Anyone else thought Dark Souls was garbage?

[pong lenis]

I tried getting into it the first time, was bored to tears within a few hours. Tried longer the second time, third time, fourth time, I could never keep going even when forcing myself. It's just there's no depth to the game, it's just hack'n'slash with no purpose, there's no NPC's to interact with, there's no story or plot, no towns or characters, there's nothing to do except the clunky and repetitive combat. I don't even know why they call it an RPG, there are no elements of RPG in it, there's just class-choosing at the beginning of the game which makes absolutely no difference except at the beginning. It's more like Ghouls N Ghosts in 3D, kill monsters; kill the boss; rinse repeat.
Why is this game treated like the second coming of christ?

 

[Via]

I don't know about garbage, but yeah...

I couldn't get into it.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Because no one dared make ghosts and goblins for the past like 20 years and there was actually a market for it?

 

[futurefields]

Because its a hard game.

Everything in life is about bragging rights, when you boil it down.

 

[Daverino]

Dark Souls was awesome. I cannot wait for Dark Souls 2. And while I respect your opinion and your freedom to voice it, I cannot agree with any of it.

There are plenty of NPCs to interact with and there is plot and story. It is not provided via grand cutscenes which makes it, in my mind, more organic to the game.

If it is not an RPG, than neither are Bethesda games. Just like Skyrim, your initial choice of character doesn't influence how you develop it. You need to make choices on how you want to play and you develop your character appropriately.

The combat system is top notch. Multiple types of chaining attacks, blocks, parries, offensive and defensive magic and manual evasion. And it's very tight. Actions are executed without delay giving you very precise control. This is the reason why, although combat is very difficult, it is not really unfair. If you die, you made a mistake.

And the cherry on top is that Dark Souls doesn't treat the gamer like a 5 year old. It expects you to be smart, observant and skilled to win. I remember the video of someone beating a level of CoD BO without firing a shot because the NPCs would finish the level for him eventually. I don't have time for a game like that.

 

[PowerYoga]

there's a ton of story and plot, intricacies and character background stories. It's just not spoonfed to you in an audio book.

The "hack n slash" aspect of it is the most difficult yet rewarding combat system to grace any system for a very long time. It rewards skillful players and severely punishes people who don't bother learning mechanics and make too many mistakes.

It's not a game for everyone though. It's only a fun game for people who enjoy a challenge. Dark souls has no time for people who want to press X until they finish the game, you can go play final fantasy 13 if you want a "RPG" lilke that.

 

[smackababy]

The best part about Dark Souls was the ending choices. Which was the "good" ending? Who knows but From. If you can get into the game, it is filled with lore and a great story. However, if you just look at it on the surface, it really isn't much more than a platformer.

 

[clok1966]

excellent troll, saying its missing stuff that is only 20- 30 minutes into game shows it was not played, generic it suck comment with nothing on why, "clunky" was about the only thing he described. IF the OP wants to define why, IM all ears.. While its not perfect in any way, i have yet to see a better melee combat system for sword and board. As for the role playing aspect.. you play the role of the character you control.. role playing is not some predefined AD&D set of ideas. Leveling and adding 5 points of skill to a sword is about as silly as it gets.. Using a sword and learning when to strike, when to dodge, when to time a swing is far more "role play, then adding numbers up.

not enjoying it, understand that.. never a fan of Halo, and if i mention that the hate is immense.. but I can list actual reason why.. not just a "its boring".

Dont like it, no problem, don't like it and just shoot a whine out in a forum.. you been facebooking to long, think people care about whines. Again, better (melee) combat system, please point it out and explain why this one is not as good, or good at all for that matter.

damn the troll hooked me too didn't he?

 

[KaOTiK]

So much wrong in the OP. Not even going to bother.

 

[EDUSAN]

you need to read the descriptions of the items, use a wiki, and do your character right and you've got to know where to go at every part.

I remember playing it some months ago, like a year ago, got to the minotaur and dropped it.
but i felt bad for dropping the game so early and i have a friend that is an absolute fan of the game
so a couple months later i started it again, i played more, i beat the Aries Demon, he drops a key to the next section but i didnt realise which door was it so i went to a harder part thinking it was the correct choice. I got stuck there for like 2 weeks not being able to advance much.

Then a week ago i started a new character, this time with a better and easier stat (dext instead of STR) and with a guide to know where to go after each part.

NOW im starting to find the joy in the game and i was able to advance quite a bunch more than ever before.

I guess the game needs time to really get to you... and ITs not that hard, at least to the part im in.

You only have to know the different animations and attacks of every (and i repeat EVERY) enemy. Even the silliest skeleton can hit you for 1/4 of your hp if you are careless, even if you out level it.
So everytime you find a new enemy you will probably die, at least once, getting to know the enemy, because it will surprise you the 1st time.
the 2nd time you will probably beat it
with bosses you will die a couple more times, like 3 o 4 until learnig everything the boss can do.

what makes the game harder is going from the last bonfire to your soul. The longest you walked the more enemies you need to kill on the way, and if you are at least a little tired you will get pissed and try to run through all the enemies fast. But that will only get you killed again and losing the souls you dropped the 1st time.
THERE is when you hate dark souls

 

[Rhezuss]

For the love of everything that is cool I can't get into this game.

It's completely my type of games, I love RPGs, I love hard games that punishes you, I love well made games overall but this one I can't get into...

Maybe it's because I tried to logging to my GFWL account for the first 35 minutes I tried to play and ultimately having to create a new account because my older one was on an old email that got hacked 4 years ago...

I dunno, game look great and fun as hell...maybe i'll need to get drunk and try anew...

 

[AlexAL]

The game is pure genius for me. The concept, attention to detail, movement, quirkiness and much, much more is deeply resonant and makes me want to explore.

 

[gothamhunter]

With a name like pong lenis, we know to take you seriously.

 

[chimaxi83]

I'm going to start playing this today. Been meaning to for a while now. What do you guys recommend, m+kb or 360 controller?

 

[smackababy]

A controller is definitely the way to go. However, make sure you download the DSFix. This game is a true console port in every sense.

 

[Jodell88]

I'm going to start playing this today. Been meaning to for a while now. What do you guys recommend, m+kb or 360 controller?

Controller all the way.

 

[spaceman]

its game to verify why they dont make them like they used to
tried to like the series but blah
difficulty aint a reward for me

 

[smackababy]

Thing is, the game isn't really that difficult. Once you learn when to dodge and parry, you can breeze through it without issue. The only difficult part comes in the game actually punishing you for making mistakes or playing "unsafe".

 

[Dumac]

its game to verify why they dont make them like they used to
tried to like the series but blah
difficulty aint a reward for me

The game's forte isn't really difficulty, although that is how they have decided to market it.

The game isn't that difficult. Compared to a lot of normal games nowadays, it is a bit more difficult, but games like Ninja Gaiden still wipe the floor with it.

The best part of the souls series, IMO, is the unparalleled sense of exploration and discovery. I love making my way through the game and trying to find things out, including where to go, how to beat the next boss, what items and spells exist, and what is the overall story behind the world.

The game doesn't force anything upon the player - the player is encouraged to seek things out for themselves.

The best part of a souls game is the very beginning, when the entire community is trying to discover things. It is what I'm looking forward to in DaS2.

Back to difficulty, what is refreshing about the game is that it is, for the most pair, fair. Patience and caution are virtues when playing, and hopefully with each death the player learns something. You get past obstacles because you improved as a player. By the end of the game, you can go back and replay the game with a new character and completely dominate in areas that you originally had trouble with, simply because your skill has improved.

I love now being able to go up to the first black knight, who used to scare the crap out of me when I first played, and being able to parry+riposte him to death.

 

[smackababy]

A big plus is the exploration of the story outside of what the player is sparsely told. "You're the chosen undead, go ring these bells." "You're the chosen undead, kill these guys and light this fire to win." It really isn't that black and white. Both endings are considered "bad" endings IMO.

Spoiler

One prolongs the age of Light, sacrificing the player to stop the dark for a bit longer, but the world is already destroyed because of it. The other ushers in the dark, which after the DLC, shows to not be exactly the best thing either.

 

[fixbsod]

I generally like hard games and typically play all games at their hardest or 2nd hardest level but could not for the life of me get into Demon Souls (the first one). Yeah the game was hard, but it was cheap hard, not hard hard. Very few true levels and mostly you'd just grind the same area multiple times to level but even levelling did not do anything. So really very few levels and then cheeze cheeze cheeze. That's not a challenge it's just a poor way to extend the time playing a game. If it was truly challenging it would be more enjoyable, but just reading the comms I can tell Dark Souls is the same as Demon Souls :

purposeful placement of certain enemies so they're hiding behind nooks and crannies to blast you off of small ledges or deal death in one blow that you never saw coming. Yawn.

So what really happens when you have small levels and a "hard" game due to strategic enemy placement is that you just remember the exact placement of those enemies as most of the enemies were a breeze it was just all placement and angling. So a total bore fest as you're constantly replaying levels -- to get past each cheap enemy and then to figure out boss strategy. Not sure why this game became such a phenomenon, because the last thing you want in a console game is to have to constantly reload / replay the same area which often results in long long loading times, tho I can't recall for certain how this was, tho I do remember how Arkham City suffered this issue in a few spots as well (snipers with those laser sights). No issue on the computer as a reload is seconds not minutes.

 

[smackababy]

I don't think you understand cheap hard. Nintendo hard was cheap hard. Hitting invisible walls in Silver Surfer was cheap. Not paying attention to a group of enemies stabbing me in the face in Demon's Souls is not cheap, it is me being punished for playing stupidly.

Leveling had nothing to do with how hard it was, because if you kept dying "cheaply" it was because you were playing badly. I suppose you think fighting games are cheap too because I know how to properly block, set up combos, and dominate you because you don't understand the fundamentals of the game itself.

The only cheese boss in Demon's Souls was the Dragon God, which was more of a "puzzle" type of boss rather than a straight up boss.

 

[EDUSAN]

yes, there are cheap monsters placed in extremely inconvenient places (for the player).

But before you know it you will start entering every room with your shield up and quickly aiming to the side you can see there is not a wall.
And a lot of times you see those ambushes coming. for example when you see an enemy on the far side of a room and it doesnt come to attack you or when an enemy retreats when you get closer

 

[Dumac]

yes, there are cheap monsters placed in extremely inconvenient places (for the player).

But before you know it you will start entering every room with your shield up and quickly aiming to the side you can see there is not a wall.
And a lot of times you see those ambushes coming. for example when you see an enemy on the far side of a room and it doesnt come to attack you or when an enemy retreats when you get closer

And I'll add that those enemies are even 'cheap'. It isn't like Dragon Age 2 where the enemies just spawn from the ceiling out of thing air. If you don't run around willy nilly rushing through the area like you are invicible, then you'll be fine.

There are lot of ambushes, but these are mostly telegraphed to the player. Like I said, caution is key in dark souls.

Too many people see a shiny item out in the middle of a room, get excited, and run ahead to get it only to be ambushed by enemies lying in wait.

Don't get distracted by item bait. Don't get tunnel version. Being away of your surroundings is key. Don't get too hasty and make a bad decision. Walk around blind spots with your shield up. Look for unusual environmental clues.

 

[thespyder]

I get the OP's comments. It is sold as an RPG because it has RPG elements such as choosing a class and managing stats as you 'level up'. But it isn't the traditional RPG like BG or even the Elder Scrolls games. It is mainly a hack and slash.

Where I think people have the most fun is that the combat is non-traditional and hard as heck. But if you went to play it for the story line or any kind of interaction, you didn't watch the marketing adds or read the reviews. It is almost exclusively about progressively punishing levels, really epic monster battles and some competition.

If I were to compare it to another game, I'd almost say it has more in common with L4D than it does with any RPG. But even then it isn't really the same.

It is more about limited resources and taking a tactical approach to an ever increasing labrynth and combat.

I personally think that the combat approach they took was quite unique. Moving around actually has weight and actually 'Feels' to me a bit more like combat than games like Dragon Age or Skyrim. I love getting in behind some poor soul and stabbing them in the back for huge amounts of damage, but there are quite a few monsters that you simply can't deal with.

At the end of the day, it was marketed as a punishingly difficult combat heavy game 'with RPG elements'. If you go in it from that perspective, you should have fun. At least I do.