Resuming Dark Souls In The Worst Place

12 September, 2018. 500 words.

My thumb is finally well enough that I can use a game controller again. This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that I can resume Dark Souls Remastered and finish my casual nostalgia tour, my (latest) video series Magnum Opus.

The bad news is that I’m in a terrible place to resume the game.

The last time I played Dark Souls Remastered before significant pain in my fingers and thumbs impacted my performance was June 23rd, when I spent all day working on Artorias (technically it only took 1 hour and 35 minutes, but it was spread out all day). He was the last boss I could defeat.

The last time I was able to play effectively enough to make progress in the game was June 27th, when I cleared all the way to the Chasm of the Abyss and the Manus boss fog. That was the last video I uploaded.

I’ve played for an 1 and 35 minutes since then, trying to beat the Manus boss in short little futile sessions. The last time I even launched the game was July 8th when I played for exactly 9 minutes before giving up for good.

After that I wondered if I’d ever be able to pick up a game controller again.

But Monday, September 10th, I actually held a controller in my hands for a whopping fifteen minutes and lived to tell the tale! I played The Last of Us (Remastered) on the PS4. I got to the first room, looked around, quit the game, and put the controller down. (The game looks amazing by the way, I’m just not ready to dive into a new game yet, especially on a console.)

The point is that my thumb didn’t get worse after 15 minutes with The Last of Us, so I feel like I can start working my way back into Dark Souls Remastered again. However I also feel like I should gradually work my way up to Dark Souls. Unfortunately I happened to leave off right in the middle of the Manus boss fight. That’s one of the worst possible places to resume. It’s a hard fight, and I haven’t played in over two months. Starting at the beginning is somewhat challenging when you’re rusty, to say nothing of starting at one of the hardest bosses in the game. It’d be like having a two month rain delay in the middle of the Wimbledon finals. (An analogy that might actually be more obscure than the actual information.)

I also wanted to beat Black Dragon Kalameet, which I’ve never done before. (I’ve barely even fought him before.) That’s probably going to take a lot of patience and practice.

Then Gwyn, the final boss, which is kind of a cakewalk, comparatively speaking.

I just need to work out a “game controller thumb exercise routine” that will gradually get me back into playing shape without actually hurting myself. (I’ll be using an Xbox One controller this time.)

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