Topic: Shocktober VI: Curse of NWR

[Luigi Dude]

I managed to get 2 more games that fit the season done by the end of October.


Blasphemous 2

I played the original game 3 years ago for Shocktober and my thoughts for that game are on that years tread.

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=69115.25


So like I said back then, I really liked the first game but it had some issues that annoyed me, which is why I was really excited for a sequel that would hopefully improve them.  Well for the most part, I'd say this sequel did just that and delivered something closer to what I was hoping for.

Now the first game made a stronger first impression, with the level design in the early area's having better challenge while the 2nd game starts out easier, I'd imagine to be more player friendly then the first game was.  But unlike the first game, which peaked in its first half and the second half felt kind of tacked on, this game actually keeps building up and gets better and better throughout. 

It's helps that this game actually gives you abilities that change the way you can play.  You gain a Double Jump around the half way point, and then receive and Air Dash after that.  This allows the devs to create more platforming challenges in the second half to help spice things up, as well as the bosses in the second half being designed with players having these abilities which make them feel like a nice step up over the bosses in the first half.  I like having a nice progressive difficulty in 2D action games where they keep building things up, unlike the first game that because very inconsistent in that regard.

Oh and like the first game, if you want the True Ending you'll need to do DLC content and basically use a guide as well.  It's not as obtuse as the first game, but still pretty annoying.  One of the requirements is needed 4 different wooden statues, and one of them requires you finding all 33 Cherubs.  Now most of these Cherubs are pretty easy to see as you explore the map but some of them can easily be missed if not paying attention, and with how big this worlds map is, if you end up with about 31 by the time your at the end game, having to go back and find the last 2 was supper annoying.  Even using a guide took me about 2 hours since I basically had to go to every area of the map to retrace all my steps. 

This is why it's so annoying hardly any Metroidvania's do what Metroid has been doing since Fusion where after you first beat the game, they'll tell you how much of each item is missing in each area, so when you go back for 100%, you don't end up wasting your time in sections of the game that you've already found everything in.  This is why actual Metroid games are still the best of this genre since they actually make it fun to look for 100% items, while so many of the games that are inspired by it still make going for 100% so tedious and boring by the end because they refuse to implement something actual Metroid games did over 20 years ago to solve this exact problem.

But other than the intro being not as interesting as the first and the final fews hours becoming a boring slog to get the True Ending, the rest of the game was great and what I was hoping for in the sequel.


Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

This is a top down Souls-like game that only took around 10 hours to beat.  I don't really have much to say about the game other then it was OK for what it was.  It's got all the usual Souls troupes, grim dark world, stamina meter, dodge roll etc.  It's actually pretty easy for a Souls-like.  Most of the enemies can be easily avoided and you get weapons that give you such a wide range of attack that as long as you don't get overwhelm by a large group, it's pretty easy to handle what going on.  The game also doesn't make you loose anything when you die so you never have to do any corpse runs, which makes it very forgiving for a Souls-like as well. 

The second half of the game does start adding enemies that bump up the challenge and make you play more carefully but it's still nowhere near the challenge of other Souls-likes I've played.  The bosses are pretty good though, and the only reason I feel the game is actually OK.  I mean they're not the best thing in the world, especially when compared to better Souls-likes but still pretty fun for the most part.  Some of them were a decent challenge and took a few tries to beat so they made the overall experience a nice way to end the month of October.

I'd only recommend this game for people who're fan of Souls-like and are looking for a more bite sized experience they can complete in a few days.  If you see it on sale for super cheap you might find it worth a playthrough.

[broodwars]

On the subject of Blasphemous, the creators of that series made the recent Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, which is excellent. I highly recommend it.

Nothing really to add for this last month in terms of horror games. I got wrapped up in a bunch of other games like Shinobi: Art of Vengeance (also a very good game), the 2 Mario Galaxy games, TMNT: Splintered Fate, and Xenoblades 2 & 3 (I'm happy to say my 8 year Odyssey with the underwhelming Xenoblade 2 is finally over). I also knocked out a few more endings in Silent Hill f, which feels like an increasingly frustrating and pointless endeavor.

On a positive note, I'm very happy with Xenoblade 3 so far. It's basically what I wanted and didn't get from 2.
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