Dark Souls, Demon's Souls successor Options

[Crushinator]

So yeah, From Software has revealed "Project Dark" as Dark Souls, which is officially NOT Demon's Souls 2... But we all know it is.



As much as I fucking rage and hate Demon's Souls, I always said I'd gladly play a sequel. This looks damn good, if not just as brutal as its forbearer. Word is they actually have "normal" co-op now too, you can play with your friends, not just random dicks. The world is more open and focused on exploration, and its now multiplatform.

[Scan_Man]

I beat it too. I took my time though. My playtime was 73 hours. But, I never played Demon Souls, I only did online for two bosses at the beginning (Gargoyles and Capra Demon), explored every nook and cranny, and did all the optional bosses/areas. I did not use a guide except when I could not find the next bonfire. Also, I read forum post about people's opinions on bosses, like which ones were giving people a hard time. I knew about the Dragon Sword from a video before the game was released in US, so I got that (not much use because I was DEX build Thief). Lastly, I did no farming for souls.

I know I had a harder time than most at the start because I used the first firekeep soul instead of giving it to the NPC. So for most of the game I had gimped healing. Also, I killed the first blacksmith because when I accidentally hit R2 with my leg while I was talking to him, he went hostile. I ended up killing him because I did not know about the NPC that lets you pay to make NPCs friendly again because I had not killed the Gargoyles yet. So, I could not do much upgrading for most of the game.


The part I literally got stuck for 20 hours was Sen's Fortress. This place gave me a hard time. It's not really hard though. It just trolls you with beginner's traps if you are going through it blind. Then punishes you hard for rushing through because you think you've mastered a section of it from the sheer repetition. I was punching walls and screaming at this part. Does not help that the stretch to the next bonfire is quite longer than anything before. After several hours of trying I would take a break by working on Sif for 4 hours (the run back is the main source of frustration here because its quite long, not really any enemies just a stupid run back).

After Sen's Fortress I found the last quarter of the game was oddly easier than what came before, mostly after beating Ornstein and Smough. It's seems the last portions of the game just hands it to you. For instance, there seems to be bonfires every couple of rooms. The last few bosses are push overs, with one boss even saving your progress when you die. To be fair, I found the challenge of this to be just right for me though. I was actually having a lot more fun. I just find it odd because the game was quite grueling, along with trolling the hell out of you, until then. Intentionally, or did I finally learn the game?

Ornstein and Smough is my favorite boss fight. A lot of people claim this is the hardest fight in the game. I did not find it too tough, just more a battle of attrition. You have to know when to attack and when to dodge by taking your time.

Knowledge is key in this game. I started NG+ and I'm blazing through it because I know what to do.

Definitely my favorite game this year.