From Software Games

[RedTwoster]

33 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Welcome back Roost! 

Cheers, pal!

[Dr. Alan Grant]

The only Red Rooster it’s acceptable to like* has returned. Welcome back dude.

Yesterday I finished the DLC. I’m loathe to call it a DLC, based on the size of the map, the length of time it took me to finish it and the sheer scope of what they achieved. It’s Elden Ring 2 by any other name. I loved it from start to finish. However…that final boss. What an absolute joke. I tried it with my mimic tear. No luck. Then my mimic tear plus 2 summonable NPCs. No luck. Then I summoned other players. Lots of times. After about 20+ attempts, the boss was dead. I know there’s already videos of people soloing the boss with no hits and avoiding every attack. But as far I’m concerned, most of that bosses attacks were unavoidable and the non-stop combos were just unfair. If left just to me, I doubt I ever would have beaten it. Maybe after a hundred attempts, I would have learnt every one of their moves and how to counter. But it just felt needlessly bullshit. Ah well. It’s done. 

Some truly annoying enemies in the game. Most of the brick shithouse knights. The orange orb heads in Abyssal Woods (still no clue how to beat them). Curse Blades, I think they’re called, super fast and relentless. And finally, those red pest things that can shoot webs around corners with Hawkeye accuracy. 

Final death count was somewhere around 175. I need a far more relaxing game to move on to now. Have Fromsoft made a nice platform game akin to Mario? They should.

*Gimmick or no gimmick, Terry Taylor is the drizzling shits.

[RedTwoster]

3 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Some truly annoying enemies in the game. Most of the brick shithouse knights. The orange orb heads in Abyssal Woods (still no clue how to beat them). Curse Blades, I think they’re called, super fast and relentless. And finally, those red pest things that can shoot webs around corners with Hawkeye accuracy. 

 

That's actually what has put me off slightly - I've seen clips of an enemy where it looks like you're resigned to being hit, and that dodging was all but impossible. Did you experience that at all?

[Dr. Alan Grant]

6 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

That's actually what has put me off slightly - I've seen clips of an enemy where it looks like you're resigned to being hit, and that dodging was all but impossible. Did you experience that at all?

They’re just run of the mill enemies, the ones I mentioned. You don’t have to fight them. It’s usually possible to just run past them. But I like to kill everything I see in the game, just to say I did it. Sorry, turtles. Out of the ones above, I’d say the only ones that have attacks that can’t be avoided are the Pests. They were in the base game. Insect like shaman things that shoot webs that lock on to you. They break your poise super quickly and then you’re dead in 2 shots. There probably is a counter. I chose to snipe them from far, far away with a bow. 

I wouldn’t let it put you off playing. The game is visually spectacular, with some fantastic boss battles. And it’s MASSIVE. 

[RedTwoster]

27 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

I wouldn’t let it put you off playing. The game is visually spectacular, with some fantastic boss battles. And it’s MASSIVE. 

I played the original on Steam Deck, I'll need to look into how the DLC runs on that (hopefully it'll be fine), but an endorsement from you goes a long way for me!

[Merzbow]

I've started a little indie game called Lunacid and instead of being yet another Souls-clone it's inspired by even older FromSoft games like King's Field and Shadow Tower, it's a gorgeous little thing that manages to nail the PSX aesthetic. Not very difficult either.

[Fog Dude]

An acquaintance of mine in Texas has come up with a crude way of doing a series of polls across social media to decide the best boss in a From game, using a huge tournament bracket. Thought some people here who are bigger fans of soulslikes than I am might be interested in lending their likes to their fave boss fights. 

[RedTwoster]

I was within one hit of beating Consort Radhan for the first time. One hit. I’d left the remote control on the sofa, and my wife sat on it, changing the channel. It took a few seconds to realise what happened, and where the remote was and since you can’t pause…well, when we switched back over I was dead. I think I want to cry. It was my fault for leaving the remote somewhere stupid, but fuck, I’m not sure I’ll ever defeat that bastard of a boss. I’m not entirely certain that he didn’t somehow infiltrate real life and sabotage me. I hate him. 

[Onyx2]

At least he's been nerfed...! 

[RedTwoster]

10 hours ago, Onyx2 said:

At least he's been nerfed...! 

He has?! I had no idea! I’m not a Soulslike player typically, but Elden Ring sucked me in. Is there a harder boss out there, throughout the other games? And how do the other Souls games compare? I didn’t get along with Bloodborne because of the limited health items, and the items in question not regenerating after you die, is that typical of the more linear games? I’d be keen to give them a try, but I’m not entirely sure I’ll enjoy them. 

[Merzbow]

I don't think I've ever ran out of health vials in Bloodborne but I definitely had an anxiety about it when first playing, later on I found they're very easy and quick to farm anyway. It's still the best game of the entire genre imo.

Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3 are like Elden Ring, a flask that refills on death or when resting at a bonfire, 2 does too but in a more limited way and expects you to mostly use consumables. In regards to difficulty, Elden Ring's DLC bosses are the most difficult of any of the games but then they also go completely against the ethos of a Souls boss in my opinion but that's another post I could make about ER's direction being something I really don't like now.

[Onyx2]

13 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

He has?! I had no idea! I’m not a Soulslike player typically, but Elden Ring sucked me in. Is there a harder boss out there, throughout the other games? And how do the other Souls games compare? I didn’t get along with Bloodborne because of the limited health items, and the items in question not regenerating after you die, is that typical of the more linear games? I’d be keen to give them a try, but I’m not entirely sure I’ll enjoy them. 

Radahn isn't easy now but last week they got rid of some of the worst things about the fight, especially his overdone visual effects that obscured his attack. It resembles fair now. I think the consensus is that Malenia is still the hardest in the game. I might be the worst person to ask as I am definitely wired different to other Souls players. I didn't find either of them too bad, my personal most difficult never features on any lists: Astel. I think I was there for 6 hours just not beating the git.

I don't like Bloodborne much either; too much focus on punishing you and forcing a relentless playstyle that is not mine. I'm well aware I'm in a minority for this one.

I would always recommend people play the original Dark Souls. It's quite a bit slower paced than Elden Ring and shows a little of it's age but as an experience it is absolutely unsurpassed.

Edited September 19, 2024 by Onyx2

[Dr. Alan Grant]

I played Bloodborne years ago and gave up when I hit a roadblock. But having played Elden Ring to death and a fair chunk of Demon’s Souls, I think I’d be better equipped to go back to it now. But I don’t know whether to hold out for a remaster/remake that may never come or just hop back on it regardless.

[RedTwoster]

7 hours ago, Onyx2 said:

I would always recommend people play the original Dark Souls. It's quite a bit slower paced than Elden Ring and shows a little of it's age but as an experience it is absolutely unsurpassed.

That’s actually what put me off it. I found the combat to be much slower than Elden Ring, although I’d only played (and not really liked, at this point) a small amount of Elden Ring when I tried it most recently. 

I wanted to like it, but I found it a slog. Maybe I’ll give it another chance. I was considering giving Sekiro a try as a follow-on, how does that compare? How is healing handled in that game?

[Onyx2]

1 hour ago, RedTwoster said:

I was considering giving Sekiro a try as a follow-on, how does that compare? How is healing handled in that game?

Sekiro basically uses a healing item like the main Souls games. I don't like it at all as like Bloodborne it's built for a single style of play. In this case twitchy parry God with no mistakes allowed.