We're Playing Dark Souls Too! - Part 01

Part 2

@talon64: yeah i did it a ton of times in ds1 but the bosses in 2 are kind of too wily for it for the most part

What.

The.

Fuck.

I never knew you could homeward bone out of boss fights! Could you do it in DS1? Did I miss this fact for the hundreds of hours I've put into these games!? lol

@zevvion: In DS, I just rolled out of the way of incoming attacks, then rolled in to punish. In DSII, I played more like Vinny, I suppose. I had heavier armor because I didn't know how quickly you could get the Elite Knight set until much later, so I'd just strafe around dudes, manage my stamina, that sort of thing. By the end, I tacked on a greatbow because I wasn't just trying to bend the game to my play style; I adapted to it and I started taking dudes down from a distance. It was the only way my character was ever going to be able to get through areas like Shrine of Amana.

With the exploding guys, I beat the game so obviously I adapted. I'm not just still stuck on every roadblock I came to because I stubbornly refused to learn or whatever. I threw on lighter armor and started rolling out of the way, same as you, or just slashing them before they could explode. They weren't a bummer because I couldn't beat them; they were a bummer because they ruined the moment.

@whatisdelicious: I don't know. I'm having kind of a hard time visualizing how you played the game. But everything you say is a tactic or solution for. The exploding guys never even damaged me. You can just roll out of the way of the explosion.

Again, I don't know, but it just sounds like you want to defeat enemies a certain way and blame the game when it throws enemies at you where that one tactic doesn't work. Different enemies require different tactics. It's a game about learning. You can't just do whatever and expect to win.

@zevvion: The guys on the steps leading up near the end all had a heck of a stamina bar then, because for me they were basically unleashing a flurry of about ten slashes, then they'd guard for about two seconds, so I'd take a swipe to try and break their guard, to which they'd answer with "fuck that how about another ten swipes oh wait now you're dead." It's good to force people out of their comfort zones now and again, but that area was just brutal for the sake of it, not as an interesting challenge. The whole last third just got nasty, like putting those stupid exploding enemies in Dragon Aerie. There's a difference between challenging the player and killing the mood.

In Dark Souls, I didn't rely on blocking. I was using the Grass Crest Shield for the stamina so I could roll and dodge. Like seemingly most players, I never really got parrying down, so Gwyn was a tough fight. If you've mastered parrying though, basically nothing can touch you anyway so that's a criticism you can level at the entire game, not just one boss. In Dark Souls II, I just wasn't finding good lightweight armor and I wasn't used to a lot of the changes they had made yet, so I started building a heavier dude. Now I have a lot of good lightweight stuff so I'll be back to dodging in NG+.

I'll take Vinny's Mace tip any day.... yeah...

I mean, holding his mace with two hands.

Wait... that's not helping.

@whatisdelicious: And the enemies are subject to the same rules as you. They do not have infinite stamina, you can break their guards just like they do yours. Your tactic of 'just block everything and then hit the attack button' that worked in Dark Souls doesn't work as well anymore. They changed subtle things about the combat to have it be more challenging. You can still block, but you cannot block forever like you used to. I think that's a good change.

I'm not sure I'm following you on Gwyn. I mean, you kill him in 2 or 3 ripostes. It's one of the easiest boss fights in Dark Souls. Yeah, the final boss in DSII isn't extremely hard, but at least you can't shut her down and steamroll her as easily as you could Gwyn.

@zevvion: For me it comes down to the divide between magic and non-magic players, and I feel like this game has more of a gap than either previous game, which really gets exacerbated in the last third. Dudes started tearing through my Pursuer's Greatshield +3 like it was nothing and seemingly had enough stamina that they could just keep on swinging basically indefinitely. Enemies are supposed to be subject to the same rule set you are.

Plus, the final boss paled in comparison to Gwyn. Without the curse stuff, she would've been yet another boring, easy "big dude" variant, but all the cursing just made the fight annoying, not satisfying, and it would've been super easy from a distance. Gwyn, on the other hand, forced me to be perfect with my dodges, block only if necessary (I was using the Grass Crest Shield), and be surgical with my slashes, all in concert otherwise I'd get punished relentlessly. That fight was so intense and fun. He closed in on you so quickly.

I'm gonna do new game plus once I'm done with inFamous and I'm going to go back to a much lighter character who dodges rather than blocks. That Alva armor is pretty incredible. I might try out a bit of magic while I'm at it.

@whatisdelicious: I like Dark Souls II a lot better than the first. It's less forgiving and less exploitable, so far. Like you said, you could just wear heavy armor and a strong sword and beat the game by hitting the attack button over and over and you can't do that anymore.

I didn't have a problem with the stuff you mentioned. Seems like good Dark Souls design. I had fun with it.

I think Black Gulch was better partially because it was brighter, but mostly because I was so fucking sick of that entire area (Gutter and Gulch) at that point that I just summoned in some dudes to help me almost immediately upon seeing what that area looked like. The heartbeat noise was really cool upon entering, and the green glow was visually interesting, but both those areas totally pushed beyond the tipping point of "this sucks but it's great because Dark Souls" to "no, this just legitimately sucks." If they had removed 90% of the statues, both areas would've been in the former category.

Then again, I played a melee guy with no magic, which I'd imagine is how most people play those games (same way most people play Mass Effect as a standard third-person shooter, myself included) and after beating the game today, I 100% feel like they went out of their way in the back half of the game to make things harder for that kind of build. So many sections just felt like "wow if I had magic this whole area would be a joke but I don't so let me try it again for the 20th time."

I don't know. All in all, it's still a fantastic game and I had a ton of fun. But it's definitely not as good as Dark Souls.

lol, wow. Brad is terrible... and also apparently an X-bot. ("Wow, this looks terrible!") Gimme a break, Brad.

Vinny's Mace tip was actually pretty good. I was skeptical it would fare much better but I was impressed.

Watching Brad play this (and a lot of other things) is like waiting for someone with a bad stutter to finish a sentence, soooo frustrating and you just want to take over and do it for them but you can't.

I need this game. Right now.

I thought I was playing real cautious and slow, but in ten hours i'm the same level as, and a few bosses farther than Vinny. I guess i'm playing with the messages and stuff but I don't feel like that stuff would take half the playtime off.

i was eagerly awwaiting this tooo :(

Isn't part 2 supposed to be out now?

I remember seeing it scheduled for 9am, then 1:30pm. And it's now 2pm.

I eagerly have lunch around this time to watch it :(

@davidh219: yeah, I was using that ring for a while...maybe I still am? I don't remember. I didn't feel it really cut down that much degradation, honestly. I have a +6 Longsword and it would go to less than half in about 10-15 minutes of gameplay. I have been ensuring that I keep 2 melee weapons though I might start pumping some stuff into pyro here soon.

@sammo21: There's a ring you can get that reduces how fast that happens. But yeah, it does suck. You really can't rely on one weapon like the first game. I'm digging my sorcerer right now because the split between casting magic with a staff and cutting dudes with a flame longsword means neither break (usually).

It's not that bad. Just annoying to whack all the statues. Feels a bit like busy work. Which is by Emit Force is such a great miracle. Nothing is more satisfying that casting that spell and seeing a whole row of those things break at once.

yes

Discovering DS2 along with GB is fantastic. I can't wait for more of this series!

@whatisdelicious: Black gulch is even worse.

Jesus, 10 hours in and Rorie hadn't beaten the Pursuer yet? Maaaan is he slow at this game. No wonder why he doesn't like it.

Not sure if you figured it out, but raising Adaptability makes you faster and more responsive like in Dark Souls.

The main reason I only use standard weapon upgrades and apply effects on them.

I wish crafted elementary weapons would have some of those weapon effects, even a minor version of it be would great.

@vinny That Great Club (the big one) you have is one of the best STR weapons in the game. I've been upgrading it in, and at +3 or 4, it has S scaling in STR. Pretty fucking good. The moveset is good too, a good vertical smash and a crowd management sweeping attack.

@vinny The ship is the same one you ring the bell to call in No Man's Wharf.

I have no idea when I'll be able to watch this. Probably not till after I've beaten the game.

Someone might have mentioned it already but the sculptor Vinny was thinking of was Giacometti.

Gorgeous view! Ahhhh!

Yeah it's tough to resist, but I'm basically just pushing forward into my game, then coming back to this video now. I don't feel like waiting until I'm completely done with the game to watch this stuff. I want to consume it during the zeitgeist. If I see something too spoilerly for me, I'll turn it off. I turned it off in the first like ten seconds the first time because a fast travel point came up that I had never heard of. As long as they don't GO there during this, I should be able to watch for a while.

Also, have you guys gotten to The Gutter? Man that place is the worst.

Very late on this avoiding spoilers, but my guess is a lot of animation complaints spring from the new "agility" stat and the new equip load mechanics. Equip load seems to subtly affect a lot of things beyond just fast/fat roll, including the quality of your rolls and animations, and agility helps speed up a lot of the little animations including flask drinks and that delay to raise your shield.

I just got to Huntsmans Copse...screw that crap.

I would hate playing any Souls games with Vinny...feels like he simply wants to troll Brad, lol.

I actually didn't get to the Lost Bastille after the Pursuer. I went to the Tower of Flame area, then No Mans Wharf, followed by the Lost Bastille. I am in Huntsmans Copse now. I think I am in around 14 hours at soul level 78. I have been using long sword (at +3 now). The biggest change I am hating is how fast your items degrade. Really frustrating. Definitely shows why they gave you 3 weapon slots now...

I accidentally fell off the ledge on the boss fight with the 3 guys, so I had to fight all 3 at once. Beat it on my first try. Felt good.

That lightning effect on the sword is what video games are about, you guys.

I hope you play through the whole game ... so I don't have to.

I almost had a heart attack at the end there.

@brad the Fire Sword has lower physical damage, because it also does extra fire damage. It's a good weapon. Been using it the whole time. Upgrade that shit. I was killing those big dudes in like 4 hits.

Wow Brad sure got brave when Vinny started playing. Questionable about spending 800 souls but, Yea Vinny step in that water, no just run for it lol.

If you are running low on souls, just do co-op for a bit, especially in the easier areas... I got 40k souls in about 30ish minutes~

Kinda want to play this despite never touching a Souls game. Something about the look of this makes it more appealing to me.

IT SAID "GORGEOUS VIEW" RIGHT THERE IN GEOGRAPHY BRAD GOD FUCKING DAMMIT

Oh come on dudes! I barely put in my first few hours of play yesterday and you're ready lining up spoiler content out the wazoo just to flaunt how much you guys have played pre launch? At least I don't have to watch any of it. I appreciate the thought but I'll passedena on this video feature.

Wow. Seeing Brad fight those sentinels let me see another feature of the Company of Champions. Not only are the enemies stronger, but their attacks are a whole lot faster during that combo.

I hope they buy the cat ring in the next video and drop down the well and go to the bonfire there, it's a cool, creepy little place. I actually went there before even beating the Pursuer, but luckily I one-shotted him.

@peanut: True, but all this Souls business is for the same reason: Dark Souls II's release. Brad, Vinny, and Patrick's impetus for playing Dark Souls/Demon's Souls was to finish them before DS II's release. So it's all kinda the result of one thing.

__

I'm still kinda using that halberd at +5. I'm alternating between that and the Whoever's Crescent Hand Axe thing that does a little lightning damage. The hand axe is really fun for taking weaker guys down quickly.

edit: wtf. Looks like I'm buying a mace. That thing is better than any of my weapons.

Dark Souls, friend to all children.