Topic: Souls-likes (& dislikes)

Agreed… and that really is the ultimate compliment for the game imo.

@graymamba The world design continues on the same path.

Have you seen the connections to the first game? I didn't play much of it so that went all over head.

My only grumbles with the game is I thought the enemy variety was lacking, and most of the bosses were quite easy. There is one late mini boss which reminded me of the Capra Demon from Dark Souls. The area was tiny and it spams a lot of aoe/ranged attacks. Only one I had to buddy up with a random to get help with.

I love being able to pull enemies souls from them. That never got old.

A little bit. From what I can tell, they’ve just alluded to it very cryptically in much the same way Dark Souls alludes to the events of Gwyn, The Witch of Izalith etc. and their efforts to rekindle/replicate the first flame. It isn’t as effective as that of Dark Souls imho as it isn’t relaying as cool a series of events but is still a pretty clever way of doing it.

… and most of the bosses were quite easy.

Yes, I do think that the bosses are a little easy when compared to those of Dark Souls 3 in particular and maybe those of 2… but most of the original Dark Souls bosses are around this level of difficulty I reckon.

My main gripe so far is the side-step when locked on. I like the fact that they tried it, as it’s something which I think really elevated Bloodborne but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as effective… and sometimes just plain doesn’t work. It’s a minor quibble for what is an incredible debut from the devs.

@JohnnyShoulder
“...most of the bosses were quite easy.”
I’m liking what I’m hearing.

And yeah I like to play an archer hybrid build to pull enemies, more the better if I can poison them as well. That reminds me I must start the PS5 version of Skyrim.

Just finished Remnant 2 in my quest to free up space for GoY, really good souls-like with guns, if you'd played the first and enjoyed it, you'll enjoy this.

@CaptD I had a crossbow which I used for the majority of the game. I think I started to use magic near the end, just to mix things up a bit.

LotF drama! I’m pretty sure one of the side quests has glitched… and this side quest can only be completed during one of the three endings (Umbral - the ending I’ve been going for during this first playthrough 😱).

This means that I will either have to switch mid playthrough to a different ending (Adyr), or do an additional ng+++ (fourth) run. Obviously the former would be preferable as three playthroughs would be more than enough… but this change mid-run is bringing up its own problems (apparently there is a different side quest that would need to be done during the Adyr playthrough… and I may have already passed the point of no return to get that done).

Fortunately the game is great so an additional playthrough is not the end if the world but apparently the boss fights become significantly more difficult in ng+, so by ng+++… they could be a problem.

@graymamba Yeah I missed out on finishing a few side quests due to being linked with a specific endings and characters disapparing from the world without warning. Depending in how far you in, all I say make sure you buy all weapons and armour from the NPC's. Also stock up on consumables too. The game could with somethiing like a ball bearing system like in Elden Ring.

@JohnnyShoulder so I’ve been doing a bit of research and it seems that I’m okay to switch this playthrough to the Adyr ending and get Damarose’s side quest done… and then do the Umbral ending with the Iron Wayfarer side quest on ng+ 🤞

Bit of a result today, had a go at the Lords of the Fallen multiplayer trophies and managed to get them done (well, all bar one where i host a game, beckon a co-op partner and we beat a mainline boss together… unable to do this during this playthrough due to an npc side quest requirement). Always a bit of an anxious wait until those are out of the way. 😅

As a nice little aside, the LotF community is a very nice bunch and as much as the game itself feels like playing a From Soft Souls game… the community feel like the communities of DeS, DS and DS2 before they really blew up in popularity. Everyone is very gracious, everyone refers to each other as fellow Lamp Bearer (a nice touch) and are willing to go out of their way to help their fellow Lamp Bearers. Can’t say enough positives about my experience this past week.

@graymamba I only buddied up the once, but it was a jolly experience. We got past the mini boss I was stuck on, and went through the next area together. My only gripe is that I missed out on a lot of exploration that I would have done if I was solo, but that is more of a general thing I have against co-op.

@JohnnyShoulder I invaded a few guys and ended up adding them to my friends list… and then traded some items with the one of them. For a few runes I got a few hundred Umbral Scouring, which is real important for the platinum as a lot of the spells, armour and weapons can only be purchased using it. So I was well happy with that.

Coming up on the end of my second LotF playthrough and the npc quest I messed up during my first run seems to be working this time 🤞. Just Bramis Castle left and hoping that I manage to get the Umbral ending this time, which will then leave the Radiant ending for playthrough 3.

Lords of the Fallen is wrapped! I’ve played a few games that I’ve really enjoyed this year but what with me being a big souls-fan, this was my favourite… and by a clear margin.

A proper plate-spinner of a platinum, with certain side activities needing to be done during specific playthroughs… and once all the side stuff and endings are done; the remaining admin is crazy. You need to collect every spell, ring, pendant, weapon and armour piece… and there are loads of ‘em. It took me hours to write out lists for each collectible type alone. Then going through my inventory and checking everything off that I had managed to compile during my three playthroughs, before farming for what was left took considerably more hours!

Really looking forward to the third Lords of the Fallen game now, which will curiously be titled Lords of the Fallen 2 🤣.

@graymamba Awesome to hear such high praise for the game. I've become really interested in Soulsbornes and Souls-likes as I'm currently playing through Hollow Knight: Silksong. I've recently lost interest in gaming but Souls-likes has reignited my passion for the medium. I feel like playing through challenging games makes me more engaged as I spend more time in the world rather than just breezing through a title and not remembering any part of it.

My last time in these subgenres was almost 10 years ago when I played through Dark Souls and Bloodborne. I feel like I have so much catching up to do. After playing through Silksong, I want to experience Demon's Souls (2020), Dark Souls 3, Sekiro and naturally, Elden Ring. Then there are the Souls-likes, like Lords of the Fallen, NiOh, Lies of P and many more. Hopefully these games manage to grab me!

@LtSarge glad to hear that you have developed an interest in the genre, it was the Dark Souls series that changed me from quite a casual gamer into a more impassioned gamer (and trophy hunter) back almost a decade ago.

You’ve listed some of the greats there in regards to what you intend to play… but please do consider adding Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin to your playlist. Even though it gets treated as the black-sheep of the series… it’s still awesome. I had a similar discussion with @Th3solution a couple of years back and I’m sure that having now played through DS2 that he would advise against you skipping it too.

@graymamba I will absolutely add it to the list, which isn't that hard for me as I do have it in my backlog.

@LtSarge @graymamba Indeed, I thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough of Dark Souls 2 last year. Although it’s heresy to admit it, I actually think it might be my favorite of the Souls games (as in, From games that actually have “Souls” in the title) but I’ve yet to play Dark Souls 3. I should be able to get that done within the next year, hopefully within the next few months.

As an aside, I still count Bloodborne as my favorite of the FromSoft games, then DS2/DS1 next (depending on my mood that day), and then Demon’s Souls fourth, although it’s still excellent.

I’m glad I was convinced not to skip DS2, because it’s a common conception that it’s not worthy of the series since it does have a few things it does differently, but to me it was still enough like the others and the new things (like enemies stopping respawning if you kill them enough times, for example) were interesting and enjoyable in their own right.

The other game of theirs that I was planning to skip but now will most definitely play is Sekiro. @graymamba @BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN and others have sold me on it. I haven’t quite decided what order to play it in, but for now it will have to be after DS3 and Elden Ring.

As far as non-From Souls-likes, I still hold the Jedi games as really solid and fun experiences. Jedi Survivor gets a slight edge as the better of the two for me, but many people prefer Fallen Order. Both are great. I’ve not done many other Souls-likes (a failed attempt at Code Vein aside) but now I definitely have Lords of the Fallen squarely on the radar, and also Lies of P.

@Th3solution I’d been trying to work out what souls-likes to play next year, as I’d shuffled my schedule a around a bit due to wanting Lies of P to be a milestone (moved it to 2027 basically). I’d completely forgot about Star Wars: Jedi Survivor for some reason, so glad that you brought it up.