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I find the Dark Souls/Demon Soul series to be an interesting one.

I personally play games purely for the enjoyment of playing. I'll almost always play on Normal/Easy mode. Dark Souls, however, feels to me as though it was designed for gamers who enjoy overcoming that frustration.

My partner adores the series but can get very snappy if he's stuck on a boss. It's a game that allows bragging rights more than most.

Not a series I enjoy, but I can appreciate that it has catered for a niche that has been ignored for a while.

Omnipresent Glitch

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I played it for about an hour, didn't die once and killed the first boss thing. Then there was a stupid cutscene that introduced me to this ugly ******** that needed to die.
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After wandering around in circles between him and his just-as-graphically-impaired guard-slob, I got irritated with their ugly armor and tried to kill them. They killed me a couple times with their ugliness, and I've not played it since. It wasn't an entertaining hour and a half.

Seriously, why is his left thumb so long?

Amazingly Loved's Husband

Ninja Crash40
Artificial difficulty refers to something like Dead Rising 2... The game can become unbeatable if u miscalculate time spent, but you can restart it with all your levels intact.


That's not artificial difficulty.


Ninja Crash40
DS is based on trial and error, which would be fine, except the TAKE AWAY YOUR RESOURCES for doing what the game requires.


How do they take away your resources? They give you weapons, they give you armor, shields, a dodge button and even a way to heal. They give you plenty of resources to deal with the enemies that the game throws at you.


Ninja Crash40
That, plus cheap unavoidable damage, or even death...


How is the damage cheap or unavoidable? There is a block button. Use a shield. Most attacks can be blocked or parried and for the ones that can't, there is a dodge button. Every attack in the game can be dodged. Use the i-frames the dodge gives you properly.

Ninja Crash40
enemies spawning where you can't see them...


Enemies spawn points never change. Hell, even the distance from where they aggro is manageable.

Ninja Crash40
bosses exploiting game mechanics to kill you(I have a really shitty story about that) etc. make it unnecessarily frustrating.


What game mechanics are they exploiting? Perhaps you should share that story because all this sounds like is nonsensical whining.

Ninja Crash40
Remember that archaic game over mechanic?(X lives, X continues, run out of both, start over) Design to artificially lengthen games back at the 80's/90's? That is DS, the logical extreme end of an outdated mechanic.


But it isn't Dark Souls. It isn't an archaic mechanic. You die and it respawns you. You have infinite respawns. There is no game over until you quite because you can't handle it anymore. You don't have a finite amount of tries before having to restart the game. Every death is avoidable. There are plenty of bonfires and shortcuts to open up throughout the level to avoid having to trek through everything again.


Ninja Crash40
Remember that Nintendo game that I mentioned that's way harder than DS? That game was Donkey Kong Country Returns. I died in that game 5X in that game than I died in DS, but not once did I cried BS, or wanted to quit cause THAT circumvented that old, dated mechanic, and does trial and error.


Don't play Dark Souls. It obviously isn't for you. You're really reaching for reasons why Dark Souls is shitty. Some people just don't like it, and that's fine. There is nothing artificial about the difficulty of the game. There is plenty of evidence to show that the game can be beaten without raising to ridiculously high levels. There are videos out there of people beating late game bosses at level 1. Such as:



Once you've figured out the game, it is a cake walk. Every enemy has a weakness you can exploit just like they can exploit your mistakes. Get better or just stop playing. Just stop whining.

Hygienic Smoker

touch the butt
I'll almost always play on Normal/Easy mode.


There's an easy mode in Dark Souls? Since when?! They should dispose of this immediately xD
Metal Hendrix
touch the butt
I'll almost always play on Normal/Easy mode.


There's an easy mode in Dark Souls? Since when?! They should dispose of this immediately xD
Oh gosh, definitely not in Dark Souls! Just in general smile

Hygienic Smoker

touch the butt


Ahhh I see lol I was about to complain sooo much about Dark Souls II if there was an Easy mode. But more on topic, I play Dark Souls for the challenge and sense of achievement. It reminds me of why I started gaming in the first place and how things don't always go as planned. At first, I despised the seemingly impossible difficulty as I kept trying to go to the Catacombs as soon as I reached Lordran, but as time passed I became aware of my mistakes and tried different things. I feel like if more games followed the outline/blueprint of Dark Souls but added different story elements and more plot then we would see greater games from newer developers ^.^ In conclusion, I freaking love Dark Souls ~ PRAISE THE SUN
The Patient Mental
Ninja Crash40
Artificial difficulty refers to something like Dead Rising 2... The game can become unbeatable if u miscalculate time spent, but you can restart it with all your levels intact.


That's not artificial difficulty.


Ninja Crash40
DS is based on trial and error, which would be fine, except the TAKE AWAY YOUR RESOURCES for doing what the game requires.


How do they take away your resources? They give you weapons, they give you armor, shields, a dodge button and even a way to heal. They give you plenty of resources to deal with the enemies that the game throws at you.


Ninja Crash40
That, plus cheap unavoidable damage, or even death...


How is the damage cheap or unavoidable? There is a block button. Use a shield. Most attacks can be blocked or parried and for the ones that can't, there is a dodge button. Every attack in the game can be dodged. Use the i-frames the dodge gives you properly.

Ninja Crash40
enemies spawning where you can't see them...


Enemies spawn points never change. Hell, even the distance from where they aggro is manageable.

Ninja Crash40
bosses exploiting game mechanics to kill you(I have a really shitty story about that) etc. make it unnecessarily frustrating.


What game mechanics are they exploiting? Perhaps you should share that story because all this sounds like is nonsensical whining.

Ninja Crash40
Remember that archaic game over mechanic?(X lives, X continues, run out of both, start over) Design to artificially lengthen games back at the 80's/90's? That is DS, the logical extreme end of an outdated mechanic.


But it isn't Dark Souls. It isn't an archaic mechanic. You die and it respawns you. You have infinite respawns. There is no game over until you quite because you can't handle it anymore. You don't have a finite amount of tries before having to restart the game. Every death is avoidable. There are plenty of bonfires and shortcuts to open up throughout the level to avoid having to trek through everything again.


Ninja Crash40
Remember that Nintendo game that I mentioned that's way harder than DS? That game was Donkey Kong Country Returns. I died in that game 5X in that game than I died in DS, but not once did I cried BS, or wanted to quit cause THAT circumvented that old, dated mechanic, and does trial and error.


Don't play Dark Souls. It obviously isn't for you. You're really reaching for reasons why Dark Souls is shitty. Some people just don't like it, and that's fine. There is nothing artificial about the difficulty of the game. There is plenty of evidence to show that the game can be beaten without raising to ridiculously high levels. There are videos out there of people beating late game bosses at level 1. Such as:



Once you've figured out the game, it is a cake walk. Every enemy has a weakness you can exploit just like they can exploit your mistakes. Get better or just stop playing. Just stop whining.


Well, maybe "spawned" wasn't the right word. You aggro enemies you couldn't possibly be aware of, causing unavoidable damage, death or even loss of souls.

Well, the boss was Smough and Ornstein. I found out quickly in the game that being aware of your where enemies are is crucial. So, I always made sure to have them both on screen, or at least know what they're doing if I'm gonna look away. So I lock on to Ornstien for a sec, then he does his far range lounge attack WAY far away from me and since I was locked on the camera followed him. I was like: "Oh s**t! What about Smough!?" And before I even turn around he already hit me with that super hard to dodge hammer attack(The one where he rakes the floor till his next to u and moves the hammer upwards). That literally couldn't have been better if someone planned it! The used the in game lock on mechanic to attack me!(Which is not only annoying, but immersion breaking)

And losing all the souls you collected if you die before getting them back is derived from the game over mechanic. That's why I didn't say they were the same.

And I know the game can get super easy if you know what you're doing(Every boss after the a**hole brigade I beat in 3 or less attempts) Point is, bad game design shouldn't be praised. If developers wanna make hard games, GOOD; more power to them! Just don't make them unfairly frustrating. Seriously, 1 or 2 simple changes to the game mechanics and the game could've been SOOOOO much better.

O24's Partner

Aged Gaian

I play the games because people say they're hard and I like to go through as the most fragile classes and die like 4-5 times overall xd

Then tell people they're just bad

because I'm an a*****e

Aged Poster

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I think the idea of winning after losses is the appeal. It might be easy for you but for other people it is not.

Amazingly Loved's Husband

Ninja Crash40


Well, maybe "spawned" wasn't the right word. You aggro enemies you couldn't possibly be aware of, causing unavoidable damage, death or even loss of souls.


Enemies have a certain distance at which they aggro. If you have an enemy that you aggro sneak up on you from behind, you're doing it wrong. This game isn't a race. If you rush in, you're going to die. It's that simple. It's not poor design, it's just the way the game is. You have more resources at your disposal than your enemies. If you can't be bothered to use them, that's your fault.


Ninja Crash40
Well, the boss was Smough and Ornstein. I found out quickly in the game that being aware of your where enemies are is crucial. So, I always made sure to have them both on screen, or at least know what they're doing if I'm gonna look away. So I lock on to Ornstien for a sec, then he does his far range lounge attack WAY far away from me and since I was locked on the camera followed him. I was like: "Oh s**t! What about Smough!?" And before I even turn around he already hit me with that super hard to dodge hammer attack(The one where he rakes the floor till his next to u and moves the hammer upwards). That literally couldn't have been better if someone planned it! The used the in game lock on mechanic to attack me!(Which is not only annoying, but immersion breaking)


So you being bad at the game is poor design? The lock on feature does exactly what it advertises. It locks on to an enemy. Some situations can benefit from the lock on and others benefit from having the camera constantly at your disposal. That boss is one for the latter. Further, all strategies have weaknesses. The lock on isn't made to be god mode or give you complete omnipotence. It is made to lock onto an enemy. Your poor situational awareness isn't the game's fault and it doesn't mean it is poor game design.


Ninja Crash40
And losing all the souls you collected if you die before getting them back is derived from the game over mechanic. That's why I didn't say they were the same.


The game punishes you for dying. But it doesn't outright punish you. You can retrieve your souls. They're waiting for you right where you died. Almost all games punish you for a death. They're only less noticeable because they have checkpoints every five seconds.


Ninja Crash40
And I know the game can get super easy if you know what you're doing(Every boss after the a**hole brigade I beat in 3 or less attempts) Point is, bad game design shouldn't be praised. If developers wanna make hard games, GOOD; more power to them! Just don't make them unfairly frustrating. Seriously, 1 or 2 simple changes to the game mechanics and the game could've been SOOOOO much better.


I guess it is a good thing that you don't make the decisions on the game design of the Souls series. You being bad at the game doesn't mean it is poorly designed. You just suck. And that's fine. It has a steep learning curve. Dark Souls isn't for everyone and it clearly isn't for you. But don't mistake you being terrible as the game being terrible.

Enduring Cyclops

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The only thing that is actually CHEAP[/b about the game is when OTHER PLAYERS hunt you down and attack you when you can't possibly fight back. That is it. Nothing else.

Jaeroon's Husbando

Distrustful Human

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Mahzuki
The only thing that is actually CHEAP about the game is when OTHER PLAYERS hunt you down and attack you when you can't possibly fight back. That is it. Nothing else.

Play hollow, or, in the case of dark souls 2, level up your character as a first priority instead of upgrading, so that you use your soul memory to it's maximum.

Omnipresent Cultist

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Metal Hendrix
touch the butt
I'll almost always play on Normal/Easy mode.


There's an easy mode in Dark Souls? Since when?! They should dispose of this immediately xD


Shields is easy mode
Ninja Crash40
Seriously, I've played through Dark Souls 1 and I'm part way through DS2, and I seriously don't get it... I mean, they're not hard, they're needlessly frustrating and punishing. I guess the lore is very interesting, but I don't think it's worth it for a game like DS2 where its not so interesting... Btw, I keep hearing the phrase "Hard, but fair" THAT IS BULL!


Honestly, I play through these games because out of all my friends I know and associate with, I'm the only one who can say I've both played through AND beat dark souls both 1 and 2.

Hygienic Smoker

Glorious Leader Luna
Metal Hendrix
touch the butt
I'll almost always play on Normal/Easy mode.


There's an easy mode in Dark Souls? Since when?! They should dispose of this immediately xD


Shields is easy mode


In PvP? Yes. Main game? Not so much, depends on your build, the shield, and the attack.

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