Dark Souls

Retr0gamer

sheehy83 wrote: »

Peter Serafinowicz, voice actor in Dark Souls 2 (he loved Dark Souls so much he contacted Konami asking for a part in DS2) summed it up perfectly for me. "Dark Souls has ruined every other game for me"

He didn't love it that much if he rang the wrong publisher :P

Zero-Cool

Retr0gamer wrote: »

He didn't love it that much if he rang the wrong publisher :P

Aw WTF! I was typing Namco, he said Namco, why the hell did I type Konami!

Vid anyway of the actor talking about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OcAGm8RgEY

Wooden Jesus

sheehy83 wrote: »

Peter Serafinowicz, voice actor in Dark Souls 2 (he loved Dark Souls so much he contacted Konami asking for a part in DS2) summed it up perfectly for me. "Dark Souls has ruined every other game for me"

I can just imagine a 50ft Darth Maul wielding a double bladed sword

Mickeroo

Duane Benzie :mad:

Zero-Cool

Those baby skeletons really spit out humanity! Just 2 more and I can continue my journey with some jolly cooperation.

Icaras

Retr0gamer wrote: »

He didn't love it that much if he rang the wrong publisher :P

Ah that would be class, think of the headlines - Konami get man dream job in Namco!

Adamcp898

Recently started this game and I can see why it's been so well received. It's refreshing for a game in this generation to actually have consequences for dying and the story not to be so much on rails. However, it does take this to an extreme, and too far an extreme at that imo. It leaves the player clueless for the most part as to what they're meant to be doing, what every item does, how to get stronger, etc etc. and this goes on to an extent that it starts to take away from the game.

I got as far as ringing the first bell on my own but I was close to giving up at that stage as I was just getting bored with stumbling from one place to the next with no clear direction or purpose. However I looked up a generic guide and started to follow it, and whilst I haven't progressed much further yet, my enjoyment from playing the game as returned somewhat, it's only the IGN guide and I'm not looking for a load of comments telling me it's crap but even by reading over the sections I had already completed only then did I realise the amount of things and NPC's I had missed out.

I still don't have a notion what I'm meant to be doing as far as improving armor and weapons though, nevermind stats

Zero-Cool

Yeah I found that myself, followed a loose guide to keep me on the right path but as you get used to the game, probably a bit after the 2nd bell is rung, you start to see how the game works but there's an unreal amount of stuff that you wouldn't find in a million years without a guide. Devs said dark souls 2 will be better at explaining items and how the game works.

Keep at it though, it all comes together.

What first Bell did you ring, the undead church or down in swampy blightown?

Undead parish has a blacksmith who will upgrade weapons for you if you have titanite items.

Also, equip a shield that has physical defence at 100 so you don't take any damage against physical attacks.

krudler

I love that about Dark Souls, this is most games:

Press Start, 10 min cutscene, you might get to play a section where you have loads of powers in a dream or something then it's all taken away from you. Or you have to play an endless tutorial involving the most basic controls (and getting an achievment for managing to push the stick in multiple directions one after another), more cutscene, some NPC leading you through some section explaining everything and how to use it, minor altercation to show you how combat works, on screen hints throughout.


Dark Souls: Arrive in Lordran after tutorial involving gigantic enemy and probably multiple deaths, guys tells you there's two bells, one up, one down.... Alright that's it for the next 20 odd hours, see ya!

Adamcp898

sheehy83 wrote: »

Yeah I found that myself, followed a loose guide to keep me on the right path but as you get used to the game, probably a bit after the 2nd bell is rung, you start to see how the game works but there's an unreal amount of stuff that you wouldn't find in a million years without a guide. Devs said dark souls 2 will be better at explaining items and how the game works.

Keep at it though, it all comes together.

What first Bell did you ring, the undead church or down in swampy blightown?

Undead parish has a blacksmith who will upgrade weapons for you if you have titanite items.

Also, equip a shield that has physical defence at 100 so you don't take any damage against physical attacks.

Rang the undead church bell.

Yep I've found the blacksmith and I've upgraded a few bits a pieces but no idea if I'm wasting souls and should be ditching some armor sets for others. Also went back and got the Drake sword but don't know how long I should stick with it or whether I should just improve a regular weapon.

Trying to learn how to parry atm as I just realised you can stun enemies with it.

Zero-Cool

I parried one enemy I The game so far, I mostly go for the circling the enemy and backstabbing them.

I used the drake sword up until after the 2nd bell but its really what weapon you find works best and experiment with different sets. There are plenty of souls to get so don't worry about wasting some experimenting on upgrades and levelling up.

Digital Solitude

You can't really waste souls, seeing as 95% of enemies respawn anyways.
Parrying isn't essential either, I've beaten the game without the L2 button, it just takes a bit of fun put of combat.
Use whatever weapon you like best, they're all great to someone, same with the armor. And armor isn't essential to level up, but if your weapons are done it doesn't hurt either, but weapon should take priority.
Having 2 weapons and 2 sheilds equipped can seriously bump up your weight too! I'd recommend only 1 of each unless you need to switch, so you can move faster

spiritcrusher

Die Sif, DIE! 3 days. 3 bloody days, probably about 5 or 6 hours in total spent going to and from that bloody bonfire, through those annoying enemies (screwed up the cat covenant thing so they kept attacking me), into Sif, then die. Get to Sif, get him half way.. Promising. Finger slips off L1 for a split second. Dead. Gonna do better the next time. Die in less than a minute. Another go. Killed before I get to Sif. Finally after a patient 30 minute battle this evening I did it. Yuss. Where next? Darkroot Basin looks alright. First enemies I find? A massive Golem and Dragon. That is why I both love and loathe this game.

calex71

Same I got the drake early on my 1st run and ditched it for the Quelagg and stuck with that 90% of the time well into NG+ and always kept it charged with 10 humanity, occasional i would swap in one of the spears or kitanas always the grass shield was either on my back or in my hand, I used the gold hem set for a long long time too, but often I would not use the full set depending on the situation, often I would swap in one of the masks and a heavy chest piece I can't recall which now very rarely I would go all out heavy, except for the kings , I rolled FAT for those guys :cool:

I think it was one of if not the best thing about dark souls for me, finding something that works for you after being throttled countless times, my quelagg two handed grass shield on my back , gold hemmed skirt and hoof, and what ever the heavy pieces were, helped me see of a ganker or 20 in the forest :pac:

Kirby

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Recently started this game and I can see why it's been so well received. It's refreshing for a game in this generation to actually have consequences for dying and the story not to be so much on rails. However, it does take this to an extreme, and too far an extreme at that imo. It leaves the player clueless for the most part as to what they're meant to be doing, what every item does, how to get stronger, etc etc. and this goes on to an extent that it starts to take away from the game.

I got as far as ringing the first bell on my own but I was close to giving up at that stage as I was just getting bored with stumbling from one place to the next with no clear direction or purpose. However I looked up a generic guide and started to follow it, and whilst I haven't progressed much further yet, my enjoyment from playing the game as returned somewhat, it's only the IGN guide and I'm not looking for a load of comments telling me it's crap but even by reading over the sections I had already completed only then did I realise the amount of things and NPC's I had missed out.

I still don't have a notion what I'm meant to be doing as far as improving armor and weapons though, nevermind stats

sheehy83 wrote: »

Yeah I found that myself, followed a loose guide to keep me on the right path but as you get used to the game, probably a bit after the 2nd bell is rung, you start to see how the game works but there's an unreal amount of stuff that you wouldn't find in a million years without a guide.

Yup, it was a pretty severe flaw in the game. They crossed the line from being mysterious to being obtuse. Everything kind of clicks after you sink 10 or 12 hours into the game and you have figured everything out.....but it takes a while to get there and a good chunk of players simply switch off in frustration before they hit that point.

They recognised it though and in Dark Souls II which is out this month, they explain things to the player a lot better. It's still the Dark souls that people love, but not as confusing. You should finish this one and get that one too.

calex71

spiritcrusher wrote: »

Die Sif, DIE! 3 days. 3 bloody days, probably about 5 or 6 hours in total spent going to and from that bloody bonfire, through those annoying enemies (screwed up the cat covenant thing so they kept attacking me), into Sif, then die. Get to Sif, get him half way.. Promising. Finger slips off L1 for a split second. Dead. Gonna do better the next time. Die in less than a minute. Another go. Killed before I get to Sif. Finally after a patient 30 minute battle this evening I did it. Yuss. Where next? Darkroot Basin looks alright. First enemies I find? A massive Golem and Dragon. That is why I both love and loathe this game.

The Hydra? super cheap kill when you know how !!!!!!

krudler

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Rang the undead church bell.

Yep I've found the blacksmith and I've upgraded a few bits a pieces but no idea if I'm wasting souls and should be ditching some armor sets for others. Also went back and got the Drake sword but don't know how long I should stick with it or whether I should just improve a regular weapon.

Trying to learn how to parry atm as I just realised you can stun enemies with it.

Parrying isn't all that tbh, you're better off pumping up your endurance and being able to roll around faster. have one one weapon and shield equipped at one time to reduce your weight load, dodging is key in dark souls.

Also don't be worrying about wasting souls, if you're in the early stages of the game 5000 souls may seem like a lot, the first time you lose 50,000, now that's a killer, and even at that by the end of the game you'll be carrying far more than that. ( I tend to spend mine though, I'd rather level up 1 thing than lose them all stupidly)

saidinmilamber

Finished my SL1 run last night. Beat Gwyn on the first try, he was a complete wimp in comparison to the Four Kings!!! All ready now for DS2

2smiggy

well done, i must have a 1000 hours put into the game and i doubt i could do a sl1 run. what setup you use ?

derfderf

krudler wrote: »

Dark Souls: Arrive in Lordran after tutorial involving gigantic enemy and probably multiple deaths, guys tells you there's two bells, one up, one down.... Alright that's it for the next 20 odd hours, see ya!

I'd love if they had that dude from south park/pet cemetery there instead "that down there's the cemetery, you don't wanna go down there.."

Retr0gamer

Kirby wrote: »

Yup, it was a pretty severe flaw in the game. They crossed the line from being mysterious to being obtuse. Everything kind of clicks after you sink 10 or 12 hours into the game and you have figured everything out.....but it takes a while to get there and a good chunk of players simply switch off in frustration before they hit that point.

I really don't get this complaint. I think people are just expecting too much handholding these days because everything is given to you. Really other than the obscure stuff you don't really need it's hardly hidden from the player, it's all there if you look for it.

ShaneU

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I really don't get this complaint. I think people are just expecting too much handholding these days because everything is given to you. Really other than the obscure stuff you don't really need it's hardly hidden from the player, it's all there if you look for it.

A lot of the core mechanics are never explained. Reverse hollowing and kindling for example, or the 25% and 50% weight differences, hardly obscure concepts.

Retr0gamer

ShaneU wrote: »

A lot of the core mechanics are never explained. Reverse hollowing and kindling for example, or the 25% and 50% weight differences, hardly obscure concepts.

Well they aren't pointed out directly to the player but have we gotten so bad that people couldn't figure these things out themselves? I did. I tried out kindle and reversing hollowing and noticed the differences while I noticed my rolling slowed down once I had heavy armour on.

ionapaul

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well they aren't pointed out directly to the player but have we gotten so bad that people couldn't figure these things out themselves? I did. I tried out kindle and reversing hollowing and noticed the differences while I noticed my rolling slowed down once I had heavy armour on.

There's a middle road between 'hand holding' and 'keeping you totally in the dark', and I agree with the others who say that Dark Souls as a game erred a bit by making it very hard to figure out what was going on, what everything meant and what to do right from the start. I was extremely close to packing the game in while struggling through the Undead Parish, not because I hated the gameplay, core mechanics or story but because it simply didn't make any sense to me and the whole experience felt almost unbearably disjointed. Glad to hear that Dark Souls 2 isn't going to be the exact same in this regard.

Zero-Cool

Well a making of vid has a dev saying 'you will start Dark Souls 2 cursed, be dropped in a land and told "find a cure". You will have to figure out yourself where to go and what to do through exploring'

So I think they will just be explaining stuff like bonfires, etc. but won't be telling you where/what to do. I don't mind that now that I know how Souls works (kinda ) but stuff like figuring out how to continue NPC quests will hopefully be easier to find. I can't believe anyone found out how to finish Solaire's story without a guide.

krudler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well they aren't pointed out directly to the player but have we gotten so bad that people couldn't figure these things out themselves? I did. I tried out kindle and reversing hollowing and noticed the differences while I noticed my rolling slowed down once I had heavy armour on.

The rolling is fairly straightforward in fairness, not suer why anyone would think you can do cat like leaps wearing heavy knight armour. The hollowing thing was confusing alright to begin with, i just wiki'ed that. "Cannot kindle? what? what does that do?"

TimeToShine

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well they aren't pointed out directly to the player but have we gotten so bad that people couldn't figure these things out themselves? I did. I tried out kindle and reversing hollowing and noticed the differences while I noticed my rolling slowed down once I had heavy armour on.

I thought covenants were the most poorly (or should I say non existent?) explained aspect of the game. The PvP wasn't explained either nor were the benefits of reversing hollowing. I appreciate that you like a game that makes you dig for information but some of it was very obtuse. I spent the first few hours of the game thinking that the main use for humanity was to "greatly restore HP" and that whatever else it did was just a secondary effect.

It's very easy to talk about how stupid people are for not figuring this stuff out when you're on this side of the fence. I honestly struggle to recommend DS to a lot of people because I just know they aren't arsed wasting what little game time they have on a wiki. The game could have been made to be both difficult and accessible but instead they chose to lean toward the former. It has paid off in some regards by giving the game a great reputation for "difficulty" which will no doubt goad plenty of gamers into DS2 to see what all the hype is about. I think, provided the right things are explained properly even in dialogue, that DS2 could fix most of the issues that I and many others had with DS.

saidinmilamber

2smiggy wrote: »

well done, i must have a 1000 hours put into the game and i doubt i could do a sl1 run. what setup you use ?

It really is more doable than you'd think, I strongly recommend giving it a go! I wore the Crown of Dusk, Dingy Robe, Bandit Gauntlets, Sorcerer's Leggings, Darkwood Grain Ring, and Wolf/Protection/Slumbering Dragoncrest/Fog Ring. Weapons were +10 Fire Reinforced Club, +5 Lightning Light Crossbow, +5 Lightning Handaxe, +5 Ascended Flame, and +14 Heater Shield.

You really do learn an awful lot. Like by the end, I was able to wander into the forest and brutally murder all of the hunters easily, where doing that at SL40 before was just impossible.

krudler

ionapaul wrote: »

There's a middle road between 'hand holding' and 'keeping you totally in the dark', and I agree with the others who say that Dark Souls as a game erred a bit by making it very hard to figure out what was going on, what everything meant and what to do right from the start. I was extremely close to packing the game in while struggling through the Undead Parish, not because I hated the gameplay, core mechanics or story but because it simply didn't make any sense to me and the whole experience felt almost unbearably disjointed. Glad to hear that Dark Souls 2 isn't going to be the exact same in this regard.

Agree about the middle ground, there's walking people through everything with onscreen prompts, and then there's telling them sod all about basic game mechanics. It being in there somewhere is irrelevant, yeah a big part of the game is feeling isolated and not really knowing why you are where you are (although Oscar does have the most ridiculously specific family motto ever :pac: ).

Like even the first covenant guy you meet, if you enter the convenant it says "abandon previous covenant?" you're not sure what it is you're even abandoning at that stage, being that you're not even in a convenant.

noodler

krudler wrote: »

Like even the first covenant guy you meet, if you enter the convenant it says "abandon previous covenant?" you're not sure what it is you're even abandoning at that stage, being that you're not even in a convenant.

Think that is more of a game design flaw than story issue.

Also, having to offer 10X humanity to covenants on a one-by-one basis etc. Badly done.

Inventory is a bit of a pain as well. Why can' it just say X6 if you have six Baldar Swords? Listing them one-by-one is an absolute pain.