Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

Gotta love gankers. I spawn in as the Forest <age was destroying this guy. He hid behind a tree to heal after he summoned a phantom. I got there too late though.

I was in 'no mercy mode', cause I knfw he was a ganker from past experiance, and immediately back stabbed the phantom. Then roll BSed to host who tried to get me after the BS. Then roll BSed the phantom. And then tried to 'lagstab' the host, but he managed to damage me during the animation and it left me vulnerable to getting caught in the Zweihanders stun lock vortex by the phantom. :<

Wish I'd been recording. ;-;

I was all "Awww yeah, gonna beat Gankers! Wooooo- aw ***!" D:

Just started this game... escaped the prison!

good luck Flavin!!!

Just remember to stay away from enemies that are obviously too difficult for you, and keep your head cool and collected.

You'll need to focus at all times and the game will never let you have an easy mode where you can just spam the attack button, but you already know that by now.

Also, pay attention to your environment. There are clues to warn you about every situation in the game, you just have to pay attention and figure it out before it happens.

You can always run in and survive to gain the knowledge of not to do that again, but it really depends on how you want to play.

Rang the first bell... currently afking down back at the camp lol... I still need to go back up and give the black knights another try... need food first!

Edit: I did get invaded and raped once already... it was frustrating as I was set back quite a ways lol...

Got my first taste of Co-op play? I want some more!

ps3 25

Josi was attempting to find out if he could invade you.

Go ahead kill the gimp!

I accidentally killed a knight mini boss in undead berg... I was running away to get to a better location fell off a bridge and he followed me in lol... I assume he died because he has not respawned...

those be the black knights of lord gwyn. only the ones near the end of the game respawn. so if you do manage to kill one, you better hope you get its drops, otherwise you got to wait til the end to get its gear.

Their weapons make the game too easy for a first play through anyways.

In theory I could... but first you would have to do some naughty things and get on the Dark Moonblades hit list.

It wasn't the black knights... I wish I could kill those lol... It was a miniboss in the church...

I need some easy in my life right now damn capra demon...

Fire bombs are your friend :P

Bumped for lulz

Sorry, but bumping again cause of this video



Completely forgot undead rapport was even a thing.

PC players are so much more social than the console players... Half the time after being summoned or invaded I get messaged by them on the PC, PS3 I've yet to get anything.

Think I'm going to force myself to solo Ornstein and Smough this time around... Goodbye humanity.

Perhaps, but if I never subject myself to the painful ways it defeats the purpose of playing Dark souls :P

O&S 1 Ina 0

Purpose being the challenge of the game imo, they are easy if I summon Solaire. Probably should have said "painful ways of doing things".

Bored, going to spam dark souls 2 news~ if I can find any

Dark Souls 2 development photos show new armor sets and character designs
January 25, 2013By: Shui Ta

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A handful of new development photos have been revealed by Namco Bandai Games for their upcoming multiplatform title, “Dark Souls 2.” The latest images, which were posted on the Namco Bandai Facebook page on Jan. 24, show the staff at From Software working on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 video game. Some of the armor sets and character designs can be seen on some of the monitors in the office. You can check out the development photos, as well as some screens from the action role-playing game, in the slideshow at the top of this article.

“Dark Souls 2” is currently being developed by From Software, the same studio responsible for the development of “Dark Souls” and “Demon’s Souls.” The sequel will be published by Namco Bandai Games when it launches for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 gaming systems sometime later this year (it could also be pushed back until 2014).

Pre-order links:

• Playstation 3
  

• Xbox 360

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old news:

Hidetaka Miyazaki on stepping away from Dark Souls II and the future of the series


Hidetaka Miyazaki, the godfather of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, is clicking his ballpoint pen repeatedly. He’s sitting across the table from us, wearing his trademark casual navy blue jacket over a buttoned-down shirt. His hair looks slightly more dishevelled than usual, hanging noticeably limply across his forehead. The atmosphere in the room has grown suddenly charged. The virtuosic young Japanese game designer has dropped a bombshell.

“I will not be involved in the actual development of Dark Souls II,” he says matter-of-factly. “I want to clarify that I will be a supervisor, not the actual director or producer.”

This is a crushing revelation for any hardcore fan of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, akin to a cinephile learning that Pulp Fiction 2 is in production, but that Quentin Tarantino isn’t attached to the picture. The strong personal tie between Miyazaki and the two dark fantasy RPGs he’s created to date has been well established. He explained to us in a previous interview, for instance, that the veil of ambiguity hovering over the Souls games grew out of his experiences as a child poring over western fantasy literature. Due to his patchy comprehension of English at the time, there were large chunks of each book he couldn’t decipher, leaving him to fill in the details with his imagination. He set out to create that same sense of awe and bewilderment in his games, letting players fill in the gaps with their imagination instead of having every plot point and objective clearly articulated through in-game text or cutscenes.


So what does it mean that Miyazaki is a supervisor on Dark Souls II? When we first hear the word, we imagine him popping by at the end of every workday to check in on development and see how things are progressing, maybe even signing off on features and visual concepts as they’re being prototyped – you know, supervising. In reality, his role is less involved and ongoing than the term ‘supervisor’ would suggest, having simply ensured things got started on solid footing before stepping aside. So what has he contributed to the project?

For one thing, Miyazaki has insisted on setting the top-line level of Dark Souls II’s production schedule. “I’m aware that many fans were a little bit frustrated about Dark Souls in terms of the scheduling – more specifically speaking, about the patches that we’ve released,” he says, alluding to the consequences of pushing Dark Souls out the door before it was 100 per cent polished. “I really regretted that, so I reviewed all those kinds of things that I worked on in Dark Souls to make sure that Dark Souls II is ready on time.”

The second item that Miyazaki claims to have looked after is the transition from a peer-to-peer online system to server-based network play, which promises a markedly improved online experience.


Finally, he points to his role in assigning the pair of replacement game directors – Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura – who have now assumed the reins of the Souls series. Both had previously worked on FromSoftware’s mech-action series Another Century, which caters to the tastes of the local Japanese audience and isn’t currently available abroad. (Coincidentally, Miyazaki worked on the mech-action Armored Core series before creating Demon’s Souls, so it’s not as big a leap from mech combat to the fantasy-RPG genre as you might expect.)

Though the discrepancy could well be attributed to a translation error, moments after stating that “there will be two directors for Dark Souls II, which I have secured myself”, Miyazaki tacks on a correction after his introduction of Shibuya and Tanimura, saying “the decision about the new assignments was not made by me; it was made by FromSoftware and Namco Bandai as a whole”. These competing statements make it hard to decipher whether Miyazaki wished to step away from the Souls series, or if he was asked to move aside by the company so that the IP could be steered in a fresh direction. When asked about his new full-time role, Miyazaki mentions that he’s working on a new title as director, but when we ask if it’s a new IP he simply laughs and replies, “Sorry, I can’t answer that.”

“It was a company decision,” clarifies Namco Bandai producer Takeshi Miyazoe. “Miyazaki worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, but for the IP to evolve and provide a new experience within the Dark Souls world the new wind from directors Shibuya and Tanimura is key to providing players with [a] brand new Dark Souls experience. In order to maintain the expectations and satisfaction and the rewards that players experience, this was the right time to bring in the new characteristics and taste[s of the directors] for this series to continue on evolving.”


While it’s sad to see Miyazaki part ways with his fantasy-RPG series, it certainly makes sense from a company perspective to steer him towards a fresh title, especially if it does turn out to be something brand new. Apart from Dark Souls, Namco Bandai’s recent attempts to develop memorable new properties have been largely unsuccessful. If there’s any chance this proven young designer can cause lightning to strike twice, it makes sense to give him that opportunity. For his part, Miyazaki seems ready to access a different part of his psyche. In response to an unrelated question, he says, “sometimes I’d like to work on a warmer game – not necessarily casual, but warmer in terms of the atmosphere and the environment”. It’s the closest thing that we’re given to a hint about the nature of his next project.

So how does Miyazaki feel about entrusting his baby to new parents? “I’m not one to restrict the potential that Dark Souls has by insisting that only I can work on the titles,” he stresses. “I want new expressions. It’s true that I’m sad about not being involved in the development of Dark Souls II, because I’ve worked on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls’ development for the past five years. I really love those two titles; however, maybe this is the time to have new inspiration, so I’m fine about that. I’m looking forward to playing Dark Souls II not as part of the development team, but with a little bit of distance. Everybody knows what the core of Dark Souls is – the dev team does, the fans do, the media does – and that will never change. I [wouldn’t] really care for Dark Souls VIII to come out. That’s not the point. It’s more, ‘What do the fans want?’ We want to stay true to what they expect.”

At the conclusion of our interview, Miyazaki volunteers some formal closing remarks. He mentions this will probably be one of his last interviews about the Souls series for a while and wants to offer his appreciation on behalf of himself and the development team to fans and the media for lavishing such enthusiastic praise on Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. As he exits the room, the reality sinks in – this is really happening. We’ve been taught that if the Fire Keeper dies, the bonfire they guard turns to cold ash. Let’s hope this is the exception. Dark Souls II has the potential to be a dramatic departure indeed.

w-what..?