2-for-1: "Long time, no see" & "Hard Times in Lordran"

Well, regular updates sure came to a screeching halt in September... but at least I have a good excuse this time.

That's right, I've taken inspiration from a Rodney Dangerfield movie

I'm bettering myself, one College credit at a time. On top of my very busy work schedule, I am taking some courses at Toronto's George Brown College.

It's been tiring and exhausting, but the payoff should be worthwhile; the self-satisfaction that I am continually bettering myself through education (or something like that).

I just realized that College credits are like Achievements that actually have meaning! Although, I think I'd trade any diploma for the chance to have the Xbox's "Achievement Unlocked" sound (or the PS3's "Trophy Unlocked" sound) play whenever I pass a class.

So, with that out of the way, let's move on to this week's topic:

Hard Times in Lordran


For those who don't know, Lordran is the fictional setting of the game Dark Souls. Dark Souls is one of my most anticipated games of the year ([barely]beating out games like Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3!). The only game I'm even looking forward to even more is Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

For the uninitiated, Dark Souls is the spiritual successor (and by that I mean "exact sequel" but can't be called that because it's being distributed by a different publisher) to 2009's Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is considered to be one of the hardest games ever. I powered my way through that game (earning myself the Platinum Trophy along the way!) and it earned a spot amongst my favorite games ever. Demon's Souls provided a sense of accomplishment that has barely been matched since.


So far, after a week with Dark Souls, I can say that Dark Souls is better than Demon's Souls... and it's also a hell of a lot harder! The advertising campaign gleefully told players: "Prepare to Die", and they weren't kidding. In fact, dying is very much an integral part of Dark Souls, you will do it a lot. But if you able to learn from each death, you will eventually triumph and overcome. Just make sure the big words "YOU DIED" that appear don't get burned into your plasma screen.

Over the next little while, I will keep a diary documenting my journey through Dark Souls. If it goes anything like Demon's Souls did then it should be exciting journey of frustration, loss, despair, joy, more frustration and eventually... victory.

One week in, here's how things are going:

Character Name: Wiegraf
Character Class: Pyromancer
Level: 29
Bosses Killed: 3
Times Died: Already lost count (30+, I think)
Trophy Progress: 7%
Current Mood: Happy Adventurer
Current progress: Trying to kill the Capra Demon, not sure what to do about it as this boss has managed to kill me in less that 5 seconds on 3 separate tries...

Wish me luck, I guess.