☠ Souls Series Symposium ☠

[MrPopo]

NG+ is just doing the games again with harder enemies. CT's 12 extra endings this is not.

[isiolia]

Keep in mind you already beat DeS once before, as well as other Souls games. Once you understand how these games work, you are at a big advantage over a newbie. I have read on other forums people say that DeS' bosses are generally weaker to magic, so combine that with ranged magic, and yeah... easier than trying to sword-fight them to death. I'm glad to hear that magic got nerfed going forward into the series, and armor became more realistically useful. Also congrats on your second beat of DeS!

True, and even my first run through it was after I'd already played the rest. I think it's less that DeS bosses are weak to magic per se. Obviously, being able to play to their weaknesses like that is a help, but you can take advantage of them via infused weapons (or resins) as well.
The bigger difference with DeS, to me, is that most of the bosses are both fairly passive, and placed in large arenas, which really favors being able to sit back and used ranged attacks. Much easier for a glass cannon magic build to work.

Personally, I'd rather see them stay more effective, since it means variety. Plus, all of the games have fairly robust spell lists.

While we're talking about NG+... does it offer anything new besides just harder enemies and bosses? (This question is for every Souls game, not just DeS, thanks.)

DeS I think relies a bit more on World Tendency, which is something none of the other games do. Even without going to a new game cycle, black world tendency is harder. Past that, different phantoms may appear, or additional enemies show up.

In general, the games will reset to the point that you need to redo most tasks. IE, most keys will go away, items with a specific purpose, and so on. Other things remain - bonfires that were kindled in DS1 (so they give more Estus flask uses) will remain that way, for instance.
They scale up through NG+6, after that it's just resetting things.

I don't think DS1 adds many enemies in by default. It does open you up to the possibility of being invaded by a Gravelord covenant member, which will result in additional enemies being spawned in while they're present (obviously, if playing offline, this isn't relevant). I do recall that one of the boss fights adds a sniper (which you can take out beforehand, it's just an extra thing to do), but mostly stuff just has more HP.

DS2 is, in typical DS2 fashion, more complicated. More enemies are spawned (which glow red to indicate this), and bosses drop an additional item. There are a few bosses with added enemies.
Additionally, you can use an item to (mostly) reset and upgrade individual areas. So, say you want the item that the NG+ version of the boss drops, you can use a Bonfire Ascetic to +1 that area relative to the rest of the game. This, like kindled bonfires in DS1, carries forward into future game cycles. It opens up a variety of farming possibilities.
Notably, DS2 does not automatically start a new game cycle when you roll the credits.

DS3 I think just adds in +1/2/3 versions of rings. Like DS2, it doesn't automatically start a new game cycle after the credits.


Bloodborne does things a bit differently. Its Stone of Ephemeral Eyes/Humanity/Effigy/etc item is called Insight. It's something you don't automatically lose when you die, though there are enemies that can sap it. You can also trade it for some items, and it's used for co-op or PVP similar to the Souls items. It influences Beasthood level, and Frenzy resistance...

What it also does, as you accumulate more of it, is show you more in-game, while also buffing select enemies and adding some red phantom type versions in a few places. 'course, you can always just spend it.

Unfortunately, Bloodborne is still the DeS/DS1 style of starting a new game cycle after the credits.


All of the games have 2-3 or so endings you can pick, though they make little difference overall (maybe DeS if you intend to push for pure black world tendency?). While you keep covenant ranks and all, any "sins" you commit are forgotten in the next cycle. It does mean you can go kill all the vendors and stuff before ending the game with no consequences.

[Exhuminator]

All of the games have 2-3 or so endings you can pick, though they make little difference overall

Why would anyone play these games for the story? That's strange to me.

[isiolia]

The lore for them is cool, though quite a lot of it is more what you happen to make of it playing through them.

It's more notable for things like DS2 or Bloodborne where you wind up fighting additional bosses if you have all your ducks in a row.

[Forlorn Drifter]

I'll get around to fully answering the questions at some point. I'm so beat and tired right now I don't have it in me, and I'm on mobile.

Essentially, I have a love/hate relationship with the games, Bloodbirne being the only one I've beat so far. With the main Souls bunch, my main issue comes from lack of knowing how to make a character. I often found myself highly underleveled, and without good equipment.

[Xeogred]

All of the games have 2-3 or so endings you can pick, though they make little difference overall

Why would anyone play these games for the story? That's strange to me.

I'm still trying to figure out what ending is the good ending in Demon's, hehe. I freaking love them though. Demon's takes the cake in being the weirdest, most obtuse one of them all. And I love the theories about how this or that ending is the start of Dark Souls, or vice versa. There's never anything officially connecting them, but it's fun to use your imagination. Thanks Miyazaki.

Also, once you beat the game, ignore the temptation to dive right into NG+. The difficulty increases significantly, and immediately losing all of the souls you are carrying around from the final boss (like I did) is disheartening. (In other words, bask in the glory of your victory for a while.)

You do not lose your souls for beating the game, if anything you get a ton for finishing off the final boss. This is easy to remember, because you have to walk around with like a million souls and clear 1-1 praying that you don't fuck up. lol, because the The Maiden in Black is not available for spending souls until you clear 1-1.

But yeah I definitely don't like how Demon's, Dark 1, and Bloodborne force you into NGx. I'm glad that's different in some of them at least, especially Dark 3... I loaded up my character and was done with the game, but hadn't made the jump to NG++++, so I can easily access the DLC areas right away on this character.

[CFFJR]

Also, once you beat the game, ignore the temptation to dive right into NG+. The difficulty increases significantly, and immediately losing all of the souls you are carrying around from the final boss (like I did) is disheartening. (In other words, bask in the glory of your victory for a while.)

You do not lose your souls for beating the game, if anything you get a ton for finishing off the final boss. This is easy to remember, because you have to walk around with like a million souls and clear 1-1 praying that you don't fuck up. lol, because the The Maiden in Black is not available for spending souls until you clear 1-1.

Sounded to me like that's exactly what prfsnl was saying. He died and lost his souls before he could use them.

[MrPopo]

That's funny that you think there's a good ending for a Souls game.

[Xeogred]

That's why I was half joking. The other games feel like there's a stronger line between black and white. But both Demon's endings are nothing but strange (and awesome).

CFFJR: I can see that now. The "immediately" threw me off.

Everyone should watch that The Demon Astraea video above.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Also, once you beat the game, ignore the temptation to dive right into NG+. The difficulty increases significantly, and immediately losing all of the souls you are carrying around from the final boss (like I did) is disheartening. (In other words, bask in the glory of your victory for a while.)

You do not lose your souls for beating the game, if anything you get a ton for finishing off the final boss. This is easy to remember, because you have to walk around with like a million souls and clear 1-1 praying that you don't fuck up. lol, because the The Maiden in Black is not available for spending souls until you clear 1-1.

Sounded to me like that's exactly what prfsnl was saying. He died and lost his souls before he could use them.

Yep. That's exactly what happened. After killing some sort of executioner, I got killed by some phantoms that weren't there during my first playthrough. On my way back, I went after a shiny new piece of equipment and fell off a cliff like a f*cking idiot. I took out the game, turned off the system, and haven't touched it since then.