Dark Souls 3: A fond retrospective and the beginnings of Farewell

So, during the downtime while I didn't have a working pc and finding out that that I wasn't able to write for the blog unless I could type it out, which may or may not be a bad excuse, I used my time off to dig in and dive deep into the world of Dark Souls 3 which I had previously been visiting only rather sporadically over the last few months.

I am vastly overlevelled at this point, even though I haven't even stepped into the ring with the game's final proper non-dlc boss.

Gazing at the End

How much overlevelled you ask?

This overlevelled.

I know. 

And spoilers from hereon out.

SPOILERS I TELLS YOU

I like to wear the armour I think looks cool, but I also have to be able to roll. I also have a penchant for choosing the stats to level that give me more physical defense above all others, despite what should be advisable. Having no real problem with an hour of grinding now and then, one thing naturally leads to another. 130 hours later and I'm still not done with my first playthrough. Very close to it though.

Just ticking some things off the checklist before I step into that final arena.

Here's me at my final succesful Nameless King fight which was for the longest time a very annoying boss before I finally figured out how to beat him.

It's usually the hardest one-on-one fights that actually require complete mastery of them to beat them, as a consequence the satisfaction gained from beating them is quite pleasant.

Anyway. Lovely game with an intriguing world. Immensely satisfying combat, beastly boss fights and humongous rage moments.

I'll take my experience with it as far as the platinum trophy since it's the final platinum I still need from the entirety of From Soft's Soul series. Been here since Demon's Souls and now I'm nearing the final end.

Bloodborne was my favourite but all the fan service in this one made it just so much damn fun. At one point I picked up what I thought was just another armour set and when I suddenly realized whose it had been I felt myself shocked into silence a bit. There's a dozen moments like that throughout the game. Oblique references to past characters and jaw-dropping visits to old familiar places that have crumbled into utter ruin. Familiar places... and the occasional familiar face. Those welcome and those not so...

But damnit, they even made me love Patches... what a road that man has taken...

Despite the annoyance it maybe should engender, this scene rather got an emotional response from me. It was a glimpse into a new chapter of the story of a man who finally remembered who he was and what he did. The old punisher of greed and yet, here at the end, a true friend as well.

But we are already here, the time of the ultimate end, when and where it's all gone. All dead. When the fire has slowly burnt out.

Where and when the world darkened I moved on, and moved forward. To the time when only Ash remains.

Ash and Slave Knight Gael. At the end of all things. He and me, gorged on souls, battling over the ruins of existence. A mad clashing of undead souls and their swords because it's all there is left to do. Have I mentioned that all this world is, is tragedy piled on top of tragedy?

And when one lies bleeding in the grit, in the ash of a once glorious civilization. I find myself looking ahead to the last fight and what comes after and the choice that then must be made. What is the next step?

We could of course rekindle the flame as it's what they have all asked us to do, every single soul along the way, every helper, every enemy and every aid has asked us to burn the old world in violent cataclysm, to let it better rise anew. It is the old cycle and the old song. It is right and proper, the wise men who live in the painting know it is the right path and with the burning of cloth we too have seen it should be so.
But the flame might not be strong enough. Maybe it is past its time and should have extinguished long ago, alongside the once-Sun Gwyn.
So maybe we should let it end. Into utter dark and the end of all things. Like our prince Lothric would have wanted, sat with Lorian in his castle on top of the world, gazing in their brotherly solitude at a slowly decaying world. So we give sight back to the one who it had been stolen from and she will usher in another Age of Dark and an ending of things. Until... of course... the time when flames will dance again.

Or maybe, just maybe. we choose that the time of cycles and gods will end. And we will sup on fire and don the crown and the mantle of the Lord. With might and flame we will rule and humanity will finally have its day, unrestrained and ungoverned by the rule of disparate greedy gods. No gods but one.

Now, I messed up at the last hurdle with that particular ending which is rather a big load of  bullshit annoyance all on its own but I guess that's what new game + is for.
For now It's just Link the Fire or Let it Fade and I'm still not sure which I'd want.

But before that... lemme just first do this one thing... and ooh ooh, this other thing. And ooh ooh, this as well...

But first!

It never ends.

May it never end.