I am at a loss as to what game to play next. This happens when I get obsessed with a game. In this case, The Spirit Lift (prettysmart games). I was obsessed with it, and I want to parse what kind of games sink their claws into me. I will break down the games into two different categories: FromSoft games and non-FromSoft games.
FromSoft games are in a league of their own. I have a longstanding rule that I do not preorder games. Except. FromSoft. If they put out a game, I’m buying it (if I can. Still bitter over Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and now The Duskbloods on The Switch 2). I will say that my faith is a bit shaky with Nightreign and Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon coming out in the last few years and now The Duskbloods.
Side note: I don’t have loyalty to brands. Our relationships are purely transactional. As long as I enjoy/like/get use out of your product, I will buy it. If standards start slipping or I no longer like your product, I will no longer buy it. That’s pretty much it.
It’s the same with FromSoft. Well, not exactly the same. I had a much more emotional connection to the ‘product’, but….
I can feel the games going out of my reach. I have known since the DLC of Dark Souls III that there would be one day I could no longer play the games. My abilities were shit to begin with, and I struggled to complete Dark Souls (my first From game). It took me roughly 150 hours to finish it (with the DLC) for the first time. I had the Prepare to Die edition, which meant it was the whole game. I remember a games journalist casually saying there was no way anyone could take a over a hundred hours to finish the game (sans DLC). He was very much, “No one is different than I am. I am the gold standard for how to play Souls games”, but even so.
I almost quit once, and I did quit for a year another time. I struggled so hard. But I kept going back to it. Ornstein and Smough killed me over a hundred times. Well over. It took me roughly seven hours (one hour a day for seven days) to kill them. Why did I stick with it? I have no idea why.
The funny thing is that they didn’t make me quit; it was the Gaping Dragon, of all bosses. It’s not a particularly difficult boss, but it has a ton of health. It’s a very tedious boss if you don’t have at least a +5 weapon–which I did not. After spending a billion hours chipping away at its health (only a slight exaggeration), I got it down to one or two hits. I stepped back to avoid an attack and–stepped into nothing. There was an abyss I guess I didn’t see, and I died a most ignomious death.
I was furious. I was used to dying–good lord, I was used to dying. I mean, it’s in the name of the edition: Prepare to Die. But not to a fucking hole in the ground. I threw the controller and gave up the game on the spot. A year later, I picked it up again. Why? I’m not quite sure, but I think it had something to do with Scholar of the First Sin coming out.
By the time I finished the first game, I hated it with all my heart. I vowed never to touch another FromSoft game again. That was obviously a joke, and I have played every game I can ever since. How did I make that switch? I’m not sure. Something about playing the second game made me a convert, and by the time the third came came around, I was ready to buy it day one. Ian bought the whole package for me (which included future DLCs), and it was a transformative experience.
I have played every From game on release ever since. I am a big FromSoft fan, but I always knew I was on the clock. With every game, I could sense my ability melting away. I cannot emphasize how terrible I am at these games and how I wish I didn’t love them.
I’ve said that jokingly, but I’m not completely joking. While I have loved my journey through From games, and I have to have separate lists for my favorite From games and my favorite other games. Otherwise, all my favorite games would be From games.
So it’s going to be with a heavy heart when I have to walk away from From games, but I will do it. I know it sounds cold (and believe me, I have heard some gufff from people in the From Discord I’m in from rabid fans when they believe anyone is being disloyal to the brand. Not directed at me because I don’t talk about it, but I probably will one day), but at the end of the day, it’s a transactional relationship like any other.
Again, that’s not strictly true. I get an emotional satisfaction from playing From games, obviously. I’m not going to get into the video games as art argument (they can be), but I will say that I have more emotional connection to a From game than my Logitech mouse–though, yo. Logitech is a great brand. They are one brand that I use over and over again. But that’s because they put out a great product. If that changes, then I go.
One example is the Xbox Elite Controller 2. It is the best-feeling controller I’ve had by far. However, it’s also the shittiest-made controlleer I’ve ever had. I know that’s not an actual word, but it’s how I feel. My god. It’s so flimsy and cheap, and the RB button stopped working half the time fairly shortly after I bought it. I Googled it. It was a common issue with the controller, and I read that it was made with really shoddy material. I have friends who have one, and they agree. I did buy another, but if it goes the way of the first one, I’m switching controllers. Seriously. My cheapo basic Xbox controller has lasted three times as long as that first Elite Controller.
That shows that price isn’t everything. I would say that about games, too. When I’m not playing FromSoft games, I’m mostly playing indie games that I buy for twenty bucks or less. I raise an eyebrow when I see an indie game for thirty or more. Hell, one of my favorite games last year was an indie that cost twenty-five bucks and I hesitated to buy it at that price. I believe I got it on one of the endless Steam sales. It was worth it at that price, and it would have been worth it at $25. Hell. It would have been worth it at $40. It has so much content, though I would (and have argued) too much content.
What does this have to do with what game I play next? Not much! But it’s what was on my mind, so I went with it. Oh, I do have a huge backlog, and I played several demos today. Only one of them clicked, and that wsa a qualified click. I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.