DARK SOULS: if you need me i'll be in an induced coma so mvrch comes tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI-Ke2UhfcA

ha, i am looking forward to this experience

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3665/11128327976_86415eb4f5_o.gif

So Dark Souls 1 is a legit masterpiece and maybe the best game of its generation. 80 hours in, one playthrough completed, still totally enamored. I feel like I'm just getting started.

welcome friend

real dark souls begins when you start drinking

best combat system

Have a feeling that people super into this game are the same people who try to eat those gigantic burgers you get a free tshirt for finishing

have to admit i do appreciate the nuance, atmosphere and finely honed mechanics of eating a large burger

Eh. It's easy to make a game hard, not so easy to make it hard while keeping people playing and enraptured. And even though the struggle and elation of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges was the drug that got me hooked, on second playthrough (which has been fairly easy so far) it's the sheer fun and variety of combat, uncovering new things about the world, and multiplayer encounters that are my main source of enjoyment.

It's a compelling artistic achievement too, I think. Its harsh, lonely austerity, the cryptic lore and mechanics, haunting traces of other people's struggles in parallel worlds. The multiplayer elements somehow both provide the relief of shared experience while furthering your sense of isolation. Add to that the unease of knowing that half of your fellow spirits want you dead along with the rest of your environment. The game's deep, but never showy about it. It's refreshingly mysterious and subtle.

And, yeah, a game like this lives and dies by its combat and its unbeatable here. Elegant and tactile with seemingly endless methods and builds to experiment with.

real dark souls begins when you start drinking

DS w/ booze is a guaranteed fun night in. OTM.

the difficulty is so overplayed too. it's just right. hard & doesn't pander, most of its difficulty is because it refuses to patronise

― ༼◍ྀ ౪ ◍ི ༽ (cozen), Thursday, April 26, 2012 4:02 PM

^^^

circa did u do the dlc too?

tried playing dark souls high a couple times, i felt the ~flow~ of the battle system much better but i kept walking off cliffs

Yeah, that czn quote gets at it nicely. I've become (mostly) bored with video games through the past decade or so and I just assumed I was growing out of them or whatever, but after getting completely absorbed by the Souls games, I think it's because I just don't get a lot of enjoyment out of the trend towards coddling and hand-holding. The challenge and stakes are low and the sense of excitement and satisfaction is minimal because of it. At least for me.

I played through the DLC too, yeah. A bit steep in price for the amount of content added, but it was all quality material, so I wasn't too bothered. I loved the weary giant blacksmith. Great character and dialogue. Spent WAY too much time trying to cut off the dragon's tail for a sword I didn't even need.

Have any of you guys encountered a vagrant? Never even knew they existed until I read something about them the other day.

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/vagrant

yes! only seen two but one succeeded in killing me cuz its projectiles made me roll off the bridge in the kiln

ha theres photos of the exact location near the bottom of that wiki

the other was in anor londo by the broken window. they're very strange looking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-2cBprCfnE

I tried playing this and have probably sunk an hour or two dying on the first half dozen bad guys over and over again before just giving up. Maybe playing all these Final Fantasy games has made me lose my dungeon grinding edge.

Platinum Trophy-d Dark Souls on Christmas evening. Started a new STR based Zweihander-wielding (fun!) character not long after and played up to Blighttown before deciding maybe I should take a break for a while. After 2 months of near-obsessive Demon's and Dark Souls playing, I'm ready to maybe scale it back to casual. Until DS2 hits, anyway.

i died

so yeah, i finally tried playing this and don't think i'm cut out for it either, even though i love the idea and the atmosphere. i got to the firelink shrine and spent awhile getting killed by those skeletons, then a friend told me that i wasn't supposed to be able to beat them at all yet. idk, maybe i'll give it another shot but i just don't think i have the time to give this game the obsession it deserves.

i almost gave up after my first decent run against the asylum demon, when my internet cut out (which happens all the time) and i got booted out of the game. wack.

i think a good amount of ppl myself included ran into that early on, where u just get stuck or frustrated. i had to put it away for awhile and come back to it before it really clicked

It might be worth it to run down to the graveyard with the skeletons to snatch a few items, but you're gonna want to take the stairs up the side of the mountain in Firelink to progress.

xxost

Also, yeah, it can be a good idea to just walk away and come back later with a cool head sometimes.

thanks guys, i watched a video and i won't give up yet. in fact, since there won't be many more decent games for 360 maybe i'll just play this forever, 30 frustrating minutes at a time.

quick and pretty easy way to get a head start in the game early, requires a little research but will head off some initial frustration for sure and introduce some important concepts:

start the game with a high faith class and the master key. level your initial stats to make sure you have str 10 dex 10 fai 14 and go get astora's straight sword as soon as you arrive at firelink. look up how to join the warrior of sunlight covenant and help other ppl kill bosses as a white phantom until you meet the entry requirements. look up where to find crystal lizards early on so you can upgrade your sword. put points in end and fai. make sure your item weight is less than half your max so you can move and roll properly.

reading up on mechanics / menus / stats / weapons / etc goes a long way and is almost necessary, but its best to avoid level walkthroughs unless ur rly lost or stuck

Also, yeah, it can be a good idea to just walk away and come back later with a cool head sometimes.
― circa1916, Monday, January 6, 2014 3:20 PM

for me it was like months before i picked it up again

1 weird tip: forest covenant pvp = fast ca$h! i netted 1 million souls thru killing one hi-level scrub

i picked it up again and beat the Taurus demon (by knocking him off the bridge/getting lucky)! but i feel like i fucked up by not picking the master key at the beginning, no way to get the drake sword (which of course i only know about from looking shit up online). also my main sword is about to break so i'm stuck using one of the many dumb battle axes i picked up (or the claymore with no shield, i guess).

You don't need the Master Key to get the Drake sword. Unless I'm forgetting something? Just get a bow and a ton of arrows and repeatedly shoot the dragon's tail from underneath bridge. Will definitely give you a leg up early on, just don't rely on it for too long because it doesn't scale with your stats.

i didn't have a bow, because i hadn't found the merchant. i started a new character for fun but got stuck on the taurus demon this time, although i did find the merchant, which is totally useful. maybe i'll go back to my knight character now that i can backtrack and fix my sword, although if i can just beat the stupid demon i'll be close to the same spot. this game.

i'd say avoid the drake and stick w/ longsword, claymore or grab the zweihander in the firelink graveyard

hmm i have a claymore for my knight character but i don't think i'm strong enough to use it properly, and losing the shield seemed like a bad idea.

also i feel like i'm much better at backstabbing (and fighting in general) when i don't lock on to enemies -- is this just because i suck?

nah lock-on is only there to help if you need it. a lot of boss fights go better without using it.

if you've haven't reached the blacksmith yet (he sells a longsword) you could just level up strength and dex a couple times to match the claymores 1-hand requirements (the numbers in red in the weapon stats are the ones to shoot for)

solid, thanks

got back into this in a big way for about two weeks in december. most of the enemies i'm up against now are frustratingly difficult: maw dragon, stray demon back in the original asylum, water hydra, running past the ghosts, blue drakes, twin gargoyles (which are giving me more trouble than they should)... wish i had more spare time.

stray demon is total asshole but optional

Stray Demon's a good example of a boss that's easier w/out lock on. Unload eqpmt until you can fast roll and just keep yourself behind him. Might be worth summoning (NPC or otherwise) for Gargoyles and Maw. If you can get your poise up and get yourself a shield w/ decent stability, Hydra isn't too bad. I generally find it easier to fight the ghosts in the Ruins than to run past. They can pile up on you in a nasty way. Get yourself a transient curse and kill a few of them to get more, it's not an uncommon drop. I ended up with way more than I needed by the time I beat that level.

ok i feel like i'm in a better position now, i went back to my original knight and backtracked to the merchant to fix up my weapons, buy a bow, get a key to get that gold pine resin, grind a little, etc. then i was able to get to the next bonfire (by the blacksmith). lots of scary looking paths available now.

glad to hear those ghosts drop transient curse... i used all mine up and tried to run around them. i have one left, may go farming.

u can buy them too from the creepy lady in the cell

doesn't she run out?

new DS2 trailer

http://youtu.be/svZBy_scUdg

so I'm finally playing through DS 1 (I got it last year, played up until the Taurus demon and got so frustrated I put it away until a few weeks ago) and I have found that there's little more liberating then going into new situations with few souls because otherwise I'm freaking out about losing 30,000 and then I lose them and I want to pack it in.

http://a.psblogstatics.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/01/The+average+Dark+Souls+day_bd22d9_4810083.gif

rang the first bell! i mean, after not being able to quite take the gargoyles solo, so i kept clearing out the church area until i had some humanity, then left my character in a 'safe' hallway to help my girlfriend bring in the groceries, came back to find that i died, did it all again, and summoned lautrec to help me.

is it wrong to feel like i just finished the 'tutorial' and the game is only really starting now?

I just made it to Anor Londo and I'm thinking this is the halfway point? Maybe more?