Dark Souls

[Tuffty]

With the combination of the enemies and the solo vocals of the singing woman, I think the Shrine of Amana broke me last night. One point I died and was just laughing uncontrollably at how much I struggled. I only got through last night partly because enemies had started to despawn around the bonfire area I was really stuck on, to my shame. I tried the trick of parrying the magic spells with a shield but I suck at parrying and even when I was successful it just deflected to a different direction. I really like the area though, the atmosphere is nicely set by that woman singing, which is obviously reminiscent of the Tower of Latria from Demon's Souls. The area itself reminds me of Ash Lake due to the giant three branches covering the sky and water just everywhere. I wonder if the two are actually linked, because you get down there by a super long elevator ride, which is kind of reminiscent of going down the Great Hollow. Would be cool if it was, Ash Lake is the most impressive and atmospheric area in any Souls game.

[pikapikapika]

Fun in Dark Souls? what is this sorcery?! 

[Tuffty]

^ That's amazing, I would love to try it for myself haha

I just defeated the Throne Watcher/Throne Defender boss fight solo in Dark Souls 2 right as I type this! Fuck yeh! That boss is every bit as challenging as fighting Ornstein & Smough solo and just as rewarding when you win. Guardian Dragon I've only fought once, died pretty easily. And then having a real hard time of it with Darklurker, which almost seems impossible for a melee build character like me.

So I'm at Guardian Dragon, is there much left to do in the game at this point? Kinda doesn't feel that way? Like things are wrapping up almost. Would like to have Darklurker killed before then as it's an optional boss, but I really have to be better at it considering I have to offer a human effigy for every attempt and they're running out... Though I understand that NG+ is an altogether different beast in terms of difficulty, new monster layouts, boss movesets, additional content etc so really looking forward to doing it all over again snd seeing what it offers. 77+ hrs and counting on first playthough.

[Tuffty]

They announced Dark Souls 2 DLC! 3 seperate parts in July, August and September. New areas, new enemies, new bosses. They said a while back that they weren't going to consider DLC for Dark Souls 2 but retracted on it a few months ago by saying they would consider it by listening to the community. I'll be optimistic and believe them on that rather than it being part of the marketing plan all along. Even if it is, I really don't mind, after all, it's more Dark Souls 2. Artorias of the Abyss DLC was easily one of the best pieces of DLC to have ever been made and had some of the best bosses in Dark Souls 1 overall, so I'm really excited to play this. Wonder if it will be as difficult to get to as the Artorias DLC?






In other Dark Souls related news, someone beat Dark Souls 2 in 20 minutes (with glitching obviously, but still pretty impressive!)

[Tuffty]

Really digging the first of the DLC packs released today. It's a return to Dark Souls 1 style level design, feels like this big maze, with puzzles involved. Like a more involved version of the Oolacile Township from the first game.  Most of Dark Souls 2 was you against the enemies but it feels here like the environment is against you too and you have to be at your best to overcome it. And the enemies are tough too. Granted, I'm playing on NG+ which doesn't help. But so far it's pretty challenging but fair. Wonder how many bosses there are. They tease you with one, right from the get go. Looking forward to it.

[Tuffty]

I finished the DLC today! I really enjoyed it, so much so that I think if Shulva was in the main game, then it would probably have been my favourite area. Such an interesting area to explore. Also the bosses, holy crap. Elana really does show how Nashandra was the weakest fragment of Manus, considering how tough Elana was in comparison. The battle with Sinh was also pretty much Kalameet 2.0 and just as challenging and epic as the original was too. Adds some really interesting lore and impacts it has on the main game as well, and reading up about it and the implications it has is fascinating stuff.

Though I have to say, I did have some issues. The Dragon Knights had so much poise it was ridiculous. The ganker bosses in Cave of the Dead were impossible solo too. I really feel like it was designed for co-op and not solo play as I don't recall a Souls boss that requires you to take on 3 equally hard bosses at the same time. Perhaps things might have been different had I not played in NG+ version, but still...It also adds nothing to the lore, other than you're fighting 3 human graverobbers. No souls obtained afterwards. Nothing.

Still from what I've played it gets me really excited to see what the next two bits of DLC will be like as it's already one of the best pieces of DLC I've played. Also, again, fantastic work on the soundtrack.

[Tuffty]

There's no other way to describe it, the last clip in this is pure evil

[zoolander]

The ganker bosses in Cave of the Dead were impossible solo too. I really feel like it was designed for co-op and not solo play as I don't recall a Souls boss that requires you to take on 3 equally hard bosses at the same time. Perhaps things might have been different had I not played in NG+ version, but still...It also adds nothing to the lore, other than you're fighting 3 human graverobbers. No souls obtained afterwards. Nothing.

Souls? Who cares about souls? Gimmie that flower skirt any day!

But yea they were really tough solo, took a couple out running around taking drive by pot shots but got killed right at the final blow. Ended up rage summoning the npcs after that. I'm also like level 250 in NG+++ soooo

Looking forward to the rest of the DLC. 

[Tuffty]

^ Which is out today btw! Thank goodness I took today off!

I'm assuming we'll fight another shard of Manus but I wonder if there will be any new bosses, as in, not seen in the game before and not just reskins (not hating btw, Elena and Sinh are some of the best bosses in the whole game)

[Tuffty]

Just finished the last bit of DLC and thus any new content to expect from Dark Souls 2 (not that I'll stop playing it anytime soon). Biggest gripe I have with each of them? The co op designed areas. Near impossible to do solo and the end of each one is fighting a gank squad (Sunken King) an old boss (Old Iron King) and two of the same boss you fought earlier in the same DLC (Ivory King). But, had each of these areas been in the main game, they would have easily been amongst the best areas, visually and from a gameplay perspective. It also has some of the best bosses that any Souls game has ever seen. Sinh, Sir Alonne, Fume Knight, Aava, Burnt Ivory King. All fantastic. If Dark Souls 2 by itself was a candidate for my game of the year, the added DLC pretty much nails it on the head.

[coachie]

Just started playing Dark Souls, first game in the Souls series for me.
Since I couldn't decide on a class (Knight, Wanderer, Thief or Bandit) I just went with Deprived
So far I'm loving it!

[Tuffty]

Oh wow you picked Deprived! That's usually chosen by players with a bit more experience as it's starting gear isn't great making the game harder from the beginning as a result until you find better armor and weapons. Picking a class doesn't mean much in Dark Souls. There's no unique abilities or character traits that come from choosing a class like in other RPG's. In Dark Souls, choosing the class is just a way of picking a character that has starting stats that favor heavily towards the type of character you want to make. Although it is hard to think about that when you're just starting the game.

My advice initially would be to get yourself familiarised with the combat and sort of determine early on what type of character you want to make and point points into those stats when levelling up. Like a tank character who can wield heavy armor and take hits? An agile guy focusing on rolling and dodging? A mage? Dark Souls doesn't really favour classes that are balanced across all stats and typically you'll have an easier time playing a character who is focused on a few.

Other than that, keep playing and enjoy! The thread here is open if you need advice. I envy you now, there's nothing else quite like the experience of your first Souls game.

[pikapikapika]

I talked about this before with coachie but I actually found deprived pretty easy to use in the beginning when I took it for a trial run, seeing as you  aren't going to have more than 1 spell with a mage at the start etc, and the stats (I forget what they are now) actually end up being a big help & benefit in the long run. Everyone dies at the start no matter what class they are, so once you find the first shop, it's smooth sailing from there.