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After 8 years, today I became a person who has beat Dark Souls

Chittagong

Gold Member
Ever play Dead Cells OP? Actual progression and a good sense of where you've been, where you're going. Now that's a great Souls-like experience IMO.

I haven’t but wil certainly look it up, I have seen the name pop up a few times!

OP - did you play the DLC at all? I see your list of toughest bosses but surely one of those in the DLC would have made that list? Manus especially. The DLC bosses broke me for ages!

I did indeed. Most trouble was actually figuring out how to find Kalameet and how to get it drop down.

Manus took 4 tries. Was quite strong at L98, the tough bits to me were that his hit box is hard to reach, and if you get staggered he can keep pounding. Stayed underneath and did hard spinning attacks with Halberd, rolled when he jumped.

Nowhere near as bad as Ludwig with its multiple stages and one hit kills in Bloodborne.
 

Melubas

Member
Nice going! If you want to play the sequels I suggest trying out DS2 even though people shit on it. It's not a bad game and pretty different from DS1.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Good going man. As others have said, don't skip 2; it's probably the worst From game but it's got its redeeming features.

Now that you've "got" Souls (this was Bell Gargoyles for me), you can do any/all of them. Look forward to Bloodborne especially.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
I'll be the one to say it.

Dark Souls 2 is the greatest Soulsborne game.

Best variety of levels, longest game, best DLC, best multi-player elements, best hub world.

All the From games are amazing but this one is the best. It is marmite though but absolutely take the chance on it.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
At its worst DS2 is still a damn fine game, and people don't want to admit that because it would mean taking DS3's dick out of their mouths.

Play DS2 with the DLC. It gets crazy.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
DS2 on PS4 seems really cheap too, £15.99 including the DLC, will definitely give it a go.

DS3 with DLC, on the other hand, is an eye-watering £54.99 on PSN
 

DavidGzz

Member
Awesome, OP! DS2 is also amazing imo. You're lucky you still have some more Soul goodness to play through. I have to wait for Elden Ring. :(
 
What’s next

While I am travelling, there won’t be any From Software games unfortunately. It’s going to be Octopath Traveller this week, and then Fire Emblem.

Tell us what you thought of it, I think it's completely overrated and dull.

Don't listen to the guys saying skip DS2. The base content is a great game, just not up to par with the rest of the series. The DLC is top tier though and worth every second.
 

The Shepard

Member
I only played this when the remaster hit last year and its aged very well, it was excellent, find it much better than 2 and 3. Dark souls 1, bloodborne and nioh are the best soulsborne games Imo.
 

cr0w

Old Member
Chittagong Chittagong can you relate to this?



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DonF

Member
I still don't beat dark souls 1 nor 3. I beat bloodborne though, and enjoyed every minute of it.
 

AllyITA

Member
the first thing that came to my mind looking at the picture was "how did you beat a very dark game on a switch sitting OUTSIDE?" :D

anyway, congrats!
 

Ozrimandias

Member
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Well, this has been a loooooooong time in the making. I first got Dark Souls via Lovefilm for Xbox 360 in 2011, and posted a thread asking for advice on how to approach it. A lot of good advice in the thread, but it’s fun to look back to it, 8 years later.

Ultimately, I ran into the Bell Gargoyles on the roof, tried it many times. Then a trip came up, and when I came back, I moved onto something else. Then the generation was over, and I didn’t try again. Having been able to play it on the go would probably have made all the difference:





Vita Switch means Life.

With Switch proving an amazing console to get into deep, long games, I decided to take it on again this April. I finally powered through the Bell Gargoyles, and boy what a journey it was. My playthrough took around 100h. I defeated all bosses except Dark Sun Gwyndolin, because I chose wrong. I finished at L105, with a Halberd +15 and a full Havel kit.

Here’s what I learned of the journey, and how I came to appreciate Dark Souls.


Understanding the core gameplay loop

It wasn’t really until I took on Bloodborne and made it to Cainhurst Hastle that I truly understood the attraction of the core gameplay loop.

Make it to a bonfire -> proceed as far as you can -> die -> proceed further -> die again -> proceed even further -> reach bonfire / open shortcut

This loop is so damn satisfying, every time. A new area opens up unknown and hostile. You are on the edge constantly, threading carefully. It seems overwhelming at first. Then, after a few tries, you begin to get it. Suddenly the area has gone from scary and unknown to fun and familiar.


Thinking ‘this is going to be hard’ makes the game harder

This is the paradox of Dark Souls. Because people have told you it’s hard, you are inclined to think that whatever impossible thing you meet is just you needing to ‘gid gud’. Except for one or two bosses, that is hardly ever the case. You are more likely just too early there, underpowered or lack equipment.


The game gets easier after the beginning

I am not sure if this was because of me getting better in the game, my character becoming stronger, or because the levels and bosses were easier, but I didn’t have a lot of trouble after Ornstein & Smough. So after I got past that road bump, it was pretty much smooth sailing to the end.


Wikis are essential

Some of the stuff in the game is almost impossible to find by your own, some real Simon’s Quest shit, so I did resort to a wiki every once in a while to make sense of it all. For example, Painted World or Arteamis or the DLC would have been pretty impossible to find. Also, understanding things like weapon and flask upgrades is pretty hard on your own.


The game is much longer than I thought

I was really surprised by how massive the game felt. I was sure Sen’s Fortress would be the end. Then when I got to Anor Londo, I was thinking ‘cool, what an awesome final area’. Little did I realise that the game was only starting to open up from there. What a crazy amount of content.


Toughest areas
  • Undead Burg. The run from the bonfire across the bridge, fire bombers, skeletons, that’s where I finally learned to play this game. I learned that holding my shield up I will bait the enemy to hit me and create a safe opening to hit back.
  • Sen’s Fortress. Many swear words were yelled as I got whacked by the swinging blades and/or hit by the projectiles.
  • Anor Londo. Those damn archers on the run up, holy shit.
  • Tomb of Giants. Did it mostly in the dark because I couldn’t seem to find the lantern. I had placed them into storage.

Toughest bosses

Surprisingly, only a few bosses gave me a lot of grief. But four bosses stand out to me.
  • Bell Gargoyles - my original fail point in 2011. Still had a hard time with it.
  • Iron Golem - this seemed downright impossible until I accidentally pushed it over the edge
  • Ornstein & Smough - took some 30 tries. Insanely hard.
  • Chaos Witch Quelaag - until I had my wife look out for the tell of the red blast.
  • Four Kings - this took a while, coordinating against many bosses was hard again.

What’s next

While I am travelling, there won’t be any From Software games unfortunately. It’s going to be Octopath Traveller this week, and then Fire Emblem.

Once I get back to home I am thinking of playing Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 next (PS4 Pro right?). I know the second game is not that well regarded, but I think playing it right after the first one will make me appreciate the QoL improvements in it, and I won’t find the gameplay style as jarring as I did if I played other games now.

After that, I will try and finish my Bloodborne playthrough. I have got until Ludwig, and then I gave up as something else came up.

Finally, I will get through Sekiro. I am currently at Gyonoby Oniwa.

Thanks GAF for all the help on this 8 year long journey, I have truly enjoyed it!


Cool, the game is awesome, got the platinum for that game in Ps3, Dark Souls 2 also (ps4)......Im planning to get it in Dark Souls 3 also.
I was thinking to get the DS1 PS4 version of the game and platinum'ed again.....but, i dont think that i could tolerate that level of stress again.....
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Cool, the game is awesome, got the platinum for that game in Ps3, Dark Souls 2 also (ps4)......Im planning to get it in Dark Souls 3 also.
I was thinking to get the DS1 PS4 version of the game and platinum'ed again.....but, i dont think that i could tolerate that level of stress again.....

I was wondering about that, getting the whole Trilogy on PS4 Pro to experience the first game again in higher definition and 60FPS.

You think it’d be as stressful to do it again? When I briefly strolled along NG+ after finishing the game it felt more relaxing than the first time around
 
Skip DS2, imo

I didn’t like the original release. Then did it again for DLC after people said the DLC is the best. Still didn’t like it.

Maybe you’ll like it if you think quantity is better than quality, however
 
don't skip DS2. The combat is actually better than DS1. Sure it has its flaws, but it's a good game, especially when you play the DLC. It gets undeserved hate because it's not DS1.
 

WindomURL

Member
Don't listen to the haters. DS2 has content galore and incredible variety in its environments and tone. Factor in the dlc and you're looking at a ton of game, plus the ng+ is the best in the series.

Doesn't handle as well as its brethren; movement is floaty and hitboxes are less precise. The kick is replaced with a weird and unsatisfying guard break move. And let's not forget adaptability, which, if you want it to handle more like the others, requires that you pump levels into it.

It's flawed, sure, but not to be summarily ignored.
 

Ozrimandias

Member
I was wondering about that, getting the whole Trilogy on PS4 Pro to experience the first game again in higher definition and 60FPS.

You think it’d be as stressful to do it again? When I briefly strolled along NG+ after finishing the game it felt more relaxing than the first time around

Yeah you're right, start a NG+ feels less stressfull, but starting a new game from the bottom, to achieve all the trophies, its a tough one.....i remember getting stuck in two parts, one with Sif, and collecting all the weapons in the game...... (maybe triying to collect all the spells also).
 
Congrats! Beating a Souls game is truly a nice feeling, I remember being salty when DS first came out, calling it unfairly difficult, and basically despising the games without even giving them a proper try, years later I'm first in line for every FROM game released :D
 

cr0w

Old Member
Man I just remembered how fucking long I was stuck on Ornstein and Smough...I think it was a full week. I also refused to summon out of principle so it was tough going. When I finally beat em though...damn that felt good.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Ya this was a great experience on the Switch and I have the say the first dark souls is superior as well.

The game really gets better graphically as it goes on. It's so ugly at the firelink shrine.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
DS2 on PS4 seems really cheap too, £15.99 including the DLC, will definitely give it a go.

DS3 with DLC, on the other hand, is an eye-watering £54.99 on PSN

Well it was worth waiting a day before buying DS3. They just slashed the price on the PSN summer sale £54.99 £15.99.

So got both DS2 and DS3 now for a grand total of £31.98 on PS4.

Hell, even bought Dark Souls Remastered since that was slashed too, now my OCD will be satisfied with the Trilogy together.
 
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