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How would you feel about a water-focused Souls game? (Minor Sekiro spoilers)

Do you want it?

  • Hell yeah.

    Votes: 16 25.4%

  • No, because I don't think it'll ever work mechanically.

    Votes: 43 68.3%

  • No, because I have a relevant phobia.

    Votes: 4 6.3%
  • Total voters
    63
GameShrink

GameShrink

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,680
So, Dark Souls 3's story makes numerous references to the coming "Age of Deep Seas."
And in Sekiro, From has introduced not only swimming, but underwater combat. Despite being simplistic compared to your options on land, it's decent and fun.

This leads to a natural question: How would you feel about a From game centered around water? Where danger can come from any angle, where equip weight determines whether you sink or float, where the real-world creatures already look like something Fromsoft designed. It's a totally untapped setting in From's games (and ARPGs in general), offering tons of interesting possible locales and biomes that would range from gorgeous grottos to immense coral reefs to sunken ruins to a new kind of pitch-black abyss.

And the aforementioned creatures... nature did From's work already:


13851680_f496.jpg

file-20190220-148536-4io247.jpg

ocean-creatures-goblin-shark.jpg

shark_4ba5e6f3e51eb8bf200b656871f96a44215620ea.jpg


So, what do people think? I know that underwater gameplay has failed in other series (Monster Hunter being a great example of how not to do it), but if any dev can get it right, it's From.
 
Heid

Heid

Member
Jan 7, 2018
1,808
People will hate this idea because swimming mechanics/controls generally suck.

But if you were weighted to the floor, like you're just running around like normal but everything is underwater, I think it could work fine. Maybe give an option to ditch your heavy gear so you can optionally "fly" around the map but risk bigger badder enemies. Bottom of the ocean mirroring eldritch themes etc
 
Kokoro

Kokoro

Member
Jan 23, 2019
218
France
I love underwater sequences in games, but I think it would be hard to have a game that is only that. I don't see how combat can work in this environment. There's too many direction you can move and everything is slow.
 
OP
OP
GameShrink

GameShrink

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,680
Iyagovos said:
The underwater parts of Sekiro are the worst by far, IMO.
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AmericanKirby said:
A combat oriented game that's one giant water level? Gross.
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Heid said:
People will hate this idea because swimming mechanics/controls generally suck.

But if you were weighted to the floor, like you're just running around like normal but everything is underwater, I think it could work fine. Maybe give an option to ditch your heavy gear so you can optionally "fly" around the map but risk bigger badder enemies. Bottom of the ocean mirroring eldritch themes etc
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The idea would be that a character wearing heavy armor sinks to the floor, where it plays like any other Souls game. Having that option is very important.

Also, there would be above-water areas as well. Coastlines/grottos/caverns and such.

And, as I said in the OP, I'm confident that From could make it work if they really focused on it. It was likely a late addition in Sekiro, and one that almost certainly spawned out of them experimenting with the mechanic for a future game. The sections are so rare, I doubt they could have justified the extra work otherwise.
 

Deleted member 984

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,203
The only games I have played with underwater elements that work well are Abzu and Astro Bot. Both of these are very simple when it comes to combat or rather that combat is almost non-existant in them. If FS can find something that feels closer to the controls of Abzu and maintain engaging combat mechanics then sure but if it plays like Sekiros underwater sections then no thanks.

I think space would be better from a mechanical perspective, perhaps even mix the two.
 
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ZangBa

ZangBa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,040
Gonna go with hell no. They were smoking something with that Headless underwater aided by the other guy underwater shooting shit at you.
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Haven't played Sekiro but the underwater combat in KH3 really makes me wish someone could figure out a way to make an engaging full game with an underwater battle system.
 
Thewonandonly

Thewonandonly

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
4,249
Utah
I'm all down for an underwater game done right with mythical crazy shit. I played an arcade game where your we're going through Atlantis hunting sea monsters with harpoons and it was fun as fuck. Now if someone could get the movement underwater down then I would be in!!!
 
OP
OP
GameShrink

GameShrink

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,680
It also just occurred to me: Folks know that underwater combat in Sekiro almost exculsively relies on using the dash + attack to dart in when the enemy is open, then quickly dashing away after, right? You cover insane ground with this, and I found it oddly satisfying, though shallow compared to the normal fights. If people are trying to use standard R1s, I can understand the hate.

Edit: Just watched three people fighting the underwater minibosses, and none of them used the dashing R1. No wonder people hate those sections, they probably didn't realize that was an option.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
You think it'll be fun. Until you play that monster hunter where they introduced swimming, and your first encounter with the lagiacrus was fucking terror shit pants inducing.

After that, I'm keeping away from fighting underwater monsters.
 
Chaos2Frozen

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Nov 3, 2017
28,049
Miyazaki is clearly very interested in the fishpeople horror as seen in both Sekiro and Bloodborne.

I think it's only a matter of time.
 
TheCongressman

TheCongressman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,065
People usually hate water levels because they take away something major from the gameplay to make it a hindrance. Slow you down, can't move as easily, etc. If the mechanics were built completely around water it shouldn't feel like this.

I think this is awesome. I love water themed stuff in games specifically because of my phobia.
 
Timeaisis

Timeaisis

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,139
Austin, TX
I mean, I'd love it if they did it right. But...that's a big ask. What's the success rate on underwater levels in videogames? 1/100?
 
Barrel Cannon

Barrel Cannon

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,297
I feel like underwater combat in gaming still hasn't been mastered in the sense that no one has yet made something extremely fun that is underwater focused(at least nothing comes to mind) immediately.
 
Okabe

Okabe

Is Sometimes A Good Bean
Member
Aug 24, 2018
19,927
No please.

I would take underwater combat in MH over underwater combat in Sekiro anyday.
 
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