GRcade plays... Soulsborne

I didn't get as much time to play last night as I'd hoped, so all I really did was a loop of Undead Burg and the Undead Parish and sorted out my inventory a bit. Think tonight I'll go down to the Depths, get a few more souls from that, see if the merchant down there has anything that I didn't pay attention to before, and then either check out Darkroot Garden, New Lando Ruins, or maybe go back and try that boss again - still feel like I haven't really boosted my fire protection or other stats much though, so might hold off a while longer on that.

Knowing that my next task was to defeat Chaos Witch Quelaag, but wanting to try and make sure I was giving myself the best chance with fire-resistant armour and shield, etc, I set out on a bit of a souls-gathering and item-seeking mission, basically going around loads of areas I've been previously, practising combat, getting souls, checking out merchants for any items I may have missed, and checking out areas for any items I may have missed. I found a few bits and pieces here and there (can't remember exactly where, in all honesty), but nothing too major. Found some Eastern Armour which seemd to have some good fire-resistance, but was also clunky and slow when worn.

I explored a bit more of Darkroot Garden and found an area with these giant green knights who were sleeping, and got some an armour set from near them, and then worked my way up to the tower bit in that area. Entered the fog door and found the giant butterfly, didn't really know what I was doing, and died Figured I'd come back later and attempt that.

Next I did a bit more explorng in Darkroot Basin and found a knight down one of the paths, as well as a bonfire and a path that leads to a lift. Didn't check out the lift, as I didn't want to get too distracted and off course of where I was going, so I headed back up, and over towards the lake and whatever it was that was spitting water at me. Those ice troll things are pretty annoying, but not too bad, and so I got to the hydra. This was probably one of the easiest bosses so far I reckon, as it's only really the water or magic projectiles that cause an issue, and they're fairly easy to avoid. I did die a few times attempting this, but that was mainly due to the ledge in the water and not knowing where the edge was

Eventually beat the hydra without too much hassle, and ventured up the ladder nearby. Explored a different area of garden/woodland here, and promptly got taken out by a giant rat or something rolling at me. Went back, got my souls, and explored more the left of that area, beat a load of plant guys, and then got swarmed by three knights and didn't really have a chance against them.

By this point I'd picked up a few different sets of armour, upgraded my shield and weapon a bit more, and felt ready to descend back into Blighttown and tackle Queenie. Went through the Valley of Drakes, past the fat troll guys, and into Quelaag's Domain. Switched into some armour that had a bit more fire resistance, and promptly died almost instantly
Went back down again, and this time went over the bonfire in the swamp and rested there, as I figured I might be dying a few times and needing to retrace my steps. It's a right pain switching between poison-resistant armour to get through the swamp, and then switching back to fire-resistant armour to take on the boss, and I had to do this a few times, but eventually got a pattern down and beat the boss without too much hassle. It was mainly about patience in the end, and picking your time to attack.

After beating her, I went through the doorway at the other end of the cave, and pulled a lever, not noticing that this was the second bell
After ringing that and seeing the cutscene, I figure that big gatehouse thing is where I need to go next, but I ventured downwards to see what was below. Found myself in the Demon Ruins, but upon noticing the number enemies and what maybe looked like a big enemy in the distance, I figure I'll come back here later, rather than risk losing all my souls and having to traipse back.

I use the homeward bone I've just been given (first time I've actually used one of these) and return to the swamp bonfire. Level up a bit, and then figure I may as well explore the rest of the swamp while I'm down here. Cue a painful and tedious few minutes of rolling through sludge, trying to avoid getting poisoned, fighting off those damn flies again, and dealing with the horrendous framerate issues. I eventually explore this area enough though to feel satisfied that I've seen everything and got the items down here, so I then head back up through the Valley of Drakes, briefly passing New Londo Ruins (and some random human-looking guy who decided to try and kill me), and get to Firelink Shrine.

Now I notice that the firekeeper is dead, and the bonfire's out and can't be re-lit

I also notice a freaky-looking snake thing through the archway and assume it's a boss, but turns out I can speak to it. This confirms that I need to head to the gatehouse (Sen's Fortress) as my next destination. Feeling quite confident in my abilities though I figure I'll try and tidy up a couple of other bits, so I head way back to the Undead Parish area and take out the knight at the top of one of the turrets there, who I'd been avoiding for a long time. Took him out, but didn't get anything other than a titanite shard for my efforts. My mind then goes back to Darkroot Garden and the butterfly, and I figure I'll have another crack. Head over there, and it's actually a piece of piss in the end, so that's another boss down.

That's where I'm up to right now. I know Sen's Fortress is next up, so I may head straight there, seeing as the game's pointing me in that direction. Will hopefully get some time today to tackle it

The dragon flies off if you get underneath him. There's a new covenant to discover and a shortcut back to Undead Parish. Also you can fight the dragon with a ranged weapon before he flies off, if you aim at his tail you can break if for the Drake Sword weapon, source of a thousand memes.

Figured I'd try and get past the red dragon on the bridge, and although it took a few attempts, I did it in the end. I'll rarely go back there I imagine, as I'd got this far without needing that bonfire or the gate, but I think I got the Claymore, and satisfied my curiosity of what was there.

Next up was Sen's Fortress. Bit of a bugger this, what with the annoying enemies, swinging axes, rolling boulders, and various traps. Lost a fair few souls on trying to get through this, but it's always satisfying to edge a bit further each time and gradually explore it all. At one point I was desperate for a bonfire and could see the ledge I needed to go down, only to get struck out of nowhere by a strawberry floating massive boulder while I checking the angle to fall down

Anyway, made it to the Iron Golem, and think I did it on my fourth or fifth attempt. Not too bad really, as long as you avoid getting grabbed. Checked out the golden ring, got taken to Anor Londo. Took out a few big boys here, found the bonfire, and reinforced my Estus. Felt good to get all that done in one session, and probably tomorrow I'll check out Anor Londo properly.

Sat down to tackle Anor Londo last night, but didn't get too much time in the end. Cleared out the opening courtyard area with the big knights, found a door with "brilliant light" which I decided not to explore yet, and ventured down the lift. Beat the gargoyle there without any issue, and then got a bit flummoxed as to where to go. Gave climbing the...whatever it is up the side of the building, and it worked, then went through the broken window into the cathedral. The white assassin-type enemies aren't too bad, but damn, trying to fight them up in the rafters

I didn't fall down, but it was close on a couple of occasions
I've been going through the game with no projectile weapons so far, but could've done with one here perhaps.

Anyway, made it down and outside, lowered (or raised? can't remember) the central lift thing, beat the other gargoyle, and explored the ground floor of the cathedral. The assassins can be tricky in groups, but not horrendous, and I got some armour and other items around here. Then it was back outside, down the lift to the bonfire at the bottom, and that was it.

Next up I'll be heading up the big staircase and seeing what other delights await me.

I went up the stairs in Anor Londo and urgh, more of those big knights. They're not crazy difficult, but it takes a good while to beat them, especially when they keep retreating and you're trying to position them so that you can take them on one at a time.

Took the two at the top of the stairs out, turned the corner and faced the three lightning imp things. Again, tried to take them on individually, but I think I died here on my first attempt, via a combination of their lightning attacks and their ability to break my guard. I tried this section a couple more times, and got through, but then going down the ramp to the other two imps (or whatever they are) I struggled there. Felt like my armour was too weak to lightning, and my attacks weren't doing as much damage as I'd like, so I figured it'd be a struggle to make much progress here.

As a result I decided to do a bit of levelling up, so I went back to Sen's Fortress and some other areas that I'd been to before in an effort to get some souls, and potentially level-up my equipment, or find some that had better lightning resistance.

What I've also been doing is watching a let's play of someone else going through Dark Souls, which has been quite entertaining. They've largely followed the same route as me, which has been good to see different approaches and such, but it's also revealed some secrets and hidden areas that I'd have never found out by myself (the person playing is being guided by someone who's completed the game, so they're pointing out some of these secrets). As a result - and because I'd have never found them myself anyway, and I want to see as much as I can in the game - I got a bit sidetracked going off to explore these new areas, but also using it as a chance to get a few more souls.

I ended up back in the Undead Asylum, which was pretty cool to return to, and I beat the Stray Demon without much issue. Got the Peculiar Doll from the asylum too, which I've found out lets me into the painting in Anor Londo, but I'm yet to go into there. I also found the Great Hollow, which I'd have never found by myself, but in exploring that I quickly got cursed again ( ) and had to go and see my old friend in the bell tower to get the remedy. Haven't been back there since, but will try and return at some point. The other secret bit wasn't anything special, just the hidden bonfire under the second bell in Quelaag's Domain.

Turns out that I didn't really have much lightning resistant equipment, so I've just been trying to improve my stats, and I can now take out the knights in Anor Londo in two hits and without taking damage most of the time. The imps are pretty straightforward too, and so I can now farm this area pretty easily and get a decent haul of souls each time. I have ventured up the next ramp to where the two archers are, but their shots knock me back so much, and although I've got to one and have fought him, it didn't take much for him to knock me off the edge to my death.

Hoping to get some time on this later today, where I'll likely to a bit more farming, and try and work out a strategy. I'm tempted to venture into the painting, but I don't know how difficult it is in there, or if I can easily get out, so I might need to read up on that and make sure I'm not going to set myself up for getting stuck.

After a tiny bit more levelling up around Anor Londo, I decided I'd give the painting a go, as I fancied a change of scene. Went in, up the bridge, and into the castle. Standard enemies at first, piece of piss, and then upwards and met one of those bloated, deformed things that spits fire and is toxic too. Bit of a pain to deal with at first, but thankfully had some purple moss stuff. It was pretty straightforward then, just following the fairly linear route through the buildings, dealt with a few harpies, and then up to the very top of the circular structure for an item, and then back down. Think it was here that I noticed the big guy on the bridge, but knew there was more the other way that I hadn't explored yet, so went down, through the doors into the courtyard area, and found a load of slug things with shields and spears. Not too difficult on their own, but a bit tricky when there are so many of them. No real bother though, and so I explored the rest of this area, opened the door back to the entrance of the castle, and found a few useful items and bits of armour around here too. Ventured down a ladder into a kind of sewer area, and damn, those skeletal wheel things don't mess around do they? Easy enough to damage, but you've got to wait for it to calm the strawberry float down before attacking, otherwise you can quickly get killed, especially if there's more than one. Died a couple of times down here, but got the items, and went back upstairs.

Over to the other side of the courtyard this time and down the well, where there were some more spinny skeletons, and some hidden walls. Found the annex key, and then went back up. Opened the annex and explored all around there. Not too bad, but the section where four or five harpies descened onto you was quite tough and caught me out. After exploring everywhere, it was back down to the bridge, and to face the skeleton dragon thing. It caught me out the first time with its poison breath and damaging swipes, but second attempt it was very straightforward. There's a clear place to shelter from its attacks, so just a bit of patience, and it was job done.

I couldn't figure out where to go next, as I'd been everywhere except for through the locked down on the ground floor. I had to look up how to open it, as I'd missed the switch in the sewer. Back down there, rotate the mechanism, and then back up and along the bridge. Took out a few chumps and the knight, and then through the fog door. Spoke to the boss lady, and got given the choice of fighting her or not. I figured I'd attack, but just wanted to the check out the view and the 'plank' that she was talking about. Next thing I know a cut scene starts, and apparently me moving towards the edge was me saying that I wanted to leave, so that was that I thought I'd actually have to jump off the edge, like the boss said. Oh well, couldn't be arsed to re-trace my steps then, so I might come back again and beat her, might not.

Back in Anor Londo, a little bit more levelling up, and then on to trying to get past the archers again. Back up the steps, past the knights (who by now are easy) and take out the imps which are no bother either really. Sprint up the ramp, then the second one, and almost instantly get knocked off the edge

Three or four attempts later, and with some carefully-timed rolls, I was able to make it over the one on the right and kill him in two hits. No idea if there's anything over on the left by the other archer, but I wasn't going to go back around the corner and find out, so I dropped down to the ledge below, through the window (or was it a door?) and into the building. Opened the door on the right and saw a knight, so backed out and opened the door on the left, and found the bonfire

Worked my way through the building, room by room, floor by floor, and while the knights are pretty tough, it wasn't too bad. Died a few times for sure, but the fairly enclosed nature of the place, and the close bonfire, meant it was never too far back or too much hassle after dying. Gradually cleared the place out, taking out version two of the shooty lightning guy from back in Undead Parish, and then on to exploring the main room and the passageways off it.

Through exploring this I found a few items, and also the blacksmith. Out the door, beat a few more imps, and then opened the gate to open the shortcut back to the staircase with the two knights near the central lift (love doing that and creating paths back to previous areas). I knew that up next it was taking on the two big knights in the main hall, so I went back to the original bonfire at the start of Anor Londo, rested and levelled up, and then back the way I'd come and into the main hall. They weren't actually that difficult, and so after taking them out I was able to open the main doors and a clear path back to the start. Figured that if the bosses were next (which I assumed they were due to the fog door) then I'd need to rest, and that doing so at the original bonfire might be better, as I could probably just run past the knights and up to the fog door without taking damage.

Tried that (but got caught slightly) and then went into the boss fight. Quite a lot going on in this fight, with ranged attacks, attacks you can't seem to block or avoid, one slow(ish) enemy and one that's more agile, not much of a pattern to pick up on (or if there is, more difficult to discern because of having to focus on two enemies) and generally a bit of a ballache. On my second or third attempt I took out Ornstein, but in doing so made Smough stronger, which wasn't ideal. Fairly quickly died after that.

Turns out that running from the original bonfire and then trying to make it past the four knights between you and the boss fight is a) easier said than done, and b) tedious as strawberry float, so eventually I changed to the other bonfire inside the building and used that as my starting point. You have to get through two knights on the way, but it feels quicker, and I can now make it to the boss pretty unscathed and without it feeling as tedious. I gave the boss a few more attempts, and while I can damage them and take decent chunks of health off, I run out of Estus and succumb to Smough's seemingly-unblockable and annoying attacks. It definitely feels doable though, I just need to practise and work out how best to avoid some of the attacks.