Dark Souls: Yea or Nay?

[BloatedGuppy]

So, I see Dark Souls is on sale for $19.99 on Steam, which is the lowest I've seen it to this point in time. I admit, I am intrigued by this game. I hear the lore is good, and I'm interested in its ostensibly ball breaking difficulty. What I want to know is...is it fun hard, or just irritating hard? I realize this is subjective, but I'm really on the fence.

I like a hard game, but I tend to like hard strategy games. I thought everyone crying about X-Com being too hard was being a massive pussy, for example, but when action games get too hard I tend to blame my aging reflexes and just quit. Is it super twitch? Is it forced failure, where you NEED to die tons of times to learn patterns? Is it one of those games were "The frustration is your reward lol!". I don't generally like checkpoint saves and I don't generally like repeating the same bloody fight 800 times to get a feel for it, but I don't want to miss out on a game because it's just a little hard.

Thoughts?

 

[alphamalet]

There is a degree of forced failure to it, but many will say that this learning process is all part of the appeal. It's a good game, I'd recommend grabbing it, but if you have the option, grab Demon's Souls instead. I thought Demon's Souls was the better of the two.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

It's not twitchy, it's actually very slow and requires a lot of patience. Once you get the hang of that it's not really hard at all. The appeal of the game, for me anyway, lies in it's dark, almost survival horror-like atmosphere and the surprisingly heavy, brutal feeling of the combat.

There are some bits where you could die without warning, though and checkpoints can sometimes be sparse. Enemies respawn as well so it can be a bit of a grind fighting your way back to where you were. It's a very enjoyable game though; it's just not without it's flaws.

 

[LetalisK]

I was considering getting this since I can't bring my consoles on my trip, but I've heard nothing but bad things about the PC port of Dark Souls. Also not sure if I'd want to play it offline anyway.

 

[Samurai Rabbit]

I'll say yes, it's certainly not for everyone, but if you're patient and take your time with the game it is extremely rewarding and enjoyable.

 

[Dansen]

I would recommend it, I bought it on a whim and have put weeks of my life into it. Its a niche game though so it isn't for everybody. I love the combat and there are a variety of fighting styles you can adopt. The lore is amazing but you have to search for it(its probably large enough to fill a decent sized book), and remember when looking for the meaning behind things, everything has significance.

If you do get it and have trouble I recommend joining one of the wikis cause they are full of awesome and helpful people. Or watch epicnamebros walkthroughs, he has a lot of helpful newbie strategies to help you adjust to the game. He also has done a compilation of lore and the various theories if you ever feel like checking it out.

You are going to fail a lot initially but about mid way through the game something will just click and deaths will become a lot less frequent. There are a few BS moments but they are incredibly few and far in between. Approach it step by step, little by little and I'm sure you will get through the game. I hope you get it and I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

You don't need to die in order to learn attack patterns. You can block attacks and look for openings or you can dodge them. The bosses really aren't as difficult as everyone likes to say. That isn't to say that Dark Souls is easy, however. It's challenging, at best. And at worst.

Overall it's great fun, just like Demon's Souls is. I definitely recommend it. I got it Oct 2011 when it came out(had it pre-ordered and got the Collector's Edition(still have working codes, booyah)) and I sunk well over 500+ hours into the game. Possibly up to 700+ now, and I still play Dark Souls to this day. It's well worth the money and I'd pay $60 for it again no problem at all. So if it's down to $20, definitely get it. You sound like a man that would appreciate Dark Souls greatly and if you pass up that kind of deal you would be the biggest fool since Adam.

 

[DoPo]

I was interested in it for a while, then I tried it (borrowed it from a friend of mine) and I really liked it. I'd say it's worth it. Although, I think you can get it cheaper off Amazon - not right now, but at some point, at least. That's what I'm doing. If you don't mind waiting, that is, if not - go for Steam. Oh, and make sure you have an Xbox controller, then also install the DSfix mod.

EDIT: well, actually, it seems that Dark Souls is 18$ on Amazon now - download code. So if you don't want to wait for it to get lower, that's also acceptable.

 

[Vegosiux]

It's not a "bad" game, no, I'll give it that, but...well, it couldn't keep me hooked. That had nothing to do with "difficulty", and everything with the game just being...dull. That's me, of course. So I can't say a clear no, either.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I find it irritating hard because every time you save or respawn at a checkpoint the entire level resets, and for every boss mechanic you don't know yet you will probably die and when you do there is a 10-15 minute level section to be repeated before you try again, at first it's not a problem but as the repeats stack up this is very hard to swallow.

I did hear there is a mod now that offers a proper save system but I can't say for sure if such a thing works.

Also do not ever get a mage first time around, you still end up doing 90% with physical attacks but as a mage this is all super gimped.

 

[Frission]

I guess it depends really. The bosses can be hard and the average grunt can kill you very quickly, but on the other hand you can do alot of damage very quickly if you "play properly". It's a game which is all about tactics. You can use downright cheap tactics, get advice from other players or look up a guide.

I also sort of like the story and I never felt a greater sense of accomplishment in a game then when I won against a boss.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Depends on what you enjoy really; I won't deny that it's repetitive, but I really like the combat. Sometimes you get out what you put in; if you play the whole game using the same kind of weapon/armour/sorcery, then it's going to get real boring real fast, although you do sort of have to switch up for some bosses/enemies.

And of course, it's not just about the difficulty; the design and atmosphere are really appealing (to me at least, so they're not necessarily unappealing), just try and leave yourself a few things to stumble upon on your own, if you unnerstan' what I'm sayin'.

Of course, jury's out on the PC port.

 

[Jandau]

I'm going to go with no. I honestly didn't like the game. I disliked the graphical design, the interface was clunky, the port was atrocious which resulted in extremely bad controls, the game refused to work with my gamepad properly so that wasn't a solution, the gameplay felt extremely dull in the first few hours, with my character handling like a drunk mule. I honestly didn't find a single thing about the game that I enjoyed. I understand that mods mitigate some of the issues, at least to an extent, but I honestly couldn't be arsed. I only played it on my friend's Steam account to see if I wanted to buy it and the answer was a resounding "NO!", followed by a fair bit of confusion regarding why everyone adores this game. The game just didn't sit well with me and I can't recommend it to anyone...

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I was considering getting this since I can't bring my consoles on my trip, but I've heard nothing but bad things about the PC port of Dark Souls. Also not sure if I'd want to play it offline anyway.

The port's fine if you have a gamepad and don't mind either modding it or having the exact same graphics as the console version. Even with the 30FPS cap, it still runs better than it did on console anyway. Both the PS3 and 360 versions have some atrocious framerate issues.

 

[dancinginfernal]

It's good, and it's not "hard". It's difficult. It has challenge to it.

I will say it's a bit wonkier than Demon's Souls. I feel like Dark Souls screws me over a lot more than Demon's Souls ever did.

It's one of my favorite games though, bugs aside.

 

[Nomanslander]

-is it fun hard, or just irritating hard? I realize this is subjective, but I'm really on the fence.

-Is it super twitch?

-Is it forced failure, where you NEED to die tons of times to learn patterns?

-Is it one of those games were "The frustration is your reward lol!".

-I don't generally like checkpoint saves and I don't generally like repeating the same bloody fight 800 times to get a feel for it, but I don't want to miss out on a game because it's just a little hard.

Thoughts?

-It might just be irritating hard for you, honestly. But then again you mentioned you like when a game is strategic, and that it is, when it comes to the fights. The gameplay is methodical, and demands sticking to regiment, but then demanding flexibility when you encounter new enemies and levels.

-No it's not twitch, but some enemies can make it that way. It's all about understanding your swing time and the stamina it takes up. Conservation of stamina, since it powers your attacks, rolls, and blocking. So if you slash away at an enemy freely, now you're stuck with an empty bar of stamina that won't power your blocks or defenses, and it's the enemies turn to swing. Very methodical. But some enemies will surprise you and force you into twitch.

-No, it's not trail and error. Every trap and difficulty spike can be seen earlier on with a bit of precaution. The game only would become trail and error if you decided to throw precaution into the wind. And some cases you might do that. =/

-"Frustration is your reward?" It can be, but that wasn't my experience because the rewarding feeling I got from the game was not letting it get down to that. Or another words - getting the hang of the game - I found myself sometimes hardly dieing at all. And there's nothing like defeating a boss fight your first go, and I had a bunch of those (Capra Demon included). Of course I also died a lot when I was being rash and careless, and I didn't find those part rewarding. Only because they were my fault and not the games forcing trail and error onto me. The reward I got from the game was mastering it, which did involving dieing a lot at times.

-Yeah, you might have to do a fight 800 bloody times, but that's only to get a feel of the combat. Not because the game is forcing trail and error mechanics onto you. But there's also the fact that enemies re-spawn every time you try to use a bonfire (checkpoint) to level, or if you die; so that might be an irritants for you.

I say try the game. It's not for everyone, but, you just might like it.

=)

 

[shrekfan246]

What I want to know is...is it fun hard, or just irritating hard? I realize this is subjective, but I'm really on the fence.

I'll repeat myself again: Dark Souls isn't hard, it's challenging. It punishes inattentiveness and reckless abandon.

I like a hard game, but I tend to like hard strategy games. I thought everyone crying about X-Com being too hard was being a massive pussy, for example, but when action games get too hard I tend to blame my aging reflexes and just quit. Is it super twitch?

Dark Souls is all about patience. Examining what your enemy is doing, matching their attacks, and responding accordingly. There are few situations where you're placed into a God of War-style situation against multiple enemies and need to just hack your way out (in fact if you're careful and mindful enough of your surroundings, there are very few instances you'll have to fight more than one or two enemies at the same time, ever).

Is it forced failure, where you NEED to die tons of times to learn patterns?

There are occasions that feel like you're supposed to fail before you can continue, but technically speaking everything in the game is surmountable the first time through if you're prepared enough in advance. (Except the Silver Knight Archers in Anor Londo.)

If you don't look up the abilities that bosses use before you engage them, you'll probably die at least once. This is part of the point of the game, but it can get frustrating to people. Generally, if you read up on the abilities that a boss has, though, and know what to expect, you won't have much issue with it. (Except for Ornstein & Smough in Anor Londo, and the Four Kings.)

Is it one of those games were "The frustration is your reward lol!". I don't generally like checkpoint saves and I don't generally like repeating the same bloody fight 800 times to get a feel for it, but I don't want to miss out on a game because it's just a little hard.

Yes and no. If you explore enough, usually there are shortcuts or checkpoints close enough to boss encounters that dying is a punishment, but not a massive inconvenience. However, there are likely going to be times where there's just one enemy that you can't kill and you keep dying over and over and start getting angry and making more and more mistakes, and at that point it'd be time to take a break and cool off. The reward comes from when you've died fifteen times on Ornstein & Smough and then on that sixteenth time, you play like you've never played before, like you never thought you could, and keep the two perfectly separated so you can take one down and then focus on the other, and once you're done that fight it's the most satisfying feeling you've ever had in a game.

It can be tedious, especially if you don't get into the methodical combat, but the payoff is more in how you feel after you've killed one of the bosses than how difficult the fight itself was.

Thoughts?

I love Dark Souls, even on the PC, but I would really recommend you play it with a controller if you've got one. There are mods that help with the Mouse & Keyboard controls, but the port made a pretty big mess of them and it's just simpler and smoother to use a controller. As for everything else, the DSFix mod makes it better than the console version by virtue of basically putting in all of the standard PC things that were left out of the base game.

 

[FFP2]

Well the people that said that you are responsible for all your deaths are liars. This game cheap shots like a mofo.

The pc controls aren't bad, just get dsfix and dsmfix and it'll be playable.

In the end it's a fun game but it's incredibly overrated. Still worth buying though.

 

[thesilentman]

Most definitely get it. It's one of the better experiences in gaming I've in the past few years. Just have a huge chunk of patience on hand as some bosses will feel like the game is BSing you at times (fucking Capra Demon). If you're grabbing it for PC, be sure to grab DSFix and have a gamepad with you (preferably Xbox 360).

 

[redmoretrout]

I couldn't stand the game, not because it was hard and unforgiving but because there was complete lack of drive. The entire game was missing a narrative structure or clear objective. It was just a grind, similar to an MMO, where the player wonders around without any real purpose or direction killing every monster he bumps into.