Thread 719651616

Have Soulslikes surpassed their influences?

lmao no

Not really, no.

>>719651616 (OP)
I'd rather play DaS2 than any of those souls clones.

no DeS and DS1 are still the best because they have actual level design

>>719651616 (OP)
cool game, but im not reading all that lol

>>719651616 (OP)
i know this is too much to ask but they really should try new things instead of badly copying dark souls 3 every single time

>>719653493
>instead of badly copying dark souls 3 every single time
It was barely enjoyable at the moment, don't understand why people copy DaS 1 :1
The ambience and some mechanics make those games, but these copies are just all the sucky stuff and none of the charm

>>719652979
No you wouldn't.

Are you fucking retarded? Whats the actual game. Also Garbage Level design = shit not worth my time

>>719651616 (OP)
There hasnt been a single "soulslike" game that felt as good to play as the fromsoft games

>>719653785
yes I would

>>719651616 (OP)
IMO yes. I was a big DS fan and have hundreds of hours in DS 1 and 2, and loved Sekiro. At this point the genre has played itself out. The combat is clunky and shitty.

>>719651616 (OP)
Only once.

>>719651616 (OP)
This is impossible, because these Soulslike don't understand Souls combat and fail at it

>>719653961
Shrine of Amana.

>>719651616 (OP)
no, name of the game tho?

I looked up the game from the OP so you don't have to. It's called Nazralath: The Fallen World, and it's not out yet. I didn't look too hard, but all the footage at a glance just seemed to be cinematic trailers with no game play.

>>719653493
That’s simply because the mainstream appeal is entirely based around the DaS-Bloodborne-Elden Ring formula. A Demon’s Souls copy with slow, non-roll focus combat with linear level design would get ignored by the masses and by extension critics.

>>719654545
>cinematic trailers
Surpassment confirmative.
Nazirath is cinematic which is clearly what the souls formula needed.

>>719654430
I am convinced the Dark Souls 2 crowd + haters have only played one edition of DS2 and not the other. They are completely different experiences.

Vanilla Dark Souls 2 is uninspired outside of a few areas, but it is a genuinely consistent and fun experience if not easy to steamroll outside the DLC. Shrine of Amana is not that bad in Vanilla, it's not great, but there is HOURS of bad level design in the early souls games as opposed to fucking 2-3 hours MAX of mandatory bad content in DS2 Vanilla. Scholar Shrine is fucking garbage. Scholar legit takes a decent, lazy, fun game and makes it insufferable as shit. Anyone who thinks fighting 30 gank squads in a level is fun has a mental illness.

>>719653679
I wish they copied DaS1, devs would find it j"anky unbalanced clunky" shit for boomers

>>719653481
>>719651616 (OP)
so whats it called

>>719655014
Possibly. Personally I played Scholar and nearly got an aneurysm every time a boss revealed itself as a 2v1 or started spawning shit at me. There's only like 4 of them but they somehow manage to make the entire game feel like it's full of them.

>>719651616 (OP)
Nioh2 surpass all fromsouls game but it also took inspiration from many genre

>>719655384
Nazralath: The Fallen World

>>719655394
In Vanilla, there are still 2/3/4v1 bosses but the entire difficulty curve of the game is nerfed to be easier and less of a slog to get to those fights and to fight them in general. So you're at least having fun anime-hero power fantasy fight instead of an unfair slug. I never found it boring if that helps. You can pirate Dark Souls 2 Vanilla and get all the same content of Scholar for single player gameplay. The only difference is visuals and engine improvements. The DLC is the only part that is the same because the 2nd director of DS2 finished the game then worked on the DLC.

I've booted up Scholar 3 times, put something like 40 hours into it, multiple different playthroughs, never enjoyed it for more than 30 minutes before I got too pissed off to play. It's night and day. It's the entire package rather than a particular boss fight or level being improved.

slop

>>719651616 (OP)
No. Fromsoft is still the king of the genre. DS1 is still the GOAT.
Clones only copy dog shit combat and ganeplay mechanics while having terrible linear level/world design like Dark Shit 3.

>>719655014
Based vanilla enjoyer. No idea where the scholar dickriding ever came from, it's a shit romhack tier reimagining of base game encounters, where I thought to myself at least 20 times that this is the laziest way to "spice up" the game flow. Sure, there were interesting additions from time to time, but most encounters in the original had a more organic design that made way more sense.

>Soulslike
imagine dedicating an entire genre to ripping off a single game.

>>719655780
Ah the beksinski one
Wish they chose not to copy dark souls, bleak faith had such a great setting too, ruined by this

>>719657987
isn't that the Diablo(2)likes?

>>719657987
>>719658215
I'm pretty sure this is how most genres and subgenres are born

>>719655514
I only played Nioh 1 and while I thought it was decent, I wasn't blown away. Is Nioh 2 way better?

>>719655014
The fundamental issue with DS2 is that it tries too many things and they don't quite work with eachother. Slower more methodical combat does not work against gank squads. Trial and error exploration of levels does not work with debuffs on death and soul memory. I am playing through it for the first time right now, at fume knight then just final boss to go, and there are many many things I really like about the game but just as many things I despise. It's just uneven and unfinished.
DS1 was a solid game, DS2 is a mixed bag of highs and lows, and DS3 is a very polished but uninspired cruise control game interspersed by bouts of epilepsy. None of them are horrible, but only 1 is genuinely great.

>>719655014
This revisionism is cringe. The most infamous gank areas like Amana and Iron Keep are even worse in vanilla. Keep getting your opinions from video essays though

>>719658534
nioh 2 has a lot of great bosses

>>719651616 (OP)
No.
They're all cheap and janky knockoffs, I prefer simply replaying Elden Ring and Sekiro, the real thing is more than enough for me.

>>719655014
Go play 1 or 3 for a change, both are no better in this regard than 2 is. There's very few outright stupid ganks in 2. There's the clown car in Lost Bastille, arguably some of Iron Keep and the run to Sir Alonne. Iron Passage is bad but it's a coop area, Undead Crypt is perfectly fine and if you get swarmed it's your fault.

>>719654356
Ah yes, the soulslike that infamously decided to take knight gameplay and funtional shield and say "shove it" just like Bloodborne and Sekiro.

>>719651616 (OP)
No

The core principles of Souls-style combat revolve around timing and spacing, the commitment required by attack animations, startup and recovery frames, hitbox and hurtbox design, hyperarmor and poise, hitstun and frame advantage, and—though less critically—offense and defense limited by stamina. The gameplay is built around these restrictions. Yet, many inexperienced developers instinctively start stripping away these limitations simply because they dislike being constrained, even though those very constraints are what make the combat system engaging in the first place.

Strong parry systems undermine this foundation because they often replace all of the core mechanics—especially when parrying itself becomes an offensive tool. If a parry doubles as a free attack, then positioning becomes irrelevant since you can simply stand in place and wait for the opponent to strike. Startup and recovery frames no longer matter because you no longer need to work attacks into open windows; weapon properties like range or swing shape lose their importance because you don’t need to maneuver or consider spacing. Even hitstun, poise, and stamina mechanics get pushed aside since the parry circumvents them all.

>>719660263
I've only played Scholar. What makes Iron Keep worse in vanilla?

>>719651616 (OP)
Yes. I don't know if you could point to a single game that has surpassed From in every area, but every area has been done better individually in at least one game. The only possible exception I can think of is maybe level design. There are Soulslikes that have surpassed modern FromSoft, but I think DaS1 maybe is still the best in the genre due to the interconnected zones.

>>719658185
Tbf bleak faith copied a lot of stuff while claiming it wasn't soulslike. I did think having stats tied to equipment was pretty cool though

>>719654690
Demon's Souls isn't slow, and I fucking wish it wasn't extremely dodge centric

>>719651616 (OP)
not until they stop framing the game around rollslop iframe shit that is the same trash gameplay no matter what game you're playing

>>719652979
Good choice, it's the best Souls game and carried the rest.

>>719651616 (OP)
Hell no lol. They just keep absorbing the worst parts of the souls formula and putting their own feces into the mix.

>>719651616 (OP)
Probably, the only good souls games are demons and bloodborne.

>>719666792
bullshit lmao, what the hell is he talking about?
they didn't bring back any of the good ideas from DS2 to DS3. DS2 had a shitload of great ideas, they were just all a bit off in some way or another and the game as a whole was janky, inconsistent and unfinished. DS3 went in the exact opposite direction and made the safest, least ambitious most phoned in game they've made yet. DS3 gave up on almost every single mechanic DS2 tried to implement, including half the ones it just got from DS1 like covenants. DS2's legacy is as the ambitious failure that made them afraid to try anything and resulted in DS3 being the most basic roll+r1 fest game they've released. But I guess it was a huge success so maybe that's what he means.

>>719663919
To keep it simple, things were programmed to aggro onto you from across the area in really inorganic and obvious ways. And I'm pretty sure there was a lot more enemies too? I don't remember it's been forever. It was easily the most cancerous area in the entire game and probably had most player deaths. The Knights having a near instant overhead attack didn't help.
>t. probably like 500 hours in DS2 vanilla on console

>>719667659
Dark Souls 2 is shit
>DS2 had a shitload of great ideas
>Uhhh bro what if damage type is tied directly to stats
SHIT
>Uhhh bro what if you could buff anything and not buffing and infusing would be just retarded, making the whole system a DPS eace
SHIT
>Uhhh bro what if you could grind hard and replay bosses without engaging with a new character or coop, killing multiplayer
SHIT
>Uhhh bro what if we implemented a system that punishes using and spending souls, so twinks can game it hard
SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT

>>719667659
DS2 did have proto-weapon arts and made dual wielding a real thing instead of a big "I'm retarded" sign like DS1. I'm not really sure what else tho.

>>719668039
>DS2 did have proto-weapon arts
No it didn't
>and made dual wielding a real thing instead of a big "I'm retarded" sign like DS1
It made it cancer and not worth it. You are actually retarded if you powerstance because it was a shit stamina strain with mediocre movesets

>>719668182
power stance was kinda lame but it was the one part of the system they kept in DS3 anyway, they just slapped it into specific weapons to replace 2handing.
the real good change DS2 made was giving you full left hand weapon movesets including running attacks and shit, but then DS3 just went back to "hold L1 to block uselessly, press L2 to do a single basic attack" thing DS1 had

>>719651616 (OP)
dogshit over-the-shoulder cam needs to die.

>>719667659
I think plot wise. You can actually follow 2 unlike 1&3. Vidyavaati explanation video references 2 a ton as the Kings brother is the only none bullshit source in the whole series who straight talks and explians.

>>719668182
>No it didn't
It did, a few weapons had a special attack if you twohanded them and pressed L2. And a lot more weapons did a parry instead of L1 and L2 both blocking.
>It made it cancer and not worth it.
Powerstance specifically I would say was and is less significant than having an actual offhand moveset at all. Even if 3 and ER didn't keep the full movesets, using an offhand weapon in those games is way better than it ever was in 1.

>>719655014
>I am convinced the Dark Souls 2 crowd + haters have only played one edition of DS2 and not the other.
The irony of your statement is that Scholar is the worst version by a fucking landslide. It had fan mod tier retarded, illogical, improperly balanced enemy placement and manages to make the world even more restrictive and linear by overusing new petrified lion blockers. It's a god awful "fix" that should never have been released.

>>719657949
>*Sticks a late game enemy into an intro zone*
>*Removes half your progression options by shitting out Petrified Statues everywhere and putting all the branches past them
What's the matter kid, you like proper game flow? Fuck off

>>719668885
I don't get why people find DS1 confusing, it's really simple
there's a lot of kinda vague lore stuff, but it's honestly more coherent than most of their later games, and the actual plot is really straightforward.

>>719669514
The burn / not burn yea, but the lore is far from simple. Especially the DLC.

We need more Niohlikes. Playing through Khazan has been a blast

>>719669118
The enemy locations are fine outside of iron keep and the petrified blocks just require more knowledge to route around. It's good actually

>>719651616 (OP)
Dark Souls is overrated

>>719651616 (OP)
Anyone who replies yes to this question is a stupid fucking moron that deserves to be put down immediately

>>719668412
>but it was the one part of the system they kept in DS3 anyway, they just slapped it into specific weapons to replace 2handing.
So they didn't keep it actually
>the real good change DS2 made was giving you full left hand weapon movesets including running attacks and shit
To nerf offhand weapons? Why would you want the running or even rolling attack? You can do the main hand run attack and make sure the offhand always works as rollcatch and fast attack
>>719668904
>It did
>a few weapons had a special attack if you twohanded them and pressed L2.
They were the same Dark Souls had instead for R2, still bad to use, still bound to durability

>>719668885
2 was rendered completely noncanon and ignored by Dark Souls 3
Dark Souls 3 doesn't even acknowledge 2 aside from some references

>>719670587
Uhhh, no.

>>719654690
I would pay for more Slow Souls, or I as I call it Souls.
You betray the roots of slow and methoicdal knight gameplay, you are not a Souls game. You are a ninja-cosplaying-as-a-knight game.

>>719670526
>They were the same Dark Souls had instead for R2
But since they don't replace R2 it's an addition to the weapon's moveset rather than a replacement for anything.
>still bad to use
Most weapon arts in DS3 suck too, they wouldn't be better than situational until ER.
>still bound to durability
For lack of FP, what other resource could they utilize?

>>719670660
Yes
Nothing happens in Dark Souls 2, except retcons to Dark Souls 1 that are then ignored by Dark Souls 3
Dark Souls 3 drops any kind of metaphysics and lore introduced by 2 and does its own thing which is continuing the Londor-Londo conflict, the Dark Lord plotline and the hierarchy of Londor and the fragmentation of the Way of White
Dark Souls 2 is a fundamentally pointless game that adds nothing to the world and where nothing happens, so it left nothing to work with that isn't just retcons for Chaos, the Great Ones and the Abyss

>>719671179
>But since they don't replace R2 it's an addition
It doesn't matter
It's the same exact move and a bad parry
>Most weapon arts in DS3 suck too
No they don't
>For lack of FP, what other resource could they utilize?
Numbered slots like the Beta of Dark Souls 3

>>719653961
Based but still kinda normalfag tier, probably only did 'tiff for a few hours

>>719671280
Dark Souls "lore" is a bunch of disjointed afterthoughts and DS2 did the right thing by making it a backdrop to an actual coherent story. Making up a shitton of headcanon to bridge the gaps doesn't change it one bit.

>>719669792
Not even just burn or not burn, the direct backstory and events leading up to the game are pretty straightforward in comparison to the other games. There is a bunch of vague stuff that may or may not be significant like Velka's role, Gwyns other kids, and the nature of fire/dark/humanity etc, but as far as stuff directly related to your experience playing the game and what you're doing it's all actually pretty simple and mostly explained directly to you by NPCs and a couple of the more important key item descriptions.
And I think importantly, everything you actually do towards the end of the game is stuff that is set up early in the game, unlike the other games in the series. You expect the game to go basically
>hear prophecy
>ring bells
>get lordvessel
>collect lord souls
>kill Gwyn
and that's what you do and it all follows pretty logically from the stuff you learn about the kingdom and what happened with Gwyn. There's a couple twists if you meet Kaathe or do the DLC but overall it's really straightforward. Every other game in the series has some shit that comes out of nowhere in the last act because they remade the game from scratch 2/3 of the way through development and had to find places to stick shit. DS1 is unfinished but they didn't remake it completely. DS2 and 3 are legitimately nothing like the games they started out as and you can tell.

>>719671280
>does its own thing
3 is literally just a rehash that makes 1 obsolete. Even has its own Gwyn.
Also 3 basically just killed off anything about Chaos and to some extend even the Abyss.

>>719669862
Khazan's combat mechanics are pretty good, even if they're not my favourite, and IMO the enemy and boss design is really good, some of the best in the genre but everything else about that game is pretty meh. Like 9/10 combat and everything else is 6/10. I did a normal expert playthrough to NG+2, and up to NG+1 on hardcore but despite only 5 playthroughs I doubt I'll come back to play the full game anytime soon.

>>719654356
The gameplay is ass, the world and story are infinitely better than fromslop though.

>>719671405
>It doesn't matter
It does matter because in DeS and DS1 twohanded weapons had a useless second block button and DS2 changed that. DS3 made a proper system out of it and ER tuned and expanded on it to feel better but DS2 is the reason we don't have two block buttons anymore.

>>719651616 (OP)
i really don't get peoples obsession with "level design" using Dark Souls 1 as the gold standard. its been surpassed by soulslike games multiple times over, but I can only assume its people blinded by nostalgia. maybe they havent even played the game since they were 7 years old.

the majority of dark souls 1 is not interconnected, and when it is, its only using a transitional level that has absolutely nothing of value in it as every other level is connected to it by an elevator.

>>719671473
>Dark Souls "lore" is a bunch of disjointed afterthoughts
It isn't, it's extremely fascinating and well made but it does scare retarded midwits
>and DS2 did the right thing
By making bland trash that amount to generic fantasy where the character has no intrinsic motivation or actual quest? Where the world revolves entirely around Vendrick and his abusive marriage?

>>719671954
What game do you think has the best level design in the genre?

>>719671694
>3 is literally just a rehash that makes 1 obsolete
Wrong
>>719671573
You don't understand Dark Souls either lol

>>719671963
>where the character has no intrinsic motivation
Kek, way to out yourself
Also you really pulled a "To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Dark Souls lore"?

>>719672136
>Wrong
Pray tell, why?

>>719671963
>where the character has no intrinsic motivation or actual quest?
Out of the three games DS2 is the only one where the MC has any semblance of motivation. You have the curse, hag tells you "go there to maybe cure the curse", waifu tells you "seek strength or something". Better than "muh prophecy lmao" or "muh ash seeketh embers lmao".
>Where the world revolves entirely around Vendrick and his abusive marriage?
As opposed to the world revolving around cleaning house after Gwyn and the crew's adventures, or telling four random assholes to get out of bed? DS2 at least references other kings and kingdoms than just Vendrick's.

>>719672015
to list a few in and out of the genre we got Salt and Sanctuary, Hollow Knight, Surge 2, Lords of the Fallen 2, DS2's DLCs, Symphony of the Night, some Metroids, Soul Reaver.

>>719651616 (OP)
In some ways they do. Lies of P for example has a more novel setting than the repeated attempts at generic dark medieval fantasy From keep doing. And Lords of the Fallen remembers lessons about level design from Dark Souls 1 that From themselves apparently forgot. But overall the From games have more polish.

>>719671954
If we’re honest, DS1’s level design is more “memorable” than “technically brilliant.” It’s a theme park where the first few rides are magical, and you forget the back half where the paint starts peeling. Even Dark Souls 3 has better constructed levels.

>>719672417
The fuck are you even talking about? This isn't the same genre nor even the same dimension.

>>719672790
i was talking about soulslike, and i said in the beginning to list a few in and out of the genre. what genre are you talking about then?

>>719672417
I feel like a lot of people (myself included) view 2D games as a different thing. Especially from a level design perspective, something like Hollow Knight has a vastly different approach to verticality than 3D Soulslikes due to the totally different movement mechanics.
That seems to mostly leave Surge 2, LotF 2 and DS2. I've actually not played any of these games so I can't comment on them really.
Out of curiosity, have you played Wuchang?

>>719672241
>"To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Dark Souls lore"?
Yes, which you clearly lack
>Kek, way to out yourself
What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Dark Souls 2 world and story are garbage because they
1. Have a weak nebulous premise with a character that goes murderhobo for no tangible reason, so weaknthey felt the need to add a fucking family in a cutscene
2. The world has basically no history preceding Vendrick arriving out of nowhere and getting plot armor and the ability to raise a huge kingdom
3. Vendrick is a legitimate idiot that falls for the most blatant scam like a total retard and his story wouldn't make the cut for a poorly written HBO+ mini-drama
4. The story makes you travel through time and does nothing interesting with it. What's doubly hilarious is that it shows the writers don't understand that you can seamlessly travel through time in Dark Souls, merely through bonfires, yet felt the need to shit out trash like Ashen Mist because it shows the game was made by people that don't understand the original

>>719672945
>have you played Wuchang
no, and i didnt really plan on it. i got such a huge backlog as it is.
why? is it fun?

>>719672379
DS1 reference many other kings and kingdoms, like Randall, Balder and Lloyd, but their references inform of how their kingdoms work instead of being random mentions like DS2.

>>719672898
Dude, I'm not that anon, I just saw your stupid list
>in and out of the genre
I looked at the previous posts, you never said that.

>>719673158
You're just shouting a bunch of "garbage and poorly written" without providing any reasoning beyond "I don't like it, waahhh", so why even make that post, bro? you're ignoring ds2's actual thematic focus on cycles, identity, and inevitability to claim it has no history or time travel makes no sense, when in fact, ds2's memory system was a deliberate narrative device.
and you complaining about ds2's "murderhobo" setup is bad while ignoring that ds1 literally drops you in the asylum with a prophecy and sends you out murdering gods without much more context.

>>719673169
I liked it a lot, but I know some people don't really consider it all that good. I'd say the general consensus seems to be it's between something like LotF and Lies of P as one of the better games in the genre but not close to the best ones.
I just brought it up because I've seen a few people consider it to have some of the better designed levels compared to modern From games or other Soulslikes.

>>719673373
you might have me confused for someone else?
>>719672417(me)
>to list a few in and out of the genre

>>719673602
>better designed levels
ah, didn't know about that, i thought it was more of a boss rush. i'll bump it up in my backlog. thanks fren

>>719673158
>The world has basically no history preceding Vendrick arriving out of nowhere and getting plot armor and the ability to raise a huge kingdom
The world has basically no history preceding Gwyn arriving out of nowhere and getting plot armor and the ability to raise a huge kingdom.
Oh wait, there be dragons.

>>719672379
>Out of the three games DS2 is the only one where the MC has any semblance of motivation
>You have the curse, hag tells you "go there to maybe cure the curse", waifu tells you "seek strength or something".
It's so completely nonsensical that even you can't take it seriously.
>Better than "muh prophecy lmao" or "muh ash seeketh embers lmao".
No, because either of those is properly interwoven with the context and worldbuilding set up by the game.
In the first game the player is freed and given a task by a dying man, speaking directly of an Undead that can save the world, not some whore telling you you should go kill shit for some reason. You are constantly introduced by several characters through steps for your quest, and rather than rotting in a cell you embark on it. In the third game you are bound to a purpose with a recurrent purgatory theme. The Unkindled seek redemption for failing in life what they can achieve in death. Every single one of them is a sinner
In Dark Souls 2 they failed to create a strong narrative
>As opposed to the world revolving around cleaning house after Gwyn and the crew's adventures, or telling four random assholes to get out of bed?
Nope, the world of Dark Souls 1 and 3 is way bigger and much more layered than the history of Gwyn, Sulyvahn, the Great Ones and whatever. That's were Dragleic fails and is bland as shit.
Artorias of the Abyss? Learn about this pre-historical shamanic culture that gathered for the first time around the Flame and learned gentle light based sorcery, the beginning of the study of soul and its corruption with it
Crown of the Ivory King? Somewhere there's a city with the The Old Chaos under it for some fucking reason, Idc I don't give a fuck lol

>>719673730
>The world has basically no history preceding Gwyn
Wrong
>>719673552
>without providing any reasoning
There's a whole list there, pal
Try reading

>>719651616 (OP)
I'd estimate at least 50% of soulslike fans don't even like souls games but just latch on to them because they're the only 3rd person action RPGs coming out on a reasonable schedule. If this cinematic slopfest gets you excited you never really understood or cared about what made the early games good.

>>719674128
What is the history? Archdrakes and grayness?

>>719674128
>deflection
Listing insults isn't the same as reasoning. It's clear you don't want to discuss it legitimately, so I accept your concession.

>>719672417
Stupid ass nigga you know hollow night don’t count. Gay ass fucking indie garbage

>>719671783
Reminds me of Nioh2 which I'd also have the same assessment of and have dumped a ton of time into it. I can deal with most things being "alright" since the gameplay is great

>>719651616 (OP)
No. Leave these kind of games to Fromsoft.

>>719654690
>non-roll focus combat
Me when I do some revisionism

>>719651616 (OP)
No. They haven't even come close.
>>719653961
Based. Even the worst Fromsoft souls game is better than any of the imitations.

>>719672417
>Lords of the Fallen 2
reported for abysmal opinion

>>719675103
Have you played all of them?

>>719653481
So many buzzwords on this one

>>719651616 (OP)
>combat mechanics
At least half of them have more interesting combat than Fromsoft.
>Level layouts
There's definitely a few that are comparable.
>Environment visual design
Fromsoft are still far ahead of everyone in that area.

>>719675438
Enough to know that people are full of shit when they claim they're anywhere close to the real thing

>>719676434
Which ones have you played?

>>719675112
What was the problem with the level design? it was connected just as much as the souls series, if not more, and without the vestiges, really made you learn the layout.

>>719676547
Which ones do you think are good? Don't say Lies of Piss.

>>719653961
Even DS2 fags can't play that game for 1000 hours.

>>719676759
What do you think is wrong with Lies of P?
Wukong has better bosses
Khazan better bosses and combat
Nioh better combat
Wuchang better level design (than latter From games)

I want a soulslike where it takes place entirely in a graveyard with skeleton enemies, but they progressively get more ridiculous and the final boss will be your own skeleton.

>>719653481
You niggas praise New Vegas for this.

>>719676907
No functional shield and Fast Souls-esque combat. That's my issue.

>>719651616 (OP)
Not a single Souls like has managed to recreate Souls combat properly.
It's insane to even think about it.

ai limit did bloodborne better than lies of piss without that gay forced parry shit

>>719677135
Isn't that more personal preference than anything making it objectively not "anywhere close to the real thing"? How do you feel about Sekiro doing the same thing?

>>719677240
That would be because they want to pander to the action game crowd. The special few who are never satisfied and want more rolling, more fancy combos, more difficulty.
I just want my knight game back, and I've been without a new one for a decade.

>>719677459
I don't like Sekiro either. Do not call it Soulslike if it is nothing like Souls.

>>719677135
>No functional shield
Literally every game on that list has blocking besides Wukong, it makes no functional difference that you're blocking with a weapon instead of a shield.

>Ornstein, DS3
>:(
>Ornstein, DS2
:D

DS2 has more ''remember this?'' dumb shit than DS3. Even randomly having DS1 boss souls for no fucking reason, both mechanically and lore-wise. At least DS3 actually tried to tie it into the store and game.

DS2 cocksuckers are the worst, because not only do they have shit taste they're also disingenuous liars.

>>719676907
>Wukong
chinese slop that is barely souls
>Khazan
I admit I haven't touched that one. It didn't look appealing to me
>Nioh
actually pretty decent. Still not as good as DS2
>Wuchang
chinese slop that I will not play

>>719677776
DS3 is way more egregious with its nostalgia pandering

>>719677939
Why does them being made by chinese devs prevent you from playing them?

>>719655014
Shrine isn't really a problem. It did rape your anus in the original PS3 version before they patched it to a more reasonable level. On the note of Scholar, I've only played it 1-2 years ago for the first time and while I've seen the whole criticism of enemy spam everywhere, it never really felt anything like it. The only thing that was really dumb was the horse carriage in the castle but that's really the most egregious thing I can think of.

>>719677996
Lol. DS2 has
>Hey guys, remember Solaire? Remember praise the sun?
>Copy and pasted Ornstein for no reason.
>Copy and pasted Gargoyles.
>Every major boss is connected to the major bosses in DS1 despite it making no sense.

Is plague tale any decent?

>>719655014
>Scholar legit takes a decent, lazy, fun game and makes it insufferable as shit.
I only played a couple hours and not one single change was good, not one. It fucking ruined the game. Thank god they never delisted the original.

>>719677996
even if that was true (it's not), DS3 is an actual continuation of DS1 story-wise. DS2 is not.

As I said, disingenuous liars.

>>719667875
>its worse, you got your info from a video essay
>actually I don't remember
lol

>>719676972
It works in NV because it's a narrative-driven game. It doesn't work with souls games because they're gameplay-driven and more yapping means less combat.

>>719678180
>Copy and pasted Gargoyles.
Thats every fromsoft game from the Man Eaters in DeS to the Gargoyles in ER.

>>719677776
>DS2 has more ''remember this?''
Are you fucking retarded?

>>719653481
Jesus. He writes like a third grader with that babbleslop.

>>719678180
Lol. DS3 has
>remember Andre the blacksmith?
>remember giant blacksmith?
>remember Artorias?
>remember firelink shrine?
>remember Siegmeyer?
>remember Kirk?
>remember Anor Londo?
>remember Gwynevere?
>remember Gwyndolin?
>remember plin plin plon?
>remember black knights?
>remember silver knights?
>remember lost izalith?
>remember Duke's Archives?

>>719677776
>DS2 has more ''remember this?'' dumb shit than DS3.
Even if this were true, which I doubt, I noticed way more member berries in 3 from 1 & demons. They lifted entire characters, boss gimmicks, locations and ambushes verbatim from those games in 3 whereas 2 was nonstop vague callbacks with very little being direct copies like in the case of ornstein. Half of 3s maps is just the same areas from 1 but now older and more decayed.

>>719678281
>As I said, disingenuous liars.
holy autism lmao

>>719678635
>IS THAT LE HECKIN' PLIN PLIN PLON?!?!?! A REFERENCE TO A GAME I ACTIVELY DISLIKE AND HAVE NEVER PLAYED?!?!? OMG OMG OMG

>>719678696
>They lifted entire characters, boss gimmicks, locations and ambushes verbatim from those games in 3
False, but webm related is a very embarassing Queelag copy
>whereas 2 was nonstop vague callbacks with very little being direct copies like in the case of ornstein.
Why is the statue of the Nameless King in a random ditch in Earthen Peak?
>Half of 3s maps is just the same areas from 1 but now older and more decayed.
False

>>719678696
All Miyazaki games have similar trops and constant themes.
Dark Souls 3 adds to Dark Souls a lot more of new lore elements
Dark Souls 2 doesn't add anything though, it's entirely parasitic as a game.
Dark Souls 3 presents the sociological and politcal consequences of the world of the first game
Dark Souls 2 makes up a very flinsy excuse to go and kill some evil baddy bitch and the plot never evolves or adds anything

>>719679335
>Dark Souls 2 doesn't add anything though, it's entirely parasitic as a game.
You could not be more wrong. >>719666792

>>719662079
and both of those are superior games to dark souls, so it makes sense

>>719679335
>Dark Souls 3 adds to Dark Souls a lot more of new lore elements
Le blood... of le dark soul...
Make Londor great again...
Not to mention the cardinal sin of pulling a "kingdom of hollows" out the ass when both 1 and 2 are crystal clear that becoming hollow = losing sentience.
>sociological and politcal consequences of the world of the first game
It's literally just "fire's fading but worse".
>the plot never evolves or adds anything
Almost as if trying and failing to escape humanity's fate is the main theme of DS2.

>>719662079
Bloodborn has sheilds

>>719657987
thats how literally ever genre began though

>>719653481
letters are not small enough. Make them smaller. Make it unreadable. Choose some meme font. This wont do it

>>719651616 (OP)
Elden Ring definitely surpassed it's influence, Dark Souls and King's Field.

>>719680330
Yea

>>719678940
you don't remember the literal quelana husk in DS3? Have you even played the game you are defending?

>>719660314
Elden Ring is the most cynical cash grab of the franchise. Its just Dark Souls 4. With an open world that tires you out before you complete the first area.

Outside of the "feeling of openness, who wants this? Wouldn't it be far cooler to just happen upon a crucible knight or miniboss while youre exploring a level rather than it be the boss of the 100th dungeon thats exactly like every other dungeon? Time waster of a game.

It also ends up feeling like the smallest and least grand world in a souls game. The increase in scale makes the entire world feel small while in other games you fell like you were simply exploring a vertical slice of the world. The entire "world" of Elden Ring has a single ruined City thats just another level.

>>719681692
>that tires you out
I was enthralled for over 100 hours

>>719677939
>Still not as good as DS2
This is the souls flat earthers. Just completely stupid contrarianism. DS2 is an ugly, boring game that doesnt do anything better than its predecessors.

And when i say ugly, I do mean it. The game is fucking ugly, hard to look at. Everything looks like vomit and depressing. Im not exaggerating that DS2 is one of the most offensively ugly games ive played.

The game is boring shit. Combat is boring and unresponsive. Levels are ugly and boring and rethreads of other, better levels. Bosses are uninspired and easy.

Youre talking shit about Wukong while praising fucking DS2? Wukong has more artistry on one chapter ending cutscene than DS2 has in all of its pathetic iterations. Its also far more fun to play and far more pleasing to look at.

>>719682412
Are you Chinese?

everyone trying to make souls clones and i don't give a fuck about any of them and stick to the ogs.

>>719667659
After playing DS2 it was really noticible how things were downgraded for DS3
>gimped shields
>gimped poison
>gimped magic
>removed dark magic completely
>less weapon variety
>can't upgrade armour

>>719653961
basado

>>719681798
I was talking about people that have souls and aren't just slop eaters. Im sure theres tons of retards who play gachas for 1000s of hours. It doesnt make them any less cynical cash grabs.

I guess life for some people is so nightmarish that going through 100s of dungeons which look exactly alike, are populated by the same enemies, and in the end dont give you anything good

>>719681692
Wasn't it fromsofts first GOTY. With the DLC even getting a nomination. Plus the billions in revenue.
I know only your opinion matters but empirically you are incorrect.
>>719681798
Same

>>719673602
is lords of the fallen worth playing? I see people calling it dogshit but people also say that about DS2 and they are completely wrong

>>719682991
Nice headcanon. Do you perchance have brown skin? That's my headcanon for you.
>>719683174
Sekiro actually won GotY in 2019

>>719682558
Nah, im just not a slop eater.

I understand that you juat dont have the IQ points to discuss anything, but do you apply that same logic to all games? Am I a Canada shill if I like Deus Ex?

Nah man, youre just a dumb faggot who gets his opinions from /v/. Just like any retarded boomer who thinks that if the TV said it, then its gotta be real.

>>719683339
I was just curious. No need to have a melty. I didn't like Wukong. I found it boring.

>>719683298
Touche. I just hated that game but you are right.

>>719683413
You would insult China to my face? You degenerate Western fag!

>>719683174
>Wasn't it fromsofts first GOTY
Who the fuck cares you retarded Golem? The game awards are a cringe meme of an event. Theres no prestige to it.

I understand that trend followers can only appeal to popularity, but it is the brown mutt that plays every yearly CoD and whatever. They have no taste, they just consume.

None of you faggots even came close to giving an actual argument. You'd play any piece of shit From makes because its the brand you like. It doesnt matter that the whole reason that From has any merit is because its design philosophy was counter to the mainstream and thats what made these games feel so authentic and fresh. No, you retards dont actually think about games like that, you think about in terms of popularity and awards given by people who in a just world shouldt even be employed.

There was a time in here where if you brought up that X game was good because it got an award from the Game Awards you'd get laughed out of the room.

>>719683413
Yeah but you like DS2, the ugly boring black sheep middle child of the franchise.

Keep on with your china boogeyman, though. NPC mentality for NPCs.

>>719683826
>Im right becuase only my opinion is right
Hmm, weird you never got into college... Write moar faggot!

>>719683174
>billions in revenue.
Wukong sold more at a higher price in a smaller time window.

>>719683996
I didn't say it was my favorite, but yes I like Dark Souls 2. How is it NPC to like a game that is widely disliked? Why are you having a meltdown?

>>719683996
>+100 Social credit score
>50 cents has been deposited into your account

>>719651616 (OP)
The only company that could potentially make a good souls game is Capcom.

>>719684170
True, but I use this argument to calculate utility. Do soulless bugmen even experience utility? Its a nation of Eunichs. Was in the past and Xi is showing that it is today.

>>719684127
I'll keep writing faggot. You have nothing at all going on. What college you went to? Post it here so I can laugh at you.

Youre a retard. Youre the ideal customer. Doesn't ask for much, just for the latest trend.

My opinion is based on taste of game design. Yours is based on popularity. It might come as a suprise but the worst slop ever is FAR more popular than Elden Ring.

I guess using your head and coming up with actual arguments is too hard of a task so youll just default to pretend like youre trolling me into writing a verbose reply as if just showing you how much more articulate and intelligent I am is not satisfaction enough. Writing is its own reward.

Go back to your slop now fag. Its a mild blessing that you have a taste for time waster games like Elden Ring. Whatever keeps you in your basement and out of polite society is doing the world a favor.

>>719684654
You think Wukong is a good game lmao

>>719684175
>How is it NPC to like a game that is widely disliked?
Because npcs have no critical thinking, they just consume. DS2 was a hyped product from the brand you like and thats enough for you. The game is just hard to look at. I cant imagine anyone with a soul is going to enjoy it.

Don't confuse aggression for a meltdown.

>>719684772
It is

>>719684654
>My opinion is based on opinion. Yours is based on empiricaly backed facts.
Fucking kek. Post your college retard, than write even moar!

>>719651616 (OP)
Lies of P is better than Bloodborne.

>>719684772
Far better and respects the players time more than Elden Ring. Its also harder too.

But its made by the Chinese boogeyman. Oh noes.

>>719684845
>DS2 was a hyped product
I played DS2 last after playing all other souls games because of its bad reputation. Maybe you should take a step outside and get some air if you are so angered by me liking DS2 more than Wukong. I would argue that Wukong was the hyped product and was endlessly shilled the year it came out. I fell for that hype and ended up not liking the game.

>>719651616 (OP)
>people didn't lose interest after demon souls/dark souls 1 and 2 and Bloodborne
glad I dipped out looking saturated as fuck now I'll stick to a few entries because everything starts to fuck look the same and play worse somehow.

>>719684956
I got to the swamps and just kind of lost intrest. Does it get better?

>>719684956
reddit opinion

>>719684907
Did you even go to college? You sound like you work in a shoe store. I guess thats where the anti intellectualism is coming from.

Theres nothing i can write here thats gonna hit you harder than your life already probably does. Perpetual reddit brained retard is too dumb to argue his points.

If you had IQ north of 100 you wouldnt feel the need to hide behind an irony troon veil of being le epic troll. Go back to your miserable life then. Im sure youre very popular and personable and everyone likes you.

>>719685004
What did you not like about the game?
>>719684980
I would absolutely not say that Wukong is harder than Elden Ring. I'll say, I don't use summons at all, but neither do a lot of players, and nothing in Wukong held me up as much as Malenia (or PCR if you count the DLC)

>>719685275
>No u!
Thats almost as funny as your inability to grasp the benifits of empiricalism. Your retardation is only out done by your myopic narcissism. Truly, a lolcow to behold.

>>719685004
>Maybe you should take a step outside and get some air
Lol, this is such a woman coded response.

Buddy, it takes no effort for me to call you a golem npc. DS2 is the bloated, malformed cousin of the series. Calling you all of this for having no shame in admitting you liked it (even though so far you've not given even a single reason for it) is just and fair.

Wukong was hyped? By the Chinese maybe. Most people outside of China never even heard about it.

the only nonfromsoft souls game i really enjoyed was salt and sanctuary

>>719685630
China needs to get some women becuase if this is a hint of the genetic deadend tsunami we can expect if the great fire wall falls we are fucked!

>>719685761
Rank it out of 10 along with hollow knight.

>>719685521
Look at you throwing the big words around. It almost makes you look like you read, if you could write.

Empiricalism also isnt a word saar. Its empiricism and that word also doesn't apply.

Stick to being an irony troon bud. The moment you tried to use a word too big for your head the mask fell right off.

>>719651616 (OP)
DS1 and BB days Fromsoft, no. Current Fromsoft, easily.

>>719685630
>Most people outside of China never even heard about it
Yeah, it totally wasn't heavily featured at the game awards and plastered on every major new outlet for months. Totally underrated chink gem you have there chang!

>>719685906
>Its empiricism and that word also doesn't apply.
Pottery

>>719685761
I remember liking that game

>>719685421
Malenia and PCR are difficulty spikes. Elden ring is an incredibly easy game for the majority of its playtime. Summons or not. Insane bosses is about the only think ER has in its sleeve, because it lacks design and direction.

Wukong has more mechanics you can play around with and the challenge level remains constant. Plus it has far less blatant asset reuse. Its linear, sure, but its more focused as a result and it can be more cleanly designed. Its more of a Sekiro like than a Souls like, and while BB remains the crown jewel for me, Sekiro is more well directed from the perspective that there are very few mechanics that feel tacked on, save for Dragonrot, which is mostly narrative.

>>719657987
First person shooters used to be called Doom clones.

>>719686060
You mean after it launched and broke all kinds of records? Well thats not really hype then, is it? Hype is pre launch.

>>719654690
>A Demon’s Souls copy with slow, non-roll focus combat
would not be a demons souls copy lmao

>>719686080
Weak ass reply.

>>719686280
how does Wukongs bosses compare to PCR gameplay wise? In terms of speed, aggression, and whatnot. PCR is too much for me, I didn't find him fun at all and was just glad to be done with him. For me, WARRIOR is the maximum I'm willing to put up with.

>>719685868
i never played hollow knight, plus i thought hollow knight was more like metroid? i was under the assumption there's no builds in that game it's more about mastering a selection of skills?

idk salt and sanctuary is pretty good if you are okay with the artstyle. good variety of weapons, enemies, areas. lots of bosses, some of them are lame but for the most part i was having great time. shields are amazing, poison is great, everything's decent to OP. magic and faith are both powerful. covenants are pretty unique compared to how they're done in the fromsoft games, and if you rank up in them you get access to unique buffs that are really good. you can do special combos with all of the weapons, offhand guns/wands/xbows also have a special backflip combo if you pair them up with certain mainhand weapons. the soundtrack is like 3 songs but it's surprisingly good. all of the weapons in a category have varied stats, like there's a straight sword with high damage but very low atk speed-- you can modify the atk spd and other stats by attaching a charm to the sword. there was +range, +poison, +fire, +hp leech, etc etc. there's also built in challenge modes when you start up the game, like permadeath and throwing potatoes only or some shit. bows are great in this game too. you can also parry like anything and with anything. you can parry with the bow, you can parry with a well-time gun/xbow shot, you can parry with any weapon 2 handed. you also have 2 weapons loadouts you can switch between with the press of a button which is fun. also there's charged light and heavy attacks, was kinda weird

it's a bit jank and not the most polished game, but a lot of love was put into it and i think it's really fun.

>>719686370
>Well thats not really hype then, is it?
It absolutely is. The game was hyped up endlessly and I fell for it. Little did I know it was just a Chinese psyop. Unlike DS2 which gets shit on constantly. When I finally played it I was surprised to find a fun game.

>>719686280
>Elden ring is an incredibly easy game for the majority of its playtime
Personally, I feel exactly the same about Wukong. The only time I had any difficulty at all outside of bosses was in the Pagoda Realm, and the bosses too I killed on the first try for the vast majority. The ones I struggled a bit with are the ones everyone struggles with, just like Malenia in ER, things like Yellow Loong, or Yin Tiger, Scorpionlord, the final bosses.

I just tried Lord of the Fallen 2.0, and gave up on it again. How the fuck do you think it's fair to have your boss be un-targetable, they literally copied the worst parts of Elden beast and gave it to a knight rider. Can't rely on magic because the field is littered with shit that gets hit instead, and if you distance yourself after a few melee hits he'll just dissapear so he can one shot you with his lance or get you run over by his horse. The fact they give you 3 summon optipns shows how stupidly designed this fight was

>>719651616 (OP)
Soulslike was always poor wording for it if you ask me

>>719686471
I would say most are not nearly as unrelenting/aggressive as PCR, only a couple like the final boss, and the damage is generally much lower than in SotE. PCR will 2 or 3 shot most players that aren't using buffs, whereas the only attacks that do that much damage in Wukong are typically highly telegraphed. You also have a kit that's more suited for dealing with those bosses as well, at least comparing to fighting PCR without a shield.

>>719654557
What's with the use the wrong letters meme anyway?

>first easy mode in fromsoft history
>new greatsword starting class
>arrows are unlimited ammo
>no more mana, magic costs stamina
>can summon spirit ashes anywhere

How was Dark Souls 3? I thought Dark Souls 2 was a massive disappointment due to the downgraded build we ended up getting. The pre-release build looked amazing so its too bad that wasn't what we got. Still though if all the filler content was going to be a thing anyways then it wasn't ever going to be as good as Dark Souls imo. I feel DaS2 should have had maybe half the content it had but with an actually properly interconnected world and the real lighting we were denied. It also needed for its mechancis to be way more properly fleshed out.

I really don't think they ever topped Dark Souls. The combat to these games might technically be "better" but its not to me like they get so good that they override the perfect setting of the first game.

Bloodborne is definitely their second best effort but its not Dark Souls. If we go by just Dark Souls then the first game seems to be to be by far the best. I'll get around to finishing DaS3 eventually but something seems off about it with what I have seen and the little I played. It almost feels like a corporate mandated sequel rather than something with heart and soul like the first game.

>>719686526
Retards call it a souls like because you drop currency and resting at a bench respawns enemies and enemies don't respawn if you don't rest. The atmosphere is bleak, with a sense of beauty to the desolation so people associate that to Souls. It's also considered challenging. Hollow Knight is a fun 7/10 for me, but the souls comparison is shallow at best.

>>719686541
Ok man shut up now.

>>719686792
I really liked it but it suffered issues in development.
It plays more linearly than 1 or 2 imo. Combat feels kind of like demon souls or fast roll ds1 but much faster enemies? There's no passive poise, instead you have hyperarmor. Some weapons have 'perseverance' which basically gives you poise so you can tank shit for a couple seconds.
Story-wise it's a straight up sequel to ds1 and it's about the universe dying, you have references to ds1 (mostly) and ds2 and then some subversive shit going on with the callbacks. I think it's mostly done with respect.
There's some insanely cool weapons in the basegame, but the dlc goes absolutely ham with interesting weapons. Magic is okay in ds3, it gets a lot of shit for being weak tho. Hexes were assimilated into int for the most part. Most of the good faith spells are backloaded in the game. Pyromancy feels pretty balanced throughout. Armor variety is pretty decent imo. Artstyle is very washed out and bleak to reflect the dying and cancerous state of the universe. It's beautiful, but the lighting is fucking bad.
My personal rating will always be
ds1, bloodborne > ds2, ds3, elden ring, demons souls (these guys are all equalish to me)

I still want to see what Deep Down was gonna be. I will be forever curious about it as a finished product.

>>719687292
wasn't that shit a decade ago

>>719686543
Theres plenty of individual mobs thats wreck your shit in wukong. If you had an easy time thats great but you cant tell me that Elden Rings mobs were hard. when youre fighting the same soldier/knight archetypes for the majority of the game and when jump attacks trivialize most encounters. In Wukong you still have to at least think about what you're doing. Wukong is more like Sekiro.

Elden Ring is only fun if you skip the PVE entirely and just rush the bosses that matter. But thats still like 10% of the games content at most.

I also feel like Wukong rewards the player for playing perfectly more. Perfect dodges, parries into counters. To me thats just more appealing and incentivizes the player into trying to master them. Wukong is also constantly throwing new mobs and bosses at you so even if you personally found them easy its not like elden ring where an early game mob and a late game mob have the same movement.

>>719687354
Yes, Deep Down was killed in the womb so lessons could be learned with Pragmatia's release.

>>719687183
Thanks for the detailed post anon. I've had the game sitting around for some time. I mean I did like it with what little I played but nothing for me ever quite matched that game experience of the first few playthroughs of Dark Souls and enjoying its multiplayer at a time when the game was at its peak. Demon's Souls was great too and I experienced that at its peak although the grassing was definitely way too much in hindsight.

I don't entirely agree with Matthew's take on how the series became too combat focused but I do slightly agree with it being an issue since it seems they relied too heavily at the expense of great world design. Also its not like their shitty netcodes for these games ever really get to do the combat any justice. Imagine if these games had LAN. Then we would really be able to tell how good or not the combat truly is for these games. Bloodborne easily had the best combat of any of the Soulsborne games imo.

>>719686792
I mostly agree with it, but Bloodborne just hits all the right notes for me. It has the same mystery of DaS1 but it looks and sounds cooler.

DaS 1 is such a fantastic game. It felt old-school when it launched, like it was a product from a different universe. Most hack and slashes were dying and RPGs are basically made for babies and in comes this mystery box of a game thats daring you to solve it. Its such a beautiful game too for the most part. Doesn't look like ass cancer like DS2 and like a desaturated mess like DS3.

DS3 feels like that fake trailer in Tropic Thunder where the action hero guy is saving the world from ending for the ninth time. Like its a parody. Can't be taken seriously. Theres no gravitas to the story because its all a rethread. We've been here already. The game tells you youre just another lord of cinder. Every interesting concept that the first game had was pushed out for nonsense. The symplicity of the Abyss and the apparent futility in prolonging the age of fire was all very compelling. And then in comes DS2 and 3 and its all cycles and curses and whatever. Like they cant just leave it well enough alone, they have to ruin it by making Sequel slop.

>>719667875
>To keep it simple, things were programmed to aggro onto you from across the area in really inorganic and obvious ways.
That's Scholar Iron Keep. There are sections where the area just rushed to you.

Wuchang and Ai Limit had better NPCs that most of From's later games. I don't know why but DaS3 especially had so many unlikeable npcs that you just wanted to murder for some reason. At least AI Limit had a cute loli companion.

In Dark Souls 1, the environments fight against you just as much as the enemies do. Enemy placements feel elegant, they will punish players do not respect space observation. Many of the times, the biggest enemy is just gravity. It does not matter how many times, how much stronger you get, when passing through these sections, you still need to keep your guard high up. Maybe because I am a platformer guy but I prefer game that utilises environment against the players, and in a sense Dark Souls 1 is just a platformer, a different kind of platformer.

>>719653481
I don't need to read any of this know that it's a Western style rpg made by white nerds filled with stupid dialogue and shitty combat which makes it the opposite of a soulslike on a fundamental level.

>>719654545
Okay, I looked it up and I can tell from this screenshot alone that the combat is more like the witcher than dark souls which means it sucks.

>>719658185
>bleak faith had such a great setting too, ruined by this
bleak faith was ruined by being shit in almost every regard besides world design
buggy, clunky piece of shit where you can get stuck or fall through the map and half the controls stop working during boss fights,

>>719657987
What do you think DotAlikes are?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O67eH9ztv6E

>>719674241
>What is the history?
Play Artorias of the Abyss

>>719674241
Not that anon but you literally have no clue what the fuck is happening? You don't know why you're doing all these stupid chores to collect Lord Souls? The history pre Age of Fire, as in the Age of Ancients, was a static world. There was literally no feelings, no change, no disparity. If you want to talk about shit just happening randomly, talk about how the First Flame came to be because that literally is the start of everything (like a fantasy version of the Big Bang). It brought in literal emotions and the dualities of nature and made everything more active.

>>719651616 (OP)
slopbourne games have been shit for ages, fromsoft needs to go back to making actual games instead

>>719679658
>Le blood... of le dark soul...
yeah, Blood links Souls since the first game (Dark Souls 2 doesn't understand this)
>Make Londor great again...
Absolute kino
>Not to mention the cardinal sin of pulling a "kingdom of hollows" out the ass when both 1 and 2 are crystal clear that becoming hollow = losing sentience.
Headcanon
>It's literally just "fire's fading but worse".
Nope, you actually see how the world changes from the first game.

Lothric doesn't worship Gods anymore, but the Fire humanity is linked to, to the point their King is depicted carrying the torch of the world. Every Pillar of Lothric revolves around the Firelink in some way. the Knights of Lothric bind their souls to the King of Lothric, the Priestesses of Lothric are Firekeepers, because of course in a society that actually values and worships the Firelink, Firekeeepers go from abused torture victism transformed with experiments to religious figures, and the Scholars of Lothric study the Firelink and bind between souls through it, while the Hunters of Lothric fighht against Londor and their desire to usurp the Flame with their own Firelink.

The Way of White started developing pyromancies for the purpose of purifying Undead from accumulating curses, while they use baptism/water to clean and heal their bodies after fighting, and they are throwing nails with the purpose of stopping the growth of Darkness, until a Cleric figured out that eating the cursed ones is an easy gain to obtain power and was sacrificed for it (this is a smart nod to Demon's Souls Old Hero eating birds to ascend, not that you secondary would know)

Humanity is so rare that maidens are escorted by elite apostles for the purpose of becoming firekeeprs, while Clerics wear the turtle shell and travel to give up their dark soul to such maidens for the sole purpose of bonfires.

>>719693801
There's a huge gap between the First Flame and Gwyn raising to power

>>719655780
Looks cool. I've been craving a Beksinski inspired dark fantasy action rpg for over a decade now. I haven't played too many souls games (just DeS, DaS, DaS2, BB and ER, no clones) and I'm not burned out by them yet, but I didn't really like the artistic direction ER took compared to DaS/BB so this one looks like it's gonna scratch an itch.
And if the combat is more witcher than dark souls that's fine by me, I enjoy both and don't necessarily need balls to the wall difficulty spikes. As long as it's engaging. To be honest now that I'm halfway through my 30s I've come to realize it's okay to be a filthy casual.

Bekzinski souls is gonna be kino.

>>719694561
>There's a huge gap between the First Flame and Gwyn raising to power
The historiography in Dark Souls is not written ordinally but in passing events which is to say that knowing the time it took for Gwyn to take power between the discovery of the Lord Souls and "present" day is not all that important. All you have to consider is the order of events. Also Firekeepers technically have infinite humanity and the bonfires are their souls in physical form.

>>719694957
Technically, Wuchang's 5th chapter was that and yes it was kino.
Also Scorn should have been a good game. damn it.

>>719694561
>Blood links Souls since the first game
Headcanon, quote me the part that says that
>Headcanon
Nigger half the characters in DS1 talk about going hollow as a separate thing from being undead and every single time said hollowing means that the undead will start mindlessly attacking you. The first NPC you meet spells out for you that he'll go insane.
>Nope, actually
lmao

Hollowing is the true death for man as they are intrinsically immortal as long as they possess a shred of the Dark Soul (which is humanity) within them. Gwyn's Darksign strips mankind of their humanity every time they die which further leads to madness then actual death. Man doesn't really die permanently until they are "hollowed" out of their humanity. The Gods don't have this problem as they don't possess a shred of the Dark Soul but are also doomed to be swallowed by the encroaching Dark (also known as the Abyss)

>>719651616 (OP)
There won't be Dark Souls 4. After Bloodborbe, FS just can't make good games anymore.

>>719695756
Everyone is literally waiting in bated breath what FromSoft wants to do after Duskblood.

you guys all suck at talking on the computer

>>719686718
The romans used V as a U, it's basically a meme way to make a word more white and patrician or something. I mean not really, it's just joke, but yeah. As for the Z, some people just say zased idk. I know a runescape youtuber named Odablock will just throw Zs on shit for no reason ("thanks for the zubscription")