Topic: Souls-likes (& dislikes)

@psmr Completely agree with every boss in this video, the Abyss watchers literally owned me for 2 days... but then I killed pontiff first try it's crazy how these games work, I would also say Lady butterfly is another skill check, while optional I think a lot people still go through the flash back sequence first and get humbled by her 😅 I also want to add Honglan from Wuchang to the list, if you know you know...

@Oram77 yeah I think he made some good calls there, particularly Genichiro at number 1. I’m yet to play Wuchang, so unfortunately… I don’t know 😁

@Oram77 @psmr I think I beat the Abyss watchers on something like my third attempt. From memory I really struggled with is Blood Starved Beast, Owl Father and The Nameless King. I'm getting twitchy just thinking about them!

@JohnnyShoulder Blood Starved Beast murdered me all afternoon until finally something clicked and I entered the zone, things went well after that. I definitely found Bloodborne harder than most Fromsoft games, I say most but that old lady in Sekiro meant I quit the game. Elden Ring I loved and Demon's Souls PS3 might be my favorite Fromsoft game, I should try to finish the PS5 version eventually. Elden Ring was pretty amazing too, I can't wait to hear what TheSolution thinks of it. I'd love to play it again for the first time. I think originally I was so overwhelmed in such a good way, it was one 'wow' after another for days. I don't know of Souls-likes mean you can farm to get stronger, if so and if enemies respawn then that would make me more likely to try one. I've watched someone on Youtube called Iron Pineapple, he plays a lot of Souls-likes, mostly PC. I noticed he played Mortal Shell 2, too.

@JohnnyShoulder it’s always been one of my favourite aspects of souls-likes how different players have completely different experiences in terms of difficulty between the various bosses. For example I seem to remember having no issue at all with the Blood Starved Beast (maybe even beat him on my first go… if not the second) but I had a tough time with the Abyss Watchers and recall taking them on again and again before eventually edging by.

In terms of this video, I think the skill-check in question refers to an early-ish boss that are obligatory, I’m assuming he is looking at bosses that appear before halfway of not earlier. So while Owl Father and Nameless King are for sure difficult bosses, they’re optional and endgame.

I did add all my most difficult souls-like bosses per game earlier in this thread and from memory, I know I included Owl Father as either my most difficult or there or thereabouts. One of my favourite boss fights ever too.

Sword saint Isshin, promised consort radahn, Malenia and myabe Orphan of Kos will be never be topped for me for either bruatilty or enjoyment factor.

@Oram77 my favourite boss fight is probably Ludwig the Accursed. Not necessarily the most difficult (though he did cause me problems) but I just loved everything about it. I’d used his Holy Blade for most of my playthrough, so it was nice to then come face-to-face with him… but also, it was the music, the setting, the storytelling. Still hits me thinking about it.

@psmr I think the Old Hunters is one of the greatest pieces of DLC ever made that's including the living failures 😅

@Oram77 agreed, it’s incredible. I don’t ordinal play dlc, as I don’t really have the time what with my backlog… as well as dlc generally being endgame content and the skills never for it have long since waned. Luckily it had already released when I last played Bloodborne so I had no excuses. All From Software dlc is elite though, The Ringed City is right up there too.

@GirlVersusGame Elden Ring is a magical game for me. Spent over 600 hours completing the main game + DLC.

Bloodborne was my first one when it clicked for me, as I rage quit on Darks Souls when I first played it and didn't play the second game till later on, after Darks Souls 3. Never completed Bloodborne though as never beat the penultimate boss in the main game (the one before Moon Presence) or Orphan of Kos for the dlc. Still a fantastic game though. Looking forward for the PS6 version, if that ever happens.

@Oram77 @psmr I stand corrected, the Abyss watchers took me a fair few goes to beat. I think i was getting them confused with one of the bosses from Dark Souls. Three Kings maybe?

In terms of skill checked, yep Lady Butterfly I could only beat way later in the game. Not sure if this counts as it DLC, but Lady Maria in Old Hunters really spanked me.

@JohnnyShoulder I actually had some issues with the three kings… maybe because I was dealing with an extra king 😉

@psmr You could say there wasn't enough insight to see the fourth king 👀

@Oram77 I understand that reference 🫡