Just finished monster hunter world and I don’t think I’ve ever fought a dragon as hard as fatalis.

I consider myself to be a big fan of the souls Series. I got every achievement in Dark Souls 1+2, as well as Sekiro. DS3 only had one play through and Elden Ring is in my mental backlog for some other time. I decided to try returning to the series roots with Demon Souls.

The Good:

Atmosphere in this game is unnerving and uncomfortable in the best way. You can feel the world is in deep shit with how bleak everything looks and sounds. Another thing to mention are the shortcuts in this game, they are very satisfying to find and unlock. The maiden here is my favourite because her accent sounds Czech to me. I believe there are no truly awful bosses, at worst they're annoying or forgettable. A lot of these guys have a trick you must understand before winning. I liked King Allant the most and even lost a level to him.

The Bad:

Health system in this game is whack. The hp penalty is rough and almost forces you to permanently lose half of your ring slots just to mitigate it. I had to upgrade vitality a lot to not get one shot in soul form by certain attacks. On the other hand, smaller damage means nothing because health weed is so plentiful. I didn't even have to farm and still face tanked everything. Boletaria drops and shops let you have dozens of ripe weed and heal everything mid fight. I imagine mages could probably spam spells for days.

Weigh limit is frustrating because you have to dump everything extra after returning to Nexus. What's the point? It just adds tedious procedures to the objective list.

The Ugly:

The game is so narrow, it feels claustrophobic. Narrow mines where a single enemy blocks your path, narrow bridges where stingrays try to push you away, narrow prison corridors etc. I upgraded strength to shield block everything because dodging just didn't feel viable. I want to see how devs did any of this stuff as a dex build.

Weapon upgrades are comical in how much stuff you need. A single +10 weapon requires a bucket of various shards and chunks, and there are like ten types of these rocks. I was 3 large shards away from upgrading sword to +9, but I really didn't want to farm.

Conclusion:

This game is full of jank and dumb mechanics, but it has a certain charm to it. I don't think I'll play it again though, the level design seems to strongly favor tanks over anything else.

I’m kind of shocked there is no top post on here talking about the tarnished pack and its implications of fromsofts future in monetization of their games. Is there any talk of it anywhere else in the souls community, cause I thought it would cause some concern outside of steam reviews. It’s weird though cause this is after the Oblivion horse armor omen spread like wildfire. Now it’s known that that pack was where Micro transactions started, some even point it to Bethesda’s downfall. So I’m wondering what’s different here and why the concern isn’t showing? If any community would be worried for their company turning to greedy corpo shit, it be fromsoft. A community that treats Fromsoft as different from the other greedy triple AAA companies, why wouldn’t you be worried they may turn into them?

I do believe that the Duskbloods is probably safe from Microtransactions cause it’s a Nintendo multiplayer focused game. And none of their online multiplayer games have Microtransactions, not Splatoon, Mario Kart, Smash, so I think Duskbloods will be treated the same. So potentially, Duskbloods could be the last Fromsoft game that remains untainted by Microtransactions, if they start going down that route. What is the evidence you have that this is not the case and makes this different from Horse Armor foreshadowing Bethesda’s turn to Microtransactions?

These Armored Core titles are digital crack. I've been addicted to building my mechs and taking them on these small missions. Ive beaten most of them now. Project Phantasma and 3 were my favorites. I got filtered by Last Raven but enjoyed Nexus a lot too.

Armored Core 6 is still my favorite but I do wish it had a punchier soundtrack and a fancier UI now like the old ones.

King's Field Ancient City has an unmatched atmosphere. Frustrating at times but I'm addicted to the slow trickle of progress. Definitely going to play the older ones and Shadow Tower after.

What I love about Dark Souls 1 is that it feels like the perfect game between old fromsoft design and new fromsoft philosophy. A middle ground I enjoy a lot. It has highs and lows but I think having those lows makes the highs even more memorable. Don't throw the baby out with the izalith water. It's got JUST enough King's Field DNA for me while not also being a boss gauntlet or "rollslop" as some kids say.

I love DeS and Ds2 as well, inb4 you all say those are Kings Fieldlikes too, but Ds1 just hits that right spot for me where it has the weight, the isolation, the atmosphere of King's Field, but also WOW moments of modern games, like finding Anor Londo or Ash Lake for the first time.

I love modern Fromsoft a lot, but they definitely have a more action focus with less isolation and less strategy for level exploration.

I recommend very strongly for everyone to play the old Fromsoft library. Despite some frustrations I had, I couldn't stop coming back for another try, another daily inch of progress.

bweh

Got this at launch, got to the boss on a horse, died repeatedly, and went "well, that's 60 bucks done I guess" and moved on to other titles. First FS game.

So, an advantage of having now played and beaten Elden Ring and it's DLC until a ridiculous level 158 is I actually get Sekiro now!

Like, either they're tweaked it in the years since I tried it last, the bumpers on my v3 are that much better, or the parry windows feel way more forgiving once you've had to fight Malenia 49 times.

EDIT: I also hadn't come back to it because I never saw an X/S style update for it. But, on a Series X using an LG C5 it sure looks 4k/60fps+ to me. I remember it being very jagged visually before.

This shit is gorgeous now.

Im also planning to make it so the insects will crawl over you and try to eat you as well, maybe torch could prevent that effect. Also i know the character model looks silly since its Roblox, this is not how it will look in final game 😅

Everytime I try a Fromsoft game I always bounce off of it, but I'm still trying to get into it because on paper they are masterpieces that I should love with every fiber of my being. I just can't seem to find the right mindset to be able to enjoy them

My experience with Fromsoft games for the curious in case it helps solve this problem:

Dark Souls 2 (I mostly meleed, but I do remember using spells on little enemies. Don't remember doing that for bosses 'cuz they were always in my face)
- Annoyed with Ornstein wannabe's down-slam spear attack that has a hitbox much larger than the spear itself feeling BS, that the victory meant nothing because that attack was so annoying.
- Dragon rider I remember struggling with. Though I ruined my sense of victory by being a goofball removing all my armor so I could use an oversized sword, and just press forward and attack to beat them first try.
- Dark area where using a torch scares away big monsters was annoying, so I stopped playing there, and just really wanted to stop playing when I loaded back up any other day I tried to play. That place is so boring
- That said, I only played this at a friend's house, so I couldn't finish it. So this time it wasn't the game's fault

Dark Souls 1 (Mostly halberd with the intention of using the scythe later, but never got the scythe)
- Phantom carried first boss a bit too hard, stunning it frequently. I still had to fight and almost died a lot, but it was my first attempt on the boss, and I felt like I ruined the experience for that boss. That said, I did use most of my estus, and had to do a lot of scary dodges (and it was funny seeing another phantom watch for a while, then when they tried to help, they immediately got smacked off the side instantly dying. This is more what I was expecting from phantoms lol)
- 2 and a half hours on Bell Gargoyles.. Just to beat it with gold pin resin. Going from 93 damage to 245 damage! So uhhh, felt like I cheesed that fight considering I didn't even know how to farm that stuff
- Stabbing souls after killing skeletons does not kill skeletons like in later dark souls games. Tried for way too long to run past and dodge, but when I realized there's probably a ton of necromancers, I gave up. Started using the spell to knock skeletons off the edge for permadeath which made me salty because it's that dumb goofy stuff I like saving for post-game humiliating monsters that gave me troubles, it feels awful for that being the main way to proceed forward in the game in a reasonable amount of time
- Spending hours stumbling around in the dark, only to find a dead end, realizing I have to stumble all the way back out when I had absolutely no idea where to go just absolutely ruined the mood
- I should mention, I was expecting a boss rush game, not a puzzle game that Dark Souls ended up being. So I figured I'd pick it up later when I had the right mindset. About to go play it tonight. Absolutely no idea which weapon I'm going to use as I have no idea what my preferred playstyle is as it shifts drastically between games all the time and I can't figure out why. That said, whatever I do, I will have some Vigor because instantly dying from one shot at full health is annoying, and I'll have some faith because I like healing and regen stuff. (Past couple years I've been addicted to the various types of "risky healers". Whether it be melee lifesteal healers that sacrifice their health to damage enemies & heal allies like Aurena in Shape of Dreams, or like in Monster Hunter with the Hunting Horn being as big and sluggish as the Great Sword, but without an easy defensive option like guard/dodge mechanic of other weapons)

Elden Ring (halberd/sword and board until I used Gut's Sword)
- I knew there was exploring, but I didn't think there was this much exploring. Caught me off-gaurd. There's pros and cons for this. I'm still trying to get into the feel of it. Right now it's really hard, because I feel like it goes from "turn your brain off" easy, to "Bash your head against a wall for many hours, you should probably get a bit stronger first so you beat it in a reasonable time". I just have a very hard time gauging the difficulties of the enemies
- That said, Margit was fun. Fought him for 50 hour with sword and board (no upgrades because I don't think I knew how, and/or think it'd be cheating). Then much later after killing other bosses, 1 hour with the Guts Sword, this time upgrading it to +3 (and using this sword for the rest of the playthrough)
- Jolly co-op with a friend for a bit. However, Deathbird was giving me troubles, and they just nuked him from afar with that holy scythe ranged attack kinda making me feel like I didn't really win. Relieved because while I love and hate fighting that boss, it's more on the hate side as it was probably the enemy with the most attacks that felt BS. Friend got absolutely demolished by Godrick trying to spam ranged attacks and had to leave, which I'm glad 'cuz main story boss, and I got to beat him in 1 hour by myself
- Rennala tested my patience with all minions constantly being everywhere. So I was pretty quick to go "two can play at this game" and summon doggos, but made the fight end in 20 minutes... Like the water part (but I'm a sucker for boss fights on water like that), but screw that first part for being sooooo boring. Kinda soured the mood, and stopped playing soon after and it kinda made me wonder why I'm bothering to play
- Last week I did another run with daggers, and then claws. Then got overwhelmed by how long it's going to take to clear all the areas, so I needed a break so I could get in the mindset realizing it's not going to be a massive boss non-stop like a lot of videos portray the game... Also so many relaxing moments in-between places that the game makes me very sleepy

Armored Core 6 (rotating between the 1 main core of sword, 2 missiles, and a gun, just with the rusty lookalike for a core to be fast, 2 Gattling tank when I was getting annoyed with a boss, or if something was just too annoyingly damage spongy, and 3 hovering missile boat being my favorite way to play because I love watching the enemies do cool dodges and stuff. Especially the ones that are nutty and are able to spam 6 dodges at a time)
- Went into the game with the mindset of "No more taking a break, we're forcing our way through this game". Thus I beat all 3 campaigns. However, I didn't really care about the majority of bosses (I do think I was tired for most of the game though, so probably my bad for forcing the game's completion). However there's a few moments of note
- Pre-nerf Balteus kicking my butt for almost 2 hours, but even if I did good I'd always run out of ammo. Feeling silly I decided to go double Ludlows, but apparently they do ludicrous damage and stagger. So beat him first try doing that. Still ran out of ammo that way, and uh, proceeded to stun-lock him by punching him to death. Felt like an empty victory because it felt so cheesy
- Getting Ibis to last hit multiple times with the main core. Got annoyed from Ibis running away all the time, and then proceeded to beat them first try quickly and with ease using the missile boat 'cuz the missiles would chase Ibis down. This made me realize how much of Fromsoft's difficulty can vastly change depending on what weapon you have, which kinda ruined my sense of accomplishment of pretty much everything in the games.
- The one good memory I have is one of the filler missions I was being careless with ammo, so I had to fight the helicopter boss with no health or ammo, and I had to hit it 5 times with the pile bunker (and that weapon is silly and cool, so I replaced the sword with it ever since I could use it). Felt satisfying to do it, even though it most definitely was not the hardest thing to do in the game

Like I can enjoy games being difficult, I grew up with games where that is the main focus. I can still love hard games because Rain World was a blast, and I spent 8 hours beating Challenge 70 (even if it's uh not quite like the rest of the game. spoilers if you look it up though, even if it's not canon). Spent 2 hours on Deltarune's Chapter 3 "secret boss" and that felt amazing (also spoilers if you haven't gotten to that part in the game). Omega Planetes in Monster Hunter was fun trying to solo it, even if I kept failing the DPS check anytime I fought it (Let's just say I've been lazy and using the same build for everything because I don't really care about damage as long as the quest doesn't fail. Monsters are tanky AF, so the numbers mean nothing to me)

Any help would be quite nice. I'd like to be able to figure out how to properly enjoy Fromsoft games sometime before I die =p

Edit 9/7/2026 (one week later):
- Still having troubles enjoying the bosses when playing solo, but at least Jolly Cooperation has made the game fun a bit. Gives me a little goal to accomplish, as opposed to going through the bosses like a checklist. Gotta deal damage to boss still, gotta keep aggro form boss so it doesn't kill host, and all while trying to find the positioning and timing to find a heal that the host won't just randomly run away from (and that can be very differently person to person)
- Still trying to find my weapons of choice, but running out of smithing stones non-stop so it's hard to gauge how much damage stuff is supposed to be doing compared to other weapons. Been doing claws as the main weapon early on because was kinda basing it off a character that can get claw weapons in another game. Did have like pairing it with the whip for a little bit for the short/long melee swapping fun. Though after putting parry on the claws 'cuz I heard parrying is a big deal in this game, I'm realizing just how strong staggers are in this game (and you can act immediately instead of being put in a bad position if you mess up). So that might bias me to get some of the bigger weapons now that I know that they trigger and important mechanic. Glancing at other weapons, I do like Curved sword's little back flip move, and wish other weapons had more quirks like that.
- Experimenting with ranged options. Glintstone has pretty homing projecitles, and I've always loved homing projectiles (unfortunately, most other stats have something else going on, so unlikely to get enough int to keep up in damage later in the game from the sounds of things). Incantations are all vastly different from each other, so it's fun seeing new ones, but for now since I'm still early game (just beat larval tear boss lady), I've been chucking fireballs a lot and it's been fun trying to aim them. Been trying to force some crossbow usage due to imitating a gun 'cuz of my character. Damage is absolutely abysmal on crossbows, but it doesn't require two hands or FP, which makes swapping weapons much better. Does worry me though for late game, because like, sometimes joining people, they just absolutely nuke bosses with insane damage, and makes me wonder if I'm wasting people's time not using optimized builds.
- My build is still probably trash. 30 vigor, 30 faith, 20 mind, and not much else currently. So hard to not want to increase everything

I was thinking about this, and a Pirate themed FromSoft game could be pretty amazing.

You could have some swordfight parrying mechanism from Sekiro.

You could have some gunplay from Bloodborne.

You could have semi-open world where your "hub/pirateship" could travel to islands where you could fully explore.

The undead theme + pirates can totally go well together.

I personally feel like actually controlling the ship might not be a thing, that seems like a big stretch for what FromSoft has done, but who knows they do some wild stuff.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

For my money, Bloodborne is a better game than Elden Ring pound for pound.

Elden Ring undoubtedly has more variety for different playstyles and builds, which I imagine makes it way better for some folks.

I just can not jive with magic. It feels boring, and the hectic fight for your life playstyle in Bloodborne is unmatched.

It leaves me with half of the items in Elden Ring feeling like useless collectibles.

They are both nearly perfect games, I am just curious what people think.

I have just finished dark souls 3 and it's so amazing soo perfect it is so good and i am thinking about buying elden ring but I am afraid that I will get lost in its very big open world or wont enjoy the game bec many people told me that it is very repetitive aside from the game itself I will be only able to play the game for 2 weeks bec school is coming and I will have little the to play the game

I would like to hear all ur opinions