From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[Lutte]

Actually, I've long regarded Elden Ring's open-world philosophy as a promising sign, because From are incapable or unwilling to continue producing quality level design in their games—so might as well ditch the non-open levels that they weren't doing worth a fuck anymore anyway.

Elden Ring's open world content (ie areas you find that aren't legacy dungeons that work like previous game levels) is basically Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeons. Except that chalice dungeons had a higher variety of enemy encounters, lol.

 

[Max Damage]

I still have DLC + lava land to conquer. Ok, some areas are still fine, I guess my problem is in part because I explore as much as I can and kill everything in my path, I end up stronger ahead of the curve developers planned. Or because you're free to do post-Anor Londo in any order. Either way, peak parts of the journey for me so far were Undead Parish, Darkroot and Blighttown. Blighttown descent - Quelaag - return to Firelink is like 10/10 journey in itself, I guess keeping this kind of quality for whole game wasn't possible.

 

[Elwro]

The DLC is quite good, actually.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Actually, I've long regarded Elden Ring's open-world philosophy as a promising sign, because From are incapable or unwilling to continue producing quality level design in their games—so might as well ditch the non-open levels that they weren't doing worth a fuck anymore anyway.

Except Elden Ring has quality legacy dungeons.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I still have DLC + lava land to conquer. Ok, some areas are still fine, I guess my problem is in part because I explore as much as I can and kill everything in my path, I end up stronger ahead of the curve developers planned. Or because you're free to do post-Anor Londo in any order. Either way, peak parts of the journey for me so far were Undead Parish, Darkroot and Blighttown. Blighttown descent - Quelaag - return to Firelink is like 10/10 journey in itself, I guess keeping this kind of quality for whole game wasn't possible.

The second you leave Anor Londo you are thrown out of a linear progression and depending on the order you chose to do many of the following areas, some of them will eventually become trivial if you level too much.

However, if they kept the game linear to the end, some here would probably bitch the game is too straight forward and doesn't allow for free roaming.

Now as far as i'm concerned there's an easy solution to the issue: just don't level. It's not like you HAVE to do it.

Hell, the game even gives you a tool that allows you finish the game without leveling at all, the pyro glove. Indeed, Dark Souls for me has the best SL1 experience, precisely because they intended you to do it and the whole concept of a weak scrub wearing rags and living in a swamp taking on some of the legendacy bosses in the game with the power of the flame in his hand is just so damn cool. Doesn't matter it's way easier than finishing the other games as SL1 the idea is just awesome.

 

[Blaine]

Except Elden Ring has quality legacy dungeons.

We'll see about that when (and if) I get around to playing it. I don't remember offhand whether your notions of level design and exploration are sufficiently inclined.

Dark Souls 3 brought my love affair with FromSoft's games to a screeching halt. I've been cautious ever since. Someone may finally have convinced me to play Bloodborne, largely because he agreed entirely with my assessment of DS3 before I mentioned that I hadn't played Bloodborne—which predated DS3, but only by a little.

 

[Max Damage]

I've reached Lost Izalith, and yeah, think I'm going to take a break for good. I've never seen a game take nosedive this bad by the end. Maybe I'll come back to try DLC later, but right now I'm just left with bad taste in mouth.

 

[Silverfish]

I won't subject the codex to another six page argument about Izalith, but give it another chance, dude.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I've reached Lost Izalith, and yeah, think I'm going to take a break for good. I've never seen a game take nosedive this bad by the end. Maybe I'll come back to try DLC later, but right now I'm just left with bad taste in mouth.

It's not the "end", it's just that area.

Once you get past Anor Londo (btw, i hope you didn't skip painted world while you were there, one of the best areas in the game), you now have different directions with different main bosses at the end of it and some of those areas are amazing (Tomb of Giants, Library) and some not so much (the Four Kings area and Lost Izalith). If you went Lost Izalith first it wouldn't be the end area, because you'd have all the others to do still.

You then got the DLC which is the actual "end game" and the areas are all good.

I have to ask, did you guys ever finish Torment (the number one RPG according to the Codex list lul). Because that game too takes a massive nose dive in quality after the second third and is only redeemed by the excellent ending.

 

[Elwro]

Izalith actually includes a few interesting pyro-related tidbits, but to appreciate them you have to really be into that stuff, which you might not be on your first playthrough.

Hm, on second thought there are very few such things there. But: Siegmeyer, Kirk and Solaire should make things interesting. Then again, you might not meet them there at all...

 

[curds]

I have to ask, did you guys ever finish Torment (the number one RPG according to the Codex list lul). Because that game too takes a massive nose dive in quality after the second third and is only redeemed by the excellent ending.

Can't think of (m)any RPGs that don't. Early- and especially mid-game are always the highpoint of a RPG, imo. I just finished Gothic 2 which is my favourite RPG after DS1, and man, does that game also take a massive dive in quality in the final chapters.

 

[Elwro]

Arcanum's endgame is also not the same level of quality as, say, Tarant...

 

[Silva]

Lyric Suite ,

I don't think Izalith is the only problem post-Lordvessel. The whole game changes it's character somewhat after that, due to 1) being free to teleport between bonfires and 2) some awful final areas (Seath's Cavern, Izalith, part of the Catacombs, etc) coupled with more "end of the line" levels that do not shortcut back onto others. That changes the experience which was a novelty untl then - a tense exploration of a seamless world full of surprising shortcuts - to something more traditional/run of the mill "okay I must get to the end of this level and kill a boss.... YAWN". I know I dropped the game at that point in my first playthrough, and had to come back to finish it a couple months later.

On PST: I think you meant the game's third quarter? That is, when you go outside Sigil (that hell with the pillar of skulls, Mad Max city, etc)? Because that was the lowest point in the game for me. The final level (fortress of regret?) I found simply amazing (specially the confrontation with your past selves). Anyway, I find the low point in PST shorter and less significant than DS1. It's almost like a bad interlude in PST, while it's the whole final third in DS1.

 

[Max Damage]

Yeah, Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith isn't like sole exception, merely the most obvious place where lots of enemies are just placed in wide open corridors with nothing going for them. Also, those small stone statues that breathe fire feel more like early-mid game enemy than end game, come on.

 

[Silva]

What's the name of the pre-Nito area? I think it's tail end of Tomb of Giants? I find that part pretty crap, too.

 

[Silva]

Actually, I've long regarded Elden Ring's open-world philosophy as a promising sign, because From are incapable or unwilling to continue producing quality level design in their games—so might as well ditch the non-open levels that they weren't doing worth a fuck anymore anyway.

Elden Ring's open world content (ie areas you find that aren't legacy dungeons that work like previous game levels) is basically Bloodborne's Chalice Dungeons. Except that chalice dungeons had a higher variety of enemy encounters, lol.

In other words: everything outside of Legacy dungeons is shit in ER. It's the most flacid open-world I've seen.

 

[Max Damage]

What's the name of the pre-Nito area? I think it's tail end of Tomb of Giants? I find that part pretty crap, too.

Yeah, but at least ToG felt like they tried. What I didn't like at all is how you take unavoidable fall damage coming to Nito AND then get hit before you even see the boss. The level itself isn't really hard, just tedious because you either take it slow with lantern or just sprint through because those skeleton dogs (?) are a pain in the ass, and the distance between 2nd bonfire and Nito is long. I did like the part where you meet Patches + secret ring.

 

[Lyric Suite]

What's the name of the pre-Nito area? I think it's tail end of Tomb of Giants? I find that part pretty crap, too.

Madness, Tomb of Giants was awesome.

 

[Silva]

Oh I agree. It's just that final part that's boring.

 

[Raghar]

What's the name of the pre-Nito area? I think it's tail end of Tomb of Giants? I find that part pretty crap, too.

Madness, Tomb of Giants was awesome.

Catacombs are awesome at low level, perhaps with holy club. (There is hint about smith behind Moonlight butterfly, thus the smiting stone is relatively easily obtainable.)

 

[Caim]

Tomb of the Giants with the lights on:

 

[Elwro]

Wtf happens at 6:45? Just a hack or is there an invisible road in the normal game that everyone somehow missed?

 

[Caim]

Wtf happens at 6:45? Just a hack or is there an invisible road in the normal game that everyone somehow missed?

Looks like a flying hack to me. There's nothing there, including properly rendered walls.

 

[Blaine]

I enjoy that the Tomb of the Giants is an enormous pit wending downward through a tall, cliffside cavern that someone presumably tossed giant- and regular-sized coffins down into. The cascade of dicarded coffins created impromptu bridges, ramps, and a big old pile of skeletons at the bottom to agglomerate into Nito.

The larger coffin-like chambers are a bit of a mystery. Were they the biggest coffins that someone turned into spaces of infernal worship and/or occult experimentation? Were they built later?

 

[Caim]

The larger coffin-like chambers are a bit of a mystery. Were they the biggest coffins that someone turned into spaces of infernal worship and/or occult experimentation? Were they built later?

The biggest coffins don't really feel llike coffins, the dimensions feel off somehow. A bit too short and high for their width, so what was going to buried inside of them?