rocketboot

@mosespippy: That's actually a much more interesting way to implement Soul Memory, the multiplayer system would probably work better if instead of matchmaking being I tasted by soul memory your load out is restricted. Although there are still drawbacks to that, for one it would take away incentive to visit areas out of sequence.

@benspyda: There are way too many cool armours that are only attainable as ultra rare drops from NG+ black phantoms.

Anyway a shared stach would only work if you could only access it after NG+.

The lady wizards in Amana used to do a bit more damage and ther magic missiles had a more effective homing effect. I've been told they had a greater range too but I didn't notice a difference. It was challenging but not unfair, it just forced you to be more aware of your surroundings and attentive towards your footing. If you had just been slowly progressing shield-first all game you had to think a little more tactically. Honestly I only died in there a few times on my first run as a melee only 2-hander and I don't consider myself a pro. The Demon of Song was always a pushover and I don't think there were any changes made to the arch drakes or those undead mutants. But the nerf to the casters was overkill. Taking away either the damage OR the homing effect would have been sufficient to make it a lot easier.

@karkarov: I feel like that's a Miyazaki move, there's not nearly enough dev trolling in Dark Souls 2. Or rather the trolls just aren't as clever as the previous games.

I expect further outrage in maybe a week or 2 when this guy reaches Drangleic Castle...

@karkarov: Yeah at least everyone more or less agrees that nerf was unnecessary. Didn't the patch reduce the damage AND the homing of the soul arrows? One of those changes would have still made it a lot easier, implementing both turned it into a cakewalk.

@tobbrobb: The area is simply challenging your play style by restricting movement and forcing you to check your footing. Your options for melee would be to get a shield with magic resistance, which is not difficult, or gain some skill in dodging (ie. invest in adaptability.) This area pushes something I believe Dark Souks 2 as a whole encourages, which is dodging and maneuvering opposed to limiting your options to the whole "sword and board" thing. Besides, the increased viability of crossbows combined with the power of thrown consumables gives "melee only" characters plenty of options if your style isn't cutting it.

I'm gonna beat a dead horse and bring up the Anor Londo archers. That shit was cheap. Amana is challenging.

I'm down with Demon Ruins and New Londo, which are supposed to be post Lordvessel areas but I usually accessed them earlier. Likewise with Tomb of the Giants, which I know I liked at some point but after some time spent with that game I found myself bolting through. Like @karkarov I'm into the Archives but the Crystal Caves are just stupid. What's the deal with all those Moonlight Butterflies? It was such a waste of time trying to fight those things in there. I was a couple months late on Dark Souls, did those guys aggro at some point? It might have made the area a little more interesting (and potentially infuriating) to have a half dozen nearly unstoppable monsters blasting you with magic. And I could see why they would patch that out lol.

As for the level design in DkS2, it's not that the areas are worse they just don't evoke as much awe as some of the areas in its predecessor. I actually really liked Drangleic Castle. Amana can be challenging but I never found it to be cheap and I love it's aesthetic. The Forest of Fallen Giants and the Lost Bastille are as well-crafted as any location in Dark and Demons Souls, while still being quite different from the fortress type areas in those two games. I think I could say at least one positive thing about every area in the game! Although nothing in DkS2 was as cool the the Painted World, we still have some DLC coming and parts unknown to experience. I suspect they won't disappoint.

I'd like to suggest that instead of looking at this game saying "Oh Miyazaki was absent and it really shows in this detail and that design decision and that's why this game is worse than Dark Souls and Demon Souls" try and consider that you've got a team that is under new leadership and missing at least half the talent that went into the last 2 games. Also consider that despite some things you don't like, there have been a TON of improvements to the formula. Isn't that just a little impressive? The new director (I can never remember his name) has shown he can pull something like this off, and will probably show further improvement on future products. Miyazaki can't make all the games and I think they picked the right guy to take over Souls from him.

@development: Ahh my mistake, I assumed the ships were attacking. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, my current character just got to the Dragon Shrine. As to how the giants arrived in Drangleic, they could have come trans-dimensionally as the PC does and most NPCs do. Although it is a pretty cool thought that they just emerged from the water Godzilla-style.

I actually like a lot of the NPCs. I get a kick out of Straid and Gilligan and their little lore tidbits are great. Navlaan is pretty interesting as an insane evil quest-giver. Grandhal is cool even though we can't explain how he gets around in a wheelchair inaccessible Drangleic. Melentia is my favourite history teacher and Licia's miracle scams are endearing. I even like the Emerald Herald in her long-windedness, if only because she says the most badass line in the game, "Seek misery, lest this land swallow you whole." I know you end up hearing it like a million times but it still evokes the same response in me. I could go on but I think I'd end up listing all the NPCs aside from Carillion and Falken...