GRcade plays... Soulsborne

There's an item called "Bottomless Box" you can buy from an NPC. It lets you store stuff you don't want.

Here is a slightly bigger hint, but only slightly.

The NPC is somewhere around Undead Burg, but you didn't mention him, so you might have missed him.

Went back to the gargoyles and beat them on my second attempt. Was actually fairly comfortable, which felt good, so then it was up the tower, ring the bell, and back to a bonfire to level up.

Wondering where to go next (do I take the lift down under Firelink Shrine, do I confront the dragon on the bridge, do I go back and tackle shooty-lightning guy, etc) I noticed I had a basement key in my inventory to Lower Undead Burg, so I thought I'd try and use it. After checking out several doors, I remembered the one up near the dragon, so tried that, and lo and behold it worked. Went down, explored a bit, found a few more branching paths, and then promptly ran into the Capra Demon and got destroyed.

Tried again a couple of times, having thankfully found the iron gate in the sewers that acts as a shortcut, and while I can damage him, he still wipes me out without too much effort. Need to be better and perhaps a slightly higher level or something.

Still yearning for a bit of action, I thought I'd try shooty-lightning guy, so I went all the way back to the Undead Parish, and this time he was a piece of piss. Ventured out the back of that room and found the Darkroot Garden, and then eventually Darkroot Basin. Some of the enemies here were straightforward, others not so much, so I headed back out and called it a night.

I'm at the point now where I have about four or five different routes or areas I can go to, so I'm really not sure where to go next, or if there's a 'correct' path or not. I guess this is part of the experience though.

Realised there was a key that the merchant in Undead Burg had, so I went back and bought that from him, then unlocked a couple of doors around Undead Burg. Pretty much cleared out all of the enemies I've encountered so far, and then levelled up before heading to the Capra Demon. I beat him after two attempts, which I think makes it five attempts in total. Wasn't as bad as I was expecting once I'd avoided being boxed in, and I could kill the wolves in one hit, so that helped. Was worried it'd become a difficulty spike, so good to get this out of the way.

Upon getting the key, I ventured down to The Depths, which started out fine - killing enemies without issue, including a giant rat thing that looked intimidating but was easy - but then I suddenly seemed to get killed in one hit and cursed at the same time a bit further on (having fallen down various holes in the floor ). Not sure if dying instantly is a side-effect of being cursed, but either way, I'd remembered the guy in the bell tower, and thankfully had enough souls, so that was enough to get the item I needed from him and reverse the curse.

Seeing as the enemies in The Depths seemed to be no real issue, I'm assuming that's where I need to be heading, but the curse thing could become a right pain in the arse. Is there any way to prevent it? Or is it a case of being ultra-cautious and maybe carrying a couple of the stones (can't remember the exact name) to reverse if needed?

Just past the basilisks is a shortcut that allows you to bypass that area entirely. So you won't need to trek through them too often.

Explored the Depths properly, this not being careful not to fall down any holes in the floor, and so I was able to slowly and methodically work my way through it. Despite my fears about getting cursed, there were no issues at all with that, and no enemies were particularly challenging. That is until I readched the Gaping Dragon, who killed me in one hit when I first fought it

After that though, I was able to learn the pattern and get a technique down, and so I killed him on my fourth attempt. Feels good to have made some fairly quick and easy progress, and so today I'll be exploring Blighttown and seeing what's in store for me there

Oh man, Blighttown sucks

I feel like I saw a lot in my two sessions yesterday, but didn't really achieve much in terms of progress. Blighttown started out okay, navigating the boardwalks and dealing with the enemies there without too much hassle, but the lower I got, the worse things became. Made it to the bonfire, and then it started to get bad in various ways. First and foremost, the framerate is awful down here. There'd been a couple of spots previously where I've had issues, but nothing like this. Things were chugging all over the place, which was a shame. Then the enemies. Not so bad in isolation, but when there's several of them, especially in what can be quite confined spaces - and with the possibility of being knocked off the edge of the platforms - this was a really tricky area.

I'm the kind of person who likes to explore everywhere, despite knowing full well that doing so might expose me to other risks or unnecessary enemies. Still, I fairly methodically made my way around this whole area, and found most items (except for one item which I can see but can't reach ) and descended further down. There's an awkward section where there's a big boy and several of the other enemies hanging around, just before you take a ladder down. Got through this fine initially (more on this later though ) and made it to the ladder and ventured down.

Gradually working my way even further down...not too much trouble with the big insect things, but damn, those flies
Unbelievably annoying, and awkward to hit. I made it to the very bottom, but with very little health, and realising the swamp area was poisonous, I fairly quick succumbed and then called it a day.

Second session in the evening, I figure I need to make it down to the bottom with as much health as possible (obviously...) and then try and sprint through the swamp and find some kind of safe ground and attempt to explore. Starting from the bonfire in Blighttown again, just need to work my way down. But now comes probably the most frustrating session I've had with the game. The combination of impatience on my part of just wanting to get back to the swamp bit, the camera being awful in confined spaces, the sheer number of enemies, the awkward platforms, walkways, and ladders, the dodgy framerate, and just trying to work out where the strawberry float to go with the confusing layout...it was painful, to say the least. The section with the big boy and several other enemies that I mentioned earlier, just before the ladders going down to the swamp...I must've died here four or five times, some of which were in quite ridiculous or unfair ways.

At one point during this process I decide I need more health to make it down to the swamp, so I have to look up online how to kindle the bonfire, and doing so gives me 10 Estus rather than 5, which helps a lot. I've accepted that frustration and unfairness is all part of the experience, and each attempt is a learning experience, so I push on, and eventually make it down to the bottom with near-full health and still 10 Estus. Now to explore the swamp

It looks like there are several ways to go, but I'm largely led by which bits of solid ground I can see, and proceed to explore and try and get my bearings. I stumble across what looks like a little cave with a familiar looking sight inside, and lo and behold, it's a bonfire! Thank strawberry float for that. I've barely left the bonfire before I'm swarmed by more of those damn flies. They seem to gravitate towards me from all parts of the swamp, and follow me too, so I deal with several of those, and eventually end up on the far side where I'm attacked by these huge guys throwing rocks at me. I leg it to what looks like a small cave, and find myself in Quelaag's Domain. I don't really want to head down any rabbit holes when I've no idea where the hell I'm going, so I back out - where I'm faced with yet more flies - and then back to near the bonfire. I'd noticed an area with several flames, so I venture over and find a walkway, and then a wooden lift.

Gradually ascending - fighting off yet more of those strawberry floating flies - again I can see a couple of different routes, but keep going up. I fight past three big boys, and somewhere around here I think I picked up a key to New Londo Ruins. Took me a couple of attempts to make it all the way up here, and then I made it outside into the Valley of Drakes. I've got two options of which way to go, so I turn right, head into the valley, and am promptly killed by some kind of human-bird thing. I then checked the time, noticed it was about 3am, and decided to call it a night

Like I said, I saw a lot, but didn't really make much progres I don't think. Next time I play it I'm faced with starting back at the bonfire in the swamp, so I don't know where to go next. Part of the frustration is that, at least at this point, you have to explore and work out where to go, but doing so inevitably winds up with you getting killed as you encounter enemies that are too difficult or you get afflicted by the environment (in the case of the swamp). There's an area to the left when I come out of the bonfire that I haven't explored (looks like a tree?), an area on the way up to the Valley of Drakes which potentially looks like a path going along a tree branch, there's Quelaag's Domain, there's New Londo Ruins, and there are all the other places I'm still yet to explore from earlier in the game (graveyard, the lift down under Firelink Shrine, Darkroot Garden, Darkroot Basin)...I don't really want to keep dying and re-tracing my steps, just to work out where I need to head next. Any vague pointers on which is the 'correct' way to go?

Purely by chance I thought I'd check out Quelaag's Domain ( ) and realised that it's a boss fight. On my second or third go I got her down to the point of needing maybe four or five more hits, but then got caught in one of her attacks

Went back and had another go or two, but then my weapon got damaged, and I didn't have a decent alternative on me, so I had to abandon my attempts at the boss and try and find a blacksmith. I looked up online where the nearest blacksmith was (there's no way I could've made it back up through Blighttown and out with my weapons they were, and strawberry float trying to stumble across one randomly), and somebody said there was one in New Lando Ruins, so I decided to head that way. Sprinted past most enemies to avoid combat, and eventually made it out into the Valley of Drakes, and then into the ruins. My weapon was still strong enough to take out the chumps hanging around just inside, and as I explored the tower, I suddenly recognised the lift, took it up, and was back at the safety of Firelink Shrine

I love how the world connects like that, and going from feeling like you're in quite an 'unknown' area like the swamp, to fairly quickly being back in familiar territory - it makes that whole section feel a lot more do-able now.

I went to the blacksmith in the Undead Parish and repaired my items, and also bought the repair box or whatever it's called (lesson learnt there ) to avoid a repeat of the same situation. Now that I know I can fairly easily get back to the swamp without having to go all the way through Blighttown again, that's a big relief, so I think I might take my time now - level up some of my equipment maybe, try and increase some of my other stats a bit, and perhaps do a couple of runs through some areas for some more combat practise. I also need to find something to help my poison resistance, as just getting to and from the bonfire in the swamp to the boss down is an ordeal in itself - beat an insect or two, roll through the swamp, then another insect, then more swamp, then those guys throwing rocks, all the while being chased by those strawberry floating flies and seeing my poison/toxin meter going up. Such a hassle just to get the boss Not having to worry about the poison as much would be a help.