I just changed into the full Archer set and its even lighter. Is there any bonus to wearing the full set? Besides looking rad. What's the unlimited ammo special effect all about? If it means insane arrow drops I might make like a SQUEE! noise or something.

Edit: spent an extra 2 hours fucking with bonus missions and the blacksmith. I love this game so much.

I love the skill tree. Never paid much attention to the story, not super important to me in an ARPG like this. I've only ever played hardcore, which ups the ante quite a bit in terms of tension and stuff...not sure how I'd feel about softcore if I tried to play it.

Holiday break finally allowed me to actually play video games again. Started playing LittleBigPlanet 3 with my girlfriend at her insistence. Finished Xeodrifter, God of War III, Project Root, Grim Fandango, and hilariously, My Name is Mayo over the break. That last one is an entertaining way to press X 10,000 times.

I am a FOB invasion god in MGSV now. Over 500 victories and a ballsload of espionage points. MGSV = GOAT.

that being said, I also fired up the PS3 and started Demon's Souls and man, it's really incredible how little things have changed since this series started, yet how different each one feels. I also forgot how much I really fucking liked Demon's Souls

To answer your questions:
- Some sets have bonuses, but not all. Those with bonuses will have explicit properties (written in green IIRC), with additional bonuses the more set pieces you wear.
- "Unlimited ammo" % bonus, is the % chance that when firing an arrow, it will not consume ammo. It's not that great, but it can be neat I guess. A much better version of this special effect is Unlimited Elixir, Ninjutsu or Onmyo. That means if you have, say, 10% chance of unlimited elixir, that means whenever you use an elixir you have a 10% chance it won't consume one. Same applies for your ninjutsu or onmyo items. When stacked it can be pretty neat, in a pinch.




Any online activity at the moment? Servers are closing down soon, so enjoy it while it lasts.

A lot of the security contraptions that you can research seem almost worthless as long as the person invading you knows how to get around them. And too bad if you can't be around to defend your FOB when you get attacked, because you may as well write off all those stolen resources right away.

Anyone here played Enderal? It's a total conversion mod for Skyrim that basically improves on it in every way. I'd roughly compare it to the difference between Fallout 3 and New Vegas, it really is that substantial. The writing and quests were so good, in fact, that the lead writer of the mod was immediately picked up by THQ Nordic to be the head writer for Spellforce 3, which itself has recieved tremendous praise for its story and quests. Really enjoying Enderal so far, definitely nab it if you're on the lookout for a single-player open-world action RPG with great writing and production values (albeit godawful Blehthesda combat) that also happens to be free. While it is set in a fantasyland (cue Nahsil sighs), it avoids most Tolkienesque trappings by striving for a sort of midway between Lovecraft and Moorecock, making it just unique enough to skirt past Generic Fantasy 101.

If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, check it out. It's not bad for being free.

Can one of you more experienced Nioh'ers tell me why my Twilight Missions blew up overnight? I haven't even tried one yet but the "mission levels" are RIDICULOUS! Yesterday it was level 100. Today it's 145! I'm overleveled for sure but not to that degree.

Co-op is fun though! Been helping people defeat bosses or just crushing revenants for gear. People sure do love that Warrior of the West fit.

Mission levels aren't really the character level you're supposed to be at. It's OK if you're lower, you can still manage. It will more or less indicate the level of loot you get from that level though. So if you go back to lower level missions, expect the loot you get to be outdated in comparisons.

Twilight missions are strange. They are like, harder and remixed versions of regular levels, with better loot. But the rotation thing is just... weird. They are entirely optional so feel free to skip them.

Finally finished Journey and the story mode of Injustice 2.

If I could create something as beautiful as Journey, I would consider that my life has a worthwhile accomplishment.

I love metroidvanias but there's a serious pitfall to them where when I have mostly completed them and there's one or two very difficult optional challenges left plus the path to finishing the main game, I lose all motivation to continue after failing those challenges. I'm not super sure why this is the case.

Valdis Story is the current one where that problem arises for me. Pretty sure I found the strongest optional boss. It comes immediately after a pretty strong pre-boss (which I was pretty happy about finally beating) with no save point inbetween. But now I can't advance because you'd need amazing skills to beat the next fucker at my current level and skillset.

But I also can't bring myself to just give up, return to the checkpoint and lose all the progress in that area, as if I had never beaten the pre-boss. So I haven't touched the game in weeks.

I recently got a ps4 and a 55" 4k TV and I have to say I'm having balls of fun. Hadn't played video games for years but this is sweet. I played The Last of Us Remastered and it was one of the best games I've ever played. The game's violent and intense. Other games I've been playing and enjoying but haven't beaten are: Deus Ex Mankind Divided (current focus), The Witcher 3, Tomb Raider (newest one), Uncharted 1-4, Batman Arkaham Knight, Dragon Age Inquisition, MGS5 (awesome but repetitive), and some others. I also just bought Bloodborn.

So I've hit kind of a brick wall in Dark Souls 3, that goes by the name of Champion Gundyr. I must have fought him 10 times yesterday, with the exact same result each time: my character being ground into the dust, haha. I know I'll get it eventually, probably shortly after I can figure out how to parry consistently, but damn he's probably the boss I've had the most trouble with so far.

Hahah I hit a wall in DS2 and it's not even a boss! I'm just frustrated as fuck with my current options for exploration. And, to be honest, everything that isn't Nioh but puts a sword in your hand feels REALLY REALLY silly now. I'm probably going to return to the Souls games more as an explorer than a fighter.

You'll conquer Gundyr. It's probably a timing thing, if you keep coming out with the same result after many tries. I've had some success going in with the mentality of "okay this run I'm not going to do any damage, I'm just going to learn his timing and how to dodge it". Sometimes that helps me analyze their patterns/combos and find the right openings.

Also, I saw a video a million years ago that basically says if it seems too hard you're probably not exploiting something the game wants you to. Look for an opportunity for a huge plunge attack or something maybe? Granted, I haven't even started DS3 yet and have no idea the boss/setting. I guarantee they don't expect you to be able to parry the boss as the only route to victory.

Yea I'm positive it's just timing and figuring out how he telegraphs his attacks. For the first half of the fight, he's pretty easy to figure out. The second half though, is when he gets a helluva lot faster, and has these massive ranged attacks that basically just fuck you up when you're trying to heal/buff. Most places I've looked have said that parrying is the best strategy against him, but I can't parry to save my life

I've gotten him to low enough HP where it'll only take a few more hits to bring him down, but it just seems the longer the fight goes on the more aggressive and unpredictable he gets. Oh well, I've beaten everything up to this point, and I've no doubt that he too will fall under my sword!

Oh god it's so extra crushing when you have them down to just a few hits left. I have a real bad habit of getting greedy in that moment, although Nioh is definitely teaching me to respect a cornered animal.

You got this shit!

I need to get psyched up to play DS2 again. There have to be some things I can do that don't involve Murder Ghost Forest and The Poison Mile with Dark Spirit. I feel like I've explored the Gutter pretty thoroughly but I NEVER found a fog-gate leading to a boss. I need to fire it back up and go a-wanderin'.

@MammothRider

Yo, Champion Gundyr can be a right bastard, especially his second phase, but it all comes down to timing and estus management (hah I say blithely ), and it is a rather tough fight for sure. It also can be tough if you are straight melee, but he's do-able, and considering you're at Gundyr, you should by now be strong enough to defeat him - after all you killed Ocerios to get to him, which is a boss I still find rather difficult, even after about 8 (I think?) play throughs. One thing to mention is that I think he is weak to lightning, so keep that in mind.

@Jonpo

Man The Gutter fucking sucks, no question. One of my most loathed areas in DS2, and there is no boss in the actual Gutter, you have to find a way down into another equally painful area until you encounter a boss. The Gutter is dark, twisted and full of confusing places that have some solid loot that will come in handy (damn you Fragrant Branches of Yore! ) later on, but it's well worth the pain and grr factor to explore. In Scholar there are a couple(?) of NPC invaders too which can be tricky. Plus the bonfires can be a bitch to find, I found anyway on my first and even second run through - I died countless times but struggle through brother!

EDIT: If anyone is interested (or not haha) and wants to friend request this old bastard on their PS4, my UN is CrushedRev, rather unsurprisingly...

I'm positive I'm strong enough, I think I just need to hammer away at it a few more times. I think I might need to just slow the fight down a bit, and just give up a couple hits on him to preserve some of my own HP. Every time I try to heal he ends up dealing like a third of my health in damage anyways, so it's a real pain in the ass to deal with. I'll get him eventually!

Okay, that makes me feel a little less crazy. I have worked my way down to the "secret" drop that leads you into the Black Gulch several times. As soon as I step foot in the area I get WRECKED by a dark spirit NPC. I guess I need to just treat it as a boss fight but it's no fun making the run back down there at ALL.

edit: Maybe I'll get really out there strategically and try to strap on a shield with which to lessen the blows. It's so crazy it just might work.

I FINALLY beat the fucker! Ended up upgrading my sellsword twin blades to +8, boosting them with lightning, and just wailing on him the first chance I got. After a few hits I stunned him, and was able to do like 3 quarters of his help in one go! Still almost killed me due to him being a fucking monster, but I prevailed! It's so satisfying to kill a hard boss in this game!

I never understood how people struggled so much against Champion Gundyr. Sure, he's aggressive and all, but still fairly predictable, and by the time you reach him, you should be plenty strong to make him go down fast. Same with the Dancer, almost never die to them (except through sheer sloppiness) across all my characters. L&L though, gah....

That said, glad you got him! He's apparently a barrier for many players so feel free to ignore my commentary.

Also, I like the Gutter. It's fun to explore and light all the sconces. Plus in Scholar, you get a surprise event for doing that, which is cool.

...In other news, I now got myself a PS4 Pro.

Can't say that I always struggle with Champion Gundyr. Managed to take him down quick by that stage of the game, but he is quite tough, and parrying him is hella fun. Having said that, FUCK the Dancer. She always manages to wreck me one way or another, really sticks in my craw... except on my bleed and mage characters, who just destroy her but then again, I will try and take her out early game every time, because farming Lothric Castle is great. The Outrider Knights can eat a bag of dicks though, luckily though they're rather easy to cheese.

You're weird Morri The Gutter is a pain in the ass haha same with the bloody Black Gulch, although I find that area a little better to deal with.

So I just found out today that Dark Souls 1 will be getting a remaster, and is set for a March release this year on PS4, Xbone (plus the Pro and S variants), and yes, even the Nintendo Switch! Apparently it will be 60fps, available for 4K resolution, and dedicated servers.

Consider me absolutely fucking hyped for this!!

I was stoked on that news too, especially that it's coming to Switch! Hopefully more From games for Nintendo in the future.

May, not March.
I would have passed on this except... 6 players? Ohhhh the 2v2 and 3v3 PvP, here I come...

--

Has anyone played Wolfenstein II? I seem to be struggling a lot more in this one than in TNO/TOB for some reason. Either the game's harder or I got worse...

Game is definitely harder, don't worry. Even veteran FPS gamers on a mouse + keyboard at a locked 120fps were screaming in agony at the difficulty, especially at the courthouse (?) level.

My bad! The video I saw on YT said March, but either way I'm sooo up for this, as I've never completed it. Plus with it being available on the PS4 is just awesome news for mine

Was the PvP element a little... buggy in the original? I'm hoping all creases will be folded out for this remaster for co-op madness.

Yup. bad lag, black magic was way too strong and the windows for backstabs where enormous. I don't like it at all and a fix would be welcome

I don't think i'll get it but i would really like to watch how it turns out. I've currently fallen again for that game after finding another sl1 guy to coop with and we are breezing trough ng+

Yes that's where I am now and fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Thank the gods this one has manual saves at least. I'm gonna cheese/save-scum as much as possible because that level is friggin' ridiculous.

What other FPS (emphasis on shooter) games do you enjoy, Morrigan?

Not many. I'm rubbish at them. I like Borderlands.

I figured you didn't like too many, that's why I wanted to ask because I got curious. What is it that drew you to Wolfenstein II? I haven't played it yet but I've only heard good things. It's been a while since I've played any FPS in general, to be honest.

Borderlands 2 is the shit. Such a fun game with amazing replayability.

I played and enjoyed the previous two games (TNO and TOB). I played them on the second hardest difficulty level ("I Am Death Incarnate", the hardest one being "Uber"), and struggled through a few specific encounters but overall did okay.

I am once again playing on the second hardest mode (this time it's called "Call me Terror-Billy!" with the hardest being "I Am Death Incarnate", not counting a special locked mode called "Mein Leben") and I feel like I am struggling a lot more than in TNO/TOB.

But I dunno. The beginning was especially harsh, then I had a phase where I did pretty OK, and now this level I am at is just insanely hard (darkeningday says it made FPS vets cry so maybe that's why). On the other hand, the game DOES have manual saves now instead of only pre-determined checkpoints (it has some autosaves too) so maybe that's why it's harder overall, to compensate?

What drew me to TNO was, well, it had a lot of good impressions from people I considered reliable (plus shooting nazis of course). And apparently the story/characters were surprisingly good. So I borrowed my friend's copy and I indeed enjoyed it, though I almost dropped it because the beginning kind of sucked. I don't know what's with the intros to these games: all 3 of them start out really poorly, with either obnoxious linear-modern-shooter tropes or with forced stealth or some BS like that. But all 3 get a lot better afterwards with more interesting levels and more fun gunplay.

And then they also all seem to have this insane wave-of-enemies moment that are obnoxiously difficult. lol. But yeah, the story is surprisingly enjoyable and I really like the characters too.

This new Wolfenstein saga will forever have my appreciation for featuring a benign secret society made up of Jewish super tech geniuses. Made me super happy. How's THAT for some great representation? Plus a terrific way of turning the racist "Jewish conspiracy" narrative on its head.

Isn't that the plot of "The Hebrew Hammer"?

Googled that, because to be honest, it sounded made up.

Gotta watch ASAP.

Don't bother unless you REALLYYYYY want to see Adam Goldberg create Jewsploitation.

It says something about Activision and Sledgehammer Games that Blacklight Retribution, a freemium FPS, has better map design and overall gameplay than the AAA COD WW2.

Oh mein Gott the story in Wolfenstein II is nuuuuuuts

I haven't finished it yet but shit just got fucking crazy. And then, right after that IT GETS CRAZIER and it's in fact kinda stupid and yet so awesome ahhhhh

I may need to bump this game up on my GotY list just for that.

During the last generation, I bought quite a few games "sight unseen," knowing very little or nothing about them and picking them off of clearance racks at Target. I got quite a few gems (like Fable II), and some staggering duds (like Swords for Wii). Since the industry is going heavily more digital, there's a lot less of this now, but I have picked up a couple.

Over the weekend, I wound up with an F-Zero/Wipeout-style futuristic racing game called Redout for PS4. It was $6 at Target. This game deserved a full-priced purchase. It's fucking amazing. Exhilarating, fast, gorgeous. The graphics are colorful and vibrant, the stages are fascinating and creative, and the options and Career mode are varied and addictive. It's light on the combat aspect of games like this, instead focusing mostly on power-ups and items that augment the ship/racer instead of distracting you with attacking opponents.