Didn't get a chance to play any tonight and likely won't for a couple days. Started playing Super Time Force tonight, hanging with a friend from out of town tomorrow and checking out Godzilla in IMAX tomorrow night, then some appointments Friday which also happens to be date night with my girlfriend. Saturday is a possibility and I've been doing some theory-crafting on where I want to go next.
Okay, so I finished Dark Souls 2. I killed every enemy and boss at least once (if not 15 times) with only two notable exceptions
Ancient Dragon & Darklurker
For my build, I used a freakishly Vitality-based monster with decent Strength and some points tossed into Endurance, Dexterity and Adaptability. Started as Knight. Melee-only! I only used throwing weapons and arrows at a very few, select points in the game (a total of about 5). Mostly stuck with the Choloranthy Ring, Ring of Binding, Silver Covetous Ring and Gold Covetous Rig (Third Dragon Ring late in the game). My equipment consisted of:
Early Game: Falconer Set, Broadsword, Various Shield
Mid-Early Game: Drangleic Set, Bastard Sword +10, Tower Shield
Mid-Late Game: Havel's Set, Bastard Sword +10, Poison Broadsword +10, Havel's Shield +5
Late Game: Havel's Set +5, Smelter Demon Helm, Bastard Sword +10, Black Knight Ultra Greatsword +4, Poison Broadsword +10, Havel's Shield +5
Here are my thoughts on the game overall:
The game has some really good aspects. It's got a lot of depth and content, and I appreciate the mysterious though enticing nature of the lore. Nevertheless, the narrative was really awkward and didn't work too well for me. The intro (basically giving you something of a past with that melting woman scene) was unnecessary, your objective is never really clear (not to mention I wasn't keen on going through with whatever happened at the end), the climatic moments are really not related to the main storyline (Smelter Demon and Gargoyles say "hi"), and I don't really feel much, if anything, has been accomplished by the end. There's no resolution at all. You don't even get the satisfaction of "feeling like a badass" like you do from other action-adventure games or other role-playing games.
Despite the length, the end just leaves me a bit hollow (get it? hurr), as if I just wasted a bunch of time. Around the mid to mid-late portions of the game, I was really looking forward to NG+. But now, knowing that everything just builds up the this flimsy "climax," I'm kinda just ready to leave it be and move on.
PS: I hate time-travel
Here's my thoughts on the bosses:
Forest of the Fallen Giants
The Last Giant
Pretty easy, but appropriate for the first boss. Fitting for where he was, although nothing too exciting.
The Pursuer
I don't need to explain this yet again. For where he is in the game, this guy is cheap as hell not using the ballista trick. Using the ballista makes him too easy. In fact, it's not really a boss fight anymore doing that. He appears later in the game again for a tedious battle, albeit an easy one given that by then you are upgraded and have enough equipment to properly fight him. Still, a bastard. Hate this guy.
Lost Bastille / Belfry Sol / Sinner's Rise
Ruin Sentinels
I actually didn't have too much trouble with these guys (died two times, I think). Kind of a pain getting to their fight considering it's a long way and there's no bonfire, but otherwise, a pretty legit fight. Great music helped.
Belfry Gargoyles
These guys are tough. If you run in when you can first access this, you're probably gonna get your ass whooped. I came back later when I had leveled a bit (after clearing all of Heide's Tower of Flame and the Lost Bastille's connected areas) and had a challenging, but exhilarating fight. So I'd recommend just come back later and have fun with the fight instead of pulling your hair out over it.
Lost Sinner
Apparently there's some way to make this fight easier by beating the Belfry Gargoyles first? I don't really know since I beat the Lost Sinner first. I actually beat her on my first attempt quite easily. Making the fight easier would be kinda silly, imo. Anyway, kinda fun, but anti-climatic.
Heide's Tower of Flame / Blue Cathedral / No_man's Wharf
Dragonrider
Is this guy really considered a boss? Whatever. He felt like one of the regular enemies on the path to him with slightly more health.
Old Dragonslayer
What a kickass arena! Oh, and another pushover fight. Kinda fun and cool given the setting, but eh.
Flextile Sentry
I had to waste some repair powder to fight this guy given that I had to go through the entirety of that pirate map to reach him with no bonfires. Otherwise, meh.
Chariot
Cool idea but way too easy. I was expecting something brutally hard after the chariot boss fight in DMC3. But man, total 180, here.
Skeleton Lords
There has to be something I missed here. This really felt like a normal encounter with some easy enemies in a cool room.
Covetous Demon
lol just lol
Mytha
So, yeah. So I kept chopping at the windmill trying to break it down. Went: "nothing's happening. Odd." Then I encountered this boss and went: "No fucking way this is legit. There's some trick." So I'll admit: I looked online. Turns out you set FIRE to the windmill instead of hacking it down. So after I did that she was pretty easy, but fun. I'm a sucker for Medusa bosses. God of War 2 still has my favorite one, though.
Iron Keep
Smelter Demon
Well, this was one of the few legit bosses in the game. Odd that he's an optional one... anyway, this guy was kinda bullshit just because I did not feel like running a marathon every time I attempted him. And being melee-only, the archers required a time-consuming method to eliminate without eating up a bunch of damage. Other than that, he's actually pretty cool, though. Very punishing, but there are legit strategies to beating him. Admittedly, I could have done without the constant passive fire damage standing next to him, but oh well. And once again, THAT MUSIC just topped it off. Anyway, I started wearing his fucking head as a trophy after I beat him. Cute Smelter Demon.
Old Iron King
Giant Flame Marbus! Okay but really, appearances aside, this guy was piss-easy. And having just fought the Smelter Demon not long ago, he made for a pretty underwhelming boss for the Iron Keep. Smelter Demon should have been the final fight of this area.
Grave of Saints / Black Gulch
Royal Rat Vanguard
Kind of a silly fight. I dunno. I know it's just for humorous purposes, but I could've done without it.
The Rotten
I love the design of this boss, and the area/concept is very fitting. Felt pretty fair. Not too hard, but you do actually have to make something of an attempt to fight unlike the Heide bosses. Cool stuff. Only problem is the Black Gulch itself (ie: running to him). Those statues can fucking die. Gah.
Shaded Woods / Doors of Pharros / Brightstone Cove Tseldora
Scorpioness Nadjika
Kinda fun. Kinda cool. Nothing too special. Yet another "beaten on first attempt" boss.
Royal Rat Authority
I hate this guy. Not because he's hard (he's really not once you figure out how his hitbox works). I hate him because I can't see a goddamn thing when fighting him. Camera's a bitch here and I'm used to dealing with bitch cameras from Ninja Gaiden. Ugh. Fuck this guy.
Prowling Magus
Another one of those "bosses who is not really a boss." I basically ran up and mashed him to death. Not much to comment on here.
Freja Spider
A lot of focus went into making this area cool and animating a nice, gigantic spider. Less effort went into making this boss a challenge (why are all the super-soul bosses the easiest ones?). Another first-attempt. Again, I had to use repair powder before this fight since she's so far from a bonfire. Otherwise, good stuff.
Drangleic Castle /Shrine of Amana
Dual Dragonriders
Pretty legit fight. I wish there was a better "melee-only" strategy to lure the archer down sooner, but otherwise, fun stuff. As a side note: it is totally Agni & Rudra. The arena, the color schemes, the dual-boss theme... come on. I'm not the only one thinking it.
Glass Mirror Knight
Nothing too notable here. I've heard that in online mode he can summon other players, but in offline mode, he's just sort of a dildo you have to smack down to progress.
Demon of Song
The area leading up to this guy is insanely difficult as a melee-only character. The boss himself is incredibly weak. He feels like the Yotunfrau of this game. I did enjoy his animations, though.
Undead Crypt / Aldia's Keep / Dragon Shrine
Velstadt
He's okay I guess. Your average, run-of-the-mill boss. Nothing special.
King Vendrick
Okay, so I fought this guy with 4 of the Giant Souls (as I did get the secret one in the Black Gulch, but did not get the one from the Ancient Dragon). WOW was this easy. I didn't receive any damage. Does having less giant souls change his attacks at all? Because if not, the only problem you'd run into fighting him at full strength would be that your equipment would degrade too much. But otherwise, his attacks are extremely telegraphed. It's just a matter of patience chipping away at his large-ass health-bar (even with 4 Giant Souls I had to switch to my secondary weapon to prevent my primary from deteriorating, as I did use it to fight the guards leading up to him).
Guardian Dragon
Kinda cool fight. Not that hard, though it is a bitch to get to it if you happen to die and have to re-attempt it (I did not). My one objection is the camera. Jesus. Half the time I could not tell what the fuck was going on at all (like when he jumps onto the walls).
Ancient Dragon
Fuck this stupid bastard. I finally find out how to legit fight the Dragonkeeper guards with melee-only, just so I can fight my way up here with no bonfires and run into this asshole. He is hard, but not in any legitimate sense. His damn flame attack is just fucking stupid. It's not fun to fight him (especially when you have to become a cross-country athlete just to reach him every time). It's not like he's complex or ornate or uses superior reflexes/brainpower to defeat. It's just a matter of hoping you can sprint out of a giant, insta-kill AoE attack every two-seconds and then slapping him a few times between each attempt, because obviously you enjoy spending 20 minutes whittling down an absurd health-pool while running through the same predictable routine over and over again. So yeah, I skipped him. Sue me.
Memories / Throne of Want
Giant Lord
Not a fan of the catapults leading up to him. At all. Noobie trap. Bullshit. Otherwise, he's an easy, though tedious fight given the piss-poor camera acting like a 10-year-old boy trying to peek up the bastard's skirt the whole time.
Throne Watcher & Defender
This one's actually pretty fun. I liked it. I don't understand the point of it, but it was fun.
Nashandra
She looks pretty cool. But for a final boss? Very underwhelming. Once you learn to chop at those dust clouds, there's not much to it. Feels pretty anti-climatic. Only died once (her chest-burst knocked me off the cliff).
The Giant Souls reduce Vendricks defense by half per Soul, 5 maximum for full effect. That is all they do besides granting 10k souls when used (the challenge man). I've been putting off Vendrick until I kill the Ancient Dragon and get the fifth GS.
Go fight the Darklurker, I want to know how hard it is with a melee only build, very easy with a ranged build.
There are some differences. New enemies in certain areas, additional black phantom spawns.... some of which take place during boss fights. If you wanted the game on hard mode, that's how you play it.
