Dark Souls

[laforzadimente]

After watching about an hour of a "Let's Play" of Dark Souls on YouTube, I decided to buy it for the 360. This game is supposed to be really challenging, not exactly sure how multiplayer / co-op works yet, but if anybody would like to help me out and do it together, gimme a shout.

[IGlegacy_Felonious]

Thought about picking up Dark Souls or Demon souls now since its a bit cheaper and see if I liked the games. I like challenges but from everything I've heard these games are frustratingly challenging you can go in a direction you should not be going yet and have way in knowing that until you die. Having a wiki or guide nearby would be helpful but then that would take away the satisfaction of accomplishing something, from what I hear the story is pretty non existent so you will be playing for the challenge and the enjoyment from conquering that challenge. Hope you like it and interested in hearing what you think about the game


As far as multiplayer/coop its not what you are thinking. From what I gather at certain points in a game you can call in another player or A.I if no player is available to help you fight a boss or challenging encounter. Their is no way of picking who though I believe and no way to communicate either other than signals in game I believe. You can also leave markers or read markers for other players to read (not all are to be trusted though) and invade a players game to kill them as well. I'd imagine if you find someone here or elsewhere to player you could Party up through xbox live and play the same sections together. Work on the same puzzles/enemies would probably be pretty cool to do it that and who knows maybe you can end up in each other's game.

[japester]

I own them both, but I haven't cracked the seal on Dark Souls yet. And I haven't finished Demon's Souls. I like the first one enough to grab the sequel (let's just call it that for simplicity's sake) soon after launch plus the hardcover guide. :)


As far as Demon's Souls go, it's a very atmospheric game. In that regard, it reminds me of BioShock. The lack of guidance actually adds to the immersion, IMHO. The world seems more real because it is confusing and punishing.


The difficulty is an interesting topic. I grew up with the original Atari and NES systems, and I got the vibe that these are modern versions of Mega Man or a similar title in terms of challenge. Play smart and you won't do badly. Rush in like you're invincible--typical of modern games--and you will die quickly. It often takes only one hit, and plenty of baddies are lurking around dark corners. If you carry a shield, you'll quickly learn to explore tight spaces with it held at the ready (just like you would in real life). But every enemy has a pattern, and you rarely get mobbed.


Not sure about the new coop, but felonious sounds right. Most people use the multiplayer for invasions, but limited co-op is available.


Demon's Souls is one of those games where I would teleport into a world, knowing an enemy would spot me from a specific point, and it would still freak me out. It got my pulse pounding during every play session, without fail.

[IGlegacy_Felonious]

@Japester , Didn't know you played the Demon Souls, am I right their really isn't much of a story? Part of me is tempted to pick that game up especially before the servers go offline -- I look at my backlog and it would just add to it and the time it would take to play that game to completion I could probably play 2-3 other games I'm interested in with story to them.

[japester]

Yeah, I didn't pick it up when it first appeared, but I got it last year. Haven't played it in a long time. I enjoyed it, but I rarely finish games. So that's not a dig against it.


In terms of story, it does have a setup (why you are supposed to collect the souls), but it's not like you meet tons of NPC's who update you with side quests and smaller stories. You do meet some, but overall it's meant to be a very lonely game.


I've been tempted to jump back in before the servers go down for good. When I first started, it was very cool seeing the ghosts of others being killed, providing hints of dangers to come. So innovative. The messages used to be more helpful (or entertainingly NOT helpful, LOL). But I returned to the game maybe 6 months ago and it seemed like every other message was "upvote this message" junk.

[Muskel]

I beat Demon's Soul's 5 times, my brain is a wiki lol. Over 300 hrs played. I'd be happy to answer any questions on that game, as it is one of my favorite console games. I'm hoping Santa brings me Dark Souls.


In Demon's Soul's, it was almost impossible to join with a friend. I tried for hours and hours, never made it happen. Atlus just wanted it random. I'm not sure if they made this possible in Dark Souls.


There are some problems with the NPC's that was never fixed. I can elaborate if you want. There really isn't any story, just old school toughness.

[laforzadimente]

After hearing about all the multiplayer tie-ins this game has, I was worried I'd have to purchase Live again, but alas it is possible to play offline so that's what I'm doing for the time being. Cause I'm a cheapo :p


I have to say, this game is really kicking my ass. I've spent about 5-6 hrs on it today off and on trying to fix my computer at the same time and I still haven't made it to the 4th bondfire. If I have to narrow down what it is, I'd say that it's the amount of damage enemies do combined with really slow recoveries after you get hit opening you up to another attack. I am getting better at it though.


Not sure if this feature was in Demons' Souls but I would advise anyone that is going to play this to look up "backstabbing" as a regular combat technique. Some of the enemies would take forever to kill without it and with the amount of pain this game deals out, rolling the dice on whether or not they can kill you in that longer timeframe is a bad bet to make.



japester said:But I returned to the game maybe 6 months ago and it seemed like every other message was "upvote this message" junk.


That sounds as awful as reading the comments on YouTube.

[japester]

That's interesting. I assume a successful backstab requires stealth? Stealth never struck me as a viable option in Demon's Souls. Maybe in a few sections.


Ha. No, nowhere near as brain-destroying as reading Youtube comments. The designers were smart--all messages are created using templates. So you can't create anything truly stupid (or racist, or homophobic, etc). And you have the option of ignoring the messages if you want.


@muskellounger

Impressive. What kept you coming back? Different character builds? Speed runs?

[laforzadimente]

japester said:I assume a successful backstab requires stealth?


That's what I thought as well when I first saw the recommendation bringing it to my attention. There IS a capability of creeping up behind an enemy that hasn't seen you yet and getting a critical hit but this method for regular combat (while the same motion) just involves getting behind your opponent during the fight. For some of the baddies this is easier said than done, and the trick of it is your lock-on has to be turned off and your shield has to be down for a second before the attack. So it definitely takes some practice rather than being an easy way out, especially with multiple opponents.

[laforzadimente]

Bad guy currently beating my ass....I mean look at that sword!!


http://www.goozex.com/community/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Discussions.Components.Files/10/7608.bkgs.jpg

[Muskel]

japester said:@muskellounger

Impressive. What kept you coming back? Different character builds? Speed runs?



It was the scaling difficulty after each successive playthrough. The second time through, you couldn't use your old tactics. 3rd playthrough I was all invasions. I got pretty good at them. Demon's Soul's generates the best hate mail lol. I beat it for the fourth time and decided to go for 100% platinum. I just needed one more playthrough to get maybe 3 trophies. That's when the (critical for trophy)NPC disappeared on me for the rest of the game. I really didn't want to start over, so I gave up.


Can anyone confirm if it's possible to join with one of your friends in Dark Souls?

[progglerock]

I have (and have beaten) Dark Souls. Great game with quite a few problems, though I heard they released a patch like right after I'd beaten it (which wasn't exactly immediately after its release). The gameplay and bosses themselves weren't all that frustrating; it was mostly the game's co-op matching system that blew. It was simply way too hard to find people to help you and/or find people to help. From what I understand it had to do with strict level-proximity rules, along with the fact that you can only join the games of players who are in the same area as you. I spent way too much time just waiting to be summoned so I could earn "humanity" so that I could summon others so that I could finally beat that ☺☺☺☺ing boss I'd been stuck at for so long, etc, rinse and repeat.


Anywho, still loved the game, and I'm sure it's better now, but I can't say I'd be very optimistic about the current player population. And no, you can't play with friends. The game is more about anonymity (even though for some reason it still displays your and others' gamertags). However, considering the player population, it can't be too hard to cheat the system and rendezvous with a friend. I imagine it's just a matter of throwing down your summoning sign enough times until it shows up in your friend's game.