Demon's Souls

[Xeogred]

You're going to want to just look up world tendency, because it's kind of broken and insanely ambiguous. Probably best to play offline too at this point, when I replayed it earlier this year the online still shifted my WT at times, at some very crucial times where I couldn't get it back to pure white.

Having gotten the platinum for this earlier this year, played through Bloodborne almost to the platinum, and now Dark Souls 2, I can still say Demon's is my favorite. It's the most archaic in a lot of ways, but really the bosses still stand out as some of the most iconic and diverse sets, the combat is good (seems better and more fluid than Dark Souls, no poise or huge emphasis on riposte either) and the levels are so insanely awesome. Tower of Latria has my favorite atmosphere in any of the games.

One thing I love about both Demon's and Bloodborne is the trimmed down armor. They really don't do much at all other than change up the looks. It's more important to have that fast roll in Demon's. I just used the Black Leather set throughout my entire run up through NG+++ or something. Equipment is way over the top and cluttered in the Dark Souls games, though that admittedly keeps PvP pretty cool and interesting, most players look unique.

[Opa Opa]

At pure white or pure black world tendency that door opens. In both cases there's an NPC/black phantom that will attack you and in pure black there's one of those slug demons that drops colorless souls. That area holds the Brushwood Armor set that Biorr wears and is completely not worth using due to the way things work in Demon's Souls.

Thanks for the info. I spent 10 minutes last night trying to find a way down there. I thought for sure that door might only open from the opposite side.

You're going to want to just look up world tendency, because it's kind of broken and insanely ambiguous. Probably best to play offline too at this point, when I replayed it earlier this year the online still shifted my WT at times, at some very crucial times where I couldn't get it back to pure white.

Having gotten the platinum for this earlier this year, played through Bloodborne almost to the platinum, and now Dark Souls 2, I can still say Demon's is my favorite. It's the most archaic in a lot of ways, but really the bosses still stand out as some of the most iconic and diverse sets, the combat is good (seems better and more fluid than Dark Souls, no poise or huge emphasis on riposte either) and the levels are so insanely awesome. Tower of Latria has my favorite atmosphere in any of the games.

One thing I love about both Demon's and Bloodborne is the trimmed down armor. They really don't do much at all other than change up the looks. It's more important to have that fast roll in Demon's. I just used the Black Leather set throughout my entire run up through NG+++ or something. Equipment is way over the top and cluttered in the Dark Souls games, though that admittedly keeps PvP pretty cool and interesting, most players look unique.

I never really played online to begin with.

Demon's > Dark > AD&D: Heroes of the Lance >>>>>>>> Dark 2
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Would you rate Bloodborne above the Dark games?

[Xeogred]

I don't think so. I'm thinking I put it on the same level as Dark Souls 2, Demon's being my favorite, then Dark Souls, then Dark Souls 2 / Bloodborne. Both for their own strengths and weakness. One that stands out too obviously, is that a 100% run in Bloodborne for me took a little under 30 hours. That took me 80 in DS2 (granted I'm playing the Scholar edition now with all the DLC), but the fact of the matter is... I don't really see much point to NG+ in Bloodborne or near the amount of flexibility in terms of builds and play styles. I was talking to bruno about this, he went through Bloodborne another time with a different kind of build that just ended up making the game harder and barely any different. The online and PvP doesn't seem nearly as interesting either. So DS2 is about 3x bigger and has so much more content it's kind of insane, without being bloated either. The game just offers way more variety, 4 lines of magic and tons of different build possibilities, a huge online community with the covenants (I'm still more of an offline guy but I really dig PvP in DS2).

Bloodborne's gameplay for a melee player is pretty much perfection though. It's much more faster paced and visceral. It's fun as hell and simple, a bit more bare bones like Demon's again. But maybe... they stripped down just a little too much?

Both games slip up when it comes to the bosses though. Most are very doable for a first encounter. At least Bloodborne's bosses look really cool though, usually. I think Demon's and DS1 blow them out of the water when it comes to bosses.

I'm also a bigger fan of the Dark games' massive, sprawling connections of different environments. Bloodborne really is just one massive gothic city that consistently remains to be mostly dark blacks and reds, you won't be PRAISING THE SUN in this one. But again, on another hand it's good that it's different. This is just a preference. The atmosphere is still incredible, it's legitimately a bit more haunting than most real horror games thesedays haha, and yeah.

They brought in an English composer for Bloodborne, not sure why. It's good in game, but I do think it's the easily the weakest OST of these. I'm having a hard time recalling any of the music now.

In the end I'm biased though and it's still probably a 10/10 for me and GOTY material. I think it's just safe to say these four games are perhaps my favorite games since the SNES/PSX days, simply put. It's comparing gold to gold.

I think DS1 probably has the most oppressive, daunting heavy atmosphere to it, with so many amazing moments like Ash Lake or the Duke's Archives escape, etc. It's arguably the most polished and one heck of an experience. But I really do love the quirkyness to Demon's, it's a bit more ethereal and out there. Everything about it and the story is just weird as hell, in a cool way to me. Considering like I mentioned above I just replayed it earlier this year and played Bloodborne and Dark Souls 2 directly after, I still think it holds up extremely well and will age gracefully. Timeless classic.

[MrPopo]

The thing I liked best about Dark was the fact that armor was worth using. I like the idea of armoring up against evil and strapping on the biggest shield I can. Demon's had some big armor sets but they didn't actually affect anything due to how scaling worked. When I got Havel's in Dark I was ecstatic. Bloodborne goes back to the Demon's route but at least has the decency to not give you the visual illusion of having pimped out armor.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I started Demon's Souls this weekend on a whim. It is incredibly fun, and I am really enjoying it. (The atmosphere is fantastic!) I am not very far into it yet - I have beaten Phalanx and I have made several good runs at the next section - but I am really enjoying it so far. I will probably spend some time grinding souls, exploring the different worlds, and upgrading my equipment for a bit before I really try to make it much farther into the game.

BTW, I started with a wanderer, and I am going for a dexterity build. Since I am pretty early in game, I am currently updating all of my stats except magic and faith. Once they are all 20 or higher, I will start pushing dexterity hard. Any thoughts on how I should proceed, what armor and weapons I should seek out, etc.? Right now, I am using leather armor, leather leggings, wizard gauntlets, a +2 falchion, a +1 winged spear, a soldier's shield, a compound short bow, the cling ring, and the ring of Herculean strength. (Apparently, I really, really need to find the thief's ring in Boletarian Castle...)

[MrPopo]

Make sure you can roll fast, and make sure you always have a 100% damage block shield. There's a good one you can get from beneath one of the sleeping dragons (probably have to suicide in the process) that also has something like 70% fire block. Armor is useless in Demon's Souls (this gets fixed in Dark Souls) so don't worry about that. As for weapon, the most important thing is to have a weapon you feel comfortable using.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips, PoPo! (Somehow, I knew I could count on you!) I can't wait to get back to the game tonight, and I will definitely go hunting for that shield.

I really like the falchion so far, and I just have not gotten used to my spear yet. Hopefully, I can get it upgraded and find some other slashing weapons. (Playing the game with a slashing weapon, a bow, and light equipment makes it feel a lot like Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) with an overly elaborate upgrade system. )

[MrPopo]

The spear very much favors a cautious playstyle. It's a good way to get introduced to how enemies fight, as you don't have to drop your guard to engage them. But I always found I'd switch off for something with a better attack animation that covered a wider area or did more damage.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The spear very much favors a cautious playstyle. It's a good way to get introduced to how enemies fight, as you don't have to drop your guard to engage them. But I always found I'd switch off for something with a better attack animation that covered a wider area or did more damage.

Yeah...I have found I need to lock onto an enemy if I want to hit it with my spear. It is my "tight spaces" weapon, but I always switch back to the falchion if I have some room to move.

[the7k]

I much, much prefer the way shields are more or less cosmetic is Demon's Souls and especially Bloodborne. Maybe it's just that shields are too damn powerful in Dark Souls, but the combat feels much, much less tense when you can just hold block the whole time and have your worries drift away into the warm summer air.