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Post by Samildanach on Dec 4, 2022 11:27:08 GMT
I don't think there is a thread on the go for these three and since I am starting III for the first time I thought I'd share my misbegotten adventures here when I get the chance.
After an hour fannying around making my avatar as beautiful as possible...and ending up with some ugly as hell weirdo, I begin of course with the Cemetery of Ash. The big rolling Crystal Lizard got the first two kills and I decided the advice to 'go back' was better off heeded for now. Several more deaths to the pitiful mooks the other way demonstrated that going straight from Assassin's Creed controls to Dark Souls is a bit of a harsh adjustment. Drinking Estus everytime I wanted to attack didn't get me far.
Eventually met Iudex Gundyr or something and thought I had got the measure of him until at 50% health I shat myself when some..thing burst out and proceed to muller me with great speed.
Turns out it wasn't that hard after all as he was dead a couple of goes later and I was on my way up the hill.
Made the mistake of approaching the weedy looking guy to the left and got killed very quickly. Luckily Firelink Shrine Mark 2 was nearby so at that point I called it a night. Love it already.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 4, 2022 11:39:56 GMT
There's a few From threads but I don't think there is one for 3, so you could just make it the DS3 thread
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wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 6,673
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Post by wunty on Dec 4, 2022 11:58:05 GMT
We never made one for 3. Poor 3. I love it as well. That was an oversight.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 4, 2022 11:59:46 GMT
Second best Souls
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 4, 2022 12:00:26 GMT
After 2
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wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 6,673
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Post by wunty on Dec 4, 2022 12:02:57 GMT
Can’t argue with that. That’s a fact. No arguing with facts.
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 4, 2022 12:31:37 GMT
I don't know. Dark Souls II seemed a bit shit.
I'm joking, I'm joking!
I love em all, but each game is imperfect in some way. Demon's has the best atmosphere but is the shortest yet most obtuse. Dark has the best world connectivity but has some poor later areas and bosses, Dark II has the most...of everything, but never reaches the heights of the others until the dlc areas and Bloodborne has the best lore and combat but is the least varied in its setting. Just my opinion of course.
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malek86
Junior Member
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,254
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Post by malek86 on Dec 4, 2022 14:09:37 GMT
DS3 is short though, and I mean really short. Perhaps even Demon's Souls is longer. There are (obscure) side quests and stuff, but if you focus on the mandatory path alone, I think it may be their shortest game. Granted, after people complained of the shit second half of DS1, and the slog-paced last third of DS2, maybe that was intentional.
I didn't dislike it, but when I first played it, I was already tired of Souls. Played it again a few months ago, and it was more enjoyable, but still not exactly my favorite. The gameplay is more refined than in 1 ad 2, but I just can't get on with the visual design (it's basically Bloodborne without the gothic bits) or the bosses.
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Post by Zuluhero on Dec 4, 2022 14:53:48 GMT
Dunno, I agree with Demons being the shortest at less than 30 hours first play through. All the Dark games have taken me 50-60 hours.
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Post by bichii2 on Dec 4, 2022 15:32:36 GMT
DS3 is way way bigger than demons souls. I was very surprised how quickly demons was over.
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malek86
Junior Member
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,254
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Post by malek86 on Dec 4, 2022 15:50:02 GMT
My first playthrough of DS3 took me just 18 hours. Granted, I didn't go off the beaten path very often. But that's what I meant when I said that the story content is very short. Much of the content has been moved into optional territory.
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 4, 2022 16:49:03 GMT
I tend to be a bit shit but also take a lot of time to explore, so DSIII will probably take me a while regardless.
On DSII being a slog in the final third (of the main game), I found it picked up the most there. Drangleic Castle was an austere awesome location with a great end boss (the Looking Glass Knight, the two Dragon Riders really are just mid-level lesser bosses); Shrine of Amana was also a great looking place with difficult gameplay that hawked back to my days inching forward carefully in Demon's Souls long ago. The Undead Crypt was suitably fear inducing especially with the seemingly endless spawning wraiths until you figure it out, concluding with another good boss. Then we have the also creepy Aldia's Estate, followed by the fantastic visuals of the Dragon Aerie & Shrine. Finally the Giant Memories were brief but awesome to see a bit of the ancient war occurring. Yeah the final location and bosses were a bit lacklustre...I've always thought the Darklurker boss fight would have made for a more fitting 'Dark' version of Nashandra compared to her Nito-like appearance; definitely would have been a better challenge.
Compare the above to the (most likely) middle part of the game: Gutter, Gulch, Earthen Peak, Iron Keep, Shaded Woods, Pharos and Brightsone and to me there is no contest. This middle section was the low point by far.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 4, 2022 18:33:48 GMT
Gutter, like Blighttown, is one of my favourite areas. Love the underground vertical shanty town thing
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 7, 2022 16:52:12 GMT
High Wall of Lothric explored and Jon Voight of the Boreal Valley down. Great main starting area to get me into the swing of things, but then FromSoftware have always done very fine first areas. Trying to rank Boletaria's perimeter wall, Undead Burg, Forest of the Fallen Giants, Central Yharnam and this place is impossible, as they all are such good starting places (and never easy at first). Vordt took me more attempts than I care to say. Phase 1 beaten each time no problem, but once he powered up his greater aggression kept doing me in. Finally stopped trying to get behind/under him and stood back a bit to have time to see what he was about to do. Punishing his slow ice spray attack was the safest strategy as well as the odd hit here and there eventually toppled him.
Finally had the nice reward of a view of all the places I will probably be visiting for the next 30-40 hours (and dying horribly in).
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 7, 2022 17:06:40 GMT
I'd go for Yharnam
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 7, 2022 22:43:09 GMT
Well yeah, it is the best but also arguably the most unforgiving of starting area as the newbie has no tutorial zone and is fairly quickly thrown into situations of large groups of marauding enemies and slightly stressfully long stretches from 'bonfires'. Perhaps a tutorial mini-chalice dungeon, with a single Merciless Chiefton as a v easy first boss, would have been helpful rather than filling the Hunter's Rest with a crap load of tutorial messages to take in all at once. |
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Post by retro74 on Dec 7, 2022 23:11:12 GMT
Definitely, the start of Bloodborne is brutal. It’s basically a lesson in perseverance and patience
Many people will quit just there
Demons and Dark are very easy at the start in comparison
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 10, 2022 10:53:08 GMT
Right, Undead Settlement thoroughly rinsed. Very strong area design-wise with plenty of variation to enemies as well as setting, especially with all the secret nooks and crannies. The big staff-weilding flamboyant puritans (bit of an oxymoron I'm aware) were inspired enemies in particular. Jolly cooperation with Whatsisnam from Catarina taking down the Demon miniboss was great fun and the other miniboss at the end of the level was a tense dual too that took a couple of goes. As for the big boss, aka Curse-Rotted Greatwood, he went down on his second go too. Despite the easy(ish) victory I had a lot of fun with the puzzle element of this one, trying to locate the last few eggs to smash on him. The sudden change in location added to the enjoyment though he did seem to squash the NPC I had met earlier beneath him. I hope that is not a quest-line ruined! Well into the swing of things now, which means I am due to die lots of times painfully.
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LTK
New Member
Posts: 276
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Post by LTK on Dec 10, 2022 11:32:14 GMT
Right, Undead Settlement thoroughly rinsed. Very strong area design-wise with plenty of variation to enemies as well as setting, especially with all the secret nooks and crannies. The big staff-weilding flamboyant puritans (bit of an oxymoron I'm aware) were inspired enemies in particular. Jolly cooperation with Whatsisnam from Catarina taking down the Demon miniboss was great fun and the other miniboss at the end of the level was a tense dual too that took a couple of goes. As for the big boss, aka Curse-Rotted Greatwood, he went down on his second go too. Despite the easy(ish) victory I had a lot of fun with the puzzle element of this one, trying to locate the last few eggs to smash on him. The sudden change in location added to the enjoyment though he did seem to squash the NPC I had met earlier beneath him. I hope that is not a quest-line ruined! Well into the swing of things now, which means I am due to die lots of times painfully. On the contrary, you're only screwed if you didn't talk to that NPC before he got squashed. He doesn't have a questline of his own, but he gives you a covenant that's pretty fun for pvp and unlocks some cool items down the line, if you can bother to farm for them. If he dies before that, no covenant. Nice job tracking him down! |
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 15, 2022 12:01:34 GMT
The Road of Sacrifices turned out to be a much weaker area compared to the fantastic first three. The things that sprout wings in the first linear area were fun at first, but irritating after fighting so many so close together. Then we get to the big wooded area with the shallow crab lake, which was alright, but less engaging than the earlier levels. Darkroot definitely still is the best forest level in a Dark Souls game still, though this one was better than the Shaded Woods imo.
The boss felt like this is what good old Pinwheel should have been like, since the mechanics were very similar but the Crystal Sage at least presented a decent challenge in his phase 2. Once I stopped trying to go for the main target while being blasted from all angles, and instead took out the fake images first, then I finally got the kill. A bit of a messy boss a lot of the time, but still pretty enjoyable to figure out.
As an aside here is my rankings, from worst to best for the low poise, magician-like boss of each game:
5) Pinwheel - theoretically decent boss ruined by the fact he can be killed in seconds before you even see any of his attacks, what a waste.
4) Prowling Magus & Congregation - Magus should have had more HP and a bigger repertoire of dark magic, but at least with the numbers he was vaguely harder than Pinwheel.
3) Witches of Hemwick - I quite like this hide-and-seek version of the concept. Nothing outstanding and slightly spoilt by the enemy model being used as normal enemies several times later on.
2) Crystal Sage - Pinwheel 2.0 but with most of the issues fixed.
1) Fool's Idol - The original and still the best. While not overly hard, the atmosphere and creepiness of the whole fight is unmatched. The music (PS3 version, not got to the PS5 yet) is perfect, as is the lore. Throw in the secret mechanic that punishes the player who has failed to adequately explore and we have the winner.
Anyway, it appears I have a choice of direction to take next. I'm thinking Cathedral of the Deep, mainly for variation as Farron looks like another wide area, though this time filled with a poison swamp...yay.
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 19, 2022 23:31:31 GMT
Ah, the Cathedral of the Deep is a massive return to form after the lacklustre Road if Sacrifices, arguably being the best Dark Souls 3 area yet. There is so much variation from the graveyard and thing-infested waterways outside to the gradual descending through the levels of the Cathedral itself. Throw in many 'oh shit!!!' moments, especially the big giant suddenly appearing and that spider-cat monstrosity in the blatantly suspicious room on the bottom floor, and you have somewhere that constantly keeps you on your toes but always feels doable. Love the return of a certain sneaky character too.
The Deacons of the Deep boss(es) were great fun and mercifully easy despite me flailing around in a panic as I was horded regularly. Definitely one of the better horde bosses i.e. as good as Skeleton Lords, slightly better than Celestial Emissarys and Demon's Phalanx, and a Hell of a lot better than the rubbish Rat Vanguard!
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JonFE
Junior Member
Uncomfortably numb...
Posts: 1,952
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Post by JonFE on Dec 20, 2022 0:04:58 GMT
I hope you have picked up and will play the DLC as well, it's pretty good. /note to self: you must replay this  |
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Post by Nanocrystal on Dec 20, 2022 0:14:23 GMT
Cathedral of the Deep is peak From level design. Love it. Did you find your way up into the rafters? And I second the recommendation of the DS3 DLC.
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Post by Danno on Dec 20, 2022 0:53:51 GMT
Always nice to relive a playthrough vicariously through forum posts. You're doing great Samil.
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 20, 2022 12:05:56 GMT
I hope you have picked up and will play the DLC as well, it's pretty good. /note to self: you must replay this Yes, in fact I accidentally stumbled into the painting world but was relieved I could warp out as the dlc content is usually late game stuff. |
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 20, 2022 12:09:46 GMT
Cathedral of the Deep is peak From level design. Love it. Did you find your way up into the rafters? And I second the recommendation of the DS3 DLC. I did eventually, though took a while to find a way over to the other side where I could see Patches had gone. As for covenants I might give them a wide birth for now, especially creepy ones like in the Cathedral, as first playthrough I usually play as the 'good' guy, then NG+1 is going to be the darker route. |
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 27, 2022 10:10:32 GMT
Farron's Keep finally done. I've always quite enjoyed the infamous poison swamp levels of FromSoftware and this was no exception. It is quite a linear path and ironically probably the fastest paced area of all the DSIII levels so far. No point hanging around slowly getting poisoned when you can run like a lunatic from item to item, rolling madly in the deeper slime. The enemies I found were a mite easier than the Cathedral's denizens which again was a good choice so the player was not bogged (heh) down in careful fights. As far as the poison swamps go, from worst to best:
5) (Lower) Blighttown - I love the shanty town above the swamp, but once you get to the bottom, it becomes a bit of a tedious trudge round the edges. Throw in rock hurling giants, a poor choice for a place you can't move fast in, and the wretched mosquitoes that seemingly endlessly spawn from the same points and can clip through floors, well you've got a bit of a shit area.
4) Harvest Valley - slightly bland and short area improved by the imposing windmill towering over it. It's alright I guess.
3) Nightmare Frontier - my least enjoyable area in Bloodborne, it is still interesting enough compared to the two above. More annoying rock hurling giants, but there is plenty of variation to keep things from becoming stale, as well as Patches of course!
2) Farron's Keep - as mentioned above, I loved the fast pace I was allowed to use. Probably in reality it sits at a lower ranking but currently I feel quite positive to its design, especially with the tower up tp the old Stray Demon in the middle adding a surprise variation.
1) Valley of Defilement 5-2 - WHAT?! I hear you say...and you would be damn right. Trudging slowly through the mire filled with endless horrors that can run at you while you can't, (those giant depraved ones especially have terrified me more than any other enemy in the FromSoftware games). Add in the poor visibility, likely due to the PS3's limitations, the sound of millions of flies buzzing near the shanty town and just the disgusting shit-filled feel to place and you have an area that, while gameplay wise is not the best, atmosphere wise it just kills it. It is truly a nightmare and yet so memorable, so for that it wins the top spot.
Now the Abyss Watchers kicked my arse many many times. I eventually had to go and level up a little, more to be able to hold a better sword and shield. Once I found the first phase was easily staggered and the second phase was best approached by sticking right on him, then victory was eventually found. A great boss undoubtedly, but showing what perhaps may be a bit of a flaw of this game in that it appears to be so linear. In all the others I would often have the choice of a different area to go into if I reached a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Much less so in this case.
Never mind, onto the Catacombs (oh god).
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Post by Aunt Alison on Dec 27, 2022 11:43:29 GMT
A dagger is good for getting through swampy areas (use the special)
Don't think linearity is a bad thing, certainly prefer it to what came next. There is actually another place you could go at that point if you know but you have to know
Abyss Watchers fight is immense. One of the best in the game - so fucking cool
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Post by Samildanach on Dec 28, 2022 12:15:22 GMT
Catacombs of Carthus already done. Turned out to be quite a bit easier than the original game's Catacombs and the sequel's Undead Crypt. To be fair, I kinda expected skellies, so going in with Bleed resistant armour and an upgraded fire club proved to be a life saver. High Lord Wolnir took three goes, which I might suspect is two more attempts than most of you took given his incredibly slow speed. Pretty awesome having him suddenly appearing out of the darkness though, and he kept me on my toes looking to see what he was about to do, so a good boss despite his ease.
Decided after him to test out how fragile the rope bridge really was and met another big Fire Demon. After previously taking him down with fat boy in the Undead Settlement I though I would have no problem, especially as I would get distracted by the skellies...yeah, after getting utterly pancaked I'm going to have to come back to him.
Slinked off into the Smouldering Lake and proceeded to get beaten up by the big worm, the Old Demon King, the damn fireball priest-demon's, and pretty much everything else in there. Except rats. I am damn good at killing the rats.
So, Smouldering Lake isn't complete yet, but it is coming across like once again the fiery place is the shittest area of the game. Demon's 2-2 was alright of course, though less interesting than other areas, but DS's Demon Ruins & Lost Izalith need no introduction, and the Iron Keep was ruined by an endless army of Alonne Knights. Bloodborne's fire area was so bad they didn't even make it in the first place, and only incomplete unused enemies exist in the game code. Here we have a rather bland flat area with giant trees mostly copy pasted, followed by the same corridor and room textures of the Catacombs, redressed slightly with roots on them and a fire-like glow. There appears to be only one new regular enemy type (the goat pyromancer demons) the rest being from other levels or the original game. In fact, the Demon Ruins bit feels like a lost Chalice Dungeon in the way it works. Don't get me wrong, It's better than not having anything beneath the Catacombs, and the callbacks to the first game are great, but for me it is looking like DS3's weakest area so far (the Smouldering Lake, not the Catacombs of Carthus which were pretty good).
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Post by Samildanach on Jan 3, 2023 11:20:34 GMT
Old Demon King took a while as my initial approach was the good old 'stick to it's butt' strategy. Unfortunately he has several fast close attacks that stopped that technique from working, so holding back and baiting his fire breath (and later raining fireballs spell) was the name of the game. The mounds of dead demon blocking my escape proved my undoing many more times, but eventually I got him.
Onto Irithyll which looks a lot more like something from Bloodborne, not that I mind at all, especially as we are back to top tier FromSoftware level design. Lots of variation and looping pathways, so I just kept going. Noped out of the Pontiff Suylvhan fight for now and descended into the dungeons and finally the Profaned Capital. I admit that this session took me later into the night than I really should have gone, but it was so awesome I couldn't stop.
The Irithyll Dungeons reminded me of the excellent Latria and the Profaned Capital was a very epic final destination into the creepy depths. I was glad that I had rescued old Onion Bro as taking down Yhorm with me distracting the giant at his feet and Siegwhatever blasting him from further away with the Storm Ruler was a great finish. Absolute top tier gaming night all said and done. FromSoftware at its best (despite the easy boss).
Guess there is no avoiding the Pontiff now.
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