So more of a future one, but just thinking ahead and wanted to get some feedback. Should I get Dead Cells or wait for Hades release on Switch? I know they are both rogue-likes (or lites I can’t tell the difference please don’t take away my gamer card please), and I just imagine I’ll burn myself out on that genre if I get both. I’ve watched Patrick play a bunch of Dead Cells. Hades I’ve only heard talked about by Gita and Austin the little bit they have. I’ve been wanting to play Dead Cells for awhile, but never got it. With all the good things I’ve heard about Hades I’m curious if I should just wait to get that and to get my rogue-like/lite gaming in. Thanks!
If i where you id buy Dead Cells on sale (fx i believe its on sale on switch atm) and play that, and then if id burned out on that type of game id wait until i felt like one of those again at which point Hades would probably be on sale. Just a thought.
Another way to differentiate would be if you prefer sidescrollers or isometric games more, and then get the one that fits your prefference.
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The other big question would be if you’re in the mood for basically no story and no characters (Dead Cells), or a whole lot of story and characters (Hades).
I would recommend Hades! Dead Cells is good, but Hades in excellent! There is much more depth and variety to the builds because the weapons are so elementally different. The modifiers for the weapons can wildly change your play style too. In my experience with Dead Cells it became clear after a dozen runs or so that there’s really just one way to play that game with the variation between runs adding flavor.
Thank you for all the advice. Unfortunately Dead Cells isn’t on sale currently or I’d do that route for sure. I think I’m leaning towards waiting for Hades. While I like sidescrollers more so than isometric games, the added story and variance in combat of Hades is sounds extremely appealing to me. Based on @notanimal and watching Patrick play it seems like my concern about Dead Cells having limited combat might be true. Thanks again to everyone that answered!
While searching the eShop to see if Dead Cells was on sale I came across another game on sale, so I have another question for everyone. Should I get Blasphemous? It’s 50% off right now. Patrick has been really high on it, and I’ve seen a few posts on here that have said they’ve enjoyed it as well. I also saw somewhere comparing it to Hollow Knight, and I absolutely loved Hollow Knight! Is this an apt comparison?
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I bounced off of blasphemous really hard because moving around the world (and… everything) felt so sluggish. keep in mind that I also didn’t dig the aesthetic at all, so you might be able to get a lot more milage
I don’t know if someone has already covered it in this thread but is Ashen a game for people who people who often bounce off the Souls games?
I’ve only managed to finish Bloodborne and that required a lot of summoning. I don’t have much patience for the learning and trial-and-error aspect of these games but I like the vibe. Does Ashen scratch that itch?
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I actually just finished Blasphemous and left some longer thoughts on the ‘what game are you playing’ thread if you feel like reading some more in-depth pros and cons. To shorten it though, I thought it was very good but not great. Highlights were all of its aesthetics — art design, lore, writing, all that stuff is atmospheric and compelling, especially if you have any kind of relationship with Catholicism and/or enjoy Gothic horror. If you vibe with that, I think 50% off is worth it.
Its world and level design are also extremely good in a very Souls-y way, like circular levels with shortcuts and double-backs and that kind of thing. I actually made a Hollow Knight comparison in my longer post about that particular aspect — the world itself is that well built. (idk maybe it was my thing that you saw?)
However, big big caveat, I didn’t love the feel. As @EggTats said, it feels very weighty and sluggish, which surprised me because of the Castlevania comparisons I’d heard people make before. Its levels are very reminiscent of Hollow Knight but the gameplay itself never really feels like Hollow Knight; it’s much slower, heavier, and more methodical, and there are no movement upgrades — instead, the metroidvania elements more change ways you interact with certain objects in the levels themselves.
In the end, I got through it because I really like MV/souls-like games, but as far as that genre of game goes, there are a few games I’d choose over it. Dead Cells is probably one of them, to be honest. What it lacks in narrative I felt like it made up for in pure feel — like it may have the best feel of any 2D game I’ve ever played. I occasionally jump back into it here and there to do a run and even after months of not playing, I slide right back in. I really love that game.
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I think Ashen might be a good fit for you. There’s a drop in drop out coop system that’s similar to Journey which really helped me in overcoming the game’s difficulty. And at least for me, I did much prefer the game’s chill painterly aesthetic over the gothic horror that From likes to traffic in.
Context: I played through Ashen about a month ago in single-player.
I think Ashen is less trial-and-error than the soul games, but it can still be frustrating in those regards. The game does a lot of hiding enemies around corners and such. As @Navster mentioned, having a constant partner alleviates some of that. But I also played the entire game with just the AI partner. For the most part this was great, cause I could just be like “okay friend, you aggro the enemies in this narrow corridor and take the hits, and I’ll squeeze around them and hit from behind.” But one big issue I had, there were a few locations in the game where the AI partner would constantly fall off cliffs, meaning you couldn’t save them if they fell. This was particularly annoying in one area right before a boss fight where the AI partner seemed to love jumping into the void and every time that happened I’d have to go back to the shrine to reset the world so they’d come back.
Overall, I still adored the game, it’s deviates from the souls games in meaningful ways both in tone and in level design (most of the areas in the game are very open, which also makes combat easier)
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It’s the aesthetic that caught my eye. It looks a bit like that fighting game Absolver that I knew I would never get into. The co-op stuff sounds just like my thing as well, the isolation of the Souls games had a thematic point in Demon’s and Dark Souls but its oustayed its welcome for me in subsequent games.
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Ashen’s aesthetic also has a thematic point about building community and gaining strength from being in harmony with the people around you. I definitely found it more uplifting and motivating than From’s collapsed worlds.
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I keep coming back to how Ashen uses so much of the soulslike and FROM toolbox, but to establish different feelings and messages. It’s a dying world, but instead of focusing on why the world is dying, it is constantly demonstrating to the player why this world is worth saving.
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Ashen is SO GOOD the lighting is phenomenal, the dungeons are fun, and the main hub area is such a neat idea. Idk if it’ll move the needle for you in terms of souls-likes and its combat, but overall I loved it; one of my favorite games from 2018
So, Ashen is definitely a wonderful game, for a number of reasons that others here have already detailed. However, there are some pretty frustrating difficulty spikes and trial-and-error dominates those particular difficulty spikes. As far as souls-likes go, it’s not too terribly difficult with the exception of said difficulty spikes - some vague spoilers follow: there are a handful of ‘dungeons’ that you have to go through as part of the main story, and a couple of them are really lengthy, and particularly if you’re alone or just have an AI co-op partner, they can be incredibly punishing to get through. Just know going in that there will be these difficulty spikes that may sour the experience to a certain degree. That being said, I loved my time with the game, and would certainly recommend it to anyone as a good entry point to Souls-style games.
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So going back and reading that post it was absolutely what I read that compared it to Hollow Knight. My understanding/grasp on Catholicism is basically just the big stuff gained from culture osmosis from living in the Bible Belt. I am quite interested in it as a story though so I think that is what ultimately drew me in. The different gameplay is interesting. I did enjoy Hollow Knight’s gameplay, but really drew me in was the world so if the levels and such are reminiscent and not so much the combat that is a good trade to me. As someone that hasn’t played a Souls game at all, I’m interested to see how much I like it. I got it because I was working all day today, and wouldn’t have a chance to see this before the 50% sale went away so I just went for it. Your post and Patrick’s praise (I find my tastes in games aligning heavily with his) really pushed me over the edge to give this beautiful game a shot.
Hopefully I can find a good price on Dead Cells soon too. Hearing that it is the best feel of a 2D game definitely perks up my ears. I remember playing hours and hours of Spelunky (again follow Patrick’s gaming tastes) on my Vita, and I can see Dead Cells taking a similar position to me on Switch. Thank you for both this post and the longer one on Blasphemous in the ‘what game are you playing’ thread!
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In the recent Switch sale I noticed Disgaea 1, 4 and 5 with a discount.
Many years ago I had a blast with Disgaea 1 on the DS port. I played many, many hours and I enjoyed Laharl and Etna’s shenanigans, but in the end I never finished the story.
Does anybody know if 4 & 5 are worth it? Is it basically the same game? Is the story any good?
My understanding is that 5 is basically the same game with even more deep/hidden mechanics for you to pour hours into. I tried to get into 5 because I love turn-based tactics games and was figuring it would be a much more lighthearted Final Fantasy Tactics. I couldn’t get into. I found the plot to be way too barebones and the over the top characters to be, well, too over the top. In retrospect I should have done more research on the game/series. I think if you go into knowing the plot is minimal and being into, or prepared for, extremely anime archtypes and want an experience where you grind a lot (for fun) to make combat numbers go up, then you can enjoy the game.
Edit: I should add that I played it on PS4 and I imagine a series like this is much more suited for handheld playing.
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Disgaea 4 is probably my favorite overall Disgaea game, and if you’re looking for story and characters on par with 1 I’d consider it the only real choice. 5 is not great in that regard.
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I didn’t play too much of Disgaea but it did feel like a “numbers go brrrr” type of game.
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