Lords of the Fallen continue to test my patience. I mentioned in the last post a few of the positives that I found in the game. The ease with which you can summon is one of them. At the beginning of the next session, however, I was in the same boss room and about to go back to the bonfire and level up. I was immediately invaded and could not go up the lift to get back to the bonfire. I had to stay in the arena (wait, I was able to go up the ladder that leads to and from the lift to the arena), and I died. I did try to fight the invader, but I was pissed. You should not be able to be invaded when you’re in the boss arena of a boss you just beat. This, my friends, is bullshit.
I died. Twice. Fortunately, the boss run was fairly easy so I was able to get my souls. Er, vigor. But, once you beat a boss, you should not be able to be invaded. FromSoft established this in the first Dark Souls (probably in Demon’s Souls, to be honest), and this is a huge step backwards.
In the next area, there was a merchant that apologized for being such a wimp the last time we met. I gaped at him because I had no clue who he was. At all. And I had only been playing the game for a few days. Who was this guy acting like he knew me? I had no clue. And he had nothing I wanted to buy.
Another thing. I am using the same weapon I had been using from the start. The Pyric Cultist Staff. It’s a polearm, and it’s pretty damn good. But, one of the draws to a game like this is finding new equipment. I’ve found nothing. There is an umbral trainer in the hub world and more than one radiance trainer. But no pyro trainer.
I know who will eventually be one (I saw it online, but I had kind of figured it out ahead of time), but I’m four bosses down and there’s not hint how to get them back to the hub world. Which means I’ve been using my basic fireball as my only Pyro. Oh, there’s one that buffs my strength, but I want more actual Pyros. THis is probably another reason the Pyro is considered an advanced class.
Oh! In my post yesterday, I mentioned that Austin form Skill Up’s channel was frustrated because he could not find the item needed to respec as well as not being able to find the vendor who makes boss weapons. I said that the latter was the vendor you could only see if you were in the hub world in umbral–he also sells the item needed to respec.
Anyway, I went on my way after killing the third boss.
I have to say, I was watching a video on tips and tricks for this game as I was writing this. I have included it below. I had forgotten to get the remembrance (boss soul) from the fourth boss. I went back and got it. Then I played a bit more. And I LOATHE the current area I am in.
I know it’s not cricket to keept comparing this game to Lies of P, but I’m going to do it, anyway. I felt the same way in that game that I do in this–I hate the levels. They are way worse in this game than that, but my complaints are similar for both. This is the absolute wrong lesson they took from the From games. And, it’s something I say over and over–difficulty should not be artificial. It should not be because there are a ton of enemies in one area or hidden enemies or traps that you simply can’t see. I can deal with maybe one of these things at a time, but both these games throw all of them in one area, which is frustrating as hell.
Another thing that I don’t have patience for is how to get to or unlock NPCs. Now, I know this is part of the From games. And I like it well enough in those games. But in this game, I just have no patience for it. There was a prisoner in the early game. She mumbles when you talk to her, and I figured I’d find out what I needed to do at some point. I neevr did, so I looked it up. Because , as I keep saying, I could not be assed to puzzle it out myself. When I realized what needed to be done, I was doubly glad I looked it up. I would not have been able to find some of it at all. Just because I have spatial issues and one of the nodes needed to be found (in umbral, they were all in umbral) was hidden in a way that it would have been difficult for me to uncover it.
Then, there was another NPC who was petrified–by the way, there is a lot of Dark Souls II influence in this game. That’s surprising to me because that’s the least-loved game of the FromSoft games. The prisoner that I freed became a pyro teacher, but she only had two spells. One was my starting pyro and the other was like a flame spray. I loved that.
I’m hoping that I can find Pyro tomes to give to her. She looks a lot like the Pyro trainer in DS II. The other NPC I freed (the petrified one) was a mercenary who was willing to help me for a lowered price. And she gave me a miracles catalyst that I can’t use. If you squish these two NPCs together they make one NPC in Dark Souls II.
I’ve been doing clean up in part because I hate the area in which I’m in. I don’t know if I need to level up my weapons more, but I have a few issues. One, I don’t want to put too much into my starting weapon. It’s served me well thus far, but I’m really feeling the lack of power. I’ve only upgraded it once, though.
Here’s another thing. I didn’t realize I had the item that could get my estus flask upgraded. It’s called the, ah, Sanguinatrix. So, blood vessel. And the upgrade material is…something saintly? Saintly Quintessence.
Look. After a decade of playing Souls games, it’s an Estus Flask. I use Estus Shards to upgrade it. That’s how it is. I rest at bonfires, and I spend souls to get the shit I need. If you’re going to wear your Souls inspiration so blatantly on your sleeve, you’re going to have to accept being continually compared to the FromSoft games.
I’m done for now. I might do one more post tomorrow. We’ll see.