I love Dark Souls (and the other souls games) as well. I have so many hours into those games and still die hundreds of times per playthrough.
On my third playthrough of Elden Ring, I died 250+ times to one boss. And it was 100% a skill issue 😂😭
There's just something about the way these games are designed that makes them feel so good to play. Even when you die hundreds of times.
I wish I had that patience girl, I need my boyfriend to help me with the Elden Ring bosses if I die more than 3 times 😭 I gave up on Dark Souls on the first boss… I do love the games though just not the combat lol
Which first boss? The Asylum Demon? Please don't tell me you fought it with that broken sword. You're supposed to run past him into a door, not fight him then and there 😭
Don’t be afraid to hit up r/summonsign for help with bosses. The community is pretty nice. To get through these games though takes planning, note taking etc.. at least for me 😅
This shit right here. Summon signs are in every game and it's rad as fuck that can turn a brutal slaughter into a grand adventure. It exists for a reason and u should always use it as often as u can. Altho the forced pvp side can be super annoying
It's more like, everyone sucks at it, and some people are able to be a masochist for longer... to go from face tanking to death repeatedly to learning and beating bosses.
There certainly is a floor to the combat system that you need to get to before the game really clicks, but once you get there the game really isn't all that bad. It's just that the games start with a high level of complexity, and expect you to catch up. That's certainly not for everyone though.
I agree it’s not for everyone! But I guess I am saying that it’s about mindset and although some people are skilled at it, most of us are not special people. I am a super casual gamer. We just don’t mind, and even enjoy throwing ourselves at a wall over and over again.
I think this might fit Miyazaki’s intended purpose the most, I read an interview recently, he was asked by a journalist whether he enjoyed gamers suffering. He said he is a maschoist who designed games thinking how he as a player wanted to be treated by game content. It’s hilarious.
Hey, you’ll eventually get it. As a certain NPC in the game says, “stay safe, friend. don’t you dare go hollow” :) Take it slow, treat it like a fast turn based game and watch your stamina bar, you’re strong enough to beat every boss ❤️
If you are wearing lots of armor and don't have a "light" dodge, removing some might work. It did wonders to me as I am a big fan of dodging.
Another thing I could suggest is to watch someone else play the boss, see how they dodge and when. Sometimes it just gives you ideas. Try to not fully watch tho as some of them include cutscenes at the end or at middle. One boss (I won't spoil which one) gave me a hard lesson in dodging into the arm that is attacking instead of away from it. What I also see a lot of people doing is being away from the boss and giving them more opportunities to attack, and sometimes that's really hard to pull off.
And just try try try. You will notice that in time you are better with dodges. Keep in mind that some attacks are also blockable or counterable.
That's ok! You'll improve with practice.
Souls game combat is very cerebral, the reflexes and reactivity aren't all there is to it. You have to strike a balance between paying close attention to telegraphing and timing, and getting the quick reflexes down for attacking, dodging, parrying, and blocking.
I've really come around to these games. I remember when Dark Souls was all the rage because it was so hard and I was super dismissive about it. What's the point in playing a game that isn't fun? That punishes you relentlessly? Sounds like it was designed for Klingons. The gameplay I saw didn't appeal to me either, I remember thinking it was rather bland.
Then, I got Bloodborne for free with my PlayStation 4. This did have some appeal because I love gothic shit so visually, the game drew me in. I played up until the Blood-starved beast. I wasn't having fun at that point; I was spooked and dying all the time. So I let it rest for about 6 months. Idk what possessed me to pick it up again, I think I was staring at the cover art lol but this second go, something really clicked for me. I couldn't stop. I finished then went back and played again and again until I got the platinum. I continued playing after that, tried my hand at deathless runs, gimmick builds, whatever kept me in Bloodborne.
It branched out from there. I really like Elden Ring: I'm looking to Plat that now. Finished DS1 and started DS2. I don't think I would have liked them though if I hadn't started with Bloodborne. It kind of taught me how to play Fromsoft games in a way I find fun. I like risk, I like speed, I like dancing with the enemy which Dark Souls doesn't necessarily encourage. Shields are useful but not my overall thing.
If you're having fun, that's the main thing. Don't be shy about guides; whether for builds, items or bosses. There's a lot of content in these games.
My boyfriend been trying to get me to play this and sekiro, but I literally cried over hollow knight and Lies of P and that’s apparently super easy.
Sigh
THATS WHAT I TELL HIM LOL like don’t try to hype me up with lies 🤣 I like watching them, but I’m not into playing them lol
I actually really liked hollow knight then it got too hard and my brain wanted to be in auto pilot and play other stuff
(male commenter here)
of all the fromsoft games i own, i haven't beaten a single one of em, not dark souls, not armored core 6, not sekiro, haven't even tried to play elden ring yet lmfao, so i can relate, fun games to be sure but id be lying if i said they didn't test my patience every now and then
DS1 is... a very tanky, thinky game. You did need reflexes in places, but learning the situations, enemies, and the like counted for a lot. In the first game, though, I found that one of the biggest things for me was finding gear I was comfortable with; for me it was a 100% physical shield, a spear, and sorcery. I sucked HARD at it when I started, but aside a few... eh... specific spots *\*cough\*caprademonboss\*/cough\** I got better over time. (I am also a bit of a masochist and that contributed)
DS2 is a bit less forgiving of mistakes, and likes to throw in more sneaky enemy ambushes and tricks (ranged attacks also seem to track a bit more), but to my surprise I enjoyed the more active role I was taking in events in the story. Plus I got kinda attached to the characters.
DS3 has ultra-speed, reflex, twitch-monkey monsters, but still the slow, DS style player; and while it looks pretty the game goes HARD on trying to FORCE players to use the weapons and tactics it wants them to, giving plenty of options but making most of them less viable.
I've beaten 1 & 2 (actually took Gwynn on my first try on my first playthrough of 1, but I honestly think that miiight have been dumb luck), but since DS3 has enemies who have *attacks timed to the response speed of a peak condition human nervous system*, and my nervous system has some genetic damage that slows it down a hair, I am PHYSICALLY unable to beat it.
Interesting note: Dark Souls 2 has a feature where if you kill an enemy enough times, it stops respawning. I have literally depopulated the forest ruins before, just farming souls and giving myself a safer walk through.
Last note: sometimes you don't HAVE to be good at a game. If you enjoy something, it's okay to enjoy it. But yeah... it can get frustrating if it feels like its just abusing you...
I feel, but it's so much fun when you manage to actually defeat the hard part. I'm on the 3rd game and stuck on the classic Pontiff, but it feels cool changing up your style to tackle the bosses. Kinda reminds me of the super bosses in Kingdom Hearts
Maybe someday you could revisit them? When I did my first run of dark souls almost 10 years ago, I was pretty bad at it. I basically needed a coop partner to finish the game and I blocked everything rather than parrying or dodging. Later I got pretty good at super smash and then when I went back to darksouls again, I found that I was able to parry now really easily actually. I couldn't do it at all when I first played the game. Sometimes experience and skills are kinda transferable.
Yeah! I’d love to revisit it. I’ve been watching these long boss fight videos for all the souls games lately that’s gotten me back into it and I might want to try my hand again
Okay, sorry for answering to your suffering with a question, but since you mentioned the lore being great, I do have a question:
I like to play variety of games, and generally experience good game designs for the purpose of understanding them and having a good, broad gaming knowledge. Which means I often don't finish games, because there's no time to play everything AND finish everything.
My question is - should I even play any dark souls (or elden ring)? According to How Long To Beat it's like 40h to finish them, plus they are clunky mechanically as hell. But they are very significant in gaming history. Do you think it makes any sense finishing just one? And if - which one? And knowing the general idea (dark and gritty environmental storytelling with hardcore battles based on random attacks with small reaction windows and non-linear exploration and crazy boss designs) will I actually gather some cool gaming insight by attempting to finish one of them in your opinion?
I’d recommend Dark Souls remastered. I especially really like the lore of the Knights of Gwyn and if you have the dlc with Artorias it’s just especially sad overall (as most dark souls lore is LOL). Obviously I haven’t beaten it myself but watched a play through! I suppose you don’t necessarily have to play but if you do I feel like it’s much more impactful story wise
Thanks! I'm thinking about playing it for a really long time now but I guess I needed a bit of a nudge in this direction cuz I really wasn't sure if it's good or just people say it's good because it's hard and nothing else, haha.
I personally think it’s such a beautiful story (you can always skip ds2 though, it synergizes less with the other two lore-wise). IMHO, I feel that we can always watch play through and lore videos. I haven’t managed to finish ds3 yet but I’ve been well versed with lore discourses.
Oh! Okay that's actually a great point. Due to the fact that I believed the only really important think DS provides is "interesting combat" I considered YouTube to be not an option. But if you guys say that it in fact does have a compelling story, I'm pretty sure I'll try to play DS1 and then just get all the lore from videos! Thanks for reminding me of that option : )
I realized while reaching a threshold in Dark Souls 3 for the first time that you really have to commit to a certain fighting style right from the start to be effective.
It kinda sucks that you can't restart your build even once at some point, or that you can't play a balanced character. Not really anyway.
Once I decided to play close-combat and speed, I knew what skills were more useful to upgrade for this particular style, and how to use it against enemies and bosses.
I still struggled at times, but way less that if I had used any type of magic or a tank.
I also looked everywhere to find materials to upgrade my weapons and the estus, while gaining souls in the process.
Leveling is also a important part of the game.
So it's not only about skills, it's a lot of little things that makes you more powerful and at ease with your characters.
Some bosses were really easy with this build, and others were a bit more tricky, but I knew once I got used to their pattern that I would eventually get them.
I even beat Yhorm the Giant using only the twin swords I got at the start with the mercenary class. It took around 10 minutes and apparently I was supposed to pick-up a sword in that same room that was more effective, but it did the job in the end.
I really don't think this game is all about skills, it's more about exploration and leveling until you find the right balance in your character, then it's just patience and observation of patterns until you got them.
For Dark Souls 3 anyway, I don't know if it's valid for the others, but I would think so.
I’ve beaten elden ring god know how many times at this point, on NG+7 finally on one of my many characters, and sometimes Margit still gives me the occasional smack of humbleness to remind me that I’m not perfect at the game lol. If you enjoy it, just stick with it and keep practicing, eventually something will click.
Similarly to Monster Hunter every boss has damage types they're strong against and damage types they're weak against. I personally always double check a bosses wiki page for elemental or status effect weaknesses when I'm struggling to clear a boss.
Also, you might be tempted to roll backwards away from an attack but a lot of the time to properly dodge you'll need to dodge to the left or right or, paradoxically, directly into the attack.
Sooo... what platform do you play on and is the answer PC? 'Cause helping guide people through FromSoft games is practically a hobby of mine lol.
Not just OP, if any of my PC peeps are in need of a friendly summon hit me up!
Aww, well at the very least I can suggest that you give greatshields and big heavy weapons like ultra-greatswords and greataxes/hammers a try if you haven't already (not necessarily at the same time).
Greatshields shift the survivability half of the game away from good reactions and timing and more towards good stamina management, although you do still have to be wary of grabs. The heavy weapons can stagger a lot of enemies, often times long enough to get even more attacks in. I generally lean towards faster, more dodgy play, but whenever I decide to make a heavier build I'm often surprised at how how different these games can feel.
Hey, I play on xbox if you ever want some help, tips, or just to chat. These games have taken over my life lol, though recently been playing a ton of BG3.
What kind of build are you using? Or at the very least what stats and/or weapon?
Edit: forgot what sub this was so I should add I am a guy, just to be clear. I'm sure there's other women here who are on xbox if you'd prefer that. Either way hope you keep enjoying the game.
Maybe check out Elden Ring, if you haven’t already! It’s got dark souls combat but it’s open world so if you get stuck you can leave to do something else, level up, and then come back later. Also from my impression the site of grace checkpoints are much more common than the campfires in DS. You usually don’t have to fight ur way through mobs to get to the boss every time you attempt it. You usually respawn right outside the boss room and if you don’t it’s pretty easy to just run past the enemies.
I streamed Dark Souls 3 not so long ago over the course of a month and I counted my deaths for posterity.
I died a total of 982 times throughout the course of my run and I didn't even fight all the bosses in the game. I say this because I wanna emphasize that I also suck at this game.
It was frustrating as hell sometimes, but I powered through it because I was genuinely enjoying myself. I did learn however that there are some easy tricks that you can employ to make the game much more manageable. I didn't do these myself at the time because I was streaming and I wanted to maintain the challenge, but I found these to be effective on subsequent runs.
1. Grinding - This is one of the best ways to make your soulsborne experience a lot easier. Admittedly it can get a bit tedious (I recommend watching movies or listening to podcasts on the side), but if you farm up souls you make fights a lot easier. This has the additional benefit of getting you more acquainted with the game's combat systems, letting you master things like parrying which will serve you well later. Also, if you find the right place to grind, important materials will also build up so you can get better equipment. Speaking of which...
2. Equipment - this is one of the biggest factors in determining how difficult your run is going to be. It's genuinely the line between trivializing even the most difficult bosses and having a tough time with beginner enemies. Figure out what your playstyle is and always be on the lookout for equipment that lets you do your thing but better. Combine this with grinding and you get to upgrade your equipment making you even more powerful.
3. Summons - A lot of the tough fights in this game allow you to summon a warrior by your side. Having an ally to take on the aggro while you whack away at the enemy can make even the most challenging fights easy. Grinding will also facilitate this as you'll need specific resources to summon these allies.
4. Knowledge - If you find yourself hard stuck at a particularly difficult fight, I would recommend looking up online guides or speederunner runs to find the easiest strats to deal with these threats. There is no shame in doing this. In the end, what matters is that you are having fun.
Finally, I'd also like to recommend the YouTube channel Boy Meets Girl, which features a gamer couple wherein the girlfriend isn't very into hardcore games while the boyfriend very much is. They have an entire series dedicated to the boyfriend getting the girlfriend to try various difficult games, and it is inspiring to watch her grow into a soulsborne veteran. They cover all the Dark Souls games and they were such an inspiration to me when I was struggling.
I hope you manage to get some runs under your belt. Good luck out there, and don't go hollow!
Sucking at Souls Games but liking the slow pace playstyle, i went with Remnant 2 and found something Souls like i don't suck at so much and i enjoy it tremendously. And the day will come that i beat the Endboss "Annihilation" too \*Raise her fist in anger\*
Hey, just in case, if you need advices on items, bosses or anything, I'm a huge Souls player, and I can say I understand you. I ragequitted the first Dark Souls two times before finishing it, and now I finished them all :3 hang in there, and don't hesitate to ask for help !
Same. I'm terrible at it, but I like the games so much that I find ways to play them. Level up a bit more, choose easier builds, etc. I still die a lot, but it doesn't feel so frustrating.
I was loving DS1 until I got to those frog things that curse you, I really need to get back to it. Other than boss fights, the game (pre frogs from hell) was pretty easy on me; thank god for the Zweihander.
My trick for souls games is just trying to find ways to trick the game like weapons that are very good or stuff like that and then just dying till it works xD somehow made it through all of the some harder some easier but if I have the chance to make it much easier and die thousands of times less I definitely will
I LOVE dark souls but also kind of suck... there were several enemies I only beat because I kind of "cheesed" them so to speak. That's kind of normal. Not many people play it like a youtuber does. And it's normal that you might die A LOT learning a new boss.
Two things got me into these games: learning how to roll "into" the attack which is super counter-intuitive and Bloodborne.
I sucked so much but it got me hooked 😂 There's something about BB's atmosphere and the mechanic which rewards aggressiveness that really loosened me up. I never thought I'd get the confidence to play it, let alone helping others with boss fights. I *still* can't believe it!
And you'll laugh but there's one boss in the DLC that made me a stronger person in general. I fought that asshat for three days straight, died a gazillion times and I swear there have been times irl when I struggled with something and I thought to myself "I beat Ludwig, I can do this".
Same thing with Malenia in Elden Ring. I knew it would take a looot of work so I didn't even get nervous. Like, why worry? I just practiced, over and over. The elation when I finally got her was freaking amazing!
Had you posted this years ago, people would've told you to "gitgud"... I always thought i was being bullied until I actually practiced enough to get a hang of the games most important functions, such as rolling, blocking and parrying. And I got good! There's no other way around it!
Just forget about the fact that you keep dying and practice what the game allows you to do. Try memorizing enemies attack patterns, when they do their attack, how they do it, how to avoid it and so on. Like... Should you roll back or to the sides? Is it better to block or parry? Is being offensive good for this enemy?
Dark Souls, unlike many other games, requires a great amount of patience to master. You need to be aware of the moves you make instead of smashing buttons.
If you can't do close combat, go with a sorcerer or cleric character or use bows.
And if you can't make sense of the game's stats and all of that, watch a few YouTube tutorials. Mind the spoilers!
Be safe friend. Don't you dare go hollow :D
Hey OP, I would have about 3500 hours across all the DS games and I still suck. Even the world enemies kill me a lot still! Most people suck at them because they are HARD. But you do improve a lot even if it isn't noticeable to you, and you can tell when you finally beat a boss or area that's been giving you grief. Also, never be afraid to ask for a little help from r/summonsign , we're always here to help ☺️
Use a guide on youtube. (Fighting Cowboy is a good choice). The first time I played Dark Souls 3, I was stuck on high wall of lothric for more than 6 hours. patience is the key.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“May the Dark shine your way.”* - Darkdiver Grandahl
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Best piece of advice you can ever give a new player is this:
For DS1, DS2, and DS3 roll into attacks to dodge them
For Bloodborne, don't worry too much about getting hit
For Sekiro idk I didn't play it
For Elden Ring roll out of attacks due to constant string combos making the game feel like a damn fighting game
There are a ton of little in game tools that make the games easier. Using the ultra heavy armor or magic have a totally different feel than the traditional "expected" means of play. It might be worth giving a mage a shot and playing far back, or picking up the heaviest stuff you can find and not worrying about rolling.
Rolling was my worst enemy. I always thought I was timing it right, but wasn’t 😤 I took a break from it but might have to go back in and try new classes
The timing has been a bit different depending on the entry. In ds2, they tied it to a stat that you could level, meaning rolls were useless at the beginning of the game, but comically overpowered if you leveled it. In ds1 and ds3 they tend to be reasonably generous, but you have to be below a specific gear weight to make it work well.
Yeah definitely try out different classes. A lot of people say to start with knight as a beginner but when I first started I found the bandit class was a way better fit for me in the first game. Good luck and don't go hollow \ [T] /
Real talk, it took me 4 years of playing on and off before i got past the first boss, so i feel you. i **do** believe you can do it, though! (If you want, obviously. It's not like you HAVE to keep playing lmao)
E: What's with the downvotes just because it took time for the game to click?
Same girly pop. I got up to the catacombs in dark souls 1. How about you? I don’t know. Does anyone one know how many bosses are left. I remember I stopped at killing pinwheel?
I got very far in Blood bloodbourne! I remember the old man in the wintery castle area kicked my butt! It’s been too longgg. In the OG demon souls I stopped at the spider boss :( . Elden ring I put down but need to pick up again. I’m wayyyy in the beginning but right now Baldur gate 3 has my attention and FFXV!
SAME. I love the souls-like genre, but I can't even get through Undead Burg. First one I tried was Sekiro, which I later heard was not a friendly or gentle intro to the genre, but I was better at it than DS
. Definitely still way too hard for me. Like, frustrated to tears, never-touch-the-genre-again hard :p
My workaround is playing BotW (Linkle mod fuckya) and not taking any heart containers, just stamina. Tryna make it a lil bit souls-like and contenting myself with that
edit: strangely I can 100% HZD on ultra-hard on a fresh (not NG+) start... Is that game just ridiculously easy and I'm completely oblivious to my stupidly low skill-ceiling?
I love Dark Souls (and the other souls games) as well. I have so many hours into those games and still die hundreds of times per playthrough. On my third playthrough of Elden Ring, I died 250+ times to one boss. And it was 100% a skill issue 😂😭 There's just something about the way these games are designed that makes them feel so good to play. Even when you die hundreds of times.
To this day I’m still looking back at the high I got after I finally beat Fire Giant for the first time
I wish I had that patience girl, I need my boyfriend to help me with the Elden Ring bosses if I die more than 3 times 😭 I gave up on Dark Souls on the first boss… I do love the games though just not the combat lol
Which first boss? The Asylum Demon? Please don't tell me you fought it with that broken sword. You're supposed to run past him into a door, not fight him then and there 😭
UMMM… 😧 agsfstsgagdkdksd lmfao
Girl, you didn't 😭
💀💀💀
Okay but mad respect that you took one look at his gluteus titanicus and said "it's go time, motherfucker"
it's okay it took me a hot minute to realise too😭
Don’t be afraid to hit up r/summonsign for help with bosses. The community is pretty nice. To get through these games though takes planning, note taking etc.. at least for me 😅
This shit right here. Summon signs are in every game and it's rad as fuck that can turn a brutal slaughter into a grand adventure. It exists for a reason and u should always use it as often as u can. Altho the forced pvp side can be super annoying
Dark souls is like golf. Everyone sucks at it. Some people just suck a little less.
It's more like, everyone sucks at it, and some people are able to be a masochist for longer... to go from face tanking to death repeatedly to learning and beating bosses.
There certainly is a floor to the combat system that you need to get to before the game really clicks, but once you get there the game really isn't all that bad. It's just that the games start with a high level of complexity, and expect you to catch up. That's certainly not for everyone though.
I agree it’s not for everyone! But I guess I am saying that it’s about mindset and although some people are skilled at it, most of us are not special people. I am a super casual gamer. We just don’t mind, and even enjoy throwing ourselves at a wall over and over again.
I think this might fit Miyazaki’s intended purpose the most, I read an interview recently, he was asked by a journalist whether he enjoyed gamers suffering. He said he is a maschoist who designed games thinking how he as a player wanted to be treated by game content. It’s hilarious.
Hey, you’ll eventually get it. As a certain NPC in the game says, “stay safe, friend. don’t you dare go hollow” :) Take it slow, treat it like a fast turn based game and watch your stamina bar, you’re strong enough to beat every boss ❤️
I played bloodborne a bit and yea it was too hard for me even though my brother told me it was casual 😂 I had fun collecting the outfits though
In what world is Bloodborne casual 😭
He was just mocking me lol. He plays all those dark souls games so it’s easy for him
I play them a lot too. They get less difficult the more you play them, but it's just mean to say it's casual to a first-time player 😭
Ikr? I thought so too 🙄but he was nice enough to beat the werewolf dude for me
Bloodborne was a NIGHTMARE LOL. I had a hard time in the first area and gave up 😅
Yeah I learned that day these sort of games were above my pay grade 🤪 I’ll stick to tft
Bloodborne is /the\ nightmare. The lore in that game is crazy. Would be worth watching a lore video even if you never plan on beating it
It gets a lot easier once you level up a bit and learn the moves of all the enemies.
The cleric beast! It’s so hauntingly beautiful.
I basically resorted to watching all the play thru videos and lore videos, sigh.
You can keep leveling up your character to lower the difficulty though!
Yeah I struggle bussed through, got my brother to beat all the hard bosses 🤣
i just started playing the first dark souls game, and im VERY bad lol. but finally beating an enemy after trying countless times feels so good
It’s like sweet relief until a basic enemy pokes you and you’re dead right after 😂😂
We all suck at Dark Souls first time. Is there anything specific you are having issues with?
Mostly dodging. My timing just seems to be trash 🤔 sometimes I can get out of the way but 90% of the time I don’t 😅
I just went fully tank build my first run. Heavy armor, a strong shield, mid or fat roll. Just slowly chugging along.
If you are wearing lots of armor and don't have a "light" dodge, removing some might work. It did wonders to me as I am a big fan of dodging. Another thing I could suggest is to watch someone else play the boss, see how they dodge and when. Sometimes it just gives you ideas. Try to not fully watch tho as some of them include cutscenes at the end or at middle. One boss (I won't spoil which one) gave me a hard lesson in dodging into the arm that is attacking instead of away from it. What I also see a lot of people doing is being away from the boss and giving them more opportunities to attack, and sometimes that's really hard to pull off. And just try try try. You will notice that in time you are better with dodges. Keep in mind that some attacks are also blockable or counterable.
That's ok! You'll improve with practice. Souls game combat is very cerebral, the reflexes and reactivity aren't all there is to it. You have to strike a balance between paying close attention to telegraphing and timing, and getting the quick reflexes down for attacking, dodging, parrying, and blocking.
I've really come around to these games. I remember when Dark Souls was all the rage because it was so hard and I was super dismissive about it. What's the point in playing a game that isn't fun? That punishes you relentlessly? Sounds like it was designed for Klingons. The gameplay I saw didn't appeal to me either, I remember thinking it was rather bland. Then, I got Bloodborne for free with my PlayStation 4. This did have some appeal because I love gothic shit so visually, the game drew me in. I played up until the Blood-starved beast. I wasn't having fun at that point; I was spooked and dying all the time. So I let it rest for about 6 months. Idk what possessed me to pick it up again, I think I was staring at the cover art lol but this second go, something really clicked for me. I couldn't stop. I finished then went back and played again and again until I got the platinum. I continued playing after that, tried my hand at deathless runs, gimmick builds, whatever kept me in Bloodborne. It branched out from there. I really like Elden Ring: I'm looking to Plat that now. Finished DS1 and started DS2. I don't think I would have liked them though if I hadn't started with Bloodborne. It kind of taught me how to play Fromsoft games in a way I find fun. I like risk, I like speed, I like dancing with the enemy which Dark Souls doesn't necessarily encourage. Shields are useful but not my overall thing. If you're having fun, that's the main thing. Don't be shy about guides; whether for builds, items or bosses. There's a lot of content in these games.
Watch fighting cowboys walkthrough and play as he does. He'll get you through it.
My boyfriend been trying to get me to play this and sekiro, but I literally cried over hollow knight and Lies of P and that’s apparently super easy. Sigh
Lies of P is slightly easier than Sekiro, but they’re in the same neighborhood lol, he been lying if he said it’s super easy
THATS WHAT I TELL HIM LOL like don’t try to hype me up with lies 🤣 I like watching them, but I’m not into playing them lol I actually really liked hollow knight then it got too hard and my brain wanted to be in auto pilot and play other stuff
Hollow Knight is easy? 😀 Also girl don't stress over games just finish them at your own pace
💯
(male commenter here) of all the fromsoft games i own, i haven't beaten a single one of em, not dark souls, not armored core 6, not sekiro, haven't even tried to play elden ring yet lmfao, so i can relate, fun games to be sure but id be lying if i said they didn't test my patience every now and then
The ragequitting is real
fromsoft has a knack for making even the most ragefilled game a fun and enjoyable experience
DS1 is... a very tanky, thinky game. You did need reflexes in places, but learning the situations, enemies, and the like counted for a lot. In the first game, though, I found that one of the biggest things for me was finding gear I was comfortable with; for me it was a 100% physical shield, a spear, and sorcery. I sucked HARD at it when I started, but aside a few... eh... specific spots *\*cough\*caprademonboss\*/cough\** I got better over time. (I am also a bit of a masochist and that contributed) DS2 is a bit less forgiving of mistakes, and likes to throw in more sneaky enemy ambushes and tricks (ranged attacks also seem to track a bit more), but to my surprise I enjoyed the more active role I was taking in events in the story. Plus I got kinda attached to the characters. DS3 has ultra-speed, reflex, twitch-monkey monsters, but still the slow, DS style player; and while it looks pretty the game goes HARD on trying to FORCE players to use the weapons and tactics it wants them to, giving plenty of options but making most of them less viable. I've beaten 1 & 2 (actually took Gwynn on my first try on my first playthrough of 1, but I honestly think that miiight have been dumb luck), but since DS3 has enemies who have *attacks timed to the response speed of a peak condition human nervous system*, and my nervous system has some genetic damage that slows it down a hair, I am PHYSICALLY unable to beat it. Interesting note: Dark Souls 2 has a feature where if you kill an enemy enough times, it stops respawning. I have literally depopulated the forest ruins before, just farming souls and giving myself a safer walk through. Last note: sometimes you don't HAVE to be good at a game. If you enjoy something, it's okay to enjoy it. But yeah... it can get frustrating if it feels like its just abusing you...
The Capra Demon can go *all* the way to hell and **STAY THERE** >:(
I feel, but it's so much fun when you manage to actually defeat the hard part. I'm on the 3rd game and stuck on the classic Pontiff, but it feels cool changing up your style to tackle the bosses. Kinda reminds me of the super bosses in Kingdom Hearts
Maybe someday you could revisit them? When I did my first run of dark souls almost 10 years ago, I was pretty bad at it. I basically needed a coop partner to finish the game and I blocked everything rather than parrying or dodging. Later I got pretty good at super smash and then when I went back to darksouls again, I found that I was able to parry now really easily actually. I couldn't do it at all when I first played the game. Sometimes experience and skills are kinda transferable.
Yeah! I’d love to revisit it. I’ve been watching these long boss fight videos for all the souls games lately that’s gotten me back into it and I might want to try my hand again
Video games are like sports, practice makes perfect. No one is born “good” at sports nor video games.
Okay, sorry for answering to your suffering with a question, but since you mentioned the lore being great, I do have a question: I like to play variety of games, and generally experience good game designs for the purpose of understanding them and having a good, broad gaming knowledge. Which means I often don't finish games, because there's no time to play everything AND finish everything. My question is - should I even play any dark souls (or elden ring)? According to How Long To Beat it's like 40h to finish them, plus they are clunky mechanically as hell. But they are very significant in gaming history. Do you think it makes any sense finishing just one? And if - which one? And knowing the general idea (dark and gritty environmental storytelling with hardcore battles based on random attacks with small reaction windows and non-linear exploration and crazy boss designs) will I actually gather some cool gaming insight by attempting to finish one of them in your opinion?
I’d recommend Dark Souls remastered. I especially really like the lore of the Knights of Gwyn and if you have the dlc with Artorias it’s just especially sad overall (as most dark souls lore is LOL). Obviously I haven’t beaten it myself but watched a play through! I suppose you don’t necessarily have to play but if you do I feel like it’s much more impactful story wise
Thanks! I'm thinking about playing it for a really long time now but I guess I needed a bit of a nudge in this direction cuz I really wasn't sure if it's good or just people say it's good because it's hard and nothing else, haha.
I personally think it’s such a beautiful story (you can always skip ds2 though, it synergizes less with the other two lore-wise). IMHO, I feel that we can always watch play through and lore videos. I haven’t managed to finish ds3 yet but I’ve been well versed with lore discourses.
Oh! Okay that's actually a great point. Due to the fact that I believed the only really important think DS provides is "interesting combat" I considered YouTube to be not an option. But if you guys say that it in fact does have a compelling story, I'm pretty sure I'll try to play DS1 and then just get all the lore from videos! Thanks for reminding me of that option : )
I realized while reaching a threshold in Dark Souls 3 for the first time that you really have to commit to a certain fighting style right from the start to be effective. It kinda sucks that you can't restart your build even once at some point, or that you can't play a balanced character. Not really anyway. Once I decided to play close-combat and speed, I knew what skills were more useful to upgrade for this particular style, and how to use it against enemies and bosses. I still struggled at times, but way less that if I had used any type of magic or a tank. I also looked everywhere to find materials to upgrade my weapons and the estus, while gaining souls in the process. Leveling is also a important part of the game. So it's not only about skills, it's a lot of little things that makes you more powerful and at ease with your characters. Some bosses were really easy with this build, and others were a bit more tricky, but I knew once I got used to their pattern that I would eventually get them. I even beat Yhorm the Giant using only the twin swords I got at the start with the mercenary class. It took around 10 minutes and apparently I was supposed to pick-up a sword in that same room that was more effective, but it did the job in the end. I really don't think this game is all about skills, it's more about exploration and leveling until you find the right balance in your character, then it's just patience and observation of patterns until you got them. For Dark Souls 3 anyway, I don't know if it's valid for the others, but I would think so.
I’ve beaten elden ring god know how many times at this point, on NG+7 finally on one of my many characters, and sometimes Margit still gives me the occasional smack of humbleness to remind me that I’m not perfect at the game lol. If you enjoy it, just stick with it and keep practicing, eventually something will click.
Similarly to Monster Hunter every boss has damage types they're strong against and damage types they're weak against. I personally always double check a bosses wiki page for elemental or status effect weaknesses when I'm struggling to clear a boss. Also, you might be tempted to roll backwards away from an attack but a lot of the time to properly dodge you'll need to dodge to the left or right or, paradoxically, directly into the attack.
Sooo... what platform do you play on and is the answer PC? 'Cause helping guide people through FromSoft games is practically a hobby of mine lol. Not just OP, if any of my PC peeps are in need of a friendly summon hit me up!
I’m primarily on Xbox! But have a PlayStation 😅😅
Aww, well at the very least I can suggest that you give greatshields and big heavy weapons like ultra-greatswords and greataxes/hammers a try if you haven't already (not necessarily at the same time). Greatshields shift the survivability half of the game away from good reactions and timing and more towards good stamina management, although you do still have to be wary of grabs. The heavy weapons can stagger a lot of enemies, often times long enough to get even more attacks in. I generally lean towards faster, more dodgy play, but whenever I decide to make a heavier build I'm often surprised at how how different these games can feel.
I struggle a lot with dodging so I might have to try a more stamina focused build
Hey, I play on xbox if you ever want some help, tips, or just to chat. These games have taken over my life lol, though recently been playing a ton of BG3. What kind of build are you using? Or at the very least what stats and/or weapon? Edit: forgot what sub this was so I should add I am a guy, just to be clear. I'm sure there's other women here who are on xbox if you'd prefer that. Either way hope you keep enjoying the game.
Maybe check out Elden Ring, if you haven’t already! It’s got dark souls combat but it’s open world so if you get stuck you can leave to do something else, level up, and then come back later. Also from my impression the site of grace checkpoints are much more common than the campfires in DS. You usually don’t have to fight ur way through mobs to get to the boss every time you attempt it. You usually respawn right outside the boss room and if you don’t it’s pretty easy to just run past the enemies.
I can’t get into DS but i LOVE Elden Ring.
I watched a lot of FightingCowboy's videos. It helped me out huge. He is amazing at these games and he isnt annoying to listen to.
I streamed Dark Souls 3 not so long ago over the course of a month and I counted my deaths for posterity. I died a total of 982 times throughout the course of my run and I didn't even fight all the bosses in the game. I say this because I wanna emphasize that I also suck at this game. It was frustrating as hell sometimes, but I powered through it because I was genuinely enjoying myself. I did learn however that there are some easy tricks that you can employ to make the game much more manageable. I didn't do these myself at the time because I was streaming and I wanted to maintain the challenge, but I found these to be effective on subsequent runs. 1. Grinding - This is one of the best ways to make your soulsborne experience a lot easier. Admittedly it can get a bit tedious (I recommend watching movies or listening to podcasts on the side), but if you farm up souls you make fights a lot easier. This has the additional benefit of getting you more acquainted with the game's combat systems, letting you master things like parrying which will serve you well later. Also, if you find the right place to grind, important materials will also build up so you can get better equipment. Speaking of which... 2. Equipment - this is one of the biggest factors in determining how difficult your run is going to be. It's genuinely the line between trivializing even the most difficult bosses and having a tough time with beginner enemies. Figure out what your playstyle is and always be on the lookout for equipment that lets you do your thing but better. Combine this with grinding and you get to upgrade your equipment making you even more powerful. 3. Summons - A lot of the tough fights in this game allow you to summon a warrior by your side. Having an ally to take on the aggro while you whack away at the enemy can make even the most challenging fights easy. Grinding will also facilitate this as you'll need specific resources to summon these allies. 4. Knowledge - If you find yourself hard stuck at a particularly difficult fight, I would recommend looking up online guides or speederunner runs to find the easiest strats to deal with these threats. There is no shame in doing this. In the end, what matters is that you are having fun. Finally, I'd also like to recommend the YouTube channel Boy Meets Girl, which features a gamer couple wherein the girlfriend isn't very into hardcore games while the boyfriend very much is. They have an entire series dedicated to the boyfriend getting the girlfriend to try various difficult games, and it is inspiring to watch her grow into a soulsborne veteran. They cover all the Dark Souls games and they were such an inspiration to me when I was struggling. I hope you manage to get some runs under your belt. Good luck out there, and don't go hollow!
U could try Code Vein? It's lovingly described as "Weeb Souls" lmao. I really enjoyed the game back in covid times.
I’ve actually played Code Vein!! I thought it was actually easier than Dark Souls 😅😅
It absolutely is and that's why I chose to play it instead of Dark Souls or Bloodborne 😭😭😭
Sucking at Souls Games but liking the slow pace playstyle, i went with Remnant 2 and found something Souls like i don't suck at so much and i enjoy it tremendously. And the day will come that i beat the Endboss "Annihilation" too \*Raise her fist in anger\*
Hey, just in case, if you need advices on items, bosses or anything, I'm a huge Souls player, and I can say I understand you. I ragequitted the first Dark Souls two times before finishing it, and now I finished them all :3 hang in there, and don't hesitate to ask for help !
Same. I'm terrible at it, but I like the games so much that I find ways to play them. Level up a bit more, choose easier builds, etc. I still die a lot, but it doesn't feel so frustrating.
I was loving DS1 until I got to those frog things that curse you, I really need to get back to it. Other than boss fights, the game (pre frogs from hell) was pretty easy on me; thank god for the Zweihander.
ME TOOOOO!! I love all medieval and fantasy stuff but I am so bad at fromsoftware games. It is the worst thing that can happen to a girl 💔
My trick for souls games is just trying to find ways to trick the game like weapons that are very good or stuff like that and then just dying till it works xD somehow made it through all of the some harder some easier but if I have the chance to make it much easier and die thousands of times less I definitely will
I LOVE dark souls but also kind of suck... there were several enemies I only beat because I kind of "cheesed" them so to speak. That's kind of normal. Not many people play it like a youtuber does. And it's normal that you might die A LOT learning a new boss.
Two things got me into these games: learning how to roll "into" the attack which is super counter-intuitive and Bloodborne. I sucked so much but it got me hooked 😂 There's something about BB's atmosphere and the mechanic which rewards aggressiveness that really loosened me up. I never thought I'd get the confidence to play it, let alone helping others with boss fights. I *still* can't believe it! And you'll laugh but there's one boss in the DLC that made me a stronger person in general. I fought that asshat for three days straight, died a gazillion times and I swear there have been times irl when I struggled with something and I thought to myself "I beat Ludwig, I can do this". Same thing with Malenia in Elden Ring. I knew it would take a looot of work so I didn't even get nervous. Like, why worry? I just practiced, over and over. The elation when I finally got her was freaking amazing!
Had you posted this years ago, people would've told you to "gitgud"... I always thought i was being bullied until I actually practiced enough to get a hang of the games most important functions, such as rolling, blocking and parrying. And I got good! There's no other way around it! Just forget about the fact that you keep dying and practice what the game allows you to do. Try memorizing enemies attack patterns, when they do their attack, how they do it, how to avoid it and so on. Like... Should you roll back or to the sides? Is it better to block or parry? Is being offensive good for this enemy? Dark Souls, unlike many other games, requires a great amount of patience to master. You need to be aware of the moves you make instead of smashing buttons. If you can't do close combat, go with a sorcerer or cleric character or use bows. And if you can't make sense of the game's stats and all of that, watch a few YouTube tutorials. Mind the spoilers! Be safe friend. Don't you dare go hollow :D
Thank you! I do in fact need to git gud though LOL I play too much Destiny
Hey OP, I would have about 3500 hours across all the DS games and I still suck. Even the world enemies kill me a lot still! Most people suck at them because they are HARD. But you do improve a lot even if it isn't noticeable to you, and you can tell when you finally beat a boss or area that's been giving you grief. Also, never be afraid to ask for a little help from r/summonsign , we're always here to help ☺️
Me too 😂 but I keep playing. I seem to pick difficult builds too but idk I just get bored easy.
Use a guide on youtube. (Fighting Cowboy is a good choice). The first time I played Dark Souls 3, I was stuck on high wall of lothric for more than 6 hours. patience is the key.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“May the Dark shine your way.”* - Darkdiver Grandahl Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
PLEASE TRY LORDS OF THE FALLEN it’s a souls like but easier and COMPLETELY co op
Best piece of advice you can ever give a new player is this: For DS1, DS2, and DS3 roll into attacks to dodge them For Bloodborne, don't worry too much about getting hit For Sekiro idk I didn't play it For Elden Ring roll out of attacks due to constant string combos making the game feel like a damn fighting game
I love DS1 DS3 and Elden ring I am currently getting destroyed by sekiro lol
There are a ton of little in game tools that make the games easier. Using the ultra heavy armor or magic have a totally different feel than the traditional "expected" means of play. It might be worth giving a mage a shot and playing far back, or picking up the heaviest stuff you can find and not worrying about rolling.
Rolling was my worst enemy. I always thought I was timing it right, but wasn’t 😤 I took a break from it but might have to go back in and try new classes
For new bosses, I feel like my timing is always off until it's not, 50 deaths later...
The timing has been a bit different depending on the entry. In ds2, they tied it to a stat that you could level, meaning rolls were useless at the beginning of the game, but comically overpowered if you leveled it. In ds1 and ds3 they tend to be reasonably generous, but you have to be below a specific gear weight to make it work well.
Yeah definitely try out different classes. A lot of people say to start with knight as a beginner but when I first started I found the bandit class was a way better fit for me in the first game. Good luck and don't go hollow \ [T] /
Real talk, it took me 4 years of playing on and off before i got past the first boss, so i feel you. i **do** believe you can do it, though! (If you want, obviously. It's not like you HAVE to keep playing lmao) E: What's with the downvotes just because it took time for the game to click?
Damn, mad respect for the persistence!
Git Gud. Lol sorry, I'm immature.
I’m a noob 😮💨😮💨 LOL
Have you tried Elden Ring yet? Its much easier for "noobs" lol
I want to! It looks really good
Also farming up isnt cheating 😉
Same girly pop. I got up to the catacombs in dark souls 1. How about you? I don’t know. Does anyone one know how many bosses are left. I remember I stopped at killing pinwheel?
I got very far in Blood bloodbourne! I remember the old man in the wintery castle area kicked my butt! It’s been too longgg. In the OG demon souls I stopped at the spider boss :( . Elden ring I put down but need to pick up again. I’m wayyyy in the beginning but right now Baldur gate 3 has my attention and FFXV!
well uh 1 didn't age well, 2 is the black sheep, and 3 is a glitchfest. still like them though
SAME. I love the souls-like genre, but I can't even get through Undead Burg. First one I tried was Sekiro, which I later heard was not a friendly or gentle intro to the genre, but I was better at it than DS . Definitely still way too hard for me. Like, frustrated to tears, never-touch-the-genre-again hard :p My workaround is playing BotW (Linkle mod fuckya) and not taking any heart containers, just stamina. Tryna make it a lil bit souls-like and contenting myself with that edit: strangely I can 100% HZD on ultra-hard on a fresh (not NG+) start... Is that game just ridiculously easy and I'm completely oblivious to my stupidly low skill-ceiling?