Thoughts from Souls/Nioh veterans?

[NavyBear]

I've played a lot of Souls games and my question is does this game offer anything to souls veterans? i know it'll probably be easier and that's fine, but as long as it's fun that's what I'm here for.

Unfortunately reading the Steam reviews for this game are pointless. They are trying (and failing...) really hard to be funny instead of telling anything about the gameplay. And that kind of makes me think it's a meme game or something rather than a real product.

[『Yoshi278』]

It's got some issues but imo it's very much worth a purchase. Otherwise wishlist it and see if it ends up on a good discount. But I recommend you play it eventually.

I've played a lot of souls-likes and this is one of the best of them (for me at least).

[Aotsu]

I just finished playing 6 hours. The game is simpler than a dark souls game when it comes to skills. Skills are fewer too but each does affect the way you approach battles greatly. Enemies can get stuck in structures and you can very much hit them through walls and rocks. Special and guarantee kill markers flash to quickly i feel like to really think about how to avoid it, but maybe it's just me. The game does not feel like a meme or a trash game. It has some issues it needs to be looked at, but overall I would say it is a chill souls like game.

[KRINGO]

Played quite a few Souls-games. It honestly feels more like a 3D Hollow Knight, gameplay-wise at least, than a true Soulslike. But it's still pretty fun and I'm finding the story to be charming.

[Bowm4080]

While combat is much simpler than Nioh, it does have the QoL stuff like pausing the game, ultrawide support, and the currency respawning near you after dying to a boss. The shell powers remind me of the yokai abilities too lol

[X YdoC]

Basically hollow knight mechanics, souls like gameplay, and a new shell system where you find shells that act like shields and each have their own stats, weight class, and special skill. They are destructable, mitigated with certain abilities and investments. There's also a skill tree that expands your moveset and adds new abilities and mechanics. It's maybe somewhat easier so far than a souls game, but it seems very well balanced for what they were trying to achieve. There's also a good bit of platforming and seems to be a pretty steady difficulty curve. It's very well done. I'm a souls vet and I don't think it's too easy to be enjoyable for people looking for a challenge. I've died a couple times.

[Sea Salt]

How about you just watch a short review video , where they show gameplay instead of looking at Steam reviews.

[stevo]

It's more like a classic 00s 3D platformer crossed with a soulslike. I'm having a lot of fun and the level design is really good. The combat could be tighter and more varied, though.

[dande48]

It's unapologetically souls-like, with many meta references to everything from Hollow Knight to Elden Ring. The biggest difference between this and most souls-like is it's existentially comedic, rather than existentially tragic.

You have your dodge, block, parry, counter. You have the grapple with the abilities both from Sekiro and "Lies of P". You have "hollowknight spells", with a mana pool that recharges when you strike an enemy. You have "tough but fair" bossfights that you'll die repeatedly to, until you "figure them out". You've got "bonfires". You have "estus" flasks, with limited heals that occasionally recharge when defeating an enemy (think DS 3). You have equitable rings, an an encumbrance system based on your armor weight.

It's an "open world", non-linear design. You can wind up in areas, going against enemies beyond what you're expected to face. There are lots of secrets; secret paths, secret items, secret shortcuts, and even secret bosses. The level design is 11/10.

[エロ音声作品学者]

Souls veterans will enjoy this game - it has a lot for them, and it is not meaningfully easier.

[NavyBear]

Thanks for the responses. I'm enjoying it so far.

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by sehnsucht:

Thanks for the responses. I'm enjoying it so far.

As a Fromsoft person, I was disappointed by the combat...at first. A game like this is never going to be as tight as newer From games, but, after about two hours, it adds a lot of mechanics and skills that lead to far better and more varied combat. I was also disappointed by the lack of traversal and finding secrets and hidden paths -- again, at first. Then I got some upgrades I didn't know were coming and the world opened up in a manner I didn't realize it could.

So, is it as tight as Fromsoft combat? No, but all the mechanics are there and implemented well, and they've added others. Does it have the "I wonder what happens if you edge along this wall to that place I'm not sure you can even reach" and then you find a crazy item? No, map is not quite that detailed in its geometry, but the exploration and trying to find items to upgrade yourself and weapons is still there.

If you like combat that isn't perfect while exploring a colorful world filled with unexpected encounters and a really unique visual and writing style, you'll definitely enjoy this. There are no dull moments. The story and characters are very funny, but not in a meme-game sense. The combat is definitely above the merely-serviceable level, especially once you get the skill tree, which really opens up combat options in terms of movement and whittling down stamina bars. The powers of different shells also allow for different strategies, especially against bosses and mini-bosses.

I definitely recommend the game!

[By-Tor And The Snow Cat]

Originally posted by エロ音声作品学者:

Souls veterans will enjoy this game - it has a lot for them, and it is not meaningfully easier.

Also, I agree with this. Once the combat really gets going, you do need to be pretty darn precise in both timing and direction of dodges, and timing of parries.

[Wolfy]

story and voice acting sucks, even for a souls game, character designs are good but there's lots of reused npcs, maybe a little too many references to other games, i think the game play is carrying it hard for me but even then it's lacking in a lot of ways compared to other souls likes, hard to tell who the target audience was for this game tbh, it has adult themes like taxes and there's a vibrator in one of the boss fights but then the characters talk like a family friendly youtuber and everything is very bright and colourful

[Ginrikuzuma]

Beat it with a steam time of 20 hours (19.8)
Its a pretty fun souls-like
there are some bosses that are a bit ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with attacks that do true damage (they ignore your defense stat and usually do so much damage they essentially one shot you) but its just a matter of getting good