10 Things I Like, 10 Things I Don't

[Probably_Asleep]

I've been running this solo a lot for the Belly of the Beast perks. Generally speaking I like it a lot, and now that I've run it more than 50 times I think I can narrow in on what I do and don't like about it...

10 Things I Like

1. It's unique! - Circuit and E/DA were just recycled content wrapped in a different navigation menu and peppered with buffs/debuffs. This is new gameplay.
2. There are skills to learn and practice - I've asked for this several times before, and I'm very happy to see it! Much more engaging than just "bring good gun."
3. No real fail condition - Being punished with time delays rather than mission failure encourages better gameplay rather than better builds.
4. Optional Side-Quest - The Sister Beacons is a great touch! I fully support having an extra (but optional) objective that gives extra loot (with extra challenge).
5. A use for Parkour - Finally a game mode that asks me to move like a Ninja! With all the new Parkour Velocity sources, I've been waiting for something like this.
6. Parvos Granum - One of my favorite adversaries, and someone that always acts like he has everything under control. Nice to see him flustered a bit.
7. Solo Experience - I don't know what the Squad Experience is like, but the Solo experience is great! Lots of things to juggle at once and lots of room to improve.
8. Still something to build for - My favorite build decisions involve question like: "How much mobility can I include without sacrificing too much survivability?"
9. No bending down - Things would have gotten stale real quick if I had to watch a bend down animation while picking up every charge. But nope!
10. So high - The scale of the level seems sufficiently epic with how big of a drop it would be if you fall.

10 Things I Don't

1. Green Eximus - I like that they pose a significant threat, but I don't like how incessant that attack is. Having a green strobing light on the screen 90% of the time is...
2. Path-Finding has no idea - Good luck finding a waypoint that you set, and Ayatan Star icons will run you in circles.
3. Hard to find/get charges - The green diamond icon isn't helpful, and the drop rate is quite low; I'm often just killing and killing waiting for a charge to drop.
4. Sticky Edges - There's all these little overhangs and lips that interfere with Parkour. I agree with obstacles in general, but if a wall looks smooth then it should be.
5. Cowardly Sisters - Some Sisters of Parvos have a run-away trait that gets real old real fast.
6. Mote Drop Rate - This is circumstantial, but when I run a Belly of the Beast Alert and get 15 Volatile Motes in 2 minutes, then this mission seems under-rewarded.
7. The Lifts - Those air-jets that fling you upward are annoying. I'd prefer if they were just "+30% Parkour Velocity for 5 Seconds" instead.
8. Status Immunity on Gun Turrets - The gun turrets have decent HP but can't take on status effects, so some weapons can't do anything to them.
9. No Lotus - I get that Rebecca is busy, but Lotus will always be the one I want as my spotter on missions; lure her to the recording studio!
10. Golden Instinct Doesn't Work - I had hoped GI would work for Sister Beacons (it doesn't), but I've also never had it find a single Ayatan Sculpture. A bug maybe?

Again though, this is a slam dunk in my opinion. I'd love if new content was always adding something unique to do and learn rather than just a higher HP enemy and a higher damage weapon like some sort of "Here's the keyhole, now buy the key" interaction.

Finally, just as a bonus pro/con: Throwing the charges has a pretty high accuracy; it feels great tossing a charge from a distance to keep the elevator moving. But lore-wise I don't like it when Stalker shows up to interfere with the mission; this game mode should be limited to Zanuka and Grustrag.

[Sojufueled]

I really like the mode too. I wish the scrap at the top was a little more drawn out, but otherwise it's fantastic. It's basically Hijack, but fun.

As for your issue with green eximus. I think that's a quirk of the event and not the game mode, though I may be wrong. The belly alerts also force all eximus to be jade. My issue with jade eximus is that it takes a lot to shoot the beams down, so it's better in all cases to flee.

It's a minor thing, but I find the shaft feels a little samey all the way up and that it can be a little disorienting. Some colored paint stripes for different sections (maybe divide in thirds) might make it easier to register your vertical position at a glance. Also, it would feel more realistic to me. Real industrial spaces tend to be labelled and festooned with information for workers.

[Yulfan]

Le 01/07/2024 à 22:25, Probably_Asleep a dit :

Sticky Edges - There's all these little overhangs and lips that interfere with Parkour. I agree with obstacles in general, but if a wall looks smooth then it should be.

This is the most rage-inducing thing for me. It's a game-wide problem but since this whole game mode is about vertical parkour, it's even more blatant. All these edges that can stop you in your track really are insufferable. It would be nice if DE could add a new move to the Maneuvers skills set to avoid this, like some kind of somersault to latch on the new surface over our head.

Apart from that, i really like this game mode. It's a new and refreshing way to move around. It may seems silly, but climbing on the central pillars of the elevator (the only surfaces without too much obstacles on it) made me realize that you also can chain vertical Bullet Jumps by weaving at least one vertical Wall Dash (the frog-like jump) between them. You can reach crazy velocity like this and it's so satisfying. I think it is even faster than Void Sling but i don't really care: it's simply funnier this way ^^

Edited Wednesday at 05:05 AM by Yulfan

[Probably_Asleep]

5 hours ago, Sojufueled said:

As for your issue with green eximus. I think that's a quirk of the event and not the game mode, though I may be wrong.

I think you're right. And a single green mixed in with other Eximus isn't that bad. I just get annoyed when they're all green because I want to see the light turn off and it's like: "Who's casting this? Him? *kill* Nope... Her? *kill* Nope... That? *destroy* Nope... Agh!"

5 hours ago, Sojufueled said:

It's a minor thing, but I find the shaft feels a little samey all the way up and that it can be a little disorienting. Some colored paint stripes for different sections (maybe divide in thirds) might make it easier to register your vertical position at a glance. Also, it would feel more realistic to me. Real industrial spaces tend to be labelled and festooned with information for workers.

That's a great idea! It'd be nice having it as a way of knowing how close you are to the top as well. I know the HUD shows you, but I like to let my peripheral vision do some work too. I'd love something like if they had a Traffic Light theme of Green > Yellow > Red.

4 hours ago, Yulfan said:

It would be nice if DE could add a new move to the Maneuvers skills set to avoid this, like some kind of somersault to latch on the new surface over our head.

Cannot agree more. If you're in a bullet jump and get caught in the corner of a lip, and you jump before the bullet jump wears off, then you should be able to grab the underside of the lip, kick off the wall, and roll past the lip, and continue upward. That would be so cool! (I'd love if they did that for horizontal jumps as well)

4 hours ago, Yulfan said:

made me realize that you also can chain vertical Bullet Jumps by weaving at least one vertical Wall Dash

It's so funny you say this because I discovered the same thing in this game mode, also on the elevator pillars. I just started doing it and then had the thought: "Wait... did I know I could do this? This feels new..."

[Gaxxian]

En 1/7/2024 a las 22:25, Probably_Asleep dijo:

I don't know what the Squad Experience is like

At first was extremely funny imho. Plenty of enemies, action and shots everywhere.

But with each patch the number of enemies has been reduced again and again. Now its pure boredom.
Usually you have 1 or 2 players afk... and you are grateful for it, since that means that you will be able to kill something!
The last run towards the exit is a joke too... only a bunch (maybe 12) enemies appears at the side doors... and thats all. Nothing more appears until the capsule already i reaching the top of the stairs. That didn't happened before...

So... i went from loving this new gamemode to hating it. There is nothing to do except to wait for everything. Wait for enemies to spawn. Wait for the lifter to move. Wait for the charges to drop. Wait, wait, wait...

Its a shame :(

Solo experience is still better?