Zodi Plays: Ronin (Hey, you got your Mark of the Ninja in my Gunpoint!) [Archive]

LaZodiac

2020-04-03, 08:51 AM

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/274230/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1529227454

Hello and welcome back to me, LaZodiac, playing video games on the internet. Today we will be playing Ronin, a small indie game with the rather unique style of "turn based stealth platformer". You are the Ronin, a girl with a super powered, kinetic-energy powered suit and sword, who is hunting down the people responsible for killing her father and ruining her life. Will revenge taste sweet, or just turn to bitter ash on our tongue? Let's find out!

Like with all my main LPs this will update Monday and Friday. I'm going to say my usual "no spoilers" here, but there's... not actually much PLOT to spoil for once. In this case it's more of a mechanical event spoiler. Don't talk about levels we haven't been to yet, simple and easy. Of course this is doubly simple since I'm like, 70% sure none of you will have heard of this game before today. With that being said, let's leap through that window and get on with Ronin!

Zodi Plays: Ronin [1] Old Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkBQzRXLNoE)

Video Length: 24:01

Aaah, tutorials. This one has a pretty basic tutorial, but a good one. You learn the basics, hack a few computers, jump through a few windows, and kill a couple guys. The last level of this batch is the only "real" one difficulty wise. Let's take a bit to talk about the enemies, since our own abilities are pretty well explained by the game itself.

First you've got the Security, who aim with a laser sight and shoot their pistol at you. I think they've got around 4 or 5 shots before they need to reload. They're super easy to dodge, even when a bunch of them are all together. The only real issue with them is that if they get staggered such that you're always being shot at every turn it can be hard to actually thin the heard. They are otherwise pretty easy to deal with.

Then you have the Samurai. These guys are tricky. They can't be knocked out by flying into them, all you'll get out of doing that is sliced in half. You need to get close enough to do your attack, and THAT will stun em for a few seconds so you can finish the job. Annoyingly, because this game is not perfect by any means, the samurai does not have a timer on how long they're stunned. It's basically a two turn window though. As well, their attacks suffer the same "it's not 100% accurate" issue that your jumps do. Sometimes they don't go as far as their aiming line goes due to just the make up of the stage. So they can be a little tricky on that regard. They typically swing around three times before needing to rest. Partly because they're typically falling from a great height after a couple of swings.

The Old Man is... not an enemy. He willingly goes to his death without any qualms. Our future targets won't... be like this at all, but it's a nice indication that even if these guys are basically just targets for us to kill, they do have personalities. I like it. That said his noble "allowing himself to die" bit is a total trap because of how the last level goes and I kinda like that. After all, even this old bastard betrayed our father; do you really think he's had enough of a change of heart to just die peacefully?

DataNinja

2020-04-03, 10:57 AM

Yay, new game. Though, admittedly, Stealth's not my favorite genre. :smalltongue:

Is slick, though. Can definitely agree with good character design.

"Stun enemies by jumping on them." *blood goes flying everywhere* Suuuuure. 'Stun.' :smallwink:

Oh, that's a neat Combat system. Though, I'm sure it'll expand later to give a few more options, because I feel like just arc projecting might get a little... one-note.
Oh, okay, yeah, neat, sounds like it expands.

Yeah, definitely gets to be more... overwhelming than just taking on one or two people at a time, I see. Looks neat. :smalltongue:

Lord Raziere

2020-04-03, 02:21 PM

ShneekeyTheLost

2020-04-03, 03:27 PM

Ronin is a term for wandering lordless knights much like knight-errants, so I'm not sure if this girl counts as a ninja or a ronin. the katana says ronin, but the jumping and other feats of athletics can be a ninja. however it should be noted that actual ninja were primarily spies, not killers. they could kill, and it was one of the thing they did, but their job was spying and subterfuge first. so this person constantly killing people suggests ronin. the decoy ability as well as other stealth based stuff in the skill tree suggests ninja ability though, so I don't see why she calls herself a Ronin, but then again I've heard fictional characters just use that as a name for no reason even if its not their actual profession. considering how fast combat goes in only a couple blows, ninja does make more sense.

wait. "hint: this is not a stealth game, just kill everyone." okay, now your sending me mixed signals. guess its just a fantastic kill ninja combined with the matrix that blends ronin and ninja. wait no, you can do cheaty, cheap things with the game thats definitely ninja.

.....yeah this game is definitely screaming "turn based cyberpunk Sekiro" to me: your a badass ninja who can jump around and kill dudes real fast, but your also a fragile glass cannon if you don't a constant dance to avoid danger while breaking enemies posture to stun them so you can deathblow them

As you said, 'ninja' (and no, they never wore the iconic black swathed outfit, that was an artifice of the plays that portrayed them) are primarily spies, not assassins. And when they do assassinate, they do so through lateral means typically, such as poison in the booze or changing marching orders so that he ended up unsupported in battle. A shinobi is more likely to be the mad beggar with his bowl upraised sitting outside the fortress gate (not being allowed inside, of course), counting every bushel of rice, every infantryman, every samurai, and every trade caravan to pass through the gates, and then reporting it to his superiors so they have an accurate accounting of their opponent's logistics.

Ronin, translated loosely as 'wave-man', are traditionally those who are highly skilled and trained at combat, but not pledged to serve a given house or noble. And one way to become a ronin is for your boss to get killed, because it is very doubtful that anyone else will be willing to hire you. And frequently, these newly made Ronin would, before trying to figure out what else to do with their lives, would at least do their best to make damn sure that whoever was responsible for their becoming a Ronin get sword-to-face or other means of ensuring they become deceased as well. This kind of story makes sense within this context.

So, ex-samurai whose boss got killed getting revenge on those responsible. It's a tale as old as time.

And, of course, there's no concept of Mercy in Bushido, other than for those who weren't involved. So, kill them all. Then kill some more. Blood is your stock in trade. By surprise, from behind... you are no longer bound by Bushido, so anything goes.

LaZodiac

2020-04-03, 03:35 PM

Yeah Shneekey's got the gist of it. Our dad has been killed so we're gonna use this stolen tech and all of our sword training to kill all the people who betrayed him and anyone else in our path.

DataNinja

2020-04-03, 05:13 PM

(and no, they never wore the iconic black swathed outfit, that was an artifice of the plays that portrayed them)
To be fair, nobody would suspect the stagehands. :smalltongue:

Aeson

2020-04-03, 11:39 PM

I'm like, 70% sure none of you will have heard of this game before today.
Heard of before, yes. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24355411&postcount=220) Recall specific details about, not really.

Looks like you're having fun with it, and hopefully there aren't any parts of it nearly as frustrating as the songs were in Spirit Tracks - though since it looks like you've already played through it at least once I'm going to guess no on that front.

LaZodiac

2020-04-04, 12:53 AM

Heard of before, yes. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=24355411&postcount=220) Recall specific details about, not really.

Looks like you're having fun with it, and hopefully there aren't any parts of it nearly as frustrating as the songs were in Spirit Tracks - though since it looks like you've already played through it at least once I'm going to guess no on that front.

I remember that post and laughing a little at it because I think I knew Ronin was next at that point? I forget.

and yeah I've beaten the game twice, once regularly and once on New Game Plus. There is at most two parts of this game that might draw frustration, and honestly after comparing regular game to New Game Plus after all this time... I sincerely doubt I'll have that much trouble at all. But we'll discuss New Game Plus when I beat the game and briefly show it off for kicks.

Iruka

2020-04-04, 05:20 AM

Of course this is doubly simple since I'm like, 70% sure none of you will have heard of this game before today.
Hey now, I recommended this game like 2 years ago. :smalltongue:
It does indeed look a bit like a flash game predecessor to games like Mark of the Ninja, Gunpoint and Katana Zero. It does lack some polish gameplaywise and has some bugs but it is still a very fun game with unique mechanics, a stylish look and atmospheric soundtrack.

Yeah Shneekey's got the gist of it. Our dad has been killed so we're gonna use this stolen tech and all of our sword training to kill all the people who betrayed him and anyone else in our path.
Is this actually spelled out in the game? My memory is a bit hazy, but I remember piecing that together mostly by guessing from the picture and the short monologue bits.

For me, [W] hacks computers.

LaZodiac

2020-04-04, 07:30 AM

Hey now, I recommended this game like 2 years ago. :smalltongue:
It does indeed look a bit like a flash game predecessor to games like Mark of the Ninja, Gunpoint and Katana Zero. It does lack some polish gameplaywise and has some bugs but it is still a very fun game with unique mechanics, a stylish look and atmospheric soundtrack.

Is this actually spelled out in the game? My memory is a bit hazy, but I remember piecing that together mostly by guessing from the picture and the short monologue bits.

For me, [W] hacks computers.

It is, yeah.

I remembered that eventually! The problem is that it was such a natural reflex that when it came time to actually think about doing it for an LP the information of "press W you dolt" left my brain completely.

Amechra

2020-04-04, 08:04 AM

Is there a "record in real time" function in this game? If not... why? Seriously, I'd love to see a Frozen Synapses-style playback of these levels, where they'd take all of a minute.

LaZodiac

2020-04-04, 08:09 AM

There is, sadly, no way to do that. I'd try and make that happen with editing but it's basically turn my commentary into a blank nothingness.

Katana Zero has it though, so definitely give that a whirl!

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-05, 07:43 AM

LaZodiac

2020-04-05, 09:10 AM

Hey guys, just catching up on the thread after the forum hiatus. Ronin looks cool, though I think I'd find it pretty frustrating, getting killed constantly.

What I did want to say is that I loved the Tactical Breach Wizards a taste of. Wishlisted it immediately. It reminds me a lot of Metal Gear Ac!d, but with less deckbuilding and more wizards. Genius!

Yeah Ronin can be a little frustrating some times.

Glad you liked Tactical Breach Wizards! It's quite fun! Also, glad to see you back Ninja Prawn :smalltongue:

LaZodiac

2020-04-06, 07:16 AM

Old Man is dead. Time for Wisegal.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [2] Wisegal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1SZldD3PoA)

Video Length: 29:53

In this episode, hunt down Wisegal, the major mover and shaker of the corporation that killed our father. The first level is a rather large building with a huge, well lit middle section. It leads to some pretty tense moments, as we leap from wall to wall, platform to platform, avoiding gunfire. Thankfully, our new abilities are going to help out quite a bit. The second level involves elevatoring up past some deadly electrical wires and has a rather tricky combat encounter. The final level for Wisegal is infiltrating her awesome dance club, Swordpoint. Introduced in this set of levels are the Soldier, who takes aim and then fires for a full turn! They have to reload often, but otherwise are rather effective at cutting off means of attack. Wisegal herself is just a regular security gunwise, but she's clearly a bit jumpier or nervous than the others. She's well aware that there's not much she can do.

Lets talk a bit about our abilities. This episode we've unlocked Shuriken Strike. It takes the same amount of momentum to use than the Blade Throw, but it (usually) hits every enemy in sight, whereas the Blade Throw only hits one guy. It can be blocked by bodies (as I so helpfully show) so be careful, but otherwise it's a really effective tool to stun large groups of enemies. Blade Throw kills a guy, but only hits one person, can very easily whiff or hit the wrong target, and leaves you defenseless (for now) so it's a trade off on which move you want to do.

And, later in the episode, we get ourselves the Shadow Strike! This costs three momentum to use, and you need to be on the ground to use it, but it's VERY good. You can warp to any enemy within sight, stunning them. The real power of Shadow Strike, which I also show, is that since it gains you one momentum due to stunning a guy, and is fast enough that most enemies are still reacting to where you WERE... you can kill the person you stunned, gaining enough momentum to Shadow Strike again, zipping all the way across the room again. Repeat until everyone is dead.

All in all, Wisegal's chapter is a step up difficulty wise, but by this point you're starting to get the baseline powers the game wants you to have. It's got this nice ebb and flow to it, I think. I hope you all enjoys, I'll see you all next time!

------

So, Swordpoint. Now the initial obvious joke is that hah it's the point of a sword for stabby or whatever. The real joke to me is that Tom Francis' game Gunpoint (https://store.steampowered.com/app/206190/Gunpoint/) (named such due to the general theme of "what is the point of a gun in a video game?") has... a lot of the same general mechanics as Ronin! Its not turn based and its hacking is more extensive but you're a super suit wearing badass who is launching people through windows with real big jumps. The art design even looks similar, especially with the buildings. I think it's a cute reference to what probably served as inspiration.

Somewhat unrelated; searching up Gunpoint's steam page to talk about it here made me learn that the bundle of Francis' three games (Gunpoint, Heat Signature, and Tactical Breach Wizards) is no longer called the Defenestration Trilogy, which makes me sad because it was a very good joke (but honestly WAS slightly misleading since while there is a lot of defenestration in Gunpoint, the game encourages you NOT to kill people, so jumping them through windows is one of the things you actually do the least...).

Iruka

2020-04-06, 10:43 AM

What I did want to say is that I loved the Tactical Breach Wizards a taste of. Wishlisted it immediately. It reminds me a lot of Metal Gear Ac!d, but with less deckbuilding and more wizards. Genius!

Ooh, I somehow missed that video. I saw Tom Francis play it about a year ago on his own channel. (Which is pretty great btw, he does dev logs and videos on game developement in general.) I am looking forward to that game.(And really should get around to checking out 'Heat Signature'.)

Old Man is dead. Time for Wisegal.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [2] Wisegal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1SZldD3PoA)

Video Length: 29:53

In this episode, hunt down Wisegal, the major mover and shaker of the corporation that killed our father. The first level is a rather large building with a huge, well lit middle section. It leads to some pretty tense moments, as we leap from wall to wall, platform to platform, avoiding gunfire. Thankfully, our new abilities are going to help out quite a bit. The second level involves elevatoring up past some deadly electrical wires and has a rather tricky combat encounter. The final level for Wisegal is infiltrating her awesome dance club, Swordpoint. Introduced in this set of levels are the Soldier, who takes aim and then fires for a full turn! They have to reload often, but otherwise are rather effective at cutting off means of attack. Wisegal herself is just a regular security gunwise, but she's clearly a bit jumpier or nervous than the others. She's well aware that there's not much she can do.

Lets talk a bit about our abilities. This episode we've unlocked Shuriken Strike. It takes the same amount of momentum to use than the Blade Throw, but it (usually) hits every enemy in sight, whereas the Blade Throw only hits one guy. It can be blocked by bodies (as I so helpfully show) so be careful, but otherwise it's a really effective tool to stun large groups of enemies. Blade Throw kills a guy, but only hits one person, can very easily whiff or hit the wrong target, and leaves you defenseless (for now) so it's a trade off on which move you want to do.

And, later in the episode, we get ourselves the Shadow Strike! This costs three momentum to use, and you need to be on the ground to use it, but it's VERY good. You can warp to any enemy within sight, stunning them. The real power of Shadow Strike, which I also show, is that since it gains you one momentum due to stunning a guy, and is fast enough that most enemies are still reacting to where you WERE... you can kill the person you stunned, gaining enough momentum to Shadow Strike again, zipping all the way across the room again. Repeat until everyone is dead.

All in all, Wisegal's chapter is a step up difficulty wise, but by this point you're starting to get the baseline powers the game wants you to have. It's got this nice ebb and flow to it, I think. I hope you all enjoys, I'll see you all next time!

Very elegant solutions, especially in the second level! I remember this being one the hardest non-boss levels for me due to the continuos lock-down threat. You made it look very easy. :smallbiggrin:

You can actually kill Wisegal without anyone on her level of the building noticing, via the roof elevator. Alas, it is not that kind of game.
Taking out the majority of guards with the hangman execution makes it less tricky, however.

I don't think I really used Shadow Strike before. I never noticed it was possible to chain it like that.

The actual primary goal for every mission is landing on the motorcycle via blind jump. :smallbiggrin:

Funfact: 'Wisegal' is called 'The Fox' in the german translation.

So, Swordpoint. Now the initial obvious joke is that hah it's the point of a sword for stabby or whatever. The real joke to me is that Tom Francis' game Gunpoint (https://store.steampowered.com/app/206190/Gunpoint/) (named such due to the general theme of "what is the point of a gun in a video game?") has... a lot of the same general mechanics as Ronin! Its not turn based and its hacking is more extensive but you're a super suit wearing badass who is launching people through windows with real big jumps. The art design even looks similar, especially with the buildings. I think it's a cute reference to what probably served as inspiration.

IIRC, one of the hints says "This is not Gunpoint." Tom Francis actually wrote a blog post (https://www.pentadact.com/2014-08-12-its-time-i-did-something-about-this-gunpoint-ripoff/) on this.

LaZodiac

2020-04-06, 10:48 AM

Very elegant solutions, especially in the second level! I remember this being one the hardest non-boss levels for me due to the continuos lock-down threat. You made it look very easy. :smallbiggrin:

You can actually kill Wisegal without anyone on her level of the building noticing, via the roof elevator. Alas, it is not that kind of game.
Taking out the majority of guards with the hangman execution makes it less tricky, however.

I don't think I really used Shadow Strike before. I never noticed it was possible to chain it like that.

The actual primary goal for every mission is landing on the motorcycle via blind jump. :smallbiggrin:

Funfact: 'Wisegal' is called 'The Fox' in the german translation.

IIRC, one of the hints says "This is not Gunpoint." Tom Francis actually wrote a blog post (https://www.pentadact.com/2014-08-12-its-time-i-did-something-about-this-gunpoint-ripoff/) on this.

Thanks! Unlike like, 90% of my LPs, I actually practiced for this. Gave me a good reason to clear New Game Plus mode.

I realize that now, but it occurs to me I've always thought you COULDN'T do that. Huh.

Shadow Strike is super good and AMAZINGLY vital during New Game Plus. I'll get into that Later.

The Fox is a really good name that is evocative of her entire character in a way "Wisegal" really isn't, which sucks.

I remember seeing that hint once and it making me laugh my ass off. Also god that's a good blog post.

I feel like for the sake of transparency, a billion years ago, I was involved in Gunpoint's game testing and while I never really contributed or kept up with it, it was quite fun and I bought the game on release and played it until I beat it. So I've got a weird history with these jumpy games.

Iruka

2020-04-06, 02:35 PM

Also god that's a good blog post.

Yeah, Tom Francis is apparently not only a great game developer but an all-around excellent person.

DataNinja

2020-04-06, 04:39 PM

I'mma be honest, I did not at all read 'Wisegal' as two words. So, thanks for the clarification. :smalltongue:

Soldiers remind me of Robocop. :smallbiggrin:

Yeah... definitely really ramping up in complexity here.

Lord Raziere

2020-04-06, 06:24 PM

LaZodiac

2020-04-06, 06:30 PM

On Episode 2:
Yeah, that happens sometimes to me in games with good combat to. really simulates and makes you feel as if you come out of a fight that your like "ok, what was I doing before nearly getting killed?" makes it authentic.

yeah this games seems real minimalist story, seems it doesn't elaborate on it all and its one of those "you'll just to have to interpret what happened" kind of games. how many people in the photo are people she is going to kill, and who is she? I'm guessing Ronin is the little girl in it? and her father is the man beside her?

Both of those things are correct! Ronin is the cute little girl, and her Dad is next to her. As for the others, well... you'll see~.

While it's not my preference, I actually quite like the minimalism at play here. It makes it really feel like a samurai revenge action serial. We get a little bit of information about the target, enough to root for their death. We get enough about the organization they're part of to tell that they're The Bad Guys who Deserve It. And we just let our little hero loose and she kills mostly everyone in sight.

LaZodiac

2020-04-07, 01:58 AM

Posting today (April 7th)'s video today (April 6th, 50 minutes after midnight) in case I forgot in the morning when I'm very tired for staying up too late.

A Taste Of: One Step From Eden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2jjLX0aIg4&feature=youtu.be)

Video Length: 27:40

This video is a very good example of how sometimes the first impression of a game is entirely different from how it actually ends up being. To put it bluntly the game has been patched twice in the time between recording and posting. Interestingly enough, my OPINION of the game has greatly swerved back and forth on the game during that two week period, which is genuinely fascinating.

Lets put it blunt. This is a roguelike with intense, master-level style Mega Man Battle network style combat. You are on a grid and you move around and you use cards to cast spells and it's very high paced and frenetic. The game has been patched to make it a little less overwhelming to the senses, and work is being done to improve the game further. My initial takeaway on the game was that it is very fun, very frantic and hard, but had some issues that it could maybe fix here or there.

My opinion verey quickly became "this is actually too frustrating" within a few days, and then became "okay this is better now and I'm learning the game so now it feels like it is working right" as I played a bit more... and then I beat the game and got the Neutral ending, which is that you die to no fanfare, and I went "this game ****ig sucks and has wasted my time" and after cooling my head a bit and talking with the developer about my concerns (to which he was very receptive and cool!) I went back and beat it on a good route with an ending. And it wasn't much but this was like a single small team working on a tight budget and as the dev himself said they just didn't have the resources to make it better and it is a thing he will be working on. Also it was fairly satisfying to have won properly, though "proper" is a right ole stupid term considering.

So yeah. Lotta... words, to say about this game. Which I basically need to since my commentary consists almost entirely of "ah **** whoa help I have no idea what I'm doing aaaahahaha!" and the like, because there's basically no way to live commentate on a game like this.

DataNinja

2020-04-07, 03:40 AM

LaZodiac

2020-04-07, 07:38 AM

Well, this is indeed very early.

Oh, that first character is cuuuute. I love her!

Also, you sure have been on a roguelike kick lately. :smalltongue:

Wow, yeah, that is a very battle networkesque grid...

Looks like Thunderstorm's a 4... and you only have 3 Mana. Oh dear.
Ah, and there it is. At least it wasn't in actual battle that it came up.

Oh, I'm just remembering what I meant to write in yesterday's video - the endscreen in that was, uh, a little borked.

Saffron IS cute, but I think my favorite character is Reva. I forget if we see her in this video.

I'm... aware, of the ending screen being borked. I accidently recorded the game wrong and as a result handbreak adjusted the screen size to fit the game, at the consequence of the end cards. I only noticed right when it became impossible to fix it. Oops v_v.

Qwertystop

2020-04-07, 08:59 AM

LaZodiac

2020-04-07, 09:06 AM

The Flow tooltip doesn't say what Flow is because "get it from some spells, lose it when you cast" is all Flow is inherently – other things have special effects if you have Flow. Like Trinity, except it's more "after initial ramp-up you're stronger as long as you keep it going" than Trinity's burst-power every few casts. In the first version of the game it's kind of unbalanced, everything that gives Flow gives 1 and there's a few Flow effects that are just absurd if your deck is all-Flow, but since they only give 1, if your deck isn't almost entirely Flow-generating it sort of falls apart. The first balance patch made most Flow-generating spells give 2, so you can mix in more non-Flow cards without losing Flow entirely, but some of the ones with stronger on-Flow effects give nothing so you can't have a one-card Waterfall deck that doubles in strength every shuffle, or a one-card Rock Cycle that gives you endless high-damage shots without shuffles as fast as you can button mash.

Also: I am glad to see you discovered the fun of Glaive on a single stationary target. And the "Oh, come on" of a nonstationary target.

You did better on Selicy in your first run than I did every single time I fought her in every demo that I got to her in, and my first several runs in the final release besides.

Killing the bunny increases your Luck, which increases loot rarity and enemy difficulty. You can see your luck in the inventory.

You didn't show off not-killing bosses; if you do, instead of getting an artifact, they heal you and then come to help intermittently in future battles.

And nothing in game really explains it, which kinda sucks. I'd have liked an instruction manual before playing is all. It is a Preference of mine. It's easy to grokk after you've played for a bit but that feels weird. Things should be at least initially easy to intuit.

Thanks! I'm pretty good at Battle Network games, and Silicy in the earlier tiers of the game is basically Protoman and I step on him for fun so I kinda Got It, with her. Later tiers are a bit... quick, though. The easiest boss is Gunner by the way if you have him as your last boss before the finale it is pretty much always a free step to Eden.

Huh. I didn't actually think killing the bunny did anything. Neat!

This is something I would have really appreciated knowing before playing. There is no real way to tell what sparing or executing a boss does until you've done it. That sort of thing is part of what led to the... unsatisfying conclusion of the Neutral path.

Qwertystop

2020-04-07, 09:24 AM

And nothing in game really explains it, which kinda sucks. I'd have liked an instruction manual before playing is all. It is a Preference of mine. It's easy to grokk after you've played for a bit but that feels weird. Things should be at least initially easy to intuit.

Thanks! I'm pretty good at Battle Network games, and Silicy in the earlier tiers of the game is basically Protoman and I step on him for fun so I kinda Got It, with her. Later tiers are a bit... quick, though. The easiest boss is Gunner by the way if you have him as your last boss before the finale it is pretty much always a free step to Eden.

Huh. I didn't actually think killing the bunny did anything. Neat!

This is something I would have really appreciated knowing before playing. There is no real way to tell what sparing or executing a boss does until you've done it. That sort of thing is part of what led to the... unsatisfying conclusion of the Neutral path.

Yeah; I asked the dev about the lack of tutorial, and they basically said they prefer the "mess around and figure things out" route. Though in the case of Flow, at least, I think it would have been clear pretty quickly if the Flow card in the starting deck had an if-cast-with-Flow effect instead of just generating Flow, so you had an immediate example. Almost every Trinity-generating card has a Trinity-cast effect, but there's a lot of Flow-generating cards without a Flow-cast.

Gunner being last is nice for an easy ending, but if you get him early and spare him you get a lot more healing in campfires – his assist is throwing you a potion. I actually prefer Violette or Shiso last, less useful assists and manageable fights. Selicy and Terra are the hardest lategame fights, for me. And Shopkeeper and Terrable, of course – still haven't beat them.

LaZodiac

2020-04-07, 10:17 AM

Yeah; I asked the dev about the lack of tutorial, and they basically said they prefer the "mess around and figure things out" route. Though in the case of Flow, at least, I think it would have been clear pretty quickly if the Flow card in the starting deck had an if-cast-with-Flow effect instead of just generating Flow, so you had an immediate example. Almost every Trinity-generating card has a Trinity-cast effect, but there's a lot of Flow-generating cards without a Flow-cast.

Gunner being last is nice for an easy ending, but if you get him early and spare him you get a lot more healing in campfires – his assist is throwing you a potion. I actually prefer Violette or Shiso last, less useful assists and manageable fights. Selicy and Terra are the hardest lategame fights, for me. And Shopkeeper and Terrable, of course – still haven't beat them.

Violette is way too quick for me at the end-game level. Shiso... maybe, I just need to have the right level of concentration to deal with it.

Have not beaten Shopkeeper, but have beaten Terrable as I said above with the whole "beating the game properly" bit. And honestly if you have Gunner last all of the really dangerous people (Selicy, Saffron, Terra) happened early on so you don't NEED the healing that much.

LaZodiac

2020-04-08, 08:35 AM

And back to Halo for further space ship adventures.

Zodi Plays: Halo [5] Keyes-stone General (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNo4bUu_XIs)

Video Length: 20:02

See cause... cause his name is GEneral Keyes, but he's the keystone so if he dies you game over and... whatever.

Point is, this episode we finish going through Peace and Reconciliation, save Keyes who throws up some pretty big traitor flags, and then escape using one of the Covenant dropships. Heck yeah. Next level opens with us on a human dropship and I'm not entirely sure why, but I guess we'll cover that when we do.

Not much else to say, it is a shooty game and we didn't encounter anything new beyond the sword boys. Hope you all enjoyed~

HalfTangible

2020-04-08, 12:16 PM

See cause... cause his name is GEneral Keyes, but he's the keystone so if he dies you game over and... whatever.

Zodi...

*ZODI*.

save Keyes who throws up some pretty big traitor flags

HalfTangible will remember that.

DataNinja

2020-04-08, 01:22 PM

In case it's not clear, teleportation is because you're playing co-op, once one player passes certain checkpoints and the second player is too far away.

There is an in-universe reason for the Grunts speaking English, but the obvious out of universe one is because they're comedy relief cannon fodder, so they can do more with that if you can understand them.

To be fair, I feel like having two of you, enabling you to attack Hunters from both sides, reduces the difficulty of them a bit. :smallwink:

Human ones have more ammo because you're generally not going to be able to pick up refills mid-mission in a lot of cases, so they want you to be able to use them more. In games like Reach, where there's a lot more human stuff and you can have ammo crates and whatnot, the weapons tend to be on the lower side of ammo (the sniper rifle normally only get 16 or 20 shots, IIRC).

The plasma pistol and plasma rifle are actually almost on the same level of damage. Ironically, the plasma rifle is considered basically worthless because of that. Because plasma pistols are everywhere, you can basically fire the pistol as fast as you can pull the trigger, and it has the overcharge. I agree with you in the fact that it's not a fun feeling gun, though. It feels weak.

It was "getting sticks [with the grenade] are really fun", as in sticking the plasma to the guys, not "getting six". Though, blowing up six Covenant with a grenade would be fun. :P

Fun fact, the remaster apparently does acknowledge there are two Spartans, which you can find on the console in the first mission listing the status of the Chief's cryo pod - it exists in an alternate timeline where
Linda-058 was not mortally injured, so she was in crypto for the same reason as the Chief, not to save her life until she could be brought to a proper med facility.

Yeah, the Halo 1 elites suffer in that their cloak doesn't cover their swords. Seems like a rather crippling design flaw. :smalltongue:

Hey! I object to the implications that having an AI in your head is an issue! It's perfectly fine, and anything else is propaganda! :smallwink:

I think the implication is you take the Covie dropship to meet up with Foehammer, but they kinda just... yadda yadda away a lot of important stuff. Like why the big ship doesn't exactly shoot you out of the sky. Oh well. I'm sure there's a good reason. :smalltongue:

LaZodiac

2020-04-08, 01:50 PM

I mean the reason is that we killed most of the staff on board.

Also, thanks for that Linda shaped Spartan piece of advice. Now we know who Em is playing as.

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-08, 02:13 PM

Ah Halo, I remember playing that in like 2002.

By the way, regarding the plasma rifle battery, I'm pretty sure it depletes faster if you fire it on sustained full auto. If you fire short, controlled bursts, with gaps to allow it to cool down in between, the battery lasts basically forever.

DataNinja

2020-04-08, 09:41 PM

I mean the reason is that we killed most of the staff on board.

Also, thanks for that Linda shaped Spartan piece of advice. Now we know who Em is playing as.

Ah, yeah, that's fair. :smalltongue:

And no problem, I only learned it recently myself, thought it was cool that they actually integrated it lore-wise.

Ah Halo, I remember playing that in like 2002.

By the way, regarding the plasma rifle battery, I'm pretty sure it depletes faster if you fire it on sustained full auto. If you fire short, controlled bursts, with gaps to allow it to cool down in between, the battery lasts basically forever.

I don't believe that it affects the battery itself (I could be wrong, though), but definitely if you don't let it overheat, you get far faster shots. Cooling off before it overheats will lose you less time than a full overheat.

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-09, 02:24 AM

Well, the wiki doesn't say anything about the battery drain rate changing, so I don't know how I got that idea. It does say that accuracy decreases the longer you hold down the trigger though, which I suppose has the same effect - if you're wasting shots because they're not hitting the target, your battery won't go as far.

DataNinja

2020-04-09, 03:48 AM

Maybe the plasma pistol bleeding through, where it loses some charge while you hold the overcharge? Or possibly from Reach's Plasma Repeater, which has a lessening fire if you don't stop to let it cool?

LaZodiac

2020-04-10, 06:57 AM

Oh hey it's Friday. Another Ronin, perhaps?

Zodi Plays: Ronin [3] Doctor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9x0LTW0IrU)

Video Length: 27:26

Our next target is the Doctor, the man who made all our wonderful toys. In this episode we have the introduction to the last unit in the game; civilians! Both male and female, though they have no difference beyond appearance. They are probably the element of the game that most encourages you to actually do stealth. If they see us, or if they see sign of something bad happening, they will call in a lockdown like regular enemies... and in order to get the skill point for each stage you have to avoid a lockdown AND avoid killing any civilians. There is NO way to stop them from making a lockdown call, because stunning is always temporary. As such for our purposes being seen is akin to death.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot for me to say about the episode. We pick up Sword Return and Decoy during this episode, and we also get introduced to security lasers that will kill on contact. We also show off how the Shadow Strike really continues to be one of the best skills, and how Sword Throw, while very cool, has some issues when it comes to aiming. Also, the confrontation against the Doctor is real good, though I wish I had played it a little better.

And that's it for today's episode. Hope you all enjoyed! Next time, we take down the penultimate enemy. Take care.

Qwertystop

2020-04-10, 12:11 PM

It's nice how the sword-recall isn't "teleport sword to you" but "sword flies towards you, killing just like another throw".

LaZodiac

2020-04-10, 12:19 PM

It's nice how the sword-recall isn't "teleport sword to you" but "sword flies towards you, killing just like another throw".

Depending on how much you like that, next episode is going to be real cool or real dumb.

DataNinja

2020-04-10, 01:40 PM

I remember civilians coming up once before, but, yeah, they're definitely out in force here.

Stylish sword recall.

Pretty sure the scientist lady couldn't see the blood even in the light because she had a door in the way, not a window.

LaZodiac

2020-04-10, 01:42 PM

DataNinja

2020-04-10, 03:10 PM

I have been told we have. Oops.

... right, door.

To be fair, better safe than sorry. Both in the explaining of mechanics, and also the killing of people. :smallwink:

LaZodiac

2020-04-13, 07:34 AM

Time to get a little... sneaky.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [4] Officer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKU_IxmHfIU)

Video Length: 29:08

In this video, we begin our hunt for the next target of our revenge, the Officer. An assassin and combat leader of our enemy, he'll be rather tough to take down. He obviously knows we're coming since we are coming for him during a job. And given the layout of his eventual boss arena... he's prepared for every eventuality. Unfortunately for him, and potentially unfortunately for you viewers, I have a strategy that is entirely legit as long as you accept that the game is programmed in a kinda jank way, which I will discuss in a moment.

Other things to note is that this set of levels introduces Land Minds, AOE death fields that trigger once you touch the ground near them. They're used to some effect, but given they are pretty tricky to deal with they aren't used as much as you'd expect. We also get our first (of two) instances of a Neurotoxin room, which counts down from ten seconds until the release of a deadly neurotoxin that is supposed to kill everything in the room, as retalation for you hacking a computer. It uh... doesn't see to work, and since this video is the first time I've ever been in the room when it triggered I'm not sure what gives.

Now... let us discuss the elephant in the room. The way I took down the Officer. The way the game function is that as long as you are not seen, you are not put into combat mode. As long as you are not in combat mode, you can pause at any time so you can fine-tune your actions. Theoretically if you had enough reflexes you could do a lot of crazy things without pausing. As it stands though, there is some advantages this free pause mechanic gives you. Mainly, it allows you the time to use your momentum in ways that are... PROBABLY unintended, given Shuriken Barrage is not accessible unless you're in combat, but, well, if Blade Throw wasn't supposed to be usable like this they did not program it correctly to prevent the use of it.

As a result, due to the fact that killing gives two blips of momentum, and catching gives three, it is, in some specific situations- primarily the fight with the Officer- it is possible to do a dance of unbelievable death from a relatively safe place, throwing out your sword and having it return to you for more long range death. Sure, alarms will be raised, but from the place I stand for the majority of that fight, you can in fact hit every single person involved in the encounter. It is such a weird thing since it FEELS set up on purpose, but at the same time really really does not.

If you are unsatisfied with this, I will go back and clear it properly in the sorta bonus/unbonus video I intend to make that shows off some of the cooler things you can do in this game that I've discovered while playing but haven't been able to pull off (so exactly one thing) and New Game Plus mode.

All that being said i hope you did enjoy, and I'll see you all next time for uh... the final target. Take care everybody.

DataNinja

2020-04-13, 01:29 PM

These levels are definitely getting more complex.

"Good news: I figured out what that computer you just turned off did. It was a morality program they installed after I flooded the facility with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the facility with a deadly neurotoxin."

Certainly an... unconventional tactic. :smalltongue:
I feel like it would probably be more satisfying to have it wrapped up in a show of your skills, rather than simply how much you can push the sword throw button, but it's also still a cool visual.

LaZodiac

2020-04-14, 07:37 AM

Oh hey another A Taste Of.

A Taste Of: Dragon Marked For Death (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWCE1ZMQZmk)

Video Length: 23:52

Dragon Marked For Death is an action RPG of sorts made by Inti Creates, who are responsible for some of my favorite action games of all time. The art style is excellent and the gameplay is... fairly good, though having played it more after this video I can say definitively that it gets a touch too hard and really wants you to be playing with friends. All four of the classes seem very unique and varied, with the only big issue I've run into is that there is no real easy way to run after getting into an attack string. Even the cool combo with the Dragon Sword I show off here has some lag to it, and a lot of the characters have something along those lines that can make it hard to avoid damage.

That being said this is super stylish and REALLY cool, so I'd highly recommend it. It may be an acquired taste gameplay wise, but I think everyone should at least give it a shot.

Iruka

2020-04-14, 08:50 AM

Time to get a little... sneaky.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [4] Officer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKU_IxmHfIU)

Video Length: 29:08

[...]

Other things to note is that this set of levels introduces Land Minds, AOE death fields that trigger once you touch the ground near them. They're used to some effect, but given they are pretty tricky to deal with they aren't used as much as you'd expect.

The mines are great for kicking people into them. That is also a good way to solve the situation in the beginning with the soldier guys between the mines.

We also get our first (of two) instances of a Neurotoxin room, which counts down from ten seconds until the release of a deadly neurotoxin that is supposed to kill everything in the room, as retalation for you hacking a computer. It uh... doesn't see to work, and since this video is the first time I've ever been in the room when it triggered I'm not sure what gives.

The neurotoxin takes a moment to take effect. (Realism or or sloppy programming? You decide ...) It does kill the guards (and the Ronin) and they count towards "Kill everyone". Still could have just bugged out in your case, of course.

What happened with that one guy in the Neurotoxin Room is that you kicked him into the Samurai. Their killer instincts apparently make them slice everything flying at them. An interaction I only discovered in my current play-along, which can also be used to good effect in the assassination of the Officer.
That is one of the things I love about this game. Despite being relatively simple in its basic mechanics, there are a lot of little tricks to discover. For example the chaining of Shadow Strike/Sword Throw or some of your sweet grapplehook moves.

Now... let us discuss the elephant in the room. The way I took down the Officer. The way the game function is that as long as you are not seen, you are not put into combat mode. As long as you are not in combat mode, you can pause at any time so you can fine-tune your actions. Theoretically if you had enough reflexes you could do a lot of crazy things without pausing. As it stands though, there is some advantages this free pause mechanic gives you. Mainly, it allows you the time to use your momentum in ways that are... PROBABLY unintended, given Shuriken Barrage is not accessible unless you're in combat, but, well, if Blade Throw wasn't supposed to be usable like this they did not program it correctly to prevent the use of it.

As a result, due to the fact that killing gives two blips of momentum, and catching gives three, it is, in some specific situations- primarily the fight with the Officer- it is possible to do a dance of unbelievable death from a relatively safe place, throwing out your sword and having it return to you for more long range death. Sure, alarms will be raised, but from the place I stand for the majority of that fight, you can in fact hit every single person involved in the encounter. It is such a weird thing since it FEELS set up on purpose, but at the same time really really does not.

If you are unsatisfied with this, I will go back and clear it properly in the sorta bonus/unbonus video I intend to make that shows off some of the cooler things you can do in this game that I've discovered while playing but haven't been able to pull off (so exactly one thing) and New Game Plus mode.

All that being said i hope you did enjoy, and I'll see you all next time for uh... the final target. Take care everybody.

Eh, seems a little exploity but it was also an incredibly smooth action sequence. I had a lot of fun watching. My approach is to kill first as many guards as possible in the surrounding buildings, then move to the middle and abusing the pause button while stabbing as many as possible before being discovered or the lockdown timer running out.

I noticed I am much more a sneak-around-and-strangle-people-person than you. :smallbiggrin:

I always assumed the guy in the middle was a butler. Looks kinda butlery to me. Despite the fact that having the butler central in our family/associates photo does not make a lot of sense. But I also thought the Samurai were robots for a very long time despite that even making less sense ...

DataNinja

2020-04-14, 01:25 PM

LaZodiac

2020-04-14, 02:49 PM

Oh, neat little character select creation customization. Not too overt, but enough to make things a bit your own.

Man, I am getting very much a Cygnar (https://cdn.escapistmagazine.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/944/944546.jpg) vibe from these people.

Looks like a neat game.

Yeah, the baddies in this game feel very much like the Cygnar. Blue and Gold magi-tech will do that to a person.

The mines are great for kicking people into them. That is also a good way to solve the situation in the beginning with the soldier guys between the mines.

The neurotoxin takes a moment to take effect. (Realism or or sloppy programming? You decide ...) It does kill the guards (and the Ronin) and they count towards "Kill everyone". Still could have just bugged out in your case, of course.

What happened with that one guy in the Neurotoxin Room is that you kicked him into the Samurai. Their killer instincts apparently make them slice everything flying at them. An interaction I only discovered in my current play-along, which can also be used to good effect in the assassination of the Officer.
That is one of the things I love about this game. Despite being relatively simple in its basic mechanics, there are a lot of little tricks to discover. For example the chaining of Shadow Strike/Sword Throw or some of your sweet grapplehook moves.

Eh, seems a little exploity but it was also an incredibly smooth action sequence. I had a lot of fun watching. My approach is to kill first as many guards as possible in the surrounding buildings, then move to the middle and abusing the pause button while stabbing as many as possible before being discovered or the lockdown timer running out.

I noticed I am much more a sneak-around-and-strangle-people-person than you. :smallbiggrin:

I always assumed the guy in the middle was a butler. Looks kinda butlery to me. Despite the fact that having the butler central in our family/associates photo does not make a lot of sense. But I also thought the Samurai were robots for a very long time despite that even making less sense ...

Aha, the toxin takes awhile to kick in. That makes sense. Still feels like it took too long though. And good to hear that enemy samurai can and will kill their friends, I'll keep that in mind...

I love stringing my enemies up with the stealth kill, there are just less places to do it in a regular game. In new game plus I've turned a lot of these guards into party streamers.

DataNinja

2020-04-14, 04:24 PM

Yeah, the baddies in this game feel very much like the Cygnar. Blue and Gold magi-tech will do that to a person.
Also the royal, knightly aesthetic. If it were all blue and gold skulls and spikes, wouldn't remind me as much. :smallwink:

LaZodiac

2020-04-15, 08:21 AM

I think a Halo video would suit today just fine.

Zodi Plays: Halo [6] Beach Episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRnlGEM9C_g)

Video Length: 33:06

No real good way to cut this one into two episodes so there you go, full experience of me and Em shooting through the Silent Cartographer... which makes no real sense as a level name since I don't think we meet anyone or anything that you would call a map maker, but so it goes. We also, at least partly, learn that not all levels are created equal. This one has a severe sign-posting problem, given how much I did actually cut of us being lost. Then that bit with the cutscene, and the gold Elite...

Also of note this episode; Em talks a bit about how Halo 1 through 3 has a very good three act structure to it, and how each game has a good 3 act structure itself. We've introduced the world and all its foibles (Covenant exist, UNSC exst, Halo exists) and are now laying the ground work for how those things will all be used in the next chunk of the game. Its cool.

All in all a fun time though. Hope you all enjoyed! I'll see you al next time for... a less than enjoyable level, I think.

DataNinja

2020-04-15, 01:59 PM

Yeah, the multiple Halo things isn't supposed to be known yet. This is meant to be thought of as a one-of-a-kind ringworld, and the revalation that more exist is meant to be... well, a revelation. Which is a problem with the terminals, because they just casually spout out stuff like that because you're supposed to have known that.

Hunters are one of those things that have gotten a lot harder with every subsequent iteration of Halo. I really like them, and their lore, but since detailing it involves stuff we've not seen in-game yet, I think a delve into Lekgolo history and worldbuilding probably needs to wait until Halo 2.

The Pistol in Halo 1 was stupid overpowered. It got scaled back a lot in 2 and 3, but returned to some of its former glory (though not quite as much damage or magazine size) in Reach.

They definitely get a lot better about backtracking and signposting later in the series, but there are still sometimes a few issues with it. Halo Reach has one mission that comes to mind that can be a bit frustrating at times. But... they definitely eliminate most of the backtracking from the series.

Yeah, there's a lot of figurative and flowery language in everything alien in the Halo series. The Truth and Reconciliation. The Silent Cartographer. Well, it bounces back between that and obvious names. Grunts, Elites, Hunters (okay, a little more figuratively named because they "hunt" UNSC vehicles, which are all named after animals), all that good stuff.

Oh boy. I've heard of the reputation of the next level, if it's the one I think it is...

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-15, 02:37 PM

DataNinja

2020-04-15, 04:11 PM

I do love the Covenant ship names. They certainly don't hold back!

Clarity of Faith
Resplendent Fervour
Shadow of Intent
Solemn Penance
Seeker of Truth
Long Night of Solace
Sublime Transcendence
Lawgiver
Ascendant Justice
Splendid Intention
Incorruptible
Harbinger of Piety
Indulgence of Conviction
Pious Inquisitor
Purity of Spirit
Sacred Promise
Triumphant Declaration
Truth and Reconciliation
Undiminished Entelechy
Unrelenting
Infinite Sacrifice
Rapid Conversion
Bloodied Spirit
Esteem
Reverence
Proclamation's Tithe
Absolution
Far Sight Lost
Rapturous Arc
Retribution's Thunder
Contrition
Penance
Tenebrous
Twilight Compunction
Revenant
Ardent Prayer
Mayhem
Infinite Succour
Brilliant Gift
Glorious Advance
A Psalm Every Day
Commitment and Patience
Devotion
Infinite Spoils
Minor Transgression
Pitiless
Seeker of Truth
Valourous Salvation
It all makes a lot more sense to why they're names why they're named once one learns the whole fact that the Covenant is blindly, fanatically religious, and this is just a holy war to wipe out the unclean heretics. Except Actually not, and it's a false cleansing to wipe out the fact that humans undercut every aspect of their beliefs, by being the prophesised "Reclaimers" of the Forerunner mantle.

HalfTangible

2020-04-15, 09:09 PM

It all makes a lot more sense to why they're names why they're named once one learns the whole fact that the Covenant is blindly, fanatically religious, and this is just a holy war to wipe out the unclean heretics. Except Actually not, and it's a false cleansing to wipe out the fact that humans undercut every aspect of their beliefs, by being the prophesised "Reclaimers" of the Forerunner mantle.

Yes but also no, not exactly.

In actual fact the existence of humanity as "Reclaimers" doesn't contradict Covenant religious philosophy at all, or at least not to the extent believed. The Shan-Shyuum that later became the three prophets you see in Halo 2 discovered that humanity were Reclaimers, but they took this to mean that humans were Forerunners left behind when the Great Journey was first taken (a notion that runs entirely counter to the idea that the Forerunners as a whole ascended into godhood). In actual fact humanity were never Forerunners, they were once an interstellar empire. Some humans were kept safe on either the Ark or one of the rings (not sure on that) and the Forerunners chose them to reclaim the galaxy once the Flood had finished starving to death.

DataNinja

2020-04-15, 09:50 PM

Yes but also no, not exactly.

In actual fact the existence of humanity as "Reclaimers" doesn't contradict Covenant religious philosophy at all, or at least not to the extent believed. The Shan-Shyuum that later became the three prophets you see in Halo 2 discovered that humanity were Reclaimers, but they took this to mean that humans were Forerunners left behind when the Great Journey was first taken (a notion that runs entirely counter to the idea that the Forerunners as a whole ascended into godhood). In actual fact humanity were never Forerunners, they were once an interstellar empire. Some humans were kept safe on either the Ark or one of the rings (not sure on that) and the Forerunners chose them to reclaim the galaxy once the Flood had finished starving to death.
Yes, I know that what actually happened historically vs. what is believed in the current day does not mesh up. But the belief that it would shatter the Covenant as was established was what was the point was. The fact that they were wrong about what Reclaimer meant doesn't actually change the things that happened - though it would probably change things if the history was known - and I was not wanting to get into the very-spoilery True Historical Cosmic Importance backstory, because, frankly, I feel that getting into all of that is unnecessary and in fact takes away from the pre-Halo 4 story. (And I honestly don't really like what was done with the Halo-4 and beyond story either, but that's another conversation altogether - needless to say, it's not a good light for a lot of the 'heroes'.)

A fight for humanity's survival becomes... less of a matter, I feel, once you know that they were the chosen ones of the ancients, and fought the good fight against them back then. Like, it's obvious that there's something special about humanity throughout the series. There's no doubt about that. But the more explicit the Chosen-ness is made, I feel the worse the overarching theme is. Because the story pre-4 isn't about the reclamation of heritage. The humans take advantage of the peculiar-ness of being able to do stuff with Forerunner stuff, but it's still an overarching cosmic mystery. I feel that not knowing the stuff actively makes the story better.

LaZodiac

2020-04-17, 09:54 AM

Definitely almost forgot due to being laid off and time meaning nothing anymore.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [5] [FINALE] Boss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7xxZpc4JR0)

Video Length: 29:57

While this may be the final main update, there is going to be shot bonus video Monday as well. Just a heads up.

Here we are, the final challenge. The last three levels aren't the hardest in the world, but they are a culmination of the entire game. Mixtures of samurai, soldier, security and civilian. Stealthy navigation and deadly pitched combat. By this point if you've been doing things right you've gotten every upgrade but one, so you're fully kitted out. All you can do is go forward.

The final level, the confrontation against the Boss, is a pretty challenging one. Hardly any good routes for stealth, with that kill zone in between three rooms of guys being the mountain you need to get past. Now, I mentioned there are no lock downs in this stage, and that is true... but there is another feature of it that really makes this level shine. If you get shot... you do not die. You instead get a death timer, counting down from 9 seconds. Every bullet you take removes a second, and every person you kill refills your timer. Make it to the end and kill the Boss, no matter the cost.

Now... didn't exactly show that off in this video, and even in Monday's bonus video I kinda just... didn't actually get shot till the end because oops I might be too good at the game and don't know how to fake it. But rest assured, it is really dang cool. As is this run, if I'm being honest.

And yeah. That's Ronin. Not the longest game in the world, but very tight and very fun. I enjoyed it a lot, and enjoyed bringing it all to you, my good good friends. I hope you all enjoyed. After Monday's bonus video, it is time for Custom Robo. Take care.

DataNinja

2020-04-17, 02:56 PM

That was a fun little game, yeah. I did chuckle a bit at you picking up your hologram decoys even when you had unlimited. Never really used the ability to warp between them, I noticed.

That's a cool touch with the timeout in the final level, even if we didn't get to see it.

Also, so much for not expecting to do one segment of the game per video. :smallwink:

LaZodiac

2020-04-20, 07:11 AM

Okay, let's bring this one home.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [#B] Aim To Kill (https://youtu.be/CXvmlX0jQL0)

Video Length: 8:57

Did I make this partly just to play the final level again and have you watch me do a rather well executed run of it? Maybe. Am I just kinda too dumb to show off the death mechanic while still winning and ended up having to do what I did in order to show it all? Probably. Did I kick a man into my sword as it returned to me? No that was last time, but I still think this one had some cool moves in it.

That aside, I also show off new game plus, which has the following features; the grapple is maybe a little longer (it is unclear but I'm pretty sure it is), we have access to all of our abilities, lockdowns are now instant game over which is a LOT to deal with, and most importantly of all... the soldiers wth assault rifles can adjust their aim while firing. That final change makes New Game Plus aggressively hard!

And with that... we draw it to a close. This bloody tale of revenge was quite enjoyable, but now it is finished. Next time (A Taste Of's and B-Side Halo aside) we tackle Custom Robo. Hope you all enjoyed, see you next time. Take care!

DataNinja

2020-04-20, 12:57 PM

Whooof, yeah, I can see that tiny little trajectory change thing as playing havoc with muscle memory and instinctual calculations, geez.

Lord Raziere

2020-04-21, 12:43 AM

LaZodiac

2020-04-21, 08:24 AM

So this guy came up with all the gadgets? Hm, okay, but doesn't say what for, its clearly some cyberpunk immoral nonsense, but I haven't seen anything that indicates what.

well deadly neurotoxin is a gas. so. it takes time to fill up. it only makes sense. I imagine if you stayed longer, you would die.

"but for him, no one was worth saving" a great tagline for a villain if I ever heard one.

aw yeah, return sword kill, the best kind of thrown sword kill. jedi as all get out.

"and everyone else....especially the haters :D" that is....is the credits of people who drink the tears of pain.

eh, personally I wish I actually knew more about why Ronin was so mad about that they were willing to kill them all. like what actually happened to kill their father, what they were all working on together, I know her fathers dead and thats an understandable motivation but I'm a story kind of person who likes flesh on those story bones.

Oh I 100% agree. I would love to have a game like this but with a bit more involved story. I also kinda like this aesthetic more than Mark of the Ninja's (I just like modern fantasy things that edge more towards modern, personally) so it'd be cool to have a more advanced version of this game that delves more into the world and story. Ah well, at least you enjoyed it.

Now for today; a new A Taste Of, of a... fascinating little game called Conscripted Rider Tank Fight. Hope you enjoy!

A Taste Of: Panzer Dragoon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3XpOF9p7QI)

Video Length: 17:37

What can I possibly say about Panzer Dragoon that isn't made evident by watching it? It is floaty and swooshy, and genuienly feels like you're only half in control and that Solo Wing over here is the one really in charge. It reminds me a lot of your horse in Shadow of the Colossus, a grumpy little bastard that isn't always going to follow your orders exactly, giving it a touch of realism that I actually quite like. In this case it makes it really feel like you are just strapped onto this dragon's body and holding on for dear life, shooting your laser pistol at things to desperately prevent yourself from dying, all the while the dragon is charging up laser blasts that eradicate entire battleships with ease.

Panzer Dragoon is a game with near zero story, presented in the most obtuse way it possibly could, and I still really love it. It tastes like absolutely nonsense, but MY type of nonsense. That boss we fight at the end becomes a basic enemy in two stages. It's just absurd. The full 3D aiming makes for some pretty tricky, brain bending action as well, though there's clearly way more potential than what they made use of. I'm excited for when Zwei gets its remake, and hope it does well enough to get Saga and Orta remade as well because I am 100% in.

DataNinja

2020-04-21, 10:38 AM

Huh. I'd heard of Panzer Dragoon before, and knew vaguely the kind of game it was... but this is definitely different than I expected overall. Certainly something unique. Very interesting, but, yeah, does look classic-games-hard. :smalltongue:

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-21, 12:43 PM

Man, reminds me of Lylat Wars. It's even got that late-90s visual style... :smalltongue:

LaZodiac

2020-04-21, 12:45 PM

Man, reminds me of Lylat Wars. It's even got that late-90s visual style... :smalltongue:

Holy **** I've never actually met a person who knew Star Fox and called it by the UK name. That's amazing.

Also yeah they both have a very good late 90s style to them that I honestly kinda love. It's a good sort of nostalgic aesthetic.

LaZodiac

2020-04-22, 07:56 AM

Oh hey, time for more Halo.

Zodi Plays: Halo [7] My Tank Is Fight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3DKcy3Feu0)

Video Length: 24:38

Prepare for a long one folks. While this episode itself is the standard length... this next level lasts three entire videos worth of time. It is PRETTY long, and while the vehicle play is interesting it also has some flaws. The fact that the tank provides you literally zero protection is infuriating, and the Wraiths are very floaty, fairly hard to control, and worst of all it is almost impossible to actually run over enemies with it like they run over you. It's kind of egregious.

That aside there isn't really much TO talk about in this episode. We get vehicles and we do things. We die a couple of times because we set the difficulty up to Heroic to see how it goes, and overall I think it was okay? Who knows. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed. Take care!

DataNinja

2020-04-22, 12:16 PM

Magnum in Halo 1 is... stupid, stupid good.

Vehicles in Halo 1... don't provide any protection, yeah, it's a... thing. They don't get blown up (well, friendly stuff doesn't), the stuff that hits you just does it until you die. There are some design decisions that are... jank. They should have a sequel to fix all those problems.
But, yeah. Hunters are death in vehicles because, well... it's an anti-armour round hitting your squishy body. :smalltongue:

Ghosts are janky physics, yeah. Even more than everything else in the game. Nudge and die.:smallamused:
One thing to note is that they do have a weak spot - I dunno if it was implemented in Halo 1, but if you fire at the energy cell/turbine-looking thing that's on the left side of the ghost, by the foot of the river, it takes massive damage. Only if you're a good shot, though.

They probably don't teleport the tank as a safeguard to stop you from teleporting the tank into an area that doesn't fit tank. :smalltongue:

Ninja_Prawn

2020-04-22, 02:19 PM

I dunno if it was implemented in Halo 1, but if you fire at the energy cell/turbine-looking thing...

According to the wiki, that was implemented in Halo 2, absent from 3 and ODST, then reimplemented in Reach and all subsequent games. The speed boost was also introduced in Halo 2, unfortunately for Zodi. It's much easier to run people over using the boost, because they don't have time to dive out of the way.

DataNinja

2020-04-22, 03:20 PM

According to the wiki, that was implemented in Halo 2, absent from 3 and ODST, then reimplemented in Reach and all subsequent games. The speed boost was also introduced in Halo 2, unfortunately for Zodi. It's much easier to run people over using the boost, because they don't have time to dive out of the way.

Ah, Halo - how haphazard is thy implementation of things? :smalltongue:
(There are other examples of stuff that got changed for only a game or two.)

LaZodiac

2020-04-23, 08:09 AM

Hey-o! Since it is plague time and I've had a lot more time to do this stuff, I've decided to make Tuesdays AND Thursdays be Tasty! So today, we get another A Taste Of!

A Taste Of: Echo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwCPZ-wMla4)

Video Length: 1:03:06

Now... I know what you're thinking. "Zodi this is a ****ing hour long this is not a taste this is a meal" and... you are right. This is the consequence of doing this for games I'm blind too, sometimes oops maybe I should have restructured how I did this. But by that same merit, this game is honestly worth the hour long video. It has a lot of fun character dialogue that sets the world, explains some of its higher concepts without being overtly blunt, and it is honestly great characterization between the hero (En) and her erstwhile AI companion (London).

It is also, given the nature of this game and in my humble opinion, EXTREMELY good build up for the semi-horror game premise of "all of your enemies are you, and they learn from the actions you perform", which is at the core of this game's concept and the actual reason I wanted to play this game in the first place. The idea of a third person shooter where your every action makes the enemy learn a little better how to play like you is honestly rather horrifying. You can see even in the short time I actually play the game, some of those echoes are starting to learn how to draw their gun... which means soon they'll be SHOOTING me. Really makes you reconsider violence as an option.

So yeah. Echo. I hope you enjoyed, I quite like it but I can totally see all of you bouncing off this. Ah well. Take care!

DataNinja

2020-04-23, 01:29 PM

Definitely a visually striking game so far. Even if we're just looking at... a white dwarf or whatever. :smalltongue:

Oh, Ice.

You know what this is all reminding me of? The beginning of Gravity Rush 2, when you did the Taste Of that awhile back.

That's an... interesting concept. Evolution of foes. A difficult thing to get right.

LaZodiac

2020-04-23, 01:44 PM

Yeah, agreed on that DataNinja. Like I said the uh... issue of doing blind tasters of games is that sometimes you don't actually get much of a good taste OF the game, since OOPS almost all intro.

Also god that reminds me I should play more Gravity Rush 2...

DataNinja

2020-04-23, 02:03 PM

LaZodiac

2020-04-24, 08:50 AM

It's time for the next LP!

Custom Robo is here! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?610955-Zodi-Plays-Custom-Robo-(Redesign-Your-Robo-We-Know-What-We-re-Doing)&p=24469343#post24469343)

Iruka

2020-04-28, 11:52 AM

Oh boy, I really fell behind with watching ... (and playing)

Definitely almost forgot due to being laid off and time meaning nothing anymore.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [5] [FINALE] Boss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7xxZpc4JR0)

Video Length: 29:57

Okay, let's bring this one home.

Zodi Plays: Ronin [#B] Aim To Kill (https://youtu.be/CXvmlX0jQL0)

Video Length: 8:57

The death mechanic on the final level is so cool and feels very thematically approbriate.

The tracking soldiers are indeed a new level of challenge. Currently stuck on the Wisegal level.
I also want to apologise for doubting your strangling ways. I should have remembered your excited shouts of "Strangle!" from Dishonored. :smalltongue:

Thanks for playing that game! It was a lot of fun to watch.

One final thing: I just discovered that you can clip pretty reliably through walls by grappling at them at a 90° angle. Definitely an exploit that breaks level structure and sometime you fall off the map but it gives a deliciouly ninja-y feeling.

Ok, one more thing: This game and Katana Zero got me into electronic music. All claims that you cannot appriciate new music when you are old are BS. :smalltongue:

LaZodiac

2020-04-28, 12:16 PM

Oh boy, I really fell behind with watching ... (and playing)

The death mechanic on the final level is so cool and feels very thematically approbriate.

The tracking soldiers are indeed a new level of challenge. Currently stuck on the Wisegal level.
I also want to apologise for doubting your strangling ways. I should have remembered your excited shouts of "Strangle!" from Dishonored. :smalltongue:

Thanks for playing that game! It was a lot of fun to watch.

One final thing: I just discovered that you can clip pretty reliably through walls by grappling at them at a 90° angle. Definitely an exploit that breaks level structure and sometime you fall off the map but it gives a deliciouly ninja-y feeling.

Ok, one more thing: This game and Katana Zero got me into electronic music. All claims that you cannot appriciate new music when you are old are BS. :smalltongue:

That's wonderful to hear! EDM is... something I actually really like, so I'm glad cool ninja samurai games let even the older folk learn to appreciate good taste.

Good luck on Wisegall. It's probably the hardest bump in New Game Plus.

also feel free to post comments like this that happen post thread in the new one. I don't mind.