In the RKG Discord, there is the evergreen question of , “How do you rank the FromSoft games?” It’s understandable because that’s what got RKG (then Prepare to Try) noticed in the first place–their coverage of FromSoft games. For me, personally, it’s the only reason I’m still supporting RKG as I don’t like most of the other things they cover (horror games. I hate body horror, and it’s all body horror these days), but I love their From stuff. And Elden Ring is coming up–for a year’s worth of episodes. Krupa has said this, and I’m really looking forward to it. But, I haven’t watched any of their scary games stuff in the meantime because it’s all so fucking unpleasant. The Supremassive Games are just insulting and sexist (yes, I know that’s the trope, but it’s tedious), and the Resi games are just gross. I know I am the weird one because I react to seeing body horror as if it’s real, but why subject myself to that? Even if I don’t watch it, hearing the screams are enough. It’s strange because it’s so obviously fake (I don’t get scared by any of this shit), but it’s viscerally distrubing, nonetheless. So I get none of the pleasure and all of the ugliness.
Anyway, most people put Bloodborne or Sekiro first. Some people think BB is a perfect game. one or two people put Dark Souls first, but that’s it. No one else says DS III is their number one, so it’s always me being the weirdo (yet again).
I was messaging Ian about this and snickering because people get ruffled by me saying DS III is my favorite, but I know it’s not the best game. There is a YouTuber I used to watch who could not understand that mentality. If he liked something, it was good! If he didn’t like it, it was bad! He turned out to be a terrible person for other reasons, but this was indicative of his extreme narcissism. Not that unusual, sadly, for cis het white dudes who think they are the norm. But he just could not get the concept of a game he didn’t like being good and one he liked beeing bad.
I mean…back when I ate gluten and dairy, I would buy breakfast sandwiches from my local gas station. I knew they weren’t good, but my god, did I eat the hell out of them. And, yes, they were greasy and made me feel bloated, but they were also so damn tasty.
Here’s the thing. Dark Souls III is my favorite From game. I’ve played it dozens of times. When I was in the hospital, I quoted the ’80s trailer, “When you pick a fight with the devil, you better be stronger than hell.” It’s a great trailer, and it’s an even better line. The fact that it wsa lodged in my brain when I woke up from dying (say it with me, twice!) said a lot. I am blunt about the fact that it’s not the best of the From games, but it’s my favorite by a hair. The second is Elden Ring, by the way. The consensus favorite, Bloodborne, is second to last. The other fan favorite, Sekiro, is dead last. And I know people can’t believe I put it last, but…I’m just going to ssay it. It’s an ableist assumption. The main conceit of Sekiro is the deflect. That’s when the enemy goes to strike you, you hit their sword with yours at the right second, thus creating a satisfying ‘chung’ that does a huge amount of posture damage. Keep doing this, and you can beat a boss in seconds.
Being unable to do this, however, means a boss fight can take up to twenty minutes as you painfully chip away at their health. ask me how I know.
All From games have some kind of parrying mechanic. If you can master it, the game is so much easier. If you can’t, however, then you’re up shit creek without the proverbial paddle. With the RPG games, though, you can find ways around it. You can overlevel, use magicks, strength your way out of it, etc. I have never mastered the parry system in any of the Souls games or Elden Ring, and it mattered not. I also did not master the riposte/visceral in BB, but I could get around that somewhat by using the Augur of Ebrietas to apply TENTACLES TO THE FACE. Which I yelled with glee every time I did it. But that didn’t always work, either, which was a shame. It worked more often than the gun did, though, so fuck the whole gun thing.
Oh, also, you can use a shield in the Souls games/Elden Ring. That mitigates a lot of the issues with not being able to parry. But, Sekiro. Oh my god, Sekiro. Yes, brilliant, gorgeous game. Yes, I love that it’s feudal Japan and the Lone Wolf is, a long, cool drink of hello, handsome. But. And I say this with something approaching affection, the combat can bite my entire not-so-flat yellow ass. No, wait. No afffection at all. This is the most restrictive of the games. You are one character with one weapon, having to play the game one way. Yes, there are prosthetics, but they are very limited. And you can’t level up except for very specific circumstances/occasions.
I tired to play this game again after I got out of the hospital for my medical crisis. I was stuck on my nemesis in NG+, and I tried for hours to beat him. I could rarely get out of the first phase–just like the first time I fought him. I couldn’t even do the cheese (which was baiting out one movement, punishing him for that, and then ignoring the rest of the moves he does. Obviously, I don’t mind that many people love the game or think it’s so creative and innovative. What I do mind is that they can’t fathom that other people might not feel the same way. Again, mostly vwhite cis het dudes. If they like the game, then it must be universally likeable.
I know this is a thing. I know it’s not going to stop being a thing. But I’m also not going to stop being salty about it.