I may have accidentally called the initial PC release of DS1 "Time to Die Edition" and not "Prepare to Die Edition". This was a slight slip up on my part. My apologies.
Can't stress how much I appreciate the lack of a preamble, I know what dark souls is, everyone watching this video knows what dark souls is, we do not need a preamble. Good video.
@@kingturboturtlednoc5722 Don't worry, just like the video, this guy is one of the best when it comes to having lots of redundancies in its communication.
Very fair critique that touches on the lackluster aspects of the game from as most as an objective perspective as possible, while also mentioning the reasons as to why so many people love the game in spite of its poor moments. In a sea full of dark souls analyses, you've also managed to bring up a lot of arguments that i haven't heard anyone speak of. It's also made me appreciate more about the construction of certain areas and bosses which i kind of hated until now. Great video, you've got my subscribe!
2:14:35 “You’d think that Seath would have better protection set up for his ONE weakness” If we’re talking gameplay wise, i agree, but story-wise, he has more than plenty. The crystal caves ARE the defense system. The guy hid his one weakness deep underground in a cave filled with autonomous golem sentries he created which can only be accessed by traversing invisible walkways, and he also did everything reasonably within his power to hide the fact that the crystal even exists in the first place. I dont know how much more you expected him to do.
i cant explain how excited i am for the rest of this series. it feels so rare to find a "critique" of these games nowadays that isn't just some shitty video essay that either echoes the public opinion, glazing or shitting on fromsoft games that have been talked to death with nothing new to add. i especially liked the structure and the format of this video. going through the game in a walkthrough fashion, analyzing and critiquing things as they come up felt super easy to follow. all that being said, can't wait for you to shit on elden ring
Thanks a ton. It's pretty easy to see the groundwork I'm setting for the eventual Elden Ring video. And thanks for the compliment to the layout of the video. I feel it paces the video out well with chats about mechanics scattered around the overarching world, level design and boss discussions.
@@ennayanne thats not what i meant, sorry if i worded it poorly. i dont care about him shitting on the games i dont like or praising the ones i love, i care about an evaluation that is as close as possible to objective with solid and evidence based arguments. for example, i enjoy elden ring, (i probably shouldn't, as i explore every corner in these games and i engage with every encounter, explore every catacomb, mine etc. and at the end of all of them, i am met with the same 10 shitty reused bosses which feels more like a punishment rather than a reward) and if a critique reveals that it's not that well thought out, thats great. i can still enjoy the game after that but its healthy to recognize that it is NOT THE BEST THING FROMSOFTWARE HAS EVER MADE. but yeah i did enjoy ER at first but its just not great, maybe not even good. DS2 was pain everytime i played it, and its trash (no im not bad, ive done SL1 multiple times). i get where Lycan is coming from when he says there wont be as DS2 video as there have been enough videos talking about its flaws and poor design that there isnt much left to add. ALTHOUGH it would be funny
@@sjhssjjsjs5884 I personally love Shadow of the erdtree, hate Sekiro and prefer lies of P to all the fromsoft games. It is impossible to find anyone who echo's that preference, so I too care about evidence based arguments over hearing some over opinionated twat saying "game bad cuz I said so" type essays.
I'm about 45 minutes in. I'm liking how you get straight to the point and emphasize the importance of experiential moments. Although a lot of the points so far are mirroring the points made in Matthewmatosis' commentary, it's not a bad thing since other critics tend to miss these points and not to mention it's nigh-on impossible to say novel things about this game after all these years. Looking forward to watching the rest of the video and critiques of other Fromsoft games.
Matthew Matosis was a big inspiration for my channel generally. It's hard not to reiterate his points when so many of them are poignant. What I will say regarding this is that I did try to format the points with more references and arguments to make it a critique rather than a commentary. I also don't fully agree with everything Matt says so there's that too.
holy shit this video is good, can't wait for the rest of the series and the way your thought process will apply to those. ds1 has always been my favourite and the way you phrased its strengths made me understand why. especially in contrast to all the shadow of the erdtree discourse right now it makes so much sense highlighting how boss reusage and boss importance took effect in ds1 (especially your section at the end of the dlc when you compared artorias/sactuary guardian vs artorias/quelaag) fantastic work
Thank you for this. I think too many people gloss over certain criticisms because its been said before, but that creates an inaccurate critique in my opinion. You hit a lot of good points without feeling like it was nitpicking something. A few topics you covered feel like nobodys put into (the right) words beforehand, this was very well made.
The quality of this video is amazing - the amount of effort you put into the video production, and even just how eloquently you speak, made me SO surprised to check your channel and see just 1.5k subs. You just gained another, I’m really excited to see what you put out next!
Dark Souls critiques are absolutely an overplayed genre on UA-cam, but you've shown why they still have value by making far and away the least pretentious and most insightful and honest of all of them. Great video mate, more people need to cut the bullshit and get right into it like you do. Most certain subscribe click of my life
So well articulated and structured it makes me wish I was this clever. Very much looking forward to the rest of the series. I only found the souls series in June after my father passed away, I played every game in order and they now hold a special place in my heart after getting me through one of the darkest times in my life.
Theres somewhere between a few and a lot in this video that i disagree with you on - but i nonetheless found your video to be both stimulating and of a very high quality, and thus look forward to what you next put out on the series. Id go into more detail about what i disagreed with but am a bit too tired to get into that atm, & maybe by the end of the series will come around to your viewpoint as i did with certain points while watching this. In the interim I'll definitely check out your RE4R video mentioned near the conclusion. Thanks for putting your time into this, & looking forward to your hearing your further thoughts!
the quality of this video is astounding, one day I'll brag about being your 600th subscriber. amazing critique, first souls retrospective I've seen that brings this many new observations to the table
Almost an hour in and I gotta say, this is a very well produced video. Usually I don’t expect this good of microphone quality and conciseness/confidence when a vid is from a small UA-camr.
I personally liked armor upgrading a lot and was sad to see it dropped from later games. I think it really leaned into the JRPG side with that mechanic and even though you’re right that it’s not necessary for most armors I did like making my pyro set tanky by the end of the game.
I think I’m going to rewatch this later and add comments with time stamps since I have a lot of specific thoughts and I can’t write them all down right now.
The fast rolling Havel build is so cute and quite quaint. So many build at the time went the exact opposite approach, instead of mid rolling at low poise we used to max up on vit and end and disregard attack stats, relying on chaos weapons like Chaos Uchi, Chaos Zwei and Chaos idr which curved sword. The most famous build were Giant Dad with more damage and armor and Havel mom which had more hp and mobility bc it used the wood grain ring to do the ninja fills, hence the alternate name of "Flipping Havel". No attack stats build also included dark bead and Kalameet's tail cut weapon for bonkers damage at extremely low levels.
Why, do we like listening to Dark Souls critiques? Are they so addictive! I got hooked on Vaati in 2011. His narration style, like Lycan’s had the effect of placing me back at childhood campfire story time. I never even played dark/demons souls until 2014. Its just been amazing ever since!
I left a comment on this video when I watched it 12 days ago, but through what I can only imagine is a youtube fuckup the comment ended up on a completely different video. So here is that comment hopefully in the right place now. This was a remarkable critique from such a small channel, I appreciate the effort into maintaining all the good this game has to offer without simply ignoring it’s flaws as I’ve seen so many others do. I wish you great success on future endeavours with the channel and look forward to the further videos in this series.
Illusory walls exist in the way that they do because From wanted players to help each other using messages, which is why when you play online it's basically impossible to miss them. I get that in and of itself is also an idictment on their design but I think encouraging a different sort of cooperation between players is quite neat. Course it only pervaded throughout the series because it's the "souls" thing to have. Same with fog walls, which aren't even supposed to be fog in Dark Souls but Gwyn's light. Everyone just called them fog doors as a holdover from Demon's Souls (which had an important story reason for them being fog) and then from DS2 onwards it seems even From themselves forgot they were supposed to be light and not fog.
Honestly, this breakdown's fine - quite good, even. You bring up solid points and I appreciate you're confident enough in these points to stand by them and make matter-of-fact statements. That being said, not to be mean, but just stop with the whole "Character from Arkane" talking for you bit. It's *Extremely* cringy, and doesn't fit your cadence and style of speech or presentation. Any time I'd tab back into this video to see what you're showing and that came up, I would physically cringe and almost give up on the video because of it. Genuinely sorry for being so direct on that, as I know it isn't fun to hear, but it's because I otherwise liked the video.
The catacombs is great imo. Having to climb out of it early game creates a unique challenge not unlike that of climbing out of blighttown. It's a pain in the arse but I don't think that makes it bad. The entirety of this game is a pain in the arse but we love it for its uncompromised vision. Honestly I feel the same way about curse. It's harsh, sure, but I prefer it over the latter installments which removed any bite it had completely.
A fantastic video, however I will say that on my initial playthrough I did find the ceaseless discharge skip just by trying to get away and I found iron golem underwhelming by how easy it was to stagger, but how annoying the ranged enemy was.
great video, you hit some points that i agree with that i rarely if ever hear mentioned. i also disagree in some places, but that's what makes it a worthwhile watch i think!
MMMMH oh yes, a 3.5 hour dark souls retrospective? This is going on my watch later for when I need a video later to watch. Thank you kind sir, I take my leave for now.
i got 35 minutes in. i guess i just didn't get on with such a rigid oration style. you deserve the engagement for the time and thought you put into this though so take my comment.
I have to disagree with your views on illusory walls. While they may not have a glaringly obvious and universal tell, almost all of them are in some way signposted or at least seem out of place. The fireplace in anor londo has a huge, obvious rectangle cut out of it, the one in sens fortress has one too and is at the end of a conspicuous dead end. The two leading into the great hollow are also at very conspicuous dead ends, and the player can literally see the bonfire behind the one in darkroot. Plus, the darkroot one is made of a partially crumbled brick wall, which leads some players to the logical conclusion that it may be breakable to reach whats behind it. The only illusory wall that ever actually stumped me and wasnt found on my first or second playthrough without help was the daughter of chaos, which, admittedly, is what id call a “wiki secret” But even if the player never finds a single illusory wall, the most they are ever punished with are having to make one additional trek through blighttown (which should be trivial post-lordvessel anyway) and a slightly longer trek back to the Sif fight (which still isnt the worst run in the game even from Andre) Plus, if playing the game “normally” most players are borderline required to discover their existence in the tomb of giants, and that wall specifically can teach them three things: 1: illusory walls exist 2: At least one method of how they can be opened 3: things like conspicuous hallways to dead ends are where they are likely to be And those lessons make it even easier to find the others, especially on subsequent playthroughs. So while I agree with most of your points, i just dont see the framing of illusory walls as being some major misstep that gates essential content. I view them as both easier to find, and less necessary than you seem to imply.
yeah even Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeon illusory walls have tells i dont think ive ever found a illusory wall by getting in a pattern of hitting every wall. it quickly becomes clear it's a waste of time. you just look at a wall and know its a lie when you know what to look for
Well a dark souls review is always welcome Especially since the game have been analyzed so much and each of us have a different opinion on certain thing It feels weird to think that ds1 is almost a retro game since it's been out for almost 15 years I'll watch all of your souls review since this one is really good I hope you'll gain more subscriber :p
2:30:41 I think the “intended” method is the state of panic that a player might go into after first picking up the armor. If you turn tail and run back to the entrance, he’ll do the death pit jump immediately almost every time. Great video!
I didnt look at the channel until the video is done and holy shit how fo you only have 600ish subs????? This is so professional I assumed you'd be in the thousands when i went to sub lmao
This is honestly one of the best videos out there... Oh yeah, this is Also genuinely likely the best Dark Souls video I've seen. I've always seen it as a 7/10, meaning a great game, but now I can tell with perfect clarity as to why I see it that way. I find it hard to disagree with anything in this video at all, but that doesn't mean I didn't find a thing or two (3) to point out. 1: You call the PC release of DS1 the "Time to Die Edition," when it was the "Prepare to Die Edition." A bit on the nose, were they? 12:52 2: This is a bit harder to explain. You say that Ceaseless is inconsistent in how the instant kill strategy works, but I think I might know how to get it down each time. It seems that he always jumps at you immediately after you pick up the dark lady dress, however exiting the arena in any way will result in the instant kill strategy no longer being able to work. Perhaps this is because he's angrier that first time? 3: In talking about reused stuff, you never mentioned, or showed, the triple Guardians fight. Maybe you missed it because of how obscure it is? That said, I think it's easy to say that you're already one of the best video makers out there. It's tough to think about some of your earlier deleted stuff and see you two as the same person. I hope this video's reception does wonders for you, as it seems it will. (Also, I punched nutsplice827 in the nuts for you) May you aim for the moon and get lost in the stars... Genuinely no idea what that's supposed to mean. Did it sound inspiring?
About the ceaseless thing. I have before gotten it to work even if I re-enter the fight. It's always inconsistent. The triple guardian thing is so obscure that it's basically a secret optional thing to do instead of anything that adds any meaning to the reuse discussion. 99.99% of players won't fight the re-used guardians. Also thanks a ton! As a general note try to be nice to others in comments. The negative comments (of which are few and far between) don't affect me.
0:00:00 Controls and Movement 0:01:41 Lock On 0:02:16 Camera 0:02:47 Director's Note: Chronological Respects 0:03:24 The Undead Asylum 0:06:16 Firelink Shrine 0:06:21 -- NPC 0:07:51 Director's Note: Order 0:08:22 -- Leveling Up and Progression 0:11:27 Undead Burg 0:12:14 -- The False First Impression 0:15:04 -- Bonfire 0:16:54 -- Estus Flask and Healing 0:19:43 -- Difficulty 0:21:42 -- Kindling 0:25:04 The Taurus Demon 0:27:01 -- Combat Mechanics 0:27:11 ---- Animation Locking 0:27:36 ---- Stamina 0:28:17 ---- Stagger and Poise 0:29:52 ---- Director's Note: Experience and Experiential as Terms 0:32:39 -- Summoning 0:36:27 The Hellkite Drake 0:37:56 Minibosses 0:39:40 -- Level Design and Interconnectivity 0:43:25 -- Blacksmiths and Embers 0:48:47 Darkroot Garden 0:49:24 -- Illusory Wall 0:51:06 Moonlight Butterfly 0:52:26 -- Resistances 0:56:39 Havel 0:56:51 -- Armor 0:57:12 -- Poise 0:58:07 - Equip Load 0:58:37 -- Rolls 1:01:30 Havel's Ring 1:03:47 Ring of Favor and Protection 1:04:21 Undead Parish 1:05:44 Bell Gargoyles 1:09:05 The Basement Key's Direction 1:09:52 The Lack of Handholding 1:11:36 The Concealment of Combat Mechanics: Poise, Stamina Regeneration Increases, The Red/Blue Tearstone Rings, Soul Increase Rings, etc. 1:15:06 Lower Undead Burg 1:16:57 Capra Demon 1:18:37 Depths 1:18:50 -- Basilisks 1:20:55 ---- Lego Games 1:22:46 Gaping Dragon 1:23:51 Blighttown 1:27:06 Quelaag 1:29:03 The Master Key 1:31:17 Great Hollow and Ash Lake 1:32:16 Undead Asylum Revisit 1:32:52 -- Hawk Girl/Snuggly the Crow 1:33:57 ---- Quit and Reload Cheese 1:35:41 Stray Demon 1:37:01 Sen's Fortress 1:37:13 Mimics 1:38:00 Hitboxes 1:41:26 Iron Golem 1:43:26 Anor Londo 1:46:35 -- Defensive Play and Blocking 1:49:01 -- Backstabs 1:50:45 -- Circle Strafing 1:52:15 Ornstein and Smough 1:56:06 Warp 2:01:36 Illusory Walls 2 2:03:30 The Truth about Anor Londo 2:03:55 Dark Sun Gwyndolin 2:04:56 The Painted World of Ariamis 2:05:35 Priscilla 2:06:45 Duke's Archives and Crystal Cave 2:08:58 Magic 2:14:10 Seath the Scaleless 2:15:41 Tail Weapons 2:21:20 Tomb of the Giants 2:22:07 Runbacks and Enemy Skipping 2:24:40 Gravelord Nito 2:26:38 Demon Ruins 2:26:58 Egg Head Status Condition 2:28:38 Ceaseless Discharge 2:31:18 Lost Izalith's Shame 2:33:48 Demon Firesage 2:36:15 -- Stray Demon 2:38:07 Centipede Demon 2:39:00 The Orange Charred Ring 2:41:41 NPC Questlines 2:44:07 Covenants 2:46:08 Bed of Chaos 2:48:27 Great Grey Wolf Sif 2:51:03 New Londo Ruins 2:51:29 -- Consumables 2:53:39 Four Kings 2:55:20 Unlocking the DLC 2:57:11 Sanctuary Guardian 2:57:56 Royal Wood 2:58:48 Knight Artorias 3:01:51 Oolacile Township 3:02:56 Black Dragon Kalameet 3:04:02 Chasm of the Abyss 3:05:13 Manus, Father of the Abyss 3:05:59 Boss Design Directions 3:09:08 Kiln of the First Flame 3:09:41 Soundtrack 3:15:09 Parrying 3:18:04 The Lore 3:19:38 The Story 3:23:02 The Tone 3:25:05 In Conclusion
2:19:40 another piece of critique I don't agree with , you are supposed to go to the catacombs after encountering andre , he has dialogue that tells you how to complete the area more easily ( divine weapons ) and is roughly the same time the cleric expedition goes down there. Going early in the catacombs gives you a very good reward that can make the game trivial in some ways ( like you pointed out at the first part of the video ) , the rite of kindling , Soo the level design being difficult for Early game is completely justified, for the tedious back tracking if you go down before getting the lord vessel yes is something very annoying to back track but also there are so manny secrets the area hides that it's kinda worth it ( that's how I found the Darkmoon ring and vamos in my first playthrough)
bless your soul for not doing the 5 minute "why dark souls is a classic" intro that every damn critique UA-camr does. once you watch enough of these essays, that intro gets old😂
2:30:20 Ceaseless' insta kill is meant to be a secret. And it's only possible to activate it if he's chasing you from the other side of the arena. It will work on your first attempt 100% of the time. After that, I believe you have to run to the end and back again.
I would note that the dlc was never actually a mystery to the community. From straight up told everyone on their website how to access it before the dlc released. You also dont need the orange ring to defeat centipede demon as he can just decide to charge you whenever and there is also a much safer spot to the eight you can move the fight to giving you much more room to fight in.
1:32 Congrats, you solved the rolling issue, and not all players realize this. You’re supposed to balance locking on and not locking on in certain encounters and moments of combat to maximize movement and aim your strikes effectively.
Let me make it clear that forcing a player to stop using a mechanic in the game is not greatly designed. Lock on should be designed so that it can always be used, especially if Fromsoft continues to add mechanics to lock on...for example: in Bloodborne if you don't lock on you lose access to the good dodge.
@@Lycan072 I think it makes for interesting skilled plays and a fun skill cap, while also recognizing it has its limitations and annoyances. A game like Elden Ring is certainly superior in its rolling system but I do tend to fight back against people saying DS1’s is poor design, even if I see where they’re coming from. Either way, excited to watch the rest of this video and excellent work so far!
@@Lycan072 Actually there is utility in using the dodge roll in Bloodborne over the dash, locked on isnt objectively "better" The Locked-OFF Dodge Roll technically has more I-Frames, but a longer recovery animation, While Locked ON Dash has less I-Frames but quicker recovery animation. The roll also has a stagger box, making it possible to push through crowds of low poise enemies. There is also a misconception that the "Old Hunter Bone" increases your I-Frames while dodging/dashing, this is also not true, it actually just shortens the recovery animation speed of both evasive maneuvers. EDIT: I see you're going to do a Bloodborne video next, if you want any more obscure information about the game let me know, I'd be happy to help!
I see this a lot especially surrounding Shadow of the Erdtree and I have to say I couldn't see the franchise moving in any other direction than fast. It would be nearly impossible to maintain the old pace whilst adding anything new or meaningful within the boss/mob encounters, they're 7 games and however many DLC's deep now, got to keep it fresh and challenging. Try Enotria or Steel Rising, they both have a lot more of the methodical slower paced combat similar to souls of old ❤
@@potatoglizzy3212 I've been like this since the beginning. I played Dark Souls in 2019 instead of its sequels or Bloodborne, and still preferred Slow Souls. And I dont need the game to be challenging. That's not why I came to Dark Souls.
The Ceaseless cheese only reliably works the first time you fight him, and you have to run all the way back to the fog gate immediately after picking up the gold hemmed set. If you do not do this on the first encounter, he won't pull his arm out of his chest.. which means he won't jump. I've been told you can get him to pull his arm out on subsequent attempts by running back to the altar where you picked up the gold hemmed set. Never managed to make it work though. But he will jump 100% the first encounter if you run back immediately.
36:28 To be fair, there is one signal that the bridge isn’t safe, it’s burned and there are many corpses, and the number of burnt corpses varies on how many players have died online to the drake flames
Re: Oswald, I once aggroed an NPC by setting down my controller because of how the R2 button is shaped. Saw it happen to a streamer playing Bloodborne as well.
Great critique! I disagree with you on a lot of things but can see where you're coming from. I personally wouldve loved even less handholding than the game already gives you
I actually really loved the experimentation that came with the ambiguity of stat-altering equipment. When I would figure out the effect and its extent I felt smart even when it was miniscule and not worth using. I didn't look up the numbers outside of the game because of this reason, nor would I wasn't that experience to be any different by adding the numbers to the item descriptions.
The condescending tone and need to over explain your self over and over and in great detail just shows how’s beautifully toxic and opinionated this wonderful community is I love it 😂 you predicted and probably dealt with every single snarky elitist comment that anyone could come back with well played sir
I did the instakill on ceaseless discharge on my first (blind) playthrough on accident :D I simply panicked when I picked up the armor set and this giant monster showed up, forgetting you cannot traverse backwards through fog doors. I left with the impression that this was just a kind of jumpscare-gimmick-fight and intended this way. Only later a friend told me that you can actually fight this boss normally
I wanna comment on the Havel rant at around 1:00:00 The first time I beat DS1 (my first Souls game after 3 false starts), I beat it with Havel's Armor, Havel Ring, the FAP ring, and the Black Knight's Halberd. I was an unkillable rock demon with an absurd weapon and it's the only way I found enjoyable. Without that possibility, I would not be where I am now. I've played every DS game at least 5 times, Bloodborne more than a dozen, and Elden Ring 3 times. I needed that crutch and confidence boost and I couldn't be more grateful it was there. FromSoft has been my favorite developer for a decade, and DS1, DS3, Sekiro, and Elden Ring sit comfortably in my top 10 favorite games ever. Bloodborne is my favorite game of all time, and my first Elden Ring run was completed naked dual wielding ultra-greatswords. Let people have fun with the broken mechanics idk.
I may have accidentally called the initial PC release of DS1 "Time to Die Edition" and not "Prepare to Die Edition". This was a slight slip up on my part. My apologies.
Unacceptable. Video ruined. Delete and redo. XD
Dark Souls
Die Another Day edition
Prepare to die twice
No Time to Die edition
@@user-Joshuamm929 i dont speak morse code
Can't stress how much I appreciate the lack of a preamble, I know what dark souls is, everyone watching this video knows what dark souls is, we do not need a preamble. Good video.
It’s the dark souls of statements
Holy shit he wasn't kidding, love it
@BigBossultrastealth you mean... the dark souls of dark souls reviews?
Another 3+ hour dark souls critique has hit the tower
Lmao
Lol and I am going to watch every second of this video as well.
They never get old
Waiter waiter another 3 hour long dark souls critique video please
daring today aren’t we?
lol
my type of movies
bro its gonna be like 7 months
@@isaacjones1211
Great video. Unfortunately the lack of excessive preamble disqualifies it from being a real video essay
Thank fuck. If someone called me a video essayist, I'd die inside.
@@Lycan072makes video essays, but not a video essayist?
The goat
@@kingturboturtlednoc5722 Don't worry, just like the video, this guy is one of the best when it comes to having lots of redundancies in its communication.
UA-camrs keep pumping out extremely long Dark Souls video essays and I keep watching.
No WAY you only have 500 subscribers, so far this is so well spoken and produced
Thanks so much! I appreciate it tremendously
Really glad UA-cam pushed this out to me, really great stuff! Can't wait to see your other looks at these games.
Thanks so much! I'm already hard at work with the Bloodborne script
@@Lycan072 looking forward to it!
Very fair critique that touches on the lackluster aspects of the game from as most as an objective perspective as possible, while also mentioning the reasons as to why so many people love the game in spite of its poor moments. In a sea full of dark souls analyses, you've also managed to bring up a lot of arguments that i haven't heard anyone speak of. It's also made me appreciate more about the construction of certain areas and bosses which i kind of hated until now. Great video, you've got my subscribe!
2:14:35
“You’d think that Seath would have better protection set up for his ONE weakness”
If we’re talking gameplay wise, i agree, but story-wise, he has more than plenty. The crystal caves ARE the defense system. The guy hid his one weakness deep underground in a cave filled with autonomous golem sentries he created which can only be accessed by traversing invisible walkways, and he also did everything reasonably within his power to hide the fact that the crystal even exists in the first place. I dont know how much more you expected him to do.
Infiltrated Fort Knox and destroyed the Army brigade nearby.
"Should have had better defenses for the gold, Mr. President."
Fucking lmao. I was speaking more so about mechanics than I was story but this is funny af
i cant explain how excited i am for the rest of this series. it feels so rare to find a "critique" of these games nowadays that isn't just some shitty video essay that either echoes the public opinion, glazing or shitting on fromsoft games that have been talked to death with nothing new to add. i especially liked the structure and the format of this video. going through the game in a walkthrough fashion, analyzing and critiquing things as they come up felt super easy to follow. all that being said, can't wait for you to shit on elden ring
Thanks a ton. It's pretty easy to see the groundwork I'm setting for the eventual Elden Ring video. And thanks for the compliment to the layout of the video. I feel it paces the video out well with chats about mechanics scattered around the overarching world, level design and boss discussions.
so you like that he isn't shitting on Fromsoft games but you want him to shit on elden ring? I agree but I also want him to shit on DS2
@@ennayanne thats not what i meant, sorry if i worded it poorly. i dont care about him shitting on the games i dont like or praising the ones i love, i care about an evaluation that is as close as possible to objective with solid and evidence based arguments. for example, i enjoy elden ring, (i probably shouldn't, as i explore every corner in these games and i engage with every encounter, explore every catacomb, mine etc. and at the end of all of them, i am met with the same 10 shitty reused bosses which feels more like a punishment rather than a reward) and if a critique reveals that it's not that well thought out, thats great. i can still enjoy the game after that but its healthy to recognize that it is NOT THE BEST THING FROMSOFTWARE HAS EVER MADE. but yeah i did enjoy ER at first but its just not great, maybe not even good. DS2 was pain everytime i played it, and its trash (no im not bad, ive done SL1 multiple times). i get where Lycan is coming from when he says there wont be as DS2 video as there have been enough videos talking about its flaws and poor design that there isnt much left to add. ALTHOUGH it would be funny
@@sjhssjjsjs5884 I personally love Shadow of the erdtree, hate Sekiro and prefer lies of P to all the fromsoft games. It is impossible to find anyone who echo's that preference, so I too care about evidence based arguments over hearing some over opinionated twat saying "game bad cuz I said so" type essays.
@@sjhssjjsjs5884Elden Ring is easily the best thing Fromsoftware has ever made, it’s one of the best video games ever made.
Please make more videos dude. This was a treat to listen to!
I'm about 45 minutes in. I'm liking how you get straight to the point and emphasize the importance of experiential moments. Although a lot of the points so far are mirroring the points made in Matthewmatosis' commentary, it's not a bad thing since other critics tend to miss these points and not to mention it's nigh-on impossible to say novel things about this game after all these years. Looking forward to watching the rest of the video and critiques of other Fromsoft games.
Matthew Matosis was a big inspiration for my channel generally. It's hard not to reiterate his points when so many of them are poignant.
What I will say regarding this is that I did try to format the points with more references and arguments to make it a critique rather than a commentary. I also don't fully agree with everything Matt says so there's that too.
holy shit this video is good, can't wait for the rest of the series and the way your thought process will apply to those. ds1 has always been my favourite and the way you phrased its strengths made me understand why. especially in contrast to all the shadow of the erdtree discourse right now it makes so much sense highlighting how boss reusage and boss importance took effect in ds1 (especially your section at the end of the dlc when you compared artorias/sactuary guardian vs artorias/quelaag)
fantastic work
one of these for every game of the series please thank you
Really pushing that 10 minute mark
Watching hours long Fromsoft critiques is really everything one needs sometimes
Great video bro. Definitely deserves a sub
Just found your channel and im definitely subscribing, the quality of this video is awesome and i’d love to see more souls essays 🗿
Thank you for this. I think too many people gloss over certain criticisms because its been said before, but that creates an inaccurate critique in my opinion. You hit a lot of good points without feeling like it was nitpicking something. A few topics you covered feel like nobodys put into (the right) words beforehand, this was very well made.
The quality of this video is amazing - the amount of effort you put into the video production, and even just how eloquently you speak, made me SO surprised to check your channel and see just 1.5k subs. You just gained another, I’m really excited to see what you put out next!
dark souls isn't really my thing (yet), but commenting for the algorithm since this kind of dedication and quality deserves to be boosted, great work!
i can tell a lot of effort went into this and just wanted to let u know it turned out rlly well and i enjoyed it very much
If souls videos kept uploading on a daily basis, I would still watch every single one
Woah- 3 hour well edited video that is from a person with 500 subs?!? Amazing. Subbed and looking for more
Thank you. The plan is definitely to carry on making these
Dark Souls critiques are absolutely an overplayed genre on UA-cam, but you've shown why they still have value by making far and away the least pretentious and most insightful and honest of all of them. Great video mate, more people need to cut the bullshit and get right into it like you do. Most certain subscribe click of my life
So well articulated and structured it makes me wish I was this clever. Very much looking forward to the rest of the series. I only found the souls series in June after my father passed away, I played every game in order and they now hold a special place in my heart after getting me through one of the darkest times in my life.
ive only watched the first 3 seconds and this video is already a banger
Thanks. I take pride in that intro haha
Theres somewhere between a few and a lot in this video that i disagree with you on - but i nonetheless found your video to be both stimulating and of a very high quality, and thus look forward to what you next put out on the series. Id go into more detail about what i disagreed with but am a bit too tired to get into that atm, & maybe by the end of the series will come around to your viewpoint as i did with certain points while watching this. In the interim I'll definitely check out your RE4R video mentioned near the conclusion. Thanks for putting your time into this, & looking forward to your hearing your further thoughts!
I see Darksouls: I click.
My guy i need this for all the souls games. Good thing this video showed up love the content
the quality of this video is astounding, one day I'll brag about being your 600th subscriber. amazing critique, first souls retrospective I've seen that brings this many new observations to the table
That intro 🔥 👌 🙏
Fantastic video! Always love a solid 3+ hour Dark Souls video. Super excited to see the rest of the game critiques. +1 Sub.
Almost an hour in and I gotta say, this is a very well produced video. Usually I don’t expect this good of microphone quality and conciseness/confidence when a vid is from a small UA-camr.
I personally liked armor upgrading a lot and was sad to see it dropped from later games. I think it really leaned into the JRPG side with that mechanic and even though you’re right that it’s not necessary for most armors I did like making my pyro set tanky by the end of the game.
I think I’m going to rewatch this later and add comments with time stamps since I have a lot of specific thoughts and I can’t write them all down right now.
The fast rolling Havel build is so cute and quite quaint. So many build at the time went the exact opposite approach, instead of mid rolling at low poise we used to max up on vit and end and disregard attack stats, relying on chaos weapons like Chaos Uchi, Chaos Zwei and Chaos idr which curved sword. The most famous build were Giant Dad with more damage and armor and Havel mom which had more hp and mobility bc it used the wood grain ring to do the ninja fills, hence the alternate name of "Flipping Havel". No attack stats build also included dark bead and Kalameet's tail cut weapon for bonkers damage at extremely low levels.
1a.m. no sleep. Dark Souls video. Maybe I sleep
Why, do we like listening to Dark Souls critiques? Are they so addictive! I got hooked on Vaati in 2011. His narration style, like Lycan’s had the effect of placing me back at childhood campfire story time. I never even played dark/demons souls until 2014. Its just been amazing ever since!
Very good narration and super concise and enjoyable videography. Well done!
That intro alone got a like from me, you have my attention good sir
Video essayist pre-amble will be the end of me.
I left a comment on this video when I watched it 12 days ago, but through what I can only imagine is a youtube fuckup the comment ended up on a completely different video. So here is that comment hopefully in the right place now.
This was a remarkable critique from such a small channel, I appreciate the effort into maintaining all the good this game has to offer without simply ignoring it’s flaws as I’ve seen so many others do. I wish you great success on future endeavours with the channel and look forward to the further videos in this series.
Illusory walls exist in the way that they do because From wanted players to help each other using messages, which is why when you play online it's basically impossible to miss them. I get that in and of itself is also an idictment on their design but I think encouraging a different sort of cooperation between players is quite neat. Course it only pervaded throughout the series because it's the "souls" thing to have. Same with fog walls, which aren't even supposed to be fog in Dark Souls but Gwyn's light. Everyone just called them fog doors as a holdover from Demon's Souls (which had an important story reason for them being fog) and then from DS2 onwards it seems even From themselves forgot they were supposed to be light and not fog.
43:09 I'm sorry but it's written in the item description, it's your fault that you didn't bother to read it before consuming a new item
Honestly, this breakdown's fine - quite good, even. You bring up solid points and I appreciate you're confident enough in these points to stand by them and make matter-of-fact statements. That being said, not to be mean, but just stop with the whole "Character from Arkane" talking for you bit. It's *Extremely* cringy, and doesn't fit your cadence and style of speech or presentation. Any time I'd tab back into this video to see what you're showing and that came up, I would physically cringe and almost give up on the video because of it.
Genuinely sorry for being so direct on that, as I know it isn't fun to hear, but it's because I otherwise liked the video.
Brilliant critique. Thank you.
The catacombs is great imo. Having to climb out of it early game creates a unique challenge not unlike that of climbing out of blighttown. It's a pain in the arse but I don't think that makes it bad. The entirety of this game is a pain in the arse but we love it for its uncompromised vision. Honestly I feel the same way about curse. It's harsh, sure, but I prefer it over the latter installments which removed any bite it had completely.
just finished watching, cant wait for the next part
Wait, are you going to do Dark souls 2 video?
A fantastic video, however I will say that on my initial playthrough I did find the ceaseless discharge skip just by trying to get away and I found iron golem underwhelming by how easy it was to stagger, but how annoying the ranged enemy was.
yess i love 3 hour dark sould videos please give us more i need moreee
Please make more of these this is so good
Thanks a ton for the kind words. Next up is Bloodborne. It'll take a while though. These take a lot of time to make.
Great video. Looking forward to the rest of the series analyzed with such depth.
I found so many of these truths back when I played when there wasn't everyone online chatting it up. Thanks.
Just wanted to say, great video, looking forward to what else you make in the future :)
Thanks so much! The Soulsborne critiques will be worked on alongside smaller videos. These 3+ hour videos take a LONGGG time to cook up.
loved this!!! ds1 is by far my favorite dark souls game, so i'm glad to see it get some love. excited for the bloodborne video :-)
Banger video, thanks for helping me get through a sunday graveyard shift
great video, you hit some points that i agree with that i rarely if ever hear mentioned. i also disagree in some places, but that's what makes it a worthwhile watch i think!
MMMMH oh yes, a 3.5 hour dark souls retrospective? This is going on my watch later for when I need a video later to watch. Thank you kind sir, I take my leave for now.
Thanks for my new fave sleepy time video mwah
i got 35 minutes in.
i guess i just didn't get on with such a rigid oration style.
you deserve the engagement for the time and thought you put into this though so take my comment.
comment for algo, absolute cinema.
Nice, this guarantees another good night's sleep for a week
I have to disagree with your views on illusory walls. While they may not have a glaringly obvious and universal tell, almost all of them are in some way signposted or at least seem out of place. The fireplace in anor londo has a huge, obvious rectangle cut out of it, the one in sens fortress has one too and is at the end of a conspicuous dead end. The two leading into the great hollow are also at very conspicuous dead ends, and the player can literally see the bonfire behind the one in darkroot. Plus, the darkroot one is made of a partially crumbled brick wall, which leads some players to the logical conclusion that it may be breakable to reach whats behind it.
The only illusory wall that ever actually stumped me and wasnt found on my first or second playthrough without help was the daughter of chaos, which, admittedly, is what id call a “wiki secret”
But even if the player never finds a single illusory wall, the most they are ever punished with are having to make one additional trek through blighttown (which should be trivial post-lordvessel anyway) and a slightly longer trek back to the Sif fight (which still isnt the worst run in the game even from Andre)
Plus, if playing the game “normally” most players are borderline required to discover their existence in the tomb of giants, and that wall specifically can teach them three things:
1: illusory walls exist
2: At least one method of how they can be opened
3: things like conspicuous hallways to dead ends are where they are likely to be
And those lessons make it even easier to find the others, especially on subsequent playthroughs.
So while I agree with most of your points, i just dont see the framing of illusory walls as being some major misstep that gates essential content. I view them as both easier to find, and less necessary than you seem to imply.
yeah even Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeon illusory walls have tells
i dont think ive ever found a illusory wall by getting in a pattern of hitting every wall. it quickly becomes clear it's a waste of time. you just look at a wall and know its a lie when you know what to look for
Well a dark souls review is always welcome
Especially since the game have been analyzed so much and each of us have a different opinion on certain thing
It feels weird to think that ds1 is almost a retro game since it's been out for almost 15 years
I'll watch all of your souls review since this one is really good
I hope you'll gain more subscriber :p
contgrats on your sub count by the way, I wish my video had done more to help with that. Still you totally deserve it.
You sound like the Human narrator for the Warcraft 2 campaign. I mean that in the nicest way possible. Loved this video.
Congrats on the 150,000 views and 880 new subs!
Great video, hard work and well written
Thanks a ton! I appreciate it a lot.
This video was a treat to watch.
That was one of the best intros I've ever seen or heard..
2:30:41 I think the “intended” method is the state of panic that a player might go into after first picking up the armor. If you turn tail and run back to the entrance, he’ll do the death pit jump immediately almost every time. Great video!
I didnt look at the channel until the video is done and holy shit how fo you only have 600ish subs????? This is so professional I assumed you'd be in the thousands when i went to sub lmao
Thanks a ton! I take pride in my work and hope to reach 1K subs and beyond one day.
Oscar always dies in the beginning. Thats the 100 free souls you get.
And he hollows later even if you kill him in the beginning.
Man, this really makes me wanna play through ds1 again. Though it has flaws, i love it all the same c: great video
This is honestly one of the best videos out there...
Oh yeah, this is Also genuinely likely the best Dark Souls video I've seen. I've always seen it as a 7/10, meaning a great game, but now I can tell with perfect clarity as to why I see it that way. I find it hard to disagree with anything in this video at all, but that doesn't mean I didn't find a thing or two (3) to point out.
1: You call the PC release of DS1 the "Time to Die Edition," when it was the "Prepare to Die Edition." A bit on the nose, were they? 12:52
2: This is a bit harder to explain. You say that Ceaseless is inconsistent in how the instant kill strategy works, but I think I might know how to get it down each time. It seems that he always jumps at you immediately after you pick up the dark lady dress, however exiting the arena in any way will result in the instant kill strategy no longer being able to work. Perhaps this is because he's angrier that first time?
3: In talking about reused stuff, you never mentioned, or showed, the triple Guardians fight. Maybe you missed it because of how obscure it is?
That said, I think it's easy to say that you're already one of the best video makers out there. It's tough to think about some of your earlier deleted stuff and see you two as the same person. I hope this video's reception does wonders for you, as it seems it will. (Also, I punched nutsplice827 in the nuts for you)
May you aim for the moon and get lost in the stars... Genuinely no idea what that's supposed to mean. Did it sound inspiring?
About the ceaseless thing. I have before gotten it to work even if I re-enter the fight. It's always inconsistent.
The triple guardian thing is so obscure that it's basically a secret optional thing to do instead of anything that adds any meaning to the reuse discussion. 99.99% of players won't fight the re-used guardians.
Also thanks a ton! As a general note try to be nice to others in comments. The negative comments (of which are few and far between) don't affect me.
@@Lycan072 Good lad
Soon as you said all the souls games were getting the same treatment i subbed. Idk why but i love hearing other peoples perspectives on these games
Subbed looking forward to the others!
Theo would be proud for the lack of preamble
is this another mauler guy?
0:00:00 Controls and Movement
0:01:41 Lock On
0:02:16 Camera
0:02:47 Director's Note: Chronological Respects
0:03:24 The Undead Asylum
0:06:16 Firelink Shrine
0:06:21 -- NPC
0:07:51 Director's Note: Order
0:08:22 -- Leveling Up and Progression
0:11:27 Undead Burg
0:12:14 -- The False First Impression
0:15:04 -- Bonfire
0:16:54 -- Estus Flask and Healing
0:19:43 -- Difficulty
0:21:42 -- Kindling
0:25:04 The Taurus Demon
0:27:01 -- Combat Mechanics
0:27:11 ---- Animation Locking
0:27:36 ---- Stamina
0:28:17 ---- Stagger and Poise
0:29:52 ---- Director's Note: Experience and Experiential as Terms
0:32:39 -- Summoning
0:36:27 The Hellkite Drake
0:37:56 Minibosses
0:39:40 -- Level Design and Interconnectivity
0:43:25 -- Blacksmiths and Embers
0:48:47 Darkroot Garden
0:49:24 -- Illusory Wall
0:51:06 Moonlight Butterfly
0:52:26 -- Resistances
0:56:39 Havel
0:56:51 -- Armor
0:57:12 -- Poise
0:58:07 - Equip Load
0:58:37 -- Rolls
1:01:30 Havel's Ring
1:03:47 Ring of Favor and Protection
1:04:21 Undead Parish
1:05:44 Bell Gargoyles
1:09:05 The Basement Key's Direction
1:09:52 The Lack of Handholding
1:11:36 The Concealment of Combat Mechanics: Poise, Stamina Regeneration Increases, The Red/Blue Tearstone Rings, Soul Increase Rings, etc.
1:15:06 Lower Undead Burg
1:16:57 Capra Demon
1:18:37 Depths
1:18:50 -- Basilisks
1:20:55 ---- Lego Games
1:22:46 Gaping Dragon
1:23:51 Blighttown
1:27:06 Quelaag
1:29:03 The Master Key
1:31:17 Great Hollow and Ash Lake
1:32:16 Undead Asylum Revisit
1:32:52 -- Hawk Girl/Snuggly the Crow
1:33:57 ---- Quit and Reload Cheese
1:35:41 Stray Demon
1:37:01 Sen's Fortress
1:37:13 Mimics
1:38:00 Hitboxes
1:41:26 Iron Golem
1:43:26 Anor Londo
1:46:35 -- Defensive Play and Blocking
1:49:01 -- Backstabs
1:50:45 -- Circle Strafing
1:52:15 Ornstein and Smough
1:56:06 Warp
2:01:36 Illusory Walls 2
2:03:30 The Truth about Anor Londo
2:03:55 Dark Sun Gwyndolin
2:04:56 The Painted World of Ariamis
2:05:35 Priscilla
2:06:45 Duke's Archives and Crystal Cave
2:08:58 Magic
2:14:10 Seath the Scaleless
2:15:41 Tail Weapons
2:21:20 Tomb of the Giants
2:22:07 Runbacks and Enemy Skipping
2:24:40 Gravelord Nito
2:26:38 Demon Ruins
2:26:58 Egg Head Status Condition
2:28:38 Ceaseless Discharge
2:31:18 Lost Izalith's Shame
2:33:48 Demon Firesage
2:36:15 -- Stray Demon
2:38:07 Centipede Demon
2:39:00 The Orange Charred Ring
2:41:41 NPC Questlines
2:44:07 Covenants
2:46:08 Bed of Chaos
2:48:27 Great Grey Wolf Sif
2:51:03 New Londo Ruins
2:51:29 -- Consumables
2:53:39 Four Kings
2:55:20 Unlocking the DLC
2:57:11 Sanctuary Guardian
2:57:56 Royal Wood
2:58:48 Knight Artorias
3:01:51 Oolacile Township
3:02:56 Black Dragon Kalameet
3:04:02 Chasm of the Abyss
3:05:13 Manus, Father of the Abyss
3:05:59 Boss Design Directions
3:09:08 Kiln of the First Flame
3:09:41 Soundtrack
3:15:09 Parrying
3:18:04 The Lore
3:19:38 The Story
3:23:02 The Tone
3:25:05 In Conclusion
Wow. Thanks so much for this!. I'd pin it if I could but UA-cam only allows 1 pinned comment at a time. Amazing work
Thank you! I appreciate the video, and I hope you eventually make more~
2:19:40 another piece of critique I don't agree with , you are supposed to go to the catacombs after encountering andre , he has dialogue that tells you how to complete the area more easily ( divine weapons ) and is roughly the same time the cleric expedition goes down there.
Going early in the catacombs gives you a very good reward that can make the game trivial in some ways ( like you pointed out at the first part of the video ) , the rite of kindling , Soo the level design being difficult for Early game is completely justified, for the tedious back tracking if you go down before getting the lord vessel yes is something very annoying to back track but also there are so manny secrets the area hides that it's kinda worth it ( that's how I found the Darkmoon ring and vamos in my first playthrough)
bless your soul for not doing the 5 minute "why dark souls is a classic" intro that every damn critique UA-camr does. once you watch enough of these essays, that intro gets old😂
God, I hate video essayist preamble. They add so little to the video despite usually being like 1/2 or 1/3 of the video's length.
2:30:20 Ceaseless' insta kill is meant to be a secret. And it's only possible to activate it if he's chasing you from the other side of the arena. It will work on your first attempt 100% of the time. After that, I believe you have to run to the end and back again.
I would note that the dlc was never actually a mystery to the community. From straight up told everyone on their website how to access it before the dlc released. You also dont need the orange ring to defeat centipede demon as he can just decide to charge you whenever and there is also a much safer spot to the eight you can move the fight to giving you much more room to fight in.
1:32 Congrats, you solved the rolling issue, and not all players realize this. You’re supposed to balance locking on and not locking on in certain encounters and moments of combat to maximize movement and aim your strikes effectively.
Let me make it clear that forcing a player to stop using a mechanic in the game is not greatly designed. Lock on should be designed so that it can always be used, especially if Fromsoft continues to add mechanics to lock on...for example: in Bloodborne if you don't lock on you lose access to the good dodge.
@@Lycan072 I think it makes for interesting skilled plays and a fun skill cap, while also recognizing it has its limitations and annoyances. A game like Elden Ring is certainly superior in its rolling system but I do tend to fight back against people saying DS1’s is poor design, even if I see where they’re coming from.
Either way, excited to watch the rest of this video and excellent work so far!
@@Lycan072 Actually there is utility in using the dodge roll in Bloodborne over the dash, locked on isnt objectively "better"
The Locked-OFF Dodge Roll technically has more I-Frames, but a longer recovery animation, While Locked ON Dash has less I-Frames but quicker recovery animation.
The roll also has a stagger box, making it possible to push through crowds of low poise enemies.
There is also a misconception that the "Old Hunter Bone" increases your I-Frames while dodging/dashing, this is also not true, it actually just shortens the recovery animation speed of both evasive maneuvers.
EDIT: I see you're going to do a Bloodborne video next, if you want any more obscure information about the game let me know, I'd be happy to help!
I miss Slow Souls, the games are getting way too fast for me. #BringBackSlowSouls
I see this a lot especially surrounding Shadow of the Erdtree and I have to say I couldn't see the franchise moving in any other direction than fast. It would be nearly impossible to maintain the old pace whilst adding anything new or meaningful within the boss/mob encounters, they're 7 games and however many DLC's deep now, got to keep it fresh and challenging. Try Enotria or Steel Rising, they both have a lot more of the methodical slower paced combat similar to souls of old ❤
@@potatoglizzy3212 I've been like this since the beginning. I played Dark Souls in 2019 instead of its sequels or Bloodborne, and still preferred Slow Souls.
And I dont need the game to be challenging. That's not why I came to Dark Souls.
@@potatoglizzy3212 I lookedbith if them. They look just as fast, if not faster than the likes of Bloodnorne and Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro.
Here before 69 420 views
The Ceaseless cheese only reliably works the first time you fight him, and you have to run all the way back to the fog gate immediately after picking up the gold hemmed set.
If you do not do this on the first encounter, he won't pull his arm out of his chest.. which means he won't jump.
I've been told you can get him to pull his arm out on subsequent attempts by running back to the altar where you picked up the gold hemmed set. Never managed to make it work though.
But he will jump 100% the first encounter if you run back immediately.
I've definitely made him jump to his death on subsequent attempts. Either way it's still unintuitive tho
we are so back
instant sub because there was no preamle
I freaking love that people still upload videos if this game! DS1 is never going to die 😂
36:28 To be fair, there is one signal that the bridge isn’t safe, it’s burned and there are many corpses, and the number of burnt corpses varies on how many players have died online to the drake flames
There is a way to notice the drake, through audio , you can hear its wings beating prior to it spewing flames.
Re: Oswald, I once aggroed an NPC by setting down my controller because of how the R2 button is shaped. Saw it happen to a streamer playing Bloodborne as well.
Babe wake up, new feature length dark souls video out
Please stop
my favorite boss fight in the series is the Twin Demons from the Ringed City DLC in Ds3. they work so well together.
Great critique! I disagree with you on a lot of things but can see where you're coming from. I personally wouldve loved even less handholding than the game already gives you
Great job, thanks!
I actually really loved the experimentation that came with the ambiguity of stat-altering equipment. When I would figure out the effect and its extent I felt smart even when it was miniscule and not worth using. I didn't look up the numbers outside of the game because of this reason, nor would I wasn't that experience to be any different by adding the numbers to the item descriptions.
The condescending tone and need to over explain your self over and over and in great detail just shows how’s beautifully toxic and opinionated this wonderful community is I love it 😂 you predicted and probably dealt with every single snarky elitist comment that anyone could come back with well played sir
I did the instakill on ceaseless discharge on my first (blind) playthrough on accident :D I simply panicked when I picked up the armor set and this giant monster showed up, forgetting you cannot traverse backwards through fog doors. I left with the impression that this was just a kind of jumpscare-gimmick-fight and intended this way. Only later a friend told me that you can actually fight this boss normally
I wanna comment on the Havel rant at around 1:00:00
The first time I beat DS1 (my first Souls game after 3 false starts), I beat it with Havel's Armor, Havel Ring, the FAP ring, and the Black Knight's Halberd. I was an unkillable rock demon with an absurd weapon and it's the only way I found enjoyable. Without that possibility, I would not be where I am now. I've played every DS game at least 5 times, Bloodborne more than a dozen, and Elden Ring 3 times. I needed that crutch and confidence boost and I couldn't be more grateful it was there. FromSoft has been my favorite developer for a decade, and DS1, DS3, Sekiro, and Elden Ring sit comfortably in my top 10 favorite games ever. Bloodborne is my favorite game of all time, and my first Elden Ring run was completed naked dual wielding ultra-greatswords. Let people have fun with the broken mechanics idk.