Thread 718183884

Where the fuck are you even supposed to go in this game. It sort of points you into the direction of Anor Londo in the early game but after that it's "good luck out there!" This piece of shit game is forcing me to look up a guide when I don't want to. Like I'm told by another anon that you can drain the lava in a certain place but how the fuck was I supposed to know that?

>>718183884 (OP)
>how the fuck was I supposed to know that?
by exploring

Dark Souls 1 isn't even in the top 10 "how the fuck was I supposed to figure that out games"
2/10 bait

>go to lava area
>walk around to the only place you can actually go
>oh this gate looks familiar from the cutscene that plays one time after you kill o&s
>???
>PROFIT
but you should stop playing after anor londo the game sucks after that point

There is literally only one path in lava land, how do you not know where to go

>>718184151
>>718183970
I was told by another anon not to fight the boss there yet despite it not really aggroing when I get close.

>>718184423
Holy shit I'm going to leave such an angry response right now

It's an rpg. Generally your first play through is supposed to be just exploring and figuring things out as you go. Look through everything then eventually beat the game.
Your second play through can be looking up guides and following through quests and doing things differently.

>>718184639
That's the point though. The game is too esoteric on where to go. The joy of discovery is hampered by the game's overall hate for you "not knowing" where to go. Like there's just a fucking area where it's all fucking dark as shit and there's enemies in it, clearly I'm not supposed to be there yet and look for a switch or something to light the place up somewhat.

>>718184831
I see what you're saying and can understand your frustration.
When I played Elden Ring, I was angry when I got to the underground Area because it's so fucking big. Then I got angry at the Haligtree because again, it's so fucking huge.

The DLC, with as much praise as it gets, makes me angry as well, not due to the expansiveness, but how the game has you take specific paths first and then you have to worry about ashes and stupid fragments. I hate that shit.

I do get your frustration. When I first play these souls games I look everything up on my first play through and follow how I want my character to do.

>>718185150
I feel like you're mocking me when I'm actually arguing in good faith.

>>718185356
Brother, I'm just talking to you. I honestly don't care if you have a problem with the game or not.

>>718183884 (OP)
>guy at firelink says there are two bells, one up and one down
>go find the one in undeadburg no problem
>can't find the second
>eventually find that there's an area under firelink
>run my head into a wall over and over in new londo wondering why there's such a massive difficulty spike

>>718185624
This

>>718185150
OP is a cheap troll, don't feed him

>>718185818
I'm not trolling. I can see how my post can be seen as >>718183987 but it genuinely baffles me how Dark Souls is touted as /v/'s top recommended games when it's such a good case of what not to do in terms of exploration in video games. You want your players to feel lost but not too lost that they either lose interest due to frustration, look up a guide or wander aimlessly while the game punishes them for it.

>>718186523
If you aren't trolling then you're genuinely retarded
I beat Dark Souls 1 blind when I was 14 and I was never lost for long

>>718186609
>I beat Dark Souls with X factor
Okay but that doesn't actually negate my Y factor of why the game is esoterically confusing to navigate through.

>>718186715
Yes it does
I beat the game while my brain was barely developing with no outside influence
You had to look up a tutorial
You are admitting to being dumber than someone barely into their teens

>>718184831
>The game is too esoteric on where to go.
the game is quite small, and progression through the story is never hidden by something invisible. it's not that hard or time consuming to just go to places that had big locked doors every time you activate the PROGRESS STORY cutscene item.

>>718186887
I'm not looking up a guide, I'm saying that the game is basically asking you to.

>>718183987
Where does Shadow tower rank?

>>718187078
No it isn't, unless you're a retard

>>718183987
What is the top 10?

>>718187146
I'll even give you an example. Doing that Ash Lake place WITHOUT the Lordvessel bonfire teleporting ability. You have to WALK all the way back up through that fucking tree place.

anyone born after the year 2010 should not be allowed to play video games

>>718183884 (OP)
Just go everywhere you can until you find a locked door or a beef gate enemy. Remember all locked doors you find so you can come back when you find the right key. If you are getting your ass kicked by damage sponge enemies in a specific area, go somewhere else and come back when you are stronger. Also talk to all the NPCs constantly and skim through item descriptions, they give you hints.

>>718187305
Finding ash lake requires you to go to a bumfuck end of a shitty swamp zone, stumbling into an illusory wall and then stumbling into a second illusory wall, something the game has exactly 0 precedent for
I'm not gonna say that that's impossible for a new player to stumble across, but even if they do, that's not some kind of "I need a guide" moment.
It's a "I hit a dead end and now need to do an annoying backtrack" moment

>>718185624
>Doesn't read description of keys

>>718183884 (OP)
Just watch the Fightin Cowboy's guide while playing it.
Trust me this makes the whole SoulsKiroRingOrne experience 10x more enjoyable.

You're supposed to get your shit rocked by the skeletons in the catacombs while wondering why the fuck everything is respawning for over an hour, before noticing the little path way up to the aqueduct, and feeling like an idiot for missing it

>>718187405
Yeah that's pretty much summing up my entire experience so far which is why I think this anon >>718184510 thinks I'm trolling. It's an endless loop of "Am I even supposed to be here yet".

>>718187643
This was my first experience with dark souls 1 and it's the single catalyst for me loving the entire FROM catalogue

>>718187305
So? Just climb the tree. The path is pretty straightforward unless you try to parkour for the items.

>>718187591
That just confirms my point which would ironically defeat the point of the game's design via exploring a labyrinth.

>>718187654
Keep trying

>>718185624
Honestly this is the only moment in the game where you can get stuck, if you don't remember that one locked door in undead burg 10 hours ago

>>718187695
Note : By entire he means 2009 onwards Fromslop, conveniently ignoring AC portable, verdict day, Decarine. Hes is also a skibidi Biden Tidepod chugging zoomer whose allergic to tank controls

>>718187973
?
You get to blighttown via darkroot garden and dragonrape valley too

>>718188107
I didn't know the depths existed until my third playthrough

>>718187591
guys calling themselves cowboys has always been really fucking faggy

>>718188312
Is cowpoke better or worse?

Oolacile is Darkroot but in the past.

>>718186523
Where did you get stuck at, anon?

>>718188047
Meds, now.

>>718189414
Right now I'm stuck in Lost Izalith fighting the dragons after fighting the Centipede Demon. I think I'm supposed to backtrack because there'a a fuckton of them. Keep in mind I'm playing this in a 360 console so maybe the remastered and PC versions may have different shit.

>>718186887
It really doesn't matter. When I was playing for the first time as a teen, I didn’t meet Andre, so I had to backtrack all the way from the bottom of Blighttown just to upgrade my weapon. Sure, I could have explored more thoroughly, but that still doesn't make for good game design (which they arguably fixed in later games — after DS1, you always have an upgrade bench or blacksmith in your hub).

FromSoftware games are great, but all of them have some frustrating, oblique, or counterintuitive mechanics — the best example being the NPC quests.

>>718183884 (OP)
consult the strategy guide

>>718183884 (OP)
>It sort of points you into the direction of Anor Londo in the early game but after that it's "good luck out there!"
that's literally the best thing about it.

god, I love DS1 so much. feeling lost and figuring it out resonates with me, even if it doesn't resonate with automatons like you who need clear directions.

>>718188107
don't you need a key for that? or is it possible to go through darkroot basin to blighttown without a key, I didn't discover the path from the basin to the valley until much later on in the game, it's easier to find grey wolf sif who's a late game boss. and the drakes there will likely kill you at that point in the game.

>>718192076
Wait, Sif is a late game boss?

>>718192347
he is meant to be fought right before the four kings, the guy in new londo vaguely hints you toward fighting him. he has way higher stats than the moonlight butterfly.

>>718192076
I think you need the key to open the shortcut from New Londo to dragonrape valley.
The game naturally funnels you through lower undeadburg and the sewers.

>>718192347
You need him for the kings but you can do him earlier

>>718183884 (OP)
>looking up a guide first playthrough of ds1
Anon, you fucked yourself

>>718183884 (OP)
That's embarrassing bro
All the post-Anor Londo bosses are in extremely easy to find locations that you can get to just by being stubborn before getting to Anor Londo

>>718184831
>The game is too esoteric on where to go
so now you know it’s a test you failed

>>718192347
Not really, you can do him as soon as you open the door in the forest, and as long as you stay between his shoulder and hip he can't hit you with anything that isn't telegraphed to shit.
I think most people put it off because its just some guy's dog guarding his grave.

>>718183884 (OP)
What, did you not see that there was stuff after Queelag? Did you not find the golden fog gate to the Duke's Archives before going further into Anor Londo? Did you not remember the Catacombs? When I beat Anor Londo, my mind immediately went back to these 3 places. I knew at once where I had to go. There was nothing opaque or mysterious about it. Don't you know that you're supposed to check every corner and every path in these games?

>>718192076
>don't you need a key for that?
no

>>718192998
The game doesn't really communicate Quelaag's Sister's covenant opening up another way to Lost Izalith by feeding her whatever the fuck humanity. I had to be told by some anon that you needed 30+ humanity to feed her as the game doesn't tell you nor does it even allow you to give her mass humanity

Your problem is listening to Anons instead of exploring.

>>718193247
I've progressed much faster and with better results with the former than brute forcing my way through. I didn't even know you had to stay and "level up" (the game doesn't tell you what are the rank requirements, just "allegiance deepened") in some covenants for bonus content, I was just joining every single one I encountered .

>>718193548
>waah waah I'm a little faggot
Play the game

>>718183884 (OP)
>listen to dialogue
>listen to the story
>explore

Oh yeah I forgot you are a zoomer and you guys hate putting in the minimum of effort

>>718193806
What fucking dialogue. The NPC quests in this game don't make any sense.

>>718193548
>I didn't even know you had to stay and "level up"
Bull shit, its right there every time you sit down at a bonfire.
There are plenty of things to complain about in the game like how the stats aren't super transparent, and soft caps are something you figure out when the number stops going up , but unless this is your very first video game every, you don't have much excuse to not know to level up.

>>718194245
Level Up pertaining to COVENANTS not the player itself. THE COVENANTS don't tell you how much you have to contribute or to what end you are contributing to.

>>718183884 (OP)
Op right now

>>718194742
I'm playing this on console where the online servers have been shut down.

>>718194796
I played the original 360 version a year or two ago and was still seeing summon signs, orange soap stone messages, and I even got invaded in fucking undeadberg.

>>718195336
The online has been shut down since March 2024 iirc so you played before that. It's unfortunate because it's only now am I playing this game.

>>718183884 (OP)
What would you guess your ratio of time spent shitposting on /v/ is to playing the game and trying to beat it, OP?

>>718195968
I don't shitpost.

>>718196002
Brother.

>>718183884 (OP)
People like you are why a majority of games were hand holding garbage for babies before and after the release of this game. The issue you have with the game is actually the exact reason the game is good. It's just not for you, try assassin's creed, or a more linear action game like DMC or NG

>>718195594
Oh, that's a shame.

>>718197292
It means I don't really get to experience invasions and such so those covenants are out the window and meme soapstones but the game is actually still bretty good, I can see why the combat and the "Oh shit this leads to somewhere" is addicting. Playing it blind is both its greatest and weakest strength.

>>718197448
The online adds so much to the game that I would suggest you try it on a different platform if you have the means.

>>718188178
that's hilarious actually

I assume you were born after 2005. Fromsoft games are famously designed to give hardly any information at all regarding the story, mechanics, goal, or design of the game. They are best played with an open browser right next to you so you can google what things are and where to go next.

>>718197448
Not just that, it was nice walking into an area and seeing a bunch of blood stains or ghosts and knowing something was around the corner SURPRISE NIGGER IT WAS BEHIND YOU!.
Jolly co-operation, invasions, trying to leave a message that will send someone the wrong way or get them killed because lol Skeleton?
Perfectly playable without the online element, but it was a really nice flourish.