I did a lot in the last couple of days, so this post will be a bit longer.
So, I went back to Anor Londo and it turns out that I was right. This place was a challenge. Especially when you’re trying to get to the main section. I hate the bridge section. I hate it lots. You’ve gotta go through the two giant knights, five of those Wizards of Oz monkey demons with lightning spears and then pass a tiny ledge while being shot at by two knights on opposite sides.
Took me 10+ tries to even get past it, and when I did, I died before I found the bonfire. Thankfully, it only took me 2 more tries since I got down a pattern.
1. Run past the giant knights
2. Take on 2 monkey demons up close
3. Knock the third one off by shooting a single crossbow bolt
4. Throw fire bombs at the last two monkey demons while on the ledge so they’ll fall off like stupid idiots
5. Run far enough to the right archer so the left archer can’t get you.
6. Dodge the right archer’s arrow and beat the crap outta him.
I then dedicated my time to finding the bonfire, which appeared to be in one of the first rooms you entered all along. Then, I explored the castle, fought a ton of mimics and knights and eventually found the Giant Blacksmith, where I forged the Quelaag curved sword. And boy, was this weapon useful. It did double the damage my Falchion could do, and since I was sitting on a pile of demon titanite, it could do triple. I could kill the Silver Knights in just 3 hits and breeze my way to the next boss.
I felt invincible... until I met Ornstein and Smough. Normally, I feel like the areas are harder than the bosses themselves. Not here. My first try, I got them both to half health, thanks to my new sword. If I didn’t have it, I doubt I would have ever beaten them. I had no such luck until 10+ tries later, I managed to kill Ornstein. Then Smough got his powers and killed me with his unfair lightning sit attack. Took me another 10+ tries, but I finally beat them both. Duo bosses are the bane of my existence.
Met the princess, who no doubt has a lot of... artwork dedicated to her. Then, she gave me the most useful item in the entire game, the Lordvessel, which allowed me to warp between certain bonfires. I was so grateful that I joined her covenant, and I don’t even use anything that covenants give me.
Gotta say, despite how painful the place was, Anor Londo is probably my favorite looking place in the game. Loved the warm colors of the sun and the designs of the bosses.
I was then given the task of defeating everyone that was in the opening cutscene and collect their souls, but I felt like doing a few more things.
First, I went back to Sen’s Fortress to kill 3/4 of the demons below so I could get my new sword to +5. Then, I went to the heart of the forest and defeated Sif on my first try. Don’t know his backstory, but with all of the messages I found in his boss room, I’m sure it’s sad. Finally, I went back to the Asylum, killed the AoE spamming demon, the black knight, and found a doll from where I started my journey. I even made friends with an invisible crow that gave me some useful items.
With that done, I felt like I was ready to face the main bosses. Since almost every NPC I met said they were going to the Catacombs, I decided to go there. Plus, I decided to go in order of when the bosses appeared in the opening cutscene and I have no doubt that Nito is there.
I encountered the skeletons and the necromancers that revived them. I actually kinda like that mechanic of permanently killing the necros so the skeletons will stay dead. Found the Skeleton Blacksmith and those stupid wheel skeletons. Made my way to Pinwheel, who I can confidently say is the easiest boss in the game, and got the “Child Mask”.
After all of that, I found the most annoying place in the game: Tomb of the Giants. The place where you can’t see anything that isn’t in a 7 inch radius of you. I hate this place more than Blight Town because at least that place gives you a fighting chance. Here, there is no such thing. Skeletons twice your size are common respawnable enemies that can also take out all of my stamina in one hit and some health with it. On top of that, taking one wrong step can lead you into an area with several of them, assuming the fall damage doesn’t kill you.
I found the bonfire through sheer accident and thank god for that, but now I have to try and get through giant skeletons that can kill me in a few rapid hits. If anything is going to make me quit, it’s this place.
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The agony from Blightown back in the days was mostlt because of the almost unplayable framerate, now with the remaster it acualy is not that bad.