@@Omega77232 paimon was annoying because she had a high pitch voice and repeats everything a character *just* said, if she had anything but a squeaker voice, removed the repeating part and just have her give her idea over the situation whether stupid or not, she would probably be a bit more likeable, unless you just hate character talking a lot overall
I think Melina was purposely detached from us, if you remember prior to our journey Vyke almost became elden lord but was held back due to his inability to let his maiden sacrifice herself and instead turned to the three fingers and their frienzed flame I believe that Melina knowing this tried to make sure we didn’t become to attached to her so she could fulfill her duty and let us become elden lord without relying on the frienzed flame
That explains why she was bent on finding and killing us after we became Lord of the Frenzied Flame. Since we didn't speak to her for most of the game, she might assume that we turned to the frenzied flame for no reason other than to create chaos and destruction, rather than to save our her from her fate.
@@Dan-qy6zv The only reason I disagree with that is how I personally view that she instead of fully detaching herself from us she kind of half assed it still telling us stories and popping up in a few key points I think when we choose the frienzed flame the player at that point should’ve fully realized that you’re only doing this to save your companion whether she likes it or not I think she realizes this and how she completely failed her duty therefore taking up the hunt on us as simply put a continuation of her duty to slay the monster she created
That makes sense narratively and from the view point of the main character. But to the audience, or in this case, the gamers, it gives them almost no reason to be invested, compelled by or interested in Melina and her story if we hardly see or interact with her for 90 percent of the game. If FromSoftware's goal was to also make the player feel detached from the character of Melina, then they shouldn't have even included a cutscene of her sacrifice to begin with, could've just mentioned it in a quick text box. Because either way, the players would have the exact same reaction, which basically amounts to: "Oh. Well that sucks I guess," and then proceed to look her up on Rule 34, lol.
@@Valor06 I think a text box would’ve had a way harsher reaction from the community I mean even if she wasn’t there all the time a text box death would get me at the very least quite heated
They didn't even need to give her a super active personality. If they just gave her a lot more dialogue, perhaps talking about whatever area you are in, or what boss you were about to face, it would help to make her more memorable.
Yes, she’s severely underdeveloped. Honestly they should have scrapped gideon and given his exposition dialogue to melina. Gideon is such a doofus, almost meme character anyway and his boss fight is a complete joke as well. He’s literally just a piece of dog shyt that gets stuck on your shoe on your way to face godfrey and radagon. As it stands melina has such little impact in the game that she could have been scrapped and replaced by a literal gizmo that lets you access farum azula. Would have saved the animators some effort in making that big emotional cutscene for a character we don’t even know.
@@dibby1045 honestly that could also have worked. Would have been cliche tho, having this traveling companion that betrays you at the end but then at least his boss fight would maybe have had a little impact. Or maybe not. They’d have to tweak his character a bit. Make him less of a grumpy weird dickhead and more intentionally humerous
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688the bosses have more than enough lore to go around, they both could've talked about them She could also guide you more by telling you about the areas you've visited or the game's mechanics
This would've made her sacrifice and the game beyond that point so much more impactful. Going through your entire journey with her chatting and talking to you, then for her to sacrifice herself so you can become Elden Lord and from Faram Azula onward there's a silence. A silence that can only be created by the void left behind from loss.
well pretty much any time you enter a church it lets you talk to her. Plus a few more locations as well. Throughout my playthrough we talked quite a bit (at least for a fromsoft game)
The saddest/most frustrating part about this game is that you *do* find another way to both burn the tree *and* save her. All the tools are there...the devs just never considered the possibility and subsequently never made this route.
@@kanseidorifto2430 She doesnt want you to become the lord of madlad, but there is a way to get rid of the madness meaning you can burn the tree yourself and then get rid of it making everyone happy (aside the three fingers).
This made me realize, if the parody Manga Adaptation actually reaches the games ending.... It'll be sadder to see her go in the joke manga rather than in the real game. Cus they made her more likeable.
She's actually still the same in the manga but because she talks and reacts more it gave her some personality. If she's like that in-game where she comments more on our adventure, she'd be more likeable.
That is the Melina we wanted. She does not have to be like that parody but having more moments with her like she is a companion. Doesn’t even need to have more dialogues just make her permanent in every Grace sites and have her appear times to times in fight or on Torrent. We are not asking much. Especially after 150 hours of solitude. I need some joy and company.
That would actually have been better than Melina not appearing at all throughout the whole game, and only getting a few lines of dialogue between Morgott and the Flame, where the game tries to artificially build a relationship so the player would feel bad.
imagine the only thing in this depressive world that is energetic and brings a smile to your face and she knows she has to sacrifice herself. I think a LOT of players would have looked for ways to save them once they became aware what they would have to do.
I think it would have just been nice to have her just BE there whenever you sit at a site of grace. The player will automatically feel some form of connection with a friendly npc that helps you get stronger, especially in a game as brutal as ER where every step at getting stronger is significant. She doesn't even need to be energetic, since the Doll and Firekeeper from BB and Ds3(games with similar vibes to ER) respectively weren't super bright rays of sunshine and people still loved them. Also, I think having a character that talks so often that it interrupts your own thought process like Melina does in this video will hurt the game's atmosphereic and environmental storytelling. Might also cause a bit of tonal dissonance since literally no other character in the game, even the super nice ones, act the way Melina in this video does. The game has a real hands off approach, which is probably why they reduced the presence of Melina in the first place.
@@thesnatcher3616 Or like with Cyberpunk 2077 where'd she just randomly appear in some key areas, even if you couldn't interact with her it'd make the player feel as if she was actually following them on their journey.
When Yura (Shabriri?) told me I'd have to sacrifice my maiden, I went right below the damned capital looking all over for the three fingers. Then Melina hates me, I burn the tree, and go all the way through with Milicent's quest to cure my madness. Never saw Melina again that playthrough, but I can only hope she'll try to be something other than what her mother (heavily hinted at being Marika) wanted her to be. She wasn't that much of a beloved companion to me, but I'll be damned if she'll die because fucking Marika told her to. P.D.: I know after a certain point she helps you of her own volition, regardless of her mother's designs, but still, she wouldn't be in this crawl to hell if her mother hadn't set her.
The fact you went on a quest to save her is impressive, then you have my heartless self have her burn herself then go to the sewers so I can burn the world
Literally same, brother. He told me I had to sacrifice her and I was like "nah" and went on a 2-hour journey in the fucking catacombs (mind you this was when the game was out for like a week, so I had no guide or anything to help me down there)
Dude same. I went down there searching every where for the flame and stumbled upon it I only turned back because of Melina pleading for me to not take the flame but I still thought about it.
@@GiyutheWaterHasira I found that pretty jarring. The big case Melina has for not taking the flame of frenzy is "life can be painful and bleak, but also joyful and beautiful". Yeah, I don't know... coming from the woman that's willing to die to save the world, that's something. But needing to sacrifice to save anything? Why would you want to save anything that asks anyone to die? I didn't go with the Flame of Frenzy, I went through Millicent's questline to get rid of it, but never have I wanted to destroy a status quo more so than in Elden Ring. It asks the Tarnished to die over and over again, and towards the final push, to sacrifice their one companion through the whole ordeal. I don't want to save this, I want to destroy this. Melina had a destiny? Well fuck her destiny. She's not even my maiden, and she deserves better
definitely not This melina is obviously just a parody of the annoying squeaky girl trope in shonen. I would've liked more dialogue and interactions with Melina, but I definitely wouldn't have wanted this goofy ahh sakura rip off
@Just your average Human being don't we already have enough, soulless forever depressed souls characters? Like why can't we have a joyful and fun character. It would help distracted from how boring elden ring is.
The worst part is that there literally IS another way. If you get the three fingers' frenzied flame you can use yourself as kindling in the forge of giants. If you then beat Malenia after having acquired the unanointed golden needle, you can transform it into Miquella's anointed needle. Then, you beat Placidusax and use the needle on yourself, which removes the frenzied flame for you. Melina survives, no frenzied flame ending. Ez
The problem is that she will still abandon you, so the questiong is now do you want her dead but she is happy, or do you want her alive but she hates you for life?
The "burning the tree" ending but not going frenzied flame sounds like a reverse Ranni ending too. Something like "You burned the heavens, making the elden ring scatter like dust in the wind, allowing no more Elden Lords as Man alone walks the earth." Where Ranni's ending is you becoming a god beside her, this ending forces the heavens to burn away as the land becomes one for all, where all are mortal.
I honestly would've mind her energetic self, it would be a nice get away from all the deaths I be taking from bosses and invaders. Plus I would feel more attached to her and rival against Rani before the end.
Funny how 1 little typo completely changes the meaning of your sentence. If it wasn't a typo: "I would've mind" means you don't like the idea, while "I wouldn't mind" means you like the idea.
I want to see a alternate version of this where the tarnished realizes that he’ll have to sacrifice her before getting to the flames and decides to become the lord of chaos in order to save her.
@@torunkusu I don’t need Melina to be all lovey dovey and ditzy like in this video specifically, but anything more would have been better. I literally felt nothing when she died because she was bland and nothing as a character. She had literally close to 0 impact on me as a player. The only interesting portion of her was her dialogue during the Frenzied Flame ending before we accept the Three Fingers where she pleaded to us not to take the Frenzied Flame as there was still some life worth saving. Apart from that, we know nothing about her. What I meant is they should have given her a larger presence in our journey. Appearing more when we rest, not just to talk about “Marika’s Echoes”, but like as a campfire companion maybe, just comment on the journey, provide insights to things and areas, congratulate us for killing demigods, talk about her likes, what she thinks her purpose is, etc. Some small things could have been done like have her feed Torrent while we rest or something, maybe even show up at the Roundtable Hold, hell, she should have been summonable in more bosses and areas because we already have a Spirit Summoning system, having Melina accompany us should not have been too much of a problem. (Optional of course, so you can still play without her) Maybe even a system to upgrade her if she were a companion? Give her more spell slots and ask her to help cast stuff for us. Now THAT would have made ppl fucking cry because of all the runes they put in. Or maybe even give her a quest to upgrade our spells like Erdtree Heal to the Tree Healing Spell, a quest to get the Rays of Light spell, ANYTHING. As she is now, she just doesn’t do anything, which is crazy because she is supposed to be more than the level up girl in most Fromsoft games, she is supposed to be our companion for most of the journey and giving her a character would have helped that so much and made choices like the Frenzied Flame ending more meaningful or even the fucking burning at the pot. Like it’s a problem when she dies and almost nobody cares except for “well that happened”.
@@popeneiad7968 you know its bad when we care more for the fire shrine maiden in ds3 who literally is only in the hub area and not melina who was supposed to be with us our whole journey in ER
I especially think she should have been summonable more. She attains physical form after reaching the Erdtree, so have her accompany you through Leyndell and the Mountaintops of the Giants. Her evasive fighting style would be pretty good against the Fire Giant.
@@torunkusu she’s either relaying a message, telling a story, or speaking to you about something relating to the main questline. the bond between her and the player is nonexistent, so her lighting herself up near the end had no real significant impact except for unlocking the stage to the final boss. i’d take the cliche over her currently empty husk of a character.
Melina should've been at the Roundtable Hold anytime you were there and you should've had the option to interact with her at any Grace. Just little things that show the player that this person really is along for the ride and have the interactions be optional for repeat playthroughs or speed runs.
Bare minimum, she appears by your grace sight when you sit down or level up as she's seen to do in select places... its such a puzzling design choice to have her not even present when you level up.
@@AcesahnYeah like the fire keepers from dark souls it would give a bit more depth to her chracter since in DS we NEEDED fire keepers to lvl up but in elden ring we dont even need a maiden to do it, just sit at a grace and become your own maiden... Seriously tho whats the point of even having a maiden if she doesnt help you lvl up? Sure you can argue that its for convenience's sake but that takes away from the immersion of a maiden turning our runes into strength/lvls.
That is what I wanted for Melina in the game. She did not have to be like that parody but having more moments with her like she is a companion. Doesn’t even need to have more dialogues just make her permanent in every Grace sites and have her appear times to times in fight or on Torrent. We are not asking much. Especially after 150 hours of solitude. I need some joy and company.
Me expecting Melina to be a fun character who will be a beacon of hope and positivity on my dark and grueling adventures: : ) Me 60 hours in realizing that I haven't even seen her since last week: : (
Yeah. If she was more like a Johnny Silverhand type character who appeared near the Tarnished every once in a while to deliver commentary or just comedic foil over numerous random encounters, just so that we could bond with her more. It would've made her sacrifice more impactful when she wasn't around anymore & Lands Between felt more lonely in her absence. The firekeepers from Dark Souls 2&3 were at least people the player had a reason to come back to. So stuff like that, tying mechanics and narrative together would've made her sacrifice have more meaning.
Now I want a version where he hits her on the back of her head with the pommel of his blade, and when she wakes up the tree has already been burnt. Confused, and alone, she wanders the plane looking for the Knight. When she excitedly runs up to him, he simply looks over his shoulder and that gaze alone causes her pause. She can feel it. The heat from his gaze, the fire in his eyes... the _frenzy in his soul._ And her only words she can say before giving him an expression he thought would be impossible on her. "I will never forgive you for this." and his response back will be simple. "and I never would have forgiven myself if you died. I guess I simply do not deserve forgiveness." As he drags himself back into the arena of red rot, clutching a golden needle, as a sea of his own corpse litters the room with a single woman standing there... one who has never known defeat.
He feels the frenzy slowly consume him as he repeatedly fights Melina...clinging to the last vestiges of his soul just for a chance to rid himself of the Frenzied curse. He finally beats Melina, reaches the Dragon Lord at Farum Azula and manages to pierce his heart with Miquella's needle and reverse the Effects of Frenzy. Only to collapse in pain and wake up in her arms.
Ever since I realized nearly every female character (who isn’t a hwitch) in English Fromsoft has the same voice I began asking myself what it takes to give a girl personality for once. Like for Melina to walk up and say “ay ya specky skin wearin lard ass pullin a whirligig over me fokkin church” or something. Then I met Sellen on my second playthrough. Sellen wins.
lol, nice save with the (isn't a witch). Because you damn well know that ranni has quite the personality. "Do you enjoy conversing with dolls? Is it some strange habit of thine? Fine. FINE. I didn't think anyone would recognise me in this form."
It would've made the game a lot more fun to me since I would go explore stupid places not only for the chance of loot but also to find out how she will react. And yes sharing all that time with her along your journey would have definitely made her sacrifice a heartbreaking experience.
Maybe what would have been nice is that she rides on the back of Torrent with you and explains the lore of whatever area you're entering, like explaining the fight between Radahn and Malenia when you enter Caelid, or explaining Grafting on the path to Stormveil. Could even give her opinion on them, like maybe she thinks grafting is fucked up, or she thinks Radahn is in the right, or she's sad he's practically braindead. And for God's sake, have her show up whenever you level. You needed the Emerald Herald, Firekeeper, and the Doll to level up in the other games, so why don't we need Melina? Sure, you can level anytime after you meet her, but there's literally an animation for leveling up while Melina is at the Grace with you. She had potential.
God no, not the GoW:R solution! The quips were fine, in fact what I love about GoW is the conversations between characters, but the solution to puzzles? Fuck off, make it something you can toggle on and off at least, fucking Metroid prime did that 20 years earlier on the GameCube.
I was talking about this the other day with my friend. If she like commented on every boss you killed or interesting thing you did if you choose to talk to her when resting, or even if she did half that, the sacrifice would've been much more impact full, and would've given players motive to choose the frenzied flame ending.
I like to imagine this is what Vyke experienced during his attempt at becoming Elden Lord, he forged a bond too strong with his energetic and always cheery maiden that in the end had to be sacrificed, but instead decided to sacrifice himself, becoming possessed by the Frenzied Flame.
wholesome as hell. Then when the cauldron showed up I was like.... NO NO NO! I took the flame of frenzy too spare her, then cured myself with the golden needle. So she might hate me for it, but at least she lives. So I can ignore that last bit XD
I think a nice change would've been for Melina to show up every time you level up. A lot of people just forget that Melina even exists, and when she pops up in Leyndell like "farewell, I shall leave the power to turn runes into strength with you" so many people are like "haven't I been doing that already?"
There should have been a secret ending when you accept the frenzied flame, she leaves you, you burn the tree and then cure yourself of the madness, finishing the game (with Melina still there) that shows you ascending to Elden Lord and Melina coming back saying some lines along "thou hast cheated the frenzied flame of its prize" and that we have to prepare
(Spoiler alert) I think it be awesome if there was diolog if you use the madness flame to burn down the tree but then after you don't do that ending and find Melina after you "cured" yourself. Explaining to her how we used that false fire instead to save her.
Imagining finding her and she starts by saying something like "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with that Grape Lady being the Frenzied Lord or something?" while trying to keep her back towards the Tarnished so they can't see her pouting.
@@Waffles-Mcnachos well she’s pissed cause you didn’t commend to her wishes to sacrifice herself for you but a part of her undertands why you did, and you did vanquish it after using the needle
She spurned you because you robbed her of her destiny. It's like if your wife was working toward something her entire life and that's all she truly wanted to accomplish and in the final stretch you come in and take it away from her with the excuse it's for her own good.
What I liked about the Fire Keeper in DS3 was that she was always there for you to interact with Either by talking or even emoting, watching her chuckle or spin around was always nice to see and in that game you two work together to end the age of fire without starting the age of dark so that an age where Man can live without gods And Melina, im not gonna lie, was kinda boring Shes more mysterious than Godwyn and it’s kinda hard to tell what ending she wants, apart from the one she doesn’t which is the Frenzied Flame ending. Funny enough, we get to know her more when we are travelling towards the Frenzied Flame ending, with her views on how precious life is and we even hear her voice shaking as she asks us, no, BEGS us not to go to the three fingers I wish theres a DLC, not only cus I want more content but also because I wish to know more about Melina
There's an official elden ring comedy manga and melina is very funny despite still being in character and serious like the game , so there is no need to change her personality all together to make her lovable
My opinion is probably a little unpopular, but I didn't mind Melina being the quiet type. I was grateful for her because she gave us the opportunity to become Elden Lord even without a maiden. At every church I let her tell me a little bit about the history and Marika, and it was pretty nice. She even told me about the little guy who changes the clothes, that he wanted to talk. I felt good helping her reach the tree because she helped me too. And I was also very sad when I realised I had to sacrifice her. She could've had more screen time for sure, but for me I still got quite attached to her in the game...maybe I am weird for that x)
While I don't think having a Talkative Melina(tm) would've necessarily been the best within the context of the game, I do think it would've been great to be able to talk to her more often at the Sites of Grace, and having a bit more of an active role in the story - she did seek you out, after all. That would've made her sacrifice a lot more impactful.
A more expressive Melina would have been cool but I'd be lying if i said i didn't prefer how she was in the base game. Her calm, royal way of speaking, her popping up to tell us stories and to check on us occasionally. I can see why people would want more but i like Melina as she is. Now if she was able to fight with us, i would have loved that. Like, how you can choose wether or not an npc joins you in battle at certain locations.
I don’t think anyone has a problem with her character or really wants to change it, what people want is more of her. Because she’s barely in the game. Out of 100 hours she’s in it for barely 20 minutes, she’s so underutilized and underdeveloped, she leaves no impact whatsoever
@@fusoryx6380 yeah and she has like the coolest moveset ever, a Black knife with additional moves. Makes me wonder why they made such a cool npc only summonable for one fight.
The relationship between the tarnished and Melina is the same relationship I had with my last uber driver. The game wants you to feel bad about her sacrifice, but you don't even know her. You don't even know basic things that friends know about each other like her last name, favorite color, games she likes to play, her favorite weapon, etc. She only talks about the random speeches of Marika when you go into a church. You make a deeper connection with the guy who sells you boiled prawn than her.
I feel like Melina being more expressive or more consistently present throughout the game would've either made burning her a moral impossibility, or, people would've just gotten tired of constantly being interrupted on their journey. I feel there'd have been no middle ground, and she'd either have been absolutely beloved, or wholeheartedly despised.
Yeaaaah. There was no bond, hence no tears were shed. If it were more like this, I most definitely would get hit in the feels once she lights herself up.
The fact she doesn't show up every time you rest at a site of grace, or at LEAST every time you go to level up, is a catastrophically missed opportunity. The companionship of her being there every time you level up like the Fire keepers in DS2 and DS3 would have made her death hit WAY harder
Welp, time for modders to mod different Melina features. Appears while you're on horse back Chance for her to spawn at a grace you sit at Give her dialogue that has her act as a guide without appearing around you (which could eventually synergize with the appear on horseback mod) AND an ending where you have the necessary item to treat madness while heading for the madness ending, only for it to end with the burning of the world tree so there are no more lords, riding off into the sunset with Melina
The sad part is that this is pretty much what happened to Vike. His maiden was in danger and because he actually CARED for her, he devoted himself fully to saving her, eventually falling to the frenzied flame. The maidens try to keep themselves distant from the tarnished on purpose, as not doing so would potentially cause issues with them doing their duty.
A cool idea for the age of absolyte could have been taking frenzied flame from the three fingers, burn the erdtree, use miquella's unalloyed gold needle, find a way to meet melina and save the lands between
It's a shame that one of the most interesting "I level you up" characters of the whole soulsborne has almost no interaction with the player except in some churches of Marika and in some keypoints in the quest, is really sad
I think a good way to do something like this would be to have her ride on the back of the house when not in combat and have talk about stuff and also maybe give her more of a personality than she has. Hell just the jar scene would make her sacrifice hurt like hell.
I want more games where you can optionally recruit npcs to go on your journey with you. Preferably through absurdly ardous quests where most people wouldn't bother.
It's funny how she gets almost the same amount of dialogue in this 3 minute video as she does in the actual game. I wish she was constantly commenting and talking to you during questlines and adventures through legacy dunegons. It would make people want to ACTUALLY save her first playtrhough instead of just wanting the Frenzy Flame ending later on.
Chosen Tarnished and would-be Lord, dare to tread the path of true rigor. Spare the poor girl, and singe your own flesh in her stead. If you are prepared to show resolve and attain Lordship through righteous hardship, then heed the words of I, Shabriri
cannonicly, she was with us the whole time. but since fromsolf decided that she only appear in certain location, it lessen the connection between the players and her. in the past game, we meet up with the fire keeper every time we level up, but in elden ring, we just look like we level up by ourselve. I think fromsolf didnt want to have her appear everytime we leveling up because some people would get annoyed with how slow her animation would be.
Honestly Melina should of appeared more in the game, after you beat a major boss she should of appeared and given so dialogue about them. If she was just more involved she could of been a great character.
I actually like her as she is, you're just another looking to get the prize and her deal is to get you there. she does talk here and there but she doesn't have to be everywhere reminding you because there is nothing to really talk about, no one in this game is joyful and ready to go
I'd actually find it interesting if a soul-like forced you to have your maiden or a partner follow you around and you have to take care of em with the challenge of making sure they don't die. And if they do die it changes your playthrough and stops you from getting the good ending. Like no more level ups, or mabey some debuff of some kind. Maybe a bigger debuff if your partner dies later in the game.
Interesting concept although it seems like more hell then what it worth. Like for the player death usually resets the area maybe give some a debuffing penalty but if your partner dies what does the game goes on? if so and given how cheeky souls like are this will be common occurance (bosses exculded due to sheer diffuculty)
@@bombsawaykaboom980 I agree on the boss part. And also the AI just being annoying and straight stupid. I think it's a great concept, but needs to be fined tuned to not cause pain. Maybe have it perma death or go by saves. You die, save reloads. Idk it was just I thought I had seeing this video.
Or maybe, when you find a resting spot far away from your last one, you have to carry your Maiden or Partner on horseback to the new place, and if they die along the way, they respawn at the last resting place. Maybe give a in lore reason why they respawn, like they are also a tarnished who can do what a maiden can? Idk, it seems interesting in my opinion, as well as gives more chances for interaction during the travel.
Imagine if Melina had something engaging to say at literally every grace in the Lands Between and she was designed less monotone and emotionless and more energetic, comical, and endearing so when, if, she does die it's actually tear inducing. They even hit you with the super sad music. Like she has Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion levels of waifu energy, super popular among fans. She'll even comment on things you did, even joke about people or creatures. All aboard the Frenzied Flame & Miquella's needle train, choo choo.
![[Elden Ring Animation] If Elden Ring was an anime](/img/1.gif)
Well perhaps her sacrifice would have made me cry if she were more expressive.
Straight to frenzied flame it is
Nah I don't want another paimon for ER
@@humorm4152 based
True… Though it would probably be hard to do this right.
@@Omega77232 paimon was annoying because she had a high pitch voice and repeats everything a character *just* said, if she had anything but a squeaker voice, removed the repeating part and just have her give her idea over the situation whether stupid or not, she would probably be a bit more likeable, unless you just hate character talking a lot overall
I think Melina was purposely detached from us, if you remember prior to our journey Vyke almost became elden lord but was held back due to his inability to let his maiden sacrifice herself and instead turned to the three fingers and their frienzed flame I believe that Melina knowing this tried to make sure we didn’t become to attached to her so she could fulfill her duty and let us become elden lord without relying on the frienzed flame
That explains why she was bent on finding and killing us after we became Lord of the Frenzied Flame. Since we didn't speak to her for most of the game, she might assume that we turned to the frenzied flame for no reason other than to create chaos and destruction, rather than to save our her from her fate.
@@Dan-qy6zv The only reason I disagree with that is how I personally view that she instead of fully detaching herself from us she kind of half assed it still telling us stories and popping up in a few key points I think when we choose the frienzed flame the player at that point should’ve fully realized that you’re only doing this to save your companion whether she likes it or not I think she realizes this and how she completely failed her duty therefore taking up the hunt on us as simply put a continuation of her duty to slay the monster she created
@@Dan-qy6zv I mean, that's kinda the reason you would pick the flame.
That makes sense narratively and from the view point of the main character. But to the audience, or in this case, the gamers, it gives them almost no reason to be invested, compelled by or interested in Melina and her story if we hardly see or interact with her for 90 percent of the game. If FromSoftware's goal was to also make the player feel detached from the character of Melina, then they shouldn't have even included a cutscene of her sacrifice to begin with, could've just mentioned it in a quick text box. Because either way, the players would have the exact same reaction, which basically amounts to: "Oh. Well that sucks I guess," and then proceed to look her up on Rule 34, lol.
@@Valor06 I think a text box would’ve had a way harsher reaction from the community I mean even if she wasn’t there all the time a text box death would get me at the very least quite heated
Now we know why Vyke couldn't go through with it.
#FrenzyFlameDidNothingWrong #MayChaosTakeTheWorld #MAYCHAOSTAKETHEWORLD
@@TerrestrisVerita Nice try Shabriri, your alts can't fool me.
Yeah, he had a better maiden
......had
@@wavestrider2160 She killed herself... Man Soulsborne games get DARK...
@@axios4702 its not clear what really happened, for all we knoe vyke might have killed her out of madness
They didn't even need to give her a super active personality. If they just gave her a lot more dialogue, perhaps talking about whatever area you are in, or what boss you were about to face, it would help to make her more memorable.
Yes, she’s severely underdeveloped. Honestly they should have scrapped gideon and given his exposition dialogue to melina. Gideon is such a doofus, almost meme character anyway and his boss fight is a complete joke as well. He’s literally just a piece of dog shyt that gets stuck on your shoe on your way to face godfrey and radagon.
As it stands melina has such little impact in the game that she could have been scrapped and replaced by a literal gizmo that lets you access farum azula. Would have saved the animators some effort in making that big emotional cutscene for a character we don’t even know.
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 Or alternatively, make gideon the waifu 😶
@@dibby1045 honestly that could also have worked. Would have been cliche tho, having this traveling companion that betrays you at the end but then at least his boss fight would maybe have had a little impact.
Or maybe not. They’d have to tweak his character a bit. Make him less of a grumpy weird dickhead and more intentionally humerous
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688the bosses have more than enough lore to go around, they both could've talked about them
She could also guide you more by telling you about the areas you've visited or the game's mechanics
This would've made her sacrifice and the game beyond that point so much more impactful. Going through your entire journey with her chatting and talking to you, then for her to sacrifice herself so you can become Elden Lord and from Faram Azula onward there's a silence. A silence that can only be created by the void left behind from loss.
well pretty much any time you enter a church it lets you talk to her. Plus a few more locations as well. Throughout my playthrough we talked quite a bit (at least for a fromsoft game)
@@MJ-mu3kb But it doesn't let you know that it'll give new dialogue.
@@MJ-mu3kb ya but it’s optional and all of it just exposition. We need to actual interaction and development from her.
A random chat when not aggroing any enemies while riding torrent would've been nice
@@poujhn just imagine her slowly appearing from thin air in the back of Torrent to talk with you while you ride
The saddest/most frustrating part about this game is that you *do* find another way to both burn the tree *and* save her. All the tools are there...the devs just never considered the possibility and subsequently never made this route.
Wdym? You have the option. She just spurns you for it.
@@kanseidorifto2430 She doesnt want you to become the lord of madlad, but there is a way to get rid of the madness meaning you can burn the tree yourself and then get rid of it making everyone happy (aside the three fingers).
Anyways, let’s go to the studio and “politely” ask them
THERE WILL BE MODS
@@polasamierwahsh421 one can only hope!
The deafening silence entering Farum Azula would've made the area far, far more impactful.
9s from nier automata
So that's basically the coop mode before patches
(She would appear on every bonfire and talk with you)
The only way we can have this Melina is for someone to cosplay as her and play co-op.
Sadly, she is not like this.
@@xxx_jim_the_reaper_xxx I would throw her into the bowl of fire if she's like this, just like paimon
@@hoangdung7494
Some people just have different takes to this, that is all.
@@hoangdung7494 why on teyvat would you use emergency food UNLESS IT'S AN EMERGENCY??
@@hope5383 i meant if she's about to give me brain aneurysm, it's emergency alright.
This made me realize, if the parody Manga Adaptation actually reaches the games ending.... It'll be sadder to see her go in the joke manga rather than in the real game. Cus they made her more likeable.
She's actually still the same in the manga but because she talks and reacts more it gave her some personality. If she's like that in-game where she comments more on our adventure, she'd be more likeable.
That is the Melina we wanted.
She does not have to be like that parody but having more moments with her like she is a companion.
Doesn’t even need to have more dialogues just make her permanent in every Grace sites and have her appear times to times in fight or on Torrent.
We are not asking much.
Especially after 150 hours of solitude. I need some joy and company.
@@silenthero2795 she did beat the absolute fuck out of darriwill
Underrated ass manga I never see anyone talking about it
What's the name? I want to read it.
That would actually have been better than Melina not appearing at all throughout the whole game, and only getting a few lines of dialogue between Morgott and the Flame, where the game tries to artificially build a relationship so the player would feel bad.
imagine the only thing in this depressive world that is energetic and brings a smile to your face and she knows she has to sacrifice herself. I think a LOT of players would have looked for ways to save them once they became aware what they would have to do.
There sould've been more moments where she appeared at the campfire and asked if you wanted her to tell you a story, it's a shame how limited it was.
Every time you got off the game is when they interacted it was all off screen just like The good part of One piece fights
I think it would have just been nice to have her just BE there whenever you sit at a site of grace. The player will automatically feel some form of connection with a friendly npc that helps you get stronger, especially in a game as brutal as ER where every step at getting stronger is significant. She doesn't even need to be energetic, since the Doll and Firekeeper from BB and Ds3(games with similar vibes to ER) respectively weren't super bright rays of sunshine and people still loved them. Also, I think having a character that talks so often that it interrupts your own thought process like Melina does in this video will hurt the game's atmosphereic and environmental storytelling. Might also cause a bit of tonal dissonance since literally no other character in the game, even the super nice ones, act the way Melina in this video does. The game has a real hands off approach, which is probably why they reduced the presence of Melina in the first place.
@@thesnatcher3616 Or like with Cyberpunk 2077 where'd she just randomly appear in some key areas, even if you couldn't interact with her it'd make the player feel as if she was actually following them on their journey.
When Yura (Shabriri?) told me I'd have to sacrifice my maiden, I went right below the damned capital looking all over for the three fingers. Then Melina hates me, I burn the tree, and go all the way through with Milicent's quest to cure my madness. Never saw Melina again that playthrough, but I can only hope she'll try to be something other than what her mother (heavily hinted at being Marika) wanted her to be. She wasn't that much of a beloved companion to me, but I'll be damned if she'll die because fucking Marika told her to.
P.D.: I know after a certain point she helps you of her own volition, regardless of her mother's designs, but still, she wouldn't be in this crawl to hell if her mother hadn't set her.
The fact you went on a quest to save her is impressive, then you have my heartless self have her burn herself then go to the sewers so I can burn the world
Literally same, brother. He told me I had to sacrifice her and I was like "nah" and went on a 2-hour journey in the fucking catacombs (mind you this was when the game was out for like a week, so I had no guide or anything to help me down there)
Dude same. I went down there searching every where for the flame and stumbled upon it I only turned back because of Melina pleading for me to not take the flame but I still thought about it.
Bro, the only way I get the frenzied flame is for Kale. Melina had a destiny that she wanted to fulfill.
@@GiyutheWaterHasira I found that pretty jarring. The big case Melina has for not taking the flame of frenzy is "life can be painful and bleak, but also joyful and beautiful". Yeah, I don't know... coming from the woman that's willing to die to save the world, that's something. But needing to sacrifice to save anything? Why would you want to save anything that asks anyone to die?
I didn't go with the Flame of Frenzy, I went through Millicent's questline to get rid of it, but never have I wanted to destroy a status quo more so than in Elden Ring. It asks the Tarnished to die over and over again, and towards the final push, to sacrifice their one companion through the whole ordeal. I don't want to save this, I want to destroy this. Melina had a destiny? Well fuck her destiny. She's not even my maiden, and she deserves better
This is way better than the Melina we got.
I can picture her being all jealous of Ranni and Fia and hanging out with you in the Roundtable hold.
definitely not
This melina is obviously just a parody of the annoying squeaky girl trope in shonen. I would've liked more dialogue and interactions with Melina, but I definitely wouldn't have wanted this goofy ahh sakura rip off
@@justyouraveragehumanbeing7411
True that.
@@justyouraveragehumanbeing7411 Anything would be better than the "quest marker" Melina we got.
@Just your average Human being don't we already have enough, soulless forever depressed souls characters? Like why can't we have a joyful and fun character. It would help distracted from how boring elden ring is.
@@techpriestalex8730
They can be joyful and fun, but they don’t have to be an anime cliche.
The worst part is that there literally IS another way. If you get the three fingers' frenzied flame you can use yourself as kindling in the forge of giants. If you then beat Malenia after having acquired the unanointed golden needle, you can transform it into Miquella's anointed needle. Then, you beat Placidusax and use the needle on yourself, which removes the frenzied flame for you. Melina survives, no frenzied flame ending. Ez
The funny part is that the reverse is true too, you can kill melina and then do the Frenzy ending and she is still dead.
The problem is that she will still abandon you, so the questiong is now do you want her dead but she is happy, or do you want her alive but she hates you for life?
what about the ranni ending
@@blueblue_youtube Well that's just cheating on her.
The "burning the tree" ending but not going frenzied flame sounds like a reverse Ranni ending too. Something like "You burned the heavens, making the elden ring scatter like dust in the wind, allowing no more Elden Lords as Man alone walks the earth."
Where Ranni's ending is you becoming a god beside her, this ending forces the heavens to burn away as the land becomes one for all, where all are mortal.
I honestly would've mind her energetic self, it would be a nice get away from all the deaths I be taking from bosses and invaders. Plus I would feel more attached to her and rival against Rani before the end.
like chestnut from berserk
I don't remember his name it's been so long :)
Funny how 1 little typo completely changes the meaning of your sentence. If it wasn't a typo: "I would've mind" means you don't like the idea, while "I wouldn't mind" means you like the idea.
@@RexusprimeIX nah thats where context and not being an illiterate jackass comes in lel, if you actually think it doesn’t change the meaning lel
@@spacetaco048 puck i laugh so hard when he did a parody of palpatine
I want to see a alternate version of this where the tarnished realizes that he’ll have to sacrifice her before getting to the flames and decides to become the lord of chaos in order to save her.
Basically what happened to vyke
Thats literally what I did lol
More character in 3 mins than the whole 100+ hours in Elden Ring, and yes, that is a formal complaint for Melina to have been a more active character
Go play one of the hundreds of horribly dubbed YA JRPG’s if this is the kind of character you prefer.
So glad From doesn’t succumb to this crap
@@torunkusu I don’t need Melina to be all lovey dovey and ditzy like in this video specifically, but anything more would have been better. I literally felt nothing when she died because she was bland and nothing as a character. She had literally close to 0 impact on me as a player. The only interesting portion of her was her dialogue during the Frenzied Flame ending before we accept the Three Fingers where she pleaded to us not to take the Frenzied Flame as there was still some life worth saving. Apart from that, we know nothing about her.
What I meant is they should have given her a larger presence in our journey.
Appearing more when we rest, not just to talk about “Marika’s Echoes”, but like as a campfire companion maybe, just comment on the journey, provide insights to things and areas, congratulate us for killing demigods, talk about her likes, what she thinks her purpose is, etc.
Some small things could have been done like have her feed Torrent while we rest or something, maybe even show up at the Roundtable Hold, hell, she should have been summonable in more bosses and areas because we already have a Spirit Summoning system, having Melina accompany us should not have been too much of a problem. (Optional of course, so you can still play without her)
Maybe even a system to upgrade her if she were a companion? Give her more spell slots and ask her to help cast stuff for us. Now THAT would have made ppl fucking cry because of all the runes they put in. Or maybe even give her a quest to upgrade our spells like Erdtree Heal to the Tree Healing Spell, a quest to get the Rays of Light spell, ANYTHING.
As she is now, she just doesn’t do anything, which is crazy because she is supposed to be more than the level up girl in most Fromsoft games, she is supposed to be our companion for most of the journey and giving her a character would have helped that so much and made choices like the Frenzied Flame ending more meaningful or even the fucking burning at the pot. Like it’s a problem when she dies and almost nobody cares except for “well that happened”.
@@popeneiad7968 you know its bad when we care more for the fire shrine maiden in ds3 who literally is only in the hub area and not melina who was supposed to be with us our whole journey in ER
I especially think she should have been summonable more. She attains physical form after reaching the Erdtree, so have her accompany you through Leyndell and the Mountaintops of the Giants. Her evasive fighting style would be pretty good against the Fire Giant.
@@torunkusu she’s either relaying a message, telling a story, or speaking to you about something relating to the main questline. the bond between her and the player is nonexistent, so her lighting herself up near the end had no real significant impact except for unlocking the stage to the final boss. i’d take the cliche over her currently empty husk of a character.
Melina should've been at the Roundtable Hold anytime you were there and you should've had the option to interact with her at any Grace. Just little things that show the player that this person really is along for the ride and have the interactions be optional for repeat playthroughs or speed runs.
Bare minimum, she appears by your grace sight when you sit down or level up as she's seen to do in select places... its such a puzzling design choice to have her not even present when you level up.
@@AcesahnYeah like the fire keepers from dark souls it would give a bit more depth to her chracter since in DS we NEEDED fire keepers to lvl up but in elden ring we dont even need a maiden to do it, just sit at a grace and become your own maiden... Seriously tho whats the point of even having a maiden if she doesnt help you lvl up? Sure you can argue that its for convenience's sake but that takes away from the immersion of a maiden turning our runes into strength/lvls.
@@Acesahn I think its melina choice so we dont get the cold feet like Vyke
That is what I wanted for Melina in the game.
She did not have to be like that parody but having more moments with her like she is a companion.
Doesn’t even need to have more dialogues just make her permanent in every Grace sites and have her appear times to times in fight or on Torrent.
We are not asking much.
Especially after 150 hours of solitude. I need some joy and company.
Me expecting Melina to be a fun character who will be a beacon of hope and positivity on my dark and grueling adventures: : )
Me 60 hours in realizing that I haven't even seen her since last week: : (
But hey at least we got Torrent he has more charisma than Melina
@@smoker5989 Wrong.
But that's what she was wasn't she?
Yeah. If she was more like a Johnny Silverhand type character who appeared near the Tarnished every once in a while to deliver commentary or just comedic foil over numerous random encounters, just so that we could bond with her more.
It would've made her sacrifice more impactful when she wasn't around anymore & Lands Between felt more lonely in her absence. The firekeepers from Dark Souls 2&3 were at least people the player had a reason to come back to.
So stuff like that, tying mechanics and narrative together would've made her sacrifice have more meaning.
@@samuelevander9823 What Melina, or Paimon should have been. We have two polar opposites. Boring and annoying.
If she spoke half as much I. This comic as in game i might've actually acknowledged her existence
I think this is why she barely show herself. she purposely wanted you to not get attached
If Melina was, like, every companion in The Legend of Zelda put together, I would squee in delight.
H E Y! L I S T E N!
They're all annoying lmao.
@@Ken-ru6or atleast theyre more memorable than melina
Imagine if she was like regular RPG tag along characters. She walks everywhere with you, and fights with/ levels up with you all game.
no
That's maybe too much, but what about Spirit Ashes?
@@Karak-_- she’d be a worse black knife due to no destined death. Black knife Melina with a tree.
If she would just appear next to you whenever you reach a point of peace and just talks for a bit that would be way better
Most of melina's words throughout the game, "Spoken echoes of queen Marika linger here aswell, shall I share them with you?"
Now I want a version where he hits her on the back of her head with the pommel of his blade, and when she wakes up the tree has already been burnt.
Confused, and alone, she wanders the plane looking for the Knight.
When she excitedly runs up to him, he simply looks over his shoulder and that gaze alone causes her pause.
She can feel it. The heat from his gaze, the fire in his eyes... the _frenzy in his soul._
And her only words she can say before giving him an expression he thought would be impossible on her.
"I will never forgive you for this."
and his response back will be simple.
"and I never would have forgiven myself if you died. I guess I simply do not deserve forgiveness."
As he drags himself back into the arena of red rot, clutching a golden needle, as a sea of his own corpse litters the room with a single woman standing there... one who has never known defeat.
He feels the frenzy slowly consume him as he repeatedly fights Melina...clinging to the last vestiges of his soul just for a chance to rid himself of the Frenzied curse.
He finally beats Melina, reaches the Dragon Lord at Farum Azula and manages to pierce his heart with Miquella's needle and reverse the Effects of Frenzy.
Only to collapse in pain and wake up in her arms.
This whole plot is goofy
@@sakuradabp6400Its literally one of the endings.
@@adarkwind4712 The description this guy gives feels bad then
@@sakuradabp6400 my dude is mad
Ever since I realized nearly every female character (who isn’t a hwitch) in English Fromsoft has the same voice I began asking myself what it takes to give a girl personality for once. Like for Melina to walk up and say “ay ya specky skin wearin lard ass pullin a whirligig over me fokkin church” or something.
Then I met Sellen on my second playthrough.
Sellen wins.
Well sellen is a woman of many faces that is for sure
You forgot Eileen from bloodborne. "A hoonter must hoont."
lol, nice save with the (isn't a witch). Because you damn well know that ranni has quite the personality.
"Do you enjoy conversing with dolls? Is it some strange habit of thine? Fine. FINE. I didn't think anyone would recognise me in this form."
It would've made the game a lot more fun to me since I would go explore stupid places not only for the chance of loot but also to find out how she will react.
And yes sharing all that time with her along your journey would have definitely made her sacrifice a heartbreaking experience.
i wish this was actually in the game now. this would actually make people question if they should become the lord or frenzy to save her.
I wish she was like this. Straight to the frenzy flame into complicated murder meliania cure ending.
Maybe what would have been nice is that she rides on the back of Torrent with you and explains the lore of whatever area you're entering, like explaining the fight between Radahn and Malenia when you enter Caelid, or explaining Grafting on the path to Stormveil. Could even give her opinion on them, like maybe she thinks grafting is fucked up, or she thinks Radahn is in the right, or she's sad he's practically braindead. And for God's sake, have her show up whenever you level. You needed the Emerald Herald, Firekeeper, and the Doll to level up in the other games, so why don't we need Melina? Sure, you can level anytime after you meet her, but there's literally an animation for leveling up while Melina is at the Grace with you. She had potential.
yeah, and if you take too long to solve a puzzle, she gives you the solution, along with snarky quips!
God no, not the GoW:R solution! The quips were fine, in fact what I love about GoW is the conversations between characters, but the solution to puzzles? Fuck off, make it something you can toggle on and off at least, fucking Metroid prime did that 20 years earlier on the GameCube.
I was talking about this the other day with my friend. If she like commented on every boss you killed or interesting thing you did if you choose to talk to her when resting, or even if she did half that, the sacrifice would've been much more impact full, and would've given players motive to choose the frenzied flame ending.
I like to imagine this is what Vyke experienced during his attempt at becoming Elden Lord, he forged a bond too strong with his energetic and always cheery maiden that in the end had to be sacrificed, but instead decided to sacrifice himself, becoming possessed by the Frenzied Flame.
I'm not crying, you're crying... 😭
This would've been more impactful and heartbreaking if they let you bond with her like that.
Oh yeah, Melina exists.
wholesome as hell. Then when the cauldron showed up I was like.... NO NO NO!
I took the flame of frenzy too spare her, then cured myself with the golden needle. So she might hate me for it, but at least she lives. So I can ignore that last bit XD
Even if she wasn’t so talkative, she still is best girl for me. This was just so adorable and sad🥲
Melina: Paimon addition.
Only a matter of time until she gets mentioned.
Literally the only thing I could think about was how similarly annoying this version of Melina was to Paimon...
I think a nice change would've been for Melina to show up every time you level up. A lot of people just forget that Melina even exists, and when she pops up in Leyndell like "farewell, I shall leave the power to turn runes into strength with you" so many people are like "haven't I been doing that already?"
Its like we adopted a spunky chatty child along the road.
I still have faith that eventually FromSoft will implement a companion that shows up more like Emerald Herald
There should have been a secret ending when you accept the frenzied flame, she leaves you, you burn the tree and then cure yourself of the madness, finishing the game (with Melina still there) that shows you ascending to Elden Lord and Melina coming back saying some lines along "thou hast cheated the frenzied flame of its prize" and that we have to prepare
(Spoiler alert)
I think it be awesome if there was diolog if you use the madness flame to burn down the tree but then after you don't do that ending and find Melina after you "cured" yourself. Explaining to her how we used that false fire instead to save her.
Would’ve been a lot more better
Imagining finding her and she starts by saying something like "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with that Grape Lady being the Frenzied Lord or something?" while trying to keep her back towards the Tarnished so they can't see her pouting.
@@Waffles-Mcnachos I love this! This, this here is beautiful.
@@Waffles-Mcnachos well she’s pissed cause you didn’t commend to her wishes to sacrifice herself for you but a part of her undertands why you did, and you did vanquish it after using the needle
She spurned you because you robbed her of her destiny. It's like if your wife was working toward something her entire life and that's all she truly wanted to accomplish and in the final stretch you come in and take it away from her with the excuse it's for her own good.
Vyke is right straight to flame of frenzy
What I liked about the Fire Keeper in DS3 was that she was always there for you to interact with
Either by talking or even emoting, watching her chuckle or spin around was always nice to see and in that game you two work together to end the age of fire without starting the age of dark so that an age where Man can live without gods
And Melina, im not gonna lie, was kinda boring
Shes more mysterious than Godwyn and it’s kinda hard to tell what ending she wants, apart from the one she doesn’t which is the Frenzied Flame ending.
Funny enough, we get to know her more when we are travelling towards the Frenzied Flame ending, with her views on how precious life is and we even hear her voice shaking as she asks us, no, BEGS us not to go to the three fingers
I wish theres a DLC, not only cus I want more content but also because I wish to know more about Melina
I'd rather have this Melina than the one who's actually in the game. At the end, my only companion was Torrent
It reminds me of the companions from Dragons Dogma but with more personality
you mean pawn
@@corvuscorax9028 exactly. It's been a while since I played DD, so I forgot the name
" Never back down , never what ? " 3:04
This is actually the most creative comments ever.
I think this is actually how they wanted to implement Melina at first, but likely ran into technical issues that they didn't see worth it to fix.
If Elden Ring was an anime
There's an official elden ring comedy manga and melina is very funny despite still being in character and serious like the game , so there is no need to change her personality all together to make her lovable
My opinion is probably a little unpopular, but I didn't mind Melina being the quiet type. I was grateful for her because she gave us the opportunity to become Elden Lord even without a maiden. At every church I let her tell me a little bit about the history and Marika, and it was pretty nice. She even told me about the little guy who changes the clothes, that he wanted to talk. I felt good helping her reach the tree because she helped me too. And I was also very sad when I realised I had to sacrifice her. She could've had more screen time for sure, but for me I still got quite attached to her in the game...maybe I am weird for that x)
While I don't think having a Talkative Melina(tm) would've necessarily been the best within the context of the game, I do think it would've been great to be able to talk to her more often at the Sites of Grace, and having a bit more of an active role in the story - she did seek you out, after all. That would've made her sacrifice a lot more impactful.
“Perhaps I treated you to harsh..”
Oh yeah, Melina, the character that has 10 voice lines in the game not related to Queen Marika...
Those lines about Marika explain Melina's own backstory.
@@TonkarzOfSolSystem arent like 2 of them only about godfrey being exiled?
If Melina was like that, they will stop calling him the Exiled Tarnished.
And they will start calling him *Traveler*
A more expressive Melina would have been cool but I'd be lying if i said i didn't prefer how she was in the base game.
Her calm, royal way of speaking, her popping up to tell us stories and to check on us occasionally. I can see why people would want more but i like Melina as she is. Now if she was able to fight with us, i would have loved that. Like, how you can choose wether or not an npc joins you in battle at certain locations.
I don’t think anyone has a problem with her character or really wants to change it, what people want is more of her. Because she’s barely in the game. Out of 100 hours she’s in it for barely 20 minutes, she’s so underutilized and underdeveloped, she leaves no impact whatsoever
You can summon her for Morgott's boss fight.
@@fusoryx6380 yeah and she has like the coolest moveset ever, a Black knife with additional moves.
Makes me wonder why they made such a cool npc only summonable for one fight.
The relationship between the tarnished and Melina is the same relationship I had with my last uber driver. The game wants you to feel bad about her sacrifice, but you don't even know her. You don't even know basic things that friends know about each other like her last name, favorite color, games she likes to play, her favorite weapon, etc. She only talks about the random speeches of Marika when you go into a church. You make a deeper connection with the guy who sells you boiled prawn than her.
100s of hours later: Vyke wins everybody VYKE WINS HEHEHE
I feel like Melina being more expressive or more consistently present throughout the game would've either made burning her a moral impossibility, or, people would've just gotten tired of constantly being interrupted on their journey. I feel there'd have been no middle ground, and she'd either have been absolutely beloved, or wholeheartedly despised.
Honestly im a sucker for characters that is energetic and expressive, man sure i would love if mel was like this in the game.
honetly, the death of the horse in ghost of tsushima was more emotional than melina dying...
Moment she called Radahn dumb I felt a little angry but I would still like it if she was more interactive with us
Yeaaaah. There was no bond, hence no tears were shed. If it were more like this, I most definitely would get hit in the feels once she lights herself up.
I hated the Handler back then. But now I miss her and would do anything to have her again.
What?
You wanted a handler of your own in the Soulsborne verse?
@@xxx_jim_the_reaper_xxx honestly the mh handler was much better than melina solely due to having ANY amount of dialogue.
@@milgos5269
I see.
I find Melina lacking in dialogue too.
It feels like she's more of a doormat than a companion.
The fact she doesn't show up every time you rest at a site of grace, or at LEAST every time you go to level up, is a catastrophically missed opportunity.
The companionship of her being there every time you level up like the Fire keepers in DS2 and DS3 would have made her death hit WAY harder
Welp, time for modders to mod different Melina features.
Appears while you're on horse back
Chance for her to spawn at a grace you sit at
Give her dialogue that has her act as a guide without appearing around you (which could eventually synergize with the appear on horseback mod)
AND an ending where you have the necessary item to treat madness while heading for the madness ending, only for it to end with the burning of the world tree so there are no more lords, riding off into the sunset with Melina
Damn if she was actually like this I’d speedrun the game just to get to the point where you sacrifice her.
Now I wonder if the dead maiden at the start of the game would have been this kind of maiden for us
Me realizing that if she was like this i would genuinely cry if she sacrificed herself
I found her death sad in the game, but this made me even sadder
0:15 Is that so?
Calm down General Radahn. She just girl speaking random stuff.
Now, imagine she had brain rot and used gen alpha slang
Her head grows giant and she turns into the skibidi giants forge
The sad part is that this is pretty much what happened to Vike.
His maiden was in danger and because he actually CARED for her, he devoted himself fully to saving her, eventually falling to the frenzied flame. The maidens try to keep themselves distant from the tarnished on purpose, as not doing so would potentially cause issues with them doing their duty.
This is elden ring if it was anime lol
Melina as a head empty child who's literally just living her best life and you just have to deal with it is something I do love
Can’t lie I wouldn’t mind it if she was this active 😂
I mean she was pretty quite in game she was mainly used to tell us about lore 😅
A cool idea for the age of absolyte could have been taking frenzied flame from the three fingers, burn the erdtree, use miquella's unalloyed gold needle, find a way to meet melina and save the lands between
I'd pay for an energetic Melina mod. Also Flute was perfect for this.
On my first playthrough, I didn't even know she died by sacrificing herself because she interacts so little with you.
It's a shame that one of the most interesting "I level you up" characters of the whole soulsborne has almost no interaction with the player except in some churches of Marika and in some keypoints in the quest, is really sad
I think a good way to do something like this would be to have her ride on the back of the house when not in combat and have talk about stuff and also maybe give her more of a personality than she has. Hell just the jar scene would make her sacrifice hurt like hell.
I want more games where you can optionally recruit npcs to go on your journey with you. Preferably through absurdly ardous quests where most people wouldn't bother.
It's funny how she gets almost the same amount of dialogue in this 3 minute video as she does in the actual game. I wish she was constantly commenting and talking to you during questlines and adventures through legacy dunegons. It would make people want to ACTUALLY save her first playtrhough instead of just wanting the Frenzy Flame ending later on.
Chosen Tarnished and would-be Lord, dare to tread the path of true rigor. Spare the poor girl, and singe your own flesh in her stead. If you are prepared to show resolve and attain Lordship through righteous hardship, then heed the words of I, Shabriri
cannonicly, she was with us the whole time. but since fromsolf decided that she only appear in certain location, it lessen the connection between the players and her. in the past game, we meet up with the fire keeper every time we level up, but in elden ring, we just look like we level up by ourselve. I think fromsolf didnt want to have her appear everytime we leveling up because some people would get annoyed with how slow her animation would be.
Can't wait for the part where he inherits the Frenzied Flame to prevent her death
I remember forgetting all about her until the sacrifice cutscene then totally forgot about her again afterwards.
1:40 Alexander's death was really sad, I wish there was a way to save him while also giving him the battle he wants
I was thinking: “Man, this sounds pretty fun!” Then the sacrifice slapped me in the face.
The Handler. Is that you?
there are "people" who unironically wish melina was this discount Elizabeth Comstock
Honestly Melina should of appeared more in the game, after you beat a major boss she should of appeared and given so dialogue about them. If she was just more involved she could of been a great character.
I actually like her as she is, you're just another looking to get the prize and her deal is to get you there.
she does talk here and there but she doesn't have to be everywhere reminding you because there is nothing to really talk about, no one in this game is joyful and ready to go
I'd actually find it interesting if a soul-like forced you to have your maiden or a partner follow you around and you have to take care of em with the challenge of making sure they don't die. And if they do die it changes your playthrough and stops you from getting the good ending. Like no more level ups, or mabey some debuff of some kind. Maybe a bigger debuff if your partner dies later in the game.
Interesting concept although it seems like more hell then what it worth. Like for the player death usually resets the area maybe give some a debuffing penalty but if your partner dies what does the game goes on? if so and given how cheeky souls like are this will be common occurance (bosses exculded due to sheer diffuculty)
@@bombsawaykaboom980 I agree on the boss part. And also the AI just being annoying and straight stupid. I think it's a great concept, but needs to be fined tuned to not cause pain. Maybe have it perma death or go by saves. You die, save reloads. Idk it was just I thought I had seeing this video.
So basically the worst escort mission to ever grace gaming.
Eh, maybe as a difficulty modifier at the beginning of the game or new game+
@@dontpreorder2783 yes
Or maybe, when you find a resting spot far away from your last one, you have to carry your Maiden or Partner on horseback to the new place, and if they die along the way, they respawn at the last resting place. Maybe give a in lore reason why they respawn, like they are also a tarnished who can do what a maiden can? Idk, it seems interesting in my opinion, as well as gives more chances for interaction during the travel.
Imagine if Melina had something engaging to say at literally every grace in the Lands Between and she was designed less monotone and emotionless and more energetic, comical, and endearing so when, if, she does die it's actually tear inducing. They even hit you with the super sad music. Like she has Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion levels of waifu energy, super popular among fans. She'll even comment on things you did, even joke about people or creatures. All aboard the Frenzied Flame & Miquella's needle train, choo choo.
Wow, the game experience would have been even better with Melina acting like in this comic
By the way, good fandub, I loved it
she was only distant because she didn't want to hurt us.
I would get too attached.
U delighted and destroyed my day at the same time in just 3 minutes straight.
Would've been cool to see her anywhere there weren't any hostiles, like a travel companion. Unfortunately we only see her at a handful of graces
Melina gave off some strong Aqua vibes