Hey, I'm gonna be diving into DS soon and I won't lie--I just want a good guide to see me through. Literally, I don't want to learn anything for myself or experiment, I just wanna funnel through and see what's coming up next. Maybe it's in poor spirit, but damnit, I don't care! So can anyone point me towards some great text walkthroughs and/or video guides to help me accomplish this?

Thanks

You really wouldn't be experiencing much. As many have noted this is not a game you play for story so pretty much by just smashing thu it and not learning the systems you wouldn't be gaining anything from the game it's self and really wasting your time. I can't really speak for the masses because I'm only 13 hours in. However if you do want to go the route of using a guide just go over to the dark souls wiki plenty of info and links on there. Keep in mind tho using a guide isn't going to make the game any easier it's a force to be reckoned with good luck

@catthebig:

Go to gamefaqs.com

Not to be some jerk and tell you how to play games but I don't think you should follow a guide 100% of the time. If you get stuck sure, but it's a game of discovery. I myself wish I had used a guide less. Dark Soul wiki has everything you would want to know.

http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/

One stop shop for all the dark souls info you'll ever need. No direct guides but it will tell you everything you need to know. My advice is to not follow a specific build or a direct walkthrough, because if you screw up with an "optimal build" you can only blame your own skills.

did you also play mario without jumping?

discovery of new areas and items is a key element of dark souls, just play it through, then use the guide on NG+

anyone who says they finished this game the first time without looking at the wiki or guide or something is either full of shit or it took them 100 hours. i platinumed demon's souls and i had to look at the wiki for basic info on where to go.

but don't think that using the guide will allow to breeze through the game. you're still gonna die a lot.

If you don't use a guide you can really get fucked. For instance if you're a pyromancer it is very easy to lose your ability to upgrade your flame if you agree to show him some new magic at the wrong time. If I hadn't had the strategy guide with me I would've done exactly this and I probably would have gotten so pissed I would've quit playing.

@phrali said:

anyone who says they finished this game the first time without looking at the wiki or guide or something is either full of shit or it took them 100 hours. i platinumed demon's souls and i had to look at the wiki for basic info on where to go.

but don't think that using the guide will allow to breeze through the game. you're still gonna die a lot.

i finished first playthrough 2 days after it came out which meant no english guides online and I couldn't find the strat guide in the stores around On ng+ i started looking online though for the platinum requirement..

@McShank said:

@phrali said:

anyone who says they finished this game the first time without looking at the wiki or guide or something is either full of shit or it took them 100 hours. i platinumed demon's souls and i had to look at the wiki for basic info on where to go.

but don't think that using the guide will allow to breeze through the game. you're still gonna die a lot.

i finished first playthrough 2 days after it came out which meant no english guides online and I couldn't find the strat guide in the stores around On ng+ i started looking online though for the platinum requirement..

@Anwar said:

I didn't use a guide with DeS and I had no problem knowing where to go. It also didn't take me 100 hours to finish DkS, I clocked around 40. During my second playthrough I used to this http://darksouls.wikidot.com/

it also has some videos attached to it which will show you the exact location for spells and other stuff.

The same dudes were asked to make a paper version of the DeS wiki, which was shipped with the EU release, so I would say they're pretty good.

Some stuff is still unclear, though. For example what exactly triggers the death of the firekeeper in firelink shrine? Some say ringing the second bell, but she died in my second playthrough just after some exploring.

she will Only <---- Die if you kill her or ring the second bell and have not killed the gold armored npc who sits near her after ringing the first bell. She does not die otherwise. This is not an assumption, its a fact. Just so ya know for future reference.

She actually was killed in my playthrough just before I went to ring the second bell. This is a fact.

I kind of wish I used a guide less. Like some people have said going through an area the first time without knowing anything is the most interesting, and you can only have this experience once, so why ruin it with a walkthrough? And Fing up is just part of the game. I accidently killed a certain someone which stopped any chance of me continuing my path to ultimate pyromancy, but I thought it was kind of awesome how that one act changed my character for the rest of the game. I thought it added an unforseen depth to my character as this turning point fundamentally changed how I played the rest of the game.

I bought the strategy guide but it came nearly a week after the game, so i didn't even get to use it for most of my first playthrough :P even then it i only used is as a item database really. I looked up a first things on the internet to save some wrist cutting but then I think it's nearly impossible not to.

EpicNameBro has some really good YouTube videos up that should get you up and going quite good.

I know that there's no way I'd finish Dark Souls without a guide, so I have no problem with using Google/gamefaqs while I play. That said, the game is taking me forever to make progress even when I know what I'm supposed to do, because I'm still tense, inching my way around every corner with my shield up.

I use guides mostly to compensate for a poor spatial sense, because I get lost pretty quickly in the majority of games. For boss fights, I'll look up strategies after my 30th or so death.

Am I missing out on some discoveries by reading about what's going on in each level? Yes. Unfortunately, without guides I know that I'd reach my frustration limit and stop playing long before I managed to finish it on my own, so it's a pretty straightforward choice for me.

@Anwar: I believe it has been confirmed that she dies (is killed) when you loot the firekeeper soul in blighttown. It's possible to do this extremely early in the game, if you are trying to get some good loot early on. There may also be a certain point in the game that you cross that will trigger it as well, if you happen to miss the firekeeper soul, but I'm not sure about that. This could be misinformation, but it corresponds to what happened in my game, and I believe it is all but confirmed on the dark souls wiki.

Honestly, a guide isn't going to save your ass from dying constantly. It's just going to make it happen a little less often.