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[Chaos2Frozen]

You're suppose to run passed enemies lol.

 

[NightShift]

The ability to just run past enemies is essential. Having to fight every enemy you encounter would be extremely tedious and ruin my enjoyment of the games.

 

[Sinatar]

If I had to kill every enemy between the bonfire and a boss fog gate every time I died to a boss, I would not play these games.

OP you are on crack.

 

[Dak'kon]

I agree with you, OP. I think the Souls series has run its course for me because of this. Dark Souls 3 essentially became a repetitive series of steps:

1. Reach new area
2. Spend all souls
3. Run around perimeter of area collecting all treasure (run past every enemy)
4. If I get caught off guard and die run back and continue where I left off
5. Once area had been cleared of treasure head to boss and try to clear
6. If unable to clear, grind by being summoned to boss fights

The tension has completely gone from the series because once you know not to run around a new area with loads of souls there's no longer any penalty for dying. You don't "lose" any progress because you can run straight back to where you left off. Plus, once you know you can just grind bosses for souls you don't even really need to engage normal mobs.

 

[ajb1888]

I run an awful lot. Usually fight everything the first time through however.

 

[uomoartificiale]

I usually scout one area and kill every enemy linearly one after the other until I have the shortcut. Then I fall into a rhythm where I run past the lower level mob and kill the enemies that give more souls while I explore the rest of the area. I would call this "explorative grinding". I like to see how different paths in the level intertwine and loop around.

I always asked myself how can other players level up if they don't actually engage the enemies and get souls through combat. I came to the conclusion that people tend to skip exploring the areas (the highlight for me), and want to get quickly to the boss, which usually gives much more souls that all the enemies in the level combined (I suck at Souls boss fights and usually summon someone if it gets me more than 5 tries).
To counter this, enemies should drop more souls and items to encourage exploration and combat. Maybe key items to engage the boss.

 

[Rain City Gamer]

I completely disagree.

They either need to keep it how it is or make better save points.(Especially before bosses). Would absolutely HATE to keep playing the same area over and over again just to get to a boss fight, die...rinse and repeat.

I think it is fine how it is.

 

[Possumowner]

It's fine.Its all part of your choice of tactics.You do not have to run past them if you choose,but if you want to you can.All hail choices

 

[Boney]

Surprised people are so candid with how enemies will do nothing as you zip them by, when they should just ram you with a shield or something and knock your ass out.

Enemies are not designed to deal with any movement and that's a hindrance to me. If you get hit while strafing, it should in reality knock your ass to the ground.

I'm ok with being to run past enemies if at least they had something that could target running enemies and elevate the risk of a negative outcome.

 

[DaciaJC]

I'm not seeing the issue here. If your default mode for going through an area is zipping past as many enemies as possible, then that's your loss, as far as I'm concerned. I enjoy clearing out an area in full when I go through it the first time on a new playthrough; I mean, that's largely the whole point of making a new character, is to experience a different fighting style than what my previous characters may have provided. Once an area has been cleared of foes and items and the boss kills me, yeah, I'll just ran past whatever minions lie in the path between the closest bonfire and the fog gate. No reason to engage them, I already accomplished the challenge of clearing the area. Forcing the player to kill them every time, as is the case sometimes in Demon's Souls or Dark Souls II, would be unnecessary and needlessly frustrating especially if you're having enough trouble with the boss as it is. At the same time, though, I think that one improvement they could make is to, as Boney above suggested, design enemies so that they could more easily deal with the player sprinting past them. Give them a quick jab attack, a burst of speed, a shield bash, something to force players to be more aware during boss-runs, which otherwise tend to be somewhat brain-dead affairs.

 

[Polioliolio]

Huh.. One of the first things I noticed about Dark Souls 3, was how the enemies seemed better equipped to kill you if you were trying to run past them.

The beginning of the game was pretty rough. At one point I started trying to run past them to get to shortcuts, whatever, and was startled to see a lot of enemies would immediately pull out attacks that were ready to hit me as I was darting past.

They definitely improved this aspect for DS3. Enemies are often primed to hit you if you started running past them, instead of that slow recognition they used to have.

 

[DMiz]

I don't think this is necessary in these games.

Choosing to fight the enemies:
1) Makes exploration more fruitful, since you can take your time to check out the area. There are always items hidden in the nooks and crannies and having the peace of mind of just poking around is a benefit unto itself.
2) Gives you souls, which by proxy makes getting through the area easier.
3) Builds up your skills. You learn to detect windows and can become more comfortable with your weapon/spell/fighting style.
4) Makes revisiting old areas thankfully less of a chore.

 

[Jombie]

Unless they put bonfires right next to the bosses, being forced to fight the same enemies over and over would just get tedious.

It's never been an issue for me. If I want to fight enemies, I will, and if I want to just bolt for the bosses I can do that as well.

 

[Zemm]

What a terrible idea. The game would be massively less fun if you couldn't run past enemies and had to kill them all every single time you wanted to try a boss. To compensate they'd have to make the bosses way easier to account for the fact you're wasting so much time on trash enemies or players would become very frustrated.

It would also kill speed runs, so again, terrible idea.

 

[Kodiak]

I think its an organic way to approach difficulty - leaving it up to the player. In fact, I think it's one of the most elegant design decisions in a series full of neat design elements.

Yeah, you can run by enemies, but you won't get better at the game.

I love that I get to choose whether or not I fight enemies. If I am trying to "master" an area, I can fight them over and over again until I feel I've optimized my route through the space. If I am trying to get to a boss quickly, I can just run past.

It's yet another element where the game respects the players intelligence, and allows for the player to have more granular control over their experience.

 

[ogbg]

I'm not sure whether I'd prefer it or not. I can see arguments either way.

On a practical level I think it could be done by making running cost much most stamina.

 

[DaciaJC]

Huh.. One of the first things I noticed about Dark Souls 3, was how the enemies seemed better equipped to kill you if you were trying to run past them.

The beginning of the game was pretty rough. At one point I started trying to run past them to get to shortcuts, whatever, and was startled to see a lot of enemies would immediately pull out attacks that were ready to hit me as I was darting past.

They definitely improved this aspect for DS3. Enemies are often primed to hit you if you started running past them, instead of that slow recognition they used to have.

This is true. Running past the Lothric knights to get to the Dancer, for example, you'll notice the spear-wielder will often throw a quick shield-bash which can catch you if you're close or not paying attention. Or some hollow soldiers with the longsword will do a short chase followed by a long thrust with impressive range.

 

[laxu]

Huh.. One of the first things I noticed about Dark Souls 3, was how the enemies seemed better equipped to kill you if you were trying to run past them.

The beginning of the game was pretty rough. At one point I started trying to run past them to get to shortcuts, whatever, and was startled to see a lot of enemies would immediately pull out attacks that were ready to hit me as I was darting past.

They definitely improved this aspect for DS3. Enemies are often primed to hit you if you started running past them, instead of that slow recognition they used to have.

Compared to Bloodborne which has few enemies that pursue you to the ends of the earth, I had some harrowing encounters in DS3 with two grave wardens on my tail as I tried to make it to the shortcut in Cleansing Chapel with no estus available.

Running away from enemies in Souls games is a completely valid tactic whereas lots of games require you to kill every enemy until you can even progress or even lock you in arenas you can't escape from. Souls games reward killing enemies so most players probably go back to them to see if they drop any good items or just a nice amount of souls.

 

[UserDoesNotExist]

A counterpoint:

That you are expected to run past trash mobs is what caused me to stop playing Bloodbourne in the first place. I came across an area with two wolves on a bridge at the very beginning, before the first boss (or so I am told,) and I just could not kill them for the life of me. One alone would have harder than anything I had fought up until that point, but they threw two at me. I did too little damage, still didn't have a handle on the combat system, they had too much health and could double team me. After throwing myself at them ten or so times, I decided that if this is what Bloodbourne expects out of me for trash mobs, then it's not the game for me.

I didn't learn until much later that a noob like me was expected to run past them. Their placement blocking the path forward pretty much telegraphed "hey, you're expected to fight these guys." Perhaps to the loyal Dark Souls fans, this is obvious. It sure wasn't obvious to a noob that a pack of wolves would stop chasing them. Wolves aren't known for that.

 

[Basketball]

The ability to just run past enemies is essential. Having to fight every enemy you encounter would be extremely tedious and ruin my enjoyment of the games.

Yes indeed.. just getting to the boss fight is kinda fun when you run past. Shrine of Amana pre patch was a cake walk a for me. Did you guys try running through the catacombs in Ds1 before patches.... then making the mistake of falling in the Tomb of Giants without a light. Then proceed to be trapped in there for a over a week. Good times

 

[ShockingAlberto]

If you run past enemies without knowing where you are going, you'll end up dead. If you know where you're going, then you have already "beaten" that area and don't need to fight every enemy there.

The conflict in Souls games is not you versus enemies, it's you versus the unknown.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

A counterpoint:

That you are expected to run past trash mobs is what caused me to stop playing Bloodbourne in the first place. I came across an area with two wolves on a bridge at the very beginning, before the first boss (or so I am told,) and I just could not kill them for the life of me. One alone would have harder than anything I had fought up until that point, but they threw two at me. I did too little damage, still didn't have a handle on the combat system, they had too much health and could double team me. After throwing myself at them ten or so times, I decided that if this is what Bloodbourne expects out of me for trash mobs, then it's not the game for me.

I didn't learn until much later that a noob like me was expected to run past them. Their placement blocking the path forward pretty much telegraphed "hey, you're expected to fight these guys." Perhaps to the loyal Dark Souls fans, this is obvious. It sure wasn't obvious to a noob that a pack of wolves would stop chasing them. Wolves aren't known for that.

There was an alternate path that just puts you behind the wolves.

 

[Adam_Vania]

1) Is being able to very easily run past enemies a design flaw?

NO! i thank god they built this into their games. it is always possible to do this, it is something seriously considered when placing enemies, and it is a huge courtesy to the player in a series often blown out of proportion as unreasonably difficult.

 

[The perfect Dark]

Why would you run past enemies? You need souls to level up?

 

[Stallion Dan]

If you're expected to fight every enemy they need more bonfires everywhere.

 

[DoubleTake]

A counterpoint:

That you are expected to run past trash mobs is what caused me to stop playing Bloodbourne in the first place. I came across an area with two wolves on a bridge at the very beginning, before the first boss (or so I am told,) and I just could not kill them for the life of me. One alone would have harder than anything I had fought up until that point, but they threw two at me. I did too little damage, still didn't have a handle on the combat system, they had too much health and could double team me. After throwing myself at them ten or so times, I decided that if this is what Bloodbourne expects out of me for trash mobs, then it's not the game for me.

I didn't learn until much later that a noob like me was expected to run past them. Their placement blocking the path forward pretty much telegraphed "hey, you're expected to fight these guys." Perhaps to the loyal Dark Souls fans, this is obvious. It sure wasn't obvious to a noob that a pack of wolves would stop chasing them. Wolves aren't known for that.

Not gonna say that wasnt a pretty huge difficulty spike for the first level, because it was. But if you explored with a bit more diligence you would have found 2 alternate paths that lead you away from the Wolves.

I think that encounter is telling you to try going somewhere else for now, rather than run past them.

 

[laxu]

Why would you run past enemies? You need souls to level up?

Lots of reasons. You are trying to get to a boss unharmed. You are trying to reach the souls you dropped the last time you died. You are trying to open a shortcut but there are too tough enemies in the way. You are trying to get an item, for example a new weapon you know is in place X but you are too underleveled. I used that tactic to get the Pizza Cutter in Bloodborne when I didn't have a high level character to actually make it thru the DLC.

 

[Zafir]

It isn't a design flaw, on the contrary it gives you more options in how you encounter a given level.

It's especially a god send on boss runs. If you die and have to run back, it's a good thing that you can optimise your pathing so you don't have to battle a single enemy encounter on the way back. I think I'd go insane without it on some of the longer boss runs which say Demons Souls had.

Not gonna say that wasnt a pretty huge difficulty spike for the first level, because it was. But if you explored with a bit more diligence you would have found 2 alternate paths that lead you away from the Wolves.

I think that encounter is telling you to try going somewhere else for now, rather than run past them.

I can see why someone wouldn't explore around and find those paths though, for one they're a bit hidden. Secondly, and probably most importantly, popular opinion of the game is that they're hard, so if Bloodborne was a persons first experience of those types of games, they may think that you just have to get good to beat the wolves.

 

[Lux R7]

Lots of reasons. You are trying to get to a boss unharmed. You are trying to reach the souls you dropped the last time you died. You are trying to open a shortcut but there are too tough enemies in the way. You are trying to get an item, for example a new weapon you know is in place X but you are too underleveled. I used that tactic to get the Pizza Cutter in Bloodborne when I didn't have a high level character to actually make it thru the DLC.

yep, i recently skipped every enemy in AoA (except one) to get a titanite slab early