FromSoftware Thread

treefroggy

Things I’ve viewed because I don’t consider them spoilers:
All starting classes, their gear, stats, and what starting items are available
The opening cinematic (I usually watch it 20 times before starting the game anyway)
That’s it. Would have been much cooler if I hadn’t consumed any of the network test content. But I consider it similar to what they’ve always done ever since King’s Field III Pilot Style.

robinhoodie

Spoilers are always odd to me with Souls stuff. Its like comparing the experience of looking at a picture of a place versus visiting it yourself. I could watch a million videos of beating a boss, but until MY hands do it, the experience doesn’t stick.

Syzygy

kowloonwalledcity

bloodborne movie starring milla jovovich directed by paul w.s. anderson starring milla jovovich, ron perlman as father gascoigne and tilda swinton as eileen the crow

2501

I’m considering springing for Elden but the one thing that always torments me about these games is the online component. I never feel like I’m getting a complete experience playing without a connection but I really do not want to buy a XBL/PSN+ subscription just for one game.

What platform(s) will people here be playing on?

Gaagaagiins

2501 Hold on, I think I’m just gonna make a separate thread with a poll

kory

2501 What platform(s) will people here be playing on?

I wavered a bit on this, but I eventually decided to pre-order on PC because (1) Green Man Gaming has a modest discount on the pre-order price right now (2) I’m not a huge fan of the DualSense, so I’ll be able to stick with the old reliable Xbox One pad and (3) I’ll have the option of playing on my TV or desktop. I haven’t played a From Soft PC port since the original Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition (unmodded lol), so I just hope that there aren’t any glaring technical issues with this one.

2501

Also, the way FromSoft fans all across the internet react any time someone expresses even mild displeasure with any isolated aspect of a Hidetaka Miyazaki game makes me want to fucking hate them all on principle, but that’s more of a personal bugaboo

goonbag

2501 as a very recent convert (thanks Demon’s Souls) i can relate and let me assure you, the fanbase is not representative of what’s good about these games. like, at all

Gaagaagiins

goonbag as a very recent convert (thanks Demon’s Souls) i can relate and let me assure you, the fanbase is not representative of what’s good about these games. like, at all

I dunno, depends on what you mean when you say fanbase. In this post Gamergate wasteland I find it difficult to not remember the impact of concerted efforts by these relatively small and extreme groups to outsize their cultural and social influence and dominate public discussions by way of just being as loud as possible in as many places as possible.

In other words I think it’s at least fair to say that it’s at least possible if not likely they don’t speak for the silent majority they claim to.

goonbag

Gaagaagiins yeah, what i mean by is not the totality of all who love the games, but what an outsider perceives to be the fanbase, i.e. the most vocal/visible proponents. it’s how i feel about Nier too, even more strongly in fact - i love those games but am repulsed by what i’ve seen whenever i’ve made the mistake of venturing into a place where other fans congregate.

robinhoodie

goonbag “We shall become as Chuds!”

treefroggy

@2501 I played every single one of these games effectively completely offline until 2017. Yeah it’s harder, but you’re not missing anything as far as content goes, just crazy situations. And playing with someone else can also ruin the experience, co op people can be really pushy!!

Also “souls fans”, in general, like any other fandom on the internet, are total diaper brains, some of the most annoying and arrogant people online. But I just don’t pay them any attention, not worth the time. They’re the type of people who say Kings Field is unplayable because they have stupid baby hands.

Syzygy

I made good on downloading Dark Souls 3 to test the new laptop but now . . . heck, I can never play it again

Around 20:00 on 2/20/2022, no less!!

Gaagaagiins

Syzygy perhaps there is a way to install or run the game in such a way that your playtime is not logged on Steam?

Of course, that would only remedy the situation if you feel the important aspect is the number displayed and not your actual playtime.

◉◉maru

This seems like the more appropriate thread for neurotic save file numerology…

Syzygy I made good on downloading Dark Souls 3 to test the new laptop but now . . . heck, I can never play it again

I have had the same problem with Super Mario 3D Land, due to the Nintendo 3DS keeping track of not only the total playtime (which was something like 12 or 13 hours to complete everything) but also the average playtime per session. And since I completed the game (both loops) in a single Saturday, the average playtime was exactly the same as the total playtime, and that gave Super Mario 3D Land an insane lead in my console’s average playtime rankings with a “score” of 12+ hours per session.

Even opening the game once would have divided this average by two(!), so even though I often entertained the idea to play the game again, I never dared blemish that holy average score…

I had more recently a similar issue with Animal Crossing New Horizons. It felt so perfect to stop playing the game after exactly one year with exactly 600 hours playtime that I did not dare check out the big update and expansion.

Gaagaagiins

Review embargo has been lifted

game good

treefroggy

Played for six and a half hours.
Just pointing out some king’s field stuff from the first area, limgrave:

giant dragonflies from KF2 return
there’s a major throwback the giant mushroom encounter from KF3. There are plant enemies with the same poison attack nestled amongst eachother in the same formation in the same settings, a ruined building above ground

JoJoestar

First impressions after 3 hours or so are that I don’t understand why this is not called Dark Souls 4. I’m confident for elements of personality to appear eventually and I think the differences provided by the new open world structure will end up being more apparent as I advance through the game but so far: this is Dark Souls 4 to all effects.

Only instance of the game giving a different enough vibe was when I decided to do an enemy camp thingie full stealth, I killed everyone sneakily and that felt new, cool and well implemented. Even Sekiro didn’t allow this much agency due to the level design still being conceived to funnel you through mostly linear layouts of enemies.

I also like jumping even while the action feels mostly cosmetic (no instances where jumping was useful or required for traversal). Jumping + R2 is my new favorite way to engage with enemies tho, if anything, it adds a little bit more of variety to the moveset.

In general I’m loving the game but it’s feeling a bit too familiar in most regards.

treefroggy

Well I’ve made it to spoiler territory. There are a lot of epic king’s field throwbacks. No matter how many King’s Field throwbacks they add, most everyone still says dumb shit like “this is an amalgamation of every game From Software has ever made, from Demon’s souls to Sekiro”……………………………………………. (It’s kings field)
Anyways spoilered for an area adjacent to the starting area (north east)
These scarlet rot skies are very similar to King’s Field III
I have a feeling the KF stuff is going to be nonstop. Just by merit of open world design, every NPC and enemy feels like a King’s Field throwback to me, haha.

JoJoestar I don’t understand why this is not called King’s Field V

fixed

I’m not watching any streams and anything that trickles into my ears that’s been someone else’s opinion just causes me to be annoyed. I have the game after all so hearing what anyone else has to say at this point is time better spent playing the game myself.
The thing about this release is that it’s incomprehensible how much bigger and more widespread this is than any other game in the series. SO many people are playing this game… so there’s a lot of really annoying content being put out there… if there ever was a time for me to unplug, it’s right now.
The phenomena of the game’s release is not equal to the games content itself…
This is why I’m so glad there no voice chat…. Just let me have my personal fantasy over here…

Like my friend sent me this video… this is exemplary of the type of nonsense I have no patience for right now. Video is spaces added because it doesn’t need a thumbnail
https:// youtu.be/ yJdzNjhsXl8
The game has hardly been out 24 hours… I have no interest in day 1 opinions. Talk to me in 20 years. I’m just here to point out Kings Field references that no one else is talking about.

My friend sent me that video because he likes day one discourse and laughing at people who are having trouble with the game. I just think it’s annoying.

But I’m the weird one I guess because day 1 discourse is what streamers live for I guess

◉◉maru

JoJoestar this is Dark Souls 4 to all effects.

There is zero intricate level design so far for the dungeon sections in my play-through, and obviously they don’t get to connect in an interesting or surprising way, so that part at least is very different from Dark Souls (for now?).

yeso

I like the broader color palette and immediately weird environment

But the open world-ness seems like a real misstep. Nothing wrong with wide open spaces, but the collecting and crafting stuff sucks (as it does in all of the types of games (in my opinion)).

Syzygy

I like the “guard counter” and I think people will forget to use it. Rather overpowered against bosses who can be staggered in one hit by it.

There’s a number of tiny improvements such as FX when a kill yielded a random drop, so you don’t have to wait for the body to fall.

Feel like the “Asylum Demon” this go around was a bit artificially difficult due to the PS4 chugging in that environment . . .

yeso
So far, crafting is just for consumables like ammo and temporary buffs, which most people don’t use and which in the rest of the series you would have to farm souls / visit merchants to resupply anyway. Being able to spam Triangle while you run past stuff is easier, nevermind fixing a situation like “I wish I had just one Throwing Knife to lure this enemy right now”.

JoJoestar

Having mixed feelings with how the exploration is shaping up so far. On one hand, every interesting spot I’ve found has been accompanied by the corresponding reward, a new weapon, an npc, an interesting item. This sounds like good open world design at surface level, the problem is that it makes the game feel a bit too tame, conventional and predictable. Rewarding player effort is a good idea, but it’s making the experience feel a bit too gamey compared to how exploration worked on regular Souls titles.

@yeso I was this close to picking astrologer and naming it Erdosain, but ended going for a big woman with a giant sword. I’m a simple man after all…

yeso

Yeah I like the immensity of the setting. The gradual upward climb of that first map section has a nice sense of scale. I’m not feeling the new stuff you have to do in that space though. Maybe it’ll click in place for me later on, but the addition of the usual open world tasks feel like clutter, even though it’s a relatively light touch wrt map unlocking, outposts, etc. Maybe just the way my brain works, but I’m feeling a momentum drain like I did with SMTV because of the open world stuff. People like open world dopamine drip though who am I to judge

JoJoestar astrologer

see, I went with astrologer and just started
dumping points into strength anyway lol. Also, The Melancholy Ruffian could be a From character name for sure

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