Support NeoGAF

[Steel]

Something felt a bit off since I started playing Dark Souls 2 compared to DS1, something missing. It took me awhile to put my finger on it, but now that I've thought about it a bit I think what my problem was that it felt much more... Normal than Dark Souls 1.

Dark souls 1 felt like playing through someone's LSD-induced nightmare hallucinations. You feel that right from the start with the absolutely absurd location of the asylum and how you leave it(I mean, what's more absurd than going up to a nest and getting picked up by a giant bird to travel). Every area, including Anor Londo, felt like someone must have come up with it while high, and as such the game left me very curious as to what the next area would look like. In a very weird way, it was part of its charm, its uniqueness.

However, while DS2 still feels far from normal in its environments, it still feels like most of its oddities come from within the confines of a sane imagination. While this isn't the end of the world, I do miss that feel of complete novelty that every area gave me in DS1. Perhaps this lowered feeling of novelty is simply a symptom of being a sequel.

 

[pretty done]

Yeah having a high stability shield and lots of vitality does trivialize a lot of fights, but don't worry there are still magic bosses and bosses that'll shit-slam you no matter how big your shield is.

this is the opposite of the truth

 

[Owensboro]

So general consensus: first game is better?

Thus far, 1 of 4 big bads down, I'm enjoying this game equally as much as Dark Souls 1, and Demon's Souls. Someone earlier compared it to Zelda, how each game is using the same formula over and over, and I can't help but agree and love it at the same time. There are minor tweaks here and there, but It's still exactly the kind of game I wanted to play after Demon's and Dark.

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? You think so? These games have never been big about shoving story down your throat, to the point that I don't remember ever really realizing the story of Dark Souls until probably some time after Anor Londo, and in Demon's Souls never really understanding the entire thing at all. Hell, I was more lost in the beginning of Dark Souls 1 then either of the other two.

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

Finally beat

Spoiler

The Lost/Last Sinner

, having a good stability shield really helped. I had about 60k souls built up in his lair too, and it didn't help that his approach is pretty tense (at least without whatever key you can use to skip the explody dudes part).

Now I have 121k souls I don't know what to do with.

 

[theytookourjobz]

So, there aren't many if any Boss Soul weapons for a caster, huh? The closest I can seem to find is the Roaring Halberd with its 'lower' requirements of 16/12/12/12 and Dark Damage.

You can trade the final boss' soul for a sweet chime.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

this is the opposite of the truth

Boss spoilers

Spoiler

Freja fucked me up with that magic beam attack and The Rotten had that triple attack that chewed right through my greatshield. The Rotten can also grab you and ruin your day.

 

[Phantasmal Repose]

Has anyone figured out if the Petrified Something has a use or is just another pendant?

 

[jacksepticeye]

Those little Bell guys are actually quite annoying

 

[Steel]

Has anyone figured out if the Petrified Something has a use or is just another pendant?

Find the nest that asks for smooth and silky shit. Back in the tutorial area.

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

Has anyone figured out if the Petrified Something has a use or is just another pendant?

Spoiler

You can trade it with the crows for a random good item.

 

[AngryMoth]

Holy SHIT! Very cool thing I found in the late game that I think a lot of people will miss.

Spoiler

Besides the giants, you can also use the ashen heart to enter the memories of a dragon in freja's boss room

.

 

[Fhtagn]

Has anyone figured out if the Petrified Something has a use or is just another pendant?

Spoiler

Yes. click rest for what it is:

Spoiler

you can at the very least trade them with the crows, maybe more?

 

[Evil Beaver]

Those little Bell guys are actually quite annoying

They got me so angry that I killed the dwarf that asks you to join the bell covenant.

 

[jacksepticeye]

Wow wait so there's

Spoiler

another gargoyle

fight? and way more fucking annoying

 

[Cmerrill]

Has anyone infused their +10 Ultra Greatsword? I'm not sure which to do, any experiences?

Has no one tried this yet? Is it worth it?

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Wow wait so there's another

Spoiler

gargoyle

fight? and way more fucking annoying

What the hell is this. Did you grow up in a barn? A barn where they don't teach you how to spoiler things properly?

 

[ElFly]

Is the best way to deal with

Spoiler

Navlaan

is to go along with his "requests"?

It seems you can

Spoiler

buy most of his requests.

 

[soontroll]

Second one already? Jesus Christ.

 

[jacksepticeye]

What the hell is this. Did you grow up in a barn? A barn where they don't teach you how to spoiler things properly?

Fine I changed it, though I don't see what was so wrong with my initial one. I could have been talking about anything

 

[Gorillaz]

Onlyafro

(yes the one who made the giantdad build)

Is back, says the pvp is shit at the moment but has some funny trolling people

 

[pretty done]

Boss spoilers

Spoiler

Freja fucked me up with that magic beam attack and The Rotten had that triple attack that chewed right through my greatshield. The Rotten can also grab you and ruin your day.

lol

Spoiler

The Rotten

is a joke with easy to dodge attack and low HP and

Spoiler

Freja's adds

are harder than her. The beam attack is telegraphed so early that if you get hit by it... lol (it's also 2 free attacks on her other face)

Spoiler

Even more disappointing is both bosses are the exact same thing on NG+

 

[Owensboro]

People seriously need to learn how to spoiler in this thread, it's annoying as

Spoiler

hell

. If you're going to spoiler something, give a frame of reference and then the spoiler, don't put all the information in the fucking spoiler.

Question about [name of area]:

Spoiler

this is a good spoiler

Question about

Spoiler

name of final boss and the way to beat him

Dude, totally second this. Seriously people, give some sort of context to that black box. In the DS 1 thread people at least started to unspoiler the first letters to no totally ruin everything.

EX> Boss: Ce

Spoiler

asless

D

Spoiler

ischarge

Boss: C

Spoiler

apra

D

Spoiler

emon

.
Zone: T

Spoiler

omb

of G

Spoiler

iants

Zone: S

Spoiler

en's

F

Spoiler

ortress

Anyone who's been there immediately knows if they should click on it to answer. Hell, there's even a SPOILER BUTTON to make it easier!

Fine I changed it, though I don't see what was so wrong with my initial one. I could have been talking about anything

I think that's what he's referring to, that it could be a reference to anything. That helps no one except people who have already beaten the game, or who don't mind being spoiled about, well, anything. After all, it could be anything.

 

[zma1013]

Really? You think so? These games have never been big about shoving story down your throat, to the point that I don't remember ever really realizing the story of Dark Souls until probably some time after Anor Londo, and in Demon's Souls never really understanding the entire thing at all. Hell, I was more lost in the beginning of Dark Souls 1 then either of the other two.

In Demon's Souls the little kid explains everything to you in the beginning of the game.

 

[Leunam]

Really? You think so? These games have never been big about shoving story down your throat, to the point that I don't remember ever really realizing the story of Dark Souls until probably some time after Anor Londo, and in Demon's Souls never really understanding the entire thing at all. Hell, I was more lost in the beginning of Dark Souls 1 then either of the other two.

I do, yeah.

You're absolutely right that the stories are never in your face, but the stories are still there through item descriptions and NPC interaction. Dark Souls filled in a lot of the story with the opening cutscene and you get a good idea of who the biggest players are in Lordran. Dark Souls II tells you almost nothing with its opening, and so far the only one giving the most direction is the Emerald Herald. It's a step in the wrong direction to make the story even more obscure when Dark Souls had the perfect balance.

 

[jacksepticeye]

I think that's what he's referring to, that it could be a reference to anything. That helps no one except people who have already beaten the game, or who don't mind being spoiled about, well, anything. After all, it could be anything.

I see but there seems to be no way of pleasing everyone in these threads. If I reference it with the location or like you have done above then someone else will bitch about how I spoiled something else or hinted at something

There doesn't seem to be a perfect solution that suits everyone

 

[Evil Beaver]

Are there any weapons that scale with faith?

 

[Steel]

Are there any weapons that scale with faith?

Worth noting, fire, lightning, and bleeding scale with faith and/or intelligence now. Poison with adaptability.

 

[SargerusBR]

Onlyafro

(yes the one who made the giantdad build)

Is back, says the pvp is shit at the moment but has some funny trolling people

LET IT RIP

 

[Teasing_Pink]

Are there any weapons that scale with faith?

Anything with lightning, fire, and to some extent dark scales off faith.

 

[ThatGayWolf]

Really? You think so? These games have never been big about shoving story down your throat, to the point that I don't remember ever really realizing the story of Dark Souls until probably some time after Anor Londo, and in Demon's Souls never really understanding the entire thing at all. Hell, I was more lost in the beginning of Dark Souls 1 then either of the other two.

I'm gonna agree that DS1 was waaaayyy more up front about it. It doesn't just dump you into the world like 2 does. Also, the tutorial isn't a big pile of shit, the tutorial area in this game is awful compared the the asylum. DS1 also gives you a clear cut goal at the beginning of the game: hey, cursed undead, I'm depressed, etc, etc, by the way hey there are these two bells, one up and one down, maybe you should ring them and see what happens. DS2: I'm in majula and ???????????? That Emerald woman is no help either, "find big souls," no shit, it's a dark souls game, of course I have to go fight bosses.

 

[jacksepticeye]

I'm gonna agree that DS1 was waaaayyy more up front about it. It doesn't just dump you into the world like 2 does. Also, the tutorial isn't a big pile of shit, the tutorial area in this game is awful compared the the asylum. DS1 also gives you a clear cut goal at the beginning of the game: hey, cursed undead, I'm depressed, etc, etc, by the way hey there are these two bells, one up and one down, maybe you should ring them and see what happens. DS2: I'm in majula and ???????????? That Emerald woman is no help either, "find big souls," no shit, it's a dark souls game, of course I have to go fight bosses.

She tells you specifically to go find the king. Talk to her more and she tells you the different bosses you need to defeat to get their souls to progress to the king.

It's not as vague as you're making it out to be and is actually pretty much on par with DS1. I could easily turn yours around into "2 bells? but where are they? where do I go first?"

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

I'm gonna agree that DS1 was waaaayyy more up front about it. It doesn't just dump you into the world like 2 does. Also, the tutorial isn't a big pile of shit, the tutorial area in this game is awful compared the the asylum. DS1 also gives you a clear cut goal at the beginning of the game: hey, cursed undead, I'm depressed, etc, etc, by the way hey there are these two bells, one up and one down, maybe you should ring them and see what happens. DS2: I'm in majula and ???????????? That Emerald woman is no help either, "find big souls," no shit, it's a dark souls game, of course I have to go fight bosses.

What? People think the story was any more clear in DS1 and DeS? I'm sorry but "Go ring a bell" is about as clear as "Seek tough bosses", and any story you think you knew when starting DS1 is only because you're so familiar with it now.

Seriously, think back to your first playthrough and what you knew. Now explain Lost Izalith to me.

Edit: Personally I think DS2 has more obvious flavor and history than DeS or DS1, but that may be because I'm purposefully looking for it this time around. Nah nevermind, DS1 was about as clear as a brick wall the first go-round.

Thus far, 1 of 4 big bads down, I'm enjoying this game equally as much as Dark Souls 1, and Demon's Souls. Someone earlier compared it to Zelda, how each game is using the same formula over and over, and I can't help but agree and love it at the same time. There are minor tweaks here and there, but It's still exactly the kind of game I wanted to play after Demon's and Dark.

Get back to work!

 

[Maybesew]

What do you think is the best spot to drop my summon sign to max out the sun bro covenant if I am SL 95?

I've been helping people with

Spoiler

smelter demon

but honestly a lot of the time the boss kills me and/or the host. Looking for something with a higher success rate, but still popular.

 

[Despera]

So first couple of bosses were a cake walk... but this boss I'm fighting right now is breaking my fucking balls!!

Spoiler

loving it lol

 

[JRW]

Guess you can add this to the bug list (Happens every time I enter the area).

Sorry all I had on me was my potato: http://youtu.be/OqHCywfmdJ4

 

[Ryan Gosling]

Biiiiig mistake for joining the Company of Champions, how much harder did the game get?? having trouble at Undead Purgatory, but i cant summon.. not a single sign

 

[jacksepticeye]

any story you think you knew when starting DS1 is only because you're so familiar with it now.

Gonna have to agree with this. They're both as vague as each other I think.

 

[Sullichin]

Biiiiig mistake for joining the Company of Champions, how much harder did the game get?? having trouble at Undead Purgatory, but i cant summon.. not a single sign

Pretty sure company of champions blocks co-op.

 

[SloaneRisette]

Beat the

Spoiler

Royal Rat Authority

as he put down a poison pool and then I died. Said VICTORY ACHIEVED and then YOU DIED

Come back in, boss is back

Man fuck Dark Souls 2

 

[Liferebooted]

Just ordered the PS3 Black case version from Amazon. I really loved watching DS streams on twitch but never got much past the first boss myself due to getting lost right away and feeling like I had no idea how to actually play the game..

This time I will stick with DS2 and conquer it... yeah!

 

[Sullichin]

Beat the

Spoiler

Royal Rat Authority

as he put down a poison pool and then I died. Said VICTORY ACHIEVED and then YOU DIED

Come back in, boss is back

Man fuck Dark Souls 2

This happened to me with

Spoiler

Smelter Demon

, almost beat him on my first try but died at the same time. Then it took me like a dozen more tries to actually beat him.

 

[Owensboro]

In Demon's Souls the little kid explains everything to you in the beginning of the game.

Hah, I had completely forgotten about the Monumental! Even then though, it's just a huge exposition dump that amounts to: "We fought Demons a long time ago and locked them away, giving each of these few guys a key. Go get them!" That's not much of a story. I did the same thing in Link to the Past.

I do, yeah.

You're absolutely right that the stories are never in your face, but the stories are still there through item descriptions and NPC interaction. Dark Souls filled in a lot of the story with the opening cutscene and you get a good idea of who the biggest players are in Lordran. Dark Souls II tells you almost nothing with its opening, and so far the only one giving the most direction is the Emerald Herald. It's a step in the wrong direction to make the story even more obscure when Dark Souls had the perfect balance.

Point taken about the opening cinematic telling nothing really. At the end of Dark Souls I's opening I at least knew who the 4 big "gods" were, but other than that it was just some creation story. At the end of DS 2's I just gathered I abandoned my family to come to this land simply because I was drawn here. The instant I hit Majula and talked to all the NPCs I assume the end game was to find these 4 big bosses and talk to some King. Within the first few moments of DS1 I assumed I was supposed to find two bells. Both are equally as vague as to why, or what they do, or why you need them. There is equally as much flavor text in DS2 as there was in 1 and Demon's Souls so far as I have found.

Get back to work!

Get back to being banned!

 

[zma1013]

Beat the

Spoiler

Royal Rat Authority

as he put down a poison pool and then I died. Said VICTORY ACHIEVED and then YOU DIED

Come back in, boss is back

Man fuck Dark Souls 2

It was like, "WINNER... wait a minute, I think we have a disqualification."

 

[Facism]

You can trade the final boss' soul for a sweet chime.

i'm a sorcerer and i have approx 80 fucking chimes, but only the starting catalyst and the bone catalyst. I'm at

Spoiler

drangleic

and i still haven't found a decent fucking catalyst. Any one in the areas i've already been to?

 

[Pinkman_ABQ]

Beat the

Spoiler

Royal Rat Authority

as he put down a poison pool and then I died. Said VICTORY ACHIEVED and then YOU DIED

Come back in, boss is back

Man fuck Dark Souls 2

Same happened to me too. I was so pissed, but luckily was able to beat him again on my next try.

 

[Ryan Gosling]

Pretty sure company of champions blocks co-op.

Oh didnt know that!Tthanks, to hell with this covenant.

 

[Soriku]

Beat the

Spoiler

Royal Rat Authority

as he put down a poison pool and then I died. Said VICTORY ACHIEVED and then YOU DIED

Come back in, boss is back

Man fuck Dark Souls 2

I didn't fight the

Spoiler

Authority

yet, but I did fight the

Spoiler

Vanguard

. I beat the boss, except he killed me at the same time I killed him. Didn't get a Victory Achieved. Had to fight the boss again :x

 

[Owensboro]

I see but there seems to be no way of pleasing everyone in these threads. If I reference it with the location or like you have done above then someone else will bitch about how I spoiled something else or hinted at something

There doesn't seem to be a perfect solution that suits everyone

If they bitch about one letter, then they shouldn't be in the thread to begin with. That's my thought at least. At least my way we give everyone a chance of not completely spoiling something. Note: I say "We" because everyone in this thread, including me, have been horrible with spoiler context. I'm working on getting better at it

 

[GrandHarrier]

I want to kill Felkin so bad...

 

[batbeg]

Finally beat

Spoiler

The Lost/Last Sinner

, having a good stability shield really helped. I had about 60k souls built up in his lair too, and it didn't help that his approach is pretty tense (at least without whatever key you can use to skip the explody dudes part).

Now I have 121k souls I don't know what to do with.

I'm fighting this dude right now and hate it. Is there a way to light up the room? He knocks out two torches in the intro scene but I seem unable to reach them and I can't lock into him for shit.