3561

It ended up at #3 behind Skyrim (2) and The Witcher 3 (1).

3562

As part of Souls week, Eurogamer is publishing a series of articles about Souls-like.

I like this one, contemplating what makes them so compelling.

I was originally going to post it in the Game of the Decade thread, because in my memory Qt3 named Dark Souls the best game of the decade, and then I remembered, oh right, we didn’t. It was #3. That thread doesn’t deserve to be resurrected!

Edit: He references his book, You Died. I need to wishlist that and grab it when it’s on sale.

3563

While people have been playing Elden Ring, I fell into the hype and decided to try Dark Souls 1, to see what would happen (the only one I had tried until now was DS3).
You know what, it’s kinda impressive how many elements I dislike of Dark Souls. It’s not one or two things, no.

-As a 25+ year pc gamer: The insulting quality of the pc port, with the highlight of terrible keyboard/mouse controls (and yes, it would be totally possible to make fine keyboard/mouse controls for it, there are dozens of similar games which did it). I’m using a controller, but this already marks the game in a negative light for me.
-The lack of difficulty options (that one was obvious).
-But not only that, also the disparity of difficulty between ‘normal’ combat and some bosses. They are some difficulty peaks, that’s for sure. I prefer games with more ‘flat’ difficulty curve. If I were to use a trainer to gain souls and make a boss more manageable, I would be messing too much the experience with normal enemies.
-The specific way that punish players with the hard difficulty: with trite repetition. I can accept hard games, I played games where I had to repeat sections 30-40 times, I’m no alien at the concept. But games where the checkpoints are distant (and not even one before a boss), that’s where I make a stand.
-The combat geared toward having to use the target lock system, I prefer games without no lock system or game with a ‘soft lock’.

It’s a pity, I like the atmosphere/setting, and the pace of combat is interesting.

3564

All these are valid complaints, but I hope you keep playing. It might still win you over, and I hope you’re open to that. Keep reporting back! Don’t be afraid to post spoilers this far out.

Are you playing the Remastered version? If not, if it’s the original, be sure to apply DSFix.

3565

Don’t say anything about Ash Lake, though, I still haven’t been there.

3566

Some of what you are complaining about others consider options. There are people on Steam who swear by KB/M, but I have no idea how they do it. Most great players that I have seen never lock on. Certain weapons are better not locked on. Most players work thru an area once, then if they die they will run thru to the point where they died. That won’t always work but most enemies have a limited aggro and so you can just get past them and forget about them.

As for difficulty settings, you can always summon. Although with DS1 there probably aren’t many people around now and playing co-op is the easiest way to get invaded, but again there probably aren’t many people around doing that either.

DS games just tend to be frustrating, and I get that.

3567

I have to imagine most of these people are PVPers, but the avg number of DS:R players in the last 30 days was about 2,500, which is crazy.

3568

I’m guessing a lot of folks also replay it because It’s just so damn good! Can’t wait to get back to it for another run through, eh, after Elden Ring and maybe Sekiro and also finish my plat bloodborne project 🤓
When I played late last year it was easy enough to get a summon for non-optional bosses at least.

The first time I realised how far the run to the first boss was I got a bit dishearted. It’s not easy! But you get good at dodging past scrub enemies on your way there if nothing else.

3569

I can speak from personal experience: you will be frustrated, annoyed, and disappointed. It will feel even worse knowing that the Internet considers it to be the game of the decade.

The game has a lot of bullshit. Sometimes it’s done that way deliberately.

For me, the combat (against regular enemies), the amazing location and boss visual design, and the sense of discovery and adventure were all worth it in the end.

It’s not a 7/10 game. It’s a 12/10 game and a 4/10 game all in one.

3570

I replayed it about a year ago (100% it) and did get invaded a few times. But even the tough bosses rarely had player summon signs down. If you need that then all you have to do is go to the proper Steam forum and ask for help. There are lots of guys who do that on all three DS games.

Agreed. The game could make life a lot simplier by explaining more. I think FROM wants you to use the DS community when you need help or advice.

3571

Taking a bit of a break from Elden Ring after a run + starting another. I’m using a guide to point me to the right areas, but then I’m exploring on my own from there. There are a lot of specifics I don’t recall from playing at launch. Like, I remember hating the hydra and that it was cheesy but I couldn’t remember what to do vs it. Other times I enter an area and I can remember where something is - like the first big knight in the Undead Berg. I think Tim is correct above when he says it’s a great game with some things that really suck at times, but it’s worth it. It’s definitely easier after playing several DS games. I remember having a hard time vs Havel, but this time he was easy.

3572

Uggg, time for Blighttown. Maybe it’s time to go back to Elden Ring and try and get the bosses I missed.

3573

You can avoid Blight town by taking another route down.

3574

Oh , thanks. I don’t think I new that the first time I played.

3575

The problem isn’t so much going down there it is the pain in having to walk your way out later. Really makes you appreciate fast travel.

3576

Yeah, I think that it the biggest thing I miss from Elden Ring. Sometimes in DS, I don’t try going down a risky route because I can’t fast travel back - so I leave it for later. IN Elden Ring it encourages being more exploratory.

3577

DS1 is more of a slog. You are allowed to explore but you benefit most by doing things in a certain order to speed up getting fast travel. DS1 will also hide the occasional bonfire.

3578

I totally forgot there was any fast travel in DS!

3579

Yea, you get it after beating the law firm.

3580

Very true. I bounced off DS twice over the course of 2 years. On the third try, I adopted a zen approach and decided to just enjoy the minute-to-minute combat, and not care about losing souls. I ended up soloing 100% twice and it’s one of my favorite 5 games of all time.