The Groginati Sales Thread

[Gusington]

Really? Tell me more.

[W8taminute]

Well I'm almost done with chapter one of the story.  The story is broken down into chapters with each chapter having several linear missions that must be completed.  At the end of each mission there is a mini boss to fight and at the end of the chapter there is a big boss to fight.  Pretty standard stuff so far.

What I like about the game is the artwork, the story, and the scenery.  The setting is kind of like during the middle ages and the landscape so far looks like a mix of western european forests and scandinavian snow covered mountains.  You start off with a simple melee combo skill but as you level up you can purchase more complex and powerful skills.  I haven't gotten anything magical skill wise yet but I suspect that comes later.  There are slots in your character profile you can fill with all sorts of items and weapons.  Not as super detailed as Skyrim but there are an acceptable amount of goodies you can get for your character.  There is no character type selection however, you are playing as a paladin type dude and that's it.  Primarily because of story reasons.  This is part of what I meant when I said this game is definitely a JRPG at heart.   

Combat is fairly straightforward.  Kind of like a hack 'n slash dynasty warriors type affair but a bit more slower.  Not a button mashing game but not a thinking mans combat game like ARMA or Skyrim. 

And I forgot to mention that the story is narrated by Jean luc Picard!  But his voice tone is kind of forced and not as natural sounding as the story tellers in Diablo III.

[Gusington]

I can dig it.

[Tuna]

For the Flight Simmers out there..

Rex with Overdrive is on sale for 22 bucks and change... I paid 44 something a few weeks ago  :P

http://www.fspilotshop.com/real-environment-xtreme-rex-essential-plus-overdrive-p-3929.html

[Greybriar]

Get your free Steam key for Blackwell Deception from this link.

[Huw the Poo]

Get your free Steam key for Blackwell Deception from this link.

Cool - thanks!

[Greybriar]

You're welcome, Huw.

[steve58]

GameStop has The Old Gods DLC for CK2 for $7.49

GOG.com has Imperialism I and Imperialism II for $2.39 each this weekend during the Ultimate Ubisoft sale.

[JasonPratt]

BEHOLD! -- MY NON-SPOILERY NOTES ON HOW TO PLAY CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW EFFECTIVELY!

(General combat tactics, what the attacks do, where to spend the limited xp for best effect, how to pick up the upgrade gems as soon as possible.)

[W8taminute]

Very nice guide Jason.  Thanks for sharing.  I still haven't reached the first titan yet at the end of chapter 1 but I'm going to keep the focus tactics in mind for later and just try the dodge rolls and sync blocking techniques.

[Gusington]

Thanks Jason. I was just about to fire it up for the first time to see what all your hullaboo was about too.

[JasonPratt]

The notes don't tell how to get past some of the puzzles, but many of the puzzles are optional anyway -- you can skip them and just not receive the xp reward for beating them. (Others are unskippable but I give some hints about those.)

Up until after the first titan, I recommend focusing your xp skill buys into (1) whatever allows you to grab and kill enemies at a distance (you should easily get this before the goblins in the swamp), if that's even necessary to buy (which it might not be); and (2) upgrades to your direct attack. (I'm using the PS3 "square" button in the instructions; it would be the blue/x button for an XBox controller. Not sure what for a mouse/keyboard setup.) The grab-kill attack is slow but methodically deadly, and can be abused against most man-sized foes throughout the game.

BE VERY SURE TO FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS FOR PICKING UP GEMS!! Go back to replay stages if necessary to pick them up; once you've done so, and have reached a new autosave position, I'm pretty sure you can stop the stage and go on to the new map area. For example, in the early horse racing sequence, the first time you get knocked off (and you'll get knocked off eventually), there's a life gem toward the bottom of the fighting area which is easy to miss. If you haven't gotten it yet, W8, go back and play that stage again, and once you've gotten it and are back on the horse, you should be able to quit that stage and go on to wherever you currently are in the plot with the life gem added. (The first time the game TELLS YOU about a life gem is at the start of the swamp stage, but it's important to get the earlier one they didn't explicitly tell you about.)

Up until after the first titan there are only life gems, but they're just as important as light and shadow gems later. It's possible to win the game without getting every single one, but each five significantly upgrades your max health or how much power you can use in light or shadow.

[Gusington]

Man you're really into Castlevania...

[JasonPratt]

Just this game. :) I've never even played another CV game (didn't have the consoles, and had other things to play once I did). Though I do have most of the game soundtracks.

I may not have made it clear in the notes that I'm ranking the most valuable skills of each type in ASCENDING order. In hindsight, I maybe should have done so in descending order, since people may not read farther down and spend xp on only minorly useful skills first.  :-[

[W8taminute]

Oh yeah that horse race mission type thing.  I know for a fact that I did indeed miss the gem there and in some of the other areas as well.  I did not know you could reply areas until I read that in your guide.  Now I just may do that before proceeding further into the story.  I want my stuff man!  :)