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From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

Nathir

Liturgist
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
1,090
So, I was gifted a copy of this game a while ago, had fun with first part, but now I've been basically just running through Tomb of Giants and Archives because I don't like anything after Sen's Fortress (except Old Londo Ruins), considering just dropping it alltogether. How do sequels compare?

DS2 has mostly the same combat as DS1. Only clunkier and slower. Enemies have more tracking in their attacks, but you get used to it. There is a healing item you can buy in unlimited quantities that is faster than your flask for some reason. Has one of the worst difficulty curves, where it starts out really hard and gets easier and easier. Level design is fine for the most part, although there are some stinkers. The DLC areas especially are great to explore. There is no original or interesting story. If you thought DS1 had a cool world or characters, DS2 doesn't. It has no idea what it is about, and you are given no reason to care. There are some attempts in referencing DS1 lore for no reason but fanservice. It has some cool NPCs but that's about it. In the intro you are told by an NPC you will die over and over again as she starts to cackle for no reason. And indeed you will die a lot. As Dark Souls 2 makes it clear that killing the player is a top priority. You will get swarmed with a lot more enemies, even early. You will get ambushed or shot at by enemies you can't see. One of the things that stuck with me on my replay last summer was how in one level there is a door that opens into nothingness and you fall down a cliff. Why would there be a door like this? Oh, to kill the player. There are a lot of cool weapons and armor to try out though. As far as loot goes DS2 is pretty fun in collecting different items. But most importantly Dark Souls 2 is an ugly game. It received a major graphical downgrade that made certain areas look like from 2005. And the design of the enemies and the world itself is very clunky and boring. If you thought DS1 had a cool atmosphere and visual design, DS2 lost that aswell. Has the most forgettable bosses ever. The three DLCs are far better than anything in the base game.

DS3 changes the combat into something much faster. Bosses are faster and have more tracking, and longer combos. You have fewer opportunities to counterattack and heal. Generally even basic enemies can be harder than some bosses in DS1/DS2. Level design is the worst in the entire series. Most boring world to traverse and explore. If DS2 still had levels that wanted to kill you, DS3 losses this and the challenge become single enemies instead.The visuals are better this time, but for some reason everything is grey. Again, there is little actual story here. It tries hard to reference DS1 in everything it does. Has some non-story about cycles, most generic NPCs, nothing matters. Remember when I said levels are bad? There's a lore reason for it now. Multiple places are phasing into the same reality and everything becomes conjoined and cobbled together. Worst game for loot collecting and trying out different weapons/armor imo.

Play DS2 if you would like more of the same, except uglier and with less reason to care.

Play DS3 if you would like to try out a faster combat pace, with single enemies being harder than DS1 bosses, and with even less reason to care.

If you can't even finish DS1, I'm guessing you won't be able to finish the other 2 aswell. My suggestion? Try Demon souls or Elden ring.
 

RoSoDude

Arcane
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
727
One of the things that stuck with me on my replay last summer was how in one level there is a door that opens into nothingness and you fall down a cliff. Why would there be a door like this? Oh, to kill the player.

Just a nitpick, but are you referring to the door in Lost Bastille by the Ruin Sentinels? The purpose of that is to provide a shortcut (albeit a risky one) from higher up that you can jump down into, avoiding the clusterfuck of Royal Swordsman you'd otherwise have to face to get there. I myself used it in my numerous ill-fated attempts to defeat the Ruin Sentinels with a scimitar on my first playthrough.

 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Max Damage , what Nathir said. DS2 for build variety, DS3 for bosses, and Elden Ring for legacy dungeons. But keep in mind those are not on par with the best in the series.

Which begs the question: have you tried Bloodborne and Demons Souls? They're creme de la creme together with DS1. I'd suggest trying them if you got a PS4/5.

Oh and Bloodborne is the coolest looking one. You'll feel awesome running on cobblestones wearing a long coat and a gentleman's cane. :cool:
 
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Max Damage

Savant
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
657
Thank you for the detailed reply, I actually finished most of DS by now, only Painted World, DLC and Gwyn are left to do. Turns out Bed of Chaos was just next to where I quit, and I would feel bad not finishing her. Now, a few deaths later, I have all Lord Souls. If the worst is behind, then I can enjoy Dark Souls again :yeah:
 

Max Damage

Savant
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
657
Max Damage , what Nathir said. DS2 for build variety, DS3 for bosses, and Elden Ring for legacy dungeons. But keep in mind those are not on par with the best in the series.

Which begs the question: have you tried Bloodborne and Demons Souls? They're creme de la creme together with DS1. I'd suggest trying them if you got a PS4/5.

Oh and Bloodborne is the coolest looking one. You'll feel awesome running on cobblestones wearing a long coat and a gentleman's cane. :cool:
I don't have PS4, so I may get Sekiro after I finish DMC 5, since it's on PC. I though it's its own thing though, no? More like straight action game instead of action/RPG/dungeon crawler that is Dark Souls.
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Max Damage , what Nathir said. DS2 for build variety, DS3 for bosses, and Elden Ring for legacy dungeons. But keep in mind those are not on par with the best in the series.

Which begs the question: have you tried Bloodborne and Demons Souls? They're creme de la creme together with DS1. I'd suggest trying them if you got a PS4/5.

Oh and Bloodborne is the coolest looking one. You'll feel awesome running on cobblestones wearing a long coat and a gentleman's cane. :cool:
I don't have PS4, so I may get Sekiro after I finish DMC 5, since it's on PC. I though it's its own thing though, no? More like straight action game instead of action/RPG/dungeon crawler that is Dark Souls.
Both stray from the formula somewhat, with Bloodborne retaining strong RPG elements and so being similar to DS but faster. Sekiro though is almost an action game. Both are amazing and much better than the Souls sequels IMHO.
 

Max Damage

Savant
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
657
Finished Painted World of Ariamis, now that's more like it :love:The difference compared to something like Lost Izalith is day and night, even though the enemies are much less strong numerically, because of how placed they are, you always have to stay alert. Exploring it was also fun, probably best level overall, even if Blighttown feels more epic :cool:
 

NJClaw

OoOoOoOoOoh
Patron
Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Messages
7,513
Location
Pronouns: rusts/rusty
Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
According to the established lore of DS development, the painted world is a prototype they realized before working on the actual game, while Lost Izalith is the last area they scrambled up while being pressured to release the damn game. Which means that they are the two examples of what they would do with all the time and money and what they would end up doing with no time or money.
 

Nathir

Liturgist
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
1,090
One of the things that stuck with me on my replay last summer was how in one level there is a door that opens into nothingness and you fall down a cliff. Why would there be a door like this? Oh, to kill the player.

Just a nitpick, but are you referring to the door in Lost Bastille by the Ruin Sentinels? The purpose of that is to provide a shortcut (albeit a risky one) from higher up that you can jump down into, avoiding the clusterfuck of Royal Swordsman you'd otherwise have to face to get there. I myself used it in my numerous ill-fated attempts to defeat the Ruin Sentinels with a scimitar on my first playthrough.



Yes, that is indeed the one I meant. Unfortunately your information does not make it any better.
 

Nathir

Liturgist
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
1,090
Max Damage , what Nathir said. DS2 for build variety, DS3 for bosses, and Elden Ring for legacy dungeons. But keep in mind those are not on par with the best in the series.

Which begs the question: have you tried Bloodborne and Demons Souls? They're creme de la creme together with DS1. I'd suggest trying them if you got a PS4/5.

Oh and Bloodborne is the coolest looking one. You'll feel awesome running on cobblestones wearing a long coat and a gentleman's cane. :cool:
I don't have PS4, so I may get Sekiro after I finish DMC 5, since it's on PC. I though it's its own thing though, no? More like straight action game instead of action/RPG/dungeon crawler that is Dark Souls.

Yes, Sekiro is mostly it's own thing. The gameplay is completely different, more fast paced and focused on deflecting attacks instead of spacing or rolling. There are no spells or stats. Altough you can unlock different skills and different tools. While there are hidden things to find in the map your character has greatly increased mobility compared to Souls games and you can breeze through the levels, ignoring most enemies. Main focus is the combat and bossfights. It's also a little shorter than a Souls game. Personally I think it's a lot of fun. Also has great visuals and atmosphere (If you like a a japanese aestethic). And great enemy designs. Story is more straighforward but it's not all that interesting or important.
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,809
Finished Painted World of Ariamis, now that's more like it :love:The difference compared to something like Lost Izalith is day and night, even though the enemies are much less strong
i don't know man, I feel those snow rats and wheel skellies can solo the entire game easily.
 

Max Damage

Savant
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
657
I didn't have much trouble with those rats, but the skelewheels I found much more dangerous than ones in Catacombs indeed. Get pinned by one in those corridors and find out the real "stress" part in your build's test :shredder:
 

Blaine

Cis-Het Oppressor
Patron
Joined
Oct 6, 2012
Messages
1,874,662
Location
Roanoke, VA
Grab the Codex by the pussy
I've probably posted this before, and forgot. Oh, well.

D_JzmSZWsAEwOpo.jpg
 

Ventidius

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
552
I've been doing a new run of this game lately and it's amazing how easy the Catacombs-related areas are now compared to the first time I played. Even the wheel skellies are not so much of an issue. Both patiently and methodically dispatching them one by one and rushing through with pinpoint precise running zigzags work consistently.

That's in part due to getting more attuned to the movement and combat mechanics over multiple games, but also due to simple knowledge of what's a ahead: knowing to have a good divine-infused weapon or something like a Silver Knight Spear, knowing where to get the lamp and how to get the most of it, knowing about Patches, knowing the Nito fight quirks. And so on. For better or worse, that was one of the distinctive traits of DS1 compared to later games, knowledge often made almost as much of a difference as skill.
 
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Max Damage

Savant
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
657
Catacombs and Tomb of Giants I went through smashing skeletons with my default mace upgraded to holy, felt like upholding the tradition :cool:
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
The best explanation on Hollowing I've seen:

https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/68b7da/the_meaning_of_hollowing/

TL;DR: it's humanity true form. When the fire fades, the illusion created by the gods vanishes. Hollows can keep their sanity and function normally as long as they believe in something. Becoming "undead" is simply returning to their natural, immortal state with the approach of the age of Dark, the same way the gods are immortal in their age of Fire. But the gods feared the age of Dark and so schemed and put up a lie to perpetuate the Fire.
 
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