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[Styles]

So will we be getting any official gameplay footage? Or will the off-screen recordings be the only thing we get?

 

[Jombie]

Any chance of an easy mode?

Yeah, magic.

 

[Mandelbo]

Any chance of an easy mode? They can call it chicken shit or something.

I wouldn't hold out any hopes for that. Out of interest, how much have you played of the souls games? I wouldn't call them "controller throwing hard" - more than anything, all you need is patience to have fun with them. The "prepare to die" slogan the games have paints them somewhat in a bad light.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

From what we know, it's still interconnected; Moreover Bloodborne had warping too. You had to go through hunters dream, alright, but was it ever confirmed the safe place in this one was not Nexus-like ?

Yeah, I haven't seen that anywhere yet. Would be very disappointing though if they used the Nexus system again, so I hope that's not true.

 

[SolarMystic]

Yeah, magic.

I'll start practicing my card tricks then!

I wouldn't hold out any hopes for that. Out of interest, how much have you played of the souls games? I wouldn't call them "controller throwing hard" - more than anything, all you need is patience to have fun with them. The "prepare to die" slogan the games have paints them somewhat in a bad light.

I played through some of Demons Souls. Never finished it though as it just made me mad most of the time. Other than the difficulty I really enjoyed the game.

I'll probably give Bloodborne a try at least when I get my ps4. My friend owns it so I can try it without regret. From what I have seen of Dark Souls 1 & 2, the series only got more difficult? If Dark Souls 3 tones the difficulty back down to demon souls/dark souls 1, I may try it.

Just wished there was a chicken shit mode for the wimps out there like me that love everything about the games, minus the difficulty.

 

[Mandelbo]

From what we know, it's still interconnected; Moreover Bloodborne had warping too. You had to go through hunters dream, alright, but was it ever confirmed the safe place in this one was not Nexus-like ?

I believe that Miyazaki said there wouldn't be a "hub area" in an interview soon after the game was announced, but I can't find a source with the whole interview. I'll edit this if I find it.

I played through some of Demons Souls. Never finished it though as it just made me mad most of the time. Other than the difficulty I really enjoyed the game.

I'll probably give Bloodborne a try at least when I get my ps4. My friend owns it so I can try it without regret. From what I have seen of Dark Souls 1 & 2, the series only got more difficult? If Dark Souls 3 tones the difficulty back down to demon souls/dark souls 1, I may try it.

Just wished there was a chicken shit mode for the wimps out there like me that love everything about the games, minus the difficulty.

There are certainly some frustrating moments in DeS, that's for sure! imo, DeS is the least refined of the series, which is understandable because it's the first one. World Tendency for instance is a really interesting idea that's not implemented as well as it could be, and having your health sliced in half when you die in human form isn't exactly motivating for someone playing through for the first time, even if there are numerous benefits to being in soul form. I don't believe the games get harder as they go on - there are sections in all of them that are irritating to say the least, but on there isn't any real increase in difficulty throughout. Really, the first souls game you play will be the hardest because you have to get used to how it plays on top of the other stuff. I'd recommend giving one of the Dark Souls games a try, since they're both relatively cheap now.

 

[Jombie]

Yeah, I haven't seen that anywhere yet. Would be very disappointing though if they used the Nexus system again, so I hope that's not true.

No disconnected hub, if it has one it will be like Firelink Shrine.

 

[Srey Plaughtered]

No disconnected hub, if it has one it will be like Firelink Shrine.

I think DaveControl did an interview with Miyazaki, Big M said it's going to be more like BB/Demons.

 

[B-Genius]

There is so much art hidden behind their lack of technical skill. Perhaps the profit from DS3 will allow them to finally hire some tech savvy programmers to bring the most out of their art. They're not using anything close to the full capabilities consoles/PC. Turn that geometry up, shaders and 4K textures out the wazoo, physics, particles particles particles, and lighting that will make us praise the sun.

True, they've never appeared to be technical masters, but just because the tech is out there doesn't mean they should be obliged to implement it.
From doesn't seem to quite have the resources or income (yet) to spend willy-nilly on engine upgrades, especially when there's so much new stuff to learn and so many staff to train and bring up to speed on it all.
You can't just bring in savvy programmers and expect all the graphical/technical issues to be fixed.

Besides, along with the things you've mentioned (geometry, shaders, 4K textures, physics, particles, lighting), think of how much other stuff is going on behind the scenes...
There are potentially hundreds of pieces of equipment available to mix and match at any time.
They are each beautifully designed and carefully crafted, but also have strict limits and specifications to avoid spiking.
Environments that bend and fold in on themselves, that then need to be connected seamlessly with other environments.
(This brings extra LOD/loading considerations for when you can see other areas from a distance.)
Think about the number of weaker enemies that can be on-screen at once (something they increased to good effect in Bloodborne, and will no doubt push in DS3).
If you start throwing around extra geo and 4K textures where they're not necessarily needed, you're going to end up with an awful lot of chug (and I don't mean Estus).

I can see that you're optimistic/enthusiastic, so I'm not having a go here.
Just trying to help people understand.

With all of that said, I'm sure From are constantly considering new options and approaches, and I'm sure they'll be able to wow us from both a graphical and gameplay standpoint beyond the Souls series.
Just don't expect NaughtyDog/Ready At Dawn levels of freedom and capacity, because that sort of fidelity is probably a stretch goal that's far beyond their initial concerns.

 

[Trakan]

Same end result, but that's interesting.



So your point is, From designed the world around getting the ability to warp, then added more convenient bonfires after you acquire that ability. Yet this discounts my opinion?

I don't think you thought this through.

BB's world was interconnected like DS1 and had warping from the start. I'm saying warping itself has nothing to do with how well From can design a gameworld. DS2 was plagued with design issues. They had to cut content and start the game from scratch. I don't think warping had anything to do with how the gameworld was actually created. As for my comment on DS1, if it was so brilliantly interwoven like people claim with shortcuts everywhere, why would they patch in so many warpable bonfires? It's because they realized not having them was a mistake. As I said before, it shouldn't require you backtracking through game areas to get to the area you actually want to go to.

 

[Zaventem]

Gracious! From is master of monster and environment design. I enjoy the atmosphere and anticipation of the next locale/creature more than the gameplay.

There is so much art hidden behind their lack of technical skill. Perhaps the profit from DS3 will allow them to finally hire some tech savvy programmers to bring the most out of their art. They're not using anything close to the full capabilities consoles/PC. Turn that geometry up, shaders and 4K textures out the wazoo, physics, particles particles particles, and lighting that will make us praise the sun.

Like 99% of developers also making games for consoles, they build games with console restrictions in mind firstly. All these "PC" developers don't even deliver on what you're asking for and you expect a Japanese dev to do it?

 

[antennaehead]

From what we know, it's still interconnected; Moreover Bloodborne had warping too. You had to go through hunters dream, alright, but was it ever confirmed the safe place in this one was not Nexus-like ?

It might be connected, but with warping what is the point? Bloodborne is an example of that, like there was a connection between Yahar'gul and Old Yharnam, but no reason to use it - you just warped to your destination and that's it.

In Dark Souls 1, without warping, you had to actually use all of those shortcuts and connections to travel between different locations. And the world was designed around it.

 

[Shin Kojima]

Any chance of an easy mode? They can call it chicken shit or something.

All these games have easy modes in the form of co-op. In general the bosses aren't equipped very well to handle more than one target.

Alternatively you can use magic.

 

[Dictator93]

All these games have easy modes in the form of co-op. In general the bosses aren't equipped very well to handle more than one target.

Alternatively you can use magic.

I always felt le mac in DkS1 was not exactly easy. At least the lightning spels were in general not well made for anumber of PvE situations.

 

[HK-47]

I think DaveControl did an interview with Miyazaki, Big M said it's going to be more like BB/Demons.

Bleh to that.

 

[HK-47]

I always felt le mac in DkS1 was not exactly easy. At least the lightning spels were in general not well made for anumber of PvE situations.

Sorcery is the magic you want if you wanna blow up the game. There is a reason its the standard for all bosses speedruns. But pyro is also borked as well and any character can use it, since pyromancies scale off upgrades to the glove instead of stats.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

I love the art style of these games. Enjoy watching other people play them, as I don't have the patience for a controller throwing hard experience.

Any chance of an easy mode? They can call it chicken shit or something.

Magic characters and summoning online players is the "less hard mode"

 

[EatChildren]

I played through some of Demons Souls. Never finished it though as it just made me mad most of the time. Other than the difficulty I really enjoyed the game.

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult. If anything, I'd probably say Demon's is the hardest, noticeably so, as it's the roughest and offers fewer safety nets for your failure. The series gets far more forgiving in discoverable shortcuts between bosses a bonfires, and accessibility of restocking your health and supplies. Demon's often is much more of a slog, as there's no instant, easy way to recover health resources and there's some devilish stretches to bosses.

Dark is pretty hard though. Fair hard, but hard.

Dark Souls 2 is much easier than both its predecessors, easier to learn the enemy movements due to how similar many of them are, and easier to break with either magic or a buffed up sword and shield dude.

Bloodborne too, in retrospect, is easier than Demon's and Dark 1 for most part. It has it's bone crushing moments, but it's the only one where I've managed to beat the last two bosses back-to-back without dying. So there's that.

 

[HK-47]

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult. If anything, I'd probably say Demon's is the hardest, noticeably so, as it's the roughest and offers fewer safety nets for your failure. The series gets far more forgiving in discoverable shortcuts between bosses a bonfires, and accessibility of restocking your health and supplies. Demon's often is much more of a slog, as there's no instant, easy way to recover health resources and there's some devilish stretches to bosses.

Dark is pretty hard though. Fair hard, but hard.

Dark Souls 2 is much easier than both its predecessors, easier to learn the enemy movements due to how similar many of them are, and easier to break with either magic or a buffed up sword and shield dude.

Bloodborne too, in retrospect, is easier than Demon's and Dark 1 for most part. It has it's bone crushing moments, but it's the only one where I've managed to beat the last two bosses back-to-back without dying. So there's that.

Well thats because they are both chumps. Allant is the only non chump final boss in the series, who isnt weak to parries or just straight easy.

 

[Shin Kojima]

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult. If anything, I'd probably say Demon's is the hardest, noticeably so, as it's the roughest and offers fewer safety nets for your failure. The series gets far more forgiving in discoverable shortcuts between bosses a bonfires, and accessibility of restocking your health and supplies. Demon's often is much more of a slog, as there's no instant, easy way to recover health resources and there's some devilish stretches to bosses.

Dark is pretty hard though. Fair hard, but hard.

Dark Souls 2 is much easier than both its predecessors, easier to learn the enemy movements due to how similar many of them are, and easier to break with either magic or a buffed up sword and shield dude.

Bloodborne too, in retrospect, is easier than Demon's and Dark 1 for most part. It has it's bone crushing moments, but it's the only one where I've managed to beat the last two bosses back-to-back without dying. So there's that.

I didn't really have problems doing a sl1 run in Dark Souls 1 and 2 but I'm really struggling on some bosses in Bloodborne on my lvl4 run. It definitely feels harder to me without levelling at least. Didn't notice much difference on my normal runs.

 

[EatChildren]

Bloodborne allowed me to transfer a lot of my character action game skills so that's probably why I had an easier time with it. Though fuck Ebrietas.

Well thats because they are both chumps. Allant is the only non chump final boss in the series, who isnt weak to parries or just straight easy.

True that.

 

[KingBroly]

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult. If anything, I'd probably say Demon's is the hardest, noticeably so, as it's the roughest and offers fewer safety nets for your failure. The series gets far more forgiving in discoverable shortcuts between bosses a bonfires, and accessibility of restocking your health and supplies. Demon's often is much more of a slog, as there's no instant, easy way to recover health resources and there's some devilish stretches to bosses.

Dark is pretty hard though. Fair hard, but hard.

Dark Souls 2 is much easier than both its predecessors, easier to learn the enemy movements due to how similar many of them are, and easier to break with either magic or a buffed up sword and shield dude.

Bloodborne too, in retrospect, is easier than Demon's and Dark 1 for most part. It has it's bone crushing moments, but it's the only one where I've managed to beat the last two bosses back-to-back without dying. So there's that.

Demon's Souls, by contrast, gives you A LOT of healing items to the point where it's damn near infinite, which makes the game easier than Dark Souls to me.

 

[HK-47]

I didn't really have problems doing a sl1 run in Dark Souls 1 and 2 but I'm really struggling on some bosses in Bloodborne on my lvl4 run. It definitely feels harder to me without levelling at least. Didn't notice much difference on my normal runs.

Souls has more tools to help mitigate things I feel. Like non scaling elemental weapon upgrades that just add a shit ton of damage for no stat investment and abundant consumable weapon buffs.

 

[spliced]

Listening to that Davecontrollive I agree with him about redundant shortcuts not being very good, I found that they did that in Bloodborne. It's like they went with the idea that if some shortcuts are good more must be better. But finding pointless shortcuts isn't all that exciting, and in the case of the Old Yarnam-Yahargul shortcut it was disappointing. It's not a huge problem or anything but It's one of the reasons I like DS1's level design more.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

It might be connected, but with warping what is the point? Bloodborne is an example of that, like there was a connection between Yahar'gul and Old Yharnam, but no reason to use it - you just warped to your destination and that's it.

In Dark Souls 1, without warping, you had to actually use all of those shortcuts and connections to travel between different locations. And the world was designed around it.

Dark Souls 1 had warping...

 

[strafer]

Dark Souls 1 had warping...

dat quality

 

[HK-47]

Dark Souls 1 had warping...

Yeah you just had to get halfway through the game first.

 

[Renekton]

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult.

It might be playstyle-specific, I died to vicar Amelia more times than any Souls boss, somehow my friend cruises past her but had an O&S wall.

 

[Red Liquorice]

dat quality

That's the x-rated Japanese version, blurred for your safety.

 

[Dascu]

Listening to that Davecontrollive I agree with him about redundant shortcuts not being very good, I found that they did that in Bloodborne. It's like they went with the idea that if some shortcuts are good more must be better. But finding pointless shortcuts isn't all that exciting, and in the case of the Old Yarnam-Yahargul shortcut it was disappointing. It's not a huge problem or anything but It's one of the reasons I like DS1's level design more.

I don't think Bloodborne's world design was very good, to be honest. First of all, the latter areas in BB were accessed via warp/teleports and were basically single-run affairs where there is no reason to revisit after beating the boss. Second, there are shortcuts but they barely matter. Who cares if Forbidden Woods links back to Central Yharnam? I guess it's a little a-ha moment but it doesn't really make a lot of sense nor is it ever useful in practical terms. Same goes for Old Yharnam to Yahargul.

The only really nice areas, from an interconnected world aspect, are Central Yharnam and Cathedral Ward. All the other zones are warped to, are dead-ends and generally have no reason for a revisit or any hidden secrets. You go there, beat the boss and that's it.

I feel that DS1's areas, and even some areas in DS2, have more interesting designs that incentivize exploration, revisiting and running through them instead of using teleports.

Spoiler

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Bloodborne is a good game but a bad Dark Souls game.

 

[HK-47]

I don't think Bloodborne's world design was very good, to be honest. First of all, the latter areas in BB were accessed via warp/teleports and were basically single-run affairs where there is no reason to revisit after beating the boss. Second, there are shortcuts but they barely matter. Who cares if Forbidden Woods links back to Central Yharnam? I guess it's a little a-ha moment but it doesn't really make a lot of sense nor is it ever useful in practical terms. Same goes for Old Yharnam to Yahargul.

The only really nice areas, from an interconnected world aspect, are Central Yharnam and Cathedral Ward. All the other zones are warped to, are dead-ends and generally have no reason for a revisit or any hidden secrets. You go there, beat the boss and that's it.

I feel that DS1's areas, and even some areas in DS2, have more interesting designs that incentivize exploration, revisiting and running through them instead of using teleports.

Well Souls in general rewards exploration more. One of the big complaints about BB was that loot was terrible.

 

[I am the Law]

IGN just put up 16 minutes of demo footage, waiting for youtube links
http://www.ign.com/videos/2015/08/05/16-minutes-of-dark-souls-3-gameplay-gamescom-2015

My right ear is loving this.

 

[Srey Plaughtered]

Bleh to that.

At least we still get the interconnected world from Dark 1.

Dark Souls 1 had warping...

Well, you had to earn the right to warp so there's that. That made you appreciate it instead of taking it for granted from the get go.

 

[Renekton]

I don't think Bloodborne's world design was very good, to be honest. First of all, the latter areas in BB were accessed via warp/teleports and were basically single-run affairs where there is no reason to revisit after beating the boss. Second, there are shortcuts but they barely matter. Who cares if Forbidden Woods links back to Central Yharnam? I guess it's a little a-ha moment but it doesn't really make a lot of sense nor is it ever useful in practical terms. Same goes for Old Yharnam to Yahargul.

BB levels are tight and fat-free.

What you actually want is larger size maps which DS1 has.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Dark Souls 1 had warping...

As soon as you get warping dark souls level designs becomes linear paths .....

 

[Dascu]

BB levels are tight and fat-free.

What you actually want is larger size maps which DS1 has.

I know. It's a different approach. It's just that personally, that after early interviews about how the BB world is all inter-connected and A-Team/Miyazaki is doing the design, I had some different expectations about the game. Not a flaw, just an observation. It made me think on whether it was really an issue of level design (which I do think it is) or if it was because it had warping from the start, and if I would've liked it better without warping (hard to say).

 

[Melchiah]

Outside of Ebrietas and Watchdog and the chalice dungeons with things like cut health I dont think anything really measure up to the DLC bosses from either Dark Souls, especially once you get into ng+. Of course that only in my opinion but I have beaten all the bosses in all the games. Maybe it will be a similar story with the BB DLC. Usually the main game bosses have horrible weaknesses and low defenses comparably.

I'd also put Abhorrent Beast, Pthumerian Descendant, and Martyr Logarius into the category, maybe Vicar Amelia, Blood-starved Beast and Headless Bloodletting Beast as well. None of those were in the Defiled chalice. BSB is pretty easy for me now, but together with Amelia they're the common roadblocks on the first playthrough.

BTW, wasn't the DS2 expansion criticized for increasing the difficulty by having multiple enemies as bosses? If so, I hope the BB expansion and DS3 won't go the same route.

In the Dark Souls games, as well as Demon's Souls, bosses typically aren't nearly as aggressive as they are in Bloodborne. The quicker pace of battles necessitated the dedicated healing button, whereas here you usually have a little more time, so sorting through your items isn't really a burden especially if you only have a couple of items in your quick slots. Realistically you usually won't need more than a few items for each boss fight anyway, so I'm sure you'll get used to it when you start playing!

Possibly, and hopefully, but the DS3 videos point to a BB-like quicker pace. I'm sure it'll be manageable, but there's no question about it that it would be better with separated healing. I guess I'm just worried it'll be a change, that makes me love the game less.

 

[Renekton]

I know. It's a different approach. It's just that personally, that after early interviews about how the BB world is all inter-connected and A-Team/Miyazaki is doing the design, I had some different expectations about the game. Not a flaw, just an observation. It made me think on whether it was really an issue of level design (which I do think it is) or if it was because it had warping from the start, and if I would've liked it better without warping (hard to say).

I believe for you it's just an issue of quantity and scale, which is a likely technical limitation this gen (thanks AMD).

In terms of discovery and level design, it does reward exploration e.g. the way to the final blood rock or the optional castle.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

dat quality

Haha, I know, right?

Yeah you just had to get halfway through the game first.

Dependent on route/gift chosen you could get it very early.

Well, you had to earn the right to warp so there's that. That made you appreciate it instead of taking it for granted from the get go.

I wouldn't mind earning it again, tbh my preferred system would be something like Dark Souls 2 with one slight mod, you can warp to any bonfire but only after you get the feather.

As soon as you get warping dark souls level designs becomes linear paths .....

I see people complaining about this a lot but how else were the paths going to end?

 

[TheCongressman1]

I see people complaining about this a lot but how else were the paths going to end?

Looping back to another area like all the other connections in the game?

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Looping back to another area like all the other connections in the game?

That... doesn't work after a certain point. Not in a believable fashion anyway.

 

[impact]

Matchmaking: Dedicated Servers, but no cross-platform. More details were not given.

lmfao, I'll believe it when I see it.

Just tell me soul memory and adaptability are gone. The game will be 10x better than DS2 from that alone.

 

[HK-47]

Haha, I know, right?



Dependent on route/gift chosen you could get it very early.



I wouldn't mind earning it again, tbh my preferred system would be something like Dark Souls 2 with one slight mod, you can warp to any bonfire but only after you get the feather.



I see people complaining about this a lot but how else were the paths going to end?

Still gotta ring both bells and get through sens and anor londo. And the people who used the master key to get to blighttown early had to face both new londo (that alone turned lots of people back upstairs) and then low level blighttown, which is miserable it you arent going straight for Quelaag. This also assumes they would directly to the objectives. They wouldnt fuck about in the woods, they skip lower undead burg and the sewers (not likely), they didnt try to beat any optional minibosses like the hydra or Havel.

 

[SolarMystic]

There are certainly some frustrating moments in DeS, that's for sure! imo, DeS is the least refined of the series, which is understandable because it's the first one. World Tendency for instance is a really interesting idea that's not implemented as well as it could be, and having your health sliced in half when you die in human form isn't exactly motivating for someone playing through for the first time, even if there are numerous benefits to being in soul form. I don't believe the games get harder as they go on - there are sections in all of them that are irritating to say the least, but on there isn't any real increase in difficulty throughout. Really, the first souls game you play will be the hardest because you have to get used to how it plays on top of the other stuff. I'd recommend giving one of the Dark Souls games a try, since they're both relatively cheap now.

I'll have to give them a go then. Try and see if I can get hooked and keep at it.

I don't agree with the notion that the series got more difficult. If anything, I'd probably say Demon's is the hardest, noticeably so, as it's the roughest and offers fewer safety nets for your failure. The series gets far more forgiving in discoverable shortcuts between bosses a bonfires, and accessibility of restocking your health and supplies. Demon's often is much more of a slog, as there's no instant, easy way to recover health resources and there's some devilish stretches to bosses.

Dark is pretty hard though. Fair hard, but hard.

Dark Souls 2 is much easier than both its predecessors, easier to learn the enemy movements due to how similar many of them are, and easier to break with either magic or a buffed up sword and shield dude.

Bloodborne too, in retrospect, is easier than Demon's and Dark 1 for most part. It has it's bone crushing moments, but it's the only one where I've managed to beat the last two bosses back-to-back without dying. So there's that.

So Dark Souls 2 would be a good jumping in point then? I've got an Xbox One so I can play the remaster. I think I have a couple friends who play it as well so they could even help with co op.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Still gotta ring both bells and get through sens and anor londo. And the people who used the master key to get to blighttown early had to face both new londo (that alone turned lots of people back upstairs) and then low level blighttown, which is miserable it you arent going straight for Quelaag. This also assumes they would directly to the objectives. They wouldnt fuck about in the woods, they skip lower undead burg and the sewers (not likely), they didnt try to beat any optional minibosses like the hydra or Havel.

So... it can be done then?

 

[HK-47]

I'd also put Abhorrent Beast, Pthumerian Descendant, and Martyr Logarius into the category, maybe Vicar Amelia, Blood-starved Beast and Headless Bloodletting Beast as well. None of those were in the Defiled chalice. BSB is pretty easy for me now, but together with Amelia they're the common roadblocks on the first playthrough.

BTW, wasn't the DS2 expansion criticized for increasing the difficulty by having multiple enemies as bosses? If so, I hope the BB expansion and DS3 won't go the same route.





Possibly, and hopefully, but the DS3 videos point to a BB-like quicker pace. I'm sure it'll be manageable, but there's no question about it that it would be better with separated healing. I guess I'm just worried it'll be a change, that makes me love the game less.

The first DLC had two and the third had one. I like all of them except for one just reusing another boss twice. The DLC is just difficult in general. Nothing to do with the bosses even (though they are punishing, especially on ng+). The hardest parts are the coop areas if you do them solo.

 

[HK-47]

So... it can be done then?

Unless you are reading a guide, no. Obviously you can speedrun it but most people arent speedrunning the game the first time through (which sort of requires you to know where the fuck you are going). Hell many people probably had 1 as their first souls game and didnt know shit. Having the master key wont speed up a new player that much. Its more likely to get them killed repeatedly in blighttown, to drakes or to havel.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Unless you are reading a guide, no. Obviously you can speedrun it but most people arent speedrunning the game the first time through (which sort of requires you to know where the fuck you are going). Hell many people probably had 1 as their first souls game and didnt know shit. Having the master key wont speed up a new player that much. Its more likely to get them killed repeatedly in blighttown, to drakes or to havel.

It did when I first played. Completely skipped Gaping Dragon and Moonlight Butterfly. Didn't wind up going through Blighttown the "proper" way until my fourth time through.

 

[Melchiah]

The first DLC had two and the third had one. I like all of them except for one just reusing another boss twice. The DLC is just difficult in general. Nothing to do with the bosses even (though they are punishing, especially on ng+). The hardest parts are the coop areas if you do them solo.

Huh, that sounds like a huge negative point for a solo player like me. I played BB through in offline mode, and I'd like to do so with the expansion as well.

 

[Backfoggen]

Did they finally redo some of the item icons? I don't wanna see that shitty Estus Flask icon in 2016.