a Soulsborne Ring Review (SOTE Focused) - sortof | Tough Love

I keep wondering myself each time my whole topic is only about a piece of media, whether or not I should even indulge it. Eventually I come up with a reason that seems like a good enough excuse; Or I don't - and like so a decision is being made. That's, I guess, how decision making works if you really want to base them on rationality or reasonING. For, the whole concept of Free Will to me falls apart when no credit is given to our ability to do so. If I had to decide on the spot without being given the opportunity to inform myself - I'd know that I'm not going to care much about that decision. It's going to be random - or arbitrary, in as far as those words can mean different things - though when I gather information to then have a decision made for me one COULD argue that that's like ... not free will.

Playing the Elden Ring DLC (SOTE) had me ponder upon this. SOTE is much smaller than the base game. So, the freedom one has entering the base game is much greater versus SOTE's limitations; And exploring the Shadow Lands eventually just boiled down to riding off the points of interest on the map and then deciding which dungeon to do first. And yea, there sure is freedom in that. I'm ... not complaining. I'm merely ... contemplating.
For context, I'm at the final boss and I haven't explored the Abyssal Woods yet. I'm at Scadu Level 19, by the way. And I had a great time.

"But". I mean ... there is something that could be said along the lines of Icarus flying too close to the sun, but I think that's unfair. It's just that peaks imply valleys - and some valleys are in the mountains and others deep below the sea. And this DLC is like a Valley high up somewhere so far beyond the common it defies comparison. Like Bayle's Arena.
Which is a fitting analogue. It's a huge open area with nothing in it - but an Epic Boss Fight. And I feel like they did actually pull a Black Knight's Joke there. I mean, from the Monty Python's movie where Artus fights the Black Knight. Like, there's this Character - Igon - whom you can summon in the fight against the Boss there. He has no Limbs - and when he dies during the Boss Fight he's still like "I'm coming for ya" (not with those words). Just ... absolutely fantastic!

It's probably the single most Epic Boss Fight they ever concocted. And I was afraid because I understood that it's a Dragon. And Dragon Fights in the Base Game had me looking at a leg for like half of the fight, I don't know what for a fourth of it and "maybe a Dragon" for the rest. Which was a real shame, especially given how amazing the design of those Ancient Dragons is. But, when they would rise up and do their special Lightning attack ... I wouldn't know it. Eventually I learned that when the Dragon Appears to be standing I have to dodge eventually. Like ... based on Hopes and Prayers for the most part.
And yea, I think I've gotten good at dodging while "trusting the Force", but ... it's not really consistent.
So, I was positively surprised that this Boss Fight wasn't like that!

Messmer was Fun and the Final Boss, well ... might just be the most Final Boss in a From Soft game ever. For better or worse.
I mean - the Lord of Cinder would be up there too as he's got all the abilities; And Bloodborne ... that's certainly a spectacle Boss for sure - though I'm not too familiar with it (I haven't beaten it. Kind of got lost in the Chalice Dungeons instead ... before moving on to other things).


Now, I do think that what shakes "the community" at this point is ... a fear. Something being off that's difficult to capture perhaps. For me, I'm a bit afraid that we might get sycophantic over it; But ... it's also really difficult to ... not be. Best I can say is that this game has me like ... fed up. Like ... I'm stuffed. And I think that's also mirrored in the design of the world. It feels a bit empty, undone, incomplete at times - to not say lackluster (though some might refer to the "copy paste"y feels for that) - allthewhile the difficulty can be a bit of a stress factor at times. If I had to guess, I'd say that they had so and so many things that they had to put into the game for Lore reasons - and didn't exactly know how else to fill the space between. Like, they maybe could have just come up with some nonsense - but if it wouldn't fit into the game Lore-wise, it'd be a bad addition.

And it's not like the game is empty. Far from it.
As said ... I'm ... stuffed. And I'm not even entirely through yet.


One reason why I write about these games is because I was "one of those" who ... was unsympathetic to the whole thing. I thought that the people priding themselves of playing "really difficult game" were cringe, that all of them are just a bunch of edge-lords for playing a game called 'DARK' souls; I had zero motivation to play any of those games myself - and I feel like getting on board with those games made me a better person.
In hindsight I'd even say that the truth was the inverse. The difficulty of those games might be one thing to pick out, possibly the most obvious, dominant, prominent thing - and I also feel like it gets brought up too often or too prominently. It's intimidating, I suppose.
I mean - I personally know TWO people that played any of these games. One was a very close friend of mine; He also got me into playing DS3 via that remote play feature on the PS4. And the other was a passing acquaintance that I overheard talking about Elden Ring once. But any other "gamer" I ever talked with about it was like "nah, it's not for me!".

But yea, so - atonement is one reason. And not necessarily related to that is the simple fact that these are great games - serving, therefore, as a good example when it comes to certain topics. Like art in general and so also the "question" whether or not videogames are art.

To me, those games certainly are Art - even without considering the visual elements of it. Other games on the other hand that get brought up when it comes to that are brought up due to visual elements. Like interactive visual novels, perhaps, as they'd be the closest thing to "classical art" that there is.
And outside of classics - going back to the SNES - there's ... not much to really show; Outside of these games. Well, Baldur's Gate 3 can now at least be presented as contrast. At least in "that category".

It's not just that these games are free from Microtransactions or that they have a lot of good content contained within the base product - no strings attached; And to me mostly that they are 'games' - to put the 'gam' into 'gaming'. I mean, I played an Uncharted game once; And that's mostly just running down a virtual corridor, pushing buttons for what appears to mostly just be shits and giggles while occasionally running into a shooting gallery. And I find that to be really shallow.
Anyway ... that's kind of what I mean by how it's actually the other way around. That games typically hand things to you. Like ... sorry: "You're the "God of War" and have all these abilities - have fun!" for instance. I haven't played any of those games, so - don't consider this a valid value judgment. And obviously there's nothing wrong with enjoying that. But if you want Dark Souls but easy, yea ... you'd have to play one of those games. Where ... shit is handed to you and enemies are "pre-nerfed" for your pleasure. Either that or your abilities, conversely, are so overtuned that it just happens to be easy. Until you do it like Devil may Cry, I suppose.
Or the recent Doom games.
The keyword I think is 'engagement'. And engagement costs mental resources. And by low-key adding an easy mode to Elden Ring, FromSoft invited players to the franchise that ... aren't used to that, I feel, thus resorting to "God of War" type strategies to go through the game. Which is valid, I suppose - but also a part where FromSoft went "wrong" on Elden Ring.


Don't get me wrong. I think it's fair. And what they accomplished is certainly no easy feat. The thing is - I kind of suck at these games myself. But that's also a bad way of looking at it. By that I mean that ... I look back at what a hard time I had the first time playing DS3, how long it took me to stop panic rolling. How stubborn I am at playing "my build", treasuring my choices like a sacred item and in consequence scoffing at the idea of respeccing.
And yet I'm the type that'd refuse to use summons for the most part - until eventually I caved. I guess that's part of what it means to 'overcome'. To ... not let your pride stand in your way.
Or to not let your own stubbornness break you.

And I suppose that's where I take the most issue with Elden Ring. It certainly stands that some builds are better than others; And in the end there's not much that could be done about that. Eventually it's just a statistical reality. And in the DLC with the difficulty being dialed up a few notches ... that gets exasperated. Like going through the Shadowkeep I noticed that with my colossal sword I had an easy time against the Fire Knights. But with a Light Greatsword it was a friggin Nightmare dealing with those.
And it's logical. Knights get to have higher poise resistance than ordinary enemies; And if you can't tank or properly avoid their attacks ... it's ... harrowing, per chance. And those fuckers can be relentless.
Maybe it's different with the Wing Stance Ash of War ... but I hadn't found it at that point yet. Anyhow ...

I suckED - past tense - at those games would be more accurate, but ... there's still something that keeps me from being like ... 'really' good at those games.


Which ... may appear to be the problem with people that seem to be gatekeeping these games by saying "Git Gud" whenever the discussion of the games difficulties is brought up. Like, we managed to get through them without an easy mode - how dare you sully our accomplishments?
But in the end we're not gatekeeping these games; The games do that very well on their own.

And that's like ... what needs to be hammered home I'd say. That those games aren't about BEING good or "good enough". The design choices tell a story. The fallen leaves draw a trend. What it says is: You're most definitely NOT good enough. Not until you "Git Gud".


But ... like I have a hard time getting on board with the parry systems - unless really forced into it like with Sekiro (though it's not a fair comparison) - there sure are people that have a hard time getting on board with more basic elements of these games. Let it be ... "Kinesthetic Sense" - to borrow a term from Dwarf Fortress. But all that is hogwash - given how much "the struggle" is part of the whole deal.
I mean - I'm a sucker for non-linear games. I love it when a game provides options. You know ... uh ... I mean: Freedom translates into Play. Play translates into personal experience. Personal experience translates into growth. And that too is a non-linear thing. However, I really enjoyed the Ringed City DLC (Dark Souls 3) - and that mostly because it was very linear. And sure - the Soulsborne games have all been fairly linear for the most part anyway. In those games it's not so much the exploration, but the path taken that mattered to me. The struggle from bonfire to bonfire. Or the minigame of "fetch your runes". And yea, Sekiro was a different game, also for not having that. But what can I say? "The games teach you to deal with Loss that way!". Dispair, Fear, Worries, ... feelings that when experienced in reality ... aren't all that fun! But in these games they eventually congeal into an experience of ... accomplishment. Once you overcome.

If you can.


So, ... the - or a - problem I think is that when people like me gush over those games; It's like first contact with aliens to people who aren't part of that group. And as being part of that group, it's also always nice to hear stories from "converts". Which ... does I suppose only add to the feeling. And yea, playing these games does ever so often take the likeness of a Religion. People certainly will compare things that way.
Hmm ... well. Actually ... to me 'Sauna' is a much better comparison. I mean, Sauna is similar; In that intense heat that leads to profuse sweating isn't ordinarily something people would seek out. Quite the opposite. One thing that's often brought up is that cold is nicer because you can put on warmer clothes still. But when it's too hot ... you can't like ... "divest yourself of your flesh" as it were. And still people go to Saunas nonetheless.

And Elden Ring is more like a trip to the Bahamas. The DLC however is more like a trip to the Sahara.
The way I feel about it - I'd say that there's less of an incentive to revisit the DLC, especially because one eventually has to hunt down Scadutree Fragments - or Git Gud. And that's like a heat factor, I guess, that taints these lands a bit.


But back to sycophantically gushing over those games - to me the primary remark would, or should be that first and foremost I "consider" Miyazaki to be an artist. I mean, when arguing over how the new Star Wars suck - which is, by the way, mostly grown on a disdain that I acquired by being generally ... hmm. In a simple sentence: against the industrialization of art. Thereby the concept of artists versus 'clueless executives' comes up - and the track record clearly shows that there's a good artistic understanding at play there.
The fact that Dark Souls 2 is a bit controversial only further cements that. While people are very well free to enjoy this "Most Soulslike Game" - there are plenty that ... see the difference in quality, however that is to be quantified, as a turn-off.


Now, according to Miyazaki himself - Elden Ring is probably the peak of what FromSoft has accomplished, so - as a pre-conceived hindsight. Stating that the scope of the game is the limit, implying that future games will be smaller. But ... you also can't really trust him on those kinds of things.

What I'm trying to get at hear is that I'm also a bit worried. I mean, he also implied that he yet has to make his ideal fantasy game - and I'm worried that this might become his Silmarillion. I've certainly had mine already, allegedly, in a past life - and also looking at the geopolitical situation of the day and how the Bible comments on that I worry that there's going to be no place for games; Like what I'm working on right now. It's ... gruesome, in a way, for me - to see how things have changed. To see how my naive undertaking ... seems to be naive because it assumes that the world is going to be a happy place that can have good things in it.
Or how to put it.

But I also think it's easy to underestimate what we can do when we're working together. I mean, thinking of how many of us there are, it's easy to despair over the extreme amount of work that has to be done just to produce our basic necessities. Versus how thoroughly this planet has been fucked so far. It seems like a shit sandwich. But then ... considering how much stuff we have ... and how much of it is utterly unnecessary or even just flat out detrimental ... it should actually be easy ... to make something good come from it all.
Like ... the Love your neighbor as you Love yourself has two sides - the whole to each according to their needs, from each according to their abilities has two sides. We however still have to figure out the 'from each according to their abilities' part - in face of the fact that a lot of us face technical unemployment.


And I hope we can move away from the American model of "make stupid people multiply to make stupid politics win more easily". Sorry - all you stupid out there, but ... that should make sense to you still. It's not a failure of you ... that people exploit you this way. But ... I digress.


So, I certainly believe that FromSoft has to change things up a little. Allthewhile whatever they do will probably be compared to Elden Ring. That also while there seems to be a crusade against good games in general. I mean - bad takes aside, the Bible puts it as: Where there's carrion, there will be Vultures.
And I can't help but see an exploitative strain woven into the criticisms that pile up each time a new FromSoft title comes out.
Like ... yea ... "no Pressure". Meanwhile Capcom: "First Time?".

Well. It's probably just my own creative mind wondering about things that are none of my business. Which ... is a thing I had to tackle some time ago. That ... I would compare things to my own vision of things. So, based on how I would do things.
I mean - I feel like I know, somehow, what Miyazaki is trying to do. But I also understand that I ... don't know how to ... err ... "Terminalize" those ideas.
So - I suppose: At least there's a vision - and I'm curious about the next thing that'll come of it.


I mean, it's interesting. Elden Ring for sure was a logical conclusion to the Soulsborne formula so far. To make it Open World. With the DLC it seems they've ... also leaned a bit further into the experimental side of it. Like ... people keep pointing out how the few hints that are spread throughout the DLC are atypical for a FromSoft game. And I agree. Although I don't even consider them all that helpful. They've had a few in the base game; And their existence is a little bit bewildering. In the base game nobody complained though. And that probably because they seemed to fit their setting. So, some dungeons have that little puzzle with lights and shadow enemies - and while it's certainly no unsolvable mystery; The 'hint' didn't really give it away either. The hint was like a puzzle itself - and so nobody cared. But in the DLC they are now more prominent - and ... mostly headscratchers in terms of "why?".

Anyway ... I suppose their next game might lean a bit more into the casual crowd. I mean, they kind of have to because ... if the final Boss from the DLC were anything to go by; I'm sure that trying to take it one further would be a bad idea. At that point one might also just go with the usual shlog.


But whatever. As for these ramblings of my mind - there's one more thing I have to address, I suppose. "Is Miyazaki Evil"? I mean, that's a question that pops up in my mind ever so often - at any time a person becomes like ... close or somehow important to me. Like, a defense mechanism of my mind to ... sortof keep a healthy distance - as I'm asking myself a question I cannot answer until ... "things get real". With the whole Unification thing.
Which brings me ... to another thing.

The Experiment.
So far I've tried to ... see ... how much I could make happen, if anything at all, by just saying stuff. Well ... or 'writing' stuff. What that neglects is that ever so often the opposite seems to be the case. That some things seem to go the exact opposite of how they would if I had a say in that.

And so I perhaps should say that ... Conservatives are awesome! They're nice people with a good heart!
People are great!


And I don't think Miyazaki can deliver another Masterpiece. Which is ... actually a silly thing to say. Anyhow it's weird.
Because this got personal in a way.

Which is probably ... for a variety of reasons.
I for once have to constantly - give or take - worry about things that may appear to be in my favor because how things that "just so happen to be ..." asks the question for whether or not it's a "coincidence?".
So ... paranoia.
And things that I end up enjoying ... have me worried that ... I might be buying into something bad.

And I also don't want to force people into disassociating themselves from me. For once because that'd only add to my isolation, but also because that just so happens to be a reason for God to cancel His support, so that they then - voluntarily or not - start to be playing for the other team and things are overall going to suck some more.
And it's just stupid. I mean - to dwell on it a bit more for my own sanity's sake: If a thing just so happens to align with me - while I certainly didn't have a hand in that - why should the people involved then act as though I did have a hand in it?
Well ... because I didn't and that may have to be emphasized?
I mean ... that seems to be case most of the time. So at least my feefees tell. Maybe underlined by the fear that they don't actually align with 'me' - but that I align with them. So, that whatever alignment there appears to be is just a manipulative calculus on my part. Like ... as if I didn't actually believe the things I say. Which ... to be fair ... I kind of don't ... sometimes; But ... that's just the consequence of experiences of disappointment.


And so I feel like I can't properly write about the stuff I wrote about here - without addressing this stuff. But what ... or how ... should I ... ?

It's like me acting on my paranoia. Which might be bad ... but sometimes I just can't help it.
Like ... sometimes we have to take a jump into the cold water. Or take a leap of faith. Or step into the heat. However we wanna put it.


Like ... if I couldn't ever acknowledge me being special - in whatever way, good or bad - my life would be a farce. As it is right now! I mean, I can find my way and peace with it - but ultimately ... it doesn't make sense! I mean, it does ... but it's still not ... right.
The fallen leaves tell a story - and if my current situation is like the conclusion to the story of my life ... it's not a good one!
I mean ... maybe I can see it from a therapeutic angle ... but I can't really live a normal life either. That's not where my personal developments have taken me. Quite the opposite.


And yet, at the end of the day, this whole "discussion" seems to be rather pointless.

Anyway ... rating Shadow of the Erdtree as a 9/10 seems to be ... silly, although fair given its flaws. It's a Schroedingers 10/10 ... for, if 10/10 is to imply perfection, this sure ain't it. And still it's ... all ... that I could have asked for - including that it's more than I would have dared to ask for.

I mean, the Base Game has spoiled us - we might say - and the fact that the DLC still one-ups that is flabbergasting. On the other hand there sure are some disappointments. But to me - I don't think that a different palette of enemies here and there would have changed much. And also ... the occasional empty dead end ... it feels in tune with the overall vibe of the Shadow Realm. It's the depressing "underbelly" of the Lands Between ... desolate, lost and forgotten. "Perfect!"