Griddlelol

Yeah, I have a chronic case of "one more hit" on every boss I fight. Especially when they're low health. Still haven't learned not to do it, I feel like the risk of dying vs the reward of killing the boss from those extra hits is always worth it for me. Ah, I've never managed to interrupt him. I didn't notice the tell either. I'll look for that! I tried taking off my shield etc. and just dodging like crazy. This is the best strategy I've had so far. Got him down to 1/5 and he killed me. First time I've rage quit since the Anor Londo archers. Bleh.

Any tips for Knight Artorias? Really struggling with him. I've died quite a few times, and I can get him down to 50% each time, but he always manages to kill me. He has a lot of attacks that just can't be blocked, and if I dodge I don't have time to get an attack in.

Oh right, I've not touched Str apart from a couple of points to get me to the lowest limit to use Uchigatana. I guess I'll put some more stuff into that. I've not been farming at all, only occasionally if I'm 1000 or so souls from a level and about to go somewhere new. Leveling up is quite easy, the bosses give loads + the random souls you find lying around (like Brave warrior soul etc.) are plenty.

Oh really? So the diminishing returns aren't that bad? I assumed the drop off was huge as everyone seems to act like it is. Bed of Chaos huh? What a massive anti-climax. Time for the DLC! I'm not sure if I can even get those sorcery spells. The guy is locked up in the archives somewhere and I got tired of figuring out how to let him out.

My playstyle so far has been very shield dependent. I go into every fight and try to tank as many hits as I can just to work out the bosses moveset. Once I've died once or twice I mostly just dodge and swing with my katana in 2 hands, lifting up my shield for bits I know I suck at dodging. I suppose that's because it's my first time and I have bosses to learn. I've not touched any of the magic. I don't regret going full melee, but I do feel like I'm missing out on something. Once my 3 main stats are at 40, would it be worth putting points into faith or int? Or would it be better to put it into str to give me more options when it comes to weapons?

Wow... Interesting how people have problems with completely different things. A lot of the internet raves about Sif as a great boss, but to me it was over so fast I didn't even notice any of the intricacies of the fight. Made it very unmemorable for me, unlike S&O which while was incredibly hard I thought was a fantastically designed fight.

I really, really loved VC. I had fallen out of gaming after getting minorly addicted to WoW and then cutting any sort of game out of my life for a while. Picked up VC and a PS3 after about 6 months of not touching a game and I fell in love again. Really VC has a special place for me as one of my favourite games of all time, despite its flaws and over-the-top anime story. It's been a while since I've played it, but after selling my PS3 I kept this game as a reminder of the good and the bad. If you liked any sort of strategy RPG then VC fits the bill perfectly. What are the sequels like? I'd quite like to try them but I bet they're terrible.

I think that's one of my major weaknesses when playing DS. I feel like I'm cheating if I'm using weapon enhancements. I rarely apply the pine buffs but I know I shouldn't worry about it! I'm at a soul level now that I feel I'm not going to progress much further (I think Vit/End/Dex are all about 36 and I heard that they hit diminishing returns hard at 40) in my build. So I guess those buffs are what will affect how I play, plus it's not like I need the souls anymore.

I was very close to buying Murasma Rebirth! Excellent month for vita. PS+ has easily paid for itself and I've only had it for about 3 months.

Soul Level 1 run sounds horrendous. I take it you're not using a melee build, because I couldn't imagine how little damage you'd do with weapons. It seems like you're talking about literally hours to kill certain bosses!

I found the catacombs quite easy because I had brought along a Divine Long sword. Didn't know it was going to be useful, but it really, really was. I actually really liked the catacombs, not sure why... Where did you find the stray demon? I'm pretty sure the titanite slab is somewhere around there but have no idea how to get there.

There's definitely a fire before the centipede, you just can't warp to it. I suppose I'll be walking the long way.

So I managed to get some DS in today! Got annihilated by the centipede demon though. I did not realise that lava would hurt so much and it would just not leave the lava! Unfortunately I had to repair my main weapon and now I really don't feel like walking all the way back there from the depths warp point. It's a frustratingly long way to go. Is there any short cut? I feel like all the short cuts to this place probably take longer when you realise you have to clear out certain enemies first (cough, drakes).

I read it. It helped. I beat the experienced ai every time and have racked up 3 wins! This games is going to be an issue for me. I love it and I suck! It makes me want to get better though.

I didn't realise that so many people felt that 2 was better than 1. To me 1 was rather innovative, even if it wasn't, I had mostly been playing RPGs and FPSs when it came out, so it at least felt innovative. Plus I found that I could approach the assassinations in a stealthy way which 2 didn't let me. 2 made them feel like set pieces rather than something I could do however I wanted. I don't really see how 2 improved on 1 at all. I was lured into buying it because the magazine I was reading at the time said in their preview that the combat was no longer waiting for a counter and that the missions were less repetitive. Both were blatant lies in my opinion. Plus the main character went from a stoic middle eastern man, you know, how you imagine an assassin to a cartoon of an Italian. I'm partially Italian, and while I didn't find it racist, I was rolling my eyes...a lot. I'm kind of glad I got out of it, the series seems to have fallen under the weight of its own bullshit. People praise it for having a female lead (in the vita version no one played), but to me that didn't seem like much when the games as a whole are tedious. On black flag - game companies really hate the idea of releasing a new IP/whatever, but us as consumers constantly call out for it. The problem is, no one buys it when they don't recognise the name, unless it's hyped to incredible amounts. While I've never been a fan of CoD or "competitive" shooters in general, I bought Titanfall, because it was something new. The team dared to try and make something different. I'm sure they wouldn't have if they didn't split from activision, but hey, they did! I really get disappointed that the moment it was released people were talking about Titanfall 2. God damn it, I hope there's not a Titanfall 2, I hope they come up with something new and interesting in a different way. Following the same line: I preferred Mass Effect 1 to ME2 (but I love that series so it doesn't really belong in this thread). I felt like I was being introduced into a universe that felt amazingly detailed. 2 had a better story, better mechanics, better everything except the universe didn't really feel like it was important any more. I spent far too long reading the codices of 1 but didn't even need to look in 2. Oh and the face getting cracked and red as you became more evil was dumb. I guess I prefer interesting ideas in games to perfectly executed games. Which is actually a bit of a sudden realisation for me...

Assassin's creed. I really liked the first one. Pretty much any open world game that I can run around the environment so fluidly captures my imagination, but then I played the next one. As it was no longer new I saw all the horrible flaws and noticed how incredibly boring that game was. Really can't get back into them now. It's a shame, I've heard good things about black flag. I read on gaf that the AC games are popular among women. Is that true?

My hate was the camera. Dying from finding blind spots sucks.

): I want to play! Great to hear you're making some progress gormoungous! I didn't manage to kill that giant rat so I just ignored it. Might go back to it at some point and smite it for the trouble it gave me. I spent most of my time playing as a hollow, saving humanity for kindling and thinking that it might be a currency of some kind (which so far isn't true). So I missed out on lost of the invading, which is a shame.

Alright thanks! I've not really fallen into a playstyle yet, but I've found that I generally run out of cards to use as the game progresses. In late game I don't have anything to use other than the card I get each turn. Not tried expert AI, but I beat the opponents to unlock decks pretty easily. I'll definitely play with those two ideas in mind and see which one I slip into with the least amount of lubrication. I've got a couple of long trains and a flight today. Do you have to be connected to the internet to fight AI?

So I fell in love with this game, accidentally playing until 2am last night. However, I really suck. If anyone has any simple tips on deck building I'd be grateful. I've never played a CCG before because I know I'm the kind of person who will let it suck me in and spend all my money. A free to play game is different though as I can quite easily avoid micropayments, and if I like it I don't mind throwing £10 to say thank you BLizzard. Anyway! No idea where to start with deck building so a few basic pointers would be highly appreciated.

I really like the idea of PvP, just never had a good experience with it. Being in the UK and importing DeS from the US meant all the invaders/invadees I had would just teleport around, I expect I did to them too. How have they curbed invasions in DS2? Getting invaded was always a rush. It's like a boss battle that can happen any time.

It's officially out world wide on ipad now. Goodbye social life. It was nice knowing ya'.

DeS online was real janky. I remember getting into major lag fights where just swinging a large sword or halbred randomly was pretty much the only effective strategy. Any sort of planned attack would just lag out. I really enjoyed helping people out at bosses though. I'm not a big fan of games that force multiplayer on you (like Journey - great game but I had a bad forced multiplayer experience as well as a great one) but I love that souls games let you help people if they want it! What do you get from helping out in DS1/2? In DeS you got your humanity back and so more HP etc, is there any incentive to help out now?

I think the worst is when you encounter a difficult trash mob for the second time. After playing super cautiously the first time and taking no damage, I always run in with the cavalier attitude of "I know this guy's moves now." Generally ends in death. Sometimes I go for a parry, get it, feel like a boss, then assume I'm king of parries only to die on the next guy because I keep getting the timing wrong. Also: Jon and Gormongous, I'm curious to know where you are right now. For those playing DS2, does it use GFWL? I'd like to actually experience the online components but with that terrible service, it's not likely to happen in this game.

"Like Madonna's forearms." "Balls deep in sorrowful lamentation" Those descriptions are fantastic. Also: I killed Seath! Now where is that last yellow gate that was removed...