Elden SoulsBorne: Felyne Village - the FROM thread

Finished.

Playthrough Notes:

The game is too plodding for my tastes, everything just moves too slowly. Although death is clearly an intrinsic mechanic to the game and it's easy to learn from mistakes while clearing out areas, I found the game rather odious when stuck on a boss. I still hate the Cappra Demon fight. It was the reason I quit my first playthrough, as it killed me in 10 seconds too many times. When you consider that to get to him again, you face either a long trek from the Fire Link Shrine or you have to clear the town again, dying a several times in quick succession is really irritating. Conversely a game like Super Meat Boy, in which dying a lot is also paramount to the game's design, lets you right back into the action - which I much prefer.

I know its a bit unfair to compare those two games, where the main similarity is that they're difficult and you die a lot, and also that in Dark Souls you are role playing a character on an arduous journey where s/he probably feels as you do, but for me it comes back to the pace of the game. SMB is a mad dash, and Bloodborne's combat system kind of feels the same with its emphasis on dodging, rapidly attacking and parrying big bads as well as the little lads. Even when I got stuck on sections of that game, namely Vicar Amelia and the Blood Starved Beast, I found darting about these huge beasts with only a sword and gun to hand something I could get stuck into much more fervidly. Souls comparatively felt a bit like wading through a bog.

That's not to say it's a bad bog though. With the exception of Sen's Fortress, an area reliant upon irksome traps for its challenge in lieu of interesting enemies, I enjoyed each of the game's immensely varied, but logically cohesive stages. Credit goes to the design team for crafting a fantasy world that makes sense, that transitions correctly from parish to forest, with crystal caves and grand cities sensibly placed. That logical placement of settings goes a long way to furthering the developer's vision of telling a story through prompts rather than gratuitous explanation. A subtle musical score and some lovely voice acting similarly bolster the game's beautifully melancholic atmosphere. All enemies also feel like they belong in a given area which is great.

That said I do think there are certain things about the game that are a bit too obscure

Stuff like. :

The Chuckle Brothers boss fight was the one I got stuck on for the longest, but once I decided to go human for the first time and got Solaire involved it wasn't so bad. I came really close to beating them solo a few times, but I do wonder if you're "meant" to fight them with Solaire given that he turns up at a bonfire beforehand and lets you know he's happy to fight alongside you should the player so desire.

Ultimately my opinion on the game hasn't really changed much since I gave up on it ages ago. Yes, I can commend the developers for their vision and their pure adherence to a game designed around death and exploration, and one which casts all players as "Chosen" Undead (even if they end up like many other "chosen" undead who fucked it). But I still find the game too lethargic to really, truly enjoy. In the end, I think I finished it more because I had invested so much time in it, and less because I was having fun.

However, who says video games have to be fun? They don't all have to be party games, they can be brooding and deep, and Dark Souls certainly is that.  

muss wrote:

- I never found Big Hat Lad, or let the scared man out of the house near the Cappra Demon

I believe the scared man gives you the ability of pyromancy, which I can't imagine not playing a DaS game with & he's also the apprentice of the Big hat lad.

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I also don't remember the run back to Capra demon being as bad as you describe it, did you not use the shortcut in Undead burg?

Muss wrote:

The Chuckle Brothers boss fight was the one I got stuck on for the longest, but once I decided to go human for the first time and got Solaire involved it wasn't so bad. I came really close to beating them solo a few times, but I do wonder if you're "meant" to fight them with Solaire given that he turns up at a bonfire beforehand and lets you know he's happy to fight alongside you should the player so desire.

Probably - I summoned Solaire for my first go at Ornstein and Smough and - I do love bringing up this fact - beat the buggers on my first go.

Also, Sen's is the best area by far in my book, but I loved paying attention to the environment and taking things slowly. If you barrel through that area, you're gonna have a bad time.

I did use the shortcut. What you have to keep in mind is that while doing that jog a couple of times isn't bad, doing it lots of times gets a bit tedious.

The other thing is, at that point I'd already exhausted the Forest - except the part which leads to the Hydra and the Valley of Drakes - so I felt like beating the Cappra demon was the thing I had to do, and that there wasn't anything else I was capable of exploring.

Now that I know the trick to beating it, I could probably do him in only a couple of takes, but I really struggled just getting out of the way of his first attack the first several times, then I'd have grief with the dogs. So in the end I just gave up on him during my first save file, and still struggled with it the second time.

At least with the Smough and Ornstein fight I felt like, despite dying a lot, I could have a go at them and get to grips with their moves before dying, making the trek back to the battle more bearable and giving me the impression that I could improve by doing X or Y.

@Jay That's interesting. I didn't think Sen's was terrible, I just don't think it held up to the other areas. I would say that the Painted World of something or other is my favorite area

@Jas: I've never used spells or Pyromancy, either. For the most part I didn't play as tactically as Muss, I was pretty much just choosing my armour on looks.

I didn't mind the slow, "plodding" pace, because I loved the world and taking it all in.

I also don't mind the obscurity; much of it is meant to be missed on your first go, and the game was deliberately made to be discussed.

Also, for me it was fun.

And now I have to find some other achievement to bring up when I tell you to git gud. At least I'm still the Master Cheese and the Reigning, Defending, Undisputed World Excite Truck Champion of the World

And THIRD PLACE Forumite of the Year...

ZeroJones wrote:

And THIRD PLACE Forumite of the Year...

From the horse's mouth! That's a greater victory than Dark Souls.

Drunkalilly wrote:

@Jas: I've never used spells or Pyromancy, either. For the most part I didn't play as tactically as Muss, I was pretty much just choosing my armour on looks.

I didn't mind the slow, "plodding" pace, because I loved the world and taking it all in.

I also don't mind the obscurity; much of it is meant to be missed on your first go, and the game was deliberately made to be discussed.

Also, for me it was fun.

And now I have to find some other achievement to bring up when I tell you to git gud. At least I'm still the Master Cheese and the Reigning, Defending, Undisputed World Excite Truck Champion of the World

In terms of exploration, I don't think the pacing is off, I just don't particularly like the it when it comes to fighting. You are right in that I didn't prioritise looks for my armour, but I did try to do full sets or cohesive looking sets where possible - unless I was just going for full poison resistance or curse resistance over the swamp/against Seath respectively. Also my character was really thin, so the notion of him wearing Smough's armour amused me.

Beat F-Zero GX's story mode

Ah, that's fair. I'd found a pretty efficient run for each of the bosses that game me enough trouble to warrant proper repeated attempts, so it never bothered me too much, but maybe it seems extra bad in comparison to Blooders?

I seem to recall a fair, although probably shorter, jog to a couple of Blooder's bosses, but as was the case with the Smough and Ornstein battle, each of those fights let me get stuck in as opposed to getting rekt really early on. That meant I could have a good think about what had happened on the way back for another attempt rather than feeling salty that my coins at the arcade had already expired before I'd done anything of note.

muss wrote:

I did use the shortcut. What you have to keep in mind is that while doing that jog a couple of times isn't bad, doing it lots of times gets a bit tedious.

Aye, there's a fair few run backs to bosses in all the souls games that I'm not a fan of and I have quit playing that session once or twice due to it & even BB had some as well.

drunka wrote:

@Jas: I've never used spells or Pyromancy, either. For the most part I didn't play as tactically as Muss, I was pretty much just choosing my armour on looks.

Yeah I just got to a point in DaS that I needed some projectile pyro's for some enemies plus lobbing fire balls or creating massive AOE flame towers with your hand is cool, also you should be at home with your fashion souls approach in Bloodborne as you can get away with not swapping attire even more on that game.

Yeah, in the game's defense, I'm very stubborn. I don't know when to just stop playing for a while once I come up against a hurdle. Someone of that mindset is always going to get a bit frustrated if they can't instantly get back into the fray.

So Dark Souls III is out. It came out today, Tuesday 12th, and obviously none of us played it before that. Jeez. I've got a copy for my XBox One (with a lovely download code for the original game, meaning I'll have played that on a playstation, a PC and an xbox) and a comicbook. I like it!

DSIII First Impressions:

Also, we've got a lovely new Dark Souls III lore podcast. Please check it out!

I'm giving a listen now, so far so good and I will give a listen to all of it, especially from someone from the outside to see what it's all about.

You guys are getting me excited about Dark Soul's in general, I'm not going to go buy DSIII as not spending £40 on game I may not like but then you guys could help me if were all on the same starting point (ish) ?

I am borrowing Bloodborne of EogGizmo, which may be good enough for me to play and see if I can be like Andy and get into the Souls-like.

Will the cast just be about Lore or will do other things like a question like would recommend DSIII for someone that hasn't liked the Soul's games so far and I hope you can keep the cast going and a nice steady rate as well even past the lore in someway.

The primary idea is the lore but we'll chat about the game naturally as we go along.

My cellophane is unwrapped... but either Zelda Twiglet Pancakes or Fallout 4 has to be finished (or in F4's case, "finished") before I can start it. EXCITED.

Starting a new Souls reminds me of when I first started playing DS2. Having played Skyrim prior to that, I assumed that shields were were going to be no use. Needless to say I got my arse handed to me. You know you're doing bad when you're 30 years old and your mum has to coach you through a videogame. Fighting the big dudes at the tower of Heide and from another part of the living room I hear "SHIELD!!!!!".

That's the cutest thing! Jimbob is now officially renamed Cutie Pie!

It reminds me of a similar, though kinda the opposite, story I had recently. I was playing Pokken online with a friend and her 'Zard smashed my Pikachu Linbre like 15 times before I got a win in. I later learned that her mum had been trying to talk her into letting me win!

DaS III opening adventure (spoilers):

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I absolutely love the parries/ripostes & backstabs in this game, it was a big part of how I fought towards the end of DaS but was ripped away from me in DaS II with it's horrible timings etc so I'm unbelievably chuffed that I can do it again.  
The weapon arts are great fun to use as well & not only makes weapons more unique but it honestly makes me want to try them all, the bandit knife has a very bloodborne-esque dash but it can also be used to get behind enemies quickly.

I've blasted through another area - five bosses down, now.

Made a nice bit of progress today; basically seen everything Jay mentioned to me now! I played up until it was time to eat tea, had a bite while I watched Brooklyn 99, played Pokken Tournament until Videogaiden was on and then watched that. Now I'm trying to decide which of those two to play up until bed time.

DaSIII Progress:

The_Jaster wrote:

I absolutely love the parries/ripostes & backstabs in this game, it was a big part of how I fought towards the end of DaS but was ripped away from me in DaS II with it's horrible timings etc so I'm unbelievably chuffed that I can do it again.  

Definitely seconding that! I feel much more like I "get" the combat again, whereas I definitely just muddled through II.

I have cleared through a very large area, found a new covenant, settled on using the Scimitar as my main weapon & finally have met but not killed my 5th boss

Reply to drunka's spoilers:

Same! Had to be done. And I love the little mug.

The_Jaster wrote:

with the lift I got lucky as when I returned to it it automatically took me up.

This happened to me, but then I spent ages trying to work out how to trigger one or the other before I realised.

For the first time so far in DSIII, I'm playing through an area and not enjoying my time in it.

Area Spoilers:

Yup, that's the first area I've ever just legged it through.

On my progress, I've now got all non covenant & sidequest Spells & Rings and am doing a very bad job of PvP before moving on to NG+

Drunkalilly wrote:

Same! Had to be done. And I love the little mug.

The_Jaster wrote:

with the lift I got lucky as when I returned to it it automatically took me up.

This happened to me, but then I spent ages trying to work out how to trigger one or the other before I realised.

I even took a screenshot to capture the moment.