Dark Souls Part 067: Entering The Duke's Archives
0The Duke's Archives is not that bad of an area either. The only major problem is those darn Channelers. They make no sense. They start melee attacking even though you are nowhere near them. I died once because I waited for one to fire off a spell before rushing in to attack, but then was destroyed in a single hit by a melee attack that it was pre-charging up. That first area is definitely the most annoying part of the archives.
I'll mention the terrible lock-on mechanics that this game utilizes. I died once in this video because an enemy became too far away to lock on to, which caused my character to turn around and get shot in the back by an Arrow. This is a terrible way to handle lock on because it can cause the player to be killed for reasons that aren't their fault. While there should be a minimum distance to be able to lock on to things in order to prevent accidental lock-ons to things far away, there should not be a maximum lock-on distance once you have locked onto something. The player is not in direct control of their character. Why would you ever want to turn your back towards an enemy that's firing projectiles? Nobody would ever intend to do this, so there should be failsafes to prevent that from happening. Also, you should not lose your lock when the enemy goes off screen or moves quickly. That's cheap.
After making it to the second elevator, riding it up, and going up one final flight of stairs, you are faced with Seath the Scaleless. This is another part of the game that I heavily disagree with. They way Dark Souls is supposed to work is that you aren't supposed to die, but because of how buggy the game is, you probably will. However, here is a spot in the game where you have to die in order to progress the story. After dying here, you are not taken back to the last Bonfire you rested at, you are taken deeper into the archives. This goes against everything the game has taught you up until this point and is an insult to the player's intelligence. Also, if the player wasn't wearing a Ring of Revival, then their Souls would still be in the room where they first met Seath and they are probably going to die again before they can get back to them. It's a major FU to the player.
The next area is interesting to say the least. You start off in a jail cell and must escape. Once you do, some Man-Serpents start a phonograph that cause a bunch of blue enemies called Picasas to leave their cage and start going up the stairs after you! That's pretty funny. They aren't too difficult to fight. The most difficult part is killing the Man-Serpents near the phonograph so that you can shut it off. Big Hat Logan is here, too, in his own cell with the Picasas. I will be coming back for him later. After yet another BS death due to this game's terrible floor collision detection, and getting the Maiden outfit, I leave the jail area through the large doors, and exit the game on the balcony. Man, that Channeler was rude!
Did you notice the strange out of place Crystal Golem located at the top of the first elevator? This enemy is added by the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. It drops the Broken Pendant which is required to start that line of content, Make sure to get it while you are here.
DEATH COUNT: 61
CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 Title & Character Select
00:00:28 Heading to the Duke's Archives
00:07:06 First Elevator
00:12:05 Second Attempt at First Elevator
00:15:25 Third Attempt at First Elevator
00:21:19 Second Elevator
00:23:07 Seath the Scaleless First Encounter
00:24:33 Breaking Out of the Cell
00:27:10 Phonograph Starts
00:32:14 Shutting Off Phonograph
00:34:44 Big Hat Logan
00:36:14 More Archives Exploration
00:45:33 Opening Big Doors
00:47:22 Exiting the Game