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I'm extremely open about being trans, yes

@@solarpellets ok that explains why you do go like ds3

A lot of them are also locations for gravelord red phantoms and invaders to spawn, that doesn't really change how I see the areas while I'm playing through the game, though

That's a nice argument senator, why don't you back it up with a source?

@@solarpellets Liking this comment just because it’s a MGRR reference

He drunk Red Bull😂

A few things: there are several playstyles, I understand not liking a playstyle, but the whole series uses shields in that way Please point out any of them so I can correct it I'm not a dude

The comments can be... grating at times, but I'm loving making these lol I'm working on the rest of the game, I'm planning on making it one big video, or a couple bigger videos depending on how long it takes, rather than little videos for each level. Oddly, though, I've kinda had the opposite experience, where there are just so many enemies that killing all of them gives me more than enough souls to level several times after every boss. Granted, I'm killing nearly every enemy and I'm only on the Abyss watchers, but I digress

@@solarpellets I love that you love making these videos! Seeing you talk about the levels and stuff makes me want to replay DS3 actually. I only beat it the first time, just so I could complain about it. :P Would also love to see the SL1 on DS3, I think that would be good content. I mean I’ll watch anything you post. So take it for what’s worth. Hahahhaha

It isn't always empty. That chest is only there as a Fail-Safe in case you drop a key item

@@solarpellets oh, I forgot about that. I never missed any items that end up there so I haven't noticed it in my own playthrough

All I know about Armond is that he's a critic, other than that I don't understand this at all lol

In DS3 specifically, the consumed king's garden has a lot of loud screeching from Oceiros before you even reach him. Even the undead settlement has a lot of bird cries that can sound like hollows screeching, it tripped me up a few times.

@@solarpellets my impression was that the birds were there to get you to look up to see the giant's tower, the giant and the arrow current halfway through impaling you. i might have to replay consumed king's garden i dont remember that

Yeah, I fully agree. I played this game for a couple hundred hours when I first got into souls and just kinda stopped for a while because of everything I've said in this little series of videos, but as I'm playing it again more recently, I'm starting to like what it does. It's still very different from the other two games, and I still prefer the other two, but this one is still incredibly fun, especially if you meet it on its own terms.

That's part of what I like about it lol

@@solarpellets Fair enough. We all got opinions and that's valid. Seeing these vids is making me wanna play DS3 again lol. And DS3 is my 3rd place favorite out of the Dark Trilogy

What are you talking about? The burg is easily the best first level in the series, Sen's is one of the best levels in any game I've ever played, Blighttown is incredibly fun, the depths are oppressive and intense and it's super fun, the Duke's archives is a big puzzle box that's fun to solve, the most I can say about DS3 is that the undead settlement is alright and the smouldering lake is kinda fun.

Really, shrine of Amana is your absolute least favorite? I mean, I get why you wouldn't like it, but least favorite from the entire trilogy? I'll have to do a video like this on that one, to be honest, no man's wharf was incredibly fun to go through, and I feel like, from my relatively limited time in the shrine, that I'll end up liking it, but we'll see lol

@@solarpellets It never felt like fun, especially compared other areas. The most complained about areas never felt too bad. Blighttown isn't that bad, it's just slow. Lost Izalith was pretty good for a rushed area and nothing else bothered me, at least nothing I can think of right now. And if I forgot about it, that means it probably wasn't that bad. Only other area that I can think of is Iron Keep, but you just need to permakill a few of the knights and it isn't that bad.

seriously? amana and not frigid outskirts?

@@rulas_6656 Frigid Outskirts was just kinda aimless wandering it wasn't that bad

You can stand behind a pillar and slowly deal with it while making sure you're not in view of anything else that could possibly damage you, or you could rush it and take it down quickly and not worry about the other threats to begin with. You can play the slow, boring, unfun way, or you can (need to) play the way the game is teaching you to, since that's how you have to deal with a lot of groups anyway. The path to the shaded woods is a terrible example of a forced ambush since they won't come up from behind you unless you're playing with the volume off and didn't look in the doors as you were approaching. If you did that, there are a solid two enemies who will actually attack you following very loud door opening sounds. The crypt, too, since you'll be down there anyway if you're properly exploring and looking for enemies, especially since the entire rest of the area teaches you that mechanic.

@@solarpelletsThere is no other threats, there is a single enemy in the time I referred to. As for ds2 one legit comes from under the ground as I said, the game does not teach you that. Unlike in dark souls 3 where the game teaches you that there is invisible enemies, (in which you claim the opposite twice until the game slaps the direct observation at you, and you just stutter trying to find a way to continue ur narrative after it shit on ur face) and where there is a loud scream from behind you from the beast where you say "it's not like it shows up behind you and then it makes noise, it like, it literally just spawns" despite it screaming directly in front of you 10 seconds prior. You dynamicly ignore/change ur stance on the fly to support ur bad faith pos. You can't simultaneously claim subjectivity and then say something is outright correct and "fun" or "boring".

Since I've gotten no response I'd just like to recommend scripting and proof reading mixed in with these more raw reactions. There are simple contradictions made by you or the game several times in each one of these videos and that would hopefully prevent these from being so prevalent in the future.

The game uses a single enemy as a teaching moment for scenarios where there would be more than one, that's not complicated. DS3 does not teach you that there are invisible enemies by, say, showing you an enemy that disappears in front of you, but instead it just allows invisible enemies to attack you and make your learn that way. The scream from the pontiff beast isn't enough, I should've said something closer to "an obvious noise" since most of the game has random background screeching that has nothing to do with enemies nearby. The undead settlement's birds, or Oceiros in the distance in the consumed king's garden, for instance. I'm not ignoring anything, I'm forming a new opinion as I play because I'm experiencing the game in a way I hadn't in a long time and letting it teach me better how to play. It is objectively true that the intended way to play DS3 is aggressively, everything in the game points toward that. The random unavoidable ambushes, the estus refills, the fast enemies, that's just how the game is intended to be experienced. Whether or not that's fun or boring is entirely subjective and if you can't make that distinction that's not my problem.

@@solarpellets "You can stand behind a pillar and slowly deal with it while making sure you're not in view of anything else that could possibly damage you," if ur slowly dealing with it, it would be immediately apparent that there is nothing else there to deal with. Even IF the player decides to "franticly" go in, you can simply move the camera to the right to see there is nothing else there. DS3 does directly communicate there are invisible enemies, to repeat myself. You see it for a solid 6 seconds from 8:55-9.01 in th-cam.com/video/017NbPlGgME/w-d-xo.html after you say it the game doesn't directly communicate they exist twice. This point you are just flat out wrong on, there isn't anything else to go over here. Another thing you are just flat out wrong on is the pontiff beast, It is an obvious noise, one of which happens mere seconds after stepping on to the bridge and it emanates from an area you just past, which after anyone with any amount of common sense would turn around to see what just yelled in their ear from behind them. This is not an example of "random" noise as there is an exact cause and effect relationship. How can someone say "You can play the slow, boring, unfun way, or you can **(need to)** play the way the game is teaching you" and then say its subjective after saying you NEED to play the game a specific way, despite you also saying "I'm experiencing the game in a way I hadn't in a long time" with the implication you haven't played the game the way you apparently 'NEED" to play it. Once again, script and proof read because you will just continually hinder ur credibility as someone with an option of which should be taken seriously., and not a joke. Once again you can't redundantly say the game teaches you x y and z without saying why or how it teaches you these things.

I'm actively working on a video for the entirety of the rest of DS3 lol. I want to release the whole rest of the game as a single video, but depending on how long it ends up being I might split it up. I have no idea how long it'll take to make, though, hopefully not *too* long

I don't understand how you can comment that you like being punished for no reason on a dark souls 3 video then immediately comment on a dark souls 2 video that they throw stuff at you for no reason and that's bad lmao. Either way, the game does very much teach you if you're willing to listen. Literally just look around and you won't get ambushed.

That's totally on me, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I'll do better in the future 🙏

@@solarpellets Thank you. I know the "official lore" makes him seem mean, but most of that stuff wasn't technically his fault

I'm genuinely confused why you think this. I literally just said I don't like Irithyll lol

That was a harsh choice of words. I apologize. But it's just the way you presented the different encounters. Like how the beast makes no sound and sneaks up behind you. Or like how the one enemy is hiding behind a wall, so how could you know he's there and prepare. Just thought it was a bit complainy.

It's kind of everything combined. Being introduced to more than one of an enemy type isn't bad at all. Like, I think that if you were introduced to the Pontiff knights with just the two you can see coming up the stairs and not the one around the corner then it would be a great introduction. In the case of the golems, they're very spread out and some will likely be taken out by the hydra, too. Dogs are introduced in groups in DS3, too, which I think is fine, since the point of them is dealing with a bunch of frantic fast enemies. The thieves, too, despite them not necessarily being team players lol. My main problem is that it's impossible to know that the witch on the ledge can even attack you from there, on top of there being a bunch of other enemies that distract you from both witches. It also doesn't feel like the fire witches are meant to supplement each other, only the other mobs, but that might just be me.

After carefully reading I now stand corrected. I do think that the fire witch on the ledge shouldn’t attack you, the best enemy placement that I could think of is either getting rid of it or swapping it for the pontiff scythe knight

Yes The raw Astora straight sword It abbreviates to raw ASS That's literally the only reason I'm using it. Because it's funny.

I have a lot of opinions on Elden Ring and a lot of them are negative lol. I do want to do something on that game, especially with a souls build, I just gotta mentally prepare. It'll probably be like my DS3 scythe video, a critique of the negatives disguised as a challenge run.

@UC_9FG1h-wQTP1hdYzvdTxsw sounds awesome :D

I never said the frigid outskirts was similar, I just brought it up because it's a level most people don't like and consider it bad. There are a lot of things said in this comment that make it really hard to not respond, but there are also a lot of things that make no sense and I genuinely have no idea how you came to that conclusion that make it really hard to respond, but my overpowering need to respond is definitely winning out here. First of all, it's still an enemy just spawning behind you, which was my main point, but even if that wasn't the issue, there are so many ambient screeches and roars in this game, on top of the fact that if you run past it you have to fight it in a much worse spot later. If anything, spawning in the water later is supposed to be a punishment for not dealing with it. The shield guy is almost exclusively support, you're supposed to fight him alongside the others, and because he's facing away from the player it's pretty heavily communicated that fighting the first one aggressively is safe, but then the shielded one turns around anyway and the second without a shield attacks at the same time. The game pretty clearly expects you to be ambushed, and even if it didn't, this is a terrible scenario to introduce the Pontiff knights in, anyway. You can't possibly know that they usually exist in more than pairs and you simply don't have enough time to examine the situation in a spot where you can see the one behind the corner before they're both attacking you anyway. Ah, yes, waiting. My favorite strategy. But, once again, even though that's true, it's pretty clearly not what's intended. The game teaches you to dispatch threats quickly because there will be another threat approaching. If you played the high wall or the cathedral you would know that. That holds true here and the test is to take out the threats in the most beneficial order, like I do when I get back, but it's impossible to know what that order is because you haven't seen the fire witches before. See above, the game expects you to dispatch threats quickly, not explore to find an easier way to do it. I suppose it could be argued that you're supposed to do that on your second time through, but even then, the trial and error gameplay is not fun, and the nearby bonfire seems to communicate that they expect you to barely scrape by that encounter. "The game expects you to not have fun" like huh? The entire rest of the game has been encounters like this, and if anything it's teaching you to deal with the knights in different scenarios so that you're capable of more difficult scenarios. For everything about the enemies with the invisible eyes, I was not sprinting through the area. That's just not true. I specifically stop running as I enter that area and look around, even killing an enemy that I see. Also, I don't understand how you can think it's a mix of distance and direction when the first one I point out going completely invisible was right next to me and facing me. That doesn't make any sense. You can also immediately run up the stairs and take out the magic user, and given the layout of the rest of the level, especially scenarios like the first couple fire witches, that definitely seems like the intended response. Granted, doing that has a high potential to suck since, y'know, dogs (not that there are dogs, but from previously going through the level there might be dogs up there from a first time player's perspective). Alright, now the main reason I wanted to respond, wtf do you mean TotG, Izalith, Blighttown, and Earthen Peak? Blighttown is one of the best levels in all of DS1, and most people who've played through the area that I've talked to agree with me, that's not even an uncommon opinion. I genuinely don't understand what you dislike about Blighttown, the area is maze-like, but 3D, which is super interesting, the enemies are oppressive and difficult but forgiving, like how the snipers don't respawn or the barbarians are slow, and the game pretty clearly communicates how it expects you to tackle it. Earthen Peak is a super interesting area, especially since the game still expects you to go slow and mitigate ambushes and whatnot, but forces you to go quickly because of the poison or just suck it up and use a ton of healing, which is pretty unique. It does spring some skeletons on you, but you already know that skeletons can come back to life and they're weak, meaning it's not really a surprise if you're paying attention. Even the big guy is a glass cannon, which makes the combination with all the weak mobs super interesting. Izalith might be a little boring if you just sprint to the end, but it's incredibly fun to explore if for no reason other than the layout of the level itself. The enemies might not be super interesting, but I think it fits pretty well with lore and it's certainly not a bad area. I can understand disliking TotG to a point, but it's an incredibly unique area that DS2 tried and failed to replicate. The oppressive darkness and several ways of mitigating it is a unique challenge that's made even more unique by the several ways you can tackle it and the one the player chooses is heavily influenced by their build and available gear, even coming down to being unprepared leaving you with only a skull lantern and no other options. The enemies are hard, but they're supposed to be, and being attacked quickly by enemies from the darkness is harrowing and incredibly fun.

@@solarpellets I mean ur calling them similar in quality and playability and that doesnt hold up in the ways previously listed. There alot of noises in area but screams and such usually come from enemies, also its a long seemingly empty area in a dark souls game 10 feet from 2 bonfires u should definitely expect to to get ambushed. You can see the third knight as you run up before you agro him, but yeah it is pretty likely they will gank you on a first play through. "Ah, yes, waiting. My favorite strategy. " its not waiting it pulling enemies toward you so you can take them out without agroing the whole town. Hes even looking right at you as you walk up with a high vantage point on you. i half expected him to throw his spear thing at me on my first playthrough. "I was not sprinting through the area." 8:30-9:00 is just you sprinting to the items and a few obvious enemies. Just stop sprinting walk into the area and you can see the tells the invisible slaves have. They do have the ability to do when you're close by looking down but its not a passive ability like they they choose to do it instead of attacking. "the game expects you to dispatch threats quickly, not explore to find an easier way to do it." My man. The first level of ds1. Its the first thing they teach you in the series. Blight town is definitely not considered many peoples favorite level. just the fact that its a poison swamp and it all feels very same-y throughout tho the verticality makes it cooler than some of the other areas ive listed. " Earthen Peak is a super interesting area, especially since the game still expects you to go slow and mitigate ambushes" isnt this exactly what you were nitpicking irithyll over? is it possible you were just newer and more cautious when you played earthen peak and got the intended experience and then tried running through irirthyll and wound up disliking it even thought they use very similar ideas? how do 30 dragon butts standing in lava fit with the lore? TotG is very unique but that doesn't make it good. Which the area in ds2 is the worse version of TotG that you are referring to? the gutter? What makes TotG better than the gutter? the options 3 for mitigating the dark are: skull lantern (2% drop from the necromancers hope u get lucky), cast light (be the right kind of mage), sunlight maggot (have thoroughly explored lost izalith before this despite it being parallel in level progression) These are bad options that make for unfun gameplay. "The enemies are hard, but they're supposed to be, and being attacked quickly by enemies from the darkness is harrowing and incredibly fun." isnt this why you didn't like irithyll? enemies you didnt see attacking you constantly?