LTTP: Dark Souls (PS3)
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Canis lupus
Member
I loved Dark Souls and I really want to play Demon's Souls but I'm scared of image retention. I still have Estus Flask burnt in my plasma.
How old is your plasma? The HUD in Demon's is a bit smaller.
All you had to do was poison arrow snipe them. I ate dinner whilst I waited for them to die.
KennyLinder
Member
I loved Dark Souls and I really want to play Demon's Souls but I'm scared of image retention. I still have Estus Flask burnt in my plasma
Brilliant, I have the same problem. I don't care anymore, 220+ hours into Dark Souls and my Pyro Glove shows up whilst watching all sorts of TV programmes.
Panasonic G20, 2.5 years old. Lets not let this thread turn to shit, it's real, it happens, it's running in THX mode blah blah blah
Kenshin001
Member
I felt the bonfires made the game easier. In Demon's it felt like if you screwed up you were right back to square one. In Dark you were just back to the closest bonfire. I enjoyed Dark Souls a lot but it didn't have the same tension for me.
You're not alone. The nature of the Dark Souls setup seems like it might have restricted creativity, at least with variation. I liked the Painted World the most because it did seem a bit different than the other areas. The closed, isolated map gave it a stronger Demon's vibe than any other area.
Completely disagree, but its personal preference.
But the atmosphere and the overall art for Demon's was quite a bit more poignant. I believe that was the point. Boletaria was a land slipping into hell. Lodran was abandoned, suffering a slow decay.
On my NG+ play thorough I just ran up to the one on the right, rolled through his last arrow, and parry/riposte his attack.
All games are best on the PC. Why are you still playing anything on consoles unless it's an exclusive?
But on a serious note, I've heard that the XBox version has better performance, but both consoles have sections that drop below 10fps. It's a horribly unoptimized game, at least on the PC you can overcome this with sheer hardware power.
moniker
Member
Brilliant, I have the same problem. I don't care anymore, 220+ hours into Dark Souls and my Pyro Glove shows up whilst watching all sorts of TV programmes.
Panasonic G20, 2.5 years old. Lets not let this thread turn to shit, it's real, it happens, it's running in THX mode blah blah blah
I had pretty noticeable image retention on my LG plasma from the HUD that lasted a few days after I stopped playing, but it seems to be gone now. Are you still playing? If so, it might not be permanent.
Continuity
Member
One of my favorite games of all time, the amount of thought and work put into Sen's Fortress' design puts a smile on my face every time I go through it. Unfortunately the quality of the stages goes down rather significantly after Anor Londo (Lost Izalith is bullshit), but I can see the developers' vision through this game, and I think they've executed it very well.
Assuming the DLC patches the game to parity with the PC version, and I assume it will, there are some balance changes coming. The most notable are a number of new bonfire warp points, the Dark Wood Grain Ring was nerfed, and other little tweaks like that.
The main thing you should do to get ready for the DLC
is to rescue the woman trapped in the golden crystal golem in the Darkroot Basin.
I agree Dark Souls is one of the best games this gen. Smough & Ornstein were hard as fuck (took me about 2 hours) and were easily the pinnacle of the game. I facerolled the rest of the game compared to the first half (best / second best heavy armor + the spell to make you 10x stronger/slower + sword and I could literal stab a boss to death without moving).
I think it took me 12 hours to reach the gargoyles and about 46 hours to complete the game on my first run (without playing Demon Souls). I tried a little bit of NG+ and it took me 45 minutes to reach the gargoyles. A difference of 11 hours and 15 minutes lol.
I think it took me 12 hours to reach the gargoyles and about 46 hours to complete the game on my first run (without playing Demon Souls). I tried a little bit of NG+ and it took me 45 minutes to reach the gargoyles. A difference of 11 hours and 15 minutes lol.
Well, I have just been told two seperate things...
NinjaBoiX
Member
Go read the DF write up. But from memory, IQ is basically the same, performance is too (Blighttown is awful on both), but ps3 struggles with particle effects, while 360 struggles with destructible scenery.
So basically, they are both much of a muchness, apart from PS3 doesn't like drawing transparencies, and 360 doesn't like you to break stuff.
Having said that, I have it on PS3, and haven't noticed any problems with particle effects, just Blighttown.
NinjaBoiX
Member
DF article man. Read it from the horses mouth.
Here:
In the final conclusion, image quality on both platforms is ostensibly identical, while performance is an apples and pears situation. Neither the 360 or PS3 version can definitively claim to have an absolute edge here, with Sony's machine taking volumetric effects in its stride, and Microsoft's handling destructible elements more convincingly. These are minor quibbles compared to the performance hit both consoles take in the face of particle effects and multiple enemies, however.
For the deciding vote, it's close enough for us to recommend either controller preference or the PS3 version's larger range of supported audio formats as more crucial points for consideration. It's clear From Software accepted no compromises when it set out to deliver the dark, fantastical world of Lordran, and to that end, an extreme price is paid in terms of playability at points. However, it's ultimately the same story whichever version you end up buying. In the run-up to its release much has been made of the game's promised difficulty, but it's ironic that Dark Souls is just as unforgiving towards your hardware as it is to you.
Looks like I had the consoles the wrong way round with regards to weaknesses, but hey.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dark-souls-face-off
And yet it is. Take it from a not-particularly-skilled gamer who's playing through it now. It's amazing. Once you get to a certain point with it, some parts get a lot easier while others remain difficult. It's a great challenge.
H_Prestige
Banned
PS3 has more players and a much better controller for this game. Graphics are the same.
Hmmm, flip a coin I guess...
Going to get Demon's Souls but I don't know how that would affect my decision.
Was there a lead console?
H_Prestige
Banned
Shit, it doesn't matter if you killed her, does it?
NinjaBoiX
Member
Demons souls is PS exclusive. There's you answer I guess . The pad is better for this kind of game too IMO.
NinjaBoiX
Member
I'd guess so.
Look, the best thing you can probably do, is pick up Demon's Souls, play the fuck out of it, then grab Dark Souls Ptd edition cheap in a few months.
KennyLinder
Member
Yeah I am still playing it, but I stopped for maybe three weeks and it was still hanging around. Oh well!!
Glad someone else is enjoying the game anyway, it's one of the my favourite games ever and No.1 for this generation. Stunning, stunning game.
It's a 2011 Samsung, it had the best protection against image retention out of all the 2011 plasma sets too haha. I got my set around July/August and Dark Souls came out in October that year. I played it for a couple days straight, easily racking up over 50-60 hours. I first noticed it when I turned the HUD off once, I believe. I continued that run without the HUD, only using it to check out my currently selected item at times. Since then, I haven't touched the game anymore. It's permanent though, since I can still see it a little against bright backgrounds.
If the HUD is smaller and not as bright as the HUD in Dark Souls I'll definitely give it a try. That HUD was truly horrendous for plasmas though, crazy contrast with the very dark environments.
Brilliant, I have the same problem. I don't care anymore, 220+ hours into Dark Souls and my Pyro Glove shows up whilst watching all sorts of TV programmes.
Panasonic G20, 2.5 years old. Lets not let this thread turn to shit, it's real, it happens, it's running in THX mode blah blah blah
Haha awesome! I don't really mind anyway since it reminds me of the great time I've had with the game.
Sounds good, thanks.
I really hope the sequel to Dark Souls comes out on PC day one and they allow a third party studio to do the port.
It seems to have sold pretty well on PC, around 13,000 concurrent players at launch on Steam, and the game isn't even steam works. For perspective that was the same or more than Sleeping Dogs, Darksiders II, and Dishonored and all of those games are steam works.
It was within the top 3 spot in top sellers on Steam for the better part of a month as well, then took another month to drop out of the top 10.
The first steam sale is really going to put this game over the top, the bad word of mouth on the port really drove a lot of people off. When the barrier to entry is lowered, a lot of people will look past these issues...even if they were fixed before the game was actually released.
It seems to have sold pretty well on PC, around 13,000 concurrent players at launch on Steam, and the game isn't even steam works. For perspective that was the same or more than Sleeping Dogs, Darksiders II, and Dishonored and all of those games are steam works.
It was within the top 3 spot in top sellers on Steam for the better part of a month as well, then took another month to drop out of the top 10.
The first steam sale is really going to put this game over the top, the bad word of mouth on the port really drove a lot of people off. When the barrier to entry is lowered, a lot of people will look past these issues...even if they were fixed before the game was actually released.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
I'll be honest, I have Demon's Souls and I enjoyed what I played of it, but then two minutes later I'll get one-shot by a ginormous spider boss and toss the game back onto the shelf. I still intend to finish it one day, but it does require a certain amount of focus and dedication.
Other than the network code, Dark is better than Demon in every single way. Gameplay mechanics, graphics, lore, regular enemies, boss fights, NPCs, locations. Everything is better.
Don't get me wrong, Demon Souls is a mighty fine game, but Dark Souls is basically GOTGeneration.
What I flip flop every day is which game is harder. Right now I think Dark is a harder game, even when Demon fucks the player very hard with the ghost form having 1/2 health.
Other thing that Demon may have over Dark is that False King Allant is a better final boss than Gwyn Lord of Cinder, but then again, there are a bunch of better boss fights in Dark.
Don't get me wrong, Demon Souls is a mighty fine game, but Dark Souls is basically GOTGeneration.
What I flip flop every day is which game is harder. Right now I think Dark is a harder game, even when Demon fucks the player very hard with the ghost form having 1/2 health.
Other thing that Demon may have over Dark is that False King Allant is a better final boss than Gwyn Lord of Cinder, but then again, there are a bunch of better boss fights in Dark.
The Anti-Monitor
Banned
Definitely a Top 3 game of the generation for me. Incredibly addictive, so damn fun, and so damn satisfying.
I just hope it slapped them in the face and they now realize that the PC is a very profitable platform and worthy of a simultaneous release of Dark Souls 2.
El_Presidente
Member
Dark Souls was easily the game of the year for me. When it came out, I didn't give it a chance because I thought I would love Skyrim more... turns out I couldn't be more wrong.
The scale of the game is incredible! The landscapes too were unreal, I found myself starring at the mountains and castles. Not even getting into the feeling of when you beat a part after hours of trying and dying.
They don't make em like this anymore, and it left me wondering why more games don't do this. (also, +1 for the true successor to NES Zelda)
The scale of the game is incredible! The landscapes too were unreal, I found myself starring at the mountains and castles. Not even getting into the feeling of when you beat a part after hours of trying and dying.
They don't make em like this anymore, and it left me wondering why more games don't do this. (also, +1 for the true successor to NES Zelda)
JeTmAn81
Member
I thought
she was in the garden leading to the Crystal Cave
found somebody in a golem there and rescued her
Actually, all DD versions of the game are Steam-only, the only "non-Steam" version was the retail European release, which only requires GFWL but can also be optionally registered on Steam, so I would risk to say only a very minority of users aren't running the game on Steam.
I do agree that the first Steam sales might put the game over the top, I'm hoping so as it would be a great opportunity to start a new character.
Different characters, the one in the Garden leading to the Crystal Cave is unrelated to the DLC and is part of a different quest.
Don't forget this version
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...-Edition/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8044e4d0fa1
lol
I don't think it's so much difficult as it requires patience. You eventually get the hang of how the mechanics work and it's not so bad.
That's the problem - not getting to them - but trying to fight them on the ledge.
The knockback is silly stupid - not that you get knocked back - but the knockback moves you opposite the direction you face, not in the direction of the arrow (fucking huge lance).
So if you try "hugging" the wall on the ledge at a slight angle and you get hit as you are running towards the knight - even if the arrow is flying at an angle towards the wall - the force of the hit, when blocked, will drive you straight backwards your position, not in the direction of the hit when knocked down. I tested a million ways to get past those knights and that stuck out like a sore thumb - you can use that to your advantage tho once when you realize how jacked it is.
It's painfully easy to drop off that ledge so trying to run straight on and get attacks in (which move you forward) will often cause a fall.
There's a difference between making an enemy difficult to kill and making an encounter based entirely on "luck".
I can see why they added shit like this in the game since 90% of enemies and bosses go down like a deck of cards with barely any work required - most all of them can be circle-strafed and backstabbed with ease.
Completely disagree.
Demon is like starting Dark with the Lordvessel. If something goes goes wrong, you can always go back to the nexus and try a different area, or grind a little and visit the blacksmiths.
And Demon had a checkpoint just before almost every area boss -IIRC there's not one for false king?-, something that is always whined about in the dark souls threads. Yeah, there's almost always a bonfire near most bosses, but a lot of the time you have to fight through some enemies to get there, and sometimes the bonfire is not near the boss at all, like with the bed of chaos. If you want to summon solaire for ornstein and smough, you have to kill both giant guards in the room before them. Demon is more relaxed in that sense.
And the bonfires also meant that you were absolutely trapped in some areas. I remember my first playthrough in which I was in the painted world of aramis without a way out, until I slowly worked my way through the level. That just never happens in Demon.
Two areas that are comparable are the valley of defilement and blighttown. But blighttown is way, way more tense than the valley. Worst case, in the second part of the valley, you could open some shortcuts that made your life way easier. Got killed just before the next bonfire in blighttown? Though luck. And no going back to any nexus in blighttown. You are completely committed once you light that first bonfire. Even getting out of there is a pain in the ass.
That's not even mentioning the ash lake. Can you even go back up without the lordvessel? I assume that the answer is yes, but it must be fucking hard. Of course, it is a secret, optional area, but Dark Souls has a way to punish you for being curious that Demon Souls completely lacks.
Ah yes... I know exactly what to expect from a Dark Souls thread now.
Anor Londo Archers
Just run to the knight on the right, roll through one arrow, parry/riposte him.
Dark vs Demon's
They are both awesome. I prefer the open world of Dark and there's more great bosses so Dark is my favorite.
Rage quit at [Capra/Blighttown/O&S/etc]
Where I would have given up on other games Dark Souls just pulled me in and I had to keep trying. I really want to experience this game for the first time again.
Which version of the game is best
Having the PC version now I can't go back to consoles even though there's less connectivity problems on PS3. It just looks and performs so much better on PC (only with Durante's mod of course); but barring that I'd go with the PS3 version over 360 for sure. Less cheaters apparently, bigger player base and I think a better controller for the game.
Anor Londo Archers
Just run to the knight on the right, roll through one arrow, parry/riposte him.
Dark vs Demon's
They are both awesome. I prefer the open world of Dark and there's more great bosses so Dark is my favorite.
Rage quit at [Capra/Blighttown/O&S/etc]
Where I would have given up on other games Dark Souls just pulled me in and I had to keep trying. I really want to experience this game for the first time again.
Which version of the game is best
Having the PC version now I can't go back to consoles even though there's less connectivity problems on PS3. It just looks and performs so much better on PC (only with Durante's mod of course); but barring that I'd go with the PS3 version over 360 for sure. Less cheaters apparently, bigger player base and I think a better controller for the game.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Best game this gen by far. I think I am the top 10 poster on the OT right now. There aren't many games these days where I can find myself googling for more info during a workday.
Can't wait for the DLC.
Can't wait for the DLC.
I remember The Painted World, my favourite level
Completely missable levels is something I miss these days. Would certainly make exploration much more exciting.
As a long time player of From Software's dungeon crawls like King's Field and Evergrace, Demon's Souls hub world design was a distinct departure from what they had done before. Just about all their RPG games were large nearly seamless interlinked areas. Dark Souls was a definite return to form for their world design, and one of the best of the lot. Demon's Souls in comparison feels like a proof of concept demo for a new engine that got fleshed out somewhat. Not to say it's a bad game, Demon's Souls was fantastic fun, but Dark Souls really feels like the fulfillment of the potential of Demon's Souls game mechanics applied to the classic King's Field structure.
In some ways, Dark Souls is easier than Demon's Souls, albeit in some that are overall beneficial to its playability. In Dark Souls, there is a much wider variety of character builds that are viable, even through NG+ and beyond. Tanking in Demon's Souls was largely useless, and virtually impossible in NG+. There are some changes which make things easier in general, like a
, ensuring that a careful player need never lose a single bloodstain, or
, which should make the subtitle read, "Prepare To Have Humanity Spilling Out Of Your Ears Edition". 
To be frank, as much as I love the Souls games, I consider the ability to just run into areas you aren't prepared for and grab as many goodies as possible until you die a pretty big design flaw. Use up all your souls and humanity until you have a trivial amount left, then go kamikaze for loot. In that way the risk of overextending yourself and losing everything you've gained on the way, as in standard RPGs, is nearly eliminated. At any given time you're never able to lose anything but numbers that can be obtained again anywhere in the game, you always get a second chance to get them back (and with judicious use of Rings of Sacrifice, many more chances), and if those numbers are at zero, you risk absolutely nothing. So in a certain sense, Dark Souls is "easier" than other games, since your only real enemy is your patience.
But man, the gameplay is so rewarding and immense fun to tinker with. Like others here, I've been able to experiment with a lot of crazy builds in Dark Souls that were not only viable, but refreshingly fun even after I'd seen everything in the game many times over. I think my favorites were an SL 1 build completing both NG and NG+, a character that used only bows (surprisingly effective even in boss fights), a (nearly) pacifist character that killed only 17 individual enemies to complete the entire game, and a Fist of the North Star ripoff that used fist weapons only and never wore helm or chest armor. The strong attack with the Dragon Bone Fist is pure joy, and I do think I'm going to do that playthrough again from scratch just because it was so much fun. While I'll always be a King's Field fan and go back from time to time and replay them, Dark Souls is so far From Software's magnum opus, and I can't seem to stop playing it at all.
In some ways, Dark Souls is easier than Demon's Souls, albeit in some that are overall beneficial to its playability. In Dark Souls, there is a much wider variety of character builds that are viable, even through NG+ and beyond. Tanking in Demon's Souls was largely useless, and virtually impossible in NG+. There are some changes which make things easier in general, like a
Ring of Sacrifice being available right off the bat
the new bonfire warps and humanity ghosts in the Artorias of the Abyss content
To be frank, as much as I love the Souls games, I consider the ability to just run into areas you aren't prepared for and grab as many goodies as possible until you die a pretty big design flaw. Use up all your souls and humanity until you have a trivial amount left, then go kamikaze for loot. In that way the risk of overextending yourself and losing everything you've gained on the way, as in standard RPGs, is nearly eliminated. At any given time you're never able to lose anything but numbers that can be obtained again anywhere in the game, you always get a second chance to get them back (and with judicious use of Rings of Sacrifice, many more chances), and if those numbers are at zero, you risk absolutely nothing. So in a certain sense, Dark Souls is "easier" than other games, since your only real enemy is your patience.
But man, the gameplay is so rewarding and immense fun to tinker with. Like others here, I've been able to experiment with a lot of crazy builds in Dark Souls that were not only viable, but refreshingly fun even after I'd seen everything in the game many times over. I think my favorites were an SL 1 build completing both NG and NG+, a character that used only bows (surprisingly effective even in boss fights), a (nearly) pacifist character that killed only 17 individual enemies to complete the entire game, and a Fist of the North Star ripoff that used fist weapons only and never wore helm or chest armor. The strong attack with the Dragon Bone Fist is pure joy, and I do think I'm going to do that playthrough again from scratch just because it was so much fun. While I'll always be a King's Field fan and go back from time to time and replay them, Dark Souls is so far From Software's magnum opus, and I can't seem to stop playing it at all.