I was a wanderer, and I used his starting falchion until 1-3, when I bought a knight's sword. It became my large sword of searching.
I don't intend to play NG+. I beat the Phalanx pretty easily, to unlock the upgrade possibility (I was running around with 300k souls), but that's it. The learning aspect was great, the constant trial and error, especially against the bosses, and the exploration aspect.
Now, these parts are gone, and the appeal of the game is greatly reduced for me.







