Dark Souls Hype Thread of Preparing To Die!

[Xeogred]

I think Blighttown is kind of overrated. The only issue I have with it are the toxic spewing dart guys, since curing toxic is kind of hard to come by in that one. Otherwise... Blighttown is really only like a 20 minute run area and it's not something you'd ever backtrack through again. A one shot and done level and that's it!

[Gunstar Green]

I think Blighttown is kind of overrated. The only issue I have with it are the toxic spewing dart guys, since curing toxic is kind of hard to come by in that one. Otherwise... Blighttown is really only like a 20 minute run area and it's not something you'd ever backtrack through again. A one shot and done level and that's it!

It's just that it's a difficulty spike in an area that's initially hard to navigate and it throws some things at you that you haven't encountered before like the toxic enemies. In my initial play-through it was very much a, "time to get serious," moment (certainly took me longer than 20 minutes). I think the fact that you never have to backtrack through it was very intentional even though it really wouldn't be that big a deal.

There really wasn't a moment afterwards where I felt the same kind of hangup. Maybe the Tomb of the Giants was a bit sketchy at first but for the most part all of my momentum was forward.

But I also crushed Ornstein and Smough on my second try and that's another place a lot of new players report hitting a wall so difficulty is subjective. Really freaking cool boss fight regardless. Probably my favorite in the game, Anor Londo in general really felt like the biggest climax of the game for me.

Also I wasn't using any guides so I missed Gwyndolin and the Painted World. I had to go back for those in NG+.

[Xeogred]

Anor Londo was the spike for me and it's still almost the midpoint of the game, so I'm not sure about "climax", but I know what you're getting at. That said yeah, with my second character I ended up breezing through the game for the most part and the second half was somehow even easier as it went. I like how DS3 finally balanced things out and the natural progression seemed better, with the bosses getting tougher as you went.

Tomb of the Giants was definitely no joke though, those huge dinosaur like skeleton enemies were ridiculous haha. Crystal Cave was memorable but namely for its hilarious gimmick. I actually had a really easy time with the Demon Ruins, though that's where I got stuck on my first character (freaking awful Dex/Katana build and played this and Demons before they kind of went mainstream, so there wasn't much help on the net haha).

I still struggled with Gwyn though haha. And I wouldn't believe anyone if they said they had an easy time with Manus from the DLC. In the end though, yeah like you said though these games are very subjective. Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne were the easiest ones for me.

And speaking of more secret levels:

Did you find Ash Lake? Talk about chills. One of the best moments in the entire franchise to me...

[Gunstar Green]

I did stumble into that one. It's amazing how much content you can simply pass by in the game and I love that they had the courage to take that approach.

Crystal Cave was probably my favorite post-Lordvessel area just because it was so cool visually and gimmicky. Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith just didn't seem as inspired as the rest of the game to me and Gwyn went down on my first shot. My build was strength and Zweihander and then the Black Knight Greatsword. I liked being a big tanky knight with a huge ass sword. It's probably what made Gwyn such a pushover because I was staggering him the entire fight.

I actually didn't have much trouble with Manus, it just took a lot of timing with the amulet thingy. I think I used a shield with good magic defense for that too. Artorias gave me some trouble for a while though (dude can seriously close the distance on you quickly and deliver pain) and Kalameet was a freaking bastard. I lost to Kalameet more than any other boss.

I think part of the problem for me at least is I did the DLC stuff before I did the second half of the game so after that it all felt like a cakewalk. In hindsight I feel like I should have kept the DLC for NG+.

Overall though it was the best gaming experience I had this year, possibly one of the best I had in many years. I'm finishing NG+ then letting it settle for a while before I try any of the other Souls games.

[Omerta]

How's the online scene these days? I imagine it ticked up a bit with X1 backwards compatibility and a free copy in DS3.

The last I remember was everyone being a bunch of pain-in-the-ass Darkmoon backstab fishers, Havel turtles, and DLC hexers. An accidental Demon's Spear drop from Anor Londo was like night and day on being able to survive PvP for me.

[Stark]

Not sure, I'm playing on PC and haven't been invaded once. I do see the occasional message on the ground though, so somebody must be playing.

Just finally got past the blasted archers at the top of Anor Londo, what jerks!

I don't know if I mentioned it before (too lazy to go back a few pages), but I'm listening to Bonfireside Chat while running through Dark Souls this time and it is a ton of fun. Kind of like doing a book club.

[noiseredux]

What is that?

[Stark]

http://duckfeed.tv/bonfiresidechat/

Basically two dudes, Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross, run through an area of Dark Souls per episode. They talk lore, strategy, and boss fights. So I run through the area that is in the next podcast episode, up through where they said they would cover, and then I listen to it. It's a very fun way to get more immersed into the world and feel like you're playing along with someone.

[Xeogred]

That is pretty cool.

I got a lot out of DS2 (both versions) by posting a bit on the PSN trophies forums while playing those. Then played Bloodborne alongside a friend, and obviously jumped on DS3 right when it came out as well. The commutable aspect to these games is definitely a cool and unique thing about them. However I can see it being a double edged sword, it is inevitable activity will drop off and we early adopters may never have these experiences with them ever again. The flaw of online features.

Getting invaded in Demon's and DS1 was moreso a joke, because I don't know if they had any kind of balanced matchmaking at all, or it was completely broken. You'd usually get invaded by godlike players and you're pretty much dead instantly, may as well put the controller down.

[Omerta]

DS2 is incredibly fun. Scholar is still really busy on next-gen consoles and there's still a ton of variety in opponent-builds for arena PvP.

Once you figure out that any decent hex build makes PvE a joke, the PvP options are endless. Mow through the main game and use Bonfire Ascetics to get the good stuff, hit the desired level and SM, tweak your build with a Soul Vessel and you have a DEX or fat man build without all of the difficult garbage associated with a doing melee PvE.

I couldn't ever get into Bloodborne PvP. The main game was amazing, but it didn't seem like there was enough equipment to warrant anything unique among most players. I locked horns with a couple of invaders, but that was about the extent of it.

As for Demon's Souls, I'm gonna try a semi-blind run armed only with the guide that came with the Deluxe edition after the novelty of DS3 wears off. I've seen my way through a bit of that one but nothing substantial. Should be a treat.