@SionIV I will say yes story, lore and atmosphere DS1 did better, but between the DLC and SotS, the DS2 boss fights got a lot better, hence me saying they are on par with DS1. I personally really like Drangleic and the DS2 sandbox is just as good as the DS1 sandbox. All in all I put about maybe 140 in DS1 before I moved it over steam and about 240 in DS2 at this point. I don't think I could do another DS1 run for a few years, but I just started a new DS2 run, because mechanically it is a joy to play.
I just wish there was still enough of a player base to join the ratbros, pimp out than maze and not have to wait forever to summon someone in.
Dark Souls 1 had an open world and let you travel anywhere you wanted. You could go fight the four kings before you fought the Taurus Demon if you wanted, or even travel into the Tomb of Giants before entering the Undead Burg. Dark Souls 2 was much more linear, and the teleporting between places didn't help.
On the other hand with Dark Souls 2, there were loads more places to do cooperative play with other players. In Dark Souls 1, there were very few places that lent themselves to doing the same. Short of Anor Londo or the forest area, you pretty much were sitting around waiting for someone to summon you.
I liked the fact that Dark Souls 1 you were always rounding a corner and going "Wait a minute. I've been here before". But I liked Dark Souls 2 for the fact that there were a lot more areas to visit and loads more opportunities to see new things and test yourself against new challenges.
I hope that Dark Souls 3 is more like Dark Souls 1 in the open world/interconnectivity but closer to Dark Souls 2 in size and scope (and that they don't mess up the geography quite as badly as DKS2).
I'm finding the game to be immensely satisfying, even though I cringe every time I think of tackling a new boss. I just got past the iron boar in the Undead Parish and now have my sites set on a new bonfire and the blacksmith, sadly when I reached near that point last night I was out of Estus Flask charges and there is a nasty combo of soldiers with a archer sniping for them in the way, so I backed off to home based and saved.
The key seems to be not dying twice in a row before you find your souls from the last death. Dying itself is really helping you in two ways, since you learn what you did wrong AND pick up more souls. Provided you don't die on the way back, in which case you're screwed out of what you worked for.
Even on the mini-boss that was the boar, there seemed to me to be 3 or 4 different ways to tackle the fight. I initially tricked him into a bonfire with the Alluring Skulls but it seemed to bug out. I could have bought 10 firebombs, but I didn't feel like wasting the souls, so I got his attention and ran back to the steps and the pillars, which he can't pass. When he'd turn, time to backstab. This almost feels like an exploit, and I don't know how well I'll do when there is no tricks to apply and it's just the boss versus my controller skills. I'm hoping most boss fights have multiple solutions like nearly everything else seems to.
On a build note, I have a Bandit that I have so far pumped everything into Vitality and Strength on, though I did join the Covenant of the White earlier. I've upgraded my Battle Axe to +4 (soon to be +5) and I'm just wondering what my next steps should be. Better armor than my starting gear that doesn't bog me down?? If Miracles is a good path to go down for a Strength based melee fighter?? And what direction seems logical for weapon and equipment upgrades??
@jjstraka34 yeah that boar is a bit of a mission first time around, it's great that to noticed he is extremely weak to fire dmg, a lot of new players miss that. You don't have to use skulls to lure him anywhere, just kill the hollows and go out and get his attention, roll/run inbetween the pillars, he can't reach you there. there is a little fire next to stairs, just sucker punch him in the butt every time he starts to walk away, you can normally get him to walk into the fire and die. I know you already killing him, but this strat could help in future runs.
Str/Faith builds are pretty strong, I prefer a 40/40 quality, with some pyromancy on the side kind of build myself. The best bit of advice I can give is learn how to parry and riposte, these skills will make most standard enemies a joke. Just rest at a bonfire, use up your exp and then go and practice, dying means almost nothing in this game "besides a -% to enemies drop chance and a -% to chaos dmg" so there is no reason not to. It doesn't even take that long to figure out the timing, once you master the parry riposte you will be able to face most encounters with nary a worry nor a care. I used to be worried when fighting a black knight with a low lvl chacater, now all I see is free exp and chance to get a real bitchin shield.
@SionIV there is not that many paths than are truly blocked in the beginning of the game. Sure you can't get to the shaded woods because you need a fragrant branch of yore to do so, but you can go to the grave of saints, the gutter, "just need to farm the cat ring which isn't hard, you can also go to the forest of fallen giants or heides tower of flame. As soon as heides is done, you can get to huntsman's copse.
@jjstraka34 - one tip in playing Dark Souls is to make sure that you have enough DEX to use a bow. There are so many situations early on where you will be thankful for the ranged option. AND it will help you farm as there are areas where you can use bow and arrows to create a no risk farming situation (well, as no risk as that game offers).
You are just scratching the surface of the game. I am envious of you the journey that you are on. Hope you enjoy it. Keep us posted on your progress.
@SmilingSword - I think it is more a case of having to make your way through significant areas to get to certain places rather than things being 'Blocked off'. You can't simply pop over to The Iron Keep without a significant journey (as for instance).
So the first bell has been rung. Now granted, I grinded my way to 20 in both strength and vitality before taking on the Gargoyles, and summoned Solaire, but I easily one-shot the fight, which shocked me. But maybe not. I'm positive there is greater challenges ahead, but Dark Souls legendary "difficulty" may not be the right phrase. It seems more like a game that demands your RESPECT more than anything else.
I've been doing alot with old console emulators lately, and I can safely say that Dark Souls is in no way as difficult as old action platform games like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, or nearly any Mega-Man game. But those games relied on cheap nonsense for the most part. When Dark Souls kills you, you almost certainly deserved to die. If you start thinking you're all-powerful, a simple spearman can kill you easily. Every enemy has to be given their due and dealt with. Dark Souls is certainly a challenge, but it DOES reward patience, even more so than skill so far in my estimation.
From Firelink shrine you can go in 4 directions while for Majula 5 (including the pit). This shows how verticality important in level design which gives sense of interconnectivity. In DS2 every path you choose is linear, though there are many branches, and branch is coming to an end while in DS the end is interloped with some other areas.
@jjstraka34 - Have no fear. The gargoyles are among the weakest of the boss battles. There are much tougher enemies ahead.
No kidding....so the Capra Demon....This is the first time since I've started where you get in that rage-quit mode where you're telling yourself "this is bullshit". It all depends on not getting hit by his first attack or stun-locked by the damn dogs. The 3 or 4 times I made it to the steps, I at least whittle him down to between 25-50%, but there was another 10 times where I didn't even make it past the opening salvo. Once the dogs are down, it was a matter of circling him on the steps and parking on the corner of the ledge til he fell. 3 or 4 plunge attacks later, and the bastard is no more. But holy hell, I HATED this fight. You are a cornered piece of meat the second you step through the portal. The way I finally avoided his first attack was running toward him and jumping back. Yikes. Now I'm on to the The Depths....pray for me....
Side note: I can't imagine any scenario where you could manage to play this game with a mouse and keyboard. You need a controller if you are thinking of tackling either game.
Hoo boy, where have I been when the discussion of linearity vs open world rose up between Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 2.
Sooo, since I am a huge Fromsoft fan, and informed myself REAL WELL on the whats and hows, let me spin you a tale, of Miyazaki, Shibuya and Tanimura. Ahem...
So, as many people may know, Dark Souls 1 was to be the spiritual successor of Demon's Souls - in fact, the premise is nearly identical - the issue is, Demon's Souls will never be anything but a Sony exclusive title (I don't exclude the distinct possibility of being remade for PS4). Hence why they introduced Dark Souls, to both PS3 and Xbox360 at the time.
Well, back then, mr. Hidetaka Miyazaki was the director of Dark Souls, which was an acclaimed success. True, the game was unfinished according to him (hence Artorias of the Abyss DLC released about a year later, along with the PC port). But in those days, Miyazaki wasn't the CEO of Fromsoft. Oh no, he wasn't.
Due to the big success of Dark Souls 1, Fromsoft started development of Dark Souls 2, but the role of director passed down to Tomohiro Shibuya. Allegedly, this person tried to 'milk' the franchise. He was trying to create an easily accessible title, more for the monetary gain over the quality of the product. My speculation is that at the time, Dark Souls 2 was to function much more similarly to Demon's Souls - with warp zones, instead of a continuous world, like Dark Souls 1 had.
Well, eventually, Miyazaki, who was acting as supervisor of Dark Souls 2, became From's CEO. Now, don't quote me on that, but I have the slight suspicion, that his rise of power, allowed him much more liberal decision making on the project. As Interviews went on, you may have noticed Shibuya became a less prominent figure, whereas Yui Tanimura, became the one involved with game directing. Money was spent on the project, simply scrapping it was not an option. Tanimura had the near impossible task to create a still appealing world with whatever little he had at disposal. Which unfortunately left the final product rather flawed, by Fromsoft's standards (still a better game than most out there).
Shibuya simply left, and if there's anything to be praised about Dark Souls 2, is likely thanks to the intervention of Miyazaki and the new direction of Tanimura. The three DLCs were fully product of Tanimura - the world design was much sturdier, intriguing and inspired over what little Dark Souls 2 had. People often claim all the praise for the engaging Multiplayer is due to Tanimura's ingenuity.
The remake, Scholar of the First Sin, was a decision I still have to understand fully myself. I quote Miyazaki's words on this "To us it's a whole new game you should experience".
Dark Souls 3 has Miyazaki returning as director of the game, Tanimura along side him - so hopefully the product delivered will be the best of both Dark Souls 1 and 2.
And before I conclude, I will say as much - I take my time defending Dark Souls 2 whenever I can. In my personal opinion, Dark Souls 2 is *easily* the worst of the Souls series. It has flaws a sequel shouldn't have. Yet it's my favorite, having spent well over 1000 hours into it. Some gameplay decisions, along with the real nifty inventory, and the fashion in it, just drew me heavily into it. I absolutely adore it, despite Demon's And Dark (1) being superior titles, technically and lore-wise. What I simply will not accept is however arguments or counter-arguments that include "B TEAM SCREWED UP" - that's just childish.
I am also very open to discussing game lore, for those interested. The many hours spent in the series were not for PvP and Co-op, I am solely a lore player.
@jjstraka34 - Have no fear. The gargoyles are among the weakest of the boss battles. There are much tougher enemies ahead.
No kidding....so the Capra Demon....This is the first time since I've started where you get in that rage-quit mode where you're telling yourself "this is bullshit". It all depends on not getting hit by his first attack or stun-locked by the damn dogs. The 3 or 4 times I made it to the steps, I at least whittle him down to between 25-50%, but there was another 10 times where I didn't even make it past the opening salvo. Once the dogs are down, it was a matter of circling him on the steps and parking on the corner of the ledge til he fell. 3 or 4 plunge attacks later, and the bastard is no more. But holy hell, I HATED this fight. You are a cornered piece of meat the second you step through the portal. The way I finally avoided his first attack was running toward him and jumping back. Yikes. Now I'm on to the The Depths....pray for me....
Side note: I can't imagine any scenario where you could manage to play this game with a mouse and keyboard. You need a controller if you are thinking of tackling either game.
LOL. Yep. I remember that fight well and the rage it instilled. You have my sympathies. If it is of any consequences, the Capra demons are actually lower level minions later in the game. You can get your rage on and kill them repeatedly once you reach that point.
I did miss-speak though. Ceaseless Discharge is the easiest of the boss battles, but then it is primarily a cheat battle so...
What I'm enjoying most about this game is the sense of calm I get from farming in areas I've been through 2 or 3 times, and the absolute sense of dread I get from traversing new areas and bosses. Case in point....once I took out the two Butchers, farming most of the Depths has been very beneficial, except for bottom floor, originally seen because I rolled backwards into the trap door, and the basilisks. I refused to jump down that hole again. I calmly inched my way around every nook and cranny, took out the channeler, and found my way to them by a route I can control (and ran into an invasion by a phantom knight that wasn't all that hard). Armed and ready with Firebombs, I survived them the first time through, but would need a few more runs to memorize their locations and spacing. That's the thing. Once you know an area, you can basically farm it to your heart's content until you are ready to take on the boss. I've now essentially mastered the Depths, so the only thing to do is move on to the Gaping Dragon....
@jjstraka34 - I suspect that you and I have very similar playing styles, at least in that regard.
There is another area where the online walk throughs (yes, I am they type of guy who occasionally uses them), where the guy who makes the video says that pretty much the only thing you can do is run through the level. I found another way around so that I could methodically take things out one at a time, clearing the area and controlling my path.
Gaping dragon isn't 'That' tough. But I remember he is very impressive and intimidating. Good luck.
Gaping dragon is the boss with the second highest amount of health in the whole game, including DLC - other than that, with the Channeler out of the way, the fight is much easier.
Kind of ironic that many (if not most) of the videos on Youtube are people speeding through the game or trying to find some way to make the ultimate, overpowered build/gear-set as quickly as possible, when in fact the game rewards you handsomely just for going EVERYWHERE and taking your time. I wonder how many people miss the two knights who can become summons, or the merchants, or any number of other things because they aren't conditioned to play games this way.
@jjstraka34 that's one of the major gripes I personally have with official guides and strategies, as well as early youtube content the game had (I AM SORRY NAMEBRO) pretty much led the community to saturate over a single strategy or two, getting one particular weapon in a particular way, or skipping half the most fun part of the game with a particular item. It's a bit of a shame in all honesty, because it had such a strong impact on the community that even now you can feel its backlash.
When the game originally was ported to the PC, I noticed through online interactions that... most people were outright using 'that one weapon'. In an action RPG where every weapon is unique and near-equally strong, it's an unfortunate outcome for sure.
Gaping Dragon down. Only took about 5 tries, probably more than it should have. I used Summons the first time, which was essentially useless, since they massively increased the bosses health and they died before it was even at 50%. Instead, apply lightning damage to my weapon, only had to survive about 5 crawl attacks and one acid spew. Just run like hell til it crawls and go in the hind quarters til your stamina bar is empty, and get the hell out. Rinse repeat. While being a "good" video game player (in the action sense) is important, it doesn't hurt to be a longtime RPG fan always on the look-out for buffs, resistances, and immunity/vulnerability and the like. So far all the bosses have basically had a vendor near them who sells cheap weapon enchants that the upcoming boss is susceptible to.
As for the Gaping Dragon itself....let's say it had more than a passing similarity to a certain part of the female anatomy. I know people always say Cthulhu might have come about because of Lovecraft's repressed Victorian views on sexuality, but whoever designed this particular boss might have had some issues....
Anyway, apparently this is one of the easier bosses, but I felt it was well-balanced given it's massive HP total. Feels like I "beat" the first section of the game in a way (which I never really anticipated when I first heard of this). The door to Blighttown is open, and it appears the Depths aren't as low as you can go, you just descend further into hell. Which is fitting, since the ogre-like creature on the wood bridge has caused me to fall into an endless abyss on my first two tries. Shame on me for expecting anything else. Time to break for the night and come back fresh. I'm not sure how good this game is for your heart.
Progressing through Blighttown, which was initially deadly, now just tedious. Anytime you have a level in any game with pygmy mobs with blowdarts, you know you are in for some frustration. Thankfully, Dark Souls is pretty fair about not making you kill particularly deadly mobs twice, at least not yet. Anyway, the Parasitic Wall Hugger is gone, and I almost made it to the Swamp floor, but my Estus Flasks ran out and I simply had too many Souls to waste, so I retreated to my bonfire, though I think I was damn close to getting to the next one. However, I see the base of many large trees, so I think it might finally be safe to assume I'm not going to be descending anymore at this point, but who knows. I figured the Depths would be where the southbound path would end, then I hit Blighttown, which wasn't at all what I expected. The ramps are tough to fight on, but half the enemies seem to kill themselves, which is fine by me. I took out all the blowgun mobs, so it should be a smooth path back down.
I don't know how spoilerish you might want these walk-throughs to be so I will be a bit vague here and spoiler tag what I am driving at. Have you been back to the Asylum yet?
there is a ring there that will significantly help you when you hit the Blighttown floor
What were your craziest suicide run ever in DS? I've made gravelord sword run from level 1 character. It's doable and fun. This weapon is totally OP even when you at high level.
I don't know how spoilerish you might want these walk-throughs to be so I will be a bit vague here and spoiler tag what I am driving at. Have you been back to the Asylum yet?
there is a ring there that will significantly help you when you hit the Blighttown floor
I know a fair amount, I've delved pretty far into the Wiki, so I know generally what I'm in for. I'm not the kind of person who thinks I'm spoiling anything, I actually love that GOG games almost all come packed with strategy guides. So I know about going back to the Asylum, but I'm not at all sure I'm ready for it, and definitely not ready for the re-vamped Asylum Demon boss, who I hear is one of the toughest. But yeah, apparently there is a coupe things back in my cell and a key to what I assume is that unreachable body on the second level. Only problem is the Black Knight I know is waiting there for me lol....I have the Shadow set and Spider Shield on, and I'm hoping I can manage my poison bar enough to get to the bonfire, then I'll go from there.
I did reach the bonfire, and spent the rest of the evening exploring the nightmare that is the water-wheel scaffold section. Between the mosquitoes that are barely able to be targeted, an small army of blow-gun death dealers, and a plethora of fire dogs, it was a couple hour process to get my second Fire Keeper Soul. Now that that's done, it's back to the boulder wielding ogres and then the boss. This game is brutal, but SO good at the same time. I'm basically doing a straight, melee Bandit, as vanilla as it gets, some ranged items when I need, and a little magic later if I'm able. But man alive, for how set in stone everything in this game is, the replay value must be absolutely insane. Every weapon has a different move set, every weight of armor changes how you move, take a hit and react, to say nothing of ranged or magic builds. Even with as much focus as it places on skilled action combat, the deep RPG elements off the charts, and, in all honestly, about as arcane and vague as any I've ever played. The crafting, the Covenants, the quests (you really can barely even call them quests by traditional standards). It's a stunning achievement to pull this all off in a game where, essentially, NOTHING changes and everything is set in place. Getting through the game will be an achievement for anyone. Mastering it would probably set you back 500 hours.
@jjstraka34 - if I could make a suggestion at this stage. Or several in fact.
- Go to the undead Asylum. You don't "Need" to face the demon boss there yet, in fact I caution against it till you are MUCH more powerful. And yes, he is a total beast. I have yet to defeat him despite several play throughs. The knight is manageable if you clear out the way to him and then play tag. In fact, you don't need to even face him at all either at this stage to get the ring I refer to. But while you are there, you probably will want to. Certainly you don't need what he is guarding till you get to Anor Londo.
- The mosquitos are a LOT easier to kill if you have a bow or xbow (or if you can cast soul arrow). Range target them and shoot them from a distance and hey-presto they are dead. Trying to melee them is a tough prospect, though not impossible. It's just more of a headache than is strictly speaking necessary. I suppose you could do the same thing with knives, but really a bow is your best bet.
As far as it goes, I don't know if I have "Mastered" the game, but I have put in a good healthy (??) 300+ hours into the game and only completed it twice. I have several characters at various stages of building baked into that figure though, so it isn't like it took me 150 hours to finish it once or anything.
I've enjoyed what I've done in the game so far (about 20 hours) but I've come to the momentary realization that the boss battles in this game literally stress me out physically. I did about 6 attempts on the Chaos Witch tonight, using about a 1/3 of the hard Humanity I had been saving up this entire time to summon the help for the fight. And though I have a strategy in mind, I continue to get destroyed by the AOE stomp (including the first or second run where I had the fight won and my controller stopped working under it's normal scheme, which for some reason happens occasionally, and I couldn't attack OR heal). I went and played World of Xeen for an hour, and I couldn't believe how much better I felt in real life. I'll come back to Dark Souls, which is superb, but I feel like I need something lighter, or at least something that is turn-based or has a pause button :P
Update: Nevermind....laying in bed, I got an idea into my head about Fire resist. Turns out climbing that water wheel tower was a blessing, since I HAD the Pyromancer set, which was almost twice as much as I was wearing at the time. Fired up the game, used one more Humanity, put on the gear, used Power Within to buff myself at the expense of losing life slowly, summoned Mildred, two-handed my weapon, and walked in. This time when I was hit by the blast, I wasn't one-shot, and this abomination went down. You can't kick this game even if you want to lol....
It seems most Youtube videos focus on nothing more than going toe to toe in melee combat and showing how agile the player can be with blocks and dodges, which I wish I was. But this fight wasn't won on my nimble controller skills. It was taken down through brainstorming and a combination of buffs, resistances and a summon, none of which I would have had if I hadn't explored the whole area beforehand. And THAT'S why Dark Souls seems to be not just good, but great.
It seems most Youtube videos focus on nothing more than going toe to toe in melee combat and showing how agile the player can be with blocks and dodges, which I wish I was. But this fight wasn't won on my nimble controller skills. It was taken down through brainstorming and a combination of buffs, resistances and a summon, none of which I would have had if I hadn't explored the whole area beforehand. And THAT'S why Dark Souls seems to be not just good, but great.
Congrats for taking her down. Did you catch the bad joke at the beginning of the fight?
I've come to the conclusion that there is no scenario in the game that isn't made significantly easier by speed and maneuverability. After a while, you may find that heavy armor is a total waste of time to pursue as it never provides enough protection and you will ALWAYS be better off avoiding getting hit than turtling up.
and yeah, the habit is a real monkey on your back to kick. My initial play-through was so stress inducing that I almost quit the way you did. But then I ended up having nightmares of playing the game and had to go back. It's worse than drugs, at least it was for me (or so I assume as I have never taken any recreational drugs). Welcome to the addiction.
Didn't see a joke really, but I guess that brings up the subject of the lore of the game. Now, from what I understand Grave Lord Nito, the leader of the Witches (pyromancers), Seath the Scaleless, and Gywn took down the dragons for SOME reason, after which a curse befell humans that if they became bereft of souls they became undead, or worse, hollow. It's a dark fantasy world in which nearly everything has been destroyed, and the only thing left are monolithic guardians and abominations. Having the Witch's daughter grafted onto the body of a grotesque fire spider is one thing, but finding her albino, blind sister grafted onto a dying one, with one of those human egg incubators serving as her "guardian" in a sense is another. And even Blighttown and the swamp, as rancid as it is, is only the last pit stop before stepping into hell itself, though instead I'm going to another hell, which is what Sen's Fortress seems like it's going to be. I think I can farm those first two Snake Sentrys for 1000 souls apiece for a bit, go buy some wooden and poison arrows, and try figure out how the hell I'm going to get across this bridge. I'll say this, never has a pendulum trap in game looked so intimidating, and the physics when you get knocked off make you FEEL it, nevermind that you're getting knocked onto one of those Stone Demons. Though pointing the camera toward the ground helps with traversing a bit, if I can only manage to get the mobs on the other side down reliably.
Comments
I liked the fact that Dark Souls 1 you were always rounding a corner and going "Wait a minute. I've been here before". But I liked Dark Souls 2 for the fact that there were a lot more areas to visit and loads more opportunities to see new things and test yourself against new challenges.
I hope that Dark Souls 3 is more like Dark Souls 1 in the open world/interconnectivity but closer to Dark Souls 2 in size and scope (and that they don't mess up the geography quite as badly as DKS2).
The key seems to be not dying twice in a row before you find your souls from the last death. Dying itself is really helping you in two ways, since you learn what you did wrong AND pick up more souls. Provided you don't die on the way back, in which case you're screwed out of what you worked for.
Even on the mini-boss that was the boar, there seemed to me to be 3 or 4 different ways to tackle the fight. I initially tricked him into a bonfire with the Alluring Skulls but it seemed to bug out. I could have bought 10 firebombs, but I didn't feel like wasting the souls, so I got his attention and ran back to the steps and the pillars, which he can't pass. When he'd turn, time to backstab. This almost feels like an exploit, and I don't know how well I'll do when there is no tricks to apply and it's just the boss versus my controller skills. I'm hoping most boss fights have multiple solutions like nearly everything else seems to.
On a build note, I have a Bandit that I have so far pumped everything into Vitality and Strength on, though I did join the Covenant of the White earlier. I've upgraded my Battle Axe to +4 (soon to be +5) and I'm just wondering what my next steps should be. Better armor than my starting gear that doesn't bog me down?? If Miracles is a good path to go down for a Strength based melee fighter?? And what direction seems logical for weapon and equipment upgrades??
Str/Faith builds are pretty strong, I prefer a 40/40 quality, with some pyromancy on the side kind of build myself. The best bit of advice I can give is learn how to parry and riposte, these skills will make most standard enemies a joke. Just rest at a bonfire, use up your exp and then go and practice, dying means almost nothing in this game "besides a -% to enemies drop chance and a -% to chaos dmg" so there is no reason not to. It doesn't even take that long to figure out the timing, once you master the parry riposte you will be able to face most encounters with nary a worry nor a care. I used to be worried when fighting a black knight with a low lvl chacater, now all I see is free exp and chance to get a real bitchin shield.
Anyway here is a preDLC map
You are just scratching the surface of the game. I am envious of you the journey that you are on. Hope you enjoy it. Keep us posted on your progress.
@SmilingSword - I think it is more a case of having to make your way through significant areas to get to certain places rather than things being 'Blocked off'. You can't simply pop over to The Iron Keep without a significant journey (as for instance).
I've been doing alot with old console emulators lately, and I can safely say that Dark Souls is in no way as difficult as old action platform games like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, or nearly any Mega-Man game. But those games relied on cheap nonsense for the most part. When Dark Souls kills you, you almost certainly deserved to die. If you start thinking you're all-powerful, a simple spearman can kill you easily. Every enemy has to be given their due and dealt with. Dark Souls is certainly a challenge, but it DOES reward patience, even more so than skill so far in my estimation.
DS3 new trailer (but nothing new)
Side note: I can't imagine any scenario where you could manage to play this game with a mouse and keyboard. You need a controller if you are thinking of tackling either game.
Yep, definitly need a controler for this game!
Sooo, since I am a huge Fromsoft fan, and informed myself REAL WELL on the whats and hows, let me spin you a tale, of Miyazaki, Shibuya and Tanimura. Ahem...
So, as many people may know, Dark Souls 1 was to be the spiritual successor of Demon's Souls - in fact, the premise is nearly identical - the issue is, Demon's Souls will never be anything but a Sony exclusive title (I don't exclude the distinct possibility of being remade for PS4). Hence why they introduced Dark Souls, to both PS3 and Xbox360 at the time.
Well, back then, mr. Hidetaka Miyazaki was the director of Dark Souls, which was an acclaimed success. True, the game was unfinished according to him (hence Artorias of the Abyss DLC released about a year later, along with the PC port). But in those days, Miyazaki wasn't the CEO of Fromsoft. Oh no, he wasn't.
Due to the big success of Dark Souls 1, Fromsoft started development of Dark Souls 2, but the role of director passed down to Tomohiro Shibuya. Allegedly, this person tried to 'milk' the franchise. He was trying to create an easily accessible title, more for the monetary gain over the quality of the product. My speculation is that at the time, Dark Souls 2 was to function much more similarly to Demon's Souls - with warp zones, instead of a continuous world, like Dark Souls 1 had.
Well, eventually, Miyazaki, who was acting as supervisor of Dark Souls 2, became From's CEO. Now, don't quote me on that, but I have the slight suspicion, that his rise of power, allowed him much more liberal decision making on the project. As Interviews went on, you may have noticed Shibuya became a less prominent figure, whereas Yui Tanimura, became the one involved with game directing.
Money was spent on the project, simply scrapping it was not an option. Tanimura had the near impossible task to create a still appealing world with whatever little he had at disposal. Which unfortunately left the final product rather flawed, by Fromsoft's standards (still a better game than most out there).
Shibuya simply left, and if there's anything to be praised about Dark Souls 2, is likely thanks to the intervention of Miyazaki and the new direction of Tanimura. The three DLCs were fully product of Tanimura - the world design was much sturdier, intriguing and inspired over what little Dark Souls 2 had. People often claim all the praise for the engaging Multiplayer is due to Tanimura's ingenuity.
The remake, Scholar of the First Sin, was a decision I still have to understand fully myself. I quote Miyazaki's words on this "To us it's a whole new game you should experience".
Dark Souls 3 has Miyazaki returning as director of the game, Tanimura along side him - so hopefully the product delivered will be the best of both Dark Souls 1 and 2.
And before I conclude, I will say as much - I take my time defending Dark Souls 2 whenever I can. In my personal opinion, Dark Souls 2 is *easily* the worst of the Souls series. It has flaws a sequel shouldn't have. Yet it's my favorite, having spent well over 1000 hours into it. Some gameplay decisions, along with the real nifty inventory, and the fashion in it, just drew me heavily into it. I absolutely adore it, despite Demon's And Dark (1) being superior titles, technically and lore-wise.
What I simply will not accept is however arguments or counter-arguments that include "B TEAM SCREWED UP" - that's just childish.
I am also very open to discussing game lore, for those interested. The many hours spent in the series were not for PvP and Co-op, I am solely a lore player.
I did miss-speak though. Ceaseless Discharge is the easiest of the boss battles, but then it is primarily a cheat battle so...
There is another area where the online walk throughs (yes, I am they type of guy who occasionally uses them), where the guy who makes the video says that pretty much the only thing you can do is run through the level. I found another way around so that I could methodically take things out one at a time, clearing the area and controlling my path.
Gaping dragon isn't 'That' tough. But I remember he is very impressive and intimidating. Good luck.
When the game originally was ported to the PC, I noticed through online interactions that... most people were outright using 'that one weapon'. In an action RPG where every weapon is unique and near-equally strong, it's an unfortunate outcome for sure.
As for the Gaping Dragon itself....let's say it had more than a passing similarity to a certain part of the female anatomy. I know people always say Cthulhu might have come about because of Lovecraft's repressed Victorian views on sexuality, but whoever designed this particular boss might have had some issues....
Anyway, apparently this is one of the easier bosses, but I felt it was well-balanced given it's massive HP total. Feels like I "beat" the first section of the game in a way (which I never really anticipated when I first heard of this). The door to Blighttown is open, and it appears the Depths aren't as low as you can go, you just descend further into hell. Which is fitting, since the ogre-like creature on the wood bridge has caused me to fall into an endless abyss on my first two tries. Shame on me for expecting anything else. Time to break for the night and come back fresh. I'm not sure how good this game is for your heart.
I've made gravelord sword run from level 1 character. It's doable and fun. This weapon is totally OP even when you at high level.
Does DS2 have some fun and hard suicide runs ?
- Go to the undead Asylum. You don't "Need" to face the demon boss there yet, in fact I caution against it till you are MUCH more powerful. And yes, he is a total beast. I have yet to defeat him despite several play throughs. The knight is manageable if you clear out the way to him and then play tag. In fact, you don't need to even face him at all either at this stage to get the ring I refer to. But while you are there, you probably will want to. Certainly you don't need what he is guarding till you get to Anor Londo.
- The mosquitos are a LOT easier to kill if you have a bow or xbow (or if you can cast soul arrow). Range target them and shoot them from a distance and hey-presto they are dead. Trying to melee them is a tough prospect, though not impossible. It's just more of a headache than is strictly speaking necessary. I suppose you could do the same thing with knives, but really a bow is your best bet.
As far as it goes, I don't know if I have "Mastered" the game, but I have put in a good healthy (??) 300+ hours into the game and only completed it twice. I have several characters at various stages of building baked into that figure though, so it isn't like it took me 150 hours to finish it once or anything.
Update: Nevermind....laying in bed, I got an idea into my head about Fire resist. Turns out climbing that water wheel tower was a blessing, since I HAD the Pyromancer set, which was almost twice as much as I was wearing at the time. Fired up the game, used one more Humanity, put on the gear, used Power Within to buff myself at the expense of losing life slowly, summoned Mildred, two-handed my weapon, and walked in. This time when I was hit by the blast, I wasn't one-shot, and this abomination went down. You can't kick this game even if you want to lol....
It seems most Youtube videos focus on nothing more than going toe to toe in melee combat and showing how agile the player can be with blocks and dodges, which I wish I was. But this fight wasn't won on my nimble controller skills. It was taken down through brainstorming and a combination of buffs, resistances and a summon, none of which I would have had if I hadn't explored the whole area beforehand. And THAT'S why Dark Souls seems to be not just good, but great.
I've come to the conclusion that there is no scenario in the game that isn't made significantly easier by speed and maneuverability. After a while, you may find that heavy armor is a total waste of time to pursue as it never provides enough protection and you will ALWAYS be better off avoiding getting hit than turtling up.
and yeah, the habit is a real monkey on your back to kick. My initial play-through was so stress inducing that I almost quit the way you did. But then I ended up having nightmares of playing the game and had to go back. It's worse than drugs, at least it was for me (or so I assume as I have never taken any recreational drugs). Welcome to the addiction.