Why Can't I Play Dark Souls 3?

[CritialGaming]

So I just want to start by saying I love the "Souls" games. Ever since I first tired Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin. I had a blast with Dark Souls. Though I could never beat DS2, because of Shrine of Amara, mostly. But then I picked up a PS4 and Bloodborne. I loved Bloodborne, I fucking destroyed that game. Actually I found BB a bit on the easy side, at least after the initial learning curve. It became the first and only souls game I beat. Even some of the DLC, though I never got to the end of it, I stopped after beating the chick in the clocktower room. She was the only boss that ever gave me a hard time. 20 or so attempts.

Anyway on to Dark Souls 3.

I hate it. I don't know why, but the combat is really really off. It's not quite Dark Souls and not quite Bloodborne. Instead it is a hybrid that doesn't gel well for me. I feel like my character is slow to respond to my inputs, especially when rolling. I find myself hitting dodge, getting hit by the enemy attack, then my character rolls away after the fact. I'd understand if I had bad timing, but this happens a lot.

Now I have given DS3 a chance. I'm currently at 11 hours played, and I can't get into the combat. My knight feels just, sluggish. And the item designs feel shitty to me. I have gotten all this gear, and yet nothing has felt or worked better for me than the Knight's starting equipment.

And the difficulty of the overall game is fucking random as hell. Basic enemy placements feel cheap and simply there to screw you over or make the difficulty feel higher than it actually is. Yet I haven't had a single problem with any boss i have faced so far. The tree? Dead in 2 attempts. The Caster mage thing that randomly ports around the room with clones? 1 attempt, don't even know his name I beat him so fast. Deacons? Psh, 1 attempt as well.

Yet there are areas of normal mobs that have fucked me so hard, like traveling across the rooftops? Fuck that shit. I would rather be stuck in the Shrine of Amara.

One of the things I loved about Darks Souls 2 and Bloodborne is that I always felt I had control over the game's difficulty. If I was having trouble, I could always farm souls and level up to give myself an edge. Yet in DS3 there comes another problem. The soul reward per mob, versus the soul requirement to level seems way out of wack. Normal mobs yield 15-35 souls, making farming pointless when you end up needing 10k+ souls per level very quickly. This is another reason why the difficulty in DS3 feels broken to me, because it seems to have removed the option of grinding, (unless you sink stupid amounts of time into it).

I can't figure out why I hate it. But I do and I have given up on DS3 altogether. With janky combat, poor control responsiveness, difficulty that feels unfair (something the series has never felt before), and a haphazard looting system, I have lost all will to try and progress. So I have retired the game, uninstalled it from my computer and will never see beyond Faron Keep. Maybe the next edition will be better for me.

 

[CritialGaming]

If you've only played DS2 and Bloodborne, then you're probably expecting something pretty different from what people who've played Demon's Souls and DS1 expect. This is the first I've read of DS3 feeling sluggish.

 

[Bombiz]

The soul reward per mob, versus the soul requirement to level seems way out of wack. Normal mobs yield 15-35 souls,,making farming pointless when you end up needing 10k+ souls per level very quickly. This is another reason why the difficulty in DS3 feels broken to me, because it seems to have removed the option of grinding, (unless you sink stupid amounts of time into it).

Wat. What are you farming that you get such little souls? Like are killing peasants or...?

 

[CritialGaming]

Farming whatever I could. The problem I had was that not only did I feel like I wasn't rewarded for killing mobs, but the mobs where too hard for me to deal with.

Again I could steam roll bosses like a joke, but normal mobs absolutely fucked up my day. They have insane amounts of stamina, able to attack 2-3 more times after it looks like they can't, just....I hate it. I don't know what else to say. But 11 hours in, and I can't do it anymore. I hate it.

Now I never played Ds1 or Demon's Souls, so maybe this combat feels like that. But coming off of DS2 and BB, this game feels terrible. The combat sucks, and I can't figure out what about it is keep me from grasping it. Playing it safe doesn't help, being aggressive damn sure didn't help. I can't figure out WTF the game wants from me.

 

[DefunctTheory]

If you've only played DS2 and Bloodborne, then you're probably expecting something pretty different from what people who've played Demon's Souls and DS1 expect. This is the first I've read of DS3 feeling sluggish.

As someone who played the hell out of DS1 and Demon's Souls, that's not it at all. DS3 is no closer to those in general 'feel' then it is to DS2.

And I know what OP means by sluggishness - DS3 has some wonky hit mechanics that are hard to get used to, and the game's speed is cranked to 11. It's why I couldn't play it - Everything's too fast. You combine the sped up game pace with those weird hits and I can see how it could seem sluggish.

I'm with you OP. I removed the game from my hard drive after 11 miserable, forced hours of gameplay. The game is too fast, the environment and enemies too boring, the bosses veer wildly from trivial to impossible based on some RNG in their move sets and behaviors, about 60% of the enemies are put in place specifically for you to ignore, dodge, or run away from... just a poor showing for what may be the last 'proper' Souls game, in my opinion. I suppose I can see why people like it, but it fell absolutely flat for me.

I think this is one of those weird games that you either love to death, or hate with the passion of a burning star.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I can't really speak to the controls. It is a LOT slower than Bloodborne, that's for sure, but then it's supposed to be. Bloodborne was based around fast combat. As for comparing to Dark Souls II, I think maybe my character could roll a bit further and maybe a split second faster than in III, but that's it. It seems to respond instantly whenever I push a button. Granted, some of the windup attacks feel like they take forever, but then they're supposed to.
Of course, I played on the PS4, so maybe that is? I don't know.

Anyway, I've never had a problem with enemy placement in any of the souls games. Mobs are just part of it. Don't like it? Bust out a bow and thin them out. Or magic them. Or smack everyone with a huge sword all at once. There are plenty of ways to deal with mobs, but good lord, if they get to you first--especially in III, which I'll get to--you're going to be in trouble.

As for cheap placement, I'm kind of having a hard time picturing any area where I found that to be a problem. Okay, there are two areas that come to mind, but they're at the end of the game, and even then it's more, "You want to get by? Prove yourself" than feeling cheap.
If you're having trouble with the rooftops in III, I'd love to hear what you think of Sen's Fortress in the first game. Narrow bridge, swinging axe blades, spell caster out of range, and a giant snakeman coming right at you as soon as you enter. And don't even get me STARTED on those freaking silver knight archers in Anor Londo. That is cheap.

Here's where I think I can agree with you. The items don't really feel that different from one another in this game. Armor doesn't really seem like trading speed for damage protection is as present as it has been, and a basic long sword can mess up a player just as easily as some of the late-game weapons, if not more so. All this boils down to poise being "broken", as many have said--and personally, I kind of count myself among them. In the other games, if you were packing actual armor--especially Havel's--you could wade into a fight and keep swinging without losing momentum. Here though, it really seems like two taps and you are staggered, regardless of what you're wearing. This, in turns, hurts a LOT of players who are used to tanking the combat in Dark Souls, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of the sluggish issue you're having.

Finally, yes, the early parts of the game seem to be downright crap for farming souls. I played my first character as a Faith sort of build, and I was looking at how many souls I was getting even with soul plus items equipped, and I was just like, "I'm going to have no points to put into anything else at this rate...!" For me, I didn't really hit a good farming spot until I got to Irithyill or however you spell it (which you are only two areas away from, by the way). There, killing the knights finally felt like I was able farm some decent levels. Also, placing your sign there gets you summoned pretty much non-stop, so you'll get souls that way too.

On a side note, I'm curious. What stopped you from getting past the Shrine of Amana? That's my favorite area in the whole game, but I always hear people say how hard it is. So where did you get stuck? I can offer you some tips if you'd like.

 

[Bombiz]

Farming whatever I could. The problem I had was that not only did I feel like I wasn't rewarded for killing mobs, but the mobs where too hard for me to deal with.

What area are you farming? Cause after being area they should give more than just 35 souls.
If you're having trouble with the mobs why not try other weapons then. I was having trouble until I switched to the claymore. Now it's smooth sailing.

 

[sneakypenguin]

I enjoyed dark souls 3 on my 1st playthrough but the shortswords in PVE just blow everything away it almost makes it hard for me to use any other weapon. Yeah I could 2 hand something for 1k damage a swing or I could 8 hit stunlock combo bosses for half their hitpoints while quickrolling around.

Game difficulty was all over the place with it dropping big time once you leveled up a bit.

 

[Visulth]

Huge fan of DS1.

Hated DS3.

You're not alone.

It's a culmination of many factors; armor and poise are traps -- it makes you think this will help you survive when in fact it is doing the opposite, wasting precious points that could have gone into END or VIG since VIT, armor, and poise are all useless.

Ever see the video of the Darkwraith glitching into the Abyss Watchers boss fight? He nearly three shots the boss. You're not imagining it. It wasn't hard to make DeS or DS1 difficult since no one was really expecting the typcial Souls gameplay, but now that the cat is out of the bag, making the game harder for everyone who is already up to speed means the developers have to resort tow hat I feel are underhanded tactics.

Animation stalling (e.g., rearing up for an attack but purposely delaying it to an absurd degree to goad the player into dodging and then eating the attack) and unequal design.

See, in DS1 I felt enemies played by the same rules you did.
In DS3 this doesn't feel the case at all -- enemies have practically infinite stamina (I remember when the Dragon Knights in DS2 were criticized universally for that; now it's every monster in DS3), they can stagger you instantly with any hit (but of course, you can't do that to them unless you break *their* poise), and many, many unique moves and attacks that are unavailable to you (e.g. lothric knight shield bash).

 

[Trunkage]

What you say about DS3 us exactly what happened in DS2 ( at least before the DLCs). The only really challenging boss was the furnace golem that you could skip. But those knight at the start of the area were hard. Forest of Fallen Giant was hard to, but the proper Pursuer battle was done in a couple of attempts (and this is before I knew that you should go through the Wharf first, so I was under levelled.) The pig area of Tseldora, the Lost Bastille or the way to the Purgatory where also hard. But the Ruined Sentinels and the Chariot were easy.

Same with DS3, only the boss near Emma was challenging and I've only once done it solo. But many of the mobs are far more difficult.

But then I felt the same way about DS1 only each enemy wasn't difficult. There were much longer intervals between bonfires. It was much longer burst. There were only two challenging bosses as well.

Now timing for everything is different in each game. You can get used to it. And like all bosses, learn the patterns and you'll be fine. One thing I did like is that enemies can track you during swing, which made DS1 easier.

Personally, I actually find the combat more intuitive and responsive as time goes on. I don't have a PS4 so I can't draw comparisons between DS and BB

Sorry, I forgot about dark lurker, he was challenging too.

 

[sXeth]

Just an idle question, is your equip load up over 70? and try out going below 30%. You seem to have played other Souls games, so I'm guessing you know about roll speeds though.

DS3 does have some seriously bad animation vs hitbox issues though. If I went through all my saved videos of it, I could probably do over an hour of phantom hits, from both offline and online, where my character or enemies get hit despite not even being close to an attack animation. Also, in their apparent push to eliminate "Hug leg and circle" tactics, a ton of enemies seem to have developed electrified elbows/knees/capes/etc when they're attacking, so if you roll past them instead of away and graze one of these areas, you get hit,

 

[LostCrusader]

I'm also wondering if OP knows about equipment load % and the different roll speeds since that wasn't a factor in Bloodborne.

That said, I had some impressions of sluggishness with rolling in DS3 recently after taking a break away for a couple weeks. I'm still not sure if it was just my perception or maybe a patch screwing with me but it went away.

Also, there are a ton of enemies and bosses that can vary the timing on their attacks by winding up their swing and holding it. With them, either try smacking them before they get their swing off to stagger them, or hold off on rolling until they actually start swinging at you.

 

[Jandau]

I won't go into justifying DS3 or attacking it, because I think in this case it's just pointless. Sometimes a game just rubs you the wrong way. Something about the way it plays or looks or feels just doesn't sit well with you and you can't bring yourself to enjoy it, even though it might be exactly the kind of game you would normally be into.

For me, a solid example would be Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I played all the other main series ES games (yes, even Arena) and enjoyed them all. But Oblivion I detest, and it's kinda hard to put my finger on why. Something about the setting and how generic it feels, especially following the exotic theme of Morrowind; also, the game mechanics just don't come together properly for me. I've finished Daggerfall, Morrowind and Skyrim multiple times, but can't get more than a few hours into Oblivion before quitting in disgust.

There are other games like that, as well. I love the Fallout series and even the original Wasteland, but can't play the recent remake, it just feel like shit.

So perhaps the way the various elements of DS3 come together doesn't sit well with you. And that's fine. Regrettable, but fine. There's probably nothing that can change your mind, and nothing really should. You aren't wrong for disliking it, just as you disliking it doesn't make it a bad game. It's just not a game for you. God only knows we aren't short on choice...

 

[Zeke63]

eh the gameplay is the most fluid of the trilogy to me. Certainly the best designed dark souls in terms of gameplay. Though thematically and visually its so very derivative. PVP seems the most balanced and well made of the three too.

 

[wings012]

Is souls grinding to make life easier even really a thing for DS? The gain per level is fairly insubstantial and until you reach certain super farming spots, it is kinda hard to do. The only time I did some grinding as I progressed the game was to meet weapon requirements. Early on I would just do the 'dragon run'. Which I believe I also did in DS1. Trigger dragon, get shit burnt, go back and repeat. Relatively risk free.

My main issue with the game is how some(or most really) weapons are absolute butts compared to Estoc-Bestoc and straightsword spamming. Though I hear they have been nerfed in recent patches. So you might just be using a weapon that is sub-optimal for everything. Personally the first thing I did was grab a Halberd, grind so that I could use it and poke the everliving shit out of everything till the very end. Though you only having reached Farron Keep - yeah the fun boss weapons sure as hell haven't started to show up.

Anyway mobs are a spammy bunch of arses, with seemingly no stamina limit. I generally try to kite them and hold up a fat shield. If you ever return to playing and don't mind farming them Wolfgrass for the Wolf Knight Greatshield. For a GS, it is very light and should be manageable. Should let you just tank most things as long as you take care not to get surrounded or flanked.

The Darkwraiths there drop the Dark Sword, which was considered one of the more OP weapons. Its moveset is largely similar to the vanilla Straightsword, with a different weapon art and strong attack.

All in all, I don't think I found anything in DS3 nearly as frustrating as Blighttown. Farron Keep is also a swamp of poisonous sadness but it ain't anywhere near as bad and there aren't bloody Toxic dart snipers all up your grill.

 

[CritialGaming]

I won't go into justifying DS3 or attacking it, because I think in this case it's just pointless. Sometimes a game just rubs you the wrong way. Something about the way it plays or looks or feels just doesn't sit well with you and you can't bring yourself to enjoy it, even though it might be exactly the kind of game you would normally be into.

For me, a solid example would be Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I played all the other main series ES games (yes, even Arena) and enjoyed them all. But Oblivion I detest, and it's kinda hard to put my finger on why. Something about the setting and how generic it feels, especially following the exotic theme of Morrowind; also, the game mechanics just don't come together properly for me. I've finished Daggerfall, Morrowind and Skyrim multiple times, but can't get more than a few hours into Oblivion before quitting in disgust.

There are other games like that, as well. I love the Fallout series and even the original Wasteland, but can't play the recent remake, it just feel like shit.

So perhaps the way the various elements of DS3 come together doesn't sit well with you. And that's fine. Regrettable, but fine. There's probably nothing that can change your mind, and nothing really should. You aren't wrong for disliking it, just as you disliking it doesn't make it a bad game. It's just not a game for you. God only knows we aren't short on choice...

This is probably the best explanation for why I can't get into DS3. However it does seems like there are other issues that are either buggy or just fucking cheap, that make the game feel terrible to me.

Also for those that wondered, yes I am very much aware of weight % affecting roll. However weight doesn't affect your input lag, it merely effects your I-frames and roll distance. It would have nothing to do with pressing a button and not having you action happen until .5 seconds later.

Enemies with infinite stamina, while again it feels really shitty, isn't enough to keep me away. That's a get gud thing.

However things like poise and armor not being worth shit, undermines the feeling of getting new armor items.

The delay attacks of enemies, feels cheap. Again it is probably a get gud thing, but it does feel like they did it merely to fuck with people who've played Souls games before.

The best way to describe it is that it seems like they put Bloodborne enemies in a Dark Souls game. So you are stuck with a slow and brittle character, yet the enemies don't care about their stamina, you hitting them, or being super aggressive and fast. Now I didn't have a problem with Bloodborne, I beat it. But despite being similar, DS and BB are NOT the same, you can't interchange their gameplay styles because they do not work together. Both games have different mentalities, and thus by making the Souls enemies behave like BB enemies, it makes them OP in a Souls game.

 

[stroopwafel]

I personally love Dark Souls 3. It's me favorite! I played through all the games at their original release dates but DkS3 in general just has the most polish. Loved Demon's Souls but swamp sucked. Loved Dark Souls but everything post-Lordvessel was extremely lacklustre. Dark Souls 2 was alright but not that great. Bloodborne is my most favorite game of all time.

Dark Souls 3 felt very much like a 'best of' Souls megamix for me kind of like a victory lap for the series. All their experience making these games came together in the third one. I guess the novelty has worn off a bit but for me that's not really a big deal when I enjoy games as much as this series.

 

[StreamerDarkly]

Your starting armor is fine for the entire game. The fact that you can't upgrade armor makes it clear they didn't really want that to be a focus this time around. Make no mistake though - armor does make a significant difference compared to going naked. I dunno, were you expecting to get some gear at the start of the game that just lets you tank everything?

Never heard any complaints about control responsiveness. Roll speed and i-frame duration are well balanced. Get your equip. load below 70% for normal rolls. Below 30% gives extra roll distance, but you'll need to remove a couple armor pieces and/or level VIT for that.

If you're still in Farron Keep and it's already costing 10K for a level up, you're already overleveled. The ghru mobs in this area can be quite trolly I would agree, and it sucks to be moving slow through the swamp and constantly taking poison damage. Trying to kill everything here will definitely cause you some pain. Buy a dagger from the handmaid for a secondary weapon and use its weapon art to fast step through the swamp.

 

[default]

Yeah, I'm a long time Souls player and I'm fairly unhappy with 3. I finished my initial run, went up to around level 100 and mucked around with the PvP for a good long while before realising it was too simple, undemanding, unbalanced and laggy to enjoy. And by lag I don't mean latency. I'm from Australia and even I can play Demon's Souls PvP on US servers with a consistent stable latency. But DkS3 just has straight up unstable lagspikes no matter who I am connected to.

I usually go for an SL1 run after my initial completion, but I got up to Pontiff, tried about five times, and just realised I didn't care. DkS3 just feels so lifeless and dead, like there was very little inspiration going into it. It has none of the bite or personality of DeS, DkS1 or Bloodborne. I despise the fan service, it makes me cringe. Having artifacts from to the past or linking historical events to current ones is cool, but Seigmeyer (not even in the form of a spiritual successor, he is essentially the exact same character) rising up out of the floor in a distinctly sitcom-character-entering-the-apartment-esque manner made my stomach sink.




And honestly, I don't blame From for having run dry on ideas, making five very similar games within such a short amount of time.


All Dark Souls 3 did for me is make me realise I really, really want to play Bloodborne now, because that game at least looks like it was designed with some care, imagination and inspiration. It makes me sad that DkS3 has left me feeling this unsatisfied. This series is so special and it deserved all of the care, attention and time it could be afforded.



To be clear, Dark Souls 3 is a fantastic game in and of itself. Leagues above many other games we see released throughout the year. It just lacks in many areas when compared against the rest of the series.

 

[Bombiz]

Yeah, I'm a long time Souls player and I'm fairly unhappy with 3. I finished my initial run, went up to around level 100 and mucked around with the PvP for a good long while before realising it was too simple, undemanding, unbalanced and laggy to enjoy. And by lag I don't mean latency. I'm from Australia and even I can play Demon's Souls PvP on US servers with a consistent stable latency. But DkS3 just has straight up unstable lagspikes no matter who I am connected to.

I usually go for an SL1 run after my initial completion, but I got up to Pontiff, tried about five times, and just realised I didn't care. DkS3 just feels so lifeless and dead, like there was very little inspiration going into it. It has none of the bite or personality of DeS, DkS1 or Bloodborne. I despise the fan service, it makes me cringe. Having artifacts from to the past or linking historical events to current ones is cool, but Seigmeyer (not even in the form of a spiritual successor, he is essentially the exact same character) rising up out of the floor in a distinctly sitcom-character-entering-the-apartment-esque manner made my stomach sink.




And honestly, I don't blame From for having run dry on ideas, making five very similar games within such a short amount of time.


All Dark Souls 3 did for me is make me realise I really, really want to play Bloodborne now, because that game at least looks like it was designed with some care, imagination and inspiration. It makes me sad that DkS3 has left me feeling this unsatisfied. This series is so special and it deserved all of the care, attention and time it could be afforded.



To be clear, Dark Souls 3 is a fantastic game in and of itself. Leagues above many other games we see released throughout the year. It just lacks in many areas when compared against the rest of the series.

I always found that Dark Souls 3 was my replacement for Bloodborn since BB is a ps4 exclusive and can't justify buying a console just for one game