Bonfireside Chat 254: Volcano Manor, Part 4
Added 2023-03-26 14:00:02 +0000 UTCI can't wait to find out what happens to Volcano Man on this episode.
Comments
That's super cool! -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2023-04-04 17:23:20 +0000 UTCJust sticking my head in to mention a detail I found interesting. In Rykard’s boss arena the chandeliers don’t hang straight down but at a slight angle, as if pulled at or pushed by some invisible force. Or maybe it’s a forced perspective trick to make the room look even taller than it is, though that would really only be applicable if you stood underneath them looking up. Either way, it looks cool. Just thought I would mention that.
Authoritan
2023-04-02 10:00:33 +0000 UTCI’d say Folding Screen Monkeys and Ancient Wyvern also follow the “idea over combat” format as well, for better or worse. There definitely have been gimmick fights post-witches of Hemwick, but a lot are simply unremarkable despite being a welcome twist on the formula.
Lucas West
2023-03-31 14:52:27 +0000 UTCI would say the Divine Dragon in Sekiro was a fight in which the spectacle is far more central than combat. That game as a whole certainly follows the challenge philosophy with by far the most consistency, but I think Divine Dragon is a very notable exception in that way.
Daniel Runfola
2023-03-29 21:51:03 +0000 UTCAlso want to mention I fully expected a giant snake boss but for phase 2 to be a standard sword fight with the Rykard we see in the portraits after beating up the Serpent causes him to be spit out. My jaw dropped at the reveal in the cutscene. I’m so happy to be reminded why I love video games.
Mansoor
2023-03-29 03:22:49 +0000 UTCRegarding Rykard’s hands, the Ringed Finger weapon description states “some life yet remains in this legacy of an ancient act of blasphemy,” seemingly tying it to the Praetor. Considering the rings and amount of fingers that make them look like they were generated by AI, it appears more likely than not. The Blasphemous Claw item description confirms Rykard and Ranni worked closely together, which could explain why so many of these hands may be protecting the way to Ranni’s Rise. Perhaps Rykard molted his hands as a snake might molt its skin, somehow still telepathically connected to them so they may be used as agents. If this were the case, however, you think you’d see a lot more in Magma Mansion, rather than the Mountaintop… But you know what they say, the God Devouring Serpent works in mysterious ways.
Mansoor
2023-03-29 03:04:06 +0000 UTCI came to Volcano Manor underleveled, so once I managed to beat Rykard’s phase 1 and he offered for me to join him, my response was “Please? I don’t want to have to do another phase.” That tune changed quickly as I connected the dots after dying that joining him really meant being gobbled up and converted into one of the many corpses littering his sword, which was suitably unsettling. If the Blasphemous Blade wasn’t so damn good, I probably wouldn’t use it, just because I feel bad for the poor writhing souls who decorate it. The randomizer got mentioned! Having played a few randomizers from the series, I definitely think that Elden Ring’s is one of the best, mainly due to the open world format creating a lot of very interesting paths. I hope you get around to talking about it someday, I’ve sunk 21 playthroughs into it so far and it has kept the game very fresh for me.
Lucas West
2023-03-28 21:12:03 +0000 UTCI'm back baby! Just wanted to say, long time listener here (since the DS1 days, have listened to all your WOFF and BSC content multiple times). Finally financially stable enough to subscribe to your patreon, I was hoping you'd refer to Volcano Manor as Magma Mansion, as my wife and I have referred to basically every fire level in any game as Magma Mansion since your DS2 coverage. Can't wait to listen to all your Elden Ring content. So nice to hear you guys talk about the amazing new run of Resident Evil games too!
Joe Jones
2023-03-28 16:14:42 +0000 UTCYeah, I'm with you. It makes me wonder if there was some sort of retooling. -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2023-03-28 02:36:04 +0000 UTCI really don't get why the Magma Mansion quest line sends you so far up the mountains before finishing. I fought my way through Magma Mansion, checked out Rykard and got him to his second form, and thought, "awesome! But I want to finish my bounties before killing this guy." By the time I got back, I was so overleveled that I was shaving off a sixth of his health with each hit and I missed all his cool mechanics.
Dubious Legacy
2023-03-27 23:23:04 +0000 UTCAs one of your audience who has played Elden Ring but no other From games, I want to thank you for explaining the connection between Rykard and past gimmick bosses in the series—I of course get that you wouldn't want to explain every single reference you make to Dark Souls since the vast majority of listeners will understand them right off the bat, but in a case like this it was super helpful to understand how Rykard and the spear didn't come out of nowhere in From game history.
Andrew C
2023-03-27 15:50:14 +0000 UTCAnd great series of episode guys! I was looking forward to this area and you more than delivered!
T
2023-03-27 10:04:25 +0000 UTCI share the love Rykard so much! The amazing combo of that gurgling voice spitting out blasphemy, coming out of a jewled monster that looks so much like a apostle from Berserk draws me like metal to a magnet! All I can guess with the extra finger is maybe he practiced a little graphting. Dipping his fingers in all the forbidden waters.
T
2023-03-27 09:36:53 +0000 UTCThere is a disappointing lack of results for Tannith vore, given she is literally devouring a snake cardinal.
Isaiah John
2023-03-27 04:27:39 +0000 UTCI also love myself a bit of opulence and terror!
Mitchell Turner
2023-03-26 21:43:42 +0000 UTCQAA crossover??? Awesome my patrons are merging!
Jeremy Espinoza
2023-03-26 20:17:40 +0000 UTCThis is spectacular, ahahaha.
Corey Hiscocks
2023-03-26 17:52:59 +0000 UTCI accidentally did the age of dung ending my first playthrough. I went into elden ring so in the dark I didn't know it was open world and I didn't look at any guides or look anything up, although I did occasionally ask some friends who were playing without my strict media blackout for spoiler free hints (as my goal was to do Ranni's ending and some of those threads can get a bit lost). So by time I got to the end I had completed the requisites for ranni's, dungeater's, and fia's endings never encountering the 3 fingers or goldfinger (I realized after I typed this it's goldmask but I suppose the communication via finger and gold association got conflated "do I make you pious baby?"). So I, some sort of dunce, did not notice the summon sign on the ground at the end and was disappointed to not see age of stars in the list at the end. So I went to set my controller down to ask one of my friends if I'd missed a flag in Ranni's quest. In the rich tradition of accidentally attacking friendly NPCs in fromsoft game when setting a controller down I "chose" the blessing of despair aka age of dung ending
Fromaginator
2023-03-26 14:28:17 +0000 UTCI hope he survives this! He has to, so that he may protect *her* smile.
Joe Binson
2023-03-26 14:23:06 +0000 UTCGuys do you think we’ll finally know what happens to Volcano Manor this episode?😲
The Accident Channel
2023-03-26 14:07:49 +0000 UTC
