With the horrific news coming out of Atlanta recently that has hit hard and has underscored the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes since the pandemic started, thanks in a large part to the inflammatory rhetoric of the previous president and his acolytes, I’m trying to find ways to stay on top of the rage that I am feeling. By the way, that’s an unexpected reaction, but not necessarily unwelcomed. In the past, I would have been heartbroken (still am), fearful (a little, but not a lot), and bitter about the lack of visibility of Asians in this country (it’s been mitigated by the outrage I’ve seen over the murders, and for the right reasons). Rage, though, would have been waaaay in the back of my brain and I would have tried to tamp it down. This time, I liked the rage flow through me. Once the spin started trickling in, which was roughly a minute after the suspect was said to have been arrested.
Anyway. One way I’m doing that is retail therapy. I went to TWO places yesterday (pharmacy and bank) for the first time in ages and deposited two checks. I’m eying this baby to match my twin broadsword set and an outfit for an important upcoming Zoom event. I haven’t worn anything other than t-shirts/sweatshirts and sweats in a year; I could do with a nice new outfit. The other thing I’m doing is playing Dark Souls III. I used to alternate between playing Dark Souls and Dark Souls III, but since defeating Biggie & Smalls, I’ve fallen off playing DSR(emastered). That’s not surprising given that the second half of the game is decidedly worse than the first half. I’ve reached my least favorite part of DS III as well (the DLCs), but I’m still powering my way through it because I’m a bit of a completionist. I’m doing the second DLC at the moment and am going to switch over to the first DLC because story reasons.
More on my dissertation as to the negatives of the Souls series. Here is part two of the series which has a link to the first post in it. In fact, the DLCs of the third game are a great representation of what is wrong with the series and the mentality of the hardcore fans. The DLCs have always been the hardest part of each game by far. They’ve been praised to high heaven for their difficulty and their design. Even the players who hated the second game gush about the DLCs. I’ve mentioned before that the second game’s DLCs stamped the beginning of FromSoft buying their own hype. Yes, the games were difficult, blah, blah, blah. But they were playable with any build if you put time and effort into it.
You could not say the same with the DLCs of the second and third games. I remember taking my squishy caster into the first DLC of Scholar of the First Sin and feeling so frustrated. It took me three hits to kill one of the scrub guys and they came in bunches as was the wont of the second game. In the third game, I went through the first part of the second DLC and fought hard against the first boss. Several times. So many times. Too many times to count. There are two available NPCs if you do things the right way, but it was nigh impossible even with them. I gave up and summoned humans. I can’t remember if that worked, but I’m assuming it did because I didn’t solo that boss until later. Maybe I did it with the two NPC summons? Doubt it, though.
Once I was done and went back to Firelink Shrine to level up, I proceeded to the new area. I was bloodied and bowed, and I was nearly broken. I lit the bonfire and traipsed forward. Aaaaaand was promptly invaded. Yes, days after the DLC had been released, there were people camping out in a very tough section of the DLC to ruin someone’s day. I jumped off the nearest cliff to kill myself because I refused to give the asshole the pleasure and I had more than a few choice words to say as I did. I was in tears (exhausted from the boss fight) and I was not having any fun.
The first DLC of the third game is my least-favorite part of the whole game, but has one of the coolest bosses ever. Though the fight itself is bullshit. It’s the video I included above. The reason I’ve not played it yet is because the first section of the DLC is my least-favorite of my least-favorite. Even though I love the boss, it’s utter bullshit. First, you fight her one-on-one. She has a fuck-all scythe which does massive damage. She can also send off frostbite with it. It’s a status effect. Oh, and she can go invisible. When I met her, one attack from her nearly took away my whole health bar. At this point in the game, I had 10 Estus Flasks and 5 Ashen Estus Flasks, the latter is basically what powers the magicks. At this point, she’s called Sister Friede.
Second phase, her ‘father’ (there’s a debate as to actual father versus church father) breaks the chains that bind him and stands up, his chair still glued to his ass. He picks up the giant vessel in front of him (he’s massive) and burns everything, which revives Sister Friede. This is done in a cutscene. Yes, you hav to fight Father Ariandel and Friede, but at least they share a health bar. She still does the same moves from the first phase while he smashes his vessel on you and blows fire from it. In addition, Friede can heal them in the corner while she prays. Weirdly, you can summon an NPC, Slave Knight Gael, to help you during the second phase.
You would think that’s it because there has never been a three-phase boss before. You get a Titanite Slab at the end of the second phase, but then, horror hits when it dawns on you that Friede is getting up again. This time, she’s called Blackflame Friede and she’s gone super-saiyan. She’s faster, has two scythes instead of one, and she does dark damage. She can jump straight in the air and smash down with a radiating burst of black fire. If she gets behind you, she can slit your throat with her two scythes. This is in addition to the rest of her moves. If you can keep Slave Knight Gael alive until the end of the third phase, you’re doing well. I couldn’t beat her solo first time, not even with Slave Knight Gael. In fact, I think I needed summons to beat all the bosses in the two DLCs, save Champion’s Gravetender & Gravetender Greatwolf. Maybe Halflight, Spear of the Church I did solo. Can’t remember. This is the first time there’s been a three-phase boss fight and it’s where boss fights really went off the rails completely.
I will say that at the point of doing the DLCs, I just didn’t care any longer. I didn’t want to play either of them, but I did it for pride. When I finished the second DLC, I didn’t feel happy or triumphant; I felt tired. It was similar to how I felt after finishing the original game. Needless to say, I went back to the third game several times and always did the DLC when I played except during the latter part of the non-plat. I will say that the third DLC is objectively better than the second and some think it’s the best part of the game bar none. Again, it’s because it’s punishingly difficult, which is not why I play the games. I will say I love how the first and second DLCs link with each other and it’s a fitting end to the series, I guess. I actually prefer the end boss to the vanilla game as the canonical finale to the trilogy.
Running out of energy again. Will continue later.