To start, this game is not without flaws. If you've done one catacomb, one cave, one tunnel, you've done 90% of them. They all feel extremely similar. The sense of wonder while exploring is not nearly as strong in the later areas as it does in Limgrave.
There are also far too many duplicate bosses. You could say this is a side effect of the open world genre, but it's a huge bummer to fight a cool boss only to see them again multiple times in the open world. Am I supposed to feel stronger because they're easier now? Even some moveset variation would have been enough. I also think mechanically PART of the final boss was not very good. I don't wanna spoil anything, but I feel like anyone who has played it knows what I'm talking about.
That's the end of my negatives with the game.
The boss music, ESPECIALLY the final stretch from Farum onward felt rightfully epic. Boss design is phenomenal visually, and legacy dungeons have the great level design Souls fans know and love (toned down in size, understandably). Limgrave into Stormveil Castle is one of the strongest first impressions I've had with a game. The bigger dungeons like Leyndell and Farum Azula continue to deliver and I consider them some of the peaks of my playthrough.
The combat has been refined so well over the last decade. Weapon designs are fucking sick, and the ashes of war are even sicker. The new ashes are one of my favorite changes from Dark Souls 3. I've tried 3 different builds on my way to postgame and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. It's one of the biggest strengths of the franchise and it's just as good here.
I put 60 hours in and I still have a few bosses to go. This is a very dense game, and an open world Souls game is a winning formula. Ideally From Software makes the right adjustments to the next iteration, because this is already one of the best games we've had in a long time and it can only get better.
There are also far too many duplicate bosses. You could say this is a side effect of the open world genre, but it's a huge bummer to fight a cool boss only to see them again multiple times in the open world. Am I supposed to feel stronger because they're easier now? Even some moveset variation would have been enough. I also think mechanically PART of the final boss was not very good. I don't wanna spoil anything, but I feel like anyone who has played it knows what I'm talking about.
That's the end of my negatives with the game.
The boss music, ESPECIALLY the final stretch from Farum onward felt rightfully epic. Boss design is phenomenal visually, and legacy dungeons have the great level design Souls fans know and love (toned down in size, understandably). Limgrave into Stormveil Castle is one of the strongest first impressions I've had with a game. The bigger dungeons like Leyndell and Farum Azula continue to deliver and I consider them some of the peaks of my playthrough.
The combat has been refined so well over the last decade. Weapon designs are fucking sick, and the ashes of war are even sicker. The new ashes are one of my favorite changes from Dark Souls 3. I've tried 3 different builds on my way to postgame and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. It's one of the biggest strengths of the franchise and it's just as good here.
I put 60 hours in and I still have a few bosses to go. This is a very dense game, and an open world Souls game is a winning formula. Ideally From Software makes the right adjustments to the next iteration, because this is already one of the best games we've had in a long time and it can only get better.
brush
7 months ago