You people over sold me on this game. The melee combat is absolutely some of the worst I've seen in a first person game. I get that you can do some "interactive" stuff with the environment but holy shit the combat is hot garbage

>>717332482 (OP)
I've never liked it personally. I rented it back in the day and felt cheated that I "wasted" my vidya pick for the weekend. It's fun for about an hour

>>717332482 (OP)
>>717332645
The Elder Scrolls is more your speed

>>717332482 (OP)
well, yeah
its a 20 year old game.
you gotta understand man, at the time your choices for combat was FPS shooterman where MAYBE theres a red barrel to shoot, or melee combat that mostly consisted of swinging a crowbar and then moving out of the way.
the game was revolutionary, but in the past 20 years games have advanced beyond it.

>>717332645
i played the demo on steam, that cave level sold me as soon as i hit the corner with an ice spell and got to watch orcs just FLY off the edge.

>>717332482 (OP)
Still Arkane's best game, and miles better than slop like Dishonored.

>>717332482 (OP)
It's more fun in co-op

>>717332482 (OP)
>WHERE IS THE ROLL BUTTON!

>>717332482 (OP)
this is a magechad game, meleekeks should kneel

>anon didn't show some skill before he got killed

>STRANGAH

>>717332482 (OP)
>nooo the combat isn't fun!!
The game gives you multiple approaches to every encounter.
Uncreative faggot.

>>717332709
i played the demo on steam, that cave level sold me as soon as i hit the corner with an ice spell and got to watch orcs just FLY off the edge.
For me it was the chandelier through the floor.
Kino.

>>717332482 (OP)
>>717332645
VERY low quality bait

What kind of tips should I know when building a character?

>>717333326
Also can I mix melee and magic or do I have to go full either one? I'm worried about screwing my character up with wrong skills

>>717332482 (OP)
it was always mid, just read the reviews from the time. really the most redeeming thing about it at release was its attempt at having a take on thief class/gameplay after eidos shit the bed with T3

>>717332838
i played the demo on steam, that cave level sold me as soon as i hit the corner with an ice spell and got to watch orcs just FLY off the edge.
For me it was the chandelier through the floor.
Kino.
the spike wall room was also great

this melee combat is some of the best fpp games ever had

>>717333364
You should be able to max out either the combat or magic tree. It's best to mix and match and find what works for you but there are a lot of misc skills in particular which aren't too useful and you can rule out. Total number of skill points you receive over the course of the game is 88

Combat has 64 points
Magic has 54 points
Misc has 94 points

>>717332746
>Arkane's best game.

That would be Prey without a doubt

>>717333326
Don't worry too much, it's weighted towards action. Stealth is kinda unreliable, ignore it for the first playthrough. I mix some basic magic. melee and bow skills, and go from there, that opens up all the fun opportune interactions. Get extra stamina early on.

>>717334337
Prey is only good if you've never played another imsim, or if the only one you played was the awful deus ex reboot.

>>717334624
>HR/MD
>Bad
Utterly shit taste and this comes from someone playing these games since system shock came out in 94

>>717332482 (OP)
the idea is to encourage you to fight dirty. you are not the noble chivalric hero, you are a scrappy cunt.

>>717332482 (OP)
its really choppy and there is barely any hit detection

>>717332482 (OP)
use the kick button more

>>717332482 (OP)
>You people over sold me on this game
because the only people who enjoy it are the cult followers and you listened to them
any cult classic is mostly mediocre, but with a few good things that make it go from mid to good depending on what you're looking for in a game and depending on your own sensibilities
dark messiah is no exception, very mid game, fun to engage with a bit, but nothing more than that
also there's coomer bait, so obviously some gamers are gonna simp it

>>717332482 (OP)
People like the first half, once the enemies who just ignore swords to the face to hit you through them, yeah kinda goes to shit. You can just stop playing after the orc cliff village encounter. Or just kick everything into spikes like god intended I don't care.

>>717333326
Max swimming ASAP.

>>717334678
People act like HR was bad or something but they probably weren't even old enough to remember how excited everyone was for it after that vertical slice "leaked." The hype was real.

>>717332482 (OP)
It's been made fun of by everyone. All the systems in the game are pointless except stamina for your kick.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071012092203/http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154749

>>717332482 (OP)
>>717332645
You gotta understand that the ragdoll jank is not a bug, it's a feature.

>>717334624
I've played a ton of them though. I've being play Deus Ex and System Shock since I was young. I remember playing SS1 since before the enhanced edition back when it was still abandonware. I genuinely think Prey is an amazing Immersive sim. My biggest grip is that it doesn't go hardcore enough on you in the difficulty. It's only kind of hard in the early game because you're still trying to figure the game out and how the enemies function

>>717335345
No thanks, I've learned my lesson from Deus Ex

What's the best difficulty to play Dark Messiah on? I want something challenging but not bullshit retarded hard

>>717335923
The difficulty only matters in 2 places: the spider level where you can't kick, and the 2 cyclops battles where you can't kick. Otherwise, you're a Rockettes dancer and difficulty doesn't apply.

>>717335923
Whichever is second hardest. The final one goes full retard, you need like 3 on the ground finishers to kill anyone.

>>717333420
i played the demo on steam, that cave level sold me as soon as i hit the corner with an ice spell and got to watch orcs just FLY off the edge.
For me it was the chandelier through the floor.
Kino.
the spike wall room was also great
It was nice encountering the same segment in the full game too.

>>717335846
RNG plays a bit of a part too, because the difference between getting a V2 mimic chip for scope can be pretty big if you're not an observant person.

It's so old now

>>717337319
>>717333420
>t. ard

This game genuinely does have some of the worst melee combat Ive ever seen. It's so sluggish and unresponsive

>>717337859
How'd you make the text green???

>>717337623
clunky

>>717332482 (OP)
You're correct. The combat is fucking awful. This game only gets praise because you can do wacky stuff like kick people off cliffs or throw barrels. Outside of that it's a pretty shitty game. The direct combat is such dogshit

Dark Messiah is only popular for the same reason as Ruiner
A girl talks to you throughout the game and is nice to you

>>717338521
>This game only gets praise because you can do wacky stuff like kick people off cliffs or throw barrels.
It's very technologically impressive even for todays standards.
Which is fucking embarrassing.

>>717336030
On harder difficulties you run out of stamina faster and you can't instaragdoll enemies so you're wrong.

Is there any way to play this game without having to engage too much in the garbage melee combat? Like do stealth builds work?

>>717332482 (OP)
Bros, do you have some way of dealing with zombies or do you just wail on them until disintegrated? I'd like to replay DM for the second time this year but I don't think I will be able to put up with their bullshit.
Also what were they thinking wit Xana? Choosing to kill her doesn't make sense unless it's your n-th playthrough and you want to check the dragon weapons.

>>717339640
You don't need to instaragdoll. You just need to kick them a foot closer each time. If you keep moving, you'll regenerate stamina fast enough.

>>717339832
It's not garbage, you literally only have to git gud to make it fun

Cheap shotting nigger game

>>717339985
Don't they die in one finisher, like everything else? I vaguely remember climbing around them under the ceiling on Hardcore.

>>717340856
>Don't they die in one finisher, like everything else?
They do.
Just knock them over and stab them.
2 power-attacks going sideways is usually enough or a jump-attack.

I love this game

>>717332482 (OP)
>The melee combat is absolutely some of the worst I've seen in a first person game.
lol

How do I summon a Xana IRL?

>>717335504
>The hype was real.
And?

>>717332709
>its a 20 year old game
This doesn't really mean anything, games now (generally speaking) aren't significantly different from how they were in 2006. I like Dark Messiah and there's no shortage of games released prior to and around the same time which have overall significantly better combat than it, despite its uniqueness.

>>717332482 (OP)
Literally a skill issue

https://youtu.be/I1GLZILJc24

>>717341631
>rap sampling a good song
I hate people under 60 so fucking much.

>>717332746
Based and true, I still don't understand how they went from making the best first person melee combat then proceeded to make nothing but games with cool settings that feel like absolute ass to play, maybe the Source engine is just that good

TZD

>>717332709
>but in the past 20 years games have advanced beyond it
I suppose, but still — there's not a huge amount of games that do first person melee combat better.

You all waiting for Alkahest? It's gonna be gud. Unless it sucks, that is.

>>717343324
I'm carefully optimistic, I'm getting more and more worried about total absence of juvenile fanservice in the promo materials released so far. Hot women teasing you and taking shots at each other was like 20% of the charm of Dark Messiah for me

>>717343324
I think it's going to run into the same problem that most gameplay options are filler and worthless, but as long as swinging a sword at shit remains consistently fun it'll have more going for it than Dark Messiah lol.
And I agree with the other guy that even that Dark Messiah revolving around chicks was part of the charm. But I mean Alkahest's premise seems endearingly low stakes, that could be fun.

>>717337971
NTA, but by typing ">whatever you want"
>like so

>>717343324
Keep an eye on Fatekeeper, too.

>>717343324
>>717347236
Yeah, I'm more looking forward to fatekeeper

How is the multiplayer

>>717332823
Why are orcs so xenophobic? Their clan lands need more half-demon halfbreeds to diversify them and do jobs that orcs don't want to do

>>717341471
>no shortage of better combat games
>doesnt name any
Good post fag

>>717333364
You can kind of mix. I played most of the game as a pure mage, but ended up fighting in melee with daggers, constantly buffed with a magic shield.
The basic fire arrow is very effective when you spam it, I see no reason to spend skill points on high tier damage spells.

>>717350986
adrenaline effects on spells are fun

>>717332838
>The game gives you multiple approaches to every encounter.
none of them are hitting the enemies with your weapon lol

>>717334624
I played every major one starting with first UU
Prey S tier for sure

>>717340998
all the actual melee combat (i.e. hitting the enemies with the sword) sucks in that wbm

>>717332482 (OP)
you got memed son
what they mean by "melee combat" is actually not melee combat at all
another videogame cursed to have every discussion being ruined by retards who can't even understand what fucking words mean

>>717354246
Why? Not flashy enough? Not enough rolling?

>>717354738
try a melee combat only playthrough
i.e. only hitting enemies with a weapon

>>717355952
Did. Was great. No kicking even.

>>717342183
Prey plays and feels great. Dark Messiah feels like an actual mess playing it

>>717356090
why would someone lie on the internet?

>>717356770
What's wrong, lil Timmy, can't argue on the internet?
>thing sucks
>why?
>do thing
>did
>omg you lie
Not the sharpest dildo in your dad's drawer, are you?

even when the game was new the combat felt completely weightless the fact that it's a cult classic is some kinda psyop

>>717356897
>lie on the internet for argument's sake with some absolutely unbelievable nonsense
>get called out
>throw a tantrum
come back when you are of drinking age son

>>717357469
If playing DMM melee is so unbelievable why did you beg me to do it?

>>717357580
no one is begging for anything you apart from your mom hoping you start taking school seriously, junior

the unbelievable part is not anyone playing melee-only, and not even beating the game melee-only, it's someone doing that and continuing to insist [on itself] melee combat is any good in DMM

>>717357945
>begs for the impossible
>gets it
>lives in the Nile
Sad!

I've never gotten past the last levels with all the annoying ass ghouls.

What do you people mean by weightless? Every charge attack sends the enemy reeling or falling.

>>717332482 (OP)
>The melee combat is absolutely some of the worst I've seen in a first person game

Oh, come on now... the melee combat is a little janky, but some of the worst that you've seen? Yes, the combat hasn't aged that well because it's a 19 year old game, but don't over exaggerate.