site's back, time to party niko-dance

    • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
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      edit-2
      2 months ago

      for sure. I'm not even much of a mechanically gifted gamer or whatever, but sometimes that kind of stuff does click for me. like I blunder through dark souls with a STR build constantly trading hits with bosses. but playing Celeste and also Sekiro just put my brain in some kind of mode where the raw mechanical challenge was so incredibly satisfying to overcome. it's only a sometimes thing for me but when it hits it's so good. I think it's because at a certain point of practice/flow state or whatever you're basically playing a rhythm game.

      • ashinadash [she/her]
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        edit-2
        2 months ago

        I'm a FromSoft enjoyer too, but my reference for "hard game is good" is like Castlevania Bloodlines so Idrk what is wrong with me. I guess it's just the long long stretches, the hard games I like are all neatly segmented I guess.

        Base game Celeste is a nice, even comfortable challenge...

        • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
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          edit-2
          2 months ago

          I feel like basically every soulsish title barring Sekiro can essentially be overcome by other means than just mechanical prowess, that's what's so good about them. I hate that they have the reputation they do cause they are actually way more approachable than people think. Sekiro though, and the Celeste post-game, can fairly be described as slogs that demand a certain level of mechanical prowess. Normally that's less my thing like I said and I prefer the more open-ended, make-your-own-difficulty setup of the souls games. "Comfortable challenges" like you said, are normally more my jam. I'm far more likely to replay dark souls than Sekiro or Celeste. But occasionally I just get in a masochistic mindset i guess lol and that stuff really clicks for me. I think it can work as a kind of cope for sad brain stuff in a way, I find the distraction provided by committing to those mechanical challenges very all-encompassing which can be comforting in itself.

          • ashinadash [she/her]
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            2 months ago

            Maybe that's why Sekiro kinda stonewalled me... I was gettin through it but I was also like Man, this is harder than Metal Gear Rising or Bayonetta, lol.

            I have uncritical support for this occasional masochistic urge 07 and a distraction/coping mechanism sounds very thematically fitting for Celeste.

            • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
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              2 months ago

              yeah, it's not like a Big Thing for me like i'm not constantly seeking out punishing platformers and stuff... but now and again a mechanically punishing game will just grab and hold my attention. It's a weird mindset i get in from time to time i guess lol. Yeah sekiro is very different to the other titles in that mechanical skill/reactions is definitely more of a core thing that's needed to beat (most of) the bosses. Some can still be cheesed in certain ways (and you better believe I used those cheeses when they were available), but it's definitely difficult in a more specific, closed-off, rigid way than its sibling games. understandable that it's not for everyone. and it's the only from game i haven't gone back to replay, hehe. but i did get a lot out of it when i was in that sicko mindset.

              • ashinadash [she/her]
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                2 months ago

                I like Sekiro and I am gonna go back to it, sometime. One of the issues I have is I've got a PS4 copy, and FromSoft games have the worst fucking framepacing, which makes parry timing at 30fps really tough. I gotta get on PC and go sicko mode sicko-yes

                • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
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                  edit-2
                  2 months ago

                  yeah i found ds3 really challenging on ps4, imagine sekiro is even worse. i recommend you do give it another shot on PC sometime! i definitely bounced off it a couple of times before it clicked for me, i was way too souls-brained going in. i think i even had a patcher installed to run it at 144fps lol sicko-yes