Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => Hardcore Gaming 101 => Topic started by: bucky on April 07, 2011, 07:17:08 PM
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I recently picked up Demon's Souls. I know I'm late to the party, but this is one of my favorite games in a long time. After playing this, it's kind of sad to say, but it has me totally disinterested in the Lords of Shadow DLC. As a Castlevania fan, it's making me almost bummed/ jealous that a 3D CV can't be more like this and totally awesome. (I say almost, because, I'm too busy enjoying Demon's Souls)
Any other fans here? Haters? Anyone else stoked for Dark Souls?
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I think there is a topic for this already. Whatever the case may be though, I LOVE demons souls. I am kinda sad that the online play is being taken down soon, oh well Dark Souls is around the corner. That game is gunna be a must buy for me along with Skyrim.
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wtf? online play is being taken down?
What kind of support is that?
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I beat DS for my first time a few weeks back and am now working on my second run of it. I'm sure I'll buy Dark Soul's on the day it comes out. I thought DS was way fun and I like a good challenge. I also think the DS style of things would work really well for CV.
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It's the best game of its system, generation -- whatever the hell -- and the best 3D Castlevania as well. It's absolutely required for fans of this series to play Demon's Souls, if at all feasible. Don't let the talk about its difficulty scare you off; the Internet has a fine habit of making ridiculous hyberbole out of anything and everything, this included. You don't play Demon's Souls for dick-waving bragging rights, you play it because it's an expertly crafted, endlessly satisfying game of staggering quality. In all the ways that matter.
As it stands, Dark Souls is the game I'm most looking forward to, so much so that I want to know absolutely nothing about it up until the time I take it out of its case and insert the disc into my console.
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As it stands, Dark Souls is the game I'm most looking forward to, so much so that I want to know absolutely nothing about it up until the time I take it out of its case and insert the disc into my console.
Right on! I've already seen some of the screens, but I want to do my best to avoid looking at whatever news will be coming in the following months.
The 5-4 boss fight was one of the most unforgettable moments for me. Not that it's the best fight, but the music, dialog, aesthetic... holy crap that was cool. I'm also on my second playthrough. I did a little bit of NG+, but I was more interested in starting again with another character.
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The music is one of my favourite aspects in Demon's Souls. It uses things like choirs, strings, and brass - what you'd expect, stylistically, from a game with a fantasy setting. But none of it is trite orchestral noise. Instead it makes use of all its aural elements to create a warped soundscape of oppression, an understated sensation of terror. It's never exploding in your face for no reason, even when a choir takes center stage. Much like the world the game takes place in, the music is decrepit and seems like it could fall apart at any second. It fits so well.
It's also used sparingly, which is commendable. The ambiance of the environments alone is quite sufficient for the proper effect.
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I heard Demon's Souls was pretty good. But a friend of mine, Peklo, said it was garbage. So I'm a little conflicted as the moment *shrug*
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I heard Demon's Souls was pretty good. But a friend of mine, Peklo, said it was garbage. So I'm a little conflicted as the moment *shrug*
Chances are he never beat the first area, that's where a lot of my bud's got hatred for it. I'll admit having to do that first initial level without help is kind of a test of one's mental endurance, it WILL irritate people who play the game for the first time. It takes a few tries but once you beat that first area, you realize that it probably is the most predictable level in the game once you try the others without help.
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This game is a pretty "simple" game. Mechanics are all simple. No combos, nothing, you got like two or three different attacks, and a variety of items to help you, be it weapons or use items.
Only thing that can be called somewhat advanced is the upgrading and that's hardly complicated, just incredibly time consuming.
This game is like diablo, and old school gameplay. Grind like a mother, and you can't do many different type of actions. It's very fun if you can get into that sort of thing though. I can't beat it... or rather, I messed up my character, and stage tendency so I can't beat it anymore. I shouldn't have made shrine of storm pure black. big mistake on my part.
There are a good number of things that annoy me though. The limited options in changing it's tendency, no pause, and button layout. Other than that, it's a fine game.
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Chances are he never beat the first area, that's where a lot of my bud's got hatred for it. I'll admit having to do that first initial level without help is kind of a test of one's mental endurance, it WILL irritate people who play the game for the first time. It takes a few tries but once you beat that first area, you realize that it probably is the most predictable level in the game once you try the others without help.
He's talking about me. It is a pitiable troll attempt!
I died a million times in 1-1 and loved every minute of it. It's the perfect initiation into the world of Demon's Souls. It teaches most of the things that'll carry you through the game, like the importance of slow and steady exploration, never lowering your shield. Or at least, it ought to. Such brilliant level design, anyway. Castlevania doesn't do castles like this.
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Nah, I rarely every keep my shield up unless I need to. I prefer dodging over blocking whenever possible.
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I do too, but the game is full of dark, claustrophobic places where you're not really given another option, especially if you don't know what's coming. You're going to be taking a hit sooner or later if you don't make good use of a shield while still learning the layouts of the worlds. No one blazes through a stage they're exploring for the first time anyway, so being defensive pays off.
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Honestly I didn't enjoy the game at all. I was really looking forward to it but the "difficulty and strategy" promised seemed to be really lacking and the combat system was horrible. There were numerous glitch problems I experienced with characters being stuck, hit through walls, and dieing from 3ft drops. The online component was horribly laggy for me and the co-op was too annoying to setup and maintain for me to enjoy it. It has potential but I will have to wait and see if they improve on it with this new game or if they are just trying to capitalize on the previous title.
edit: btw I played it 3 times through while trying to keep an open mind. Just felt like they focused on graphics too much.
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I am kinda sad that the online play is being taken down soon, oh well Dark Souls is around the corner.
Damn, that sucks. I've had this game for about a year, but my backlog on games is ridiculous and I haven't played it yet. Does the online play make a huge difference? I'm wondering if I should hurry up and start it.
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Damn, that sucks. I've had this game for about a year, but my backlog on games is ridiculous and I haven't played it yet. Does the online play make a huge difference? I'm wondering if I should hurry up and start it.
I found it to be extremely laggy. I've been invaded by phantoms a number of times and during the fight I was sucked over 10ft to them, turned around, and insta-killed back-stabbed. Playing with friends requires them to be dead on their game and you have to tell them where to put their summon mark or other people may find it. When they finish the level with you it only counts towards your progress and they revive so if you want to continue with them they have to suicide in their game and repeat the whole summoning thing in the next stage. I don't know if there is some way around it, but even so it is pretty annoying because when you are in soul form you have half health.
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You can't go into Demon's Souls expecting a typical co-op or multiplayer experience with its online functions. It's still strictly a single-player oriented game. The point is not to team up with people in your friend list and go kill things, it's to further develop the world and build ambience. There are aspects of it which are purely atmosphere-enhancing in nature (ghostly silhouettes of other players exploring the world at the moment) and others which do that and provide possible aid to the player, such as the messages/hints people can leave anywhere in the game or bloodstains that let you privy to a deceased explorer's final moments, thus warning of impending danger in the vicinity.
The direct interactions with other players, in the form of blue and black phantoms, are similarly another twist on the usual multiplayer components. Players in soul form can offer their aid as blue phantoms, with the eventual goal and reward of regaining their body form. It's entirely up to oneself if you wish to rely on blue phantoms (I haven't done so), but in a game so often maligned for mercilessness, it's certainly a viable option for those who choose to indulge in it. It's a temporary alliance between strangers, with both parties benefitting off each other, in line with the overall solitary nature of the game.
Black phantoms are probably more interesting, and more important in the grand scheme of things. While players in body form are granted full use of their HP potential, it also leaves them as targets for black phantom invasions. It's the same principle as with blue phantoms -- resurrection being the goal of the invading party -- but black phantoms hunt you instead of lending assistance. Despite the host technically having an advantage from the outset with a greater HP pool, it's an undescribable thrill having your game invaded, and an even more pronounced sense of triumph if you manage to fend off the attacker. The only gripe I can think of is the amount of lag present in most encounters.
None of the online features in Demon's Souls are instrumental to the game. You can resurrect yourself in other ways, and the manipulation of character and world tendency (a somewhat complex and obscure sub-system) can be achieved without going online, as well. Nonetheless, they serve as evidence of the developers' understanding of their product and how to best complement it, to a degree that much of the game's identity is defined by these technically secondary design choices.