I stumbled over a Let’s Play a little while back of three British lads from IGN playing Dark Souls (the original). To be more precise, one lad, Rory (Irish and American. NOT Irish-American, but actually Irish and American separately), had never played any Souls game, and he was the one who was going to control the sticks. He’s a cheerful, optimistic, hyperactive youngin who had no idea what he had agreed to do. Daniel (Northern English) was his beleagured Souls guide, often giving long-suffering looks directly at the camera after Rory had done something particular bone-headed despite Daniel warning him not to two seconds before. He’s also the lore guy, which can be trying when Rory is nattering on about his gems (prism stones) or whatnots. Gav (Welsh. He makes that VERY clear) was there for comic relief and to slag mercilessly on Rory. Except, when Rory was actually feeling down, then Gav would bolster him up. They’ve done two seasons of it, the original and then Dark Souls III, both with the DLC, and it’s highly enjoyable to watch, except for the occasional crossing the line into really crass and/or gross. I just accept that with dudes hanging out together, though, and they are by far the best about not doing it constantly. Is that a backhanded compliment? Yeah, but not really. In addition, it’s not as gross because of their lovely accents. Everything sounds better with a British accent. One weird thing is that they don’t swear much and they bleep out the swearing, probably because they’re doing it for IGN and not just three guys hanging out.
In the second series, Rory was getting his ass beat, and he said (paraphrasing), “People say that III is easier than I, but I don’t think that’s true at all.” Daniel replied that many people thought Dark Souls was hard, but with the proper guidance, anyone could play it. I actually said out loud to the screen, “But most people don’t play it with you guiding them, Daniel.” It got me thinking about the relative hardness of the games because I’m someone who thinks the third game is easier than the first. There are several reasons why. One, for most people going into the first game, it was something completely different than they’d ever played before. Going into it without any prior knowledge guaranteed that it would be a rough ride. For me, by the time I reached the third game, I had played I and II with all the DLC more than once each. While III was hard and has one of the most difficult if not the most difficult boss in the series*, knowing the general mindset of Miyazaki and having learned to be cautious as I proceeded served me well as I traipsed through Lothric.
A reason I think it was harder for Rory was because he’s very reckless in his play. He barges into situations without sussing them out, and there are more mob situations in III. In addition, Daniel was more hands-on in the first game while allowing Rory more leeway in the third game. Also, Rory used several summons, both human and NPC, in the first game which makes the boss fights MUCH easier. He summoned Solaire for Ornstein & Smough, which is the boss fight that has broken many Souls players and made them quit the game for good. He also summoned Solaire and Lautrec for the Gaping Dragon without even fighting it first (finally beating it with a human summon who was fucking badass), and that’s when I realized I had become THAT GUY about Dark Souls. When Gav mentioned that he thought you should at least try the boss solo once before summoning, I was nodding my head vigorously in agreement. You have to at least try the boss before summoning! That was the very moment I realized, “I’ve become that guy. Oh, shit.” Anyway, Rory decided early on in the third game that he wasn’t going to summon,** so that made several of the bosses substantially harder. He also skipped three of the optional bosses in the original game, all of whom can be quite difficult. In addition, he glitched out Ceaseless Discharge (yes, his real name) and didn’t have to properly fight him.
I also realized I was firmly a Souls gal when I was screaming at Rory to look to the goddamn right and see the fucking bonfire or to turn in his estus shard so he could have more flasks. It’s highly-entertaining to watch Rory play the game, but there is no way in hell I would have wanted Daniel’s job. After the tenth time Rory rushed into a room without checking it out first, only to get ganked by the mob that was waiting for him, I would lose it and pummel the wall behind me while screaming, “I told you to fucking check it out before going in, didn’t I?!?” I would want to strangle him the ninetieth time he threw a prism stone at the feet of an enemy in an attempt to make peace. Though, to be fair to him, it worked more often than it had any right doing
He is really fun to watch, though. His reflexes are better than mine because he’s twenty years younger, but his decision making isn’t always the best. He’s not very observant of his environment, which leads to some hilarious times. Then, once in a while, he’ll have an animal instinct about something that is completely spot-on. Like when he figured out who the Nameless King really was but didn’t realize it without too much prompting from Daniel, or that the moon after you kill…one of the Lords…looks like the darksign. Daniel gave him a well done for that one. He’s very child-like in his wonder and awe of discovery, and the sad moments are made even sadder when Rory’s genuinely shocked and upset by them. His reaction to a particularly tough boss in III is interesting to watch because he goes through the stages I described in an earlier post. First reaction: What the fuck is happening here? This is bonkers. After a few bad tries, second reaction: Oh my god. How am I ever going to do this? Several tries later, resignation. “I’m never going to be able to do this.” Then, a few good tries and, “Wait, maybe.” Getting the first phase down pat, determination. “OK. Got that. Second phase now.” Then, after several hours of painful grinding, silence. If I’m frustrated and cussing a lot, I’m not going to get it done. When I’m in the actual kill-the-boss run, everything slows down, and it seems as if the boss isn’t doing his hardest attack. I have yet to figure out which is cause and which is effect. Am I doing better because the boss is backing off, or does it seem as if the boss is backing off because I’m doing better? I saw it with Rory as well. When he was fighting the hardest bosses, on the winning try, his dodges and rolls were strong and true, and he didn’t have to deal with the boss’s worst attack (for him, which is different than the worst attack for me) nearly as often.
The run in which he finally beat Soul of Cinder (the final boss, III) was a thing of beauty to watch. He was in the zone as Daniel pointed out afterwards. I love the music they edited in as he finally, FINALLY beat this boss. It was perfect. By the way, this was his hardest boss by far. Took him over sixty tries to beat him (the amalgamation of all the people who’ve linked the fire before), and while I found him to be hard, I probably did it in less than twenty. This boss is one in which being a caster is easier. Anyway, when I’m battling a tough boss and about to beat them, I’m completely silent. Then, when I win, I erupt into a stream of curses that would make a sailor blush. The boys (as they call themselves) had a similar M.O., except they bantered instead of cursed. When Rory came close to beating a difficult boss, they would all shut up until he finally beat the boss, then they would explode into jubilant cheers. That feeling I get when I beat a hard boss is why I keep playing Souls games and why they are so dear to me.
I have to say that having watched several Dark Souls Let’s Plays, as much as I love playing as a caster (specifically a pyromancer), it’s much more fun watching swordplay. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full pyromancer/caster Let’s Play of any Souls game. I’ve looked at certain bosses and how to defeat them with pyromancy, but that’s it. And, having finally beaten every boss solo in Dark Souls and Dark Souls III,*** I can say definitively that playing as a tank is WAY easier than playing as a caster. I know I’ve had a chip on my shoulder about this, but it’s only because so many (male) Souls YouTubers are so disparaging about being a caster, even if they’ve never done it themselves. “Oooooh, you get to run around and never take a hit as a caster.” “Magic is so OP!” What they don’t realize is that you give up a lot in poise, health, endurance, and vitality (equipment load in III). Also, in the first game, you had a set number of casts for each spell that can only be renewed at each bonfire. Once you’re done, you’re done. In the third game, you have unlimited numbers of casts, but you have Ashen Estus Flasks that replenish your mana (yes, OK, Focus Points, but it’s fucking mana), and once they’re gone, no more casts. Which means I have to deal with plenty of enemies with my sword/axe/whatever weapon I have in hand. And, since I can’t level up my strength and/or dex that much, it’s usually a weak-ass weapon as well. I just finished my NG++ run of Dark Souls III as a pyromancer/caster, and my strength/dex stats after respeccing are 20/28. Before respeccing, my dex was 18 or 19. In comparison, my intelligence/faith stats are 45 and 45.
It’s all about give and take. I found NG++ much easier than NG as a caster for a few reasons. One, I summoned for most of the bosses. Two, I maxed out my pyromancy damage cap with the intelligence/faith points. Three, I finally could use the most badass of miracles and magic with my high stats. One YouTuber did a run as a pyromancer and complained that it sucked. Now, I didn’t watch it, but I have watched several of his other videos, and he’s definitely not the caster type. But also, I would surmise that he just didn’t know how to use it efficiently, and, yes, I’m definitely a smug Souls bitch now. I will say that there were four bosses I just couldn’t beat solo as a pyromancer in NG. The Abyss Watchers, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Twin Princes Lorian the Elder and Lothric the Youngest, and Nameless King. They had several things in common–multiple bosses in the fight, fast and furious attacks, and a variety of ranged and melee attacks. With my fragile pyromancer, any flurry of hits by the boss did me in instantly. I had no poise, and if I were able to shield, it drained all my stamina. With my tank character, I had poise for DAYS. I could tank hits (duh) and shrug it off with a laugh. I nailed the Abyss Watchers and Pontiff Sulyvahn fairly easily, and once I learned to gauge where Lorian would teleport to and was able to stick to his ass mostly, I got him and his brother as well.
Nameless King, though, he was another matter completely. I cannot tell you how many times I died to him as my warrior character. I had my Greataxe fully upgraded, and I had been maining it throughout the game. It made me feel badass until I faced Nameless King. Oh my god. It was the absolute worst weapon for this boss because it’s quite short, and he’s flying around on a dragon. The camera is wonky as well, and it’s one time when I don’t always use lock-on. I switched up my armor, my weapons, and my shield, to no fucking avail. The problem was once my main weapon didn’t work, I was lost. I spent the whole game with the Greataxe +10, and not being able to use it left me bereft. You can’t just pick up a new weapon and use it–well, I can’t–because they all have different move sets, so I would do even worse when I tried a different weapon. I thought Ornstein & Smough were hard–and they were. VERY FUCKING HARD–but they were a cakewalk compared to Nameless King. Am I forgetting how difficult Biggie & Small were? No. I remember every painful moment of fighting them. I remember how close I was to quitting the game for good because I could. not. beat. these. guys. I was going to give it one last try before walking away permanently, and I finally, *finally* beat them. It was the best goddamn feeling I’ve ever had while playing a video game, and I never thought I’d have such an epic battle again–until Nameless King.
While I was playing my tank character, I was also doing NG+ with my pyro/caster. I was stuck on the Nameless King with my warrior character to the point where I caught up in NG+ with my pyro/caster. By now, I had looked up the Nameless King to see his weaknesses, and I found out that the dragon was weak to lightning (of course. All dragons in Souls games are weak to lightning) and Nameless King was weak to fire. By that point, I could use powerful lighting spells, so I equipped one of those and my best pyro spell and traversed the fog to fight this bastard once again. Most people find the second phase more difficult, but I found the first part hard because the fucking dragon flew around, and it was difficult to lock on to him. With my lightning spell, however, I made short work of him. It was quite fun to stun him with a lightning bolt and then quickly switch over to my Onyx Blade +5 to visceral him for massive damage. I was able to finish him with five or six bolts and viscerals, which meant I was able to save all my Estus Flasks for the second phase. Then, I’d switch over to my pyromancy and just pelt Nameless King from a safe distance. I still died several times. Many times. So many times. I dream of all the times I’ve died to him. Yet, it finally felt doable. I had a sliver of hope. And (I’m sure you can see this coming), I finally beat him. The minute he crumbled into white dust, I let out a stream of curses, elated I had overcome my nemesis at last. It was more a relief than an exultation, however, and it didn’t match the high I felt beating Biggie & Small. I was glad to put him in the done folder, and it reaffirmed the reason why I play Souls games.
Dark Souls III is presumably the last Souls games Miyazaki will create,**** and while I’m in complete agreement that this was the perfect way to end the series and I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next, I already miss not having a new Souls game to play.
*Nameless King. He is no joke, and I’ll talk more about him in a bit.
**He made two exceptions, and they were both NPC summons. One, Anri, his fiancee, for Pontiff Sulyvahn and the other, Slave Knight Gael, is actually part of the Friede fight in the DLC. You summon him at the beginning to show up later, and when he appears, it’s fucking fantastic. That is one of my favorite fights of the series in an otherwise lackluster DLC.
***For whatever reason, I didn’t care as much in Dark Souls II. I’ve beaten most of the bosses solo in that game, but not all. Maybe because there’s twice the bosses, and one boss in each of the three DLCs is meant to be fought co-op.
****One last DLC will be released for it next month.