(but really, I think the light spell and soulmass should get you through the dark section of Tomb of the Giants if that's where you're stuck Gustaran)
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Dark Souls Review
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I did it after I went to Lost Izalith and got the Sunlight Maggot, it's the best solution. The light spell takes up a spell slot, has a limited duration and only three charges, which is better than the lantern but worse than the Maggot.
Now I only have to finish New Londo Ruins and I dislike this area as well. All those ghosts spawning from walls (usually right behind you) and then the need for transient curses...I died twice because the curse ran out in the middle of a fight against two ghosts. It's really uncomfortable that you can't use another one to refresh the duration until the original one has run out. Added to this I fell of the ledge in a fight a few times due to some awesome camera angles in tight spaces....  I am not saying it is difficult, it is just annoying. I think the difficulty is artificial through silly mechanics. I have the feeling some game designer at From software decided that the last areas need some mechanic to make the player die more so it feels harder. Like I said earlier I loved the fights in Anor Londo against the big Knights: I could actually see my opponent, there was enough space for awesome fighting and if I died during the fight it was just my fault because I had made a clear mistake. In the ruins it is just about learning where the ghosts pop up and might knock you down a bridge or learning when your transient curse might run out...poor gamedesign IMHO. (October 7th, 2013, 11:44)Gustaran Wrote: Now I only have to finish New Londo Ruins and I dislike this area as well. All those ghosts spawning from walls (usually right behind you) and then the need for transient curses...I died twice because the curse ran out in the middle of a fight against two ghosts. It's really uncomfortable that you can't use another one to refresh the duration until the original one has run out. Interesting... I actually like New Londo Ruins a lot. Easily my favorite late-game area. What I really, really disliked was Lost Izalith. It's a giant, mostly-empty eyesore filled with essentially only three different enemies, including: * The easiest and most boring enemy in the game. * An enemy with close to zero aggro range that you have pretty much no reason to fight, which I believe has all of two attacks. * Flower pot squids which are off to the side in an optional area and basically only matter to people using fire or chaos weapons. The main activity of the area is running all the way through it, ignoring the existence of enemies, so you can reach the boss fight. The boss in question then instakills you most of the time it hits you, which makes learning its moves pretty frustrating.
I did like the Angkor Wat vibe of Izalith, but yeah it looked like the enemies there were just thrown in in a hurry. They're just too slow to offer a real challenge to anyone who made it this far. I was expecting more actual... demons like the ones in Demon Ruins
The only really obnoxious part of New Londo for me was the ghost house with 10+ ghosts in it because the mechanics for fighting ghosts in walls are very annoying. It's no wonder people just snipe the NPC on the roof for the key. but either way, once you get past that and unlock the bottom level you never have to do it again (October 7th, 2013, 15:54)SevenSpirits Wrote: Interesting... I actually like New Londo Ruins a lot. Easily my favorite late-game area. What I really, really disliked was Lost Izalith. It's a giant, mostly-empty eyesore filled with essentially only three different enemies, including: Of course it depends what aspect is most important to you. The atmosphere and artwork in New Londo Ruins is very well done and much better than Lost Izalith, it's just that Lost Izalith is one of the easiest areas that is definitely not very frustrating. It's basically just a lot of running through, and since partial progress in the boss room is saved and carries over, it is one the easier bosses as well, IMHO. It never felt unfair to me.
Having fun with this game, even though I die a lot. I spent more than an hour trying to beat some damned skeletons right at the beggining of the game (after the tutorial), before realizing (i.e. googling it, I'm really not used to not be able to beat skeletons in a game - usually they are the weaker enemies) that I shouldn't try to do that now. Well, I managed to beat two pairs of them (using the morning star I found exploring, which breaks them when I hit), but then a giant one appeared and that was that.
 Ah, that was after going down the elevator and dying to some ghosts that I can't damage. At least the skeletons I can damage.  Some random thoughts/questions: I started with a warrior and I'm mostly using the starting longsword. After reading a bit, I realized that the weapons are mostly just a thing of play style, so I'll test other weapons a bit. What are your favorite ones, by the way? About armor, what should I take into account? I'm using the starting armor and a shield that dropped from an early enemy, but I really don't know what I should be looking at when choosing armor. I really like the message system, even when I get trolled ("try jumping!"). One thing I don't understand is the "need humanity" messages, usually before a tough enemy/situation. Is that some sort of code I'm not getting, because I don't think there are enemies that require humanity for you to kill, right? And about humanity. There's an item called humanity and there's the humanity number near your HP bar, right? I never used a humanity item, but I sometimes have an humanity number, so I'm guessing I get that by killing some enemies (but there's no pop up saying I get it). So, let say I want to turn myself human and kindle a bonfire, will I use the humanity item or the humanity number (if that makes any sense)? Am I correct in assuming that kindling bonfires is a good use of humanity? Anyway, I realize finding things on your own is a big part of this game. I watched some youtube videos of the parts I've already beaten (mostly because there are systems in the game that I really don't understand) and they revealed some things I didn't find by myself, which was a bit heartbreaking (in a "I wish I had found that out by myself, I would be really happy" way). So, I'm just asking for a few guidelines and tips, because the game is really hard to understand. For instance, I leveled up my atunement to 10, to get an atunement slot... Well, now what? What do I do with it? Shouldn't I get an option to choose a spell or something? Oh, my CRPG softcore habits... I wasted 2 precious levels for nothing!!  Anyway, pretty nice game. Really well thought and designed (mostly in the ways Seven pointed out; very nice review and understanding of the game, by the way). (December 15th, 2014, 12:12)Ichabod Wrote: I started with a warrior and I'm mostly using the starting longsword. After reading a bit, I realized that the weapons are mostly just a thing of play style, so I'll test other weapons a bit. What are your favorite ones, by the way? I tend to like small swords like the longsword or scimitar quite a bit, as well as some halberds. Quote:About armor, what should I take into account? I'm using the starting armor and a shield that dropped from an early enemy, but I really don't know what I should be looking at when choosing armor. Armor has about a million different stats which all boil down to damage reduction against various types of attacks. And, if you are finding yourself struggling in an area where e.g. you are facing a lot of fire or bleed or whatever, you could look through your armor and see which of it is specialized against that. However, this is not too important. It's probably fine to eyeball the defense of your value to be approximately the average of its various defense stats. I guess the physical defenses are usually more important than the elemental ones. The most important stats of armor that aren't immediately apparent are weight (bad) and poise (good). Poise lets you continue animations when hit, if you have enough of it compared to the force of the enemy's attack. Weight slows you down. There are two important thresholds for equipment weight. If your total equip weight exceeds 50% of your max equip load, you will "slow roll" when you roll, which looks like your character flopping onto his/her back and then slowly rolling back upright. Less than 25% of max is fast roll, and between 25-50% is medium roll. It's generally best to be right below 25% or 50%. Unfortunately, light armor tends to have low or zero poise, so there is a tradeoff there. Quote:I really like the message system, even when I get trolled ("try jumping!"). One thing I don't understand is the "need humanity" messages, usually before a tough enemy/situation. Is that some sort of code I'm not getting, because I don't think there are enemies that require humanity for you to kill, right? I am not totally sure, but I think there are up to two reasons for these. One reason is there's a myth that if someone rates your messages you get humanity points (in the number near your HP bar). So I think some of the messages are begging for people to vote them up so that the message placers get humanity so they can become human. But as far as I know, rating messages doesn't have that or any other beneficial effect. The other reason is that there are some enemies that can only be fought while not hollowed (go to a bonfire and spend 1 point of humanity to reverse hollowing). These are NPC invaders. I guess another possibility is that people are recommending that you reverse hollowing so you can summon people? I don't know. Quote:And about humanity. There's an item called humanity and there's the humanity number near your HP bar, right? I never used a humanity item, but I sometimes have an humanity number, so I'm guessing I get that by killing some enemies (but there's no pop up saying I get it). So, let say I want to turn myself human and kindle a bonfire, will I use the humanity item or the humanity number (if that makes any sense)? Am I correct in assuming that kindling bonfires is a good use of humanity? Yeah, you get the humanity number increased sometimes for killing enemies. It's some complicated version of "every N enemies you kill in an area where you haven't defeated the boss yet". Consuming a humanity item heals you fully and increases that number by 1. Reversing hollowing and kindling a bonfire both cost one off of that number. And yes, kindling a bonfire is probably the most useful thing to do with humanity for a new player and arguably for anyone. Quote:Anyway, I realize finding things on your own is a big part of this game. I watched some youtube videos of the parts I've already beaten (mostly because there are systems in the game that I really don't understand) and they revealed some things I didn't find by myself, which was a bit heartbreaking (in a "I wish I had found that out by myself, I would be really happy" way). So, I'm just asking for a few guidelines and tips, because the game is really hard to understand. Yeah... I watched entire playthroughs of the game before I played it, and I was sad about that. It was still a lot of fun though and I still found things for myself. So I wouldn't worry TOO much about being totally unspoiled. There's a lot of stuff in the game, and you'll probably experience most of it first yourself. Quote:For instance, I leveled up my atunement to 10, to get an atunement slot... Well, now what? What do I do with it? Shouldn't I get an option to choose a spell or something? Oh, my CRPG softcore habits... Hehe. Well, you will find some spells to attune eventually.  Quote:Anyway, pretty nice game. Really well thought and designed (mostly in the ways Seven pointed out; very nice review and understanding of the game, by the way). Glad you are enjoying it!
Thanks for the help, Seven!
I tested the halberd and really loved it. With it, I was breezing through some enemies I previously had a lot of difficulty with, especially because the long range helps when there's more than 1 enemy. It also probably helped that I've seen a bit of gameplay on youtube, so I got some tricks there. I reverse hollowed to kindle a bonfire for the first time. Got invaded a bit after that and killed by some arsonist psychopath (after I died I realized, by looking at my gear, that I had an item that can break an invasion... Should have used that...).  I really like the characterization of the NPCs in the game. It adds to the setting and how everything is so mysterious. Besides, they don't seem to care just about you (or at all), like in most of the RPGs I play (where everyone is looking at you all the time, begging for you to talk to them and spewing all their life stories, problems and sorrows at you after you first say "hi"). One of my gripes with the game is that, even with the steam version, I had to install some windows live program to play the game. Two damned DRM programs for one game?! Interestingly enough, two or three days after I first installed the game, it seems the support of its multiplayer changed to steamworks, replacing windows live. So, after installing a program I didn't want, now I have to do some process to change my saves from live to steamworks, otherwise the support will end and I'll lose them.  That has nothing to do with the game per se, but it's annoying.
December 17th, 2014, 15:18
(This post was last modified: December 17th, 2014, 15:19 by Gustaran.)
(December 15th, 2014, 12:12)Ichabod Wrote: Anyway, I realize finding things on your own is a big part of this game. I watched some youtube videos of the parts I've already beaten (mostly because there are systems in the game that I really don't understand) and they revealed some things I didn't find by myself, which was a bit heartbreaking (in a "I wish I had found that out by myself, I would be really happy" way). So, I'm just asking for a few guidelines and tips, because the game is really hard to understand. I'm certainly not a great Dark Souls player, but here are my 2 cents: I personally felt the game is so hard that I needed to check guides for certain key items (depending on your class). One example: You can use certain boss souls to craft special weapons and it's very beneficial to know which souls leads to which item, so I would look them up. Sometimes it's possible to get weapons that suddenly might nearly double your damage and getting them is not exactly obvious. One example. But of course that's a personal choice, you can beat the game with a simple upgraded standard weapon as well no problem. If you like exploring and want to do it on your own without any help, all power to you! I am just saying that you can influence the difficulty by looking up information should you hit a wall at some point. The thing is, there are people on youtube beating the game while never levelling up. So even if there are certain setups that might be easier to play, see what works best for you. It is handy though, to have more than one weapon so you can switch should the need arise. One example: My favourite combo is spear+shield. But then there are bossfights where you need to avoid certain kinds of damage and have a small window of opportunity to inflict damage. In this case I would switch to something like a falchion because it does more damage in a shorter amount of time, IIRC.
I managed to finish the game during my vacation. What a great game this is, I had loads of fun trying to overcome the challenges. It's a pity that I had to play most of the game offline, due to no internet connection avaiable (that mostly means no messages, because I hardly played the game unhollowed, so no invasions or summons - but I really like the messages!!). Interesting to note, I spent a lot of effort to get a bit of internet, just so I could read what i was supposed to do to fight the 4 Kings in the Abyss. I hit a wall there, I knew I needed to find Artorias (spelling?), but I didn't know where to keep looking (the forest is pretty confusing and kind of feels like an optional area, especially since I had already defeated the Moonlight Butterfly).
I also needed internet help in Blighttown, to find the swamp bonfire and the boss. Almost went mad there. Interestingly enough, the bonfire near the spider princess I found for myself, that was the first illusory wall that I discovered (I was already playing offline here, so no messages). So, I agree with what Gustaran says. The game knows how to use frustration to make the experience enjoyable (if that makes sense), but sometime it hinges to close to too much frustration. When it started to feel that way, I tried to get help somewhere, so as to not make something supposed to be fun feel like a pain. Some thoughts: *I missed all the Prepare to Die expansion content. I also missed the Painted World of Ariamis and the Ash Lake (and the return to Undead Asylum). So, I think I'll do another playthrough to see these areas. *I used a halberd (+14) + shield and a short bow as my main weapons. I made a divine great scythe to fight Nito, because the skeletons were being to much of a pain (I knew about this mechanic by reading this thread). Otherwise, this setup worked well. My armor was light, so I could fast roll (I used the Sealer set, because it was really cool). *I agree that Lost Izalith seems like a rushed area. The level design is far worse than most of the other areas. I don't understand the fire-spitting enemies and that many bosses. The Centipede boss is just a mess of a fight and the Demon Firesage is too similar to other bosses. The Bed of Chaos is a strange boss, but is passable (I had the idea of falling under him, but I missed the jump when trying to do it and figured it wouldn't work that way - spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what I was supposed to do). *Never figured out parrying and backstabbing while playing. I never tried to parry, but backstabbing was something that I tried to do, but rarely managed to do it, even though it seems pretty straightforward. After finishing the game, I looked up backstabbing and what I was doing wrong was trying to do it with my shield up...  *Tomb of Giants is bad design too, in my opinion. I looked some videos of it in the internet and everyone just rushes through the area, skipping the enemies. Mixing a dark area with what is probably the hardest non-boss enemy in the game (the skeleton beasts) is a bit too much... *I loved the story, the setting, the NPCs... I saw some lore videos on youtube now and I like them even more. Overall, awesome game. Easily on my top-10 games that I've ever played. I'll buy DS2 as soon as the GotY edition comes out and I'm holding myself only because of the whole issue regarding compatibility between the original and the GotY edition (what a mess that seems). |
