@gundato: not making excuses but it sounds like you didn't discover the guard break and subsequent executions that could be done on all enemies in the game? Boss health bars are large but a guard break and timed execution will still empty their entire pool, for that phase, in one strike. That was the point of the game, and that is also what sets it apart from Souls, as instead of health attrition you could focus entirely on the 'second health bar' that was the opponent's guard.
My impression of Sekiro has been that it doesn't necessarily play like the Souls games, despite the obvious similarities. You have to be on top of the opponent and tactically choose your next strike or attack, as we understand samurai did in feudal Japan.
@rorie: While I really enjoyed the H.R. Giger inspiration for the Rusalki, along with the clearly invertebrate designs, it feels almost on-the-nose. I'm halfway to calling it a rip-off, because Giger's original art very much resembles the shapes, while the colours feel like they pay homage to Aliens. I suppose one big exception is that Fulp didn't go for the very explicitly sexual imagery Giger did. It could also be that this inspiration didn't come from the artist himself, but from the derivative work in the Alien-series. Nevertheless his influence is evident.
A few examples of what I think are striking similarities from Giger's portfolio follow. I have avoided his more explicit art:
Sign of the times in Scandinavia. Niche boutiques may have a chance, but there are big hits to most big chains in all sectors.
Sad thing is that the winners are companies chasing the bottom in terms of pricing. Inevitably this has a poor effect on their employee politics, at least the ones that are easily replaceable.
@sparky_buzzsaw: I'll both second this sentiment and push back on it. The controls were snappy and responsive, while perhaps lacking the floaty feel of Super Metroid along with Samus's overall baseline speed; something I have to shake off every time I play one of these. It simply always felt like you were quite often moving at one pace, and one pace only.
Put it this way: the game has to be released and very good first. It could still go either way.
Yes, CD Projekt RED put out a great Witcher 3, which is arguably leagues ahead of the previous games. But it took them two iterations before they got a stunning, yet quite buggy, game out the door. And now they're going to make a first attempt at sprawling and massive FPS. Itself becoming what I'd say is one of the most anticipated games in recent years.
I can completely and fully be on-board with Jeff's assessment, while disagreeing with it. I can completely understand why the concept is repulsive: it implies you are kidnapping babies, solely for your own purpose. That's what gets quite ugly for me.
Do they ever imply ever B.Bs are temporary and will eventually grow out of the container? If not, huge mistake.
First thought when it was mentioned as offensive: they're aborted fetuses. Because I don't know if that could ever be justified. Not even necessarily as a pro-choice/pro-life debate, but as a general moral quandary. I mean, In this case you are seemingly enslaving what amounts to a living person.
It has to be an absolute landmark in the video game landscape. It has to be for VR what Final Fantasy VII was for JRPGs in 1997; what Half-Life was to the FPS in 1998; what Counter-Strike was to online multiplayer in 2000; what Starcraft 2 was for the burgeoning competition scene in 2010; the list goes on, but I think a point has been made.
This game has to tick so many boxes, and be such a breakthrough, for me to care about Valve's games anymore.
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