From Software Elden Ring - From Software's new game with writing by GRRM

[Sunri]

It's the last time you will see Melina-chan UwU

eh, who cares.
Melina as another "maiden-in-black-character" is a huge flop. She appears in the game like three times, I almost forgot who she was when she popped out in Leyndell.

You can talk with her more if u rest at certain bonefires and if u do smoll guy quest line.

 

[Lithium Flower]

I think interactions with Melina are badly paced. She drops some very important dialogues in a few locations (two limgrave churches come to mind) but then dissapears for a good chunk of the game.

However, I like that she has actual agency/goal you can honor, ignore, or blatantly disrespect. This sets her apart from the previous MiBs who weren't even two-dimensional but like one-dimensional.

The implication of her past is also pretty cool but it's less plot and more smegma-tier deep lore stuff that I like.

I think she is an okay character, but underwhelming considering that From - unexpectedly for me - did quite well in terms of character writing this time around IMO.

Efe
You make good observations. Its unclear when and to what extent Gideon was present before/during the Shattering, as to have been Tarnished he'd have to been killed at some point so perhaps he was not around for the Night. Or perhaps he only "glimpsed Marika's will" and decided to prevent himself and everyone else from becoming Lord after.

Flies are definately in the Duskborn ending, by the ground. But that makes sense as we are right next to the husk of the erdtree - perhaps indicating that it is properly decaying.

 

[Puukko]

Reached AIDS woman and promptly specced away from my faith heavy build. None of that is going to do me good here, need pure STR mongo rushing with bleed and everything that boosts consecutive attacks and stamina by the looks of it. I don't mind, mixing up the build every once in a while and trying out new things is fine.

 

[Sunri]

Reached AIDS woman and promptly specced away from my faith heavy build. None of that is going to do me good here, need pure STR mongo rushing with bleed and everything that boosts consecutive attacks and stamina by the looks of it. I don't mind, mixing up the build every once in a while and trying out new things is fine.

Faith spell is the best way to kill her SWARM OF FLIES not only it staggers like crazy but also procs bleed superfast and sometimes even cancel her attacks lol

 

[Lithium Flower]

I've also been reflecting on how I feel about spirit summons. They seemed to trivialize vast majority of minibosses, which are already quite undertuned for the most part, but major bosses I was not overleveled for - particularly later-game ones (hello malenia) seemed designed with or around them in mind.

And if you think about it, that completely makes sense. Minibosses are typically just an improved version of a regular mob, usually designed around fighting a single player at a time. Bigger bosses have movesets with a lot of AOE and other ways of dealing with ganks.

So I think another autistic house rule I will use in repeat playthroughs will be to only summon spirits for open world and legacy dungeon bosses. I guess a good rule of thumb is: only summon if the location has more than 1 grace in it, which is usually a distinguishing feature of non-minor dungeons.

In general tho I feel like major bosses, again barring ones I clearly over-levelled, felt a touch too challenging without spirits and on the easier side with them. So ideally I would have loved to see boss health and/or damage scale up when you summon spirits, tho to a lesser extent than with a summoned player/npc.

 

[Puukko]

I am attempting Malenia without spirit ashes for starters for sure. I don't have to think twice about summoning them for field/mid bosses (hello godskin duo) but these 1v1 'duel' bosses deserve a fair chance. I have beat one boss with an NPC summon so far and that's because it was Melina.

 

[NJClaw]

However, I like that she has actual agency/goal you can honor, ignore, or blatantly disrespect. This sets her apart from the previous MiBs who weren't even two-dimensional but like one-dimensional.

???

In Demon's Souls you can fulfill her quest or kill her and take all the demon juice for you. In Dark Souls 3 you can fulfill her quest, kill her and not link the flame, corrupt her and super-not link the flame, or stab a woman in the face and ultra-giga-super-not link the flame. In Sekiro you can be a good papa's boy and burn the planet, maiden included. Dark Souls 2 is a weird entry because she that classic redhead who doesn't really know what she wants.

 

[Old Hans]

having to defend yourself from something that's trying to kill you.

while some merchent is just chilling out on the steps being all "oh hey..this place is great for customers"

 

[Lithium Flower]

However, I like that she has actual agency/goal you can honor, ignore, or blatantly disrespect. This sets her apart from the previous MiBs who weren't even two-dimensional but like one-dimensional.

???

In Demon's Souls you can fulfill her quest or kill her and take all the demon juice for you. In Dark Souls 3 you can fulfill her quest, kill her and not link the flame, corrupt her and super-not link the flame, or stab a woman in the face and ultra-giga-super-not link the flame. In Sekiro you can be a good papa's boy and burn the planet, maiden included. Dark Souls 2 is a weird entry because she that classic redhead who doesn't really know what she wants.

>Demon's Souls
Never played that shit lmao

>DS3
I agree you can resolve her story in multiple ways and I love the desperate atmosphere of the "ash seeketh embers" ending but she is still a useless pillow princess that you need to shove fucking eyeballs into in order for her to realize she wants to turn the light off and even then she is all fucking coy about it I mean seriously she makes Melina who is not even that assertive seem like the kind of chick who would wrap her strong legs around you to force you to come inside her oh god I am peeing a little just thinking about it

>Sekiro
I remember her being pretty cool, Sekiro's storytelling is sufficiently different from Soulsbornering that I don't really consider her in line with the rest of the maidenfriends. And coming to think of it she is probably the closest comparison to Melina in terms of being a fleshed out maidenfriend: dark past that may or may not come up, goes after your shit in the most chaotic ending, kinda has a role/purpose that does not solely revolve around you maybe.

 

[Salvo]

yeah, an action game for G N O S T I C S

speaking of, I love how Ofnir is sorta like Anasurimbor Kellhus + Socrates. I wondered why they called him all-knowing when it was clear he wasn't omniscient and was thirsty as fuck for information. His eventual explanation/reveal is pretty dope

what was his reveal? all I saw was a nihilist loser

Ofnir tells you that the pursuit of knowledge of endless - thus he calls himself all-knowing despite not knowing all. Since there is more knowledge than he can ever know, he is as close to the goal of knowing everything as he was when he was born. He recognizes this in a sort of "I know that I know nothing" way, and is utterly dedicated to this endless pursuit.

A remarkable trait of Gideon's is his ability to obtain secret knowledge through indirect means. He appears to have studied the Law of Causality (cause-and-effect determinism embedded into the order of the world, mastering which would be like practicing prescience from Dune or Kellhus' probability trance) to the point of being able to synthesize an effect simply from knowing about its cause. This is evidenced not only by him giving you unique information/rewards but by the fact that he is able to use Malenia and Mogh's moves if you tell him about their demise.

Perhaps because of this, he is an extremely callous and Machiavellian man. His agents commit espionage and atrocities, he does not show sympathy for anyone, and he readily discards his adopted daughter Nepheli and servant Ensha after they stop being useful to him. The whole game he spends doing nothing because he does not have to do anything to win - he just needs to encourage you to follow the path to becoming Elden Lord and swoop in the last second. You are merely the cause of his effect.

But when you burn the Erdtree, he doesn't become Lord in spite of beating you to the capital. He fights you, proclaiming that Marika wants to remain eternal and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Yet the description of his set states that when he glimpsed Marika's will, he "shuddered at the end which should not be."

This means that Ofnir is potentially one of the few characters besides yourself, Goldmask, and maybe Ranni to comprehend the fickle duality of Marika/Radagon - that the God simultaneously wants to reign eternal, and reign not at all. And in the former case, that of an Order prolonged and prolonged ceaselessly, would Ofnir not be at a constant advantage?

Where is his endless pursuit accomplished if not in a world without end?

Little wonder, then, that instead of ending and restarting this Order as its Elden Lord he would rather prevent you from doing the same and thus prolong it indefinitely.

A terrific character whose strengths and flaws follow naturally from his motivations.

I think you're reading too much into it and have probably put more thought in than whoever wrote his story did

 

[NJClaw]

I forgot to add that Melina's boots make her a 10/10

 

[d1r]

I forgot to add that Melina's boots make her a 10/10

Makes her the worst maiden tbh.

 

[Silva]

Rewatching some DS1 vids. Oh boy, I miss the simple old days..

 

[Lithium Flower]

I think you're reading too much into it and have probably put more thought in than whoever wrote his story did

Author's dead, baby. Author's dead.

 

[Silva]

So, now that everybody seems fluent in the hidden, deep lore of this game, can someone explain to me the point of the graftings in Godrick and his court?

Lithium Flower ? Efe ?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

In Demon's Souls you can fulfill her quest or kill her and take all the demon juice for you.

Which also presents the player with the best music track in the entire Souls series, "One Who Craves Souls":

 

[NJClaw]

Lacrymas care to explain?

Spoiler

That doesn't look like a tail to me

 

[mediocrepoet]

Lacrymas care to explain?

Spoiler

That doesn't look like a tail to me

A brooch depicting Lacrymas. Who knew he was so gifted?

 

[Old Hans]

Lacrymas care to explain?

Spoiler

That doesn't look like a tail to me

the first time I got this, I didnt read past the 1st sentence. So the first thing I did was jump off a ledge that killed me. then I was like "wait a second...let me read the rest of the description"

 

[Olinser]

Lacrymas care to explain?

Spoiler

That doesn't look like a tail to me

the first time I got this, I didnt read past the 1st sentence. So the first thing I did was jump off a ledge that killed me. then I was like "wait a second...let me read the rest of the description"

I posted this earlier.

The short description (which is what most people read), ONLY says 'immune to fall damage'. From is literally trolling us with this item.

It's literally the single most useless talisman in the game, because the window between 'no damage jump' and 'death' is so absurdly small that it almost never actually happens.

 

[Lacrymas]

Lacrymas care to explain?

Spoiler

That doesn't look like a tail to me

It's zoophile hentai, there is no other explanation for this. Speaking of, I was watching a friend of mine stream this pos a few times and it struck me as excessively Japanese, so no surprise there.

 

[Efe]

So, now that everybody seems fluent in the hidden, deep lore of this game, can someone explain to me the point of the graftings in Godrick and his court?

Lithium Flower ? Efe ?

no idea im no lore expert
Apparently he got whacked by other demigods and begged for mercy afterwards and might be trying to overcompensate.

 

[perfectslumbers]

So, now that everybody seems fluent in the hidden, deep lore of this game, can someone explain to me the point of the graftings in Godrick and his court?

He's a weak little bitch boy with an inferiority complex but the more arms he sews to his body the more hp he has and the more hits he can do in his 10 hit combo so he's trying to get big and strong

 

[Salvo]

The amount of cut content and wasted potential in the game is absolutely staggering
What even is the point of giving the player the option of initially refusing Melina's accord if you can't finish the game without accepting it jfc

 

[Caim]

They can't complain about you being maidenless if you make a female BODY TYPE B character and BECOME the maiden yourself.