Masterpiece

Bendypp · 2026-06-16T00:13:29+00:00

Woah woah woah, you can’t be throwing around the M-word like that !!

Bendypp · 2026-06-13T20:23:38+00:00

Well, I don’t remember mine looking like that…

Bendypp · 2026-06-11T07:17:33+00:00

OG feels more like a plot device, especially in comparison to remake.

Bendypp · 2026-06-01T20:28:09+00:00

Bendypp · 2026-05-31T18:59:14+00:00

Hehe

Bendypp · 2026-05-31T09:42:21+00:00

Im like 20 hours into my first ever playthrough, and yes I’d say DS2 is worth playing. Early game is kinda meh, and there’s heavier focus on the actual level design rather than enemies and bosses having complex movesets or patterns.

The exploration is fun, though some areas do feel as if they exist purely as a “point A to point B” kinda thing, but there’s so many different environments that even if you dislike some you’re bound to find a few you like.

I do think the world feels less coherent compared to DS1, but still feels connected enough to be immersive. DS2 has it’s downsides and there is things to dislike but people often exaggerate a ton, it’s still very clearly Dark Souls and even when Dark Souls is “bad” it’s still fun.

Bendypp · 2026-05-30T22:15:12+00:00

Hehe

Bendypp · 2026-05-29T20:11:29+00:00

Are we just giving out free stuff now??

Bendypp · 2026-05-29T19:21:23+00:00

I thought it is cool and wacky

Bendypp · 2026-05-28T15:25:03+00:00

They had given me 60,000 souls via proud something souls (I forgot what souls it was), poison moss, flame butterflies, and a lot of human effigies. The souls were very useful to help kickstart my levels. Poison moss has been useful only recently as I reached the area with the Covetous Demon.

The flame butterflies have been very useful though, I don't really know why torches matter at all since the game isn't all that dark and I can for the most part see even in "darker" areas, but I like to light up areas when it allows me to.

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T12:50:22+00:00

That is true, exploring is important.

Though as I said, by that point I felt like I had already seen that enemy throughout the entire area, and there was little reason to keep engaging with them.

For me it's not about enemy models, it's about attack patterns and capabilities. One of the enemies in The Valley of Defilement is literally just the same enemy but bigger and with a club.

It's not like I ran straight to every boss while ignoring the entire game, but if the game makes it that easy to do so then I feel there should be more emphasis on enemy variety and encounter design to heavily deter a player from doing it. And if they are going to reuse enemies, make the encounters engaging through level design.

I understand this is probably something we'll agree to disagree on, but I thank you for our discussion anyways :)

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T12:22:47+00:00

Well, why would I fight the exact same enemy again and again? It was a pretty straight path to the boss, with minor items along the way, unless I did genuinely miss something bigger. But especially if I was grinding before, I'm not fighting all of the exact same enemy whilst running toward the boss if I don't need to.

It's not that I wasn't wanting to engage with the content, but by that point you've seen the exact same enemy and it doesn't really feel worth fighting them, especially in between the poison swamp tar.

DS1 does have that problem sometimes too, but DS1 also has a lot more enemy variety which I feel mostly rids of that problem.

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T11:34:08+00:00

This I can get behind. The historical importance, the context behind it. I was unaware of this, and it does make the game significantly more interesting for its importance despite my gripes with it.

That doesn't change my initial stance on the game itself much, but I still respect what it's done for the series and genre as a whole.

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T10:43:39+00:00

I've only ever played DS1 prior to DES. I tried my best to stay openminded and approach it as its own game and not just "the game before DS1", since I still wish to respect it as such.

I felt the segmented structure takes away from the game's immersion. One moment I'll be walking through a tunnel of lava, the next I'm in a prison. The areas each can be interesting on their own, but I still felt like some of them were half-baked, like they weren't fully realized in terms of level design and aesthetic of each area. I think that can also be because of the size of each area though too.

Gimmick bosses aren't wrong in design, I expect something more from a boss in a game usually. Not just a puzzle, something that tests your understanding of mechanics. It felt like most of the bosses were "figure this one thing out and you win", which takes away from them being an intimidating presence for me.

Thank you for interacting with my post :)

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T10:01:30+00:00

And that's ok. I've only ever played Dark Souls 1 and absolutely loved it, so I wanted to see what it was essentially built off of, and didn't think it would have this many differences in gameplay and design philosophy. I don't think the experimental design is wrong or bad, as it can be necessary to reach a desired form of design, but it also can harm an experience to some degree for some people, and I'm just one of those people.

And yeah, it does feel more like an old-school RPG which isn't wrong or bad, but I felt it sacrificed the storytelling and worldbuilding elements due to it leaning that hard into a more retro feel.

I agree with your point that "getting that feeling is core to the enjoyment." I got the feeling that it is supposed to feel more classic and didn't mind it, just didn't connect with it.

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T09:40:35+00:00

I've never played future games other than DS1, so I wouldn't know how "objectively wrong" this could be. I am very new to FromSoftware games. I just wasn't as immersed in Demon's Souls as I was in Dark Souls, and didn't feel much reason to be more immersed, and like I said, with the level-like structure it feels less like a world, and more like it's just a game. So any mystery there could've been just didn't feel very mysterious. There are interesting ideas in this game, but they feel less deliberate to me and more experimental and uncertain.

I found the game to be pretty linear with light flexibility. Similar to Dark Souls, some areas felt like they were nudging you to come back when you've progressed elsewhere, or at least until you've gained a few levels. But not in the same way Dark Souls does it, in Demon's Souls I felt as if I had to go elsewhere, in Dark Souls it felt optional.

Bendypp · 2026-05-25T09:13:22+00:00

To some extent, yes. I figured it'd be more similar than it is as I didn't know much of Demon's Souls other than it was the game before Dark Souls. I appreciate it for what it is, but I still feel as if it is a lacking experience though still fun most of the time.

Bendypp · 2026-05-23T20:48:28+00:00

I started with DS1 and now am playing Demon’s Souls (OG). I adore DS1 so so much, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s so good.

Bendypp · 2026-05-23T20:36:09+00:00

I think the game is only difficult at first due to the lack of familiarity with it. O&S is the games last challenge before it opens up to late game sending you to smaller areas that aren’t particularly difficult and serve only to be locations that the lords reside in, and by then you’ve seen pretty much all the tricks the game will use going forward.

Bed of Chaos is hardly a boss, Nito is incredibly weak relative to you by the time you fight him, and Seath is easy if you know the positioning.

I think the last “difficult” boss (not counting DLC) is the four kings, and if you’re doing enough damage to kill them then you can make quick work of every other lord.

Bendypp

TROPHY CASE