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[Jindrax]

So I managed to snag a copy yesterday at my local game store.
Dude doesn't really care about release dates...
Anyway this game is by far the most fun thing I've played on PS4 since Ground Zeroes.
For me it feels like Dark Souls lite. They explain everything a lot better, you clearly know where you SHOULD be going. Less attributes, you basicly choose a class a the start of the game. To me it also feels a lot less sluggish. The movement feels smoother and more natural.

Downsides? The VA is a joke xD I mean seriously its BAD. I've also run into some sound glitches. Like I've been playing for the past hour without music. The voices in the cutscenes have also vanished...

If you guys have any questions feel free to ask them here, I've seen a few other GAFfers with copies of the game so we should be able to answer most.

I'll also try and stream most of my gameplay today -> Twitch/zonerr

 

[Lanrutcon]

Secrets, optional stuff, weird branches to go exploreL I'd like to know about level design as you progress.

 

[Parakeetman]

For me it feels like Dark Souls lite. They explain everything a lot better, you clearly know where you SHOULD be going. Less attributes, you basicly choose a class a the start of the game. To me it also feels a lot less sluggish. The movement feels smoother and more natural.

Hmm Dark Souls lite, dont like that sound of that...

 

[Phazon]

You're saying it feels like a Dark Souls lite. Does that also mean it's not as 'brutal' or 'hard' as the DS franchise? I'm interested in a nice and fun RPG (my interest in Dragon Age went up lately) and maybe this one can also satisfy my RPG thirst ^^

 

[Dunkley]

Hmm Dark Souls lite, dont like that sound of that...

I'm the opposite. If it's any like Souls, I won't pass on playing it.

 

[Corpekata]

Do you have the pre order DLC?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I love Dark Souls but I admit it's obtuseness is both one of it's biggest strengths and weaknesses, as long as the clearer telegraphing doesn't exclude hidden secret content I wouldn't mind that too much in this case.

You've got me intrigued OP, I had my eye on this but wasn't convinced given the dev's past history.

 

[abstract alien]

Awesome! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it, especially since you like ground zeros so much(that game is amazing).

- Generally speaking, how much damage do enemies deal? Can you take a few hits and be ok, or when you get hit even once does it really leave a mark?

- How is healing yourself handled?

- What type of save system does it have?

- Any reason to fear death like in Dark Souls or Zombi U?

 

[MarkV]

What does VA stand for?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

What does VA stand for?

voice acting

 

[UrbanRats]

How linear is the exploration?

In Dark Souls, while not open world, there are several options since the beginning, is this like that or more linear?

 

[IHaveIce]

Man If I had more money at hand I would get it asap

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

To me it also feels a lot less sluggish. The movement feels smoother and more natural.

From everything we've seen and previews issued, this is the exact opposite of whats been observed. Movement, weapon speeds, dodging are all more sluggish. ENB said the fastest you could roll/move was a mid roll in Dark Souls. As someone who enjoys playing these games with as much speed as possible (Demons light roll is how I always roll) this was a massive blow. Another massive blow is apparently the lack of difficulty.

 

[T.O.P]

How linear is the exploration?

This is what i want to know as well

 

[bigjig]

Interesting that you describe it as less sluggish than Souls. I had the complete opposite impression looking at gameplay videos

 

[Parakeetman]

Im still torn by wanting to pick this up to see what they did with the title yet at the same time dont want to support devs that go blatantly grabbing a particular game style and trying to ride off the coattails of it.

 

[SDCowboy]

Another massive blow is apparently the lack of difficulty.

Sounds like a positive to me.

 

[UrbanRats]

Im still torn by wanting to pick this up to see what they did with the title yet at the same time dont want to support devs that go blatantly grabbing a particular game style and trying to ride off the coattails of it.

I wish more would, if it means evolving a good design "gene".

 

[jesu]

Sounds like a positive to me.

Yes, Dark Souls was too difficult for me but I really enjoyed the 30 hours I put into it.

If this is any where near as good as Dark Souls but easier I'd buy it straight away

 

[Jimmyfenix]

From everything we've seen and previews issued, this is the exact opposite of whats been observed. Movement, weapon speeds, dodging are all more sluggish. ENB said the fastest you could roll/move was a mid roll in Dark Souls. As someone who enjoys playing these games with as much speed as possible (Demons light roll is how I always roll) this was a massive blow. Another massive blow is apparently the lack of difficulty.

Yup I agree with you here.

I wish reviews came out soon but i have heard embargo ends on Tuesday morning. Need more impressions.

 

[Jaxx]

Hmm Dark Souls lite, dont like that sound of that...

Me either. I was semi-interested when people were calling it a Dark Souls clone, but it wasn't until I watched videos that I saw what they meant. They're just referring to combat, not all the cool multiplayer stuff. Then I watched Bloodborne alpha footage and immediately remembered why I love Dark Souls - the user messages, the user death ghosts etc. Without all of that it's not really Dark/Demon Souls to me. I can wait the 3 months for Bloodborne.

 

[ironcreed]

It sounds about like what I am expecting. I'll be paying this strictly due to the fact that it is another take on the Souls formula. That is all I want out of it.

On a side note, I wish we could go ahead and pre-load this on PS4.

 

[Parakeetman]

It sounds about like what I am expecting. I'll be paying this strictly due to the fact that it is another take on the Souls formula. That is all I want out of it.

On a side note, I wish we could go ahead and pre-load this on PS4.

Theres no pre-load?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Hmm Dark Souls lite, dont like that sound of that...

Think of it less as a degraded Souls game, and more like an upgraded everyother ARPG. There's someone actually trying now, like game design iteration used to work.

 

[ironcreed]

Theres no pre-load?

Not yet. I checked this morning and still no dice.

 

[Nothus]

For people worried about a lack of difficulty, surely that is what NG+ and NG++ are for? Not to mention the classes that are designed to be tougher to use than a warrior, for example.

 

[KCroxtonJr]

Im still torn by wanting to pick this up to see what they did with the title yet at the same time dont want to support devs that go blatantly grabbing a particular game style and trying to ride off the coattails of it.

wat.

I'm pretty sure I've seen you in the PSO/Monster Hunter style games thread, which makes this post funny.

Anyways, about the sluggish thing, I don't think he meant as in it being faster gameplay, but it being more responsive maybe? seems like thats why he said movement felt more natural and smooth.

I haven't really seen a problem with difficulty either, watched a lot of streams and have seen plenty of dying.

 

[GHG]

From everything we've seen and previews issued, this is the exact opposite of whats been observed. Movement, weapon speeds, dodging are all more sluggish. ENB said the fastest you could roll/move was a mid roll in Dark Souls. As someone who enjoys playing these games with as much speed as possible (Demons light roll is how I always roll) this was a massive blow. Another massive blow is apparently the lack of difficulty.

So you counter an opinion from someone who has played it with "from everything we've seen". Really...?

All of your "concerns" are addressed in this video if you care enough:

http://youtu.be/YiliYhJCrZo

I also don't get people who are saying they don't support this because it's too similar to The a Souls series. The fact that there will now be some competition in this sub genre is a good thing.

 

[Parakeetman]

Think of it less as a degraded Souls game, and more like an upgraded everyother ARPG. There's someone actually trying now, like game design iteration used to work.

Nah I still dont like the fact that they literally lifted heavily from the title. Im all for folks doing their own thing, but this one to me personally crossed that fine line. Hence the issue I have with picking it up at full price from the start. :/

Thats just me though and am sure loads of folks here at GAF will have a good time with the game.

Not yet. I checked this morning and still no dice.

Thanks for the reply, in that case will hold off from the tiny notion of potentially going to see if it was still available to pre-order.

 

[Jaxx]

Not yet. I checked this morning and still no dice.

PS4 pre-loads usually occur on the Sunday afternoon prior to release day. So in about another 4-6 hours.

 

[Yoshichan]

Thanks for the impressions. I'm going to demolish this game come Friday. DESTROY!

 

[ironcreed]

PS4 pre-loads usually occur on the Sunday afternoon prior to release day. So in about another 4-6 hours.

Yeah, I was assuming today. Hopefully we can later.

 

[Diablohead]

This is a game I really know nothing about and spent some time earlier digging up info since it's out soon, watched an hour of footage on youtube with a dev talking about the game.

I really want this game now, i've never played a souls game but I have seen enough of them in speed runs and video clips to understand the style of game.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Another massive blow is apparently the lack of difficulty.

They are in a tough spot re: difficulty. In order for it to feel difficult for longtime souls fans, it would have to be even harder than the souls games, which would completely alienate a large portion of their target audience (general arpg fans). They've been clear from the outset that LOF was going to be a bit friendlier than souls.

I think it will be interesting to see whether the base mechanics of souls will hold up when they are decoupled from the high stakes and tension that are the hallmarks of the series.

 

[Salz01]

How are the graphics / atmosphere in the game? Can you tell it's made for next gen? Is there a hub, or town? Are there several unique environments?

 

[Digby]

They are in a tough spot re: difficulty. In order for it to feel difficult for longtime souls fans, it would have to be even harder than the souls games, which would completely alienate a large portion of their target audience (general arpg fans). They've been clear from the outset that LOF was going to be a bit friendlier than souls.

I think it will be interesting to see whether the base mechanics of souls will hold up when they are decoupled from the high stakes and tension that are the hallmarks of the series.

So they're making a Darksiders clone and calling it a dark souls clone? I'm worried about this.

 

[Jindrax]

Awesome! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it, especially since you like ground zeros so much(that game is amazing).

- Generally speaking, how much damage do enemies deal? Can you take a few hits and be ok, or when you get hit even once does it really leave a mark?

- How is healing yourself handled?

- What type of save system does it have?

- Any reason to fear death like in Dark Souls or Zombi U?

- well the guys following the questline seem to scale properly. They tend to do low damage. When you go off to explore you can end up facing dudes that are way to powerful and will rek your shit fast.

- it auto saves at these crystals you use you upgrade your stats

- you use potions to heal yourself. Now you start the game with 2. When you can only refill them by revisitng those crystals where you upgrade. You do find new empty bottles hidden around so you can have more than two potions eventually. I'm on 4 now.

If you die it's like dark souls. You drop your xp. Die twice... Yeah you'll lose the first batch.

How linear is the exploration?

In Dark Souls, while not open world, there are several options since the beginning, is this like that or more linear?

It's sort of open. But you need to find keys to open all the doors. Which you usually find by exploring all open places

Yes, Dark Souls was too difficult for me but I really enjoyed the 30 hours I put into it.

If this is any where near as good as Dark Souls but easier I'd buy it straight away

I'm 6 hours in. And it feels like dark souls. But more streamlined.

 

[LurkerPrime]

How are you finding the level design compared to the Souls games? By this I mean, is there a bunch of trickery and misdirection by the level designers... Stuff like putting an enemy immediately behind and to the side a doorway, trapped chests/mimics, environmental hazards, or cleverly-hidden items (e.g. hidden behind a crate, slightly out of view).

I've always found the Dark Souls games to have exceptionally clever level design on top of the solid gameplay, which is what sets it apart from other games... and this is what Lords of the Fallen needs to match to gain my attention.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Nah I still dont like the fact that they literally lifted heavily from the title. Im all for folks doing their own thing, but this one to me personally crossed that fine line. Hence the issue I have with picking it up at full price from the start. :/

Thats just me though and am sure loads of folks here at GAF will have a good time with the game.



Thanks for the reply, in that case will hold off from the tiny notion of potentially going to see if it was still available to pre-order.

I can see that, but, I feel it's great as that's how revolutionary games spawned inspired titles. Going beyond sludgy, sloppy, flailing swordplay, going beyond shallow, low-risk Press A For Awesome mashing. "You can't get away with this ghetto crap any more, people have tasted better"

 

[whassupbun]

- Generally speaking, how much damage do enemies deal? Can you take a few hits and be ok, or when you get hit even once does it really leave a mark?

It will differ depending on your class, armor and the enemy you are fighting. I am playing as a Warrior with heavy armor so I'm supposed to be a tank with a fair bit of health, I haven't been one-hit-killed by anything yet, but getting hit a few times will get you killed. The challenge is there, but it isn't as punishing as DS.

- How is healing yourself handled?

You get 3 health potions (there is a trophy for upgrading your health potion, but not sure if it is upgrading the number of potions or the effectiveness), and it replenishes every time you activate a checkpoint. Some spells also heal you over time.

- What type of save system does it have?

There are some levitating stones/checkpoints throughout the map that you can activate to save your game and bank your experience points.

- Any reason to fear death like in Dark Souls or Zombi U?

There is an XP multiplier for killing enemies with dying. Once you bank your XP, the multiplier resets, so you are always trying to kill as many enemies as you can in one life without banking to get as much XP as possible. But if you don't bank your XP, you lose all of it when you die. Lost XP can be reclaimed by going back to where you were killed and collecting your lost soul, but there is a timer and the amount of XP will deplete over time. I wouldn't say it necessarily makes players fear death, but the risk/reward dynamic will keep you on your toes when you have racked up a huge multiplier.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

So they're making a Darksiders clone and calling it a dark souls clone? I'm worried about this.

Hmm =/

One of these is not like the other and I don't want the first!

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

So you counter an opinion from someone who has played it with "from everything we've seen". Really...?

All of your "concerns" are addressed in this video if you care enough:

http://youtu.be/YiliYhJCrZo

I also don't get people who are saying they don't support this because it's too similar to The a Souls series. The fact that there will now be some competition in this sub genre is a good thing.

Really...? Yes because my eyes are lying to me aren't they. You definitely can't judge movement speed with you're eyes -___-
No my concerns are not addressed in that video, in fact they are cemented by it. Movement speed at its fastest is mid-roll. Its not something that puts me off the game but just another negative.

They are in a tough spot re: difficulty. In order for it to feel difficult for longtime souls fans, it would have to be even harder than the souls games, which would completely alienate a large portion of their target audience (general arpg fans). They've been clear from the outset that LOF was going to be a bit friendlier than souls.

I think it will be interesting to see whether the base mechanics of souls will hold up when they are decoupled from the high stakes and tension that are the hallmarks of the series.

I think people exaggerate how difficult it needs to be considered difficult by Souls fans. I've played hundred's of hours in the series and will still die numerous times if I play them again. I'm sure I will die dozens of times in Bloodborne. The games aren't difficult dexterity wise or even puzzling.....they are simply unforgiving. Make a couple of mistakes or bad choices and you could very well be dead. This concern was only brought up from what ENB said. I will reserve judgement after its released but its something that irks me. I understand the need to make it forgiving to target a larger audience, although since there's no difficulty option that puts me off.

 

[Corpekata]

No clue how people are seeing Darksiders in this outside of the art style.

 

[Tekku]

How's Harkyn, the main character? He looks very generic to me.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Hmm Dark Souls lite, dont like that sound of that...

Sounds perfect. I ain't got time for games I can't pause.

 

[Jindrax]

How are you finding the level design compared to the Souls games? By this I mean, is there a bunch of trickery and misdirection by the level designers... Stuff like putting an enemy immediately behind and to the side a doorway, trapped chests/mimics, environmental hazards, or cleverly-hidden items (e.g. hidden behind a crate, slightly out of view).

I've always found the Dark Souls games to have exceptionally clever level design on top of the solid gameplay, which is what sets it apart from other games... and this is what Lords of the Fallen needs to match to gain my attention.

They've done a good job making the game feel way bigger than I actually think it is. But the details aren't very well thought out. Lots of rooms look exactly the same but with a different lay out. So at first I always got confused as to where I actually was because everything seemed to look the same.

 

[Ricker]

I think I read or someone mentionned in the many previews that difficulty is based on the class...?

Warrior guy = easy

Cleric = normal and the Rogue is hard...

 

[paperspace]

You move way too fast in this game. I'm gonna go heavy armor for sure.

 

[Lanrutcon]

I think I read or someone mentionned in the many previews that difficulty is based on the class...?

Warrior guy = easy

Cleric = normal and the Rogue is hard...

There's also a NG and NG+.

 

[DJSebolski]

Probably will wait for Steam sale to grab this.