What are you currently playing?

[NerfedFalcon]

One of the things that pulled me into these games for years was that odd rhythm where one day you're stuck one annoying area or enemy and then a couple days you go on this massive slaughter run of victory, due to some combination of locking into your build and play-style, running into a series of enemy types that you're comfortable, or just generally being "in the zone" like a musician or athlete on their best day.

Edit to add: and I think a big reason I get turned off by the post-Sekiro souls-likes is that the whole waiting for parry feel throws that rhythm off. You can't go on unga-bash-athons or wizardy zap-athons to lay waste any more. And even Sekiro allowed raw aggression and I was able to take those victory lap slaughter tours on NG+(+(+)).

It hasn't been entirely on purpose every time, but there are instances where I've been able to smack a boss during the wind-up for one of their 'charged' attacks and still get control back soon enough to dodge the attack. There's also learning to jump over 'shockwave' attacks and throw out a JR1, or using boosted poise from a Weapon Art to trade and secure a stance break... Elden Ring might be kind of wacky compared to Dark Souls 1, but I've found there's still plenty you can do to dominate a boss.

 

[Bartholen]

After finishing Lies of P on NG+, I decided to dust off my PS3 for the first time in like 4 years and boot up the original Demon's Souls. After the extravagance and polish of all the titles that followed it, it feels refreshing to go back to the one that started it all. It's like listening to the first album of a famous rock band: you can clearly see the seeds of future greatness, but it's marred by some rough edges, yet at the same time those rough edges give it its distinct identity. The graphics aren't great even for the time, but they have a kind of nostalgic jankiness to them that was gone by the time even Dark Souls came out. The combat's a lot floatier than the following titles, and after the Soulsborne difficulty arms race reached its bullshit apex with Shadow of the Erdtree, Demon's Souls feels donwright quaint in comparison. I think the fact that this was considered super difficult at the time speaks more about its uniqueness rather than its actual challenge: this kind of methodical, slow-paced gameplay hadn't really been executed on this level before. Enemies die in just a few hits, have really simple movesets and easily exploitable weaknesses, but all of this was completely unheard of back then. Having also been with the healing system introduced in Dark Souls for almost 15 years now, Demon's Souls' grass system feels like an experiment that ultimately didn't work. The fact that you don't get any checkpoints feels somewhat balanced by the plentifulness of the healing items, and the fact that enemies drop them feels like the game is pushing you to keep going with just that bit more healing right around the corner. Of course it was terribly unbalanced, but I think there was potential in this system based on more on long-term commitment rather than trying to rush to the next checkpoint.

It's still got an atmosphere all its own that hasn't been replicated in any Soulsborne to this day. It has a dreamlike, ethereal quality that makes it feel like it's operating on nightmare logic. This is reinforced by almost all aspects: the seemingly pointless grandiosity and emptiness of the Nexus, the levels having zero connection or cohesion with one another, and how you're almost completely alone and surrounded by hostiles in every environment. Unlike Dark Souls' sense of exploring a tragic world fallen to ruin, Boletaria feels more like a world that's been malformed by some unseen, unspeakable force, making it feel alien and unwelcoming in a way all of its own.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

[snip]

Once I've cleaned up Elden Ring, I was wondering whether to go for Lies of P next or try to track down a copy of Demon's Souls (the PS5 version; unfortunately, I haven't got a working PS3 controller anymore). Any recommendation?

If it helps, my ranking for the From Software games I've played goes like DS1 > Sekiro > Bloodborne > DS3 > DS2; I haven't decided where Elden Ring goes in that list yet.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Anyway I managed to traverse Leyndell, eventually. Anybody who says Elden Ring is a boss game is lying; regular enemies can definitely kill you, anywhere at any time, and especially if you don't properly check your corners. Leyndell has plenty of tough mobs who use elemental damage, come in groups, ambush you, and generally are difficult to take down, requiring a patient and methodical approach. That also covers most of the exploration, because Leyndell, despite being a self-contained area, is pretty mazelike and extremely open-ended. How you get from the East Ramparts to the Sanctuary is up to you, but rest assured none of the routes are going to be easy.

Unlike the Golden Shade, who moves fairly quickly and hits like a truck, but it's nothing you haven't seen from other bosses like him; with the amount of experience you should have by the time you get to him, dodging his attacks is free and he goes down quickly.

The boss after Golden Shade has a fog gate before you even fight them, meaning that the devs really don't want you going into that fight unprepared. I'm currently trying to hype myself up to head in there and take him on, especially since I've seen enough spoilers to know exactly who it is. With only one more Golden Seed needed for another flask sip and a lot of unexplored space on West Altus Plateau, it might be time to circle back there and see if I can't upgrade my flask any more before I go for it...

 

[Worgen]

Got past chapter 12 in FF7 Rebirth. Holy shit, FF7 can go over the top and it is the game of faffing about. You think you're done then suddenly more faffing and more bosses.