Junior Adventurer's Guild: December - Darksiders

[Fitz]

This one is pretty cool. It feels like a mix between Zelda and DMC, but still retains it's own sense of style and vibe. A strong plus of the game is that it jumps into it from the very start. Just pure demon/angel slaying fun from the very first minutes. It's also pretty short, which for me is a plus.

The time needed to beat the game listed here in the thread is exaggerated. You can beat this in about 12hours, tho granted I did know how to go through parts of the game because I played it years ago.

The music here is superb and the game did a great job of introducing a world/ip that is still going strong.

► Show Spoiler

[wndrbr]

Is it just me, or the sound mixing in cutscenes is borked? All of the voice lines sound like NPCs are standing in the room with me and not in the game world.

[J1M]

Is it just me, or the sound mixing in cutscenes is borked? All of the voice lines sound like NPCs are standing in the room with me and not in the game world.

It's a problem with the Warmastered edition. There's a link above for a solution.

[Faceless_Sentinel]

Is it just me, or the sound mixing in cutscenes is borked? All of the voice lines sound like NPCs are standing in the room with me and not in the game world.

You need this:

Is the Warmastered edition poopy or what?

It's good overall. Just make sure you turn off Chrome FX and the vignette in the options menu. Also you probably want to use this guide to fix the low volume in cutscenes:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =925390466

The second game's remaster is the one that's terrible. They ****** the art style up and darkened everything. Just download the original off the GoG pirate site if you want to play it.

[WhiteShark]

I am installing the famous traditional RPG Warsiders: Darkmastered Edition.

[J1M]

I am installing the famous traditional RPG Warsiders: Darkmastered Edition.

Fake news! Darksiders is not famous.

[Bertram_Tung]

This is an Underrail thread.

[WhiteShark]

I am installing the famous traditional RPG Warsiders: Darkmastered Edition.

Fake news! Darksiders is not famous.

I remember a normie-ish friend playing noted cRPG Darksiders when it was new, and it has gone on to spawn a whole franchise, so I disagree! Thinking about watching my friend playing it has also jogged my memory about a certain endgame spoiler I witnessed. Unfortunate. I hope I'm misremembering!

That aside, is there a way to make the camera not follow the direction I'm moving? I hate it. I only want the camera to turn when I tell it to.

[J1M]

I am installing the famous traditional RPG Warsiders: Darkmastered Edition.

Fake news! Darksiders is not famous.

I remember a normie-ish friend playing noted cRPG Darksiders when it was new, and it has gone on to spawn a whole franchise, so I disagree! Thinking about watching my friend playing it has also jogged my memory about a certain endgame spoiler I witnessed. Unfortunate. I hope I'm misremembering!

That aside, is there a way to make the camera not follow the direction I'm moving? I hate it. I only want the camera to turn when I tell it to.

I don't see a setting for this, but if you are making any input on the camera stick it will not apply the default camera. Applying very slight input with the right thumbstick might get what you are looking for. Not an ideal solution.

[J1M]

As far as a badge goes, I could not get the blue horse skull with runes around it used as the saving/loading animation to work at 19px. It was also difficult to get the silhouette of War on his horse recognizable. So if anyone can get either of those ideas to work it would be welcome.

In the end I went with this piece of concept art which depicts the central McGuffin of the plot, the 7th Seal representing four horsemen:

I have no idea what that pin is 2bh

Use this one:

[rusty_shackleford]

Latest badge added @Oyster Sauce

[WhiteShark]

It's been a while since I've played a 3D game like this. I don't like how inconsistent ledge grabbing is. There's no visual distinction between grabbable ledges and ungrabbable ones. You have to read the dev's intention from the area layout. Likewise for rubble and gaps on which it looks like you should be able to stand or through which you should be able to pass but are actually walls. It feels very jarring after having just played a metroidvania that encouraged me to check every nook and cranny.

The other thing that disappointed me was that I couldn't use the... throwable thing to transfer fire from one of the burning bats to a bomb. I thought for sure it was setting up for that because the game had just introduced that mechanic in the previous room and then halfway through the next a burning bat appeared in the middle of another puzzle involving unlit bombs. Even if that wasn't the intended solution, it would have been cool if it worked.

While I'm listing minor complaints, I also don't like that health and wrath chests appear on the map when you get the area's hoard seeker. An unopened health chest tricked me into backtracking across an entire dungeon. They could have at least distinguished them with a different icon. It would also be nice if the fast travel didn't require so much walking. The paths that assemble in front of you adorned with glowing runes do look cool, but seeing it once was enough. I'd rather just be warped to my destination.

If anyone's wondering, playing on Hard is probably a mistake. I chose Hard out of habit, but I think it's mostly just making everything very spongey, and the bosses (at least so far) seem to lean towards the puzzle side, so Hard doesn't do much for them. Regular enemies aren't particularly proactive, so, while they do more damage on Hard (or so I assume), it rarely comes up because it's easy to juggle or just swing wildly into a crowd to keep them all stunlocked.

On the plus side, I enjoy the game's aesthetic, the combat is decent enough, and the Japanese dub is quality. I'm interested to see where the plot goes. I hope we get to deal more with angels and less with demons later.

[Fitz]

The difficulty isn't called hard but apocalyptic. That alone is reason enough to play on it.

The difficulty gets more insane in Darksiders 2, but this is a nice introduction of what's to come. If you play both the games you get to see how the foundations were laid in the first game and improved in the sequel. As a gamer that's a very gratifying experience.

[WhiteShark]

The difficulty isn't called hard but apocalyptic. That alone is reason enough to play on it.

Ah. I was a victim of a lazy translation, then. Not that knowing would have made me choose otherwise. I've played lots of games with foreboding difficulty names and even direct warnings from the dev that the mode is untested and likely not even humanly possible only to find that it was just a little challenging. You can never really know until you try.

[WhiteShark]

Griever was a right pushover. What was the Destroyer thinking picking guys like these to guard his tower?

Side note: do NOT Google 'darksiders destroyer'. I just did to make sure I was backtranslating the name correctly and now I know for sure my half-remembered spoiler is correct.

[Faceless_Sentinel]

...
If anyone's wondering, playing on Hard is probably a mistake. I chose Hard out of habit, but I think it's mostly just making everything very spongey...

This is 90% if not more of "Hard" difficulty in computer games in general. I don't know a game that would not multiply enemy stats on a coefficient depending on difficulty (hard = x2, ultra hard = x3, and so on) and do something more.

[WhiteShark]

...
If anyone's wondering, playing on Hard is probably a mistake. I chose Hard out of habit, but I think it's mostly just making everything very spongey...

This is 90% if not more of "Hard" difficulty in computer games in general. I don't know a game that would not multiply enemy stats on a coefficient depending on difficulty (hard = x2, ultra hard = x3, and so on) and do something more.

As lazy as it is, some games do become more fun just by boosting enemy stats. Depending on the type of game, it can really force the player to optimize his tactics or master the mechanics. This game isn't one of those.

[rusty_shackleford]

The difficulty isn't called hard but apocalyptic. That alone is reason enough to play on it.

Ah. I was a victim of a lazy translation, then. Not that knowing would have made me choose otherwise. I've played lots of games with foreboding difficulty names and even direct warnings from the dev that the mode is untested and likely not even humanly possible only to find that it was just a little challenging. You can never really know until you try.

You are American, stop playing games in weebistani

[Fitz]

That's an oddly communistic demand.

[J1M]

...
If anyone's wondering, playing on Hard is probably a mistake. I chose Hard out of habit, but I think it's mostly just making everything very spongey...

This is 90% if not more of "Hard" difficulty in computer games in general. I don't know a game that would not multiply enemy stats on a coefficient depending on difficulty (hard = x2, ultra hard = x3, and so on) and do something more.

First FEAR maybe?

[Faceless_Sentinel]

The difficulty isn't called hard but apocalyptic. That alone is reason enough to play on it.

Ah. I was a victim of a lazy translation, then. Not that knowing would have made me choose otherwise. I've played lots of games with foreboding difficulty names and even direct warnings from the dev that the mode is untested and likely not even humanly possible only to find that it was just a little challenging. You can never really know until you try.

You are American, stop playing games in weebistani

If you do not practice language that is not your native, you starting to forget it. RPGHQ increased my english like nothing before and im very grateful for this. English is pretty easy language and i still need constant practice to not forget it, not to mention grama and accent. Japanese is far more complicated language, i think watching anime in japanese and reading manga is not enough, you need more practices too keep it on desired level (watching movies in english, youtube in english, manga in english keeps me in shape and saves from awful localizations), so he plays games in japanese. I can understand that.

[rusty_shackleford]

Ah. I was a victim of a lazy translation, then. Not that knowing would have made me choose otherwise. I've played lots of games with foreboding difficulty names and even direct warnings from the dev that the mode is untested and likely not even humanly possible only to find that it was just a little challenging. You can never really know until you try.

You are American, stop playing games in weebistani

If you do not practice language that is not your native, you starting to forget it. RPGHQ increased my english like nothing before and im very grateful for this. English is pretty easy language and i still need constant practice to not forget it, not to mention grama and accent. Japanese is far more complicated language, i think watching anime in japanese and reading manga is not enough, you need more practices too keep it on desired level (watching movies in english, youtube in english, manga in english keeps me in shape and saves from awful localizations), so he plays games in japanese. I can understand that.

Anyone worth speaking to will learn my language

[Faceless_Sentinel]

You are American, stop playing games in weebistani

If you do not practice language that is not your native, you starting to forget it. RPGHQ increased my english like nothing before and im very grateful for this. English is pretty easy language and i still need constant practice to not forget it, not to mention grama and accent. Japanese is far more complicated language, i think watching anime in japanese and reading manga is not enough, you need more practices too keep it on desired level (watching movies in english, youtube in english, manga in english keeps me in shape and saves from awful localizations), so he plays games in japanese. I can understand that.

Anyone worth speaking to will learn my language

rustyposting again

[rusty_shackleford]

If you do not practice language that is not your native, you starting to forget it. RPGHQ increased my english like nothing before and im very grateful for this. English is pretty easy language and i still need constant practice to not forget it, not to mention grama and accent. Japanese is far more complicated language, i think watching anime in japanese and reading manga is not enough, you need more practices too keep it on desired level (watching movies in english, youtube in english, manga in english keeps me in shape and saves from awful localizations), so he plays games in japanese. I can understand that.

Anyone worth speaking to will learn my language

rustyposting again

Point out where I'm wrong

[logincrash]

Anyone worth speaking to will learn my language

rustyposting again

He's right, though. English is easy to learn and being unable to speak it in today's day and age is a strike against you.

[WhiteShark]

I have completed acclaimed role playing video game Masteredsiders: Wardark Edition.

► Random Screenshots from Final Cutscene

"There's something you taught me." Also, achivements!


"Surely you knew it was a one way ticket."


"Are you listening?"

And here are a pair of screenshots of War roleplaying as an asteroid falling infinitely through empty space after a cutscene-induced bug:

► Show Spoiler

[WhiteShark]

@Fitz, was that screenshot intended to be proof of completion? I'm badging you on that assumption, but let me know if it wasn't.

[Bertram_Tung]

Good guy Whiteshark gives badges to frens
Bad guy Oyster_Sauce takes badges away and drives away corncake

[WhiteShark]

I'm going to put my AAR in spoiler tags for both plot and mechanics spoilers.

► AAR

• Am I understanding correctly that it ends without revealing who tricked Abaddon into his carrying out his ill-fated plan? When I saw the cutscene in Eden, I thought it was meant to be Uriel, but it turned out otherwise.
• I still didn't like having to do so much walking for fast travel, but I thought hiding some collectables in there was pretty clever.
• Really wish the bosses had been more action and less puzzle, and that it wasn't so easy to brute force everything. Even on Hard, the few action bosses could be facerolled with Stoneskin and Chaos Form. Both against Uriel and in Abaddon's second phase, I basically just mashed attack until I won, and the fact that I got hit by almost everything didn't make a difference.
• There were some chests shown on the map that didn't seem to exist in reality during the backtracking phase of the game. I assume there was some environmental puzzle or something that would make them appear like the one in the first dungeon with the torches, but I couldn't figure them out. I was so close to finishing the game that I decided to just ignore them.
• There's a lot more stuff to buy than souls with which to buy. I spent zero souls on subweapons (not counting the gun and shuriken upgrades) and there were still things I couldn't afford before the end, such as maxing out all the sword moves or upgrading all the Wrath abilities. I was satisfied with my purchases so it didn't bother me, but I can imagine someone else thoroughly regretting his choices. I was glad @J1M warned us about sword superiority.
• I don't know what the deal with the zombie in a top hat was. I fought him three times during the backtracking phase and there didn't seem to be any particular reward for doing so other than whatever collectable he happened to be guarding. He made a comment in the encounter that made me think it was the last one, but nothing special happened after I won.
• The Zelda influence was obvious, but I wasn't expecting to find a Portal gun. I think the Portal puzzles were some of the stronger ones.

I don't think Zeldalikes are for me, but I had fun. I don't regret my vote.

[Fitz]

The zombie in the top hat is a wink to the jester in DMC3 (However, checking the wiki doesn't confirm that). He makes a return in all later Darksider games. Specifically in the sequel you can trade blows with him in the Crucible. To reach him you've got to beat all 100 waves of enemies in one sitting. Which is easier said than done since the game crashes pretty often when playing there.

As for the story - it gets more convoluted in Darksiders 2. It makes sense when you play it but there were so many twists and turns and unknowns that I can't recall the full picture. A theme both here and in the sequel seems to be that there is always one greater evil that's being teased right as the credits roll. So you don't get to see the full picture. Maybe you do once you finish the entire series, but I am not one to know that.

Anyway, for me Darksiders 1 is perfect if you are in your early teens, but lacks the complexity for people with more gaming experience. You play this game for the badassery and powerfantasy factor, not so much for the story.