Objective opinion needed: Should I give up Soulsborne?

[Dalisclock]

Go back to the original and actually take the time to improve and progress. You're not doing yourself any favors by splitting your time between the three games, all of which play differently from the other.

Or along similar lines, which you've already decided to go with, pick one and stick with it. It's hard enough to play one souls game at a time, let alone try to play several(all of which are different). I was playing demons souls until I got annoyed enough with it to stop. I picked up Dark Souls 2 and am pretty close to done with the Vanilla game(but just starting on the DLC). I;m sure I'll go back to demons...someday. Just not until after I'm done with DS2.

 

[sageoftruth]

I think you should go back to Dark Souls 1 for now. If you were able to get as far as you did in the others, then the Taurus demon should be a breeze by now.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

Maybe I'll use Dark Souls 1 as the proving ground. If I can go back to it and actually beat the Taurus Demon this time, then I'll power on (at least until the Gargoyles spitroast me to death, but hey) but if I go back to it and still can't beat the Taurus Demon, then I'll take it as a sign that I should just never even try to play any of these games ever again.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

Part of what always got me with the Blood Starved beast is getting hit and getting fast poisoned, and selecting blood vial before antidote so my guy dies mid blood vial animation.

 

[stroopwafel]

They are my most favorite (modern) games but I do think they cater to a specific kind of player. If your intent is to move quickly from one game to the next than the Souls games probably aren't for you. I don't think these games are necessarily 'difficult' but you have to enjoy learning and understanding the game's mechanics. Souls is all about the journey rather than the destination. It is because these mechanics, this core gameplay loop, is so fun and rewarding that you keep playing and get better. Souls actually reminds me most of old 8- and 16-bit games that you play over and over. They are really 'oldschool' in their design.

I love the Souls games and even beat the likes of Ludwig, False King and Orphan of Kos with relative ease now but I'm far from a 'skilled' gamer. Like with online fighting games I often don't even stand a chance.

Even a guy like DSP could beat them. Look him up to see what I'm talking about.

Ugh. His complete meltdown when his cheese tactics with Ludwig failed is priceless though.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

They are my most favorite (modern) games but I do think they cater to a specific kind of player. If your intent is to move quickly from one game to the next than the Souls games probably aren't for you. I don't think these games are necessarily 'difficult' but you have to enjoy learning and understanding the game's mechanics. Souls is all about the journey rather than the destination. It is because these mechanics, this core gameplay loop, is so fun and rewarding that you keep playing and get better. Souls actually reminds me most of old 8- and 16-bit games that you play over and over. They are really 'oldschool' in their design.

That's a damn good summation, especially about the journey. The last thing I think about when playing SoulsBorne is the end.

On the last statement though I think they are more of a permutated expansion of the old 16bit formula, simply thanks to advanced technology allowing for greater depth of an original formula. The physical difficulty is shifted back while everything else moves up.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

There's no point playing something you don't enjoy. The issue is that DS games will aggravate and frustrate as much as you will enjoy them; the real pleasure comes from beating the challenges it presents you with. The beginning is always tough, on the basis that you have no stats/gear and need to adjust to the game's expectations sharpish. However, it will ease up a bit. It's still hard, but it will be manageable hard.

Part of the challenge as well, comes with bonfires and the souls you're carrying. Do you go back to the Keeper and bank them, or spend them at the smith, or aim for the next bonfire at the risk of what you have? They're good. They're hard, frustrating, but good games. The melee combat is like nothing else out there and it has that feeling of learning a raid boss through trial and error till you can execute just right.

 

[Dalisclock]

There's no point playing something you don't enjoy. The issue is that DS games will aggravate and frustrate as much as you will enjoy them; the real pleasure comes from beating the challenges it presents you with. The beginning is always tough, on the basis that you have no stats/gear and need to adjust to the game's expectations sharpish. However, it will ease up a bit. It's still hard, but it will be manageable hard.

Some of the games are better about this then others. DS1 feels like it's better balanced from the get go, and you can play around in the undead burg to figure out fighting and weapons(not to mention upgrade a few) for a bit. If you get to the first bell and still aren't feeling it, you're probably not going to.

DS2....for me it took a lot longer to start feeling it. I think it wasn't until after I'd beaten the lost sinner that I actually started getting into the groove of it. Even having played DS to completion(including the DLC), DS2 felt difficult and occasionally cheap.

And that's the only two I can speak for so far, since I either haven't played or haven't gotten far enough in the others.