Dark Souls 2

Scutch

Scutch

Futsal Master
31 October 2006
Cumbria, UK
Tottenham Hotspur
YouTube - Darksouls II - Despair Trailer

Dark Souls is destroying my entire being at the moment, but I have to admit the sense of achievement at progressing is quite unparalleled in a gaming sense. I've died countless times, banged my head on the controller and came so close to punching a mountain, but perseverance is the key. Along with being a fucking mental case.
 
I stuggled to play 1 hour of the first one but I'm willing to try again with this one.
At the time, I couldnt get into it, hopefully I'm ready now.
 
So it's getting great reviews, but I've never played a game like it before.

Is it actually fun just dying over and over and over again? One reviewer I saw said he'd died over 750 times!
 
Pre-ordered time ago, I should be playing this beauty on friday night. I hope to die about 50 times only the first night.

It's one of the best game series ever and the one that blends offline and online in the most creative way. Master work.
 
beachryan said:
So it's getting great reviews, but I've never played a game like it before.

Is it actually fun just dying over and over and over again? One reviewer I saw said he'd died over 750 times!
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I think it depends and you can only know if it's for you by trying it, but one thing I think can be said for sure is that it's a very good series for what it's trying to be.

Personally I'm not the biggest fan. I love the combat, and I enjoy challenging games and think most games are too easy these days, but personally I don't enjoy replaying the same fights over and over again.

Also, I think I'd enjoy the series more if there was a bit more story and immersion involved, and I don't particularly appreciate that the game is obtuse in various ways on purpose.

All that said, I fully expect to pick this one up and see how much punishment I can endure this time around. I typically finish games but with this series I'm 0 for 2, so maybe third time's the charm.
 
beachryan said:
So it's getting great reviews, but I've never played a game like it before.

Is it actually fun just dying over and over and over again? One reviewer I saw said he'd died over 750 times!
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At first I hated Dark Souls for this very reason. After a while you get the hang of it and you don't die all the time and then it starts being fun. It keeps being fun because if you relax, you die, because the game is still pretty hard unless you've out-leveled the creatures you're currently fighting by too much.
 
I have 5 bosses down, still building my character and dying more than ever. Great game, having 4 slots for each arm and 4 rings opens a whole new level of strategy and customizing.

Damn those rats...
 
On PC for this. First time with series. Graphics on high res are really good. Can't get into the game. I find the AI telegraphs their attacks and leaves themselves wide open a lot. It's really repetitive and boring. Made it to the dragon rider boss by focusing on my health, dexterity, and strength. The only thing I really like about the game are the sneak attacks. There should be a lot more of those because the boss fights are just meh:YAWN:
 
I agree, it's not a big improvement - if only this were on the new gen systems. If this was FIFA, everyone would be bitching about how little an update it is!

On the other hand, the addition of power stance to dual-wielding is pretty awesome and going through the game without a shield ups the challenge.

And from what I hear, the game doesn't really shine until NG+ when you really get into the best of PvP.
 
What's power stance?? I started off dual wielding but I didn't really see the benefit since you couldn't block at all.

I'm really enjoying it, though I'm really not clear on when I'm missing areas I need to clear, so I don't know when I ought to be exploring areas further. Demon's did at least have a clear 5 worlds with 4 warp points, and Dark 1 was less sprawling since you weren't meant to be able to warp from the off.

I wouldn't say it's anything like a FIFA yearly update though - there's been far more changed about it than that, and they have actually created an entire new world full of new areas - a FIFA analogy would need the whole thing to be in Lordran, with Solaire wearing pink greaves.
 
Power stance is the shit.

More specifically, it's when you're dual-wielding with two similar weapons (thrust/thrust; slash/slash; etc) and if you have 1.5x the stat reqs for each, then you can hold down Y (or triangle) and you'll go into power stance, which is where L1 and L2 attacks will be with both weapons simultaneously. You can dual-wield just about any weapon I think - I'm excited to try dual-wielding whips at some point.

The benefit of dual-wielding with power stance is increased damage (and feeling like a total badass). The downside, like you pointed out, is that you don't have a shield to block with. It's probably not the most effective strategy relative to magic wielding or strength based characters (dex isn't as strong as it was in DS1), but it fits the style of play I like. (And you can dual-wield strength-based weapons, but those obviously won't be agile characters.)

I always tend to play dex/agile-based characters, so I went into this one wanting to dual-wield when I heard that it's suppose to be a more viable option. Starting out though, I tended to use my shield quite a bit, partly because you don't begin the game with stats for power stance, and partly because I'm not that experienced with Dark Souls.

The more I played, though, the less I used the shield, and now I rarely use it. The key is upgrading the new adaptability stat which increases the effectiveness of your dodge rolling. I do struggle a bit with PvP, though that might just be because I suck or lack experience or both, but PvE is no worries without a shield after a while. And a very effective strategy is to go into every new area with a shield equipped, but once you've figured out enemy locations and basic patterns, dual-wielding isn't all that hard.

I fully recommend dual-wielding for the pure fun factor, though like I said, if you're concerned with having the most effective build, it might not be the right choice.

I too have been quite confused at times about the areas, where to go, how much is completed, etc. I've also cheated a bit by looking things up online when I've been stumped or frustrated. And I did some levels in the "wrong" order. Actually I'm pretty confused most of the time. I really enjoy the challenge of the game, though not the parts that are a result of the game being purposely vague.

Yeah, I kinda knew the FIFA analogy wasn't quite right, though I do feel that the game hasn't evolved all that much since Demon Souls. Part of that I guess is down to console limitations leading to the graphical downgrade, and I guess another part of that is the style of game design which to me seems a bit archaic but might actually be just down to From's design philosophy (in so many ways it more resembles game design of the PS2 era than today's productions). Still, a really good game overall.
 
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Great post, really great. I agree with mostly all.

My character is dexterity based and I didn't know all that about power stance! I'm 50 Dexterity right now, si tonight I'm going to try dual wielding two fire swords! At least it will look totally badass!
 
drekkard said:
Great post, really great. I agree with mostly all.

My character is dexterity based and I didn't know all that about power stance! I'm 50 Dexterity right now, si tonight I'm going to try dual wielding two fire swords! At least it will look totally badass!
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Yeah, that's kinda what I'm talking about - I wouldn't have known about power stance either if I hadn't been paying attention to reddit's DS2 forum. Stuff like this I just don't get why From doesn't do a better job of explaining.

Let us know what you think of power-stancing. Wow, Dex at 50? What level are you? I'm around 100 but my Dex is only a little over 30, mostly cause i've pumped so much into endurance and adaptability.

Oh, and don't forget: you need 1.5x the stat reqs for both dex and strength for dual-wielding, though I think the strength req for the fire sword is pretty low.
 
The game is just perfection! They hardly changed anything from DS, which is good. The only thing that annoy me a little is the campfire teleports from the start but I can just not use them.

I'm looking forward to the summer vacation, I'm going to play this game until my fingers bleed! :)
 
Fire swords, eh. Are they just swords that deal fire damage, or are they constantly flaming and awesome?

I looked up the power stance that night, and it is indeed pretty cool. I like the idea of combining your best one-handed weapon (mine's that falchion) with something specifically suited for the area (a mace for skeletons/people with shields, or something poisonous v the living etc).

I've fallen into the trap of trying to be a bit too much of an all-rounder of late. My dexterity's about 30 too, strength's at either 18 or 20. I needed 14 magic and 12 faith, as well as 2 spell slots, and my black knight halberd is bloody heavy so I needed to deal with that too. I need to get my head down and start specializing again...
 
I haven't had the time to try it yet, but flame swords inflict fire damage but the flames are only visible when you touch an enemy. Would be inmense to have them flaming all the time like Stannis Baratheon sword, but I guess that's not possible technically by now or it's just a design decision.

I have 50 dexterity, 18 strength and 36 intelligence so I'm great at ranged weapons and also with thrust weapons like falchions or regular swords. I always do very specialized characters. On Dark Souls I explored a lot the strength + endurance path, so this time I tried to do something completely different and mix a bit of magic.

I'm level 105 or so I think, this means I have other stats very very low: vitality, life, adaptation, faith.... all of them below 8... Trying to be good at many thing is usually a bad decision in this series, but you always end up trying to balance things. Don't!
 
Really enjoying it so far, i begin the game with a dual-wielding but i found it too difficult to play without a shield, specially because i am used to it from Demons Souls and Cark Souls 1. I end up increasing dex, vit, endurance and strengh and have a shortsword +5 (combined with lots of stamina is great because i can give 6 strikes before my stamina ends!).

Since i have no magical skills i use the bow sometimes and have to call for help when trying to beat some bosses. I think i killed about 7 or 8 bosses right now and most of them by myself, including the fucking rats and gargoyles (this last with tons of firebombs)! :RANT:
 
romagnoli said:
Fire swords, eh. Are they just swords that deal fire damage, or are they constantly flaming and awesome?

I looked up the power stance that night, and it is indeed pretty cool. I like the idea of combining your best one-handed weapon (mine's that falchion) with something specifically suited for the area (a mace for skeletons/people with shields, or something poisonous v the living etc).

I've fallen into the trap of trying to be a bit too much of an all-rounder of late. My dexterity's about 30 too, strength's at either 18 or 20. I needed 14 magic and 12 faith, as well as 2 spell slots, and my black knight halberd is bloody heavy so I needed to deal with that too. I need to get my head down and start specializing again...
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Just note that for you to be able to power-stance, you have to be using compatible weapons that have similar attack types(thrust/thrust; slash/slash; whip/whip; etc). So a falchion and mace wouldn't work.

Upgrading stats create some real dilemmas in this game. I'm the opposite from you - I'm really specialized and wish I could do some magic, but I've put all my eggs in one basket, for better or worse. I'll probably add pyro at some point because that doesn't require any additional stats and only investment in pyro gear.
 
Honome said:
Really enjoying it so far, i begin the game with a dual-wielding but i found it too difficult to play without a shield, specially because i am used to it from Demons Souls and Cark Souls 1. I end up increasing dex, vit, endurance and strengh and have a shortsword +5 (combined with lots of stamina is great because i can give 6 strikes before my stamina ends!).

Since i have no magical skills i use the bow sometimes and have to call for help when trying to beat some bosses. I think i killed about 7 or 8 bosses right now and most of them by myself, including the fucking rats and gargoyles (this last with tons of firebombs)! :RANT:
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If you like power-stance you can do what I did and go through much of the early levels as a sword&board and occosional dual-wielder, and then when you're stats get high enough that you can survive better really only on dodge-roll, go back to focusing on dual-wielding.

It's a big challenge, and I can often feel underpowered when co-oping or going up against some other char types, but it's a very rewarding playstyle imo if you're not a fan of tanking like me. It could be the least powerful style of build, but it's the most fun imo.
 
mfmaxpower said:
Just note that for you to be able to power-stance, you have to be using compatible weapons that have similar attack types(thrust/thrust; slash/slash; whip/whip; etc). So a falchion and mace wouldn't work.

Upgrading stats create some real dilemmas in this game. I'm the opposite from you - I'm really specialized and wish I could do some magic, but I've put all my eggs in one basket, for better or worse. I'll probably add pyro at some point because that doesn't require any additional stats and only investment in pyro gear.
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Pretty sure I did use mace and falchion going into the chariot battle?
 
Really? I do know that I can dual-wield my falchion and a spear, which I thought were different types, so you very well could be right - I'm not certain of anything in this game other than that I die a lot!

I'll have to give that a try myself as I hear a lot of good things about the mace. Wonder if the morning star would be the same?

One issue I have that I'm not a fan of is that there are so many weapons and combinations to try, and yet I've upgraded my main weapons so much that it makes comparing weapons difficult. I'm at like level 100 and I've hardly experimented because of this. Maybe it gets easier to upgrade weapons later in the game and that's when experimentation really happens?
 
Yep, just tried it, you can def power stance a mace and a falchion (and straight sword too). The L2 animation is pretty bad ass.
 
Nice. I gave double whips a go - not against enemies, just in Majula. It's pretty absurd.

Are the whips any good by the way? I've never used them, but I like the idea of it, and their initial stats look a lot better than in Demon's/ Dark 1...
 
mfmaxpower said:
Really? I do know that I can dual-wield my falchion and a spear, which I thought were different types, so you very well could be right - I'm not certain of anything in this game other than that I die a lot!

I'll have to give that a try myself as I hear a lot of good things about the mace. Wonder if the morning star would be the same?

One issue I have that I'm not a fan of is that there are so many weapons and combinations to try, and yet I've upgraded my main weapons so much that it makes comparing weapons difficult. I'm at like level 100 and I've hardly experimented because of this. Maybe it gets easier to upgrade weapons later in the game and that's when experimentation really happens?
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Traditionally this experimentation is done either at the start of the game or in the new game+. The problem is that a t the start of the game you don't have many weapons at all, so I end up specializing in certain weapons, sporadically obtaining a great boss weapon and then discovering things via wiki resources on new game +.

I tried power stance last night and didn't work well at all for my character. You loose any kind of guard and you only have the L2 dual wield attack, right? It spends a lot of stamina and leaves me vulnerable. It may work now and then with small enemies or when I really want to look flashy, but it's a lot less efficient than the shield+sword strategy or even the two hands strategy.

I doubt that I will use it much, unfortunately, but at least I gave a nice flashy show while testing it at Majula in front of all those women NPCs. I hope the ponytail girl took note ;)
 
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