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ADMITTING DEFEAT - WHEN A VIDEOGAME BREAKS YOUR SPIRIT
Posts
Max McGee
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CloseI love the Souls series. To me, they are some of the best videogames {Kanye} of all time {/Kanye}. I love for their challenge. I love them for their brutal difficulty. I love them for their incredible atmosphere and for their make-the-player-work-for-it approach to storytelling and worldbuilding. I love them for the fist pumping, chest beating rush of triumph I feel when I scream "YEAH, MOTHERFUCKER!" at the top of my lungs (scaring the shit out of my girlfriend and my dog: my cat doesn't give a fuck) upon actually beating one of their absurdly cheap bosses, a euphoric adrenaline rushing in my brain.
I self identify as "masocore". (A word I only learned on RMN five years ago from kumada, FWIW.)
The reason I was able to beat Demon's Souls, in hindsight, is probably because it allowed you to farm arbitrarily large numbers of healing items in some late-middlegame areas. They fixed this problem in the spiritual sequel, Dark Souls with Estus Flasks. (For whatever reason, Bloodborne did nothing for me.)
I never beat Dark Souls. After picking it up and putting it down and picking it up and putting it down and picking it up and putting it down I managed, somehow, somehow, somehow, to FINALLY beat Ornstein and Smough. This still feels like one of the greatest achievements of my life. Note that I did not say one of the greatest GAMING achievements of my life. I own a company that lets me make my living making games. I somehow tricked a girl that is actually attractive into staying with me for ten years. I survived a small-bowel resection surgery under general anesthesia and went on to tell about it. I count defeating Ornstein and Smough among these achievements.
But beyond Ornstein and Smough was the bullshit crystal caverns and the double bullshit boss fight with Seath the Scaleless and you know what, Seath? I'm fucking done. Eat a dick. I'm out.
I never beat Dark Souls II. My momentum was good, my morale was good, most of the bosses were little more than speedbumps. Then I got to what I thought was the end of the game, and upon getting an idea of how much of the game was left after I defeated the Mirror Knight (in less than 10 tries, I think) I just kind of collapsed from exhaustion.
I am stuck on the final, final, really for real final boss of Dark Souls III.
I have been stuck on him since late May. I say I've been stuck since June, that doesn't mean I've actively been trying and failing that entire time. That would be the definition of insanity. No, I think in late May and early June I was still pretty chuffed over having finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, FINALLY beaten Prince Lothric, which only took 109 tries (twice as many tries as Aldrych, which in turn took twice as many tries as Pontiff Sulyvahn) and which I genuinely thought was the final boss of the game...until I found out about the next boss. The true final boss.
The Soul of Cinder.
In early June, I tried to beat the Soul of Cinder and lost as often as I could find free time to lose to him. By late June, I was limiting myself to three tries a day to avoid becoming frustrated. In July, I think I might only have taken five cracks at him total, for the whole month. I haven't played Dark Souls III once during the entire month of August, and I am strongly considering putting disc away in the case, and putting the case away on my shelf, and just accepting that I am a 30 year old man and that I will die without ever having beaten a game in the Dark Souls.
Is that okay? Because for whatever fucking reason, it doesn't FEEL okay.
I would almost rather go to the dentist and say "three root canals please, no sedation" than pick up that controller and throw my brain and eye-hand coordination and my PS4 controller at that unbeatable fucking boss (which hundreds of people have beaten and some of the smug bastards have probably done it on a challenge build or on a speedrun or something) one more fucking time. Yet there is a part of me that feels like if I were to shelve the game and give up on the momentum that has gotten me this far I would never be able to respect myself for the rest of my life, knowing that I had come that far, been that close, to beating Dark Souls IIIwhen the Soul of Cinder had broken my spirit, and I had fled into the night, and obscurity.
There are really three types of responses I'm looking for here:
First post in quite a while,
- Max
P.S. I've actually had this happen to me twice before in my life: getting stuck on the VERY LAST BOSS of a videogame and being unable to beat it. It happened to me with Parasite Eve and it happened to me with Final Fantasy IX, neither of which, to the best of my recollection, I ever beat. Even now, a decade and a half later, I still have the savegames, frozen on the precipice of victory, but never to see those end credits. I never got as philosophical about it either them. I was a teenager back then. And now, I am old.
I self identify as "masocore". (A word I only learned on RMN five years ago from kumada, FWIW.)
The reason I was able to beat Demon's Souls, in hindsight, is probably because it allowed you to farm arbitrarily large numbers of healing items in some late-middlegame areas. They fixed this problem in the spiritual sequel, Dark Souls with Estus Flasks. (For whatever reason, Bloodborne did nothing for me.)
I never beat Dark Souls. After picking it up and putting it down and picking it up and putting it down and picking it up and putting it down I managed, somehow, somehow, somehow, to FINALLY beat Ornstein and Smough. This still feels like one of the greatest achievements of my life. Note that I did not say one of the greatest GAMING achievements of my life. I own a company that lets me make my living making games. I somehow tricked a girl that is actually attractive into staying with me for ten years. I survived a small-bowel resection surgery under general anesthesia and went on to tell about it. I count defeating Ornstein and Smough among these achievements.
But beyond Ornstein and Smough was the bullshit crystal caverns and the double bullshit boss fight with Seath the Scaleless and you know what, Seath? I'm fucking done. Eat a dick. I'm out.
I never beat Dark Souls II. My momentum was good, my morale was good, most of the bosses were little more than speedbumps. Then I got to what I thought was the end of the game, and upon getting an idea of how much of the game was left after I defeated the Mirror Knight (in less than 10 tries, I think) I just kind of collapsed from exhaustion.
I am stuck on the final, final, really for real final boss of Dark Souls III.
I have been stuck on him since late May. I say I've been stuck since June, that doesn't mean I've actively been trying and failing that entire time. That would be the definition of insanity. No, I think in late May and early June I was still pretty chuffed over having finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, FINALLY beaten Prince Lothric, which only took 109 tries (twice as many tries as Aldrych, which in turn took twice as many tries as Pontiff Sulyvahn) and which I genuinely thought was the final boss of the game...until I found out about the next boss. The true final boss.
The Soul of Cinder.
In early June, I tried to beat the Soul of Cinder and lost as often as I could find free time to lose to him. By late June, I was limiting myself to three tries a day to avoid becoming frustrated. In July, I think I might only have taken five cracks at him total, for the whole month. I haven't played Dark Souls III once during the entire month of August, and I am strongly considering putting disc away in the case, and putting the case away on my shelf, and just accepting that I am a 30 year old man and that I will die without ever having beaten a game in the Dark Souls.
Is that okay? Because for whatever fucking reason, it doesn't FEEL okay.
I would almost rather go to the dentist and say "three root canals please, no sedation" than pick up that controller and throw my brain and eye-hand coordination and my PS4 controller at that unbeatable fucking boss (which hundreds of people have beaten and some of the smug bastards have probably done it on a challenge build or on a speedrun or something) one more fucking time. Yet there is a part of me that feels like if I were to shelve the game and give up on the momentum that has gotten me this far I would never be able to respect myself for the rest of my life, knowing that I had come that far, been that close, to beating Dark Souls IIIwhen the Soul of Cinder had broken my spirit, and I had fled into the night, and obscurity.
There are really three types of responses I'm looking for here:
- Telling me that it is okay to accept I will never beat the last boss of a videogame about imaginary knights and bonfires and make-believe dragons and demons without permanently losing a measure of my self respect.
- Telling me that I'm being a giant pansy and it's time to "GIT GUD" and get back in there and fight the Soul of Cinder until my PS4 breaks or my sanity breaks or I fucking beat him.
- Any actual tangible advice for actually BEATING the motherfucker (I can tell you my build if any of you are crazy enough/determined enough to have made it anywhere near this far in the game, or even worse, if any of you crazy mofos have actually beaten him)
First post in quite a while,
- Max
P.S. I've actually had this happen to me twice before in my life: getting stuck on the VERY LAST BOSS of a videogame and being unable to beat it. It happened to me with Parasite Eve and it happened to me with Final Fantasy IX, neither of which, to the best of my recollection, I ever beat. Even now, a decade and a half later, I still have the savegames, frozen on the precipice of victory, but never to see those end credits. I never got as philosophical about it either them. I was a teenager back then. And now, I am old.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
You've gone Hollow.
More serious answer: There are only 24 hours in a day, and you have things to do. If you don't think beating Dark Souls is worth your time, especially after so many attempts, then do not feel like you've let yourself down. Certainly don't let any Souls elitist try to drag you down.
Besides... man, it's friggin Dark Souls. The fact that you actually got to the final boss is a pretty significant accomplishment. If you want to call it quits now, that's perfectly okay.
I went through the same thing back when I was a kid and got to the final boss of Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. I just couldn't beat the final boss and ended up dropping the game. A year later, I came back, started a new game, and powered through it with more knowhow about the game and eventually beat the boss with a much stronger party and decks.
Finally, I might be able to help you if you tell me your build. I beat DS3 once as a melee character and a second time as a pure sorcerer (of which I have documented my more... intimate thoughts). If it helps, you can cheat and summon a phantom if you're playing online or a couple of NPCs if you've completed the Lord of Hollows questline to make the fight easier. If friends aren't an option, you can boost your intelligence and pick up Magic Shield, the best buff in the game, in my opinion. That ought to make a real difference in survivability.
Overall, though, it's okay to give up on the game. And who knows? You might come back to it later and finish what you started like I did with Baten Kaitos.
More serious answer: There are only 24 hours in a day, and you have things to do. If you don't think beating Dark Souls is worth your time, especially after so many attempts, then do not feel like you've let yourself down. Certainly don't let any Souls elitist try to drag you down.
Besides... man, it's friggin Dark Souls. The fact that you actually got to the final boss is a pretty significant accomplishment. If you want to call it quits now, that's perfectly okay.
I went through the same thing back when I was a kid and got to the final boss of Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. I just couldn't beat the final boss and ended up dropping the game. A year later, I came back, started a new game, and powered through it with more knowhow about the game and eventually beat the boss with a much stronger party and decks.
Finally, I might be able to help you if you tell me your build. I beat DS3 once as a melee character and a second time as a pure sorcerer (of which I have documented my more... intimate thoughts). If it helps, you can cheat and summon a phantom if you're playing online or a couple of NPCs if you've completed the Lord of Hollows questline to make the fight easier. If friends aren't an option, you can boost your intelligence and pick up Magic Shield, the best buff in the game, in my opinion. That ought to make a real difference in survivability.
Overall, though, it's okay to give up on the game. And who knows? You might come back to it later and finish what you started like I did with Baten Kaitos.
Personally when it comes to defeat it depends on how I'm failing. I also never beat Dark Souls 1 due to a mix of losing my save from the GFWL to Steam switch and having to do the dumpster heap of dragon butts and bloom known as Lost Izalith again and if the devs ain't gonna give a shit about their game I won't either. I never beat God Hand on hard because holy shit enemies in that game are rude on Level Die and I'd just get wrecked by the mandatory Trident Demon and Fembots in Electric Death Cage Match (then ps2s gotta ps2 and rip that). I never beat Metal Gear Rising on its hardest mode because it was just a giant fuck off slog and I ain't got time to waste on that.
Generally I don't care if I don't finish a game for whatever reason. It'll always nick my pride but I play games to have a neat experience. There's a million and one games out there that might catch my eye and there's not enough time to check 'em out. If I'm having a miserable time with no real result I'll just find something else to do with my time.
For actual DS3 tips:
- 27 vit (vigor? Whatever gives HP) and ember up is enough life to kill him. 27 is a good breakpoint since after that you get shitty returns and there's no other time to blow embers than on the final boss!
- Summon a buddy! I dunno if anybody's left at this point or what NPCs are available. I called up Yuria to finish the Dark Sign plotline and she did a great job distracting the boss while I just piled on fireballs.
- Use one of those consumable buffs for your weapon like the Carthas Rouge. I don't remember what Soul of Cinder is weak to but getting a bleed proc or similar buff can help a ton.
- Use the Power of the Raw ASS! (Astora Straight Sword) I dunno if it was nerfed like the Dark Blade but because Dark Souls 3 was balanced by a Markov Chain Generator it's stupidly effective, cheap to equip, and a straight sword in DS3 so it's already the best weapon class. Plus...
- Don't forget you can respec with a tongue. Poor stat allocation, stat taxes, or "I hope this weapon is as good as the raw ASS! (it isn't)" investments can be fixed with this. More life is usually a safe bet.
- Make sure you're at +9/+4, or even +10/+5 for your weapon. There's only so many slabs per NG so check up on where they are. There should be one or two that's easy to get. Look into the shield too, more stability is nice since iirc it's a % of how much stamina loss you resist so a higher +1 is worth more than a lower +1 (assuming it even gives an additional block).
- Rolling into enemy attacks is usually more effective than rolling away from. Video game physics! There's also a ring that gives more iframes when rolling but I don't remember the name.
Also FF9 is the culmination of issues with the ATB. Look up the ATB Wait Trick which should help a ton when fighting Necron. iirc there's some AI script bits you can take advantage of too, I think Necron always uses Blue Pulsar which is just HP=1 after Grand Cross so it isn't as critical to get your party back up right after it (plus you can take advantage of Steiner's Charge! attack which gives everybody in critical HP a free attack and only provokes one counter but I don't remember if Necron is counter-heavy or not.)
Generally I don't care if I don't finish a game for whatever reason. It'll always nick my pride but I play games to have a neat experience. There's a million and one games out there that might catch my eye and there's not enough time to check 'em out. If I'm having a miserable time with no real result I'll just find something else to do with my time.
For actual DS3 tips:
- 27 vit (vigor? Whatever gives HP) and ember up is enough life to kill him. 27 is a good breakpoint since after that you get shitty returns and there's no other time to blow embers than on the final boss!
- Summon a buddy! I dunno if anybody's left at this point or what NPCs are available. I called up Yuria to finish the Dark Sign plotline and she did a great job distracting the boss while I just piled on fireballs.
- Use one of those consumable buffs for your weapon like the Carthas Rouge. I don't remember what Soul of Cinder is weak to but getting a bleed proc or similar buff can help a ton.
- Use the Power of the Raw ASS! (Astora Straight Sword) I dunno if it was nerfed like the Dark Blade but because Dark Souls 3 was balanced by a Markov Chain Generator it's stupidly effective, cheap to equip, and a straight sword in DS3 so it's already the best weapon class. Plus...
- Don't forget you can respec with a tongue. Poor stat allocation, stat taxes, or "I hope this weapon is as good as the raw ASS! (it isn't)" investments can be fixed with this. More life is usually a safe bet.
- Make sure you're at +9/+4, or even +10/+5 for your weapon. There's only so many slabs per NG so check up on where they are. There should be one or two that's easy to get. Look into the shield too, more stability is nice since iirc it's a % of how much stamina loss you resist so a higher +1 is worth more than a lower +1 (assuming it even gives an additional block).
- Rolling into enemy attacks is usually more effective than rolling away from. Video game physics! There's also a ring that gives more iframes when rolling but I don't remember the name.
Also FF9 is the culmination of issues with the ATB. Look up the ATB Wait Trick which should help a ton when fighting Necron. iirc there's some AI script bits you can take advantage of too, I think Necron always uses Blue Pulsar which is just HP=1 after Grand Cross so it isn't as critical to get your party back up right after it (plus you can take advantage of Steiner's Charge! attack which gives everybody in critical HP a free attack and only provokes one counter but I don't remember if Necron is counter-heavy or not.)
We all have that one game we shelve for a while and go back to with a vengeance. Seven years after I thought I had given up for good, I finally used the Jar of Fly Honey on Master Belch in EarthBound.
I honestly think there's a lot of pressure from both peers and communities that you have to play/beat certain games, watch certain movies, read certain books... or people look at you funny as go "Really? You didn't do such and such?" But honestly, how you choose to spend your time and achieve the things you want to achieve is your perogative and no one else's. Beating Dark Souls doesn't have to be one of them if you're losing sleep over it.
I honestly think there's a lot of pressure from both peers and communities that you have to play/beat certain games, watch certain movies, read certain books... or people look at you funny as go "Really? You didn't do such and such?" But honestly, how you choose to spend your time and achieve the things you want to achieve is your perogative and no one else's. Beating Dark Souls doesn't have to be one of them if you're losing sleep over it.
I've never beaten any fire emblem game except the ones i could use cheats on because i wanted to fucking see everybody's epilogue and there is no epilogue for dead characters and that sucks. It's impossible not to get someone killed at some point, specially with bullshit like the GBA fire emblems where the last boss has guaranteed one-hit kills and bullshit defense. The last levels in those were an exercise in save scumming to decide which characters i was going to sacrifice.
I've only played the first dark souls since that's the only one i've been able to buy, and i put enough time into it that i could beat it. I was actually surprised at how easy the final boss seemed compared to shit like the bros in Anor Londo or Seath.
Another game that beat me entirely and ruined my self steem was La Mulana. HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO HARD DUDE. How tf do you beat this game?
Rock of Ages. It turned too difficult for me in later levels, and it's a damn shame because i wanted to see all the cutscenes and the game aestethic is just so fun and entertaining and it's so sad that i'm not skilled enough to finish this game.
Zeno Clash. Another game i was not good enough to beat, well only the final boss. But yeah i couldn't watch the ending.
I've only played the first dark souls since that's the only one i've been able to buy, and i put enough time into it that i could beat it. I was actually surprised at how easy the final boss seemed compared to shit like the bros in Anor Londo or Seath.
Another game that beat me entirely and ruined my self steem was La Mulana. HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO HARD DUDE. How tf do you beat this game?
Rock of Ages. It turned too difficult for me in later levels, and it's a damn shame because i wanted to see all the cutscenes and the game aestethic is just so fun and entertaining and it's so sad that i'm not skilled enough to finish this game.
Zeno Clash. Another game i was not good enough to beat, well only the final boss. But yeah i couldn't watch the ending.
author=GreatRedSpirit
Personally when it comes to defeat it depends on how I'm failing. I also never beat Dark Souls 1 due to a mix of losing my save from the GFWL to Steam switch and having to do the dumpster heap of dragon butts and bloom known as Lost Izalith again and if the devs ain't gonna give a shit about their game I won't either. I never beat God Hand on hard because holy shit enemies in that game are rude on Level Die and I'd just get wrecked by the mandatory Trident Demon and Fembots in Electric Death Cage Match (then ps2s gotta ps2 and rip that). I never beat Metal Gear Rising on its hardest mode because it was just a giant fuck off slog and I ain't got time to waste on that.
Generally I don't care if I don't finish a game for whatever reason. It'll always nick my pride but I play games to have a neat experience. There's a million and one games out there that might catch my eye and there's not enough time to check 'em out. If I'm having a miserable time with no real result I'll just find something else to do with my time.
For actual DS3 tips:
- 27 vit (vigor? Whatever gives HP) and ember up is enough life to kill him. 27 is a good breakpoint since after that you get shitty returns and there's no other time to blow embers than on the final boss!
- Summon a buddy! I dunno if anybody's left at this point or what NPCs are available. I called up Yuria to finish the Dark Sign plotline and she did a great job distracting the boss while I just piled on fireballs.
- Use one of those consumable buffs for your weapon like the Carthas Rouge. I don't remember what Soul of Cinder is weak to but getting a bleed proc or similar buff can help a ton.
- Use the Power of the Raw ASS! (Astora Straight Sword) I dunno if it was nerfed like the Dark Blade but because Dark Souls 3 was balanced by a Markov Chain Generator it's stupidly effective, cheap to equip, and a straight sword in DS3 so it's already the best weapon class. Plus...
- Don't forget you can respec with a tongue. Poor stat allocation, stat taxes, or "I hope this weapon is as good as the raw ASS! (it isn't)" investments can be fixed with this. More life is usually a safe bet.
- Make sure you're at +9/+4, or even +10/+5 for your weapon. There's only so many slabs per NG so check up on where they are. There should be one or two that's easy to get. Look into the shield too, more stability is nice since iirc it's a % of how much stamina loss you resist so a higher +1 is worth more than a lower +1 (assuming it even gives an additional block).
- Rolling into enemy attacks is usually more effective than rolling away from. Video game physics! There's also a ring that gives more iframes when rolling but I don't remember the name.
Also FF9 is the culmination of issues with the ATB. Look up the ATB Wait Trick which should help a ton when fighting Necron. iirc there's some AI script bits you can take advantage of too, I think Necron always uses Blue Pulsar which is just HP=1 after Grand Cross so it isn't as critical to get your party back up right after it (plus you can take advantage of Steiner's Charge! attack which gives everybody in critical HP a free attack and only provokes one counter but I don't remember if Necron is counter-heavy or not.)
I can post my character's full stats if my totally broken spirit will allow me to power-on my PS4 with DS3 inside again, lol. I don't recall off the top of my head, but I think my Vigor is somewhere in the...40s? Really not sure.
My character is a straight-up knight build so STR, VIT, VGR, and END are all heavily prioritized. I've also got the crazy ring that gives them all like +5, along with the Flame Stoneplate ring, because most of the asshole forms that Soul of Cinder takes use fire attacks, or seem to.
I still have lost to this boss so many times so badly that there is a part of me that literally, not figuratively, makes me want to scream and/or cry at the thought of just putting the disc in and booting up the PS4 to see my character's endgame stats.
UPDATE:
Level: 106
Vigor: 32
Attunement: 10
Endurance: 31
Vitality: 45
Strength: 52
Dexterity: 18
Intelligence: 9
Faith: 10
Luck: 8
Primary: Weapons: Black Knight Sword +5 (Max'd), Arbalest +7, Heavy Battle Axe +10 (Max'd)
Primary Shields: Lothric Knight Greatshield +6, Greatshield of Glory +4
Armor: Gundyr's set plus Cathedral Knight helm.
Rings: Prisoner's Chain, Estus Ring, Knight's Ring, Flame Stoneplate Ring
Equip Load: 94.1%
Embers: 5 left in the whole game except for very unreliable NPC drops. I've brought the shrine hag all the ashes there are to find and I've bought and used all the embers what come out.
Level: 106
Vigor: 32
Attunement: 10
Endurance: 31
Vitality: 45
Strength: 52
Dexterity: 18
Intelligence: 9
Faith: 10
Luck: 8
Primary: Weapons: Black Knight Sword +5 (Max'd), Arbalest +7, Heavy Battle Axe +10 (Max'd)
Primary Shields: Lothric Knight Greatshield +6, Greatshield of Glory +4
Armor: Gundyr's set plus Cathedral Knight helm.
Rings: Prisoner's Chain, Estus Ring, Knight's Ring, Flame Stoneplate Ring
Equip Load: 94.1%
Embers: 5 left in the whole game except for very unreliable NPC drops. I've brought the shrine hag all the ashes there are to find and I've bought and used all the embers what come out.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
author=Max McGee
Equip Load: 94.1%
author=Max McGee
Equip Load: 94.1%
author=Max McGee
Equip Load: 94.1%?!?!
... Okay, yeah. I think I see the problem.
I highly suggest lowering your equip load to under 70% by dropping all but one weapon and shield and switching to lighter armor. Going under 70% equip load gives you a faster roll with quicker recovery and a few more invincibility frames. Plus, your stamina will recharge a LOT faster. Replace the Flame Stoneplate ring with Chloranthy Ring (which lets you regen stamina even faster), and you'll be dancing around the battlefield with little to no effort. It may take a few more attempts while you get used to your newfound agility, but trust me that it's a hell of a lot easier to work with than being chained to the earth.
DS3 changes how poise works, so just having heavier armor does not mean you won't be staggered from small hits. Honestly, without that, the cons of heavy armor far outweight the pros, so I've never really used it to any real degree.
How long have you been running that loadout? To be honest, that's actually really impressive that you've managed to get to the final boss. Props to you for doing that.
EDIT: I recommend you keep your Heavy Battle Axe. It's the fastest one in your arsenal, and you'll need that quick recovery to dodge the boss's super fast attacks. I'm not familiar with the specifics of the greatshields, so keep whichever one has the higher stability, since that determines how much stamina is lost per block.
When games give me bullshit, I give it right back. Usually, I try to find the quickest way to munchkin myself within the confines of the game.
For Xenosaga 1, that was Erde Kaiser + the thing that makes skills cheap and Rubedo and his area of effect attacks amplified with this thing I got at the casino.
But for other games...
For Xenosaga 2 - I couldn't stand more than a few hours of this fucking bullshit. Encounter rate through the roof, random encounters that take several minutes to beat, and 'puzzles' designed to make you run around as much as humanly possible. Add onto this a needlessly difficult battle system and bosses that really hate everything about you, I used my Gameshark on that mother and it was STILL barely tolerable.
Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light - That game is great once you figure out how to break it over your knee - but in the home stretch the game assumes you've done that and fucks you right back. It took forever to beat the last boss, and I was cheating, for god's sake. I just remember thinking to myself - how on earth could I have done this legitimately?
I have no qualms about ironing over the wrinkles developers left behind. Sometimes I just use it to gloss over a small thing, but othertimes I just want to see the fucking ending and I just go whole hog.
For Xenosaga 1, that was Erde Kaiser + the thing that makes skills cheap and Rubedo and his area of effect attacks amplified with this thing I got at the casino.
But for other games...
For Xenosaga 2 - I couldn't stand more than a few hours of this fucking bullshit. Encounter rate through the roof, random encounters that take several minutes to beat, and 'puzzles' designed to make you run around as much as humanly possible. Add onto this a needlessly difficult battle system and bosses that really hate everything about you, I used my Gameshark on that mother and it was STILL barely tolerable.
Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light - That game is great once you figure out how to break it over your knee - but in the home stretch the game assumes you've done that and fucks you right back. It took forever to beat the last boss, and I was cheating, for god's sake. I just remember thinking to myself - how on earth could I have done this legitimately?
I have no qualms about ironing over the wrinkles developers left behind. Sometimes I just use it to gloss over a small thing, but othertimes I just want to see the fucking ending and I just go whole hog.
Dyhalto
7536
I never did beat Dungeon Master. Yeah, Dungeon Master.
Or Wizardry : Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord for that matter.
Otherwise there's a whack of NES and Arcade games I never beat for impracticality reasons. I'm talking Bubble Bobble and Might Bomb Jack type stuff. Ghouls and Ghosts is in there too.
Or Wizardry : Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord for that matter.
Otherwise there's a whack of NES and Arcade games I never beat for impracticality reasons. I'm talking Bubble Bobble and Might Bomb Jack type stuff. Ghouls and Ghosts is in there too.
I played Prinny Can I Really be the Hero - which is not my favorite genre, but I love it. And I took a break somewhere before the final boss (because I like to do that) .. and the break turned out to be very long.
And then I was stuck because I needed to finish the final boss under a time limit and I just fell short of doing it. I don't think my button-press skills on the psp (a console I didn't use all that much too) are something I am willing to train for an extended period of time to do it.
You got advice and I do think you have it in you to beat it. But whether you manage to do it or not - you've seen the whole game and gave it your all and that's what you give yourself props for.
(it's how you don't always require yourself to 100% every single game. you just can't always do that, and shouldn't for the limited time you have)
So, basically, yer kool.
And then I was stuck because I needed to finish the final boss under a time limit and I just fell short of doing it. I don't think my button-press skills on the psp (a console I didn't use all that much too) are something I am willing to train for an extended period of time to do it.
You got advice and I do think you have it in you to beat it. But whether you manage to do it or not - you've seen the whole game and gave it your all and that's what you give yourself props for.
(it's how you don't always require yourself to 100% every single game. you just can't always do that, and shouldn't for the limited time you have)
So, basically, yer kool.
TheNecromancer
3160
Accepting Defeat - When A Website Bans Your Ass
Also, Kylaila holy shit that ms :o Your making me look bad...
Also, Kylaila holy shit that ms :o Your making me look bad...
Dyalto, I think anyone beating a Wizardry game should get like a fucking crown that hovers over their heads all the time - their heads permanently wreathed in an otherworldly divine light.
SnowOwl
5188
It should probably be the other way around but as I got older I got increasingly impatient with games. If they include grinding for more than a very small percentage of the time, I just can't stand them. What's really weird is that I still enjoy games like DotA...
author=SnowOwl
It should probably be the other way around but as I got older I got increasingly impatient with games. If they include grinding for more than a very small percentage of the time, I just can't stand them. What's really weird is that I still enjoy games like DotA...
I think that's pretty normal. More and better time investments at hand.
(also, DotA is like the best hidden time sink because it's "just" half an-hour at a time, anytime. Like a mini self-contained game all over)
author=Link_2112
Accepting Defeat - When A Website Bans Your Ass
Also, Kylaila holy shit that ms :o Your making me look bad...
To be fair, I make most users feel bad~
Which is to say, it's alright and fun.
author=Kylaila
To be fair, I make most users feel bad~
Which is to say, it's alright and fun.
I have yet to see you use homophobic slurs gratuitously, so I think you are a better person by comparison, in my book.
There are times when I'm playing a game, and I just want the thing to be over already. I seem to recall the final dungeon of Suikoden 5 doing this to me without fail, and my last play of Xenosaga 2 (I skipped a lot of the Global Samaritan Campaign for the precise reason Hexatona outlined) probably had that thought somewhere as well.
Dyhalto
7536
author=Hexatona
Dyalto, I think anyone beating a Wizardry game should get like a fucking crown that hovers over their heads all the time - their heads permanently wreathed in an otherworldly divine light.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.
