Gave myself some time to play through it when I got back home a few weeks ago.
SPOILER WARNING Beat it in 20 hours.
Final char/ build:
http://i.imgur.com/Wb36I1o.jpg Extra slack in weight is for different shields I use depending on the situation. I've also swapped out life/ FAP ring for the Lloyd rings. I sometimes switch to Havels ring + refined Dark Sword because I was told it was a few points shy from being as powerful as a greatsword but with none of the penalties and people were right. The game is a mess.
I am undecided between weapon/ self buffs though. Oath of Sunlight+ Carthus is my current go to but I've tried other combos.
The only areas that interested me are Irithyll of the Boreal Valley and Archdragon Peak.
AKA Anor Londo and.... what I think used to be Sen's Fortress.
- Intro area is a nice compromise between Boss/ tutorial area but it's just that.
- Firelink Shrine was just an indoor Majula. So pig trash.
- Highwall of Lothric/ Lothric Castle and indeed the Dancer shortcut (which I found out about later) are great actually but visually it's something we've seen every time. It's just yellower now. I did the network test so the bosses here were nothing new/ interesting though the Dancer really is pretty. If not for the leaked unused content and the actual weapons she gives I was sure that she was an incarnation of Ciaran and wielded the Gold and Silver tracer.
- Undead settlement's second half was also great but it all felt like Bloodborne - day edition. Except greyer because BB's day scene literally rivers of blood to wade through or was a literal nightmare world. The boss was okay the first time and an absolute bore thereafter.
- Road of Sacrifices was terrible. The boss was less threatening than most enemies. Cathedral of Deep was boring. It's boss was literally just regular enemies. Farron keep was okay until the sludge started slowing you down. Watchers of the Abyss are awesome but I wish the fight was harder in NG.
- Catacombs of Carthus, Smouldering lake, and Demon Ruins are absolute shit. It's like they wanted to top how bad Izalith was by making it more like a Chalice dungeon. Ugh. Makes Izalith look amazing in hindsight. Wolnir, skeleton bridge, and skeleton ball were the only highlights.
-Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, Dungeon, Profaned Capital, and Anor Londo are all great. Pontiff Sulyvah, Aldrich, and Yhorm are so god damn cool. And Aldrich's boss theme holy shit. The song itself is a spoiler I'm glad I didn't listen to the soundtrack first. Aldrich them-self might actually be the most interesting character in the series. My theory is that he is literally just the goo on the floor.
-Consumed King's Garden had so much potential but it looks like they ran out of budget here and stopped making an area a quarter of the way in. Considering the area that comes after it is just the first area of the game with the lights turned off I stand by my statement. Gundyr remix was awesome though while Oceiros them-self were okay. Wish he wasn't as pathetic looking. Paledrake/ Seath the Scaleless was a magnificent fuck and Oceiros, uh, pales in comparison. Heard the leaked audio where he apparently eats Ocellote. Yeah they made a good choice not including Ocellote and making them an invisible baby and Oceiros crazy. That would have been disturbing.
-Archdragon Peak was pretty good and the boss fights were fun. Who doesn't love Nameless King? I wonder if people would have figured out to get here if not for messages/ guides though.
-Grand Archives was weird. It had interesting ideas but the shortcut system was kind of dumb and the head wax thing negated the only new feature here and in the end it felt like a chore to run through. The Black Hand and Faraam Knight (and sorcerer dude) was a cool encounter though. All of Lothric Castle was really good but again the visuals brought it down because we've seen it so many times before. When I found out that this was the end of the line I was crushed. Felt like a great half way point and the boss was sick.
But then the game just fizzled from here. Got the last Lord of Cinder soul, got to Kiln of the first flame (which is pretty rad looking), Soul of Cinder is definitely the best endboss for a Souls game and hearing Gwyn's remixed theme kick in was the best.... but this was it. The game ends here and I am not used to a Souls game being so short. I'm waiting for the DLC to give my final judgement on it but I actually like it less than Dark Souls 2. Not that DS2 isn't good. It's just that to me it dispelled the whole B TEAM thing that people had against DS2. If this was what Miyazaki truly wanted then I want less of this and more DS2 at least trying different things even if some of them didn't work out for the best. DS3 played it way too safe... and coming after Bloodborne, a game I still am just as madly in love with, that's a shame. Especially since it's over now. If these games were indeed yearly I probably would have been a bit more upbeat around it but as of right now I'm kind of disappointed.
Won't be playing it until again the DLC comes out. By the time I got to it the online community was already kind of low which is a shame but all things considered understandable. The move sets/ pvp is kind of not great coming after the amazing PVP situation Ds2 was. Sure I didn't put a lot of time behind it but, well, I haven't felt like I had to. I think I've seen enough.
spearfrost
