Dark Souls... yikes

[EarlG]

I read all the pre-release hype about Dark Souls, read the glowing reviews, and wanted to play it (I never played the original Demon's Souls). But I was nervous. Everyone said it was hard as hell. I'm so spoiled by the ease of modern gaming that I suspected that I would have a hard time going back to frustrating old-school gameplay. Eventually I picked up a pre-owned copy from Gamespot for $30. I kept it on my shelf for quite a long time, refusing to play it. I read a few beginner's guides online. Finally I decided to go for it.

HOLY SHIT THIS GAME IS HARD!!!!!

I'm barely into it, totally stuck at the Taurus Demon in the Undead Burg. Every time he kills me (which takes about 10 seconds), I have to go way back to a bonfire and fight a bunch of zombie dudes over and over again.

I want to persevere, but it's already driving me nuts! If anyone has played this game, please talk me down.

[Neoma]

1. I'm stuck in the Hell level of Diablo 3. I feel your pain.

Is this on PS3? I might try it out.

[Aerows]

3. You are the only person

that I know that is still playing it. I'm level 60, and bored already. I haven't signed in since a couple of weeks ago.

All the other people we played with have quit. It's just dull once you get through it a few times. Diablo's voice alone with the "Ter-roar" has got to be a low point in voice acting in video games.

[Neoma]

4. So far, I've gotten $7.65 from Diablo 3.

I'm not stopping now, heck no.

[Aerows]

5. LOL

You go girl! If you can make money off of it, I say that's awesome!

[Neoma]

6. Thanks to PayPal.

Would you call this work? Hmm.

[Aerows]

2. I was just about to make a thread about it

I want this game so badly for PC, since I don't own a console, it hurts.

Diablo 3 was such a disappointment for me - I'm already bored with it.

Dark Souls looks fantastic

August 24 for us PC people

And hey EarlG, what makes it so hard? Is it the controls, or something else?

[EarlG]

7. Well

First, it throws you into the deep end with very little in the way of explanation. My pre-owned copy came without a manual -- don't know if one was supposed to be included or not. (I don't normally even bother to look at the manuals of most games because these days they all have comprehensive in-game tutorials.) Dark Souls is a hardcore RPG that has you poring over stats, weapon effects, etc. etc., and much of it is barely explained. The good news is that pretty much anything you need to know can be found on the Internet.

Second, if you don't tread carefully you will be punished. The very first enemies in the game can kill you without too much trouble. Close-quarters combat is deliberate (I haven't tried ranged combat yet). You have to time your weapon swings and keep your shield up -- if you mis-time your moves you'll leave yourself open and you can get taken down with a few hits. You have to explore new areas slowly with your shield up because enemies can jump out at any moment. It's pretty nerve-wracking to be honest, but that's mostly because...

Third, the save system works like this: periodically you'll find bonfires which you can rest at, and restore your health and stamina (among other things). When you die, you return to the last bonfire you rested at. However, if you rest, or if you die, the game kind of "resets" and all the enemies you killed are returned to life (except bosses -- they stay dead). So if you've just spent an hour fighting your way through a horde of enemies and you weren't able to find a bonfire before you died, you have to do it all over again. And again... and again. (Fortunately, items that you found before you died will remain in your possession.)

Fourth, when you die you lose all the Souls you were carrying. You can do useful things with Souls, like buy items or level up, and you get them by killing enemies. Here's the thing though: if you can fight your way back from the bonfire to the spot where you died, you can pick up all the Souls you dropped. However, if you're killed again before you get back to the spot, you lose the Souls permanently.

Finally, I've barely gotten any distance into the game and I've already encountered two big boss-like creatures. The first one I managed to kill after a couple of tries but the second one has kicked my ass every time...



***** SPOILERS *****









I'd just spent a good bit of time slowly picking my way through castle ruins, fighting Hollow Warriors -- zombie-like soldiers, which can be killed fairly easily as long as you're patient. I'd probably killed about a dozen of these things before coming to a very long, wide rampart. There were two Hollow Warriors on the tower behind me so I climbed up and killed them, but by this time I'd run out of Estus flasks (which restore health). So I climbed down the tower and proceeded very slowly along the rampart towards the tower in the distance, shield up, hoping I'm going to find a bonfire before I have to fight too many more enemies.

The next thing I know, a huge demon jumps off the tower in front of me and comes charging down the rampart. I crap myself and run away, and it kills me with one swing of its giant axe. Zoom, all the way back to the last bonfire. Yep, now I have to fight all those Hollow Warriors again, just to get back to the demon that killed me with one hit.



I did try it again a couple more times -- fruitlessly -- before deciding I needed to level up a bit and buy some better weapons and armor. So I spent my last play session just hanging around the bonfire killing Hollow Warriors. Tomorrow I will have another go at the Taurus Demon!

[Neoma]

8. That whole soul thing reminds me of Darksiders.

This isn't a sequel to it, is it?

[EarlG]

9. No...

That would be Darksiders II.

This is a sequel to Demon's Souls.

[Neoma]

11. *gasps*

I didn't know they had a sequel out! Yay!

[Aerows]

10. Wow

That sounds both sadistic and awesome . I guess I'll see in August if I can restrain myself from chucking my keyboard through my monitor in frustration!

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kill the two archers at the top of the tower before you go far enough to engage

the Taurus Demon, then after he comes out, run back and climb to the top of the tower housing the now dead archers and when the Taurus Demon gets below you jump down on him and stab him, this causes a lot more damage than just swinging at him from ground level.

Run to the far end of the bridge away from the tower when the Demon approaches roll past him, heading back to the tower, climb it and when he gets there drop down on him again, rinse and repeat.

P.S. When you are at the top of the tower and he arrives below don't wait too long to jump down on him because he will jump up to where you are.

[EarlG]

14. I'm going to give that a try

Thanks.

[ZombieHorde]

13. I have not played Dark Souls, but I have played Demon's Souls.

Demon's Souls is all out learning how each enemy behaves so you when to attack and when to roll, strafe, or back off. Your fighting needs to be very calculated.

I am not sure if this applies to Dark Souls or not.

[EarlG]

16. Yes

I spent the beginning part of the game just flailing wildly at enemies, with only partial success, but after I spent a while hanging around the first Undead Burg bonfire just killing Hollow Warriors, I realized that I could be a bit more patient and therefore precise. I definitely started to notice that I was fighting in a different way depending on whether the Warriors were armed with swords, axes, or spears.

[BklnDem75]

15. Still playing Demon's Souls...

Played Dark Souls and I can say it's a much darker game. I prefer the more well lit areas of part one than the sewers and catacombs of the sequel. Took me a few deaths before I realized I'm suppose to flee from the jailer during the first encounter...