News "Nine Sols" announced, metroidvania game inspired by Hollow Knight and Sekiro (out NOW on PC and consoles)

Thankfully the "later" part of the thread title didn't end up being that long of a wait
 
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Red Candle put out some art celebrating the console release and

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it's been hypothesized Ji, the one with the hat, and Lear, the one in the picture were gay. I mean it REALLY seems like it in-game based on the way Ji speaks of Lear, and now we get this. I adore Ji as a character and think Lear is really cool, so it warms my gay little heart. Red Candle just needs to say it out loud already lol.
 
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Played a little bit. The game is fantastic and gorgeous so far. Glad I waited for it to come to Switch.
 
So since this is "inspired by Sekiro" and this is a "soulsborne", a genre I've become allergic with after years and years of loving it (from Demon's Souls to Elden Ring), I have three important questions :

When you die, do you :
1: Lose your currency / XP ?
2: If so, do you lose part of what you've left on your death position if you get hit before you recover it (oh hi Lies of P) ?
3: Are you penalized with something like half your life is removed or half your restoration ability (oh hi Hollow Knight), lost some sort of weird power and made the game even harder because your dared to die ?
 
When you die, do you :
1: Lose your currency / XP ?
2: If so, do you lose part of what you've left on your death position if you get hit before you recover it (oh hi Lies of P) ?
3: Are you penalized with something like half your life is removed or half your restoration ability (oh hi Hollow Knight), lost some sort of weird power and made the game even harder because your dared to die ?
I'm very early into the game. So my knowledge is limited.

1- Yes, you do.
2- No, you don't. It's Dark Souls style. You lose it all if you're unable to recover it, and there's no punishment for being hit along the way. I had no idea Lies of P did that. That's crazy!
3- No.

Also, it seems to me that the currency you lose is not as important as it is on, say, Dark Souls. Yes, you can use it to buy some stuff, including the ability to heal more. And yes, accumulating a good amount of it leads to a level up. But the level up does not seem as vital as it is on Dark Souls, because here leveling up only gives you skill points to spend on a skill tree, as far as I can tell. And although I'm sure there's some useful stuff in that skill tree, it mostly seems to be made up of extra abilities you can do without.
 
looks good..? I'm probably going to try this out on the GamePass of course
Yep that's me. I'll give this an early try on Gamepass and if I really like it I'll get it on the Switch since the performance is pretty good.
 
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2- No, you don't. It's Dark Souls style. You lose it all if you're unable to recover it, and there's no punishment for being hit along the way. I had no idea Lies of P did that. That's crazy!
you lose part of your souls every time you get hit but if you kill the enemy that hit you, you get it back. [in lies of p, no other game does this afaik]
 
This game is awesome. They really nail the feel of a satisfying parry, and using chi to hit back with various effects is just genius
 
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I'm very early into the game. So my knowledge is limited.

1- Yes, you do.
2- No, you don't. It's Dark Souls style. You lose it all if you're unable to recover it, and there's no punishment for being hit along the way. I had no idea Lies of P did that. That's crazy!
3- No.

Also, it seems to me that the currency you lose is not as important as it is on, say, Dark Souls. Yes, you can use it to buy some stuff, including the ability to heal more. And yes, accumulating a good amount of it leads to a level up. But the level up does not seem as vital as it is on Dark Souls, because here leveling up only gives you skill points to spend on a skill tree, as far as I can tell. And although I'm sure there's some useful stuff in that skill tree, it mostly seems to be made up of extra abilities you can do without.
I'd say losing your money on death is actually a pretty huge deal considering there is a considerable money dump which is required before a side quest activates. If you're losing all your money constantly I assume that quest is pretty fucking lame to finish.
 
I'd say losing your money on death is actually a pretty huge deal considering there is a considerable money dump which is required before a side quest activates. If you're losing all your money constantly I assume that quest is pretty fucking lame to finish.
Well, crap. I'm not losing too much, but that's worrying.

How important is that side quest?
 
I'm very early into the game. So my knowledge is limited.

1- Yes, you do.
2- No, you don't. It's Dark Souls style. You lose it all if you're unable to recover it, and there's no punishment for being hit along the way. I had no idea Lies of P did that. That's crazy!
3- No.

Also, it seems to me that the currency you lose is not as important as it is on, say, Dark Souls. Yes, you can use it to buy some stuff, including the ability to heal more. And yes, accumulating a good amount of it leads to a level up. But the level up does not seem as vital as it is on Dark Souls, because here leveling up only gives you skill points to spend on a skill tree, as far as I can tell. And although I'm sure there's some useful stuff in that skill tree, it mostly seems to be made up of extra abilities you can do without.
Basically Hollow Knight, then? Although in that game it wasn't too hard to not lose anything permanently, and also you were swimming in currency by the second half of the game.
 
First major boss of the game was damn hard and had two phases. This thing's gonna be brutal.

Basically Hollow Knight, then? Although in that game it wasn't too hard to not lose anything permanently, and also you were swimming in currency by the second half of the game.
Yep. Currency can also be used to buy charms, so Nine Sols has got a lot of Hollow Knight in it.

The main difference when compared to Hollow Knight, I guess, is that you're not nerfed when you're going after what you dropped.
 
I'm very early into the game. So my knowledge is limited.

1- Yes, you do.
2- No, you don't. It's Dark Souls style. You lose it all if you're unable to recover it, and there's no punishment for being hit along the way. I had no idea Lies of P did that. That's crazy!
3- No.

Also, it seems to me that the currency you lose is not as important as it is on, say, Dark Souls. Yes, you can use it to buy some stuff, including the ability to heal more. And yes, accumulating a good amount of it leads to a level up. But the level up does not seem as vital as it is on Dark Souls, because here leveling up only gives you skill points to spend on a skill tree, as far as I can tell. And although I'm sure there's some useful stuff in that skill tree, it mostly seems to be made up of extra abilities you can do without.
Thanks for your answer.
I guess I'll skip it for now then.

Yeah for Lies of P, when I saw that I said out loud : "Well, time to uninstall !". I have enough stress with my work and not enough free time to deal with crap mechanics like this.
 
It's just a touch too expensive to be in impulse buy territory.
 
Got home from work, downloaded the update, booted up the game... I don't think I can do this. This game makes me so fucking upset it's unreal. The title screen and music just absolutely tears my heart out every time. I don't think I've ever been moved so much by a piece of media.
 
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How good is this game compared to other legends, like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, of the Metroidvania genre?
 
How good is this game compared to other legends, like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, of the Metroidvania genre?
you should compare this to other combat-focused exploration games like Hollow Knight. it is much more a game like that than any "classic" metroidvania.
 
Played for 3 hour and defeat the first 'Big Boss', it's so good, as of now pulling a perfect parry it's much easier than Sekiro, though in this game you're directly punished if you can't perfect parry.
 
Played for 3 hour and defeat the first 'Big Boss', it's so good, as of now pulling a perfect parry it's much easier than Sekiro, though in this game you're directly punished if you can't perfect parry.

Aaaand this just pushed the game out off the "look into"- and wishlists.

Not because of the "easier perfect parry than Sekiro" part, because of the general "perfect parry" part.
I hate such gameplay mechanics.
 
Aaaand this just pushed the game out off the "look into"- and wishlists.

Not because of the "easier perfect parry than Sekiro" part, because of the general "perfect parry" part.
I hate such gameplay mechanics.
To be fair, you can set the game to story mode, which in turn allows you to change how much damage you deal and take. But yeah, anything other than a perfect parry leads to damage.

The damage you take when parrying incorrectly, however, will heal slowly as the battle goes on as long as you don't take any hits after that. The game calls it "internal damage". Plus, I think performing a perfect parry heals a chunk of that internal damage.

And I also think a dodging strategy here is more viable than it is in Sekiro. Yet, you still need to parry quite a bit.
 
Double-posting for some early impressions, after having beaten two of the nine Sols.

What I like:
  • Level design is damn great! At all times there is more than one place to explore, so you're always having to figure out where to go next, which is what I want out of a Metroidvania.
  • Combat is awesome. Going for a dodging approach is more viable than it is in Sekiro, bu at the end of the day parrying is still a must in most cases.
  • Difficulty is perfect to those who like Dark Souls.
  • Personally, I think it's nice to have an indie Metroidvania with a more wordy storyline. I love the usual obscure storytelling games of the genre go for, but it's great to see a clearer approach for a change.
  • I love the character development the game does for each of the Sols.
  • Visuals are so damn good. The hand-drawn animation and scenarios are top-notch.
  • There are lots of cool extra challenges and mini-bosses that give you neat rewards.

What I don't like:
  • Checkpoints should definitely be closer to mini-bosses. Most bosses have checkpoints quite close to where they are. But the same doesn't apply to many of the optional mini-bosses.
  • When you drop your soul, especially against mini-bosses and bosses, it should appear in a predetermined spot; one that's practical for you to pick up without triggering the battle.
 
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Devs did an AMA and I asked the most important question:



Just about lost my mind at merch news. Also there's gonna be a prequel comic. Also Lady Ethereal is a lesbian.

Anyways I NEED a 3 foot tall Yi plush to take up half my bed.
 
I just beat the first major boss and I'm loving this so far. It's hitting that perfect Sekiro-like gameplay of "this boss is crazy hard" to "oh wait now I nearly beat him untouched" and it just feels so good to have that level of improvement
Same, just finished the first boss, also it's super cool how the game is 2D, yet 3D at the same time at certain moments.

games looks awesome and played awesome, the combat is super fun, yet simple.
 
Seven Sols down, the lady and Fuxi is very challenging for me and took me more than 1 hour to beat them each, the others are pretty straightforward once understand the pattern only took me a few try.
 
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Double-posting for some early impressions, after having beaten two of the nine Sols.

What I like:
  • Level design is damn great! At all times there is more than one place to explore, so you're always having to figure out where to go next, which is what I want out of a Metroidvania.
  • Combat is awesome. Going for a dodging approach is more viable than it is in Sekiro, bu at the end of the day parrying is still a must in most cases.
  • Difficulty is perfect to those who like Dark Souls.
  • Personally, I think it's nice to have an indie Metroidvania with a more wordy storyline. I love the usual obscure storytelling games of the genre go for, but it's great to see a clearer approach for a change.
  • I love the character development the game does for each of the Sols.
  • Visuals are so damn good. The hand-drawn animation and scenarios are top-notch.
  • There are lots of cool extra challenges and mini-bosses that give you neat rewards.

What I don't like:
  • The merchant should be more easily accessible. I have no idea why they didn't put him in your home base. Sometimes you're full of cash and wanting to spend it on something, but you're just too far away from where the merchant is. Maybe at some point he'll move to the home base, but so far that hasn't happened.
  • Checkpoints should definitely be closer to bosses and, especially, mini-bosses.
  • When you drop your soul, especially against mini-bosses and bosses, it should appear in a predetermined spot; one that's practical for you to pick up without triggering the battle.
Regarding checkpoints: Does this get worse later? Because so far, I've done two Sols and they both had a checkpoint within sight of the boss fight. I haven't had any boss runbacks at all yet.
  • When you drop your soul, especially against mini-bosses and bosses, it should appear in a predetermined spot; one that's practical for you to pick up without triggering the battle.
This one I agree with. Some more recent games have solved this by either allowing you to grab your currency before re-entering the boss room (Lies of P did this and it ruled) or at least just automatically giving it back to you once you reenter the boss room. Not a dealbreaker or anything but it's a mild annoyance.
 
Regarding checkpoints: Does this get worse later? Because so far, I've done two Sols and they both had a checkpoint within sight of the boss fight. I haven't had any boss runbacks at all yet.
I think it actually gets better. After I made that post I didn't think any bosses had that problem, only mini-bosses.
Went from definitely buy to won't touch.
Bosses runs are the worst thing Dark Souls popularised.
Like I said above, there's only one instance of that and it's early in the game, at least when it comes to big bosses. Some optional mini-bosses do have that problem, though.

I'll amend my original post so more people don't get the wrong impression.

Oh, and the merchant does move to your home base after a while. So that nitpick of mine gets solved down the line as well.
 
Finished the true ending, it's my GotY now. The final boss fight is up there with Isshin Ashina and Raven beak for me.
 
Very early on in the game and it's decent but I'm not vibing well with the parrying system. Especially not liking the fact that such a slow healing system is tied to a dpad button (which means you have to take your thumb off the movement stick). At least when Prince of Persia tied its heal to the dpad it was for a very fast heal.
 
Very early on in the game and it's decent but I'm not vibing well with the parrying system. Especially not liking the fact that such a slow healing system is tied to a dpad button (which means you have to take your thumb off the movement stick). At least when Prince of Persia tied its heal to the dpad it was for a very fast heal.
It's basically exactly the same as Sekiro and Bloodborne on that front - the difference being that the heal does feel a bit slow in this game. There is a Jade you can get that makes it quicker though which I usually use for boss fights
 
It's basically exactly the same as Sekiro and Bloodborne on that front - the difference being that the heal does feel a bit slow in this game. There is a Jade you can get that makes it quicker though which I usually use for boss fights
Bloodborne has the benefit of the heal not requiring you to take your thumb off movement though.
 
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Midweek status report:

While battling the power plant boss, I tried a few button remappings but settled on only swapping talisman and parry. I couldn't figure out the optional (?) mini bosses with flames that drain your life for being nearby, so I moved onto the underground farm area. I haven't gotten to the boss fight there yet but I'm sorely tempted to grind for ability unlocks.
 
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