Dark Souls 2: YOU DIED HARDER

wow, that link. i don't care about the story that much, but even aside from the DS links (most of which pretty obvious) i still enjoy the general Soulsian vibe that all the real action happened thousands of years ago and you're just digging through the rubble.

i'm at shrine of amana btw, just caved and used a bow for the first time in the game.

these speed runs are getting pretty serious btw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8sbAxHMxg

also, a friend of mine pointed out that the climax in the True Detective finale has a total Dark Souls vibe, and he is right.

o yeah, for sure; that was totally on my mind throughout much of the show

there's a story?
― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, 1 April 2014 18:02

there was a war with giants, there was a king and queen that fucked things up, ur cursed

i like the belfry sol invasions, that little rooftop area has a playground aspect to it

evil girlfriends seem to be a theme in this game, hmm (see the unhappy scorpion couple).

it does feel like a sequel/retread far more than ds1 ever did despite how similar that was to demons. and it is easier, in terms of structure and content. it just doesn't inspire dread in anything like the same way.
― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, April 1, 2014 2:02 PM

i'm ok with it feeling like a sequel since its meant to be one. the lack of dread is somewhat a problem for me too. the devs certainly could've tried to top what came before with grosser/weirder/darker stuff. i guess they restrained themselves on purpose cuz why else would a game in the series garner a 't for teen' rating all of a sudden. kind of a bummer in that respect.

not sure about the forced perspective fight against the big spider

yo when are we getting ilx .webm embedding because wow
http://i.4cdn.org/v/src/1396823666898.webm

purty

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nothing special video but the fidelity was hot shit

got all the way to Brightstone Cove before realising I could get to Huntsman's Copse, which I'm breezing through :-/

Huntsman's Copse, home to the most deceptively simple-looking boss battle in the game. Take down these three fragile Skeleton Lords, you say? No problem! Grrr...

hah that is to follow, currently waling on thieves and those ogres with scythes

I did the same, missed that whole route and by the time I got there I was destroying everything in my path including the Skeleton Lords with their pals. Now at the Crypt, this must be near the end?!?

Those fucking wheel skeletons are the worst enemies in the whole Souls series. I hate those fuckers SO. MUCH.

they're okay if you have a good shield, at least in DS1. I'm a caster in DS2, so they could prove interesting.

I've got a 100% shield but they always seem to manage to roll up behind me.

Take down these three fragile Skeleton Lords, you say? No problem! Grrr...

apparently the smaller skeletons only spawn when you destroy one of the three, with a different type for each one? so it should be a lot easier to take down one skeleton lord and clear out the minions before moving on to the next one.

i just got through the crypt (although i'll have to come back for a certain boss fight), i know this is the endgame but i have no idea how much is actually left.

yeah get all the skel lords low and then kill one by one after defeating each wave of small dudes. the middle one spawns the wheelies.

Fuck. Wish I'd known that before I defeated the Skeleton Lords in both NG and NG+!

i had co-op twice last night with a very polite phantom last night who faith-healed the host even after the boss battle was over, nice touch. :)

nailed those mofo Skeleton Lords, and kicked the Jabba the Hutt guy's tail for good measure

what's the deal with the belfry luna? do i still get invaded when i'm wearing the covenant's ring?

yup

yep

gotcha. when i initially went in there, i thought the little blue guy was my invader and then i saw the actual invader. i was fucking around wasting time by chasing him around a hole before finally starting to beat on him.. got him down to 1/3 health then all of a sudden another phantom invaded and i just kept getting sniped from a distance /:

there should be a ring that lets you invade in miniature size

ring of diminutive aggravation

ng+ immediately killed me. jesus christ

not sure if i have what it takes for ng+, although i really want to respec and try dex + pyromancy. this darkdrift invisible katana needs to be put to use.

i really liked aldia's keep, even if the boss was easy.

i loved that view right before the boss there

yeah that was a nice moment. i think that boss was the first one i beat without dying once, solo at least.

i love how you see those stone pillars extending waaaaay up into the sky, and then you end up taking the elevator up so high that they're off in the distance below.

the lighting in here is really cool too

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/NQ77XCGotlg/maxresdefault.jpg

mastodon raver pants

marshmallow roasting chime!

finally beat the last boss. must have attempted it about 20 times yesterday getting more and more frustrated, wake up this morning and destroy it at the first attempt like it's no big deal. i enjoyed the game overall but it really felt like DS 1.5, a remix/refinement of the first game but without bringing anything new to the table. I should try and play a magic build at some point, have heard that they can be really overpowered after the initial hump though?

lol glitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kGMu0A-64I

xp I'm enjoying playing a magic build, though I've yet to find any awesome wizard threads so am going around dressed in crappy knight's armour. Doesn't quite have the same cache!

lol.

i finished the game over the weekend too. all of the endgame areas are really great, if short. i eventually caved on the last boss and summoned help, but the penultimate fight against vendrick took many tries and felt appropriately satisfying.

started ng+ with a dex/pyro build to try out all those cool katanas but i'm having a really hard time changing my play style. at the same time it seems boring to go through the game again with the same character, so i think it's time to step away for awhile and make some records instead of playing Souls in my free time.

also i was dumb and accidentally let navlaan out of his cell, and his repeated invasions sure made a few parts way harder than they would have been otherwise.

at the same time it seems boring to go through the game again with the same character

thats why soul vessel is cool, keep the character but change the stats for a new build

that's what i did but i suck with my new build. :(

my old build was strength-based, great shield/claymore/a little bit of magic for range. did basically the same thing in DS1 so it's super ingrained.

oh i see. dex is more dodge-rolling rather than tanking hits. i got pretty good at dodging in ds1 but this game has seems to have some wacky hitboxes. half the time i'm wondering how something that visibly missed me is still taking off health. maybe the in-game enemies have lag now instead of just pvp phantoms connecting thru dialup in lithuania

beat three bosses last night, feelin like a badass. got invaded 2 times in the belfry luna and vanquished them then decided to just check out the boss, fully intending on dying. after killing the first two gargoyles, i started to think "hey i think i can do this!!" and beat them on my first try

fine work

therefore fine work