Hating Dark Souls?

[Sleepy Sol]

Most of your complaints are pretty legitimate. Kinda sucks to start melee, which is why I couldn't wait to grab pyromancy at the first opportunity. Can't say I'm not enjoying the game though, just beat Anor Londo's bosses a few minutes ago.

 

[Darkbladex96]

The problem is people who play demon/dark souls and then their head goes up their ass because they got really far. Notice how many even the response to my post was learn to play even though i didnt even imply i had a problem with any mechanic.

I don't think peoples heads go up their arse. What they are trying to say is that implying the game mechanics are flawed or the design is crap is not correct.

Demon's and Dark Souls have both been very upfront about what the game is like. It's hard and you will most likely die a lot, not necessarily, but likely. It was designed to punish for carelessness and ignorance.

The game is not trying to cheat on anything. Most games I have played have had similar "problems" as you have listed. Enemies are not affected by the terrain as you are, their aim is better and most likely their level is higher than yours. Monsters are immune to elements and they are generally an acrobatic lot. Are these cheats? No, I don't think so. Many shooters have snipers that can shoot you with ridiculous accuracy, they can throw grenades that have a larger range than yours. Or so people believe when they get frustrated with the game.

I think the biggest problem people are having with Dark Souls is that they are trying to rush through. The game is very punishing when you try that. If you advance steadily, for some reason, most of the "problems" go away.

But not every game is designed for every gamer. I will not touch racing or sports games, because I couldn't care less of those. They can keep making them until the world ends, but not one of them will be found on my shelf. Well I have one, but it came with my console and I'm almost ashamed of having it. I would suck at NHL 12, but I would not call it cheap because my tackles don't hit home as often than the other team's does. Most likely the reason why my tackles fail, is because I suck at the game.

-lol, yes they do anytime critism without complaint is met with L2P. then the persons head is so far up thier ass that they could eat their dinner again. And its pretty funny.

-2nd paragraph went off on an irrelevant tangent.

-If an enemy is not affected by the terrain as i am for no logical reason then its bad design, do you think im bringing this up only because its Dark souls? this holds true for any game i play.
They chose to add in weapon impacts to the game, the least they could do is make sure it works as flawlessly as possible, this holds true for any physical mechanic in any game ever.

-theres absolutely nothing wrong with enemies being immune to elements, this is also a strawman and irrelevant since the discussion isnt about what enemies are weak against and if its bull or not, cause believe me if that was the topic The boss fight with the 7 sages on the boat in lost odyssey is at the top of my shit list. but thats a story for another day. - the rest of the paragraph is apples/oranges comparisons and have nothing to do with my post.

-Appeals dont work here, only cold hard facts the game has flaws what ive listed are only a few. What i have said is a design flaw in no way has made the game harder or more challenging, these are not things i die to, rather things that i see in game an wonder why they let it get past the drawing board.

-last paragraph is just another crowd appeal.

 

[Aeonknight]

Another human being who doesn't like Demon's or Dark Souls? What the hell!

Some faith in humanity has been restored.

You had lost faith in humanity because people like a game you don't like?

Get along with the meme. I lost faith in humanity for much more than a game people falsely claim that it is fair while it is not.

Message

Doesn't matter. A game should be accessible by anybody, no matter what skill level. Ever heard of a great mechanic good developers deploy such as a difficulty level?

Devil May Cry handled this really great. You started off at the normal difficulty level (or the level the game in question is meant to be played), when you die enough times, you should be able to choose an easier setting, but with less rewards, which is for me a fair trade. Now, the DMC series haven't really done the latter, but I would like to see it in games. Then, instead of trying to break a concrete wall with your head starting right off at the hardest difficulty level like Demon's and Dark Souls do, you will now be an experienced player and will be able to be a more skilled player after that moment when you realize you got to the end credits.

The thing that makes me mad about Demon's and Dark Souls is that, I want to like it, I want to support the developers by buying the game. I want to play and enjoy it. I want to be immersed in both the atmosphere and the story. But I can't do that since the game is closed off for lesser skilled players than me.

Your turn.

The problem is people who play demon/dark souls and then their head goes up their ass because they got really far. Notice how many even the response to my post was learn to play even though i didnt even imply i had a problem with any mechanic.

Nice back pedaling. Complaining about aspects of the game in itself implies that you had issues with it. Otherwise, you're just bitching for the sake of bitching.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Nice back pedaling. Complaining about aspects of the game in itself implies that you had issues with it. Otherwise, you're just bitching for the sake of bitching.

Just ignore the troll. Every post he has made has been started off with "their heads go into their ass". He has such a fascination with talking about it, I believe he has managed to shove his head so deep up his own arse that his head popped out of his mouth and right back into his ass again, creating an infinite loop of shit, which is spewed out onto here through some ungodly method.

Enemies DO have hit collision, I've watched their spells get blocked by trees, their clubs stopped by columns, and I have used that fact to my advantage. The only time I have seen an enemy flat-out ignore a column was the Asylum demon, and if you don't remember, that's because he just straight up destroys them on hit. Everything he feebly tries to bring up as if it proves his point is beyond false.

I managed to block enemy spells and arrows with pillars and trees and such, but I never managed to get them to bounce their clubs off a wall. D: The only *real* problem I have with enemies is the fact that they're immune to terrain that would slow you down. For which purpose I always equip a Rusted Iron Ring when I go near that kind of terrain.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Nice back pedaling. Complaining about aspects of the game in itself implies that you had issues with it. Otherwise, you're just bitching for the sake of bitching.

Just ignore the troll. Every post he has made has been started off with "their heads go into their ass". He has such a fascination with talking about it, I believe he has managed to shove his head so deep up his own arse that his head popped out of his mouth and right back into his ass again, creating an infinite loop of shit, which is spewed out onto here through some ungodly method.

Enemies DO have hit collision, I've watched their spells get blocked by trees, their clubs stopped by columns, and I have used that fact to my advantage. The only time I have seen an enemy flat-out ignore a column was the Asylum demon, and if you don't remember, that's because he just straight up destroys them on hit. Everything he feebly tries to bring up as if it proves his point is beyond false.

I managed to block enemy spells and arrows with pillars and trees and such, but I never managed to get them to bounce their clubs off a wall. D: The only *real* problem I have with enemies is the fact that they're immune to terrain that would slow you down. For which purpose I always equip a Rusted Iron Ring when I go near that kind of terrain.

Ahh, well I know I've seen a few bounce and such. The one knight guarding the first fire-keeper soul you find in the Church comes to mind for me first... I've seen the Fogged thief and Pharis have their weapons bounce the occasional time I had them right near a tree...

As for the terrain thing, I've only ran into an issue with it occasionally. Blight Town was the biggest offender for me so far, then again that area is horrible in more ways than just a weak poisonous bog. And to deal with that, heck I just replaced my Ring of Evil Eye with either Rusted Iron Ring, or just slapped on the Ring of Fog to keep all the infinite mosquito enemies off me. Either way I ended up needing to use a herb to cure poison, and the damage from the poison itself was negligible.
I swear the dog and zombie enemies were affected by it though, since it seemed a heck of a lot easier to hit the dogs in the area just before the Sewer portion of the depths that was in the muck.

I killed most everything there in one-two hits anyways though, so not like I gave them much time to move about in the first place...

The dogs that were in the water, for me, didn't seem affected at all. :/ My only issue with the dogs in Depths is when they bounce off my shield, and immediately hop away as I swing at them. And continue doing this for nearly 5 minutes per dog. -.- I usually carry just a couple mosses with me to the Blighttown swamp. Rusted Iron+Poisonbite+Gold-Hemmed(if I don't have that, then Shadow set) makes for quite a nice amount of poison res, to go with moving at full speed within the muck. The only thing about Blighttown that actually bothers me is the fact that you can't shut down the infinite spawn of those stupid mosquitoes. Everything else is just an obstacle.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

The dogs that were in the water, for me, didn't seem affected at all. :/ My only issue with the dogs in Depths is when they bounce off my shield, and immediately hop away as I swing at them. And continue doing this for nearly 5 minutes per dog. -.- I usually carry just a couple mosses with me to the Blighttown swamp. Rusted Iron+Poisonbite+Gold-Hemmed(if I don't have that, then Shadow set) makes for quite a nice amount of poison res, to go with moving at full speed within the muck. The only thing about Blighttown that actually bothers me is the fact that you can't shut down the infinite spawn of those stupid mosquitoes. Everything else is just an obstacle.

Ahh, I didn't have the poison-bite or Gold-hemmed set. I used the Shadow-set for a bit, but eventually I just gave up. Stuck with the Spider shield and my combo of havels ring with the Eastern armor and a couple of other pieces.

And yeah, those mosquitos (as well as the notorious frame-rate drops) in Blighttown suck. Which is why I love the Ring of Fog there. It actually invalidates the mosquito spawns because they no longer come after you. It even keeps a few mobs from ganging up and around a ladder for an area before you can even climb down to it.

The mosquitos only actually bother me if they get too close. I usually kill them with a bow before they get near me. But, should they happen to get close to me, usually a Priscilla's Dagger wipes them out in 1 hit, and granted that they're close enough for the PD to actually hit them, the PD doesn't miss.

 

[A Shadows Age]

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?

I won't say you suck... but of the things you have mentioned the only one that holds true once you know how to play the game is ranged spells, pyromancy feels like cheating but not because of the ranged attacks, no that honor goes to iron flesh. All ranged attacks, pyro, sorcery, miracles, and some bows (just one or two, not all) are about as cheap as they come, because they are ranged attacks you have the intention of being as far from danger as possible so it made sense to me.(And yes pyromancy has no stat requirements and is the quickest easiest rout for the warrior in need of spells, which if you listen to the dialog seems to have been the idea, also that means it was supposed to be for your knight, you need to find the pyromancer in the depths, roll to free talk. when he is at F.L.S. talk to him on the first question answer no, buy flame, upgrade flame and buy spells). As for everything else, sorry but it's the games learning curve, let me help a bit.

TL;DR: That pyromancy is for your knight, guy in depths. Roll to free then talk, talk again at firelink shrine answer no to first question, buy flame, spells and upgrades for flame. Intelligence only scales melee of flame hand, not spells, neither does faith. Both dragon rings sold by sorcerer do effect pyro spells. Length ring does not effect attacks, strength ring does not affect buffs.

Walls are not as bad as in real life, their is plenty of... (is it called clip?) where your weapon goes through a wall and doesn't bounce. Still your solution for when it does is to A: use smaller weapons, and B: even if you don't use smaller weapons, do use vertical (up, down) and thrusting (strait forward) attacks only, on a plus side these attacks usually have longer range anyway, which will help you spread out or drop a few enemies as they come at you. A good example of both these examples in action is in the church hall way just after the baldur knight on the stairs when you get rushed by those little zombie hollowed undead looking dudes while at low soul level. A halberd standard attack (left hand shield equipped) is a thrust with about 12 feet or more of reach and will prove invaluable in this type of situation.

TL;DR - Hallways and closed spaces = thrusts and vertical attacks only, recommend halberd with shield equipped.

To jump: start running and while running, tap the run button again to jump.

Ledges are ledges so walk against the wall as you progress slowly in a direction diagonal to where your character is facing, or just use common sense and don't walk off the fucking cliff, You know ? When fighting the rats either lure them out by getting close enough and running or one hit kill them by running in fast and striking one at a time as they come at you, (use drake sword). Now if your fighting enemies on a ledge, and you are getting shot by arrows (anor lando) move fast enough to avoid them, if your good you can run with little trouble. You should block if your getting hit by knifes (anor lando, you will get knocked back when blocking so stay strait with the bar you are walking on to not get knocked off) lightning magic (sens fortress, don't move in front of the pendulum on the first level when you are going to be hit by the sorcerer or you will get knocked into the pendulum when you block, she hits you on every second attack so time your runs accordingly)

TL;DR: Don't listen to the messages about jumping, do "NOT" jump, the cake is a lie. If in doubt use the stone for measuring drops, if you don't hear a loud noise when it lands then it is safe to drop. When in the crystal caves, follow the snow drops and mark by writing messages(online) or using stones(offline). When facing enemies move out of the way or block (with appropriate shield, I.e. (lightning, physical, etc)

Taurus demon... sigh. Climb latter behind you to right after passing the white wall, kill archers, aggro taurus run to ladder drop attack (plunge attack), run have him follow run back roll around or between legs, rinse repeat. Egging (so much better) the wrong monster is your own fault, don't. Armor can make the difference not having armor might have avoided. You don't get hit by "wind"... Stop being dramatic. The enemy is not hitting walls but why are you getting hit when your so good at rolling and blocking and fighting strong gales of hot air...hehe. Can't hit something? click right thumbstick or whatever the lockon button for PS3 is. Tried again ? still can't hit anything, get a longer weapon... like a sword. Still can't hit anything? B.A.G.

 

[Jack Rascal]

-lol, yes they do anytime critism without complaint is met with L2P. then the persons head is so far up thier ass that they could eat their dinner again. And its pretty funny.

-2nd paragraph went off on an irrelevant tangent.

-If an enemy is not affected by the terrain as i am for no logical reason then its bad design, do you think im bringing this up only because its Dark souls? this holds true for any game i play.
They chose to add in weapon impacts to the game, the least they could do is make sure it works as flawlessly as possible, this holds true for any physical mechanic in any game ever.

-theres absolutely nothing wrong with enemies being immune to elements, this is also a strawman and irrelevant since the discussion isnt about what enemies are weak against and if its bull or not, cause believe me if that was the topic The boss fight with the 7 sages on the boat in lost odyssey is at the top of my shit list. but thats a story for another day. - the rest of the paragraph is apples/oranges comparisons and have nothing to do with my post.

-Appeals dont work here, only cold hard facts the game has flaws what ive listed are only a few. What i have said is a design flaw in no way has made the game harder or more challenging, these are not things i die to, rather things that i see in game an wonder why they let it get past the drawing board.

-last paragraph is just another crowd appeal.

*Sigh* I did have a feeling before posting that it was pointless. Nonetheless...

If you had criticized that the graphics were not the best money can buy, I would not argue. Had you mentioned that the camera acts funny, I would not argue. Had you said that the multiplayer sucks because of the problems that so far have occurred, I would not even raise an eyebrow. Had you picked on any actual problem, I would not argue.

Here's your criticism without complaint:

Enemies dont always follow the same laws of the universe as you. IE no hit detection between walls and thier weapons.........happens way too often.

This is the only point I can accept as criticism. I most certainly do not agree with you, but this will do. I do not think this is a flaw, but we have to disagree on this.

Homing arrows...

Get yourself Homing Soul Arrows. You're now even with the enemy. Happy? You could alternatively not stand like a tree stump and wait for the arrow to hit you. But that's "L2P", please do forgive me on that.

Stun lock patterns

I suppose Dark Souls could have picked "tickle with feathers" instead. I'm happy with the way they went though. The strong attacks are mainly slow and you have time to evade, if you do get hit that's tough. But as in my previous meaningless post I mentioned, Dark Souls is a hard game, they made tough and strong enemies. It does make it challenging when the enemy can easily kill you if given the opportunity. I hope you know that you can use strong attacks as well. Why should we deny this from the enemy?

and attack tracking....Dear lord some enemies will rare back a thrust and pivot 180 degrees with 1 leg in the air and stab you..

If enemies moved slow and got confused if you ran behind them, where would the challenge be? I always found it ridiculous (apples and oranges again) that in Oblivion when I'm sneaking and shoot a necromancer, the one next to the dead dude just stands there. As if nothing happened, not caring one bit where the hell did that arrow come from. Having even a little more intelligent enemies is fantastic. Yes, they turn quick and can even stand on one leg. They can block and dodge roll your attacks. They can run with incredible speed and stab you. They can track your movements because they were not designed to be dumb. They were designed to present a challenge by having better AI than in most games.

But you can dislike or like the game all you want. I am sure my post was full of both apples and oranges, feel free to dismiss it completely. I'll go now and eat my lunch again.

 

[Griphphin]

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.

For myself at the very least, that's why I played the knight. I played the pyromancer asfter being stuck on a boss with the knight and he just felt too easy in comparison. I got Dark Souls for it to tear me a new one, and I feel like making any new areas any less hard on myself would be wasting my purchase (personally).
In that tune and more on point, while I love the game for its difficulty, I hate just as much people that default to "you just suck lol" when you don't like it. I go to GameFAQS for different guides and various tidbits of information, and it's more rampant there than the elitism usually is. I can see why people wouldn't like the game and you have very ligitimate reasons. But that won't stop people from feeling pompous about how hardcore they feel playing Dark Souls. Such is life.

 

[Darkbladex96]

Another human being who doesn't like Demon's or Dark Souls? What the hell!

Some faith in humanity has been restored.

You had lost faith in humanity because people like a game you don't like?

Get along with the meme. I lost faith in humanity for much more than a game people falsely claim that it is fair while it is not.

Message

Doesn't matter. A game should be accessible by anybody, no matter what skill level. Ever heard of a great mechanic good developers deploy such as a difficulty level?

Devil May Cry handled this really great. You started off at the normal difficulty level (or the level the game in question is meant to be played), when you die enough times, you should be able to choose an easier setting, but with less rewards, which is for me a fair trade. Now, the DMC series haven't really done the latter, but I would like to see it in games. Then, instead of trying to break a concrete wall with your head starting right off at the hardest difficulty level like Demon's and Dark Souls do, you will now be an experienced player and will be able to be a more skilled player after that moment when you realize you got to the end credits.

The thing that makes me mad about Demon's and Dark Souls is that, I want to like it, I want to support the developers by buying the game. I want to play and enjoy it. I want to be immersed in both the atmosphere and the story. But I can't do that since the game is closed off for lesser skilled players than me.

Your turn.

The problem is people who play demon/dark souls and then their head goes up their ass because they got really far. Notice how many even the response to my post was learn to play even though i didnt even imply i had a problem with any mechanic.

Nice back pedaling. Complaining about aspects of the game in itself implies that you had issues with it. Otherwise, you're just bitching for the sake of bitching.

Youre such a damn fool that its hilarious. That or you are purposely getting the wrong meaning from my words.

Yes i have a problem with the way these mechanics are in demon souls, because the are shoddy workmanship.

I do not have a problem dealing with them, they dont make the game particularly harder. Again they are just shoddy workmanship.

If you believe one cannot bring up an issue without bitching then i have no more to say about you.

Glitches and bugs should be fixed (enemy weapons failing to collide with surfaces). period.

Enemies Being immune to things in the terrain (when i say terrain i mean slopes, ledges, walls, etc.. could care less if poison and visibility affect them)

I have a problem with 1 ledge, because its in a really awkward spot. "I" think it is a problem, and its less the ledge and more the collision detection of the game that caused it.

I have a problem with the enemy attack tracking. I feel that gaming should be moving forward, not back the way to make a challenging game it to make excellent AI, intricate environments, and deep combat. Dark souls has a good enviroment and deep combat, the AI is lacking though. They can make an equally challenging game if they didnt resort to 1990's tricks of giving enemies "player magnetized" weapons. fights are challenging, but not for the reasons many people claim(IMO).

 

[Aeonknight]

Nice back pedaling. Complaining about aspects of the game in itself implies that you had issues with it. Otherwise, you're just bitching for the sake of bitching.

Just ignore the troll. Every post he has made has been started off with "their heads go into their ass". He has such a fascination with talking about it, I believe he has managed to shove his head so deep up his own arse that his head popped out of his mouth and right back into his ass again, creating an infinite loop of shit, which is spewed out onto here through some ungodly method.

Enemies DO have hit collision, I've watched their spells get blocked by trees, their clubs stopped by columns, and I have used that fact to my advantage. The only time I have seen an enemy flat-out ignore a column was the Asylum demon, and if you don't remember, that's because he just straight up destroys them on hit. Everything he feebly tries to bring up as if it proves his point is beyond false.

First you flame.

Then attempt to belittle my observations of the game, then manage to some how climb up on a high horse and spew your godly word down upon this forum.....hmmmm.

If if i spew shit, you are shit my friend. I have avoided labeling any single person in this thread but you are in fact the very person i speak about a person afflicted with head up his ass elitism.

Oh youve seen the collision detection? and? i never said there wasnt any i said it regularly fails, learn to read.

You should be mauled for being such an ass.

Define "regularly". Because after beating the entire game, I've yet to encounter more than a couple of spots where you're crammed into tight corridors with an enemy wielding a weapon twice your size.
There is 1 spot off the top of my head where this actually applies: the Black Knight @ the top of the tower just before the Metal Boar. Even if they fixed it, know what that would accomplish? It'd make it possible to lure him into the staircase intentionally, so you could use a thrusting weapon like a spear to land your hits, while he's stuck with his oversized sword unable to do shit because he keeps hitting walls. You say "glitch", I say "game balancing decision with the intention of preserving difficulty."

Now to make that entire point of yours moot.

So your sword bounces off walls and theirs doesn't. And? Your hit still registers against your enemy, all it does is interrupt the motion. Which is exactly why you can stab the ghosts hiding inside walls in New Londo Ruins. You and monsters are perfectly capable of fighting right next to a wall if you so desire. Your complaint is null and void. Hence why it's not "criticism" anymore, it's straight up bitching, you whiny entitled twat.

There is only one glitch in this game that needs fixing. The item/soul dupe glitch. Of all the things you listed, how could you not mention the one that actually affects game balance? Leads me (and probably others) to believe you really have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

Don't like attacks with tracking? Want an enemy that can sword play as well as a human? Get over it. Did it ever occur to you that if some of the attacks didn't have some degree of tracking, that the slower attacks that enemies use would become entirely pointless? Which means this smart AI you want so badly would have to resort to using nothing but weak attacks to slowly bring you down. That makes for boring, repetitive gameplay. I think Dark Souls did it better than you give it credit for. But on that note, feel free to agree to disagree.

 

[Ten Torrent]

I have to add my two cents here.

I have Dark Souls, and I'm up to the Iron Golem at Sen's Fortress. So, I'll say now, I've gotten a ways in, so I've had a chance to weigh the mechanics.

Now, let me say now, I've beaten Contra without the Konami Code, I beat the NES Ninja Gaiden without dying, but Dark Souls INFURIATES ME.

At first, yes, all the deaths were my fault. I got too impatient, I wasn't careful, things like that. Then, things changed.

I've killed Black Knights and strong NPCs, so I know I'm good at the game (beat the Black Knight in Undead Burg at SL 5 with starting gear, Warrior). But, I keep getting cheap deaths. Iron Golem went to attack me, I rolled out of the way, and he somehow managed to hit me when I was behind him, and it knocked me off and down to my death. Now, I had the ring that keeps you from losing souls when you die, but I lost them all anyway, and my 15 humanity (rats were my friend).

I've been gaming since the Atari 2600, and I've played all kinds of hard games, but Dark Souls? It's a cheap difficulty.