Dark Souls

[Johnnay]

Yeah, that's the easiest way to sum up Skyrim.

And alright, thanks. Not sure if EBGames has the same 7-day policy so I'll probably ask about that, but I'll give it a shot. Sounds like a good game, and I was mostly just looking for a confirmation that it was. Challenging in that sense is fun(usually), and if it's got an interesting lore and backstory to piece together that's another thing to look forward to about the game. I'll probably pick it up today since I've got time tomorrow to bunker down and play it.

[Hiroy]

Dark Souls is a game that people tend to overestimate. It's not really a hard game at all. Just take full advantage of the online features if you find yourself in need of additional assistance or help. Everything else is pretty much said.

You may find yourself overwhelmed by how you build your character at first. It's incredibly deep. Probably the deepest kind of class system I've ever encountered. There's no perfect build, and even builds submitted by users online could be altered to your liking. Don't expect to get all this stuff off the bat. Just remember this. Damage based stats are mostly there for weapon wield requirements. Weapons themselves can get stronger through a variety of different means outside stat scaling (upgrading, ascending). You keep these in mind.

So if you find weapons that you may like to use, focus on the stats needed to weild them. Keep in mind that you will not use everything you find, so keep your stat leveling in priority with the type of fighter you are.

[pyromonki]

@Gekko135:

Skyrim is just skyrim. A giant, timesink. And if you have a ps3… then don't even bother. It's awful.

I shouldn't have gotten Dark Souls for ps3? dang it. :(

And Hiroy I don't think classes matter all too much in Dark Souls aside from just getting the best "starting gear" to your liking. Everyone can pretty much do whatever they want…

[Hiroy]

Yeah. That's why I didn't say "class" once in my post XD
There's no such thing as classes.

Edit: Oh I did.
Ahhh. I was trying so hard to avoid saying it too.

[Gekko135]

I meant skyrim is awful on the ps3.

Dark souls is just fine!

[Hiroy]

They haven't released patches for Skyrim yet? I was thinking of getting it for the holidays. Just to to read ingame books and waste my life.

[Gekko135]

It's playable and fun… but to a point.

I looked at it running on my friends computer and wanted to cry.

It's really an awful port. And from the looks of things.... NONE of the DLC will make it to ps3 version anytime soon.

Also, I hope you like crashes.... and save file shenanigans.... I lost a character i had 50 hours on... because I started a new file and the autosave overwrote it or some shit.

[DarthAsthma]

The video discusses the recent discourse over the misquote of providing an easy mode.

I had a pretty neutral stance to that because thought yeah this is just an option and is not going to affect the core ds fanbase, but he makes a really good point.
Also after thinking for a while about it I'd also rather wish the resources spent on an easy would go into other areas of the game.
It's very much like how I felt about mass effects 3 multiplayer, which is it was good but hell I played it like for 10 hours and it didn't really stick at all(not going to remember this existed in another 5 years compared to other moments of the singleplayer) and I would have rather have them spent the money on adding more moments like some of the very memoriable character moments (no spoilers).

[Hiroy]

I watched this early today. I'm curious about that interview. Where was it posted?

[pyromonki]

Meh, the game has an easy mode, it's called being a human in the way of the white covenant.

It focuses PURELY on co-op and support miracles.

Oh, and I finally got the balls to challenge the Black Knight with a "Great Sword"? on the top of the tower next to the HellKite Dragon…

I back punched him twice, then he did a delayed "Sword Uppercut" and KNOCKED ME ALL THE WAY OFF THE TOWER. That was a long fall to my death, and my friend was left speechless.

That was the best laugh I've had in a long while.

Oh yeah, and screw Titanite Demon. He's hard to fight because sometimes he doesn't even AIM at me making him completely unpredictable.

[Nolus]

deep breath

Okay, I wasn't expecting this C: I mean, I never look into games I want to try, just see some pictures, and that's it. So I usually let it surprise me.
Oh boy, did this game me a gigantic surprise~

Where should I begin? It's one of those games that makes me sit down and think. Should I continue? Should I try again?
And of course, the answer isn't anywhere near sigh D: Let me explain…

First of all, I love the unique feel of it so far. Dark and lonely. However, I'm a little sad about my enemies being undead (as of now), because I was never fond of them to be honest. Although I do find it interesting how our dear character is one of them as well. Won't boost his charisma, that's for sure It really differs from other rpgs, that I can tell by a few hours of playing it. The controls and the fighting system (close-range) are absolutely great in my opinion. After Divinity, it's a welcome change to actually "feel" the movement in my fingers. Reminds me of Soul Calibur a little: every little inch counts.

Now here's the part you've been expecting probably…
The difficulty C:
Again, it is very welcome if a game poses a real challenge instead of being like Fable 3 in which I couldn't even die once despite playing as careless as possible. I honestly like being a little frustrated and thinking through the situation to come with a strategy and such. Makes me feel like I'm really in the game and have to use my head before rushing to a boss.
However, there are limits to my abilities. What I mean with this is... I've never been that hardcore of a player, and I'm....
Okay, I cut the crap, this game is damned hard and it got me a tiny bit too frustrated D: Of course I chilled down pretty easily, had a nice meal, read some reviews, some tips etc. Tried again, went to a different place (from Undead burg to down below and than to that cemetery which was also quite close to where the giant crow left me). Now I'm thinking if I should really continue. On one hand, I know this is a pretty neat game with a strange but good aura around it. On the other, it might be too difficult to me and it might not be for me. What I mean with that last thing is, that my favourite games have one thing in common: a special feeling that makes me go on even when I encounter a big obstacle and makes me want to replay it even after deeming it "bad" (<- happened a couple of times. Now I love those games with all my hear~). As of now, Dark Souls has yet to give me such feeling. I'll try again of course, but if I find out that it's more about being challenging (or rather, very hard) e.g. the purpose being killing enemies all over the place and beating bosses, than I think I'll drop it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, time to grab the controller and try again.

EDIT: due to some reasons, I'll have to start over this game (hit the wrong guy out of curiosity, and it screwed things up C:), but I'll wait with it till my exams are over. This game needs much time. Very much.

[Hiroy]

Nice rundown there. I'm sure you'll like it whenever you get around it agian. The reputation of Dark Soul's difficulty really comes from gamers that are too spoiled with games that are easy nowadays. It's not a hard game at all. It's fair, balanced, and challenging. As you progress in the game, open shortcuts, know more about the world so you'd feel less lost, and defeat bosses, it certainly gives off this powerful feeling. I remember making it toward the end of my first run and looking back thinking that I was once a weak walking corpse when I started the journey.
The only thing I do find difficult is figuring out what kind of characters you'd like to use because (1) there's thousands of different options and NONE of them are perfect and (2) it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure out how to distrubute your stats. It's no big deal really.

But I'll understand if you ever find yourself dropping it. Do consider continuing it whenever you find the time.
And oh, I have another game that fullfills the quotas you are looking for. It's like Dark Souls in terms of animosity and challenge, but the amount you can do on a single run is more satisfying than Dark Souls in terms of what you can do outside boss battles. No level grinding too(since it's an exploring game). I'll message you about it.

[DarthAsthma]

I'd argue the hardest thing about dark souls is bearing the claustrophobic, soulcrushing, lonely atmosphere which by all means darkens your soul.
But it's exactly that atmosphere that makes this game such an extremely interesting experience.

Game of the year 2011 for me…

[pyromonki]

The lore itself is pretty depressing when you explore enough. I want to hug some of the bosses, but they just want to kill me. ;_;

[Hiroy]

Poor Ceaseless Discharge.

[RPGJay]

jolly co-operation

[Nolus]

After sleeping on it, I've got a clearer picture. And more questions with it.

I don't mind the difficulty, although the bonfire thingies bother me a little. Saving whenever I want is makes things awfully easy, so I'm not asking for that, just… it's so strange how those things work. The whole structure is unusual and defeats the "save" purpose of it a little. Of course I'm used to linear games, or ones where when you kill something, it stays dead, at least for a while. Well, it'll take time to get used to when I'm starting over.
The other thing I dislike is that the key escape doesn't really pause the game. It's a minor thing, but I got used to just tapping it whenever I have to quickly abandon the comp or just sneeze. I don't suppose the controller has a "pause" button? I've tried every one of them (to see what they actually do).

Reading through some articles (which mostly praise it) I started to get a bigger picture of it. This is where my question comes in:
What is this game all about, really? Is it a never-ending challenge, one area after another till the very end? Is it all about fighting, making up strategies, getting better equipment/weapons etc.?

I'm really curious because I've never been in a situation like this before: not knowing what to expect from a game. Usually, few minutes is enough to figure it out, but not with this one.
I mostly adore RPGs because most of them (at least the ones I play with) have immense worlds, which is full of life which can't be told about Dark Souls~ Hehehe, so far, only undead guys all around including me and excluding 3 people, one of which is the giant crow. I'm not saying as it is a bad thing though. Not every good game need to be humongous world-wise.

[pyromonki]

@RPGJay:

jolly co-operation

! when I finish doing everything in this fist run, I'm going to do a 'save everyone I can' run.
! First action? Kill lautrec.

Edit: Nolus, just keep playing. You'll find out how big the world of Dark Souls is.

And the "ambiguous, Oh god, I don't know what to expect, how do I get out of here?" feel is natural. I found it fun.

Nothing like getting knocked into next week as soon you walk into an area.

[Hiroy]

@Nolus:

Reading through some articles (which mostly praise it) I started to get a bigger picture of it. This is where my question comes in:
What is this game all about, really? Is it a never-ending challenge, one area after another till the very end? Is it all about fighting, making up strategies, getting better equipment/weapons etc.?

I'm really curious because I've never been in a situation like this before: not knowing what to expect from a game. Usually, few minutes is enough to figure it out, but not with this one.
I mostly adore RPGs because most of them (at least the ones I play with) have immense worlds, which is full of life which can't be told about Dark Souls~ Hehehe, so far, only undead guys all around including me and excluding 3 people, one of which is the giant crow. I'm not saying as it is a bad thing though. Not every good game need to be humongous world-wise.

Let's see. On the surface, the world of Dark Souls may not see like much, so try to think of it this way. You are actually exploring areas that has rich history that has long past, but the game does not really feed or imply any of this to you. You get this information from NPCs, item descriptions, or geography. From that, you can make theories or interpretations based of the facts that are given to you. It's really deep stuff. Every single you thing you encounter in the game has a reason to be there. Whether it's a minor role, a tragic role, or and incredibly rich and detailed historic role.

Here's an example.
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There's this huge monster with a sad face called The Ceaseless Discharge. When you enter his layer, he's not the slightest bit hostile towards you. Next to him is a body with a neat armor set. Since you typically loot corpses in this game, you would never stop to think about the corpse you have taken from. This is where Dark Souls shines here. Once you take the armor from the body, the monster suddenly attacks you. And if you are fast enough, you he chases you to a point where he falls to his own death in a bottomless pit. Now here's the meat. When you read the item description for the armor, it tells you that it belonged to one of the Daughters of Chaos. So what about the monster? Deeper down into this level, you would find this ring that makes you immune to lava. When you read the item description to that, you get some information that Ceaseless Discharge was the younger brother of Chaos that was experimented on and turned into the monster like you saw. The ring was also said to have eased the monster's incredible pain, but he dropped it. The only thing he had left to ease his pain was watching over the body of his sister… The same one that you looted.
[/hide]

And that's only a small portion of story too. There's a whole lot to it, and even the fans are still speculating and making theories. It's amazing, and it's what I feel is truly an aspect that makes a role playing game with community involvement. The game-play side of the game is pretty much icing on the cake here. Of course, you won't understand everything. If you ever get back into the game and make it far, check out EpicNameBro's lore videos on Youtube. Even the first area filled with undead has history that's not really implied.

[DarthAsthma]

I think it's very hard to pinpoint one single thing down and say that's what dark souls is about.
On the very surface it's the challenge, as you progress in may be the atmosphere or the collecting all the equipment.

But if there is one core aspects that might summarize a lot of dark souls qualities it's exploration. Exploring for treasures, enemies weaknesses and the lore.
It's a game that doesn't tell you this is what you have to do to enjoy it.

I got really into it because I made a bet with a friend to race the platinum. And the nearer I got to it the more I noticed things in the world of dark souls on my own. I'm not a lore buff to the extent that I've read every item discription (I've read the ones from items that interest me) but I really appreciate how dark souls convey's it's story.
It's awesome when you really pay attention to your surroundings and connect story threads for yourself.

It's definitely not for everyone but if you don't really question the purpose of the game itself and really put yourself into the position of your character the lone wanderer that seeks the answers for his purpose in this very strange and dangerous world and really try to explore like you would if you were in that position it's going to become very rewarding.

[Nolus]

Ah, I see. Okay, now I got really curious. I still have to wait till after the exams, but oh well~

I actually made a little story while playing through the asylum. When I play something, I like to put things together and made up something using all that.

[Hiroy]

Change of pace. This video is halairious.

I'm really temped to try this.

[Silence]

AMAZING. Top-tier trolling.

[The Laughing Man]

The Four Kings. That will be all.

[Gekko135]

Beating 4 kings requires poise or ranged magic.

[DarthAsthma]

@Gekko135:

Beating 4 kings requires poise or ranged magic.

Well not necessarily I've seen some really crazy naked melee kill videos a long time ago with a lot of crazy dodging.
But yeah making use of range or poise will decrease any form of suffering that this boss can inflict upon you.

[Gekko135]

Well, melee and precise dodging can overcome just about everything in the game…. if you''re a badass

[TakinawaTonfa]

I picked this game back so I can finally beat it, get it over with and move on to NG+ where I can hopefully alleviate some of the mistakes I made with this go round (maybe next time I'll put more than 8 points toward my Faith Stat, or start over as a Cleric, one or the other).

Four Kings is the last boss I have to beat before moving on to Kiln of the First Flame.

[Drake]

@Gekko135:

Beating 4 kings requires poise or ranged magic.

Ranged Magic all the way.
Homing crystal soulmass made me beat them in one try.

[TakinawaTonfa]

Speaking of one shots…

I remember farming those Phalanxes (those spear-blob things) for souls like mad in the Painted World because everyone was going on about how hard Ornstien and Smough were.

Then I took 'em both down in about 3 minutes :ninja:

[CCC]

Solaire actually took care of NG+ Ornstein for me all on his own, and managed to survive through Super Smough as well. What a bro.

…Almost got the platinum, at which point I guess I'll shelve the game until the DLC comes to PS3. Just not that interested in pvp ;P

[DarthAsthma]

@CCC:

Solaire actually took care of NG+ Ornstein for me all on his own, and managed to survive through Super Smough as well. What a bro.

…Almost got the platinum, at which point I guess I'll shelve the game until the DLC comes to PS3. Just not that interested in pvp ;P

Oh good luck with drops! I don't remember the item name anymore but there is one that you have to farm off the harpies in the painted world of ariamis.
I hope they fixed the drop rates but when I got that one is was such a pain. I farmed like 3-4 hours and only got 3 from I think the required 10.

I yielded and did pvp to get the other 7 it was surprisingly easier than I thought since I mostly suck in those kind of 1on1 situations. But yeah I kind of cheesed with that ring that makes you transparent and lock on safe.

[CCC]

Yeah… I said fuck this shit to the pvp after spending hours trying to get the three victories needed for the fog ring from the forest convenant. Just one three-man gang-banging lag-backstabbing after another. Souvenirs of reprisal were honestly not too big a pain. Just head for the crows with Gold Serpent Ring, Symbol of Avarice, and a few humanity in the tank. Took about an hour of farming to get 10. Only annoying part is how often they fall into bottomless pits...

[Hiroy]

Starting a new character today. Going for a magic warrior build again without all the needless farming and glass cannon stuff. My primary weapon would be the Moonlight Greatsword, but hell… it takes a long ass time to get there. So... starting weapons. Balder Swag Sword(Enchanted), Hand Axe (default +5 or 10 until I lightning it), and a Claymore(hopefully fire). I might go for the Drake Sword, but eh.. Depends on which makes it easier for me to hog Balders until they drop their sword. In terms of Catalysts, there's a couple I want. Hopefully this time I don't screw up on Logan's quest.

Now the rest is the matter of choosing whether I want 5 magic attunment slots or 4.

[Gekko135]

I say go with 4. You'll need the other points for yer other stats

[Hiroy]

Yeah, that seems like it's the best thing to do.

Right now I almost got all my starting gear ready. I killed like 60-something bloody Balders and no swag sword. With 10 humanities too O_o One run, they all dropped Titnite Shards just to troll me. I'll give it 20 more minutes before saying F– it.

Things done in 1-1/3 hrs:
-Killed Cressfallen Warrior. Kinda lame since I though he dropped Humanity.
-Istead of going to Undead Parish the newb way, I took Valley of Drakes(picked up that ring near New Londo) > Garden > Bonfire near Blacksmith.
-Opened the elevator shortcut.
-Opened the ladder shortcut from the Dragon Bridge
-Opened the shortcut from the area near The Depths for a place to buy Homeward Bones.
-I didn't realize this, but aparently the dragon does not appear at all at the bridge until you see him at at the begining.
-I chopped off the dragon's tail on the bridge since using the bow was boring... and... why the heck not?
-Kicked the flavor armor windbag off a cliff to get his ring. His drobes aren't worth the trouble it takes.
-And hmm.. I got a whole lot done without killing a single boss. Cool. I'm just here trying to get that sword >_>

edit: and within a minute of posting this, I got it. See? That's trolling.

[Supernademan]

Finally was able to buy this!! So stoked, I even bought the guide, hope it helps. All told it cost 30 bucks on amazon. Also got it for PS3 since it seemed appropriate.

[Hiroy]

Enjoy it man.

Also, some more thread hilarity.
[hide]

[/hide]

[DarthAsthma]

@Hiroy:

Enjoy it man.

Also, some more thread hilarity.
[hide]

[/hide]

xD brilliant, man I just love this game

[Supernademan]

came today!!! guide tommorow,I hope…

[Pochipochi]

[The Laughing Man]

I'm thinking of doing another playthrough of the game, starting as a pyromancer (and primarily being one; 'fire magic'), but I don't know exactly how to build him/her… Any advice?

[Gekko135]

Well, with a pyromancer build in souls, you don't really have to tailor your stats in a specific way. Since pyro skill is determined purely by the amount of cash you sink in to a glove… plus buying spells of course. You can make your character any way you want.

[The Laughing Man]

@Gekko135:

Well, with a pyromancer build in souls, you don't really have to tailor your stats in a specific way. Since pyro skill is determined purely by the amount of cash you sink in to a glove… plus buying spells of course. You can make your character any way you want.

Does pyromancy get stronger off humanity level (like I hear people on the Internet say)? I'm pretty sure chaos pyromancy does, but, normal pyromancy…I'm not so sure (though I'd plan to get both). Also, does being in human form boost pyromancy spells or no?

[Hiroy]

Pyomancy is really just a consumable replenishable(bonfire) item that isn't dependent on anything related to your level and stats.
Humanity is not really dependent on your level either. Chaos just happens to scale damage with it.

You can build a character around "just pyro", so customize your stats the way you want it. If you want alot a poise and is going for more heavier armors, invest in Endurance. If you are going lighter, invest in Vitality. If you are planning on using alot of spells, invest in Attunments. I hear Chaos spell can really take up your slots. For style, you can use some fire/chaos weapons or use any raw/standard weapon with some Charcoal Pine Resins… but I'm not sure if that goes agiant your idea of going full pyro(it never hurts to have some kind of weapon).

To simply put, if you are planning on going full pyro, you have to think about what stats are going to benefit you.

[Gekko135]

Generally, if you go full pyro, it kinda takes precedent over the other magical spells. Sure there's some good spells out there, but if you plan on beefin' enemies with chaos fire bombs… then well... i'd invest into weapons.

I prefer dex weapons now... all because of the baller swag sword.

[Hiroy]

Cool summoning stories I felt like sharing. Well, just one. I was catching up with a comic(Magi) and I needed a breather, so I figured I'd fire up Dark Souls and farm some soul a bit in Blightown. People really like summoning for Quelaag. I got like 15 summons, but one of them stood out. I got summoned by one guy who was just standing around… I thought he was summoning another phantom, but he was really just calling a dark spirit. Not sure how one is able to summon dark spirits, but it was my time seeing it happen. I lost pretty badly, even after he summoned me three times. I figured I stuck around to practice my PvP a little since this "co-op run" is based off the idea that we(the buds I play the mian game with) would not mind being invaded and fighting invaders. It's cool that I got a little better at it.

But yeah, during the last summon, I saw the same dark spirit that kicked my ass as a Sunlight bro phantom.. From there I figured that they were just Skype buddies sparing :) He was making all these gestures apologizing. Maybe he felt bad that he lag stabbed me on the last round, or was was just lightening up the mood. After the phantom left, the host summoned another guy and then we took on the boss.

Despite the balance issues, I really like the online community of this game a whole lot.

[Hiroy]

I can't buy it yet, but I'm so prepared to die.
The patch is nice though. More warp locations!

[Jekkie]

They did nerf some things though.

[Hiroy]

And the nerfs were the best part to tell the truth. I haven't tested it myself, but I think Invasions and whatnot would be more tolerable. Less dudes in heavy armor doing ninja backflips and lower damage scaling on Lightning Weapons. And oh.. I think the damage bonus from backstabs went down too.