Underneath my yellow skin

FromSoft games and me, part four

In the last post, I was talking more about Dark Souls than about whether I was the target audience or not for the FromSoft games. So let’s get back to that debate because it intrigues me on many different levels.

I love the games, but am terrible at them. I prefer the Souls games/Elden Ring to BB and Sekiro because there is much more flexibilty in the former than in the latter. I tihnk the problem is that the one Discord I’m involved in sprung up around RKG–who started as Prepare To Try at IGNUK. They started it as a lark, really, wanting to see if a noob (Rory) could beat Dark Souls before the third game came out. That was the premise, and they were open that they were just doing it for fun. It wasn’t meant to be a thing, but it became a thing. It became hugely popular, and they were able to do a second series–on the third game.

After a few more years and series, they left IGN and started their own company, RKG (Rory Krupa Gav), because they felt they couldn’t give Prepare To Try the attention they (and the community) deserved. They rebranded that series to Retry, and they reserve it for the hard games they make Rory play. Their first series for Retry was Dark Souls II (Scholar of the First Sin), which is widely considered the least-best FromSoft game by many of the fans. There are some who think it’s the best of the trilogy, but they are few and far between. One person in the RKG Discord said that Elden Ring was the sequel to Dark Souls II, and I can kind of see it. I think, though, it’s more like an amalgamation of the best bits of the trilogy. Well, actually, all the games, but you would not be remiss to call it an open world Dark Souls IV. Soame people get upset with that and call it derogatory, but not at all! Dark Souls III is my favorite game in the world before Elden Ring came out. Why the hell would I not want more of it, new and improved?

Side note: When people were clamoring for a Dark Souls IV, one journalist said, “What Souls fan would not want another Souls game? Me. It was meant to be a trilogy, which was clear by the third game. I feel like if they had done a fourth Souls game, it would have been a money grab. Or just because fans pushed them to do it. Here’s the thing about Miyazaki: he does what he wants, and he doesn’t seem to want to do the same thing over and over again. Yes, there were three Dark Souls, but he did not direct the second one. And the third one is the way he wanted to do the first one if he had had the time. You can’t blame him for wanting a do-over when he was so pressed for time doing the first game.



Everyone says what a great game the first Dark Souls was. It spawned a whole genre (“soulslikes”), and it’s been held as the gaming standard in almost every genre. You can see its influence far and wide, and there are easter eggs to it in so many different games. Some people will argue that Demon’s Souls should be the game to get the praise beacuse it was the first of the series, but that’s neither here nor there. Dark Souls gets that credit, probably beacuse Demon’s Souls was janky as hell.

It has been called the most innovative game in the last two decades, if not ever. Even people who don’t play the games recognize that they exist. I mean, people who play games in general. I am really happy that Elden Ring did so well because FromSoft deserves the recognition.

I do think, however, that I am reaching the top of my abilities when it comes to these games. If FromSoft keeps ramping up the difficluty, I’m going to have to bow out at some point. This fills me with sadness because I love the games, but I no longer have it in me to do one boss fight for hours on end. There are rumblings about a Sekiro sequel. I really don’t think a sequel is in cards, but if there is one, I–well, I’ll try it, of course. But I highly doubt I will be able to finish it. I have neither the ability nor the will any longer to do so.

I did not like Sekiro. I love the world and the characters, not to mention the exploration and the fact that it’s set in feudal Japan. I loved everything about it–except the combat. Arguably, the most important part of the game. Ian’s brother loves the game and wishes that there  was a way for people who didn’t gel with the combat to experience it. I agree, but I know that will never happen. Miyazaki may say the difficulty is not the point of the games, but they are prominent in all of them. It’s not as if he’s made an action adventure/RPG game that isn’t difficult, so his protestations ring hollow.

I do wonder, though, if he feels trapped in a mechanism of his own making. Or if he still enjoys making such hard games. I know he loves making posion swamps, which, sigh, just….I mean….there’s an image in the DLC trailer that everyone assumed was of a dead white mask (Varre’s people), but it has recntly come to my attention that it’s a field of sleep and the white mask is not dead. Interesting. Sleep is a status in the main game and particularly useful for the Godskin Apostle and the Godskin Noble.

I think if people weren’t so gatekeep-y about the games, I wouldn’t feel so bad about my ability to play them. But even in the RKG Discord, which has the nicest From fans I’ve ever met, there’s a constant thrum of how you should and shouldn’t play the games. Should not spirit summon. Should not have a smorgasbuild. Should level up vigor and endurance and not magicks. Unless you are a sorcerer/cleric, and then you should jack up your intelligence/faith. You should not use a shield. You should two-hand or dual-wield. In other words, there are still people low-key telling others to git gud.

It’s exhausting. I’m tired of it. It may be time to get out of the forums completely.

 

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