Thread 719119905

Wanted to continue the thread yesterday for the upcoming game Hell is Us. I'm one of the people that received it early from preorder. Didn't realize it was going to happen but was a nice surprise. Because of this I thought I could give some insight even if I'm retarded. I specifically wanted to quickly go over the worry in regards to the game being too linear or too easy. Before continuing l also want to mention that I am only in the second area still after a little over 6 hours, and that I personally do not have Souls fatigue because I've only played Demon/Dark/boodborne/sekiro when they originally came out. So take that into consideration.

>>719119905 (OP)
FAGGOT IS OP

First I'll mention that the game has been linear, especially the first area, but upon entering the second (shown in pic) the game drastically expands in scale. There are still several secrets in that beginning area that I have yet to explore and can't open yet. If this is what's to expect for the entire game from now with the world expanding this way, I'll be happy. Especially if they can walk that fine line between open world and linear. Something like the original dragon's dogma if that makes sense. Not too overwhelming in it's quests/places to go but still finding new paths to go down in a natural progression.

>>719120103
fpbp

>>719120828
pfffffffffffffffahhahahaha
looks like fucking two worlds epic edition are you kidding me
why add fog at all if youre not gonna do your slop job properly before shilling it

I don't play games with the word "is" in the title. Sorry. I just don't.

Lore rundown on the game ?

Are we now getting targeted by AI marketing bots?

It seems like the game honestly wants you go crank it up to the highest difficulty. Which is a good thing because, yes, so far the game has been easy even at difficulty cranked up all the way. If you are a souls veteran it will be piss easy. If that changes, since I am still in the early areas, I would very much like that but so far they really dropped the ball there.

>>719119905 (OP)
Animations for the game looked particularly unimpressive. But i did like some of it's aesthetics. So I'm unsure on this game.

fag

>>719121678
best aesthetics in the game are the 90s style hand drawn items.

verdict?

I've got nothing against Elias Toufexis but the devs made very poor choices in designing their protag.

>>719123306
So far a 7 but that could go higher or lower depending on tomorrow when I play more. Needs to be harder and more enemy variants so far there's like 4 different types. I am really liking the mysterious alt 90s world (very roadside picnic) mixed with S&S elements.
>>719121327
Nothing really so far. Something happened in the 10th century that fucked everything up probably parallel universe/alien gods, etc. This in turn started cults and factions. It's now 1993 and mc is trying to infiltrate his home land that he left when young. It's under occupation by factions/civil war.

>>719123478
I think the character outfit is the best part I've seen of it, actual good design choices. They certainly made it stand out. The character himself i have no clue about. At the very least i think it deserves as much credit as Hideo Kojima did for when he designed Sam Bridges outfits as something that looks unique in aesthetics.

they have some good ideas but the execution is really sloppy and the poorly written lore just doesn't entice. it's ue5 kusoge, i wouldnt pay more than say 7.99 usd

>>719124861
but the only good thing about the design is that they copied the odradek. the poncho looks like a trashbag in game

the demo was neat
but it ran like shit, typical UE slop

>>719124861
there will be lots of different designs to choose from. And weapons. I've got 3 of each so far

More enemy variety and game got harder. It's 10/10 GOTY now

>>719124861
I like it because you can tell the setting right away by looking at his whole character.

he's got high tech gear, but still wearing modern cloths, and clearly has a magical sword that stands out.

so you can tell its a modern game, with tech weapons, and magic, right away from just this pic.

This thread feels really inorganic and this format of marketing is exhausting. If you are a dev, ad statistically you are either the dev or someone paid by the dev, just say so. Be honest. Don't be roundabout and if your game is interesting, people will show interest. If they aren't interested, it's because you made a Souls game but your company name is not FROM, so you're already fighting an uphill battle to be noticed.

God, I want the internet to be honest again, like it was before 2007.

>>719125217
Played at max settings with 144fps on a 4070 super and 7800x3d
Maybe upgrade your 10 year old pc bud

Is this related to Hellpoint?

>>719129389
I'm literally just some guy who got the game early and wanted to share my early impressions. Not even glazing the game.

>>719119905 (OP)
Thanks based retard OP. Tell me puzzles become more than "match shape" or "bring key to door".

Yooo, i was waiting for this thread all day, I eventually fell asleep and only just saw this now, gunna read through the thread then ask questions

>>719130073
I want to know this too.
But also bring key to door isnt inherently bad. Thats virtually every single Resident Evil "puzzle" ever. Just needs the level design to serve it. RE even has matching shape and colour "puzzles"

>>719130073
Unfortunately have just been fighting enemies in the big second area map so far. It's been hours since any "puzzle" so for now it's just like you said.

>>719129835
You say things (obvious lies) like that but then immediately post things like >>719130086.
You are on 4chan's /v/ in the year 2025. You are clearly not a regular because if you were you'd know that no one fucking talks like >>719130086, ever, and especially not about some soulslike game that no one has heard of before (which just so happens to come out next week, make sure to preorder now!). It's painfully false. I tell this to all the marketers I see here: your lies are obvious and /v/ is going to see through them. Not because they're smarter but because the culture here is inherently less trusting.

Just be honest. Admit to being a paid marketer and we will say "whatever, tell us about your game then." Lie, and you will be rejected. Note that rejection is a step beyond merely ignored or forgotten. We will WANT you to fail.
It doesn't have to be that way.

>>719130294
Holy retard

>>719121610
>It seems like the game honestly wants you go crank it up to the highest difficulty.
Wait they suddenly added the enemies revive on save thing? Hmmmm. I played highest difficulty in demo and didnt have that so it must be something you manually trigger yourself.

I dont know how to feel about it. The game does not have the tightness of save point placement nor shortcuts based on the demo for this to not both feel like a slog, or repetitive, and I honestly almost respected the games decision to not copy souls completely.

I still think my proposed solution yesterday mitigates the need for enemy respawn on death, because im frankly bored of the mechanic especially when not every game has the elegance of DS1 shortcuts and bonfire placements.

Enemy variety (the problem is honestly moreso depth, the embilical cord enemies got boring way less quicker than the basic enemies) also isnt great for wanting to keep engaging with enemies.

I think my solution i proposed yesteray of increasing enemy damage output and reviving you with a fixed percent of health is more interesting and sets the game apart from being a souls copy, while also addressing the convenience of the save point.

>>719130454
I am probably the most honest person you will find on this site and I'm just trying to help you. If my help is not wanted then I'm not going to help you bump your marketing thread anymore.

>>719125217
>>719129550
Game ran so surprisingly good that it even ran mostly smoothly on my Steam Deck without even having to lock the FPS. Do you know how rare it is for me to be able to do that on deck?

Im starting to get suspicious of optimization complaints, now that I finally have a modern day 1 game I can actually play on my deck

>>719130661
It's Indians complaining

>>719130609
Do not engage with people who impose perceptions and narratives on you dude. You have to realize that if theyre fundamentally coming from a place that fundamentally cannot possess "reason" then they wont be appealed to by reason. I understand engaging with everything in a fledgling thread, but its not worth it.

>>719130187
Yeah yeah
https://arch.b4k.dev/v/thread/717933996/#717954373

This tard has nothing to say, annoying how devoid of insights they are https://youtu.be/YKwP06pCdF8?t=411
Aren't you gonna play Hollow Knight? Looks like it's gonna get all the attention from soulsfags next month.

>>719130281
Disappointing. I'll be hunting for schizo clues that aren't even real puzzles.

>>719130534
I think that was in the demo.

>>719130768
>This tard has nothing to say
Lately Ive found I have to watch little playthrough leaks myself to judge, which sucks because spoiling the game already inherently spoils my desire to play it, but even worse if I see something disappointing within an hour. I dont know how reasonable such a way of judging a game is. Its why I ultimately turned from buying Echoes of End, because it triggered a thing about puzzle design I don't like even being charitable with it being a tutorial area. I had to make the judgement call.

Ive been saying forever that all these media heads and journos are literal garbage at reviewing games. Its sad I even have to resort to this.

I might unironically keep an eye on ShillUps review though. Hes mega hit or miss, for example his Shinobi review literally felt like some corporate slop, calling it "metroidvania like" because you get new abilities to break walls and grapple hook even though the game is LITERALLY divided into seperate stages but you can backtrack!

I only trust him, because of his dragon age veilgaurd review. It wasnt even about all the things people got up in arms about the game. Its the fact that he bothered to talk about the puzzles and level design somewhat indepth, and show an example of the poor puzzle design that earned my respect.

Similarly with his review of Death Stranding 2, he outlined why its different and less special than DS1. No evolution, or development of enviromental hazards, and terrain to deal with, while retaining the same flaws as DS1 despite being a sequel.

So thats who im looking out for for now. Hopefully his hell is us review doesnt trigger red flags.

demo controlled like ass. shan't be playing.

anyway, i will keep an eye on this thread, op you can make another tomorrow if this one dies

gawdlike bump

>>719131179
I couldn't even find a stream for it on youtube despite the pre-order fuck up, but that's probably good because I don't want to spoil it for myself. OP must be the only person in the world playing it rn kek. Seems like it might flop hard with Silksong release and average soulsfan bouncing off.

Does the demo save transfer over?

>>719132016
>Seems like it might flop hard with Silksong release and average soulsfan bouncing off.
I dont like this narrative about Silksong, its honestly too much dicksucking, and I think half of this is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy BUT...this is a game without a brand, which everybody is projecting as a generic soulslike copy, luckily enough despite how many JRPGs were spit out like slop in the past, E33 gets to pretend its super unique and special because a consorted narrative surrounding JRPGs, and the fact that square (the big one) doesnt release 3D traditional ones anymore, allowed it to ride on that narrative of basically having the brand perception of classic final fantasy attached to it.

What Im trying to explain is that basically only established brands can ignore another game releasing so nearly to it. Its how E33 dodged oblivion. By being treated as effectively a "le true final fantasy!"

Not only is Hell is Us not a soulslike based on what Ive played, but that genres percpetion has been destroyed with narratives and words like "soulslike fatigue".
It has no brand to stand on because the genre is bloated, and people wont accept anything anyway that isnt basically dark souls 3 or elden ring.

In this case, despite the buyers being different, Hell is Us will probably suffer by virtue of being more expensive than silksong and not getting treated with that immunity that brand AAAs get.

>>719132791
No. They say this somewhere in the beginning of the demo.

>>719132016
It's new IP that no one cares about while those other games come out. Definitely not going to do well. Might become a cult classic though.

I really like the aesthetics. I’m hesitant because I’m completely sick of not only souls, but hack and slash/button mash, and frankly anything difficult. I haven’t tried the demo, but the combination of appealing game + zero hype tells me something is wrong with it.

>>719129389
>God, I want the internet to be honest again, like it was before 2007
Just play the demo and criticize it. Instead of wondering about whether it is good or it isn't good. I don't know how developers can be any more transparent than that nowadays. Just seems like complaining for the sake of complaining. But if you're gonna complain at least put some effort in yourself and do real critique. You can download it on Steam. There's nothing you have to spend in telling people about the game being shit.

>>719133321
>zero hype tells me something is wrong with it.
really? always remember that sony literally did not want to release demon souls and everybody who played it thought it was trash before release

>>719133321
>and frankly anything difficult
I have some good news for yo

>>719119905 (OP)
>yet another souls slop game
I'd rather just go back to playing elden ring.

>>719133413
I remember importing demon souls because I was afraid it wasn't going to released in the west. Then it turned into cod yearly release and a million imitations.

final bump for bideogames

>>719121093
god you're such a faggot. I'm buying 2 copies now.

>>719119905 (OP)
Kill yourself Okiirano, black twitch zoomer shitstain

>>719137504
Who

>>719137568
Essayfag. Lurk more newfag.

>>719137707
>>719137504
OP isnt him retard, dumbfuck mentally ill obsessive retard

>>719137780
You're so fucking stupid, it's so easy to recognise him, yet he fools dipshits that only know to look for literal essays

>>719138161
Well you're objectively wrong here and have been in the past, so you're proving your derangement syndrome right here. OP is referencing a past thread made by essayfag retard.

>>719138161
I don't think it's him. But the OP posted in his thread yesterday about getting a copy and we asked him to post his early opinion. I've also been essayfagging about this game and been accused of being him or being a shill. I know because I'm the one who pushed him to look out for this game so I was also waiting for OP's thread.

>>719121093
lmao that looks awful

>>719138419
>OP is referencing a past thread made by essayfag retard.
That's all the proof I need, thanks.

>>719138553
>I'm the one who pushed him to look out for this game
has my own interest been psyop'd? wtf i dont remember this...i thought my interest was totally organic...

>>719121537
Evidently

>>719121537
No, this particular dumbfuck manually types out all that retarded shit

Game looks interesting, but
>UE5
Shan't be buying.

>>719140401
dont give me hope

>>719140401
When did the dev say this? Like what date? My new concern is less whether the puzzles are some arbitrary metric of "easy" or hard at this point. And more whether they have any presence as all, preorder anon said he hasnt encountered any puzzles since the demo and hes 6 hours in

>WTF ESSAYFAG DERANGEMENT SYNDROME
>he's actually just here in the thread
you may not be the OP, essayfag. but don't think i don't see you.

>>719140606
Belletete said there are 4 tiers to the puzzles, with main story puzzles being easy and self contained, then more secret and challenging ones covering multiple zones for optional side quests, and tier 4 is meant to be borderline ARG stuff

He mentions some puzzles will absolutely require note taking or collaborative effort (he calls them the "reddit puzzles" kek)

There's some intriguing stuff in the demo that no one has mentioned but for example what's the deal with the weird markings on the ground in some spots? Matches the stylings in some game menus and the game map. Related to cartography and topography

Something I've seen mentioned elsewhere is that because of the civil war stuff, some NPCs could give you conflicting info, some could outright lie to you etc

They hid an ARG puzzle solution in a trailer that hasn't been figured out yet? https://youtu.be/Zu3K7_yCqkA?t=340

In the demo you can brute force the 4 symbols locks and it leads to a room with lore docs and more glyphs
in the PDA mysteries tab for the tutorial region, there are still many empty tabs, the demo only covers like 20% of them (obviously gonna be more backtracking/later game stuff in the tower, the ruins etc)

A drone upgrade hidden in a dark spot in the APC which is quite hard to see, there is no pick up prompt (what else could be hidden in the demo we haven't found yet?)

It also comes with a list of numbers that's probably a cipher or used for a later puzzle that isn't just "use key on door"

Multiple references to timeloop stuff and time anomalies that aren't present in the demo afaik
and JJB saying time progression will affect some things in the final game, maybe some time dependent events/puzzles?

Publisher claiming puzzles get harder than the demo

JJB and team internally called an "infovania" when designing (instead of using "metroidbrainia", not aware of term?)

>>719140780
above is all info I could collect when I was trying to cope with the shit demo puzzles

Holyfucking shit this is such an obvious shill.
I thought i'd get to read about a cool game someone liked but its literally just some jeet wagie clocking in cents per words.
Hiding the thread and raising my levels of racism

>>719140937
you were still wrong and obsessed.

I'd rather talk to marketers here who talk about games than retarded schizos like >>719130294

>>719141207
jokes on you, >>719140937 was my first post in this thread. i wasn't wrong, someone else was.

I hope there's more stuff other than one longsword and dual axes? Or they just go balls deep with the investigation mechanic. Shadows of Doubt was great but it's all random

>>719141307
there are too many of you obsessed with me to count, its honestly disgusting, dont know why mods are so shit

>>719140780
Granted, that is really only because the second area is so surprisingly big. If I went a different path maybe things would have been different. I'll try play more soon and make a thread in day or two if the puzzles actually serve a challenge.
>>719141186
Hope this is all true
>reddit puzzles
holy poggers
>>719141351
there's lots more

>>719141186
>instead of using "metroidbrainia"
hate and despise this term.

i have no idea why he called outer wilds a demanding game. animal well, makes more sense to me to be called that, but thats because its a stupid game with arbitrary logic that you have to either make insane leaps to solve, or treat it like a hobby and no longer a "real world".

outerwilds is like the antithesis of that, and thats part of why its "easy". it has to make sense, it has to follow rules its established through the history you find, of people who lived much longer than you and were much smarter and equipped with better resources.

its about understanding a world as it is, as it reflects and depicts itself to you.

that is the key difference. animal well is a world to be "solved". outer wilds just wants you to understand and LEARN what the world truly is and how it works. its fundamentally different design principles.

another reason I dislike the "metroidbrania moniker" besides the fact that "metroidanyhting" is often the stupidest most strecthed genre definition that isnt called action adventure, but still seeks to be more particular than "First Person Shooter".

>>719141186
anyway, my rant aside. the "hard stuff is in the more optional content" is kind of disappointing, but seeing his explaination below and how he explained that theyd never let him make a game like that while giving as much money as theyre using for the game.

makes me think that even AA isnt the way, he talks about how games like Outer Wilds are allowed to get away with being so puzzle focused because theyre targeting a niche and essentially dont have to make back the millions of money theyre pumping into the game.

this is basically the holloe knight and silksong story, which is arguably the epitome of indie success, in the sense of not having had to spend much on the game because only 3 guys were making it, but succeeding in their niche and making millions more profit than the average AAA can make because the cost was just so low.

which is sad. but i guess at this point I can only take what I can get.

id be able to tolerate this a lot more if more games like OW existed. I already described one way OW is different from most games attached to the "metroidbrania" moniker. But theres also the most obvious fact that its a fully 3D game that can take unique advantages of the complexities that 3D brings to navigation, a lot of the gravity stuff, or giants deep stuff wouldnt hit as hard in 2D.

thats one little tiny flaw hollow knight has, its ACTUAL interactivity (despite the ironic fact that OW is also interactively simple, but 3D movement just offers way more possibilities) so it has the most basic of basic metroidvania abilities, while Outer Wilds has you manipulating quantum properties with a camera, and the best rendition of the kokiri forest concept ever because theres actual a logical way to solve it that builds on everything youve learned along your journey.

anyway, rambling again, I just hope this is one of those games where you can easily get lost in the optional stuff and it starts to feel more significant than the main stuff gameplaywise

>>719141371
Maybe stop being an obnoxious cunt and people will stop expending energy to hate you.

>>719141186
I wasn't at all interested in this game until I read that developer commentary.
I am now very this game with skeptical hippo eyes.

>>719119905 (OP)
Hell is us? More like hella sus, mr marketer

>>719142164
I love the term because it pisses people off and it allows me to find new cool games

That's right, that sad AA compromise, that's why I called it AA limbo the other day. Even AA can be hard to define because you have two kinds of teams competing in a similar range

- Small indie teams that grew successful and expanded (OW is like that, people don't even really mention that commercial version of OW is a remake so it went through long prototyping that then got bankrolled by a publisher so they could polish it for years), and
- teams that downscaled from AAA or are trying to chase AAA (that's JJB's profile, coming from Eidos or another similar profile is Raf from Arkane, they come from AAA, got disillusioned or failed because trying to make niche stuff like immsims vs too many investors compromises telling them to do a basic FPS, so they fuck off and start over smaller, more creatively free but that AAA experience still carries over, they still play it too safe vs indie autists in some basements doing passion projects)

the second category I think doesn't have the profile to make a metroidbrainia, because the focus has to be puzzle and puzzle is not a profitable niche and success can only be driven by hardcore dev autism and genuine word-of-mouth fanbase (or it might take yeaars, just like it took years for the dominant 2D platformers becoming metroidvania instead of linear). Best case for a sort of AA puzzle game is something like Talos Principle which is easier to market (because Portal, and it's easy to explain straightforward isolated puzzles with a clearly communicated rule instead of a "whole" or trickier notions like hidden rule discovery, recontextualization epiphanies, secret hunting, etc)

Anyway I'll just remind you to give Enigma Of Fear a try, I haven't found of it in a while but this game/convo is reminding me of it. Cool game that didn't get attention because wrong preconceptions and not connecting with its true targeted niche audience.

>>719143116
>I am now very this game with skeptical hippo eyes
Pajeet-sama..... I KNEEL

>>719143668
Was meant to write "viewing" but it's like 15 degrees where I am so my fingers are cold and not working very well.

>>719143392
>Anyway I'll just remind you to give Enigma Of Fear a try
Ive been waiting for a sale. Just hope it isnt too much like OW. Cant really do OW better than OW for all the reasons I mentioned that make it NOT a "metroidbrania" and an actual unique game in and of itself.

Im waiting for one of these puzzle games to add more interactivity through item/ability manipulation. Imagine if one of these games could do something like with the OW camera, but with items with even more potential for interactivity, or even just multiple more items.

>>719144909
So unlike OW, it has some combat and enemies. And it has more traditional metroidvania-type items you find to be used elsewhere for puzzles (it's not pure knowledge progress gates), but iirc some also double as useful for combat in some situations. Don't expect deep interactions but I like when items aren't just "puzzle item" or "combat item" but can be used for both and in multiple surprising ways, feels more elegant and cohesive. Or it feels like a waste when a game gives me cool abilities that are only used for one aspect. There's one item double usage that I thought was fresh and clever, but sadly feels under-utilized, haven't seen anyone ever mention it so actually I'm curious if you'll pick up on it if you ever play it.

>>719145759
Yeah itll probably be my next game while I wait for Silksong and Hell is Us. Or maybe what I play after those.