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Latest Update: Episode 10 - Souls Of The Damned (10/25)  Immortal: Unchained is a sci-fi action RPG published by Game Odyssey Ltd. and developed by Toadman Interactive. The game design takes inspiration from other entries in the action RPG genre like Too Human, The Surge (yay!), and yes of course, Dark Souls. With a focus on ranged combat instead of melee, it presents a lot of really fun and interesting twists on the usual close-encounters-of-the-varied-kind gameplay you'd expect from an action game. With a very tight gameplay balance and difficulty that teeters on the edge of just-fair-enough, Immortal: Unchained is really worth playing... or at least, worth watching! It released on PS4, XBone, and PC on September 7, 2018, and it is a contender for underrated hit of the year in this LPer's opinion. The game takes place in a cyberpunk alternate universe with a backstory heavily inspired by Norse mythology. We're gonna be steering around a Prisoner of the impenetrable dungeon located at the center of the universe. We've been released from our eternal bindings by Aras, the Prime caretaker of a mysterious and very rectangular Monolith, in an attempt to avert the End Times Which May Or May Not Be A Stand-In For Ragnarok. The Prisoner has amnesia, which Aras believes is a side effect of their long imprisonment- though we are assured that our memory will return in time. Aras tasks the Prisoner with repairing the Monolith by restoring three Nexus Orbs from which the Monolith draws its power, located on the lifeless snow planet of Arden, the human forest world of Veridian, and the abandoned Prime homeworld of Apexion. And so off we go, to prevent the galaxy from being consumed by chaos, and to destroy every drat gun-toting rotting undead zombie in our way.  Because this game got absolutely snubbed by reviewers and I'm not happy about it. I really really enjoy Immortal: Unchained and I think it didn't get any of the respect or attention it deserves for its uniqueness, presentation, and willingness to experiment. I did an LP of a game that got a similar treatment, The Surge, last year. This is a very comparable situation: Reviewers and journalists went into Immortal: Unchained expecting something completely different than what they got, something much more akin to the games it takes inspiration from. It wears those inspirations on its sleeve and so do the developers, but if you treat it like those games, it won't go well for you. I want to show off how Immortal: Unchained is actually a very good game with some roughness around the edges, and prove all of those no-credentials losers wrong by demonstrating that it's really fun and intricate with a fascinating story and world to boot. And I hope you'll join me! Also, this LP features a rendering technique I've affectionately called "Faux-K", allowing you to watch it at a much higher bitrate/quality than YT allows! Make sure to select the '4K' option even if you're not watching on a 4K screen to take full advantage of the quality boost!!  Please don't. Immortal: Unchained has some great story twists and if you do happen to know anything about it, please don't post about it until I mention it in a video. I will be doing bonus videos on the lore and world building of this game, so anything I miss will be covered there.           
CJacobs fucked around with this message at 12:03 on Oct 25, 2019 |
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Jan 3, 2019 14:37
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Jan 3, 2019 14:38
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 In the cyber-future, there is only cubes. Or at least, cubes, energy rifles, and an army of the undead. Welcome to the Cosmos, everybody. Welcome to Immortal: Unchained.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:38
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Well, if this is anywhere near as good as The Surge was, I'm definitely picking it up. Just one question though, how's M+KB with this game? Youtube's been a little wonky for me lately, so I'm kinda putting off watching the video for a bit.
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Jan 3, 2019 16:33
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This does seem really interesting. But it seems you run into parallax issues when shooting in close range?
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Jan 3, 2019 16:50
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CommissarMega posted:Well, if this is anywhere near as good as The Surge was, I'm definitely picking it up. Just one question though, how's M+KB with this game? Youtube's been a little wonky for me lately, so I'm kinda putting off watching the video for a bit. Mouse/keyboard is definitely the way to play this game unless you're a thumbstick-aimin' professional. A specific pro for me is that on m/kb you can use the 1-4 keys to select weapons and don't even have to touch the weapon wheel, which is very handy in the middle of a fight. Nuramor posted:This does seem really interesting. But it seems you run into parallax issues when shooting in close range? Yeah, the bullets physically come out of your character- which is cool, but unfortunately this game does not have a Serious Sam-esque crosshair that adjusts for distance (I really wish it did!). Your guy always points toward the center of the screen as well, even when there's something in the way. Those two issues together means you have to aim a bit left of the crosshair to hit enemies who are close. When you're locked on the game automatically shoots at the target though so it's not a big deal. CJacobs fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Jan 3, 2019 |
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Jan 3, 2019 16:55
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CJacobs posted:Mouse/keyboard is definitely the way to play this game unless you're a thumbstick-aimin' professional. A specific pro for me is that on m/kb you can use the 1-4 keys to select weapons and don't even have to touch the weapon wheel, which is very handy in the middle of a fight.
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Jan 3, 2019 17:12
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Good to know that the Firekeepers have loosened their membership rules around gender. Although this one seems to be breaking union regulations regarding vague explanations about what's going on and obscure, mystifying comments. "Universe started
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Jan 3, 2019 20:43
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I picked this up because of the first video because it looks like someone mashed Dark Souls and EYE Divine Cybermancy together, then gave it some lithium to calm EYE down so there's no malus validating or metastrudel, just guns and cyborgs. It's pretty fun so far!
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Jan 3, 2019 23:03
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Looks interesting, I've never bought any DS games or clones because every LP makes them look so fiddly and dreary to play except for the bosses. One focusing on guns with a sci-fi theme has my attention, though, I'll certainly be watching. But I already have a depressing feeling that there's going to be a super fiddly attribute system and even more fiddly crafting system.
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Jan 3, 2019 23:07
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There's no crafting in this game.
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Jan 3, 2019 23:08
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Best thing I've heard about this game yet. Will definitely be watching then.
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Jan 3, 2019 23:09
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I was gonna make a thread in Games for Immortal Unchained to coincide with the LP like I did for The Evil Within 2 and The Surge, but I haven't seen anyone on SA actually post about it without me prompting the discussion so I don't think it'd last very long. Hopefully this LP does get people to buy the game though because watching someone competent (read: not a games journalist) play it gives a better idea of what it's like. And plus the developers LOVE this game and love interacting with the base they do have- they even retweeted and responded to my tweet announcing the LP! https://twitter.com/ImmortalTheGame/status/1080824579772297217
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Jan 3, 2019 23:12
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Intorduce these guys to Deck 13, make The Surge 3 with gunstaves 
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Jan 3, 2019 23:19
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This game looks janky, but also kind of fun! Looking forward to seeing more!
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Jan 4, 2019 01:02
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Getting in on the ground floor to this one! Immortal Unchained is a weird game. It has a strange and kind of interesting setting, but at the same time, it's also so full of jank that I find it hard to actually play. The color scheme is like something right out of the original Unreal, basically everything about the aesthetic is 90s as gently caress. Personally, I bounced off of it really hard in the area past the intro section. I'm looking forward to you telling us all the ways that make this still a fun experience, so that I can get back into it! I'll probably start playing along at some point. Cardiovorax fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Jan 4, 2019 |
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Jan 4, 2019 02:01
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That is a hell of a prison cell.
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Jan 4, 2019 02:35
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I was going to play this based on some of your youtube videos, but then I ended up playing Bloodborne instead. I hope the levels get more visually interesting. Going from Bloodborne's intricately detailed world to these empty corridors is jarring, to say the least.
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Jan 4, 2019 02:44
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Blocky mega architecture and computer themed things. When do you get the GBE?
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Jan 4, 2019 04:07
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Cardiovorax posted:The color scheme is like something right out of the original Unreal, basically everything about the aesthetic is 90s as gently caress. Unreal came out when coloured lighting in 3D games was a new and novel thing; it's much more colourful than what we've seen of this game so far.  I definitely know what you mean, though. Anyway, my knee-jerk reaction to Immortal: Unchained is that it seems... not very good. I've seen almost nothing of it beyond this first episode of the LP though, so maybe my opinion of it will change? I am interested in seeing more of it.
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Jan 4, 2019 04:20
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I've played the game a bit farther than CJ has gotten so far and I think you'll know what I was talking about when you see it, but I don't want to spoil anything, so that's all I'll say.
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Jan 4, 2019 04:22
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I see the dudes who made the hellchitecture in NaissancE got another contract for their workNight10194 posted:I picked this up because of the first video because it looks like someone mashed Dark Souls and EYE Divine Cybermancy together, then gave it some lithium to calm EYE down so there's no malus validating or metastrudel, just guns and cyborgs. CJ's legs are ok
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Jan 4, 2019 05:39
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Dork Sours but guns actually sounds like something I could be good at because getting stepped on seemed to be the most common death I had in those other games.Antistar01 posted:Unreal came out when coloured lighting in 3D games was a new and novel thing; it's much more colourful than what we've seen of this game so far. The middle market is a place where you usually have to get a bit further into something to see if its actually any good rather than just presenting itself poorly. I'm reminded of Styx Master of Shadows which was a good stealth game but got picked apart a bit for missing a whole lot of those little things that can really impress people. It had basic animations, pictures instead of cutscenes, repeated model and texture work, but at its core was a good stealth game in a bland dressing. Some reviewers also poked at it for daring to be a stealth game where if the player got into combat it was actually going to be dangerous. The better middle market games work their core idea to the bone while doing just enough outside of it to hold things together. That does mean that a lot of them will never turn out to be great games (like having environments mostly made out of cubes), and if that core turns out to be not that good in the first place the game will fail even more miserably, but it does mean there are a surprising number of... surprises out there if you're willing to forgive some stuff. There are of course also games like Bound By Flames which do not turn out well at all.
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Jan 4, 2019 06:08
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I just really enjoy playing janky as gently caress passion project games.
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Jan 4, 2019 06:11
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Night10194 posted:I just really enjoy playing janky as gently caress passion project games. This game definitely embodies that!
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Jan 4, 2019 06:41
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Man, if that Aras character turns out to be the final boss, I'm going to stand in a corner of the thread and give CJ the stink eye. Also, I'm subscribed to CJacobs on Twitch, and you can too.
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Jan 4, 2019 22:38
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The thing that interests me about this game is how you absolutely cannot take any enemy in it lightly. Those little guys with the lovely slow assault rifles in the tutorial level? You don't pay attention to those guys, they will gently caress you.
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Jan 4, 2019 22:45
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Yeah, the game is in the best D.S.-game-that-shall-not-be-named tradition there. Imagine if early-game trash Hollows had guns. That's what they're like.Jonny Nox posted:Also, I'm subscribed to CJacobs on Twitch, and you can too.
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Jan 4, 2019 22:47
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I like that everyone else went straight to Too Human as a comparitor too. I'm assuming all the reviewers did too.Cardiovorax posted:
It's the free subscription I got with Prime. It is basically the least I could do. I couldn't make it to a stream when Youtube still bothered alerting me from time to time. Twitch is pretty much right out.
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Jan 4, 2019 22:57
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I think this is the first shooter I've ever played where I consider reload time to be extremely important and worth buffing.
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Jan 6, 2019 15:26
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I somehow get the feeling, that at least one of the artists is a big fan of the fourth "Hellraiser" movie. ("Bloodline" aka Hellraiser IN SPACE). That movie is also very awkwardly 90's in its aesthetics. Can we hope for Pinhead as a boss fight, CJ?
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Jan 6, 2019 17:17
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Having now played a whole bunch of this game since the first video made me pick it up, I think I like it better than The Surge. This is not to say The Surge is not great; The Surge is fantastic. But The Surge is also more like Dark Souls, while this is more of 'a shooter with a ton of Souls influences'. And I really dig how you have to take it on its own terms rather than playing it exactly like normal shooters.
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Jan 9, 2019 14:42
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Update coming tomorrow, probably once a week-ish if I manage to stay on schedule this time. In the meantime, shoutout to the Immortal Unchained devs for continuing to be very pleasant people! https://twitter.com/ImmortalTheGame/status/1082925468146380800 OutofSight posted:Can we hope for Pinhead as a boss fight, CJ? You'd be surprised!
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Jan 9, 2019 17:38
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It's really cool that the devs are not only supportive, but actively encouraging your LP of the game.
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Jan 10, 2019 06:16
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It's not "Taro Yoko calling Dark Id Nier's ambassador to the west" level, but it's pretty nice that they keep an eye on player efforts like that.Night10194 posted:This is not to say The Surge is not great; The Surge is fantastic. But The Surge is also more like Dark Souls, while this is more of 'a shooter with a ton of Souls influences'. And I really dig how you have to take it on its own terms rather than playing it exactly like normal shooters.
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Jan 10, 2019 13:04
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 Heads will roll, on the floor!
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Jan 12, 2019 00:13
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I like to imagine the Queen ambushing a bunch of prospectors and explorers and bashing their heads in with a rock, personally, to start her mighty zombie hell army. Just some dudes surveying a cool ice planet and wham. Rock.
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Jan 12, 2019 00:35
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I really like the bits of technology sometimes literally popping in through the more mystical parts of the game, like the cabling sticking out of the otherwise flawless eldritch-looking floor the Orb stood on. It's got that nice balance of familiar and WTF, at least by my lights. It's also good to hear we're coming back here- the level seemed a little short.
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Jan 12, 2019 01:23
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This is the part of the first zone that I was referring to further up. See all those areas full of green glow that start around 12 minutes in or so? That's the exact moment that I remember thinking "wow, this looks a hell of a lot like Unreal." Colored lighting all over the place to show off your dynamic shadows and shaders and what have you was one of typical aesthetic diseases of the late nineties. This game really hearkens back to that era in the strangest of ways and it gives me a really odd sense of nostalgia, for a title that I know I never played until a few months ago.CommissarMega posted:I really like the bits of technology sometimes literally popping in through the more mystical parts of the game, like the cabling sticking out of the otherwise flawless eldritch-looking floor the Orb stood on. It's got that nice balance of familiar and WTF, at least by my lights. It's also good to hear we're coming back here- the level seemed a little short.
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Jan 12, 2019 01:31
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I think the idea with SMGs besides their huge ammo cap is that you move full speed while locked on with them, and they all do +Critical damage. I think they're meant to be the crit/backstab weapon like a dagger in the Souls games, but effectively you can do the same with an AR while they're still effective on distant or armored targets, so SMGs fall by the wayside a bit. E: I also really appreciate that outside of weapon requirements, pretty much every stat in the game is useful and has a good argument for it. Reload speed really matters, since you can't dodge or sprint without interrupting reloads. Critical damage is a big deal. Melee is really strong if you invest. HP and Endurance help you with buffers against disaster. And Agility is useful because EVERY character is going to be dodging a lot; you cannot tank shells in this game. I think the weapon scaling traits, past getting them both to 10, might actually be the least useful but they're still good since you want +Healing and more energy for Power Shots. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Jan 12, 2019 |
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Jan 12, 2019 04:42
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