Demon's Souls - remake's OUT - mindful of the spoilers, please!

[Floshenbarnical]

This is my first ever souls game, and it’s fucking impossible. I can handle one or two guys at a time well enough but it’s so punishing  guess I will have to become proficient

 

i had a “never mind” moment on my first level after the nexus - played it safe up through the castle and then got rushed by some cunt on a bridge who instantly killed me. “Never mind,” I said, and went to bed. 

[Marlew]

@Floshenbarnical If you're trying to take on more than a couple of enemies at a time, you're very likely going to die. You're not Jackie Chan, you're an undead clogger. Bait attacks and punish during their recovery. 

[Minion]

1 hour ago, Floshenbarnical said:

This is my first ever souls game, and it’s fucking impossible. I can handle one or two guys at a time well enough but it’s so punishing  guess I will have to become proficient

 

i had a “never mind” moment on my first level after the nexus - played it safe up through the castle and then got rushed by some cunt on a bridge who instantly killed me. “Never mind,” I said, and went to bed. 

 

You will get surprised and overwhelmed throughout the game but crucially the enemies locations and attack patterns are exactly the same every time so it's up to you as a player to learn how to approach and defeat the enemies. As Marlew says the most common way to do this is to bait enemies, block or dodge their attacks then punish and this is possible because after your first encounter with an enemy they become predictable, in fact in Demons far more so than in later games where the attack patterns become far more varied and difficult to read.

 

If you get really stuck and fed up then consider turning human and summoning a player in to help, I'm sure they'll be plenty of mukkers up for helping if you need to. don't give up skeleton!

[Floshenbarnical]

7 hours ago, Marlew said:

@Floshenbarnical If you're trying to take on more than a couple of enemies at a time, you're very likely going to die. You're not Jackie Chan, you're an undead clogger. Bait attacks and punish during their recovery. 

 

6 hours ago, Minion said:

 

You will get surprised and overwhelmed throughout the game but crucially the enemies locations and attack patterns are exactly the same every time so it's up to you as a player to learn how to approach and defeat the enemies. As Marlew says the most common way to do this is to bait enemies, block or dodge their attacks then punish and this is possible because after your first encounter with an enemy they become predictable, in fact in Demons far more so than in later games where the attack patterns become far more varied and difficult to read.

 

If you get really stuck and fed up then consider turning human and summoning a player in to help, I'm sure they'll be plenty of mukkers up for helping if you need to. don't give up skeleton!

 

Cheers. I will use this approach more. I had been using this approach a little bit but it felt a little like cheesing so I tried to get stuck in and practice parries etc because it's early game and the stakes seem low. Not really possible when someone's behind you though.

 

So you lose your souls every time you die? How do you get lots? Never die? Or can you cash them in for loot or skills or something.

[Minion]

10 minutes ago, Floshenbarnical said:

So you lose your souls every time you die? How do you get lots? Never die? Or can you cash them in for loot or skills or something.

Yeah you will be able to level up with them once you beat the first boss, and then it becomes a game of risk/reward, do you continue through a dangerous area carrying lots of souls or do you peg it back home to level up and get stronger, then there's the corpse run where you have one life to pick up the souls you dropped in your previous death and that's when you realise how impatient you can be when you die to a scrub, oh souls I love you!

[Floshenbarnical]

8 minutes ago, Minion said:

Yeah you will be able to level up with them once you beat the first boss, and then it becomes a game of risk/reward, do you continue through a dangerous area carrying lots of souls or do you peg it back home to level up and get stronger, then there's the corpse run where you have one life to pick up the souls you dropped in your previous death and that's when you realise how impatient you can be when you die to a scrub, oh souls I love you!

 

There was a message that said "Time for rolling!" and I was like oh ok there must be an ambush up ahead and then this giant fucking boulder came down the ramp I was on and I had to roll off the ramp and it was mint

 

There was this other time I got heavily wounded by a group of enemies and when I had killed them all there was a message that said "Time for healing!" and I had a good chuckle.

 

Then there was a message at the top of the Nexus that said "Time for falling!" so I jumped off and died

[Minion]

Just now, Floshenbarnical said:

 

There was a message that said "Time for rolling!" and I was like oh ok there must be an ambush up ahead and then this giant fucking boulder came down the ramp I was on and I had to roll off the ramp and it was mint

 

There was this other time I got heavily wounded by a group of enemies and when I had killed them all there was a message that said "Time for healing!" and I had a good chuckle.

 

Then there was a message at the top of the Nexus that said "Time for falling!" so I jumped off and died

 

haha the messages are great, I love that they show how many times they've been marked by players but it doesn't tell you whether they have been marked good or bad, just another brilliant bit of design by Miyazaki that's in all the Souls games. I feel so jealous of people who's first Souls game is this remake, they're going to be able to play through the series as intended though the older games may feel a bit janky in comparison. Bloodborne, Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 3 are essential games to play if you enjoy Demons. Jury is out on Dark Souls 2 it's a marmite game for sure.

[Hylian]

@Floshenbarnical I think an important thing to pay attention to early on is the stamina guage. Its very easy to exhaust it, which gets you in trouble fast (no rolling, your guard can be broken, you can't attack). Learn to conserve stamina, and learn when it's best to block and roll. Note stamina regain is very slow with your shield up,so learn to drop it when it's safe. 

[Uxorious]

4 hours ago, Floshenbarnical said:

Then there was a message at the top of the Nexus that said "Time for falling!" so I jumped off and died

That’s genuinely very helpful advice given the world tendency mechanic!

[Floshenbarnical]

3 hours ago, Uxorious said:

That’s genuinely very helpful advice given the world tendency mechanic!

the what now?

[Uxorious]

13 hours ago, Floshenbarnical said:

the what now?

If you die in human form outside the nexus you move that world tendency towards black, making it more difficult. (there are positives too though) Killing a boss moves that world tendency towards white, making that world easier. At pure white and pure black new things happen. So after regaining human form, after defeating a boss, you might want to return to the nexus and commit suicide. 

[Steven]

On a first playthrough it's a brutal thing to hide from the player.

[Popo]

Dying is such an intrinsic part of Soulsborne games, and happens so frequently, it feels like a waste of resources to turn back into human form. 
 

It’s the same in Dark Souls with humanity. The only time I regain humanity is when I need to kindle a bonfire in a tough area and want maximum Estus. 

[sofasurfer]

This was my first Souls game that I invested any significant time into and loved every minute of it. Even those many times when either the game was seemingly unfair or I got cocky and tried to blunder through a level. It took me three weeks but I finished it late on Thursday evening after cheating the final boss.

 

Spoiler

Thief ring on, ambled on up behind him  up and then just poison clouded him until the final death blow was delivered by my Dragon Sword. Felt cheap but he had already killed me a few times and I just wanted shot of him.

Decided to go back straight in for a NG+ and got cocky on 1-1. It didn't end well and my idea of trying for a Pure White Tendency up in flames.

 

How likely is it for remakes of the other Souls' games? After this I think I'm going to be hooked on them.

[Floshenbarnical]

This is way more complicated than sword go brrr

[Steven]

1 hour ago, sofasurfer said:

How likely is it for remakes of the other Souls' games? After this I think I'm going to be hooked on them.

 

I'd love a remake of Dark Souls but Sony owns Demon's so I'd say possible but unlikely. I can't really see From/Bandai being all that fussed.

[Robo_1]

Done! Wow, absolutely loved it. The first world is definitely my favourite. A +5 Crescent Falchion cleans up most enemies you encounter, but I did get cocky having a quick run through 1.1 on NG+. Enemies still fall quite easily but they hit a lot harder, 140k souls up in smoke due to one cocky encounter... love it. 

 

Here's a question though, this was the first Souls game I've really clicked with and I'm wondering where to go next. My best friend is a huge Souls fan and he's keen that I just jump straight into Dark Souls 3, which he stands by as one of the most glorious gaming experiences you can have. I typically like going through a series chronologically, but I'm worried about working my way through Dark Souls 1 + 2 and then being... souled out(?), by the time I get to the third game and spoiling what would have been a fantastic continuation of my Souls journey.

 

Then there's Bloodborne. I downloaded it again last night and to my surprise, I made a good fist of fighting the dreaded Blood Starved Beast, which caused me to abandon the game first time around. I'd like to start that one afresh to be honest, but what's putting me off is the 30fps. Demon's Souls has spoilt me I'm afraid and whilst I'm sure I could adapt, with God Of War just receiving a welcome 60fps boost patch, I can't imagine how galling it would be to put 50 - 60 hrs into a run of Bloodborne, only for Sony to announce a similar patch for that game later on in the year.

Anyway, all thoughts welcome.

[Popo]

30fps or not, Bloodborne is my favourite by a wide margin. Is there any reason to think an enhancement might come later? I wouldn’t hesitate. 

[Thor]

25 minutes ago, Robo_1 said:

Done! Wow, absolutely loved it. The first world is definitely my favourite. A +5 Crescent Falchion cleans up most enemies you encounter, but I did get cocky having a quick run through 1.1 on NG+. Enemies still fall quite easily but they hit a lot harder, 140k souls up in smoke due to one cocky encounter... love it. 

 

Here's a question though, this was the first Souls game I've really clicked with and I'm wondering where to go next. My best friend is a huge Souls fan and he's keen that I just jump straight into Dark Souls 3, which he stands by as one of the most glorious gaming experiences you can have. I typically like going through a series chronologically, but I'm worried about working my way through Dark Souls 1 + 2 and then being... souled out(?), by the time I get to the third game and spoiling what would have been a fantastic continuation of my Souls journey.

 

Then there's Bloodborne. I downloaded it again last night and to my surprise, I made a good fist of fighting the dreaded Blood Starved Beast, which caused me to abandon the game first time around. I'd like to start that one afresh to be honest, but what's putting me off is the 30fps. Demon's Souls has spoilt me I'm afraid and whilst I'm sure I could adapt, with God Of War just receiving a welcome 60fps boost patch, I can't imagine how galling it would be to put 50 - 60 hrs into a run of Bloodborne, only for Sony to announce a similar patch for that game later on in the year.

Anyway, all thoughts welcome.

Yeah, I'm staying away from a replay of Bloodborne and the Last of Us 2 until we get a 60fps version on PS5.

[Robo_1]

12 minutes ago, Popo said:

30fps or not, Bloodborne is my favourite by a wide margin. Is there any reason to think an enhancement might come later? I wouldn’t hesitate. 

 

Really because they've just done it with God Of War and word is they're planning on one for Last Of Us 2 as well. It might be the start of a trend and I can't imagine it being an unreasonable amount of work to do, so it's possible Sony have put a team in place to perform these patches which unlock resolution and FPS on classic PS4 games. It might just be wishful thinking on my part, but I'd love to see it happen.

Anyhoo, I just ordered The Dark Souls trilogy, so I'm set for a while anyway.

[Calashnikov]

Dark Souls 1 all the way, @Robo_1. Particularly if you like your games to be explorative in a quasi-Metroidvania stylee. 

[Robo_1]

16 minutes ago, Calashnikov said:

Dark Souls 1 all the way, @Robo_1. Particularly if you like your games to be explorative in a quasi-Metroidvania stylee. 

 

I enjoy Metroidvania games so I'd be up for that. Just as long as things don't become a "wander 'em up", I'm good.

[englishbob]

I'd put money on From not returning to Bloodborne to patch it for 60fps. It might happen with Bloodborne2 on PS5 (we can hope). Next one is the JRRRRRRRRRTolkien one isn't it?

 

After Demons, returning to BB at 30 is very jarring. 

 

My personal path through SoulsBourne has been like this - even though I bought them in the right sequence! 

 

BB

DS2 Remaster

DS3

DS1 Remaster

Sekiro (still not finished final boss, fuck him)

DemonS

 

BB was the first that really taught me how to play these games, in a more attacking stance. With DS before I was blocking and shielding. Now I play all DS games with a weapon 2 handed and that's about it, attack all the way.

 

BB has been my solid favourite out of all of them though, just incredible.

[englishbob]

NG+ feels nails hard, more so than any other in the series. A lot of one-hit bullshit kills are back, with a souls upgrade at (close to) 50,000 a time too I'm probably only levelling up after a boss, and yet the bastards can do you with one hit. 

 

Even arrow damage from the first world are harsh.

[Jamie John]

Just started this, having never played the original. First impressions are that it looks amazing and plays sufficiently differently from DaS and BB to feel fresh. I've gone with a Templar Knight guy as I never go with faith builds, as a rule, but his fat rolling is breaking my balls.

 

Also, where's my kick button gone? How am I supposed to punish fuckers turtling behind shields now!?

[Minion]

11 hours ago, Jamie John said:

Just started this, having never played the original. First impressions are that it looks amazing and plays sufficiently differently from DaS and BB to feel fresh. I've gone with a Templar Knight guy as I never go with faith builds, as a rule, but his fat rolling is breaking my balls.

 

Also, where's my kick button gone? How am I supposed to punish fuckers turtling behind shields now!?

 

So your character won't kick now but does a kind of bonk with your weapon it's not as effective as pushing foes off of ledges but it does interupt their animation/attack, smae buttons I believe forward and attack. As for fat rolling the threashold in this one is 50% which is pretty harsh hence why I restarted from knight to whatever the dex one is, yeah I couldn't take the fat rolling!

[petrolgirls]

2 hours ago, Minion said:

As for fat rolling the threashold in this one is 50% which is pretty harsh hence why I restarted from knight to whatever the dex one is, yeah I couldn't take the fat rolling!

 

You don't need to restart, just buy leather armour from the merchant in 4-1. 

[Jamie John]

34 minutes ago, petrolgirls said:

 

You don't need to restart, just buy leather armour from the merchant in 4-1. 

 

Can you access that straight away, though? I got killed by the Vanguard Demon, woke up in the Nexus, then the only portal open to me was a different area of Boletatia. All the others were shut. I've only played for 50 minutes so I might just re-roll.

[Marlew]

@Jamie John

@Minion

 

No, but you can just take the armour off and fast roll, basically. 

[Uncle Mike]

You'll need to kill the boss at the end of that level before you can move to 4-1, yes. I'd just take some clothes off if I were you. You will find some rags or something as you go through the level, but just get undressed.