How would you improve Dark Souls?

[axlryder]

I'd kill it's fanbase/hype and allow people to play it for what it is: a simple, frustrating game that has no plot, and no role-playing value.

Then I'd give it higher frames per second.

I don't recall people ever lauding it for its plot (which certainly exists) or role-playing value. In fact, I hardly recall people even bringing those things up beyond mentioning how mostly perfunctory they are. Also, the frustration aspect is clearly subjective. I wasn't any more frustrated with it than I typically am with other games that require me to not suck at playing them.

 

[axlryder]

A map that shows only where you've been like in infinite undiscovery would have helped a lot. My character has been there before, why not at least allow the game to map that for me like i would probably do in real life if i were rewalking the same terrain over and over again.

It needs the broken landscape tightening up a bit and playtesting thoroughly to stop players falling through solid floors or rolling through walls and getting stuck (this happened quite a few times to me)

The removal of the player vs player stuff from the normal game mode to stop idiots from being arseholes to newbie players or some kind of level cap to stop the fight being straight harrassment.

The removal of those silly tags you could leave to help or hinder other players and a little more instruction on things like backstab...i didn't realise it was an actual move until way too late in the day (i thought it was just bonus damage for attacking from the rear like some other games)

Better balancing of player classes or some indication of which classes would make the game more difficult if used.

Better voice acting (because most of what i heard was terrible) or simply make it all text.

I could probably go on but i didnt find enough in this game to keep me interested for more than 10 hours so ill leave it at that. Despite it not holding my hand it managed to be repetitive, linear and slow...not particularly hard just harsh.

You can always just play offline. No pvp and no notes. That almost makes up the entirety of the online element anyway.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

The only thing I would improve is giving the player some better direction about where to actually go. I've heard anecdotes of many a player who's tried to go through the graveyard immediately upon reaching Firelink Shrine because they didn't know where to go to ring the first bell.

Also, some almost essential things are very hard to find. The first blacksmith is off the beaten track (and the first ember that you need to go beyond +5 is hidden in a dark corner in the Depths), and several bonfires are hidden (The Depths, Sen's Fortress roof, Darkroot Garden, the Catacombs' second one).

Things like that should be made very clear to the player, like in Demon's Souls where you can immediately meet the blacksmith and you can always find archstones because they appear when you defeat a boss.

And most of the plot is in the background details, like item descriptions. That's how Epicnamebro found out the lore for his videos in the first place...

 

[GundamSentinel]

Being able to pause: Probably my biggest complaint about the game is the inability to pause the game, even on offline mode. I mean who hasn't had to go use the restroom really bad while playing the game.

I'd not mind that, just as long as you won't be able to do anything with your character in pause mode (e.g. no changing equipment). That way, it makes the game a little easier (gives you some time to breathe and think), but not gamebreakingly so. It's not very difficult in Dark Souls to find a quiet corner to hide for a few minutes while you go to to the bathroom, but a simple pause button would make things a little easier. Maybe they could turn off the pause function during boss battles to make them more of a challenge.

Maps: I feel that if they added maps to the game, much like how in Legend of Zelda: OOT, it would make the game easier, but at the same time add some sort of challenge. I mean there has been times where I felt lost in the game.

A map would be fine, but I don't think a complete in game radar would work for Dark Souls. Maybe a map like in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. It shows you a map of the entire game world, but not in such detail that you can completely navigate by it. But it does give a general idea about where to go. I think that would work well for Dark Souls.

Option to turn off invasion. I hate them. I am not in the mood to PVP. I just want to play the single player aspect of the game, without risking a damn invasion. I know I can just stay hallow or play offline, but if I do, I end up missing out on summons that I need for a boss battle.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I played Demon's Souls almost completely in offline mode (mostly to manage world tendencies, which is far easier offline) and it worked well for me, because I never wanted or needed help. In Dark Souls I did have that need at times, but the risk of invasion sometimes made me hesitate. That option would be great.

Also: bring back the guy that did the music for Demon's Souls. Dark Souls' music wasn't half bad, but the music in Demon's Souls is one of the reasons why I consider it a better game.

 

[yaydod]

I totally agree that an in game pause where you can't do anything would be nice.

The major thing to fix id say is the collision bugs, I am not too far in the game bu ti already saw a mettric fuckton of swords going through walls, fire and arrows too. It just seems like some walls are none existent for enemies weaponry but mine will bounce right of, yeah fun stuff.

Oh, one last thing, please fix animation bugs, PLEASE, you know when all the player + monster animations "stop" and you still take damage -_-" yay.

 

[lapan]

snip

I didn't say "A story", I said more story. Something more tangible than the ramblings of random mentally insane people I talk to. There are a lot of ways to tell a good story in games without clumping a bunch of exposition on you. How about a codex, or bestiary? Finding journal pages, history snippets? You can implement all sorts of ideas into the game that doesn't necessarily mean it's spoonfeeding you.

That's pretty much how it already is. You find parts of the plot on every item that drops.

I suggested some sort of spell that made a staff just as good as a shield, block-wise. Just an idea. From where I'm standing, it's pretty hard to know what the game will throw at me and if it's worth to risk it and go full magic knowing full well I'm gonna suffer if I run out of spells. So far, spellcasting isn't worth it unless you know what the game will throw at you - and I DON'T.

Huh, i only heard others call it overpowered before, never heard anyone calling it not worth it. I personally play without magic or enchanted weapons for additional challenge and because i prefer the playstyle.

And 4 was a suggestion to improve the game's tooltips on the basic systems that need to be explained in-game such as what stats do and stuff, but I gave up because of the massive amounts of "WARGLE SPOONFEEDING HANDHOLDING DUMBING DOWN WAAAAAAAH" that would surely produce. I mean even these mild suggestions attracted some similar outcries, I imagine if the game made you go outside and take out the trash some people will still cry out that it's part of the game's charm and how it's too hardcore to ever change.

While i'm not opposed to additional tooltips, most things are self-explanatory. If you level up a stat it shows you what will get improved by it. I never had any problems figuring that out.

 

[Kroxile]

If you need a game to hold you by the dick, don't play games.

Dark Souls doesn't NEED tutorials, saves, maps, or anything else that just coddles your head and coos "It's ok baby, you can totally suck ass, we'll beat the game for you."

It's not even entirely DIFFICULT, just challenging with a real sense of reward, victory, and accomplishment. When it reads "VICTORY ACHIEVED" at the end of every boss fight, it's a great feeling that is hard to find in today's regenerating health, casual difficulty market.

To change that overall tone of imminent death, exploration and experimentation would simply bring a gold nugget of a game into the shit hole that is the mainstream triple-A scene.

Everything I have ever thought of gaming today is summed up quite nicely right here.

 

[lapan]

snip

No, no you don't. Sure some items have some interesting flavor text on them, but if you're telling me you can piece together the entire story by just reading the item descriptions, well... I'd have to call you out on that.

What you can't read on the items you get told by the npcs if you regulary talk to them.

You can see what stats do, just not everything they're used for. I didn't see dex increasing casting speed anywhere, nor did I know that katana is going to have such a huge dex requirement. If the game just told me "some weapons are tailored for a high dexterity" somewhere before that, we wouldn't have this problem. I also needed to read the wiki to see the tresholds for weight allowance. Things like that should be in the game, really.

It is. if you look at an item you have the option to show additional details (with the x button if you use the xbox-controller). That's where it shows you stats requirement and even the rate with which it scales with stats.

You can figure out the weight treshholds by the speed of your roll and equiping/deequiping around a bit.

 

[Kalikin]

To me, Dark Souls is just about perfect - I'd probably say it's my favourite game to date, with its brilliantly depressing dark fantasy atmosphere. There are just a few things I'd like to see changed (if the devs decide to make another game that plays virtually identical):

Squad-based enemy AI. Seriously, the game would be so much more tense if you weren't able to just lure one enemy over to you at a time, and if those enemies worked together to try take you down. Hopefully that would also fix problems with snake men attacking through each other...

More emphasis on space restriction. I like how your weapons will bounce off walls, but there aren't really any situations that make you be aware of your weapon's attack type (which is clearly something they wanted). In the few areas where space IS an issue, you can still swing a claymore around just fine, and that shouldn't be the case. Also, enemies should be subject to the same rules you are. It's complete bullshit that the larger enemies' weapons just go through walls.

 

[lapan]

What you get told by the NPCs are barely scraps. Like I said, more story, not a story. When you first played the game, did you go to Blighttown for a good, consistent reason, or did you just pass through because it was in the way?

I don't see how a codex would be much different.

It is. if you look at an item you have the option to show additional details (with the x button if you use the xbox-controller). That's where it shows you stats requirement and even the rate with which it scales with stats.

You can figure out the weight treshholds by the speed of your roll and equiping/deequiping around a bit.

I was aware of that since I first posted here.

Well, it's the reason i didnt really feel it needed more explanation. when i first got an item which i couldn't wield, my first instinct was to look there anyways.

 

[Mental Cosmas]

I'd probably add a light buff on some of the heavier weapons. Also, i'd add a scraping spear expy (joking! joking!).

Honestly, apart from some backstab tweaking for PvP, a pause for offline play (I don't see any harm in it) I don't see myself changing much. All the game's elements are connected in such a way that changing one would have detrimental effects on others.

...Maaaaaybe a slight tweak of the Crestfallen warrior's first dialogue. I thought at first he meant through the catacombs when he said the bell was "below" in Blighttown (although the skeletons certainly convinced me to go to the above bell first!). He does better explain it if you keep talking to him though.

 

[fuzz]

Improve the internationally matchmaking, I have to wait about 12 minutes between invades in Anor Londo.

You can use the dried finger from the painted world to remove the cooldown timer for invasions, that should help a bit.

It seems like the game has gone over a lot of peoples heads. The story is there, whether you see it or not, and working it out was one of my favourite aspects of the game.

Assuming the game doesn't have one, a difficulty option. Saying your going to please an audience that likes hard games is good, forsaking the rest of gamers in general to please that audience is bad.

Really? Have you played it? The way you alter difficulty in dark souls is by summoning help. Can't beat the gargoyles? Then summon Solaire and Lautrec and try again. It works very well.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Get rid of the multiple servers and host it on just one like Demon's Souls did. In the first game you could easily hook up with friends by messaging where your soul sign was. I made the most friends while playing Demon's Souls because of this. In Dark Souls you need to be lucky enough to be on the same server.

 

[lapan]

Get rid of the multiple servers and host it on just one like Demon's Souls did. In the first game you could easily hook up with friends by messaging where your soul sign was. I made the most friends while playing Demon's Souls because of this. In Dark Souls you need to be lucky enough to be on the same server.

Demon Souls was region locked though, so it probably needed less servers because of it. I think it's a fair tradeoff since i wouldnt be able to play with my american friends elsewise.

You can generally connect with friends if they replace their sign a few times until you are in the same lobby.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Assuming the game doesn't have one, a difficulty option. Saying your going to please an audience that likes hard games is good, forsaking the rest of gamers in general to please that audience is bad.

Really? Have you played it? The way you alter difficulty in dark souls is by summoning help. Can't beat the gargoyles? Then summon Solaire and Lautrec and try again. It works very well.

Okay. It sounds like you completely don't understand my point at all, but sure.