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[Ar¢tos]

Yea, I guess I'll go level up a bit and try to help out at Quelaag. Just a really shitty design decision.

What does the Unrestricted online setting do anyways? In theory, I was hoping this meant that it disregarded the player/weapon levels, but then I realized it's ON by default so probably not many players even think to disable it (if they'd want to in the first place). Is that even the intended purpose of the setting?

No, that's their funny wording for MP worldwide or limited to your region.

 

[BANGS]

I'll wait for a price drop. I'm not spending 40 bucks to buy this game for the third time for barely an upgrade... but I do wanna play online with my friend so I'll have to get it eventually...

 

[Pejo]

No, that's their funny wording for MP worldwide or limited to your region.

There's actually a separate setting in Network Settings for "Local" or "Global" though, I'm pretty sure Restricted/Unrestricted is something else.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[ContraCode]

I've really enjoyed it so far! Looks pretty nice on the X. Getting some good scores too.

http://pixelatedgamer.com/dark-souls-remastered-review-xbox-one-x/

 

[sensor]

This remaster has made me retroactively appreciate Dark Souls 2 and 3 a whole lot more.

It's still a good game at core (especially from a level design perspective), but I can't do these hitboxes, input lag and the lack of omnidirectional rolling anymore. Whether you liked it or not, the remaster bar was set with Scholar in terms of new content, new item placements, rebalancing, etc. I don't know why this one was so lazy by comparison.

I get that it's a classic and a lot of people hold it dear, but even as a Souls player of 1000s of hours, I'm not enjoying myself at all this go around.

 

[Pejo]

This remaster has made me retroactively appreciate Dark Souls 2 and 3 a whole lot more.

It's still a good game at core (especially from a level design perspective), but I can't do these hitboxes, input lag and the lack of omnidirectional rolling anymore. Whether you liked it or not, the remaster bar was set with Scholar in terms of new content, new item placements, rebalancing, etc. I don't know why this one was so lazy by comparison.

I get that it's a classic and a lot of people hold it dear, but even as a Souls player of 1000s of hours, I'm not enjoying myself at all this go around.

I agree that a "remix" mode with new enemies/drop locations would have gone a long way to making the game enjoyable for returning players, but I think it was just a quick cashgrab honestly. I'm enjoying it, for what it is, but really hate the new online matchmaking. Strongly disagree with the hitbox comment though. There are a few that are (predictably) bigger than they should be, but I still feel like DS1 had the best sweet spot as far as hit detection goes.

 

[sensor]

I agree that a "remix" mode with new enemies/drop locations would have gone a long way to making the game enjoyable for returning players, but I think it was just a quick cashgrab honestly. I'm enjoying it, for what it is, but really hate the new online matchmaking. Strongly disagree with the hitbox comment though. There are a few that are (predictably) bigger than they should be, but I still feel like DS1 had the best sweet spot as far as hit detection goes.

Now that I think about it, DS2 had probably the worst hitboxes out of the three. So you're right, that isn't a relevant complaint if it's levelled at DS1 alone as I did.

But yeah, it's a definite cashgrab. Some people have speculated that it's more for new players who have only played 3 or Bloodborne, but I can't imagine this remaster would convince many new players on the quality of Dark Souls.

 

[Vawn]

Any recent news regarding the Switch version?

 

[Barakov]

Any recent news regarding the Switch version?

Nothing other than that it's coming out in summer. I would think that it would be at E3.

 

[Mr Hyde]

So, after The Surge I got the itch for the true king itself and luckily enough the price tag was slashed in half like an undead dreg. No fucking way I pay 40 bucks for this. I played Dark Souls a lot on PS3, even grabbed the platinum, but I just couldn't resist Blighttown in 60 fps. I loved this game back in the days, but after Bloodborne and DS3, combat here is clunky as hell. We've been too spoiled by the evolvement of this series and now the original looks dated as fuck.

I'm having fun regardless, it's a well designed game, fun bosses and all, but I can't stop thinking of how a proper remake would have been. But since it isn't, I'm just gonna play the shit out of this one, trying fun builds and odd weapons that I didn't play with last time. Going for a dex-int build now, my main priorities are the Tracers and MGS. Until then I'm going nuts with the Gargoyle Tail Axe, and possibly Balder Sword if I get lucky. Man, it's good to be back, the addiction is strong with Souls.

 

[Kadayi]

Did anyone get this on PC? If so impressions would be appreciated. I played the shit out of it when it first launched on PC, but for my sins I never actually beat it (I just love noodling with game systems and trying different setups too much). I know that there's a discount if you own the original, but is worth it overall?

 

[Later Alligator]

Did anyone get this on PC? If so impressions would be appreciated. I played the shit out of it when it first launched on PC, but for my sins I never actually beat it (I just love noodling with game systems and trying different setups too much). I know that there's a discount if you own the original, but is worth it overall?

if the steam comments are anything to go by, it seems that cheating is very rampant

 

[Mr Hyde]

So, I´ve been progressing my character rather smoothly in these 10 or so hours I´ve been playing. Despite hundreds of hours played on PS3 I still have a ton of fun with this game. It´s just brilliantly designed. There are so many options in how you can approach this adventure, with multiple paths, builds and weapons at your service. Miyazaki and his team really knocked it out of the park when it comes to map design, variety in playstyles, bosses, story and general gameplay execution.

I´m building towards a sort of "stealth/melee sorcerer"- kinda of type, but right now it´s more of a "giant axe smashed in your head"-brute. I´ve acquired the Gargoyle Tail Axe and upgraded it to +9 and it fuckin reks faces left to right. The bizarre weapons you can find in this game is one of the major reasons why I love this series. It´s just so absurd to be swinging a tail formed as an axe that you cut off from a stone gargoyle that came to life. I love how it bends when you go for strong attacks. I also got the Balder Side Sword, and the grind wasn´t bad at all. I got it on my 15th try, with the help of some humanities to bump up my item discovery.

I´ve just reached the bonfire at The Depths and the layout is very confusing. The curse frogs are a pain in the ass but I believe there are some nice rings in here. Later on it´s Blighttown so I can reach the Shadow Set, which is one of three sets I will be upgrading for this character. I´m really looking forward to the Tracers and MGS, but I also want to have some options for ranged attacks. I´m thinking of combining bows and arrows with dark magic, since Artorias of the Abyss introduced some cool new spells.

As for the remaster, it´s nice with the 60 fps upgrade. It makes the game a lot easier, especially parrying is a real treat now that the game doesn´t run at 5 fps. The graphics are pretty good too, with some fire effects looking real sharp. There are however some QoL-changes that Bamco seems to have forgot, like not being able to slide down ladders is bullshit. How can one not implement such a thing? Omni-directional rolling is also sorely missing, since I like to play without shields, but here it´s just better not to lock on to enemies. The messaging system could also have been revamped because it is pure shite in this game. From made some good improvements in 2 and 3, so why not stick with those? Not sure if anything has been done to twinking in Burg, only been invaded once but he didn´t really fit the profile for a griever. Co-op on the other hand is great. Been having lots of fun with multiplayer. The forest is gonna be a blast.

 

[Death Dealer]

This remaster has made me retroactively appreciate Dark Souls 2 and 3 a whole lot more.

It's still a good game at core (especially from a level design perspective), but I can't do these hitboxes, input lag and the lack of omnidirectional rolling anymore.

I put at least 100 hours a piece into Demons Souls and Dark Souls, and maybe 50 hours into Dark Souls 3. But with Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin, which I got for PS4 the first week it was first released, I didn't last for more than 5-6 hours before I traded it in. The hitboxes and movement and everything about that game felt so janky to me.

 

[kischine]

I put at least 100 hours a piece into Demons Souls and Dark Souls, and maybe 50 hours into Dark Souls 3. But with Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin, which I got for PS4 the first week it was first released, I didn't last for more than 5-6 hours before I traded it in. The hitboxes and movement and everything about that game felt so janky to me.

Dark Souls 2 has so many problems... Before the release of DSR I tried replaying Scholar to get all the achievements (the only game in the series that I still haven't got it), but it's so frustrating.
To me, the biggest problem with DS2 is the animation. Enemies don't telegraph their attacks that well cause the animation is just sloppy and horribly made, hitboxes are AWFUL, level design and enemy placement are bad. So many weapons with so little real options. But still, I bought DS2 4 times and it's the 8th time that I'm dropping the game to play something else, which I never did in a Souls game besides DS2.

Anyway, I really liked the remaster BUT they could fix some parts of the game. I don't expect a full balance patch to PVP, but at least fix some bugs and help out the Blades a little, farming souvenirs is still a torture (in PVP). Besides that, it's the same old Dark Souls with people actually playing it nowadays and the online aspect working.

 

[Codes 208]

Ds2 SotF is easily the worst of the entire soulsborne franchise. I finally just beat it recently and i dont have the interest to go back. The one and only thing it has over ds1/dsr is that it has omni-directional rolling (so many times in dsr i trying rolling at a 40° angle and the game thinks i meant forward or a wide 90° roll) but that aside, the enemy plqcements in ds2 and environmental hazards are just super offputting.

"Do you know what ds fans like? Blighttown. Lets make MOAR blighttown moments like the gutter, earthen peak, hallow valley, black gulch and in addition, gank fights everywhere!"

Also the boss fights sucked. It was quantity over quality. I mean seriously, a rat mob? Prowling magus and congregation? Jabba the hutt? Iron king? Dragon rider and two dragon riders? And most of all: those fucking belfry gargoyles."yo dawg we heard you like reskins so we reskinned a gank skin so you reskin gank"

 

[kischine]

"Do you know what ds fans like? Blighttown. Lets make MOAR blighttown moments like the gutter, earthen peak, hallow valley, black gulch and in addition, gank fights everywhere!"

The funny part to me is that, the first time I played through DS2, Shrine of Amana managed to beat all those places you mentioned in terms of horrible gaming moments. You basically have to cheese your way through with the bow or have an insane headache, not worth it any other option.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Scholar of the First Sin is easily the best one of the three. It has a lot of flaws, but no more than the rest of the bunch. And when you put this remaster of Dark Souls next to Scholar, this one feels really thin in comparison. In Scholar we got a ton of content, upped with item and enemy replacement, three excellent DLCs instead of one, new lore and bosses. In Dark Souls Remastered, nothing, nada. Not that I want to complain, it is a great game but I had a lot more fun with the second one (and third, for that matter.)

Anyway, I have reached the second bonfire of Blighttown and it was a whole new experience due to the improved framerate. And if we are gonna talk shitty bosses in Souls then the Gaping Dragon must take the cake. The design of it is really cool but daaym, is it a lackluster boss. You just have to stroll around it and and strike the legs, not much finesse there. Incredibly boring. I got the Shadow Set and it is darn sexy. The Wanderer Coat too, absolute gorgeous. But I´m holding on to the Twinkling Stones, Chesters Set and Ciarans is in my checklist too. But would it be too hard to implement some cloth physics?

 

[Codes 208]

The funny part to me is that, the first time I played through DS2, Shrine of Amana managed to beat all those places you mentioned in terms of horrible gaming moments. You basically have to cheese your way through with the bow or have an insane headache, not worth it any other option.

its almost as if my body was trying to save me by forgetting that garbage. Thats another issue with ds2, not just the environmental hazards but the artifical difficulty by adding tons of ranged enemies alongside heavy hitting melee fighters.

Thus is the core of ds2's issues. It tries tqking the difficulty factor and brings it to 11 for no reason outside just trying to outdo ds1. The issue is that ds1 is hard, but theres qlmost no times where the game is unfair, (the only parts i can think of like this are the archway black knights in anor londo and the bed of bullshit) it just p7nishes you when youre being too greedy or unobservant of your surroundings. Same with 3 and bloodborne. But ds2 was the series "try hard" of challenging gameplay.

 

[Mr Hyde]

but theres qlmost no times where the game is unfair,

This is just complete bullshit. I am playing it right now and Dark Souls has a ton of unfair encounters, with enemies that gank you and other sorts of shit that DS2 gets attacked for. It´s like you live in a bubble and blocks out all of the originals flaws just so you can fit your narrative about DS2 being the "artificial difficulty and try hard". DS2 haters never change, and keeps singing the same tune year in and year out.

 

[I_D]

This is just complete bullshit. I am playing it right now and Dark Souls has a ton of unfair encounters, with enemies that gank you and other sorts of shit that DS2 gets attacked for. It´s like you live in a bubble and blocks out all of the originals flaws just so you can fit your narrative about DS2 being the "artificial difficulty and try hard". DS2 haters never change, and keeps singing the same tune year in and year out.

I will agree with the argument 'If Dark Souls 2 is unfair, then so is Dark Souls 1,' but I'd argue none of the Souls games are particularly unfair, outside of a few random occurrences.
If you take your time, you won't ever get ganked or rushed or tricked, or anything like that. There are only a handful of instances across the whole series which I'd call 'unfair,' even though you tend to learn from them after the first try.

 

[kischine]

This is just complete bullshit. I am playing it right now and Dark Souls has a ton of unfair encounters, with enemies that gank you and other sorts of shit that DS2 gets attacked for. It´s like you live in a bubble and blocks out all of the originals flaws just so you can fit your narrative about DS2 being the "artificial difficulty and try hard". DS2 haters never change, and keeps singing the same tune year in and year out.

Nah, no Souls game is unfair, and I didn't say DS2 is bad, it's just the worst game in a series of amazing games.
But the fact is, playing a non hit run in DS1 and 3 is no way a huge problem as it is in DS2, in DS1/3 the animation is fluid and enemies telegraph really well their attacks, now in DS2 we have sloppy animation and horrible hitboxes. And we didn't even talk about soul memory and some other god awful gameplay decisions.
However there are some amazing parts in DS2. The DLCs are REALLY good, and DS2 has the best endgame content of the series (that's why there's a group that defends it).

But yeah, Bloodborne is probably the "hardest" of the series if you include random generated Chalice dungeons. I played through all of them, and after a while you don't even get hit during a random, 3 times cursed, chalice dungeon, so it can't really be unfair.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Hope Sony release some Demons Soouls Remaster or Remake since it's the only left to be ported and it seems Souls remasters have had financial success

It's the best in the series too but I suspect the world tendancy is a bit too weird for the general public.

 

[Codes 208]

This is just complete bullshit. I am playing it right now and Dark Souls has a ton of unfair encounters, with enemies that gank you and other sorts of shit that DS2 gets attacked for. It´s like you live in a bubble and blocks out all of the originals flaws just so you can fit your narrative about DS2 being the "artificial difficulty and try hard". DS2 haters never change, and keeps singing the same tune year in and year out.

Any specific examples through your gameplay? Ive already made mentions of some spots like the archways of anor londo. The only other trouble spots where I personally hit a wall was when I went into the catacombs too early and got shanked left and right by overleveled skeletons that kept respawning. And of course there's blight town, but fun fact: You can actually skip upper blight town by using the entrance in drake valley. As for gank bosses, DS1 had few and far between but the gargoyles for example are actually manageable in that the second waits long enough for you do either kill or do major damage to the first one. On top of that, you can even summon solaire to help out. In comparison, the belfry gargoyles in ds2 are absolute bullshit. There's five of them and they dont wait at all to gangrape you. Summoning is practically required here.

Now let's look at DS2. I cant think of a single part of 1 or 2 that made me as salty as the run up to the executioner's chariot. Which starts as a gank boss fight with the hallow hunter trio. From the bonfire to the bridge you're being chased down by several powerful knights with dark element weapons from swords to whips that'll wreck your day if you so much as stop from using all your stamina, and then when you finally get to the gate SURPRISE! Havel monster. Enjoy that butthurt as you get sandwhiched between a a group of annoyingly powerful enemies. As for bosses, if you really think gaping dragon is the worst (which btw, you're wrong. Pinwheel is.) DS2 has a fuckton of shitty bosses such as, already mentioned, Magus and Congregation. This is literally just a room with several low leveled mobs in a bizarre attempt of making a gank boss. Then you have two mediocre rat bosses, one of which is a small room with a rat gank fight where you have to kill mr mohawk and the other is a shitty Sif reskin. There's even A shitty Qualeg reskin in scorpion form. and a battle with Ornstein without Smough.
Plus everyones favorite boss: Covetous Demon, the boss where you have to proactively try to die against this jabba the hutt knock-off.

As for more moments of artificial difficulty, for clarity. Im specifically talking about situations where the game throws all types of hazards and enemies with the intention of padding the difficulty. Blight town sucks for what it is but once you play in DSR it's just more time consuming than challenging as the enemies arent that difficult to deal with, especially when you get to the bottom. But a good example of poor placement is the Black Gulch. An area where there's dozens of jars that spit poison at you as you try to dodge/fight large leeches, wall worms and even a couple NPC invasions. I had more trouble crossing this area itself then I did with the boss in it. Plus as already mentioned, the frequent spell spamming of Shrine of Amana makes for one of the worst areas of the series.

But its not that I think DS2 is bad, it's just my least favorite of the series, including BB and demon souls and that sotfs makes it that much more frustrating. Maybe the DLC wouldve been better, but frankly by end game I didnt want to play anymore so I yolo'd the last three bosses in quick succession and havent touched it since.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I went ahead and started NG+. I'm enjoying it. I used Havel's set plus a Black Knight Sword +5. I was going for a Zweihander Lighting +5 in the catacombs, but my BKS was doing enough damage. I had the Crystal Ring Shield, but the damage sucked since I didn't put any points in INT. I moved to a Grass Crest Shield after using a Knight Shield 10+ for most the game.

I started another character in SotFS and I remember finishing both on PS3/PC years ago. I like the hostility of the enemies in SotFS, but having 3 white knights and 4 taller knights charge at you into dragon fire is tough to get past at the beginning.

Overall, Dark Souls is a classic game in the way its designed. I'm looking forward to playing NG+ and SotFS.

 

[Mr Hyde]

ny specific examples through your gameplay?

The entirety of Blighttown. You have to pass narrow walkways with mobs blowing toxic darts at you. The hell hounds show up in two or three numbers jumping you along with another asshole that tries to grab and bite you. Near Queelags entrance you have three or four stonethrowing fat boys making your life a living hell as you trying to get in to her (or out). Not to mention these irritating flies that show up in infinite numbers if you are not careful. Top that off with a poisonous swamp. Not too mention Lautrec who ruins the day when you finally get up from that godforsaken place.

Other parts of unfair moments is the entrance to Capra Demon where you have a split second to realize that you are gonna get gangraped by a huge goat demon and his two mutts. Also, the arena is so small that you can barely dodge at all.

The gauntlet in the Parish with a huge pig bum rushing you when several dregs attack you with bow and arrows. The are also multiple dregs that rush you in a narrow corridor on the way to the Gargoyles. They also have a channeler that shoots soul arrows at you and boosts the dregs.

There are multiple enemies in the lower burg ganking up on you with dogs and ninjas swinging all over the place.

Anor Londo is ripe with silver knights shooting arrows at you. The ceiling with the painting guardians is also bullshit.

Bonewheels in Catacombs. The Tomb of Giants is just one big pile of unfair middle fingers thrown at you in rapid succession.

And the bosses in Dark Souls 1 have a few lackluster bosses too. Taurus Demon, Ceaseless Discharge, Pinwheel, Bed of Chaos. Centipede Demon. And if you want to talk reskins the Asylum Demon came in three different versions in the same game. And two the most famous gank bosses in the series can be found in part one. Just saying.

You mention optional areas in Dark Souls 1 and how you can avoid most of Blighttown, but the Doors of Pharros is optional too, and you don´t have to engage the rat. Magus and Covetous are just minibosses on the road to the Duke and Mytha. I agree that they are shitty bosses but these types of bosses have been in all three games, but you are acting like this is exclusive to Dark Souls 2.

The point is that all of the four Souls-games have these types of encounters, they have similar areas and similar sort of design, some less and some more. Poisonous areas is a staple in the series since Demon´s Souls, like Death Mountain in Zelda or the fog in Silent Hill. But everywhere on the Internet people are acting like Dark Souls 2 was the only one to have this kind of design, this "hard for the sake of being hard" when the other games present similar challenges too.

 

[Mr Hyde]

The PvP in Dark Souls is just terrible. I am in the forest right now and everybody is fishing for backstabs. Get the biggest sword, pump it up to +14 and equip the hornet ring and go to town. There´s the stereotypical Dark Souls player right there. Can´t believe Bamco didn´t bother fixing that shit. It´s so incredibly broken that everytime I duel I get a mental breakdown.

 

[xviper]

The PvP in Dark Souls is just terrible. I am in the forest right now and everybody is fishing for backstabs. Get the biggest sword, pump it up to +14 and equip the hornet ring and go to town. There´s the stereotypical Dark Souls player right there. Can´t believe Bamco didn´t bother fixing that shit. It´s so incredibly broken that everytime I duel I get a mental breakdown.

you won't win if you play normally in Dark souls 1 PvP, you have to play with broken and overpowered weapons

i suggest using the Gold Tracer curved sword with wolf ring and a heavy armor that has high Poise, with this you can freeze your enemies while spamming two-handed R1 until they die

or you can replace Gold Tracer with lightning zweihander, 3 hits and your enemy is both frozen and dead

or you can go with super easy mode and be a sorcerer and use the insanely overpowered DLC sorceries that pretty much kills in 1 hit

Dark souls 1 has the most unbalanced and broken PvP in the series, you have to play dirty to win

 

[Mr Hyde]

I gave up on the Forest, it was just an endless loop of ganking, lost sessions and backstab fishing. I thought it was gonna be great times in the woods because of the revitalized community but unfortunately it was a complete disaster. I wish the PvP was like in Dark Souls 3. It was so good and nothing like this broken mess here. Nevertheless, I will try my luck for PvP in the Dragon Covenant instead, hoping for better duels there.

On the main campaign I have reached Sen´s Fortress and despite the amount of bullshit that goes on in this place it is one of my favourite areas. I have forgotten how unforgiving this place is. My palms is just dripping with sweat when I try to navigate this diabolical hell hole. Giant axe pendulums swinging from left to right on tight narrow walkways is as much fun as it sounds. And as if that wasn´t enough you got a freaking Man-Serpent standing at the end of the walkway with a 90-inch Greatsword and another one shooting electric balls of lightning at you. There is also giant boulders rolling around the entire fortress who oneshots me if they hit me. When I reached the top where the boulders are I managed to switch direction on them, thinking that I had shut them down for good. But listen to this, when you set out to explore the fortress in good faith knowing those pesky boulders aren´t flattening you no more, they reactivate again despite me turning them off! With no logical explanation other than to fuck with the player. And hence, I got a boulder right in my back crushing me like a mosquito when I picked up the Gold Covetous Ring. Yeah, Dark Souls is really fair.

But the atmosphere of this place is just amazing. It manages to both wreck my nerves and encourage me to never give up. I want to explore every nook and cranny, from the swampy bottoms with the Demon Titanites to the upper roofs with the Iron Golem. The enemies here are fun to kill, Man-Serpents offers an excellent opportunity to train on the parrying skills with their wide swings. It is so dark and foreboding, with a couple of secrets well hidden away. I love the lore of this ominous castle and I have always wondered who Sen actually is. He/she is obviously a devious asshole considering the numerous deadly traps he/she has set up here, but it would have been nice with some sort of information regarding who this person really is. If it really is a person. Sen just might actually be the dungeon itself, as an entity of sorts. Anyway, Sen´s is a formidable challenge that acts as a beautiful foreplay to the best area in the game, Anor Londo. I also love that you can see other areas from here. The Darkroot Garden. Undead Parish. The roof with the Gargoyles and the big bell. It is always fun to spot landmarks were you´ve been before. Dark Souls 3 did this the best.

 

[Death Dealer]

This is just complete bullshit. I am playing it right now and Dark Souls has a ton of unfair encounters, with enemies that gank you and other sorts of shit that DS2 gets attacked for. It´s like you live in a bubble and blocks out all of the originals flaws just so you can fit your narrative about DS2 being the "artificial difficulty and try hard". DS2 haters never change, and keeps singing the same tune year in and year out.

The only part of DS1 that really pissed me off was the archers in Anor Londo. That was really frustrating but I finally did it.

I couldn't even play DS2. It's weird because I have noticed it's some people's favorite game in the series. I've heard the PVP is particularly good.
But just the way the movement felt and the combat, right from the beginning, felt off. I couldn't get into it.

 

[gioGAF]

Currently enjoying this on PS4. Not really PvPing, never actually enjoyed PvP in DkS1 (huge letdown after spending countless hours on Demon's Souls).

Working on the Platinum, so collecting a bunch of stuff right now. If anyone wants to help or needs help, feel free to drop me a line (Level ~70 something): Akuma_818

 

[Mr Hyde]

I´m beginning to notice, and appreciate, the updated graphics on this remaster. The first thing that caught me off guard was the Hell Kite Dragon. When he first crashlands on the crumbling castle walls of the Burg I thought to myself that he looked really good. But it wasn´t before he soared down from his nesting spot near the bonfire where Solaire praises the Sun that I noticed the incredible detail on him. And with those new shiny fire effects that bursted out of his throat he came off as intimidating and fearsome, and not one you would normally wanna fuck with.

Queelag was the other noticeable example. The fur on her body looked almost real, with incredible attention to detail, and again, the fire effects from her Fury Sword and lava spit were just plain freaking awesome. In fact, a lot of the areas look sharper and more detailed, more fluid and organic. Sen´s Fortress and the whole of Darkroot Garden comes alive and feels practically brand new, with it´s decaying nature and lush and leafy forests feels. The lower burg however and parts of Blightown looked really dated though, like a late PS2-game. I remember the court yard at the Dukes also looking like shite so I won´t expect much graphical improvements there. I haven´t explored Demon Ruins yet nor Izalith, but I can imagine that these areas won´t look particularly hot.

But overall, I think this remaster looks and feels great. The framerate definitely improves the experience by a mile, it´s simply a whole other game with solid 60 frames per second. The combat felt clunky in the beginning, but I´ve adjusted to it quite nicely in the last couple of days. The gameplay from BB and DS3 is still fresh in my mind and in terms of combat they shit all over this one, but for what it is and how it plays out in the actual game once you come to terms with the difference, it is fucking great.

 

[iHaunter]

I don't get all the bitching. I've been loving this game.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I really want this to go on sale soon. I said hold out till the first sale as I have it on ps3 and PC. Gotta get like atleast 20% or something soon right?

Is there a gaf group on ps4?

 

[Mr Hyde]

I really want this to go on sale soon.

I bought it for half the price a week ago. It was an offer for PS Plus members I think.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I bought it for half the price a week ago. It was an offer for PS Plus members I think.

Seriously? Bah... I know 3 was on sale but I must have missed that

 

[Mr Hyde]

Offered my help today against Sif and managed to collect a 100k souls and a couple of humanities along the way. A great boss fight, intense, hard and filled to the brim with tears of sadness. I think the side story about Knight Artorias and his furry friend Sif is the best in the whole series. It is a captivating tale that plays on my emotions in a way I never experienced in a video game before, and the way the story is told is very beautiful. I remember the first time I played Dark Souls, and how fascinating it was to read and hear all this information about the legendary warrior Sir Artorias, who sacrificed himself in order to stop the Abyss from spreading. The way From built him up through the game was excellent. He became this great myth and I contemplated if I was ever gonna see him in the game. But I didn´t. He never showed up. So, obviously I just thought it was a past event that was told by characters who respected him and he became nothing more than an urban legend who was used as a cool way to tell a story. But then From released Artorias of the Abyss which actually made us revisit the past to see how the Abyss came to fruition. And there he was - the man of the myth himself, Knight Artorias - corrupted by the Abyss ready to fuck me up beyond repair. And when I fought him he showed off some insanely impressive moves and I thought to myself "Damn, where have I seen this before?" And then it clicked. Sif copied his masters fighting style as a tribute to him and used it in the fight against me. Fucking brilliant storytelling, all done with minimal dialog and cutscenes.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I always fought Sif. Not once did I ever skip that fight. I'm curious to how difficult he is in NG+, but I want to skip it.

 

[demigod]

I bought it for half the price a week ago. It was an offer for PS Plus members I think.

Damn I must've missed it.

Btw why isn't this game out yet on the switch, i thought it was due in June. There must be some problems with the game.

 

[tolman]

I always fought Sif. Not once did I ever skip that fight. I'm curious to how difficult he is in NG+, but I want to skip it.

I have bad news for you (if you want to fight 4 Kings and progress main story that is).

 

[techblogger911]

I've really enjoyed it so far! Looks pretty nice on the X. Getting some good scores too.

http://pixelatedgamer.com/dark souls-remastered-review-xbox-one-x/

Well the game is also release on steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/570940/DARK SOULS REMASTERED/

I feel that reviews for this game are going to be difficult. The game is a masterpiece in terms of level design etc. etc. you name it. Based on gameplay alone you have to give it a 9/10 because the game is damn near flawless even to todays standards. If you base it on what has changed/updated then the score has to be much lower.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I have bad news for you (if you want to fight 4 Kings and progress main story that is).

Not all exploits (if any) to get to kiln early were fixed in the remaster (I do wonder what was fixed....)

 

[tolman]

My bad. Never used glitches.

 

[Virex]

Level that char up to a level that matches the upgrade range, because co-op with noobs with that one is gone out of the window. Character planning now is like Dks3 basically (lvl up to 20, wep up to +2-+4, lvl up to 40, wep to +4-+6, etc)(taking into account the level equivalence of special weps). Low lvl player base (burg/parish) becomes split in 2, the ones that got Drake Sword (+5-+7 wep range) and those that didn't (wep +0 - +5), plus character level range (lvl + 10 + 10% / lvl - 10 - 10%).

Drake sword is the most shit weapon in the whole game. Every freaking person that summons me is running around with the Drake Sword. No wonder they need to summon.

 

[Virex]

Yea, I guess I'll go level up a bit and try to help out at Quelaag. Just a really shitty design decision.

What does the Unrestricted online setting do anyways? In theory, I was hoping this meant that it disregarded the player/weapon levels, but then I realized it's ON by default so probably not many players even think to disable it (if they'd want to in the first place). Is that even the intended purpose of the setting?

Unrestricted means there will no be a limit on how many summon signs you can see in an area. Restricted restricts summon signs your can see between 4 and 6.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Sen´s Fortress gave me a lot of headache. I think I died over 30 times in various ways. One time I had like 80k souls and a large amount of humanity. I ran around the entire dungeon like an escaped mental patient, looking for that one bonfire I had forgot were it was. I searched high and low, swinging my trusty Flamberge (such a damn sexy weapon) at hordes of Prowling Demons and crazy Man-Serpents. Nearly got my ass handed too me several times but I managed through. I finally come out in the open, breathing that fresh air coming straight up from the sewers of Blighttown. Suddenly I remember that glorious bonfire, the beacon of hope and light in my despair, and I smell victory. I smell level up and reinforcement. I go up a set of stairs and two seconds later I get a flaming barrel right in the kisser, thrown by a smug giant who probably laughed his ass off at my demise. So I had to start all over from the Parish.

Iron Golem is probably the easiest boss I tackled so far. Gaping Dragon and Taurus Demon comes in a close second. In fact, all of the bosses have been very easy. One really starts to notice how much the skills have been improving since my first foray into this series. I remember first besting Demon´s Souls. I couldn´t even get to Phalanx, that´s how much I sucked at this game. I thought Demon´s was the worst game I ever played. It was so fucking unforgiving, so obtuse and stupid and fuck it all to hell.

"Modern games shouldn´t behave like this!" I screamed in a childish tantrum believing that it was the game who was at fault, not me.

I shelved Demon´s for a year, vowing to never play that piece of shit ever again. But the thought of conquering it grew to large. I couldn´t give up. So I started a new character and suddenly every piece of the puzzle just fell in to place. I began to understand the mechanics and step by step I advanced through this nightmare of an adventure. For every boss I killed my confidence grew bigger and bigger. And after three months of hell and back I finally beat Demon´s Souls. It was my proudest moment in gaming ever. It was in that moment I fell in love with this series and I have played and loved every game for thousands of hours ever since. They are unique experiences that redefined myself as a player, that encouraged me to take on seemingly impossible challenges and come out victorious. This sense of adventure, of achievements, I get for playing these games are nowhere to be found in the other games I play.

Souls is just the best thing ever created when it comes to entertainment.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Ornstein & Smough was the first real challenge. As expected. I have always had trouble with these boys. I killed Ornstein first since Smough is easier in his second phase. Took me about 15 tries with my trusty Flamberge before they bit the dust. It's a darn good boss fight. Anor Londo is without a doubt the most memorable area in the game. Some questionable enemy placement but other than that it is a master class in level design, atmosphere, challenge and unexpected story twists.

 

[tassletine]

Nah, no Souls game is unfair, and I didn't say DS2 is bad, it's just the worst game in a series of amazing games.
But the fact is, playing a non hit run in DS1 and 3 is no way a huge problem as it is in DS2, in DS1/3 the animation is fluid and enemies telegraph really well their attacks, now in DS2 we have sloppy animation and horrible hitboxes. And we didn't even talk about soul memory and some other god awful gameplay decisions.
However there are some amazing parts in DS2. The DLCs are REALLY good, and DS2 has the best endgame content of the series (that's why there's a group that defends it).

But yeah, Bloodborne is probably the "hardest" of the series if you include random generated Chalice dungeons. I played through all of them, and after a while you don't even get hit during a random, 3 times cursed, chalice dungeon, so it can't really be unfair.

Unfair? Try playing Aldrich with a dex build having not upgraded vitality. Third playthrough I tried this, having slaughtered him easily a couple of times before. Almost everything he does one shots you. Make the slightest slip up and you die, usually from something coming from off screen. It's insane and completely unbalanced compared to the rest of the game. I've never struggled like this with any boss before, souls or not. It's very, very tedious and not at all fun. I don't want to have to overlevel just to beat him.

At a guess there might even be some storytelling involved here — seeing as Aldrich respecced himself too much and turned to sludge — the game may very well be commenting on what you may have to do to defeat him. Me ? I just gave up. I can't be bothered playing games that are this badly designed especially when a respec is an easy solution to the problem you face. Given the games build up to Aldrich, he needed to be a better boss. That encounter is weak, badly designed and definitely unfair if you don't have the right specs. It's brutal and annoying.

I've never finished Ds1 for a similar reason (even though i've played it through about 4 times). Gwynn always felt cheap to me and the end of that game feels broken. There's just too much emptiness and running around. You're right there though, all the souls games have broken, poor bits, the only one that feels properly streamlined is Bloodborne, for me everything else seems like a work in progress, however great they are.

Ds2 has some fantastic, varied level design and experiments more, even if it does feel muddled. Most of 3 is weak in that regard. The swamps / wooded area is so dull I think a lot of people, especially first timers, would have given up there and then. Ds2 gets hammered far too often.

 

[kischine]

Unfair? Try playing Aldrich with a dex build having not upgraded vitality. Third playthrough I tried this, having slaughtered him easily a couple of times before. Almost everything he does one shots you. Make the slightest slip up and you die, usually from something coming from off screen. It's insane and completely unbalanced compared to the rest of the game. I've never struggled like this with any boss before, souls or not. It's very, very tedious and not at all fun. I don't want to have to overlevel just to beat him.

At a guess there might even be some storytelling involved here — seeing as Aldrich respecced himself too much and turned to sludge — the game may very well be commenting on what you may have to do to defeat him. Me ? I just gave up. I can't be bothered playing games that are this badly designed especially when a respec is an easy solution to the problem you face. Given the games build up to Aldrich, he needed to be a better boss. That encounter is weak, badly designed and definitely unfair if you don't have the right specs. It's brutal and annoying.

Oh boy, you know what I'm going to say, however, if you are struggling with a boss, the game gives you enough options to basically skip him, this is in all Souls games. You could summon someone to help you, you could level your character (cause you were probably underleveled), you could try a different build as you said (but I sincerely don't think that's the case), you could do what I do when I struggle with a boss, I put my summon sign at his door and help other people as I figure out what to do.

But yeah, the most obvious answer here is: GIT GUD.

There is a reason people say this, and it is true, the biggest implication that you could not get through an area of the game is just that you are not good enough, SO MANY people got through and you didn't, it's NOT unfair, I barely used estus in my first playthrough against Aldritch and I fought him TWICE as I helped Anri.
You can't expect the game to be easy with any build you play, you risk looking like a spoiled brat.
Dark Souls have teached you a lesson about yourself, you are not patient, you think you are better than you really are and it shows when you get frustrated that the game is just not as easy as other games you play.

To be completely honest here, if you thought Aldritch is hard, you would get destroyed to oblivion in the DLCs. Gael, Friede and especially Midir are on another level.

I've never finished Ds1 for a similar reason (even though i've played it through about 4 times). Gwynn always felt cheap to me and the end of that game feels broken. There's just too much emptiness and running around. You're right there though, all the souls games have broken, poor bits, the only one that feels properly streamlined is Bloodborne, for me everything else seems like a work in progress, however great they are.

Ds2 has some fantastic, varied level design and experiments more, even if it does feel muddled. Most of 3 is weak in that regard. The swamps / wooded area is so dull I think a lot of people, especially first timers, would have given up there and then. Ds2 gets hammered far too often.

Praising DS2 and shitting on DS3 and 1? Are you serious or this is bait? GWYN IS HARD? You got through Four Kings, Ornstein and Smough and Nito and you think Gwyn is hard? The boss that you CAN PARRY? I can't take this serious.
The end of the game is empty? Kiln is just 2 sections, what the fuck my dude?