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Valdis Story: Abyssal City on Steam

BPoole

Member
Yo someone gimme a combat breakdown, all this S rank talk is making my dick rock hard, if indie action games with deep combat mechanics become a thing I don't know how my wallet will be able to take it, PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE A PARRY.

There is a parry... kind of. There is a skill you can unlock where if you time a block properly you will stagger the attacker
 

Anteater

Member
There is a parry... kind of. There is a skill you can unlock where if you time a block properly you will stagger the attacker

It doesn't seem too useful early on, since majority of the attacks are magic and grabs, or is there a skill that will allow me to parry/reflect magic attacks later on? (Using Reina)
 
I've been playing this on the highest difficulty (because I'm a stupid moron) right of the bat and there are certainly pros and cons to this game. I just beat the fourth boss, which took me about two hours of retries. There's a lot of things to learn about each encounter, and most attempts gave me lots of new ideas, so... off to a good start. However, there are certain problems that become amazingly frustrating quickly.

Unlike, say, Super Meat Boy, it rarely felt like my deaths were fair and completely my own fault. Instead, the boss randomly decided to forego certain things in his pattern for no apparent reason, the wall grab falling to register because it requires a pretty counter-intuitive input and the worst part of all... There's a hugely punishing cooldown on the only defensive measure you have - the cancel dodge. This meant I had to play around the boss and stay passive for several seconds at a time because any offensive move is quickly punished if you cannot i-frame out of it. This becomes a huge problem because the boss pretty much requires you to stay on him with permanent aggression in order to not get overwhelmed by adds etc. Literally a single fuck-up (due to some quirk of the controls) would completely ruin your momentum and destroy any chance of further pressure on the boss itself. In the end, I managed to do a flawless attempt, but it honestly didn't feel very satisfying at all.

Such a shame, because a game like this is something I've long dreamed about. It kind of feels like the devs didn't really design their game around being able to perfectly play through the hardest difficulty, which you can tell that games like DMC (an apt comparison when it comes to difficulty) certainly were. Still, I'll keep playing it because it is so challenging. Definitely worth the sale price.
 

Anteater

Member
man, fuck Magus, I give up, can't beat her when the angel dude spawns, I couldn't find a way to even attack it without getting hit since it hovers above Magus below a platform at all times while I'm dodging all the swords :p Plus it takes forever to get her health down to that stage.

I've retried enough that I'm going to unlock the 40 retries achievement soon :lol
 

ViviOggi

Member
man, fuck Magus, I give up, can't beat her when the angel dude spawns, I couldn't find a way to even attack it without getting hit since it hovers above Magus below a platform at all times while I'm dodging all the swords :p Plus it takes forever to get her health down to that stage.

I've retried enough that I'm going to unlock the 40 retries achievement soon :lol

I just brute forced the angel, in focus mode if available. Maybe you're just lacking in dps?
 

Anteater

Member
I just brute forced the angel, in focus mode if available. Maybe you're just lacking in dps?

Yeah, probably spent too much points on the wrong stuff :(

I watched a few videos and they just hack away at the boss and its life goes down like 5 times quicker :lol
 

Jintor

Member
The game doesn't quite have that Platinum-level polish where I always feel 100% in control of my character at all times. Also it's that game I had inside my head where I was like "I'm going to make this one day!" but someone already made it and now I'm sad.
 

BPoole

Member
It doesn't seem too useful early on, since majority of the attacks are magic and grabs, or is there a skill that will allow me to parry/reflect magic attacks later on? (Using Reina)
It's come in handy for some boss fights, especially once you get their patterns down. I have tried deflecting projectiles though. I read through the skills though and nothing mentioned it
 

ScOULaris

Member
Bought this game during the Winter Sale, and I'm really liking it so far. The art style is a little uninspired, as are the story and characters, but the combat and Metroidvania structure are enough to keep me playing through to the end most likely.

It could have used a little more polish in terms of art assets and controls, but its core design is very solid and enjoyable. I'd recommend picking this up even at full price on Steam to anyone who likes Metroidvanias.


Oh, I forgot to mention the music! It's really good. All of the tracks are suitably moody yet pulse-pounding at the same time, just how a game done in the Castelvania style should be.
 

Facism

Member
I got mad frustrated after the boss in the engineer's palace. I'm not sure if i missed an explanation on the mechanic that helsp you escape the room or if it wasn't told to me :/

You get a double jump which you activate with R2, helping you get out with a timed walljump
 

Lain

Member
Yo someone gimme a combat breakdown, all this S rank talk is making my dick rock hard, if indie action games with deep combat mechanics become a thing I don't know how my wallet will be able to take it, PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE A PARRY.

The best part about getting the highest rank isn't just that you, well, get a higher rank, but that you also get more exp from the boss kill AND a better stats reward.
 
man, fuck Magus, I give up, can't beat her when the angel dude spawns, I couldn't find a way to even attack it without getting hit since it hovers above Magus below a platform at all times while I'm dodging all the swords :p Plus it takes forever to get her health down to that stage.

I've retried enough that I'm going to unlock the 40 retries achievement soon :lol

I was also having problems against her so I changed my playstyle and started to use more spells against her. When she enters the defensive stance use an ofensive spell to break it and continue with a combo. When the angel appeared I just ignored it and kept focusing in the crystal and in Magus, imo it's better to hit her two or three times and take your time to dodge the swords and the angels projectiles than land a 10 hit combo and not have the time to dodge the other attacks.
 
I saw the trailer and while it looked cool something was very off-putting to me :(

The SFX.

Some of them are literally taken from the RPG Maker's RTP. I have extensively used RPG Maker, and therefore I am so tired of those sound effects (they've recycled some of them for years).

Anyways, the game does look nice. I just wanted to post this little bit of trivia out.
 

Burt

Member
Glad people are recognizing this. It's a lot of fun. I'm not the hardcore S-rank hunter that so many people in here seem to be, but it's working out just fine for me. It's definitely lacking polish in some fairly trivial areas (backgrounds vary wildly in quality, lack of tutorials/explanation for a lot of mechanics, magic casting is a little wonky, and I think the font looks a little amateurish), but it hasn't been anything that's slowed me down or really hampered my enjoyment of the game. Definitely worth it.

I think the art style is extremely well executed, even if it is a little uninspired. I'm actually a little hesitant to even call it that because I do really like it overall, and I generally hate the anime look. Has to be doing something right if I find it enjoyable.
 

Zeliard

Member
Thanks to that jerk Gotchaye I've developed a condition where I have to S-rank every boss I come across in my first playthrough (on Hard). The exceptions are the first boss, since I wasn't gunning for S at the time and don't want to restart yet (got an A on him so the reward was still decent), and the Yeti whom I fought at level 3 with default equipment and thus didn't do very well in the time ranking.

It's a sickness, but boy is it fun.
 

Anteater

Member
I was also having problems against her so I changed my playstyle and started to use more spells against her. When she enters the defensive stance use an ofensive spell to break it and continue with a combo. When the angel appeared I just ignored it and kept focusing in the crystal and in Magus, imo it's better to hit her two or three times and take your time to dodge the swords and the angels projectiles than land a 10 hit combo and not have the time to dodge the other attacks.

Thanks for the advice, she'll pay on my new playthrough!
 

Terra_Ex

Member
Just started this last night and got some nice SOTN vibes from it, really enjoyable so far, great aesthetics and music so far. How are you supposed to kill those armoured angelic knight with the shields and barriers? I've had to avoid them so far.
 

dtg

Neo Member
Backed this game, played it once. Glad to see it's doing well. Might pick it up again later.
 

Drakken

Member
Are most people playing this with an Xbox controller? And if so, is it easy to set up?

(Excuse my ignorance, I almost never play PC games.)
 

RK9039

Member
Are most people playing this with an Xbox controller? And if so, is it easy to set up?

(Excuse my ignorance, I almost never play PC games.)

Yes, I'm using a 360 pad. You can change the button scheme as well.

Just started this last night and got some nice SOTN vibes from it, really enjoyable so far, great aesthetics and music so far. How are you supposed to kill those armoured angelic knight with the shields and barriers? I've had to avoid them so far.

I think the best way to take them down is by running right in their face and blocking, after they do a shield bash you have to dash right behind them, you should be able to get a few hits in.
 

ViviOggi

Member
Are most people playing this with an Xbox controller? And if so, is it easy to set up?

(Excuse my ignorance, I almost never play PC games.)

I preferred using the keyboard because the 360's d-pad is so utterly terrible and I don't like using analog sticks in precision-heavy 2D games with digital movement. But that's just me, 360 pad works fine otherwise and is very easy to set up nowadays.
 

Dr.Acula

Banned
I saw the trailer and while it looked cool something was very off-putting to me :(

The SFX.

Some of them are literally taken from the RPG Maker's RTP. I have extensively used RPG Maker, and therefore I am so tired of those sound effects (they've recycled some of them for years).

Anyways, the game does look nice. I just wanted to post this little bit of trivia out.

I'm not familiar with RPGM, so it shouldn't bother me. I was playing Guacamelee, and as someone with several hundred hours in Quake 3, the jumping "grunt" sound being exactly the same fucked with me the entire playthrough.

The frame rate for me looks like it drops whenever he does a combo...maybe it's just me. Is that fraps causing that?

It's FRAPS
 
As am I!

Very cool that it's getting a lot more play and press.

What's really funny is I went Magic-Heavy on my first playthrough and had next to no problems with bosses up until the Raven.

Aaaaaaaah ha ha ha ha.

Fuck the Raven.
 
My hate for Mana Caves is only surpassed by my hate against Guardian Temple. Spoilers ahead
did anyone killed Dhistahn in the Sewers? I decided to not kill him and he appeared later in the fight against Azudor only to bring more headache for me. Is it possible to kill him preventing Azudor to suck his power?
 

Sentenza

Member
Damn, this game is good (mostly).
It's such a pleasure to cross something so enjoyable when you weren't expecting much.
 

Anteater

Member
oh beat magus on my new playthrough, even got a S rank :D

guess I should've started with the combat buffs, only playing on normal though

is there a way to retry a bosses without dying that I'm missing?
 

Cerity

Member
trying the get back into this for the nth time, the controls just feel off to me at parts. One that'd go ways to fixing it would be to add a seperate button for the dash cancel IMO, especially when playing on a pad.
 

ViviOggi

Member
trying the get back into this for the nth time, the controls just feel off to me at parts. One that'd go ways to fixing it would be to add a seperate button for the dash cancel IMO, especially when playing on a pad.

It's R for M+KB but doesn't show up in the controls menu for some reason. Not sure if there's any unused buttons left on the 360 pad, if there are you could just bind that to R with JoyToKey or a similar program.
 

Cerity

Member
They're all used from what I can tell, but I'd gladly trade something like the map button (LB) for a dedicated dash button. I've died quite a few times now thanks to it being binded to the down button.
 

Anteater

Member
I just ran into an eye of alagath dude and he kicked my ass :(

They're all used from what I can tell, but I'd gladly trade something like the map button (LB) for a dedicated dash button. I've died quite a few times now thanks to it being binded to the down button.

You can change your button configuration though, I have cancel mapped to O on a dualshock
 
Missile, is that you? :p

ghosttrickdog-e1296225333622.png

Heh my thoughts as well.
 

jimboton

Member
They're all used from what I can tell, but I'd gladly trade something like the map button (LB) for a dedicated dash button. I've died quite a few times now thanks to it being binded to the down button.

RB wasn't bound to anything so I set that to cancel. Working well for me so far.
 
Has anyone tried a pure Luck build? Sounds fun and I may do it once I start a new game.

I was going to. Normally whenever a game gives me a luck stat I do a completely separate luck game for it. Dunno which character it would work best with though.

Also, I was sorta annoyed at the dash cancel at first as I kept randomly hitting it but later on I became quite used to it. Sliding my thumb from down to a direction is wicked easy and gives me pretty good control now. That being said, I may reassign it and give it a Mega Man style dash position since I'm also really used to Megaman X style dashing.

Ah well. Time to find more crew members. Gotta catch 'em all so Wyatt can make sarcastic-ass remarks at them.
 

Pejo

Member
Loving this game so far. Picked it up due to the steam sales and have been chipping away at it. My biggest problem a few hours in, is finding where i'm supposed to go next. I wish there was a better map system, as well as a notification of which rooms still contain treasure similar to Super Metroid.

Some of those jumping switch puzzles had me in full on rage mode though.
 
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