Current Events > What is the best Dark Souls?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I can only get one.

1 is the only one worth playing

1 has the best world but everything else about 3 is better, so 3 imo
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Bloodborne
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1 through Anor Londo is perfect, gets bad after that.

2 is trash.

3 is very good all the way through.

On balance, 1 is so good up to AL it wins.
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3 for the fluidity of gameplay and combat
2 for PvP +/- fashion souls
1 for ambiance/atmosphere, the original experience/nidus of a genre, and interconnectivity/aliveness of the world

They all excel in their own regards. If I had to pick, 1, but it only slightly edges 3. And 2 is last for all its flaws.
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Oh. So I'm up to the part where I rang the bell after blight town, is beating that giant lava pit guy necessary or can I just go back, clear the area near the gargoyle boss that opened up, then come back with 30 humanities and open the shortcut through the spider pact lady?
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gunplagirl posted...

Demons

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gunplagirl posted...

Oh. So I'm up to the part where I rang the bell after blight town, is beating that giant lava pit guy necessary or can I just go back, clear the area near the gargoyle boss that opened up, then come back with 30 humanities and open the shortcut through the spider pact lady?

The area that opened up from the bells is the "next" area. Yes, the humanities shortcut is a way to bypass that lava boss. Either lava guy and/or shortcut technically doesn't need to be cleared until you finish the bell pathway.
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There isn't a best Souls game. It just comes down to what you care the most about and the least.

The pieces for the Best Souls Game of All Time exist within DS2, DS3, Bloodborne, and to a much lesser extent, DS1. Hopefully one day From pieces it all together into one game.

DS3 is overall the least...offending game I suppose. Like, it's very safe, and serves sort of as a summary of what they've learned up to this point. However, since DS1 got a remaster recently, if you planned to get into the games, it'd probably be better to start with DS1 (or Demon's Souls, if you have a PS3) because people who get into Souls seldom find just one game to be enough and want to play the others, and starting with the older games first will help you enjoy it all more. Starting with the newer games then going back will make the older ones feel a bit iffy and dated since newer games have made a lot of improvements over the older ones.
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BlameAnesthesia posted...

gunplagirl posted...

Oh. So I'm up to the part where I rang the bell after blight town, is beating that giant lava pit guy necessary or can I just go back, clear the area near the gargoyle boss that opened up, then come back with 30 humanities and open the shortcut through the spider pact lady?

The area that opened up from the bells is the "next" area. Yes, the humanities shortcut is a way to bypass that lava boss. Either lava guy and/or shortcut technically doesn't need to be cleared until you finish the bell pathway.

Is the new route the one with that pair of bosses that everyone rages about? D;
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gunplagirl posted...

Is the new route the one with that pair of bosses that everyone rages about? D;

Eventually. That infamous duo is a non-optional boss, so you'll tussle with them sooner or later.
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Oh. Is valley of the drakes optional? I heard it's a skip to blight town but since I entered through the depths and didn't have the master key, well...

And is the door in the forest that I think leas to the giant wolf optional?
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Dark Souls: Prepare to Die with dsfix

Dark Souls II is a proper sequel, introducing some new ideas, advancing the art and all that. But the core gameplay wasn't refined enough and ultimately the structure is a bit cluttered. It never reaches the heights or overall craftmanship of the first game.

Dark Souls III is a good game, but they were basically like "DSII wasn't the best thing ever. Remember the first one? Here's that again" It feels like they almost took a step back. It's not a bad game, it has a lot of fun areas and bosses. But it does almost nothing to advance the formula and create new excitement. We have the same recognizable mimics and traps and stuff from the 1st game without giving new stuff to interest the player. For that reason I can't put it above DaS, which already did perfect Demon's Souls.
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3 complete with dlc is 20 bucks new
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gunplagirl posted...

Oh. Is valley of the drakes optional?

It is...sort of. It's not really an area proper. It's more like a strange transitory area. Like an intersection of other areas.

gunplagirl posted...

And is the door in the forest that I think leas to the giant wolf optional?

The locked one? Yes, there's another way to get to the area beyond it, though you have to buy the Crest to open it, even if you come up from behind it. Some find it convenient to open the door, at least eventually, like when the price for the Crest is no longer overly expensive to them.
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If you got stuck in Anor Londo on Executioner Smough and Dragonslayer Ornstein then you failed the test and are forever bad at Dark Souls
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Doe posted...

you failed the test and are forever bad at Dark Souls

You know some people actually think that way.

So you shouldn't even joke about it.

It's very natural for newcomers to Souls to have a rough time. There's a lot to take in and have "click" in your mind about playing. It takes time. Always important to keep that in mind if repeated deaths are proving to be very discouraging, because many of the most fanatical of Souls fans originally died a lot and had a hard time or maybe even doubted the game was for them.
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1 or 3 depending on your tastes. Definitely not 2.
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I found 2 more fun than 3 honestly.

Gameplay was less linear and had way more content.

3 felt like it was on rails

Oh. Should I go into the skeleton cave for the boss down there before or after bell tower area? D;

Gosh. I think I see why I liked bloodborne better, the path was a lot easier to figure out and with like two exceptions, the boss orders can't be changed in any meaningful way.
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gunplagirl posted...

Oh. Should I go into the skeleton cave for the boss down there before or after bell tower area? D;

There's not really a right way to approach that really. That's the thing about DS1, as you're noticing - it's quite open-ended in the order you do stuff.

If you go and fight the boss of the Catacombs, you will get Rite of Kindling, which allows you to kindle bonfires 2 additional times, so they grant you 20 estus. However, Catacombs can be a pretty difficulty area to navigate, especially without a divine weapon. The earlier you go in there, the harder it will be, of course. If you have some green titanite shards, and would like to go in there, I'd suggest you get a divine weapon upgraded first. Which requires the Divine Ember given to Andre in the Undead Parish, found after the boss of Darkroot Garden. Then upgrade something that uses regular titanite (not twinkling) to +5, ascend it to divine (needs green titanite shards). This will make Catacombs a lot more manageable.

if you do go down there and give the boss the ol' 1 2, probably shouldn't go deeper still, because you can't fully progress in the next area after that, until after you beat the Dynamic Duo of Doom.
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Makeveli_lives posted...

3 complete with dlc is 20 bucks new

I've been waiting for that. Gonna check it out now
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Dark Souls 3 is easily the best one, IMO, in pretty much every capacity, outside of, maybe, how the world is connected.

it's also the one that I've re-played the most. the first Dark Souls is great up to Anor Londo, but the second half hurts the game's overall quality.

Dark Souls 2 is decent, but I'm not a fan of how it's less polished than the others.
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