Demon's Souls

[Zanchief]

I borrowed this from a friend but I've been too afraid to start playing knowing it's going ot suck all my time up.

I should just make the plunge.

[Tossica]

I try to ration it because I know as soon as I pick up the controller, I won't be putting it down for hours. The multiplayer is fucking brilliant. There's a few co-op covenants you can join, a strictly "griefer" covenant that just invades others worlds to cause havoc, a covenant of those that try to bring the griefers to justice by invading their worlds, one that can poison other peoples worlds causing the enemies to be stronger until you can find their sign, invade their world and kill them, etc. You can only communicate with each other using gestures which adds to the overall isolated feel of the game. The best resource on the net so far is http://darksouls.wikidot.com/

[Tossica]

Yeah, no one cares, I get it but WOW, I'm still clocking serious hours on this game. The PVP is the SHIT. It's like the "end game" I guess. Once you've got all the best gear, you spend your time invading other players worlds or defending your own from invaders. Super intense. BUY THIS GAME!

[Lyion]

Got it for Christmas. I'll be firing it up on my PS3 for the first time shortly.

[Drem]

so i think my main hang up is not having reliable internet (we get free wifi, sheisty). can't play anything that isn't turn based. is this worth it for single player?

i'm still playing skyrim. like every day. that game is deep as the ocean, like all the other ones

so how about demon's souls? or is only worth it for the multiplayer?

[Tossica]

You get more from the game if you are summoning people to help you beat bosses, defend against invaders, invading, getting summoned in to others worlds to help, etc but the game is playable offline as well. Some bosses are WAY more difficult without help. My first time through, I played without much multi player. Now that I've played through a few times, I'm way more caught up in the PVP aspect of the game. My son and I had an epic run last night after I got home from my gig. We defended against a steady stream of invaders for like 2hrs. Non stop heart pounding action. He has his PS3 here as well so we can do a ghetto co-op. The summoning is sort of random, hard to explain. Co op with friends is possible but takes some coordination.

Get Dark Souls. Demon's Souls is an amazing game as well but I'd choose Dark Souls if given the choice.

[Griever]

So what is the point of the multiplayer? Like what are the benefits of successfully invading or defending?

[Tossica]

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/

That can explain any questions better than I. Multiplayer benefits include help with tough bosses, practice runs to learn strategies for when you make your own attempts at tough levels, souls which can be spent on levelling up and upgrading equipment, humanity which is used to fortify bonfires, give certain weapons a dps boost and restore your human form so that you can summon other players to help you. There are also items you collect from successful multiplayer sessions that can be traded in to raise your standing with your current covenant. Spells, items and abilities are unlocked at certain levels of favor.

[Drem]

word. i decided i'm more interested in multiplayer anything than single player anything. after i get a more gameable internet and the time i'll dive into demon's souls because i dont have a ps3. you on ps3 or xbox ?

[Griever]

I play a lot of multiplayer campaign games with a buddy of mine and though this game would make a good choice. Then I found out that you cannot easily join up with friends unless you get really lucky and both of you are randomly thrown onto the same server, which I find is a really weird concept. I'm guessing they want to preserve the solitary and anonymous style of the game, which is fine, I'll just have to put it on the back-burner for now.

So now we are playing Dead Island co-op which is a fucking blast to play.

[Tossica]

Drem, you want Dark Souls. Demon's Souls is not available for the Xbox. I play the PS3 version of Dark Souls.

Griever, that's not really true. While it's not a typical multiplayer setup, it's not that difficult to play together. It does take some coordination. You both have to agree on where in the world to meet. Someone is the summoner and the other person puts down their sign and it appears in your world. It may take a few tries and can take from 30 seconds to a few minutes to finally connect but it's possible. My son and I do it all the time. There are frustrations and randomness thrown in though. If you or your phantom (the person you summon) are killed, you have to do it over again. This can be frustrating when you are being invaded by other players while waiting for your friends summon sign to appear. If you beat the boss of that zone or instance, the phantoms are all sent back home so when you get to the next area, you'll have to summon them again. While frustrating, it also makes you REALLY not want to die. That's what this game has that pretty much no other game but old NES platform games and Everquest had. Dying has real consequences. I get really pissed and yell CUNT at the screen a lot because some fucker invades me at the worst time. It's a heart pounding experience to be carrying like 800,000 souls and have some asshole invade you while you're trying to navigate some treacherous terrain or getting fucked by a room full of monsters, knowing that if you die, you have to get back to this point to collect those souls. If you die again on the way back, those souls and all the humanity you were carrying are lost forever. That's why it's almost always a good idea to have a phantom or two with you. You never know when you'll be invaded and most of the invaders are going to be much more prepared for PVP combat than you are.

[Tossica]

Any of you bums playing this yet?

[Zanchief]

Still playing Skyrim.

After that I'm likely going to Ico / Shadow of the Colossus.

It’s still on my radar.

[Lyion]

I fired it up for 30 over the last weekend. It has potential, but I'm still playing Skyrim and SWTOR which are more interesting to me.

I generally only game an hour or so a night now, if that. I have too many games in the queue and not enough time.

[Tossica]

I fired it up for 30 over the last weekend. It has potential, but I'm still playing Skyrim and SWTOR which are more interesting to me.

I generally only game an hour or so a night now, if that. I have too many games in the queue and not enough time.

If by "has potential" you mean, Best god damn game ever, I agree!

[Tossica]

SOMEONE PLAY THIS GAME SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT!

Christ. A company FINALLY makes a unique, challenging, immersive, multi-player game that takes real skill and strategy to be good at and people can't stop sucking Bethesda's cock long enough to give it a try.

[Kaemon]

Have you tried Bethesda's cock yet?

[Tossica]

Have you tried Bethesda's cock yet?

Yep, plenty. Time for some new cock.

[Drem]

i got dark souls

only got to play it for a couple hours. not grasping the point of this game at all but it's hard and fun as fuck. i just have no idea what i'm supposed to do. so far i just went to undead burg and i've been racking levels at the campfire up there. i'm a knight

this game is fucked up hard. you weren't lying. i've lost thousands of souls so far from stupid deaths. i love it

when i have a proper internet i'll definitely play this with you (if you're still playing it in a month)

you can't compare a game like this to skyrim, either. my girlfriend that sucks at games can play skyrim. she could never play dark souls. this is a game for the NES-style "hard game" crowd for sure. mobs respawn? racking levels? death penalties? GIMME MORE

[Drem]

PS do i have to drink a potion to be able to engage ghosts? and what's the difference between being live or dead ? i don't find humanity very often and every time i've switched back to the living i die pretty quick and lose it again

[Tossica]

Talk to the NPC's. They'll lay out the story for you slowly. There are clues but you have to dig. You are on the right track by heading to the Undead Burg first. Find your way to the boss and beat him. That will open up a whole new area where more of the story is unfolded. When you find the Knight Solaire, talk to him and he'll eventually offer to partner with you. When you say yes, you'll get a white soapstone. That stone is what you use for the online portion of the game. When you are dead, you can only join other people in their games. You'll put the soapstone down and it will appear in the world of other players of similar level. When you are human, you can summon people in to your world or summon NPC's at certain points to help you beat bosses. Summon signs do not appear unless you are human and you can't be invaded by other players while dead. Certain events do not trigger unless you are human as well. NPC's will invade you at certain points and killing them gives you loot plus some humanity and a shit ton of souls usually.

Early on in the game, the "point" is to ring two church bells. Once you eventually access through the Undead Burg, the 2nd is through an area called Blighttown. Once you ring both bells, the game really opens up.

Steer clear of the ghost area until much later in the game. You need to be cursed in order to fight them. There are a few temporary curses you can loot that will allow you to damage them but wait until after you ring both bells.

[Tossica]

Humanity is really rare. Savor it. Don't die!

[Drem]

nice, makes sense. really enjoying this game

killed four ghosts in the underworld via the potion they drop, and grabbed a thing that made my estus +1, but ran out of estus every time i tried to go further. is blighttown thru this area or is it thru the catacombs off the graveyard or ? i love how this game is set up. it's open world but not really. and going any new direction takes hours of exploration and testing and dying to understand. seems like they make certain weapons actually have a point, too. trying to fight skeletons with my sword was pointless. clubs on the other hand?

yeah this is fuckin badass

also, why is the bonfire at undead burg only giving me 5 estus while the firelight shrine gives me 10?

[Tossica]

You get to Blighttown through Undead Burg eventually but you've got a long way to go.

You need to spend humanity to "kindle" the bonfires. You can kindle them to 10 at first but eventually you can get them to 20. You need to be human to kindle bonfires.

The Catacombs will kick your ass this early as well. Concentrate on the Burg, Parish, The Depths and then Blighttown before you do anything else.

[Drem]

word, i guess i did kindle firelight. should've kindled the other one. god knows when i'll find more humanity

thanks for the tips sir