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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 17:13:25 GMT -5
Ashamed to announce I cheaped out the purple ninja guy. In my defense, that boss area is tiny. You can barely keep locked on to him for more than two seconds
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 19:04:45 GMT -5
#FuckSpearGuy
So I know that part of the FromSoft ethos is moving on when it gets too hard; there's always another path. But I just can't do it. If I just beat #SpearGuy, who I assume is a mini-boss, which means he'll reward me a Prayer Bead, I can upgrade my Health and Posture. So I just need to beat him. Except he keeps wrecking me ... completely.
I'm starting to wonder if capital B bosses are intentionally easier because they're required. I don't know, but I do know that Horse Guy and Lady Butterfly gave me less trouble than #SpearGuy. Like, way less trouble.
Ran into Spear Guy as well. The sheer amount of damage he does per attack makes me think he's one of those "you can fight me now as a challenge, or come back later when you've beefed up" encounters. Pretty annoying having to stealth kill everyone in the vicinity just to have another go at him. I realize you can come at him from the side and fight next to his pagoda, but I like a little breathing room, especially given how much room his spear swipes take up.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 23:41:15 GMT -5
Had him to about two hits worth of health left, but I accidentally jumped off the cliff in my panic, which caused him to lose sight of me and fully heal
I'm going fucking mental
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Mar 30, 2019 8:19:20 GMT -5
#FuckSpearGuy
So I know that part of the FromSoft ethos is moving on when it gets too hard; there's always another path. But I just can't do it. If I just beat #SpearGuy, who I assume is a mini-boss, which means he'll reward me a Prayer Bead, I can upgrade my Health and Posture. So I just need to beat him. Except he keeps wrecking me ... completely.
I'm starting to wonder if capital B bosses are intentionally easier because they're required. I don't know, but I do know that Horse Guy and Lady Butterfly gave me less trouble than #SpearGuy. Like, way less trouble.
Ran into Spear Guy as well. The sheer amount of damage he does per attack makes me think he's one of those "you can fight me now as a challenge, or come back later when you've beefed up" encounters. Pretty annoying having to stealth kill everyone in the vicinity just to have another go at him. I realize you can come at him from the side and fight next to his pagoda, but I like a little breathing room, especially given how much room his spear swipes take up. I'm much further in the game now and have defeated 3 more bosses and so many more minibosses I've lost count, and I'm pretty sure Spear Guy is still responsible the most deaths of any single encounter. His gobsmacking damage output, his speed, his variety, his arena (not just the other enemies, but the uneven ground and cliffs, etc.) and that annoying as hell boss run. Yeah, man, I'm loving this game, but Spear Guy is not a favorite.
I nearly threw my controller one time when I had him down to what had to be one or two hits left. Just a sliver of vitality. I'm out of healing and on the ropes myself. He winds up that spin attack, and I know I can step around to his left side to be safe to get in my final hit ... and I get stuck on a fucking torch.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 14:11:35 GMT -5
Absolutely loving the "this little sidepath you'd probably miss if your eyes weren't peeled leads to its own little adventure" FromSoft level design. High caliber shit.
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Post by LazBro on Mar 31, 2019 20:00:53 GMT -5
DeMod, who built his reputation on Souls game boss rankings, declares Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi, i.e. "Spear Guy", the hardest miniboss in the game. I mean, that's encouraging right?
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Post by LazBro on Mar 31, 2019 21:07:51 GMT -5
(So it's annoying but important. Boss means boss. I'll specify miniboss otherwise.)
So it's been a long time since my last proper update. I'll split this between general commentary and hardcore spoilers:
General Commentary: - I've been frustrated by plenty of encounters, but the sixth boss I faced is the first one that made me mad. Take a very challenging boss, not 30 minutes removed from beating it, only this time, fight two of them. Ugh! - I'm simultaneously in love with and frustrated by the level design. I love how open and cinematic it is, but at the same time, it makes me insist on constantly looking around for grapple points, and it gets a little tedious. I'm sure I've missed so much.
- Like Souls games in general, the mid-game feels far more comfortable, and much easier, than the early game. You've leveled up a few times, you've settled in to the game's rhythms, and you start to kick ass. It feels good. - Two bosses now have satisfied my prior request for weirdness. This game has fantastical elements aplenty. No concerns there. - The most important tip I have: you can spam L1 (block) in place of holding it and pull off a surprising amount of deflections. For the longest time I assumed you had to either hold L1 to block, or time L1 perfectly to deflect, which was the ideal. Well, not really! For many fights you can simply spam L1 over and over and over, as fast as possible, and you'll deflect every attack and build your enemy's posture meter in seconds. Several enemies and/or minibosses you thought were impossible will be decimated by this approach in mere moments.
- My play time: 28 hours 36 minutes Hardcore Spoilers (like, boss and area names, strategy thoughts, fucking everything!): - Vitality/Posture: 16 (up from 10) - Attack: 8 (up from 1)
- Bosses defeated (7): Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa (Horse Guy), Lady Butterfly, Genichiro Ashina, Folding Screen Monkeys, Guardian Ape, Headless Ape (the motherfuck repeat boss I complained about above), Corrupted Monk
- Minibosses defeated (20): Leader Shigenori Yamauchi, General Naomori Kawarda, Chained Ogre, General Tenzen Yamauchi, Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen, Juzuo the Drunkard, Blazing Bull (love this boss), Armored Warrior, Long Arm Centipede Sen-Un, Lone Shadow Longswordsman (#PurpleGuy!!!), General Kuranosuke Matsumoto, Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi, Ashina Elite - Jinsuke Saze, Snake Eyes Shirahagi, Tojujiro the Glutton, Mist Noble, O'rin of the Water, Snake Eyes Shirafuji, Long Arm Centipede Giraffe, Great Serpent - Guardian Ape is hard but just fuckin' cool as hell. I was waiting for something like that, and I got it. Couldn't be happier ... that is until the same boss comes back a half hour later. Two pips worth of the Ape's second form, plus a first phase version joins the fight halfway through. Jeezy creezy. Tip: Use the firecracker and kill the brown ape (the one with the head that comes in later) as soon as possible. Not only do you regain a resurrection, he dies more quickly.
- Genichiro Ashina is a fantastic boss. To make several Souls comparisons, he's definitely up there with Artorias, Gael the Slave Knight, and Lady Maria ... in other words, an incredibly challenging, but fair, one on one humanoid boss that puts your command of the controls to the absolute limit. He's like a meat gate for the second half of the game. If your deflects, dodge steps, and jumps aren't on point, you won't succeed. - That said, the two Snake Eyes minisbosses were harder to me than any boss. I cheesed Shirahagi on the terrain, basically forcing him to repeat himself over and over by walking off a cliff at the right time. So, make him charge, walk off the cliff, lock on, wait for him to walk off, two or three strikes, run away to the top of cliff, duck down to avoid fire, REPEAT. - I fucked up my leveling path. Of course there are no true levels, but I found one skill path much later than I could have, and the two after that too late still. Basically, I spent WAY too many skill points early on when I should have been saving them up for better trees, but I didn't know those trees existed. So far there are five (5) trees. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are more. - I can't stay away from list and lore videos about the game, but I'm already seeing speed run videos totaling around an hour. Jesus! Haven't watched one though. I'm not spoiler averse obviously, but I want to beat the game before watching that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 21:10:09 GMT -5
Seven Ashina Spears is more time consuming than difficult, eye em oh
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Post by LazBro on Mar 31, 2019 21:24:18 GMT -5
Seven Ashina Spears is more time consuming than difficult, eye em oh You know I wonder. A reskin of him comes back late in the game (haven't fought him, but I don't care about spoilers), and according to my video above, he's just as hard in late game with much higher health, posture and attack.
More to your point, there are several bosses that I struggled with that now, with my experience, I feel I will decimate on a second play through, but Spear Guy isn't one of them. Not at all.
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Post by LazBro on Mar 31, 2019 21:27:12 GMT -5
patbat Hey Pat, what's your approach here? I know you're a fan of From games, but do you read the spoilers or stick to the surface comments?
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Post by patbat on Mar 31, 2019 21:32:37 GMT -5
patbat Hey Pat, what's your approach here? I know you're a fan of From games, but do you read the spoilers or stick to the surface comments? I'm sticking to the surface comments and staying off YouTube for the most part
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Post by LazBro on Apr 2, 2019 19:48:56 GMT -5
Any% speedruns are down to 36 minutes now. Haven't watched one, but I can't even imagine how that works.
(The best time on speedrun.com is over 39 minutes for the "Shura ending," which I gather is the game's fastest ending, therefore closest to Any%. One of my favorite Souls runners, Distortion2, has a 36+ minute time, but he's not on the leaderboard at all, so not sure what that's about.)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 0:15:05 GMT -5
The giant farting ape who spikes giant balls of shit at you, who also just so happens to look exactly like Kratos, has to be some kind of dig right?
Completely unrelated, but I'm pretty sure I like Sekiro more than Dark Souls. In terms of the sheer amount of fun I'm having and the relatively minor amount of cheap bullshit
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Post by LazBro on Apr 3, 2019 10:03:59 GMT -5
The giant farting ape who spikes giant balls of shit at you, who also just so happens to look exactly like Kratos, has to be some kind of dig right? Completely unrelated, but I'm pretty sure I like Sekiro more than Dark Souls. In terms of the sheer amount of fun I'm having and the relatively minor amount of cheap bullshit The Kratos thing didn't cross my mind, but now that you say it, I can't un-see it.
I absolutely love that boss. The way he looks, the way he fights, the way his phases are so different.
I absolutely detest his re-fight.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 10:23:17 GMT -5
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Post by LazBro on Apr 4, 2019 10:00:32 GMT -5
I don't know that Sekiro will replace Bloodborne atop the mountain for me. I'm too in love with that game's story, aesthetic, design and gameplay (so, like, its everything). But Sekiro may well top the rest. Nothing will match the experience of exploring the world of the first Dark Souls for the first time, discovering all those shortcuts and how everything interconnects. But Sekiro is so much more fun to play. I've not tried, but it may be hard to go back and accept the slower pace of movement and combat. No grapple, no reliable jumping, no climbing ... man, I don't know. Anyway, later game thoughts: Corrupted Monk, 2nd fight, is like the hardest easy boss. Easy, because why shouldn't she be? Her tells are long and predictable, her move set fairly limited, she's not overly aggressive (plenty of time to heal), and her hits don't even build stagger too quickly. Hard, because despite all that, she rekt me again and again and again. Probably 10+ tries to beat her. She's long, with three pips to knock out, and her second phase is bullshit, but I still think she'll be a cakewalk on returning plays.
Defeating Corrupted Monk brings you to Fountainhead Palace, which is where I last stopped and which is what I suspect must be one of the final areas of the game. I could be misreading it, but the momentum of the story is headed that way, I think. I'm sure the lore-tubers will reveal so much that I've missed, and I can't wait for that, but I do appreciate how much more explicit the story is here compared to Souls. Especially in the 2nd half of the game, after "saving" Kuro and defeating Genichiro. It's very, "Do this, now do this, now do this." It's nice.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2019 23:44:03 GMT -5
Spoilery thoughts: Got a couple good tries in on the final boss, which from what I've seen so far (as in before they annihilated me) hits all the high notes of a great FromSoft fight. Also explored most of the map before the first fight against Genichiro, so Giant Shitting Ape and its optional counterpart Headless Shitting Ape weren't all that difficult.
Loving the super duper secret boss. Okay finding it isn't that difficult, but it feels almost exactly like one of those bonus Final Fantasy bosses designed specifically to kick your shit in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2019 0:45:11 GMT -5
I beat the entire game, and all of the bosses except for a couple Headless, by sticking with the "sprint constantly, stab at opportune moments" strategy. I very rarely had to reflect attacks or use Mikiri counter. Which is seemingly... not how most people are playing the game?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2019 1:23:00 GMT -5
I really love the way this track transitions after you remove his first health bar. Triumphant swelling as you're finally turning the tides against this guy who has you straight up outmatched for the most part. Don't think many games have a soundtrack that successfully convey the feeling of "okay, you had your fun, now FUCK HIM UP."
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Post by LazBro on Apr 11, 2019 13:45:00 GMT -5
I beat the entire game, and all of the bosses except for a couple Headless, by sticking with the "sprint constantly, stab at opportune moments" strategy. I very rarely had to reflect attacks or use Mikiri counter. Which is seemingly... not how most people are playing the game? Well done. I had an unexpected trip out of town the last 4 days, when I'd just gotten to the final showdown. Haven't booted the game back up again and kind of don't want to. Ugh, I hate taking breaks from playing a game. I always lose my momentum.
Did you find your strategy a fun and satisfying way to play the game? Effective, sure, but fun? I do try to deflect as much as possible and really go toe-to-toe with the bosses, but oh man it's real hard until you really "learn" a fight.
In asking, I guess I'm thinking of this brief bit from HBomberguy's Bloodborne video:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2019 14:13:19 GMT -5
I beat the entire game, and all of the bosses except for a couple Headless, by sticking with the "sprint constantly, stab at opportune moments" strategy. I very rarely had to reflect attacks or use Mikiri counter. Which is seemingly... not how most people are playing the game? Well done. I had an unexpected trip out of town the last 4 days, when I'd just gotten to the final showdown. Haven't booted the game back up again and kind of don't want to. Ugh, I hate taking breaks from playing a game. I always lose my momentum.
Did you find your strategy a fun and satisfying way to play the game? Effective, sure, but fun? I do try to deflect as much as possible and really go toe-to-toe with the bosses, but oh man it's real hard until you really "learn" a fight.
In asking, I guess I'm thinking of this brief bit from HBomberguy's Bloodborne video: Of course, I still had to avoid all their attacks. Every single boss in the game has attacks that leave them open for a R1 stab. Considering they have posture and vitality, I just assume these are the two different ways you can handle any encounter. Up close and risky or slow and steady
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Post by LazBro on Apr 23, 2019 13:41:22 GMT -5
I started over. Maybe this is just me, but when I lose momentum on a game, because I couldn't play it for a few days, I immediately lose interest in my current save file. Just can't imagine booting it back up.
So I started a new game instead and am having a blast. Really pleased to see my practiced skills make quick work of the early game. Not a complete cakewalk, but I did beat Lady Butterfly on the first encounter. That's all I really hoped for, since I was sure I would mince the other boss, Gyoubo. I cleared out the first three quarters of Senpou Temple, enough to beat the Centipede and get his Prayer Bead, then I went back to Ashina Reservoir to face my old nemesis. #SpearGuy
It took five tries. Not bad compared to my first run, but still disappointing considering I've one-shot everything else.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2019 10:23:48 GMT -5
Playing Dark Souls and trying to finish it for the first time in my life. It's true that once you get a feel for the combat and how to react in those kinds of situations you can take down most of the big bosses in one or two tries, though Ornstein and Smough are a big exception. In that case it feels more like you just have to pray Smough doesn't annihilate you while you're trying to kill Ornstein, or that you don't get cheaped out by Ornstein's lock-on attack.
Four Kings is also a pretty tough fight. Takes a while to figure out that you're probably safer running around them than trying to dodge their attacks
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Post by LazBro on Apr 24, 2019 11:55:43 GMT -5
Playing Dark Souls and trying to finish it for the first time in my life. It's true that once you get a feel for the combat and how to react in those kinds of situations you can take down most of the big bosses in one or two tries, though Ornstein and Smough are a big exception. In that case it feels more like you just have to pray Smough doesn't annihilate you while you're trying to kill Ornstein, or that you don't get cheaped out by Ornstein's lock-on attack. Four Kings is also a pretty tough fight. Takes a while to figure out that you're probably safer running around them than trying to dodge their attacks O&S is well regarded among the Soulslike fandom, but I think it's a terrible fight. Not hard, just poorly designed. Like you say, there's really nothing to do but run around and wait for those few and far between opportunities to get a hit on Ornstein. Kiting the bosses around for 10 minutes isn't fun, it isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
Anor Londo deserves its reputation as a great area. The visuals, the narrative, the gameplay, all that is good in Anor Londo. But Ornstein and Smough suck, IMO. I always beat it on my first try, but I dread it every time.
Four Kings is a DPS race. Way more manageable if you can kill each king before the next appears. Hit hit hit hit hit!
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Post by patbat on Apr 24, 2019 12:21:08 GMT -5
Four Kings is, as LazBro states, a pure DPS race. It is the one and only fight in the game where Iron Flesh is useful, to allow you to just stand in place and whale on each king as they appear. Interestingly, "Four Kings" is a total misnomer--I've burned through their shared healthbar with as few as three kings spawning. Ornstein & Smough--yeah, I hate this fight too. I tend to take out Smough first because I want the rewards from killing Ornstein last, even though for a long time I found Super Ornstein harder to deal with than Super Smough. The secret is that O&S are purely a skill-check to see if you've learnt camera management and how to fight without lock-on--From revisits this concept again in III with the Twin Princes and Sister Friede fights, both of which I actually think are far harder than O&S.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2019 12:55:38 GMT -5
It would be a fun fight if you could actually predict what either Ornstein or Smough is going to do based on their partner's movement. As it is, they're seemingly just two completely separate bosses who attack you at the same time
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Post by LazBro on Apr 24, 2019 13:53:28 GMT -5
Four Kings is, as LazBro states, a pure DPS race. It is the one and only fight in the game where Iron Flesh is useful, to allow you to just stand in place and whale on each king as they appear. Interestingly, "Four Kings" is a total misnomer--I've burned through their shared healthbar with as few as three kings spawning. Ornstein & Smough--yeah, I hate this fight too. I tend to take out Smough first because I want the rewards from killing Ornstein last, even though for a long time I found Super Ornstein harder to deal with than Super Smough. The secret is that O&S are purely a skill-check to see if you've learnt camera management and how to fight without lock-on--From revisits this concept again in III with the Twin Princes and Sister Friede fights, both of which I actually think are far harder than O&S. I've beaten Dark Souls many times at this point, but I have never killed Smough before Ornstein. Sometimes I think I should do it as a self-imposed challenge, but then the moment comes, and the last thing I want to do is make the fight more annoying.
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Post by LazBro on Apr 24, 2019 13:55:09 GMT -5
Genichiro - 2 attempts Guardian Ape - 2 attempts Guardian Ape revisited - 2 attempts
Had to stop there. Ugh, next is that misty place I think. It's short, but I don't like this stretch of the game very much. I am looking forward to the Corrupted Monk fight though. Good boss.
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Post by LazBro on Apr 24, 2019 14:00:56 GMT -5
Four Kings is, as LazBro states, a pure DPS race. It is the one and only fight in the game where Iron Flesh is useful, to allow you to just stand in place and whale on each king as they appear. Interestingly, "Four Kings" is a total misnomer--I've burned through their shared healthbar with as few as three kings spawning. Ornstein & Smough--yeah, I hate this fight too. I tend to take out Smough first because I want the rewards from killing Ornstein last, even though for a long time I found Super Ornstein harder to deal with than Super Smough. The secret is that O&S are purely a skill-check to see if you've learnt camera management and how to fight without lock-on--From revisits this concept again in III with the Twin Princes and Sister Friede fights, both of which I actually think are far harder than O&S. Crap, I also meant to say that the Twin Princes are the perfect counterpoint to Froh's (and my) complaint about O&S: that it's just two entirely different bosses that you happen to fight at the same time. The Twin Princes actually work together, the one brother defending and attacking, the other taking pot shots and hiding (as only his death matters). The Twin Princes are a brilliant fight. Probably top five for me across all Souls games.
I guess Sister Friede and Father Ariandel are like O&S in that they both just do their thing, but I've always found that phase to go really quickly. It's much easier to get away from Friede and booty-slap Ariandel than it ever was with O&S. And of course it looks fucking amazing!
You're for sure right that both the Twin Princes and Sister Friede fights are more difficult. Though in the case of Friede it's mostly to do with her third 1-on-1 phase.
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Post by LazBro on Apr 24, 2019 15:36:55 GMT -5
I was just thinking, and I'm amazed that I didn't notice this before, but the revisited Guardian Ape battle in Sekiro is everything I hate about the O&S fight. Here's two aggressive bosses with wildly different move sets that you have to fight at the same time. You have to run around until one of them separates enough from the pack to get a few hits in. Only I feel the windows are way smaller than even O&S. On the upside you do have the Firecracker. That helps.
The Ape alone is maybe my favorite boss in the whole game (that I've experienced so far. Again, I haven't beaten it), but this re-fight is absolute garbage. I hate it.
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