I think DS2 will be played very differently between different people. There's alot of paths, and you don't know that they exist until you feel lost and desperate and try, say, jumping down a big hole naked with nothing but a ring. Finding yet another branch of areas and another 10 hours of gameplay.
That said, I got to the foggy forest 16 hours into the game, because I got my first Yule branch from the last boss in a string of areas( one of the 4 great ones? I dunno ) and only then unlocked the branch of areas Habboi is talking about ^^.
You never know what unlocks that next branch of areas, it can be anything from killing a boss, getting a key or exhausting a NPCs dialog. DS1 wasn't really like that, if I prefer DS1 or DS2 in that sense I don't know. Speedrunning DS2 is going to be really hard. I feel like there are alot of mechanics and encounters that cannot be skipped. They will probably prove me wrong in the end though :P
No, not permanently. Become human again to have your max health restored.
I heard that constantly dying also increases your likelihood of being invaded.
In DS1 there was Human <-> Undead
In DS2 it's like
Human
UD 1
UD 2
UD 3
UD 4
UD 5
Yeah, took me a while to figure out burning effigy's at bonfire was NOT how you turn human. Doh! Wasted too many to figure out I can use them anywhere. But now I found my stride and I'm making good progress.
Love the towershield/rapier combo.
Also, has anyone been invaded? I'm probably a good 12 hours into it and not once have I been invaded. Maybe it doesn't start until after a certain player level? Repelling invaders was one of my favorite DS1 moments.
Habboi: I feel exactly the same way about the NPCs in the game, like I dont care about their story as much as I did in DS1, could be the way that DS2 presented them I duno.
In terms of Levels, the most memorable one for me so far is the Cathedral of Blue.
DS2 overall feels very mish mash, like they combine several elements of the first game into one and create a level out of it. Take Lost Bastile and Sinner Rise for example, it feels a lot like a mix between Painted World of Aramis/ Sen's Fortress.
What Im getting at is that the areas dont feel distinct enough from each other.
Having said all that, I still love the game, and like some of the new gameplay elements. Would love to see them continue the next game in this universe.
Haven't had much time to play it but I got to the pirate ship area, I shamefully suck at DS and get owned way too many times - however, I'm not sure why they start removing enemies one by one if you die constantly? There's an area where I would fight 5-6 enemies to get to the ship, now (after dying many a time) I can just pretty much run all the way there without any confrontation XD
Its a bit annoying as its almost as patronising as the cursed Luigi brick in Mario Wii U (when you died several times on a level in Mario Wii U, a Luigi brick would appear that you could hit for a guide on how to play the level.) The thing about DS1 was that when you died, every enemy would respawn and re-appear, it was basically saying "Oh too bad - you suck. Get better." Even though it would get aggravating you were learning better ways to fight your enemies, which I liked. Still, apart from that am loving it
Right well I've put in 20+ hours so far and I have to say some of these environments are way below AAA quality. I saw a brick wall with texture seams out in the open for all to see @_@
And the more I play the more I don't feel anything for these bosses. A lot of them, I've forgotten.
But one thing I do dislike is that to progress forward you have to enter multiplayer areas that randomly take you away and plop you in another guys game to fight him. I like the concept but not when it interupts me as I'm creeping through it all.
Now that I've also played a lot of PVP in the arena, I have to say that giant swords aren't as viable anymore. I never would have got so many kills with a long sword like I have in DkS2.
I've found an OP setup though. Health Regen Ring, Stamina Regen, Stone Ring for breaking poise quicker and the most OP ring of all...the sun ring which explodes over and over after every bit hit and it does 500-1000 damage per explosion. Combine that with pyromancy, the one that makes an orb appear and explode for 1200 damage and it's steamrolling time XD
Oh and...they stuck the
sun convenant in the middle of a dump level
and it felt so out of place, like they had no where else to put it.
At the end of the day these environments...have shown me that it does matter, that gameplay alone while good isn't enough to make the Soul series epic for me. I have to say I am immensely disappointed in From Software and their env team.
I beat it yesterday. I really loved it, I think it held up fine to the other two Souls games. I'm really excited for some time to pass so people can figure out some of the story elements and hidden stuff.
It'll be interesting to see how replayable it is, or how quickly you can get through. I think something that gave Dark Souls 1 some longevity, especially with certain players, was how quickly you could get through the game if you knew what you were doing. The world is a bit more sprawling this time, less shortcuts and doublebacks, so I'm not sure how that will go. I must say though, having played through most areas, there's a little more interconnectivity than I had originally thought.
I didn't find it notably easier or harder. Just a bit different really. It's also a little unfair to compare, because Dark Souls was my first Souls game, and it did seem very hard my first playthrough. But I went into this understanding most of the mechanics. I had played Demon's Souls after playing Dark Souls and I breezed through it in 3 days.
Haven't had much time to play it but I got to the pirate ship area, I shamefully suck at DS and get owned way too many times - however, I'm not sure why they start removing enemies one by one if you die constantly? There's an area where I would fight 5-6 enemies to get to the ship, now (after dying many a time) I can just pretty much run all the way there without any confrontation XD
Yeah I've noticed that too after farming a certain area to death so I can accumulate enough souls to upgrade stuff
They don't remove enemies after you die, they remove enemies after you kill them a certain number of times to prevent farming.
I get what they were trying to do but I think they should have left the infinite enemy respawn. Part of what Demon Souls and Dark Souls hard was the fact that every enemy came back and even after so many visits to the same area. This made you think that each area is hard to go through and think twice about just rushing through an area especially if you are trying to get to a boss. Kind of like the old school games where the enemies kept coming back no matter how times you beat the levels.
I was sort of disappointed they took out the infinite enemy respawn. I guess they wanted you to move on to the next area and explore new areas instead of farming a certain area for all eternity.
But one thing I do dislike is that to progress forward you have to enter multiplayer areas that randomly take you away and plop you in another guys game to fight him. I like the concept but not when it interupts me as I'm creeping through it all.
Now that I've also played a lot of PVP in the arena, I have to say that giant swords aren't as viable anymore. I never would have got so many kills with a long sword like I have in DkS2.
The reason you get randomly put into another person's game as a gray phantom is because you have stepped into a certain domain area of a covenant. Some covenants
like the Gnawing Covenant (Rat King) and Clangorous Covenant (Bell Keeper)
will force you to fight a servant of the convenant to protect their domain. To avoid these things from happening you should just go offline as an assurance that you won't be forced into a PvP match.
I disagree about the giant swords as not being viable anymore. I've used the Murakumo curved greatsword for most of the game and it has never let me down. It's the only weapon that I have maxed out because it's so dependable and can take out a group of enemies with high damage and even more damage if you change to a two handed mode. I can literally one hit certain enemies without as much of a scratch on me although you do have to hit your target spot on since the Murakumo is slow to swing and will leave you wide open for attacks if you miss a target but I love the risk vs. reward thing. In this case the reward outweigh the risk in my opinion. Murakumo has allowed me to beat every boss I have encountered because I am able to output massive damage to them without having to take the boss fight take longer.
I'm on the fence about the enemies disappearing after a certain number of kills. I've soul farmed so much all my maps up to the Lost Bastille are totally empty. But it has made me jump into other peoples games to help them out for souls, so thats a plus. I never helped out in DS1, only invaded.
I had to stop playing. The changes to animation speed, dodge button press responsiveness, and general hit detection makes the game feel like a sloppy mess. There are countless times when an animation will not complete, or be near my player, and i take a significant amount of damage (not an arrow). I've also had sound completely cut out and be delayed by over a second. I will probably come back after GDC, but I am not impressed, and pretty disappointed. The game does not feel graceful and slick like DS did, it feels like they introduced bugs and intentionally broke things for the sake of "making it hard."
Was playing as a swordsman, trying my usual no-shield approach. I play carefully and quietly, yet that did not seem to work. I will probably start a new character, as a magic using class to try to combat my frustrations, which makes me very sad.
You can use a bonfire Ascetic to move a zone into NG+ mode and reset the enemy spawns. It's a pretty cool feature. Don't be afraid to use those, there's plenty you can get, and there are some things you can only get in NG+ mode or after using a bonfire ascetic.
I don't think the limited enemy spawns is ONLY to limit farming. Farming is rarely useful in a souls game anyway. I think it removes some of the tedium. Usually the enemies I'm struggling with aren't the ones who will get killed so much they disappear, it's the small insignificant ones that just become a waste of time.
In addition I think it allows them to set up some crueler spawns. There are some pretty rough spawn locations that are really close to certain bonfires that would be really frustrating if they were there forever (I'm looking at you Straid's Cell and Sinner's Rise).
@moose: most of that responsiveness that was default in Dark Souls is controlled by stats now. Agility will effect things like how quickly you roll, raise shield, parry, etc. I know it's a change but I don't think it's a bad one,I wouldn't call it sloppy, it just takes getting used to.
Also, with all the bitching I read about DS2 being inferior to DS1 visually....
No. DS2 looks far, far better.
Yeah, I don't get it either. Looks sweet to me, am playing on the 360 so the textures aren't super high rez but it has that dark, gritty feel that makes the souls games creepy and awesome
To avoid these things from happening you should just go offline as an assurance that you won't be forced into a PvP match.
I disagree about the giant swords as not being viable anymore.
But that's the thing, I shouldn't have to go offline, this stuff should be optional for multiplayer, not for areas where you need to progress to beat the game. Still that's the Soul series for you...
And I was referring to giant swords in PVP. PVE it's fine.
You can use a bonfire Ascetic to move a zone into NG+ mode and reset the enemy spawns. It's a pretty cool feature. Don't be afraid to use those, there's plenty you can get, and there are some things you can only get in NG+ mode or after using a bonfire ascetic.
I don't think the limited enemy spawns is ONLY to limit farming. Farming is rarely useful in a souls game anyway. I think it removes some of the tedium. Usually the enemies I'm struggling with aren't the ones who will get killed so much they disappear, it's the small insignificant ones that just become a waste of time.
In addition I think it allows them to set up some crueler spawns. There are some pretty rough spawn locations that are really close to certain bonfires that would be really frustrating if they were there forever (I'm looking at you Straid's Cell and Sinner's Rise).
@moose: most of that responsiveness that was default in Dark Souls is controlled by stats now. Agility will effect things like how quickly you roll, raise shield, parry, etc. I know it's a change but I don't think it's a bad one,I wouldn't call it sloppy, it just takes getting used to.
Yeah, had been putting points into stuff to make it better, however the game itself doesn't feel quite as good to me. I think a large part of it is the erratic, and occasional delay in audio (not cable/tv issue, sound is actually delayed) or complete lack of feedback when negative things happen. That delay gets compounded when adaptability is low, and the game itself is forced to be unresponsive until you invest time into a stat. Have talked with a few people who receive damage in the game without a clear indication why. I've also seen enemies literally pop in, right in front of me as I walk down a ramp, or hallway. It's like they weren't even trying. Demon and DS1 were amazing because I felt the atmosphere and design made me feel like I wasn't playing a game, but in a world. DS2 does not meet that quality.
These game's aren't about random deaths/damage, they're about learning, mastery, and memorization. Feel that they have hampered and diminished the quality of the user's ability to learn, memorize, and master the game. Not removed - yall are still kicking its ass.
I also severely dislike the lack of punchiness, and responsiveness to backstabbing. Previously, it was an action that when you performed it, it was clear it happened. With the swordsman, its very loose and not clear at all when or if you have or can pull it off. I'm not bitching about stuff, just pointing out that their changes have degraded the quality of the gameplay. I'll still play and get used to it, but felt they have made a lot of poor choices. Maybe that'll improve as i get further into the game and i get a much broader stroke of the game-arc, but for the first few hours it has left a very poor taste in my mouth.
also, for the record I have about 300 hours logged across demon's and dark souls, with at least 5 playthroughs the game per title. This isn't my first rodeo.
But that's the thing, I shouldn't have to go offline, this stuff should be optional for multiplayer, not for areas where you need to progress to beat the game. Still that's the Soul series for you...
And I was referring to giant swords in PVP. PVE it's fine.
The Belfry Luna, Belfry Sol and the rat
areas are entirely optional. The only thing you can't dodge to progress through the game are random invaders. If you just
keep dropping down the hole you can get to the Gutter, no need to fight the rats.
Still find it hard to believe, it's not just the lighting that's different, there's entire areas that look different, meshes and textures included. Just look how much more contrast there is in the older screens to the blander-fullbright screens from the ps3/360 release.
I do hope the PC version is like those older screens.
areas are entirely optional. The only thing you can't dodge to progress through the game are random invaders. If you just
keep dropping down the hole you can get to the Gutter, no need to fight the rats.
As far as I can tell, you still have to enter the trigger that opens you up to being invited to
fight a rat player?
The hole to go down is beyond the opening cave where the bonfire is and everytime I entered the cave before the circular room I'd be forcibly dragged into the
covenant battle
.
I make it sound like it's the end of the world, it isn't. Just a minor crit I have with that area. I assumed the bell area was a progress section but it seems it's optional
I'm pretty deep now (2 old ones down, soul level 94-ish) and greatly enjoying it, although my following text might not sound like it. It definitely stands up to previous games but I'm not sure it exceeds them. Currently running a strength/dex build with heavy armor, shield and Bastard Sword.
I had a really rough time in the first couple hours not realizing how much of a profound effect poise from armor now has. It also took me a while to figure out to just use the effigy instead of burning it. Like right up until the giant.
I think it looks better but man the framerate is trashy on PS3. I was so disappointed the moment I started it to see it running so slowly. Load times are also SUPER long. Which is really noticeable because of how much you teleport around.
In terms of the mechanics and whatnot, I like most of the changes. The more dynamic backstabs are interesting and I like the new stat breakdowns. The one thing that really annoys me though is having to go back to the chick to level. They removed a convenience feature because they think it's cute and like Demon's Souls, but the girl is way less interesting and has less personality than the Demon's Souls girl. Leveling up is way more frequent than in Demon's Souls making it a super frequent detour.
So far I'm also not really feeling the quest. Kill the 4 old ones. We don't even know who they are or where to look, just kinda running around and killing things for no reason. Killing lots of non-memorable easy bosses for no apparent reason. It doesn't really feel that meaningful. It's really hard to figure out where to go, some really obscure bullshit for opening certain paths.
Perhaps it's because I've been powering through it really hard this week but I don't feel very attached to the characters or environments like I feel with the prior games. Maybe it'll grow with time. I feel like there's been a lack of Gaping Dragon reveal type moments thus far.
Me & A buddy were suppose to play through this one like we did the last 2. blindly and made it hard for ourselves. BUT we decided to let another friend play with us. he got the guide and Wouldn't stop spoiling shit even when we asked him to stop. Didn't want to be mean and stop playing with him but I'm never playing a game with anyone like that again.
This game was so damn awesome Minus the time it took me to get my favorite armor and weapons. Looked nice and the new weapon types were fun.
So, there are rumors that the four great souls are the four lord souls reincarnated from the last game. There's a lot of evidence to support Freja being Seath, and the lost Sinner being the chaos witch Izalith. Just guessing on my part would say the Rotten is Nito and the Old Iron King is the Four Kings.
If you beat the spider on NG+ you get a 'paledrake soul' which you can use to make the moonlight greatsword. There are many references to the pale drake. After you beat Freja and go talk to the scorpion dude, he will reward you for killing his master, whom in earlier dialogues he says changes form over the years. He also uses the term 'seething' in a way that I think it's a reference. Don't recall the exact dialogue.
In the cutscene for the lost Sinner you see a chaos bug crawl into her eye, and her gear has some pyromancy powers.
Anyone joined the Brotherhood of Blood? I'm tempted because I haven't had any luck getting into a battle as a blue sentinel and it gets pretty old having lightning spears thrown at me in the duel arena.
I did, but I've joined just about every covenant for an hour or two, haha. Can't make up my mind. But yeah, most people are reporting not seeing much action as a sentinel. I think things will change eventually, but right now I think it's just because a lot of people are joining the sentinels because they think it's cool, meanwhile there aren't too many people in the way of the blue, and not even that many invaders. I'm seeing a lot of invasions in certain higher level areas and NG+ but who there is still in the way of the blue?
So 50 hours in I take back some of my comments on the environments. Seems From Software saved the best till the last 1/4 of the game and it's booooootiful.
From the castle to the underground forest with the foreskin frog boss and the stunning dragon castle...Very nice. That's Dark Souls! All fantasy and stunning! That's what I missed in the early parts of the game.
Without spoiling anything, you'll be happy to know they made sure not to repeat such a mistake...
And yeah these 4 lord bosses...don't deserve that name, the stuff after it is 10x harder. I was breezing through it all with my magic build and now I'm having to really be careful with my items and spellcasting. Very pleased now and the only drawback is I'm near the end :<
Hah awesome. You know I keep finding DS1 armours and weapons lately. At first I was a bit facepalmy seeing them reuse them but I feel a sense of nostalgia now
Oh and I'm having a blast with PVP...
Joined the dragon covenant which made a return. I never did bother with it in DkS 1 but after seeing the armour this time round I thought why not. So I easily got to 20 dragon scales using my Mage with his crystal magic but I soon got bored and sensed my victims were too so I decided to switch to melee and I had my trusty Washing Pole (Long ass katana) and combined with crystal magic weapon and dragon armour...well lets just say it's become fun and suddenly I feel like a hardcore PVP'er XD
Oh and...some asshats tried to spawn kill me with pyromancy explosions but they were never able to time it right so I made sure to pay them back with crystal homing magic, crystal spear and soul blade all at once
Well I beat the game and I have to say it was a blast. I'm just gonna level up the other convenants and have some good ol' multiplayer fun. So I looked at the lore discussed so far and if you're interested feel free to read though keep in mind this is major spoilerz.
So apparently Dark Souls 2 follows on from the "Lighting the Bonfire" ending in Dark Souls 1 and this is confirmed by the cat and several item descriptions. Ds2 takes place hundreds of years after the Chosen Undead fought through Lordran and linked the fire extending the curse.
Now if you're not aware, there was DLC for Dark Souls 1 where players travelled back in time to visit Oolacile and fight Manus, Lord of the Abyss. After the player killed him, according to the Dark Souls 2 guidebook, he split into many pieces and one of them slowly became a human, a human marked by The Dark. She became known as the queen of Drangleic but I'm jumping ahead. As you know, Manus is supposedly the Furtive Pygmy so it makes sense that she's of The Dark.
So supposedly she charmed the king and got him to invade a far away land in order to steal "something" from the giants. It could be Lordran that they invaded...but I think Drangleic is Lordran due to several NPC's saying it used to have different names and rulers.
As for what the king stole...well I suspect it was "The Dark Soul" either that or "The First Flame"(since it creates life and they used it to create golems which built the massive castles) and with it, he had brought the curse of the undead to his kingdom. After a while he suspected something wasn't right but by then it was too late and things happened, the giants invaded and tried to steal back whatever it was he took.
Now as for why Dragonslayer Ornstein is in the game. Well some say that the one you fought in DkS 1 was another illusion formed by the son of Gwyn and that the real Dragonslayer and his followers went off to retrive what was stolen.
Ultimately though the theme of Dark Souls seems to be cycles and there are strong hints that the 4 Lord Souls also reincarnated in this age. Either that or the powers merely shifted hands. Some think the King obtained the Lord Souls and again gave them to certain people and in doing so they took on the same flaws that the others had. For example, Seathes Lord Soul was given to a Duke and he too yearned for something more which resulted in his demise. Lastly if you look at the back of the spider boss room you can even see what looks like that crystal thing that made Seathe invincible.
Otherwise the Sinner could be one of the daughters of chaos due to the fire bug entering her eye, the shackles boosting pyromancy. The creature down below is a lot like Nito in that he is made of bodies rather than skeletons. And the King himself adopted Gwyns Lord Soul and also shared the same fate, became undead and lost his kingdom to darkness. Used by his love...his queen who sought only power.
So here's the last theory that's not confirmed but it is theorised that the woman and the baby in the intro is the queen and the player. Her face melting symbolising that it isn't her true form. The adult trying to reach her is you grown up with your memories lost. You go back to the land you were born in to seek answers and you discover that the queen is trying to bring darkness to the land, something that should have happened in Dark Souls 1.
However you stop her and take your rightful place as heir to the throne and I guess it's left open once again as to what happens next. After all you are the next Monarch and it is up to you to follow your mother or carry on the curse. There's mentions of the first flame but it's not shown.
Suffice to say there's a few gaps here and there but that's the rough theory so far and I think it holds up pretty well.
Didn't read the spoilers yet, haven't beaten it. But I do have a question, if you win do you start a NG+ like DS1? Or can you keep running around slaughtering the innocent.
Didn't read the spoilers yet, haven't beaten it. But I do have a question, if you win do you start a NG+ like DS1? Or can you keep running around slaughtering the innocent.
If you go to the bonfire in Majula you have an option to start NG+. But, until you do that you can run around and do whatever. I went and killed all the bosses I missed.
I don't think it's necessarily true that only the linking the flame ending of Dark Souls 1 became canon. I think it's implied that this has happened enough times, enough kingdoms rising and falling, that there may have been multiple cycles of this happening, which i think leaves it vague enough to say that either Dark Souls ending could have happened. Isn't it implied the King linked the flame? Unless he represented the player character from Dark Souls 1 (or Solaire) I would say the events of DkS2 are a few cycles removed from the first game. I need to go back and listen to more of the lore though, I'm sure more of this will sink in on subsequent playthroughs.
Haha well I can't argue yet since I haven't read enough or seen everything the game has to offer but I agree, it's definitely a possibility and what I wrote does have holes. But for the most part some of it fits.
Oh yeah, I agree with most of what you said. There's a lot going on for sure. I really look forward to hearing more and more community speculation on this stuff, it'll be cool to see how things are connected.
I'm a bit curious to see how long it took people to complete Demon's Souls - Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 in their first playthrough.
None of these were rushed by any means.
Demon's Souls took 13:35 ( so close to 1337!) without internets.
Dark Souls 1 took 21:51 with internets. Killing all bosses, not counting DLC.
Dark Souls 2 took 32:13 without any internetz, but I seem to have missed 2 hubs.
Everything I expected from another souls game! I'm another 6 hours into a dual-wield playthrough, taking a significantly different path from my first playthough!
Dark Souls 1 about 50-60 hours, and DkS2 was roughly 40 hours (that's up to when I beat the last boss, although I still continued that play-through for awhile). I think Dark Souls 2 is longer, but there was a steeper learning curve on Dark Souls 1 for me so it took awhile.
Demon's souls was between 12-15 hours for me (I had already played Dark Souls a lot, and a friend loaned me his PS3 for a few days so I rushed through).
Dunno exact times on any of these because I've played on such a weird mix of consoles that I no longer have.
I usually take my time and look at things in these games, and most of my time is generally spent getting the items I want upgraded right, more so than progressing quickly.
first when i got the game......disappointed. however, i am now back on the crack train. the souls series has become my favorite gaming series ever. and i would rate Dark Souls: 100, Demon Souls: 99, Dark Souls 2: 98.
Please bring forward a new souls game on this gen. PLEASE.
I still don't understand why people are disappointed at first with the game. My only slight displeasure with the game thus far is I am a tiny bit more unsure of what to do than I was in DS1.
However, the gameplay feels just as good, the art is superior, the music is awesome, and the controls feel as tight as they should.
I don't mean to come off as a fan boy but I have been enjoying every minute of it from the very beginning.
I've actually been completely productive this week so I haven't had a chance to give it a shot yet, but I'm thinking I'll start playing it tonight. Can't wait to break something!
Been playing loads of this, can't get enough... so addictive XO Sword and board makes things so much easier... I started with dual swordsman but now playing a paladin-esque class, strength+faith and its great, will go back and play Dual Swords again after this playthrough
Replies
That said, I got to the foggy forest 16 hours into the game, because I got my first Yule branch from the last boss in a string of areas( one of the 4 great ones? I dunno ) and only then unlocked the branch of areas Habboi is talking about ^^.
You never know what unlocks that next branch of areas, it can be anything from killing a boss, getting a key or exhausting a NPCs dialog. DS1 wasn't really like that, if I prefer DS1 or DS2 in that sense I don't know. Speedrunning DS2 is going to be really hard. I feel like there are alot of mechanics and encounters that cannot be skipped. They will probably prove me wrong in the end though :P
Yeah, took me a while to figure out burning effigy's at bonfire was NOT how you turn human. Doh! Wasted too many to figure out I can use them anywhere. But now I found my stride and I'm making good progress.
Love the towershield/rapier combo.
Also, has anyone been invaded? I'm probably a good 12 hours into it and not once have I been invaded. Maybe it doesn't start until after a certain player level? Repelling invaders was one of my favorite DS1 moments.
In terms of Levels, the most memorable one for me so far is the Cathedral of Blue.
DS2 overall feels very mish mash, like they combine several elements of the first game into one and create a level out of it. Take Lost Bastile and Sinner Rise for example, it feels a lot like a mix between Painted World of Aramis/ Sen's Fortress.
What Im getting at is that the areas dont feel distinct enough from each other.
Having said all that, I still love the game, and like some of the new gameplay elements. Would love to see them continue the next game in this universe.
Its a bit annoying as its almost as patronising as the cursed Luigi brick in Mario Wii U (when you died several times on a level in Mario Wii U, a Luigi brick would appear that you could hit for a guide on how to play the level.) The thing about DS1 was that when you died, every enemy would respawn and re-appear, it was basically saying "Oh too bad - you suck. Get better." Even though it would get aggravating you were learning better ways to fight your enemies, which I liked. Still, apart from that am loving it
OHHH...ok now I feel silly :poly136:
And the more I play the more I don't feel anything for these bosses. A lot of them, I've forgotten.
But one thing I do dislike is that to progress forward you have to enter multiplayer areas that randomly take you away and plop you in another guys game to fight him. I like the concept but not when it interupts me as I'm creeping through it all.
Now that I've also played a lot of PVP in the arena, I have to say that giant swords aren't as viable anymore. I never would have got so many kills with a long sword like I have in DkS2.
I've found an OP setup though. Health Regen Ring, Stamina Regen, Stone Ring for breaking poise quicker and the most OP ring of all...the sun ring which explodes over and over after every bit hit and it does 500-1000 damage per explosion. Combine that with pyromancy, the one that makes an orb appear and explode for 1200 damage and it's steamrolling time XD
Oh and...they stuck the
At the end of the day these environments...have shown me that it does matter, that gameplay alone while good isn't enough to make the Soul series epic for me. I have to say I am immensely disappointed in From Software and their env team.
It'll be interesting to see how replayable it is, or how quickly you can get through. I think something that gave Dark Souls 1 some longevity, especially with certain players, was how quickly you could get through the game if you knew what you were doing. The world is a bit more sprawling this time, less shortcuts and doublebacks, so I'm not sure how that will go. I must say though, having played through most areas, there's a little more interconnectivity than I had originally thought.
I didn't find it notably easier or harder. Just a bit different really. It's also a little unfair to compare, because Dark Souls was my first Souls game, and it did seem very hard my first playthrough. But I went into this understanding most of the mechanics. I had played Demon's Souls after playing Dark Souls and I breezed through it in 3 days.
Yeah I've noticed that too after farming a certain area to death so I can accumulate enough souls to upgrade stuff
I get what they were trying to do but I think they should have left the infinite enemy respawn. Part of what Demon Souls and Dark Souls hard was the fact that every enemy came back and even after so many visits to the same area. This made you think that each area is hard to go through and think twice about just rushing through an area especially if you are trying to get to a boss. Kind of like the old school games where the enemies kept coming back no matter how times you beat the levels.
I was sort of disappointed they took out the infinite enemy respawn. I guess they wanted you to move on to the next area and explore new areas instead of farming a certain area for all eternity.
The reason you get randomly put into another person's game as a gray phantom is because you have stepped into a certain domain area of a covenant. Some covenants
I disagree about the giant swords as not being viable anymore. I've used the Murakumo curved greatsword for most of the game and it has never let me down. It's the only weapon that I have maxed out because it's so dependable and can take out a group of enemies with high damage and even more damage if you change to a two handed mode. I can literally one hit certain enemies without as much of a scratch on me although you do have to hit your target spot on since the Murakumo is slow to swing and will leave you wide open for attacks if you miss a target but I love the risk vs. reward thing. In this case the reward outweigh the risk in my opinion. Murakumo has allowed me to beat every boss I have encountered because I am able to output massive damage to them without having to take the boss fight take longer.
Was playing as a swordsman, trying my usual no-shield approach. I play carefully and quietly, yet that did not seem to work. I will probably start a new character, as a magic using class to try to combat my frustrations, which makes me very sad.
I don't think the limited enemy spawns is ONLY to limit farming. Farming is rarely useful in a souls game anyway. I think it removes some of the tedium. Usually the enemies I'm struggling with aren't the ones who will get killed so much they disappear, it's the small insignificant ones that just become a waste of time.
In addition I think it allows them to set up some crueler spawns. There are some pretty rough spawn locations that are really close to certain bonfires that would be really frustrating if they were there forever (I'm looking at you Straid's Cell and Sinner's Rise).
@moose: most of that responsiveness that was default in Dark Souls is controlled by stats now. Agility will effect things like how quickly you roll, raise shield, parry, etc. I know it's a change but I don't think it's a bad one,I wouldn't call it sloppy, it just takes getting used to.
Also, with all the bitching I read about DS2 being inferior to DS1 visually....
No. DS2 looks far, far better.
Even that video that showed the side-by-side comparison looked like it had some post work done to make it look uglier than it actually is.
Yeah, I don't get it either. Looks sweet to me, am playing on the 360 so the textures aren't super high rez but it has that dark, gritty feel that makes the souls games creepy and awesome
But that's the thing, I shouldn't have to go offline, this stuff should be optional for multiplayer, not for areas where you need to progress to beat the game. Still that's the Soul series for you...
And I was referring to giant swords in PVP. PVE it's fine.
Yeah, had been putting points into stuff to make it better, however the game itself doesn't feel quite as good to me. I think a large part of it is the erratic, and occasional delay in audio (not cable/tv issue, sound is actually delayed) or complete lack of feedback when negative things happen. That delay gets compounded when adaptability is low, and the game itself is forced to be unresponsive until you invest time into a stat. Have talked with a few people who receive damage in the game without a clear indication why. I've also seen enemies literally pop in, right in front of me as I walk down a ramp, or hallway. It's like they weren't even trying. Demon and DS1 were amazing because I felt the atmosphere and design made me feel like I wasn't playing a game, but in a world. DS2 does not meet that quality.
These game's aren't about random deaths/damage, they're about learning, mastery, and memorization. Feel that they have hampered and diminished the quality of the user's ability to learn, memorize, and master the game. Not removed - yall are still kicking its ass.
I also severely dislike the lack of punchiness, and responsiveness to backstabbing. Previously, it was an action that when you performed it, it was clear it happened. With the swordsman, its very loose and not clear at all when or if you have or can pull it off. I'm not bitching about stuff, just pointing out that their changes have degraded the quality of the gameplay. I'll still play and get used to it, but felt they have made a lot of poor choices. Maybe that'll improve as i get further into the game and i get a much broader stroke of the game-arc, but for the first few hours it has left a very poor taste in my mouth.
also, for the record I have about 300 hours logged across demon's and dark souls, with at least 5 playthroughs the game per title. This isn't my first rodeo.
Good news - is the lighting in these screens different from the consoles? hard to tell.
Still find it hard to believe, it's not just the lighting that's different, there's entire areas that look different, meshes and textures included. Just look how much more contrast there is in the older screens to the blander-fullbright screens from the ps3/360 release.
I do hope the PC version is like those older screens.
As far as I can tell, you still have to enter the trigger that opens you up to being invited to
I make it sound like it's the end of the world, it isn't. Just a minor crit I have with that area. I assumed the bell area was a progress section but it seems it's optional
I had a really rough time in the first couple hours not realizing how much of a profound effect poise from armor now has. It also took me a while to figure out to just use the effigy instead of burning it. Like right up until the giant.
I think it looks better but man the framerate is trashy on PS3. I was so disappointed the moment I started it to see it running so slowly. Load times are also SUPER long. Which is really noticeable because of how much you teleport around.
In terms of the mechanics and whatnot, I like most of the changes. The more dynamic backstabs are interesting and I like the new stat breakdowns. The one thing that really annoys me though is having to go back to the chick to level. They removed a convenience feature because they think it's cute and like Demon's Souls, but the girl is way less interesting and has less personality than the Demon's Souls girl. Leveling up is way more frequent than in Demon's Souls making it a super frequent detour.
So far I'm also not really feeling the quest. Kill the 4 old ones. We don't even know who they are or where to look, just kinda running around and killing things for no reason. Killing lots of non-memorable easy bosses for no apparent reason. It doesn't really feel that meaningful. It's really hard to figure out where to go, some really obscure bullshit for opening certain paths.
Perhaps it's because I've been powering through it really hard this week but I don't feel very attached to the characters or environments like I feel with the prior games. Maybe it'll grow with time. I feel like there's been a lack of Gaping Dragon reveal type moments thus far.
Me & A buddy were suppose to play through this one like we did the last 2. blindly and made it hard for ourselves. BUT we decided to let another friend play with us. he got the guide and Wouldn't stop spoiling shit even when we asked him to stop. Didn't want to be mean and stop playing with him but I'm never playing a game with anyone like that again.
This game was so damn awesome Minus the time it took me to get my favorite armor and weapons. Looked nice and the new weapon types were fun.
Also
NG+ ought to be fun
If you beat the spider on NG+ you get a 'paledrake soul' which you can use to make the moonlight greatsword. There are many references to the pale drake. After you beat Freja and go talk to the scorpion dude, he will reward you for killing his master, whom in earlier dialogues he says changes form over the years. He also uses the term 'seething' in a way that I think it's a reference. Don't recall the exact dialogue.
In the cutscene for the lost Sinner you see a chaos bug crawl into her eye, and her gear has some pyromancy powers.
Anyone else see any interesting hints or tidbits?
That metacritic score is awesome tho. Super high at 92%. Go Dark Souls!
As long as there is nothing in the game like Blight Town where the FPS drops to 5 I'll be happy.
And yeah these 4 lord bosses...don't deserve that name, the stuff after it is 10x harder. I was breezing through it all with my magic build and now I'm having to really be careful with my items and spellcasting. Very pleased now and the only drawback is I'm near the end :<
Oh and the trolling begins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayr-spKR0Sk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W4nS2mJSCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCnnmX_yCzI
The prop trolling one was hilarious XD
Oh and I'm having a blast with PVP...
Oh and...some asshats tried to spawn kill me with pyromancy explosions but they were never able to time it right so I made sure to pay them back with crystal homing magic, crystal spear and soul blade all at once
Now if you're not aware, there was DLC for Dark Souls 1 where players travelled back in time to visit Oolacile and fight Manus, Lord of the Abyss. After the player killed him, according to the Dark Souls 2 guidebook, he split into many pieces and one of them slowly became a human, a human marked by The Dark. She became known as the queen of Drangleic but I'm jumping ahead. As you know, Manus is supposedly the Furtive Pygmy so it makes sense that she's of The Dark.
So supposedly she charmed the king and got him to invade a far away land in order to steal "something" from the giants. It could be Lordran that they invaded...but I think Drangleic is Lordran due to several NPC's saying it used to have different names and rulers.
As for what the king stole...well I suspect it was "The Dark Soul" either that or "The First Flame"(since it creates life and they used it to create golems which built the massive castles) and with it, he had brought the curse of the undead to his kingdom. After a while he suspected something wasn't right but by then it was too late and things happened, the giants invaded and tried to steal back whatever it was he took.
Now as for why Dragonslayer Ornstein is in the game. Well some say that the one you fought in DkS 1 was another illusion formed by the son of Gwyn and that the real Dragonslayer and his followers went off to retrive what was stolen.
Ultimately though the theme of Dark Souls seems to be cycles and there are strong hints that the 4 Lord Souls also reincarnated in this age. Either that or the powers merely shifted hands. Some think the King obtained the Lord Souls and again gave them to certain people and in doing so they took on the same flaws that the others had. For example, Seathes Lord Soul was given to a Duke and he too yearned for something more which resulted in his demise. Lastly if you look at the back of the spider boss room you can even see what looks like that crystal thing that made Seathe invincible.
Otherwise the Sinner could be one of the daughters of chaos due to the fire bug entering her eye, the shackles boosting pyromancy. The creature down below is a lot like Nito in that he is made of bodies rather than skeletons. And the King himself adopted Gwyns Lord Soul and also shared the same fate, became undead and lost his kingdom to darkness. Used by his love...his queen who sought only power.
So here's the last theory that's not confirmed but it is theorised that the woman and the baby in the intro is the queen and the player. Her face melting symbolising that it isn't her true form. The adult trying to reach her is you grown up with your memories lost. You go back to the land you were born in to seek answers and you discover that the queen is trying to bring darkness to the land, something that should have happened in Dark Souls 1.
However you stop her and take your rightful place as heir to the throne and I guess it's left open once again as to what happens next. After all you are the next Monarch and it is up to you to follow your mother or carry on the curse. There's mentions of the first flame but it's not shown.
Suffice to say there's a few gaps here and there but that's the rough theory so far and I think it holds up pretty well.
So yeah, pretty interesting stuff so far
@Habboi
Haha well I can't argue yet since I haven't read enough or seen everything the game has to offer but I agree, it's definitely a possibility and what I wrote does have holes. But for the most part some of it fits.
None of these were rushed by any means.
Demon's Souls took 13:35 ( so close to 1337!) without internets.
Dark Souls 1 took 21:51 with internets. Killing all bosses, not counting DLC.
Dark Souls 2 took 32:13 without any internetz, but I seem to have missed 2 hubs.
Everything I expected from another souls game! I'm another 6 hours into a dual-wield playthrough, taking a significantly different path from my first playthough!
I'm already 30 hours into DS2 and maybe half way through. But I've spent a lot of time dueling and helping as a white phantom.
Demon's souls was between 12-15 hours for me (I had already played Dark Souls a lot, and a friend loaned me his PS3 for a few days so I rushed through).
Dunno exact times on any of these because I've played on such a weird mix of consoles that I no longer have.
I usually take my time and look at things in these games, and most of my time is generally spent getting the items I want upgraded right, more so than progressing quickly.
Please bring forward a new souls game on this gen. PLEASE.
However, the gameplay feels just as good, the art is superior, the music is awesome, and the controls feel as tight as they should.
I don't mean to come off as a fan boy but I have been enjoying every minute of it from the very beginning.