Dark Souls: Prepare to Die (PS3/360/PC)

[Tonko]

Spoiler: show

You can take it to Kingseeker Frampt OR clear New Londo Ruins (boss and all) and give it to Darkstalker Kaathe to join the Darkwraith faction. You can't join this covenant if you give the lordvessel to Kingseeker.

Not quite true. You can zerg your way through New Londo first thing after you get the Abyss walker's ring, and join the covenent, then later give it to Frampt.

[Exoduso]

Seeing all this obsession with this game has really made me want to give it a shot and pick it up.
Is it really as amazing as the videos and comments I see here make it out to be though? I'm assuming since most of you are already playing these titles since Demon's Souls came out, if I picked this up first would it make any difference in terms of story or getting used to the series? Or should I go with Demon's first?

[Jaxzer]

No story ties whatsoever

[Tonko]

Yes it's that amazing, and more.
The story isn't a factor, and has nothing to do with the first tone. It's very loose, and mostly serves as a means to tell you where to go next. Demon's is both harder and easier, in it's own ways. Demon's is cheaper currently, so might try starting with that one, incase you don't like it.

[Arelian]

Not quite true. You can zerg your way through New Londo first thing after you get the Abyss walker's ring, and join the covenent, then later give it to Frampt.

Weird! The guide makes it sound like you have to have the lordvessel and Kaathe takes it from you. Ah well! I lost my chance to join the covenant since I put New Londo off until it was the last area I had to go to. I'm planning on joining it when I start my NG+ playthrough.

[Ohemgee]

Not sure if this picks up with the argument. But I expected this game to be harder than Demon Souls. It feels easier (or I'm more experienced at this fuckery?)

[Arelian]

I think it's simply knowing to expect some shit, so it doesn't get to you as much. Demon's Souls got kinda easy once I learned what to expect.

Though, Dark Souls does feel very creative in the "ways to kill you" department.

[Ohemgee]

Its still a fun as fuck game. Just a lot of dick moves.

[Kaelan?]

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) Fuuuuu, game just froze. Just upgraded a bunch of shit too. orz

You probably didn't lose any progress, the game autosaves like every 2 minutes. I've backed up my saves, in the off chance I get a save file corruption or something like that, but so far every time it froze I was able to pickup exactly from where I left off after rebooting

[Souj]

Yeah, I think it is easier as well. Way easier to upgrade weapons, you can get way better gear way sooner, the worst stuff doesnt respawn, the bosses all seem a whole lot easier, and you can even just run through a lot of stuff and end up making it to a new bonfire.

[Kazen]

Jesus fuck, the Stray Demon just wrecked my shit.

[Doombear]

Yeah he can suck it. The first time I tried him he basically two shotted me within seconds. The second time I was able to heal after his first hit and just stay behind him almost always. His flying move got me turned around once or twice and in front of him again. I just booked it straight at him and rolled right at him and usually his attack shifted him and i rolled right between his legs.

[Exoduso]

The issue i'm having with deciding whether or not to give it a try is the whole "die and lose everything" deal... is it something you just learn to deal with, or will it make you want to throw your PS3 under a train?
ninjaedit: i'm a sore loser lol...

[Kazen]

I killed the fucker this time, I stayed glued to his tail basically and hit him with chaos fireballs and greater fireballs.

[Doombear]

Nicely done Kazen, it really is a bit of luck at the start with that fight. If he traps you, you may as well write it off and try again. Exo, it isn't like you lose everything. You lose your souls which are you rcurrency and means to level up, but you don't lose the items you have snagged, your weapons, etc. You just learn from mistakes... not unlike platformers. Eff up you are doing it again, and don't eff up that time.

[Kazen]

What is a "Peculiar doll" used for? I just picked it up after killing the Stray Demon.

[Zeb]

So, what parts of the game do you all not like? Any particular enemies or zones? Pretty sure Blighttown is gonna rank up there in needing to gtfo. I hate it for how shitty the lighting is. It's not a proper darkness like in Tomb of the Giants, and the whole poison swamp thing got played out in Demon's Souls pretty quickly.

As to the enemies, so far for me, none of the bosses has felt cheap and most of the regular enemies are setup well. The only enemies I feel are cheap would be the 2 spearbow dudes going up into Anor Londo, the deformed Sparta/Phalanx group in the Painted World, and possibly the ghosts in the Londo Ruins (but maybe that's more area design than mob design).

Biggest drawback is definitely the changes to how summoning phantoms works and the lack of party chat. I don't understand From's decision to keep it out. The game is already easy mode with a summon anyways.

[Zeb]

What is a "Peculiar doll" used for? I just picked it up after killing the Stray Demon.

Entrance to the Painted World in Anor Londo

[Krandor]

Only parts of this game that have truly pissed me off so far are Ceaseless Discharge and the invisible "fooled you I'm not safe" ledges in the crystal caves. Everything else that fucks you over is usually something of your own doing.

And yes, this game is honestly much easier then Demon's Souls, if for no other reason then the penalty for dying (Hollow form vs. Spirit and half health) is much much softer and alot easier to recover from.

[Maguspk]

The issue i'm having with deciding whether or not to give it a try is the whole "die and lose everything" deal... is it something you just learn to deal with, or will it make you want to throw your PS3 under a train?
ninjaedit: i'm a sore loser lol...

You only lose your souls if you die twice, that is you die and without using the chance to recover your souls, die again. Basically everytime you die you have to recover your souls if you want to get them back. Souls are like the game's currency but aren't really that hard to come by, it's more a penalty for death and it's not really a penalty because you learn not to die because literally any mob can kill you so when you die it's a lesson learned. It's hard to explain but don't avoid it because of the 'you die you lose souls' aspect.