I agree with everything about Gael. What's striking is when he says "still here??" when you encounter him at the end. He isn't talking about running into you a few hours or days ago, it's been eons since you and Gael last interacted. At the end of the world, it's you and someone even more worthless. No gods, no dragons, no knights keeping guard. Just two insignificant nothings who are all that is left in the world.
As for Filianore, I still don't know about the egg. If it did once contain the Dark Soul, certainly SHE didn't open it, as the pygmy race was already touched by it. She is very much like Rom. Rom is a Dreamcatcher created by Wilhem to hide the truth of what is really happening in Yharnam. Once Rom is killed, the horrible truth is revealed. Filianore does the same, but the issue becomes the weird time travel aspect. Unless the entire pygmy city was an illusion. Plus you can leave the end of the world and go back to Lothric and Ariandel.
In addition to obvious Souls-likes such as Lords of the Fallen and Nioh, there are a SLEW of indie-games on Steam that are directly influenced, some to the point of a direct homage, that are all available on Steam:
Salt and Sanctuary-A game that is Dark Souls to the core, made in the style of a Metroidvania
DarkMaus-A top-down, sort of shadow-graphic on a light background that is another game that makes no bones about being a direct rip off, except in this case you are controlling a mouse. Weird, but very clever and difficult game.
Hyper Light Drifter-A fantastic graphical style in a game that takes most of it's cues from Dark Souls in it's storytelling, though also in many gameplay elements.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight-Perhaps the game here that is MOST directly like Dark Souls, with charming pixel graphics and a refreshingly short run time.
Shrouded in Sanity: Another heavily pixelated take, but this time it is essentially a short 2D-version of Bloodborne mixed with survival horror elements.
I had the idea that the armor of thorns and black knight helm could pass for a Sarevok build. Today, I reached 200 successful invasions on that build. Watch here
So I just actually finished Scholar of the First Sin as melee-only, no-shield (on bosses, I allowed myself most tools of the trade in the levels, except offensive spells that aren't buffs). While I skipped some bosses at the moment (Ruin Sentinels, Royal Rat Authority, Darklurker, and the DLC bosses), it was quite the experience. It also reinforces alot of my takes.
For one, I don't really think Dark Souls 2's bosses are any easier as a whole than the original. Is the Smelter Demon any easier than Capra?? For that matter, though the presentation is on a whole different level, I'm not sure Ornstein and Smough are that much harder than Throne Watcher and Defender. I love the way (if you kill Vendrick) that the Throne of Want is a 3 boss gauntlet. Nashandra is viewed as a pushover, but her scythe attack can destroy you if you don't learn you can kill her curse orbs. Her presentation is also great. Aldia is, believe it or not, alot like the Moonlight Butterfly, except underground instead of airborne. He has about the same number of attacks, the corresponding ones do about as much damage. The only difference is that the window to hit Aldia is even smaller than the one to attack the Butterfly, even though it comes around more often. It's an endurance fight. One of the things that makes many fights like Smelter Demon and Throne Watcher and Defender tough is that, unless you have pumped a massive amount of points into adaptability, you have VERY small windows to drink your flask because it happens so slowly, and more than any other game in the series, you have to sacrifice damage for healing windows.
The story remains great. There is something about the moments in each game where you confront the massive women figures that are just totally unsettling. Gwynevere is a bit creepy whether you think she is real OR if you know she's an illusion. Rosaria is self-explanatory, same goes for Filianore. But coming upon Nashandra just sitting alone like a statue, boxed in on the top of Drangleic Castle after you have walked past here cursed portrait is one of the best moments in the series for me.
The fundamental strength of Dark Souls 2's story is that it treats Dark Souls 1's story like the myth it was. People know the consequences of what Seath did, but no one has any fundamental understanding of him outside of being a "pale being". Gwyn is mentioned only as a nameless ruler. Pyromancy is no longer an outcast form of magic because no one remembers the Witch of Izalith, even if they remember her folly. And Nito is revealed in the Undead Crypt to have been a benevolent God who wanted to show and provide the Undead the illusion of true death. And he is replaced game-wise by a Marco Polo-type character who simply descended too far in his explorations (I think it's clear The Rotten is Pharos). The broken Sunlight Altar still exists, but it is in no place of ceremony, it just is. This world doesn't care much about the old Gods because no one remembers them. Of all the characters, only Aldia has true comprehensive knowledge, and has basically managed to find a way to exist outside of it all (and what he did to create the fake Ancient Dragon, and the one you visit in a memory in what is clearly the old world is fascinating).
People rag on the NPCs and their quests and dialogue, but seem to ignore the fact that this game is about losing your identity and your memory. The reason Leningrast and his daughter don't acknowledge each other back in Majula is because they no longer recognize each other. Lucatiel in my mind stands proudly next to Solaire and Siegmeyer, doomed to her fate the moment you meet her. If Pate and Creighton isn't QUITE as interesting as Lautrec and Patches, coming upon them fighting in Teseldora and choosing which one to help and which one to kill is a fantastic moment. And Licia is both hilarious and a great choice for the Cracked Orb invasion. Furthermore, she cements the idea that Clerics in the Dark Souls universe are NOT good guys in any traditional fantasy sense. And Darkdiver Grandahl is wonderfully hidden in long-forgotten places of the Earth to access basically hidden content.
All in all, I just find all this stuff far more INTERESTING than whatever was going on in Dark Souls 3, and am even more disappointed after this run that Dark Souls 3 basically only plops down Earthen Peak at the end of the world and puts a single portrait of Nashandra up in Irithyll (which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever).
Also tree of the giants, seed of tree of the giants, Mirrah armor, fume ultra greatsword, and other items I'm forgetting right now.
I know you don't like Dark Souls III and find a lot of fault with it but I find it to be quite good as compared to the earlier installment. I like that it ties back to the first game, and I don't really feel it rejects 2 any more than 2 rejects 1.
Also, I agree with you that Dark Souls 2 is better than people tend to say but the overall negative reaction probably played a role in how much it was acknowledged in 3.
Also tree of the giants, seed of tree of the giants, Mirrah armor, fume ultra greatsword, and other items I'm forgetting right now.
I know you don't like Dark Souls III and find a lot of fault with it but I find it to be quite good as compared to the earlier installment. I like that it ties back to the first game, and I don't really feel it rejects 2 any more than 2 rejects 1.
Also, I agree with you that Dark Souls 2 is better than people tend to say but the overall negative reaction probably played a role in how much it was acknowledged in 3.
Oh no, I like it very much, I just think it abandoned story for amazing bosses and atmosphere. It's a result of the whole "transitory lands" thing, but it becomes a bit lazy. Take the Catacombs of Carthus. Clearly this is the ONLY part of this desert kingdom that ended up in Lothric. High Lord Wolnir should be on the cover of an Iron Maiden album, and I love the look of abject terror on his skeletal face when he loses his bracelets and falls into the Abyss, but what is going on there??
The Profaned Capital and Yhorm are another issue. Yhorm was sold as a Dark Souls 2 Giant in the trailers, and even in the opening cut scene. And yet, it turns out Yhorm is yet a THIRD type of Giant, who is friends with Siegward, and you kill him with the sword from Demon's Souls. I think the Irithyll Dungeon is a great level, but it's also basically there to pay homage to the Tower of Latria.
I also felt no real connection to the Lothric line, certainly not in the way I did with Gwyn or Vendrick. Oceiros is pure-Bloodborne horror (the crying you hear of Ocelotte was originally supposed to have grotesque splatting sounds in the second phase, as he beat his invisible dragon child to death while using it as a weapon against you). I like the idea of Lothric and Lorian just refusing to do anything about the Flame and locking themselves in the Archives, but their narrative is basically restricted to that fight. Up to that point you are simply trying to deal with Aldritch and Sulyvahn, and they are pretty atypical for the series as straight up bad guys in a series that doesn't have much of any of that.
I think the DLC story is much stronger. The idea of this world being finished and starting anew inside a painting using the Dark Soul as a pigment is as good an ending as they could have come up with. They should have been released together like The Old Hunters, but that hardly matters now. I don't necessarily like the way you ACCESS the DLCs (especially The Ringed City) but oh well. There is something very quest-like and in a way hidden about how you get to both Oolacile and The Crowns Trilogy that makes sense in the context of the game. Ashes and The Ringed City are just basically warp points.
This is all nitpicking. The game is still a 90/100, it's fantastic. Most third entries can't sustain the momentum. I always use Star Wars as the example. Dark Souls 3 definitely fits into that Return of the Jedi mode. It's the most polished, it looks the best, it has the biggest set pieces. It's just lacking something that was in A New Hope and Empire Strikes back from a narrative perspective and recycles ideas. It's still a 4-star movie.
I'm not sure at what point I got the impression you disliked it. Probably reading too much into things.
Not surprisingly, I'm also the type of person who not only thinks "Temple of Doom" is better than "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Last Crusade", but that it is VASTLY superior to both of them. And this is an extreme minority opinion. I really gravitate toward middle acts.
Oh, I don't think this was mentioned here: Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades edition (base games + both DLCs) is out for Xbox One and PS4 in the US. Not out for PC, unfortunately.
For anyone who has not played or is otherwise not familiar with the DS3 content, there are a lot of spoilers (esp. lots of bosses shown) in this trailer:
maybe I'm just spacing out, but what's the location shown at 1:41?
Fairly sure that is the entrance to Farron Keep and the Abyss Watchers general area after you light the 3 sconces.
Anyone else sick of the music in game trailers now days?? This one doesn't seem to fit this game at all, and most others simply employ covers of popular standards that correspond well to a character walking slowly.
Prepare to Die Edition was named such because it was the only PC release and both denoted it has Artorias of the Abyss and was Bandai Namco making a marketing tactic based on difficulty (which I think has been a detriment to the series). Scholar of the First Sin was the master quest version of Dark Souls 2. With 3, everything has already been available at the exact same time for all 3 platforms. It's basically a Game of the Year Edition. Funny enough, no US version of either Dark Souls 1 OR Bloodborne GOTY packages ever got released, and Scholar doesn't really fit because in many ways it was a new game entirely.
The thing about the Fire Fades Edition is I think it's cheaper than buying the game + the dlc.
Didn't mind the music, though.
Definitely, though most brick and mortar stores have the base game marked down to $29.99 at this point, in my experience. It is still full price on Steam, which is the real place this package would be of use. I have a Steam copy in addition to me PS4 one (that I picked up on sale) but that's going to have to wait for a more powerful computer.
In other news, I've continued testing trouble spots as I move along in Dark Souls 1 in regards to framerate. The Hydra's water attack used to be a big issue, is no longer on the previously mentioned settings. The other I experienced today was Sif, and Sif is still an issue (I think his fur is just rendered in such a way along with his movement that causes this). It isn't crippling, but drops to 25 were pretty common underneath him. Still beat him in one try pre-Anor Londo.
Yeah, it would have been nice if they released The Fire Fades to Steam (well not for those of us who bought the game on PC already, but it'd probably get some new people into the game).
When Dark Souls III came out the framerate on my previous computer was so bad I couldn't go online.
Strangely, the first time I ran Dark Souls on my new computer, I got the same message. I thought it was because DSFix was letting it run at 60 fps but nope.
Yeah, it would have been nice if they released The Fire Fades to Steam (well not for those of us who bought the game on PC already, but it'd probably get some new people into the game).
When Dark Souls III came out the framerate on my previous computer was so bad I couldn't go online.
Strangely, the first time I ran Dark Souls on my new computer, I got the same message. I thought it was because DSFix was letting it run at 60 fps but nope.
Yeah, I know for a fact the first one will kick you off if the FPS tanks too badly, at least if you don't have DSCM running. My current laptop is a 940mx, so while I can run 1 and 2 very well, 3 is out of the question and is stuck at 20 maximum. What this tells me is that my laptop is more powerful than a PS3, but much less powerful than a PS4.
My next purchase is going to be at least a Nvidia 1070, but that requires some hefty saving. I much prefer laptops to desktops, but that would be nearly $2200 dollars compared to about $1800 for a desktop and HD monitor.
Yeah, I know for a fact the first one will kick you off if the FPS tanks too badly, at least if you don't have DSCM running. My current laptop is a 940mx, so while I can run 1 and 2 very well, 3 is out of the question and is stuck at 20 maximum. What this tells me is that my laptop is more powerful than a PS3, but much less powerful than a PS4.
My next purchase is going to be at least a Nvidia 1070, but that requires some hefty saving. I much prefer laptops to desktops, but that would be nearly $2200 dollars compared to about $1800 for a desktop and HD monitor.
Yeah, I have no idea how my framerate tanked so badly in Firelink Shrine, but it only happened once so I'm not overly concerned. I mean it was the first time I ran any game on this machine.
Wow, yeah. I prefer desktops myself because cheaper than laptops. I will get a laptop in the near future for the sake of portability, though.
Also, fwiw, I get 60 fps in Dark Souls III with a GeForce GTX 950. I don't remember how much it cost, though.
Also I spent enough on my computer that I could only afford a relatively small monitor, so that may contribute to performance (1366 x 768 I think). I'll be replacing that with an upgrade soon.
Comments
What a lovely post
As for Filianore, I still don't know about the egg. If it did once contain the Dark Soul, certainly SHE didn't open it, as the pygmy race was already touched by it. She is very much like Rom. Rom is a Dreamcatcher created by Wilhem to hide the truth of what is really happening in Yharnam. Once Rom is killed, the horrible truth is revealed. Filianore does the same, but the issue becomes the weird time travel aspect. Unless the entire pygmy city was an illusion. Plus you can leave the end of the world and go back to Lothric and Ariandel.
Salt and Sanctuary-A game that is Dark Souls to the core, made in the style of a Metroidvania
DarkMaus-A top-down, sort of shadow-graphic on a light background that is another game that makes no bones about being a direct rip off, except in this case you are controlling a mouse. Weird, but very clever and difficult game.
Hyper Light Drifter-A fantastic graphical style in a game that takes most of it's cues from Dark Souls in it's storytelling, though also in many gameplay elements.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight-Perhaps the game here that is MOST directly like Dark Souls, with charming pixel graphics and a refreshingly short run time.
Shrouded in Sanity: Another heavily pixelated take, but this time it is essentially a short 2D-version of Bloodborne mixed with survival horror elements.
https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/66hidd/a_comprehensive_look_at_dark_souls_piecing/
Also, great PVP video. Fun to watch.
Any ideas how to improve the cosplay?
For one, I don't really think Dark Souls 2's bosses are any easier as a whole than the original. Is the Smelter Demon any easier than Capra?? For that matter, though the presentation is on a whole different level, I'm not sure Ornstein and Smough are that much harder than Throne Watcher and Defender. I love the way (if you kill Vendrick) that the Throne of Want is a 3 boss gauntlet. Nashandra is viewed as a pushover, but her scythe attack can destroy you if you don't learn you can kill her curse orbs. Her presentation is also great. Aldia is, believe it or not, alot like the Moonlight Butterfly, except underground instead of airborne. He has about the same number of attacks, the corresponding ones do about as much damage. The only difference is that the window to hit Aldia is even smaller than the one to attack the Butterfly, even though it comes around more often. It's an endurance fight. One of the things that makes many fights like Smelter Demon and Throne Watcher and Defender tough is that, unless you have pumped a massive amount of points into adaptability, you have VERY small windows to drink your flask because it happens so slowly, and more than any other game in the series, you have to sacrifice damage for healing windows.
The story remains great. There is something about the moments in each game where you confront the massive women figures that are just totally unsettling. Gwynevere is a bit creepy whether you think she is real OR if you know she's an illusion. Rosaria is self-explanatory, same goes for Filianore. But coming upon Nashandra just sitting alone like a statue, boxed in on the top of Drangleic Castle after you have walked past here cursed portrait is one of the best moments in the series for me.
The fundamental strength of Dark Souls 2's story is that it treats Dark Souls 1's story like the myth it was. People know the consequences of what Seath did, but no one has any fundamental understanding of him outside of being a "pale being". Gwyn is mentioned only as a nameless ruler. Pyromancy is no longer an outcast form of magic because no one remembers the Witch of Izalith, even if they remember her folly. And Nito is revealed in the Undead Crypt to have been a benevolent God who wanted to show and provide the Undead the illusion of true death. And he is replaced game-wise by a Marco Polo-type character who simply descended too far in his explorations (I think it's clear The Rotten is Pharos). The broken Sunlight Altar still exists, but it is in no place of ceremony, it just is. This world doesn't care much about the old Gods because no one remembers them. Of all the characters, only Aldia has true comprehensive knowledge, and has basically managed to find a way to exist outside of it all (and what he did to create the fake Ancient Dragon, and the one you visit in a memory in what is clearly the old world is fascinating).
People rag on the NPCs and their quests and dialogue, but seem to ignore the fact that this game is about losing your identity and your memory. The reason Leningrast and his daughter don't acknowledge each other back in Majula is because they no longer recognize each other. Lucatiel in my mind stands proudly next to Solaire and Siegmeyer, doomed to her fate the moment you meet her. If Pate and Creighton isn't QUITE as interesting as Lautrec and Patches, coming upon them fighting in Teseldora and choosing which one to help and which one to kill is a fantastic moment. And Licia is both hilarious and a great choice for the Cracked Orb invasion. Furthermore, she cements the idea that Clerics in the Dark Souls universe are NOT good guys in any traditional fantasy sense. And Darkdiver Grandahl is wonderfully hidden in long-forgotten places of the Earth to access basically hidden content.
All in all, I just find all this stuff far more INTERESTING than whatever was going on in Dark Souls 3, and am even more disappointed after this run that Dark Souls 3 basically only plops down Earthen Peak at the end of the world and puts a single portrait of Nashandra up in Irithyll (which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever).
I know you don't like Dark Souls III and find a lot of fault with it but I find it to be quite good as compared to the earlier installment. I like that it ties back to the first game, and I don't really feel it rejects 2 any more than 2 rejects 1.
Also, I agree with you that Dark Souls 2 is better than people tend to say but the overall negative reaction probably played a role in how much it was acknowledged in 3.
The Profaned Capital and Yhorm are another issue. Yhorm was sold as a Dark Souls 2 Giant in the trailers, and even in the opening cut scene. And yet, it turns out Yhorm is yet a THIRD type of Giant, who is friends with Siegward, and you kill him with the sword from Demon's Souls. I think the Irithyll Dungeon is a great level, but it's also basically there to pay homage to the Tower of Latria.
I also felt no real connection to the Lothric line, certainly not in the way I did with Gwyn or Vendrick. Oceiros is pure-Bloodborne horror (the crying you hear of Ocelotte was originally supposed to have grotesque splatting sounds in the second phase, as he beat his invisible dragon child to death while using it as a weapon against you). I like the idea of Lothric and Lorian just refusing to do anything about the Flame and locking themselves in the Archives, but their narrative is basically restricted to that fight. Up to that point you are simply trying to deal with Aldritch and Sulyvahn, and they are pretty atypical for the series as straight up bad guys in a series that doesn't have much of any of that.
I think the DLC story is much stronger. The idea of this world being finished and starting anew inside a painting using the Dark Soul as a pigment is as good an ending as they could have come up with. They should have been released together like The Old Hunters, but that hardly matters now. I don't necessarily like the way you ACCESS the DLCs (especially The Ringed City) but oh well. There is something very quest-like and in a way hidden about how you get to both Oolacile and The Crowns Trilogy that makes sense in the context of the game. Ashes and The Ringed City are just basically warp points.
This is all nitpicking. The game is still a 90/100, it's fantastic. Most third entries can't sustain the momentum. I always use Star Wars as the example. Dark Souls 3 definitely fits into that Return of the Jedi mode. It's the most polished, it looks the best, it has the biggest set pieces. It's just lacking something that was in A New Hope and Empire Strikes back from a narrative perspective and recycles ideas. It's still a 4-star movie.
I'm not sure at what point I got the impression you disliked it. Probably reading too much into things.
Oh, I don't think this was mentioned here: Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades edition (base games + both DLCs) is out for Xbox One and PS4 in the US. Not out for PC, unfortunately.
For anyone who has not played or is otherwise not familiar with the DS3 content, there are a lot of spoilers (esp. lots of bosses shown) in this trailer:
Anyone else sick of the music in game trailers now days?? This one doesn't seem to fit this game at all, and most others simply employ covers of popular standards that correspond well to a character walking slowly.
Prepare to Die Edition was named such because it was the only PC release and both denoted it has Artorias of the Abyss and was Bandai Namco making a marketing tactic based on difficulty (which I think has been a detriment to the series). Scholar of the First Sin was the master quest version of Dark Souls 2. With 3, everything has already been available at the exact same time for all 3 platforms. It's basically a Game of the Year Edition. Funny enough, no US version of either Dark Souls 1 OR Bloodborne GOTY packages ever got released, and Scholar doesn't really fit because in many ways it was a new game entirely.
The thing about the Fire Fades Edition is I think it's cheaper than buying the game + the dlc.
Didn't mind the music, though.
In other news, I've continued testing trouble spots as I move along in Dark Souls 1 in regards to framerate. The Hydra's water attack used to be a big issue, is no longer on the previously mentioned settings. The other I experienced today was Sif, and Sif is still an issue (I think his fur is just rendered in such a way along with his movement that causes this). It isn't crippling, but drops to 25 were pretty common underneath him. Still beat him in one try pre-Anor Londo.
When Dark Souls III came out the framerate on my previous computer was so bad I couldn't go online.
Strangely, the first time I ran Dark Souls on my new computer, I got the same message. I thought it was because DSFix was letting it run at 60 fps but nope.
My next purchase is going to be at least a Nvidia 1070, but that requires some hefty saving. I much prefer laptops to desktops, but that would be nearly $2200 dollars compared to about $1800 for a desktop and HD monitor.
Wow, yeah. I prefer desktops myself because cheaper than laptops. I will get a laptop in the near future for the sake of portability, though.
Hopefully you can get the upgrade soon!
Also I spent enough on my computer that I could only afford a relatively small monitor, so that may contribute to performance (1366 x 768 I think). I'll be replacing that with an upgrade soon.