I've played for about 20 or so hours, and jeez, this game has a lot to it doesn't it? It's an amazing game, but I'm really struggling to get some things. I have limited playtime so I'm finding the learning curve rather vast to say the least. Even simple things like knowing which build to go for, or even the builds in general, are difficult to grasp. Then there's the totally open-ended way of going through most zones, being able to do them out of order, ignoring things, running past certain mobs to get back to somewhere else, the list is quite endless! It's a completely different experience to most games you'll ever play. The game goes out of its way to get you at every possible moment (which is actually really cool, not a complaint there) and it keeps you on your toes, but even after 20 hours I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. Not to mention that the world has been beautifully realised. The mobs in it are just wrong, as in full-on abominations and it sets the world up for the dreadful and raw place that it is.
Last night I went back and took down the Curse Rotted Greatwood, and then used the kiln to make Vordt's hammer. That's a nice weapon! I originally skipped the Greatwood the first time around this zone because my friend advised me to wait a bit. That was a pretty awesome fight. I had the help of my friend though. I don't know if I'm completely happy with the way co-op works, what with having to burn an ember and then you risk being invaded, and then if you die you lose the ember and you then have to use another. I've read that ember isn't an endless resource so that means that some day I won't be able to co-op anymore, which kinda sucks. I think that's the tough thing about Dark Souls. The permanence of certain things. I accidentally attacked an NPC outside the shrine the other night, he went for me and fell off the cliff. So that's the end of that dude, no ability to get anything more from him because, you know, he dead. But then even if he hadn't have fallen to his death, he'd have been aggressive to me after that. Even though I'm finding these things tough for a game these days, I can completely appreciate it. It makes you see just how easy games have become. They hold your hand and guide you through everything so carefully and gently. Dark Souls 3 is a breath of fresh air to be perfectly honest, even though I'm still getting to grips with everything it has to offer!