Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: favorites

The ultimate FromSoft list

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I have two lists of my favorite games. One is my favorite FromSoft games and another is my favorite non-FromSoft games. In honor of Nightreign coming out in a month (their co-op action adeventrue multiplayer game, which I’ll talk about more later), I decided to rank the FromSoft games I’ve played. I’ve done it before, but who knows? Maybe I’ve changed the position of some of the games. I’ll do it in ascending order, starting with….six, I think?

I’d like to emphasize once again that this is not the ‘best of’ list, but a list of my favorite. I don’t believe in best of lists because it’s really hard to make any kind of objective list about subjective art. I mean, it’s clear to see when something in good or bad, but when it’s at the top echelon, it’s hard to differentiate between excellent and stunning, for example.

I will say that the bottom two are easy.

6. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Look. This one is always going to be divisive. I have gotten so much pushback on this, even when I state that it’s my least-favorite FromSoft game, not the worst. I actually think it’s a fantastic game that is gorgeous to look at and the story is probably the easiest to understand of all the games. I love the main character, the Lone Wolf, and I would shag him in a heartbeat. Emma is a great NPC as are Isshin and Genichiro. Kuro is a serviceable plot point/mover, and I don’t mind that he’s the focal point of the whole game.

The ending I got is the hardest to get and the most involved. It’s also the most hopeful and complete, and it’s the one that many people thought was going to be the springboard for the sequel. The sequel which never happened. No one knows why, but my unfounded theory is that FromSoft did not want to work with Activision again beacuse the latter was too micromanager-y.

This game is brutal if you can’t get the deflect, which I could not. I was able to perform it maybe a quarter of the time, and not with any consistency. When I mentioned that I beat Genichiro without deflecting, my nibling’s spouse commented, “I didn’t think it was possible to do that.” My response: “It is, but it’s not enjoyable.”

That was my feeling about the whole game. I could do it, but it wasn’t enjoyable. Even less so is that there is no summoning in the game. I get why, thematically, but it made me realize that it’s the one From game that I will never plat because there is no fucknig way I can solo all the bosses two more times. Plus the two new bosses I would have to fight and beat for the Shura ending.

It’s pretty heart-rending to me that I will never be good at that game and that I will not be able to beat that game again. That’s just the way it goes, though.


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FromSoft NPC love

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NPCs. Love them or hate them, they exist. For the most part, I’m glad about it. They add flavor to the worlds that I’m inhabiting for the next few hourrs. Yesterday, I wrote about my favorite FromSoft NPCs overall. Today, I’m going to focus on a few from each game. Why? Because I want to and I can. I’ll do it in the order I played them.

First, Dark Souls. the OG (obligatory I have not yet played Demon’s Souls).

1. Laurentius of the Great Swamp. He is my favorite for selfish reasons. I am a Pyro first and foremost, and he is the basic pyro teacher. Plus, I like rescuing him from being eating by the butcher. I liked rolling through his barrel to set him free. Then, seeing the fire glow from his hand as he’s talking to me (in his lovely voice).

Then, when I’m at the Firelink Shrine the next time, he’s sitting there casually offering his wares in a strange way. He says he can teach you unels you ‘find the magicks unsavory?’ Which, normally you want to answer yes if an NPC asks you a qusetion.In this case, you want to answer no.

Now. If you meet join the Chaos Servants covenant and get the Great Chaos Fireball in return or meet Quelana and get any of her chaos pyros and show them to Laurentius, he will ask where you got such an amazing pyro. If you answer him truthfully, then he’ll go in search of said pyro.

Next time you’re in the swamp of Blighttown, Laurentius will be there, pelting you with his pyros. He has found his purpose, so he’s lost his mind. You will have to put him down (or avoid him the whole time. That’s why I refuse to tell him where I got the pyro. I want him alive and kicking in Firelink Shrine.

2. Patches. I have said many times that I’m very pro-Patches. #LetPatchesLiveHisBestLife. In the many worlds I have run into him in, he is the only constant. He is going to stab you in the back, and then he’s going to grovel for you to forgive him. Then, he will be a great merchant who will sell you good shit. And he has a severe hatred of clerics.

I am putting him in this game, but just realize that he is across all the games. Even if it’s not exactly him each time. And he is at his best in Elden Ring.

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Hazy, glazy memories

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Apparently, a popular question to ask in interviews is what’s the candidate’s favorite book/movie/musical group/tv show/some other bit of popular culture. I learned this at Ask A Manager. The people who said they asked the question in interviews claimed not to care about the actual question, but that the candidates were able to talk about something non-work-related in a casual way. Someone pointed out if they were going to be working with someone for forty hours a week, they wanted it to be someone they talked to.

Someone else retorted, “Oh, so someone who is just like you, then?” Which was snide, but true. Even though they all claimed that they didn’t care what the answer was and that the person just had some answer, I call foul on that (as many other people did).

First of all, everything I like is niche. I don’t read popular books for the most part. I mostly read people who are in minority categories (usually several at a time), and I can’t think of any that have been bestsellers. In fact, one of my favorite books is about a Burmese brother and sister duo who had to flee their homeland to the United States beacuse of political unrest. The narrator is unreliable for many reasons, and she ends up in a mental institution. It’s a very harsh and raw book, and I bet very few people have read it.

Some people tried to argue that you can just talk about any book you like–not your absolute favorite. That doesn’t erase the fact that you’re still making people consider unconscious bias and that what does that really have to do with work? It’s considered a low-stakes question, but only if you assume that people will respond in a certain way.

If you’re trying to get a feel for how someone can converse in a casual way, why not ask about the weather instead? That’s truly the most banal of banal qquestions, but it’s easy to talk about that one. Unless you’re asking about what kind of weather the candidate prefers.

I was thinking about this and it led me to remember my favorites in various pop mediums. Oh, and also, if someone asked what my favorite TV show was or movie,  or which I’ve been watching/have watched, I would have to say none. All my favorites are from decades ago when I still tried to watch movies and TV. I just can’t be bothered because I don’t like the mediums. I always felt funny about it, but I’ve embraced it now.

My brother laughed and said that of course I didn’t like movies because they weren’t very real. He’s right. I like musicals for the very reason that it’s highly artificial. There aren’t many times in real life when people burst out into songs and jazz hands. I wish there were, but that would be distracting to actual life.


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These are a Few of My Favorite Things (Video Games)

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meditate on this
The way of the dragon.

I’m in a video game funk ever since I beat Dark Souls III. I was in one before I got Dark Souls III, and now that it’s over, I’m back in it. I still play Binding of Isaac: Rebirth/Afterbirth every day, but it’s more just to scratch that video game itch. Don’t get me wrong–it’s a very good game. However, it’s more a habit by now than anything. I’m not a great Isaac player, but I don’t really have to think about it as I play it. I can zone out as I play, so it’s pretty restful for me. The problem is, Dark Souls has spoiled me for most new games. If they’re Souls-like, they just make me want to play Dark Souls again. There are a couple of Souls-like games that I’m interested in (EITR and Death’s Gambit), but they’re not coming out for the foreseeable future. I’m somewhat interested in Salt and Sanctuary, but not enough to actually buy it. I’ve tried to play some hack and slashes, which I loved before, but I found myself getting bored fairly easily. Path of Exile, which I loved when I played it in beta/early access, Victor Vran, and Grim Dawn. All three should be right up my alley, but I just couldn’t stay interested. I need a game that is engrossing as Souls is, but isn’t Dark Souls. Until that happens, I want to tell you about a few of my favorite games, all of which I’ve finished (or, in the case of Rebirth, got the Real Platinum God achievement. There really is no finishing Rebirth).

  1. Dark Souls, the trilogy. I’ve written ad nauseam about these games, and with good reason. The first Dark Souls is a masterpiece, and I would recommend it in a heartbeat with a caveat: Don’t play it if you’re easily frustrated or if you don’t like dying many, many times. I’ve had people try the game because of my enthusiasm, then confess that they had ragequit the game. They’re always apologetic, but I get it. I really do. I am a huge fan of these games, but I can understand why someone wouldn’t be. The games are often an exercise in futility, and it’s easy to get frustrated and sore while playing these games. I ragequit the first game the first time I played it and didn’t touch it for years afterwards. I don’t remember how I got back into it–probably because the sequel was being announced, and if I wanted to play that, I felt I had to play the original first.

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