Dark Souls: The Celestial City

Anor Londo is truly a city of gods compared to where I had been previously. Saved from ruin and decay, travelling through it makes you feel quite small. I do wish this was the hub area, rather than firelink. The crumbling ruins of that shrine felt very appropriate for the undead labouring on their journey, but now that I'm becoming the Chosen Undead, I feel like I should have a better base of operations.

Praise the sun!

Anyway, the opening moments of Anor Londo were quite tense. I expected something to come out and smash me around each corner, and was surprised the big guardian knights stood silent. I made my way across a large courtyard which looked like a boss area, and headed down into a bonfire room.

The firekeeper of this bonfire

This meant I could defeat the guardians of the nearby rooms and take what items were there with a minimum of fuss, they were difficult but beatable and with a bonfire near I had no fear. Following the path around I saw a glowing yellow fog gate, and could not pass. Something to revisit later. My only other option was to proceed towards the central stair, which appeared out of reach.

Up in the rafters

Firstly, a lightning-spewing gargoyle. The pair at the top of Undead Parish were the bane of my life so many hours ago, and yet this one was a cakewalk. How things change, eh? The stairway was indeed out of reach, so instead I had to break into what appeared to be a cathedral or something. Clambering over the butresses was made harder by the game which doesn't really handle such steep slopes very well, but I got in first time to be greeted by knife-throwing ninjas of some sort. All clad in white, there were a few in the rafters but even more on the ground floor.

The painting...

I picked off these enemies one-by-one, and admired the huge room. It was a shame it was such a quick part of the game, because a large expanse like this should really be more important. The huge painting at one end will surely be more crucial though, apparently you can enter it but I have yet to manage that feat.

A nice safe bonfire (2nd so far)

After making it to the central stairway, I was able to find yet another bonfire (this game has a really odd difficulty, some sections are huge and awkward, others much simpler). Another gargoyle too, but again that was no problem at this stage. Manoeuvring the stairs back up to the main walkway, I made my way to the gigantic castle/cathedral/centrepiece, and was greeted by yet more guardians and also some of the winged demons from earlier.

Looking back at Anor Londo from the big Cathedral

These batwing demons were less helpful though, and had lightning attacks. They did however have a lovely habit of falling off ledges. For enemies with wings they're terrible at actually flying. Next up was another climbing section, this time under fire from massive stone dragonslayer arrows. This part is apparently very treacherous, unless like me you always make sure to carry plenty of poison arrows. Three arrows apiece to the archers and they fell, leaving me able to make the climb unhindered.

Our good friend, Solaire

Inside the building yet another bonfire awaited me, and I was also greeted by Solaire! The knight who inspires many for some jolly cooperation had a brief chat with me and I was able to go on my way. The building itself is full of interesting rooms, Silver Knights and Mimics, and a Titanite Demon stuck in one room (how did it even get there?).

Here be dragons

After navigating my way through (and picking up some brilliant items that will require me to gain quite a lot of strength), I blundered my way towards the final fog gate and the boss room. I didn't quite make it that far though, as I got distracted by the Giant Blacksmith and got killed opening a shortcut.

Some lovely paintings

On my return to the bonfire, I regained my humanity and saw a summon sign, so got some help for my fight back through the building. He was rather brilliant at backstabbing and got me right to the boss. I summoned Solaire too for the extra help, and proceeded to the Ornstein and Smough boss fight.

The Giant Blacksmith

Fighting multiple enemies at once isn't an easy thing in Dark Souls, and bosses in particular are a problem. Their huge reach and area of effect attacks make things tricky indeed. Many hand make light worth though, and the three of us took down Smough in quick order. This causes the remaining boss to gain extra power (and recover health), making for a difficult second act. Super Ornstein fell eventually though, and I was free to explore this new area.

Meeting Gwyn's daughter

Lighting another bonfire was my next task, they really are liberally spread through this area. Next job was to claim the Lordvessel, which was handed to me by the daughter of Gwyn, who was a giant, or a god, or something. I see why this city is so large, it's because it's basically the equivalent of Mount Olympus.

Receiving the Lordvessel

With the Lordvessel in my hands, I could take it back to Kingseeker Frampt. Now I just need to fill it with Lord souls (no lesser ones will do), in order to relight the fire (no Take That jokes please).