Soulsborne Thread #9

[BigBossBalrog]

Notice something similar 

 

[The Good Doctor]

10 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

Notice something similar 

 

I noticed that last weekend. I’m sure it was deliberate on their end to connect one of their most beloved and optimistic characters with their absolute most vile and revolting.

[The Good Doctor]

Nepheli Loux and Kenneth Haight side quest spoilers

I don’t know what I did to trigger this besides some random backtracking, but I believe (based on the rewards and dialogue) that I’ve reached the ending of several NPC side quests and it’s honestly bumped up both of them in my character rankings.

Nepheli was always cool, I liked that she was a genuinely noble heroic type in contrast to her "father" and so many others if the Roundtable Hold who were so rarely what they seemed. And it was really refreshing to have an NPC questline end on a positive note instead of Fromsoft’s usual "and then they died" BS. And not just positive, but like, super positive. Lady of Stormveil? Ruler of Limgrave? That’s badass as hell. And the best part is her oath to be our loyal ally when we become Elden Lord. It is cool to think about the possible future world where our character is actually ruling the Land’s Between and has legitimate political allies and whatnot. That’s just not the sort of thing other Fromsoft games really make you think about.

And Kenneth, this guy’s great.  I’m so glad he got to join in on the exclusive "I survived a Fromsoft questline" train. And even as his new Lady is declaring her support for me to be Elden Lord, he’s still over here talking about getting me knighted. Don’t ever change, Kenneth.  

[BigBossBalrog]

36 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Nepheli Loux and Kenneth Haight side quest spoilers

 

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I don’t know what I did to trigger this besides some random backtracking, but I believe (based on the rewards and dialogue) that I’ve reached the ending of several NPC side quests and it’s honestly bumped up both of them in my character rankings.

Nepheli was always cool, I liked that she was a genuinely noble heroic type in contrast to her "father" and so many others if the Roundtable Hold who were so rarely what they seemed. And it was really refreshing to have an NPC questline end on a positive note instead of Fromsoft’s usual "and then they died" BS. And not just positive, but like, super positive. Lady of Stormveil? Ruler of Limgrave? That’s badass as hell. And the best part is her oath to be our loyal ally when we become Elden Lord. It is cool to think about the possible future world where our character is actually ruling the Land’s Between and has legitimate political allies and whatnot. That’s just not the sort of thing other Fromsoft games really make you think about.

And Kenneth, this guy’s great.  I’m so glad he got to join in on the exclusive "I survived a Fromsoft questline" train. And even as his new Lady is declaring her support for me to be Elden Lord, he’s still over here talking about getting me knighted. Don’t ever change, Kenneth.  

 

I like how they presented him as the typical arrogant noble, but Kenneth had alot more to him  He's biased about Tarnished, but treats the player fairly, offers them a knighthood, and insists on treating the Demihumans like people, "all should be protected under the Golden Order". And despite having a very high opinion of himself, he looks past his own ego to find a more suitable ruler for Limgrave, a Tarnished, and instead uses his influence to put her on the throne instead. 

You expect him to be a slimeball, but no, he's a decent man, despite him clearly having the trapping of a typical aristocrat 

[TheCzarsHussar]

Wow so Mimic Tear summon used to be a quest reward. Shame on From for cutting it 

[The Good Doctor]

47 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

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I like how they presented him as the typical arrogant noble, but Kenneth had alot more to him  He's biased about Tarnished, but treats the player fairly, offers them a knighthood, and insists on treating the Demihumans like people, "all should be protected under the Golden Order". And despite having a very high opinion of himself, he looks past his own ego to find a more suitable ruler for Limgrave, a Tarnished, and instead uses his influence to put her on the throne instead. 

You expect him to be a slimeball, but no, he's a decent man, despite him clearly having the trapping of a typical aristocrat 

I fully expected him to be a sniveling coward because tropes. Glad to be mistaken. Though ironically, his humility and selflessness makes me think he actually would be one of the better candidates for lord of Limgrave (not that there’s a big pool to draw from). Certainly better than most of the demigods.  

Granted, Nepheli is equally humble based on how proudly she supports you as her lord, and she also cares for the innocent and downtrodden based on her reaction to Gideon’s slaughter of the albinaurics.

Throw in the fact that she’s a strong warrior, and I’d say she is still the best choice.

[BigBossBalrog]

Now that I think about it Nelphi has a pretty solid character arc

You meet her eulogizing a Banished Knight she just killed in a duel, commending him for being a noble, strong warrior, but also admonishing him for serving a brutal, vile Lord like Godrick...and her arc is realizing she's exactly the same as the Knight 

 She discovers a very dark truth about her idol, her god-father Gideon, when he turns out to be a ruthless prick whose using her as a pawn, and thinks of her as nothing more then a sword wielding buffon that's useful to use as a bludgeoning tool. 

And she goes through the crucible of Soul NPC's but instead of going mad from despair, she pushes herself up, and goes to find herself, resulting in her ideals, protect the weak, remaining unbroken, but a much wiser person, and takes up, in opposite of her father, the responsibility of a Lord. Remaining humble, she swears herself to the player character should they take the throne of Elden Lord themselves, and takes on a more experienced aristocrat as her adviser.

Gideon has some dialogue afterwards in which he THANKS the player for getting Nelphi off her feat, and aiming at making her own path, indicating, I think anyway, that really deep down he cares about her, but he's been so consumed by his ruthlessness towards achieving his goals he cannot show compassion properly anymore.

[BigBossBalrog]

Joe's first souls game he actually played most of it (On the final area.) It has spoilers, so I wouldn't watch it till you finish the game.

His score;

10/10 

[BigBossBalrog]

[The Good Doctor]

I finished Fia’s questline. 

Did not expect D’s twin to show up and give a villain speech over her bloody corpse.  Good on the man. Justice for Darian! Got a sick sword out of it too, so it was worth it.

The lichdragon was a little underwhelming as a big boss. He would’ve been cool on his own, but in a game that already has like twenty dragon fights, adding a few lightning abilities didn’t really make him stand out that much.

[BigBossBalrog]

3 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

I finished Fia’s questline. 

 

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Did not expect D’s twin to show up and give a villain speech over her bloody corpse.  Good on the man. Justice for Darian! Got a sick sword out of it too, so it was worth it.

The lichdragon was a little underwhelming as a big boss. He would’ve been cool on his own, but in a game that already has like twenty dragon fights, adding a few lightning abilities didn’t really make him stand out that much.

I don't think Fia really cared at that point, since she got what she wanted. Her whole views on death are really interesting in my opinion. 

[The Good Doctor]

17 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

 

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I don't think Fia really cared at that point, since she got what she wanted. Her whole views on death are really interesting in my opinion. 

 

Fia likes dead things a little too much, so I’m gonna assume you’re right and she is down with joining them. Still, I’m happy for Little D.

She might not be as pleased to learn that I’m not interested in using her rune to mess with the Elden Ring.  

"What’s the fine in Lyndell for necrophilia? Just asking."

[BigBossBalrog]

1 minute ago, The Good Doctor said:

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Fia likes dead things a little too much, so I’m gonna assume you’re right and she is down with joining them. Still, I’m happy for Little D.

She might not be as happy to learn that I’m not interested in using her rune to mess with the Elden Ring.  

"What’s the fine in Lyndell for necrophilia? Just asking."

More along the lines of her statements and how the God's were being arrogant idiots for removing a final peaceful death from the natural cycle and then persucting those born from that inbalance (Undead aka "Those who live in death") then the whole Necrophollia aspect 

[The Good Doctor]

I’m fine with persecuting those who live in death. They are overwhelmingly hostile to everything.  

[BigBossBalrog]

7 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

 

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I’m fine with persecuting those who live in death. They are overwhelmingly hostile to everything.  

So is everyone else to the Tarnished 

[The Good Doctor]

Just now, BigBossBalrog said:

So is everyone else to the Tarnished 

There are non-Tarnished, non-undead, non-omen/mutant/whatever humans in the Lands Between. Kenneth is proof of that.

The people who are cursed with undeath are those who came in contact with the flowers that started sprouting after Godwyn’s risen corpse infected the erdtree’s roots. At least, that’s how I thought it was. 

[TheCzarsHussar]

It's killing me waiting for @The Good Doctor to experience Luminary Mohg

[TheCzarsHussar]

I know how to entice you. It opens new dialogue for SIR GIDEON OFNIR, THE ALLL KNOOOOWWWING

[The Good Doctor]

Just now, TheCzarsHussar said:

It's killing me waiting for @The Good Doctor to experience Luminary Mohg

At this point, I’m kinda enjoying putting it off for as long as possible just to mess with you.  

[TheCzarsHussar]

Just now, The Good Doctor said:

At this point, I’m kinda enjoying putting it off for as long as possible just to mess with you.  

I had a hunch it was Balrog that told you to save it for later

There's so much in the way of lore I can't talk to you about until you meet the big man himself

[The Good Doctor]

Just now, TheCzarsHussar said:

I had a hunch it was Balrog that told you to save it for later

If it hasn’t been in this thread or word of mouth, I haven’t read it.  

Truth be told, I just get easily sidetracked while exploring. On weekdays, I might play for an hour, two at the max, and this is how it typically goes:

"Oh, where does this cave lead? To Blackreach? Okay, now I’m in a city. Now a lake. Now a river. Why are there ten player notes beside this coffin? Why is it letting me climb in? Now I’m in ghost land. Oh, it’s Fia! Oh, I already have the thing you want in my inventory. Oh, now you’re asleep and can portal me to a dragon fight. Cool. I have no idea what is going on. Oh hi, D!"

[BigBossBalrog]

Want some weird trivia, Nelphi's voice actress is Tracer's 

[The Good Doctor]

@BigBossBalrog @TheCzarsHussar

Did y’all complete Sellen’s questline?

 

Once again had to look up what to do when I couldn’t find the second primeval sorcerer’s location. I have no idea how anyone could locate that on their own.

Who did y’all side with at the end? Sellen or Slave Knight Gael Radahn’s witchhunter homeboy?

[BigBossBalrog]

1 hour ago, The Good Doctor said:

@BigBossBalrog @TheCzarsHussar

Did y’all complete Sellen’s questline?

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Once again had to look up what to do when I couldn’t find the second primeval sorcerer’s location. I have no idea how anyone could locate that on their own.

Who did y’all side with at the end? Sellen or Slave Knight Gael Radahn’s witchhunter homeboy?

One of the merchants sells a hint were to go 

And Jerrick. I found, once again, they did a good switchero with Sellen. She presents herself, without trying to hide it, as a heretical Witch and a super mean teacher, but she turns out to be surprisingly kind, if stern, as a teacher to the player. Then she makes clear how much she trusts and puts faith in you...

Then she turns out to be a mass-murdering sorcerer whose killer dozens of students at the academy for her super unethical research and desire to usurp the throne of Carria  

Jerrick on the other hand, seems like a hammy bro...who turns out to be an infamous Witch-Hunter before he served as a loan-commander to Radahn. But then you find out he's still the honorable guy he presented himself as, but way more serious when dealing with Sellen. 

[The Good Doctor]

42 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

 

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One of the merchants sells a hint were to go 

And Jerrick. I found, once again, they did a good switchero with Sellen. She presents herself, without trying to hide it, as a heretical Witch and a super mean teacher, but she turns out to be surprisingly kind, if stern, as a teacher to the player. Then she makes clear how much she trusts and puts faith in you...

Then she turns out to be a mass-murdering sorcerer whose killer dozens of students at the academy for her super unethical research and desire to usurp the throne of Carria  

Jerrick on the other hand, seems like a hammy bro...who turns out to be an infamous Witch-Hunter before he served as a loan-commander to Radahn. But then you find out he's still the honorable guy he presented himself as, but way more serious when dealing with Sellen. 

I did the same.  

 

Seemed like an easy choice considering everything we were presented. Basically help the honorable badass old man, or help the mass murderer because she was moderately nice to you (and for a price).

I wish that Jerrick had more quests of his own leading up to it, because his arrival kinda came out of nowhere and he very much feels like plot device for her questline. 

I also wish that Sellen had given more incentive to help her when it came down to choosing one or the other. Like, I understand that her research is intentionally esoteric and incomprehensible, but if you want me to consider murdering a good man on behalf of an obvious villain, you need to at least help me understand what her success will lead to. Like, will she revolutionize magic? Will she take over the Academy and make it support me as Elden Lord like Nepheli did with Stormveil? Give me a concrete reason to choose her.

I did enjoy her character a lot, though. Reminds me of a Telvanni. So it upsets me a bit that she had to die so abruptly as I was very curious where her story was going.