Soulsborne games thread - Demon's Souls PS5

[Svejk]

Even though I got turned off from DS2 (hollowing.. fucking hated it), the title music still reigns supreme in mood setting, imho...  freakin chills every time I hear it. 

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And Majula too   

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[Himu]

You go hollow in DS2?!

[Svejk]

I'm not too familiar what with all hollowing entails (the lore) in the souls games, but in DS2, when you start to hollow out from dying more often, you start to look hollowed; undead like.  Which also drops your HP cap too; up to half...  But that didn't bother me as much as appearance though.     I want to look beautiful while covered in blood and darkness.  FashionSouls for me.

[Himu]

I noticed something similar in DS1.

Hollow means to become truly dead. A hollow is all the monsters you fight in game. They're undead people that have since gone hollow.

I look much different than I did at the beginning of the game. Reminds me of SotC where the Wanderer starts to look sick and dying the more he kills the giants. That video game minimalist storytelling.

[Don Rumata]

I'm not too familiar what with all hollowing entails (the lore) in the souls games, but in DS2, when you start to hollow out from dying more often, you start to look hollowed; undead like.  Which also drops your HP cap too; up to half...  But that didn't bother me as much as appearance though.     I want to look beautiful while covered in blood and darkness.  FashionSouls for me.

I modded that out on PC.

[Svejk]

I'm not too familiar what with all hollowing entails (the lore) in the souls games, but in DS2, when you start to hollow out from dying more often, you start to look hollowed; undead like.  Which also drops your HP cap too; up to half...  But that didn't bother me as much as appearance though.     I want to look beautiful while covered in blood and darkness.  FashionSouls for me.

I modded that out on PC.

hmmmm.. didn't even think about that.   I may pick up SOTFS again if it goes on the cheap. 

[Himu]

Damn Anor Londo has tricky bits

[chronovore]

Damn Anor Londo has tricky bits

Those moments when I feel like I can finally casually get through all the stuff I had a rough time with at the beginning -- and then misstepping and still getting my ass handed to me.

[Bebpo]

Damn Anor Londo has tricky bits

The part with the archers 

[Himu]

Damn Anor Londo has tricky bits

The part with the archers 

I'm at a part where you fight these lightning  weapon dragons and there's an archer. Tough scenario.

[Thirty-Ought-Six]

I've been playing DS2: SOTFS

It's the weakest of the 3 imo (since it doesn't have the amazing world design of DS1 or the level of boss fights in DS3), but I'm having a ton of fun anyway. I think one of the biggest things that turned people off from it was the game gives no indication at all how important agility is, or even what it is doing, so unless you look up detailed testing players did you can't build a reasonable character.

I like how different the game is. All 3 are quite different, which makes them all worth playing. DS2 is the slowest and most methodical, there are many places where you will be killed almost instantly if you rush in. Bonfire ascetics are a nice feature. Some bosses are up there with the best

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Fume Knight and Ivory King

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Magic is probably the best of the series. I never used much magic in the others, but this time spells give you more options. There are the basic damage dealing projectiles, as well as AOE, but there are also defensive spells of various ranges (Focus Souls is a fun one to put up when something is charging at you), spells intended to stun rather than damage (Soul Vortex is great at this), the greatsword spells for wider hits and going through obstacles, etc. This is the first time I've really liked a mage character as much as melee.

[Himu]

Anor Londo is hard as shit. Still haven't gotten past the archers on the ledges. (Almost though)

[Himu]

Holy fuck I did it

[Bebpo]

Anor Londo is hard as shit. Still haven't gotten past the archers on the ledges. (Almost though)

Holy fuck I did it

Yeah, this is the spot I was talking about. Probably hardest spot in the DS1 for me!

[Himu]

Lmao gotta play this

[FatalT]

Lmao gotta play this

IT BROKE NEW GROUUUNNNNDDD

So how about that Code Vein?

[Don Rumata]

Lmao gotta play this

The game is basically copied homework with Sekiro and some more classic Soul elements, yes.
It actually makes you appreciate how good those games are, in comparison, since this is one is so unfun to actually play.

Random example:
It has the stance meter, like Sekiro, but in this one once you break the enemy's, you don't just kill them outright, you just get the opportunity to land a couple of hits to their actual health bar (removing, like, 10% at best) as their stance quickly replenishes, making that mechanic actually an incredible chore.

It's like they played the game, but didn't understand what made it fun and satisfying. 

[Svejk]

I like how the Blight town scene pops up and the frame rate drops all of a sudden. 

[Himu]

Smough and Ornstein

[Himu]

Smough and Ornstein

Omfg

[Don Rumata]

Smough and Ornstein

Omfg

If you're having trouble, remember what the Romans used to say: Divide et Impera. 

[Himu]

Struggled chipping Ornstein's life so I checked my weapon level and turns out it was only +4. Went to fight em again and got him to half life. 

Today you die, gentlemen.

[Himu]

Ornstein is BS. The attack he has that tracks and he glides is BULLSHIT. He has fast recovery on every single move. Dude will glide across the screen and immediately do a backdash distancing himself from attack space. FUCKING BULLSHIT.

[Don Rumata]

Ornstein is BS. The attack he has that tracks and he glides is BULLSHIT. He has fast recovery on every single move. Dude will glide across the screen and immediately do a backdash distancing himself from attack space. FUCKING BULLSHIT.

What weapon are you using for the fight? Something too slow? Kite him away from Smough, use the pillars (even just the stumps work fine) to block his attacks, and roll into his lunges and immediately strike.
That strategy usually works for me.

[Himu]

Ornstein is BS. The attack he has that tracks and he glides is BULLSHIT. He has fast recovery on every single move. Dude will glide across the screen and immediately do a backdash distancing himself from attack space. FUCKING BULLSHIT.

What weapon are you using for the fight? Something too slow? Kite him away from Smough, use the pillars (even just the stumps work fine) to block his attacks, and roll into his lunges and immediately strike.
That strategy usually works for me.

A katana. The range is limited so I cannot punish when he back steps.

[Don Rumata]

I don't remember, does DkS1 have the out-of-a-roll attack? (Pressing R1 while rolling).
There was a Katana who had a good horizontal slash with that move, that should help if you roll into his thrusts (using iframes to survive it).

[Himu]

I'd like a lance but I need a dex based lance. I'll also have to level it +5. Hopefully I have something.

I do have the silver knight spear so maybe that's a possibility. I feel like I could poke Orny to death with something long, but the katana just handicaps me. I think I might also need Str to wield the silver knight spear.

[Himu]

Already have but iirc I have low str for it. We'll see.

[Don Rumata]

Uchigatana is perfectly fine for them, i did the whole game with it a bunch of times.

[Himu]

Bruh, I leveled up my iaito to like +10 and can take out ornstein with a breeze almost not getting hit now. And then the super electric Smough can kill with one hit (butt slam). Crazy.

[curly]

I beat them with uchi but it took me an embarrassing amount of tries, then second time around it was ez.

[Don Rumata]

  Iaito


  Uchi

[Himu]

Uchigatana has shit durability tho

[Himu]

Almost. Went to bed last night. I'll likely get them today.

[Don Rumata]

Uchigatana has shit durability tho

durability is only really a factor in DkS2 though, except for crystal weapons. as long as you buy the tool box.

[Himu]

Still annoying af though. My Uchigatana almost broke in the middle of a boss fight in the depths.

[Bebpo]

Cindi, this thread is crazy. It's a tough fight that might take 30-60 mins of retries, but not one you should be stuck at for days. Did you watch any youtube vids for strategy tips?

[Himu]

I had a +4 weapon most of the time I fought them.

I googled to see what weapon level I should be at because I wasn't doing much damage to them and turns out I should have been +10.

I had been unknowingly gimping myself all of Anor Londo because the game has so many types of weapon enhancement and didn't want to fuck up my weapons permanently, so I decided to not level up my weapons past +5. So when I found out I should have a +10 weapon I leveled it up and instantly had an easier time. That was last night. I almost beat them but then was too tired and went to bed.

[Himu]

Also, tbh, this is the hardest fight in the Souls series (so far) imo. I think it's harder than Kos.

For one, Kos always has the same opener. A charge attack.

With Smough and Ornstein, Ornstein's opening decides both enemies behavior entirely. If he charges to you then you know you'll have a fine time. If he doesn't, sometimes the AI is overly aggressive and Smough will be running towards you the entire fight, making it hard to keep him away even with the pillars.

Then there's the fact that multiple hits can hurt you even if they're not a combo. Smough can hit you then Orny can. Your hit stun is fairly limited. Combine with unpredictable things like movesets, Ornstein's glide where he goes into debris, stops, and then glides again which completely messes up your dodge timing. Or Smough's charge attack which clears a massive amount of space.

It's easily the hardest Souls fight bar none when combining multiple factors.

[Bebpo]

It's a hard fight but I disagree. Other than having to deal with 2 enemies at once it's fine. Also +10 seems excessive. Isn't the max weapon lvl.+10? They aren't endgame bosses and pretty sure I didn't have max weapon level until the endgame.

[Himu]

I don't know. I find them very hard and I'm using katanas and light armor. Maybe you got lucky with the RNG?

Either way, I beat them.

[Himu]

TITTIES

MY REWARD FOR PERSEVERANCE

[Bebpo]

What element katana? There’s a busted tree that kills every boss in like 5 slashes and is most broken weapon in entire souls series, which is probably why I didn’t struggle on that fight.

It’s

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Bleed element

Scaling is broken in DS1

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[Himu]

I have no element on my sword.

Though it does create bleed.

[Bebpo]

Hmm, maybe all Katanas cause bleed. Don't remember.

[Svejk]

Finally finished Death Stranding, so I've jumped back into BB.  Not sure how far I'm in it... Did a part where I died by some sack carrying guy and woke in some prison area??  Forgot the name already.. some Hidden village or something? 

On a side note, really tempted to scoop up Sekiro on sale right now..

[Don Rumata]

Hmm, maybe all Katanas cause bleed. Don't remember.

Many dex weapons do, i think.

[Himu]

This game is such an adventure. Found a coffin and rested in it and was dragged to some sarcophagus. So fucking metal.

[Don Rumata]

This game is such an adventure. Found a coffin and rested in it and was dragged to some sarcophagus. So fucking metal.

BTW for the next play through,

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that's how you can get a game breaking weapon as soon as you land in Firlink shrine.

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[Himu]

Pinwheel was really easy. Feels good to have a break after S&O so I'm not complaining. 

Also the dark area in the tomb of the giants after Pinwheel is more scary than Pinwheel. 

[Himu]

Man, say what you want about the post-Anor Londo content, I really don't mind it. I took out multiple Capra Demons at once and felt like a damn God. This game is a classic and the post-AL stuff is not as bad as people say.

DS1 > BB, hate to say it

[Bebpo]

Pretty sure you haven't seen the worst yet or you would've commented

It's not that the 2nd half is bad (outside 1 area + boss), but that the second half just isn't as good as the first half stuff. I definitely like the 2nd half of DS outside the 1 unfinished area & boss.

[Himu]

What's the worst?

Reached Lost Izalith.

[Bebpo]

have fun

[Himu]

Bed of Chaos

Also Lost Izalith got me to order a new LOTR boxset to read. DS1 got me in an LOTR mood for some reason??

[Himu]

Bed of Chaos


Edit: I thought this was a FIGHT but it's a goddamn PUZZLE??

[Bebpo]

hahaha,

yeah that's the worst fight in the series. That final jump is a PoS!


And yeah, DS1 definitely gives off LoTR vibes. I ain't even gonna hate on your DS1 > BB because I think DS1 & BB are the best souls and could take either but I'm more a lovecraft person than LoTR so I prefer BB.

[Himu]

Beat Bed. Only bad area but it is short and small so it's not too bad and doesn't scuff DS' nose.

My poor, poor Solaire.

[Himu]

Yes, I have the trilogy with comes with all dlc for all games.

[Himu]

BTW this is what I have:

steelbox with all three games with dlc on it.



Great package.

I will also be purchasing this once I beat DS1. Going to take a Soul break and replay FFVII for the last time before the remake. Will be doing so on my original playstation and on CRT.



I'm also buying this. It's out of print now so it'll be expensive but I love Souls 1 so much I know it will be worth it.



So glad to give the game another shot. Playing through it has also coincided with the loss of my depression. For the past decade I've been very fatalist, caustic, and close-minded. And recently I've been opening my mind to new things and new experiences. I've been playing the game alongside that and it's been very transformative. Dark Souls is a very powerful game.

Giving Lord of the Rings trilogy another shot too. Haven't read since I was a teenager and hated it and thought it was a slog. Time to open my mind!