Dark Souls 3 | PS4, Xbone & PC | Praise the Sun

Jenuall wrote:Got this just after Christmas in the Steam sale and have now put probably a good 5-10 hours into it. Can't say I'm getting the fuss really.

Everything seems very clunky, unrefined and unresponsive. I don't feel like I'm getting any better at playing the game, and it seems the game offers no encouragement or assistance in order to get better at it.

I'm going to persevere a while longer as I'm still hoping something will click, but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

I felt exactly the same the first time I played Bloodborne. I can't remember when, but at one point it may clicked with me and from that point on I was obsessed.

Jenuall wrote:Got this just after Christmas in the Steam sale and have now put probably a good 5-10 hours into it. Can't say I'm getting the fuss really.

Everything seems very clunky, unrefined and unresponsive. I don't feel like I'm getting any better at playing the game, and it seems the game offers no encouragement or assistance in order to get better at it.

I'm going to persevere a while longer as I'm still hoping something will click, but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

I don't get the love it gets either and have played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and have started Dark Souls 3. They're pretty meh imo.

Demon's souls is 'pretty meh'?

Jlawyeahok.gif

That is what I said, yes.

Sledz wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Got this just after Christmas in the Steam sale and have now put probably a good 5-10 hours into it. Can't say I'm getting the fuss really.

Everything seems very clunky, unrefined and unresponsive. I don't feel like I'm getting any better at playing the game, and it seems the game offers no encouragement or assistance in order to get better at it.

I'm going to persevere a while longer as I'm still hoping something will click, but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

I don't get the love it gets either and have played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and have started Dark Souls 3. They're pretty meh imo.

I'm sorry.

Just started this. Beat the first boss and have gone to the place where you level up. Not sure where to go next, walked up towards another place where there was a guy with a sword who I skillfully defeated (Ok, I knocked him down onto a ledge which he then fell off from) and I've found a door that says it is opened from the other side.

It's easy to miss, but the shrine maiden tells you to put the coiled sword you got into the bonfire in the middle of the room. That lets you teleport to the first area.

Met wrote:It's easy to miss, but the shrine maiden tells you to put the coiled sword you got into the bonfire in the middle of the room. That lets you teleport to the first area.

Hah. Thanks. I was probably just pressing 'x' and thinking "less of the jibber jabbering, let's get on with the levelling up".

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade wrote:

Sledz wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Got this just after Christmas in the Steam sale and have now put probably a good 5-10 hours into it. Can't say I'm getting the fuss really.

Everything seems very clunky, unrefined and unresponsive. I don't feel like I'm getting any better at playing the game, and it seems the game offers no encouragement or assistance in order to get better at it.

I'm going to persevere a while longer as I'm still hoping something will click, but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

I don't get the love it gets either and have played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and have started Dark Souls 3. They're pretty meh imo.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and the world would ban awful place if everyone agreed on everything, but I think we need to preserve this post for future generations as an example of the worst and wrongest opinion ever expressed by humankind.

Slightly unkind. Put yourself in his place where you have been slaughtered by each of the games in turn, left crying in the corner.

So I've just beaten the Vordt of the Boreal Valley, which feels like the first proper real boss after the big guy in the "prologue" section. Didn't take too many tries, but wasn't exactly a particularly satisfying battle either.

So far the winning tactic on both of these big encounters has been "get as close as possible, as soon as possible, and hit it repeatedly".

Given all the plaudits, and the fact that pretty much every game I've read about in the last few years has been criticized for it's combat being "not as good as Dark Souls" I'm still feeling like I'm missing something here? Can some fans explain what about it is supposed to make it stand above other games, because I'm just not seeing it yet? I was expecting a need for more tactical thinking or skill than seems to have been needed thus far, particularly when it comes to bosses.

Also a lot of things about the combat still seem to be basically broken. I have a weak attack and a strong attack but the weak attack does more damage than the strong attack and uses less stamina, so why would I ever use the other? I'm supposed to be able to push forward and attack to either do a jump attack or a kick, neither of which work. When equipping a pair of swords I can do a special two handed attack, but again this is weaker than my standard attack so why would I bother? Enemies seem to forget about the player very quickly so if you're dealing with a big guy you can just run away, let him forget you, come back and hit him and repeat until dead. Also I've found a bunch of enemies turn so slowly that you can just run round behind them and backstab for an instant kill without any challenge.

I want to like this game, and I've had a few encounters that have been genuinely interesting but so far it all seems well below what I was hoping for.

Jenuall wrote:So far the winning tactic on both of these big encounters has been "get as close as possible, as soon as possible, and hit it repeatedly".

It's not a button masher. Enemies have attacks and abilities that will punish you for doing this further on in the game.

Jenuall wrote:Given all the plaudits, and the fact that pretty much every game I've read about in the last few years has been criticized for it's combat being "not as good as Dark Souls" I'm still feeling like I'm missing something here? Can some fans explain what about it is supposed to make it stand above other games, because I'm just not seeing it yet? I was expecting a need for more tactical thinking or skill than seems to have been needed thus far, particularly when it comes to bosses.

As above, it's not a button masher. You have to pick and choose your attacks and manage your stamina gauge, if that runs out then you're left open to attacks and you can easily be killed in a few hits by a lot of enemies. You're not that far into the game so you haven't experienced some of the enemies with more complicated and aggressive attack patterns.

Jenuall wrote:Also a lot of things about the combat still seem to be basically broken. I have a weak attack and a strong attack but the weak attack does more damage than the strong attack and uses less stamina, so why would I ever use the other?

Strong attacks do more damage than weak attacks, that's a fact. No idea what you're doing to think this, unless you're getting confused with weapon arts or something?

Jenuall wrote:I'm supposed to be able to push forward and attack to either do a jump attack or a kick, neither of which work.

No, they both work. Press up and R1 at the same time to do a kick, and up and R2 to do a jumping strong attack. Works every time without fail.

Jenuall wrote:When equipping a pair of swords I can do a special two handed attack, but again this is weaker than my standard attack so why would I bother?

Do you have the required stats (strength/dexterity) to do the special moves properly? Is there a red cross next to the weapon's icon?

Jenuall wrote:Enemies seem to forget about the player very quickly so if you're dealing with a big guy you can just run away, let him forget you, come back and hit him and repeat until dead. Also I've found a bunch of enemies turn so slowly that you can just run round behind them and backstab for an instant kill without any challenge.

Again, you won't be able to do this to every enemy in the game. The enemies in the early section are mostly a piece of piss for a reason.

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:So far the winning tactic on both of these big encounters has been "get as close as possible, as soon as possible, and hit it repeatedly".

It's not a button masher. Enemies have attacks and abilities that will punish you for doing this further on in the game.

Great. I don't want it to be a button masher. However staying back, trying to learn attack patterns and pick my shots against those two bosses failed, but running/rolling toward them and getting as many hits in as possible worked so...

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Given all the plaudits, and the fact that pretty much every game I've read about in the last few years has been criticized for it's combat being "not as good as Dark Souls" I'm still feeling like I'm missing something here? Can some fans explain what about it is supposed to make it stand above other games, because I'm just not seeing it yet? I was expecting a need for more tactical thinking or skill than seems to have been needed thus far, particularly when it comes to bosses.

As above, it's not a button masher. You have to pick and choose your attacks and manage your stamina gauge, if that runs out then you're left open to attacks and you can easily be killed in a few hits by a lot of enemies. You're not that far into the game so you haven't experienced some of the enemies with more complicated and aggressive attack patterns.

Again, I look forward to it. But that has not been the experience thus far. The ~10 hours I've spent with the game thus have not showed me anything that justifies the plaudits.

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Also a lot of things about the combat still seem to be basically broken. I have a weak attack and a strong attack but the weak attack does more damage than the strong attack and uses less stamina, so why would I ever use the other?

Strong attacks do more damage than weak attacks, that's a fact. No idea what you're doing to think this, unless you're getting confused with weapon arts or something?

Nope. Weak attacks are doing consistently more damage than strong attacks 100%. No idea what weapon arts are.

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:I'm supposed to be able to push forward and attack to either do a jump attack or a kick, neither of which work.

No, they both work. Press up and R1 at the same time to do a kick, and up and R2 to do a jumping strong attack. Works every time without fail.

Nope. Never worked for me, no idea why but that's the fact. Assume by "up" you mean forward on the left stick?

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:When equipping a pair of swords I can do a special two handed attack, but again this is weaker than my standard attack so why would I bother?

Do you have the required stats (strength/dexterity) to do the special moves properly? Is there a red cross next to the weapon's icon?

No red cross and I get a unique animation showing me that it's doing the special attack, but the damage dealt is still less than my weak attack. Every time.

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Enemies seem to forget about the player very quickly so if you're dealing with a big guy you can just run away, let him forget you, come back and hit him and repeat until dead. Also I've found a bunch of enemies turn so slowly that you can just run round behind them and backstab for an instant kill without any challenge.

Again, you won't be able to do this to every enemy in the game. The enemies in the early section are mostly a piece of piss for a reason.

Again, I look forward to this becoming the case - all I can comment on is the experience I have had thus far. And that has been a disappointing one. As I said previously I'm going to continue with it as A) this many people can't be wrong that there is a great game in here, and B) some of what I have played has been enjoyable - it's just been far more mixed than I would have hoped for, particularly as there seemed to be plenty of advice online that this was possibly the best Souls game for new starters yet.

I've been playing Dark Souls 3 for about a month, and Bloodborne for a week. In contrast to Jenuall, I'm genuinely thinking they might be the best games I've ever played. Both are certainly in my top 5. They're just so satisfying to play. The feeling you get when you beat an enemy that has previously bettered you. When you know you outsmarted and out-manovered it rather than luckily bashed buttons (as in so many other games).

The atmosphere the games create, the variety of locations and monsters, the secrets, the linking paths and shortcuts.

I've only spent a few evenings in the company of the game so far, so here's hoping I reach that level of appreciation as well!

Jenuall wrote:Nope. Weak attacks are doing consistently more damage than strong attacks 100%. No idea what weapon arts are.

So you're saying R1 attacks are doing more damage than an R2 attack? What weapon are you using? Are you sure you're not hitting an enemy's shield with the strong attack? Can you upload a video of this because it doesn't sound right at all.

Jenuall wrote:Nope. Never worked for me, no idea why but that's the fact. Assume by "up" you mean forward on the left stick?

Yep. Works every time for me. I can upload a video I just recorded if you don't believe me.

Played about 45 minutes of this for the first time the other day. Beat that first miniboss without dying then got killed by a surprisingly tough katana guy. Ended up kicking him off the map.

Die Hard is Shite wrote:

Jenuall wrote:Nope. Weak attacks are doing consistently more damage than strong attacks 100%. No idea what weapon arts are.

So you're saying R1 attacks are doing more damage than an R2 attack? What weapon are you using? Are you sure you're not hitting an enemy's shield with the strong attack? Can you upload a video of this because it doesn't sound right at all.

Jenuall wrote:Nope. Never worked for me, no idea why but that's the fact. Assume by "up" you mean forward on the left stick?

Yep. Works every time for me. I can upload a video I just recorded if you don't believe me.

I believe you don't worry, I'm fairly certain it would be pretty well reported if it was genuinely broken, but for me it simply doesn't work.

I'm away from my gaming PC for tonight but will try and take a video of this stuff tomorrow night.

I've only used a few weapons thus far. I chose mercenary as my class so started with the Sellsword twinblades and have stick with these for most of my time. Besides that I've used a rapier and broadsword (v. briefly). I believe I've seen the weak>strong attack problem with all of these but can't be certain with the rapier or broadsword as these have seen far less use.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade wrote:

Jenuall wrote:I've only spent a few evenings in the company of the game so far, so here's hoping I reach that level of appreciation as well!

You're literally in the starting area and have fought the easiest boss in the game. You basically spent 10 hours in a section you can clear in about 30 minutes on a NG+ run, so just think about that for a bit.

Oh I'm bearing these things in mind, hence why I'm still going forward with it. But there comes a point when you have to question how much you are prepared to take of something that's not seeming to shine in the hope that better things are to come.

Also my criticisms are all no doubt harsher due to the lauded nature of the series and how late I've come to it. If this were a blind run through of an unknown title I might be seeing more of the positives and forgiving the negatives at this stage.

TV Dinner wrote:Played about 45 minutes of this for the first time the other day. Beat that first miniboss without dying then got killed by a surprisingly tough katana guy. Ended up kicking him off the map.

The naked katana man

Played a few hours more of this last night. I feel like things are starting to click somewhat more now, I can't see why I would have spent 2+ hours replaying the same area several times if I wasn't actually enjoying myself anyway!

Perhaps it's something specific about my character build or equipment but it's still the case that my weak attack does more damage than the strong one. Although just to make sure - I am basing this on the assumption that the white numbers that appear when you hit someone are the amount of damage you have caused? If so then my weak attach is regularly doing 100-180 damage, whilst my strong attack is more like 80-150. Even with "charging" the attack by holding down the button it still does less most of the time.

Like I say I'm enjoying myself despite this, but I am also still encountering some annoying bullshit that the game seems to pull. For example:

• The player characters weapon getting stuck on geometry whilst the enemies swing straight through it
• Inconsistent outcomes for the same action - e.g. in the area I was in last night ("undead village"?) I discovered that some of the enemy types could be staggered by rolling into them. However sometimes this just doesn't work leaving me unfairly vulnerable.
• Enemies with long weapons literally being able to attack the player through floors, walls, and fences.

Despite this I'm planning to return to the fight once more at the next opportunity!