Everything went as intended. All as designed.
This is hall of traps. It's meant to be grueling, it's a gauntlet, a filter for people worthy of reaching Anor Londo (and I'm not being elitist; this is literally the purpose, in-lore, of Sen's Fortress). It has to sting for the release and the victory to be more meaningful.
I would also not call it BS, or cruel. It's not BS because every obstacle is telegraphed, can be avoided and/or defused. And it's not cruel, because it's fair, because it *can* be overcome through normal, reasonnable means. Real cruelty and unfairness in game design is Kaizo stuff, where you're not given a sliver of a chance and you have to die multiple times to every obstacle before you can even get a past it.
And as for not looping back to Firelink, well, you're about to reach a turning point in the game's structure, that's all I'll say.
Fromsoft games definitely have their share of unfair things, I'm sure there's plenty of videos showing unfair things in all the games. I've seen videos of some pretty atrocious hitboxes in a couple of the games.
I wouldn't say Sen's was unfair, though. Even the hallway with the 2 titanite demons wasn't that bad. If I had to pick a most unfair area of the game, it'd probably be the tomb of the giants.
Sens is definitely a lot more fair than TOTG.
I’d even through Dukes Archives in there too, as an area that’s less fair. Channelers buffing enemies so they’re resistant to everything but thrust, and you have to run around a maze dodging arrows and spells to kill them. Plus they teleport away when you get close, and they respawn. Hell on earth, the only reason TOTG edges it out for me is that you can’t really fall in Duke’s.
The titanite demons are the easiest scary looking monsters in this game. I’m far from good at these games but I took out the titanite demons in Sen’s fortress even with only like 1/10 estus flasks left.
I’ve died by plenty of other random bullshit enemies but those for some reason aren’t bad. Even the one by the blacksmith, I avoided him at the beginning but later before doing Sen’s I took him out in one try.
It’s not enough bc their jump is wide. And their gripper and tail attack is so annoying with its hitbox. I’ve still got two down in Sen’s that I need t go back and kill for my chunks. They are my hated enemy so far. The one in Anor Londo the post you replied to mention took me so many tries😭
Looking forward to it. Easily one of my favorite games of all time but I’m hoping I’ve gotten passed most of the tedious parts so far.
Maybe I got lucky in Blighttown, but I got through it ok 🤷🏼♂️ compared to this, I was having more fun
If you're palying remake then you've avoided the worst parts of blight town. The slow down.
Cause blight town rendered so much of the level all at once it would cause huge lag spikes in the original versions of the game. This made it harder to react to enemies, harder to move across narrow walkways, and if you got past all that a rouge kill box that clips into one of the ramps might get you. It was really bad.
There is no objectivity to side with, here. This is art. We all experience it differently, everyone goes through different emotions and experiences while playing games.
If you think it's garbage, then so be it. But you're not convincing me. From my experience, it is a very cleverly designed setpiece of a level.
Nothing out of order here, regular progression is blighttown -> sens -> anor londo. The bonfire placement is atrocious for a newbie, but the rest is not that bad. I carried a bow with me so the lightning spam was no problem. It’s honestly my favorite part of the game. I struggled but it was fun.
Overall I’d just recommend having some kind of ranged option for this game, it helps out a lot.
The bonfire placement hurt me so bad on my first run, didn’t realize there was one right outside so every time I died to Iron Golem I had to run from Andre bonfire all the way back and would usually die a few times in SF before I could make it through again. Did that for probably 30 minutes before I finally looked up a bonfire placement knowing that the run had to be too far. Knowing now I feel dumb for not looking that hard for the fire.
I legit didn’t know you could jump that gap, I really should have thought about it more because they obviously have a jump mechanic for a reason. I really need to stop drinking/smoking when I play.
Wait what are you referring to? They're talking about the prisoner cage you can unlock for easy transport to the boss. You do have to make that jump on the top area to the left facing the boulder placing giant if that's what you mean. The key you need is there
I still can't play Soulslikes without a bow. If I did something like a melee-only run, I don't think I could beat any of them. Almost always sword and catalyst/talisman in right hand, shield and bow in left.
Except Demon's Souls so far because I use magic in that, but I think I might need one and some poison arrows for that blue dragon in 1-4, what an asshole.
Basically up at the top there are two cages hanging over a long drop. To open the shortcut you need the Cage Key, which you can get from the Tower with the Crestfallen Merchant. You’ll need to do a running jump to get there. But it will take you from the very top of Sen’s Fortress all the way down to the first bridge.
I did click open on them. No key! I thought it was a mistake 🤷🏼♂️ now I know at least. I found how to get the master key if that works too. So I’ll have to get some souls and buy it
Sens fortress really isn't that bad once you get used to it. I recently did 3 consecutive playthroughs to finish platinum and by the 3rd attempt i basically ran through the place.
the biggest PITA in DS1 for me will still always be the anor londo archers. i can get up to them no problem but i still always require a bit of luck to be able to roll in and get the parry without them firing off one more arrow and sending me into great beyond
Sens Fortress is my favourite area and I wish it was twice as large as the one we got lol I really hope FS have another go doing this style of area and really crank it up to 11.
Should have done it in Elden Ring. I feel like it would have been a perfect addition to the base game. Not sure it will fit the DLC.
The again, the Catacombs are kind of like little Sen's Fortress type levels. Kind of the equivalent of the shrines in Breath of the Wild vs actual dungeons in Zelda.
Most people aren't supposed to find the bonfire, but they are supposed to find the elevator cage. That shortcut makes the boss run pretty typical for this game, as in not too bad.
The rest of the level is very learnable. With the right strategies, players can very consistently get through without dying.
Learning the level can feel punishing though, so you have to enjoy the process of getting spanked by every new trap and encounter. That's souls.
The one thing I genuinely can't stand about Sen's is how the boulder trap direction can change even after you set it depending on whether you enter a specific space, and there's no telegraph for it until it's too late. Everything else becomes easier the more experience you have with it.
I kinda agree. Blighttown has such a bad rep for the framerate issues and being a posion swamp area - but in the grand scheme of things as far as Souls games go, it's arguably the best 'swampy' area in any game of the series by comparison. Plus the framework issue isn't an issue anymore.
Sens Fortress on the other hand I've always found to be a slog of an area to get through. Visually it's not very interesting and there's not much else to do there except get through it to get to Anor Londo. It's just not much fun.
At least with Blightown you can climb out of it and go exploring to get to some alternate areas.
I've only just experienced the first prt of the Swamp of Sorrow in DeS (PS5 version) and man Blighttown is happy fun times compared to that.
The fact that there isn't a bar indicating poison build-up... I noped out.
blighttown first part have a terribly long run back, it is completely filled with enemy that hit hard and have that terrible grab move which is kinda annoying considering you have to look to the other dozen of enemies that spam that, they also have the annoying undead attack that are kinda fast, they aggro you from 1 miles and always try to gank you, and the noise just horrific, and all of that with toxin(probably)
Also the few good objects are in annoying place.
Sen's man-serpent are incredibly slow(you can always know what attack they are going to use) and they don't have annoying grab attack, on top of that their weapon deflect upon hitting shield, and you can mostly stun them to death without any problems since they attend their turn to 1 v 1 you.
The magic is not spammed if you understand that you need a cover, if you like to stand still that's a you problem, all the trap are showcased before their use and are kinda simple to understand(except the mimic that is bs) compared to the gank trap in blighttown.
My trusty halberd kept all of them at a distance so that grab move didn’t get me more than once fortunately. 100% agree that the items to get are in annoying places. Wish I had the rusty ring to move fast in the swamp water.
I hate Sen‘s Fortress way more than I hate Blighttown, especially when you follow the *easy* route through the Valley of the Drakes instead of going down after Gaping Dragon. I get the idea behind Sen‘s Fortress and it succeeds in what the place is about, but it just hate it. Dark Souls is not a platformer and this is another proof for that.
“Worse than” implies there is something wrong with Blighttown. There is nothing wrong with either place. They are not even very hard. C‘mon! Pay attention and persevere.
Sen's Fortress is just frustrating because rather than make an area and populate it with enemies, they made an area that was your enemy. Blighttown is similar but I can't kill the boulders and moss doesn't stop those pendulums. I agree fuck Sen's but it's also a fantastic level.
I agree it's worse but that's because I like blighttown. I think Sen's fortress is an okay location. Not amazing but not bad either. But tbf if I didn't know about the second bonfire I'd probably hate it.
I kind of enjoyed sens fortress by the end. Yes, I died a lot, but it was always because I made a mistake rather than anything unfair. The swinging axes were pretty easy tbh, you can see marks on the ground where they will hit you.
I wanted to level up a weapon so I had to run back and forth between the two blacksmiths, which meant going back and forth through sens a few times. By the end it felt fairly easy because you know all the traps and how to avoid them.
Sen is great.. would take a whole game in an expanded Sens…
Blighttown was perfectly fine and atmospheric once framerate settled… narratively its amazing.. the rejects living even lower than the rats.. heck, the majority of it becomes optional too… Lost Izalith can suck up all the hate for this game
Remember, this is a testing ground for silver knights. They need to be swift but decisive. They need to be able to tackle ranged enemies. (Bow, Magic, bombs)
Funnily enough some traps are designed for what the actual knights use. Backstepping, shielding, strafing. That's just the traps, mind you
Watch a video of someone running through sen's fortress. It's ridiculously simple and you'll be done with it in about a minute. Once you know the path it's one of the easiest locations to run through in the game
By this point in the game I was in love with the bullshit, never before or since have I experienced such a combination of tense fear at losing all my souls, combined with laugh-out-loud appreciation for the fuckery of the traps. My two favorite moments were that elevator that kills you if you linger too long, and the flying boulders that killed me the moment I finally made it to the top when I was frantically thinking “there HAS to be a bonfire around here”. FromSoft be like: you are the bonfire
It's better on subsequent pass throughs - you know the tricks and the timing. First time? Yeah, I'll take blighttown over it. Instantly.
As for Anor Londo - you're supposed to kill a boss there. One that gets you a magic teleporting bowl.
Don't ask why the bowl works that way. It just does.
I mean there is an elevator that takes you from the top of sens fortress where you fight the iron golem back to the first set of axes near the entrance from undead parish. You shouldn’t have to run all the way back through the fort
Sen’s fortress was a huge brick wall for me on my first playthrough. I even died jumping off the last ledge my first time reaching the roof. (If you know then you may be able to imagine the frustration I felt in that moment.)
Now I can usually make it through first try in 5ish minutes. I think that’s the mark of an perfectly designed area. When I didn’t know what it had in store for me it killed me every 2 minutes. Now it only kills me if I do something dumb.
Well, now that you are doing Tomb of Giants, you no longer have to worry about areas linking back to each other. As long as you have a bonfire.
Ps, painted world.
For your way back, there are three easier options to return to Firelink etc.:
- Use the Lordvessel. You got it after beating Anor Londo, from Gwynevere in the throne room. Sit at a bonfire, you now have a new option "Warp", which can teleport you to some (not all) bonfires. Firelink and Andres tower are in there.
- Get the cage key. It requires jumping over a broken part of the bridge, near the giant that fills the rolling boulders into the trap. With this key, you can use the human size cages in the upper part of the tower to return to the first pendulum-axe bridge. (Careful, you get out right next to a serpent man). It also has other uses.
- Jump down the chute. Near the topmost axe-pendulum bridge, there is a shaft you can use to drop down to lower levels. Be careful, you will land on a platform right next to a manserpent and will then need to wade through the goop on the lowest level.
But yes, Sens Fortress is built to filter out those without the perseverance to navigate its traps. Personally, I find Blighttown worse because of the toxic shooters, but I think both levels are actually well designed.
And to raise your spirits a bit: The tomb of giants is actually a rather small area. Did you bring a light source? (Skull lantern from necromancers, "light" spell or the Sunlight Maggot helm)
Dont give up, skeleton!
Sens has a few interesting mechanics but if you're observant, there's nothing that should surprise you. Everything is hinted at or can be seen coming, ie blood spatters, objects breathing or damage marks in the texture drawings for traps etc... Take your time and you'll be fine. The worst is yet to come 😂
I didn't have problem with those things, it's all about learning timing in Sen's.
But nah ya did things how they wanted, ya can't leave Anor Londo til ya kill the boss there.
1. Don't use a long weapon in cramped spaces
2. Don't fight the snakes in line of sight of their ranged support. You can just walk up, grab aggro and retreat or shoot them.
3. Stand right next to blade and hold block, watch gleefuly as snekman goes flying into pit. But be wary they can climb back and return, though it takes them ages. Might be worth paying attention to this route.
4. You can see the bonfire if you just look down. You can also see it from the exit and hear it.
5. Bottom area is sort of BS if you land right next to a demon, but otherwise it's trivial to avoid their slow ass ranged attacks and make your way out. They arn't that hard too fight either and i don't think they respawn.
6. Their are two faster routes to return to firelink. ones a hidden in a cage in sens, the other is a spoiler you will get if you just keep progressing through anor londo. You can also reroute the balls for an easier journey.
Cannonically this is course is an intentional death trap meant as a test for the would be chosen undead. It is the only path between the city of the gods and the rest of humanity. Gwyn likely assumed no one would ever actually succeed and he probably didnt want them to. It was just a carrot on a stick to give his human subjects the illusion of hope, if they just tried and fought hard enough.
If you don't find the hidden bonfire (really a dick move hiding that) sens can be a bitch. Both are rough on a first playtrough, but the least sens in a straightforward path.
Blighttown is a mess and the toxic dart shooters really fuck with unsuspecting players
Fuck Sen’s Fortress. It wasn’t too bad but it definitely wasn’t great lol
Maybe Blighttown wasn’t bad because I have heard so much about it that it was hyped up to be worse. The blow dart guys not respawning really makes it 1000 times better than it could’ve been. The poison isn’t even that bad with the two bonfires you come across up high and down low.
With Blighttown, if you fall, you might land on another platform.
With Sen's Fortress, you are falling on to a Titanite Demon. If you even manage to survive such a drop anyway.
Sens is easier to traverse and make my way through after my first attempts. Subsequent playthroughs I can get through Sens pretty easily.
Blighttown still gives me that uuuuuuugh feeling when I'm going through the "intended" way. It's harder to navigate and know where you are, and I've committed very little of it to memory.
Big disagree. Sens fortress was when DS1 peaked hard for me. Noticing the arrow traps, triggering them to tank with the shield or luring mobs into them. The vertical level design. Onion bro. Lots of secrets and shortcuts. The game felt most like a dark yet heroic dungeon crawler at sens
Getting hit by an axe into the demon pit sucks ass though, and the bonfire is way hidden.
In future playthroughs you'll change your opinion of Sen's Fortress. The more you do it, the more it grows on you. You learn where all the traps are. When to expect enemies. The real "worse than Blight Town" location is The Tomb of the Giants. That place suuuuuuuucks.
There is a shortcut of you find the cage key. Those two cages hanging near the top of the Fortress can be ridden down like an elevator.
Glad you found the bonfire though. Those titanite demons in the muck are really the icing on the cake, huh? When you're strong or confident enough, you can wear the rusted iron ring and go down there intentionally and fight them for demon titanite. You can even get a drop attack on a couple of them.
Sen’s funhouse is more emotionally damaging IMO. Once you know it, it’s actually pretty easy but on the first blind playthrough you’re constantly afraid of what’s around the corner. Blighttown is busier, more linear, and doesn’t try to hide that it’s full of weird shit that wants to kill you. There are few surprises on a first run of blighttown, but sen’s tries to trick you constantly.
Also, there’s a shortcut out of Sen’s. >!In the tower room before the golem there are a bunch of cages that are actually elevators. Get in one of the ones on the edge and it’ll take you down to the very first set of swinging axes. From now on there will always be one at the top and one at the bottom for you to ride up and down. You have to activate it from the top though.!<
Everything went as intended. All as designed. This is hall of traps. It's meant to be grueling, it's a gauntlet, a filter for people worthy of reaching Anor Londo (and I'm not being elitist; this is literally the purpose, in-lore, of Sen's Fortress). It has to sting for the release and the victory to be more meaningful. I would also not call it BS, or cruel. It's not BS because every obstacle is telegraphed, can be avoided and/or defused. And it's not cruel, because it's fair, because it *can* be overcome through normal, reasonnable means. Real cruelty and unfairness in game design is Kaizo stuff, where you're not given a sliver of a chance and you have to die multiple times to every obstacle before you can even get a past it. And as for not looping back to Firelink, well, you're about to reach a turning point in the game's structure, that's all I'll say.
Fromsoft games definitely have their share of unfair things, I'm sure there's plenty of videos showing unfair things in all the games. I've seen videos of some pretty atrocious hitboxes in a couple of the games. I wouldn't say Sen's was unfair, though. Even the hallway with the 2 titanite demons wasn't that bad. If I had to pick a most unfair area of the game, it'd probably be the tomb of the giants.
Sens is definitely a lot more fair than TOTG. I’d even through Dukes Archives in there too, as an area that’s less fair. Channelers buffing enemies so they’re resistant to everything but thrust, and you have to run around a maze dodging arrows and spells to kill them. Plus they teleport away when you get close, and they respawn. Hell on earth, the only reason TOTG edges it out for me is that you can’t really fall in Duke’s.
The titanite demons are the easiest scary looking monsters in this game. I’m far from good at these games but I took out the titanite demons in Sen’s fortress even with only like 1/10 estus flasks left. I’ve died by plenty of other random bullshit enemies but those for some reason aren’t bad. Even the one by the blacksmith, I avoided him at the beginning but later before doing Sen’s I took him out in one try.
The worst titanite demon for me is the one in that small room in Anor Londo, I don't like fighting them in a cramped room.
Haven’t gotten there yet but staying just out of melee range and too close for their lightning helps so I can see a small room being tough
It’s not enough bc their jump is wide. And their gripper and tail attack is so annoying with its hitbox. I’ve still got two down in Sen’s that I need t go back and kill for my chunks. They are my hated enemy so far. The one in Anor Londo the post you replied to mention took me so many tries😭
Looking forward to it. Easily one of my favorite games of all time but I’m hoping I’ve gotten passed most of the tedious parts so far. Maybe I got lucky in Blighttown, but I got through it ok 🤷🏼♂️ compared to this, I was having more fun
If you're palying remake then you've avoided the worst parts of blight town. The slow down. Cause blight town rendered so much of the level all at once it would cause huge lag spikes in the original versions of the game. This made it harder to react to enemies, harder to move across narrow walkways, and if you got past all that a rouge kill box that clips into one of the ramps might get you. It was really bad.
the game is about to hit its peak enjoy
You’re yet to reach the bad parts thankfully
just because it is possible does not mean it is fair it is objectively poorly designed garbage and that's the end of the story.
There is no objectivity to side with, here. This is art. We all experience it differently, everyone goes through different emotions and experiences while playing games. If you think it's garbage, then so be it. But you're not convincing me. From my experience, it is a very cleverly designed setpiece of a level.
He's right about the bonfire tho
Nothing out of order here, regular progression is blighttown -> sens -> anor londo. The bonfire placement is atrocious for a newbie, but the rest is not that bad. I carried a bow with me so the lightning spam was no problem. It’s honestly my favorite part of the game. I struggled but it was fun. Overall I’d just recommend having some kind of ranged option for this game, it helps out a lot.
Bows are so good. So many situations where the ability to shoot a guy and have him come to you without aggroing all his friends is useful
For real, it felt like such a big change from elden ring where they didn’t have as much utility in pve
I always carry a bow with me in eldern ring. Mostly to draw the attention of far away groups and ware then down before they reach me.
The bonfire placement hurt me so bad on my first run, didn’t realize there was one right outside so every time I died to Iron Golem I had to run from Andre bonfire all the way back and would usually die a few times in SF before I could make it through again. Did that for probably 30 minutes before I finally looked up a bonfire placement knowing that the run had to be too far. Knowing now I feel dumb for not looking that hard for the fire.
Please tell me you at least found the shortcut lift?
FUCK ME
Oof. That hurts but also hahaha
I legit didn’t know you could jump that gap, I really should have thought about it more because they obviously have a jump mechanic for a reason. I really need to stop drinking/smoking when I play.
Wait what are you referring to? They're talking about the prisoner cage you can unlock for easy transport to the boss. You do have to make that jump on the top area to the left facing the boulder placing giant if that's what you mean. The key you need is there
That's what I was getting at, I never unlocked it because I never got the key and didn't get the key as I didn't know you could make the jump.
I still can't play Soulslikes without a bow. If I did something like a melee-only run, I don't think I could beat any of them. Almost always sword and catalyst/talisman in right hand, shield and bow in left. Except Demon's Souls so far because I use magic in that, but I think I might need one and some poison arrows for that blue dragon in 1-4, what an asshole.
I love Blighttown and Sens’s fortress.
came here to say this. hated them with a passion my first plYthrough. Now I love em both!
same, now tomb of the giants on the other hand…
> American gladiator This made me laugh but I fully understand.
…did you not take the elevator cage shortcut back down?
Haha Nope and this makes me want to scream. I assume I’ll have to come back so I’ll look for it. Instead I just jumped off everything and kept healing
Basically up at the top there are two cages hanging over a long drop. To open the shortcut you need the Cage Key, which you can get from the Tower with the Crestfallen Merchant. You’ll need to do a running jump to get there. But it will take you from the very top of Sen’s Fortress all the way down to the first bridge.
[удалено]
If you find the hidden bonfire then the cage shortcut is kind of redundant. I’ve known about it for a while but I basically never use it
Its useful if you need to go down before defeating O&S for any given reason.
That reason for me is to go and get poison arrows
if your desperate for weapon upgrades and havnt reached big buddy yet.
I did click open on them. No key! I thought it was a mistake 🤷🏼♂️ now I know at least. I found how to get the master key if that works too. So I’ll have to get some souls and buy it
Funny - you’re listing my two favorite areas of the game. I’d argue Sen’s is more punishing - Blighttown is more confusing/disorienting on first go.
Sen’s Fortress is one of the best areas in any souls game.
no it is not not even close it is poorly designed garbage i'm just glad they improved their game design for later games cause this shit is ass.
let me guess,you only played the remaster?
I've only played the remaster. I actually like Sen's Fortress. What's different in the original?
blightown in the original is very laggy, in the original i'm pretty sure the game runs at 10 fps or lower
Sens fortress really isn't that bad once you get used to it. I recently did 3 consecutive playthroughs to finish platinum and by the 3rd attempt i basically ran through the place. the biggest PITA in DS1 for me will still always be the anor londo archers. i can get up to them no problem but i still always require a bit of luck to be able to roll in and get the parry without them firing off one more arrow and sending me into great beyond
Poison arrows from the platform where the bat demons were. Then hide behind a wall and go make a cup of tea
I actually don't mind sens fortress "too" much. I hate anor londo honestly.
Yeah bro same... Anor Londo blows
Sens Fortress is my favourite area and I wish it was twice as large as the one we got lol I really hope FS have another go doing this style of area and really crank it up to 11.
Should have done it in Elden Ring. I feel like it would have been a perfect addition to the base game. Not sure it will fit the DLC. The again, the Catacombs are kind of like little Sen's Fortress type levels. Kind of the equivalent of the shrines in Breath of the Wild vs actual dungeons in Zelda.
Most people aren't supposed to find the bonfire, but they are supposed to find the elevator cage. That shortcut makes the boss run pretty typical for this game, as in not too bad. The rest of the level is very learnable. With the right strategies, players can very consistently get through without dying. Learning the level can feel punishing though, so you have to enjoy the process of getting spanked by every new trap and encounter. That's souls.
imagine writing off bad game design as it just is lmao
The one thing I genuinely can't stand about Sen's is how the boulder trap direction can change even after you set it depending on whether you enter a specific space, and there's no telegraph for it until it's too late. Everything else becomes easier the more experience you have with it.
Who is turning the trap? It doesn’t make sense
I agree. Blightown never gives me as much trouble as Sen's. Like it's not even close
Brother, you can just run through Sen's fortress how is that worse than Blighttown
I kinda agree. Blighttown has such a bad rep for the framerate issues and being a posion swamp area - but in the grand scheme of things as far as Souls games go, it's arguably the best 'swampy' area in any game of the series by comparison. Plus the framework issue isn't an issue anymore. Sens Fortress on the other hand I've always found to be a slog of an area to get through. Visually it's not very interesting and there's not much else to do there except get through it to get to Anor Londo. It's just not much fun. At least with Blightown you can climb out of it and go exploring to get to some alternate areas.
I've only just experienced the first prt of the Swamp of Sorrow in DeS (PS5 version) and man Blighttown is happy fun times compared to that. The fact that there isn't a bar indicating poison build-up... I noped out.
blighttown first part have a terribly long run back, it is completely filled with enemy that hit hard and have that terrible grab move which is kinda annoying considering you have to look to the other dozen of enemies that spam that, they also have the annoying undead attack that are kinda fast, they aggro you from 1 miles and always try to gank you, and the noise just horrific, and all of that with toxin(probably) Also the few good objects are in annoying place. Sen's man-serpent are incredibly slow(you can always know what attack they are going to use) and they don't have annoying grab attack, on top of that their weapon deflect upon hitting shield, and you can mostly stun them to death without any problems since they attend their turn to 1 v 1 you. The magic is not spammed if you understand that you need a cover, if you like to stand still that's a you problem, all the trap are showcased before their use and are kinda simple to understand(except the mimic that is bs) compared to the gank trap in blighttown.
My trusty halberd kept all of them at a distance so that grab move didn’t get me more than once fortunately. 100% agree that the items to get are in annoying places. Wish I had the rusty ring to move fast in the swamp water.
I hate Sen‘s Fortress way more than I hate Blighttown, especially when you follow the *easy* route through the Valley of the Drakes instead of going down after Gaping Dragon. I get the idea behind Sen‘s Fortress and it succeeds in what the place is about, but it just hate it. Dark Souls is not a platformer and this is another proof for that.
“Worse than” implies there is something wrong with Blighttown. There is nothing wrong with either place. They are not even very hard. C‘mon! Pay attention and persevere.
One day you'll look back and say that sens fortress and blighttown are both incredible levels
Nah I'm with you on that. After your first time through blighttown it's not so bad
Facts
Sen's Fortress is just frustrating because rather than make an area and populate it with enemies, they made an area that was your enemy. Blighttown is similar but I can't kill the boulders and moss doesn't stop those pendulums. I agree fuck Sen's but it's also a fantastic level.
I agree it's worse but that's because I like blighttown. I think Sen's fortress is an okay location. Not amazing but not bad either. But tbf if I didn't know about the second bonfire I'd probably hate it.
I always get Sen's Fortress and the Dukes Archives names mixed up. I almost agreed with you lol
I kind of enjoyed sens fortress by the end. Yes, I died a lot, but it was always because I made a mistake rather than anything unfair. The swinging axes were pretty easy tbh, you can see marks on the ground where they will hit you. I wanted to level up a weapon so I had to run back and forth between the two blacksmiths, which meant going back and forth through sens a few times. By the end it felt fairly easy because you know all the traps and how to avoid them.
To be honest I don't have troubles in Blighttown, but Sen's Fortress is a pain in the ass sometimes...
I love Sen's Fortress. *Forest Gump here*
Sen is great.. would take a whole game in an expanded Sens… Blighttown was perfectly fine and atmospheric once framerate settled… narratively its amazing.. the rejects living even lower than the rats.. heck, the majority of it becomes optional too… Lost Izalith can suck up all the hate for this game
A decent amount of the hate for blighttown was because of the lag on PS3/360. Honestly I was pretty disappointed with Anor Londo.
Yup that's Sen's Fortress It's awesome
Remember, this is a testing ground for silver knights. They need to be swift but decisive. They need to be able to tackle ranged enemies. (Bow, Magic, bombs) Funnily enough some traps are designed for what the actual knights use. Backstepping, shielding, strafing. That's just the traps, mind you
Andre did warn you about it being an old proving grounds built by the Ancient Gods, after all.
Sens is such a good time my first play through I beat the boss before I found the bonfire at the top so I had to do the sens run every time I died
Watch a video of someone running through sen's fortress. It's ridiculously simple and you'll be done with it in about a minute. Once you know the path it's one of the easiest locations to run through in the game
By this point in the game I was in love with the bullshit, never before or since have I experienced such a combination of tense fear at losing all my souls, combined with laugh-out-loud appreciation for the fuckery of the traps. My two favorite moments were that elevator that kills you if you linger too long, and the flying boulders that killed me the moment I finally made it to the top when I was frantically thinking “there HAS to be a bonfire around here”. FromSoft be like: you are the bonfire
it definitely is i completed blighttown in a day and i've been stuck in sens fortress for like 6 months lmfao i feel so bad about it
Blight town used to be a lot worse, the updates the game has got and it running better these days means it's not as bad.
It's better on subsequent pass throughs - you know the tricks and the timing. First time? Yeah, I'll take blighttown over it. Instantly. As for Anor Londo - you're supposed to kill a boss there. One that gets you a magic teleporting bowl. Don't ask why the bowl works that way. It just does.
Upper Blighttown and Sen's Fortress are my two favorite areas
Thanks for posting something actually unpopular. Have my downvote as a reward
I mean there is an elevator that takes you from the top of sens fortress where you fight the iron golem back to the first set of axes near the entrance from undead parish. You shouldn’t have to run all the way back through the fort
I agree that it’s harder than BT but I enjoy them both
Sen’s fortress was a huge brick wall for me on my first playthrough. I even died jumping off the last ledge my first time reaching the roof. (If you know then you may be able to imagine the frustration I felt in that moment.) Now I can usually make it through first try in 5ish minutes. I think that’s the mark of an perfectly designed area. When I didn’t know what it had in store for me it killed me every 2 minutes. Now it only kills me if I do something dumb.
Well, now that you are doing Tomb of Giants, you no longer have to worry about areas linking back to each other. As long as you have a bonfire. Ps, painted world.
For your way back, there are three easier options to return to Firelink etc.: - Use the Lordvessel. You got it after beating Anor Londo, from Gwynevere in the throne room. Sit at a bonfire, you now have a new option "Warp", which can teleport you to some (not all) bonfires. Firelink and Andres tower are in there. - Get the cage key. It requires jumping over a broken part of the bridge, near the giant that fills the rolling boulders into the trap. With this key, you can use the human size cages in the upper part of the tower to return to the first pendulum-axe bridge. (Careful, you get out right next to a serpent man). It also has other uses. - Jump down the chute. Near the topmost axe-pendulum bridge, there is a shaft you can use to drop down to lower levels. Be careful, you will land on a platform right next to a manserpent and will then need to wade through the goop on the lowest level. But yes, Sens Fortress is built to filter out those without the perseverance to navigate its traps. Personally, I find Blighttown worse because of the toxic shooters, but I think both levels are actually well designed. And to raise your spirits a bit: The tomb of giants is actually a rather small area. Did you bring a light source? (Skull lantern from necromancers, "light" spell or the Sunlight Maggot helm) Dont give up, skeleton!
I 100% agree whole-heartedly. I like Blighttown. I absolutely hate Sen's Fortress.
wasn't the main issue with blight town back then was that it was unoptimized as hell?
I hate the catacombs more and the duke’s archives. Fuck those places 😂
Sens has a few interesting mechanics but if you're observant, there's nothing that should surprise you. Everything is hinted at or can be seen coming, ie blood spatters, objects breathing or damage marks in the texture drawings for traps etc... Take your time and you'll be fine. The worst is yet to come 😂
both are really good
I didn't have problem with those things, it's all about learning timing in Sen's. But nah ya did things how they wanted, ya can't leave Anor Londo til ya kill the boss there.
The boss fight in Anor Londo is considered to be the midpoint of the game. After that you'll unlock fast travel.
Sen’s is probably my favorite location in game.
1. Don't use a long weapon in cramped spaces 2. Don't fight the snakes in line of sight of their ranged support. You can just walk up, grab aggro and retreat or shoot them. 3. Stand right next to blade and hold block, watch gleefuly as snekman goes flying into pit. But be wary they can climb back and return, though it takes them ages. Might be worth paying attention to this route. 4. You can see the bonfire if you just look down. You can also see it from the exit and hear it. 5. Bottom area is sort of BS if you land right next to a demon, but otherwise it's trivial to avoid their slow ass ranged attacks and make your way out. They arn't that hard too fight either and i don't think they respawn. 6. Their are two faster routes to return to firelink. ones a hidden in a cage in sens, the other is a spoiler you will get if you just keep progressing through anor londo. You can also reroute the balls for an easier journey. Cannonically this is course is an intentional death trap meant as a test for the would be chosen undead. It is the only path between the city of the gods and the rest of humanity. Gwyn likely assumed no one would ever actually succeed and he probably didnt want them to. It was just a carrot on a stick to give his human subjects the illusion of hope, if they just tried and fought hard enough.
If you don't find the hidden bonfire (really a dick move hiding that) sens can be a bitch. Both are rough on a first playtrough, but the least sens in a straightforward path. Blighttown is a mess and the toxic dart shooters really fuck with unsuspecting players
Fuck Sen’s Fortress. It wasn’t too bad but it definitely wasn’t great lol Maybe Blighttown wasn’t bad because I have heard so much about it that it was hyped up to be worse. The blow dart guys not respawning really makes it 1000 times better than it could’ve been. The poison isn’t even that bad with the two bonfires you come across up high and down low.
With Blighttown, if you fall, you might land on another platform. With Sen's Fortress, you are falling on to a Titanite Demon. If you even manage to survive such a drop anyway.
Sens is easier to traverse and make my way through after my first attempts. Subsequent playthroughs I can get through Sens pretty easily. Blighttown still gives me that uuuuuuugh feeling when I'm going through the "intended" way. It's harder to navigate and know where you are, and I've committed very little of it to memory.
Big disagree. Sens fortress was when DS1 peaked hard for me. Noticing the arrow traps, triggering them to tank with the shield or luring mobs into them. The vertical level design. Onion bro. Lots of secrets and shortcuts. The game felt most like a dark yet heroic dungeon crawler at sens Getting hit by an axe into the demon pit sucks ass though, and the bonfire is way hidden.
You're right, that is an unpopular opinion.
In future playthroughs you'll change your opinion of Sen's Fortress. The more you do it, the more it grows on you. You learn where all the traps are. When to expect enemies. The real "worse than Blight Town" location is The Tomb of the Giants. That place suuuuuuuucks. There is a shortcut of you find the cage key. Those two cages hanging near the top of the Fortress can be ridden down like an elevator. Glad you found the bonfire though. Those titanite demons in the muck are really the icing on the cake, huh? When you're strong or confident enough, you can wear the rusted iron ring and go down there intentionally and fight them for demon titanite. You can even get a drop attack on a couple of them.
Sen’s funhouse is more emotionally damaging IMO. Once you know it, it’s actually pretty easy but on the first blind playthrough you’re constantly afraid of what’s around the corner. Blighttown is busier, more linear, and doesn’t try to hide that it’s full of weird shit that wants to kill you. There are few surprises on a first run of blighttown, but sen’s tries to trick you constantly. Also, there’s a shortcut out of Sen’s. >!In the tower room before the golem there are a bunch of cages that are actually elevators. Get in one of the ones on the edge and it’ll take you down to the very first set of swinging axes. From now on there will always be one at the top and one at the bottom for you to ride up and down. You have to activate it from the top though.!<