Hi all,

After watching the newest Dark Souls QL on Giantbomb, I was intrigued. Normally, I hate/dislike frustrating games as I don't have a lot of time/patience to play games (but I have played mostly through but not finished Ninja Gaiden 2). Anyway, I wanted to give the Soul series a try, but didn't want to commit $60 to a game I might only play for 2 hours before giving up. So I picked up Demon Souls instead for $20 as a bit of a trial.

My question: Is Dark Souls that much better than Demon Souls. I haven't opened my copy of Demon Souls yet; should I return it and get Dark Souls instead or try Demon Souls before spending $60?

Dark Souls made some improvements on Demon's Souls, but Demon's Souls is still a great game and has its appeal. Demon's Souls is easier and more accessible since they didn't know they were making a deliberately hard game, so you'll have an easier time getting into it. Aside from not being a continuous open world, the core gameplay of Demon's Souls is exactly the same as Dark Souls I'd say. Keep Demon's Souls, the only drastic changes in Dark Souls that stand out are the open world nature of it and the bonfires. I don't think it makes it a better game, but certainly makes it a different experience.

i think dark souls is a lot better if only for the seamless world which really immerses you more than the demon souls style hub

EDIT: at the same time i think you should try demons souls because if you dont like it you wont like dark souls either

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Oh, and the technical issues aren't nearly as pronounced in Demon's Souls.

They're pretty much identical. Dark Souls has more unique loot and a few minor design changes, but overall you'll have the same experience regardless of your choice.
 
Personally, I'd say go with Demon's Souls first. It's a brilliant game in it's own right.

I'm not sure which I like more, I will have to finish Dark Souls to think about that. Demon's Souls, as of right now, might win by just a hair. It's less stressful and cheap if you ask me. (Not to say Dark Souls is extremely cheap or anything, but there are cheap parts and they fucking piss me off. Demon's Souls never made me mad once, every single thing in that game was fair and totally do-able (and mostly pretty simple) if you knew what you were doing.)

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

@xobballox said:

I'm not sure which I like more, I will have to finish Dark Souls to think about that. Demon's Souls, as of right now, might win by just a hair right now. It's less stressful and cheap if you ask me. (Not to say Dark Souls is extremely cheap or anything, but there are cheap parts and they fucking piss me off. Demon's Souls never made me mad once, every single thing in that game was fair and totally do-able (and mostly pretty simple) if you knew what you were doing.)

I agree. I don't care what some people say, Lost Izalith and Tomb of Giants are intentionally cheap ass areas. There were nothing like those fucking places in Demon's Souls.

@MiniPato said:

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

@MiniPato said:

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

@Chop said:

@MiniPato said:

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

I definitely agree with that. The Nexus>This "open" world

@Chop said:

@MiniPato said:

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

I completely agree for the most part. Demon's Souls is far superior in my eyes in nearly every possible way. As much as I think a seamless loadless world is all for the best, it feels completely linear. Mostly though, I think my problem with Darks is just straight up balancing issues. I was under the impression they understood the difference between Hard and Unfair. Demon's had some bullshit in it, I'm not ignorant to that, Maneater + Ledges = $%#$, but for the most part it was pretty fair. But by the time I got to the Tomb of Giants in Darks I was astounded that so many people claim "every death feels like it's your own fault".

Not to mention the online in Darks feels like a barren wasteland. Hell I've been playing Demons for the past 2 days and I've seen more bloodstains and phantoms than I ever recall seeing in Darks. For a huge world it sure feels empty.

And lastly, I think Demons is better because Darks is like the Metal Gear Solid to Metal Gear 1. Blighttown is VERY clearly the VoD replacement frame rate included. I'm not going to spoil anything perse' but Dude you free from cell in gold armour - straight up the same guy you free from cell in Demons, outcome and all. Dude that may kick you over a ledge when you look over at the treasure? Same dude that initiates the exact same cutscene from Demon's. The only problem is there isn't the same WTF factor when I've seen these character before. It's just feels like the same game with a minor facelift.

I hope I didn't write too much... long story short - Keep Demon's. (I'm not saying Dark's is bad!)

Honestly if you've never played Demon's Souls and want to get a souls game, get that over dark souls simply because of the cheaper price and you could play it before Atlus shuts down the online.  
 
One thing that I cant say enough (keep in mind I haven't actually done this, but I don't think anyone will argue my point here) but I can't imagine playing through Demon's Souls then immediately jumping in to Dark Souls. The game tires you out, you will need a break from Souls after Demon's Souls.  Hell, playing through Demon's Souls the first time I had to take extended breaks throughout my first playthrough and I imagine at some point I will do the same with Dark Souls.  Plus it would be a shame not to at least dabble in Demon's Souls NG+.

@pjacobson21 said:

One thing that I cant say enough (keep in mind I haven't actually done this, but I don't think anyone will argue my point here) but I can't imagine playing through Demon's Souls then immediately jumping in to Dark Souls.

I played through Demon's Souls twice before immediately jumping into Dark Souls.

I could never recommend Demon's Souls over Dark Souls for a new player.  Demon's Souls' 1-1, effectively its tutorial, is why this series has a reputation for sadistic difficulty.  The Undead Burg might as well be Green Hill Zone in comparison.

@Tanuki said:

@Chop said:

@MiniPato said:

@Chop said:

I actually like Demon's Souls a lot more. I feel that the game is better balanced and the online actually works =/

Yeah I kinda prefer Demon's Souls too. I like the fiction and tone of the world more. Plus Firelink shrine doesn't hold a candle to the Nexus.

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

I completely agree for the most part. Demon's Souls is far superior in my eyes in nearly every possible way. As much as I think a seamless loadless world is all for the best, it feels completely linear. Mostly though, I think my problem with Darks is just straight up balancing issues. I was under the impression they understood the difference between Hard and Unfair. Demon's had some bullshit in it, I'm not ignorant to that, Maneater + Ledges = $%#$, but for the most part it was pretty fair. But by the time I got to the Tomb of Giants in Darks I was astounded that so many people claim "every death feels like it's your own fault".

Not to mention the online in Darks feels like a barren wasteland. Hell I've been playing Demons for the past 2 days and I've seen more bloodstains and phantoms than I ever recall seeing in Darks. For a huge world it sure feels empty.

And lastly, I think Demons is better because Darks is like the Metal Gear Solid to Metal Gear 1. Blighttown is VERY clearly the VoD replacement frame rate included. I'm not going to spoil anything perse' but Dude you free from cell in gold armour - straight up the same guy you free from cell in Demons, outcome and all. Dude that may kick you over a ledge when you look over at the treasure? Same dude that initiates the exact same cutscene from Demon's. The only problem is there isn't the same WTF factor when I've seen these character before. It's just feels like the same game with a minor facelift.

I hope I didn't write too much... long story short - Keep Demon's. (I'm not saying Dark's is bad!)

What I'd like to agree with most here is the progression issue. I have the same exact thoughts that @Chop has about doing a new character. Whatever I do I'll have to do it in the exact same order for the first whopping 7 hours of the game or so. In Demons you could power through tough areas to get to that sweet loot at the end and make your new character that way. In Dark Souls the loot-type equipment has been trickling in at such a sluggish pace. On top of that the Drake Sword is pretty much there and theres no reason to just NOT use it. So much so that any video I check out when I get a little stuck has everyone wearing almost the exact same armor and using that sword.

Dark Souls is a better game as a whole but it's individual parts are not as exciting as the singular areas of Demons.

Tower of Latria is such a creepy area.

only reason i can think of to not play demons souls is 5-2

DS is a fantastic game in its own right. DkS is obviously an improvement in some areas, but also has its fair share of issues (wild FPS dips, P2P network, weapon scaling, glitching..).

The developers are currently working on patching DkS, so by the time you're ready to play the sequel, it should be an even better experience.

Edit - Also, you should play the original game just to experience Tower of Latria.

The Nexus is the reason I don't want to play Demon's Souls. I love the immersive ness of the open world.

I say get Dark Souls. It has issues (so does Demon's Souls) but as a whole it's a much better game.

Won't you miss out on being a part of the Dark Souls community and such?

@StrikeALight said:

The developers are currently working on patching DkS

Are they? Any announcements on what specific issues they're going to fix?

@CptBedlam said:

@StrikeALight said:

The developers are currently working on patching DkS

Are they? Any announcements on what specific issues they're going to fix?

One of the FROM devs tweeted recently that they were currently working on patching the game, and would make an announcement sometime this week.

Guys, let's put down dark souls, stop reminiscing about demon's souls and go play it instead. I'll see you online :-)

I did the same thing. But Ninja Gaiden 2 was a lot easier than Demon's Souls is.

@xobballox said:

I'm not sure which I like more, I will have to finish Dark Souls to think about that. Demon's Souls, as of right now, might win by just a hair right now. It's less stressful and cheap if you ask me. (Not to say Dark Souls is extremely cheap or anything, but there are cheap parts and they fucking piss me off. Demon's Souls never made me mad once, every single thing in that game was fair and totally do-able (and mostly pretty simple) if you knew what you were doing.)

I agree. I don't care what some people say, Lost Izalith and Tomb of Giants are intentionally cheap ass areas. There were nothing like those fucking places in Demon's Souls.

@Chop said:

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

Ummm....no you don't. What is stopping you from going to the Catacombs, New Londo, or back to the Undead Assylum immediately? Once you ring the first bell, why not go through Darkroot Forest next? If you have the master key (or if you retain your keys from previous playthroughs, didn't check) then you can just go through Blighttown right away from the back entrance by the Valley of the Drakes. The only places you really can't go until you ring the 2 bells are Sen's Fortress and areas that extend from there.

There are of course major things held back until you obtain the Lordvessel, but the only real funneling going on is what you do yourself.

I think giving Demon's Souls a try first is a good idea. As a cheapskate, I'd probably do the same thing (if I hadn't already played Demon's Souls). If you like it enough, play it for a couple months and by January you'll probably be able to pick up Dark Souls for 40 bucks or so. Maybe not, but anyway Demon's Souls is a great game and should give you a very good idea if these games are up your alley. Enjoy!

@NeVeRMoRe666 said:

Hi all,

After watching the newest Dark Souls QL on Giantbomb, I was intrigued. Normally, I hate/dislike frustrating games as I don't have a lot of time/patience to play games (but I have played mostly through but not finished Ninja Gaiden 2). Anyway, I wanted to give the Soul series a try, but didn't want to commit $60 to a game I might only play for 2 hours before giving up. So I picked up Demon Souls instead for $20 as a bit of a trial.

My question: Is Dark Souls that much better than Demon Souls. I haven't opened my copy of Demon Souls yet; should I return it and get Dark Souls instead or try Demon Souls before spending $60?

I bought Demons Souls awhile back and got a few levels in and then put it down, never to have the urge to return to it. I bought Dark Souls day one and have been playing the hell out of it since. I think it has to do with the open world aspect and that exploration seems limitless. One moment your in the murky depths of a poison swamp and then you find yourself traversing down inside this huge tree only to come out at a long beach where a hydra is. I never considered the original Demons Souls visual breathtaking but most of all the environments in Dark Souls are. It's true the combat mechanics remain mostly unchanged from both games but I would rather apply them in a world I feel much more compelled to explore. For me Dark Souls is the better game, the first one never grew on me.

I also got caught up in the hype for Dark Souls, but didn't have the $60 to try it out. I found a copy o Demon's Souls online for $13 and I'm really enjoying it so far. It was really challenging at the beginning, but after a few hours your get your legs under you.

@pjacobson21 said:

Honestly if you've never played Demon's Souls and want to get a souls game, get that over dark souls simply because of the cheaper price and you could play it before Atlus shuts down the online. One thing that I cant say enough (keep in mind I haven't actually done this, but I don't think anyone will argue my point here) but I can't imagine playing through Demon's Souls then immediately jumping in to Dark Souls. The game tires you out, you will need a break from Souls after Demon's Souls. Hell, playing through Demon's Souls the first time I had to take extended breaks throughout my first playthrough and I imagine at some point I will do the same with Dark Souls. Plus it would be a shame not to at least dabble in Demon's Souls NG+.

This. I just finished Demon's Souls for the first time a couple of days ago, and I'm definitely going to wait a while before hopping into Dark Souls. With all of the upcoming holiday games, I might even wait until next summer, when the release schedule is pretty barren, to play it.

I really like them both. I wouldn't say one is better over the other. They are just a little different. If you want to give the series a try, a $20 'test' is not a bad idea. People sure seem to love them or really hate them.

Play Demon's, if you like it get the sequel, if not - don't.

Demon's Souls is slightly better in my opinion. In Demon's Souls you have at least 3-4 options on where to go at any time, so if you get stuck at one place there's always somewhere else to try your luck. In Dark Souls i found it much harder to know where else to go if I got stuck. Other than that there's not much difference between the games.

@bushpusherr said:

@Chop said:

It's funny. I feel that the connected world of Dark Souls is actually what might hurt it the most. If you were a good player in Demon's Souls, you could take on whatever area you wanted to in a new game. If you didn't feel like going through 2-1 or 1-2 first, you didn't have to. In Dark Souls, when I think "Hey, I should start my new game plus", I get all discouraged when I remember just how funneled the game actually is. I'll have to end up doing everything in nearly the same order until I ring that second bell and that just bums me out more than it should.

The more I think about it, the more I miss the Nexus.

Ummm....no you don't. What is stopping you from going to the Catacombs, New Londo, or back to the Undead Assylum immediately? Once you ring the first bell, why not go through Darkroot Forest next? If you have the master key (or if you retain your keys from previous playthroughs, didn't check) then you can just go through Blighttown right away from the back entrance by the Valley of the Drakes. The only places you really can't go until you ring the 2 bells are Sen's Fortress and areas that extend from there.

There are of course major things held back until you obtain the Lordvessel, but the only real funneling going on is what you do yourself.

Yeah that's what I did. After ringing the first bell I didn't find the entrance to the Depths right away so I did the forest first, including the Hydra etc. - the Capra Demon was a cakewalk because I met him pretty late. There are definitely choices. I also just did New Londo (most of it, water is drained) before doing Anor Londo.

Demon's Souls is the better game.

I guess it's kind of like when someone is unintentionally funny in some ironic way and then they realize they are being funny and then start trying to actually be funny and end up not being as funny as a result. I feel like Dark Souls tried too hard to live up to and surpass the unintentional difficulty of Demon's Souls and added frustrating parts for the sake of frustrating the player. As a result you get areas like Lost Izalith, Anor Londo archer perches, and Tomb of Giants. I feel like since Demon's Souls didn't have its sights on being a difficult game, that ended up working in its favor.

I'm not saying Dark Souls is a bad game by any means, it certainly does things better than Demon's Souls and it deserves the praise it gets. I like the open world nature of it since it adds a more exploratory element to it and it is a much better looking game. I just feel like Demon's Souls is a more balanced game in terms of difficulty and fun.