[Discussion] Which Soulslike will you be playing this weekend and what's your favourite aesthetic in a Soulslike?
I've been sick for the past week, so gaming was kinda tough for me in general. Been playing League, as always, and have started Darkwood today (@[email protected]). I like it so far, but it's a very different game from what I expected it to be.
My favourite aesthetic in a soulslike definitely goes to Sekiro. I like its use of colour, I'm a sucker for Japan and its culture, and I think it's definitely the best-looking FromSoft game from a visual-fidelity point of view (next to Elden Ring, maybe). Fountainhead Palace might just be my favourite area in any soulslike I've played.
What about you?
Love all the Fromsoft aesthetics but Liurnia of the Lakes is the pinnacle for me. The setup and the reveal is just so perfect.
More Nightreign for me. Hundreds of hours in and I still can’t get enough.
That first moment that you see Liurnia after finishing Stormveil is one of my favourite reveals in any game full stop. It's so well done, especially after you've been fighting through the close confines of Stormveil for so long
Siofra remains my favourite ER landscape, though. God damn it's so cool. I get distracted every time and then smacked in the face by the ancestral followers with their railgun bows
I got there super early in my playthrough. I turned around since I rightly assumed it's a later area, but with just the view in my mind, I always had something to look forward to.
The whole underground is such a marvelous experience. But Siofra especially blew me away the first time. I always take the teleporter at the Belfries just to get a look from a different perspective.
I remember stopping at the academy gate town grace, at night, during the golden leaf bonus rune weather event, and was just blown away about how pretty everything was.
This weekend: probably gonna be playing some Hearts of Iron IV, as it's the game's 10th anniversary. I'll try to put the Pope in charge of Italy and pretend that it's the Golden Order or something
Favourite aesthetic is a tough choice! Sekiro really is beautiful, and I am generally a fan of lower-fantasy in my fantasy fiction. I think Elden Ring has some absolutely phenomenal visual design, particularly in how it organically frames landscapes, but I will always love the more grounded beauty of something like Sekiro. The real world has so much splendour and while that doesn't mean we should only use realism, I do think that centring real-world beauty or a slightly heightened version of it creates a special feeling
Nightmare
Okay, that's not really an aesthetic. But I really, really like the vibe of Bloodborne nightmare areas. The way that they more and more underline the unreality of the world. The impossible architecture, the way they are stacked on top of each other, the way that they own their own nonsensical transitions. Stepping out of the clock tower into the fishing hamlet is still super awesome.
But also broader, I like the cosmic horror/lovecraftian aesthetic. Amygdala is still one of the best design choices in Fromsoft history. Perfectly placed, when you get enough insight, it looks so otherworldly on the chapel or the way Yahar'gul looks during the blood moon to show how crazy things have gotten.
Yeah, I really love Bloodborne. They should do another cosmic horror game set in a more sci-fi setting instead of a pseudo-Victorian one (which I also enjoy). But I want to see cosmic horror Soulslikes combined with other settings.
No idea what I'm gonna do this weekend…
So instead have 3 handpicked videos:
Igon's Speech But Badly Drawn Using MS Paint -- A hilarious short video, definitely worth a watch.
Soulsborne Enemy Laser Evolution -- Truly marvelous shoots in freecam.
Elden Ring All Great Runes No Hit | RL1 No Upgrades/Talismans/Status Effects/* -- Absolutely insane. At least look at the Malenia fight, mesmerizing and bonkers.
First of all, I hope you're feeling better! Also I know you don't need me to tell you this but: you need to kick your League habit, man. MOBAs are black holes where free time and happiness go to die. I used to play Dota, trust me I know.
Anyway I'm glad you're liking Darkwood! How does it differ from what you expected? I guess I didn't focus much on the daytime survival stuff, and that does take up a large amount of the playtime. But there's still a lot of tension there, and the stress of impending nighttime is kind of terrifying in itself. I don't know, maybe I'm also colored by playing on Hard but it's probably the best horror game I've ever played.
EDIT: I forgot to actually answer the weekly question. It's tough but I think my answer might actually be Blasphemous. I had my gripes with that game mechanically but I loved the art and the world building and story. I guess that it's debatable whether this aesthetic falls under the same umbrella as Dark Souls 1-3, but for me there is a clear distinction as Blasphemous has a very strong Spanish catholic influence that I really enjoyed. I am not Christian, but I have always been fascinated with Christian mysticism and I thought this was very well executed here.
Yea that's a losing battle for me. I stayed off it for like 6+ years because I didn't have a PC, but this PC I built last year is a blessing and a curse. I can play whatever game I want, but I can also play League again soo yea, it's been pretty much the only game I play for a couple months now. Doesn't help that my fiancée and I don't have other co-op games to play now (Diablo 4 has been benched ever since its release, Overwatch doesn't really interest us right now, and we don't have a couch co-op game to play right now).
I expected more horror and less survival. But it seems to be pretty much the opposite. I don't dislike it, but I'm usually not much of a survival guy except for Minecraft maybe which is very light on "real" survival mechanics. Though I've also only gotten to Day 4 I think, so it might get cranked up a lot more. Haven't been invaded in my house yet, killed a couple of these spear-wielding guys in the woods, a couple dogs. Found some interesting places with loot. Primarily, I've just been scrounging for resources to not run out of wood and cloth. I like it tho!
Blaspemous is awesome, true!
Yeah, I get that. I assume you've already burned through Split Fiction and the rest of the highly rated co-op games and then it'll be tough. Have you tried playing detective games together? Stuff like Blue Prince, Obra Dinn etc? It's not exactly co-op but it's fun to do together. And way way better than losing your sanity in League.
Well, Darkwood is actually also extremely light on survival mechanics. There is no hunger, thirst or sleep. It's mostly about scavenging for stuff to barricade you at night and survive. Nights without stuff getting into your hideout won't last forever. And also yeah, there'll be scarier/more dangerous enemies further in.
And I like the day/night cycle gameplay loop a lot. It provides a very nice cycle of tension/release, and somehow helps draw the tension to a finer point when night time hits.
We've played It Takes Two but have not finished it yet. We thought about playing Split Fiction, but money's been tight the past year or so and we kinda lost interest in playing on console, so it's also been benched for the time being.
We've played a lot of these decision-heavy games a few years ago. We've played Life is Strange + Before the Storm + 2, we've played Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, Detroid Become Human (several times even). But we've not played games like Obra Dinn together before. I had tried it for around an hour on Switch a few years ago, but I didn't stick with it. Might be worth trying again. :)
The last game we "couch-co-oped" was RE8, and she's been asking for more RE recently. I just don't really feel like playing Requiem right now and the others don't interest me too much.
I've played a little more and have been invaded by two Savages. I was really disappointed at my chain trap not doing anything at all, but I did fine. Found some more loot, upgraded my workbench once but I need to upgrade it more to actually craft stuff that I want right now.
I've got a bunch of questions about the game. Do you mind if I DM you about it? I fear seeing too many spoilers :D
Ah, that's a shame you lost interest in the console, I just thought of another one actually: Rayman Legends. Not usually my thing (not a platformer guy as you know by now probably) but my sister loves it and made me play it with her years and years ago. It's actually very very good. Fun, well designed, great couch co-op and the musical levels where you need to jump and move in time with the music are just a delight. You can probably find it for dirt cheap these days.
For the detective style games well, I think they're great to play together as long as you like puzzles and deduction style gameplay. It's actually a pretty nice division of labor - one controls the game and the other takes notes. And having someone to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm solutions with is both fun and genuinely helpful.
^Disclaimer: Blue Prince is probably my second favourite game of all time, this is a very biased opinion full of me shoving my preferences onto others...^
You can absolutely DM me if you want, but... you might actually be ahead of me at this point! I decided to start over on Normal after dying to a chomper and accepting that I won't be able to beat the game first try with limited lives. And also, I still haven't been gaming much lately full stop. Been a bit tired and distracted, and Darkwood especially kind of requires focus and mindset from me. I mean, I love it - I think the game is incredible - but it does also genuinely get to me and stress me out. So like, the last two days I've just gone back to some good old Ninja Gaiden 2, which bizarrely does not stress me out somehow.
Also yeah, bear traps feel way superior to chain traps, I don't know if there's a trick I'm missing but chain traps feel like a waste of scrap metal.
Aw I wnted to writr a better answer for this. but I'm tired and not making sense.:P and most has been already well explained.
Bloodborne. .It is so visually over the top, its a world that's not really meant to be looked at too closely. it's cluttered, the cofusing, and asphixiating nature of its design echoes the nightmares . that ambience engulfs us while we begin navigating a tale of woe, but at the same time, the pinkish color grading provides a sort of relief... A soothing feeling that tames all the grotesque tragedy which we initially are confronted with. And of what lies beyond our comprehension. I for one, cannot help to find that comforting.
I love Elden Ring's aesthetic of looking like the cover of a fantasy novel, pretty much 100% of the time no matter where or what you're looking at.
But what I really would like is some H.R. Geiger/Scorn-like shit. The themes and gameplay would fit so well with that kind of visual.