|
I don't think I could have scripted a better ending to this game than the one I got. Entered the last stage at age 20, though not entirely as intended.I spent probably 20 hours getting dunked on in the first two stages, first learning the basics and mastering the parry in the slums, then realizing the parry couldn't be used on everything and having to rebuild muscle memory on stage 2 to learn how to dodge. I sort of alternated between them, trying to get two parry-score upgrades on stage one and trying to figure out how to fight Sean/not get wrecked by the special enemies on stage 2. By the time I accomplished the former, the first stage was a cakewalk at age 20, by the time I figured out the latter Sean was pretty easy. Only thing I hadn't yet puzzled out was sweeps, but my parry skills worked well enough that I could trip Sean every time he tripped me. Museum was easy for the actual level since there are so many weapons, and since I didn't need to worry about score anymore I could use the shortcut to skip the latter half of the stage for once. Then I got wrecked in a whole new way. Trips suck, but after running away from her and watching her flail at nothing for a while the first phase patterns were easy enough to learn. Phase 2 sucked. I don't think I left the stage under 40 in about ten attempts. So I went back, fought and spared the first two bosses. Then I decided to spare the artist and learned that I was over dodging. I dodged her whole melee combo, which was dumb since if you just block/parry through it you hurt her structure. And her lethal dash in is both easier to parry and does a ton of structure damage when parried. Couple that with getting better in the first phase and bringing a weapon to the second part, and I'm into stage 4 at 20. The CEO is a chump, but this point. Dodge high, dodge high, dodge low, run in and crack her skull. Repeat. First phase done. I think I needed to try her about 4-5 times to get through without a death. And so I enter the last stage and just tear through them. No new enemies, max structure, max regain on dodge, max parry break, stronger weapons. I almost died once to those stupid long legged trip enemies, but I get to Yang at 20 expecting the fight of a lifetime. He is a chump. 40ish hours of practice and what are probably the best upgrades since you can't focus hit him at all, he has nothing. His sweep is too telegraphed, his combos can't break my structure so long as I throw a dodge in here and there, and while I'm dealing him next to no damage, I am dealing him a ton of structure damage, he's in the red before I know it. Phase 2, Kung Fu Harder, He still can't manage it. If there wasn't a spare enemy mechanic in the game I think I'd have spared him out of pure contempt at this point because the dude couldn't do anything to me. I'm not sure if he can actually kill you in stage 3. You don't have a life bar, and he broke my structure twice which feels like it should have killed me, but I powered through, broke him one last time and finished the final stage on my first attempt with no deaths. If there is one thing this game does, it is reward mastery. On my first playthrough I just barely beat the first stage at age 69 (nice). By my last I'm able to no-death the final boss on my first time fighting him, not because my stats are higher, but because practice has taught me. Some real Karate Kid poo poo going on here, and I love it.
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2022 21:46
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 14:03 |
|
|
signalnoise posted:One of my favorite things about the game are the little conceptual things you can pick up about how to play. I thought about Karate Kid myself earlier, specifically when I started casually deflecting and parrying, and it was like when Miyagi showed Daniel that he'd actually been training the whole time. Then I thought about wax on/wax off and realized that my left hand is defense and my right hand is offense, at all times. Huh, neat. I hadn't noticed that. I'm planning on trying a single play through run once I figure out how to back up my save file. And I'm definitely curious to try playing the game through on the easy difficulty just to see how much of a clown show it could be at that point.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2022 22:05
|
|
|
Well one more trip report. Game complete at age 48 on a fresh save, ten of those lost on boss 4 of all places since I got tripped a few times and got stuck in a loop of her down attacking me. It is incredibly satisfying to trounce the poo poo out of bosses who repeatedly killed me. First yang fight being a perfect may have been a bit of a fluke since he killed me twice this time.. For anyone who has definitively beaten it, I totally suggest a no skip victory lap. The first mini-boss on Sean's stage in particular is like "Dude, you're a regular enemy now. Don't even."
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2022 00:43
|
|
|
Agnostalgia posted:Yeah the square+cross throw is probably the most powerful technique once you get the hang of it. Toss enemies at other enemies to gain space in big fights, toss enemies into walls to do more damage and break their guards, toss enemies over railings for instant kills, and get way more damage out of Eye Strike on bosses. Anytime you avoid the last hit from an enemy's combo, get in the habit of tapping them once to open them to the throw. I forgot this move existed for basically my entire playtime. fml.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2022 02:34
|
|
|
Artelier posted:Please help me with Sean. He keeps (post-first playthrough spoiler)dying and I am trying to spare his low-life rear end!! What are your go-to moves to parry, or what are your combos (or lack thereof) when it comes to focusing on structure damage? Just block. You don't have to parry. To be more specific, blocking anything does chip structure damage to him even as it hits yours this piles up over time. So block a hit or two, dodge the end of the combo string and hit him a few times. Then rinse and repeat. In addition, a helpful tip is that when he is close to dying in phase one, sweep him with the focus move, then run to the side and grab a fresh staff for phase 2. Blocking him with a weapon equipped means that you can usually block a few hits, dodge a few hits and be stamina neutral. This is actually a generally useful tip for most of the game. If you are full on structure and aren't being pressed, always try to parry the first few attacks in a combo (parry early so even if you miss the window you still block) and aim to dodge the last hit. For bosses in particular, the dodge window only matters on the last hit, so dodging anything but that one is largely useless for anything other than focus and structure regain. Done right this gives you a couple chances to parry for strong damage, then the safe fallback dodge into a combo if you failed. Caros fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Feb 16, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2022 08:19
|
|
|
Waltzing Along posted:Made it P2 of B2. Slowly getting better in my hour or so a day. My recommendation usually goes like this Parry damage (requires high score, so if you can get it take it. Once you are better, grind out stage one for a good finishing age and try to get two of these. It is possible so long as you kill all the elites with a high multiplier, so don't get hit.) Weapon durability (useful for every boss) Max structure (useful everywhere) Weapon damage (again, bosses) Structure gain on dodge. Health on takedown doesn't help you with bosses or elite enemies which is where you will lose most of your lives. Focus amount up seems pointless to me when sweep is right there. Focus gain on dodge is useful but it's bad to rely on it. Reset death counter I never used.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2022 08:30
|
|
|
It has probably been mentioned in the thread, but on the off chance that it hasn't. There is a special charge attack with the sword once you've unlocked charged backfist. It requires a huge amount of wind up, instantly destroys your sword and is generally useless since it can be blocked and dodged by most elite enemies. However. Any enemy that gives you dialogue options won't block or dodge your first attack, nor will they attack you while you stand there posing in preparation for their demise. In practice this means using the r2 dodge to quickly close to just outside of their 'activation' area (about a full body length), then holding down heavy attack through two animation changes. The attack has good range so you should hit them and instant kill. This is useful on every stage once swords are introduced, but it is most useful on the two midbosses in the bottom section of stage 4. You can carry a sword into the first one, and find a sword on the wall in the second fight. Once you're good enough you won't really have, to, but I hate the stupid long legged dancer enemies so I stab her every time out of spite at this point.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2022 06:43
|
|
|
Huh. So one thing that is worth noting regarding the earlier conversation about the structure break upgrade. Apparently the taunt (number keys on the keyboard and right arrow on the controller) gives a big boost to your score multiplier. I knew for a while you could avoid and parry to boost it, but that was time consuming and not reliable. Taunt lets you jack your multiplier up on the first enemy in a stage, which on the first building is a difference between 330 max score and 550. It also lets you fix your score on the last enemy in a crowd if you take a smack, and if you're really desperate (I've been doing a bunch of full game runs) you can use it on midboss enemies if they clip you during the fight to boost yourself back up and guarantee you get the full 500 they're usually worth from max multiplier. This pretty much only matters for trying to get the max structure upgrades, and in my case only when I'm trying to get two in one stage, but it makes it a hell of a lot more reliable to be able to throw out a trip, call someone a tosser, then go right back in.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2022 08:50
|
|
|
Agnostalgia posted:Three revives in a row puts you at 26, so I only can die twice on the second phase. I can get through phase one with no deaths consistently now, half the time with no damage; that's how much harder the second phase is. As a suggestion, bring the staff in from right outside (trip the welder so he doesn't damage it on you). Then let him trip you early on in the first phase. Kick the crap out of him, go back and grab it before the start of the second phase. This puts you in phase 2 with an undamaged weapon which should help a lot. Or just keep beating your face against it. Best advice I have there is figure out which attacks you are best at dodging. Dodge those, block the rest and you can whittle his structure while maintaining your own. On an unrelated note about the final boss Can you die on phase 3? It really feels like you can't, but I'm not sure if I just have his number or if it is impossible.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2022 00:26
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 14:03 |
|
|
For anyone struggling the boss there is a combo which exists (but probably should be patched) that is fairly strong and easy to execute. Three heavy hits for good damage, followed by a hard cancel (you have to practice the timing) on your sweep will leave them on their rear end every time. Tons of damage against Sean, kuroki and a lot of the mini bosses. Doesn't work great against boss 4 or yang, and who cares about fajar, dude is a chump. .
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2022 19:14
|
|