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By the way, is it just me being unlucky, or is anyone else getting hit a lot while getting up after being knocked down? It would happen occasionally in previous games, but here it's multiple times per play session - seems like enemies just continue swinging above your body as you get up, and this often results in getting hit without being able to avoid it in any way. Yesterday, Dragonslayer Armor even shield-bashed my character's lying body off his platform.
it was my main source of frustration during Priest McSullivan Spamalot :D almost each and every time i got hit by an attack of his that knocked me down (which took about 70% of my hp), he'd time his next one so perfectly he'd kill me as soon as i got out of wakeup iframes. it was uncanny
The only case I had an easier time was with beefy NPC invaders like Tsorig. Dude with a falchion couldn't stagger him and was getting repeatedly raped but me with my badass Old Demon King greathammer could. So it seems poise does sort of work, you just have to have a shitton of it.
there's one major mechanic improvement in this version that I haven't seen in any souls games since DeS, tho: Hitboxes (not PvP) so far have been completley flawless.
Enemy grab attacks, especially that fat missionary chick, still have ridicolous range, I once was grabbed while I rolled to her back. In DS2 you had the adaptibility stat for that, in DS3 you're shit out of luck
Pvping seems a bit off. I like having random coop sessions with other players, running through the map. Helping each other out, finding secrets and so on. But for some god damn reason, every-time I join somebody, or somebody join me it's like me opening up PvP Central - All are welcome! It can get funny. Had Blue bros joining, other invaders. It usually turns into a small skirmish with up to 6-7 people. But the annoying thing is how every single invader is trying to use other mobs to attack us. Every single time, and it just slows down the game to a crawl. Oh, you are standing next to a dragon and urging me to attack? Sure buddy. I get it though. It's suicide to attack two players, but damn...
Do you get summoned with white soapstone or what do you do? Also, what level are you? I am bored of melee and wanna do pyro but low levels are absolutely non-viable with magic.
Just finished the game, killed every boss and ended up at SL 102. Overall I really enjoyed the game. Just some observations/thoughts:
- I liked the regular trash mobs quite a bit; good variety and fun to fight.
- The bosses weren't particularly difficult outside of the Nameless King (took me 6 or 7 tries). Bloodborne's bosses were harder from what I remember. Still I wouldn't necessarily say they were easy; nice fun challenge mostly.
- For whatever reason I wasn't really "wowed" by the shortcuts. In the other SoulsBorne games I was always impressed by how some of the shortcuts connected.
- I liked the weapons and variety this time around. I went with a 40/40 quality build and used a Refined Dark Sword +10 and a Profane Greatsword +5. They were both powerful and equally useful in different situaitons.
- Solid variety of areas from caves to swamps to castles.
What can I say? Game is great fun, as expected, and I can't wait to jump into the expansions.
Also just finished game. 40 hours. LVL70. No grinding. Did it completely without coop. Didn't bother to look at exactly every nook and cranny.
Equipment: Fire Longsword +8/Aide or whatever it was called Spear+3/Bow of Pharris+7, Drang set without anything on head. Lion warrior shield/or whatever it is called now and torch in second hand. Endurance at 40 but overall nothing else above 20
So here is my minireview as full one will be after i will do 3-4 playtroughts.
If i had to sum up DS3 to a one concept, that concept would be LEVEL DESIGN.
DS3 clearly is THE best Souls game in therms of level design, yet it is also the shortest and the most linear one out of 3 in therms of areas. Still core of game aka level design is what drives whole game forward and openess of each level is what further drives it into really really really good game. From start to finish you never experience like some areas were worse than other or developers spend less time on them. I often missed various alcoves or even whole ways to get somewhere just to facepalm myself how did i not see this. There isn't much of them but what is there is quality. This quality/quantity is visible when you compare it to DS2 which obviously is the biggest of DS games in therm of content but at the same time quality of most of areas aside from few is woeful.
Second strongest point is both monster design and boss design. Sure there are some bosses that are joke (that cathedral one) but overall almost every boss is pure quality in therms of design. People often complained about humanoid bosses in DS2 (too many) but i think DS3 proves that this wasn't problem of "too many" but quality of design behind them. DS3 i think most of bosses are humanoids but at the same almost none of them are just humanoids. Dancer i think is best example here.
What is more funny is that some of normal monsters are almost as hard as bosses. I literally died more times to one of monsters (fighting it 1on1 no less !) than to any other boss in game and this wasn't case of single monster but multiple times throughout game. I think when it comes to normal mobs what is most striking here is share variety of monsters. Literally every new area you can expect not 1 or 2 but several new types of monsters and each of them having ton of different moves compared to previous games.
For NPCs part unfortunately i didn't really see many of them. By the time i finished game i had ton of scrolls to give people but i only had two people who could receive them and one died midway through the game. Didn't really finish anyone else story either so can't comment on that. This is probably because i played whole game solo so i didn't even summon npcs.
I like combat a lot in DS3. IT feels much better than DS1/DS2 and it is harder than both so increased challenge after playing DS1/DS2 feels good. Main difference i immidiely noticed is lack of good shields. Most of them don't come with 100% phys reduction and those that do are either guard break prone or just to heavy for my character to use. This change is imo one of the main pro changes in DS3 compared to other games. I also liked whole stagger-counterattack mechanic.
Alas i just finished game with one build not using anything else so i won't give my opinion fully on combat model yet.
Overall if i count only first play-through then:
DS3=DS1 > DeS >>>>> DS2
Like in DS1 case it feels super rewarding to finish it but for different reasons. In case of DS1 it was mainly whole shebang (story, npcs, level design, etc) where in DS3 case it is mostly about amazing level design and monster design which are above DS1 ones. So it equals a bit areas in which i think it is a bit worse (npcs for one).
Probably will start sorc run next time, or something dagger oriented.
How did you manage to beat Pontiff Sulayvahn on your own? I just had no idea how to take him on, so I put down my summon sign and co-oped him like 15 times to figure him out, and I still couldn't understand how I was supposed to beat him without overwhelming him. What is the strategy? He's the only boss I've encountered so far that I just couldn't beat alone.
How did you manage to beat Pontiff Sulayvahn on your own? I just had no idea how to take him on, so I put down my summon sign and co-oped him like 15 times to figure him out, and I still couldn't understand how I was supposed to beat him without overwhelming him. What is the strategy? He's the only boss I've encountered so far that I just couldn't beat alone.
Be aggressive so be close to him and watch out for his slight hand strikes on sides. He like to start from those and do 3-4 combo.
Learn his patterns. One he does that charge stab with violet weapon then wait for his second attack and close in do some combo.
He has both swords doing elemental damage so hiding behind shield is generally bad idea so roll instead
Once he is down to second stage quickly destroy his ghost before he can do anything or he will fuck you up.
Frankly speaking Pontiff is start of really challenging boss fights. Died like 10-13 times with him. Next one will be kicker.
How did you manage to beat Pontiff Sulayvahn on your own? I just had no idea how to take him on, so I put down my summon sign and co-oped him like 15 times to figure him out, and I still couldn't understand how I was supposed to beat him without overwhelming him. What is the strategy? He's the only boss I've encountered so far that I just couldn't beat alone.
I didn't have a ton of trouble with him, but he did get me a few times. Honestly I look bosses up on the wiki if I am having trouble. In this case check out this page, there is a walkthrough video.
Finally beat the game yesterday, in-game timer shows 35 hours (5 of those were PvP). Overall, I was disappointed. The game starts out great, but loses steam somewhere between Farron Keep and Boredom Valley. Playing the game turned into a chore at that point, and rarely elevated itself to entertainment again. There are several reasons for this:
1. The combat is way, way too repetitive. I had no incentive to change my weapon since heavier weapons are straight-up dogshit, so I used an Estoc from the moment I bought it to the end of the game. That means that I used essentially two attacks for the vast majority of the game (R1 short thrust and L2 lunge), three if you count the occasional backstab. I didn't even have a kick since it's replaced by a defensive slash. I was one of the people defending this game's combat earlier in this thread, because I assumed that the game would introduce enemies that would force me to change my tactics. It never did. Mob/boss performs an elaborate series of impractical attacks -> roll roll roll -> R1 stunlock -> repeat. Trying to break from this pattern was usually punished: enemy hyper-armor prevents interruption of combos, shields drain stamina too fast to be used as part of a strategy (they still prevent damage if you failed to roll in time), and slow weapons like I said before are unusable.
The great irony here is that I specced my character in STR and DEX (33 in each before putting points in anything else) so that I would be able to try as many weapons as possible. For the first half of the game I performed the following simple test every time I acquired a new weapon: I'd attack the butcher knife enemy near the dilapidated bridge bonfire and see what it takes to stagger them. Then I'd go back and try the same thing on the evangelist. Everything paled in comparison to the estoc (and the broadsword before that).
Like someone said earlier, if I wanted to play DMC I'd play DMC. And having replayed DMC3 not too long ago, that game's combat shits all over this one. You wanna make Dark Souls combat faster and less grounded? Go for it. But at least give the player a move list to match. Because right now the Souls series has changed from having a unique combat system to being a very shallow hack-and-slash that doesn't compare favorably with other titles in the genre.
2. Later levels are not nearly as well designed or interesting as early ones.In the early game levels seem lovingly hand-crafted, enemy positions make sense, the world feels alive and exploration is interesting. This helps fight the feeling that you're being railroaded from one location to the next. And it also lends the game a unique identity. But when the level design/ambiance goes back to being merely mediocre, I can once again compare it directly to Dark Souls 1, where it comes up short. The one time it picks back up again (at dungeon reminiscent of Tower of Latria, probably my favorite location of all the Souls games) I was too numb to care. Ditto with the return to a certain location from DS1: I felt like I should care, like I should be pumped, but I wasn't.
3. The game is too easy. Due to the way the combat system works, it doesn't take long before you master it, especially if you've played the previous titles in the series. This happens far before the game is over, and you'll just be going through the motions from that point on. I beat a bunch of bosses on the first try, the vast majority on my second, a few on my third (including the final boss), and humorously enough the Dancer is joined only by Greatwood (!) in taking more (five attempts each, to be exact). Dancer was aided by inexplicable framerate drops (the only ones I experience outside of stutters caused by saving) and an even more inexplicable atrocious camera view.
Here's the kicker: I don't actually feel like I performed well in a good number of those boss fights. A boss would do a bunch of crazy shit, I would respond by rolling around like a madman. Sometimes I'd win and others I'd lose and get it on the next try. But when I won I often felt like I just got lucky. I did not feel like I'd learned their patterns or gained some insight into an appropriate strategy to use against them (save for the meta-strategy of roll roll roll and stagger with my estoc). I definitely did not feel confident that I would win again if tasked with redoing the fight on the spot. Compare that with DS2 (which I love to shit-talk) and specifically the Sir Alonne fight. On my first playthrough it took me a good number of tries to beat him. On my second playthrough (which happened a month ago in preparation for DS3) I beat him on my second try and was extremely confident in my ability to beat him again if needed. Where previous Souls games demanded mastery to proceed, this one seems content to let you brute-force it by rolling the dice a couple of times. I rarely felt like I had to git gud. And the few times I had to I was almost offended: I'd grown so complacent that my reaction was basically "How dare you make me put effort into this?"
4. Lore and NPCs are quite boring. Not much to say here, really. New characters are completely uninteresting, and recurring characters are by their very nature not as interesting as they once were. Things get worse in the second half of the game since almost no new NPCs are introduced, making levels even less interesting. The omission of merchants outside of the game's hub area is another sore point. The covenants are total shit, with barely any dialogue or lore to them.
5. PvP is awful. Invading sucks, straight up. You'll almost always be fighting 1v2/1v3, and the host can easily summon replacement phantoms as needed. There's nothing more painful than losing to 3 people each of which you could have beaten individually. Invasions often devolve into boring stalemates as invaders camp powerful enemies while the host and his legion of phantoms either wait them out or grind enemies down with arrows. Additionally, I played the entire game embered and without summons and only got invaded once outside of the designated covenant areas. So not only do I get thrown into unwinnable 1v3's as an invader, I also miss out on invasions completely as a host.
All in all I rank the games as follows:
DeS > DS1 > DS3 > DS2
Yes, I still enjoyed it more than DS2. I haven't played Bloodborne.
Extra remarks (SPOILERS):
I didn't come across either Smouldering Lake or Archdragon Peak, so if either of those is great I wouldn't know. The fight on the bridge to Boredom Valley is a fucking shitshow. I have no idea what Wolnir is supposed to do because I killed him too quickly. Dragonslayer, the Princes, and Soul of Cinder were all fun. Deacons of the Deep, while not really a boss fight, was still enjoyable. Champion Gundyr was one of the harder bosses, but I've already forgotten everything about him. Yhorm fight was a complete waste, could have been a good non-gimmick fight. That gimmick worked much better the first time around in DeS. Finding the maid in the alternate firelink shrine was cool. You can only have so many dragons torching bridges before that shit gets stale. The only throwback to DS1 that worked on me was the dead blacksmith in Anor Londo. I will miss your tap tap tap, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, my friend. Why did I run a sword through my wife's head?
ODK is one of the best bosses of the game, not too frustrating, just challenging enough. A very welcome change from the constant late game in your face spammers.
How did you manage to beat Pontiff Sulayvahn on your own? I just had no idea how to take him on, so I put down my summon sign and co-oped him like 15 times to figure him out, and I still couldn't understand how I was supposed to beat him without overwhelming him. What is the strategy? He's the only boss I've encountered so far that I just couldn't beat alone.
I disagree with Perkel. I couldn't time my rolls right with this boss, so I grabbed a good shield and circle strafed him. I beat him in 2 tries after a lot of frustation when trying to beat him via rolling.
I am already at the swamp (I have 8 hours in my save, and really I hope that I am not completing this too fast).
With each area I like even more this game. Had some time and dificulty getting my way trough the Undead Settlement. And already lost myshelf 2 times in the swamp. :D
Any way I am doing the build I always make on my first playtrough: A Kinght. Still using the knight armor set with my sweet Astora Straight Sword, a medium shield, dagger, torch, Mace and a Battle Axe.
Going to fight the Black Knight now.
Also discovered that a safe and fast way to get trough the areas were the water is deepest in the swamp, is to use the Dagger's Skill (because you can perform it even without FP).
ODK is one of the best bosses of the game, not too frustrating, just challenging enough. A very welcome change from the constant late game in your face spammers.
ODK is one of the best bosses of the game, not too frustrating, just challenging enough. A very welcome change from the constant late game in your face spammers.
Yeah I've never understood From's thought processes about armor. I guess there's a reason fashion souls is a thing. I mean fully armored knight IS a bit more resilient than a dude in a Master's gear but the difference is laughably negligible, considering in the real world a guy in a full plate armor is basically invicible.
