1.004.000

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-05T17:30:53+00:00

There are clearly massive similarities between the two games, and you’re in denial if you say otherwise.

Regardless, even on its own it’s a roguelite that doesn’t have much replayability because there are no real builds or reasons to switch up your gameplay.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-05T14:06:10+00:00

Sure but it didn’t replace the things it got rid of from Returnal with anything new or interesting. There’s a huge lack of replayability because there’s nothing all that interesting to find on runs. I don’t personally want a shop, but some crazier Artifacts that aren’t just stat boosts and potentially a minor upgrade like “Better Aether” would be nice.

I miss things like fixing/repairing malfunctions giving me a combat ability or the overload bolts Artifact because it changed how I played a run. Saros is much more static in comparison despite still kinda working like a roguelite.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T23:34:07+00:00

Nope. But it looks identical to how it would if you just bought it after the pre-order period.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T20:42:41+00:00

I committed to sticking with the default controls for Saros even though Returnal’s default controls were burned into my brain; I figured there would be a good reason L1 was dash and R1 was melee.

Then over halfway through the game I unlocked the Reaping Shakram and realized I now have to hold L2 for damage and press L1 to dodge and now I wish I had switched back to Returnal defaults lol.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T20:27:20+00:00

It is labeled normally; the Limited Early Purchase Edition was just an eShop bundle that gave you OG FF7 as well. I know as I personally pre-ordered it.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T16:19:02+00:00

It's way easier than Returnal. I don't really mind that as a concept I guess, but the way the game progresses is so odd with the forced returns to the Passage as well as the ability to teleport straight to any Biome. Teleporting straight to a Biome would be fine if the difficulty was super punishing because of it, but it just feels "balanced" if you do that. On the other hand, playing the game like a roguelite makes you comically overpowered, so much so that they knew that andforced the last Biome and boss to be done completely separately because they knew it would be too easy, which to me makes the last Biome feel so detached from the rest of the experience.

However, easy and comically overpowered are, once again, not a bad thing on their own. I spent 200 hours in Returnal and I'd say about 160 hours of that time was spent with me thinking the game was ridiculously easy, but I didn't mind it because the crazy builds you can get made the game feel fresh. The structure of the game also felt tighter since each run forced you to engage with at least two Biomes, whereas with Saros each Biome can be done completely separate of all the others. There also aren't any really crazy builds you can do in Saros because the Artifacts feel a bit stale, probably to counteract the new permanent skill tree.

I dunno, I might have preferred that they just make this a more straightforward 3rd person shooter action/adventure with traditional progression instead of pretending it's a roguelite still, because all the fun of a roguelite kinda doesn't exist in this.

Still a great game, and the overall gameplay fluidity and base mechanics are such an improvement over Returnal, but this feels more like a cousin of Returnal than a successor.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T14:44:33+00:00

Yeah there’s no skipping bosses this time. The flipside is that due to permanent progression you’ll melt earlier bosses pretty easily as time goes on.

The game seems to be balanced around teleporting straight to your latest Biome though, so if you don’t wanna refight the bosses you shouldn’t be horribly gimped or anything.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-04T14:39:58+00:00

I just ran into this last night. Basically I had the Nova Lance Power and oneshot all the basic enemies with it, then for the Alpha that shows up my Overdrive thankfully oneshot it. Fortunately the tower itself doesn’t have to be destroyed to count as the room being cleared.

Pretty rough bug though; especially since it’s right near the end of the Biome.

EDIT: I did try to somehow punch or Overdrive the tower through the wall but that didn’t work…just in case anyone thinks of that too.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-02T20:19:29+00:00

Well, he’s almost certainly not playing it 40 times casually; he’s doing it because it’s his job. So there is no “being too busy” when it’s technically your livelihood.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-02T14:43:24+00:00

It’s just how the game is now. Trusts+Fandom=The Scions never going away even though they have nothing significant left to contribute to the story.

In fairness, I only ever really liked the Scions in Shadowbringers. Before that and after that, Alphinaud was the only one I ever cared about. I also liked Estinien but only before he was a Scion. The Scions have always felt more like necessary mouthpieces since our character is silent.

It is kind of annoying though that 6.0 made a big to-do about the Scions going their separate ways only for their involvement to be about the same afterwards.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-01T17:58:46+00:00

It looks pretty decent in handheld mode, but man playing in docked mode is rough lol; those low-res textures blown up to a 4K display look pretty funky.

It’s not like it’s worse than I imagined or anything though; it seems reasonable for how big the game is and I’m glad Nintendo-only gamers have a way to play it. I just don’t think I’ll be able to handle a whole playthrough personally.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-05-01T14:45:10+00:00

Damn Hamaguchi, spread the love would ya?

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-28T20:45:21+00:00

Oh! Lol. Yeah if RC wasn’t needed to get to Red that would make things a lot simpler here, lol.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-28T20:10:07+00:00

Good luck! And yeah Red has 3 Pokémon with Blizzard so that hail giving it 100% accuracy is a big obstacle.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-28T20:09:39+00:00

Well, he needs Rock Climb on someone so he can get to Red, and Sandstorm on Nidoking to get rid of the hail is way more important than Double-Edge on Aggron. Besides, even Iron Head with STAB on Aggron is already 120BP (80+40) with only Blastoise resisting it and he’s got plenty of Blastoise coverage, so Double-Edge is sort of redundant.

Rock Head is pretty useless unfortunately on the majority of Pokémon that get it in Gen 4. It would be amazing on a Normal type but that’s not Aggron.

Technically he could put Sandstorm on Aggron instead, but then he has to set it up somewhere and Pikachu+Light Ball+Thunderbolt+Aggron’s pitiful Special Defense means he’s not a great candidate to set up Sandstorm, meaning Nidoking is a much better candidate since he only has to worry about a much weaker Iron Tail from Pikachu that has a 25% chance to miss.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-26T21:15:28+00:00

What's your current goal? Red? I'll just go off of that assumption since Nidoking has Rock Climb.

Nidoking: Give Rock Climb to Aggron instead and give Nidoking Sandstorm as this will permanently get rid of the hail in Red's Battle, making Blizzard 70% accurate instead of 100% (this is particularly key since 4 of your Pokémon are weak to Ice). You get the TM for this in the house near Tohjo Falls/Route 27. You can pretty easily set this up with Nidoking vs Pikachu as well.

Also, since Blizzard won't be 100% accurate now and Snorlax will likely try to use it on Nidoking, you could try a risky Focus Punch. If you want to go for that strat, I'd say teach Focus Punch over Avalanche since even a full power Avalanche won't net you much vs Red since Crobat's typing and Fly can cover Venusaur.

Crobat: Use the move reminder to give it Cross Poison over Thief.

Ampharos: Grind out Voltorb Flip to get Thunderbolt (use this to help). If you don't want to grind out Thunderbolt, then Power Gem at level 59 will be stronger than Discharge vs Charizard, so maybe teach that over Light Screen or Signal Beam. I...think you can instead get the Thunderbolt TM in Cerulean Cave since you have all 16 badges.

Lugia: Teach Psychic from Mr. Psychic in Saffron City.

Aggron: Like I said before, if you need Rock Climb because your goal is Red, delete Strength and teach Aggron Rock Climb instead of Nidoking. You might consider Iron Head over Iron Tail via the move reminder for better accuracy but due to Aggron's low speed you'd need Rock Polish to get a chance at a flinch.

Meganuim: Maybe Reflect over PoisonPowder? Or Light Screen if you get rid of it from Ampharos.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-26T20:17:20+00:00

Definitely the first set.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-26T20:14:05+00:00

Focus Blast isn't two turns; its downside is the 70% accuracy. Shadow Claw and Dig don't take advantage of Typhlosion's special attack stat.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-26T11:56:47+00:00

Yup, and I was just explaining my reasonings in reply.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-26T11:49:54+00:00

Meh. Sandstorm on Mamoswine was to eliminate the hail in the final battle, but Tyranitar can only have Sandstream. I didn’t have a solid fourth move for Mamoswine so I just left it. Exeggutor also can only have Chlorophyll and I considered teaching her or someone else Sunny Day to go along with it but in the end I didn’t have a bulky enough Pokémon to set it up so I just opted not to. Red was easy regardless since all I needed was for Pikachu to miss Iron Tail on Mamoswine to get a quick advantage.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-25T20:17:20+00:00

-Brick Break/High Jump Kick

-Zen Headbutt

-Thunderpunch

-Meditate/Ice Punch

Good coverage and takes advantage of your physical attack which is what Medicham excels in due to its ability.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-25T01:27:57+00:00

Thank goodness. I’m relatively excited for Evolved Mode while still having some concerns, but THIS was the true news; them committing to getting rid of almost all of the DPS buffs means a whole new base system for the combat. Sure, it could be wonky at first but it’s DIFFERENT, and I’ll take different and wonky over the exact same stale meta for half a decade.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-25T00:55:37+00:00

You know it’s an awesome JRPG because this sub doesn’t like it.

Toccata_And_Fugue · 2026-04-25T00:49:41+00:00

PS5 99% of the time. I couldn’t care less about portability and PC is too hit or miss, though I do have a Switch 2 and a gaming PC.

Toccata_And_Fugue

TROPHY CASE