BadgerFarmer

I think the first boss would be fine if it was a skill check for a really tough experience overall, but actually Wo Long is fairly accommodating for the most part, so it feels like a misstep. It's simply a balancing issue, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was altered a little in the coming weeks.

4 hours ago, Kromeo said:

 

Excellent review, btw. Was a joy to read.

 

Shame that the game outstays its welcome a bit, like the Niohs before it, though. How long would you say your playthrough took you?

Probably getting on for 40 hours. It's a similar size to the Nioh games.

I like dual halberds a lot for quick attacks and sustained pressure. Then some sort of spear or javelin as the second option, for range or sweeping attacks.

8 hours ago, Kromeo said:

Will I like this if I adored Sekiro, liked Nioh, but never really got on with Onimusha or Ninja Gaiden?

It's pretty much a blend of Nioh and Sekiro, so probably, yes.

1 minute ago, HarryBizzle said:

So far my build is 7/5/5/1/1. That seems like a thin enough spread as it is but the spirit generation of Fire is good and Earth seems to scale my current weapon so I’m sticking with it. 
 

I don’t really understand the magic system but the Earth level 1 spell that boosts your armour stops normal attacks from staggering you which is really handy. 
 

Also what’s the deal with weapons having different levels of stars? I have three Pommels of the whatever which all look roughly the same but they’re *, ** and ***. 
 

Bit annoyed; I upgraded the ** and then switched back to the *** and upgraded that as well. 

Stars give weapons mini-perks and bonuses, so the more stars the more of those. You can tailor the bonuses to your liking later as well, but it's not really worth bothering with unless you get deep into it. Generally, just use the one with more stars if you've got two of the same weapons, but don't worry too much about switching if you've already upgraded one.

1 hour ago, HarryBizzle said:

I think one of my companions died because I didn’t bother to heal him, assuming that he would stand back up one I beat the big baddie. Now I can’t summon him back. If they die in a level are they gone for the duration of that level? It’s the chonkyboi who tries to kill you but is then on your side. 

If it's one of the ones that accompanies you by default, they'll respawn once you rest at a flag. If it's one you summoned yourself, you need to summon them again each time they (or you) die.

Video of fight against one of my favourite bosses (around mission 7). Quite Sekiro like in terms of learning the timings of his various attacks and combos. In the end, I parried just about everything, although still only just about made it.

1 hour ago, Curtis said:

The current boss I'm on is 1-shotting me if each and every parry isn't bang on perfection. Doesn't help he has maybe 8 different moves and he never does them in the same order. 

 

I'm not under-levelled and I've upgraded my gear best I can with the materials available at this point in the game, it's just feels a little too harsh.

 

I'm taking a breather and having a beer cause I'm not having fun.

Have you got all the flags in the level to start at 20 morale each time?

Or maybe use the earth spell that boosts defence if it's one-shotting you.

That was also one of the bosses that I found easier to do solo.

15 minutes ago, Timmo said:

did you review it?

Yeah, for Gamesradar. I think it's pretty great overall.

3 hours ago, Timmo said:

Personally I’m moving to Turkey and taking my PS5 provided the reviews are decent enough. Embargo is today, although I don’t know what time. 

Very soon (11am).

OK then.

Yeah, great effort. Thanks for putting the time in.

Yeah, there's an item called willow branch you can use. Not sure if you have it right at the start though.

Worth noting that weapons also have a parry difficulty stat. Choose ones with a higher percentage to make it easier.

And (perhaps obvious), it's always worth tracking down all the flags before facing a boss to ensure your starting level is higher each time you fail.

I also think it's easier to beat bosses at times without a companion character. It becomes easier to concentrate and makes them behave more predictably. 

I chose Throné. Great thieving skills.

I think Ochette may have been the better choice in terms of having an all-round fighter locked into the party. A bit like H'aanit in the first game.

6 hours ago, Lying Cat said:

 

It's also worth noting that you can hold Block and still Parry, which hugely reduces the punishment for missing a Parry.

Yeah, this is key. You can get away with a late parry, effectively. Although blocking drains spirit and red attacks can't be blocked.

Parrying to reduce the enemy's spirit and then stunning them is the way to wreck enemies quickly, especially bosses. It can be the difference between chipping away at a tough enemy for ages or destroying them in seconds.

Fantastic demo, and it sounds like the rest of it will really go places. Love it.

The Tower of Sisyphus is well worth some time too.

32 minutes ago, Paulando said:

Scores:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Fire Emblem Engage: 7

Season: A Letter to the Future: 9

Jett: Given Time: 8

High On Life: 5

Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator: 7

Dragon Quest Treasures: 6

Hyper Gunsport: 8

The Forest Quartet: 7

Lone Ruin: 5

 

I think the story is as much about the repetition and the frustration and the madness of the time loop as it is the milestones. I don't think it would be as effective emotionally if it was placed in a structure of constant progression. It's rare that game design matches the experiences of its characters so well.

Even the save and suspend feature, which was ultimately essential in practical terms, still detracts from the purity of the vision somewhat, in the sense that it encourages you to value a single life in a situation where you have infinite lives, none of which are significant individually.  

16 hours ago, Mike S said:

Can someone on PC let me know if this has full Dual Sense support?

Yes. It does.

(Select 'Disable Steam Input' in the controller settings to make it work.)

13 hours ago, fragglerock said:

Gita's review

 

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23603142/hogwarts-legacy-review-harry-potter-jk-rowling-transphobic-ps5-pc-xbox

I like that. The only review I've read that doesn't either ignore the issues or discuss them at a tangent, but instead works them and the background context into the critique of the game itself. 

I wish there was more room for reviews to break out of the conventional formula. It certainly helps in this case that there's no score at the end, and that Polygon decided not to race to meet an embargo.

20 hours ago, Flanders said:

The snootier UK games media more or less don’t get Returnal, which is one of several reasons I don’t treat them as any barometer of what’s good anymore. 
 

Too wrapped up in praising tedious point and click adventures and FMV games that remind them of the 90s to appreciate a genuinely next gen game when it stares them in the face. 

It's nothing quite so sinister - merely a case of a certain game not clicking with a certain reviewer. I write reviews for PCG sometimes and if I'd got this one it would have been a much more positive writeup. Overall, though, surely you want different perspectives out there, and that's what you get when you look at Robin's review alongside the more glowing ones.

I got to review it again on PC for RPS, and I'd say it's a great port as long as you've got a powerful enough machine. Mine pretty much matches the recommended specs (RTX 2070) and managed a fairly steady 60fps at 1080 on High settings. You don't want to go lower than that, though. because it drops down in quality quite noticeably if you play on Medium, and it's the sort of game that really benefits from having everything turned up to Epic with as many bells and whistles on as possible.