Recently finally gotten around to playing Lies of P, and I've been enjoying my time a lot - I'd probably put it right between Sekiro and Bloodborne for my favourite Soulslikes. The boss fights have been pretty cool throughout the playthrough. However, the last few bosses, especially Laxasia and Simon, have been kicking my teeth in, so I used a summon to kill both easily.
Now, when people complain about players not playing "the right way" - aka bashing your head in for 10 days straight, using melee only, no summons, magic, cheese, whatever - I'm the first to say that it doesn't matter how people play the game as long as they enjoy it and that they don't have to prove they're "more" of a gamer than someone who did adhere to these self-imposed rules.
After finishing these two fights (I'm at the Nameless Puppet now🫠), however, I kind of feel like I've robbed myself of a "worthy" victory because it was soo much easier with the summons than without them. Like, 30+ tries without and basically first try with a summon. It kind of took away the whole challenge and doesn't feel like I've actually beaten them.
Ultimately, thinking that I've spent so much time learning their patterns and trying to kill them "the proper way", it doesn't feel as bad since I had grown frustrated quite a bit by the end, so I just wanted an easy out. Still nagging on my mind.
What are y'all thoughts on this subject? Is it warranted that I feel like I robbed myself of a proper victory? Should I just get over it? Anything similar happen to you?
Thanks!
Edit: Just remembered that I used summons quite a lot more often than initially thought. I used a summon for both Rabbit Gang fights as well as the Puppet King and the Green Swamp Monster too.
The Rabbit Gang fight felt quite cool like that, especially the first one, since it felt like a real brawl of two equal parties. I consistently got to phase 2 of both Puppet King and Swamp Monster easily but always ended up dying quickly, so the summons took the edge off quite a bit.
Edit 2: Beat Nameless Puppet, probably got a bad ending with Gepetto dying and calling me a useless puppet. But idgaf - I beat that fucker 😎
Just play the games the way it feels more fun to you. All that should matter about how you play is "are you having fun?" If the answer is yes then you're playing the game "correctly"
The thing is, it didn't feel fun getting beaten repeatedly, even though I'm used to it having platinumed Bloodborne and Sekiro, but it also didn't feel satisfying to win using a summon. Then again, maybe I shouldn't base my entire enjoyment on an arbitrary restriction and goal that I want to attain.
I think your internal conflict is valid, but I think it’s okay to let yourself off the hook from squeezing the maximum satisfaction out of a game all the time.
You felt like each of those bosses reached the point of “not being fun anymore”, and you took action to move on and find the fun again.
Likewise, using a summon doesn’t invalidate all the hard work you did already do to learn the patterns. The fights became so easy with the summon BECAUSE the work you put in prior.
You’re over-thinking it, my dude
I think that's what I needed to hear. Thanks my guy ❤️ Appreciate it
Cheers mate 🍻
Why not? Genuine question, what about it made you not enjoy it? Did it end up feeling too easy?
Yea, I guess. There's just something unsatisfying to killing the boss in a single attempt with a summoned NPC that pulls the aggro constantly, leaving you open to going haywire on the boss without real repercussions