From Software Dark Souls 3

[Damned Registrations]

The one thing I hate about das3 that I cant say enough is that they copied das2s covenants instead of 1, but somehow made the covenants even worse. Like locking the arena behind an expansion. And gutting the darkmoon covenant. And not having just one pvp zone guild, but iirrc 3, and all level dependent so pvp was now harder than ever to find. Even the pve online mode was made worse with how they nerfed raiders, and buffed defenders, as well as giving an additional person to the defending side, almost killing off invasion pvp entirely, which as annoying as invasion pvp was, was an important aesthetic of playing dark souls 1, or 2. It added suspense if you were brave enough or desperate enough to not go around hollow, but whole. DaS3 lacks the synergy that DaS1 had with the darkmoon and the darkwraith covenants, which were in my subjective opinion, the best ones.

Tbh they could have removed covenants entirely and I wouldn't have cared at all.

 

[Silva]

I prefer covenants that affect single player or are good lore-wise and enrich my character(ization). Unfortunately most Covenants in DS3 are none of that. They're pure shitty from a Lore standpoint (Mound-makers? Rosaria fingers WTF?) and mostly PvP focused.

Because of that, I prefer DS1 and BB ones.

 

[Zep Zepo]

I liked all the *Souls/Borne games.

I don't remember which one it was now (prolly DS3?) with the blue ring thing that helped (you to be summoned, or let you help, I forget) newbs. I liked the idea and wore the ring or whatever it was, it just never fucking worked. I think it worked 3 times in my 2 months of playing.

I did like the 1v1 pvp arena shit in (again, I forget the *souls #). That was pretty fun and I usually avoid PVP like the plague.

Zep--

 

[Zep Zepo]

Throwing down 'signs' in whatever DS# was pretty lame and only for the min/maxers.

Zep--

 

[Sòren]

Like bonfire ascetics, better NG+, dual wielding with powerstancing, mundane infusion, better rings that supplement character building (Rob Flynn anyone?), actually useful poison.

Btw, everything you said can be said about DaS3 (except capes).


you can say the same about DaS3, it was as linear as call of duty and had a lot of transitions that didn't make any sense.

what transitions in dark souls 3 didn't make sense? there was the abandoned firelink shrine, okay, i admit that. anything else?

try to picture the dark souls 2 world like this

you will see that it is nearly impossible, because the game was designed with a completely different philosophy. it's more like in demon souls with isolated areas (both lore wise and geographically), just a lot less interesting and refined. there was a word that circulated around here in relation to fallout 3 that's supposed to describe such world design - "theme park". some people already notice the quality difference during their first encounter with the old maidens in the first few minutes in the game. dialogue there is much too forced and somewhat awkward. that's also how the rest of the game feels to me.

things like:
"Armor worn by Alva the Wayfarer
Light but offers very high defense.
Alva crossed many a land in search of a cure for Saint Serreta's sickness, but failed and relinquished his knighthood.
Alva was once wracked with guilt and remorse, but rediscovered his purpose in life with the aid of the witch who once plotted against him."

who, what, why. there is no reason for shit like this being in the game.


anyway the point is, in dark souls 3 most information on weapons, armor other items has some connection to the mainplot or lore - as have most areas. that's how its story was told, like it had been in ds1. i don't even remember any stuff in ds2 that provided much knowledge about what was going on (except the dragon that drops a giant soul, hu).

 

[Wunderbar]

what transitions in dark souls 3 didn't make sense? there was the abandoned firelink shrine, okay, i admit that. anything else

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!

there was a word that circulated around here in relation to fallout 3 that's supposed to describe such world design - "theme park".

boletaria palace, village from bloodborne, rotten swamp from every fromsoft game, random anor londo, irythill dungeon (aka totally-not-latria). Sounds themeparky to me.

some people already notice the quality difference during their first encounter with the old maidens in the first few minutes in the game. dialogue there is much too forced and somewhat awkward.

i agree that they shouldn't have said that bullshit like "you will die and lose your souls lol", but DaS3 have its fair share of forced dialogues. Like firekeeper's chant taken from demon's souls for some reason.

who, what, why. there is no reason for shit like this being in the game.

btw Alva is in the DaS3 too, for whatever reason. In fact, there is a ton of characters from other games in DaS3 for no reason, like Andre, Karla/Yuria, Onion knight, etc.

 

[Black Angel]

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!

You forgot to include Irithyll in that sequence, and Irithyll is visible from the High Wall of Lothric (at least from the picture above, after defeating Vordt). So does the swamp, and the catacombs that connected the two is hidden in the mountain, so at least they make much more sense).

But yeah, how and why Anor Londo connected to Irithyll is beyond me. Heck, why bring back Anor Londo at all?

 

[Sòren]

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!


boletaria palace, village from bloodborne, rotten swamp from every fromsoft game, random anor londo, irythill dungeon (aka totally-not-latria). Sounds themeparky to me.

yes, japanese people like to recycle their ideas, i'm aware of that. and if you want to see it that way, you could describe almost all of their games "themeparkey". and i agree with the cathacombs-irithyll transition, there is little reason for that one, since there is very little connection between those two (i can only argue that irythyll is supposed be a city just entered by the initiated, which means not near any frequently used roads like the road of sacrifice segment).

anor londo however is an important part in the dark souls lore. the age of fire is the age of the old gods and their descendants. the city of gods - independent of time and kingdoms that rise fell around it - still stands as monument of this era, which the ds world still has not overcome (this is a pretty big theme in all three games). and in irithyll there is pontiff sulyvahn, who appearantly wished to end the gods reign and curse over mankind, that used one of the last living deities there as a sacrifice for Aldrich. i can live with the explanation that irithyll is just a settlement that grew beneath anor londo over time.

 

[Silva]

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!

You forgot to include Irithyll in that sequence, and Irithyll is visible from the High Wall of Lothric (at least from the picture above, after defeating Vordt). So does the swamp, and the catacombs that connected the two is hidden in the mountain, so at least they make much more sense).

But yeah, how and why Anor Londo connected to Irithyll is beyond me. Heck, why bring back Anor Londo at all?

Plebs.

DS3 doesn't make sense in a prosaic snese, only in a mythic one. This is explained in the first hour of the game:

- "When the fire fades, the lands of lords converge at Lothric"

- "The lands of the Lords converge upon Lothric. The home of pyromancies drifts comparatively close, as well."

What you see from that vista doesn't have to make geological sense - the world shifts and coils over itself to push the lands of the lords (and only them) to Firelink shrine. Even that endgame Vista (of derelict city buildings folding over themselves) confirm this. Further, theres even evidence its a multiverse of sorts, since various characters don't make sense with the "timeline" we're presented (like Sirris from the Sunless Realms, the Cemitary of Ash, Untended Graves, etc). This also explains the multiplayer beautifully - the unkindled from various alternate timelines are trying to kindle the flame.

Now show me where DS2 explains it's nonsensic geography or anything for that matter.

 

[Wunderbar]

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!

You forgot to include Irithyll in that sequence, and Irithyll is visible from the High Wall of Lothric (at least from the picture above, after defeating Vordt). So does the swamp, and the catacombs that connected the two is hidden in the mountain, so at least they make much more sense).

But yeah, how and why Anor Londo connected to Irithyll is beyond me. Heck, why bring back Anor Londo at all?

Plebs.

DS3 doesn't make sense in a prosaic snese, only in a mythic one. This is explained in the first hour of game:

"When the fire fades, the lands of lords converge at Lothric"

Miyazaki be like "let's make a bunch of random locations, crudely stitch them together, and then throw some cryptic sort-of explanation in the opening video, they'll eat it"

 

[Silva]

Then lemme rewrite my whole text which you ignored...

"The lands of the Lords converge upon Lothric. The home of pyromancies drifts comparatively close, as well."

What you see from that vista doesn't have to make geological sense - the world shifts and coils over itself to push the lands of the lords (and only them) to Firelink shrine. Even that endgame Vista (of derelict city buildings folding over themselves) confirm this. Further, theres even evidence its a multiverse of sorts, since various characters don't make sense with the "timeline" we're presented (like Sirris from the Sunless Realms, the Cemitary of Ash, Untended Graves, etc). This also explains the multiplayer nicely - the unkindled from various alternate timelines are trying to kindle the flame.

>>>Now show me where DS2 explains it's nonsensic geography or anything for that matter.

 

[Wunderbar]

Then lemme rewrite my whole text which you ignored...

there wasn't any text when i posted.

 

[Silva]

rotten swamp -> cathacombs of different sand country -> wild anor londo appeared!

You forgot to include Irithyll in that sequence, and Irithyll is visible from the High Wall of Lothric (at least from the picture above, after defeating Vordt). So does the swamp, and the catacombs that connected the two is hidden in the mountain, so at least they make much more sense).

But yeah, how and why Anor Londo connected to Irithyll is beyond me. Heck, why bring back Anor Londo at all?

Plebs.

DS3 doesn't make sense in a prosaic snese, only in a mythic one. This is explained in the first hour of game:

"When the fire fades, the lands of lords converge at Lothric"

Miyazaki be like "let's make a bunch of random locations, crudely stitch them together, and then throw some cryptic sort-of explanation in the opening video, they'll eat it"

At least it's an attempt at a logical explanation - Wtf is that DS2 intro again?

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

So I got to Dark Souls 3 with my new gaming laptop, since my previous potato with GTX 260 couldn’t handle such technology as 64 bit (Dark Souls 2 ran fine).

I so far much prefer the art direction and design to DS2, in fact I was so bored with it that I abandoned that around Drangleic Castle or that famous lava castle above the windmill. However this game is so damn strange, it’s the third time i see 2 bonfires next to each other. Also both of the bosses were pathetic, beat Iudex on my first try and that Boreal dude on my 2nd (because I ran in at 50%hp with no estus). And then there’s that “Pus of Man” on a rooftop that steamrolls me every time, attacks relentlessly, and is unreadable because it blocks literally the whole screen. Also got my ass wiped so far by that blue knight with glowing red eyes, but maybe it’s supposed to be a Black Knight-sort of encounter.

I reserve all the hate and vitriol for later but please tell me it’ll get even.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

Why won't they patch blades of the darkmoon and fix the covenant?

 

[Silva]

Some lore bits I noticed just now:

It seems the 3 lords of cinder had contact with darkness in some way or another in their times, and that caused their downfall: for the Abyss Watchers it was the Abyss, for Aldrich the "deep waters", and Yorm it's the Profaned Flame. All them fell due to the dark soul influence in a way or another (only Ludleth is an incognita). This kinda reinforces the weakening of fire and the strenghening of darkness in the universe with each new cycle. No matter what you do, darkness will find a way.

Further, the Profaned Flame corrupting effects is still felt in the game's present time: it was found by Pontiff Sulyvahn, who became corrupted and consequently created the mutated beasts (hand-monsters, croco-dogs, spider-women, outrider knights, etc), and is threatening the current Lothric dynasty' mission of rekindling the fire.

The Profaned Flame is probably some fragment/remains of the Old Chaos from DS2 (which by itself is the remains of the Chaos Flame from DS1) and thus maintain the same life-deforming, mind-corrupting properties. The clue of this is somewhere that says "the flame engulfed the Profaned capital, but only consumed the human beings". Remember what other flame consumes humanity (dark souls) in DS1 ? Yeah, exactly.

So I got to Dark Souls 3 with my new gaming laptop, since my previous potato with GTX 260 couldn’t handle such technology as 64 bit (Dark Souls 2 ran fine).

I so far much prefer the art direction and design to DS2, in fact I was so bored with it that I abandoned that around Drangleic Castle or that famous lava castle above the windmill. However this game is so damn strange, it’s the third time i see 2 bonfires next to each other. Also both of the bosses were pathetic, beat Iudex on my first try and that Boreal dude on my 2nd (because I ran in at 50%hp with no estus). And then there’s that “Pus of Man” on a rooftop that steamrolls me every time, attacks relentlessly, and is unreadable because it blocks literally the whole screen. Also got my ass wiped so far by that blue knight with glowing red eyes, but maybe it’s supposed to be a Black Knight-sort of encounter.

I reserve all the hate and vitriol for later but please tell me it’ll get even.

Pus and Knights are tricky for beginners. Try molotovs on the former and... well, just avoid Knights for now.

About art direction, I agree it's the best in series overall but then some maps' palletes are too drab or vomit-like and it makes me wanna puke (when you reach Road of Sacrifices and Farron's Keep and you'll understand). Also, it seems the game couldn't capitalize on the far vistas as the previous games. Rarely I was surprised by some mountain edge looking over the sky to some breathtaking vista here. Because of this, I still find DS1 and DS2 prettier overall than this.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Dark Souls Bosses in a nutshell:

 

[Jack Dandy]

Goddamn but that is true for so many action games in General.

Having a good balance of these is paramount.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Its almost as if humanoid and roughly human opponents (give or take a couple of meters) opponents are easier to animate, balance around and design for than fuckhuge god monsters.

I mean, seriously, think of any giant boss in a third person action game. Is there any one where the boss just doesn't stand there and punches the ground around you with his fists?
There's like 5 of those in the Dark Souls series.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Its almost as if humanoid and roughly human opponents (give or take a couple of meters) opponents are easier to animate, balance around and design for than fuckhuge god monsters.

I mean, seriously, think of any giant boss in a third person action game. Is there any one where the boss just doesn't stand there and punches the ground around you with his fists?
There's like 5 of those in the Dark Souls series.

Monster Hunter does it right, but the whole game is built around that, and even in that case, the godzilla sized monsters are a joke compared to the elephant sized monsters. The original Phantasy Star Online also had some pretty good large boss fights, not sure how the later ones stacked up because they turned into pay to win bullshit that just aggressively fucked over the western market.

In general though, the rule stands. If the game is balanced around fighting enemies that hit narrow spaces after a short tell, you pretty much need to make the giant monsters do that too, which is weird, because a giant monster can usually just hit an area way too big to evade out of. So they make it super slow or have blind spots and it just doesn't play well.

 

[sullynathan]

I mean, seriously, think of any giant boss in a third person action game. Is there any one where the boss just doesn't stand there and punches the ground around you with his fists?

There is, again, Devil May Cry. Where the hardest boss was the biggest boss in the game, but that's less of physically fighting the boss and more of hitting specific parts of the boss that you can only damage.

 

[glass blackbird]

People didn't like that DS2 had a bunch of human opponents but I think that some of those are fucking hard as hell

 

[Deflowerer]

I actually find humanoid enemies easier, at least theoretically. They require better twitch skills, but they are far easier to read, in terms of their attack patterns as well as hitboxes.

 

[vota DC]

My swiss character fought like a real swiss with halberd and crossbow. Easiest bosses were crystal sage and deacons, hardest were pontiff and dancer. Crippled prince seems quite difficult, he teleports all the time, maybe I should try halberd+shield.

For some reasons in Lothric Castle when I killed some black cancer stuff covering all the screen the dragons vanished forever.

 

[Silva]

For some reasons in Lothric Castle when I killed some black cancer stuff covering all the screen the dragons vanished forever.

Bro, the only cancer is one you give yourself by playing this game.