*SPOILERS FOR PART RIGHT AFTER LEAVING HARTH*

It sucked, but that's the only time you do it in the game, so I don't really care.

It was bad. I really hated it. It was a terrible introduction to a cool enemy. And to make it extra perplexing, the monster you hunt after that event is a cakewalk compared to Nerscylla and the ship part. Seems like they originally wanted it later. Although it's good at making you feel claustrophobic and powerless, it was seriously overtuned. I used all my mega potions and still carted twice. Managed to win with about 15% of my health left.

I didn't really have a problem with that part. I think I lost but that's what was supposed to happen? In any case, you can see that I really didn't remember it that much or gave it that much thought, I got through it in one try (again, not sure if you can lose and had to repeat that but it sounds like it?) and moved on.

I mean, it's kind of just a set piece moment. You're using the cannons on the side of the ship and then the giant drill on the front depending on where the monster is at any given time. The rest of the time you're mostly evading. It's not exactly a real fight. I personally didn't have much issue with it, but I do agree that it wasn't the most fun sequence in the world. I also agree that it wasn't the best time to explain the blight mechanic, because in fact I still don't understand it. Going to go and look it up now to fix that.

The game made it somewhat apparent that something bad was going to happen once you leave Harth (basically "hey man, don't go unless you're REALLY ready to go") so I stocked up on potions and mega potions before the encounter. The hardest part was dealing with the blight mechanic introduction in that small space while attempting to defend yourself. Given the small space, it is insanely difficult to fight off the blight without having to take serious damage from the monster in exchange. I ended up blowing through all my potions and most of mega potions because I couldn't deal enough damage in time to stave off the blight most of the time before it reached full infection, turning its blight AoEs into DoT fields as well. Didn't cart once, though.

I treated the encounter as a scene to set the monster up as an antagonist, a challenge to inspire the player to improve and eventually overcome.