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I know! I have no good excuse. Playing it recently has made me depressed so I find myself avoiding it.
Not to discourage you, but you've got more than 3 hours left. You're definitely on the home stretch though so chin up!
Dix mentioned elsewhere that he'd been frustrated by the very early game because it forces you to go through the whole opening 40 minutes or so again if you die before a certain point
This is true, but once you get a grasp on the controls, this game can become almost trivially easy on normal difficulty. That's especially true once you get some of the cooler chip upgrades (there's one particular combo I used which was absolutely devastating, but I won't describe it since it's kind of a spoiler). Use the dodge mechanic, and the Pod gun (as in never take your finger off that gun). And perhaps most importantly, equip your Pod's Laser attachment (which for some reason starts out un-equipped; is this a test of your ability to navigate menus?).
Speaking of the dodge mechanic (which makes you momentarily invulnerable), the first mini-boss almost forces you to use it. It's the only way to avoid one of its attacks.
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Synonamess Botch said
Speaking of the dodge mechanic (which makes you momentarily invulnerable), the first mini-boss almost forces you to use it. It's the only way to avoid one of its attacks.
I've been around the block a time or two with Platinum, so dodging isn't alien to me, and I used it (along with the Pod) liberally throughout the battles you fight early on. I agree that it's really easy on Normal, which bugged me a little. I started on Hard, bashed my head against dying in 2-3 hits and having to restart the entire game each time for half an hour, then turned it down. The gap between the two is really big.
Anyway, the first miniboss I actually beat mostly without using dodge, which got me in trouble later. Since it didn't look plausible to dodge the attack where the sawblade goes horizontal and low, I sprinted around it, and usually had no trouble with it that way. Of course, when you meet two of the damn things a little later, this strategy didn't work at all, and when I tried it, I died. I imagine I'd get them on my second go round, but I just didn't have the patience to replay the entirety of the game to that point again.
I know that it's, like, doing something with the nature of life and death, here, narratively speaking, but for me the irritation far outweighs the satisfaction of making that connection.
I'll be back to it eventually, I imagine. It's not the first time I've bounced off of a Platinum game really really hard (Metal Gear Rising's initial learning curve put me off that game for quite some time, though now I love it).
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
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I started on Normal since I was pretty sure I would get wrecked on anything above that. It took me quite a while to adapt to the controls - too much Dark Souls muscle memory. Even the generous re-mapping didn't really help, since several actions are meant to be done simultaneously (I never did get the hang of the attack & jump to launch enemies into the air). Even after many hours I would still hit the wrong buttons at times. Going back to Dark Souls has proved equally challenging.
I understand your frustration. Honestly, I'm ambivalent about this game. Some parts of it are astoundingly good, while other parts are annoying and tedious. Still, I did plow through to reach three of the five (I think) main endings. I think the sense of mystery it evoked, that things are obviously not what they seem, is what kept me going.
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Ok, so help me out here, Nier Automata players. 2017 has inserted so many good games into my life, and I don't think it's going to slow down. I know enough people I align with on taste who say Automata is really worth playing.
So here's my question: if I turn the difficulty down to its easiest setting am I robbing myself of any of what makes the game special? I don't really know what to expect from the gameplay except that it seems varied and crazy at times.
If I can experience what is good about this game with a little less resistance so I can move onto other games, I'd like that, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
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I'll second xtal's question!
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There is one difficulty level below Normal, called Easy. I haven't tried it but I'm pretty sure it plays itself to a large degree. I don't think you would be missing out on anything if you played this way. Let me put it another way: if you're in it for the combat, do NOT play on easy (or even on Normal possibly); if you're in it for the story, then I think Easy is perfectly fine.
One other wrinkle: there are many side-quests in this game. Many of them are dumb fetch quests. Many of them are time-consuming dumb fetch quests. Some of them give you cool loot, but nothing critical for success. If you care not a bit for anything but mainlining the story, avoiding these quests can make the game much shorter. In that case, a Normal difficulty playthrough should not be a big time sink. Also, after reaching either ending C or D, you can access points in the game by sub-chapter directly. So if you really want to go back later and do a quest, you can.
My final save file reported 60-ish hours. Doing the usual Botch game-time math, that makes about 20 hours, and I did a large percentage of the side-quests. Blowing through on Easy with minimal side-questing would be super quick.
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This is good to know, thanks.
Did any of you get around to playing Mafia III last year? I bought it recently on the cheap. I've never played the Mafia series before but heard some good things about the latest. Hoping to get to it soon.
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I saw it on sale a while back but passed because of my huge existing backlog. It seemed intriguing, though, especially given the love earlier Mafia games had received. If you play, report back your findings!
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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After bouncing hard off of Nier: Automata and not really digging Vanquish yet (curses, Platinum, I just can't quit you!), I dived into Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the standalone Uncharted 4 expansion that came out last week. I love it pretty hard, but then, I love all Uncharted games pretty hard. Honestly, if Naughty Dog would just release one of these every 18 months or so (a single-player-focused experience that lasts for 8-12 hours, depending on difficulty and thoroughness, and costs $40 or so at launch) I would be super happy. I love the big Uncharteds, too, but at this point I kind of want a more episodic continuation of the series rather than a few blockbusters.
In a lot of ways The Lost Legacy is a very old school Uncharted experience, too, with the excellent writing and characters weaving through a breakneck adventure the entire time, with relatively little time spent in the quieter narrative sections that Drake's Deception and A Thief's End favor pretty heavily. (That's not a knock to those moments, which I adore, but I know a lot of players just want to go treasure hunting already!)
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
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I've got Nier: Automata set up and ready to go so hoping to start that soon, probably after this weekend. I didn't enjoy Vanquish that much either, Dix. I've yet to play Bayonetta 2 but enjoyed the original. The Wonderful 101 is what I love Platinum for though, ultimately.
I bought a Switch a couple of weeks ago for Splatoon 2 and also picked up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and SnipperClips to play with my girlfriend and others. The ARMS Global Test Punch was way more fun than I expected so ended up picking that up too. Then Mario + Rabbids came out which I had to buy because it's not often you see the worlds of Nintendo and Ubisoft (specifically Michel Ancel) collide, and in an XCOM-styled TBS, no less.
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Mario Kart 8 is very good. Mario + Rabbids looks pretty weird, I watched a bit of gameplay just last night. It's strange to see Mario in a Ubisoft game. It's stranger to see "Rabbid Peach" which is a pretty horrifying thing. But yeah, the X-Com angle is cool and people seem to like it so far.
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Mario Kart 8 is great. I haven't played every Mario Kart by any means (especially the ones on the Wii and handhelds), but Mario Kart 8 feels like probably the most perfect example of that series.
Mario + Rabbids was something I mentally just wrote off as probably being one of those games that ten years from now we'd be like, "Remember when that happened? That was weird," but now that I've seen some gameplay and heard that it's not hot garbage it actually looks pretty cool. If I had a Switch I would probably pick it up. Relative to a lot of tactical strategy games, it seems like it's about making cool moves and exciting stuff, not really staying behind cover and being careful. That's usually a draw for me (read: Chroma Squad).
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
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Yeah, you're probably right.
I've a real soft spot for Double Dash!! because it introduced co-op and I had a friend who loved dealing with the weapons and punching so we shared all the drama and emotions of racing together. It was also the first in the series that I remember to have the turbo sparks from drifting, custom karts, character-specific specials and the infamous All-Cup Tour. Some of these elements were dropped for subsequent releases unfortunately. There were some classic tracks too like Yoshi Circuit, DK Mountain and Rainbow Road (many an All-Cup Tour was lost on that final spiral!).
For a long time though I was convinced that Mario Kart DS was my favourite. We managed to get seven of us playing against each other locally once and it was an absolute riot. I believe it was the first Mario Kart to feature old tracks too--a very welcome feature! I miss the fake item box weapon which you could use to fool drivers and the Blooper and Bullet Bill items made their first appearance here. Snaking ultimately spoiled Mario Kart DS online unfortunately.
I hope Nintendo take a leaf from Sega/Sumo's book with Sonic & All-Star Racing Transformed because that game had some seriously cool ideas with its dramatically changing circuits and land, water and air racing. Diddy Kong Racing did the latter but I think Sumo really got the most from it. Nintendo have started mixing in other characters and environments from other games into MK8 so that's a good start, but I'd like to see Mario Kart do another Double Dash!! and be really adventurous again. Anti-grav sections just aren't enough! Oh, Deluxe has brought back the double pick-ups from Double Dash!! so that's pretty cool.
As for the tracks, I love Mount Wario because there are no laps: it's just one downhill breakneck tumble to the finish. Awesome. Grumble Volcano too is probably more akin to something out of Sonic Racing because by the final lap a lot of the track has fallen away.
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I have heard that Mario Kart DS was previously the one to beat, but I never did get around to playing it. I liked Double Dash!! too, though I think it was lacking in other areas in a way that Mario Kart 8 isn't.
Historically, Nintendo tends to do a one-off, one-on sort of policy with their games. Every other game in their main series gets kind of adventurous. This is especially true with Mario and Zelda. Sometimes the experimental ones really land (Breath of the Wild) while sometimes they are experiments best forgotten (Mario Kart Wii).
So I think with Mario Kart 8 providing a really excellent example of the core elements of Mario Kart, with phenomenal tracks and stuff, Mario Kart 9 is due to do something nutty.
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
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Dix now you've got me intrigued about Lost Legacy. I sort of ignored it since I figured it might not have anything new to offer. However, Naughty Dog has never disappointed me (iirc, you and I are both of the opinion that Uncharted is essentially pulp fiction done right). so I'll likely pick it up soon.
I also bounced off of Vanquish, which I recognized as excellent execution but just not my thing. What compelled me most about Nier Automata was the story and its mysteries, not necessarily the gameplay.
I recently picked up Diablo 3 (somewhat reluctantly given how I've grown out of action RPGs, perhaps after burning myself out on Diablo 2) mainly for the couch-coop possibilities. I was able to pick it up for a price which, even after adding the latest expansion, works out to be less than full price. I also picked up the XCOM 2 uber-edition (I forget the actual name) which has all the expansion stuff. It was a steal on PS store.
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The Lost Legacy is certainly fun if you've enjoyed the Uncharted games in the past; good story and plenty of cool setpieces and stuff. It's also interesting to play an Uncharted game that isn't about Nate. The mechanical changes are only marginal (it is technically a standalone expansion, after all), but Uncharted's always thrived more on exceptional execution than outright innovation.
I started Tokyo Mirage Sessions and it's pretty nutty.
"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you."
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I finally got Nier Automata in that convenient sale on PSN last week!
While the game downloaded I played the demo to get a taste. After weighing some comments in this thread I decided I'll just throw the game on easy.
Like you said, Botch, when set to Easy the game really can play itself. There is an option that turns on your, I want to say... "auto-chips"? So those are really cool. The idea that you have a certain amount of memory that can be dedicated to these automated processes. Really cool. So like I was saying, the game basically plays itself in combat, and after trying a bit of manual combat and reading what you guys said about it, I'm pretty okay with letting the game play itself. It's actually fun to watch because I get to see a lot of cool looking moves that I probably would have trouble consistently pulling off. Also, I don't have to hold down RB to make the flying sidekick robot shoot his guns, which is nice.
The last time I made a decision to get me through a game more quickly (choosing murder in Dishonored 2) it was a revelation and I loved the hell out of that game. So I'm feeling pretty good about Nier Automata so far. Probably 3-4 hours in and it's interesting and strange so far. That amusement park was just....what the. Pretty wild.
Speaking of Dishonored 2, Death of the Outsider is hopefully the next on my list after Nier. Anybody else played it? Like Uncharted: Lost Legacy it changed from DLC to standalone at some point, and I've heard good things.
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Yeah I like the chip memory as well. They really stick with the android motif almost to a fault. In anything beyond Easy, you can't equip those auto-combat chips. The amusement park was indeed pretty bonkers. Actually I think it was my least favorite area. I like off-beat, but I have my limits.
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Yeah, not played Dishonored 2 yet. My enthusiasm for Dishonored kind of disappeared during the Knife of Dunwall. I think I'd just had my fill of sneaky-blinky action which is a shame because there was nothing wrong with the DLC, and the Brigmore Witches looked great too. Loved my time with the base game though.
I've nearly finished Mario + Rabbids on the Switch and it's been brilliant. I think the Rabbids and Firaxis' XCOM are the best things to happen to the Mushroom Kingdom since go-karts. What a wonderful and surprising mix of things I'm not especially fond of. The Rabbids have really tickled me and the XCOM-like turn-based battles have been a joy without all the confounding percentage chances to hit and permadeath.
Once I'm done with this I'll be moving on to Nier--it'll be weird playing something you folks are!
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Here's a thing that I only recently realized: You have to be careful about buying games and, later, DLC. Apparently the regions have to match. Stupid regions. You can buy a game from any region and play it just fine on your console, but buy the DLC, which is tied to your account's region, and you may be screwed.
I use Amazon Prime pre-orders lately and unfortunately it's not always easy to tell which region you're getting. Digital copies don't suffer from this problem, but I still prefer physical copies in most cases so I don't have to re-download the game if I want to re-install it. So buyer beware.
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