Manus Sl1 is beyond amazing (i love the RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! moments when he starts the black magic spamming)
but now that i finally did it i think that Fume Knight Sl1 is the most insane thing i did in my life video game wise. Has anyone here tried it?

Almost everything is one shot, he has a ton of moves, health and punishes very well every single time you attack too much.. and you have close to 0 i-frames, so the timing of the rolls must be perfect each time and you cannot roll trough the fire attacks.
it took me at least 70 tries, but nothing can beat the statisfaction i got when i did the whole fight without a single damned mistake

Still have to take on Lud & Zallen, but i don't think my sanity can handle the frigid outskirts and the broken hitboxes

...And i still have to play Bloodborne and Ds3

The truth hurts

But to be fair i never fight eldritch horrors without a quick stop to the bathroom first!

lol, it didn't take me 72 hours! Just a few hours (2, 3 maybe), and I also will NOT do anything like that again. So Earthcubed's jab is actually very inaccurate

I sure as shit won't ever play DS2, 3 or Bloodborne at lower levels. Fuck that. At least in DS1, while you are fragile, you can be pretty powerful at SL1 thanks to pyromancies and lightning weapons.

The only fun thing of Ds2's lower level in comparison to Ds1 is the crazy weapon variety (thanks to the str-dex rings, channeller shield..) however the low i-frames and low hp are madness inducing

I would reccomend only for the joy of beating up the Fume Knight and seeing the basic Mace hit for 600+ damage with the right build

Yeah, the agility thing is a big problem for low-level DS2 runs. Especially since you can't compensate with a big-ass tower shield either, because of str requirements.

Bloodborne might be a bit more feasible, since at least you're always equally mobile, but I imagine the damage on the starting weapon, even upgraded, must be quite low at some point, and visceral attacks at low SKL must do painfully weak damage. xD

I just have a hard time imagining myself picking up the ragged pieces of my motivation after Failed Attempt #53 and saying to myself "okay NEXT TIME will be different." Definitions-of-insanity and all that. Ten years ago would have been different, but today I'm pretty much the spitting image of "casual gamer."

Well, I frequently adjusted my strategy, tried different things, often came close but when some attacks one-shot you it's just one mistake and it's all over (and you just ~know~ you can last long enough without making this fatal mistake, because for the most part, you do time your dodge on this attack after all!).

In the end, I changed my strategy to kiting him with a light crossbow+15 and that's how I won

Uhh excuse my ignorance, but what's this about low-level Dark Souls playthroughs? Just playing through the game without leveling up??

It's for ultimate cred. I've never tried it. Plus, when you've played the game a ton, it spices it up to do it differently.

Welllllllllll Salt and Sanctuary has my whole heart. Wow. I just spent way more time than necessary grinding up to defeat the first boss. I can't believe how much fun that was and I really didn't do much. Jesus.

Yes, you pick the starting class with the lowest starting level and you never level up: this limits a lot your hp, carry weight and weapon variety.. and changes a lot the gameplay, as every bossfight becomes longer and much more dangerous

Even thinking about that makes me want to curl up and weep.

In Dark Souls it's actually not that bad, because pyromancy power is independent of level, and you can use non-scaling weapons like lightning or fire/chaos weapons. You're limited in your choice of melee weapons though, due to stat requirements, so you gotta stick with something crappy like the hand axe or a reinforced club.

I wouldn't even dream of doing that in DS2 or 3...

Yea, I was pretty much hooked immediately when I started that game also. I really enjoyed the boss fights.

Ahh gotcha, I get what you're looking for. Something like Prototype, Crackdown, or Infamous, but in a 2D Metroidvania style. Great combat, insane power, etc. Crimsonland has elements of this, but it comes from a combination of weapon pick-ups and careful stacking of level-up perks (you level up in every stage separately, but unlock more perks over time). It gets to be a great rush in small spurts.

It's handily one of my favorite games on the PS4, and for it's seemingly small size, we've put in loads of hours. For us, it hit all the right cues with it's mix of intensity, challenge, unlockables, and modes. There are like 40 weapons and 40 perks or something like that in the thing, as well as in-game power-ups. Here's a sample of someone doing really great during Survival mode:



I'm a huge fan of sheer intensity in gaming, even if I'm not particularly good at it (ha), so I think I get kind of what you're looking for in your combat-heavy Metroidvania wishes, where you can feel like a badass in the combat. Super Guacamelee definitely fits the bill for that. Broforce doesn't quite have that "badass combat" feel, but it is fun.

R_H you must be a huge Gradius fan! I haven't played it in years but I'm probably going to download one soon, just for a dosage of that insanity you're talking about. Crimsonland looks fucking bananas for sure.


I'm so hooked it's sick. I can't wait to get home today and play more. I've always kind of enjoyed the level up grind. I even did that on FF7 when I found a convenient spot to keep getting EXP and healing in a town. From the outside of my body I know what I'm doing should be tedious but I dig it! Especially on S&S, the combat is so fucking fun. I literally just got the timing down on parries. God damn!

P.S. Can you parry bosses at all? It didn't seem to work against the Sodden Knight but I didn't know if the timing is just much more demanding/crucial.

I did play a bit of Guacamelee last night. It was pretty fun, and the visuals are of course stupendous. I think it's really going to come alive as you unlock more moves (duh). I sprung for the add-ons where you can play as his buddies. This one is basically like the best possible example of a "silly" MV. Is my definition of silly anything without swords? I think I just realized that.

I'm a huge dunderhead, so there wasn't a whole lot of parrying going on for me in this game. I was generally able to charge most of the bosses and just blow through them. That didn't work all the time, and I did get stuck on a few of them, but on the whole I didn't have a whole lot of trouble with them. The offerings/how you unlock merchants inside sanctuaries was pretty creative I thought.

That was actually! I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what I was doing just "Oh sure let's make an offer, oh okay totems" and then I sit them down and a god damn shanty town appears in the sanctuary. Really appreciated that, even if I don't understand why the blacksmith needs some hair to upgrade my sword/wand.

Man, you should play through again just for the joy of parrying. Maybe that's what I should have asked for. I'm basically obsessed with game mechanics that deliver a satisfying parry/counter-attack option. It's literally the only thing I played Shadows of Mordor for, and I played it a lot.

Not as far as I remember, no.

In Souls games you could parry some bosses, though far from all. By memory, here were the parryable bosses in the series (because I'm bored at work xD):

Demon's Soul:
- Garl Vinland (technically "Maiden Astraea" boss fight, but you fight her bodyguard Garl)

Dark Souls:
- Gwyn

Dark Souls 2 (none of them are "ripostable" though, they just get staggered for free hits -- note, the only one I ever parried myself was Pursuer, haha):
- Pursuer
- Dragonrider
- Old Dragonslayer
- Ruin Sentinels
- Gargoyles (yes, really, saw a vid on youtube lol)
- Skeleton Lords
- Mytha
- Velstadt
- Throne Watcher & Defender
- Trio Ganksquad - of course since they're NPCs (DLC)

Dark Souls 3 (ripostable again):
- Iudex Gundyr
- Crystal Sage
- Deacons of the Deep
- Abyss Watchers
- Pontiff Sulyvahn
- Champion Gundyr
- Prince Lothric
- Gravekeeper (DLC)
- Sister Friede (DLC)
- Church of the Spear (DLC)

Bloodborne ("parrying" here means staggering with the gun, of course)
- Father Gascoigne
- Blood-starved Beast
- Shadows of Yharnam
- Martyr Logarius
- (Final boss whose name is a spoiler)
- Pthumerian Descendant (Chalice Dungeon)
- Pthumerian Elder (CD)
- Keeper of the Old Lords (CD)
- Beast-possessed Soul (CD)
- Lady Maria (DLC)
- Orphan of Kos (DLC)

Never consistently parried bosses in DS2 and 3 though. In DS2, only Pursuer, and in DS3, only Pontiff and Champion Gundyr and not very often, I find it too risky. I've done it to all the Bloodborne bosses though. Also in Bloodborne, some bosses can be staggered for a visceral attack without being parried, but just after doing enough damage to a weak point, usually their head.

Hmm I keep making long posts about Souls games.

I haven't played a Souls game (not counting Nioh) recently.

Maybe I'm going through withdrawals...

Hahah maybe it's time to bust out a few of the old ones and play through again? I'm sure someone here who plays them really appreciates this ultra-detailed breakdown.

I've already put like 5 hours into Salt & Sanctuary. I'm still trying to get stronger because I get FUCKED up when I approach the "Village of Smiles" or whatever it's called. I don't have a clue at this point if I'm grinding for EXP/upgrades too much, or if I'm just about on target. Either way, I finally broke down and asked the internet how to get some new spells. I've upgraded my magic and wand usages to class II but I still just have the one fire spell. Looking forward to grabbing a stone mage totem when I get home from work. Some new spells, level up a little more, and go wreck that fucking "village". Finding the nomadic merchant who sells strands of hair was really helpful. The drop rate on those things isn't fun.

Of all the other MV games I snagged, Apotheon has me. I don't understand how the combat can be so clunky and yet still so satisfying/fun? It's really weird. I'm currently up in Hades trying to holler at Persephone about something or other. The art-style is just endlessly gorgeous. I love the way it looks like a rough stone wall when you snuff out your torch in a dark area.

I gave up on Apotheon because the game kept crashing on me (a console game too, wtf). It was just unplayable. I liked it otherwise though.

I don't know why you are grinding in S&S. You don't need to grind in this game. You should focus on enemy patterns and avoid getting hit and stuff. Village of Smile is barely the beginning, you ain't seen nothing yet haha.

I'm pretty sure the Queen of Smiles was one of the bosses I struggled with if you haven't already made it to her. I think to beat her I just ended up leveling up my weapon high enough where the fight was a lot easier. Her attacks were real hard to dodge from what I remember.

I might as well just pathetically admit now that I did not finish this game, because I got sidetracked with Bloodborne and I have not beat that, because I am now sidetracked by The SNES Classic and Day of the Tentacle on PS4.

Morrigan: I know that makes me so happy! I saw I was at like 2% completion hahaha. I'm a weirdo though I actually ENJOY killing these same guys over and over and upgrading my shit! I like to be a little more powerful than necessary to make up for my obvious lack of ability. Plus there are still a few little areas in the first freaking zone (Banquet) that I haven't got into yet. I have not been asleep before 3am this week. Ugh.

Coconut gets it! Stats over skill!

Umm... The Queen of Smiles is legit the easiest boss in the game. xD Well OK, no, that title probably goes to That Stench Most Foul, but QoS is probably second easiest.

Jonpo: eh, if you do enjoy grinding, have fun I guess.

I do enjoy shmups, but Gradius has never been a huge draw for me. For that matter, the same goes for R-Type. I found both games to be arduous, plodding in their movement. Gradius takes too long for weapon leveling to really have impact, and the games--particularly on NES or SNES where I played them--are prone to some absolutely hellish slow-down. Movement needs to be smoother--not too fast, not too slow, but very smooth. It shouldn't feel like I'm physically trying to push a spaceship around in real life with my bare hands!

I got really close to finishing Gradius III once, but it was brutal and exhausting. I'd go for Ikaruga any day, which was poetry in motion. X-Type on the Wii U is also an impressively solid experience, if a bit repetitive. It's a finnicky genre, and difficult to do really well. I really think the genre peaked on the Dreamcast/GameCube with Ikaruga. There's are actually a couple on the 3DS that're really good: Chain Blaster and the revived NES title Recca (which is positively insane being an NES game). Geometry Wars and Resogun are probably the strongest of "modern" shmups.

I went through DS3 recently for the first time. I'm probably going to lose gamer cred, but I had to summon for the first time ever in this series. I could not beat The Princes by myself. The teleporting and that magic wielding gimp were a bit too much for my 'cower behind a shield' fighting style that has seen me through the past two games.

I'm embarrassed that I couldn't solo this game. Some day, I will learn to flawlessly dodge their shit. I have to say though, that game has a great difficulty curve in general. I was really struggling towards the end.

For me it was Pontiff Sulyvhan who I had to cave in and summon for. For whatever reason I just could not memorize that guy's combos and figure out when to attack. The twin princes were brutal but after a while I was able to figure out the patterns. If you can manage to dodge the heavy attacks they actually leave some pretty generous openings.

Dancer of the Boreal Valley was it for me. I was getting so mad at the game I had to quit. I could NOT beat her and it drove me fucking bonkers.

Dancer was pretty easy for me, I think it only took me 3 or 4 tries.

I solo'ed up through Pontiff, but eventually got impatient and starting summoning for the rest of the bosses save for the above. Maybe I'll trying soloing the rest on my NG+ playthrough where I'll also be doing the DLC for the first time.

Yeah I got past Dancer on my 2nd try I think... just seemed nicely telegraphed and easy to avoid - I definitely struggled on some bosses in DS3, but Dancer wasn't one of them. Sulyvahn was pretty tough with the silhouette version, that got me a few times. I went solo for NG+ because I summoned at the drop of a hat thru NG and it felt like I'd cheated I guess. It was a lot more satisfying to know I could actually do it without help, but co-op is genuinely a lot of fun. I still jump on and co-op from time to time, but the userbase has died off. They need to open summoning up to non-ps+ members.

I can't believe people struggle on the Dancer. Like, this one seriously baffles me. I know everyone has a different experience and all, but the Dancer is trivial. o.O

Hardest for me are L&L, Nameless King, Gael, and of course... Sister Friede. She's br00tal yo

Sister Friede was beyond brutal, but it was also a totally fair fight. I must've died 50 times, but it never felt like an impossible task - just a really, really hard one with the odds stacked against me. Compared to something like Midir, which felt somewhat like a poker machine in that it's really only in the .05% of games (where it magically forgets to use half its moveset) that you win by accident, Friede was balanced.... just a total slog due to the length, so it became a matter of not just winning but perfecting the first phase etc. Interesting to see you list the twin princes though, Morrigan - that was another that I somehow cruised through but had a lot of fun, and made me wish DS3 had bonfire ascetics. Playing them again in co-op just isn't the same.

Since bosses are usually going to one-shot you anyway, one tactic to get the upper hand is to take advantage of the red tearstone ring. Makes boss fights shorter and sweeter.

I see the separate Dark Souls Thread was here for a reason.
Played through the first, enjoyed it, wasn't hungry for more. Maybe someday. Until then I'm gonna focus on racing. It's a simple fact that Project Cars 2 can pretty much offer the same thrill as a Boss fight in Dark Souls and it has better character development, because I've grown to love the Ferrari 488 GT3, which I can't say about my Dark Souls character.

That's why people can't wait to get the beta of Bloodborne Racing!

A friend showed me Furi, and it's a game i'm sure i'm gonna get when i have more time: i loved the music, the art and the gameplay seems pretty intense!

Well fuck. I guess I'm skipping both Star Wars Battlefront games then. The first one didn't have enough of an offline co-op for me to justify the purchase, and this sounds like an utter disaster. I wanted an offline co-op Star Wars game to play with my son, but I'll be skipping this shitpile.

Didn't I post not one, but two videos showing how to beat Midir in a completely consistent manner?

If you stay in front of him and attack the head, there will be nothing "random" or accidental about his pattern.


With the Ring of Favour and Protection and upgraded light armour, I had surprisingly few attacks that one-shot me even at SL1. Manus' grab combo and the dark magic was one of them, IIRC.


Quality post

i know its not the most recent game but on the surge i love their developers since release they have created so much new free content and fixes, its rarity in the industry

on another note shadow of war is so much fun