GamesAction RpgLies of PA Britney Spears rhythm game from 2002 made me better at playing Lies of P – and now I’m finally ready to tackle Elden RingWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgLies of PA Britney Spears rhythm game from 2002 made me better at playing Lies of P – and now I’m finally ready to tackle Elden RingWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Neowiz)
Going up against the toughest bosses yet inLies of Pwas always going to be difficult for anElden Ringflunkie like myself, but right now, I’m on fire. Headphones around my neck with the volume turned right down, all I can hear is the sharp hiss of my own voice as I count my way through Fallen Archbishop Andreus' attack pattern. “One and two, three andhit, four, five…six-seven-hit.” My hands are still trembling with the telltale sign of an adrenaline rush – I’m so close to finishing this fiend off for good, and usually, this is where I would falter.
Stronger than yesterday
(Image credit: THQ)
Truly Tarnished(Image credit: FromSoftware)Here’s everything we know about theElden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeDLC
Truly Tarnished
(Image credit: FromSoftware)Here’s everything we know about theElden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeDLC
(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Here’s everything we know about theElden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeDLC
It all started with Britney. Plenty of millennials might say the same thing, but in this case, I’m talking specifically about Britney’s Dance Beat. It was one of the first PS2 games I remember being bought for me instead of my brother – not that hedidn’tlet me attempt 50 Cent Bulletproof or Fahrenheit as well – and I recall making it my mission to be absolutely brilliant at it. Getting a perfect score on Slave 4 U was hard going back in 2002, but little did I know, my militant method of muting the TV and simply yelling the beat counts out loud would come back to serve me well some 22 years later.
(Image credit: Neowiz)
My militant method of muting the TV and simply yelling the beat counts out loud would come back to serve me well.
My militant method of muting the TV and simply yelling the beat counts out loud would come back to serve me well.
“One and two, three, four.” Just like how I would yell out the PS2 button names as I pressed them during Britney’s Dance Beat, each verbal count tells me when to dodge or parry. I don’t even think about it when I factor in attack counts, a result of having actual coherent thoughts running through my mind thanks to the silence – “five, six, seven, STAB, one, STAB, two…” you get the idea.
The difference in my stress levels and precision is immediate and extreme. Memorizing a giant enemy’s attack pattern is hardly a novel concept ingames like Elden Ringwhere timing is essential, but for someone like me, it was always impossible to keep my focus steady. How am I meant to dodge, memorize, heal,andappreciate the cool musical score in the background all at the same time? Well, it turns out that all I have to do is eliminate that last element, because it’s the only way I can hear myself think, apparently. Without the chaos of boss battle music to throw me off, I manage to bring down the Scrapped Watchman with relative – dare I say it – ease. I almost cry out of two reasons: relief, and the disbelief that I hadn’t tried this sooner when it had worked so well for me back when I was 7.
Has this trick made me into the global Soulsborne champion? No, but I reckon it has made my neighbors convinced that I have a particularly unfortunate case of tourettes. It’s bizarre but it works, and after so many years of beating myself up for not being able to control my physiological responses, I don’t even feel bad about my weird boss battle strategy. Elden Ring, it’s time for a rematch.
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