Babylon’s Fall is the latest game developed by Platinum Games, coming with many of the combat mechanics that power previous titles from the studio as well as a co-op-focused experience that allows up to four players to take on different quests and explore the Tower of Babylon together.
While the game does feature some quick tutorials, they do not delve too deep into many of Babylon’s Fall’s mechanics, leaving players to figure things out on their own, which can lead to a little bit of frustration. For this reason, we have put together a list of six tips that will help you better understand things like combat from the get-go and possibly have more fun with the game.
1. Find a Comfortable Weapon Loadout
Babylon’s Falls features five different weapon types: Swords, Hammers, Bows, Rods, and Shields. All these weapons come with different movesets and abilities, and they can be equipped both as regular weapons and as Spectral Weapons whose attacks consume Spirit.
Generally speaking, there isn’t a best loadout, as all weapons have their unique uses and may be more or less suitable depending on your playstyle. Swords and Hammers let you go on the offensive with quick and slower but harder hitting attacks, respectively. Rods and Bows let you attack from afar while Shields give access to parries that leave the enemy defenseless for a short amount of time and open to your attacks. Experiment with different loadouts, and find one that works best in most situations. For example, if you’re a solo player, you will want to maximize your melee attack power, but if you have a team of friends to play with, more supportive focused weapons like Rods may work better.
2. Do not Dismiss the Power Level
Babylon’s Fall is a loot-based action role-playing game, and the level of the equipped gear is considerably more important than the level of your Sentinel. The game uses a simple value called Power Level that keeps track of the level of the gear you have equipped and informs players of the difficulty of any given quest.
At the start of the game, when it is simply impossible to come up with builds, it’s better just to equip the strongest gear available so that your Power Level matches that of the quest you are going to embark on. Once you find more items and understand more of the game’s mechanics and systems, Power Level becomes slightly less important, as some specific Enchantments may be more useful to you than raw gear level.
3. Explore Around
As getting loot is extremely important in Babylon’s Fall, you will want to get as much of it as possible in each and every quest you take on.
While there is no way to know which gear piece you have obtained during a quest, as the only thing you will find is Relics with different tiers, you will want to find as many of them as possible. The game’s stages are mostly linear, but there are times when it is possible to move away from the beaten path to discover Treasure Chests that include additional Relics. Some boss areas also feature them, so always make sure to explore around to maximize your Relic gain in quests.
4. Stagger’em!
As mentioned above, Babylon’s Fall doesn’t do a very good job explaining the combat mechanics, making fighting enemies feel boring and frustrating.
Unlike in most previous games by PlatinumGames, regular weapon attacks and most Spectral Weapons attacks do not stagger enemies. To stagger them, you need to use specific attacks, like the final attack in a regular combo, charged heavy attacks, aerial heavy attacks, parries, launchers attacks performed after executing a Perfect Dodge, and charged Hammer Spectral Weapon attack.
Launchers are particularly useful in Babylon’s Fall, as they are the most reliable way to stagger enemies. They can be performed by locking onto an enemy, holding back, and then pressing either the light or heavy attack button. The sword light launcher, for example, combos into itself, allowing you to launch the enemy in the air repeatedly. Another useful launcher is performed by jumping and then quickly pressing the heavy attack button. If you dodge right after performing the launcher, you will recover more quickly and have more time to unleash more attacks. Juggling may not be in, sadly, but using these maneuvers will make the game’s combat feel a little closer to that seen in previous Platinum Games action titles.
5. Spectral Weapons Are More Versatile Than You Think
Spectral Weapon attacks work pretty much like the Pod Programs seen in NieR Automata, only that these attacks consume Spirit instead of having a cooldown timer.
These attacks may feel a little basic and not too different from what a regular weapon can do, but they are actually quite versatile. The Hammer and Bow attacks can be charged while performing other actions, so it is possible to time them properly as the situation requires. The Sword, on the other hand, can attack continuously, which works great against unstaggerable enemies like bosses. If your main weapons have a high Spirit Syphon value, it is possible to use the Spectral Sword attack without worrying about depleting your Spirit.
Spectral Weapons being always available if the player has enough Spirit also means that it is possible to use them even when knocked down. In this case, the Shield is the weapon that works best, as you can guard against enemy attacks as you get back up to avoid more damage as you recover.
6. Use All Combat Maneuvers For a High Score
Babylon’s Fall evaluates players’ performance at the end of each chapter, awarding them medals ranging from Stone to Pure Platinum depending on the score, in true Platinum Games’ fashion.
Unlike games like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, where not getting damaged was the first requirement for getting a Pure Platinum evaluation, Babylon’s Fall is a little more lenient in this regard, awarding you points for performing combat actions, attacking enemies from the back, not healing, not dying. As such, getting Pure Platinum boils down to using all the combat techniques at your disposal. The system works a lot like that seen in Astral Chain, so you will feel right at home if you played the Nintendo Switch exclusive from the Japanese studio.
Earning as many high-rank medals as possible should be what you strive for in Babylon’s Fall, not only for bragging rights but also because you get additional rewards for skillfully completing a quest.
