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Life's A Bitch, And Then You Die: 45 Hours With Dark Souls

A fascinating exercise in self-flagellation, Dark Souls is one of the most unique gameplay experiences you could hope to have in this console generation.

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Rilke once wrote, to a young writer who asked him to critique his poems, that “ultimately, and precisely in the deepest and most important matters, we are unspeakably alone; and many things must happen, many things must go right, a whole constellation of events must be fulfilled, for one human being to successfully advise or help another.” That effectively sums up the experience of playing Dark Souls, a game which features one of the most bizarre implementations of online play that you’re likely to encounter in this generation of consoles. This is a game that is perfectly playable offline, but becomes something different and wonderful when hooked up to the Internet. You’ll spend the vast bulk of your playing time by yourself, but the moments when someone reaches out through the ether with a helping hand (or a knife to plunge in your back) are among its most exhilarating.

(Before we proceed, a note: this editorial was written based on 45+ hours of gameplay on the Playstation 3, both before and after the game's release. I make no claims to having beaten the game, but I have sampled quite a bit of it, and these are some collected thoughts.)

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Apparently a change of publisher made it impossible to call this game Demon’s Souls II, but make no mistake: this is a game that is intimately related to the From Software title that made such a splash in 2009. It feels more iterative than evolutionary; it features essentially the same interface, and the bulk of the mechanics are identical to Demon’s Souls. You still kill enemies and collect their souls, which are used both as currency and as a means to increase your level; you still lose all the souls you’ve gained if you die and are forced to march through a horde of resurrected enemies to reach your corpse, and if you fail to make it back, all the currency you’ve earned, sometimes representing hours of grinding, is permanently destroyed. Two strikes, and you’re out, in essence.

That’s not to say that nothing’s changed, though, with the biggest innovation here being a largely loading screen-less open world that, in typical Souls style, you’re dumped into early on and left to explore for yourself. You can choose your direction at the outset, but you will quickly find yourself with a bit of a Hobson’s Choice: you have three directions to head in, but two of them offer little rewards apart from a swift death, while the third will allow you to make slow, painstaking progress if you proceed exceedingly carefully. This is essentially all the feedback you get to help you decide which way to go: the correct route is usually the one with enemies that don’t kill you in two hits as your weapons bounce futilely off their impervious armor.

As you proceed, you find the keys to locked doors, and other passages open themselves up, allowing you to skip enemies and move more quickly about the game world via shortcuts between areas. In typically punitive Souls fashion, though, there’s no map to guide you. Unless you bust out the old graph paper, you’ll be tasked with memorizing how all of the various zones lock together and keeping it straight in your head. A fair amount of backtracking is inherent in the game design, though, and you’ll wander through the hallways often enough to make a map eventually feel unnecessary. The unfamiliarity of the world and the danger lurking around each corner makes exploration immensely satisfying and tense; each time you discover a new zone, you’ll be tempted to proceed by the search for new items and treasure, but you’ll also likely encounter new enemies that will have entirely new ways of chopping you down to size.

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To replace the old routine of warping in and out of the Nexus in Demon’s Souls to save your game and quit in a safe spot, bonfires are scattered throughout the world of Dark Souls. They effectively act as checkpoints, allowing you to rest, restore your health, remove most status afflictions, and regenerate your healing potions. Resting at a bonfire also respawns all enemies across the world, which will make it difficult to cover any dangerous territory you’ve traversed, but also allows you to farm easy-to-kill enemies for souls. Opinions will vary on the necessity of grinding, but it’s likely that you’re going to spend at least a few hours of your playtime cranking through enemies and obtaining souls, both to increase your stats, buy equipment, and improve your weaponry through one of the various smiths that are scattered throughout the game world. Helpfully, you can quit your game at any point during play and come right back to the same spot when you load your game, without respawning enemies or having to retrace ground you've already covered.

The mechanics of combat are virtually identical to Demon’s Souls, save for the introduction of a kicking action that can make it much easier to knock lighter enemies off of high places to their deaths. Enemies can now parry and counterattack you for severe amounts of damage, and many of them also now have grapple attacks that will often be the source of consternation the first time you face off against them. Some enemies can grapple you through a shield block and remove your entire life bar before you can struggle free, forcing you to recognize the wind-up animations that precede these attacks and back away. That said, the movement of your character feels precise and responsive; when you die in combat, it’s almost always the result of a mistake you’ve made rather than a game mechanic that can’t be avoided.

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In a similar fashion to the previous game, you can choose to travel around as a full-blooded human, or as a character that’s undead (known here as being "Hollowed"). There aren’t a lot of statistical differences between the two states, but you’ll have to be human in order to partake of the various PVP facets of the game. The online interaction is, as it was in Demon’s Souls, one of the more fascinating implementations of co-operative and PVP gameplay that you’re likely to see in this generation of gaming. The scattered messages left on the ground by other players return here, and are just as likely to be meaningless or malicious as they are helpful. If a true secret is to be found (a destroyable wall, a hidden bonfire), there’s likely to be a message pointing it out, but there’s also just as likely to be messages telling you to jump off a cliff in search of treasure or spurring you to attack friendly NPCs.

Those interactions are downright picayune compared to the meat of the PVP, in which players can invade your world and attempt to kill you, or leave a summoning sign to let you bring them into your world in an attempt to kill a boss. Again, you can avoid PVP by simply wandering around the world in undead form, and the penalties for doing so are mild, although you do lose the thrill and satisfaction of warding off another player’s intrusion into the world. The PVP here has shifted to a client-host setup from the old server-based system, and there’s been some noticeable lag on the occasions when someone has attempted to gank me, but nothing too awful. The goal is, of course, to survive, with the winner of a match gaining a bit of humanity, a kind of alternate currency that has a number of obscure uses in the game (it can shift you from undeath to human form, for instance, and carrying around a lot of it will increase the chance that you find items on dead enemies). There’s no penalty for being invaded and dying, though, aside from turning undead and making a corpse run back to your body. Up to three players can converge in a single game to help down a boss; completing that objective will, again, earn all of them a bit of humanity.

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What I find most fascinating about Dark Souls are the limitations of knowledge that the game places on you. The manual has a scant two pages of information on mechanics, and the in-game tooltips are often barebones (and occasionally outright incorrect) in their descriptions of how things work. Players are at times punished for lack of knowledge; some enemies can be killed in specific ways to drop rare items, but only spawn once, so unless you were reading a wiki or FAQ beforehand, you can easily lose out on the chance for those items. Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses. Or you might see a distant character and accidentally attack him, not realizing he's a friendly NPC, thus forcing him to fight you to the death without any way to make amends, and thus lose his services for the rest of the game. The constant autosaving feature makes the results of your choices permanent, but the game itself makes informed choices at times impossible to make. Kinda like, you know, real life.

That’s not necessarily a criticism, just an observation. The game is, of course, difficult, but mechanically speaking it’s quite fair: most of your deaths will come as a result of over-extending yourself, attempting to take on monsters more powerful than you can handle, or simply letting your guard down at just the moment when such a slip is most likely to cause the most amount of damage. (There are the occasional "enemies that can walk through walls attacking you while you climb a ladder and are defenseless" moments, but they're luckily rare.) It’s the difficulties that arise through lack of information that I found most interesting: not knowing which way to go, not knowing how to use a certain item, not knowing what the end result of a very expensive crafting experiment might be, not knowing what will happen when you join a covenant. (Covenants are a new mechanic, via which you can effectively join groups of characters in the game, united by a common purpose; each has its own rewards and perks, some of which even help you in online play, but these are almost never described in any manner in-game.) There’s an item simply called “Rubbish” that I picked up early on, with a description as follows: “Who in their right mind would bother carrying this around? Perhaps you need help.” And yet, I of course have kept it in my inventory since the beginning of the game, on the supposition that at some point it might, just might, come in handy or serve some function. I don’t know, and that's kind of the point: the game's obsession with obscurantism forces you to suss things out for yourself (players are even prevented from using voice chat on Xbox Live), and the results are frustrating and rewarding in equal measure. This is a game to play through from beginning to end without resorting to any kind of external information; playing through it again with a wiki or guide by your side will likely make for a radically different experience the second time through.

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Graphically, Dark Souls is noticeably brighter than Demon’s Souls, with a wider variety of zone types to play around in. Much of it affects a gothic sensibility, with crenellated spires looming above drawbridges populated by gargoyles, and so on, but you do spend a fair amount of time in forests, lava caverns, sewers, ruined underground cities, etc. It is a game that has some impressive vistas to admire when you’re not fighting for your life, and it generally looks great, save for intermittent framerate issues. The framerate will drop precipitously from time to time, often when an enemy suffers from a pathing issue, but one zone in particular, a swamp area called Blighttown, has a uniformly awful framerate that directly affects your ability to control your character, which in turn can lead to some cheap deaths. Such issues are thankfully rare, at least in the PS3 version I've been playing.

If I had to sum up the emotion that Dark Souls elicits in a single word, I’d choose “satisfaction." There are any number of immensely frustrating encounters to faced had here, but with a few more levels or an upgraded weapon, or a bit more practice with the combat system, you’re going to overcome the challenges you face, and when you do, the feeling is unlike anything that any other contemporary game can offer. This is a game that demands skill on the part of its players, to a degree that is almost unparalleled, but rewards that skill with moments of triumph so sublime that I was often moved to actually yell in triumph. Dark Souls offers you a brutal, uncompromising, and downright lonely world, but the act of conquering it is utterly unique.

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Noccee

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Edited By Noccee

Well written Rorie!

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biospank

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Edited By biospank
@ptys said:

The game sounds great but the thing that gets me is stuff like Gamespot saying "Game Of The Year 2009" and giving this recent version an almost perfect score? How does this as a stand alone product potentially compete with franchises like Mass Effect, Bio Shock and Elder Scrolls if all I'm hearing is that it's really hard, really slow and really rewarding. I'm not criticising, I'm just curious? I can crank the difficulty in ME2 up to Hardcore, play extremely methodically and have a really rewarding experience as a well. Perhaps it's more about how people rush through video games nowadays, not taking in the full experience and so in a game like this they are forced to play like alot of us already do?

Well the thing that makes this game awesome is that work pays off. unlike ME2 where they put 20-30% more health on the dudes and 10-20% less health on you, but with demons/dark souls they will have the same ammount of health even if you go up some levels. 
 
The reason why I think its better then all the games you have stated is you can play for so many hours and almost never get tired of the game and the combat feels really good unlike elder scrolls. 
 
For eksample the section of the world I am at now, the regualar enemys are actually the starter bosses of the game. I know that if I get to a high enough level and get the stats in a smart way, I will own those dudes. Because work pays off in this game while in mass effect2 I had almost no reason to even care about the crew and the shooting feelt somewhat off so going for a harder difficulty would almost give me nightmares. So even tryin to hunt for the plat I would not feel the the same way as I do with demon's/dark souls. 
  
And those games are somewaht off becuase dark/demon's souls you are playing it because you want to feel like super-demon-death-god. While with bioshock and mass E you are playing it because of the story, but elder scrolls you playin it for fucking around.
 
Sorry for the wall of text and bad grammar. 
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vortextk

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Edited By vortextk

Awesome! I don't fault the regular GB crew for maybe not caring or getting this game save for some curiosity from Vinny, it is the definition of not for everyone, but it was awesome to hear there was a huge fan of the first when I first saw this quick look. I love all the crazy cross over stuff with you guys too.
 
I still have nightmares about the squid things in the third world from demon's souls. My copy of this just arrived today.... I'm about to dive in.

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bybeach

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Edited By bybeach

Thankyou Matt. The QL convinced me that eventually I am going to get this game I'm pretty much thinking of the PS3 version, just has that vibe. If you do see this question Mr. Rorie, please give your opinion on playing this strctly SP without outside contribution or interference. I realize it is a game mechanic, but just how crucial to actually functioning? Thankyou.

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thebigJ_A

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Edited By thebigJ_A

Great article!

I made the mistake of buying the strategy guide. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not look in that thing? I've spoiled so much for myself. I just wanted it for NewGame+, I swear!

Oh, psst, Rorie, give the rubbish to Snuggly (formerly known as Sparkly). I was so excited when I found her on my own.

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the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG

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Wow, this was great Matt!

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pweidman

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Edited By pweidman

Fabulously written, and informative article Mathew(sp?)! This game is absolutely unique and despite the lack of any quarter whatsoever given the player, is strangely very addictive. Memorable experience is an understatement. And yeah I thought that rubbish must be something worth hanging on to, w/the description being a bit too obvious and hilarious. Apparently useful at some point ;).

Your QL convinced me to try this game, and was extremely entertaining and well done btw. Keep up the great content duder.

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Edited By Nev

Excellent article, Rorie. Between this and the Quick Look, I'm finding myself more and more interested in grabbing this.

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Cornman89

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Edited By Cornman89

Dark Souls is the most interesting game that I'll never play.
 
Hats off to you guys. Play on.

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Loose

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Edited By Loose
@Anthony said:

Is the title a Veronica Mars reference? Great article btw.

Nas.
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Edited By phonics

@Anthony said:

Is the title a Veronica Mars reference? Great article btw.

Hahah holy shit this made me feel old.

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Edited By rorie

@bybeach said:

Thankyou Matt. The QL convinced me that eventually I am going to get this game I'm pretty much thinking of the PS3 version, just has that vibe. If you do see this question Mr. Rorie, please give your opinion on playing this strctly SP without outside contribution or interference. I realize it is a game mechanic, but just how crucial to actually functioning? Thankyou.

You can easily get through the game completely single-player. Well, not "easily," but you never need to be online to beat a boss or anything else. (Although an early boss would've probably been a lot easier with two people.) I've mostly been playing online, but without engaging in PVP or co-op, and it's been really fun.

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Edited By rorie

@Joey2683 said:

@Rorie said:

I didn't know this went up! I have to go get a haircut, but I'll try to answer any questions you guys have when I get back. Just @me and I'll try to go through them later.

I know you haven't played the 360 version, but have you heard any reasons to avoid it versus the PS3 version?

I've heard that it has slightly more framerate issues, but nothing that makes it unplayable. I've also heard that using the trigger buttons for some of the attacks makes it feel slightly less precise, but I rarely use those buttons anyway myself.

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Duckchow

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Edited By Duckchow

@benjaebe said:

This is even better than a review. Great read.

I agree. I think it's far more informative than any of the reviews currently out there.

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Nasar7

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Edited By Nasar7

Great write-up, Rorie. You are a boss.

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Edited By FuzzYLemoN

A fascinating exercise in self-flagellation, Dark Souls is one of the most unique gameplay experiences you could hope to have in this console generation.

Well, technically Demon's Souls is on of the most unique gameplay experiences you could hope to have in this console generation. Dark Souls is just a sequel/successor/whatever.

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@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

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gla55jAw

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Edited By gla55jAw

Wow, Rorie, awesome read man. I cannot put this game down.

It was very rough in the beginning, and still is, but it is not cheap. Once you start learning some of the tougher enemy's attack patterns and exploit them for a quick Drake Sword combo for 100 souls, it just feels rewarding. The same goes for running through an area I probably shouldn't be in just to grab that shinny item, which winds up being a nice shield and some better armor. I can't put the game down.

My only problem right now is, should I go through the fog to a potential boss fight or keep farming souls a little to level up? I didn't think it would be this fun, as I finally tried Demon's Souls over the summer and liked it, but there is something about this open world format that really feels like you're exploring.

In reference to the title, I have to post my favorite remix of all time.

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FoolishChaos

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Edited By FoolishChaos

Funny, I had a pretty bad run-in with the framerate monster in Demon's Soul's swamp as well.

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deactivated-59011e8c08e03

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This is easily one of the best pieces of written content on the site. You're awesome, Rorie, and you did a great job on the Quick Look.

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Edited By drowsap

Great read I want to play this but every inch of me is telling me its a bad idea lol

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Phoenix87

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Edited By Phoenix87

I just played Demon's souls tonight for the very first time. It didn't go very well. :(

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Krixok

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Edited By Krixok

Great article. I feel almost the exact same way you do. I prefer this game so far to Demons Souls. The game feels better somehow.

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Mechageekzilla

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Edited By Mechageekzilla

Excellent article, thanks Rorie

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Edited By Chummy8

Great article Rorie. Much better than a review. In fact, all reviews should be like this.

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Edited By ComradeKhan

@Anthony: I would say its a Mac Dre or NaS reference... but its really a quote from Don Carpenter, an American novelist.

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Edited By SSully

Great article. I really enjoyed Demon's Souls but never beat it. I want to pick this up, but I most likely won't until next year or so.

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Edited By csl316
@TekZero said:

Great article Rorie. Much better than a review. In fact, all reviews should be like this.

I do agree that this was a fun, unique read.
 
If only I had the time for this damn game.
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Edited By Tophat666

It hasn't left my Xbox since saturday(I got it early), MY GOD, this is something to behold.

I'm very glad I have next week off, I think most of it is going to this game.

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deactivated-57d3a53d23027

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That would have to be the best gaming journalism/article I have read in about four years and that's not an overstatement. This looks interesting, though I'd get my ass handed to me so I won't buy it new.

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Edited By avidwriter

Life's a bitch and then you die.... veronica mars really? I think it was Bevis and Butthead.

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deactivated-5d61ff6f14b61

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@Rorie said:

@Joey2683 said:

@Rorie said:

I didn't know this went up! I have to go get a haircut, but I'll try to answer any questions you guys have when I get back. Just @me and I'll try to go through them later.

I know you haven't played the 360 version, but have you heard any reasons to avoid it versus the PS3 version?

I've heard that it has slightly more framerate issues, but nothing that makes it unplayable. I've also heard that using the trigger buttons for some of the attacks makes it feel slightly less precise, but I rarely use those buttons anyway myself.

For you and anyone else interested in a side-by-side comparison: http://www.lensoftruth.com/head2head-dark-souls-screenshot-comparison/

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nan0fear

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Edited By nan0fear

Thanks Matt awesome!

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Edited By legionvsninja

@afrofools said:

That would have to be the best gaming journalism/article I have read in about four years and that's not an overstatement.

I was thinking the same thing. I love this game so far, and his final paragraph describes my feelings quite accurately. My feelings on the game aside, I will keep an eye out for more stuff written by Rory because of this article. It was very well written.

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Turambar

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Edited By Turambar

@WarlordPayne said:

@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

He's not quite like yurt. He only kills one NPC, and you can revive said NPC by completing that traitor's back story, and get some additional loot. Of course, killing him earlier may prevent a frustrating 3 on 1 fight later on.

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gla55jAw

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Edited By gla55jAw

@Turambar said:

@WarlordPayne said:

@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

He's not quite like yurt. He only kills one NPC, and you can revive said NPC by completing that traitor's back story, and get some additional loot. Of course, killing him earlier may prevent a frustrating 3 on 1 fight later on.

But then you can't get his armor.

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legionvsninja

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Edited By legionvsninja

@WarlordPayne said:

@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

If you want to know one way or the other, the man in the golden armor is named Knight Lautrec of Carim. I'm sure you can find a wiki about him if you Google it.

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Turambar

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Edited By Turambar

@gla55jAw said:

@Turambar said:

@WarlordPayne said:

@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

He's not quite like yurt. He only kills one NPC, and you can revive said NPC by completing that traitor's back story, and get some additional loot. Of course, killing him earlier may prevent a frustrating 3 on 1 fight later on.

But then you can't get his armor.

Do you mean when you finish his plot, or if you kill him preemptively?

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audiosnow

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Edited By audiosnow

I'm gonna be that jerk that points out that there are no degrees of being unique. Sorry, everybody.

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JayDee

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Edited By JayDee

rorie is the greatest of all time

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Max21

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Edited By Max21

Nice write-up Rorie

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Edited By kingzetta
@mlarrabee said:

I'm gonna be that jerk that points out that there are no degrees of being unique. Sorry, everybody.

sure, something can be kinda unique and really unique.
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gla55jAw

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Edited By gla55jAw

@Turambar said:

@gla55jAw said:

@Turambar said:

@WarlordPayne said:

@punpun said:

Or a character you rescue from a locked cell might wind up returning to camp and murdering other friendly NPCs while you’re out killing bosses.


...fuck

That was exactly my reaction. Ever since I rescued one particular character I'd been wondering if he was going to be like Yurt from Demon's Souls, since he was giving off an evil vibe. Now after what Rorie said I think I'm going to have to go kill him and hope that he actually was a bad guy and hasn't already caused too much trouble.

He's not quite like yurt. He only kills one NPC, and you can revive said NPC by completing that traitor's back story, and get some additional loot. Of course, killing him earlier may prevent a frustrating 3 on 1 fight later on.

But then you can't get his armor.

Do you mean when you finish his plot, or if you kill him preemptively?

If you kill him before he kill's the NPC, you will get a ring and that's it. I looked up some info on him when I ran into him in the Church, because everything about him seemed...off. If you don't free him he escapes and kills the NPC anyway and you don't get the initial reward from him. Anyways, apparently if you fight him later on with his 2 buddies, when you go back to the revived NPC, his armor will be lying on the ground for you to pick up.

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Edited By emem

Very informative and extremely well written, great job.

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videospacegames

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Edited By videospacegames

@rorie excellent write-up; I think you pretty much captured how I feel about the game to a tee. The only other thing that I compare it to is the loose-yet-accurate feel of the character and how much it reminds me of the Team Ico games, which is a sublime thing indeed.

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Edited By Mr402

GOTY in my opinion and From Software should be commended for making a game that makes discovery and experimentation a focus. Playing Rage in between sessions of this and I can tell you that there is no comparison to the feeling you get playing Dark Souls. Rage just feels soulless no pun intended.

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Edited By RuthLoose

@MagusMaleficus said:

@Rorie said:

@Joey2683 said:

@Rorie said:

I didn't know this went up! I have to go get a haircut, but I'll try to answer any questions you guys have when I get back. Just @me and I'll try to go through them later.

I know you haven't played the 360 version, but have you heard any reasons to avoid it versus the PS3 version?

I've heard that it has slightly more framerate issues, but nothing that makes it unplayable. I've also heard that using the trigger buttons for some of the attacks makes it feel slightly less precise, but I rarely use those buttons anyway myself.

For you and anyone else interested in a side-by-side comparison: http://www.lensoftruth.com/head2head-dark-souls-screenshot-comparison/

Looks very similar other than the PS3 contrast was turned up a bit higher than the XBox 360 version.

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jozzy

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Edited By jozzy

Great write-up!

You still kill enemies and collect their souls, which are used both as currency and as a means to increase your level; you still lose all the souls you’ve gained if you die and are forced to march through a horde of resurrected enemies to reach your corpse, and if you fail to make it back, all the currency you’ve earned, sometimes representing hours of grinding, is permanently destroyed. Two strikes, and you’re out, in essence.

Losing hours of grinding? I guess that's when you get a really high level because I have never lost more than 10 or 20 minutes of souls. Until now I have been fine by hitting a nearby bonfire or merchant after a dangerous encounter and just spend those souls on levels or arrows/firebombs/..

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fourby

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Edited By fourby

This was an awesome slice of what this game has to offer, but there is one issue with it. While Demon's Souls didn't have a kicking attack per say, you could do a light shove that functioned exactly the same way.

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RuthLoose

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Edited By RuthLoose

@tlj101010 said:

@afrofools said:

That would have to be the best gaming journalism/article I have read in about four years and that's not an overstatement.

I was thinking the same thing. I love this game so far, and his final paragraph describes my feelings quite accurately. My feelings on the game aside, I will keep an eye out for more stuff written by Rory because of this article. It was very well written.

Rorie - he's not just all about puppies and hand touching.