Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Knight
Soul Level 97 (was 104, before 1-4 boss)
39 hours
Vitality 37
Intelligence 23
Endurance 22
Strength 26
Dexterity 23
Magic 23
Faith 14
Luck 7
... and I'm done!
5-3 boss was really quite cool. Not really a fight, but interesting nonetheless. I've just read about the alternate way to handle her, so I'll Youtube that shortly.
1-4 was pretty fucking bad ass. First of all, I sunk about 600 arrows into
to kill it and then the boss fucked me up. I was so surprised when he stole a soul level and I lost quite a few throughout. Somehow, I managed to defeat him, however, which felt great.
The final boss was pretty shit. I just stood there and shot soul arrows at him and he died in less than a minute. I didn't want a hard end boss for the sake of it, but a more imaginative enemy/fight would have been nice. This ties in to things that I would like to see improved in Dark Souls:
With that said, those are really my only issues with the game. I could've hated it, and all of the stuff I heard about the game over the last 18 months indicated I would, but I'm glad I decided to check it out for myself as it's quite honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long time. I won't lie and say I always found it easy, because my first few posts in this thread prove I did find it too rough at the start, but I think the reputation it has for being overly hard is unfair and probably scares a lot of people away. Once I knew how to properly play the game and was a decent level, it became quite easy, honestly. The last few worlds and bosses were done without any deaths - the complete opposite to how I played for the first third of the game.
To summarise, very quickly:
So, as somebody who feels a bit too old to play hard games that force you to re-play sections, and a gamer that has always hated JRPGS (I hate anime art styles and turned based combat), for me to love it so much really says it all.
I've read/heard/watched literally nothing on Dark Souls, so now I must turn my attention to that to see what has changed!
Thanks for all the hints/tips I've got from various people from this thread, I really do appreciate it and you probably helped me get over that initial hump the game has. I'm going to keep checking in on this thread to see if oracrest makes much progress recording his SL1 run, though!
Soul Level 97 (was 104, before 1-4 boss)
39 hours
Vitality 37
Intelligence 23
Endurance 22
Strength 26
Dexterity 23
Magic 23
Faith 14
Luck 7
... and I'm done!
5-3 boss was really quite cool. Not really a fight, but interesting nonetheless. I've just read about the alternate way to handle her, so I'll Youtube that shortly.
1-4 was pretty fucking bad ass. First of all, I sunk about 600 arrows into
the dragon
The final boss was pretty shit. I just stood there and shot soul arrows at him and he died in less than a minute. I didn't want a hard end boss for the sake of it, but a more imaginative enemy/fight would have been nice. This ties in to things that I would like to see improved in Dark Souls:
- A better hub world. I would like it if it was out of the Nexus and in a world with villages etc. It doesn't need to be huge and open world-esque like Elder Scrolls or anything, but the Nexus is pretty dull and I don't want to spend more time in an area like it. It would be cool if there were roads that lead to each world, for example.
- More story! Don't get me wrong, the minimalist approach to the story in this game was definitely well done, because it let you focus entirely on the levels and progression of your character, but after fighting the last boss and watching the cutscene that followed I reallised that there wasn't really a story at all. I don't want to be bogged down with cutscenes, but a better premise to push you along your journey would be nice.
- Perhaps mid-level checkpoints for the bigger levels. A lot of levels in this game weren't too long, but even a warp point to the boss door once you got that far would've been nice on a few occasions.
- A slightly better lock-on system. For the most part it was okay, but in groups of enemies and ones that were quite far away, sometimes I wanted better.
- Better performance. It was completely playable and fine in most areas, but whenever there was a lot of fire or destruction going on, the framerate utterly died. I love that dragons can destroy a whole bridge, but don't show me it at 10fps!
- A more advanced economy system. When I pick up shit I don't want/need, I should be able to sell it for some benefit, rather than just store it with some guy in the Nexus. Trading/selling would be a great addition.
With that said, those are really my only issues with the game. I could've hated it, and all of the stuff I heard about the game over the last 18 months indicated I would, but I'm glad I decided to check it out for myself as it's quite honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long time. I won't lie and say I always found it easy, because my first few posts in this thread prove I did find it too rough at the start, but I think the reputation it has for being overly hard is unfair and probably scares a lot of people away. Once I knew how to properly play the game and was a decent level, it became quite easy, honestly. The last few worlds and bosses were done without any deaths - the complete opposite to how I played for the first third of the game.
To summarise, very quickly:
- Perfect combat. Whether it's melee, magic or ranged, it always felt so fine tuned and satisfying. I can't name another game with a better combat mechanic. Utterly amazing.
- Fantastic level design. Each world was varied and had different atmospheres, challenges and themes. It was wonderful to explore every location, finding secrets, shortcuts or hidden characters. Only world 5 was anything less than superb.
- Great enemies and bosses. It felt like throughout I was encountering new foes to fight, which again required different strategies, and as somebody who hates bosses (no, really, I HATE them) I have to say this game did them so well I'm thinking I don't hate the concept of bosses, just the way 99% of games do them. Some were extremely challenging, while others were more about the experience, and this mixture made me look forward to my next epic battle.
- The soundtrack. Just beautiful.
- The freedom it gave you to approach the levels as you saw fit. It was great I wasn't forced to play one level if I felt underpowered and was able to go explore or a new area or whatever until I felt confident enough to go back.
- The game clearly respects you as a player. It may too obscure at times and needs to be FAQ'd on several occasions, but I'll take that over hand holding and prompts.
- A bajillion other things.
So, as somebody who feels a bit too old to play hard games that force you to re-play sections, and a gamer that has always hated JRPGS (I hate anime art styles and turned based combat), for me to love it so much really says it all.
I've read/heard/watched literally nothing on Dark Souls, so now I must turn my attention to that to see what has changed!
Thanks for all the hints/tips I've got from various people from this thread, I really do appreciate it and you probably helped me get over that initial hump the game has. I'm going to keep checking in on this thread to see if oracrest makes much progress recording his SL1 run, though!