I love FromSoft games, but they don’t love me back. Ian and I have an ongoing argument about whether FromSoft games are for me or not. He says I’m the target audience. Someone who likes the game, but isn’t great at them. I maintain that it’s the fanbois who are the target audience, especially for the DLCs (which are as hard as balls). I think we have to clarify which game we are talking about, too. I’m catching up on other-Ian’s (Eurogamer) Sekiro playthrough. I like watching him because he’s good at it, but not preternaturally so. There’s one episode where Aoife from Eurogamer is guiding him through the game. She’s saying you have to learn to deflect and once you do, it’s makes the game almost easy. She likened it to a rhythm game, which I hate as well. She said that you cannot beat the game without learning to deflect. She also said that anyone could beat the game. So transitive property….
It’s the lesser-known result of the Dunning-Kruger study. People who are good at something underestimate how good they are in comparison to other people. Because it’s easy for them. Or rather, because you only know your own ability. So however you are at the games, well, that’s the norm. So people who are good at the games don’t know what it’s like to suck. I watched someone play the BB DLC and kill the bosses in two or three tries. I gave up after watching him apologize for taking three tries to kill Lady Maria. So Aoife repeatedly saying anyone can play Souls games is not uncommon, but it’s still frustrating.
I mean, I do think anyone can play. If I could beat the first game, then, yes, it’s possible for anyone who wants to devote time, blood, sweat, and tears to it. But no shame if you don’t. Also, it took me 150 hours to beat the game the first time around, including the DLC. But, there’s no shame in not wanting to put in the work to beat the games. It’s not easy for many people and more to the point, it’s not enjoyable. I had a Twitter friend tell me she tried the game, but then attacked the Crestfallen Warrior at Firelink Shrine because there was a note saying to do so and now she can’t rest there. I felt so bad because that’s a very important bonfire and one you do not want an aggroed NPC lurking around. She did not want to start over from the beginning, so she quit. Which is completely valid.
I recently watched Outside Xtra do a Christmas Challenge to see who could get to the Taurus Demon faster. I was intrigued and tried it myself. Even now, I take my time and over-level on my way to the Bell Gargs. I can take hours in the beginning bits because I want to make sure I can use the Zwei, which is 24 strength. Plus, I want a +5 weapon by the time I reach the Bell Gargs and/or the Drake Sword. Oh, and it’s beat the Taurus Demon, not just reach him. Luke did it in 11:30 or so. Ellen did it in 14 minutes or so. I decided to try it because it’s so not my style. Starting from the very beginning and getting to and beating the Taurus Demon as soon as possible? Alrighty then.
I made a new character and it was off to the races. Ironically, I had difficulty with the scrubs next to Firelink Shrine on the way to Undead Burg. I died two or three times to them, which was embarrassing. I wasn’t as fast as Luke, but I was faster than Ellen. I actually did it in 12:58, which I was impressed by. When I told Ian, he was incredulous. Surely, he said, it couldn’t include the Northern Undead Asylum? Indeed, it did. And I was gratified that I could do it so quickly. It proved that I’ve gotten better as a Souls player, which is nice to know.
I’m watching Ellen from Outside Xtra play Dark Souls III as I write this. She smashed Dark Souls with a lot of advice from Luke. She did the whole ‘anyone can beat Dark Souls if they are slow and methodical), which made it hard for me to watch. She’s dying a lot more in the third game, which is oddly gratifying. But it goes to show that the normal enemies are harder in the third game than the first. I mean, she died to the tutorial boss four or five times and beat O&S in three tries.
I’m very aware of how pedestrian I am at these games. Which is back to the main point of this post. I am at the point in Dark Souls III where I’ve made myself good by over-leveling and getting all the magicks/pyromancies. I’m in NG+4 and have fat stats. Which is good because it takes over 350,000 souls per level now. I have a miracle called Tears of Denial that brings me back to life with 1 HP. I have it on at all times and it saved me in the Bordt fight. It procked right before I killed him, which means I technically died before he did. Wait. That’s exactly what happened to me in the real world! I died andcame back with basically no health! That’s not true. I had plenty of health. Just no stamina.
I was joking with Ian that everything is considered cheating by the hardcore fans. Tears of Denial? Cheating. Haveling it up? Cheating. A shield? Cheating. Magicks? Cheating. Pyromancy? Definitely cheating! The one thing I’ve learned is not to give a shit what is considered cheating because I’m going to do things my way. Also, if it’s in the game, can it really be considered cheating?
Back to beating the games my way, which is what this post is supposedly about. I didn’t love Bloodborne the way others do, in part because it’s not easy to do an arcane build. And you can’t customize as much as you can in the Souls games. Armor is nothing, really. Yes, there are weapons, but not nearly as many as there are in Souls. still, however, that is nothing compared to Sekiro. In that game, you are the titular character. You don’t get to customize him in any way. You have one weapon throughout the game that cannot be leveled up. You can’t level yourself up, either, except in a very specific way. You can’t over-level yourself. You have to play the game its way, which is not the way I play at all.
I pride myself on not learning the central combat tactic of each game. As I’ve said, it’s served me if not well, then at least it’s served me for all the games–except Sekiro. When Ian reminded me that I like to brag about not learning the central conceit of each game, I said except Sekiro. I tried so hard to learn the deflect. I practiced over and over and over again. I could not get it. Or rather, I could get it maybe half the time? Yes, I could get it on the base enemies, but not on bosses–which is when it’s actually important.
So, yes, you can brute-force the game–it’s just not enjoyable in any way.