*She surprised me with this Scarlet Aeonia since she just did one a little earlier. I was out of heals and not going to lie, I lost track of my stamina at the end. Luckily I had enough to finish her.*

Man, what a game. My favourite playthrough of any game ever. I was like many of you living off of rumours about this game years ago. Then life happened and I could only get around to it recently. The biggest favour I did to myself was avoiding anything related to the game until I could experience it. Thanks to that I could have a completely fresh experience and it was just incredible.

I am Malenia, the blade of Miquella... 4-5 hours of attempts, but I finally managed it without summons. I have no love for her, not a good design in my opinion. Found my own little ways to fight her. Still when it comes to hard endgame bosses, Isshin is the pinnacle of challenging, but fair and satisfying. Granted, it's a way bigger challenge to nail it in an open world game compared to a linear action game, so I am not mad about it.

This character will wait until I pick up SOtE. Meanwhile I am planning to do the other side of the spectrum with a Dex focused build. I'd like something with a fun moveset, that is available semi-early. If you have any suggestions or questions, please go ahead!

After 5 grueling hours, Malenia is down! First playthrough thoughts below ✔