Dark Souls III: Fisting Towards the Dark Soul

 I am stupid. But I am victorious. Therefore, I am free. Free of the shackles that I had placed upon myself. The unbearable weight of the Fist weapon only run. And for a game that I had never beaten before, Dark Souls III. 

Now, you might be wondering why I would do this to myself? This is a fresh playthrough and the initial impression of a game that I am developing as I go through on this perilous journey. So why would I put so much at stake off the rip? I just felt like my time with FromSoftware needed some spice. 

I started the playthrough in 2022 according to my Trophies on PlayStation. And in my mind, I thought that I had enough game knowledge to overcome every boss in DS3 with my fists. The weapons are very fun to use, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. For the most part, I was not wrong. That was until I got to the DLC. That is where I would attribute most of my struggles with the game.

A roster of bosses and enemies that were cooking me up and down the court. I say this because I had originally abandoned DS3 for 2 years, as I was getting stonewalled by one of, if not, the hardest bosses in the game. That boss would be Sister Friede. The prize fight in the Painted World of Ariandel beat my ass so hard that I thought she was near impossible. 

I had to analyze all 3 phases carefully and ensure that I had enough healing to deal with them all. This would include using Slave Knight Gael as a summon, just so I could ensure I had enough juice for the final phase. So, my strategy involved being more aggressive in the first phase and overwhelm her. Then, using Gael in phase 2 to distract Friede, while also ensuring that he didn't die. And finally, using Gael long enough to get her down to a respectable health chunk. Going for pokes and actually getting a timely backstab.

As for equipment. I used Demon's Fist for most of my fights, with Caestus as my backup. As these are the only weapons available besides your bare hands, according to my knowledge. For rings, I stuck with Flynn's Ring, it boosts attack based on how low your equip load is, and the Chloranthy Ring, it boosts your stamina regeneration, with two stat boosting rings on rotation that were dependent on the fight. As for the clothing , I mostly wore the Sage's Big Hat for almost the entire run. Other clothing was phased in and out. I just wanted to look stylish and lightweight. 

So, my plan was to be a glass cannon that can dodge a lot. Throw a ton of punches and dodge everything. The strategy isn't terrible. But it is evident as to why I would struggle with long fights or bosses with minimal openings. Funnily enough, I ended up clearing the Twin Prince, Lothric and Lorian, before I even beat Sister Friede. Which is not that surprising, yet is still funny to me. Being able to see the final boss when I still had nearly all of the DLC, Ancient Wyvern, and Nameless King was something.

The post-Sister Friede journey definitely had a different vibe from what I had I remembered of the base game. I was met with an ample challenge in the Demon Princes fight, that I had come to realize with Twin Princes. There were many fights in the DLC especially that involved multiple health bars and handicaps. Like, I understand double fights are meant to be hard, yet the challenge was never from teamwork. It came from two guys throwing out their most damaging move at the same time.

So many situations where you would get hit or hard knockdowned and get meatied. No invincibility frames were saving you. This is more of a FromSoftware issue than anything. Like, I can confidently say that the only times I liked their double fights were in Dark Souls. Those were the Belfry Gargoyles and Ornstein and Smough. Nowhere else has it worked for me as far as I can remember. The bosses never work together in any other fight for me. I think that the Twin Princes and Sister Friede's phase 2 come close, but the Demon Princes embody this issue quite brazenly. Leaving me with a super version of the boss to contend with afterwards. 

And I welcome the challenge, however this stuff just felt lazy. Much like how Halflight is half-baked. The Painting Guardian makes that fight more interesting, but not by much. I didn't feel any reward from it. I was just relived I didn't have to fight him again. In the midst of going through all of these gems, I was rewarded with the free win that was the Ancient Wyvern. I can't believe they paired Nameless King with that. Such a waste of resources.

That left me with my Final 4. Slave Knight Gael, Darkeater Midir, Nameless King, and Soul of Cinder. Realistically I should say Final 3 because Cinder is such a joke of a boss, it almost feels insulting. Simply, the less cool Gwyn. The arena is serene and war-torn, with an amazing score to pair with it. Yet the boss has a few cool moves and old tricks. I was more glad to be done, than have beaten him. To even further showcase how much they don't respect the Soul of Cinder, he doesn't even have an Achievement or Trophy attached. 

But before I tore him down, I bounced between the Gael, Midir, and NK. While I did switch my rings around for Gael. I found the fight to be quite simple. A good ol' fashioned brawl in the wasteland. An unbelievably fun fight without much thinking. Just dodge and swing on him. I love shit like that. I knew he was beatable the minute I got done with my first attempt. Being able to reach the second phase had given me enough information to take him down. When I killed him, I traded blows with him because I knew his death animation would run out before I reloaded. A calculated risk against a fairly difficult boss.

Not too long after I was able to take down NK. Not before he wiped me a ton though. My only issue with this fight was fighting his Horse or Dragon or whatever. I was just getting smoked by lightning and weird hitboxes. And that means the fight is unfair. 

But seriously, the NK fight is really fun when you are fighting him by his lonesome. The cloud dash in to the spear dive is a really cool move for example. So, I accepted him as a worthy opponent who was not using a cheap gimmick. I would fight NK Dragon-less any day of the week. Just too cool for school. 

Yet the final struggle would indeed be just that. Midir is a punk-ass bitch and I hate him. His health too big, attacks too strong, and he has contact damage on his rushes. An absolutely dreadful fight that reminds me of Manus in DS1. You get hit, it's gonna hurt. And if you get hit more than once, you die. But, I think what makes me hate Midir less than Manus, is that I was actually happy to have killed him. The reward was massive. A ton of souls and bragging rights. I would rank him as the second hardest fight in the game behind Sister Friede. 

Two battles at the opposite end of the spectrum, yet still connected. The most satisfying aspect of my fight with Midir was getting the stagger and critical hit that sealed the win for me. It knocked him down just long enough for me to mash on him. A truly exhilarating experience. So, I was able to coast on through the rest of the game after felling Midir. 

Watching and listening to the credits was blissful. I was victorious. I was free from the shackles that I had bound myself with. I had conquered a difficult game by punching it in the face repeatedly. While many have done this and even done it better. I am really proud of this accomplishment. 

However, do not do this. This shit was hard and it sucked to whiff a winning hit because your arms are too short. I'll probably do this again in another FromSoftware title, but I'm going to need some time. I am stupid, but I am victorious. Therefore I am free. Free from my own stupid prison.