Played a little at midnight. God damn I got my ass kicked. Amazing how similar to Returnal it is yet just the fact that it’s got different enemies means it takes some getting used to.
@Oram77 Yeah, I don’t love the practice but I’m not all that bothered by it either. I can wait two days, I’ll just curse out everyone playing early behind their backs!
@StitchJones I might be wrong but I’m guessing that pic is from Only God Forgives. Been a while since I’ve seen it but the aesthetic is ringing that bell.
Glad to hear Saros is living up to its potential. Can’t wait, man!
Edit: Scratch that, I think you’re right and that is Blade Runner!
@StitchJones I’m surprised about the difficulty. I mean, I knew it would be tough, but I thought it would be more “approachable” based on the feedback on Returnal. I guess not!
I do remember the first boss in Returnal being a big skill check. Then after that I found Biome 2 to be fairly easy, comparatively, even the second boss. Of course then things really ramped up at the third Biome and that was absolutely brutal. 😅 The run up the tower to the boss was the warpath of legends. But going back to the first boss was an absolute piece of cake after all that and I wondered why I ever thought it was hard. But that first several hours running into the brick wall of the first boss was a real rite of passage! 😄
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I think the stat was something really low like only 20% of Returnal owners actually beat Phrike, so 80% of people only saw the first biome. What a damn shame that would have been. Hopefully that's where Saros will be different.
@StitchJones I also beat the first boss last night and have to say that was intense. There's so much going on in that fight it's hard to juggle the dash cooldown and shield etc and certainly for me a good weapon came in clutch. What a fight though!!!
I also felt like I was struggling a bit to start with and there were a few areas which were really kicking my ass and felt way harder than this stage in Returnal. I think that's good though as it gives you the skills to go into that boss fight and at least have a chance.
I plan to not use any of the modifiers - at least until I've finished a complete run of the entire game. A game like Hades actually offered an incentive for using modifiers to make the game harder in the way of a greater return of materials etc so I wonder if there will be anything like that in Saros. There's certainly plenty of choices there to have a play with though for those that want to make it easier / harder.
I liked that with the permanent upgrades there is a cap on how strong you can be for each biome so you can't go crazy OP like you can with a souls game as you keep levelling up. I also like that there's going to be the option to use shortcuts if you want as at least you can choose to go straight into a biome just to do some exploration before you commit to a longer run to get some upgrades.
@render Yeah, I think that stat sounds familiar. Which, as you say, is a shame. For me the real progress blockers were Phrike and the Derelict Citadel and Nemesis, the later of which wasn’t too bad but the run up to get to them through the tower was so demanding that I was always so weak and almost dead by the time I got to the boss that it made the fight tough. Then by the time you get to the second half and have the mid game check point it seemed to be relatively approachable and although tough, I don’t recall ever feeling that “I can’t do this” emotion any more after that. The fourth biome was easier (awesome level though with the sound and music leading up to the boss) and the fifth was pretty hard at several points, but didn’t frustrate me personally like Phrike did. 😅
Is there a dash cooldown?! Oh no, I don’t like the sound of that! Yikes! I relied on dashing a lot with Returnal.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution You are right, those were definitely the main pain points. The Derelict Citadel was just tough because of all the hard work you'd put in to only get destroyed by a pack of drones. It is one hell of an atmospheric biome though, and as brutal as the architecture there. Biome 4 is definitely the highlight and an experience all by itself. It seemed to be the culmination of all the games best elements distilled into that one level.
There was a dash cooldown in Returnal as well and it feels pretty identical in Saros. You can't spam it but it's usually short enough to keep you out of trouble - unless that is you got the malfunction or picked up the malignant item that increased dash cooldown. I always avoided that one as it was a guaranteed run breaker. It would happen on one of those platforming sections where you needed to use it a few times in quick succession and then you'd find yourself plunging to your doom. You'll be glad to know that there is still something in Saros that can increase your dash cooldown
@render Dang, it’s been a couple years, so I’ve completely forgotten that the dash has a cooldown. I even played a little of the Tower DLC just a few months ago and didn’t realize. I guess it’s fairly generous, as you say. There’s so many things going on all at once during combat I suppose it’s all muddled in my memory. I do remember dash being a key skill though.
And yes, Biome 4 was probably my favorite. It may have something to do with the fact it’s the lowest stress in the game because of the soft checkpoint right before it, so there was much less white knuckling of the controller out of fear of losing hours of time invested in a run. 😅
Those long sessions are huge dopamine hits though, once you complete them. There’s nothing quite like it apart from a FromSoft Souls boss. With the quick travel of Saros it will be interesting to see if it can hit the same highs and the same level of high risk/high reward.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution That's exactly my thoughts with it, will we get that same adrenaline rush from it if we are just hopping in at some later point and haven't put in hours of building up our stats etc. when we hit those boss fights.
I've just done a little bit of biome 2 and while it feels familiar it has a distinct feeling of its own. I'm just edging forward all the time expecting the next room around the corner to be my last for that run. So far it's got Returnal levels of tension.
@cainhurst94 Good to know it looked amazing as you met your demise 😂. I'll have to pick my run up again later but I'm looking forward to what awaits me.
[Just edited as I saw your reply]
@StitchJones Melee was the same in Returnal being very strong, and essential against shielded hostiles. I've found myself a few times trying to quite literally punch above my weight though and realising that the thing that I'm meleeing has way more health than just a standard grunt and then having to get the hell out of there.
I'm still trying to workout what the best traits are on a weapon and what's interesting is that what was alt-fire in Returnal is now the power weapon, that kind of fire and forget thing, whereas alt-fire is more like just an additional trait of a weapon e.g. rising pitch rather than being passive is now a thing you have to activate. Some of those alt-fire modes are definitely more useful than others.
@StitchJones So far I've not really had chance to appreciate the eclipse mechanic that much but it's a really great aesthetic thing. Like you say it really adds to the tension with all the cutscenes etc and you feel that step up in aggression from hostiles. I'm looking forward to seeing how that adds to it in the later parts of the game.
The story is slowly bubbling away as well. While it doesn't seem to have revealed too much in these early stages I kind of like that and hope that we will still be scratching our heads for a long while trying to work out what's going on.
I have a physical pre-order but life happened this week and I won’t be able to pick it up until late next week, which for most games wouldn’t be an issue but for Saros, it totally is. One or two days would be one thing but I’m too impatient to wait over a week for this one. So I bought it digitally. And I forked over the extra cash to play now 😆
It is glorious. In the eclipse phase of Ancient Depths now. I’m finding it way more approachable than Returnal. Dying is still part of the core loop of course but the fact that Lucenite carries over to a permanent upgrade tree means you really do “come back stronger.” You can even permanently upgrade proficiency to ensure better weapon drops.
It really does facilitate the player’s choice of whether to run a previous biome or not. I was worried you’d be forced to anyway due to difficulty but that’s really not the case. And the metroidvania aspects (which I wasn’t expecting at all) are a brilliant way of keeping re-runs more fresh.
I haven’t even touched on the many other things I’m loving about this yet. I’m hardcore buzzing on this game right now.
“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” -C.S. Lewis
The eclipse mechanic is great. Even outside of the brilliant presentation, I love it mechanically. Allowing the player to collect uncorrupted artifacts for the first part of a run is a really nice way of easing into it.
“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” -C.S. Lewis
@Metonymy I don't normally pre-order games and especially don't order the deluxe version but I was the same and didn't want to wait.
I'm also old enough to remember the word gnarly, although I must admit that I didn't really max it out like I perhaps should have done
What I always like about a metroidvania is looking at the areas that you can't yet get to and wondering what could have been if we could have got the gear there, as well as wondering what device it will be that will allow access to those places. There's so many things I've just had to run by already, and a few times when access to the odd out of reach aether might have made a difference.
@StitchJones Aesthetically the entire game has me going insane. The sense of scale is something I'd expect from Santa Monica or FromSoft. Also those transition flashes and the guitar strumming when you reach the Eclipse room is so good!
For me it's far more interesting seeing how it plays out Mechanically. More aggressive enemies, tougher enemy set ups too I think. The corrupted bullets change how you react to them. Do you risk corruption with the shield or do you dodge and retain health but sacrifice the ability to do super damage?
incredible game mechanically and artistically which makes it all the more disappointing that NPC faces in the Passage look awful lol.
@StitchJones Gnarly works! Yeah, playing on a pro. The game is stunning. It’s an audio/visual treat that begs to be turned up to 11!
@render It’s such a smart and simple way of keeping re-runs interesting. The game is brilliantly designed; like a big clock, with all of the different cogs spinning different speeds but working together to drive the larger picture.
@cainhurst94 The shield is a legitimate game changer. There’s real strategy to how you approach fights and a deliberate rhythm to execute the plan, especially with the slight delay in activating the shield. I find the time to hit the shield is when you see the blue ‘tell’ the enemy gives off before they shoot their projectiles. This was especially clear in the first big boss fight. Once you find that rhythm, it’s game on!
This game rules so far. I’m finding it harder than Returnal to be honest, but it is so fun. The progression system helps tremendously, and I like the emphasis on the story. I’m still in the first biome, unfortunately.
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