Dark Souls 3

Lothric Castle was a noticeable difficulty spike. Even the normal knights here were tough, not to mention the winged ones and those with red eyes. Still, I managed somehow, until I stumbled upon one of those frost beasts. The speed of that thing was crazy, and its attacks were very hard to predict. After dying 3-4 times here, it was time to switch things up. I equipped my best greatshield, put on my heaviest armor, and tried circle strafing that thing while blocking constantly. That somehow worked, and I managed to land enough hits to take it down. Seriously, this thing took more effort than some early game bosses.

Shortly after that, I made my way to the Dragonslayer boss fight. Yeah, it's basically Ornstein again. But this time, he was backed by two (Moonlight?) Butterflies, while I had no NPCs to summon on my end. I will say, this was a very tough battle, but not necessarily for the right reasons. Mainly because some of his attacks could knock me off that bridge, which gave me Demon's Souls flashbacks. I strongly dislike that mechanic, and I think it has no place in a boss fight, unless I can do the same to him. He also had a very fast moveset, but that was fine, as I could adapt to it with some effort. Those butterflies had several area of effect attacks, which weren't always obvious, since I was focusing on Ornstein most of the time. In the end, I won this mostly through luck, as I was too worried about falling off the bridge and couldn't really formulate a good strategy.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-01-30, 12:52:

Pathfinder: Kingmaker I thought it would be pretty simple to get into this one, having completed Baldur's Gate , Neverwinter Nig […]
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Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I thought it would be pretty simple to get into this one, having completed Baldur's Gate , Neverwinter Nights and its first expansion, and several of the Gold Box AD&D games, but I found this game to be completely inscrutable. You only have to make a single character (like Baldur's Gate), but it throws more than a dozen classes at you, each of which has at least two or three subclasses. Then you get to pick several class-specific abilities and feats, for which you get yet another list of a dozen or so things to choose from. The game does provide you with detailed explanations of every single ability and feat, but there are so many mechanics and systems involved that I found it nearly impossible to figure out what would be some decent choices just at level 1!

For example, you can create a Sorcerer, which is a Wizard whose spells are powered by charisma instead of intelligence... but you can also choose a certain Sorcerer subclass that uses intelligence instead of charisma. What is the point of this? Maybe it makes sense in the pen-and-paper game, but it just seems like complexity for the sake of complexity in a computer game. Another example is that creating a Wizard forces you to select a specialty school of magic (which is fine), but then also makes you select two schools you are deficient in to make up for it. This seems like a major decision to make at level 1! No one who is not intimately familiar with the pen-and-paper game would be able to make an informed decision like this.

Well, I thought, if I am just playing on Normal difficulty, the game is probably pretty forgiving of subpar characters, at least early on. Surely, it wouldn't set a time limit on the main quest and push you in the direction of a ridiculously overpowered encounter in a straight line between your current position and the next area for the main quest?

Of course it does. So, if you believe what the game is telling you and head off in the direction of the second step of the main quest, you run into an encounter with a powerful group of level 3 slavers who will destroy your party of level 2 characters. Note that I created a full party of six by hiring mercenaries at the first inn; this would be even worse if you were playing the game "as intended" as you'd have only 3-4 characters at this point. The battle began with the enemy mage immediately casting fear on my entire party, causing my frontline fighters to flee and leaving my bard and mages sitting ducks for the three enemy fighters to run in and slay within seconds. I didn't even have time for my mages or bard to cast a single spell. You also cannot avoid the fight; you just stumble upon it on the map and there are you standing right next to the enemy who, after a couple lines of dialog, immediately attack you. I've read that if you are playing with the story characters, you have the option of allowing the enemy to abduct one of your characters as a slave, so that you can escape. I wonder if anyone actually chooses to do this?

So, the solution is to reload and just head to the next quest location in a direction that goes around this encounter. Or, ignore the fact that the game is warning you about the time limit, and go run around in the woods to gain a level or two. Either way, it's dumb.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is one of those CRPGs I finished because of OCD more than anything else. I would not advise it as a fun time to anyone, the only fun memory I have of that game is the Goblin NPC that has an existential nervous breakdown at one point that makes the entire thing more or less worth suffering through. Otherwise, a hard pass.

I hear the sequel is much better but I never tried it because fuck the convoluted mess that is the Pathfinder system..

Dark Souls 3

Getting through the Grand Archives was a slow and arduous process. There were some annoying enemies there, but also lots of upgrade materials. My Claymore is now at +10, and that did make combat a bit smoother. As for the area boss, the Twin Princes were very difficult for me. I tried going in blind at first, but got completely decimated real quick. The elder prince's teleportation made him highly unpredictable, and the damage he dealt was massive. Getting a chance to heal was also rare, due to his constant teleport spam. Worst of all, I had no NPCs to summon here either.

Eventually, I looked up their stats on the DS3 wiki to improve my survival chances. Turns out both of them were weak to lightning, so I kept buffing my Claymore with the appropriate resin throughout the fight. This made things slightly easier, and I got through phase one without too many problems. But phase two threw me for a loop, as the younger prince kept reviving his older sibling. After dying a few more times here, I noticed something interesting. If I circle strafed around the elder prince, I could more easily damage the younger one on his back. The wiki said only the younger prince needs to die, so I focused on that, and it worked! What made these circle strafe shenanigans possible was my fully upgraded Black Knight Shield. It could (mostly) block the elder prince's attacks, as long as I managed my stamina carefully, which allowed me to get behind him for a quick strike on his brother. After these two finally went down, I breathed a sigh of relief. Definitively the hardest boss fight so far.

With the princes defeated, I can now unlock the area where the final battle takes place. Technically, I could go there right away and finish the game. But instead of doing that, I'll try exploring the DLCs and visiting some areas that I skipped over previously. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could handle a boss that's even more difficult than the Twin Princes, but I'll give it a shot at least.

Dark Souls 3

Finished! First, I went to explore the Consumed King's Garden, an area which I passed over previously. It's a fairly small location, with not much to do other than gather some loot and fight the boss. This guy was similar to the frost dog from the very start of the game, i.e. it was a quadruped who moved very quickly and had ice based attacks. One thing to note here, I usually play without lock on, but I did have to use it for this fight. If you're not constantly facing fast moving bosses like this one, they can suddenly pop up from a random direction and deal massive amounts of damage. With lock on active, it was much easier to dodge his attacks, so I got him on the third try.

Untended Graves was basically a nighttime version of the area where you start DS3. Complete with a repeat of the tutorial boss fight, only much stronger. I will say, this guy was more fun to fight without the black goo infecting him, since all the infected creatures have a fast, erratic moveset that I'm not a fan of. In normal form, his attacks were still deadly, but much easier to predict and react to. He put up a good fight, to be sure. Exploring the dark version of Firelink Shrine was also interesting.

Next up was Archdragon Peak, and yeah, I had to look up how to get there. I took the easy route with the Ancient Wyvern and one shot it using a plunging attack, as the messages on the ground suggested. But the Nameless King certainly lived up to his reputation. I never liked flying bosses in Souls games, and this was no exception. When going up against one of those, I feel like I'm fighting the camera more than the actual boss. Getting through the first phase was hard enough, but he absolutely wrecked me in the second phase, at which point I politely bowed out. And since the DLCs are probably even harder than this, I think I'll leave them for a potential future replay as well.

So I went to face the Soul of Cinder and finish the game. Yeah, this was much easier than the Nameless King. I actually found the first phase here to be more challenging due to all the variations in his moveset. But once the second phase started, it was pretty much Gwyn 2.0 (with the proper music theme even) and I knew what to do. I liked this fight quite a bit, especially during that second stage. It felt suitably epic for the game's end boss, without overwhelming the player with gimmicks or camera shenanigans. It was simply a good, clean one on one, and securing the win felt extremely satisfying.

Overall, I liked DS3 more than DS2, but not as much as DS1. The revised poise mechanic didn't gel with me, and the increased combat speed was a bit much at times (e.g. frost beasts). On the flip side, it had some epic boss fights like The Dancer and the Twin Princes. Also, movement and dodging felt super smooth. Lastly, there was very little platforming here compared to the previous Souls games, and I was very glad for that. While I personally still prefer DS1, I can definitively see why DS3 is the favorite Souls game of many other people.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-06, 10:25:

Dark Souls 3

But the Nameless King certainly lived up to his reputation. I never liked flying bosses in Souls games, and this was no exception. When going up against one of those, I feel like I'm fighting the camera more than the actual boss. Getting through the first phase was hard enough, but he absolutely wrecked me in the second phase, at which point I politely bowed out.

I beat him! 😄 Had to respec my character for that, and use a completely different weapon. Essentially, I removed most of my points from strength and put them into dexterity, while leaving everything else largely unchanged. Then, I upgraded the Lothric Knight Sword to +10 and infused it with a sharp gem, which gave it S rank dexterity scaling. During the fight, I constantly buffed the sword with the appropriate pine resin for extra dark damage, and that did the trick!

Staggering his dragon/bird thing was much easier with such a fast weapon, and I could get through phase one with just a single healing flask. After that, I died a few more times until I learned his second phase moveset properly, and then finally won! Feels a bit weird because I had to respec my build, but I guess the devs provided that option for a reason. And yeah, this was definitively the hardest fight for me in all three Dark Souls games.

P.S.

At the end of the game, you get asked if you want to go to NG+ or continue with your current playthrough. I chose the latter, which is why I was able to get back to that fight so quickly. Not sure if I should bother with the DLCs at this time, as they are likely even harder. But it's good to know that I can access them from my existing save, without needing to replay the entire game again.

I spent a lot of time playing through two massive games recently (Divinity: Original Sin [PC] and Dragon Quest XI [PS4]) and I must admit I've become somewhat burnt out, especially because both of those games are massively flawed. This happens from time to time, but it puts me in a sour mood and amplifies issues with whatever I decide to play next.

Case in point:
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I think this game is actually quite good, but it also feels like it's been developed solely for people familiar with the pen and paper game. It annoyed me that I had so much trouble getting into it, when it seems like such a quality game, so I gave up on running a party of customer characters and just went with the companions you find. This makes a big difference, because all the companions will be at level 2 while any characters you create will be at level 1; it's a huge difference early on. I also ignored the fact that the game insists on you following the main quest, and went in the opposite direction to follow up on what seems to be a major side quest. This has made the game much more enjoyable and approachable, so I'm considering continuing with this one.

Baldur's Gate II
I finally completed the first game a few years ago and mostly loved it. I immediately imported my party and put a few hours into the game, but it was so similar that I lost interest. Now, with some time behind me, and having completed several games influenced by the first game, it's been very nice to get back into this one. The Infinity Engine is a treat, and the prerendered graphics are gorgeous. The game has a very nice quest journal that makes it really easy to jump back in, without telling you what to do or where to go. Maybe 2026 will be the year to finally complete this game?

Realms of Antiquity
This is a really intriguing RPG. It was made as sort of the ultimate RPG for the TI-99/4a computer, though the Steam and GOG versions run in an emulator of course. It's an impressive accomplishment, and I'd describe it as Ultima IV or V with simpler dialogue but much better combat. You can start out by creating a whole party, or you can create a single "hero" character (with boosted stats) and find additional fixed party members throughout the game much like an Ultima game. NPCs tend to just have a single line of dialogue, but important characters have small dialogue trees. The game world is quite open for exploration right from the start, though you are directed from one area to the next early on. Great game so far!

Deus Ex

I've been waiting for the right mood to revisit this one for the longest time and finally I got a shy tingle telling me it might be time. After setting everything up I gave it a go and two and half hours later I realized it was midnight. Yeah, it's time alright!

It might not be hitting like it did back in the day but I've still completely lost track of time each time I've sat down to play it. The game excels at level design and exploration and I really enjoy how it rewards the player for finding alternative paths and hidden places. Not getting skill points for killing enemies also plays into that, the game isn't pressuring you to run in and kill everything that moves if you don't want to. The soundtrack is fantastic too, always been one of my favorites.

Sure there are things I could complain about, like how Mr. Nanoman takes ages to aim accurately in the beginning. Their training program could use some work if they graduate agents at that skill level. Denton's accuracy reminds me of the day I drank a full cup of coffee for the first time, my hands got so shaky I barely could write! And I'm not going to even mention the combat and animations, they are what they have always been and for me they are part of the charm.

The only thing I genuinely do dislike is the time limit after hacking into computers. Not an issue if you only need to shut down cameras and/or open doors, but if you want to read emails it's a huge pain. Either you hack in enough times to be able to read everything or you take screenshots of them all. Or not bother with either, which is what I've been doing. I just try to skim through them in case there's passcodes or something. I wish there was a mod that would give infinite time but no such luck. At least the time increases with higher skill levels.

I'm always a bit afraid to revisit old classics, sometimes they just aren't as fun as they used to be, but I think this clunky old geezer still holds up!

Dark Souls 3 - Ashes of Ariandel DLC

Gave this a try without expecting much, and I somehow made it through the whole thing. Didn't particularly like the level design here, and some of the enemies were annoying, especially the bird things with their loud screeching. Also, a few locations felt needlessly drawn out, and tedious to explore.

As for the bosses, Sister Friede was extremely difficult for me, even more so than the Nameless King, against whom I struggled so much. Her varied moveset, deadly combos and three (!) separate phases made this crazy hard. Especially with her invisibility shenanigans in the third phase. I summoned an NPC for help, and he did take some heat off me during the second phase, when it was two vs. two. But he kinda glitched out during the third phase, and just stood there for a while, until I brought Friede right next to him. Very odd. Anyway, I kept buffing the Lothric Knight Sword with lightning resin, and tried stunlocking her when I saw an opening, which wasn't very often. I died many times here solo, but having the NPC for backup made all the difference during the third phase. He kicked the bucket when Friede's health bar was down to around 1/3, but I managed to finish the job by myself. Such an intense boss fight!

I didn't find the Gravetender on my own, so I had to look up how to get to him after beating Friede. Reaching this guy was a goddamn chore. I had just praised DS3 for not having annoying platforming sections, and they added an absolutely horrendous one in this DLC. Enduring that crap to get to the boss took all of my patience. This fight was kinda anticlimactic after the hell that I went through with Friede. I somehow got him on the first try, without even trying too hard. Buffed the Lothric Knight Sword with fire resin and just whacked the Gravetender and his wolf pack until they dropped. When the big bad wolf showed up, it wasn't much different. He did have some fast attacks, but they were nothing to me after Friede. The overgrown mutt was melted into a puddle with zero issues. And that's it for this DLC.