I looked up Valdis Story because I was curious. It sounds like they had 3 years of development, plus they started a prototype in 2007.
Salt looks like it took them around 2 years give or take based on their previous game’s release date and a side project in there too. They also had the benefit of an existing engine and toolset, though they had to get familiar with PS4 development I guess.
I watched a dev stream once and the workflow seemed tolerably fast but tedious. Tweaking animation frames takes a hell of a long time. I think he spent the entire stream working on a few of the many attacks for one boss. I think I’d take the Kickstarter and outsource option…
Heh, the Destructoid review mentions the similarities to Souls games go beyond what we’ve seen so far in preview footage. They borrow the NPC quest structure and they copy (pay tribute to?) a certain distinctive zone. You might not want to read the review to avoid spoilers for that one.
I still don’t care! I’m hyped about build and weapon variety. The game will be about 20 hours long, so I’ll probably only do 2 or 3 playthroughs, hopefully with multiple weapons for each. It unlocks tonight at midnight Eastern Time.
I played for a little bit. It seems solid! The minimal movesets are kind of a problem as I suspected, so I’ll have to keep switching weapons, and parrying the hell out of everything will always be fun.
I actually died to the boss a couple times because I was trying to fat roll with the knight class. The shield works just as well, duh. One weird thing is stamina comes back really fast. So you can run out but you’re never scrambling. At least not that I’ve seen so far.
I really like it so far; only got 45 minutes in last night but it’s solid through the first boss. Deeper than I’d expected, even with the simple moveset. I’m excited to dig further in tonight!
I finally made it to a zone I hadn’t seen on Twitch during pre-release streaming. You’ll know it when you get there. Pretty neat, and pretty damn hard too!
Love my scythe.
See this reddit post for information on some secret/advanced moves.
I grabbed this last night and only had time to play for like 20 minutes. I really like the art style and it seems pretty fun. A bit confused about some things though, you guys have any beginner tips?
Well, like every Souls game, there are a ton of obscure things but none of it really matters. Just explore at your own pace and ask questions (or check the wiki) if you’re dying to know.
I assume you’re a Souls veteran. The structure is very similar.
Well, I played 200+ hours in DS2 but only just started DS1 and have only gotten to Capra Demon so far. I also played quite a bit of Bloodborne. Not sure that is sufficient for veteran status but yeah I’m familiar. The whole sanctuary with the “three gods” thingy was a bit confusing - I guess I joined a “convenant” which somehow allowed me to power up the sanctuary? The relationship between covenants and “bonfires” was not present in the souls games so that was a bit strange and not sure if I have locked myself into anything by taking that guys candelabra at the beginning.
Also started with a Paladin but think I might start over with a non-fat rolling class.
Yeah the initial creed choice is no big deal. They’re all very similar. Just pick one that sounds cool. You might care about the minor differences on a second playthrough.
It’s quick and easy to try new characters, so you might as well experiment until you find one you like. Or just take most of your armor off. That’s what I did with my paladin.
One thing I should mention: daggers are pretty underpowered overall. Everything else is fine.
Very positive review at Eurogamer. The only things they criticize are the art style and the fact that it’s so derivative of Dark Souls. Silver medal recommended though.
What does converting a sanctuary to your creed (which I believe you can do with one of the items you elect to start the game with) get you? I beat the first boss and got to Bandit’s pass sanctuary and wondering whether it’s worth wasting that item on that?
EDIT: I read the wiki a bit and if I understand correctly I can only summon NPCs to a sanctuary that is of my creed? So converting one with this item allows me to do that there and also not “desecrate” it, which you can do by trying to level up there?
You used the Stained Page item to desecrate a sanctuary, you can level up at any creed. Being your creed allows you to summon the different NPCs, but also gets you whatever perks you’ve gotten from leveling up your creed with a leader NPC (regardless if he is in that sanctuary or not). Things like extra healing pots, stamina restore pots, or getting a fire weapon enchant item whenever you rest.
Yeah it’s pretty minor, but if you’ve used the leader to level up your creed, the extra benefits like potions can be useful if you’re like one heal away from beating a boss.
In general I wouldn’t worry about it until later though. You can beat the game without ever converting or desecrating.
