Would Dark Souls be more enjoyable if it wasn't insanely tough?

[DrunkenSano]

Needing DSFix and a wired 360 controller, is that what the comments saying it is just a poor console port mean? That's one reason why I've been wary in purchasing the game, a lot of comments for the game says that it is a poor console port.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Needing DSFix and a wired 360 controller, is that what the comments saying it is just a poor console port mean? That's one reason why I've been wary in purchasing the game, a lot of comments for the game says that it is a poor console port.

It might be a poor console port, but the community fixed it perfectly. There is literally ZERO bugs with it, both on my 480 GTX and my 7970. DSFix resolved the port issue, IMO.

The controller? Well... I dunno, I used to HATE console controllers, but I really enjoy the 360 wireless now after playing Dark Souls.

 

[Dumac]

Dark Souls isn't really that hard. I'm not a skilled gamer and I could beat it with little problems. You just have to be patient and methodical.

But no, it would not be better if it was easier. There are plenty of other games who require little effort to complete, so let's not change this one that is a bit different.

But yes, 360 controller is beyond recommended for this game.

 

[you2]

I think my problem with the controller was that it is so much easier to 'look' with the mouse than with the controller.

 

[Kalmah]

I've been playing this game for 2 or 3 days now with an xbox360 controller and am near the end. It requires a little more thought and effort than a standard game of today but it's not any more difficult than playing Mario Brothers 3 on the snes. Death's are unlimited, it's not like you have 3 lives or anything. I'm playing as a sorcerer with equal combat ability. Pumping dex and int with a few vit, end, and resi here and there. I can take out targets at a range with magic arrow with no threat and then take out the melee'ers with my sword. (can't remember the name of the sword, I got it by killing the merchant in the undead berg) I've upgraded it to +6 at this point.

 

[Dooms87]

i thought the insane difficulty was the point of playing the game ?

 

[thejunglegod]

Ok I regret what I wrote earlier in the OP and truly realize how amazing a game this truly is. The thrill I got from defeating the tauran demon on the bridge was extraordinary. Bloody frantically started searching for a bonfire after that only to get on another bridge and get charred by. Dragons flame. I chuckled. But it was so much fun with a controller. Got the Drake sword using the tail glitch and it made the game slightly easier, so went back to the long sword. The game is a lesson on not to ever give up. Thanks guys.


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

 

[zokudu]

I gave up on this game after I got out of the tutorial. I had no clue where to go and the whole game felt clunky to me. To each their own though.

 

[KaOTiK]

Ok I regret what I wrote earlier in the OP and truly realize how amazing a game this truly is. The thrill I got from defeating the tauran demon on the bridge was extraordinary. Bloody frantically started searching for a bonfire after that only to get on another bridge and get charred by. Dragons flame. I chuckled. But it was so much fun with a controller. Got the Drake sword using the tail glitch and it made the game slightly easier, so went back to the long sword. The game is a lesson on not to ever give up. Thanks guys.

Really glad you stuck with it and learned the game to see what we were talking about.

I gave up on this game after I got out of the tutorial. I had no clue where to go and the whole game felt clunky to me. To each their own though.

You didn't even play the game then. Once you leave the tutorial you want to go up to the side of the mountain, not down the stairs leading to the elevator and not to the graveyard with the skeletons. You'll hit the undead burg and that is where 99% of people should at first. It isn't clunky, it is because you have almost no stats at the start, you move slowly and such, as you invest into attributes and gain gear you move more fluid.

You don't start off a bad ass or even semi bad ass in Dark Souls.

 

[TallBill]

Really glad you stuck with it and learned the game to see what we were talking about.




You didn't even play the game then. Once you leave the tutorial you want to go up to the side of the mountain, not down the stairs leading to the elevator and not to the graveyard with the skeletons. You'll hit the undead burg and that is where 99% of people should at first. It isn't clunky, it is because you have almost no stats at the start, you move slowly and such, as you invest into attributes and gain gear you move more fluid.

You don't start off a bad ass or even semi bad ass in Dark Souls.

Yeah I wasted like 5 hours taking on the tough skeletons to Starr. Ended up quitting after 15 hours, got so annoying and i wasn't making progress. Then when I got killed by simpler stuff I started freaking out.

 

[thejunglegod]

I love how the weight of an armour item affects the stance of the character. For example when I got the Drake sword I had only 15 strength do he could only wield it two handed. Watching him swing with only the right hand was uber funny. Also after defeating the metallic boar, it dropped a helm. It looked so cool. Though I noticed a sluggishness in my character once he equipped it. Turns out it's damn heavy. So went back to my sad little helm.


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

 

[TallBill]

I'd maybe like to try it again some day with a new character and walk through. The playing difficulty was hard enough, I didn't really want to wander around as well.

 

[tnt118]

I'd maybe like to try it again some day with a new character and walk through. The playing difficulty was hard enough, I didn't really want to wander around as well.

The wiki has a suggested areas order for different skill levels... i.e. a beginner should go with route "A" while someone more advanced can take a different path, doing different areas (and even different bosses) to reach the same milestones in the game. I've resorted to the wiki for about a third of the areas I've been in. I agree that it's not a good use of my time to try to figure all this stuff out by myself... there's just too much.

I'm about half-way through my first playthrough. I enjoy the difficulty and I enjoy the game. But to me what is truly jaw-dropping is the level design. I don't think I've ever seen a game excel at this as much as Dark Souls has. As frustrating as it might be that there's little direction on where to go, that's in part because there isn't always a way you need to go. The game won't let you get too far in a totally wrong direction. Back to the level design though, when the big picture of how Undead Burg was laid out clicked in my head, it was an amazing revelation. The way areas are realistically interconnected, and how easy it is to get between them, is superb. And when you realize the "background" is not just a matte painting, but the actual rendered game world that you will travel to, it blows your mind. The way you can see the other zones and landmarks around you... well I'm out of words to describe it.

I'm all for games that have epic size and scope.. traveling between cities and continents and planets. But there's something amazingly refreshing about how Dark Souls keeps itself contained to a relativity small area (lets say what, something like a square mile? maybe 2?) and keeps everything *tight*.

 

[billcosmos]

To me, Dark Souls isn't "hard" necessarily, it's challenging. The great thing about it is that it mixes "grinding" from JRPG's and skill/reflex-based combat of action games perfectly. When you go grind through an area of enemies, you learn how to fight them more efficiently and you learn the nooks and crannies of the area, plus the game gives you souls for doing that, so you improve your character's stats by learning how to fight with skill. Thus, every time you go through an area, it's slightly easier.

I think the combat difficulty is fantastic in Dark Souls, and I hope that type of gameplay remains in Dark Souls 2. However, what the game needs to be is more accessible. My biggest gripe about the game is it's utter lack of explanation of just about anything. Unless you extensively read a wiki, you can play the game for 50 hours and not know how covenants, humanity, kindling, invasion works. I think for Dark Souls 2 ,there should be the standard game mode that will keep it exactly as difficult as DS1, but there should also be an option to give you an in-game wiki/journal type thing to explain the game's systems, give info on enemies etc. Also I think some kind of combat training mode or something would be cool, where you could learn how to fight different types of enemies with different weapons and abilities, just for practice.

 

[thejunglegod]

To me, Dark Souls isn't "hard" necessarily, it's challenging. The great thing about it is that it mixes "grinding" from JRPG's and skill/reflex-based combat of action games perfectly. When you go grind through an area of enemies, you learn how to fight them more efficiently and you learn the nooks and crannies of the area, plus the game gives you souls for doing that, so you improve your character's stats by learning how to fight with skill. Thus, every time you go through an area, it's slightly easier.

I think the combat difficulty is fantastic in Dark Souls, and I hope that type of gameplay remains in Dark Souls 2. However, what the game needs to be is more accessible. My biggest gripe about the game is it's utter lack of explanation of just about anything. Unless you extensively read a wiki, you can play the game for 50 hours and not know how covenants, humanity, kindling, invasion works. I think for Dark Souls 2 ,there should be the standard game mode that will keep it exactly as difficult as DS1, but there should also be an option to give you an in-game wiki/journal type thing to explain the game's systems, give info on enemies etc. Also I think some kind of combat training mode or something would be cool, where you could learn how to fight different types of enemies with different weapons and abilities, just for practice.

But maybe all that would take the fun away from the game. The feeling of utter helplessness when u encounter a mini boss or boss not knowing what moves they perform and realizing the fact that the last bonfire was miles away, is the best part of the game. If you give prior training, then it might take the fun out of all that. But I agree with you on the concept of an in game wiki explaining the story. He'll I don't know what the he'll is happening most of the times as my only goal is survivability.


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android