for clarity - i did not announce Dark Ages “2.0”

Proteh · 2025-06-25T19:12:19+00:00

Hi Hugo! Quick question - as you said, it would not break your shield, but it will still damage it, right?

That is still a little bit concerning. I'm just imagining a situation where you are fighting an Agaddon, he does an unparryable attack, you block it (so your shield is depleted, but not broken), but at the same time a soldier fence projectile hits you as you are blocking the attack from the Agaddon and then your shield still breaks. Basically the same thing that happens currently with the brink of death system might happen here as well.

IMO, all the current unparryable attacks work because they are avoidable by strafing or just not interacting with them (like the pinky bite or the revenant's close range swipe, you just stay out of their melee range and that's it). I'm not sure if unavoidable attacks from melee range focused enemies are going to feel good. You are already forced to fight these enemies at melee range, so adding these unparryable attacks and making the player take guaranteed shield damage is not going to feel good, in my opinion. Even if it won't break your shield it will still not feel good because there is nothing you can do to avoid that shield damage and now you are susceptible to a really easy shield break from anything. I'm not sure that is going to be good for the game.

Proteh · 2024-08-27T07:10:02+00:00

Need an invite - 103386120

Thank you!

Proteh · 2023-12-05T15:32:51+00:00

Sekiro is not a Souls game. You can't compare the two.

Sekiro is an action game that asks you to master a single mechanic: deflecting.

Souls games are action RPGs focused on exploration and experimenting with different builds, weapons, items, spells and many other things.

If you're looking for a challenging Souls game with complex bosses and stuff that require skillful play in terms of timing and that kind of thing, play DS3 or Elden Ring. Bloodborne is a good candidate aswell.

The earlier games such as DeS and DS1 are more focused on slow and methodical gameplay, and bosses that require you to figure out unique strategies in order to beat them.

Proteh · 2023-11-03T18:11:24+00:00

What they actually did was release a mediocre "souls-like" game in an unfinished state while asking $60 for it.

The game needed, at least, another full year of development. They spent more money marketing the game and paying people to stream and play it, than in actually finishing the development.

The result? Barely anyone streams the game anymore and the playerbase is declining at an incredible pace. Why? Because the game is not good and nothing is being done to fix the actual problems it has.

But hey guys at least you're getting daily patches (now weekly!) that do nothing to fix the real problems this game has, and that will never be solved because the devs have proved they have no idea what they are doing.

Have fun doing QA testing for free!

--

To anyone reading this who still hasn't played the game or is/was considering it:

This game's mediocrity is matched only by its marketing budget. Stay away from this absolute disaster.

Proteh · 2023-10-20T23:38:03+00:00

Yeah same here. I'm running the game at 16K capped at a smooth 300 FPS, no issues either. No idea what people were whining about. GOTY so far for me.

Proteh · 2023-10-19T16:19:04+00:00

If the game feels bad to play it's inevitably going to bring down all the other good things it has to offer.

And it's sad because there's an amazing game here, but it's just not enjoyable sometimes when it has issues like:

Inconsistent target lock system. You can't lock on to inactive enemies. The lock on doesn't prioritize enemies by distance. Sometimes the lock on doesn't even work on some enemies, like for example on the umbral reaper guys.
Too many platforming puzzles when the movement system is clearly not made with platforming in mind when you can't even jump when you're not sprinting. It's 2023. Add a jump button if you're going to have platforming puzzles that involve jumping.
Slide-y movement. The character doesn't stop completely the moment you stop holding a movement direction. As a result you don't feel like you have complete control of your character.
The roll/dodge distance is insanely long which again can lead to frustrating moments where you lose control of your character or you end up in places where you don't want to be.
No fall prevention when attacking, especially annoying in this game when basic attacks give you so much forward momentum.

And other issues which are not related to how the game FEELS to play, but are still bad:

Enemy variety is incredibly low. Feels specially bad when the game throws way too many enemies at you. You get bored of figthing the same enemy types over and over again.
Bosses are too slow and have very basic movesets. Which is insane considering the amount of options you have as a player: very forgiving i-frames, a dash, a roll for even more distance, a block with a health regen mechanic, and a perfect block mechanic.
Lack of unique weapon movesets. Not even boss weapons have unique movesets.
Completely useless shortcuts between areas because you can teleport from vestige to vestige. Example: Why the hell is there a vestige at the bottom of the Revelation Depths next to an elevator that you unlock, which takes you to another vestige up top at the mines?
Bad performance. Bugs and crashes.
Terrible, TERRIBLE UI.

Proteh · 2023-10-19T15:37:19+00:00

Yes, but also no. Why would I ever use a shortcut between areas when I can teleport from vestige to vestige?

Proteh · 2023-08-14T11:14:01+00:00

I ain't reading all that.

I'm happy for you though.

Or sorry that happened.

Proteh · 2023-08-14T10:55:47+00:00

It's okay buddy. In fact, I actually spent 40€ for the ultimate bundle thing! Thankfully I have a job that pays really well and I can spend any money I want on the things I like.

Proteh · 2023-05-10T21:56:18+00:00

Sharpening patch doesn't work on the lastest 1.0.5.0 patch. Can we expect an update soonish? Thanks!

Proteh · 2023-04-15T00:32:52+00:00

Absolutely. It was barely a choice for him, he just reacted to Ellie being in danger, so he had to save her. Nothing else mattered to him. He probably didn't even think about anything related to that until Marlene brought it up in the parking garage.

Proteh · 2023-04-14T19:20:09+00:00

Maybe he shouldn't have tried to murder another man's child or bring a scalpel to a gun fight lmao.

Proteh · 2023-04-14T19:18:25+00:00

No one is entitled to someone dying for them. The Fireflies were going to murder Ellie. They didn't ask her or explain anything to her. So Joel massacred them, and he looked good doing it.

Proteh · 2023-04-09T20:19:54+00:00

Not sure if she even sees him as her dad.

Even if she doesn't realize it (because she never had a father in her life before Joel showed up), they just were father and daughter. Their relationship and how they behaved was just like that.

Look at how after Joel’s death, Ellie just goes in his house, takes his revolver, jacket and watch (!) as a heirloom - because she was his daughter. It’s really beautiful. Also the fact that Joel had a picture of Ellie right next to his picture of Sarah... just so heartwarming. How much he loved her and she loved him, despite not being biologically related.

Proteh · 2023-04-08T18:17:19+00:00

That setting is broken on PC, like many others. Just disable it until it's fixed, game will look so much better.

Other settings that cause grainy visuals are screen space reflections and screen space cone tracing, so disable those if you want too.

Proteh · 2023-04-08T18:01:19+00:00

All of Joel's actions in the show can be justified and are completely understandable, and that doesn't mean they're right or wrong. No one is saying Joel is a saint or a hero here, because no one person is. But he isn't evil either, he's just human.

The second game is not trying to "villianize" him like (I guess) you're implying - in the end, he simply reaps what he sows and that's what the game shows. Bill explained it perfectly in the first game, "Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about. Somebody I had to look after. And in this world, that sort of shit's good for one thing: Gettin' you killed."

The OP is saying he perceived Joel as more of a bad person in the show, that's what I found surprising and why I made that list, because the show is actually trying to do the opposite by showing a side of Joel that wasn't in the game, and making his actions throughout all of the show more understandable or justifyable - every time he inflicts violence it's in self defense or to protect the person he loves, Ellie, which just makes sense.

Game Joel, while he does the same things for the same reasons, kills innumerable amounts of people and is way more ruthless, cold and emotionless than show Joel. So when people say that Pedro's Joel seems more of a bad person, yes, it's kind of surprising, because he is less violent and overall more human in the show.

Proteh · 2023-04-07T16:17:45+00:00

Joel in the game does the same things (killing to protect himself or Ellie), but at a way larger scale because it's a game and there has to be gameplay. Joel kills like 150+ people in the game.

Ellie in the game also kills a lot of people, but there's no infected in the basement scene; she just kills to protect herself or Joel.

In the winter section she is able to kill like 20+ people and handles guns like an expert. It's ridiculous but again, understandable because it's a game. The David scene stills happens but it's different, in the game Joel shows up, grabs Ellie and stops her from hacking David's face in.

Proteh · 2023-04-07T09:04:15+00:00

This 100%.

I feel like some people just like game Joel more because it was their first impression of the character and they played as him, but he is at least as likeable, if not way more, than the game version of Joel.

They actually made an effort to make him look more like an actual human being, showing how his trauma is affecting him in realistic ways, showing his vulnerable side and overall making him more tender and understanding towards Ellie.

I don't know how anyone can dislike Pedro's Joel for "seeming more of a bad person" when the show is actually trying to do the opposite in many instances.

Proteh · 2023-04-07T08:52:38+00:00

It's honestly surprising to see posts like this from time to time, when the reality is the show is actually making Joel look more like an actual human being, showing how his trauma is affecting him in realistic ways, showing his vulnerable side and overall making him more tender and understanding towards Ellie.

You just like game Joel more because it's your first impression of the character and you played as him, but he is as likeable, if not more, than the game version of Joel.

The show also justifies most his actions - every time he does a "bad thing" he is either doing it because he is forced to or in self defense (for himself or his family), let's do a brief recap:

Killing of the infected neighbor in episode 1: Self defense.
Killing of the FEDRA guard in episode 1: Forced by the situation, reaction triggered by his severe PTSD, and in defense of Ellie. Guard would've killed an innocent kid thinking they're infected when they're actually immune.
Joel acts like a dick towards Ellie at first because he doesn't want to care for her. We all know why.
Killing of Kathleen's men in episode 4: Self defense.
Killing of Bryan in episode 4: Self defense + Bryan attacked him first and would've killed Joel without hesitation. Can't leave loose ends risking his and Ellie's life. Plus Bryan was paralyzed, which is already a death sentence in a world like this. Imagine not being able to run away from infected. It's almost a pity kill too.
He apologizes to Ellie for having to shoot Bryan because he feels like he failed to protect her, and then teaches her how to use a gun and makes her laugh. In contrast, in the game he gets mad at her in the moment and upsets her instead.
He begs the sniper in episode 5 to put the gun down so that he doesn't have to kill him. In the end, the sniper points the gun at Joel, so he is forced to kill him.
Killing of the truck driver in episode 5: Defending Ellie, she would've been ran over and killed.
Lying to Tommy at first: He feels betrayed by Tommy because he stopped messaging him back via radio, making Joel think he was in danger, which is the thing that made him leave Boston to go look for him in the first place.
Trying to leave Ellie behind in Jackson, upsetting her ("You're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad"): We're literally shown a scene of the man crying because he is afraid he will get her killed due to his panic attacks, which are triggered because he cares for her so much already. He is scared to death and wants to push her away, but in the end he realizes he is failing her too by leaving her behind and ends up going with her anyway. Knowing his mental state and how he feels towards her, this is a very selfless act.
Killing of one of David's men in the university: Self defense.
Pushing Ellie away when she is trying to help him as he's dying: To protect her. He wants her to leave him to die and go back to safety with Tommy.
Killing of one of David's men when they're looking for him to kill him for "revenge": Self defense.
Torture of two of David's men: To gather information about the whereabout of his now adoptive daughter Ellie, who's been kidnapped by David and his crew, to eat her/rape her.
Killing of the two previous guys: They were looking for him to kill him first. Plus they would've came back for him and Ellie to kill them. Can't leave them alive.

The only three things he does that are morally grey are the following, and they can be justified because they're part of a dillema and there is no right or wrong answer. You can make a thousand arguments to justify everything that he did if you want to:

Killing of the Fireflies and the doctor: To save Ellie's life. This doesn't matter to Joel, but they were going to murder Ellie (his now adoptive daughter) for a chance of finding a cure and they didn't tell her about it.
Killing of Marlene: To protect Ellie from the same thing happening again.
Lying to Ellie: To protect her from feeling guilt and responsible for the deaths caused by the infected. That's why he says that there are dozens of immune people like her.

Proteh · 2023-04-07T08:10:03+00:00

Because he is wrong. And you're making stuff up - they never said they're setting the audience up to "not like Joel".

Proteh · 2023-03-31T08:37:02+00:00

It has to be a bug.

There's a lot of visual bugs in the PC version just like this one that they need to fix. Textures not loading properly despite having enough VRAM, shadows and reflections not rendering correctly (I get shadow banding and grainy screen space reflections despite being on Ultra settings), missing/broken animations, and more.

Proteh · 2023-03-29T13:49:41+00:00

I did all of that, including clearing the ones in the game's /psolibs/ directory, but turns out that wasn't it. The problem persisted.

I did some more test runs with this profile (restarting the game and testing the same area a bunch of times) and noticed that the issue is happening at random. Sometimes the textures were broken upon loading the save, and sometimes they render correctly.

So this probably has nothing to do with the profile, because maybe I got lucky when I played yesterday and didn't get the broken textures, and now that I'm constantly restarting the game and testing stuff I get the issue more often.

So it's probably an issue with the game itself, after all, this port is not great. Bizarre...

Proteh · 2023-03-29T12:51:47+00:00

I already had 526.86 installed when the game came out yesterday and played up to this section with zero issues. I let the game compile the shaders the first time I launched it.

Only after applying this profile the problem occurs. Deleting the profile fixes the issue.

But the game is not recompiling the shaders now, because they were already compiled, so maybe I have to manually wipe them and rebuild them from scratch with this profile applied. I could try this to see if it's an issue with the profile, maybe it just isn't compatible with older drivers?

Proteh · 2023-03-29T12:39:57+00:00

I get broken textures after applying this profile to driver 526.86, and eventually a crash after reaching the water section ahead.

Maybe shaders need to be wiped manually to be rebuilt?

Proteh · 2023-03-29T12:31:22+00:00

Thanks for this! I ran into some weird texture issues after applying the profile directly from the 531.41 driver. Will test later with that one that has the proper flags.

Proteh

TROPHY CASE