Brave Soul, Who Fears Not Death

[beatbandito]

I must defend my baby even past the point of sense!

And after 20+ years of playing as Nameless Mute Protagonist, I don't think it'd kill them to have the hero show a little personality.

I've only played Dark Souls for about four hours, and I'm already feeling like it has the same problems.

I've heard DkS described as the 'ultimate rpg' of the past forever and that's why I believe this fact is not actually a problem. The other soulsborne games (DkS3 especially) give you a bit more meat to bite into for who your character is. a sketch for you to color in. DkS1 lets you totally decide who you are, why you're there, who you trust and for what reasons. I think that's a good part of why I've made dozens of DkS1 characters over three copies of the game and actually literally thousands of hours compared to the dozen or so characters and about a few hundred hours across the rest of the catalog combined. More deciding what you want to do instead of figuring out what the game wants you to do.

[Friday]

I feel I should also list things I very much enjoyed.

1. I really liked how subtle things I picked up on actually mattered. I knew Golden Armor Guy was a shitbag right away, actually. I left him alone anyway and the game had consequences for doing so. I decided not to leave cleric shitbag alone and killed him, and it turns out that he would have killed what's her face if I hadn't! (I looked that up later.)

2. The Depths was really well designed. It's weird to me that one of my favorite zones was The Sewer Level, but man, it felt really good exploring that place. Scary, tense, but nothing unfair. the boss was baller as fuck as well. Gaping Dragon? Whatever his name was, I really loved him. I'd say it was my favorite zone in the game, except for...

3. Painted World. Amazing. Fuck those toxic bloated guys, but that's mainly because I insisted on being melee only. If I had any range damage at all they'd have been no trouble. Ultimate Waifu boss I couldn't bring myself to fight because then how would I marry her?

4. Anor Londo. I didn't really like the zone all that much in terms of playing it (it was fine, just not a huge fan of LARGE KNIGHT COMBAT), but it was really visually impressive and cool. Smobro and SpearDragonBro were good bosses, though I didn't fall in love with them quite as much as everyone else did. I still think Giant Tits Girl was some sort of rotting horrible skeleton thing in reality, because she's so out of place in the world. Also she wants you to do shit. If I ever play through again I'm gonna stab her right in her vagina.

5. That's real fuckin' Nito. But seriously, I loved that boss. Tomb of Giants was tense as fuck as well. Catacombs was also p. cool.

6. Ghost Ruin Zone was also scary and tense as fuck. I felt like I was exploring a giant haunted ruin. Which, uh. I was. But I mean, like, not in a videogame way? I guess what I'm saying is IMMERSION.

7. The DLC was top notch. Those creepy noises in the township freaked me right the fuck out. Boss fights were great. Manus, you need to chill the fuck out, jesus christ you are a twitchy, jumpy fuck. Mushroom Girl gave me some of her mushrooms and I never used any. Yay! SIF NO I SAVED YOU WHY DO I HAVE TO KILL YOU LATER/BEFORE. DARK SOULS PREPARE TO CRY EDITION

8. The armor design is 10/10 would roleplay a knight again. Seriously, it's amazing. I think my favorite set was The Elite Knight.

9. The voice acting was really good. WAKE UP FRAMPT CHRIST YOU STINK

[malikial]

The hidden story and having to read the items and stuff and pay attention is the best part of Dark Souls games in my opinion but I know a lot of people hate it. I really hate the story cut scenes that are in DS2-3 but then, I am a crazy person.

[François]

3. Painted World. Amazing. Fuck those toxic bloated guys, but that's mainly because I insisted on being melee only. If I had any range damage at all they'd have been no trouble. Ultimate Waifu boss I couldn't bring myself to fight because then how would I marry her?

One of the things Dark Souls does best is really exemplified in the Painted World. It feels extraordinarily dense! It's got multiple branching paths that connect with each other at different points, and it's packed with enemy encounters that may share individual elements but still present them in unique compositions and configurations.

For the record, using fire damage will prevent the bloated guys from spewing toxic goop on death, so melee characters can come in with a fire weapon and still be spared much aggravation. That's also another feather in pyromancy's cap, as if it needed one.

4. Anor Londo. I didn't really like the zone all that much in terms of playing it (it was fine, just not a huge fan of LARGE KNIGHT COMBAT), but it was really visually impressive and cool. Smobro and SpearDragonBro were good bosses, though I didn't fall in love with them quite as much as everyone else did. I still think Giant Tits Girl was some sort of rotting horrible skeleton thing in reality, because she's so out of place in the world. Also she wants you to do shit. If I ever play through again I'm gonna stab her right in her vagina.

There is in fact a lot more going on in Anor Londo than it first appears; having reached the end of the game I'm sure you have a notion or two about the state and goals of Gwyn's family. One of the more flavorful concepts involved is tied to a branch of the PVP system that never really worked as well as it should have, but even playing alone these days you can reach an impressively-done revelation that I probably ought not to mention further.

6. Ghost Ruin Zone was also scary and tense as fuck. I felt like I was exploring a giant haunted ruin. Which, uh. I was. But I mean, like, not in a videogame way? I guess what I'm saying is IMMERSION.

Dang I hear ya. One of my biggest "aw shit, aw no, aw hell" moments was after draining the water, noticing the piles of goopy drowned corpses everywhere and realizing the full extent of the horror that was perpetrated. It's no wonder the place is lousy with pissed-off ghosts, especially considering a few of them are still holding children.

The hidden story and having to read the items and stuff and pay attention is the best part of Dark Souls games in my opinion but I know a lot of people hate it. I really hate the story cut scenes that are in DS2-3 but then, I am a crazy person.

In some ways it feels like an archeology simulator. You pick through the remains of dead civilizations, occasionally getting a tantalizing glimpse of what may have been going on, but the more you learn, the more you it feels like the big picture is getting further from your reach.

[Friday]

As far as the plot goes, as someone who hasn't read anything or been told anything, (except that there's another Toothed Serpent who I never met who is pvp oriented) here's what I gathered on my first time through:

1. Dragons and Lords. Lords beat the Dragons, mostly thanks to Seethe betraying his own kind.

2. They set up a civilization that is sustained by the "First Flame."

3. Flame starts to go out.

4. Witch tries to make a new one. Doesn't work. Goes horribly wrong, mutates her into Bed of Chaos, mutates her kids, spawns a bunch of demons.

5. Gwyn take it upon himself to rekindle the First Flame by offering his own soul. This works, somewhat, but only for a little bit. He goes Hollow.

6. Meanwhile Artorias, one of Gwyn's Knights, is sent to deal with the problems in Oolacile, whose denizens were tricked by "a toothy serpent" into uprooting the grave of Manus and causing the Abyss to start spreading. (I'm not sure which Serpent was responsible for that, but I imagine it was the one I didn't meet, Kaathe.) Artorias fails and is consumed by the Abyss, becoming Hollow. Much, much later, The Chosen Undead travels back in time and does what Artorias was supposed to do, killing Manus and stopping the Abyss. These actions are assumed to have been done by Artorias, but some (Alvina) know the truth. In any case, killing Manus doesn't even stop the Abyss. It continues to spread.

7. The Abyss wells up under New Londo. In order to contain it, and the Dark Wraiths, those red dudes flood the whole city. This stops the Abyss?

8. The Flame going out causes the curse of undeath. They are sent to the north, to the Undead Asylum. Some of them try to quest to rekindle the flame. Most just go Hollow.

9. Chosen Undead is sent. He successfully escapes the Asylum, rings both bells to open the way to Anor Londo.

10. Frampt and Tittygirl manipulate the Chosen Undead into killing the four dudes with the Lord Souls so he/she can rekindle the flame. Notably, Nito is slain even though he was on Gwyn's side originally. Seethe is also slain, but he'd gone insane. Bed of Chaos also insane, four kings corrupted by Abyss.

11. Chosen Undead makes it to Kiln of the First Flame, encounters and defeats Hollow, soulless Gwyn still next to the dying fire. Having been told how this was his destiny and he's so great, he links the first flame and explodes, destroying himself (going hollow, like Gwyn?) by doing so. This action only prolongs the flame for a little while.

[François]

That seems about right, from what I remember, aside from a few spoilery elements that you seem close to uncovering yourself if you play again. One thing I can say though, is that Artorias probably didn't go hollow in the sense that the word is used elsewhere. You grow hollow as you lose humanity, but it's clear the Dark of the Abyss itself is humanity, and you likely slaughtered scores of the same familiar black sprites to reach Manus as you've been using to reverse your own hollowing all along. The corruption in Oolacile is only indirectly related to the "modern" Darksign curse, and its source is different.

[Maximillian]

Oh, wait, are you trying to summarize the plot in Dark Souls 1? No. No no. I insist it be done this way.

This spoils one plot twist you missed.



Additionally, best ending involves saving Solaire. Because he should be saved. (All this does is change the walk to the final boss)

[Yoji]

Having just beat the bell gargoyles, I wonder if I can disconnect my Playstation from the internet while I play. I just wanted to summon Solaire for an even fight, which means turning human, which means a greater-than-zero chance of meeting a fat PVP bully who's on his third playthrough and is somewhere around soul level ROFLPWNZ.

[Rico]

Should be able to, I did all of Souls 1 offline.

[Yoji]

Should be able to, I did all of Souls 1 offline.

*hurls a hatchet at his router*

And I wasn't being hyperbolic about that encounter. I was just getting ready to summon when some player teleports in right behind me. He had some l33t h4x0r name like dAnK_sOuLZ_dEsTrOyEr6969 or whatever the fuck and an obese character that seemed to be wearing only a leather hood, a waistcloth, and a couple giant chains across his chest. He smacks me from behind with what looked like a bar of iron was simply hammered into the vague shape of a sword, I go down like a bag of hammers, and he's doing taunting emotes before my body even hit the ground. It all happened quicker than it takes to describe it.

I at least have a gnarly gargoyle tail for my troubles, but I really can't handle this PVP crap at a physiological level. "What just happened? Why did they do that? Why are my hands suddenly trembling?"

[François]

Yeah, PvP "matchmaking" is janky at best. Except in a few specific circumstances, it's based on soul level, and equipment has nothing to do with it. So you can very much have a SL1 dirtbag in +15 gear hanging around the Undead Parish to gank new characters.

DS2 bases its invasion mechanics around the total number of souls you've ever obtained instead (not spent, obtained, which means souls that you've lost by failing to recover a blood stain or spent on consumables/ammo count against you vis-à-vis the PvP difficulty), so yeah it changes things and kinda takes equipment quality into account but it's still janky in a different way. It's one of those aspects of the series you kinda just have to put up with.

[Blossom]

I was enjoying the game until I got to blighttown. That pretty much made me stop.

[François]

That's something that'll happen in that wretched pit, yeah. Just in case you haven't decided to permanently give up though, if it's the descent that made you stop, rather than the swamp, there's a back way you can access from another long path that starts near the beginning of Darkroot Garden (through Darkroot Basin and the Valley of Drakes, though you can unlock a major shortcut along the way), and it presents a different set of challenges to reach the same bonfire at the bottom and the nearby boss.

[Yoji]

A recent study has found that anything in a From Software game with "Moonlight" in its name will wreck my shit. First it was laser swords, and now it's a laser butterfly. Its attacks even look a bit like the Kojima weapons from AC4A and hurt about as bad.

But I get the feeling this'll be easier than those damn gargoyles and prowling/Titanite demon since I have cover and some actual gear. That, and now I'm clutching an FAQ like it's a smoldering tablet handed to me by a minor god.

And I don't suppose there's any way to remove points from stats? I gave myself Attunement early on and it's starting to feel like a mistake since I'm going melee and I haven't seen a spell I can use yet.

[François]

The Moonlight Butterfly is the game's way to tell you about specific damage resistances. It does magic damage, and shields that aren't specialized in blocking magic damage typically do a terrible job at it, so it looks like its attacks blow right past your guard. Even the garbo Caduceus Round Shield you can pick up in the graveyard near Firelink has 2-3 times more magic block than the good 95+ phys block metal shields you're likely to have found so far. Of course it's best to dodge most of its attacks, especially the big ticket ones, but its multiple spread shot dealio is tricky to avoid completely, and a decent magic shield can be worth taking along if it gives you trouble.

There are no ways to remove stats or respec in DS1, no. But you'll find some pyromancy stuff sooner or later, it's good for any build, and it has no stat requirements or stat scaling. On that account, I'm sure having an attunement slot or three won't feel like a waste forever.

[Yoji]

Yeah, it's pretty clear when a shield will or won't do the trick. "Hello, Sir Hellkite! May I bother you for a cup of sugAAAA THIS IS NOT FINE"

I don't think I have anything with good magic defense yet, so I might just use the Grass Crest Shield for the stamina boost. Not only is there going to be a lot of rolling, but the window for melee attacks isn't very big, so I don't want to spend much time catching my breath after swinging at the beast like a spaz. I hate to keep going back to Armored Core*, but I feel like I'm walking into the same problems: too heavy, too thirsty for energy, too easy to overextend and sputter at bad moments (all my own damn fault, of course). At least this time around, I don't have to worry about jerks with fingertip machineguns and missiles the size of a Buick.

And I figured I'd come across some magic for those slots... eventually? Any time would be swell. In the meantime, I will continue to hit stuff until they fall down and resist the urge to sing Forces when things are going well.

*not really, #SorryNotSorry

[Yoji]

https://rinboz.tumblr.com/post/14929557 ... boss-fight

Hah, nice. The stamina bar at the end is a nice touch.

[Friday]

There are some spells later on that boost your melee damage. One of them, the Pyromancy one, is in Blighttown and gives you a 40% damage buff for 100 seconds, but also drains 1% of your health per second.

I never used that or any other spell in my playthrough, but they exist for melee centric builds that want to pick up a few slots. Or just a single slot like I did so they can buff their damage for bosses. Which I did. But then never remembered to cast during a fight at all, even once, during my playthrough.

GUESS I'VE GOT BRAIN PROBLEMS.jpg

[Mongrel]

Some sort of post about how Friday just wants to punch problems away.

[Friday]

oh yeah that reminds me~!

Pretend I included a line during my playthrough reports that went like this:

- oh hey tiny mushrooms wandering around the forest that's cute, they don't even aggro hehehe what's that a chest? oh some bigger mushrooms are coming over to say hi, hey guys whats --







YOU DIED