I’m quite enjoying the Kirkhammer right now. It has a very satisfying crunch/stagger to it in the same way the Threaded Cane has a very satisfying range. Was switching between sword and hammer mode too much on Gascoigne probably. Still not used to not having the gun off-hand.
it was better before
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Also the death pits aren’t really an issue bc they’re not pits – they’re sheer drops, and they’re pretty reliably positioned around the perimeter of generally discernible paths and the bodies of structures. The criticism makes it sound as if the routes are arbitrarily pocked with holes or something. You can also see the drops’ edges better with a torch, which has its own interesting dynamics here that go beyond merely illuminating an overall dark area like the gutter (trying to keep the torch dry while fending off enemies, being able to see the brainlickers beforehand)
I’m sorry, I just find the idea of criticizing an area because it doesn’t cater to a “build” completely repellant. These games tend to have some of their most interesting moments when they forego all-encompassing convenience
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regarding death pits, shrine of amana >>>>>>>>> crystal cave
don’t recall general reaction to CC here but i hate that area with a passion
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It didn’t register the first time for some reason, only made me go “hey, I should see if it was actually patched” when I re-read it afterwards. Sorry I guess.
The death pits are a secondary concern to the (formerly) nightmarish enemy placement and attacks. If they are now taken care of then the drops would be less of an issue as one wouldn’t need to dash from forever out to close distance and avoid homing attacks. When you have to run at full speed to avoid dying before you even arrive in attacking distance they become more problematic.
And again, there are plenty of areas in the games that weren’t “ideal” for my “build”. I’m not here complaining about Anor Londo archers or any of the many times the games threw a curve my way, just this one. Unfortunately (well, I guess fortunately for you and every one who played later) it seems like you never played through the version of the Shrine that I did so I am kinda unable to point at any specific examples there to highlight how it went from beyond “tricky if you are a short-range fighter” all the way to “very poorly designed”.
I will take your word that it has been much improved over a series of patches. Take mine that there were significant problems beforehand.
BTW, I didn’t mind Crystal Cave but I can easily see how others would find it infuriating.
best part of dark souls 2 is the comedic plunk you make whenever you fall into water, and this alone justifies shrine of amana’s existence
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i really want to play the ringed city, but a windows 10 update or something broke my xbone controller with dark souls 3 specifically. a few other games aren’t working properly, though most are, and dark souls 3 is completely unplayable. ;(
Guys, I gotta say: I’m enjoying Dark Souls 2*
Like… I can already tell it’s not going to infect my thoughts like Demon’s, Dark, and Bloodborne have, and the narrative threads tend to range from boring (“wow… time passes and things get old… and who now remembers old thing… ?”) to off-putting (Aldia’s inclusion was a mistake), but it’s a fine videogame, in some ways more admirable and thought-provoking than the third game. I’ve managed to narrow my impressions down to a few themes that could make for an okay essay or two. One of them is the recurrence of holes, tunnels, and cavernous spaces.
Also no one ever invades so I made sure to slam the people, like Mr. Sentinel Worshipper, who’d make blue phantoms hound me. I like the tension of still being invadable after defeating an area’s boss(es).
*NOT SCHOLAR OF THE FIRST SIN PS4/PC EDITION
you can also be invaded while hollow, which rules
Yeah. As I understand it, being hollow just lessens the likelihood of that happening. Also you can’t summon
Man, Dark Souls would’ve been just that much better with the Real Ass Hollow system
I dunno, I kinda like the more sensible placement of enemies (from a lore perspective - the amount of enemies is pretty absurd). Needing Fragrant Branches for so much more stuff is really obnoxious though (I tend to hack them in because I find the stone statues that are there weird and arbitrary).
i think diplo meant that he doesn’t have access to that version currently and is playing the ps3 sotfs which does not have the graphical enhancements nor the updated encounter layouts (among other differences)
Ah… didn’t know this about the PS3 version
one of the other coolest things aside from the layout changes: there are now heaps of NPC invaders that pop up in various situations. great fights! you can also now fight the pursuer like ~6 times if you like. optional rematches in a variety of environments, including 3 encounters in lost bastille which each force you to adapt to the landscape of the ad hoc arenas
me circa April 26, 2014
i really don’t like dark souls ii very much so far - sure, it’s a great game, but i feel like it’s just a game. dark souls felt like more than a game for me. dark souls felt like there were stakes at hand that went beyond what you, as an individual player, could experience in the game. this new one feels hollow. no pun intended.
i’m not far at all into the game, but there are a few things that really don’t do much for me about the design. none of the areas i’ve visited yet have intrigued me, nor have any of the enemies.
oh well, there’s always other games, i guess. maybe it’ll grow on me.
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i’m pretty comfortable with declaring bloodborne the best game i’ve ever played, but it’s interesting how so little of the music does much of anything for me. the music in the hunter’s dream is fine, but virtually none of the boss music inspires anything at all in me (and it’s not like i’m averse to blaring bombast, being into so much metal and such). the single memorable moment with music for me would be when you first find yourself in the hypogean gaol and as you explore there’s just this immense droning sort of chanting. it’s creepy, ominous, and vaguely alarming because these games pretty much never have music outside of bosses and hub zones, and… well, it’s also just a pretty cool piece of music by itself.
by the way, i finally upgraded to scholar of the first sin and started a new game of ds2. i remain inclined to list ds2 as fifth in my own ranking of these five games, though i still remember it (mostly) very fondly. i think it’ll be interesting to see if this return (and the changes in scholar) render that ranking any murkier, which i would welcome…
this is a good podcast and i’m pleased you were on it!!
er, for context my comments on bb’s music were in response to that part of the podcast, but my post didn’t go through as a reply to diplo for some reason. also, this podcast made me miss doing podcasts.