Demon’s Souls: Three Years Later (Part 11)

Dec. 15, 2013

Demon’s Souls: Three Years Later (Part 11)

Last timeI picked on a blind kid. Then I went on a rant to profess further love for the Dragon God. Then I took some time off of adding these articles on a regular basis.

Chapter “These go to 11”

Muck You

I’m rapidly running out of areas. Basically, the list consists of finishing Latria, heading to the valley, Killing the Storm King (should be easy, probably just try the Tower Shield) and of course the Black World Tendency in most areas to test my skill against the Black Phantoms of the land. I expect that last one in particular to not go so well.

For tonight, it shall be the rest of Latria. While the Valley is the bigger pain from an environment standpoint, the last boss (before the False King) that should be a major factor isHall and Oates(1).

The first time around they killed me so many times that I had murdering the Black Phantom Mindflayer on the steps right below them down to a science. I stand at this pillar and I can shoot it to death. I stand by this other pillar and wait for it to turn and I can backstab it. Etc. Etc. I owned that guy by the time I was done.

So off to Latria!

I head in and am again impressed with the little details. The haziness of the area. The little patches of dark clouds. The erratic lighting. Later I will notice that they bothered to put chains and decorations on the way down some elevator cages.

I know there’s a gargoyle waiting for me. I just can’t remember what to look for to find them. Then it hits me (since I can see one waaaaay off in the distance). Like so many other enemies, it’s in their eyes. I find the first one before he finds me. I say “hello” with an arrow to the face. I don’t think he understands I meant it in the nicest way possible. He flies at me. I try to shoot him out of the air. For the first time in the game I’m not impressed with the hit detection. This pattern repeats with these guys. As the arrow does nothing to him despite LOOKING like it hit, he’s coming right at me. He’s closing in fast. He’s almost near me….

He turns around. He does some rather confusing flight patterns. I assume he’s drunk. He never gets a chance to sober up. The corpses of these enemies (due to wings) are huge and obscure the majority of your sight lines when close. I assume this was the reason I enjoyed walking/rolling over them to throw their bodies off the ledge. Who am I kidding? It’s fun regardless of the utility. Rag doll physics never looked so good!

I continue into the primary tower after killing another happy little Gargoyle friend and decide to head right. Intuitively I know I’ll be coming back here and that it makes more sense efficiency wise to skip it for now. Treasure wise I know there’s a few things down there I can get RIGHT NOW. The little part of my brain that makes me a good (video game only) candidate for the show “Hoarders” compels me to go right anyway. I see a warning about a trap and get paranoid a touch. The one gargoyle guarding the treasure at the end of the walk doesn’t surprise me and I have to just assume that’s what the person meant with their message. A few smashed jars later and I’m headed down a little further. I grab the treasure and of course get stopped by the disgustingly glistening mass of who knows what blocking the door. Up I go. I race up the stairs, thinking to myself “I don’t recall any enemies up here.” That turns out to be correct.

Here’s where the hoarding mentality comes in again. I know where the Rune Sword and Shield are. I already have one of each. I know it’s a tricky jump to land. I try it anyway. I just gotta have that useless equipment! But also, there’s one of two options. I nail it first time and get to brag that I stuck the landing and won the Olympic Gold or I fall to my death and get a good story out of it.

On the way back from the Archstone…my character, despite spawning full health, is still likely favoring the ankle of the foot that almost landed safely on the ledge. If this was real world physics it would have been a badly injured leg with little time to contemplate the pain. I imagine that it would have also caused me to spin and flip a little on my way to the muddy grave below.

This time I’m smart about it. Here’s a trick I should have just done the first time and might help a reader or two. I go a good distance from the ledge. My back is turned to the gravity hazard. I press circle. Well, right before I press circle, I mark the spot I was standing on. Having not fallen off the ledge I then repeat but a little closer. I still haven’t fallen off but I’m close to it. A couple more tries and I get exactly what I wanted. A precise plummet onto a precarious precipice. Just what I needed! More alliteration (and Rune equipment).

I make my way back up and prepare to face gargoyles. It’s easy to lure them in but I do get a surprise when one of them shoots back. I forgot about that. One archery contest later and I’m still on the move. I pick up a Flamberge that’s just laying about. Because I have to have it!

Moving along I easily remember that there’s treasures along the ledges of the secondary towers. Heading up the elevator I assume there’s a gargoyle waiting for me. There is. I lock on and get the shield ready. He gets close and I stab him. Almost falling off. Probably should be more careful. He seems to get stuck in his hovering animation. I watch a few seconds before ending his misery with an arrow. Heading up I’m up against the Barbershop quartet(2). They appear to not have a problem being butchered. I backstab the first two. Then slice up the second pair. A quick cinematic reveals that I’m making progress(3). On the way down the stairs I idly swing at two statues. They shatter. I don’t know if I knew that before. I know it now and it’s a pretty awesome thing. I see someprism stonesaugites of guidance ahead. It’s Yurt! The Silent Chief. He seems to be chatty enough. I wonder why they call him “silent.” Maybe I’ll have a chance to find out later…

Heading into the muck below I prepare to be here awhile. I seem to recall taking a long time to explore this place. It turns out it’s not as big as I remember. It’s a lot easier with practice. Even if it’s several years old practice.

The biggest challenge is the pile of corpses spitting blue wads of magic at me. A pillar and a bow means that I get easy loot from it. A close second in challenge is stopping myself from running up the tentacles that spiral around the pillars. If memory serves correctly, I had more than my share of deaths from some fall detection bugs on those.

I head onto the Boardwalk. If I had Park Place I could make some nice hotels here. Since I don’t, the current landlord gets away with not making some needed renovations. I notice something very interesting along the way. The corpses on the wheels that spin gently in the breeze. Could these have been the precursor to the delightful Bonewheels skeletons? I tried to take a picture but it’s too dark to get a good one. Regardless, crucified dudes on wagon wheels provide some nice feng shui.

A few treasures later and many dead face worms(4) and I’m back on land. I head up and bravely face the Black Phantom Mindflayer via the pincushion method. As I’ll illustrate later, this can actually be one of the worst techniques on these guys.

At the summit of the stairs I take out a couple face worms. The blue glow ahead shows me I have a lizard to kill. But how many worms are in the way? Crap. I’m gonna be Robin Hood again. Bows work exceedingly well on these guys assuming you can track them down for the second hit. I miss the second hit. It runs away and I start ahead again. Except I see I gained 10 souls. Down the stairs I go, hoping the corpse is somewhere I can find it. It is. Good thing too. Another pure stone for my collection. Thank you suicidal lizard!

The second tower goes much as the first one. The gargoyles aren’t presenting much of a challenge and I know how to find treasures. The biggest difference is that I wanna mix it up with the Barbershop quartet holding the chain up. So I shoot one in the crotch from point blank range. I’m disappointed in how fast the arrows disappear. That would have been a good postcard from Latria. Another cinematic shows a lot of face worms and even more progress. I decide it’s time to return to the base of the pit in the tower to grab treasures(5).

I sprint for glory knowing I’ve killed everything already. I almost run right into the first face worm. Almost. It actually does run right into my penetrating sword. I have little difficulty taking my treasures in the pit. But now comes the fun part, the Mindflayer right below Hall and Oates. I used to have this Mindflayer down to a science. No longer. I miscalculate the pillar to hide behind. Right before he sees me I charge knowing it’s all or nothing at this point. I get a great stab in. I start swinging trying to finish him. He blasts me with the ripple attack and I get slammed onto the stairs. Lucky for me I had also hit him, killing him. I won’t repeat that mistake again.

I grab just a couple more treasures and brace myself for Hall and Oates.

I enter the fog and in comes Hall. I’ve enchanted my weapon and it’s doing decent damage (it’s only +1 at the moment). His charge attacks are beating me up pretty good though. I almost get tossed off the ledge. I predict this will end my night. I heal up as he’s flying around. The White Bow has more than enough range to tag him and get the fight rolling again. It actually hits him almost as hard as the sword. I’m feeling decent about the fight now, getting into a rhythm. Oates comes into the fight earlier than expected. I have Hall down maybe 40%. I was also wearing the Thief’s ring and steadfastly refusing to move from the door in the hope that Oates wouldn’t see me right away. Wishful thinking. I’m almost dead pretty quickly. I make a break for the fire pit in the distance. The only obstacle that can help me. I heal up and prepare for two. It’s Oates that comes first, meaning I’m no closer to getting it back to one on one. I keep circling the fire and they keep taking turns attacking me. I’m able to get some shots with the bow in to speed the fight up. Hall comes into the fray for a prolonged period. Oates seems to be stuck a little and I’ve had time to enchant my weapon again. In a dazzling display of master swordsmanship (done to perfection by pressing R1 several times in a row) Hall is down! I remind Oates that there’s a fight going on by shooting him. I almost roll off the ledge at one point but that’s the scariest moment. I’ve done it! Hall and Oates, one try. This is the definition of feeling like a boss.

I go back to the Nexus, preparing to suicide. I head up the stairs to find a new corpse. That’s right. Yurt is around. I don’t like Yurt. I do however, like his armor. He’s not as fast as I remember. He mentions Mephistopheles shortly before he becomes the Absolutely Silent Chief. I commit suicide and decide that it’s time to play around in the tower. If it wasn’t for the extra weight, I’d have more new fashion than the pointy boots from the Silent Chief collection. It was a tough call between those and the gauntlets.

I try to get summoned to be the Old Monk(6). I used to enjoy that pretty good. It doesn’t work. I give up and try to invade someone for kicks. That does “work.” I chase my potential victim all the way from the base of the stairs just out of the muck, all the way back to the beginning of the level. I get to see the cut scene of the second chain coming down again. My quarry ascends that little ledge near the beginning and waits for me. Not an honorable thing to do so I bow…then take out my bow. I don’t think my Penetrating Sword +1 was much of a match for the Blueblood sword anyway, but the fact that I rolled off the edge didn’t make me look particularly impressive. I decide to try to kill the Old Monk. I get up the stairs. Not even midway up I know I’m going to be facing a human controlled monk.

Here’s something that’s different from three years ago. Last time, I fought the Monk four times I believe (well four playthroughs, I probably died a few times meaning I fought the monk more than four). Not once do I recall anyone using this as a griefing tool.

I get a little frustrated. I am clearly the superior fighter. My hit timing is better. My use of stunlock and all things stamina is better. His use of magic has practically zero chance of hitting me. But with a barely upgraded weapon, that life bar seems enormous. That’s fine. It’s a boss fight. The repeated grass use seems wholly unbalanced. I don’t remember this being a problem before. Maybe it was and I just got lucky but man this stinks. It’s one thing to be beat because I need to learn more. Or try a new tactic. It’s just mind numbing to know that, against this person, the only reasonable way for me to win is to also have 99 of every grass type and outlast this idiot. This is Demon’s Souls, not a marathon. Some of us don’t like 12 hour fights. I eventually lose because I don’t want to use all of my grass since I actually do want to play the game.

I try one more time to see if the next fight won’t be against the same jack***. The scene is triggered even earlier this time. Again, I know it’s a human opponent I’m facing.

Except I won’t. I misjudge the arch around the tower stairs while shooting a Mindflayer. He lands a shot with his magic. Just one.

Told you I’d illustrate how dangerous archery can be to fight these guys. Since it’s late and I have to work; I make this death my last.

(1) Hall and Oates are my affectionate name for the Maneaters. Two oversized gargoyles that like to double team you. It starts off with one and the second comes in for kicks

(2) The thing blocking the door I referenced earlier is actually Latria’s VIP prisoner from what I can tell. This giant mass of Lovecraftian proportion (tentacles and everything) is chained up in the center of the main tower. The tentacles pervade large sections of the level, including blocking your access to Hall and Oates. There are two chains to free. Both are being held up by some rather bedraggled looking gentlemen. From all appearances, they are using some sort of group spell to hold the chains in place. They can’t carry a tune though

(3) After killing the Barbershop Quarter, the chain falls as their spell is then broken

(4) Face worms are large, crawly wormy/centipedey dealies with human faces. I imagine (it’s imagination since I have no proof) that they were regular worms but the absorbed souls of the tortured damned have given them their ghastly visage

(5) The area that was blocked earlier due to the Lovecraft Prisoner

(6) The Old Monk is, rightfully so, one of the most acclaimed boss fight in the game. He’s a humanoid with a giant yellow head wrapping. That’s not that special. What is special is that he is usually controlled by another human player. Every time can be a different fight as it depends on what gear the player has brought in. As I’m about to find out, it’s apparently become on of the worst bosses

(7) This is probably the single coolest thing ever

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Ah the Tower of Latria the best world in the game, especially part 3-2. Those black phantom Mind Flayers though, oh they were a pain. Funny though I didn’t find the Maneaters all that challenging when I first fought them. Only took me one go to kill them and that middle area can be pretty helpful. As for the Monk boss fight, I have only been summoned by him once and didn’t even get to fight the layer because he was killed on the way up, guess I shouldn’t be too disappointed, got the cool yellow hat.

As usual, great writeup! I am kinda sad that your travels are almost over… I hope there’s some other game that can inspire you to write like this!

Maybe Dark Souls will get the same treatment in a couple of years. Probably around the time I stop playing Dark Souls II. Currently Warframe is my gaming love but each chapter would read:“I loaded the game for the night and chose (insert any area name here). I was quickly joined by three other players. Using their best ninja stealth tactics, all three players sprinted ahead, ignoring pickups and running right into a swarm of enemies. I picked my shots from the fringe of the fight with my trusty revolver. One enemy paid attention to me and it was quickly sliced in two. One player ran ahead of everyone and took the elevator before the team could catch up. We found him in need of revival on the next floor. I shot some things in the face and we got to the extraction point a few bullets lighter.”

Skare this series is so classic. I want to find a way to condense all of the articles into one when done and maybe add some more pictures and make like an online magazine/graphic novel of your journey. I think that would be cool.

P.S. Write a damn Warframe article already (you addict)…

I am. I’m just doing it “artistically.” Rather than write the entire article in one place, I’m strategically referencing Warframe in certain locations to make my loyal readers (all 2.63 of them) follow me around to read it. I’m reinventing the “article” paradigm and will be forever seen as a visionary.

Also, the graphic novel idea does sound good. It’s certainly long enough. And for the record, the pictures in this chapter weren’t mine. The easy way to tell is that they’re of high quality.

Thought I give all avenues a go at trying to solve this problem… Dragon Age crashes for me right after the splash screen. My systems exceeds the minimum requirements, and I’ve insured that I have the latest video and audio drivers, as well as the latest version of Direct X. I’ve also shut down every background application that I know can be shut down safely. Anyone have any insights as to what I might try next?

Also, the graphic novel idea does sound good. It’s certainly long enough. And for the record, the pictures in this chapter weren’t mine. The easy way to tell is that they’re of high quality.

P.S. Write a damn Warframe article already (you addict)…

As usual, great writeup! I am kinda sad that your travels are almost over… I hope there’s some other game that can inspire you to write like this!