Review RPG Codex Review: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die

[Excommunicator]

It's just as questionable when people talk of Fallout or any other game that way. I don't think it's constructive to describe a game in those sorts of terms. It just blurs the important distinction between describing something as a well constructed game and expressing one's very personal experience and attachment with the game

 

[Jasede]

WHY IS THIS ON RPGCODEX TROLOLO

CUS ITS A TRUE TURN-BASED RPG WITH MENINGFUL STATS BRO

If we only reported those RPGs we wouldn't have had anything to report in the last couple years.

 

[St. Toxic]

I don't think it belongs to the aRPG genre. It's more of an action/adventure game, but people tend to get confused by stat requirements, inventory and numerical representation. Not to mention the long-lost feeling of getting stuck in a dungeon, afraid to take another step, might produce some flashbacks to earlier dungeon-crawler experiences. The essence, though, is more along the lines of Castlevania.

 

[Average Manatee]

I don't think anyone is talking about DS as the best game ever. I'm not going to go through a hundred pages of discussion to verify that, but if there is then it's the minority. Just keep in mind that the aRPG genre is littered with Diablo ripoffs, God of War buttonmashers, and Mass Effect clones. The Souls series is a godsend.

 

[Zlaja]

I made it through Tomb Of Giants
Somehow I made it through
Didn't know how lost I was
Until I found the bonfire

I was beat incomplete
Id been had, I was sad and blue
But you made me feel
Yeah, you made me feel
Shiny and new

Like a virgin, lagstabed for the very first time
Like a virgin
When your bonfire beats(after kindling it, with humanity)
Next to mine

Gonna give you all my love, Solaire
My humanity is fading fast
Been saving it all for you
Cause only love can last

Youre so incandescent and you're mine
Make me strong, yeah you make me bold
Oh your summon sign thawed out
Yeah, your summon sign thawed out
I am scared and cold

 

[Black_Willow]

WHY IS THIS ON RPGCODEX TROLOLO

CUS ITS A TRUE TURN-BASED RPG WITH MENINGFUL STATS BRO

If we only reported those RPGs we wouldn't have had anything to report in the last couple years.

Well, you were the one to claim Witcher isn't an RPG, whereas it has much more RPG'ness than Dark Souls.

 

[St. Toxic]

Kind of like how Poles aren't people, but more people than hamsters.

 

[Excommunicator]

I don't think anyone is talking about DS as the best game ever. I'm not going to go through a hundred pages of discussion to verify that, but if there is then it's the minority. Just keep in mind that the aRPG genre is littered with Diablo ripoffs, God of War buttonmashers, and Mass Effect clones. The Souls series is a godsend.

No I meant it being referred to the best of its kind, whether that means ARPG, action, adventure, I don't know.

I did play the Witcher though and that is one hell of a weak attempt at an RPG

 

[Serious_Business]

if there is then it's the minority

The minority is always right

 

[MicoSelva]

The Codex got a review copy of Dark Souls?

Nice review, btw, the two parts are nicely complementing each other.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

It's worth it to play Dark Souls just to see an ARPG combat system done well. It works very, very well, which is all the more impressive because of how simple conceptually it is. Surely it doesn't take a genius to come up with the way equipment weight, movement speed, poise, stability and stagger potential work in the game. It's kind of a pity that DS wastes this great system on mostly gimmicky encounter design. Why not more humanoid enemies with good AI, From Software?

In any case, it's worth playing, if only for the novelty. At the very least it's definitely not part of the decline, and doesn't have any of the things we all hate about modern gaming.

 

[Jaesun]

It's amusing some of the things people assume.

 

[Ion Prothon II]

In other words, Derp Souls is an official Codex GOTY 2012.

 

[Average Manatee]

if there is then it's the minority

The minority is always right

But Excommunicator is the minority of the minority saying that the minority is wrong. How does this work?

 

[SerratedBiz]

In other words, Derp Souls is an official Codex GOTY 2012.

It's too bad we can't vote for Skyrim for two years in a row, huh?

Oh wait, there's Dawnguard DLC!

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I don't know what it is but DS seems to have a really rabid and insecure fanbase that lashes out at anyone suggesting it isn't the best ARPG ever.

That happens with every popular game, and how obnoxious the fanbase is has little to do with the game itself anyway (see: NMA)

My instinct tells me the game isn't nearly as good [for someone who likes western RPGs/ARPGs] as the fanboys seem to make out, and that there's a stronger Asian influence (including console influence) than it appears from a distance, and I'm not even referring to the horrible port. For those reasons I am reluctant and doubtful, but I'll be open to being surprised

If you expect a game to be as good as the most passionate fans say, you'll always be disappointed. That's just your common sense talking, not your gamer instincts.

 

[l3loodAngel]

In other words, Derp Souls is an official Codex GOTY 2012.

It's too bad we can't vote for Skyrim for two years in a row, huh?

Oh wait, there's Dawnguard DLC!

We all know that only heartfire matters

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

When I get my hands on it I'll resurrect this thread and post my impressions

Let's face it: no one cares.

 

[Excommunicator]

That happens with every popular game, and how obnoxious the fanbase is has little to do with the game itself anyway (see: NMA)

Can't speak for other forums but on here DS fans in particular always took it to heart more than they should.

If you expect a game to be as good as the most passionate fans say, you'll always be disappointed. That's just your common sense talking, not your gamer instincts.

That part is common sense but there's a lot of insistence that it is exactly like a western ARPG so I'm expecting small things that everyone else doesn't talk about (because they are used to them), and I expect to be more sensitive to those things.

Let's face it: no one cares.

Did I say bad things about your favourite games. How does that feel

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Did I say bad things about your favourite games. How does that feel

My favorite game is actually Jagged Alliance 2, but feel free to say stupid things. I don't mind it.

 

[Excommunicator]

You could only dream of understanding the things I say

 

[Nael]

Did you use a gamepad or keyboard+mouse for your review?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Can't speak for other forums but on here DS fans in particular always took it to heart more than they should.

This is partly due to the edgy posters' habit of dismissing games for stupid / made up reasons. You either ignore these (and people will think they're right because nobody bother to prove them wrong) or you reply and look butthurt (loooool, can't I criticize your favorite game?).

 

[praetor]

Did you use a gamepad or keyboard+mouse for your review?

tried it briefly with kb+mouse, but since my free time unfortunately and unexpectedly took a nose-dive 2 days after i got the game, i played almost exclusively with a ps3 gamepad since i had considerable experience from the ps3 version and it felt much more natural and comfortable. that said, with some tweaking and the mousefix, kb+m could be better than Severance (still the most similar game combat-wise, imho, and there the kb+m felt kinda lacking... it would be sooo awesome if somebody did a faithful remake for modern systems )

 

[Average Manatee]

Tried KB originally, sucked ass (day 1, no mods, couldn't be assed to fix keys when I just wanted to play), switched to PS3 controller and was fine. Now play with either one very comfortably, using KB whenever I'm only playing a quick bit or when the controller is being used/hidden somewhere else. You do need the mousefix if you want to use mouse (KB only is workable though). You also want to rebind your controls because the defaults are shit. And its actually impossible to bind to a number of keys (numerics mostly) within the game menu, you need to directly modify the configuration file in \AppData\Local\NBGI\DarkSouls. If anyone is interested I can post my config file with keybinds in it.