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Old 12-08-2012, 04:17 PM   #1
deoxys
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Dark Souls II

BORKED

Perhaps the most unexpected sequel of the decade? I think millions of gamers nearly had a stroke when this was announced.

My last Souls game was Demons' Souls, and given that Dark Souls is $15 now, I should probably go get it. I'm a bit surprised they decided to call it Dark Souls II and not 'Dead Souls' or 'Darker Souls' or something.
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Old 12-08-2012, 04:46 PM   #2
Marion Ette
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This article has somewhat tempered my enthusiasm about the sequel. One of the things I loved about Demon Souls and Dark Souls was the subtlety with which the story was presented, and the little clues and hints in the environment and item descriptions that helped you piece the story together. The new directors apparently want to go with a more "straightforward" approach, which I'm not thrilled about. That said, I'm not gonna knock the sequel until I try it, and seeing as I do LOVE Dark Souls, it may still be a good game.
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Old 12-08-2012, 05:26 PM   #3
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I'm a HUGE Dark/Demons Sounds fanboyprincess. Everything about it is so great. The ability to go pretty much wherever you want from the start. The subtle story. All the missables. Choice stuff that matters more than most games.

And you know, actual fucking game difficulty.


I played the shit out of both of those games. Almost got plat on both too. Can't wait for this game.
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Old 12-08-2012, 06:17 PM   #4
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Loved both Souls games to death and I'm really looking forward for more. I agree with Marion in that making things more straightforward and easy to understand story-wise might end up being a turn-off, after all, it was precisely the subtle story and ability to go wherever I want that I liked so much about it. At least they're going to keep it challenging, and I guess it's still too early to judge it. I'm hoping to don't include an easy-mode though...
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Old 03-28-2014, 12:17 PM   #5
Marion Ette
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So, as I'm sure some of you know, I have been chirping and chittering about this game since it came out on the 11th. As an avid fan of the original Dark Souls, I have to say that the sequel does not disappoint. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous at the opening cutscene... I was afraid that the rumors were true about being beaten over the head with the storyline, as opposed to the traditional subtlety of its predecessors, but I'm happily finding that's not the case. I will say that NPCs are more talkative in this game than in previous games, but the overall feeling of confusion, intrigue and mystery remains. The new health/healing system, which is a bit of a hybrid between Demon's and Dark Souls, is interesting as well. Hollowing is a gradual process, with every death taking a permanent chip out of your health bar until you lose a maximum of half your total health. There is an item that restores your humanity (and thus your health bar), and of course, being human is necessary in order to summon help. Estus flasks are much more limited in this game, but you also receive items that will heal you... though they do so over time, so it's best not to rely on them in a pinch. The difficulty level is as high as ever, and Dark Souls II is DEFINITELY not afraid to pull some nasty tricks. The covenants, though highly reminiscent of the last game, are interesting in their own right, and while the majority of the NPCs I've encountered have been sadly forgettable, there are a few that really stand out.

Basically, I'm really enjoying Dark Souls II, and I'm wondering if anyone else is playing~
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Old 03-28-2014, 04:14 PM   #6
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I'm playing through too. I've finished the initial section of the game (collect the great souls) and one area (two bosses) beyond that. Died a total of 120 times son far >.<. Been playing a strength based tanky character, because having a hefty shield and good armour makes it more forgiving of my mediocre dodging skills. Running around with a fully upgraded Bastard Sword. Trying to explore every nook and cranny as much as possible, although I'll inevitably have missed some things. On the plus side though, all this exploration means I have 11 estus flask +5. This seems pretty ludicrous given you start the game with a single unupgraded estus flask. A lot of the bosses seem variations on the "big guy with armour and a weapon" theme, which is a tad disappointing, but there have been some cool ones. My other complaint is how easy it is to have weapons break now - at one particularly uncool point, my main weapon broke when I was most of the way through a boss fight so I had to navigate the menus mid-fight in an effort to get another one out. It ended poorly. This adds nothing to the game.
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Old 03-28-2014, 05:39 PM   #7
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Did they take out the weapon quick swapping from Dark Souls 1?

I started as a Thief in DS1 (somewhat bad idea for the first time) and I would constantly swap weapons and shields based on the monsters I was fighting. Rapier and the Target Shield for parry & riposte and Uchigatana and Heater Shield for heavy blocks and basic attacking.

Losing this aspect of the game would be brutal.
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Old 03-28-2014, 06:16 PM   #8
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It's still there, but my only alternate weapon at the time was a bow which was unupgraded and kind of crappy. It was there purely to pull stuff, not as an actual viable means of damage. Learnt my lesson admittedly but still, I don't feel like making stuff break this easy adds anything other than annoyance. My sword was at full durability when I left the nearest bonfire to the boss. I knew exactly where I was going and only took out the enemies I needed to (about a dozen?). It broke during the boss fight. Something is wrong if you can't go through a dozen enemies and a boss without your sword falling to pieces.
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Old 03-28-2014, 07:18 PM   #9
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Well, repairing in DS1 was rarely an issue it felt like. It was something you occasionally did but wasn't really something you worried about. I'm sure they did it to put another resource management aspect to the game- a reason to actually buy Repair Powders and worry about keep your stuff intact. I don't doubt that it's annoying, but I can see how it adds another level of depth and forward planning to the game.
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Old 03-29-2014, 12:31 AM   #10
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I totally overlooked this thread. If I knew it was here, I would have gone on about my adventures here instead of the get, sit, and toss thread.

For the durability thing, I liked it. It forced me to attempt to come up with some backup weapons incase something ever happened to my main. Though admittedly, after finishing the giant boss, I durability hardly ever became an issue for me. My main weapon was the massive ass greatsword, so it didn't use many swings to kill each enemy.

Using the greatsword as my main was a challenge in itself. Despite its power and excellent crowd control (because this game loves to gangbang you), I really had to know when to attack because of the insanely long swing and recovery time. I still enjoyed the hell out of that weapon though. Just all the damn noise it made when swinging was enough to make me cream my pants.

Also I like how they made the archery system in this game less frustrating than the first one. Even after getting used to it, I fumbled alot in the first one's archery system. Also the Dragonrider Bow kicks so much ass.
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Old 03-29-2014, 06:44 AM   #11
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My backup weapon for my Bastard Sword +10 is a Bastard Sword +7. Considering powering up a Claymore or Mastodon Greatsword though.
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Old 03-29-2014, 06:45 AM   #12
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Question from a potential buyer: is it different enough from the first game to justify a purchase, or does it feel more like an expansion? Because I loved the first one, but I could use a little bit of innovation. I read about the new features, but I want to know how the overall gameplay feels like in comparison.
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Old 04-01-2014, 03:08 PM   #13
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Question from a potential buyer: is it different enough from the first game to justify a purchase, or does it feel more like an expansion? Because I loved the first one, but I could use a little bit of innovation. I read about the new features, but I want to know how the overall gameplay feels like in comparison.
DS2 is highly reminiscent of DS1, and yet, at the same time, it's got some new challenges as well. The mechanics are altered enough that it does feel like a different experience, and there are a lot of new weapons, new spells and an entire new spell type (hexes) to allow you to create a character that plays entirely differently from your DS1 chars. I've noticed that even some of the weapons from DS1 have new animations in DS2 so playing with them takes some getting used to if you're familiar with the old moveset.

Loki, not only is quick switching of weapons possible in DS2, but you actually get three slots per hand instead of DS1's two slots. So you can conceivably have 3 weapons and 3 off-hand weapons/shields equipped at once if you have the equip load to carry them all.

As for my playthrough... I have to borrow Slender Man's (a.k.a. my boyfriend's) PS3 in order to play right now since the PC version doesn't come out until late April, but on his PS3, I'm an SL 88 Sorcerer with INT as my highest stat, followed by VGR and ATN. I only have two Archdemon souls at the moment, though I'm very close to my third. I intend to get to 50 INT by the time I reach SL 100 and grab the staff that I will ultimately use. The glass cannon build works for me. It's not very forgiving since I wear cloth armor and only have a medium dodge since my equip burden is generally between 40-49%, but I dealt with this in DS1 as well, so I'm used to making every movement, cast and attack count. High VGR gives me some padding, but most things can two-shot me in this game regardless. I use a Flame Longsword +8 at the moment, but I'm ultimately going Enchanted Uchigatana for this character, which I'll be grabbing/enhancing soon~ Also, since Slender Man already beat the game with his SL 140 Swordsman, I should be able to play more and not have to wrestle the controller from his spindly hands. XP

Also, as an aside, it's been fun leaving summon signs and helping people out while wearing full Moon Butterfly armor. I notice the characters I'm helping stop moving for a few moments when they see me, as if they have no idea what they've just let into their game. XD *Frolics around the battlefield casting spells*
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Old 04-01-2014, 05:33 PM   #14
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God damn this game. I decided to take a break from Dark Souls and play the new Atelier game, since the Atelier would be an easy break, but NOPE! New fun ideas on what to do pop into my head, and I leap into a second character!

This go around, I'm making an attempted hexer. Since I'm attempting hexing, that means I have access to all magic, so if one big boss is resistant to one kind of magic, I can just switch to the other! Though I've mostly relied on lightning spear. I love that damn Zeus grab and throw. It's stronger than my other one target spells, has a fair amount of uses, and only uses one slot. A couple of aoe pyromancies have been awesome as well. The hexes have mostly been underwhelming, though that might be me misusing them. Resonant weapon makes my weapon insanely strong, but I like to keep my distance in boss fights. Sorceries are nice for when I want to kill enemies before a boss, but don't want to use my better spells.

The character is alot more fun to play as then my melee character, since I have to do more than just tear through everything and block. Some enemies are harder for this character than they were for my melee person, and some were easier. I also have to work on my dodging skills, since I'm not using a greatshield this go around. Nor is my armor very good.

I forgot to mention though. My biggest issue with this game is the parry timing. In the original, I just had to hit the parry button right before the enemy hit me, and I would parry. This time, apparently I have to account for how long it takes to raise my shield and parry, so it's more difficult to do it, sometimes I have to just predict what the opponent is going to do in order to parry. It almost seems more luck based than anything.
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Old 04-01-2014, 06:03 PM   #15
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If the parry system is the same as the previous game, it depends on the shield (or blocking weapon) for the correct timing. The Thief's Target Shield, Parrying Knife, and I think one more shield had the longest parrying timing but the largest delay after parrying. Meanwhile other shields had it shorter timings, but typically a shorter delay after the parry (requiring you to be more accurate with timings, but giving less punishment if your parry missed).
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Old 04-01-2014, 09:14 PM   #16
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Yeah, the system is the same. The difference is, that in the first one, when you hit the parry button, you're instantly in the "parry" frame. In the second one, there is a small delay after you hit the parry button to account for the fact that you need to raise your shield (weapons except parry dagger don't parry in 2) and swipe. They did it to make it more realistic, but that still makes parrying alot more difficult. I've been practicing, but I only pull it off like 30% of the time, and that's only against big swipe attacks.

In 1, parrying is how I beat alot of big humanoid enemies. You know, Havel, Black Knights, the final boss. I don't think I could rely on them as much in 2.
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Old 04-02-2014, 05:44 AM   #17
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>weapons except parry dagger don't parry in 2

Can confirm that two-handing greatswords and ultra greatswords gives you the ability to parry. Not sure about other weapons.
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Old 04-05-2014, 01:06 PM   #18
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Oh my God, guys. Last night was crazy.

I was leaving my soul sign in Iron Keep to get more souls and stuff for my covenant. I noticed the archway behind me turn foggy, meaning I was about to be invaded. Being alive and not wanting to lose my humanity, I summoned two guys to help me. The red phantom, GANK__MASTER, managed to kill them both at once even with me sniping with spells from behind, and ran after me, throwing huge fireballs. I ran, and I guess he thought I was going to keep running, because he pursued and didn't heal... but then I quickly turned around and lashed out at him with my Magic Uchigatana, and the hit was enough to take him down. This guy must have been farming invasion targets, since he dropped 487,000 souls. I realize I wasn't exactly honorable in trying to summon help, but one does what one must in this game to survive, and this guy would have taken me down alone.

And that's the story of how I got from SL 90 to SL 120 in one night.
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Old 04-09-2014, 05:36 PM   #19
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Oh my God, guys. Last night was crazy.

I was leaving my soul sign in Iron Keep to get more souls and stuff for my covenant. I noticed the archway behind me turn foggy, meaning I was about to be invaded. Being alive and not wanting to lose my humanity, I summoned two guys to help me. The red phantom, GANK__MASTER, managed to kill them both at once even with me sniping with spells from behind, and ran after me, throwing huge fireballs. I ran, and I guess he thought I was going to keep running, because he pursued and didn't heal... but then I quickly turned around and lashed out at him with my Magic Uchigatana, and the hit was enough to take him down. This guy must have been farming invasion targets, since he dropped 487,000 souls. I realize I wasn't exactly honorable in trying to summon help, but one does what one must in this game to survive, and this guy would have taken me down alone.

And that's the story of how I got from SL 90 to SL 120 in one night.
Haha I can only imagine his anger after losing all those souls on what I'm sure was an easy win after downing two guys with one hit.

On a side not I'm in the exact same place too. Smelter Demon is kicking my ass.
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Old 04-09-2014, 07:04 PM   #20
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I beat Smelter on the third or fourth attempt, but I had the advantage of having already completed the other three major paths so was level ~ 110. Smelter can be skipped though, if you're having trouble.
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Old 04-10-2014, 07:19 AM   #21
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I can get him down to about 50% but then he unleashes the flame sword and it cuts me down. My block barely takes any of the damage. I probably need a different shield. I'm probably on my 9th attempt.

I have given up for now and instead have found a hidden path that leads to a colosseum or something in Huntsman's Copse but I can't get past the fog wall as the Dark guy just knocks me off the bridge everytime.

Every path is kicking my ass.
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Old 04-10-2014, 07:29 AM   #22
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There's an NPC summon for the fight, and like I said it can be skipped if you're having trouble - and imo Smelter is significantly harder than the next boss of that path. What build are you doing?
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Old 04-10-2014, 10:53 AM   #23
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Smelter Demon was pretty easy for me when I used the Gyrm Shield against it. That thing will fully block its fire attacks. Though I did Iron Keep as one of my last areas in my first playthrough.

Also that first area in Iron Keep is excellent for souls. Those soldier assholes give around 800 souls each, and the captains give like 1200 (?). The NG+ version is even better, netting me around 60K souls each run.
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Old 04-10-2014, 04:38 PM   #24
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For my first run I'm doing a no summons run so unfortunately that's out.

I'm currently a dex/faith build sitting at slvl 88. Seems to be the worst build for him as my lightning spears do nothing. I might skip onto the next boss for now then.

Personally I'm hating how much souls this place gives because I'm throwing away a slvl worth of souls every time I die :P
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Old 04-14-2014, 03:49 PM   #25
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Finished! 145 deaths at final count. Hadn't realised how close to the end I was - I went from halfway through Undead Crypt to finished in about three hours, for a savefile total of just over thirty hours. I didn't explore the areas post Drangleic Castle nearly as carefully as I did the areas before that though, so I probably missed some later stuff.

Like a total derp, I accidentally skipped the final cutscene >.< so I'm now going to go watch it on youtube. Not sure what to do next either - do I try the shieldless dual-wielding run? A caster of some sort (which I never did in DkS1)? Or do I take my current character through to NG+? I hear the difference between NG and NG+ is much more than just "stuff gets more health and can hit harder" unlike the first game, which makes it tempting.
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