Dark Souls

[Boojum]

OK, I've waffled on about it enough in the what games are you playing thread so I thought I'd start a thread about it.

Wondered if many other people have played it, cos I don't recall having seen it mentioned much.

I'm totally blown away by it, I think it's one of the best games I've played in a long, long time. I love video games, but the one thing that is sorely lacking in modern video games is a challenge - they are just too easy. And I'm not really into multiplayer gaming, I like my solo gaming. But much of the time, although I enjoy it, it's just too easy, shit some games you can complete without dying once and that's just not good game design.

Dark Souls is totally the opposite end of the spectrum. It's sometimes sadistically difficult (the first few hours could well put people used to modern gaming off it, cos they are bastard hard). But that's what makes it so good, because it's actually a challenge, and when you finally defeat that massive demon boss who's killed you with one hit 20 odd times now it's a rush "COME ON, WHO'S THE FUCKING BAD MAN, I AM!!!"

And the online stuff is perfectly designed - you can leave messages in your game, and others can see them in their game (and vise versa), so you'll be walking along and see a message, read it and someone will have left a warning that there's a particularly hard enemy coming up. It works really well cos the game itself explains practically nothing to you, you have to work lots of stuff out for yourself. You sometimes get glimpses of ghosts, which are other players in the same area as you but in their game. When you sit by campfires (kinda the save points) you sometimes see other players there, taking a brief respite like you are. You can leave signs for other players to summon you as a phantom to help them with boss battles (and get help in the same way), but you can only use those if you are in human form, and when in human form other players can invade to try and kill you, so being in human form presents a risk.

It may not be to a lot of people's taste, cos of the often downright sadistic difficulty. But if you like a challenge I think it's a truly superb game

[Applebed]

I dont think i have ever rage quit a game as many times as i have with Dark Souls.

Like you say, it can be sadistically difficult and also obtuse as hell. How the first people who sussed stuff out did it is beyond my mental capacity- never was a game more designed for high fuctioning Aspergers sufferers, or maybe im just incredibly thick. Somewhere between the two probably.

I have cried out loud in frustration, after grinding souls for an hour to fulfill some neccessary task only to get killed, then working my way back to the bloodstain with extreme caution for the one chance to regain the lost souls and humanity, only to stupidly fall to my death or get gang rushed by various bastards. This happened frequently.

Then there are the bosses. From the plain unfair-Im looking at you Capra Demon!(just rush me one fucking millisecond after i get in the door why dont you?) to the double-teaming hardness of Ornstein and Smough, they will make you cry.

Theres always a few ways of beating them though if you take the time to work your strategies out (which you will have to, if you like brainless hack and slash this game aint for you) and when you finally beat them, like you say again, Its a rush like i havent got in a video game in years. Triumphant shouting is mandatory "FUCK YOU AND YOUR FAT MATE YOU DEAD SLAAAAAGS!!!!"

The wiki was essential for me, and i have to admit youtubing a few bits that were doing my head in. Once you level up a bit, get some good kit and learn how to play the game, it does get a bit easier. A bit. I havent played multiplayer, or got the dlc, due to being skint (its on the list) but a lot of people love it and i'll give it a go once funds allow. I reckon the multiplayer will be popular for years. This game has got a lot of love from gamers.

Boojum mate, you're right to go on about this game-DARK SOULS IS A STONE COLD MASTERPIECE. One of the very best games I've played in over 30 years of gaming.

[Boojum]

I'm just past the Capra demon and into the depths. And my GOD that fucker was a complete bastard

But oh the rush of pure joy when I killed the fucker (I did yell "Who's the fucking daddy!!!" lol )

And the stray demon if you go back to the undead asylum where you started. The pure adrenaline when he was down to the last quarter of his health bar and I knew a few more hits would do it, but I could die any second, I've not had those kinds of feelings from a game for years.

Genuine masterpiece of a game like you say. Not just the difficulty, the look and feel of it is superb, I love the combat (parrying a blow then a quick counter, or dodging a blow, getting behind the enemy and backstabbing are so satisfying ), the music though sparse is excellent.

Things have got a bit easier now I've leveled up a bit and upgraded my armour and weapon (I accidentally killed the first undead merchant but actually it turned out to be a great move, cos he dropped a katana which is by far the best weapon I've found for my play style - fast & lightly armoured, even better than the drake sword you get from shooting the tail of the dragon on the bridge in the undead burg, something I only discovered cos of a message left by another player ), but I know it's only a brief bit of respite to lull me into a false sense of security

[Floyd]

You've made me want to reinstall it

[Applebed]

Glad i didnt put too many spoilers in there for you- sorry mate, thought you'd finished it.

The Uchigatana you got off the undead merchant(why wouldnt you kill him?) is a great weapon, one of the best in the game. Fast, long reach and a fuck off move set.

I'm on new game +, where you play through again,all the enemies hit twice as hard and have at least twice as much health-sometimes 4 times (obviously, this being fucking bastard Dark Souls)

I havent played for a couple of weeks- im sulking due to making a monumental fuck-up - you know, a tiny little mistake in any other game - that will affect the whole of this play through

And good luck in BlightTown- you are going to fucking need it

[Boojum]

I've wimped out of playing Dark Souls today

I've explored The Depths now and the only bit left is a white shrouded bit which I'm sure the boss is behind cos of messages left outside it (I don't use online guides & stuff in games unless I've been running round in circles for hours and can't work out where to go next, kinda takes the fun out of it for me), but I've got the fear cos yesterday I was summoned a few of times (and you get bonus humanity if you help beat a boss), and I was also invaded 3 times and beat all 3 of the fuckers (that'll learn em ), earning more humanity, and now I've got 12 humanity and I'll be fucking gutted when I inevitably get savaged and lose it all I've seen the end level thing cos I was summoned and the guy who summoned me charged right to it (I got lost cos I hadn't fully explored the area yet and by the time I found out where to go he'd died), some fucking evil looking dragon thing with teeth in its belly, and it gives me the fear

[Budelaire]

Seen this in the supermarket, it had a printed sleeve like a copy down the market.

Might try it out Booj.

[Boojum]

I'd been looking for it for ages, at least 6 months (didn't have a debit card until recently so couldn't get it online). Saw it once second hand in CEX but didn't have any money and when I went back the next day it was gone

Finally found it the week before last second hand in Game Bloke behind the counter asked me if I was sure and couldn't stress enough what a hard game he'd found it to be and he said it was the first one they'd got in second hand since it was released. Seems like it's as rare as hen's teeth, at least in Brighton.

I can't recommend it highly enough, one of the best games I've played on the xbox 360 and the best 3rd person action RPG ever (not counting the Zelda games, they are in a category of their own). In fact one of the best games I've ever played period, a genuine masterpiece (and I'm only a fraction of the way in I think). But be prepared, it's frustrating, difficult and occasionally sadistically unfair, not a game you play for a little bit of light fun and relaxation

Edited November 25, 2012 by Boojum

[Boojum]

Oh, and this isn't really a spoiler cos you need all the help you can get at the start. IMHO the best starting character is the sorcerer, I tried them all and the sorcerer is the easiest (or, rather, least difficult) - the starting character doesn't really make any difference to how you end up, you assign a stat point whenever you level up so it's your choice how you develop, but the sorcerer starts off with a ranged spell which is extremely useful at the beginning (and which others don't have access to until quite a bit later). And the starting gift to choose is the master key, the others are either useless or you can get them elsewhere.

[Budelaire]

Borderlands Easter egg...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/09/22/dark-souls-easter-egg-spotted-in-borderlands-2-time-to-engage-in-some-jolly-cooperation/

It must have been the sequal I saw in the supermarket then, not out yet and that explains the printed onto a4 cover.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Budelaire

[Hir]

This is listed as an action RPG. I'm really interested in this after your initially post and went and did some searching and it does seem very good. Question, is this heavy action with a touch of RPG or as much RPG as action. If it is the latter I'm going to get this as the games in last three or four years that have satisfied me most are those with strong RPG elements. I was very much into first person action for first few years but all the extra computing ability that has come along means that rather than better game play all first person shooters have become is better visceral graphic mutilation, that isn't satisfying me.

[Boojum]

Gonna have to look for that in Borderlands 2 (also a great game but I haven't played it since getting Dark Souls, though I have finished my first runthrough of it and haven't got the new DLC yet).

[Boojum]

This is listed as an action RPG. I'm really interested in this after your initially post and went and did some searching and it does seem very good. Question, is this heavy action with a touch of RPG or as much RPG as action. If it is the latter I'm going to get this as the games in last three or four years that have satisfied me most are those with strong RPG elements. I was very much into first person action for first few years but all the extra computing ability that has come along means that rather than better game play all first person shooters have become is better visceral graphic mutilation, that isn't satisfying me.

It's definitely an action game. As far as the RPG element goes, it's not as deep as the likes of Skyrim or the Fallout games, conversations are passive or have simple yes/no answers (but the answers do affect things) and there aren't a huge number of NPCs to interact with (at least not so far into my game), it's mostly either folks who are or become merchants to buy equipment, spells & stuff from, folks who allow you to join covenants (which I've not really gone that far into yet) and become available to summon as allies, folks who give a little bit of background (but the backstory etc is kinda deliberately left vague to add to the atmosphere, very little is explained about anything and that's a deliberate design decision that does work) or folks who I guess will do stuff later as I progress (I've met one sinister fucker who I don't trust a bit and who I'm sure will probably try and kill me later in the game). It is really all about the action (and the atmosphere - the sense of creeping dread as you go into new areas knowing that something is shortly gonna try and kill you - it's not cheap shocks - things jumping out at you from nowhere stuff like Doom3, it's just knowing that you're surrounded by danger and every encounter is gonna be potentially fatal, cos the monsters all attack differently, it's not about learning attack patterns or owt like that, it's about learning how to fight, how your character and your chosen weapons work, timing your attacks properly and most of all patience). I guess it's probably a 3rd person hack & slash more than a genuine RPG, but that is kinda pejorative and doing it a massive disservice, cos it's much, much better than that makes it sound. But it's not really a 'proper' RPG in terms of character interaction, amount of lore you get to discover, stuff like that.

E2A The gameplay is superb, though. It looks great (and because you spend a lot of time in dark, claustrophobic areas, when you finally do get the occasional glimpse of a vista with the shining sun it's all the more stunning (Praise The Sun )) and there are pretty bloody killings, critical backstabs where you run the opponent through from behind with a gout of blood, but that just adds to the visceral combat, it's not style-over-substance, it complements the gameplay as opposed to being a substitute for it. Really is some of the best fantasy combat I've played, fights feel 'real', crouching behind your shield circling your opponent waiting for an opening, or running away going "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!" when suddenly outnumbered and trying to get an opportunity to face them without being surrounded. Or the sinking feeling in your gut when you round the corner and there's a big fuckoff black knight there who you could beat if you fight really, really well, avoid his attacks and get your ripostes in (but it's gonna take a lot of hits to take him down), but who equally could kill you with one swing if he catches you with your guard down. It really is mostly about the combat, and part of what makes it so good is that the combat is so good

Edited November 25, 2012 by Boojum

[cypher79]

I took this game down to the swap shop within a week of buying it not my cup of tea at all, the difficulty is ridiculous

[Applebed]

I reckon the pyromancer is one of the best starting characters as you get a ranged fireball attack from the start which is well useful for dealing with some of the harder feckers who will make your life difficult at the start-such as black knights. Like you say tho, it doesnt really matter that much, as all different skills and abilities are available to all classes, depending on which skill you choose to rank up. The masterkey is the item to have from the start, makes life much easier.

Around some of the fog gates to bosses, if you're in human form there are summon signs you can use to summon NPCs that will help you take on the boss/es. These dudes are really useful, if only to distract the boss/es and take a beating while you choose your shots and stay out of harms way.

And all that humanity is really useful for doing certain things at bonfires......... :wink: