some random schmuck who has no clue.

 

[Taiso]

I want to clarify that I'm not opposed to the existence of an Elden Ring movie.

I'm just opposed to the existence of an Elden Ring movie made by Hollywood corporate committee.

Something safe, sanitized, free of offense or transgression or anything close to tipping the commercial applecart or bucking the current social messaging.

If Alex Garland has the stroke to tell the studio and the producers to fuck off, and that he's only taking advice from Hidetaka Miyazaki, George R. R. Martin (for the parts he contributed) or the ghost of Kentaro Miura, then I am down.

But as we all know, Hollywood has the attitude that nothing is legitimate until THEY get their hands on it.

Garland needs to make pained efforts to demonstrate that he understands the concepts and themes. And then manifest them in the product. Adapting Vyke's story verbatim and expanding on it without deviating from its principles would win me over even if it was an amateur production. I loved the movie Black Death because what it lacked in polish, it more than made up for in heart.

EDIT: Garland is a gifted writer and he's made some great films. However, he's also demonstrated an inability to remain true to the essence of a property he's adapting in the video game realm. He was the story supervisor for Ninja Theory's DmC: Devil May Cry and while I initially appreciated that game, my opinion of it over the years has changed to where I still respect the gameplay but it's an absolute betrayal of the series' core concepts. It's blatantly hostile to the franchise's fans and inserts vapid messaging about late stage capitalism and corrupt American politics.

This doesn't mean that it's a certainty he will try to insert these bullshit ideas into an Elden Ring movie, but he has, in nearly all of his productions, used his platform as a pulpit to insert his own views into the work. I personally don't need that anymore but cheers to anyone that doesn't care.

 

[Lagduf]

Been playing Shadow of the Erd Tree again the last few days.

Just killed the Scadutree Avatar.

I’m fighting Commander Gaius right now. This boss is absolutely terrible. You have to dodge the mounted rush attack perfectly every single time. The hit box is huge. I should probably come back when I’m more powerful but I’ve got him close a few times and I’m an idiot.

And yeah…we don’t need an Elden Ring movie lol.

 

[Average Joe]

They actually patched Gaius a bit and he no longer blitzkrieg's you as fast at the start.

Personally never had an issue with him, but he is definitely one that people bitch about a lot.