Support NeoGAF

[Haunted]

Dont know for what system to buy it, PC or Xbox 360?

Man, I wish!

 

[I'm an expert]

Crazy knowing it sold out. It seemed to my store had a fair amount but not a giant allotment. Anyway, there's a really good comedy tournament on TV now..but I swear I'm gonna put in like 4-5 hours tonight. Still contemplating rerolling my pyro to a regular mage or cleric since I have a feeling pyro might be popular. Reading Kotaku's little article about the first 24 hours of the game definitely got my excited.

 

[Ostinatto]

Crazy knowing it sold out. It seemed to my store had a fair amount but not a giant allotment. Anyway, there's a really good comedy tournament on TV now..but I swear I'm gonna put in like 4-5 hours tonight. Still contemplating rerolling my pyro to a regular mage or cleric since I have a feeling pyro might be popular. Reading Kotaku's little article about the first 24 hours of the game definitely got my excited.

DEPRIVED FTW !!

 

[The Lamp]

Oh great, now I know I need to beat him like that.

this is like getting to level 99 straight out of Pallet Town...possible...but wtf

 

[kvn]

the true dark souls starts here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzrQC5hlKOg

The monster actually died of exhaustion caused by 3 hours of nonstop fighting.....

Youtube comments never fail.

 

[I'm an expert]

DEPRIVED FTW !!

I thought about it, but there isn't much confirmation yet (kind of) about what the starting classes limit yet so in case stuff is limited I'd be left with more of a melee than spellcaster with deprived. I'd much rather play a spellcaster main in this game as I didn't touch spells much in DS. The only thing kind of keeping me away from say Cleric is more healing than offense in the beginning.

 

[darkwing]

fighting that monster for 3 hours just to get his hammer is hardcore

 

[kvn]

fighting that monster for 3 hours just to get his hammer is hardcore

Did he really have to fist fight that monster to get the

Spoiler

hammer

? That would be insane.

 

[Yo Gotti]

Anyone with the game plan on posting general impressions?

I jumped into that other thread out of curiosity and watched literally 5 seconds of a random stream and got my mind blown with a certain enemies behavior that I completely did not expect. It was, awesome.

While it wasn't much of a spoiler, I still cut it off asap. This game is going to rule all.

 

[I'm an expert]

Anyone with the game plan on posting general impressions?

I jumped into that other thread out of curiosity and watched literally 5 seconds of a random stream and got my mind blown with a certain enemies behavior that I completely did not expect. It was, awesome.

While it wasn't much of a spoiler, I still cut it off asap. This game is going to rule all.

I posted throughout the day a few of my early game impressions but tonight I'll be putting in my first long session so I should have a bunch of spoiler/nonspoiler stuff to talk about soon. In short though, it's Demon's Souls version 2.0.

 

[Zeliard]

Reading Kotaku's little article about the first 24 hours of the game definitely got my excited.

Checked that out and laughed at this section:

There were moments in my first 24 hours that I thought From Software too cruel. I once found myself cursed by some beasts dwelling in

Spoiler

The Depths beneath the Undead Burg

, an affliction that not only killed my character instantly, but halved its maximum hit points. Then I was cursed again, stacking the damage. I fought for four hours at one-quarter of my health, desperately seeking a cure. Surely, I thought, there must be some mistake. How could they do this to me?

I think anyone worried the sequel is gonna pull any punches shouldn't be.

Though I dunno if those four hours were spent just trying to get to a cure or looking for one in the first place.

Also he notes that he fought the basic equivalent of the Maneaters relatively early on in the game, though that probably wasn't on a bridge.

 

[F!ReW!Re]

An excerpt from the Kotaku preview (it might be considered a SPOILER, so be WARNED)

Players likely won't feel that way after coming to grips with many of Dark Souls other gameplay components. The concept of Humanity, for example, is one of From Software's new challenges. Players start with zero Humanity, with an emaciated corpse-like body to reaffirm that status. Players can boost it by consuming black sprites known as, well, Humanity and Twin Humanities. Doing so will boost their attack, defense and resistances to afflictions like curses. If undead, or Hollowed, players can then cash in that Humanity to "reverse hollowing" and regain their human forms. Should they die while in living form or with some Humanity intact, they'll be able to reclaim it (along with whatever souls they dropped) by touching the bloodstain left at the scene of their previous death.

Humanity is also spent at Bonfires to "kindle" them, making the flames more powerful, boosting the count of your Estus Flask and, sometimes, boosting the flasks of other players online.

On Humanity, the Dark Souls manual, largely uninformative though it may be for a game of this scope, warns of Vagrants. These are born when players drop certain items or a large Humanity count upon death. Vagrants are sent to invade other players worlds.

This is still something that's not very clear to me;
So you've got no spirit form this time? But there's a state being undead and a state being alive. And next to Souls you collect Humanity????

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Anyone with the game plan on posting general impressions?

I jumped into that other thread out of curiosity and watched literally 5 seconds of a random stream and got my mind blown with a certain enemies behavior that I completely did not expect. It was, awesome.

While it wasn't much of a spoiler, I still cut it off asap. This game is going to rule all.

Once I get my copy I hope to give some general comments on feelings of the game, it's technical elements and the success of their combination and perhaps improvements that strike me.

Man, I can't believe how close it is. Sad face until I know mine has shipped

 

[Yoshichan]

So... how is everyone liking this game so far ?

 

[Yoshichan]

Bwahaha, I didn't even notice that the OT name was changed... when did this happen?

 

[Gacha-pin]

So... how is everyone liking this game so far ?

I usually don't play video games duaring the day but I did it for three hours today.

 

[Yoshichan]

I usually don't play video games duaring the day but I did it for three hours today.

Why do you not play during the day ? Good news though!

 

[Zeliard]

This is still something that's not very clear to me;
So you've got no spirit form this time? But there's a state being undead and a state being alive. And next to Souls you collect Humanity????

Souls are the currency again, and there are still two forms as far as I can tell: Undead (Hollowed) and Human. I think the slight confusion comes because you can have Humanity points stored up and just choose not to use them at a bonfire to regain Human form, similar to ignoring Stones of Ephemeral Eyes and remaining in Soul mode for various reasons (like not being invaded).

I think it only takes one Humanity point to reverse your Hollowed status; not sure how many you can hold overall, though you can get them in various ways.

What I'm curious about is this:

Players start with zero Humanity, with an emaciated corpse-like body to reaffirm that status. Players can boost it by consuming black sprites known as, well, Humanity and Twin Humanities. Doing so will boost their attack, defense and resistances to afflictions like curses. If undead, or Hollowed, players can then cash in that Humanity to "reverse hollowing" and regain their human forms.

This reads like a) you don't have to actually be in Human form to get the attack/defense/resistances buffs, but simply have some Humanity points stored, and b) that those values grow directly in proportion to the number of Humanity points you have stored up.

 

[Yoshichan]

Souls are the currency again

Oh God, yes!

 

[Zeliard]

Kotaku piece also noted souls were much harder to get this time at least in the early game, so probably no easy and early 4-1 style soul grinding .

 

[putarorex]

Played a couple more hours and grinded some souls to increase my dexterity so I could use a halberd. I figure the length might help me with a particularly troublesome demon knight. I've tried five times to beat him with my battle axe and keep getting one-shot killed by his wide swings (huge sword). My pyro's fireball takes to long to cast to use effectively against the knight.

I was grinding more souls to upgrade the halberd when the game froze again, even though I am offline. : (

This was about thirty minutes after I got stuck on some rock and had to use an item to teleport to back to a bonfire. The game could have used a couple more months of debugging. Still a fun game though.

I am also having a hard time flicking the lock-on between enemies. It seemed much easier in demon souls.

 

[F!ReW!Re]

Souls are the currency again, and there are still two forms as far as I can tell: Undead (Hollowed) and Human. I think the slight confusion comes because you can have Humanity points stored up and just choose not to use them at a bonfire to regain Human form, similar to ignoring Stones of Ephemeral Eyes and remaining in Soul mode for various reasons (like not being invaded).

I think it only takes one Humanity point to reverse your Hollowed status; not sure how many you can hold overall, though you can get them in various ways.

What I'm curious about is this:



This reads like a) you don't have to actually be in Human form to get the attack/defense/resistances buffs, but simply have some Humanity points stored, and b) that those values grow directly in proportion to the number of Humanity points you have stored up.

Thanks! That clears it up a bit!

So in summary:

Currency: Souls
Forms: Undead (Hallowed) & Human (Alive)
Humanity points can be either:
- Spent at a Bonfire or Merchant?
- Stored on your character (for a bonus in stats and resistance/immunity to curses) but you drop them when you die (just like souls in the previous game)

Do you actually spent Humanity to get those bonusses or do you carry them, like you carry Souls around..

And I have a remark regarding death penalties;

Spoiler

While I was watching a stream I saw someone die but it didn't look like they got their health halved or received other punishments for dying (Could be they were already in undead mode...)

 

[Castor Krieg]

And I have a remark regarding death penalties;

Spoiler

While I was watching a stream I saw someone die but it didn't look like they got their health halved or received other punishments for dying (Could be they were already in undead mode...)

Only stats, resistances this time. Someone also mentioned not being able to level up. No more 50% HP while in Souls/Undead form.

 

[Zeliard]

Yeah that's what I'm not sure about, how those bonuses come into play exactly.

I do know there's no more effect on your health bar between the two forms. Good choice since it frees up a ring slot for a lot of people, with the Cling Ring no longer necessary.

The death penalty definitely seems harsher than the first game. If you don't get back to your bloodstain, instead of just losing your souls, you also lose a Humanity point. Not only that but if you were in Human form at the time then you go back to Undead form, and you have to use another point to get back. I can't imagine the Humanity points are all too common (you get them by doing stuff like killing bosses and invaders/hosts, though there are also (rare?) consumable items that boost Humanity).

 

[Protocol7]

Only a couple of days to go... Only a couple of days to go... Must refrain myself from watching anything... this is getting more and more difficult...

 

[kyubajin]

IGN review diary part 2

Truth is, Dark Souls isn't fun, 95% of the time. It's the other 5% that you play for.

 

[KTallguy]

Anyone else having weird crashing problems on PS3?

Edit: Lol, I signed off and it works. The servers are being fucking hammered.

 

[I'm an expert]

Oh man, another Pyro? Haha I might just do Cleric then for an extra challenge. Sucks about the crashes, at least all of that should be figured out for the other region releases.

 

[Haunted]

IGN review diary part 2

Man, I hope that's hyperbole.


Then again it's IGN and they're not trustworthy anyway.

 

[Urban Scholar]

On the topic of freezes I've seen one player recorded 11. The weird thing is it was more or less around the earlier levels of the game.

 

[Doomrider]

Truth is, Dark Souls isn't fun, 95% of the time. It's the other 5% that you play for.

I guess I understand what the writer means, but this is just not true (if the game is anything like Demon's Souls). Sure, we all know we're gonna lose a lot, but people familiar with the previous game already know they can't just swing their weapons and hope for the best, so it's not like every little enemy will be able to kill the player.

So, whenever we're not losing, we're killing weaker enemies, discovering new places, appreciating the scenery, enemy design, etc. etc. etc.. And the game (again, if anything like Demon's Souls) is almost never unfair, so I reckon it'll be fun most of the time. And even losing is fun, I mean... It's part of the process.

 

[Zeliard]

Man, I hope that's hyperbole.


Then again it's IGN and they're not trustworthy anyway.

That comment came after she talked about spending an hour trying to take down a dragon with arrows in a battle of attrition, and then falling to her death before he died. It's easy to see the frustration; then again, as typical of death in these games, it's entirely her fault.

"Watch your step" is like the #1 rule. Gotta tread carefully.

And if it's anything like the first game then spending your time taking down a dragon isn't even necessary to progress. They're more environmental hazards than actual enemies. Maybe it's different this time around.

 

[The_Monk]

Hey guys, just woke up, question:

Does Dark Souls have a tutorial section like Demon's had?

If it does, will there be some

Spoiler

boss at the end of the tutorial

and then you can go back and talk to someone?

Spoiler

I never killed the boss in the tutorial, but it's possible right? If there will be one in Dark Souls, I wonder if it will be possible too

 

[I'm an expert]

Hey guys, just woke up, question:

Does Dark Souls have a tutorial section like Demon's had?

If it does, will there be some

Spoiler

boss at the end of the tutorial

and then you can go back and talk to someone?

Spoiler

I never killed the boss in the tutorial, but it's possible right? If there will be one in Dark Souls, I wonder if it will be possible too

Your questions have been answered in the last 2 or so pages if you look through some spoilered posts.

Spoiler

In short yes and yes

.

And now I'm totally leaning towards making a thief and doing the same dex/bow build I did in DS...fuck I hate being indecisive at the beginning of RPGs.

 

[Oichi]

Oh god, I was farming some souls to boost my Pyromancer and right now she's one-shotting pretty much any generic mobs... but then...

Spoiler

I get up to the bridge with the giant minotaur with the axe. But I was out of spells but I had some fire bombs so I figured I'd climb to the roof of a tower and rain shit down on him. So I get up there and toss one down and it hits him, and he's looking at me snarling.... then he jumps WAY the fuck up to where I am and squashes me and takes 30% of my life I eventually beat him but holy god, you are not safe AT ALL against anything

Oh yeah, I don't know if this is a spoiler or not, regarding the NPCs I've encountered so far,

Spoiler

like in Demon's Souls you can attack them... the problem is that if one of them kills you and you regen at a bonfire, they will still be aggro against you so be warned. The monsters will respawn but relationships between NPCs will remain the same it seems

 

[Zeliard]

Spoiler

I figured I'd climb to the roof of a tower and rain shit down on him. So I get up there and toss one down and it hits him, and he's looking at me snarling.... then he jumps WAY the fuck up to where I am and squashes me and takes 30% of my life

Bahaha

Hope they did this sort of thing with other boss battles so you can't just cheese them from a distance.

 

[sublimit]

So if you die do you have to go to that spot again to retrieve your souls?And if you die again before you reach it do you loose them permanently?
Sorry if this was answered before.

Also lol,this thread has already 123.000 views!

 

[The_Monk]

Your questions have been answered in the last 2 or so pages if you look through some spoilered posts.

Spoiler

In short yes and yes

.

And now I'm totally leaning towards making a thief and doing the same dex/bow build I did in DS...fuck I hate being indecisive at the beginning of RPGs.

Argh, just woke up, I'm kinda slow, but thank you for answering, sir.



I'm considering having a bow for some ranged damage, but I'm not sure if I can't resist not having another melee build. But I know how hard it was in Demon's Souls... =/

Anyone going for melee builds or similar?

People that are going to get Dark Souls plan to get other titles in October, November? Cause I plan but to be honest I have no idea how to manage the time for so much titles + life.

 

[I'm an expert]

I technically never did a melee build in DS either, was very strictly bow/ranged so heck even a Knight for me would be a new experience. Right now I'm torn between Knight and Cleric as my finally choices. 20 more minutes and I'll start playing..remaking my character for the 4th time haha.

 

[Urban Scholar]

20 more minutes and I'll start playing..remaking my character for the 4th time haha.

4th time?

 

[Canova]

So if you die do you have to go to that spot again to retrieve your souls?And if you die again before you reach it do you loose them permanently?
Sorry if this was answered before.

Also lol,this thread has already 123.000 views!

impressive, but I dont think this thread will ever match Demon's Souls OT run. It's still active 30 months after it was created. Between OT and OT2 there are over 42K posts!

 

[fionel]

After defeating the first boss,

Spoiler

I went down the stairs and came to a bridge with a dragon waiting on the other end. After dying by its seemingly unavoidable breath I naturally thought there must be some other way to proceed to the next area. I then spent the next 2 hours trying to find that while dying at the bridge or in the area before the first boss, where I supposedly shouldn't have to retread Anyway I consulted some wiki and found I have to somehow run to the middle of the bridge and go down the stairs on the side. However it was impossible to just run there as there are 5 undead soliders blocking the path, so I end up letting the dragon kill the soliders for me and just endure breath myself.

I know this is similar to a certain segment in DS, but it certainly wouldnt hurt if this particular section were a bit more intuitive.

On a brighter note, I had a lot of fun with the tutorial boss and the first real boss. I can't believe I had the same tension that I had 2 years ago when I had to face a boss in DS!

 

[I'm an expert]

4th time?

Well, first two times the game crashed cause didn't know about the online issues. Third time I..did something I posted about a few pages back (on purpose)..so I remade again and now this one will be my final time since I see pyro is a popular choice for character and I'd rather play something unpopular/new for me.

 

[johntown]

Oh man

Spoiler

I had no idea that some really hard enemies do not even drop any souls in the begining

Brutal

 

[Zeliard]

impressive, but I dont think this thread will ever match Demon's Souls OT run. It's still active 30 months after it was created. Between OT and OT2 there are over 42K posts!

It's a multiplat now. Much bigger potential audience.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Well, first two times the game crashed cause didn't know about the online issues. Third time I..did something I posted about a few pages back (on purpose)..so I remade again and now this one will be my final time since I see pyro is a popular choice for character and I'd rather play something unpopular/new for me.

Ah, well I plan going with a thief build myself and I'm fairly certain that's in the minority.

 

[kyubajin]

My 1st and most beloved character in DS was a Soldier, I was about to beat the game when my PS3 died on me...

2nd character and the one I beat the game the 1st time with was a spellsword -- certainly his magic capabilities helped a lot in the darkest moments of the game but I sometimes felt like I was cheating for not doing it the manly way and hack and slash my way through the end.

Now for DkS, I plan on making a 100% melee + bow character (probably Warrior or Knight) from the get go even if I die a thousand times and cry like a weaned baby. Who's with me?

 

[I'm an expert]

Ah, well I plan going with a thief build myself and I'm fairly certain that's in the minority.

Thief is something I wanted (because of the key) to do but high dex builds just push me to ranged.

 

[Giriath_89]

Deprived run getting that

Spoiler

tutorial boss hammer!

 

[sixteen-bit]

the true dark souls starts here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzrQC5hlKOg

What an ass-beating