Bonfireside Chat 271: Crumbling Farum Azula (Part 2)
Added 2023-07-23 09:02:59 +0000 UTCNow's the time where we have to talk about time travel. Or, this will be the time we have to talk about time travel. We did already talk about time travel?
Comments
Hoslo Petal Whip sounds like the secret boss at the end of Bioshock Infinite :p
Juli Reed
2024-04-21 18:55:44 +0000 UTCHonestly, ancient dragons fights without a horse, blight puking wormfaces, Godskin Duo, Placidusax and his obnoxious healthbar, dragon tree sentinel blocking the boss run and Maliketh with his black blade and frantic movement Farum Azula ismight be my least liked location in the game.
Mateusz Swietoslawski
2023-07-30 07:21:32 +0000 UTCYea, Maliketh was an absolute wall for me and I detest that second phase. We had an Elden Ring slack channel at work and apparently I was the only person who struggled with this boss, to the extent that someone really did tell me to ‘just parry him with the thing’ (paraphrasing). I had to cheese as hard as possible to get through it and I’m 100% with Gary here - I resented the boss and it’s ridiculous 90s Image comics design. When I finally beat it I was just glad to move on. Maliketh is the reason my second playthrough currently sits stalled out halfway through Farum Azula - just can’t be bothered fighting him again.
Morgan
2023-07-30 03:08:21 +0000 UTCI believe this is supported by Fortissax's Lightning Spear referring to him as the "mightiest boulderstone"
Max Anon
2023-07-27 11:50:53 +0000 UTCI am by no means a Latin guy, this is just my understanding.
Drew Weing
2023-07-26 03:43:25 +0000 UTCJust hopping in to say that the "sax" is much more likely to refer to the Latin root for stone. Akin to their scales and what not. Thus Fortissax is "strong stone," Gransax "large stone" and Placidusax "peaceful stone." Lansseax is a bit of a twist - that maybe does refer to a sword - or, since it's mashed together with "lan," possibly "Lancea" or spear.
Drew Weing
2023-07-26 03:23:05 +0000 UTCVery fair response and thanks for your time Gary. Would be great at one point to get a rune level 1 runner on the show as Elden Ring has so many different options to get past a boss that I've found it the most enjoyable to do at base level (currently at the gates of Leyndell). Anyway, appreciate all you and Kole do.
Oliver Tripp
2023-07-25 20:56:04 +0000 UTCI should have specified I meant the blasphemous claw parry. I love that thing. If you can regular parry him, that is crazy. I'll have to test that out.
EzekialJeans
2023-07-25 19:39:48 +0000 UTCI hate to be the guy who whines about content creators not doing the exact thing I want, but would you mind doing the exact thing I want? Specifically, "what the hell is going on with Gurranq/Maliketh being in two places at once" was one of the questions in the game I was most interested in you guys diving in to, and a roundup of some of the plausible theories and your thoughts on them would be fun.
Jensen Yancey
2023-07-25 19:18:34 +0000 UTCTo me, it's different because of the limited scope. Learning piano can take a lot of different forms, it's not always doing drills with a harsh master and being forced to do a boss run after every failed scale. You can come at it from lots of angles. When learning tennis, you learn by playing and every game is different. To me, learning a boss moveset like Isshin feels too much like doing drills and having someone wrap your knuckles and then go watch a cut scene after your failure.
Duckfeed.tv
2023-07-25 17:54:37 +0000 UTCAppreciate the answer Gary, and you've spoken many times on the show about the 'Stockholm Syndrome' some people get when they say they enjoy a boss after finally beating it by banging their head up against it, so you've always been clear, consistent and upfront about this. I suppose my curiosity - and Isshin is a good example here because its a boss I disagree with you on - is how learning a boss, and the rewards of becoming proficient at it, is any different from things like becoming good at playing the piano or table tennis, which are things that require practice. As videogames appear to be purely created for recreation, is this amount of work or practice incongruous with that or are the reward of the ebb and flow of a fight where you are completely in control its own reward? Isshin caused me hours of misery, but I now know the fight and I treat fighting him in the memories DLC like sitting down in front of a piano to have a quick tinkle of the ivories. Probably not being clear here but just a different perspective.
Oliver Tripp
2023-07-25 06:52:51 +0000 UTCWe do learn boss move sets. I attempt all bosses with no summons and I did about half of Elden Ring without them. I just don't think the process is that interesting to talk about. One of the differences between at least me and some people, but I think I speak for Kole too, is that when I spend a lot of time learning a moveset, it doesn't translate to increased good feelings once I've beat it. I spent like a hundred attempts on Sword Saint Isshin but even after I learned the fight, I kind of resented that much repeated time before being shown a cool new thing. I think you're right that it's a big part of these games, and I actually do like it if it feels like I can make enough mistakes per attempt to not interrupt my flow too much. Maliketh just ended up wombo combo'ing me so often that learning him was a slog, for me, for me. -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2023-07-25 03:37:13 +0000 UTCGary is a fantastic, warm and witty broadcaster but goodness do I almost always disagree with him about bosses in this series! Phase 2 of Maliketh is the most spectacular and well-paced glass cannon boss FROM has ever done, its Phase 1 that has the issues for me, as it's always a slog to get through that to get to the fireworks factory. I think this leads to an interesting conversation which hasn't been brought up in the show for a while, if ever - learning boss movesets. Maliketh is very fun once you learn the moves, and BFSC doesn't really ever go for that, in fact (in my perception) treats doing so with a slight disdain. I totally get that you guys come to this from a story, lore and exploration perspective, but it is a shame to see a core mechanic so easily dismissed as "well, you shouldn't have to do that". I'm certainly not talking about insane no-hit, fists-only, no buffs shenanigans, but someone like LobosJr would be good to discuss the art of learning a boss from scratch. Certainly doing my level 1 runs of this series has got me to appreciate this element of the games far more - for example, Queen Yharnam becomes a fantastic boss when you can't just wipe the floor with her. I remember when Gary was doing a SL1 run of Dark Souls along with the show, and would give a different perspective of the boss when it was discussed - e.g. harder, more frustrating etc. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. And keep up the awesome work, its been one of the best - if not THE best - BFSC season yet.
Oliver Tripp
2023-07-25 02:52:10 +0000 UTCI like Placidusax a lot! But then I also warmed to Midir eventually and Kalameet is one of my favorite FromSoft bosses so maybe I just enjoy these big dragon fights. (Someone should do jail time for the Ancient Dragon.)
Mike Suskie
2023-07-24 03:07:22 +0000 UTCLobos has established that "Placidusax" is pronounced, "Placid, USA. X." Maliketh *destroys* me every time, but his second phase is the coolest looking boss fight in the game, imo. If it helps, Gary, I like to think of his second-phase outfit as less Spawn and more Catwoman. Turns out there was a sleek and sexy Maliketh under that monkish garb all along.
Micah Tillman
2023-07-24 01:33:41 +0000 UTCI think one reason I didn't like this guy as much is I played with a great shield, so parries were off the table. -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2023-07-23 22:39:38 +0000 UTCMaliketh is probably my favorite boss. I did a summon heavy playthrough and I spent A TON of time helping folks beat this guy. There is no cooler feeling than seeing your host about to die and saving the day by jumping in front of them and nailing that big parry at the last second.
EzekialJeans
2023-07-23 21:58:53 +0000 UTCPlaying Solar Ash before this game made 2 phase bosses that don’t checkpoint after beating the first phase once feel old school in an unpleasant way
Forced into Femininity
2023-07-23 20:34:39 +0000 UTCLol at Gary disliking all the cool bosses
Mortiis
2023-07-23 16:01:25 +0000 UTC
