From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Hell Swarm]

can't recall any locations from DS3 that were not some random castle or a swamp

You can shit on DS3 all day and night, but the Dreg Heap is awesome in terms of presentation and there's no way anyone who has a functioning brain thinks of that as a random castle or swamp.

Dreg heap does feel very castlely and swampy to me. I never liked the ash stopping fall damage shit. It felt dumb and animeish

 

[mediocrepoet]

can't recall any locations from DS3 that were not some random castle or a swamp

You can shit on DS3 all day and night, but the Dreg Heap is awesome in terms of presentation and there's no way anyone who has a functioning brain thinks of that as a random castle or swamp.

Dreg heap does feel very castlely and swampy to me. I never liked the ash stopping fall damage shit. It felt dumb and animeish

Well, I suppose it does have elements of both in it. Even at the end of all things, Miyazaki needs his fucking poison swamp!

Anyway, I usually am referring to the very beginning of the level after you talk to the old bag up through to the point where you jump off and smash through the stained glass.

It is so epic and memorable to me (and I enjoy things like it in various games) - it's the end of all things as reality unwinds before you, looking down to fucked up geometry, sideways buildings, ashes of incinerated civilizations, etc. The only other scene I recall offhand that struck me that way is actually in Chrono Cross, which I generally hate, where the tidal wave is frozen in time just about to wipe out everything.

 

[Odoryuk]

Dreg Heap is literally castles (High Wall of Lothric, Grand Archives) standing on top of a swamp (Earthen Peak)

 

[mediocrepoet]

Dreg Heap is literally not a generic castle sitting atop a generic poison swamp. Details and nuance matter.

 

[Ryzer]

It's a trash level, with only visuals as a plus, the level design is terrible and linear, the mobs are uninspired, the new items add nothing new.

7€

 

[Odoryuk]

Dreg Heap is literally not a generic castle sitting atop a generic poison swamp. Details and nuance matter.

Dreg Heap starts on top of the heap, which is DS3 (Lothric), then descends to DS2 (Earthen Peak), then it goes into DS1 territory with the initial Firelink Shrine, and then they uncover to us the true origin of DS's world, it's like poetry.
Doesn't mean that the separate Lothric/Grand Archives locations are generic in any means, though.

 

[mediocrepoet]

It's a trash level, with only visuals as a plus, the level design is terrible and linear, the mobs are uninspired, the new items add nothing new.

7€

Yeah. It's the best part of the worst game in the series. I can't make it for them.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Well, I suppose it does have elements of both in it. Even at the end of all things, Miyazaki needs his fucking poison swamp!

I begrudge him for making me buy a fucking swamp DLC! And it has nothing to do with the actual Earthern peak.

But I agree. It's a very memorable area and I wish I had played it pre angel nerf to get the full experience but I left dark souls 3 behind after the 1st DLC came out. Burn out way hard.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Well, I suppose it does have elements of both in it. Even at the end of all things, Miyazaki needs his fucking poison swamp!

I begrudge him for making me buy a fucking swamp DLC! And it has nothing to do with the actual Earthern peak.

Yeah, the Earthen Peak bit was the weakest part. Oh, the windmill fell over and you recycled a few of the enemies. yay

 

[Child of Malkav]

Fuck off already with your Roll Slop 3. Trying to pass that thing off as anything other than the dog shit that it is. Fan Service 3: The quality fades edition did irreparable damage to the design of these games and that's how we got anime bosses in ER.

 

[Odoryuk]

Fuck off already with your Roll Slop 3. Trying to pass that thing off as anything other than the dog shit that it is. Fan Service 3: The quality fades edition did irreparable damage to the design of these games and that's how we got anime bosses in ER.

Makes you wonder why DS2 is the black sheep for that developer and its design approach was never repeated in the consecutive games, huh?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Fuck off already with your Roll Slop 3. Trying to pass that thing off as anything other than the dog shit that it is. Fan Service 3: The quality fades edition did irreparable damage to the design of these games and that's how we got anime bosses in ER.

Makes you wonder why DS2 is the black sheep for that developer and its design approach was never repeated in the consecutive games, huh?

Because DS2 requires some attention and has a slower pace and actual RPG mechanics that the adderall shredded brains of you and your peers couldn't cope with, so instead... DS3. Oh gawd it's heavan!

 

[Nathir]

So the general consensus here is that DSII is better than DSIII? Why?

Because DS3 feels like a game they didn't want to make. DS2 is a game they wanted to make, they just did a worse job than usual.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Makes you wonder why DS2 is the black sheep for that developer and its design approach was never repeated in the consecutive games, huh?

Black sheep according to mouth breathers.
Design approach? ER is the 2nd soulsborne game (chronologically) after DkS2 to offer the player so many tools and options, and it's the most open and less linear (until ER came out). Until ER came out DkS2 had the most amount of weapons, armors, builds, spells, consumables, armors with hidden effects, unique NG+ (still hasn't been matched there), powerstancing (ER brought this back but in a more mainstream way for retards), covenants (ER had none, let alone bosses or rewards related to them), rewards for doing no death/no bonfire runs (ER has none).
Seems to me that they took a lot of things from DkS2 and still have to include the rest. Seems that design weighed heavily in their decision making.
Edit 1: forgot about the extinction mechanic, which together with the ADP stat and covenant if champions allows the player to "customize" their difficulty to a degree.
Edit 2: fuck, I forgot about bonfire ascetic. Amazing foresight they had. The first boss rush they implemented before Sekiro.

 

[cvv]

design approach was never repeated in the consecutive games, huh?

Yeah, it does make me wonder why they never repeated functional poise, well-balanced split damage, armor that makes sense, perfectly complimented weapon enhancements, powerstancing, interesting and varied NG+, bonfire ascetics, actually enjoyable PvP, fun covenants, amazing build variety, tons of little surprises (hidden armor effects, "break the big turd on the santier spear to reveal an amazing weapon", special rings for challenge runs rewards aka "never use a bonfire") ... do I have to go on?

Yes, my brother in Christ, I wonder that every single day.

 

[Odoryuk]

Seems to me that they took a lot of things from DkS2 and still have to include the rest. Seems that design weighed heavily in their decision making.

Elden Ring takes a lot from all of their previous games. You mention powerstancing, but forget to add that Dark Souls 3's version of that, paired weapons, is also in Elden Ring.
Dark Souls 3 actually took a lot of good things from DS2, like the estus system, while removing bad things, like healing gems.

Yes, my brother in Christ, I wonder that every single day.

If Miyazaki directs, you're not getting those.

 

[Ryzer]

So the general consensus here is that DSII is better than DSIII? Why?

Because DS3 feels like a game they didn't want to make. DS2 is a game they wanted to make, they just did a worse job than usual.

DS3 has abysmal linear level design and downright bastardized Bloodborne combat system. It's the worst of both world.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Elden Ring takes a lot from all of their previous games. You mention powerstancing, but forget to add that Dark Souls 3's version of that, paired weapons, is also in Elden Ring.
Dark Souls 3 actually took a lot of good things from DS2, like the estus system, while removing bad things, like healing gems.

I don't consider anything Roll Slop 3 does to be good. You actually compare powerstancing with paired weapons? Jesus Christ, I swear I'm dealing with trolls.
And yeah you're right, Roll Slop 3 took out a lot of good things from Best Souls 2 and that's how it ended up being the shittiest in the series.
And healing gems? Maybe they should have been limited but you forget: you can completely ignore them. If you're so hardcore you can even miss taking estus from Shanalotte. Yeah, you can play the game without estus, gems or any other crutch and just use healing spells or a ring or armor that restores HP on a kill or something. Options, customization.

 

[Odoryuk]

Maybe they should have been limited but you forget: you can completely ignore them

With that logic we can leap into "games should have no death state and if you're so hardcore, when your HP meter reaches 0 you just quit the game manually, us normal people will continue playing". If something is there, it affects the design and feel.

You actually compare powerstancing with paired weapons?

Did I compare anything? I just pointed that Elden Ring has both.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Like them or not healing gems did open up new challenges in DaS2. Being able to do a no bonfire run and have healing still is actually pretty cool.

 

[Max Damage]

You don't need rolling when you have greatshields and strafing, actual case of skill issue.

 

[Odoryuk]

Like them or not healing gems did open up new challenges in DaS2. Being able to do a no bonfire run and have healing still is actually pretty cool.

In Bloodborne they came up with a pretty good way to limit consumables, so you can't just drop 99 bombs at your enemies, but you can have 999 bombs at your disposal, you just have to use a checkpoint to get another 20. I'm glad they went with this system in DS3 and Elden Ring (though adding crafting to this system made some items weird in ER).

 

[Child of Malkav]

With that logic we can leap into "games should have no death state and if you're so hardcore, when your HP meter reaches 0 you just quit the game manually, us normal people will continue playing". If something is there, it affects the design and feel.

How the fuck do you go from healing to no death states? Also DkS1/3/ER have upgradable estus/flasks. If it's there it affects the design. Right?

Did I compare anything? I just pointed that Elden Ring has both.

You implied it. With the even worse implication that paired weapons may be somehow, in your univers, better that powerstancing.

 

[Odoryuk]

You implied it. With the even worse implication that paired weapons may be somehow, in your univers, better that powerstancing.

I did no such thing, the only thing I implied is that FS saw that both systems have place in Elden Ring. Everything else stems from your insecurities.

 

[Child of Malkav]

In Bloodborne they came up with a pretty good way to limit consumables, so you can't just drop 99 bombs at your enemies, but you can have 999 bombs at your disposal, you just have to use a checkpoint to get another 20.

Oh yeah they came up with a great idea called farming them when you run out. Fantastic idea. Who doesn't love farming? You can also buy them some place for sure but I don't remember if they're in limited quantity or not.