Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: The Duskbloods

I can usually find valid points in most arguments

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The newest news in the Nintendo world is that the Breath of the Wild, ah…remake? No, Just the Switch 2 version will be ten dollars more than the $60 on the Switch. If you already have the game, then you just pay for an ugrade (which I’m assuming it’s ten bucks) because it’s anothre ten bucks on the Switch 2. And, apparently, the sequel, which is seventy bucks, will also have the ten dollar upgrade to the Stwitch 2.

Guess what is not included? The DLC. I have included another video by TopicArlo (I had a video by him in yesteday’s post as well.) The DLC is twenty bucks. And, as TopicAlo pointed out, Nintendo very rarely has sales on their games. They never go on steep sale, apparently. Again, I don’t know because I don’t have a Switch and am not planning on buying a Switch 2.

Here’s the thing. I’m indignant about the prices because all of this is not morally right. I can’t emphasize enough that I have no skin in this game. I was not going to get a Switch 2. I am not going to get a Switch 2. In other words, it doesn’t affect me personally. But I can look at it from afar and not be happy about what is going on. I wrote about how tired I am of both sides just bunkering down, stuffing their fingers in their ears (Initially, I wrote eyes. Ha!), and singing, “La la la la I can’t hear you.”

The thing that has struck me is how Nintendo is nickeling and diming everyone to death. The other big to-do is how they have a welcome tour video/game for the Switch 2–and it’s ten dollars. A welcome tour that introduces you to the new hardware is $10 extra. Are you fucking kidding me? Sony included ASTRO’s Playroom as a PS5 seller for free, and it won game of the year last year. TopicArlo has a video on this welcome tour video/game which is here. The one I included below is his measured rant on the price of Breath of the Wild.

He started off by saying he was…fine with the price of the Switch 2 ($450, but probably will be more because of the tariffs), fine with the new Mario Kart game being $80, but he wasn’t really. It was ‘fine’ in the sense that he was still going to buy both the Switch 2 and the new Mario Kart game, but  I could tell that he was really not happy about it.

This is the problem, though. They will buy whatever Nintendo sells them because it’s Nintendo. I want to say once again that I don’t have any Nintendo hardware/software. I had a 3DS for a hot second because Ian gave one to me–and I hated it. It felt terrible in my hands, and the controls were shit. The screen was too small, and everything about it just felt wrong. I did appreciate him giving it to me, though! That was very nice of him.


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Nuance is not a four-letter word

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I’ve been loosely following the drama surrounding the Switch 2, otherwise known as the SwIItch and a bunch of other cute names. I was never going to get one because one, I don’t do consoles*, and especially not hand-held ones. I do all my gaming on a PC, which is so much more comfortable (to me). Then came the news that the next FromSoft game which nary a word was breathed** was going to be a Nintendo exclusive and my heart dropped to my stomach.

I’ve reacted to it already, but I have more to say. Not so much about the game (though I will touch on that), but on the discourse about the game. Which, funnily enough, mimics the discourse around the Switch 2 itself.

The opinions are so divided, and you can’t stake a claim somewhere in the middle. Either it all sucks and is the end of gaming, or it’s the best thing ever and shut up with any/all of your criticisms. As a species, we tend to do go to extremes, but it is just getting worse and worse. In the Discord I’m in, there are a few guys (and, yes, all guys) who make these really declarative statements and discourage others from speaking up. I know they don’t think they do that, but it has that effect. I’ve seen other people get shut down and just never come back.

I’ts not about the opinions, but the fact that there’s definitely an in-crowd who dominate the discussions. I am not part of that in-crowd, by the way. I’m on the fringes. I’m not an outsider, but my voice is not important enough, loud enough, or male enough to be influential.

The conversation/argument/debate over the Switch 2 is not where I’m going to jump in. First, I’m not buying one. Second, I just don’t want to get into the arguments when both sides are camped firmly in their opposing viewpoints and won’t budge. It’s not a discussion; it’s a drawing of sides. I have no interest in that, and I don’t want to put my neck on the chopping block–especiall when the subject isn’t something that affects me.

When it comes to The Duskbloods (FromSoft), though (and, yes, I know I said I was not writing another post about it, but I had more to say), I have so many thoughts on it. I was watching a video by TopicArlo, someone who is torn about the game in much of the same way I am. For whatever reason, I decided to look at the comments. I normally don’t look at comments because they are so toxic, but I was curious–I don’t know why.


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One more post on The Duskbloods

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I have more to say about The Duskbloods and the state of FromSoft in general. Here is my post about my misgivings from yesterday. This will be the last post…for now. Someone  in the Discord I’m in said that it seems that the game won’t be an exclusive forever. People guess that it’s six months–I think it will probably be more than that. At least a year, if not forever. That person also said they weren’t sure they’d play it, even if it wasn’t a Nintendo exclusive.

I kiiiiiinda feel the same. I mean, if it comes to the PC, yes, I would buy it. And I would try it, of course, but I have a hunch that if it’s what it says on the tin, it will not be my thing. I’m trying to convince myself that’s ok (and, again, FromSoft, of course, can do wahtever they want. They don’t need any approval from me), but I can’t help but feel disappointed and letdown. And I think it’s ok for me to say that out loud. I don’t need to keep it to myself.

It’s interesting. Even people who are hyped for this have noted the mixed feelings in the community. In the post, I have included below a video by Fighting Cowboy, a FromSoft content creator (he does more, but that’s mostly what I watch from him) who articulates many of these mixed feelings.

Here are some of the concerns. One, there is a core group of FromSoft enthusiasts who don’t play on consoles. I know that most people do play on consoles, but we exist. In fact, when Demon’s Souls became a surprise hit and Dark Souls came out, the latter was not released on PC. After much agitation from the PC crowd, FromSoft finally released a PC port. That suuuuuuuuucked. You have to have the dsfix in order to make the PC port run at all.

The resistance against PC ports got a little less with each game, but even with Elden Ring, the PC port has been a hot mess. I did not have much trouble with Elden Ring (and still do not execpt for an occasional crash), but I’m not someone who cares much about graphics. I mean, I want it to look pretty, be smooth, and no visible tearing, but that’s about it. Pop-ins don’t bother me and fuck ray tracing.

In Fighting Cowboy’s intial reaction to The Duskbloods trailer, he said that he had not been planning on getting a Switch 2 because he barely touches his Switch, but with a new From game that is heavily implied to be the spiritual successor to Bloodborne, he will have to get it. He’s very matter-of-fact about it, but he does mention he’s a little disappointed that the game is a Switch 2 exclusive. He winced and added, “It is what it is.” Which is what people say when they don’t want to say something is a sack of shit. That’s my interpretation, by the way, not anything he said.

He mentiones in the video above that he had some hesitations about the game. A big one was Miyazaki saying that the PvE could be avoided by people who did not want to do it. Fighting Cowboy basically laughed at this statement. He said that if he’s told that getting rid of other players is going to give him rewards or better position, he’s going to pick off the other players–especially those he considers the weakest.


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More to say about the state of FromSoft

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I’m getting pretty sick of people saying you can’t criticize The Duskbloods if you’re a “real” fan of FromSoft. First of all, don’t tell me what I can and can’t criticize. Anything is fair game. Nothing is sacred and nothing is perfect.

I’m not mad about the fact that the game is multiplayer. Well, I am, but that’s because I don’t play multiplayer games and the fact that they are also doing Nightreign–which is also an MMO. I will play that, but I have a hunch that I’m not going to love it. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post (or maybe the post before), people have said that there’s an emphasis on quick responses. This is not within my wheelhouse.

I’m listening to Krupa and Gav talk about it in their weekly podcast, and I find myself saying repeatedly, “It’s a Nintendo exclusive” as to why “some people” (me) are not happy about it. If it was not a Nintendo exclusive, I would have zero qualms about it*. They didn’t even mention that at all or the fact that the The Switch 2 is pretty fucking pricy. The American price right now is $450, but will probably go up. The game will be at least $70 if not more, and the online you have to get is, surprisingly (in a good way), $20 a year for an individual.

I have included a video by TopicArlo below in which he muses about his conflicted feelings about The Duskbloods. They mirror my own thoughts, and I appreciate I am not the only one with mixed feelings. He’s late to the FromSoft games, but he has become very enamored with them. He’s always been a Nintendo fan, by the way, so he was going to buy this console/handheld, regardless. He describes how he went from elated to bewildered to ‘huh, what?’ and everything in between. He’s very much not a competitive player (or an online player), so he felt very deflated when he found out this was PvPvE. He was displomatic about it, but I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

Everyone is harping on how very Bloodborne-y this trailer looks, but it’s not Bloodborne. I feel like I’m the crazy one because I have never though there would be a seqouel to Bloodborne (at least not one done by FromSoft). One of my weirdest points of pride is that when everyone was so sure there would be a BB2 trailer at E3 and/or GeoffCon (2018 I think?), and I was as sure as I could ever be that there would not be–nor would there ever be a sequel to that game.

There was a From Soft trailer that year, and people convinced themselves it was BB2. It was not. It was Sekiro. And people were deflated (while also being elated that a new From game was announced).


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Miyazaki talks and I listen

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Talking more about The Duskbloods (FromSoft), let’s expand out for a minute. The announcement of the new Switch 2 coincided with the president’s announcement of the new tariffs he was enacting. I’m not going to get political in this post, but I will note that the tariff announcement affects everything, so of course that includes video games. Arguably, that’s one of the least-important things affected by the new tariffs, but it still matters. Here is my post from yesterday, and I want to expand on my very mixed feelings on this new FromSoft game.

Miyazaki was interviewed about the game by Nintendo. It’s funny how they do an intro about him like he was an unknown or an indie dev, but it’s because the Nintendo crowd aren’t likely to overlap that greatly with the From fans.

I want to reiterate that Miyazaki and From can do wahtever they want. Obviously, they don’t need my blessings or anything like that. They have given me thousands of hours of entertainment, and that can’t be taken away. I can put on any of the games I have by them and get lost in the world. In fact, I’ve been doing that on a daily basis, albeit with varying games. Right now, it’s Elden Ring including the DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. I must say, I’m on NG++ with my current character, and the DLC is much more tedious than NG+. I would say the bosses weren’t that much harder, until I reached a certain boss that has never given me trouble. This time around, even with human summons, I was struggling. This is with my strength-int-faith character, heaviest on the int. I’m building up the strength and endurance beacuse I don’t like how I’m hitting at the moment.

I’ve been cruising along with not much difficulty. With the help of NPC summons, human summons, and Mini-Me, I wasn’t having much difficulty with the DLC. Until this boss. As a caster, this boss isn’t that big a deal. However, while I’m still a caster with this character, my magicks do significantly less damage in NG++. And I have less Mind (blue stuff/mana) to cast my spells/incantations. I’m not squishy, exactly, but I can definitely feel it when I’m battling a particularly tricky enemy.

This boss has three phases. Before, I got it in five or less tries. It really hasn’t been an issue. Until this time. I summon two people and we got it down to half the last health bar. Then, we all died one by one, and I didn’t even get to the third life bar for several more tries. Normally, the human summons I get have been fantastic. For this boss, they were more miss than hit. Some did not even make it out of the first phase. And, one jerk peaced out near the end of the second (or maybe third?) phase. I have gotten than many times in Elden Ring, especially the late game–human summons leaving the fight. Sometimes, I’m sure it’s connectivity, but sometimes, it seems like they’re choosing to leave. It’s very frustrating.

After trying human summons several times, I decided to try Mini-Me. I had them doing incantations, and one thing that really frustrates me with the DLC especially, but that also happened in the base game, is that the bosses tend to ignore the spirit ashes while focusing on you. In addition, the summon won’t fight if you get too far away from them. Obviously, this limits how you can use the spirit summons.


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Might be time to part ways with FromSoft

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Well. I have things to say about the Nintendo Direct Switch 2 announcement thing. I didn’t think I would because I was not planning on getting a Nintendo Switch 2 (still am not), nor do I have a Switch. Back during the beginning of the pandemic, I thought about getting one because of Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released. I am not an Animal Crossing person, but it captured the zeitgeist of a very tumultuous time. It was the beginning of the pandemic when people could not go outside. Insetad, people would meet up in AC: NH as a substitute.

I admit. I had FOMO. I wanted to get the game, but I didn’t even have a Switch. I am a PC person through and through. Ian once gave me an extra 3DS he had, and I hated it. I did not like playing Bloodborne on the PS4. I don’t like the DualShock controller. At all. And with the 3DS, it was awful trying to play anything with those controls and that tiny screen.

I watched the Nintendo Direct (late) and when The Duskbloods came up, I missed that it was a FromSoft game. The people whom were reacting to it (and I was watching) kept saying Bloodborne, even though that’s a Sony exclusive. I did not think the game looked much like Bloodborne, and I was pretty certain it wasn’t in that universe (again, Sony exclusive). I honestly thought it was a knockoff Souls-inspired game, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when it turned out to be a FromSoft game.

I read the thread in the Discord I’m in after it happened, and one person pointed out that the trailer did not look that great. And also that the PvPvE element worried them as that was not what they wanted in a FromSoft game. I agreed with that. Someone else immediately posted that FromSoft had put out so many games in the last decade, people shouldn’t bitch. I don’t think it was in response to my comment, but it stung, anyway.

I am a huge FromSoft fan, but that does not mean they are above criticism. People have been clamoring for a multiplayer From game for quite some time, so I guess this is it. It’s also directed by Miyazaki himself, so it’s clearly the next Big Thing for FromSoft.

They had the B team doing Nightreign (which comes out in a month). That’s another multiplayer game, and it’s a roguelite/like. I wasn’t super-hyped about that one, either, because multiplayer is not my thing. At all. I just don’t enjoy them, and from what I’ve seen of the gameplay, it doesn’t look like it’ll be up my alley. Am I going to buy it and try it? Of course. But I’m skeptical that it’s going to be enjoyable for me.


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More (you know) about mental health

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I’m still trying to get my shit togetehr and my sleep back on track. I managed to go to bed by 2:30 a.m. last night–well, a quarter to three, which is miles better than what I’ve been doing in the past few weeks. I god a decent amount of sleep, but I’m still so tired. Oh, we got two to three inches of snow last night, but only an inch or so stuck around. Winter is not leaving without a fight this year. So, once again, I’m including a video of Prince singing Sometimes It Snows In April because homeboy (he was from here) knows about winter in April. It’s such a beautiful and melancholic song.

I don’t know if I–well, let me put it this way. I’m so tired. Physically and emotionally. I feel defeated and like there’s no reason to live. What’s the point? This country is fucked. Even if there is a country after this president is gone, it’s going to be unrecognizable. The first time he was president, iI had a bad feeling, but nothing like this time. Why? Because he has a chip on his shoulder and nothing to lose. He can do whatever he wants with very little consquences. Yes, the Supreme Court is doing some checking of him, but it feels very much like they’re slowing the bleeding–not stopping it.

This election showed a really ugly side of this country, and it has just broken me. I have never been a patriot, especially not since 9/11 and the aftermath. But I have never despised my fellow countrypeople as I do righrt now nor have I wished so much ill on them. I want them to feel the pain of all the shit this president is doing, even if they will never admit/know/acknowledge it’s his fault. He doesn’t care about them in the least, which is such a maddening thing. He’s like a cult leader in that they would do anything for him. He accepts this as his due and does not care if they get hurt in return.

My empathy has run out. I want his supporters to hurt the way he’s been hurting minorities in this country. I hate that I feel this way, but I can’t deny I do. I know they will be affected by many of his batshit decisions, but it’s not enough. I want them to know he is the reason for their pain.

It heartens me that there has been pushback by both Dems and Reps, but it feels like too little too late. Because here’s the thing. In order to have a reasonable discussion, both sides have to agree as to the parameters of said discussion. That’s not possible with this president because he’s in a world of his own. If the Republicans are willing to try to put a stop to some of his ideas, well, then that’s a step in the right direction.

It doesn’t help that the family dysfunction is what it is. I talked to my mother tonight, and I realized that I’m back to feeling depressed every time I talk to her. This was actually a not-bad converastion (in comparison to several other talks we’ve had recently), but I still brace myself every time I talk to her because there’s a chance that something will come up that I have to brace myself for.


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