Demon's Souls after Dark Souls?

@Turambar said:

@Karkarov: I'm guessing you meant to respond to Fredchuckdave? Otherwise, who are you directing the him at?

The guy in the video series that got linked before. *shrug* Or just Dark Soul's PvP'ers in general like I said, because that is how most of them think. I am not commenting at a specific user in the thread.

@Ares42 said:

@mordukai: Nope, I'm not judging the community based on him, I'm judging based on how it's setup in-game and all the ridicolous "honor" stuff I've heard/read about. All I said was that he was the perfect example of all of my impressions of Souls PvP. Try to prove me wrong if you want to, but my impression of Souls PvP is getting invaded by some guy when you had no interest in PvPing (just wanted to beat a boss or kindle a fire) and people whining because you did something "cheap" or because you used some equipment. I'm sure it's great when you have conscenting players that have agreed to rules etc, but that's like saying Starcraft have great multiplayer but only if you play "20 min no rush" games.

While I agree with what you say there is one very easy counter to all this.... Play offline. You can't play with blue's that way but it sounds like you care more about avoiding invasions than you do co op. You also lose the messages but they are not really that important. The one thing I miss about not playing online is no bloodstains and random ghosts showing up. Rules wise yes, you aren't going to see many people observing rules of any kind in Dark Souls because there was never any "structure" to the games servers or pvp due to how random it all was. Demon's Souls there were places you could go where "organized" invasions would happen and for the most part everyone who invaded there did follow certain rules.

@mordukai Yeah I am the same. I have a huge PSN friends like and all but maybe 10 of them are people I met by getting involved in Demon's Souls online community. There is a lot more to the online in these games than gankers who use cheap tactics and cheese builds. Sadly this is more true for Demon's than Dark for all the reasons everyone has already mentioned.

@Ares42 said:

@mordukai: Nope, I'm not judging the community based on him, I'm judging based on how it's setup in-game and all the ridicolous "honor" stuff I've heard/read about. All I said was that he was the perfect example of all of my impressions of Souls PvP. Try to prove me wrong if you want to, but my impression of Souls PvP is getting invaded by some guy when you had no interest in PvPing (just wanted to beat a boss or kindle a fire) and people whining because you did something "cheap" or because you used some equipment. I'm sure it's great when you have conscenting players that have agreed to rules etc, but that's like saying Starcraft have great multiplayer but only if you play "20 min no rush" games.

Not getting invaded in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls can be avoided very easily. I am not trying to prove you wrong at all. I'm really sorry you had such a bad experience with it and I have a feeling you are more referring to Dark Souls then Demon's Souls. I can tell you from my experiences of playing Demon's Souls for over 400 hours; I can count maybe 3 or 4 people that abused the system.

Don't get it the wrong way but if you're walking around in Human form then expect to be invaded and prepare accordingly. I cannot defend PvP in Dark Souls because personally I think it's shit, but I will defend PvP in Demon's Souls to the death because imo, Demon's Souls had the best PvP/Coop I've had this generation.

There's something to be said about a game when I invade someone and he has 2 blue phantoms with him so they all gang up on me and I take both of his phantoms out and I he just stands there and I know the guy on the other end is scared out of his mind as to what to do now and his adrenaline is running (and mine too). Eventually he won because hubris got the better of me and I rushed in. Can you imagine how that guy felt after he won? I bet you whatever you want he had the best gaming experiences of his life.

@TobbRobb: Ok nvm, then. You still have a lot to go through. Enjoy Meneater.

@mordukai said:

There's something to be said about a game when I invade someone and he has 2 blue phantoms with him so they all gang up on me and I take both of his phantoms out and I he just stands there and I know the guy on the other end is scared out of his mind as to what to do now and his adrenaline is running (and mine too). Eventually he won because hubris got the better of me and I rushed in. Can you imagine how that guy felt after he won? I bet you whatever you want he had the best gaming experiences of his life.

I don't wanna make this into a big thing as I don't really feel that strong about it. I just find the idea that having to impose rules on a system for it to be enjoyable to be silly. However, I can't help but think that this is the same kinda projection you see from griefers in MMOs. How do you know he didn't just find it funny that his supposed helpers sucked ass and wasn't really that worried about the fight ?

@Ares42 said:

@mordukai said:

There's something to be said about a game when I invade someone and he has 2 blue phantoms with him so they all gang up on me and I take both of his phantoms out and I he just stands there and I know the guy on the other end is scared out of his mind as to what to do now and his adrenaline is running (and mine too). Eventually he won because hubris got the better of me and I rushed in. Can you imagine how that guy felt after he won? I bet you whatever you want he had the best gaming experiences of his life.

I don't wanna make this into a big thing as I don't really feel that strong about it. I just find the idea that having to impose rules on a system for it to be enjoyable to be silly. However, I can't help but think that this is the same kinda projection you see from griefers in MMOs. How do you know he didn't just find it funny that his supposed helpers sucked ass and wasn't really that worried about the fight ?

Because we talked about it afterwords.

We can over this as long as you want. it really comes down to that you don't like the online in the game. Fair enough. Play offline, end of discussion.

@mordukai: Thanks! I hope I will!

I did the same thing and ended up having a greater appreciation for Dark Souls in the end. They're both great games, but for me there was a definite change in the way I approached combat. I hope you have a great time with it! Crossing my fingers that they strike gold again with DS II.

Demon's souls is just way more breakable and fucked up than Dark souls. If you know an handfull of tricks, you can breeze through the game after you killed the flamelurker. Still a great game though and better if you don't know how to get the broken stuff. Half the bosses are one trick ponies so it's better if you don't know their trick in advance. So play it and don't look to much stuff up or you're going to end up like vinny, driving yourself mad over meaningless stuff like crystal geckos and world tendency.

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@Subject2Change said:

I am currently still playing Dark Souls for my first playthrough; I just started this week and am only 8 hours in; HOWEVER i personally felt Demon's Souls was more rewarding in terms of boss encounters; there wasn't nearly as many in Demon's Souls but they were much more epic. I still remember screaming FUCK YEAH after beating Tower Knight for the first time. I Am still early in Dark Souls, but yes play it. It's a great experience and a lot of fun. Still got my Chinese Import copy!

I personally prefer Demon's Souls, but give me another 40 hours and I'll let you know if that changes.

Dude, the bosses at the beginning come fast and furious, but other than the moonlit asshole, the big bosses are better spread out and certainly pretty epic. considering you get to a point in that game wher the bridge dragon goes down like it's made of paper, I'd say it's pretty safe to say things get sufficiently more interesting in the boss arena later on. For better AND for worse.

That was my issue (and it wasn't even a real issue) with the game originally, bosses in Demon's Souls just felt more rewarding; there were also significantly less bosses in Demon's compared to Dark. 5 Bosses down in Dark Souls and none have been super rewarding yet. I'm like 15 hours in now, and Gaping Dragon was a little more rewarding; getting tail wiped into that endless pit was hilarious as well. I was told that they will ramp up, however having background experience with Demon's Souls made me expect the worst.

I haven't beat dark souls but I've gotten a good chunk into it and let me tell you it is phenomenal. It nails the midevil fantasy and legend perfectly. it had a really cool story and interesting and "traditional" feeling (like they felt like they stepped right out of a book).

However I think Demons Souls was absolutely perfect. Its story was more interesting and simple (as in i didn't feel like I wasn't being told the whole thing. Demons Souls story and lore are vastly complex, but are explained better) The idea of the very one being that is the fabric of all conscious existance being the one greatest threat to all of it is amazing, and the ironocy of the magic vs faith adds a very cool aspect to it all.

The atmosphere is pitch perfect and nails the claustrophobic and damned sense spot on. I may be the only one who thinks this but every stage of every world is a masterpiece of its own, especially the Tower of Latria and Valley of Defilement (who most people hate! @fredchuckdave: ) The level desing wasn't total shit, you just have to not sick at the game. I never felt more enthralled by a game before. The feeling of utter hopelessness and danger struck deep inside me through the whole game.

It's also my favorite game of all time :P

I think rule of thumb with the Souls community is that the first game you play is going to be your favorite. Both are absolutely worth playing, just don't expect the same game.

I like Demon's a little better, but I think Dark Souls might be the closest thing to a perfect video game I've played.

I played Dark Souls first and for whatever could never get fully into Demon's Souls.

Unfortunately my Ps3 died so I have no idea when I can even play it again.

This thread is 2 years old, I doubt we need to rehash this discussion.