No wikis, no strategy guides and none of my mates is buying this game, but i plan to play online so i will get messages etc.

So is this how your meant to play Dark souls? Or am i just kicking myself in the balls a bit much by not looking up anything?

@MrCandleguy: I looked up a build for Demon's Souls when I played through it, but I was late to the Demon's Souls party, and did non play it on its release. Dark Souls, on the other hand, is something I plan on playing all the way through blind.

Today, I had time to play through the first hour or so as a Knight, and then through the same section as a Cleric. I'm a bit undecided as far as what class to pick, but I'm thinking of just slamming my way through the game once, and then maybe starting a completely new game once I hit the credits.

That's how I'm going to play it and it seems the way to go. Maybe on an eventual 2nd playthrough I will whip out the full faq/walkthrough/wiki/guide and see what it was all about, maybe not.

That is how I plan to do it. Seems so refreshing from all the babysitting games do these days. Sometimes I want to find an area with enemies I can't possibly kill and figure stuff out by my self.

I definitely plan on playing the game without any guides or faqs and just using any sparse information I pick up on Giantbomb or through messages.  I feel like using a guide would kill some of the fun.

Yes. I played Dmn S consulting wikis and guides, at the end it didn´t felt right.

I'm going to play DkS as blind as I can

The most joy for me in these type of games is to find out strategies that work while i'm fighting, where i need to go, and just experiencing the game the first playthrough.  I would only use a guide for new game + when i want to know the optimal builds.

The most joy for me in these type of games is to find out strategies that work while i'm fighting, where i need to go, and just experiencing the game the first playthrough.  I would only use a guide for new game + when i want to know the optimal builds.

Both yes and no. You could be kicking yourself in the balls if the game fucks you over with consequences you couldn't have foreseen, if you hate that. But on the other hand, consequences with permanent damage can actually heighten the experience for you. A misstep will really sting, and might hamper your ability to do certain things, but it also works as a tension-inducing moment of uncertainty. For me, a good portion of why I loved Demon's Souls was the atmosphere, and tension works hand in hand with it.

Also, finding a player note that said "Beware of the liar ahead", before coming up an otherwise seemingly friendly NPC always made me all tingly inside. Do I trust this warning, or is someone fucking with me? It just made the atmosphere so much better than if I'd known everything for certain beforehand.

OK thats guys for all your help, i'll be playing the X360 version. I hope to be invading all your worlds soon!

I think the talk of "consequences" isn't a game breaker. It's more of an issue for completionists (of which I am one). You can still get through the game no matter how badly you screw up. It'll just be harder than it could have been.

At least I believe so. Haven't finished the game, but it definitely shares an identical game design ethos as Demon's Souls. I can't recall a single instance in that game where messing something up would make it impossible to finish. It just meant being locked out of some really cool side stuff that would make you that much more powerful.

Maybe if you went around killing every last NPC and had no way of getting spells, items & repairs, but then you're just asking for it.

YES, that's the way this game is meant to be played, you'll get all the help you need from online user messages.

How will you play it if you are blind? That is what I want to know.

I plan on doing the exact same thing. Hoping it will be a more fun experience for me that way. We will just have to see. Getting it today.

Strategy guides/online wiki's are almost essential to this game. There are so many little tidbits of info you can stumble upon but chances are you won't. Like the sword you get by killing the big red dragon that covers the pathway. You can use arrows to shoot at it's tail 40-50 times and get a really nice sword. Stuff like that is possible to stumble on, but you are sure to miss a lot the game has to offer without outside help.

On the flipside though - playing blind offers it's own rewards with the online help messages. While they are cryptic as hell, they do offer help.

I'm planning on going as blind as possible, I'm already kinda kicking myself for seeing some bosses in reviews and such. I plan on going in without a wiki, or strategy guide and exploring the world for myself. But I am doing research on the core game mechanics. Such as, what the stats do, which starting class to choose, and what stats to level up for my chosen class.

Other than that research, I'm going blind. And the little tidbits of information like shooting the dragon's tail are stuff that I can do in subsequent play throughs.

@MrCandleguy said:

No wikis, no strategy guides and none of my mates is buying this game, but i plan to play online so i will get messages etc.

So is this how your meant to play Dark souls? Or am i just kicking myself in the balls a bit much by not looking up anything?

Yes and no, yes you want to know if there is a dude that is going to go to the base and destory everything, or where the other npc shops and such are located that you have to find/unlock. But no, dont look up builds or things or pathways or anything, just play the game until you get stuck. Then maybe look up the boss/character and play it based on a youtube video or something. However, demon's souls was amazing because you could hit a button and join someones game to help the with a boss fight, do that instead. Ask for help, in the game, rather then just look up how to do it.