I think I’m done with Lords of the Fallen (Hexworks/CI Games). The last time I played was day before yesterday, and the last hour or so was me running from checkpoint to checkpoint. Here’s my last post on the game. I did take some time to try to learn the asshole enemy–oh, excuse me. I need to be more specific than that. The enemy that is basically a low-rent Let Me Solo Her with a maced colander as a helmet. He uses that helmet to hit you, and if he catches me unaware, he can one shot me.
Just to be clear, I have similar health at this point of this game that I did in the first hundred hours of Elden Ring. I know they are very different games, but an enemy at this point should not be able to one-shot me. Actually, enemies in general should not be able to one-shot me, the player. That’s just bad design, but it’s become the norm in these kinds of games. Which is to the genre’s detriment, in my opinion.
Anyway, there is one of these enemies near a bonfire. One who is shielded in the umbral. It’s easy to soulflay his shield, so I decided to use him as a way to get this enemy down. Readers, it failed. He would run at me and head-but me into the near by elevator hole (I have to find the way to get it operational further in the level). This guy takes many many hits to kill. And they love to put one of him patrolling the ladder you need to get to in order to go up or down. I’ve made him fall to his death before, which is great, but in general, I just bait him to run one way before running in the other direction.
I have to say. The mobs in this game are out of control. It’s gotten to the point whereI have run through entire sections of area because there are just too many enemies. I hate running through an area in games like this beacuse I want to explore. But I do not want to be killed over and over again just because I’m overwhelmed.
In the current area I’m in, there was a ladder going down. I started going and then just fell off and died because I had to be in the umbral realm in order to be able to climb all the way down. There was no indicator of this before I started climbing. I mean, maybe there was a visual clue–I think there are supposed to be butterflies/moths when you can use the umbral lamp, but I was running for my life. I didn’t have time to stop andscan with the lamp. Also, it’s so ‘gotcha’. We’re gonna put this ladder here that you’ll run to in order to escape a zillion enemies but you’re going to plunge to your death!
Yeah, thanks. I hate it.
Here’s the thing. There is a very fine line between a trap that is effective, but irritating and a trap that is just unfair. I feel liek a ladder that kills you if you’re not in umbral to be in the latter camp. This is something that Lies of P did not do well, either. In their case it was the old ‘a disguised plate that once you step on it shoots fire arrows at you1’ bullshit. Honestly, I hate it in From games as well because I literally cannot see them at times.
At the end of my last play session, I closed the gam eand was just worn-out. I had not been having any fun in the game. In this way, it’s also a lot like Lies of P. For much of the game, especially the last chapter, I was numb as I played it. i don’t know why I pushed forward with that game–probably beacuse of sunken cost fallacy. I had gotten that far with the game–and I knew I was in the last chapter–so I felt compelled to finish it.
In this case, I’m only up to the third boss (I’m pretty sure there is the third boss pretty soon), but I’m already so incredibly weary. I am getting no joy out of the game, and I am experiencing so much frustration. I have seen reviews calling it an easy game and that the boss who so enraged me is a ‘baby boss’.
This is whyI want reviews from people who are not great at parrying. I have watched people who can parry almost perfectly, and, yes, these games are going to be easy for them. But for those of us who cannot deflect/parry/perfect block with any real consistency, these games are a slog. I included a video from other-Ian who is not a parry god, but still much better at it than I am. And he has died to Pieta several times in the video I included above. If he kept playing, he probably would beat her in a few more tries–which is far fewer than I took, but I don’t blame him for noping out.
I included his video because I agree with many of his criticisms. There is too much going on in this video, and much of it feels like filler. The two worlds thing is cool, but the way they use it is underwhelming. So far, it’s mostly used to cross a bridge (or not fall to your death on a ladder) or to soulflay a parasite. Which is cool the first time around, but is just mindnumbing by the tenth time.
And, there’s another thing that you can do with the soulflay. You can pull the soul out of an enemy, beat it about, and when the enemy snaps to it, they will take a bunch of wither damage. Or, you can move their soul to , say, over a cliff, and when the body snaps to the soul, they will fall and die.
I have never used this because it’s just one more unwanted thing that I have to remember. I’m sure it’s useful, especially if you can use it in a boss fight, but I’m already struggling to keep everything else in my mind while I’m trying to, you know, actually play the game at the same time.
I can’t get past the thought that this was much better in theory than it was in execution. I love so many of the ideas behind this game–but I don’t love the game itself. I may push on a bit further, but we’ll see. It doesn’t spark joy, and in the end, it’s supposed to be something I’m doing for fun.