Dark Souls/ Souls Games General

I fucking love Dark Souls. Even after so many years it's one of the only games I can go back to and have a blast with on a regular basis.

The best times I had with Dark Souls (back when PvP was larger) was to do something I like to call Forest Raptor. What you need is the Dragon Torso Stone, Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring, Ring of Fog. Allow yourself to be invaded in Darkroot Garden. Run in the distance. Sneak up on the invader. Punch them in the back. Run away and lose them. Repeat until they rage quit.

 

Beat the game for the first time about a month ago. It was a fucking amazing experience.
Of course, I had a Black Knight Sword and was a STR built tank, so I was playing in easy mode.

 

There was a demo out for a dark souls style game called Nioh that just ended but the game comes out soon. It's pretty much dark souls Japan.
Huge fan of the series but my all time favorite game of the series is Bloodborne. I got more satisfaction in that game from overcoming tough bosses than anything in Dark Souls

 

I don't own a PS4 so I've only been able to play Bloodborne via mooching off friends. From what I've played though I really wish it was on the PC because I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I really want to see more games with that combat style tbh. Could you imagine an open world rpg or mmo with souls style combat? That's be fucking amazing.

 

I've only played Bloodborne but it was one of the best games I've ever played.
I'm not hugely into lovecraftian lore but the atmosphere and the aesthetic punched you through the screen.
There probably won't be one made, But I would buy the hell out of a sequel.

 

Did anybody see the DS3 speed run during agdq? His game crashed while out of bounds and it was miserable watching him look for save files. Dunno if he finished it.

 

That's rough. Can't find the video but I can only imagine what it was like.

 

In light of Dark Souls 3 related news, anyone heard about the Ringed City DLC that's on the way?

Final DLC for the game, one can hope it ends up finishing the DLC of the third entry on a high note.

 

Fun Fact: Dark Souls was originally going to be titled Dark Ring but then they found out some British guy used that as a slang for buttholes.

But seriously, the boss battle with Ornstein and Smough in the first Dark Souls is without a doubt one of my favorite video game memories. Everything about that fight is incredible - the intense music; the spectacle of Smough crashing through columns as Ornstein is blasting lightning everywhere; and just when you finally, FINALLY manage to kill one of them - OHHHH CRAP.

Also, I love all the reoccurring elements that Miyazaki uses throughout the series to tie the games together in subtle ways. Super silly headgear, the Moonlight Greatsword, goofy, yet terrifying mimics, those bird women, etc.

 

I am definitely looking forward to the final DLC, it will be interesting to see how the whole series is viewed, once it is finished. I will probably play through the series again once the Ringed City DLC comes out, something I did before DS3 came out. DS2 is still my favourite of the series, yes the controls are a little wonky at times, but it tells a very personal story and adds a lot of new content and ideas, whereas DS3 tread a very familiar path. I wonder if the best way to play the series is DS2, DS1 and then DS3.

 

From a lore perspective it makes more sense to play them in order otherwise your ability to teleport between bonfires would make no sense if you started with DS2.

That aside I have to say DS1 is still my favorite. Even though it's better from a gameplay point of view I feel like, DS2 deviated from the aesthetics too much and the world didn't feel open and connected like DS1. DS3 was great but it still lacked the open world from the first game I loved.

 

I think the biggest thing DS2 has against it, is the "2" in its name, I think if it wasn't advertised as a sequel to DS but as a game set in the DS universe, then people wouldn't have such an axe to grind against it.

DS3 is very much a sequel and I think it is overly reliant on having played DS. I think you can play DS2 without having played DS.

 

This I can agree to fully. DS2 is more removed from the lore of the first and third games, which is by no means a bad thing.

 

And this I think is the success of the game, you can enjoy it as its own story and you can enjoy it as something that is part of a bigger world.

 

I'm not a fan of the Souls series, but my best friend loves the games to death and he'll bring over a copy of the game when it comes out. Hilarity ensues because he'll play whichever game we're doing beforehand while I play blind.

 

Would something like Nioh belong here since it does have Souls-like elements? I just want a place to talk about my hype for that game.

 

If it's got souls like elements sure I don't see why not. I'm not familiar with that game but I'm always down to learn about something new.

 

Nioh is a Souls-like game being developed by Team Ninja. You play as Geralt of Rivia William Adams during the Sengoku period of Japan hunting down yokai along with meeting historical figures like Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hanzo Hattori. They ended up releasing 3 demos on PSN in order to get feedback for the game. I was able to play the 2nd one and it's a much faster game than Dark Souls in terms of combat, it feels a lot like Ninja Gaiden in terms of speed, and it plays great. It's also much more upfront with its story, as you saw in the trailer. Comes out on Feb. 7 in the US.

 

Any love for the Souls predecessor King's Field or Shadow Tower?

 

I love Shadow Tower and King's Field: The Ancient City is the only one I beaten in the King's Field series. Would be nice if From Software ever revisited the first series they made.