#better than blighttown

[baeddel]

i've been playing ds1 again (as have, coincidentally, a bunch of my friends) and i've enjoyed noticing the differences between it and the other games; what stayed the same and what was left out.

i'm putting this under a readmore so Jane doesn't read it. gameplay spoilers.

there are undoubtedly a number of things that would be handled better later: the storage system, climbing ladders, etc.

i can confirm what many others say, that the interconnected world of ds1, which they never attempted again, is lovely. however, i can see why they never did it again, too. the richly interconnected part of the world is actually a very small section of ds1. Firelink, the Undead Burg, the Undead Parish, Darkroot, the Valley of Drakes, New Londo Ruins and Blighttown all connect. everything else is not interconnected at all.

the Undead Asylum and the Painted World are completely separate levels. the Catacombs connect to firelink and then proceed straight down to the Tomb of the Giants. the only place you can reach from the Tomb of the Giants is the Catacombs, and the only place you can reach from the Catacombs is Firelink.

from the Parish you can get to Sen's Fortress, which only goes to Anor Londo. from Anor Londo you can go to the Duke's Archives or the Painted World. the only way out of both places is back to Anor Londo, and the only way out of Anor Londo is back through Sen's Fortress, and the only way out of Sen's Fortress is back to the Undead Parish.

Blighttown leads to the Demon Ruins, which leads to Lost Izalith. the only way out of Lost Izalith is to go back to the Demon Ruins, and the only way out of the Demon Ruins is to go back to Blighttown.

the DLC takes place in a completely separate map and contains three areas. you start in Oolacile forest which leads to the Oolacile township which leads to the Oolacile dungeon. the only way back from Oolacile Township is to Oolacile forest. Oolacile dungeon contains a shortcut elevator that goes back to the forest, technically, but it's only to provide access from the bonfire at the beginning of the Township.

that makes seven areas which are richly connected and eleven which are not. so while that part sticks in your memory, most of the game isn't designed that way. i think the reason is kind of obvious: there are only three dimensions, and only four cardinal directions. if you put a connection up, down, and on all four sides of one area, you're done! so the amount of richly connected space is finite. eventually you will be forced to create a second wing which has no substnatial connection to the first.

ds1 is actually a very short game, and its areas are very small. ds2, Bloodborne and especially ds3 are a lot bigger, and Elden Ring is of course enormous. i think it was obviously necessary to rethink the design for those games. while i think several richly connected wings would be fun it would probably be a nightmare to design and it also helps the player of a large game to teach them something consistent, like the hub and spoke system of ds3.

the other alternative is to give up on making the connections geometrically plausible and instead use a system of teleports. Elden Ring actually does this, although you'll never use one more than once since you can warp between bonfires. the game that does this the best in my opinion is Runescape. you have to find and unlock new teleport systems, then learn how to use them, and navigating the map quickly becomes a skill on its own; a good player can get anywhere very quickly, while a noob will wander around asking for directions.

the other thing that i noticed is that there's very little redundancy between the spell schools. this was something that ds2 would immediately change. all the games after that would follow ds2 in making all the schools of magic redundant.

what do i mean by that? in ds1 there are three resins: gold pine resin, charcoal pine resin, and rotten pine reason. these add lightning damage, fire damage, and poison build-up respectively to your right hand weapon. no consumable can add magic damage to a weapon.

the Sorcery school has three spells that add magic damage to your right hand weapon: Magic Weapon, Greater Magic Weapon and Crystal Magic Weapon. it also has the only two spells that buff shields, Magic Shield and Greater Magic Shield (which are garbage). these spells range from low level to mid-high level spells.

the Miracles school has one spell that adds magic damage: Darkmoon Blade. it requires 30 Faith and you have to be in the Darkmoon covenant to use it. the Miracles school also has the only spell that adds lightning damage to a weapon, Sunlight Blade, which also requires 30 faith.

the Pyromancies school has no way to add any kind of damage to a weapon.

why does that matter? well, it means that if you're playing a Sorcerer you will be buffing your weapon with magic damage from very early in the game and you will keep getting better ones until late in the game. if you're playing a Faith character however you won't get access to this until very late in the game. and if you're playing a Pyromancer you'll never be able to do it. this means your actual playstyle is very different depending on which school you picked, but it also changes what kind of weapon you'll look for: a Sorcerer really wants a buffable weapon, so they'd much rather head into Blighttown with a +5 Longsword, while a Pyromancer or Cleric might be clinging to their Drakesword. things like that.

then in Dark Souls 2 they introduced a Pyromancy called Flame Weapon which is just the Pyromancer's version of Magic Weapon. they added the Dark school which they gave Dark Weapon. Miracles didn't gain any weapon buffs until Dark Souls 3 when they added Lightning Blade and Blessed Weapon, a spell which adds physical damage (a damage type which could not be added with a buff in the past), and they made Dark Blade a Miracle. for Pyromancies, Flame Weapon became Carthus Flame Arc.

there are other examples but you get my point. the restrictions placed on you by your chosen spell school are much more promiscuous in the later games. in ds1 you can think of it a bit like MTG's 'colour identity', where Green has mana ramp, Blue has card draw, etc. i am not sure why they decided to abandon this kind of design in later games. i particularly like that ds1 incentivizes you to dip into the other spell schools; there are catalysts that scale with Faith and talismans that scale with Intelligence, which means a high-intelligence character can put some points in Faith to access their lightning spells and heals for example (as i am doing right now), but the most powerful Miracles require a huge amount of investment in the Faith stat, which gives you a reason to play a Miracle-focused character someday.

[pixelsandpolygons]

dark souls areas ranked by how well they function as travel destinations

ABSOLUTELY NOT

The Catacombs & Tomb of Giants -  The power bill has not been paid in thousands of years so your stay will be in complete darkness, surrounded by hordes of the undead. Absolutely not.

Blighttown - With the poison swamp, giant leeches, mosquitoes, and hostile wildlife, Blighttown is at the bottom of our Lordran Travel Destinations. Avoid at all costs, if you stay here you will not return.

Demon Ruins & Lost Izalith - The demon infestation pales in comparison to the blinding lava surrounding this locale. While there is good infrastructure you do have to sign a waiver relinquishing all their responsibility in the case of drowning in lava. There really is no reason to even visit here let alone stay.

Quelaag’s Domain - Arachnophobes beware, you’re literally staying in a giant spider’s web surrounded by giant parasites.  

Depths - While it is cozy, the giant rat infestation, cannibals, and basilisks do put a damper on the enjoyment of staying here. 

Sen’s Fortress - Lordan’s own recreation of the Home Alone Trap House, Sen’s Funhouse Fortress is more of a gimmick than anything. With death traps galore and poor customer service, only visit Sen’s Fortress if you actively hate yourself. 

Painted World of Ariamis - The snow does look quite nice, however, the locale is not so nice. Skip.

New Londo Ruins -Between being completely flooded and haunted by literal ghosts, keep the Ruins of New Londo out of your holiday destination plans. 

DRIVE THROUGH AND DON’T STOP

Chasm of the Abyss - If you dip below 80 at all while traveling through here, you’ll start noticing the eyes in the dark, and wondering how long they’ve been there. Do not rest, and leave as soon as possible. 

Darkroot Garden & Darkroot Basin - While it may be fine for a scenic drive, the Darkroot Garden & Basin are dark and foreboding, with hostile creatures lurking within.  Best not to linger. 

Valley of Drakes - There’s not anything here except hostile drakes, so just run those over on your way out of town. 

Oolacile Township - The locals have all become addicted to meth, which may be a bonus for some depending on your hobbies. However most of the architecture has become warped by the Abyss, so you’re better off just driving write through it. 

Ash Lake - There’s really not an awful lot to see here, except perhaps the Great Hollow Tree. Not even worth the visit. 

OVERNIGHT STAY  

Northern Undead Asylum - A little bit run down, but there are plenty of rooms if you can tolerate the overbearing concierge and unsavory neighbors. 

Kiln of the First Flame - Not quite a whole lot to do here. It is peaceful and quiet, and the barbequing Gwyn will keep you nice and warm as you stay in the ashen ruins. 

Royal Woods - Minus the large, hostile dragon residing in the valley and the encroaching puddles of The Abyss, it’s actually not that bad. A decent camping spot with the nearby Oolacile Township and Sanctuary Garden to visit, it’s one of the most ideal camping spots. 

Firelink Shrine - While it seems unassuming, it’s quite the hotspot for locals. With its nice views, cozy bonfire, and easy access to many areas of Lordran, it’s a must-stop for travelers. 

The Duke’s Archives & Crystal Cave - The perfect place for the academic, the Duke’s Archives boasts the most extensive library is all of Lordran. On the property of the Archives is the Crystal Cave, home to the elusive Moonlight butterfly. Choose The Archives as your overnight stay (just ignore the prisoners in the basement, we are not responsible for any kidnappings that may occur).

Undead Burg & Undead Parish - The Undead Burg is a cozy town home to a historic cathedral. Stay at the Bed and Breakfast, then take a stroll and visit one of the humble merchants. Perhaps you would rather visit the Darkroot Garden located a short walk away. Either way, you will not be bored. 

DESTINATION VACATION

Anor Londo - You’ll be staying in the luxurious castle of Anor Londo. Grand architecture, spacious rooms, and a gorgeous sunset make this one of the hottest vacation spots in Lordran. You will be racially profiled by the frankly aggressive security guards, however, you can relax afterward in the Chamber of the Princess suite.  

Sanctuary Garden  & Oolacile Sanctuary - A cozy little grove in the lovely woods of Oolacile. What it lacks in accommodations it makes up for with a serene, and relaxing atmosphere. If you don’t mind the occasional feral cat, it is an ideal getaway location for couples.

[c-130jsuperhercules]

okay rant on dark souls poison swamp got too long

like. one of the ways people fault darks souls 2 is that Miyazaki wasn’t very heavily involved in it. But apparently, looking at the other games, ds2 was even better for it. Like, take each games obligatory poison level, and i know i’ve ranted about this before, but holy shit. Dark souls 1, blighttown. the top part, fantastic, once you get past all the frame dropping issues. the verticality of it, the complexity of it, the way it makes you change up your play style, love it. The bottom tho? the bottom of blighttown? i will die on the hill of how bad and boring it is, not that anyone reasonable would kill me for it. You get past this amazing level of spooky mosquitos coming after you, evil dogs, stupid fucking toxic dart shooters, elevators, the whole nine yards only to get to the bottom and be introduced to Walking Simulator but it Hurts 2011. And, you have to keep going back there if you want to finish like three or four npc quests. 

DS3? Ohh, now there’s a miyazaki poison swamp alright. This time, he didn’t even put a blighttown before it, and don’t get me wrong, road of sacrifices is a pretty decent level, but it wasn’t blighttown with five extra years of thought put into it. this time, we’re spared the npc quests in favor of having a fuckton of items(one or two of which you do need to grab for an npc quest tho). I will give ds3 that it does have better enemies in it than ds1, tho. rock throwing fucko got nothing on the elder ghru. And we can see that this time, FromSoft heard people say “ohhhhhh the poison at the bottom of blighttown almost killed me so oftennnnnnn, it was so annoying to have to mitigate for the sake of some npcs and a couple items” and decided to just drop the poison damage down to fucking nothing. I have genuinely not used a poison cure item out of necessity in ds3 everrrr. At least the boss fight that came afterwards was badass.

Dark Souls 2. Now, i may be biased, but i do believe Harvest Valley is the best poison “swamp” between the three. Here, poison is actually a danger, but there’s enough items around and in a small enough area that it feels like holding your breath to dig around in a radioactive treasure chest, instead of wallowing through the equivalent of a prostate exam if the guy you’re elbow deep in suddenly decides to kegel really hard and twist. Instead of standing ankle deep in poop water, you at times are wading through a toxic miasma, that sticks to your skin and continues to make that poison meter rise unless you use several poison mosses to wait it out, use a cleansing spell, or bathe! BATHE you can fucking bathe by rolling in water. Poison even does about five times more damage, compared to ds3, simultaneously making poison builds viable while making the entire way they approached poison different. Instead of it just being a status effect that puts a little timer on how long you can trudge around for, it is an actively threatening experience, you have to cure it as soon as possible or you will be facing some heavy losses. The devs, recognizing that, made it so it’s not an ever-present, yet mild hazard, but something more akin to a trap from ds1 sen’s fortress. And that’s not even getting into earthen fucking peak

Earthen fucking peak is one of my favorite areas in any souls game. It’s unorthodox, it’s fun, it’s vertical, it’s surprising, i love it. There’s several hidden doors, headless fucks, women you can make out with(but watch out), an old shifty fuck who makes ladders, you see pate again, elevators, hidden rooms, and the main advantage it has over blighttown(in addition to being a larger, more fleshed out level with a lot more stuff going on), is how well the boss at the end ties it all together. When you get through Blighttown, you face Quelaag. When you get through farron keep, you face the Abyss watchers. Neither of these bosses share a connection with their boss run except by lore. Mytha, the Baneful Queen, tho? Not only is she a headless snake lady, akin to the headless manikins and the poisoned area, but her boss room is almost filled with poison that heals her if she stays in it. However, if you set fire to the windmill(which you can find out how to do bc a npc summon will help guide you and point to it and cheer when you do it) below her boss room, the poison stops getting pumped up there, making the poison ring around you smaller, and the boss fight that much easier. Like fuck yeah! That’s what i call interesting level design! That’s what i call sticking to a theme! Not to mention, you kill her deeply devoted and in-love-with-her servant on the first floor, then go upstairs to meet her, so the entire is a metaphor for cuckolding.

[corwen]

Games I Finished In 2024 - Elden Ring

Oh, I guess I'm three months early, huh.

After multiple failed starts, I gave it another shot and managed to finish it at just over 90 hours. No idea if that's longer or shorter than most, as I've read varying reports of people finishing anywhere from 65 hours to 120 hours. Sometimes more.

My experience with FromSoft games is pretty out of order. Like a lot of people, I bought Dark Souls 1 when it came out in 2011, got murdered by the Asylum Demon, and decided to play something else.

A couple years ago, I ended up playing Dark Souls 3, and I had a very different experience. Maybe my taste in games changed since 2011, maybe I developed a little bit more patience when it came to challenging encounters, I dunno. The game lived in my head rent-free. The atmosphere, the way information is fed to you in pieces, the really unnerving line delivery, it was incredible.

I did end up returning to Dark Souls 1 last year. Going backwards in a series comes with its discomforts, so I had a hell of a time adjusting to the slightly clunkier combat and far less linear world. Also, Blighttown.

Which brings me back to Elden Ring. Like I said earlier, I had a couple failed starts. I had a very initial "it's different, now it sucks" attitude towards it and didn't really give it a chance. (Incidentally, this is why I never bothered with the Jak series beyond The Precursor Legacy)

But I'm glad it clicked for me this time. I was initially a little bored early on, relying solely on throwing a small pebble over and over. Little did I know that I'd quickly find myself in Mage Country and then I had a billion very flashy spells to decide between.

I also found that there was slightly more exposition than usual. Your goal of becoming Elden Lord is established very early on, though the finer details of that goal and what exactly is going on around you is for you to figure out.

I had a great time exploring, and there's a lot of stuff to explore. Altus Plateau and Leyndell were probably my favorite areas. Though, I did end up relying on a guide for the various questlines because there was quite a bit to keep track of.

There were a ton of caves and catacombs, and these are probably the source of most of my complaints. Do most of them kinda feel the same? Yeah. Do they reuse some bosses a little too much? Also yes. Do I fucking hate the imps? Oh, you better believe it.

Honestly, my early resistance to Elden Ring was kinda stupid because it was mostly "it's not like Dark Souls! It's a different game!" And it's good. It's also the most accessible game yet. If I'm having a hard time, I can just get on my horse-ox-thing and try going somewhere else. The exploring's good, the combat's good, and the picking up of hundreds of crafting materials I'll never use is good.

[gamesception]

Sception Plays Demon’s Souls, part 9 - OG Blighttown

I’m already aware from various Souls game commentaries that every single souls game has a shitty swamp area and that they all trace back to the Valley of Defilement in Demon’s Souls.  It’ll be neat to see the original take on it.  Personally I didn’t hate Blighttown in Dark Souls, so I’m actually kind of looking forward to this.

I, uh... didn’t get a lot of pictures here.  The whole ramshackle village of narrow rickety boards is super unnerving from a platforming perspective, the enemies are weak and die easy but they’re also really gross and can easily surround you and knock you off the edge and the give you like no souls.  The in game camera gets stuck all over the place, so it’s hard to see where I’m going and avoid death drop holes in the floor, or holes that don’t drop me to my death - just into the middle of a bunch of enemies who then kill me.

Apart from the camera troubles, I kind of love it.

After several deaths I find this plank jutting out near a fog door.  The note says there’s treasure if I drop off it, but that looks like a troll if ever I’ve seen one.  Still, I’m already in undead form, and have no souls to speak of since the enemies here are worth nothing and I keep dying anyway, and I don’t really want to go through the fog door in case it’s a boss, so what do I have to lose?

And would you believe it, the note wasn’t a troll.  You fall far enough to kill you, but land in some straw that apparently cancels the damage, a mechanic that doubtless will be repeated zero times in the future.  A few enemies later, and I find a Blessed Mace!  Sounds like the perfect weapon for the faith build I’m going for.

It’s moveset seems decent, though damage is currently a lot lower than my halberd.  Maybe Boldwin or Ed can buff it up for me a bit after I get back.  Its damage does scale with faith.  Right now my faith is still at the starting level, since I’ve been pushing stamina to be able to actually wear my armor, but once I get stamina up to around 30 and vitality up to at least 20 I will be pushing faith pretty hard, so yeah, this should be a pretty good weapon.

Shortly after that is this guy, and it’s not apparent from the pic, but this guy’s huge, like twice as tall as the normal gross plague dude enemies around here.  He absolutely wallops me, and at that point, divine mace in hand, I decide I’ve probably had enough of OG blighttown for now.

Pretty cool for a first impression.  Very claustrophobic, super maze-like and vertical.  It’s a really neat area, I kind of hate it and love it at the same time.  So far the Valley of Defilement feels a lot more messy, dirty, and organic than Blighttown in dark souls did.  A lot less square angles.  More lived in, if that makes sense.  More ramshackle.  And it feels a lot bigger, though i haven’t been through enough of it to say if it actually is bigger or not.  Despite the fact that the Valley of Defilement is a discrete area that you teleport to instead of part of a larger interconnected world, it still feels more like a *place* you’re invading and less like a level in a video game than Blight Down does, at least by comparison.

And that’s the last archstone.  I’m sure there’s a lot more to see in later zones of each, but that’s the main worlds we got.  Grey stone medieval castle defended by knights, peasants, and dragons; reddish mountain mines with sturdy miners, pyromantic overseers; dark spooky prison with mind flayer wardens; greenish windswept ruins defended by skeletal warriors; and filthy brown ramshackle shanty town full of plague zombies, descending vertically down into, I presume, a hideous poison swamp.

I’m given to understand that the sixth broken archstone was at one point intended to lead to some sort of snowy/icy area, which could have been cool.  Apparently it was either cut content or a DLC expansion that never got made.  All the more reason it would be great to see a proper remastered update of the game.

In the mean time, though, that’s a solid set of levels, with really different feels between them.  About the only one I’m not looking forward to going back to is the mindflayer prison, and that’s mostly because that level was very successfully creeping me out, so if anything that’s a mark in its favor.  In all that running around Sception’s leveled up a few times, upgraded her main weapon from +1 to +5, met some friendly npcs, and picked up a few neat treasures, including a secondary weapon that should become more useful down the line.  All in all, a pretty successful tour, but now it’s time to head back and see what was on the other end of that dragon bridge...

[sny-bylle]

Personal Dark Souls rankings

World Building:

DS1 > DS2 > DS3

Let’s start with an quite obvious one. I agree with many fans that DS3 is more linear, while the other two games allow more exploration. 

What gives DS2 the lower place is the fact that sometimes hidden paths are SO WELL hidden that I actually lost orientation at some point. I couldn’t find the next location or simply couldn’t recognize if a place actually was a dead end or not. That way I really was unsure whether I was making any progression in the game or not. 

DS1 linked the levels perfectly. At the beginning, I immediately tried out all paths from Firelink Shrine. And I had no problems memorizing the several locked / accessible entrances and where they (might) lead.

Soundtracks: 

DS3 > DS1 > DS2

You mainly hear Music played either when you’re in a Boss Battle or at Firelink Shrine / Majula. And while I consider Majula’s Soundtrack better than the Shrines, I can’t say the same about the rest in its game. 

Generally you’re too busy focusing on the boss to pay much attention to the Soundtrack. But in DS3 it happened often enough that I still noticed some bosses’ melodies. First it was at the Cryszal Sage battle, where I thought: Man this music is creepy and intense! Then in the Abyss Watchers battle I thought: Holy sh*t the bell and the violins and the voice! Absolutely badass! These are only a few examples of many times I caught myself focusing more on the soundtrack than the Boss. Yes, it cost me many lives, but it’s worth it! 

DS1 didn’t have many soundtracks I really noticed. But still, after some boss battles I had an earworm. Right while I’m typing this, I have the Gaping Dragon’s soundtrack in my head. 

And DS2... In short: There isn’t a single soundtrack I had really memorized. Majula is the only great exeption. 

Level Design:

DS2 > DS1 > DS3

When I think of it, DS2 generally has he biggest world. And due to this size, so many different locations could fit into the game. We have a great underground “labyrinth”, stormy mountains with Dragons flying around, sand pits, giant castles built at the edge of the ocean, simple forests and don’t get me started on Drangelic Castle. I think from all levels in EVERY Dark Souls game, Drangelic castle has to be my favourite... Okay, next to Anor Londo. 

All places in DS2 are noticeable and memorable in their very own way and I love that! I could never look my fill when I traveled from one location to the other. Even the Gutter has its own uniqueness. I still hate it. 

Now to DS1. It’s lower placed because in my opinion the levels are too bound to the Dark Medieval Fantasy theme. The game mainly consists of Castles, Dungeons, Catacombs, ruins of Castles, evil lairs filled with fire, abandoned Cities, maybe a forest. The only exceptions I can think of right now, are the Crystal Cave and Blighttown. But I think that’s it. 

Now to DS3. I don’t dislike the levels at all. I just think they’re... not quite diverse. Just like DS1, we have our ruins, catacombs, castles, forests, etc. But plus to this, another detail makes almost every location similar to each other: Everything is in ruins. Destroyed. Far past its glory. Abandoned. And full of freaking candles. Again, not that I dislike it. But I feel like so many levels follow the same style. Of course there are some exceptions here and there. Sure, it might have something to do with the lore in DS3. But it is as it is.

Bosses:

DS3 > DS1 > DS2

As I mentioned before, what makes bossfights far more enjoyable for me than in the other games, is the soundtrack. That already is a big plus point for DS3. Apart from that I appreciate the variety of the bosses. With that I don’t only mean the species, but also the sizes. From a group of old men up to one gigantic skeleton. 

Also I think DS3 has the most cutscenes for its bosses. Altogether I feel like most efforts were put into DS3 bosses than in the other games. And the fights themselves are often enjoyable. I can’t think of much that really frustrated me in the game, except the Curse Rotten Greatwood. But again, there I like that you have a different fight mechanic, where you have to hit specific spots to deal damage. Heck, I even like the fight against the Ancient Wyvern, just because the mechanics are different. 

The fights against DS1 bosses was also often fun. Except Bed of Chaos. But here you mainly just have the “beat it until it stops moving” fight. Pretty simple. Not that I complain though, it doesn’t make the fights less enjoyable. 

What I like the most about DS1 bosses, are the bosses themselves. With that I mean their character, their design, and most importantly: Their lore. I already knew Sif’s story before I started to play any Dark Souls just because he got so famous. I like how we have our four main bosses introduced in the beginning cutscene. With Gwyndolin you have the chance to freaking challenge a god. In the DLC you get into the role of the fairytales’ noble knight, who saves the land from evil forces, and who slays the big monster to rescue the pretty princess. Also the fight against Artorias is one of the best fights in the entire series. 

DS2 also has bosses which I like, simply because of their lore. Especially King Vendrick and the Ivory King. But what gives DS2 the last place, is the lacking diversity in the bosses. Many of them are... well... Dudes in Armors. Of course I think of the exceptions, too. And the fact that DS2 has so many bosses. But to put it simple: The number of good and enjoyable bosses is heavenly balanced with the number of frustrating / less memorable ones.

DLCs

DS2 > DS3 > DS1

As I said before: DS2 has a great level design. And the same goes to its DLCs. 

Frozen Eleum Loyce with its clear blue sky and buildings covered in snow is one of the prettiest areas in the series. And I love the idea, where you have the option to search for trapped Knights which will then help you to fight against the final boss. And the bossfight itself is also one of he best in the series. Mainly because of the boss stage itself and the Burnt Ivory King’s epic entrance. 

Heck, I even loved the Frigid Outskirts. I can see what it’s so hated by many fans, but I enjoyed the concept of this great field of snow, where you have to navigate trough the storms and defend yourself against demonic thunder horses. The grim Atmosphere is intense. Okay, I didn’t like the bossfight, but that’s actually the only negative point I have. 

While the other two DLCs weren’t that much fun and eye-candy, I still couldn’t stop exploring every corner of the maps. Especially the Sunken King DLC. Also the bosses were great, too. Even if I got really frustrated at the fight against Elana, I still liked her character design. 

So, in short: The flaws in DS2′s DLCs could be easily overshadowed by all the good aspects.

I actually had to think whether I should put DS3 above DS1 or otherwise. But I decided to rank DS3 higher because of the level design. To be honest, it wasn’t really that much fun to navigate through any DLC maps. The Ringes City looks beautiful though. And I liked that the lore about Gwyn was picked up again. The characters all were great and the fight against Ariandel and Friede was epic in every aspect. 

But from all levels in the series, I felt like the DLCs in DS3 are the least obliging. Yes, Dark Souls is known to be hard, I know that. But here it was just frustrating and disheartening. Usually when I die in Dark Souls, I’m thinking: Okay, next time I got this. I need to pay attention to X so I won’t get killed again. I can make it. Challenge accepted. But here I just was glad when I could bring places behind me. I didn’t feel that much of a sense of accomplishment while I fought my way through. It’s definetely the Lore that carried DS3′s DLC to the second place. Also Lorian was mentioned and had a role. Yes, that is important.

The main reason I placed DS1′s DLC last is the location’s design. Mainly it’s just a brighter, dryer version of Darkroot Garden. On the other hand I liked Oolacile and The Abyss. But especially in Oolacile I didn’t have that much fun either. Mainly because of the enemy type you encountered there. What I really liked though, were the bossfights. Okay, the Sanctuary Guardian and Kalameet were very similar to Monster Hunter battles for me. Manus was fun to fight because dodging his attacks felt really rewarding. Plus you had Sif by your side. But Artorias. Dang, he was hard. And Challenging. I died at least 20 times against him. But i didn’t care, just because the fight against him was so fantastic!

As I said, DS3 and DS1 are very close to each other and DS1 could have easily landed on second place, just because of Artorias. You could actually just consider both of them as second.

_________________________________________________

So, for now this will be it. I have no idea if anyone will ever read this list, or even care about my opinion. But I just felt like talking about anything Dark Souls related. Noone in my real life is interested in Dark Souls at all, so I decided to share my thoughts here.

If you want, you can write why you agree or disagree with my views. If you want, you can even ask for other aspects to rank the three games, but it’s totally up to you.

For those who spent their time reading this: Thank you very much for reading. It’s much appreciated!

[bimboficationblues]

So I’ve been running through the FROM Software games over the past month, here’s thoughts:

Dark Souls (Remastered)

The original Dark Souls really agitated me at first because of the one-two punch of the third and fourth bosses on the standard route, but once I broke through that wall I got really into it. I love the interconnected world and the tactically oriented combat; it really captures a great feeling of both adventure and foreignness. 

Thematically I think it’s pretty interesting, even if I’m not sure the narrative is communicated in the best way possible. The player-character is essentially a sacrificial lamb for the powers-that-be (often without even realizing it as the player), and the boss encounters and world-building reveal the ultimate hollowness that stand behind thrones and crowns. Also, the bosses are great! I’ve been keeping track of which ones I’ve enjoyed most throughout the series and the vast majority of my favorites are from DS1; there are some serious low points (most of them in the Demon Ruins), but the high points are incredibly high. It makes me sad that the Remaster didn’t include anything new, like DS2′s Bonfire Ascetics, to allow me to refight Quelaag, Ornstein and Smough, or Artorias the Abysswalker.

The main things that keep me from lavishing DS1 with praise are certain tedious design choices (kindling bonfires, the inability to warp to any bonfire after unlocking warping, the incentives towards turtling up, and the incentives for finding cheap and unexciting ways to defeat bosses) and the truly disappointing last third of the game. The Duke’s Archives is a great level and I have mixed-but-positive feelings on the Tomb of Giants, but the Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith are hideous and full of boring encounters and bad bosses, and the New Londo Ruins is a slogfest from beginning to end (died to the boss? have fun on your way back to it, which requires going down an elevator, up a staircase, across a bridge, past five dragon enemies, through swaths of quick-attacking humanoid enemies that wear black in low lighting, all because there’s no bonfire in the vicinity).

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

Dark Souls II is not as bad as it’s made out to be and I disagree with the substance of most of the traditional complaints, but it is still pretty underwhelming. The enemy placements can be frustrating but are generally a good change for people already familiar with DS1′s approach to encounter design; the Shrine of Amana is singled out for this, but it’s really not that bad, especially if you summon for it. 

The narrative--a falling into darkness, the cyclical decay and disappearance of states, the direct and observable involvement of Nashandra and the Emerald Herald in the plot--is arguably more interesting than DS1′s, though it takes longer to get off the ground. New quality-of-life changes, like the revised system for weapon durability, are also good. The introduction of new healing items was also helpful, although I disliked having to farm for them sometimes (the inevitable result of a very hard game tying healing items to currency, which is also an issue in Bloodborne). 

“Dudes in armor” bosses are good, and DS2 does have some great dudes in armor (specifically the Fume Knight and the Looking Glass Knight), but the problem with DS2′s bosses (irrespective of whether they’re humanoid or monstrous) is that they are not well-served by the game’s camera direction, the arenas they’re in (which are consistently and observably just big empty circles), and their visual designs (which are generally drab). Ornstein and Smough felt like forces of nature, pale shadows of themselves who nonetheless tower over you and will wreck your shit through sheer inertia; their rough equivalents, the Throne Watcher and Throne Defender, feel like beefy standard enemies. Overall I think most of the bosses are “boring but practical,” which is not really what I wanted.

One thing I consider unforgivable in this game is the ruining of the parry system; not only are the timings very weird and hard to pin down, the changing of riposte attacks from a quick, desperate counterattack to a slow, arduous process of executing a prone enemy is really annoying. I would probably have made a parry-centric character as I did in DS1 and taken the time to learn the new attack timings, if it were not for how unrewarding it feels to riposte in DS2.

Dark Souls III

DS2 also makes changes that carry into DS3, namely the ability to warp at the start of the game between any accessed bonfire, the use of a hub world, and the need to regularly return to the hub for leveling up. These are all bad choices imo. Immediate access to warping is probably a good thing, but it instills a sense of relief at being done with a chore, as opposed to the unique atmosphere of curiosity and dread that DS1 instilled. In DS1 I was always excited and fearful to see what I’d run into next; in the sequels I was often hoping to barrel through to the next bonfire. The hub world also contributes to this lack of curiosity, and having to return to it to level up means you never really feel like an adventurer in a strange and terrifying land because you can--and must--just nip back home if things are getting too rough. DS3 is a little better about this with a slightly lower number of bonfires, but not by much. At the same time, DS3 abandons good ideas from its immediate predecessor such as the ability to refight bosses, lifegems, and the “power-stance” for dual-wielding weapons. 

DS3 also introduces a god-awful mechanic; in DS1, there’s pretty much no real downside to being Hollow, while in DS2, remaining Hollow after repeated deaths will steadily decrease your max HP. DS3 instead puts a hard cap on your max health. (This is framed as losing a 30% HP “bonus” from being “Embered,” rather than a 30% cap, but they achieve the same basic effect, especially since being human is supposed to be the “base” state. If DS2 did this shit, people would be mad about it.) In general I dislike when these games punish players who are having a difficult time with a section or a boss by making the game even harder (which is also why I’m really not a fan of the PvP system).

DS3 also accelerates some of the frustrating things in encounter design from DS2; not only are there many areas with insane swarms of enemies, but those enemies are all often obscenely fast and hit like a truck. The new Silver Knights (who were some of my favorite foes in DS1) are the worst offenders so far; they were slow and methodical but punishing, but now they’re used as a gank-fight.

Finally, DS3′s narrative is mired in nostalgia-bait. While DS2 asked about Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, “who’s that?”, DS3 acts like Anor Londo was the most important kingdom to ever exist, undermining both previous games’ themes. It doesn’t really feel like it’s telling its own story. So even though DS3 is more technically polished than DS2, and I think definitely has a better selection of bosses and levels, I think it’s the inferior product overall.

Bloodborne

Bloodborne is definitely the most moment-to-moment fun alongside DS1 imo, but is less visually interesting so far compared to the hideous muck of Blighttown, the splendorous ocean of Heide’s Tower of Flame and grim industry of the Iron Keep, or the terrifying, frostbitten beauty of the Boreal Valley. But I also don’t own a PS4, so I only got a third of the way done playing on my friend’s. However, the new approach to warping, the streamlining of the weapons system, the emphasis on parrying, the rallying system, and the increased speed and flow of gameplay are all great developments and I’m excited to explore the game more in future when I’m able to.

Demon’s Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Demon’s Souls is next if I can acquire a PS3 copy (or if one of my friends gets a PS5), and while Sekiro strikes me as very different in kind from the rest of these games, it’s still on my to-play list.

[catbuppy]

copy n paste

The great actually I know he dropped the key to Blighttown that's right only play blood-borne blood work I want I played a little bit of that game that I played in that was really amazing dark spot it is a dark spot I agree are you I don't think you can do anything else down here cuz I don't guess you really even need to kill that guy Kentucky for shirts that played all of them what does that Rings truth from my own personal experience that game is is better than Dark Souls potentially I mean I don't know whether you would like Dark Souls more not maybe but he has some really cool mechanics in Dark Souls doesn't have decoro I haven't played that one it looks the same me hard I think it's a good deal deeper now we have so many

Let's see where we can go further down or should we

Anyway enough of what PBG has to say

Part of the Mega Million

But I know how to do that but how do I make a blank post without doing that how do I make my own original blank post

[clarissaexplainingitall]

the gutter is better because the mobs are actually less fucking wretched, and yes, this is a case where the DS2 enemy quantity/placement, in all its obscene excess, is actually BETTER than DS1. 

the darkness can be mitigated by lighting the torches, which combats the level hazard (the difficult-to-see pathways), and you only need to bring one flame butterfly or simply use the bonfire because you can relight your torch from any source of flame on the map!!! the bonfires are reasonably spaced, and you can leave via warp if it sucks so you don’t fuck your whole file over permanently by getting overzealous!

like blighttown, there’s practically no shortcutting, but wow... did i ever long for it? not really! and definitely not in the same way as its predecessor.

also lucatiel is the light at the end of the tunnel, there’s a bonfire right before the boss (and you can skip that one poison statue if you’re careful, while still maintaining the risk so you feel like the whole area is drenched in toxic sludge), and the rotten, as gross and vaguely bland as it is for a soulsborne boss, does not make me recoil as much as having to deal with the quelaag design.

[mobbossbaby]

so I got a job

it’s not like ideal but it’s gotten me in a better headspace than I’ve been in Recently

I’m staying safe with masks, hand washing, etc, and will be remaining in my room when I’m at home just in case

I wrote 2K today and figured out some plot issues I had with my podcast concept. literally just an excuse for me to write 65+ episodes of weird magical realism/horror shit I enjoy. casting people will be a pain in the ass but that’s a problem for ~future kate!~

I’ve got enough of my meds to last a while if I ration safely

finally managed to paint my nails without them looking too terrible

don’t starve megapack was on sale for 15 bucks on steam so if anyone plays don’t starve together, hit me up. treated myself for the first time in a long time

my dnd campaign of like a year and a half only has an epilogue session left and it’s sad but I’m very hyped for the next one. the character I built is c h o i c e.

my dark souls bro and I have been tearing it up. forgot when I made a new character that it just meant I'd have to do blighttown all over but whatever. 

my pepper is ripening! idk if I've sheltered it enough for any more flowers to sprout but I’ll get one (one) bell pepper out of it. 

[ladygwyndolin]

Poison swamps in dark souls, ranked

#1 WORST: BLIGHTTOWN

While I can appreciate the verticality present in its design, the lack of bonfire warping early on makes climbing in and out of blighttown a huge chore. Plus, there just isn’t enough to do down there to justify exploring. The guaranteed poison on the run up to the boss sucks too.

#2 WORST: FARRON KEEP

Oh, Farron Keep. We’ve had some times together, haven’t we. I feel like it’s hard for me to rank Farron Keep objectively since I’ve spent so much time in there that I already know the paths to everything, but man is it annoying how much fuckin poison there is out there. At least there are parts of it that you can run through (UNLIKE FUCKING BLIGHTTOWN) rather than slowing to a crawl and the bonfire placement/warping means you can have time to rest and refuel between swamp runs. And of course, the number one reason it’s not the worst is that the 3rd best boss in Dark Souls 3 is waiting at the end of it.

#3 WORST: HARVEST VALLEY/EARTHEN PEAK

There’s two reasons I think this is the best swamp in the series: 

1. You can spend more time out of the poison than you can in either Blighttown or Farron Keep

2. I prefer how poison works as a mechanic in Dark Souls 2

Yeah, I said it. Status effects in Dark Souls 2 generally work better than they do in 1/3 and I’m sad 3 didn’t adopt that. It sucks that poison drains your health so fast, but at least then it’s DONE. I’d much rather deal with that than having it constantly nagging at me for minutes at a time. The enemy placements and level design in Earthen Peak are pretty meh and definitely one of the weaker areas in DS2 from that perspective, but the fact that it’s a poison swamp without as much poison is enough to give it a win.

Man, I fucking love those Abyss Watchers tho. Shout out to you, boys.

[invokingbees]

I finished Dark Souls 2

So you know what that means!

Absolute fucking Biblical CUBIT of text under the break.

Dark Souls 2 is an oft-maligned game. Once a radically different product, its director was fired half way through and replaced, and the game pretty much rebuilt from scratch using already existing assets, story included. The first time I played DaS2, I didn't like it. I played a caster and had much less experience with the series than I do now, so suffice it to say that I gave up and respecced into a pure strength build because of Fume Knight and vowed to never play the game again because I found it so unenjoyable. But after being disappointed with Sekiro and needing a Souls fix, I reluctantly picked it up again, and with much more experience under my belt, I found myself actually really enjoying it, even more so than my three playthroughs of Dark Souls 1, which to some people, is tantamount to blasphemy. So let me talk about why I feel this way.

In Dark Souls 1, you are the Chosen Undead, with only a scrap of legend to lead you on a quest to save a world on the brink of falling into capital D Darkness. Of course that's all bullshit and is basically a conspiracy against humanity by the gods of fire who feared an age of humanity, an age of Dark. In Dark Souls 2, things are a little different. It appears to have been many many ages since the first game, so much so no one remembers Lordran, no remembers the gods, or Anor Londo or anything. It's been possibly hundreds if not thousands of years. You are again an accursed Undead, who has found themselves in the decrepit land of Drangleic, which long ago was brought to its knees by a war with the Giants from across the sea, after Drangleic's king, Vendrick, took something from them at the bidding of his mysterious queen, Nashandra. Vendrick sought a way to cure or circumvent the Undead Curse which turns all undead, eventually, into mindless Hollows. Alas, although Vendrick was close, he didn't make it, and fled from his queen and his kingdom after learning of her true nature and reason for sending him off to conquer the Giants. You, the Bearer of the Curse, like in DaS1, must collect powerful souls, but instead of linking the first flame and becoming glorified firewood, you must prove yourself a worthy monarch, traverse the continent, gather the Great Souls and take the Throne of Want, to inherit the Fire and conquer the Dark, to overcome the curse, or to leave it and seek something else.

Dark Souls 2 has a more personal scope and is actually the main reason I really liked it. You arrive in Drangleic 'without ever really knowing why' but find your objective fairly quickly. You're gently nudged by the Emerald Herald (the level up waifu) to seek the king and eventually discover he was looking for a way out of the curse. In DaS1 you're fed a grand narrative about the fate of the world and the gods and how you'll be the hero to save it all, but in DaS2, you're the bearer of a curse, a lost soul who's stumbled upon possible salvation and has no real other option but to pursue it. It's a salvation with a lot of responsibility, and you must ask yourself (and are asked by the King's brother, the nefarious Aldia) if that's really what you want. In the end, taking the Throne of Want inherits the fire and links it, takes the power of the gods and keeps it all running, but Dark Souls 2 gives this action a much more personal angle. You could have easily been fed a tale that the king needs a successor and that you must prove yourself in his trials, but no, Vendrick went hollow a long time ago and there's just nobody left to pick up the pieces. But it's all there, if you want it. And Nashandra does so hope that you do.

The idea of Want plays a great part in Dark Souls 2, which really cements the personal angle the game takes. The curse of life is the curse of want. The desire for power, security, knowledge. Vendrick wanted a way out of the curse. But this want factors into the game's real antagonists, the Shards of Manus, Father of the Abyss, who fled through the world and became the queens of four lands, all of which fell to ruin. They were weak creatures, they sought safety, they were envious, fearful, and Wanted. And you have to wonder, are they even to be faulted for what happened? Perhaps. But what about you? Your journey isn't a necessity, it's a want, you rail against fate. You kill and take souls because you want a way out of the curse, to surpass Vendrick's failures.

Dark Souls 2's atmosphere has this almost fairy tale-esque, mythical feel with kings and queens, giants and castles, crowns and thrones, but with the weird and dark twist of Souls lore. There is nary a mention of Gwyn, the first flame, I don't think the game has a single demon outside of the one in Shrine of Amana, and for all the complaints of the game calling back too hard to DaS1, I never felt it was anywhere near as intrusive as people say it is. DaS2 almost could have been its own thing. The different approach to its fantasy feels refreshing, moreso than Dark Souls 3, although truth be told I love that game's idea of an exhausted world being artificially forced to continue and falling in on itself. Dark Souls 2 doesn't even present a world ending threat, because there's other lands out there, Volgin, Forossa and Mirrah come up numerous times and seem to be doing just fine. Drangleic is a ruin to pick through for answers. There is no rush to link the flame, everything is placed upon your want to succeed. Quite meta, in a way.

Lore and atmosphere-wise, I'm very fond of Dark Souls 2. I love the whole lead up to finding Vendrick, hearing about this king, going through the land, fighting your way through the castle, feeling like your hot on his trail, fighting his royal guards, his personal bodyguard and then...you find a mindless husk wandering an empty room. That's a fantastic reveal.

Gameplay-wise, though, it's now time to get tough on DaS2. The game has issues, I won't lie, and they're just enough to bug me.

One thing that really bothered me are the weapon movesets which are, for the most part, abysmal. Nothing feels particularly satisfying and most of the choices just feel janky and awkward. Combat in the game is perfectly serviceable and at time it does feel good but the combat, really, is just fine never anything more. It never feels particularly meaty, but sure, Souls games aren't combat games and this isn't Bloodborne which required a more in-depth combat system. Casting is another matter, Souls magic never felt very good but DaS2 has a pretty good amount of variety to its spells.

The main game has some great areas, but also really just terrible ones. The two most glaring areas, for me, are Black Gulch, a frankly bullshit almost straight hallway lined with poison shooting statues that eat your weapon durability like no one's business if you want to be rid of them (also, this game's durability is a joke). It also has OHK grab enemies and worm enemies designed to just completely block movement. It's a bad, bad area with a shit Dirty Colossus rip off boss as one of its Great Souls bosses. Of course there's also Shrine of Amana, an area that was once nearly unplayable and was reduced to just frustrating and unenjoyable. Instant death drops everywhere, a near constant movement penalty, ranged attacks coming from all sides, all the time. Bad fucking area. There's certain sections of other areas that stick out, too, like the run to the boss in Huntsman's Copse, or the foggy forest in Shaded Woods with almost literally invisible enemies.

As for the bosses, they're mostly forgettable. They range from pretty cool gimmick battles like Looking Glass Knight, to complete fucking trash like Royal Rat Vanguard or Authority. I really appreciate DaS2's amount of DeS-like gimmick bosses, especially since DaS3 went real hard with the JUST LIKE ARTORIAS stuff but shit like Executioner's Chariot, tone it down for fuck's sake. At least take out the necromancers if you must have skeletons. I wil say, DaS2 gets flak for having lots of dudes in armour, but to me, it fits the tone of the game, even if some of them are a bit crap. The base game's final bosses, though, are a shame. Nashandra is barely a fight and Aldia even less so. He's immensely tedious and there's just nothing fun, interesting or satisfying about it. He sticks out as one DaS2's worst moments and was clearly added as an afterthought.

The DLCs, I'm actually not the biggest fan. Most people say the DLCs are better than the main game, but Brume Tower? Kinda sucks. It's drab, its boss is frustrating, there's not much to do, Maldron the Assassin is there. Shulva, Sanctum City? Much better, great aesthetic, nice level design, but then it throws in LMAO POISE enemies all over the place, and not just that, but the constant threat of poison and the return of Black Gulch poison statues. Eleum Loyce? Has the best bossfight in the entire game, that's for sure, my heart aches for the Burnt Ivory King, but there's little things here and there and that sour a mostly fine experience. The return of Maldron the Assassin, for one, and of course the fucking spiky rat fucker Wheel Skeleton 2.0 bullshit enemies who can and will kill you in seconds.

Also the intro where you meet the Firekeepers is just fucking awful, oh my GOD.

Overall, Dark Souls 2's bad moments are bad, they're terrible, but let's not forget Dark Souls 1 had the entirely of Lost Izalith, the Demon Ruins and Blighttown, and Dark Souls 3 has TWO poison swamps. The good parts of Dark Souls 2, its amtosphere, its art style, its general tone, are sorely overlooked and sometimes outright ignored in favour of, in my opinion, overbloated nostalgia for Dark Souls 1. Dark Souls 2 has a lot going for it, it has combat mechanics like power-stancing which is great, it has a totally overhauled NG+, it has variety and weird gimmick weapons and armour the ass, it has fantastic fashion, it's a good fucking game and deserves praise for the good things it did. And like the other Souls games, criticism for the things it fucked up on. But regardless, I'm glad we have them, and I'm really glad I've played through Dark Souls 2 again. It deserves to be played.

[doshmanziari]

The Shrine of Amana

Gamers are so predictable. I knew one of the first responses to my piece on Eleum Loyce would be, “Looks like someone forgot about the Shrine of Amana.” This already happened with Blighttown -- gamers affecting rage because something dares to be conceptually ambitious and in so doing hinders its Maximum Technical Performance. How did the Shrine of Amana get its status as a shithole? Well, it looks like it’s the same bunch of gamers bringing over conservative ideas about what game design is allowed to be. No wonder the Crown of the Ivory King was a hit: it removes all inconveniencing texture from its level design and focuses on being a huge slug-fest that you can obsessive-compulsively run through again for items later on. And its boss is friggin’ epic! Isn’t that what everyone wants?

Look at this exemplary response I received on a forum:

If I were describing why I think the Shrine of Amana is an interesting environment, I’d list those attributes and describe them in almost the exact same way. Like, the fact that the water hinders your running speed is a crucial, considered design decision, since those enemies being referred to are a literal non-threat once you’re upon them. They function as distant threats. You really have to go further than saying, “This area prompts me to adopt a different playstyle, and I don’t like that,” especially when I and others who do like Amana have only ever, or primarily, played melee characters ourselves. Criticizing a part of a videogame for failing to cater to a “build” is a non-argument. These games tend to have some of their most interesting moments when they forego all-encompassing convenience. Which rule says an entire game should be completable by forever using the same methods?

Amana’s level design is good about providing ruinous cover that is spread out enough to prompt you to be specific/creative with your character’s positioning, yet near enough that you can get from one point of shelter to another quickly enough without being overwhelmed by homing spells. What seems to have happened with this person is that their memory (they later revealed they had not played the game since its release. Sure sounds like a lot of people who hate DS2!) was overly colored by a barrier of enemies guarding the shrine’s third bonfire. Here, there is little to no cover. If you want to approach it as safely as possible you’ll probably have to summon a nearby AI helper, who’s an expert archer, or use projectile attacks (initially, anyway) yourself. If you’re open to interpreting the shrine as a place which encourages alternative playstyles, depending on your usual arsenal and preferred actions, I don’t see why this barrier couldn’t be read as a part of that upending (especially if you realize that Tough But Fair is a hindsight-bias-favoring and limiting determinant of quality).

Now, those instant death pits? They’re not pits – they’re sheer drops, and they’re reliably positioned around the perimeter of generally discernible paths and the bodies of structures. The criticism makes it sound as if the routes are arbitrarily pocked with holes. You can also see the drops’ edges better with a torch -- and that has its own interesting dynamics that go beyond illuminating a dark area like the Gutter. A type of hostile Amana-dwelling critter is drawn to the torch, itself susceptible to being snuffed out should you roll in the water. The latter detail is less of a hindrance on repeat playthroughs when you have a bundle of torch-activating items, but it can be a concern on an initial playthrough (of if you’ve just never figured out where to purchase those items).

I don’t know what could be done to telegraph Amana’s primary path more besides adding neon directional signage. Navigation gets hairier if you decide to pursue the shrine’s peripheral paths, but you are otherwise always given an indication of where to go via a ribbon of stony paths and structures, whether those are columns, entablatures, arcades, or huts. And those flame-following critters? They even have a conspicuous glimmering glow above their submerged bodies, alerting you to their position way before you’ve come upon them. Once you look at the actual details, all of these complaints collapse. It would seem that a vocal contingent of the Dark Souls playerbase wants to be challenged, but only in a constrained, pre-defined way; and when that doesn’t happen, the contingent develops a flimsy grudge against the offender.

Should anyone want to examine these claims, I recorded a deathless playthrough of myself exhaustively navigating the Shrine of Amana from start to finish (this link goes to Twitch, and the video is fifty minutes long).

[aion-rsa]

15 Hardest Nintendo GameCube Games of All-Time

https://ift.tt/3imuCLo

The GameCube arguably marks the end of the infamous “Nintendo Hard” era of Nintendo’s game design philosophy. As the company (and their partners) explored new technologies and new ideas, developing absurdly difficult games simply became less of a priority.

However, that doesn’t mean that the GameCube’s library lacks truly difficult games. If anything, a select few developers saw advancements in the medium as a chance to advance the art of difficult game design and rose to the occasion by creating titles that would make even the most hardcore old-school gamers blush as they try and try again to beat them. 

They may not be as ridiculous as the hardest games of the 8 and 16-bit eras, but the hardest GameCube games ever made prove that the spirit of that time was very much alive at the start of a new generation. 

15. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Eternal Darkness isn’t the hardest game in GameCube history (obviously), but it is one of the most uniquely challenging experiences that the beloved Nintendo console has to offer.

Eternal Darkness’ sometimes awkward combat system and fiendishly challenging puzzles keep the game’s difficulty level relatively high at all times, but what puts this one over the top is the impact of its sanity system. Having to balance your character’s sanity just so you don’t trigger one of the game’s mind-bending effects adds a layer of complexity to this underrated survival horror classic that is sure to keep even genre veterans on their toes.

14. Super Smash Bros. Melee

As much as I sometimes miss Super Smash Bros. Melee’s surprisingly generous single-player offerings, it has to be said that many of the game’s campaign battles and optional skill challenges were shockingly tough. Just try cranking this game up to “Hard” or “Very Hard” and tell me how far you get. 

Of course, if you really want to see how hard Melee can be, just try challenging one of the gamers who haven’t stopped playing this GameCube classic in the 20 years since its release…

13. Tales of Symphonia

Some fans will argue that Tales of Symphonia is more “complicated” than “difficult,” but that argument won’t mean much to you when you’re staring at the screen and wondering if you’re somehow much worse at RPGs than you thought you were.

Even after you learn the basics of Tales of Symphonia’s somewhat strange combat system, you’re still going to regularly find yourself in the middle of fights that feel unwinnable. You can level grind your way to success in this ARPG, but even that won’t save you if you’re bold enough to try beating this game on its highest difficulty settings. 

12. Resident Evil Zero

The definitive “middle child” of the GameCube Resident Evil games isn’t nearly as brilliant as Resident Evil‘s remake and Resident Evil 4, but it does happen to be absurdly difficult.

Even on Normal mode, Resident Evil Zero’s brutal combination of limited resources, instant death scenarios, frustrating puzzles, and enemies that can often stun you mid-battle are enough to make this arguably the hardest game in franchise history. At higher difficulty settings, though, you can safely remove the “arguably” part from that conversation.

11. Alien Hominid

The GameCube version of this former Flash game is essentially a reskinned Metal Slug. That’s really just another way of saying that Alien Hominid is a retro arcade action experience complete with all the one-hit deaths and absurd odds that we often associate with that genre.

Alien Hominid’s sense of humor takes some of the sting out of its most punishing sections, but this game’s frequent use of absurd “bullet hell” style sequences will absolutely test the patience of all but the most skilled genre fans.

10. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

Few games have aged better than Rogue Squadron II. From its visuals to its gameplay, no other title in this genre released since (especially Star Wars-themed spaceship combat titles) has come close to matching this game’s graceful balance of intense set-pieces and airtight controls.

Unfortunately, Rogue Squadron II is also just as tough as it was when it was released nearly 20 years ago. Some of this game’s difficulty can be attributed to its occasionally confusing structure, but this is honestly just a white-knuckle action title that was clearly designed to test your reflexes. 

9. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

While you could argue that every Metroid game offers a higher than usual degree of difficulty, Metroid Prime 2 feels like Retro Studios’ attempt at seeing how high they could crank up the difficulty without chasing everyone away.

Just in case this game’s brutal boss fights, limited resources, and shockingly durable “normal” enemies weren’t enough to make you rage quit, Retro Studios decided to throw balance to the wind and add in a Dark World damage mechanic that makes some areas of the game feel like a trip through Dark Souls’ Blighttown. 

8. Baten Kaitos Origins

I’m a big fan of this game’s CCG-style combat system and JRPG visuals, but I’ve always found it difficult to recommend it to people simply because it is so…err…difficult.

Some of Baten Kaitos’ boss fights and enemy encounters are difficult to the point of arguably being broken. To make matters worse, there are times when you’ll essentially be “locked-in” to a battle, which means that it’s nearly impossible to grind some extra levels to make things easier. It’s why most players maintain several save files whenever they play this frustrating gem.

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7. Super Mario Sunshine

If you told me that you think 2D Super Mario games are harder than 3D Super Mario games…well, I’d have a hard time arguing with you. However, I will say that Super Mario Sunshine is the closest Nintendo ever came to making a 3D Super Mario game that feels as consistently challenging as 2D Super Mario games.

Sunshine’s platforming obstacles would be tough enough in a “normal” Mario game, but when you consider how many of them also require you to master this game’s strange water jet mechanics, you’re left with a game that no other entry in this franchise can properly prepare you for.

6. Mega Man Network Transmission

To be honest with you, the only reason this game doesn’t occupy the top spot on this list is that it’s so frustrating and cheap that I don’t feel like it should be rewarded with that “honor.”

Mega Man Network Transmission is best described as…awkward. It’s difficult in the ways that a lot of classic Mega Man games are, but its RPG and strategy systems mean that there’s a surprising degree of “randomness” to the whole thing that sometimes makes it nearly impossible to overcome the game’s often cheap enemies based on skill and reflexes alone. 

5. Viewtiful Joe

Much like Alien Hominid, Viewtiful Joe is essentially a throwback to retro arcade games and their gloriously absurd difficulty levels. Unlike Alien Hominid, Viewtiful Joe adds a few twists to its chosen genre that make this side-scrolling brawler closer to a bullet hell shooter.

The result is a title that’s as difficult as it is stylish. This game’s unique combat system forces you to consider the trajectory of incoming attacks in a way that’s difficult to learn and somehow harder to master. Thankfully, this game is so good that you probably won’t mind navigating the learning curve.

4. Chaos Field

Chaos Field is an odd game. It’s essentially a vertical bullet-hell shooter that consists entirely of boss fights. Basically, it’s a bullet hell shooter that takes you from the hardest part of an especially hard genre to the hardest part of an especially hard genre with not much room to breathe in-between.

This certainly isn’t the best bullet hell shooter ever, but it is one of the genre’s most unforgiving entries. This absolutely relentless title has long been a badge of honor for any GameCube owners bold enough to think they have a chance at beating it.

3. Super Monkey Ball 2

Some of the hardest games are the ones that no other game can quite prepare you for. While the original Super Monkey Ball obviously set the stage for its sequel, even that game’s biggest fans weren’t quite prepared for this game’s difficulty spikes and Master stages.

Do you know those moments in the Portal games when you enter a new room and think “How am I supposed to do this?” Super Monkey Ball 2 is filled with those moments, but the big difference is that you not only have to find the optimal path forward but flawlessly execute the mechanics required to reach the exit. It’s that combination of brain-teasing and mechanical mastery that makes this one stand apart. 

2. Ikaruga

If Ikaruga isn’t developer Treasure’s greatest work, I’d say it’s the game I can point to whenever I’m trying to show someone what separates that legendary studio from nearly every other developer that’s ever graced this industry. It’s a masterpiece of a bullet hell shooter that combines lightning reflexes with a puzzle-like dodging system that forces you to think on your feet at all times.

While Ikaruga is clearly challenging, I’d never go so far as to say that the game is unbalanced. It is instead designed to put you in that “zone” that fans of difficult games are always chasing whenever they take on another seemingly impossible challenge.

1. F-Zero GX

I know that F-Zero X ranked high on our list of the hardest N64 games, but compared to F-Zero GX, I’d go so far as to say that game almost feels fair.

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While the absurd aggressiveness of F-Zero GX’s A.I. opponents is enough to make it a contender for the top spot on this list, the truth is that F-Zero GX would arguably be one of the GameCube’s toughest games if it was just you and the track. It is possible to master this game to the point that you’re able to make “perfect runs,” but most players will need to learn to recover from seemingly unwinnable scenarios in order to have any chance of beating this game’s brutal story mode.

The post 15 Hardest Nintendo GameCube Games of All-Time appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[mettic]

hey everyone. got some big news.

first, this will be my last post. The reason for this is because I managed to successfully infiltrated From Software and get away with my prize: leaked info on the dark souls 1 remaster. Ive learned in detail that NG+ in the remake will be like souls games made after the original release of DS1, with NG+ having substantial changes to the game other than stats increasing, and I have details on how.

unfortunately, I was not quiet enough, and Miyazaki knows. He’s sent his assassins after me, and they’re all dressed up like artorias. I’m in hiding but unfortunately my computer has a loud as hell mechanical keyboard and a nvidia GPU that glows nvidia’s name through my computer, so i’m soon to be discovered.

read my leak, let my sacrifice not be in vain.

NG+ changes:

Overall:

-There will be one extra mimic chest. Which chest it is changes every playtrhough

-chests now all break when attacked, like in DS2. they break in one hit.

-there is now one mimic bonfire in the game. it is also different every playthrough.

-bonfires can be destroyed in one hit.

-enemies can now follow you through fog gates.

Undead aslyum:

-Undead Knight Oscar will not be dead, and his removed storyline has been reimplemented into the game.

-Undead Knight Oscar has been replaced with Funky Kong.

-attempting to do the plunging attack from the balcony onto the Aslyum Demon will lead to the floor breaking, making you fall into the stray demon arena. Aslyum and stray must now be fought together. The floor breaking cannot be reverted. 

-snuggly wont give you any items anymore. infact he makes fun of you if you reset for items. super rude dude really.

Undead Burg:

-Solaire is exactly the same except now he has the sunlight parasite on his head. he will not mention it.

-In the Taurus Demon fight, the  undead crossbowers have been replaced with anor londo archers

-if you attempt to shoot the dragon with arrows/magic for the drake sword it will grab you and ask you why you’re doing that in new game+.

Undead Parish:

-Fanged Boar now respawns upon death

-Bell gargoyles has been replaced with the dark souls 2 bell gargoyles fight

-there is an extra bell gargoyles in the room where you ring the bell

Lower Undead Burg:

-There are now 4 total dogs in the Capra Demon fight

-Stairway in the capra demon fight has been removed

Depths:

-Knight Kirk will now invade you two minutes after entering the depths.

-When killed, Kirk will reinvade you two minutes after his death. this continues as long as you are in the depths

-All enemies except kirk have been replaced with Basilisks.

-Giant Rat is now a Giant Basilisk.

-gaping dragon is now Kaiju basilisk.

-Kirk can invade during bossfights.

Blighttown:

-While FPS has been drastically improved and made consistent in blight town for the remaster, FPS has been dropped down to anywhere between 8-15 FPS for NG+. This cannot be reverted.

-You can now see queelag’s nipples. Pointing your camera at the nipples after one second will begin to accumulate petrify on your character.

The Great Hollow:

-When approaching items found in the great hollow, the part of the tree will break under the items and they will fall. This will continue until they land at the bottom.

-All items in the great hollow have been replaced with Rubbishes.

Sen’s Fortress:

-The snake soldier on the hallway with the swinging blades is now equipped with two great shields instead of a magic wand

-Iron Knight Tarkus cannot be summoned anymore

-Iron Giant replaced with Iron Knight Tarkus

Anor Londo:

-On the ramp that lead to the inside of Anor Londo from the outside, and third anor londo archer has been added

-The bell gargoyles in the area have been replaced with Dark Souls 2 Bell Gargoyles.

-Instead of powering up when the other dies in the Orienstein and Smough fight, when one dies O&S will now do the fusion dance, transform into Dragon Execution Orienough

-Princess Guard covenant has been changed. It is now a PVP covenant similar to Blades Of The Dark Moons and Forest Hunters. Princess Guard now exclusively invades players who leave “Amazing Chest Ahead!” messages in Anor Londo.

Painted World of Ariamis:

-All enemies except Crossbreed Priscilla replaced with skeleton wheels. this includes every individual phalanx.

-engaging crossbreed priscilla will now cause an internal flag to be raised which leads to you hearing a crowd booing at you for the rest of your game.

Darkroot Garden:

-It’s like. Real dark now.

-You can’t see more than a foot infront of you. super dark.

-Sif now has two swords.

-Moonlight butterfly now instantly dies upon engaging it to prevent you from wasting your time.

Darkroot Basin:

-Upon approaching the door that leads to the undead burg’s tower from the Basin side will lead to a muffled “can you smell what the rock is cookin” soundclip from the otherside of the door. Upon  the end of the soundclip Havel “johnson” the rock will kick down the door. Havel will now be permantely aggro’d until death

New Londo Ruins:

-All Four Kings spawn as soon as the fight starts. While the fight is going on you can also hear someone typing a multi paragraph rant about how multi boss fights in souls games are actually great and very fun and you just need to get good.

The Duke’s Archives:

-every book in the archives can now be read.

-one of the books in the archives will now explain in plain text the entire lore and intentions of the dark souls. we will not tell you which one.

The Crystals Caves:

-The invisible paths now change between every death

-We cant think of a way to make Seathe a shittier fight so it’s the same.

Demon Ruins:

-Upon killing Ceaseless Discharge, he will do a thumbs up on his way down. If the game console detects you groaning at this, ceaseless will flip you off and respawns

-capra demons now are also followed by 4 dogs.

-Instead of certain spawn points, the rockworms will now follow the player

-at half way through the firesage demon fight, the floor will break. When you land at the bottom you will encounter stray demon and asylum demon

-upon starting the Centipede Demon fight, your camera will lock on. Lock on cannot be disabled for this fight.

Lost Izalith:

-Upon sliding down the ramp into the Bed Of Chaos arena, Sonic Adventure 2′s “City Escape” will play.

-Bed Of Chaos’ roots respawn. Fuck you.

The Catacombs:

-Pinwheel has been replaced with a giant skeleton dog.

-Attempting to enter the catacombs before clearing the Undead Burg will result ina skeleton slapping your character at the door and telling you to get the fuck out.

-Skeletons, upon doing their spinning dive move, will sometimes yell “psycho crusher!”

-You can sometimes find two skeletons playing on street fighter two super turbo cabinets. they both play Dictator.

Tomb Of Giants:

-Pinwheels have been replaced with giant skeleton dogs

-Nito now spawns 3x as many skeletons

-Nito can now only spawn skeleton babies

Ash lake:

-Everything is the same except the Everlasting dragon now has a penis and his hand is on it.

Sanctuary Garden:

-sanctuary guardian now meows.

Royal Wood:

-Artorias’ sword is now twice in length.

-Artorias’ helmet is now twice in length.

-when convincing Hawkeye Gough to fire upon Kalameet, the cutscene will play but he will miss. Gough will shrug at you and remind you that he’s blind.

Oolacile Township:

-All of the various walkways are now 50% thinner

-A new Carving item has been introduced to the area in NG+. This one, the Runescape Carving, will play a very obnoxious soundclip that blares “Runescape is the better game” upon use. it has half the recast time of the other carvings.

-upon the player dying, all enemies in the area will use the Runescape Carving

-Silver Pendant removed. Fuck you. Fuck the lore too.

Chasm of the Abyss:

-Attempting to attack Manus by hitting him with arrows outside of his arena will cause him to crawl out of his arena. He is now aggro’d on you.

-You can summon sif for Manus, but when he is summoned he will be sleeping on a doggy bed. Out of respect Manus will leave Sif alone and try not to wake him up

Kiln of the First Flame:

-if a parry is attempted on Gwyn, he  will laugh and counter parry you. His counter parry is stabbing you.

-If you enter the Kiln of the First Flame and wait one real life week, gwyn will die of old age.

[metalempire]

So I finally finished Dark Souls Remastered on PS4, which was my first time playing Dark Souls 1, so I’m gonna write a big long post about all my thoughts on the game since it deserves that much. I’ll put the long bits under readmore and give a brief synopsis of sorts here. 

For background info, I’ve played Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 and Dark Souls 2 Scholar Of The First Sin, so I’m not inexperienced with the Souls series and thus this game wasn’t as brutally hard for me as it would be to a Souls virgin. My first game was Bloodborne and considering I died to Gascoigne 30 times on my first run I can safely say I empathise with new players to the series as it’s a hard but good one to get into, but I myself am no longer in that position. Anyway, the short version of this is: Dark Souls good. The long version of this is under the cut, but effectively will be saying the same thing, though my criticisms of the game will still remain. 

With all that said, let’s begin. 

Just as a mild disclaimer I didn’t really die too much playing this game. The most a boss killed me was 5 times before I beat it and that was a boss I liked so I didn’t mind. Game’s kind of easy once you get into its slow, deliberate, patient style and pacing. It’ll punish you, but you can punish it. Most of the time, anyway, as with all Souls games, there is artificial shit to make the difficulty annoying or some enemies that break the flow of the game that they’re in (looking especially hard at a certain DLC boss from Dark Souls 3!) but on the whole the game is only as hard as it needs to be. Everything can be learned and overcome with the tools you can find and utilise and that’s damn great. I played the game with a strength build, utilising weapons like the Man-Serpent Greatsword and the Zweihander and occasionally pulling out a Dragonslayer Greatbow to mess around with things. That should give you the idea of how I played. This is more an impressions style assessment and if I was making a novel length essay I’d play through the game as every main build and see how they stand up. For the most part I was either medium or fast rolling, mixing and matching light and medium armour and dodging alot, mostly two-handing my weapons with a Grass Crest Shield on my back for the passive stamina regeneration. This is a pretty standard offensive playstyle and it allowed me to force myself to adapt to how Dark Souls handles compared to its sequels by giving myself less margins for error, fitting with how the game effectively makes differing levels of demands of mastery from you. 

So we’ll get into the systems of the game now since that’s easiest to understand just by playing it really and we’ll start with the combat, since that’s what you spend most of the game doing, other than walking around and listening to weird people talk in vague sounding voices about their shopping lists like it’s an average dismal day in Stoke. The combat in Dark Souls is rather well done, every action having weight, time, consequences and a cost to performing it, alot less lenient than any other game in the series, stamina management being a solid focus that always kept me mindful of my options and had me learning fights as to better think ahead of what actions to do. There’s also a nice tiered system to your defensive options. Blocking is generally low-risk, low-reward. A good thing for strafing and handy for projectiles and other stray hits, as well as making weaker enemies recoil, blocking is functional but you can’t use it too offensively. Rolling is the medium risk-medium reward, only heightened by how much or little armour you wear which effects the invincibility frames and speed of your roll, heavy armour means you tank better but can’t avoid very well whereas the opposite is true for light armour. It’s a good system for this game in particular and keeps you thinking again about options. I started as a Knight and while having high defences is nice, I soon gravitated towards having a more useful roll since it has manoeuvrability uses as well. Finally, parrying is high-risk, high-reward move, (on enemies that actually be parried, still annoyed you can’t parry the Hydra) if you pull it off you can do incredibly high damage which is great for tougher enemies, but if you do the timing wrong then you get smacked in the face and look like an idiot and probably die in process. Again, this all ties back into options and how you use them. With how slow and methodical Dark Souls is, especially compared to the fast-paced Bloodborne, having all these options and picking them rather than reacting poorly and getting a broadsword lodged up your bum is all the more rewarding in the little micro interactions you have with enemies.  Finally, the healing system is really admirable. In Bloodborne you could farm for healing but only carry 20, in Dark Souls 2 you only start with 1 Estus and have to build your healing up with Shards, however you can use Lifegems instead as regenerating health and carry 99 of them and stack multiple on top of each other so healing is a joke let’s just pretend Dark Souls 2 didn’t happen please God, and then there’s Dark Sous 3 which gives you 3 Estus at the start and lets you build up the supply with shards dotted about fairly frequently. Dark Souls uses the Estus Flask but does it very well, you have 5 at base at all times, whenever you rest at the bonfire, you fully heal, get it all back, but reset the area’s enemies. You can kindle that specific bonfire with Humanity, a somewhat common-ish resource in the game, to have 10 Estus, then later in the game you can kindle to 15 and even 20 Estus. This healing system is quite good since you can try the challenge of just 5 Estus to see how many mistakes you end up making and how well you do with boss fights, then look at your own performance and self assess on if you need to kindle the bonfire, and how much Estus you need. Player choice is a good thing and putting that choice in their hands is a good thing in my eyes, since it lets you honestly assess your own performance and you can decide to practice and get better at the enemies and the area to the point of perfection, or crank up the Estus and just carry on at your own pace with a bit of a net to fall back on. Kindling is a good system. 

Before we get to the levels and all that I just want to note I mostly played offline. I dabbled in the multiplayer and found invasions to be hell for both invaded and invader, while coming back towards the end of the game in the Path of the Dragon covenant and doing some duelling proved to be quite enjoyable. On the whole I’d say the game is better experienced single player for the most part, but can definitely be enjoyed with others if you’re struggling with a boss or area.

I’ll try and be broad about the world as a whole but I do feel that overall, Lordran is the best world I’ve played through in a video game in a long time. It’s design its strangely evocative of Digimon World on the PS1. Lordran is a highly interconnected world that loops around and back into itself, with areas leading into each other and into other ones with a ton of secrets and shortcuts to find. It’s a joy to explore unless your name is Lost Izalith. The level design itself for the first half of the game before you get the Lordvessel is absolutely astounding with tons of verticality to it. It feels like a real cohesive place and the feeling of adventure I had while playing through Lordran was incredible. I adore the exploration in this game. Levels themselves tend to embody this too. The Undead Burg is a great example in many ways, you can find alot by exploring, like a merchant and some treasure, and you have things to do there while also finding other things. There’s a Bell of Awakening to ring, as well as the key to the Depths to get, as well as a path to the Darkroot Basin and the way over to Sen’s Fortress, all leading back through the Parish back to the main hub of Firelink Shrine is some truly brilliant level design, full of all sorts of tests and encounters. The Firelink Shrine is also a part of the game I really like. It connects to the Undead Burg and Parish, to the Catacombs, to New Londo Ruins, back to the Northern Undead Asylum, and is even where you go to access the final area. It’s your safe haven and where all your NPCs for things like magic and the like go. There’s also a free kindled bonfire there and a Firekeeper who can upgrade your Estus Flask to make it heal more. It’s the one place you feel safe, your haven, the place you set out from for a good chunk of your journey. 

And now, for that aforementioned journey. 

Your vague objective initially is to ring the two Bells of Awakening, the one in Undead Parish, and the one in Quelagg’s Domain. One above, one below. This first half of the game is the adventure really. The journey takes you through the Undead Burg to reach the Parish, fighting hollows, Black Knight minibosses and Demon boss fights all to overcome the annoying gank fest of the Bell Gargoyles and ring that first bell, but damn if it isn’t satisfying. The Burg and Parish are a little microcosm for the game at large and is a great motivator on the whole when beaten. The design is stellar, even if the bosses are dull or annoying, fuck off Capra Demon. The Depths is where you go after and it’s a level I really like, you descend downwards in a fun little maze that loops around and connects to itself with all sorts of encounters and things to find, all capping off with the fairly enjoyable test of skill in the Gaping Dragon. I liked The Depths alot actually. By now you’re further and further away from your home base and Blighttown is great at reinforcing that. Enemies inflict toxic, there’s alot of the classic Bad tier FromSoftware platforming and an even greater descent downwards towards Quelaggs domain. The level in relentlessly unpleasant but that’s thematically fitting as you’re heavily outside of your comfort zone and adapting harshly to one hell of a challenge. On a sort of note but I got lost when I reached the bottom and found the Great Hollow by sheer accident, then descended gleefully down it to find Ash Lake, discovering the incredible sights of the area and the Path of the Dragon Covenant. This moment was defining of Dark Souls for me, that I had journeyed deep down away from my sanctuary, braved a place where everything was out to get me, then suddenly discovered a secret area and an another one below that, only to find a mystical lake and the ethereal ancient dragon resting there that let me join what felt like a secret club of sorts. It really was impactful, that I was so far along on my journey that it had yielded a moment of genuine bright-eyed discovery that had made all the pain getting here worth it. The world of Dark Souls really is like that, in that no matter how rough it gets, taking a moment to reflect on the journey you’ve had really feels satisfying and even a little incredible. Climbing back up to Blighttown and beating the really rough Quelagg and ringing the second Bell opens up a new set of challenges, though I went to see what was beyond the area, picked up an armour set and then got one-shotted by Ceaseless Discharge and decided to come back later. You then have to climb back out of Blighttown through a new route cos the old one isn’t able to be used to go back up because of the drops, so you find the way up and out, then back through the Valley of Drakes over to New Londo ruins and back to Firelink Shrine in a truly brilliant moment. For one, your adventure comes full circle and you’re back in your sanctuary, the world’s interconnectedness really shines here, and two, you return to find the Firekeeper murdered by Lautrec and thus the bonfire no longer lit. Your sanctuary has been defiled and thus you have your own personal mission to track down the killer and restore Firelink Shrine to the way it should be .From here there’s a ton of adventures I had, the Darkroot Basin and Garden were all fun challenges with some really beautiful bits to admire, the whole place is serene and distracts you from the invasion and NPC hell. Thanks Alvina. The Catacombs has an interesting gimmick where the skeletons keep coming back until you kill the necromancers controlling them that hide and run away from you. It’s not a bad area really. Then there’s Sen’s Fortress which is an absolute madhouse of traps and scary timing. It’s pretty exhilarating even if I initially got stuck there cos I couldn’t see a fog gate. Overcoming it and seeing the view of Lordran from the walls of the fort adds to the feeling of accomplishment the game gives you. I can absolutely see why there’s so many spamming of “Dark Souls helped me cope with depression” videos on Youtube when the game can feel pretty uplifting at times. Then they reward you even more with the heavenly sight of Anor Londo, a gorgeous city at the very peak of the world itself, the kingdom of the gods. It’s a true test of everything you’ve learned, large imposing enemies, tough knights, nimble fighters, very deadly ranged attacks, tricky footing and traps, tight maze-like navigation, secrets and interconnected level design. I actually went back to the Undead Asylum before this and found the Peculiar Doll, so I got sucked into the Painted World of Ariamis when I found the painting in Anor Londo, sucking me out of the adventure I was in and into a new one, which was really exciting. The level itself was fairly challenging and was like a mini version of the one I was just in, with a wide variety of enemies and puzzles, ending in a boss fight that was hilariously easy and then my escape from the painting. I probably shouldn’t have killed the foot fetish lady who told me to fuck off but then again no one with a tail tells me what to do. Back to Anor Londo and the boss of that area is arguably the best one in the game, more on that later with bosses. At the end you get to meet Gywnevere and are finally recognised as the hero of the game, the Chosen Undead, you also get to kill Lautrec here and get your Fire Keeper’s soul back. The whole game leading up this moment where you get the Lordvessel and beat Anor Londo is absolutely fantastic, it really is your own hero’s journey that forges you into someone able to handle the divine mission Gwynevere gives to you. The first half of Dark Souls and the journey it gives you is an absolute treasure and arguably one of my favourite adventures in any video game. It captures that feeling perfectly and executes it wonderfully with excellent payoff at the end of the first half of the game. 

Sadly, the second half of the game exists. From here your new mission is to acquire the Lord Souls for the Lordvessel so you can become the next Lord yourself. There are 4 Lord Souls in all belonging to 4 bosses in 4 areas, 3 of which are locked to you until you place the Lordvessel down on its’ altar. Those bosses being Bang Bros, Seath the Naked Dragon, Sans Undertale, and the Bed of the Chaos Emeralds. From there the adventure effectively refequires you’ve done all the other areas first, as the bosses hang out in areas that are tacked on to other areas, the Dukes Archives is a part of Anor Londo, to traverse the Abyss and un-flood New Londo ruins you need the Lordvessel and Artorias’ ring, the Tomb of the Giants is after the Catacombs and Lost Izalith is after the Demon Ruins that are behind Ceaseless Discharge. You can do them in whatever order you please, which is nice. New Londo was alright for me, the gimmick of the ghosts and having to use transient curses and having a time limit and resource limit to how much you can fight them for added tension, and the Four Kings boss fight is more or less DPS test, where you get ganked if you’re too weak and obliterate them if you’re strong enough. The Duke’s Archives is the best of the four, it’s got alot of puzzles, has you captured after a forced death to Seath and there’s some nice design to the level overall. The Crystal Cave isn’t good though since it relies on messing with what you can and can’t walk on, with some crystals having you slide right off if you stand on them funny or try to strafe the crystal golems there, and alot of invisible bridges from Indiana Jones. Seath is a pretty boring boss. The Tomb of Giants is dark and plays around with light as a mechanic. It’s not all that fun but at least it’s different. Nito is annoying because of the skeleton gank party but at least he kills them for you. The Demon Ruins was interesting, getting to re-fight Taurus and Capra Demons as regular enemies added a feeling of progression to see former-bosses be something you can take in droves now. Lost Izalith can go fuck itself. It’s whole thing is using a ring to walk on lava so you only slowly burn to death, then navigate alot of boring areas with boring enemies and fight the lower half of undead dragons for some reason. It’s the lowest point of the game in terms of level design and really it’s fun, and there is a special place in hell for the Bed of Chaos which is probably the worst Souls boss ever made. After getting all the Lord Souls I went into the DLC levels and had a blast with them. Despite being 3 somewhat linear levels in structure, they still all employ design aspects of the main game, such as connecting back and around to one another. The boss fights there are all really good too, and all decently challenging. I liked the DLC alot and I’ll talk about that later. The journey ends with me getting all the gear I wanted and then murdering everyone. Oh yeah and Kiln of the First Flame. It’s a moment that feels like it’s really building to something, fighting off the last five Black Knights as the final obstacles before finally reaching Big Lord Sad Dude himself in a pretty fun duel before choosing to either light yourself on fire to bring in an age of light or walk away and become a lord of a new age of the dark. The ending is alright in that regard, though really the game would’ve been fine ending when you beat Anor Londo, since the level design takes a real hit in the second half as most of the areas don’t have the strong design and the encounters are alot less crafted than they were in the first half. On the whole the journey of Dark Souls in incredible but is bogged down by it’s second half being such a drop in quality. 

OK after that long affair, now onto the boss fights which were actually kind of mediocre overall for me. Alot of fights are just bland really, especially all of the starting bosses, and while some fights are fun, there’s also some fights that aren’t fun at all. The bosses I really enjoyed were Gaping Dragon, Ornstein and Smough, Gwyn Lord of Cinder, Knight Artorias and Black Dragon Kalameet. The bosses I despises were Capra Demon, The Bell Gargoyles, Dark Sun Gywndolin and The Bed of Chaos. The rest I’m either indifferent to or just find to not be interesting at all. Anyways I’m gonna talk about all of the named bosses here since they reflect the best and worst of Dark Souls fights and what they have to offer.

The Gaping Dragon is massive, which means it rewards paying attention to what it does, balancing an offensive and defensive manoeuvring and keeping the pressure on it as it does to you. I just really enjoyed bringing this huge monster down and the challenge of doing it with limited healing. It was a good fight to learn really and concluded The Depths in a very satisfactory way.

Ornstein and Smough might very well be the best boss in this game and one of the only scant few good gank boss fights in Souls. Their attacks compliment each other really well with Ornstein being fast, precise, nimble and very snappy as well as having a couple of ranged attacks. Smough is large, lumbering, slow, a heavy hitter and able to charge you. The whole fight is a patient balancing act of using their AI (to amusing effect) to work against them to block each other off and damage the one you want dead first. It’s a great test of camera control too. The second phase is great since when one dies, the other powers up using their fallen comrade. Smough gains lightning powers to give him some AOE effects and extra damage, while Ornstein becomes larger and gets some new moves like Smough’s. I beat them with Ornstein as the last to die, and thoroughly enjoyed the fight, learning the ins and outs, adapting accordingly. It was all good fun and really embodied the game in its’ challenge. 

Gwyn was a good final boss so good they reused him in the third game since he brought alot of things to the table that tested what you had learned. He could be parried, dodged, or blocked to good effect when used properly, he keeps the pressure on you, yet has drawn out animations for you to use as well. He’s all about being careful and pacing yourself, taking your opportunities and knowing when and when not to act in a certain way. Plus the sad music since you’re built up on this guy and his story and the world he’s built and ultimately he’s just a husk, a shell of who he was and so you lay him to rest and shoot his daughter in the tits with a Dragonslayer Greatbow because I have no restraint whatsoever.

Artorias is another sad character but the fight is amplified by it, Before you even face him you’re sort of built up on the heroic image of him, he has a grave guarded by a covenant, he fought the abyss, he has a giant wolf with a sword guarding his grave, you use his ring to fight the Four Kings and kind of finish what you think he started. He’s a bit of a hero that you build up in your mind as having done alot and having made an impact on the world, and so seeing him in Oolacile, corrupted by the very thing he fought just makes you pity him. The duel itself is good, I killed him quick so it was short but sweet. He fights pretty fairly, he’s fast and acrobatic, but his sword is still weighty and he has his pauses and openings. It’s a fairly fast paced duel that’s always rewarding to pull of well, and thematically, the hero of old being laid to rest by the hero of the present always had a sombre sort of vibe to it. A real standout of the DLC. 

I’m going to brag here but I beat Kalameet on my first try and I’m pretty proud of that even though I beat alot of bosses first try, this one was supposed to be one of the hardest in the game and I felt damn well accomplished beating him. As for the fight itself, the hitboxes are very tight, alot of care went into the moveset. Everything feels as fair as it can with a dragon, to me it’s a more ideal version of the Gaping Dragon fight, having a proper flow and balance to it with some breath and flying attacks to keep you on your toes but without the animations lasting for ages and ages Midir so it always remains interesting and fun to play. Plus Kalameet just downright looks cool. 

Capra Demon is just cheap. It has dogs to gank and interrupt you and the smallest boss arena that makes navigation and avoiding it an absolute pain. It’s also cheap that as you’re walking through the fog door it’s already lunging at you while you’re still locked into the animation. Not enough space to work with really, it’s just annoying and frustrating, especially the dogs.

Bell Gargoyles was for me the most annoying boss since the moveset was always hard for me to dodge, since most attacks where to dodge and when never seemed clear and the range it had was irritating. Then the second one arrived and Dark Souls has a major weakness here, almost every enemy encounter flat doesnt work in the game engine its in with the combat system its running with more than one enemy. If it’s not a hollow then all the attacks do is overlap and you cant actually use the openings correctly since the attacks are constantly ongoing and there is no moment you can get off an attack animation uninterrupted. Eventually I caved and summoned best waifu Solaire to distract one for me so the fight would function. 

Gwyndolin is a secret boss, but a bad one. He’s also a magic boss, and the other two mage bosses were the boring Moonlight Butterfly and the dull Seath the Scaleless. Gywndolin is the annoying one. The boss arena is a small hallway with pillars that loops. The snake fetish wizard spams ranged attacks at you and you run back and forth at him and get a hit or two in before he teleports ahead and you repeat. Range spam in Dark Souls is annoying and here it’s even worse, the damage is high and he has moves that go through and around the pillars, so you have an even harder time avoiding the spam. It’s just not fun or varied and very range spammy, like a Smash Bros 4 player.

The Bed of Chaos is the low point of Dark Souls. The boss is a gimmick fight. It sweeps at you with its branches that kill you easily, while you get to the 3 glowing spots at it to kill it and hack through the vines in your way. The floor also collapses from under you and the boss’ massive arms sweep you into it all the time with fuck all you can do about it. Once all the floor is gone and you’re on the final phase the last leap is utterly painful to time with all the arms trying to sweep you into the pit. It’s the polar opposite of fun, fair, challenging, and interesting. 

Also, special shoutout to the Asylum Demon for being fought 3 times. The first time in the beginning was fine, and rematching it in the return to the asylum was cute, but the third time in Demon Ruins was silly considering how uninteresting a moveset the boss has. FromSoftware do like their padding.

And now a mention on the DLC, Artorias of the Abyss, a great expansion to the game. It takes a previously visited area and gives it a new spin. Although the layout is initially linear it links around more and gives you a new perspective on something you’ve seen before. I don’t like the Santuary Guardian but at least its out of the way and dealt with early. Artorias is a fantastic part of the DLC and a good namesake. I like the design of Oolacile, how it twists and turns a bit, has things to discover, alot of varied encounters and the way it presents its enemies and has you learn them is pretty well done so you never feel bullshitted. That said the one encounter across the bridge after the shortcut elevator can go fuck itself. The descent into the Abyss is mystifying and eerie, but fairly unique and is a better done execution of the concept for the Tomb of Giants, all capped off with a frantic battle with Manus, also beaten first try, who moves fast and aggressive and really rewarded me for being a dodging and hard hitting fighter. There’s also the optional fight with Kalameet and overall I had a blast with the DLC, it did good to play it after Lost Izalith as it was really well designed and executed, there’s also little details like the elevator in the Chasm of the Abyss leading back up to the Royal Wood just outside of Artorias’ boss arena. Again, mimicking the main game’s design. The DLC really compliments Dark Souls, and emulates all of the things that made the first half of the game so good while providing its’ own experience that was well worth having and really added alot to the game as a whole.

So, final verdict on Dark Souls. The phrase “flawed masterpiece” is often used to describe it. I can see why but honestly I think it’s better to summarise it as more like this. The first half of Dark Souls, the majority of the game in fact, is a wonderful journey like no other, the level design, world design, combat systems and encounters, battles and feelings of progression that generate a little tale unique to the player themselves, overcoming the odds and enjoying the true adventure they experience, culminating in a grand level and a true challenge with Ornstein and Smough at Anor Londo is an absolute masterpiece and one of the best experiences one can have with a video game. However, the second half of the game is a large drop in quality, focusing on weaker areas and aspects of the game, going for gimmicks and not fully encapsulating the game’s strengths, abandoning the feeling of adventure and ultimately featuring weaker level design and encounters that does bring the overall quality of the game down. The first half of Dark Souls is a masterpiece, with nothing quite like it, the second half is not, and a hollow cry of the game. The DLC helps to redeem it in the end, but the damage is still done. Dark Souls is one of the best games ever made, yet still has its’ own faults that really bogs the experience down overall. That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game beyond compare and don’t regret playing it at all. It was one hell of a ride and the best adventure I’ve ever been on. The world design was what really did it for me, since it’s, to me, a perfect middle ground between a linear world design and an open world. Linear worlds move you forward, but don’t connect and feel real, nor are they open enough to feel like a journey you’re making yourself across a real place, whereas open worlds have wonderful places to explore, but lack proper crafting, structure and balancing to the areas which can make playing them feel slightly dull or not too fleshed out of an experience. Games like Dark Souls, Digimon World and the Pokemon games prior to Black and White feature a move connected world design that really does lend itself to having a world that both feels good to explore and adventure in, while also having a solid level of craft to it that makes it truly enjoyable. In the end, Dark Souls is a great culmination of alot of good game design, and while not perfect, it’s damn great with alot to love and a real, tangible feeling of accomplishment, excitement, satisfaction and triumph evoked by it’s almost masterful execution for the majority of the experience. 

Dark Souls has easily become one of my favourite games ever made, and if you have an appreciation for video games, their craft, their design, the challenges they can offer and the experiences they can provide, then I wholeheartedly recommend it. If you’re more of a casual game player, but you want to get a bit deeper into the hobby, then if you’re willing to stick with the game and endure a high learning curve, then Dark Souls will give you that deeper appreciation for the artform of the medium of games by showing you what one of the best and most timeless experiences is like. 

Shame about that shitty sequel tho