Demon's Souls

[Niode]

Buh. That just sounds tedious. I'm at the boss of 2-2 but I can't seem to make my way down the quick route (going right at the spider archstone) without dying and the left way just takes forever and I've already plundered it for treasure. Those bugbears take forever. Is there a way of getting passed them without engaging them?

[MrPopo]

Buh. That just sounds tedious. I'm at the boss of 2-2 but I can't seem to make my way down the quick route (going right at the spider archstone) without dying and the left way just takes forever and I've already plundered it for treasure. Those bugbears take forever. Is there a way of getting passed them without engaging them?

Unfortunately you can't get past them in the tunnels. And yeah, it is kinda tedious. The fast route takes some time to learn but once you do you should be able to do it fairly consistently. Watch for bloodstains and messages.

[fingersmaloy]

Just got this and played it yesterday for about four hours. I estimate that I died about sixty times, and got NOWHERE.

I guess I get what this game is doing, and hey, it's hardcore and awesome and all, but for a game everyone keeps raving about for being "totally fair in its difficulty", it seems awfully punishing. The hipster geeks over at the selectbutton forums like to say that death in Demon's Souls is a "lesson, not a punishment".

I think that's pretty debatable. Every time you approach a new situation, you're forced to make a semi-blind decision. People leave vague messages that sometimes help, but sometimes are the REASON I get killed. Yesterday after most of four hours, I finally got to the part where you first see the dragon. On a bridge, it rhythmically blasts the area with fire, then pauses. You can't really see what's ahead of you, but since the dragon pauses at a set rhythm, it looks like the game is hinting you to make a dash for it when the coast is clear. You know, a time challenge, like a million games have done in the past.

When you try it out, though, it becomes apparent too late that the bridge is too long to run, and you get toasted. One-hit death. That would be fine, except that your penalty for trying something that seemed logical is to do the entire level over again. For the millionth time. Did it teach you a lesson? Yes. But it also came with an enormous penalty. You also lose all your souls, whether it's your first time dying or not (you can't go retrieve them since you died on an uncrossable bridge!).

It's cool to see yourself getting better over time, but I'm afraid the game is going to boil down to little more than rote memorization of every godforsaken moment. It's like Contra with knights.


All that said, the game hasn't really discouraged me yet. I mean, I played it for four hours without getting anywhere. Today I woke up and was like "Man, when can I play that again?" I'm not sure how that works, but I guess the game is doing something right. I just wish there were a few damn checkpoints. God Hand was plenty difficult and rewarding even though it had checkpoints in like every freaking room.

[the7k]

@ fingersmaloy

Actually, I'm pretty sure there isn't a bridge that can't be crossed that involves fire breathing dragons. It does require some precise timing, but it can be done.

Have you tried taking off your armor? It allows you to run faster. It's how I crossed most of the dragon-guarded bridges on my first playthrough.

@Niode
The short-cut method of getting down the mineshaft is actually pretty natural after you figure it out. It is going to take some practice, but once you've learned it, it takes no time at all.

At least when you screw it up, you'll only have to run for about half a minute to get back to where you left off.

[DerekG52]

The game is punishing yes, but just takes patience, go slow and use your shield. On the bridge there is usually a player hint that will say "It's safe here" to let you know you can get close to the dragon's fire before darting. Make your equip weight <= 50% of your max equip weight so you can roll without the controller shaking so you are at maximum running speed.

[Niode]

I managed to make it across my first attempt. You just have to follow the dragon as it starts to breathe fire. IF you wait for it to go completely from the bridge then you've wasted valuable time.

I chose knight as my starting class, arguably the heaviest character in the game especially with that huge armour on. It's definitely possible to get across that bridge even with armour on. I know, like I said, I did it on my first attempt.

Yes the game punishes you for making mistakes but it's never unfair. I don't think I've once been cheated by death in the game. Every death I've absolutely deserved, either because I went somewhere because I wasn't strong enough or because I simply let my guard down.

[DerekG52]

Agree with the deaths are fair, though I've had a few crappy deaths related to the character turning while stationary. Theres a colorless demon soul in the tower with executioner Miralda in 1-1 that was a real pain trying to land on the different boards without falling down. I found that to be somewhat cheap, just tapping the stick ever so slightly would cause you to fall to your untimely death.

Edit: Not related to cheap deaths per se, but to anyone who has farmed the black phantom dual kitana in 4-2 knows how close you have to get to soulsuck him without him turning around! On NG+ if you miss you die.

[fingersmaloy]

See, but that's sort of the problem I'm having with this game. I tried to cross the bridge, which apparently was the right thing to do, but it's not really that clear that it's the right thing to do since there's another path, and because I died without even making it close to the other side. Maybe the problem was my armor, maybe it wasn't. But since the penalty for trying something new and failing is another half-hour wasted, there's no incentive to try an unclear option again. Nothing in the game up to that point even suggests that removing your armor is a viable option for dealing with a situation. It seems totally counter-intuitive since you've been cautiously pussy-footing through every step of the game thus far, milking every ounce of protection you have for all it's worth. Why would I suddenly remove my armor and charge down a bridge I can't clearly see the end of when running down it the first time just seemed like a mistake? It's not like I'm wearing some super-armor. It's just whatever I started out with.

[DerekG52]

I started out as a knight as well. I was able to sprint across w/full armor on and make it. It will be close but very makeable. You need to be starting right where the dragon first lays down fire and immediately sprinting once hes past that point. All things considered, the fact that you beat 1-1 suggests you've already put alot of dedication in, no stopping you now! I probably spent my first 3 hours on 1-1 repeatedly dying at points, making it slightly further each time. If you are really frustrated by getting to the dragon, you know it takes less than a minute from the Phalanx waypoint, you could sprint past all the mini Phalanx.

[fingersmaloy]

Actually I was talking about the dragon encounter IN 1-1, but I finally cleared 1-1 today, miraculously. The other dragon encounters have been fine, except that it's sort of a trial and error finding how far forward you can inch before you're in the dragon's line of fire. I hate that you have to get as close as you can, but overstep it by a millimeter and you're immediately burned to death. Or rather, I hate that there isn't a checkpoint immediately before that.