The Mysts of Anor Londo (Dark Souls 11)

After my run in with the Law Firm, I had tried to explore more, now that I was free to move around the world easier.  I attempted to fight the Hydra (Died repeatedly), tried to explore Darkroot more (door still locked), and attempted to fight Ceaseless Discharge again (lolnope), and surprise, nothing came from them.  

So where did I end up?  Why the Archives of course!  The magical Archives where things resist sorceries!  Truthfully, I don't know how much of the difficulty I'm having is due to my build and strategies.  Whenever I see some bits of game play, I'm frequently seeing a lot of two-handed melee builds, and I'm not sure if that's the "intended" way of playing or not.  

Anyways, the Archives are still kicking my ass.  I shouldn't be surprised.  I even mentioned it in the previous Dark Souls post.  I started to let myself believe that "I beat Ornstein & Smough, I should be able to take this on" but no.  No, that's not quite the case.  

I won't say I'm stone walled, but I am starting to feel that I put myself into some hard spots by neglecting points in Vitality.  Some of the arrows that hit me take off 3/4 of my HP, the spellcaster dudes hit me for more damage with their tridents than their spells, and I can get overrun easy.  But it's not a total block yet.  I found the... Balcony bonfire, I guess I'd call it after being locked down in the library prison area for some time.  

I guess this area is easier?  I haven't found any huge walls like Anor Londo, like the 3 hours I spent with the walkway archers, or the 6 hours I spent in a protracted Legal battle.  So there is some merit to the "Anor Londo is the biggest roadblock" rhetoric.  

I keep thinking to myself "Alright, I'm a fairly high level, I should be able to just snipe these enemies and get through without a hitch" and no, that's not the case.  I thought that there may be some switch when this game becomes "easy", but nah.  That's not how Dark Souls do.    

So how am I feeling about Dark Souls?  Well, I'm enjoying playing the game again.  The tension and anxiety that I was feeling when going through Anor Londo is gone.  I have some paths to explore and it'll be interesting to see what opens up when I clear the Crystal Kingdom out.  I'm really enjoying the Sorcerer game play.  As long as I know where the enemies are, or if I have an idea of where they are, I am able to engage with a lot of enemies on my own terms and find ways to gain an upper hand in battle before even dealing any damage.  Aural Decoy is such an incredibly useful ability for managing enemy engagement that I am flabbergasted whenever I hear that it's a weird spell choice.  

It also took me near 60 hours to learn that roll-attacks are a thing.  I sure am smart.

I'm pretty sure I like Dark Souls.  I don't think I'll play it again, because I don't typically replay games, but the dance-like cadence of the combat can really suck you in and entrance you.  Soul Arrow, step step, Aural Decoy, Heavy Soul Arrow, step, Aural Decoy, weapon swap, stab stab, weapon swap, Soul Arrow.  

I'll try to check in after I clear the Archives.