• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Which should I jump into first Skyrim or Dark Souls?

I can forgive the plastic sword fights in Skyrim, because I expected that going in. I can look past the terrible design, dull scaling system, etc. Because TES offers an opportunity to get really immersed in a world and role play.

The problem with Skyrim, however is that the entire game's scope is extremely narrowed compared to previous games. It makes absolutely no sense to play the game as anything but a Nord saving the world. Anything else feels out of place, and you are constantly reminded of it.

Still, if you've already bought the game or if you can get it cheap, play Skyrim first. You will still probably get a good chunk of hours out of it. The main quest is pretty cool, albeit underwhelming towards the end. It's just that at some point, you are going to hit a brick wall where you do not want to touch the game at all. This is because the game is shallow and poorly designed in a lot of areas. TES games in general suffer from this (and it's why people are always down on them in hindsight), but Skyrim hits that wall a lot faster and harder than the previous games.


If you play Dark Souls first, you will be a lot more disappointed by the shortcomings of Skyrim. Nothing in the game will feel like it has any meaning whatsoever, from the most 'intense' fight to the deepest loot-filled cave. Honestly, it's nice to get lost in Skyrim's illusion for a while. I'd recommend giving it a shot, but definitely before Dark Souls. Even though they are completely different games, you will not be able to stay in Skyrim for nearly as long after experiencing combat, enemies, locations, loot, decisions, etc. that actually matter.
 
Id go with Skyrim, Darksouls is kind of over rated story doesnt exist combats okay and its way to hard not to enjoyable. Skyrim is a lot more fun play it first.
 
I played Skyrim for about 95 hours before finishing up the final story quest.

I can't remember most of what I did in that time, it felt like a haze; I felt like a zombie plodding from one area to the next, checking off quests in the quest list, and visiting copy pasta areas, inns and dungeons, and the god awful combat.

After Skyrim ended I felt nothing inside.

(Although, like any other TES game in the series, fucking around with mods were the most enjoyment I gleaned out of the game)

I played Dark Souls for around 95 hours before finishing up the final area/boss.

Every minute, every death, every 'fuck you' and 'lol no' encounter that the game throws out sticks with me, even days after I finished it. The areas and environments are distinct, unique and highly memorable. I felt like a MFing bawse after I killed every boss and groups of enemies. The payoff for experiencing the hardships and subsequently finishing this game is out of this world.

After Dark Souls ended I wanted Dark Souls 2 already.

(Only mod I needed was Durante's excellent DSFix)

Definitely Dark Souls.
 
Happypwnstar said:
Id go with Skyrim, Darksouls is kind of over rated story doesnt exist combats okay and its way to hard not to enjoyable. Skyrim is a lot more fun play it first.
Click to expand...

i3jKDUlcwgHWU.png
 
I've gotten through the first 30% of Dark Souls and I've died maybe once or twice so far. It's really not as bad as people say. Dark Souls has so much more substance than Skyrim. It's meticulously balanced and crafted with exhilarating combat, addictive exploration, and masterful boss/enemy design.. while Skyrim feels like they spent too much time on making a big sandbox with not much to do in it. Sure there is armor and enemies and objectives and the rest of your usual rpg stuff, but it just didn't grip me the way an rpg should. It didn't feel like a proper game. Everything was painfully repetitive.

Dark Souls all the way baby.
 
I played and beat Dark Souls first. Took me roughly 50 hours... Then go for Skyrim both games have a lot to offer. Both are my goty 2011
 
Happypwnstar said:
Id go with Skyrim, Darksouls is kind of over rated story doesnt exist combats okay and its way to hard not to enjoyable. Skyrim is a lot more fun play it first.
Click to expand...

It's kind of odd seeing somebody with a NES avatar saying Dark Souls was too hard and didn't have a storyline. Dark Souls tells the story through gameplay, gameplay that is only too hard if you rush at it headfirst without thinking.

I'd think somebody who enjoyed the first Zelda would be able to appreciate that.
 
I put 12 hours into Skyrim and stopped because of the horrendous combat.

I've put over 120 into Dark Souls and still counting.

Go with Dark Souls.
 
Play skyrim, get bored so you could appreciate dark souls.

Or Dark Souls first since it's a shorter game. Skyrim is pretty long, it doesn't have good 3rd person combat but if you don't mind a really basic game where you run around just relaxing and exploring, Skyrim is good especially early on before you might get sick of it. My first comment is kind of serious since you most likely won't enjoy its combat if you really enjoy dark souls, but there's a chance you don't mind it and actually appreciate how simple and easy it is after going through DS.
 
Dark souls.

However, playing Dark Souls actually made me want to go back to Skyrim again. For some bizarre reason. Although I've yet to done so at this point.
 
Weird how there are people in this thread who think grinding is necessary in Dark Souls. You can beat the entire game as a level 1 character, FFS.
 
Acerac said:
It's kind of odd seeing somebody with a NES avatar saying Dark Souls was too hard and didn't have a storyline. Dark Souls tells the story through gameplay, gameplay that is only too hard if you rush at it headfirst without thinking.

I'd think somebody who enjoyed the first Zelda would be able to appreciate that.
Click to expand...

Yes my pictures of the first Zelda but its come a long way my pictures is an icon, look at zelda games now how far they have game. I expected more from a game that came out in 2012. For crying out loud a fan had to fix the FPS and resolution.
 
Mr Sandman said:
Zelda 1's gameplay wasn't trial and error. Yeah it was hard, but not annoyingly hard like DS. Actually DS isn't even hard--it's just cheap.
Click to expand...
Most people will disagree with your statement. Outside of a very few places, DS is not trial and error.

From some Gaffer:

NroAaxq.jpg
 
Happypwnstar said:
Yes my pictures of the first Zelda but its come a long way my pictures is an icon, look at zelda games now how far they have game. I expected more from a game that came out in 2012. For crying out loud a fan had to fix the FPS and resolution.
Click to expand...

A bit OT, but are you referring to how linear the newest Zelda game is?

The incessant hand holding and the insufferable Fi in Skyward Sword?

I'd rather play the 1st NES Zelda game with it's freedom of choice and open ended gameplay that let you go where you wanted to go without having someone yell at the obvious at you every now and again.

Tricky I Shadow said:
Dragon's Dogma.

Skyrim is a pile of horseshit and Dark Souls is a snooze fest.
Click to expand...

What is this, I don't even....

tafer said:
From some Gaffer:

Excellent image.png
Click to expand...

That gaffer knows what's up.
 
Mr Sandman said:
Zelda 1's gameplay wasn't trial and error. Yeah it was hard, but not annoyingly hard like DS. Actually DS isn't even hard--it's just cheap.
Click to expand...
If you just tried things randomly I could see DS being horrible. Yeah, Dark Souls is a game where you actually have to think about how you engage enemies. If that's not something you're in to Skyrim would be much superior.
Happypwnstar said:
Yes my pictures of the first Zelda but its come a long way my pictures is an icon, look at zelda games now how far they have game. I expected more from a game that came out in 2012. For crying out loud a fan had to fix the FPS and resolution.
Click to expand...
Oh, you prefer modern Zeldas to older ones? Yeah, Dark Souls does lack the many text boxes to go through and the hand holding approach that modern Zeldas have.

Personally I don't think tons of text is necessary to have an excellent story, something that Dark Souls and many classic Zeldas prove quite well.

I'm odd though, I prefer the older Zeldas compared to the new ones. Quite frankly I haven't been able to finish any Zeldas since Wind Waker, the more advanced the series gets the more linear and boring they seem to become.
 
Derrick01 said:
That doesn't even begin to describe it. You'll fight the same dragon 40 times throughout the game, you'll come across the same 8-10 dungeon types constantly and you'll get the same trash loot from almost everywhere for the majority of your stay.

Then again if you get frustrated with the shitty loot scaling you can just craft 1000 iron daggers and make your own top level blacksmithing gear. They didn't bother balancing the crafting system.
Click to expand...

Very true, Skyrim is a snore fest.
 
GillianSeed79 said:
Oh come on, Skyrim is dude bro now? Okay, the combat isn't exactly that hard or varied, but trust me I know dude bros who wouldn't touch Skyrim with a 10-foot pole because it's geeky. Yes it's not challenging once you become God level, but are we really lumping Skyrim into the same ilk as CoD?

If this thread has shown me anything it's that I need to play Dark Souls, but for someone who purchased Demons Souls and didn't like it how is Dark Souls different? I get it. I'm weird. I'm an outlier. I don't appreciate it. It's just slightly, just slightly, annoying that if you like fantasy but don't like the Souls franchise everything from Zelda to Elder Scrolls is painted as unmitaged casual dude bro shit that isn't worth the time of day. Am I wrong in this sentiment? Why do I always feel like my nerd cred is diminshed because I liked Skyrim?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry about that guy, because his response makes no sense to someone who has bought both games and intends to play them.

In response to your question, I would say Dark Souls is still worth a look even if you didn't like Demon's Souls, but it may depend on why you didn't like Demon's.

It's perfectly acceptable to like all three of the series you mentioned without losing any nerd cred. Likewise, there will be many who enjoy one of the three exclusively. Who's to say who's right?

The Souls series might have attracted a certain 'elitist' crowd because it's noticeably different from the typical fantasy setting we're used to seeing. People are proud of those differences and will defend them, but don't let them tell you what's right. Try the game for yourself and see how it compares to Skyrim (and Demon's).

I personally don't enjoy the Elderscrolls games. I have plenty of friends who do, and it made me happy when they tried Dark Souls on their own terms and really got into it. I'll always be a huge advocate of the Souls games, but that doesn't mean I don't need to kick back in a more traditional fantasy setting now and then - I prefer Dragon's Dogma for that, which is much more comparable to Skyrim than Dark Souls, both on a conceptual and mechanical level.
 
Mr Sandman said:
I enjoyed the combat. I liked how you had to think against normal enemies. What I didn't like was getting one or two shot by every god damned boss or mini boss. Not fun at all. I mean for fuck sake, look at the walkthroughs: "weakness: ranged it is advised you don't use your fucking sword on this boss or any other boss." Well shit on my dick, I didn't make a ranged character nor do I like pumping a thousand arrows into a boss. And I like how there's always a glitch way to beat a boss that is somehow recommended by the community. Or farm souls from the dragon.

That is was was trial and error. Walk into boss room, try to dodge, did it wrong, die. "Better not try it that way, maybe next time I'll do this" Get there, try something else, die. Repeat about 10 times then I can move the fuck on. I mean it even says in the damned title "Prepare to Die" so don't spew that whole "you just suck I rarely died" bull shit.
Click to expand...
Huh, that's odd. I used a melee character my first playthrough and had no problems. If anything I felt overpowered. Giant swords and such, nice and slow but they did a lot of damage. The only boss I had trouble with were the gargoyles, and quite frankly my character's equipment was utter garbage at the point so I kinda deserved it. If I bothered to upgrade it before I fought them I'd have been fine. Not sure why you'd need ranged for any of the bosses, a few of them I was actually able to overpower solely by running at them and blindly meleeing til they died.

Whenever I walk in to a boss room in Dark Souls I give the boss a wide berth. They do something, I make a mental note, and keep away until I get a general idea of what their abilities are. Once I notice an attack or pattern that seems like it has holes I dodge in and try to burst the boss down with my weapon. Do I die? Yeah, quite a bit honestly. I've beaten a bunch of bosses on my first try though, and even more on my second. You do get 10+ potions per boss attempt, it's not like this game is THAT crazy.

I won't say you suck. I will say you were probably too aggressive in a game that expects you to learn the weaknesses of your opponents.
 
Mr Sandman said:
I enjoyed the combat. I liked how you had to think against normal enemies. What I didn't like was getting one or two shot by every god damned boss or mini boss. Not fun at all. I mean for fuck sake, look at the walkthroughs: "weakness: ranged it is advised you don't use your fucking sword on this boss or any other boss." Well shit on my dick, I didn't make a ranged character nor do I like pumping a thousand arrows into a boss. And I like how there's always a glitch way to beat a boss that is somehow recommended by the community. Or farm souls from the dragon.

That is was was trial and error. Walk into boss room, try to dodge, did it wrong, die. "Better not try it that way, maybe next time I'll do this" Get there, try something else, die. Repeat about 10 times then I can move the fuck on. I mean it even says in the damned title "Prepare to Die" so don't spew that whole "you just suck I rarely died" bull shit.
Click to expand...

You don't need ranged attacks for any enemy in the game. Don't blame the game because some walkthrough you read convinced you for some reason that a boss should/could only be beaten a certain way. I died a lot on my first playthrough and I never felt like I should glitch to beat a boss...that's missing the point. I rarely see cheesy ways to beat a boss being recommended either so I don't know what you're talking about. If you're talking about farming souls from the dragon I'm going to assume you didn't make it very far into the game anyway. Sure you might try out different strategies and fail and then try something else, or die when a boss has a sliver of health left, it can be frustrating. But personally I always felt that the satisfaction of beating a tough area or boss made those deaths worthwhile.
 
Skyrim does the better role playing, music and scale.
Dark Souls does the better controls, combat and atmosphere.

they should both get a chance to be played through at least once. and I don't think one will diminish your admiration for the other.
 
maxcer0081 said:
Skyrim does the better role playing, music and scale.
Dark Souls does the better controls, combat and atmosphere.

they should both get a chance to be played through at least once. and I don't think one will diminish your admiration for the other.
Click to expand...
I guess music is more subjective, but the only sense of scale I got from Skyrim was the enormity of the environment.

It has a vast landscape and you feel incredibly small within it, sure, but I feel Dark Souls offers a much better sense of scale and place due to its clever use of interconnecting areas.
 
Dark Souls, forget the other s****y one... Shouldn't even be in the same sentence as Dark Soul or Demon Soul... it's outrageous... ^^
 
Holy shit I haven't even touched DS yet, you guys are making it sound amazing. Currently glued to XCOM, will get on it straight away.

The question can I get through my backlog before next gen takes over?
 
If you want GAFs approval and you hate life you shall choose Dark Souls.

If fun is what you are looking for in a game go with Skyrim.
 
Mr Sandman said:
Zelda 1's gameplay wasn't trial and error. Yeah it was hard, but not annoyingly hard like DS. Actually DS isn't even hard--it's just cheap.
Click to expand...
That's completely false.
Completely.

The game is neither "annoyingly hard" and even less "cheap" or "unfair" or any other similar bullshit.

For a start, it's just moderately challenging. Everyone who claims that Dark Souls is "insanely hard" must be new to this hobby, an extremely distract player or physically impaired.
The game doesn't even require quick reflexes in most cases, just a bit of caution and planning.

And about it being "cheap", I would actually argue that being extremely fair in most cases is one of its strongest achievements in terms of design.
You are never sent to a mandatory death to learn what's ahead. you have just to pay a bit of attention.
I wouldn't even start to describe myself as a particularly skilled player. I'm very average at almost everything and yet I killed a good chunk of the game's bosses (Pinwheel, Sif, Moonlight Butterfly, the Scaleless, the Sanctuary Chimera, etc) at my very first attempt, simply because I didn't charged them blindly but I took my time to observe their patterns.

The only part I genuinely hated at every single playthrough (out of three, so far) were probably those two motherfucking archers in Anor Londo.

Here's an article analyzing the game and explaining very well why its supposed difficulty is way overstated most of the times:
http://gamasutra.com/view/news/178346/12_Ways_Dark_Souls_isnt_as_hard_as_you_think_it_is.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/178262/deep_dungeon_exploring_the_design_.php
 
Mr Sandman said:
^well fuck me apparently I have to go research an article now to understand the game's difficulty. Great game design right there.
Click to expand...
Not really, no.
The design itself is self-explanatory when you play the whole game.
The article simply explains why most of your claims are bullshit.
 
Definitely go with Dark Souls. It's got infinitely better combat, better level design, better enemy AI, better art design. You probably haven't played a game quite like it, and if it clicks for you, it'll be one of your favorite games ever.

By the time you finish, it should be around April. Then you can get Dragon's Dogma. It's being rereleased with a big expansion and lots of other content, and the full main game for only $40. Dragon's Dogma has pretty much the best combat in the genre and is an extremely impressive game. Furthermore, it's a brand new franchise and really could use the support. Toss in your $40 on this game and show Capcom that people want huge, high quality single player RPGs. Trust me, it's worth it.

dragons-dogma-dark-arisen-xbox-360.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Play Dark Souls first so that you can laugh at Skyrim.
Play Skyrim first so that you can cry in Dark Souls.

Seriously though, Skyrim is awesome and a great game to chill out and have an adventure in.
Dark Souls is much more heavy (very dark fantasy) and will drain your energy quite a bit, but if you get into it, if it clicks, it will be one of your most memorable gaming experiences ever. It can also become quite relaxing once you are an expert in the game!

I think it all depends on your mood !
 
Mr Sandman said:
^well fuck me apparently I have to go research an article now to understand the game's difficulty. Great game design right there.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are being sarcastic here?

If so, how could gameplay that has an article on its difficulty not be amazing? That would obviously mean it's a very deep game.

The game has obstacles in a gaming world that provides several motivates for the player to overcome them.

Armor, upgrades, skillset, personal skills, online versus matches, incredible enviroments, very interesting story/side-stories.

If you decrease the difficulty, you run the chance of ruining the experience, partly because the difficulty makes you want to improve your skills, and continually provides an incentive to play throughout the entire game.

There might occasionally be an element of trial and error, or something close to it, but the entire game is generally so well crafted that it doesn't, or shouldn't matter.

Based on some of the responses from anti-Dark Souls people, it sounds like they don't want a challenge, don't want to be questioned, don't want a game that upsets in order to please the player, they just want a simple game that doesn't make any demands.

It sounds a bit like they want a movie, not a game.
 
I finally jumped head first into Dark Souls over the Christmas break and it completely floored me. On its surface, you'd think Skyrim would be a better choice for those look to explore a virtual world, but in reality, Dark Souls does a much better job delivering on this promise. Skyrim is huge and open ended, but often rather dull and repetitive while Dark Souls offers expertly designed areas all connected to together in surprising ways. When you enter a new area the sense of dread and danger somehow makes the exploration so much more interesting. The world they created is simply remarkable.

I remember the first time I descended into Blighttown. It felt like the darkest, most horrible place you could imagine. I actually felt a bit of dread just walking into the place but as you push through it and make your way to the bottom the reward you get out of it is really something special.

I really do think it's one of the best designed games this generation. Hard to believe it came from From.
 
dark10x said:
I finally jumped head first into Dark Souls over the Christmas break and it completely floored me. On its surface, you'd think Skyrim would be a better choice for those look to explore a virtual world, but in reality, Dark Souls does a much better job delivering on this promise. Skyrim is huge and open ended, but often rather dull and repetitive while Dark Souls offers expertly designed areas all connected to together in surprising ways. When you enter a new area the sense of dread and danger somehow makes the exploration so much more interesting. The world they created is simply remarkable.

I remember the first time I descended into Blighttown. It felt like the darkest, most horrible place you could imagine. I actually felt a bit of dread just walking into the place but as you push through it and make your way to the bottom the reward you get out of it is really something special.

I really do think it's one of the best designed games this generation. Hard to believe it came from From.
Click to expand...
You may have convinced me to get the game. :)
 
I haven't tried Dark Souls, and I've only played the 360 version of Skyrim. From that background the most I can say is that Skyrim is absolutely worth the time investment. Such a great experience if you play it like the open-world adventure that it is. How anyone could sincerely believe it's dull or repetitive is beyond me. Maybe they played the main quest in a strictly linear manner and then sold the game? It's puzzling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
Dark Souls Path Tracing mod, yay or nay?
2 3
123
1K
Gp1 replied
Dark Souls Demake - Bit Souls Demastered
1
250
Signalis replied
Dark Souls Trilogy Remakes Reportedly In Development
Rumor  2 3
110
172
Ziglax replied
  • Poll
Which Crasy Bandicoot game should I play first?
2
53
1K
Bernardougf replied
Dark Souls beaten at level 1, hitless, and without using dodge roll or ranged weapons
Trailer 
22
285
Moondoggy replied
Top Bottom