PK Plays Dark Souls

[KingPK]

Well, here goes nothing.

I've heard so many different things about this game that I have no idea what to expect. I watched all of the Dark Souls videos at Giant Bomb, but that covered the latter half of the game so I have no idea what like 2/3rds of this is like.

All I know is that Pyromancer is apparently the best class for a beginner and I took the Master Key.

 

[vivisectvi]

Screenshots and videos?

 

[KingPK]

Unless you want shitty digital camera photos, probably not.

Played 40 minutes with no deaths. Success. The attack button being the bumper is fucking with my mind.

 

[KingPK]

"Hey, this isn't that bad. I just need to not rush and not get surr....."

*Four enemies rush in throwing firebombs*

".....oh."

So in the early stages I should just be leveling like a mother and not hoarding souls, right? I have a bunch of those items that give you souls so I should just be using them up at the bonfires?

 

[KingPK]

I'm stuck on the gargoyles in Undead Parish. I think I just need to do the same loop around the bonfire to farm souls and level up/upgrade gear since the blacksmith is right there. I have a p. sweet axe that is fast and powerful and I'm getting down blocking and counter attacking.

Only one stupid fall death so far!

 

[Mik]

Use up your souls but not the ones that come from the bosses. You can use them much later to make epic weapons.

 

[KingPK]

Fuck it, I summoned someone to help with the gargoyles. I must have repeated the same path 15 times but once the second one drops in all I could do was avoid attacks.

I really do see where the appeal comes from; even when I'm stuck in the same spot for a few hours it's still fun to try and think of new approaches that almost always fail.

 

[FLAM]

Best of luck to you, man. Go all the way. Finishing this game feels like an actual accomplishment, sad as it may sound.

Are you using a bow and arrow? Pretty handy.

 

[Broward83]

Decided to say fuck it and buy it. Found out I had 5.60 in my account from Xbox Rewards. So..hell yeah.

 

[KingPK]

I'm somewhat referencing a wiki just to know where to go, but I haven't looked into covenants yet. I've been invited to two different ones but what do they do for me?

 

[KingPK]

FUCK YOU CAPRA DEMON. HOW MY FIREBALL ASS TASTE?

10 hours and I'm finally away from the Undead Burg. I could do that loop with my eyes closed at this point. Now to get destroyed in the Depths.

 

[Edwin]

I've started playing this and I don't think I really "get it" yet. I like the puzzle aspect of it, but the combat is really boring and really clumsy. Maybe I'm just confused as to how this all works as any sort of RPG when I've played for three hours and have yet to find a piece of equipment I can use besides the starter gear.

 

[vivisectvi]

I've started playing this and I don't think I really "get it" yet. I like the puzzle aspect of it, but the combat is really boring and really clumsy. Maybe I'm just confused as to how this all works as any sort of RPG when I've played for three hours and have yet to find a piece of equipment I can use besides the starter gear.

I was kind of in the same boat with Demon's and Dark Souls.. I tried both and really couldn't get into either. I kinda like what Dragon's Dogma has done with similar style combat and spikes in difficulty, but lots of loot and levelling at a better pace, so I've played that a lot more. I still plan to try to hunker down and get into these games though.. I just need to get past the curve before really getting into it, I guess.

 

[KingPK]

Made it to Anor Londo. Nice to see something that isn't grey and/or dank again. The Iron Golem was a joke fight.

 

[Edwin]

Yeah, I played some more this morning and I think this goes back on the shelf for a while. I don't really have the time or inclination to run through a whole level and 15 enemies just to figure out one more movement of the boss, then have to go back and do it again, and again, and again. I totally see what it's going for and why so many people love it: frustrating experiences become manageable through a combination of trial-and-error and power-leveling, and you feel like a god once you can just bitchslap a set of guys and move on to the next trial. It's a really fascinating deconstruction of gaming to its core feedback loops, particularly given the lack of story/character drivers, but I think I like it more in concept than in execution.

 

[KingPK]

Fuck this game. Thread over.

 

[Edwin]

lol. I just got to the Capra demon myself. This augurs poorly for next week...

 

[KingPK]

I finally got past those GOD DAMN archers, so thread back on.

 

[Edwin]

Capra is a beast. Probably have taken a dozen runs at him with no success so far. I tried getting creative and throwing firebombs and other assorted junk over the wall outside his room, but only got it to hit once. The biggest problem is that the only weapon I've upgraded is the claymore to +5, so while I adore that weapon, I don't really have any good quick hitters to take out the damn dogs.

 

[Exslade ZX]

Thanks to this thread, I started playing this.

I stopped playing this.

 

[KingPK]

Capra is a beast. Probably have taken a dozen runs at him with no success so far. I tried getting creative and throwing firebombs and other assorted junk over the wall outside his room, but only got it to hit once. The biggest problem is that the only weapon I've upgraded is the claymore to +5, so while I adore that weapon, I don't really have any good quick hitters to take out the damn dogs.

What I did was run up the stairs on the left because the dogs get stuck when they come up after you so you can just whip fireballs at them pretty easily. For the demon itself, if you have a decent shield you can block a lot of it's attacks and just wear it down.

 

[Edwin]

Yeah, I'm just working on the timing. The capra demon tends to get me with his overhead smash as soon as I run in, so I've got to get the right rhythm down. It's like getting murdered in a broom closet.

Edit: Got that fucker. I threw a few firebombs over the wall until his dogs were dead, and then it was easy. Dodge, block, heal, fireball, fireball, repeat.

 

[KingPK]

Anor Londo finally done. That boss fight was tense even with two summons. Now I can warp! Hallelujah!

 

[Edwin]

Blighttown wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Probably would have hated it had I not started as a pyromancer and had great poison resist on my starting gear. Now I'm rocking crimson robes and a gargoyle helmet, which makes me look like the rabbit from Donnie Darko if he were in the KKK.

I made a quick run through Darkroot Garden and waxed the Moonlight Butterfly, which was unquestionably the easiest boss fight in the game so far. My biggest challenge right now is trying out different weapons; I really like the moveset on the Falchion and the Iaito katana, but my claymore is already +8. Kinda hard to try out new things when your one upgraded weapon is so much more effective.

 

[KingPK]

I've reached the Four Kings aka a brick fucking wall. I can handle one but when the others warp in I just get overwhelmed.

 

[KingPK]

Well....that didn't take as long as I thought. All I needed to do was get up in their area and two hand my spear into them so I'd kill one before the next came in.

I'm up to level 75. I think I might focus on getting my equipment stronger now since I have a ton of stamina. I've been using the Spider Shield for the whole game so far and it has served me well. I wish I got Ornstein's soul instead of Smough's because that one crafts what looks like a sick lightning spear.

 

[KingPK]

SEATH THE SCALELESS: DEAD IN ONE TRY BITCH.

 

[Edwin]

I made it to Anor Londo, and I'm only more impressed by the architecture and atmosphere of this game. Really tremendous art direction for the whole thing. I also like how easy it was to wax the Anor Londo gargoyles as compared to the Bell Gargoyles some 30 soul levels ago. The archers weren't a problem for me for whatever reason, though it sounds like they're one of the most annoying parts of the game for a lot of people. I got through them on the first try.

The frustration of occasionally losing a bazillions souls is also mostly gone now that I've opened up the seal of Artorias in Darkroot Garden. Easy to get 7000 souls in a 2-minute run in that zone.