Dark Souls 3
Awkward Mixture's last two video game articles reviewed the core aspects of Dark Souls 3's cooperative (what I called P+PvE) and adversarial (PvP) multiplayer. This article will provide specific multiplayer examples I experienced in my quest to link the Flame, with the goal of humanizing a collection of skeletal mechanics.
In the last article, there was a brief
explanation of the nine covenants. In my play-through of Dark Souls
3, I only enlisted into two: the Warriors of Sunlight when I wanted
to help other players defeat bosses, and the Blue Sentinels/the
Blades of Darkmoon (who are interchangeable) at all other times.
Since Dark Souls 3 has no penalty to switching allegiances, it is
possible to enjoy all the covenants in one play-through. When a
player switches they do not lose ranks in any of their covenants, and
can rejoin an abandoned clan as easily as switching an item in the
character menu.
Before describing my adventures I want
to address one question a potential player might ask. Dark Souls 3
was released in 2016. Are there still players? My answer is, even
though it was released over two and a half years ago, I never felt as
if I was waiting to interact with other players. Leaving one's mark
with a White Sign Soapstone in a highly trafficked area (Bonfires)
elicited a swift summons. In the same way, whenever I needed an ally
for a boss fight, there were always multiple allies to choose from.
And I was invaded more times than I can remember. In fact, I felt as
if the world of Dark Souls 3 was packed with players, though many
seemed to be on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
play-through. As of this moment, 11pm November 26th,
2018, there are currently seven thousand players connected to the
Dark Souls 3 servers through Steam.
First, I'll describe all the times
multiplayer seemed broken. I say seemed, because I don't have enough
knowledge to know if some one was cheating (which does
happen),
or the issue resulted from a glitch.
Once, I was summoned to defeat High
Lord Wolnir, in the Catacombs of Carthus. Some bosses are located in
open areas, whiles others are hidden behind doors. Wolnir is one of
the latter. The Host who had summoned me, walked to the door, but it
didn't open. Instead, I saw the Host fly up into the ceiling of the
cavern and vanish. I could tell the boss battle had begun, because
Wolnir's health bar appeared at the bottom of the screen, but I
couldn't enter the arena. At the time I believed the Host was
cheating because I could see Wolnir's lose health in small chunks,
but then suffer a massive decrease. I now think this was legitimate,
because Wolnir has certain weaknesses which allow the player to
inflict significant damage suddenly. At the time it was frustrating,
but in retrospect the event's humorous, as I was cursing the Host,
because I believed she had cheated, and she was probably doing the
same, because she didn't know why I wasn't helping her.
A minor glitch, occurred in the Ringed
City DLC. I invaded as a Spear of the Church, even though I was
pledge as a Blade of the Darkmoon, and had not even acquired the
Spear of the Church emblem.
Once or twice, I entered a world, where
nothing I did had any effect. My Miracles didn't heal the Host, my
attacks didn't damage enemies, and I decided there was only one
solution. I jumped off the edge of a cliff to my death.
These were minor innocents, mistakes in
the machine. But there were malicious incidents.
While exploring Lotheric Castle, I was
invaded by a enemy named Twitch, who I never saw. He damaged me and
I fled the invisible Invader. I hid for a few minutes before I dared
to venture out. Again I was attacked by the invisible enemy and
slain. As far as I know, there are no means of remaining invisible
while attacking. I supposed it is possible the player was not
cheating, but Dark Souls 3 suffered a glitch on connecting our two
worlds. This never occurred again, except one time described below.
Oddly, after dying in this manner, the loading screen appeared and
cycled, but I was never returned to life. After about ten minutes I
quit out from the task manager, and when I reopened Dark Souls 3, it
functioned fine.
But the most egregious, obvious hack of
the game occurred about halfway through my experience (pictured above). Currently sworn to the
Warriors of Sunlight, I was summoned, as an Invader, into a massive
battle swirling about the Hanging Tree in the Undead Settlement.
What follows are my recollections, which I recorded after I was
unfairly slain. The battle must have begun recently, because undead
farmers milled about, striking out whoever came near. At the center
of the melee was a starved looking Host, wearing no armor and
wielding a small sword single-handedly. A number of Invaders were
battling together and against one another. It looked as if there
were many combatants, but Dark Souls 3 allows only six players to be
involved in a battle at any time. Perhaps the monsters made the
engagement seem larger. Whenever a player was killed, a new one was
summoned immediately. Again, I admit my recollection of the outlines
of the battle are suspect, because I was fighting immediately for my
survival in a mass of chaos and death.
Of this I am more certain. I charged
the unarmored hero, because he was the Host. I didn't understand why
I was summoned as an Invader to the battle. I was confused about
what Dark Souls 3 was doing, but I knew the Host was my foe. We
fought each other, and anyone one who impinged upon our duel, for
others kept attacking me and him from all sides. In Dark Souls 3,
one can roll
to dodge attacks. Rolling allows one to move swiftly to
avoid being hit, but it also allows temporary
invincibility. The mechanic
is a bit unclear but during a roll, for a certain number of
frames, a player can't be hit. With less equipment, a player can
roll more often, longer, for more frames, making them incredibly
difficult to hit. While it is technically possible that this
unarmored Host could have been exceptionally skilled at rolling, I
never saw him take damage, in spite the number of people trying to
hit him, After awhile of me chasing him (and running away to heal
when I was injured), he vanished and killed me while invisible. The
combination of these three factors; being forced to invade, the Host
invincible to damage, and his invisibility, lead me to conclude he
was cheating. Aside from the prior example of Twitch being
invisible, none of these problems ever occurred again in the 100
hours it took to beat Dark Souls 3.
The problems described above were few
and far between. In fact, I was able to document every bad error,
glitch, or possible cheat I experienced, because there were so few.
But there were so many enjoyable (or at least fair and challenging)
experiences, I can not describe them all here, but I offer a few
reflections.
When summoned as a Phantom, normally
the Host will be nearby upon your arrival to their world. If one is
defending a Host as a Blue Sentinel, or hunting them as an Invader,
they may not be in sight. A moving fiery emblem, floating before the
player, guides the summoned player to the Host.
Sometimes though,
one doesn't want to fight an invader. As I climbed the last hill to
the Abyss Watchers, I found my path blocked by a blood-red foe. He
came at me slowly, and I doubled back down the path I had come, with
the intent to deceive and discourage the foe. He stumbled past,
intoxicated by my supposed fear, while I observed him, smiling, from
the shadows cast by towering trees. Laughing to myself, I continued
my journey to drag the first Lord of Cinder to his throne.
Most of Dark Souls 3, I adventured as a
Blue Sentinel or Blade of the Darkmoon. Both are summoned whenever a
member of the Way of Blue is invaded. I often thought this system
wasn't sufficient. For instance, the Way of Blue is the first
covenant available to the player. But unlike the other eight
covenants, it doesn't offer any rewards, and one can't advance in it.
As the player gains access to other covenants, they forsake their
Blue shield. When this happens, the members of the Sentinels and
Darkmoon no longer have anyone to protect. One possible solution
would allow Blue Sentinels to defend only Way of Blue, but enable
Blades of the Darkmoon to defend anyone against invasion. Since a
player can join the Sentinels early they will have enough Way of Blue
members to defend. And by the time the player discovers the Darkmoon
covenant later in the game, Invaders will understand that any
invasion can lead to an extended battle. This minor difference would
also differentiate the two covenants, because currently most players
don't know the one minuscule
difference. Maximus_Realius
devised a similar,
but slightly more complicated fix, which would work as well.
One on one duels are fun, but the
coolest events of Dark Souls 3 are the six person battles. The
chaos, the confusion, the deadly weapons striking everywhere. Once,
I was summoned as a Blue Sentinel into the slime of the swamps which
border the Road of Sacrifices. About me I saw; the unaltered Host,
the transparent silver of an allied Phantom, the crimson red of an
Invader, the purple of an insane Mound-Maker, and the shimmering red
and blue of a Watchdog of Farron (guarding their territory). The six
of us battled, uncertain of the intent of each duelist. I defended
my host admirably, but saw the Phantom dispersed by the Mound-Maker.
I slew him, and was then set upon by the Watchdog. Fighting
desperately the two of us, locked in combat, lost sight of the
others. In the depths of the swamp, a monstrous crab joined the
Watchdog, and I nimbly avoided my doom. Desperate to fulfill my
duty, I lunged forward and sliced swift stroke after unrelenting
stroke of my uchigatana onto the cur, and he fell at my feet.
Exhausted, I exulted, though I knew my end was approaching, as I'd
completed my obligation. Gravely wounded, and with my stamina
depleted, I could only watch as the giant crab reached down, clutched
me between his claws, and cracked me open like, well, a crustacean.
There were many other battles, some
even more frenzied than the 3v1v1v1 described above. Passing under
the sealed gate into Irithyll of the Boreal Valley opens new regions,
but new threats. The fountain just past the gate must be the most
blood stained area of Dark Souls 3, except the Anor Londo
region defended by the power hungry Aldrich Faithful. One time at
the fountain, I was summoned as a Phantom, and immediately, three
Invaders and a Mound-Maker appeared. Another time, again as a
Phantom in the Courtyard of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, the Host
and I fought four invaders, one after the other. They appeared so
swiftly after each other, that there was no opportunity to advance
until they'd been defeated. I am not complaining about these
examples, for even though invasions are exhausting and nerve racking,
they are also magnificent as a mechanic.
One last comment before concluding this
article. This is a serious complaint which I assume is relevant to
all players who employ Miracles in multiplayer. Dark Souls 3
contains a miracle called Tears
of Denial, which buffs the player with a powerful
enchantment. When the player incurs enough damage that would kill
him, the enchantment absorbs enough damage to protect the player,
leaving them with a single Health point. Tears of Denial incurs a
significant Focus point cost and requires a few seconds to cast.
Unsurprisingly the enchantment remains intact if the player rests at
a bonfire, but is dispelled if the player is summoned. It must be
recast upon entering the Host's world, whether one is a Phantom,
Invader, or a Sentinel/Blade. This isn't unreasonable, but what
follows is. Upon returning to one's own universe, the enchantment is
still dispelled (even it was recast in the summoned world). A
Sentinel can waste quite a bit of Focus Points trying to remain
buffed in his own world, while being summoned to defend others. It
is easy to forget to recast the spell upon returning resulting in an
unsuspected death. At its worst, one might be returned to their own
world in surrounded by monsters they were fighting when there were
summoned, but now without the protection of Tears of Denial. This
seems like a mistake of the developers, where they didn't realize the
impact of this oversight.
Awkward Mixture is now one article
closer to concluding Dark Souls 3. There will be at least one more
article next week on the Soul series, and maybe a final one the week
after. We're almost into the end of the year, and there is one final
game I want to write about, which deserves at least two weeks of its
own. It would be perfect to fit in this final game, so 2018's video
game review can truly be called Awkward Mixture's Year of the RPGs.
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