Dark Souls I, II and III

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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Alex79 wrote: March 27th, 2022, 10:00 am
Truk_Kurt wrote: March 7th, 2022, 11:48 am With all the Elden Ring talk I decided to dip my toe into the FromSoftware games (although I have played a few hours of Sekiro) by getting Dark Souls Remastered on Switch this weekend. Played a few hours and have made my way up to the bonfire where the dragon on the bridge is, so defeated to the Asylum Demon and Taurus Demon boss so far.

I went for a Knight class but have started to regret that as I am starting to prefer the thoughts of ranged combat as I am not particularly good as reading enemy attacks in order to parry them. I guess the Knight could still be good for a bow and arrow but I was also wanting to use fireballs or some other kind of magic now, hopefully I can still do that.

I ended up using all my flasks and 2 humanity on the Taurus Demon which concerned me but I have been assured that that is ok this early in the game.
How you getting on with this, Kurt? We need updates! :lol:
I'm afraid I'm going to give up on it. I've given it 2 good goes now, the first a couple of years ago and now. It's definitely a case or 'it's my fault, not the game', but I just can't get past the whole mechanic of having to return to bonfires every time you die. I think I was more able to put up with it in these earlier 'easier' parts of the game as I felt I was making progress. But when I play for an hour and make no progress whatsoever, it just makes me feel as though I've wasted an evening. I think I might still check out Elden Ring though due to the nature of being able to go elsewhere if you're stuck in a certain area.

EDIT: Technically this is my 3rd go actually, but not with Dark Souls. I also gave Sekiro a good amount of hours too but ended up abandoning it for the same reason.
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Alex79
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Alex79 »

No Kurt! Push on! It'll click! Don't give up!!

Joking aside, there's no such thing as not making progress in these games. Every encounter teaches you something, you're always learning, it's easy to get frustrated but every time you get a bit better.

Where did you get up to?
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Truk_Kurt »

just after the tarus demon
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Nupraptor
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Nupraptor »

Playing through the DS3 DLC for the first time.
Slave Knight Gael was one of the best boss fights ever. Really tough, but once you’ve learned his attacks, you can dodge and counterattack all of them. If you get hit, you’ve made a mistake.

Sister Friede though…..I can do the first two phases pretty easily now. Third phase, I can still barely get a hit in!
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

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After many failed attempts, I summoned two allies which made the whole thing trivial. Cathartic!

New headcanon: The Painter from Ashes of Ariandel, painted The Lands Between.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Jon Cheetham »

After so many playthroughs of Dark Souls I’ve never actually used the Dragon Tooth weapon (Havel’s gigantic club). Upgraded it to +5 for the second half of my current run. I’m usually medium armour, spellblade with a shield - now I’m only wearing greaves and relying on rolls while battering everything with this absurd tooth shaped club and it’s so much fun.

Also invaded a Gravelord for the first time and managed to beat them - a system I’ve never really engaged with but it was really fun spawning into this ongoing battle between the Gravelord and a red phantom and donking them both with the Dragon Tooth.
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Alex79
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

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I'm replaying Dark Souls at the moment on Switch. I had a read back over this thread (not all of it) back to when I first played the game in 2012. It was quite funny seeing how I went from fresh faced scrub asking for advice on beating the bell gargoyles to about six weeks later acting like a grizzled veteran of Lordran, giving out advice to other players :lol:

It was pretty cool having loads of people playing the same game at the same time, all swapping hints - something that doesn't happen so often these days I guess (although Elden Ring was a bit of a callback to that, recently). Just reminded me how cool this community was, and still is. That's all really!
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markfm007
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by markfm007 »

Alex79 wrote: October 7th, 2022, 2:34 pm I'm replaying Dark Souls at the moment on Switch. I had a read back over this thread (not all of it) back to when I first played the game in 2012. It was quite funny seeing how I went from fresh faced scrub asking for advice on beating the bell gargoyles to about six weeks later acting like a grizzled veteran of Lordran, giving out advice to other players :lol:

It was pretty cool having loads of people playing the same game at the same time, all swapping hints - something that doesn't happen so often these days I guess (although Elden Ring was a bit of a callback to that, recently). Just reminded me how cool this community was, and still is. That's all really!
The Elden Ring release was so much fun. So many people playing it and so much to discover. The only other From Software game I played at release was Sekiro, where the conversation was more like 'Jesus this is hard, who are you getting your ass kicked by?' :lol: I rarely play games at release, don't normally regret it but I'm glad I did with ER.
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Alex79
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Alex79 »

Yeah, Elden Ring was the first day one release I've bought since... Well, it might even be since Dark Souls 2!
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Cornelius_Smiff
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Sorry to necro an older thread, but after so many people told me to try out the original Souls, I did and I am well and truly hooked.

Some of the jank is pretty jarring and there's some design decisions that make no sense (which can be forgiven). However, overall it's pretty damn brilliant. It feels almost like a MetroidVania esque experience with the backtracking, interwoven areas and soft tool gating. I am surprised at how easy the bosses are though so far, but I am sure this will change as I go along.
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Will Marley
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Will Marley »

Cornelius_Smiff wrote: February 1st, 2023, 9:00 pm Some of the jank is pretty jarring and there's some design decisions that make no sense (which can be forgiven).
Glad you're enjoying it, still pretty much peerless in the sense of place to me. I can run through it in my head.

I'm curious about the design decisions comment. What are you thinking about? I'm not bristling, ready to defend to the death, just interested in your experience as someone coming to the game after the later releases.
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Will Marley wrote: February 1st, 2023, 9:19 pm
Cornelius_Smiff wrote: February 1st, 2023, 9:00 pm Some of the jank is pretty jarring and there's some design decisions that make no sense (which can be forgiven).
Glad you're enjoying it, still pretty much peerless in the sense of place to me. I can run through it in my head.

I'm curious about the design decisions comment. What are you thinking about? I'm not bristling, ready to defend to the death, just interested in your experience as someone coming to the game after the later releases.
Blighttown is absolutely terrible from start to finish... I find it absolutely baffling that Farron Keep and the Lake of Rot are considered equally as bad as this utter sh*t show of an area. I am so glad I cleared some hours ago. So yeah this area in particular is the poster child for bad design decisions I have experienced so far.

I also think the Capra Demon arena makes no sense whatsoever.
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markfm007
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by markfm007 »

Totally agree on the sense of place/backtracking comments. I played the remaster in 2020 and there's definitely something special about it worth going back to. I like the slower paced combat and the difficulty being in the level design and enemy placement.
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Add New Londo Ruins to the place of bad design choices... I kinda dig the horror vibe but the Enemy AI is infuriating.
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

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Cornelius_Smiff wrote: February 2nd, 2023, 5:57 pm Add New Londo Ruins to the place of bad design choices... I kinda dig the horror vibe but the Enemy AI is infuriating.
Ah man, I like that area! Those darkwraith type enemies were cool. Annoying the bonfire is so far away through.
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Cornelius_Smiff
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Alex79 wrote: February 2nd, 2023, 6:33 pm
Cornelius_Smiff wrote: February 2nd, 2023, 5:57 pm Add New Londo Ruins to the place of bad design choices... I kinda dig the horror vibe but the Enemy AI is infuriating.
Ah man, I like that area! Those darkwraith type enemies were cool. Annoying the bonfire is so far away through.
There is no bonfire :(
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

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Oh yeah, I meant Firelink :lol: Although, even worse if that one has been snuffed out and it's not re-lit yet!
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

I find it hard to believe someone was actually paid to design the Bed of Chaos boss fight....

What an absolute shit show of a boss fight, bloody awful and incredibly unfair.

I then find it unfathomable that someone was paid to actually design Tomb of the Giants. Just terrible game design overall and unlike other areas that kicked me in the face, this is not fun at all.

The game sadly has fallen off a cliff in terms of fun and design in these final stages. It is the Breaking Bad of video games for me, brilliant but overrated in my opinion. Of course I still love it though and absolutely get why it's so adored.
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Will Marley
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Will Marley »

Bed of Chaos is notoriously unfinished, and something they've acknowledged as such. Same for much of Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith, they simply ran out of time with the second half of the game and it shows. TOTG is annoying but also quite trivial if you have the right items to light it up. Like much of FROM design before difficulty became more defined by rolling at the right time, it's more of a puzzle than a mechanical test.

It's far from a perfect game but I don't think even the most hardcore fan would claim it is. Arguably, almost everything after the Lord Vessel is a bit shit and gimmicky from a mechanical perspective, including the last boss which I love. That first half is insanely good, though, and as close to perfect as it gets for me. The second half is still incredibly rich in lore and themes, it just needed more time in the oven.

The DLC is also spectacularly good and shows that the first half was no fluke. The interlocking of mechanics, themes, lore, world building, metacommentary and sense of place is best in class and the DLC recontextualises much of the main game in a way that is unsurpassed for me. The Bloodborne DLC is equally amazing but its achievements are more in completing the story and closing certain loops. The Dark Souls DLC blew my mind with the Artorias stuff and the way that the Sif stuff responds differently depending on the order you play through. It's not just clever, it's very moving to experience.
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Re: Dark Souls I, II and III

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Oh yes the DLC is brilliant and easily the highlight for me.

Artorias was cool but kind of a let down in terms of difficulty, but that was no fault of the game per se. I one shotted him, but to be fair I had to be on my toes so it wasn't like a Pinwheel level of easy by any stretch. He felt out of place in DS1 even as DLC and most definitely more like a later Souls boss with his speed and quirky attack timings. You can definitely tell they refined the boss formula with him.

My earlier comments were purely about the base game, and I think it's a very good point that it was sort of half finished towards the end. It does really show in the design choices.

Just killed Gywn and End Credits have rolled. Found Gywn brutal at first until I realised I am actually not too bad at parrying (I am an idiot and it never even occurred to me to try this), then it was largely easy.

Did not find ithe game particularly difficult for the most part and I was questioning the notion that this was somehow the hardest souls game according to some. I realise and believe now that everyone's first Soulsborne is likely the hardest for them and going to other titles in the series will feel less daunting because you are sort of already forged in some of that FromSoft fire. I cannot even imagine playing this at launch with this type of experience and not being utterly brutalised by it (in a good way).

Definite 10/10 game for me though, in spite of it's flaws.
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