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My 2025 game awards, part eight

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I have one more post in me in which I lavish praise upon Elden Ring (FromSoft). I have to say that no matter where FromSoft goes from here (and I have a feeling I may not be along for the ride), I will always have Elden Ring. Before I get into it, here is the post from yesterday in which I just gush about Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree.

I don’t believe in perfection, but this is as close as it gets for me. They got rid of several of the things that made previous games frustration such as excessive boss runs, elaborate upgrading systems*, and weirdly named stats. They added a guard counter in addition to the parry and a dedicated jump button. Plus, Torrent, the spirit speed, which makes traversal much easier. Horse combat isn’t great, but it’s passable.

I’m doing the DLC with my dex(ish) character, and I’m astounded at how much easier it is when I just attack endlessly. I love my incants, but I need to use them sparingly. I did not put all those points into dex and endurance just to fiddle around the edges with my spells. Though I do love my spells. So much.

It’s funny because I’m a big pyro person in From games. That’s not the funny part; the funny part is that  I don’t use that many fire spells in Elden Ring. I use some, but there are so many great sorceries and incantations in the game, I like to keep a wide spread. One thing I appreciate about Rory (the R in RKG) is that he will try something new just for shits and giggles. And he will drop things without thinking twice about it, even if he absolutely loved it for several episodes. In the previous games, he was mostly a sword and board guy. In this game, he had a lot of fun dabbling with the incantations.

It sparked so much joy when he showed love to the Lightning Spear, Rotten Breath/Ekzyke’s Decay, and Swarm of Flies. I never thought he would becomeso enamored with the dragon heads, but it was great to see.  He cycled through weapons every few episodes. Mostly because he got bored, but also because the lads insisted he change it up now and again.

His build was all over the place because Krupa let him put his points pretty much wherever he wanted, which meant he spread them all over the place. That’s what I do, even though I know it’s not optimal. i can’t help myself, so it was nice to see Rory do it as well. One of the guys affectionately nicknamed it the smorgasbuild, and the name stuck. Many people were frustrated with it and urged him to do a real build. There were plenty of people who had Very Strong Ideas as to what those builds should be.


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My 2025 game awards, part seven

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Let’s talk more about Elden Ring (FromSoft) just becaause I can. This is my FromSoft game of the year, and here is yesterday’s post why Nightreign is not the one. It feels weird to not give the award to a FromSoft game that released within the calendar year, but I just could not do it.

I’m doing a dex(ish) run in Elden Ring, and I am in the DLC. As with many FromSoft games, getting to the DLC is not as easy as firing it up. It’s not hard to access, per se, but you have to be pretty far into the game in order to do so. Well, technically, you can get there fairly early, but you have to be really good in order to do that. If you go along the normal path, then you probably won’t do the second thing you need to do until the last fourth of the game.

This was one of the reasons that people were not happy with Shadow of the Erdtree being nominated for Game of the Year last year–the fact that you have to play three quarters of the base game in order to access the DLC. I don’t quite get that as sequels are considered fair game to be game of the year as well.

I mean, I do understand that it’s asking a lot. FromSoft always asks a lot from the player in order to access the DLC. The first game is notorious for how elaborate it was to get into the DLC. You had to kill the hydra in the lake in Darkroot Basin. Then, you had to kill the golden golem in the lake to release Dusk of Ooolacile who was imprisioned within. Then, you had to go to the Duke’s Archives to kill a specific crystal golem to get a necklace. Then, you had to go back to  the lake to access a portal at the very end of it.

You can’t even get to the Duke’s Archives until the second half of the game. FromSoft had to tell reviewers how to get the DLC because no one figured it out. Dark Souls III isn’t so bad, and the entrance to the DLC is in the first fourth of the game.

With Shadow of the Erdtree, there are two bosses you have to kill. The first one makes sense, and it fell in line with what people speculated would happen. The second, though, was a complete mystery. There was a lot of speculation why that particular boss needed to be killed in order to access the DLC, but there was no good answer until the DLC was dropped.

I have to say, I really don’t understand the furor over the SotE nom for game of the year last year. In addition to the aforementioned complaint, another gripe I heard was that Elden Ring already got its recognition, so it should sit down and shut up (basically). This also didn’t make any sense to me because as I said, sequels can be nominated for game of the yaer, so why not DLC? Any other company could have called this game a sequel and gotten so much praise for it. It’s very meaty–it took me over seventy hours to finish it. And I fucked up all the NPC questlines, which probably shaved off an hour or two.

In comparison, I put in over 200 hours for my first playthrough of Elden Ring. So the DLC was roughly a third the size and cost under half the price. That’s way more than most companies would do. Miyazaki has jokes for days when it comes to the size of his games. Before the DLC dropped, he said it was about the size of Limgrave (the first area of the base game). Well, yes, if you don’t count how vertical the DLC  is. It may be the size of Limgrave horizontally, but boy, did it go deep. I have not heard/seen so many people say/write the word ‘vertical’ over one game.

It’s apt, though. Miyazaki is known for his exquisite level design. Any game in which he is the lead shows how immaculate he is in this area. Well, at least when he has the time to execute it properly. And he went over the top with the DLC for this game.


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My 2025 game awards, part six

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Now we’ve come to the part of my awards giving where I’m the most conflicted I’ve ever been. Here is yesterday’s post on Hades II (Supergiant Games), a game that reall yhad me conflicted. I felt really weird that I wasn’t more enthusiastic about the game, but I can only be honest–I prefer the oreginal. The sequel is an excellent game, but there is nothing new in it that blew me away. And, I preferred much of the original to the sequel.

That was hard, but today is even harder. I have had an ongoing schtick in which I bestow an award to  FromSoft game every year, regardless of if they release a game that year or not. In a year in which they launch a game, it’s unheard of that I would not give that game the FromSoft award. Even if I could not play the game or it did not gel with me, it would automatically get the award.

Until this year.

Elden Ring Nightreign dropped this year. It used the assets from Elden Ring, but it was a standalone game. I knew from the trailer that it was not going to be my thing, but I hoped.

Why did I know it was not going to be my thing? Because it included everything I hate in a game. Multi-player, fast-paced, no time to  stop and think, very little story and lore, and RNG for each run (sort of).

What do I love about FromSoft games? The exploration; the slow, deliberate pace; the gorgeous level design; the NPCs; and the feeling of overcoming difficulties. I have no qualms over-leveling if I can and making the boss fights as easy as possible.

I’m split on the boss fights themselves. Yes, the bosses are incredible and memorable, but From has been making them harder and harder over the years. I have known for several games that I will one day be not able to play one of their trademark hard-as-nails action adventure games, and we’re almost there.

I tried to like Nightreign; I really did. I put dozens of hours into it, playing the Recluse (the witch). I lucked out in that the first run I had was with two incredible randos, and we beat the first Night Lord (the big boss at the end of three days that is incredible hard. I mean, this one is the first one, so not as hard, but still).

That gave me a false sense of hope, and I did not come close to victory again for dozens of hours. I was mostly playing with randos because the people in the Discord are all PlayStation people and because I suck so badly, I felt bad playing with–well, anyone beacuse I was the one dragging everyone down. It did not help that the Recluse is the hardest character to play, well, one of them, anyway. The other character I liked (the Revenant) was considered difficult, too. Plus, unlocking her was a pain in the ass as well.


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What games define me, part six

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I have one last post in me talking about the ten games that define me. Or, more to the point, the one game that is my favorite game of all time AND that is important to who I am now. Here was my post from yesterday, which was also about Elden Ring (FromSoft) and what it means to me. I also want to expand more on why it’s so important to me and how I fear that it’s the last FromSoft game I will play.

Let’s tackle the last part first. Ever since the DLCs of Dark Souls III, I have noticed that the content has been getting incrementally harder. That’s only to be expected given the nature of the games and how they became known for being hard. That’s not why I play the games, though, so it made me uneasy to see the constant upping of the difficulty. When I played Sekiro: Shadows Died Twice, I realized I had hit the upper limit of my ability. Granted, that’s a different kind of game and you can’t summon human beings, but still. It made me realize that my time playing From games was short, and I should just enjoy the ones I can play until I can’t.

Speaking of can’t. Sigh.

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon came out in late August of 2023. I knew from the trailer that it wasn’t going to be for me, but it was FromSoft so I had to buy it and try it. I started it up with little hope in my heart. It wasn’t my kind of game at all, and it looked antithetical to anything I enjoyed in a game. And yet.

There’s always giong to be a part of me that thinks I’ll warm up to any From game if I just give it enough time. I tried; I really did. I made it to the tutorial boss, and I just could not do it. Parrying was a big thing in the game, much to my dismay. Or rather, deflecting like you do in Sekiro. Plus, there were two different boost buttons, which broke my brain. In addition, you could go out of the fighting area, and you would be rudely reminded that you could not go in that direction. It wasn’t just a wall that you run into–it was, if I remember correctly, flashing red lights.

In addition, you had to boost in order to fly, and I just could not get the hang of that. Oh, and there was definitely fall damage in the game–lots of it. If you don’t land on a platform, you take damage. Since I have almost no depth perception, landing correctly was not happening with any consistency.

I fought the tutorial boss for over an hour. I was not getting it. I’m stubborn, though, and I kept going. I eventually got the boss, but I didn’t enjoy it. Nor could I tell you how I got it. Could I do it again? Probably not. I did a few missions after, but I did not enjoy that, either. After dying several times by not being able to boost properly and falling over and over again, I put it aside. I wasn’t enjoying it, and it was not for me.


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A very different FromSoft point of view

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I have been a FromSoft fan for over a decade. I hated the first Dark Souls game when I finished it (Prepare to Try Edition, which included the DLC, and I vowed never to have anything to do with it again. Even playing it was fraught as I almost-quit several time and rage-quit once. I didn’t play it for a year, and then went back to it when I decided I wanted to try to play the sequel.

I know I could have played the sequel without playing the first game, but that’s not my style. I would have felt weird the entire time, so I went back to start the first game over and trudged my way through. I managed to do it plus the DLC in 150 hours. Yes, it took me that long because I am that shit at the games.

But I fucking did it. And I vowed never to play the game again.

That’s a joke as I’ve played the first game at least a dozen times. I’ve started it more than that, but I usually quit halfway through. I have the plat, and when the remaster came out, I sailed through it. I went from struggling with every area and every boss to one-or-two-shotting all the bosses. I played most of the game offline because on launch day, there was a PC hacker who invaded people’s worlds and killed Andre, the first and very important blacksmith. He (and let’s face it. It was overwhelmingly likely the hacker was a he) had done it to several people, and when I found that out, I immediately  quit out of that game and started a new one.

Why? Because Andre is very important, and, yes, there is a way to bring him back, but it was laborious and would take some time.I decided it would be easier to start another game and race my way to where I was, playing off line so I could not be invaded.

That’s when it struck me that I was actually decent at the games because that was my conclusion rather than raging about it. I was irked, yes, and thinking nasty thoughts about the hacker, but I knew I could get back there quickly. I felt bad for anyone he did it to who was playing the game for the first time, but I knew that it would not be an issue for me. And it wasn’t. I got back there in about an hour. The first time, it probably took me ten hours to get there.

I’m bringing this up for two reasons. One, to establish how shit I was at the games and still am, actually. At least on a first playthrough. I take at least twice as long as other people to play a new From game, and not just because I’m very thorough in my exploration–which I am, by the way. In the main game, I finished my first playthrough in 225+ hours. I didn’t miss any caves or catacombs (without looking shit up), and I’ve only seen a few minor new things watching RKG play the game.


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Talking more about soulslikes

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Let’s talk a bit more about soulslikes. I brought up WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers (LEENZEE) yesterday beacuse it’s coming out soon, and the RKG Discord is going mad over it. Supposedly, a games journalist said that it’s to Dark Souls what Lies of P did for Bloodborne, and several people in the Discord were so hyped about it.

Once again, I felt as if I were a weirdo in a weird world. I have heard enough good things about it that I’m mildly curious, but I also know what’s going to happen. If I have any hope in my heart, it’ll be ruthlessly stomped on as I play the game.

Side note: The game is on Game Pass. Aaaargh. That makes it way too easy to try it out. In fact, that’s how I played Lies of P (Round8 Studio/NEOWIZ)–yes, the whole game. And Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sanfall Interactive).

This game has been universally praised as one of the best (if not the best) soulslikes to date. That is quite high praise, indeed. The Backlogs, a channel I watch sporadically, did a video on whether he could beat the game with magic. Since I heard from another YouTuber that the magic gets less useful as you go along, I am keen to hear what The Backlogs has to say. But, the video is over an hour long, and he was asked by the developer to break the game. And he could show everything but the ending.

I’ve included the video below. I’m about fifteen minutes in, but I don’t know how much I’ll watch. If I am going to play the game, I don’t want to spoil myself too much. In fact, if I do play it, I have watched more than I normally would before playing a game.

I’m installing it. Yes, even someone as jaded as I am can still have hope, apparently. Even though I have been disappointed countless times before, I still want to believe that the next game will be different.

I will say that I’m glad there’s transmogrification beacuse I just cannot with the ridiculous armor. It makes me angry that this is still a thing in 20 fucking 25.

I think, though, that my time with soulslikes is coming to an end. I have not enjoyed a single one since Salt and Sanctuary (Ska Studio), and I only finished Lies of P because of my stubborn pride. I cheesed my way through it, and I did not feel a sense of accomplishment at the end. I have no desire to try the DLC, and a large part of that is because i would have to play the game again in order to get there. Roughly two-thirds of the game, at any rate. And, yes, they put in different modes, but still. Also, I would have to pay for it because it’s not on Game Pass any longer.


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More about my perfect game–and the end of things

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I’m at the end game of Promise Mascot Agency (Kaizen Game Works), and as is true for most games, I play, I’m rushing to get to the end of it. Oh, by the way, this is the post from yesterday. I started Act 3…yesterday? The day before? Something like that, but then I promptly put it on the back burner and tootled around cleaning up all the side quests.

Speaking of which, I am even more a believer in trimming the fat. My god. The amount of side quests/mini-games that are available is mind-boggling. I know it’s that way in the Yakuza series, too, and I found out a fun fact. It’s in the trailer I included in the post yesterday, and I’ll whack it in this post as well.

The main character, Michi, is voiced by Takaya Kuroda, who is the voice of Kazuma Kiryu in the Yakuza series. It’s a testament to Takaya Kuroda that I did not sus that out. Granted, I don’t play the Yakuza games, but I have heard his voice often enough that I could have put it together. Michi and Kazuma are similar men. They’re yakuza, obviously. Both  are honorable men who took a dive for their families. They are bottled up and anxious to do the right thing. They are repressed, diffident and distant, and they are goddamn hot.

I don’t know Kiryu very well, but Michi has wormed his way into my heart. He’s compassionate in that he cares about the people around him, and he wants to do the right thing. In addition, he’s encouraging to his friends and truly wants to help them realize their dreams.

The characters are the best thing about the game. Each mascot has a distinct personality and is memorable. The art work is impeccable in the game, and I love the use of color. Music is appropriate and really adds to the environment. Most of the time, the game looks like an anime/manga in style, but then once in a while, they throw out the chibi version of the characters–who are adorable.

I have my favorites, of course. Of the mascots, I mean. To-Fu is the first mascot I recruited, and he holds a soft (heh) spot in my heart. I just recruited the 20th and last mascot, and he’s adorably charming, too. Even the ones who are creepy, though, are so in a lovably quirky way. I can’t think of a single one that I don’t at least mildly like, and I truly adore most of them.

That said, I don’t love the busy work of sending them out on jobs. I know! That’s ironic given the name of the game, but I have twenty mascots that I have to send out on jobs. I have roughly 80 available jobs now, which is way too many. In the beginning, I would carefully match the mascots to the jobs when I had three mascots and maybe ten jobs available. Now, I just go down to the ones that pay the best (I have them listed from least lucrative to most) and rapidly assign jobs as quickly as possible.

And, because I still have to participate in the grand prix mascot regionals even though I’m number one, that means I have to keep one mascot held back so they are ready to go when need be. I think at some point, this should just be automated. I know the name is Promise Mascot Agency, but it is honestly one of my least-favorite parts of the game.


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Why my loyalty to FromSoft is wavering, part two

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I’m thinking about my brand loyalty to FromSoft and how it’s wavering. I ended the last post by saying about how it’s not me–it’s them. What do I mean by this? I mean they are spreading their wings, which is their absolute right, but it’s not what I’m interested in.

It’s interesting. Many people think that Nightreign was a cash grab. Even people who who like the game think it’s a calculated move to bring in th money. It’s an asset flip with no real new content except for the Nightlords and the nightfarers. And as it stands right now, there really isn’t any replayability once you beat all the bosses. Unless you want to play as the other nightfarers, of course.

I have to admit that I’m a bit bored with the runs themselves. Yes, making it to the third boss has added events and different enemies/bosses to the world. By the way, one map is not enough. Yes, the events change the map somewhat, but it’s still Lim…veld? I think that’s it? Based on Limgrave from the base game.

And because of the breakneck speed, you have to know what you’re doing before you’re even dropped int o the world.

Anyway. The prevalent feeling is that it’s fun with your friends for a few runs, but it’s probably not going to have a lasting impact on the genre.

Some people even think it’s the worst game From has made. It’s been interesting because usually, the people who love From games REALLY love From games. This time, it’s been decidedly mixed. Which makes sense because many people like the games because of the slow and deliberate pace, the exploration, and the unfolding lore. Nightreign has none of that. I mean, there is some lore, but so far, it’s not as compelling (to me), while retaining the frustrating obtuseness of how to uncover it.

I think I mentioned yesterday that if it had been made by someone else, I would not even have looked twice at it. It’s only because FromSoft made it that I bought it. Even then, I hesitated. I knew it was not going to be for me, and I was right.

Not only is it that I don’t have friends who play it so I have to rely on randos (which is very dicy), but I am not enjoying the game as I play it. If I’m going to be brutally honest, it’s missing something for me. Not even the hectic speed of it or the multiplayer aspect. There’s just something missing that makes a From game special.

I don’t think it’s a pure cash grab. Miyazaki said that one of his team members expressed an interest in doing an idea like this, and Miyazaki told him to go for it. I’m not saying money wasn’t a part of it (because let’s face it, money is a part of everything), but I do think Miyazki is interested in exploring games that aren’t in his wheelhouse. No one remembers Déraciné, a game they made for the PS4 in VR. That was, ah, very different, shall we say. I didn’t play it because I didn’t have a PS4, and I can’t do VR.


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FromSoft and brand loyalty

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I’m not writing about Nightreign (FromSoft) today. At least not directly. Well, I’ll probably end up going in that direction, but this is about brand loyalty in general. Here’s the post from yesterday just because it’s tangentially related.

I wanted to talk about brand loyalty because it’s been on my mind. Why? Well, it lingers in the back of my mind now and again, and with the Stwitch 2 releasing yesterday, I had to marvel at how bonkers people went.

Full disclosure: I don’t have a Switch. I had no intention of buying a Switch 2. Then, it was revealed that FromSoft had an exclusive release that was going to be on Switch 2 (The Duskbloods), and I was so disappointed when I heard about it. Then I found out that it was yet another multiplayer game, and I was even sadder. Why? Because I hate multiplayer games. Which is one of the reason I am not having a good time with Nightreign.

I have been feeling since Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (second DLC) that FromSoft games were getting further and further away from me. I mean, the first game was a miserable experience the first time through, and I have always been painfully aware that I’m on borrowed time with the games.

I started feeling it while playing The Ringed City, and it’s only increased with each gome (save base game Elden Ring). Sekiro was a miserable experience for me, and I don’t think I could even finish it now after my medical crisis. This is not me being a downer or hating on myself; this is me being pragmatic.

Side note: I am really tired of From fans now doubling down on ‘the games are not hard’. I don’t know where this retconning is coming from, but it’s bullshit. No, they are not the hardest games in the world, but they are not NOT hard, either. At least for 90% of gamers. And it’s irritating to hear hardcore From fans pooh-pooh that.

Side note to the side note: This is just another kind of gatekeeping. Years ago, it was people taking pride in the fact they finished Dark Souls. You weren’t a real gamer if you didn’t! That was unpleasant, too, even more so, but that doesn’t mean the current ‘the games are SO easy LOL’ is any better.


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