It should be noted that this was written and recorded before Patch 1.14, and From did a lot to fix most of my complaints about one of the DLC bosses. It's great that a lot of my complaints felt like they were completely justified after all, but man my timing of this video could not have been worse lmao. At least now I can brag I beat him pre-patch... Anyways, I know this is a little unusual for your average Souls video, but to peel back the curtain a bit, I personally found it hard to do an entire script on SOTE that wasn’t just a rephrased version of my original video. I’m sure a lot of people wanted like a 16 hour deep dive into Elden Ring or the DLC, and maybe I’m the problem because I actually like watching those kinds of videos myself, but I’ve always struggled to write a long form video that felt worth the deep dive. A DLC update is no exception, especially one that didn’t really change a whole lot in terms of lore or mechanics. What I ended up doing was adding in concepts from another script I had planned some time back, and I think I found a reasonable middle ground that felt distinct. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but hey, there’s a wide, wide world of Souls videos to choose from, so one slightly different video isn’t going give to give you an aneurysm, But then I want to ask, what would YOU all like to see? What kind of Souls videos would you think would be interesting to watch? I know stuff like Boss Rankings are pretty standard, and I’m not opposed to it, but I’m interested in what other people think. Or, is there anything from KH you’d like to see? Let me know down below! I’m open to most ideas.
hey bro, I watched your KnK videos and I really liked your approach to telling stories comparing the adaptations with the original work, you don't find many videos of this quality that you make here on TH-cam. Honestly, what matters most to me is FSN which was my gateway to the nazuverse and KnK, mahoyo and tsukhime I don't know much about, but I know they are part of the same universe. I haven't had the chance to read the novels yet😓, but your videos helped me better understand what KnK is like in the novels. If you continue to talk about Nazu's works, I will always be present in your videos!!
I appreciate the support! I know I don't do as many Nasuverse videos as I'd like, I try to pace those out because I'd prefer to really try and do them justice, but rest assured they aren't going anywhere at all! I just hope you and others like you are a bit patient :) And if there's anything you're confused on, I'll always be happy to help. I'm not an expert on the finer details on the Nasuverse, but I can do my best to help with anything that seems confusing.
@@ViviVariety Don't worry, I don't try to follow everything in Nazuverse because there are a lot of parallel things that end up confusing the things that I find most interesting in the works. I don't like FGO, I think it's different from the others, but Type Moon is making money from it, so there's not much I can do about it... For me (fsn, knk, tsu and mahoyo,) it's a bit like Bleach or HxH hahaha, I think it's underrated
I personally did not feel like I had visibility issues due to Radahn's VFX, and I loved the fight, but after the couple hours he took me to beat, the VFX were definitely the cause of my headache. I also felt the fight was fair while fighting him, but looking into him more, I agree about the complaints people have about his crossslash combo. I also have complaints about Metyr, so it's not like I disagree with your point in general. I also liked the open world exploration more this time around due to how hidden a lot of the paths between different areas are, but much like in the base game, the open world just becomes a pain in my ass on repeat playthrough. Between the new deflect tear, crouching, jumping, sprinting, backstep, rolling and the defensives ashes of war in the game, I'm fairly satisfied with the defensive options available, but what I'd really like to see now are more offensive options that take brain power. Maybe like some of Monster Hunter's weapons that you charge and stuff through different moves, but without the long combo paths to reach high damage moves that wouldn't really work with the faster bosses of FromSoft or the general jank Monster Hunter has. You almost sold me on KH. Those desesperation moves are exactly the kind of things I'd want boss to have in a game I'd make, though, my idea was mostly stemming from Touhou's spellcard instead. Also, is it "As Redemption, As Judgment" I heard? I suppose I should be expecting a Tsukihime Remake video soon.
For a while I thought the Radahn thing was just me, but a lot of my friends mentioned the same thing as well in addition to stuff I also thought were spotty, like the cross slash. But what I will say what helped me dislike the fight less was the Sekiro tear. As soon as I started using it, I went "wow, this can be kind of fun!", especially when mixed with parries. It didn't fix all the visibility problems obviously, but I found myself actually having fun with the fight at times. I think right now Nioh is my "preferred" way of adding mechanics since it features like, two kinds of rolls, blocks, unique parries, and special blocks designed to counter/dodge different attacks, but I guess we'll see in future From games. The way you describe Monster Hunter mechanics sounds cool too, and I'm all for new innovation in these kinds of games. You definitely heard right on the As Redemption As Judgement :) however, I'm not sure how to tackle Tsukihime yet. I finished the Remake last week and I loved it, I'm even more excited for Red Garden than I originally was before. I think I see a potential video like the Fate one that covers the OG and Remake, but the fact that we're only halfway done with the Remake makes me apprehensive until Red Garden is at least officially on the way. I'll think about it, but trust me, I really want to talk about Tsukihime eventually! Especially since Mahoyo is getting some time in the spotlight soon, so it feels unfair to leave Type-Moon's namesake out.
A big reason the bosses in ER are often overtuned or way over the top (besides the open world) is because the game gives you so many ways to tackle the game. They need to adapt the game to all these things like spirit summons, broken builds etc and i believe this is also the reason we have godskin duo and valiant gargoyles. If they did the typical "one agressive and one passive/ one slow one fast" formula, spirit summons would really break this idea and thats why we don't have a decent duo fight like demon princes. Also thats why Sekiro is so good, because it gives you the least amount of ways to tackle the game
Yeah I think if there's one thing I'd rephrase, it's that Elden Ring is just too big a game to be balanced well between all the stuff we get. We get a lot of tools, but it's just way too much to balance the game around, and it's more like ER adds new stuff rather than refine something like system mechanics, like say, Sekiro as you mentioned. Like I've said before, I'd much rather prefer things like quality over quantity as opposed to a really big sandbox approach that ER seems to employ.
I agree with your comment wholesale, my only issue with the duo boss design philosophy is that with solo bosses, spirit summons already do break their AI enough for it to be considered as a completely different (and in most cases, easier) experience to fighting them 1v1. When the design has already compromised on solo bosses, why they decided to "course correct" and heavily incentivize summoning in gank bosses is something I just don't understand. It just results in a mediocre experience when summoning, and a frustrating cesspool of attack spam with zero harmony when not summoning. I much prefer Lies of P's way to handle summonable spectres, where every boss has a curated spectre that is toggleable right outside the boss arena compared to the "gotta catch em all" pokemon collectathon in elden ring. And so the boss can be somewhat well balanced towards accounting for both the player and the dev-designed spectre both attacking at the same time. It's still easier with the summon of course, but it's not mimic tear levels of broken.
That's a really good point about Lies of P I never thought of actually. I never used the spectre in my own playthroughs, but I did look it up later and thought it was cool how 1. The spectre had a set weapon and 2. The wishstones let you tailor the spectre to the fight and your playstyle. To me, that seems to be a more elegant way of balancing a co-op element without destroying the games balance, and I'm curious what other people think about it. I think the only complaint I ever saw about the spectre was how you can't use it on the final boss, but still, I think that's a really neat idea overall.
To this day, Sekiro is my favourite FROM game, with bloodbourne as a very close second. Elden Ring is fun and although I've actually yet to fight Radahn - I don't really care about lore spoilers, although the final boss being one we've seen before was a bit of a let down - I still can barely bring myself to go through and do multiple playthroughs, especially since NG in FROM titles doesn't add anything, just cranks up the damage and nerfs yours. If Miyazaki could take some inspiration - or hell, even bring him on board - from Yoko Taro and add actual incentive to go into NG+ besides a few different items that are easy to miss, I'd be thrilled.
I've always felt DS2 had the right idea of having meaningful changes in later NG cycles, so I'm surprised that From never went back to that. There's gotta be something in later cycles to give players more incentive to playing NG+ besides adding more health and damage. I also like Yoko Taro's work, but I do think his style might only mesh well with a Sekiro style game as opposed to Souls, and only if it were done very carefully. Maybe something like the B route in Nier Automata, but that opens up another can of worms, and I admit I'm kind of mixed on how the B route is handled (but I LOVE the C route!). On another note, I kind of liked how Lies of P did NG+. You get the standard damage and health buffs, but the player character gets new skills and an extended skill tree to use, not to mention more collectibles. It's not the biggest change ever, but it's a good change of pace compared to the Souls way of doing it.
I might, I've actually been meaning to watch the show lately. Vampires is a topic I'm still working out how to write, especially because you could easily do an entire video on vampires, and an entire video on Dracula, so I need to figure out the right angle for that. That aside, I have heard good things about the Interview with a Vampire series, so I'm looking forward to it!
I definitely admit to letting frustration with the camera getting the better of me, because after x many games my patience was just reaching the limit lol that said, I'm definitely open to at least giving Bayle another shot next time around. Midir was one of my favorite DS3 bosses, so to have a boss that seemed like a step backwards rubbed me the wrong way.
As for the bosses, exploration and the Miquella/Radahn bossfight, I found the exploration in the DLC more fun than the basegame, with what felt like (To me) better space management, with how much stuff I found in this small map (especially Gravesite Plains), and it also looks like Fromsoft made some areas as reward of exploration (something like Ash Lake in DS1), with Cerulean Coast, Charo's Hidden Grave and Abyssal Woods as example For bosses, I enjoyed them more when I've learned their attacks, I despised like half of the bosses until I learned how to dodge their attacks, afterwards most of those bosses became fun, with Gaius, Bayle and Putrescent Knight as examples For the Miquella/Radahn boss fight, the only major issue I have with it is the double slash into cross slash move with how difficult it is to dodge compared to other attacks And for it just being a reused boss from the basegame, I'd disagree, because you confront Miquella, not Radahn. And for the ending cutscene not giving anything, I'd actually say that the Miquella/Radahn boss fight is the flashy cutscene at the end of the dlc
For Bayle I'll definitely try to fight him differently next time, I downed him in like four tries so I didn't feel the need to change strategies, but I'll give it another shot in the future. As for Radahn, I know essentially you're facing Miquella "possessing" Radahn, but to me that's more of a technicality, because even if you get down to the details, Consort Radahn technically feels very different compared to Starscourge. My issue is more with how the final boss wasn't something...different. I wasn't one of those people who expected Godwyn or a Miquella fight (that wouldn't make sense) or anything, but I've always liked how From DLC final bosses were different from what we saw in the base game. Manus, Gael, Friede, and the Orphan were original and had their own lore that felt very unique and refreshing, so to have the final boss for Elden Ring be basically Prime Radahn rubbed me the wrong way, especially since it's just Radahn with Miquella adding to the moveset. I chalk this up to past DLCs shaping my expectations though.
Huh, perfect timing lol I see there's some visibility changes and they definitely changed the cross slash, so that's really good. I'm gonna check out the detailed changes later for sure, but wow, what awful timing on my part xD
I think the sunk cost fallacy definitely plays a role, although I feel like I mostly see people enjoy it ironically these days. That's basically where I landed like ten years ago too. Like I'm all for a complicated story, I literally made videos on Dune and Type-Moon stories lol...but KH is basically like a complicated take on a C grade shonen jump manga, where friendship triumphs over all and whatnot. It's about as deep as a kiddie pool. But it should be noted that while the story is a mess, the characters are mostly likable...well, most of them...and you'd be surprised at how often likable characters can carry a mediocre story. It happens a lot in many mediums.
I agree with the majority of your critique. I however do think you are being too kind and it seems a lot of folks are that way when it comes to criticizing FromSoft.. So to start.. There's no excuse for this DLC to be so empty and devoid of new enemies/bosses and meaningful loot or side areas worth exploring. The recycling of bosses (Dragons, Death Rite Birds, Falling Star Beast, Erdtree Sentinel Knights, etc) and enemies in this DLC is inexcusable. The cost of SoE is nearly 2/3rds the price of the full game. I don't think my expectations were too much thinking there would be a lot more meat on the bone after 2 years development and the size of the base game, in comparison. And while I am making comparisons.. Every legacy dungeon in SoE (of which there aren't many) aside from the Shadow Keep is disappointing or mediocre when judged alongside Storm Veil, Volcano Manor, Leyndell Royal Capitol, Farum Azul, Miquella's Haligtree or any other number of locations from the base game. SoE legacy dungeons aren't complex. They're too linear, easily navigated and have poor loot in comparison while also having far less replay ability. Speaking of locations in comparison to the base game and SOE.. The complaint about the caves, tombs, mines and other side areas from the base game wasn't that there were too many.. It's that they were not unique enough and recycled enemies & bosses too frequently. Fromsoft took those away and didn't replace them with anything! I have never been more disappointed in a Souls game as I was exploring the empty areas in SoE. So much space on the map that was difficult to access.. Only to find nothing there. How deflating an experience. Fromsoft also could have added more dynamic builds to the game by allowing us to equip another talisman and armor piece, like a cape or something. The empty place for another talisman and armor slot are right there in the equipment screen. FromSoft already have the tailoring needle mechanic allowing the removal of capes in the game, too. Fromsoft could have given us factions again. They could have given us skins for Torrent. They could have added more PVP arena functionality. Boss arena rush mode. Grace remembrances to bring back a boss, like bonfire ascetics in DS2. So much could have been added to make this a proper full DLC worthy of the price and the success garnered by the base game and it just wasn't done. Such a shame. And don't get me started on the lore. Thinking about it only further illustrates how rushed this DLC was and makes me feel like Fromsoft has gotten lost in the sauce. Or are trolling us.. Because they are seemingly too lazy to try and make any real effort to connect the lore for the DLC to the base game. It feels wholly disjointed and random. Anyways, long story short.. SoE is a major disappointment. I'd give it a 5/10. That's being generous. If you told me a couple months ago that this would be the send off to one of my favorite games of all time & this is the only DLC we would ever be getting for Elden Ring... I wouldn't have believed such a travesty could be possible. I played thru the base game nearly 5 times. I don't want to replay the DLC at all. Oh, well.. I'm getting used to being disappointed. Good video!
I mean I actually don't disagree with anything you said at all! You're right in that I definitely was too nice. I usually try to be more reasonable with most critiques unless I REALLY hate something (like Radahn), so that always comes through in a lot of my content. But yeah, like I said, I feel like I'm in the same boat, albeit less heated. I'd have loved more changes all around, and the one thing I really did like that I didn't mention, the Sekiro tear, was like a band-aid fix to mechanics in the base game...and it's STILL just a worse version of a mechanic in a game I have way more fun in. I also wasn't too big on many of the dungeons besides like, the very first two, but I also didn't hate them, so they got chucked into the "I fell meh about this" pile like a lot of stuff...which is indicative of the problems in general, because the last thing you should be feeling about a DLC you paid for is "it's alright I guess". I think for me, as much as I was hoping for more drastic changes, I think in my heart of hearts I knew that wasn't what we were gonna get, so I prepared for that. I also found myself just getting super burned out playing the DLC. I actually had a plan to do a run of Elden Ring where I killed Mohg early and did DLC stuff before finishing the base game, and I did record some footage that made it's way into the video...but when I thought about recording more or even just finishing it in my off time, I just lost all semblance of motivation whatsoever.
ER toed the line between unfair and pushing the souls combat to the limit. It just barely made it. The dlc went way over the line and it’s utter bullshit. The bosses are too hard to solo , sure it can be done. I did it. But it was torture and it wasn’t fun learning, because it wasn’t about learning. It was about overcoming the cheap input reading and artificial difficulty the bosses in the other games didn’t have. Horrible.
I mean I don't disagree entirely, I think my opinion would only differ in that SOTE still feels like it walks the tight rope, barely. It's obviously beatable in it's current state without summons or co-op. I've done it, you've done it, and so have thousands of other players. It's a matter if it feels fun or fair, and that's where Elden Ring starts to drop the ball in my opinion. Just because we can beat it, it doesn't mean it's designed well. There's always room for polish and improvement.
@@ViviVariety Radahn is just too much. And I just solo beat Bayle but it took me 3 buffs and ancient lightning storm to get me there…. But yea there’s just no way I’m beating him with a normal weapon … Bayle and Radahn have to much chaos, I cannot keep up. There’s too much visual stimulation on top of the memorization required. It’s too much IMO Miyazaki or was it FSW twitter , actually tweeted they may have went too far. I think they know , and their reasoning is “well they have spirit summons and really powerful weapons, they’ll manage”. And the problem is, not everyone wants to use spirit summons because using them literally skips the boss encounters. I don’t get FSW anymore
Wow kingdomHearts looks like a F*kin amazing game! - - Ruined by its forced boy protagonist :/ I dont see any reason why a female version of that character couldn't have been a thing, hell even a customizable character. Its ultimately greedy company's not wanting to spend a dime more then they have too. ULG. Edit: sigh you also bring up lies of P... Sooo many Souls games that try to copy dark souls while never offering a female option, such a waste. yah Fromsoft games Dont realy care about visually supporting the female option(your either a mage or playing the game on hard mode) But atleast it has the option, Thats what the souls games are about! Options.
First off, I admit to not being the best judge of this kind of topic, and it’s part of a much bigger talking point I feel is hard to dissect in a TH-cam comment. But I mean I don’t disagree with a lot of what you’re saying, I definitely think Kingdom Hearts could have worked regardless of Sora’s gender, (also the fan fiction would go CRAZY…well crazier than usual) but NOT a customizable character, because the last thing we need is another player insert with no personality. I personally despise that because it almost always correlates with a nosedive in story quality, because the writer/writers have to write around the player “inserting their personality” as opposed to an existing character with a compelling personality or backstory. Plus it’s not like KH even has the best story ever, I can’t imagine how bad the story could get if Square tried to add two versions of Sora. But you also gotta keep in mind that KH is from a different time, and Japan isn’t really known for inclusivity. They’re getting better, but something like a Fem Sora just wasn’t in the cards 20 years ago…plus honestly, I highly doubt Tetsuya Nomura could write a female character well. He literally has only done it like twice ever in 20 years, (Aqua and MAYBE Xion…), for some reason he suffers from the Kishimoto problem of “aw gee I can’t write gurls” that he made up. Between having another generic shounen MC, or a potentially poorly written one like Kairi, I dunno which sounds worse to be honest. And realistically, it’s just really expensive to do multiple player characters. Think about how with Persona 3 Reload, the FemC from the older version had to be cut because it was super expensive to basically double the game in terms of writing and voice acting. Seriously, can you imagine trying to develop a Female Sora? KH already cost a truckload in terms of VA talent back in the day with people like Haley Joel Osment and Hayden Paniterre, adding another to the pile might be too much even for Square Enix, who are no strangers to flushing money down the toilet lol. That’s why I think most realistic/cost effective option for a lot of devs is to opt for the “silent customizable character” like From and Nioh do. Hell, even Nioh made the pivot from Nioh 1 and 2 to having a locked male player character, to a customizable one in Nioh 2. I know you mention Lies of P as being locked to a male MC, and I kind of agree with your frustration, because P’s gender doesn’t matter at all, but considering it was the dev’s first major release, they probably wanted to start small and evolve in the future. In addition, because the sequel to Lies of P seems to be Wizard of Oz focused, I can definitely see them switching things up. There’s an argument to be made that the devs tried to stick to the original Pinnochio story at first, so it doesn’t make as much sense to even have a customizable character in the first place. But with the sequel being based on Oz, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dorothy is the playable character this time. I know that was a little lengthy, and like I said, I do think there’s a larger discussion to be had about inclusivity in games, but I like to think that things are getting better. From is generally one of the better devs in female representation with characters like Maria, Friede, or Emma among others, but I still think we’re a long ways off from the kind of game you might be expecting. An RPG with loose lore and minimal story is easy to create inclusive playable characters for, but a story based game like KH that has something like multiple playable characters is just super expensive in this day and age when you account for writing, voice acting, and dev time, and its usually not a realistic scenario for most devs. I can understand the frustration at devs not supporting it to the extent you want, but it also helps to keep expectations reasonable, It’s a game of inches, not miles, and there has been steps forward even if it’s the massive step forward we both want. Personally I’d LOVE a Kingdom Hearts game with a female player character (give us a Kairi game, you cowards), but I also know there’s just a lot more going on that I’m not privy to, so I know I should hope for the best, but temper that expectation with a healthy dash of realism.
@@ViviVariety I hear you, I also know and understand how the games industry works, Been basically studying it through youtube xD (15 years) To touch upon a couple of things you mentioned tho. I wouldn't say customizability is the instant story killer you say it is, Shepard being the best example i can think of. Just make it so the customization isn't too extreme and make it clear that its not 'your character'. I will admit however that is does constrain story telling in some ways, But it doesn't mean there isnt room for good story. I respect Japan in alot of ways, Mainly their work culture/ laws that allows them to keep a long lasting and tight nit development team, Alowing for unmatched cohesion, Giving them a huge leg up over Western development... But yah They are largely very focused on mascots selling the brand. Gaming over there was at first entirely dominated by boys... their mascots can't evolve.. they would see making female versions as damaging the brand. Its an ugly truth, one that gate keeps me from another series ill never get to enjoy(Zelda) - - , despite linkle being all but official. The budget constraints you speak of are drop in the bucket compared to the millions spent on marketing. Ultimately they just don't want to pay and rely on people more then they have too, corporations are all about eliminating the deviance people create, especially when it comes to limiting the power of artists. I get apologizing for company's, I used to do that all the time, But just because you have the mind of a business savvy Ceo doesn't mean what they do is right. We need regulations. Company's will never not do what will generate the most profits, And because democracy as been become corrupted by that selfish greed.. it has allowed business to completely side step the consumer.
You make a really good point with Mass Effect, I haven’t actually played the series, but I've definitely heard a lot of good things about how they handle player characters. I’m guilty of associating “player characters” with “self inserts” and how they often overlap, but not always. I chalk it up to me being into JRPGs where badly done silent protags and self inserts are like the norm. But you’re totally right, it’s absolutely possible to have a distinct customizable character with a set personality and backstory…it just isn’t the norm unfortunately. Likely due to laziness. And speaking of laziness, I’m inclined to believe you about gaming budgets and all. I know in the movie industry, I was shocked to find out how much marketing bloats a budget, and I imagine games are the same way. Not to mention how little VA’s get paid…so yeah, maybe it’s not as expensive as it is as I thought to hire VA’s for more work. But yeah, I actually feel like I understand where you’re coming from. Sometimes I feel both optimistic and pessimistic about the gaming industry, because there are some improvements…yet I feel like the steps aren’t as big as I hope, and the fact that we’re at the mercy of shareholders and CEOs makes it hard to believe that they’ll make the changes we like. You’re 100% right that at the end of the day, money talks, and there are many cases of companies opting to listen to money as opposed to literally anything else.
@@ViviVariety just to chime in on something semi-related to mass effect, Star Control 2, which had a lot of influence on the Mass Effect series, had a successful kickstarter - FREE STARS: Children of Infinity. I'm looking forward to it coming out. (starcontrol 3 didn't involve the original creators, unlike this one, that does).
It should be noted that this was written and recorded before Patch 1.14, and From did a lot to fix most of my complaints about one of the DLC bosses. It's great that a lot of my complaints felt like they were completely justified after all, but man my timing of this video could not have been worse lmao. At least now I can brag I beat him pre-patch...
Anyways, I know this is a little unusual for your average Souls video, but to peel back the curtain a bit, I personally found it hard to do an entire script on SOTE that wasn’t just a rephrased version of my original video. I’m sure a lot of people wanted like a 16 hour deep dive into Elden Ring or the DLC, and maybe I’m the problem because I actually like watching those kinds of videos myself, but I’ve always struggled to write a long form video that felt worth the deep dive. A DLC update is no exception, especially one that didn’t really change a whole lot in terms of lore or mechanics.
What I ended up doing was adding in concepts from another script I had planned some time back, and I think I found a reasonable middle ground that felt distinct. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but hey, there’s a wide, wide world of Souls videos to choose from, so one slightly different video isn’t going give to give you an aneurysm,
But then I want to ask, what would YOU all like to see? What kind of Souls videos would you think would be interesting to watch? I know stuff like Boss Rankings are pretty standard, and I’m not opposed to it, but I’m interested in what other people think. Or, is there anything from KH you’d like to see? Let me know down below! I’m open to most ideas.
hey bro, I watched your KnK videos and I really liked your approach to telling stories comparing the adaptations with the original work, you don't find many videos of this quality that you make here on TH-cam. Honestly, what matters most to me is FSN which was my gateway to the nazuverse and KnK, mahoyo and tsukhime I don't know much about, but I know they are part of the same universe. I haven't had the chance to read the novels yet😓, but your videos helped me better understand what KnK is like in the novels. If you continue to talk about Nazu's works, I will always be present in your videos!!
I appreciate the support! I know I don't do as many Nasuverse videos as I'd like, I try to pace those out because I'd prefer to really try and do them justice, but rest assured they aren't going anywhere at all! I just hope you and others like you are a bit patient :)
And if there's anything you're confused on, I'll always be happy to help. I'm not an expert on the finer details on the Nasuverse, but I can do my best to help with anything that seems confusing.
@@ViviVariety Don't worry, I don't try to follow everything in Nazuverse because there are a lot of parallel things that end up confusing the things that I find most interesting in the works. I don't like FGO, I think it's different from the others, but Type Moon is making money from it, so there's not much I can do about it... For me (fsn, knk, tsu and mahoyo,) it's a bit like Bleach or HxH hahaha, I think it's underrated
I personally did not feel like I had visibility issues due to Radahn's VFX, and I loved the fight, but after the couple hours he took me to beat, the VFX were definitely the cause of my headache. I also felt the fight was fair while fighting him, but looking into him more, I agree about the complaints people have about his crossslash combo. I also have complaints about Metyr, so it's not like I disagree with your point in general.
I also liked the open world exploration more this time around due to how hidden a lot of the paths between different areas are, but much like in the base game, the open world just becomes a pain in my ass on repeat playthrough.
Between the new deflect tear, crouching, jumping, sprinting, backstep, rolling and the defensives ashes of war in the game, I'm fairly satisfied with the defensive options available, but what I'd really like to see now are more offensive options that take brain power. Maybe like some of Monster Hunter's weapons that you charge and stuff through different moves, but without the long combo paths to reach high damage moves that wouldn't really work with the faster bosses of FromSoft or the general jank Monster Hunter has.
You almost sold me on KH. Those desesperation moves are exactly the kind of things I'd want boss to have in a game I'd make, though, my idea was mostly stemming from Touhou's spellcard instead.
Also, is it "As Redemption, As Judgment" I heard? I suppose I should be expecting a Tsukihime Remake video soon.
For a while I thought the Radahn thing was just me, but a lot of my friends mentioned the same thing as well in addition to stuff I also thought were spotty, like the cross slash. But what I will say what helped me dislike the fight less was the Sekiro tear. As soon as I started using it, I went "wow, this can be kind of fun!", especially when mixed with parries. It didn't fix all the visibility problems obviously, but I found myself actually having fun with the fight at times.
I think right now Nioh is my "preferred" way of adding mechanics since it features like, two kinds of rolls, blocks, unique parries, and special blocks designed to counter/dodge different attacks, but I guess we'll see in future From games. The way you describe Monster Hunter mechanics sounds cool too, and I'm all for new innovation in these kinds of games.
You definitely heard right on the As Redemption As Judgement :) however, I'm not sure how to tackle Tsukihime yet. I finished the Remake last week and I loved it, I'm even more excited for Red Garden than I originally was before. I think I see a potential video like the Fate one that covers the OG and Remake, but the fact that we're only halfway done with the Remake makes me apprehensive until Red Garden is at least officially on the way. I'll think about it, but trust me, I really want to talk about Tsukihime eventually! Especially since Mahoyo is getting some time in the spotlight soon, so it feels unfair to leave Type-Moon's namesake out.
Happy to see another Vivi vid (even if I have not touched edlen ring)
Someday I'll get on a more consistent schedule * huffs copium*
A big reason the bosses in ER are often overtuned or way over the top (besides the open world) is because the game gives you so many ways to tackle the game.
They need to adapt the game to all these things like spirit summons, broken builds etc and i believe this is also the reason we have godskin duo and valiant gargoyles.
If they did the typical "one agressive and one passive/ one slow one fast" formula, spirit summons would really break this idea and thats why we don't have a decent duo fight like demon princes.
Also thats why Sekiro is so good, because it gives you the least amount of ways to tackle the game
Yeah I think if there's one thing I'd rephrase, it's that Elden Ring is just too big a game to be balanced well between all the stuff we get. We get a lot of tools, but it's just way too much to balance the game around, and it's more like ER adds new stuff rather than refine something like system mechanics, like say, Sekiro as you mentioned. Like I've said before, I'd much rather prefer things like quality over quantity as opposed to a really big sandbox approach that ER seems to employ.
I agree with your comment wholesale, my only issue with the duo boss design philosophy is that with solo bosses, spirit summons already do break their AI enough for it to be considered as a completely different (and in most cases, easier) experience to fighting them 1v1. When the design has already compromised on solo bosses, why they decided to "course correct" and heavily incentivize summoning in gank bosses is something I just don't understand. It just results in a mediocre experience when summoning, and a frustrating cesspool of attack spam with zero harmony when not summoning.
I much prefer Lies of P's way to handle summonable spectres, where every boss has a curated spectre that is toggleable right outside the boss arena compared to the "gotta catch em all" pokemon collectathon in elden ring. And so the boss can be somewhat well balanced towards accounting for both the player and the dev-designed spectre both attacking at the same time. It's still easier with the summon of course, but it's not mimic tear levels of broken.
That's a really good point about Lies of P I never thought of actually. I never used the spectre in my own playthroughs, but I did look it up later and thought it was cool how 1. The spectre had a set weapon and 2. The wishstones let you tailor the spectre to the fight and your playstyle. To me, that seems to be a more elegant way of balancing a co-op element without destroying the games balance, and I'm curious what other people think about it. I think the only complaint I ever saw about the spectre was how you can't use it on the final boss, but still, I think that's a really neat idea overall.
To this day, Sekiro is my favourite FROM game, with bloodbourne as a very close second.
Elden Ring is fun and although I've actually yet to fight Radahn - I don't really care about lore spoilers, although the final boss being one we've seen before was a bit of a let down - I still can barely bring myself to go through and do multiple playthroughs, especially since NG in FROM titles doesn't add anything, just cranks up the damage and nerfs yours.
If Miyazaki could take some inspiration - or hell, even bring him on board - from Yoko Taro and add actual incentive to go into NG+ besides a few different items that are easy to miss, I'd be thrilled.
I'd rather the game wasn't artificially longer by doing it like Yoko Taro.
I've always felt DS2 had the right idea of having meaningful changes in later NG cycles, so I'm surprised that From never went back to that. There's gotta be something in later cycles to give players more incentive to playing NG+ besides adding more health and damage.
I also like Yoko Taro's work, but I do think his style might only mesh well with a Sekiro style game as opposed to Souls, and only if it were done very carefully. Maybe something like the B route in Nier Automata, but that opens up another can of worms, and I admit I'm kind of mixed on how the B route is handled (but I LOVE the C route!).
On another note, I kind of liked how Lies of P did NG+. You get the standard damage and health buffs, but the player character gets new skills and an extended skill tree to use, not to mention more collectibles. It's not the biggest change ever, but it's a good change of pace compared to the Souls way of doing it.
Video 🙌
Would love to see you cover the interview with a Vampire story.
I might, I've actually been meaning to watch the show lately. Vampires is a topic I'm still working out how to write, especially because you could easily do an entire video on vampires, and an entire video on Dracula, so I need to figure out the right angle for that.
That aside, I have heard good things about the Interview with a Vampire series, so I'm looking forward to it!
I agree with a lot of stuff , but i think if you can manage to look past the camera issues its one of best fights in the dlc
I definitely admit to letting frustration with the camera getting the better of me, because after x many games my patience was just reaching the limit lol that said, I'm definitely open to at least giving Bayle another shot next time around. Midir was one of my favorite DS3 bosses, so to have a boss that seemed like a step backwards rubbed me the wrong way.
You should definetely fight Bayle like Midir
As for the bosses, exploration and the Miquella/Radahn bossfight, I found the exploration in the DLC more fun than the basegame, with what felt like (To me) better space management, with how much stuff I found in this small map (especially Gravesite Plains), and it also looks like Fromsoft made some areas as reward of exploration (something like Ash Lake in DS1), with Cerulean Coast, Charo's Hidden Grave and Abyssal Woods as example
For bosses, I enjoyed them more when I've learned their attacks, I despised like half of the bosses until I learned how to dodge their attacks, afterwards most of those bosses became fun, with Gaius, Bayle and Putrescent Knight as examples
For the Miquella/Radahn boss fight, the only major issue I have with it is the double slash into cross slash move with how difficult it is to dodge compared to other attacks
And for it just being a reused boss from the basegame, I'd disagree, because you confront Miquella, not Radahn. And for the ending cutscene not giving anything, I'd actually say that the Miquella/Radahn boss fight is the flashy cutscene at the end of the dlc
For Bayle I'll definitely try to fight him differently next time, I downed him in like four tries so I didn't feel the need to change strategies, but I'll give it another shot in the future.
As for Radahn, I know essentially you're facing Miquella "possessing" Radahn, but to me that's more of a technicality, because even if you get down to the details, Consort Radahn technically feels very different compared to Starscourge.
My issue is more with how the final boss wasn't something...different. I wasn't one of those people who expected Godwyn or a Miquella fight (that wouldn't make sense) or anything, but I've always liked how From DLC final bosses were different from what we saw in the base game. Manus, Gael, Friede, and the Orphan were original and had their own lore that felt very unique and refreshing, so to have the final boss for Elden Ring be basically Prime Radahn rubbed me the wrong way, especially since it's just Radahn with Miquella adding to the moveset. I chalk this up to past DLCs shaping my expectations though.
@@ViviVariety 1.14 just came out, miquella radahn bossfight nerf
Huh, perfect timing lol I see there's some visibility changes and they definitely changed the cross slash, so that's really good. I'm gonna check out the detailed changes later for sure, but wow, what awful timing on my part xD
Never skip a vivi video
Nah kingdom hearts to me is literally cutscene hell, where the dialogue has the length of the Iliad but the substance of a fart joke
Lmao you aren't wrong
@@ViviVariety worse, the fans vouch for an unnecessarily verbose and convoluted story, like some intellectual's version of a sunken cost fallacy
I think the sunk cost fallacy definitely plays a role, although I feel like I mostly see people enjoy it ironically these days. That's basically where I landed like ten years ago too.
Like I'm all for a complicated story, I literally made videos on Dune and Type-Moon stories lol...but KH is basically like a complicated take on a C grade shonen jump manga, where friendship triumphs over all and whatnot. It's about as deep as a kiddie pool.
But it should be noted that while the story is a mess, the characters are mostly likable...well, most of them...and you'd be surprised at how often likable characters can carry a mediocre story. It happens a lot in many mediums.
I agree with the majority of your critique. I however do think you are being too kind and it seems a lot of folks are that way when it comes to criticizing FromSoft..
So to start.. There's no excuse for this DLC to be so empty and devoid of new enemies/bosses and meaningful loot or side areas worth exploring. The recycling of bosses (Dragons, Death Rite Birds, Falling Star Beast, Erdtree Sentinel Knights, etc) and enemies in this DLC is inexcusable. The cost of SoE is nearly 2/3rds the price of the full game. I don't think my expectations were too much thinking there would be a lot more meat on the bone after 2 years development and the size of the base game, in comparison.
And while I am making comparisons.. Every legacy dungeon in SoE (of which there aren't many) aside from the Shadow Keep is disappointing or mediocre when judged alongside Storm Veil, Volcano Manor, Leyndell Royal Capitol, Farum Azul, Miquella's Haligtree or any other number of locations from the base game. SoE legacy dungeons aren't complex. They're too linear, easily navigated and have poor loot in comparison while also having far less replay ability.
Speaking of locations in comparison to the base game and SOE.. The complaint about the caves, tombs, mines and other side areas from the base game wasn't that there were too many.. It's that they were not unique enough and recycled enemies & bosses too frequently. Fromsoft took those away and didn't replace them with anything! I have never been more disappointed in a Souls game as I was exploring the empty areas in SoE. So much space on the map that was difficult to access.. Only to find nothing there. How deflating an experience.
Fromsoft also could have added more dynamic builds to the game by allowing us to equip another talisman and armor piece, like a cape or something. The empty place for another talisman and armor slot are right there in the equipment screen. FromSoft already have the tailoring needle mechanic allowing the removal of capes in the game, too.
Fromsoft could have given us factions again. They could have given us skins for Torrent. They could have added more PVP arena functionality. Boss arena rush mode. Grace remembrances to bring back a boss, like bonfire ascetics in DS2. So much could have been added to make this a proper full DLC worthy of the price and the success garnered by the base game and it just wasn't done. Such a shame.
And don't get me started on the lore. Thinking about it only further illustrates how rushed this DLC was and makes me feel like Fromsoft has gotten lost in the sauce. Or are trolling us.. Because they are seemingly too lazy to try and make any real effort to connect the lore for the DLC to the base game. It feels wholly disjointed and random.
Anyways, long story short.. SoE is a major disappointment. I'd give it a 5/10. That's being generous. If you told me a couple months ago that this would be the send off to one of my favorite games of all time & this is the only DLC we would ever be getting for Elden Ring... I wouldn't have believed such a travesty could be possible. I played thru the base game nearly 5 times. I don't want to replay the DLC at all. Oh, well.. I'm getting used to being disappointed. Good video!
I mean I actually don't disagree with anything you said at all! You're right in that I definitely was too nice. I usually try to be more reasonable with most critiques unless I REALLY hate something (like Radahn), so that always comes through in a lot of my content.
But yeah, like I said, I feel like I'm in the same boat, albeit less heated. I'd have loved more changes all around, and the one thing I really did like that I didn't mention, the Sekiro tear, was like a band-aid fix to mechanics in the base game...and it's STILL just a worse version of a mechanic in a game I have way more fun in.
I also wasn't too big on many of the dungeons besides like, the very first two, but I also didn't hate them, so they got chucked into the "I fell meh about this" pile like a lot of stuff...which is indicative of the problems in general, because the last thing you should be feeling about a DLC you paid for is "it's alright I guess".
I think for me, as much as I was hoping for more drastic changes, I think in my heart of hearts I knew that wasn't what we were gonna get, so I prepared for that. I also found myself just getting super burned out playing the DLC. I actually had a plan to do a run of Elden Ring where I killed Mohg early and did DLC stuff before finishing the base game, and I did record some footage that made it's way into the video...but when I thought about recording more or even just finishing it in my off time, I just lost all semblance of motivation whatsoever.
@@ViviVariety I understand as a content creator trying to have a more reasoned take on things. Thanks for the reply.. I appreciate your response!
ER toed the line between unfair and pushing the souls combat to the limit. It just barely made it.
The dlc went way over the line and it’s utter bullshit. The bosses are too hard to solo , sure it can be done. I did it. But it was torture and it wasn’t fun learning, because it wasn’t about learning. It was about overcoming the cheap input reading and artificial difficulty the bosses in the other games didn’t have. Horrible.
I mean I don't disagree entirely, I think my opinion would only differ in that SOTE still feels like it walks the tight rope, barely. It's obviously beatable in it's current state without summons or co-op. I've done it, you've done it, and so have thousands of other players. It's a matter if it feels fun or fair, and that's where Elden Ring starts to drop the ball in my opinion. Just because we can beat it, it doesn't mean it's designed well. There's always room for polish and improvement.
@@ViviVariety Radahn is just too much. And I just solo beat Bayle but it took me 3 buffs and ancient lightning storm to get me there…. But yea there’s just no way I’m beating him with a normal weapon … Bayle and Radahn have to much chaos, I cannot keep up. There’s too much visual stimulation on top of the memorization required. It’s too much IMO
Miyazaki or was it FSW twitter , actually tweeted they may have went too far. I think they know , and their reasoning is “well they have spirit summons and really powerful weapons, they’ll manage”. And the problem is, not everyone wants to use spirit summons because using them literally skips the boss encounters. I don’t get FSW anymore
Wow kingdomHearts looks like a F*kin amazing game! - - Ruined by its forced boy protagonist :/ I dont see any reason why a female version of that character couldn't have been a thing, hell even a customizable character. Its ultimately greedy company's not wanting to spend a dime more then they have too. ULG.
Edit: sigh you also bring up lies of P... Sooo many Souls games that try to copy dark souls while never offering a female option, such a waste. yah Fromsoft games Dont realy care about visually supporting the female option(your either a mage or playing the game on hard mode) But atleast it has the option, Thats what the souls games are about! Options.
First off, I admit to not being the best judge of this kind of topic, and it’s part of a much bigger talking point I feel is hard to dissect in a TH-cam comment.
But I mean I don’t disagree with a lot of what you’re saying, I definitely think Kingdom Hearts could have worked regardless of Sora’s gender, (also the fan fiction would go CRAZY…well crazier than usual) but NOT a customizable character, because the last thing we need is another player insert with no personality. I personally despise that because it almost always correlates with a nosedive in story quality, because the writer/writers have to write around the player “inserting their personality” as opposed to an existing character with a compelling personality or backstory. Plus it’s not like KH even has the best story ever, I can’t imagine how bad the story could get if Square tried to add two versions of Sora.
But you also gotta keep in mind that KH is from a different time, and Japan isn’t really known for inclusivity. They’re getting better, but something like a Fem Sora just wasn’t in the cards 20 years ago…plus honestly, I highly doubt Tetsuya Nomura could write a female character well. He literally has only done it like twice ever in 20 years, (Aqua and MAYBE Xion…), for some reason he suffers from the Kishimoto problem of “aw gee I can’t write gurls” that he made up. Between having another generic shounen MC, or a potentially poorly written one like Kairi, I dunno which sounds worse to be honest.
And realistically, it’s just really expensive to do multiple player characters. Think about how with Persona 3 Reload, the FemC from the older version had to be cut because it was super expensive to basically double the game in terms of writing and voice acting. Seriously, can you imagine trying to develop a Female Sora? KH already cost a truckload in terms of VA talent back in the day with people like Haley Joel Osment and Hayden Paniterre, adding another to the pile might be too much even for Square Enix, who are no strangers to flushing money down the toilet lol.
That’s why I think most realistic/cost effective option for a lot of devs is to opt for the “silent customizable character” like From and Nioh do. Hell, even Nioh made the pivot from Nioh 1 and 2 to having a locked male player character, to a customizable one in Nioh 2. I know you mention Lies of P as being locked to a male MC, and I kind of agree with your frustration, because P’s gender doesn’t matter at all, but considering it was the dev’s first major release, they probably wanted to start small and evolve in the future. In addition, because the sequel to Lies of P seems to be Wizard of Oz focused, I can definitely see them switching things up. There’s an argument to be made that the devs tried to stick to the original Pinnochio story at first, so it doesn’t make as much sense to even have a customizable character in the first place. But with the sequel being based on Oz, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dorothy is the playable character this time.
I know that was a little lengthy, and like I said, I do think there’s a larger discussion to be had about inclusivity in games, but I like to think that things are getting better. From is generally one of the better devs in female representation with characters like Maria, Friede, or Emma among others, but I still think we’re a long ways off from the kind of game you might be expecting. An RPG with loose lore and minimal story is easy to create inclusive playable characters for, but a story based game like KH that has something like multiple playable characters is just super expensive in this day and age when you account for writing, voice acting, and dev time, and its usually not a realistic scenario for most devs. I can understand the frustration at devs not supporting it to the extent you want, but it also helps to keep expectations reasonable, It’s a game of inches, not miles, and there has been steps forward even if it’s the massive step forward we both want.
Personally I’d LOVE a Kingdom Hearts game with a female player character (give us a Kairi game, you cowards), but I also know there’s just a lot more going on that I’m not privy to, so I know I should hope for the best, but temper that expectation with a healthy dash of realism.
@@ViviVariety I hear you, I also know and understand how the games industry works, Been basically studying it through youtube xD (15 years)
To touch upon a couple of things you mentioned tho. I wouldn't say customizability is the instant story killer you say it is, Shepard being the best example i can think of. Just make it so the customization isn't too extreme and make it clear that its not 'your character'. I will admit however that is does constrain story telling in some ways, But it doesn't mean there isnt room for good story.
I respect Japan in alot of ways, Mainly their work culture/ laws that allows them to keep a long lasting and tight nit development team, Alowing for unmatched cohesion, Giving them a huge leg up over Western development... But yah They are largely very focused on mascots selling the brand. Gaming over there was at first entirely dominated by boys... their mascots can't evolve.. they would see making female versions as damaging the brand. Its an ugly truth, one that gate keeps me from another series ill never get to enjoy(Zelda) - - , despite linkle being all but official.
The budget constraints you speak of are drop in the bucket compared to the millions spent on marketing. Ultimately they just don't want to pay and rely on people more then they have too, corporations are all about eliminating the deviance people create, especially when it comes to limiting the power of artists.
I get apologizing for company's, I used to do that all the time, But just because you have the mind of a business savvy Ceo doesn't mean what they do is right. We need regulations. Company's will never not do what will generate the most profits, And because democracy as been become corrupted by that selfish greed.. it has allowed business to completely side step the consumer.
You make a really good point with Mass Effect, I haven’t actually played the series, but I've definitely heard a lot of good things about how they handle player characters. I’m guilty of associating “player characters” with “self inserts” and how they often overlap, but not always. I chalk it up to me being into JRPGs where badly done silent protags and self inserts are like the norm. But you’re totally right, it’s absolutely possible to have a distinct customizable character with a set personality and backstory…it just isn’t the norm unfortunately. Likely due to laziness.
And speaking of laziness, I’m inclined to believe you about gaming budgets and all. I know in the movie industry, I was shocked to find out how much marketing bloats a budget, and I imagine games are the same way. Not to mention how little VA’s get paid…so yeah, maybe it’s not as expensive as it is as I thought to hire VA’s for more work.
But yeah, I actually feel like I understand where you’re coming from. Sometimes I feel both optimistic and pessimistic about the gaming industry, because there are some improvements…yet I feel like the steps aren’t as big as I hope, and the fact that we’re at the mercy of shareholders and CEOs makes it hard to believe that they’ll make the changes we like. You’re 100% right that at the end of the day, money talks, and there are many cases of companies opting to listen to money as opposed to literally anything else.
@@ViviVariety just to chime in on something semi-related to mass effect, Star Control 2, which had a lot of influence on the Mass Effect series, had a successful kickstarter - FREE STARS: Children of Infinity. I'm looking forward to it coming out. (starcontrol 3 didn't involve the original creators, unlike this one, that does).