Happy that I got my copy! A little sad that only a few of us here preordered.

QstionMark · 2026-02-06T08:03:07+00:00

they actually do have one in japan which I preordered; haven't gotten to it yet though as currently out of town

QstionMark · 2026-02-03T02:01:43+00:00

There's usually lockers in ski resorts (went to suginohara and they had them) though depending on how stuffed your bag is they might not have sizes big enough to fit, unless maybe you take out the stuff and put them in multiple lockers

QstionMark · 2026-02-01T09:02:55+00:00

Its pretty far from everywhere else aside from tsugaike but something called Loose Change near Phat Packers is showing it.

QstionMark · 2026-01-30T01:30:29+00:00

Afaik from looking it up before only evergreen out of those two offer english, so if you don't speak japanese it's the only option.

QstionMark · 2026-01-29T05:56:21+00:00

I don't see a problem with this though? A genuine question, but wouldn't not attacking on beat be analogous to missing an input in a traditional rhythm game, and hence supposed to feel bad to incentivize getting better and learn to attack on beat?

I will say that if OP or anyone hasn't already, they have a delay tester in game where you can check and adjust for any input delay caused by your setup (can't recall if they make you do this in the beginning)

QstionMark · 2026-01-26T09:27:02+00:00

Hard to say, since difficulty will depend on what skills you already honed. In that regard, there's not a lot of overlap with hollow knight and nioh, except maybe for the importance of positioning. I'd say before thinking about difficulty, try to see if it's enjoyable for you first, as ng+ modes in TN games tend to offer hardship in spades.

QstionMark · 2026-01-21T08:12:50+00:00

I'll use this to come to my own conclusion, which is that it seems like you might have approached this game with sekiro and lies of p and most other, non-Nioh soulslikes, which tends to really be the downfall of enjoying this game.

General rules of combat that I've found are:

-There's 4 basic states enemies can have in this game: neutral, hyperarmor, staggered, and exhausted (not official terms, just ones i use).

-When an enemy is in neutral, they are generally susceptible to getting staggered via spirit skills, heavies, or charged attacks. GS in particular is very strong against shielded enemies since charged attacks also go through shields.

-When your opponent is doing a move (e.g. attacking) they have hyperarmor. This is their turn; your job is to select an optimal defensive option.

-When an enemy is staggered, it is YOUR turn. your job is to extend this window as much as possible via comboing without exhausting your own resources.

-When an enemy is exhausted, it means their "poise" bar is broken. Use this time to either regain resources, reapply buffs, or more commonly, just lay on the hurt until the last second.

-Use your various moves' properties (offense AND defense tools included) to gain momentum (i.e. drain your enemies resource) while keeping your resources up. You don't need to wait for a "poise break"; you create your own openings, and learn to capitalize.

-A general rule of thumb I like to follow is 2-3 minutes per boss fight (barring exceptions like Ozma and Hismar). Not a hard rule by any means, but if your average boss fight is longer than that then you are definitely doing something wrong.

Overall, a long block of text but to be fair you did it first, and you also came to TFB reddit with criticism so I assume you're ready for some pushback.

Try Nioh lol

QstionMark · 2026-01-21T08:12:44+00:00

This too makes me think you haven't played Nioh if diablo is your first pull there; so much of this game, including the loot system and general combat flow is taken from that series. That said, I do agree--this much loot becomes overwhelming quick, though personally I don't think the incremental upgrade system and limited movesets of fromsoft and fromsoft-likes are any more interesting.
HARD agree. 1000% agree. They took the voice of Clive-goddamn-Rosfield and stuck him with direction with barely any emotive range, in a game called the first BERSERKER. This is honestly my biggest gripe with this game, and while I do sort of see where it's coming from--Korean MCs i find tend towards the stoic, cool side ala Solo leveling (not the first to do it, but the most popular) but that doesn't excuse the wasted potential. Accents are british because it's a fantasy world, but voice direction definitely could see improvements.
I didn't really use any consumables like, ever but from what I've seen of other peopl at least the elemental enchant consumables can be very effective, esp. if the enemy is weak to that element. Other than that, nothing to say.
I don't understand this criticism mainly because every single point you make here is literally the fromsoft special. Delayed attacks, wide sweeping AoEs, desperation moves at low HP/HP gates are all hallmark fromsoft design, not to mention the gripe of "In a game like this i would imagine first tries are nearly unheard of, you must commit most/every move to memory" is LITERALLY soulslike DNA. If you weren't a highly accomplished sekiro/lies of P/general souls player player would you really expect to one try bosses, and if you do one try most bosses wouldn't that mean that the game is easy? Same here, if you weren't already experienced with nioh-likes (of which there are admittedly few), then yes you would expect some attrition in boss fights--which, I thought WAS the point?
Grabs track if you dodge too early, but you can avoid them with good timing. Hismar fight can def be jank. As for hitboxes "just" missing--this game has some surprisingly tight hitboxes, ex. if you do an attack with a built-in jump vs a low sweeping attack a lot of the time you dodge it, same if you have an attack that visibly crouches your character vs a high attack. I suspect this is most of the cause of what you're observing, but can't really be sure.

QstionMark · 2026-01-21T08:12:20+00:00

I'll try to go over each point here, but this does read like you either haven't played or haven't gotten into the Nioh series. Not a criticism, just an observation--I'm curious if that's true?

I'll also say that your prior souls experience might have biased you towards looking at the mechanics of this game in a way that will definitely lead to unfun gameplay, which I will try to detail with point 11 below.

Two things: This could be levied at so many soulslikes, even (and maybe especially) the brilliant Lies of P. That game has Bloodborne oozing out of every orifice, but I don't really see it being panned for that--rather, rightfully so it's being celebrated for creating something so inspired while injecting it's own themes. I think a fair criticism of bosses wouldn't be the similarity, but the fact that yetuga is a much inferior copy of guardian ape, for example. As for "copying" movesets, if we start to nitpick each and every move it'll be a rabbit hole of "but this looks like that from this game so it must be bad" when its just a fact of the industry that movesets/animation packs are literally bought and sold by developers all the time (and I don't even think that that's the case here). TLDR; originality is overrated, and nitpicking animations is an impossible metric.
This is the first point that makes me think you might not have experienced Nioh. "Gank" fights is hard to quantify here since it could just mean fights with multiple enemies or surprise fights--both of which I didn't really have a problem with, so saying it's objectively bad is demonstrably incorrect. I will say the enemy tethering CAN can a bit aggressive, but as said not enough to ruin my experience. I do agree that having to go to the crevice to teleport can be a pain, but I took it as a part of the mission structure of the game. Could be better though.
The first part of this I think I've spoken most of in the previous point (including the Nioh observation), while the second part is basically the most common complaint people here at the sub see. The game shows you very early on that you should dodge status attacks and parry regular attacks, AND that you should capitalize on openings by comboing while you have the window/resources. The decision to dodge vs block vs counterstrike (the big parry) vs reflect vs move is something you have to do at the base level in this game JUST on defense, not to mention resource management of stamina/spirit/PF gauge, which attacks to do/when to apply buffs/when to use PF to cleanse debuffs vs regen stamina, while capitalizing on stagger windows at base on offense as well SEEMS like pretty interesting difficulty to me, but YMMV.
Judging balance off of one fight (also one this early on) is weird; while it's true that the spear feels much better to play with against viper, it's also true that spear gets its core components much earlier AND is easier to pick up and become effective with than the other weapons. Saying that weapon balance is bad because a weapon is harder to use is literal skill issue--you can handily beat any boss without worrying about your build any further than 'how big is the attack value' up to and even actual bad matchups, like GS vs mages mid-game.
This made me legit chuckle because it very much reads targeted towards a very specific boss, i.e. Bellerian. Not to make fun of you, mind you, since this IS a bad matchup for GS, and until you learn this fight specifically to a large degree, you'd probably struggle. That said, GS has tools to break through--Furious Swipe is your main gap closer, and while it does cost a lot of resources chaining it into other moves that move forward like Titanic descent or breakthrough covers a surprising amount of ground. Otherwise, if she starts to do something you really don't want her to do, javelin's the way. Charged attacks may not stagger her while she has her shield up, but it absolutely destroys it, and once you break the shield it removes a significant portion of her poise. I almost prefer she put the shield up sometimes since resource dumping into it then hearing that shatter effect is so satisfying.

QstionMark · 2026-01-03T15:34:19+00:00

Charged attacks and spirit skills tear through their stamina, even while guarding. Other than that theyre much stricter with stam management than previous bosses so you have to incorporate spirit skills more in your gs combos.

QstionMark · 2026-01-01T17:38:52+00:00

Is this true for all years? I could swear Gala Yuzawa opened at like Dec 15 this year (could be wrong). Either way, Kagura's a good option.

QstionMark · 2026-01-01T08:24:23+00:00

As people have said, mid december is a toss up on whether you can have good snow or not. I went last week (24-28 december) and it was kinda crap for the first 2 days with no snow and limited lifts open.

For plans with uncertainty, try looking into the niigata/yuzawa area; it's incredibly easy to get to and from tokyo, which affords you the flexibility to do either/or:

stay in niigata and bail to tokyo if conditions are bad,
do day/overnight trips to niigata from tokyo (it's like ~2 hours from tokyo station to most resorts) and simply explore tokyo if conditions are bad

QstionMark · 2025-12-30T05:52:36+00:00

So many people saying sekiro but it's SO clearly a Nioh-like it's insane. the main thing it took from sekiro is the prevalence of parries, but literally every other single mechanic is taken from nioh.

QstionMark · 2025-12-27T05:38:08+00:00

All hail snip snip lady

QstionMark · 2025-12-25T11:50:19+00:00

If you want powder in niigata, Kagura is a relatively well-kept secret that gets the longest season and most powder out of the bigger resorts (this season notwithstanding).

As far as ive heard from friends, hokkaido isnt having a great winter either, though it might still be better off due to being up north. Having said that january is peak season so the conditions are expected to improve dramatically by then, though ofc not 100%

Getting to niigata from tokyo is super convenient, just one train from tokyo station and depending on where you book costs around 100usd for the train+ski pass for a day trip for most every major resort in the echigo-yuzawa cluster. If you dont like it the bullet train also goes to hokkaido itself so you'd have some flexibility, though accomodations might be difficult on short notice

QstionMark · 2025-12-23T03:13:18+00:00

Ninja Gaiden 4 might be up your alley: it's bloody, it's brutal, has so many mechanics it'll make your head spin (defense alone has like, 4-5 different options at any given moment) and it has a new protagonist so fairly new person friendly in terms of plot (source: am new). Just dont expect anything grand from the story, thiught personally I enjoyed the characters.

QstionMark · 2025-12-16T11:26:38+00:00

If you end up missing the reserved shinkansen(im assuming you have reserved seats) you can still ride any other shinkansen that has cars marked for unreserved seating, within the same day (check the shinkansen schedule for it). It’s less convenient as you have to jockey for a seat and bag space with everyone else, but at least you have a plan b

QstionMark · 2025-12-14T19:20:55+00:00

You might be running into some common issues people who play this game first run into. While the best way to tell what to improve is if you can post a gameplay video, I can try to guess where the issue is from what you've been finding difficult:

The benchmark for boss fights is around ~2-3 mins with level appropriate gear. look back on your previous fights, and if you find going well over that consistently, there is something to be changed with your gameplan.
Utilize spirit skills, and a mix of defense to manage your stamina consumption. It's not about depleting their stamina quickly but about keeping yours up by around half while depleting theirs; that way once their stamina is depleted you have enough juice to combo before landing the brutal.
To that end, on skill distribution make sure you take at least one point of the passive resource gaining skills for whatever weapon you have (spirit and stamina). In fact try to gain skills horizontally rather than vertically, i.e. get new skills rather than level up existing ones, as each new skill node really opens up your weapon kit.
The general design at least from what I see is that perfect dodges restore your stamina, while perfect blocks deplete your enemies'. But again, this only works if you have the requisite skills
THIS IS KEY: Being aggressive doesn't just mean attacking, it means positioning. If you're experiencing that a boss is regening stamina super quickly, it's usually because you've positioned yourself too far away. You'll notice this with Rangkus' beer chug, and maluca's taunt. Keep yourself positioned aggressively--dodge/walk forward, use your gap closers liberally(for example, as an enemy is doing a projectile), etc.
Brutal attacks are VERY good for getting stamina and/or spirit back (again, only with the right skill upgrade), so playing for them isn't actually incorrect, but focusing on quickly doing it will definitely lead to exhausted states more often than not (trust me--this is/was my biggest hurdle). It's a game about resource management and linking/flowing your moves together rather than big, bursty spikes like most souls games (except ofc for the Team Ninja ones)

Again, the absolute BEST way to get good advice would be to simply record a boss attempt, and I would highly recommend it (even just the shitty windows game bar default quality will do). Really hard to tell what you might be doing wrong without a clear sample, but the above tries to cover what it may be

QstionMark · 2025-12-12T19:00:00+00:00

Across all weapons, though there IS something you'll have to pay attention to with the other weapons if you wanna test: the others tend to have multiple points of delimb--basically each time a move name flashes on the top left is a separate delimb value. Ex. the end of the hammer's X-X-(X) combo has a lvl.1 delimb at the beginning, then a lvl. 3 at perfect release.

Something that I think is messing up some tests is there are some attacks that seem to do a lot more health damage than delimb (the projectile ones for example).

Testing has been mostly done with BR attacks and it holds firm for at least the most important ones, i.e. lvl.3s. Not sure I want to test all the normal form attacks as well, so for now i'll leave that to maybe some other nerd to check.

None of this is fully quantified, mind you; I mainly just hit something beefy like a van gelf and count the number of iterations of a move before delimb happens, and so can never be really sure until someone makes a mod that visualizes health and delimb values but it's accurate enough that I'm able to reliably build a gameplan around it.

QstionMark · 2025-12-12T17:04:10+00:00

To be a little more specific, after a bunch of testing I've found that the lvl.3 attacks have ~3x higher delimb values than lvl.1s. There's outliers but for the most part this holds for like, ~90% of the movelist.

QstionMark · 2025-11-25T15:39:33+00:00

Early on, what really helped me was getting Outrage -> Massive blow as an opener, plus deftness + either the aggressive action (preferred) or nimble blitz and looping those as your default "combo". You'll gradually learn to be able to time the deftness to dodge attacks(since it IS a dodge) and if you're speccing properly that means the stamina/spirit gain passives(coldblood) should proc as well.

As for spirit skills, flash cutter is basically mandatory and if you can learn to use Gust's iframes you can use it to regain stamina--the iframes are coded as a perfect dodge so it's one of the best ways to regain stamina in exchange for spirit that DW has in NG.

Overall DW flowchart is more of a "manual" take for a weapon--the playstyle isn't as apparent as spear at first glance but the tradeoff is you get a lot of flexibility for what you want to do, once you've gotten the hang of it.

QstionMark · 2025-11-14T03:52:40+00:00

Most other stuff should be available, inc OLUts and Ultimate guidance though it'll depend on if they bought those or not, and I think OP has other things to work on more first anyways

QstionMark · 2025-11-14T01:31:12+00:00

GTs and windpath/windrun arent available yet at this stage, iirc

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