Sully907

Dark Souls(Demon's Souls successor)

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Nice, gonna read that tomorrow.

I came across this video on Dark Souls, making an analogy to Kafka (actually found it by googling Dark Souls and Kafka haha). I'm not 100% on board with everything he says but I think it's worth watching.

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I've been poking around inside Dark Souls 3 again. I have an opinion that the thematic subtext of Dark Souls 3 is about how sequels are abominations and should not be pursued. Dark Souls 2 kind of explored this, but Dark Souls 3 really hammers it home. Dark Souls 1 ofcourse had this theme, of killing a dying world. But that the world continues to not die, due to the real life need for profit and entertainment, creates a more bleak and arbitrarily violent world within the Dark Souls sequels.

 

That the boss-characters have all forsaken their task at keeping the world alive. Prince Lothric and Aldrich Devourer of Gods, are the greatest examples of this. The Twin princes are explicit in their bitterness towards the duty of being lords of Lothric, or even being video game-bosses. Aldrich Devourer of Gods is the patron saint of life extended beyond its expiry date; exeplified by his incarnation as a puppeted form of Gwyndolin. That the "true ending" of the game is to kill the world for good. That the world is made of hodge-podge of previous worlds magically cobbled together is a thin story element to represent how the game is cobbled together from previous games. It's an interesting subtext, the angst thematically fits with the world itself, that there is no true death, that life will be resurrected, for the profit of unsavory manipulators, in spite of itself. In perpetuity, throughout the universe.

 

It will be interesting to see what the story is with the DLC and if it refutes or rebukes my unrefined opinion.

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Last post was 4 months ago, but I can't not share this. It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

 

Let me set the scene: Richie is playing Dark Souls on Twitch. Richie has never played Dark Souls before. Richie does not play games very often. So why play Dark Souls, a notoriously difficult game? Because his friends thought it would be funny to watch him try.

 

It is funny to watch, but it is also funny to participate. His friends send him many conflicting messages in the twitch chat. Sometimes the messages are helpful, but usually this is accidental. More often the messages are not helpful at all. Sometimes they are actively unhelpful. Almost always they are openly abusive.

 

Richie struggles valiantly on. He overcomes many hurdles, but suffers terrible setbacks. Sometimes he feels he will not succeed, and should give the whole thing up.

 

Richie hasn't given up yet.

 

Edited by Trip Hazard
clarity

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I don't know if I've ever wanted the "all the enemies you've encountered" curtain call at the end of a game more than with Dark Souls. But I know that Dark Souls has too much ~sErIoUs LoRe~ for such a playful touch.

 

Also I just got to Blight Town and have no idea what % of the game is left.

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1 hour ago, Patrick R said:

I don't know if I've ever wanted the "all the enemies you've encountered" curtain call at the end of a game more than with Dark Souls. But I know that Dark Souls has too much ~sErIoUs LoRe~ for such a playful touch.

 

Also I just got to Blight Town and have no idea what % of the game is left.

Lots%

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11 hours ago, Patrick R said:

I don't know if I've ever wanted the "all the enemies you've encountered" curtain call at the end of a game more than with Dark Souls. But I know that Dark Souls has too much ~sErIoUs LoRe~ for such a playful touch.

 

You must not have met Solaire or Siegmeyer yet.

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I may or may not have met them? Dark Souls, like pretty much all fantasy media I've ever consumed, has way too many fictional proper nouns for me to keep track and I feel like of the 15 hours I've played only about 10 minutes has been dedicated to people who aren't the blacksmith speaking to me so I'm not sure I care much about the story anyway. But if you are saying there's some more levity to come (I just found the bonfire in the swamp) I'll gladly accept it.

 

Though now that I think about it I suppose the game does have a certain dry humor in the way it can troll the player and certain boss cutscenes. The reveal of the Gaping Dragon was very funny.

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5 hours ago, Patrick R said:

I may or may not have met them? Dark Souls, like pretty much all fantasy media I've ever consumed, has way too many fictional proper nouns for me to keep track and I feel like of the 15 hours I've played only about 10 minutes has been dedicated to people who aren't the blacksmith speaking to me so I'm not sure I care much about the story anyway. But if you are saying there's some more levity to come (I just found the bonfire in the swamp) I'll gladly accept it.

 

Though now that I think about it I suppose the game does have a certain dry humor in the way it can troll the player and certain boss cutscenes. The reveal of the Gaping Dragon was very funny.

 

Like all things in Dark Souls, even the best NPCs come with both joy and sadness. 

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Unlike every other fantasy fictional thing I've tried, I suspect Dark Souls wants you to not remember specific names and just let it all wash over you, at least at first.

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I have had some pretty awful dental procedures recently (hey kids, if your gums bleed don't just ignore it for 7 years) and in the recovery time I wanted to go to a comfort game and somehow Dark Souls, a game that I'm pretty sure just takes place in hell, is that game for me. A lot is said about how hard or brutal it is but I find it exceedingly welcoming and warm because no matter how insurmountable something seems (and the first approach always seems insurmountable) there is always an approach you, a guy who sucks at video games, can take to overcome, whether it's a summon that cheeses the boss (thank you, Maneater Mildred), a realization that you can easily run past swinging blades if you take off all your clothes, or a stroke of luck breaks your way. I have a tendency to reject most media that implies you're ok and everything will be just fine, so Dark Souls's mix of fuck-you level design and there's-no-wrong-way-to-play game design is as close I get to embracing an inspirational story.

 

I spent an hour last night trying to beat the Iron Golem and each time I got a little bit closer, chipping away his health a little closer to nothing each run. After one particularly close attempt I gave myself one more try and proceeded to make him topple off the cliff about 45 seconds into the fight. I know I annoyed my neighbors when I jumped up and cheered but holy God, this game is so great.

 

Also, there's still enough people playing the X360 version for me to mess around with the multiplayer, which was a nice surprise. 

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Welcome back, thread!

 

I keep wanting to play this again, but am waiting for the Remastered release in May. I have the Switch version pre-ordered thru Amazon (you get some % off if you're a Prime member), and I've heard there's a planned 'loyalty discount' for the Steam version if you've got the Prepare to Die Edition in your library.

 

I just beat the game for the first time recently, and I've never played any of the DLC. I'll probably try a Dex oriented Pyro. I like the idea of having Pyromancy for the big damage output, and otherwise ripping it up with little quick weapons like rapiers. I did just do a bleed-oriented build in DS3 (SUPER FUN), and may try the same thing here.

 

Hurry up, May!

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Anyone else spend 2 hours completely lost in Duke's Archive? I have a bad sense of direction in general (in games and real life) and have gotten turned around a bit at other points in the game but this one was completely infuriating. Thank God every single aspect of this game has been documented via 90 second How-To YouTube videos.

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Duke's Archive is definitely designed to make you get lost. The underlying puzzle is fairly simple once you understand it, but having two nearly identical rooms makes it very easy to get confused at every point along the way.

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On 3/3/2018 at 9:03 PM, Patrick R said:

I have had some pretty awful dental procedures recently (hey kids, if your gums bleed don't just ignore it for 7 years) and in the recovery time I wanted to go to a comfort game and somehow Dark Souls, a game that I'm pretty sure just takes place in hell, is that game for me. A lot is said about how hard or brutal it is but I find it exceedingly welcoming and warm because no matter how insurmountable something seems (and the first approach always seems insurmountable) there is always an approach you, a guy who sucks at video games, can take to overcome, whether it's a summon that cheeses the boss (thank you, Maneater Mildred), a realization that you can easily run past swinging blades if you take off all your clothes, or a stroke of luck breaks your way. I have a tendency to reject most media that implies you're ok and everything will be just fine, so Dark Souls's mix of fuck-you level design and there's-no-wrong-way-to-play game design is as close I get to embracing an inspirational story.

 

I spent an hour last night trying to beat the Iron Golem and each time I got a little bit closer, chipping away his health a little closer to nothing each run. After one particularly close attempt I gave myself one more try and proceeded to make him topple off the cliff about 45 seconds into the fight. I know I annoyed my neighbors when I jumped up and cheered but holy God, this game is so great.

 

Also, there's still enough people playing the X360 version for me to mess around with the multiplayer, which was a nice surprise. 

Glad you're enjoying it. If you're on 360, make sure you buy the DLC, some of the best stuff in the game.

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How is the DLC integrated into the main game? I've held off because I'm worried I'll spend money and then never find the additional areas.

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9 hours ago, Patrick R said:

How is the DLC integrated into the main game? I've held off because I'm worried I'll spend money and then never find the additional areas.

 

It's a separate area that you have to take a portal to reach.  Being Dark Souls, it is of course potentially cumbersome to reach and there is a minor chance of breaking it. 

 

You'e said you're in the Duke's Archives.  Did you receive a Broken Pendant from an enemy that you killed near the beginning of the Archive? 

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There's no shame in just looking up how to get to the DLC and just enjoy those delicious bosses.

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Despite loving Demon's Souls and Bloodborne, I started and stopped playing Dark Souls several times. I finished it for the first time earlier this month, went straight into Dark Souls 2, and am now about to finish it as well and move onto Dark Souls 3.

 

What cool weapons and builds do you recommend I check out on Dark Souls 3? I like to sort of plan out a build ahead of time and work my way to it.

 

I did a strength build on DS1, with the Gravelord Sword and Pyromancer Flame, with enough stamina and the Havel's Ring to stay below the fat roll weight despite wearing very heavy armor, and I did an Int build with the Ice Rapier and Witchtree Branch staff on DS2, with mostly lightish armor to stay at around 50% weight at 15 vitality. I'd sorta be interested in something different in this next one. I was happy with my DS1 build, the Ice Rapier on DS2 was very good for bosses and PVP, but with the low stagger, no horizontal swing and huge mobs in the game, it's not that amazing in regular PvE, I'm a bit divided on it.

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There are some very good strength weapons in DS3 if you're interested in going that route again. I particularly like the Black Knight Glaive, and kind of fell in love with the Dragonslayer Swordspear once I got it (fairly endgame though). That provoked me to go a split Strength/Faith build, which is in some ways more interesting in DS3 due to the change to a refillable mana format.

 

If you want to try something different, you haven't mentioned doing a Dex build yet. You could do something around the curved swords, or even the ranged weapons.

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DS3 has a unique dual wield system completely different from the one in DS2. I personally like it less, but it might be the breath of fresh air you're looking for.

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On 4/23/2018 at 6:09 PM, Bjorn said:

 

It's a separate area that you have to take a portal to reach.  Being Dark Souls, it is of course potentially cumbersome to reach and there is a minor chance of breaking it. 

 

You'e said you're in the Duke's Archives.  Did you receive a Broken Pendant from an enemy that you killed near the beginning of the Archive? 

It only drops if you have the DLC

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Also you have to have done the whole thing in the hydra area first or it doesn't drop, which tripped me up a bit on my last playthrough. And some of the hydra area stuff is pretty obtuse, so yeah just look it up.

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