Poll: Getting Dark Souls for my friend; good decision?

[thesilentman]

My query is simple: my friend's birthday is tomorrow, and I want to give him Dark Souls. I was thinking that he could use a change from only shooters, and I decided on... Yeah.

Why Dark Souls? Because it's one of the more interesting experiences I've had that I want to share. I think that Dark Souls is a game that everyone should at least try, if not beat. It's... unique, and I'd like to spread the love for the Souls series.

But, we all know how people react to hearing about Dark Souls lately. Elitism is most definitely a complaint to us Souls series players as "NOT EVERYONE IS A HARDCORE GAMER YOU FREAKS!!" And easy mode? That's a poor, dead, raped and molested (quite sickeningly) horse at the point.

Take that to another thread guys. Not the point of this one.

I've asked him three questions in order to see if it'll be alright giving him the game. Here's what he said:

Me: "Do you really like games?"
Him: "Yeah."

Me: "Are you sick of shooters for now?"
Him: "Yep."

Me: "Is the difficulty of a game going to stop you from playing it?"
Him: "Fuck no!"

Seeing from his responses, I'd like to go ahead. I haven't told him specifically that I'm giving him Dark Souls, but I've promised him something different this time around. Is there anything that may dissuade him from playing the game? Is there anything else I could help him with to get started with Dark Souls? Anything miscellaneous I need to know?

I already plan to help him get used to the controls and some of the systems that are in play in the game (stats, miracles, spells, etc.), so I thought I'd ask if I should give him Dark Souls, and if I do, what should I do to help him?

I apologize for the wall of text, and thank you guys already for helping me.

 

[hazabaza1]

Do it.
Tell him to use his shield and take his time. That's really all you need before you start things off.

The whole easy mode debate has become so old and outdone, so if he complains of it kick him in the dick and tell him to man up.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Dark Souls tends to be divisive; can you tell us any more about their tastes?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Make sure he has access to the wiki.

The game is brilliant in many respects, but there's some things that the game simply doesn't tell you.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Doitdoitdoitdoit.

It's a great game and if he doesn't mind a little challenge, then by all means.

 

[StriderShinryu]

As far as things that may dissuade him:
- Little of the storyline is directly handed to you. Yes, the world and lore are very detailed and epic, but it's something you need to research and explore to see.
- The difficulty involves learning and adapting, and it requires a certain amount of running through areas you've already done to take a secone/third/etc. crack at whatever killed you. He says he wants difficulty, but this is a different sort of difficulty than you see in other "difficult" games.
- Online play while interesting and a huge part of the game is a bastion for cheaters.. even when the lag and connection issues don't screw things up before they get interesting.

 

[DoPo]

Well, I got a copy of Dark Souls for my birthday and I'm happy. Although, I was going to get it anyway and that wasn't really a secret - it was #1 on my wishlist. So I'd say go ahead.

What's the worse that could happen? ...well, your friend could get frustrated by DS to the point he murders you in your sleep, then carving the words

on your forehead, of course, but I still think it's a risk worth taking.

 

[tippy2k2]

Go for it.

What's the worst that can happen?

He goes into a spiraling sense of self loathing as his gaming man-card is taken away from him. Unable to cope with the shame, he goes into a spiral of self destruction as his weed usage is needed to calm him down from the humiliation. Unfortunately, it's not enough and he begins doing heroine in order to forget that night. Broke and friendless due to his excessive drug use, he eventually turns to you, the source of the game that destroyed his life and he does a murder-suicide with a tear stained knife...

But that's like...the WORST case scenario

EDIT: GAH! Double thread!!! No matter, I will post the same thing in that other thread! Take that!

 

[alphamalet]

Make sure he has access to the wiki.

The game is brilliant in many respects, but there's some things that the game simply doesn't tell you.

I've heard this complaint before, and I was wondering what specifically you found frustratingly ambiguous?

I'm definitely not defending Dark Souls, it was just so long ago that I played it for the first time. My memory of trying to discover everything in my initial play-through has been clouded. I mentioned to a friend recently that I remembered the game being vague about certain things the player must do, but couldn't remember any certain instances of being stuck due to lack of proper explanation.

 

[lRookiel]

YES!

The game offers so much and it's 50% off on steam right now, granted they have NO cd keys left so your friend may have to wait a day or two.

 

[tippy2k2]

Go for it.

What's the worst that can happen?

He goes into a spiraling sense of self loathing as his gaming man-card is taken away from him. Unable to cope with the shame, he goes into a spiral of self destruction as his weed usage is needed to calm him down from the humiliation. Unfortunately, it's not enough and he begins doing heroine in order to forget that night. Broke and friendless due to his excessive drug use, he eventually turns to you, the source of the game that destroyed his life and he does a murder-suicide with a tear stained knife...

But that's like...the WORST case scenario

 

[Toxic Sniper]

Did you need to make a topic about this? Just give him the game, it's a good game.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Make sure he has access to the wiki.

The game is brilliant in many respects, but there's some things that the game simply doesn't tell you.

I've heard this complaint before, and I was wondering what specifically you found frustratingly ambiguous?

I'm definitely not defending Dark Souls, it was just so long ago that I played it for the first time. My memory of trying to discover everything in my initial play-through has been clouded. I mentioned to a friend recently that I remembered the game being vague about certain things the player must do, but couldn't remember any certain instances of being stuck due to lack of proper explanation.

Covenants are woefully unexplained.

I can't imagine anyone being able to join the Dark Wraiths without it being a complete accident.

Character builds are another one. If you want to play any kind of PvP, you need to know what the level cap is (typically SL 125), and that levelling anything past 45 (with the exception of HP for vit builds) is a waste of time, and Resistance as an attribute should never be leveled.

 

[alphamalet]

snip

Yeah, you're starting to jog my memory. Come to think of it, the game never explains poise does it? That is one of the most important stats you have.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

snip

Yeah, you're starting to jog my memory. Come to think of it, the game never explains poise does it? That is one of the most important stats you have.

Well, to be fair, the whole PvP thing is decided by the community, not the game's fault for that, but still, he's gonna need the wiki if he wants to play any kind of PvP.

 

[Comrade Richard]

Hey, if he accepts that it'll be difficult, go right ahead. You two might have fun, personally never got into the Souls series. Just do your best to kind of get him up to speed on how to play the game before he gets so mad he attempts to cave in your skull with the controller.

 

[Bad Jim]

It's not quite as hard as it's made out to be. If you want to watch someone suffer something cruelly difficult, give them I Wanna Be The Guy. Dark Souls is more 'satisfyingly difficult'. For people who find that beating a boss on the first try saps their will to continue more than beating it after fifty failed attempts.

One thing to mention. The PC port is incredibly lazy, and the game is simply unplayable using a mouse and keyboard. It's exactly like the console version if you have an xbox controller though. And by exactly, I mean it's rendered internally at 1024x720 and stretched to whatever resolution you select, and the frame rate is locked at 30 fps. None of this makes the game unplayable if you have a controller, but it's disappointing if you are used to running PC games at high res.

Note that someone did make a resolution fix, but it makes the messages on the floor show up blank.

 

[piinyouri]

Eh, it's a free gift.
He can't complain, even if he doesn't like it.

 

[thesilentman]

I wasn't expecting the amount of replies I got! You guys are awesome.

Do it.
Tell him to use his shield and take his time. That's really all you need before you start things off.

I'd extend that to stamina management. The difference in stamina recovery with or without a raised shield. Then the difference between the weak and strong attacks. Should do well for starters.

Dark Souls tends to be divisive; can you tell us any more about their tastes?

He just stated that he's interested in something new. All he has are shooters for the moment, so I decided to oblige. I was just afraid that the difficulty might turn him off. I plan to go through the Undead Asylum with him and let him lose after Firelink.

Make sure he has access to the wiki.

The game is brilliant in many respects, but there's some things that the game simply doesn't tell you.

I've heard this complaint before, and I was wondering what specifically you found frustratingly ambiguous?

I'm definitely not defending Dark Souls, it was just so long ago that I played it for the first time. My memory of trying to discover everything in my initial play-through has been clouded. I mentioned to a friend recently that I remembered the game being vague about certain things the player must do, but couldn't remember any certain instances of being stuck due to lack of proper explanation.

Daystar mentioned Poise. That is one thing that's not explained explicitly. How the heck does one control it?? I'm not sure that a first time player is going to understand Poise all that quickly. :-D

There's also weapon stat scaling. Right.... Which one scales wonderfully with Dexterity? Strength, Faith, Intelligence? There's also the required levels for wielding a weapon, which can grate on you in the beginning.

There's more, but I can't fire up the game right now and check as I'm on my phone right now.

Well, I got a copy of Dark Souls for my birthday and I'm happy. Although, I was going to get it anyway and that wasn't really a secret - it was #1 on my wishlist. So I'd say go ahead.

What's the worse that could happen? ...well, your friend could get frustrated by DS to the point he murders you in your sleep, then carving the words

on your forehead, of course, but I still think it's a risk worth taking.

Could be worse, he could just tattoo Jolly Cooperation on my face. :-D

YES!

The game offers so much and it's 50% off on steam right now, granted they have NO cd keys left so your friend may have to wait a day or two.

I'm giving him the PS3 version with the DLC. Futzing around with mods and fixes isn't for everyone. Also, the blatant cheating in the PC community is going to piss him off. I stopped playing multiplayer on PC for that alone. Otherwise, I'd just buy him a Steam gift card and gift him Dark Souls along with extra credit for him to buy other games with.

 

[Raikas]

I]

He just stated that he's interested in something new. All he has are shooters for the moment, so I decided to oblige. I was just afraid that the difficulty might turn him off. I plan to go through the Undead Asylum with him and let him lose after Firelink.

And he's interested in other genres? I ask because, unlike the regular threads about it here, most of the people I've heard complaining about it IRL dropped it because they found it boring or tedious, not because of the difficulty.

Although that said, it's a gift, so he should just be gracious and accept it!