Dark Souls. That’s it. That’s the whole post. I’m kidding, of course. I have more to say and today, it’s about the feeling I get when I play a Dark Souls* game. There’s the wonder of exploration, the incredulity at how much content there is just casually laid out in a way that makes it difficult to find. I say casually, but it’s very deliberate. There is nothing about their design that is left to chance. I was playing Elden Ring last night because of course I was, and I was looking for a specific item. I had been through the area where it was supposed to be (second legacy dungeon) and beaten both the bosses. In other words, I had reached the end of the dungeon (school) without finding the item. I looked it up online and found out that in a certain part of this area, I had to look back UNDER where I had gone to open a shortcut. Then, I had to jump over a railing to access the rooftops. THEN I had to go through a window and drop down to get the item. Then I could drop down and do the rest of the upper area of the school. I mean….
I like to think I’m thorough, but I never would have found that on my own. I have spatial issues that make it difficult for me to consider everything around me. I tend to get locked into one path and then not looking elsewhere. I have no compunction about Googling this kind of thing because even if I was the most thorough person ever, I’m still going to miss stuff. One games journalist likes to pride himself on finding everything in the From games, and he did not find Patches in Dark Souls III on his review playthrough. No shade because it’s difficult to find him, but the point is that finding everything is nearly impossible. A YouTuber described trying to find a hidden area in the second DLC of Dark Souls III. You have to go into the nearby swamp as a humanity and then s-l-o-w-l-y meander your way back into the nearby building (by the big nasty bug unless you kill it first), by the bonfire, and through the unlocked door. Then, you have to approach the wall where there is a saying on it and a ladder will drop. The YouTuber said it took him ten hours to figure it out because he didn’t have a, well, him to show him the way.
In embarking on getting this item, I didn’t realize how big the area was in which it was contained. I just thought it would be a simple little run and a quick nab–not that there was a whole new place to explore. I had thought this dungeon was short compared to the first one, but it’s just that I hadn’t found the new spaces. I don’t think to look up or down, which is on me. Again, it makes me glad that there is a robust community and that I can look stuff up. Is it cheating? Nah. Like I said, it’s nearly impossible to find everything in the games. Another example is Ash Lake in the original Dark Souls. You have to climb down a huge tree to get to it, which is hidden behind TWO illusory walls–in Blighttown.
And, the NPC questlines are so Byzantine as well. Let’s take Yuria of Londor in the third game because I’m still salty about messing up her questline the first time I played the game. Spoilers, obviously. So. You have to find Yoel of Londor on a bridge. He’s a pilgrim who somehow missed dying with the other pilgrims. I have my suspicions, but that’s neither here nor there. Accept him into your service and he’ll return to the Firelink Shrine. Draw out your true strength five times before defeating the Abyss Watchers and Yoel will die. Yuria will be there, looking at his corpse. Talk to her and she’ll tell you a bunch of lore. And she’ll warn you about Orbeck, the sorcery trainer.
Now. At some point, you’ll get the ability to heal the Dark Sigil. If you do this, she will refuse to talk to you and leave your game. That’s what happened to me the first time because healing the Dark Sigil was a new thing! I had to try it, right? I was so upset, I contemplated starting over. I thought Yuria was necessary for dark magic, but she wasn’t. I should have known that From wouldn’t have made it impossible to go down a certain path, gameplay-wise.
So. If you want to see Yuria’s questline to the end, do NOT choose to heal the Dark Sigil. At some point, she will talk to you about a youth named Anri. Matchmaking in Dark Souls III? Why, yes, indeed. Yes, you have to talk to Anri in order to advance Yuria’s questline. That’s not hard to do, though, as Anri and Horace will be at the Road to Sacrifice bonfire.
Later on, Yuria will tell you that Anri is ready for matrimony. You have to advance Anri’s quest as well, which means seeing him in the catacombs and then the Church of Yorshka. After all this, you have to go to the secret area before Anor Londo and get the sword from the Pilgrim. Then, you have to marry Anri by stabbing him in the face (her, if you play as a man). That’s how you get Yuria’s ending, which is my favorite ending of all. You can also summon her to fight the final boss with you as well as a shade of Londor. If she survives the fight, she gives you her armor.
This is really finicky and if you miss any part of it, you can’t get it. If you kill the disguised Pilgrim in the Church of Yorshka, the quest is over. If you don’t talk to Anri in the catacombs, I assume it’s over. I don’t know if there is a time limit to each event because I have it down cold now.
The point is that this is ONE questline. In Elden Ring, there are several. I may not have met all the NPCS yet, but I’ve already done at least the beginning of so many quests. Grape lady, death hug lady, my bae who is now dead, Irina and her father (both also dead), the sorcerer, the prophet, prawn guy, the sorceress, the other sorcerer, the spirit tuner, the blacksmiths, my other bae, yet another sorcerer, and that is just off the top of my head. There’s also warrior woman (another bae) whom I have not found again. She was referenced by the last sorcerer and I do not trust him at all.
I have poured 80 hours into the game and am just finishing up the second legacy dungeon. I spent an hour or two on the second boss of that dungeon (of actual fighting, not just the endless waiting), and I did not like this boss for several reasons. One, she’s very reminiscent of previous bosses. Two, the infamous two-stage boss fight in which the second phase is a pure DPS race. Third, the boss can endlessly spam skills that I can only use once or at least cannot constantly use. I know she’s considered a weak boss, but I have very little health, endurance, or poise at this point.
I’m a bit worried because they’ve already souped up three out of four bosses in the first two legacy dungeons. I can’t imagine how insane the later-game bosses are going to be.
*Specifically Dark Souls and not From games in general.