What game are you playing?

[wankerness]

Finished Elden Ring. I don't know what I expected, but definitely more than that. It just ends. No mention of the Elden Ring, no becoming Elden Lord or whatever. Maybe I got a bad ending but even so tie up some threads, damn.

The final boss was pretty tough. Ended up going with the Magma Wyrm's greatsword for the fire damage against Maliketh and it worked well vs Elden beast too.

The thing with Elden Ring's plot is that those endings DO tie up threads and give a definite conclusion, but only if you've been paying attention to the plot through item descriptions and whatnot. It isn't something like a Mass Effect where the ending is a huge exposition/action dump that's satisfying the way a movie climax is satisfying, it's just sort of the logical conclusion of what's been going on in your game and whatever decision you make at the end.

I mean, I would wager that probably the large majority of people that finish the game don't even register what the Elden Ring is and thus don't have a clue what's going on with the last few bosses or what happened at the end in any of the endings. I only sort of get it.

I never have done the "read item descriptions" thing in any souls game but I've absorbed a bunch of it through a combination of Zullie the Witch videos and just having played the games enough times that I started to connect the scattered dialogue and limited current plot events. I'm mainly just interested in the gameplay. But ER does have a complex setup and all of the endings are thematically interesting even if they're all like 30 second cutscenes that are going to be totally inexplicable if you don't know what's going on.

The Frenzied Flame ending is the best one IMO. I like the Dung Eater and Goldmask ones too.

 

[TedEH]

The Frenzied Flame ending is the best one IMO.

In that case, maybe I shouldn't worry about undoing that path. 'Cause I think Malenia is what's blocking me into that ending at the moment.

 

[MFB]

Did a little pit of cleanup last night, I ended up killing O'Neill a couple days ago, and then went back to kill the Crystalline Duo at the Academy Crystal Tunnel, my STR was way too low last time for how long you need to just crit backstab those guys; even mimic got taken out during his fight against sceptre while I was fighting spear, but he didn't know you have to go for the back, so I can't blame him. Also went back to Caelid and knocked out the Minor Erdtree Catacombs which had the Watchdog duo fight, those were doing a number on me the first time for whatever reason; took too long to kill the magic one, so then sword would kill my summon and it's two-on-one.

Lastly, forgot I had a talisman that increases my Dex +5, so I dumped a point into that and threw it on so I could use Moonveil Katana and kill Godskin Noble; highly disappointing victory honestly, dude only drops like, 5K runes which even at the level you're supposed to fight him is annoying. Gonna finish through Nokstella tonight maybe, or tomorrow most likely, I don't want to fight my boy but I know I have to (99% sure this is when you have to fight Blaidd as a Bloody Finger, but maybe that's further in Ranni's quesT)

 

[wankerness]

Did a little pit of cleanup last night, I ended up killing O'Neill a couple days ago, and then went back to kill the Crystalline Duo at the Academy Crystal Tunnel, my STR was way too low last time for how long you need to just crit backstab those guys; even mimic got taken out during his fight against sceptre while I was fighting spear, but he didn't know you have to go for the back, so I can't blame him. Also went back to Caelid and knocked out the Minor Erdtree Catacombs which had the Watchdog duo fight, those were doing a number on me the first time for whatever reason; took too long to kill the magic one, so then sword would kill my summon and it's two-on-one.

Lastly, forgot I had a talisman that increases my Dex +5, so I dumped a point into that and threw it on so I could use Moonveil Katana and kill Godskin Noble; highly disappointing victory honestly, dude only drops like, 5K runes which even at the level you're supposed to fight him is annoying. Gonna finish through Nokstella tonight maybe, or tomorrow most likely, I don't want to fight my boy but I know I have to (99% sure this is when you have to fight Blaidd as a Bloody Finger, but maybe that's further in Ranni's quesT)

Those crystalline guys can be backstabbed a million times, or you can poise break them and then they take like 500% increased damage from all sources. They have like an invisible shell that gets permanently broken by a poise break. Recommended strat for them is either use like 3-5 charged heavy attacks from a melee weapon (depends on how much poise damage the weapon does, but even the ones that bounce off them are at least doing poise damage) to stagger them and then just kill them however you want, or use rock sling till they get knocked down cause it does heavy poise damage and strike is the only damage type that can dent them before they're staggered. Critical attacks paradoxically do no poise damage whatsoever, so backstabbing them will get you nowhere really.

You most definitely need to use the poise break strategy on the later more difficult ones. There's no way you'd live long enough vs the rot trio when slowly chipping their health down without breaking poise.

Blaidd is a JOKE with moonveil. Just keep using the R2 weapon art on him from medium distance and roll back every time he raises his sword to do that weird leaping attack.

 

[wankerness]

In that case, maybe I shouldn't worry about undoing that path. 'Cause I think Malenia is what's blocking me into that ending at the moment.

Unless you're trying to get the platinum for the game via save-scumming I wouldn't worry about it. The Frenzied Flame ending might not be narratively satisfying depending on your moral compass, but it's definitely the most visually spectacular by a large margin. I still think you should make another attempt to kill Malenia before finishing the game, though. Just save her for last (the last few bosses in Leyndell, the three bosses in Farum Azula, and the boss in Moghwyn Palace are all easier).

 

[MFB]

Those crystalline guys can be backstabbed a million times, or you can poise break them and then they take like 500% increased damage from all sources. They have like an invisible shell that gets permanently broken by a poise break. Recommended strat for them is either use like 3-5 charged heavy attacks from a melee weapon (depends on how much poise damage the weapon does, but even the ones that bounce off them are at least doing poise damage) to stagger them and then just kill them however you want, or use rock sling till they get knocked down cause it does heavy poise damage and strike is the only damage type that can dent them before they're staggered. Critical attacks paradoxically do no poise damage whatsoever, so backstabbing them will get you nowhere really.

You most definitely need to use the poise break strategy on the later more difficult ones. There's no way you'd live long enough vs the rot trio when slowly chipping their health down without breaking poise.

Blaidd is a JOKE with moonveil. Just keep using the R2 weapon art on him from medium distance and roll back every time he raises his sword to do that weird leaping attack.

Oh what? I could've sworn the strategy used to be backstab was like THE method since they're so slow, but you're right that it really did do like no damage; you legit need to get them to 50% before it prompts you for the critical hit that breaks their shell. It took me a minute to remember which ones the Rot Trio were, as they're not a boss fight just three random crystallines guarding an item (in the Haligtree?), I was thinking the only other crystalline boss fight is still only a duo.

I don't see the hype for Moonveil's weapon art, it seems like it has a very short range on it, and the distance it did was quite pathetic compared to a normal slice; but again, this is for someone who put legitimately zero points into arcane, and maybe 3 points into DEX overall. I'd be better off getting him with the bleed damage it inflicts, or trying to Scarlet Rot him with Dragon Breaht.

 

[wankerness]

Oh what? I could've sworn the strategy used to be backstab was like THE method since they're so slow, but you're right that it really did do like no damage; you legit need to get them to 50% before it prompts you for the critical hit that breaks their shell. It took me a minute to remember which ones the Rot Trio were, as they're not a boss fight just three random crystallines guarding an item (in the Haligtree?), I was thinking the only other crystalline boss fight is still only a duo.

I don't see the hype for Moonveil's weapon art, it seems like it has a very short range on it, and the distance it did was quite pathetic compared to a normal slice; but again, this is for someone who put legitimately zero points into arcane, and maybe 3 points into DEX overall. I'd be better off getting him with the bleed damage it inflicts, or trying to Scarlet Rot him with Dragon Breaht.

Nah, the fastest way to kill those guys with Moonveil is to summon the mimic and then just target one with a bunch of charged R2s as fast as possible, and then move on to the next without bothering to kil lthe first one, etc. Getting them poise broken turns them into almost total non-threats cause they take monstrous damage from anything you throw at them. It's just a rush to quickly poise break them cause if they all still have their shields up and the mimic dies you're probably screwed if you're as bad at this game as me.

Moonveil's weapon art is good because it has good range, good damage that scales primarily with int and isn't neutered by armor or slash damage the way its regular attacks can be, doesn't use much FP, allows you to recover almost instantly (very easy to snipe invader NPCs with it and quickly roll away, there's very low "commitment" risk with it compared to most weapon arts), and also does decent poise damage (even after it got massively nerfed). There's not really another weapon that works well with R1s that you can also annihilate guys with beams of death from without being in their melee range. Most weapons leave you VERY open against invader NPCs, especially that hoslow petal whip asshole in the volcano manor questline, but with moonveil you just charge it up, hit them with it right before they get in range to hit you, and roll away. It's incredibly good to the point where it feels like cheating.

Arcane and dex are not worth putting points into beyond the minimum requirements for whatever you're trying to use, Moonveil gets the vast majority of its damage from Int.

EDIT: There's a rot trio as the boss in some dungeon. I think maybe it's the one under the Academy in Liurnia? The ones in Haligtree can be pulled one at a time and thus are a lot easier even though they're much higher level.

EDIT 2, had to look it up, they're actually the boss of sellia hideaway in Caelid (where you have to go for Sellen's quest).

 

[wankerness]

either way, i think the real crux of the matter is that more people would probably try and enjoy the souls games if the die-hards weren't so fucking evangelical about it, and didn't post it up as being the hardest shit in the world. hot take incoming but honestly once you understand the rules of DS1: being that your attack animations are slow, and you're dealt a lot of damage when hit, it becomes a pretty easy game. it's not rated E, your 5 year old could pick it up and beat it with no trouble, but it's a decent challenge compared to most games. media hyped the hell out of PREPARE TO DIE etc and it got this crazy reputation, so tons of people - myself included - stayed the hell away from it.

idk, they're still not for everyone for sure, but i think they're for more people than is immediately apparently.

souls games are not Ikaruga, Ghouls & Goblins, Ninja Gaiden

god the second sentence in your comment is right, isn't it

I'm not sure where you're seeing these people. Usually if I see annoying fromsoft fanboys they're doing the opposite, talking about how easy the games are (cause that makes them look like better GAMERS). The only people I see hyping them up as the hardest thing in the worlds are the morons I see in Kotaku comments that are like "I hate these games cause they lack accessibility settings, I tried to play Bloodborne and died like 20 times to the first wolf and it made my fibromyalgia act up and I had to quit."

These games are absolutely a lot easier than many games considered "easy" are on their hard settings. Like, nothing in Dark Souls comes anywhere remotely close to fighting the valkyries in God of War 2018 on hard difficulty. However, they're also a lot harder than most games are on their easy settings, which coincidentally are what the vast majority of people choose even over normal.

 

[wankerness]

I played Carrion for a bit. It is sort of your average 16 bit style Metroidvania, except you play as a hideous mass of amorphous tentacles and go around eating people to get bigger. There are some "flashback" scenes where you play as humans, but for the most part it's metroidvania as a blobby tentacle monster. The controls are kind of wonky and it has no map which is pretty frustrating since it is very much a big sprawling maze of a map like in Super Metroid, but I like the concept and the way you just sort of shoot around the screen the way you move the stick. Plus tossing humans around and eating the severed halves of their body is great.

 

[Leviathus]

Started a new Dark Souls 2 playthrough with the intention of killing the blue Smelter Demon, as i never have before. I think there's a boss or two in the snow DLC which i've never beaten as well but idk how much i care. Got the channeler's trident at the bird nest casino before even stepping foot in Majula so i'm gonna rock that for a while. Just beat the Last Giant and i think i might actually not cheese Dragonrider this time just to change it up.

 

[Ralyks]

No, seriously, when does the story for Persona 3 Portable pick up? Just did the third full moon, and I feel like the one character development is Junpei being a dick for whatever reason.

 

[wankerness]

No, seriously, when does the story for Persona 3 Portable pick up? Just did the third full moon, and I feel like the one character development is Junpei being a dick for whatever reason.

The review I read said it takes 60 hours for the story to finally get started. That was where I decided I’m not getting that game till it’s 5 bucks and might not even play it then!

 

[CTID]

I'm not sure where you're seeing these people. Usually if I see annoying fromsoft fanboys they're doing the opposite, talking about how easy the games are (cause that makes them look like better GAMERS). The only people I see hyping them up as the hardest thing in the worlds are the morons I see in Kotaku comments that are like "I hate these games cause they lack accessibility settings, I tried to play Bloodborne and died like 20 times to the first wolf and it made my fibromyalgia act up and I had to quit."

These games are absolutely a lot easier than many games considered "easy" are on their hard settings. Like, nothing in Dark Souls comes anywhere remotely close to fighting the valkyries in God of War 2018 on hard difficulty. However, they're also a lot harder than most games are on their easy settings, which coincidentally are what the vast majority of people choose even over normal.

yeah, that was a miscommunication on my part, i meant that gaming publications post them up as being insanely difficult

also, 100% agreed that they are easier than most games on their hardest setting are, and i think that has everything to do with the fact that in 99% of situations damage is predictable and preventable (to quote Joseph Anderson) whereas in most games turning the difficulty up to the highest usually just makes enemies aimbot bullet sponges. most games are built with the knowledge that you WILL take damage from some things, and that really becomes a problem when you crank those numbers to where they're at in the hardest difficulties. but in from games, if you learn mechanics you'll be able to dodge attacks and punish enemies/bosses constantly. whereas it doesn't matter how good at shooting you are, Veteran on CoD4 will still end up with you having 8 grenades being thrown at you by enemies who will insta headshot you the moment they see even a single pixel of you

The review I read said it takes 60 hours for the story to finally get started. That was where I decided I’m not getting that game till it’s 5 bucks and might not even play it then!

and people say souls fans are sadistic

 

[Ralyks]

The review I read said it takes 60 hours for the story to finally get started. That was where I decided I’m not getting that game till it’s 5 bucks and might not even play it then!

Ok, I just got to around 25ish hours, and NOW there's some meaningful story development. At least it's not 60 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Honestly, even though I complained, it's still a fun JRPG.
Also odd that it's 60. Looks like average time to beat is 65 1/2 hours, but 128 if you want to be a competitionist. And I'm kind of regretting not doing the female protagonist, I heard their story is better.

Edit: Oh, go figure, I say Junpei is acting like a dick, and just now he admitted he's been acting like a dick.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

and people say souls fans are sadistic

Persona 3 has its hardcore fans, who still insist it's better than 4 or 5, largely on story alone. It does have a dark tone with nihilistic elements, hell, you summon your persona by pointing a gun to your head and pulling the trigger. Those fans are insane.

 

[MFB]

Played around more tonight with Moonveil Katana, for whatever reason, the Weapon Art when I used it down in Nokstella did <50 damage per hit, but now using it on others, I'm getting mid-300/400 which makes A LOT more sense.

Maybe the dude I used it against was immune to that particular damage type, but its made short work of a number of guys around the map. My main is still Trina's blade as I don't need to swap any talismans/two hand my weapon for it's perk, but for boss fights I have no problem suiting up with it if any enemy is weaker to it.

 

[TedEH]

I made it to the Elden Beast. Took a few attempts then gave up for now. Turns out that beating the Clergyman at the crumbly twirly place triggers the tree burning. I'm not a big fan of how you have to re-fight Radagon every time though.

 

[wankerness]

I made it to the Elden Beast. Took a few attempts then gave up for now. Turns out that beating the Clergyman at the crumbly twirly place triggers the tree burning. I'm not a big fan of how you have to re-fight Radagon every time though.

Elden beast is a widely hated boss. I think visually it’s spectacular and the music is gorgeous, but I hate bosses in these games that you constantly have to run after. He behaves like flame giant, but you can’t mount up, making him way more annoying. Plus the bleed immunity obviously makes him take a lot longer. I usually would just cheese him with flame of the red manes, but they nerfed that to uselessness. I did the same thing with giant hunt (albeit slightly less effectively) on a recent playthrough. He was easy with rock sling, just like most bosses in big arenas.

Fighting radagon every time is annoying, but at least he’s a fight you can properly learn and dominate (main advice is learn the timing to jump over all his ground slam sorts of attacks for free damage) unlike elden beast who can do some rng bullshit like hitting you with two overlapping aoe spells that are extremely hard to dodge.

 

[wankerness]

Played around more tonight with Moonveil Katana, for whatever reason, the Weapon Art when I used it down in Nokstella did <50 damage per hit, but now using it on others, I'm getting mid-300/400 which makes A LOT more sense.

Maybe the dude I used it against was immune to that particular damage type, but its made short work of a number of guys around the map. My main is still Trina's blade as I don't need to swap any talismans/two hand my weapon for it's perk, but for boss fights I have no problem suiting up with it if any enemy is weaker to it.

The first enemy was probably slightly farther away or blocking. The damage decreases the further away the enemy is.

 

[Leviathus]

Worst part of the Radagon fight is how he flashbangs you at the start every time. I hadda start covering my eyes the other night when he was bustin' me up.