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Favorite area in a Souls-style game?
- Thread starter SunBroDave
- Start date
Out of curiosity, is there anyone else who absolutely loves Valley of Defilement, particularly 5-2, in Demon's Souls? It's just a flat swampland, but the atmosphere feels so tense and hostile. I never see people praising this area but it's definitely one of the highlights of Demon's Souls IMO.
lvl99 Pixel
Member
that might be preferable to balloon men. Its not that im singling it out, its that its still the same all these games later (havent played much DS3, but from what ive seen its the same deal)
mrmickfran
Member
Dark Souls - Anor Londo
Dark Souls 3 - Lothric Castle
Bloodborne - Cainhurst
Dark Souls 3 - Lothric Castle
Bloodborne - Cainhurst
PensivePen
Member
People didn't like that the ragdolls were removed from DS2, so I think they're here to stay. While silly and out of place it's something people enjoy, and it's really okay to have a little comforting levity in the course of a 20-40 hour game full of depressing themes.
5-2 is an amazingly oppressive experience.
I had the good fortune of playing through that area in NG+ with Pure Black World Tendency. Those fucking black phantom giant depraved ones...
lvl99 Pixel
Member
Dark Souls has like, weird fat onion knight guy, and weird talking crows. Its definitely got levity where bloodborne does not.
nailbombxx
Member
These dudes are literally just chilling in an unseen dimension until the veil is lifted and then HOLY FUCK.
In certain areas they can actually interact with you - by grabbing you - even though you cant see them
Pretty awesome touch to the environment if you ask me.
Bloodborne still has plenty of levity.
From Software always has a bit of humor even at their darkest. Did you see the naked blue fat guys rolling around in the Chalice Dungeons?
lvl99 Pixel
Member
yeah, I like those things, probably the biggest change to the look of the game
maybe? gave up on challice dungeons pretty quick after seeing the same boss and set pieces more than once
pretty done
Member
Would be good if Demons Souls didn't have poor mechanics.
Seriously not being able to roll in water makes the game feel dated as fuck. Artificial difficulty at it's finest.
miller.skippins
Banned
Bloodborne had patches as a talking spider..
An npc dressed up as a crow
A 'supposedly self righteous' priest that went psycho and donned a pyramid Head...
You were saying?
Unseen Village.
First time I legitimately became afraid in a Soulsborne game. Seeing the petrified people frozen dead while clawing at doors and those WEIRD AS FUCK piles-of-bones enemies? I ran around frantic until I got killed. It was this point where BB became a survival horror sort of.
Nightmare of Mensis and Nightmare Frontier are good areas as well due to them being late-game and introducing other players being summoned as endgame challenges. Felt appropriate.
What was that first area in the BB DLC? I loved the DLC but the first area sticks out to me because it's a more-fucked up Yharnam with gnarly geography.
First time I legitimately became afraid in a Soulsborne game. Seeing the petrified people frozen dead while clawing at doors and those WEIRD AS FUCK piles-of-bones enemies? I ran around frantic until I got killed. It was this point where BB became a survival horror sort of.
Nightmare of Mensis and Nightmare Frontier are good areas as well due to them being late-game and introducing other players being summoned as endgame challenges. Felt appropriate.
What was that first area in the BB DLC? I loved the DLC but the first area sticks out to me because it's a more-fucked up Yharnam with gnarly geography.
Don't forget the whispering... The final part of the Unseen Village right before the boss is legitimately the most unnerving thing I've experienced in a From Software game.
The Hunter's Nightmare
LectureMaster
Or is it just one of Adam's balls in my throat?
This, thats exactly how I felt！
IdreamofHIME
Member
Cainhurst. The place was off the charts in terms of atmosphere.
Orochinagis
Member
Ash Lake, Blightown , Darkroot forest, kiln of the first flame, The abyss, Dark Souls 1
Majula, Shrine of Amana, Lost bastille, The Gulth, Sanctum (Sunken King) Dark Souls 2
Meh , Dark Souls 3
Indeed,
Majula, Shrine of Amana, Lost bastille, The Gulth, Sanctum (Sunken King) Dark Souls 2
Meh , Dark Souls 3
Indeed,
Sword Of Doom
Member
Demons souls 2-1 Stonefang Tunnel. Those assholes with their delirious laughter and narrow corridors. Such an oppressive atmosphere where the level design is just so ominous. Tower of Latria takes that to a whole another level. Demons souls is so good
BKatastrophe
Member
Plus the Orphan is an amazing boss.
HOLY SHIT NOOOOOOOOO I DID NOT
FUCK MAN
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
These dudes are literally just chilling in an unseen dimension until the veil is lifted and then HOLY FUCK.
In certain areas they can actually interact with you - by grabbing you - even though you cant see them
Pretty awesome touch to the environment if you ask me.
Sooo good.
Vindicator
Member
New Londo Ruins as well
Beerman462
Member
Favorite area overall?
Probably Boletarian Palace from Demon's Souls. That is a great introduction to the game.
After that it's
Undead Burg
Dragon Aerie
Castle Cainhurst
Probably Boletarian Palace from Demon's Souls. That is a great introduction to the game.
After that it's
Undead Burg
Dragon Aerie
Castle Cainhurst
JimmyRustler
Member
Nightmare of Mensis in Bloodborne.
Really surprised me consindering the is the very last area of the game and those usually tend to be the worst. But Nightmare of Mensis was fucking amazing. Fighting yourself to the top was unequaled. And it also has one of the greatest secrets of the series:
Really surprised me consindering the is the very last area of the game and those usually tend to be the worst. But Nightmare of Mensis was fucking amazing. Fighting yourself to the top was unequaled. And it also has one of the greatest secrets of the series:
Dropping the eye and then using the "Make contact" stance to get the rune.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
I'm really disappointed they never really attempted that amazing interconnectedness and sense of place in any of the other games. I thought they'd give it a go again in DkS3, but nope. Big reason why DkS1 is still my favorite Soulsborne game.
Firelink Shrine and Undead Burg are the best for me because it was these two places that drove the whole "silent and melancholic post apocalypse" for me. These two places has a very distinct atmosphere compared to the rest of the places. I'd say that the less visually bombastic the environments the bigger impact they had on me in Dark Souls. The forest area was very good as well.
Firelink Shrine was interconnected to almost entire map in the game in clever ways which made it very special. It really was this place where other hopeless souls would gather to lament the hopelesness of it all. Undead Burg was also pretty connected to other places in clever ways. These places had my imagination go wild, trying to think how life was before this fuckery going on right now.
Anor Londo is definitely up there as well but I think Firelink Shrine really does it for me the most.
As cool as Bloodborne is, none of it's environments really had my imagination going. It had a lot more in-your-face quality regarding the environments which made for a more scary game. Dark Souls 3 was a very good game with some cool environments but like I said, the less bombastic the environments the more I liked them, and Dark Souls 3 was a lot more bombastic than Dark Souls.
The interconnectedness of DS1 is also a big reason why it's still the best one. It's not just about clever level design on a technical level, but it just feels like the whole world around you is really an actual world. The fact that this happens without loading screens further drives that home. I guess that interconnectedness is just hard as fuck to do since you have to have a very specific mindset when designing the world and DS1 was just a lightning in a bottle.
Firelink Shrine was interconnected to almost entire map in the game in clever ways which made it very special. It really was this place where other hopeless souls would gather to lament the hopelesness of it all. Undead Burg was also pretty connected to other places in clever ways. These places had my imagination go wild, trying to think how life was before this fuckery going on right now.
Anor Londo is definitely up there as well but I think Firelink Shrine really does it for me the most.
As cool as Bloodborne is, none of it's environments really had my imagination going. It had a lot more in-your-face quality regarding the environments which made for a more scary game. Dark Souls 3 was a very good game with some cool environments but like I said, the less bombastic the environments the more I liked them, and Dark Souls 3 was a lot more bombastic than Dark Souls.
The interconnectedness of DS1 is also a big reason why it's still the best one. It's not just about clever level design on a technical level, but it just feels like the whole world around you is really an actual world. The fact that this happens without loading screens further drives that home. I guess that interconnectedness is just hard as fuck to do since you have to have a very specific mindset when designing the world and DS1 was just a lightning in a bottle.
Does the whole of Lordran - sans the disconnected Asylum and Anor Londo - count? Because every game should be one big interconnected area.
Otherwise, Painted world or Ariamis - it's like the perfect vertical slice for Dark Souls. Also everyone loves a snow level.
Plus Anor Londo kind of sucks 
Otherwise, Painted world or Ariamis - it's like the perfect vertical slice for Dark Souls. Also everyone loves a snow level.
Yet one of the biggest complaints of nioh is enemy diversity and you have tne will to push on? Lmao
Makoto-Yuki
Banned
I think a lot of the areas are very atmospheric and look good visually but so many of them give me flashbacks of struggling through them so it's a bit hard to pick my favourite including gameplay.
I'm probably gonna go with Firelink Shrine in DS1. That just blew my mind how everything connected back to it. Straight away you could head to Undead Burg, Catacombs, New Londo Ruins. I know a lot of people, myself included, wandered into the wrong area and had a bad time. I tried fighting through the catacombs very early on. I remember going to New Londo and quickly backtracking.
I guess I really like Undead Burg because it's the first proper area and where things started to click for me on how to play these games. After Taurus Demon when you unlock the shortcut back to the Undead Burg bonfire that was just amazing. I had spent so much time at that bonfire and didn't release what was above me all that time. Again releasing the way all the areas connected was such a great experience.
tl;dr firelink shrine/undead burg in DS1.
I'm probably gonna go with Firelink Shrine in DS1. That just blew my mind how everything connected back to it. Straight away you could head to Undead Burg, Catacombs, New Londo Ruins. I know a lot of people, myself included, wandered into the wrong area and had a bad time. I tried fighting through the catacombs very early on. I remember going to New Londo and quickly backtracking.
I guess I really like Undead Burg because it's the first proper area and where things started to click for me on how to play these games. After Taurus Demon when you unlock the shortcut back to the Undead Burg bonfire that was just amazing. I had spent so much time at that bonfire and didn't release what was above me all that time. Again releasing the way all the areas connected was such a great experience.
tl;dr firelink shrine/undead burg in DS1.
Bloodborne
Central Yharnam, Nightmare of Mensis, Research Hall..hell, only truly bad parts in the game are the Lecture Building and Chalice Dungeons.
Dark Souls
Sen's Fortress, Painted World of Ariamis
Dark Souls 3
Undead Settlement, Irithyll of the Boreal Valley
Basically I like levels that feel non-linear with shortcuts that take you back and sometimes surprise you that you could even go to a particular place.
Currently playing Nioh and I really miss levels that look good. Nioh has pretty nice routes thru the levels but they are so far nearly all very dull visually.
Central Yharnam, Nightmare of Mensis, Research Hall..hell, only truly bad parts in the game are the Lecture Building and Chalice Dungeons.
Dark Souls
Sen's Fortress, Painted World of Ariamis
Dark Souls 3
Undead Settlement, Irithyll of the Boreal Valley
Basically I like levels that feel non-linear with shortcuts that take you back and sometimes surprise you that you could even go to a particular place.
Currently playing Nioh and I really miss levels that look good. Nioh has pretty nice routes thru the levels but they are so far nearly all very dull visually.
lvl99 Pixel
Member
theres far more variety in the combat so far, but sure? I only played Nioh for a few hours so far so im not sure where this hyperbole is coming from
Jimnymebob
Member
The first level of Tower of Latria, the second area of Shrine of Storms, the entire Firelink, Undead Burg and Darkroot areas, Oolacile Township, Majula, Iron Keep, Castle Drangleic, the main area of the Old Iron King DLC, and both kilns (although the DS3 one is basically a non-area, but it looks pretty).
DS3 didn't really have any areas I really liked, which I guess is a reason I want a huge fan. Archragon Peak was probably my favourite, and Cathedral of the Deep was probably the most traditional Souls-esque level in terms of opening shortcuts, and being a sprawling area with varying areas. But then that ended with a dead end one of the worst bosses in the game/series so it feels ultimately pointless.
DS3 didn't really have any areas I really liked, which I guess is a reason I want a huge fan. Archragon Peak was probably my favourite, and Cathedral of the Deep was probably the most traditional Souls-esque level in terms of opening shortcuts, and being a sprawling area with varying areas. But then that ended with a dead end one of the worst bosses in the game/series so it feels ultimately pointless.
Lux R7
Member
care to elaborate?
Are we ever going to see a tightly interconnected world such as Lordran in a game again?
My favorite area is Boletaria Palace because it was my introduction to the series and I'll never forget all the firsts I experienced there. Red eye knight, rescuing Ostrava, the dragon hills and the temptation of loot, the tower knight, spiraling staircase full of sludge monsters, and of course the dragon bridge.
But wandering through the Undead Burg and Parish and getting to the intersection of the shorcut back to firelink, Andre, Sens Fortress and the Darkroot Gardens really made that whole place feel so cozy like a second home. Makes me want to poop just thinkin about it.
My favorite area is Boletaria Palace because it was my introduction to the series and I'll never forget all the firsts I experienced there. Red eye knight, rescuing Ostrava, the dragon hills and the temptation of loot, the tower knight, spiraling staircase full of sludge monsters, and of course the dragon bridge.
But wandering through the Undead Burg and Parish and getting to the intersection of the shorcut back to firelink, Andre, Sens Fortress and the Darkroot Gardens really made that whole place feel so cozy like a second home. Makes me want to poop just thinkin about it.
LifeBrandRobot
Member
Central Yharnam for the level design. Upper Cathedral Ward for its amazing atmosphere.
The burning hatred many have for Shrine of Amana comes from unpatched vanilla DS2. They significantly decreased the tracking and range of the spells those mages like to spam some time after release. They went from requiring constant attention and near perfect dodging to a minor annoyance.
