Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: final thoughts

Nightreign (FromSoft)–my final thoughts for now

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I only played one or two rounds of Nightreign (FromSoft) today, and it’s for a prosaic reason. The Switch 2 dropped, and I have had a devil of a time trying to matchmake. Now, the systems are down for maintenance and for a patch that improves Remembrance matchmaking. Before I go on, here is the post from yesterday.

Brief explanation. There are eight classes in Nightreign (called Nightfarers). Each class has a personal questline that you have to do Remembrances for. In order to do them, only one person in the party, the host, will get credit for doing the Remembrance. I think that meant that if you were trying to do a Remembrance, you could not get matched with other people also trying to do a Remembrance. You can probably see the issue with this.

Mainly, everyone in the first week will be working towards their Remembrance. And it would feel like a waste to do a run and NOT get credit for whatever Remembrance you’re working towards. For the Recluse, I’m working on (I think) the last part of her Remembrance–which is beating four Nightlords (simplified. No one seems really sure what exactly you need to do, but that’s the basic gist).

I’m hoping that they’re going to make it so everyone in the party can be working on a Remembrance at the same time. I can see why they might not want to do that (I know nothing about coding. I have the vague idea that something something mutter mutter cross-purposes of the Remembrances, but whatever. It’s a frustrating restriction).

In the one run I acutally played today, I was taking on the third boss. I had gone into the third world once before (yesterday), and I could tell that it was going to be much harder. I got a good duo, and again, they were working in harmony. We had a raid event, which I didn’t even know was a thing. Apparently, its’ one of the Nightlords in a simplied version or something? Or maybe not a simplified version. I don’t know. I have tried to avoid spoilers about the bosses, but when I looked up Augur to see what it was, I found out it was one of the Nightlords.

There are signs where the event is happening. I’m not entirely sure how you’re supposed to know when it happens because people are contradictory on it, but I got an achievement for it. I also read that this particular one is really rare. I found the Augur itself really easy, which was nice.

We cruised through the first two days/nights, honestly. I will say that we took on a field boss we probably shouldn’t have, and I lost two levels. At least I think it was that run. At any rate, it wasn’t as good a run as when I beat the second Nightlord, but I wasn’t expecting it to be great because it was my first real run towards the third Nightlord.


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My final post on Ghost of Tsushima–for now

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I’m…maybe close to the end of the DLC for Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions), and I will say that I hope so because I’m so wiped out. I want to go back to the–oh yeah.

*SPOILER WARNING*

fight with the Khan. I mentioned in my last post that my uncle ostensibly helped me with the Khan fight (by bringing his samurai to the stronghold). Why do I say ostensibly? Beccause I didn’t really see him or his samurai doing jackshit. And, as I mentioned, I had to kep an eye on my allies because if they fell, then I had to revive them.

Back to the DLC. I have included Skill Up’s video on the Director’s Cut edition below. He talks about the improvements which did not matter to me because I play on the PC and I hate haptics. He’s right on the content, though. It’s thin  on the ground and very similar to the main game. I’m glad I waited until after the main game to play it because while I could have played it at any point…I want to say as soon as I got into the second act–but definitely before I got into the third act.

I’m not into the story of the DLC, but at least I get to see bits of the main story in a different way. But, yes, there are references to my duel with my uncle and other late-game happenings. I do wonder if they simply don’t show up if you haven’t done them yet. They aren’t cutscenes or anything like that. You find different dead bodies around the island and when you examine them, the antagonist taunts you and shows you scenes from your past, but superimposed with them saying negative things to you (or the antagonist saying negative things about you).

My irritation with the DLC continued with a scrpited death–er capture. I knew the enemies were harder in the DLC than in the main game so when I went to Camp Sakai and had to take on the enemy, I wasn’t surprised that I couldn’t get them in one or two hits. I was surprised, though, that I could not get any block. I’m not trying to get parries even though they are easier than in From games, but I could at least block. I don’t think I could use my ghost tricks, either. after I kept losing health and could not actually block for the fifth or sixth time, I realized that I was supposed to die or be captured. I gave up and just let them do their thing.


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Sekiro: my final thoughts

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Ed. Note: Spoilers. There will be some. 

I have more thoughts on Sekiro, obviously, and I am going to share them with you.  They probably won’t be my final thoughts, but who wants to click on a headline that says, “Read my maundering thoughts about this subject”? Also, my laptop is out of whack right now, so I’m typing this on my desktop. That means I don’t have any of my pictures available, so I’ll probably post videos from other people and be done with it. With that said, let’s get into it.

I’m halfway through NG+. I’m not, really, but that’s my inside joke with myself because for the longest time, I’ve thought of Genichiro as halfway through the game. Hell, I wrote about him as that in the last post, I think. He’s not, really, though. He’s more like a fourth of the way through, depending on the ending and when you fight him. He’s definitely first half, which makes him even more of a hard skill check. I just beat him in NG+, and he still enraged me. This time, however, it was his third form that tripped me up as I made it to the third phase (Genichiro, Way of Tomoe) every time, but that lightning strike fucked me up. I managed to redirect it twice, but more often, I just mistimed my jump or evaded it, and the former did massive Posture and Vitality damage. I got him down to two hits from death in my second try with no heals (did not use the powerful heals), and I got fucking greedy. I cussed him out, and I went again. I got him in six tries, which is less than a tenth of the number of attempts it took me in NG. I found it amusing that it was the third phase that gave me so much trouble when I had no problems with it the first time around. I think I fought him a dozen or so times in that phase in NG (so, roughly a sixth of the actual attempts), but it was because I was so pissed by that point, I went ham on him. Yes, I know that’s how the game is supposed to be played in general, but it’s not my style. I’m trying; I really am, but I’m still more apt to dodge than attack.

Side Note: I take a perverse amount of pride that I did not master the parry (deflect in this game) and was still able to beat it. It’s the same as the rest of the games. I haven’t mastered the parry in any of them, though I made myself proficient way after the fact in the original Dark Souls against the Silver Knights. Didn’t help me against the Black Knights, though. It was fun to get 90% of my parries, however, after whiffing so many times while I actually played the game. To be honest, I didn’t try to parry after fucking it up a dozen or so times. I know that parrying makes everything easier, but I just couldn’t get the timing down. It’s the same with Bloodborne. All the talk was about the visceral–and the parry needed in order to pull it off. The gun was so important, they said. You’ll want to use it to parry, they said. Ha! Little did they know to whom they were talking. Me, the anti-parry queen! Can’t get through Bloodborne without mastering the gun? Challenge accepted. I did not use the gun hardly at all as I played the game, but to be fair, I was running an arcane build. Which, by the way, do not do on your first playthrough. I knew it was going to be shit, but I’m fucking stubborn. The reason I mentioned an arcane build is because there is a spell, er, Hunter Tool, you can pick up mid-early game, Augur of Ebrietas, that can function as a parry. It’s reaching out tentacles to interrupt a gunshot, and then I could get in my visceral. In fact, few things in that game made me as happy as to yell, “Tentacles to the face!” as I used it.

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Bloodborne: Seeking the Blood Moon

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So. Still sick with the chills and now sinus crap. I’m drinking my Simply Lemonade with mango and my ginger/lemon/honey tea like a boss as I’m hunkered down on the couch. May I say that getting the chills is terrible for me because I like being cold, so it feels like a slap in the face to me. I’m watching more Bloodborne vids because that’s how I roll. They’re ones I’ve already seen, but it’s more background noise than anything else. It’s blustery outside, and it snowed yesterday, even though it didn’t stick, and it’s gray today–which fits my mood.

In Bloodborne, I’m alternating between my tank playthrough and my NG+ playthrough for my arcane build, and I have many more thoughts on the game. I’ve already said how I had a more difficult time with the early bosses on melee than I did with my arcane build, and I think it’s because I don’t have my beloved Hunter Axe, which I just bought for this character. The damage is REAL, yo, as I have my Strength at 30. That’s already higher than for my arcane build, and I’m not even halfway through the game yet. My arcane is so sad for this character, but that’s the way it has to be if I want to beef up my other stats. I need two more Dex, er, Skill levels in order to use the Cannon, which will be exciting. When the game was released, apparently, you could use the fully-upgraded Cannon to kill bosses. Now, the bullet expenditure is 12 per use, which means you get one shot without using methods to increase your Quicksilver Bullet capacity (runes, blood bullets, etc.). I’m doing my best to do a Strength/Bloodtinge run, which means moar guns, yo! Or rather, stronger guns.

I’m also wearing the Hunter Set (without the bib on back. Hunter Set B in the link), though I recently switched out the Top Hat for the Yharnam Hunter Cap because the latter has better defense. I really like the Hunter Set w/Top Hat, however, so I might switch back. I do wear different sets for resistance, but I like having one main outfit that I wear throughout the game. It’s the Bone Ash Set with my arcane build, and Fashionborne is real, yo! I bought the Maria Hunter Set at the insight shop (for my arcane), and it looks cool as fuck, but the stats aren’t as good as the BAS. I like wearing one complete outfit, so it pains me when I have to mix and match. Fortunately, however, it’s usually a whole set that is best against, say, poison or other elemental effects. Also, I always play as a female character*, so I have all the female versions of the outfits.

Back to game difficulty on the second playthrough. I will say in general, the game is much easier on the second playthrough, naturally. Even though I’ve seen several Let’s Plays of the game before playing it, it’s still much different playing it. I got lost several times, and it doesn’t help that certain areas (looking at you, Forbidden Woods) look the goddamn same all throughout it. I can’t tell you how much time I wasted looping around, trying to find the right path, only to end up on the same goddamn path several times in a row. I have another problem on the second playthrough–skipping over areas. The first place of the Forbidden Woods is where I did my grinding run over and over again. I know it like the back of my hand, but there’s an area I skip when I do it (that takes you to Iosefka’s Clinic). When I ‘discovered’ the area on my tank playthrough, I had to remind myself that there was another area. I couldn’t find it, and I was wondering if I was losing my mind. I found it (and doggy town part 2, which I couldn’t find more than once in my first playthrough), and it was relief that I knew I wasn’t losing my mind.


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Bloodborne: Praise the Moon

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This is the third post on my final thoughts (ha!) on Bloodborne. You can read part two here. What  was I thinking as I watched the credits roll? Not much, honestly. I was so emotionally spent from the journey, I just had to take a few minutes to absorb it all. This is how I am after beating any Souls game–tired, contemplative, slightly stunned, and relieved. I want to emphasize that this is normal for me, and that I consider it a part of the Souls loop. About two-thirds of the way into the game, I’m tired of it. I’m so sick of it. I want nothing more than for it to be over, and yet, I can’t stop playing. Even at the end of a frustrating session, all I wanted to do was continue playing (though I was sick of it), and I thought about the game when I wasn’t playing it. I thought about how I could have done this better or that better, and I reminded myself that I had to go back and do this or that. When I play a Souls game, I become obsessed with it. I immerse myself in it so thoroughly, I’m drenched in the good blood. Er. Come to think of it, it’s how I play games in general (probably because of my OCD tendencies). I try out several games until I find one I like, then I play the shit out of it. I did this with Torchlight (the first ‘hardcore’ game I played, plus its sequel); Diablo III; Borderlands (and the sequel); Nuclear Throne; Cook, Serve, Delicious! (and the sequel!); The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth; Assault Android Cactus; Salt and Sanctuary, to name a few. But, none of them have gotten under my skin the way Souls games have, and I’d like to talk about this a bit more.

First, though, NG+ is ferreals*. Running through the opening section with my beloved Hunter Axe +10, it takes me three weak hits to kill an enemy, instead of one. The Executioner in Central Yharnam barely feels my Augur to the face instead of being killed by it. Apparently, from what I’ve read, the increase to health is greatest in the earliest areas, which makes zero sense, but whatever. The only way I can make it make sense is because you’re scaling up much less over time, but still–the leap is noticeable. That being said, because I don’t have any compulsions against summoning for bosses I’ve already beaten solo AND I have something like 75 insight right now (you need to spend one insight to summon a phantom), I’m anticipating summoning liberally during NG+. However, the fact that I’m playing it so late and I’m over-leveled *may* lead to difficulties summoning. I summoned Father Gascoigne for the Cleric Beast fight (also did the same in my tank playthrough), and we made short work of him. However, there are no NPC summons for Father Gascoigne, and I couldn’t get a human summon (how I figured out you get your insight back if you die before you get a phantom), so I fought him solo. Now, I beat him on my first try in NG by just smacking the shit out of him, but I was anticipating him to be much more difficult in NG+. I decided to get fancy and try to use Molotovs/Accursed Brew in his third stage, and I died several times to him with only a fraction of his health bar left. I did it by running around and jumping off the platform fruitlessly, trying to set up the perfect opportunity for me to Accursed Brew him from the rooftop where Viola’s body is with him below me. Late in the session, I decided to cut it out and just take it to him like I had the first time I fought him. I got him down to one hit left, and he caught me in a combo and finished me off.


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Bloodborne: Nightmare Slain

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Still thinking how I feel about Bloodborne now that I’m done with it. I’m not done playing it, obviously, but I have FEELINGS about finishing my first playthrough. I’ve written about some of my thoughts and feelings here, and I’m going to continue ruminating in this post. I left off the last post after beating Lady Maria, on my own, with an unusual strategy, and it’s probably the boss I’m most proud of beating because I thought I’d have problems with her before ever playing the game.  After  beating Lady Maria, I knew what was next, and I was dreading it. The Fishing Hamlet is legend for being grueling, and that’s the last thing I wanted at that point. I decided to tackle Laurence first, even though I knew that would be a pain in the ass, too. Weirdly, I did really well the first time and got him down to half-health. As per usual, I didn’t do nearly as well after that. I gave it several valiant tries, then decided I just didn’t give a shit. By the way, I’ve said it before, but giving a boss monster health isn’t a fun way of making it hard. Letting them have one-shot kills isn’t great, either. Covering the floor in lava, not good, either, and Laurence has all three. During the same time, I decided to allow myself to be summoned because I wanted to get my five Vermins, and I was curious to see if anyone was still playing.

I rang my Small Resonant Bell, and I didn’t have to wait long. I was summoned in, and imagine my delight when my host used Accursed Brew on Laurence. As that is one of my go-to spells as well (which means I actually started the last section of the DLC before tackling Laurence because that’s where you get the Hunter Tool from an NPC right at the very beginning. I did that specific bit just to get the Hunter Tool, then turned right around), I was delighted to help another arcane build. By the way, Accursed Brew is the best Hunter Tool in terms of bang for your buck. Two bullets, 500+ damage. It’s very economical. Anyway, my host and I ran around the arena, pelting Laurence with Accursed Brew. I Whirligigged his ass whenever prudent, and I used A Call Beyond twice. We finished him off with double Accursed Brews, and it was glorious. I LOVE bossing a boss with magic/arcane, and I bowed to my host with utmost respect. My favorite time of being summoned in DS III was when I was a pyro, the host and the other summon were a sorcery caster and a miracle user (don’t remember which was which). We got wrecked the first time, but then by some miracle (probably because we were the only ones playing), we got grouped together again. This was for Aldrich, Devourer of Gods, who is MUCH easier as a caster. It was a glorious thing to see the boys firing off lightning and magic while I was hurling fire at the boss. We destroyed Aldrich in roughly thirty seconds, and it was the best feeling ever.

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Bloodborne: A New Day (Game Plus)

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I finished Bloodborne yesterday in one marathon session. I had one section and the final boss of the DLC plus the last two bosses (well, technically, the end boss and the secret end boss) of the main game to do, and I had only planned on finishing the last section of the DLC. Since I had watched umpteen playthroughs of the game, I knew what I had left to do (and boy, do I really wish I hadn’t watched them now. One of the best parts of a FromSoft game is to experience everything for yourself, but I truly never thought I’d buy a PS4 just to play BB. Funnily enough, I got Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain for free last month and just bought Until Dawn and Last of Us (remastered) plus the DLC for LoU at a steep discount, so I guess  I’ll have more uses for my PS4 once I’m done with BB). I also knew that the last boss of the DLC was considered by many to be the hardest Souls boss ever up until that point, so I was not looking forward to it.

See, it always happens to me at the end of FromSoft games. I get sick of the game during the last third or so, and I can’t wait to finish it. It’s harder when I play the DLC as I’m playing the main game because that’s just so much game. I did all the sideline quests and all the optional content, so we’re talking a Bloodborne immersion. By the time I started the DLC, I was ready for the whole thing to be done. That’s not a good attitude because the DLC is notoriously difficult. The DLC has always been harder than the main games in the Souls series, and this was no exception. My theory is that it’s to reward the dedicated hardcore 1%ers, the onebros who do Waste of Skin/Deprived runs using nothing but their bare hands to rip apart the enemies, which is great for them, but frustrating for the rest of us who love Souls games, but aren’t terribly good at them. I’ve mentioned that The Ringed City (final DLC for DS III) made my cry when I first played it, and I HATED it, even though I love Slave Knight Gael as the final boss. I’m neutral about the DLC now, but I don’t love it.

The problem is, the DLCs are too deliberately difficult. I don’t play Souls games because they’re difficult; I play them to explore the environments, to marvel at the grotesque settings/enemies/stories, and to feel a sense of accomplishment after finally beating an area, certain enemies, and the bosses. I feel the main games (except II (SotFS) in a several places) are well-balanced, and the difficulty stems out of the desire to make the player better. It’s not about brutalizing the player, but that gets thrown out the window in the DLCs. It’s as if FromSoft has started to believe its own hype and the tagline Prepare to Die (from the original game, PC edition). I can say that The Old Hunters (Bloodborne DLC) is objectively more difficult than the main game by exponential factors. I can also say that it’s objectively well made and the level design is terrific. But, I can also say that I did not enjoy playing it, and I summoned for three of the five bosses.

I did it for Ludwig only because I wasn’t even getting a hit in on him. I summoned Valtr so I could see Ludwig’s moves without getting smashed. I did it three or four times, expecting to die each time. The last time, though, we made it to the cutscene, and Valtr had only used one or two vials. Valtr is a beast, yo! Maybe my favorite NPC summon ever. Ludwig’s second phase is easier than the first, and we wrecked him in no time flat. I felt bad for summoning, but not that bad. With Laurence, I tried him several times solo and got him down to his broken legs stage two or three times. I could have gotten him if I faced him dozens of times more, but I just didn’t care at that point. I did allow myself to be summoned for the fight just to get a better handle on him, and my host was another arcane build, which was so much fun! We Accursed Brew’ed his ass, and I used A Call Beyond twice. We wrecked Laurence easily, and I got a Vermin for my troubles!


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