Bjorn

Wolf Blitzer Hero needs to exist.

I've watched the original JP and The Lost World within the last couple of months (after the announcement of this increasingly apparent trainwreck). The original is still fabulous. The Lost World is fascinating because Spielberg directed it, but it lacks any of the artistry or vision that one expects from a Spielberg movie. Apparently he decided to do it following Schindler's List because he wanted some fun following his exhaustion from making SL, and his exhaustion shows in the movie. Jurassic World is looking more and more like someone watched the Lost World and decided that it was definitely the better of the two movies.

Twig, that's fucking awesome looking.

I never beat zone 2! So yeah, definitely diving back in.

I didn't know that sedatives reduced Frenzy buildup. I feel dumb. I remember reading their description and it said something about insight, so I thought it was an item that interacted with insight somehow and never tried it.

I want to cry a little bit every time I read about SWG. It was the last MMO I'll ever play, it was one of the things that helped kill my love of Star Wars (I'm still fond of SW, but not like my younger self) and for awhile it really was something special, as broken and incomplete as it was.

No, your weapons would just last forever. There's actually multiple compounding bugs/features going on. Weapons degrade on all contact (geography, enemies, and dead bodies). At 60FPS, it's registering 2 hits per actual hit for durability degradation (but not for damage, natch). This would be bad, but the compounding factor is that for some reason dead bodies cause 2x-4x more durability loss than anything else. So if you swing an extra time or two after the killing blow, you'll take way more durability loss. It gets worse for certain weapons that can score multiple hits naturally (halberd spin-to-win and great clubs 2HR2 combo), which can demolish their durability if you execute them at the wrong time on a group of enemies. And finally, other weapons have multiple hitboxes (scythes, halberds and whips all have different hitboxes that determine how much damage they do). Each of those hitboxes might register as a durability hit during an attack. That's why some weapons fare so much worse than others. The durability system is geared to make you depend on 2-3 weapons. Repair powder is rare and expensive so you can't always depend on your favorite weapon. The problem is that as it currently stands, it's possible to break 3+ weapons going through a long area. I don't know enough about game engines to know if this is bad design, an unintended consequence, or just harder to fix. In Mass Effect 3 MP, there was an interaction between framerate and enemy accuracy that they were never able to fix. At like 120FPS, every enemy was a sniper and at 15FPS, every enemy was a Stormtrooper. Because it had been designed and optimized for 30FPS on consoles, and the effect was fairly subtle, it took awhile even for the community to figure out why the PC version felt a lot more challenging than the console versions. Someone has modded both vanilla and SotFS to eliminate the 60FPS portion of the durability bug. But there have been a few reports of people being softbanned for it (though realistically, these people might have been using other mods as well, the mod developer and others have reported using it for awhile now without problem). But I've erred on the safe side of not using it.

If you can't find her, or don't want to keep struggling with that area, I can provide directions. There's only two areas in the game that start with bell ringing maidens in them, so those areas tend to be heavily populated with invaders.

Yeah, I'm really not sure what the logic was there, if it was just a bullet point thing, if someone genuinely thought it was a good idea, if they wanted a chance to experiment with more people in MP (and doing that in a re-release makes more sense than dropping it into a new game with limited data). It might also have some interesting possibilities with 3v3 fights in the organized fight clubs, but that's such a small niche compared to how it degrades the core experience. One thing I didn't do is say anything about the overall difficulty, because I have no idea how hard this game is. I've read some forum posts of people really struggling, and I'm sailing through it like it's baby's first game. But I've collectively put close to 1,000 hours into the 4 Souls games at this point. Bashing my head against that wall, for that long, had to impart some knowledge at some point. I've also realized how crushingly good the Pickaxe is as a boss nuker, it's the highest single hit damage weapon I've used in DkS2, provided you nail a counter hit. I've taken out some of the easy to mid tier bosses in as little as 4 hits. I came within a sliver of damage of 1-shotting the Royal Rat Vanguard. If I was willing to use the new, super rare buff consumable (temporarily doubles damage), I think I could one-shot multiple bosses with a slightly different setup.

Isn't he more interesting if he doesn't? I always got a Ghandi type vibe from Yoda. A pacifist Jedi master is far more interesting than a ninja. The Jedi are overflowing with ninjas, but they are surprisingly lacking patient wisdom.

After going back to DS2, my disappointment in the Bell system in Bloodborne is completely solidified. Multiplayer is simply worse in Bloodborne in every conceivable way. Without signs, you have no idea if the area you are in is populated with people within your summoning range. I suspect having to burn Insight also makes people less likely to want to summon someone, since it has a cost, even though Insight is ultimately plentiful. Being summoned to your location, instead of the host's location, is just dumb and a waste of time. I suspect this has to do with loading screens though. There's no loading screen when going to someone else's world, so my guess is that you load exactly on your location to avoid that. If it used the summon sign system of previous games, you'd be much more likely to need to load the area if you had wandered too far away, and with the loading times being what they are, that would have made co-op even worse. Having to return to the Dream to reset your vials/bullets means you can't just hang out and co-op a boss or area over and over, which is a thing that can be really fun to do, especially if you just want to help people through a hard spot or particularly enjoy an area/boss. It just feels like there are more barriers than ever to multiplayer in Bloodborne, and the barebones covenants reinforce that. It almost feels like an afterthought, or that it is an incomplete system. I think Bloodborne might well be the strongest single player campaign of the Souls games (it feels perfectly balanced for that), but is unfortunately the weakest in terms of online play.

I'm really digging the Scholar of the First Sin release. If you want to play more Dark Souls 2, this is the version to play, especially if you never bought the DLC (which I hadn't). The Good: Enemy placement - People whining about how enemies are now hordes are full of shit. Some areas have more enemies, some have less. Some places just having completely remixed enemies. I honestly really miss the old ruins with the Lion Warriors. They really cut down on the number of warriors. You can now sprint straight to the boss and only aggro a single enemy. There is a new enemy there though, which I won't describe. A couple of the setpiece minibosses have been removed, while a couple of others have been added (the Flexile Sentry scared the shit out of me showing up somewhere unexpectedly). Which, the ones who were removed seem to be the ones that were almost always cheesed with arrows. Some of the most annoying enemies are moved, like the Alonne Archer on the ledge in the big lava room in the Iron Keep. He's been brought down to the main level, making it easier to break line of sight and eventually engage him in melee. I've also noticed a couple of other enemies who previously needed a ranged attack or good jumping skills have been moved, more easily allowing for pure melee runs. Overall I think the enemy remix is *mostly* superior to the vanilla version, barring a few places. I've also been summoned into NG+ a couple of times, and the enemy placement is different there as well. Going through Sinner's Rise surprised the shit out of me, because I didn't know I had been summoned into an upgraded world. New phantoms - There are a BUNCH of more NPC invaders. These have mostly been both surprising and challenging. The AI feels much smarter on these than the old phantom invaders. Definitely an overall improvement. New NPC summons - There are at least a half dozen more summons, that show up in more places, and I really dig several of them. They just look cool. I really wish the hunter I mentioned in my story above was a character you could talk to. The DLC (its new to me, even though it's been out for awhile) - I've only gone deep into the Sunken King, but holy shit is it good. Apparently the original director of DS2 was replaced by a guy who finished the main game, designed the DLC and oversaw the remaster. I really hope he gets to helm a Souls game of his own from the start after seeing what a team under his direction can do. New Item Placement - This is not as severe as the enemy placement, but there are a few changes that are pretty big, including being able to pickup what was previously a super late game weapon (the Testicle, aka the Dragon Tooth) surprisingly early. I wish the power stanced great hammer moveset was better, I would totally run dual Teeth if there was the slightest value to it (and I still might just for the giggles). Oh, and the Dull Ember isn't in the Iron Keep anymore! Fuck yeah! If you want a build that requires infusion, you no longer have to prioritize getting to the keep. Agape Ring - I think this was eventually patched into the vanilla game, but it's a ring that lets you have some control over your Soul Memory, allowing for you to cap yourself in a particular tier for jolly co-op or PvP. The Bad Durability - Weapon degradation continues to be atrocious on PC (and I hear on consoles). The issues with geography and body collision have been compounded by a fixed 60FPS, making some weapons completely unusable. I basically have to reserve my Pickaxe for bosses or use co-op/Repair Powder to fix it after a long run. A patch is supposed to be incoming, but given the durability issues that have existed since launch, I'm not holding my breath that it will actually be fixed. 6-Player Max - So far this is not good. Maybe in NG++ and on it will be. Having 3 people already trivialized every boss/area. Having 4+ is even worse. I really like being summoned into other people's worlds, but when I come in and already see 2 summons, I know we're just going to roflstomp. Bell Tower - Related to that max. I feel like they ruined my favorite PvP area. You can now be invaded by at least 3 BellBros, which is like, WHAT THE FUCK?! 2v1 PvP is already the most challenging thing in the game. I loved taking a serious PvP build in against two BellBros who were just trying to farm chunks/covenant levels. I'm not sure there is a boss fight in the game that equals the rush of beating two people. But 3v1 is just impossible. If you could get for sure a summon or two, it might be fun. But that's hardly guaranteed. There is a tanky NPC summon on the second floor, but I'm not sure his health makes up for the skill of a human. Enemy Placement - While mostly good, there are a few moved/missing enemies whose loss bums me out. Not anyone who made a real challenge, just more like a buddy that I was used to saying hi to passing through an area. The statues - This feels completely arbitrary to me. There are now a bunch of the petrified statues around. There are also more branches, so it just seems dumb. It's about forcing you to remember and backtrack to a few early areas. The enemies unlocked are mostly really weak versions of the thieves from Huntsman's Copse, which narratively is kind of interesting. Since there is usually treasure behind them, obviously they were trying to steal it and got petrified. But it feels like if this was going to happen, some more creativity could have been applied. The Whatever The Pursuer - It's funny how the narrative of this guy basically flips now. Previously he showed up 3 times, and scared the crap out of you each time. Now he feels like a stalker who's pissed that you keep rejecting him. He probably needed his moveset to be updated, since once you understand when/how to dodge, he's completely ineffectual. But still, I like the Pursuer, so getting to fight him more isn't necessarily a bad thing, just could have been handled better. And he's still managed to startle me every time he's shown up. Graphics - It's a crisper game, and some textures are certainly better, but it doesn't feel like some huge overhaul to me. Just a bit nicer. Progression - Maybe DS2 was always this way, or maybe the DLC or new enemies compound it, but progression feels really broken to me. I just hit Drangleic with my Peasant, and I'm already level 130. To be fair, I know what I'm doing and this build really only has to spend souls on levels, upgrading equipment and a couple of rings. If I had to buy a bunch of arrows, spells, boss weapons and consumables, I'd be 10-20 levels lower. But still. It feels like I'm going to hit 150 well before the end of the game.

Worth noting, once you've opened a chalice type once, you can search for other people's dungeons they've shared at no material cost, so all you ever really need to spend are the resources to open each "story" dungeon once.

One concern I have about the dungeons is that they will have a long term negative affect on PvP. The absolute best gems can only be farmed from the deepest dungeons. And dungeons can't really be speedrun the way the main game can, because you need to fully explore them for the materials to open the next chalice. It becomes an extra timesink barrier to creating and leveling new characters to try in PvP. And without a respec option, the only way to experiment with different builds is to make a new character. In DkS2 I could take a new character and reach the meta-level of PvP within 6-8 hours with fully upgraded gear, and even faster if I used an OP build to start and then respecced into my desired build in late game. I don't think that's going to be nearly as easy in Bloodborne.

Spent quite a bit of time over the last few days with Scholar of the First Sin. I've got a great narrative going for the new character I built. He's a peasant, inspired by this fabulous from last year. I always wanted to mess around with the Pickaxe, but the amusing yet pain-in-the-ass method of getting it always stopped me. So Pickaxe Pete is just a normal joe who all these folks have mistaken for some great hero. First he tries to go home, but finds all his old friends to be mindlessly pantomiming their old jobs, oblivious to the world around him and the village is overrun with some bizarre moving soldiers (the Falconeer's animation is hilariously terrible). The only solace is that one of the old village pigs remembers him and starts following him around. He also scavenges up some proper clothes, the warriors armor he had picked up was heavy and chafing. He makes his way to the church, to find his old joyous building of celebration has been overrun by some evil cult worshiping dark magic. They give him no choice but to defend himself, and with tears streaming down his face he puts his old hand axe to work. They're weak, more sick than dangerous. When the dust and blood settle, he finds the pig, still there, still following. He must see the Duke, if there is anyone in the land who is smart enough fix whatever has happened to his village, Pete is sure it's the Duke. When he reaches the old adobe villages, they are overrun with bizarre spider monsters and mages. Thinking he may be able to sneak through the back way, Pete jumps from ledge to ledge, his nimble friend the pig following. When he reaches the bottom, spiders and monsters and more erupt from the sand! Overwhelmed, Pete dashes through them. The Duke's building is in sight! He's never been there, but he's heard stories of it's grandeur and seen it from afar. There must be soldiers there, Pete thinks. There must be, the Duke would be protected. Pig and man sprint across bridge over strange, spikey crystals, oblivious to more mindless villagers pounding away at the rocks, harvesting them. Pete practically leaps through the door, sure to find safety...and instead finds a dozen more of the giant spiders. Spiders in front, spiders in back, this is the end. Pete is strong from his life's labors, but he's no warrior. The pig, strangely having no fear, starts rooting around in a batch of mushrooms. Out of the corner of his eye, Pete spots a glowing symbol on the floor. He doesn't know what it is, but hopes it may be some alarm or trap he can activate. As his hand reaches down and touches it, the spiders skitter, skitter, skitter ever closer towards him. And then a burst of light! Pete falls on his ass, warrior that he is not, and as his vision clears, he finds himself staring up at a woman. But not like the girls he used to flirt with at the pub, or the severe women who used to serve the church. This is a hunter, with crossbow in one hand and greatbow in the other. She takes just a single glance across the room and bursts into action. The crossbow fires and one spider explodes. She whips the greatbow around like a club, crushing two more. She plants the bow and fires an arrow that could better be called a spear, pinning a spider-man beast to the wall. Pete recovers his senses, he can't just let this stranger save him without helping. With his axe, he watches her back, hacking away at spiders who try to get the jump on her, while she deals death in more ways than Pete's ever imagined, let alone seen. Finally, everything is dead. Both heaving, the hunter and peasant look at one another. The stranger smiles and bows. And then she's gone, vanished as quickly as she appeared. Pete has no idea what's going on. He takes another look around the room, and finds his pig, dead next to a fairly good sized hole it had dug in the middle of the mushroom patch. In the hole is a pickaxe. It's Pete's Pickaxe. Why? What? How did his pickaxe come to be buried under the floor of the Duke's residence? Pete picks it up, and it fits as well as it always did, perfectly shaped to his hands. He's lost in thought when another spider-man-thing lumbers through the door. Pete's seen them in action now. They're slow, predictable. He waits, until it's practically on top of him, and then brings his pickaxe down upon the crown of it's head, driving the head of the axe through it's skull, then chest, almost splitting it in half. Pete used to split boulders for a living, but he's never felt this strong before. Pete kindles a fire in the corner of the room. He's exhausted and starving, but also elated. Perhaps he can survive in this world afterall. Once the fire is hot, he'll fry up some bacon and mushrooms. Then on to find the Duke.

I watched that back when it came out, but don't remember it terribly well.

I've rung my beckoning bell in the dungeons a couple of times, but never got any response. Seems like you almost have to arrange co-op down there? I fully agree that I wish there was something more compelling about them. I can't quite pin down why they are disappointing. Maybe because they feel like they have so little connection to the main world? And they don't have any personality. At least not the ones I've run. But I've only gone as deep as the 3rd depth of the Pthumerian chalices. Has anyone opened the other ones to see if they are more interesting? Ha! I didn't know that.

Newbie, woo! The wolves are the short path to the first boss, there's also a long path. The long path is much easier than they are, plus you'll find some other good stuff on it. They're there for people to grind/explore if that's what they really dig, and the lower depths are pretty tough if people want a challenge. You get the best gems, additional Blood Rocks (for +10 upgrade), the alternate weapon types (uncanny and lost, have different gem slots), one unique weapon and a few of the highest tier runes. But none of that stuff is necessary for the main game, not even through a NG+ cycle or two. The first couple of depths have 3 layers, some of the lower ones have 4 layers. Plus there are unique bosses down there.

I always thought the logistics of romancing Tali were a bit complicated/dangerous for her, so never pursued that route.

I didn't know that! That makes a bunch more sense for the name of the stone. Yeah, you could get through the whole game without them, but they sure are fun! And there are a few bosses that are way easier with them. One thing about Viscerals, they apparently scale from a combination of your level, Skill and the gems in your weapon, but that's it. None of your other stats and your actual weapon don't affect it. Attacking an enemy ready for a Visceral does extra damage, and for some non-skill builds (those with high single hit damage) might actually do more damage with a regular attack rather than a Visceral. There are some pretty amusing PvP videos of people getting annihilated by the Cannon because of that.