Poll: Dark Souls 2 vs. Dark Souls 3: Which game should be next on my list?

[Fox12]

Depends, did you enjoy the combat of DS1? Then just go in order of release. Did you enjoy the atmosphere? DS3. Like looking for lore bits and pieces? DS2.

It depends. Do you care about the gameplay? If you do then don't play dark souls 2. It's slower, clunkier, and less polished then one. Do you care about the lore? If so then don't play Dark Souls 3. While the game play is tight they butchered the story. It's also extremely linear.

Kind of the problem. I liked the gameplay(excluding the multi-player for the most part) and the combat has been a lot better then most RPG's I've played in a while. I like the lore but I had to watch net videos to pick up on a lot of it. The atmosphere/world design is definitely a selling point for me here. Especially the wierd realization that Lordran is a closed circle that there is no way to leave(granted, it sounds like the rest of the world is worse) and yet all the areas fit together wonderfully(aside from the wierdness of it always being night in the darkroot garden/basin).

My biggest concern with DS2 is that I've heard for every mechanic they made better, they made one worse as well. Being invadable while hollow(and each death while hollowed cuts into your max health), soul memory and incredibly fast degrading weapons come to mind, starting out with all of one estus charge. Maybe they're not as bad as they sound.

I was stunned by how much I disliked 2, which is a shame, because I wanted to love it. When I played Demon Soul's I expected it to be clunkier then Dark Soul's. To my surprise it ran very smooth, and combat felt as natural as the combat in Dark Soul's. There were some issues with scaling and overpowered weapons, but the actual game play was extremely solid. It also had a very unique atmosphere that was mostly different then Dark Soul's 1.

When I started Dark Soul's 2 I expected it to be smoother then Dark Soul's 1. To my surprise it was clunkier. It felt slower, and attacks didn't seem to have the weight they did in 1. They also didn't seem to move as fast, or register damage as quickly. Backstabs and perries felt all wrong. When I tried to dodge roll my character wasn't as responsive, no matter how much armor I was wearing, and the I frames were wonky. The hit boxes were off, and enemy attacks CONSTANTLY registered damage even when I clearly dodged the attack. This forced me to guess where I was supposed to dodge towards. I would also damage enemies even if my sword didn't make physical contact. Enemies were also able lock onto your location. In Dark Soul's 1 you could wait for an enemy to wind up an attack, then dodge. In Dark Soul's 2 the enemies will spin around like a balerina, no matter how big and slow they are, and crush you. Their feet don't even move. They just rotate in place and home in on your position. I had heard that the lore was bad, but I at least expected the game play to be decent. The exploration was gone and the characters were all dull. The world design made no sense. There's a part where you enter a windmill, go UP an elevator, and then come out to an UNDERGROUND cavern filled with lava. There was no subtlety. I wouldn't reccomend Dark Soul's 2 to anyone.

Spoiler

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

Dark Soul's 3 had excellent game play. Unfortunately they removed certain features, such as poise, and they nerfed magic and miracles so bad that they are almost entirely unplayable. I started as a claric, and I basically had to realign all of my stats halfway through. On top of removing poise, you also can't upgrade your armor. One of the best parts of Darks Soul's 1 is trying different builds during your playthroughs. Dark Soul's 3 basically forces you to play as a medium armored knight or a lightly armored dex character. The gameplay is much smoother then 2, and maybe even smoother then 1, but it has nowhere near the same level of depth or diversity. It's also a very linear game. You have to play the game in a specific order, there's no exploration to speak of, and every area feels like a level in a video game instead of part of a larger world. The lore is somewhat convoluted as well. It contradicts events in both Dark Soul's 1 and 2, and may prove frustrating. It also relies to much on fanservice from the first game. If you're invested in the lore, then you may dislike DS3. Some people don't care, however, which is fine. If you're more interested in game play then I think you will find DS3 to be an engaging, albeit shallower experiance.

I would recommend Demon Souls and Bloodborne as alternatives to the Dark Souls sequels. They have excellent game play, diverse builds, great level design, wonderful lore, amazing atmosphere, and in the case of Bloodborne an amazing, intricate, non linear world to explore. It feels like Miyazaki said everything he meant to say in the first Dark Souls, and he really needs to move on to something else.

 

[Redryhno]

Kind of the problem. I liked the gameplay(excluding the multi-player for the most part) and the combat has been a lot better then most RPG's I've played in a while. I like the lore but I had to watch net videos to pick up on a lot of it. The atmosphere/world design is definitely a selling point for me here. Especially the wierd realization that Lordran is a closed circle that there is no way to leave(granted, it sounds like the rest of the world is worse) and yet all the areas fit together wonderfully(aside from the wierdness of it always being night in the darkroot garden/basin).

My biggest concern with DS2 is that I've heard for every mechanic they made better, they made one worse as well. Being invadable while hollow(and each death while hollowed cuts into your max health), soul memory and incredibly fast degrading weapons come to mind, starting out with all of one estus charge. Maybe they're not as bad as they sound.

Ok, then I'm going to tell you to play it if that's where your apprehension lies. The health cuts get annoying, but it also doesn't drop you below something like 60% of your max hp, and isn't all that much of a difference when it comes to combat since everything deals a shitload of damage anyways, not to mention humanity drops alot more(as you go through the game that is, actually farming it in DS1 is much faster) so it doesn't really matter all that much, soul memory isn't all that bad unless you're talking about pvp, the fast degrading weapons isn't really that fast and you can still buy repair powder, and the one estus charge you can turn into something like twenty if you explore(though the first one you can get easily is a bit bullshit, the well by the house has a body on it you can attack and get a shard from it) as well as the the ability to make each charge heal you for twice as much.

However, like I said, DS2 has a different atmosphere than DS1, dead kingdom vs. dying kingdom being the simplest explanation. And since you said you like the atmosphere, it's a bit of a tossup. Still going to say DS2 is worth playing despite what alot of people say and that it's got a pretty interesting and deep story all its own.

 

[Dalisclock]

I don't understand why so many people want to act like DS2 was an abomination - even isolating the opinion within the series - especially when many of the same also complain DS3 was a "nostalgic" retread of the original they cherish so much.

DS2 was never meant to be a continuation of the original. At most it's an extension of the same "universe". It may not have the same feel, but since it's so subjective people won't know if that's personally a good or bad thing until they try it.

At best, DS2 will help you enjoy the series more as a whole because it's different. At worst, it will make you appreciate DS3 much, much more than if it was ignored completely.

 

[Dalisclock]

So, a couple weeks back I recently finished my first playthrough of Dark Souls(and I'm also quite bored of reading about NMS). I quite enjoyed it, though it was pretty much a solo experience for me. Tried the Jolly Co-operation with others and was mostly not impressed by the system(it was hard to find other people to play with when I was actually looking to co-op bosses). I actively loathed the PVP and I'm sure I pissed off a few invaders during my playthrough because of my refusal to play.

So I know that someday I will play another game in the series, and it's very likely going to be Dark Souls 2 or Dark Souls 3. Normally picking the next game wouldn't be difficult, but the Souls games tend to be tenuously connected at best. Not only that, but I was paying some attention when DS3 dropped(which is one of the reasons I finally got around to playing DS) and noticed there didn't seem to be a clear sense of DS2 or DS3 being the better sequel/game. Opinion seemed rather divided(and honestly, I don't know if that's changed).

So before anyone says it, Bloodborne is actually my first choice to play next. However, I don't own a PS4 and right now Bloodborne is pretty much my only reason to purchase one. So barring Sony letting FROM actually make a PC port of Bloodborne, I'm either waiting for a major price drop on the PS4 or something like the Last Guardian making me break down and purchase a PS4. Either way, it's still gonna be a while before I get to Bloodborne.

I'm not completely against Demon Souls either, but from what I've read, Dark Souls is pretty much a far better version of Demon Souls, so there's not a lot of reason to go back to it unless I'm really hurting for some Souls action.

So TL;DR, which Souls game would be the best next game to experience?

Dark Souls is like a more refined version of Demon's Souls, feeling more like a grand adventure game but losing some - or perhaps quite a bit - of the spice in terms of design. If anything, you might be better off at this point saving it for last, as it could put its originality and deep design intricacies into much better perspective and appreciation.

While there are things I definitely like more about Dark (healing system, upgrade refinements, simplified burden system and world connectivity being the standouts), Demon's will always be the true classic of the series IMO. Out of everyone who's played all the Souls games, I've never heard a peep about it feeling rushed or incomplete in even some minor way next to the others. Which is a bit ironic, considering the mystery surrounding the game's "unfinished" archstone.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

I voted for Dark Souls 3, as it is still quite fresh right now. A lot of people are still playing it, as do I, even though I'm cutting down on my bipolar humanist urge to either help you see the light or ruin your day, just because I (probably) can.

My true recommendation would have to go to Demon's Souls, though.

While Dark Souls 3 is the most polished Souls title with more than a little sprinkle of the fast-paced action of Bloodborne, Demon's Souls is, even though it's really not the oldest in the evolution of great and interesting FROM Software titles, the original Miyazaki Souls game - and easily the least compromising title in the series. Yes, there is content missing. but what's there is just so unique, so fresh, so unrelentingly dark and different it demands (and deserves) your full attention while you either calmly figure things out in your own time or play along the guidelines of the wiki, whatever you may choose.

The vast majority of my playtime in DS2 I spent exclusively in PVP after I grabbed all the gear I wanted and reached SL120.

I really cannot recommend Dark Souls 2. There are some memorable vistas, sound is still quite great. Monster and boss designs and scripting are... exceedingly meh, with very few notable exceptions that just might not be worth the hassle if you're not hardcore, in love or otherwise challenged. If you absolutely want to play DS2, get the Scholars of the First Sin edition, as it is the well cleaned up, fixed and "complete edition". It's still easily the worst/only bad Souls title in the series. There are other opinions, of course.

Bloodborne is an excellent game, but it feels like somebody slipped you some fighter pilot amphetamines in your milk, switched the flour in your cookies with cocaine, took away your trusty shield and sent you on your merry way clobbering victorian horrors from beyond with weapons that are... rather peculiar. It's good, but also very different. You don't turtle up, but wail on the last guy that hit you to regain some health. You don't parry-riposte, but you generally counter by shooting an attacker in the face before slicing and dicing away. You've got monsters out of folklore and golden days of black-and-white movies, but then there's the indescribable lovecraftian horrors that will confuse, annoy and kill you dead. It's the fast-paced one. This one is different.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

Dark Souls 2 will keep you occupied for a month or two. Personally, I had much more fun with DS2:SOTFS than I did with DS1. The problem with DS2 is that it's far more linear and has filler (closed arenas, recycled bosses, etc), but when it shines it becomes the strongest game in the series (The Sunken city, Fume knight fight, Sir Alonne, Dragon Aerie)

All in all, DS2 has the longest "wind up period" out of all the games, but becomes the most engaging entry into the series later on.

 

[Dalisclock]

I just want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. Considering both DS2 and DS3 are still rather contested, I think I'm gonna hold off on either of them until at least DS3 has it's DLC released and it's complete edition available.

That being said, I was impressed by what people said about Demons Souls and decided to snatch that up and give it a try. Which puts me in the same position as the original DS where I'm hearing it's good but not really sure what to expect otherwise(other then "DS but not DS").

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

If you can temper your expectations, I'd say Dark Souls 2. It is by far the longest game in the series, most diverse in terms of available weapons and playstyles, and IMO most refined and balanced in gameplay terms. The lore, graphics, level design and bosses are rather underwhelming to balance that, but the DLC makes up for it to an extent.

DS3 left me kinda "meh". It's the most linear entry in the series, and the Bloodborne-influenced gameplay tweaks (mostly increased emphasis on rolling and eliminating poise as it was) make every playthrough pretty much the same. The lore also IMO relied way too much on references to DS1.

Demon's Souls is different from the series. It feels, in light of the rest of the series now, like a test game: the gameplay isn't quite as refined, the world design is more "gamey", there's not quite so much equipment, the uprade system is terribly unintuitive, equipment load is nothing but a nuisance and adds only an annoyance factor to gameplay, the mechanic of halving your health on death, especially when the game's equivalent of Humanity is very rare, is rage inducing, and the bosses, while some remarkable for their spectacle, are mostly cakewalks.

There are things that Demon's Souls does excellently though: lore and atmosphere the most. There's an ethereal sense of being in a waking dream/nightmare to the world and the lore, where things don't quite make sense, and everything feels just off enough that you're never sure of your surroundings. If Dark Souls is a man completely shut off from the rest of the world, and Bloodborne is a raving maniac screaming in his cell, Demon's Souls is a schizophrenic, who hears noises no one else does and can never be sure of what is or isn't real. Tower of Latria and Valley of Defilement also have some of the strongest sense of atmosphere I've ever seen in a game, and have yet to see match even in the rest of the series. Latria is downright terrifying with its silence punctuated by screams and jingling bells.

So my verdict would probably be: Demon's Souls if you want great atmosphere and immersion, Dark Souls 2 if you want refined gameplay.

 

[Dalisclock]

^Latria to me was creepy, but VoD was downright unsettling, in a Silent Hill kind of way. I literally avoided the whole archstone for a long while after taking a peek, and even after completing the first section took another long break before returning for the next.

It made Blighttown feel like a quaint shanty village with a pleasant vista by comparison. BT was also easier to play through even with the frame issues, which ironically enough forced me to play more carefully.