Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

Board Index » Steam » Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

I've been waiting to get this for quite some time. I heard about it back when I was playing Reckoning, as people were comparing it to that (completely different btw). When they ported it to PC I was really excited but couldn't see paying $60 for it.

Basically the marketing for the game is that its extremely difficult, no hand holding at all. My type of game! I've been playing it and had a little bit of trouble to start with. First it almost requires some type of controller. A 360 one should work out of the box, the PS3 controller requires an emulator. I have neither, I have one that looks like the old PS1/PS2 dual-shock ones and I was able to get it working pretty well. The proper amount of buttons is important. Its possible to use a keyboard + mouse but its very buggy and practically unsupported - its a direct port from console with a bit of new content added in.

This brings up some more issues. I thought perhaps my PC just couldn't handle it even at 720p. A bit of searching produced a fix to unlock the framerate and adds some tweaks to make it run better on PC. Apparently the FPS is locked at 30 and its really noticeable.

So finally I'm able to play it! I think i'm doing fairly well for a noob but some things about the game really get to me, its not a deal breaker but just annoying.

First off, from what I have seen first hand, the difficulty mainly comes from how its designed. For example I was fighting the first boss. He uses a huge club and swings and smashes, etc. If you get hit and knocked down, you have to wait until the animation completes before you can take another action. What happens is he will smash you again (generally killing you the second hit) before you can even get up to dodge his next attack - this is in the tutorial area. I mean, sure it makes sense you can't block or dodge while getting up but the animation is so slow that its unfair to the player.

Another area of difficulty is how some events take place. One notable example is when you meet the dragon near the start. If you step onto the bridge without knowing the dragon will appear you get instantly killed by his fire breath. It doesn't fly in, it doesn't even walk up to the bridge. It appears out of thin air behind you and kills you. To me that is just a cheap trick to kill people.

A lot of things so far seem to be like that where it doesn't actually give you a chance. It just kills you just to do it.

I figured out that you can use "Humanity" to return to human form. When you are in human form, you can summon other players for assistance and you can get invaded, non-consensual pvp.

So there I am, I have a few Humanity points to use, so i turn human to get the stat boost for a boss fight. Not 1 second later I was invaded and the guy spawned right behind me and backstabbed me, insta-death. Ok whatever, a few hours later I decided to try it again. Used my Humanity for the boss fight and the same thing happened. It was even the same guy. I'm all for risk, but really? The guy spawns 2 feet behind me and backstabs before I can even close the menu? What exactly is the point of that? So I gave that up and now i'm just running around as undead ("Hollow" ) until I can figure out why that keeps happening.

I know it sounds pretty negative but once I got the game working properly its not bad. Lot of planning and learning from mistakes that lead to death. I do die quite often but its usually to something stupid, falling off ledges, getting backstabbed by undead with spears and things. Character customization is pretty good with lots of options when leveling up. You could start as a warrior and switch to a wizard, Or build a hybrid ranged/tanky character. Combat isnt too bad. the lock on system isn't the best in the world but it works most of the time. It feels realistic for the most part, you don't do perfect rolls and are right back on you feet. You jump and roll and it takes time to recover. Bigger weapons are swung as if its actually heavy.

If you have wanted to get this game, don't get it for PC, get it for PS3 or Xbox 360, as the PC port just isn't that smooth and requires too much effort to work properly.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

Oh, that sounds rather harsh - killing you all the time, forcing you to wait and that. Although the title of the game suggest its going to be hard

but it does suggest its a hard game to get into.

as for console ports - I do hate it when they do a bad conversion for the PC. Its no real excuse - saying you need more powerful hardware to get over their bad programming etc... just cos the pc can be upgraded.

as for the PS3 controller, you dont need a emulator - just a program called: MotioninJoy. If you have a compatible bluetooth receiver you can even use the PS3 wireless (like I do). I think the reciever needs to be like Bluetooth v2.0+, with EDR.

OliasOfSunhillo

OliasOfSunhillo avatar

Fightguey (6)

Posted 11 years ago.

Got this myself in the steam Sale â‚¬20 happy days, did a fair bit of research before buying and had all the graphic patches in place ready. I already have a 360 wireless controller but oddly you need another mod to display the correct hints ie. A or X for example, and your right a perfect combo. But once all is patched it has been superb I can see myself playing this for 100+ hours then there is the replay value as a different character! A game to rival X3 for longevity.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

Nice. post some vids! Surprisingly I can't even tell when i'm recording in Dark Souls, no recording lag at all. Turns out that the movement/recovery speed appears to be a function of dex + equipped item weight. I made a new toon (the vid is the new guy) and he is much faster with light armor and decent dex. The first guy I made was the Knight class and you start with what looks like a type of plate armor. Switching my dex guy into chainmail produces the same effect as the old toon, slow and slow to recover from hits and knockdowns.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

lol, yea the NPC def. helped you a lot then - tanking the boss for you (half way the boss kind-of left you alone so you could whack him down). I guess all you could do is hit him in the leg due his size - which is a bit crazy. I guess you got Dark Souls in the steam sales?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

While roaming around some side area, I found out that apparently you can have more than one person invade at once. It didn't occur to me to record what happened though.

I was just roaming around and thinking about next time somebody invades what I should do to kill them. I get the message somebody invaded (good timing), I was looking around the area for them as I got a new spear to use on people (the one in the last vid vs Moonlight Butterfly). I spot him in the distance, then i got another message that someone invaded! The first guy has a blue hue the second is red hue. The red guy came up behind the blue guy and backstabbed him then came after me. I evaded for quite some time until the blue dude recovered and came after me too. Blue was a knight guy in some heavy armor and heavy weapons - easy to dodge. Red was the typical dex based fencer type. I was easily dodging both and getting some hits in. That is until i got surrounded and I went down.

It seems customary to do a gesture when somebody invades or is summoned for help, like waving, pointing, bowing etc as you can't send direct messages to the other people. The red guy bows and blue got a good chop in, killing him too.

Its the first time i've gotten into a fight where I didn't die right away. It was a good fight, I need to read up on how weapon upgrading works as my gear really is garbage. I would like to just start over and do my char build correctly but I think i'm nearing the end anyway, but I could create a new toon to mess around with.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

It dif. looked like you were very over powered on the Moonlight Butterfly, has you seemed to more or less kill him on the first pass. How come you didnt use more bow attacks? Low on arrows?

The stray demon did look a pain in the rear, although you seem to be attacking him there... Showing him a pain in the rear :-)

Thanks for posting the videos .. Interesting to see! Is anyone else playing or has played dark souls?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

Didn't realize he (Moonlight Butterfly) was so weak in comparison to me at the time. Prolly could have killed it with just the bow.

I started a new toon and its going fairly well. Since I know how to fight and stuff, im almost to the same point as the guy in the vids and dying a lot less. I avoided getting the Drake Sword this time to see what its like not to be stupidly OP early game. Believe it or not, its not much different lol. I went and got that Rusted Iron Ring and turns out you don't even need to fight the Stray Demon to clear the area and get the loot.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

thanks for posting the videos. hmm.. are all the PvP areas the same? I guess the PvP areas are just 1 vs 1 too? although how did that person have 2? - some-of ghost or something?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

No you invade another persons world, so they could be in The Depths just trying to progress (as in the first fight) and you just show up to kill somebody. The other person that is there is a summoned friendly (to the host) phantom. You can summon other players into your world to help out, I summon people often for boss help.

Where most of the fights were in the video, I just went down there to the bonfire in my world and used the Red Eye Orb to invade another player who is also in the same area. So its possible they have other people summoned for help so it can turn into a 3v1 or maybe more, im unsure of the max number of people.

There is another covenant you can join called the Forest Hunters. When you have the ring equipped you will be summoned automatically when another player who is in human form enters the Darkroot Garden area. Often times it will summon 2 or 3 Forest Hunter players to fight a single invading player and you still get credit for the kill.

Most of the covenants if not all offer some type of co-op play. There is one for friendly co-op, one to punish sinners (indicted players and sins from improperly leaving another covenant or killing certain NPCs), another to fight members of your own covenant. Even one that will bring in many players to kill you because of an unfamiliar game mechanic called Gravelording.

Been having a lot of fun with the game once I figured out how to play it. I'll do some co-op and post up a short vid later.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

Ah, thanks for explaining about the pvp section - often in many games it can be confusing.

Dark souls is looking like a really great game now; I guess I should have brought it when it was on special - it was on the xmas special at one point?

In that video it looked like you were mostly a one-man army, has the other guy looked like he was just following behind you. You would just run upto something and kill it with one hit... well until you hit that bosss; geez that thing looked small at first.. didnt that grow!

I guess you beaten that boss before?

ps. what happened to that giant rat? seam to disappear? did you guys kill it?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

Dark souls is looking like a really great game now; I guess I should have brought it when it was on special - it was on the xmas special at one point?
- Roguey

It was, it was $20 (or $30 i cant remember)! Been really wanting to get it for quite some time. I even signed the petition to get it ported to PC. Even at $60 its worth it IMO, but I simply couldn't afford it.

I guess you beaten that boss before?
- Roguey

Yep a few times. Its actually quite near the start of the game, if you know what you are doing in this part its easy to get up to it in an hour or so.

In that video it looked like you were mostly a one-man army, has the other guy looked like he was just following behind you. You would just run upto something and kill it with one hit... well until you hit that bosss; geez that thing looked small at first.. didnt that grow!
- Roguey

I leveled up the equipment on this char and kept a fairly low level for pvp purposes. Its more of a gear based game once you dig into the mechanics of it. The sword i'm using also does more damage based on how much active humanity you have (up to 10, the counter next to the health/stamina bars). Even so, the area isn't that difficult as normally you would 1 or 2 shot most of the enemies there during normal progression.

ps. what happened to that giant rat? seam to disappear? did you guys kill it?
- Roguey

Ya some enemies do that. I think its due to the size. The corpse would be in the way more often than not.

I'm nearing the end of the game on my main toon now. Got 2 more bosses then the final boss, they are very difficult areas for me though, even at high level. Tomb of the Giants is a pain in the ass. You have to use a special lantern to see its so dark. There is an item to help here but I wasn't able to access the area to get said item without a lot of work on my part.

Now that I have gotten through it, it should be much easier next time I have to do it since I know where to go. Its funny though because the area is hard but the boss a joke (Gravelord Nito). One of the few i've managed to kill on the first try.

If you can catch it on sale and have a proper controller I recommend getting this game. Its like the older games, challenging yet looks decent. They make good use of the depth of field effect and it looks real good overall. If you have ever played Two Worlds - the depth of field effect in that game is terrible so don't let that put you off. Its not all fluff and eyecandy like most new games that come out these days. The PC version (Prepare to Die) has additional content as well. I'm not sure if the additional content as been released for xbox and ps3 as DLC or not. If you are looking for a good story, this is not it however. There is a surprising lack of direction, I actually had to look up a walkthrough to see where to go from the start.

Forgot I took some screenshots too.

These are my favorite two. This is the boss Great Grey Wolf Sif.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

IBeen really wanting to get it for quite some time. I even signed the petition to get it ported to PC.
- Sinxar

I guess the port is a good one? often ports to the PC are lazy at best.

Ya some enemies do that. I think its due to the size. The corpse would be in the way more often than not.
- Sinxar

Ah, that makes sense. Although I do hate it in games when monsters go *poof* Smile

If you can catch it on sale and have a proper controller I recommend getting this game.
- Sinxar

Okies ill keep an eye for it. I do have a PS3 controller I can use on the PC - in wireless mode too. I use DS3 Tool for it, and it works well. I need to get back to steam - damn Diablo! been playing that.

Forgot I took some screenshots too.
- Sinxar

In the first pic, what is it? Bash the wall

as for the second, why does that wolf have 3 legs?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

No, its not a good port at all. But the game itself is great. I wanted the PC port because I cant see buying an Xbox or PS3 just for one game, doesn't make a lot of sense. But you almost have to use 3rd party tools (as stated in the OP) to make it run properly.

The first pic is sif. he appears up on that pillar when you touch the sword stuck in the ground there. The second one is just a perspective thing. you can see his other rear leg on the left.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 11 years ago.

I do hate it when the ports are done badly - the pc often gets rough treatment. I guess it runs much better on the ps3? as I do have one of them sitting under the TV.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 11 years ago.

Finally beat the game. Started on NG+ but don't really feel like doing that right now. The boss however was not what I expected. I assumed it would perhaps be one of those massive bosses, I was surprised to see what it actually was. And he was quite the challenge.

Been doing a lot more pvp and im starting to get the hang of it now. Still get pwned in 2v1s but getting a lot of people invading me and so far all but one has died lol. Something strange was going on today, somebody else was invading my world over and over. He had to be slightly higher level than be because I got quite a few souls when he was killed. In fact I got enough souls from killing him to upgrade some more of my gear. I recorded most of the fights today but I want to get more from different areas before I make a [better than average] video.

Before the final boss, i went exploring to see what else was around. This pic is in Ash Lake, a very beautiful white sandy area with huge trees that go through the clouds. The dragon is not hostile, its who you talk to to join the Dragon covenant.

Here is a view over the water with the trees in the distance:

And this is the path leading to the dragon in the first pic.

Some areas are absolutely stunning. You can tell the developer went to great lengths to make each environment feel immersive.

1 2 3 »

You need to log-in to post here.