Like stealth games? Aragami

http://store.steampowered.com/app/280160/

I don't know how long the game is, but at $18 it's coming across as an incredible bargain. It's like Tenchu Z with some Dishonored.
Ever since playing Dishonored, I've wanted the "blink" ability in other games. It's your main ability here, but limited to shadows.
You unlock abilities as you go. There is dialogue, but the voice parts are either Japanese or gibberish, I can't tell since it's so
subdued. There is a story here and you figure out the history of your character along the way.
The art style is pretty cool and fitting. The Japanese mythology aspect adds to it a lot, reminds me of an old Xbox game called Otogi.

You approach it area by area which will be scored. Extra credit for killing everyone, or slipping through with no kills and/or undetected.

Saw it on GOG, very tempted since I also just finished a great novel about feudal Japan.

But, I think it might be a little short. For 18 bucks that's okay I guess.

Usually I'm just playing another game instead of writing historical novels.



The Jedi Master

I've got 5 hours in it so far. I think I've done 3 areas with at least another 4 to go, possibly more.
I still find it a bargain, but at very least well priced. Stealth games are good for replay-ability, unlike many games.
It's one of those games that makes you think about what real value is: a long game that's just another game, or a high quality game that's short.
Quality over quantity, IMO. Especially at this price.

I saw that you had picked it up RK. You put up some great screenshots. Looks like a beautiful game. I've been following it for awhile but didn't realize it would be released so quickly. I love stealth and ninja stuff so hopefully I can pick this up sometime. Are there any ranged weapons like throwing stars or anything else not normally found in other games?

You're a conjured up assassin from the afterlife. You have your sword, your main weapon, but that's all that's normal. You unlock some abilities, including a long range dark power arrow with limited use, a couple of types of traps that send anyone in range into a vortex to...elsewhere. Another I don't have yet conjures a demon beast to grab whomever is by it where you conjure it up. You're mainly "blinking" around and using the sword for quick kills. The powers have limited uses but you can charge back up at alters on the map. There are other abilities I don't have yet, but I can't recall what all they are.

That second picture up there is about 1/3 of the entire mission map. It's divided into sections, but makes for a large area. Multiple pathways and it's pretty open. I keep finding attics I can climb through, tunnels etc. I'm spending about an hour or so per map, but I take my time and try various approaches. I also like to kill 'em all. You can get through maps without killing if you want.

Good support too, and I haven't even run into any issues yet. Looks like 12 chapters. I think I'm on 5.


Aragami Patch 01.03
OCTOBER 6 - XDAVIDLEON
Hi everyone!

Here's the changelog for Patch 01.03:
* NEW: Added Key Remapping. Access it through the Options Menu.
* NEW: Added option to invert camera shoulder side. Available in Game Options.
* FIX: Fixed inviting friends to online games through Steam.
* FIX: Fixed some occlusion culling issues on Chapter 11 and Chapter 12.
* FIX: Fixed some objectives not triggering correctly on Chapter 5, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11 and Chapter 12.
* FIX: Minor localization bugs.
* MISC: Added multiplayer version info on main menu.

Plans for the next update:
* Improve general game performance.
* Add support for cross-region multiplayer.
* Add in-game interactions to co-op mode.
* Squash nasty bugs!

Thank you all for the great reception of Aragami on Steam, and thank you for all your kind words on social media.

We are reading your comments and feedback on the Steam Forums and we will be working to make Aragami a better game these next few weeks.

Thank you for your patience,
- David Leon & all the Lince Works team

I like the art style. It really has that sort of painted, Dishonored look and the slightly non-proportioned humans. Its a good look and I imagine it works well with a ninja, feudal Japan setting.

Is this one of those adult Japanese games where you rescue big breasted Japanese maidens getting molested by tentacle monsters ?

LOL, I'm sorry. I just cannot resist bringing up another stereotype about Japanese social culture.

If you like Stealth games other than the ubiquitous Thief series and Dishonoured, take a look at Styx:- Masters of the Shadows.

It's a pretty fun Stealth game that sort of flew in under the radar anongst all the other more popular titles. Been out for a few years and Styx 2 will be upon us soon as well. Its compares more in line with Thief in terms of gameplay rather than Dishonored.

Ganeplay :-



This guy plays it full on non-combat, no-kills to get specific in-game achievements, but I tend to do a mix of combat and sneak

And what about Dishonored 2. Also soon to be released. Looking Forward to that one

I've got Styx too. Never finished it due to being sidetracked, but that's not really a reflection on it. This one I find a lot more engaging and entertaining, but Styx was fun.

I checked out some Youtube footage.

You did not mention Coop is available.

And while on the subject of stealth, 24 Minutes Pre-release Gameplay of Dishonoured 2 :-



Looking good.

Styxx is good. Dishonored is reeaaaallly good. I like my stealth games. I'd like to get Aragami. I'm playing through Dishonored again right now as well as Thief 2014 and a bunch of Splinter Cell.

I saw MP in the menu, but haven't checked it out. I didn't know it was co-op.
Looking forward to Dishonored 2 next month. Good for two play throughs with two characters, then the perfecting missions. Should be really worth the day 1 price.
Got Mafia 3 as well. Lots of games coming out after a dry year.

As good looking and atmospheric as Thief is, I have a hard time maintaining interest in and have yet to finish.

I should get Aragami. It's the kind of backstabbing sneaky gameplay I will enjoy.

Someone else started a Mafia 3 thread in SimHQ CH recently with very negative impressions but I'm not really interested in the Mafia series to bother.

Thief :- I bought and finished all of them except for the last Thief which I did not bother buying given how they butchered the open concept of the franchise into some graphically pretty but having the free form severely limited. What a shoddy way to re-invent and screw up a legendary gaming heritage.

I think the newest Thief is pretty good. It took awhile for me to understand it(every game seems to have a personality and some are harder than others to figure out). I played all the original Thiefs to a large degree. I actually get lost in the city area because everything is so compact and there are so many nooks and crannys to stray into while trying to find your way to your objective or to another area of the map. That's as it should be too considering the sort of slummy, medieval-like city that it is. Once you understand that certain pass throughs to other hubs of the city are cleverly designed loading screens and that several of the homes can be entered to find loot or to also pass through to another side it makes it less confusing. It makes just finding your objective a challenge. I was first concerned when learning there was no real jump button or other things we're accustomed to with Thief with regards to control but I think they actually did very well here.

The swooping control for quickly moving from shadow to shadow or to quickly maneuver behind cover is fluid and makes sense. You absolutely can get on rooftops that have access. Pretty much to the same degree Dishonored does because even in that game you can get to every single roof. I play with a controller for Thief as I came to learn and was obvious that it was a game focused on consoles too. I find that with a controller it is so much easier to control because that's what they apparently designed it behind. The special movement action(which allows you to scale and go vertical and climb)is also fluid and it all starts to make sense what you can do and where.

Its not a perfect game but now that I have played it much more and have gotten farther than when I first got it, I love it. To me it does feel like a Thief game. I don't think it deserves all the complaints it gets. Its a beautiful and detailed world, a unique universe just like Dishonored is. I usually don't play completely violently in Thief games but recently I've been using my bow with broadhead arrows more and its satisfying. There was a level I came off recently where your mission takes place in an abandoned Asylum and it is VERY creepy. There have been a couple of times where I needed to consult a walkthrough when I get stuck but that doesn't happen often now that I sort of know what to look for.

For fans of Thief, give The Dark Mod a try.

Basically a free game inspired by Thief that has lots of user made missions available for download.

I've played all 4 Thief games, the 2nd and 3rd ones like 3x, the first and last just once, and I like them all.

I think the second was brilliant given the technical limitations and it really held up the last time I played it. The first game I actually played only just before the most recent game was released and the ancient graphics did it no favors. It was playable, but only barely.

The 3rd game suffers from console port limitations making small levels, smaller than even the first game let alone the massive ones the 2nd had, but otherwise I liked it well enough.



The Jedi Master

Thanks for the link Mojo. I've been wondering about that mod. Doesn't it use the Doom engine?

Jedi, there's a mod for Thief Deadly Shadows but I forget how extensive it is. I think its mostly bug fixes and some texture packs.

I think I used it, actually. It helped but it was still below Thief 2 in visuals IMO.



The Jedi Master

Ya Coot, apparently it was built on the Doom 3 engine, but is completely standalone now.