Let’s talk more about indie games and Dark Souls III (FromSoft, definitely not an indie game). Here is my post from yesterday in which I talked a bit about both. Well, I talk about indie games and FromSoft (if not specifically the FromSoft I’m currently playing) I’m in The Ringed City DLC, and I have finally attained my beloved Black Witch Set, which is after the first boss of the DLC. The armor is also in the second Souls game, but it’s harder to get in that game. Or rather, there’s a chance that the game will glitch and not give it to you after killing an NPC invader. And that invader only shows up in the Scholar of the First Sin edition after you light up all the torches in the area (there’s something like 20 of them? Oh, wow. There are 49 of them. So more than double what I estimated.
Because the level is very vertical with many ladders, the drop can get hung up on a ladder in a way that you can’t reach it. Quitting out and logging back in (something that usually works for drops you can’t reach/didn’t get as the NPC falls to their death) doesn’t do anything. This happened to me once, and I was so mad that I had taken the time to do all the torches, kill the invader, and I got nothing for my efforts.
In this game, you just have to get to the mid-point of The Ringed City DLC (well, not quit mid) and defeat a different NPC invader to get the armor. There’s a veil that you can get a bit later that you can wear instead of the hat. I don’t wear either, though, because I’m wedded to my ridiculously big hat. It’s my favorite piece of armor in any From game, bar none. And it’s not even close.
Anyway, I want to sing the praises of Dorhy’s Gnawing once again. It’s a miracle that sends out little bugs to chew away at the enemy, and it procks bleed really easily. That means that after a certain amount of damage, there’s a burst, and the enemy takes a big chunk of damage.
It takes 25 Faith, which is quite a lot in this game. I tend to spread my points, and my beloved Chaos Bed Vestiges takes 20 Int (and 10 Faith). Plus, I need 18 Strength for the Executioner’s Greatsword (my early-to-mid game sword) and 26 Strength for my beloved Lorian’s Greatsword (my late-game sword). It takes 30 (!!) in Attunement to get 5 spell slots. I knew it was a lot, but I didn’t realize it cost THAT much.
One of the best QOL changes Elden Ring had was that the number of spell slots was not depnedent upon any stat. You started with two regardless of class, and then you had to find Memory Stones around the map. Each one gave you a slot, and there were a total of 10 of them in the game. Plus a talisman (ring) that gives you two extra slots. So you can have a total of 12 slots! Luxury.
I need to find an indie game to play now that I’m done with Creature Kitchen (The Rat Zone). I’ve tried several word game demos, but none of them have quite hit the spot. I’m still playing Birdigo (John August, Corey Martin), but I’m hitting that “I want to quit but I can’t” space. I have two achievements left, and I’m going to get them done if it kills me. It won’t, but it’s killing my joy for the game.
Again, this is on me. I don’t have to do the plat. This is totally on me. There is a time when I can just set away from it and say, “No more.” But…I justcan’t. If I reach that point, it’s already too late. The point when I notice that I’m going for the plat, I mean.
I regret not getting the plat for Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall), but that’s because there’s a truly dreadful video game in the game that I would never be able to beat. (It’s purposely bad as an homage to old-timey compy games.) Same with Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games). it also had a deliberately bad video game as an homage, and it was even worse than the prior one.
In general, though, indie games are better at making plats that are doable mostly through actually playing the game. Or maybe I just have gotten lucky. My absolute favorite plat–well, one of two–was the Hades (Supergiant Games) because by the time I was done with the main story (which is a deceptive thing to say because it takes a lot to get there), I only had three achievements left to get.
The sequel’s plat was a tad more annoying, and I used God Mode to get it (and to play much of the game, to be honest). But, I am one of those filthy degenerates who prefers the original game to the sequel, anyway.
When I play an indie game, I’m looking for one (or more) of a few things. One, a moving experience. Two, some kind of simulator. Three, terrific NPCs. Four, a compelling story. I don’t expect stunning graphics/visuals (though I often get them), and I don’t expect big budget effects. I do expect great music (and usually get it), and I expect a nice hour to ten hour experience.
When I play a triple A game, on the other hand standard except FromSoft disclaimer), I expect bloat and that I’ll get tired of the game about two-thirds of the way through (if not sooner). I expect repetition and meaningless side quests. If there’s romance, I expect it to be cringy (though I tend to steer of AAA games that have romance in them beacuse it’s so bad. Except Saints Row IV (Deep Silver Volition). I loved the romance in it because it made fun of all the other games. You just went up to all the NPCs and asked them to fuck/told them you wanted to fuck. All but one said yes immediately and without you having to ‘woo’ them at all.
The only exception is Keith David. No matter what you do, he will not bed you. Which, while frustrating, is hilarious.
I’m done for the night. I might write more about ti tomorrow.