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[Sblargh]

One of the best features of DS2 is it really improves the deeper you get, whereas DS1 kind of plateaus around Sen's Fortress/Anor Londo. Particularly in terms of level design, I think you'll find a lot to enjoy in the DLC areas, so your opinion may improve.

As I wrote earlier, I found DS2 the most difficult game in the series to start with because a lot of the techniques I felt I mastered in Demons' and DS1 really didn't serve too well. However after adapting my approach and playing through enough cycles to platinum the game all that had changed and I was really having a great time.

The game definetly gets better the more used to it you get. And although I myself did a thread saying how much I disliked DS2 compared to DS1, I never thought it was a *bad game*.
The DLC areas that you mentioned are a proof to how good it can be sometimes. The dragon boss fight in the sunken king is probably my favorite boss fight of the entire series (haven't played BB, tho).

 

[Mister Wolf]

The dark souls 3 thread is gonna be full of bloodborne players crying.

 

[Abylim]

Dark Souls 2 is a good game. If you liked Demons or Dark souls before it, you probably like DS2.

Bloodborne to any of the other Souls games is always going to be a bit stark.

The game is great though, got the platinum on the PS3 version, then again on the PS4. I love it as much, if not more, than Dark Souls.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Bloodborne to any of the other Souls games is always going to be a bit stark.

I don't see it as stark so much as more focused. I love all the DS games with great passion (even flawed old DS2) but Bloodbourne, in my opinion, absolutely shits all over the other games in the series from a great height and I can't wait to see what they do for DS3 with the lessons they learned from it.

 

[Azriell]

I'm currently playing SotfS and it's far from a bad game. It's not as good as the other three games, especially from a level design perspective, but I'm still enjoying it quite a bit.

I just beat DS2 (SotFS) for the first time the other day and am now playing NG+ as a sorcery build. I have to agree, it's the worse game in the series but still a good game.

The problems I have with it are few but substantive. Enemies lock on and will rotate through their attacks like they're on a turntable. Not only does this make backstabbing more difficult than it should be, it also makes dodging more difficult than it should be. If you raise your agility it increases the window of invulnerability while rolling, and so you can roll through enemies attacks. This is the work around for pivoting enemies, but it means that you have to wait to almost get hit instead of just rolling to safety right away. It's a worse situation than before but it's doable. There are certain bosses where rolling through their arms/weapons is the only way to survive, and I think that's pretty dumb.

My second problem is that the game gives you almost no direction, no goal, nothing. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to handholding. But Dark Souls 2 seems intentionally obtuse, beyond reason. I had to consult guides/friends way more than I should have to, just to find out where to go next. For someone who likes to play blind, this sucks. And why is the Covenant of Champions right there at the beginning? Again, for someone who plays blind this is devastating. At the very least the game should offer a hint through the level up lady buttons beyond ”seek the four souls.”

 

[Marty-esque]

Upgrading adaptability should be one of your main concerns early on.

Thanks.

 

[Sblargh]

I'm happy From already said that they will make convenants more clear this time around. The way DS2 threw convenant prompts at you without explaining what they do was just a bad decision.

Also, the Souls seires are weird games to play "blind"; I feel like they weren't designed like this in mind at all. I feel the developers half-expect you to seek help outside the game not just to understand the lore, but the basics as well.

I was watching someone do a blind run of DS1 on twitch one of these days, he was at the tomb of giants and simply being way more frustrated than needed if only he had one information or two. I don't think the particular frustration of getting lost in tomb of giants without knowing about the two very handy bonfires was intended.

Dark Souls already are mechanically challenging games; you really don't need to add ignorance about level design into the mix.

 

[Fhtagn]

The intro doesn't imply the player character is male. You don't see their gender at all. It's just a nameless hollow until you use the effigy the old lady gifts you and then you see what your character looks like.

As someone who feels strongly about equality of gender representation, I think claiming this breaks the role-playing experience is patently silly, and just going out of one's way to criticize the game. It's grasping at straws.

I really think gender representation in Dark Souls 2 is pretty bad, a big step back from the other games. Nashandra, Najka, Mytha... all travel in negative fantasy tropes about women; any one of them would be fine in a game but it piles up by the end. The DLC eventually goes some way to improve the overall role of women in the game but it was def something I noticed on my first playthrough and have seen others pick up on; the Bonfireside Chat podcast also talked about it for example.

I also hated character creation taking place after the game began; my read on the intro movie is different than yours, and I wish they had randomized (from say 8 different defaults, male and female) the initial character you control.

 

[Gbraga]

Shulva is incredible, I really love it. Ivory King, though? Fuck dat shit. Eleum Loyce had a lot of potential, and it's a gorgeous area, but honestly? It kinda blows.

Crown of the Old Iron King wasn't as good as Sunken King, to me, but it was still really good, and it had awesome bosses.

I don't know what happened, but they really dropped the ball with Ivory King. Or maybe that's just me and the most common opinion is that it's the best one, I'm really not sure on what most people think about it.

 

[En-ou]

Sure that is an improvement. But then they screw it up by having your character face away from your enemy after a roll, making the combat slower and severely limiting opportunities for counter attacks. Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne get it right. When you dash/roll you pivot around the enemy, allowing for more fluidity in the combat instead of having it feel like fighting is a game of red light green light.

Because of this id rather be restricted to 4way dodging while locked like DeS/DaS1 and retain the fluidity of combat.

I prefer to have full control of where I want to face after I roll. so if I am facing in that same direction I rolled in - fine with me.

I guess for 3 I will be complaining like you above while you will have a rebuttal for my complaint.

 

[mickcenary]

I don't even understand his first negative. He's saying there's input lag and also sometimes your character does stuff you don't tell them to do? Never experienced that in the PS4 version once.

I can vouch for this complaint. I've had my player do a jump out of a sprint a number of times for no apparent reason.

And no, I'm not a spaz that double-taps circle without realising.

 

[eot]

Not that I disagree that DS1 had questionable hitboxes at times, but I'm pretty sure that there is an AOE on the slam in that first example. Not completely sure since I haven't played in a while, but I think that's what's happening.

Probably, but he gets flattened as if he were under Artorias. Even if it's intended to have an AoE effect I'd argue that the implementation could be better (different hitboxes for different parts of the attack). Some of the hitboxes in DkSII have the same problem, while others are less excusable.

 

[RoadHazard]

If the combat is the problem, why single out Dark Souls 2? Its the same in Dark Souls 1 and Demon's Souls too. Unless that the OP havnt played those games though.

Except it isn't. It's very similar, of course, but it just doesn't feel as good. I've just started playing DkS2, so I haven't deeply analyzed why this is, but I could instantly feel the difference.

 

[Randam]

Yep. They're really easy to backstab too.

god, I hate what they did to backstabbing and parrying in ds2

 

[DoubleTake]

Shulva is incredible, I really love it. Ivory King, though? Fuck dat shit. Eleum Loyce had a lot of potential, and it's a gorgeous area, but honestly? It kinda blows.

Crown of the Old Iron King wasn't as good as Sunken King, to me, but it was still really good, and it had awesome bosses.

I don't know what happened, but they really dropped the ball with Ivory King. Or maybe that's just me and the most common opinion is that it's the best one, I'm really not sure on what most people think about it.

Shulva had 2 good bosses and 1 absolute shit boss. I really liked the level design but the interiors fell prey to the big empty room with nothing interesting bug that plagues much of Dark Souls 2. My second favorite.

OIK has okay level design and 2 great bosses 1 reskin of a good boss with a bullshit path to it. This one was my favorite because the main bosses were so good.

Ivory King I didnt enjoy very much at all. I didnt even bother to attempt the optional area based on my experience with the other dlcs and other's impressions. The first boss is okay imo and I did think the snow storm gimmick was okay. However it took fighting multiple powerful enemies in a single room to a whole new level. The main boss fight is nothing special either. Watching the poorly animated AI duke it out prior to the fight was comical, and the actual boss himself was fairly run of the mill. He had a cool entrance though.

I prefer to have full control of where I want to face after I roll. so if I am facing in that same direction I rolled in - fine with me.

I guess for 3 I will be complaining like you above while you will have a rebuttal for my complaint.

So youll be complaining about having objectively better combat? I dont see what purpose facing away from an opponent you are locked on to serves and no one has been able to give me a good explanation for it.

 

[Coda]

Just play Metal Wolf Chaos instead...

 

[King Gilga]

god, I hate what they did to backstabbing and parrying in ds2

I really loved the new animations for backstabs, made them feel so much more visceral, especially the 1h axe one, loved it.

For ripostes, DS1 animation was already perfect.

 

[Zombegoast]

People saying the hitbox is the reason why Dark Souls 2 is bad hasn't put a lot of hours into the game. And people defending Dark Souls 2 either not played the previous games or haven't put a lot of time in the others as well.

Dark Souls 2's biggest problem is the combat. It is the slowest out of the other games. They really made your character a pussy when they land on their butt and sit their for 5 seconds waiting to be riposte. As well as other stuff like slowly taking your time going through a fog door as spiders hit you causing you to either die or loose tons of health just before the a boss and trying to drink your Estus Flask as you watch and see your character slowly drink. Let's not forget the other consumables that are completely useless as they take too long to consume to the point where LIfe Gems are an overall better option to use instead a Divine Blessing.

Dark Souls and Demon's Souls didn't have any consumables that are useless.


Stamina regen is slow to the point of stacking the buff is nowhere near as fast as wearing light armor and a Cloranthy Ring. Fighting enemies and bosses are just hitting them twice, roll back, wait until they finish their attack and do the process all over again. Fighting Kalameet would be next to impossible plus the fact that Iframes works differently and rolls not covering as much distance if Dark Souls 1 uses the same engine. And instead spam magic because let's be honest that's what we all did when fighting the bosses in Dark Souls 2.


Dark Souls 3 is borrowing heavily from the original. I think that alone explains how flawed Dark souls 2 is,

 

[En-ou]

My second problem is that the game gives you almost no direction, no goal, nothing. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to handholding. But Dark Souls 2 seems intentionally obtuse, beyond reason. I had to consult guides/friends way more than I should have to, just to find out where to go next. For someone who likes to play blind, this sucks. And why is the Covenant of Champions right there at the beginning? Again, for someone who plays blind this is devastating. At the very least the game should offer a hint through the level up lady buttons beyond ”seek the four souls.”

it does not. I played blind and fared well. its easy as long as your don't suck - go one route and if you get your ass handed to you - try another. explore. that is the main draw of the souls games. explore and discover.

 

[Road of Ease]

It's not just for grab attacks:

Oh God this motherfucker

I hate him so much

At first I hated DS2, but ended up playing it for 40+ hours and beating the main game (didn't beat the DLC and left out some bosses though), so I can't say it's that bad... however it's still mostly uninspired and ruined by awful design decisions.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Shulva is incredible, I really love it. Ivory King, though? Fuck dat shit. Eleum Loyce had a lot of potential, and it's a gorgeous area, but honestly? It kinda blows.

Crown of the Old Iron King wasn't as good as Sunken King, to me, but it was still really good, and it had awesome bosses.

I don't know what happened, but they really dropped the ball with Ivory King. Or maybe that's just me and the most common opinion is that it's the best one, I'm really not sure on what most people think about it.

They really dropped the ball with that last dlc completely IMO, it feels like they just went back to their pre dlc mindset of "MOBSSSSSSSS".
Crown of the old king had the best bosses, but sunken king was just such a great area.

 

[Holden]

god, I hate what they did to backstabbing and parrying in ds2

not making it brokenly overpowered?

comic sums it up pretty well, both game have flaws

but darksouls 2 is harder, fine by me ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[En-ou]

Shulva had 2 good bosses and 1 absolute shit boss. I really liked the level design but the interiors fell prey to the big empty room with nothing interesting bug that plagues much of Dark Souls 2. My second favorite.

OIK has okay level design and 2 great bosses 1 reskin of a good boss with a bullshit path to it. This one was my favorite because the main bosses were so good.

Ivory King I didnt enjoy very much at all. I didnt even bother to attempt the optional area based on my experience with the other dlcs and other's impressions. The first boss is okay imo and I did think the snow storm gimmick was okay. However it took fighting multiple powerful enemies in a single room to a whole new level. The main boss fight is nothing special either. Watching the poorly animated AI duke it out prior to the fight was comical, and the actual boss himself was fairly run of the mill. He had a cool entrance though.


So youll be complaining about having objectively better combat? I dont see what purpose facing away from an opponent you are locked on to serves and no one has been able to give me a good explanation for it.

I will be complaining about being restricted. I would want to face away if I am trying to focus on a different enemy or if I need to decrease my proximity so that I can heal or do something else. it isn't difficult to roll away then face the enemy again and attack if that is my wish. or moving towards the enemy while simultaneously attacking after a roll. I don't even employ roll that much into my style so your qualm doesn't bother me.

 

[catbrush]

Sorry to beat a dead horse. After beating the game on PS3 and PC at launch, I held the opinion that Dark Souls II is a good game, but just not as good as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls.

After completing Bloodborne I decided to try SOTFS on PS4. The game sucks in the most important ways, most notably in player movement and weapon movesets. Most of the game's challenges are cheap & punitive ambushes that emphasize die and retry memorization. This is opposite to the design philosophy of any other post-Souls From RPG, where danger is always telegraphed to the observational.

Also, too many gank squads. Too many groups of tanky giants. The online systems are great though, especially the consistency of PVP areas.

When Demon's Souls was first released, a lot of critics praised the novel online approach, but gave it crap because they weren't accustomed to the more methodical and punitive style of adventuring that it pioneered.

"All the numbers and all the systems and stuff sound like neat ideas, but the part where you're playing it seems awful." (Giant Bomb's Demon's Souls Quick Look, one of my favorite sites featuring some of my favorite personalities)

"This game is really trying to turn you into a masochist." (Area 5's CO-OP, one of my favorite shows of all time, featuring some of my favorite personalities)

Somehow it seems like Dark Souls II was designed around these premature Demon's critiques.

I wonder if the more turtle-oriented design was meant to differentiate the game from Bloodborne. There are people who enjoy this style that over-emphasizes defensive play and nerfs player aggression, but I think the designers took it way too far.

 

[Road of Ease]

I disagree. I think people would more vocal about its flaws, in the same way people are with DS2.

By that logic, Demon's Souls would get more recognition than Dark Souls. But no, DS1 gets more praise, because it's multiplatform and more people played it.

 

[Ferr986]

Shulva is incredible, I really love it. Ivory King, though? Fuck dat shit. Eleum Loyce had a lot of potential, and it's a gorgeous area, but honestly? It kinda blows.

Crown of the Old Iron King wasn't as good as Sunken King, to me, but it was still really good, and it had awesome bosses.

I don't know what happened, but they really dropped the ball with Ivory King. Or maybe that's just me and the most common opinion is that it's the best one, I'm really not sure on what most people think about it.

for me it's Sunken > Ivory > Iron. Although all are great IMO.

The level design on Ivory is better than Iron IMO, and although it probably have more "mobs", overall I think it's more manageable. Fuck the indoors area after the bonfire with the golems and such though, I just run away past enemies there lol

Iron has the best DLC boss though (Alonne).

 

[DoubleTake]

I will be complaining about being restricted. I would want to face away if I am trying to focus on a different enemy or if I need to decrease my proximity so that I can heal or do something else. it isn't difficult to roll away then face the enemy again and attack if that is my wish. or moving towards the enemy while simultaneously attacking after a roll. I don't even employ roll that much into my style so your qualm doesn't bother me.

But it isnt more restrictive? If youre locked on to an enemy and want to focus on another in Ds2 you would unlock and and lock on to the next threat. Same as with all the games. Facing away on a roll provides no added advantage to engaging another enemy. Like I said you would still have to disengage lock on, reposition the camera and re lock just like all the other games. All the other game also allow you to decrease proximity when evading so im not sure what youre getting at there. Just roll away or unlock and run?

And no, rolling away then re facing and attacking isnt difficult but its markedly more clunky than any other souls game and much to the detriment of the game's combat fluidity. The others eliminate the refacing portion of that sequence and make it so can you roll around the side of enemies and execute rolling attacks instead of being limited to only forward rolling attacks while locked.

I wonder if the more turtle-oriented design was meant to differentiate the game from Bloodborne. There are people who enjoy this style that over-emphasizes defensive play and nerfs player aggression, but I think the designers took it way too far.

This is a good insight and a definite possibility. But I agree the over emphasis on defense was a real turn off for people like me. Dark Souls 1 mechanics and gameplay speed and Ds2 freedom of roll direction would have been perfectly fine. Happy Ds3 is taking this approach while upping the pace of combat a tiny bit.

 

[teiresias]

I got the PS4 SotFS for Christmas and figured I'd play it even though I have Bloodborne on my backlog.

Honestly, I'm having a horrible time with it even though I love Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1. I'm just not getting into the combat groove at all and have been running the section at the start of Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area) to the room with three Old Knights over and over again because I can't beat them consistently for crap. I've run it so much the first two Old Knights have actually stopped spawning, and the attack patterns of those knights that sit down are absolute BS IMO.

I'm not sure why I'm so bad at this game right now. Been too long away from Souls games? One thing I really dislike is that the starter area is populated by large, strong enemies whereas the last two games were populated with smaller enemies and you worked up to larger, hard hitting enemies. It strikes me as backwards enemy progression, particularly since they're staggering me really easily, much more easily than I remember ever being staggered at the start of DeS and DS1.

 

[catbrush]

Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area)

That isn't the very first beginner area. Look for another area out of Majula.

 

[Ferr986]

I got the PS4 SotFS for Christmas and figured I'd play it even though I have Bloodborne on my backlog.

Honestly, I'm having a horrible time with it even though I love Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1. I'm just not getting into the combat groove at all and have been running the section at the start of Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area) to the room with three Old Knights over and over again because I can't beat them consistently for crap. I've run it so much the first two Old Knights have actually stopped spawning, and the attack patterns of those knights that sit down are absolute BS IMO.

I'm not sure why I'm so bad at this game right now. Been too long away from Souls games? One thing I really dislike is that the starter area is populated by large, strong enemies whereas the last two games were populated with smaller enemies and you worked up to larger, hard hitting enemies. It strikes me as backwards enemy progression, particularly since they're staggering me really easily, much more easily than I remember ever being staggered at the start of DeS and DS1.

I think it's pretty normal. Movement is different, also i-frames are ruled by a stat now (Agility, raised with ADP stat, it increases both i-frames on rolls and estus drinking speed), you should level that. You basically need to time your attacks and rolls better this time, because the recovery after any action is larger.

I mean, I remember my very first day with 360 DS2 and it felt weird to me too. It controlled different than DS1, but you just need to get used to it. Game gets better the more you proceed if you make past the firsts rough areas.

Btw, the Heide knights (white sitting dudes) won't aggro till you defeat the boss, so you can ignore them for now. Also, the area is actually the second one, there's an easier area before there.

 

[Cutwolf]

It's not.

But I can't say the same about this thread.

 

[En-ou]

But it isnt more restrictive? If youre locked on to an enemy and want to focus on another in Ds2 you would unlock and and lock on to the next threat. Same as with all the games. Facing away on a roll provides no added advantage to engaging another enemy. Like I said you would still have to disengage lock on, reposition the camera and re lock just like all the other games. All the other game also allow you to decrease proximity when evading so im not sure what youre getting at there. Just roll away or unlock and run?

And no, rolling away then re facing and attacking isnt difficult but its markedly more clunky than any other souls game and much to the detriment of the game's combat fluidity. The others eliminate the refacing portion of that sequence and make it so can you roll around the side of enemies and execute rolling attacks instead of being limited to only forward rolling attacks while locked.



This is a good insight and a definite possibility. But I agree the over emphasis on defense was a real turn off for people like me. Dark Souls 1 mechanics and gameplay speed and Ds2 freedom of roll direction would have been perfectly fine. Happy Ds3 is taking this approach while upping the pace of combat a tiny bit.

ok I see what you're saying. since I'm a super turtle player I usually have enough time to 180/strafe and reposition so it doesn't affect me as much. but I can see that in quick-paced fights it can get annoying when the window of opportunity is slim.

 

[Mman235]

Stamina regen is slow to the point of stacking the buff is nowhere near as fast as wearing light armor and a Cloranthy Ring. Fighting enemies and bosses are just hitting them twice, roll back, wait until they finish their attack and do the process all over again. Fighting Kalameet would be next to impossible plus the fact that Iframes works differently and rolls not covering as much distance if Dark Souls 1 uses the same engine. And instead spam magic because let's be honest that's what we all did when fighting the bosses in Dark Souls 2.

Kalameet wouldn't be much different, especially as high levels of agility gets you Dark Wood Grain Ring levels of iframes. Why would I spam magic when it's been nerfed a bunch and melee has always been able to destroy everything just fine?

I got the PS4 SotFS for Christmas and figured I'd play it even though I have Bloodborne on my backlog.

Honestly, I'm having a horrible time with it even though I love Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1. I'm just not getting into the combat groove at all and have been running the section at the start of Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area) to the room with three Old Knights over and over again because I can't beat them consistently for crap. I've run it so much the first two Old Knights have actually stopped spawning, and the attack patterns of those knights that sit down are absolute BS IMO.

I'm not sure why I'm so bad at this game right now. Been too long away from Souls games? One thing I really dislike is that the starter area is populated by large, strong enemies whereas the last two games were populated with smaller enemies and you worked up to larger, hard hitting enemies. It strikes me as backwards enemy progression, particularly since they're staggering me really easily, much more easily than I remember ever being staggered at the start of DeS and DS1.

That's not the starting area.

 

[funkystudent]

I dont think its bad. I just think its a lot more inconsistent then Dark 1.

Its basically the back half of Dark Souls 1 quality wise but spread out into a full game.

 

[Zombegoast]

Kalameet wouldn't be much different, especially as high levels of agility gets you Dark Wood Grain Ring levels of iframes. Why would I spam magic when it's been nerfed a bunch and melee has always been able to destroy everything just fine?

Because it's much faster than just waiting to get two hits in. And the roll is nowhere near as fast as the Dark Wood Grain ring.

 

[DoubleTake]

ok I see what you're saying. since I'm a super turtle player I usually have enough time to 180/strafe and reposition so it doesn't affect me as much. but I can see that in quick-paced fights it can get annoying when the window of opportunity is slim.

Exactly. I understand it could be a hard concept to grasp for mainly shield/defensive players but for people like me who prefer risking hits and counter attacking the change was for the worse, with no real added benefit for shield users like you. Thankfully Ds3 seems to accommodate us all and hopefully it finally brings the community back together.

 

[Neoweee]

not making it brokenly overpowered?

comic sums it up pretty well, both game have flaws

but darksouls 2 is harder, fine by me ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

It isn't even universal. Dark Souls 2 is by far the largest Souls game in terms of number of bosses and enemies, and there's a wide variety of enemy weaknesses, succseful strategies, and viable builds.

"Use a Shield and L2Backstab, most points in Stam and Vit" is like the best advice to a new Souls 1 player, but in 2? It's just so much more open.

I got the PS4 SotFS for Christmas and figured I'd play it even though I have Bloodborne on my backlog.

Honestly, I'm having a horrible time with it even though I love Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1. I'm just not getting into the combat groove at all and have been running the section at the start of Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area) to the room with three Old Knights over and over again because I can't beat them consistently for crap. I've run it so much the first two Old Knights have actually stopped spawning, and the attack patterns of those knights that sit down are absolute BS IMO.

Do the other starter area. That one is generally considered a bit harder for most builds.

 

[Easy_D]

The worst part about the video is that so many of the game's detractors have taken to citing the video instead of giving their own opinion for why they find the game to be bad.

Drive-by opinions are the worst.

 

[Randam]

I really loved the new animations for backstabs, made them feel so much more visceral, especially the 1h axe one, loved it.

For ripostes, DS1 animation was already perfect.

not making it brokenly overpowered?

comic sums it up pretty well, both game have flaws

but darksouls 2 is harder, fine by me ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

I'm only talking about the animations.

 

[AColdDay]

I loved Dark Souls 1, but I'm about to give up on Dark Souls 2 after playing for about 20 hours. It's not that it is harder, but it just doesn't feel rewarding like it did in Dark Souls 1. There are so many little things that add up to my discontent: the movement doesn't feel right, I can't riposte like I did in the first game, you have to invest tons of points into adaptability in order to dodge like the first game, etc.

I'm not having the problem that it is too hard, if anything, so far it has been too easy. I've been taking down bosses on my first try, which absolutely never happened to me in DS1. When it is hard, it's hard for the wrong reasons, like getting mobbed by multiples of the same enemy who attack in tight spaces so you can't really see well enough to dodge around. That's not fun or rewarding to beat.

 

[Pejo]

Funny enough, I've been putting a ton of time back into DS2: SOTFS as of late. I gotta say it's vastly improved over vanilla, I feel. The switched enemy placements, item locations and other bits are making it so much more enjoyable to play, even after I spent probably 140 hours in regular DS2.

It definitely has build variety and depth over any of the other Soulsborne games, and there are a ton of viable ways to play. I've been enjoying my latest run as a DEX/INT spellsword using Dragonrider Twinblades. The bosses will never have the same impact that the DeS DS1 bosses, but there are some really enjoyable ones.

 

[Orochinagis]

Jesus Christ, just found out that the INCREDIBLE Dark Souls III Network Test Menu Theme was composed by her as well.

TOO
DAMN
GOOD

Please, From, make everyone happy with Dark Souls III, it just HAS to be amazing.

Spoiler

Please bring back Gwyn!

The DS2 DLC female chorus made it to Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 strees menu, I hope that chorus will appear in Dark Souls 3 fully.

Spoiler

Considering the Dark person the Iron King met is still alive

I don't see it as stark so much as more focused. I love all the DS games with great passion (even flawed old DS2) but Bloodbourne, in my opinion, absolutely shits all over the other games in the series from a great height and I can't wait to see what they do for DS3 with the lessons they learned from it.

You will probably love Dark Souls 3 then

 

[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

I got the PS4 SotFS for Christmas and figured I'd play it even though I have Bloodborne on my backlog.

Honestly, I'm having a horrible time with it even though I love Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1. I'm just not getting into the combat groove at all and have been running the section at the start of Heide's Tower of Flame (yes, like the very first beginner area) to the room with three Old Knights over and over again because I can't beat them consistently for crap. I've run it so much the first two Old Knights have actually stopped spawning, and the attack patterns of those knights that sit down are absolute BS IMO.

I'm not sure why I'm so bad at this game right now. Been too long away from Souls games? One thing I really dislike is that the starter area is populated by large, strong enemies whereas the last two games were populated with smaller enemies and you worked up to larger, hard hitting enemies. It strikes me as backwards enemy progression, particularly since they're staggering me really easily, much more easily than I remember ever being staggered at the start of DeS and DS1.

Aye thats the part I'm at. I made it to the boss, the dragon rider, I got beat, but I feel I can beat it when I go back so thats alright.

 

[teiresias]

That's not the starting area.

So is the real starting area where you go down the side of the cliff and open the door with the lever? I went there, but the darkness just past the for made it feel like it would be a later area compared to the bright and airy tower area so that's why I went to the tower.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

I love Demon's souls.
I love Dark souls.
I love Bloodborne.

I think that Dark souls 2, while full of good ideas, improved p2p and a refined gameplay, is an awful game.

 

[Screaming Meat]

You will probably love Dark Souls 3 then

Oh really? What makes you say that?

 

[Ferr986]

It definitely has build variety and depth over any of the other Soulsborne games, and there are a ton of viable ways to play. I've been enjoying my latest run as a DEX/INT spellsword using Dragonrider Twinblades. The bosses will never have the same impact that the DeS DS1 bosses, but there are some really enjoyable ones.

Amazing build. That twinblade is so good. I did one on SOTFS too (Using Straid outfit).

 

[LegendofLex]

So is the real starting area where you go down the side of the cliff and open the door with the lever? I went there, but the darkness just past the for made it feel like it would be a later area compared to the bright and airy tower area so that's why I went to the tower.

In true Dark Souls tradition, the area that seems most immediately accessible once you land in the main hub is a trap for first-time players.

 

[Neoweee]

In true Dark Souls tradition, the area that seems most immediately accessible once you land in the main hub is a trap for first-time players.

I actually don't think that is the case here. Most people wander into Forest first, and/or don't see the little hanging switches you need to pull to descend to Heide's

 

[LegendofLex]

I actually don't think that is the case here. Most people wander into Forest first, and/or don't see the little hanging switches you need to pull to descend to Heide's

I can't remember what pushed me to the forest first, honestly, but as I was moving through the transition zone I initially had the same reaction that teiresias did: "this area seems a bit unusually treacherous."