I’ve created this as unbelievers in the gaming thread proper don’t like a lot of Dark Souls chat clogging the place up.
Can also be used for Bloodborne and Demons Souls (never played that, I wonder if it will ever get the remaster treatment on a modern console).
Currently trying to decide between getting the DS1 remaster on the ps4 (will look better on the telly) or on switch (portable, can farm souls on the go). Decisions, decisions.
Someone sell it to me for the Switch version please, as someone who has only ever been taken in by Skyrim in terms of the wizards and goblins and mages and swords genre of games. I’ll hate it right?
It’s an RPG that’s really a puzzle game. It’s extremely harsh but ultimately fair, in its own way. The setting is stunning and mysterious. The locations, weapons, and especially bosses are some of the most memorable in gaming. Eric doesn’t like it.
I just finished II. First fromsoft ive ever played, and thought it was great. Deciding whether to get 1 on 360 or wait til i get something i can play the remaster on
Also there is no more satisfying feeling in gaming than when you finally take out a boss that you were struggling with. None. You did that. It was all you. It doesn’t do “luck”.
ok interesting! It’s not going to be like trying to play street fighter/tekken online is it where I have to spend 10 hours practicing combos and stuff before playing?
Atmosphere: No other game I’ve come across has such a sense of a world having ‘moved on’. The storytelling through environmental design is incredible - even the names of places convey huge amounts of intrigue.
Combat: It’s wonderfully paced. You’ll die a lot, but you’ll get a feeling that you learned something from that death. And some of the bosses, per @Epimer, are among the best in the history of gaming.
Ok, I’m not going to lie to you it does take a while for the appeal to become apparent. I played it for an hour when I borrowed it from a friend and then gave it straight back.
Then he made me have another go.
I think part of it is definitley the challenge. I’m playing Skyrim at the moment and I’m fairly confident whenever I enter a crypt that I can mash my way past whatever daedric lord or whoever is standing in my way. But in Dark Souls you are never, or only rarely, that cocky. When you make some progress you feel like you’ve earned and it feels SO good. It’s really satisfying.
As far as the difficulty goes I would actually say it has more in common with a racing game than an RPG. If you’re racing and you mess up a corner and crash out you won’t win (unless you’ve got the rewind function or whatever). So you race again until you get every corner right. Dark Souls is like that. You have to get every enemy encounter right and then, when you’ve got the muscle memory, the triumph is undeniable.
The atmosphere is amazing. The sound, minimal music, lighting, character design all create a world that feels much more immersive even than Skryim does.
It’s easier IMO. Combat is slower-paced, and it’s before the devs got hung up on making it HARD because that’s part of what the series became known for.
There are things that you can do to make it easier: it’s all about how you want to play.
I am NO hotshot gamer with lighting reflexes and I relied a lot on summons, basically getting other gamers from other games to come and help you out (you can then help others in return). It fosters a real sense of camaraderie and makes the really hard bits much more manageable.
It varies depending on the section. @Scagden’s racing game comparison is pretty apt - once you know the route, and the enemies and how they attack, it’s just on you to execute the way back.