And not unheard of in all circles of gaming, especially AAA. It makes me think of my how I finally fixed my Skyrim, was it some mod conflicts?, some incorrect settings?, nope the game was running too many frames/s..... at least its fixed finally.
@1betterthanyou1 I like that you have to compare them to Bethesda games to find something even close to being as buggy. There's still a bug in Elden Ring where you can get bumped of a ledge due to bad geometry, which has been around since the first Dark Souls.
I love that this studio exists. I remember when I was little studios like this weren’t afraid to experiment and I was fine with jankiness or even some bugs so long as the game was actually fun or unique or clever. I feel like we hardly have this sorta thing nowadays so I applaud them Also obligatory “A little poison on my blade and let’s go”
Heh! I feel the same way. Steelrising isn't quite my cup of tea because Soulslikes stress me out, but I loved Greedfall and I'm hyped for the sequel. So I hope hope hope Steelrising will be succesful enough to keep Spiders going and maybe be reason enough for a sequel for those that like it!
yea these are very needed. unfortunately nowadays its very slippery slope when a game studio might start to consider going mobile or releasing broken game they might not even be able to fix with their resources or their game is a sorry front for mtx selling... so the mid-shelf genre is rather risky from customer point too.
I unapologetically love Spiders games. Jank and all. Sure, the end result isn't always the best, but it's always interesting, and like you said, they try their damn hardest and are super ambitious. I really appreciate that.
I prefer a janky game that tries to do something interesting over AAA-titles that all try to be the 'Next Big Thing that makes us all the money in the blandest way possible'.
Honestly, with games of this sort becoming more and more similar to each other these days, they really should start advertising themselves through their smaller, unique mechanics - the overheat cancel stuff genuinely might be _the_ selling point of this game, for me, and there's no way I'd know about it without this video. Shame about the performance-hindering jank, but otherwise, I'm gonna keep this one in mind if I'm in the mood to buy a video game. Thanks for the excellent review, Steph!
I've honestly held the opinion for a while that these games should stop selling themselves as "soulslikes" and try more as "souls-lite". As in, the tell tale Souls framework is there, or at least has mainstay mechanics from the series, but going much harder on the things that make them unique and standout from the crowd. Because like JSS, I'm honestly getting burned out on the formula now.
@@Marz_Barz_x Yup, tho in Nioh it has more of a rythm to use, while in this game you just empty your bar and then spam the cooldown button till the stamina resets. I still don't know which system I prefer tbh.
not sure if that's really necessary, I believe that there is a decently big audience of people like me, who will just play anything vaguely souls-like and enjoy it even if it's pretty bad. Soulslikes and metroidvanias are the only 2 genres of videogames I ever play and for me they could as well just be clones (although well implemented innovations are obviously also welcome)
I have a soft spot for Spiders. They are underdogs that really are capable of great work but they tend to punch a bit too high. Still, I appreciate their attempts to do better and prove that you don't need a $1 billion budget to make a fun game that is at least comparable to the big dogs.
I'd rather have a Spiders game where they create there own IP over the 26th UbiShit hamsterwheel game and frankly Assasin's Greed on pc with mouse and keyboard plays like shit. Every single one of 'em.
that's actually really nice to hear. I like this style a lot and from what I hear the developers are the real deal. Jank is expected from a small developer tackling a game of this scope but if at least the core game is fun then that's a huge W. The stamina management thing is the exact kind of innovation this genre of game needs. Simple, but very interesting to engage with.
My favorite 'broken' thing about Steelrising: The strongest weapon in the game are grenades. Yes. Those firebombs that you pick up all over the place and can buy to the point you have hundreds, are stronger than anything else. It melts every boss in mere moments and you can apply status effects with them very rapidly as well. It's a beautiful mess.
I typically try DEX builds in these games on my first playthrough. Only posting because I keep seeing people play up elemental effects in this game. I firmly believe the most "broken" build to be AGI with Lady Macbeth fans. The special launches two sniper shots instantly for a single ammo charge, meaning you can spam this thing for days. No it does not take stamina, yes it has high impact and immobilizes everything in the game instantly. That makes this simultaneously the safest build. You kite around, spam daggers, run up to crit....then spam dash if the enemy gets close. It's waaayyyy more busted than waiting around for ice and fire.
Been intrigued by this one since I first heard about it. Real pity about the story going the way you mentioned, the class issues seem a rich area of plot to explore and more to the point, *right there*, but evidently they found a different route. Still, between how it was looking and your review, I'll happily give this a whirl once I've caught up with some urgent life stuff! Thanks :)
@GiRayne while light on any real narrative or class focus I did like how they played with certain historical events which of course is one of ACs draw. Like when the National Assembly voted on whether or not to execute King Louis he was just nearly saved. Only one vote is what sealed his fate and of course that voter is one of our targets. My personal favorite is how we had to eventually deal with Maximilian Robespierre. In real life he was shot in the jaw either by a self inflicted failed suicide or in the struggle to arrest him. Instead here in Unity Elise shoots him during a quick yet effective interrogation. And Revolutionary Paris is so alive! It was the first new game I played on the last generation and just how large and active the city was. Seeing someone marched to the guillotine, the blade go down and the crowd roar before placing his head on a pike and Marching him around while singing revolutionary songs, I was quite impressed Not my favorite AC and I played it long after the disastrous release but I quite enjoyed that game
I gave it a try to see if it worked on my PC and the quality of the game in general and yes, it's in the upper echelon of soulslike imo, being able to be compared with Nioh or Code Vein. It's janky tho, so I'd wait to see if they release a few updates before buying if your rig is not optimal
Class issues class issues I'm ready to burn the whole goddamn Planet down in your your literally talking about class issues you might need to rethink that statement
@GiRayne my apologies (it’s 8 years old so I forget spoilers and whatnot especially since history is the ultimate spoiler haha) Yeah I really gotta complete cyberpunk. Been super busy AC Origins also had very convincing crowds and NPCs. Every area of the game I went to I would see the people doing their tasks like making die or fishing or studying or worshipping etc. aC really goes above and beyond
One of the biggest games of lost potential IMO. Nothing landed well but the ideas were all fantastic. If they could have had a sequel and refined the formula it could have been such a great game
@@Lily-gr1ct Yes, i somewhat agree... it was so short, almost as if some vital parts of the story were missing. However the little bit that was there was pretty good.
Been playing for about a week now. JSS is absolutely correct in this video. Fantastic setting, but the the trademark Spiders jank is everywhere in this game. Still having a fun time but also wondering what could have been if another studio made this.
I think you've just taken a Spiders experience and really, really sold me on everything in it. Steampunk Victorian robots in the French Revolution? You playing as a sultry robot girl bodyguard of the queen fighting back against the evil hordes? A cooldown mechanic that changes up the stamina system in an engaging way? A focus on the Bloodborne-style aggressive gameplay of the Soulslike genre? Campy jank story dialogue like a B-movie aired on MST3K? And all of this in an environment designed to NOT look entirely depressing, dingy and gloomy, but just enough to underscore the meaning of why you're fighting? This is everything I want in a modern Soulslike. Also, props to great usage of the Police Squad theme at 9:00 with the AI-broken automaton. I laughed like a silly bitch there. Thank God for you!
Nice one Jim, I'd really like when you review a game, some double A and indie truly needs your coverage... There's a ton of indie gem doesn't get enough recognition or your unique perspective
Ironically, the fact that so few people are noticing the political commentary in the game's story is fair proof that Spiders handled the story-writing for this one better than their past works. The more mystical stuff provides a pretty good cover to distract and keep the 'no politics' crowd focused on the pretty pictures, but if you pay attention to the dialogues there is a -moderate- amount of meatier substance buried underneath. The game itself is great fun if you don't rage over the iconic Spiders jank... they're kinda the 'AA' Bugthesda on that front, except that their games at least try to do some new and intriguing stuff. Souls vets will likely wanna jump straight into doing challenge runs, there are a few fights with some slight difficulty but overall it's more on par with DS1 difficulty-wise.
I had a similar experience playing the mage on Dark Souls 2. The beginning was hard at first due to lack of stamina, long casting speed, and spells. Once those problems were fixed though, almost every boss in the game went down pretty easily. Even the Fume Knight wasn't that hard. I had a harder time getting to the bosses just because I actually had to to conserve spells and use them wisely in order to make it to the next firepit ok. The spell-resistant bosses like the blue smelter demon were a pain though as it became more of a death of a thousand cuts to finish them off and they weren't as easy to dodge.
I saw a trailer for this game years ago but couldn't remember the title. I would occasionally think back to it and wonder what happened to the 18th century automaton game. So there it is.
Greedfall is a beloved little darling of mine, flaws and all. So I’m thrilled for any success it’s studio enjoys! Glad this title is getting some praise.
I came away loving this a lot more than thymesia definitely needs to iron out the bugs. Only actually criticism I have is the levels blur together aesthetic wise same problem as the first surge and it can be very easy but I had a good time with it.
I appreciate how Spiders reach is always slightly exceeding their grasp. Sure, they have their jankiness, and the storytelling doesn't quite measure up to the best in the industry (ditto voice acting). It's never quite what you hoped it might be, and yet damn do all their projects (especially recently) feel like they have genuine human passion and a love of games behind them. That feels increasingly rare in modern gaming. I'm amazed at what I'll forgive if it feels like the developers actually care about my having a good time, rather than just funneling me from one money-generating scheme to the next.
Seriously, I love seeing what devs like this come out with. Even if their products are overly ambitious for their ability, it's nice to see people actually make an effort in an industry full of cookie-cutter games that would rather play it safe. Devs like this are the ones that deserve AAA budgets, they'd do far more with it than the likes of EA, ABK, Ubisoft, etc.
I secretly love Spyders even though I only beat one of their games: Bound by Flame. That one was exciting because I remember getting close to the end and I felt like I could tell when they ran out of money since a lot of cool stuff happening in the story was simply talked about, instead of shown.
I havent played the game, but the saddest part about the things talked about about in game instead of shown is that in the office there probably in depth discussions about it as they came up with the ideas, thinking of how things would work in game and possibly even concept art. Happens more often than people think
Very few large companies still exhibit as much passion as Spiders does. Even someone as jaded as James Stephanie Sterling can tell they're trying bloody hard and bless them they're still showing improvement with each new game. One of my favourite studios currently and I firmly believe one day they'll create something truly special, if they aren't bought by Sony or Microsoft or Squeenix or Embracer Group before then.
Jim, I’m shocked to see you didn’t mention the Assist Mode. As someone who’s been pro easy mode for Dark Souls for a while now I thought for sure you’d bring it up.
Got a day off and saw this on sale. Thanks for this video pushing me towards buying the game. And especially the artistically managed use of the 'Police Squad' theme music. Made my morning and now have that warm fuzzy feeling of an anticipated game, time to play it, coffee and toast. Ooh and with a rainy grey sky so I'm even more cosy. Gaming can be so great some days 👍 Ps ooh, just made it to the end of the video and another great use of music within the context of your narration. Also, grateful for just using the music and not lyrics thereby respecting people's knowledge of music etc. Without having neon signs pointing to the gag. I'd write a witty song title now with lyrics appropriate but my toast just popped and I gotta cool it then stuff my gob whilst playing Steelrising (yeah, groan at the name)
I fully agree; quite a bit janky at times but fabulously enjoyable😁 Using the stamina potions in bossfights is another broken feature, but if it's a boss that has kicked your absolute ass, it's very, VERY satisfactory to return the favour😂💜
I was looking forward to this one and I am glad to hear that it is about exactly what I expected from Spiders. I can put up with the jankyness and occasional awkwardness if it means playing an original looking game with some decent qualities to it. Same thing with Greedfall. I am yet to finish Technomancer tho, but yeah, it's a consistent thing with this studio that I don't mind 'cause I see improvements with each new game. Feels like I'm supporting a growing & learning team that puts in effort with their limited budget.
One of the things I appreciate about you as a reviewer is that even when I disagree with you, I understand your position. I actually really enjoy the writing to the game, even if the mystical stuff did pull me out of it a bit, especially when the nobles, each representing a different faction in the French Revolution, get together to argue. The game is a hell of a lot of fun, though. One of the things I enjoy about Spiders's games is that they don't let things like "existing conventions" or "balance" get in the way of a good concept.
It's awesome that Steph is enjoying another game from the Spiders studio. I also really love seeing another game with a robot protagonist that includes an overheat mechanic as part of stamina management. A game I played a couple years ago also did this really well while also having robots in an interesting setting, medieval in this case, with fantastic art to boot (Feudal Alloy). Easily recommend it to anyone that wants more "souls-like with robots", but in 2d with some metroidvania elements thrown in.
i actually liked the story a lot even when the whole french revolution thing did indeed take a big step back the more the mystic-/sad-story built up. but i was so enamoured that a soulslike finally has a really decent story that i looked over the flaws there (and some of the obvious jank in the game per se).
As a player of greedfall, it filled me with joy when I learnt that, just like in greedfall, ranged combat is overpowered as all hell 😍 the Poervit Chain on a full power build is absolutely NUTS and no boss or enemy is strong against it
It's always been this way. "Red Alert is popular, let's all make RTSs", "WoW is popular, let's all make MMOGRPS!" J/S even made a video on that very subject. I'm also about ready to get soulslikes out of our collective systems.
Soulslike games have become the new open world games. It wasn't so long ago when a lot of gamers grew tired of owg's because they seemed to be everywhere. It seemed like every game was going open world, whether it needed it or not and they weren't wrong. Now that belongs to Soulslike games (and non-Souls, melee based games). They're everywhere. krazislav has it right, it's studios jumping on what's popular and running it into the ground until players get sick of it.
You had me at the premise. Then the notion you can make broken builds? Love it! PvP ruins this in most of these types of games. I have zero interest in PvP in these types of games. Let me break the game by mixing things!
Surge 1 was clunky and very limited but I had my fun with it. But Surge 2 was amazing, an upgrade in all meanings. Collecting armors and weapons was such fun.
You're convincing me to try it, Steph. The premise and protagonist really beg curiosity~ The overload mechanic is wonderfully thematic. (i noticed while looking it up, the deluxe edition is called 'Bastille,' so you were kinda right)
Now this isn’t my type of game, but it IS my type of broken! I love it when singleplayer games are not all balanced, and you can find builds that just tear the game apart. I’m glad to see that this studio is improving too, now they just need to hire some writers/narrative directors
Don't know what it was about this video (compared to others) but I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing. Jim Steph on point and solidifying their self as one of my fav writers. Go on yourself
Extra Credits once talked about previous Souls games in which styles of play were not balanced but were still rewarding. Magic was easier than a melee tank build, but there was definitely room for both, and this was the From alternative to a difficulty setting. So yeah, it doesn't matter so much if there are builds that are easy to exploit so long as there's room for players to set their own limits of how they play.
Fantastic review, JFSFSS! Gonna snag this one up. Also...eager for the next Commentocracy video! RRRRRRRROISTON! RRRRROISTON! FETCH ME MY WHINING PANTS! LOL
Always glad to see another Jimpression. Chronicling the bull of the industry is worthwhile and I enjoy that, but I always want more regular video game critic JSS.
Also, from the comments I can't help but get an EDF-like feeling from what is being discussed - basically that the game is more fun than you would expect in spite of (or at times because of) its jankiness. Thank you for the video.
Omg that name Basteel!? YES! It's so damn good! It's like when Edge of Tomorrow tried to rebrand as Live-Die-Repeat. A much better title, that was the movie's tagline.
Also, Steelrising unapologetically has a customizable easy mode. It's not for me, but I'm happy that it's there for anyone who does want it. Proving once again that *lacking* a simple game menu option is, shockingly, not a necessary "feature" of soulslike genre. Difficulty and challenge in PvE games are great - as long as they are optional and customizable to your preferences.
Happy to see you enjoy the game. I've seen a lot of people having fun with it, some even having a real good time with the Story. Also it seems to be very fairly priced which is another plus. If a game has a base level of fun gameplay powerful enough to get you through the potential jank you encounter it's already solid, everything beyond that can be patched ot modded most of the time.
Respect to spiders for trying. I really want them to succeed because I miss the A and AA space. We got so many unique ideas in the 4th and 5th gens. Granted they aren't exactly unique in their genres, but the space as a whole was a breeding ground cool ideas.
Steph, why, Why, WHY make me hear that damn Foreigner song again?! It came out when I was in high school! I had the damn album! When I gave away my albums in grad school I thought I had banished it for good. I'll be humming that song for weeks!
That lag, my guess since a game I work on has this issue, is probably due to the engine not cache'ing the FX and other things prior to their activation. My game stutters the 1st time you see an FX, because the engine it's built on is incapable of cache'ing anything.
Some textures in the game are also either accidentally entirely uncompressed or over-ambitiously large which likely causes a freeze as RAM or VRAM gets shuffled around to accommodate them. Apparently at max graphics and 4K the game will consume 13GB VRAM which just about no card possess aside from top flagships.
That stuttering issue looks a lot like I ended up having, though I was able to narrow it down to an incorrectly set graphics preset. Game was trying to load the absolutely bonkers level of textures that I flat didn't have the VRAM for. Yes, the 8k textures are absolutely beautiful, I don not have a card with the 24 gigs of VRAM needed to run at that level of fidelity. The fact I was able to run the game at all at that level shocks me, most games I play just crash when they run out of VRAM. Steel Rising is one of a handful of games I play that can successfully handle serious texture streaming. Not well by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact it CAN is impressive to me.
Big Game Company CEOs be like: "Look horror games just don't sell." Amnesia - one of the biggest horror games a roaring success, sparks a subhorror genre. BGCCEOs: "Look Final Fantasy-esque games might have been nice and cute back in the 80's and 90's but we're past that crap. Squenix makes an old school RPG in 2013, fans lose their shit. BGCCEOs: Look nobody wants single player games anymore. The data just isn't there. Gamers just want multiplayer games. CD Projekt Red: *Laughs in The Witcher 3* BGCCEOs: Look you can have a high quality game or you can have a game that looks great but doing both is literally impossible. CDPR: *LAUGHS LOUDER in The Witcher 3* BGCCEOs: Look guys, we heard you loud and clear, you know that making video games is expensive and you've all been asking, "Why are video games still $59.99 a pop? They should be $69.00 a pop. Everybody: Uh.... we never wanted that, plus you have billions from corporate sponsors, billions from additional content you cut from the game and sold back to people, plus did we mention you have BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS???? BGCCEOs: Look guys, we heard you loud and clear - Everybody: You said that before. BGCCEOs: No we didn't, but anyway, we heard you loud and clear - microtransactions are the future of gaming. We got you. Everybody: Um, no, go away. BGCCEOs: Look we heard you - Everybody: YOU SAID THAT BEFORE! BGCCEOs: Okay okay okay, fair enough, we heard you loud and clear, REAL loud and clear, super duper duper no take backsees heard you loud and clear FOR REAL this time, guys! You said 'NFT's' and boy howdy do we have NFTs for you. Everybody: ..... Um. No. BGCCEOs: It's the avocado toast isn't it.
Me, really digging the look of this game. "You might know them as the people behind Greedfall".. (Cue PTSD flashbacks of "a little poison on my blade and let's go" being shouted every few seconds) Me: Ah....
Stephanie, you should check out Wo Long once it comes out (or give the demo a try). It's definitely a Team Ninja game hard, but there's no stamina. Instead, you have 2 different resources bars that are each used up on certain attack types. Normal attacks actually replenish this resource instead of draining it. The demo shows there's still some rough edges to iron out, but there's a lot of potential showing how to do away with the stamina bar.
I think we are beyond tepid graphics, at least. As for jankyness and other technical shortcomings, those as well seem to get fewer and fewer. What I see is an improvement in all aspects for every single one of their games, as you point out yourself. Sure, other studios come out hitting the ball right out of the park and that's great, but there is something to absolutely love and cherish about a studio steadily improving and keep on running against the barricades. I am sure that at some point, Spider will manage to reach the heights they are aiming for, and I am actually very optimistic, that it could be anytime now. Both Greedfall and Steel Rising are IMO genuinely enjoyable games, gone are the days when one buggy quest could fuck up everything (at least I didn't encounter those). When it comes to your reviews, I know I will not always agree with you, but it will always be entertaining, it will always be genuine (if affected) and will offer insights and opinions that are worthy to listen to, even if at times they might be almost completely the opposite of my take.
We should encourage developers like Spiders a lot more than we should encourage AAA publishers. Weirdly enough, Steelrising made me think of Saberspark's recent review of a legendarily memed movie, the Bulgarian animated Treasure Island: In the cases of both this game and that movie, the studio made it because of love of the medium and having a vision they wanted to put out there... the fact that they didn't quite have the skills or budget to do it isn't the important part. We'd be better off if there were more projects like this and less big budget guaranteed moneymakers.
Came back to this since I had just played a bunch of this game, I mostly agree with everything you've said. I don't know if at the time of the impression you'd had gotten to the metroidvania stuff so I was surprised there wasn't mention of that. I also kinda like the mystical bs in the story, granted a more normal one but with robots would've been interesting enough too. Biggest complaint for me is the going back and forth for sidequests, getting lost easily.
![SAFEPLANET - ดาวเคราะห์ [ THE PLANET ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4X1XL3I_k3c/mqdefault.jpg)
To be fair to Spiders, jankyness and technical shortcomings (especially when it comes to performance) are very authentically souls-like.
From Ds1 to EldenRing, dogs still teleport through walls. I've just accepted at this point that dogs are masters of time and space
@@executioner_ecgbert884 What you need to understand is that walls are suggestions, and floors are hypotheticals.
And not unheard of in all circles of gaming, especially AAA. It makes me think of my how I finally fixed my Skyrim, was it some mod conflicts?, some incorrect settings?, nope the game was running too many frames/s..... at least its fixed finally.
@1betterthanyou1 I like that you have to compare them to Bethesda games to find something even close to being as buggy. There's still a bug in Elden Ring where you can get bumped of a ledge due to bad geometry, which has been around since the first Dark Souls.
@@executioner_ecgbert884 Maybe their the hounds of tindalos?
I love that this studio exists. I remember when I was little studios like this weren’t afraid to experiment and I was fine with jankiness or even some bugs so long as the game was actually fun or unique or clever. I feel like we hardly have this sorta thing nowadays so I applaud them
Also obligatory “A little poison on my blade and let’s go”
J know how
Heh!
I feel the same way. Steelrising isn't quite my cup of tea because Soulslikes stress me out, but I loved Greedfall and I'm hyped for the sequel. So I hope hope hope Steelrising will be succesful enough to keep Spiders going and maybe be reason enough for a sequel for those that like it!
@@backslash153 I want this studio to keep going and getting better
M O V E A W A Y
….things are about to get dicey.
yea these are very needed. unfortunately nowadays its very slippery slope when a game studio might start to consider going mobile or releasing broken game they might not even be able to fix with their resources or their game is a sorry front for mtx selling... so the mid-shelf genre is rather risky from customer point too.
I unapologetically love Spiders games. Jank and all. Sure, the end result isn't always the best, but it's always interesting, and like you said, they try their damn hardest and are super ambitious. I really appreciate that.
I really loved Greedfall.
I prefer a janky game that tries to do something interesting over AAA-titles that all try to be the 'Next Big Thing that makes us all the money in the blandest way possible'.
@@Syurtpiutha
More like most AAA games try to be the previous big thing that made all the money.
@@Carabas72 I mean, this game is basically just trying to be Dark Souls.
@@Carabas72 Excellent correction. Next big thing would at least imply something new.
Honestly, with games of this sort becoming more and more similar to each other these days, they really should start advertising themselves through their smaller, unique mechanics - the overheat cancel stuff genuinely might be _the_ selling point of this game, for me, and there's no way I'd know about it without this video.
Shame about the performance-hindering jank, but otherwise, I'm gonna keep this one in mind if I'm in the mood to buy a video game. Thanks for the excellent review, Steph!
Also the victorian steampunk aesthetic and the weapons themselves are pretty original.
I've honestly held the opinion for a while that these games should stop selling themselves as "soulslikes" and try more as "souls-lite". As in, the tell tale Souls framework is there, or at least has mainstay mechanics from the series, but going much harder on the things that make them unique and standout from the crowd. Because like JSS, I'm honestly getting burned out on the formula now.
The overheat cancel mechanic just reminds me of Nioh. If you’ve not seen that!
@@Marz_Barz_x Yup, tho in Nioh it has more of a rythm to use, while in this game you just empty your bar and then spam the cooldown button till the stamina resets. I still don't know which system I prefer tbh.
not sure if that's really necessary, I believe that there is a decently big audience of people like me, who will just play anything vaguely souls-like and enjoy it even if it's pretty bad. Soulslikes and metroidvanias are the only 2 genres of videogames I ever play and for me they could as well just be clones (although well implemented innovations are obviously also welcome)
I have a soft spot for Spiders. They are underdogs that really are capable of great work but they tend to punch a bit too high. Still, I appreciate their attempts to do better and prove that you don't need a $1 billion budget to make a fun game that is at least comparable to the big dogs.
Better to fail trying to reach the sky than to succeed by crawling through the mud
I'd rather have a Spiders game where they create there own IP over the 26th UbiShit hamsterwheel game and frankly Assasin's Greed on pc with mouse and keyboard plays like shit. Every single one of 'em.
that's actually really nice to hear. I like this style a lot and from what I hear the developers are the real deal. Jank is expected from a small developer tackling a game of this scope but if at least the core game is fun then that's a huge W. The stamina management thing is the exact kind of innovation this genre of game needs. Simple, but very interesting to engage with.
My favorite 'broken' thing about Steelrising:
The strongest weapon in the game are grenades. Yes. Those firebombs that you pick up all over the place and can buy to the point you have hundreds, are stronger than anything else. It melts every boss in mere moments and you can apply status effects with them very rapidly as well.
It's a beautiful mess.
I typically try DEX builds in these games on my first playthrough. Only posting because I keep seeing people play up elemental effects in this game. I firmly believe the most "broken" build to be AGI with Lady Macbeth fans. The special launches two sniper shots instantly for a single ammo charge, meaning you can spam this thing for days. No it does not take stamina, yes it has high impact and immobilizes everything in the game instantly. That makes this simultaneously the safest build. You kite around, spam daggers, run up to crit....then spam dash if the enemy gets close. It's waaayyyy more busted than waiting around for ice and fire.
@@AcidRain1628 not here for safe but for the danger.
Been intrigued by this one since I first heard about it. Real pity about the story going the way you mentioned, the class issues seem a rich area of plot to explore and more to the point, *right there*, but evidently they found a different route. Still, between how it was looking and your review, I'll happily give this a whirl once I've caught up with some urgent life stuff! Thanks :)
@GiRayne while light on any real narrative or class focus I did like how they played with certain historical events which of course is one of ACs draw. Like when the National Assembly voted on whether or not to execute King Louis he was just nearly saved. Only one vote is what sealed his fate and of course that voter is one of our targets. My personal favorite is how we had to eventually deal with Maximilian Robespierre. In real life he was shot in the jaw either by a self inflicted failed suicide or in the struggle to arrest him. Instead here in Unity Elise shoots him during a quick yet effective interrogation.
And Revolutionary Paris is so alive! It was the first new game I played on the last generation and just how large and active the city was. Seeing someone marched to the guillotine, the blade go down and the crowd roar before placing his head on a pike and Marching him around while singing revolutionary songs, I was quite impressed
Not my favorite AC and I played it long after the disastrous release but I quite enjoyed that game
I gave it a try to see if it worked on my PC and the quality of the game in general and yes, it's in the upper echelon of soulslike imo, being able to be compared with Nioh or Code Vein. It's janky tho, so I'd wait to see if they release a few updates before buying if your rig is not optimal
Class issues class issues I'm ready to burn the whole goddamn Planet down in your your literally talking about class issues you might need to rethink that statement
@GiRayne my apologies (it’s 8 years old so I forget spoilers and whatnot especially since history is the ultimate spoiler haha)
Yeah I really gotta complete cyberpunk. Been super busy
AC Origins also had very convincing crowds and NPCs. Every area of the game I went to I would see the people doing their tasks like making die or fishing or studying or worshipping etc. aC really goes above and beyond
Its a shame, because Greedfall was one of the few times I've seen colonialism explored at all in video games.
I get extremely strong vibes of "Remember Me" from the movement in this game, which is a good thing: I loved the combat/Movement in it!
I need to give Remember Me another playthrough. Been far too long
One of the biggest games of lost potential IMO. Nothing landed well but the ideas were all fantastic. If they could have had a sequel and refined the formula it could have been such a great game
@@Lily-gr1ct Yes, i somewhat agree... it was so short, almost as if some vital parts of the story were missing. However the little bit that was there was pretty good.
This looks good. I love the anesthetic of franco-robo revolution.
Now don't start going all Michael Jackson on us please
Been playing for about a week now. JSS is absolutely correct in this video. Fantastic setting, but the the trademark Spiders jank is everywhere in this game. Still having a fun time but also wondering what could have been if another studio made this.
I think you've just taken a Spiders experience and really, really sold me on everything in it. Steampunk Victorian robots in the French Revolution? You playing as a sultry robot girl bodyguard of the queen fighting back against the evil hordes? A cooldown mechanic that changes up the stamina system in an engaging way? A focus on the Bloodborne-style aggressive gameplay of the Soulslike genre? Campy jank story dialogue like a B-movie aired on MST3K? And all of this in an environment designed to NOT look entirely depressing, dingy and gloomy, but just enough to underscore the meaning of why you're fighting? This is everything I want in a modern Soulslike.
Also, props to great usage of the Police Squad theme at 9:00 with the AI-broken automaton. I laughed like a silly bitch there. Thank God for you!
Nice one Jim, I'd really like when you review a game, some double A and indie truly needs your coverage... There's a ton of indie gem doesn't get enough recognition or your unique perspective
'Fiery shotgun tonfas' was all I needed to hear to push this game into must play territory
If you're taking suggestions, Nioh 2 is an excellent (albeit very difficult) game that also has tonfa guns :x
Ironically, the fact that so few people are noticing the political commentary in the game's story is fair proof that Spiders handled the story-writing for this one better than their past works. The more mystical stuff provides a pretty good cover to distract and keep the 'no politics' crowd focused on the pretty pictures, but if you pay attention to the dialogues there is a -moderate- amount of meatier substance buried underneath. The game itself is great fun if you don't rage over the iconic Spiders jank... they're kinda the 'AA' Bugthesda on that front, except that their games at least try to do some new and intriguing stuff. Souls vets will likely wanna jump straight into doing challenge runs, there are a few fights with some slight difficulty but overall it's more on par with DS1 difficulty-wise.
I had a similar experience playing the mage on Dark Souls 2. The beginning was hard at first due to lack of stamina, long casting speed, and spells. Once those problems were fixed though, almost every boss in the game went down pretty easily. Even the Fume Knight wasn't that hard. I had a harder time getting to the bosses just because I actually had to to conserve spells and use them wisely in order to make it to the next firepit ok. The spell-resistant bosses like the blue smelter demon were a pain though as it became more of a death of a thousand cuts to finish them off and they weren't as easy to dodge.
I'm glad JSS is out here actually enjoying games. It's refreshing
I saw a trailer for this game years ago but couldn't remember the title. I would occasionally think back to it and wonder what happened to the 18th century automaton game. So there it is.
Greedfall is a beloved little darling of mine, flaws and all. So I’m thrilled for any success it’s studio enjoys! Glad this title is getting some praise.
I came away loving this a lot more than thymesia definitely needs to iron out the bugs. Only actually criticism I have is the levels blur together aesthetic wise same problem as the first surge and it can be very easy but I had a good time with it.
I appreciate how Spiders reach is always slightly exceeding their grasp. Sure, they have their jankiness, and the storytelling doesn't quite measure up to the best in the industry (ditto voice acting). It's never quite what you hoped it might be, and yet damn do all their projects (especially recently) feel like they have genuine human passion and a love of games behind them. That feels increasingly rare in modern gaming. I'm amazed at what I'll forgive if it feels like the developers actually care about my having a good time, rather than just funneling me from one money-generating scheme to the next.
Seriously, I love seeing what devs like this come out with. Even if their products are overly ambitious for their ability, it's nice to see people actually make an effort in an industry full of cookie-cutter games that would rather play it safe. Devs like this are the ones that deserve AAA budgets, they'd do far more with it than the likes of EA, ABK, Ubisoft, etc.
I secretly love Spyders even though I only beat one of their games: Bound by Flame. That one was exciting because I remember getting close to the end and I felt like I could tell when they ran out of money since a lot of cool stuff happening in the story was simply talked about, instead of shown.
I havent played the game, but the saddest part about the things talked about about in game instead of shown is that in the office there probably in depth discussions about it as they came up with the ideas, thinking of how things would work in game and possibly even concept art. Happens more often than people think
ALSO, seeing the commander in a powdered wig cosplay of the robot in this game would be 😘🤌 chef’s kiss perfect, maybe with pastel pink accents???
Very few large companies still exhibit as much passion as Spiders does. Even someone as jaded as James Stephanie Sterling can tell they're trying bloody hard and bless them they're still showing improvement with each new game. One of my favourite studios currently and I firmly believe one day they'll create something truly special, if they aren't bought by Sony or Microsoft or Squeenix or Embracer Group before then.
"A bit of ICE on my bullets and LET'S GO!!!"
underrated.
Wait, so there are flesh and blood people, but there's something sinister killing and replacing them with robots? That's intriguing.
The more I hear people dig into games stories and what they say, the mightier my need grows to make a video essay about the Jak trilogy
I LOVE these pixel sprite animations.
You know, I like Spiders games because they're always trying. Sometimes very trying, but that's much more than most ever bother with.
Jim, I’m shocked to see you didn’t mention the Assist Mode. As someone who’s been pro easy mode for Dark Souls for a while now I thought for sure you’d bring it up.
Got a day off and saw this on sale. Thanks for this video pushing me towards buying the game. And especially the artistically managed use of the 'Police Squad' theme music. Made my morning and now have that warm fuzzy feeling of an anticipated game, time to play it, coffee and toast. Ooh and with a rainy grey sky so I'm even more cosy. Gaming can be so great some days 👍
Ps ooh, just made it to the end of the video and another great use of music within the context of your narration. Also, grateful for just using the music and not lyrics thereby respecting people's knowledge of music etc. Without having neon signs pointing to the gag. I'd write a witty song title now with lyrics appropriate but my toast just popped and I gotta cool it then stuff my gob whilst playing Steelrising (yeah, groan at the name)
Love these Jimpressions. Keep them coming!
The outro music really got me!
I fully agree; quite a bit janky at times but fabulously enjoyable😁 Using the stamina potions in bossfights is another broken feature, but if it's a boss that has kicked your absolute ass, it's very, VERY satisfactory to return the favour😂💜
I was looking forward to this one and I am glad to hear that it is about exactly what I expected from Spiders. I can put up with the jankyness and occasional awkwardness if it means playing an original looking game with some decent qualities to it. Same thing with Greedfall. I am yet to finish Technomancer tho, but yeah, it's a consistent thing with this studio that I don't mind 'cause I see improvements with each new game. Feels like I'm supporting a growing & learning team that puts in effort with their limited budget.
Same on the "watching them grow" feeling. I just want to support their janky little games, and seeing the constant improvements is wonderful.
Starting things off with Ice Ice Baby and ending with Cold As Ice. What an absolute madlad. Also, I'm going to need to check this game out.
Anyone else think it’s funny how much the environments in this look like Fable 3?
One of the things I appreciate about you as a reviewer is that even when I disagree with you, I understand your position. I actually really enjoy the writing to the game, even if the mystical stuff did pull me out of it a bit, especially when the nobles, each representing a different faction in the French Revolution, get together to argue.
The game is a hell of a lot of fun, though. One of the things I enjoy about Spiders's games is that they don't let things like "existing conventions" or "balance" get in the way of a good concept.
It's awesome that Steph is enjoying another game from the Spiders studio. I also really love seeing another game with a robot protagonist that includes an overheat mechanic as part of stamina management. A game I played a couple years ago also did this really well while also having robots in an interesting setting, medieval in this case, with fantastic art to boot (Feudal Alloy). Easily recommend it to anyone that wants more "souls-like with robots", but in 2d with some metroidvania elements thrown in.
i actually liked the story a lot even when the whole french revolution thing did indeed take a big step back the more the mystic-/sad-story built up. but i was so enamoured that a soulslike finally has a really decent story that i looked over the flaws there (and some of the obvious jank in the game per se).
Looking forward to picking this up after some patches hopefully iron out the worst of the technical issues.
I was getting worried there for a sec, glad you're still enjoying gaming
This game was basically made for Jim, well in concept. Its the fancy bisch setting Jim has always craved 🤣
As a player of greedfall, it filled me with joy when I learnt that, just like in greedfall, ranged combat is overpowered as all hell 😍 the Poervit Chain on a full power build is absolutely NUTS and no boss or enemy is strong against it
I miss when not every 3rd person chase camera action game was a souls-like.
Agreed.
It's always been this way. "Red Alert is popular, let's all make RTSs", "WoW is popular, let's all make MMOGRPS!" J/S even made a video on that very subject. I'm also about ready to get soulslikes out of our collective systems.
Soulslike games have become the new open world games. It wasn't so long ago when a lot of gamers grew tired of owg's because they seemed to be everywhere. It seemed like every game was going open world, whether it needed it or not and they weren't wrong. Now that belongs to Soulslike games (and non-Souls, melee based games). They're everywhere.
krazislav has it right, it's studios jumping on what's popular and running it into the ground until players get sick of it.
Is there a souls-like/Farm Simulator hybrid already btw?
You'd think someone would mix those two already at this point.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 There was a game called Ash I think that was a Soulslike Village builder. Seemed pretty good too.
You had me at the premise. Then the notion you can make broken builds? Love it!
PvP ruins this in most of these types of games. I have zero interest in PvP in these types of games. Let me break the game by mixing things!
I really would like a Surge 3. The second one was addictive as all hell with the limp ripping and armor collecting mechanic.
The setting did wonders for catching me from my middling feelings of the souls series. Same reason I preferred Bloodborne.
Surge 1 was clunky and very limited but I had my fun with it. But Surge 2 was amazing, an upgrade in all meanings. Collecting armors and weapons was such fun.
Seriously, Surge 2 was a goddamn blast. The sci-fi setting led to really interesting types of weapons and scenarios.
You're convincing me to try it, Steph. The premise and protagonist really beg curiosity~ The overload mechanic is wonderfully thematic.
(i noticed while looking it up, the deluxe edition is called 'Bastille,' so you were kinda right)
I wasn't offended by the name, until Steph mentioned the name Basteel... and now yes I am offended it's not called that.
Now this isn’t my type of game, but it IS my type of broken!
I love it when singleplayer games are not all balanced, and you can find builds that just tear the game apart.
I’m glad to see that this studio is improving too, now they just need to hire some writers/narrative directors
Hearing the Police Squad / Naked Gun theme was an unexpected pleasure
Oh man, that end song at the video is a total classic! Total classi oh my throat!
Spyders really came into their own with this one imo, its so interesting to see the quality of their titles improving over time. 👍🏿👍🏿
2:25 I can create hilariously broken builds? SOLD!
it's even easier if you just use ice grenades. works for any build.
Noticed the intro and outro tracks. Glad to see Copyright Deadlock alive and well. ;)
Seriously, listen to how glorious this voice is. I could listen all day.
Ah ah! The year of Pinocchio, Spiders tries to take the front of the race getting ahead of Lies of P. Classic!
I know, right?! Plus fake-Victorian London is better than...fake-French Revolution Paris...but that's just me...besides, you get to lie to people
Don't know what it was about this video (compared to others) but I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing. Jim Steph on point and solidifying their self as one of my fav writers. Go on yourself
Extra Credits once talked about previous Souls games in which styles of play were not balanced but were still rewarding. Magic was easier than a melee tank build, but there was definitely room for both, and this was the From alternative to a difficulty setting. So yeah, it doesn't matter so much if there are builds that are easy to exploit so long as there's room for players to set their own limits of how they play.
Fantastic review, JFSFSS! Gonna snag this one up. Also...eager for the next Commentocracy video! RRRRRRRROISTON! RRRRROISTON! FETCH ME MY WHINING PANTS! LOL
Always glad to see another Jimpression. Chronicling the bull of the industry is worthwhile and I enjoy that, but I always want more regular video game critic JSS.
Thank you very much for the video, Steff. Have a great weekend!
Steelrising 2: Still Rising
Steelrising 3: The Priapism
Steelrising 4: Arisen
Also, from the comments I can't help but get an EDF-like feeling from what is being discussed - basically that the game is more fun than you would expect in spite of (or at times because of) its jankiness. Thank you for the video.
Well, I'm convinced, I was intrigued when I saw the trailer, but with this glowing praise I'm down for it flaws and all
9:44 perfection. I was checking at just this moment on my phone.
We could just all agree to call it Basteel and refuse to acknowledge the official name.
Interesting. Will definitely have to give this game a look. Thanks for shining a light on it!
Omg that name Basteel!? YES! It's so damn good! It's like when Edge of Tomorrow tried to rebrand as Live-Die-Repeat. A much better title, that was the movie's tagline.
Also, Steelrising unapologetically has a customizable easy mode. It's not for me, but I'm happy that it's there for anyone who does want it. Proving once again that *lacking* a simple game menu option is, shockingly, not a necessary "feature" of soulslike genre. Difficulty and challenge in PvE games are great - as long as they are optional and customizable to your preferences.
Happy to see you enjoy the game. I've seen a lot of people having fun with it, some even having a real good time with the Story. Also it seems to be very fairly priced which is another plus. If a game has a base level of fun gameplay powerful enough to get you through the potential jank you encounter it's already solid, everything beyond that can be patched ot modded most of the time.
Respect to spiders for trying. I really want them to succeed because I miss the A and AA space. We got so many unique ideas in the 4th and 5th gens. Granted they aren't exactly unique in their genres, but the space as a whole was a breeding ground cool ideas.
Steph, why, Why, WHY make me hear that damn Foreigner song again?! It came out when I was in high school! I had the damn album! When I gave away my albums in grad school I thought I had banished it for good. I'll be humming that song for weeks!
My brain keeps trying to convert "Steelrising" to "Sterling" help
Same. There's no escape to this.
points to the Police Squad/Naked Gun theme on the glitched dancing robot in vid lol
That lag, my guess since a game I work on has this issue, is probably due to the engine not cache'ing the FX and other things prior to their activation. My game stutters the 1st time you see an FX, because the engine it's built on is incapable of cache'ing anything.
Some textures in the game are also either accidentally entirely uncompressed or over-ambitiously large which likely causes a freeze as RAM or VRAM gets shuffled around to accommodate them. Apparently at max graphics and 4K the game will consume 13GB VRAM which just about no card possess aside from top flagships.
Unity?
That stuttering issue looks a lot like I ended up having, though I was able to narrow it down to an incorrectly set graphics preset. Game was trying to load the absolutely bonkers level of textures that I flat didn't have the VRAM for.
Yes, the 8k textures are absolutely beautiful, I don not have a card with the 24 gigs of VRAM needed to run at that level of fidelity. The fact I was able to run the game at all at that level shocks me, most games I play just crash when they run out of VRAM. Steel Rising is one of a handful of games I play that can successfully handle serious texture streaming. Not well by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact it CAN is impressive to me.
Stamina management in this game reminds me of Ki Pulse mechanic in Nioh, it also regenerated stamina instantly and had other uses in combat.
It's definitely wearing that inspiration on its sleeve for sure. I'm glad to see more games are picking up that mechanic.
The main character's face reminds me of Kate Mulgrew in the thumbnail.
I really loved this game. I hope more people notice it. There's too much effort and passion into it to go to waste.
Big Game Company CEOs be like: "Look horror games just don't sell."
Amnesia - one of the biggest horror games a roaring success, sparks a subhorror genre.
BGCCEOs: "Look Final Fantasy-esque games might have been nice and cute back in the 80's and 90's but we're past that crap.
Squenix makes an old school RPG in 2013, fans lose their shit.
BGCCEOs: Look nobody wants single player games anymore. The data just isn't there. Gamers just want multiplayer games.
CD Projekt Red: *Laughs in The Witcher 3*
BGCCEOs: Look you can have a high quality game or you can have a game that looks great but doing both is literally impossible.
CDPR: *LAUGHS LOUDER in The Witcher 3*
BGCCEOs: Look guys, we heard you loud and clear, you know that making video games is expensive and you've all been asking, "Why are video games still $59.99 a pop? They should be $69.00 a pop.
Everybody: Uh.... we never wanted that, plus you have billions from corporate sponsors, billions from additional content you cut from the game and sold back to people, plus did we mention you have BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS????
BGCCEOs: Look guys, we heard you loud and clear -
Everybody: You said that before.
BGCCEOs: No we didn't, but anyway, we heard you loud and clear - microtransactions are the future of gaming. We got you.
Everybody: Um, no, go away.
BGCCEOs: Look we heard you -
Everybody: YOU SAID THAT BEFORE!
BGCCEOs: Okay okay okay, fair enough, we heard you loud and clear, REAL loud and clear, super duper duper no take backsees heard you loud and clear FOR REAL this time, guys! You said 'NFT's' and boy howdy do we have NFTs for you.
Everybody: ..... Um. No.
BGCCEOs: It's the avocado toast isn't it.
Me, really digging the look of this game.
"You might know them as the people behind Greedfall"..
(Cue PTSD flashbacks of "a little poison on my blade and let's go" being shouted every few seconds)
Me: Ah....
Aaannnnd now the 'Naked Gun' intro is stuck in my head.
I love spiders games because they're always clearly trying their best. It never gives off the "let's half ass" this vibe of some games
This is amazingly positive for how the name and gameplay looked on the surface. Sounds pretty ok, Souls-like are becoming a tougher and tougher sell.
“Basteel Day” is a big missed opportunity.
Stephanie, you should check out Wo Long once it comes out (or give the demo a try). It's definitely a Team Ninja game hard, but there's no stamina. Instead, you have 2 different resources bars that are each used up on certain attack types. Normal attacks actually replenish this resource instead of draining it. The demo shows there's still some rough edges to iron out, but there's a lot of potential showing how to do away with the stamina bar.
Thank you, Steph.
Wow yeah I've heard the title and never would've guessed this was the game behind it. I imagined some MechWarrior kind of thing.
1:41 omg is that you as Kefka? I love it!
I think we are beyond tepid graphics, at least.
As for jankyness and other technical shortcomings, those as well seem to get fewer and fewer. What I see is an improvement in all aspects for every single one of their games, as you point out yourself.
Sure, other studios come out hitting the ball right out of the park and that's great, but there is something to absolutely love and cherish about a studio steadily improving and keep on running against the barricades.
I am sure that at some point, Spider will manage to reach the heights they are aiming for, and I am actually very optimistic, that it could be anytime now.
Both Greedfall and Steel Rising are IMO genuinely enjoyable games, gone are the days when one buggy quest could fuck up everything (at least I didn't encounter those).
When it comes to your reviews, I know I will not always agree with you, but it will always be entertaining, it will always be genuine (if affected) and will offer insights and opinions that are worthy to listen to, even if at times they might be almost completely the opposite of my take.
"Steel rising stands out in a number of ways" *Player character jumping*
The fact that it isn’t named “Steel Rising” bothers me more than anything else about it.
I wasn't expecting a Police Squad reference.
We should encourage developers like Spiders a lot more than we should encourage AAA publishers. Weirdly enough, Steelrising made me think of Saberspark's recent review of a legendarily memed movie, the Bulgarian animated Treasure Island: In the cases of both this game and that movie, the studio made it because of love of the medium and having a vision they wanted to put out there... the fact that they didn't quite have the skills or budget to do it isn't the important part. We'd be better off if there were more projects like this and less big budget guaranteed moneymakers.
Indeed BASTEEL was right there!
Excellent use of the Police Squad theme! :D
I don’t know why, but when I saw this I was immediately reminded of Lies of P for some reason.
"Made by Spiders"
Ah, so that's what I felt like shouting "a bit of poison on my blade and lesgoooo" while watching this
Came back to this since I had just played a bunch of this game, I mostly agree with everything you've said. I don't know if at the time of the impression you'd had gotten to the metroidvania stuff so I was surprised there wasn't mention of that. I also kinda like the mystical bs in the story, granted a more normal one but with robots would've been interesting enough too. Biggest complaint for me is the going back and forth for sidequests, getting lost easily.