Dark Souls and how it forces you to make choices.

[TheNewDemoman]

While Dark Souls is obviously no Skyrim. It does force you to make indirect moral choices. Do you kill the innocent shop keeper and take his sword, or let him live his pathetic life.

In most games I pick the "good" choices. For example, I give the save the cat and give it to the little girl free of charge. However in Dark Souls, I become a monster. Killing everything, knowing that I need every edge I can get to just BARELY kill Nito. I would probably take the cat out of tree and kill it in the hopes it might have humanity on it.


So the two questions.

1. Why do you think Dark Souls makes you play differently
2. What have you done (if you have played Dark Souls)

 

[Grampy_bone]

The "morality" of Dark Souls is that every creature in the game is a monster, including you. Most of the people in the game eventually go hollow and attack you, or do something else horrible.

 

[DanielBrown]

Uhm... I always let them live until right before the last boss. Then I slaughter them all.

 

[TheNewDemoman]

Uhm... I always let them live until right before the last boss. Then I slaughter them all.

But if you didn't need too would you still kill them?

 

[Blue Hero]

I like the way Dark Souls made me think with Quelaag's sister. Do I wanna kill her and get her firekeeper soul to reinforce my estus flask, or keep or alive and give her my humanity to improve her health and strengthen my allegiance with her covenant? Talking to her with the Old Witch's Ring really made me feel sorry for her. It was a really tough decision. I just felt so damn sorry for her. I couldn't bring myself to kill her.

 

[Hunter.Wolf]

The morality of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls stems first from the fact it saves your game constantly .. so every single choice you make matters .. kill NPC and he is dead for good (at least till NG+).. there is no save or checkpoint to bring him/her back ... even when you sell/get rid of an item it is a big choice and has a hefty weight unlike many other games.

And OP .. you really had to kill NPCs to be able to kill Nito !!? .. really ? .. he is the easiest boss among the four last bosses you fight before the final boss.

 

[Stephen Mack]

I kept everyone alive as much as possible, because I felt so alone and craved any kind of social interaction. Even the Giant Blacksmith who just muttered at me.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Crossbreed Priscilla represents that choice perfectly. She tells you the way out and tells you to leave in peace. She doesn't attack you. Killing her pretty much establishes your character as a heartless douche. But her soul can be used to craft a weapon and her tail gives another weapon.

 

[TheNewDemoman]

And OP .. you really had to kill NPCs to be able to kill Nito !!? .. really ? .. he is the easiest boss among the four last bosses you fight before the final boss.

Hard as hell when you are a squishy mage

 

[2733]

funny, it never even occurred to me to kill the npcs. they are more useful to me alive, a weapon or item now simply isn't as valuable as infinite arrows or upgrades.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Do you kill the Koopa Troopa and take his shell or let him walk past and live, you decide.

Mario Bros: The Drama

OT I always choose good things, in 99% of games you get better stuff.

Holy crap. I could have let them live, but I never did. I've always killed them, every time. Every single soul. And I had no reason to: I could have jumped right over them. How many innocent lives were lost, how many passive creatures slaughtered by me? And for what, a kiss from some Stockholm Syndrome suffering tart! I am the real monster, not Bowser. It was me dammit, it was me all along...

 

[Hiname]

The big questions are, if youa sk me, not who you kill and who you do not kill, but more which covenant you join?

Do you stand behind your decision to give the Lord Vessal to the kingseeker and join the princess guard?
Do you feel like your role in this game is a different one and dedicateyourself to the sanctuary of the hallowed woods?
Or perhaps you seek to serve the gods and punish the wicked?

I decided to attone for my sins and return to my origins as a pyromancer, joining one of the last survivors of izalith, offering my humanity to ease the unbearable pain of the fair lady, after I was forced too kill her dear sister.


...

On a less serious sidenote.
humanity cursed to undeath? Well ain't that some shit! [http://i.imgur.com/gJ0PM.png]

 

[Smeggs]

Usually in a game where you have a moral delimma, it really comes down to whether or not you'll get better stuff in the long run. In Bioshock for example I find the things the Little Sisters bring you if you choose not to harvest them end up being much more worth it than getting some extra Adam and buying powerups I'll probably unequip for the newer ones I'll just stumble across in Rapture.

I've never killed any of the vendors in Dark Souls so far. Most of them are useful, for isntance the one on Undead Burgh sells arrows, throwing knives and fire bombs.

The crazy lady in the sewer sells you status healing mosses along with Humanity(?) and Transient Curses which you need to kill ghosts until you get the right Ember for a Blacksmith.

Although I can pretty much do everything but ascending/enchanting my weapon on my own, I'll never kill a blacksmith.

Dark Souls really doesn't give you a moral dilemma. Really only a heartless person is gonna kill the shopkeeper for a sword which probably isn't even that good. It also isn't free-roam. It has the illusion of free-roam, but if you go anywhere other than the specific place you were meant to you'll usually be fighting enemies that are way beyond your capability to handle.

 

[Chevalier noir]

The morality of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls stems first from the fact it saves your game constantly .. so every single choice you make matters .. kill NPC and he is dead for good (at least till NG+).. there is no save or checkpoint to bring him/her back ... even when you sell/get rid of an item it is a big choice and has a hefty weight unlike many other games.

Yhea, no save scumming here. That makes everything you do count.

I'm on my first playthru now, its a blast.

 

[demoman_chaos]

I generally play the nice guy. I quite dislike being invaded, as do most people I bet. There was once I was invaded right before the gargoyle boss. I just summoned Knight Solitaire and was using a heal miracle. Right when I went to heal, in came the invader and he stabbed me in the back before my character stood up. He could have at least had the decency to let me get up and fight with honor, the coward.

When I invaded people in Demon's Souls, I never used cheap strategies. I somewhat often actually stripped down to my underpants and did some bare knuckle brawling (while talking like the cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz, "Put 'em up, put em uup"), and sometimes people would do the same for some good old fisticuffs. I distinctly remember being the Tower of Latria boss as a boxer and almost beating a fully equipped foe (I remember him healing quite a few times and me wishing I was recording).

While Dark Souls is obviously no Skyrim. It does force you to make indirect moral choices. Do you kill the innocent shop keeper and take his sword, or let him live his pathetic life.

The shopkeeper with the katana is FAR more useful alive than dead. He sells really really cheap arrows which are very vital to surviving a lot of encounters (like the undead dragons). I killed him with one character, then after I got to Lost Izalith with another and saw the RIDICULOUSLY MASSIVE HORDE of T-Rex leg things, I realized the shopkeep killer was boned.

 

[ramboondiea]

theres no moral choice to killing the shopkeeper, you kill him get a crappy sword thats outclassed in a few zones. or keep him alive and become a source of loads of useful items, the wizards are better examples.

the only choice that dark souls offer is on how you build your character, iron wall or quick mcstabby

 

[DanielBrown]

Uhm... I always let them live until right before the last boss. Then I slaughter them all.

But if you didn't need too would you still kill them?

I don't need to. The humanity is nice, but I care little for it.
I wouldn't kill them earlier anyways. Could mess up the entire game. >.<

 

[TheNewDemoman]

theres no moral choice to killing the shopkeeper, you kill him get a crappy sword thats outclassed in a few zones. or keep him alive and become a source of loads of useful items, the wizards are better examples.

the only choice that dark souls offer is on how you build your character, iron wall or quick mcstabby

It's outclassed if you don't upgrade it

Enchanted Uchigatana with high lvl Intelligence is amazing

 

[ramboondiea]

theres no moral choice to killing the shopkeeper, you kill him get a crappy sword thats outclassed in a few zones. or keep him alive and become a source of loads of useful items, the wizards are better examples.

the only choice that dark souls offer is on how you build your character, iron wall or quick mcstabby

It's outclassed if you don't upgrade it

Enchanted Uchigatana with high lvl Intelligence is amazing

thats a massive commitment to make when better weapons are available for cheaper, its a mediocre weapon that only does good slash damage which a lot of the harder enemies are generally resistant to. so no thank you, ill stick to keeping the bloke alive for the arrows and the bombs