Dark Souls

[GhandiOwnsYou]

I have played for twelve hours or so thus far. I have yet to beat the taurus demon. This is largely because i decided i didn't like my class, and restarted. Then I may or may not have decided to stockpile like, everything from the first merchant. Hours later and I finally have my repairbox, my obscenely priced key, and all the arrows in the world...

[JKTrix]

Seriously, removing Item Burden has made inventory juggling less of a hassle. I didn't even realize my unequipped items (and arrows) had no weight, so I actually dropped a bunch of stuff before then.

[Flying Arrow]

Not sure how many of you have gotten this far yet, but the (boss) (SPOILER)Gaping Dragon holy tit. This game just continues to own.

[Pete for President]

The more I hear/read/see about this game the more I am intrigued. I might pick it up when I'm done with the new Ace Combat.

[McLovin']

So there I was, at the mercy of a half woman, half angry-lava-spitting-spider with a summoned player to assist me. We fought perilously till she was just at her end; staggering to stay afoot, but suddenly my ally died to a an enormous unexpected blast of hot-flaming wind. I managed to deflect it just in time to see him fall and disappear to nothingness. So there we stood; just the two of us. She wasted no time charging straight at me and critically lacerated my chest easily in my disoriented state. As I lay knocked out on the floor, I thought I was done for. That, alas, the grueling fight was to no avail. Yet still I had strength and got up with just 1 health left; I held my halberd with both hands and swung at her with all I had left. It was just enough to finish her. Victory was sweet as smurf.

Loving. this. game.

[Jiro]

That was epic. I wasn't even there and I feel like the battle was hard fought and well won. Bet your pal isn't happy about being dead though

[Flying Arrow]

Beat it last night.

What's that?

Oh, no no. No applause necessary. It was a pleasure.

But seriously. Holy tit this game. I'm debating between starting up NG+ or making a new first-run character with a completely different build. Then again, Skyrim is coming up in a week - a game which I'd be happy to just pass over because of the surprise kickassness of DS, but because my girlfriend had the audacity to pre-order it I guess I'm obligated to play it alongside her (woe is me).

Despite some jankiness in parts (some clipping, some significant bugs with regards to certain enemies), and despite some multiplayer issues (which are being patched soon, apparently), DS is a fabulous game. This + Demon's Souls' PS3 exclusivity is the single best reason to own a PS3. I think I already posted it in this thread, but I'll say it again: the Souls bros. are what modern console gaming should be. Why did it have to take so long to get to this point!

[Flying Arrow]

So is anyone still playing this or have you sissypantses all given up?

Let's discuss! *SPOILERS FOR THIS WHOLE POST*

Er, what's everyone's favourite area?

I have quite a few, but my absolute favourites are Sen's Fortress, the New Londo Ruins, the Painted World, and the Tomb of the Giants. In fact one thing this game does so well is unpredictability. You never know just how the next area will challenge you. You might have to do some precision timing and movement to dodge Indiana Jones-y traps (Sen's Fortress), you might have to descend a cliffside in pitch darkness (Tomb of the Giants), or you might be faced with enemies that can only be killed if you're inflicted with a certain status effect (New Londo).

Even better, is that joining certain covenants will actually change some areas. For instance, being heavily embedded in the Chaos Covenant will open up shortcuts through the underground lava ruins area (not to mention providing you with potential story insight). Running through a certain area of the Darkroot Garden in human form will set you up with the PvP guardians of the forest. Conversely, if you're a part of the forest covenant yourself, you can be summoned from any area in the game to defend your covenant's turf (winning or losing returns you to precisely where you were initially summoned, so it doesn't erase your progress). Hell, you may even get Disastered by a Gravelord Covenanter, who curses your world to have super-strong enemies to hinder your progress. Invade this player and kill him to return your world to normal difficulty.

Nothing in Dark Souls is ever straightforward, although the mechanics themselves are all pretty basic. What makes it all come together like some of the past masterpieces in gaming is that From Software have taken the game's basic mechanics and done absolutely everything with them. There is not a point in the game without some wrinkle to keep you on your toes.

I could seriously write about this game forever. Nothing else I've touched this year since I've played it has really impressed me. Everything else seems amateur and a little bit sloppy, even the mighty Skyrim.

[ShinGundam]

I laughed a lot. Dark Souls Painted World

[GhandiOwnsYou]

I'm still trudging through, after an extended modnation racers fueled rage quit. Such satisfaction, even when dying over and over and over....

[Flying Arrow]

Even though it would kind of gut the game's atmosphere, I kind of wish there was a way to hook up with specific people for co-op. I would help you all out.