It was really hard and just not fun to fight haha. I thought it was harder than Malenia honestly.

I think my experience was very similar to yours, actually. When I played Sekiro for the first time, I made the mistake of playing it like just another Dark Souls game and I really struggled as a result. I was actually walled by Lady Butterfly for a very long time and abandoned the game for months. When I finally came back to it, I took the effort to really learn how to play the game and things went more smoothly, but it still felt like a monumental thing to overcome.

The interesting thing about Sekiro is that once you've really figured out how the game works, it becomes a lot easier in a way that the Souls games don't. I actually replayed the game on PC earlier this year and even though some of the bosses still took a few tries, I got through them dramatically easier than before. Guardian Ape was maybe two tries, for instance, and even Isshin was maybe five or six, a far cry from the days of attempts during my first run. I assume you didn't try the Demon of Hatred? If you're burned out on the game, don't force yourself to do it, but it was a really fun challenge in a second playthrough because it's a fight you must tackle in a much different way than every other encounter in the game.

Good luck on Isshin! That's one of the most satisfying From Software fights, but also potentially one of the most frustrating.

Yo, I dig the roleplay you have for your Dunmer there. Plenty of exiled Dark Elves following the Red Year - ripe roleplay pickings.

Me, I half-self-inserted, made Truliam Heart-Spoken, Half-Nord, Half-Imperial, raised in Cyrodill. Displayed a great interest in the way of the Bard, and learned of the Bard's College in Solitude, so he headed north to the border...

...and you know the rest :>

Oh hey man, long time no chat! Nothing wrong with being a little late to the party, heck I accidentally took a week to respond to this because sometimes I forget to check my Backloggery, oops! I'd agree with you though, it really feels like another "Dark Souls", like it's on that level of quality and will hopefully echo through the industry because my god do open world games need some fucking help. Elden Ring is the first open world I've loved (I did like BoTW and Witcher 3, but not love). It's fantastic on a macro and micro level.

You're right to think it's massive btw, it's fucking huge. Took me 160 hours to finish it. Mind you, I definitely didn't do the B-line to the main bosses. I did tons of roaming, did tons of cave delving and it never really felt tedious. Tried to get as many NPC questlines done as I could too. It's actually a masterstroke the way the map expands as you play it. It feels reasonably sized as first and it just grows as you play. Anyways the game rules, arguably FROMSOFT's best effort to date and easy GOTY.

It's a decent clone/rip-off of Donkey Kong Country, though the controls and physics are nowhere near as good as the classic trilogy or the Retro Studios duo.

There are some neat ideas with the level design, but a lot of it is ripped wholesale from DKC2 and 3, and someone on the dev team really liked those bramble stages from DKC2, lol.

Still, Kaze is a cute game, picked it up physically for a budget price and it was pretty much what I expected.

Indeed Hogwarts. Shame the sorting hat puts everyone into House "Murderer".

Congrats on finally beating Super Mario 3D World! I remember enjoying the one on 3DS quite a bit. The only one I have for switch is New Super Mario Bros 2 I think it’s called…

Been making decent progress in Resident Evil 2 Remake when I’m home to play it. Surprised I haven’t had a heart attack yet though. It’s so intense at some points! I’ve been enjoying it so much that I ended up buying the 3rd remake at Gamestop for $15.. So much cheaper than getting it from PSN. Saved me about $40. I think?

Strictly speaking, the 3DS eShop will only shut down for purchases, not for redownloading content you already own, in 2023. A full shutdown is not in the works (but obviously, nothing lasts forever). More to the point, however, adding funds with credit card *will* indeed end in May 2022 and with my US 3DS used in Europe, that shuts down my only convenient way to add funds at all. I'd have to import eShop cards after that, plus that way you always have some leftover balance, and I don't have a Switch that that balance could then pass to. There's really no convenient way for me to do this other than by the "add needed funds" from my credit card.

It is a safe assumption that as CC stops being supported for adding funds, directly purchasing with it goes too, because that's essentially not a different thing. The procedure is that you first add the precise amount needed to buy the item, and then through a separate click do the actual purchase. Step one disappears, and so, step two is only going to be possible with funds added to your eShop account by other means.

I expect that with the entirety of Fire Emblem Fates - and cheap indie Fragrant Story slipping in with it - I am done with 3DS purchases, however.

It happens too often… I have quite a few titles that are near the end. Some are even at the final boss! The main problem is that I forget how to play them and/or what I was working on when I stopped playing. I have a feeling Days Gone might have the same fate…

I think Final Fantasy XII is going to be the most difficult to pick back up. I just remember wanting to finish off the hunts before going to kill the last boss. I don’t even remember how the hunts work, let alone how to battle!

At least I’m nearly done with Bloodstained and I beat Ori and the Blind Forest last week finally! I’m tempted to get back to Octopath Traveler next, but I do want to start Shin Megami Tensei V!

I’d start Metroid next, but I’ve been playing a lot of platformers lately. I think I may want to save it a while longer yet. Are you enjoying it?

Loved the game. Would have gone for it earlier, but its minimum specs technically exceed mine, so I was hesitant without a demo. Well aware they probably just listed the oldest setup they had tested it on, but still. Only when Dragon Quest XI S did a demo and I saw that runs just fine did I dare to go for it.

I'm enjoying it, but I've had a very difficult time adjusting to the interface, which is noticeably more dated than the more recent remakes/remasters. I struggle with the tiny map, for instance. I'm sure I'll get used to it, though. It just feels like this awkward step back.

Having also finished Sekiro recently, I feel like I can definitely say it's a lot harder than Dark Souls II, but the distribution of difficulty is different. Despite the punishing difficulty, checkpoints are very reasonable and there's always a good answer to every level hazard you come across. Lots of poison in the area? Mottled Green Gourd. Having issues with terror buildup? Mottled Purple Gourd. Also, if you study the enemies in the area and get good at deflecting them, you'll take little to no damage--and even heal when you deathblow them, depending on your skill setup. At that point, it's just learning how to beat the boss, which is generally a fun thing to do.

So far, in Dark Souls II, bosses aren't even the hard part. They've actually been quite easy. I'm just experiencing a lot of fatigue from silly ambushes, enemy hoards, and snipers. There's very little mechanical difficulty. It feels more like the game is just stacked against you unfairly. Dodge rolls are slower, chugging potions pretty much can't be done mid-combat at all because it's so slow, the health reduction thing from Demon's Souls returns... I dislike the kind of difficulty increase that makes you weaker instead of making enemies stronger.

I love Nioh 2, but it's basically Nioh 1.5. A lot of maps are reused from the first game. I think people who are new to the series should play Nioh 1 first, because there are so many confusing systems and menus at play in the sequel that it would be overwhelming to newcomers, but if you're already familiar with the first game and just want more of the same, Nioh 2 will be right up your alley.

I was also really surprised Astral Chain was structured the way it was so I felt really disgruntled at first. Interesting approach though, and interesting comparison with Yakuza. I hadn't played any Yakuza games at the time and now I've played a bunch so I could see it.

Now that you mention it, sucking up the corruption in Astral Chain kind of reminds me of how you have to pick up coins and items in Sekiro, which I also don't love. I'd rather just get that stuff automatically...

But yeah, for some reason Guardian Ape seemed way more insurmountable possibly because the first phase is arguably the harder of the two? I got Genichiro's first phase down to a science but sometimes even when I got into a rhythm, Ape would still sometimes randomly one-shot me before I got anywhere.

Astral Chain's controls take some getting used to, as I recall, but it ends up feeling really satisfying and unique. I quite enjoyed it by the end.

What up, yo. Long time no talk. Hope you're doing well these days. Take it easy, dude.

I absolutely get the puzzle dreams too. I had a bunch of Puyo Puyo dreams when I was trying to do the Puyo Puyo objectives in Judgement.
I liked the game overall, but I usually like a decent Tetris/Puyo Puyo game. I can't say anything about the story because I skipped through all of it, but I liked the variety of modes. Swap mode especially worked in my favor because while I suck at Puyo Puyo, I'm good enough at Tetris to compensate. Apparently the sequel is supposed to have RPG mechanics added in, so I'll probably get it to see what that's like. I might wait until it's on sale before I do, though.
What do you think about it so far?

Turns out I did get a PS5 and Demon's Souls. I still remember you, myself and Waluigicubed co-op'd that back in like 2012 or something.

! I've been well overall. I figured since I got things to a more or less stable place finally, it was time to get back to the quest for s. I hope you've also been well.