Dark Souls 3 would be a logical next step. It's faster paced but still gives you the defensive options you're used to. If you feel up to another long Souls game I'd go for it, but if you fancy something fresh to break it up, I'm sure you'd adjust to Bloodborne. Sekiro is a big adjustment but nothing to be afraid of. Once you get past the learning curve it's brilliant.

So I’ve almost beaten all the bosses in dark souls 2 - weirdly I’m finding incredible success after going to the gym (a rare and unusual event!).

I beat Fume knight, ancient dragon, vendrick and blue smelter demon in one sitting! It turns out exercise is good for me and dark souls!

Only have the frigid outskirts in the Ivory king DLC and darkurker in the chasm of old to conquer them I’m done!

I’m close to the platinum so I’m tempted to stick around as a sun bro but the summoning in this game is weird and restrictive.

I genuinely think dark souls 2 may be the best game I’ve ever played. I think the instant bonfire warping and disappearing enemies (after 12 kills) contributes to that. I’m pretty rubbish at the game but eventually through summoning or perseverance I get there. Seeing a barren old environment which id struggled at bereft of enemies on a later return felt extremely satisfying.

The game appeals to the “git gud” crowd but also to the rubbish and persistent. I love it.

I did it! I beat the bosses at the end of the frigid outskirts! I even shared the video online of my triumph.

https://youtu.be/Y_abMPzR7cs

I was so happy that I went for a wander thinking the place was a bit less threatening and promptly died. Problem is my souls are in the middle of nowhere now and I can’t summon anyone to help me get there as I’ve beaten the area boss.

Brilliance followed by idiocy

I’m almost at the end of the Ringed city DLC in dark souls 3 having finished the main game, the ashes of ariandel DLC.

It’s ridiculously hard but I’m determined to get it done before next Friday.

I set myself a goal of getting through all 4 souls games before Elden ring and I’ve done it.

Sekiro and Bloodborne will have to wait!

Nice job Simon! Ringed City is definitely hard, bit of a slog at times but great overall. Last couple of bosses are tough but a great finale for the series.

Yeah, I thought the last boss in the Ringed City was a perfect way to end the series.

I do like that boss fight. It's an intense battle and pretty spectacular.

Spoiler: show

Like a cross between Artorias and Santa.

The Ringed City is a slog though, especially on revisits. Going through it every time to get to the final confrontation it does wear thin. I can see why it works well for PvP, although I preferred invading in Ariandel and the Dreg Heap.

For all the grief DS2 gets about ramping up the difficulty by overwhelming you with bullshit, DS3 is much worse and the DLCs are largely awful for it. Just pranks, gimmicks and mobs. I really hope Elden Ring doesn't lean into that kind of trollface shite.

Marlew wrote: ↑February 22nd, 2022, 6:42 am For all the grief DS2 gets about ramping up the difficulty by overwhelming you with bullshit, DS3 is much worse and the DLCs are largely awful for it. Just pranks, gimmicks and mobs. I really hope Elden Ring doesn't lean into that kind of trollface shite.

I do remember getting halfway through the Cathedral of the Deep first run and realising every corner and ledge was going to be an ambush a great area, still.

I'm just happy Elden Ring is bringing back Dark Souls 1 style poise. One of the main frustrations I had with DS3 is that as a STR build it becomes easy to overwhelm almost any enemy, but as a caster or light weapon build the hyperarmour system means you can get constantly staggered in a really frustrating way (was a pyro first time through). Glad they've binned that.

So - are we going to have an Elden Ring thread or shall we just repurpose this one?

Rhaegyr wrote: ↑February 22nd, 2022, 10:43 am So - are we going to have an Elden Ring thread or shall we just repurpose this one?

Separate thread for sure.

Just finished the ringed city! In the nick of time! Really disappointed by the DLC in that game compared to the previous two. Less is sometimes more!

Having said all of that tonight I came across the greatest number of people I’ve ever seen playing the game. So many invasions and co-op opportunities! It was mad at times! I suspect everyone was killing time because it’s the night before the new one!

With all the Elden Ring talk I decided to dip my toe into the FromSoftware games (although I have played a few hours of Sekiro) by getting Dark Souls Remastered on Switch this weekend. Played a few hours and have made my way up to the bonfire where the dragon on the bridge is, so defeated to the Asylum Demon and Taurus Demon boss so far.

I went for a Knight class but have started to regret that as I am starting to prefer the thoughts of ranged combat as I am not particularly good as reading enemy attacks in order to parry them. I guess the Knight could still be good for a bow and arrow but I was also wanting to use fireballs or some other kind of magic now, hopefully I can still do that.

I ended up using all my flasks and 2 humanity on the Taurus Demon which concerned me but I have been assured that that is ok this early in the game.

You'll be fine to add some magic to your build down the line. The starting classes mean almost nothing in these games after the first ten hours.

Also, I wouldn't worry about parrying on your first playthrough. Just block and whack them when they bounce off. That will work for the vast majority of regular enemies.

Yeah I've beaten every From game except Sekiro without parrying once. Just can't get the timing, but it's really not essential at all. For the first game especially, circling round and backstabbing is a far more useful tactic.

Listening to old episodes of Bonfireside Chat and they had James Carter on to discuss the Irithyll Dungeon area of DS3. One of the funniest things was listening to him trying to explain the concept of the GamesMaster tv show to two Americans!

Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑March 7th, 2022, 11:48 am With all the Elden Ring talk I decided to dip my toe into the FromSoftware games (although I have played a few hours of Sekiro) by getting Dark Souls Remastered on Switch this weekend. Played a few hours and have made my way up to the bonfire where the dragon on the bridge is, so defeated to the Asylum Demon and Taurus Demon boss so far.

I went for a Knight class but have started to regret that as I am starting to prefer the thoughts of ranged combat as I am not particularly good as reading enemy attacks in order to parry them. I guess the Knight could still be good for a bow and arrow but I was also wanting to use fireballs or some other kind of magic now, hopefully I can still do that.

I ended up using all my flasks and 2 humanity on the Taurus Demon which concerned me but I have been assured that that is ok this early in the game.

How you getting on with this, Kurt? We need updates!

I'm afraid I put it down to focus on finishing Arceus and Guardians of the Galaxy, which I have now done this weekend so I will be returning to it this week. I don't plan to play it every night though as it's not always the type of game I want to play in the evening, so I will be mixing it up with some silly fun in Far Cry 6 which I just bought with some MS reward points I accumulated after enjoying what I played over the free weekend it just had and it was 50% off.

midway through my Elden Ring play I went back to my Dark Souls 2 save (which was sitting at end-game waiting to do all the DLC) and finished it off, ending the game and getting the Aldia ending.

I have to say, there are some really cool, really fun and weird areas and fights in this game... but this is also the souls game that has made me rage the most, I think it's down to a combination of the hitboxes being really massive and unpredictable, and the rolling invincibility-frames being tied to your ADP (as well as other animations generally being really slow and things like opening doors not giving you invincibility as quickly as other games in the series do).

Playing DS2 for a few hours I got so enraged and frustrated, usually it was a mindset issue where I just had to quit and go back the next day and it'd be ok, but in general it just tended to frustrate me a lot lot more than anything I've experienced in Elden Ring so far.

Like, Dark Souls 2 is a good game in a lot of ways, but sometimes I really find it hellish to play.