entrerix

man, looking at that map reminds of how BIG morrowind felt. i don't care how big it actually was, but that game made you feel like you were in a huge world full of crazy places to explore more than any other game i've ever played.

ps to my last post: i'll still buy dark souls 2 if/when they make it. i just hope they include an "i give up" difficulty that unlocks after 100 deaths.

ok, 73 hours played and im officially rage quitting dark souls. great game, too hard. it didn't become too hard until about 75% of the way through the game, now i have 4 bosses left, and cannot beat any of the 3 i have access to. i probably could after trying a few more times on each of them, but i just can't bring myself to do it. this game, like vagrant story, will go into my "great game but too hard and i never finished it" pile. currently that pile just has demons souls, vagrant story, and persona 2 in it (and about 80% of my genesis, snes, and nes collection).

if i were ten years old again i would be screaming and running in circles cause i would want that dragon statue SOOOOOO bad now i just KINDA want it.... not enough to pay for it though. still, im glad they made it, I'm sure its going to make some kids (and some adults too?) very very happy.

just another bullet point on the back of the box. plus kids these days want to play on the internetz. they don't care if the game is good. i don't know any kids. most of this post is fabrication.

dark souls still: about 40 hours in, just beat ornstein and smough (took 4 tries, making them the new hardest boss imo, Capra demon now is number 2). i'm at soul level 70, but im soloing the game so that fight was tough as hell. game is still amazing, but i'm starting to get depressed. You work your way through a living nightmare of a level to reach a boss that's like a nightmare's nightmare, and then when you manage to slay it you feel elated "i just won! i win!" but then realize you still are only halfway finished with the game, and there are many more challenges to come. after a while you start to just feel numb, this world is so dark. i still have 10 bosses to go i think. I've slain 9. Almost Halfway....

there is no god.

dark souls is better. i played demons souls for about 60 hours and im having way more fun with this game. The BIGGEST reason its better is the open world design, it plays like a castlevania or metroid game, where you have a big castle/world to explore, but some areas are closed off with locked doors etc that you get from beating bosses you find around, and there is a bit of freeform to how you explore (but not at all like new vegas or morrowind - but if you've played a castlevania game in the last 10 years you should get what im talking about). as you explore you also will find hidden shortcuts that take you quickly between regions, so the world ends up feeling large, and yet tightly knit together too. its really exceptional level and world design. the frogs that diminish your health bar aren't a huge deal now people know what they can do. just make sure you buy a purge stone from the merchant in the belltower before you go fight the frogs, if they curse you and halve your health bar, just use the purge stone and you are cured, no big deal. (this would have been awful before people realized you can just cure yourself with a purge stone) the game is easier than demons souls imo. there are a couple of tough bosses, but there are fewer really hard mobs in the levels, so its easier to explore early on. the only things i hear people gripe about are the curse frogs (if said person forgot or didn't know to buy a purge stone before heading down there) and the Capra demon (which is the boss i got stuck on, i finally beat him on my 3rd try - i made sure to level up my armor before fighting him again, it made a big difference). if you search threads you will see a lot of people get stuck on the Capra demon, but this is hardly the first game in history to have a tough boss fight that takes 3-4 tries before you kill him. not to mention if you feel really hopeless you could just grind a few more levels. i think i grind about the same or less than demons souls, definitely not more. if you remotely liked demons souls then i heartily suggest dark souls. edit: also, if you die in dark souls you don't have to start the whole level over, so that alone makes it WAY less frustrating than demons souls. I agree with everything above and believe it to be well pointed out. I also would drive home his last point. The part that frustrated me the most about Demon Souls and made me end up quitting was the difficulty in starting over and losing your souls without the ability to grind early on to pump up your character. Now, with bonfires and reproducing enemies, it's possible to level up early game and then proceed from then on with more stats and this has made the game far better in my opinion. I enjoyed Demon Souls somewhat, but am really enjoying Dark Souls because of the open-world concept. I believe my next boss i the Capra Demon so I'll be on the lookout for him, however I just really enjoy the level design and how it was said that it's like Castlevania or Metroid where you get to a further area, and find a shortcut to an earlier area so that you're able to move more freely between the areas and no loading times is a nice touch. I will say I've noticed what I believe to be lag in some battles due to playing online. Nothing bad, just noticeable. I haven't come across the frogs yet, but I bought a purge stone from the guy in the tower just in case. Is that a one time use item? When I get cursed, should I wait to use the stone before I clear out the entire area? purge stone i believe is a one use item, but really, if you are careful (which i know you will be now since you know the risk of curse) you probably won't even need to use 1. and if you are paranoid you can just buy 2. 3000 souls each seems like a lot at first, but eventually it won't be a big deal. (currently for me to level up once it costs ~15,000 souls, so 3,000 souls for an item is not much. edit: just as an aside - that goddamn disco dance boss from alpha protocol was way harder than any boss i've fought so far in demons souls. now granted, my build was pistols in AP and that disco guy had a million hit points or whatever, but still, dark souls is REALLY not that hard. its not even close to being as hard as super metroid or any contra games, or even any old mega man games. it's only hard compared to "modern" shooters, or anything made by bethesda or bioware.

i like the color palletes for oblivion and skyrim. it was too much in fallout DC though

maybe dark souls just feels a bit easier because i already played demons souls and knew what to expect? i remember the first few hours of demons souls being very very very hard, and only easing up a tiny bit when you get further. plus i remember having to farm for hours in that game just to get a few small upgrades, in this one it seems like the cost of upgrading is smaller maybe i was just doing it wrong in demons souls though. i remember it being really hard, and dark souls the only really hard parts so far have been bosses.

rad apes. do want.

yeah, i think even some of the final fantasy games had a multiplayer option too. it was buried in the options, and stupid, but thats not that different than stupid multiplayer gimmick additions to modern singleplayer games either. i think the difference is just that somewhere along the way coop multiplayer got abandoned, and then in the current generation made a small comeback, but still, most modern games don't actually have coop/multiplayer, but instead offer just half baked deathmatch type deals which got old around the time quake 3 was released...

i dont get the multiplayer complaints, multiplayer was way more common back in the nes - n64 era than it is now.

dark souls is better. i played demons souls for about 60 hours and im having way more fun with this game. The BIGGEST reason its better is the open world design, it plays like a castlevania or metroid game, where you have a big castle/world to explore, but some areas are closed off with locked doors etc that you get from beating bosses you find around, and there is a bit of freeform to how you explore (but not at all like new vegas or morrowind - but if you've played a castlevania game in the last 10 years you should get what im talking about). as you explore you also will find hidden shortcuts that take you quickly between regions, so the world ends up feeling large, and yet tightly knit together too. its really exceptional level and world design. the frogs that diminish your health bar aren't a huge deal now people know what they can do. just make sure you buy a purge stone from the merchant in the belltower before you go fight the frogs, if they curse you and halve your health bar, just use the purge stone and you are cured, no big deal. (this would have been awful before people realized you can just cure yourself with a purge stone) the game is easier than demons souls imo. there are a couple of tough bosses, but there are fewer really hard mobs in the levels, so its easier to explore early on. the only things i hear people gripe about are the curse frogs (if said person forgot or didn't know to buy a purge stone before heading down there) and the Capra demon (which is the boss i got stuck on, i finally beat him on my 3rd try - i made sure to level up my armor before fighting him again, it made a big difference). if you search threads you will see a lot of people get stuck on the Capra demon, but this is hardly the first game in history to have a tough boss fight that takes 3-4 tries before you kill him. not to mention if you feel really hopeless you could just grind a few more levels. i think i grind about the same or less than demons souls, definitely not more. if you remotely liked demons souls then i heartily suggest dark souls. edit: also, if you die in dark souls you don't have to start the whole level over, so that alone makes it WAY less frustrating than demons souls.

is it offline coop? i might enjoy playing it with my wife if its a splitscreen co-op. otherwise i'll just ignore it and play single player like the first 2 games. i always support offline co-op game modes in video games. offline multiplayer has been fun for me since contra and bubble bobble.

a few thoughts for you mkreku: you should switch to a different weapon if you don't like the one you are using, every single weapon has a different set of statistics which can effect how fast they attack, and what animations are used during the attack. try using the winged spear and a shield (the warrior starts off with a shield that blocks 100% of all physical damage), or a rapier - if you want faster attacks. (plus you can block and attack AT THE SAME TIME, they dont deal tons of damage, but you will never get hit by regular attacks so long as you manage your endurance meter) edit: tip to avoid getting frustrated: never walk around with souls! if you have more than half of what you need to gain a level, backtrack to the last bonfire and then kill a few weaker enemies until you get enough souls to finish levelling. some weapons are very slow to swing, which just means you have to be more precise and tactical in choosing when to attack, its the same reason the game has a stamina meter, if you just run up to an enemy and start swinging, you will die, every time, because you aren't attacking with a strategy. the game is actually very precise and intelligent in its combat, which is why mashing buttons will not work. its the polar opposite of games like god of war etc, where mashing and using your unlimited use/no restriction/completely invincible roll is the best way to play. I've played for 10 hours, beaten the first few bosses (currently stuck on capra), and have died about 6 times. once cause i accidentally jumped off a cliff, and 5 times to bosses when i made a tactical error (or got rammed into a corner with no way out, bosses are brutal in this game) i haven't died to a regular enemy yet, the reason: i approach slowly, shield up, wait to see what type of attacks they use, how much stamina each drains when i block it etc, and then look for holes in their offense through which i can counterattack. If that sounds boring and you just want to hit buttons, then definitely switch to a different game. ok if you still want to give dark souls another try then this is my basic starter advice (i know you are a little past this but read it anyway its pretty short): to reach the best starting area, i'd suggest going up the hill near the firelink shrine bonfire, there will be a few easy undead zombie guys (one throws firebombs from a level up, but he stays in the same spot so you just stand outside his throwing range until you clear the 2-3 others). practice fighting here, kill these same 5 guys 10 times, once you can do it without being hit once, then you're ready to start playing the game. keep going up there, you will find an entrance into a sewer (watch out for the rat on the left side waiting to ambush people who don't check their corners) go through there and you will find the first real dungeon/area of the game. i'd suggest playing around in this first area for a long time (like 4-5 hours or more) until you have an even better grasp of how combat works, and you've levelled up a few times (HINT: the most important stat is endurance, make sure you raise it to 20 before you raise ANYTHING else higher than 16). the boss for the first level is really hard (i died twice before killing him) and it helps to climb the ladder and then immediately walk of the ledge towards him and mash light attack (you will do a special jump attack that takes 1/3 of his life off) you can then, if you fast, run him around for a bit before climbing the ladder again for more special attacks. Once you get through the first area, you can start improving your gear as there is a blacksmith in the second area (just google how to get past the dragon fire bridge if you get stuck, its super easy once you know when to start running). improve whatever your favorite weapon is to +5, and your main armor to +2, and be around level 20, before tackling the belltower boss. note: if you want an ok starter spear, there is a winged spear in the firelink shrine, guarded by those really hard skeletons, just run past the skeletons, and pick up all the items in the area, you might die a few times doing this, but there is no penalty for dieing (so long as you use your souls as you earn them) so go nuts. the winged spear i think was on the first right fork. i leveled my str and dex to 16, then put endurance to 20, and now am working on getting my vitality to 20 before leveling my endurance more last edit: beating the belltower bosses on my first try was the most exciting and exhilerating moment i've had in a video game in years... probably since shadow of the colossus. winning in this game is exciting because you win using your skill and experience. even if you are leveled up like crazy, enemies can still easily kill you if you get sloppy, so every fight is exciting because every fight you came THIS close to dying, but you didn't (well, hopefully not i might of course be singing a different tune later in the game (there is a poisonous area that is supposedly very frustrating), but for now it feels very fun and fair. (note: i never finished demons souls because i was too scared of world 3 to finish it... i know im a baby, but creepy illithid guys ringing bells that can one-shot you no matter your level are really scary)

Dark Souls It's like the love child of vagrant story and castlevania SOTN. I'm 10 hours in, the game is amazing, very challenging, very fun. excellent music, sound design, level design, and overall atmosphere. the combat is impeccably designed, intricate and thoughtful without being overly complex. You must pick your moment to attack carefully and defend with intelligence. If skyrim had combat that was 25% as wonderful as dark souls it would be unbelievable. downsides: maybe a little TOO hard. I am at a point where the next boss i must face is a little too hard, and levelling up is starting to take a long time fighting the weaker enemies that are in the areas i have access too until i beat the next boss (there are other areas i could go to in order to level up, but those areas have REGULAR monsters harder than the boss i'm stuck on) i think if i grind for about 1-2 hours in order to save up enough souls to upgrade my gear 1 more time and then level up my vitality 1 or 2 more times i should be past this bottleneck. The game is definitely LESS grind-required than vagrant story, but the actual combat is much more challenging than that game. so far its the best game of the year for me, knocking portal 2 into second place. They don't really make games like this anymore, and it overall feels like something that would have come out in the SNES-PS1 era, before shooters took over the console world. note: i suck at video games, so if i say a game is a little too hard for me, that's probably because i play most games on easy difficulty, and this one doesnt have that option, instead locking the difficulty at what most games "hard" difficulty would be.

i love this thread.

Saved this post for use in 20 years.

dark souls is getting good reviews, so i might be playing that soon. I like playing scary and tense games around Halloween/fall, it just feels right. i'll probably get around to finishing amnesia soon too.

in 20 years no one is going to remember DA2. baldurs gate will still be highly regarded.

I second new orleans, that idea sounds awesome. otherwise, i'd love a return to southern california, but i'd want a prequel game, how about one that takes place 10-15 years before fallout 1?

yeah but it costs 1.99$

honestly it seems like companies hire celebrity voice actors to add bullet points to their packaging, and so they can issue a press release yet again to get more advertising. it probably also makes the shareholders happy. i think it has almost nothing to do with making a better game.

You know.. that's the next game I'm buying for my almost forgotten Xbox 360. I've only bought a few games, all games that have not appeared on PC, but I have been burnt too many times. Enslaved, anyone?! I played Demon's Souls on my cousin's PS3 though. If Dark Souls is anything like that, I'm in. If my Xbox 360 still works.. too funny, i actually bought enslaved and dead space 2 in the same week. those were the last console games i bought... i am gonna get dark souls though, probably on my ps3, and will probably get arkham city on my ps3 too. i really only use my xbox for borderlands and fighting games. everything else is on pc, or ps3 (i like the controller on ps3 better for most action games)