Skyrim vs Darksouls

[ZtH]

So I was on TV Tropes earlier today and Skyrim vs Darksouls was listed as an example of a flame war, however, since I didn't really get into Darksouls until well after it was out I never really tried comparing the two. Now that I am aware that this is such a contentious contest I want to make a NOT FLAMING thread to discuss them.

With that in mind, I figure that the best way to have a discussion without it turning heated is to simply keep it positive. The question I put to you is simply which is your favorite of the two, and what is your favorite and least favorite thing about each. Lastly, try to avoid responding to criticisms of your favorite and don't feel the need to correct people about how their favorite thing is a flaw.

I favor Dark Souls over Skyrim myself despite playing Skyrim first and for longer.

My favorite thing about Dark Souls is the internal balance. With the exception of a few rather cheesy builds, most well thought out Dark Souls builds can handle the majority of the challenges in the game without trivializing them. All the characters I've made have had difficulty in different sections depending on where their strengths lay and breezed through some sections where they were weaker. I never felt that a build was useless or gamebreaking.

My least favorite thing about Dark Souls is the intense learning curve. I'm not talking about fighting either since that is part of the challenge of the game, but if I hadn't seen my friend play through the game I would have no idea of where to start and how to get around the world. Exploring is fun, but not having any idea where the next boss is supposed to be found not so much.

My favorite thing about Skyrim has got to be the skill system. It's a huge improvement over Morrowind and Oblivion in that regard for me. I loved Morrowind and Oblivion, but got easily frustrated over how my characters turned out, but Skyrim fixed that without losing the core of the build system.

My least favorite thing about Skyrim is inventory management. Like in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout I was constantly distracted by trying to manage the weights of everything in my inventory and that frustration took away from my enjoyment of the game. I could never sell everything I wanted to get rid of because of limited merchant money either so I was stuck calculating Value/Weight for every item to see if it was worth picking up, which really took me out of the game.

So that's me. What about you? What are your favorite and least favorite parts of these two awesome games?

 

[SlaveNumber23]

My favourite: Dark Souls, even though I've put many more hours into Skyrim

My favourite thing about Skyrim is the variety and freedom to create any kind of character you want, for example its completely viable on the hardest difficulty to make a character who forces enemies to attack each other with illusion and then stabs the stragglers in the back, or one who runs in completely naked and punches enemies to death with his bare hands.

My least favourite thing about Skyrim is that the combat system which actually governs the different skills is terrible, enemies are either frustratingly difficult or stupidly easy, sneak is broken, crafting is broken, the combat feels like crap in general.

My favourite thing about Dark Souls is the depth and complexity to the game, it takes a long time to really sink your teeth into the game and get to know it well and this creates tons of possibilities for devising different builds intended for both pvp and pve. The process of designing these builds can be just as fun as actually playing the game.

My least favourite thing about Dark Souls is that the multiplayer sucks. Almost all of the time I have headaches even trying to connect to other players and when I do manage to connect its nearly always completely unfair ganks or laggy backstab fests. Way too often multiplayer combat comes down to who is better at exploiting glitches or flaws with the game rather than who is the more skilled player.

 

[Fireaxe]

It's apples and oranges really.

Dark Souls is combat focussed, Skyrim is really just about getting lost in a big Scandinavian fantasy land.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I loved Skyrim, such a great and atmospheric world.
I found Dark Souls was more about gameplay. I'm not really into fantasy which shows how great Skyrim must have been to absorb me so much. The gameplay was good, I like Monster Hunter and it was quite similar in that you have to be tactical about how you fight to ration your stamina.
I found a good analogy- Dark Souls is the Ulysses of games. You don't play it as much for the enjoyment but as an achievement to show you're into the medium, however along the way you get kinda dragged into it and end up enjoying it in a sick way.

 

[lapan]

While Skyrim has the bigger and more detail filled world it still felt very empty. Enemies were mostly just stronger versions of the same guys. You get tired quickly of the same dungeons filled with Draughrs. I got bored of it after crafting max armor.

Meanwhile i probably beat Dark Souls about 6-7 times with different weapons and each plays very differently. Upgrade systems are more in-depth and less exploitable (no infinite alchemy-blacksmithing exploits)

 

[Smooth Operator]

We are talking here about apples and horses, the only thing these two really have in common is being god awful PC ports.

But here is the short run down:
Skyrim is all about exploration, vast expansive world with absurd amounts to see, if you aren't in it for that then don't even bother.
Dark Souls on the other hand is all about boss battles, sadly being from JRPG circles it is a great deal more grinding for boss battles then the actual boss battles, if that isn't your jam then look elsewhere.

 

[Psychobabble]

Nope sorry OP it's not possible to make a not flaming thread about Dark Souls verses Skyrim. Why you ask? Well because playing Skyrim is like losing yourself in a nice book and just enjoying your day away. Whereas playing Dark Souls is like a horrifying incident in the prison showers that you hope to never have to recount to another living soul.

So people who are fans of gritty, in your face, kick you in the balls so hard they become your earrings, challenging game play (and possibly prison rape) are going to like Dark Souls and think that Skyrim is a bit namby pamby. Whereas Skyrim players who love to be set free to frolic about in a gorgeous open world fantasy land are going to find Dark Souls like going to explore what they thought was a friendly petting zoo, only to find to their horror that in actuality what goes on are explicit shows where men do terrible terrible things to the innocent animals on stage. Those two types of people will get along like chalk and cheese so really shouldn't be allowed in the same thread (or shower) if an atmosphere of bon ami is what you are looking for.

 

[lapan]

Dark Souls on the other hand is all about boss battles, sadly being from JRPG circles it is a great deal more grinding for boss battles then the actual boss battles, if that isn't your jam then look elsewhere.

Not really true, it's more about figuring out the basic mechanics than grinding. Nothing is stopping you from playing through the entire game without leveling up once.

The only thing slightly grindy is getting upgrade materials.

Of course you can grind if you choose to do so though.

 

[Lotet]

Played Skyrim, typical experience that needs no explanation from me. Awesome stuff. Combat Magik was useless on higher difficulties though.

Watched brother play Dark Souls and saw him die repeatedly. I play as a fat Knight and used the Claymore when I found it. Also awesome, beat the Taurus and Gargoyle bosses a lot easier than he could. Then my brother found some Elite Knights armour, equipped it then equipped the Claymore and he could play just as well. Suddenly, I didn't feel like playing any more.

Though he loves it, even bought it a second time for the expansion on PC, still uses the XBox control.

He tells me that the game is so balanced but it sounds to me like it's community balance. Making it bad form to used the Giant Dad [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyA8odjCzZ4] build or some such.

Though Skyrim has a lot of bad builds, good thing you can reset perks in an expansion. But most build end up being similar because there are plenty of perks that just remove your builds weaknesses. Silent Magik???

 

[garjian]

Skyrim is terrible at what it set out to do. Gone are the engaging faction quest lines, or in fact any story of value told via quests.

In Oblivion it's "Help, my husband is trapped in a painting, travel into the alternate dimension to rescue him!"
With Skyrim: "Help, my husband is trapped in a painting, travel to the Draugr ruin and get an item because I don't know."

Oblivion: Infiltrate the rival mercenaries! Taking their drugs sends you into a haze and you decimate a village in your stupor, proving that they are a both dangerous and illegal group.
Skyrim: Some bandits we have given a nickname don't like us very much. Go to the fort and kill some of them because I don't know.

Oblivion: Sneak into a party in the castle and magic away everyone's clothes. You must flee the city naked! You'll be rewarded with a staff that summons any random Daedra that may even attack you.
Skyrim: Thank you for finding my american dog, please go to the Draugr ruin and collect the Axe of Whatever, that does... I don't know, Stamina damage or something?

Oblivion: Hello, go and get my orb from that tower please. Oh wait, the tower is bat-shit crazy and sort-of half in another dimension. Hey, I'll give you a neat staff that summons a clone of yourself too!
Skyrim: Oh whatever... Go and kill some Draugr bandits... What? Oh fine have this err... Carrot. There, happy? No? Fine, it's a Carrot of Stamina Damage, go away... Go and throw it at one o' them dragons that never decide to land or something.


The world is nice I suppose, but these days I only find it at all playable because of some mods... After my first run through the content I found little reason to go back to any of the quests, which is strange in itself because I can barely remember any of them. So much about the guy aggravates me.
So in the end, I have played Skyrim a lot more than Dark Souls, but I respect Dark Souls a lot more...
I find the way it tells it's story fascinating, as well as the story itself.
I appreciate that there's at least some attempt to make each weapon different from the last, and each one viable in some way.
There are worthwhile rewards and things to discover.
There are reasons to come back to this game beyond completion; different characters play differently, weapons and areas you may have missed and elements of the story you didn't even notice.

So while it's not by any means a perfect game and Dark Souls didn't really capture me (possibly because I played this game quite a while after release so I had a lot of things spoiled), I can see a Souls game doing so in the future and I'd certainly like to see more games like Dark Souls.
And while the two aren't directly comparable, I would not say that about Skyrim. Oblivion yes, Skyrim no.
If you told me I could only have one ever... I may still pan for Skyrim, if only for mods... Otherwise Dark Souls.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Nope sorry OP it's not possible to make a not flaming thread about Dark Souls verses Skyrim. Why you ask? Well because playing Skyrim is like losing yourself in a nice book and just enjoying your day away. Whereas playing Dark Souls is like a horrifying incident in the prison showers that you hope to never have to recount to another living soul.

So people who are fans of gritty, in your face, kick you in the balls so hard they become your earrings, challenging game play (and possibly prison rape) are going to like Dark Souls and think that Skyrim is a bit namby pamby. Whereas Skyrim players who love to be set free to frolic about in a gorgeous open world fantasy land are going to find Dark Souls like going to explore what they thought was a friendly petting zoo, only to find to their horror that in actuality what goes on are explicit shows where men do terrible terrible things to the innocent animals on stage. Those two types of people will get along like chalk and cheese so really shouldn't be allowed in the same thread (or shower) if an atmosphere of bon ami is what you are looking for.

Probably the best explanation of Skyrim vs Dark Souls you're going to get OP.

My least favorite thing about Skyrim is inventory management. Like in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout I was constantly distracted by trying to manage the weights of everything in my inventory and that frustration took away from my enjoyment of the game. I could never sell everything I wanted to get rid of because of limited merchant money either so I was stuck calculating Value/Weight for every item to see if it was worth picking up, which really took me out of the game.

I looved that aspect of those games, then again I loved the Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior game that came free with the remake.

So maybe I'm just weird.

 

[somonels]

Dare I say I like neither of them? I do indeed. Will I stay neutral? Hell no, Skyrim wins with hands nailed to a rock and thrown off a cliff. Darksouls was executed better, with a more concise goal and market in mind and it did that superbly well. Were it a competition between games as they were released then I'd have no problem giving the victory pie to it.

Skyrim has modding, and a BIG community. Despite my dislike for the vanilla world and unrepairable mechanics there is still the possibility that someone comes along and makes something truly enjoyable with it.

And my conclusion about the loser is that it's more worthwhile to try.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Fave Skrim: Stunning to look at.
Worst Skrim: Can over build your character and its like God mode. game broken.
Fave Dark Souls: the lack of hand holding
Worst Dark Souls: ok, at least a clue where I go next

 

[Casual Shinji]

Favourite of the pair is Dark Souls.

My favourite thing about it; The atmosphere is to die for. In a lot of ways it's your typical knights, castles, and dragons affair, but it's twisted just enough to give it this Lovecraftian edge. Each area just oozes a dark, mystic vibe. And while each area has its lore, there's almost no need for the game to tell you what it is, since the environmental art makes you feel it down to your bones. Blight Town makes you feel like total shit, because that's what you're standing in. And Ash Lake gives off the impression that you're treading on holy ground, which in a way you are. And all of this counts for the monster designs as well. The most fenomenal art direction I've seen this generation.

My least favourite thing; In the end the game feels rather futile. Eventhough many will say the game is about feeling victorious against hellish demons, that sense of victory is extremely short lived if it's even present at all. Kill one Boss, and another more powerful one instantly takes its place. Kill him and the prospect of the future Boss will be bearing down on you right after. Now ofcourse the game is supposed to make you feel this sense of despair, and it's actually one of things I like about it. But it's murder for the pacing, and doesn't help to motivate you much at all. Even after killing the Final Boss and finishing the game, you immediately get thrown back to the beginning for New Game+. There's just no sense of closure.

As for Skyrim...

My favourite thing; It's a nice dungeon crawler/looting game. It's fun wandering around, discovering caves and castles for you to strip clean, then take all your shit to the blacksmith to upgrade/sell. And playing as a stealth archer is very fun though maybe a bit overpowered.

My least favourite thing; The world of Skyrim feels empty and lifeless. The overworld is filled with the same bandits, and only bandits, spouting the same dialoge without end. The city environments fare just as bad, with NPC's constantly saying the same damn lines over and over. Even just walking past them will make them errupt in looping dialoge.

 

[MysticSlayer]

So I was on TV Tropes earlier today and Skyrim vs Darksouls was listed as an example of a flame war

That's because some stupid website (was it IGN?) made a "top 5 reasons Dark Souls is better than Skyrim" when Skyrim came out and since the games appeal to different demographics, putting them together can only create wild, intense disagreement expressed by poop-flinging. Internet.

Yeah, but the name of the article was different. They decided to go with a more aggressive, more inflammatory one [http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/09/24/top-five-reasons-dark-souls-will-eat-skyrims-face?page=1]. Even as someone who prefers Dark Souls, I still find that article and the arguments that have come out of it sort of painful.

OT: You're comparing a game meant to help you relax as you explore an open world to a game that is determined to get you to break your controller as you struggle your way through mostly linear areas that just happen to have numerous branching paths and different approaches. The only things they have in common are genre and setting, but for the most part, they really are two different games meant for two different audiences. The problem is that too many people feel the need to compare them and make it a competition. However, I don't really feel like placing blame on one side or the other at this point as both sides have pretty much fully embraced the flame war by now.

But since we're comparing, I do prefer Dark Souls. It seems to work better with its particular vision and doesn't force you to engage in its weaknesses as much as Skyrim does. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have as many or more weaknesses, just that it seems to recognize them better. For the most part, though, neither game seems to be particularly better or worse if played a way that works for you. It took a couple characters before I found one I actually enjoyed playing in Dark Souls, and only recently did I find a character I enjoy using in Skyrim. To me, it is a matter of finding the build that is actually enjoyable to use given your style of play, and once you do that, the games are, for the most part, even.

 

[Mikejames]

On one hand, Skyrim let's you freely travel anywhere for the fun of it wanting you to just lose yourself in its world, but after a while I found little reason to explore it.

On the other hand, Dark Souls has a beautifully diverse world and strange lore to discover, but I was infallibly frustrated while exploring it.

Skyrim is terrible at what it set out to do. Gone are the engaging faction quest lines, or in fact any story of value told via quests.

In Oblivion it's "Help, my husband is trapped in a painting, travel into the alternate dimension to rescue him!"
With Skyrim: "Help, my husband is trapped in a painting, travel to the Draugr ruin and get an item because I don't know."

I still lament that Skyrim couldn't have been a Shivering Isles part 2. There are all these alternate magic realities to work with, where they can do whatever they want with the visuals and characters, but it boils down to dungeon and bandit raiding.

 

[LauriJ]

Skyrim certainly looks awesome. Open world exploration anyone?

 

[stroopwafel]

I love both the Souls games and played through them multiple times but it was never actually the challenge that drew me in. I'm never even all that fond of 'hard' games and always leave the difficulty on medium/default. It's just that the gameplay of Souls is so immensely fun and rewarding that the difficulty simply becomes a means to experiment with it. And your vulnerability in the game brings a sense of tension and excitement that really heightens the entire experience. Coupled with the intriguing non-direct narrative and the kick-ass art direction and you have some of the best games ever made. The formula is simple but if Fromsoft hadn't nailed the mechanics it would've fallen apart quite easily. The near absence of frustration(atleast in my experience) is testament to the near flawless design of both Souls games.

Skyrim never gave me this excitement, however that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. Just wandering around in that vast, beautiful world was amazing at times. The amount of work they must have put into creating it must be staggering. I just wish in the next Elder Scrolls game that they could add more 'weight' to the swordplay. It's so..flimsy and I think the only thing holding back an otherwise great game.