|
 The Game Shadow Tower Abyss is a first person Action RPG developed by From Software and released for the Playstation 2 in 2003. It is the second in a series of horror themed spin offs of their popular King's Field series and can be considered a direct influence on their recent "Soulsborne" titles. Unlike the original Shadow Tower, this game was never released outside of Japan. Luckily some dedicated fans have produced a very competent fan translation. The LP Shadow Tower Abyss is a very atmospheric game and I wouldn't want to ruin the experience by trying to talk over it. This will be a subtitled commentary LP. I will do my best to be as informative as possible with my commentary. Though I do wish to show as authentic an experience as possible I will be doing some light editing for the sake of pacing. Videos will be broken up by area and will be kept to about 30 minutes each. Updates will come as quickly as I can produce them. Ideally I will be able to finish before Dark Souls 3 comes out.                    Databook Shrine Below the Forest "Vast ruins under the forest that enshrine strange creatures."     Quiet Shore "Piercing cold river leading to the central tower." Blue Light Area "Those here endlessly monitor the calm blue light." Insect Area "A maze-like insect nest covered in slime."       Poison Area "Clear away the poisonous fumes to survive."      White Wall Area "White-walled area of masters and servants."      Scouring Rush "Realm covered in ivy."        Waterfall World "Realm hidden by endless water. Nobody will save the drowning."         
AllisonByProxy fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Mar 19, 2016 |
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 14:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 09:45 |
|
|
Video is set to private?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 14:14
|
|
|
Sorry, should be fixed!
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 14:17
|
|
|
This is going to be cool. It's interesting that the PC seems to be a modern explorer who brought his trusty colt .45.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 14:55
|
|
|
The game looks really cool, I'll be trying to follow even though subtitled vids aren't usually my thing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 14:58
|
|
|
I fuckin' love From's weird PS1 and PS2 poo poo. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:32
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:This is going to be cool. It's interesting that the PC seems to be a modern explorer who brought his trusty colt .45. From what I heard, the manual says the PC just got lost going to his grandmas house and ended up in here instead. Wrong game, that's the original Shadow Tower This game looks better then I thought. Demicol fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:39
|
|
|
Sweet! A pillar of the Bonfireside Chat community doing an LP of this game just in time for the show's coverage of it. Shadow Tower just seemed like King's Field 3.5 to me, with little to recommend it other than the enemy designs, but this is already a huge departure and much cooler. Looking forward to the rest.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:41
|
|
|
Thanks! It's true that the BFC guys covering it is what finally convinced me to play it. I was initially planning on doing the first one but man, that's a tough nut to crack. I totally suggest listening to the BFC episodes covering it though. Part 1 http://duckfeed.tv/bonfiresidechat/84 Part 2 http://duckfeed.tv/bonfiresidechat/85
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:49
|
|
|
Will you be looking at the original Shadow Tower after you're done with this game?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:50
|
|
|
I could maybe do some bonus videos on it or something but I certainly won't be doing a full LP of it. It's too old school tough for me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 15:57
|
|
|
That's fine. I mostly just wanted to see how similar/different the two games are.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 16:04
|
|
|
New episode! Shorter episode covering the sort of hub area.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 16:22
|
|
|
Oh my word thank you.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 17:11
|
|
|
AllisonByProxy posted:It's too old school tough for me. You meant to say that Abyss is pussified nu-gaming, didn't you?  oh god I still get flashbacks to the original ST, that poo poo's terrible  (also, nice to see that it's getting an actual LP with actual commentary)
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 17:15
|
|
|
This game looks extremely cool, thanks for showing it off. It's kind of amazing how many clumsy but interesting titles are stuffed into From's back catalogue. It wasn't until I heard about demon's souls that I even knew they made anything other than Armored Core.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 19:03
|
|
|
The first two videos have inspired me to dig up my old modded ps2 and try to get it hooked up to the tv. This will probably go terribly...
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 19:24
|
|
|
I think I got reasonably far into the game, before backing myself into a corner thanks to a lack of resources. This is still a great game, and it feels more like a survival horror game than anything. I really wish there'd been more spin-offs from the Kings Field series like this, it's a very unique-feeling game.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 19:43
|
|
|
One thing that really stands out is this game could use a crosshair when you're using your gun, especially with the focus on hitting specific parts to knock off limbs.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 19:57
|
|
|
Yeah a crosshair would be helpful but we'll make due without it. EC posted:The first two videos have inspired me to dig up my old modded ps2 and try to get it hooked up to the tv. This will probably go terribly... Good luck. I hope this doesn't mean that you're going to stop watching the LP though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 20:54
|
|
|
This game just drips atmosphere, it's so good . Expect a lot of gushing on my end. (Oh by the way might want to ask about those random slowdowns in the tech support.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 21:19
|
|
|
Rigged Death Trap posted:
I loved your cameo in the first episode!
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 21:55
|
|
|
I'm starting to notice a pattern in Fromsoft land: If a mysterious king/scholar says 'Hey man, I got this secret spear/soul arts/this awesome blood' you really shouldn't trust them. It always ends in a bewildered outsider picking through the ruins of your entire civilization while it's populated by wondrous and strange horrors.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 21:58
|
|
|
Rigged Death Trap posted:This game just drips atmosphere, it's so good Thanks. The slowdowns don't happen very often. I'm sure it's a symptom of trying to emulate the game and capture the video on my not super great pc.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 22:46
|
|
|
As requested, a look back at the original Shadow Tower for PS1. I will continue these every once in a while if the demand is there. AllisonByProxy fucked around with this message at 13:11 on Feb 27, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 23:04
|
|
|
Oh sweet. I loved this game, huge improvement over the original Shadow Tower even if the addition of guns made things way too easy near the end.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 23:21
|
|
|
So is this why Dark souls 2 spiders drop all that weird poo poo? Interesting So was Shadow Tower 1 supposed to be an expansion pack/retooling along the lines of what Master of Arena and Phantasma were to Armored Core? Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 00:14
|
|
|
Rigged Death Trap posted:So is this why Dark souls 2 spiders drop all that weird poo poo? Interesting Of King's Field you mean? There are some similarities but King's Field plays somewhat like a Metroidvania in that you explore and backtrack to places you couldn't previously get to while Shadow Tower is mostly a straight crawl down to the bottom of the tower and introduced durability and overall I'd say a bit tougher than King's Field. It's cool that Shadow Tower 1 is also being LPed. I finished that game under the impression I somehow missed a large chunk of the game and certain things that I expected to come up were just dropped, so it'll be nice to see the LP if AllisonByProxy is willing to continue it, if I did actually miss some optional areas.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 00:20
|
|
|
Genuinely surprised at how fluid the camera is in that game. How does it control if there's no native analogue support?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 00:48
|
|
|
I am amazed how fast paced this game seems considering the original Shadow Tower and most of the King's Field games I've seen looking achingly slow.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 00:53
|
|
|
Kaboom Dragoon posted:Genuinely surprised at how fluid the camera is in that game. How does it control if there's no native analogue support? By default the original Shadow Tower uses the d-pad to move forward/back and turn left/right. L1 and R1 strafe left and right and criminally L2 and R2 are used to look up and down. The face buttons are used for attacks. For the LP I used the in game remapping to change the d-pad to move/strafe, the face buttons to look/turn, and the shoulder buttons to attack. This basically mimics one of the default settings for Abyss. I then used joy2key to map the d-pad and face button inputs to my analog sticks. It's not perfect but it works out okay. Funnily enough THE default Type 1 setting for Abyss has move/turn on the left stick and sword swings on the right stick with looking/strafing on the shoulders. I'm using Type 4 however which controls like a normal dual analog first person game with the weapon swings on the 4 shoulder buttons.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 01:02
|
|
|
Next episode is live! Insect Area "A maze-like insect nest covered in slime." As the title implies this part of the game features lots and lots of bugs. AllisonByProxy fucked around with this message at 12:53 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 03:17
|
|
|
Demicol posted:From what I heard, the manual says the PC just got lost going to his grandmas house and ended up in here instead. I know I always load up on weapons and hire a Sherpa to visit my mema.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 03:48
|
|
|
Oops, that was about the original Shadow Tower, for some reason I thought it was this one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 03:52
|
|
|
Ah jeez it's so beautiful. It's the dream game that includes everything I've wanted, but that I never knew existed. As soon as you pulled up the clunky looking inventory screen and I saw that the protagonist inexplicably carried a 1911 I was intrigued as hell.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 07:04
|
|
|
Loving the LP, super glad to finally get a chance to see this game in action and actually understand what the hell is going on. Not usually a fan of subtitled VLPs, but I'm getting used to it. I also had no idea there was an original Shadow Tower, or that it actually got ported over. Is there any sort of monster codex in the game that gives some info on...whatever the hell these things are?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 11:28
|
|
|
Arcade Rabbit posted:Is there any sort of monster codex in the game that gives some info on...whatever the hell these things are? Yes there is. I'll add a section to the OP about creatures. Edit: Done! AllisonByProxy fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 12:34
|
|
|
Next episode is live. New enemies:
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 16:16
|
|
|
God bless you for doing this. Always good to see more From Soft LPs, especially for a gem like this. Their first person dungeon crawlers always had steady improvements with each game, and this one culminates into something that shows lessons were learned over the years and is pretty special in its own way. Really like the subtitle commentary, especially with the font and transitions. Fits well with the in game text.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 17:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 09:45 |
|
|
I'm glad you're enjoying it! I can't believe I've avoided these titles for so long. I'll probably do a deep dive into King's Field next. Also, here's more classic Shadow Tower!  I'm starting to hit a groove with this game. Maybe it's from all the practice with Abyss but it's feeling a lot better than it did last time I tried it. AllisonByProxy fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Feb 26, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 17:49
|
|