I just ran up with an Iaito +13 and brute forced my way through with no buffs. Yeah, Orstein and Smough was definitely the hardest boss fight in the game for me.Kopikatsu said:
Poll: Dark Souls isn't hard, its just douchey with its checkpoints
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There are different kinds of "difficulty" in games
One is that you have to time to the millisecond how you do something. I.e. A platformer where you have to jump insanely perfectly.
Or
Having checkpoints spread far apart. Now certain games this is a weird one to balance. But in Dead Souls the game is basically telling you "Even though you can do the first 99 enemies perfectly, you can't do the 100th, too bad TRY HARDER" It IS difficult in the sense that you must do that area without fail, you are trying to get through that area. It may seem like a time waste to you, but in reality it is actually what makes it difficult, you are forced to perfect that area before you can move on.
That's what makes it difficult, not that you can blow through the first 99 enemies easily, but that you CAN'T get through that 100th enemy without failing.
One is that you have to time to the millisecond how you do something. I.e. A platformer where you have to jump insanely perfectly.
Or
Having checkpoints spread far apart. Now certain games this is a weird one to balance. But in Dead Souls the game is basically telling you "Even though you can do the first 99 enemies perfectly, you can't do the 100th, too bad TRY HARDER" It IS difficult in the sense that you must do that area without fail, you are trying to get through that area. It may seem like a time waste to you, but in reality it is actually what makes it difficult, you are forced to perfect that area before you can move on.
That's what makes it difficult, not that you can blow through the first 99 enemies easily, but that you CAN'T get through that 100th enemy without failing.
I think it's a fair punishment for dying. I've only fought one boss where I've needed to actually run back because it killed me so far (albeit I've only fought five bosses so far).
You have to sit back and watch a boss as it tries to kill you and figure out how it's moves work, that is pretty much 80% of the game. If you mess that up you'll die and have to go through it all again.
I don't find this to be fake difficulty, I find it to be punishment for not paying attention.
You have to sit back and watch a boss as it tries to kill you and figure out how it's moves work, that is pretty much 80% of the game. If you mess that up you'll die and have to go through it all again.
I don't find this to be fake difficulty, I find it to be punishment for not paying attention.
Every enemy ive encountered has ceased to be a challange after the 4th-5th time ive killed it in a row.JoesshittyOs said:
Yes these enemies can kill me in 1 or 2 hits but 9/10 times they dont unless i make a really stupid error. The shitty checkpoints are all this game has in way of difficutly.
The game becomes a grind fest, forcing me to slug through the areas ive already mastered.
And death doesnt carry any particular weight, losing souls isnt any real trouble because its easy to grind and get more.. but i havent had to grind to beat a boss since playing pokemon when i was 8.
Death is merely an annoying time sink. Even if i found shortcuts that lead to a boss, that take say 2 minutes to get back. There is no challange in running for 2 minutes, its just a massive waste of your time. Its almost like purposefully having loading screens each time you die, that take 2 minutes to load.
I need to keep reading threads like this because I need to talk myself out of getting Dark Souls. Because while it looks interesting, I'm definitely not someone who likes having to do the same thing over and over and over in games.
That actually sounds a lot better than in Demon Souls. Because you could pretty much get the best spell by the end of the second level and if you just farmed the first area of level 3 you could pretty much get into the unlimited magic area with the amount of herbs the guys dropped. Making every "hard" boss into an easy move right fire spell move left fire spell. Pretty much the only time I died in Demon souls when I stopped playing was when I fell off a ledge.Kopikatsu said:
CBA to read everything, but:
Yes, it can be annoying, but it is also a part of the game-mechanic. By forcing you to do the easy part over and over again, you are farming souls ( as long as you can safely get back to your corpse), because sometimes you just need to level up to keep going. Also, the bosses are rather easy. Gaping dragon done in two tries (because i failed the first time), Quelaag down to 75% first try, from then on i knew the moveset and what to do (still failed for two hours though). Also, having more checkpoints would take away from the experience. It is supposed to be depressing, it is supposed to make you angry when you die. E.g. if there where checkpoints every 5 enemies (right now it feels like checkpoints every 10 enemies), then i would not understand the depression some of the characters have.
TL;DR : It's part of the game mechanic (farming souls) and atmosphere.
Yes, it can be annoying, but it is also a part of the game-mechanic. By forcing you to do the easy part over and over again, you are farming souls ( as long as you can safely get back to your corpse), because sometimes you just need to level up to keep going. Also, the bosses are rather easy. Gaping dragon done in two tries (because i failed the first time), Quelaag down to 75% first try, from then on i knew the moveset and what to do (still failed for two hours though). Also, having more checkpoints would take away from the experience. It is supposed to be depressing, it is supposed to make you angry when you die. E.g. if there where checkpoints every 5 enemies (right now it feels like checkpoints every 10 enemies), then i would not understand the depression some of the characters have.
TL;DR : It's part of the game mechanic (farming souls) and atmosphere.
I never even got past those skeleton warriors. I guess I'm not manly enough.
Fuck that game and all the people who praise it right in the ear.
Fuck that game and all the people who praise it right in the ear.
Actually going back to the boss IS part of the challenge. Skill decides a lot whether you will succeed or fail in this game, but you also have to keep track of your resources. Going through those enemies, while not potentially fatal, can drain one of your primary life-giving resources, YOUR FLASKS, which will become useful in the fight. This game is all about adequate resource usage, and making decisions based on what you have.
Plus there are a ton of shortcuts. There is one by the capra demon, so you only have to take out a few weak guys before you fight him.
Plus there are a ton of shortcuts. There is one by the capra demon, so you only have to take out a few weak guys before you fight him.
I think you went the wrong way. Were you fighting them in the graveyard right outside the starting point?For.I.Am.Mad said:
I never really had a problem with the deaths, mostly because there are shortcuts everywhere. I can't think of 1 boss in the game that either has a checkpoint nearby or a shortcut. Usually you can safely run through the normal enemies on the way to the boss from the last shortcut.
The runs aren't that long either. For the first boss, just take the elevator up, go up the stairs, beat the first knight, and run like hell to the boss. Second boss has a doorway that leads to the room right before the final boss that has enemies that are way too slow to chase you. The giant ogres guarding the 3rd boss can be avoided entirely by going around them. The fourth boss, if you kill a special monster, only needs you to fight a singly weak crossbow enemy.
I have no problem with the respawns.
The runs aren't that long either. For the first boss, just take the elevator up, go up the stairs, beat the first knight, and run like hell to the boss. Second boss has a doorway that leads to the room right before the final boss that has enemies that are way too slow to chase you. The giant ogres guarding the 3rd boss can be avoided entirely by going around them. The fourth boss, if you kill a special monster, only needs you to fight a singly weak crossbow enemy.
I have no problem with the respawns.
I will agree with anyone who says that Dark Souls can be cheap. I dare anybody who's made it through Sen's Fortress to say it isn't.
But this is the ultimate draw of the game; Not that it's cheap, but that it simply doesn't want you to win and it will do whatever it can to make sure you don't. And sometimes these will be "cheapshots" were an enemy is hiding around the corner, or knights shooting spear-sized arrows at you while you're running across narrow walkways. But again, this is because the game doesn't want you to win.
And if you think the checkpoint placements are cheap just wait till you get to the Boss fight in Anor Londo : >(
But this is the ultimate draw of the game; Not that it's cheap, but that it simply doesn't want you to win and it will do whatever it can to make sure you don't. And sometimes these will be "cheapshots" were an enemy is hiding around the corner, or knights shooting spear-sized arrows at you while you're running across narrow walkways. But again, this is because the game doesn't want you to win.
And if you think the checkpoint placements are cheap just wait till you get to the Boss fight in Anor Londo : >(
It isn't, just take it really slow and you can see every trap comming. Everyone i saw playing just ran into every room, that shit will kill you.Casual Shinji said:
I would agree with you if it wasn't for the bonfire in that fortress being absolutely hidden from sight.TheFathomlessMaster said:
I took my sweet time navigating that place, checking every corner twice and keeping a sharp eye out for pressure plates. But the only way to get to the bonfire is carefully dropping down to it from an area were a giant is dropping devastating firebombs. And there are no hints or reasons for you to investigate this area when you're second away from being deepfried.
If they'd put like a ladder there or something it would indicate a path to some much needed rest.