Tonight's boss haul:
- Dual Dragonriders
- Looking Glass Knight
- Demon of Song
Some thoughts on Drangleic Castle:
Ruin Sentinels, a Belfry Gargoyle, and the Executioner's Chariot, sans driver...
as regular enemies? Not the most welcoming castle! Also, I don't know how people would find two of the bonfires without the messages on the floor... There's the one behind an illusory wall down a ladder that's easy to overlook, and another where you have to trick a Ruin Sentinel into smashing the floor so you can drop into a cave with the Darkdiver NPC (who I previously met in the Shaded Ruins and have since met in Black Gulch after going back for him defeated two giants while I was down there and got a soul I'm keeping in case it's useful).
Later on, I thought I encountered a game-breaking glitch, when I activated the elevator but rolled off it as it was ascending... I couldn't get the soul-sucking golem to work again (another odd mechanic you have to lure two claw-wielding enemies from the next room over and feed it their souls). But then I realized I could use the lever nearby to call it back down. XD I'm glad I realized this -- I've been backing up my saves, but I didn't want to restart the castle! And speaking of the castle, here's a view from the top -- you can see the bridge from the beginning:
And boy, the boss battle with Looking Glass Knight was AMAZING.
Here's the video of how it went down! I don't know why, but I took nearly 11 minutes to beat him.
The last few minutes are me trying to knock off his last pixel of HP. My Club +10 kept hitting his shield, bouncing off harmlessly. Even when I poked with the Chariot Lance +4/5, there were times where I'd hit the shield instead. Complicating matters are the two Dark Spirits he summoned -- CPUs, thankfully -- and the strong tracking on several of his moves, such as the running charge he used to catch me when I was healing. The rain-soaked backdrop, the way he used his sword as a lightning rod... Just amazing. Once again, I went in with no armor, which helped since the Chariot Lance is so heavy. Great weapon, though.
Afterwards, I went to Shrine of Amana... GORGEOUS!! I was astounded by the verdant beauty and the haunting song. I used my upgraded Sea Bow to snipe many of the spell-casting enemies from afar. But the best part was the boss at the end. I know Miyazaki didn't work on this game directly, but Demon of Song sure has his sense of whimsy.
Here's my video of the battle! I had heard about her before and how you're supposed to aim for her true face, so I knew to wait for the withered skull to emerge from the frog's mouth. Another cool concept for a boss, where she's invulnerable inside her... uh, amphibious armor. To think this is the source of the singing! Definitely one of my favorite bosses so far.
Now I'm in the Undead Crypt. I leveled up with my souls and spent the remainder replenishing my stock of Magic Arrows, Lightning Arrows and Poison Arrows. I also fully upgraded my Sea Bow to +10.
In closing, here's a shot back in Majula. I find the place soothing after my adventures today: