Dark Souls: Progress!

I really considered talking about E3, but everything I wanted to say have been more or less picked through by everyone else already. Like Ubisoft bringing the Backstreet Boys back in Assassin's Creed: Unity (no, but really, 4 white bread males?), the never-ending Sony vs Microsoft war, and Nintendo being the best at the entire event. But, what's past is past, so I'd just like to put that behind. Been sick last week, haven't got the energy to write anything, much less play games. (And you know a gamer's really sick when they don't feel up to playing something they want to.)

Luckily, I recovered just enough to make some progress in Dark Souls.

Finally rang the first Bell of Awakening. To be honest, I was actually expecting to die over and over again at the Bell Gargoyles as I was aiming to get the Gargoyle Tail Axe. But summoning Solaire for this boss fight was definitely one of the best decisions to make in this game. Within the first 10 seconds (I swear, I didn't even have time to blink), Solaire fired up his Lightning Spear and BOOM! I got the Axe, with my mouth hanging open and my mind trying to process what just happened. Here's my character with her accidental acquisition.

The Gargoyles were pretty easy to fight, though a large part of it's because Solaire was the target dummy while I held the Drake Sword in both hands and hacked away. Thanks Solaire! On a side note, I really enjoy Solaire's cheerful disposition. [spoilers] It's quite sad to know that his bright ray of optimism will be dimmed much later in the game. But what's Dark Souls without being dark, right? [/spoilers]

So, fast forward through the Capra Demon. (Partly because I didn't take any screenshots. Ha.) That thing was a bitch to kill, what with its two dogs desperately trying to bite a chunk of your ass off. But I finally managed it after 6+ deaths by dodging its first attack, then running up and falling off the ledge to get to the dogs first. What comes after is just being familiar with its attack patterns and dodging at the right time.

Brimming with post-boss euphoria, I marched right on into the Depths, what comes before Blighttown. It's got a notorious reputation as the breaking point for a lot of players, and I'm definitely not looking forward to it. Even more so after having the Depths tripping me over and rubbing my face all over the floor. The first Butcher freaked me out, and the second took me a couple of tries to win. Then a slime lovingly smothered me when I got to a piece of loot. Then came the best part. I got Cursed.

Curse? Hahahaha. Fuck it. Fuck being cursed. And fuck the Basilisks that give you this condition. But I couldn't be bothered to hike all the way back up to the Undead Female Merchant for some Purging Stones, so I just trudged on to face the Gaping Dragon with only half my health, and not knowing what to expect from it.

Ugliness aside, I'm really impressed by how these bosses are designed. Sure, they get more and more horrifying as you progress, but you really have to appreciate how they manage to horrify you again and again. Or maybe I'm just a scaredy-cat. Who knows. But going back to where we were. The Gaping Dragon. No prizes for guessing what happened.

I see that screen in my nightmares sometimes. But I eventually learnt to take advantage of its down time after its charge attacks, and just hacked away with both hands during those windows of opportunity. Then...voila!

Truth be told, this really was one of the easier bosses. But then again, the next stop is Blighttown. So some horror on legs would probably rip my head out before I get to brag any more. And guess what? Something did. The icing on the cake? I lost the 30,000 souls earned from killing the Gaping Dragon. Haha.

Hahaha. Haha.

Ha.

Personal Post #1: About This Blog

I started up this blog as an outlet for everything I feel about video games. The games I"m currently playing, played, and am going to play. Everything: games. I don't really have anyone to talk about video games with. Sure, I have two people in my life who play games, but they're...well. Not as overly-enthusiastic about controlling a mass of pixels to wreck shit up on screen as I am. Never really felt comfortable talking to others about what I love, so...here I am.

One thing to note: I'm not very good at keeping up-to-date with news. I only know what's going on in E3 because of the hyped up fan reactions on Tumblr. (Dragon Age: Inquisition, ANYONE?!) The only news I care about are when my favourite games are releasing new installments or trailers. So, what do I fill this little blog up with, if not the news and professional reviews that all the other established gaming blogs have?

Well, I'm going to make this blog very personal. That's right. I'm going to blog about the games I'm playing, have played, and am planning to play. There will be a "live blogging" of sorts. And by "live blogging", I mean taking screenshots in games and sharing them here later. Speaking of which, here you go:

#selfiewithsolaire

I'm playing Dark Souls and Oblivion concurrently, so that I have somewhere less punishing to take solace in after a thorough ass-kicking in Dark Souls. I've put Lightning Returns on hold, as I've not much time to spend with my Xbox. But when I'm free (which will be in about 5 weeks' time) I'll go crazy on that game. But oh wait, I'm going off-track.

So, other than the "live blogging", I'll be um... writing retrospectively about games I've played previously. I won't use the word "review", because that would take a more, well, "professional" gamer who's been in the industry and knows it inside out to write. (Although many game reviews nowadays are determined by the amount of money being shoved down the reviewers' throats.) Instead, it'll be a reflection of my experience with the game, with unadulterated adoration for aspects of the game I loved, and shit talk about those that I hated. I'll be honest, and I'll be biased. It's a personal reflection, after all. But I welcome discussion about any topic. It's always nice to be able to toss around ideas with others.

Well...I'll have to end this post soon, or my eyelids will slam shut and my face plants into my keyboard. I'm planning to talk more about the games I've played during my "online gaming phase" soon, but it'll have to wait until after E3.

Oh, E3...the event that I hate and love. In that order. See you in the next post!

Memory Lane

Hm. Let's kick start this blog by looking back at the beginning...how I got into gaming. My very first experience with games was when my dad bought the original Xbox, along with two quaint little games: Zapper, and Quantum Redshift.

Zapper is a puzzle platformer featuring a cricket, whose brother (whom he used as an antennae for his TV) got kidnapped by a crow (the main villain), and now he must overcome various dangerous obstacles to be able to watch TV-I mean, get his brother back. Skillfully maneuvering around enemies and traps, timing your movement so as to not fall off the ledge, and collecting as many orbs along the way had its charm on the 8 year old me. The game was not without its flaws, but it was fun.

Quantum Redshift, a racing game, has an obviously faster pace than the puzzle platformer, and it was the first game ever to make me feel an adrenaline rush. This game captivated me more than zapper, and instilled in me a fervour that pushed me to play through all difficulties and unlock all the unlockables. There is a decent roster of racers to choose from, each with their own nemesis, and a back story is attached to each character. In hindsight, characterisation is not the strong point of this game. The racing is. It is the future, and your racing vehicles are not equipped with speed boosters, shields, and missiles to attack other racers with. That was probably what sucked me in, the ability to destroy other vehicles. If this was any run of the mill pure driving game, I'd wager I wouldn't have taken to it as much as I did.

After these 2 came my very first "mainstream" game: Halo. I loved it. I need not go through its story here, seeing how popular it is now, and probably everyone knows at least the general gist of the franchise. I played this game over and over, overcoming my fear of the Flood along the way, until I got into my online gaming phase.

Online free-to-play games became very appealing to me, because I realised that my dad wouldn't buy too many games for the Xbox, and I was young and without a penny to my name. Then I tried as many MMOs as I could: MapleStory, Cabal Online, Pirate King, Granado Espada, 9 Dragons, Thang...well, you get my drift. This was a phase that lasted quite awhile. In fact, it only ended about 5 years ago. But I still have two MMOs left in my computer: Atlantica Online, and SW:TOR.

SW:TOR really only got my interest after I played KOTOR, but it is a nice MMO to frolic around in before abandoning it for a few months...then returning again. It really shows a lot of preference for paying players, but that's to be expected. It used to be pay-to-play after all.

Now, Atlantica, Atlantica...this is the MMO that I've held on to the longest. Its use of mythology and turning figures of legends and myths into allies you can recruit into your party...that's its winning point. And believe me, having Joan of Arc, Anne Bonny, Zhao Yun, and many others would make you feel mighty proud of the effort you've put into building your motley crew.

So, after emerging from the online gaming phase with more cash on my hands, I've dived into "actual" video games - the ones you have to get from the store. To cut a long story short, I've discovered a fierce passion for RPGs after playing the Mass Effect trilogy and crying over characters made of pixels. I could go into this "actual gaming" now, but this post has already gone on longer than it should. So, I shall dive into it next time.