Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

I’m finding myself with a little extra free time than usual so i decided to finally reply to this Comment after having it on the back burner for nearly a week. While I don’t remember all the points I’ve wanted to make, I can at least still convey the main ideas I’ve had.

Yes, I’m well aware of the discourse surround the DLC’s difficulty and it rekindled some old opinions and reaffirmed my stance on the discourse.

FromSoft has a much longer history of self-borrowing than people realize. Every game influences future fromsoft in ways that aren’t immediately noticeable. So there’s actually a bit of moot point saying FS should borrow from BB or Sekiro as they’re likely to do that regardless, be it deliberately, subconsciously or a mix of both. We also must evaluate the fact that FromSoft is a game dev with a large history of experimentation and a ton of experience. While they may be bold enough to keep trying new stuff, that doesn’t necessarily equate to not learning from their mistakes. No one knows these games better than FS. they likely already considered so many ideas we have about taking inspiration from BB/Sekiro or taking no inspiration at all and decided at the best judgment what works and doesn’t work. We can’t definitively affirm what would work based purely on a hypothesis as we lack the means to try these ideas in action but FS doesn’t and I doubt they never think about this stuff. If they did, they’d commit to it however they see fit.

It’s important to remember difficulty plateauing also does not equate to a game design plateau. FS reaching a threshold of difficulty surprisingly means very little in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean they reached their full potential as devs as they still got a lot left in the tank. Not to mention, it’s likely a positive sign that FS may stop trying to “out-do” themselves. I can speak from firsthand experience how perfectionism will inevitably halt your progress and you’ll never improve. It’s better to have something good you’re not 100% satisfied with than to have something you won’t release because you’re only 95% content with it.

But on a completely personal note here, I’m not really a fan of FS necessarily borrowing from their non-Dark Souls games as I frankly don’t see it as necessary. DS-trilogy+elden ring has not truly reached its potential and there’s still a lot of stuff to mix and match and explore. Borrowing mechanics does not translate to a better experience and as such I don’t strictly subscribe to the BB/Sekiro should influence DS more.

My last and final point about my personal preference against is this is my core enjoyment of souls games comes from character building and exploration, NOT combat. I was less engaged by FS’s modern non-DS outings because of that. I also generally seek more methodical and slower combat in general, which is why you’re more likely to see me rave about Ape Escape instead of Devil May Cry.

-All the best

Also thank you for linking this. I’ll take a look and drop a word there when I have the time. Might need to vent off stuff.

@Jimmer-jammer Wrapped up Shadow of the Erdtree yet? How's film work going? What did you think of the dlc if you did complete it, and I'd be interested if you had to summon for the notorious final boss as well? @Th3solution How-are your multiple game playthroughs going, my friend?

@Yousef- I appreciate the answer/sharing of knowledge you gave regarding FromSoft's 'threshold of difficulty' very insightful and informative, I keep saying 'This will be my last FromSoft game ever' once i complete one, but, you know, it's like Marlon Brando said in 'On the Waterfront' "I used to be a contendah, i try to get out, but they keep pulling me back in!"🤣

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN too true! It’s really addicting! Especially when you count things like new areas/armor/weapons as reward (to backtrack to my previous point, that’s somewhat what harmed the feedback loop for me in non-dark-souls games.)

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Hey! Haven’t wrapped up Erdtree yet but all signs telegraph that I am nearing the end. Just vanquished a couple of particularly pesky bosses, in fact. Despite not finishing it yet, I can confidently say that it has been an amazing slice of DLC. It’s not a stretch to say it’s basically its own game and even by From Software’s own lofty standards, its level design is, well, next level!

Film stuff is going well, even when it’s hard to see it as anything but an absolute hustle. Good thing I love that hustle 😄

How are you? How have you been making out with Resident Evil 2? Sorry if you’ve mentioned it before but who are you playing as?

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN also, another thing I’d like to add to my “unknown behind the scenes” point is that since we do a ton of speculation over why devs do the things they do, I ultimately believe it is equally valuable to consider why don’t do the things they avoid. This is something that comes up in other mediums, pro wrestling comes to mind. There’s a wrestler called Jinder Mahal who back in 2017, was called out by fans for alleged “laziness” however recently in an interview it came out that not only was he always a workhorse, he quite literally worked his arse to the point of borderline depression. What’s worse, he always had his hands tied behind his back with many of his pitches being rejected by management meaning that he was much more proactive than his public outing would suggest, but circumstance worked against him.

This way of thinking of giving devs extra benefit of the doubt is often taken for granted, and gamers feel comfortable being critical in their hypothesis (and eventually believing their own truths as reality) rather than trying to maintain neutrality and flexibility. It’s way too easy to get too comfortable filling the gaps, especially when game devs are literally not allowed to reveal behind the scene stuff unless through PR or through leaks such as GTA V’s leaked sours code (though this comment is getting a little too tanget-y so I’ll stop here)

@Jimmer-jammer I've done most of the RPD building so far, got two of the items required for the main puzzle in that area, I'm sure ,as an og RE Fan, you know what I mean by that! but I'm playing as Leon and as I was saying to Sol, I have been utilising the sub-machine gun with infinite ammo that I got as part of an extra dlc pack that I bought alongside the game, and am playing on Assisted mode - any way I can get op in a game - I will do it!, but there aren't infinite healing items available as part of the dlc pack,

so there is still some level of challenge involved when the zombies are right up in your grill and may bite you before you can create some distance to submachine gun them down! How did you find your experience of the game? And glad to hear you're making swift progress through SOTE, let me know how you get on with that final beast of a boss, man!

Edit: Also, what build are you rocking?

Hello everyone. I’ve not made a gaming update in a few days so time for a general currently playing update.

Funny thing, this won’t be an analysis, review, guide, breakdown, critique, overview or detailed, long, meticulously crafted, excruciatingly detailed essay…. No, just a casual nonchalant talk of some stuff I’m playing, I know, crazy right? But yes, I figured even people like me occasionally need to speak like normal humans once in a while so here’s my two games that in currently playing

One finished, the other I’m finishing.

I finished Ape Escape 3, great game. Highly recommended! (….yeah, that’s all I have to say. Blame my sleep deprivation xD)

Currently playing; God of War 1, Also a great game! (…yes, I’m starting to get creeped out even by my own casualness. I’ll start working on the extensive dynasty warriors guide for @Th3solution to feel calmer)

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Doing well, buddy. Juggling a lot of things in the non-gaming real world also. Maybe that’s why lately I have been playing multiple games concurrently — it mimics my real life! 🤔

My game time has been limited and comes in unpredictably. I thought I would get a few long sessions last week like I often will and that’s when I really make progress, but instead it was short bursts here and there. So it was basically enough to do two or three farming runs in DS2 and then save and exit. So I’ve really become overleveled to the extreme due to my want for not pushing my playthrough too far when my time is short. I’m weird about my games and when I shut down a game for the day I always try to make it be at a place that’s easy to pick up from next time (so in the case of Souls games, at a bonfire for example or after a boss), so when I just have 30-60 minutes of play time it means I just do a quick predictable loop where I know how long it will take.

Some of that habit with Souls games may relate to the fact that I played through the majority of Bloodborne (my first of the genre) thinking that the game only allowed you to save at a lantern. 😓 Finally someone told me that it saves where you are anytime when you exit and it was a surprise. FromSoft games aren’t that good at telling the player some of these things.

Anyway, I am having a good time and expect that I’ll have a more productive weekend coming up. I’m grateful for gaming as a good release though! The world is a crazy place nowadays!

@Yousef- No pressure or expectations. If it’s therapeutic to continue your Musou dissertation, then by all means, proceed. Otherwise I’ll just continue to ignore the whole Musou genre. 😛

@Th3solution oh yeah sorry about the random ping also. Funny thing i was gonna probably do another ping in the themes thread, mainly ranting about Josef again but I was getting lazy.

On a side note, I’ve outlined the script for the guide yes, I’m making this sound like it’s some movir and yes, I script my comments, problem? Jokes aside I look forward to getting back home. It’s shocking that the only time I leave short messages is when I’m temporally forced since I’m on the move. Bye bye.

@Th3solution Yeah totally, about the world being a crazy place, I mean I've heard about what's been happenning in your particular part of the globe recently and apparently that's got everybody talking! I am the same about FromSoft games, I will normally only save at a bonfire, lantern or achstone, or, when I eventually play Elden Ring properly, a site of grace after either a farming session or right before or after a boss, depending on which game it is and how generous they are with save points.

@Yousef- 😄 Not a problem. Drop a ping anytime. I’m genuinely curious about Musou’s but also don’t want you to feel pressured to go out of your way.

And feel free to ‘mean girl mode’ it up again over there about the good Mr Josef 😅. I’m curious. He’s not kin to me or anything so I won’t take offense.

But most importantly, take care of yourself and get your move handled. Sounds like it’s a lot. Push Square isn’t going anywhere.

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Games that I know I might be away from for a while I really try to make my save at the end of a chapter or at a natural breakpoint. Even with that, I’ve been known to go back to something and be totally lost as to what I was supposed to be doing. 😅

As far as the goings-on in the States, I don’t even know what to say. I sometimes feel like I’m living in a mockumentary.

@Th3solution I'm teetering on the edge of being a prepper at this point. This country is cooked, and no matter how things go this year, we'll always be one bad election away from authoritarianism now.

@Th3solution after eating my shawarma and driving my way back home I will hit you back with the josef attack, promise 💪
My pops asked me to bring him some groceries so that’s why I’m outside often (which is great cuz staying at home worsens my social anxiety, ironically enough. Also I love that I can say as many unrelated thighs as possible in this thread. POWER)
Funny you mention the kin thing, you might say josef being an arab descent and indirectly representing my people is why I feel extra harsh towards him

@Ralizah It’s troubling when real life is stranger than fiction.
I think I like the prepper idea. Maybe I’ll go stock up on canned beans and bottled water this weekend.

@Th3solution This decade sucks, man. Some of the real life headlines coming out of this country would have looked far-fetched in political satire. Go back in time, write a novel about Donald Trump's fascist cult and the Heritage Foundation openly plotting to dismantle the U.S. government, and people would've said it's too stupid to even be enjoyed as dark comedy.

Having an emergency supply to fall back on is always a good idea. Nobody knows when the next emergency situation is going to be until it's too late. Recall 2020 and toilet paper shortages, lol. Rice is also a good thing to stock up on.

By the way, this is a bit late, but I don't think I ever thanked you for reaching out to RogerRoger and updating us on him. So thank you.

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Sounds like your play through is going swimmingly then, nice work! Yeah, I really enjoyed the remake. Enough to play through it twice, anyway.

I usually play these games as kind of a battle-mage type character 🤷‍♂️ but I have a sword that scales with arcane and deals massive blood damage so I suppose I'm rocking a blood build. I also recently finished Planet of Lana, which was lovely. Cheers!