Author Topic: Dark Souls  (Read 21805 times)

Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #60 on: February 20, 2017, 01:40:31 AM »
If there's supposed to be literally miles of land between each zone, then there shouldn't be any big connection between areas.  That only further supports the idea that transitions are NOT LITERAL, so the elevator to Iron Keep, or the one to Dragon's Aerie both make no logical sense when looked at as literal rather than figurative.  Should they have had loading screens between each area so you could grasp this great distance better?  That's up to you to decide.  Maybe they should have put a map on the loading screen between zones, too, with a dotted line showing your travel path from one zone to the next.  But those don't fit the Dark Souls style.

So the game requires you to use a mechanic provided in the game to do some side quests, and you don't like it?  That's actually really kinda dumb.  It's like saying you hate recruiting new crew members in FTL and that it's required if you wanna unlock the crystal ship.  Or that you hate followers in Skyrim and how the Dawnguard DLC, along with a couple of other questlines, requires you to have a follower for parts of it.  Or better yet, it's like saying you don't want to just talk to NPCs in different places just to see their stories in DS1, because that's only a basic level of interaction, and it should require you to summon them or have them summon you so you could share in "jolly cooperation".

You hate powerstance.  Okay.

Hollowing colours
(click to show/hide)
Red demon vs corpse.

As for left-handedness, I'm a southpaw.  Isn't that a good enough reason for wanting to be able to have a lefty character?  Or maybe a Link cosplay, or another lefty character.  And besides, what extra complexity is there?  Is it really complex to let a left-handed weapon deliver backstabs and ripostes?  Or to use the exact same damage calculations as the right?  Equal functionality for both hands isn't adding complexity, making them different is.
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #61 on: February 20, 2017, 09:27:16 AM »
Quote
If there's supposed to be literally miles of land between each zone, then there shouldn't be any big connection between areas.  That only further supports the idea that transitions are NOT LITERAL, so the elevator to Iron Keep, or the one to Dragon's Aerie both make no logical sense when looked at as literal rather than figurative.  Should they have had loading screens between each area so you could grasp this great distance better?  That's up to you to decide.  Maybe they should have put a map on the loading screen between zones, too, with a dotted line showing your travel path from one zone to the next.  But those don't fit the Dark Souls style.

There shouldn't be a harbour in the middle of the fucking ocean, an area positioned where it should be available from other areas, or an elevator heading up from a windmill. These are all things that mean the developers are being lazy about worldbuilding. There's no free pass on creating areas that actually have good transitions or maps that make you go "that can't possibly make sense". If something like Fallout can accurately position and place settlements based on an actual map of Nevada, or Skyrim can do an entire country and its environments in miniature, then I expect a game going for a big open world to at least meet minimum standards of "oh, so that's where I came from/what's in the distance". Only two places in DS2 seem to bother: Majula can see Heide's and you can see the path down to Brightstone Cove. DS3 isn't as huge but its areas aren't interconnected in the same way as DS1--but when you look at it, even where there's weird transitions you can see where things match up. Hell, I was standing around in Smouldering Lake and realised you can see Irithyll through the wall.

It's not expecting much to have the levels form part of a matched whole rather than being designed almost in isolation.

Quote
So the game requires you to use a mechanic provided in the game to do some side quests, and you don't like it?  That's actually really kinda dumb.  It's like saying you hate recruiting new crew members in FTL and that it's required if you wanna unlock the crystal ship.  Or that you hate followers in Skyrim and how the Dawnguard DLC, along with a couple of other questlines, requires you to have a follower for parts of it.  Or better yet, it's like saying you don't want to just talk to NPCs in different places just to see their stories in DS1, because that's only a basic level of interaction, and it should require you to summon them or have them summon you so you could share in "jolly cooperation".

I don't like it because it's a mostly-singleplayer game in a series that's marketed as being hard and challenging, and I have to summon NPCs in order to do these questlines. Running entirely counter to the game's core concept is a pretty bad step.

And two of the places you can summon Lucatiel are major bosses!

Quote
You hate powerstance.  Okay.

Yes. It's sloppily done, overpowered, and makes weapons less unique as you'll tend to use the same generic set of animations. :T

Quote
Hollowing colours

Brown and veiny:


The player can end up all manner of fantastic colours and be bright purple even without hollowing, and their hollowed colour seems to derive from their skintone. As opposed to Lucatiel apparently getting covered in moss and Lenigrast looking like Ganondorf.

Quote
As for left-handedness, I'm a southpaw.  Isn't that a good enough reason for wanting to be able to have a lefty character?  Or maybe a Link cosplay, or another lefty character.  And besides, what extra complexity is there?  Is it really complex to let a left-handed weapon deliver backstabs and ripostes?  Or to use the exact same damage calculations as the right?  Equal functionality for both hands isn't adding complexity, making them different is.

That's not a good enough reason to add it to the game. Having to make it so that the different actions can dynamically change hands and can't both be the dominant hand at the same time, with From's track record, is a very good way to add potential complications and the mother of all bugs. Parrying with both hands at once, double backstab opportunities, even more chance of buffing things that aren't meant to be buffed or weird spell interactions...

It's not something that anyone like From should be adding without significant gameplay reasons for it.

Mind, I'm not sure why they didn't do it properly when they added the Majestic GS. Entire game without parries or backstabs because the weapon's designed to be used in the left hand and it can't do that. Was using Faith as well, so that wasn't a good choice. They gave themselves a gameplay reason to do it and... didn't?

Offline Nunkuruji

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #62 on: February 23, 2017, 06:01:16 PM »
To glance at a few things,

Dex in DS2 was dominant due to RoB/Flynn flat boosting damage and the magnitude that running attacks increased poise damage by. A pedestrian counter of trying to to heavy weapon poise trade uninterrupted for the 2 hit combo was hard to rely on. And if someone saw that attempt coming, they could just ring swap on the Stone Ring anyways. The increased counter damage on most dex weapons also made it an even trade at worst. You always needed an extra tactic to pair with a slower weapon to deal with reactive players.

Power stance was awkward due to the key/button press hold required. It made transitioning between shield/stance/parry-tool way too slow and problematic. The best setup I ever felt comfortable with was katana/blue flame. Enough versatility staying within stance: battlefield control spells with a nasty power stance counter. I like DS3s twin weapons for being more consistent in this regard.

Dual wield was actually interesting because some attack animations were sped up / dropped frames when certain sequences of attacks are used. For instance, Katana R2 thrust comes out faster when it is followed by an initial attack. That attack does not necessarily need to be its own R1, it can occur following an offhand attack. So, another favorite combo was katana/dagger, where I would get the 2 hit initiative on the dagger and followup with the fast katana R2 for the panic roll punish.

Miyazaki's level designs drive me a somewhat batshit over path decision paralysis when played blind. So I'm not going to fault DS2 vs. the others.

If you want to see some sick lefty play in DS3, check out Limit Breakers. I've thought of trying it with the barbed shield, but I'm not sure it works in the way I hope.

I felt I had more effective & creative build options in DS2, at any level. Most of my DS3 builds just build down to the basics: small shield parry, weapon of choice, tightly tuned stat array.

Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #63 on: April 27, 2017, 08:30:21 PM »
And today I was reminded that as bad as some of DS2's bosses are, they are leagues better than DS1's Bed of Chaos and Pinwheel.  Pinwheel is an utter joke that should never have been, and the Bed is total horseshit that only exists as it does because it's just as unfinished as its zone.  And Lost Izalith is terrible.  Nothing but eye searingly bad lava effects and rotting dragon butts everywhere.  Like someone just literally just mouse-clicked their placements practically at random until the area was full.  Nowhere in DS2 is that unfinished.  No, not even there.
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #64 on: April 27, 2017, 09:25:48 PM »
And today I was reminded that as bad as some of DS2's bosses are, they are leagues better than DS1's Bed of Chaos and Pinwheel.  Pinwheel is an utter joke that should never have been, and the Bed is total horseshit that only exists as it does because it's just as unfinished as its zone.  And Lost Izalith is terrible.  Nothing but eye searingly bad lava effects and rotting dragon butts everywhere.  Like someone just literally just mouse-clicked their placements practically at random until the area was full.  Nowhere in DS2 is that unfinished.  No, not even there.

Pinwheel always feels like a case of "we got the numbers wrong". Though Izalith... good grief, Izalith. Though once you get past the eye searing orange expanse, at least the part up to Bed of Chaos is at least decent, and the shortcut. It's like they put all their effort into that part of the area.

Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #65 on: April 28, 2017, 12:14:09 PM »
That end part of Lost Izalith is half-way to decent only because they actually have a bit of level design.  There's a whole 2 enemy types in there, minus the 1 unique never respawns witch.  And of those two, only the Chaos Eater is actually interesting and well designed.  The demonic statues have almost no animation at all, like the devs were out of time and needed another enemy, so one panicked and grabbed an art asset and rigged it with the most basic skeleton ever, then let it breathe fire by leaning forward a few degrees.  And the statues were then just dumped willy-nilly about the zone to liven it up a bit.

Had they had another 3 months to make the demon ruins/Lost Izalith area, it could have been engaging and interesting.  Instead you get early bosses rehashed (Taurus and Capra), a barely animated statue minion, and dragon butts for the majority, with paths that were hastily slapped together.  The rockworms were decently used, at least, and the giant fleas were sort of interesting, if only because of their prominence in Solaire's quest line.  And the architecture of both zones was fairly pretty, if nowhere near as well laid out as any other zone in the game.
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #66 on: April 28, 2017, 12:24:00 PM »
I will say, I still prefer it to Shaded Woods.

I can actually see where I'm going, even if it's hurting my eyes. :P

Offline Nunkuruji

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #67 on: May 02, 2017, 12:05:55 AM »
And today I was reminded that as bad as some of DS2's bosses are, they are leagues better than DS1's Bed of Chaos and Pinwheel.  Pinwheel is an utter joke that should never have been, and the Bed is total horseshit that only exists as it does because it's just as unfinished as its zone.  And Lost Izalith is terrible.  Nothing but eye searingly bad lava effects and rotting dragon butts everywhere.  Like someone just literally just mouse-clicked their placements practically at random until the area was full.  Nowhere in DS2 is that unfinished.  No, not even there.

Pinwheel always feels like a case of "we got the numbers wrong". Though Izalith... good grief, Izalith. Though once you get past the eye searing orange expanse, at least the part up to Bed of Chaos is at least decent, and the shortcut. It's like they put all their effort into that part of the area.

The real catacombs boss was the bonewheel skeletons

Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #68 on: May 02, 2017, 12:13:52 AM »
And today I was reminded that as bad as some of DS2's bosses are, they are leagues better than DS1's Bed of Chaos and Pinwheel.  Pinwheel is an utter joke that should never have been, and the Bed is total horseshit that only exists as it does because it's just as unfinished as its zone.  And Lost Izalith is terrible.  Nothing but eye searingly bad lava effects and rotting dragon butts everywhere.  Like someone just literally just mouse-clicked their placements practically at random until the area was full.  Nowhere in DS2 is that unfinished.  No, not even there.

Pinwheel always feels like a case of "we got the numbers wrong". Though Izalith... good grief, Izalith. Though once you get past the eye searing orange expanse, at least the part up to Bed of Chaos is at least decent, and the shortcut. It's like they put all their effort into that part of the area.

The real catacombs boss was the bonewheel skeletons

That is something I never got. Why are people so scared of 'em?

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #69 on: May 02, 2017, 11:00:32 AM »
Basically, because it's ridiculously easy for them to stunlock you to death. No matter what kind of shield you've got, defending against them is just asking for a guard break (making you even more vulnerable). This makes dodge-rolling the most effective tactic, but it also requires you to move around, which means you might end up drawing attention from more of them. Thankfully they don't get raised the same way other skeletons do, but they can still be a real pain to deal with.
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Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #70 on: May 02, 2017, 06:35:28 PM »
But according to fluffy-tail-dragon-lady, the bonewheel skeletons are peaceful and kind!  They are residents of her land, after all!
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Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #71 on: May 02, 2017, 06:47:33 PM »
Yes, it's all your fault for invading, you bastard.  :p
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Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #72 on: May 02, 2017, 07:52:11 PM »
Hey, that magic painting pulled me in without my permission!  And I couldn't find another way out, so I went to ask for directions, and everyone there just attacked me on sight!
What do I win?
An awesome-five for mentioning Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #73 on: May 04, 2017, 03:43:08 PM »
I find it strange that DkS3 has been out for a while and this thread hasn't moved that much...
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #74 on: May 04, 2017, 04:25:31 PM »
I did most of my DS3 talking on Fextralife, so there's that. And I've yet to actually play the Ringed City stuff.

But hey, luck and Bleed are now transparently related, so that's cool.

Offline Kethrian

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #75 on: May 04, 2017, 07:07:39 PM »
Honestly, money's been tight for a while, so I'm waiting until Steam has it on sale super cheap.  Possibly with all the DLC, too.
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Offline ketaro

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #76 on: May 05, 2017, 12:35:07 AM »
Ringed City is pretty dang fantastic. Also sexy witch outfit.

Offline Nytemare3701

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #77 on: May 22, 2017, 09:02:24 PM »
On my second playthrough of DS3. Going with the luck/bleed Uchigatana setup. Turns out co-op has a limit based on what your weapon upgrade level is, so I have to keep my weapon under a +2 for my much slower friend to be able to play with me.

Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #78 on: May 22, 2017, 09:12:49 PM »
On my second playthrough of DS3. Going with the luck/bleed Uchigatana setup. Turns out co-op has a limit based on what your weapon upgrade level is, so I have to keep my weapon under a +2 for my much slower friend to be able to play with me.

Passwords override everything, the last time I checked. I thought that included weapon upgrades.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #79 on: May 22, 2017, 11:23:13 PM »
Playing coop with a password does ignore that restriction, but you do get a Nerf to your stats if you're too much stronger than your friend I noticed in my own plays.