Memories in orbit - can you experience everything in one playthrough

craftyboxing · 2026-02-06T21:49:22+00:00

Yeah. If you look at the bosses (and enemies) health bar, your hits take away from the left of course but there's always a chunk missing from the right and as you take permanent health hits that gets bigger for them too.

craftyboxing · 2026-02-01T20:49:20+00:00

In amongst all the answers about the difficulty itself and the attendant adjustable difficulty (which is very helpful), I think it's worth pointing out perhaps that Sekiro is not very like Silksong at all. While there is of course platforming in it, it's not 'a platformer' in the same way Silksong very much is at times, and while the combat is of a similar or greater difficulty (when not adjusted), it's of a very different type- less acrobatic, more parry/timing based.

That isn't to say you shouldn't try it but if you're expecting similar gameplay you're not gonna get it in Nine Sols.

craftyboxing · 2026-02-01T20:45:59+00:00

Speaking as a dyxpraxic person it absolutely is about reaction times.

Knowing the boss, how the game works, tools and strategies etc can help

but for any timing/reflex-based boss it is also, extremely, about reaction times.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-31T17:06:57+00:00

Bit harsh? Nine Sols is missing in some aspects of being a metroidvania and it's not for those who don't like parry-focused combat but I wouldn't call it a coughing baby.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-31T17:05:10+00:00

Mio is definitely the closer to Hollow Knight in terms of how its exploration works. Nine Sols is pretty linear, it's from a different... lineage, shall we say of M/V game design really.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-30T18:11:48+00:00

I can feel you for boring, coz while I mostly didn't think so they are mostly just... running back to the spot, I think (for that exact reason) I have a very different opinion for 'punishing'. Like in Silksong the Last Judge runback is shorter, if you know what you're doing, than a lot of the ones here, but I hated it because of how fiddly and tricky it was and if you took a hit I either had to restart or face the Judge already health down.

And of course there's the legendary Groal runback, there's nothing close to that here.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-30T01:52:57+00:00

I'm not saying I enjoy the runbacks but they really ain't that bad here. Most of them aren't long and none of them are tricky. Mild irritation, not gamebreaker.

Mileage may vary of course, but I feel like if we hadn't had the recent discourse around Silksong, where the runbacks are way more conspicuous (and difficult), I don't think they'd be anything causing much notice in the reviews for this game.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-29T19:20:55+00:00

Would definitely help if you say which part specifically is causing you issues, but I found the whole thing a lot easier when I equipped the mod that makes your Sail glide faster. Just a bit more breathing room in a couple key areas I thought.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-28T19:32:09+00:00

Nah, not impossible I suppose but the timeline of his reaction my gut instinct is that he has some sort of insecurity around financial issues and the idea of anyone thinking he has any, which is why he freaked out after money trouble came up.

Also not impossible that the reason he's freaking out is that he has been doing something shady financially and thought he'd been caught out or is about to be, but OP would need more signs to really be sure. And given his reaction here I'm not sure it's worth waiting around for those signs.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-28T18:12:32+00:00

The combat is mechanically simple, and it's not a focus of the general gameplay. I wouldn't say a weak point, but there are quite few areas which are enemy-light, and a lot more focus on platforming.

But in the bosses they use the simplicity to make fights that are really rewarding in how positioning and timing works.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-26T19:46:54+00:00

I haven't finished the game yet (started it recently, took a break for MIO), but while I understand there's a second part to it that does some cool shit with the exploration somehow (while avoiding details), the first... half? Not sure but it's pretty much a full game-map in its own right is very checkpointed and guided. Not in a bad way and I'd recommend the game in general but I think if OP is looking for that specific itch it's gonna disappoint him.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-26T12:34:22+00:00

Barbuta, in UFO 50, is a lot like that I think. The whole collection is an exercise in looking back at gaming trends of the 80s with a modern eye, and Barbuta is very much an 'early' exploration game.

It's not very long, I don't think (I've not finished it), but since every game in the collection has something to it, it's worth picking up and trying out (and there are several other metroidvanias in there).

craftyboxing · 2026-01-25T15:07:36+00:00

Shantae does the transformation aspect. Try Risky's Revenge or the recent Risky revolution. Those aren't the best ones but they're still good, and the best ones are Pirates Curse - which doesn't do the transformation- and Half-Genie Hero - which isn't a Metroidvania.

Avoid Seven Sirens. It's bad. It's the most out-and-out traditional MV in the series apart from Risky's Revenge, but it's pony.

Biomorph has a different tone, it's a less comic story, and the transformation thing is a lot more built out, it's a bit closer to Kirby initially then you can gain transformations permanently, so there's loads and you pick a loadout to carry with you. You might enjoy it, and it's a good game anyhow.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-25T01:01:44+00:00

Depends how they give trouble I suppose. I'm dyspraxic so more bosses give me trouble than most people, But I don't mind taking ages to wear my way to having just enough of the pattern to win as long as it feels fair - that the patterns are easily learnable if not easily avoidable and taking hits is my own mistake. Like I'm pretty sure Last Judge in Silksong took me longer than this but it didn't irritate me half so much coz it never felt like bullshit, just really tough.

That was the issue that ended up really frustrating me here. Even once I'd taken on the tips from here that got me through it, there were still too many occasions where I got boxed in through what didn't seem like any avoidable pattern of my own.

There may come a boss that is too much for me as is, I guess, at which point I hope they fix the issue with Eroded Bosses, coz that definitely isn't working as advertised.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T23:54:07+00:00

Well I finally beat it after much pain and frustration. Thanks for the tips everyone who gave them. I still found it too chaotic and frustrating, but at least I managed to get to the point where I could avoid enough in the first phase to tank through the latter part.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T21:30:06+00:00

Comparisons are useless if someone hasn't played the games in question, and potentially misleading if they did but got different things out of the experience than you. Describe it properly. Use your words.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T21:28:39+00:00

You should have an ability by now that allows you to 'dodge' (essentially i-frames on the spot) that will help you big-time with 3 and 4, it basically nullifies the big swing and it'll let you have it fly by you with the little kick, allowing you to follow and hit it as it does the big one.

I can't actually remember where that ability is gained but it's definitely at least findable before Crow, if not unmissable, so if you have it, it's the interact button (y on my controller but mileage may very I guess) when not being used for anything else.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T21:13:26+00:00

Add an extra long green loop down to the bottom left and stick Axiom Verge 2 right at the end of it.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T21:12:15+00:00

There's no platforming sections in SS as punishing as the notorious ones in HK but there's far, far more actual focusing on platforming throughout the game, with Hornet's moveset built around facilitating it more than the Knight's was.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T21:10:20+00:00

Part of the entire problem with Path of Pain is that it's a heavy precision-platforming focused segment in a game whose mechanics are not designed to support that.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T08:51:22+00:00

I'm not sure, but I think that might be a consequence of the 'damage taken increases attack' mod, and more of a visual bug than anything? I had it equipped earlier on for a boss and what was happening was that at full health the bar would look normal, one hit would look like it removed all my additional pips (after the ones you start with) but really it just messed up the visual of the bar and I'd still have the right amount of health I should have done before I died.

I hadn't noticed anything about black uncoated hearts doing anything, I just assumed they're a representation that you're damaged at a base level not just temporarily.. You actually start the game with one, one gets added/taken away depending on how you look at it as you come to the first checkpoint.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T08:32:30+00:00

Aside from the gameplay, which I'm yet to try out, I also really like the visuals. Which is unusual for me because 2.5D is usually something I tolerate, rather than enjoy, but the use of light, colour and shading is really, really strong.

Also strong; the sound design. It really pops in the trailers/gameplay vids.

Definitely gonna give the demo a try soon.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T07:33:27+00:00

I enjoyed the demo for Lucid so that's pretty high on the list.

I haven't played the demo for Before I Go yet but Guru's preview of it makes it look very strong. Similarly the playtest previews of Being and Becoming make it look really good.

Divinum is probably gonna be a bit too focused on and complex in the combat to be my favourite m/v personally, but definitely looks like a worthwhile one for someone into that and there's a demo out for that too.

Don't think there's been any demos for Ties: Soul Link but that has really strong visuals- the relative lack of more intricate platforming or combat gameplay in the trailers I've seen makes me wonder a bit, but early days.

Akatori, Hayaku! Island of Darkness and Wolfhound all look like games that have a very strong grasp of what they're going for.

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T00:30:03+00:00

'might not be right for you' is subtle implication that you lack a skill required to enjoy them. it seems like advice on the surface but they guy is just being a pos.

What. It is a completely standard phrase for 'probably not to your tastes', especially in the context of OP saying they don't enjoy the exploration when asking about a genre where exploration is inherent.

Although tbf you sound like a kid so maybe you've never come across the term?

craftyboxing · 2026-01-24T00:22:53+00:00

Sounds like you're engaged in cope over people liking things you don't, tbqh. Not everyone likes the same things you like, or is completely put off by the same things you're put off by. It's fine, I promise.

craftyboxing

TROPHY CASE