My thoughts when i first played Dark Souls

I agree with everything but the use of the "r" word. Paragraph two, sentence two

I feel personally that dark souls is harder for a number of reasons.

One is the ridiculous HP regen and second chance in demons souls.
Second is unlimited magic.
The main point of demons supposedly being harder is level length and mob difficulty- obviously the pretty much infinite heal items so readily given to you by the game nullify this, though I agree regular encounters are harder.
The bosses on demons are easier, but this is because they have more interesting designs- they all have 'gimmicks' which make the battle unique- but also creates obvious weaknesses like the blind old hero and the storm lord (seriously, why even have the boss if they hand us a sword like that?
Very good equipment is easy to find- crescent falchion, white bow, meat cleaver is made off a BASE LEVEL weapon.. It's a bit silly really.

I admit though some bosses like flame lurker make even artorias and manuslook like a ***** cat, but there's always some exceptions to the rule.

I never played Demon's (I have a 360) and I found dark souls to be extremely challenging,  in the best kind of way. After learn the nuances of the game, it becomes a lot easier. I've also found the pvp to be quite gratifying,  if unbalanced. All in all, I'd say that dark souls is one of the best games I've ever played and I'm very much looking forward to exploring the in and outs of dark souls 2 when it comes out next year.

I haven't played DeS, but i haven't found Dark Souls to be as unforgiving as it sounds, sure it has some rage-uninstall-ish bosses, such as O&S; but in general, there are many enemies you feel relatively safe and confident while fighting, and after 2 or 3 tries, you will find out the right way to beat most of the challenges of Dark Souls. (you still die, but at least you knew what you were trying to do)
As you play for a bit longer, the game starts to look like an interactive memory game, as you start to know where every enemy is, and wonder how Pinwheel, Taurus and Asylum Demons, or Gaping Dragon could kill you even once.

Still, i think it was one of the best games i have played, in any category; and certainly one of the best RPGs ever made.
One of the hardest, not THE hardest, but it is fair with your deaths, you have a shield capable of blocking most attacks, a dodge button that can ignore all of them, and backstab/riposte invincibility, and still manage to die. few games can do that.

To answer the question of my first playthough I looked up a guide before i played the game knowing that it's hard, it's how i approach all games  so dark souls is no different

Ill have to say they are two different games, with maybe two different kind of difficulty. But then again, i only able to watch other people Let's play and myself only reach to cowpad while playin on my friends house. So what i am saying probably isn't the most accurate of opinions...

The best way to explain it for me, is that demon souls is a game that punishes you for your death. (severely, no less) While dark souls is a game that want you to die and learn from your mistake.

My thoughts were....

"Well, this is kinda broke, and this is well bull****, but thank you FROM...you listened...you REALLY listened.....*tears of joy*....then the patches came..."

:

Interesting

Before I picked up Dark Souls, I did extensive research and looked through the wiki, giving myself an idea of what I was getting myself into. Then, throughout my first playthrough, I was constantly checking the wiki, finding out the best way to beat each boss, where all the best weapons and armour were, etc. 

I regret that to this day.

Whilst Dark Souls is my favourite(or possible second favourite*) game ever, I feel like it would have been even more enjoyable had I not relied on the wiki so much, and instead learnt as much as I vould through my own mistakes. 

I am planning to avoid all spoilers for Dark Souls 2, and will avoid using the wiki as much as possible, in the hope that the experience will be even better than with Dark Souls. 

















*The other contender for favourite game ever is a game called Demon's Crest, a game on the SNES.

I think the game is amazing. So deep, in fact im still playing it!

I havent had a bug like this for a game since persona 3.

Yes it was hard, yes i died alot, but I cant think of many other games that tests you, makes you rage, teaches you about risk / reward and trains you to be a better player.

Even now after many playthroughs, it is like a puzzle, to remember orders of things, locations of items, timings etc.

If Dark Souls 2 is half as good as dark souls i for one would be happy !

I don't know... I, too, am not reading about Dark Souls II. The only thing I do watch are the trailers.

I can see giving up consulting the wiki while I try to get through DS2, but could I give up this forum during that time? Should I take my console completely offline during that time, too? Oh, man.

Dark Souls was an eye opener for me. Got a bit bored by the style of todays games with all their help markers, map markers and handholding. Just as an example take a look at Far Cry 3, it's an enjoyable game, but the sheer amount of the game interfering with my immersion is...insane. It was actually a relieve to find a new game where the developer does not think the player just got to use 1% of their brain capacity to suceed.

Thx to FromSoft for Demon Souls and Dark Souls, games where the developer gives you no map, no help markers and actually wants you to get to know the game really good in order to get the most fun and ímmersion out of it.
I can only think of one other game series that gives you such an amount of items and locations to remember, Zelda. But even that is lacking hugely in terms of challenge in comparison to DaS.

It definitely is one of the most entertaining games I've ever played but it didn't hook me at first, because I got too dull from all those unchallenging games and was frustrated because of my lack of skill at first. But after I got enough practice it was and is heavenly. It still amazes me how different this game is and the way how the art style and the changing lighting moods of the levels is always drawing me in and makes me favor it over all the other games I play atm.

Demon's souls was so hard I quit just barely getting to the 1st boss. Put it away, and when Dark Souls came out, bought it and found it much easier. After playing many hours of DkS and looking at a you tube video on the tower knight I attempted DS again,  much easier, made it to NG+ before losing the PS3 last month.  I rarely play anything else anymore as there are 10 character slots to build characters and play. Best 2 games I've seen since Space Invaders and Pacman

First time I bought Demon's Souls. Got to the first Blue Eye Knight. Kept trying to one hand my long sword on him. "He keeps blocking my attacks??? This is bull***!" Sold the game the next day. Re-bought the game the next week. Learned to two hand a weapon and the series has changed my perspective of gaming ever since. Loved the dark aspect of the game. I would love it if Dark Souls II was as dark as Demon's.

I learned something new about Demon's Souls watching a video the other day. You can not die during the  tutorial until you meet the boss. If you play again, save your grass. Although grass is so plentiful during the game. When you don't know how to play, though, that grass is needed.

My first impression of Dark Souls was, I thought it was easier then Demon Souls.  I had tried to play Demon Souls when it came out, but couldn't even get to the first boss before I gave up.  I didn't have that problem with Dark Souls, and now two years of playing later I have played though the game with just about every class and can hold my own in PVP.

Why the big difference?????   

Last Sunday, I reluctantly took out my Dark Souls disk and replaced it with Demon Souls.  I now have the skills, Demon Souls should be easy.  Nope.... It's still hard, but not impossible.

The answer is clear.  In Demon Souls you can't level up until after the first boss.  In Dark Souls if I couldn't get past something, all I had to do was level up. I can't judge if Demon Souls is easier then Dark Souls after the first boss, as I'm still early in the game.  But I do know that unlike Dark Souls, Demon Souls first area was designed to be beaten with skill and tactics only, and it sent a lot of casual players like myself packing.

When I first played Dark Souls I didn't know how to change weapons! The enemy you encounter after the bolder smashes into the wall took me like 10 minutes to kill because I was still using the Straight Sword Hilt.

When I first played Dark Souls I thought only: "*** this *** ********,what a *** crap game,*** you I'm out." I took a break and played it again the very same day... :-P

I'll admit, the normal mob encounters in DeS were harder than in DkS, but for the bosses? No way! There's only two bosses in DeS that could be considered hard IMO (not counting the old monk since that depends on who you get): flamelurker and old king allant, both of which are entirely predictable and easy to dodge & punish. The only reason they're hard is they do so much damage and they have a lot of health: they're aren't really hard, there's just tedious enough that you'll make a mistake. The other bosses aren't even worth discussing.

The bosses of DkS on the other hand, actually have a variety of attacks that force you to react in different ways (Manus has like 8 different attacks, possibly more). Even the taurus demon is harder than the DeS bosses.

My first thought on playing Dark Souls was HOW SLOW I WAS MOVING. It was frustrating and whenever I went back to playing Demon's Souls, it was liberating to be able to move fast.

My first character was a hunter, too. I shudder to think what it would have been like had I chosen the Knight class to start.