Dark Souls III

Dark Souls 2 is definitely slower-paced, I'll say that. If you like the way estus works in 1, though, you'll likely be annoyed with 2 - estus takes longer to drink, slows you to a stop, and heals you over time in 2.

Honestly, though? 2 is the least popular of the trilogy, and that's for a reason, but it's still Dark Souls. If you wait until it's on sale, it's worth it, even for $20 - especially if you get the First Sin edition. It's a different beast from its sisters and requires a different approach, but there is plenty to love there.

The Lost Crowns trilogy is essentially what happened when the people who made DS 2 listened to the complaints of their fanbase. I actually enjoyed the base game for the most part (the Bastille and the Black Gulch sucked) but the trilogy was far, far better. That Raime fight was a nightmare though. Especially with the game's lackluster keyboard and mouse controls.

Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 12:20:23 AM

Double post for new update:

Okay, fuck Tsorig. I'm not going to try to beat his invader phantom fair and square. Next time I play, I'm sending his ironclad ass to the depths by cutting the bridge.

I mean, I personally thought that the Crowns trilogy wasn't anywhere as good (thought it sounds like your skill level is much higher than mine anyway, so). Elements like the dual boss at the end of Sunken Crown, which are literally just two of the final-ish bosses stacked on top of each other, felt like fake difficulty, and I still have never finished the Frozen Crown because of all the bullshit in there.

To me, the Crowns Trilogy feels like Dark Souls made by people who believe the 'Dark Souls is a super hard unfair game' line, which it generally isn't.

The gank squad fight in Sunken City was bullshit. I didn't even bother with that one. Elana and Sinh weren't as frustrating in comparison. Just don't summon the Abbess NPC Phantom for Sinh, she's totally useless. It's not really fake difficulty since you don't have to fight them back-to-back without rest either.

Crown of the Old Iron King had Raime, who was really tough. Sir Alonne was also really tough but the fight was still a lot more fun. Can't say I was a fan of fighting the Smelter Demon (except with Magic damage and slightly different attack timing) again.

Crown of the Ivory King...the "mandatory" boss fights were fun. Aava seemed remniscient of Sif, and the setpiece of the Burnt Ivory King battle was amazing. Lud and Zallen was bullshit like the gank squad — didn't even bother.

Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 3:00:07 AM

The thing with Elana is that you had two bosses, each with reach several times your height, and they were clearly not designed to fight together. Ornstein and Smaugh had a rhythm; Elana and the Bell Knight just overlapped their fields of fire.

I don't really count the Velstadt clone as a boss in and of itself. It's just a degraded summon that is not too hard to dispatch. Assuming it even gets summoned in the first place — I lucked out and got the pigs.

In terms of challenge, Elana is what Nashandra should have been — Nashandra was a real letdown especially with pyromancy.

I'm also glad the DLC gave me an actually somewhat fun dragon fight — the Ancient Dragon was tedious and boring crap.

Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 3:12:28 AM

the crowns dlc have a running theme that the main areas are top tier but the optionnal areas that you coincidentally can play even if you don't have the DLC are horseshit.

The gank squad area is bland as shit, and the squad itself may be an all-time record of unfariness in dark souls.

Iron passage is an interesting gimmick dragged down by a very boring area, and while the retrain of the smelter at least get creative for a palette swap, it's still a palette swap.

And firgid outskirts is... The one thing that force to emphasize the "may" in "and the squad itself may be an all-time record of unfariness in dark souls."

Iron king actually has it worse then the other two because the Memory of alonne is also a fairly bad area - But it at least comes with the silver lining that Sir Alonne is one of the best fights in the entire game.

Edited by Yumil on Nov 13th 2018 at 8:48:48 PM

The DLC optional areas were difficult in all the wrong ways.

I never did get around to fighting Alonne, really. I think the invisible boss kicked my ass hard enough that I got frustrated and quit, which never happened in all the rest of the series.

I haven't formed an opinion on Dark Souls II.

Largely because I actually started playing it for the first time the other day.

Invisible boss? Which one was that?

If you mean Aava, you're supposed to find a key item in another area that makes her visible first.

Edited by M84 on Nov 15th 2018 at 4:17:29 AM

Either I missed that, or I found it and then she kicked my ass anyway. Yeah, I think it's the latter, since I remember going through the whole side area for... what was it, the Witch's Lens or Soul or something like that?

Edited by RedSavant on Nov 14th 2018 at 3:22:29 PM

Eyes of the Priestess.

Anyway, this is fast becoming a Dark Souls II thread.

Maybe so, but it's not like there's more DS3 news forthcoming. And I don't think we have a general Dark Souls thread, either.

We actually do, and also have a separate DS 2 thread.

Actually, we do.

And here's the Dark Souls II forum.

Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 5:11:56 PM

Oh. Well, color me embarrassed, I guess.

Oh wow apparently this is the second time I've remembered I've owned Dark Souls 2 and played through it for the firs time on a whim.

I don't remember making that post at all. And there's no progress in DS2 or trophies or anything.

Creepy.

Obligatory self-indulgent update:

And that's Smouldering Lake done. Got nearly all the loot and killed Tsorig yes the Alluring Skull in lava thing really works, Horace, and the Old Demon King. Still missing a couple of the items in the lava, but I'll come back when I get more Fire resistance gear.

In the process got enough Titanite to get my Reinforced Longsword to +7 and my Mace to +6. Good times.

Tomorrow I'll finally finish off Wolnir and go on from there.

Edited by M84 on Nov 15th 2018 at 2:52:57 AM

Tsorig falls for WHAT?!

Eh, I still find it funnier to have Tsorig fight himself.

Tsorig's powerful but his AI is (possibly intentionally) really bad.

It's even funnier than dropping his Invader Phantom by cutting the bridge.

I thought about leading his phantom to fight him too, but I was kind of curious to see if the Alluring Skulls actually worked — I figured it had to be either a bullshit internet rumor or a bug that was patched out. Nope, it works.

The more I think about it, the more I think Tsorig being able to be killed in such hilariously stupid ways was intentional. He's an expy of Iron Tarkus, and it's heavily implied that he died in a really stupid way too falling from ceiling rafters.

Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 10:43:09 PM

Update #...eh I wasn't counting:

Not much happened. Killed Wolnir and got to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. First off, FROM nailed it with the art design of the place. When you first see it...breathtaking.

The Sulvayn Beast wasn't too bad, though I was pretty careless. Still killed it without dying and got the ring in the process. Also progressed Sirris' questline. I managed to light the first two (I'm not counting the bonfire before the bridge) bonfires in the area. Then I killed Creighton Invader and got his set on the bridge.

After that I decided to do a bit of farming. At Lothric I eventually got a new Refined Gem to drop from the Red-Eye knight, which I used on my Mace. Then I went to the Deacon Bonfire and farmed the Cathedral Knight until his Great Mace dropped. Then I went back to Irithyll and farmed the Pontiff Knights for their gear, then farmed that one Fire Witch near the Church of Yorshka Bonfire (very easy since the Witch is in the perfect position for a falling lunge attack). Got a bunch of Large Titanite from her but haven't gotten the full Fire Witch Set to drop yet. Through all of this I equipped the Shield of Want to increase my souls drops. Also got that one unique Miracle from the Evangelist that is spouting gibberish.

So far my most frequently used melee weapons are the Refined Longsword (+7), Refined Mace (+6), Black Knight Sword (+3), and Sharp Astora Greatsword (+6).

So to sum it up: not a lot of plot progression today, but pretty good farming. Got a lot of gear, upgraded some weapons, and leveled a few times.

Next time I'll focus on progression.

Edited by M84 on Nov 16th 2018 at 3:36:41 AM

Irithyll is fucking gorgeus. Maybe just because winter aesthetics are pleasing but still, a beautiful looking city. Shame the streets are haunted by the undead!

Yeah, Irithyll is amazing, and it looks amazing. That's where things really start to settle in in terms of the worldview, too.