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Severed (PS Vita/PSN) |OT| Swiping your way to victory limb by limb

BTA

Member
After playing it for 3 hours, I'm not sure I would qualify Severed of DRPG. Sure it has that traditional aspect à la Wizardry(first person, moving case by case) but gameplay wise, the RPG component is very limited, it's much closer of a Metroidvania for me.

I was thinking of holding off on buying it for a bit, especially since I already have a lot of RPGs on my plate, but hearing this is making me think I'll be picking it up in the next couple days. This sounds really neat and it being simpler is actually a plus if I'm playing those other games around it.
 

Eiderann

Neo Member
I've only gotten around 40 minutes in, but Severed is really great. I'm loving the atmosphere a lot so far--the weird fantasy angle is quite excellent combined with the art and music. The tempo in combat picks up to a frantic pace when more enemies enter the mix and it becomes a nice juggling game of keeping control of the encounters. Great to see another fantastic title from DrinkBox!
 

Jb

Member
The combination of percussion-heavy music, vibrant colors and weird creatures and environment give the game a fever dream feel so far. The combat is engaging, but I'm a bit worried about how repetitive the game might get since there doesn't seem to be many mechanics besides that.
 

FHIZ

Member
Played it for about an hour before dinner, do not regret my blind purchase at all. Straight up bought the game because I liked Guacamelee and the art style DrinkBox has cultivated.

Perfect game for the Vita really. Responsive touch controls, but offers the physical buttons for navigation and menu, which I could never deal with on a phone/tablet (can't stand virtual directional inputs). Only complaint is that my hand starts to cramp up pretty quickly since I'm holding the system with one hand, but that's more just an issue with the system's ergonomics more than the game.
 

RoKKeR

Member
I need some PSN help... Trying to purchase this game but my purchasing info keeps being rejected. I am living in Japan currently but I have a US PSN account and have purchased things only in the US prior to this. Any suggestions for me? I know my card works find because I used it to sign up for Google Play Music last night, so I'm not sure what's up.

I also can't buy PSN credit from Amazon because I am in Japan... Shouldn't be this hard to give someone money haha.
 

Clive

Member
I need some PSN help... Trying to purchase this game but my purchasing info keeps being rejected. I am living in Japan currently but I have a US PSN account and have purchased things only in the US prior to this. Any suggestions for me? I know my card works find because I used it to sign up for Google Play Music last night, so I'm not sure what's up.

I also can't buy PSN credit from Amazon because I am in Japan... Shouldn't be this hard to give someone money haha.

Try PC Game Supply (in spite of the name). They're legit and don't charge you that much extra. In fact, it seems they have a promo running where 10 bucks of PSN moneys costs less than 10 bucks of real money. Offer valid for 17 hours more it seems.
 

Roussow

Member
Played for a few hours, it's really interesting -- I'm normally not super into this kind of room-clearing RPG, but the combat has me hooked. It's closest comparison strangely enough is probably Fruit Ninja, but it requires a degree of precision and multi-target management that really makes it feel pretty unique. It's actually pretty demanding of you, I can see it getting pretty tough, but for now it's quite manageable.
 
Played for a couple hours and the game is really fun. The combat feels great, I'm "in it" the whole game and always excited to see what comes next.

The game's presentation is wonderful and refreshing, and the enemy design is clever while still indicating what to expect to the player.

My only critique is the hand cramping that has been mentioned by some posters, but more importantly I just hate switching positions of my hands from holding it like a tablet to holding how you normally would.
 

Omerta

Member
Played for a few hours, it's really interesting -- I'm normally not super into this kind of room-clearing RPG, but the combat has me hooked. It's closest comparison strangely enough is probably Fruit Ninja, but it requires a degree of precision and multi-target management that really makes it feel pretty unique. It's actually pretty demanding of you, I can see it getting pretty tough, but for now it's quite manageable.

That's exactly how I feel. This is absolutely not my genre but it's definitely the combat that's got me on the hook.

I really like the flexibility of the control options too. Personally, I'm solely D pad and touch screen.

I'm maybe two hours in and I can see thus being one of my favourite vita titles.
 

Grisby

Member
This isn't my genre either. I did a blind buy because Guacamelee was so good and this looked like a game that would perfectly fit the vita.

Played about an hour and a half so far and got to the third dungeon in the first area. I did not realize how foreign the DRPG concept is to me.

The combat does feel like fruit ninja, but it has more depth of course. They quickly throw you in to combat encounters with three dudes at one and screen management is definitely vital. Upgrade tree seems good and I immediately went for more sever time because I suck at it.

Story is thin, but inviting. Visuals are really enthralling for something so simple. It's pretty cool to see an island in the background surrounded by crows and thinking that I'm probably going to end up on it. Drinkbox's style perfectly lends to the Vita platform.

Yeah, I'm really digging it.
Played it for about an hour before dinner, do not regret my blind purchase at all. Straight up bought the game because I liked Guacamelee and the art style DrinkBox has cultivated.

Perfect game for the Vita really. Responsive touch controls, but offers the physical buttons for navigation and menu, which I could never deal with on a phone/tablet (can't stand virtual directional inputs). Only complaint is that my hand starts to cramp up pretty quickly since I'm holding the system with one hand, but that's more just an issue with the system's ergonomics more than the game.
Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit of it now. Ha.
The combination of percussion-heavy music, vibrant colors and weird creatures and environment give the game a fever dream feel so far. The combat is engaging, but I'm a bit worried about how repetitive the game might get since there doesn't seem to be many mechanics besides that.
Yes! Fever dream is a pair of words that I would definitely use to describe this game so far.
 

Alucrid

Banned
the best thing about the combat is how rhythmic it gets when you have a few different enemy types in the same battle
 
This game is GORGEOUS, and so fluid. One of the few rare games I won't turn off until it is finished. This is an important game.

The OP needs uncompressed screenshots.
 
Ah... I went to download the game only to find out my Vita's display suddenly doesn't turn on anymore. That's a bummer. :/

Try this:

To Access the Recovery Menu:
  1. turn off your PS Vita System
  2. Hold the ‘PS Button’ , the ‘Power Button’ , and the ‘R’ Button at the same time until you see the recovery menu.
  3. Choose the ‘Restart the PS Vita System’ option.
 

OmahaG8

Member
Guacamelee was so good to me I feel very confident buying this game, which I'm now downloading, without any thought. I had no idea this game was even a thing. I really hope this is successful.
 

Number45

Member
I'm finding the controls in this work well for me if I hold loosely in my left hand while controlling everything with my right - using square/cross/triangle to navigate, although it might be a little tricky in more hectic fights changing between enemies.

I'm not sure I've quite got the hang of the combat yet, but hopefully that will come.

I also really like how little I'm being told. Hoping some of the dead ends (that lead to external vista's) have some meaning in the gameplay.

Are all rooms that have a secret in them marked with a question mark?
 

Joni

Member
Are all rooms that have a secret in them marked with a question mark?
Largely so, but sometimes you will need to find some secret paths before reaching the question mark. In other cases, the question mark is in the room that contains the hint to the location. Not the location.
 

Number45

Member
Cool, thanks. Only found two of those rooms last night - solved one (rather easily), but not the other and I hope I haven't screwed my chances of getting that one (
it's the room with the bad vases that damage your health, I've cleared the room
).

I don't want to know how to solve it, but if I've locked myself out of it this time out knowing will save me continually going back to it!

Also, is it possible to determine which set of steps leads where in the map screen? Are they lined up as you change levels? I don't recall there being any indicator.
 

Joni

Member
Cool, thanks. Only found two of those rooms last night - solved one (rather easily), but not the other and I hope I haven't screwed my chances of getting that one (
it's the room with the bad vases that damage your health, I've cleared the room
).

I don't want to know how to solve it, but if I've locked myself out of it this time out knowing will save me continually going back to it!

Also, is it possible to determine which set of steps leads where in the map screen? Are they lined up as you change levels? I don't recall there being any indicator.

They are lined-up, so you can just switch screens.

As for locking yourself out, it is impossible. As far as I have seen, there is no way to lock yourself out of anything. Even not the limbs, as there is a secret room with a huge re-generating supply you can only get at the end of the game. So no single Trophy is missable. The room with the bad vases isn't a good indicator, you will find many of those. Just try to avoid hitting the vases with cracks.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Still deciding whether to purchase this...surprised there isn't much impressions by neogaffers.

I posted some impressions HERE.

Played a bunch more tonight, game continues to be great. In related news, the skin on the tip of my index finger is starting to get kinda sore. I should probably play something else tomorrow.
 

Z3M0G

Member
Anyone else playing left handed? Slashing/tapping with left hand, turning/moving with face buttons?

Guacamelee was so good to me I feel very confident buying this game, which I'm now downloading, without any thought. I had no idea this game was even a thing. I really hope this is successful.

I think it was this thread appearing that first alerted me to its existence... out of nowhere, instant purchase.
 

Sarcasm

Member
I need some PSN help... Trying to purchase this game but my purchasing info keeps being rejected. I am living in Japan currently but I have a US PSN account and have purchased things only in the US prior to this. Any suggestions for me? I know my card works find because I used it to sign up for Google Play Music last night, so I'm not sure what's up.

I also can't buy PSN credit from Amazon because I am in Japan... Shouldn't be this hard to give someone money haha.

You should be able to buy from Amazon if it's a digital code. I live in Taiwan and this is how I do it. I can actually buy Japanese PSN cards locally and I buy u.s. from Amazon.
 
Damn, I wasn't especially interested in this (despite liking DrinkBox) but reading through this topic makes me want to buy the game now. What sort of genre is it? I haven't followed it especially closely.
 
Damn, I wasn't especially interested in this (despite liking DrinkBox) but reading through this topic makes me want to buy the game now. What sort of genre is it? I haven't followed it especially closely.

It's... something different? I mean, it's got Metroidvania elements in the upgrade and maze/puzzle bits, dungeon crawler movement and layout, an RPG-like skill tree, touch based fights that include both strategy and quick thinking, and probably more I'm not recalling off-hand.

It's like they borrowed a bunch of awesome elements from popular genres and blended them into something unique - stuffing it all into the Vita with some Drinkbox secret sauce.
 
It's... something different? I mean, it's got Metroidvania elements in the upgrade and maze/puzzle bits, dungeon crawler movement and layout, an RPG-like skill tree, touch based fights that include both strategy and quick thinking, and probably more I'm not recalling off-hand.

It's like they borrowed a bunch of awesome elements from popular genres and blended them into something unique - stuffing it all into the Vita with some Drinkbox secret sauce.

Fuuuuck - that sounds great. I might have to take the plunge on this. Got a few games on the go right now, but I feel in part like I ought to support devs still supporting the Vita in 2016 (especially because I loved their previous game).
 
I'm really liking Severed but there is a specific cloud battle that is making me want to pull my hair out (I'm sure anyone who has gotten to that point knows the one I'm talking about), is there some trick to it that I'm just missing?
 
I'm really liking Severed but there is a specific cloud battle that is making me want to pull my hair out (I'm sure anyone who has gotten to that point knows the one I'm talking about), is there some trick to it that I'm just missing?

Sort of?

Before I explain how I won, I'd like to note I wasn't maxed out - so if you're maxed out and can't beat it then you need to work on how fast you are.

Take out the two non-ball holding enemies first. The guy who holds the ball will build up aggression for his attack, but as long as you keep poking at him with a few swipes every few moments (based on his yellow charge meter) he won't bother you. Just do not activate the two headed dog by taking his health down too far.

The two enemies you have besides him are unarmed with magic defense, so you can use steal buff on them. One has nothing, so blind him and shut his ass down fast. The other needs to be stolen from (I stole attack power) to up your skills, and then killed with blind (if it comes back) and swipes. You don't need to save mana as the last guy is going to be all skill and buffs.

When you get to the dog, you can't miss. swipe like a madman till he turns, then block EVERY single attack, making sure to use your arm power on his belly. If you miss a block, he regenerates enough to negate the last hit and at least the one before it - so you NEED to be quick and precise.

Swipe 'til he's dead, and rejoice.
 
Sort of?

Before I explain how I won, I'd like to note I wasn't maxed out - so if you're maxed out and can't beat it then you need to work on how fast you are.

Take out the two non-ball holding enemies first. The guy who holds the ball will build up aggression for his attack, but as long as you keep poking at him with a few swipes every few moments (based on his yellow charge meter) he won't bother you. Just do not activate the two headed dog by taking his health down too far.

The two enemies you have besides him are unarmed with magic defense, so you can use steal buff on them. One has nothing, so blind him and shut his ass down fast. The other needs to be stolen from (I stole attack power) to up your skills, and then killed with blind (if it comes back) and swipes. You don't need to save mana as the last guy is going to be all skill and buffs.

When you get to the dog, you can't miss. swipe like a madman till he turns, then block EVERY single attack, making sure to use your arm power on his belly. If you miss a block, he regenerates enough to negate the last hit and at least the one before it - so you NEED to be quick and precise.

Swipe 'til he's dead, and rejoice.

Thanks for the tips, I'll have to give them a try next time I get the urge to give it a shot again.
 

Wozman23

Member
Seeing
the brother's corpse
is pretty harrowing. This game is dark coming off Guac.

I had a lot of fun with it last night, but that was the point that really took the game to another level.

It's definitely not the typical game I'd play, as it's touch mechanics are very mobile-y, but it's got a good variety of enemies so far, excellent art direction, a solid upgrade tree, a dash of metroidvania, and the darker tone is enthralling. Reminds me a bit of the original Legend of Zelda - which I still believe is the best entry in that series.

My only complaint - as a guy who is mostly unfamiliar with games that utilize a touch screen - it's a bit hard to manage the buttons and the touchscreen during heated battles. Definitely favoring the d-pad over the analog stick.
 
I had a lot of fun with it last night, but that was the point that really took the game to another level.

It's definitely not the typical game I'd play, as it's touch mechanics are very mobile-y, but it's got a good variety of enemies so far, excellent art direction, a solid upgrade tree, a dash of metroidvania, and the darker tone is enthralling. Reminds me a bit of the original Legend of Zelda - which I still believe is the best entry in that series.

My only complaint - as a guy who is mostly unfamiliar with games that utilize a touch screen - it's a bit hard to manage the buttons and the touchscreen during heated battles. Definitely favoring the d-pad over the analog stick.

I use the touch screen for the entire battle, touching the icon of the enemy I want to switch to instead of hitting the buttons. I also hold the Vita like a phone, but with my hand fingers-side up and palm facing me (instead of fingers right or left depending on handedness)
 

wispsmoke

Neo Member
I use the touch screen for the entire battle, touching the icon of the enemy I want to switch to instead of hitting the buttons. I also hold the Vita like a phone, but with my hand fingers-side up and palm facing me (instead of fingers right or left depending on handedness)

Thanks for the tip – I started this up this morning and found the combat to be rhythmic and engaging. Of course, the presentation is great – Drinkbox pumping up the colors on the OLED. Parrying and juggling multiple enemies keeps things difficult so far, but I wonder if I'm just too chilled out to play the thing. I can fill the focus meter, but never manage to sever off any limbs. Do you have to sever every limb to get any, or can you keep what you sever even if it's only one or two limbs?
 

Wozman23

Member
I use the touch screen for the entire battle, touching the icon of the enemy I want to switch to instead of hitting the buttons. I also hold the Vita like a phone, but with my hand fingers-side up and palm facing me (instead of fingers right or left depending on handedness)

Didn't know touching the icon was an option. Sounds much better.
 
Very much enjoying this game so far, lovely mix of dungeon exploring and finger pokey battles. I'm getting odd Trama Centre flashbacks playing it with how in combat the trick is juggling all these tasks while prioritizing the most pressing one
 
I have the idea, now– for some enemies (like the, uh, eyeballs that grow spiky fungus) you have to cut out the eye to get anything. For others, like the spider monkeys (ha!) you get what you cut.

Once you've "beaten" an enemy with full focus you get the chance to cut off their valuable parts. There are only like 6 different parts give or take, so you can't just hack anything off. Some things only have one part (the one eyes mushroom dudes), some have many of one parts (the winged guys that split apart), and some have many of many parts (the two headed dog thing).

Whatever you cut off in the little sequence where they're "beaten" already, you get to keep by collecting it via touch.
 
Right, I've just bought it. Don't know when I'll get around to making a start, but I feel like I've got to support a quality developer like DrinkBox releasing great PS Vita exclusives in 2016.
 

Z3M0G

Member
Wish I took my Vita to work today... I've been thinking of this game on and off all day... itching to play more!
 

W1SSY

Member
Finished the game and really enjoyed it. I felt like towards the end of the game, I was playing a puzzle game. Some of the battles really force you to think about who you are going to attack and who you are just going to delay from attacking you. The final battle was rather challenging but I feel like they did a good job of showing you what you had to do through the battle. I don't know if I will go back and try to get all the trophies or not. It would be rather time consuming traversing through all the dungeons to find the secrets so I might just pass on that.
 
The combination of percussion-heavy music, vibrant colors and weird creatures and environment give the game a fever dream feel so far. The combat is engaging, but I'm a bit worried about how repetitive the game might get since there doesn't seem to be many mechanics besides that.

You'll start utilizing charge attacks and your blind spell, enemies get random buffs like increased, def, regen or attack and have stronger variants. It's slowly introducing new things, which I like. Combat encounters basically become puzzles. But yeah, fever dream is the perfect description.
 
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