I am prepared to die. Let's see how Dark Souls is on Switch. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me on Patreon! / arlostuff TWOOTER: @ArloStuff BOOKFACE: ArloStuff "Reloaded Installer #11" by LHS. / @lhschiptunes
Thats such fucking laughable nonsense. "What you learn" oh you mean the slow, mediocre mechanics you've been practicing the entire game that are garbage with multiple enemies around? You aren't magically able to defeat different enemies easily just because you beat a previous boss after a hundred tries.
@@lttddnulph98 I'm not the OP, but I'm downloading dark souls remastered right now since it's on a sale till the 4th or 5th. I've played the game before and finished it on new game+, if you're thinking about buying it, now is the right time. It's a great game and as much as i love arlo, he's got a few things wrong when it comes to this game. Playing it online is a good thing. You can defeat every boss easily without any cheesing. You can make the combat much faster by rolling instead of hiding behind the shield.
@@majdsaadems It’s on sale again (in Europe at least), at half price for the digital download (£17). It’s been on sale quite a lot since release in fact. I got it yesterday, but after watching Arlo’s review (I also don’t have 100s of hours to sink into games) and noticing how often it’s been on heavy price cut, I’m wondering how long I’ll play it before letting it go in the archive bin. 🤔
@@happyspaceinvader508 honestly this isn't the best review of the game. It's really worth finishing, and the fact that its been on sale really means nothing. I'd say give it enough times, you don't need to spend hundreds of hours to finish it. If you want some videos to help you get into it, i suggest you watch vaatividya, and you can ask about anything if you need advice.
Nah, dark souls veterans aren’t cringing when they hear it took you that look to beat Bell Gargoyles. The dark souls community is often misrepresented as a bunch of toxic, arrogant dudes screaming “git gud” but in reality it’s one of the most friendly gaming communities I’ve been a part of. Ppl are always willing to lend a hand and are very understandable for the most part. We all started from somewhere. We all had an early boss we were stuck on for a while. I hope with Elden Ring you can join this community!
Aaaaand as usual, I forgot to mention a few things in the video. One of these days I'm going to remember everything, I promise. Presentation and performance. The world design is complex and beautiful, and while there are many rough edges (as people have said, this version is less like the remaster on other current-gen platforms and more like the original on last-gen platforms), overall it looks quite nice. The atmosphere is incredible; it's bleak and somewhat surreal without just being DARK. Though I will say, the menus look like they're from a PS2 game, and all the symbols are smudgy, vague little things that are hard to distinguish. Framerate does stutter a bit here and there, SOMETIMES a little more than I would like, but it never hurts my enjoyment of the game. Handheld mode is absolutely perfect with a nice crisp resolution at all times. Camera stinks. Lock-on betrays me frequently, and I've died many times because the camera sticks to an enemy in such a way that the camera comes in too close to see anything, and objects frequently get in the way. Lastly, the way to kick and jump attack is really unintuitive. It's too easy to do them on accident, and in a game that requires precision this is not okay.
It's hard to say because I move around all over and hold off on things for later when I become overwhelmed, so I have a lot of potential paths to take. I just got the key to Blighttown, but I just made my longsword divine and I think I'm going to see what's deeper in Firelink Shrine first now that I can kill the skeletons. I got pretty far inside but when that many start to gather up and regenerate it's just impossible.
Arlo Good review! How would you feel about a Diddy Kong Racing sequel that added characters from My Hero Academia, Little Witch Academia, Kirby, The Amazing World of Gumball, **Persona 3-5,** Family Guy, Sonic, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Digimon Tamers, The Simpsons, Invader Zim, Pokemon Sun and Moon anime including Serena from X and Y, Crash Bandicoot and RWBY with Haruko from FLCL, Hat Kid, Popuko and Pipmi from Pop Team Epic, Bomberman, Doom Slayer, Beavis and Butthead also being there? Kirby gets pushed as a second Protagonist to go along with Diddy Kong. Imagine racing against Akko with Izuku, shooting a missile at Gumball, Gumball, Izuku, and Akko smoking pot with their friends, throwing an oil slick at Ren, Ryuji using a bat to knock opponents sideways, Ann using her whip to whip a nearby rival, Yusuke asking Momo if she’d be painted nude, Fregley putting his foot in his mouth to distract the other drivers so they can crash, Futaba showing everyone rule 34, Makoto dodging bombs that Bomberman planted on the race track, etc.
The Souls series spoiled me when it first came out. When I beat the game, I went to play Wind Waker and was yelling at the enemies to HIT MEEE! Wind Waker became too easy.
@@giancarlocaballero7684 Breath of the Wild’s master mode? It’s definitely easy compared to Soulsborne, it’s just hard early because you die in one hit, but after about an hour or two it becomes almost as easy as base game
@@eanderson9599 nah I’ve played all of botw and all the souls borne games botw beats souls borne in some situations only because trail of the fucking sword level 3 master mode I say no more
This game was built to ward off auto-pilot mindsets. Take it one step of a time. Starting over is a good thing. It helps you become more cofident in your play style choices and understanding of the world. You'll find it simpler with every play through as you'll have learned what to expect and you can build your character on said expectations. Turning the game off is also good. Sometimes even for months at a time. I think I first beat the game with my third or so character. And I even took a break for a year or so before coming back. So much time and error. Now I've played through this endearing classic and it's successors countless times. If you perisist you will be rewarded with an incredible experience and sense of wonder very very rare in modern gaming. Keep it up. (Also, you aren't required to cheese anything. By doing so, you are simply robbing yourself of the satisfaction of overcoming the challenge on your own.)
You're so right. I know this comment is two years old, but I got Dark Souls Remastered around the time this video came out. I got stuck on the Taurus Demon, stopped having fun, and put the game down for a long time. And then I picked it back up, made a new character, breezed through the first boss (wild), and just ran my way up to the Taurus Demon. And then it took a few tries. I went around and talked to my old favorite NPCs. I bought a bunch of stuff from that one merchant (having accidentally hit him in my first file). I went and threw myself at the Taurus Demon again and again, determined to actually do it this time. I was getting good. Great! I'd almost done it. Went back one more time and the damn thing threw itself off the bridge. Come on... I wanted to do that.
Except Ornstein and (The Fat Guy). When the whole game teaches you that fighting more than one enemy at a time is the worst idea ever, being forced to fight two bosses at once is just 👌👌
O n S actually not that hard you know. They designed to defeated and have a huge weakness, they both leave high space and time for you after they attack, that's it
God I hate O&S. Its literally the only boss fight I had to cheat on. And even when using a glitch to make it so I only had to fight one of them, it still took several attempts. Every other boss I was able to beat in 10 or less attempts, but I wasnt even close to killing even ONE of them in 30+ attempts. ...But at least you get an amazing chest for beating them ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
As someone who took like 100 hours to finish the game my first time through, i definitely did reach a point where i wanted to start more files. Speedrunning this game is actually pretty fun at times.
Arlo, I'd love to hear an updated "reviewmpression" on your experience with Dark Souls. Sounds like you were just past the Capra Demon which is relatively early (I know, it's still a lot of hours) into the game. I think a lot of first time players, myself included, share a lot of your opinions up to that point. I got it first time on Switch, I'm at the final boss and I'm not going to get pissy at you for your opinions (Dark Souls community is very defensive, but it's nice to see that passion as well) but it definitely took me a while until the hooks were all in like you say. Now they are and I love this game, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.
"I'm worried I'm going to run into another situation like the Capra Demon where I have to cheese it to death" "I feel like I'm going to reach a point where it's just too hard and I'll be done" *Looks at Bed of Chaos*
I just played and finished Dark Souls for the first time this month. I used guides pretty much the whole time, since I wasn’t very concerned about spoilers, just trying to figure out how to progress. There was a point where I got really stuck - Capra demon - and I was considering giving up on the game. Then I discovered you could do a running slash with your weapon that allowed me to strike down one of the dogs before they all comboed me. I won the fight and after beating Havel and the Hydra almost immediately afterward, I felt like I could do anything and that confidence carried me past the final boss, into a new game cycle and all the DLC bosses
My brother-in-law quit on the Capra Demon and never came back... that seems to be the tipping point for a lot of players. Glad to hear you pushed past it and were able to enjoy the entire experience.
@@TRM520 You don't need the fire bomb exploit Arlo mentioned. Here's what you do. Run up the stairs immediately. The Capra Demon has a hard time hitting you while you're on the platform. This lets you kill the dogs individually as they follow you up the stairs. Once you're done with them lunge attack the Capra Demon and run back up the stairs, repeat until he dies or he's at low enough health to confidently fight him on ground level.
Beat that Capra Demon on the 2nd try... got ambushed the first time, focused on mutts the second time... my struggle was with the gargoyles.. no resources to use, eventually overpowered them by grinding for a couple of loops
He was super easy for me, I was 2handing zweihander I found in the cemetary, its R2 pancakes Capra Demon and can't miss if he runs at you on the stairs. I was fast enough to roll away when I saw what's coming and happened upon the stairs, I was super lucky.
I've only played DS3, and there are bosses I legitimately can't beat without help. The dancer and Aldrich come to mind. I don't like asking for help. I don't like other people. I want to do it on my own. Fuck the dancer. I swear she's nearly impossible to solo even if you are over leveled to hell and back.
@@GeneralNickles The dancer is tough, but the sellsword twinblades with dark resin and tracking her right hip helps alot. Its how I beat her solo. Having high Vigor helps too
Watching this in 2021 and I feel a lot where he is coming from. Being a first time player back when the PC Prepare to die edition came out. I feel these opinions within my soul. I still love this game and I still hope I'll beat it one day. Great video and much love Arlo!
As someone who has dumped over 1000 hours into Dark Souls and is active in the souls community, i will say that while capra demon is definitely unfair to an extent (bad camera in tiny room), he is more than doable without exploits. As are all of the bosses. The types of videos you watched sounded like people exploiting the game for speed running purposes. Every game has exploits, just the nature of game design. Dark Souls is a game that has a lot of depth, the more you play, the more the layers start to peel back and you understand it more. From a surface level, dark souls can seem unfair or like you have to exploit the game to win, but put enough time into you start to realize that most of your past deaths were your own fault and not the game's. I kind of predicted you'd have this reaction to Dark Souls, as most people do, myself included. But the more you play, the more you realise the game isnt all that unfair (aside from like 2 bosses, capra included) The enemies and bosses you struggle with now will eventually be a cakewalk. And yes, practice is apart of that, but most of it stems from the fact so many other games are designed to let the player feel strong and just blow through enemies, and that kind of play gets engrained in your thoughts. Play dark souls enough and it will change how you view video games.
"If you spend thousands of hours learning the mechanics and getting every frame perfect, he is totally doable without exploits" If your game requires you to achieve this level of perfection for a boss, its a shitty boss Dark Souls is a series of CONSTANT bullshit deaths, bosses with near instant kill attacks you'd never see coming, areas that are intentionally annoying to the player and poorly designed to be confusing, and a million other things that put off players. No shit if you waste the amount of time you did playing this series you would sit here defending it, you aren't exactly a source that is unbiased.
@@Nicholasryan17 He never said that you need thousands of hours to beat a boss, he said that from a surface level it seems unfair, but the more you play(this doesn't mean thousands of hours)the more you realise the game is not all that unfair. "No shit if you waste the amount of time you did playing this series you would sit here defending it, you aren't exactly a source that is unbiased." ok so what about me? i beat the game in around 50 hours, and no, i didnt do exploits, in your own logic should i be an unbiased source?, for what i have read of your responses, you aren't an unbiased source from any means, you have said this game has bad mechanics and that is just wrong, this game has a well designed combat system which doesn't hold your hand through the game, it is not complex to understand and to get good at it, but still, you respond in every comment saying that the game is bad and has bad mechanics because it is slow, just bullshit everywhere, if you preffer your generic spamming hack and slash games, then go play those kids games.
Nicholasryan17 He is saying learn how to play the game. It’s that simple. Most players are far too reckless when they say this game is unfair. If dark souls punishes one thing above anything else it’s recklessness. Be careful. Out some thought behind your actions. And remain calm... you will get good at this game and it won’t take a million hours. It just actually requires your attention and a little bit of patience.
Just go up the stairs for the capra demon and plunging attack after you kill the dogs. Idk why people hate capra so much, just use an upgraded claymore.
It sounds like your close to getting the "click" everyone has when they first play a souls game; I hope you stick with this game because it's genuinely one of the best ever made. The whole soulsborne series has ruined me for other games. I believe you have a PS4 please try Bloodborne it is the best one in my opinion.
I believe bloodborne is better than ds1. It does a much better job at teaching the player the mechanics. I will say bloodborne is probably harder, but it teaches you not to rely on your shield and to play the game more aggressively by heavily rewarding you for parrying and removing the shield. Also making the ability to parry ranged, new players are more likely to use it since it's less risky to throw out to learn the timing. You no longer have to face tank a hit from a boss to learn the parry window. Also the upgrade system (blood stones not blood gems) are superior. No weird colored titanite to find. Everything upgrades from the same stuff.
Bloodborne is absolutely the best game to get accustomed to these games. I played this first before DS2 even came out and I hated it. Played BB last fall and fell in love, which made me like Dark Souls
Dark Souls is the type of game which makes other games feel boring in comparison, on the flip side there are so many basic things that other games figured out years before this one, that this game ignores. I love the entire Souls series and have sunk over 1,000 between all the entries, but we all start as you did, confused and lost. If you stick with it Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 both make a ton of improvements to the overall play-ability and are some of the best action games to come in in recent times. PS: Good Luck in the Tomb of Giants ;)
I felt the same when i played ds1 for the first time... Now a days I find the souls games really boring as it pretty much boils down to memorising attack animations and clicking b or square at the right time. Then punishing with an attack on their lag animation. To each their own though as they are very well designed games.
I will refrain from giving tips! But I will give thoughts on your thoughts. (and yes, the camera sucks. Honestly my biggest issue with the entire series.) First of all, the grind from bonfire to boss? Yes, it adds up as far as time goes...but at the same time, you can make it add up for your souls, too. As long as you don't die before picking it up, you're essentially adding to your "pot." The bell gargoyles? I came out of there with twice as many souls as the boss itself gave me, and was able to do two or three levels, all at once. Simple reason, I killed all the enemies along the way, picked up my souls right away, then proceeded to fight. I do suggest playing online. Not to invade or be invaded, but for two other, smaller reasons. One, the messages. Yes, some are annoying, or trolly. But many are really helpful, and have legitimately good advice, pointing out secret bonfires, or giving suggestions on how to handle a particularly difficult encounter, or warning about traps that might set you back a ways. The other is a small thing, but a useful one. When you're online, whenever someone kindles a bonfire in your area, it gives you one extra estus flask. It's small, but helpful. Either way, hope you enjoy the game. And I don't think there's *really* a wrong way to play the game. Unless you're exclusively using the broken straight sword, or dual wielding shields. If you are, you're just weird.
As someone who plays Dark Souls a lot, I can confirm that I cringed lol. I think you turning off online really isn't smart as a new player. You remove all the messages on the ground which is advice from other players. You also remove the option to summon other players to help you. You can also run past all enemies it's just a matter of rolling. Parrying, kicking, and backstabbing is also important if you struggle with smaller enemies. I also don't know what guides you're looking at but I recommend watching non-glitch Dark Souls speed runs to see how highly skilled players fight bosses / run through levels.
AgentAquamarine only if you are human and in an area you haven’t killed the boss. The frequency depends on your level and the area. Some areas are treated as pvp zones such as Darkroot so stay hollow there if you want to avoid it.
In my case, the majority of my gaming happens during my lunch break at work so I haven't bothered picking up an NSO subscription. Until last week, the entirety of my Dark Souls experience was playing Drunk Souls about twice a year and watching some RU-vid videos of a guy beating the game with progressively more ridiculous controllers, so while I'm not truly fresh meat, I'm definitely still a novice at the game. Do you think it's worthwhile for me to purchase the online subscription to get the full Dark Souls experience for around a fifth of the time (no WiFi at work), or am I missing out on little enough that I don't need to feel bad about playing strictly offline?
Matthew Hutchinson The only things missing from being offline off the top of my head are PvP (There are NPC invaders though) Co-op(Again there are a few NPCs) Community messages that could be helpful for new players And the detail of the bells ringing whenever a player rings them While it is harder/slower all covenant items can also be farmed offline
Trust me Arlo. *Try co-op* This game was made to be played online with constant random co-op and invasions. It's how they expect you to *make the long trek* back to bosses.
I love this game and this franchise, it has quickly become one of my favorites franchises. But i also love that you are going hard and fair on this one, i kind of hate sometimes all the praise that dark souls have and each time you make a slight criticism you receive and instant "git gud", people assuming that you suck or whatever, like if this is just the holy grail of gaming. Screw all the people that doesn't think your opinions are valid. The only think i find a little invalid is complaining about how guides use exploits, what other people do to overcome parts of the game is irrelevant to the actual game
Diego G agree those "git gud" players are annoying as ******* I'm also sick and tired of people calling games like bloodborne masterpieces (actually it's just bloodborne) when in reality they're just as full of flaws as they are about positives
@@mr.j7444 even if thats true. So? What does it matter? Validity of criticism depends on skill? I mean is really hard to debate that dark souls is unfriendly towards beginners, or that the game makes almost no attempt to explain you some core mechanics like humanity as arlo pointed out. Those complaints are regardless of skill. And the ones that have to do with his skill, well... Obviously opinions are based on personal qualities, these are flaws to his point of view, to his own personal perception, of course you don't have to agree. I don't with a lot of them
Diego G The thing is, something like the game not being explicitly clear about certain mechanics can be seen as a negative or a positive, depending on who you're asking, that goes for a lot of his other criticisms as well, not that they aren't valid criticisms, but they aren't necessarily something Dark Souls needs to fix if it's intended to be that way, games don't need to appeal to every single kind of person.
@@AlquimistEd yeah, totally agree, those things can be seen as a positive or a negative. But so does almost any criticism of gaming, i've seen people even liking bugs and glitches in their games, the one thing you would consider objectivly bad, thats why games like goat simulator got popular. Literally every game criticism that i can think of, could be a possitive or a negative dependending of who you are talking to. Thats why they are opinions and not objective statement, an objective statement would be something that people can't disagree with. But thats the nature of art, its subjective
It's funny you use the word "oppressive" a lot to describe things that seem a bit frustrating, because that oppressiveness is one of the things I've seen fans say they like most about the series. The oppressive mechanics are done intentionally to back up the oppressive atmosphere and story. So when you do finally make progress, it really feels like you've overcome a huge obstacle. I mean, I'm with you. Trekking for minutes to get back to a boss who can take you out in one hit isn't an enjoyable experience. The series isn't for me. I'm just saying, that frustration you feel? That's intentional. That's what the developers want you to feel. Your enjoyment of the game hinges on whether you find it satisfying to power through that frustration and finally overcome it.
Personally, I didn't find the two wolves unfair, since they aren't bosses, they're just enemies. I just led them away from the boss up the stairs, killed em', and dealt with the Capra Demon.
I actually kinda feel sorry for you. I don't think it's fair that you expect you HAVE to cheese enemies, because you really don't have to. Sure, it helps and there are some bosses that are made super easy because of it, but in the end every boss is doable with skill and persistence. Learning patterns, dodging and attacking when in an opportune moment are key, and sometimes learning weaknesses is important. I get that this game is hard - and anyone new to the franchise might be overwhelmed - but to say that the only way to defeat bosses is to cheat the game is an inaccurate, factually wrong statement.
Runa Merone Agreed, that was the only part of the video that really bothered me. I never cheesed any boss (Unless you count the Ceaseless Discharge, but that is technically a legit tactic) and the fact that he thinks cheesing is something you are supposed to do is really unfortunate. It just ruins the experience of the game.
@@BlockSquad1000 but large bosses like the Asylum Demon or the Stray Demon need to be attacked from behind. If you try to attack either head on they will one shot you. Especially the Stray Demon with its red wind attack. If you are not behind it when that attack goes off you're screwed.
If you go from undead burg to blighttown without dying or using a bonfire, enemies in undead burg will be respawned if you go all the way back. It really doesn't come up much, though, especially for this guy who seems to be dying a lot.
@@jackpfefferkorn3734That's true but can't really count as a criticism against the game as Arlo made it out to be. I feel like he just read that rather than experienced it and made it a bigger deal than it was. I mean you're not exactly gonna stumble accidentally out of blighttown all the way to undead burg killing everyone along the way and not needing to use a bonfire to replenish your health.
CYLop I'm familiar with the Xbox 360 version of the game, and while it doesn't look like much has changed in the port, I'll grant this reviewer the possibility that this has changed in the Switch version and you don't have to get as far away to respawn enemies. In the version I know, you have to make it very far away from an area for the enemies to respawn. I don't view it as a problem in the Xbox 360 version.
Jack Pfefferkorn I have only played the Switch version, I'm on the final boss, and it hasn't been an issue for me even once. If you're powered up enough to go back from Blighttown to undead burg without actually stopping at a bonfire, the enemies at undead burg are hardly going to be an issue for you even if they have respawned. Really seems like a non-issue for me that was pretty exaggerated in the vid.
Yes I completely agree with you that it's not an issue. I was just trying to point out that it can happen, but you've pretty much got to purposely go through a lot of work to get it to happen. Playing under normal conditions, players shouldn't experience enemies respawning by leaving zones, so I don't think that that point really deserves a mention in the review. (also it looks like the end of my previous comment was cut off, sorry if that made it confusing)
Yay Arlo! dude, I feel like you ARE "getting it." I hope you read this, as I had a similar experience That whole as you understand more, you're suddenly spending more time in this game... that is ABSOLUTELY what it's like. My experience with this game was having a friend let me try it. I knew its reputation, and me priding myself in being "good" at games, I took the challenge. I enjoyed it enough but felt I was missing something. After like 2 years, I sat back down, and learned the game, did all the research you mentioned, and something about the game just "clicked." It's definitely the type of game that needs to be understood before it becomes enjoyable. And what you said about starting a new character, I think it comes down to realizing how your "learning" the game kinda snowballs into realizing you WANT to make better choices, and you get so invested that started a new character actually feels "right." And as you make your way through the entry parts again, the Bell Gargoyles, the Capra Demon... you start to realize that "it was not my stats that got better throughout my last play session, it was my SKILL!" the hours you spent last time reduce to minutes this time. (and for what it's worth, I fight Capra Demon normally each time, it takes about 2-3 tries now). And if I were to critique your playstyle this first time through, you're doing great. I can tell by your build you're not relying on magic, which is kinda for more advanced play anyways, you're sticking to a good fast weapon to get acclimated... you're doing exactly as the game expects a first time player would. So I hope you continue to enjoy it! You got passed the early game BS... there's some later game BS you'll read about too, but I don't think you'll have any more real "I'm am SOOOO stuck" moments like the Bell Gargoyles.
Arlo, the gargoyle boss is easily done by talking to the praise the sun npc down the steps beforehand, he then accompanies you and makes it a fair fight 2v2
A lot of Dark Souls isn't figuring out "exploits" as much as it is getting a better understanding of some early-game mechanics that the game doesn't directly tell you about. Dark Souls 1 is notorious for its inability to explain anything to the player. Through some miracle, I managed to get to the Iron Golem my first run before realizing that I could even upgrade my weapon. As someone who has played through the game over 10 times now, there are a few good early-game tricks that make the experience go a lot smoother. Parrying and backstabbing are LIFELINES in the beginning part of the game. Standing there with your shield up WORKS, but it's quicker, more effective, and often less-risky to just dodge around an opponent's attack and stab him in the back. Also, dear God, PRIORITIZE LEVELING HEALTH AND STAMINA. By mid-game, you should be at at least 25 for vigor and 20 for endurance. You'd be amazed how much having a little extra health can help you. Also, if your stamina is low, don't over-use your shield. Back up. You have range. The computer is stupid. use those things to you advantage. Above all-else, just keep playing and watch people play who are better than you. Dark Souls is a learning experience.
I never had a problem with vigor, my first playthrough I put all my points into vigor and endurance and only upgraded strength and dexterity to the requirement of a weapon I wanted to use. So basically I had tons of health but was doing no damages because I had crappy scaling. I'd say that the most fundamental concept to understand starting dark souls, is weapon scaling. Otherwise you aren't going to do any damage to enemies
Another thing is upgrading is probably the most efficient use of your souls period. Upgrading weapons does leagues more for you than leveling every will on a 1 to 1 basis for your souls.
I cleared Dark Souls for the first time ages ago. I felt scared and confused and oppressed for most of it and didn’t realize until it was over that I *loved* the experience. He talks about hard bosses a lot. Does he know that he can summon allies?
Yo! I’m so happy to see you trying this. I remember playing this when it first came out, I’d love love love to see a follow up video if you ever finish the game. Final thoughts and impressions type thing. Thanks so much for reviewmpressioning this!
There was something I realized when I started my first full playthrough of the game earlier this year. Dark Souls isn't hard so much as it's just plain different. Odds are, you've never played a game like this before, and that's where the majority of the challenge comes from. That's not to say challenging things don't exist, both fair and unfair, but the vast majority of the game becomes much easier to navigate once you've figured it out. Things you started the game off struggling with will be things you just do without even thinking about by the end. That visible growth in skill taking place alongside the progression of your character is intoxicating the first time around, and I'd imagine it makes more experienced players feel overleveled when starting a new game. This does unfortunately create an environment where, the older the game gets, the more of a disconnect there will be between new and experienced players, making it more difficult for new players to jump on board as time goes on. That said, going through Dark Souls is such a personal experience that I can't help but think that maybe it's a good thing that the game isolates the player from the community for the first playthrough. I know it's one of the more memorable gaming experiences I've ever had.
They absolutely are if you have an actual fucking life and can't spend fifteen hours dying to the same nonsense attacks over and over and over before getting good enough to be "frame perfect" like you fuckin need to be.
Ugh, don't argue with them i'm sick of hearing this video say "You have to exploit them" that annoys me, you're totally right xdan but people are just being salty. Edit: you don't need to be frame perfect...
"Gave him importance" Lol just like fucking children (and some loser with a weeb avatar) to see an opposing opinion and not even be able to talk about it. Sorry, for many bosses you do absolutely need to be frame perfect or you get another half hour walk and build up to the fight. What a stupid fucking mechanic.
they're somewhat expected when the "regular" approach will often be so unbelievably challenging, that it's hardly worth doing without the cheese. Arlo isn't suggesting that the cheese is essential, but he is correct that cheeses do exist, and not doing them can and will make the game exceptionally harder. The meta-game of Dark Souls is just as much a part of the experience as the experience itself.
Honestly when they announced this, I didnt imagine the quality would be anywhere NEAR this clear. So hyped to pick this up... and have another mental breakdown. A quitting point of willpower and happiness.. like a Dementor just strolled by.
Ive played for a week and I think I almost beat it. I've reached the final area (I think) and so far I've only looked up if it is worth it to upgrade my armor or weapons. What I've learned so far is that you NEED to take your time with EVERY enemy, and I don't feel like I died a lot. I feel like my biggest opponent so far has been the environment.
You don't gotta exploit the game to beat anything. I mean, doing the plunge attack on the Taurus Demon ain't really an exploit, since the arena and the boss's AI is designed to allow you to do that, but you really don't gotta. Exploits are not the expectation for players at all in the community. There's countless players like myself that have played all the FromSoft games at least a couple times each, and we can all tell you that you don't have to cheese anything to win. Except maybe in Dark Souls 2, which is often considered the black sheep of the bunch and has many more elements people complain about, like wonky hitboxes, bad level design, and unfair enemy placement and enemy movesets, some of which were so bad they had to patch the game to fix them. Dark Souls 1, unless the Switch version is fundamentally different, shouldn't have anything that you can't beat fairly easily just by learning it and getting good at the game. It's a dank meme, but Git Gud is pretty much true for this game. And if you don't believe me, you can point out ANYTHING that you think is unfair in this game, and I can put a compilation video on my own channel of me beating it no problem just with the basic combat mechanics of the game, as intended. You're assuming that exploits are the only consistent way to win, which simply isn't true. That Capra Demon fight with the dogs? Sure, it's rough for inexperienced players, but there's no need at all to use an exploit. The stage you fight him in is designed to allow you to separate the dogs from the boss by using the staircase, which the boss takes time to come down from, but the dogs will fall off of quickly, allowing you to dispatch them without worrying about the boss's attacks. And even then, if you're pretty good at being aware of all enemies around you, you can just fight all 3 straight up. It's not inhuman at all, I've done it plenty of times without fail. If you don't wanna cheese something, then just don't cheese it. Just cuz it's hard or you haven't learned the patterns doesn't mean it's unfair or impossible to do straight up. The Gargoyle fight? Control your spacial positioning. Don't lock on, keep away, and use sprinting to run around the roof outside of their attacks and away from their fire breath, and sprint around those long attack animations to get your opening. Sprinting and spacing yourself in large areas to avoid large attacks is part of combat too. In fact, in most fights, the best outcome you can hope for is to master your footwork and positioning to make attacks whiff without having to block or press dodge, just with walking/sprinting. It takes less stamina and gives you more time to whiff punish. Master walking into range of an attack to trigger it, then walking back or to the side without putting up your shield or dodging, get the attack to miss you by doing so, then strike or even backstab. If I were to give one tip for beginners going forward other than don't worry about dying and don't try to win, try to learn; I'd say: don't assume the game runs on lock-on. It's probably different on the Switch controller, but on the original, you can hold your controller such so that you have a finger on attack, a finger on dodge/sprint, and a thumb on the camera. There's nothing that forces you to lock-on while you fight. It's a handy tool sometimes, but don't assume you need to use it just to play the game. If the lock-on won't give you a clear view of what you want, or if you're fighting multiple enemies, or a huge enemy that you want to attack certain parts of, feel free to go manual, and control the camera yourself. It's easier to learn how to play like that earlier. Bloodborne has tons of situations where it's WAY better to go manual than to lock on, and that's perfectly valid. If crap is getting in front of your camera, there's no reason you need to fight with lock-on engaged. But yeah, the game doesn't tell you anything. Some people like games like that where they have to figure out what's good and what's bad, and personally, I feel that it works in this game, but I get ya. Like, let's look at a similar type of 'learn by playing' game: The Last of Us. Sure, there are mechanics explained to you and nobody is like "the game isn't telling me enough to win", but in order to beat TLoU on the hardest difficulties and such, you have to learn more details through testing how things work yourself, like learning exactly how enemies react when hit by a bottle, how you can measure exactly whether or not you'll be hit by an attack when moving to a new piece of cover, and figure out how to predict exactly how many hits an enemy will take to go down under different circumstances, like learning that an enemy stunned with a brick/bottle will go down in one hit of a melee weapon rather than 4. You can only really learn these things through testing the game to see how things work, and the game doesn't tell you any of it, but you can still learn it when the need arises and don't need to know it to play the game normally. I feel the same is true of Dark Souls though. Sure, they don't explain how Humanity works, and that sucks (and the weapon upgrade paths are pretty confusing, but they got less confusing with each game. Like, Demon's Souls weapon upgrading was just nonsense sorcery, only a few notches down from old SMT demon negotiation), but ultimately, you can beat anything in the game with no healing items, just learning patterns and figuring out what to do. You can bang your head against anything in the game and with enough persistence measured against how quickly you learn and how consistently you can replicate what you've learned, you can beat anything, but there's always more depth to explore and optimize. Since it's mostly about understanding of the mechanics and memorization of patterns and areas and how to approach them, on a second playthrough most people blaze through it at lightning speed, cuz the only thing that slows you down is just not knowing how to do it quickly. That's why speedruns of these games are so prominent. The great thing about the challenge in these games (or at least Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne), is that it doesn't take skill. 95% of it is learning and applying memorization. You memorize timings, sequences, areas, patterns, everything, and learn what to do about them, and all the ways you can approach them, and train yourself to do so instinctively, but it doesn't require amazing awareness, and it doesn't require inhuman reaction speed. If you learn what to look for, there's hardly anything in the game that's too fast to see, even for the slowest of players. It's just learning, not testing your human capabilities. Hell, I even got my mom to beat Dark Souls 1, and the only games she plays are solitaire and Danganronpa. So, on the whole, what it sounds like is that whoever you've been listening to about how to approach the game has been giving you bad advice. No need to exploit the game.
I've never played Dark Souls before either, but I beat the Gargs second try. How? Solair and the other dude helping me. EDIT: Just finished the vid. Arlo, I think you're enjoying it just right, because I'm enjoying it the same as you. :-p It's a whole new experience. Super frustrating dying so much, but that only makes the sense of achievement that much better.
With the Demons' Souls remake coming out soon and Boodborne free on PlayStation Plus for PS5, I'm planning on going the whole nine yards with this series. The remake, the trilogy, Bloodborne and Sekiro!
A pretty great review from the point of a casual gamer! Dark Souls really is a game that shows its true colors when you play it as your only game, it's too overwhelming and cryptic to play from time to time. Like you said, it's not for everyone, but I think that's what makes us love it so much.
"From the point of a casual gamer" How about from the point of 95% of people who aren't willing to put in the 1000s of hours this game demands just for you to get a fair fight in with a boss.
@@Nicholasryan17 You're actually really stupid(or really bad) if you think you need thousands of hours to beat a boss, "95% of people who aren't willing to put 1000s of hours", yeah sure, those are completely legit statistics, git gud scrub.
Please, *PLEASE* . For your own good. Just keep playing until the end. I guarantee you that once you finish this game, you'll understand why everyone considers it a (flawed) masterpiece like no other. Ah! And remember that *you can co-op with other players/NPCs when you "restore your humanity"* . There are lots of people (and some NPCs in offline mode) that leave their signature on the floor so that you can "summon" them to help you with the hardest areas/bosses... but you can only see those signatures when you're human. If you had summoned Solaire just before the fight with the Bell Gargoyles, you should not have had so many problems with them (and the fight itself is much more interesting that way, IMHO).
I doubt it. The game doesn't magically get better if you think the boss fights are nonsense like many of us do. And it sure as fuck doesn't turn into a "masterpiece"
@@Nicholasryan17 Honestly, just git gud. Dark Souls is an incredible game. One can go into a boss fight upon repeated attempts, die, and curse the designers as hacks and frauds, and then moments later upon defeating the boss, praise the designers as geniuses. It's a truly unique experience.
Lol I agree with nicholas, I've played and beaten this game without cheesing the bosses and it's a ok game but nowhere near a masterpiece. Not alot of people care for these types of games. And y'all saying if you would just git gud doesn't change the fact that just cause you get to the point of killing the bosses with ease doesn't feel satisfying but tedious.
Arlo you just flat out got things twisted with Dark Souls. No one does the firebomb exploit, Tauros falling off bridge exploit, etc. that hasn't already beaten those bosses the normal way. Capra Demon is a pain but there are multiple ways to beat that boss without the firebomb exploit (which I've never even tried). People cheese the bosses for speed runs and to just mess around, not when they play seriously. The reason why you are struggling and losing patience is because you are playing the game too defensively. When I first explore areas I go shield up and slowly through but when I want to speed through it later on, I go with lighter armor and two-handing my weapon to handle enemies faster.
Honestly I agree that he did falsely assume things about the exploits and the difficulty based on his play style but I do gotta say that not everyone knows to totally switch up their gear or fighting styles based on the different objectives they want to accomplish. I know I'm the kind of person who like to design one well rounded setup that I'm very comfortable with and that I enjoy and I just push on through the whole game in that way, though admittedly I'm not referring to Dark Souls but games in general so that might be my own deal but still, some people just kinda play games in different ways.
Yeah, have to agree that arlo is assuming defense is the only way to play, causing a lot of his issues with the game. I think it will go better for him if he instead adopts a more agile playstyle.
I think the only boss I ever cheesed was the first time was Manus, but shooting him with a bow before you drop down, my build at the time meant I got destroyed 50 times in a row without even denting him much. I also think I exploited the centipede demon, but only because it is a fun exploit to preform.
Love the video and love that your giving dark souls a go! Sadly most of the negatives you talk about are the best bits of a souls game, there is nothing like first starting a souls game and having no clue where to go and what to do! I'm sitting hear jelous of your confusion, It's about feeling lost, about feeling confused and tired, these are all gamplay features. Dark souls uses gameplay as a charicter per say in the story. You are a lost hollow who broke out of jail, somehow you alone have to save this big dangerous world and it's ment to be intimidating and make you want to stop, this is the process of hollowing! When u finally give up and put the game down that's your charicter going hollow, giving up and forgetting the mission and the world waits for the next undead to try beat this immense challenge! Again I'm so glad your enjoying it but stick with it and don't give up! This game has so much to offer and the deeper in you go only better and crazyer things exist for you to find, also I would recommend a lore video or two when u have finished as I didn't see you mention to much story. Good luck mate!
One of the best things you can learn in this game is proper dodge timing!! Shields are great, but the game is super generous with your invincibility during dodge rolls! Glad you're enjoying the game overall though, love this series!
Glad you’re trying this series out! I only just played through this game in the summer. Just wanted to let you know that enemies don’t respawn if you go far enough away. Only if you sit at a bonfire or die. Also dying a bunch to the bell gargoyles is nothing to be ashamed of!
I'm still not very good but the biggest thing that started to make the game enjoyable for me is realizing how useful using two hands on a weapon was. The fact that a two handed power attack will stagger shield users blew my mind.
"They respawn even if you just get far enough away" This is just not true unless you encountered a glitch. The only time in any souls game when enemies will respawn is either if you rest at a bon fire or if you die (and thus are resurrected at a bon fire). Also sounds to me like u need to GiT gUd JK!!! but my experience with each soulsbourne game is my first playthrough I kind of struggle and then my next playthrough I crush it. Playing your first souls game is tough, and it's not for everybody. Also, I know you said no tips please...but if you get stuck, summon help. Makes the game 10x easier.
Hey Arlo, just wanted to say that your video encapsulates literally every single thing I thought and felt about the experience when I first started playing, your gripes in particular are many of which I still hold against the game. But I've also beaten it a half a dozen times by now which I never imagined I'd do, but at some point, like months after I'd finished the game, it suddenly flooded back into my mind and I thought "hold the phone... that game was unbelievable!" and I've been completely enamored with the series since. I'm glad you haven't decided to thrown in the towel for this one yet because if you've gotten this far, the chances of you really loving it in the end are very high. Enjoy your time in Lordran my friend!
What broke me through and helped me realize that this game (and later the whole Souls-Borne series) was one of my most favorite ever, was the story. Dig into the lore, it'll give meaning to the world around you and help motivate you to press on to learn more.
I'm on my first Dark Souls experience too. I was having a hard time with bosses until I grabbed the Zweihander, stay close to the bosses makes their attacks easier to dodge most of the time. It just turns out I'm a big swords kind of guy.
I actually felt almost the same as you when I first played dark souls. And you're right, the digger you deep, the more you wanna play. Not just because you get invested, but because it feels more natural and rewarding as you improve. I can totally understand bowing out after giving it an honest go, and deciding it's not for you. But I'm glad I didn't. These are the most fun and rewarding games I've ever played.
This whole impressions video feels like you didn't get the point that the game is supposed to feel oppressive. That's why you can't pause the game. It's to keep you on your feet at all times, and make you paranoid about the fact that you could get hosed at any time. The constantly respawning enemies. The constant trek back to the boss after you die. The insane stamina drain on dodging and blocking. All meant to make you feel like you're just a tiny insignificant speck. ... And then you beat it, and it's the greatest feeling ever.
while the idea behind the missing pause feature is pretty neat on paper.... it really sucks when the phones ringing or someones at the door.... as soon as the game interferes with the real world this neat oppressive feel that draws you into this decaying world becomes just a dick move by the developers.
I personally really like the vagueness of everything in the game. I find it satisfying to connect all of the dots. I also don't think the lack of pausing is that big of a deal. Finding a secure area to stand around is extremely simple; especially if you're offline. Also memorizing the entire map comes quickly.
Stick with it man. I played this on ps3 hours and felt it was too oppressive and sold it. I bought it a year later and loved it once it got it's hooks in me. In Dark Souls, YOU level up, not just ur character.
