Support NeoGAF

[Yuterald]

I love character-based action games. I've been a fan of them since the original Devil May Cry on PS2. I'd like to say/think that I've played most of them from the PS2-era (good and bad). It's one of my favorite genres/sub-genres, whatever the fuck you want to consider games like this. El Shaddai was one of my most wanted games back in 2011 and it quickly became one of my favorite games of the year. It's still one of my favorite character-based action game titles from the PS3/Xbox 360-era. This game got a lot of criticism for it apparently being "all style and no substance", but I'd like to disagree with those claims. Sure, the game is fairly simple and shallow on a surface level, but if you want to get the most out of the game (get the best ranks, G-Ranks that is, on each difficulty level), it's really no joke.

Below are some tips/requirements for G-Ranks, it's pretty into it!

Cross-posting from PS3Trophies.org...

First thing to know is that you NEED the secret bonus to be max. It accounts for 85%(I did no real math on this, but it FEELS like it's that much) of your G rank score.

Be sure to get ALL fruits of wisdom. If you don't then you will not get the max secret bonus.

You need to steal from all enemies, from what I've seen you're allowed to miss one and still get the max bonus.Though Chapter 10 seems to be the exception and you need to steal from all.

Obviously you cannot do any recovers or any continues. This also means no falling into holes because they count as an instant recover.

To be perfectly honest how well you combat does not matter other than helping your score be higher. Generally just making it through the level without dying ,along with fighting everything, will make your score be enough.

Speed doesn't matter as much as you'd think. Again the key thing is the secret bonus.

I don't think you have to break everything, but it does help.

Win the Watcher battles. I'm not 100% on this but I believe they count as a death if you lose.If nothing else they help pad your score.

I don't believe you have to fight everything, there were one or two chapters where I skipped fights and still got my G rank.

That about covers the requirements next I'll put up some basic tips on general combat(not bosses)and later some boss tips.

When you've got an overboost charged do try to save it for hard battles or when you're about to die. Best example of a use is if you somehow get stuck with a Veil on chapter 10 and you're going into a battle with 2-3 Arch users.

On hard, unless you are pure awesomeness at combat, I highly recommend never entering into a fight with the Veil equipped because it will cause cause Arch wielders to spawn =\

On hard, unless it's a set battle, the enemies that spawn will always have weapons that your current is weak to.

When using the Gale the safest option is to stay airborne and use the hold square attack,dash, then hold square again. This is generally the best option in any situation except for watcher fights simply because you never know when they'll do their "blocking" animation. Due to the multi-hit of the aerial attack they will knock you out of the air and beat you senseless.

When using the Arch doing the aerial combo is the best way to rack up the point. The final hit of it gives the highest score. I've found the easiest way to deal with Gale enemies is run up and do the R1+square uppercut into aerial combo, just before the final hit(the high score one) hit R1+square again and continue that combo until they are knocked to the ground. As soon as you hit do another R1+square and repeat. Generally it only takes up to around 22 hits and the Gale user is ready for his weapon to be stolen.
Best thing to do against Veil users is just the aerial combo.

When using the Veil the R1+square combo is useful for stun locking enemies. Note that the first hit will NOT stun the arch wielders on chapter 10. The second hit usually will though. When fighting Arch users with a Veil the best thing is...good luck. But seriously though only thing that really worked best for me was jumping just above and doing an air combo. Usually it would stun them and the final hit would knock them down.Also when in a pinch try to block as much as possible because it will speed up the overboost charging.

When Unarmed acquiring new weapons is usually pretty easy, however chapter 10 is,as usual, the exception to the rule. Generally I've found doing a single square attack into the guard break combo works best as it will stun most enemies.

I've always been a completionist/someone who likes to get the most out of their games at heart, but over the past few years I've had less and less time to do what I used to do with the games I loved. Getting G-Ranks on all difficulty levels was something I buried into my mental gaming "to-do" list for the longest time. The last time I played the game I was in the middle of Stage 4 on Hard mode and it was just so ridiculously difficult to get the G-Rank. I dropped it and didn't touch the game for years...that is until two weeks ago!

I've been meaning to add/make one action game a part of my permanent gaming routine/shuffle and I just finished 100%'ing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (those arena challenges on the highest difficulty were pretty tough!) so the slot was open and El Shaddai was staring right into my soul. I decided to load it up one Friday night recently and take a stab at that stage I was stuck on. Of course, I spent the entire night not making any more progress with the stage than I did a few years back. I thought it was never meant to be...but Saturday morning arrived and a different story was to be told.

Has anyone ever attempted something difficult in a game late into the night without ever making progress only to wake up the next morning, slightly more rested, and somehow finish whatever you were set out to do the night before? Well, it's one of the best feelings in the world and it happened! Not only did I get that one fucking G-Rank I was trying to get, I got TWO MORE stages done on Hard! Needless to say, El Shaddai will be in rotation until this shit is done...

Spoiler

I haven't touched the game in two weeks since getting those three G-Ranks...I hope I don't drop it for another two years, lol!!!

What I like about G-Ranks
I love (and somewhat dislike, see below) the fact that there's so many hidden variables in the ranking system. It's got almost NES-era-like player expectations, which I absolutely get a kick out of. It's the kind of shit you would never find out on your own. The results screen lists a category called "Secret Bonus" which is, as you can read above, comprised of many hidden variables that will completely blindside you on your first run of the game's score mode. The fact that the developers expected the player to experiment with the stages and mechanics in order to see what influenced this ranking category is something I find super interesting and down right cool.

If I had to be THAT guy...
My biggest critique of El Shaddai's ranking system, however, can also be summarized from that list of tips/requirements I posted above. Unlike the top-tier character-based action game titles like DMC3, Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta (where play-style/experimentation is equally rewarding), here you're expected to play in a very deliberate way in order to obtain the best rank. "You HAVE to collect all the Flame Powerups!" "You HAVE to steal every weapon from every enemy", "You can't fall into a single pit!". It's super strict and almost guarantees players to run a stage in a similar fashion. What's even worse is the fact that racking up points through combos or completing the stage quickly (which is more centered around play-style) has little to no barring/weight on your final score compared to the bonus you get for completing those deliberate objectives.

With ALL that said, I really do love the game still. The setting, the weirdness, the bosses, the music; it's just a fucking cool game. I'm going to try and keep this thread as a constant reminder NOT to drop it for another two years, hah! I'll be updating as I make more progress. I may even take a video or two of myself playing the game, showing off a G-Rank or two.

 

[Yuterald]

 

[AcceptableGhost]

this sounds like one of the worst scoring systems I have ever heard of

 

[Yuterald]

this sounds like one of the worst scoring systems I have ever heard of

Yeah, like I said, it's very restrictive and deliberate, but I can't help but to love nearly everything about it, hah! I really do enjoy the combat in this game for what it's worth. There's a certain flow/rhythm that's hard to describe. The one-on-one Watcher boss fights also bring the best out in the combat system. Good boss-patterns & multiple phases too. The scoring system isn't even present during your first run, so maybe it was an afterthought? At the same time, they did go to quite lengths to program all those different variables for each stage.

One thing that's interesting to note as well is that you earn more points wearing less/no armor, but by doing this you're in 1-hit danger of ruining your "no knock out" special bonus score. It's definitely got a risk/reward thing going, but again, the points you can earn from regular combat/combos isn't weighed as much as the secret bonus points. I've heard/read that there are some videos of Japanese players out there wrecking the game, so there's that too, hah!

 

[Correctomundo]

Wonderful game, but there's no way I'm doing all that for G-ranks. I'll play it again in a year or two, and I'll enjoy my frequent death peppered time with it like I did the last time. But the scoring is way too strict for my tastes.

 

[Yuterald]

Target: Stage 7 - Hard
Goal: G-Rank
ETA: 5/24/14