GRcade plays... Soulsborne

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 3:39 pm

Brief update...

Should be smooth sailing from this point. Congrats.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:51 am

more heat than light wrote::datass:

Should be smooth sailing from this point. Congrats.

Thanks

Certainly feels like most things would be achievable after that.

The warp thing is nice, but it does detract from the level design somewhat. It's much more gratifying unlocking shortcuts in the levels rather than just warping from bonfire to bonfire. You'll find that the later levels aren't quite as satisfying because of this.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:14 am

I did think that actually, almost as soon as I was given the ability. All the joy of discovering and opening shortcuts is somewhat negated now by the ability to just bypass them all. As some of the areas aren't linked directly though, or require a bit of a trek to get to, it should be useful.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Fri Apr 01, 2022 2:27 pm

I've been struggling to get any decent time in with this, and also - for some reason - my motivation for playing dipped a bit after defeating Ornstein & Smough. Update from the last couple of weeks though:

I think part of the lack of motivation came from not really knowing where to go next exactly, or not having a clear direction. However, I had a hint from the onion guy and so ventured down into New Londo Ruins. Used the item (can't remember its name) so that I could damage the ghosts, and fairly easily cleared my way through the area. Spoke to the guy who mentioned something about Artorias and not being able to get through without an item, so decided to head back up to the surface and come back later.

As I'm going through the game I have a mental checklist of places that I haven't been to and still need to explore, and one of those was the door in the forest that you needed a glowing orb to get through. I remembered something about Artorias in the name of the orb needed to get through this as well, so I bought the orb from the blacksmith and went through. There were some tricky human enemies in here - not so bad on their own, but if they gang up on you it can be dicey. Dealt with them though, and then explored the rest of this area, which I'd been to before (partly) when climbing the ladder up from where the hydra was and exploring from there.

Backtracking slightly though and going through the little building (with the cat inside), I went through to a slightly different part of the forest and encountered some little mushroom guys. These guys are cute :wub:

, and didn't attack me, so I explored this, and then defeated the giant rodent things that had wiped me out when I first explored this area. The only thing left here was the fog door over the bridge, and I went through here to find Sif. Really not too bad after you learn his attacks, and so I finished him off pretty quickly.

I struggled again with motivation at some point around here, and so rather than going back down into New Londo Ruins I decided to try a new area, and went over to the Duke's Archives. The two boars in the entrance weren't too bad, and while there were some annoying enemies in here with long-distance attacks, it wasn't too tricky and I just steadily made my way through. Encountered Seath, and found myself in a prison cell. Got out of there, worked my way down to the bottom and cleared the enemies here, then went back up and through the big door. Can't remember where this led to exactly, but eventually made it to the bonfire and opened the shortcut to get through to the staircase that leads down and outside.

I was expecting to face Seath again right here, but turns out there's an annoying area to get through first. The Crystal Cave was a bit irritating with its hidden pathways, but not too bad I guess. Went through, and found myself up against these clam things. For some reason I really struggled against these :lol:

, but got past them in the end and went through to Seath. I actually damaged him a fair amount before succumbing to his spike attack and curse. The prospect of the tedium of going back through the Crystal Cave was quite off-putting though, so again I decided to focus on a different area.

Another place on my list of areas I haven't really explored was the Great Hollow, so I warped down to underneath the second bell, through the swamp, and into the Great Hollow. This was a piece of piss this time, as I didn't really care about getting cursed. Quickly made my way through here, and then down into Ash Lake. Again, a piece of piss really. Got the greatsword from the dragon down there, and that's pretty much where I'm up to now.

Next up is either trying Seath again, or maybe going to New Londo Ruins and working my way through that area down there. Valley of Drakes is still somewhere I need to explore though, so that might be up. I feel quite indecisive and without a clear direction still, so I'll just see what takes my fancy.

I also ordered the Dark Souls Trilogy and Bloodborne (both PS4), which have arrived :datass:

Was hoping to order Sekiro too, but I can't find a reasonably priced (i.e. sub-£70) copy anywhere. Didn't realise this was so scarce, which is annoying.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **jawa_** » Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:39 pm

One of my older nephews just told me that he's thinking about getting Elden Ring. He's heard that the game is "really difficult" and I suggested that, rather than paying around fifty quid for that, he could try picking up Dark Souls Remastered in a sale and seeing how he gets on with it.

It begins :datass:

.

I will, of course, be able to provide Pro Tips if he gets stuck 8-)

.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Pedz** » Wed Apr 06, 2022 3:09 pm

Elden Ring is, imo, easier than DS due to the fact you can go off an explore other places to level up where you are stuck on a specific part.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:42 am

Couldn't be arsed with Seath again, so I went to New Londo Ruins and worked my way through there. It wasn't actually that big an area compared to what I was expecting, and while it's annoying having to make sure you have the transient curse active, the ghosts aren't difficult (except in numbers) and so doing the surface level of this area was pretty straightforward. After draining the water, things get more difficult on the lower level - those guys with the long hair can hit you with a nasty 4-hit combo which does major damage if you get caught in it. Thankfully it's quite easy to see coming, and therefore avoid, so as long as you isolate these guys they're okay. Weird blobs of gunk and floating skulls make for an odd enemy set down here, but again, the small size of the level makes it pretty simple to get through. Onto the boss, and it was pretty straightforward. Think it took me 3 or 4 attempts, but just felt like there was no real pattern to the attacks, so more than any other boss it felt like just a case of hitting them as much as possible and hoping for the best before they killed me. It worked though, so meh.

After doing this, I figured it was best to tackle Seath before starting a whole new area. Back over to the Duke's Archives, and just sprinting past all the enemies to get to the boss again - can't be arsed with fighting them each time. I think it took me another few goes, but eventually I beat Seath. After a few attempts at finding the best approach, I found an area where I could hit him without getting hit myself. I'm not sure that I actually took any damage through the whole fight. In the end, a much easier fight than I'd expected, and shows it's all about finding the right approach and a bit of trial and error in seeing what works.

I did take a look at the Valley of the Drakes, but those blue lightning things (Drakes? :slol:

) for some reason are insanely powerful, and can kill me easily. Not sure there's really much there though, as the one end is at New Londo Ruins, and the other end is where you come out from Blighttown. A few enemies and that big dragon thing are in there, but they seem really difficult, so not going to bother if there's no great need to fight them.

I ventured down into The Catacombs, but very quickly discovered that I can't kill the enemies permanently. This is going to piss me off immensely if this is a thing through the whole area, so I've decided that I'll tackle the Demon Ruins next and hope that I find an item that lets me kill the skeletons and such for good. Hoping to get through the Demon Ruins this weekend. Feels good to be back in the mode of exploring a new area :datass:

Lotus wrote:
Couldn't be arsed with Seath again, so I went to New Londo Ruins and worked my way through there. It wasn't actually that big an area compared to what I was expecting, and while it's annoying having to make sure you have the transient curse active, the ghosts aren't difficult (except in numbers) and so doing the surface level of this area was pretty straightforward. After draining the water, things get more difficult on the lower level - those guys with the long hair can hit you with a nasty 4-hit combo which does major damage if you get caught in it. Thankfully it's quite easy to see coming, and therefore avoid, so as long as you isolate these guys they're okay. Weird blobs of gunk and floating skulls make for an odd enemy set down here, but again, the small size of the level makes it pretty simple to get through. Onto the boss, and it was pretty straightforward. Think it took me 3 or 4 attempts, but just felt like there was no real pattern to the attacks, so more than any other boss it felt like just a case of hitting them as much as possible and hoping for the best before they killed me. It worked though, so meh.

After doing this, I figured it was best to tackle Seath before starting a whole new area. Back over to the Duke's Archives, and just sprinting past all the enemies to get to the boss again - can't be arsed with fighting them each time. I think it took me another few goes, but eventually I beat Seath. After a few attempts at finding the best approach, I found an area where I could hit him without getting hit myself. I'm not sure that I actually took any damage through the whole fight. In the end, a much easier fight than I'd expected, and shows it's all about finding the right approach and a bit of trial and error in seeing what works.

I did take a look at the Valley of the Drakes, but those blue lightning things (Drakes? ) for some reason are insanely powerful, and can kill me easily. Not sure there's really much there though, as the one end is at New Londo Ruins, and the other end is where you come out from Blighttown. A few enemies and that big dragon thing are in there, but they seem really difficult, so not going to bother if there's no great need to fight them.

I ventured down into The Catacombs, but very quickly discovered that I can't kill the enemies permanently. This is going to piss me off immensely if this is a thing through the whole area, so I've decided that I'll tackle the Demon Ruins next and hope that I find an item that lets me kill the skeletons and such for good. Hoping to get through the Demon Ruins this weekend. Feels good to be back in the mode of exploring a new area

Was worried you'd abandoned this dude. I know what you mean about the Catacombs, it's not a particularly fun area, and it doesn't get any better from that point onwards either. Enjoy Demon Ruins instead! :toot:

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:53 am

Yeah just been busy mate, only been able to put a couple of hours a week in at most lately. Think I was suffering from a bit of a lack of motivation too.

Back into the groove now though, and keen to make some progress this weekend. Managed to find a copy of Sekiro too - wasn't cheap at £40 - but couldn't find a physical copy any better. Mint condition too.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Sun May 08, 2022 3:01 pm

Once again it's been difficult to get any decent time to put into this. It's not the kind of game where I want to sit down and play it for 15 or 20 minutes, so I only really play it when I have a decent chunk of time to be able to sink into it.

That's finally happened this weekend, so I've been tacklking the Demon Ruins. Started out with the Ceaseless Discharge, which was a piece of piss. He started following me, I started running away, and I think I hit him once and he died. Not sure if this was a glitch or not, but it saved me a fight, so was happy with that.

Moving downwards and around the lava, those mini Taurus demon type things are pretty tough, but taking them on one at a time isn't too bad. Died here once or twice I think, but cleared them out, and then dashed and jumped through some of the lava to get some souls.

Around to the left and there's a goat thing, and then about five more of them after heading down the path. Pretty annoying, but again, take them one at a time and they're not too bad. The fire-breathing statue things are annoying, but not difficult, and then it was around the pathway, past the giant worm thing, and resting at the bonfire. Things got a bit trickier here, with I think three of the mini Taurus demons, five giant worms, plus a goat guy, and more of the statues. Died a couple of times getting through all of this, but it's a short walk back from the bonfire, so no big deal.

Before going through the fog door I went right and down the tree root, but that led to a locked door, so it was back up and through the door. Here was the Firesage Demon, which took me three or four attempts. Mainly because I was a bit impatient and tried to get too many hits in before backing off, and then getting caught by one of his butt slams or fire shockwave attacks. Fairly straightforward though, and it was through to a square sprial staircase. Head up intially, and after beating more of the fire-breathing statues, it was up to the lift and back up to Quelaag's Domain to open the shortcut. I then headed back down the lift, and down the staircase. Rested at the bonfire, and then through another fog door. The Centipede Demon looked tough, but I was able to beat it first time by using some two-handed attacks and just dodging the odd attack. Very straightforward thankfully.

Got the ring that protects me from lava, picked up another soul in this room I think, and then got a bit flummoxed as to where to go. What looks like a door in this room doesn't seem to do anything, and then the other door I passed is still locked. I had to stop here anyway, but I'm either missing something obvious or I'll need to look up where to go. This area hasn't been too bad on the whole though.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **site23** » Sun May 08, 2022 3:06 pm

Lotus wrote:
That's finally happened this weekend, so I've been tacklking the Demon Ruins. Started out with the Ceaseless Discharge, which was a piece of piss. He started following me, I started running away, and I think I hit him once and he died. Not sure if this was a glitch or not, but it saved me a fight, so was happy with that.

It's not a glitch - it's more of a "secret" that you've discovered. This short (2 minutes) video explains it.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Mon May 09, 2022 10:22 am

site23 wrote:
Lotus wrote:
That's finally happened this weekend, so I've been tacklking the Demon Ruins. Started out with the Ceaseless Discharge, which was a piece of piss. He started following me, I started running away, and I think I hit him once and he died. Not sure if this was a glitch or not, but it saved me a fight, so was happy with that.

It's not a glitch - it's more of a "secret" that you've discovered. This short (2 minutes) video explains it.

Ah okay, interesting. I got curious when he started following me and wondered how far he'd go. Good to know it was supposed to happen like that :lol:

Played a bit more last night...

Love a good BoC rage quit montage video. :lol:

more heat than light wrote:Love a good BoC rage quit montage video.

Watching Pedz fight BoC was hilarious.

I do love how the hitboxes for that boss and it's attacks have absolutely no relationship to the actual location of it's limbs. :lol:

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Tue May 10, 2022 1:08 pm

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Thu May 12, 2022 1:48 pm

Anyway, I'm guessing now that there's not much to do other than go and see Frampt and then fill up the Lord Vessel. Is there an area to explore once you do that, or is it straight into the boss fight? And once you've done the boss, is it game over? Or can you still explore?

Lotus wrote:Anyway, I'm guessing now that there's not much to do other than go and see Frampt and then fill up the Lord Vessel. Is there an area to explore once you do that, or is it straight into the boss fight? And once you've done the boss, is it game over? Or can you still explore?

It's a very small area. Once you've beaten the boss it plonks you straight into NG+, so finish off what you want to do first.

PostRe: GRcade plays... Soulsborne by **Lotus** » Fri May 13, 2022 6:07 pm

I see, thanks. Pretty much had everything done that I wanted to, so decided to head towards the final boss...

Feel a bit sad that it's over now, which - given my feelings on the game when I started and how frustrated I'd been in my initial attempts - is quite a turnaround. There's lots of brilliance in there, and some bad bits too, but overall it's been a great experience. Thanks to everyone in this thread - particularly MHTL - for answering my questions and having any interest in my playthrough. It's added to the fun and kept me motivated :wub:

GRcade plays... Soulsborne

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