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[Retro_]

Of course but, assuming I have no Ripper or RP grenades, do you have any further suggestions...? I'm thinking of particular moves or combinations that work for you guys. I don't tend to rely on 2ndry weapons and Ripper mode isn't till later in the game. Also? I love this game but I suck Darth Balls at it.

Use armor breaker. or stun blade

EMP works well too and stuns them for a long time. You can actually charge quick draw fully while they're down

There's no trick to fighting them besides parrying their moves and learning how to dodge through EMPs. (which can be hard because of the camera. You have to time it so you go through the shockwave)

Either learn to do that or use better weapons/items. Honestly I think Rising is more about playing smart. Not hard. They designed alt weapons and items to be way too good not to use.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on the Rising issue I guess.

Nah I'll just continue to disagree.

And yet...

quoted out of context.

keep reading. I acknowledge this right under what you quoted

Man, Retro. You really will not cease shitting on this game. Based on your posts, you make it sound like the worst thing to come out this year.

To me it is actually, as it's the only new game I've played this year and invested a substantial amount of time in

I mainly posted to address yuterald as I like his perspective on these games. Then other people engaged my p.o.v and i'm responding to that

I don't see a difference in how the ranking system is different from DMC1&3 aside from the style meter. No damage bonus, time restrictions.

There's no time requirements for individual encounters(cumulative for stages is fine in this game, as it's fine in DMC. see Sam achievement) and the no damage bonus can't be taken away if an enemy randomly decides to fire his gun. (a move which has no other purpose than to fuck up your no damage and only has one viable defense against it)

Basically the requirements make more sense in DMC

Honestly, you're bashing the game solely because it's difficult, tedious, and sometimes unwieldy to get S-ranks.

Yes my complaints about this game do essentially boil down to it not being fun or interesting at a higher level.

I expect the opposite from Platinum and for my 60 dollars.

 

[GuardianE]

To me it is actually, as it's the only new game I've played this year and invested a substantial amount of time in

I mainly posted to address yuterald as I like his perspective on these games. Then other people engaged my p.o.v and i'm responding to that

There's no time requirements for individual encounters(cumulative for stages is fine in this game, as it's fine in DMC. see Sam achievement) and the no damage bonus can't be taken away if an enemy randomly decides to fire his gun. (a move which has no other purpose than to fuck up your no damage and only has one viable defense against it)

Basically the requirements make more sense in DMC

Yes my complaints about this game do essentially boil down to it not being fun or interesting at a higher level.

I expect the opposite from Platinum and for my 60 dollars.

Eh, I suppose that's fair, if this is the only game you've played. I, however, have played a lot of terribleness this year. I acknowledge the weaknesses of this game. I also understand what this game represents, respect the mindset behind it, and hold unbridled excitement for the underlying potential.

You like Yuterald's perspective because he agrees with the single ideology that ruins the game for you? Alright then.

I respectfully disagree that overall time rating is better than individual battle time rating. Individual battle time rating encourages exploration of levels and experimentation, as limited or expansive as that may be. Final rankings should always be about combat in these games, not exploration or collectibles.

I have rarely had a bullet ruin an S rank battle. Fewer than five times. I used Ninja Run where appropriate, and even parried bullets where appropriate. There's enough options and invincibility in counters/parries/dodges to not get hit by things like that.

I can understand not finding the game quite as interesting on the higher levels. I think Revengeance mode had a lot of potential to be something different from what it was. I also know that the camera can be an absolute mess at times. Even still, this game stands as a lone warrior of a genre that has been choked to death by its creators, and one that I cherish dearly. Unfortunately, Bayonetta 2 will fail miserably, so I'm not holding out much hope on that one.

I fully welcome Platinum's approach to different kinds of gaming. I don't pigeonhole them into any particular genre restriction other than the game should fundamentally feel good in your hands, be responsive, stylish and innovative. And MGR does for me, on any difficulty.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Use armor breaker. or stun blade

EMP works well too and stuns them for a long time. You can actually charge quick draw fully while they're down

There's no trick to fighting them besides parrying their moves and learning how to dodge through EMPs. (which can be hard because of the camera. You have to time it so you go through the shockwave)

Either learn to do that or use better weapons/items. Honestly I think Rising is more about playing smart. Not hard. They designed alt weapons and items to be way too good not to use.

Much obliged!

 

[call_kotaku]

There is a certain lack of polish to Rising's mechanics, and it's obvious even on lower difficulties. To me, there's the Platinum of Bayonetta and Vanquish that makes very polished and very intricate games within established genres and the Platinum of Anarchy Reigns and MGR that's just an unexpected mashing together of mechanical systems that's interesting but not necessarily refined. Take dodging in this game, for example. It's mainly there to allow for things that can't be parried, but it does feel unnatural and tacked-on because it doesn't interact particularly well with the rest of the game. It sets up a distinct separation of things you want to parry and things you need to evade, and really the only interaction between the two systems is being able to parry cancel the evade or vice versa, which isn't particularly useful or nuanced. It works, and it's a better solution than being allowed to parry every attack in the game, but at the same time it does feel like a mechanical loose end that Platinum of Bayonetta and Vanquish would've tied up.

Compared to "standard" design doctrine for games lately it really is a breath of fresh air. Platinum was on a short design cycle and really focused in on stuff that mattered, like how it feels to move and attack, the quality of the animations, the pace of the encounters and the general rhythm of combat. Plus, while the game had to be short they made sure it was replayable not just in terms of content but making sure every chapter is paced very quickly and putting a good checkpoint system in (for the most part). There's a sort of "you go figure it out" philosophy to how the encounters are designed, instead of the heavy-handedness of game streamlining that's commonplace, though it does lead to stuff that you're pretty sure nobody playtested thoroughly like the final boss in the Sam DLC. I think they set the foundations for a much more complete game but didn't really get there.

What is the quickest way to deal with Mastiffs?

Mastiffs are pretty easy to parry, you just have to learn the timings to do perfect parries on their moves. Easiest one to do is the dropkick, which is why a legit strategy for VR18 (and Sam DLC VR04) is to just run in circles til the mastiff chases and dropkicks, which also has the benefit of not making the AI constantly want to grab you.

Thank you, gentlemen/ladies/whatevz (can't be too careful). Any advice for those blasted Raptors, too? Sorry to be so scrub-like...

Use the Sai or the Pincers if you have them, but in general I found them to not be as tough as they looked, sort of like the mass production bladewolves. Just hit them a lot.

 

[Yuterald]

Man, I caused quite the discussion! Wasn't really trying to, but I'll just leave a few more cents here.

I respectfully disagree that overall time rating is better than individual battle time rating. Individual battle time rating encourages exploration of levels and experimentation, as limited or expansive as that may be. Final rankings should always be about combat in these games, not exploration or collectibles.

I'd actually agree with you on this one. I prefer the Viewtiful Joe/Bayonetta "battle" rankings than the overall rankings you find in DMC games. When I'm looking for Max HP UP items and other goodies I don't want to be reprimanded for spending too much time exploring. In this games case, I'm glad that they incorporated that Kamiya-game individual battle ranking philosophy, or whatever the fuck you want to call it.

I have rarely had a bullet ruin an S rank battle. Fewer than five times. I used Ninja Run where appropriate, and even parried bullets where appropriate. There's enough options and invincibility in counters/parries/dodges to not get hit by things like that.

Sure, you've got the Ninja Run and Defensive Offensive to avoid gunfire and all that nonsense, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's THERE and it's a poor decision. I just got the No Damage trophy on Sundowner last night and I couldn't tell you how many times I was hit by helicopter fire while my camera wasn't even in view of the fire. It's just bad action game stuff to have shit/fodder enemies accompany a boss. Not only does it take away from the uniqueness/specialness of the main boss you're fighting, but it's just completely unnecessary and obnoxious. It's also just lazy and tells me that the boss isn't interesting enough on its own. So, even though there are ways to "get around it" the simple fact that THEY'RE THERE is amateur hour 101.

Unfortunately, Bayonetta 2 will fail miserably, so I'm not holding out much hope on that one.

Why do you say this? Because Kamiya isn't directly involved? There's so little information on the game right now. How could it fail miserably already, lol!?

I don't know dudes, I know I'm going to get crucified for saying this here, but I still think Bayonetta, in general, is Platinum's coolest and best game. As much fun as I've had with Rising, there's more to the game than what I've gone over in my last two posts that don't quite jell with me. There's just something not very fun about running through these stages again. It's hard to pinpoint it exactly (a lot of it has to do with those Codec interruptions), but this is the first Platinum game where I didn't feel compelled to replay immediately. I've been replaying it more lately because I have the time now and it's just not clicking like Bayonetta and Vanquish did. Maybe it also has to do with the setting, I don't know. I'm not a huge Metal Gear guy, to be honest (I only truly love the original MGS).

 

[Jintor]

Might be a snipe at Wii U/demographic mismatch

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Just getting into this game. What upgrades should I focus on? Are unique weapons worth it? I have the option to get the Polearm right now.

 

[Vodh]

Just getting into this game. What upgrades should I focus on? Are unique weapons worth it? I have the option to get the Polearm right now.

For casual play on Normal/Hard Polearm is a beast and easily the best special weapon. As for upgrades, I'd say grab them all, it's not too grind-intensive and gives you something to do

 

[Liferebooted]

So I played through normal and hard and it was a little challenging, normal was harder than hard because of the lack of upgrades I think. I'm almost done with very hard and man, very hard was actually a lot harder. I was stuck at

Spoiler

Monsoon

until I bought the sais and found out I could stun him with those during his evading. Aiming those damn nades was near impossible ... I can't wait to see how hard Revengece setting is >.>

 

[GuardianE]

Sure, you've got the Ninja Run and Defensive Offensive to avoid gunfire and all that nonsense, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's THERE and it's a poor decision. I just got the No Damage trophy on Sundowner last night and I couldn't tell you how many times I was hit by helicopter fire while my camera wasn't even in view of the fire. It's just bad action game stuff to have shit/fodder enemies accompany a boss. Not only does it take away from the uniqueness/specialness of the main boss you're fighting, but it's just completely unnecessary and obnoxious. It's also just lazy and tells me that the boss isn't interesting enough on its own. So, even though there are ways to "get around it" the simple fact that THEY'RE THERE is amateur hour 101.

The ranking system is less than ideal, but it alone doesn't hurt the gameplay balance for me. I've always considered in-game rankings to be something of a joke because almost all of them are bad. I use them to get achievements or costumes or whatever, and then move on.

If you're going for no-damage, you very often have to be anticipatory of enemy patterns. This is true of ALL games, not just MGR. In the Sundowner fight, if you shoot the chopper down with a rocket and it never has a chance to fire. There are only two choppers that appear in the entire fight, MAX. Sundowner is probably the worst boss in the game, though, for a lot of reasons, so I'm not going to argue that the chopper's inclusion added anything to that battle.

HOWEVER, I very much disagree with you about having "shit/fodder enemies accompany a boss" being bad action game stuff. I think it can be done well, and I think it depends on the game. Ninja Gaiden Black had a lot of boss fights with minions, and it worked for that game. I don't think it's inherently a bad thing, but I also think it is often done very poorly.

Why do you say this? Because Kamiya isn't directly involved? There's so little information on the game right now. How could it fail miserably already, lol!?

I don't know dudes, I know I'm going to get crucified for saying this here, but I still think Bayonetta, in general, is Platinum's coolest and best game. As much fun as I've had with Rising, there's more to the game than what I've gone over in my last two posts that don't quite jell with me. There's just something not very fun about running through these stages again. It's hard to pinpoint it exactly (a lot of it has to do with those Codec interruptions), but this is the first Platinum game where I didn't feel compelled to replay immediately. I've been replaying it more lately because I have the time now and it's just not clicking like Bayonetta and Vanquish did. Maybe it also has to do with the setting, I don't know. I'm not a huge Metal Gear guy, to be honest (I only truly love the original MGS).

To clarify, I meant sales-wise. Bayonetta 2 is not a system seller and it's a niche game on a failing system... of course, this was before the gigantic fiasco that is the XBone, so I guess anything's possible.

You are absolutely within your right to say that Bayonetta is Platinum's best game. I would absolutely agree with you that Bayonetta is a better overall game than Metal Gear Rising. I think that's accurate.

I just think the disappointment is a little misguided for Metal Gear Rising. It's a game that scratched a long neglected itch. It was created under strict time constraints by Konami, and I see so much potential in the title... so much room for improvement. I have little doubt that a MGR2 will deal with a lot of issues that the hardcore action game players, including myself, have.

Might be a snipe at Wii U/demographic mismatch

Bingo. I mean no offense. I just don't see it. I'm also not begging for Bayonetta 2 to come to other consoles. Nintendo is publishing the thing. They have faith in it.

 

[BadWolf]

So I played through normal and hard and it was a little challenging, normal was harder than hard because of the lack of upgrades I think. I'm almost done with very hard and man, very hard was actually a lot harder. I was stuck at

Spoiler

Monsoon

until I bought the sais and found out I could stun him with those during his evading. Aiming those damn nades was near impossible ... I can't wait to see how hard Revengece setting is >.>

You don't have to aim them, just lock on and tap L2 (instead of holding it down) for a quick release.

 

[Liferebooted]

You don't have to aim them, just lock on and tap L2 (instead of holding it down) for a quick release.

doh, fml been stuck on the last boss for a hour now on very hard, his last phase. no med kits found for so long so i have none -_-

 

[L.O.R.D]

sorry for the up
can any one edit this photo in Revengeance style ?

and,do any one know the OST for blade wolf them ? i have the OST disc, but i can't find acoustic version of it
its some how different from the game in the final boss

Spoiler

when armstrong is about to finish riding and then wolf appear with Sam's sword

also,where the OST of the final boss is blade wolf story ?

 

[BadWolf]

doh, fml been stuck on the last boss for a hour now on very hard, his last phase. no med kits found for so long so i have none -_-

You know the cutting QTE when he throws debris at you? If you get through that successfully then about 4-5 med kits drop out.

 

[zainetor]

another thing that bothers me is the Enemy AI. It's strange because they will attack you with long distance attacks, even whern they are close. A lot of times mastiffs, just jump on walls and drop from the sky, when they are near you.
the rocket guys also, who just blast their rpg even if I am 2 meters away from them. I guess it's another sign of a rushed game...Hope the pc version will solve many of the issues.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

Has anyone noticed that you can access the weapon menu while moving now? I wonder when they patched that in...

 

[call_kotaku]

Has anyone noticed that you can access the weapon menu while moving now? I wonder when they patched that in...

submenu responds quicker in the Sam DLC, I've found, so I guess they did.

No more VR mission strats designed around being able to access the submenu immediately after a zandatsu, I guess.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Are they seriously not releasing MGS2 Raiden? DLC skins = serious business.

 

[L.O.R.D]

Has anyone noticed that you can access the weapon menu while moving now? I wonder when they patched that in...

yah, after sam's DLC you can do that

 

[demidar]

Has anyone noticed that you can access the weapon menu while moving now? I wonder when they patched that in...

#GameChanger

 

[Cyklops]

Does anyone know whether Konami's planning on making the Ultimate Edition a physical release also?

 

[zainetor]

Has anyone noticed that you can access the weapon menu while moving now? I wonder when they patched that in...

only when you're walking, but i guess this is better than nothing.

 

[BadWolf]

another thing that bothers me is the Enemy AI. It's strange because they will attack you with long distance attacks, even whern they are close. A lot of times mastiffs, just jump on walls and drop from the sky, when they are near you.
the rocket guys also, who just blast their rpg even if I am 2 meters away from them. I guess it's another sign of a rushed game...Hope the pc version will solve many of the issues.

The AI does 'dumb' and less than optimal things all the time in these kind of games, happens all the time in DMC, Bayonetta, God Hand etc. no matter the difficulty level.

 

[Catalix]

sorry for the up
can any one edit this photo in Revengeance style ?

and,do any one know the OST for blade wolf them ? i have the OST disc, but i can't find acoustic version of it
its some how different from the game in the final boss

Spoiler

when armstrong is about to finish riding and then wolf appear with Sam's sword

also,where the OST of the final boss is blade wolf story ?

is this how you wanted it?

 

[The Grim Heaper]

Goddamn, the Jetstream Sam DLC is one of my favorites DLCs in a really long time. Awesome stuff, Sam is such a cool character and he's so much fun to play as.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

Goddamn, the Jetstream Sam DLC is one of my favorites DLCs in a really long time. Awesome stuff, Sam is such a cool character and he's so much fun to play as.

Have you played the Bladewolf DLC yet? It's worth it for the amazing new boss (and his theme) alone, IMO.

 

[black_13]

ugh stuck on the Senator. Haven't been this stuck on a boss since the original Ninja Gaiden.

I pretty much botton smashed random combos till now. Only now did I find out about Defensive Offense which still only gets him down to 60% health.

 

[thesolidshark]

ugh stuck on the Senator. Haven't been this stuck on a boss since the original Ninja Gaiden.

I pretty much botton smashed random combos till now. Only now did I find out about Defensive Offense which still only gets him down to 60% health.

You made it to Armstrong and just discovered Defensive Offensive?

Exactly where are you stuck with him? The specific blade mode sequence? Avoiding the fire pillars?

 

[neojubei]

Goddamn, the Jetstream Sam DLC is one of my favorites DLCs in a really long time. Awesome stuff, Sam is such a cool character and he's so much fun to play as.

Have you played the Bladewolf DLC yet? It's worth it for the amazing new boss (and his theme) alone, IMO.

JetStream Sam DLC is much better to play than Bladewolf.

 

[black_13]

You made it to Armstrong and just discovered Defensive Offensive?

Exactly where are you stuck with him? The specific blade mode sequence? Avoiding the fire pillars?

yea the fire pillars and him suddenly doing close range attacks. And I've only got two health upgrades.

Edit: finally beat him. Just practiced more using the Defensive Offensive.

 

[Raxus]

I still need the DLC VR missions here in the US. Is there anyone in England/outside the US willing to trade a code for points?

Gonna dive into Bladewolf tomorrow.

 

[thesolidshark]

yea the fire pillars and him suddenly doing close range attacks. And I've only got two health upgrades.

Edit: finally beat him. Just practiced more using the Defensive Offensive.

Congrats. What difficulty were you on?

 

[BadWolf]

Anyone figure out a way to quickly get out of stun (where you have to spin the stick)?

Not sure how I did it but a few times now by mistake I've been able to get out of the stun within like a second or two of entering.

You made it to Armstrong and just discovered Defensive Offensive?

Exactly where are you stuck with him? The specific blade mode sequence? Avoiding the fire pillars?

yea the fire pillars and him suddenly doing close range attacks. And I've only got two health upgrades.

Edit: finally beat him. Just practiced more using the Defensive Offensive.

Tbh I too didn't dabble much with parry and the evade on my first run until that ass Armstrong made me learn them real good.

 

[thesolidshark]

Anyone figure out a way to quickly get out of stun (where you have to spin the stick)?

Not sure how I did it but a few times now by mistake I've been able to get out of the stun within like a second or two of entering.

Best way for me to get out of stun was left-to-right motion for me.

 

[BadWolf]

Best way for me to get out of stun was left-to-right motion for me.

Yeah but it really feels like I'm breaking the analog stick doing that or spinning the stick.

Dug through some threads yesterday on gamefaqs and quite a few people mentioned that apparently you can just mash Triangle instead. Haven't tested it yet personally but will.

 

[GuardianE]

Yeah but it really feels like I'm breaking the analog stick doing that or spinning the stick.

Dug through some threads yesterday on gamefaqs and quite a few people mentioned that apparently you can just mash Triangle instead. Haven't tested it yet personally but will.

Wow... that'd make a huge HUGE difference. I mean, it's gamefaqs, grain of salt, etc. etc.

But yeah, I've been wiggling the stick, not making circular motions.

 

[DC1]

Ok.. Big MG fan. Plated MGS4;MGS2 is almost there.
Started Playing Rising and FTW! O_O this game is awesome! Just wanted to state this. I will be combing my way through the thread.

Very good Platinum games!

 

[Diablo Rosso]

I've been playing and had few problems up until Armstrong and now I'm struggling. I think I need to learn Defensive Offensive since I haven't used it once. I also didn't know about cutting the blocks giving you health items since I just ran under them.

 

[Alx]

I finally started playing that game, although I bought it at launch... I only beat the third level on normal, but I like it a lot. I love the Platinum touch, and also the fact that it is not a Bayonetta clone but a complete new game (especially with the gameplay based on parrying instead of dodging... it made the fight against the 3rd boss really intense !)
I'm also glad it's possible to skip all cutscenes and codec dialogs, since they're all boring. They should even have put an option for auto-skipping, it would have spared me many presses on the Y button.

There are a few things I wish they had "stolen" from Bayonetta, though :
- being able to see/try new moves before buying them
- the chapter selection menu, to make it easier to go back to previous ones
- the automatic camera : it was almost perfect in Bayonetta, far from it in MGR.

I also need to learn to recognize those Chinese/Japanese characters that tell you what kind of special attack you're supposed to trigger...

 

[Diablo Rosso]

Beat Armstrong and finished the game. I want a sequel on PS4 ASAP. It would be glorious.

 

[zainetor]

I finally started playing that game, although I bought it at launch... I only beat the third level on normal, but I like it a lot. I love the Platinum touch, and also the fact that it is not a Bayonetta clone but a complete new game (especially with the gameplay based on parrying instead of dodging... it made the fight against the 3rd boss really intense !)
I'm also glad it's possible to skip all cutscenes and codec dialogs, since they're all boring. They should even have put an option for auto-skipping, it would have spared me many presses on the Y button.

There are a few things I wish they had "stolen" from Bayonetta, though :
- being able to see/try new moves before buying them
- the chapter selection menu, to make it easier to go back to previous ones
- the automatic camera : it was almost perfect in Bayonetta, far from it in MGR.

I also need to learn to recognize those Chinese/Japanese characters that tell you what kind of special attack you're supposed to trigger...

there is a chapter menu. You have to go to the story section and so you can replay cleared chapters.
Japanese kanji are basically cut, run and zandatsu.

 

[nailbombxx]

I want a PS4 sequel where Platinum has a decent amount of time to develop.

 

[Alx]

there is a chapter menu. You have to go to the story section and so you can replay cleared chapters.
Japanese kanji are basically cut, run and zandatsu.

I found the chapter menu and replayed earlier chapter to farm Battle Points... but I still think it was better in Bayonetta, you had a gloval view of all chapters, your best score etc.
I also finished a few more chapters... n°4 was sometimes a pain, but had some nice fights. But n°5 is a joke, there's nothing happening in there. N°6 was short too, but at least it doesn't make the same mistake as Bayonetta (her again) where you had to go through a long chapter to reach a great boss fight.

So, I suppose I only have one chapter left. It feels really short (I expected all chapters to have the same length of the first 3), but with higher difficulties, replay value and DLC, it should be ok.

 

[Hypron]

I found the chapter menu and replayed earlier chapter to farm Battle Points... but I still think it was better in Bayonetta, you had a gloval view of all chapters, your best score etc.
I also finished a few more chapters... n°4 was sometimes a pain, but had some nice fights. But n°5 is a joke, there's nothing happening in there. N°6 was short too, but at least it doesn't make the same mistake as Bayonetta (her again) where you had to go through a long chapter to reach a great boss fight.

So, I suppose I only have one chapter left. It feels really short (I expected all chapters to have the same length of the first 3), but with higher difficulties, replay value and DLC, it should be ok.

When you're on the chapter select page if you press x (on the xbox), you get your overall view.

 

[Alx]

Thanks, I didn't notice that.

 

[Sayter]

Still playing this game. Still loving it. Think I'm gonna whip out Bayonetta this weekend. This game gives me the hankerin' to punish some naughty angels.

 

[Alx]

Ok, I really like this game, but the slow-motion slashing system is rubbish. It works for stealing electrolytes from regular grunts (although I sometimes miss easy ones), but each boss fight that requires you to hit several squares in a single slash are a pain. I disliked it with the boss in stage 4, and it's even worse with the final boss. Give me kinect controls, please.

Also, I just realized that the "special weapons" were not replacing the main weapon... I avoided buying them because I wanted to finish the game with the main sword, but maybe I should have bought that spear earlier.

 

[zainetor]

this video got me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My75o38w8Ys

 

[GuardianE]

Ok, I really like this game, but the slow-motion slashing system is rubbish. It works for stealing electrolytes from regular grunts (although I sometimes miss easy ones), but each boss fight that requires you to hit several squares in a single slash are a pain. I disliked it with the boss in stage 4, and it's even worse with the final boss. Give me kinect controls, please.

Also, I just realized that the "special weapons" were not replacing the main weapon... I avoided buying them because I wanted to finish the game with the main sword, but maybe I should have bought that spear earlier.

If you weren't doing it already, you know you can line up the slice with the right stick, so that it hits all the squares and then tap the "X" or "Square" button to perform the slash, right? I think this made all of them pretty easy aside from the final boss.

 

[BadWolf]

If you weren't doing it already, you know you can line up the slice with the right stick, so that it hits all the squares and then tap the "X" or "Square" button to perform the slash, right? I think this made all of them pretty easy aside from the final boss.

That and for the final boss you can just run to the side and avoid the QTE altogether.