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[Gaiff]

I don't think boss quality is that much inferior compared to the average souls game.

It isn't. Most bosses in Wukong are actually much more interesting a lot of the times, especially minor bosses.

They are generally easier or mechanically inferior (ER also has a lot of shit, easy, throw away bosses, it's not all quality all the time, let's be real), but art design wise or just how good it feels to fight them, i'm really loving the bosses in wukong.

Maybe it's recency bias.

I'm loving the bosses too. Some are insanely fun such as Non-Able but don't have enough HP. I think there is more care in giving even minor bosses interesting mechanics in Wukong. In Elden Ring, most minor bosses are utterly forgettable. The big bosses are better though.

 

[Flabagast]

Bosses in Wukong are more varied and more fun to play than those in Souls games I would say

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Good points.

I only disagree with SOTE. The bosses in that DLC are so obnoxiously poorly designed that it made me hate the game. I couldn’t even have fun because after every boss, all I could think about was how much bullshit there would be in the next fight. Probably my fault for insisting to do it solo. I hate hate that DLC you have no idea how much. Those bosses are From at their absolute worst. They let their games’ reputation for being hard cloud their judgement and went full stupid with them.

Well, we obviously disagree on the DLC overall since it's my GOTY lol. What I *will* agree with is that some of the bosses were a bit too crazy (Radahn is just ridiculous and Gaius was some bullshit) but at the same time I beat about half of them on my first attempt (solo, sometimes with NPC summon) including Dancing Lion and Romina. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the level design in SOTET is second to none, Shadow Keep for example is an instant classic and amongst FROM's very best.

Ultimately I want devs to create stuff that I can say is equal to FROM's work, why wouldn't anyone want more games they could love and celebrate? Lies of P was great (got the plat trophy), Nioh 2 was great (got the plat trophy) Wukong is great (working on the plat as we speak!) If it were up to me we'd get a Bloodborne or Sekiro sequel from FROM next but I'll be there day 1 no matter what it is. As for Wukong, day 1 on any DLC, these devs have earned my trust.

 

[Gaiff]

Well, we obviously disagree on the DLC overall since it's my GOTY lol. What I *will* agree with is that some of the bosses were a bit too crazy (Radahn is just ridiculous and Gaius was some bullshit) but at the same time I beat about half of them on my first attempt (solo, sometimes with NPC summon) including Dancing Lion and Romina. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the level design in SOTET is second to none, Shadow Keep for example is an instant classic and amongst FROM's very best.

Ultimately I want devs to create stuff that I can say is equal to FROM's work, why wouldn't anyone want more games they could love and celebrate? Lies of P was great (got the plat trophy), Nioh 2 was great (got the plat trophy) Wukong is great (working on the plat as we speak!) If it were up to me we'd get a Bloodborne or Sekiro sequel from FROM next but I'll be there day 1 no matter what it is. As for Wukong, day 1 on any DLC, these devs have earned my trust.

The level design is absolutely brilliant. Shadow Keep rivals Stormveil and Enir-Illin (or whatever it's called) was great. Jagged Peak was simplistic but compensated with the sheer dread of the atmosphere. Seeing dragon corpses littering the ground while ominous background music played with red lightning strikes slicing the skies was magnificent. It was also a lot of fun figuring out how to get down the map. Unbelievable how deep the Realm of Shadow goes.

However, I remember much more the sheer rage I experienced at bosses like Messmer (who everyone argues is fair, I don't think he is but compared to Radahn, lol), Ancient Dragon Sansseax (yes, this fucker killed me more than Bayle) and of course, the final boss. This is to say nothing of the insanely powerful mobs like the Horned Warriors or Curseblades. Those Horned Warriors in the last level who do frost and shock magic are legitimately more difficult than 90% of the base game's bosses. They are insane. Their poise is infinite, you can never knock them down no matter what, they have a bountiful amount of HP, and hit harder than most bosses. I killed one after nearly dying myself and went back to the Site of Grace thinking it was a mini-boss, only to see this motherfucker respawn. It was a regular enemy, wtf?

I did love SOTE. The lore, atmosphere, levels, but the bosses just soured me on the whole experience.

 

[The artful mincer]

I still have to beat the cunt.

Where are you in the game? I fought him in Chapter 4 still took a few tries was probably over leveled.

 

[The artful mincer]

Good points.

I only disagree with SOTE. The bosses in that DLC are so obnoxiously poorly designed that it made me hate the game. I couldn’t even have fun because after every boss, all I could think about was how much bullshit there would be in the next fight. Probably my fault for insisting to do it solo. I hate hate that DLC you have no idea how much. Those bosses are From at their absolute worst. They let their games’ reputation for being hard cloud their judgement and went full stupid with them.

I think FROM is pushing it's single difficulty philosophy to the absolute limit. It's all very well saying just summon, co-op etc but your asking the player to fundamentally play the game differently at that point.

I don't think they can keep raising the difficulty without eventually pissing off a lot of the fanbase.

 

[GymWolf]

Where are you in the game? I fought him in Chapter 4 still took a few tries was probably over leveled.

I haven't tried in a while, but right now i'm in chap 4 so i could try again.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Let's say I find some of those yaoguai girls to be really cute.

Does that make me a furry?

 

[jshackles]

Let's say I find some of those yaoguai girls to be really cute.

Does that make me a furry?

Would you still find them cute if they didn't have tails, or other animal features?

 

[TintoConCasera]

Would you still find them cute if they didn't have tails, or other animal features?

Sure, and could also be happy without them turning into giant insects.

They did a great job with the chicks in this game. Wonder if they face-scanned some IRL models or what but man, they sure are cute. Puts other devs to shame.

 

[jshackles]

Sure, and could also be happy without them turning into giant insects.

They did a great job with the chicks in this game. Wonder if they face-scanned some IRL models or what but man, they sure are cute. Puts other devs to shame.

They did!

TintoConCasera right now:

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Well, that's that then (first GAF Wukong plat?)

Wasn't expecting to get it so soon but wife was out most of the day so I decided to hunker down, catch up on some podcasts and bang out the last few trophies for the plat, didn't feel like I could move on from the monkey goodness until I had it. The RNG stuff I had to farm wasn't *too* bad but I would prefer trophies like that didn't exist at all.

Anyway, happy I got it. The most important factor when deciding to go for a plat is I have to absolutely love the game, needless to say the monkey and I have become close Now bring on Astrobot!

 

[Gaiff]

Just beat the secret final boss. Damn, he was no joke, but he felt A LOT fairer than anything in Shadow of the Erdtree.

Thoroughly enjoyed this game. Chapter 6 was weak but that last boss battle was epic. A solid 8/10 for me. GOTY for me as well.

 

[Flabagast]

I fucking LOVE Chapter 3, at this point it really feels like God of War featuring the Chinese Pantheon.

These environments and set pieces are so evocative. It’s epic as fuck

 

[The artful mincer]

I haven't tried in a while, but right now i'm in chap 4 so i could try again.

He's pretty useful in some Boss Fights.

 

[tmlDan]

Anyone feel like the last area is unfinished? its just so empty lol

 

[draliko]

cleared chapter 2 and did all the secret areas (i think, still going blind on first run)... this game is awesome for sure, apart from the strange difficulty spikes and some pacing issues, considering this is a first release froma a new dev it is simply amazing. And the chapter end videos are something else, the one after ch2 left me speechless, was extremely well made

 

[N30RYU]

Just two trophies away from the platinum... just about to end the ng+ and I'll have to speedrun on ng++ till chapter 4 to get two missable objects I missed on both previous runs...

Spoiler

The one you got from killing the 9 enemies in the prison level before killing the boss... and the armor you get by choping the arms of a boss in the nest...

 

[Buggy Loop]

They did!

Based

Gorgeous women

 

[The artful mincer]

Anyone feel like the last area is unfinished? its just so empty lol

Gameplay spoiler

Spoiler

I feel like there ambition was spread a bit to thin. It was mind blowing at first getting to fly and the area was so big but yeah it is a bit of an messy area. I'm glad it's in though it's fun flying around

 

[Sentenza]

Chapter 6 really flexes the features of UE5. Remember that fast traversal we saw in the demo way back in 2020? Well, it delivers upon that promise and then some.

That's where the fun stops though. This chapter makes me glad the game isn't open-world. It's huge and insanely boring

Chapter six isn't even a chapter. It's basically your victory lap before going to the final boss AND your last chance to farm/go back to get what you were missing.

It has a cool proof of concept, but it's pretty obvious they were running out of time and funds and decided to wrap things up.
Which is why all you have is a handful of minibosses and the same hippo-monster copy-paste everywhere.

 

[Auto_aim1]

Got the platinum trophy, could have gotten earlier if some of these trophies weren't so mindlessly time consuming. I had to farm one stupid enemy for an hour for his drop.

Anyway, for end game gear I recommend Dark Iron Staff, Bull King helmet and chest piece, Pilgrim greaves and boots. My attack is up at 237 in NG+ and can get to 250+ when I get hit in any fight.

I actually want to do a third playthrough to get the relic skills and unlock The Great Sage stance in NG+++. Hopefully on PS5 pro.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

The more I play through Chapter 4, the more I think that completely different people designed levels and maps for the late Chapter 3 location. The level design in Chapter 4 is much better, so as the navigation and visual guidance, it's a bit more maze-like in the Hollows the more you go down to the bottom, but nowhere near as bad as in late Chapter 3. You can clearly see all the points of interest and stuff from various vantage points across the whole location so it's much easier to navigate through the level, find stuff etc. and the forest above along with the secret location are even better.

Spoiler

That said, I just can't see how this game will be anything more than a giant mixed bag for me and disappointment overall. There's much I like about it, but there's way more stuff I don't like and pretty much all of it related to combat and some not so bad and passable at best gameplay stuff. Maybe their next game will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Valedix]

I can't even beat the first blue guy boss lol

 

[Valedix]

Nvm realised the blue guy was optional and beat the fire dude only 2 tries!!

 

[Fess]

I’m worthless in this game. Is there a way to level up without just replaying areas until the game becomes boring and repetitive? I’ve played too much Elden Ring, linear games is not my thing.
I’m at the white noble 2 part boss fight. Usually zero health potions left at part 2.

 

[N30RYU]

I can't even beat the first blue guy boss lol

The one with the big head? Try and use the pillars to hide behind them when he runs to you to make him stagger.

 

[The artful mincer]

I’m worthless in this game. Is there a way to level up without just replaying areas until the game becomes boring and repetitive? I’ve played too much Elden Ring, linear games is not my thing.
I’m at the white noble 2 part boss fight. Usually zero health potions left at part 2.

Are you using all your abilities that are available?

 

[Gaiff]

The one with the big head? Try and use the pillars to hide behind them when he runs to you to make him stagger.

Or skip him and come back before ending the chapter? He’s obviously not meant to be fought immediately.

 

[Fess]

Are you using all your abilities that are available?

No idea…

I use the heavy attack a lot, sprinting in a circle and charging, then WHAM, but sometimes I get a hit before the slam and then it’s nullified. Then I spam some light attacks when there is an opening.

Once per boss fight I use the wolf transformation with fire staff, focusing on the heavy attack where you dash through the enemy, seems to do a lot of damage and hard to get hit.

The immobilization spell is useful but can’t do much damage during that short time, heavy attack takes too long to charge up so usually just spam light attack.

Besides that I mostly run around like a stressed out chicken taking hits here and there and drink potions and try to dodge attacks.

Focus points, I see 2 dots fill when I charge a heavy attack. Can I do something cooler with that or is it just a 2 level heavy attack?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Almost at the end and my experience is mixed. Dont think Ill recommend it. Boss fights range from good to absolute dog shit design but not in a difficult mode(annoying invicibility/waste your time moments and absolute monster hp sponges). Level design is one of the worst I've ever seen in a game, there is no flow to it, no connection to one area to another, the worst offender being the snowy area. Visually, what everyone seemed to praise is pretty fucking bad, like wow forest area, snow area, cave, more forests with a few temples here and there stapled. Enemy variety is different which each area but it's fucking bad, like the snowy area at some point you fight the same monk 20 times at least and he only does one attack. Soundtrack is ok. The story is pretty much chinese lore and not much effort has gone into it. As for the combat, it's serviceable. Not great, not bad. Overall so far it's a 6.5/10 or something. Just because it's a singleplayer game without any woke bs or microtransactions doesnt mean you should pardon it's faults.

EDIT: oh yeah and the input reading HOLY FUCK it's bad, like at time il iterally have to spam a drink for him to drink and whoever thought L2+R2 should be a skill needs to rethink their life because that shit is so fucking idiotic and it works like 50% of the time instantly, maybe less.

 

[The artful mincer]

No idea…

I use the heavy attack a lot, sprinting in a circle and charging, then WHAM, but sometimes I get a hit before the slam and then it’s nullified. Then I spam some light attacks when there is an opening.

Once per boss fight I use the wolf transformation with fire staff, focusing on the heavy attack where you dash through the enemy, seems to do a lot of damage and hard to get hit.

The immobilization spell is useful but can’t do much damage during that short time, heavy attack takes too long to charge up so usually just spam light attack.

Besides that I mostly run around like a stressed out chicken taking hits here and there and drink potions and try to dodge attacks.

Focus points, I see 2 dots fill when I charge a heavy attack. Can I do something cooler with that or is it just a 2 level heavy attack?

Okay to be fair that's all you have available at the moment.

Usually I use the transformation ASAP that way it has enough time to recharge to use twice per fight.

With the wolf transformation the charge Triangle is definitely the most powerful attack. That's where you mash square to build up and unleash after dodge.

If you don't know already mashing square builds up your focus. You don't have to hold Triangle to build it up. That's a lot more reliable than holding Triangle. (This is for the monkey not the Transformation)

Hope that helps tell me how you get on!

 

[The artful mincer]

No idea…

I use the heavy attack a lot, sprinting in a circle and charging, then WHAM, but sometimes I get a hit before the slam and then it’s nullified. Then I spam some light attacks when there is an opening.

Once per boss fight I use the wolf transformation with fire staff, focusing on the heavy attack where you dash through the enemy, seems to do a lot of damage and hard to get hit.

The immobilization spell is useful but can’t do much damage during that short time, heavy attack takes too long to charge up so usually just spam light attack.

Besides that I mostly run around like a stressed out chicken taking hits here and there and drink potions and try to dodge attacks.

Focus points, I see 2 dots fill when I charge a heavy attack. Can I do something cooler with that or is it just a 2 level heavy attack?

I just realised you should have quick transformation abilities as well. Do you have any equipped?

 

[Fess]

Okay to be fair that's all you have available at the moment.

Usually I use the transformation ASAP that way it has enough time to recharge to use twice per fight.

With the wolf transformation the charge Triangle is definitely the most powerful attack. That's where you mash square to build up and unleash after dodge.

If you don't know already mashing square builds up your focus. You don't have to hold Triangle to build it up. That's a lot more reliable than holding Triangle. (This is for the monkey not the Transformation)

Hope that helps tell me how you get on!

Great idea to transform to the Wolf directly for a second one later. Thanks!

Didn’t know about the mashing, so just mash light attack to get a more powerful heavy attack faster?

I just realised you should have quick transformation abilities as well. Do you have any equipped?

Only frog tongue, which is terrible, and the ground snakes thing but haven’t tried that yet.

 

[Braag]

I was honestly expecting the end credits to go on forever, but the Game Science team doesn't seem to be a massive sized studio, which is pretty impressive considering the size and quality of the game. I mean they have just 90 different normal enemy types, not counting the 70+ bosses.
Then I saw in the end "Special thanks to our families for their support and understanding" and I was like... ah I see.

Only frog tongue, which is terrible, and the ground snakes thing but haven’t tried that yet.

The Frog transform gets crazy good once fully upgraded. But it's laughably bad in early game.

I think I used the Wight transform for it's dmg reduction all the way to CH3 when I got Apramana Bat, that transform gives a guarantee freeze on enemies and bosses, which was sometimes little OP when combined with Immobilize.

 

[NahaNago]

I’m worthless in this game. Is there a way to level up without just replaying areas until the game becomes boring and repetitive? I’ve played too much Elden Ring, linear games is not my thing.
I’m at the white noble 2 part boss fight. Usually zero health potions left at part 2.

That guy almost had me quit the game. It was half grinding and figuring out his attacks. That last attack in his combo with the delayed attack was kicking my butt for awhile until I realized I needed to wait like I think 3 beats and then dodge. Don't use much magic in the beginning and as soon as you get him near 30% in the first phase just spam magic and potions all through that 2nd phase. He is like the hardest boss I've had so far. Just started chapter 4 today. This game really likes that delayed attack.

 

[mdkirby]

Chapter 4 now. It’s excellent. Feels like a mix of ninja gaiden and god of war.

Overall I’m finding it either on par with or slightly worse than god of war, but quite a bit better than ragnorak. A solid 9/10…would be 9.5 but knocking off half a point for the omission of any sort of map.

 

[The artful mincer]

Great idea to transform to the Wolf directly for a second one later. Thanks!

Didn’t know about the mashing, so just mash light attack to get a more powerful heavy attack faster?

I don't know if it's faster but it's more reliable. You build it up and it doesn't go down once it's full you use it whenever you want. There always the chance the boss hits you when do the Triangle attack and cancels which is always annoying

Only frog tongue, which is terrible, and the ground snakes thing but haven’t tried that yet.

The best ability up to that point is the white Wight transformation. The big headed guy near the start of the chapter. You should be able to beat him now

 

[draliko]

In the beginning I wished for a from game with this graphics and production value... But now I'd sincerely kill for a nioh game in this style... Nioh builds and gameplay are still way above everything else

 

[Buggy Loop]

Got to chapter 4 last night

I’m really loving the game. The boss fights are amazing so far. Fighting the smith tiger was incredibly satisfying.

How did this studio nail this so well, mind blowing.

 

[Valedix]

The one with the big head? Try and use the pillars to hide behind them when he runs to you to make him stagger.

Beat him after taking down the fire staff dude

 

[NahaNago]

Chapter 4 now. It’s excellent. Feels like a mix of ninja gaiden and god of war.

Overall I’m finding it either on par with or slightly worse than god of war, but quite a bit better than ragnorak. A solid 9/10…would be 9.5 but knocking off half a point for the omission of any sort of map.

I'd probably rate it a 8.5 for now. The lack of a map and the technical issues like slow downs and graphical bugs makes me lower the score.

 

[Exentryk]

In the middle of chapter 3 and it's been fun with various different areas to explore. The Pagoda realm was interesting for sure. Some of the boss designs and their movesets are really well done. It can be quite a spectacle.

 

[NeoLed]

Or skip him and come back before ending the chapter? He’s obviously not meant to be fought immediately.

Defeat the Wandering Wight before ringing 3 bells. The Wight will despawn after defeating the secret boss.

For anyone getting trouble with White Noble, my advise is don't attack first, maintain distance and wait till his thrust attack, easily avoidable and long recovery time to punish

 

[Fess]

I don't know if it's faster but it's more reliable. You build it up and it doesn't go down once it's full you use it whenever you want. There always the chance the boss hits you when do the Triangle attack and cancels which is always annoying

The best ability up to that point is the white Wight transformation. The big headed guy near the start of the chapter. You should be able to beat him now

Got the wight transformation now but no further progress on the whiteclad noble, 2nd phase is a wall. I’ve never managed to last long enough to use the wolf a second time either. Tricky.
I have 21 sparks placed on the skill tree now. Should I try reallocate them exactly for my playstyle during the boss maybe?

 

[Sentenza]

Finished the game, ALMOST did an entire NG+ playthrough, too (just as much as need to get the missing achievements) but frankly the second time was A LOT quicker and easier as I stomped everything at the first try.

Overall I maintain my very positive impressions of the game, but I'm not a fan of some of the boring shit they put in the achievement list (i.e. "craft all the armors" but you need to NG+ to have the materials to do it OR "collect all of these items" but you need to luck out on the drop rate to get some of them).

Man, if they managed to make a second title in the same genre while polishing away some of the flaws in this one, we'll have one hell of a studio to follow here.
I know that they already commented to the Chinese gaming press on the fact they didn't expect to see so many people complain about invisible walls and they'll keep it in mind in the future, so that's already (potentially) one down.

 

[ArtHands]

Got the wight transformation now but no further progress on the whiteclad noble, 2nd phase is a wall. I’ve never managed to last long enough to use the wolf a second time either. Tricky.
I have 21 sparks placed on the skill tree now. Should I try reallocate them exactly for my playstyle during the boss maybe?

You should definitely do so.

Usually when the boss starts you should dodge its initial attack, then spam the X button for the combo. Find an opening, then freeze him when he's near and you have enough stamina, then spam X button.

When your stamina is low you should use the clone move (RT+Y) to recover your stamina and heal before you sneak attack. Heavy attack when the boss staggers

 

[Fess]

You should definitely do so.

Usually when the boss starts you should dodge its initial attack, then spam the X button for the combo. Find an opening, then freeze him when he's near and you have enough stamina, then spam X button.

When your stamina is low you should use the clone move (RT+Y) to recover your stamina and heal before you sneak attack. Heavy attack when the boss staggers

Clone move? I don’t think I have that, right trigger only give me the option to use Immobilize freeze (RT+X) and Red Tides wolf (RT+B). And now I also have the Wight head smash (RT+LT)

 

[The artful mincer]

Got the wight transformation now but no further progress on the whiteclad noble, 2nd phase is a wall. I’ve never managed to last long enough to use the wolf a second time either. Tricky.
I have 21 sparks placed on the skill tree now. Should I try reallocate them exactly for my playstyle during the boss maybe?

Ah shit . Sorry I've got no other obvious tips. You can have a play around with the skill tree I guess.

If you can kill the first phase quickly with minimal damage then you can save the transformation for the second phase. Sorry I know I'am contradicting myself there

 

[Represent.]

Making my way through chapter 2.

I was playing way, wayyy too defensive before. Dodge, dodge, wait for right opportunity to hit.

Now I attack head on for the entire fight and barely even give him time to get in sync, like a crazy ass monkey, while dodging like I have freakin Ultra Instinct. Im slaughtering bosses way more than before.

Walk into that fight like you’re the boss and he’s facing you.

Im at the tiger boss, how early/far into chapter 2 am i?