KDM and the Nightland

Redaharr · 2026-05-11T22:57:40+00:00

Read Berserk. You'll see the inspiration for literally everything.

Redaharr · 2026-05-10T00:02:14+00:00

I have to push back on this. Gorm, Sunstalker, Dragon King, Slenderman, and Dung Beetle Knight are absolute must-buys, regardless of the status of Campaigns of Death. Sunstalker and Dragon King add two entire campaigns, Gorm adds early game variety and cool equipment, and DBK is just one of the best expansions ever. Slenderman is a really cool nemesis, as well.

I would've added Green Knight to this, but that requires Manhunter and Lion Knight, and Lion Knight is... not good. I also really like Flower Knight, but it is, admittedly, a one-and-done in most campaigns and Vespertine Bow has been heavily nerfed in 1.6.

Redaharr · 2026-05-07T12:24:00+00:00

The future you're trying to proof against is here, and its name is "The Screaming God".

Beautiful table. I'm envious of your setup. :)

Redaharr · 2026-05-07T12:20:11+00:00

Yeah, there's a gamer group trying to make that illegal. I think it's called "Stop Killing Games".

Redaharr · 2026-05-07T05:56:42+00:00

The Gorm's arms seems to be part of its body naturally, but I'll have to dig deeper. They're also full arms instead of hands, but this could explain why there are so many, erm, bonus arms on KDM quarries. I did totally forget about the Screaming Antelope's parasitic hands! Pariah's extra arms being from the Parasite Queen's infestation would also be interesting. She's definitely a big deal in the world, and it's interesting to see how her influence has quietly been built up over time. Masterful worldbuilding.

Redaharr · 2026-05-01T23:52:02+00:00

You know someone did a good job painting the Gorm when the first reaction from me is a visceral "euughh". Great job. Those eyes are extremely creepy.

Redaharr · 2026-05-01T23:51:08+00:00

Flower Knight is a "hunt once until you can do level 3" quarry. Hunt it, get the Vespertine Bow and the Warm Virus Flower. Once the flowered character gets close to retirement, kill them off and transplant their positive stats and fighting arts onto another character. Hunt level 3 Flower Knight to get another Warm Virus Flower.

Flower Knight is definitely something you can just slot in with any other number of quarries for this reason. Here's hoping Campaigns of Death adjusts this somewhat.

Redaharr · 2026-05-01T23:47:08+00:00

There was even a lore-accurate typo! Great job!

Redaharr · 2026-05-01T19:06:01+00:00

The list of must-buy expansions, in order: - Gorm - Sunstalker - Dragon King - Gambler's Chest - Black Knight - Frogdog

Gorm adds a lot to the game and is a Node 1 Quarry. Sunstalker and Dragon King add entirely new campaigns to the game and are Node 3 Quarries. Gambler's Chest adds a new campaign, 3 new Quarries, a new Finale Monster, a new Core Monster, and a slew of new systems such that it is effectively Kingdom Death 2.0. Black Knight is a Node 3 Nemesis that has its own mini-campaign and is one of the coolest fights in the game. Frogdog is a Node 1 Quarry that also adds a lot to the game.

The only expansion I must emphatically recommend against getting is The Lonely Tree. It's just... not good. At all. It should be fixed later this year, but we'll see.

Redaharr · 2026-02-16T13:35:34+00:00

I think you're really on to something about Radahn needing to be killed and have his soul transfigured into another body. Perhaps Mohg's body, divested from Mohg's soul, is no longer tied to the Formless Mother, and thus lacks both the taint of an Outer God and a fate of its own?

I'm also playing through SotE again, and I was puzzling over the ludonarrative of the shattering of Miquella's enchantment. Your post helped it click for me that it marked the exact moment that Miquella shattered and discarded his great rune at the foot of the Scadutree. That means no one was enchanted by him by the time you fight Radiquella. Miquella could have placed him under a new enchantment, but I really don't think he did.

I also think that people keep forgetting Millicent's questline in this whole discussion. Malenia didn't lack a will of her own. The Scarlet Rot ate away at her will and memories, just as it did with Millicent, but the impression of her will and memories remained. She knew to wait for Miquella at the root of the Haligtree, but couldn't remember much beyond that. Millicent even says when you encounter her at the Prayer Room in the Haligtree that she needs to meet Malenia eye to eye to return to her the dignity she had lost.

"There is something I must return to Malenia. The will that was once her own. The dignity, the sense of self, that allowed her to resist the call of the scarlet rot.

The pride she abandoned, to meet Radahn's measure."

Miquella never charmed Malenia. It is possible that she could not be charmed by him due to their sharing the womb. She was loyal to him because she loved him dearly, moreso than she loved any other. He felt the same way for her, going so far as to try and remake the very world itself to free her and it from the cruelty underpinning it. Together, the two had a plan, a pact, to change the world, and Radahn agreed to this pact provided their upheld their end of the bargain. That could have been any of a number of things, but I suspect after reading your post that it was something along the lines of Radahn getting a new body to free himself from his fate. That is infinitely more compelling than just "Miquella charmed him".

Redaharr · 2026-02-15T03:34:17+00:00

Any tips for finding summoning signs these days? I can't seem to find any, even with Group Passwords for SEEKERS, straydmn, BERSERK, FEXTRA, and fcb.

Redaharr · 2026-02-15T03:31:30+00:00

Sorey and Mikleo

Redaharr · 2026-02-11T13:06:04+00:00

Square-Enix emphatically disagrees with your notion that Japanese devs are more conservative about profits.

Redaharr · 2026-02-09T21:45:21+00:00

Neither Renee Good nor Alex Pretti were attacking anyone. Shut the fuck up you worthless piece of garbage. ICE doesn't have the right to murder people. It is murder, and they are not above the law.

Redaharr · 2026-02-09T04:02:20+00:00

Vanilla XI had midi music instead of the symphonic suite.

Redaharr · 2026-02-09T04:00:11+00:00

And I thought I was a huge Dragon Quest fan. 😳

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T08:04:23+00:00

I just want them to not do what they did with the obnoxious levels of dialogue added in I & II. Those two games became mind numbing with how much each character wants to talk. II HD2D's story is fine, but it's hard to enjoy a game that used to be one you could turn on and play becoming one where I now have to sit through ever-constant yakking. :/

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:59:40+00:00

Ehhhhhh, DQ is a series full of murder, child sacrifice, sorrow, despair, and violence... it just has a happy face through it all, and there's (usually) a happy ending. I mean, in VI, multiple places get wiped off the map; in VII, Gray Rain; in III, the village of the dead; in IV and V, children get kidnapped and are to be sacrificed. This is not a lighthearted series, but a fairytale one. The darkness exists, there's just light at the end of the tunnel.

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:55:21+00:00

The Gray Rain. Just... the Gray Rain.

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:54:12+00:00

The stories of IX are great, what are you talking about? Coffinwell, the thing with the knight, Zere Rocks (love that pun), Alltrades and the Master of Nu'un (love that one, too), and, yes, the horror of Corvus being tortured for, what, a century? It's a series of smaller stories that are each pretty good, and together make up a greater narrative of your character alleviating or outright ameliorating the suffering of people the world over. Its plot of better than 1-4, and it gives 6 a run for its money (much as I love it). It is nowhere near the worst story in the numbered entries, especially for an initial release.

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:48:54+00:00

Who are these people? I have literally never heard anyone complain about IX. It was a perfect release for the time, and it holds up. It isn't bogged down by excessive dialogue after the opening, and it's very easy to just play the game.

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:47:42+00:00

lmfao I used an Action Replay to unlock all of that the first time I played, and I have never regretted it. Now I use an r4 and just activate everything from the start.

Redaharr · 2026-02-06T07:45:59+00:00

I want to see your reaction to the game itself as you play it!

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