OmegaTreeFish
Banned
...and hopes for Dark Souls 3.
Dark Souls
I started my Souls experience about 2 years ago, I believe, when I finally decided to try out this game GAF raved about. It took a while to get into due to how it took some more old school style gaming design and a very different approach to combat and exploration than most modern games provide. However in the end it drew me in and I loved it. I didnt think it was perfect but it sure as hell did some great things.
The combat was slower but each strike had to be done with purpose and every hit, block and dodge mattered. The world was confusing yet fascinating. It twisted and turned around on itself in a way that was kind of magical and had several wow moments when you realised you were above or below an area you had been to before. Everything up to defeating O&S was an epic journey even if it was frustrating at times (falling into a pit of basilisks, Blight town etc). The game took a bit of a nose dive towards the end of the game due to rushed development, I believe it was, but I got it. I got what people loved about it.
Bloodborne
Then I moved on to Bloodborne. I was curious to see how I would fair without my shield. Would it be harder? would it be easier? would it have that same feel that I got from Dark Souls. Well my expectations were blown out the water. I fell in love with this game almost instantly. The movement, combat, world design, art style, crazy lore and bosses were all (well almost all) fantastic. So much so I have completed the game 4 times. This is 3 times more than most games I play. It takes a pretty special game to make me even replay it once let alone multiple times.
For me its game length was also pretty perfect. It took me 26 hours to complete my first blind run. I missed most optional areas doing this but I made sure I did all those in NG+. And then NG++ I did in about 4 hours to get the final ending.
If I had to say anything negative about it, it would be that the atmosphere is so damn repressive that I have to stop playing it otherwise I get addicted, keep playing it and my dreams get all kind of messed up. Not many games can hook me like this thing does.
It also suffers from a lack of build variety but that doesnt actually effect me simply because the melee dodge style is so damn fun and the game is so obviously created around this style that it feels perfect for it. So while the game has less customizability than Dark Souls, this allowed for a much more focused creation that I think works really damn well. Infact I would love to see what else they could make if they did another souls style game but maybe focused purely on magic.
Dark Souls 2
OK, I made a LTTP thread on this and made my opinion clear there but when I first played it it felt flawed to me. I was kind of down on it. I found it rather easy and certain design decisions felt a step back from what I remembered Dark Souls being. However I also stated that I could have just been spoiled by Bloodborne and be looking at Dark Souls with Rose tinted glasses. So my alpha arrived the other day and I have had a chance to go back a play a few hours of Dark Souls so I can compare it better and maybe re-evaluate a few things about Dark Souls 2.
Firstly I still feel the game has these key issues.
The controls feel off. There are huge dead zones on the ds4 controller that really effect your movement in a negative way.
The level design is all over the place, one level is tiny, looks ugly and more grief traps than fun then the next is actually large and interesting with a lot of secrets to find. They dont blend into each other with any logic at all. However we also know this is mainly due to its development troubles.
To many similar bosses with very similar movesets.
The hit boxes and hit detection is kind of a mess in places (see below).
I originally thought the game was too easy as well but I dont think that is a fair complaint. After playing Dark Souls and a shit ton of Bloodborne I think I just know how to play these games now. It was only ever Dark Souls I found rather hard in places but really thats just because I didnt know what the hell I was doing. Last night I made a new char and very easily made my way through to the bonfire after the fire bridge. Even killed that black knight with just an un-upgraded spear and shield. So I take back complaining its to easy. Its just like any game out there. Its just easy when you know how. Also go watch Brad and Vinny from giant bomb play this game and it really makes you realise why people find these games hard lol.
Out of all my original issues its those 4 that stick and I feel are fair complaints. However playing some of the original Dark Souls really made me appreciate some of the quality of life improvements they made in Dark Souls 2.
The rolling is a lot better (once you up your adaptability). In Dark Souls 1 you medium roll at 25% carry weight which is basically a fat roll. In Dark Souls 2 you can get a decent roll up to 70%. This allows you a much higher freedom in armour and weapon choice while still having a decent roll. You can also roll in more than 4 directions when locked on in DS2.
I prefere the teleporting bonfires from the beginning. They arent the reason for the weaker level design. Bloodborne has this exact same mechanic yet still had fantastic levels that twisted around themselves and were amazing to explore. The DLC levels prove this as well.
Being able to respec. Sometimes you spend 10 hours making a build you just arent enjoying. I was making a mage and finding it boring. Thanks to this I got to repsec to melee with some magic and it made the game a fair bit more fun for me.
I actually like the fact that durability matters now. Either have it matter or remove it because how it is in Dark Souls and Bloodborne was entirely pointless.
The coop and PVP is a lot better. Im not a huge fan of the PVP in these games but I like helping people with bosses once I am done with them and that feels pretty well done in this game.
The DLC was actually really good. I did 2 of the 3 so far. The one with the Fume knight and the ivory king one. Both had really interesting levels to traverse and explore. Both had more interesting bosses with the Fume Knight being the toughest and Ivory king being the most interesting due to the whole knight allies thing.
After finally using it I liked the torch mechanic. I didnt really even use it until about half way through the game so I am tempted to try a new run and make more use of it in some of the earlier areas.
So I have come around a bit on this game. Some of its flaws still grate on me but there is enough improvements there over the original to make it a pretty great game still. I let them get me really down on it for the first 80% of my playthrough but towards the end of my playthrough and then after the DLC and having completed my character build I started to appreciate what it does better. Then after playing a bit of the first Dark Souls again I can appreciate even more about it. After all I dont keep playing a game for long if I am not getting any fun out of it and I ended up with over 40 hours in this so far.
I have had a bit of a roller coaster ride with this one with almost quitting it several times to rather enjoying it by the very end. Im considering buying the none scholar version for my PC so I can try it with the old enemy layout but Im not sure if thats a good idea or not. On the plus side I hear I would be able to mod out the dead zones on the controller issues I have with the PS4 version.
So on to what I hope for Dark Souls 3. I would love a blend of all three to be honest. The clever level design and world of Dark souls 1 (up to O&S). The more focused design and speed of Bloodborne and a healthy dose of these quality of life improvements that came with Dark Souls 2. I also think that the bosses in BB are some of the best designed in the series but they are also tailored to BB faster gameplay style.
How about you guys? You want it to be more like DS1? more like DS2? more streamlined like BB?
Dark Souls
I started my Souls experience about 2 years ago, I believe, when I finally decided to try out this game GAF raved about. It took a while to get into due to how it took some more old school style gaming design and a very different approach to combat and exploration than most modern games provide. However in the end it drew me in and I loved it. I didnt think it was perfect but it sure as hell did some great things.
The combat was slower but each strike had to be done with purpose and every hit, block and dodge mattered. The world was confusing yet fascinating. It twisted and turned around on itself in a way that was kind of magical and had several wow moments when you realised you were above or below an area you had been to before. Everything up to defeating O&S was an epic journey even if it was frustrating at times (falling into a pit of basilisks, Blight town etc). The game took a bit of a nose dive towards the end of the game due to rushed development, I believe it was, but I got it. I got what people loved about it.
Bloodborne
Then I moved on to Bloodborne. I was curious to see how I would fair without my shield. Would it be harder? would it be easier? would it have that same feel that I got from Dark Souls. Well my expectations were blown out the water. I fell in love with this game almost instantly. The movement, combat, world design, art style, crazy lore and bosses were all (well almost all) fantastic. So much so I have completed the game 4 times. This is 3 times more than most games I play. It takes a pretty special game to make me even replay it once let alone multiple times.
For me its game length was also pretty perfect. It took me 26 hours to complete my first blind run. I missed most optional areas doing this but I made sure I did all those in NG+. And then NG++ I did in about 4 hours to get the final ending.
If I had to say anything negative about it, it would be that the atmosphere is so damn repressive that I have to stop playing it otherwise I get addicted, keep playing it and my dreams get all kind of messed up. Not many games can hook me like this thing does.
It also suffers from a lack of build variety but that doesnt actually effect me simply because the melee dodge style is so damn fun and the game is so obviously created around this style that it feels perfect for it. So while the game has less customizability than Dark Souls, this allowed for a much more focused creation that I think works really damn well. Infact I would love to see what else they could make if they did another souls style game but maybe focused purely on magic.
Dark Souls 2
OK, I made a LTTP thread on this and made my opinion clear there but when I first played it it felt flawed to me. I was kind of down on it. I found it rather easy and certain design decisions felt a step back from what I remembered Dark Souls being. However I also stated that I could have just been spoiled by Bloodborne and be looking at Dark Souls with Rose tinted glasses. So my alpha arrived the other day and I have had a chance to go back a play a few hours of Dark Souls so I can compare it better and maybe re-evaluate a few things about Dark Souls 2.
Firstly I still feel the game has these key issues.
The controls feel off. There are huge dead zones on the ds4 controller that really effect your movement in a negative way.
The level design is all over the place, one level is tiny, looks ugly and more grief traps than fun then the next is actually large and interesting with a lot of secrets to find. They dont blend into each other with any logic at all. However we also know this is mainly due to its development troubles.
To many similar bosses with very similar movesets.
The hit boxes and hit detection is kind of a mess in places (see below).
I originally thought the game was too easy as well but I dont think that is a fair complaint. After playing Dark Souls and a shit ton of Bloodborne I think I just know how to play these games now. It was only ever Dark Souls I found rather hard in places but really thats just because I didnt know what the hell I was doing. Last night I made a new char and very easily made my way through to the bonfire after the fire bridge. Even killed that black knight with just an un-upgraded spear and shield. So I take back complaining its to easy. Its just like any game out there. Its just easy when you know how. Also go watch Brad and Vinny from giant bomb play this game and it really makes you realise why people find these games hard lol.
Out of all my original issues its those 4 that stick and I feel are fair complaints. However playing some of the original Dark Souls really made me appreciate some of the quality of life improvements they made in Dark Souls 2.
The rolling is a lot better (once you up your adaptability). In Dark Souls 1 you medium roll at 25% carry weight which is basically a fat roll. In Dark Souls 2 you can get a decent roll up to 70%. This allows you a much higher freedom in armour and weapon choice while still having a decent roll. You can also roll in more than 4 directions when locked on in DS2.
I prefere the teleporting bonfires from the beginning. They arent the reason for the weaker level design. Bloodborne has this exact same mechanic yet still had fantastic levels that twisted around themselves and were amazing to explore. The DLC levels prove this as well.
Being able to respec. Sometimes you spend 10 hours making a build you just arent enjoying. I was making a mage and finding it boring. Thanks to this I got to repsec to melee with some magic and it made the game a fair bit more fun for me.
I actually like the fact that durability matters now. Either have it matter or remove it because how it is in Dark Souls and Bloodborne was entirely pointless.
The coop and PVP is a lot better. Im not a huge fan of the PVP in these games but I like helping people with bosses once I am done with them and that feels pretty well done in this game.
The DLC was actually really good. I did 2 of the 3 so far. The one with the Fume knight and the ivory king one. Both had really interesting levels to traverse and explore. Both had more interesting bosses with the Fume Knight being the toughest and Ivory king being the most interesting due to the whole knight allies thing.
After finally using it I liked the torch mechanic. I didnt really even use it until about half way through the game so I am tempted to try a new run and make more use of it in some of the earlier areas.
So I have come around a bit on this game. Some of its flaws still grate on me but there is enough improvements there over the original to make it a pretty great game still. I let them get me really down on it for the first 80% of my playthrough but towards the end of my playthrough and then after the DLC and having completed my character build I started to appreciate what it does better. Then after playing a bit of the first Dark Souls again I can appreciate even more about it. After all I dont keep playing a game for long if I am not getting any fun out of it and I ended up with over 40 hours in this so far.
I have had a bit of a roller coaster ride with this one with almost quitting it several times to rather enjoying it by the very end. Im considering buying the none scholar version for my PC so I can try it with the old enemy layout but Im not sure if thats a good idea or not. On the plus side I hear I would be able to mod out the dead zones on the controller issues I have with the PS4 version.
So on to what I hope for Dark Souls 3. I would love a blend of all three to be honest. The clever level design and world of Dark souls 1 (up to O&S). The more focused design and speed of Bloodborne and a healthy dose of these quality of life improvements that came with Dark Souls 2. I also think that the bosses in BB are some of the best designed in the series but they are also tailored to BB faster gameplay style.
How about you guys? You want it to be more like DS1? more like DS2? more streamlined like BB?
