Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: Hexworks

Done with soulslikes

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It’s been interesting to follow the discussion about soulslikes and the inevitable comparisons between Lies of P (which is getting DLC and is developed/published by Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio) and Lords of the Fallen (CI Games/HexWork, and which I have stopped playing). It’s interesting to me because the level of the discourse is one I cannot reach. I cannot ‘git gud’ at the games because it’s beyond my ability. I’m not being dow on myself; I’m being honest. I know that I have issues with my abilities in several areas.

I know this is the nature of having disabilities (or being a minority in any way), by the way. People without them simply cannot understand how far from the norm I am. This is why I wish there was  a soulslike that was made for people with bad reflexes, no depth perception or periphery, and just no innate sense of (non-dancing) rhythm.

I wrote in my post yesterday that I gave both games a 6. That is much lower than Lies of P received (pretty much 10s across the board. Or 9s), but the rough average of what Lords of the Fallen got. Not 6s across the board, but 4s and 8s and all the other numbers.

I have to say that if you can parry, you’ll probably  love Lies of P. If you can’t parry, then you’re going to be SOL. There were people in the RKG Discord who waltzed through the game because they could parry. If you can’t, then you’re going to spend hours on each boss.

Speaking of bosses, by the way, in Lies of P, from the fourth boss on, every boss had two phases. Whether it was half a health bar each or an actual whole health bar each,  you knew that when you got to a boss, it was going to be grueling–unnecessarily so. I included a video below by Elbethium that compares the two games. I don’t necessarily agree with all his points, but he does bring up unnecessary difficulty (which he had in terms of the Lies of P bosses before as well, I think).

Oh, the reason he brings it up in this video is because the devs of Lords of the Fallen made the baffling choice to only have one vestige seed in NG+. Vestiges are the bonfires and vestige seeds are portable ones (you can plant them in seed beds dotted across the map). A great idea that was less than great in execution. The baffling decision to make NG+ and beyond diffiicult by only having one seed for the whole game is, well, baffling. The devs quickly realized that (from all the negative feedback) and changed it so that they were taking away vestiges in chunks (for each additional NG+) rather than making it one vestige seed from the start.


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Final verdict on Lies of P versus Lords of the Fallen

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I think I’m done with Lords of the Fallen (HexWorks, CI Games). You’ll notice I did not say I had finished the game because I haven’t. I don’t think I’m even halfway done. It’s just that when I think about playing the game, I become lethargic and unhappy. Like, I ‘should’ play the game, but I…just don’t want to. At all.

I watched a video from a guy doing a deep dive into the game (which I have included below), and he hit on many of my frustrations wit hthe game. And the fact that it at least tries to be something different. I believe he even mentions that in contrast to Lies of P, this game stretches itself. It swung for the bleachers and while it whiffed, it at least tried.

It’s interesting. While I was playing Lies of P, I was bemoaning to myself how slavish it was to the FromSoft formula. For each section and boss, I could point out a similar or exact same thing in a From game. Most people call Lies of P the Puppet Bloodborne, but to me, it’s more Puppet Sekiro. You can only play the game one way, really. You need to have your deflects on point or you’re in for a really bad time.

As I have said many times, I do not have good reflexes. I never had. They have only gotten worse since my medical crisis. I want to tell people who are good at these games to imagine if they pressed the button and then their character reacted a full second later. That’s basically my reflexes. I literally cannot ‘git gud’ no matter how hard I try. Let me put it this way. I could not finish Stray because of the QTEs. Stray! It’s a cozy little game about a stray cat by BlueTwelve Studio. It was highly anticipated and highly praised. I believe it even won indie game of the year last year.

It’s a great game about being a cat and trynig to get back to your cat friends. There are elements of a dystopian world, and it’s just amazing. And they ruined it by having these sections when you have to escape the zerg rush. No, that’s not what it’s called, but it’s close enough. Zurks. They are zurks. And they rush in groups. As they attack you, you have to click whatever button it is rapidly to shake them off. I literally could not click the button fast enough. I failed the QTEs several times each, which was really frustratitng. The game was not supposed to be hard in the sense of challenging gameplay.

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Lords of the Fallen–the bad and the ugly

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Lords of the Fallen continue to test my patience. I mentioned in the last post a few of the positives that I found in the game. The ease with which you can summon is one of them. At the beginning of the next session, however, I was in the same boss room and about to go back to the bonfire and level up. I was immediately invaded and could not go up the lift to get back to the bonfire. I had to stay in the arena (wait, I was able to go up the ladder that leads to and from the lift to the arena), and I died. I did try to fight the invader, but I was pissed. You should not be able to be invaded when you’re in the boss arena of a boss you just beat. This, my friends, is bullshit.

I died. Twice. Fortunately, the boss run was fairly easy so I was able to get my souls. Er, vigor. But, once you beat a boss, you should not be able to be invaded. FromSoft established this in the first Dark Souls (probably in Demon’s Souls, to be honest), and this is a huge step backwards.

In the next area, there was a merchant that apologized for being such a wimp the last time we met. I gaped at him because I had no clue who he was. At all. And I had only been playing the game for a few days. Who was this guy acting like he knew me? I had no clue. And he had nothing I wanted to buy.

Another thing. I am using the same weapon I had been using from the start. The Pyric Cultist Staff. It’s a polearm, and it’s pretty damn good. But, one of the draws to a game like this is finding new equipment. I’ve found nothing. There is an umbral trainer in the hub world and more than one radiance trainer. But no pyro trainer.

I know who will eventually be one (I saw it online, but I had kind of figured it out ahead of time), but I’m four bosses down and there’s not hint how to get them back to the hub world. Which means I’ve been using my basic fireball as my only Pyro. Oh, there’s one that buffs my strength, but I want more actual Pyros. THis is probably another reason the Pyro is considered an advanced class.

Oh! In my post yesterday, I mentioned that Austin form Skill Up’s channel was frustrated because he could not find the item needed to respec as well as not being able to find the vendor who makes boss weapons. I said that the latter was the vendor you could only see if you were in the hub world in umbral–he also sells the item needed to respec.

Anyway, I went on my way after killing the third boss.

I have to say, I was watching a video on tips and tricks for this game as I was writing this. I have included it below. I had forgotten to get the remembrance (boss soul) from the fourth boss. I went back and got it. Then I played a bit more. And I LOATHE the current area I am in.


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Lords of the Fallen–a bit more positive

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In my last post, I said I was done with Lords of the Fallen (HexWorks/CI Games). I wasn’t. This is like Lies of P in which I feel done with it, but I keep going. A funny note about the latter. My nibling messaged me asking if I’d heard of a game called Lies of P. Heh. I might have heard of it once upon a time! If it’s a soulslike, I would have heard of it. I may not have played it, but I definitely would have heard of it.

I decided to play a bit more of Lords of the Fallen yesterday. I was still frustrated with the clunky mechanics and the shit-ton of enemies thrown at me, especially when they were in mobs. Which was all the time. And this game is in love with having casters that you can’t reach from where you are blitzing you constantly with overpowered spells. In the section I was in, there was a radiance caster across the way  that I could not reach from the place I was. Then, there were two of the ‘hiding pushers’ who are, well, hiding and pushing. The caster was on the other side of two of those swinging platforms I mentioned yesterday, which are the bane of my existence.

I made my way to the next boss, and, I’ll be honest. I just could not be bothered.

*SPOILERS*

It was a rip-off Capra Demon except there wer up to three dog/wolves at a time. And the boss shot radiant arrows at me while her damn dogs were stunning me with their hits.

Side Note: It’s interesting to me that the first three bosses were women. I don’t know if that eans anything, but it’s highly unusual. It’s also funny that a video I watched for this boss kept calling her ‘him’. Her name literally has ‘Mistress’ in it. Rory from RKG did this with the female bosses in Dark Souls III, like Sister Friede. Again, it’s right in her name. In fact, he did it with Mama Finchy in Dark Souls II–who has Mama in her name. It shows how entrenched the patriarchy is in gaming. It’s changing, thankfully, but it’s still annoying.

I will say at least there is an elevator from a bonfire to this boss with very few enemies in between. Granted, one of them is one of the hidden pushing ones who can knock you down to a lower area that is crammed with enemies and which I have not explored yet, but still. Three enemies to run by and, a ladder to go down, and another elevator down–and I’m at the boss entrance.


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Lords of the Fallen: done before it really began

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I think I’m done with Lords of the Fallen (Hexworks/CI Games). The last time I played was day before yesterday, and the last hour or so was me running from checkpoint to checkpoint. Here’s my last post on the game. I did take some time to try to learn the asshole enemy–oh, excuse me. I need to be more specific than that. The enemy that is basically a low-rent Let Me Solo Her with a maced colander as a helmet. He uses that helmet to hit you, and if he catches me unaware, he can one shot me.

Just to be clear, I have similar health at this point of this game that I did in the first hundred hours of Elden Ring. I know they are very different games, but an enemy at this point should not be able to one-shot me. Actually, enemies in general should not be able to one-shot me, the player. That’s just bad design, but it’s become the norm in these kinds of games. Which is to the genre’s detriment, in my opinion.

Anyway, there is one of these enemies near a bonfire. One who is shielded in the umbral. It’s easy to soulflay his shield, so I decided to use him as a way to get this enemy down. Readers, it failed. He would run at me and head-but me into the near by elevator hole (I have to find the way to get it operational further in the level). This guy takes many many hits to kill. And they love to put one of him patrolling the ladder you need to get to in order to go up or down. I’ve made him fall to his death before, which is great, but in general, I just bait him to run one way before running in the other direction.

I have to say. The mobs in this game are out of control. It’s gotten to the point whereI have run through entire sections of area because there are just too many enemies. I hate running through an area in games like this beacuse I want to explore. But I do not want to be killed over and over again just because I’m overwhelmed.

In the current area I’m in, there was a ladder going down. I started going and then just fell off and died because I had to be in the umbral realm in order to be able to climb all the way down. There was no indicator of this before I started climbing. I mean, maybe there was a visual clue–I think there are supposed to be butterflies/moths when you can use the umbral lamp, but I was running for my life. I didn’t have time to stop andscan with the lamp. Also, it’s so ‘gotcha’. We’re gonna put this ladder here that you’ll run to in order to escape a zillion enemies but you’re going to plunge to your death!

Yeah, thanks. I hate it.


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Lords of the Fallen–where the frustration lies

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I wrote my first impressions about Lords of the Fallen (HexWorks/CI Games) in my last post. I said after playing up and through the first boss, I would hesitantly give the game a 7 out of 10. I also mentioned that the reviews have been very disparate. And, I agree with almost everything everyone has said. Both negative and positive. I have managed to go up and through the second boss (not that big a deal). The second boss is right next to the first, really. You can do other stuff before that, but you can also just go the the second boss.

She’s in the church next to the hub. She’s called

*SPOILER*

Scourged Sister Delyth. And she’s….ah…I have no idea what’s her deal. Yes there is a remembrance about her, but it’s very vague. And I ran into an NPC who muttered a few vague threats. And there are all the praying people around, but other than that, she’s just a woman with a flail that can be radiant. Oh, and if you figth her in a certain area, she has a shield. Which means you have to find her parasite in the umbral realm and soulflay it before you can fight her–or draw her to the front of the church where she’s not protected by it.

In addition, the arena is weirdly-shaped. This is an issue I’ve had with much of the game. It is way too easy to get caught on a corner or not be able to see the enemy. And not just because the devs LOVE a hidden enemy.

By the way, this is another wrong lesson so many devs of soulslikes have taken from the FromSoft games–hidden enemies do NOT make the game difficult in a good way. In this section of the game, there is a kind of enemy whose first attack is a push. And they like to put him hidden behind a box so that when you walk by him, he pushes you off a cliff.

This happens in Dark Souls III in The Ringed City DLC, and it’s just as infuriating then. That whole opening bit of this area is harder than it needs to be. I actually cried when I reached this bonfire (after a tough boss fight) and was immediately invaded. Ok, that’s speaking to the difficulty of the previous area, but still. This particular section was brutal. I’m talking about Dark Souls III, by the way. Still my favorite game ever, now tied with Elden Ring.

Back to Lords of the Fallen! I had seen Dave from Playstation Access (video included below) do the section I’m in. That helped a lot Well, it comforted me the nth time I missed a jump on the swinging platforms. I did much worse than Dave did, but at least I didn’t have to wear a red dunce cap with someone adding N-O-O-B to it.


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Lords of the Fallen: a quick look

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Many moons ago, there was a game called Lords of the Fallen. It was developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by CI Games. It was one of the first if not the first soulslike, and it was slavish in how close it adhered to Dark Souls. In both a good and a bad way. There were a few things they added, such as a clock to how long you had to retrieve your souls. I don’t remember if it meant that you just didn’t get them if the time ran out or if they gave you less and less infinitely, but it was not a welcome addition to the formula.

The one thing that they took from Dark Souls was that the combat was weighty. Which it is. But Deck13 took that to mean it should be s-l-o-w. So slow. So agonizingly slow. The game has been nicknamed Clunky Souls, and it’s definitely that. I played the first two hours twice as two different characters, and it just did not click with

By the way, I must say that the takeaway from the games that the bosses need to be insanely difficult is so not my favorite thing. I don’t play these games because of the bosses. I play because of the exploration and the level design, the stories, and just the delight of existing in a Miyazaki world.

The bosses are cool in design, but, honestly, at this point, I do not want to spend days on one boss. I just don’t. And that brings us to this Lords of the Fallen, which was not made by Deck13. They were going to make the sequel, but it never happened. I don’t remember why. they ended up making The Surge (and the sequel), which is affectionately known as Junkyard Souls. In a nutshell, you’re attacking robot/human hybrids. You can specify the limb you want to attack and then get that limb’s armor. Maybe you can get weapons, tooo? I don’t remember, but it’s so cool. And while it was janky as hell, it was fun. Lots of fun. Until the final boss, but let’s not talk about that.

This Lords of the Fallen is not a remake nor a sequel. It’s just set in the same universe but many years in the future as I understand it. After CI Games passed on Deck13, another studio was involved in the sequel. That fell through as well, and then years later, HexWorks was given this game.

Now it’s out. Unlike Lies of P which received nearly universal praise, Lords of the Fallen‘s reviews are all over the map. On Metacritic, they range from 40 to 100. The numbers were similar on OpenCritic. I thought the numbers were severely inflated for Lies of P (which is Lies of Pi in my brain). I started at a 7 out of 10 with that game and then it steadily decreased as I played. By the end, it had dropped a whole number. If you can perfect block, the number will probably be higher. If you can’t, then I would strongly suggest not playing that game.

As for this one, I would hesitantly put it as a 7 out of 10 after playing several hours and beating the first boss–who, by the way, is ridiculously difficult for a first boss. Obviously, if you can parry,


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