Backed to the edge of a cliff, blade in hand, once again at 1HP and no heals, you stare down Margit with a determination that never falters. You jump in with one last swing of your blade, and by a mere pixel, you’re finally the last one standing. You have as many chances to win as your will could muster. He could merely delay the inevitable.
FromSoftware has a reputation. Their games are unfair. Trolling. For bragging rights. And at times this isn’t untrue, but of every studio whose works I’ve had the pleasure or displeasure to experience, FromSoftware titles don’t abuse the player. They teach lessons to those who keep trying.
I had dipped my toes into FromSoftware games before, playing used copies of Dark Souls and Dark Souls III I bought out of curiosity. I tried to get into them, but I kept
bouncing off. Why is this so unfair? Where do I %&#@ing go!? I tried again and again but kept leaving for months every time.
A few years later, I noticed a new FromSoftware game had arrived on PC: Elden Ring. Figured I’d give this souls like thing another go. So I downloaded it, installed, created my character, and immediately made a complete ass of myself. My attacks seemed to never do enough damage. I freaked out as a bunch of bats started chasing me around at low health until I found a site of grace. Then, I pushed a button and found the map that I had no idea I had until just then. So I followed the directions that the sites of grace on the map appeared to be pointing, using every tactic and strategy I could think of to pick off enemies. Luring them, picking them off with my bow and arrow, or fighting head on. Whatever helped me scrape by. I went through multiple characters as each approach just wasn’t cutting it? Fast swordsman? Nope. Pyromancer? Nope. Dragon priest? Better but still got stuck. I continued to research the game’s often poorly explained mechanics until I stumbled upon something magnificent. A finely crafted wizard’s blade, Moonveil. It had the same move set as the Uchigatana, but fired beams of light for even more damage, and scaled with the same stat, intelligence, that would also make me a master of ranged combat. The best part? I only need to be around level 23 to wield it! This seemed like just what I needed to turn the tables.
So I chose the astrologer, then went to Caelid and grinded the levels to meet the stat requirements for this mythical blade, killing the mob of zombies walking the roadway over and over,spamming Glintstone Arc. I just barely met the stat thresholds needed, leading to a lop-sided build that would at least fast track me wielding the fabled sword. There was just one more obstacle in my path, the Magma Wyrm.
It’s movements were slow but tricky, and it limited my movement by trailing magma behind itself. The worst part? It could one-shot me, as I had put literally nothing in health at this point. But I was undeterred! I tried again and again, studying it’s movements. Carefully chipping away with Glintstone Pebble, my best ranged spell, from as far away as the current combat situation would allow, and then I would die. I would die to lava. I would die to the Wrym’s sword. I would die because I couldn’t move out of the way of it’s charge. But, after at least multiple dozen attempts, the mighty wyrm was felled. A perfect, no hit run, and my reward was Moonveil.
I swiftly cut down the early game, dominating at melee and at range, picking up more and more tools of sorcery and war, using every tactic the game provided. I even conquered Raya Lucaria Academy despite it’s resistance to my primary damage type. Scrapping by every boss by the skin of my teeth, sometimes changing tactics or even respecing for just that one fight. Every overpowered summon, every cheese, every dirty trick in the book just to scrape by, with my awkward glass canon build and unbreakable resolve. Then, I stood at the precipice, placing a ring on Lady Ranni’s hand as she freed the world from the oppression of the greater will. I had won, and it was the greatest feeling of accomplishment I had ever felt in a game. This is what FromSoftware games are all about!
Since then I’ve been chipping away at Sekiro and Dark Souls III, having not beaten either but knowing that they’ll eventually click for me like Elden Ring did.
Not long after, another game dropped. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. I was intrigued. FromSoftware made a game about robots blowing each other up? I look up footage to find the most badass mech combat I had ever seen in a game! So fast! So cinematic! So fluid! I had to try it!
So I installed Armored Core VI...what the @%&! are these controls? What do all these stats mean!? Why is this game total information overload while I’m flying at 300MPH into a bunch bull#$%&!?!?!?!
But again I banged my head against the wall that is this game, slowing coming to grips with it’s controls. Learning, studying, until I could maneuver with grace and strike with the vengence of a god. My first true test was against the mighty Balteus. It seemed impossible. Unfair. How is one expected to deal with that many missles at once?! At first I tried playing defensively, strafing and shooting, only to get annihilated repeatedly. Then I remembered the very first boss. I beat that one by rushing it with my energy sword until I destabilized it. So I tried again, this time rushing fearlessly with my blade, and Balteus barely stood a chance. It’s shields were useless against my onslaught, and any hits I took compared not to it’s mechanical armageddon.
With my new understanding, I blasted through fight after fight. Any fight that stonewalled me, I adapted and preveiled by the paint of my armor. Before I knew it, the Coral, a mysterious force that wanted freedom, was one with humanity. Was this a good thing? I’m still not sure honestly. But it happened by my hand. This raven found his wings.
I’ve recently begun playing the first Armored Core for the original Playstation. Rough around the edges and certainly has it’s share of balancing issues, but the game still looks quite nice for it’s time and being able to sell off your whole mech for as much as you would buy it for and redistribute the money to new parts means I can enjoy experimenting with my mech quite early. The game was brutal, punishing my every failure and even near failures with ever increasing amounts of debt. This seemed absolutely unfair! How was I supposed to partake in the joy of customization under these conditions!? But I have a review to write and I wanted to give this game a genuine chance.
So I banged my head against the primitive tank controls and aiming from before the Playstation had two analog sticks, getting blown up again and again and rarely, if ever, reloading a save because I wanted to see if I could beat it in a more “honorable” way without save scumming. Then, after failing to blow up a collection of fuel reserve tanks for the second time, already deep in debt, something unexpected happened.
I was looking up at a strange circular array of lights, hearing the discussion of two unseen people around me. They talked of my debt, and mentioned a surgery that would make me a new person...if I lived. Uh oh! Then I was flung back to the Ravens Nest. I checked my email and saw the welcome email. Wait a #$%&ing minute! DID I JUST GET SENT BACK TO THE START!?!?!
I took a deep breath, and looked on the bright side. I understand the game a little better this time. I can make better decisions and have more money for better parts. I got this. So I began the first mission again. Why does my radar look different? This seems a bit easier. Still tough, but easier. I must be getting pretty good at this. Later after I put the game down for the day, I remembered something. A review of the game mentioned something called “Human PLUS”
I looked it up, and that surgery I got....was a buff... Did this game put me on easy mode!? Is it calling me a b#$%^!? What’s going on here!? I look at my player file. My name was changed to Rebel819. What....the....#$%@ is going on?
Then it all made sense. e621 from VI was also an enhanced human, and had numbers as a code name. So do I. Elite pilots often have these enhancements canonically. So do I. The loss of my past progress was me becoming a new person legally, because my past records were wiped. This wasn’t FromSoftware making fun of me. This was FromSoftware praising me. I kept falling deeper and deeper into debt, yet I moved forward. I should have died from this new, experimental surgery, yet I lived. FromSoftware was acknowledging my resolve with newfound power! I wasn’t cheating. I was a warrior turning the tables in a war with no rules to begin with.
And so I set off, with my newfound excitement for battle. Still sometimes surviving by the skin of my teeth. Still fumbling like a complete idiot with the controls and the mechanics, but getting a little better every time. My builds more well rounded and powerful and my movements more graceful. Then, my first real test arrived.
I had to guard a train against jets and an enemy AC, as just as you expected, I failed. The jets and the enemy AC were just too fast! I kept missing, and the train kept being destroyed Again. And again. And again. And again. I would build a new AC, only to fail again. This time I was reloading saves since the game gave me the option. This was war and I was gonna use all the tools I had. I tried, failed, experimented, and tried again. And then it clicked.
I chose reverse joint legs, a laser rile, a back mounted missile launcher that shot two homing missiles, and a module to lock on to targets faster. Aiming was still tricky, but the jets were going down one by one. Unfortunately, I didn’t get them all in time. The train arrived, and a red Armored Core appeared, and bee lined for the train, but I was able to avert it’s attention just long enough for it to escape. Mission complete...or so I thought. The mission was still going. I had to fight this pilot to the death.
It was fast and packed a lot of firepower, strafing left and right with ease as it overwhelmed me. But I gained my footing, and began strafing to meet it, pelting it with homing missiles that would sometimes just barely miss. We both engaged in a deadly dance of steel, my health gradually ticking down while this AC barely seemed to budge. But just as it seemed over for me, I landed the decisive blow. Their AC was toast, and my mission was completed. I lost some money due to the amount of ammo I used and the damage I took, but I didn’t care. I was on top of the world! I beat my first AC boss in AC1 and with a health handicap from fighting the jets!
Never have I known another studio so incredible at exalting the player who perseveres. Only Capcom came close with Devil May Cry 3. But FromSoftware games are magical. Brutal, unforgiving, but not in a mocking way. They're tough love. They're harsh critics not to discourage you, but to make you better, so they can then exalt you in a rain of power and gold. These games aren’t for everyone, and you’re by no means less of a gamer or whatever the basement dwelling sweats would accuse you of. But for those who stick with it, the experience is matched by few if any. And whatever struggles you may be having, with a FromSoft game or otherwise, always remember.
A tarnished never dies. A raven will always fly again. Given time, technique never fails.
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