Skyrim? Ug it's terrible Lyion. I'll take Dark Souls 'less is more' style storytelling where it makes you feel completely alone, then Skyrim's highschool lvl fantasy adventure. Graphics may be of a higher texture in Skyrim, but the artwork and design of the levels and creatures are miles ahead in Dark Souls. Skyrim is game-brakingly easy once you max pretty much any skill. Dark Souls, although easier if your smart about your character build, always presents a legitimate challenge and never causes you to die to cheap deaths. The game play is so tight, you only die when you fail. Add in the original PVP factors it's a game that exists entirely on its own, unlike Skyrim which borrows (and steals) from every piece of fantasy of the last decade.
I couldn't stand Skyrim by the time I finished it and had to rush through the main quest just to be able to finish it. I left hundreds of hours of gameplay and have never had the desire to go back. It's just too daunting. Playing the game is like repetitive homework to me. Same three missions over and over again, and don't even get me started on those Dwarf caves...
Dark Souls on the other hand, I've replayed countless times, and always have to fight the desire to play again. It's like crack to me it's so awesome. One of the very few nearly perfect games I've ever played.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:08 am
by Lyion
Drem wrote:
And what do you mean movement is only on four axis and sluggish? Are you playing on a keyboard? This game is designed for a controller. You absolutely have to have joysticks. And you should use the combat lock-on if you aren't. Now i just feel sorry for you. Operator error, hahahahaha
There's no up and down for the character, just in limited fashion for objects and impacts. The Z axis is implemented a la older games. I play with a 360 controller on my PC. Another irritation with the PC game is I have to disable my G15 to use my Controller, even though it works fine in GFWL.
And how is this combat tedious in any way compared to skyrim's two moves per weapon and pressing the right trigger repeatedly for the entire game? (Not to mention horribly animated kill cam moves). You really just don't know what you're talking about here. I've put 100+ hours into both games and dark souls is like a work of art compared to the endless amount of fetch quests skyrim has to offer. Like i said, finish ringing the two bells, get to anor lando at least, then i'll actually listen.
If real critics wrote whiny reviews after they played a game for 3% of its content, would anyone care? Didn't you guys rip me a new one half a decade ago when i talked shit about FFVI without actually ever beating it? Hahahahah
You need to get better at and further in DS. I really don't think you'll regret it. Im pretty sure i got to about where you are and set it down for months because i thought it wasn't going to go anywhere. Holy shit was i wrong
Please, stop with the I R lL337 13 year old bullshit. I've played plenty of the game and found it mediocre *for me*. I think the premise is similar to Everquest which is why Zan, Toss, and you like it so much. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, and I didn't *hate* it but I like many other games I've played recently far more.
As far as combat, feel free to give me an indepth explanation of your tactical strategy. Mine consists of hit, roll, hit, roll again until I kill things. I buy a fuckton of firebombs and nuke as many things as I can. I prox aggro stuff. I block a ton. Rinse. Repeat. There ain't a lot of depth. Boss battles for me for the 4 I've killed so far are finding the sweet spot to avoid getting mashed. I do not use spoilers or have any inside knowledge. I don't have the time for that.
I die as I explore and everything respawns. Killing the same mobs is fairly simple but doing it over and over again to me is the definition of tedious.
Zan, I'm still playing Skyrim and I finished the main quest long ago. The mods add dimensions and the progression to me is still entertaining as are the side quests. I don't think it's a perfect game, and it somewhat pushed me to a 360 Controller on my PC, but I can sit down and play a few hours and have fun. Dark Souls is less fun and more like the pellet games I played as a kid. I love Skyrim, personally, although my type of game is more Divinity II or Dragon Age I.
The game I was playing before Dark Souls was Mount & Blade. I found the combat much, much more fun for me.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:41 am
by Zanchief
I don't really think it's like EQ at all. It's more like Legend of Zelda but more awesome. I'd wager you're still learning the mechanics. When you really start to master the controls the game feels like second nature and the movement and combat becomes very fluid. Much more so than Skyrim which is just a series of jousting maneuvers or just archery/sneak attack cheese. Once you get into Blighttown the regular tactics aren't going to work anymore, and you'll need to dig further into the mechanics in order to succeed.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:29 pm
by Drem
yeah, what zanchief said
and yeah, i'll stop with the 'i r l337' if you stop with the "i played this game for a few hours and have an educated opinion when really i've seen 2% of the content"
tactics change. rolling around and throwing firebombs is something i've never personally done. sounds pretty sketchy/risky. i like the game because shields are legit. they actually stop damage if you have the right type of shield. so you get a fine balance of blocking/attacking (like an actual sword fight would be in real life, not spamming RT and moving back and forth like skyrim) and pepper that with spells or switching to a fat 2h weapon when you see a good opening. the combat is dynamic and actually takes skill, like playing street fighter well.
i've never used a firebomb in my playthroughs. typically my style consists of lots of riposting, but getting the timing down for each enemy and each different weapon they use is time consuming. lots of circling, but it really depends on the enemy. all you've seen are are undead soldiers. there are lots of enemy types. some are really weak to certain elements. like to the point where you want to experiment and figure it all out
skyrim's just too much easy-mode for me. sorry. even if you try to turn off floating markers, the game doesn't actually give you enough info to figure anything out. it always comes down to finding the floating arrow and killing something. every single quest in the whole game is like that. bores me to tears. i try to load the game up once a week but after 25 minutes of fetch quests i get fed up. i absolutely love its atmosphere, in a different way than dark souls, i just wish there like .... a minecraft level of things to do
tho if i were on PC and could mod it i'd probably be singing a different tune. i just play these games stock, as is. and bethesda hasn't ever felt like letting console players have a world editor so what can i do
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:33 pm
by Lyion
I gave you my opinion based on a few hours of gameplay. No need to go postal, dude.
I'll keep playing it, since I'd like to finish it. I like the premise and format, it just seems awfully repetitive and I really dislike the controls. I have noticed I can now clear Parish and Burg in very little time versus my initial plethora of deaths in those places originally. I was playing a Pyromancer before. I've restarted a Knight just for something different. I was able to clear through Pariah with only one death <fucking Black Knight>. I can kite Havel and kill the Taurus fairly easily now. I haven't quite figured how to easily kill the Knights, yet. They both take a little time for me. I stopped with my Pyromancer at a Gargoyle that beat me down, although I only fought it once.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:54 pm
by Tossica
Go back for the knights. You can revisit those areas once you're a bit more buff. Get a good weapon and raise up your stats a bit.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:55 pm
by Tossica
You don't have to fight every monster you come across, if it's too tough, it probably means you're not grown up enough for that area yet.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:56 pm
by Tossica
PS best god damn game, ever. If you don't agree, you suck.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 7:02 pm
by Tossica
I wish I had never played it so I could start fresh again and put another 400hrs in to it.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:34 pm
by Drem
Lyion wrote:I gave you my opinion based on a few hours of gameplay. No need to go postal, dude.
I'll keep playing it, since I'd like to finish it. I like the premise and format, it just seems awfully repetitive and I really dislike the controls. I have noticed I can now clear Parish and Burg in very little time versus my initial plethora of deaths in those places originally. I was playing a Pyromancer before. I've restarted a Knight just for something different. I was able to clear through Pariah with only one death <fucking Black Knight>. I can kite Havel and kill the Taurus fairly easily now. I haven't quite figured how to easily kill the Knights, yet. They both take a little time for me. I stopped with my Pyromancer at a Gargoyle that beat me down, although I only fought it once.
Classes are irrelevant. Pick the one whose stats start wherever you'd like for your character build. The guy wearing a loin cloth will eventually become your starting character because his stats all start the same and he's level 1, not 5 or 6. Throughout the game you will find every starting suit of armor for every class
Keep in mind you have no inventory limit and can't sell things until kingseeker frampt shows up after you ring the second bell. since you haven't even rung the first of two bells yet, the game doesn't really start or become that open until you've reached anor lando
And come on, postal? I even backed up your opinion on skyrim, as i'm not playing it on a pc. I'm just tryin to tell you why i think dark souls is excellent, hahahah
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:34 pm
by Drem
Tossica wrote:PS best god damn game, ever. If you don't agree, you suck.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:49 pm
by Zanchief
Lyion wrote:I stopped with my Pyromancer at a Gargoyle that beat me down, although I only fought it once.
Hehe wait till you get him to half health and a second joins in. That's the first oh shit moment in the game.
I really don't see how you can say this is repetitive and Skyrim isn't. Every enemy in Dark Souls requires a different strategy and you need to pay attention. Skyrim is literally one vs 1000 and no chance of death, just click click click diablo style with almost no loot to speak of.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:48 am
by Tossica
I'll agree there's some repetition in the game but the way they give you access to shortcuts that allow you to bypass a lot of content you've already finished is genius as well. "If I can just make it to the elevator! Please don't kill me before I get there!"
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:23 am
by Lyion
I hate this game and all of you, you masochistic bastards.
/nerdrage rant over.
Back to playing....
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:18 pm
by Drem
hahahahaha
for anyone who hasn't watched any of epicnamebro's videos about the lore, here's the timeline he did. i really like all the lore breakdowns he's done too. shed a lot of light on the world for me
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:49 pm
by brinstar
epic nerd battle ITT
(PS i'm gonna get DS on steam when the price comes down and play with a mouse and keyboard because i'm STREET BITCH)
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:11 am
by Lyion
Tell me this isn't a fucking JRPG. I just killed Mothra!
I tried for a day to play with KB + mouse. It's even worse than Skyrim. The game is growing on me, although the UI still irks me. Life with a big ass shield is a lot easier than trying to do a dex based rogue build.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:41 am
by Zanchief
I made a light armor rogue type build and it is very viable, but you need to take a lot of END. It's one of the most important stats in the game for any class that plans on attacking and/or block (so pretty much everyone). I favor it over health to be honest. All my builds are usually prime dmg stat (DEX, STR, INT or FAITH), then endurance second and health third.
With higher END you can block stronger attacks without being staggered. Helps immensely. Certain bosses aren't very hard with high END, and are next to impossible without it.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:30 am
by Lyion
I'm going off to read the wiki and figure some things out.
I've cleared six or seven areas, but I'm currently powerlevelling the Capri Demon as he seems to insta gib me. I've tried rolling, blocking, and running, but the dogs and he seem to always trap me and I go down quick.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:43 am
by Drem
Summon people to help. Or go up the stairs and hang out on the ledge up top and use a bow
And elaborating on what zan said, you should max endurance (40 End is when stamina maxes out) on every char. Then go kill lautrec of carim (if you dont kill him early he will kill the firekeeper at firelink shrine at some point) for his badass ring that gives you more hp/sta/weight capacity
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:03 pm
by Zanchief
Capri Demon doesn't need to be killed. You can avoid him completely if you have the thieves ring. Go to Blighttown via Valley of Drake via New Londo Ruins and you don't even have to step foot in the Depths.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:41 pm
by Drem
Seems like a bad idea for a first playthrough to skip the best large/green titanite shard and humanity farming area in the game and go straight at Queelag completely unprepared
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 5:31 pm
by Tossica
Drem wrote:Seems like a bad idea for a first playthrough to skip the best large/green titanite shard and humanity farming area in the game and go straight at Queelag completely unprepared
agreed. I generally don't skip any content on a play through. Even my least favorite parts are better than most of my favorite parts in other games.
Again, I cannot stress enough how much fun the MP aspect of the game is. Put your stone down and get summoned in to someone else's game at the very least.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:55 pm
by Zanchief
I'm not saying he should, just saying he can.
Re: Dark Souls II
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 10:06 pm
by Tossica
With a buddy the Demon goes down quick. It helps to be a light build and roll passed him, run up the stairs and jump on his head.