# Video games I want Lola to play Created On: 09-08-2023 08:20 pm Up:: [[Lola]] Tags:: #note/evergreen🌲 #thoughtful #important #death Topics:: [[Video games]] Related:: --- These are all of the games I’d like for Lola to play throughout her life in remembrance of me and what I loved: video games… I love you, [[Lola]]. - Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time - Reference: [[My first video game memory]] - This was the first game that *hooked* me. I hit a couple of walls, i.e., I couldn’t progress, so I put it down and then came about to it later with a renewed determination, and it worked 🙂 - Each of these FromSoftware games - Dark Souls 1 - I spent probably 600+ hours on this game… Mostly in college, baha! I didn’t get out that much then - I chatted with [[Chloe]] and played Dark Souls, basically to the point where my roommates never saw me. They started to hate me as a result of that, honestly. Yup, what a time 😂 Life was so simple back then. - I picked this game up at the GameStop in Bryan. I wasn’t particularly looking for it, but the sales guy recommended it to me. And that guy changed me, as I am about to for you! 😂 - Un/fortunately, for both gratitude and regret are intertwined in suspension here, this game dampens most feelings of accomplishment from other games… It exceeds your expectations by bringing out this neanderthal perseverance in you. You’ll die 100 times to succeed once, and you’ll feel like Rambo - you just got the crap beat out of you but just squeezed it out! And it’s the greatest rush of dopamine… - Enjoy this one, babe! I truly did! - Dark Souls 2 - I bought this because I loved Dark Souls 1 so much, but… being honest… This game is somewhat of a lukewarm experience. It’s not bad, but it’s less than okay. - I am reminded that, by far, the *atmosphere* of this game is demonstrably better than most others, carrying much of my affection for this game. There is something about being on the coast of the hub gazing at the sherbert-colored sky with the tickle of the soft music in the background that brings a sense of true respite in an otherwise deeply hostile environment, where darkness and death lurk around each corner. - Dark Souls 3 - This game maintained and, in other ways, exceeded the essence of *Dark Souls 1*. I absolutely recommend it. - Bloodborne - As of [[2023-09-08]], I have yet to complete this game… And it is unlikely I ever will - I packed the PS4 away, and it’s in the shed now. - Therefore, finish it for me… It’s a beautiful and unique game. Enjoy farming for blood vials 😜 - That is the main *frustrating* distinction about this game: farming for *necessary* consumables :/ - Sekiro - ⭐ This is one of my favorite FromSoftware games, hands down! As proof, I beat this game on new game plus seven - the hardest difficulty - with the most challenging modifiers - charmless, requiring perfect deflects, and the “demon bell” equipped, producing additional damage when hit - turned on. Here’s a [Youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nHKs2lXvQ8) of proof. - Funny anecdote: I used to actually have this listed as an accomplishment as a “whited out” hyperlink, so it couldn’t be seen unless you highlighted it, under “accomplishments” on my resume. - **Recommendation**: play any of the other FromSoftware games *before* this one. Namely, any of the Dark Souls games, 1-3. - *Why*? The game mechanics are designed intentionally different from the other games, and while it’s easy to carry those Dark Souls habits with you, such as always dodging/rolling as a means to avoid damage, this will only take you so far in Sekiro where you’ll hit a wall. This wall is in one of the preeminent boss fights about a quarter of the way through the game, wherein, that boss will absolutely *punish* roll and dodge attempts, leaving you little option but to, in the words of the FromSoftware community, “git gud”. Meaning, you’ll need to learn to deflect instead of dodge/roll, which serves as the bread and butter mechanic for the rest of the game. While this feels like an annoyance, there’s actually a lot of love about that boss and mechanic design, and I feel like you get the most out of that experience doing it this way. So, enjoy! 😅 - Also… This game has one of the best “boss battle switch-aroos” of any of the other games. It’s extremely memorable, and you’ll know it when you experience it ;) It’s a total bait and switch, and it’s something you won’t forget! - Elden Ring - While I think Elden Ring is great, it lost some of the “essence” that the other games, namely Dark Souls 1-3, really captured. - For me, one element that made Dark Souls incredible was this combination of a linear pathing, but with a labyrinthian-like connected map; a sense of *disjointed cohesion*. It shouldn’t have otherwise felt like organic discovery, yet while maintaining a confidently ambiguous sense of proximity and progress. I feel as though Elden Ring lost this completely. - The *Gears of War* series - [[Chloe]] and I used to play this together in the early days of our marriage, mainly the “Horde mode”, which was like a wave-over-wave of oncoming enemy play style. For one of the games, like Gears of War 3, we actually beat all 50 waves of horde mode. I remember it being a lot of fun! - [[The Witcher 3]] - Fallout games: - Fallout 76 - This’d be a great into because we can play cooperatively. - New Vegas - Fallout 4 - Fallout 3