If you will allow me to count the Demon's Souls remake, I have finally beaten every post-Demon's Souls From Software "one of these"! (Demon's Souls, DS1, DS2, DS3, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, and I kinda count Armored Core VI because of its boss fights).
This is the fourth or fifth time I've attempted to beat this specific game. I don't know why this is the one I've struggled with most -- even more than DeS or the latter Dark Souls games. Heck, I beat Sekiro twice last year, which some would call the hardest "one of these" games.
Having beaten it now, I think the reasons I've had a harder time with DS1 are:
-Its trademark From obtuseness is arguably more obtuse here than DeS or any game that came after
-Getting where you need to go can take a long time since some bonfires are full 90 second sprints
-I often play heavier builds across the board, but even by that standard this just feels slower to me than the rest of them. Might be same thing as the second point.
These aren't strictly bad things -- I think a lot of the games I mentioned above are either a 7/10 or a 10/10 for you based on what you like about these games/want from them. For me, I've realized by this point that the faster, high-intensity From action game -- Bloodborne, Sekiro (my favorite), Elden Ring (I count it), and ACVI (my GOTY right now I believe) -- is what I click with most. That, plus it being a 10+ year old game that shows its age, meant that I had a good time and could appreciate it for what it was but it didn't click with me as much as it probably did for others.
Some of that is unmistakably my own fault. I didn't summon but this is the cheesiest Soulslike playthrough I've ever had. Glitched out two bosses, looked up strategies for half of the late game bosses, looked up upgrade material locations. I know it's not the purist way of doing things, but I had attempted this game too many times and just wanted to see it through. I'm married and almost 30, dammit! I have a lawn to mow. I can't do the 60 hour grindfest on every single one of these.
And to be clear, I had a fun time. It was nice having experience with Souls pattern bosses so fights like Ornstein and Smough weren't that tough for me. The world design is still awesome, sharpened to a fine point. Great visuals and sound (ran great on Steam Deck too!). Sick bosses. I've also played half of this game on three different occasions so the run only took me 18 hours.
This is the fourth or fifth time I've attempted to beat this specific game. I don't know why this is the one I've struggled with most -- even more than DeS or the latter Dark Souls games. Heck, I beat Sekiro twice last year, which some would call the hardest "one of these" games.
Having beaten it now, I think the reasons I've had a harder time with DS1 are:
-Its trademark From obtuseness is arguably more obtuse here than DeS or any game that came after
-Getting where you need to go can take a long time since some bonfires are full 90 second sprints
-I often play heavier builds across the board, but even by that standard this just feels slower to me than the rest of them. Might be same thing as the second point.
These aren't strictly bad things -- I think a lot of the games I mentioned above are either a 7/10 or a 10/10 for you based on what you like about these games/want from them. For me, I've realized by this point that the faster, high-intensity From action game -- Bloodborne, Sekiro (my favorite), Elden Ring (I count it), and ACVI (my GOTY right now I believe) -- is what I click with most. That, plus it being a 10+ year old game that shows its age, meant that I had a good time and could appreciate it for what it was but it didn't click with me as much as it probably did for others.
Some of that is unmistakably my own fault. I didn't summon but this is the cheesiest Soulslike playthrough I've ever had. Glitched out two bosses, looked up strategies for half of the late game bosses, looked up upgrade material locations. I know it's not the purist way of doing things, but I had attempted this game too many times and just wanted to see it through. I'm married and almost 30, dammit! I have a lawn to mow. I can't do the 60 hour grindfest on every single one of these.
And to be clear, I had a fun time. It was nice having experience with Souls pattern bosses so fights like Ornstein and Smough weren't that tough for me. The world design is still awesome, sharpened to a fine point. Great visuals and sound (ran great on Steam Deck too!). Sick bosses. I've also played half of this game on three different occasions so the run only took me 18 hours.
Dan_from_Canada
7 months ago