[Defiance]

In response to Sif helping fight Manus, for those of you don't know this is what happens when you save Sif before you fight him as a boss:

[Traveller]

Six days to go..

[Defiance]

Damn, I should have brushed up my skills earlier in the week.

Getting my ass kicked so far. Definitely making progress, but my health bar is now stuck at half. My biggest problem is carelessness and ambition. The former being I'm not taking enough time to learn an enemy's movements, the latter being I'm trying to explore every little nook and cranny. Still haven't encountered a boss yet, though I have a feeling I'm pretty close to one. Hopefully killing one will restore full health like in Demon's Souls - I really don't want to use my effigies this early on, especially because I'm not sure if you can farm them like Humanity.

Scraping for every bit of lore that I can find. Really looking forward to learning more about Drangleic and seeing how this world ties in with the first game.

[Tattersail_]

Are you playing this? Number 2?

[Morgoth]

I must murder you.

[Tattersail_]

Morgoth, on 11 March 2014 - 02:25 PM, said:

I must murder you.

please let the rage burn!

[Traveller]

Damn it but I have to wait until Friday!

[Tattersail_]

Traveller, on 11 March 2014 - 02:58 PM, said:

Damn it but I have to wait until Friday!

That is why I was surprised he was playing it, I have to wait myself!

[Defiance]

Yeah, I sure am playing II.

Two bosses down so far. Finally feel like I'm getting back in the swing of things. As always, patience is the most important thing.

There's a pillar in the main hub that records the number of worldwide deaths in the game. It's already up to about 1,000,000. Pretty hilarious.

[Traveller]

What build are you using... or rather what have you been investing in so far?

I'm hoping my recent replay through Demons Souls will count for something when I start. I'm glad to see that it looks a bit like a hybrid of demons and dark.

It looks like it did well in the reviews; pretty funny to see how few reviews are based on actually completing it though. I'm not looking at them any more as I don't want any hints or spoilers before I start.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 12 March 2014 - 10:55 AM

[Overactive Imagination]

DS2 is good so far... very similar to Demons and Dark Souls 1.

[Defiance]

Primarily strength and endurance. Some points into vitality, vigor, and adaptability. A few into dexterity to meet weapon requirements.

Avoiding any sort of magic/miracles for the first playthrough, since those made things a lot easier in previous games.

Currently on the "7th" boss, plus there's an optional one that I have to stop being afraid of and face. I've died about 10 times to this guy so far; he's the first truly challenging boss I've encountered. One small mistake and the fight is pretty much over. Worst part is I got him down to where two more hits would have killed him. He would have been dead if I hadn't got greedy and tried to go for a second hit. Being a veteran of the first two games, I should know better by now. Haste = death.

[Traveller]

I just love that though. The fact you know damn well that one more hit will drain your remaining stamina.. but might finish him.. and so you try it anyway and die, moments from victory. Even when you know better.

[Overactive Imagination]

Good call not doing magic - I think I'll do the same and stick to my strength build. I haven't found any of the bosses to be difficult so far.. beaten 3 or 4.. but I've still died several times in each zone. Spent a few hours today in the no-man's wharf level dying over and over. Some of the zones seem easy but it's also so easy to get gang banged by 3-4 guys at once.

[amphibian]

Thank you all for not having too many spoilers, but making it seem like a VERY good game thus far.

I'm waiting for PC version to release and antsy. Might do a playthrough of DS1 in the meantime.

[Defiance]

16 bosses down so far. Comparatively, Dark Souls had 22 bosses total, 26 with the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. Not sure how many will be in this game, but I'm guessing it'll be around 25. The number of areas is very impressive; the game certainly feels larger than the original.

Slight mechanics spoiler follows. Doesn't reveal anything about what you fight in the game, just a few things you can do in regard to difficulty.

Spoiler

Despite my speed bump at the beginning, I'm able to progress through each area after only a few deaths. It doesn't seem to be taking me as long to learn how to deal with enemies as it did in Dark Souls. Whether this is from experience or the game is simply easier, I'm not sure. I have yet to encounter a fight as brutal as Ornstein and Smough was for a melee character. Regardless, it's not something that I count as a negative against the game. There are items you can use to permanently increase the power of all enemies within a zone, as well as a covenant you can join increase the power of everything. So I'm not worried about subsequent playthroughs being too easy (especially considering NG+ alone will add more difficulty).

[Overactive Imagination]

I played a few levels as a member of the Champions covenant without realizing what being in that covenant actually meant!

[Traveller]

Good news is that it's been delivered. Bad news is that I'm at work for another 6 hours.

[Defiance]

Very close to finishing the game. Probably an hour away at most, although it'll be longer since I'm going to go through every area again to pick up any items I may have missed.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied. There were some design decisions that I initially questioned, but in the end I was won over. I do have a few gripes, though.

1) Boss design. Artorias of the Abyss DLC had the best boss design in Dark Souls. For the most part, I don't feel that we got that level of design here. Rather, it's more akin to regular Dark Souls. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have yet to encounter a fight that was as intense as Kalameet.

2) Lighting. The game looks nowhere near as good as it did in trailers, which isn't really a surprise since trailers are running on a PC build of the game 99% of the time. That's not a big deal, but I do wish that the game had better ambient lighting, shading, and shadows. The art direction in the game is fantastic, and better shading really would have gone a long way. I think this would have been especially true when it comes to the dark areas that you can traverse with torches - the lighting that torches give off in the trailers/early demos is infinitely better. I'm sure the PC version of the game will fix this to a degree, but I still don't think it'll have the level of lighting and shading that we saw in the trailers.

It does excite me for a PS4/Xbox One era Souls game where such graphical sacrifices won't have to be made in the name of stability.

Neither of those is enough to hamper my love for the game, and boss difficulty may skyrocket between ascetics, covenants, and NG+.

[Traveller]

I've been playing for a few evenings now.

Overall I'm very happy with it.. it's definitely a Dark Souls game. First impressions.. well, it all looks so high res compared to the previous two, and although the masses seem to demand everything as sharp as possible, I quite like the dark fuzziness that still oozed atmosphere in the other games.

It does look great though and the different areas all look suitably different so far. I stopped at a bonfire last night before I quit and looked out from the cliff edge over the forest.. there was a huge cloud of crows circling in the mist over the trees with the sun setting behind. Looked awesome.

I'd just finished a boss fight that involved taking on 3 Sentinals at the same time, and was feeling smug because rolling, dodging and timing hits on one can be tricky and I'd just taken on all 3, which seemed a bit suicidal but somehow worked with a bit of patience.

They were the first boss that was a challenge though - the bosses so far don't seem to have had quite the same impact as before, they are more like bigger versions of the regular hollows. I haven't encountered anything that weird or creepy yet, anyway, certainly no Gaping Dragon. (Nice touch to see an older version of Ornstein though)

The music may have something to do with a less oppressive atmosphere, it seems more Resident Evil piano than the uncomfortable strings and overblown choral blasts that made Demon's and Dark's so memorable.

That said my only real criticisms are the too- frequent bonfires and easier bosses (so far).

I started as a Knight, and whereas before it was quite easy to have a few handy spells along, with a starting int. of 3 combined with a min of 10 to get one magic slot, I have yet to cast anything. I've mostly boosted strength, vitality and endurance, and I'm slicing away with a +5 long sword, which seems unimaginative but I like to be able to get 3 or 4 swings in and still have stamina for a block.

So many options I've not even explored yet, this game looks like it's got a ton of play in it.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 21 March 2014 - 09:11 AM