Dark Souls Remastered (Switch, PS4, XB1, PC)

Not gonna lie, I was expecting "I beat the Taurus Demon then got roasted on the bridge".

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Not gonna lie, I was expecting "I beat the Taurus Demon then got roasted on the bridge".

I must admit that, after defeating Taurus, I was so pumped up to get to a bonfire to "save" that I looked up where the bonfire was . No way was I gonna get killed and have to tackle Taurus again; I don't think I could take it. It wasn't really cheating... perhaps just "being prepared"... .

jawafour wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Not gonna lie, I was expecting "I beat the Taurus Demon then got roasted on the bridge".

I must admit that, after defeating Taurus, I was so pumped up to get to a bonfire to "save" that I looked up where the bonfire was . No way was I gonna get killed and have to tackle Taurus again; I don't think I could take it. It wasn't really cheating... perhaps just "being prepared"... .

The game saves constantly in the background. You don't save progress at bonfires, just the refill your Estuary and your health and allow you to level up with your souls.

When you die, all you lose is your physical progress through a level and your souls. Normal enemies reset (though some are one-time only kills) and bosses stay dead forever.

You shouldn't look up how far you are until the next bonfire, as the constant internal debate between pushing forward into the dangerous unknown or going back, getting your souls to safety but resetting the enemies is all part of the tension.

For what it's worth, I play these games ultra-conversative at times. No, that doesn't mean I don't like women and ethnic minorities play them, but I generally play it really safe with souls and if I'm close to levelling up, I'll grind the odd few odd to reach that total then go and "bank" them and increase my stats. This usually means I have pretty solid stats/upgraded weapons and makes the game a lot easier.

Also you didn't need to play the Souls games to enjoy Bloodborne. I played that first and absolutely loved it. Let's face it, you're almost certainly not going to beat all three Souls games so you should have just stuck to the one you started first.

You might actually find Bloodborne harder now, if you're over-reliant on your shield. Playing Bloodborne first made me better at dodging and using my stamina bar, I reckon.

Parksey wrote:The game saves constantly in the background. You don't save progress at bonfires, just the refill your Estuary and your health and allow you to level up with your souls.

When you die, all you lose is your physical progress through a level and your souls. Normal enemies reset (though some are one-time only kills) and bosses stay dead forever...

Thanks for the background info on this, Parksey!

Parksey wrote:...You shouldn't look up how far you are until the next bonfire, as the constant internal debate between pushing forward into the dangerous unknown or going back, getting your souls to safety but resetting the enemies is all part of the tension...

Yeah, I won't read-up on upcoming scenarios any more, but I knew that I wouldn't have been able to handle getting duffed up after finally defeating the Taurus Demon. But, as above, maybe the Taurus would have stayed defeated even if I'd died? Anyhow, I'll be in "discovery" mode from this point.

Parksey wrote:...Also you didn't need to play the Souls games to enjoy Bloodborne. I played that first and absolutely loved it. Let's face it, you're almost certainly not going to beat all three Souls games so you should have just stuck to the one you started first...

I played Bloodborne up until the Cleric Beast but stopped after about twenty attempts to defeat it. I shall return at some point, but I got the appetite to try out Dark Souls first. I love the styling and atmosphere in both games :-) .

jawafour wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Not gonna lie, I was expecting "I beat the Taurus Demon then got roasted on the bridge".

I must admit that, after defeating Taurus, I was so pumped up to get to a bonfire to "save" that I looked up where the bonfire was . No way was I gonna get killed and have to tackle Taurus again; I don't think I could take it. It wasn't really cheating... perhaps just "being prepared"... .

I don't trust that you beat the Taurus Demon without watching a guide now.

Don't listen to anyone saying you should or shouldn't look up certain things.

I looked up a lot of things for this because I knew it was the kind of game that once I hit a wall and put it down, I might not go back to and it would become another victim of my low attention span. I didn't, and wouldn't recommend using a step-by-step playthrough, but there's no shame in asking questions or looking up certain things.

Do what works for you. The game is still plenty challenging even when you have an idea of what to do or where to go. You've still got to pull it off.

The Watching Artist wrote:I don't trust that you beat the Taurus Demon without watching a guide now.

I didn't, Matt! I used the suggested "climb ladder, dive-hit, run and repeat" approach shared above . Had to try it four times before I was successful, though.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Don't listen to anyone saying you should or shouldn't look up certain things...
...Do what works for you. The game is still plenty challenging even when you have an idea of what to do or where to go. You've still got to pull it off.

True, CD. With Soulsborne games, for me the draw is in the exploration and admiration of the game world rather than trying to gain, say, a no-hit speed run. If I can wander through the world and press X a few times to bash any baddies on the way, I'm happy .

jawafour wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Don't listen to anyone saying you should or shouldn't look up certain things...
...Do what works for you. The game is still plenty challenging even when you have an idea of what to do or where to go. You've still got to pull it off.

True, CD. With Soulsborne games, for me the draw is in the exploration and admiration of the game world rather than trying to gain, say, a no-hit speed run. If I can wander through the world and press X a few times to bash any baddies on the way, I'm happy .

I'm kinda the same. Knowing certain things in advance didn't impact my enjoyment at all. I'd go as far as to say I enjoyed it more, because I had an idea of where I was supposed to be heading rather than getting lost all the time.

And it's still tough. Got to the Capra Demon last night and promptly got ganked. Luckily I opened up the shortcut that lets me get back to him quite quickly. I'll get him sorted tonight then it's onward to the depths.

Honestly in Dark Souls I think it's better to look up a hint or ask for a tip, than let yourself get properly, fully frustrated. (A little bit of frustration is OK of course ) For me, a nice part of Dark Souls was chatting about it with various people (shout out to SD64, Falsey, Mafro, & others) as I played, and getting advice and sharing progress.

Maybe avoid BEST WAY TO CHEESE X videos though as you might get locked into playing the game in a certain style.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Don't listen to anyone saying you should or shouldn't look up certain things...
...Do what works for you. The game is still plenty challenging even when you have an idea of what to do or where to go. You've still got to pull it off.

True, CD. With Soulsborne games, for me the draw is in the exploration and admiration of the game world rather than trying to gain, say, a no-hit speed run. If I can wander through the world and press X a few times to bash any baddies on the way, I'm happy .

I'm kinda the same. Knowing certain things in advance didn't impact my enjoyment at all. I'd go as far as to say I enjoyed it more, because I had an idea of where I was supposed to be heading rather than getting lost all the time.

And it's still tough. Got to the Capra Demon last night and promptly got ganked. Luckily I opened up the shortcut that lets me get back to him quite quickly. I'll get him sorted tonight then it's onward to the depths.

Ah, I haven't played this game in ages and was confused reading Jawa's posts as I didn't remember the Taurus Demon being so early in the game, but thanks to your post I've realised I was mixing him up with the Capra Demon. I remember Capra being a bit of a pain so good luck with that.

Also Jawa don't worry about bosses respawning, once they're defeated they stay defeated even if you don't make it to a bonfire before dying.

Agree with all of the above regarding asking for advice. To me it's the kind of game that benefits from a school playground type rumour chat where someone can tell you a little bit, mention an area or something to look out for and it enriches your play (which after all is what the floor messages kind of do). There's no way in hell I'd have beaten it without the hints, advice and encouragement from people on here, and in no way do I feel like I missed out by listening to it.

I wouldn't look at any videos of areas or read ahead though, that WOULD ruin it imo. I tended to explore an area, try my best to do the boss (and look for hints when I couldn't), then as I was about to move to another area, read up and see if I missed anything. It can be so obtuse thst you can miss entire bits so it was good to mop those up as I went.

Don't listen to people who say they did it all blind but got everything, they're strawberry floating liars. Anyone who got the drake sword without a hint is talking gooseberry fool.

jawa my son when are you streaming next?

No, I wasn't saying you should avoid hints or guides, just I think it's best if you don't look at hints or guides for what is come, rather seek them out when you're stuck with something you're presently on.

It's probably also best to ask somewhere like here first too - like Ad said, the playground rumours and community are some of the best aspects of a Souls game, and we can help you out in a less overt way that simply telling you exactly what to do in a walkthrough style.

Part of the Souls' games charms are making the unknown known and conquering it. If you're reading a step by step guide telling you where to go and what to do, then it's already been conquered a little.

Personally, I like having branching paths in this games, and heading down one arbitrarily and not wondering if it's the "correct" one or one leading miles away. It's that sense of "Jesus, I'm so far off the beaten path here/should I even be here/where the Hell am I and what have I found" that adds to the atmosphere. It also helps that the areas link together in quite ingenious ways at times and the "wrong" way can often be as rewarding as the right one.

Yeah, don't worry, guys -I won't slavishly follow a playthrough guide; I enjoy the exploration and mystery aspects of the game .

Mafro wrote:jawa my son when are you streaming next?

I think I'll be able to stream during Saturday, Mafro; probs during the afternoon and maybe early evening. I'll try to give a bit of advance warning (at least an hour) beforehand.

How many times you died so far?

Gemini73 wrote:How many times you died so far?

I don't know! Is there a counter tucked away somewhere?

jawafour wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:How many times you died so far?

I don't know! Is there a counter tucked away somewhere?

No, but I know I died a lot playing DS.

Gemini73 wrote:

jawafour wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:How many times you died so far?

I don't know! Is there a counter tucked away somewhere?

No, but I know I died a lot playing DS.

Capra Demon did me in 3 times last night. Admittedly two of them were because I was trying to retrieve my souls from the previous fight. Once I properly lost them I took him out first try.

Then I lost a bit of progress because I got poisoned on my way to the depths (Was the other side of the fence from the Giant Rat), didn't have any Moss and forgot to heal in time. Need to work my way all the way back now as I haven't opened up that bonfire there yet.

Are you supposed to do anything on the Dragon bridge or just hide, whimper and find another route? And where do I find more Estus flasks?

Hyperion wrote:Are you supposed to do anything on the Dragon bridge or just hide, whimper and find another route? And where do I find more Estus flasks?

Dragon bridge -- there are a couple of places that match that description ( ), do you mean directly after the Taurus Demon? If so, there are stairs half-way across and the drake has to take a breath between blasts of fire...

Estus flasks -- have a play around with the "kindle" option at a bonfire.

General tip -- don't consume Fire Keeper Souls, check their description first