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SettingSun posted:A couple things helped me get through that section. Firstly I turned the difficulty down to minimum so I could survive a few more hits (seriously, two swipes from a mutated one was fatal). Second, I turned up the sensitivity of aiming which was otherwise painfully slow (which became an issue during the fight right after this, which I will talk about shortly). Third, the tip to eliminate them before they transform was great, but I couldn't get them all but I could throw most of the rest off. I would have loved to toss all of them off but there all told were more than a dozen of them and in none of my tries was there enough GRP juice to support it. I found the boss easy because it very slowly walks to you. Just shoot at it while walking backwards until you run dry, turn around and run while reloading and repeat until it drops. You only need to melee it to make it split and to finish it off afaik.
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Dec 7, 2022 18:30
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Some careful observation on the TCP minibosses leads me to believe they're using a health threshold setup, such that you have to do a melee chain on them when downed and cause one head to fall off before you can finish them. The one-head part of the fight is effectively a completely separate health pool. This means if you don't get to execute the melee chain on the first head, you're stuck wasting a significant amount of additional ammo. It also appears likely that due to an oversight, there was HP tuning applied that only altered the second, one head half of the fight, such that later minibosses spend 95% of the fight in the second phase, sucking down bullets. Similar thresholds appear likely to apply to the final boss, so there's probably no value in trying to sneak in extra hits when they're phase-changing.
Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Dec 7, 2022 |
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Dec 7, 2022 18:42
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My enjoyment of Callisto Protocol is on a curve. Beginning? gently caress this buggy poo poo. After getting some upgrades and figuring out the combat? This is alright. After they start throwing two-heads at you every 5 seconds, back to gently caress this poo poo.
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Dec 7, 2022 21:46
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I've made it through 80% of the fights in TCP on Maximum Security by throwing zombies into spikes or off ledges. Every room in this entire prison has a huge patch of spikes on the wall every 10 feet, seems like a hazardous environment even before the outbreak.
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Dec 7, 2022 22:09
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:I've made it through 80% of the fights in TCP on Maximum Security by throwing zombies into spikes or off ledges. Every room in this entire prison has a huge patch of spikes on the wall every 10 feet, seems like a hazardous environment even before the outbreak. Continuing the Dead Space/Event Horizon design philosophy of creating everyday spaces that may kill you simply for going about your daily life, as expected
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Dec 7, 2022 22:55
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playing it now, i think signalis really cements how the effectiveness of certain mechanics depends significantly on the game's total runtime. the 6 item carry limit would drive me up the wall if this game were any longer, but i think it's effective enough at curating a sense of loadout tradeoffs when paired with respawning enemies as a mechanic for a game this short i think it's one of the best uses of the haunted PS1 aesthetic along with no one lives under the lighthouse, although the blending of the thick lineart anime-style portraits with the shaderless low-poly models is inconsistently good. i think going for a straight up chunkier style with limited lines ala the ol' SNES out of this world aesthetic would've worked better, but the dissonance might be part of the point
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Dec 8, 2022 00:35
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Ok I finished Callisto Protocol. I don't appreciate devs selling me 90% of their game but keeping the ending to sell to me again as dlc when they finish it. Overall though, game is a solid 7 for me. Despite my frustrations with the encounters and the boss fights I did enjoy the experience. Not much of a story, yet it still had some unearned sequel setup. If this game gets a sequel it stands a good chance of being good if they learned from this one.
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Dec 8, 2022 01:46
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Two head is really counter-intuitive because the game primarily pushes melee and dodging, and once you figure out the dodge mechanic it's the best way to get through 99% of the game. But then the bosses are intended to be kited and shot at until they stagger. It's not super well communicated so I wasted a lot of time trying to dodge at close range before realizing how much of a chump two-head is to ranged kiting. After you get it, he's not bad though. There are also only four of them in the entire game, and the last two encounters are, oddly enough, the easiest. They both give you level geometry that makes it easy to keep him separated from you while plinking at him, whereas in the first two he has more direct walking paths to you. Actually, I think the level geometry is more in your favor with each encounter... really should have been the opposite. I'm nearly done with a third run on Maximum Security. It kind of feels the same as Medium Security, since once you know the mechanics avoiding damage is trivially easy. Maybe ammo would be harder to come by if I hadn't figured out that, like Dead Space, you get more ammo for your main gun if you just never build the others. There's something about the melee combat that feels fantastically chunky and like dumb fun. There's probably potential for it with more refinement. The problem is that it's frustratingly unintuitive to learn, then leaves no challenge once you do. Pity they'll probably never get a sequel opportunity to fix those issues. Bigger pity that they didn't prototype it enough to get it working better before finishing this game.
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Dec 8, 2022 02:01
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Bugblatter posted:Two head is really counter-intuitive because the game primarily pushes melee and dodging, and once you figure out the dodge mechanic it's the best way to get through 99% of the game. But then the bosses are intended to be kited and shot at until they stagger. It's not super well communicated so I wasted a lot of time trying to dodge at close range before realizing how much of a chump two-head is to ranged kiting. seems to be selling well enough, wouldn't be surprised if we got a sequel at this rate. hopefully they put in a story next time if they do; weirdest feeling part of Callisto for me is the disjunct between the pretty well done mocapping and acting attached to an utterly vestigial plot
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Dec 8, 2022 02:18
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For me, it's about the right amount of plot, haha. All I really want from a game story is to set the tone, take me to different cool areas, then get out of the way. It seems to have about as much narrative as the first Dead Space or Alien Isolation, at any rate. It could be a little less cliched. All the tropes are very familiar and you pretty much know how everything will play out after the introduction is done. Still, it served well enough to set up a cool setting with the half-terraformed moon with multiple types of constructions occupying it. Glad to hear it's selling despite the reviews and backlash. I feel like giving a repositioning mechanic, streamlining weapon switching, and onboarding players to the existing mechanics more clearly would go a long way to letting them build more interesting encounter design in a second game and really let the combat sing.
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Dec 8, 2022 03:48
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i definitely think there's potential for a TCP sequel, since soulslike survival horror combat is a relatively unexplored niche really, i think there'd be far less of a discourse surrounding the game if there wasn't the $70 price tag weighing it down. i'd absolutely buy and play it for $40 and probably have a good time, but $70 is a tall ask for 10 hours of kinda janky combat and a plot that feels like it was written via tvtropes Vermain fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Dec 8, 2022 |
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Dec 8, 2022 04:03
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Vermain posted:i definitely think there's potential for a TCP sequel, since soulslike survival horror combat is a relatively unexplored niche No way you get this level of production value for $40 bucks though, and the incredible visual flare is a lot of the draw for me.
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Dec 8, 2022 04:54
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Escape from Butcher Bay sure was great.
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Dec 8, 2022 06:15
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The Pirate Captain posted:Escape from Butcher Bay sure was great. revolutionary, even
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Dec 8, 2022 06:21
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They shouldve just copied the dodge input from Tlou2.
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Dec 8, 2022 06:51
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Nah, I like the way the dodge in this game works. I just think they need to teach its mechanics better and give some more intuitive crowd-control options.
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Dec 8, 2022 07:16
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It's a good thing these blind zombies in TCP don't hear my INCREDIBLY LOUD STEALTH TAKEDOWNS happening right next to them over and over as I wipe out the entire group. Utterly mindless loot pinata enemies, as long as you don't crouch walk directly into them they're a free kill. If one of them ever actually notices you and starts to attack there are of course instakill spike panels affixed to every single surface. I don't really care about the main story of the game but I'm interested in the lore of why this prison was built with massive spike walls installed absolutely everywhere.
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Dec 8, 2022 08:19
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:It's a good thing these blind zombies in TCP don't hear my INCREDIBLY LOUD STEALTH TAKEDOWNS happening right next to them over and over as I wipe out the entire group. Utterly mindless loot pinata enemies, as long as you don't crouch walk directly into them they're a free kill. If one of them ever actually notices you and starts to attack there are of course instakill spike panels affixed to every single surface. I don't really care about the main story of the game but I'm interested in the lore of why this prison was built with massive spike walls installed absolutely everywhere. If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean. 
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Dec 8, 2022 09:15
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:I've made it through 80% of the fights in TCP on Maximum Security by throwing zombies into spikes or off ledges. Every room in this entire prison has a huge patch of spikes on the wall every 10 feet, seems like a hazardous environment even before the outbreak. My favourites are the 10 foot tall crusher pillars that are spinning around at 3000 rpm with absolutely zero protection around them. NoEyedSquareGuy posted:It's a good thing these blind zombies in TCP don't hear my INCREDIBLY LOUD STEALTH TAKEDOWNS happening right next to them over and over as I wipe out the entire group. During some of the takedown animations we actually bumped into a blind zomibe that had wandered in too close but they still didn't figure out anything was going on. They were hilarious and I was happy every time more showed up because it was free resources or cash money. Shaman Tank Spec fucked around with this message at 09:43 on Dec 8, 2022 |
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Dec 8, 2022 09:41
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It’s a single player only game. It’ll be down to &40 by February and have patches to fix the bumpy poo poo by then. The trick is to not believe developers when they say a game is released.
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Dec 8, 2022 12:00
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The Pirate Captain posted:Escape from Butcher Bay sure was great. gently caress, there's a core memory. Time to find my copy
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Dec 8, 2022 13:41
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dogstile posted:gently caress, there's a core memory. I loaned my copy to a friend and it never came back He never even played the thing
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Dec 8, 2022 13:55
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Vermain posted:i definitely think there's potential for a TCP sequel, since soulslike survival horror combat is a relatively unexplored niche The main characters are pieces of poo poo though. The PC helped kill a colony with the pathogen by turning a blind eye (which turned out to be way more his fault than he lets on until the double flashback twist (what the gently caress)) and the other boarded his ship murdering his copilot.
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Dec 8, 2022 14:12
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Floor is lava posted:The main characters are pieces of poo poo though. The PC helped kill a colony with the pathogen by turning a blind eye (which turned out to be way more his fault than he lets on until the double flashback twist (what the gently caress)) and the other boarded his ship murdering his copilot. People earlier in the thread were saying it wasn't really the characters fault despite that twist I haven't played it, but it's interesting there's a difference of opinion
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Dec 8, 2022 14:25
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TheWorldsaStage posted:People earlier in the thread were saying it wasn't really the characters fault despite that twist Jacob is just a space trucker not asking questions about his highly suspicious cargo. That's the whole story. I would say both Callisto and Europa incidents would have happened without any character's intervention.
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Dec 8, 2022 14:56
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:I've made it through 80% of the fights in TCP on Maximum Security by throwing zombies into spikes or off ledges. Every room in this entire prison has a huge patch of spikes on the wall every 10 feet, seems like a hazardous environment even before the outbreak. Is it at least fun/funny like in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic?
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Dec 8, 2022 15:29
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Spudd posted:Is it at least fun/funny like in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic? Yeah but in DM&M, you're mostly (mostly) going through dungeons and stuff that you expect to be filled with pitfalls and death traps and spikes everywhere, so many spikes. I haven't played TCP but it sounds like the reason you never get to see the prison before things go bad is because if you did you'd probably die by just getting within arms reach of one of the myriad of hazards that people have, for some reason, set up. I mean to be fair it does sound like an accurate depiction of a capitalist's dream prison in an unregulated space.
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Dec 8, 2022 15:58
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Spudd posted:Is it at least fun/funny like in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic? Nah, because you get pitifully small amounts of throw mans off cliffs energy and your throws are weak as hell. Dark Messiah still reigns.
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Dec 8, 2022 16:10
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Shaman Tank Spec posted:Nah, because you get pitifully small amounts of throw mans off cliffs energy and your throws are weak as hell. Dark Messiah still reigns. The best part of the boot in DM&M is how weak it is unless you're near some sort of insta-kill thing, then suddenly it strikes with the fury of a god to send them twenty feet away.
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Dec 8, 2022 16:16
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Morpheus posted:Yeah but in DM&M, you're mostly (mostly) going through dungeons and stuff that you expect to be filled with pitfalls and death traps and spikes everywhere, so many spikes. I haven't played TCP but it sounds like the reason you never get to see the prison before things go bad is because if you did you'd probably die by just getting within arms reach of one of the myriad of hazards that people have, for some reason, set up. In space, OSHA can't regulate you
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Dec 8, 2022 16:57
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i do think you gotta play ball with the conceit of "our prison planet full of zombies also has a surfeit of bottomless pits and space meat grinders to throw them in"; it's not really any more absurd than "this police station i'm hiding from the zombie apocalypse in is filled to the brim with run time lengthening art puzzles" on its face
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Dec 8, 2022 17:12
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You just need to pull an RE3 and reuse some of the same areas but with a different character who's not afraid to go "WELL THIS poo poo'S FUCKIN' WEIRD", and it's all fine.
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Dec 8, 2022 17:17
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Resident Evil at least explains why the police station is a clockwork maze. Maybe TCP needed a throwaway line like "This prison was built in a failed meat packing facility and being a high security space prison we can't exactly shut down facilities to disconnect the grinders from the lighting system now can we?"
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Dec 8, 2022 17:38
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al-azad posted:Resident Evil at least explains why the police station is a clockwork maze. IIRC, that's only in RE2R, with it being presented without comment in the original
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Dec 8, 2022 17:49
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Original RE2's police station also had no restrooms. Really weird place.
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Dec 8, 2022 17:51
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Vermain posted:IIRC, that's only in RE2R, with it being presented without comment in the original It's at least talked about in the files in the original 2 that it was an art museum that Irons made into what it became. I think Outbreak file #2 also had a file or two about it E: sorry it's a Fandom page, but it's got a source list https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_Police_Station TheWorldsaStage fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Dec 8, 2022 |
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Dec 8, 2022 18:02
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Right, well, I finished Callisto Protocol and goddamn but that was mediocre. The setting was utterly forgettable, as were all the characters -- even more so than Dead Space. The way that Jacob and Dani end up with like, a comradely buddy relationship within about four conversations after they are forced to work together is deeply unconvincing. The one gimmick where after you complete a melee combo there is a chance that your aim will snap to the enemy so you can pull off a quick follow-up gunshot conflicts with the other gimmick, when enemies pop out a bunch of tentacles, and you have to shoot them there quickly before they mutate into a more powerful form, because the aim-snap usually aims at their head, making it actively more difficult to hit the tentacles. The whole melee combat system, in fact, is kind of bad IMO. Dodging trivialises any 1v1 fight when it works properly, but occasionally just... doesn't work for no apparent reason (yes, I know you have to alternate directions) and blocking is effectively almost pointless because you take chip damage. Even with the upgrade that reduces that, why would you block in melee when you can just dodge and take no damage at all? It's not like the counter attack is that much better than just evading and using the strong strike. On top of that, the enemies are boring. We've got "bipedal melee dude" "bigger bipedal melee dude" "bipedal melee dude with some armor" "bipedal melee dude with cancer arms" "bipedal melee dude who can't see" and our special exciting bonus enemies "bipedal dude who spits at you until you shoot him in the head once" and "quadrupedal stealth melee dude". Compare that to Dead Space, which gave you the standard melee dude, and then gave you the dude with the exploding arm, the dude with the belly full of parasites, the little triple-tentacle ranged enemies, the corpse-reviving manta-rays and the super-fast glitchy stasis guys, as well as having multiple different bosses as opposed to just "bigger bipedal melee dude with two heads." The way guns and ammo are handled is poo poo, because unlocking more guns means you find more different ammo types, which means more stacks to fill up your incredibly small inventory. The fact that all the weapons have identical upgrades except for slightly different alt-fires feels lazy. GRP batteries selling for only 10 credits is bizarre, and incentivises you to drop them in favour of more valuable items, which only exacerbates the pitifully tiny amount of energy you get for the GRP -- it is loving insane they made it drain energy constantly while you're just holding a dude. The unskippable shop purchase and death animations are incredibly tedious after the first couple of hours, and this is made worse by the horrible checkpointing, like that one section before the big moving platform with the fans. The stealth sections are incredibly slow and present zero challenge, since the enemies literally cannot hear anything except uncrouched footsteps, meaning you can shiv one right next to his buddy and then stomp on the corpse to get the items out without them noticing. Not being able to listen to audio logs while moving is stupid and meant that I barely listened to any, and it is such a bizarre choice given how much of the game you spend just slowly walking from one place to another. Encounter design is terrible, in as much as what they usually do is lock you in an arena, and spawn enemies as you move further into the area, which means is that the optimal playstyle is to advance until you hear the sound of an enemy going BLARGH, then backtrack a bit and stand there waiting until that enemy comes into Beating Range and kill it before you move on, because if you advance to meet it you will likely spawn more enemies and fights against two or more are vastly more difficult than fights against one. About the only unalloyed compliment I can give it is that it's very pretty! But it's not even interestingly pretty, it's just the most generic Metal Corridors With Meaty Chunks sci-fi setting; it doesn't even have the overall feeling of a consistent theme that you get in the original Dead Space which helps create a sense of placehood. I remember what the Ishimura looked like, but I'm damned if I'm going to be able to picture any locations from Black Iron in three months time. It's competent, and it would be harsh to say it's a bad game, but goddamn it is bland and there are so many really terrible design decisions. The_White_Crane fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Dec 8, 2022 |
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Dec 8, 2022 19:47
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 Had this happen last night.
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Dec 9, 2022 01:33
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SettingSun posted:Original RE2's police station also had no restrooms. Really weird place. Even if it did you'd probably have to solve a riddle every time you had to take a poo poo.
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Dec 9, 2022 01:48
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Anywhere is a bathroom with enough courage
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Dec 9, 2022 02:20
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