Dark Souls and ADD

[thetoddo]

I've probably put 200+ hours into Dark Souls and have yet to beat the game. At this point I've seen most of the content and have beaten pretty much all of the bosses except Lord Gwyn (and Bed of Chaos, the usual catalyst of my issue) but every time I start banging my head against a wall on a particular boss I decide to start a new playthrough with a new stat/weapon build or just hang out in the lowbie areas with my white soapstone helping people with the early bosses.

Now I'm not upset at this. I love playing this game and mixing up combat styles is fun as all get out, what I'm wondering is if anyone else does the same thing or if I'm just a bigger weirdo than I thought or if there are more people out there who love the game and have devoted tons of hours to it without actually getting to NG+?

 

[stroopwafel]

Yeah, I have the same thing with the Souls games. I love playing them just for the sake of playing them. There are so many different approaches that the gameplay somehow manages to stay fresh no matter how many times its revisited. However nothing beats the first time though.

 

[Church185]

I have beaten the game several times, but now I just make new builds for the sake of making them. From gimmick builds (crossbow only) to cosplay builds (Solaire build).

 

[Qvar]

Well, not sure if you're a weirdo, but have you at least looked up how does the game end? Because it opens an inmense amount of lore information (even if the two endings are extremely minimalist) and possibilities to think about.
Take a look at this thread if you hadn't http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.834374-Dark-Souls-Lore

I for one like to play RPGs always with a single char, and I'm about to finish the second playthrough. Probably going to finish a third, and then I'll leave it there, with my char living in a world where I don't have to kill Sif D:

 

[thetoddo]

Wait. How do you get to the Four Kings if you don't have the puppy ring? I thought NG+ took the ring from you.

Capcha: oh yes (gross)

 

[Qvar]

Wait. How do you get to the Four Kings if you don't have the puppy ring? I thought NG+ took the ring from you.

Capcha: oh yes (gross)

No, no, I will finish the NG++, then start the NG+++ and kill only the first bosses. Capra demon, Pinwheel... The ones who deserve it, not poor Sif. Which will mean I'll only get to kill the 4 kings if I'm summoned.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Well, no amount of playthroughs or new characters will make Bed of Trollage easier, so might aswell just do it!

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I do really like playing through the first part of the game over and over again, I always like to try out different builds. Once I get to the part where you have to collect the four souls I just lose interest. Probably because those Boss fights mostly suck.

 

[IronMit]

200+ hours, 4 playthroughs.. never started a NG+.

Part of the game is leveling and upgrading...but by the time I've completed NG all my armour, weapons and stats are maxed/ optimised. I guess 1/3 through NG+ I could wield boss weapons or something.

As amazing and skilled as the combat is for an rpg, it just can't carry the game the same way for me once my build is complete

 

[Qvar]

Probably because those Boss fights mostly suck.

What do you mean?

I've heard many times that the game gets really hard after Anor Londo, and even harder at the NG+... It hasn't been like that at all for me. Maybe I grinded too much, I don't know, but once I got over Ornstein & Smough all the game was a piece of cake (for how hard I expected it to be). I even killed several bosses (4 kings, Priscilla, centipede demon, ceaseless discharge, Nito, Pinwheel, Queelag...) the first try, and a coulpe others at the second (bed of chaos, Seath, Gwyn).

The NG+ just made it easier this far. With the knowledge from the first playthrough and a summon during Smough & Ornstein, I started it on the morning and got the Lordvessel by the night. This far, it hasn't opposed much resistance after that either. I killed the 4 kings on the first try again (sure 1 more hit and they would have killed me, but still).

So, I do agree that they aren't exactly intensive figths, which I supose would make them less memorable as Snorlax & Pikachu, the bell gargoyles or Sif, to mention some. Altought the bosses on the DLC are REALLY hard. I couldn't beat Manus without help, Artorias took me several tries, and just surrendered on trying to beat Kalameet after the nth try.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Probably because those Boss fights mostly suck.

What do you mean?

I've heard many times that the game gets really hard after Anor Londo, and even harder at the NG+... It hasn't been like that at all for me. Maybe I grinded too much, I don't know, but once I got over Ornstein & Smough all the game was a piece of cake (for how hard I expected it to be). I even killed several bosses (4 kings, Priscilla, centipede demon, ceaseless discharge, Nito, Pinwheel, Queelag...) the first try, and a coulpe others at the second (bed of chaos, Seath, Gwyn).

The NG+ just made it easier this far. With the knowledge from the first playthrough and a summon during Smough & Ornstein, I started it on the morning and got the Lordvessel by the night. This far, it hasn't opposed much resistance after that either. I killed the 4 kings on the first try again (sure 1 more hit and they would have killed me, but still).

So, I do agree that they aren't exactly intensive figths, which I supose would make them less memorable as Snorlax & Pikachu, the bell gargoyles or Sif, to mention some. Altought the bosses on the DLC are REALLY hard. I couldn't beat Manus without help, Artorias took me several tries, and just surrendered on trying to beat Kalameet after the nth try.

What I mean is those boss fights just aren't any fun. Nito is too easy, Four Kings are just annoying, Bed of Chaos is the worst boss fight ever and Seath is also just not fun.

The DLC bosses were great though. I found the best way to beat them was to tank with the Artorias Great Shield.

 

[Lord RPGs]

No, no, I will finish the NG++, then start the NG+++ and kill only the first bosses. Capra demon, Pinwheel... The ones who deserve it, not poor Sif. Which will mean I'll only get to kill the 4 kings if I'm summoned.

I hate to be the guy who points this out, but even if you're the summoned player you need the ring equipped, or you just plummet into the void. (Done this myself but also - http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Four+Kings ) Also, if you know about, say, Pinwheel and what he/it supposedly was/is and what he/it is trying to do... Man, you are not gonna be a happy panda. Lets just say he's a little more sympathetic after finding out about him. Still an easy boss though.

Also, whilst I do TRY to finish it, I have started plenty of new chars just to see what their playstyle is. I've only gotten my first guy, who started as a Knight and finished as a "Paladin Leeroy" [Str+Faith], all the way through, though I am close with my sorcerer. By close, I mean "I beat Seath with him". I do like trying out new builds a lot though, even if I haven't gotten far with most of them.

 

[not_you]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat as OP...

I mean, I have finished the game with my 2 handed "I'm going to beat the silly out of you" giant club guy...
Then I tried a dagger playthrough... (no such luck... couldn't get past Smough/Ornstien)
Then I succeeded in a faith build... Hurling Lightning Bolts into any boss that got in the way... It worked wonders!

A dex build later (Scythe OP) and then I made a guy with a DGM... was lolage for the first playthrough...

As for the worst boss fights? (Besides the Bed) with a low-level character, the hardest for me was always Artorias...

Sif was always easy...
Gaping Dragon was only scary when you first saw it...

But the most rewarding fight in that game? gotta be Kalameet... Beating him was absolute glory for the first time...

 

[Qvar]

The DLC bosses were great though. I found the best way to beat them was to tank with the Artorias Great Shield.

Interesting. Why is it? When I looked at the stats, that shield seemed crap. Does it have a special power?

I hate to be the guy who points this out, but even if you're the summoned player you need the ring equipped, or you just plummet into the void. (Done this myself but also - http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Four+Kings ) Also, if you know about, say, Pinwheel and what he/it supposedly was/is and what he/it is trying to do... Man, you are not gonna be a happy panda. Lets just say he's a little more sympathetic after finding out about him. Still an easy boss though.

Ah well, ok, damn this game twice xD What was Pinwheel doing? I'm afraid that... Uh... Helping humanity by... Stealing the rite of kindling which would allow Nito to, in turn, force more humanity to be burnt?

I really must try this game. I embarrassed myself by mocking it on my mate's PS3, turns out I utterly failed to understand its excellence on my quick couple of goes. Thought it was yer standard action RPG console fare, I hate action RPGs as a rule but this has to be worth a try. Think the scene has patched up most of awful port issues. Any one played it on PC, is it a pad only job? I suspect so.

Nah there's a patch (DSMfix) with which you are perfectly able to use mouse and keyboard. I've beaten the game with it and didn't found it any harder than I expected it to be (that is, quite hard, but not "omg i can play with this config"-hard).

 

[ShinyCharizard]

The DLC bosses were great though. I found the best way to beat them was to tank with the Artorias Great Shield.

Interesting. Why is it? When I looked at the stats, that shield seemed crap. Does it have a special power?

It has very high stability, around 88 I believe. Meaning you can take hit after hit and still have stamina to spare.

 

[DementedSheep]

The DLC bosses were great though. I found the best way to beat them was to tank with the Artorias Great Shield.

Interesting. Why is it? When I looked at the stats, that shield seemed crap. Does it have a special power?

I hate to be the guy who points this out, but even if you're the summoned player you need the ring equipped, or you just plummet into the void. (Done this myself but also - http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Four+Kings ) Also, if you know about, say, Pinwheel and what he/it supposedly was/is and what he/it is trying to do... Man, you are not gonna be a happy panda. Lets just say he's a little more sympathetic after finding out about him. Still an easy boss though.

Ah well, ok, damn this game twice xD What was Pinwheel doing? I'm afraid that... Uh... Helping humanity by... Stealing the rite of kindling which would allow Nito to, in turn, force more humanity to be burnt?

Description from the video:

Here's some things you should know:

Firstly - Prepare to Cry is Interpretation of the lore.
also:
~The Pinwheel OST repeats "i'm sorry, i'm so sorry" over and over. This is fairly clear & agreed upon. It's the main reason I think that he failed the resurrection of his family
~The Mask descriptions confirm that Pinwheel stole the power of the gravelord
~"Pinwheel" in Japanese translates roughly to "Three-person family-weave", explaining how PInwheel is a family woven together

Most of it just just complete guesswork though since there isn't much to go off. The fact that it is a family fused together makes sense.