Ovenall

OP here, popping in again.

I think it's a great game. Really, really great. Never played anything like it. Best sword(or whatever weapon)/shield fighting ever. Problem is it consumed me. I could not stop thinking about it. Even now, I'm thinking about picking up another copy. I'm comfortable money-wise and don't really care about the $60.

There are elements of this game that are ingenious. The design and look are one. Never felt like I was in a type of purgatory before. Really, actually inside purgatory.

Mainly it's the risk/reward factor. I think it's similar to the excitement gambling or an MMO offers. There's a feeling of compulsion that was driving me, and I could not stop obsessing on it. The pacing is the real mind-f**k though. There's a steady, slow progress through the low level monsters, which is almost peaceful and relaxing in a meditative way... then you reach a boss and there's loud music and a feeling of rush. You have to run and the taurus demon is gigantic. It's a mind-f**k, plain and simple. Brilliant.

I think watching Youtube vids of the Taurus demon messed me up more than if I hadn't seen them. The first time I fought him I almost killed him. I got worse and worse at it, trying to aim and jump at his head from the tower.

I think more than anything this game demands dedication. Which I cannot give. Hopefully someone out there is playing the copy I bought and having fun.

I bought this game the Thursday it was released. I knew it was supposed to be painfully difficult. I knew I had some mental issues... But I also had a lot of free time and a love of RPGs and sword and sorcery in general. I'm 40 years old, married, no kids. Mid life crisis full effect.

I played as a wanderer my first character. A disaster. I'd never played Demons Souls, so I was brand new to the controls. Died over and over on the Asylum Demon. F**k. Gave up for a while. Few hours later, I tried a Bandit character. Killed the Asylum Demon on the first try. Felt like a bad ass.

Grinded away for several hours. Became hooked on the forums here and the Gamespot forums as well. The goddamn game wouldn't leave my head. I could not stop thinking about this damn game.

Long story short: I never got to kill the Taurus Demon. I came close the first few times. After that I got sloppy, or else I was trying too hard to emulate youtube videos I'd seen. I ended up on my fourth character after reading the forums extensively... a pyromancer... I still couldn't beat the fu***cking taurus demon. I was literally dreaming about this game by now. I was becoming short tempered towards my wife, the one person who I really love on this earth.

I tried grinding out more levels on the sly... late at night after my beloved wife was asleep. Still getting killed. F***ck this I thought. Leveling doesn't do much iot seems.

One last rage quit. It was seven days after getting the game. I live in a big city surrounded by a few universities... there's college kids all around me.

I put the game on a newspaper box with a note attached: "Free game: it will ruin your life. You're welcome"

I went out a few hours later and it was gone. I obsessively thought about the game for weeks afterwards. I still think about it. I just don't have the patience or the time to do it. Dark Souls taps into the casino slot machine/ MMORPG kind of reward center of the brain.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Excellent thread. Great tips. There's so much in this game that it's really hard to get it all straight in one play through.

I'm only around 20% through the game, but my suggestion to new players would be to travel around extensively once you get to the "free-roam" outside city area, and ignore missions for a while. Beat up a lot of thugs and experiment with abilities and gadgets before going to the quests. Really well done game in my opinion. My only criticism is that there's maybe too many abilities and it's impossible (for me at least) to keep it all straight. Still, I can manage. Maybe they expect people to choose their own favorite skills they concentrate on.

I wish there were more Catwoman sequences. Really breaks up the game play and I like how fast she is. Pretty much everything about this game is great, if you ask me though.

Do I need to lock on to him before the fall attack? So f*** up, because I was better at this when I first attempted it...

@CaLe: He's not the only one.

An hour here and there works for me. But I can never sit down for three or more hours at a time. Any other opinions? Hoping there's a way...

Hey all-

I've played a bit of this game (borrowed for a few hours) and am thinking about getting into it for real. Problem is, I never get large chunks of time to play games. I've got a lot of stuff going on in my life.

Has anyone been successful with playing this casually, as in a little here, a little there? Or does this really require lots and lots of serious commitment and long chunks at a time? I'm hoping I can get into it with some success, but really want to hear honest opinions on this topic. Thanks.

OK, I'll say right upfront that I kind of suck at this game. I've tried killing the Taurus Demon now like 6 or 8 times. The first couple times, I executed the fall attack perfectly two times in a row and almost had him. Now for some reason, on my latest attempts I can't seem to get the fall attack from the tower to work. I jump on his head and sort of slide off slowly to the side of him without causing damage. I hit the right bumper (XBox) as well.

Do I need to have him locked on to do this right? Do I need to walk off the tower to do the attack, or do I need to run and jump? Or just run? I need to hit RB before I hit him, correct? Please explain as fully as you can because again, I am an admitted spaz who is about to throw this extremely cool and compelling game out the window. Thanks.

Also, after the first hit, I run away, turn around and dodge his attacks (sometimes). Can I block these with a shield and really high endurance? I keep getting hit even when I roll, stunned, then caught in his legs. When (if) I get away, I run back towards the ladder and he starts catching up to me. His back blocks the camera, making it really hard to climb the ladder. Holding down B to run makes moving the camera almost impossible at the same time.

Hopefully someone can explain this to me clearly. Thanks in advance.

I started getting this on my block (shield) with my third character. Never happened on my other characters. It's not stamina, either. I tested it a bunch of times standing alone. Happens in and out of battle. XBox 360.

Combine this with a completely broken save game (warrior 6 hours in) and I'm growing tired of this game. People fanatically defend it and claim everything is the fault of the player, but it has bugs just like every other game... problem is, it's so stupidly demanding that little bugs make a big difference.