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DARK SOULS (I AND II)!
Posts
Feldschlacht IV
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CloseNone of you ninnies have a topic for the Dark Souls series yet, you should be ashamed of yourselves!
So this topic is for Dark Souls I and II, whichever or both!
WHAT IS THE DARK SOULS SERIES?
Dark Souls is basically in a nutshell an adventure RPG about you being a semi-undead dude going through dank ass ruins and dungeons and fucking shit up. More specifically, the Dark Souls series is about challening gameplay through exploration, dungeon delving, character builds, wisdom in collecting and creating equipment, learning how to use the many weapon types, and above all, learning to die. When you die, your Souls (basically your EXP/money) is left at where you died and you have to fight back to get it. Dying happens a lot and its meant to teach you to man the fuck up and learn how to play like a boss.
This game is very punishing, but very rewarding, because it's all about learning, mastering how to use your weapon type, a playstyle, enemy fighting patterns, and exploring different paths in an open world. Don't forget about its online component too, where different players can 'invade' your world as a phantom ghost motherfucker to kill you for your shit, or you can do the same, OR if you or a player can assist one another in defeating a boss.
Both of these games are really good and I want to make a topic about it so we can all talk about it.
So this topic is for Dark Souls I and II, whichever or both!
WHAT IS THE DARK SOULS SERIES?
Dark Souls is basically in a nutshell an adventure RPG about you being a semi-undead dude going through dank ass ruins and dungeons and fucking shit up. More specifically, the Dark Souls series is about challening gameplay through exploration, dungeon delving, character builds, wisdom in collecting and creating equipment, learning how to use the many weapon types, and above all, learning to die. When you die, your Souls (basically your EXP/money) is left at where you died and you have to fight back to get it. Dying happens a lot and its meant to teach you to man the fuck up and learn how to play like a boss.
This game is very punishing, but very rewarding, because it's all about learning, mastering how to use your weapon type, a playstyle, enemy fighting patterns, and exploring different paths in an open world. Don't forget about its online component too, where different players can 'invade' your world as a phantom ghost motherfucker to kill you for your shit, or you can do the same, OR if you or a player can assist one another in defeating a boss.
Both of these games are really good and I want to make a topic about it so we can all talk about it.
Still haven't played any Dark Souls but I have beaten Demon Souls and DS1 is in the never ending steam backlog. Demon Souls was fun but frustrating at times to play (and I don't mean "game quit being a jerk" kind of way either, unrelatedly fuck the swamps). I'll try DS1 soon, my break from the series after beating Demon Souls should be about over 
e: Starting with a catalyst and soul ray/arrow was a fucking godsend. Magic rocks early enemies, especially the shield slimes. I used a shield and spear for melee for a while, then a shield and blessed mace which worked great for when I needed a shield (rolling skeletons in world 4). Eventually I reached the end of world 2 (the first world I finished) and I got my hands on that monster style 2h sword which I used to rock everything. That and the adjudicator's shield was probably the biggest boon I had in my playthrough. The difficulty curve in that game is bad.
e: Starting with a catalyst and soul ray/arrow was a fucking godsend. Magic rocks early enemies, especially the shield slimes. I used a shield and spear for melee for a while, then a shield and blessed mace which worked great for when I needed a shield (rolling skeletons in world 4). Eventually I reached the end of world 2 (the first world I finished) and I got my hands on that monster style 2h sword which I used to rock everything. That and the adjudicator's shield was probably the biggest boon I had in my playthrough. The difficulty curve in that game is bad.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I started playing Dark Souls about a week ago.
The first thing I did after exiting the tutorial area was attack the friendly NPC by the spawn point to see if I could. Now, I totally expected him to kick my ass. What I absolutely did not expect was for him to remain aggressive after I died! Killing me over and over, because he is right by the spawn point and can kill me in three hits but takes 30+ hits to kill, and I don't really know how to fight very well yet.
I tried just ignoring him and continuing on to explore the area, but that was my only spawn point so far, and I started back at him every time I died. Approximately 40 deaths later, I finally managed to kick the fucker off a cliff to his death.
These are not complaints. This game is so newbie unfriendly and I LOVE IT.
The first thing I did after exiting the tutorial area was attack the friendly NPC by the spawn point to see if I could. Now, I totally expected him to kick my ass. What I absolutely did not expect was for him to remain aggressive after I died! Killing me over and over, because he is right by the spawn point and can kill me in three hits but takes 30+ hits to kill, and I don't really know how to fight very well yet.
I tried just ignoring him and continuing on to explore the area, but that was my only spawn point so far, and I started back at him every time I died. Approximately 40 deaths later, I finally managed to kick the fucker off a cliff to his death.
These are not complaints. This game is so newbie unfriendly and I LOVE IT.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Assuming it's a miracle or sorcery, I don't think I have access to it yet. I'm trying to play without guides or wikis or anything, just exploring and figuring stuff out. Right now I've just unlocked the door from The Depths to Darktown, which became way easier after I found a farmable enemy that dropped large titanite shards, and also after I realized what being in human form does. (For something so important, you'd think the game would provde a much clearer indication of what it does!)
There's a dude who sells you NPC forgiveness, is the best way to put it.
I love how the game pretty much encourages you to be a cheap scumbag and defeat enemies and progress through the game by any means necessary. I defeated the Capra Demon by standing on a ledge where he couldn't get to me and lobbing Soul Arrows at him like a boss.
Right now I'm about to tackle the Gaping Dragon and I think I'm going to try fighting him melee straight up.
I love how the game pretty much encourages you to be a cheap scumbag and defeat enemies and progress through the game by any means necessary. I defeated the Capra Demon by standing on a ledge where he couldn't get to me and lobbing Soul Arrows at him like a boss.
Right now I'm about to tackle the Gaping Dragon and I think I'm going to try fighting him melee straight up.
author=LockeZ
I started playing Dark Souls about a week ago.
The first thing I did after exiting the tutorial area was attack the friendly NPC by the spawn point to see if I could. Now, I totally expected him to kick my ass. What I absolutely did not expect was for him to remain aggressive after I died! Killing me over and over, because he is right by the spawn point and can kill me in three hits but takes 30+ hits to kill, and I don't really know how to fight very well yet.
I tried just ignoring him and continuing on to explore the area, but that was my only spawn point so far, and I started back at him every time I died.
Wow, this game is even more terribly-designed than I thought.
Darken
3952
beat all of the souls games they are good. i like das1 the most mainly due to the layout being diverse. the game becomes entirely different once you beat it and decide to go with the master key. ive done pseudo speedruns and lvl1 runs and really cant get enough of the layout. you can skip taurus and to blighttown, take out sif, go straight to four kings, go through catacombs, do gargs early, etc. all from the start of the game.
das2 was sort of a letdown in regards to vertical space as the layout has you locked on an outward path unless you like warpbacktracking and the space didn't make a lot of sense. you can do a lot of 'paths' any order you like, but it's not the same as das1's vertical overlapping where paths converge and break.
das2 was sort of a letdown in regards to vertical space as the layout has you locked on an outward path unless you like warpbacktracking and the space didn't make a lot of sense. you can do a lot of 'paths' any order you like, but it's not the same as das1's vertical overlapping where paths converge and break.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=Saileriusmore like AMAZINGLY designedauthor=LockeZWow, this game is even more terribly-designed than I thought.
I started playing Dark Souls about a week ago.
The first thing I did after exiting the tutorial area was attack the friendly NPC by the spawn point to see if I could. Now, I totally expected him to kick my ass. What I absolutely did not expect was for him to remain aggressive after I died! Killing me over and over, because he is right by the spawn point and can kill me in three hits but takes 30+ hits to kill, and I don't really know how to fight very well yet.
I tried just ignoring him and continuing on to explore the area, but that was my only spawn point so far, and I started back at him every time I died.
...ok no it was sort of bullshit, but that level of difficulty was also exactly what I bought the game for.
And anyway, I actually figured out how to kill him after like five or six deaths - I realized that both of us were bouncing backward any time either of us blocked an attack, thanks to him using that fact to knock *me* off a cliff. I just didn't want to kick him off the cliff because it felt cheap, and I wanted to beat my first real challenge for reals, via stabbing it until it ran out of HP. Eventually I realized that not using strategies because they feel cheap is probably the wrong mentality to have while playing one of the hardest non-indie RPGs of the last ten years, so I gave in to the temptation and went Sparta on his ass.
turkeyDawg
195
I've been curious about these games, considering how much I like STGs and Beat 'em Ups like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden and other notoriously difficult games. I like it when a game asks me to play the game in order to play the game.
Just a question, though: What is Demon Souls in relation to the rest of the series?
Just a question, though: What is Demon Souls in relation to the rest of the series?
Darken
3952
author=turkeyDawg
I've been curious about these games, considering how much I like STGs and Beat 'em Ups like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden and other notoriously difficult games. I like it when a game asks me to play the game in order to play the game.
Just a question, though: What is Demon Souls in relation to the rest of the series?
a very strange copyright/publisher situation. basically demon souls was partially developed at sony and was published by atlus in the NA (though atlus doesnt actually own the rights, sony does). But then From Software got picked up by Bandai to do another Souls game, but they couldn't really call it Demon's Souls 2 so they just called it something souls.
It's essentially part of the series, and even some NPCs carry over to DaS1. The setting/country is completely different and the lore mostly separate though. It's hard to say actually since das2 brings in new theories about the lore that might include DeS in the mix. Officially a spiritual prequel to DaS but really just the first in the series.
Now from software is picked up by yet another company but it's too early to say if sony is part of it. but there are quotes from a sony producer that said he regretted not continuing from demon's.
Me, that NPC Knight dude, and some online guy just triple teamed the Gaping Dragon likeaboss.com. I made sure to chop off his tail to grab that Greataxe as well. It was a pretty easy battle thanks to the other guy being pretty powerful in his own right, and mostly distracting the Dragon. The NPC was alright but dropped pretty quick.
What weapon upgrade paths do you guys recommend?
What weapon upgrade paths do you guys recommend?
I played the first for a while. It's not really my thing, unfortunately. The difficulty isn't necessarily an issue, but after a few hours play, I just kinda stopped playing. Dunno why.
S'fun, though. Might go back to it eventually.
S'fun, though. Might go back to it eventually.
It's definitely a slow burn type of game. It's hard to get into at first because you don't know really what to do and how far the rabbit hole goes down, but once you explore and start breaking a couple of plateaus it gets really addictive.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
You might just not like directionless dungeon crawlers. I forgive you.
If you're starting Dark Souls 1, stay out of the ghost area. Go up the stairs on the cliff wall instead. You could probably figure this out on your own from the fact that the ghosts are immune to damage but, you know, just saving you some time here.
You know, I understand why the game doesn't have a minimap, but I wish I at least had a compass.
If you're starting Dark Souls 1, stay out of the ghost area. Go up the stairs on the cliff wall instead. You could probably figure this out on your own from the fact that the ghosts are immune to damage but, you know, just saving you some time here.
You know, I understand why the game doesn't have a minimap, but I wish I at least had a compass.
Alarice
0
Disclaimer: I've played the Souls games for a while now. I'm not going to throw out major spoilers, but you should avoid the text below if you want to play through the entirety of Dark Souls 1 blind.
I've played both Dark Souls games to completion (multiple times). One thing I can say about the first Dark Souls is that while the plot isn't spoon fed to the player, it definitely exists. As a sort of "veteran", I wouldn't ever describe Dark Souls 1 as a directionless dungeon crawler. For a person who hasn't played the majority of the game, though, it makes perfect sense for the game to feel like it. For those of you just starting Dark Souls 1:
1.) Talk to every NPC until their dialogue starts to repeat (their dialogue is "exhausted").
2.) Every time you find a new spell, weapon, armor, item, etc. read it's description in the menu.
3.) Whenever you roll, you have a limited amount of frames known as "invincibility frames". During those frames, you cannot take any damage.
4.) Different weapons have something known as "stat scaling" -- either for STR, DEX, INT, or faith. S > A > B > C > D > E -- the higher a stat is, the more damage your weapon will do (depending on the letter and stat that scales).
5.) You don't want to invest in a weapon that has good scaling but an awkward/hard to use move set. An extra 10 or 20 points of damage may not matter as much as you think.
5.) NPCs have their own goals. NPCs that rest at Firelink and/or sell things to you may move on to their own fate as you progress through the game.
Hidetaka Miyazaki was the director for Dark Souls 1, which is currently my favorite souls game. Hidetaka didn't come back as the director for Dark Souls 2 though, and it's probably the main reason why I (and others) find the game to be a big disappointment when compared to it's prequel (but it's still better than a lot of games coming out). After the fate of Dark Souls 2 was known, Hidetaka Miyazaki took his rightful place as the president of FromSoftware.He is now the overlord of video games, and he will bring us all to gaming heaven with PROJECT BEAST.
It's been said to death already, but Hidetaka used to read western fantasy when he was young. He had some trouble understanding English at points, which resulted in some parts of the book unknown to him, so he filled in the blanks himself. He emulates that kind of experience through his lore, but he doesn't do the same with his plot. After some digging, Dark Souls 1's plot is easy to understand. I recommend playing all of the souls games if you can, and hopefully you'll be able to experience most of the lore and gameplay given to you without becoming a noodle-arms who has to play through the game with two phantoms at all times, or simply going hollow.
I've played both Dark Souls games to completion (multiple times). One thing I can say about the first Dark Souls is that while the plot isn't spoon fed to the player, it definitely exists. As a sort of "veteran", I wouldn't ever describe Dark Souls 1 as a directionless dungeon crawler. For a person who hasn't played the majority of the game, though, it makes perfect sense for the game to feel like it. For those of you just starting Dark Souls 1:
1.) Talk to every NPC until their dialogue starts to repeat (their dialogue is "exhausted").
2.) Every time you find a new spell, weapon, armor, item, etc. read it's description in the menu.
3.) Whenever you roll, you have a limited amount of frames known as "invincibility frames". During those frames, you cannot take any damage.
4.) Different weapons have something known as "stat scaling" -- either for STR, DEX, INT, or faith. S > A > B > C > D > E -- the higher a stat is, the more damage your weapon will do (depending on the letter and stat that scales).
5.) You don't want to invest in a weapon that has good scaling but an awkward/hard to use move set. An extra 10 or 20 points of damage may not matter as much as you think.
5.) NPCs have their own goals. NPCs that rest at Firelink and/or sell things to you may move on to their own fate as you progress through the game.
Hidetaka Miyazaki was the director for Dark Souls 1, which is currently my favorite souls game. Hidetaka didn't come back as the director for Dark Souls 2 though, and it's probably the main reason why I (and others) find the game to be a big disappointment when compared to it's prequel (but it's still better than a lot of games coming out). After the fate of Dark Souls 2 was known, Hidetaka Miyazaki took his rightful place as the president of FromSoftware.
It's been said to death already, but Hidetaka used to read western fantasy when he was young. He had some trouble understanding English at points, which resulted in some parts of the book unknown to him, so he filled in the blanks himself. He emulates that kind of experience through his lore, but he doesn't do the same with his plot. After some digging, Dark Souls 1's plot is easy to understand. I recommend playing all of the souls games if you can, and hopefully you'll be able to experience most of the lore and gameplay given to you without becoming a noodle-arms who has to play through the game with two phantoms at all times, or simply going hollow.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
Loved Dark Souls 1. Playing Dark Souls 2 right now. One of my friends no lifed the game and beat it three days after it came out. I hate rushing through a game like that, so I'm taking my time, letting myself get immersed, and not summon any non-NPCs until I've beaten the game once.
It's a wonderful type of game, where the backstory is up to your own personal interpretation. I loved that type of storytelling so much that it's an inspiration for my own game.
I always tell people that the best kind of video game story is one that the gameplay compliments, not have the gameplay there to keep the player from getting bored. The Souls games nail that perfectly, since you're an undead, and undead can die a lot and... well, it's a long explanation. Just know that it works.
I have a problem with Dark Souls 2, though. One on hand, it's an amazing game. It fixes every problem I had with Dark Souls 1. However, that's exactly what it feels like to me: a game. Dark Souls 1 felt like an experience. Dark Souls 2 felt like a game. A wonderful, challenging, and rewarding game, but a game nonetheless.
Did that make sense? I hope it did.
Anways, for those that want to figure out some of the more vague aspects of the story for the Souls series, check out this guy's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0DNp0mKMqrYVaTundyr9w
He is fantastic, and he puts his heart and soul into each one of his vids, which I totally respect.
It's a wonderful type of game, where the backstory is up to your own personal interpretation. I loved that type of storytelling so much that it's an inspiration for my own game.
I always tell people that the best kind of video game story is one that the gameplay compliments, not have the gameplay there to keep the player from getting bored. The Souls games nail that perfectly, since you're an undead, and undead can die a lot and... well, it's a long explanation. Just know that it works.
I have a problem with Dark Souls 2, though. One on hand, it's an amazing game. It fixes every problem I had with Dark Souls 1. However, that's exactly what it feels like to me: a game. Dark Souls 1 felt like an experience. Dark Souls 2 felt like a game. A wonderful, challenging, and rewarding game, but a game nonetheless.
Did that make sense? I hope it did.
Anways, for those that want to figure out some of the more vague aspects of the story for the Souls series, check out this guy's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0DNp0mKMqrYVaTundyr9w
He is fantastic, and he puts his heart and soul into each one of his vids, which I totally respect.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Man, the problem with a game like Dark Souls being nonlinear is that every single path feels like I went the wrong way and ran into things way above my level.
When I run into an enemy that can kill me in two hits, and takes thirty hits to kill, I'm used to that being an indication that I wandered into a high level zone and should turn back. This game is just like, nope, you better learn to dodge that shit, because that's every zone motherfucker.
On the plus side, I did hit a couple minibosses that could deal 90% or more of my health in one hit and would probably take over a hundred hits to kill, so now I know what it looks like when I really do go the wrong way.
When I run into an enemy that can kill me in two hits, and takes thirty hits to kill, I'm used to that being an indication that I wandered into a high level zone and should turn back. This game is just like, nope, you better learn to dodge that shit, because that's every zone motherfucker.
On the plus side, I did hit a couple minibosses that could deal 90% or more of my health in one hit and would probably take over a hundred hits to kill, so now I know what it looks like when I really do go the wrong way.
_______
0
author=Saileriusauthor=LockeZWow, this game is even more terribly-designed than I thought.
I started playing Dark Souls about a week ago.
The first thing I did after exiting the tutorial area was attack the friendly NPC by the spawn point to see if I could. Now, I totally expected him to kick my ass. What I absolutely did not expect was for him to remain aggressive after I died! Killing me over and over, because he is right by the spawn point and can kill me in three hits but takes 30+ hits to kill, and I don't really know how to fight very well yet.
I tried just ignoring him and continuing on to explore the area, but that was my only spawn point so far, and I started back at him every time I died.
even if this were an example of poor design there is no way for you to know this based on the information 'dr athiest md' gives in his post
let me edit your post for you
author=Sailerius
a severe failure state was achieved in this video game! what!!! this is bad design!!!!!
yeah ok
