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 custom 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 my first attempt, 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 any different. He did have some fast attacks, but they were nothing to me after Friede. This icy mutt was melted into a puddle with zero issues. And that's it for this DLC.

Dark Souls 3 - The Ringed City DLC

The Dreg Heap, which is the starting location of this DLC, won the top spot as my least favorite area in all of DS3. Firstly, it features enemies who spawn out of thin air, and they can also summon reinforcements on a whim. This is followed by playing hide and seek with invulnerable flying opponents who are shooting lasers at you from across the map. And certain enemies will constantly respawn in a few selected locations. There's a poison swamp nearby as well, along with some platforming sections. Yeah, I'm definitively not a fan of this area. The only good thing is that you can find some really nice loot here.

On a more positive note, the boss fight against the two demons was interesting. The first phase, when you're facing both of them at once, was much tougher for me. I had two summoned NPCs for backup, and that did help a lot, but it was still difficult to dodge the plethora of attacks coming from each demon. The second phase, where they combine into the Demon Prince, was much more manageable. The NPCs would usually draw his attention, which allowed me to focus on dealing damage. He had a metric ton of health, but I slowly chipped it away using the Lothric Knight Sword. The low stamina consumption of that weapon allowed me to dodge his deadliest attacks, as long as I didn't get too greedy. Tracking that swarm of huge fireballs was sometimes problematic due to the weird camera angles, but I managed. Took a long time do kill this thing, and I think one of the NPCs actually got the final hit, which was well deserved.

After that, I headed to the titular Ringed City. The level design here wasn't much better than the first area, relying on various gimmicks and annoyances. Suffice to say, I didn't find it enjoyable for mostly the same reasons as before. Also, it made my progress through this place glacially slow. The Spear of the Church was basically a souped up NPC invader fight, and beating him was very easy. Not sure if this counts as a proper boss fight. Kinda felt like one of those filler bosses from DS2.

On the flip side, Midir was the hardest boss fight in this DLC, at least for me. After over a dozen failed attempts, I learned most of his vast moveset, and how to mitigate the camera shenanigans which made some of his attacks difficult to track. I beat him solo, since having a summoned NPC would have further increased his already immense health pool. As with the Nameless King's beast, the key was to aim for the dragon's head. Everywhere else, he takes far less damage, and frequently counters with a fire breath. I stayed in front of him, dodged his melee attacks as best I could by rolling backwards, and then went in for a few hits after he finished his combo. Rinse and repeat. This took ages, and I almost got killed by the dark magic projectile swarm, before finally staggering him enough to get a critical hit. Fortunately, that drained the last bit of his health, and victory was mine! This was an insanely difficult fight, but also extremely satisfying to complete.

The final battle against Gael was my favorite in both DLCs, and all of DS3 for that matter. No NPCs to summon here, so it was a fair one on one duel, and I enjoyed every second of it. While I didn't struggle against him as much compared to Friede or Midir, I liked his combat mechanics a lot more. It reminded me of Artorias, who was my favorite boss from DS1. Interestingly, Gael's first phase was the most challenging one for me. His attacks there were difficult to predict, and came out pretty fast. During the second and third phase, I had an easier time, despite the fact that his strikes dealt more damage. I could reliably predict their timing, since it seemed more consistent to me. In the end, it felt like a sort of sword dance, but I eventually got the best of him, and got my well deserved win. I really had a great time with this fight.

And with that, I've finished the second and final DLC, and that marks the end of my DS3 journey. This was a lot of fun overall, but I do wish that the area design was a bit less gimmicky. The boss fights were superb though, and well worth experiencing. Wasn't sure I would be able to tackle these bosses at first, but after beating the Nameless King, my confidence got a boost, so I went all in. And I'm glad that I did, as this was a really fun and memorable experience. Kudos to the DS3 developers!

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-12, 18:26:

And with that, I've finished the second and final DLC, and that marks the end of my DS3 journey.

Congratulations! It's been fun reading your posts on the series, and I hope you'll make a follow-up post ranking the three games and giving your overall thoughts on each.

My ranking is DS1 > DS2 > DS3, but I suspect you'd go with with DS1 > DS3 > DS2.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-02-12, 18:32:

Congratulations! It's been fun reading your posts on the series, and I hope you'll make a follow-up post ranking the three games and giving your overall thoughts on each.

Thanks! Honestly, I don't have much more to say, other than what was already posted during my playthroughs. Although, I don't think I've praised the lore, music, art direction and atmosphere quite enough. That final battle against Gael, the fight for the very Dark Soul, in that desolate place with this epic song in the background... it was pure poetry. Again, kudos to the FromSoft team!

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-02-12, 18:32:

My ranking is DS1 > DS2 > DS3, but I suspect you'd go with with DS1 > DS3 > DS2.

Yeah, for me it's like this: DS1 > DS3 > DS2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Demon's Souls.

Even with its filler bosses, occasionally uninspired area design, and clunky dodge mechanics, DS2 is a goddamn masterpiece compared to the unfinished beta that calls itself Demon's Souls.

Deus Ex

Back in the day when I became a PC gamer in early 2000s I heard a lot of praise for Deus Ex. I tried it and thought it was kinda crap. The first level was very boring and the combat clunky as hell so I noped out just about immediately. But the praise for it just would not cease and after a year or two of listening it I decided to give it an another go to see what the hell people are going on about.

So I forced myself through the first level. And it started to get better. And better. Soon enough it got so good I finally understood, it really was a great game and in the end I liked it so much it became one of my all time favorites. In the following years I completed it several times and I knew perfectly well it starts slowly.

And yet it did it again. I previously said that I think the game still holds up. I'd like to revise that. It doesn't just hold up, it's still genuinely a fantastic game! Honestly I'm a bit taken aback how good it still is, time has been kind to it.

I never did like Deus Ex, it never grew on me and I never managed to finish it. System Shock 2 is the (MUCH) better game and I will die on that hill..

Sombrero wrote on 2026-02-13, 08:17:

I previously said that I think the game still holds up. I'd like to revise that. It doesn't just hold up, it's still genuinely a fantastic game! Honestly I'm a bit taken aback how good it still is, time has been kind to it.

I replayed it a few years ago and had the same impression: Deus Ex definitively aged like fine wine. The graphics are the only thing that feels dated, everything else is just as good as it always was.

The sheer amount of options that the game offers for completing your objectives is incredible even to this day. I usually played a stealthy hacker who carried a melee weapon and a crossbow for silent takedowns. And Deus Ex never once punished me for that, due to its superb level design. A timeless masterpiece, to be sure.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-13, 08:34:

I usually played a stealthy hacker who carried a melee weapon and a crossbow for silent takedowns.

Melee build has always been something I've been curious to try, but never have. Too many open(ish) areas and I've never been able to resist taking down enemies from afar, so I always end up as a stealthy sniper.

I wish the tranquilizer darts for the crossbow worked a bit faster, the game has the elements for playing non-lethal but the implementation isn't all that fun.

Sombrero wrote on 2026-02-13, 09:45:

Melee build has always been something I've been curious to try, but never have. Too many open(ish) areas and I've never been able to resist taking down enemies from afar, so I always end up as a stealthy sniper.

With a few points in melee, the baton that you start with can take down most enemies non-lethally, if you bonk them over the head while undetected (Thief style).

Later on, you can improve that further via the strength augmentation. And once you get the Dragon Tooth Sword, you become practically unstoppable, even destroying patrol bots with just a few hits. That setup can also break apart most locks, if I'm not mistaken. Been a while since my last playthrough, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but that should be the gist of it.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-13, 08:34:

I replayed it a few years ago and had the same impression: Deus Ex definitively aged like fine wine. The graphics are the only thing that feels dated, everything else is just as good as it always was.

The sheer amount of options that the game offers for completing your objectives is incredible even to this day. I usually played a stealthy hacker who carried a melee weapon and a crossbow for silent takedowns. And Deus Ex never once punished me for that, due to its superb level design. A timeless masterpiece, to be sure.

I actually just finished Deus Ex (GOTY Edition) for the first time yesterday. I never played it back in the day, even though it received great reviews. It took me about four months to get through the whole game, but it was great and a lot of fun from start to finish. For most of the playthrough (probably 90%), I relied on LAMs, the Dragon’s Tooth Sword, and the sniper rifle.

Lodge_ wrote on 2026-02-13, 10:03:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-13, 08:34:

I replayed it a few years ago and had the same impression: Deus Ex definitively aged like fine wine. The graphics are the only thing that feels dated, everything else is just as good as it always was.

The sheer amount of options that the game offers for completing your objectives is incredible even to this day. I usually played a stealthy hacker who carried a melee weapon and a crossbow for silent takedowns. And Deus Ex never once punished me for that, due to its superb level design. A timeless masterpiece, to be sure.

I actually just finished Deus Ex (GOTY Edition) for the first time yesterday. I never played it back in the day, even though it received great reviews. It took me about four months to get through the whole game, but it was great and a lot of fun from start to finish. For most of the playthrough (probably 90%), I relied on LAMs, the Dragon’s Tooth Sword, and the sniper rifle.

i still hold deus ex as one of the best games i ever played, and even more recently in a playthrough i still felt the ambience or its dark themes, and i also tended to be "stealthy hacker who carried a melee weapon and a crossbow for silent takedowns", in fact i never even try other approaches - so for all those many options i probably dont experience some of them, and i'm fine with it - but likewise i tend to end up with dragons tooth sword as main, its just too good!

as i've said before i love the parts where we have interactions with oridnary folk the best, i dont want a remake but if it was remade it'd just want all of NY, all of Paris and Hong Kong 😀

Bloodborne

Tried this briefly on my PS4 Pro, but it didn't really grab me. The setting isn't my cup of tea, those trick weapons/guns take some getting used to, and the dodging mechanics feel different compared to the Souls games. The overuse of chromatic aberration (I despise that effect in any game) and the 30 FPS cap didn't exactly help either. Think I'll leave this one for later, as I might enjoy it more after some time has passed, and my muscle memory from the Souls games has faded a bit.

Elden Ring

Got this on Steam a few months back during the winter sale. From what I can tell, it's basically an open world version of Dark Souls, with a couple of new additions like jumping, mounted combat, crafting etc. The core mechanics seem mostly inherited from DS3, which made it easier for me to get into this game compared to Bloodborne. So I chose the Warrior Hero as my class, picked the Estus Shard Golden Seed as my starting gift, finished the tutorial, reached the first outdoor Bonfire Site of Grace, and began my journey through this world. Now, if I can just find me a Claymore, I'll be a happy camper.

I won't be posting detailed summaries of my playthrough for this game, since it's supposedly huge, and those take a while to write up. Instead, I'll occasionally share a few highlights here and there, probably when I reach some of the more difficult bosses and such. On that note, I'm not quite sold on the whole open world thing, as I never particularly liked those kind of games. I prefer smaller, tightly crafted areas as seen in the Souls series, and in the Gothic/Risen games. What we had in Gothic 2 is about the perfect world size for my taste. It's big enough to provide many interesting opportunities for exploration, while still feeling distinctly hand crafted. Not sure how Elden Ring compares to that, but I'll keep an open mind, and see how things go.

P.S.

Those tutorial pop ups are obnoxious. Feels like I'm playing an Ubisoft game. Such an annoying way to introduce new players to the mechanics.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-02-14, 16:03:

The overuse of chromatic aberration (I despise that effect in any game)

Chromatic aberration is to the eyes what coil whine is to the ears.