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Dark Souls is an almost perfect masterpiece...
- Thread starter levyjl1988
- Start date
Magnific0giganticus
Banned
2nd half would be after you reach Anor Londo....how can you say it drags from then on? Second half has Anor Londo, The Dukes Archives, Crystal Cave...all magnificent levels. The Tomb of the Giants could also be considered second half, and that level in complete darkness and deadly giant skeletons are an awesome change of pace and great design imo. Then we have the rest of the Demon Ruins which aren't that great and Bed of Chaos sucks, but the level is alright and it even has that awesome bonus fight at the end of the Onion Knight's story arc. I honestly don't see where it drags.
01011001
Banned
but for real... Dark Souls 3 is the one that is almost perfect. it doesn't have the unnecessarily convoluted second half that DS1 has and it simply plays better (which is to be expected)
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Imru’ al-Qays
Member
What are all these weird DS2 fans doing in this thread
Kagoshima_Luke
Gold Member
Top 5 all time game for me. It reminds me of RE4 in that it just keeps going and going with new areas and things to discover, but never wears out its welcome.
ShinraMiddleMananger
Banned
Fake fans
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Highly disagree, I personally waaaay more fan of Bloodborne and Sekiro's combat style.
PrimetimeKnight
Member
Nemesis Prime
Member
Honestly I never understood those comments, okay bed of chaos area felt rushed and with not as many secrets, but it wasn't anywhere near as obnoxious as people make it out to be and it felt like a quick change of pace to the rest of the game.
DS1 has many flaws but it's still a masterpiece
anthraticus
Banned
Only thing that's really missing is good gore and dismemberment, like in Severance: Blade of Darkness.
zaanan
Banned
Borderborne! I want to play that game!
MrSarcastic
Banned
I mean, can someone deny the huge influence of the soul's games in the entire industry? It became its own genre.
J
JeremyEtcetera
Unconfirmed Member
Everything you're describing (including the dream-like nature) was fully realized in Bloodborne. Dark Souls 2 was sacrificed so that Bloodborne could be the masterpiece that it was. It's sad and unfortunate but if you truly love a game(or anything for that matter) you have to accept it has flaws too. By trying to downplay or not acknowledge the many flaws of DS 2, it does a disservice to it as a part of gaming history. DS 2 isn't perfect. It's the likeable underdog, and that's okay.
april6e
Member
I feel like circle j about Dark Souls is a bit moot at this point. We've already beaten this horse to death.
Most serious gamers agree that Dark Souls 1 is one of the greatest games of all time and is a 10/10 game. Not much to discuss about it by now. Game lacks any sort of real flaw besides the lower quality of the late game areas.
Most serious gamers agree that Dark Souls 1 is one of the greatest games of all time and is a 10/10 game. Not much to discuss about it by now. Game lacks any sort of real flaw besides the lower quality of the late game areas.
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existensmaximum
Member
You're right though.
Adventure game : Dark souls > Dark souls 3 > dark souls 2
RPG : Dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Playtime : Dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Enjoyment : dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Production quality : dark souls 3 > dark souls > dark souls 2 .
RPG : Dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Playtime : Dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Enjoyment : dark souls 2 > dark souls > dark souls 3 .
Production quality : dark souls 3 > dark souls > dark souls 2 .
nerdface
Banned
I love it, but I have to admit I haven’t finished it yet and got distracted by other stuff. I think I have a couple of those orange gate thingies and whatever is after. I feel like I’m close to the end.
I made an effort to avoid reading anything like guides, and tried to learn everything from the game. I really need to buckle down and do it, but monster hunter
I made an effort to avoid reading anything like guides, and tried to learn everything from the game. I really need to buckle down and do it, but monster hunter
Naked Lunch
Member
Dark Souls 1 is the pinnacle of the series and Souls genre.
The Artorias DLC alone puts many other entire modern games to shame.
The Artorias battle is forever etched in my memories.
DS2, while I wont say it sucks - nearly every boss required the same strategy - they are all the same.
DS2 was not memorable at all.
The Artorias DLC alone puts many other entire modern games to shame.
The Artorias battle is forever etched in my memories.
DS2, while I wont say it sucks - nearly every boss required the same strategy - they are all the same.
DS2 was not memorable at all.
Imru’ al-Qays
Member
Yeah, the Fishing Hamlet in the Old Hunters DLC actually seems like a reference to the infamous DS2 lava pit in the sky problem: you reach it by climbing to the top of the Astral Clocktower, and when you look into the water you see that you're actually somehow above the nightmare Yharnam. But in Bloodborne it works because that game makes careful, deliberate aesthetic choices: you know you're in a dream where the geography is sort of strange, and they actually tipped you off to this specific element earlier in the DLC when the snail man falls from the sky and almost crushes you next to the Whirligig Saw. In DS2 it just plain doesn't work: nothing about the world of Dark Souls implies that the laws of physics are no longer operable across the board, so there's no way there could be a floating lava castle in the sky that you reach via elevator.
Sentenza
Member
People who think Dark Souls is a "masochist formula" are hopeless tossers with dysfunctional hands.
It's not even THAT hard, honestly. There are plenty of franchises that are far less notorious for their difficulty while being far more frustrating to the player.
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Knightime_X
Member
I mean.. you're allowed to like pineapple pizza but not everyone will agree with you.
Go nuts anyways!
Go nuts anyways!
You probably don't know the meaning of the word masochist. anyway Miyazaki himself use that word talking about the game.
"Edge asked Miyazaki how he felt about being called cruel and sadistic.
“If I had to say for myself, it’s actually the opposite – I’m more masochistic,” he replied.
“Because I created Dark Souls while thinking about what type of game I would personally like to play. I wanted somebody to bring out a really sadistic game, but I ended up having to make it myself.”
in another one:
"Miyazaki: I'm a huge masochist, so when I make games like these… this is how I want to be treated!
Murohashi: Ooh…
Miyazaki: "I want to be killed this way!" That's how I make it!
Miyazaki: I don't know about the other staff members' fantasies, but I'm not making it from a sadistic stance, but from a masochistic one. I want this done to me!"
and it's not about difficulty
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LectureMaster
Member
Definitely a masterpiece and my top 5 game, not gonna say it's perfect tho, the later games in the series have superior combat.
regawdless
Banned
Dark Souls has a very special place in my heart. I finished it like 7 times. It's so good. Just amazing atmosphere, world building, design.
I would've preferred BluePoint to remake Dark Souls instead of Demons Souls.
I would've preferred BluePoint to remake Dark Souls instead of Demons Souls.
PleaseDontBanMe
Banned
ppl say the remaster was underwhelming
martino
Member
this. i replayed it and finished dlc ~two weeks ago
Dark souls highs are really high but dark souls lows are low (unlike DS3)
DS3 is best balanced from soft experience imo.
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Jigsaah
Gold Member
I like that you actually feel more powerful revisiting areas that you struggled with on your first time through. There's a real sense of progression. You really feel like you've grown as a warrior. That being said the game is always quick to remind you that you're only slightly less vulnerable than you were before overall. The slightest mistake could have you clinching your butt cheeks trying to make it back to your souls.
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Sentenza
Member
Escuchame, no hablo tosser-blabbing.
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Sentenza
Member
I don't particularly agree.
Dark Souls 3 improved its average boss fights by a great deal, but when it comes to overall map design, mood and pace I still think the first Dark Souls towers above all other From previous and subsequent productions.
There's a thing the game achieves (even at its "lows") better than all its sequel and derivates, which is selling you the idea to be this lone adventurer immersed in a believable fictional place, this crepuscular world where gods and humanity are going though their last days.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
I platinumed all of them except Namco Bandai's torch lighting simulator as well.Is the Dark Souls II love satirical or are people just being contrarian?
This is what I think of it. This is probably the biggest insult I can give to this Miyazaki-less, slow rolling, slow estus-flask chugging piece of literal dog shit;
Philfrag
Banned
Dark souls is far from a perfect masterpiece. It has a lot of questionable design choices but it gets its recognition for being uncompromising in its vision in a time when most of the video game industry is dictated by a focus group mentality. It was a breath of fresh air when it first released and it proved that great art is nearly always dictated to you. People don't know what they want until they are shown it. From software got incredibly lucky with Dark Souls and i think they would admit that themselves too. They made a type of game they were confident with and didn't let trends decide what they were going to put out.
Dark souls doesn't need to be a masterpiece. But it was definitely birthed from a team that proved itself to be one of the best developers in the industry, simply due to the fearlessness you can see in their design. 99% of video games have no character or soul in them simply because of how mainstream the industry has become. From Software proved you could still be mainstream and be original whilst diverting the course of where the industry can go. Not every developer will succeed at such a task, but they will always have my respect. Its developers like these that keep me interested in the medium as most of the industry continues to be a fucking bore-fest. Calling something like dark souls a 'masterpiece' is adhering to the language the industry likes to nestle in so it can justify the bland crap it puts out every year. It yearns for acceptance from those who want nothing more than recognition rather than those who want to experiment and make something different.
Dark souls is flawed as hell, but even in its flaws it excels and bringing the player an experience that will be remembered, appreciated and learned by millions. An experience that is hard to come by these days in the never ending aisle of virtual toy shelves.
Dark souls doesn't need to be a masterpiece. But it was definitely birthed from a team that proved itself to be one of the best developers in the industry, simply due to the fearlessness you can see in their design. 99% of video games have no character or soul in them simply because of how mainstream the industry has become. From Software proved you could still be mainstream and be original whilst diverting the course of where the industry can go. Not every developer will succeed at such a task, but they will always have my respect. Its developers like these that keep me interested in the medium as most of the industry continues to be a fucking bore-fest. Calling something like dark souls a 'masterpiece' is adhering to the language the industry likes to nestle in so it can justify the bland crap it puts out every year. It yearns for acceptance from those who want nothing more than recognition rather than those who want to experiment and make something different.
Dark souls is flawed as hell, but even in its flaws it excels and bringing the player an experience that will be remembered, appreciated and learned by millions. An experience that is hard to come by these days in the never ending aisle of virtual toy shelves.
