Anyone have any idea how the Boss souls upgrading works? What level do I have to get a weapon to before it will show the special weapons the Boss souls make?
It's a little bit different from the previous games:
There's a character near the end of the Lost Bastille that you have to un-petrify who will trade you special weapons/armor for boss souls. Most of them are not even worth it though.
I was pretty disappointed with the end game boss fight. It was pretty cool who it ended up being, but it feels like there should have been.. more. It was also ridiculously easy, with her basically being a giant target. Gwyn was far superior to this, especially the lead up with all the Black Knights. I'm disappointed there was no real final level.
The game was great overall, but the end just kind of sucked. Giant memories were a cool idea, but not as a final area.
I kind of had no idea what I was doing in the end of the game.
I felt like I kept coming to dead ends and then I would just go back to previous areas that I knew had unfinished business, like the giants.
I liked the final areas, but I kept feeling like I was almost done, and then the game would hand me another area or boss. The game feels so much bigger than the first.
Really motivated to try to make this my first Platinum (I know, I know), but I somehow feel like the Brotherhood of Blood might be the hardest. Things seem a little more stacked against invaders this time and I don't have many cracked red eye orbs, so kind of hesitant to use them. Guess I just need to get over it and try it out.
Really motivated to try to make this my first Platinum (I know, I know), but I somehow feel like the Brotherhood of Blood might be the hardest. Things seem a little more stacked against invaders this time and I don't have many cracked red eye orbs, so kind of hesitant to use them. Guess I just need to get over it and try it out.
With Demon's and Dark Souls - From has created a great 'framework' to build their game worlds in. Sort of how like Zelda provides a framework that has propelled many games with various tweaks and adjustments over the years.
Demon's Souls shares ideas with Kings Field and some of their earlier games.
Dark Souls builds on that - but expanded things out with an open/connected world, a few mechanic tweaks, expanded online.
Dark Souls II is like a hybrid of the two - refines that was there, and then builds out on it.
I think there is a nice mix of old-ideas, tweaked & expanded ideas, and new ideas.
Hell, even some of the asset reuse I am completely ok with - it's like a warm nostalgic hug from an aunt that you're scared of . The sound of some of the elevators being the same as the one going down to the Armored Spider in Demon's Souls, the growl of the dogs, the death sound of some enemies sounding like the silver knights in Anor Londo.
I like how they are keeping fairly true to their online vision while at the same time expanding it with the covenant system.
I like how they snuck in a 'hard mode', but having it play in with the game mechanics without being a straight up difficulty selector at the start of the game.
I also like how there are levels that are similar/call back to levels earlier in the series.
Boletarian Palace = Undead Burg/Parish/Lower Burg = similar to a bit of the first starting area
Valley of Defilement = Blight Town =
Bit of The Gutter/The Black Gulch
Getting a bit of Tower of Latria vibe from
Shine of Amana
, and both
Iron Keep and Drangelic Castle
have a bit of an Anor Londo vibe - while still being very unique and different at the same time.
Boss Fights that are a bit of a nod to previous things in the series but (mostly) avoid being a direct rip off,
The Rotten
being a bit like the 2-1 Boss,
The rat boss
feeling a bit like a derpy-Sif fight, while still bringing things that feel new to the table with other encounters.
So while there is a lot of 'idea reuse' many of those ideas fall into the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' category - and many of the other ideas have been expanded/tweaked/adjusted to still feel fresh.
If From continues the series (and I hope they do) - I'm sure there will be 'another level like the valley of defilement, another level like anor londo, another level like X', but then also toss in a bunch of new stuff also, and I think I'm OK with that.
That's why you run straight through to the fog gate. Pisses off invaders too since they just got two long loading screens without any payoff so that's a plus in my book.
Really motivated to try to make this my first Platinum (I know, I know), but I somehow feel like the Brotherhood of Blood might be the hardest. Things seem a little more stacked against invaders this time and I don't have many cracked red eye orbs, so kind of hesitant to use them. Guess I just need to get over it and try it out.
I'm not sure how, as I'm not there yet. But I know there is a Token of Spite in the SP game (in a chest?), so you never actually need to invade anyone.
Unless you are already apart of it, then nevermind.
Spent some time in Belfry Luna doing some PvP and had some success after initially taking a long time to get matched up. After 5 minutes of nothing, I took another shot and ended up beating the gargoyles and then there was maybe a minute between each summon.
Its hilarious when some people are just waiting to ambush you as you get summoned into their world with ranged magic but end up missing. I need to get more people to fight me on the top floor so I don't have to worry about falling in the holes. I died at least three times because I was back pedaling with low health.
I kept being summoned into worlds where two people were already fighting so I tried to have some with it by using a token of fidelity as the first person summoned was about to kill the host but sadly it didn't work.
I had trouble with them until I tried using gold pine resin on my sword and then I could kill each gargoyle with 3-4 hits. The best strategy is just to kill each gargoyle before they even have a chance to team up since their attack patterns are pretty limited. You can pretty much spam attacks as long as a second gargoyle doesn't come up behind you.
Thanks! I'll have to check it out, had no idea. I got a couple to drop taking out enemies around there, so I should have probably known to keep poking around.
If From continues the series (and I hope they do) - I'm sure there will be 'another level like the valley of defilement, another level like anor londo, another level like X', but then also toss in a bunch of new stuff also, and I think I'm OK with that.
It's odd because From has shown that they still have plenty of new ideas to work with, but they keep bringing back concepts from before that were great the first time which don't feel as great with just a new coat of paint. Some of these call backs with locations and bosses don't strike me as "oh sweet, what an awesome reference," they usually end up being "oh great, this thing again."
Dark Souls felt like you were given a better sense of why you were there and what your task is. So far, Dark Souls II seems to be way more vague about that. Maybe they figured since you went around collecting Lord Souls in Dark Souls, and killing Archdemons in Demons Souls (though this wasn't the main goal), you could do the same thing again but with less of a story.
Really? complete opposite here - the more I play, the more impressed I get. If things keep going the way they have been the last few hours - I might dare say I like it more than DKSI.
Thanks! I'll have to check it out, had no idea. I got a couple to drop taking out enemies around there, so I should have probably known to keep poking around.
I didn't know the dueling areas existed until someone mentioned it here. I misunderstood and thought you just got more cracked red eyed orbs if you have a successful invasion.
Oh, I finally joined the sunbro covenant yesterday. I think this will be the covenant where I max it out for the trophy. Already have 3 medals (2 from co-op, 1 from a drop). Should be pretty simple, just a matter of time till I hit 30.
The limited upgrade material at the start of the game can be a little aggravating - but this gets resolved as you progress and eventually get unlimited purchases from vendors.
Iron Keep - find a dull ember, and a black smith will give you unlimited large. Once you beat the final boss - a girl will sell unlimited small.
Seems like a lot of stuff is designed around ng+ for pvp and experimentation. But without that, I'm finding I'm not enjoying myself enough to bother with ng+ this time around.
I thought those boss fights were pretty neat. I think my main complaint with some of the boss fights is while I think they have been consistently good/interesting - nothing has been a stand-out 'epic' encounter yet.
Definitely agree with the 'not epic' part, but I haven't found any of the fights interesting either. The only difficult fights I've had were because I had to fight multiple bosses as the same time, and even then, every fight has felt similar in mechanics.
As I said, I was dumb and followed a bad "destroy" message, did one quick combo and the chest was done. That was my mistake, not frustrated with that, frustrated with the repercussions stemming from not being able to farm more orbs to correct the mistake.
Decided to try starting over as a pure caster for the first time in a souls game instead of the str/faith cleric I usually enjoy. Maybe that will be fresh enough to keep things fun to the end.
So I've found a few strange dead looking trees. You can examine them but says something like "of course nothing happened" or something. Any clues as to what they are for? Iirc there's one right near the Pursuer.
Having not finished Demons Souls and mostly played Dark Souls offline, this game has been my first experience with summoning/invading. I've had decent luck, so far. I had just summoned some help for a boss when I got the invasion warning, and I ran around kiting the invading player until my summoned help showed up and we killed him together. Most fun I've had so far with the online bit.
Question about a chest in Iron fortress or w/e. In the room with the furnace that you turn off, theres a chest sitting on some flaming rocks. Is it even possible to open that thing? Youll be dead long before the animation ever finishes.
I like this more. The story is really awesome. DkS1 had a better feel of everything being connected, but this connects the world ok.
NG+ makes the game so much more fun than NG+ in DkS1 and DeS. I used to enjoy running through on new characters for the old game, but I'd much rather do another game on the same profile with this game.
Also, faith is finally comparable with magic. So I couldn't ask for more.
It's too early for a consensus, this game is massive and some of the best stuff is in the mid-late areas. There are some deep secrets to be found. There are entirely new monsters in NG+ and NG++. There's far too much content to be evaluated in a week.
Generally people are hyped. There are some people who are really disappointed, and others who say it's the best in the series. Considering a lot of us have sunk 400-1000+ hours into each of the previous games and this one's been out for a week, it's way too early to rank them against each other.
Personally, I'm 47 hours in and love it; if you love the previous games it's def worth the $60. Will it eclipse the, imho, greatest game of all time, Dark Souls? Well, that's a tall order, but even if it falls short of that, it's still great.
Having not finished Demons Souls and mostly played Dark Souls offline, this game has been my first experience with summoning/invading. I've had decent luck, so far. I had just summoned some help for a boss when I got the invasion warning, and I ran around kiting the invading player until my summoned help showed up and we killed him together. Most fun I've had so far with the online bit.
To early for a consensus yet. I probably won't pass judgement until I've done a second play through but I am leaning more towards this one at the moment.
Speaking of invasions, last night I got my first non-npc black phantom.
I was on a hell of a streak, just plowing through new areas. I get to Hunstmans Copse and seeing as I'm still human I summon two phantoms to go through the level with me. We get the invasion prompt and a black phantom starts to rise out of the ground. The three of us surround this poor guy and just wail on him. He actually did manage to backstab me, but it did less than a fifth of my health, he must have felt a bit deflated after that.
You don't have to be in, they summon randos in to fuck over. But it's not like it's a big deal, it just wastes a couple minutes of your time. There's no penalty for you being killed as a phantom.
I enjoy the ability to actually coop with a friend in this go around (using that name ring). I'm playing completely blind otherwise so I'm having a great time. I swear I'll go into an area blind, decide to help someone else and it seems like everyone I play with is just reading a FAQ or walkthrough. Even their first playthrough they know exactly where to stand. I don't know why you'd want to play like that.
. The sound of some of the elevators being the same as the one going down to the Armored Spider in Demon's Souls, the growl of the dogs, the death sound of some enemies sounding like the silver knights in Anor Londo. 
