Uncle Rupee
Banned
I just finished Demon's Souls and the only area that hiccuped had slow-moving enemies (the lava area). I would recommend you give it another chance.
SOULS series - Best to worst?
- Thread starter akaoni
- Start date
I just finished Demon's Souls and the only area that hiccuped had slow-moving enemies (the lava area). I would recommend you give it another chance.
N
Noray
Unconfirmed Member
I'm in the small minority of Dark 2 > Dark > Demon's. I played them in order as they were released.
Demon's: 1-1 is the best Souls level ever. The game in general is the spookiest, and almost survival horror-esque, and I respect that. However! I think the majority of the levels aren't actually any fun to play, and I think a lot of the stage design is rather cheap and emphasises cheesing with a bow or similar. Shrine of Storms 2 in particular. Valley of Defilement is just no fun. Latria has great atmosphere but is confusing and annoying. There's hardly even anything to fight. Gaining Souls is super slow unless you farm 5-2. The lizard mechanic is total bullshit. And, damningly, all the bosses are far, far too easy. Too many gimmick bosses, too. Dragon God, Storm King, Old Hero, Astraea. I still like the game a lot but I've gone back to it the least out of all 3.
Dark: Love the open world, the early game is awesome. Love the bosses, best in series by far. O&S and the DLC bosses are godtier. Love the lore. The Painted World! Oh man, the Painted World. But post Lordvessel, it kind of goes to shit. Lost Izalith is an unfinished, boring shithole with the worst boss in the series. Crystal Caves is just annoying. Tomb of the Giants is even more annoying. Every time I replay this game, I have to force myself through it post-Lordvessel.
Dark 2: I love the open first half of the game, it makes more sense pacing-wise. I don't mind some of the more linear design, once you know how Dark Souls 1 fits together, you kind of play it like a linear game anyway. The branching, sprawling nature of the world makes it feel much, much bigger than Lordran, which feels cramped by comparison. The variety of stages is pretty awesome to me too, I like the dreamlike atmosphere of the game. I love the quantity of bosses, even if the best ones don't come close to the best Dark Souls bosses. Some of the story moments in the game are just awesome (Undead Crypt end). It still has flaws, but I think almost all of them will get patched. Dark Souls was a mess at launch too, balance-wise. Overall it's just the smoothest experience out of all of them. I love how NG+ has new items and enemies to surprise you when you think you know everything. The changes they made to weapon upgrading are sooo good. The online actually works and is fun, despite balance issues. I'll play through this one a bunch of times.
Demon's: 1-1 is the best Souls level ever. The game in general is the spookiest, and almost survival horror-esque, and I respect that. However! I think the majority of the levels aren't actually any fun to play, and I think a lot of the stage design is rather cheap and emphasises cheesing with a bow or similar. Shrine of Storms 2 in particular. Valley of Defilement is just no fun. Latria has great atmosphere but is confusing and annoying. There's hardly even anything to fight. Gaining Souls is super slow unless you farm 5-2. The lizard mechanic is total bullshit. And, damningly, all the bosses are far, far too easy. Too many gimmick bosses, too. Dragon God, Storm King, Old Hero, Astraea. I still like the game a lot but I've gone back to it the least out of all 3.
Dark: Love the open world, the early game is awesome. Love the bosses, best in series by far. O&S and the DLC bosses are godtier. Love the lore. The Painted World! Oh man, the Painted World. But post Lordvessel, it kind of goes to shit. Lost Izalith is an unfinished, boring shithole with the worst boss in the series. Crystal Caves is just annoying. Tomb of the Giants is even more annoying. Every time I replay this game, I have to force myself through it post-Lordvessel.
Dark 2: I love the open first half of the game, it makes more sense pacing-wise. I don't mind some of the more linear design, once you know how Dark Souls 1 fits together, you kind of play it like a linear game anyway. The branching, sprawling nature of the world makes it feel much, much bigger than Lordran, which feels cramped by comparison. The variety of stages is pretty awesome to me too, I like the dreamlike atmosphere of the game. I love the quantity of bosses, even if the best ones don't come close to the best Dark Souls bosses. Some of the story moments in the game are just awesome (Undead Crypt end). It still has flaws, but I think almost all of them will get patched. Dark Souls was a mess at launch too, balance-wise. Overall it's just the smoothest experience out of all of them. I love how NG+ has new items and enemies to surprise you when you think you know everything. The changes they made to weapon upgrading are sooo good. The online actually works and is fun, despite balance issues. I'll play through this one a bunch of times.
Just accept that some people are having a better PvP experience overall in DS2.
The fact that the community found ways to counter running backstab/lagstabs in DS1 doesn't excuse them, or make the PvP inherently better. These "meta tactics" made me fear PvP (invasions) for the wrong reasons in DS1, and are what I would personally call unintuitive. I'm so glad they aren't an issue in DS2.
Getting stunlocked has not been a huge problem for me, and I mostly play light, low-poise builds that don't use those "unintuitive OP rings". I think the concept of these rings is actually quite cool, and when I see someone using them it forces me to switch up my tactics a bit - which is healthy.
All I know is, this time I can happily deck myself out in full Black Dragon gear and wait for someone on the Iron Keep bridge. This time I can confidently take on Bell Keepers with nothing but full Drummond's and a trusty Caestus on each hand.
I've come across some nasty 1-2 hitters against magic/hex builds while sparring with Blue Sentinels, but I put this down to my lack of skill and preparation at the time. Overall PvP in DS2 feels fresh, fun and a lot more stable.
eot
Banned
I didn't mention the Greatsword, I said it had a generic moveset. It's the same as a ton of other ultra greatswords, it has the same animations as the Zwei, smelter sword, drakewing sword, drakekeeper ultra greatsword and it wouldn't surprise me if there are more with the same. When I have three different ultra greatswords that animate exactly the same, then find one of the most iconic weapons from Dark Souls (BKUGS) and it doesn't have a single unique attack then I'm not going to think this game has good moveset diversity.
Walking through a 50m tunnel that actually takes me 50km is more immersion breaking than warping. The goal of having a world without loading screens clearly didn't fit with the game they were making.
Moral Panic
Member
Still salty my vote got invalidated by the reset. Democracy in our lifetime!
Dark Souls had five ultra greatswords with various differences, sometimes small e.g. the difference between the Zweihander and the Greatsword and sometimes large. For a total of five movesets. Dark Souls 2 has eleven ultra greatswords, several have small differences between them e.g. the various special R2's and some have more unique movesets for around seven different movesets. Even among swords that share the same moveset there are differences in animation speed and stats so theres more viable weapon diversity. If you add in the additional movesets that power stancing allows you're looking at nearly double the amount of movesets that DS1 had and thats just for one category of weapon. Even if every weapon doesnt have a unique moveset the increased number of weapons generally means each class of weapon has more unique movesets and there is a much wider range of competitive weapon choices.
Also, not that its particularly relevant, but I'd say the ordinary Black Knight Sword or the Moonlight Blade are much more iconic that the BKUGS.
Anyhow I was just curious why one poster thought DS2 had the worst weapons, and while I dont agree with it I can now see what appears to be the general reason for people to think it.
The Xtortionist
Member
It's a bit sad how some of the less believable transitions could have been fixed with seemingly minimal effort. Stick a JPEG volcano behind Earthen Peak and have the elevator move down, rather than up. Move Heide's closer to Majula when viewing it from there. Add some more fog to the Majula skybox to obscure where the crags under Dragon Aerie would be, etc...
I won't argue against those instances. They don't really bother me too much (Iron Keep aside) but yeah, they could have used another pass. I was just more referring to the recurring notion that there should be more total interconnections between Dark 2's areas, which is missing the point imo. Looking at it from a macro scale, it absolutely isn't trying to be Dark Souls in that regard.
Burgess_101
Member
Even though I think Demon's is the hardest and I will never get as far through as I did with DaS1 or 2, I don't know what it is about Demon's but it just gives me the best feeling out of the three.
It's really hard to come to a conclusion. I'd probably go with Dark 2 = Dark > Demon's which isn't an option.
Dark 2 is mechanically superior. It seems like the first game where they really tried to balance and have the most weapons be viable. Even whips are good. And you cannot ignore how technically superior it is. It looks miles better and runs much better. It is hard to deal with Dark's technical failures on PC after enjoying Dark 2 run at its intended 60fps.
Though, it is inarguable that Dark had the better boss fights and soul memory is iffy.
Though I feel like both Dark and Dark 2 are superior to Demon's. Boletaria is pretty underdeveloped compared to the Dark world. They have much better art, in terms of use of music, imagery, how the lore is delivered and model quality.
Dark 2 is mechanically superior. It seems like the first game where they really tried to balance and have the most weapons be viable. Even whips are good. And you cannot ignore how technically superior it is. It looks miles better and runs much better. It is hard to deal with Dark's technical failures on PC after enjoying Dark 2 run at its intended 60fps.
Though, it is inarguable that Dark had the better boss fights and soul memory is iffy.
Though I feel like both Dark and Dark 2 are superior to Demon's. Boletaria is pretty underdeveloped compared to the Dark world. They have much better art, in terms of use of music, imagery, how the lore is delivered and model quality.
Cookie Dough
Member
Dark Souls > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
Overall I'd rank them like this, but I feel breaking it up into some categories might add a bit to it.
Level Design
Dark Souls > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
Quite simply DS2 falls short here. In large part it lacks an interconnected world and interconnected levels. One of the strong points of DS1 I felt was how most of the levels seemed to fit into place well with others near by, and how shortcuts were well designed and implemented into the level design. DS2 has a severe lack of shortcuts, in large part because of how linear the level design is, and I feel they added more Bonfires to make up for this. Add to that fast travel being open from the start of the game, DS2 level design lacks the fine detail DS1 had. As for DeS, level design here clearly had a different goal. Sure the levels were all just as linear as DS2 and they lacked the sense of connection to other levels that DS1 has, but much like the Painted World of Ariamis in DS1, because the levels were self contained most of them seemed to have a higher quality self-contained design.
Atmosphere
Demon's Souls > Dark Souls > Dark Souls 2
To me Demon's Souls stands out here. The atmosphere in this game is amazing and whilst Dark Souls comes close, and some parts of DS1 really do have amazing atmosphere, I feel the atmosphere in DeS overall is still the peak for the series. As for Dark Souls 2, this is where I feel the game can be at its weakest, some levels just lacked the kind of atmosphere I had come to expect and the overall quality of it was the weakest of the series. That's not to say it didn't have some highlights, for me Shrine of Amana and the Undead Crypt really stood out in this regard.
Mechanics
Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls > Demon's Souls
Without going into too much detail I think it's clear that Dark Souls 2 is the most refined game mechanically. This is to be expected and if it were otherwise something would be very wrong.
Enemy And Boss Design
Dark Souls > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
This again is an aspect where I feel Dark Souls 2 falls a bit short overall of the other two games. There are certainly some high points, and I by no means think the overall design is bad, I just don't feel as much is memorable in DS2 in this respect. Mechanics of certain bosses aside, I felt Demon's Souls had some amazing bosses that really fit the zone you are in, and Dark Souls too had some very memorable boss fights and enemy designs. It may not have had peaks as high as Demon's Souls but I felt Dark Souls had an overall higher consistent quality.
So yeah, I feel that spells out my reasons somewhat. However I do have to say that even though I feel Dark Souls 2 is the weakest game in most respects and is the weakest game in the series, it is still an excellent game and is a testament to just how high quality the Souls series is. If Dark Souls 2 is the weakest then the bar From Software has set sure is high.
Overall I'd rank them like this, but I feel breaking it up into some categories might add a bit to it.
Level Design
Dark Souls > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
Quite simply DS2 falls short here. In large part it lacks an interconnected world and interconnected levels. One of the strong points of DS1 I felt was how most of the levels seemed to fit into place well with others near by, and how shortcuts were well designed and implemented into the level design. DS2 has a severe lack of shortcuts, in large part because of how linear the level design is, and I feel they added more Bonfires to make up for this. Add to that fast travel being open from the start of the game, DS2 level design lacks the fine detail DS1 had. As for DeS, level design here clearly had a different goal. Sure the levels were all just as linear as DS2 and they lacked the sense of connection to other levels that DS1 has, but much like the Painted World of Ariamis in DS1, because the levels were self contained most of them seemed to have a higher quality self-contained design.
Atmosphere
Demon's Souls > Dark Souls > Dark Souls 2
To me Demon's Souls stands out here. The atmosphere in this game is amazing and whilst Dark Souls comes close, and some parts of DS1 really do have amazing atmosphere, I feel the atmosphere in DeS overall is still the peak for the series. As for Dark Souls 2, this is where I feel the game can be at its weakest, some levels just lacked the kind of atmosphere I had come to expect and the overall quality of it was the weakest of the series. That's not to say it didn't have some highlights, for me Shrine of Amana and the Undead Crypt really stood out in this regard.
Mechanics
Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls > Demon's Souls
Without going into too much detail I think it's clear that Dark Souls 2 is the most refined game mechanically. This is to be expected and if it were otherwise something would be very wrong.
Enemy And Boss Design
Dark Souls > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
This again is an aspect where I feel Dark Souls 2 falls a bit short overall of the other two games. There are certainly some high points, and I by no means think the overall design is bad, I just don't feel as much is memorable in DS2 in this respect. Mechanics of certain bosses aside, I felt Demon's Souls had some amazing bosses that really fit the zone you are in, and Dark Souls too had some very memorable boss fights and enemy designs. It may not have had peaks as high as Demon's Souls but I felt Dark Souls had an overall higher consistent quality.
So yeah, I feel that spells out my reasons somewhat. However I do have to say that even though I feel Dark Souls 2 is the weakest game in most respects and is the weakest game in the series, it is still an excellent game and is a testament to just how high quality the Souls series is. If Dark Souls 2 is the weakest then the bar From Software has set sure is high.
Rawket Lawnchair
Member
I prefer Demon's to the other two, so I voted accordingly. Since the gameplay is more or less the same, my vote is based on the actual atmosphere (each world was different to the others, with amazing backstories) and how unforgiving Demon's was (you had to start from the beginning of the level, so ultimately you were pressured to do a good run).
Haunted
Member
as it should be
Also pleased to see that the options who put Dark Souls 1 as the weakest game are the two least-voted for.
Finn of Ooo
Member
I'll go dark souls 2 > dark souls > demon souls.
Demon was the first game and it was very good, however I wasn't a fan of the choose a world gameplay and also not a big fan of the light world dark world mechanic as I was late to the party and feel I missed out on some content because of it. Also the poison area sucked, which will be a common theme here.
Dark souls 1 had a great world, loved the inter connectivity of it all and it had some really memorable areas (looking at you anor londo). Also the abyss stuff was really cool. However there were some shitty sections like blight town and lost izalith that I never want to play again.
Dark souls 2, first game in the series that I actually was able to immediately start ng+ without feeling tired of it. Love how a lot more equipment is viable in this game and the addition of dual wield makes it way more fun for me. Also first game I don't feel like I have to hide behind a shield although that's personal preference. Also there is only one required area that I hate doing (black gulch) and it's a short one. However belfry luna and sol can fuck right off. Constantly getting ganged up on by two invaders isn't fun.
Demon was the first game and it was very good, however I wasn't a fan of the choose a world gameplay and also not a big fan of the light world dark world mechanic as I was late to the party and feel I missed out on some content because of it. Also the poison area sucked, which will be a common theme here.
Dark souls 1 had a great world, loved the inter connectivity of it all and it had some really memorable areas (looking at you anor londo). Also the abyss stuff was really cool. However there were some shitty sections like blight town and lost izalith that I never want to play again.
Dark souls 2, first game in the series that I actually was able to immediately start ng+ without feeling tired of it. Love how a lot more equipment is viable in this game and the addition of dual wield makes it way more fun for me. Also first game I don't feel like I have to hide behind a shield although that's personal preference. Also there is only one required area that I hate doing (black gulch) and it's a short one. However belfry luna and sol can fuck right off. Constantly getting ganged up on by two invaders isn't fun.
snesfanboy
Banned
I've finished Dark Souls 2 times (cleric and deprived)
i'm now playing through Dark Souls 1 as a pyromancer, have finished it with a knight
i've played Demon's Souls 1 time
Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls 1 > Demon's Souls
why Dark Souls 2? i prefer the warping system there, i mean, Dark Souls 1 can be tedious at time going from 1 area to another
though i would like to say 1 and 2 are probably a = for me
Demon's Souls feels the least ambitious of the 3, but has amazing moments
i'm now playing through Dark Souls 1 as a pyromancer, have finished it with a knight
i've played Demon's Souls 1 time
Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls 1 > Demon's Souls
why Dark Souls 2? i prefer the warping system there, i mean, Dark Souls 1 can be tedious at time going from 1 area to another
though i would like to say 1 and 2 are probably a = for me
Demon's Souls feels the least ambitious of the 3, but has amazing moments
Red Liquorice
Member
You'd hope it has the best multiplayer interaction system it's the third game in the series.
It also has Soul Memory which fucks up everything from pvp to co-op.
Demon's > Dark S 2 = Dark S 1
Demon's 1st simply because the mood and atmosphere are still completely unmatched by any other game out there including the spiritual successors.
I also think it has the most consistently good level design, even though it is smaller then both Dark Souls, which could be the reason for this.
As for DkS 2 = DkS 1.... I really can't decide...it's a tough call.
- I think that being able to warp all the time from the start in DkS 2 was a very bad design choice since much of the tension is gone. You never feel like you are stuck in that awful place and you just need to man up and go through it.
- Better graphics and more interesting environments in DkS2. However the world doesn't feel as consistent as Dark Souls ( going from Earthen Peak to Iron Keep is a very WTF moment )
- Some of the mechanics in DkS2 are much better. Using bows feels better as well as magic. Dual wielding..the changes to weight ( you can now still roll fairly well with heavier armor ) are all better IMO. Some stuff like bonfire ascetics I'm still not so sure about. Just feels like a cheap way to farm and it's just weird all around.
- Majula is awesome and has the best "Home Base" soundtrack of any Souls game.
- Loved all the little references to Dark Souls 1 in DkS2 in regards to lore.
- Some of the bosses in DkS2 were cool, but there was no boss near something like O&S or Artorias or even Manus. All the bosses were also fairly easy ( I still need to fight Darklurker though, and I've heard he is awesome and hard for meele )
- DkS2 has a more consistent level design throughout the game, unlike DkS1, which starts deteriorating after the lordvessel ( even though it's still pretty awesome )
- DkS2 has the best online by far. Except that soul memory bullshit.
I love all the Souls game though. Best games this past gen by FAR.
Demon's 1st simply because the mood and atmosphere are still completely unmatched by any other game out there including the spiritual successors.
I also think it has the most consistently good level design, even though it is smaller then both Dark Souls, which could be the reason for this.
As for DkS 2 = DkS 1.... I really can't decide...it's a tough call.
- I think that being able to warp all the time from the start in DkS 2 was a very bad design choice since much of the tension is gone. You never feel like you are stuck in that awful place and you just need to man up and go through it.
- Better graphics and more interesting environments in DkS2. However the world doesn't feel as consistent as Dark Souls ( going from Earthen Peak to Iron Keep is a very WTF moment )
- Some of the mechanics in DkS2 are much better. Using bows feels better as well as magic. Dual wielding..the changes to weight ( you can now still roll fairly well with heavier armor ) are all better IMO. Some stuff like bonfire ascetics I'm still not so sure about. Just feels like a cheap way to farm and it's just weird all around.
- Majula is awesome and has the best "Home Base" soundtrack of any Souls game.
- Loved all the little references to Dark Souls 1 in DkS2 in regards to lore.
- Some of the bosses in DkS2 were cool, but there was no boss near something like O&S or Artorias or even Manus. All the bosses were also fairly easy ( I still need to fight Darklurker though, and I've heard he is awesome and hard for meele )
- DkS2 has a more consistent level design throughout the game, unlike DkS1, which starts deteriorating after the lordvessel ( even though it's still pretty awesome )
- DkS2 has the best online by far. Except that soul memory bullshit.
I love all the Souls game though. Best games this past gen by FAR.
The greatest boss intro in the series is the Maneater's glowing eyes coming out at you from the darkness, and it didn't need an intro movie (that gets skipped on replays anyway) to work.
SeventhSon
Member
That was great, but I think Queelag's movie with her wry smile is better.
I just beat Dark Souls for the first time a few days ago. One of the best games I've ever played. So, I was excited to go back and play Demon's Souls, also for the first time. My immediate reaction was disappointment, though. Something about the feel of the game. Your character immediately snaps to the direction you point the stick in, so you feel kind of weightless. Also, the level design was a little boring, at least in the one level I played (a castle with two red dragons). I can't help but compare it all to Dark Souls and it just seems kind of inferior in every way (interface, menus, sound design, fewer combat and movement options). I want to love this game, but right now I'm not feeling it. Did I fuck up by playing Dark first?
Dr_Boris_Goltz
Banned
Demon's Souls has an unmatched environment, and since it was the first of the Souls games it successfully produced feelings of dread and anxiety that are lost on the sequels due to a further understanding of the combat and mechanics.
I need to play Demon's again to know about the movement differences, but even going from to DS2 to DaS feels strange to me in terms of movement so it's an interesting facet of discussion.
Different Souls games do different things well. It's difficult to give them a hard and fast rating. Demon's Souls has story and atmosphere and some of the best charactrs. Dark Souls improved upon the gameplay and added many weapons and pyromancy (which I dig) but was not as consistent as Demon's overall.
Dark Souls II added proper dual wielding (which is mad fun) and additional ring slots and seems to have improved co-op gameplay a great deal. It also seems generally easier and a little bit less atmospheric than Demon's or DS1 but I haven't finished it yet.
Honestly I have enjoyed them all and would recommend them all.
Dark Souls II added proper dual wielding (which is mad fun) and additional ring slots and seems to have improved co-op gameplay a great deal. It also seems generally easier and a little bit less atmospheric than Demon's or DS1 but I haven't finished it yet.
Honestly I have enjoyed them all and would recommend them all.
Tight controls are what Dark souls (partially) and Dark Souls 2 (more substantially) are missing. It makes being percise harder. Play dark souls 2, then immeditately jump on Demon's Souls. It is like night and day difference. This is one of the ways From has been getting worse. Each game has gotten less refined. Limited move sets in Dark Souls 2 is another way the game has gotten worse. I'm also not a huge fan of the stamina controls in dark souls 2. Some times I hit roll (without stamina) and I don't roll, but a half second later I roll once the stamina filled up a bit. I've had it happen a few times and found it rather odd. If you had no stamina, just stop right there. Don't roll once the stamina goes back up and I'm no longer hitting the button. This has happened a couple times... I don't know if it is due to lag or frame rate or what on PS3.
It seems for every improvement in Dark Souls 2 it was worse a little bit in a different way. That is the main reason I rated it the lowest of the three. Breakable walls are awesome. Requiring you to goto a NPC after being able to upgrade at bonfires... not so awesome. You could upgrade at bonfires in the Dark Souls 2 beta.... I have no idea why they decided to change that at release.
domthybomb
Banned
If I could vote I'd vote
Dark Souls 1 > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
Mainly ranked that way due to the emphasis on PvP.
Dark Souls 1 > Demon's Souls > Dark Souls 2
Mainly ranked that way due to the emphasis on PvP.
Rickenslacker
Banned
I don't think they changed it for release so much as they made that change specifically for the network test, as there was no Majula to go back to.
I'm in agreement there. I liked the Demon's-like approach to level progression that Dark 2 tried to bring back; the only real difference is that you're initially walking to your destination rather than warping through the Nexus.
IAmRandom31
Banned
Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to the very first stage of the game.
Also, there is no stage with 2 red dragons. It is a red and blue dragon in the first area.
I'd say play it for more then 10 minutes and then come back once you have experienced the Tower of Latria ( world 3 ) or the caverns of 2 or crossed the bridge in 1-2 and various other things. Fought some bosses, got some unique armor. You know .... experienced the game a bit.
Maybe when I've spent more time with Dark 2 my opinion may change but right now its Dark 1, Demons, Dark 2. I picked up Dark 1 right after Dark 2 and started playing a new character. I've not done the DLC for it yet. I could see Demons slip to number 3 simply because its not as easy to just pick up and play for shorter sessions compared to the other two. I actually just beat the NA version of Demons earlier this year for the first time, but I'd played through the import back in 09 a few times.
CadetMahoney
Member
dat first post.
Dark Souls then Demon's for me, have'nt played Ds2 yet. I prefer the interconnected world of DS and the boss battles. Its my GotG and quite possibly my favourite game of all time. I actually played Demons first but I preferred the Direction they went in DS. The sense of place has'nt been matched in any other game I've played and the combat is majestic. I'll be picking up DS2 in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to diving in although its reception has been mixed.
Edit: Just to add I'm completely mystified by the view that Dark souls falls down in its second half. Dukes archive, Tomb of the giants and new Londo are phenomenal areas. What exactly are people's complaints?
Edit: Just to add I'm completely mystified by the view that Dark souls falls down in its second half. Dukes archive, Tomb of the giants and new Londo are phenomenal areas. What exactly are people's complaints?
I agree. The Lost Izalith dinosaur chamber was weak, but I didn't notice some grand drop in quality, not at all.
There needs to be some traumatic muffin dog gif for Lost Izalith. I think it's mostly a pacing issue otherwise, stuff is a lot more drawn out starting with Anor Londo.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Voted Demon's = Dark = Dark 2
Because I just can't pick a favourite. All three games have their strengths and weaknesses. Demon's Souls still has the best PvP for me, despite the lag. Dark Souls improved the PvE over Demon's by almost every aspect, though. Dark Souls 2 has the worst PvP netcode of the three, and in some cases the hitboxes are the worst too (though in other cases they are very good indeed, I was amazed to see a giant knight's sword swing over my head while my character was crouched for Firestorm... but we've all seen those mimic gifs and Smelter and Pursuer gifs, too, gah), and it's not as interconnected as Dark Souls, but the sheer volume and scope of the game is impressive, not to mention the shitton of secrets and amazing diversity of weapons and gear. I really like the torch mechanic too, I wish it had been used even more, but it really added something to levels like the Gutter and Shrine of Amana. And No Man's Wharf and Lost Bastille are probably my favourite levels of all Souls games...
... after Tower of Latria. Now that one is still unparalleled in terms of atmosphere and level design. 3-1 especially, with the moaning of prisoners, the bells of the mindflayers, the decrepit prison... dark gothic fantasy at its very best. And I had so much fun with the organized PvP, it's just too unbalanced and broken in Dark Souls in comparison (lolpvp is still fun, but I can't ever take it remotely seriously).
...Ok, I lied. My favourite level of all the games is the Painted World of Ariamis. I just love that Legacy of Kain-like atmosphere and the level design is nothing short of perfect. I believe it was pretty much their vertical slice, which makes sense.
Also, Dark Souls probably had the best bosses, and the most original art style in terms of architecture and monster design. Dark Souls 2 has some great ones but there are too many "that's it...?" pushovers. Artorias, Kalameet and Manus are probably the best bosses in the entire series and they're all in the DLC, hah. An aspect of Dark Souls 2 that wins over the other games is the diversity of playstyles and roleplaying. All the games have this, but I thought DkS2 did it even better. It's really fun to experiment and discover what works and what doesn't, how a build is so good it's broken in some places and pretty weak in others, and so on (I wrote a long post about how bad and good dual wielding whips can be in the OT... that was a lot of fun to play around with!).
Sorry if this is a bit of a stream of consciousness kind of mess. But tl;dr: all the games are awesome, and I can't pick one over the other. If they made a Souls game that stripped all the flaws from the previous games and reinforced all their strengths, it would be GOAT for sure. As it is, well, the series is GOAT for me but it still could be even better.
Because I just can't pick a favourite. All three games have their strengths and weaknesses. Demon's Souls still has the best PvP for me, despite the lag. Dark Souls improved the PvE over Demon's by almost every aspect, though. Dark Souls 2 has the worst PvP netcode of the three, and in some cases the hitboxes are the worst too (though in other cases they are very good indeed, I was amazed to see a giant knight's sword swing over my head while my character was crouched for Firestorm... but we've all seen those mimic gifs and Smelter and Pursuer gifs, too, gah), and it's not as interconnected as Dark Souls, but the sheer volume and scope of the game is impressive, not to mention the shitton of secrets and amazing diversity of weapons and gear. I really like the torch mechanic too, I wish it had been used even more, but it really added something to levels like the Gutter and Shrine of Amana. And No Man's Wharf and Lost Bastille are probably my favourite levels of all Souls games...
... after Tower of Latria. Now that one is still unparalleled in terms of atmosphere and level design. 3-1 especially, with the moaning of prisoners, the bells of the mindflayers, the decrepit prison... dark gothic fantasy at its very best. And I had so much fun with the organized PvP, it's just too unbalanced and broken in Dark Souls in comparison (lolpvp is still fun, but I can't ever take it remotely seriously).
...Ok, I lied. My favourite level of all the games is the Painted World of Ariamis. I just love that Legacy of Kain-like atmosphere and the level design is nothing short of perfect. I believe it was pretty much their vertical slice, which makes sense.
Also, Dark Souls probably had the best bosses, and the most original art style in terms of architecture and monster design. Dark Souls 2 has some great ones but there are too many "that's it...?" pushovers. Artorias, Kalameet and Manus are probably the best bosses in the entire series and they're all in the DLC, hah. An aspect of Dark Souls 2 that wins over the other games is the diversity of playstyles and roleplaying. All the games have this, but I thought DkS2 did it even better. It's really fun to experiment and discover what works and what doesn't, how a build is so good it's broken in some places and pretty weak in others, and so on (I wrote a long post about how bad and good dual wielding whips can be in the OT... that was a lot of fun to play around with!).
Sorry if this is a bit of a stream of consciousness kind of mess. But tl;dr: all the games are awesome, and I can't pick one over the other. If they made a Souls game that stripped all the flaws from the previous games and reinforced all their strengths, it would be GOAT for sure. As it is, well, the series is GOAT for me but it still could be even better.
SeventhSon
Member
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Yeah I saw that one, pretty bad haha. I can imagine her saying "bullshit!". Or maybe she wouldn't since she seems so calm, but I would, lol.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Here's a new one from Kay Plays
Yup one of the biggest reasons I don't like DkS2.
Dirk Benedict
Gold Member
Demon's Souls is still ripping a vortex sized anus into the competition.
Demon's > Dark > Dark 2 273 30.95
- Dark > Demon's > Dark 2 230 26.08%
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
This is the best comparison.
I knew GAF loved DkS ( like an excessive amount lol) but I did not know it loved DeS just as much.
The Dear Leader
Banned
Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls > Demon's Souls, for me.
SargerusBR
I love Pokken!
Sorry breh, Dark is winning
therealPeterman
Neo Member
Demon's - Dark - Dark 2
Love all three, but Demon's Souls wins.
Love all three, but Demon's Souls wins.
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