Dark Souls I, II and III

[Scrustle]

Yes! I beat the Gaping Dragon! As I suspected, it was fairly straightforward. I started getting success when I started to not bother with using my shield and instead went two-handed for extra damage, and just learnt the dodge timing. You can summon Solaire if you're human, but he isn't really much help. He stands right in front of it and dies pretty quickly.

I didn't get the weapon from its tail though, but I'm not too bothered about that. I've always preferred swords over blunt weapons anyway.

So now on to Blighttown. I've heard such great things. It'll be a breeze.

[arry_g]

Yes! I beat the Gaping Dragon! As I suspected, it was fairly straightforward. I started getting success when I started to not bother with using my shield and instead went two-handed for extra damage, and just learnt the dodge timing. You can summon Solaire if you're human, but he isn't really much help. He stands right in front of it and dies pretty quickly.

I didn't get the weapon from its tail though, but I'm not too bothered about that. I've always preferred swords over blunt weapons anyway.

So now on to Blighttown. I've heard such great things. It'll be a breeze.

How are you finding the DaS experience so far? Enjoying it? Indifferent? Undecided?

[Scrustle]

How are you finding the DaS experience so far? Enjoying it? Indifferent? Undecided?

I'm really liking it. I think I "get" it, but it's an experience that I'm having to take slowly. I'm not always in the mood for it, and sometimes it can feel a bit arduous making progress. But it almost always feels like I am moving forward, if only by a tiny bit each time. Beating bosses and finding my way to the next bonfire are definitely rewarding, and every encounter is at least interesting, even if it doesn't go so well.

[Alex79]

I think I beat the Gaping Dragon with arrows in the end. I just started a NG+ and was breezing through it without a care in the world one shotting everything until I eventually ran in to a black knight in the Undead Parish and got swiped in two hits haha.

[AndyKurosaki]

Proper loving replaying this on PS4. Bloodborne was just too much for me, I far prefer this. So satisfying that enemies eventually stay dead.

[Scrustle]

So I just made my way through Blighttown. Kind of. It wasn't really as bad as I was expecting, aside from the frame rate issues that only seemed to be really bad on the higher levels. But I made my way through with more ease than I was expecting, and found myself in the Valley of the Drakes. So I suspected I missed a lot, and of course I have. For one thing, I never found the supposed tunnel that leads to the rear of that wallhugger thing so you can kill it easily. But the main thing is that I totally missed the boss, and therefore the whole point of being there. So yeah, it's a weirdly laid out area. I really don't want to have to go across the entire poison swamp to reach this boss, but I guess I don't have a choice. I don't have anything to negate poison though, aside from a couple of mosses.

[Pitwar]

Proper loving replaying this on PS4. Bloodborne was just too much for me, I far prefer this. So satisfying that enemies eventually stay dead.

I've just finished Bloodborne and due to how much I enjoyed it I thought I'd give Dark Souls 2 a bash.

I'm totally the opposite to you and really can't get on with Dark Souls the way I did Bloodborne. So much so I'm contemplating just throwing in the towel. It feels like such a backwards step from Bloodborne which I expected as it's an older game, but he just feels so clunky.

It doesn't help that I keep going on the attack and forgetting that health doesn't come back for being aggressive like it does in BB.

[Combine Hunter]

Dark Souls is about being reactive, while Bloodborne is about being proactive. Despite having similar control schemes, that subtle change of design philosophy can completely throw someone going from one to the other.

[richie_in_japan]

I got both DS2:Scholar and Bloodborne for my birthday. Utterly torn about which to dive into first. Have played the first 30mins of both and leaning towards DS2. Loved both DS1 and Demon's so it felt instantly familiar and welcoming (if a Souls game can!). But then Bloodborne is in the zeitgeist and looks fascinating.

Any advice fellow Rinsers?

[Roy42]

So yeah, it's a weirdly laid out area. I really don't want to have to go across the entire poison swamp to reach this boss, but I guess I don't have a choice. I don't have anything to negate poison though, aside from a couple of mosses.

The safe spots are actually all set up so that you could get across the bog without getting poisoned. Ideally, you'll have spent enough time in Darkroot that you have plenty of moss, but poison damage isn't that bad, and most enemies are weak and slow enough that you can just heal through the poison.

[richie_in_japan]

Well, you lot are a great help! I took my destiny (lowercase d) in my own hands and launched into DS2. I had reservations when the game was first released but have to say those worries were soon dispelled when I reached the hub world. Tonight's sally forth was a classic Souls moment. After two evenings and double-figure deaths to The Pursuer, I finally hit the groove where I knew exactly what each tell meant, when to roll and where to strike. Hardly thinking, chatting to the wife I could sense my victory was near. Until I rolled backwards off the battlements.[emoji37]

[Retrothumbs]

Having recenty watched Darren G play this on the Quick Rinse, it looks like something I could sink my teeth into. I'd previously let it pass me by, so I'm hoping these games are dirt cheap brand new!

[James]

Undoubtedly, the games will be pretty cheap new by now. If you opt for the Prepare To Die Edition of Dark Souls and the Scholar Of The First Sin Edition of Dark Souls II then you'll have plenty of DLC included too.

[richie_in_japan]

Thought I was at a dead end after Sinner's Rise and being underpowered for the Belfry Gargoyles, but finally stumbled into Huntsman's Copse. Is that a PvP area? Suddenly got regular invasions, 3 on my way up to the bonfire in the prison cell. One guy I wasn't damaging at all and seemed to have some ability like Smoke from MK, teleporting around. Then suddenly a blue phantom popped up and zapped him for me! Love those random moments.

[Alex79]

Is the DLC from Dark Souls 1 and 2 easy to access? I seem to remember it being a bit of a pain to get to in DS 1 (not that I played it, just from what I read). I've completed both games, but I know in Dark Souls 1 I'm just past the opening area of a NG+ and in Dark Souls 2 I've not started a NG+, my character is still milling around in the world after beating the last boss. I'd like to get my Souls action on again and play some new stuff so I'm tempted by the DLC so long as it's easy enough to get to.

[Todinho]

The DLC in Dark souls 1 is a bit ridiculous to get to you have to:

Spoiler: show

Killl a special golem at the start of the Duke's archive that drops a pendant,after that you have to go to the woods near where the hydra is and kill another especial golem that's holding and NPC after to save the npc talk to her and then go back to where she was trapped by the golem and then you'll be able to access the DLC

The Dark souls 2 one is pretty obvious you get the itens once you buy the DLC and all you have to do is go to the warp points that are in pretty obvious areas,I dont know if this changes in Scholar of the First sin though.

[James]

Yeah, DkS was a bit of a puzzle just to find the new area.

As Todinho says, it's much simpler in basic DkS2. You get the key items popped into your inventory (and an on-screen notification to boot). You're at the perfect spot to tackle those as you'll have access to the three spots you'll need to venture to to use the keys and you'll be sufficiently levelled for the areas within.

In Scholar it's a bit different; you have to find the keys, often nearby or slightly after you discover the access points. You're looking for three weirdly-shaped keys that allude to being from other kingdoms/lands.

Let us know if you're having any problems and I'm sure there's a few of us who could point you more specifically in the direction of the keys/doorways.

[Baron Phil]

DS2 Scholar is £25 on PSN. I think it's time to give it a go.

[ratsoalbion]

That's on PS4 folks, it's even cheaper on PS3, around £15.

[fieldy]

Anyone know what the chances are of the first installment coming to PS4 are? I really want to give this a go but dont have a last gen console at the moment :s