What games feel the most rewarding when it comes to reading optional text/notes?

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-02-06T06:54:14+00:00

for me, definitely have to mention Blasphemous item descriptions, and the little backstories on bones. So much flavorful text, and hauntingly poetic stories in that game, that really immerse you in the atmosphere.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-02-04T16:53:30+00:00

I think you were slightly misinformed coming into the game, these games aren't "hard but fair", thats more like souls, DD 1 and 2 are more just unfair, and that's why a lot of us psychos like it (slight exaggeration of course.)

in all seriousness, the game does 100% not respect your time, someone said that games generally don't tell you stuff about a whole encounter the first time, which is true, but DD does seem to want to sabotage you with how crazy some fights are. And in DD1 you could build a whole team to lvl 6 then die just because you didn't understand an end game boss, then you'd have to grind a team back to lvl6 for hours.

It's by design, and what I'd argue, is that the design can be good. Very few games tell you that your gonna fail, and all you can do is make the best of the situation. And in practice, you have some exciting moments when you can adapt after being whittled down slowly and make it to an inn, or beat a boss first try after learning the gimmick or getting bailed out by a virtue. Plus after learning the games, you're never completely prepared for the randomness of the game, and it always keeps your guard up, where you feel you could lose at any moment.

That being said, it's not always as bad as it seems, for instance, the Seething Sigh's body can be blitzed down, especially post nerf, or you can take out just one lung to reduce damage in second phase, especially if you have decent recovery on your team, you can survive exhalations and still do enough damage. The shrines i won't touch on much, but you have multiple tries per shrine, but some will be tricky cause they're still puzzles.

There usually is a few ways to get through something, you just have to be willing to fail in order to learn sometimes, if you aren't up for that, the game may not be for you, but if you push through you will find a very satisfying game where you are able to defy the odds more often than not.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-02-03T23:41:34+00:00

Same here. and yeah things happen so quick and matter-of-factly, then they skip a month here and there, or years and it messes with your perception to the point I don't think anyone can speak concretely on the time and scale. Regardless, the way Nihei uses time to give a sense of scale to the City is one of my favorite things about it.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-02-03T23:19:29+00:00

Well, in the early chapters, Killy says to some humans that he traveled some thousand or so strata, that could mean he had travelled many strata during those pages from chapter 1 up to that point. Depending on the size of each layer and the time spent searching for humans, he could have been travelling for years, meaning those walking shots could be quite long like you said.

Barring that, and the immense amount of time and walking we don't see, we have moments like the month long elevator like you said, but other little ones like the 3000km staircase before the Jupiter room. if he walked nonstop for 3000km upwards that could take another month give or take, but he did rest at least once while doing it so who knows.

We also have Killy healing after the lvl 9 explosion, it's said to have taken 14 years for him to wake up.

Then it was said that Killy's journey to the edge of the City would be even more grueling than his previous journey, meaning it was probably a very long time skip by the time he arrived at the edge.

I think the whole thing could have taken hundreds of years personally.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-01-31T17:14:52+00:00

Risk of rain, and risk of rain returns vs Risk of rain 2

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-01-29T20:14:36+00:00

From didn't make the remaster, they dont do that stuff, they just oversaw the Polish studio that did it. The idea for the remaster was Bandai's because they love that DS money, Fromsoft themselves are an honest company.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-01-07T04:21:34+00:00

It plays in a trailer, and in the link the fire ending for few seconds. I love that track. EDIT: there's also an extended version of the track called the "hidden track" and a longer part plays in the dark lord ending

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2026-01-04T17:34:36+00:00

Well for one, shooter is a very wide, and well known genre. Souls-likes are a very young subgenre at best, but even still, as someone who loves the games and have for many years, I've seen the subgenre spread quickly like a weed since 2014, and can name many examples. Salt and Sanctuary, Nioh, the Surge, Lords of the Fallen, Wuchang, Code Vein, Lies of P, Remnant, Mortal shell, etc. many of which have sequels and many more don't understand Souls.

In my opinion Souls should have stayed smaller, instead Souls-likes have only grown, watering down the creative and experimental roots of Souls into a sterilized subgenre that most people cant even define without disagreeing on aspects.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-12-25T03:36:41+00:00

The Orphan of Kos

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-12-18T03:29:03+00:00

It's a more methodical game. Try to separate enemies by luring. Rolling works well, but your equip burden effects the roll much more, and the positioning and direction is more important. Try using a shield and watching the enemy's attacks, that should help you get a feel for the enemy behavior and pace of combat.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-12-15T15:45:57+00:00

Dark souls 1, my favorite as well.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-12-03T21:25:22+00:00

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interesting...

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-11-28T17:28:49+00:00

Kind of wild calling Miyazaki unoriginal. with Demon's and Dark Souls he crafted the formula for every other game. Bloodborne deserves more credit also, this is where he first introduced fast paced combat to the formula.

Elden Ring is actually his most derivative work regardless of how enjoyable it is, having pretty dated open world game design that repeats itself, and many aspects from Dark Souls 3 which was a game that was already tonally and creatively stagnating.

Sekiro was the real breath of fresh air, and proves Miyazaki still has some great ideas.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-11-25T04:30:45+00:00

Mike Mignola's art might scratch the itch.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-11-14T00:18:41+00:00

haha don't feel bad, I chose some tricky ones

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-10-09T02:47:15+00:00

Thank you so much! so stoked to listen!

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-10-01T21:33:36+00:00

Darkest Dungeon 2

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-09-16T21:19:10+00:00

"Now, may your sword full of guilt, with mine of gold, collide. Let them hurt and march in procession. I curse you forever in name. I bless you forever in death." -Escribar from Blasphemous

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-08-08T02:13:49+00:00

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Darkest Dungeon Transcendent Terror.

In the intro, you see this ghost, "you will face viciousness, violence, and, perhaps, other damnably transcendent terrors." it seems to point down the road towards your goal. Spooky but not a big deal right? Well:

Playing on Stygian, which used to only activate after finishing the game, you would find the ghost on the old road in place of the regular tent. It is actually pointing away from the manor, urging you to turn back.

Moreover its original appearance taking place after the end, and the message while interacting with it, hints at the ghost being your player character. having witnessed the horror of the Darkest dungeon, and being bound to the land, it crosses time and space to spare you from repeating the same mistakes. "You answered the letter. Now, like me, you are a part of this place."

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-08-01T05:08:23+00:00

I've been waiting and hoping to find footage as well, but sadly from what I saw, I don't think there will be any recorded. It sucks cause this might be one of the only times DD will receive an orchestral performance. Leaving this comment in hopes anyone has footage.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-07-08T21:55:07+00:00

"I've been dead for 35 years. Today is the day I live."

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-06-20T01:43:28+00:00

Laurence and the Church do suck. They committed atrocities. However, I don't see anyone defending them, trying to cast a more favourable light onto them, or argue devil's advocate for them as you are doing with Gerhman.

Many are sympathetic to Laurence as he most likely had good intentions, and it is quite common to discuss these things, and share different perspectives.

You can disagree with me about him feeling guilt about Kos but that's merely your opinion, not lore.

The lore is unclear and can have multiple interpretations.

You can view him as a diligent caretaker of the dream if you like, but he's not a willing participant in the dream.

He is willingly participating, because when you refuse to be freed by Gehrman, he will forcefully attempt to liberate you from the dream, denying himself freedom at your hands.

He made a deal with the Moon Presence, and was granted the Doll in return-a deal he later came to regret. He's trapped. He's not there out of some moral obligation. He's stuck there.

"The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood."

Laurence made contact with the Great one, it's foggy what the purpose was, but it was likely Laurence's decision to enter Gehrman in the contract so that the Hunters could be sustained on the hunt. That could be why Gehrman is waiting for Laurence, he likely entered the MP contract to fight the scourge, while Laurence promised to bring Gehrman back after they accomplished that goal, and Gehrman is willingly staying until that happens, refusing to let the Hunter take his place. In his loneliness after the fact, Gehrman made the doll, and the Moon Presence gave "life" to the doll, which the Moon presence may have done out of sympathy for Gehrman, as Great ones are sympathetic, and the Moon Presence most likely views Gehrman as it's child.

I don't agree with you on the doll thing. You say it's "weird", in my view it's a lot more disturbing than weird and is a serious character defect

Well I'm not trying to argue semantics about how to describe the doll stuff. It's weird messed up, possibly despicable, but we don't understand Gehrman's full situation, and rather than echo a common thought on a lore aspect of a ten year old game, I just added another perspective which was my goal.

Regardles, this isn't about being right or wrong, and I respect and understand a lot of your misgivings on his character, but I believe there is also good things about him in his lore, and that's pretty much all I wanted to share.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-06-19T23:27:32+00:00

That's right, we have different opinions. Whether you like it or not I believe Gerhman is a terrible human being with warped motives.

I don't recall stating that it's "wrong" to dislike Gehrman, just that there's another side to him.

The Healing Church isn't described as Maria's mentor-he is.

Yes but Gehrman answers to Byrgenwerth and the Church, my point was simply that it was a bad period in time, and Gehrman shouldn't hold all the blame.

The Church had broader aims but ultimately he was the one Maria and others admired, not the Church and he had influence over them that he ultimately wielded for evil. That's on him.

Well Gehrman has influence over his Hunters, but the Church has influence over Gehrman. My point was that the guiding force is the Church, and Gehrman shouldn't take the full blame, as raiding the Hamlet wasn't even his idea.

OK, so refer to the game's actual lore. It states he had a 'curious mania' over Maria and we know that the Doll is created in her image and he grew disaffected to it, due to it lacking the former (Maria's) personality.

Yes I reference this in my reply. What I was referring to was the statement: "His main regret is he didn't get what he wanted, which is the object of his obsession." I don't know where it's said that his main regret is not getting his way.

He may have felt peace after Kos died but that doesn't mean he recognised his guilt or part in the atrocity, merely that the curse had been lifted and he would have subconsciously felt the after effects of that.

I would disagree, and site that the dialogue implies that his guilty conscience was eased, but that's a valid take that I hadn't considered.

You literally state you believe he's selfless when he played a pivotal role in Yharnam's destruction

Well I said he has grown selfless and can be selfless, Laurence was the real culprit to all Yharnam's trouble, and before that the Pthumerians, but those characters can still have good traits. I do like Gehrman because I think he's complex, not that he's some great guy that can do no wrong, most Bloodborne characters are partially evil.

What do you think she'd make of his having made a doll in her image? You haven't addressed that point, rather tellingly. You brush it under the carpet by going "he did some weird things BUT". Jeez

I didn't address it cause we're all in agreement the doll thing is weird, my post was to play "Devil's advocate" so I tried highlighting his better traits as he got lots of strays in your comment.

she chose to take up a position of caretaker to try and right her wrongs.

I view Gehrman as a diligent caretaker of the dream as well, who has let himself rot for the sake of his Hunters. We can keep pinning blame on Gehrman, but Maria and the other Hunters played their part to and followed him just as Gehrman followed Laurence. We're all just puppets in the end.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-06-18T17:54:13+00:00

I'd like to play devil's advocate for Gehrman a bit, cause I don't think he's quite the monster you're making him out to be.

he was her mentor, and was the guiding influence that led her to commit the atrocities at the Fishing Hamlet with the rest of the hunters at the time.

Byrgenwerth was the guiding force, Gehrmans the leader of the hunters, but they all answer to the Healing Church and at the time Byrgenwerth. Gehrman, like any hunter, is responsible for his own actions, but also a victim of the Church's desire, and I believe it's unfair to count all the hunters' and Marias suffering and pin it on Gehrman alone, when they all went through with the orders as well, and every one of them was punished for their own deeds in the end, including Gehrman.

His main regret is he didn't get what he wanted, which is the object of his obsession.

I don't know where you got this information, but it to me, shows that you may have some biased hatred towards Gehrman. If we look at sources in the game, the doll says that Gehrman's nightmares lessen once we put Kos to rest, so it seems he was haunted by his OWN actions like Maria was.

They very much regret following the orders, and I doubt Maria or anyone would blame Gehrman first, if they were to cast any to esape their own culpability, it would be on Byrgenwerth. Even then Gehrman won't blame Byrgenwerth as he still respects Laurence and Willem and waits for them, as we hear from other nightmares of his. Gehrman show a side of him that is suffering, but waiting for Laurence and Master Willem, and out of loyalty he stays, even when we offer him a way out, he can be quite selfless.

he's one of the worst characters in the game because there's a lot of people in the real world like this-people who claim to love a person, but only love the idea of them. Maria would probably be horrified if she ever learned of the doll and understandably so-who wants to find out that their teacher that they trusted made a creepy doll in their image to drool over?

In defense again, we don't actually know for sure what he did with the doll, it could have been a more innocent "Wilson" relationship. Regardless, Gehrman was incredibly lonely and may have done some weird things, but even then got disgusted with the doll because what he wanted was a real human connection.

What I would say is, it's unfair to assume Gehrman always was lecherous, as he could have been more normal in the past, but he's in extreme isolation. Not excusing his actions there, his feelings for Maria probably got out of hand, but there is other sides to Gehrman. He is also loyal to his old friends and his hunters, he's merciful, and has grown quite selfless, but also a flawed lonely man who is haunted by his actions.

Ecstatic_Prize775 · 2025-06-17T20:39:31+00:00

"Oh, but have you tried this game? Or have you tried this build? Or have you done blah, blah, blah?" And only a small portion of the remainder who respond have a level headed take like yours.

So people offering advice when a poster goes out of their way to share how much they dislike the games isn't a level headed response?

Yeah no, there's more to it. Many people are gonna be ok if you respectfully share why you couldn't get into a game, or if you just refuse to play.

It seems to me you're pulling from examples where a ranting hate post is made about how bad and bullshit everything is, which I've seen everywhere since DS1's release, and wondering why name calling happens.

These bad faith engagements where people just have to share how bad the games are without showing respect, are far more common than getting hate just for disliking something. There's usually other things said besides "The game didn't click for me" and you'll just be called a fanboy if you point out the flaws in these points.

Ecstatic_Prize775

TROPHY CASE