From Software 'n such

[Sumez]

Dark Souls has three ranges of rolling, so you can realistically trim down even more, and light roll your way to victory. I think midroll is perfectly fine though, especially when you are learning the game and want to keep yourself open to trying out different styles of gear.
There's also a fourth roll which is incredibly sweet, and requires a specific item you'll probably not ever come across on your own unless you are using a guide. But it's worth keeping in mind for subsequent playthroughs.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

There's definitely a particular satisfaction in fatrolling. My first Demon's Souls playthrough - before I understood the series' systems - saw me sticking to the default fluted armor set. The aesthetic of an archetypal knight, sword and shield in hand, having to use a clumsy evasive roll to get out of the way of attacks his shield can't handle, was central to my initial enjoyment of the game. Ultimately, proper use of unencumbered dodge-rolls and a two-handed weapon are both more effective and more fun, allowing for more aggressive play, but the vibe given by a "traditional" set is unmatched - and these games are all about their vibes.

Here's hoping Bluepoint gives it the same treatment they gave Demons Souls (there's a rumor they're working on a remake).

I hope that if Bloodborne gets another release, it's an enhanced port. I'm not really a fan of the aesthetic changes the Demon's Souls remake made - Bluepoint couldn't match From Software's aesthetics visually or aurally, and I'm not sure they exactly got the specific appeal of the original game - and it would be a shame for Bloodborne's most modern release, likely the one that would be used as the default by license-holders going forward, to be something that diverges so heavily from the original.

[Stevens]

Continuing Ranni's quest. Haha. I was here ages ago - albeit on the other side of the map. Couldn't figure out how to proceed and here I am.

Found the Springfield Lake - you know the one my the power plant. Anyway I'm looking through my inventory and I notice I have the things you need to proceed in the

Spoiler

Carian Study Hall

. That's where I am now.

I swear I'm retarded sometimes.

[Blinge]

Ultimately, proper use of unencumbered dodge-rolls and a two-handed weapon are both more effective and more fun, allowing for more aggressive play, but the vibe given by a "traditional" set is unmatched - and these games are all about their vibes.

I kneel.

I hope that if Bloodborne gets another release, it's an enhanced port. I'm not really a fan of the aesthetic changes the Demon's Souls remake made - Bluepoint couldn't match From Software's aesthetics visually or aurally, and I'm not sure they exactly got the specific appeal of the original game -

Yeah that remake was a bit insulting with its changes tbh

[Stevens]

BB - 60 fps. Fast loading. Doesn't need anything else.

Finished Ranni's quest, well worth it. Taking a few days off, then off to Lyndell.

2nd run will be streamlined for sure. No back and forth shit.

[Sumez]

Finished Ranni's quest, well worth it.

Did you

Spoiler

put a ring on her?

[Stevens]

Yeah.

When I beat

Spoiler

Astel

I didn't have it yet. So I was like "Oh, I have the key for the chest in RL, let me check that out".

Just what I needed.

Really enjoyed that fight. In fact I would say I've dug over 90% of the boss encounters.

We should do a low key tier list based on general awesomeness of bosses and maybe put together a streamlined guide for the order to do major areas and side quests.

Obviously I would be down to help with this.

[Austin]

That tier list would be pretty small if we chopped out the duplicate fights.

The unique bosses are pretty good though, yeah.

[rapoon]

BB - 60 fps. Fast loading. Doesn't need anything else.

It will need an option to disable the atrocious chromatic aberration, and motion blur (on console).
Dude, I don't know what Froms deal is with not giving console players an option to disable this shit. It gives me eye strain and makes me dizzy.
And I'm confident it's partially responsible for some of the frame drops on the ps5 version of Elden Ring.

I restarted Elden Ring, cept ps4 version on the ps5.
I'm finding all sorts of shit I missed first time.

[BrianC]

BB - 60 fps. Fast loading. Doesn't need anything else.

No. A new Bubble Bobble needs to not be whatever 4 Friends is.

[Steamflogger Boss]

So there is at least one illusory wall where

Spoiler

you have to hit it a million times and it breaks.

I imagine more will be discovered in this vein. CRAZY.

Or it's bullshit. I think it's bullshit.

[Sumez]

No. A new Bubble Bobble needs to not be whatever 4 Friends is.

Bloodbubble. Bubble Borne?

Bloodborne 4 Friends?

[Blinge]

Looks like BIL's got his mid-roll on!

you know you can shed that armour and get a faster roll.. although i think sumez already explained

The big boney boy cannot be backstabbed,you are correct.
Some big enemies can, but they're definitely in the minority.

Although bigger backstabbable dudes are more common in ds2 and 3 IIRC.

my plagued disease-ridden shit-covered hollow heart is very warmed by Birru's soulsy appreciation

[Stevens]

So there is at least one illusory wall where

Spoiler

you have to hit it a million times and it breaks.

I imagine more will be discovered in this vein. CRAZY.

Or it's bullshit. I think it's bullshit.

What the shit? How did anyone find that?

BB - 60 fps. Fast loading. Doesn't need anything else.

It will need an option to disable the atrocious chromatic aberration, and motion blur (on console).
Dude, I don't know what Froms deal is with not giving console players an option to disable this shit. It gives me eye strain and makes me dizzy.
And I'm confident it's partially responsible for some of the frame drops on the ps5 version of Elden Ring.

I restarted Elden Ring, cept ps4 version on the ps5.
I'm finding all sorts of shit I missed first time.

Agree on the motion blur. Definitely have that shit off. I probably have the other one off too.

That tier list would be pretty small if we chopped out the duplicate fights.

The unique bosses are pretty good though, yeah.

Haven't found any stand outs in the catacombs either. Nothing bad though either.

Yeah no dupes.

[drauch]

Oh man, BIL playing DS now. Hell yeah. All the Elden speak finally got me off my ass to get back on DS3 and tackle that over the weekend. I still need to do/try Ringed City, but after Soul of Cinder thoroughly pushed my stool in for a bit I celebrated and bought/installed Elden Ring . So now I'm there.

I guess there's some truth to the whole everyone has certain bosses that give them trouble. Dancer and Nameless King I got on my first try. Down to the skin of my Estus and my heart hurt (seriously, these games make my heart race like madness), but I done did it. Twin Boys had me struggling at first, but I think I got them on my fifth. Cinder got me in such a dark state of mind that I was convinced I couldn't do it, lol. On the eighth I went in with more aggression and that did the trick. Maybe I'll go back to Painted World and try Friede some more, but I wasn't in the mood for the ass-raping I was getting there. Masochistically enjoyable arena and choir ooooh theme, but the initial trek there really had me on the meh train. Love the wisky tree babes, but all the other enemies felt so generic and just annoying that I didn't care to continue. I'll be bahk.

Fuck, I wish I didn't have so many hobbies. Bought ER at like 9 at night and had prior obligations the next day, so I've only got in like 8 hours thus far. Finding myself on bosses I probably shouldn't be at just yet, but obviously having a blast. The open world is fun, but I echo the sentiments that I miss the claustrophobia and the connected areas. Sometimes I'm riding around looking at stuff and just want to already be there and exploring a unique settings, rather than jumping up rocks and exploring ruins on the way to the next locale that are usually bare or unrewarding. Small complaint, but it's not quelling my building desire to take some PTO and just camp out on the computer for a few days.

[Blinge]

Lol absolutely.

Nameless King first try is NOT normal
He kept me stuck for a while, and Soul of C I blew right through.

[drauch]

I ain't no God gamer by any means, but I'm not terrible. But Margit is fuckin' eating my lunch. I don't think I've ever had such trouble with a first boss like this. This cliff ain't helping things!!!

[Necronopticous]

Perhaps my obnoxious show off video will help you

[drauch]

I have finally scrubbily vanquished the foe. And other foes. The vid did help, because

Spoiler

I wasn't being agressive enough. Common issue I have, which is why Soul of Cinder initially gave me so much trouble. My first foray into Bloodborne was equally punishing until I learned to go for broke.

Still having a hard time finding a weapon I really like, so my confidence level is looow atm, but I'm slowly coming around methinks.

[Austin]

The thing is, ER's fights seem to reward patience. So many bosses have fast, multi-hit combo strings and you're just going to get pummeled if you are close to them. Margit in particular is a perfect example of that and a reason it's such a difficulty spike. You have to wait for the slower wind-ups and attack strings that leave an opening.

I've also noticed a lot of bosses will read your flask input. Heal at the wrong time and you get a projectile to the face!

[MJR]

I finally started Dark Souls 3 (Fire fades edition), only few years late. I can buy always buy Elden Ring later, when it's fully patched and has all the DLC's included.

DS3 is definitely the easiest souls game I've played. I had three days of sessions where I did not die even once. That was surreal. I've only explored Undead settlement though, so I'm not that far yet. In any case, it's sweet.

[drauch]

I just finished Gondor or Gonnarc or whatever last night and a couple of dungeons/field bosses. And yeah, so many fast, multi-hit dudes. I swear, everyone also has those big, long wind up attacks that seem to hold up in the air forever . Those are the ones that take me forever to finally get. Being flatbrained is hard.

[Blinge]

DS3 is definitely the easiest souls game I've played.

That is because you are approaching it as a Souls Veteran already.
Also you're in like the second area.

I would argue this point with people but i can't be bothered because we've already all agreed that i am right on this haven't we? yes i thought so.

[MJR]

Blah. I unknowingly nuked a whole questline in Dark Souls 3 by killing a NPC which I didn't know wasn't supposed to be killed. I was so on the edge that I attacked anything that moved (usually NPC's sit still). Now I feel like I should restart the whole game, because I no longer feel like continuing, but I dont feel like restarting either. This was the NPC I killed https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/ ... f+Catarina

[Sumez]

Lol you killed Siegward? What would provoke you to do such a horrible thing?

[MJR]

Lol you killed Siegward? What would provoke you to do such a horrible thing?

On a distance, he looked just as dangerous as anything else.
I was playing on Ember form, and even though I was playing offline (because I cant be arsed to pay for playstation+ over this), I did get invaded by NPC phantoms. Now that I was also playing on 65" tv three meters away, I wasn't able to really read his name, it was just sigfnghuyg of shifhuisomething, indistinguishable from phantom especially when his health+name turned into red. And since it also looked like an enemy that could finish me off real quick, I shot him in the distance with bow. Now I obviously can't take it back, so I am just going to drop this game and move on, I feel too disgusted to continue. Both with myself and the game.

On a more amusing sidenote, with NPC gone, you are able to make a peace with the fire demon on the top of the tower, it will tell you "I help any time!", and from there on he will only shoot bolts at your enemies. I admit that this was fun. (I dont know if this would have been possible had I not killed Siegward).

[Sumez]

Siegward is great, but he's not really integral to the game, he just appears a couple of other locations. There's no reason to drop it.

[MJR]

Siegward is great, but he's not really integral to the game, he just appears a couple of other locations. There's no reason to drop it.

The way I see it, I am now aware that I am missing content if I carry on. I have very limited time for games, and it is extremely unlikely that I have time for NG+. Knowing this, I am not willing to invest 40+ hours on completing this and DLC when I am already aware that I am missing content.

So, I am going to put this off for a while and then start again from scratch later. I will only lose 8-10 hours or so.

[Sumez]

I think it's impossible to complete a Souls game without missing a bunch of minor NPC quest lines.
You'd need to seriously spoiler yourself to get all of them.

[Austin]

Yeah, with the variances in questlines, Souls games are not games you 100% on a first try. Hell, I don't even think it's possible to 100% in a normal run actually, considering quests can go one way or the other, so you really shouldn't feel like you're "missing out".

Regarding Elden Ring:

Spoiler

So I was running around in circles trying to figure out why the hell I could not progress Ranni's questline. I got the sacred treasure of Nokron (the Finger Blade), but when I went back to Ranni's Rise, she wasn't there. I tried some other aspects to her questline, such as trying to track down the Miniature Ranni Doll, but that never appeared where it is supposed to either.

Well, apparently because I whacked one of her cohorts, Seluvis, I completely killed the quest temporarily (he was an a**hole, so he deserved it). I thought it was maybe because I progressed too far into the main story, but nope. Obtaining Absolution at the Church of Vows fixed it. Ranni appeared in her tower afterwards and I was able to hand over the Finger Blade. So, now I continue on from there.

Side note, I beat Mohg (Lord of Blood) last night. Feeling a bit burned out on the game by this point (100hrs in), so I used the Mimic Tear. Definitely made the fight more comfy, haha.

Also, I got to one of the other optional boss fights last night, Malenia. Not looking forward to learning this one--she regenerates health every time you take a hit.. ugh.