• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

FYI: Demon's Souls free on US PS+ starting tomorrow

J

Joe White

Member
Vitacat said:
Hmm, this game is quite enjoyable so far. I like it.

Oddly, I played Dark Souls a few months ago for a couple of hours and... did not enjoy it. Maybe it was meant to be played by players who had already mastered Demon's Souls.
Click to expand...

I think it's more about which one you play first. I played the Demon's Souls first about half way through and didn't quite enjoy it. But then came the Dark Souls that fixed about all the things I hated in DeS (healing items, carry weight -> vanishing pickups, disconnected world etc.), and that has been one of my favorite game for the past 18 months.

And after finishing Dark about five times, I went back to DeS couple month ago to finish my quest in it. I still hated the carry weight -> vanishing pickups/being forced to drop arrows just to pick up something, how the game handled healing items, how clumsy combat and my character felt compared to the similar one in Dark and how the UI didn't show poison/bleed buildup. But those didn't stop me completing my playthru and the Old Monk alone made my comeback worth it. It truly is intense and fun fight (although endless supply of healing items did make it little unfair fight for the monk). But was there better strategy on that boring Blue Dragon fight other than just pumping about 600 arrows on it?
 
P

Psycho_Mantis

Banned
Joe White said:
I think it's more about which one you play first. I played the Demon's Souls first about half way through and didn't quite enjoy it. But then came the Dark Souls that fixed about all the things I hated in DeS (healing items, carry weight -> vanishing pickups, disconnected world etc.), and that has been one of my favorite game for the past 18 months.

And after finishing Dark about five times, I went back to DeS couple month ago to finish my quest in it. I still hated the carry weight -> vanishing pickups/being forced to drop arrows just to pick up something, how the game handled healing items, how clumsy combat and my character felt compared to the similar one in Dark and how the UI didn't show poison/bleed buildup. But those didn't stop me completing my playthru and the Old Monk alone made my comeback worth it. It truly is intense and fun fight (although endless supply of healing items did make it little unfair fight for the monk). But was there better strategy on that boring Blue Dragon fight other than just pumping about 600 arrows on it?
Click to expand...

Clumsy combat? In what way?

The UI not showing bleed and poison is a good thing imo. It validates bleed and poison builds in pvp because now in dark souls when people are near bleed they just run away.

Blue dragon is an optional boss fight and no. If you want to kill dragons in this game you gotta shoot arrows in them.
 
J

Joe White

Member
Pyscho_Mantis said:
Clumsy combat? In what way?

The UI not showing bleed and poison is a good thing imo. It validates bleed and poison builds in pvp because now in dark souls when people are near bleed they just run away.

Blue dragon is an optional boss fight and no. If you want to kill dragons in this game you gotta shoot arrows in them.
Click to expand...

Just how it felt compared to combat in Dark. It could easily be just my personal experience where my skills in Dark didn't directly transfer to DeS, but in Dark I felt more in control; movement and backstabbing felt easier and there seemed to be more options in situations, for example kicking enemies shields up, plunging on top of them or rushing them.

And I really just wanted to see my poison buildup in the UI during that poisonous swamp part. I haven't been on the invading side in PvP, so I can't really comment on that. But while being the one that is invaded, I feel that it's a good thing to see those bars. Never felt need to run away, but often stopped blocking and started dodging the attacks.

During that Blue Dragon encounter (and Storm King), I would have preferred to have an option to handle the encounter with just melee weapons instead of bows.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
Joe White said:
During that Blue Dragon encounter (and Storm King), I would have preferred to have an option to handle the encounter with just melee weapons instead of bows.
Click to expand...

Blue Dragon is optional.

The Storm King can be killed with the Stormraider (I think that's what it's called) -- it's like a mini-game boss. You shouldn't really use Bows.

However the biggest problem with Demon's Souls is that Magic is completely broken and suits nearly every situation.

Apart from that, I found parrying in Dark Souls and Demon's Souls to be as easy as each other, however enemies have different timings on their attacks. Dark Souls is faster for sure, and most enemies can't be parried the same way. In Demon's Souls, once you can parry a skeleton and regular dudes, nothing that attacks you melee will give you any trouble.

I think you'll find that Demon's Souls is certainly easier than Dark Souls when you know where to go.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Lucent

Lucent

Member
I think it's funny how I had such a hard time with Demons Souls when I played it a few years ago. I never finished it. Then I got Dark Souls. It was still hard but I actually kept playing and finished it.

Now that this went up on PS+ yesterday, I went and started a new game and it's been a cake walk so far. Beat the first boss but still it was no problem and a lot easier than when I was new to the Souls games. Funny how useless that boss is once you wittle him down.
 
P

patsu

Member
I played Demon's Souls yesterday back-to-back with Dark Souls. The former has noticeably better art direction, atmosphere, and combat AI.
 
V

vilmer_

Member
I was watching some streams on twitch of people new to the game and it's been great lol. I haven't played in a while, but I think I'm going to do a fresh play through again.
 
R

Ricker

Member
Raoh said:
Odd, PSN version is not able to find my PS3 save file.
Click to expand...

Wait,what you quoted says it can and you just tried and it can't...? I asked this question 7 pages ago ;) and didn't get an answer..I dont want to download 8 GB to find out I have to start from scratch...
 
E

Electivirus

Member
Heard a bunch of great things about the game, so I decided to give it a shot. Tried it out for a few hours last night, and... yeah, it is not for me. Being ambushed by enemies hiding around corners, lack of pausing, and generally clunky controls are not my idea of fun. It's far too frustrating and unforgiving a game for me to actually enjoy it.

I had a feeling I probably wouldn't enjoy it, given what I generally prefer in my games, but ah well.
 
J

Jb

Member
Electivirus said:
Heard a bunch of great things about the game, so I decided to give it a shot. Tried it out for a few hours last night, and... yeah, it is not for me. Being ambushed by enemies hiding around corners, lack of pausing, and generally clunky controls are not my idea of fun. It's far too frustrating and unforgiving a game for me to actually enjoy it.

I had a feeling I probably wouldn't enjoy it, given what I generally prefer in my games, but ah well.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered what people meant when they talk about clunky controls for the Souls game. On the other contrary I find the movement and camera to be extremely fluid and responsive.
 
P

patsu

Member
Ricker said:
Wait,what you quoted says it can and you just tried and it can't...? I asked this question 7 pages ago ;) and didn't get an answer..I dont want to download 8 GB to find out I have to start from scratch...
Click to expand...

I downloaded the game last night. It read my save file without any issue.
 
A

A.R.K

Member
patsu said:
I played Demon's Souls yesterday back-to-back with Dark Souls. The former has noticeably better art direction, atmosphere, and combat AI.
Click to expand...

Demons >>> Dark

I loved Demon's souls and everything about it. Dark Souls I purchased day 1 and got bored right off the bat. I still have to finish it when I get time but its not as addictive to me as Demon's soul was, something in DarkS is missing that made Demons so special. I hope we get a true sequel to Demon's Soul on PS4. Do it Sony!
 
M

Mileena

Banned
A.R.K said:
Demons >>> Dark

I loved Demon's souls and everything about it. Dark Souls I purchased day 1 and got bored right off the bat. I still have to finish it when I get time but its not as addictive to me as Demon's soul was, something in DarkS is missing that made Demons so special. I hope we get a true sequel to Demon's Soul on PS4. Do it Sony!
Click to expand...

I don't even know what the fuck I'm reading anymore. They're not so different that you'd LOVE one and just be instantly bored with the other. Even if Dark Souls has much better combat, it all boils down to whether you prefer a hub or an open world. Dark's world is much superior to the nexus, so Dark wins for me. Anyone who loves one game and not the other is trying to be a Souls hipster.
 
L

lunlunqq

Member
I hope they would continue to do those server-forced PWWT and and PBWT events. I just missed one weapon on PWWT to platinum it when it first came out. I'm not sure if I want re-start the whole thing again.
 
O

Ocaso

Member
H_Prestige said:
Anyone want to help with 4-2? I'm SL 56.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, how do people assign these numbers? Somewhere in the UI?

Jay-B said:
I've always wondered what people meant when they talk about clunky controls for the Souls game. On the other contrary I find the movement and camera to be extremely fluid and responsive.
Click to expand...

I suspect they mean, for example, the slow sword swings, the ineffectual standing dodge, the ability to fall off ledges with nary a warning. Things like that. They're deliberate design decisions, but not necessarily ones that correlate with gamer enjoyment.

For my part, this will be my third attempt at "getting" Demon's Souls. I'd played before with two different characters, several hours each, reaching various checkpoints and bosses, but never actually enjoying the trip. I'm now two hours into my third attempt and, though I hesitate to say I'm having fun, I'm doing well enough that I'm compelled to continue playing. We'll see how that goes.
 
D

Drago

Member
Downloaded this today but I probably won't get around to it for a while, gonna try to focus on other games first. Hopefully I can start a playthrough by May.

On average, how long is the game to beat?
 
H

Himself

Member
Mileena said:
I don't even know what the fuck I'm reading anymore. They're not so different that you'd LOVE one and just be instantly bored with the other. Even if Dark Souls has much better combat, it all boils down to whether you prefer a hub or an open world. Dark's world is much superior to the nexus, so Dark wins for me. Anyone who loves one game and not the other is trying to be a Souls hipster.
Click to expand...

Eh, not necessarily. It took me three attempts over the course of about 6 months to just get into Dark Souls and I still haven't finished it, for valid reasons (thanks to the open world design the level design is weaker, too many unnecessary meandering pathways leading to way too much backtracking for the sake of an open world, less menacing atmosphere, less interesting bosses and enemies in general, far too many weak areas, too many annoying areas I have no urge to return to, etc). As time goes on, i think Demon's is superior enough to Dark that I don't really see myself ever finishing Dark.
 
B

Booshka

Member
Drago said:
Downloaded this today but I probably won't get around to it for a while, gonna try to focus on other games first. Hopefully I can start a playthrough by May.

On average, how long is the game to beat?
Click to expand...

40-80 hours for your first playthrough depending on how quickly you pick up the mechanics and how much time you spend exploring and trying things out.
 
O

Ocaso

Member
MegaKungFuRadio said:
Not that I'm aware, it's just logical, assuming you start in 1-1, then the second archstone in the fourth area from that is 4-2.
Click to expand...

So I assume the areas are numbered clockwise from the first? I was under the impression the game could be played in a non-specific order.
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
Tried this out earlier, almost ragequit at the part where I got one-shotted by the boss... but kept going when I realized that was supposed to happen until I eventually beat the real first boss! Seems decent enough so far but unless there's something I'm missing it's certainly not the GOTYAY that I had previously heard people hype it up as. I did like the messages left around from other players though, it was pretty cool and helped me out in a lot of cases (except that guy who told me "it's safe" right in front of a hidden dragon, fuck you asshole) but there are still a lot more cheap deaths than I expected.
 
X

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Camjo-Z said:
Tried this out earlier, almost ragequit at the part where I got one-shotted by the boss... but kept going when I realized that was supposed to happen until I eventually beat the real first boss! Seems decent enough so far but unless there's something I'm missing it's certainly not the GOTYAY that I had previously heard people hype it up as. I did like the messages left around from other players though, it was pretty cool and helped me out in a lot of cases (except that guy who told me "it's safe" right in front of a hidden dragon, fuck you asshole) but there are still a lot more cheap deaths than I expected.
Click to expand...

If you are a ragequitter, you may not get along with this game. But just keep in mind, whenever you die, it is because of your actions.
 
R

Raoh

Member
Ricker said:
Wait,what you quoted says it can and you just tried and it can't...? I asked this question 7 pages ago ;) and didn't get an answer..I dont want to download 8 GB to find out I have to start from scratch...
Click to expand...

It's what I experienced last night. I launched the Playstation Plus download of Demon's Souls, before launching the game I made sure to re-download my Demon's Souls game save from my cloud saves (8/26/2012 roughly) to my local storage saves and when I launched the Demon's Souls game free from Playstation Plus as of 4/2/2013 it did not locate my previous save file created from a PS3 Blu Ray Disc copy of the game.


Would I start again? Sure I would I restarted so many games in the ps2 days its pretty much common to start over. But if this psn version can't recognize my ps3 copy its one of the reason I will sell my ps3 to get a ps4.
 
G

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
Audίoboxer;52324218 said:
Demons Souls > Dark Souls.

I really want Demons Souls 2.
Click to expand...

I liked Demon's over Dark too, much preferred the Hub world and choosing which level I thought I was ready for. I know this will sound weird, but Demon's Souls was exactly how I imagined a Dungeons & Dragons videogame would be back when I used to play the old paper and dice rpg. It was the game that sold me on the PS3.

Enjoy, newcomers!
 
T

Toki767

Member
Not sure I really want to continue playing. Beat the Tower Knight but not liking the art style other than the bosses.
 
R

Replicant

Member
Okay, tried the tutorial, ran into a boss, died instantly and got sent to Nexus. Too tired to play more so I stopped.

Not bad but I'm a bit bored of the setting. But will probably try again tomorrow.
 
R

Raoh

Member
Vorg said:
Are you sure your disc copy isn't european or asian? Save files aren't compatible and won't be picked up by a north american copy.
Click to expand...

U.S.

I'll try it again tonight. I might not have a choice but to start over, but not until I make a larger dent in my already large and still growing backlog.
 
T

The One Who Knocks

Member
Ocaso said:
So I assume the areas are numbered clockwise from the first? I was under the impression the game could be played in a non-specific order.
Click to expand...

It's an unofficial ordering. It just makes it easier to refer to specific segments of the game. You can play the game in any order you want (well, you have to progress through each specific world linearly [as in, you can't do 1-1 and skip straight to 1-3, you would have to do 1-1, 1-2, 1-3] but you can leave and go to another area whenever you want).
 
P

Persona86

Banned
Replicant said:
Okay, tried the tutorial, ran into a boss, died instantly and got sent to Nexus. Too tired to play more so I stopped.

Not bad but I'm a bit bored of the setting. But will probably try again tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Most people think it's a bit boring at the beginning, I even sold my game. But I tried again and once you get hooked, you will understand what all the hype was about, it's glorious when you finally get hooked.
 
T

The Lamp

Member
Persona86 said:
Most people think it's a bit boring at the beginning, I even sold my game. But I tried again and once you get hooked, you will understand what all the hype was about, it's glorious when you finally get hooked.
Click to expand...

With both games you HAVE to get through the first 3-5 hours to feel the REAL heat of the game. At that point it's soooogood.gif. It's awesome.
 
gioGAF

gioGAF

Member
I will download this later today so I can enjoy this masterpiece once more. I'm jealous of those who are playing it for the first time.

Dark Souls does not compare to Demon's Souls. I really can't understand how someone could say the combat in Dark Souls is better. I'm not going to get into the differences, but I'm confident that anyone who has spent a GREAT deal of time on both games will understand why combat, UI, online play and pacing, among other things, are much better in Demon's Souls.

The only thing people can say about Dark Souls is that they like the open world design better than the hub design. That is a valid preference.

In summation:
Demon's Souls >>>>> Dark Souls

Go download and play this game!
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
xxracerxx said:
If you are a ragequitter, you may not get along with this game. But just keep in mind, whenever you die, it is because of your actions.
Click to expand...

I'm not really a ragequitter, but I WAS going to play something else for a while if that boss was actually supposed to be fought, hehe. I have to disagree with your second statement though... just in the first level I played there's no way that I could have known that
a dragon would fly over the bridge and wreck my shit with fire breath.
Sure, you see it in the distance earlier, but it's sleeping - why would you expect it to come after you when you're not even close to it yet?
 
R

Raoh

Member
It gets even more weird, it now recognizes my old save file. Didn't do anything different, it just found it this time.
 
B

Booshka

Member
Camjo-Z said:
I'm not really a ragequitter, but I WAS going to play something else for a while if that boss was actually supposed to be fought, hehe. I have to disagree with your second statement though... just in the first level I played there's no way that I could have known that
a dragon would fly over the bridge and wreck my shit with fire breath.
Sure, you see it in the distance earlier, but it's sleeping - why would you expect it to come after you when you're not even close to it yet?
Click to expand...

All the bodies, dead horses and charred black spots on the bridge could have been a sign. A lot of the time there are visual cues to give you a hint of the dangers ahead. Not always of course, but pay attention to your environment, and the player messages/bloodstains and you will be a little more prepared.
 
I

ihearthawthats

Banned
Camjo-Z said:
I'm not really a ragequitter, but I WAS going to play something else for a while if that boss was actually supposed to be fought, hehe. I have to disagree with your second statement though... just in the first level I played there's no way that I could have known that
a dragon would fly over the bridge and wreck my shit with fire breath.
Sure, you see it in the distance earlier, but it's sleeping - why would you expect it to come after you when you're not even close to it yet?
Click to expand...
you can hear it, you can see it. i'm not even sure why you'd rush into a dozen enemies anyway. it's pretty common to pull one by one in such a situation, and if you do, you won't be overextended and have plenty of time to react. if that's not enough, read the messages.


lazy to multi-quote, but unless the combat gets significantly better, i'd have to say i like dark's better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is free to grab on PC
Event Platform 2
50
2K
knguyen replied
Minecraft Turns 15 Years - Sales and Freebie for Celebration
0
281
adamsapple replied
Star Wars: OutlawsWill be a Day One Release on Geforce Now | New Titles coming to the service
2
641
Draugoth replied
Sea of Thieves arrives on PS5 April 30th
2 3
108
7K
Havoc2049 replied
  • Locked
Microsoft have not started putting ABK games on Game Pass. Why? (Up: See post #3)
Business
5
1K
Heisenberg007 replied
Top Bottom