SpiritOfTheForest

Cheers! The DLCs were rough. Some beautiful areas but the 2 above-mentioned bosses were incredibly hard. Actually, a boss which gave me a hell of a lot of trouble was the Darklurker. I always go for a pure melee strength build and there's a point in the fight against her where beating her becomes incredibly challenging as a melee build. In the end it came down to pure luck!

I did it, I finally did it! Platinum #80 - Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. Copied and pasted my review for a Trophy group below.

Absolutely over the moon for Messi. So, so, happy for him. Nothing to add really other than to express how heartwarmingly wholesome I found that. All the twists and turns made his eventual triumph even better. I was praying during the shootout that he wouldn't miss - as lovely as things turned out, that would have been equally as horrible. 

Also one for any "covers better than the originals" thread. Great album all round but this one is my highlight. 

At long last, after approximately 86 deaths, I finally beat the Fume Knight last night. There was much rejoicing. Then I moved on to Sir Alonne and he absolutely destroyed me. Stayed up far too late fighting him to no avail and continued this morning and finally beat him after about 50 defeats. I found this guy infuriating - he moved so ridiculously fast I found it so hard to react in time to dodge his attacks. I've been playing my way through Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin for the first time and I'm going for the Platinum. Dark Souls are truly extraordinary games - I've never played a game that reminded me so much of hillwalking. The struggle and endurance required to beat those bosses was like a gritty, tough climb up a mountain but upon beating them and reaching the summit and taking in the view brought a sense of triumph and satisfaction I've rarely experienced elsewhere in a video game. Finishing off the first playthrough now and then there's 1 and a half more...

Apologies for the macabre turn but I was recently reading a book by Dr Richard Shepherd, one of Britain's most highly regarded forensic pathologists, and I recall him remarking that tattoos are now so common place that it's now people who don't have tattoos that stand out for him in his line of work. The complete opposite of 20-30 years ago when far fewer people had tattoos. The prevalence of tattoos, piercings and obesity were the main changes he said he'd noticed throughout his career.  (His books are a great read by the way)

To add something a bit less ghoulish, I work in education and this year I'm mainly working with older teenagers. Nothing makes you feel more positively ancient than working with teenagers. Firstly, we were having a discussion about social media and hearing a young man tell me that Facebook "is for old people" was crushing. They also asked me "what was life like in the 1900s?", which also brought a hard realisation. Hearing 16 year olds talk about Tik Tok will make you, if you didn't already, realise that your youth is gone forever and everything is decaying. Perhaps not that much less of a ghoulish idea than the previous one, come to think of it. 

Stand an excellent chance of getting to US/Canada/Mexico too I reckon with the expanded format.

About the commentary, it's baffling to me that ITV sent Clive Tyldsley home this week and go for Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon as their number one crew. Lee Dixon is perhaps the dreariest man I've ever heard and Sam Matterface is just crap. Surely, surely anyone with working ears can hear that a John Champion or Clive Tyldsley along with Ally McCoist is by far the superior option. 

I'm unaware if the good man is actually divorced but thought it was pretty obvious I was referring to his username. 

Wasn't expecting 2 words to get such a venomous reaction here, we aren't all English on this forum and some of us get a sense of satisfaction seeing our noisy neighbors get beaten at football. 😂 Now, up the road.

Morocco, Croatia or Argentina would all be great stories for various reasons. Only team I wouldn't be particularly excited about going on to win it from here is France, funnily enough. 

2 minutes ago, Divorced Dad said:

Fuck off you cunt.

Ooooft. The divorce is clearly hitting you hard.

Absolutely wonderful. 

So, Morocco are pretty good. Seriously though, absolutely outstanding in defense. They never even looked flustered. Probably stating the obvious here but wow Ronaldo is such an absolute prick of a man. No consoling his team mates or congratulating the Moroccans, just straight down the tunnel in a huff. Arse. Seeing him crying was good though. 

Terrific player. Funnily enough he's also Celtic's penalty taker so if he were selected to take one tonight I'd imagine he'd have managed that too. 

Delicious. They're not dancing now, are they? Juranovic was absolutely immense there. There have been rumours the last few weeks that he's going to be leaving us (Celtic) in January. Sucks of course but after that performance, his fee must have just skyrocketed. 

My family has never been one for Christmas films so I never saw many growing up and still have never bothered as an adult. That said, I did really enjoy The Santa Clause (the one with Tim Allen). I put it down to mainly nostalgic reasons but I gave it another watch a couple of years ago and still found it a fun watch. There are some adult jokes over there too which went right over my head as a kid. 

Would understand if it was a phrase dropped into general conversation but this is literally a thread talking about the World Cup! Would imagine most people in here like football. 

I don't think anyone was that excited about this World Cup but the last 3 nights now have provided exceptional drama  with USA - Iran and then Mexico-Poland-Saudi Arabia and it's been so engrossing. What about tonight though - there was a point 20 minutes ago where Japan and Costa Rica were going through and Spain and Germany going out! Absolute and utter madness. Imagine not liking football though. This week has been brilliant. 

Edit: Double post.

4 hours ago, RalphyV2 said:

Sounds right up my street, pottering about aimlessly not really doing much is what I enjoy doing and am good at, count me in

You'll enjoy it for sure then. There are no deadlines and it's impossible to fail the game. You do everything at your own pace and as you want it. Prefer to go fishing today? Grand. Feel like going to fight some monsters in the mines? Go for it. Talk to the townsfolk? On you go then. Once you've tended your crops or animals for the day, whatever you do is up to you! Definitely recommended if you're looking for a more chilled experience.

Currently having quite the contrast - started Stardew Valley and Dark Souls 2 simultaneously. Stardew Valley is lovely and chill and I've somehow apparently lost 28 hours to it already doing nothing more than pottering around my wee farm and catching some fish. A seemingly simple game that is far more than the sum of its parts. Can't see myself ever getting 100% in it given the sheer number of items and things to do but it's such a wholesome little world to spend some time in after a long day.

Dark Souls 2 is pretty much the opposite and is tough as nails. Only done Forest of Fallen Giants, Heide's Tower of Flame and No Man's Wharf but I'm finding it so hard and that's from a guy who has the Platinum in Dark Souls 1. The "normal" enemies seem to swarm you and some of the are very tough like those sleeping knights in the Tower of Flame. Taking a battering but still rather enjoying it, although the mechanic where every death takes away more of your potential health bar is a tad piss taking given much of the point of Dark Souls is to die 4 billion times. 

You ought to have a basic grasp of Latin if you're working in Currys.

B & Q - a joyless experience and nobody wants to trudge around looking at paint or power tools. Similarly, any garden centre. I am basing my answer 100% off what I remember from being brought along to shops as a child by the way. I would also select IKEA here but that gets a pass because you can get a hot dog at the end. 

Eye bleeding shite? That's what that game felt like. USA were good but England brought absolutely nothing. I was looking forward to sitting down to a Friday night game but yeah, that was pish from an entertainment point of view. Maybe it's because the last 2 World Cups were so fun but this one seems like it's had a ton of 0-0s already. 

Qatar could very well become The Rangers of the World Cup on this evidence.

Peep Show is one of my favourites ever. I find it endlessly rewatchable and is one of my comfort shows to stick on and forget the world. I always did like Season 8 and never got the dislike for it. On the other hand, Season 9 is irredeemably guff to the point where I stop my binge watches after 8 and pretend 9 never existed. 

I always associate him with Davie the Bus Driver in that amazing episode of Still Game with a top class performance. Never knew Samuel Johnson was him too!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Probably my favourite game of all time and I've sunk hundreds of hours into it. It has a loyal dedicated fanbase but definitely seems to fly somewhat under the radar of the mainstream. The attention to detail, the focus on history, the forests which are the most realistic forests I've ever seen in a game, the story, the characters, the soundtrack - the whole thing is simply very much my jam. Playing dice at the tavern as the sun sets, the monastery quest, the clip-clop of your horse's hooves as you  travel through the forest, it all takes you away to another time. KCD also has the single best and most memorable quests I've ever taken on in an RPG. 

In short, I adore this game and believe everyone should play it. Handily, the full game with all DLCs is often on sale for less than a tenner!