Dark Souls 2

[Yegolev]

Spoiler thread is fine.  The stats have changed enough that we can discuss that, at least, even if no one wants to complain about bosses.  Although I'm inclined to think they are easy* due to the progress being made here.

I started a sorceror and due to how things worked out I am using a offhand dagger.  This is actually neat and I'm going to go with it.

One odd thing.  I swear I created a female character, but it is now male.  I mean, it's possible that I accidentally the gender, but seems unlikely.

*YMMV

[Bann]

One odd thing.  I swear I created a female character, but it is now male.  I mean, it's possible that I accidentally the gender, but seems unlikely.

[Falconeer]

What? Seriously? Can it happen by mistake? And can you do it again, if you so wish?

[Khaldun]

I'm trying to decide whether to go console or wait for PC. Will decide this weekend.

[Miasma]

If it had a ps4 version I might have bought it.

[Yegolev]

LOL

[Bann]

You can do it again to change back.

[Sky]

"I must have died and went to FABULOUS!"

[schild]

I feel like there's only three other people here who have the game right now.

[Falconeer]

I am not proud to admit that it took me about 110 minutes to understand how to beat


To my defense, both my joypads seem to be broken. One randomly presses L1, and the other has a faulty R2.

About the game, first impression is: I like the setting less, much much much less, than both the other 'Souls game so far.

[Teleku]

That picture may be one of the greatest things ever created.

[Margalis]

I'm waiting for PC version.

I just beat Dark Souls 1 last night. Did everything in the game solo except the 2 gargoyle fight. (I summoned Solaire there because a friend was over and told me how to do that)

[Falconeer]

Unable to connect to server all day yesterday. Any other Euro with similar issues?

[jakonovski]

I just got the game and servers are working fine.

The game feels a lot different, old reflexes don't work too well.

[Yegolev]

Strafe roll isn't as easy, that's for sure.  Sometimes I spin in place and get a sword to the back of the head.  This may be due to a low agility but I don't really think so.

[jakonovski]

I started with the Explorer, who's a total weenie but lots of adaptability. Can't kill anything but rolling goes ok.

[Signe]

I wonder about deprived.

[Falconeer]

I wonder about the Victor's Stone covenant...

[Yegolev]

Stop wondering and start doing.

I got distracted so I didn't play, and I'll be on a camping trip this weekend.  Spending time around the Tower seems like a terrible idea so it's back to the forest, after I get another sex change.

[jakonovski]

Stuck on the first boss  a bit. My dude has a giant hit box it seems.

[Falconeer]

My dude has a giant hit box it seems.

Not just yours. Not just yours. *sigh*

[Ghambit]

Yah, there's a definite issue with perceived range on enemy weapons.  You can clearly be outside the arc, yet still get one-shotted.

[jakonovski]

Whoa, I quit the game by holding down on the PS button and choosing quit, and now when I start it up again it complains about being shut down improperly. Pretty scary, I hope I didn't lose anything.

edit: beat the first boss, finally. Kinda cockstabby that fight, choose the one viable tactic and reiterate until you luck out.

[Bhazrak]

Listening to my friend bitch about deprived being actually deprived this time is pretty funny.

[Velorath]

Had a really fun PVP fight last night due to one of the Covenants I've joined. Won't go into the details because it's a bit spoilery for stuff I've sure most of the people here playing haven't done yet, but there was just a really long back and forth between be and the guy I was fighting. There have also been a few other people I dispatched pretty easily although I generally have a sizable advantage due to the covenant. Also have 7 bosses down now.

[jakonovski]

Man this respawn change is ass. You can no longer just concentrate on honing your skill, you have to protect your souls as well or you could conceivably screw yourself into having to restart the game. Hate hate hate.

[Hawkbit]

Regarding respawns, spoilering just in case:

[Velorath]

Man this respawn change is ass. You can no longer just concentrate on honing your skill, you have to protect your souls as well or you could conceivably screw yourself into having to restart the game. Hate hate hate.

You can always get souls from being summoned by other people for boss fights (you get a pretty good amount if you win and you also regain humanity). Also you need to do an area a lot of times to clear out respawns. There's not really a danger of running out of souls.

[Falconeer]

But I still think it sucks. Not only what Jakonovski said it's true, but on top of that it dumbs down the game. Basically what is happening here is that if a certain zone keeps killing you over and over, then the game decides you are never gonna learn and the only way for you to make it is if they gradually remove some of the mobs. It's the OPPOSITE of the Demon's Souls spirit, where you have to keep trying until you learn. This, coupled with the fact that you don't lose half your HP when you die, but only a portion, is my biggest complain about the game: regardless of how hard the actual fights are, this is a simplified version of both the previous Souls games, and that's not cool.

[Velorath]

It doesn't remove mobs based on you dying over and over though, it removes them based on killing them over and over. I don't get the impression that they did it so bad players could eventually get through an area based on attrition, because you can't get through boss fights that way and if you did that often your max health is going to be halved or you're going to burn through your effigies rapidly.

It seems to me more like they did it to keep people from farming the same area over and over again and push them forward.  There are areas early on that I could farm with low risk and still get a decent amount of souls, but this prevents me from doing it for hours on end. If anything, I think that takes away the real crutch bad players would be able to lean on.

[Margalis]

It seems to me more like they did it to keep people from farming the same area over and over again and push them forward.  There are areas early on that I could farm with low risk and still get a decent amount of souls, but this prevents me from doing it for hours on end. If anything, I think that takes away the real crutch bad players would be able to lean on.

Yes, I would assume this is the reason.

In DS1 I didn't farm at all and I didn't segment my play into leveling vs exploring. I just kept trying to push forward. Which meant I died a lot and lost a lot of souls, but the game was still doable. You don't *need* to farm in these games, especially when a lot of the souls come from consumable items that you can choose when to use.

[Ghambit]

Like I said before, the game is very coop dependent; as evidenced by the HP loss, limited effigies, and mob de-spawns.  Eventually you'll get to the point, especially if you're playing a less than vanilla class... wherein you've GOT to use the soapstone.

[Falconeer]

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure some mobs weren't there anymore after a certain numbers of respawns and they were the mobs that just killed me so it couldn't be because of farming. I hope you are the ones in the right, but I suspect they get removed when you hang too long in an area, whether you kill the mobs or not. But * if * this is the case, areas do get progressively easier if you can't make it.

EDIT: Some online research seems to point out that you HAVE to kill them about 10-15 times for them to stop respawning, but no one agrees if it is to curb farming or to make it less tedious when you keep dying deep in an area and you have to kill all the first few mobs around a bonfire over and over. In both cases, I really really dislike this change and in the second case it IS a dumbing down of the game to me. Removing "easy" mobs is the just another step towards making it like any other game. But hey, I am sure they will sell more.

[jakonovski]

Yep, I pounded my head early on Heide's, and the big mace knight disappeared after I killed him twice, and died lots more (losing several levels worth of souls, which I can't get back now, only a few hours into the game!).

Also regarding potential grinding, that's how I learn in Souls games. Learn the ins and outs of mobs, even the hard ones, get some souls in the process. I don't like the devs being hostile to my favorite playstyle.

[Velorath]

The big mace knight disappeared for me after the first kill. Pretty sure he's just a unique enemy because you don't see any more of them in the rest of that area.

I don't really care one way or the other about the respawns aside from thinking that it's trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. I do find it funny though that one of you is suggesting that it potentially makes the game too easy and the other is suggesting that it might potentially make the game too hard. I disagree with both assessments but can't think of a way to express it in a way that doesn't turn into a condescending "well you really have to suck for it to cause problems either way in the long term".