Spoilers up to the end of 'Fire and Ice' chapter / getting 'Legacy' achievement

[Loony BoB]

This thread can be used to freely discuss the game up to the point where you receive the 'With Great Power' achievement / end the 'Headwind' chapter.

You can feel free to post unmarked spoilers about this portion of the game in this thread.

...So.

Well, Assassin's Fantasy: Final Creed didn't happen (yet). Maybe now?

I like the new Hideaway. I'm not sure how I feel about Clive using the name 'Cid', it's kind of weird to take a name as a 'title'. Is that something they do in Japan sometimes?

So many times they keep saying they have to deal with Clive's mum and so many times they immediately do something else. It's frustrating. To spend so much time in Rosaria and then just end it with a two minute trip to the Iron Islands to beat up the Greyjoys was a bit weird.

I feel like we spent an entire chapter without actually seeing a real villain. I miss Benedikta, she at least showed face in front of us constantly. These days all the boss fights are people we only just met, often without any name at all. At least it leads towards a lot of big name fights all at once in the future chapters, I guess!

Regarding the scene immediately before the chapter ended, it's cool to see Titan isn't just a bull seeing red non-stop, but actually has at least a little intelligence in him. Oh, and seeing Annabella die someday (I mean, it's gonna happen, surely) is going to be so freaking satisfying.

I'm glad Jill didn't die (yet). I hope she doesn't, because everyone dying is getting old. Having said that... boy, I didn't expect basically every major player in the old Hideaway to survive into the new Hideaway.

The Liquid Fire fight was the toughest to date for me, health-wise. I think I got very, very lazy during it and went on the attack far too much, when I should have been better with evading. I like that I had a real challenge, even if it was perhaps self-inflicted!

Our uncle is awesome. I hope we see more of him. Nice to see Ward survived, too. I feel like Ward and Tyler should have been named Biggs and Wedge. Just me? I wonder if there even is a Biggs and Wedge in this game. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Jinx]

The seen where Uncle Byron (is his name Byron?) and Clive reunited legitimately made me cry. These are the moments I wish this game had more of.

[DK]

The Liquid Fire fight was the toughest to date for me, health-wise. I think I got very, very lazy during it and went on the attack far too much, when I should have been better with evading. I like that I had a real challenge, even if it was perhaps self-inflicted!

That's interesting, for me this was definitely the easiest big fight so far. Up until the last section when it starts going psycho, I went though without taking a hit I think. The berserker ring accessory is a gamechanger I think, because in this fight the precision dodge > berserker ring combo was almost a guaranteed parry on most of his moveset. I think that applies to a lot of fights actually, the dodge follow up from the berserker ring generates some pretty significant advantage in battle, either by guaranteeing a parry on a follow up hit or by virtue of the close-in dash allowing you to rush up close to enemies and avoid hitboxes for some of the bigger moves. (one of the hunting enemies just after this chapter in particular gets absolutely wrekt by this interaction)

[Loony BoB]

Yeah I definitely slack on getting perfect dodges because I just use the accessory that autododges, although I still get a lot of them so I figure if I press it at the right time I probably still benefit. But generally in this fight I was going way too aggressive and lazy.

I'm not used to action games so perfect dodges and stuff aren't instinctive to me in any way. The closest comparison for me is probably when I played Monster Hunter World and you had to time your rolls, but I feel like MHW was pretty lenient with that. I still spent way too long to learn each fight in that game, too. The autododge accessory is built for players like me xD

[Psychotic]

Yeah I wonder if we'll be going to Ironhome proper, we only really scratched the surface of them as a nation and culture, and also with Jill's own traumas. It was a good chapter for her.

Uncle Byron is a bloody legend. Love the man. What an introduction.

[Del Murder]

This section felt like more of the standard RPG stuff was coming out. We're now on a more traditional 'get the five crystals' path. Got the mark hunts, got the mount, the hub world has a few more other things going for it. It is weird that they introduce some of these things then barely use them. There is barely any crafting despite receiving dozens of materials. The guy who gives me quests from around the realm only had things one time. There are only 3 mark hunts and I'm halfway through the game.

The story is still very good. It does a good job of showing how much the bearers suffer and what Clive's quest is all about. That one scene at the port town was gut wrenching. This was a great chapter for Jill as she had just been sort of there up until this point. I do miss Cid's wisecracks. They need someone to break the tension as most of the characters are very serious.

Uncle Byron was a great add, especially to give a heartfelt moment after witnessing all the brutality along the way. I half expected him to turn on Clive, since that is the GOT tone of this game, but I'm super glad he turned out to be a good guy (hopefully he does not turn or get killed one hour later). The timeline here doesn't make sense though. The duke's brother was just sitting at the port running his business and bending the knee but secretly funding a resistance group for 20 years? And he never got caught and the resistance group barely did anything? 20 years is a long time to be in a stalemate.

Combat has gotten meh. I have now found a rhythm that easily dispatches any normal encounter and seems optimal against bosses. Berserker Ring is OP. Precision dodge and use stamina draining moves when ever they recharge, then hit limit break during stagger to replenish any HP and wail on the thing. I think the game would have been harder if dodge did not phase through basically anything. Like if you dodge too early maybe you would take the hit. I only suffer in battles if I'm trying to do it too quickly. That happened with liquid flame until I slowed it down.

The music is absolutely sick in this game. I wish the soundtrack was on Spotify. The boss theme is so adrenaline building. I also loved the music in the volcano and sanctuary from this chapter.