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First playthrough: random, learning the game, obviously devolved into stealth archery. Second playthrough: activated Roleplay powers, played a warrior who disliked sneaking and preferred melee combat, problem fixed. Third playthrough: ...stealth archer... but with roleplay, dude was a Bosmer hunter, sneaking and shooting is kind of his deal :D

I usually play a hybrid of stealth archer and mage. If I don't feel like fighting out in the open, I try to either cast Atronachs and runes from a far distance while sneaking, then shoot the enemies to end the encounter fast Quiet casting perk helps in this build.

Personally, Cyberpunk wouldve locked me in more if…. 1. The missions had cinematic cutscenes, even if they were simple like farcry 3 or 4. Instead they did the lazy… stand there with minimal animation and listen to a convo standing awkwardly like farcry 5. 2. The npcs couldve felt more alive… and random encounters. With a lively world that changes over time.

Honestly only did one playthrough in this style and it felt too OP, Ended up usually going between magic and two handed melee heavy armor. The stealth archer is just the easiest build to concept and quickly build up.

I’ve had this feeling before in some way or another, I keep replaying things I SHOULD be enjoying because they’re “masterpieces” and I’m missing out if I’m not sucking out every last drop of entertainment I can. You have to let go, because you’re not going to “find” the spark again, you either come back to it after time has made it alluring again or you just accept that you have seen enough of what a game or piece of media has to offer. Masterpieces aren’t so because we can come back and continue to constantly experience them, they’re masterpieces because they change us and alter how we see the world. That change equips us to move BEYOND the art, to enjoy it not by repeating our consumption ad nauseam; but to enjoy art through how we live after seeing it. Your memories are enough, they aren’t useless because they aren’t present

melee is good but only if you break the games mechanics with an enchanting/alchemy loop but if you do that you end up putting archery on there too once you learn 2 enchants per item, magic is broken and stays broken because theres no power scale,

You get it. The guns thing and the copying pokemon thing obscure that Palworld is a for real landmark big fuggin deal. It's bold and ambitious and stands to revolutionize multiple popular game genres.

what an amazing video, ive played through this game quite a few times but the way you talk about it is great. well done

Subbing for the Fisting!

3 Minutes into this video and of course he drops the Puma comment. Yup im watching this one all the way threw.

Archery in Dark Souls is much better when you use the Hawk Ring- it drastically boosts the range of your shots, making them easier to line up. Personally, I prefer Sneak Daggery over Sneak Archery.

Dark Souls is nearly perfect, but part of what makes it so great is the mystery. You mentioned The Outer Wilds here, and I think it's appropriate. Once you know where everything is and how to get wherever you want, there's not nearly as much joy left to experience, in either of these games. Their mastery is on you discovering the world and learning how it works. Once that's done then there's only so much it can still do. There's still PvP and challenge/speed runs, but the game itself has given you all it can give. I started a second Elden Ring playthrough shortly after I finished my first one, and I never finished it. My first one was so complete that I was just treading old ground again. I'll probably do a new one for the DLC, but doing a new run so close to finishing the first was a mistake. The enjoyment of these games is built so much upon the enjoyment of learning that when there's nothing more to learn there isn't much left to enjoy.

Umm no i hardly ever play as a stealth archer

The irony of the stealth archer is that it is by FAR the most boring unrewarding way to play the game.

To those who remember the commercial and want the song: Light of Aidan - Lament

In my first playthrough, I tried my best to be sneaky and I was low-chaos through it all up to and including the Lord Regent mission. I genuinely thought it was gonna be over and I was a little disappointed that that was gonna be it. Then the Betrayal happened. I still love the line from the Outsider; "Strange how there's always a little more innocence left to lose." when you go under from the poison. I definitely felt pretty jaded and disillusioned with the chaos system. It felt pointless and I let my gameplay reflect that. I just killed everyone in sight, because who even cares anymore, right? And then Daud, of all people, had the nerve to ask for mercy and to remind me there was still A Choice with every action taken. It was just perfect. The Flooded District is the most brutal, hopeless level design and it was easy to give into that, and then there were the survivors. Some were crushed, some were still fighting for every inch of hope. As if to ask which one Corvo falls under. Thank you for this video. It was very entertaining and it actually hit a lot of points I had vaguely thought about but never really pinned down for myself, so this was superb. I'd be really curious to see what you make of the Daud DLC's and his role in DotO, too. I always thought his character growth between the two/three games was very intriguing as he never quite seemed to take to it, despite going most of the way.

Funny enough. I tried stealth archery and switched to one handed.

Man this video really struck a chord. I've had similar realizations with a couple games and it's a strangely emptying feeling when you realize it. Great video.

*Laughs in pure mage only runs since i was a child, in every game, with no exception*

I love that Gideon is seen as such a non threat that you haven’t even counted him among the required bosses to finish the game. Hell he doesn’t even get a foot note 😂 stay irrelevant gideon

I never thought someone could ever defend bed of chaos but the way you explained that makes a lot of sense Still terrible but the vision was there Don’t you dare go hollow and hopefully you’ll be back to Dark Souls some day 🫡

if you go with Hadvar and you are not Imperial by race (but even if you are kinda) you're a boot licker or something, it makes no RP sense, even if ultimately you don't support the Stormcloaks why would you crawl along in trust to the faction who was just about to murder you and call it execution? I have heard it said you don't get as much stuff going with Ralof but thats not true, you can still access the imperial store room at Helgen and there is far more valuable swag at Gerdur's house than Alvor's, it just always annoys me to see that start maybe because I play immersion roleplay. rant over.

that's how you use a bow!!!

My most powerful playtrough ever was illusion conjuration... invisibility and muffle, completely undetectable. Summoning dremora to fight for me which i can just keep resummoning until my enemies are dead. And if i dont wanna do that, i can use the expert calm spell that just makes everyone in a 50 fucking mile radius friendly for a few minutes

Something you could try is challenge runs for example SL1 I have also beaten the game twice and am trying a sl1 run right now. I haven't lost my love for dark souls. I'm more of the kind of person that plays a game tons for a few weeks and doesn't touch it again for a long time.

The sheer broken power of the Stealth Archer had such an impact on me as a kid. Now I'm a ranged main in Runescape and a bard main in FF14, lmao

We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.

wow this is a beautiful video

I wonder if you have ever played cultist simulator or book of hours. I know it’s nothing like dark souls but for some reason your flowery manner of scripting and interest in allowing the game to tell you what to do in small possibly cryptic tidbits of lore makes me wonder if you would enjoy those games

I literally have never played stealth archer

I do i cuz is a game and i want to have fun. Didn't signed up for saving the whole thing. I like the neutral path, while the so called good ending path is all sunshine and smiles it left the girl eith having to deal with evil politician who will be obstacle to her effort to improve the country Like darwin said, those who the environment determined the nature of creature. When you create an environment where evil people always end up dead you have good people thriving.

It's because the combat has no weight or impact, so the only style that feels good to play is stealth archer.

Stealth Archer Primary. Firemage Swordman secondary build rules for me!

I would also say theres an element of enjoyment that gets lost in obligation. I used to love playing piano, but when lessons became a slog and my teacher wouldnt let me do the songs I enjoyed most, i started resenting it and fell off. Playing Dark Souls or Elden Ring or whatever because you want to for fun and playing something because you have to for lessons or a video to get recordings are different. Its just a different headspace, and who knows, maybe one day you'll come back in a different light and love playing it just as much again

Tried to play this game when it came it. But there were to many red flags: - No skill bases matchmaking - Technical Issues while trying to install - So many neg. reviews and post about cheaters Don't know if they are still up to date.

Indeed

I can understand where you're coming from. I'm personally hesitant to replay games that leave as strong an impression as Dark Souls because I'm afraid I'll lose the magic of that first play through. Usually I at least wait a few years so that I've lost a lot of the fine details to memory, and I can replay with a mix of freshness and nostalgia. But it's still never as good as the first time. With that said, if you do end up wanting to come back to Dark Souls down the line, please consider playing the Daughters of Ash mod instead of the vanilla version. It's essentially a challenging remix of most elements of the game, and in my opinion the modder really manages to recapture that feeling of a first play through. And, if it does end up relighting your bonfire, hopefully by then he will have completed his next and more ambitious mod, Nightfall.

"This video may dis u, cuss, and may contain spoilers for Dishonored"* Fixed it

I started gaming at 2 years old, halo CE came out when i was 3 and i played it for the first time on my babysitter's boyfriend's xbox shortly after it launched 😂 been playing halo for 23 years now

This is funny, because I can’t stop using one handed melee heavy armour knight build, it’s just so badass

I've never done stealth archer in Skyrim. I can't be the only one here, right?

A lot of the magic of dark souls comes from that first playthrough. Getting jumped by the asylum demon, the skeletons in firelink, realizing theres this tiny path you missed leading up to the undead berg. A lot of Dark Souls' magic comes from that realization, that discovery. Once that discovery has gone away, it can start to feel empty, almost monotonous. Once you know how to get through each level, subsequent playthroughs become a checklist of hitting each area/boss you remember liking or is required to progress. Now Dark Souls isn't about discovery, overcoming challenges, or even overcoming yourself. It has become about trying to rediscover that same feeling, that satisfaction from that first playthrough. Whenever I replay Dark Souls, the moment I grab the lordvessel I head straight to the dlc. Those bosses, especialy Artorias and Manus, are so late in the game its hard to remember how to fight them. I end up challenging them over and over even after my third playthrough. But after that? I stop. The Izalith gauntlet isn't fun to run through. The asylum demon copy-paste stopped being a fun fight after that first rematch. The Duke's Archives is just projectile and enemy spam, some of the least engaging Dark Souls encounters. New londo and the catacombs aren't fun because of the areas mechanics. New londo's ghost are a pain to get through and The catacombs/tomb of the giant's removes a lot of the awe from the game. No more incredible vistas like Solaire's platform or the first step into Anor Londo. Dark Souls is the type of game where that first playthrough will make or break your experience and love for it. And that love, should it develop, dwindles the more we play it. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and as that first playthrough gets more and more distant in our memories, we want to experience what it was that made us like it in the first place. As gaming evolves over time, Dark souls surprising lack of player freedom and mechanical limitations only heightens this issue. The lack of a jump button, the limited spell casts, the looping yet linear level design. That first playthrough makes the level design stand out. That first run through undead berg and the parish only to realize you have found yourself back at Firelink is an incredible feeling. The walk back up through blighttown, when that music kicks in and you feel at home. That slight melancholy as you realize you must venture out once more. And yet that first playthrough is the only time you truly felt this. Subsequent playthroughs you may feel some amount of dread, as you knowingly head back out towards lost Izalith, through the catacombs, or peruse New Londo. It is not until you claim the lordvessel for that second time, do you realize it is not as fun as it once was. Dark souls has lost its magic.

A moment of silence for our fallen brother 😢

Hey i had a similar dilemma. Try doing the sens gate skip and anor londo before anything else. I was aboe to squeeze one more run cuz of that route

You either play long enough to play as a stealth archer or a stagger-lock mage 😂

Destruction analysis is missing a few things. First of all, there's not too many AoE spells actually, all of them are Adept spells and I guess Master spells but nobody uses them aside from lightning storm. Second, you correctly pointed out the problem with no scaling damage, but it would be fine if the solution was to just get better spells right? That would be true, if higher level spells weren't so horribly inefficient with your mana. You almost required to basically spam apprentice level single target missiles all the way through, cause otherwise you'd be empty in 5 casts and will have nothing to do. You can work around it by stacking spell cost reduction gear until destruction spells are free, but that requires high level enchanting so it's "late" game. Though that does make playing a destruction mage much more fun.

My channel had over 750 subs, my content is dark souls/Bloodborne pvp. I have burnt out on souls since I played demons souls up to sekiro almost nonstop since 2009. I haven't even played elden ring I'm that burnt out

Since you mentioned Outer Wilds. It sounds like you might enjoy seeing a blind playthrough of DS1. Vicariously relive that first playthrough through another person, though of course Outer Wilds is a unique game that makes watching people play the game blind a very very fun watch. (Someday maybe try the Daughters of Ash mod!)

I played all the FromSoft souls games in orer and I just got underwhelmed by the previous when I played the next one. DS1 < DS2 < DS3 < Elden Ring

Elden Ring is too hard. Dark Souls 1 is too simple now. when I played Demon's Souls it took me 3 months to finish, and i finished it a day before Dark Souls release but i started a couple of months later and it took me 6 months from the first Achievement till the first end game achievement. In those months everyone struggled when it was all fresh, now this series is saturated with souls games, and nothing feels lime it used to. PLUS we got older, the brain chemicals are less rewarding. What You need is a new series to struggle and Struggle is what makes a game satisfying, NOT comfort. that is true to life we live as well. I struggled for Exactly full year with Cyberpunk 2077 from the day of release, it was because i took it slow, and on Hardcore difficulty, but when December 10th was looming i knew i needed to get to the finish line. This is what satisfaction is. Since there's no concrete answer to your problem nor a direction where to go, i left you this comment. Find a new series. I suggest Jagged Alliance 2, i've played it, and keep playing it for 23 years.