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Dark Souls 2 (Dark Souls successor (Demon's Souls successor))

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For those anxiously awaiting the PC port, some info is starting to leak out.  On NeoGaf someone leaked some of the available graphics options since the game is now in journalists hands:


 

1080p at 60fps
Several graphics options. Textures, shadows, effects, AA, AO, blur, anisotropic filtering, water quality, depth of field and etc
There's an option that will automatically lower your graphics to mantain performance
Really fast loading times. Don't even have time to read an entire tip

 

So it looks like it will at least have most of the options PC gamers expect to be able to fiddle with. 

 

And Giant Bomb said on Twitter that they expect to start having coverage of the PC version starting next week.

 

I'm into an NG+ run now, have beat 4 of the early bosses.  I'm happy with the changes going from NG to +.  Sure it's the same world, but there are differences that will catch you by surprise (both good and bad).  I've already had a couple of "Are you fucking kidding me?" moments.  Very minor spoiler from the Tower of Flame area: 

There are quite a few more enemies in some areas. The big circular room in the Tower of Flame that previously had 3 knights in it now has 4 knights and a red phantom. I saw that and was just, lol nope, and went and summoned help.

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Finished the game last night.

 

Did anyone else end up singing the final lines of The Prince of Bel Air in the final cutscene?

 

Maybe it was just me.

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Just to let everyone know, Chris Dan Owens has released a sequel to his masterpiece music video, Shine on Me: 

. I think it goes without saying that Owens is major influence on From Software and that large parts of the Souls series are direct lifts from the seminal work of this genius. 

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WTF?!  Somehow I'm guessing that guy expected more than 2600 views after the first few weeks that video had been up. 

 

I think I'll take a break from the PS3 version until the PC version comes up.  Might still doing a bit of PvP, but no major challenges or item hunting.  I kind of want to go for no bonfire/death runs, and want to dedicate the time to those on the platform that I'll play more on.

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So Giant Bomb just put up their Quick Look of the PC version. Signs point to a good port and better performance overall.


To those of you who have been playing the console versions, has the experience held up for you throughout the game? I'm tempted to pre-purchase the game on Steam, but something is holding me back.

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To those of you who have been playing the console versions, has the experience held up for you throughout the game? I'm tempted to pre-purchase the game on Steam, but something is holding me back.

 

If you just mean the general quality of the game, it has held up great, and i'm on ps3. I've been playing it super slowly, but i'm approaching endgame I think. I did already pre-purchase the PC version though, and I look forward to playing it there.

 

I'm hoping there will be a bunch of people who chose to wait for the PC version, so I can be a jerk in PVP until everyone figures out whats good and I'm bad again. I don't do invasion PVP though, just bellbro and ratbro.

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To those of you who have been playing the console versions, has the experience held up for you throughout the game? I'm tempted to pre-purchase the game on Steam, but something is holding me back.

 

Yep, I'm loving it and pre-ordered on Steam about halfway through my playthrough. 

 

On the video, dem load times!  That's fantastic, I didn't even get all the way through reading a tip.  Can't wait to see SSD load times.  Of course watching a 720p YouTube video isn't going to be as good as native, but some of the areas and particularly some of the character models look much better.  Other areas looked pretty much the same. 

 

For those interested, I posted something over in the Bioshock Infinite thread about comparisons between the Souls games and Bioshock games, after hearing a comment about their similarities on a podcast.  It had never occurred to me that the two series are exploring the same themes in very different ways.

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I just realised I've wasted the last few hours of play doing "optional" content and bosses. Grrrr I just want to finish it now

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Additional items have been added to the 1.03 patch notes on the Japanese site.  I'm a little conflicted on these, some are good, some are meh.  I really want a chance to try the OP version of Wrath of the Gods before it gets nerfed, but don't really feel like playing most of the way through NG++ to get it.  Soul Greatsword getting nerfed is a good thing, it's so hard to see coming in PvP on someone with maxed casting speed.  I'm fine with mages being powerful (now that I understand how to counter them), but having highly effective, high damage options at every range imaginable is still bullshit.  The RRA needed toned down.  But I'm bummed about nerfs to the LS, that's such a good fight as it is.  Increased defense for some NPCs is really good, as some of them are so freaking hard to keep alive to get through their storyline.

 

It sounds like this may be dropping today or tomorrow, but the translation is spotty and its not clear that it will go worldwide today. 

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Just in case anyone didn't know, if you are a GB premium member and you set the player to HTML5 and HD you get 60fps video. it's still kinda blocky, but I get that they have to pay for bandwidth and the encoding process is externally automated.

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Additional items have been added to the 1.03 patch notes on the Japanese site.  I'm a little conflicted on these, some are good, some are meh.  I really want a chance to try the OP version of Wrath of the Gods before it gets nerfed, but don't really feel like playing most of the way through NG++ to get it.  Soul Greatsword getting nerfed is a good thing, it's so hard to see coming in PvP on someone with maxed casting speed.  I'm fine with mages being powerful (now that I understand how to counter them), but having highly effective, high damage options at every range imaginable is still bullshit.  The RRA needed toned down.  But I'm bummed about nerfs to the LS, that's such a good fight as it is.  Increased defense for some NPCs is really good, as some of them are so freaking hard to keep alive to get through their storyline.

 

It sounds like this may be dropping today or tomorrow, but the translation is spotty and its not clear that it will go worldwide today. 

 

the RRA is getting nerfed? RRA was probably the easiest boss, but I guess I sorta cheated. It only took a single chaos storm, but I think I played it later in the game than most people would have.

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the RRA is getting nerfed? RRA was probably the easiest boss, but I guess I sorta cheated. It only took a single chaos storm, but I think I played it later in the game than most people would have.

 

To be fair, I've only fought it once as a melee character with some minor pyromancy to back me up.  Other builds may not struggle at all.   It really wasn't the boss itself, it's the design of the opening 10 seconds of the fight that felt imbalanced to me.  You either get through the opening shot fine, or you get killed.  I didn't really start messing around with the higher level pyromancy until after beating the final boss. 

 

Oh, and I've since read a strategy that I could have used that apparently makes it the easiest fight in the game for a Faith build, which I alternated between being faith and strength. 

 

Use Soul Appease on the little rats, and then use Dead Again to prime them to explode. OSK on NG.

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Gah, where's the British Button of Apology? I summoned some phantoms to help me get rid of the 'Night on Bald Mountain' lava demon and managed to die several times in a row. So I summoned a couple of the same guys and prostrate myself by way of apology. There was no return gesture, and I knew what they were thinking - not this goon again. Not wanting to waste another second of their time, I dashed forth over the roof towards the mist gate, jumped and rolled straight into the lava.

FUCK! I was too ashamed to summon them again. I did this about three times last night. A thoroughly nice chap was guiding me through the Iron Keep, away from dodgy Lockstones and such. This kind of silent cooperation, using only the basic vocabulary given to you, makes me smile so much. It's joyous. Not that it lasted long. I locked on to an enemy and then walked backwards into a lava pit. Another guy was in my world for all of ten seconds before I rolled off a bridge.

Anyway, I've opened up multiple routes now. I've

just killed the 2nd Old/Great Soul demon dude. I depetrified Rosabeth and went into the Shaded Woods. Dropped by Drangleic Castle, but obviously ran away. I found a door that needs a ring with the symbol of the king. I went through some fog into a cursed ruins bit. I saw the Skorpian boss, though I didn't engage. Defeated a massive lizard and an invader simultaneously and chatted with some dark beardy bloke down a hole. I've also gone down the well in Majula, killed the rats and gone into the dark mines lighting sconces leading to Black Gulch, which I haven't really touched yet.

. I don't mind wandering but my playtime is creeping past 40 hours now. Any suggestions as to where I should concentrate efforts next?
 

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My advice, is go get the ring of whispers and make sure that the scorpion boss is really the scorpion boss. After that, I would keep following that route as it was the easiest one for me.

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Anyway, I've opened up multiple routes now. I've

just killed the 2nd Old/Great Soul demon dude. I depetrified Rosabeth and went into the Shaded Woods. Dropped by Drangleic Castle, but obviously ran away. I found a door that needs a ring with the symbol of the king. I went through some fog into a cursed ruins bit. I saw the Skorpian boss, though I didn't engage. Defeated a massive lizard and an invader simultaneously and chatted with some dark beardy bloke down a hole. I've also gone down the well in Majula, killed the rats and gone into the dark mines lighting sconces leading to Black Gulch, which I haven't really touched yet.

. I don't mind wandering but my playtime is creeping past 40 hours now. Any suggestions as to where I should concentrate efforts next?

 

Oh, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help laughing so hard reading the summoning bit.  I had one similar bit with the Skeleton Lords after I burned a bonfire ascetic to respawn them.  Felt soooo bad the 4th time I summoned the same person. 

 

So you have you reached Black Gulch?  That area is, well, it's not pleasant, but you can probably handle it no matter what your level is.  Bring your longest spear with you.  I'd say it is overall its a bit easier than the Shaded Ruins.  So I'd suggest it and then on to the scorpion.  Also, yes, owning the Ring of Whispers before going through the Shaded Ruins is a good idea.

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Dartmonkey you just need to make your way through the Shaded Woods (area with the scorpion boss/giant lizard) and you'll get to some mines

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Open the spoiler to see my exclusive Black Gulch walkthrough:

Jump to 40 seconds if on mobile

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Nice guide!

 

I wonder if the much faster load times on the PC version will result in much faster loads into other peoples games (PvP and co-op), or if that is more governed by the net code?

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So, how's the inventory management in DaS2? I thought it was pretty shit in DaS. I want more options for sorting items automatically, and (ideally) a way to see what an item is before picking it up. Any of that in there?

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So, how's the inventory management in DaS2? I thought it was pretty shit in DaS. I want more options for sorting items automatically, and (ideally) a way to see what an item is before picking it up. Any of that in there?

 

More like inventory mismanagement!  Weapons are grouped by type, and buying from merchants or pulling items from your chest is atrocious, if you have an interest in know what the actual stats of an item are or how they compare to your currently equipped items. 

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Waaah! That all sounds awful. Your joke was so-bad-it's-good, though, which takes the edge off that bad news. 

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It's bad when you want to swap equipment or move stuff around.  The worst is your chest, you can't see the full stats when moving items into or out of storage.  And buying items, you can't compare to your current equipment.  So yeah, bad.

 

Oh, I watched Polygon's video on the PC version, which is 1080p without being gated like the GB video.  I felt like I have a better feel for the better resolution and textures now. 

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Open the spoiler to see my exclusive Black Gultch walkthrough:

Jump to 40 seconds if on mobile

[/url]

 

 

accurate. Though black gulch is also home to one of the hardest to find, and best, secret areas in the game

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