This is a great point, and I’ve already experienced a taste of this after I respecced.
Playing these games back to back magnifies the differences, but my views aren’t yet set in stone. More specifically, the initial hurdle of learning the changes seems steeper, but my personal hang-ups are less.
Maybe this is why I had zero problem going from DS1 into something as different as Sekiro, unlike a lot of the vocal souls community who seem to be quite upset by a lot of stuff I love in that game.
On this score I’m guessing Bloodborne will be more in line with the fresh eyes I took to Sekiro, and DS3 will be more in line with how I struggled initially with DS2.
Very curious what my reaction to Demon’s Souls will be.
I couldn’t remember his name, but that is how I understand it and if you spend anytime reading the Steam Forums on the DS games it seems to be the general belief.
Haven’t played it, but I recently have gained access to a PS4 so I am thinking of giving it a try. DS3 is said to have a lot of Bloodborne influence in the quicker combat and combos.
In the whole of the DS3 world I would bet there are probably more people available to summon for Aava than any other boss, at least in my last two play thrus. I have probably killed Aava two dozen times as a summon. And yes, the other boss you mentioned, in fact that entire area, is a joke.
The messages he mentions have been there every time I played thru the area. I think they are put there by the designers. The second part, lighting the brazier, is a change from vanilla DS2. Lighting it in vanilla just gave you light, not red phantoms.
So, the Vendrick reveal was awesome. And the Velstadt fight gets added to my list of memorable fights. Had a solid feel the first go, but only managed to get like 1/8th of this health down. Next attempt I got about a 1/4th and got to see his dark magic attacks up close. Third attempt I brought my pal the grave warden with his hilarious sword, but that was a total shitshow. My man kept eating the overhead slam attack and my katana was doing piddling damage due to the multiplayer boss-buff. But on my forth attempt (solo) I got him. I like these fairly straightforward but incredibly risky fights. Velstadt only had a few move combinations + the nasty dark magic, but if you messed up even a little bit you’d get owned.
Solid stuff.
But back to Vendrick. Holy shit. Story spoilers I guess? If anyone cares.
Summary
The game builds him up as this valiant king who claimed the four lord souls and strode across the sea to defeat the giants. And when I finally meet him, this is what he’s reduced to?
So good. His armor discarded in a pile on the floor. And that room he’s in! With small holes in the roof, white light streaming down, not unlike what raw humanity looks like down in the abyss.
And what a spin on Gwyn. Yeah sure that fight with Gwyn is melancholy and filled with pathos, but it’s not nearly as bleak as Vendrick’s fate. At least Gwyn took the throne, tried his best.
Vendrick’s decision, his whole quest, speaks to the futility of it all. Take the throne, kindle the first flame: your empire still falls to ruin. Refuse the throne, flee the light: you’re left mad and hollow, pacing around in circles hidden away in a crypt.
And what am I supposed to do now? Take the throne anyway, so says the Emerald Herald? I guess we’ll see.
Oh and Aldia’s Keep is great. Game is really humming now. It was painful to have to stop for bed last night, right as I was about to enter some desiccated thunderdome. Wonder what’s waiting for me inside?
It’s funny, in DS1 I was feeling a bit fatigued near the end, and didn’t have the drive to master Manus and Kalameet. I’m having the opposite reaction to the near-end of DS2. I feel like it’s taken me this long to really get comfortable, and I’m super engaged in the story, and I’m eager to dive headlong into whatever challenges are left.
I have found regardless of which game I was playing that there seems to be certain times when people are around. So definitely time zones play into it.
There should have been one almost directly in front of the door. I was never able to find the other one. I do think one of the things they did right with DS3 is that there is an NPC summons for almost every boss fight, except for maybe 2 that I can think of. I never saw one for Aldritch and the Giant requires you to do an NPC’s quest line for him to be available.
But overall I think DS3 offers more NPC summons than the other games.
I have found adding an NPC summons can almost hurt you with some boss fights. I can say I have now beaten almost every boss solo now but for several play thrus there bosses I summoned for. I like to put down a summons sign while playing and I find the number of players who summon 3 players (or NPCs) surprising. I don’t think they realize that adding summons can make the boss harder. Especially since there are some NPCs who are helpful and others who are literally useless, just there to give you a chance to back off and drink estus, and in many cases that isn’t worth the added difficulty.
Stepped away for a minute and when I came back I was face to face with The Guardian Dragon. Nothing like a bossfight to knock the rust off. The last dragon I fought in a souls game (Kalameet) broke me, but this guy wasn’t bad. Took a few cracks, but it was a fun fight. Great setting.
So, up one improbable elevator and bam! What a sight. Absolutely love that the endgame areas in DS2 are this good. I messed around trying to grab all the loot and kill all the dragons before I got a bit impatient. I’ll come back later to grab all the scattered upgrade materials if I need them.
The fight on the stairs with all the knights watching was pretty dramatic. Reminded me a bit of Anor Londo.
This Ancient Dragon fella, should I kill him? He gave me what I need to unlock the memories and seemed pretty chill. Am I missing something if I leave him be?
From here, do I head off into memory land? Or go to the throne? I came across something a while back that said for SOTFS you shouldn’t hit the memories first, you should hit the throne room? And when do I tackle the DLC?
I’m a little hazy on when the game ends. I know I shouldn’t go back to Vendrick until I’ve done all the memories….
I don’t know if you can do the alternate ending after the normal ending or not. To be safe I would do all the DLC first and explore to find a certain character to talk to. Might need a guide for the locations.
