EmehVukii
Oh my fucking god man... this DLC was everything I wanted it to be. The map is vastly superior to the base game, being considerably more dense and having a lot more verticality, slightly resembling the DS1 exploration feeling, but even better. Most bosses are pretty good, I think Messmer is a personal favorite not only of Elden Ring but of every souls game they've released.
My thoughts aside, I'll address the two most common complaints I've seen of the DLC, because I genuinely think some of them come from the lack of understanding of the DLC.
1. Scaling
I see a lot of people complaining about the scaling being way too over tuned, and while I think there may be some truth to that (specially at the start), they're definitely underestimating the impact of the Scadutree Blessing. The more you collect, the greater the impact, and it's not like it increases tiny amount of attack and damage reduction, it's quite a lot actually. The more you upgrade your blessing, the easier it becomes. It legit got to a point where I thought I was overleveled for everything except the final boss.
2. Bosses
"The bosses are hard for the sake of being hard" Yeeeaaaah I'm not really buying that lol. The only one I can even think of that fits that description is the 2nd phase of the final boss, and with that I agree, but it's still pretty manageable. Every single other remembrance is pretty balanced I'd say. Some simply have more complex combos this time around and even the most intimidating and visually stunning attacks are surprisingly easy to dodge once you learn the trick to them. Take the Messmer super long combo for example, it seems intimidating when he thrusts his spear like 20 times in a second but it's really consistent and easy to dodge if you just dodge backwards just as he's starting the flurry of thrusts, it's also the greatest punish window of that fight. Just because they made the combos flashier and maybe more complex doesn't mean it's just hard for the sake of it. Take your time, go with a more positive mindset and you'll get it eventually.
My thoughts aside, I'll address the two most common complaints I've seen of the DLC, because I genuinely think some of them come from the lack of understanding of the DLC.
1. Scaling
I see a lot of people complaining about the scaling being way too over tuned, and while I think there may be some truth to that (specially at the start), they're definitely underestimating the impact of the Scadutree Blessing. The more you collect, the greater the impact, and it's not like it increases tiny amount of attack and damage reduction, it's quite a lot actually. The more you upgrade your blessing, the easier it becomes. It legit got to a point where I thought I was overleveled for everything except the final boss.
2. Bosses
"The bosses are hard for the sake of being hard" Yeeeaaaah I'm not really buying that lol. The only one I can even think of that fits that description is the 2nd phase of the final boss, and with that I agree, but it's still pretty manageable. Every single other remembrance is pretty balanced I'd say. Some simply have more complex combos this time around and even the most intimidating and visually stunning attacks are surprisingly easy to dodge once you learn the trick to them. Take the Messmer super long combo for example, it seems intimidating when he thrusts his spear like 20 times in a second but it's really consistent and easy to dodge if you just dodge backwards just as he's starting the flurry of thrusts, it's also the greatest punish window of that fight. Just because they made the combos flashier and maybe more complex doesn't mean it's just hard for the sake of it. Take your time, go with a more positive mindset and you'll get it eventually.
I have no words. I previously scored this a 4.5*, I knew it was fucking great. I mean, I had already played this after all, but nothing could've prepared me for how insanely good my 2nd playthrough was gonna be.
The second playthrough of this is... quite something, so let me tell you why I found my second playthrough so great and why the first one is absolutely pivotal to the success of consequent ones. I don't think ANY game has ever made me feel like I'm utter dogshit at something like this game on a first playthrough, I'm not exaggerating a single bit. On a second playthrough though? Holy fuck. There's nothing quite like the feeling of destroying every boss in the game in less than a quarter of the time it took you the first time. The first playthrough forces you to be a master of the combat system so essentially by the time you do another one you're gonna breeze through it, like it's nothing.
It's hands down the best skill based progression I've played, the most rewarding FromSoft game in that regard, hell, the most rewarding game like ever probably too.
I've got to point out the story as well, because well uh, I kind of didn't care about it in my first playthrough. Why? because, as a huge Dark Souls lore enthusiast, I realized they left behind the super cryptic lore for something slightly more traditional with way less focus on the lore aspect. Replaying it, I've come to the realization that while yes, the lore may be less interesting, the story more than makes up for it.
The story has such a feeling to it that I can't quite put my finger on it, it's not exactly sad, I wouldn't say tragic either, I think "Sorrow" would be the right word for it. I found myself way more interested in the characters this time around, for whatever reason. But this time they felt very human, and I really like that. I know that when praising Sekiro, no one is gonna mention the story, so I thought I'd do it myself.
Nothing else to say, it's just such a perfected and well crafted experience. One of those games that in my opinion get as close to perfection as you can get.
The second playthrough of this is... quite something, so let me tell you why I found my second playthrough so great and why the first one is absolutely pivotal to the success of consequent ones. I don't think ANY game has ever made me feel like I'm utter dogshit at something like this game on a first playthrough, I'm not exaggerating a single bit. On a second playthrough though? Holy fuck. There's nothing quite like the feeling of destroying every boss in the game in less than a quarter of the time it took you the first time. The first playthrough forces you to be a master of the combat system so essentially by the time you do another one you're gonna breeze through it, like it's nothing.
It's hands down the best skill based progression I've played, the most rewarding FromSoft game in that regard, hell, the most rewarding game like ever probably too.
I've got to point out the story as well, because well uh, I kind of didn't care about it in my first playthrough. Why? because, as a huge Dark Souls lore enthusiast, I realized they left behind the super cryptic lore for something slightly more traditional with way less focus on the lore aspect. Replaying it, I've come to the realization that while yes, the lore may be less interesting, the story more than makes up for it.
The story has such a feeling to it that I can't quite put my finger on it, it's not exactly sad, I wouldn't say tragic either, I think "Sorrow" would be the right word for it. I found myself way more interested in the characters this time around, for whatever reason. But this time they felt very human, and I really like that. I know that when praising Sekiro, no one is gonna mention the story, so I thought I'd do it myself.
Nothing else to say, it's just such a perfected and well crafted experience. One of those games that in my opinion get as close to perfection as you can get.
2012
short and fun experience, great music as well
Despite having a lot of issues with some parts of the game, in Majora's Mask, the good outweighs the bad. This game fixes the main issue I had with the other linear 3D Zelda games, that being they are way too long for no apparent reason, and they don't really do anything to justify their length. Majora's Mask plays to the true strength of the old Zelda formula and manages to create an interesting and very inspired gameplay loop, without overextending its welcome.
The shorter duration of this game also made my burnout non-existent basically, maybe that's why I actually cared about the characters and story this time around! There are a lot of small moments that managed to impact me more than I thought they would, and despite this game being considerably less dialogue heavy as other entries, everything felt more impactful.
I do have some complaint with some bosses, and pretty much the whole Great Bay portion of the game, but they quickly made up for it with the very next and last part of the game, which is actually really good.
So yeah, it happened, a linear Zelda managed to get 4* from me. Never thought I'd see the day. (Played on the Zelda 64: Recompiled proyect, highly recommend).
The shorter duration of this game also made my burnout non-existent basically, maybe that's why I actually cared about the characters and story this time around! There are a lot of small moments that managed to impact me more than I thought they would, and despite this game being considerably less dialogue heavy as other entries, everything felt more impactful.
I do have some complaint with some bosses, and pretty much the whole Great Bay portion of the game, but they quickly made up for it with the very next and last part of the game, which is actually really good.
So yeah, it happened, a linear Zelda managed to get 4* from me. Never thought I'd see the day. (Played on the Zelda 64: Recompiled proyect, highly recommend).
2011
Somehow I've managed to replay this game nearly 10 times and still enjoy it. I've speedran it (casually), I've 100%'d it, I've finished the coop thrice, and it still doesn't get old. The definition of a timeless game.
2011
I've been playing this game since 2011. You just have to respect it.
The first half is some of the best there is in gaming as a whole, I can't say the same for the second half however. Yes you could just rush through it, but that still doesn't change that the latter half of this game kills my runs every time simply because it's boring. And I personally think that's a huge issue.
The absolute peak of narrative in gaming. It's pretty insane at times but that just makes it better.
It gets maybe too silly at times but still gameplay wise it's an improvement from 999. I also like the characters more in this entry, it just lacks that slight bit of consistency story-wise to be a 5/5 like 999.
2013
I think it's pretty charming in its own way. Also I love Zero. I'd elaborate more on how this game is bad on purpose because I actually agree with that but that's been said thousands of times already, so yeah.
2013
I see the vision but still not a big fan of these overly cinematic games
It's probably the most fun I've had with a game like ever, it's also very heavily flawed. It missed a lot of great chances to make the game better, but even then the core mechanics of this game are so incredibly strong for someone like me, who just likes to fool around for the sake of doing so. It's just an outlet for me to do whatever I want while exploring a beautiful world. Almost therapeutic.
2018
Feels unfinished even after the full release of the game, still very fun with friends.
Had the potential to be so much more but it threw it all under the water by overextending itself (no pun intended), which seems to be a common theme among every Zelda game pre-BOTW.
2016
It's great but there's no reason to play this over eternal