Ah, yeah I think I might've gone too far haha, I meant my stuff in the friendly bro-banter we were doing but probablllllly took it too far going by your reply. So I apologize! Didn't mean any offence and i'm sorry if you didn't feel welcome.
Now with the mushy stuff out of the way:
> legit changed his avatar
I will never admit how I saw this while eating noodles with my in-laws and choked on them laughing. Well played.
> I am more suited for reddit
I never claimed otherwise. I'm a social media and karma whor*. Hell it's how I get most of my clients these days (sadly). Even got a Linkedin and an Instagram. No Onlyfans tho (sorry, maybe one day).
> didn't click on a GoW visual novel subreddit
I'm pretty confident they'd have way more (active) users than here. Don't forget that at least 300 users are bots that I purge per year.
> 4 subs
Low blow man, it's a niche as it is, I'm just one guy doing my best here without selling my soul to the "Hey guys it's me gameroy here, so I played this action game for 20 minutes here's my initial thoughts in a 4 hour review please continue to pay me' style of living.
> my favourite area
It was the Lyendell Sewers. I loved that place. Smelled like sh*t but it was so cool once you got to go INTO those pipes. Thought that was brilliant. First you sort of go on them, working your way down, using them as a platform in what's basically a maze. And THEN you go in the pipes where there's another maze within that maze. Felt that was a super unique leveldesign layout that I've legit never seen before and it was really fun to explore.
> favourite boss
Ironically that was Rahdan. Very memorable going at such a giant guy with an army, he was super cool doing under leveled like that. Mechanically it wasn't too interesting I agree, but it was memorable. When doing him on replays I liked him a lot less since he'd just melt. In terms of actual combat I enjoyed Hoarah Loux a lot. Lot's of enviromental moves, cool as f*ck SPD-emergency, really fun when going online too since his moves work better against many targets. It's a shame he dies so fast. Also quite liked that openworld Nail(?) boss, that commander. That was really unique, just walking around and BAM boss wait wat.
> made you laugh
;D
> DeS
They tend to note "your favourite Souls game is your first one, your least favourite the last one", so I'm curious if that axiom holds up for you too. I fear Demon's Souls will feel very 'been there, done that', as basically all of its enemies, traps, bosses and items have been re-used in some form or fashion in later entries, some many times. When we first met Patches we though "oh damn there's treasure there? Awesome!". Now we see him and it's "aight here we go again". The Tendency System might be interesting, but it's been so documented at this point and it doesn't really shine until NG+. The game also has no respec, but it's easier to multiclass since a lot of things are lower in req. In general I'll probably feel like playing some sort of deranged test-build.
> PS5 version
You're not missing much. It in general just removed all the wacky charm from the visuals, that's it. Otherwise it's the same game. I'm a bit sad about that since DeS was really unfinished and one entire world was cut, so I'd hoped they would re-add that (even as DLC possibly), but it never happened.
The upside of the new version is having a more active online (with all the 3 PS5 users left alive) and the new content. For example they added...eh.
Eh.
Oh eh.
No eh.
Yeah there's none. There's one extremely hidden secret that takes ages to unlock. Otherwise the game is identical. Didn't even bother to fix some lore inconsistencies or rebalance some weapons that were ass.
> I thought this was stinger
The only gaming related "we don't talk about that" thing around these parts is Metroid: Other M.
> Bloodborne
IMO it's the best one, though also in some ways the worst for some. You have a lot less variety in gameplay, it's way more razorfocused. This leads to the game being way better designed (since the devs. obviously knew what you could do and could account for that). Bosses are all highlights, imo if you're making a top 20 best Fromsoft boss list more than half are in this game. Epic, challenging, f*cked up and memorable (and gimmicks! gotta have those
if only it had PSmove support..)
I think (going by your posts) you'll find the lack of variety and builds very disappointing. You've generally got a choice between dodge focused melee build and dodge focused melee build with a slower weapon. There's a bit more nuance obv. but it's not much. The DLC is fantastic too btw, absolute banger with arguably a boss that feels like it somehow drifted off of the Ninja Gaiden 2 dev table onto the Fromsoft one. Crazy sh*t. DLC also adds a BIT more magic-usage.
My only two tips to you is to try and avoid over-relying on gun-parries. They're extremely powerful and if you get the timing down you can legit play the entire game just that way, taking a lot of fun away. Also the damage of your parry-attack is strangely tied to DEX. If you level DEX, your damage can legit go to the point where a single Parry deals 80%+ damage to a boss which is a bit overdone.
> penatrator
Never said he was good! But it was pretty unique at the time since you couldn't NPC-summon yet. It being tied to a sidequest was pretty cool.
> sh*tty fire weakness boss
I literally call him sh*tty come on
> bell gargoyles in DS3
I probably wouldn't sh*t on them as my bum would've been empty after the dump I took on their DS2 version (yeah, they're in there). I do KINDA like that one since it plays with your expectations. You see one, and you think "aight here comes number 2". And it does. And then there's number 3. And 4. And 5. And 6 and oh god I gotta kill them asap before I'm outnumbered. It's a cute "we know you know, so f*ck you" moment but it's still a bit like "jesus you guys really threw that in there huh".
> fools idol/crystal bitch
One is tied to exploration, lays traps in a pretty tight enviroment - the other is just a witch in a wide open area and also a re-used concept. If you'd flip them it's a re-used concept but elevated.
> pontiff
I admit I forgot about his multiform due to my beastly DPS (and I simply forgot).
> soulless cinder
I legit wanted it to end at that point. I felt it was cool visually that he would copy your moves and later be a Gwyn-clone since he's fighting like all the previous hosts, but again it really didn't have that 'one thing'. Hell even original Gwyn was unique in that you could parry him, which you couldn't do to pretty much any boss in that game. Enfin, I think I've made MY stance on the bosses clear and why it's MY opinion.
> have i played scholar recently
HELLLL YEA---no. But yeah as noted, I remember it being a big topic at the time too and there's a reason they changed it back, but I legit only remember it being the case with Charriot for me. Or I didn't die a lot (since Charriot is so trial&error).
> souls bosses
As noted, DS3 bosses are better, but in a vaccume.
I've been playing a lot of Pokemon lately since I'm on holiday, so it's been on my mind and that's where the following comparison comes from: in Pkmn you have to beat Gyms, each has a leader and they're all of different types. Dark Souls 3 is to me if it has the best gym fights, but they're all fire-types. It's great but jesus give me some variety. When I play Demon's or Dark1, in general I can look forward(ish) to the boss fights even if they aren't that great. Since they offer something new, a different jibe, experience, playstyle or w/e. With Dark Souls 3 after each boss fight the next boss fight gives me more a 'here we go again' feeling. I hate to quote Matthewmathosis since that's such a "hey I can't talk for myself lemme have that youtuber do it for me" moment, but he did word it better. He was talking about the Dancer boss in DS3 and noted it was probably the best in the series in his opinion, but because it was in a game that was filled with bosses just like it, he kinda just forgot about it and didn't really care for it.
I noticed this more when I was listing the bosses because I could note down all the bosses in DeS and Dark1 from the top of my head, while with DS3 I legit had to grab a sh*tty IGN article to go further than "fantastic boss against guy on dragon" and "that tree guy where you fall down" (I really enjoyed that one).
> but that's just you
Brah I assume that was clear? I'm not gonna put an IMO after every sentence come on. I'm a literal gaming-blogger.
> why keep playing
DS3 is where it set in for me. I hated DS2 vanilla and didn't play Scholar until a few years ago, so at the time I was hopeful that DS3 would 'rekindle' (barf) my passion. Instead I found a lot of rethreads again. Like I understand reusing Patches in Dark Souls 1 since it was kinda a soft reboot since DeS was PS3 locked (and even region locked for a long time), same with a lot of traps and boss designs. You mentioned Stormveil and that's a good one. One of the highlights of that dungeon, imo (oh sh*t there we go, the safety is on), that you can choose to just completely skip it. From the start you can just say "f*ck IT, open the gate" and be confronted with a bullethell game with the end of the dungeon as your reward. That's great! If they hadn't done that like 2-3 times before. This isn't too bad but I generally really feel the 'idea box' is running super low at Fromsoftware when it comes to traps and design with more and more re-use per entry, even in Sekiro which I'd hoped would be a fresh thing (and also why I love BB since it throws the rulebook to the wind again).
Regarding Elden Ring, yeah I legit fell for the marketing. I was super done with Souls, especially after Bloodborne mixed it up so well and it was clear I couldn't go back. The original leaks and some teasers did show me something interesting and unique, so I decided to buy it, but...I didn't watch anything. No trailers, no gameplay (not that I remember). So I booted it up expecting this funky new game by Fromsoft with an open world (pretty excited about that, since I love their leveldesigners and artdesigners in general), only to get Dark Souls 4: Open World. Once that sank in depression hit and I'm currently fighting a heroin addiction to cope with the loss of a loved franchise.
Was especially let down by the 'chalice-esque' dungeons. Just randomly slapping two high end enemies together as a dual-boss was the type of sh*tty design I'd hoped we left in DS2.
Should note I genuinely (sadly) love the gameplay(potential) of the series. I love how insanely bloated it is with options (sometimes too much though) and its worldbuilding, leveldesign, artdesign. It just set such a high standard of "we don't follow the rules" at first with wacky mechanics, unique traps and bosses and slowly started to erode that away. I do wish the games made it easier to flipflop between builds (esp. in the older games) since the games are so fun to experiment with, but less so when there's a 40 hour gameplay prerequisite to doing a run of a specific build. My favourite think about Dark1 is just doing a new run, going in a wacky route and using a build I haven't done before, it's a game that's always fresh for me.
Have you played Kingdom Hearts at any point? Because that game really handles builds and how to swap between them so well, I really hope Souls goes that route at some point (it never will tho).
> Stormveil
You mention the verticality but I don't see it other than that it is indeed a dungeon with multiple floors, they don't really interact with each other. The only place you sorta do that is on that sidewall with all the hidden items in the wallcracks outside (cool point, gotta give it credit).
Why I felt it was a sh*tty Bolletaria, the essay: they're both castles and I wanted to rile you. The. End.
Jokes aside: in general they share the same goal: first big real dungeon. Bitches can say "but you can go out of order if you know about that little crack behind" but honestly for 99%, it is the first.
Both are a sprawling castle where you have to go UP, you go along the side where there's more danger, you go indoors where areas are more crooked and narrow. Some rooms are quite literally reused in their design (just made bigger in ER since it wasn't made by 5 people and a stoner), which is fine but it is noticable. Both use a lot of the same traps (i.e. the guy standing above you throwing fire pots while flanking you) and same tricks (fighting soldiers on rails) and the typical "way too hard enemy out in the exploration" though that one is a bit too common in general for first levels. It felt like it was checking all the boxes, and I felt that.
Bolletaria was way more condenced though, you loop around seemlessly, opening shortcuts to the entrance, where the only 'bonfire' is. Stormveil feels like this cool lineair area with checkpoints. This is an issue I have with souls in general of late, far too many bonfires. I mean Painted World in Dark1 had a SINGLE bonfire, yet was designed perfectly around it (such a great level). Meanwhile Stormveil has 12 (13 if you count that side tower). What's your take on that btw? Because it kinda reminds me of that 'big open world vs well designed condenced area'. The Painted world in Dark1 was honestly quite small, but felt way better designed than the giant and huge areas in Elden Ring to me.
> they are new games
I've seen them constantly struggle to even improve on the most basic thing. After DS1 The mechanics are identical, but they never really elevate them. We still have the exact same spells, but only more that do the same but for different elements. Covenants are still a joke. Online is still sh*tty and matchmaking a chore. The only thing they strangely remix sometimes are the stats and the names, but after Adaptability they basically stopped doing that too. Like DS1 added poise, that was a huge gamechanger, but there's never been a mechanic like that added again. Weapon-arts are probably the first real new thing, but even in those I feel no real...progression? Elden Ring did do them a tad better than DS3, but at this tempo I expect the mechanic to finally be worth it in Elden Ring 9.
If you're going to do a sequel that's basically "the same game, again", at least be like God of War 2 and just do it on overdrive. Fix all the shortcomings, make it better. Hell we're legit going backwards with some things, like the interconnected leveldesign basically going down the sh*tter after DS1, covenants were basically just ditched since they couldn't figure them out, backstabs were finally fixed but now they're back to being busted again. Such a shame.
> stormking dude
I mean, I said why: dark souls 3 bosses are great, in a vaccume. And for me that guy is the best and most memorable in that vaccume. Mechanically he's not too special (lots of tracking moves, area plays with your mind making depth hard to see) and honestly I hate how you have to ... always...redo...phase 1. If I was allowed to keep one of the 'learn my dodge pattern plz' bosses, I'd keep this one as he's easily the coolest and hardest. I think what strangely helps him for me is that he's optional too. With many bosses (also in ER) I was kinda "oh I wonder what cool looking area is next, oh a boss, welp time to learn a pattern for 20 minutes before I can continue on" while this guy I could just do at my own pace if that makes any sort of sense. Also liked that he wasn't too overtuned. Malenia really felt like the kitchen sink in terms of damage output (in general an issue with ER), but he was pretty hard hitting but not TOO much, giving you some breathing room.
> any boss needs a gimmick
In general I am of the opinion that action games have garbage bosses in general. There's a few standouts like Noah Prime from Astral Chain and Vanquish's final boss, but honestly 99% are just trash that showcase far less mechanical complexity than a random fight in that game, while splashing the screen with effects and epic music trying to make me give a damn. I legit cannot think of a single good boss fight in my favourite series (ninja gaiden).
> what does Dark Souls 1 do different
In general? I'm more curious if you'll see this yourself but to me its the open design. You can, outside of the three late-game areas that are locked off, go anywhere in any order. Difficulty and challenge are far less 'the point', it's way more about exploration, trying sh*t out and just finding what works. I can still replay that game and have the run feel fresh since you can route it differently. Demon's has the same benefit. I'm under no illusion that I'm also part of the afformentioned axiom i.e. "the first is the best, the last is the worst". Demon's Souls was unique to me, a breath of fresh air and cool that it basically said to every gaming rule "that's nice, how about no". You die? f*ck easy mode, each time you die the game becomes harder. Hell the game even has an NPC that will kill all NPCs, it's so anti-gamer it was super unique at the time. And I think that's more it, at the time. It was cool then, but now it's a bit like that one forum user with a Golden Sun avatar, we get it. We get it. Just please shut up and get some new material.
THAT SAID: In general why I sort of 'give Dark Souls the benefit of the doubt' is because it was a redo. DeS was generally a succes, but also hardly experienced by the wider public, so it made sense that they'd reuse ideas while still adding new ones. It also had a lot of new things which I feel shouldn't be overlooked: Covenants were new, a lot of the bosses used gimmicks we hadn't seen before, the interconnected world was new and really changed the way you interacted with it (Demon's Souls was more megaman style with a level-select), pyromancy was new, it changed a lot of mechanics and added new ones (like Poise, making big armour useful), it had a ton of hidden away content and optional bosses which was new for the series, it had multiple endings to discover (2, but hey, maybe there was more so we kept looking until the PC version hit), the tailweapon gimmick was a neat addition to bosses and as a result of the above really allowed for actual builds. DeS was really just 'mage or not-mage'. You only had two roll speeds (slow and fast). Armor was pointless. Dark1 really allowed for more. You could become a literal tank, an archer, a pyromage, you could become practically invisible, a hard hitting glass cannon -- it wasn't as much as you'd want but it was a huge upgrade.
It and Demons' Souls are also still when the bosses were less 'tuned' to players knowing how these games work. Like with Morgott in ER you can basically see him stand on a turntable with the movement tracking he's doing and he has those "eeh...ehhh..here it comes...no not yet...one second...BAM" animations to catch players that have played the series off guard but feel cheap as a result.
