Hating Dark Souls?

[kouriichi]

Now before you all flip a lid thinking this is a rage thread, your only half right.

Dark Souls is a decent game. But i dont think it requires half the praise it gets. Dont say "oh, its because you suck at it" or "its because you dont like a hard game", let me tell you, ive played Monster Hunter from start to finish since the first one. G-Rank and all.

Dark Souls isnt a game about difficulty. Its a game about beating your face against a brick wall until you find something that works. I WANT to like the game, but i cant, because of the dozens of poor design flaws in the game. ((Due note, this are only things i think are horrible flaws, these views may, and probably will vary person to person.))

Wall of text, read at your own risk.

Spoiler

1: No reason to be melee. Ive played 3 different classes, and so far, ive noticed a trend. I pick Knight, and the game is.... Difficult. Your weapon feels like it does nothing to anything but basic undead, theres no real point to armor when your shield blocks 100% physical damage and you can dodge everything else, and nearly every enemy has a combo that can almost insta-gib you. But then i play Pyromancer. The game is absurdly easy now. Why? Because nothing gets within 20 feet of me. And if it does, its already at less then half health. Every challenge i ran into as a knight, i instantly blew through as a Pyromancer. Armored battle boar? No problem! I have fireballs for days!

2: Constant weapon bouncing. Nearly all of the melee weapons have a habit of bouncing even if half a pixel grazes anything solid. I do like a game where hit boxes are well made, but theres a limit to it. I find myself bouncing off of every surface within 10 feet, while im being beat on by something immune to wrath of walls. ((Or poisoned by rats i cannot hit))

3: Ledges. Everywhere. Nearly all of the deaths i befell were because of ledges. Anything stronger then a rough breeze and your character either recoils like an electric car hit him, or sends him flying. I take no damage from either of these, yet im dying. Why? Because every ledge and its grandmother want me to die. This was a massive pain in the Taurus demon fight where every swing he took either sent me flying, or was impossible to dodge because i chose a class other then Pyromancer.

4: Random Death. Beings you cant kill, and you accidentally drew agro because you bent a piece of their beloved grass. They come rushing at you, and well, you die. Running is a decent option except they chase you far beyond what i would call an area boundary, and will 2 hit kill you unless you block every attack they throw at you.

Dont get me wrong. I love a challenge. Every game i own, ive beaten on the hardest difficulty. And i consider myself more then a hardcore gamer. But whenever i hear about Dark Souls i hear, "You never feel cheated, you always learn something from your deaths", when really, all ive learned is, Hallways suck, ledges suck, 1 pixel of fire igniting your entire body sucks, Giant knights with weapons larger then you suck, and being melee sucks. Almost every death i encounter, i feel cheated on, either because of ledges, wall bounces, or random boss level baddies stabbing me in the back when i didnt even know they were there.

I like the game, and i really want to love it. But i feel its getting far more praise then it really deserves. It went from challenging to "how can we be an arse hat and ruin 2 hours of gameplay?"

And im sorry if it comes off as me raging. But honestly, if i were raging i wouldnt even be posting. Id be at the shooting range, putting several holes in my new favorite target. I feel that Dark Souls was going in the right direction, and ended up getting stuck on, "LEZ MAEK EET HURDER".

Long story short, the game never really gets better, dying never gets easier, and F*CK LEDGES.
So what does everyone else think about Dark souls and its random moments of jerk-mode? Anything ni particular grind nails against your chalk board?

 

[Palademon]

A nicely put argument. I've not played the game and even I am annoyed with the excuse that if you don't like it you must just suck. So, the difference between being good at it and being bad at it comes down to whether or not you're enjoying your constant death?

 

[kouriichi]

A nicely put argument. I've not played the game and even I am annoyed with the excuse that if you don't like it you must just suck. So, the difference between being good at it and being bad at it comes down to whether or not you're enjoying your constant death?

I would suggest renting it if you can. Its worth a rent, but i find it becomes annoying after more then 30-60 minutes of play. The biggest annoyance is that every time you rest at a bonfire, everything you killed comes back to life. You can spend 10 minutes fighting only for something to get a few lucky shots, and ruin your entire run.

I can see where they wanted to go. A game that was hard, and didnt hold your hand. But instead when i play, it comes off as a little lazy. Your only help are obscure line of dialogue about something youve never seen, in a place you have no way to reach other then blind trial and error. Its a non-linear game, but every time you take a path that your not supposed to, you die. Its not an open world, so much as an illusion of an open world.

 

[BiggyShackleton]

I like it but I find it harder to start playing again than other games. I know that I'm gonna need the right mindset to play it otherwise you get nowhere. That aspect about it is both amazing and really fucking annoying at the same time.

 

[ramboondiea]

i enjoy the game to a degree, but yeah it has its problems
for starters tho pyromancy is not as unbalanced as you think, its powerful but slow and leaves you open to attacks, its got terrible tracking when locking on and becomes almost impossible to aim manually, and if you didnt know you could add the same spell to different slots you end up going thro them fast. also as you have to pick a pryomancier to get a spell early and it took me about 30 hours before i met a trainer its only real use was a few slower enemies.

also the game is surprisingly fair about enemies, yeah its trial and error but its usually good at introducing you to enemy types giving you the chance to experiment and melee is the most effective way of dealing consistent damage which is better then high but slow damage.

my biggest complaint is the co-op, its shit, i have about forty hours in, been summoned twice got to summon once, i joined the forest covenant just for some pvp, its the thing that anoys me the most, im sitting there talking to my friend, were both stuck at the same place and we cant help each other, really ruined the game for me

 

[GundamSentinel]

Some of your points I heartily agree with, especially the weapon bouncing. But I really don't think the game is as hard or unfair as people say. Sure, at first I died all the time, because I had to get my head around the game mechanics and enemies (even with a lot of Demon's Souls experience). But I learned caution and what to expect from what type of enemy and how to use my weapons and the environment. I check out the environment very slowly and retreat to a bonfire once in a while, so I can get a good picture of the zone I have to cross. Sure, there still are some nasty enemies and traps around, but going slow and knowing when not to engage an enemy makes a world of difference. During the last 3 bosses I died 2 times.
Even if I should die, I don't really care about it anymore. Souls I can get anywhere and humanity is easily farmed as well.

You don't have to like the game, you know. I don't like sports games, racing games and MMORPGs, but that doesn't bother me.

 

[artanis_neravar]

Now before you all flip a lid thinking this is a rage thread, your only half right.

Dark Souls is a decent game. But i dont think it requires half the praise it gets. Dont say "oh, its because you suck at it" or "its because you dont like a hard game", let me tell you, ive played Monster Hunter from start to finish since the first one. G-Rank and all.

Dark Souls isnt a game about difficulty. Its a game about beating your face against a brick wall until you find something that works. I WANT to like the game, but i cant, because of the dozens of poor design flaws in the game. ((Due note, this are only things i think are horrible flaws, these views may, and probably will vary person to person.))

Wall of text, read at your own risk.

Spoiler

1: No reason to be melee. Ive played 3 different classes, and so far, ive noticed a trend. I pick Knight, and the game is.... Difficult. Your weapon feels like it does nothing to anything but basic undead, theres no real point to armor when your shield blocks 100% physical damage and you can dodge everything else, and nearly every enemy has a combo that can almost insta-gib you. But then i play Pyromancer. The game is absurdly easy now. Why? Because nothing gets within 20 feet of me. And if it does, its already at less then half health. Every challenge i ran into as a knight, i instantly blew through as a Pyromancer. Armored battle boar? No problem! I have fireballs for days!

2: Constant weapon bouncing. Nearly all of the melee weapons have a habit of bouncing even if half a pixel grazes anything solid. I do like a game where hit boxes are well made, but theres a limit to it. I find myself bouncing off of every surface within 10 feet, while im being beat on by something immune to wrath of walls. ((Or poisoned by rats i cannot hit))

3: Ledges. Everywhere. Nearly all of the deaths i befell were because of ledges. Anything stronger then a rough breeze and your character either recoils like an electric car hit him, or sends him flying. I take no damage from either of these, yet im dying. Why? Because every ledge and its grandmother want me to die. This was a massive pain in the Taurus demon fight where every swing he took either sent me flying, or was impossible to dodge because i chose a class other then Pyromancer.

4: Random Death. Beings you cant kill, and you accidentally drew agro because you bent a piece of their beloved grass. They come rushing at you, and well, you die. Running is a decent option except they chase you far beyond what i would call an area boundary, and will 2 hit kill you unless you block every attack they throw at you.

Dont get me wrong. I love a challenge. Every game i own, ive beaten on the hardest difficulty. And i consider myself more then a hardcore gamer. But whenever i hear about Dark Souls i hear, "You never feel cheated, you always learn something from your deaths", when really, all ive learned is, Hallways suck, ledges suck, 1 pixel of fire igniting your entire body sucks, Giant knights with weapons larger then you suck, and being melee sucks. Almost every death i encounter, i feel cheated on, either because of ledges, wall bounces, or random boss level baddies stabbing me in the back when i didnt even know they were there.

I like the game, and i really want to love it. But i feel its getting far more praise then it really deserves. It went from challenging to "how can we be an arse hat and ruin 2 hours of gameplay?"

And im sorry if it comes off as me raging. But honestly, if i were raging i wouldnt even be posting. Id be at the shooting range, putting several holes in my new favorite target. I feel that Dark Souls was going in the right direction, and ended up getting stuck on, "LEZ MAEK EET HURDER".

Long story short, the game never really gets better, dying never gets easier, and F*CK LEDGES.
So what does everyone else think about Dark souls and its random moments of jerk-mode? Anything ni particular grind nails against your chalk board?

Out of Curiosity did you play Demon's Souls? Also I played Monster Hunter all the way through and it wasn't really all that hard especially cause you could stun lock most of the big wyverns with the lance. Although the short swords and gun kind of get fucked over.

 

[kouriichi]

Now before you all flip a lid thinking this is a rage thread, your only half right.

Dark Souls is a decent game. But i dont think it requires half the praise it gets. Dont say "oh, its because you suck at it" or "its because you dont like a hard game", let me tell you, ive played Monster Hunter from start to finish since the first one. G-Rank and all.

Dark Souls isnt a game about difficulty. Its a game about beating your face against a brick wall until you find something that works. I WANT to like the game, but i cant, because of the dozens of poor design flaws in the game. ((Due note, this are only things i think are horrible flaws, these views may, and probably will vary person to person.))

Wall of text, read at your own risk.

Spoiler

1: No reason to be melee. Ive played 3 different classes, and so far, ive noticed a trend. I pick Knight, and the game is.... Difficult. Your weapon feels like it does nothing to anything but basic undead, theres no real point to armor when your shield blocks 100% physical damage and you can dodge everything else, and nearly every enemy has a combo that can almost insta-gib you. But then i play Pyromancer. The game is absurdly easy now. Why? Because nothing gets within 20 feet of me. And if it does, its already at less then half health. Every challenge i ran into as a knight, i instantly blew through as a Pyromancer. Armored battle boar? No problem! I have fireballs for days!

2: Constant weapon bouncing. Nearly all of the melee weapons have a habit of bouncing even if half a pixel grazes anything solid. I do like a game where hit boxes are well made, but theres a limit to it. I find myself bouncing off of every surface within 10 feet, while im being beat on by something immune to wrath of walls. ((Or poisoned by rats i cannot hit))

3: Ledges. Everywhere. Nearly all of the deaths i befell were because of ledges. Anything stronger then a rough breeze and your character either recoils like an electric car hit him, or sends him flying. I take no damage from either of these, yet im dying. Why? Because every ledge and its grandmother want me to die. This was a massive pain in the Taurus demon fight where every swing he took either sent me flying, or was impossible to dodge because i chose a class other then Pyromancer.

4: Random Death. Beings you cant kill, and you accidentally drew agro because you bent a piece of their beloved grass. They come rushing at you, and well, you die. Running is a decent option except they chase you far beyond what i would call an area boundary, and will 2 hit kill you unless you block every attack they throw at you.

Dont get me wrong. I love a challenge. Every game i own, ive beaten on the hardest difficulty. And i consider myself more then a hardcore gamer. But whenever i hear about Dark Souls i hear, "You never feel cheated, you always learn something from your deaths", when really, all ive learned is, Hallways suck, ledges suck, 1 pixel of fire igniting your entire body sucks, Giant knights with weapons larger then you suck, and being melee sucks. Almost every death i encounter, i feel cheated on, either because of ledges, wall bounces, or random boss level baddies stabbing me in the back when i didnt even know they were there.

I like the game, and i really want to love it. But i feel its getting far more praise then it really deserves. It went from challenging to "how can we be an arse hat and ruin 2 hours of gameplay?"

And im sorry if it comes off as me raging. But honestly, if i were raging i wouldnt even be posting. Id be at the shooting range, putting several holes in my new favorite target. I feel that Dark Souls was going in the right direction, and ended up getting stuck on, "LEZ MAEK EET HURDER".

Long story short, the game never really gets better, dying never gets easier, and F*CK LEDGES.
So what does everyone else think about Dark souls and its random moments of jerk-mode? Anything ni particular grind nails against your chalk board?

Out of Curiosity did you play Demon's Souls? Also I played Monster Hunter all the way through and it wasn't really all that hard especially cause you could stun lock most of the big wyverns with the lance. Although the short swords and gun kind of get fucked over.

Yeah, i played Demon Souls, and honestly, i didnt think it was all that hard. Well, relative to Dark Souls anyway. It feels alot more... swarmy. Like every 10 feet you can get zerg rushed by 4-6 things you didnt know were there.

And i use the short sword or hunting horn in MH xD I think their the most fun. Possibly because their more of a challange then the hammer/lance/greatswords.

 

[Ickorus]

Magic is overpowered and so are some items (Ring of Fog, anyone?), I wouldn't normally have an issue with these because I would simply not use them, the problem I have is that they're the most used tactics and items in PvP and it just sort of ruins it when some guy you can't see nor target blasts you away in one shot with magic arrows/a massive conflagration.

Most of your other points I don't really have a problem with though, for instance i've never died randomly, so long as you remain vigilant you'll never just get killed by something for no reason.

One more thing which I have to point out because I really hate this grammatical error*:

Then = Indicative of time passed - "First I stole a panda bear, then we drank malt liquor together."
Than = A comparison between things - "I'm much better at holding my liquor than a panda bear."

Examples courtesy of The Oatmeal [http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling].

[small]* In case you're wondering, I hate it because I used to be friends with a person who made the mistake all the time and he did something unforgivable to me which has made me despise him and everything about him and wish many horrible fates upon him.[/small]

 

[Condiments]

A nicely put argument. I've not played the game and even I am annoyed with the excuse that if you don't like it you must just suck. So, the difference between being good at it and being bad at it comes down to whether or not you're enjoying your constant death?

This game emphasizes patience, forethought, and awareness. Don't take it seriously for a second and you'll find yourself on the wrong side of a double edged blade. Melee isn't absurdly hard(pyromancy is easier, I'll give you that), but did you ever stop to consider that your success with subsequent playthroughs was through the knowledge you gained through your first characters?

Yesterday I started a new character on a new PS3 I got for my brother, and I BREEZED through the entire beginning portion of the game. I've downed the Tauras, Boar, Gargoyles, and I'm about to fight the Moonlight Butterfly with 1 death on a THIEF. Dark souls is very uncompromising with its difficulty(if you don't get good, you won't finish the game), but its not cheap. All the problems you've listed are symptoms of lack of qualities I've listed above. You will die a couple times, and you don't have to let that bother you.

If you end up dying a lot and getting frustrated, just turn off the game and give it some time. You'll be surprised how well you do with a clear head.

 

[eyel2kay]

this game punishes melee users far more than magic uses, its pretty apparent since everything is weak to magic and nearly resistant to melee or has such a huge health bar that melee does so little while magic does almost triple the damage without even having to get close to a boss that can 2 or 1 hit you. I mean even firebombs do more damage to some creatures than a melee weapon (bastard sword +5)

I don't want to hear that you can imbue your weapon with items because those are expensive and if you die, you have to get another one.

the game isnt as hard as people say it is, it just punishes you on a stupid level. still one of my better games though.

 

[kouriichi]

Snip.

Okay, I will remind you of one thing: THE TAG-LINE IS: PREPARE TO DIE. You will die, dieing should NOT be any easier and should only get harder. Get used to it buddy-boy.

Now, I will go through your four mentions:

1.) Actually there IS a reason to be melee. I will agree with you that the beginning of the game is VERY tough for Melee compared to a ranged class; However, try using that ranged class near the second half of the game. Have you tried it? No? Why not? It is actually comparable tougher than a Melee user. Certain bosses and Mini-bosses are easy to defeat with Range whilst others are easier to kill with Melee. Like the Tauros Demon, I found him to be a breeze with Melee and an absolute nightmare with ranged.

2.) This is actually a design decision. If you are using a Halberd or a Large Sword in a small cramped corridor, well then you are being very stupid. DON'T DO THAT. Know which weapons are better for which areas. Large open areas with lots of enemies? HALBERD AWAY! Short corridors with barely enough room to breath? SHORTSWORD AWAY! Next to a giant red dragon about to eat your face? IMMA CHARGIN' MAH FIREBALL~!

3.) I have only died an estimated time of 30 or 40 times on Ledges, and in total I have died roughly 350+ times. Maybe you aren't using a correct dodge? I rarely had any trouble. Taurus demon actually killed me more when I was a ranged user than a Melee. Maybe this is a problem few have? This is what a world is like without invisible walls

4.) Here is a little hint: EVERYTHING IS KILLABLE. That giant red dragon on the bridge? Killable. That giant Knight at the end of the hall? Killable. Those giant Gargoyles? Killable. That giant Vagina Monster that just bit off your legs? Was killable until you lost your damn legs.

The game is not a cheating game, everything you learn comes from experience. "Why did my weapon bounce off the walls? Maybe it is Physics... If I use a smaller weapon and not swing widely and instead use a stabbing motion I may be able to get a few... HAHAH YOU STUPID FUCKING KNIGHT I JUST KILLED YOU! HAHHAHAHHAhAHhAH... oh... hi there armored knight... I will just jump off the ledge now..." *Runs and screams like a babbling baby*

The game is hard. VERY HARD. Only a few things feel cheated. Namely the walking on a small width of board and getting stabbed by giant lances and harpoons. Honestly, WHY THROW A PERFECTLY GOOD HARPOON? Why not a few arrows with babies attached to them?

Heres the thing about it though. I never notice anything elses weapons bounce of walls...
Physics? xD yeah. Totally. And i know everything is killable. You can lock on and see their health. That doesnt mean you CAN kill them. The dragon on the bridge fries you before you get within half a mile.

But heres the thing, did you enjoy died 350+ times? Where in there did you find time to have fun? In between the cheap deaths because you character recoiled over a ledge, your shield was 1 pixel off for blocking, or you just didnt know you were about to die to something big and ugly. Yes, the games title is "Prepare to die". But that doesnt make it any better of a game.

CoD is an "Innovative FPS with team dynamics", but how often is there any innovation, or actual teamwork involved? A game being hard doesnt make it good. A good game uses its difficulty to teach a player to become better, not hammer them until they get lucky at a part their stuck at, and then kill them 10 seconds later because their out of pots! xD

 

[Zarmi]

Sounds like a whine thread to me. If you got trouble as knight, get better. I played knight from the start, and I think the game is easy. Pyromancer is simply the easy way, because spells in Dark Souls and Demon's Souls are overpowered, to say the least. It's very possible to beat the game as melee, just need to be better than you as a magician.

For the note, please stop making it sound like you are super good because you beat your games on the hardest difficulty, as there's not really any games today which are close to hard. Dark Souls is simple trial and error. If you die to something, it's because you did it wrong.

For a note, don't get close to cliff edges then. Get a thrusting sword for the narrow hallways. Learn to play.

 

[RagTagBand]

1: No reason to be melee.

If you say so. I don't play Magic Characters and while I haven't "Breezed" through anything I've certainly not found myself at a disadvantage. However, you needing the easy-win button for the childs play section of the game (undead burg) begs the question why you're even playing this game to begin with. Dark souls is all about the combat and you seem to be upset that the combat requires more than a single button press, and that you're the one with the disadvantage rather than your enemies. Not being able to rely on super-soldier strength, or regenerating health, or your enemies all being made of wet paper is a huge part of the draw because it actually MEANS something when you beat them. Killing an enemy in COD or battlefield is a hollow achievement because they go down easier than a $10 hooker and present next to no threat to you whatsoever; In dark souls each enemy can kill you and requires more skill than point-and-click to get rid of.

I play melee because it is a perfectly balanced affair in dark souls. All my errors are on me, All my victories are because of my skill, I cannot swing a 10 foot sword without serious effort, I cannot expect to survive an encounter with a 10 foot sword just by holding up a thin sheet of metal - It's all fair and relatively realistic.

2: Constant weapon bouncing.

Use more directed attacks then, stop swinging your sword around in confined areas and expect to not hit the walls. I've never encountered a time when the hit detection over exaggerated the arc of my swing; if i hit a wall it's because, given the same dimensions in RL, the sword would have hit the wall.

I agree that enemies should be constrained by the same wall bouncing.

3: Ledges

bro this is nothing but your own fault; Ledges don't move nor pop out of nowhere. If you fall off one its because you fucked up or its because you weren't paying attention and you can only blame yourself. If you're fighting on the edge of a cliff, how about moving? How about not fighting on the edges of cliffs? How about being aware of your surroundings? Seriously.

Also, another reason why I don't think you have come into this game understanding what it is - If you took the Taurus demon head on as if this was devil may cry where you can just hack away and hope to win...there's a reason you got your ass handed to you.

4: Random Death. Beings you cant kill

Haven't encountered a single random death in 20 hours of play, you didn't even explain what you meant. Being killed by an enemy far greater than your character is not random, it is obvious. And no, there are no unkillable enemies that I know of, CERTAINLY none in the Undead burg. Once again I need to point this out as evidence that this is not the game for you and you sound like you're going into it thinking that brute force should inherently kill everything you come across without nary a thought for tactics or patience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzrQC5hlKOg To illustrate my point, here is someone fighting the first boss without leveling up, without using magic, without even using weapons and winning. No easy button pyromancer, no brute force, but TACTICS and PATIENCE. In this game they trump all.

Dont get me wrong. I love a challenge.

I'm going to stop you there, because you patently don't. Dark souls has presented you with a challenge, a real challenge that takes you out of your comfort zone, No regenerating health or super soldier nonsense and you have given up on the easiest section of the game because it isn't easily beatable straight away without needing any thought.

I don't think Dark Souls is as good as Demons Souls, but It still deserves the praise it gets. It certainly weeds out the "hardcore" gamers from the "I beat Halo on Legendary!" gamers.

 

[Burst6]

Ok so..

1: Later on monsters get faster. A lot faster. They tend to surround you too. Magic IS strong, but it's limited and the good spells take too long to cast. Yeah sure you can blast enemies with pyromancy, but when they start blocking properly and charging at you the moment you start casting (which im pretty sure is part of the games code), it gets a lot more difficult, especially in tight spaces. Melee weapons need to be upgraded to be really useful, so if you're starting out as melee make sure to get the drake sword (really strong) until you get the ability to properly upgrade. Heavy armor is useful because it has poise. Poise is basically super armor, so if you want to use a massive powerful slow sword/hammer, but enemies keep interrupting you when you try to swing, get armor with more poise. Also you can kill the armored boar in 1 shot by stabbing it in the exposed part in the rear.

2: The walls never really bothered me, even with a wide-sweeping weapon i can usually manage, but if they bother you i recommend something that can stab. Maybe a spear, a rapier, or a claymore.

3: Ledges never really bothered me either. Out of all my deaths, probably 10% was because of ledges, and 7% of that was because i was sprinting from one part of the game to another and i fell accidentally. If you're careful and you carry around a good shield, ledges become a good thing. If you have a smaller enemy on the ledge, just kick them off for an instant kill.

if you choose a knight but decide the knight is too slow, there's a good solution. Take off your armor until you can run faster. It's all about the weight limit. if you're 50% or above of your weight limit, you are really slow. 25%-50% you are at an OK speed. under 25% you are really fast. If you want a faster character, take off some equipment.

4: What enemies are you talking about? Unless you wander way out of your range into a place you should not be in, this should not be a problem.



Also i don't know if you know, but the classes don't really mean anything. They're just starting packages. If you make a knight and decide a bit later to put on pyromancer robes and get a bunch of fire spells, you wont be much different from a pyromancer.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I love the game (Probably my favorite of the year) but I think it has some issues. I don't agree with the ones you pointed out, I mostly agree with the reasons with the people above. Except for the "You suck at the game" ones.

My issue with the game is that PvP is absolutely broken. The level scaling is kinda fucked up, so it sucks to be invaded by a random Soul Level 100 guy and instantly be impaled by a giant spear, even though you're level 40 or so. Not to mention with bullshit items like the Fog Ring.

I found this game much less frustrating than Demon's Souls, for one reason: Checkpoints are so much more abundant than they were in Demon's Souls. Moreso later on, but if you get passed a difficult section, more likely than not there will be a bonfire waiting for you if you look for it. (Not to say that some aren't hidden in bullshit areas

 

[nukethetuna]

I'm pretty sure you can only invade people above you and be invaded by people below you (or at the same level).

Some of your criticism is understandable, but it doesn't lessen the game for me. It makes me feel like every situation is dangerous and requires my full attention.

And yes, melee sucks at the beginning, but once you upgrade your stuff, melee starts to let you tear through anything (particularly bosses) in pretty fast order.

...Okay okay, I agree about ledges. God I hate ledges. They do add to the "God damnit, I've got to focus" thing, though. Also curse is probably a bit too punishing. If you aren't prepared for it, you can literally have your character stuck in a near unwinnable situation.

I still love playing it though!