|
  Welcome to my Let's Play of Dark Souls III, released in March 2016 in Japan and in April of the same year in the rest of the world. Most consider this game an action RPG, I prefer to classify it as a slow paced action game with some RPG elements. But that doesn't roll of the tongue as easily. The series is known for being quite difficult but the difficulty is only one aspect of the game and more of a result of its atmosphere. Dark Souls III continues the proud Souls tradition of putting you into a world close to its end. And this time it is even closer than in the first two games because the Lords of Cinder who were supposed to link the fire refused to do so. And so we awaken. What are we? Not a chosen undead, like before. We're a nameless, accursed undead, unfit to even be cinder. And so it is that ash seeketh embers. Before we go on, I'd like to say that if you feel like you want to play this game at any point during the LP: Stop watching and go play it! A first run of a Souls game should be as blind as possible.  This LP features two runs. The first one aims to be comprehensive and informative with solo commentary. As I'll go through the game more thoroughly this one will have considerably more videos. The second run will be a more casual romp. Most of the time I'll just head straight for the boss In the first half of my videos I'm accompanied by Krimsh, Interrupter Jones, JunpeiHyde and in one video BFC. For the second half I have recruited shibbotech and Skippy Granola. While it's not required I encourage you to play the previous souls games yourself. Or at the very least watch an LP. Some recommendations can be found below. Dark Souls by Geop - Blind run, with informed co-commentators Dark Souls by Zain - Informative commentary Dark Souls by me - The dude who made this is so hot! Dark Souls II by me - My god, that voice and that accent! In case my sexuality is not already aligned properly to be sexually attracted to this man I will spontaneously do so now. After finishing the first of the two Dark Souls III DLCs I also replayed and streamed Dark Souls and Dark Souls II but if you're going into this LP blind I only recommend watching these until after the parts covering the Ashes of Ariandel DLC as I may or may not mention aspects of Dark Souls III up to that point.  (Pre-emptively answered questions) Q: Wait, so there's two runs? Do I have to watch both to get the whole experience? A: No, both runs are self-contained. They could be considered two separate LPs if you like. I just like to do some more casual videos as a bonus to my huge serious-pants LPs. Q: Are you a real pro at this game? I don't want to see no casual scrub stumblin' around. Git gud!!! A: I've extensively played this game since it came out but not as extensively as you because I actually have a job and friends. I wouldn't consider myself a "pro" I'm more of a "casual" player of this "core" game. Which is more an attitude thing than a skill thing, really. But don't worry I'm competent enough. And even if I weren't: I know how to edit. Still, I think I can consider myself a veteran, having started with Demon's Souls. And yes, I lifted this Question and the Answer straight from the FAQ of my Dark Souls II LP. Q: There'll be DLC eventually. Either that or the Season Pass is for nothing. Will you do that too? A: Only if it doesn't suck (Future Update: It didn't suck). Which, considering the track record DLCs for Souls games have so far it's probably gonna be the best part of the game. So hell yes I'm gonna do it! (Future Update: Hell yeah, I did it!)  This LP consists of two runs. The comprehensive run will be on the left and is numbered. Clicking here will link to the update post, if there is one, or directly to the video. The casual run is on the right of the banner and is lettered. It offers a quicker run through the areas and the commentary is more on the humorous side. No thanks to me because I'm notoriously unfunny, but there's co-commentators.                                                                          IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 18:46 on May 6, 2017 |
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 16:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 08:47 |
|
|
After finishing the first of the DLCs and waiting for the second I decided to play through Dark Souls and Dark Souls II again. I'm uploading edited versions of the VODs to Youtube. Click on the banners below to find a Youtube playlist. As of the time of this writing the first game's videos are complete while the second game's are still being edited and uploaded.  After not having played the game since my LP ended back in May 2013 I come back for one more round in anticipation of the series finale to see how well it holds up. It's still a very enjoyable experience but I sure wish there was omnidirectional dodging when locked on. You'll hear me complain about that a lot, but don't think that soured my experience. I do still believe it's a fantastic title.  Despite being my least favorite Souls title by a pretty good margin I was always one of the defenders of Dark Souls II. Scholar, overall, improved the thing (for the most part) toning down quite a few of the worse encounters. I have only played this version once before so I'm not quite used to it. Since it's the only game with powerstancing I went with dual Ultra Greatswords eventually because why not? IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Apr 22, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 16:23
|
|
|
   Iudex Gundyr is latin and translates to Ashen Judge. He is the boss of the tutorial area and boy is he a boss. While the tutorial boss of Dark Souls was designed to be defeated by most people on their first try, and the expected first boss of Dark Souls II was fairly simple too this is quite a step up. If you have experience with Souls games he isn't anything you can't handle but let's just put on the shoes of someone who's never played a Souls game before. This can take a newcomer quite a few tries. In phase one he's pretty straight forward. A big armored dude with a big weapon swinging said weapon. Y'know, just how a lot of Dark Souls II bosses were. Gundyr also has a little but of a shoulder ram that comes out relatively quickly. Once he reaches 50% of his health, though, Phase two begins. Blackness erupts from a spot in his neck and a giant black... thing... just kind of sticks out of him, attacking you. If you're locked on it can easily block your entire view if you're too close. I personally never had to dodge many of its attacks, though, because what I tried when I first fought him seemed to be a good strategy: Just stand behind him. The only two things he can do are turn, in which case you strafe accordingly, or jump up, trying to crush you upon landing. If he does that just move away and then carry on as usual. Depending on your starting class he can be harder or easier, though, he's probably the most diffucult with the Thief. Unless you're good at parrying of course. But even if you don't you can get through phase one with your dagger and bow. For phase two you can use the firebombs you found to take care of him. So it's not like the game doesn't give you any options. I haven't measured time or anything, but if you use the Warrior as a starting class you can probably kill Gundyr the quickest, as the weapon's special skill buffs its damage output and the weapon itself isn't exactly weak either. The easiest kill will probably be the Sorcerer's or the Pyromancer's. The Pyromancer has the damage advantage here while the Sorcerer has a greater range. Essentially those two classes allow you to stay at a reasonable distance and still do decent damage.  Darksign Dark Souls III: The Darksign is the sign of an accursed Undead. The Darksign returns its bearer to the last bonfire rested at, or the bonfire at Firelink Shrine, but at the cost of all souls held. Carriers of the Darksign are reborn after death, and eventually lose their minds, turn Hollow. And so it is they are driven from their homeland. Dark Souls II: An accursed mark. The Darksign induces death, returning the player to the last bonfire rested at, at the cost of all souls held. Do what you must to gather the pieces, scraping them into some semblance of a whole, before the will to do so fades." Dark Souls: The Darksign signifies an accursed Undead. Those branded with it are reborn after death, but will one day lose their mind and go Hollow. Death triggers the Darksign, which returns its bearer to the last bonfire rested at, but at the cost of all humanity and souls. Estus Flask Dark Souls III: The Undead treasure these dull green flasks. Fill with Estus at bonfires, and drink to restore HP. The journey of an Undead has always traced the bonfires, and no journey of import has been made without an Estus Flask. Dark Souls II: A green glass bottle of unknown make. Fill it with Estus at a bonfire, and drink from it to restore HP. The nature of the link between the Estus flasks and the bonfires that illuminate the world of the Undead is entirely unknown. But that is of little concern, for any Undead knows the value of these precious flasks. Dark Souls: The Undead treasure these dull green flasks. Fill with Estus at bonfire. Fills HP. The Estus Flasks are linked to the Fire Keepers. The Dark Tales also make reference: An emerald flask, from the Keeper's soul. She lives to protect the flame, And dies to protect it further Ashen Estus Flask Undead treasure these dull ashen flasks. Fill with Estus at bonfires, and drink to restore FP. Quite befitting of an Unkindled, an Ashen Estus Flask turns a bonfire's heat cold. Coiled Sword Sword missing from the shrine bonfire. Cannot be equipped as a weapon. Thrust into the shrine bonfire to restore its power and enable travel between bonfires. This sword is only bequeathed to chosen ash, as judged by the Iudex, who awaits the arrival of ash as a scabbard. Ember No Unkindled can ever truly claim the embers that burn within a champion's bosom, which is precisely what makes their yearning for warmth so keen. Gain the strength of flame and increased max HP until death. With the strength of fire, the summoning signs of Unkindled become visible, and seekers of embers can be summoned to join in co-operating. But beware, the embers may also attract invaders. Note: The inventory sprite for the Ember has a similar shape to that of Humanity from the first Dark Souls. Homeward Bone Dark Souls III: Bone fragment reduced to white ash. Return to the last bonfire used for resting, or to the shrine bonfire. Bonfires are sustained by the bones of the Undead. In rare cases, their previous owner's strong urge to seek bonfires enchants their bones with a homeward instinct. Dark Souls II: A white-ashen bone. Return to last bonfire rested at. Bonfires burn on the bones of Undead and this bone, belonging to one whose journey was cut short, has the power to travel to bonfires. As if it yearns to resume its futile quest… Dark Souls: Bone fragment reduced to white ash. Return to last bonfire used for resting. Bonfires are fueled by the bones of the Undead. In rare cases, the strong urge of their previous owner's to seek bonfires enchants their bones with a homeward instinct. Estus Shard Dark Souls III: A shard soaked in Estus. Give to the blacksmith at the shrine to increase usages of the Estus Flask. In the old days, it was rare to see an Estus Flask far from its owner, but this shard offers hope, however shattered. Dark Souls II: The shard of an Estus Flask. Shards are deeply soaked in Estus. Graft the shard to an Estus Flask to increase flask uses. Over the ages, countless souls rested their bones as they drank from the original flask. And now this shard remains, serving as a vestige of their hopes and dreams.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 16:23
|
|
|
I like the idea that Gundyr is a direct response to the complaints about 2 - I remember my response upon first seeing him was something along the lines of "Oh look, another dragonrider". The second form, while being really easy to circle around, looks intimidating as gently caress and all the wriggling makes it somewhat difficult to figure out there's a safe spot behind him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 17:20
|
|
|
Am I a bad person for ignoring all the Dark souls lets play until Iggy got around to doing his lets play?
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 21:18
|
|
|
Klaus88 posted:Am I a bad person for ignoring all the Dark souls lets play until Iggy got around to doing his lets play? Nah, I'd say that makes you a person. I just finished Dark Souls 3, myself. It is a good game. As with Dark Souls 2, it is not without problems. I have opinions on the nature of these problems which I shall not expound upon for quite some time. Never the less, know that these opinions exist. In the meantime, this should be entertaining and educational. I imagine I still don't know a god damned thing about the game despite having just defeated the final boss this morning.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 21:54
|
|
|
It's kinda cute that your posts resemble a strategy guide in format.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 22:40
|
|
|
It is clear Iggy puts a lot of effort into all those posts. It's nice that he includes the item descriptions from earlier games, if applicable. Unrelated: Your demonstration of the Force miracle in the second video made my day, Iggy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 23:02
|
|
|
Given the thread title someone needs to post that Dark Souls 1 "Three types of players" comic. My google fu is weak and I can't find it, or I'd do it myself.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 23:06
|
|
|
Buried alive posted:Given the thread title someone needs to post that Dark Souls 1 "Three types of players" comic. My google fu is weak and I can't find it, or I'd do it myself. Here ya go! The third one is the important one! Though, I wouldn't read too much into my choice of thread title. It's just Dark Souls III, the third Dark Souls... that made me think of that comic. So I used it as a thread title. This is how I operate!  
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2016 23:24
|
|
|
Adventurer #3 is my spirit animal.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 00:17
|
|
|
Dark Souls 3 is such a mixed bag for me, but I'm excited to see Iggy take it on. Loved your DS2 LP
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 01:38
|
|
|
Kickin, I actually just finished re-watching your Dark Souls II LP and I'm oh about 3/4 of the way through this game as of right now so I'll be glad to see the correct way to get through this mess.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2016 02:26
|
|
|
Aww yeah, welcome back Iggy!  I have to have mentioned your DS2 LP at least a dozen times between Mog's and mine and my Dark Souls streams, heh. Looking forward to seeing a thorough LP of it, I hear there's a ton of missable or branching-route content in this one.Looks like you're on the PS4 version, which figures; last time you were on PC and I was on console, now it's the way around! Guess there's no hijacking the LP this time.  
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2016 19:14
|
|
|
For those curious, I will not include item descriptions with every update, I'll save those for when we've cleared an area, or most of it. I will, of course, also only include info about the boss if we actually face one, duh. Sometimes I may find something else to talk about, like today! How the Level design in Dark Souls III guides the player I briefly touched on this in the video but didn't feel like it was a good idea to elaborate on it right then and there in the interest of pacing. There are quite a few tricks Dark Souls III and some other games use to guide the player without literally pointing an arrow towards the general direction of the objective or having a neat line on the floor show you where to go. Let's take the spot I briefly talked about in the video, for instance, and go all the way to the bonfire from there: You're standing on on a ledge near a ladder, looking down. You see there's an enemy but he doesn't move or even seem to be looking in your direction. So you are climbing down the ladder and you'll most likely be facing towards the wall, which will allow you to spot a path right next to the door. Because the level designers want you to know there's a path. However, they think it's better for you to go there later since it's actually a much longer and somewhat more difficult route through the level. And here comes the hollow from before, shooting you with a crossbow, which does relatively little damage as rangers are mostly used to put pressure on the player, not necessarily to kill them. Since the enemy is very hesitant to move you'll just move in to kill the single enemy. Only around the corner there are more enemies who are now about to attack. So you move in to fight and once you're done you'll probably spot another ladder. You are likely to just go down to what appears to be a single small platform, maybe hiding an item but there's a path further on. Since you went this far already you might decide to just move on that way, which is the short path through the level. And from here the game tries to guide you to the shortcut back to the first bonfire. You may be low on Estus at this point if this is your first run, maybe even out of it. So the next, more powerful, enemy is easy to avoid, just patrolling around a well. In fact. It's a simple matter to just run past him as long as you have a little patience. You're even able to pick up the treasure without drawing his attention. Once you left this room again your gaze is directed towards an important looking church-like building and the really tough knight enemies are patrolling around in a pattern that would make it impossible to just sneak by. You know they are tough because there was one right in your way before you reached the second bonfire of the level. So maybe not a good path to take. But where to go? Without having to look for a path you get hit in the back with a crossbow bolt again to show you a path... again. So on you go, to kill that enemy. But even though this game is incredibly nice to you doing that, without you realizing it, it also makes sure you know it's not your friend by placing an enemy in a way so it can attack you from behind easily. It's a tough kind of love. In this example, after all, you get guided by being shot in the back. But since you probably don't want to deal with the Knight that patrol the church you'll check that other path out and are on your way to the shortcut, with just regular hollows in the way, though, there is an ambush on the way there, but it only feature four of the weakest enemies you can find in the area. The most obvious tools the game uses to subtly guide the player are: Enemies: Monsters established as dangerous may make you go the other way, a lack of enemies altogether may make you favor a path etc. Items: Their glow is quite eye-catching, it's used both to draw your attention towards certain spots, often to reveal paths that you can't reach yet but the game wants you to be aware of. Sometimes they are also just a trap, of course) Light sources: There is some lantern or fire near a lot doors or ladders or other points of interest. Sometimes just for flavour, obviously. But remember Blighttown from Dark Souls and the Valley of Defilement from Demon's Souls? Both of those areas guide you simply by making you follow the light in the most literal way. I think this type of game design is great as it manages to hold one's hand without insulting one's intelligence, but it also sometimes gives you a slap on the wrist just to remind you who you're dealing with and if it's feeling particularly devious it may just clothesline you face first into a wall if you don't pay enough attention. It's a though kind of love that rubs some players the wrong way. One drawback of this kind of design that I can think of is that not all pieces fall into place every time because different people just play games differently. For instance, that path down the ladder from the beginning of our trip? I didn't even see it on my first playthrough, because I was too focused on the enemy facing away near the corner down the ladder. But that still made me go down the easier path, I simply missed out on the optional, longer, route for the time being, though, I did find it during a second run I did to make sure I didn't miss anything. ------------- Wayne posted:Looks like you're on the PS4 version, which figures; last time you were on PC and I was on console, now it's the way around! Guess there's no hijacking the LP this time. Klaus88 posted:Am I a bad person for ignoring all the Dark souls lets play until Iggy got around to doing his lets play? Skippy Granola posted:Kickin, I actually just finished re-watching your Dark Souls II LP and I'm oh about 3/4 of the way through this game as of right now so I'll be glad to see the correct way to get through this mess. IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jun 25, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2016 22:52
|
|
|
Honestly, I never finished Dark Souls 2 and I wanted to refresh myself on all the stuff they reference in 3. And your run was both informative and low-key, as opposed to some of the obnoxious goddamn dark souls LPs out there on the YT. On a personal note, I felt like the High Wall of Lothric was a lot tighter than Undead Burg in terms of concept and design. It has a really obvious progression and a natural flow that, as you said in your post, helps tacitly guide the player. Without giving anything away, it also teaches you the skills needed for, and expectations of, later parts of the game, so each feels like a refinement of previous challenges rather than a series of arbitrary traps.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2016 23:58
|
|
|
I guess the tighter design is the payoff you get for losing out on non-linearity. Admittedly, the first area is a straight line out of necessity and the High Wall is a pretty good introduction.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2016 11:35
|
|
|
For the regular LP click on the banner in the middle (or the number) You may also click on the letter A for Episode A! Episode A features Interrupter Jones and Krimsh who also accompanied me for the bonus episodes of my Dark Souls II LP. We do not take this very seriously and I am a Kayfabe Brazilian??? We also go through the game faster but I didn't know that when we went through the Cemetery of Ash so that part took me a whole five minutes. Also, I barely explain anything about NG+, essentially enemies scale up a bit, you get to keep your stuff from the first playthrough, there's new rings in set locations and... that's it. Vordt of the Boreal Valley:  Vordt of the Boreal Valley is the first proper boss. While Iudex Gundyr was definitely the hardest Tutorial boss of any Souls game Vordt is among the harder actual first bosses too, perhaps easier than the two bosses you can encounter as your first in Bloodborne but definitely more challenging than the Taurus Demon from Dark Souls as well as both the Dragon Rider and the Last Giant from Dark Souls II. So don't feel too bad if you die a couple times. Even I as a veteran died to what I know think is a pretty simple boss once or twice during my first run. Before the fight you have a chance to inspect the arena. There's no geography you can use for strategic purposes but you'll notice that the ground is very uneven and heavily damaged, most likely due to multiple heavy impacts. Possibly by a giant mace. Additionally, the giant gate you're supposed to go through is shut tight by roots, implying that it hasn't been opened in a long while. The fight starts slow and simple the music does a nice job of setting the atmosphere here. Vordt pretty much only has a few swings with his giant mace to fend you off. He can do a dash to close some distance and smash his fist down on the ground. It's easiest to just stay under him But once half of his health bar is depleted the fight heats up. In the second phase Vordt grows much more aggressive and the music tries to keep up with him. One of the most obvious examples of the music dynamically adjusting to the fight reaching another phase. In additon to his attacks from phase two he can now dash attack you. He normally does it up to three times but some report that he can do it a fourth time as well. If you notice him inhaling it's your chance to get behind him or to his side and hit him a few times because you don't want to be in front of him anyway. He'll breathe ice on you in a wide arc. It induces frostbite, like most of his attacks, which decreases your stamina regeneration as well as your defense and does a little damage too. Unfortunately staying under him is not all that safe anymore in the second phase as he can now smash his mace down for some AoE damage. If you get under him it's best to retreat after a few hits to be safe. If we read the descriptions of his Soul as well as the weapon and the ring we can make from it (further below) we get an idea of who Vordt is: An Outrider Knight under the command of a Pontiff Sulyvahn(Whoever that is, at this point in the game we don't know) who gave Vordt a Ring that turned him from a regular humanoid knight into the beast that we see in the boss fight. We also learn that he was not dispatched on his own. There's mention of a "fleeting dancer" being by his side. Soul of Vordt of the Boreal Valley Soul of Vordt of the Boreal Valley. One of the twisted souls, steeped in strength. Use to acquire many souls, or transpose to extract its true strength. Vordt served as an outrider knight, never far from the fleeting dancer. Vordt's Great Hammer (made from Soul of Vordt) Great Hammer wielded by Vordt, the outrider knight of the Boreal Valley. Weapon is imbued with frost, and causes frostbite. Frost accumulates in the body causing frostbite, which saps one's health, lowers absorption, and slows stamina recovery. Skill: Perseverance - Anchor weapon in earth to temporarily boost poise. Damage reduced while activated. Pontiff's Left Eye (made from Soul of Vordt) Bewitched ring that Pontiff Sulyvahn bestowed upon his knights. Recovers HP with successive attacks. Knights who peer into the black orb are lured into battles of death, transformed into frenzied beasts. No wonder the Pontiff only provides these rings to those dispatched to foreign lands. Dungeon Cell Key Key to a cell holding thieves and the like. There is no shortage of brash thieves in Lothric and these particular thieves likely scaled the wall from the Undead Settlement. But they are only willing to practice their thievery on the High Wall, for their fear of Lothric Castle, rumored to devour men, keeps them clear of its grounds. Blue Tearstone Ring A ring set with a large rare tearstone jewel. Temporarily boosts damage absorption when HP is low. This stone is said to be a tear of sorrow of the goddess Caitha, and of course, tears are always more beautiful near death. Small Lothric Banner Small banner held by Lothric messengers. Hold up outside the main castle gate to be greeted by an escort. When the High Wall appeared, the path to the Undead Settlement was blocked, and messengers came bearing this banner. They were sent out with a duty, but had no way of returning. Alluring Skull Dark Souls III: A skull resplendent in the scent of souls. Prepared by evangelists of the Cathedral of the Deep. Throw to shatter, spreading souls which attract enemies. Not effective for all foes. Dark Souls II: A skull of unknown ownership. Smashing it releases traces of souls, which can attract nearby foes. Does not work on all enemies, but can prove useful in unexpected ways. Dark Souls: A skull with meekly lingering souls. Throw to shatter and spread souls to attract certain types of enemies. Souls are a concentration of life, and the life-starved Hollows are lured by its power. Not effective for all enemies. Undead Hunter Charm (Lloyd's Talisman in Dark Souls and Dark Souls II) Dark Souls III: Tool used to hunt down the Undead. Block Estus recovery within a limited area. Used long ago by Lloyd's cleric knights on their Undead hunts. Although Allfather Lloyd is long forgotten by the Way of White, his hunts have lived on, and this charm allows one to challenge Undead without fear of tenacious healing. Dark Souls II: Talisman used by cleric knights. Blocks Estus recovery within a limited area. It is said that the cleric knights used these talismans to hunt down accursed Undead. Cleric knights fight with pride, and by blocking the recovery of the Undead, they can also fight with impunity. Dark Souls: Talisman utilized by Allfather Lloyd's cleric knights to hunt down the Undead. Blocks Estus recovery within a limited area. In the outside world, the Undead are accursed creatures, and Lloyd's cleric knights are widely praised for their Undead hunts. This blessed talisman blocks Undead recovery, allowing the knights to fight with impunity. Astora Straight Sword Dark Souls III: A well-crafted sword named after the ruined land. Astora, before its fall, was a land replete with royal blood, and this weapon is both a reminder and heirloom of that era. Skill: Stance - While in stance, use normal attack to break a foe's guard from below, and strong attack to slash upwards with a forward lunge. Dark Souls: Straight sword of an unknown knight, likely one of Astora's superiors. High-quality weapon with a powerful blessing. Lothric Knight Sword A well-crafted straight sword designed for thrusting attacks, wielded by the venerable Knights of Lothric. The Knights of Lothric, with their drakes, once crushed anything that threatened their shores. Of course, that was a long, long time ago. Skill: Stance - While in stance, use normal attack to break a foe's guard from below, and strong attack to slash upwards with a forward lunge. Lothric Knight Shield Shield of the renowned Lothric Knights, decorated with the royal crest. The Lothric Knights contended with dragons, and their shields have suitably high lightning absorption befitting a dragonslayer's arms. Lothric Knight Greatshield Greatshield of the renowned Lothric Knights, decorated with a holy symbol. The knights who formed the High Priestess' guard carried greatshields such as these, which were granted high magic absorption through her blessing. Skill: Shield Bash Without lowering your guard, strike the enemy with the shield to knock them back or stagger them. Works while equipped in either hand. Lothric Knight Armor (Set) Armor of a celebrated Lothric knight. A strong steel armor, if a little worn. The Knight has served as one of the Three Pillars since ancient times, and shares place alongside the wyverns as a symbol of Lothric. Only those possessing a knight's resolve are fit to wear this garment.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 19:00
|
|
|
I love Vordt's design, in fact I love the Boreal Valley aesthetic in general. Vordt's a very Bloodborne boss - vestiges of humanity twisted into a bestial form, his every move savage and chaotic and laboured, as though his human reason were fighting with his animal body. He can also be a huge motherfucker if you're unprepared for it, as I was. Definitely an exciting start to the game, and a good twist on the "big dude with sword" design.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 19:23
|
|
|
Everything about Boreal Valley and its folks is awesome.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 19:37
|
|
|
So far as I recall, Perseverance (and several other Skills) don't increase Poise so much as outright grant DS1/DS2-style Poise. This actually came up in the DS3 thread, that there are two distinct types of Poise in the game (old-style Poise is far better), but the game doesn't tell you when you're using old-style Poise or how much. Vordt's got a cool Great Ape gimmick but I wouldn't classify him as hard among first non-tutorial bosses, since you can (as shown in the video) just hide in his crotch all day rather easily. Even the Taurus Demon or the Last Giant, who can be beaten with similar methods, are more difficult to actually hide from on a consistent basis. (Basically, I'm curious as to why there's a lot of flash with his attacks and boss music that doesn't correspond with him mechanically being a joke.) I was surprised that NG+ did so little in DS3, considering that every other game in the series varied things up to some degree or another. Even the numerical increases are pretty small, generally only increasing health by 1.5x at the highest levels of NG+. (There are a few outliers but those cluster around the early game for obvious reasons.) I wonder why they couldn't at least have just placed some additional phantom enemies or so forth? How well did a shieldless run in DS3 work out for you? I've had notable issues with it on my end, but I'm not certain how much can be attributed to the new (and oblique) poise mechanics and how much can be attributed to framerate on my end. (The art looks bland if you have to lower all the graphics settings to minimum, which is really weird coming from being able to turn everything in DS1/DS2 up to maximum on the same moderately old card.)
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 20:30
|
|
|
IGgy IGsen posted:I am amazed that people would actually rewatch my LPs, to be honest. This too feels somewhat weird. 420 re-watch LPFWA e'eryday
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 20:46
|
|
|
NGDBSS posted:Vordt's got a cool Great Ape gimmick but I wouldn't classify him as hard among first non-tutorial bosses, since you can (as shown in the video) just hide in his crotch all day rather easily. Even the Taurus Demon or the Last Giant, who can be beaten with similar methods, are more difficult to actually hide from on a consistent basis. (Basically, I'm curious as to why there's a lot of flash with his attacks and boss music that doesn't correspond with him mechanically being a joke.) NGDBSS posted:I was surprised that NG+ did so little in DS3, considering that every other game in the series varied things up to some degree or another. Even the numerical increases are pretty small, generally only increasing health by 1.5x at the highest levels of NG+. (There are a few outliers but those cluster around the early game for obvious reasons.) I wonder why they couldn't at least have just placed some additional phantom enemies or so forth? NGDBSS posted:How well did a shieldless run in DS3 work out for you? I've had notable issues with it on my end, but I'm not certain how much can be attributed to the new (and oblique) poise mechanics and how much can be attributed to framerate on my end. (The art looks bland if you have to lower all the graphics settings to minimum, which is really weird coming from being able to turn everything in DS1/DS2 up to maximum on the same moderately old card.) Blind Sally posted:420 re-watch LPFWA e'eryday
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 23:38
|
|
|
IGgy IGsen posted:My point was more that he is hard when you first fight him and you don't know this. Even if you fought a boss like this before you may not be aware of it because he's not tall enough for you to expect to be able to just hide under him. And of course he's not going to be any difficult after that, he's the first boss after all. quote:Actually Dark Souls II is the only Souls game that changed anything meaningful about NG+ by adding some extra phantoms and new regular enemies. All other games only increase the strength of enemies. Except Dark Souls III, which also adds some rings that you can pick up only in NG+ and NG++ (but who cares?) For me NG+ is just a way to continue playing my character, really. quote:I didn't have a lot of problems with it. I did two shieldless runs, actually, one of which can be seen in the alphabetical videos of this LP. My first one I did with a heavy weapon the second with a Katana. I'm not sure how much of that is just me being used to dodging a lot from Dark Souls II, and playing a lot of dodge-heavy builds in the first game. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 00:40
|
|
|
NGDBSS posted:DS2 changed the experience more than the rest, but I seem to recall (but could be wrong here) that Demon's Souls turned a bunch of tougher enemies into more powerful phantom versions, while Dark Souls had the Gravelord covenant. In addition, the changes they made to their numbers weren't nearly so anemic. Four Kings, for instance, turned from a moderately challenging fight into a hyper-aggressive damage race. But in DS3, enemies at maximum effective NG++ are basically comparable to NG+ enemies from any other game in the series. Black Phantom variants of enemies were a World Tendency thing, not an ng+ thing. Gravelord counts for DS1 I guess, but realistically you're almost never going to get gravelorded, even when the game was popular. DS2 is really the only one to change things up in any significant fashion. But you're right that the enemy stat increases in ng+ here are pretty anemic. Aside from a few enemy types things don't really get dangerous until ng+2. It's also hilarious how lovely the ring situation is, locking minor (but important for PVP) stat bonuses behind successive playthroughs with a single character, not to mention a trophy. Especially considering DS2 did that sort of thing way better thanks to Bonfire Ascetics. Not including those in this game was a really poor choice.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 01:05
|
|
|
I had a lot of problems with Vordt until I realized you need to roll through his charge. That's pretty unintuitive if you ask me - there's no real visual indication of there being an opening. Apart from that one move, he's a chump (although still nowhere near the level of Last Giant or Dragonrider of DS2 fame). e:I think bosses in this one are harder than 2 in general - I pretty much breezed through that game but here I ended up doing multiple attempts and having to learn the attack tells for most of them. And that's good, the sense of achievement is real in this one. Vordt is a pretty great (re)introduction to that. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Jul 2, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 14:43
|
|
|
Sheesh, I had a couple of adrenaline-pumping moments just with some of the miniboss encounters - that red-eyed lothric knight being one of them. I'm not used to games making me feel things.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 17:35
|
|
|
Hi, forgive the lack of bbcode but I have to phone post due to my computer having died. I can't upload the next regular episode but I had the casual video uploaded already. So in the interest of keeping the thread going here it is https://youtu.be/VN4JtL6AwB0 Next week we'll return to our regular scheduled LP.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2016 15:54
|
|
|
Okay, I could get this done sooner than expected. Turns out my project files and everything else for the LP could be recovered from my dead PC. (Even if it weren't, I at least saved the footage elsewhere so it would have been some editing and commentating that needed to be redone. Thankfully, I don't have to!) Storytelling in Souls Games I don't want to get into the actual story and plot of the games. Rather I'd like to talk a bit about the presentation. For all it's worth the plot of Dark Souls wouldn't be anything special if it were presented in a more conventional manner with cutscenes feeding the player new information or audio and text logs about events and characters. In fairness, the item descriptions are basically text logs, though, in a very abridged form which makes it feel very different. There will be a lot of times where we have just enough information to make an educated guess about what's going on, but not enough to absolutely confirm anything. I was theorizing a bit near the beginning of the video, for instance, but none of it is confirmed anyway. In fact, I may be completely off. Item descriptions is only one of the three big aspects of how the story of a souls game is presented to the player. There's also NPCs and The environments themselves often tell stories as well. There's a lot of care put into the level designs. There will be plenty of details that can give you clues on upcoming gameplay challenges, obviously. See scorched ground? Better look out for some dragon swooping down. But there's also bits and pieces that drive the story or give you an idea about the history of a place. Aside from the actual environments you will also find items in specific spots and their descriptions may give you some insight on the area you're going through. Perhaps there's specific enemies? Maybe there's an NPC nearby too? I consider all those parts of the environment. And this is where it may all come together. Let's take the story of Lautrec from Dark Souls, for instance. We're entering a church. The bottom level has an altar with a Firekeeper's Soul on it. Eventually you discover Lautrec imprisoned in the upper level of the church, since you ahve the key anyway you let him out, what could possibly go wrong? I mean, he seems a bit off, has a sick laugh and all that. But all the other NPCs have that as well. He even gives you a bit of a reward for rescuing him if you return to Firelink Shrine and talk to him. where he hangs out near the Fire Keeper. Time passes and you return to Firelink Shrine to find that the bonfire has been extinguished and can't be used anymore. You notice that Lautrec is gone and the Firekeeper is dead. Then next time you meet Lautrec he's in Anor Londo, another area with a fire keeper. After you kill him he drops the Soul of the Fire Keeper from Firelink Shrine. Even though you may not catch on to these clues your first time around or even on a second run, they are definitely there and you could figure out that Lautrec just wanders around to kill Firekeepers. If you read descriptions to items relating to Lautrec you can find out that he does so out of some twisted love for the goddess he worships. And you might not even question why he's imprisoned but this is where a whole new layer comes into this. Because why was he even imprisoned? Hollows don't take prisoners. The only one in the entire game who does is Seath. And there's a couple of enemies specifically linked to Seath, like the Crystal Golems, you can find near where Dusk is imprisoned. Or the Channelers, who explicitly kidnap people for Seath. One of the Channelers can be found in the Undead Church where Lautrec is held. Was he maybe stored in that cell to be transferred to Seath's Archives later for his experiments? If you Rescue Rhea from the bottom of the Tomb of Giants she will also go to that church... and later still will show up in Seath's Archives. Dark Souls II seemed to focus a bit more on the gameplay aspect but that doesn't mean that it's devoid of that kind of storytelling, though, a lot of it boils down to "vague vague vague, ending item description with a question?" it still has its moments. Dark Souls III returns to form a bit but there's not too much we can talk about in that regard at this point. It probably all comes from Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of All Souls games except for Dark Souls II (where he was merely supervising), reading English novels despite not speaking English all that well. There were a lot of parts that he couldn't understand, so he filled in the blanks himself. A lot of the time he found that what he came up with was way cooler than what was actually written in the stories he liked to read. And that's where the "Tell some, let them guess the rest" approach comes from.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2016 16:06
|
|
|
I dunno man, it makes sense to me that the hollows of Londor venerate the chosen undead who linked the fire and (presumably) paved the way for all the various other lords of cinder throughout the ages. Maybe it's a religious thing - when the bells of awakening toll, they go on their pilgrimage to the walls of Lothric castle, and die to lend their souls to the unkindled. That's my read on it anyway - I like Yoel. He's a nice guy for a zealot. Anyway, I had a really hard time in the Undead Settlement. Lots of nasty deaths at the hands of those undead evangelists - bleed-inducing, wide-sweeping melee attacks at close range, and dorhy's gnawing at long range make them super scary. Worse still, you usually fight them in tight quarters. They're the bestworst enemy in the game. Skippy Granola fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jul 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2016 17:02
|
|
|
I like the undead evangelists a lot. They took me forever to get the hang of, but every time I lost to one I knew how I'd screwed it up and could improve the next time.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2016 18:10
|
|
|
I really like their "WHO WILL CLEANSE THE BASTARD'S CURSE" line as they cast Warm Hug and try to squeeze the sin out of you. They're nasty customers.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2016 23:48
|
|
|
Is this the new DS thread? I'm on New Game + and I keep finding estus shards, but I can't reinforce my flask past 15. Why do I keep finding them and what do I do with them?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2016 01:11
|
|
|
lite_sleepr posted:Is this the new DS thread?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2016 01:19
|
|
|
Unfortunately I forgot to make a weapon showcase for this video and only noticed once it was already uploaded. Instead I will do it at the beginning of the next video. Please forgive me! The Curse-Rotted Greatwood  The community calls this thing Treeballs and the game calls it a Greatwood. As far as Dark Souls bosses go this is an odd one because you can only damage it in specific weak spots: The bulbs. Not only that, you barely do any damage until you've dealt enough to the weak spots. Then the weak spot explodes, blood gushes everywhere and a huge chunk of health gets blown off of the bosses health bar. The trick is navigating the various attacks while continuously dealing damage to the bulbs that make up the weak spots. Most prominently, right in the center between the legs are the community namesake of the boss: The tree's balls. While you can take them out first it's best to destroy some of the other bulbs first because as soon as you got his balls phase two starts. So taking out other weak spots before makes the much more difficult second phase shorter. The easiest ones are probably the ones on his left hand and leg. Take those out alongside with the balls and he's down to 50% health. In Phase #1 he can sweep or crush you with his arms. He can also roll over, which looks harder to avoid than it is. The most annoying attack is him lifting his wooden butt up into the air to drop back down and release some yellow/brown-ish stuff. Which is fairly annoying. It's acid and will deal damage to your equipment's durability. It's best to stay away until it's gone. The second phase starts once you've killed the balls for the first time. They will reform and a giant arm will emerge from them. He can do all of the attacks from the first phase in addition to some new ones. Most of them are related to his newly formed hand which can hit horizontally or do a hard-hitting pound. He can hit multiple times with his arm two, it's best to steer clear of his frontside until you're absolutely sure he's done. Another attacks is his patented flop. He gets up and just falls down. This'll do a number on you but is easy to avoid and gives you an opportunity to hit some of the more difficult to reach bulbs. Like the one on his elbow. I recommend always going for the bulb on his back first in phase two because he can't really do much of use against you just destroying it. Attack the others as they present themselves to you. If you somehow destroyed all of them and the boss is still alive, which shouldn't be possible, the hand is there as a failsafe. It can't be destroyed, so you can just keep attacking it until the health bar is completely gone. Below will only cover the boss soul and weapons we can make from it, the rest of the items will follow as soon as we've finished the entire area. Transposing Kiln An old transposing kiln from Courland, crafted with stitched crystal lizard hide Give to Ludleth, Lord of Cinder to conduct soul transposition. This kiln can transpose twisted souls to craft special items with their concentrated essence. Deemed forbidden by those unable to make proper use of it. Soul of the Rotted Greatwood Soul of the Curse-rotted Greatwood. One of the twisted souls, steeped in strength. Use to acquire many souls, or transpose to extract its true strength. Ever since its establishment, all manner of curses have managed to seep into the Undead Settlement. The worst of them were sealed away inside a spirit tree, but eventually the curses took their toll. Hollowslayer Geatsword Dark Souls III: Greatsword used for a lifetime by a masked knight. Harbors the fears that lurk within the mind of Hollows, and is particularly effective against them. Bestowed to a proper Mirrah knight long ago. Two-hand to execute special sword techniques. Skill: Stance - While in stance, use normal attack to break a foe’s guard from below, and strong attack to slash upwards with a forward lunge. Dark Souls II (Mirrah Greatsword): Greatsword issued to the proud knights of Mirrah's official order. This one was wielded by Lucatiel. This greatsword demands advanced skill in a rare and unique sword technique. A tiny message is inscribed on the blade, a promise to someone special. Note: That someone special in the Dark Souls II description supposedly is Alsatiel of Mirrah, Lucatiels Brother. Lucatiel was a Dark Souls II character whose arc revolved around the process of her going hollow and losing her identity ever so slowly as well as the angst that comes with losing ones mind while staying just sane enough for long enough to notice it. It ends with her demanding of the Player to remember her name. Alsatiel is an NPC invader who appears in the area that follows that event Arstor's Spear One of the curses that festered within the belly of the Greatwood, and a terrible weapon favored by Earl Arstor the Impaler. The spear is enwreathed in rotten, heavily poisonous meat. Defeating foes restores HP. Skill: Shield Splitter - Take a large step forward and make a single focused thrust to puncture enemy shields and inflict damage.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2016 20:41
|
|
|
I'm just picturing H.R. Giger looking at that boss and going "there's some really weird people out there".
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2016 21:25
|
|
|
More like the purse-rotted greatwood amirite 
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2016 23:25
|
|
|
Curse-Rotted Greatwood strikes me as a boss with an interesting kernel of an idea, but flawed execution. Chief among its issues is the fact that you can never lock on either to the weak points or to relevant bits near them; instead you're stuck with targeting the center of mass which is a horrendous idea for monsters as large as this even without weak points in weird places. The lock-on system in general is an atavistic mess, but I'll avoid flogging it too hard before we see more of it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2016 09:12
|
|
|
Lucatiel of Mirrah Many, including myself, say that the NPCs of Dark Souls II were not as interesting as those of the first Dark Souls. In Dark Souls I you could almost say that each NPC represented a player archetype. The Crestfallen Warrior was one who reached a part too hard for them, and gave up. Siegmayer is the guy who moves on, but not without help. Solaire on the other hand is the one helping people, and even offers you help for multiple tough bosses while Kirk is all about the PvP who instead invades you at multiple points throughout the game. But even those who could not easily be linked to the behaviour of real players had engaging storylines in their own right, like Logan or Petrus and his fellow clerics. Even those who merely served as merchants came alive, even if a lot of their arcs simply revolved around them going hollow once their stock was depleted. Others affect the world, like Lautrec, who kills an important NPC making your life much more difficult. It gave you the feeling that you were not the only one who mattered in the world, which is something that video games only rarely do. It's difficult to deny that Dark Souls II's characters were different, but not really in a good way. Some of them had some form of progression, but overall the NPCs were more static. You found them, they moved to Majula, the hub, to hang out there with you forever. Only very few of them had anything interesting going for them once that happened. Lenigrast had one remark once you brought back his daughter and Maughlin become more and more obsessed with his mad profits. But none of them really had an effect on the world around them, or seemed to have any agency of their own. They merely existed, and showed up alongside your path on a few occasions. Even the overall theme of the game got forgotten, which, in a way, is ironic. Because one of the central themes is the loss of one's memory and identity through the undead curse. Characters will remind you that they forgot something. Usually "Why am I even here? I don't know. Oh that's why! No, never mind." There is one NPC who really explores this theme, though. Lucatiel of Mirrah. There are four locations she shows up in initially, you don't need to visit them in any particular order. Once you've met her four times she will appear at a final spot close to the end of the game. A much more forgiving way of handling side stories than the specific step-by-step instructions you need to wiki up for Dark Souls and, as we will no doubt find out, Dark Souls III. What makes her more interesting than other Dark Souls II characters is that her character actually grows. Or declines, depending on how you look at it. Because every time you meet her she has more and more trouble remembering. Let's just read some of her Dialogue. The following is only a bit from the first encounter. "Heh heh. You are an odd one. Normally, people keep a safe distance when they see this mask. But you… I am called Lucatiel. From the land of Mirrah, to the far east. across the mountains. They say Drangleic brims with powerful souls. And so I came to claim my share. But what a strange place… Even the rumours did not prepare me." You can tell that she is still, as far as Dark Souls characters go, reasonably sane. During the second encounter she opens up a bit. Tells us about herself. How she was born into a kingdom of constant battle, how she became a warrior and was good at her job. But then she came to Drangleic, the world of Dark Souls II. She forgot why, but only for a moment, when her train of thought reminds her, possibly without her even noticing that she couldn't remember a moment ago. "Have you heard of the Undead? These poor souls affected by the curse. An Undead gradually loses his humanity, until his wits degrade completely. Finally, he turns Hollow, and preys upon others. And a Hollow can never be human again. One can skirt this wicked fate only with the help of the souls found here. Assuming, of course, that the legends are true. I can only hope…that they are." At this point in the dialogue Lucatiel removes her mask, revealing a partially hollowed face. The next time we meet her she opens up yet more, but tells us she has more trouble than before to remember things. She is afraid to lose herself. "I've found my thoughts growing hazy. My memories are fading, oldest first. The curse is doing its work upon me. I am frightened… Terribly so… If everything should fade…What will be left of me…" Next she tells us about her brother and how he eclipsed her in almost every way. But one day he disappeared and Lucatiel is absolutely certain that he succumbed to the undead curse. "If only someone would hear my tale… My brother must have come here, too. Soon, I may forget even about him…" It becomes apparent that she tells us about herself in an effort to be remembered. We can tell that she is seriously depressed. Of course, we are all totally hilarious and absolutely well-adjusted goons who make fun of people for the most idiotic reasons, especially if video game characters get consumed by a fear that consumes them emotionally and they philosophize about it as a result. But who can blame her? She gradually loses her mind and her past, but she remains sane enough to notice it. Meanwhile, her flesh rots off her body and she is conscious to feel it as the curse gradually consumes her. It only grows worse until the next time we meet her. "Loss frightens me no end. Loss of memory, loss of self. If I were told that by killing you, I would be freed of this curse… Then I would draw my sword without hesitation. I don't want to die, I want to exist. I would sacrifice anything, anything at all for this. It shames me, but it is the truth." She continues the thought on her MySpace "Sometimes, I feel obsessed… with this insignificant thing called "self". But even so, I am compelled to preserve it. Am I wrong to feel so? Surely you'd do the same, in my shoes? Maybe we're all cursed… From the moment we're born…" I made light of it. But only because I wish I could say "it's just a phase, she'll grow out of it". Our next encounter is the final time we meet Lucatiel. "Who are you… Oh… No, forgive me… I know you… Yes, of course. How goes your journey? I know not what you seek in this far-away land… But I pray for your safety. My name is Lucatiel. I beg of you, remember my name. For I may not myself…" This is the last thing she says. Unless you kill her in which case she'll go: "My dear brother..." Shortly after this final meeting her brother actually appears in front of us as an invader. Lucatiel was incredibly close to finding him, possibly to be invaded and killed by him herself. But even though, this is our last meeting with Lucatiel, the story gets a small continuation in Dark Souls III. Because we learn what probably happened to her. The curse-rotted Greatwood is a tree located in the undead settlement. The inhabitants of the settlement used to feed their accursed to the greatwood. This, eventually, turned it into what we fight as a boss. One of the weapons we can make from the Soul is Lucatiels sword. Not only that, we can find the Mirrah Armor very close by. It's at the base of the tower we drop down to at the end of this video. However, the mask is not found here. To acquire it a vertebra shackle has to be traded with the crow in Firelink shrine. It has the most telling bit of lore "Mask attached to a ceremonial hat. A Hollow once fought valiantly with this mask, but feared the fading of her self, and implored a comrade remember her name. Perhaps that is why this gentleman's mask is named after a woman." I'm not sure why it's called "This gentleman's mask" Maybe someone inherited it from her. Perhaps the player character of Dark Souls II? It is very likely, though, that Lucatiel's soul has been fed to the greatwood, because we can make the Hollowslayer Greatsword from the Greatwood's soul. It makes sense that the Soul of something that was essentially a dump for curses helps us create items the belonged to the accursed. Since undead, including hollows, are notoriously hard to kill for good she may have survived for a long time after Dark Souls II, even if she ended up inside the curse-rotted greatwood ages before Dark Souls III. The timeline is not clear at all anyway. And that is very intentional. But with all that said, Lucatiel is one of the few NPCs in Dark Souls II that are actually interesting. Even though she lacks some of the elements that made the characters in the first game so engaging, she helps us get a glimpse into the head of someone as they go hollow. The process of gradually turning is something that has been missing from the first game. It's a step we've always just skipped. For that she is unique because for her I probably would not even have considered that aspect of hollowing. So, for that, let's remember her name. IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Jul 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2016 20:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 08:47 |
|
|
I think it's a gentleman's mask as in a "mask of a gentleman". IIRC, it's a man's face.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2016 21:35
|
|