Chapter 459: Dark Souls Guide Rule One: Don’t Attempt Reckless Rolling |
Panic-stricken!
This game is completely different from Sekiro!
In this moment, Ayin finally realized—everything! It was all Old Thief’s malice!
Old Thief had clearly figured out that with Sekiro so well-known, when someone releases another so-called "wolf-type" game, players would naturally try to apply Sekiro thinking to it.
And at the very start of the game, that was indeed the case.
Elemental vials were the healing gourd.
Dodging rolls were lateral steps.
Small mobs were still fragile humanoid creatures.
At first glance, aside from a bleaker opening and not having Sekiro’s signature tools, everything didn’t seem much different.
The first elite monster appeared!
Can you imagine a mud-vehicle covered in sharp crystalline spikes, hurtling at you at over eighty kilometers per hour, aiming to crush you with sheer oppression and impact?
Exactly!
In Dark Souls, Old Thief magnified the fantastical elements!
In this dying world, neither elites nor bosses come primarily in humanoid form anymore!
They turned into enormous, earth-shaking, grotesque creatures that make the ground quake with a single move!
Clearly!
Old Thief must have seen those "Sekiro Boss Oppression Ranking" lists on the forums!
Because on those lists, the most oppressive bosses were not Genichiro with his Thunder of Ba, nor the Sword Saint Ashina Ichimonji at the height of his final battle!
They were Bull! White Snake! Lion Ape! and the Onryoki!
Especially the Lion Ape and the Onryoki!
Facing a massive twisted monster as tall as two floors, right in front of you, takes immense courage just to look at, let alone fight!
Under these circumstances!
Old Thief evidently had a stroke of genius.
That bastard shoved a Bull-tier boss straight into the opening cave as if it were a mere elite!
"No—no—no! Holy—holy—holy—!!!"
Rolling—rolling—!!!
Ayin didn’t dare look the Crystalline Lizard in the eye, terrified that even a glance would set it off.
Roll after roll!
At this moment!
The Crystalline Lizard thundered past him!
Amazing!
Ayin praised his own reflexes inwardly, thinking that rolling was definitely more useful than lateral stepping!
Although sidestep looked faster and sleeker in speed,
from the game mechanics viewpoint, the shorter and snappier the dodge, the shorter the invincibility frames, and thus the smaller the reaction window for players.
So in a sense, rolling’s damage avoidance is far better than sidestep.
For example, now!
After three consecutive rolls, Ayin tumbled like a rolling wheel, flailing about.
Though his appearance was messy,
"I’m untouchable! Heh heh!"
He rose from the snow, brushed off the flakes, and grinned:
"Didn’t expect that, little brother! How annoyed are you!"
However!
At that moment!
Before he could finish his sentence!
Boom! Rumble—!!!
Suddenly!
The giant Crystalline Lizard skidded to a spinning stop, pausing its steps!
Then its two front claws opened and, with a thunderous sound, it leapt into the air and lunged at Ayin!
A throw!
Ayin’s pupils constricted instantly!
Throws are terrifying in wolf-type games, not only crushingly oppressive but also packing huge damage!
Seeing the lizard leap, Ayin tried to use his trick and roll away,
but at that critical instant!
A wave of numb weakness smothered his legs!
Like sitting too long and feeling that dull ache, like getting out of bed and finding your hands shaky when you try to open a jar.
"Eh—?!"
A short startled shout!
Thud!
The mud-vehicle lizard slammed down, its sharp foreclaws piercing the Useless One’s ribs.
Snow swirled as the Useless One was hoisted into the air, then the lizard’s hind legs pushed off, its massive body swung and slammed the Useless One under it with a brutal drop!
Thud—!!!
Like a thick slab of meat hammered hard onto a cutting board!
Exploding snow shot into the air, even the icicle-like stalactites on the cave ceiling cracked and fell!
【YOU DEAD】
Time to learn English!
One-shot!
In less than two minutes of meeting!
One throw handed Ayin his first death!
The chat barrage immediately erupted in laughter!
Watchout! Watchout! Watchout! JooooooooohnCena!!!
Ding—ding—!
"Hahaha, so sick, high-position rope slam, right?"
"Goddamn that piledriver! Man this young player! Holy—!"
"This is killing me, seriously..."
"Getting sweaty now, little brother?"
"Told you not to roll recklessly, little brother with a stamina bar! You just rolled yourself into breaking your guard?"
This game is so mean; is a stamina bar even something humans should create?
Rolling gives you slightly longer invincibility frames, but you can’t just spam it and be invincible.
Don’t try to game Old Thief’s design—Old Thief understands what you’re thinking better than you do.
Dark Souls Guide Rule One: Don’t Attempt Reckless Rolling.
New players are still figuring out mechanics, while veterans are already lying down blindfolded.
"What a mess..."
"This looks harder than Sekiro, the stamina bar is deadly, you really have to manage your rhythm..."
Ayin read the chat barrage for a long time before he finally snapped back!
"This damn thing actually requires skill. You can’t just blunder through it like Sekiro,"
"You have to time your swordplay and dodges..."
"Wait, let me try again!"
Although he knew this tough Bugatti Veyron wasn’t required by the main quest,
Dark Souls has its own irresistible lure.
Once you see a monster like this, you can’t help but want to test yourself.
Soon, the revived Big Bro picked up his chicken leg and faced the Crystalline Lizard again.
"Come on! Bugatti, is it?"
"Let’s have another go!!!"
When he said that,
Ayin could never have imagined that this bout would last over half an hour.
Insane!
Although the attack-and-defend concept was sound,
the execution was incredibly difficult.
Ayin even began to suspect, "Did Old Thief mis-set the numbers and slap late-game elite stats onto the Crystalline Lizard?"
Because this thing attacked with abnormal ferocity, lacking the cautious, calculated pacing of Sekiro’s humanoid elites.
It was pure brute force!
Charge!
After the charge, roll! Roll then grab! Grab then smash! Smash then roll again!
Relentless attack momentum rolled like a roaring river!
Overwhelming pressure!
This created an even thornier problem—
Healing.
Veteran players know how crucial healing windows are in wolf-type games.
If timed perfectly, skilled players can sip the gourd during a boss’s recovery frames, calm as can be.
But miss the timing and you get hit while healing, losing more HP than you regained.
In other words!
In Dark Souls boss fights, players must manage attack and dodge rhythm, find healing opportunities, and constantly monitor the stamina bar!
That means during combat players must be methodical, squeezing all actions into minimal time, staying calm, and never panicking!
But the reality—
"Oh shit! No no no! Bro! I was wrong! Let me take one sip of the gourd! Just one!"
"Okay! Okay okay! Little Yuyu you roll away, eat my chicken leg! Hey hey—aw shit I’m out of stamina again!"
"Big bro! No! Ouch, that claw hit like hell, damn!"
"I’ll fight you to the death! Fuck!!!"
Stay calm and don’t panic?
Try coming over and see.
Compare yourself with a several-meter-long creature covered in spikes that attacks like a rabid dog and is massively tanky!
Even on a PC that would make your palms sweat!
Let alone this is a motion-sensing pod game!
God knows how terrifying it feels when that sucker slams into you in real space!
Impact!
Ripping bites!
Pounces!
Even absurd rolling wheel crashes!
A variety of attack poses, countless permutations!
Attacks from ground and air!
Try after try, fail after fail!
Ayin once again tasted that sweet pain he felt when playing Sekiro the first time.
Game design is indeed progressing.
Other studios may or may not be improving, but at least Old Thief’s team is evolving.
At first sight, many had treated the Crystalline Lizard like an Ogre-level foe.
But once you actually fight it you realize—
This Crystalline Lizard could smash a pack of Ogres into paste.
Of course!
The core thrill of wolf-type games shines through in this title as well—
Getting stronger.
Fall again and again, rise again and again.
Whether it’s Wolf or Souls, the best gaming feeling isn’t raw stat increases.
It’s the player’s own improving skill forged through hardship!
I got stronger, a bit stronger!
That abstract but clearly felt sense of progress is the biggest high for these games!
Fail! Retry!
Fail again! Retry again!
As Bugatti’s health dwindled little by little!
Finally!
"Down!"
Ayin let out a roar!
The Bugatti Lizard was toppled, its toughness exhausted, collapsing and convulsing!
Chicken Leg Ayin rushed forward, swinging the chicken leg!
Wham!
Boom!
That hit the lizard squarely in the face, launching the big lizard away!
Crimson blood sprayed!
Execution!
A complete dragon-shaped wedge stone dropped, marking the demise of this rare special creature in Dark Souls.
The chat barrage exploded!
"ohhhhh—big bro is insane!"
"Finally done—"
"Getting emotional, feels like big bro’s about to cry"
"Not easy at all"
This thing is basically a newbie repellent.
"So ferocious, this Bugatti"
"So it must be a special spawn, like a Porsche?"
"Probably a rare special enemy, not too many of them"
Indeed, otherwise if there were many of them, it would be a disaster.