From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[praetor]

Even if the overall game quality is a bit weaker than DS1, the fact that DS2 is consistent quality through (or even better towards the end) means I bet I'll end up spending more time with it and enjoying it more. Maybe even try some speed-running.

it isn't. there's literally 3 good enemies in the 2nd half of the game. 3. and one decent level

 

[DragoFireheart]

that's so fucking wrong on so many levels. you did not forget anything, most people with more than 2 neurons in their brain actually dislike the plot of DaS2 because it throws around shit haphazardly, it's not that you forget, it's that it's a shitty plot point/transition, you don't forget, you're just forced into the shitty plot, while this dude's reaction is basically "but hey this is From so it actually has a deeper meaning, it's not the team having no clue how to tell a story and particularly how to pace it"... "it's a feature, not a bug!" you'll exclaim next

Honestly the plot seems as "forced" as the previous. The only one that was obvious was Demon's Souls where it's pretty much told to you blatantly.

EDIT:

it isn't. there's literally 3 good enemies in the 2nd half of the game. 3. and one decent level

NOW you're entering full retard territory. You bought into the hype too much.

i also addressed the "points" you had (especially about linearity. it's not about "throwing ladders around" it's about good fucking level design and not putting bonfires every 150 meters. his example of the Copse is fucking excellent in addressing how the 2 teams went about designing the levels. the 1st actually thought about it, while the 2nd went about plastering it with bonfires because it was the easy and lazy way out) in more detail previously, but for some "reading is t3h h4rd" apparently.

So because he found one example of a badly balanced bonfire that's likely remnant from the Dark Environment that was going to be used but was instead scrapped due to beta testers complaining about it, it means the entire game was lazily designed?

That tree-log shortcut was the only example that comes to mind of a poorly placed shortcut. I do agree that there are too many bonfires though. There should only be half as many bonfires.

 

[Invictus]

From a comercial standpoint it makes sense they call this Dark Souls 2, they are trying to create the all might franchise concept after all. But they could have save themselves sooooo much nerdy angst if they had just called this Cursed Souls and called it a day. Hell I might even do a new intro screen for that purpose
Oh seems that spineless faggot Vaati erased his comment!

 

[80Maxwell08]

I'm going to ahead and say some of the endgame is stupid. Aldia's keep which after a harmless opening is just a long corridor with a couple of ogres and the boss which is either kind of hard with physical characters to a complete joke with spell casters (didn't even need 4 sunlight spears and killed him before he attacked once on my cleric) then dragon's aerie is really dumb. Either take advantage or terrain and cheese the few dragons there or just run past everything. Dragon's Shrine has it's own problems with giant enemies (not literal giants) suddenly being absurdly fast all of a sudden.

Also the Vendrick fight is crap. He just uses very slow melee attacks that do a ton of damage and that's it. Nothing interesting just either dodge or die from a slow combo that you almost can't get out of because of how long it stuns.

From a comercial standpoint it makes sense they call this Dark Souls 2, they are trying to create the all might franchise concept after all. But they could have save themselves sooooo much nerdy angst if they had just called this Cursed Souls and called it a day. Hell I might even do a new intro screen for that purpose

Try King's Souls since that comes up way more.

 

[Invictus]

Although he did have a very good point about the hammer knights in the shrine; it iis really unfair when a game with combat based on applying the same rules to everybody to make it fair drops in an enemy which circumvents the action\cooldown mechanic for the sake of making it hard and slmost forcing you to cheese them with ranged attacks or yeah go into a doorway

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Especially when the sword/shield counterpart spams a very slow and predictable combo with 0 tracking. HEY GUIZ Y AM I COMPLAINING I'M JUST A N00B I NEED GO GIT GUD.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Although he did have a very good point about the hammer knights in the shrine; it iis really unfair when a game with combat based on applying the same rules to everybody to make it fair drops in an enemy which circumvents the action\cooldown mechanic for the sake of making it hard and slmost forcing you to cheese them with ranged attacks or yeah go into a doorway

The Hammer knights are there to tell you "stop blocking me". If you roll behind them they'll quit their swinging.

then dragon's aerie is really dumb.

Dragon's Aerie sorta reminds me of the big tree branch area from Dark Souls 1 where you had to hunt down the Crystal Lizards. Dragon's Aerie is a pretty area but it was basically a glorified lizard hunt.

 

[Invictus]

Yeah Draco but only because they were designed to respond that way not because they had the same action cooldown everybody else does in the game; if you stay in front they can swing all night like cherry pie

 

[DragoFireheart]

Yeah Draco but only because they were designed to respond that way not because they had the same action cooldown everybody else does in the game; if you stay in front they can swing all night like cherry pie

Well then don't stand in front of them.

 

[Invictus]

She's my cherry pie
Cool drink of water such a sweet surprise
Taste so good make a grown man cry
Sweet cherry pie!

 

[Gozma]

i agree with almost everything. the more i play and think about it, the more of a disappointment the game is. such a massive clusterfuck of a game

damn, that is a wait for steam sale click

 

[Kanedias]

I really don't get the complaint about enemy hordes, groups of enemies require skill to defeat, I don't know why people think they are cheap. Also, Demon's Souls was exactly the same, except that people cheesed the whole game with the Thief's Ring so they didn't notice. 4-2 without the Thief's Ring is extremely bad design, much worse than any fight with groups of enemies in this game. Here you can deal with them without resorting to an overpowered ring.

As for bosses with adds, like the Flexile Sentry, it's the same thing. The adds take skill to beat. They have patterns. I have done these bosses even before the nerfs, and sure, the fights are more chaotic, but it doesn't mean that they are unfair or lazy. Especially Flexile Sentry, the adds have complex movesets. The issue is that people enter the fog door and trade hits, so they think there's no strategy, but this isn't the case.

I actually liked that the game offers more fights against groups of enemies as they're more fun and challenging.

As for Freja shooting a laser, what is the problem? It has a lore reason, and I didn't find it silly or anything, no more than the Moonlight Butterfly shooting a laser.

I dislike some things about the game, like the sense of geography (which is utter crap), and some level design decisions, but I don't see how any of the above is a problem.

I also found the bosses in general to be very fun. All of them, even the super easy ones like Prowling Magus / Congregation. Dark Souls 1 had better bosses and worse bosses, the bosses in this game have a more consistent quality (without reaching the level of Artorias or Ornstein and Smough).

For me, saying whether Dark Souls I or II has the better bosses is difficult, because in Dark Souls II I enjoyed the bosses as a whole, but Dark Souls I had some brilliant ones that this game doesn't have, so it's a tough question. However, I'd say that both Dark Souls games are better than Demon's Souls in terms of bosses.

The only reason people do not find some bosses to be as memorable in this game is because they already have a lot of Souls experience. I played Demon's Souls after Dark Souls and I really didn't find the bosses to be anything special, in fact I found them to be quite bad except Tower Knight / Astraea / Flamelurker / False King. If Demon's Souls had been my first game, I'm sure this would be different.

Edit: I would say Darklurker with a balanced melee weapon is as good as the best Dark Souls 1 bosses, I forgot about him. It's a shame that they made him super squishy to magic. They should have gone the Oolacile DLC route and made him very resistant to elements.

 

[80Maxwell08]

I think the bosses are consistent in quality because so many of them are almost the same. Seriously 11 human melee bosses? They all have exactly the same tactics in beating them and if you chose any kind of magic you can cheese the hell out of almost all of them. Also the dual dragonriders, gargoyles and old dragonslayer are lazy as hell.

 

[Kanedias]

Why are Gargoyles lazy? They have a diverse moveset and are a very unique fight. I also found the other human bosses to be unique. Dragonriders suck, though. Old Dragonslayer is easy but it was a nice nostalgia moment, it's an early boss, it isn't supposed to be that difficult.

You can easily beat Artorias and Manus by simply blocking and attacking and it doesn't mean they are awful bosses.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Why are Gargoyles lazy? They have a diverse moveset and are a very unique fight. I also found the other human bosses to be unique. Dragonriders suck, though. Old Dragonslayer is easy but it was a nice nostalgia moment, it's an early boss, it isn't supposed to be that difficult.

You can easily beat Artorias and Manus by simply blocking and attacking and it doesn't mean they are awful bosses.

The gargoyles are lazy because they are copy pasted but they just added more of them. Also how are the other bosses unique?

 

[AngryEddy]

I gotta say, it is quite amusing to see the same people who called me a no-nothing cocksucker, come around to my side after experiencing the game first hand.

1. I really don't get the complaint about enemy hordes, groups of enemies require skill to defeat, I don't know why people think they are cheap.

2. Also, Demon's Souls was exactly the same

3. As for bosses with adds, like the Flexile Sentry, it's the same thing. The adds take skill to beat.

4. I actually liked that the game offers more fights against groups of enemies as they're more fun and challenging.

5. I dislike some things about the game, like the sense of geography (which is utter crap), and some level design decisions, but I don't see how any of the above is a problem.

6. I also found the bosses in general to be very fun. All of them

7. I'd say that both Dark Souls games are better than Demon's Souls in terms of bosses.

8. The only reason people do not find some bosses to be as memorable in this game is because they already have a lot of Souls experience.

I want to preface that every bit of the game that i've played, I did so at a friends house, and at the same house, I was able to beat the game in its entirety, as well as get extensive PvP time.

1. Mob spams as bosses just show the lack of creativity/motivation to create a challenging boss fight, and no, hordes aren't hard to beat; "Oh no, rat spam! Just ignore all of the rats save 1, and then 1 shot/1combo the hair rat to death, how hard!!" They aren't cheap, they're just shit.

2. No, it wasn't, stupid.

3. No they don't. Just buff off/def before the fog gate and rape the underlings without fear of negative trades, all the while ignoring the main boss as if he were a nobody. Again, FROM's new boss design philosophy is no longer about adding difficulty via making hard enemies with feigns, combo chains etc, it's just about mob spam. Do you know how fucking lazy that is?

4. You'll just swallow anything FROM shovels at you wont you? My friend and I both agreed that mob spam is shit.

5. "I think the theme of the game is shit, but it's not a problem." Stuff like this is why I put Dark Souls fans on the same level as bronies, they're fucking retards.

6. Of course. FROM needs more people like you, since the negative voices are starting to outweigh the positive ones.

7. And i'd say you have no taste. Demon's Soul's is infinitely better than DS2 in every way possible. Better theme, bosses, voice acting, lore, weapons, soundtrack etc.

8. Shouldn't the developers understand that as they're making a SEQUEL? Team Ninja [Ninja Gaiden] and Capcom [Monster Hunter] seem to understand that as they're making some of the most memorable, hard, boss-oriented games on the market. I never heard anybody complaining that NG2 was too easy, I wonder why that is?

They already completely ruined the Armored Core franchise, are you sycophants aware that the exact same fate is happening to the Soul's series as we speak?

Just as a side note so I don't forget, I think one of the problems with the Dark Souls community is their infantile mindset: most other forums that host Dark Souls 2 related content have thread after thread whining about people using Estus in PvP, or people not bowing etc, while the real arguments like the game being too easy, the covenants being counter-intuitive, a majority of the weapons being unviable in PvP or PvE etc., get swept under the rug by the horde of these simpletons.

 

[AngryEddy]

Also how are the other bosses unique?

Because the half monster woman has a scorpion body instead of a spider body .

 

[DragoFireheart]

They already completely ruined the Armored Core franchise, are you sycophants aware that the exact same fate is happening to the Soul's series as we speak?

So because they change a large part of the team and the director they're trying to ruin the Souls franchise, gotcha.

SO ANGRY!

Edit: Never mind. You're another loser that has to resort to the ignore list.

 

[AngryEddy]

They already completely ruined the Armored Core franchise, are you sycophants aware that the exact same fate is happening to the Soul's series as we speak?

So because they change a large part of the team and the director they're trying to ruin the Souls franchise, gotcha.

If you ever get the chance to play Armored Core 2 + Another Age, as well as AC Last Raven, and then get the further chance to play the new games, you'll see what i'm talking about. I never said DS2 sucks because of the directors, I said the game sucks because FROM doesn't give a shit about game design, weapon balance, level design, boss balance/design, paying a little extra for a better soundtrack: big difference.

 

[Kanedias]

Why are Gargoyles lazy? They have a diverse moveset and are a very unique fight. I also found the other human bosses to be unique. Dragonriders suck, though. Old Dragonslayer is easy but it was a nice nostalgia moment, it's an early boss, it isn't supposed to be that difficult.

You can easily beat Artorias and Manus by simply blocking and attacking and it doesn't mean they are awful bosses.

The gargoyles are lazy because they are copy pasted but they just added more of them. Also how are the other bosses unique?

They are different than the Dark Souls 1 Gargoyles in model/texture and moveset.

I think the other bosses are unique because they have different moves. Yes, you can block them or roll dodge them and avoid some attacks by circling, like nearly every damn attack in this entire series. Of course if you take away everything else from a fight, it will often boil down to circling, blocking, and dodging. I don't see how this makes them any less unique.

To give you an example, the way you fight Pursuer is the exact same way you fight Penetrator: baiting that easy to dodge gap-closing attack, or simply dodging the melee swings. The difference is that Pursuer has a more diverse moveset while Penetrator has a grab and literally 3 attacks. Yet nostalgia-ridden people claim Penetrator is a good, memorable boss fight. You fight both bosses with the same strategy, but they're not the same. In fact, I never heard anyone else compare Pursuer to the Penetrator, for some reason.

Also how are the other bosses unique?

Because the half monster woman has a scorpion body instead of a spider body .

Except Najka and Quelaag's similarities are only visual and the fight is completely different.

Being so awfully nitpicky and circlejerking each other to try to convince yourselves that every bit of this game is decline is no worse than being a shill.

"Oh, a woman with an arachnid lower half! It HAS to be a copy paste!"

Bullshit complaints like this one makes every one of your points seem like complete crap.

 

[AngryEddy]

Being so awfully nitpicky and circlejerking each other to try to convince yourselves that every bit of this game is decline is no worse than being a shill.

Coming from the same witch hunting community that proudly supports Vaati as one of their major spokespeople, I think you might want to pick another hill to die on, you stooge.

Also, I don't need to convince anyone of anything: even the guy I was playing with was very vocal about how he didn't like the direction the series was taking. But don't let that stop you champ, it's a conspiracy to bring down FROM!

 

[DragoFireheart]

If you ever get the chance to play Armored Core 2 + Another Age

Which I won't.

, as well as AC Last Raven, and then get the further chance to play the new games, you'll see what i'm talking about.

Since I have zero desire in that series I'll just take your word for it.

I never said DS2 sucks because of the directors, I said the game sucks because FROM doesn't give a shit about game design, weapon balance, level design, boss balance/design, paying a little extra for a better soundtrack: big difference.

Then why did they just release a patch re-balanacing various aspects of the game? Because they're bored?

 

[Invictus]

But you are a cock sucker AngstyEddy; the game is not as good as the prior Souls games but that doesn't make it bad at all, hell it makes it better than 95% of the rest of the games out there.
Yeah there are some questionable design decisions on levels, music is meh, late level monsters like the shrine guardians can be cheap and bosses are hit and miss
But the lore is fascinating, the combat more fun, mechanics for upgrades and health much more straightfoward and I love the game so much that I am itching to play again but I am holding off for the PC release.
I say that while the first 2 games are 1A and 1B this is bellow them but still damn good and I don't regret double dipping for this sort of experiences which are unique to the Souls series
I just hope Myazaki is working on somehting diffrent

 

[AngryEddy]

Then why did they just release a patch re-balanacing various aspects of the game?

They didn't balance anything, they tweaked numbers on certain spells, enemy tracking rates, and took away the buffing ability of the Moonlight greatsword. If you call that balancing, that proves my point about the sheer ignorance of the DS community. Balance to me would be giving twinblade, whips, ultragreatswords/ultragreathammers, fist weapons, and the other weird weapons gap closers and better damage to actually make them viable. I'd also like to see normal weapon scaling be made a lot better, since atm people are forced to buff their weapons with magic to make them viable in pvp.

 

[Surf Solar]

The troll, dont feed it. Or did you already forget gems from this guy like the "omfg Anor Londo is modeled After real world location; wtf this graveyard looks like a real life graveyard, gonna boycott From Software now those filthy thieves"?