Just had one of those magical game moments that come along maybe once or twice a generation.* I make no apologies for the wall of text.
So you all know the absolute ball ache I got into killing the Capra Demon. 20 odd attempts easily. Obviously I'm apprehensive about the next boss. Sneaking around the Depths a rat gives me 1 humanity. Finding a bonfire I cash it in. I find the fog for the boss but I'm too scared to go fight it because, you know, I'm actually human for once.
Then all of a sudden
YOU HAVE BEEN INVADED flashes up on the screen.
A red spikey guy with a gigantic sword and far cooler armour than me is charging at my back in the tight sewer passageway. I roll out of his way, swing my shield up and start circling him. The girlfriend (who was about to watch Seinfeld and has roughly pieced together the concept of the game) falls silent, sits down and leans forward.
He swings, I roll, he swings, I block, he swings, I roll, spin around and get a hit in! FUCK YES! But my heart sinks as his health bar barely flutters. Depressed, I let my guard down. BOOMF! The guy hits me and I lose over a third of my health.
So it's the Capra Demon fight again. . I bring my shield up and I play the long game of roll and dodge and patience and patience and
patience. He swings I roll, he swings, I dodge, I block, and only when everything is perfect do I
strike. Inch by inch I whittle him down, inch by bloody inch. Until he falls. You trained me well Capra Demon.
I take his humanity and 10,000 souls.
I bow.
The game was so resolutely a single player game to me that to suddenly see another player break down the wall and come swinging at me knocked me for six. Bloody amazing.
I level up twice and then I find a summon symbol and bring another phatom into the game. He's white and badass looking and his sword is on fire. I wave and we walk to the fog wall. At the fog wall I use the pray gesture swallow and walk through.
I know enough that I have to keep alive at all costs, but also use the Estra flasks to heal him. Having never seen the gaping dragon before I've no clue what to do so I stay back watching using 4 or 5 flasks to keep him alive whilst
he hacks the dragons tail of for me!**.
I join the fight, we pull the dragons attention from each other and start hacking at it. I'm sure to roll away whenever he we get low on health and sup a flask. But then it's dry.
It's all or nothing. I swing, and swing and with my last flicker of stamina I swing again. It dies.
But he's gone. I never even get to thank him.
I go straight back to the bonfire lay down my summon sign and after a minute or so a magic user summons me.
We bow to each other. Into the breach my friend.
Game of the generation.
*
Mirror's Edge and Rhythm Tengoku being the last two games to do it.** hacking a boss' tail off gives you a special weapon in this case
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
A big ass Dragon Great Axe