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.