Dark Souls...

[Orkasen1022]

Ok, not sure if someone has posted on here about it yet, but ****ing, DARK SOULS is the hardest video game I have EVER played in my entire life and it frustrates me to no end. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I play enough to be more than casual and this game has sucked more hours of my time with little to no pay off more than any other game has. This being said, I still love the game and can't get enough of it. It is so satisfying to kill crazy monsters, get souls, and level up, but that's all I feel like I'm able to do. I'm stuck at the Gaping Dragon boss in the Depths and I'm just so lost on how to progress. I've surpassed level 50 and I still can't get past this ****ing thing. Again, love the game to death (literally), but it's so hard and frustrating to get through it all. Should I keep trying or give up and find a better use for my time?

 

[PlotHolio]

Keep trying! Don't let it conquer you!

 

[Saigonnus]

Perhaps there is a very specific trick to beating the creature... try googling Dark Souls walkthrough and see how others have done it. I had to do that for a couple missions on Assassin's Creed 2 when I first started playing it.

 

[Feo Takahari]

How much armor are you using relative to your carrying capacity? It's generally a good idea not to go above 50% encumbrance, and even 25% is pushing it. (The Gaping Dragon is very slow, so it's easy to dodge his attacks if you're below 25% encumbrance.)

(I like this game's combat system, but I still don't understand the purpose of making you retrieve your souls if you die. Every time I ask what the purpose of that design decision is, fans respond that it's not really that hard to avoid dying if you play properly, and that it's my own fault if I lose my souls. That may be true, but it's not an answer to the question.)

 

[Orkasen1022]

Thanks for the tip about encumbrance. And I think the deal with losing souls is just a bigger incentive not to die. Other than restarting from the last bonfire and having to fight all the enemies again... I guess it just adds more to the difficulty

 

[Telcontar]

Just got this game, and yeah... holy wow, that is some higher-end difficulty there. Reading up on the game it seems like that was one of the goals of the design team - to give you a challenge you'd feel triumphant for defeating. Mission freaking accomplished!

A lot of fun, too, which makes it all worth it.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I retried this game after my last post, which gave me the conviction to say something I've been tiptoeing around:

Games that require this degree of precise control work well in the 2D plane (Super Meat Boy, I Wanna Be The Guy, They Bleed Pixels . . .) But they should not be made in full 3D with high-end graphics.

Especially if the devs openly admit they have no idea how to optimize a PC port.

Even with the fan-created mods to speed things up, I've died far too many times because the game slowed down at the wrong moment. I feel like I'm battling the optimization as much as the monsters.

 

[Telcontar]

I think the controls work fine in the 3D environment. They are definitely clunky sometimes, but that happens with 2D games as well.

My computer handles the game fine, though I will say that the devs obviously didn't even try to work up a good control setup for a keyboard and mouse. I dock them points for that, but an hour of playing with it (and some of those fan mods you mentioned) fixed things up on that score.

My primary dislike in the game is the repetitiveness of getting back to a place where you're having difficulty (read: dying a lot). I'm fighting one of the bosses right now, and due to extremely poor design of the area (too small, camera goes wonky) it is very hard. Thus, I keep dying - and then it takes me five minutes just to fight my way back to the boss fight again.

Still and all, I'm still enjoying the game. Hopefully there won't be too many aggravating little bits like this boss fight. It's hard for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Deleted member 2508]

I love this game. It reminds of old time challenge and quality design. Games like Call of Duty have been dumbed down for accessibility, the mechanics of those games are all about making it easy to pick up. Because of large cones used to determine bullet spray and other similar balances, it is very easy for a beginner to beat a 'master'.

This game can be finicky at times and has left me frustrated, but most of its challenges are genuine. There is nothing more rewarding than beating a part you've been stuck on for many hours. Keep strong and we'll beat this game together!