Dark Souls III

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

It is weird how this game generated zero hype for me even though I am a Dark Souls fan. I just ignored it until I seen the Digital Deluxe Edition on sale for $50 USD shortly after release. I guess Dark Souls II left me feeling bored even though it was a decent game.

With having low expectations going in, I was pleasantly surprised. This game is set in the same area as the original Dark Souls. There are some familiar areas and enemies but it doesn't go overboard with the reuse of old areas. Firelink Shrine is again your main hub. I am assuming it is a very long time after Dark Souls as most familiar areas are quite different. One notable example other than Firelink Shrine is Anor Londo. The old passages in the main hall are blocked by rubble. The giant blacksmith is still there... but as a giant corpse.

The game uses the Bloodborne engine, so it looks excellent. The controls as expected are very responsive. They have done away with the set number of uses on spells and now use "Focus Points" (FP) which is basically the same as "Magic/Mana Points" in other games. They also added weapon skills for each weapon when you hold it with two hands and use the parry button. Some of them are quite awesome but as of right now I have not used them enough to comment on their actual usefulness. I could be missing out on the greatest thing ever.

Dark Souls III feels like what Dark Souls II should have been. Like a direct sequel to the original. However I have a hard time pointing at what exactly makes it feel like that. The controls are tight unlike in II where I thought they felt sloppy or loose. Maybe it is because it is set in the same area and when you see something familiar it brings back those feelings of nostalgia.

Of course I have been recording boss fights but quite honestly this is only the second one I have gotten on the first try. I think the boss is insane because I don't see any baby. This is the only boss fight so far that has had any dialog. (1440p available)

The next video is why the previous one is unusual. Cool fight though, I left all the cutscenes in. (1440p available)

A review of the game by Fextralife.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

Its good to be pleasantly surprised; maybe after two games you were just expecting more of the same? I didnt like that fact the older ports didnt sound very well done - you said in the first game you couldnt even change resolutions without a hack?

The boss fight themselves seem okay, but did seem like you were using the same tactics - hit, roll-out, dodge, then hit. It was kind-of funny to see you get hit - losing most of your health then just have a tango and youre better Smile

Oceiros didnt seem too bad; just a few close encounters, although it looked like you were very unlucky with the nameless King. Was there two of you fighting him? ie. coop? if so, how does the online part work?

Anyway, nice to see you still around and posting. Let us know how it goes.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Yeah i'm here multiple times a day! Nobody post though Cry

.

Yeah im trying to build a decent character. It is my first time though the game so I just went with sword + shield. I have a ring equipped that makes your estus flask heal for more. It is technically called a "quality" build. Strength + Dex and pumping a lot of levels into HP and Stamina. It allows the use of most weapons but I haven't found anything better than the sword I got.

Coop is done by summoning others by the summon signs they leave on the ground. For example if I wanted to help somebody at a boss, I would use my summoning stone (white sign soapstone) and it leaves a mark on the ground for others to use. When they do I join their game as a phantom. I still get the souls reward for helping to kill the boss. You can also invade other peoples worlds with red-eye orbs. This is basically forced PVP where you just go to kill the guy in his world. You can also duel with others by using a red sign soapstone. When the person summons you, you are hostile so you can fight.

I have seen purple summon signs but I have no clue what that is for. Summoning and invading is based on what level the people are and apparently some other factors like equipment levels so they are more evenly matched. In dark souls 1, it was advantageous to stay at levels 1 - 10 so you could invade anybody as you could only be up to 10 levels higher than the other person but any number below. It seems mismatched for a level 10 invader to fight a level 250 guy, but it isn't really what level you are that matters, it is skill based.

In Dark Souls 2 the system was changed to something called "Soul Memory". It would match you to people who has collected nearly the same number of total souls over the life the the character which lead to people not being able to find their friends or unable to find anybody to invade because their soul memory was too high.

But yea in 3 the soul memory thing was removed thankfully so it is much more like in 1 but now your gear counts as well.

On thing I forgot to mention is the game performance. It is unfortunately locked at 60 FPS. I guess it is because the game engine is so reliant on timing and iframes. It runs great on my GTX 970 with occasional dips into the mid 50s at 2560x1440 even while recording at 60 FPS with bandicam. I don't know if I ever mentioned it but I recently got a new monitor, the Acer XB270HU. It is 1440p 144hz IPS with gsync and I was hoping it would be able to take advantage of the increased refresh rate. However gsync works great with this game and it appears very smooth overall.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

yea, seems to be the case the moment - there are quite a few people viewing things, and even registering now (since I updated the process) but not many posting on the forms unfortunately. hardly anyone in the arcade, not sure whats happening to be honest.

thanks for explaining about online play; as I wasnt sure what that ghost player was doing in your second video - it kind-of looked like a human player, but I thought they would be more solid. Is there a limit of how many people can join? im guessing you cant have like 25 players on a single boss - which would be probably over-kill.

myself im not a fan of PvP. im guessing with that system, anyone can invade your game and kill you. I guess they get some kind-of reward for doing so. Does pvp happen often?

one question I wondered about; is the game hard work? ie. every monster or boss is hard? if so, do you find such a game best played just for a couple of hours?

congratulations on the new monitor - 1440p. I bet 144fps is abit hard to reach with a 970GTX? myself I struggle to reach 60fps@4k with a 980ti (I also changed my screens a couple of months back - LG 27UM67). So the 60fps limit wouldnt be so bad for me. Seems to be at the moment we have to drop settings to get the fps we want. Hopefully the new cards coming out will help with this.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

There is a limit of 2 friendly players and 1 hostile. There are conditions which can change it slightly.

It is hard to describe to someone who hasn't played any of them. I wouldn't say it is hard, just challenging in a good way. It is a lot of learning attack patterns of enemies and not being reckless. In the Dark Souls series a shield can block pretty much anything, so keeping your shield up in unfamiliar areas is a huge help. There is also critical attacks such as the famous backstab which is easiest to perform if you can get behind the target then there is the much more difficult parry.

Critical Attacks Demo

The combat system is very robust and even being invaded honestly is fun, the game is really all about the combat. The thing is, you don't really lose anything when you die. The souls you are carrying are dropped where you died and if you can make it back to them without dying again you can recover them, if not they are lost. Souls are basically just the currency of the game. You spend them to buy stuff from NPCs and level up. If you are carrying so many souls that it hurts when you lose them, you are likely doing something wrong. There is absolutely no reason to carry a huge number of souls around. They are easy to farm up if needed. You can help others fight bosses for an easy 30,000 souls with almost no effort. I beat the game last night but decided not to start NG+ yet, in the late game areas it isn't uncommon to wind up with 100k+ souls just randomly exploring the areas.

I remember back when I started Dark Souls 1 and complained it was sorta unfair. Looking back on that, it was because of me being reckless. I learned the hard way to stop and peek around corners and expect something to jump out and knock you off a ledge. Traps are common but they are not totally hidden.

Once you get past the difficulty of the game there is a lot to take in. A lot of hidden lore scattered throughout the world, it has its own unique charm in an otherwise dark fantasy RPG. It isn't a hand holding experience either. The game is unforgiving of careless players and these are the ones you see complaining about it being too hard. They are used to games where you can soak up 100s of bullets and not die, rampaging around being unstoppable. This is not that type of game.

Also keep in mind you can always summon some help if you are having trouble with an area.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

true, we do seem to see quite a lot of games where we can soak way too much damage (totally unrealistic). I remember playing Saints Row 3 ages back and at the end of the game I could stand there with 20-30 people shooting me - loosing a tiny amount of health. I didnt like that, as it felt way too easy. I rather have a game too hard rather than too easy. Im glad to hear you dont loose much when dying, its a bugbear of mine.

In the video you linked, it kind-of made the combat look somewhat easy? im guessing you cant get around the back or shield bash everything?

I did watch WAB video a couple of weeks ago, and he didnt seem to like it very much. I do think he goes a bit over-the-top to be honest but I take his videos under advisement.

I guess you totally disagree with what he said?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Interesting view for sure. It is true a controller is almost required. In Dark Souls 1 it was practically impossible to play with KB+M. That has continued through them all even though in 2, 'proper' controls were introduced but I never tried it.

As for the crashing, I have seen a handful of people complaining about it. I have yet to experience anything of the sort. The YouTubers I watch that are playing it hasn't mentioned anything about crashes even during the beta. At this point I can only assume it is very sensitive to overclocking or there is some configuration that it doesn't like. I have also seen people complain of low FPS through the game (10- 20 fps throughout with better rigs than mine) but again, I have seen none of that playing at 1440p with a 970 on Windows 10.

There is a lot of rolling and blocking can't deny that.

But honestly it is hard to take the review seriously when it is based on the first 5 minutes of the game. I can understand the frustration though. It is a Dark Souls game. It is OK if you don't like it or get it.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

I do tend to think the guy goes over-the-top for a reason; too over-exaggerate things. Yes, its pretty bad for a game of that price not to be able to play with both controller and mouse/keyboard on the pc. So I can understand his frustration there.... still even I know that dark-souls isnt for the faint hearted - so expect it to be differcult - lots of dying.

The boss he showed looked a bit screwed up - barely able to see anything, im guessing that doesnt happen that often? I do tend to get annoyed at not being able to see; whether its to do with poor lighting (ie. too freaking dark) or bad camera angles.

I guess you cant make a game to suit everyone - sooner or later someone wont like it.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Thankfully those types of enemies are rare. The first boss turns into one (as in the video) and a few other random mobs will transform into that if you don't kill it fast enough. There are 8 that I can think of off the top of my head that transform into a black demon thing and you don't have to fight any of them except the first boss. If you do decide to fight them, fire arrows, pyromancy and sorceries work wonders.

The Nameless King boss fight is a nightmare for the lock-on system. That is the only boss where the camera became an issue.

I expect most of those types of issues to resolved when the first DLC comes out, whenever that is. There has only been some balance adjustments so far that I know of.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 7 years ago.

With the last DLC coming out very soon I started the game up again so I can experience the new content. Sadly there is no cloud save for whatever reason and i lost my endgame characters a long time ago. I haven't even played the last DLC yet.

Since this is the last DS game and last DLC, I have to experience it at least once. What kind of fan would I be if I just shelved it?

Elite has been taking up most of my time lately but I have been practicing. Ever since DS1 I have always went the safe route and tried to block everything with a shield. Now I am two handing weapons much more often and aim to completely ditch the shield. This is very useful for PVP as blocking actually makes you more vulnerable in some situations.

that clutch dodge though

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 7 years ago.

I guess you lost your game when switching between pc's? as you upgraded a little ago? things such as save-game often give over-looked, which is crazy considering how much effort goes into them. Although sometimes restarting can be a good thing, as may learn better ways of doing things.

So I guess when that DLC comes out, your be playing that a lot? is is a large DLC? ive personally been a little disappointed in some of the DLC which has been coming out. Has the DLC for dark souls been a bit better?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 7 years ago.

Nah I reinstall Windows every few months to keep it fresh and performing well. With Windows 10 though I need to do it much less frequently compared to older versions. Although every day I am getting closer to reinstalling again. A lot of small issues keep popping up, but I may wait until the next Windows update (the Creators update) comes out which is expected next month. I could in theory update now as I am in the Windows Insider Program and the update is available.

Is the DLC better than the rest? Well the first DLC for DS3 people complained it was too short. I haven't tried it yet. The next one looks to be decent with a lot of new areas and things. We will find out shortly. I have been avoiding spoilers as much as possible.

All I know for sure is there will be pvp maps. This is great because you won't have to go searching for fights, doesn't sound like much on its own but pvp is a major part of Dark Souls. Dark Souls 2 dropped the ball on this part. It wasn't until much later they removed the nonsensical restrictions from it, but by then the community moved on to other games.

What gets me about the saves is that the game is (afaik) exclusive to steam on PC and consoles. WHY NO CLOUD SAVE! I don't get it. It is 2017 and no cloud save?

Stay safe over there.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 7 years ago.

well I havnt refreshed my Windows 10 since I installed it - everything seems to be running fine for me.

Im seeing a lot of DLC's being shorter than expected. I remember DLC used to be massive - like Borderlands 1 where we used to get 10+ hours worth of stuff.. now you're luckily if you get a few hours from a DLC. I guess its not so bad if you really like the game, but increasing season passes are getting way too expensive.

what did you mean about cloud save? being able to load your game on either pc or console? dont think many games do that?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 7 years ago.

I mean it uploads your saves to the 'cloud' so you don't have to worry about losing them if they get deleted and able to be synced across devices, not really between PC and console (is Steam available on consoles?) but between physical locations on PC. As example, I want to play X3 on a friends PC. All I need to do is login to Steam on their PC and install the game. The saves are automagically downloaded so you can continue right where you left off.

Even the X series has this functionality, including the early games like X:btf. This indicates it is fairly easy to implement as it is just making a copy of your savegames on the Steam servers.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 7 years ago.

Finally beat the Ashes of Ariandel DLC. I made the mistake of trying it too early. No biggie thankfully as you are able to get out of the painting at any bonfire.

Once I level up quite a bit I tried it again. I was about level 60 when I started it. At the end I was level 70'ish and the mobs were still challenging so it scales well for mid/low level chars. I imagine it would be far easier for a magic user though as some of the melee guys are quite heavily armored. From my time with it, it feels like it is geared more toward agile characters who can do the quick roll. I tried it with heavier armor but the dodge roll was just too slow for me. I'm sure it is entirely possible to do it in very heavy armor with the slow roll though.

My character build is a typical "quality" build (strength/dex) with a +10 Claymore. My shield is at +8 i think, having trouble finding the stuff to upgrade it more. Wearing the Bronze Armor set with the Evangelist hat. Gives good all-round protection and isn't super heavy so I don't have to put many points into vitality so I can do the fast roll.

This DLC is less cryptic in the story telling which is strange to me (considering it is a Dark Souls game) but welcomed. Nice to know what is going on from the start.

Overall it wasn't bad. There were some cheap moments though, like where you get mobbed by wolves, or fighting knights on a tiny walkway on the side of a mountain. I was disappointed by the ending a bit even though it did make sense if you played it. Didn't even get a cutscene.

Here is the final boss fight of Ashes of Ariandel. I tried solo'ing. I was unable to do so. Sadly there weren't many players around this area either so it took a long time to find help, then when I did they usually died on the first phase of the fight, useless. So it took quite a while to finally beat it, been stuck there for 3 days trying to get competent help. I have access to the next DLC area now, The Ringed City. It is accessible after killing this boss. I think I will get up to the final boss of the main game before doing it though. I don't plan on doing a NG+ playthrough.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 7 years ago.

I remembered you can actually beat the game and continue playing without going into NG+.

This is a terrible fight vs the final boss "Soul of Cinder". I think I am over-leveled a bit for this. Got him on the first try but took a lot of hits an used all my estus. I recall getting wrecked constantly last time I did it. Gave me a chance to unlock the normal ending achievement ("To Link the First Flame"). Last time I beat him I didn't really follow the story and inadvertently did the "The End of Fire" thinking that is what you were supposed to do.

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