GreenMonkey

Big Bump

So I originally tried Demon's Souls on the PS3 a couple of years back. I was too busy with kids and work really to spend the time on it - it seemed fun but was too difficult for me.

Fast forward and my buddy got me playing Dark Souls. So addicting. And I normally don't even like Action RPGs at all - but I do like hard/twitchy action-adventure games (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Maximo) of which this reminds me a lot of.

My main character is a level 97 Sorcerer (well, started as a Pyromancer, but for the starting stats/levels/equipment). I'm doing a bit of grinding before tackling the end-game area and heading to NG+ and got bored...so started a DEX/FAITH build character for fun. I'm wrapping up Blighttown at level 20 having done the hard-run-around to avoid the first couple of bosses. Plan to buff my weapons up some more and kill some the losers with end-game equipment invading Noobs in the Parish/Burg area eventually.

So much for finally finishing DMC3 HD, I got sidetracked into Dark Souls and 200+ hours later I'm still sidetracked.

The last game I spent anywhere near as much time as Dark Souls on was Dragon Quest 8 (I think that was like 120hrs) and I'm a huge Dragon Quest fanboy. Or Lost Odyssey (that was in the 100s also). Maybe Baldur's Gate II before that?

MoviePage

Welcome to the club.

Maxflier

Quick question for you guys who already played the game. Assuming I CAN beat this game, is the DLC something best saved for after beating the game, or is it integrated in a way that it is better played during the initial playthrough? Hope that makes sense.

MoviePage

It's integrated. In fact, you can't access it after beating the game as you're taken straight into NG+ after the final boss. It is quite tough, though.

Poink

I think the DLC is harder than 95% of the regular game. Although that might be because I only got to play the DLC once since my PS3 died shortly after it came out. I could do the main game practically blindfolded at that point but never got to really learn all the DLC bosses all too well.

You have to be a bit more than halfway through the game to access the content, and honestly, it's fairly cryptic how you get there. If you're not using any kind of guide, you'd be likely to completely miss the area. I'd say given that fact, you could reasonably tackle the DLC once you have access to the item necessary to get there.

Maxflier

Cool, I will go ahead and install it. Thanks guys.

wlj

Welcome to the Dark Souls family!!


Definitely save the DLC for the end...it is very difficult. I would rank the bosses in terms of difficulty in this order:

1. Manus
2. Kalameet
3. Sanctuary Guardian
4. Knight Artorias

GreenMonkey

Chopping Kalameet's tail solo is harder than Manus and Kalameet put together!

Maxflier

Ok, I have a question. At level 48, should I be ready for Sif? I ask because even though the area leading up to him wasn't a challenge, Sif continually hands me my ass. The best I have managed to do was get him to about 40-45%.

wlj

Are you staying under him? You may need to level some more if you are having troubles. He is one of the easier bosses and one of the coolest.

Maxflier

Yeah, I try and avoid his two slashes and then run under him and hack away. Problem is two hits and I'm done and healing is tricky because there doesn't seem to be any truly safe window for it.
And this probably sounds weird, but reading up on him and his relationship with Artorias makes me wish I didn't have to kill him. I do wish I had known to wait until after doing the DLC to trigger the fight with him for the different cut scene, even though it would have made it even more heart wrenching to have to kill him. The lore for this game is fucking incredible.

wlj

Sif is my favorite boss and one of my favorite characters ever in my 35 years. It is quite on the emotional side having to kill him. That alternate cut scene is even more dramatic. Dark Souls 2 just didn't have these special moments. Anyway back to strategy, it has been quite a while since i have fought him. I think I remember him being very susceptible to fire. Get some fire resin for your weapon, or combustion pyromancy should do the trick. however it could be lightning that he is more susceptible too. I apologize that i am not much help

Maxflier

I can think of no better way to celebrate my 10,000th post than announcing that I have beaten Dark Souls.
I have loved games before, or at least I though I had but I love this game so much that I cannot see anything ever replacing it as my favorite game of all-time.
I was level 98 when I finished it up and I am proud to say I beat the whole thing solo, not once did I summon a human or NPC for help. And never resorted to using any pyromancy either for that matter. And though I did not find the game to be nearly as hard as people make it out to be, I will admit that I had to resort to a youtube video to find out how to beat Lord Gwyn at the end because he kept destroying me.
And as great as it felt to beat it, it felt sad at the same time because I really didn't want it to end.

MoviePage

Congrats and well done!

dom56

Now you need to play Dark Souls 2.

I know some people didn't care for it but I really enjoyed playing it and the three DLC are really a blast to played.

Maxflier

For sure, even though I already have DS2 for PS3, I am going to wait for the PS4 version. That gives me time to play Demon's Souls in the meantime.

mattysemo247

Would it be OK to skip Demon's Souls and go straight to Dark Souls? Would I be missing anything that might help me get through Dark Souls?

Noonan

You can easily skip to Dark if you wanted but Demon is a great game as well.

mhg83

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-XPAdlkQYYA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

mhg83

I've been watching this guys awful playthrough and this has to be the funniest moment:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8HEaTcj9hSY?list=PLC6360A0CB2A3076E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And a fail highlight video:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5dHz4nYCDdM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And I thought i was bad at DS

GreenMonkey

dark side phil is an idiot

The Dude

I think the first 1:30 of that first video is the absolute perfect encapsulation of the wonder of Dark Souls.

mhg83

Even though Yahtzee helps her , she's surprisingly good for a first time player

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yhV0xsPaF8s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dan

I started playing this on my Xbox One the other day (360 backwards compatibility)... I'm not sure I'll see it through, but I was wondering...

Was the framerate during boss fights always this bad?? It seems to drop to like 15fps. It seems to happen as soon as a boss is on screen, and throws me off.

mattysemo247

Dark Souls Remastered coming 5/25 on PS4, XB1, and Switch

Trilogy box set also announced in Japan. PS4 exclusive. Pretty fucking cool if that came to the US.

http://www.darksouls.jp/remastered/trilogybox.html