Zodi Plays: Custom Robo (Redesign Your Robo, We Know What We're Doing)

[LaZodiac]

You take that back! Anyone with the guts to rock a blonde mullet like that deserves mad respect!

I said outfit, not hair. I respect blonde bullet. It is incredibly powerful.

[DataNinja]

Oh boy. The top of important missions here, solving others' dating issues. I'm surprised Harry didn't hit on her himself.

Oh, I like Marcia's design. I could go for that outfit.

And I see she's the only competent one around these parts. Why is that always the anime trope, that the one girl's the responsible one?

Ah... the old "what question is this" test.

I like you talking around, seeing all the NPC lines. Just my two cents, at least.

***

Re: outfits: Ooh, yeah, I really do like Marcia's outfit. And Gyro's isn't too bad either.

[Lord Raziere]

I on the other hand do not respect the mullet. I never will. Harry's taste in style is just plain garbage and he needs to buy a better one. like why does he have three different shades of green? the red boots and watch is trying to be christmas with that combo but its not working, and no person wears suspenders/overalls anymore, the only people who can rock that anymore are mustachioed men from the mario series.

[LaZodiac]

Oh boy. The top of important missions here, solving others' dating issues. I'm surprised Harry didn't hit on her himself.

Oh, I like Marcia's design. I could go for that outfit.

And I see she's the only competent one around these parts. Why is that always the anime trope, that the one girl's the responsible one?

Ah... the old "what question is this" test.

I like you talking around, seeing all the NPC lines. Just my two cents, at least.

***

Re: outfits: Ooh, yeah, I really do like Marcia's outfit. And Gyro's isn't too bad either.

Oh yeah Marcia's outfit would look GREAT on you.

Truth be told I'm going to be doing my best to collect as many of the dialogues as I can, and Em should be around every once in awhile to provide any I missed.

I on the other hand do not respect the mullet. I never will. Harry's taste in style is just plain garbage and he needs to buy a better one. like why does he have three different shades of green? the red boots and watch is trying to be christmas with that combo but its not working, and no person wears suspenders/overalls anymore, the only people who can rock that anymore are mustachioed men from the mario series.

Plumbers, farmers, people who don't like belts...

[12milematt]

I said outfit, not hair. I respect blonde bullet. It is incredibly powerful.

in an alternate universe blonde bullet is the name of a Stand

[LaZodiac]

in an alternate universe blonde bullet is the name of a Stand

Thank you Em.

In my defense I was thinking of Liquid Snake.

[DataNinja]

Oh yeah Marcia's outfit would look GREAT on you.

Appreciated, but I think you're overstating things.

[Toric]

Just watched the Strider taste. I love the dust effects when Hiryu jumps and slides. You can especially see it during that first boss fight since the camera's zoomed in, it's artistically just... magnificent.

[LaZodiac]

On this sunny morning, I think it is time for more Custom Robo.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [4] Harry Causes A Domestic Disturbance

Video Length: 34:45

Exactly what it says on the tin. We go in to work, only to be told immediately we've gotta go all the way back home. Turns out our neighbors, Walt and Carmen, are having a bit of a lover's quarrel, and it is causing severe distress to their kids! Gyro and Harry (who is, predictably given how last episode ended, depressed) to save the day! And credit where it is due to Harry, alongside the fact that Lucy's compliment genuinely cheers him up, he actually takes his job seriously even though he's in a ****ty mood. That's respectable, I think, when you're working in a free form, self employed esque job like bounty hunter. It helps that, when all is said and done, Walt and Carmen are also just genuinely good people (with hilarious facial expressions) who got messed up because S O M E O N E left Trish's number out on the yard.

Marcia arrives during the fighting, and shows us how empathic she is, helping cool down things far more than us goobers really could, and ensuring that everything is okay... and then we see just how pure and innocent and TRUSTING she is, when we receive a call from Earnest and Harry tells her jokey things to say and she does so exactly. A funny bit, though a part of me feels like Marcia knows exactly what is going on and is reveling in playing the part of the shirking violet. "He yelled at me for no reason : (" indeed. Anyway, the call is about dealing with Marv, the legendary criminal, so off we go to Bogey's to capture him!

Unfortunately, Evil of Dark Blue beat us too it. Evil is a fantastic character with a wonderful design, who is an absolute sleezeball in every single way. Even the sound effect for his voice fits exactly how you'd expect him to talk, it rules! He also gets the first (and I think only) voice clip of the game, that nasty little laugh. Evil is great, even if he does kinda screw us over due to our rivalry. Ernest isn't too happy, but given that it's kind of literally his fault, we manage to get away with it. The next morning we are told to rush over to a Chinese restaurant, and I'm sure nothing bad will happen there.

And that's it for today. I know I got a Metal Grappler in the video but until I actually use it I won't be discussing how it feels and how it works mechanically since... I mean I haven't used it yet, I don't actually know beyond memories of Bad. But then almost all of my memories regarding parts have been wrong so who can say! I hope you enjoyed, I'll see you all next time. Take care.

------

Last time we didn't have a glossary because I forgot to record the glossary. Today, we have a glossary, because I didn't forget. Simple cause and effect.

Spoiler: Custom Robo Glossary Ep 3 and 4

Show

I feel like it's a bit unfair to say Bogey is suspicious. But then his welcome sign is spelled WeLcoMe so, maybe... also if anything was censored in this game during localization it's probably this. I don't think it was coffee or tea in the original... I can't even begin to imagine what a shaddy, dodgy looking cafe would look like.



This description makes it sound like Dark Blue are definitely just rich losers dressing up in cyberpunk clothing and punching criminals in the face for fun. Literally choosing the least important bounty hunters and saying "my rival now" certainly is rude, too. Goodness...



There is something genuinely hilarious about the fact that, canonically, the AI involved his the license exams are just rude. If you encounter a bad and rude question it is because the machine is literally trying to **** you as a joke. This is just really funny.



I have nothing directly to say about Hub Park at the moment, just noting how it's cute that even in the (very light) cyberpunk future that is Custom Robo we still have things like this.



The safety switch is a concept I wish we had gotten explained earlier, because the scene where it IS brought up makes it clear we had it off the whole time. How many people have we accidentally mind broken... I'm guessing none since we're still just regular commanders and as such aren't skilled enough to cause damage, but we definitely gave them headaches at the very least!



This right here is genuinely one of the most ominous ****ing things you can read. WHO IS MARV AND WHAT DID HE DO????

[Lord Raziere]

On Episode 4:
oh I can tell form the title this is going to be gooooood.

ah man, Wlat and Carmen it must be tuesday.

Aha! of course Harry gets the landlady's number. yes. I like this. FEEL THE PAIN HARRY. FEEL THE PAAAAIN.

I can only imagine this tutorial on metal grapplers realistically being told as a yell:
"MY ROBO IS A METAL GRAPPLER! IT HAS EXTREMELY HIGH DEFENSE YOU PUNK! MAKE MY DAY! ITS HARD TO GET KNOCKED DOWN! DODGES LIKE TRASH THOUGH! DASHES LIKE TRASH TOO! DON'T WORRY i'LL JUST BEAT YOU BLOODY YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
".....Why did you tell me this?"
"......*STRING OF CURSES*"

Yeah, that fight basically turned out how I'd expect it. Dexterity/Agility is often a god stat for a reason.

they're clearly mispelling wub. they're actually big fans of dubstep.

I mean its Harry. I'd shoot at him if he was my partner, just to make sure he wouldn't get in my way.

Heh, Harry just realized that this entire situation is his fault

...his name is literally "Evil". wow game. subtlety of a freaking meteor to the face, much?

Ernest secretly enjoys goth poetry, it speaks to him on a deep spiritual level you cannot comprehend.

wait Gyro did? that was never shown game.....tsk tsk. so is like, Evil just the competent powerful version of Harry?

Bye literal villain and probably the big bad of this game. unless your just some small-time rival idiot to keep us busy until the real big bad shows up in which case eat dirt cause your going to be defeated halfway through at the lateeeest. no wait.....yeah probably the latter, definitely small time rival idiot, the name? just bait to make you focus on them. like Team skull in Pokemon Explorers of Time

you hear that Harry? your bringing down our rep, time to fire you!

Z Syndicate.....real villain. right there.

character is the art of the viewpoint expressed, thus the robots are given character though their viewpoint being voiced. that is how.

also Zodi, whats your obsession with beating actual children at a children's psychic videogame? let them have hope so that you can crush it later when they're older and your already the master of all robo fighting, like a socially acceptable person, don't you know that beating children at a children's videogame in this world is like child abuse in the real world? they're too young to handle your high level competitive play.

[Geno9999]

It really is a bad sign that the resident idiot hero knows more about the world than his landlady.

"Crudely dressed punk" Ouch, yeah sorry Harry, but I think the thread agrees with Walt here.

I actually remember that Funky Big Heads being surprisingly agile in the air. Ground mobility is AWFUL though.

It's a miracle that Harry managed to get an actual number at all really.

What crime has THE ULTIMATE ROBO COMMANDER MARV has NOT done is the better question!

It really says something about Steel Hearts' reputation that people look at this miscolored Joker named "Evil" and go "yes, this is a trustworthy bounty hunter who I will hire."

[DataNinja]

*sees title* Oh no. What did he do now?

Oh dear. Well, at least they ended up having reasonable communication. Which is more than many people in media have.

Oh no, tragic backstory.
Well, I'm sure this disappeared brother won't be important.

"Every character who's named is important." Ah yes. The grand name of "Woman."

The testing robots being jerks makes sense. In the words of another testing robot, "Fantastic! You remained resolute and resourceful in an atmosphere of extreme pessimism."

[LaZodiac]

Let's have a taste of a day-old May 4th reference...

Zodi Plays: Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

Video Length: 43:21

In this fun little outing, we play Fallen Order, the most recent Star Wars game. It's honestly not that bad, but the MC is pretty bland and when the Second Sister isn't on screen or when they aren't hinting at the MC's past through wiggy, super cool transitions and dream sequences and video game prompts, it's not actually all that interesting. But when it DOES do those things, when it has "use the force" pop up as a prompt when you have no idea if this guy can or can't use it, that feels cool. When you genuinely, truly believe you're being traitored and oops it is a cool as hell dream sequence, that feels cool. When the main villain shows up and is actually well written, that feels cool!

So yeah overall the game is Alright. It feels averagely good to me, and I think part of that is that I just don't really care much about Star Wars. Rogue One was the first movie of it I watched that was like, actively really compelling, so I've never really been part of this craze. Still, sometimes you want to be a space samurai with a laser sword and time magic, so you play this sort of game and have fun with it.

Important note; literally five minutes after I recorded this video, a patch came out that fixed almost every mechanical problem I have. Lets you increase general text size, turn button holds and mashes into presses and doesn't exist, and removing the stupid "hold L2 to climb" nonsense. Who the hell even OK'ed that as a control concept?

[Aeson]

So yeah overall the game is Alright. It feels averagely good to me, and I think part of that is that I just don't really care much about Star Wars.

The Star Wars Original Trilogy movies are perhaps my favorite films and I have much the same opinion of Fallen Order as you do, so I wouldn't be too concerned about a lack of attachment to the franchise somehow making you 'underrate' the game - if anything, I'd more expect the opposite. I will say that I appreciate that they mostly used original characters rather than going "we need characters for a Star Wars game; time to break out the Obi-Wan, Yoda, Tarkin, and Vader models again..." Yes, I know Vader shows up as the final boss, but hey, at least you don't beat the stuffing out of him this time, unlike almost every other Star Wars game where you fight him...
I will say that I find the game's character customization options rather underwhelming, though that's also not something I particularly care about. What's with all the different lightsaber hilt parts? It's not like you can really see the hilt of the lightsaber in normal gameplay, anyways, and if I recall correctly the game later reveals the weapon to be something that you'd think Cal would be a little more reluctant to modify than is implied by it being kind of the main focus of the game's customization options.

As to your question about "is it Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order" or "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," I'd be inclined to say more "Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order" - Star Wars is the franchise (or primary series, if you prefer), Jedi is the series (or sub-series), Fallen Order is the game.

[LaZodiac]

The Star Wars Original Trilogy movies are perhaps my favorite films and I have much the same opinion of Fallen Order as you do, so I wouldn't be too concerned about a lack of attachment to the franchise somehow making you 'underrate' the game - if anything, I'd more expect the opposite. I will say that I appreciate that they mostly used original characters rather than going "we need characters for a Star Wars game; time to break out the Obi-Wan, Yoda, Tarkin, and Vader models again..." Yes, I know Vader shows up as the final boss, but hey, at least you don't beat the stuffing out of him this time, unlike almost every other Star Wars game where you fight him...
I will say that I find the game's character customization options rather underwhelming, though that's also not something I particularly care about. What's with all the different lightsaber hilt parts? It's not like you can really see the hilt of the lightsaber in normal gameplay, anyways, and if I recall correctly the game later reveals the weapon to be something that you'd think Cal would be a little more reluctant to modify than is implied by it being kind of the main focus of the game's customization options.

As to your question about "is it Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order" or "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," I'd be inclined to say more "Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order" - Star Wars is the franchise (or primary series, if you prefer), Jedi is the series (or sub-series), Fallen Order is the game.

Thanks for the frame of reference, cause I kinda needed it. I think another part of it, which I kept on trying to but failing to actually say was that this game clearly falls in that magical zone of "between Prequel and OT" which means literally nothing it does will matter. That's not a BAD thing, we need to distance ourselves from Lore Lore Lore, but at the same time it does make some of it feel a little weak.

According to Youtube it's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, as an aside.

[Lord Raziere]

Thanks for the frame of reference, cause I kinda needed it. I think another part of it, which I kept on trying to but failing to actually say was that this game clearly falls in that magical zone of "between Prequel and OT" which means literally nothing it does will matter. That's not a BAD thing, we need to distance ourselves from Lore Lore Lore, but at the same time it does make some of it feel a little weak.

According to Youtube it's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, as an aside.

Yeeeaaaaah, both this and using the canon characters once again is kind tiring about the Star Wars franchise when it comes to videogames. they literally have an entire galaxy to work with, and more interesting places on a timeline than you'll ever need, and most of the time they either just retread a trilogy or place it between OT and Prequel.

like seriously Star Wars, is fighting the same evil empire and the sith all you can come up with!? your a space opera, you can expand! at least Kotor had the courage to set it 4000 years in the past! honestly, I'm wondering if I could just make a setting like star wars but better, or at least done more my style. its clear the people making it just can't figure what to do with it, or don't care. because nostalgia and retreading the same freaking ground is whats popular these days apparently.

[Aeson]

like seriously Star Wars, is fighting the same evil empire and the sith all you can come up with!?

The conflicts that form the backdrop to the films are at least notionally galaxy-spanning; there ought to be plenty of scope for stories, locations and characters within that but outside of and essentially unconnected with those shown in the films even if they are all fighting the same evil empire or the Sith. The problem is more that the people who make Star Wars-related media often seem incapable of doing something that's not a direct tie-in to one or more of the main sequence films or directly related to one of the main characters thereof than that they're always somehow or other about fighting the Empire or the Sith.

I would also comment that the sentiment you expressed comes with a question - if you strip out enough of the things that make the setting recognizably Star Wars, why are you working with the Star Wars setting rather than any other sci-fi-ish setting?

[Lord Raziere]

I would also comment that the sentiment you expressed comes with a question - if you strip out enough of the things that make the setting recognizably Star Wars, why are you working with the Star Wars setting rather than any other sci-fi-ish setting?

Define "any other sci-fi-ish setting", what are you comparing Star Wars wuxia/fantasy tropes to?

do you mean Warhammer 40k's grimdarkness? Star Trek's overly clean sterility? Halo's purely military focus? Doctor Who's weirdness? Mass Effect's action heroism and more realistic cleanliness? Firefly's blatant wild westisms? Fallout's rare forays into fantastical elements? any superhero settings blatant obliteration of the separation between sci-fi and fantasy? The Culture's extremely advanced civilization that might as well be magical to us? What?

because I guarantee you, you throw five random people into a bar into all those settings, your going to get very different stories and endings no matter how "unrecognizable" to the usual focus of that universe they are.

[HalfTangible]

like seriously Star Wars, is fighting the same evil empire and the sith all you can come up with!? your a space opera, you can expand! at least Kotor had the courage to set it 4000 years in the past! honestly, I'm wondering if I could just make a setting like star wars but better, or at least done more my style. its clear the people making it just can't figure what to do with it, or don't care. because nostalgia and retreading the same freaking ground is whats popular these days apparently.

Yeah the conflict is generally going to be light side v dark side because the Force is what Star Wars is built around. There's also a lot of other stories in EU material; crime rings that need busting, Amazon planets, fleshy monstrosities from outside the galaxy, an anti-human alliance of aliens... and yes, all of the above had Jedi in some capacity. Asking the SW franchise to not feature the Force in any meaningful capacity (even just with characters that can use it) is like asking Mass Effect to not include Mass Effect fields in any meaningful capacity.

... God I'd love a game about the First Contact War but I know Bioware as-is would **** it up.

[Lord Raziere]

Yeah the conflict is generally going to be light side v dark side because the Force is what Star Wars is built around. There's also a lot of other stories in EU material; crime rings that need busting, Amazon planets, fleshy monstrosities from outside the galaxy, an anti-human alliance of aliens... and yes, all of the above had Jedi in some capacity. Asking the SW franchise to not feature the Force in any meaningful capacity (even just with characters that can use it) is like asking Mass Effect to not include Mass Effect fields in any meaningful capacity.

... God I'd love a game about the First Contact War but I know Bioware as-is would **** it up.

Reasonable counterpoint, but always featuring literally the same two organizations every time in an entire galaxy of people is ridiculous when I wish there could at least be more variation in both Light and Dark Side representation.

[HalfTangible]

Reasonable counterpoint, but always featuring literally the same two organizations every time in an entire galaxy of people is ridiculous when I wish there could at least be more variation in both Light and Dark Side representation.

Hapes Cluster, Dathomir, Yuuzhan Vong, Black Sun, the Diversity Alliance, the Hutt Cartels...

Although to be fair you're right that they do need to appear in more stories.

[DataNinja]

Well, uh, I'm very late watching this. Oh well. Guess I'll just need to make up for it by being here early for the next one.

Eh, there are cooler laser swords. More iconic? Probably not. But cooler, absolutely.

Oh boy. We can't have a movie, book, or game for the original trilogy without an iconic star destroyer flight.

Look, I am never going to call an opening "long" as long as we have Gravity Rush 2 to compare it to.

The Sith is some specific tradition, yadda yadda. There's... not really a clear delineation between all of it, but, in the grand scheme of things, Sith seem to mostly be about seizing power, while people like the Inquisitors tend to do it to prove their skill, because they can, because it gives them authority, or just to inflict maximum cruelty. They don't really have grand designs. It's all small scale.

Neat enough, though I'm mostly ambivalent. The biggest thing is that these games tend to just... kinda exist in a "lore stasis", where all the important events are already charted out, and wrangling will have to be done if there are survivors to explain why they're not around during the original trilogy, and all that. There's potential for stories... but that potential tends to have much less grand cinematic appeal. IT'd end up being more of a vignette of Star-Wars aesthetic'd other stuff in most likelihood. And that's the disappointing thing. It's a cool universe, with a lot of potential for stories... but it's really hard to translate that into a spectacular game that has the kind of mass appeal that the marketers want from a Star Wars game. (Addendum: I see that this has been discussed by everyone already.)

Yeah, Rogue One definitely is the kind of aesthetic I think would be cool to explore for a video game. I loved the movie, and it did such a good job of Star Wars flavouring without involving Jedi and Lightsabers front and center... of course, it has the Death Star elements, but that's easy enough to replace with some core story. I just don't feel that people are willing to take that risk.

Ohhhhh, man. Internet went down right as I posted this, thank the Force for preserving almost my entire post in the auto save.

[LaZodiac]

At one point I'm gonna play Gravity Rush 1 and also 2 on this channel, and I'll finally get to show how cool they are as actual games.

Anyway, enough with this silly space samurai nonsense. It's time for space military nonsense instead.

Zodi Plays: Halo [9] Bridge Too Far

Video Length: 22:09

In this episode, we continue our dredge across the copy and past environments of the back half of this level, for better or worse. I'm definitely confident in saying that this IS the worst level so far, and I think that really gets across in our commentary and gameplay. It's a slog that really wears you down.

Then we get the space airplane and things are good again, and we round out the level with a bit of whacky hijinks. Hope you all enjoyed, next Halo time is gonna be... a little gross probably. I know that much. Take care!

[DataNinja]

Yeah, one thing I noticed with this game is that it uses a lot of reused assets. There are some great set pieces, but every bridge is the same, every 'bunker room thing' is some variation of the same one you were complaining about, etc. It's understandable, given limitations, but still... disappointing. (This level isn't the worst for it, but... yeah, it's pretty bad. Later, though...)

Ah, I see you, too, enjoy the "Bopping Grunts' Heads" method of attacking things.

The thing that shot down your Banshee was the stupid-accurate anti-air-apparently Wraith shot. Happened to me the first time I tried that, too.

The "Bro-" line of achievements (Standard Operating Brocedure, Brovershield, etc.) are for completing a co-op mission on a specific difficulty - in this case, this is your first Heroic one.

[LaZodiac]

A billion years ago, the world ended and I did an A Taste Of of it. I never did an A Taste Of of the world ending's sequel since Ik had already played it. Today... the surprise third game in the end of the world appears!

A Taste Of: Darksiders III

Video Length: 27:17

Third game in the Darksiders series, this one follows Fury (who according to the logistics of the series is meant to be Famine, but I argue that Conquest fits far better) as she hunts down the Seven Deadly Sins, so that the earth can be considered at least a LITTLE clean for the humans that Death sacrificed himself for to save. Not that Fury cares, she's only in this for the title.

Taking a (welcome, in my opinion) detour from the standard beat-em-up-but-also-Zelda formula of Darksiders 1 and 2, Darksiders 3 is a beat-em-up-but-Dark-Souls instead! You have all the mechanical things that make Fury a beat em up protagonist; you've got the fast dodges, the super bar, the many combos of her weapons that depend on how and when you press buttons, the platforming ability. But unlike the other games, all the enemies are Dark Souls enemies, and damage you accordingly. This weird mixture of genre is actually EXACTLY what I'm looking for in these weird, silly games, so this is excellent.

As well, while I say I'm not a big fan of the Envy we encounter here compare to other Envy's, she started to improve basically right after I said that line in video, and overall I think she's actually pretty good. There's also some... other things I've learned, that only serve to remind me that Darksiders as a whole lives and breathes a Rob Liefeld aesthetic, but is written by someone who actually knows what they're doing (and honestly the Rob Liefeld comment is a bit overbearing because Fury is actually REALLY well designed, she's not one of those railthin sexy sexsex characters, she looks like someone who is made out of hanger and violence).

So yeah. Darksiders. A ridiculous and silly experience. I hope you all enjoyed!

[DataNinja]

Oh neat. Yeah, I like the aesthetics of both Fury and her Watcher, but the game certainly looks... unforgiving. That platforming bit certainly proved that...

[Ninja_Prawn]

War, death, strife and fury does seem an unusual quartet - there's a lot of overlap there. But then, I guess the original prophesies are open to a lot of interpretations.

Given that Fury's horse is black, she must be the third horseman, who usually symbolises famine, justice, injustice or oppression. Not really seeing how that aligns with her character at all though.

[LaZodiac]

War, death, strife and fury does seem an unusual quartet - there's a lot of overlap there. But then, I guess the original prophesies are open to a lot of interpretations.

Given that Fury's horse is black, she must be the third horseman, who usually symbolises famine, justice, injustice or oppression. Not really seeing how that aligns with her character at all though.

Believe it or not she actually develops quite a bit along that path.

[Lord Raziere]

On Darksiders 3:
"Why did the creator construct a universe teeming with...imperfection? Misery? Sin?"
My answer: So he can laugh.

"If sin itself is a part of the Grand Design, is not sin then, by definition, divine?"
If you worship a sadist, then yes.

If you want to know how you can do good and be happy in such a world......ignore my first two answers.

Fury of course is tired of pontificating and wants to get on with it. I never understand though, why everyone around them expects literal incarnations of rage and fury to be respectful to anyone though.

I think Darksiders just decided to have its version of the horsemen and change them just because. plague and famine aren't exactly the most gameable concepts ever. not everything has to be 1:1 with the original myth. but then, I don't know Darksiders lore.

Zodi is your sense of time wrong? it did not take you a billion years to do that, it only took you a few seconds longer.

Envy is acting very greedy. wrong sin, try again.

yeah, that platform puzzle with death in two hits is kind of unfair even for real Dark Souls. real Dark Souls just throws you into a fight against a boss, and you fight that boss, no platforming. you do something stupid, you get punished. so you keep a cool head, keep focused on what the enemy is doing, figure out the pattern, when they're vulnerable, and you either die a few times, or you win. not have to suddenly change your game play mode half way through, granted Dark souls does have its parts where you have to be careful not to fall off someplace high while fighting things and platform around, because one of your greatest enemies in dark souls is gravity but thats a general level thing, not a boss thing, its generally pretty good about making sure your fights are all on even ground for a vast majority of the time.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Yeah, the combination of boss fight & platforming seems much more like Prince of Persia than Dark Souls. The 'swing with the whip' thing especially; Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones has the exact same mechanic.