Tuesday 22 April 2014

Status Update | An Evil Easter

Over the Easter weekend, I was beside myself with surprise to find that I had a few hours free.

To be clear, this has not been the norm for me recently. Indeed, it's been brutal hereabouts this year: at home, 2014 to date has been a combination of sickness and sadness, and at work, with most of my students sitting their English exams soon, trying to keep on top of my various other obligations has been hard... hence the lack of late of what I want to call casual content here on The Speculative Scotsman.

With a little luck, though, that should be sorted shortly, and given the wonderful weather this weekend—oh what fun it was to sit in the sun!—suddenly it feels like summer is nearly here. I won't give anything away today, but I have big plans for the holidays, when they happen. Plans that I've been hatching for a period of years.

In any event, this weekend, I found myself with a few extra hours, and I deliberately did something different with them. Something I wasn't sure I ever would do. Readers... I started playing a certain game.


And I discovered, despite my doubts, that I am prepared to die. Again and again and again, in a cycle of violence I was sure would make me hateful. But it hasn't so far. How about that?

That's really all I wanted to say. Dark Souls II has dibs on the rest of my day. :)

But hey, if there are any old hands out there, a few words of advice for a Dark Souls amateur would be very welcome.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder what the summer plans are. XD

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  2. Hey there Niall! I'm a huge fan of the series and I think it's one of the best fantasy themed games out there right now. I'm about 60 hours into DS2 and it's been an awesome gaming experience. Don't feel bad if you have to breakdown and watch a walkthrough if you're stuck. My advice is to get to the fog-gate of each level/area by yourself. Try the boss a few times and if you just can't seem to beat it, then look up a walkthrough video. If you get to the boss then there won't be any real spoilers once you watch a video. EpicNameBro on youtube has some very helpful videos. Another great thing about this game is that it doesn't hold your hand and tell you where to go. You might find yourself in an area with enemies that are just too difficult for you. Try to go to another area if you find yourself overwhelmed. Another tip is to "farm souls". Find an area that has a lot of enemies with a high soul count, put on the ring that boosts your souls, and go through the area a few times collecting souls to level up. Glad to find another SFF book nerd who ALSO loves Dark Souls! Let me know where you're at and what you think. Perhaps we can keep the discussion going on this thread. Best of luck and PRAISE THE SUN!!! -Ross

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