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It's Dark souls 10 anniversary

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,809
It's a damn shame the second half sucks. I remember being really disappointed as a fan of Demon's Souls. The expansion kinda makes up for it but I prefer Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne as a whole.

When the hell is From Software going to increase their overall production value? It's been over a decade and the animation quality, sound design and general feel of the way the characters control feels like it hasn't improved at all. They're not the budget developers they were ten years ago. Say what you will about Bluepoint's Demon's Souls but pretty much everything about that game looks (on a technical level), feels better and has better sound design than anything From Software has released despite having unlimited resources thrown their way by Bandai Namco and Kadokawa.

maybe DeS remake does have better animations, but the video you brought here only shows over the top edgy violence. The main character is the good knight who fight evil, but his backstab/riposte animations look like something from Manhunt. Just another proof that bluepoint had no idea wtf were they doing.
 

curds

Magister
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
1,098
Nobody will praise the game mythology and unique storytelling?

Where are the codex storyfags?
:happytrollboy:
While those elements are fantastic, what I really love was From's respectful decision to allow non-storyfags to totally ignore that shit. Unlike say Dragon Age or Pillars where you are force-fed the shitty lore.

DS allowed you to only seek that shit out if you care, and if you do care, it's everywhere. Even the fucking face selection at character creation oozes history. "Dubious Carim", "Vinheim Scholar", etc. were so intriguing to me.
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,325
Location
Flowery Land
And the Tomb of Giants, which is full of respawning enemies you need one very specific type of weapon, never indicated elsewhere,
1. Andre has a line of dialogue specifically telling you about this. And how to solve the issue.

This?
I know little of the Darkroot Garden. Although, I've heard rumours of a divine blacksmith who resides there. Those who get stumped in the Catacombs seek him for divine weapons.
Yeah, that's still stupidly vague.
 

The_Mask

Just like Yves, I chase tales.
Patron
Joined
May 3, 2018
Messages
5,898
Location
The land of ice and snow.
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Yeah, that's still stupidly vague.
Yeah, what he should've said is: "Go straightforward until you see some stairs. Make sure you look behind the tree for the cool ring. And while you're at it, go human and summon the witch to get some cool gear later. Oh... and as soon as you leave my humble abode, look up to see the boss you're about to face for the Ember. Good luck!" :lol:
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,325
Location
Flowery Land
Specifying the skeletons who won't die would have been a start. As is, he could be talking about a divine weapon doing literally anything in the catacombs, or even just the fact that divine weapons do extra damage to normal undead.
 

curds

Magister
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
1,098
Domhnall of Zena also says,

So, I am willing to share some tips. If you seek Kindling in the Catacombs, use divine weapons. That will repel the reassembling skeletons.
 
Self-Ejected

MajorMace

Self-Ejected
Patron
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
2,008
Location
Souffrance, Franka
There's nothing stupid about hiding info from the player, especially when that's a fundamental pillar of your game design. There's a lot to reproach to Dark Souls 1, starting with the shameful copy pasting of trashmobs in Lost Izalith or the disgusting state of the pc port at release.
But the Catacombs and Tomb of Giants were well designed overall, and a good example of how to alter the pace of the game, get the player out of their comfort zone and add some difficulty without mindlessly bloating the numbers. Needless to add it also participates in defining the area as unique and generates even more tension in a tension-filled experience.
 

OctavianRomulus

Learned
Joined
Aug 21, 2019
Messages
480
There's nothing stupid about hiding info from the player

I can't stress this enough. Developers don't trust the player to figure out games on their own anymore. It takes away from the joy of discovery. One of the examples that comes to mind is Doom Eternal, which while I like, is full of tutorials interrupting your gameplay showing you how to use weapons (why?), the abilities and weakspots of enemies (why?) and linear level design as opposed to 2016.

By contrast, Dark Souls tells you nothing and every achievement is truly earned. It really feels like you are playing a game from the 90s, in a good way.
 

Puukko

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
3,862
Location
The Khanate
Still the most memorable game of the series for me, even if I haven't even played it any more than the others. It just left a very deep impression. The atmosphere and rustic look are probably my favorite parts.
 
Unwanted
Dumbfuck
Joined
Dec 14, 2020
Messages
803
I was in HS when they game came out, a friend and i both bought a copy, i don't think he ever finished the game but i spent hundreds of hours in that game, even got the plat trophie for it on my ps3. Haven't played dark souls 3 yet and maybe i never will, but i did play Bloodborne which i consider the only reason to buy a ps4. I became addicted to dungeon crawlers these past years so i haven't the least amount of interest in playing a DS game again, except Bloodborne because it has actual dungeons.
 
Self-Ejected

MajorMace

Self-Ejected
Patron
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
2,008
Location
Souffrance, Franka
Available with anglo subtitles, this lengthy video traces back the artistic inspirations present in Dark Souls. Kinda weaves the game together with the fundamentals of the genre. Also illustrates the purpose of mystery in this medium and why dark souls shines because it substracts from its narration instead of adding to it.
 

Hassar

Scholar
Joined
Dec 6, 2016
Messages
208
Nobody will praise the game mythology and unique storytelling?

Where are the codex storyfags?
:happytrollboy:
While those elements are fantastic, what I really love was From's respectful decision to allow non-storyfags to totally ignore that shit. Unlike say Dragon Age or Pillars where you are force-fed the shitty lore.

DS allowed you to only seek that shit out if you care, and if you do care, it's everywhere. Even the fucking face selection at character creation oozes history. "Dubious Carim", "Vinheim Scholar", etc. were so intriguing to me.

On one hand, that approach to the story makes the world feel shallow and undeveloped. On the other hand, it lets the player (can’t really say the character because IMO the setup perfectly places modern players in the role of silent protagonist) really get into the immediacy of their actions while stripping down their motivations to concrete things. It’s refreshing to not have to read badly written “worldbuilding” “lore” to understand what’s going on. In DaS’s world…nothing is really going on. Your character falls into Lordran at the last minute before its destruction. There is no world to save (really) because this civilization has already collapsed and died. You’re not even a hero - the items and souls make it clear that your status as the Chosen Undead isn’t really synonymous with that status. Those souls of heroes and great heroes belonged to legendary humans - you’re kind of demeaning those heroic characters by crushing their essences just to add some attributes! Even the info we get in the intro graphic is ultimately unimportant to what players have to do, merely providing a forecast of future bosses.

This isn’t a design choice every developer should make but it is definitely refreshing after a few generations of games that tripped over themselves to build theme parks with overwrought stories, tacky game systems, and such.

*corrected some typing errors from writing this on my phone*
 
Last edited:

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
One of the things I like about Dark Souls is that while it's clearly high fantasy, it also feels realistic at the same time.
While I get where you're coming from, let me nitpick to say Dark Souls is NOT high fantasy, but dark fantasy, which makes a lot of difference to me as I HATE the kind of tolkinesque aesthetics and goodie-baddie moralism that characterize high fantasy.
 

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