Steam Sale - Blossom Tales & The Surge 2 (Action RPGs)

[Jimbo Mahoney]

OK, I realise these are quite different games, but I'm hoping they'll be good and can't see any mention of them on the forum after a quick search.

I'm a Zelda / Darksiders / Action RPG addict and I'm hoping that Blossom Tales is basically Link to the Past and The Surge 2 is kinda like Darksiders 3 (i.e. tricky Action RPG with easy death if you don't fight properly).

I'll keep you posted after I boot them up...

PS - Horizon Zero Dawn was the last game I played and, whilst I really enjoyed it, it didn't grab me as much as Zelda (e.g. BotW) or Darksiders (1, 2, 3 or Genesis).

 

[Jimbo Mahoney]

I'm a big fan of Darksiders (although not so much Genesis) and I wouldn't say the The Surge is similar to those games. Granted I only tried the first one but I think it's more like a Dark Souls games with machines.

Darksiders 3 is quite different and a little "marmite" for Darksiders fans - it's much harder (assuming you increase the difficulty) and involves a LOT of dodging, hence why I mention it. It's much more defensive than previous ones.

I really like all 4, with 2 and 3 probably being my favourites.

In terms of playtime:

DS2 = 173 hours
DS3 = 160 hours
DS Genesis = 52 hours
DS1 = 50 hours

EDIT - Realise you might be referring to Surge 1, not DS1 now I re-read your comment. I gather Surge 2 is better than 1.

 

[Jimbo Mahoney]

I'm finding Surge 2 kinda similar to Darksiders 3:

• Dodge / Parry is key, as is learning mobs' attack patterns
• Getting lost a lot
• Simplistic stats / levelling system
• Choice of weapons and boosters
• Unable to progress into certain areas due to lack of item
• Bosses
• Side quests

But different:

• I die a lot
• I have to grind a bit to level up to handle certain situations
• No difficulty options - it's basically on permahard

Definitely prefer Darksiders, but Surge 2 is decent enough to keep me entertained

 

[Jimbo Mahoney]

Really starting to enjoy Surge 2 now I've got some more powerful gear, more health and healing and getting used to the directional blocking.

The first two bosses were a nightmare and I had to watch videos on tactics, as well as grind a few more stat points.

For stat points, I looked up the caps / fall-off at various levels.

I went for 20 in stamina initially and have stopped spending any in stamina now.
I'm keeping an equal number of points in health and battery and just keep adding to them now.
Seems to work well.

Tip on the direction blocking:

Disable the gesture (mouse-based) directional block and use WASD instead.
Also, be aware that the directional blocking is generally in the opposite direction to that shown by the Directional Block Analyser, assuming you're using that implant. e.g. when it shows Right, go left. It might be the same with up/down, but I'm using inverted Y axis, so I block upwards when it shows up. Might be reversed if playing non-inverted Y axis.