From Software Dark Souls 3

[Verylittlefishes]

Summoning is for pussies.

YOU DIED

 

[Lyric Suite]

All the more reason to git gud.

 

[NJClaw]

Fuuuuu, Pontiff is kicking my ass.

Using Astora Greatsword and i barely get the room to it him lmao. Got him close a couple of times i think i'll take a break and try later. Fucking roll souls.

When your senses tell you to roll, quickly count to 3 (or something like that) and then roll. His timings are almost as misleading as those of the Dancer.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

BTW, so far i wouldn't say the level design is shit. I heard people bitch about how it actually sucked and that the only good thing about DS3 are boss fights, which is WAY out of proportions IMHO. I'd say so far the biggest problem with the levels is that it doesn't feel like you are fighting the area itself, like you did in DS1. I mean sure you get new monsters with their new challenges but there's no specific environmental hazard in itself, except for the old boring sludge. I'd say for all its jank that's one thing DS2 did better. The levels of the latter are closer to DS1 than those of DS3 seem to be so far.

DS3 has its shortcomings, but all the autists screeching and screaming that it's completely shit exaggerate its flaws and ignore its strengths (knowingly or not). The same is true for all the DS2 haters on the internet. Each game does something incredibly well and falls short of the ideal in other fields: keeping this in mind, it's perfectly possible to enjoy all of them without problems.

I do like DS3's aesthetic, enemy and area design (well, except for Farron Swamp, that's just terrible), the introduction of weapon arts and the upgrade system, its just that I really don't like some of the changes to its core mechanics.
I don't like how easy it is to down estus, I don't like the change to poise, I don't like how you can't upgrade armor anymore making it more or less useless late game. I don't like how easy it is to backstab either; that was actually something I liked in Dark Souls 2, where you can actually miss a backstab.

For all of its flaws, in terms of gameplay DS2 tried to retain the Dark Souls 1 formula and improve it. Dark Souls 3 does away with it to appeal more to the BB crowd, keeping the bare minimum.
Dark Souls 3 even got rid of some of the more interesting features of Dark Souls 2 and even 1.

NG+ in DS3 doesn't change enemy placement or introduce new enemy types, which was a feature I liked in Dark Souls 2. Even Dark Souls 1 had something of that nature with the Gravelord covenant.
In Dark Souls 2 you have PvE covenants. You don't have those in Dark Souls 3. In Dark Souls 2 you have hidden challenges where the game rewarded you for doing crazy shit, like not dying or not using a bonfire, and hidden secrets like spawning enemies if you light all of the sconces. Again, Dark Souls 3 doesn't have stuff like that.

Dark Souls 3 feels kind of bland when you take that into consideration, and that's not great.

Also, where is Nito / The Soul of Death in Dark Souls 3? There is no reference to him at all. Even Dark Souls 2 didn't forget about him.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Summoning is for pussies.

You say that, but wait until you meet Nameless King or Friede.

 

[Lyric Suite]

the introduction of weapon arts

I had to google this. How the fuck did i went through half the game without knowing this thing existed? Holy shit i'm dumb.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Summoning is for pussies.

You say that, but wait until you meet Nameless King or Friede.

Are they any worse than the DS2 DLC bosses?

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

the introduction of weapon arts

I had to google this. How the fuck did i went through half the game without knowing this thing existed? Holy shit i'm dumb.

Yeah, weapon arts change the game a lot. I tried ignoring them at first because the keyboard command for them is a little tricky at first, but when I got the hang of it it changed things drastically.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Summoning is for pussies.

You say that, but wait until you meet Nameless King or Friede.

Are they any worse than the DS2 DLC bosses?

Friede feels like she belongs to another game and has 3 health bars.
Nameless King is like a cross between Ornstein and Fume Knight, to put it roughly. He also has a first phase where you kill a big bird, and after you kill the big bird you have to fight him personally at full health.
He is a lot, lot harder than the bird.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

the introduction of weapon arts

I had to google this. How the fuck did i went through half the game without knowing this thing existed? Holy shit i'm dumb.

...
weapon arts???

 

[Lyric Suite]

God damn the weapon art of the Artorias Greatsword is fucking amazing. Fuck i'm retarded.

BTW, killed Pontiff, no summons, 'cause summons are for faggots. Fun fight the Artorias Greatsword has this really satisfying animation when attacking out of a roll so it was roll, roll, roll then slam, rinse and repeat on what looked like a ballet. The split image he does was kinda of easy since you can almost kill it while he is casting it. Three hits from the Greatsword staggers both which gives you time to roll out and recoup stamina and then you can kill the shadow with a single strike.

The only thing that pissed me off a bit is when he does that jumping attack that explodes in that ring of fire. You need to roll at least three times to get out of the blast range and half the time i either rolled into a wall or didn't have enough stamina to roll out of it. That was annoying as shit.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Wait, i meant Astoras Greatsword, not Artorias. Shit i need to go bed it seems.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Yeah, the Astoras Greatsword is good.
Its a Ultra Greatsword, but it weighs as much a greatsword.
The Wolf Knight Greatsword (or Artorias Greatsword) is heavier, but it does have some cool weapon arts.

Played a bit of Ringed City. I like it a lot more than Painted World. Its a more interesting area and there isn't as much bullshit. They don't throw like 10 fucking wolves at you at the beginning of the level, and there are some neat exploration options.
Do Murkmen spawn infinitely? I was in a room where they just kept spawning.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Do Murkmen spawn infinitely? I was in a room where they just kept spawning.

This is the only room with infinite spawning, in all the other areas you just need to get rid of summoners.

 

[Silverfish]

You say that, but wait until you meet Nameless King or Friede.

NK is easier without summons. Because of his mobility and the ease with which he can clip you with any of his long reaching attacks, having 2-3 people draw his attention and subsequently having him zip around like Barry Allen on cocaine leads to way too much frustration.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Its so funny, I never fought her because while running to me she accidentally kept falling into the swamp and die.

 

[NJClaw]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Because she's a QUEEN.

NPCs are extremely dumb in these games due to their primitive AI, they have to play unfairly to even hope to challenge the player.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Because she's a QUEEN.

NPCs are extremely dumb in these games due to their primitive AI, they have to play unfairly to even hope to challenge the player.

So From are Simps then. That explains everything.
There were some bullshit NPCs in DS2 as well, but at least they didn't 2 shot you and had insane mobility. IIRC, it was usually one of the other

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Its so funny, I never fought her because while running to me she accidentally kept falling into the swamp and die.

Really? Isn't she immune to fall damage, or have so much health she can just shrug it off? She has like 3k health.

 

[NJClaw]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Because she's a QUEEN.

NPCs are extremely dumb in these games due to their primitive AI, they have to play unfairly to even hope to challenge the player.

So From are Simps then. That explains everything.
There were some bullshit NPCs in DS2 as well, but at least they didn't 2 shot you and had insane mobility. IIRC, it was usually one of the other

In my opinion, most NPCs encounters are fine and well executed in DS3: I love both encounters with Tsorig, the fight with Alva is pretty cool, the gank squads in Irithyll and Lotric Castle are fun and challenging if you tackle them properly, Holy Knight Hodrick is a BEAST and can be used to have great fun during invasions, and Vilhelm puts up a good fight.

However, they don't reach the heights of the DLC invasions in DS2 and the Forlorn guy in SotFS.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Its so funny, I never fought her because while running to me she accidentally kept falling into the swamp and die.

Really? Isn't she immune to fall damage, or have so much health she can just shrug it off? She has like 3k health.

Wrll I didn't saw her dying, just collected her dropped set when ran and returned.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

Its so funny, I never fought her because while running to me she accidentally kept falling into the swamp and die.

Really? Isn't she immune to fall damage, or have so much health she can just shrug it off? She has like 3k health.

Wrll I didn't saw her dying, just collected her dropped set when ran and returned.

They must have patched it, because not only is she immune to fall damage she's also immune to poison. Which is horseshit.
I mean, she's clearly human / hollow, why is she immune to poison? That makes no sense.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

So I fought the Demons, and I noticed something funny : A large, demonic creature deals less damage with one of its swipes than some woman with a whip. Seriously From learn to design.

Anyway, the Demon boss fight is cool. I was expecting some nonsense when I saw that its a 2v1, but for the most part its pretty fair. The ranged attacks are well telegraphed and the melee monster has pretty avoidable moves. They switch roles throughout the fight which I thought was pretty interesting.
The second phase took me by surprise; I noticed that the Dark Murky Scythe I was using deal considerably less damage than before. I guess the Demon Prince has Dark Resist as well for some reason?

 

[Silverfish]

Ok, fuck Pyromancer Zoey. She is absolute bullshit. Why does a great fire orb from her deal like 1000 damage while mine does like 300? Why does her whip deal that much damage? Whips aren't that strong. Why can she just instantly pull out flame fan into combustion? I don't think the player can do that.
From was doing so well with Ringed City, and then they fucked it up with their try hard garbage.

NPC phantoms, friendly or hostile, make no sense in DS3. My personal favorite is Lion Knight Albert, who you can summon at the High Wall. He's got a greataxe, but doesn't have the stats to wield it. I was outdamaging him with an unupgraded broadsword (I was a deprived, by the by, so I only had minimum stats to use the weapon to begin with). Honorable mention to Hodrick, who completely transcends Dark Souls combat via Devil May Cry-like animation cancelling.