Dark Souls 2: YOU DIED HARDER

i have no idea what i'll do. in games like this i always make the (boring) mistake of not specializing in anything and having fairly balanced stats, although i tend to go for dexterity. i guess it's because i'm not likely to play through the game multiple times with different character builds, so i want to be able to try out most of what the game has to offer in my single runthrough

my strength build seemed to work for me in DS1, i think i need that margin of error that comes with being able to block big attacks without consequence, but i feel like i should at least try something different this time.

Nice thing about this one is you can apparently completely re-spec your character (not sure how this works) a few times per playthrough.

yeah, i'm gonna jump in while it's hot (if only to be able to discuss with you guys) and put DS1 on hold until this gets beaten. it might be 2016!
my understanding is that the respec is a very expensive and very rare item
early reviews are universally positive and most writers mention "after 60 hours of play..." so i think this is gonna be fucking awesome
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dark-souls-ii/critic-reviews

the respec thing seems most appealing for NG+...that's what i wanted to do in DS1, to use all those spells and gear that i acquired but couldn't use because of my build.

Pre-ordered this and have it on my PS3 HD waiting to be unlocked at midnight on Friday. I'm both excited and apprehensive.

goddamit UPS, I was here what is this "an attempted delivery has been made" shit

Delivered
Delivered on: Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Package was left in or near the front door

:)

what are the fundamental differences between demon's souls and dark souls

yeah, i'm curious about that as well since i've never played demon's souls.

demons = 5 worlds connected by hub and stages are unlocked by beating bosses, checkpoints before each stage, healing items accumulated while playing
dark = continuous open world, bonfire checkpoints scattered throughout, healing flask which resets at bonfire

from what i can tell ds2 is a combo of all of the above minus the locked stages

so did you have to do the worlds in a specific order, or was it more like a mega man game?

no you can skip around the 5 worlds but the progression between stages is done in order

mega man is not an incorrect way of looking at it.
demons souls is a less complex and fully realized game but still excellent and it has totally the same aesthetic

Lol, there's gotta be like a dozen bloodstains in the main hub area showing people launching themselves off of the surrounding cliffs.

so dark is just less linear? is that more satisfying?

dark is put together like a puzzle. everything in the distance eventually comes to the foreground. the faraway mountain, the castle over the hill, the seemingly bottomless pit are not only actual places but interconnect to the world you are painfully familiar with in ways that, as each connection is illuminated, make you feel like you've discovered a hidden door in your living room that goes back to your fourth grade classroom. that's the secret truth behind dark for me is that it is not so much an adventure game or a fighter as it is a series of complex logic puzzles and games played out at rapid speed while you explore a giant jigsaw world trying to figure out how to connect the pieces so that you can see the final solution.
demons is, again, a bit more like megaman that holds your hand. You do some backtracking but the worlds are separate boroughs, generally unlinking. There's been some worry that 2, with its interlinked "bonfires" or warps leans closer to demons than dark and that's a real concern but most of the reviews i'm hearing suggest that you can actually hoof it from place to place and that interconnectedness is still there... the bonfires seem to primarily be for greater ease of use and less grinding. or maybe not. i won't know until UPS DELIVERS THE FUCKING THING, very annoyed about this.

i died

this is gooood. managed to squeeze in about 6 hours. time for sleep.

me too, got my ass kicked over and over and haven't even reached a boss

so dark is just less linear? is that more satisfying?

― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, March 11, 2014 7:37 PM

totally, but demons souls level design often outdoes dark souls as far as mood and all that. particularly some of the latter half of dark feels rushed in design

so do i need to warp to the bonfire in majula every time i need to level up?

yep

interesting

i unlocked the blacksmith, hes kind of a dick

if you're checking for traps, don't hit chests more than once. you can destroy some of them and whatever's inside is turned into rubbish. i've done this more than once, hopefully i didn't miss out anything too awesome.

unless there were actually traps in there and "rubbish" is what you get from a destroyed trap chest idk honestly. enjoying the total mystery of this right know.

did pretty well out of the gate, definitely challenging but i'm holding my own. went with a warrior class and will probably go STR because those are the weapons i'm finding. killed the first boss on first attempt but the second one destroyed me roughly 12 times in a row. decided to go off and explore other places and come back to him later.

combat doesn't seem as snappy as it did in DS1 (not a criticism, it still feels great), but i think that's because there's now a stat (Adaptability) that controls the quickness of a lot of your movements. i was a little bummed with the bonfire warping at first, but i'm minding it less and less bothersome. there's still plenty of the shortcut-discovering that i really liked about DS1.

no multiplayer encounters yet. i see soapstone markers and bloodstains, but i haven't seen any invasions or summon signs. don't know if there's a server issue or there's something i need to do or if From set it up so multiplayer is mostly off limits at the beginning.

i was wondering that too about the multiplayer. i did notice a message on loading that mentioned ps3 server maintenance. i think i may have been playing offline, no invasions or summons but i was seeing player ghosts and bloodstains everywhere hmmm

i've noticed some framerate stutter too which is disappointing, giving me flashbacks to skyrim on ps3

mention of frame rate issues here
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-dark-souls-2-face-off

yeah, i wish this looked and ran a little better. not terrible in my experience, but the last gen machines are really showing their age. PC version will probably look great. also holding out hope for a next gen release somewhere down the line.

glad they brought back a sorta hub world, it's nice to have somewhere to go chill in this crazy dark world we live in.

fucked with a faith build for a hour or 2 but decided i didnt want to venture that far into the unknown so rerolled a STR character. forgot how much swearing goes in to playing these games.

getting the special edition in the mail and opening it i felt like i was 'unboxing' a fedora

circa, agreed i'd srsly consider a ps4 if it came out for it. theres no blighttown level lagginess so far at least.

game is beautiful btw, having a hard time concentrating at work cuz i just wanna be playing

i really wanna "unbox my fedora"
/posts taken out of context

xp otm

IT IS HERE
this strategery guide is GORGEOUS, not planning on reading until i beat the area it details but omg
http://www.amazon.com/Souls-Collectors-Edition-Strategy-Guide/dp/0744015472/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1394652357

i spent today playing, the slight differences in the combat (targeting especially) and overall look/feel took some getting used to but now i'm all the way in.

it was pretty rough going at first -- didn't realize that weapons could actually break, so i was down to a single dagger in the forest. also learned that burning an effigy does not reverse hallowing, using it does. still haven't figured out to equip/light a torch because i am an idiot. also noticed some frame rate shit and bugs (i don't about y'all, but i'm getting the thing a lot where the game will go silent during a strike or kill, then the sound effects will trigger a second later) but that stuff generally doesn't bother me.

feel like i'm in the groove now, got through my first boss (the last giant) and most of that castle area. not really sure where to go next honestly, but i'm also enjoying the sense of the unknown.

and i did encounter a trapped treasure chest, but i don't know if hitting it would have helped (maybe though?).

another lesson learned - make sure you talk to everybody as many times as you can!

i haven't had audio problems but i've read others experiencing that, some of them had no audio in the opening cinematic even

weird. i'm on xbox btw, and there's been plenty of soapstone action. and i even have my trusty cloranthy ring already! although it seems like stamina recovery is more forgiving anyway.

still haven't figured out to equip/light a torch because i am an idiot

i'm just getting started myself, and it took me forever to figure this out because the torch doesn't appear in the inventory even after you've picked one up. when you're at a bonfire, press Y (on xbox at least) to toggle between resting and lighting the torch.

i don't understand the purpose of lighting the torch and the sconses, but oh well

i used to be able to do that but then my torch disappeared.. thinking maybe they expire after a while?

yeah, 5 minutes. i lit all the sconses at the beginning but...nothing happened. i was expecting the zelda "you lit all the torches!" puzzle-solving noise to pop up

also, i thought that you were going to be able to bonfire warp to all kinds of areas you hadn't been to yet, but this isn't the case, is it? i'm seeing that i can only go to bonfires that i've already lit. don't mind this at all.

idly reading other forum threads has opened my eyes to SO MUCH DOPE SHIT that i have WALKED RIGHT PAST so now i have a to-do list.

also i have a student worker who is a big gaming nerd so we got nothing done today besides trading souls anecdotes.

so i get that if you die you lose your humanity and you start to get hits to your overall HP. how can you tell what % of HP is cut because of your deaths? i'm not seeing it in the player status or player info menus.

oh duh, now i realize - it's on the HP bar on the main HUD - there's a little indicator that shows where the cap is on your HP.

Like Demon's Souls, there's a ring that bumps a certain % of your health up when hallowed. Very helpful. I've gotten in the habit of dropping a summon sign in front of a boss fog wall before I've even fought him. Let's you see what you're gonna be up against without any risk. If you win, souls + up a few levels in humanity which allows you to summon for your fight.