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March 28, 2024, 05:51:52 PM

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Dark Souls 3

Started by Shay Chaise, March 06, 2016, 07:08:36 PM

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Thursday

How is the variety in environments then? One of the things that wasn't so interesting in Bloodborne is that most of the areas tended to be a little samey. It worked for what they were going for, but it lacked the feeling in Souls that you never know what's coming next. (Well actually, that's not true but you know what I mean)

Shay Chaise

I do know what you mean. So much of my fondness for Bloodborne is the earliest ventures into Yharnam with the deep orange and red sky. I think the skybox changes are great overall but there are a number of areas where the overriding palette is grey, purple and navy blue, and even Hemwick and the Woods are very similar, and similar to the palette at the start of the game.

My fears for this based on early trailers and the network test were that it would all be washed out and jaundiced. Long story short, it's the most diverse and most beautiful Souls game by some distance. It's almost ostentatious at times. In true From tradition, you'll recognise assets and animations, even from Bloodborne, but in no way does it feel like a retread. It's just a bit of seasoning in the enormously rich stew.

Shay Chaise

I'm close to the end of this now. My feeling is that it's the best Souls game. I shit you not. It's consistent throughout, no halfbaked areas, everything feels finished, well judged, and so satisfying. There's so much variety and richness to the world. The gear is stupefying. There have been so many weapons along the way which I've tried out for thirty seconds and thought wow cool and then never touched again. The weapon arts idea ripped straight out of Bloodborne and the power stance from DS2 makes this the most diverse combat of any From game. There are armour sets upon armour sets. So many rings I haven't even used because I can't understand the description. There are old favourites and brilliant new ideas throughout.

The enemy design is the equal of Bloodborne, which is really saying something. Some of the creatures and their movements made me shudder. The sense of dignified decay is so gorgeous. The cloth physics are better than Bloodborne. I'm not joking. I was standing before and just flicked the left stick, the cloth folded over on itself and remained in a loose fold until I flicked the stick again and it straightened itself out. Then I did it again to make sure I wasn't crazy or misinterpreting a glitch or clip. Then I did it another dozen times and the cloth folded differently and didn't unwrinkle itself in the same way every time. That's absurd. I mean, I don't even give a shit about cloth physics but it shows the level of love and detail in this. It doesn't need to be this good and people would love it, but it is.

Obviously, all of the stuff I am really crazy excited about is a spoiler, so I'm not just saying it's all about cloth and shit. It can't really replace the first Dark Souls as my favourite but it is very likely 'the best'.

Viero_Berlotti

Ah, sounds great, just not got time for a new Souls game in my life at the moment, I will save this one for 12-18 months time and pick it up a bit cheaper.

Shay Chaise

I hope it's because you're a dad, not just overworked. I'm gonna have to get all my gaming in this year before we start a family. Or, touch wood, I'll be infertile. Joke, if my wife reads this.

Thursday

Quote from: Shay Chaise on March 30, 2016, 11:02:46 AM
I'm close to the end of this now. My feeling is that it's the best Souls game. I shit you not. It's consistent throughout, no halfbaked areas, everything feels finished, well judged, and so satisfying. There's so much variety and richness to the world. The gear is stupefying. There have been so many weapons along the way which I've tried out for thirty seconds and thought wow cool and then never touched again. The weapon arts idea ripped straight out of Bloodborne and the power stance from DS2 makes this the most diverse combat of any From game. There are armour sets upon armour sets. So many rings I haven't even used because I can't understand the description. There are old favourites and brilliant new ideas throughout.

The enemy design is the equal of Bloodborne, which is really saying something. Some of the creatures and their movements made me shudder. The sense of dignified decay is so gorgeous. The cloth physics are better than Bloodborne. I'm not joking. I was standing before and just flicked the left stick, the cloth folded over on itself and remained in a loose fold until I flicked the stick again and it straightened itself out. Then I did it again to make sure I wasn't crazy or misinterpreting a glitch or clip. Then I did it another dozen times and the cloth folded differently and didn't unwrinkle itself in the same way every time. That's absurd. I mean, I don't even give a shit about cloth physics but it shows the level of love and detail in this. It doesn't need to be this good and people would love it, but it is.

Obviously, all of the stuff I am really crazy excited about is a Spoiler, so I'm not just saying it's all about cloth and shit. It can't really replace the first Dark Souls as my favourite but it is very likely 'the best'.

I'm calling it now, final boss is Solaire and your character from the first game!

I hope I have't actually guessed it with that, although something like it has struck me as a possibility.


Shay Chaise

#36
Ha! Well, I won't say anything, in any case. We'll talk about what happens, when you've finished.

Entropy Balsmalch

I'm so tempted by this. However, with both previous versions I've been in love for about three days and then never picked them up again.

Thursday

I've been replaying the original and I've now managed to beat Ornstein and Smough solo, Smough first which is a variation I'd not managed before.

Also, I can parry now. I'd been back to Souls before post Bloodborne, but it was still beyond me, but suddenly this time it just clicked.

brat-sampson

The fact that people are already speed-running this game in < 2 hours is baffling/painful to me.

less than two weeks...

Shay Chaise

I finished at around 40 hours so no concerns about size or longevity.

Non-spoilery broad info about structure/rough number of bosses but some people might not want to know

Spoiler alert
It's somewhat similar in structure to Bloodborne, in that a good chunk of the game is optional. You could probably skip four or five bosses in BB. I'd say it's about the same here, if not more. There are also a few optional bosses which don't have boss HP bars.
[close]

Shay Chaise

It turns out I missed an optional boss in my first playthrough, just completed my second and did it this time. I'll tell you which one after a few people have done it because I think it's up there with the very greatest Soulsborne bosses. I had a lot of fun summoning for both clearing areas and for bosses, and for some, I really needed the help. The summoning works a bit like Bloodborne in that you instantly open yourself up to invasion in many areas, which is also brilliant fun. 3v3 and 4v4 going through some mad long areas and thinking fuck this I'm sprinting for the boss fog and then you see an invading red appear just in front of it. I've had my best ever Souls PvP with this game.

My final non spoiler comment would be that this has the best flow of any From game. While there's some trademark obtuseness, which is part of the fun, the main route through the game encompasses most things quite naturally and, most importantly, never goes flat. There are no areas like in Dark Souls 2 which exist only as dull, crude transitions you'll never ever see again, or want to. (In fact, towards the end of this playthrough I made a point of going back to the little transitional bits because they almost always contain something of interest.)

There are no longueurs, no incomplete sections or bosses which you have to suffer. There's an excellent pace to it and it's consistently challenging throughout. Is it Resident Evil 4 pacing? Dunno, that's arguably the best paced game ever, you don't want to stop at any point, but I was really pleased with how much fun this second playthrough was, with a very similar build. I only got stumped once, on a puzzle I didn't encounter first time around, and it was great to figure it out.

Yes, it is worth the wait.

Bhazor

How linear is linear? Does it ever feel like being trapped with invisible walls and purely decorative doors? Or are there still side paths and hidden areas?

Quote from: Big Jack McBastard on March 27, 2016, 02:32:59 AM
I had a solid crack at the first but at some point I lost steam and didn't pick it up again, I think it was around the poison marshes or the ghost infested place. I never had/found the gear for those places to survive and didn't farm (except for souls at the forest) or go looking for guides so it kicked my dick in regularly until I snapped. I'd probably never have finished it without pouring over some guide and I didn't fancy that.

Similar boat, just started Dark Souls 1 a couple weeks ago and there's definitely some bullshit in there. The "permanently lose half your health" frogs being the most stand out cunts. A chore made worse by the fact they appear in a fucking convoluted maze with no map so leaving to get rid of the curse means going through a maze twice.

Another thing that strikes me about the games is that I really don't like the multiplayer. Which is wierd given how central it is and how it was this huge aspect of the hype. But to me having some random cunt pop up with some dickish player killing build just ruins the tone and feel of the game. I ended up playing entirely offline.

Shay Chaise

Hehe, 'no map'. I'm not making fun, it's just completely antithetical to the almost helpless feeling Dark Souls works hard to create. The level design encourages you to get lost and explore every corner to figure out how to progress. Whenever you move forwards, you're tempted by side paths and alternate routes which inevitably lead to something, either a shortcut back to the bonfire or to the next, or an item, or a boss. That's one thing that makes it what it is, the constant risk/reward aspect of progress or retreat to cash in your Souls.

You can use an item to reverse the health curse and now you know not to underestimate the little buggers.

Neil

I just can't fucking wait until tomorrow! 

Bhazor

Quote from: Shay Chaise on April 11, 2016, 01:25:05 PM
Hehe, 'no map'. I'm not making fun, it's just completely antithetical to the almost helpless feeling Dark Souls works hard to create. The level design encourages you to get lost and explore every corner to figure out how to progress. Whenever you move forwards, you're tempted by side paths and alternate routes which inevitably lead to something, either a shortcut back to the bonfire or to the next, or an item, or a boss. That's one thing that makes it what it is, the constant risk/reward aspect of progress or retreat to cash in your Souls.

You can use an item to reverse the health curse and now you know not to underestimate the little buggers.

Having no map when your exploring new locations with varied terrain and dozens of little nooks is great. But having no map when you're just trying to get back where you fucking started inside a rabbits warren of identical sewer tunnels is bollock poppingly agravating. Yes there is an item to remove curse, but it's not in the dungeon in question hence why I had to go through the maze twice in order to go and buy one.

Jerzy Bondov

I'm amazed that I finished Bloodborne, although I ran out of steam for the DLC. Ready for this shit now, can't wait to get stuck in tomorrow. Played as far as the dragon on the bridge in Dark Souls and never played the second one, but I'm happy to just jump back in on this one. It looks a bit more Bloodborne-ish? I dunno. Just looking forward to seeing something scary and then whacking it with a sword.

Neil

I'm just so incredibly ready for this.

I was going to get back into DS2 late last year, then chanced upon a cheap copy of the Xbone "Sins of the First Scholar" edition, and played it obsessively. I love the second game, and think it gets a bad rap from purists.

Then I went back to DS1 on the 360, and yes, it really is an absolute masterpiece. Started a new character, rinsed it and the DLC, slaughtered every NPC and went to NG+. There's still stuff I missed, like the Darkwraith covenant. And I can't remember if I originally stumbled on the Great Hollow and Ash Lake; it blows my mind that they hide great areas like that. I love them.

Dabble with a SL1 character at times too, fun fun fun.

I only wish they'd eventually release Demon's Souls and Bloodborne for the Xbox.

Anyway, I am so fucking psyched.

Amazing chest ahead, try two-handing etc.


I cannot wait to get back to their world! Oh one more thing, Lords of the Fallen was given away on Xbox there. It's ok, but as much as they tried to rip off Dark Souls, they just didn't get the combat right. Nothing beats DS combat.

I can't wait for the invasions and stuff. Oh man, roll on tomorrow.

Thursday

Aye the DLC areas of Dark Souls 2 are fantastic, Brume Tower especially, it's like they heard the criticisms about the lack of "verticality" and "interconnectivity" in the level design for DS2 and went "Right then, here's the most vertical level ever" and the Ivory King areas look stunning. Plus with scholar, all the additional stuff regarding
Spoiler alert
Aldia
[close]
brought the story together. Almost everyone who still badmouths Dark Souls 2 doesn't seem to have played all that stuff.

Steam says it'll unlock around 11pm/12am tonight. I have to get up at 6am for work, but I'm hoping to have time tonight to play the intro and create my character, even that has me overexcited. Even though I basically make the same redhead woman in every game.

(Is there any point doing the preload thing? I did it with XCOM 2 and it took longer to decrypt than it did to download normally)

Shay Chaise

Quote from: Bhazor on April 11, 2016, 01:56:41 PM
Having no map when your exploring new locations with varied terrain and dozens of little nooks is great. But having no map when you're just trying to get back where you fucking started inside a rabbits warren of identical sewer tunnels is bollock poppingly agravating. Yes there is an item to remove curse, but it's not in the dungeon in question hence why I had to go through the maze twice in order to go and buy one.

I understand the frustration but I don't feel it's bad design. I mean, you're almost expected to get cursed or die or eventually bottle it when you see the boss fog and you've only got two Estus and a load of Souls and have to track back up through the Depths and open the shortcut into Undead Burg, and make any subsequent run much faster, or even open up the interconnecting areas to Darkroot Garden, depending on whether you have the right item. Besides, if you die in the Depths, you don't have to backtrack at all, you'll be back to the bonfire.

It's definitely obtuse at times, though. I mean, who ever managed to figure out how to access the DLC without looking it up? It doesn't really explain any of the mechanics or elemental infusions or magic or equip load or anything much but that's something that makes it so replayable and rich. If you don't just look everything up, it's so satisfying when the various pennies drop.

Clichéd comment but I do think there are several crap unfinished empty areas after you get the Lordvessel, and being able to warp does take away a good deal of that intrepid exploration. I also think the final third has some awful bosses but it's almost all redeemed by arguably the greatest final boss in any game. From a lore, music, atmosphere and game play perspective, it's almost peerless in my eyes.


Neil

I love how the NPC's mooch about, doing their own quests, which again, entices you to keep exploring areas you've already been to.

I think I'll get in the mood tonight by finishing up my Donnie Yen marathon, and sticking on Berserk.

Shay Chaise

Quote from: Neil on April 11, 2016, 04:46:35 PM
I'm just so incredibly ready for this.

I was going to get back into DS2 late last year, then chanced upon a cheap copy of the Xbone "Sins of the First Scholar" edition, and played it obsessively. I love the second game, and think it gets a bad rap from purists.

Definitely agree with this. If you've ever listened to Twin Humanities podcast, CJ has made several fantastic 'defences' (if you like) of Dark Souls 2, and particularly Scholar. In fact, the Dark Souls 2 episode of Cane & Rinse is probably his best, most definitive statement on the game. I completely understand the complaints, because the overall world building is less sophisticated than Dark Souls (or BB or DS3)and there are a number of incongruous leaps, including the famous elevator up from a windmill to a lava filled castle. That said, even that could have been easily fixed if they'd made more clear it was inside a volcano, and had a more logical geographical route. And despite that, and the slightly lightweight polystyrene weapon feel to combat, I was absolutely gripped by its world.

You can also argue - as the Bonfireside Chat guys did, I think - that thematically, the patchwork, highly varied nature of the world matches the idea of endless episodic cycles. No matter where you go, and in whichever era you find yourself, no matter whether you link the flame or let it fade, you can't escape the timelessness of the Darksign. It's pretty Existentialist but also draws on Zen ideas of cosmology and the cyclical nature of the universe. One thing CJ also does very well is to humanise some of the NPC quests, which do seem less engaging than in Dark Souls, but which just have a very different flavour. There's more tragic persistence than resignation. I also think Majula might be my favourite hub (Nexus has the best music but Majula is prettiest and most comforting!)

QuoteThen I went back to DS1 on the 360, and yes, it really is an absolute masterpiece. Started a new character, rinsed it and the DLC, slaughtered every NPC and went to NG+. There's still stuff I missed, like the Darkwraith covenant. And I can't remember if I originally stumbled on the Great Hollow and Ash Lake; it blows my mind that they hide great areas like that. I love them.

The Bloodborne DLC is fantastic, and the DS2 DLC beats anything else in the game for level design and bosses, but the Artorias of the Abyss DLC is the high point of gaming, for me. The way it puts what's familiar in a completely new context, both with the level design (and transposed Darkroot geography) and the lore is just incredible. The Sif fight becomes something so, so sad after you've played the DLC. You realise that not only does he want to protect you from yourself and from Artorias, and from the Abyss, by killing you, he's also kind of testing you to see whether you're capable of going down there and making it, and at the same time he's protecting Artorias because he knows that you'll have to kill him, too, to fulfil the legend. I mean, that's probably the biggest kicker for me. Throughout the game, we understand that this legendary hero entered the Abyss to stop the spread of the Dark, and tragically never came back. And then, you go down there, and fight him and realise that he never did it at all, he became broken and corrupted and consumed by the Dark and it was YOU who actually did what was passed on as Artorias' legend. And only Sif knows this, because he was there with you, protected by Artorias' shield, waiting for you to summon him, when you fought Manus.

That's just fucking incredible. That's why no matter how amazing Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 are, it's my favourite game.

Thursday

I love that they made an additional scene for if you do the dlc before sif https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUFuvlL6A1g

Shay Chaise

Quote from: Thursday on April 11, 2016, 07:37:22 PM
I love that they made an additional scene for if you do the dlc before sif https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUFuvlL6A1g

Honestly, that must seem like nothing to someone who hasn't played the game but that scene is so powerful, contains so much unspoken emotion.

brat-sampson

Well, I pre-ordered this from a local online store, but it looks like they might not actually have any/enough PC copies as I've heard nothing yet about shipping. I'll probably see if I can find a real shop selling it tomorrow and just buy it/cancel the old order.

Bhazor

Quote from: Shay Chaise on April 11, 2016, 08:43:34 PM
Honestly, that must seem like nothing to someone who hasn't played the game but that scene is so powerful, contains so much unspoken emotion.

You wouldn't think you could make an idea as stupid as a giant kung fu sword husky fit into a dark nihilist fantasy story. Dark Souls finds a way though.

I mean obviously Karate Dog did it better but still.


Shay Chaise

So good, he has two taglines.

'Beware of the dog, he knows karate!'

'The police with the best sense of smell.'

Miyazaki-san, retire now.

Thursday

First boss down. Now to bed.

Viero_Berlotti

Quote from: Thursday on April 12, 2016, 12:49:50 AM
First boss down. Now to bed.

.... for tomorrow we rise at daybreak!

Shay Chaise

I've beaten this game twice in the past three weeks. Just died six times on the first boss with a different starting class. Don't judge.