Farron’s Keep is a videogame-ass area. You literally do three things which appear unrelated to gain access to the boss! It’s like a Zelda dungeon.
And the decoration on the pillars make no sense. Why are there sculptures in bas-relief of the Four Lords? I can understand if Artorias is at play, because of where we are, but what point beyond callback is there to remind us of the Four Kings, the Witch of Izalith, and Neato, Lord of Death?
Ah, Farron Keep. Probably my favorite dedicated swamp area in the series. It’s pretty handholdy (fire guides you to towers 1, 2, and 3 in order, but forces you a bit out of your comfort zone for the last one) and doesn’t slow you down unless you go off the beaten path. These deep areas are telegraphed with the leaves or whatever it is on top of the swamp. I also love that there’s quite a few secrets/optional bits to the swamp which I’m sure we’re gonna see.
I’m also the guy who liked the Valley of Defilement and Blighttown, by the way.
Blighttown was a fine area. Thematically appropriate, a good mix of frustration and relief (like finding the Spider Shield in the beginning), a fantastic boss fight, and there’s an elevator powered by a dog on a treadmill. And if you don’t want to go through the worst part, there’s a way around it with the Master Key.
The worst part was the framedrop from having to render such a large area all at once.
The best part of Farron Keep is not the wall area with the Stray Demon, but it’s not far off.
E: I like how From split Blighttown into two areas in the sequels: DSII got the ramshackle vertical town, and DSIII got the poison pools at the bottom of the world.
Well, that’s an ominous title, isn’t it? I hope it doesn’t foreshadow anything that’s about to happen…
In this video, we discuss joining a biker gang and then later a metal band, Lobo makes a joke that he should be banned for, and I show off a game feature that involves involuntarily going back to the last bonfire I rested at.
We also may have solved the lore reason for why almost no characters in the Dark Souls universe move their mouths when they speak.
Side Note: Did you know that in The Lord of The Rings, Rohan was neither a man nor was it a horse? I know, right! Who knew?
This is it. This is the episode where everyone collectively loses their minds, including me. We’re off to a party in the catacombs and all of my least favorite bony friends got invited.
There’s one thing in this episode that requires a tiny amount of explaining: the Lord of the Rings is dumb and me not knowing anything is clearly not the problem…
Anyway, in between recording this and the last episode, we got to talking about LotR, and Rohan came up (because it was mentioned in Farron Keep) and, not knowing what that was, I looked it up and saw a picture of a horse on a flag, so I jumped to a clearly reasonable and not stupid assumption that Rohan was the horse and not… you know, a country.
Either way, much like getting parried by enemies with no head and one arm, this flag is now the bane of my existence:
(How did I manage to get stuck with two people who both know a lot about LotR???)
I love the Bone Zone a lot. The bone katamari controlled by a guy in a hat, the boss, the skeletonness: everything is just great. It’s lore-inscrutable, and largely unconnected to anything else, but as a oneoff it’s alright.
There are way too many skeletons in a place that’s supposed to be filled with… okay, you know what, it’s still too many!
And if you give me a few months, I can write up my 40-page manifesto on why a giant worm in a lake is really one of the most famous Dark Souls characters out there.
The worm is actually Old Man McLoyf, the most important character in Souls lore. In fact, every character is secretly Old Man McLoyf. If you don’t know who he is you are not a true souls fan. Get outta here. Tch… fucking peasants.
The Demon Ruins is a strange place full of monstrous figures doing the strangest things when no one is looking. Let’s not spend too long here or we might see… something… that we’ll forever regret.
Venture Capitalists, hit me up for more ideas on new dating apps for young ghrus; I’m sure it’s an untapped gold mine!!
Let’s go to the Old Folks Demon Home and put down the grandpa who’s been causing trouble. Then we’re off to the beginning of the next area. And then we’re going to help out some people. Yup. That’s what it is. “Help.”
It’s time to check out Irithyll, one of the best areas in the game! I trade out Lobo for a new commentator, but he’ll be back… eventually. Anyway, we’re going to explore a majority of the Boreal Valley’s most impressive city, even if its inhabitants aren’t too friendly (to the shock of absolutely no one).
Always good to see another DS2 liker, I told you there were more of us!
DS3 is very good at setting up and using jump scares, I know at least one critic (Chris Franklin/Campster) likened the game to a haunted house because of how effective the game is at creating those moments. The series has always been good at using jump scares, but I think it wasn’t until Bloodborne that it really doubled down on them, and that has definitely carried forward into DS3.