Dark Souls, yay or nay?

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Gigantism

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So I remember hearing all my friends who own a console raving about Demons Souls.
When Dark Souls came out, with stellar reviews and a planned PC port, I thought that I could finally get to play it.

But then I got my second child, and I never got to try it.

With Dark Souls 2 coming out soon, I am starting to look into whether I should even bother with Dark Souls on PC (some places have it for like $15).

- I know the game is hard and that it is part of why it is good. However, is it stupidly hard (only teenagers and young adults who can afford to spend a lot of time on this can hope to finish it) or just hard enough to feel rewarded when you figure out how to move on to the next step and enough of a smooth learning curve to not get frustrated?

- I am retarded when it comes to playing First person or third person games with a gamepad. I will be playing this game with keyboard /mouse if I ever play it. I heard the keyboard and mouse controls are terrible (I actually heard that the PC port itself is terrible). Is this based on facts or just a bit of a different control scheme that one can get used to quickly enough?

All in all, I really liked the atmosphere, the general game design, the art direction when it comes to enemies and environment. It also looks like the melee combat mechanics is fun, tactical and calculated. I don’t really enjoy button smashers, and am hoping that the combat mechanics in this game feels adequate and organic.

I really want to play this game but I will not bother if I must spend 30-40 hours of pulling my hair in order to finish it. Also, if the K/M controls is just too bad, I don’t think I will bother either.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
 
Yay x1000

There are mods that help with the graphics and the mouse and keyboard controls. I use a controller myself and would recommend at least giving it a try on the 360 controller as it controls fantastic with it.

If you're worried spending hours and hours dying, you can consult the wikis. They will have everything from item and weapon locations to walkthroughs and boss strategies. Most people here will suggest not using the wiki, but if you don't have the time to die all day, have a peak :p

I was reluctant to try it at first when it came out on the 360, like yourself, I was a busy dad. But I played through it with my wife and bro-in-law and had a blast. Last year I snagged it on sale for $7 on steam and now have 3 characters (levels 127, 23, and 11).

I love the combat system. It's slow enough to feel natural but not sluggish. Each weapon has a different moveset which has you constantly learning and adapting especially in a pvp battles. Example: You finally figure out how to counter the guy wielding the big black knight axe, but then a guy with a katana shows up and owns you, lol.
 
Dark Souls tends to break down gamers into two camps:

1. Those that love it and will defend every aspect of it to the point of saying it’s flawless. To them, anyone who disagrees “doesn't GET it.” They kinda remind me of the people who liked the Matrix Sequels.
2. Those that hate it and think it’s either too slow, too hard, or it just doesn't make any sense. They think the people in group #1 are either trolling or “they must suxxorz at COD.”

I’m more of someone in group #1…but the game definitely has flaws. A good chunk of the game truly is trial and error, with your errors typically requiring lots of retracing your footsteps and opportunities to die more because you’re sick of retracing those footsteps. At the same time, you can do some amazing things with a lot of practice, and the level of depth in the game is up there with fighting games and overhead space shooters. It feels amazingly good to accomplish certain things and it will infuriate you to no end when you get killed doing something for the 10th time. If you’re prone to raging out – be careful.
The plot is what you make of it, but I was never fond of it. It felt more like a dream or hallucination (where you mysteriously have background info on made-up things) than a real plot. Plus, a lot of the item system is vague and borderline requires an FAQ to truly understand. While I have my fair share of gripes with the game, I’ve completed it 3 different times and have put in hundreds of hours of playtime. It’s addictive to try out all of the different weapons and to try to upgrade things.

KB/M controls aren’t great, but some community add-ons apparently make them much better. Ditto with the graphics, UI, and most everything else. With a series of free add-ons you end up playing a borderline “Remix” of the game rather than a port.

Should you get it? Absolutely. You can probably find it for less than $15 if you hunt around. Every time there's a Steam sale I've seen it for $5 or less.
 
hmm, you guys are making some compelling arguments here...
Damn it! I already have such a backlog :(
 
Yah. Just picked it up myself. Beat it in 30 hours and that's with trying to do quite a bit first play through. Best game I've played in a while...
 
excellent game, but also very frustrating and worth it in the end, not to mention the many new game + side, so it easily pays for itself, I highly highly recommend a walkthrough for it, I have one saved in a notepad style format.

Something I do recommend as well at least initially, make sure its not played online, or you will get into certain places and constantly get invaded and owned its damn well annoying.

I look forward to DSII as apparently their AI is being massively amped up among other things, so it will be a much different cookie.

Not sure if you recall the old kings field games, demon souls and dark souls are spiritual successors to the series its about the gameplay but is as much if not more about the "mood" dungeon crawling at its best well minus the traps and secret walls/doors/treasures that KF had
 
If you enjoy grinding and dying a lot, then yes.
 
Gigantism said:
So I remember hearing all my friends who own a console raving about Demons Souls.
When Dark Souls came out, with stellar reviews and a planned PC port, I thought that I could finally get to play it.

But then I got my second child, and I never got to try it.

With Dark Souls 2 coming out soon, I am starting to look into whether I should even bother with Dark Souls on PC (some places have it for like $15).

- I know the game is hard and that it is part of why it is good. However, is it stupidly hard (only teenagers and young adults who can afford to spend a lot of time on this can hope to finish it) or just hard enough to feel rewarded when you figure out how to move on to the next step and enough of a smooth learning curve to not get frustrated?

- I am retarded when it comes to playing First person or third person games with a gamepad. I will be playing this game with keyboard /mouse if I ever play it. I heard the keyboard and mouse controls are terrible (I actually heard that the PC port itself is terrible). Is this based on facts or just a bit of a different control scheme that one can get used to quickly enough?

All in all, I really liked the atmosphere, the general game design, the art direction when it comes to enemies and environment. It also looks like the melee combat mechanics is fun, tactical and calculated. I don’t really enjoy button smashers, and am hoping that the combat mechanics in this game feels adequate and organic.

I really want to play this game but I will not bother if I must spend 30-40 hours of pulling my hair in order to finish it. Also, if the K/M controls is just too bad, I don’t think I will bother either.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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The game isn't hard, it's just not friendly to those who expect to jump into a game and acclimate to the gameplay in 5 minutes. This game does not hold your hand at all. It just gives you a list of what the controls are and you are off on your marry way. Because of the trappings of modern gaming, you have to actually pay attention and be aware of your surroundings to come out successful, whether it be against bosses are just traversing different areas.

You can grab DSFix to deal with the resolution problem. Hell, this mod even smooths out the framerate just by using it. And while there is a mod that addresses the mouse control issue, I do not believe it was ever updated to work with the latest patch. There is an unofficial update to make it work, however.

I will say that I think the combat is a little stiff, but deliberate and organic. When I first played the game I thought to myself that this is the best combat system I have ever seen because you have to be deliberate and tactical in your approach. As a result it is very rewarding.

I will add my "yay" as Dark Souls is probably my favorite game of all time at this point, at least of the past 8 years.
 
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Dark Souls is a challenge and if you like a challenge and you have patience, it will reward you. I tend to enjoy RPGs, games like the Batman series, Deus Ex Human Revolution for starters. I enjoy these games immensely. However Dark Souls was different. It gave me bad dreams at night which I also enjoy and it's the first game to really keep me up way past bed time.
 
I just couldn't get started on the PC version. With no true support for mouse+keyboard I have way too many other games that don't REQUIRE modding before playing. Big disappointment :mad:
 
Ed Lin said:
Dark Souls is a challenge and if you like a challenge and you have patience, it will reward you. I tend to enjoy RPGs, games like the Batman series, Deus Ex Human Revolution for starters. I enjoy these games immensely. However Dark Souls was different. It gave me bad dreams at night which I also enjoy and it's the first game to really keep me up way past bed time.
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I agree! the atmosphere and art design in this game is nothing like I have seen before.
Just watching the intro cinematic made me feel uneasy...big part of why I am so intrigued by this game.

This is quite something...
 
DSII is supposed to have way better PC support it will be ported or whatever of course, but should see a much better overall experience as they apparently have taken the time to "tune it" for the PC experience. this doesn't mean much of course as oft things change for no apparent reason bu
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/09/19/d...-release-after-consoles-new-trailer-released/
"For the PC version we're simply saying March - we're trying our best for PC and console," he said. "The reason we can't announce the specific date is we're working on more options on how to make the PC version optimal." Tanimura also assured PC owners that problems with the Dark Souls port won't be repeated, as the current game is being developed with both consoles and PC in mind.
 
weebling1 said:
I just couldn't get started on the PC version. With no true support for mouse+keyboard I have way too many other games that don't REQUIRE modding before playing. Big disappointment :mad:
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That's where I'm coming from. But the game seems to be something truly special, and perhaps it is worth making the effort (hence why I created this thread: I needed some convincing).
 
Gigantism said:
That's where I'm coming from. But the game seems to be something truly special, and perhaps it is worth making the effort (hence why I created this thread: I needed some convincing).
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I've only installed the graphics fix mod (DSfix) so I can't speak for the other mods but it was super easy. Just extract the zip file then edit a couple lines on the .ini file to meet your needs and it worked. I believe the network connectivity fix mod (allows for easier summoning of those on your friends list) is pretty simple too. Extract, edit a .ini file.

And if you need further convincing it's the best $7 I ever spent. :D
I have 90 hours in dark souls so far. My $7 lunch I bought today only lasted 10 minutes :p
 
I think I paid $7.50 for DS during a Steam sale over a year ago. I didn't come around to playing it until two months ago when I had to take a break from the gym due to an injury. Since then, I've logged 150+ hours into it over two characters. The first character has about 115 hours with three playthroughs completed and the second character has 35 hours almost through NG+.

Definitely the most value for my dollar in a game in a long time.

I typically wouldn't care to unlock all achievements... but since I've uncovered almost every nook and cranny in the game, I figured I'd try this. I still need the all miracles achievement and the all rare weapons achievement. What a pain!
 
Tzzird said:
I think I paid $7.50 for DS during a Steam sale over a year ago. I didn't come around to playing it until two months ago when I had to take a break from the gym due to an injury. Since then, I've logged 150+ hours into it over two characters. The first character has about 115 hours with three playthroughs completed and the second character has 35 hours almost through NG+.

Definitely the most value for my dollar in a game in a long time.

I typically wouldn't care to unlock all achievements... but since I've uncovered almost every nook and cranny in the game, I figured I'd try this. I still need the all miracles achievement and the all rare weapons achievement. What a pain!
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Farming the Channeller's Trident was the worst due to their positioning in the Archive and the position of the nearest bonfire. It took me about 3-4 hours. And of course on my next character the non-respawnable Channeller in the church dropped the stupid thing...
 
Armenius said:
Farming the Channeller's Trident was the worst due to their positioning in the Archive and the position of the nearest bonfire. It took me about 3-4 hours. And of course on my next character the non-respawnable Channeller in the church dropped the stupid thing...
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Ugh... not looking forward to that. My first character has the Channeler's Trident already, but not a lot of the other boss soul weapons. My second character has most of the boss soul weapons, but not the Channeller's.

Definitely not looking forward to 3-4 hours grind just for one item!!

For the Souvenirs of Reprisals, did you farm the flappy wing characters in the Painting world? Or did you PVP for it?
 
I vote another YAY.

I was also a late adopter--got it for 8 bucks off amazon when they were matching a steam sale. Not only is it the best game I've played since DX:HR, it's the most original game i've played, probably ever.

Truly a breath of fresh air and a completely unique RPG experience.
 
Is there any news regarding the game being ported to Steamworks? Considering GFWL will be definitely closing in a few months time, I am wondering if the game will become unplayable.
 
This game is completely awesome. Walking into a new room and being instagibbed by some random stone you stepped on. That's awesome. Dieing to a boss 400 times so you can remember it's moves, oh yeh, that's fucking sweet. The game starting with a lame ass story and nothing to draw you in? Oh man it's so good, who needs a compelling story to keep playing anyway. The pc port was so awesomely bad that it made it good, somehow?

I tried, I really tried as I love rpgs, but this 'game' (If a game means getting killed 4429 times by some random stone or somethings makes it a game) is not at all good. One of the largest disappointments I've ever had the displeasure of trying. I'm not a CoD player either by any means.

Sorry to all the fanboys, I just think a lot of you need to take off your rose tinted spectacles and take a leap off the bandwagon.
 
Loading said:
Sorry to all the fanboys, I just think a lot of you need to take off your rose tinted spectacles and take a leap off the bandwagon.
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Go back to your puzzle games
Is this you?

shgfE8l.gif
 
Loading said:
This game is completely awesome. Walking into a new room and being instagibbed by some random stone you stepped on. That's awesome. Dieing to a boss 400 times so you can remember it's moves, oh yeh, that's fucking sweet. The game starting with a lame ass story and nothing to draw you in? Oh man it's so good, who needs a compelling story to keep playing anyway. The pc port was so awesomely bad that it made it good, somehow?

I tried, I really tried as I love rpgs, but this 'game' (If a game means getting killed 4429 times by some random stone or somethings makes it a game) is not at all good. One of the largest disappointments I've ever had the displeasure of trying. I'm not a CoD player either by any means.

Sorry to all the fanboys, I just think a lot of you need to take off your rose tinted spectacles and take a leap off the bandwagon.
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To each their own. This game isn't for everyone.

No rose tinted spectacles for me though, I have not enjoyed a game as much as dark souls in a very long time.
 
Majinhoju said:
To each their own. This game isn't for everyone.

No rose tinted spectacles for me though, I have not enjoyed a game as much as dark souls in a very long time.
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Same here. I loved the challenge and the gameplay. It almost had a feel like older games did - you memorized patterns and learned from failure. I kept thinking of Castlevania 2 while playing it. Slightly open world with some things that you probably wouldn't find out without looking up or getting extremely lucky while getting better through telegraphed combat.
 
_PixelNinja said:
Is there any news regarding the game being ported to Steamworks? Considering GFWL will be definitely closing in a few months time, I am wondering if the game will become unplayable.
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As of last month, all Namco said was that they were "exploring options." Hopefully it remains playable post-GFWL.
 
I hated the game with a passion. Not for me. Found the controls horrible and the gameplay rather boring. Also making the game work with a non functioning games for windows part is a joke.
 
The thing I disliked about the game is how you pretty much need a wiki at the start. It's like you have to study before you can play the game.

When I first tried played it I was pissed, kept dying and after posting about how frustrating it is it turns out I went the wrong way, oops my fault I guess. Got to the right part and it was easier from there (but still somewhat challenging)

Then I read some more about the game and it seems people just assume for you to know things, where to put your stats, best way to use each items, hollowing, and parts of the story, I'm missing a lot of and it probably seems wrong to a lot of people who are experienced in the game, basically I only have a few hours into it so I'm really just naming whatever I can think of.

I kind of wish I had more time to get myself involved in the world, because it is a fun game and really satisfying when you beat a boss. It's just that everything is just so overwhelming that it puts me off from continuing.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
Go back to your puzzle games
Is this you?

shgfE8l.gif
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You know I find it hilarious that you guys always make fun of CoD players and how they use the "YUR MUM!" insults, yet all you guys do is use the "OMG NOOB U DIED DIDN'T YOU" crap.
 
the game is meant to have that cryptic feel to it and the old dungeon crawler aura surrounding it, it is punishing and brutal until you find the patterns or go back and level up some gear and such to become better then what you are taking down, it is brutal, unforgiving, graphically so so, decent sound, not much storyline etc, BUT it is still an excellent game and franchise IF you like the game style, just like kings field before it, and here if all of you can remember this one, death trap dungeon that was one hell of a brutal experience at least this gives you a chance.

I would rather deal with tough bosses and if you don't watch where you walk fall to death then say this BF4 prioritize graphics which are overall crap the way they do them and absolutely horrid game mechanics design that is flawed from the bare minimum thought put behind it unload a clip to have someone pew pew and kill you but take no damage horseshit.

So yeh, is it a great game extremely, is it tough and brutal and frustrating yes. Difference is that the devs do not make stupid excuses when things do not work 100% as planned, and they have done a work of art vs say DICE-EA-Activision-Ubisoft who consistently shaft their fan base, come up with some of the stupidest game design choices when they know full well what it will mean etc.

Anyways rant off, it works and works well even it graphics are not top notch and the game is less forgiving then one would like, it works and works properly, it just fits. Least its not a cup of crap pretending to be a glass of chardonnay and charging $60 for every bitter sip :)
 
xIronCrossx said:
You know I find it hilarious that you guys always make fun of CoD players and how they use the "YUR MUM!" insults, yet all you guys do is use the "OMG NOOB U DIED DIDN'T YOU" crap.
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He wasn't getting the smug card, till he said "fanboy".
Anyway, it was meant to be a joke...
 
Another thing to add:

New Game Plus and the online multiplayer add so much replay value to the game. New Game plus allows you to play the game again with your current character which allows you experience things you might have missed on your first play through. Plus the game gets more difficult with each new game plus play through (i think it caps at +7?)

Also the coop and pvp are really fun. These 3rd person adventure games like this one really suit coop, I had a blast running bosses with 1 or 2 other players. The pvp brings back memories of Zelda when you fought shadow link on ocarina of time, just the way you and your opponent dance around each other trying to land that blow. Then add some coop into the pvp and you often have 1 vs 2, or 2 vs 2 scenarios. So fun!
 
problem is with going online for all the fun someone helping you is, there is 10 times that amount of folks waiting around to steal your cookies and grief you for the hell of it, Online no PVP would just be excellent as in can help players out but not have to worry about them invading to tune you when you are busy fighting something cause lord knows the ones that do this are specifically built for PVP and PVP alone, still not like demon souls and the scrapping spear shield combo with a buddy cause that is ultimate pay back.
 
xIronCrossx said:
You know I find it hilarious that you guys always make fun of CoD players and how they use the "YUR MUM!" insults, yet all you guys do is use the "OMG NOOB U DIED DIDN'T YOU" crap.
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It's not a casual game. If you died 4429 times to some random stone (???) you suck and shouldn't be playing a game like this. That type of person is going to get griefed because they didn't even try to think independently or try new things. It's not like people like that weren't warned before hand. This isn't No Child Left Behind, you don't get a gold star just for showing up.
 
drako said:
As of last month, all Namco said was that they were "exploring options." Hopefully it remains playable post-GFWL.
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exploring options?...what does that even mean?...will they really allow the game to become unplayable?...are they expecting Dark Souls 2 to take its place with no one ever wanting to go back and play the original?...they should have enough experience with the PC to make porting DS1 over to Steamworks a priority by now
 
as far as Dark Souls...in my Top 2 of all time...and I hated it for the first few hours...but once it 'clicks' it becomes a masterpiece...I love the combat system...weapons have real weight to them...switching from a Longsword to a Halberd feels totally different...enemies have distinct movesets...the story is confusing but the atmosphere is second to none

you need to finish the game once to appreciate it...if you fail or quit then you'll never get it...it's not a game for everyone
 
Tzzird said:
Ugh... not looking forward to that. My first character has the Channeler's Trident already, but not a lot of the other boss soul weapons. My second character has most of the boss soul weapons, but not the Channeller's.

Definitely not looking forward to 3-4 hours grind just for one item!!

For the Souvenirs of Reprisals, did you farm the flappy wing characters in the Painting world? Or did you PVP for it?
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Your drop rate is always at the mercy of RNGod ;).

Yes, I did farm the Crow Demons for Souvenirs. This wasn't too bad, though. Usually only takes me around 30 minutes to get 10 with 410 Item Discovery. If you go straight to the Annex from the bonfire and curve around into the arena there are 7-8 you can kill in one trip that takes around 3-4 minutes. I usually at least get one to drop each time.
 
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