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[FloatOn]

in other words, would you or have you played a Souls series game offline and still enjoyed what is on offer?

I'm thinking about how a hypothetical Souls series game would work on Switch and I think that since the infrastructure isn't quite there yet would fans be okay with a strictly offline Souls series game.

As a fan of the Souls games myself I very much enjoy jolly cooperative experiences. I was less into the pvp but when it actually worked in my favor and wasn't frustrating it added some extra excitement to the journey.

Thinking back though, when I first played Dark Souls I mainly solo'd the whole thing and I count that experience as one of my favorites in my personal gaming history. Taking on O & S solo was exhilarating.

Seeing as how FROM is listed as one of the developers for Switch my speculation is that we will see some kind of "Dark Souls Switch Edition" in 2018 similar to what we have going on with Skyrim at the end of this year. If that does happen I don't see the multiplayer aspect being intact but perhaps some nintendo themed bonus content will be added to make up for it (Master Sword in a Dark Souls game is the stuff of dreams).

 

[StarPhlox]

LEAST important aspect to me, personally.


Also the idea of playing Souls two player with joy con on the side with that screen is cracking me up

 

[Neptonic]

I need Co-Op to beat a lot of the bosses, but it's also fun to watch others to do PvP. I personally don't like invading/being invaded.

 

[schlynch]

I think it's one of the best and most important features and it was sad to see how they turned it down with BB and DS3 (PVP). The PVE part was still fine but I got maybe 3-4 invasions while palying 3 and this is just... ugh. Not to speak of BB where it was even less.

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

pretty high its rare to get a good rpg that has online coop

 

[Carl7]

Very important. Bloodborne is not my favorite Souls because its multiplayer does not work.

 

[FloatOn]

LEAST important aspect to me, personally.


Also the idea of playing Souls two player with joy con on the side with that screen is cracking me up

the only way Souls games would work well multiplayer would be through some kind of LAN situation and multiple Switches.

 

[Tagyhag]

The 2nd least important (story being the first), it's a VERY cool aspect and I completely understand why others love it.

But in Souls it's always been PVE more than PVP for me.

That said, I like putting my sign down to help others.

 

[GoingToDelete]

On of the most important aspects. I dont have the reactions or the coodination to beat most of the enemys myself, nor the patients to grind for gear or items. I have completed 1 doing co-op, most of 2 and 3 as well.

 

[KZXcellent]

Very low.

Summoning has been okay but cheapens the whole ordeal when it comes to taking down a boss/area, Would prefer at difficulty toggle at that point. PVP is also not that fun at all.

 

[TronLight]

Pretty much 0, never used it competitively, a bit in co-op to replay some bosses (if I'm lucky).

I think the games would be better off without it, it ruins the immersion IMHO.

 

[chadtwo]

Pretty much non-existent, I personally enjoy the challenge of having to do everything on my own.

 

[super-famicom]

I'm not that big on PVP (specifically invading or arena stuff, I do it maybe 30-40% of my playtime), I much prefer to engage in jolly cooperation and help others with a boss, or get through a difficult area and defend them from invaders. I never summon help, though.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

It's the most unimportant part for me. I rarely use co op for bosses, although I do help others quite a bit and the PVP is cancer.

 

[Gator86]

Too small to measure reliably. Souls PvP is shit and invasions are little more than an annoyance that detract from the best part of the game.

Co-op is pretty bad too. The AI is fucking abysmal and completely incapable of tackling multiple targets in a competent way. It's totally broken.

I know people enjoy it, so it's cool it's there, but all Souls multiplayer stuff sucks, in my opinion.

 

[sol740]

Play area, beat boss, help others, or invade others till I am tired of it. Move on to new area. I value MP at a two out of four.

 

[KHlover]

DS3 stats: 70 hours SP, 130 hours CoOp. Pretty important to me.

 

[InsaneTiger]

In terms of requested features low, I beat Demon's Soul not understanding what most of it meant. But I do like the MP aspect of the game. Very fun.

 

[slick7rick]

I never play PvP nor summon. But I do enjoy reading the messages left behind.

 

[Tohsaka]

Not at all, I never bother with it.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

0. I don't particularly like being invaded (I don't quit though) or the PvP and I never ever summon anyone for bosses. I never invade and honestly I wouldn't even know how to do it after finishing all games in the series lol.

 

[KORNdoggy]

Competative/co-op? Not at all. Actively avoid invasions as much as possible. The "social" secondary aspect (blood pools, seeing ghosts of other players and leaving notes) i really like and i think i would miss a lot if they wern't there.

 

[frogger]

it helps beating the hard bosses. So yeah, it is required.

 

[TakeItSlowDude]

The bloodstains, phantoms, markings, and random invasion are big part of the atmosphere for me, but I don't bother that much with PvP.

 

[dugdug]

I definitely missed it while playing The Surge, recently.

I haven't ever really tried, but, I also don't think I can beat False Allant in Demon's Souls alone. Always needed multiple people.

 

[Jawmuncher]

It's an important aspect. However said aspect can be implemented pretty well even offline. I played DS1 offline and still had the "illusion" of being online. Since you have the red ghosts in the game and the summons as well.

 

[BadWolf]

Not at all, I always play them offline.

 

[Zyrox]

Very important to me. Turns the games from 50h into 300+h affairs for me. Bloodborne's MP was really disappointing and one of the reasons why I consider it worse than the Dark Souls trilogy.

 

[MaDKaT]

None at all. I play offline. I wan't want an easy mode

 

[Servbot24]

No importance. I don't even know how to use the PvP items. I like getting invaded once in a while though.

 

[Masagiwa]

Used it to get the platinums

 

[Banana Aeon]

PvP is pretty big to me. It's incredibly fun, when it works.

Problem is, it don't work most the damn time.

 

[Moongazer]

Not very important for me personally.

The games stand on their own even without the multiplayer or coop. They are nice extras on top of the core design of the games.

 

[pbayne]

Zero. I play the games offline.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Almost no importance at all. The odd time I do summon I'll just pull in an AI character, and the invasions are more annoying than anything else.

PvP was fun in DS2's designated areas, but I can live without it.

 

[Nameless]

Very. Invading is one of my favorite things about Souls games. After exploring an area thoroughly and beating the boss I always like to stick around for a while and invade before moving on. After the first playthhrough I'll do a one or two more to see everything, but it's mostly about PvP.

I don't find Ganking bosses to be much fun, so I rarely help out and I certainly don't summon for help during my playthroughs.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Literally the most important part. I wouldn't keep playing it if it were single player only. I can't even count how many hours of jolly cooperation I've done with friends.

 

[AlephAlpha]

I played all of them, including Bloodborne, in offline mode. So I don't care at all.
The only time I think I missed out is with the Old Monk in DeS.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I love being able to summon help as I don't have the patience for trying bosses more than 5-10 times before giving up honestly. Games really aren't for me despite platting Bloodborne (with no summons as I couldn't get them to work) and beating all bosses in DS3 and the first DLC (haven't summoned the willpower to play the 2nd). I doubt I'll buy another Souls/Soulslike game tbh.

Anyway, back on topic, I dislike the invasions. Wish there were as an option to get the player notes without being open for invasion.

 

[Syysch]

I only really pvp'd a lot in DS1, but i did a LOT of coop in all of them. I really enjoy helping others who may be struggling through them.

 

[IbukiLordSA]

Wouldn't miss it if it were gone.

 

[Purest 78]

Not important at all I Maybe tried it once in Bloodborn in over 200 hours.

 

[RSchmitz]

I don´t like it. I actually block it on my firewall so I don´t have to bother with it.

 

[BriGuy]

It's the only way I get past some of the bosses. Plus I love the feeling of paying it forward to the next unfortunate schlub once I've honed my skills a bit more.

 

[Spacejaws]

Great feature to have but if it was missing it miss a pretty unique feature but they would still some of the best gaming experiences that can be had.

 

[Kinsei]

Not very. Invasions are cool but I never co-op or read many messages.

 

[rhandino]

In Dark Souls I only used the messages.

Then in Dark Souls II I spent a HUGE part of my two playtroughs helping people beat bosses and duels.

Then Bloodborne and Dark Souls III came and I could havent cared less about it which was weird because of how much I played II online.

 

[Skittzo0413]

Not at all really. I like the messages, but that's about it. I've also tried summoning non NPCs for co-op maybe all of 10 times throughout DS1-3 and it almost never actually works.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the Switch though, the online infrastructure is fine for the online games already on the platform. It would basically be the same as using a laptop to play (which is how I play DS1-3).

 

[Radiant Silvertuna]

I used to think it was a vital part of the experience, but then a few things happened:

1. I got Bloodborne but refuse to pay for PS+, so offline only. I still really enjoyed the game.

2. My time for video games almost disappeared, so I'm always way behind the curve. Not interested in fighting twink trolls when I don't even know my way around the area.

I still think Souls online is cool, but it's not something I participate in anymore.

 

[Barry Burton]

I barely engage with it. I read messages, but that's about it. I've never joined/invaded another player's game and haven't needed help for any bosses. By and large, most of what I love about these games would still be there if I wasn't connected online.