Grelik

@miyuki: first... Hitting reply on my phone I accidentally flagged your post and I dont know how to undo it...

Second: now that I'm about 10 hours in I've noticed the repairs being more of an issue. Still nothing broken, but now that I'm using larger weapon with horizontal attacks I'm hitting a lot more walls so my durability has dropped precariously low at some points.

(Though for better or worse it never feels like you're more than 10-15 minutes between bonfires in this game so I'll see how things go)

I started out pumped, then after about two hours I was seriously considering if I actually liked the game. I was struggling so much with the subtle (but significant) changes made to the way your character moved, and animated. I died so many times just because my dodges were slower, attack animations longer, the occasional time I was staggered out of shield block and you do that horribly animated, terrible arms above your head for a solid 4 seconds animation (add to that the game has moved towards fighting more than one enemy at a time, so your attack timings are just that much more critical). But then I crested the peak where I adapted, got my DS1 muscle memory out of my system and then things made sense. It's a lot less forgiving of a game, and they've added a lot of weight to the animations, and lengthier whiff animations. DS1 feels almost arcady now with the crazy half naked super rolls, and fast recovery.

So yes, I am now liking the game a lot now that I'm understanding the new combat. And aside from a couple bosses which gave me grief (Three sentinels, what a grueling, arduous fight that was to solo) I've sort of been flying through the game.

If I had to give one tip to people struggling with some boss fights (and any solo enemy)... Stand right beside them, circle strafe and don't stop until they attack and get caught in an animation, then hit once or twice, and resume strafing. (And for newer players who may not do this: Lower your shield between enemy attacks provided there's time. Most bosses give you 1-2 seconds between attacks and that's more than enough time to regenerate a significant chunk of stamina. Just don't sit there holding your shield up.)

@kishinfoulux:

I've heard this complaint about weapons/armour breaking and durability issues, but I've never had a weapon or armour break. I'm under the impression that every time you rest at a bonfire all your equipment is repaired? I have played 5 hours and not spent a single soul on repairs.

My "complaint" for the game is more just coming to terms with how they've changed the controls. As said earlier, when I first came into the game (after hundreds of hours of DS1), it felt as if my character was moving underwater. The sheer amount of times I died due to miscalculated movement/dodges was insane lol. But now I'm pretty caught up on it, and I'm wrecking shit. Loving it.

(oh and PS3 framerate... so poor. Anyone who says there are no issues with the framerate is objectively wrong. As a primarily PC focused gamer, it took me a looooooong time to adjust, and even now it's still bad. I had to stop playing titanfall and other PC games in between so my eyes wouldn't acclimatise to the high framerate and then get shit on when I loaded up DS2... I just couldn't wait for the PC port though.)

@kishinfoulux:

I have to agree. The frame rate is really bothering me right now, so many incredible environments sullied by a low framerate. I didn't have my hand on the controller when the game started, and I was just looking at the starting area when your character is standing in the pillars. "Woah, they've done some work with this new engine!" then I picked up the controller and moved the camera and was pretty surprised at how low the frames were. It may have also been worsened by the fact that I'd been playing Titanfall on my PC for a few hours with a silky smooth frame rate right before loading up DS2.

Too bad they had to push the PC version back, I just couldn't wait though. :(
(Playing on PS3 as well btw)

I was caught off guard by how much falling damage you take, so in the tutorial area, when you drop down that hole on your way to the two cyclops, I took alot more damage than I expected or would have taken in DS1, then was hit by the silly archer, staggered and the undead dude put me to the sword and I died. I've actually been struggling alot with the changes they've made. I played waaaaay too much Darksouls and it feels like in DS2 everything is in slow motion. Animations are longer, you dodge slower, stagger animations are longer. I just feel like my character is underwater or something lol. But I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Seems like Steam Boxes will be just as confusing to the casual PC gamer as any of the many "prebuilt" options available now. All these different manufacturers building their own coupled with the fact that when Joe casual brings it home and now has to get his head around "streaming" all his steam games somehow because 1 in 30 games actually work natively in Linux... It will be a nightmare.

If, and only if this this doesn't completely crash and burn, Linux still has years to go before it will be remotely close to having the same support as windows.

The upside is with more competition for our money, we as the consumer will only benefit.

Darji threads never fail to disappoint. Master level troll. This thread has been a blast to read, thank you.

For me its StarCraft2. I watch too many people pro streams and tourneys. Then I can never play as well as I want too. That and knowing the sheer amount of dedication required to stay competitive. I could never be content just playing "for fun" in platinum or diamond as I always want to get better and play at the highest level. So I don't bother anymore lol.

For me it's the boat tailing missions... I mean, it's just feels completely silly being out on the open sea, so close to a boat I could probably have a shouting conversation with the opposing crew, and because I'm not in their forward facing cone of vision they somehow don't detect me.

Runners up would be how all enemies politely stop and let you board their allies ships, and trains of enemies following one another into a bush to get shanked.

I get that it's a game, but somethings just feel overly silly sometimes lol.

"Summertime" by Sublime will forever transport me into the world of Fallout 2. I remember playing that song on repeat for hours while playing that game. Probably the only non game song that will do that to me.