General Stuff #1
Dark Souls (Demon's Souls 2)
Archive: 224 posts
| Dark Souls (previously known as Project Dark) was officially announced today along with a 3 minute trailer full of gameplay and a release date of 2011 (holidays). It looks quite similar to Demon's Souls but it seems it is an open world game as opposed to linear levels (though many of the levels in Demon's Souls felt quite open anyway). Lots of new enemies, bosses and interaction with other players in Soul Form. Can't wait to find out more information, the trailer really has whet my appetite! http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-trailer-dark-souls/710099 EDIT: Actually not sure about the open world part, I thought I read that somewhere but maybe not. Seems there's sort of a central hub area again but the hub is an explorable world in itself... I think... Here's a preview on gamespot: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/projectdark/news.html?sid=6297337&mode=previews Some of the details: We watched as the knight climbed up the ladder and took out the archers and eventually returned to the top and jumped off onto the head of the beast for some extra bloody damage. You can duel-wield different weapon types if you prefer, and there are more than 100 types in the game. The final area that we visited also happens to be the developer's favorite, and we can see why. It's nicknamed "Trap Road," and the entire dungeon is packed with booby traps and other fun ways to die. Deadly arrows will shoot out of nowhere, and the path is narrow, and the only way to get past is to weave through a row of swinging pendulum blades. Spells will once again be available to you, including one that coats you in solid iron to protect you from damage. You can't roll with this spell, however, but you'll be well protected against attacks. Another feature we saw is your ability to turn into a vase and tuck yourself among other vases to hide from other players. Like before, all the online integrated features will be included, so players can once again play together or against one another. | 2011-02-02 22:38:00 Author: Burrich  Posts: 1018 |
| Great! I loved Demon's Souls. | 2011-02-03 05:53:00 Author: Ayneh  Posts: 2454 |
| Awesome! Addictive game, it is. | 2011-02-03 06:01:00 Author: Foofles  Posts: 2278 |
| i have not played it, but doesn't it copy GoW? | 2011-02-03 06:43:00 Author: theswweet  Posts: 2468 |
| OMGAWTRFWH%W$WY!!!!111!!!!!!!!231rt2ty4qhy!!!!!!!! I want it. So much. i have not played it, but doesn't it copy GoW? No, the game you're thinking of is in another gory castle. | 2011-02-03 07:15:00 Author: Bremnen  Posts: 1800 |
| i have not played it, but doesn't it copy GoW? You mean Dante's Inferno? | 2011-02-03 07:32:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Demon's Souls = My favorite game of 2009. I read the IGN article the other day and it specifically says the game is open world this time, no hub. Here is the article: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1147054p1.html Very excited for this even though it will be awhile before we get our hands on it  | 2011-02-03 10:27:00 Author: OCK  Posts: 1536 |
Missed out on Demons Souls  Can't wait for this  Now, if they release it at the same time  | 2011-02-03 19:01:00 Author: jeperty  Posts: 486 |
| There is still time to buy Demon's Souls and you really should! | 2011-02-03 19:42:00 Author: Syroc Posts: 3193 |
| oh wow Demon souls 2 O_O *faints* | 2011-02-03 19:54:00 Author: Bloo_boy  Posts: 1019 |
| Not sure how the lack of dedicated servers is going to affect the game... hopefully the experience with bloodstains and messages will remain similar. Oh and I wonder if tendency comes into it again. And if dying makes you come back in soul form or if it's just other players that appear in soul form. | 2011-02-03 21:51:00 Author: Burrich Posts: 1018 |
| Uhg I know some people don't want to hear more whining about wanting it to be easier but uhm... I WAN IT TO BEH EASIER D:!!! lol but in all seriousness, I really loved this game and wanted more than anything to beat it but the difficulty of some worlds just kind of killed the fun and my hopes and dreams of beating the game I always felt like a lvl 1 in a lvl 10 world XD which is an exciting feeling ,especially when you kill something, but when it sometimes just got to the point when I couldn't get any further. I watched the interview and he said that it would be as difficult or even more difficult or as he put it "spicy yet digestible" so I hope this means maybe a little more room for error or idk just something to make the game a bit more friendly, which I sort of doubt, the beasts in that trailer looked like the most brutal enemies I have ever seen in a video game. But what I want most is to be able to control co-op more. | 2011-02-04 19:11:00 Author: Littlebigdude805  Posts: 1924 |
| I bought demon souls and still have it but hardly played it. My internet was down a lot during its time. Ill probably start playing it again....after i get bored of lbp or somthine | 2011-02-04 19:23:00 Author: Elektrobank  Posts: 29 |
| Uhg I know some people don't want to hear more whining about wanting it to be easier but uhm... I WAN IT TO BEH EASIER D:!!! ... ... Get out. | 2011-02-04 22:18:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I want it to be massively harder, Demon Souls was too easy. Some guy did a speed run in 55 minutes, and another person beat it at level 1. If you couldn't beat Demon Souls, you don't have a clue about difficulty in video games. Old video games were waay harder, most games from Atari to PS1 could be considered harder than Demon Souls. I mean really, look at the original Mario, it was insane. | 2011-02-04 22:49:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Demon's souls is hard you just got people that pretty much new the game like the back of their hand. I would put myself close to that category, I could play demon's souls right now and beat the game without dying. The beauty of demon's souls was that it was punishing but you could learn it and beat it. Not the hardest game ever but most of the old retro games were made hard to get more quarters in the arcade machines. Demon's souls is the 21st century adaption of hard, easy when you know what you are doing but if you are a caual gamer your going to be punished. Just because someone can speedrun a game or beat it at level 1 doesn't make it any less difficult, it just means they have perfected their tactics moreso for the speedrun. I was doing a level 1 run but I levelled up the character so I could Co-Op with Yaru. I haven't done it again since but I managed to beat all of the x-1s and most of the x-2s. | 2011-02-04 22:59:00 Author: robotiod  Posts: 2662 |
| ... ... Get out. You get out o_O now that I have responded with an intelligent come back... 55 minutes??? I could probably beat one area in 55 minutes D: Also how do you beat a game and stay level 1? Did they lock their level in some how? | 2011-02-04 23:01:00 Author: Littlebigdude805 Posts: 1924 |
| In Demon Souls you have to go to the central hub and talk to the girl to choose what to level up, the person just didn't go level up. Modern games are too easy :/ | 2011-02-05 00:08:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| I got Demon's Souls and never managed to clear it. Maybe one day I can finally beat Flamelurker with melee only. Ranged attacks and spell are for cowards! I take it like a man! This game deserves a spot as the best PS3 exclusives of all time. It's really rewarding once you'll get through all the difficult and cheap moments. About Dark Souls, http://kotaku.com/5752309/thought-demons-souls-was-hard-dark-souls-will-be-even-harder IT WILL BE HARDER THAN DEMON'S SOULD. GOD HELP US. *panic* | 2011-02-05 14:44:00 Author: Coconuts  Posts: 384 |
| New interview with more details: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ignite-11-dark-souls/710265 Definitive confirmation that the game is open world, big emphasis on exploration, double(!) the amount of magic spells, no more World Tendency but something new to replace it that seems to be linked to multiplayer, new level of interactivity with the environment particularly during battle. The excruciating wait for release begins... | 2011-02-06 12:06:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| There's a new preview in this week's Dengeki Playstation, with another interview with the director/producer of the game. Here are some details they discussed: - They received a lot of feedback from fans after the previous game, and he's really excited to be working on a game which is eagerly expected by so many people, but it also means he feels a lot of pressure on the project. After working for a long time on this game, they're finally nearing the final stage of development, and he's pretty happy about it. - In regards to news updates about the game, he says that it's a very tricky thing to market this game properly, and the release of information is something that they're trying to get just right. Because the nature of the game is such that it is meant to surprise the player as he/she plays and discovers things, they don't want to give everything away. At the same time, if they don't reveal much at all, it feels like they're not communicating with the fanbase. So he's trying to find a balance. - Dark Souls is not a story narrative driven RPG, even though it has a story. The game setting is one where the main character is an "Undying" who comes back to life even after being killed. He has cast himself out from normal society. - There is a new Oath System that is being revealed. This is one of the elements of the mutual roleplaying system previously mentioned. Basically, as the player explores the world and plays the game, there will be certain discoveries which allows the player to make an oath to a person or regarding some subject. Some of these discoveries can be pretty rare. - When an Oath is made, it determines the player's position on that topic, and that will impact the player's interactions with other players online. This could mean that making an Oath for something could make you allies with another player, or deadly enemies. The Oath System is not an all encompassing fixed alliance like a MMO Guild, instead it should be thought of as a system which serves as a guide for active roleplaying. - The director also states that one of the most important things in terms of designing the game is emphasizing the importance of healing items and how useful they can be. Because of this, a lot of effort has been put into placing healing items around the world in the right places, so when the player works a little to look for stuff, there is a genuine feeling of satisfaction when such items are found. - Because of how important healing items are, the Campfire System being used in part to create healing items is something they put in so that beginner players will not find themselves completely stuck when playing the game. - Dark Souls is going to be a pretty hard game, but the director feels that it is a positive thing because the challenge gives the game value. To actually have challenging gameplay for the player to discover, learn, and overcome makes the game content much more satisfactory and worthwhile. He wants Dark Souls to be considered an "intriguing game", and they're keeping that in mind as they put on the final touches to the game. - So far, the information released about the game constitutes about 1/5 of the total amount of details they plan on covering regarding the game before release. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428494 | 2011-04-26 16:23:00 Author: Syroc Posts: 3193 |
| I can't wait for this to come out. I love demon's souls, looking forward to a new challenging game. | 2011-04-27 21:27:00 Author: IAmChavez  Posts: 142 |
| Think we'll see more of a story in this one? | 2011-04-27 21:32:00 Author: MrFunctionality  Posts: 637 |
| Pants = crapped | 2011-04-28 03:38:00 Author: Thegide  Posts: 1465 |
| That's one of the few things I don't really like about Demon's Souls - is the seeming lack of direction. Now, I like exploring and sandboxing as much as the next person - but there did seem to be a total lack of direction in the 1st game... once you're past the tutorial your basically left to your own devices. Not that there's anything wrong with that - but I just think they struck the balance wrong for guiding a player to their next goal. In fact - aside from "Kill All The Demons".. the game didn't seem to have any goals | 2011-04-28 18:12:00 Author: Macnme  Posts: 1970 |
| I just picked up the first Demon Souls yesterday and i've defeated 3 bosses, now against the flame lurker or something. The game itself is extremely diffiicult and how they can make a second one is beyond me. No doubt it will be twice as hard but never the less, some awesome features are expected from this growing series of challenging demon battles. Can't wait for this game, but first, I must defeat all 20 bosses on the first. After three I feel like they can't get much harder, but I know i'm wrong. | 2011-04-28 19:31:00 Author: Unknown User  |
| Here's a good, off-screen gameplay vid from e3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_qkMg2YwTs | 2011-07-11 12:48:00 Author: Burrich Posts: 1018 |
| Delicious new trailer featuring a whole lot of combat. I am still trying to decide whether I am more excited for this or Skyrim (I spent over 100 hours with Oblivion but close to 200 with Demon Souls so...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuG4FZNnuBA | 2011-08-17 21:20:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I found some HD videos of the prologues they are leaking out bit by bit. It seems Dark Souls may have a bit more story to it than it's predecessor. Prologue I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be-lPrtZoO8 Prologue II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2hF6hZFLdo Prologue III http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=041LgvIbFs0 | 2011-09-12 04:12:00 Author: Littlebigdude805 Posts: 1924 |
| The game is almost upon us, our Japanese friends get it on the 22nd although some retailers have broken the street date. This made me lol: According to Japanese site, Esuteru, some retailers have broken the street date of Dark Souls. Developer ?From Software? has decided to combat this in an unusually cruel way by invading the games of those playing early. That?s right, they are sending maxed out Black Phantoms into the games, and they have some pretty terrifying stats such as level 145, 1900HP, and all abilities at the maximum 99. It would have been nicer to simply pop round and just punch the player in the face! http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/09/21/early-dark-souls-players-thwarted-in-a-cruel-way/comment-page-2/ For those that don't know Dark Souls has an exciting new weapons class: whips! Is anyone else going to make a "Belmont" build? I know I am  | 2011-09-21 20:21:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| The game is almost upon us, our Japanese friends get it on the 22nd although some retailers have broken the street date. This made me lol: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/09/21/early-dark-souls-players-thwarted-in-a-cruel-way/comment-page-2/ aww crap you got here first! lol i wanna play it right now to get punished by phantoms!! For those that don't know Dark Souls has an exciting new weapons class: whips! Is anyone else going to make a "Belmont" build? I know I am aw man you got here first!i wanna try out the fight against those black phantoms. | 2011-09-22 03:14:00 Author: majormel84  Posts: 398 |
| I haven't played Demon Soul's yet but I've heard it's really hard. I'm thinking of whether I should just get the first one or wait for the second one to release. | 2011-09-22 10:11:00 Author: Unknown User |
| BRING. ON. THE. PAIN. (CONTAINS SOME MINOR SPOILERS!): This is Part One of our Dark Souls review diary, where we tell you how we're getting on with the game in the run-up to review. SPOILER WARNING: minor spoilers about the early stages of the game ahead! I already know that reviewing Dark Souls is an experience I'm never, ever going to forget. Putting in 10+ hour daily shifts on huge games isn't an alien concept to most people in my profession ? but a game that's this dark, this punishing, this emotionally demanding? And ? of course ? a game this fist-eatingly, heart-achingly, soul-crushingly difficult? This is a whole other thing. Having spent 12 hours of the last 24 immersing myself in its world, Dark Souls is actually starting to affect my mental health. I'd love to say that things get off to a gentle start, but they really don't. Dark Souls' first proper boss is still the hardest of any I've faced so far ? partly because you are, by necessity, so underpowered when you meet him. He's called the Taurus Demon, and he's utterly hateful. You stride out onto a bridge, and he drops down from nowhere, a bull-headed, winged, aggressive satyr ten times your size, sporting a club that can end you in two hits if you get unlucky. Run away from him, he chases you. Attack him, he crushes you. Get behind him, he steps back and spikes you with metal protrusions on his legs. He is proper hard, and he lives at the top of a tower that you have to climb every time you want to face him. He is, all told, a woefully obstinate introduction to the game ? and one that seems to set the tone for the rest of this mammoth, psychotic endeavour. I can't quite explain that special gamer's psychological process that enables you to fail at something over and over and over again and still maintain the will to go on. I think you have to be a certain type of thrill-seeking masochist to even entertain the notion of a game like Dark Souls. Every death at Taurus' hands brought me closer to sheer mental exhaustion. Time after time I'd get him to within a few hits of death, then feel my hands turn to jelly as the nerves ruined my reflexes and he caught me in a one-two attack loop, dispassionately ending my life over and over again on the end of that massive club. I slayed Taurus ? after more than three hours of continuous failure ? with a final, desperate swipe, a death throe, milliseconds before he crushed me beneath his club for what felt like the 600th time. As "YOU ARE DEAD" flashed up on the screen, I was ready to give up games journalism and go become a lawyer like my school careers advisor always said I should ? but then, in the background, just before the screen faded to black, I saw that bull-headed ******* fall to his knees, felt the head-spinning rush of triumphant adrenaline that only games have ever given me, and I knew that Dark Souls now owned me completely. Just like Demon's Souls did before it. Things are so difficult in Dark Souls that, after the first fifteen hours, the question I keep asking myself is "have they gone too far?" Truth is, for Demon's Souls devotees, there's *almost* no such thing as too far. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward, and the more thrilling the final victory. For anyone who hasn't played through Demon's Souls before it, though, I'm not sure that Dark Souls does enough to tease you with that thrill before dropping you straight into the deep end. You have to fight tooth and claw here right from the off. It's also huge. In the Chain of Pain ? the little email support group that a collective of Dark Souls reviewers is currently relying upon for tips and moral support, in the absence of the online community that will grow up around the game when it actually launches ? one of my fellows reckons he's about a quarter of the way through the game after 60 hours. This is something that people will spend months playing. This a very different game from Demon's Souls, with a different rhythm and structure. The bonfires change the way you play entirely, removing the option to run back to a safe haven and regroup before heading back out into the fray. And without wanting to give too much away, its tone is different too; it's darker, more distressing, and more claustrophobic despite its open-world structure. It encroaches subtly on your mental well-being. I'll be writing more about that in the next instalment of this review diary. For now, though, we can answer at least one question: is Dark Souls harder than Demon's Souls? Well, yes ? much harder ? but for some reason I've not quite put my finger on yet, it's not more dispiriting. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/119/1195837p1.html | 2011-09-22 11:41:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| There's been reports of game freezes during online mode in Japan once game got released. I've heard one guy got game freezed 4 times during stream. That doesn't sound good at all. I hope it's going to be patched soon as possible for those who have Dark Souls right now. | 2011-09-22 11:52:00 Author: Coconuts Posts: 384 |
| Finally some concrete info on some of the new mechanics (Bonfires, Humanity), no more World or Character Tendency. This article also reaffirms that the game is a lot harder then Demon's Souls: I'm now 24 hours into Dark Souls, the successor to 2009's brilliant and challenging role-playing game Demon's Souls. I have, of course, died many times in my struggle to become un-undead. I have killed a half-dozen of its major demons, explored deeply its open world, but have just barely begun to scratch its hard surface. You've likely heard again and again that Dark Souls, like its predecessor, is an unforgiving, uniquely challenging game. It requires patience, trial and error, experimentation and—unless played observantly and very carefully—many deaths. Its rules are sometimes obtuse, often esoteric. Rather than try to drill into you just how punishing Dark Souls can often be, let's explore why it's a more difficult game than Demon's Souls. And I'll try to help explain some of Dark Souls arcane systems—Humanity, Bonfires and Hollowing—along the way. Your first minutes in Dark Souls, after choosing a starting character class and selecting your character's "gift" from a moderately helpful selection of items will be spent in an asylum that serves as the game's tutorial. After learning the basics of combat, which are precisely Demon's Souls save for a few new lunging attacks, you'll face the the massive Asylum Demon. He's the ultimate test of your novice combat abilities, easier to defeat than his Demon's Souls counterpart Vanguard, but still an immense challenge. He recently laid waste to my Kotaku colleagues at Tokyo Game Show an impressive nine times in a row, but I managed to dispatch him on a second attempt. From there, players are escorted by a very large, seemingly friendly raven into Dark Souls' huge open world. They'll see their first Bonfire, a brief moment of respite and comfort, as beautifully morose music plays. At fires, players can rest, regaining their health, refilling their life-restoring Estus Flask and more. It's at these fires that players can also level up their character's abilities and regain their human forms. Later, they'll be able to repair and upgrade their weapons and armor, access the Bottomless Box and stoke the flames of their Bonfires. While they may look like checkpoints of a sort, a place to regain one's strength and spend souls leveling up, it can be argued that Bonfires serve to make Dark Souls even more difficult. Visiting one of these camps resets the world, respawning its enemies. Players must consider whether the replenishment of one's health and the investment of whatever souls they're carrying is worth reviving everything they've just defeated. A player's first Bonfire serves as something of a hub. Nearby are pathways to Dark Souls various threats. Below you, a graveyard and the Catacombs, both stalked by skeletal warriors who attack in pairs and offer no souls as reward when defeated. Directly beneath the camp, a cobblestone stairway to the New Londo Ruins. In this sunken city, your fellow undead have gone mad, apparently one of the consequences of suffering as a living dead. The Ruins are haunted by specters, cruel enemies who walk through walls and can attack the player from walkways above and below. Up above the camp, the Undead Burg, a fortified city that's perhaps the safest choice for new players. The main camp is where Dark Souls' still human survivors gather. Clerics, sorcerers, smiths and tradesman wait nearby in this solace. Players will "collect" them as the game progresses, freeing them from captivity, much like the support characters of Demon's Souls. Like that game, it's difficult to know who trust, as the cracks in their sanity often show through verbal exchanges. Players will be told by the first friendly face they meet that two bell towers must be visited, the first in the medieval town called Undead Burg. What lies in wait for them are brutally challenging enemies, from undead soldiers that attack in groups to the low-ranking (but still massive) demons that serve as mid-level bosses to the giant Belfry Gargoyles. Like Demon's Souls, getting from point A (your main bonfire) to point B (bell tower) is viciously hard. Tread carefully, for the strength of your enemies do not align with your character's. A massive wyvern will have no qualms about burning you to a crisp as you head toward the church. Heavily armored knights wielding swords the size of your body will happily run you through for a one-hit kill. Expect to be poisoned, crushed, stabbed and set ablaze time and again. Fortunately, Dark Souls' world is thick with shortcuts and secret passages, making successive runs through the Undead Burg slightly easier. With patience and perseverance comes progress. Eventually, they'll make it to the Belfry Gargoyles, who attack in a pair in a fashion similar to Demon's Souls' Maneaters. Yes, From Software is throwing the equivalent of one of the most difficult encounters in its last game at players very early on. Players in human form will have the option to summon the friendly phantom version of a non-player character, sun worshiper Solaire of Astora, to the fight if they choose to do so. It's a hard battle, but less so when fought carefully and with a friend. It's one of the rare moments when Dark Souls feels like it's doing players something resembling a favor. Players likely won't feel that way after coming to grips with many of Dark Souls other gameplay components. The concept of Humanity, for example, is one of From Software's new challenges. Players start with zero Humanity, with an emaciated corpse-like body to reaffirm that status. Players can boost it by consuming black sprites known as, well, Humanity and Twin Humanities. Doing so will boost their attack, defense and resistances to afflictions like curses. If undead, or Hollowed, players can then cash in that Humanity to "reverse hollowing" and regain their human forms. Should they die while in living form or with some Humanity intact, they'll be able to reclaim it (along with whatever souls they dropped) by touching the bloodstain left at the scene of their previous death. Humanity is also spent at Bonfires to "kindle" them, making the flames more powerful, boosting the count of your Estus Flask and, sometimes, boosting the flasks of other players online. On Humanity, the Dark Souls manual, largely uninformative though it may be for a game of this scope, warns of Vagrants. These are born when players drop certain items or a large Humanity count upon death. Vagrants are sent to invade other players worlds. Dark Souls is more challenging for another reason alluded to earlier. Some enemies simply do not drop souls, the currency used to level up or buy goods and services, upon death. The formidable skeletons and specters players can choose to face early on drop little to nothing of value. Players looking to farm souls and grind to a more powerful character will find themselves starving for souls. There were moments in my first 24 hours that I thought From Software too cruel. I once found myself cursed by some beasts dwelling in The Depths beneath the Undead Burg, an affliction that not only killed my character instantly, but halved its maximum hit points. Then I was cursed again, stacking the damage. I fought for four hours at one-quarter of my health, desperately seeking a cure. Surely, I thought, there must be some mistake. How could they do this to me? What's more, enemies now relentlessly pursue the player, seeing them from far away and never giving up chase. There are, however, moments of forgiveness. Shortcuts and friendly blacksmiths who upgrade armor and weapon with the material Titanite; the option to forge and mend weapons without needing to visiting one of those smiths; the ability to sacrifice some humanity to boost a Bonfire, giving the player a stronger Estus Flask. Despite the cruelty and harshness thrown at the player, Dark Souls is still wonderful to play. Hand-to-hand combat is smart, broad and deep. There is a much larger array of weaponry, suits of armor and mysterious items. It is still fascinating to peel away its layers, to discover how its many components weave together, for gone are concepts from the previous game that governed World Tendency, Character Tendency and the variance between body and soul forms. Dark Souls is also a much more beautiful game to take in than its predecessor. Its environments are at times brightly colored and lush, at other dark, dank and revolting. Beautiful and fascinating though it may be, the first 24 hours have been horrific and adrenaline-fueled. I've suffered a lack of sleep from playing, in part due to the late night invigoration of fighting huge demons and dragons. There's still much to do. Far beyond the Belfry Gargoyles, I'm still only a fraction of my way through this world. Intensely difficult though it may be, I'm ecstatic to further plumb its bleak and unforgiving depths, without the help of a Wiki or strategy guide. In fact, I think I'll get started on my 25th hour of hell right now. So far, it's been heaven. http://kotaku.com/5842968/dark-souls-my-first-24-hours-in-hell Vagrants? Bottomless Box? Looks like there will be a lot more to discover in Dark Souls, this game will utterly consume me like Demon's Souls before it. EDIT: Watched a bit of a live stream out of Japan yesterday, the guy was using a scythe and was dressed in a dark hooded robe. In other words, Dark Souls lets you play as the Grim Reaper | 2011-09-23 09:45:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Just a couple more weeks 'til EU release~ | 2011-09-23 11:12:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| The game is almost upon us, our Japanese friends get it on the 22nd although some retailers have broken the street date. This made me lol: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/09/21/early-dark-souls-players-thwarted-in-a-cruel-way/comment-page-2/ For those that don't know Dark Souls has an exciting new weapons class: whips! Is anyone else going to make a "Belmont" build? I know I am Hahaha, this is actually amazing. I'm really tempted to buy this now, but I fear I won't have the time for it. I got through about 5 or 6 bosses on demon souls until I got to one where you fought 2 demon things at one on like walkways and towers... kinda lost the will to go on at that point and never got around to playing it again. But I really did love it, so I'm tempted indeed.... hmm. Bah! There are genuinly too many good games coming out atm. BF3 alone would take up weeks of my time, let alone this, skyrim, good hd collections incoming, uncharted 3 and more. Not a good time to be a gamers wallet | 2011-09-23 14:09:00 Author: ryryryan  Posts: 3767 |
| Finally some concrete info on some of the new mechanics (Bonfires, Humanity), no more World or Character Tendency. This article also reaffirms that the game is a lot harder then Demon's Souls: Changes sound pretty good...I have this pre-ordered and can't wait for the 4th, I'll probably take a day off work. I didn't like the World Tendency system much so I'm glad they are trying something new.I sometimes think I played a different version of Demon's Souls than everyone else...it was just not that hard. The boss battles were certainly shorter and easier to solo than some in Monster Hunter (and you had the option to summon others to help!). If you didn't run wildly around blind corners the normal enemies didn't present a problem either. Basically it was open path to boss, go back to nexus so you don't lose progress, kill boss, repeat. The most difficult part of the game was killing the stupid lizards before they disappeared. I wish every reviewer didn't go out of the way to comment on the alleged difficulty...it's getting tired. I don't know if it works to this game's favor or not. Do more people pick it up looking for a challenge than those that pass on it because they fear it will be too hard for them? I think it probably hurts sales... | 2011-09-23 14:36:00 Author: fullofwin  Posts: 1214 |
| The difficulty is what it's known for really, I don't think it would get as much attention otherwise. I certainly wouldn't of picked it demon souls up if I hadn't heard about it being a challenge. I think this works in it's favour | 2011-09-23 14:53:00 Author: ryryryan Posts: 3767 |
| Interesting discussion regarding difficulty, I actually agree with fullofwin in that I did not find it overly difficult and certainly nowhere near what the gaming press made it out to be. There were some moments though that really tested my mettle, not going to lie. Passing these areas were the most rewarding and always gave me an overwhelming sense of elation. I guess a lot of it has to do with how skilled you are as a gamer in general and in particular how much experience you have with action RPG's. I can easily imagine someone who primarily plays FPS' coming into DS and being completely overwhelmed lol. These previews are emphatically saying that this is MUCH harder then DS so it will be interesting to see how true that actually is. @fullofwin I wish every reviewer didn't go out of the way to comment on the alleged difficulty...it's getting tired. I don't know if it works to this game's favor or not Well if we go by the sales and popularity of DS I guess we can say it's in the games favor. From Software just annonced (for the second time) that they will be extending server support into 2012 and dropping the price of DS to $20. It seems like the game is as popular as ever. Personally the difficulty was never a selling point for me (although I do appreciate a good challenge). I absolutely adore the action RPG genre and DS did so many unique things (particularly with the online) that it had my attention from the first time I had read about it. After spending 200 hours with the game it easily earned a spot on my prestigious all time top 10 list. @ryryryan I got through about 5 or 6 bosses on demon souls until I got to one where you fought 2 demon things at one on like walkways and towers... kinda lost the will to go on at that point and never got around to playing it again. lol, most DS players consider the Maneaters to be the hardest bosses in the whole game (I am part of that club!). I can't remember how long it took me to bring them down but I do remember my reaction after I did: I literally sat there dumbfounded and began laughing with relief, it is a gaming memory I will forever cherish And in case you missed it in the preview above:Eventually, they'll make it to the Belfry Gargoyles, who attack in a pair in a fashion similar to Demon's Souls' Maneaters. Yes, From Software is throwing the equivalent of one of the most difficult encounters in its last game at players very early on. Players in human form will have the option to summon the friendly phantom version of a non-player character, sun worshiper Solaire of Astora, to the fight if they choose to do so. Based on the many games I have played this year (27 and counting) Dark Souls is the only game besides Skyrim that has a chance of dethroning DeusEx as my overall GOTY pick for 2011. Needless to say, I am beyond excited for it! Also, EU pre-orders get the limited edition at the standard price. This is one of those occasions when I am happy I am not living back home in Canada | 2011-09-23 15:42:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| It wasn't so much hard as it was unforgiving. It never felt like anything was impossible, it's just if you made a mistake the game would come down on you like a ton of bricks. I remember the first 2 or 3 times I worked my way down to Flamelurker took me and hour or two, and then I'd get instantly killed by him... that was hard I guess, because I didn't have any time to test out how to approach Flamelurker before I was already dead. | 2011-09-23 17:33:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Ahhh, the Flamelurker. After hours of battling through dark caves, getting lost in lava filled caverns, finding a sweet Dragon Sword and much more I finally manage to find this things lair. Cutscene begins, a hand reaches out from behind the door and I'm sitting there thinking "ohhhhhhh sh**********t". Then the whole beast reveals itself and I am genuinely afraid, it's like Ifrit's evil twin and I somehow know I'm going to be punished. I lasted maybe 30 seconds? lol, your right, it's not having the time to experiment with your approach, these bosses give you no quarter and no chance to breath. The best part though was finally beating the Flamelurker, continuing on, and being greeted by that dragon. This was one of those rare video games scenarios where your literally saying "are you f-ing serious!?". Thankfully that dragon was a pushover | 2011-09-23 19:36:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| It wasn't so much hard as it was unforgiving. It never felt like anything was impossible, it's just if you made a mistake the game would come down on you like a ton of bricks. That's it exactly...the game is more accurately described as unforgiving. It quickly taught you to be cautious and to not run headlong into things. When you replayed a section it was exactly the same so you learned from your earlier mistakes and always felt like you were making progress. lol, most DS players consider the Maneaters to be the hardest bosses in the whole game (I am part of that club!). I can't remember how long it took me to bring them down but I do remember my reaction after I did: I literally sat there dumbfounded and began laughing with relief, it is a gaming memory I will forever cherish I certainly didn't feel very heroic after that fight...ran around in circles like a coward. Monster Hunter was good training for this one, there are several arena battles where you fight multiple creatures in MH.ryryryan - If you'd like to finish before Dark Souls is released but still can't manage to take them both on at once, get a good bow...I seem to remember being able to kill one creature before you even enter the area...if the game allows it, it's not cheating...and it's better than being stuck and not finishing! For me the hardest boss was the one controlled by another human player. After getting my armor completely destroyed twice the first time through (and having to spend an hour each time to repair it) I chose to always do that battle offline (I'm terrible at PvP stuff). | 2011-09-23 19:38:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Part four of the Dark Souls prologue series. You don't have to watch the first three to watch this one! It is actually a compilation of all four, without the redundancies. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V45K1SHjhs4&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF23D11B4C478474D | 2011-09-24 02:03:00 Author: Littlebigdude805 Posts: 1924 |
| I'm buying both and really looking forward to both but I definitely have a bit more excitement for Dark Souls (online is a big factor here as well as originality). This article brings up a lot of great points, Elder Scrolls fanboys read at your own risk lol: We get it. Everyone loves Skyrim. We do too. But there's another RPG experience that will steamroll into stores in a few weeks, one that will just might change the industry and the way we look at our favorite pastime. Skyrim's getting all the attention, it will probably grab most of the sales, but there's one game that has it beat in all kinds of areas. We're talking about Dark Souls. Here are five reasons why Dark Souls will save gaming, and eat Skyrim's face in the process. SKYRIM Skyrim will have no online multiplayer component of any kind, despite years' worth of fan requests. Bethesda's Todd Howard said of multiplayer: "The two most requested features we get are dragons and multiplayer. We got one of them this time," he said to IGN. "We always look into multiplayer, put lots of ideas on the whiteboard and it always loses. It's not that we don't like it. I can think of ways it would be a lot of fun. At the end of the day, that dev time is going to take away from doing the best single-player game we can, and that's where our hearts are." That means no online, no co-op, no PVP. None. DARK SOULS Dark Souls spiritual predecessor Demon's Souls was heralded as one of the most challenging and epic action-RPG's on PS3. IGN awarded Demon's Souls PS3 RPG of the year in 2009, and other outlets even awarded it their overall Game of the Year in 2009. It had multiplayer aspects over two years ago that rivaled any in the industry, much save its specific genre, all without compromising the single player game. Why have competitors not taken note? From Software has TRULY innovated where competitors like Bethesda have stated they simply couldn't find or spare the dev time. We've been playing the game and verified the following multiplayer info with From Software. There's no doubt, as IGN's Keza McDonald says, that multiplayer in this game is "one of the more compelling...features of Dark Souls". From Software has innovated while others have passed on making the effort. WINNER: DARK SOULS - Developers have clearly not reached their creative zenith when it comes to the conception and execution of multiplayer components in games. We're certainly not suggesting Bethesda tack on after-thought multiplayer content, ala Dead Space 2 or BioShock 2, but to explore the possibilities for multiplay and innovate, especially considering they've been working on the game for more than 5 years now. Bethesda either didn't deem it important enough, didn't care to make time for it or didn't have the imagination to bring something on this scale to life. 2) DLC AND PRICING: SKYRIM Bethesda announced DLC plans FAR in advance of the game's actual launch, going as far to herald the signing of an exclusive deal with Microsoft. Expanded content would be 360 exclusive, leaving PS3 owners to wait. Standard Edition of the game will cost $59.99. Collector's Edition will run players $149.99 for a small statue, artbook, map, and 'making-of' DVD. There are pre-order offers available including goodies like a special map. Average DLC packages run $15 apiece. For reference, there have been four pieces of Fallout: New Vegas DLC. DARK SOULS From Software announced at Gamescom that no current plans for DLC exist. Daisuke Uchiyama, Chief Publishing Producer, Namco Bandai Games Inc., (NBGI), recently went on record with this statement: "...we are not planning any DLC for Dark Souls. The game is deeply balanced with its exquisite enemy placements and map designs...I would rather prefer to provide an equal amount of opportunities to everyone in order to strive and achieve getting all items based on the effort a player makes." Collector's Edition of Dark Souls cost $59.99 - the normal asking price for any regular edition of a game - at launch to all who preorder at any retailer, which will net you a limited edition collector's tin, a limited edition hardcover artbook, plus a digital download token for the digital soundtrack of the game, digital mini-strategy guide, and digital behind the scenes making of videos. WINNER: DARK SOULS - Dark Souls will ship feature-complete, harkening back to the days when buying one product in a box meant a final sale. Skyrim fans can expect to wait months or more for the 'final' feature complete version, aka the 'Ultimate Edition' that will cost less than buying the game at launch and all the DLC/expanded content put together. 3) EPIC SCOPE: SKYRIM Oblivion boasted one of the largest landmasses in console gaming, yet it received criticism for having 'too much filler space'. The developers have been asked how much larger Skyrim would be over Oblivion, and Todd Howard this to say: "…Actual landmass is about the size of Oblivion…. To us it feels a lot bigger because of the mountains." Oblivion took place in Cyrodiil, a division of land within the continent of Tamriel, where all Elder Scrolls games are set. You could not explore all of Tamriel in Oblivion; Skyrim takes place in another division of land within Tamriel. The explorable areas in Tamriel were indeed giant in scope and size, and many of us here at IGN lost 100+ hours within its borders all told, especially counting the Shivering Isles expansion. The world of Skyrim coming in at the same size seems like another way of saying expect more giant stretches of no-man's land, which was a big complaint about Oblivion's map. Granted, you can fast travel once you discover areas, but doesn't that quietly designate a tremendous amount of space as filler from the outset? DARK SOULS One reason why Dark Souls is truly more of a spiritual successor to Demon's Souls than a direct sequel is that the structure has seen a fundamental change. Dark Souls is now an open experience structured unlike anything else seen on modern consoles. Commenting on the scale of the game, Producer Kei Horono said the game was a "..seamlessly connected world. If you can see an area in the distance then you can go there. This world is about three to four times as big as the world in Demon's Souls. There's also double the amount of accessories and weapons in this game." Demon's Souls consisted or enormous levels sectioned off into pieces. 1-1,1-2, etc. When players died at any point, even at the end of a level, they were cast back to the beginning. Once beating levels, they were sent to a NEXUS to choose different chunks of the world of Boletaria to explore. Dark Souls is different… players will explore Lordran, a massive and deadly labyrinth of secrets, traps, enemies, and godlike bosses, many of which are unique and all placed within the world with the careful calculation of a development team. Less repeating enemy mobs who gradually get upgraded from Black Knight to Super Black Knight to CRAZY KILLA BLACK KNIGHT, and more distinct enemies and areas to explore, and yes, die in. The design and layout of the game, while still open ended and open world, has much more in common with Japanese games like Metroid and Castlevania, where multiple paths and directions are possible, and shortcuts open up upon completion. WINNER: DARK SOULS - From Software has truly one-upped its predecessor in terms of scope where its competition hasn't really upped the ante, by their own admission. Dark Souls fills your time with combat and highly-varied exploration, while Skyrim will likely heap on TONS of fetchy and to-and-fro quests (if we learned anything from Oblivion), lengthy conversation trees and other expositional content. 4) TIGHT Combat and TRUE Challenge: SKYRIM Oblivion received ample criticism for loose combat mechanics that lacked a visceral feel. Things like indistinguishable distances between the player, the enemy and the strike zone of a sword, the swinging animations, as well as the 'loose' feeling of the player seen in third person bore the weight of player and critic complaints. According to recent hands-on impressions, Bethesda has seemingly made many improvements to the play control and combat. Will it be enough? Judging by the time we spent with it at PAX this year, Skyrim feels improved but very similar to Oblivion. Set aside combat for a moment, the game structure of Bethesda's RPGs typically handhold players, clearly outlining what to do next in objective windows and mission paths. Boxes are checked and unchecked on what to accomplish, etc. DARK SOULS Dark Souls' combat system boasts one of the highest pedigrees in gaming. Each and every button press is a precise and calculated action that the player must unflinchingly command at their will. The action is intense, and constant. You cannot pause the game, and players exploring with their shield down are destined for certain doom. From Software has created one of-if not the-most hardcore action RPG experiences on modern consoles. PS3 owners had a taste of this with Demon's Souls, but 360 owners have yet to experience any such pain and reward in a video game. An entire generation of gamers raised on Halo and Call of Duty has never trudged through an epic journey like this, something on the scale of intricacy and difficulty of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. Dark Souls is Zelda, all grown up, evil. From Software is effectively making the first truly modern advancement in classic hardcore gaming, following closely on the hardcoreness of Demon's Souls. The developers have created one of the final bastions of classic action adventure in an industry dominated by short campaigns that play themselves and offer easy rewards. Dark Souls features no hand-holding. Every failure that occurs isn't because Dark Souls is cheap; it's strictly on the player. The developers think of the game as a strict sensei, teaching you very firmly with quiet discipline, teaching you how to play—and overcome—according to the rules of the game. WINNER: DARK SOULS - Challenging players, and believing in their tenacity and gaming prowess, is an increasingly forgotten art, and one that's an absolutely crucial aspect of games that simply doesn't exist in the modern market. Dark Souls is bucking the trend and BOLDLY daring to be different. The gaming industry will change because of this pure and simple fact. Just watch. 5) DRAGONS!: SKYRIM Noted earlier, Todd Howard explained that fans had two demands. Multiplayer and dragons. While they did not deliver on any innovations in multiplayer or online, dragons have become a core component of the world of Skyrim Players control the 'dragonborn', and must seek out and slay various dragons in the world of Skyrim. Dragon design is relatively medieval in inspiration, as seen in films like Dragonheart and Reign of Fire. Some fans are praising the game, simply because it has Dragons. Have they seen Dark Souls? DARK SOULS Dragons played a role in Demon's Souls, but From Software has reached deep into their imagination to create mythical beasts unlike any before seen in an action epic. (See Demon's Souls DRAGON GOD) Fans who have been watching the release of the pieces of the Dark Souls Prologue video have recently discovered that DRAGONS actually play a very important role in the genesis of Lordran and the cursed land of the undead. The undead lords who rose from the dead had to cast out the dragons who ruled the world in an epic battle, with one of their own, Seathe, a Crystal Dragon, betraying his own kind to gain an unimaginable power. Other dragons, like the headless bone dragon and the massive, red, fire-breathing behemoth seen at E3 are also a big part of the world that From Software has created. Fans have even spotted a dragon that appears to have had its hide burned off with acid. UNDEAD DRAGONS!?! WINNER: DARK SOULS - Skyrim has dragons, but Dark Souls has crazy ***, insane dragons that come with the inherent challenge of the Dark Souls experience. THE WINNER: DARK SOULS Think back across this generation of consoles; you've never played a game like Dark Souls. Even Demon's Souls can't match what the guys at From Software have conjured and are ready to unleash upon the world in a mere matter of days. Dark Souls will ship complete with no need for DLC, its scope rivals the largest in-game worlds on the market, it boasts arguably the tightest, most intricate combat system and most daring difficulty levels, and yes, Dark Souls has DRAGONS. There's your bag of chips. What more do you want? What? You don't agree? Let's hear your arguments. This way to the Comments... http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1196353p3.html | 2011-09-24 18:24:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Dark souls sounds really good. may be little hard for me as I'm not the type who ever even looks at hardmode in any game. but hopefully I'll be able to play it without giving up. *mew | 2011-09-24 19:41:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz  Posts: 4261 |
| Ahhh, the Flamelurker. After hours of battling through dark caves, getting lost in lava filled caverns, finding a sweet Dragon Sword and much more I finally manage to find this things lair. Oh yeah! I forgot that was where you found the Dragon Sword but I think I used that for the rest of my first playthrough. | 2011-09-24 19:58:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Oh yeah! I forgot that was where you found the Dragon Sword but I think I used that for the rest of my first playthrough. Yeah, pretty much the same thing, that sword was so bada$$ Some more info for my fellow DS addicts to make the wait just a little bit easier (or maybe harder? lol). Lots of new and exciting things to look forward to: -The total of sorceries, pyromancies, and miracles is over 60 -Humanity >can be obtained from items, humans or enemies who used to be human >affects item drop rate, resistance to curse and affects some spells and weapons >Only players with humanity can summon phantoms to help them >In Co-Op, players who successfully aided a host are rewarded with humanity. In addition, players may be awarded additional benefits based on what covenant they have. -Invasions >can occur for three different reasons: 1) To steal another players humanity 2) To steal a valuable item away from another player 3) To punish a player for betraying something >Blue and black phantoms can only heal by healing magic (AoE healing spells confirmed) -Director Miyazaki recommends two miracles to players: the "force" miracle and the "requesting aid" miracle. The "requesting aid" miracle allows the player to see a bunch of messages from other players -Stats/Changes >Vitality remains the same. >Attunement is a revamped Intelligence. Increases the # of attunement slots for equipping spells and item drop rates. >Endurance was nerfed. No longer gives your resistance to fire and status effects. Mostly there for the items you can carry and the stamina. However, now it gives a slight boost to your physical defense. >Strength was buffed. Now speeds up the animation speed of your attacks as well as increasing damage to some weapons. >Dexterity was changed. Increases damage for some weapons and the effectiveness of your rolls, jumps and back-steps. >Resistance is now what gives you defense against fire, bleeding and poison. >Intelligence is the new magic. Raises the strength of your sorceries and pyromancies and the slots available for them. Also, resistance to curses >Faith raises your magic resistance, and gives you slots for miracles. -Siding with factions confirmed (9 Covenants in total) -Rolling no longer has invincibility frames (If it does, it's REALLY hard to use) -Dark Souls is 3 times larger than Demon's Souls -There are over 20 areas in the game (areas that display a name when you enter them) -There are areas that have no impact on the main story (bonus areas.) In one of these areas, there is a secret covenant that can only be obtained at this particular location (director Miyazaki's favorite covenant) -Dark Souls has double the gear of Demon's Souls -Cross game chat disabled for Xbox 360 version -Modified weight limits. The heavier you are, are the worse you are at rolling but the sturdier you are. You cannot raise the weight limit to be able to roll easily with any armor. -Upgradable armor -There are 3 status effects: bleed, poison, and curse. Curse in particular is a very nasty status effect -You cannot reverse the status points allocated to your character -You can add elemental effects to weapons through forging -There is a new weapon category called "giant bow," which is a bow that is as big as the player and fires projectiles the size of spears. -Vagrants >Vagrants are NPC Black Phantoms spawned from dropped equipment. Dropped equipment has a chance to become a vagrant and invade other peoples' worlds. >The longer items are on the ground, the more powerful the Vagrant. >The more powerful the vagrant, the higher chance it will drop better armor than what spawned it. >Essentially, you might run across an NPC Black Phantom that drops rare armor simply because someone decided to drop a set of armor from their world and it morphed into a Vagrant that invaded yours. Info from various sources: 4Chan, IRC, Wikis, Streamchats All credit for the compilation of this information goes to Kheten from r/DarkSouls. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/606312-dark-souls/60424613 The idea of covenants is so crazy. Basically you can be sent on missions to invade another players game to retrieve an item for your covenant. I also wonder about the "rules" associated with each convenant and what sort of impact that will have on your play style. Vagrants? That concept is ridiculously cool, another danger to keep us on our toes which offers the possibility of great reward. Based on everything I have read/seen/heard and my previous experience with Demon Souls I really only have one thing to say: GOTY EDIT - A lot of info can also be found on this Wiki which has been updated quite a bit recently: http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/About+Dark+Souls | 2011-09-26 12:14:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Video of whip gameplay . Can't wait! http://www.gametrailers.com/video/undead-days-dark-souls/721427 | 2011-09-27 15:24:00 Author: Burrich Posts: 1018 |
| That whip vid reaffirms that I will be able to make my Simon Belmont build | 2011-09-27 16:59:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Pre-ordered; Though it's recently come to my attention that I've still gotten practically nowhere in Demon's Soul's - So I've got 1 week to finish that off  I'm going to make my character a Magician (magic user) called Paul Daniels | 2011-10-03 01:35:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| Reviews are starting to come in, below are some choice quotes from the Eurogamer and IGN reviews (both gave it a 9/10) with links to the full review included. Just a few more days, my head is about to explode from the excitement and anticipation! Dark Souls is hostile and cruel - but it's not heartless or soulless. Far from it. Designer Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team will test the limits of your patience and concentration, but the reward they offer in return is rare indeed: the gradual discovery and mastery of a world of vast scope and immaculate fine craftsmanship, a world saturated with secrets, magic and awe. Few games, if any, have done medieval combat better. Hefty weapon swings clang off shields, shatter furniture and glance off stonework; combatants circle each other cautiously, waiting for an opening. The weight of your equipment set dictates how well your character can move and is so well communicated through animation and sound that you can feel the pounds of armour in the pad. Each weapon has a distinct attack pattern and rhythm. And it's a labour of supreme love. Dark Souls' world of Lordran is beyond huge and is a single, contiguous space - but this is not the sprawling, repetitious wasteland of so much "open-world" game design. Every inch of it is crafted. The intricacy and attention to detail in its construction are breathtaking. Beyond that, the fabulous artwork and poetic writing (you'll fight bosses called Moonlight Butterfly, Ceaseless Discharge, Executioner Smough and The Bed of Chaos) give the game a weird, mournful, dreamlike air that lingers in the mind. A one-legged, headless stone statue drags itself around in a cave; you can run past it easily, but what would happen if you fought it? A vendor annoys you with his lip; you attack him, he vanishes and his wares are denied you forever. A frog curses you, halving your health bar; lifting the curse becomes an epic quest in its own right. If role-playing is to put you in the boots of an adventurer in a strange land and let you pick your path through it, then Dark Souls is a great role-playing game. If action is to test your skill in thrilling situations, then Dark Souls is a great action game. If adventure is to surprise and mystify you and invite you to uncover the secrets of a forgotten world, then Dark Souls is a great adventure game. If entertainment is fun without failure and progress without pain, you'll have to find it somewhere else. But you'll be missing out on one of the best games of the year. - Eurogamer http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-10-03-dark-souls-review -------------------------------------- You will die, a lot. You will die on the end of a sword, on the edge of an axe, crushed by a boulder, impaled on fangs; you will be poisoned, eaten, stabbed, assassinated and pushed off cliffs. Death is everything in Dark Souls. It's education, it's progress, it's the recurring stylistic and thematic motif that runs through all of its spectacularly varied, decaying and depraved environments. The first thing that you have to understand about this game is that survival is in itself a tremendous accomplishment. It can be punishing, cruel, sadistic and uncompromising. It can also be the purest, most thrilling adrenaline rush in gaming ? it can take over your life and reward you like nothing else can. Exactly because your chances of success are so slim, each victory feels monumental. The further you get in Dark Souls, the more hideous and creative the monsters and environments become. Thirty hours in, stuck in an underground poisonous swamp, you'll feel like you'd give anything to see the sun again. Dark Souls' design is so consistently twisted that it actually starts to encroach on your mental well-being after extended play ? it never wavers for a second from its singular stylistic vision. The way that magic works has changed since Demon's Souls, making it much more difficult to rely on it as an easy way out and forcing you to engage with the heart-in-mouth, up-close melee combat. Instead of a magic bar, you get a certain number of casts for each spell each time you rest at a bonfire ? powerful Pyromancy or life-saving Miracles will usually be limited to just a few uses. Magic is as relevant to the game as ever, but it's no longer a cheap-and-easy, rechargeable long-range option. Sooner or later, especially in the boss battles, you're going to have to wade on in there with an axe and risk your hide up close. Dark Souls is tightly designed around its community and co-operative aspects, far more so than Demon's. Because the game doesn't bother to explain itself to you at all, you will rely on other players to build up your knowledge, sharing strategies, directions to secret areas and tips on where to find rare weapons and items, piecing together a collective understanding of arcane arts like weapons forging. This community aspect is the most extraordinary thing about Dark Souls ? you're all in it together, and the knowledge that there are others sharing your experience is what turns Dark Souls from a depressing solo journey into a breathtaking collective achievement. Like everything in the game, though, the multiplayer has its dark side. Players can invade your world if you're in Human form and assassinate you. But this is a much less frequent occurrence than it was in Demon's Souls. In order to invade other players at will, you actually have to join an in-game covenant ? otherwise you have to rely on limited-use items. There's also an indictment system where you can report someone who assassinates you, which enters their name into a giant, publicly-accessible Book of the Guilty. The emphasis this time around is very firmly upon helping other players, rather than hurting them. Without wanting to spoil the plot, Dark Souls sends you deeper into the earth with every victory, becoming extraordinarily imaginative in its sadism. Dark Souls' story is subtly and sparsely told, leaving you to write your own mythology, giving you only cryptic, unsettling verses of vague exposition to go on. The world speaks for itself. - IGN http://ps3.ign.com/articles/119/1197278p1.html | 2011-10-03 17:17:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| My copy is supposed to get delivered tomorrow, I'm beyond excited. | 2011-10-03 20:54:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| My copy is supposed to get delivered tomorrow, I'm beyond excited. And I'm jealous, Friday for EU lol (but my shop usually gets things early though so fingers crossed!). Just read the Joystiq review, 4.5/5. I already know this game will be a 10/10 for me just like Demon Souls before it | 2011-10-03 21:06:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Things didn't go very smoothly tonight...I plan to start over tomorow. First I didn't realize I'd picked up a new weapon and tried to fight the tutorial boss with a broken dagger hilt. Then I wasted 1000 souls on a talisman only to find one close by...and when I'd gathered the 4000 souls needed for heal I lost them stupidly falling down an elevator shaft while going to reclaim my smear after being roasted by a dragon. Game is great so far...I'm taking tomorrow off work to play. | 2011-10-05 05:06:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Things didn't go very smoothly tonight...I plan to start over tomorow. First I didn't realize I'd picked up a new weapon and tried to fight the tutorial boss with a broken dagger hilt. Then I wasted 1000 souls on a talisman only to find one close by...and when I'd gathered the 4000 souls needed for heal I lost them stupidly falling down an elevator shaft while going to reclaim my smear after being roasted by a dragon. Game is great so far...I'm taking tomorrow off work to play. How similar is it to Demons Souls, controls/interface wise? | 2011-10-05 05:15:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| I still have to buy Demon's Souls, so I will buy this at a later date. | 2011-10-05 08:31:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112 |
| Things didn't go very smoothly tonight...I plan to start over tomorow. First I didn't realize I'd picked up a new weapon and tried to fight the tutorial boss with a broken dagger hilt. Then I wasted 1000 souls on a talisman only to find one close by...and when I'd gathered the 4000 souls needed for heal I lost them stupidly falling down an elevator shaft while going to reclaim my smear after being roasted by a dragon. Game is great so far...I'm taking tomorrow off work to play. lol. You know, I think even Demon Souls vets like us will find a challenge in this game while newcomers are in for a rude awakening. Some previews leading up to the release said that many people might give up at the first boss, I think this game will separate the wheat from the chaff Still waiting for my copy. I have a bachelor party on Thursday which means I am taking Friday off work. Once I manage to crawl out of bed it's Dark Souls all day/night! It would be great to share strategies/discoveries here (with spoiler tags?), this is a game with a lot of secrets and things to find. I believe the servers are global this time around, would be cool to accidentally run into some of you online and do some questing together. Some choice quotes from the Gamespot review (9.5/10) to tide the rest of us over: Any game can deliver a few cheap scares. It takes a special one to terrify you. Dark Souls is such a game. It's a thoughtful, atmospheric, and mysterious role-playing adventure that challenges your mind and your mettle. It takes the concepts of deadly environments and unflinching difficulty introduced by 2009's infamously tough Demon's Souls and cranks up the challenge, the fear, the frustration, and the eventual triumph. in Dark Souls, death and resurrection is a core mechanic, not a roadblock, and because the combat is so precise, you ultimately feel in control of your destiny. Dark Souls plays by its own rules, and in doing so, provides an unforgettable adventure that seeps into your being and invades your thoughts. It's a landmark game, destined to be loved and talked about by anyone who has the pleasure of unraveling its mysteries. NPCs muse on their undead conditions and emit disturbing giggles, but Dark Souls doesn't focus on plot, character development, or questing in the traditional sense. Rather, it provides you with a captivating world spiced with narrative details, and encourages you to craft your own tale. You might expect that such thin storytelling might lead to aimlessness, but Dark Souls is anything but aimless, in part due to the structure and design of its large, seamless world. A giant red dragon perches above a stone bridge and breathes fire upon you. Undead knights clad in capes charge at you. Ghostly figures descend on a murky village. Dark Souls is beautiful and terrifying all at once--yet as horrifying as it is, it draws you in. No one should ever want to reside in a land in which death lurks around each corner. Yet once you're there, Dark Souls convinces you to remain, promising new vistas to ogle and new creatures to slay. the combat is weighty and exact, which is why Dark Souls feels fair and rarely cheap. In all but a few instances, the collision detection is flawless. When your blade makes contact with a shield, it glances off; when it meets flesh, it sinks into it. If you hit a wall rather than the flaming minotaur rising above you, he will take advantage of your error. These might seem like small details, but without such accuracy, Dark Souls wouldn't be such a triumph. Combat isn't perfect: a drake might clip into a mountain and get stuck, or you could perish due to mistakes caused by the finicky lock-on mechanic. But such issues are easily overlooked, and more apparent than they might otherwise have been, because the action is usually ultraprecise. You also encounter bloodstains that mark the deaths of other players; by activating one, you watch the player's ghost reenact the final seconds before death. These aren't just neat features that impart a sense of community, though they certainly do that. They also let players serve as silent, inadvertent guides to each other. By both living and dying, you might be another's quiet savior. It makes Dark Souls an unusual and wonderful contradiction: you feel remarkably alone in this frightening place, yet simultaneously part of a large multiverse where simply playing the game makes you part of a chorus of silent voices urging each other forward. Covenants are another element unique to Dark Souls. These are like factions, and joining one offers distinct benefits, not just for you, but possibly for other players. Finding covenant leaders isn't always straightforward. One is a cat lounging in a window, and it's easy to miss as you rush past, trying to lose the soldier dogging you. Another is a demonic monstrosity lurking behind a hidden wall you might have walked past a dozen times or more. Joining that cat's ranks has a great benefit: you can walk peacefully among the wolves and ghostly figures of the forest. That hidden demon has powerful pyromancy spells to grant you, among other choice offerings. Furthermore, players in the same covenant share certain benefits. For instance, comrades might enjoy the effects of a miracle you cast. Which covenant you find most appealing depends on what you want to get out of the experience; some benefit player-versus-player fanatics, while others are more appealing to sorcerers than to thieves. Covenants aren't Dark Souls' only source of mystery. You experience events that you couldn't have seen coming but that still make a kind of demented sense when they occur. Touching a glowing ring after defeating yet another skyscraping boss initiates a memorable voyage. A creature appears where none was before, eager to exchange unused equipment for a few souls in return. You also encounter strange characters locked in cells and trapped in golems. Should you rescue those imprisoned individuals, they may appear later in Firelink Shrine with words of advice, gestures to teach you, and new spells to purchase. Others may not be what they seem, and if you have reason not to trust them, you can drive a sword into their flesh. Doing so may grant you a helpful ring or piece of armor, but you might lose certain benefits by denying yourself future access to these folk. Dark Souls requires intense focus. This isn't a lighthearted romp in a bright and colorful fantasy world; it's a methodical journey into the frightening unknown. And that's what makes it so riveting. Some games try to scare you with bump-in-the-night shocks and far-off howls, but Dark Souls doesn't require such predictable methods of terror. Its terrors emanate from its very core, each step bringing you closer to another inevitable death. How amazing that such a terrible place could be so inviting. The game's world is so memorable, and its action so thrilling, that it might invade your thoughts even when you aren't playing, silently urging you to escape the real world and return to this far more treacherous one. Dark Souls doesn't just surpass other dungeon crawlers; it skewers them with a razor-sharp halberd and leaves behind their soulless corpses. http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/dark-souls/review.html @Omega - please, just buy Dark Souls. There is no connection between the stories, no need for you you to play Demon's if that is your concern | 2011-10-05 10:30:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I started a new buying game politics. Since I never sell my stuff and I like to play so many games, except few cases I will always wait that games drop around 20.00 ? (Last exceptions Rage, Uncharted 2, Saints Row The Third, maybe Batman and AC Revelations, yes Skyrim, BF3 and MW3 will have to wait) | 2011-10-05 11:24:00 Author: OmegaSlayer Posts: 5112 |
| Much easier 2nd time through...I think I'm getting the hang of things. Macnme, interface is similiar as far as choosing right/left hand equip. There are still talisman/wands for faith/magic spells, etc. As for actual button assigments, it seems familiar, but it's been a long time. R1/R2 are light/heavy attacks, L1 blocks, etc. You can do a running jump now that I believe is new... The biggest change is the removal of the hub world...there's some trial an error to figure out which is a survivable direction to go...i.e. leave sleeping dragons be...althought suicide runs to nab his loot was worthwhile. For initial equip, the master key seem really useful, you get this for choosing a thief or as your gift. This time I choose thief to get the key and still be able to take a gift...like the first game your starting class pobably only matters at the beginning. Thief mask also covers hideous zombie face...which is good considering it won't be possible to stay human for long since you loose humanity when you die. | 2011-10-05 17:23:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| For initial equip, the master key seem really useful, you get this for choosing a thief or as your gift. This time I choose thief to get the key and still be able to take a gift...like the first game your starting class pobably only matters at the beginning. It's worth noting that the Master Key is the only gift not attainable through regular play. The only way to get this item is to choose the Thief, period. Every other gift item can be obtained through questing, food for thought | 2011-10-05 17:44:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Anybody know where in the Undead Parish the key to Undead Burg part 2 is? Key is called Basement Key apparently. | 2011-10-06 00:21:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Ooh. just got an email, apparently my copy is in the post! I'm excited all of a sudden | 2011-10-06 03:44:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| Played for an hour (friend has it). All I can is this: IT. IS. HARD. AS. ******. | 2011-10-06 04:48:00 Author: CyberSora Posts: 5551 |
| Played for an hour (friend has it). All I can is this: IT. IS. HARD. AS. ******. Yeah...in Demon's Souls I mostly died from falling off stuff...in this one the normal enemies are kicking my butt. I quit for the night after being back-stabbed out of no-where in a passage I'd just cleared (I think in Undead Parish...nice sunny balcony)...suddenly a cut-scene played and it was over...very cheap...and such a long trek from the last bonfire. Ugh! | 2011-10-06 06:37:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Tomorrow I will finally get my pre-ordered copy of Dark Souls Limited Edition. My body is ready. | 2011-10-06 07:11:00 Author: Coconuts Posts: 384 |
| Tomorrow I will finally get my pre-ordered copy of Dark Souls Limited Edition. My body is ready. More importantly, is your soul? I'm at work, on my lunch break, holding the glorious Limited Edition in my hands. It is whispering dark things to me, the descent into beautiful madness has already begun  | 2011-10-06 12:21:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| More importantly, is your soul? I'm at work, on my lunch break, holding the glorious Limited Edition in my hands. It is whispering dark things to me, the descent into beautiful madness has already begun I'll be interested to hear how the "basic" online experience is for you. I feel like I'm playing offline...I've seen like 1 blood smear and very few phatom players/messages...very different experience from Demon's Souls which is unfortunate because it's part of what makes this game unique...hopefully this is a launch thing and something that gets sorted out because I'm sure I'm not the only one playing... | 2011-10-06 14:57:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Just popped the game in, I have a couple of hours before I hit the town but plan a marathon session tomorrow, will get back to you with my thoughts. EDIT: Lol, beat the the first boss on my 1st attempt. Pro-tip, use your plunging attack from above... | 2011-10-06 15:37:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| EDIT: Lol, beat the the first boss on my 1st attempt. Pro-tip, use your plunging attack from above... Don't get cOCKy, that guy is a pansy (unless you're trying to use your sword hilt)...I don't think he's even considered a boss. Taurus demon is probably the first proper boss you have a chance to defeat...see if you beat him first try, in typical Demon's Souls fashion I rolled off the bridge and died. You can employ the same strategy here as well; plunge attack was a nice addition to the game. | 2011-10-06 18:22:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Undead Burg > Undead Parish > Undead Burg part 2 > Depths > (Not sure whats after) Thats the most linear way based on difficulty. Catacombs/forest/whatever are too difficult at low levels unless you're one of those uberplayers that never gets hit. Getting Drake sword makes things waaay easier early on. Im level 18 pyro with Drake sword and undead armour and can handle Undead Burg2, if you chose a class like warrior or something you should have no problems. (Because of the better armour you get.) Protip: Running up or down random side stairs is a good way to get beat into the ground by a giant enemy mini boss. (Theres at least 3 enemies like this that ive encountered so far) | 2011-10-06 20:00:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Undead Burg > Undead Parish > Undead Burg part 2 > Depths > (Not sure whats after) Thats the most linear way based on difficulty. Getting Drake sword makes things waaay easier early on. Guess you found your key! Sounds like I'm headed in a survivable direction finally...stupid master key just gets you killed. I've been using the winged spear from the cemetery, great range and wonderful for corridor fighting. I'm currently at the bonfire right below the red dragon, I should grab a bow from the vendor and nab the Drake sword before I forget...I thought it would take a lot of arrows so I didn't bother trying to snipe.Where do you learn fire spells to be a pyromancer? I've only seen healing stuff and soul arrow for purchase... Do you ever bother with humanity? I don't see any real advantage to it. You get 10 flasks for kindling a bonefire...but my 5 heal spells are good enough especially since one-shot kills don't give you a chance to heal...and for some reason my flask count keeps going up and is currently 13?!? I was also sad to see that the stupid crystal lizards are back...I hate those things! | 2011-10-06 21:20:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Where do you learn fire spells to be a pyromancer? I've only seen healing stuff and soul arrow for purchase... Do you ever bother with humanity? I don't see any real advantage to it. You get 10 flasks for kindling a bonefire...but my 5 heal spells are good enough especially since one-shot kills don't give you a chance to heal...and for some reason my flask count keeps going up and is currently 13?!? I was also sad to see that the stupid crystal lizards are back...I hate those things! Im not sure where to buy more pyro spells, havent found any info on youtube or wiki yet.. I dont bother with humanity, once you get a flask+1 you get 10, and I think everytime you die it goes back to ten.. not sure if its permanent.. I havent heard of flasks going past 10 I was going to be a pyro archer but since I accidently hit the male merchant and the enemies mostly have armour on anyway it seems like thats not much of an option. When you get into the sewers(Depths) the difficulty goes up a little bit. Theres rats and frogs that spew cursed fog at you and they come in groups. Theres holes in the ground too so you have to watch where you step, cant just run around corners. Fire weapons are your friend! I fell down a hole and now im lost :/ Protip: When an enemy runs away from you it's leading you into a trap. | 2011-10-06 23:12:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| I'm not reading the thread at the moment because SPOILERS but I just wanted to ask whether you'd recommend playing online during first playthrough. Are there still the messages from other players like in Demon's Souls? Have there been any patches? My copy was dispatched yesterday so hopefully it should come friday or saturday. | 2011-10-06 23:18:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I dont play online, I dont want to get invaded.. 3000 souls for a purging stone to cure curse? THIS IS MADNES! Edit: The guy who sells pryo spells gets rescued from the sewers I think | 2011-10-06 23:56:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| You have to be human to get invaded or to summun others to help. You can safely play online hollowed and not get invaded. There are messages/blood stains/phantom of other players...but not many compared to the first game...I think something is wrong. | 2011-10-07 00:05:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Cursed, now I have to get 3000 souls so I can get my health back. :l In case you dont know, being cursed insta kills you, you respawn with half your health and you cant get your health back to full until you get rid of curse. AND, curse stacks so if you get cursed again your half turns into 1/4, 1/8th,etc You're gonna want to go to the merchant in the gargoyle tower and buy some purging stones before going into the sewers. | 2011-10-07 00:46:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Cursed, now I have to get 3000 souls so I can get my health back. :l In case you dont know, being cursed insta kills you, you respawn with half your health and you cant get your health back to full until you get rid of curse. AND, curse stacks so if you get cursed again your half turns into 1/4, 1/8th,etc You're gonna want to go to the merchant in the gargoyle tower and buy some purging stones before going into the sewers. Curse sounds real nasty. I'm having lots of trouble in the undead parish. Where's the closest bonfire after opening the gate behind where the armor boar thing was? I keep getting killed...there's a big dude with shield inside a building and lots of other tough enemies here. I'm getting tired of redoing this section...and if you're not careful the skellys close the gate making you have to go the long way around. My char doesn't have 16 str for the drake sword...are you using it with a penalty. Tonight was not fun...but I did see a lot more phantoms today, so that's good.EDIT: I am a bone head...I'd unequiped my winged spear to use the bow to get the drake sword...and re-equiped some crappy skelly drop spear. I only found out after getting down to a pixel of heath I fled in the one direction I hadn't gone with half the skelly nation on my heels...found the bonfire...which wouldn't activate due to my pursuers, so I kept going down and they stopped just short of a smithy! Went to upgrade my winged spear, saw it wasn't equiped!!! Anyway, with a safe base of operations and the smith's help I should be able to tackle that big dude in the church tomorrow. I've really been making things dificult for myself... | 2011-10-07 02:10:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Curse sounds real nasty. I'm having lots of trouble in the undead parish. Where's the closest bonfire after opening the gate behind where the armor boar thing was? I keep getting killed...there's a big dude with shield inside a building and lots of other tough enemies here. I'm getting tired of redoing this section...and if you're not careful the skellys close the gate making you have to go the long way around. My char doesn't have 16 str for the drake sword...are you using it with a penalty. Tonight was not fun...but I did see a lot more phantoms today, so that's good. EDIT: I am a bone head...I'd unequiped my winged spear to use the bow to get the drake sword...and re-equiped some crappy skelly drop spear. I only found out after getting down to a pixel of heath I fled in the one direction I hadn't gone with half the skelly nation on my heels...found the bonfire...which wouldn't activate due to my pursuers, so I kept going down and they stopped just short of a smithy! Went to upgrade my winged spear, saw it wasn't equiped!!! Anyway, with a safe base of operations and the smith's help I should be able to tackle that big dude in the church tomorrow. I've really been making things dificult for myself...I lv'd up my strength to 16 so I could use it. Dont go down the stairs from the blacksmith, you'll get a nasty surprise.. I didnt really have trouble with the shield knight(beat him first go) just try to get behind him without taking a hit. Make sure you go in from the side where the bridge to the bonfire is and clear out the skellys before fighting the knight. The gate looking thing to the left of the alter in the church is an elevator back to Firelink Shrine, useful for getting back later. Upgrading your armour is something you'll want to do at some point. Once you get the drake sword you dont have to worry about a weapon for a while since it has 200atk. | 2011-10-07 04:24:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Played a little before work...it's going to be a long day! Dont go down the stairs from the blacksmith, you'll get a nasty surprise.. Too late! I did a few exploratory pokes and determined I just wasn't doing enough damage to take him out now...but at least I survived the encounter. I didnt really have trouble with the shield knight(beat him first go) just try to get behind him without taking a hit. Yeah, he ended up being super-easy...he's very slow and leaves himself wide open after an attack. I was having problems with the 3 smaller guys inside the building, but the winged spear took them out after about 5 pokes. I rescued a guy but didn't go through the mist upstairs as I assume it leads to a boss and it was time to go. The mage thing went down easily from shooting arrows at his feet from the ground floor by the elevator, his spells hit a column so he couldn't touch me...extremely cheap but effective. The gate looking thing to the left of the alter in the church is an elevator back to Firelink Shrine, useful for getting back later. The level design/opening shortcuts is very good so far...it's great how the areas are connected. Upgrading your armour is something you'll want to do at some point. Once you get the drake sword you dont have to worry about a weapon for a while since it has 200atk. I'm going to stick with the spear/bow, the winged spear is +3 now so it's got a decent atk. I've been putting points into DEX and am still using the thief set I started with...I used the thief set in Demon's Souls too, I should probably change things up but I like being mobile. | 2011-10-07 13:59:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Currently level 16, spent a good 2 hours exploring before I found the path to the Undead Burg. I killed some ghosts when I was still level 2 but they seemed really hard and I figured that wasn't the best route for a beginner lol. Entered the graveyard and looted all the treasure, heart rate increased when that massive skeleton popped up out of nowhere. The Winged Spear is my new best friend. Just took out the Taurus Demon on my 2nd attempt. First attemp I was in so much shock and awe when it began charging towards me on the ramparts that I quickly retreated up the ladder to form a plan of action. Imagine my surprise when the **** thing jumped up there lol. Second attempt I just went at him with no fear, wasn't easy but careful use of block, dodge and times strikes won the day. Once I got too the bridge I had deja vu and knew that red dragon would be close by. Sure enough he roasted me and is now perched on the other end, guess I will try a mad dash through. Needless to say, I am loving the game and already addicted to it. I have only come across 1 summon stone and I guess someone summoned the guy before me cuz he never showed up in my game. I was fooled by one message regarding treasure which led to my death, made me laugh | 2011-10-07 17:36:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I quickly retreated up the ladder to form a plan of action. Imagine my surprise when the **** thing jumped up there lol. Ha ha, I had the same reaction, I climbed up to heal thinking I'd be safe. It's great how even the normal enemies will really chase you a long way and don't just forget about you the minute you're out of sight. I was fooled by one message regarding treasure which led to my death, made me laugh That's why I like playing online even though I don't do the PvP stuff...trying to decide whether to believe a message or not. I initially avoided going to where the bonfire was in the Undead Parish because my first time through the path was littered with "trap ahead" and "good luck" messages, lol! The best messages are the "lizard ahead" messages...I'd miss a lot of the crystal lizards without these.What did you pick for your starting class...and how do you plan to allocate your skill points? | 2011-10-07 17:52:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I walked into HMV to buy an HDMI cable for my 360. I somehow walked out with both an HDMI cable and the LE version of this, despite the fact I didn't play the original and had no intention of buying this at all. Must have been a good salesman >___> Only watch the intro and gone through the very start of the game, because the Kings game is starting soon, but I'll be giving it another go after | 2011-10-07 17:59:00 Author: Unknown User |
| What did you pick for your starting class...and how do you plan to allocate your skill points? I picked warrior, always do my first playthrough as melee-heavy characters in these types of games. I'm mostly focusing on Strength, Dexterity and Vitality, will throw something into Endurance every now and again. Thinking whether I should compliment the character with some light magic/miracles but so far I have not needed anything like that. Did you join the first covenant you came across? I am holding back until I encounter some more covenants and get a feel for what each one means. I also plan on avoiding all wiki's and figuring everything out on my own or through tips shared here. My old-school sensibilities can't have it any other way | 2011-10-07 18:13:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I picked warrior, always do my first playthrough as melee-heavy characters in these types of games. I'm mostly focusing on Strength, Dexterity and Vitality, will throw something into Endurance every now and again. Thinking whether I should compliment the character with some light magic/miracles but so far I have not needed anything like that. Did you join the first covenant you came across? I am holding back until I encounter some more covenants and get a feel for what each one means. I also plan on avoiding all wiki's and figuring everything out on my own or through tips shared here. My old-school sensibilities can't have it any other way I wanted to learn the healing miracle so I did join...I don't know what that means or know if this precludes joining another covenant later...but we'll see. I also learned Soul Arrow, it's been extremely useful for luring enemies, 30 charges...but of course the wood arrows are also really cheap (3 souls) and easy to come by fairly early on. I raised faith one point to 12 so I could cast heal and raised int once to get a 2nd attunment slot for both spells. I'd like to find a good dex weapon like a Uchigatana, but the spear/bow are working well for now. Amazon sent out CE editions for pre-orders...there's supposed to be a online guide, but I haven't bothered with it. It sure would be nice if they explained some things better in-game...I want to avoid any sort of walk-through as well, but upgrade paths and charts for simple stuff like how many souls are required to upgrade, etc. sure would be nice to have. Alex, Don't worry...no need to play the first. | 2011-10-07 19:08:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I wanted to learn the healing miracle so I did join...I don't know what that means or know if this precludes joining another covenant later...but we'll see. I also learned Soul Arrow, it's been extremely useful for luring enemies, 30 charges...but of course the wood arrows are also really cheap (3 souls) and easy to come by fairly early on. I raised faith one point to 12 so I could cast heal and raised int once to get a 2nd attunment slot for both spells. I'd like to find a good dex weapon like a Uchigatana, but the spear/bow are working well for now. Amazon sent out CE editions for pre-orders...there's supposed to be a online guide, but I haven't bothered with it. It sure would be nice if they explained some things better in-game...I want to avoid any sort of walk-through as well, but upgrade paths and charts for simple stuff like how many souls are required to upgrade, etc. sure would be nice to have. Alex, Don't worry...no need to play the first. Yeah, I know you don't need to play the first... I just had no intention of buying, I only went in for an HDMI cable... lol | 2011-10-07 19:49:00 Author: Unknown User |
| Weapon Upgrade chart http://i51.tinypic.com/4j6s1h.jpg Killed the Titanite Demon downstairs from the blacksmith in Undead Parish, he's standing infront of a door that leads to Darkroot forest. The difficulty in there is about the same as Undead Parish. I think theres ghosts in there though, havent ventured past the first path yet since I havent cured my curse. | 2011-10-07 20:41:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| So I am in the Undead Parish now. As soon as I saw that warthog, I thought "no way am I going up against that yet". Found an alternate route and kept on my merry way. Encountered the new knight type enemy and had my most intense battle yet! He with the sword, I with the spear. I was down to my last 3 estus flasks, no idea where the next bonfire was, lured him into a narrow corridor to give me an advantage. Finally took him out, he dropped some new leg braces and I found the Knight Shield around the corner! Next I reach a point where I see an alter in the distance and a massive black knight standing there, no estus flasks. I double back and around the right hand side an enter a building not realizing it is the building with the knight who now notices me and gives chase! So now I am sprinting down the only path yet unexplored, hoping to find that bonfire, this guy is literally blocking the camera he is so close to me. And yes, there it is! Now I can breath a bit easier. I go back up and the black knight is waiting for me a bit further on. I equip the halberd I forgot I had picked up and utterly rape the knight lol. Seriously, couldn't even get near me, so slow. Stand back, wait for his attack, lunge with halberd, rinse and repeat. Whole lot of souls and Titanite for my troubles. I enter the alter room and find the Fire Keeper Soul. I remember meeting an NPC at the beginning of the game who needs this soul to enhance estus flasks. Any way to fast travel back there or do I need to take the long way home? Did I mention how bada$$ the Halberd is? EDIT: lol, just got my answer, found the elevator that takes you back to the Firelink Shrine. | 2011-10-07 21:36:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Hmm. so the game is out now? I been away from this topic for a while. also is there any customizing you can do to the characters you can pick from? like is there armor you can find and wear that changes how you look? *mew | 2011-10-07 22:10:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| Hmm. so the game is out now? I been away from this topic for a while. also is there any customizing you can do to the characters you can pick from? like is there armor you can find and wear that changes how you look? *mew EVERYTHING you wear shows on your character. And you level up stats. | 2011-10-07 22:29:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| So is there a "lobby" system like in DS1? From what I hear, its all just one "open world" in a way, tho I'm not sure, anyone explaining how "traveling" works here? | 2011-10-07 22:59:00 Author: Silverleon  Posts: 6707 |
| So is there a "lobby" system like in DS1? From what I hear, its all just one "open world" in a way, tho I'm not sure, anyone explaining how "traveling" works here? Demon Souls never had a "lobby system" and neither does this. It uses the same mechanics, lay down a stone while undead and others can summon you to their game. If you are alive then you can summon into your game. You travel by walking. The only fast-travel options are items and a miracle that can teleport you back to the last bonfire you rested at. | 2011-10-08 00:29:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| So is there a "lobby" system like in DS1? From what I hear, its all just one "open world" in a way, tho I'm not sure, anyone explaining how "traveling" works here? After the tutorial you start out in a safe haven area, then you can walk to other places from there and there are shortcuts back to the safe haven(Firelink Shrine) that you can open. Its all connected, no teleporting out for merchants and leveling. There are bonfires that act like checkpoints, you light one then you can sit down and level up. You can buy stuff that lets you repair or upgrade equipment from the bonfires, and you can revive yourself if you collected any humanity. Also, whenever you sit at a bonfire all the enemies reset except for mini-bosses and bosses. NPCs dont reset. | 2011-10-08 00:36:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Weapon Upgrade chart http://i51.tinypic.com/4j6s1h.jpg Killed the Titanite Demon downstairs from the blacksmith in Undead Parish, he's standing infront of a door that leads to Darkroot forest. The difficulty in there is about the same as Undead Parish. I think theres ghosts in there though, havent ventured past the first path yet since I havent cured my curse. Nice chart, thanks! Those gargoyles were pretty tricky with the spear...and of course first time I fell off the roof as soon as the 2nd one appeared. The big one dropped a cool looking axe, too bad I can't use it either...and aother goofy helm...not as bad as the one from the boar though. Also took down the Titanite demon...easy fight...but looooong...had to slowly chip away his health. Guess I'll try the Darkroot forest next (Blightown is creey)...hope there aren't ghost...I only have 2 potions to let you attack them.btw: I think I read somewhere that one small advantage to curse is that you can attack ghost w/o the potion... I miss the guy with the item storage from the first game...I hate to drop anything...you never know what you might need...but it would be nice to trim stuff down to what I'm using. I don't care for the inventory menu...very awkward...and it needs to remember where you were last. | 2011-10-08 04:38:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I nearly beat the Gargoyles on my own but that fire breathing b@$tard got the best of me. I was eventually able to summon 2 phantoms into my game and we took them down no problem. I like that when you use an Estus flask while phantoms are in your game it heals them too. My estus flasks are now at +2, I found another soul in the New Londo Ruins to enhance them further. It is just past the first 2 ghosts, you can see it on your right when crossing the bridge towards the first ghosts. Careful though, 3 ghosts will ambush you when you grab it. Now 1 estus flask pretty much heals ALL my HP I did quite a bit of questing in the Darkroot Forest. The regular enemies are cake with my Halberd + 2 and often drop useful anti-poison and anti-bleed items. There is another enemy however...lol, just wait and see. Within the Forest I found another area called the Darkroot Basin and there is a surprise waiting for us down there as well as a very cool new enemy type. Does the Titanite Demon have a specific weakness? I have Soul Arrow but it's honestly useless and I don't want to put more points into Int. Blocking his attacks completely drains stamina leaving me nothing to attack with before he launches his next assault. Rolling does not seem to be effective either due to the wide sweep of his attack. I miss the guy with the item storage from the first game...I hate to drop anything...you never know what you might need...but it would be nice to trim stuff down to what I'm using. I don't care for the inventory menu...very awkward...and it needs to remember where you were last. From what I understand there will be someone who you can "sell" your unwanted items to (maybe he gives souls in return, crafting materials?). If anyone manages to find him let me know. Btw, remember that dropping items creates the opportunity for the item to turn into a Vagrant and invade another players game. Slaying a vagrant can bring large rewards, I can hardly wait to face one! EDIT: a very important point regarding Curse. I found a guy in the Belltower who sells you an item that can cure Curse. I think he appeared because I rescued a member of his tribe with the "mystery key". That NPC gave me an item (he will be at the Firelink Shrine after you rescue him sitting in front of the witch who reinforces estus flasks) which I think made this merchant appear. | 2011-10-08 10:06:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| What was great about the first game, multiplayer, has essentially been ruined by the decision to use multiple servers. Trying to link with my friend who I completed the first game with is impossible and I don't see half as many markings on the ground :/ If I do manage to summon him, we are placed in seperate servers once the area boss is defeated. I'll be trading this in. | 2011-10-08 11:57:00 Author: Unknown User |
| What was great about the first game, multiplayer, has essentially been ruined by the decision to use multiple servers. Trying to link with my friend who I completed the first game with is impossible and I don't see half as many markings on the ground :/ If I do manage to summon him, we are placed in seperate servers once the area boss is defeated. I'll be trading this in. I believe that is the idea. | 2011-10-08 17:55:00 Author: Unknown User |
| I wasted the 2 humanity I had to kindle a bonfire...but I prefer trying to get though the game solo anyway, that's cool that you were able to get help with the gargoyles. I think the curse cure guy just shows up when you ring the bell...I need to save up 3000 souls and go back. For the Titanite demon I just kept my distance and ran in for heavy attack with the spear after he shoots at you. Took a really long...he's pretty reluctant to go down the stairs towards the forest...and most of his swipes go over your head, so that's a good place to hang out. Yeah, forest is not a happy place...I made no progress that way but found a couple full armor sets. But I found out what the basement key unlocks and will try there next. I also found a way to pillage that corpse up high in the firelink shrine area...and in the process discovered a way back to the undead asylum that's pretty amusing. I don't recommend going back in (talk about nasty surprises) but the trip is worth it and I( was able to trade the bird thing some rubbish for a titanite chunk...seemed like a good deal. | 2011-10-08 18:09:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| The enemies have more HP and seem to give less souls than in Demon's Souls, at least towards the start of the game where I am now. I'm at the point between the castle, forest and those mysterious locked gates. The only things I dislike so far is the large HUD and switching between locked-on enemies with the right stick doesn't work most of the time when it worked perfectly well in Demon's Souls. What was great about the first game, multiplayer, has essentially been ruined by the decision to use multiple servers. Trying to link with my friend who I completed the first game with is impossible and I don't see half as many markings on the ground :/ There are multiple servers for same regions? The first game had different servers for EU, US and EA regions which sucked... | 2011-10-08 20:37:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| The enemies have more HP and seem to give less souls than in Demon's Souls, at least towards the start of the game where I am now. I'm at the point between the castle, forest and those mysterious locked gates. The only things I dislike so far is the large HUD and switching between locked-on enemies with the right stick doesn't work most of the time when it worked perfectly well in Demon's Souls. There are multiple servers for same regions? The first game had different servers for EU, US and EA regions which sucked... Not being able to switch targets is pretty annoying, especially with mobs like in the bell tower, and the HUD is indeed huge! I helped a couple folks with the gargoyles today, that was fun and a whole lot easier. Reward stinks though...no souls, just a point of humanity (and not the item you can save for later) so there's not much incentive to help others sadly. Also totally not worth 20k to open the Darkroot forest gate....U R NOT READY! This game is cruel. * It's good that host's flask heals everyone because yours is disabled when summoned...can use healing miracle of course. | 2011-10-08 21:56:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Not being able to switch targets is pretty annoying, especially with mobs like in the bell tower, and the HUD is indeed huge! I helped a couple folks with the gargoyles today, that was fun and a whole lot easier. Reward stinks though...no souls, just a point of humanity (and not the item you can save for later) so there's not much incentive to help others sadly. Also totally not worth 20k to open the Darkroot forest gate....U R NOT READY! This game is cruel. * It's good that host's flask heals everyone because yours is disabled when summoned...can use healing miracle of course. It is worth it actually. You can farm that area for like 18k souls a minute if you're fast. 6k souls per run. Hit the wall to the left before the door and theres a bonfire right there. Light it, go through the gate, run past the mage thats dead center then circle back past the log on your left and run to the side of the stairs and raise your shield. They run up the stairs, jump over your head, off the cliff and die giving you 2k souls per enemy. Turns out you dont have to fight the curse spewing frogs to get to the sewer boss, yay! Too bad I made a noob move and ran without looking, falling off the edge of the boss area. Got the axe for cutting its tail off though Edit: the pyro trainer is right when you get into the sewers. Right when you get into the room with the fire torch guys at the beginning, jump down on your right, then go to your left, there will be a meat cleaver guy to fight then the room behind him has the pyro guy. The hole in the wall leads to a shortcut to the giant rat and boss. The door on the other end leads to a bonfire. | 2011-10-08 22:15:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Found the hidden bonfire. The "attack here" and "illusionary wall" hints people left were awesome (thanks folks!). I'm at that bonfire now...I'll at least see if I can farm my 20k back...it took a long time to get. Thanks for the tip! | 2011-10-08 22:25:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I believe that is the idea. They're not intentionally trying to keep people apart, it was a mistake on their part. | 2011-10-08 23:14:00 Author: Unknown User |
| It seems with every boss there's a way to cheap them out. Kinda dissapointed the games not harder.. hopefully after the second bell is rung there will be tougher enemies. Might try killing the stray demon for the lolz. | 2011-10-09 03:08:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Just got owned by the Capra demon...game is plenty difficult...and cheap! I love the world design in this...but Demon's Souls was way more fun and far less tedious. I'm thinking of putting this down and playing Ico. And how come I can't rate a message without choosng a stupid item from the horribly designed item menu?!? Simply idiotic. | 2011-10-09 03:24:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Just got owned by the Capra demon...game is plenty difficult...and cheap! I love the world design in this...but Demon's Souls was way more fun and far less tedious. I'm thinking of putting this down and playing Ico. And how come I can't rate a message without choosng a stupid item from the horribly designed item menu?!? Simply idiotic. Capra demon is nothing if you have a decent shield. Kill the dogs, run up the stairs, run to the wall and put up your shield. His attacks will bouce off and after a few hits he'll fall then you can drop attack it and take out 1/3rd its life. Menu isnt bad. Text is on the small side though. Gaping Dragon is easy too, cut off the tail, wait til it bites the ground then run behind it, it'll charge forward and you can get hits in. You have to kill the mage upstairs with arrows though or it'll shoot at you the whole time. You get 25k souls for killing the Gaping Dragon. Blighttown boss then ring the second bell, woot. The merchant sitting in front of the door to blighttown sells an item that lets you store all your stuff and access it all from bonfires. After you ring both bells an npc appears in firelink shrine that you can give you're excess stuff to for souls. | 2011-10-09 03:54:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| I got him eventually (5th or 6th attempt)...blocking a single hit takes away all my stamina (I have like 12 endurance), then I'm toast...and if I don't dodge his first attack I die. Also doesn't help that quick attack with spear goes over the dogs heads. I ended up running up and down the stairs poking randomly until the dogs were dead...then at least I had a chance. Lock-on was really confusing in the confined space. It's probably time to upgrade the thief set, I was hoping something better would come along...I want to stay away from heavy armor. I bought a couple pyro spells, pretty short range and so few charges (8 and 6)...doesn't seem that useful. Also was searching the 20k forest area...there's a white cat thing sitting in a ruin (creepy)...I ran away before it saw me. Have you been there...is the cat a boss? Currently attempting the Depths...is that where the curse frogs are? | 2011-10-09 05:47:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I got him eventually (5th or 6th attempt)...blocking a single hit takes away all my stamina (I have like 12 endurance), then I'm toast...and if I don't dodge his first attack I die. Also doesn't help that quick attack with spear goes over the dogs heads. I ended up running up and down the stairs poking randomly until the dogs were dead...then at least I had a chance. Lock-on was really confusing in the confined space. It's probably time to upgrade the thief set, I was hoping something better would come along...I want to stay away from heavy armor. I bought a couple pyro spells, pretty short range and so few charges (8 and 6)...doesn't seem that useful. Also was searching the 20k forest area...there's a white cat thing sitting in a ruin (creepy)...I ran away before it saw me. Have you been there...is the cat a boss? Currently attempting the Depths...is that where the curse frogs are? Theres 3 cats apparently, and they lead to the giant wolf boss. Armours http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Armor Yea thats where the frogs are, you dont have to fight them though. There's a shortcut to the boss. There's a door hidden behind some crates in the room with the meat cleaver guy that has a hole you jump down and puts you with the giant rat. Kill it with arrows or something then jump down, you'll see water going off the edge of the room, go on the left side and you'll be able to slide down. Theres 2 rats and some slimes down there but thats not really a problem. Theres a merchant across the hall and a door next to him leading to the boss. Before jumping down in the giant rat room you can go to the right and across to the other side and get the spider shield which has high def. The pyro is useful for farming the slimes cause they're weak to it, I dont remember what they drop though. | 2011-10-09 07:02:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| So I managed to take out the Titanite Demon, I lured him towards the stairs and most of his attack swung right over my head. Did some exploring in the New Londo Ruins, ghosts are by far the most annoying enemies I have come across. In groups they are super dangerous but there is also an issue of collision detection that led to MANY cheap deaths. I think I did about 20 times before finally giving up on that area, did manage to find some treasure though. I have taken down 3 black knights now and was rewarded with a Black Knight Sword, Black Knight Great Sword and Black Knight Halberd. I need two more points in dexterity zo be able to wield the Black Knight Sword. I found a new location via the Darkroot Basin called The Drake Valley. Pro-tip: don't go there! lol. I managed to grab the treasure near the creature in the Darkroot Basin but it's only a Knight Armor set and I already had the Elite Knight Armor set found in the Darkroot Forest so it's useless for now. I also found a hidden path in the Forest that leads to a Wolf Ring, it's blocked by a large vine thing that must be destroyed to the right after you enter the mist. A guy summoned me into his game and after bowing to each other I showed home the hidden path. After he picked up the wolf ring he cheered and I bowed; I love these moments I went pack to explore the previous areas and found a merchant in the Undead Burg. Unfortunately I did not realize he was sitting between the all the junk and swung my halberd. He immediately popped up to engage me in battle and was calling someone (I forget her name). I immediately quit the game but it was too late. When I went back there he was still in "attack mode" so I had no choice but to kill him. I got humanity, the orange soapstone, a samurai sword (not too strong, would have been useful when first starting the game) and a residence key which opens a door to a chest with gold resin. This resin adds temporary lightning elemental damage to your right hand weapon. I agree with you guys about the lock-on, it's quite finicky. The HUD is a bit too large and the menu interface is messy. These really are the only criticisms I can throw at the game thus far though, loving my time in this beautifully twisted universe. | 2011-10-09 18:28:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| So I managed to take out the Titanite Demon, I lured him towards the stairs and most of his attack swung right over my head. Did some exploring in the New Londo Ruins, ghosts are by far the most annoying enemies I have come across. In groups they are super dangerous but there is also an issue of collision detection that led to MANY cheap deaths. I think I did about 20 times before finally giving up on that area, did manage to find some treasure though. I have taken down 3 black knights now and was rewarded with a Black Knight Sword, Black Knight Great Sword and Black Knight Halberd. I need two more points in dexterity zo be able to wield the Black Knight Sword. I found a new location via the Darkroot Basin called The Drake Valley. Pro-tip: don't go there! lol. I managed to grab the treasure near the creature in the Darkroot Basin but it's only a Knight Armor set and I already had the Elite Knight Armor set found in the Darkroot Forest so it's useless for now. I also found a hidden path in the Forest that leads to a Wolf Ring, it's blocked by a large vine thing that must be destroyed to the right after you enter the mist. A guy summoned me into his game and after bowing to each other I showed home the hidden path. After he picked up the wolf ring he cheered and I bowed; I love these moments I went pack to explore the previous areas and found a merchant in the Undead Burg. Unfortunately I did not realize he was sitting between the all the junk and swung my halberd. He immediately popped up to engage me in battle and was calling someone (I forget her name). I immediately quit the game but it was too late. When I went back there he was still in "attack mode" so I had no choice but to kill him. I got humanity, the orange soapstone, a samurai sword (not too strong, would have been useful when first starting the game) and a residence key which opens a door to a chest with gold resin. This resin adds temporary lightning elemental damage to your right hand weapon. I agree with you guys about the lock-on, it's quite finicky. The HUD is a bit too large and the menu interface is messy. These really are the only criticisms I can throw at the game thus far though, loving my time in this beautifully twisted universe. Nooo, dont kill the npcs! D: You can go to the guy in the tower behind the gargoyle boss fight and pay to have them reset if they are angry at you but you cant reset them if they're dead.. | 2011-10-09 22:37:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| Nooo, dont kill the npcs! D: You can go to the guy in the tower behind the gargoyle boss fight and pay to have them reset if they are angry at you but you cant reset them if they're dead.. I wish I knew that BEFORE I killed him lol. Did that merchant sell anything special? Like I said, it was an accident, did not know I could reset the NPC | 2011-10-09 23:09:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Demon Souls never had a "lobby system" and neither does this. It uses the same mechanics, lay down a stone while undead and others can summon you to their game. If you are alive then you can summon into your game. I never said for online playing. xD That's why I said I was asking for how "traveling" worked. v Like what you said here v You travel by walking. The only fast-travel options are items and a miracle that can teleport you back to the last bonfire you rested at. Also, this. v After the tutorial you start out in a safe haven area, then you can walk to other places from there and there are shortcuts back to the safe haven(Firelink Shrine) that you can open. Its all connected, no teleporting out for merchants and leveling. There are bonfires that act like checkpoints, you light one then you can sit down and level up. You can buy stuff that lets you repair or upgrade equipment from the bonfires, and you can revive yourself if you collected any humanity. Also, whenever you sit at a bonfire all the enemies reset except for mini-bosses and bosses. NPCs dont reset. OK, good to know, so kinda open world, hurrah! | 2011-10-10 01:26:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| I killed the NPC in gold armour because I was getting Yurt vibes from him and what do you know he pulled out twin scythes after being attacked. He drops a ring that boosts health and stamina but if you take it off it breaks. | 2011-10-10 01:26:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I wish I knew that BEFORE I killed him lol. Did that merchant sell anything special? Like I said, it was an accident, did not know I could reset the NPC He sells some cool armour, some crystal weapons, some gold resin and other stuff. I killed the NPC in gold armour because I was getting Yurt vibes from him and what do you know he pulled out twin scythes after being attacked. He drops a ring that boosts health and stamina but if you take it off it breaks. Yea he's evil, if you let him live though you get to do this quest where you hunt him down and get his armour set. Both bells rung, woot! Think i'll take a detour into the valley of the drakes.. Edit: OOOOOOk, not ready for that lol. Drake sword not doing anything for me in there and my shield has no lightning dmg reduction, time to find a better weapon and shield. Killed the Undead Dragon though.. | 2011-10-10 02:25:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| He sells some cool armour, some crystal weapons, some gold resin and other stuff. Yea he's evil, if you let him live though you get to do this quest where you hunt him down and get his armour set. Both bells rung, woot! Think i'll take a detour into the valley of the drakes.. I must be thinking of a different merchant...unless you think chain armor is cool? Does he upgrade his wares...because he doesn't have anything good now.,,I think you're fine OCK. OCK...did you find your whip? I picked one up in Blighttown...haven't tried it yet...it took me like 3 hours to escape that place, I should have continued through the Depths but decided to go to Blighttown via Drake Valley...huge mistake. I got to a door that won't open past the 2nd bonefire and had a heck of a time leaving. I dread coming back...but at least I got some cool loot/armor sets and finally found a katana! I only tried the spider boss once...and I didn't get through the Great Hollows (walk on tree roots + curse frogs + crystal lizards)...this place is bad news. When I got back to Firelink with my 2nd flask upgrade there was a problem...sounds like the gold jerk is resposible...he better not let me catch him or I'll have to let him pummel me into the ground. So am I screwed on the flask upgrade...or will someone else come along? I really don't know where I'm supposed to go...I guess back to the Depths...every other place is too difficult. | 2011-10-10 04:11:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| It seems with every boss there's a way to cheap them out. Kinda dissapointed the games not harder.. hopefully after the second bell is rung there will be tougher enemies. Might try killing the stray demon for the lolz. He sells some cool armour, some crystal weapons, some gold resin and other stuff. Yea he's evil, if you let him live though you get to do this quest where you hunt him down and get his armour set. Both bells rung, woot! Think i'll take a detour into the valley of the drakes.. Edit: OOOOOOk, not ready for that lol. Drake sword not doing anything for me in there and my shield has no lightning dmg reduction, time to find a better weapon and shield. Killed the Undead Dragon though.. SO it does become significantly more difficult? :o | 2011-10-10 05:02:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| OCK...did you find your whip? I picked one up in Blighttown...haven't tried it yet...I really don't know where I'm supposed to go...I guess back to the Depths...every other place is too difficult. Nope, have not found any whips yet, I'm a Belmont running around without a whip!. I did not get a chance to play too much last week, I think you guys are way ahead of me. I had the same problem of not knowing where to go. I killed the Moonlight Butterfly and thought that would lead to a new location. I got the Watchtower basement key instead and thought that would lead to a new location lol (btw, the blacksmith up there was petrified but there was a message saying "covenant"...). That led to a shortcut to the Darkroot Basin and a very powerful enemy which I managed to defeat and got a ring for my troubles. Then I tried the Catacombs and realized that the only way to kill the skeletons was with a Divine weapon so no go there. Eventually I decided to take on the Hydra solo and it wasn't very hard at all. I got a whole lot of souls and a Dragon ring which is for sorcery and useless to me. The upside was that I could now climb up the ladder by the waterfall. So I climbed up and explored the various paths. Fought 3 of those shadow cats, 2000 soul drop each = I like. I found the Forest Covenant and joined abandoning the Cleric covenant near the Firelink shrine. I was given a ring that when worn will allow the covenant leader to summon me and "defend the forest". I have not tried the ring yet, I think it will send me into another players game to kill them if they enter the forest and are part of an opposing covenant. That is just a guess though, like I said, not using wiki's so figuring things out on my own. When I entered that forest their were warriors from the covenant everywhere, standing still and watching guard. The sight was pretty bad@$$. I did some exploring and found the very cool Eastern Armor set. I also found the Stone Giant armor set. I passed by a door that looked like the reverse of the one you open for 20,000 souls. In other words, save your money, you can access this location for free! I also found a massive door slightly ajar with light seeping through it. A message said boss ahead and I did not want to risk my 17,000 souls so I did not open it, will do so this evening. Love the "mushroom people", the child-like ones are easy picking but the mommy's are tough. The more you play the game the more you want to keep playing, each new area bringing surprises and insane enemy design. I am taking breaks from this with RAGE though, too much Dark Souls could lead to depression | 2011-10-10 14:11:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I found the Forest Covenant and joined abandoning the Cleric covenant near the Firelink shrine. I was given a ring that when worn will allow the covenant leader to summon me and "defend the forest". Cool! I'll probably get destroyed in any PvP...but I'll give it a try. I think I'll head back to the forest, I liked that area and it sounds like there's more I could do there, i.e. didn't try to fight hydra, cats, butterfly (haven't even seen this one!), etc.There's a big dude with a club guarding the tower that leads from where the Taurus demon was into the forest...I can't beat him...he one-shot kills me and I can't do any real damage to him...it doesn't seem like he should be that tough...his continued existence is really bugging me. btw: Did you use the guy in the 1st bell tower to abandon your covenant...it doesn't cost any souls and appears to let you do so without penalty... As for the whip...I can tell you where it is...just not the path to get to it. You know the bonfire on the floor of the swamp? Behind it is a greenish circular room. Up high in the cylindrical chamber is corpse that has it. You come across it on the way to the 2nd bonfire but you have to drop down to get it as it's no on the normal route. The attack animations are pretty cool, the description says it's not useful on armored stuff which makes sense. I hope it works well for the fly things, the spear won't target them properly. I have 2 rings now...the Blue ring (higher DEF at low HP) that you probably found and the Iron ring. The Iron ring was great for nabbing the loot in the swamp, it improves your footing. This was what the key on the corpse high up in the Firelink shrine was for, the locked door next to the boss entrance back in the Undead Asylum...you can safely retrieve it pretty easily. I don't think I'm ahead of you...I've been wandering randomly trying to figure out anything I can...it's slow going but I'm having fun. It seems with every boss there's a way to cheap them out. Kinda dissapointed the games not harder.. hopefully after the second bell is rung there will be tougher enemies. Might try killing the stray demon for the lolz. I wonder what you'd think of the difficulty w/o using the Drake Sword? I can tell you playing as a thief with the winged spear isn't so easy, especially since the poke attacks rely heavily on the flaky targeting. Even upgraded to +5, which is the highest I can go until I guess I find the Ember for the blacksmith it only does like 129 dmg. I kinda regret upgrading DEX and not STR, I have tons of good STR weapons. My DEX is 30 now, which is plenty to wield my new katana, so I'm going to focus on endurance now. Do you have the Server? Needs a 24 STR...but it says it heals you after every enemy you defeat...sounds awesome. I assume there is a combo Talisman/Sorcery wand thing in this game as there was in Demon's Souls...I want one badly! | 2011-10-10 15:32:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Cool! I'll probably get destroyed in any PvP...but I'll give it a try. I think I'll head back to the forest, I liked that area and it sounds like there's more I could do there, i.e. didn't try to fight hydra, cats, butterfly (haven't even seen this one!), etc. There's a big dude with a club guarding the tower that leads from where the Taurus demon was into the forest...I can't beat him...he one-shot kills me and I can't do any real damage to him...it doesn't seem like he should be that tough...his continued existence is really bugging me. btw: Did you use the guy in the 1st bell tower to abandon your covenant...it doesn't cost any souls and appears to let you do so without penalty... As for the whip...I can tell you where it is...just not the path to get to it. You know the bonfire on the floor of the swamp? Behind it is a greenish circular room. Up high in the cylindrical chamber is corpse that has it. You come across it on the way to the 2nd bonfire but you have to drop down to get it as it's no on the normal route. The attack animations are pretty cool, the description says it's not useful on armored stuff which makes sense. I hope it works well for the fly things, the spear won't target them properly. I have 2 rings now...the Blue ring (higher DEF at low HP) that you probably found and the Iron ring. The Iron ring was great for nabbing the loot in the swamp, it improves your footing. This was what the key on the corpse high up in the Firelink shrine was for, the locked door next to the boss entrance back in the Undead Asylum...you can safely retrieve it pretty easily. I don't think I'm ahead of you...I've been wandering randomly trying to figure out anything I can...it's slow going but I'm having fun. lol, I assumed you already cleared the entire DarkRoot area. You mentioned Blightown and I have not been there yet, don't even know how to get there! Regarding the PvP and Forest Covenant, I am just speculating but I will try it out tonight and find out for sure (I did not know I could use the belltower NPC to abandon covenant, wonder what the consequences will be). There is a hidden NPC that can help you with the butterfly, cut the bush at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the boss, that is all I will say Thanks for the heads up on the whip but I have no idea where the swamp is lol. I spent a good 4 hours wandering aimlessly and revisiting past areas before finally taking on the Hydra and discovering the whole new forest area (which is actually considered the DarkRoot Garden). I assumed this was the path forward since the only other path is through the Drake Valley (I managed to kill 1 drake before the next one owned me) or the New Londo Ruins. I have been using the Black Knight Sword + 1, the attack power puts the Halberd + 2 I was using to shame although it took a little while to adjust to the range and attack speed. It swings a bit too slow for my liking but I will keep it as my main weapon until I find something stronger. I think I have 5 different rings now. I use the Wolf Ring from the hidden area in DarkRoot Garden that I mentioned in a previous post and the defense ring. The wolf ring doubles your max poise which decreases the chances of attack animations being interrupted. I also have Havel ring (increases max equipment capacity), the dragon ring (halves HP in exchange for more spell casting) and the cat ring from the forest covenant. Good to know I am not the only one wandering around randomly, when someone finds an NPC that can buy all our unused equipment please let me know. Also, DROP ITEMS! I really want to see some vagrants, I drop an item every hour so if your invaded by a vagrant there is a small chance it's because of me! Have not encountered any red phantoms yet, not complaining. I think that most ppl are staying Hollow and for this reason there seems to be a lot less co-op play then Demon Souls (no HP penalty a big factor I guess, the sheer size and open-ended design too). In DS I would get summoned within a couple of minutes of dropping a soul sign, here I have stayed in areas for over 30 mins without ever being summoned... | 2011-10-10 17:46:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I also have Havel ring (increases max equipment capacity) That's one thing I don't have to worry about with the Thief armor/spear, my encumbrance is only like 14. Glad stuff that isn't equipped doesn't count...no idea where I'm hiding all those armor sets and 2 handed weapons! I've gotten some cool looking armor set with better stats...but they invariably show my characters bony skeletal arms or legs which creeps me out so I'll probably just upgrade the thief set. Do you know if a higher humanity score (even if you don't reverse hollowing) has any affect on your character's appearance? Also, DROP ITEMS! I really want to see some vagrants, I drop an item every hour so if your invaded by a vagrant there is a small chance it's because of me! Me too...even though I'd probably die. I periodically stop and drop a dozen or so items, I keep at least 1 of every weapon/armor piece I find. Do you know if you can be invaded by a vagrant in hollow form? If so I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. I die too much to bother with human form, in Blighttown I sometimes didn't last more than 1 minute before dying. | 2011-10-10 18:59:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| My brother bought this on Xbox yesterday does anyone know how to defeat the Gargoyles? | 2011-10-10 19:18:00 Author: Lordwarblade  Posts: 761 |
| So I just tried out the covenant ring I was talking about and uhhh...wow. I don't want to spoil anything, let's just say it does not do what I thought it would but it does something that I think is a lot cooler with more potential reward @Lord - personally I summoned phantoms, that is probably the easiest way to do it. Taking down one gargoyle first should be a priority, when two are flying about it will make your life miserable. HEAL, HEAL, HEAL, make use of block/dodge. These rules apply to almost every enemy, good luck, I will listen for the bells ringing | 2011-10-10 19:55:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| @OCK Ah ok i haven't played it myself yet but it seems pretty good. Can you summon phantoms as any class? I'm not sure what my brother is. | 2011-10-10 20:09:00 Author: Lordwarblade Posts: 761 |
| lol, yes, summoning phantoms is part of the core gameplay. I made a serious mistake regarding that ring/covenant and spoke too soon. I don't exactly know what I did wrong but...good luck to anyone joining that covenant! | 2011-10-10 20:13:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| My brother bought this on Xbox yesterday does anyone know how to defeat the Gargoyles? If you want to try it solo, here's what worked for me: When the fight starts, keep circling and wait for him to attack, then poke him in the tail with a spear (I used the winged spear from cemetery)...I'd use the strong R2 attack. If you plan to block make sure you equip a shield with 100% physical. Blocking took all my stamina which left me open for a follow up attack so I found dodging more effective. When his health gets to around half (or it's based on time...don't know for sure) the 2nd one will come down. The thing to watch out for here is the fire. Keep an eye out for when the 2nd health bar shows up and immediately turn off the lock-on and run somewhere safe to get your bearings. The 2nd gargoyle is much weaker than the first and seems easier to stay away from. At this point I just kept my distance and spammed soul arrow until the first was dead, then went back to my patented circle/poke technique to take out the 2nd. As long as you don't have to contend with both at once it's not too bad. HTH | 2011-10-10 20:13:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| If you want to try it solo, here's what worked for me: When the fight starts, keep circling and wait for him to attack, then poke him in the tail with a spear (I used the winged spear from cemetery)...I'd use the strong R2 attack. If you plan to block make sure you equip a shield with 100% physical. Blocking took all my stamina which left me open for a follow up attack so I found dodging more effective. When his health gets to around half (or it's based on time...don't know for sure) the 2nd one will come down. The thing to watch out for here is the fire. Keep an eye out for when the 2nd health bar shows up and immediately turn off the lock-on and run somewhere safe to get your bearings. The 2nd gargoyle is much weaker than the first and seems easier to stay away from. At this point I just kept my distance and spammed soul arrow until the first was dead, then went back to my patented circle/poke technique to take out the 2nd. As long as you don't have to contend with both at once it's not too bad. HTH Thanks i'll tell him to try this out as well as phantoms though i don't think he has any phantoms yet. He did circle and cut off the tail of the first gargoyle before but the second keeps getting him when hes almost killed the first. | 2011-10-10 20:20:00 Author: Lordwarblade Posts: 761 |
| Thanks i'll tell him to try this out as well as phantoms though i don't think he has any phantoms yet. He did circle and cut off the tail of the first gargoyle before but the second keeps getting him when hes almost killed the first. It's probably not obvious, but you need to be human (reverse hollowing at a bonfire) in order to be able to summon help. If you get up to the mist wall in human form you may see symbols on the ground that people have placed that will let you summon them for the fight. Being able to divide the gargoyles attention will be a huge advantage for you. Be aware that your estus flask also heals your allies (thanks OCK), they can't use theirs when summoned, so it's probably a good idea to down a few periodically. Not sure if you can see your allies health bars, I've been summoned...but haven't summoned anyone myself. btw: The couple times I was summoned to help others with this fight the person that summoned me was also able summon that guy that was starring at the sun right before the red dragon on the bridge. Not sure what that was about, guess the game provides an NPC for those playing offline...but that guy is a tank and the gargoyles seems really fond of him...you could easily do this fight with just him and you. * You run a small risk being invaded by another player when in human from. They can't follow you into the boss fight though and the odds are pretty good you won't have to worry about it. | 2011-10-10 20:38:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| OK, so I entered the depths and looted that area to kingdom come. I found a whole lot of humanity dropped by rats, the best ring thus far (Evil eye, fallen enemies restore HP, another merchant NPC who sells the bottomless Box which is used at bonfires as infinite storage for your items and so many souls that I went up about 6 levels (now level 40). When I fell into this shaft and was met by frogs I became...concerned. After all, these are the curse frogs I have heard about. I was reassured by the fact that I had a purging stone with me but the truth is I did not need it, those things barely scratched me. Seriously, I was ducking and weaving through that mist and their spitting attacks like Ali lol. Also rescued another NPC down here, I believe he is a pyromancer. And the boss for this area? Easiest boss so far, I was amazed at how easy it was. Someone left a message to attack the tail and that is what I did. Took about 2 mins, only used 2 estus flasks because he flicked me with his tail at one point. 25k and a key to Blightown! Great intro though, had me intimidated Regarding the lower Undead Burg, there was a guy locked in a door, I happened to have the key to the door which was dropped by the NPC merchant I slaughtered by accident. Did anybody else rescue this sorcerer? Curious to know how you got the key if you did. I returned to the Firelink Shrine and something is happening with one of the NPC's, curious to see where this goes... EDIT: Forgot to mention, I put my controller down when standing in front of the sewer witch merchant and it triggered R2 and attacked her. I went to absolve myself at the bell tower and it costs 80,000 souls! Guess I screwed myself over, I am cursed when it comes to merchants :/ | 2011-10-10 22:20:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Regarding the lower Undead Burg, there was a guy locked in a door, I happened to have the key to the door which was dropped by the NPC merchant I slaughtered by accident. Did anybody else rescue this sorcerer? Curious to know how you got the key if you did. The merchant would sell you the key if you were nice and didn't whack him with a big sword. EDIT: Forgot to mention, I put my controller down when standing in front of the sewer witch merchant and it triggered R2 and attacked her. I went to absolve myself at the bell tower and it costs 80,000 souls! Guess I screwed myself over, I am cursed when it comes to merchants :/ Lol, so much for my warning. 80k, that's harsh...I guess they really do want you to do penance! I hate how touchy L2/R2 are...* It seems like you practically have to stand still to get cursed...they aren't bad at all...it's just the first encounter when you don't know what to expect that's a shock. I ran into my first frogs in the Great Hollow, I was expecting them to be green, lol, so they took me by surprise. | 2011-10-10 22:32:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
Still nothing in the post!!!  I WANT this game ****it!!!! | 2011-10-11 18:40:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| OK so Blighttown is done and dusted. This location just might be the single most oppressive, menacing and depressing "level" I have ever seen in a game. So many ways to die, the character designs, the architecture, wow. The atmosphere in this area has a palpable wieght. I found the 3rd Fire Demon Soul and my Estus is now at +3. I summoned 2 phantoms to help me take on the boss, ceratin areas have a lot more people playing in them and it is a lot easier to summon/be summoned. Needles to say, we made quick work of "her". I found a hidden covenant immediately after this area, there is an illusory wall (got to love messages!). I joined, strengthened my pyromancy. I like pyromancy because it does not require putting points into Int/Faith, perfect for a melee focused character. This covenant leader can also reinforce estus flasks and you can offer humanity to it. I offered 1 humanity and it said "allegiance deepened", wonder what reward this might come with if enough humanity is given. You can also buy a book here that let's you see every other player who has joined this covenant, pretty cool. When I went back to the Firelink shrine the pyro NPC I rescued remarked on my high level spell and asked me to teach him. I chose yes, no immediate benefit... Speaking of the Firelink shrine, what exactly is going on? lol, a couple of surprises were waiting for me. I went back to the Forest area to check out that big door that is supposed to have a boss behind it. There was a boss, this boss is very very cool but too tough for me solo at this moment in time. Since both bells were rung I visited the newly opened area. Did a lot of questing with other people, racked up some souls. They should call this place Trap City! Loving every second spent with the game, it has already eclipsed Demon Souls in my book and there is still so much more to see | 2011-10-12 14:04:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Stupid game still hasn't arrived! :angry: Even though the same company posted something 2 days after they posted this game, and that other package arrived yesterday!!! Postie stole my Dark Soul's!!! | 2011-10-13 23:24:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| Fullofwin and I have been exchanging stories via PM to keep this thread as spoiler free as possible but I just wanted to share something. I discovered a secret covenant and a secret quest line that - based on what I have seen thus far - could in all likelihood increase total playtime by about 25%. Once again, this is entirely optional and requires multiple things happen in order to initiate it. I am sure most (if not all) old-school gamers scoff at the idea of using a guide/wiki but for new players I encourage you do the same. The sense of satisfaction gained from exploring and the discovering the magic and mysteries of this world on your own cannot be overstated, using any sort of guide will greatly diminish the experience imo. Sure, you will miss out on things and might not be able to create the best weapons on your first run but that is something to look forward to in NG+ at which point using a guide becomes "acceptable". Also, it is literally impossible to see/get everything on one playthrough... I am 45 hours in and I continue to be amazed and in awe at every turn. Here are some pics of my character: https://twitpic.com/show/iphone/703str https://twitpic.com/show/iphone/703u4q https://twitpic.com/show/iphone/703thh | 2011-10-14 13:45:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Stupid game still hasn't arrived! :angry: Even though the same company posted something 2 days after they posted this game, and that other package arrived yesterday!!! Postie stole my Dark Soul's!!! Have you been to the local sorting office. Maybe the postie forgot to stick that reminder slip through the door. How long do you have to wait before your Shop Of Choice will deal with items missing in post? | 2011-10-14 16:23:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Have you been to the local sorting office. Maybe the postie forgot to stick that reminder slip through the door. How long do you have to wait before your Shop Of Choice will deal with items missing in post? 10 working days I'm supposed to leave it for. Woke up this morning (duh-nuuh-nuh-duh), got out of bed (duh-nuuh-nuh-duh), Still no game arrived.. so I went down to my local sorting office (in the pouring rain) to see if anything was waiting for me.... nope... still nothing. So once I got home I started to write a strongly worded email to the company, when I heard a *thud* at my front door. On opening the package I saw the wonderful message "prepare to die!".... No it wasn't a death threat... it was my game Huzzah - I has a Dark Souls! | 2011-10-17 10:39:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| Finished my first playthrough last night, about 60 hours, soul level 85, ZERO help from guides etc. Immediately started NG+. The first Black Knight used to drop 600 souls when defeated, now it drops 3000! Taurus dropped 5k, can't remember what he drops first time, 2500? Not only is this my Game of the Year, it might just be the best game I have played in the last 10 years. Combat is the best in the history of action RPG's. Enemy design and level architecture is masterful. Online elements expand upon the groundbreaking Demon Souls. The sparse, ambient, at times triumphant sound design is haunting. The magic, mystery and majesty of the massive world FROM created is unparalleled. Replay value? Virtually infinite. This game deserves every accolade the industry can throw at it, truly truly special. @Mac - congrats on finally getting the game, prepare to lose many hours of your life | 2011-10-17 10:43:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Soooo... you like it? | 2011-10-17 13:19:00 Author: ryryryan Posts: 3767 |
| OCK what, if anything, carries over to NG+? | 2011-10-17 23:02:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| L OCK what, if anything, carries over to NG+? Everything except keys. Not sure about embers, have not reached the first blacksmith yet EDIT: I can't believe what just happened, I am just sitting here dumbfounded. So I beat the Gargoyles solo, take out the Titanite demon and then head towards the Hydra as I want to join the Forest Covenant ASAP (and don't want to spend 20K on the door lol). I make it there, join, put on the ring. Summoned within 15 mins and I get killed by a guy who has this really cheap spell. Basically if you get close to him he activates this shockwave blast that took off half my HP. He was also hurling lightning bolts. Anyway, I get summoned again about 10 mins later. I am in the middle of the forest, I swivel the camera around to see if the enemy is close by. A few seconds later another defender joins me, we start the hunt. We eventually find the guy waiting for us on a hill. Battle begins, he has the cheap fog ring so no lock on. I quickly move in and get some slashes. He goes after the other guy and almost kills him because now he is 100% focused on finishing the job, pretty much ignoring me. I know my partner needs to heal himself so I am trying my best to get between them. Eventually we make it through to the ruins, I toss a chaos fireball at the enemy and he retreats. My partner heals himself and we cautiously exit the ruins to continue battle. The guy is waiting for us, he turns toward my partner and bows. He turns to me and bows. As he is finishing the bow (I let him finish, have to have honor lol) I rush toward him. I get in a few hits and as he turn to me my partner gets him with a backstab. I quickly switch to 2 handed to finish the job as he gets up. He then goes COMPLETELY INVISIBLE but it does not matter, I am slashing like a wild man and ENEMY DEFEATED pops up on screen. Now here comes the best part: I AM AWARDED 863,000 SOULS. Wow...just...wow. I am level 90, I messaged my partner and he is only 53, I can only imagine what level this invader was. | 2011-10-18 06:42:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| While I am still plodding along on my first play-through, maybe 70% complete by OCK's estimate, I echo his sentiments about this game being special. It's by no means perfect, there are framerate issues in spots, the lock-on sometimes targets a harmless enemy on another floor when there is one right in front of you, etc. but the overall experience is just amazing. Every area provides a unique challenge and so much to do/discover. It's not exactly an open-world, but you still have plenty of freedom in choosing where to go and what to do, especially if you took the masterkey. The level design is brilliant with progress through the game yielding useful shortcuts and new connections between areas. You can really sink a lot of hours in this depending on how much you do with each covenant you find, many seem to have side tasks like the Forest Hunters. And if the stories OCK and I have traded are any indication, your journey through this game world won't be exactly the same as someone else's. Great Forest Hunter story, OCK. I've been destroyed by plenty of these uber characters, I'm impressed you could defeat one even with help! | 2011-10-18 16:24:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| So that guy we beat? He answered me on PSN, guess what level he was? 706!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew I was hardcore, I knew I was very good at this game, I did NOT know I was that good lmao | 2011-10-18 20:39:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| So that guy we beat? He answered me on PSN, guess what level he was? 706!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew I was hardcore, I knew I was very good at this game, I did NOT know I was that good lmao 706? What's the max level anyway? Not to besmirch your achievement, but clearly this joker had little actual skill and instead exploited some glitch to get his levels...no way anyone grinded the number of hours required to do this legitimately. Now he's basically ruining the forest covenant for everyone not as hardcore as you, I hate cheaters. If you still have his PSN ask him how he farmed his souls. EDIT: Just did a search...apparently there is an infinite item use glitch. I'm sure that's what this guy did...I hope this gets patched! | 2011-10-18 22:46:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| So, it's pretty much Demons Souls 2 - pretty much exactly what I was expecting. I like the way you feel the different armour configurations - the weight and the sound of them. I've chosen the sorcerer, focusing on intelligence and attunement, so my spells are pretty nasty - I just need to avoid everything I come across like the plague, and hope my spells hold up until the next bonfire. In would say this feels easier than Demons Souls did, though it may be that I've just gotten used to the difficulty. I've rang the first bell of ascension, and I've just started exploring the undead burg basement area, think I'm about soul level 20 - so no doubt I've not even scratched the surface of how hard it's going to get. | 2011-10-18 23:22:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| 706? What's the max level anyway? Not to besmirch your achievement, but clearly this joker had little actual skill and instead exploited some glitch to get his levels...no way anyone grinded the number of hours required to do this legitimately. Now he's basically ruining the forest covenant for everyone not as hardcore as you, I hate cheaters. If you still have his PSN ask him how he farmed his souls. EDIT: Just did a search...apparently there is an infinite item use glitch. I'm sure that's what this guy did...I hope this gets patched! Yeah I never understood how people could get satisfaction from cheating, you did nothing to earn those souls. At the same time it makes a victory like mine feel all the better, by default his HP, Stamina ATK power etc should have greatly eclipsed mine. My partners back stab did virtually zero damage, I was watching the enemies life bar. It did serve for me to land the killing blow though, my Black Knight Sword +5 cuts through things like butter! It's funny that one of the first weapons I acquired has served me so well. I leveled my strength to be able to wield it, I spent precious twinkling titanite to upgrade it never really knowing if it would be worth it and it as become my truest friend. You have all these people who bought the game and then immediately checked the Wiki's to get the "best" stuff as early as possible thinking that will help them dominate. Without some actual skill the Drake Sword et all mean nothing I believe the max level is same as DeS, 999. I don't understand how every time a game like this comes out (Oblivion, Dead Island etc) there is ALWAYS a duping glitch. You would think by now devs would test specifically for this kind of thing and yet it always rears it's ugly head. Anyway, let the noobs have fun duping, true gamers keep it real. A patch HAS been announced and will hopefully hit this month. Not sure if they will fix duping but it has been confirmed that Ring of Fog will get nerfed!!! I am curious to see how all the clowns using this in PvP will cope | 2011-10-19 11:46:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| Everything except keys. Not sure about embers, have not reached the first blacksmith yet Ah, cool. I feel dumb for not choosing the master key at the outset now. I believe the max level is same as DeS, 999. Assuming each of the stats could only be raised to 99 the maximum soul level would be 792. In would say this feels easier than Demons Souls did, though it may be that I've just gotten used to the difficulty. I've rang the first bell of ascension, and I've just started exploring the undead burg basement area, think I'm about soul level 20 - so no doubt I've not even scratched the surface of how hard it's going to get. I've found it pretty easy so far. I think my character is overpowered, though... I have around 400 defense points. | 2011-10-19 15:03:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Ah, cool. I feel dumb for not choosing the master key at the outset now. Assuming each of the stats could only be raised to 99 the maximum soul level would be 792. Yeah I regret not getting Master Key either, would greatly simplify things. Also, embers do NOT carry over so probably best to level weapons before starting NG+. Yeah, your right about Soul Level, THAT is what it was in DeS lol. This makes my hunter story even more amusing, this guy was not too far from MAX level! Speaking of which, I shared my story on GFAQS because I was curious to see if this really was exceptional. After a few (expected) immature posts about how we are cheap for taking him two-on-one (lmao, seriously) some ppl confirmed they also have similar stories although it does not seem common. One guy said he once netted 1 million souls. Another guy said he was level 46 when he netted, brace yourselves, 5 million souls! Although I have a hard time believing that I would have had a hard time believing my own story if I did not experience it myself lol. Not too sure what determines when you get summoned to defend. Last night I went 2 hours with nothing and then within 30 mins I got summoned 4 times. | 2011-10-19 16:41:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I've found the summoning to be quite random as well... it never seems to happen when I need it to. Isn't it dependent on someone within an certain level range and within a certain ping range stumbling across your sigil while they are in human form? I guess it depends on how 'hot' the area is for player traffic. | 2011-10-19 20:47:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| Do we need to do as much grinding in this game as in Demon's Souls? I may buy it in a few months. | 2011-10-19 21:09:00 Author: SnipySev  Posts: 2452 |
| I've found the summoning to be quite random as well... it never seems to happen when I need it to. Isn't it dependent on someone within an certain level range and within a certain ping range stumbling across your sigil while they are in human form? I guess it depends on how 'hot' the area is for player traffic. I don't know any specifics, but that sounds about right... I've never had to wait long to be summoned when I've put my sigil down (less than 5 minutes). After every boss I always help at least a couple others so I've been summoned quite a bit. When you consider each player can effectively only summon once per-boss, per-game cycle (because you'll almost certainly win 3-on-1) and once you factor in stuff like level, it's amazing anyone ever gets to play with another human. EDIT: You might need to grind a little for ore to fully upgrade your weapons/gear...but you certainly don't need to. You seem to get plenty of souls/ore along the way to keep pace with the enemies...and summoning help makes the boss battles trival affairs. Not sure why grinding was necessary in Demon's Souls either...unless you were trying to do PvP...in which case Dark Souls is probably the same. | 2011-10-19 21:25:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZJbofYPwk | 2011-10-20 11:23:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I've found the summoning to be quite random as well... it never seems to happen when I need it to. Isn't it dependent on someone within an certain level range and within a certain ping range stumbling across your sigil while they are in human form? I guess it depends on how 'hot' the area is for player traffic. Although I was talking specifically about the Forest Covenant summoning I agree that summoning on the whole can be erratic. My observations after my first playthrough were that there are about 4-5 locations in particular that are very easy to summon/be summoned in. Now that I am lvl 118 it seems harder to find people to play with although I did help two ppl fight the same boss last night within a 30 min time-frame. The main problem is that this time we have multiple servers. DeS servers were region locked. You had NA, EU and Asia and each server was packed full of people. This also allowed an easy workaround for linking up with friends. My buddy and I would be on SKYPE and we would tell each other exactly where we are putting the summon sign down so we could summon each other. Unfortunately questing with a friend is 10X more difficult now. It requires a lot of luck and system resets in order to try getting into the same server. However, there are 3 covenants that make playing with ppl in the same covenant easier which is one reason why I suppose FROM made this design decision, it is all in service of their artistic vision. I remember Miyazaki saying that he wants for the player to understand that when they are aided in the game the help comes from a stranger, not their close friend. Although I have the utmost respect for FROM's commitment and complete lack of compromise it does make getting together with a friend a big headache and is the one and only "real" complaint I have with the game. @Ayneh - that explains all the super high soul levels. Oh well, noobs will be noobs, I just can't understand how anyone can enjoy the game if they are that OP, completely ruins the whole experience imo. | 2011-10-20 13:01:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| @Ayneh - that explains all the super high soul levels. Oh well, noobs will be noobs, I just can't understand how anyone can enjoy the game if they are that OP, completely ruins the whole experience imo. To create maxed characters for fun. <3 I made a new character and ran pass everything to try it out. Took around half an hour but died a few times. Eyeballing it seems you can use 4 items a second, so souls per item * 4 * (60^2) will be the number of souls you can produce in an hour. I only have a low-tier soul item so for me it's 1000*4*(60^2)=14,400,000 souls per hour. If you had a soul item that granted 10,000 souls you could make 144 million souls per hour. 10 million souls gets you to around SL175. You probably need in excess of 100 million to reach max soul level. Edit: I was wrong, you can only use 4 items per second not 5. Updated post. | 2011-10-20 18:42:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Alot of the enjoyment of this game was supposed to come from the sense of achievement at over coming a difficult challenge.... an infinite xp glitch would just suck the sense of achievement right out of the game I hope I don't summon a glitched character by accident | 2011-10-21 00:59:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| I hope I don't summon a glitched character by accident Shouldn't happen due to level matching, these people will be playing with each other. It's only the covenants like Forest Hunters where you're almost 100% guaranteed to encounter a glitcher. On an un-related topic, I think we have a contender for worst video game boss character name. I fought a thing yesterday called the "Ceaseless Discharge". My first death was from laughter, the next 9 were because he was a tough customer. | 2011-10-21 13:54:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| You think infinite souls and being invaded by higher level people is bad? There's an invincibility glitch. | 2011-10-21 22:14:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800 |
| You think infinite souls and being invaded by higher level people is bad? There's an invincibility glitch. Oh good lord. There goes PVP. Also, I left the infinite souls thing running for a while producing over a billion souls but it seems to cap at 999999999. Even 999 million still wasn't enough to reach max soul level. Although your stats don't seem to change much at higher levels. | 2011-10-22 00:22:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I really love the PvP in this game. At it's best it gives me the same kind of adrenaline rush as a fighting game or a great MP FPS. In contrast to DeS I think the covenants really make this aspect of the game special. I joined the Darkmoon Blades, a few stories associated with that covenant follow: 1. So upon joining you get the Blue Eye Ord which allows infinite invasions into the world of the guilty at anytime. It rarely works on the first attempt and at times requires you to set it down a good 5-10 times before you find someone to invade as a "spirit of vengeance" but it's the best PvP related item imo. I used it in the forest and fought this guy waiting on the grassy hill. He had the wood grain ring, light armor, grass crest shield and alternated between two samurai swords, one which was fire dmg base the other lightning. My pyromancy was easily dodged, my heavy character outmaneuvered, my slower sword swings easily countered. Long story short I fought this guy about 5 times in a row, each time trying different strategies. My closest battle was was when I two handed my sword. We spent a good 5 mins going at it but he eventually got the best of me. He beat me all 5 times but it was great anyway, we became respected enemies having fun with the gestures and always bowing. 2. I invade a guy in Anor Londo. Launch chaos fireball, hits, he retreats toward a group of enemies, I retreat back through an archway knowing I have no chance fighting him and 3 of those "things" (don't want to spoil for anyone who has not been there yet!). This is where it gets interesting. From where I am standing I can see him. He does not realize I can see him because he is turned toward the direction I retreated and I moved my character further back down. He uses camouflage and turns into a pot! He moves the pot toward the arch I exited from. This is rich, I know he is disguised and planning an ambush. So I walk through the arch, note the pot on my right and "look around" pretending I have no idea where he disappeared to. Then I make a huge mistake, I test out a new spell I have never used before. Acid is spewed from my mouth, seems to have zero effect, he rolls out of position and cuts me down, game over! Moral of the story: if you have such an advantage stick to what you know and don't get creative! 3. Through the Darkmoon covenant I am summoned. I enter the play area, note another character who I believe to be my ally and we proceed to look for the enemy. Another ally appears in the distance. We head toward him and use the wave gesture. He is not moving, just sitting idle. I ignore him and double back. I note that my other ally kills this ally. I think, "that's strange" but continue searching. The other ally rejoins me and kills an NPC character in the area. I think "that's odd" but it still doesn't click. Another ally joins us and he immediately attacks the guy I was running around with! Then it hits me, THIS is the guy we should be hunting!!! I think we were both very confused, he had plenty of opportunity to attack me and I him, I can't imagine what he was thinking, that I was some sort of spy in disguise really on his team? lol, I don't know what I was thinking either, guess it was late and my eyes were glazed over. So my real ally hits him I few times, I start launching fireballs and the enemy retreats. Best part, my ally throws a lightning bolt into his back for the killing blow and then uses what I call the "hey, what?" gesture, arms extended with a cocky walk forward as if to ask me "wtf were YOU doing all this time?" We got 200,000+ souls so he must have been high level. LMAO, priceless | 2011-10-24 19:50:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I had possibly THE most frustrating introduction to the PvP in this game... but at least I got my revenge. I was in the middle of blight town - having a hard time of it due to my purely intelligence based sorcery character build - the two summons who had helped me get this far were both killed, one fell to their deaths, the other eaten alive - I very cautiously and slowly explore my way forward... and just as the next bonfire comes into sight I get the "Player X has Invaded your World".... there was no sign of the invader - but it wouldn't let me activate the next bonfire. How Bloody ANNOYING is that?! To have struggled to make it this far and then to have my progress blocked by an unwanted intrusion into my game?! Eventually the Invader tracked me down - I could tell from the weapons and armour that he was ALOT further into the game than I was - my Magic did no damage to him at all - and he slaughtered me in one hit. So that was me put ALL the way back to the start - only now with no souls or humanity?! I nearly rage quit I was so P'd off. Luckily for my sanity (& the game) , the next time I was summoned into a players world, he too was invaded by the same player - and we proceeded to kick his A**... got quite alot of XP for it as well. Happened another time as well... so I consider myself to be winning on aggregate I also had him indigted for the first invasion. Still annoyed that I was prevented from activating the bonfire though... it couldn't have happened at a worse time! | 2011-10-25 01:03:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| FYI to those using the Ring of Fog, it grants partial invisibility NOT invincibility lol. Guy invaded me the other day, I was waiting for him on a bridge-like structure, drop on both sides. I always have an advantage in narrow areas due to my heavy nature and the fact that most people seem to play as speedy characters who always try to back-stab me. So I see this guy approaching from the distance, see he has the cheap ring of fog and I already know it won't help him at all. He comes running at me as if he were Superman, cue chaos fireball during his approach, 40% of HP gone. Cue second fireball as he rolls toward me, HP now at 20% and we literally can't see anything due to the fire effect. Cue me launching a single sword slash for the killing blow, cue me laughing, cue end of 5 second fight My best fight though was against someone who was also using pyromancy, lighter build so he had a speed advantage where as I had higher DEF and strength. No cheap tactics, no spell glitching, no ring of fog, no TwoP, just raw skill. A few fireball salvos back and forth. I just happened to have equipped Iron Flesh pyromancy and decided to test it out, it's very useful though this highly depends on your opponents build and his style of combat. We go back and forth for a bit with fire spells. I take him down to about 40% HP, I'm at about 70% so I start to move in for the kill. Some blocked hits, lots of dodging from him. He then tries to get around me for the back-stab. I roll back and counter with an overhead slash with a quick follow up. Game over, great fight though, lasted about 5 mins. I have now clocked in over 100 hours, thinking of finally starting my mage build. Getting the plat for this game will be a badge of honor, acquiring all the rare weapons for one trophy is a monumental task in itself. | 2011-10-27 12:03:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I encountered something new yesterday on my way to battle with the 4 cheeses in the Abyss...a red summon mark? I activated it for the heck of it (I was constantly being invaded anyway) and sure enough summoned a red phantom invader into my world. Whomever placed the summon sign was clearly off eating dinner or something; I gave him a couple minutes to move and then back-stabbed him for the free humanity... Does anyone know how this polite form of invasion works...is it part of a covenant? | 2011-10-27 14:31:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I encountered something new yesterday on my way to battle with the 4 cheeses in the Abyss...a red summon mark? I activated it for the heck of it (I was constantly being invaded anyway) and sure enough summoned a red phantom invader into my world. Whomever placed the summon sign was clearly off eating dinner or something; I gave him a couple minutes to move and then back-stabbed him for the free humanity... Does anyone know how this polite form of invasion works...is it part of a covenant? I encountered that at the very end of my first playthrough. It's an item called Red Soapstone that is found in the Painted World | 2011-10-27 15:40:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| I encountered that at the very end of my first playthrough. It's an item called Red Soapstone that is found in the Painted World Oh, I actually have that item... I wonder how often people using this are summoned into an unfair 3 against 1 battle...and start out surrounded as well. Pretty much relies on the summoner being "honorable" and wanting to do some PvP... | 2011-10-27 16:15:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I had possibly THE most frustrating introduction to the PvP in this game... but at least I got my revenge. I was in the middle of blight town - having a hard time of it due to my purely intelligence based sorcery character build - the two summons who had helped me get this far were both killed, one fell to their deaths, the other eaten alive - I very cautiously and slowly explore my way forward... and just as the next bonfire comes into sight I get the "Player X has Invaded your World".... there was no sign of the invader - but it wouldn't let me activate the next bonfire. How Bloody ANNOYING is that?! To have struggled to make it this far and then to have my progress blocked by an unwanted intrusion into my game?! Eventually the Invader tracked me down - I could tell from the weapons and armour that he was ALOT further into the game than I was - my Magic did no damage to him at all - and he slaughtered me in one hit. So that was me put ALL the way back to the start - only now with no souls or humanity?! I nearly rage quit I was so P'd off. Luckily for my sanity (& the game) , the next time I was summoned into a players world, he too was invaded by the same player - and we proceeded to kick his A**... got quite alot of XP for it as well. Happened another time as well... so I consider myself to be winning on aggregate I also had him indigted for the first invasion. Still annoyed that I was prevented from activating the bonfire though... it couldn't have happened at a worse time! So what would have happened if you had done a quick sign out of PSN? | 2011-10-27 20:18:00 Author: Rabid-Coot  Posts: 6728 |
| So what would have happened if you had done a quick sign out of PSN? Pulling the plug enters your character into the "Book of the Lame" and increases both enemy attack and defense by 5% each offense. To absolve your sin you must pay 2000 souls per-level to the guy in the bell tower. Seriously though, it's rather unfair to the invader and is being a rather poor sport...invasions are part of the game. It's easy enough to ensure you aren't invaded and still play online, play hollowed. Once you've opened up all the shortcuts to the boss, if you want help from humans or NPCs, become human and run past the enemies to the boss fog. If you're invaded and don't want to fight them, you can enter the fog to send them home. Invaders to your world should be around your level...they may have better more PvP oriented equipment, but if you lose in a 3 on 1 fight they deserve the victory. I've been invaded a lot, and just because you can't damage the invader initially doesn't mean they are cheating, there's spells/pyromancy to temporarily reduce physical and magic damage, you might need to wait a little for it to wear off...and kicking them off a cliff works wonders. Also, if you have allies...hold off from entering the fray until things are clearly going your way and just focus on keeping your allies health full by chugging the occasionaly Estus flask, use long range attacks like Soul Arrow. If you end up alone and out-matched against an invader...just run to somewhere that will be easier to reach to re-claim your stain to make your stand. Losing a few souls and some humanity in this game really isn't a big deal anyway...you should never stock-pile souls and keeping a high humanity only helps to up the attack of a couple weapons.Most people only place their summon signs outside the boss gate...you pretty much need to make it through most areas solo because you certainly can't count on someone being that helpful, especially if you want to pick up all the loot along the way... | 2011-10-27 21:22:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I encountered something new yesterday on my way to battle with the 4 cheeses in the Abyss...a red summon mark? I activated it for the heck of it (I was constantly being invaded anyway) and sure enough summoned a red phantom invader into my world. Whomever placed the summon sign was clearly off eating dinner or something; I gave him a couple minutes to move and then back-stabbed him for the free humanity... Does anyone know how this polite form of invasion works...is it part of a covenant? Its technically not an invasion, its for "Dueling" or when you're just looking to PvP without "invading." | 2011-10-27 22:31:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| I could never bring myself to use a cheat like signing out . I'd be robbing the invading player the pleasure of killing me... even if it has meant that my play time has been interrupted. I still haven't managed to get back to that bonfire on my own. I've just been lending my services as a summon... it's a good, risk free way of getting souls and for learning the layout of the levels... and for earning humanity. | 2011-10-27 22:49:00 Author: Macnme Posts: 1970 |
| A couple of days ago I was helping people out with the first boss in Anor Londo and one of the players who the host summoned had a spell that would one-shot everything. It looked like they were shooting humanity items, a dark disc with a white halo around it. What was that spell? | 2011-10-28 11:19:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Praise the Sun! Patch is apparently live for JPN copies so I guess it will be global soon. Details: Some magic effects have been revised. (Magic Shield, Greater Magic Shield, Tranquil Walk of Peace, Ring of Fog, Iron Flesh) Elemental enhanced and Stat enhanced weapons have been rebalanced. Some slight adjustments have been made to other weapons, equipment, and magic. (Pyromancer's Flame's magic adjustment) Matching and multiplayer conditions have been adjusted. Defeating a boss in multiplayer will now reward the host with the full amount of souls from the boss. When failing to invade a player's world using the Cracked Red Eye Orb, the item will no longer be used up. Adjustments to the amount of souls dropped by enemies. Adjustments to the item drops from enemies. Some bosses will drop Humanity and Homeward Bones now. Increased Drop rates for certain Covenant items and Equipment Enhancement materials which had extremely low drop rates. Adjusted the Item Discovery increase rate which scales with Humanity levels. Item lists in shops have been adjusted. (Bottomless Box added to Male Undead Merchant. Bunch of arrows added to Female Undead Merchant, Andrei, Domnhall, Giant Blacksmith, and Vamos. Domnhall will sell the Master Key after he moves to the Firelink Shrine. Giant and Vamos both sell the various equipment boxes. Giant sells a bunch of shards now. Vamos sells Titanite Shards. Ingward sells Transient Curse. The amount of Faith required to join the Sunlight Covenant is now 25 instead of 50. The formula for reducing it with multiplayer remains the same. Paying for your sins is now cheaper. The formula is Level x 500 souls, instead of Level x 2000 souls previously. Equipment Weight adjustments. Lock-on behavior has been adjusted. Fixed certain cases of game freezing. Changed the way souls are displayed in the Level Up Menu. Fixed the exploit with infinite weapon/magic usage. Fixed the 1 second delay during certain attack animations. Fixed the bug where Solaire isn't in New Game+. Fixed the shard bug with Frampt which took away all your shards if you had more than 99. Fixed getting stuck in certain parts of the map, being unable to progress. Changed some English text in the game to be consistent with corrections made in the overseas version of the game. http://www.destructoid.com/praise-the-sun-for-this-new-dark-souls-patch-215080.phtml#ext | 2011-11-03 10:13:00 Author: OCK Posts: 1536 |
| The patch sounds promising, seems like some substantive changes. I've had a love/hate relationship with the iron flesh pyromancy and my cheesy over-powered crystal ring shield that does 2x the damage of whatever weapon is in the right hand...it's good that these will be nerfed. I've been farming titanite chunks in the final area and upgrading weapons...but I'm ready to start NG+ now, will be nice to have the patch to coincide with my next game cycle. Hopefully it goes live in NA soon. | 2011-11-03 15:01:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Ok, Lost Izalith was really mean. Bad From Software, bad! | 2011-11-08 21:27:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| A couple of days ago I was helping people out with the first boss in Anor Londo and one of the players who the host summoned had a spell that would one-shot everything. It looked like they were shooting humanity items, a dark disc with a white halo around it. What was that spell? Crystal Ring Shield? Its R2 attack launches a vertical ring that does about double the damage as the Righ-hand weapon, pretty useless if the shield itself is in the right hand, but deadly on the left hand with a powerful weapon on the right. Heck, I've passed +1k damage with it against mobs. xD | 2011-11-08 21:34:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| Crystal Ring Shield? Its R2 attack launches a vertical ring that does about double the damage as the Righ-hand weapon, pretty useless if the shield itself is in the right hand, but deadly on the left hand with a powerful weapon on the right. Heck, I've passed +1k damage with it against mobs. xD Yeah, I watched some videos and that was definitely it. I remember the person in question getting figures like 706 which is nuts. I finished the game today. Gwyn was one of the harder bosses to figure out since he's so fast. I want to make a new character that's a pure mage since my intelligence stat in my first playthrough never exceeded 9 so I haven't tried any of the spells. I also accidentally hit Logan when I put the controller down and pressed R2 with the Zweihander equipped while talking to him which would have cost me 130000 souls to absolve. Reading the wiki I missed a few covenants as well. | 2011-11-10 00:32:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| The crystal ring shield was amazing for farming demon titanite from the titanite demon in Lost Izalith and chunks from the knights in the Kiln. Took the demon out in 3 or 4 hits and the knights in 2. Not really viable for PvP, it's super-easy to avoid. I've decided that I will miss it for farming once the 1.05 patch is out in NA...but I may be done playing by then, lol. Ayneh, what soul level did you finish at? Your end game weapons and knowing what to do should more than make up for the increased hp and atk of the early NG+ bosses. If your level isn't too high, you could just start investing in int...you get a huge increase in souls gained in NG+ especially if you're running around with the covetous silver ring equipped from the start. I've found spells to be underwhelming compared to pyromancy (my char's int isn't high enough to cast homing crystal soul mass however or to do much for dmg adjustment). I'm curious how the lightening spear miracles are...you need a 50 faith for one of them! | 2011-11-10 18:28:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Ayneh, what soul level did you finish at? Your end game weapons and knowing what to do should more than make up for the increased hp and atk of the early NG+ bosses. If your level isn't too high, you could just start investing in int...you get a huge increase in souls gained in NG+ especially if you're running around with the covetous silver ring equipped from the start. I finished at soul level 72. I think I'd rather make a new character instead of adding magic to my melee character. I'd like to play as a more delicate character since my current one is a bit of a tank. By the way here's a neat character builder: http://darksouls.itsthatguy.com/ I've found spells to be underwhelming compared to pyromancy (my char's int isn't high enough to cast homing crystal soul mass however or to do much for dmg adjustment). I'm curious how the lightening spear miracles are...you need a 50 faith for one of them! I like the sound of the spells that Dusk sells. Do they work well on in-game enemies? | 2011-11-11 17:58:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I like the sound of the spells that Dusk sells. Do they work well on in-game enemies? Don't think there's much PvE value there... Hidden Body - Ring of Fog is useful in places (Andor Londo archers) not sure this is better/different. Cast Light - Great for Catacombs! Repair - Powders/Bonfires...seems like a waste of an Attunement slot. Chameleon - No point being a potted plant in PvE. Invisible Weapon - Enemies don't care... Did I miss any?!? I'm stuck on the 4 cheeses again...they have way too much HP in NG+. It's pretty annoying having to run all the way from Firelink to retry, I doubt I'll go on to NG++ with my thief now. Guess I'll try Havel's/Iron Flesh/2-hand Fury Sword and hope there's someone to summon next time. | 2011-11-11 19:01:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Chameleon - No point being a potted plant in PvE. Aww, I was hoping you'd be able to run around a corner and turn into a potted plant and enemies wouldn't be able to find you... | 2011-11-11 20:54:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Aww, I was hoping you'd be able to run around a corner and turn into a potted plant and enemies wouldn't be able to find you... I'll actually test this tonight to see if they still react to you. My assumption was that best case scenario they'd wander back to their "home" location so you'd still have to get past them, that's why I consider it not useful for PvE. | 2011-11-11 21:48:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Ok, Chameleon is pretty funny, you can use it in the middle of bunch of enemies and they will immediately ignore you. You can even move slowly without being attacked, and you can still talk to merchants, etc. as a pot! Finally beat 4 Kings so game is fun once more. Did the fight solo, hardly any summon signs and keeping an eye on phantoms health is too distracting. For one run the online was actually working and the route to the kings was covered with white/gold/red summon signs. If this is what it will be like afte the 1.05 patch I can't wait! | 2011-11-12 18:47:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Ok, Chameleon is pretty funny, you can use it in the middle of bunch of enemies and they will immediately ignore you. You can even move slowly without being attacked, and you can still talk to merchants, etc. as a pot! Interesting. If the enemies forget about you that fast you could backstab, turn into a pot, walk around them and backstab them again. XD Can you literally just walk past enemies, even dragons and dark knights? Finally beat 4 Kings so game is fun once more. Did the fight solo, hardly any summon signs and keeping an eye on phantoms health is too distracting. For one run the online was actually working and the route to the kings was covered with white/gold/red summon signs. If this is what it will be like afte the 1.05 patch I can't wait! Awesome! | 2011-11-12 19:15:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Wait, chameleon works in PvE? Its either with lower enemies only (Regular undeads.) or you can't just stroll by with it. I've tried using it with the Serpent men and other enemies and they still follow/ attack. Also, that character builder seems kinda useful actually~ (PS for lv 711 you need 1455822083souls total, like 7M for a level around lv700+... Dx) | 2011-11-14 11:33:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| Wait, chameleon works in PvE? Its either with lower enemies only (Regular undeads.) or you can't just stroll by with it. I've tried using it with the Serpent men and other enemies and they still follow/ attack. The undead enemies seem to just walk up against you when you use Chameleon for a bit before returning to their positions, but the ones equipped with firebombs seem to always try to attack. I think there is some combination of line of sight and a radius where they can sense you even through walls. For instance in Valley of the Drakes a drake got stuck in a doorway trying to follow me, when I broke line of sight but was still pretty close to it Chameleon didn't do anything but Hidden Body made the drake return to where it was. I need to find that ring that makes your footsteps silent to work it out since most of the enemies seem to hear me first when cloaked and turn around, so I'm not sure exactly what area of effect if any the spell has. | 2011-11-15 01:55:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| The undead enemies seem to just walk up against you when you use Chameleon for a bit before returning to their positions, but the ones equipped with firebombs seem to always try to attack. I think there is some combination of line of sight and a radius where they can sense you even through walls. For instance in Valley of the Drakes a drake got stuck in a doorway trying to follow me, when I broke line of sight but was still pretty close to it Chameleon didn't do anything but Hidden Body made the drake return to where it was. I need to find that ring that makes your footsteps silent to work it out since most of the enemies seem to hear me first when cloaked and turn around, so I'm not sure exactly what area of effect if any the spell has. Ring of Sleeping Dragon is at Sen's Fortress, that area almost when you exit to the rooftops area, near the hiddend bonfire and an arrow trap, instead of going where the Serpent dude with 4 arms is, go to there other side and fall in the pit, there's gonna be 2 square holes in the floor where you can cheese 2 of the titanite demons at the bottom, and the Ring is past those 2 holes. Just be careful, there's a Serpent Soldier there, and the 4-armed one nearby that can probably hear you if you make too much noise. Man, Ring of Sleeping Dragon is awesome. xD Backstabs and sneaking everywhere! | 2011-11-15 11:59:00 Author: Silverleon Posts: 6707 |
| In Sens...when you get to the 2nd rolling boulder (ramp that leads down to the mimic room). Wait for the boulder to pass, then run up the ramp about halfway and jump off on the left side near where the broken "columns" are. You'll land on a wooden platform with a serpent mage, a doorway leads up to a corpse with the hush spell (which has the same effect as Sleeping Dragon Ring) and a broken opening lets you drop down to the area with the ring. Mage NPC (not Big-Hat) also drops one once he goes hollow. Great for sneaking up on crystal lizards (especially combined with fog ring!). Played around with the Darkmoon Blade covenant last night while trying to farm the Dark Wraiths in New Londo for a slab. The Blue Eye orb doesn't work very well here...and the summon ring is usually a death sentence but I did manage to survive a couple fights. One was pretty amusing. I get summoned to Dark Andor Londo outside the room where you fight fat boy and slim. The "guilty" is the usual Darkmoon Blade farmer using ring of fog and surrounded by like 6 Homing Crystal Soul Mass orbs. Knowing how this usually ends, I decide to delay and hope for an ally, so I make a bee-line towards the big elevator to the Chamber of the Princess. When I get topside I decide to take the small elevator back down and see if I can sneak up behind the guy. When the elevator gets to the bottom, the guy is right there waiting to get on! Fortunately HCSM has worn off and I get in a few free pokes with my lightening spear before the elevator takes me back up. During this time I cast Iron Flesh, and when the elevator goes back down I let the guy on. There's a lot of jabbing/slashing/fireballs/spells going off in the confined space...it's total chaos! When we are both down to about 20% health the guy rolls out of the elevator at the bottom, I can't follow fast enough because of Iron Flesh...but I manage to exit at the top. Now I hear the sound of an Estus flask being consumed, ugh! Not willing to fail at this point I consume a humanity, the only way I have to heal, cast another Iron Flesh and wait for the guy to ride back up. Now outside the elevator on the top floor, he's trying to circle around and backstab...but he's not having any luck. Iron Flesh eventually wears off and we again both get down to very little health. At this point another invader with a huge axe comes running out of the elevator, I'm not sure the guy even sees him being focused on fighting me...one hit with the axe finishes him off. Not sure how this would have ended, would have been very close. | 2011-11-15 15:45:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| I just got this game two days ago. (Yay) HHooHOOho~ I?m dieing a loOoot? I beat the first boss and got off the first island without to much trouble? but now I?m having a REAL hard time on this next area? I can?t seem to beat some big gold knight that kills me in two hits in this castle area.. @__@ *mew | 2012-03-01 19:24:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| I can?t seem to beat some big gold knight that kills me in two hits in this castle area.. @__@ *mew You don't mean this guy do ya? http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/Lautrec.jpg/261532042/273x521/Lautrec.jpg | 2012-03-02 18:09:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| You don't mean this guy do ya? http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/Lautrec.jpg/261532042/273x521/Lautrec.jpg umm i don't think so... he had a shield and his helm was taller. but it's hard to tell sense i'm normally running for my life or just plain getting killed. | 2012-03-02 18:23:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| Hmm, I can't think of any other gold knights. Unless you mean the dark knight at the bottom of the stairs in the Undead Berg, like the one the front of the game's cover. ohh yeah that's him. he's a hard butt. he just killed me again today. | 2012-03-02 18:47:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| Hmm, I can't think of any other gold knights. Unless you mean the dark knight at the bottom of the stairs in the Undead Berg. You could try leading them to a more open area where it's easier to dodge. | 2012-03-02 18:49:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| You could try leading them to a more open area where it's easier to dodge. them? is there more then 1 of him? and you confused me there for a minute sense you seemed have deleted your post. | 2012-03-02 18:55:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| them? is there more then 1 of him? and you confused me there for a minute sense you seemed have deleted your post. I realised the game cover doesn't have a dark knight on it like I thought so I deleted the original post, sorry about that! And yeah there's only 1 of them there. Honestly though there might as well be 5 of them. Maybe there's some weird difference between American and British English because a lot of my American friends get confused when I use "them" to refer to a singular person... or maybe I've been using it wrong my entire life. | 2012-03-02 21:09:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| I realised the game cover doesn't have a dark knight on it like I thought so I deleted the original post, sorry about that! And yeah there's only 1 of them there. Honestly though there might as well be 5 of them. Maybe there's some weird difference between American and British English because a lot of my American friends get confused when I use "them" to refer to a singular person... or maybe I've been using it wrong my entire life. hmm... but the the pic on the PS3 shows the dark knight right before you play the game so i knew what you were saying. i'm level 12 now on the game... one of my swords now says Warning and is weaker then it was before :S .... haha i just found out i can use two shields at once and can kill the badguys with them xD *mew | 2012-03-02 21:15:00 Author: Lord-Dreamerz Posts: 4261 |
| I bought the game few weeks ago and i have been playing it very much. It is my favorite game and i am 101 level in it :-) I have killed every normal boss in the game, now i have to kill the last boss. Dark Souls is the best game in the world! | 2012-03-04 16:31:00 Author: himoks  Posts: 734 |
| Sorry for the bump, just noticed no-one here was disscussing the up-coming dark souls: prepare to die edition. its a pc port of the game. http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1325931/dark_souls_pc_new_bosses_story_areas_armour_detail ed.html Essentially the interview states that the new edition will come with around 3 or 4 new areas, the same number of bosses (based on images, they include a giant hand, a dragon and a white winged lion creature) new armour and new weapons. will this dlc come to consoles? so far the developers say they haven't decided and are unable to say either way. also, this game is on its way to me from zavvi for the ps3. any tips for when it arrives? | 2012-04-23 21:59:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| So anyone still play Dark Souls? I'm a new guy to the forum but I've been playing Dark Souls since last year and easily tops one of my favorite games of all time. Also the DLC released two months ago is awesome, but won't spoil anything if there are those who still play but haven't played the DLC. | 2012-12-04 03:52:00 Author: argetlam350  Posts: 212 |
| Yup, I'm still trying to play through Dark Souls, and it's practically all my brother plays. And yes, the DLC is pretty great. | 2012-12-04 19:50:00 Author: ChrisF2112 Posts: 265 |
| Ya. I've slowed down but still play it greatly here and there. Perhaps have four or five characters, my main has around 500 hours of gameplay. Just an awesome game all around. | 2012-12-04 21:16:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| I started this a couple of weeks ago. Great fun, really loving it. Pretty harsh when you loose an hours worth of progress due to not being able to locate a nearby bonfire.. but I guess that's part of it's charm. Either you learn from your mistakes or you give up. Hard core stuff. I hope they make another for the PS4. | 2012-12-05 00:39:00 Author: LieutenantFatman  Posts: 465 |
| What am I s'posed to do after ringing the second bell? I'm struggling to even get into demon ruins with all those llonely shephard fellows there, I'm kind of hoping that's later game content right? also my +2 black knight sword is pretty overpowered at the moment in this game. that and the +7 halberd which can easily and safely deal with black knights (5 down...) on another note, when during the story ought I to be purchasing the DLC? Is it even worth it? | 2013-01-01 11:46:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| Head back to Firelink Shrine and talk to Kingseeker Frampt at the flooded church ruins if you want. He'll direct you to Sen's Fortress which is located opposite the Undead Church and upstairs from Andre the Blacksmith. In regards to the DLC, you'll only be able to access it's content after opening the way to the domains of the Lord's Souls bearers and have access to the Duke's Archieves where you can get a certain item that let's you access the DLC areas from Darkroot Basin. Personally, I'd say it's worth it if you like the game enough; it offers a lot of new equipment, spells and farming-convenient areas. | 2013-01-02 02:02:00 Author: Dapiek Absaroka  Posts: 512 |
| I'm not really into the whole farming stuff, just getting through the content. are there any bonfires in sens fortress? I got quite a way in and was killed, it was rather frustrating. | 2013-01-02 11:46:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| I'm not really into the whole farming stuff, just getting through the content. are there any bonfires in sens fortress? I got quite a way in and was killed, it was rather frustrating. Yes, there is one...but you need to make it up to the roof so it's quite a trek the first time around. Make sure you don't miss it; you have to drop down to it and you're going to be distracted by fire. | 2013-01-02 13:52:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| ok cheers. those titanite demons on the floor were well anoying. must've spent an hour or so trying to beat the seond 2. wouldn't have been so bad if their ridiculously OP attack couldn't somehow slice through like, 1m of brick just to hit me. when abouts ought I to return to undead asylum? and when should I head into that crypt at the back of firelink? what about through the sealed door in darkroot garden? this game could really use some slightly clearer instructions on where to go... | 2013-01-02 16:35:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| this game could really use some slightly clearer instructions on where to go... You'll end up going everywhere eventually, what is great about this game is that you can explore and do things in whatever order you want. If an area seems too difficult, try another... those titanite demons on the floor were well anoying. must've spent an hour or so trying to beat the seond 2. wouldn't have been so bad if their ridiculously OP attack couldn't somehow slice through like, 1m of brick just to hit me. You didn't need to fight them...you could have come back later... when abouts ought I to return to undead asylum? Why do you think you can return...are you looking at a guide...and if so why all the questions?!? Spend all your souls on upgrades and go for it, I don't understand the trepidation about checking out new areas... and when should I head into that crypt at the back of firelink? It works out better to do this area after getting through the area after Sens when you gain a new bonfire related ability...doesn't mean you can't explore now and see how far you get... what about through the sealed door in darkroot garden? You don't need to ever open that door, it's just a shortcut...I choose to clear Darkroot immediately after the first bell on my initial play through. I also choose the master key as my gift so I did blighttown early/backwards...there isn't really a right order except for the few things that are necessary to progress... Now that you've made me remember how great this game is, I'm very tempted to get the DLC... | 2013-01-02 19:13:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Nah, I found my way to undead asylum once, but the boss was too hard for me so i left almost immediatly. found my way through sens fortress (missed out a few items though) I'm in the place with the big men now... | 2013-01-02 20:11:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| You mean Anor Londo, with the giant knights? Oh so close to Biggie and Smalls. XD Such a fun fight. | 2013-01-04 07:15:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| guess I must've ment that place yeah, made the mistake of examining some big artsy wall though and somehow ended up knocking about in a big snowy fort with bloated toxin head flamethrower enemies. I hate this level more then I ought to... | 2013-01-04 09:45:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| Oh the Painted World of Aramis. | 2013-01-04 16:33:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| I just got a message saying disasters wouldn't be happening as a gravelord servant was killed, is that important? what did I do to trigger it? what's going on? I don't like the invasions in this game, I think they're alittle bit anti social. I got so close to the next bonfire earlier just for someone to invade, blocking me out. is there anyway to kick them? | 2013-01-05 18:54:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| Oh it means that someone apart of the Gravelord Covenant has placed a summon sign down which causes three different player's worlds to have Black Phantoms of certain enemies in their world which are more powerful then normal enemies. Usually it's best to just logoff and play offline for awhile. As for invasions, there is no way to avoid them besides logging off of PSN while they are invading (or Xbox live whichever system are playing). But then you'll mostly get hate messages from invaders. There is co-op in the game but I believe FROMSOFT worked more with the invasion system because a good chunk of Demon's Souls loved the PVP in the game so for Dark Souls they tried to improve it more with different covenants that support invasion. The game isn't really meant to be co-op one since they like the player to feel alone in the game. | 2013-01-05 20:07:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| It just seems a bit of an obvious flaw to stop me being able to activate the check point I've worked hard to reach because someone decided he wanted to be a nuisance. I spent ages trying to get past those bow and arrow knights, and I couldn't even save my progress, that's a poor design choice right there. why should other people be allowed to negatively impact others game experience? I had to wander around unable to save and unwilling to continue without knowing if I'd loose all my souls. he finally turned up and 1 hit KO'ed me with some ridiculously powerful spell and then wandered off. | 2013-01-05 20:36:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| If you don't want to deal with invasions play offline. Invasions are fun and extremely satisfying if you win, next time try to summon someone to help you. | 2013-01-05 22:59:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| It just seems a bit of an obvious flaw to stop me being able to activate the check point I've worked hard to reach because someone decided he wanted to be a nuisance. I spent ages trying to get past those bow and arrow knights, and I couldn't even save my progress, that's a poor design choice right there. why should other people be allowed to negatively impact others game experience? I had to wander around unable to save and unwilling to continue without knowing if I'd loose all my souls. he finally turned up and 1 hit KO'ed me with some ridiculously powerful spell and then wandered off. That's Dark Souls for ya. Cruel and punishing. Best to play offline or not be in human form if you don't want to be invaded. A tip with those two archers. They have a limited range and can be shot with poision arrows. If I can find a vid I'll post it to show how to make it easy. | 2013-01-06 06:38:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| Just beat seath, then lost all the souls I gained from him down a hole. is there actually a way out of that cave on foot? starting on the dlc levels now (had to search up where to find them though...) so far so good, beat the sanctuary gaurdian first try (possibley the easiest boss so far actually) then was brought back down to size by some big metal man in a forest nearby. | 2013-01-11 18:55:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| Just beat seath, then lost all the souls I gained from him down a hole. is there actually a way out of that cave on foot? Yes, you can get out on foot... | 2013-01-11 19:31:00 Author: fullofwin Posts: 1214 |
| Yeah, the same way you got in. It's easier to just warp out of there. | 2013-01-11 20:00:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| There is a bonfire in the boss room... | 2013-01-12 02:34:00 Author: Dapiek Absaroka Posts: 512 |
| Finally beat the game a few days ago, the whole final act was supprisingly easy beyond seath, the black knight sword easy dealt with the bosses and enemies and the armour from the dlc made it hard to really take any significant damage. the ending was a massive anti climax mind, it were only around 1 minute long and I'm not entirely certain I understand the significance of what was happening there. If your on the fence about getting the dlc I'm not sure I'd recomend it unless you're a serious fan who wants a bit of extra content. the price is really steep considering whats on offer and the areas it adds, apart from the town, feel very similar to what's already been seen in the game. It is, I'd say harder then the entire main game but provides some new armour which does help considerably. the bosses are a bit of a let down too, there are 4 in total, though the fourth is easy to miss if you don't stumble upon it or search it up online, and for the most part they aren't particularly spectacular (the final boss of the dlc is easliy the hardest in the game mind) plus you have to be near the end game in your current playthrough to unlock it so if you already beat the game you'd have to get as far as the bit where your tasked with hunting the 4 lords again in order to play it. | 2013-02-02 21:58:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| The DLC is worth the 15 dollars though, if you are a fan. If you are a lore fanatic and like exploring you easily get 15 hours in one playthrough. And actually you don't have to be near endgame, you have to be about half way through (or at least I consider it half way through) it which is at least beaten Smough and Ornstien and have obtained the lordvessel. Then you just have to of killed the hydra and the golden golem in the cave behind the hydra and then go kill the golem in the Duke's Archives. I enjoyed the bosses. Artorias is like Gywn and False King Allant combined (he is from Demon's Souls), Kalameet is an awesome dragon fight, and Manus is pretty fun fight. But I guess it kind of depends on which playthrough you are on. I mean if you only have beaten the game this first time get ready for round 2 then because it gets a lot tougher in NG+. As for the ending, again you really have to delve into the lore to understand it. Gywn went to the Kiln and sacrificed his soul to keep the bonfire lit. The flames of course have been dieing and that's where the whole chosen undead thing comes into play. Anyways after killing Gywn you have two choices which is entirely up to the player to interpret but this is how I interpret it. You have the "bad ending" which is sacrificing your soul to the bonfire thus linking the bonfire and continuing what Gywn went and started. Ultimately you die since you sacrificed your soul and stop the undead outbreak but ultimately it will be in vain, the cycle will continue over again. After all your soul will only keep the kiln lit for so long like Gywn's soul did a thousand years before. Then you have the "good ending" which is that you become the Dark Lord. You choose not to lit the bonfirea and bring in a new age. An age for man. The undead might continue to plague the land but ultimately man cannot rely on the lords anymore and must learn to fend for themselves. That's how I view both endings. I'd go into more detail but then I'd be typing endless paragraphs. Ultimately it's up to you to decide what you think each ending is interpreted and what you feel is good and what is bad. Fromsoft is not a developer that likes to hand the story just to the players with this game it does take exploration and lore hunting to really learn the truths behind Lordran. So of course you will see the ending as anticlimatic when you don't know all the lore to the game which there is a ton. Really I feel the DLC is worth the 15 dollars it costs. It adds large new areas, several new bosses, new lore, new exploration, new spells, new weapons, and new armor. It adds a critical place in the realm of Lordran where we knew little about besides it being destroyed by the abyss and that any magic invovling light was probably created in Oolacile. I consider it more of an expantion then DLC with what it adds, which is by far better then any other DLC I have ever payed for. That's my opinion of course. | 2013-02-04 04:15:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| I wanted to buy this game agaain (I sold it to buy AC3, a decision I later regretted) so I got the Prepare To Die edition. I'll have to start over but I don't mind. The first hours of an open-world game are always the most adventurous! | 2013-02-04 12:06:00 Author: SnipySev Posts: 2452 |
| I see where you're coming from argetlam, but for (I think ?10 ish?) theres not really a hecka lot on offer if you don't take things really slowly. after beating the main content on my own I searched up online to see if I missed anything, just an illusory wall and an (admitedly cool) dragon boss. maybe 3-4 hours worth of contnent total. it's a sizeable add on granted but considering what I'm used to getting from cheaper add ons I don't think it warranted the price tag (for instance lbp or valkyria chronicles add ons cost 3-4 pounds and (mostly) add a great deal more new stuff. again, it was a good or even great add on, just a bit over priced. In terms of bosses, I liked the artorias one alot, the temple gaurdian was a complete push over, kalameet was cool, if a little weak (does different playthroughs alter the difficulty then?) manus was just annoying. his character design was sloppy too, all I remember is his hand, compared to other dark souls characters he just didn't cut it. personnally I'm not a big fan of the lore behind the game, being ADD and slightly dyslexic it's kinda hard for me to concentrate on so many plot threads all at once, none of which seem to reach a final conclusion worth following them for, but I get that it's more a personnal preference thing. next time it would be nice to see a more climatic ending I think. having watched some of ENB's lore series I kinda get where they were going with it now but it still left no real impact. I think having more empathy for the world would go a long way in the sequel, it's cool that you don't know what the consequences of your actions are as it cuts out the whole black/white morality thing but at least knowing a bit more about some surviving characters would have gone a long way, hopefully the girl from the trailer of the sequel takes on a role similar to ellie from last of us. also a better final boss. that one was impossibley hard until I switched to havels greatshield at which point it became impossibley easy. | 2013-02-04 16:18:00 Author: Smudge228 Posts: 533 |
| Watched a Let's Play of the DLC and the guy, while cutting out some of his deaths, finished it in around 2-3 hours. It didn't look worth the money really. | 2013-02-04 22:08:00 Author: Ayneh Posts: 2454 |
| Yes you can beat it in 2 to 3 hours but that's if you are actually just speeding through it. I spent about a good 15 hours looking around and exploring the place. Plus that is one playthrough. Really you can get a lot more out of it if you really are into the game. I've probably spent 50 hours in all my characters together PvPing, and co-oping as well as offline. My point is the time of completing the DLC varies from person to person and that you'll get more time out of it if you go into NG+ and beyond or new playthroughs. I still say it's worth the price but I guess it's because I really enjoy Dark Souls and have gone through the game a dozen or more times since the DLC came out. EDIT: Also there is a sale on the DLC right now. Costs 7.49 now rather then the usual 14.99. | 2013-02-06 14:34:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
| I see where you're coming from argetlam, but for (I think ?10 ish?) theres not really a hecka lot on offer if you don't take things really slowly. after beating the main content on my own I searched up online to see if I missed anything, just an illusory wall and an (admitedly cool) dragon boss. maybe 3-4 hours worth of contnent total. it's a sizeable add on granted but considering what I'm used to getting from cheaper add ons I don't think it warranted the price tag (for instance lbp or valkyria chronicles add ons cost 3-4 pounds and (mostly) add a great deal more new stuff. again, it was a good or even great add on, just a bit over priced. In terms of bosses, I liked the artorias one alot, the temple gaurdian was a complete push over, kalameet was cool, if a little weak (does different playthroughs alter the difficulty then?) manus was just annoying. his character design was sloppy too, all I remember is his hand, compared to other dark souls characters he just didn't cut it. personnally I'm not a big fan of the lore behind the game, being ADD and slightly dyslexic it's kinda hard for me to concentrate on so many plot threads all at once, none of which seem to reach a final conclusion worth following them for, but I get that it's more a personnal preference thing. next time it would be nice to see a more climatic ending I think. having watched some of ENB's lore series I kinda get where they were going with it now but it still left no real impact. I think having more empathy for the world would go a long way in the sequel, it's cool that you don't know what the consequences of your actions are as it cuts out the whole black/white morality thing but at least knowing a bit more about some surviving characters would have gone a long way, hopefully the girl from the trailer of the sequel takes on a role similar to ellie from last of us. also a better final boss. that one was impossibley hard until I switched to havels greatshield at which point it became impossibley easy. Hidetaka Miyazaki, Dark Souls' director did admit that the last boss was a disappointment (if you really want to cheese it, use parries and ripostes) and also said that the decreased quality of the game near the end was due to time constraints. It shows, especially with things like Bed of Chaos, though it could have been worse (a la Mass Effect 3). And I'd agree with Argetlam that the Dark Lord ending is the better ending (though not necessarily the morally "good" one), if only because both the main game and the dlc heavily imply that linking the fire is just a stop-gap measure that delays the inevitable dark age and is unlikely to even match the "golden" Age of Fire in quality since all the primeval lords are now dead. | 2013-02-08 19:46:00 Author: Dapiek Absaroka Posts: 512 |
| http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/02/10/vote-on-dark-souls-ii-39-s-tag-line.aspx?PageIndex=2&CommentPosted=true#commentmessage There's a poll on Facebook for what the new tagline will be for Dark Souls 2. I personally like Transcend Death. | 2013-02-10 19:45:00 Author: argetlam350 Posts: 212 |
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Archive-Date: 2019-01-19
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