Started this up today. Man, it is fantastic so far. Visually stunning. The gameplay is actually quite fun as well. I haven’t been too frustrated yet either (although I’m sure it’s coming). After only playing for a couple hours I can feel the game setting its hooks into me.
I feel like it’s much more well organized than I expected. It’s still plenty cryptic in that FromSoft way, but there’s more exposition than what I recall from my brief time with Dark Souls. The tutorial menu is very helpful, as well as the in-game instructional prompt and messages. Of course the game is highly complex and I’ll be relying on this thread and the internet to help me get the most out of its deep mechanics, secrets, and idiosyncrasies, but I don’t feel as lost as I thought I would.
I’m going with a magic based build since it’s supposedly much easier. I’m enjoying it a lot as a breath of fresh air in the combat area to have the option to do stabby-stabby with my rapier or go all Harry Potter with an Avada Kedavra from my wand, er… I mean “catalyst” 😄. Even with the first area being fairly easy, comparatively speaking, I have died twice, so it’s not too easy.
I’ll be posting often with questions, updates, and sharing my experience. I probably need to read back through this thread first of all.
This made my day tbh… we’ve been chatting about this on-and-off since I’ve been on here… and to hear that now that you’ve gotten around it, that it’s clicking with you the way I hoped, well as I said… it makes my day. Here’s to hoping that it just continues to fixate and fascinate (with a touch of frustrate… just the right amount 😉) during a full and satisfying playthrough 🍻!
@colonelkilgore I figured you’d get a kick out hearing some of my first impressions and thoughts on the game. And yeah, I’ve been meaning to play it for a full year now, so it’s about time. Thankfully the price dropped finally and so after picking it up on the cheap last month I didn’t let it sit in the backlog too long. I’m so glad I didn’t ignore it. So far I’d say it’s well worth the whole $70 price, easily. The production value alone is phenomenal, but the amount of content seems staggering.
I have beaten Phalanx; downed him on the first try. I did burn through about 12 fire bombs to do it, but I figured I would be eventually getting a fire spell so I might as well use them all.
Then, heading back to the Nexus (which is an absolutely beautiful hub space) got to talk to the Black Maiden, then spent like an hour trying to find the blasted Monumental. 😅 Creepy little guy was right under my nose a couple times as I was darting around looking for him. Anyways, finally got to level up a bit, putting points into intelligence and magic.
Feeling confident, I sauntered over to world 4-1 because I read there’s a weapon there I want (Crescent Falchion) but quickly was humbled by the skeletons. Boy, they can close in on you in a flash! So at this point, I’ve died like 5 times at the Shrine of Storms. Ah well, I may have to come back. Either that or farm souls here because even a couple skeletons grants me around 1500 souls, so I can level up some and maybe stock up on supplies or better armor.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution The enemy AI is one thing Bluepoint did not change for the remake. I think it is one of the things that makes it feel easier, along with 60fps and that player movement has been updated.
In regards to the camera, you wanna change it to Classic Camera. I found that so much better than the default option.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Th3solution well I’ll be very interested to follow your progress, there are some unbelievably well designed areas to come (4-1 is one of them tbh)… and some awesome boss fights too.
In regards to the skelly’s in 4-1, if you're struggling to time your dodge-roll, you can always try equipping a shield and guarding against their approach… the good thing about these games is that there always are a few ‘solution’s’ (😉) to the problems they pose 👍
@JohnnyShoulder Thanks for the tip — I’ll definitely try the classic camera. The default “chase” camera has gotten me killed a couple times.
@colonelkilgore I’m not too good with the shield yet so I’ll give it a try. Bloodborne got me dependent on dodge rolling only as I never got competent at bloodtinge firearm usage either.
I’m trying the ‘magic wand with the left hand and sword with the right hand’ technique, but thankfully the switching between weapon/shield is pretty quick with the d-pad.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution fair enough, all I’ll say is you don’t necessarily have to parry them… you can just guard their rolling approach and subsequent weapon swing and then land a blow/spell etc. Obviously stamina has to be monitored using this method but it’s doable, if a little boring.
@Th3solution A club is well good against the skeletons. An R2 hit sends them flying! 😂
But I reccomend trying another area and go back to that one later. There are some tough enemies which you will most likely really struggle with at this early stage.
I wouldn't concern yourself about farming Souls or obtaining specific weapons at this point. You will gain plenty of Souls naturally playing the game anyway, and there are plenty of weapons to play around with.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
So I was poking around online, trying to decide where to go and what to do next and it seems like 1-2 is the consensus best second area to go. I’ve been going through and making my way reasonably well, except for the dragon (which with the 3D headset on is terrifying and about made me wet myself.) In the area under the bridge I don’t know if I can make it past the pack of dogs though. Sheesh, they overwhelm you quickly and after dying twice to them, I decided to call it a night since it’s late.
But there was something I saw in an online guide that references an NPC Ostrava, of Boletaria that is supposed to be down here for a side quest and he’s not here, and apparently I was supposed to save him in the first level 1-1? I don’t recall ever seeing him. Is it worthwhile to go back and try to find him there so that maybe I can continue his quest in 1-2? Or is it too late. Apparently if I let him die then I have no hope of accessing a Mausoleum key, or something like that?
Also, I’m not sure what these Crystal lizards are that I’ve read about. Apparently I’ve passed a few of them but I don’t remember ever seeing those either.
I consider myself a pretty observant and compulsive gamer when it comes to checking my surroundings and exploring, but that game sure is sneaky with all the hidden people, items, doors, and passages. 😅
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I'm pretty sure you can go back and save him, he's around in the courtyards of 1-1, I seem to remember it being close to where there are lots of dreggling crossbow men on a scaffolding. Probably worth checking a guide though 😂! Crystal lizards run off as soon as they see you so you have to chase straight after them and melee them (I've tried magic but either I kept missing or it didn't work). They are pretty small but glimmer which might help you spot them. They drop upgrade materials when you kill them. Good hunting!!
@Th3solution Good luck on the boss for 1-2! You are gonna need it! If you can't defeat that boss, I reccomend 2-1, Smithing Grounds. There will be loads of crafting materials here, and another blacksmith who can upgrade your weapons futher than the one in the Nexus. You will see more gains in your attack power in upgrading your weapons then levelling up in this game
Ahh I see you've finally started Demon's Souls @Th3solution!
It's not too late to find Ostrava I believe? I don't think I've ever not found him the first time I've gone through 1-1... But I don't think he'll despawn or anything? There's two ways you can reach him... You can drop down to him if you look carefully enough 😄
And crystal lizards are going to be the bane of your existance! They cheekily run away and start despawning as soon as they spot ya!
@Th3solution Dogs are my weakness. I've died to them more times than anything so far. You think you've got a window to strike and then another one jumps at you. My preferred approach is to start swinging as soon as I first see them running towards me and hope I get lucky, because if they get me on the back foot, I usually die. You'll probably take at least one out with this method, and you'll have more time to regroup a bit.
I'd definitely recommend keeping going with 1-2. I did 2-1 this morning and it was a slog, and that's after I'd done 1-2.
As for the skeletons in world 4-1, try rolling almost directly towards them (but just a little to the right) when they go in for their first strike. It'll put you right behind them for a free backstab. Then, if you're feeling brave, quickly press triangle and two-handed spam them when they get up, or stay one-handed and repeat the first step. I had a little wander about in 4-1 to get the weapons that @EclipseZero and @CJD87 told me about. I got those skeletons down to a tee after a while.
Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.
@Th3solution Also, I don't think you actually need to beat the dogs to proceed. The tunnel leads to a merchant and some stairs up to the next tower. This tower can be reached by simply running the next dragon gauntlet instead. I think.
Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.
@Th3solution my two cents, I’d go with all the -1’s first, then the -2’s and so on… there is no hard and fast rule but that’s a fairly decent difficulty curve that ‘should match your character as you level.
@Th3solution I did just what @colonelkilgore has suggested and it worked out a really good strategy as you will be levelling up the -2s as you go.
The skeletons took me a bit of practice too but I eventually nailed the rolling and backstab and never looked back. In fact I remember using that beginning bit of 4-1 to farm some souls at one point.
@Th3solution You may not have come across any crystal lizards, as the ones in 1-1 are behind the gate right at the start of the first archstone, which only opens with pure white or black tendency. In 2-1 before the fight with the boss, there is a staircase on the right, the Crystal Lizard can be found upstairs.
If a Crystal Lizard got away from you, it will reappear at the location when you reload the area. In the original game, this could be done by exiting the game and restarting. In the remake, the only way to reset Crystal Lizards is via archstone or death.
Crystal Lizards respawn whenever you kill a boss. So if you kill the boss in 1-2, all Crystal Lizards in Boletarian Palace will respawn (both those in 1-1 and 1-2).
Crystal Lizards are limited and will not come back once you have exhausted their spawns.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@JohnnyShoulder Well, if Crystal Lizards reset upon death, then I’m fine because they’ve set about 20 time then. 😅.
Thanks for the tips, and yeah, the World Tendency is a bit of a pain. I guess they say not to worry about WT on the first playthrough, so I’m just going with it, knowing I’ll be locked out of some of the content by hovering in the middle between black and white. I’m terrified of making my world too black through because it sounds like it makes a difficult game even harder! So as a result I’ve consigned myself to playing most of the game in Soul form so I don’t have to worry about shifting toward black when I repeatedly die. I see lots of those spirit echoes of other players jumping off the stairs committing suicide in the Nexus, presumably to avoid shifting a world tendency when they die in the archstone.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@render@colonelkilgore@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy@R1spam And thanks for the advice, all! I’m already partway in 1-2 so I’m going to push through I think. But good to know if I keep failing that I can just try 2-1, or maybe just return to 1-1 for the Ostrava side content.
@Th3solution Yeah I wouldn't worry about world tendency too much. If you prefer playing in human form with the added benefits, then do it. I didn't find things too bad when things shifted towards black tbf.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Forums
Topic: Demon Souls Remastered. Is it, isn't it?
Posts 561 to 580 of 793
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic