Dark Souls 2

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Maigrets
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Finally the wait is over and DS2 is released. :happy: Here in Australia, and New Zealand, we were able to buy our physical copies a day early because the 25th is a Public Holiday in both countries (ANZAC DAY.) However we still had to wait until 8am on Fri to activate it on Steam.

I got the Black Armour Edition because I pre-ordered and which gives you some weapons and armour at the beginning of the game. I found them of no use to me, except for a dagger, since I didn't start with a strength build and I didn't want them anyway really. Besides that they are ugly in a fantasy kind of way where I prefer more realistic looking weapons. As it turned out though since my other weapons broke and I didn't have replacements at the time I had to use one of the "free" swords and could only 2 hand it because of a lack of stats. That was early on though and I've since worked out better weapon management...lol.

Anyway, I played for so long in my 1st (and only so far) session yesterday, that I have a sore left thumb ...lol. Awesome game...I'm loving it so far. 'Rock On!'

I've killed the 1st two bosses in co-op which works pretty well. I had a number of summon signs fail, but I get the impression they are on a timer since as soon the failed ones disappeared new ones were put down and I was able to summon another player without a problem.

Some people think it's uncool to summon help for bosses and players should go it alone, but co-op is a big part of the game so why not use it. However, I have tried to solo bosses and did in fact for most of them in DkS1, but with arthritic hands it's not so easy to be as precise as needed in a boss arena and not have to try 20 times to get it perfected. Which gets painful and boring.

I haven't got any screenshots yet as I'm looking for a better alternative to FRAPS which only worked sometimes when I had it installed. I'm going to try out Bandicam and see how that goes. I must say even though people are complaining about the graphics they look pretty damn good on my monitor. I've watched bits and pieces of some Let's Plays (PS3 and 360) and I thought the game looked washed out and lots of shades of brown, but I see now that's obviously Youtubes's conversion algorithm because the game is very colourful in my opinion.

I see someone is already working on a DSFix alternative. I don't see the need personally as the NPC and character models etc look pretty good to me, but graphics mean more to some than actual gameplay, so to each their own I guess.

I'll obviously be adding more to this topic and I made it separate to Dark Souls 1 since it's a different game and I want it to have it's own discussion....if anyone's into the game of course, but I'm a bit tired from my marathon play session last night which had to be around 6 hours. It's always...one more try, or I want to see what's around that corner or through the next fog gate.

I played a high DEX character in DkS 1 but I'm seeing the benefit of a more strength based since DEX isn't working for me so much in this game. Maybe I'm just not as flexible as I used to be...lol. But, I really want to use the Bastard sword I have and especially the Drangleic sword and shield I found after the Pursuer boss. I can two hand them but I don't like being left open to attack without a shield.

Besides many others there's one thing I really like and that's the ability to hide the HUD completely, have it auto hide as in iHUD for Skyrim or have it always visible. I have it on auto which is very immersive.

Anyway, will be back later with pics hopefully. :)
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Sounds like you are having a lot of fun. :)
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:Sounds like you are having a lot of fun. :)
Yes, in fact I've had the best gaming experience that I can ever remember over the past few days. Tonight especially because I spent several hours in Co-op helping other people defeat bosses and clearing levels. The Steam servers are excellent. Summons never fail if I leave my sign to be summoned, in fact it's sometimes immediate so there's no dilly dallying..lol. Sometimes if I want to summon someone it fails which I think is that person removing their sign or it's timed, but there's no shortage of signs popping up and after a few tries it works. The ones that fail are usually signs that were there when I got to the boss area. New ones appearing always work.

I was invaded three times tonight. Once I died to someone with late game gear and spells, the next I survived with the help of of a player from my Covenant, and the other was when three of us were heading for a boss and the invader had the misfortune to meet us. He lost. :twisted:

The only downer so far with the game is a boss (well three in one) I can't get by even with 2 helpers, but luckily it's optional. The Ruined Sentinels...Dark Souls 2 answer to the New Londo Archers. The other big killer is gravity... :grin: Correction....Boss now defeated with only a NPC helper.

Anyway, some pics.
There's a wall by the sea that keeps count of all the deaths worldwide. This shot is from before I started playing tonight so the numbers will be much larger now. This is the PC deaths as the consoles have their own systems obviously.
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My character DeMentia in the next two pics.
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Heide's Tower area just before entering enemy territory.
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Why are the Gods so cruel?
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Entering the fog gate to a boss fight. The two ghostly players are myself and another who were summoned by the Host to help in the fight. You are actually taken from your own game world and placed into the other player's world. In boss fights you are automatically returned when the boss is dead, otherwise you can play with others for entire levels.
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The Old Dragonslayer. Don't let his size fool you. He is extremely fast and dangerous.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Wow that looks great, and your character looks quit a bit like a Conquistador...certainly looks good.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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awesome!!!
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Fessels wrote:Wow that looks great, and your character looks quit a bit like a Conquistador...certainly looks good.
It is! :-) I really think you would like it since you like a good challenge. The PC specs aren't that high, a lot less than Skyrim modded for sure. If you didn't want to play with a gamepad, the keyboard setup is apparently very good. I use a 360 gamepad though because it just feels more precise to me, especially when one wrong move can be death. You can also use a PS3 gamepad with a little software program so Windows recognizes it.

Yes, I rather like the Conquistador look, but we've moved on now...lol. I have a helmet with a flowing tassel (I'm sure it has a proper name but I don't know it) and Elite Knight armour. There are so many cool armours and weapons suited to all kinds of builds that it's hard to choose, and you can upgrade in various ways.

@MasterAub
This is my kind of game. Real combat, strategy, lots of exploration....etc, etc. if I'm not playing, I'm thinking about playing and what I'm going to do next. :)
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Hmm i just checked, and the requirements are certainly not as high as i thought they would be, very nice. :)

But unfortunately it will be quit a long time before i can buy it, reason is that i am having a lot of things renewed/rebuild on my house. And that is a costly thing, but also necessary. Oh well that is one of the burdens we get with owning a house.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:Hmm i just checked, and the requirements are certainly not as high as i thought they would be, very nice. :)

But unfortunately it will be quit a long time before i can buy it, reason is that i am having a lot of things renewed/rebuild on my house. And that is a costly thing, but also necessary. Oh well that is one of the burdens we get with owning a house.
The only games I generally buy these days are by pre-ordering new games when I know for sure it's something I'll want, so it would be paid for in increments well before it's released. That's one advantage of buying physical copies from a shop. I've been bitten a couple of times pre-ordering games though as some highly anticipated games turned out to be rubbish or buggy messes...ie Thief. On a rare occasion I might get something that's been out for quite awhile on sale or something.

But, in the old days, many years ago, when opportunities were different I spent a lot of money on games that I may have only played for an hour and shelved so I'm spending less now and enjoying it more, I think.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Maigrets wrote:I might get something that's been out for quite awhile on sale or something.
That is one thing i will keep an eye on.
Maigrets wrote:But, in the old days, many years ago, when opportunities were different I spent a lot of money on games that I may have only played for an hour and shelved so I'm spending less now and enjoying it more, I think.
Oh i recognize that all to well, i did the same thing when i was in my twenties and early thirties. :)
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Lots of progress. I'm using an upgraded Bastard Sword and it rocks. 'Rock On!' I also now have a Zweihander which is also fantastic but not really for use in tight spaces as it has a large sweep and can hit walls instead of the enemy which contributes to weapon degradation, not to mention missing the target.
The Ghost Ship. Has a pretty easy boss inside which I managed in one try.
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I know you're down there. Come out so I can skewer you! The green effect is from a ring that increases stamina regen.
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Pits of poison. Death comes quickly here and not only from the beasties. I'm wearing gear that has resistance to poison, but is not so great for defense, but anything to resist poison is a help even with other items to counteract it. It's a run and suicide mission to get the items in the pits, but it's worth it since they are mostly upgrade materials which are hard to come by.
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The Iron Keep. I started here but I'm going to leave for awhile and do some more co-op and help some other people out as they helped me. This area is hard and fire and lava is a bit of a pain when trying to avoid archers on ledges.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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I need to get my hands on this game!!!
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MasterAub wrote:I need to get my hands on this game!!!
Speaking for myself, this is the most rewarding experience I've had in a game as I said in the first post. Not just the single player part, but the community helping each other is really great.

I don't play MMO's and although this has an online part, it's not the same thing at all. You can play offline if you want, but the co-op part is a huge part of it. I love Dark Souls 1, but I think this game is much better and it doesn't use Windows Live which really sucks. DkS1 is full of hackers now so it spoils it a bit, and Live has no way to filter them out, but there are ways to avoid them. There is a system in place now in the new game to help stop them, but like every game there are people who spoil it for others. You just have to shrug it off and pity them for being scumbags who have to cheat to get by.

The developers have made some really good changes, but not everyone likes it, especially some hard core players. Mainly because they went back to the system of the very first game which was Demon Souls, a Sony exclusive, not on PC. I don't have a console so I've never played that game, but I have watched some videos. In my opinion they took the best things from it and Dark Souls 1 and combined them., with a lot of new things of course.

If you do get it, I really hope you like it...lol. It's not for the faint of heart.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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The Ghost Ship and the Iron Keep look really great.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:The Ghost Ship and the Iron Keep look really great.
Thanks. :) In game it all looks spectacular, screenshots don't do it justice. Also I found a SweetFX preset for the game on the Nexus which makes the colours much richer and vibrant.

Greetings.... :woot:
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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That looks really good, but it also creeps me out. Must be the fake smile combined with the Two hander. At least your characters enemies go out with a smile. :grin:

Oddly enough the Monk i started a short while ago has a some what similar helmet for the moment.
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Something I never thought I'd see...lol. Gopher's latest video is his Channel Update where he mentions doing a Let's Play of Dark Souls 2 soon. He seems to think it's a "little fun, hack and slash" game... Boy, is he in for a shock and that's an understatement. :shock:

I watch a lot of his videos, but I still can't imagine Gopher playing this game somehow. He has mentioned before how he hates bosses and not a lot of patience for redoing things....like dying and losing progress etc, so this will be interesting indeed.

Gopher usually plays games at the hardest levels but if he thinks that will prepare him for Dark Souls 1 or 2 ..... Image


Disclaimer in case I'm misunderstood.... I'm not having a go at Gopher as I have a lot of respect for him and what he does. I just can't wait to see him play a game that seems to me to be way out of his comfort zone. If he does I hope he continues because I'll be watching with an evil glint in my eye. :twisted:
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Maigrets wrote:Disclaimer in case I'm misunderstood.... I'm not having a go at Gopher as I have a lot of respect for him and what he does. I just can't wait to see him play a game that seems to me to be way out of his comfort zone. If he does I hope he continues because I'll be watching with an evil glint in my eye. :twisted:
LoL you sure have a mean side. :grin:
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:
Maigrets wrote:Disclaimer in case I'm misunderstood.... I'm not having a go at Gopher as I have a lot of respect for him and what he does. I just can't wait to see him play a game that seems to me to be way out of his comfort zone. If he does I hope he continues because I'll be watching with an evil glint in my eye. :twisted:
LoL you sure have a mean side. :grin:
Not really...lol. I'm a big softy really, but since I'm suffering (and enjoying it) I wanted to see someone else go through it. :cheese: That must be my tiny, tiny masochistic streak because usually games this brutal and unforgiving annoy me to the point of uninstalling, mainly due to the mechanics of the particular game. I used to hate games with bosses at the end of every level, mainly because they were done badly IMO, but this game does it differently and you can choose when to fight them for the most part.

Gopher is doing a live stream of the game on Twitch tonight but I can't see that working very well, except as a casual thing, for a few reasons. By the time he gets through the Intro and Tutorial it will be nearly an hour, depending on how thorough he is, and then there's the "central hub" where some of the main NPC's are, more arrive later as you find them in the world. They have various functions and have a lot of important dialogue so it will be awhile before Gopher even gets to the combat side of things.

When he does get to the combat areas it won't matter how much people tell him what to do it's not going to help much except for finding secrets etc. Knowing how "passionate" the Dark Souls fans can be, they'll be yelling at him to do this to do that and arguing with each other...lol. The combat is something you have to master yourself since it's realistic. Quick reflexes and strategy and some running for your life to get revenge later.

I would try to watch but my connection isn't nearly good enough for live streaming so hopefully he uploads it to Youtube later. He has a new Channel for that now.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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LoL ah now i understand. :)

The problem with live streams from Twitch for instance is that it can be quit slow with caching the video, which makes it annoying to watch. I have seen this happen with streams from D3, but they can save the video on their Twitch channel so that people can watch them later. But from what i understood Gopher does not know yet how that can be done?
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:LoL ah now i understand. :)

The problem with live streams from Twitch for instance is that it can be quit slow with caching the video, which makes it annoying to watch. I have seen this happen with streams from D3, but they can save the video on their Twitch channel so that people can watch them later. But from what i understood Gopher does not know yet how that can be done?
I don't know about saving it on Twitch but he's uploaded the videos on his new Youtube channel. I've watched them, but I was very disappointed in his attitude and I'm going to say why I felt that way because it annoyed me so much, and to be honest was unexpected from him.

I don't care if he likes the game or not, or care if he continues to play it, but I was just put off by his childish attitude. I know there are a lot of other people who upload game videos who are attention seekers, or rage and behave like morons, and I've seen most of them. I just didn't expect it in this case.

Some complaints: The graphics are below par, 15 minutes of whining about the controls (not an exaggeration), characters don't have lip synch, load screens are too fast to read the infos :shock: etc, . The game is an rpg, but he barely listened to the NPC's and then complained he had no idea what was going on.

The game is made by a small Japanese studio, who never intended to release their games on PC until there was a petition, and they even say it's best played with a controller, but many people use the keyboard successfully without having a 15 minute meltdown over it. I can't imagine trying to use two key combos when I want to parry or shield bash (guard break) or perform combos in combat.

I haven't personally tried the game with the keyboard as there are too many different combinations...ie combos in combat and other stuff and I find it much easier and precise with the controller. Gopher has a controller but wouldn't even entertain the idea of trying it, which would have made watching a better experience than all the complaining.

One thing I cannot understand is he didn't like the online features...ie messages left by players, ghost images of other players, being able to summon help or alternatively be summoned to help others, etc, etc because it breaks "immersion." :hang: (It is possible to play offline and not have those things.) Yet contradicting himself all the while asking for, and reading hints on the stream chat. He says it not a suitable game for a Let's Play...so why are there tons of others doing it?

Gopher should stick to what he knows and not try to branch out.

This is the kind of "PC Elite" thing that gets people, including myself, annoyed. ;-(( The graphics before gameplay mentality is especially grating. This is why games are being dumbed down. Too much spent of making them look pretty then nothing is left in the budget for actual content.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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