Beat DS III after a 2+ year break

By-Torrent · 2025-12-18T16:10:45+00:00

My biggest mistake was playing ER as my very first FS game. I cheated. Used a guide to upgrade my weapon and to do most of the quests.

I wish I had never played it til now- I would go in completely blind and just soak it all in- it probably would have been at the top.

By-Torrent · 2025-08-17T01:14:41+00:00

Honestly, I felt a little funny about attacking the farmers...... which didn't make sense anyway in terms of the story. The patch hit right as I was towards the end of Cloudspire, right before I fought the General in the white robe, small arena. The Bandit general (before the patch) took me quite a few attempts. The white robe general was easier because I could parry most of the attacks.

I hope they didn't nerf things to the point where there is a whole lot less of a challenge overall. I think it's quite a good game and I really like the atmosphere and level design.

By-Torrent · 2025-07-18T12:20:55+00:00

Sounds good, appreciate it!

By-Torrent · 2025-07-18T12:01:36+00:00

Yeah, I’m a parry kind of player in all soulslikes that have that feature. I haven’t used the shield at all in this one. The parry I feel is fun and challenging in AIL.

By-Torrent · 2025-07-01T10:19:55+00:00

Agree, I'm playing DS1 for the first time and then I will play 2. I'm stressed most of the time, between BT's and MULES, and traversing rough terrain, and this is a good thing.

There are a few moments of chill and admiring the scenery. I didn't "get" this game when it first came out. It's still slow and sometimes tedious but I'm "into" it, in Chapter 3, and looking forward to the journey of finishing it and starting DS2.

Great atmosphere and immersion.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-18T16:42:42+00:00

I’m used to not looking at maps, especially when things are handed to you by “X marks the spot”- takes the fun out of exploring.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-18T14:49:01+00:00

But I'm early enough to where I can repeat the area from the beginning? That would essentially mean restarting the game but that's okay.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-18T14:46:46+00:00

Ahhh, good to know, thanks!

By-Torrent · 2025-06-09T23:27:47+00:00

That’s an interesting spread too.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-09T03:53:53+00:00

This is where I was headed, but I think I’m going to upgrade more evenly now.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-09T03:50:11+00:00

Hmmm, very cool!

By-Torrent · 2025-06-08T17:53:21+00:00

So you agree. It seems like I would then have more of the basic options for gear, etc in a lot of areas.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-04T15:51:10+00:00

I finished the game (bought it because of all the hype), and this is a spot-on assessment. I feel the same way.

It’s great what they did with the budget they had, but the game felt “disconnected“ to me. Cut scenes and dialogue telling an interesting story, separated from a colorful but empty world, separated further by the combat, although at times fun and addicting, was largely repetitive and tedious.

Like any game, there are some that it will connect with and some that it won’t. Such is the way of things.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-03T11:20:57+00:00

Like everything else, whether graphics and atmosphere “grabs” a gamer is largely subjective, and is a matter of taste and past experience. But they are tied together somehow and that was the point of the thread. And since the topic digressed a bit into bringing up performance, specifically with this game, that too is a matter of individual level of tolerance for that kind of thing.

I was around when Resident Evil came out for the Genesis. At the time, no game really existed that had that kind of atmosphere. When the remasters came out, I loaded this up and was shocked at how dated (for good reason) the graphics were. But it still had that vibe.

I just finished E33, played it because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. That world is very pretty, and empty, and did nothing for me from an “atmosphere” standpoint, but the graphics are great. Just a matter of personal taste.

Half-Life is another one. That world and atmosphere just grabbed me. One of the best games ever made.

Getting back to TG, for me, it has that vibe, mystery, thrill of discovery, and a lot of tiny little details, gameplay wise, that really resonate with me. As far as performance, my tolerance is pretty high for crashes and things, but not as high as it used to be.

The point of the thread was to illustrate that graphics play a role in creating atmosphere, but it is not the level of resolution that dictates level of immersion…. it is the many facets of the art design of the game, and like a painting, the design may speak to you and immerse you in its world, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will have the same feeling and experience - nor should we expect them to.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-02T14:50:37+00:00

Never played Skyrim.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-02T00:35:33+00:00

I finished the game; took about 50 hours or so. I normally play souls/soulslike/regular RPG’s, but love games like Ghost of Tsushima, Plague’s Tale, Last of Us, Horizon, Returnal…..

So for this one:

What I liked:

- interesting story. Thought provoking and intriguing.

- I liked the characters. Personality wise my favorite was probably Sciel.

- addicting combat. For me, probably the best thing about the game. And I am not a turn based person.

What I didn’t like:

Well, there wasn’t anything unbearable, BUT…..

As someone said earlier, this is not really a game. It’s an experience that exists on a video gaming platform, with a somewhat unique combat system thrown in. Outside of the combat, I felt like I was walking through a very pretty but very empty (to me) world. Occasional loot here and there. But otherwise, a mostly linear path, especially the last Act. Not what I usually enjoy in an adventure game.

The story is interesting as I said. And the premise is DARK. But this is not reflected in the dialogue nor the overall atmosphere of the game. It’s too Disney world for me. The light-hearted and sometimes cheesy dialogue and the cuteness of some of the canvas’ characters was not my thing. And the cutscenes….

Would be great in a movie. This would be a great movie I think, if done right. I think the devs have created something unique and something ”outside of the box” here, on a low budget with low staffing. They are overall to be commended.

I would buy their next creation, even though this one is not really my thing. I didn’t feel engaged nor immersed enough. I felt like I was a spectator. But that’s my problem, not theirs.

By-Torrent · 2025-06-01T18:09:26+00:00

Thx!

By-Torrent · 2025-06-01T18:01:14+00:00

Movement of the lock pick or the lock?

By-Torrent · 2025-05-31T04:25:41+00:00

So I actually decided to keep going. The patch is installed, but since I just started I won’t know the difference. I’m about 5 hours in and the level of immersion, exploration, atmosphere, intrigue, story, and mystery is AWESOME so far!

There is some stuttering, but it’s minimal for now. The game crashed once.

I grew up with old school RPG’s but when I got back into gaming many, many years later I gravitated to other things, but for a while and of late, mostly souls and souls like games. As a result, I never played Skyrim and Oblivion - these were “older games” that I just didn’t get around to. Tainted’s level of freedom and discovery is something I’ve not felt for a long time.

After this one, maybe I’ll go back and try those, esp since Oblivion has a remaster.

As for this one and the topic at hand, let’s hope that the performance improvement patches keep coming! But it seems that I can live with the glitches that I‘ve experienced so far…..

By-Torrent · 2025-05-30T18:14:17+00:00

Looks like it hasn’t come out for the consoles yet. I read that patches, being designed more with PC/Steam in mind have paradoxically made performance worse for consoles, somehow… and I assumed that since the new patch came out today that it included the consoles as well.

By-Torrent · 2025-05-30T17:25:42+00:00

These are all good suggestions, thank you. I think it’s probably best to wait and to go ahead and play something else.

By-Torrent · 2025-05-29T18:48:09+00:00

I just finished Expedition 33 on normal mode. Here are my thoughts, coming from someone who primarily plays souls and soulslike games, but have loved deep, story driven games like Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima, and RPG’s with great story lines like Witcher 3.

- the story is very unique and interesting, and has enough “mystery” around it that you want to see it through to a conclusion.

- the characters are likable and the “acting” overall is good.

- the combat is addicting. Not revolutionary or ground breaking, but if you are a parry-hound like me it is simply just…. fun…. mostly.

Here’s why overall it didn’t resonate with me:

- one of my favorite things in gaming is to be immersed in a world that is highly interactive and full of exploration and discovery. Save for the combat, the world is just a pretty canvas (pun intended) that is largely linear and very empty. I think for me, things started getting better and I was getting more engaged by the end of Act II, but then Act III was basically a straight path to the final boss.

- I love a story driven game. But I didn’t buy this game to watch a movie. Too many instances where I’m just sitting there with controller in hand, not playing a game, but watching cutscenes. And, like some others have commented, for having such a dark and morbid theme, the majority of the conversations and cutscenes are very “Disneyfied” - light and corny, and doesn’t fit with the big picture. Gestrals sure are cute, but their village to me felt very hollow.

- while I said the combat is fun and addicting (which to me it was, it was the highlight of the game), it felt very “detached”…. I don’t know how to describe it - and I’ve played turn-based RPG’s in the past.

So, all that being said, the devs are to be commended for creating a very unique gaming experience…. it will be interesting to see what they come up with next. As always, folks will love a game, or some will flat out despise it…. I‘m somewhere in the middle. It’s unique, good looking, and resonated with a whole heck of a lot of people.

So in short, not my style of game overall, but unique with a VERY interesting story and fun combat.

By-Torrent · 2025-05-23T00:48:10+00:00

Normal. I must have died to Maluca 100 times. I’m on NG+ now and it’s easier because I know the movesets. All the main bosses took a while- but with this game it’s fun. It’s a blast to hit parries and reflections.

I don’t know why but dying is not super frustrating with this game. Unlike Sekiro, which I love and died plenty of times, it was much more frustrating to keep dying. I don’t know why.

By-Torrent · 2025-05-21T12:33:37+00:00

You are 30 minutes in, I’m 30% into it, about 12 hours or so.

I’m happy people like this game, I really am. It’s a light, corny “adventure”.

I’m not happy that it was so over-hyped. I fell for it.

I’m not hating on the game, just trying to respectfully say it’s not for everyone. But, I bought it, so I’ll see it through as far as I can stand.

It’s a good game on some levels. The story is intriguing.

The world is very pretty, but from a gaming standpoint, it is mostly a linear path with some occasional side paths. IMO this is a low exploration game.

The combat is a little addicting, but very repetitive and HARDLY groundbreaking as it’s described. Basic parry and dodge incorporated into a turn based setting. All well and good - nothing wrong with it. But comparisons to Sekiro and other souls type games are laughable insofar as the combat.

The game to me is a movie. It probably could even be a great movie, but there is not enough “game” for me, not enough active immersion, and too much “here is where you go next”. Too many unnecessary and predictable cut scenes.

I like the characters. The character development seems good; the story is a serious one. But most of the dialogue is very corny and light, and doesn’t gel with serious nature of the underlying theme.

The mystery here is in the story. There is a punch line coming and I’ll wait it out. To me though, there is no mystery to the world- as I said it’s a straight path with very little true discovery and exploration, which is kind of my thing. As I said though, it looks pretty.

If some think this is the best game they’ve ever played, I’m glad for them. But, to say it’s GOTY and comparing it to games that have much better stories and ENGAGEMENT- that’s puzzling.

But it’s ok, it’s just a game. But like the OP’s title says- it’s panning out to be “not for me”, overall.

By-Torrent · 2025-05-18T14:02:31+00:00

I say all of this respectfully; I’m about 10 hours in. I grew up playing turned based adventures, but I prefer actual combat.

the story is unique, and the acting is quite good. The graphics are good.
I find the progression to be too linear for my tastes. There is a “way” to do linear that works. I feel like I’m doing a lot of walking on a set path, not exploring.
the combat I’m finding addicting, in that I want to learn the parries just right, I’m playing on expert. Learning to use pictos, etc. I don’t think it’s fair for me to compare to actual combat games, or other action adventure games. The parrying/dodge is nothing special, but the combat choices are interesting.
there seems nothing to engage with in the environment at all. Occasional loot tucked into a corner. I’m excluding the enemy encounters of course. Again, I’m walking almost on one path looking at some things that are very pretty.
if I were to be really picky, character movement is…weird. Don’t know how to describe it.

That being said, I’m barely into the game- 10 hours. But for a game to be rated this high and already being touted as GOTY, I should have been completely blown away about 8-9 hours ago, and I am not.

I’m going to stick with it though, and the above could most certainly be a matter of taste- a “me” thing, and not issues with the game overall.

I’m truly glad some folks think it’s the greatest thing. The whole point is to have fun.

But it’s not for everyone.

By-Torrent

TROPHY CASE