Just finished the first game. What are some improvements made over the first one?

[Welene Wios]

Also, is there an intensive parrying mechanic here?

Because I hate parrying. My preferred style is to dodge/block/roll or sometimes even just facetank the damage. But when I have to time a button press based on a small window of opportunity from enemy attacks- I do not like that.

And the first game isn't too difficult, which I actually enjoyed. I've beaten harder souls-like (except for Sekiro because parrying, ugh) and I found LoTF 1.0's difficulty very comfy. Not too easy, but not too difficult just the same. Is 2.0 like this?

Thanks

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by Welene Wios:

Also, is there an intensive parrying mechanic here?

Because I hate parrying. My preferred style is to dodge/block/roll or sometimes even just facetank the damage. But when I have to time a button press based on a small window of opportunity from enemy attacks- I do not like that.

And the first game isn't too difficult, which I actually enjoyed. I've beaten harder souls-like (except for Sekiro because parrying, ugh) and I found LoTF 1.0's difficulty very comfy. Not too easy, but not too difficult just the same. Is 2.0 like this?

Thanks

No parry needed and here after you get a certain umbral lamp upgrade you can simply facetank most things with hyperpoise and recovering health with the damage dealt by the charged attack you unleash.
It is also very doable with any weapon and no facetank or shield is not mandatory, these are all options.

Btw, I beaten Sekiro with just dash and attack (no deflect/mikiri/etc neither using prosthetics or skills, jusr dash and attack) using lightning reversal only on the dragon gimmick fight.

[Swanky]

Parrying isn't mandatory but can help a lot in many situations. Parry windows are quite generous depending on the type of shield or weapon used.
Contrary to parrying, using a shield to blocking incoming damage will wither health which you can recover again by hitting enemies.
Of course, you can also find the item mentioned above though it isn't easily obtainable in a first run as it's tucked away in an area designed for midgame.

Difficulty wise it's on the easier side in general compared to other soulslikes.

[mayhem523]

Originally posted by Swanky:

Difficulty wise it's on the easier side in general compared to other soulslikes.

It's easy compared to other games in general, not just soulslikes. I literally can't think of a game that's easier than lotf 2.0. Just joined someone's coop session and watched him melt Tancred. I didn't even participate, there was no point. Just gave him a thumbs up when he was done and alt f4.

Now they're handing out participation trophies for lies of p too 🙄

To answer OP's question, you can beat the entire game facetanking every single encounter regardless of settings, modifiers, ng+ etc. You never need to touch the parry/block button if you don't want to. Even if they buff back to launch difficulty, you could still get by without ever parrying.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by mayhem523:

Originally posted by Swanky:

Difficulty wise it's on the easier side in general compared to other soulslikes.

It's easy compared to other games in general, not just soulslikes. I literally can't think of a game that's easier than lotf 2.0. Just joined someone's coop session and watched him melt Tancred. I didn't even participate, there was no point. Just gave him a thumbs up when he was done and alt f4.

Now they're handing out participation trophies for lies of p too 🙄

To answer OP's question, you can beat the entire game facetanking every single encounter regardless of settings, modifiers, ng+ etc. You never need to touch the parry/block button if you don't want to. Even if they buff back to launch difficulty, you could still get by without ever parrying.

I would say bosses feel "average at best" (difficulty wise) but enemies can be quite troublesome as enemies (enemy groups) can be quite easy to deal with (even with Randomized Enemies and More Enemies modifiers), a lot of my first playthrough was harder than my 2nd playthrough with Randomized Enemies and More Enemies modifiers because of enemies placement.

Riight at the beginning area, before the very first Vestige, there was a Holy Bulwark (very first enemy) and a Conflagrant Seer on these tunnels before the door to the first Vestige while on my seocnd time I had nothing of the sort.

At the swamp there were many Conflagrant Seers but now there was none and these enemies sure made my life a lot harder than now even if I am now using less HP and less stamina to deal with stuff (and not using Vestiges, going with Tremendous Vestige Decay modifier, only planting seeds where I am planting 1 seed per location and 1 seed after beating boss or by the boss fog).

The difficulty in that regard(with modifiers) vary a lot but the difficulty without modifiiers is soer of a joke compared to anything using modifiers.

[Sweet Tooth]

2.0 imo is much much easier. They trimmed off a chunk of enemies, and made them all way less tanky.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by Sweet Tooth:

2.0 imo is much much easier. They trimmed off a chunk of enemies, and made them all way less tanky.

And I dont understand why.
Right on the start of my first playthrough having 2 Receivers of Sacred Resonance, 4 Crimson Rectors and 1 Scourged Sister right at the start also having Conflagrant Seers in strategic positions making me slog through plenty of areas, in special the Swamp and Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters where they were combined (paired) with Abbess (sometimes 2 in the same "nearby location") making it be hell to traverse going melee.
The "variation" the mdifiers provide may make it harder or easier and I dont know how it was suposed to be in the unerfed version but the "unerfed version" should had been kept and a modifier used to have "Less Enemies" and "Weaker Enemies" instead of nerfing the game that much and making modifiers of "More Enemies" only with "Enemies Randomizer" as only option to try and have difficulty aside from reducing heal and vestiges or leaving Ironman as the ultimate difficulty setting to be selected (along with everything else that makes it more difficult).

The original version should had been kept and for bosses they could had added "Weaker Bosses" as easier modifier as much as "Stronger Bosses" as modifier too.

The harder the game becomes with modifier the better your vigor prizes so it would "balance" but there could also be "Less Vigo" modifiers to counter-balance it for a harder time limiting the vigor farm.

As they went the "modifiers way" with a souls-like game they should had never touched the original game difficulty, my opinion.