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Are there actually many sentient non-hollow humanoid enemies running around excepting the bosses? The only ones that come to mind are the Lindeldt clerics and maybe the desert sorceresses, and those are just guesses.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:15
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Nakar posted:It's a deliberate stylistic choice, a sort of hybrid between the archstones of Demon's Souls and the interconnectivity of Dark Souls. The issue in the first game (besides the fact that it actually does cheat in places, such as the impossible skybox of Ash Lake) is that it makes the world feel weirdly small, with the source of all demons only a hair below some ancient flooded city which is itself right below another city which is below the very dwelling of the gods themselves. I do really like the way they've done it, I think it's a good improvement of both ideas. Each individual zone is very well crafted and you can get some cool views. Like from magerolds place you can see where you right the old iron king and from that spot with the boulder traps in tselsora you can see straight down to the entrance to the boss lair.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:31
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Nakar posted:Not only aren't Ironclads human, I think Alonne Knights aren't either, nor are Ruin Sentinels and the Pursuer(s) or Syan/Llewelyn Knights. They're not humans or hollows because those enemies make distinctive sounds (compare Royal Soldiers in FoFG and the past versions in the giant memories; the memory ones are living humans), and because you can find those enemies in Drangleic Castle including inanimate statue versions, suggesting Vendrick could animate them with whatever power he had. The Looking Glass Knight is probably a golem as well based on the item descriptions, but from their souls it's pretty clear Velstadt and the Throne Watcher/Defender are human. I had one of those soldiers' corpses not ragdoll properly and got a good view. Pretty funny that they still have the same zombie flailing attacks.  Genocyber posted:You hit the nail on the head with your last thought. Space-wise, the Iron Keep is not only a good distance away from Earthen Peak laterally (although still in the general vicinity) but is also a couple thousand feet undergound, sunken into lava. You're traveling across an entire continent over the course of the game, so they naturally have short transitions. I think the intention was to ride a cage-elevator from the top of Earthen Peak on a zipline into the nearby crater with the Iron Keep in it, on the other side of the mountains. You can see them from Harvest Valley, and they originate from the tower above Mytha's room. But they probably didn't want to make such a huge area just to be viewed on a single elevator ride.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:37
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Nakar posted:Not only aren't Ironclads human, I think Alonne Knights aren't either, nor are Ruin Sentinels and the Pursuer(s) or Syan/Llewelyn Knights. They're not humans or hollows because those enemies make distinctive sounds (compare Royal Soldiers in FoFG and the past versions in the giant memories; the memory ones are living humans), and because you can find those enemies in Drangleic Castle including inanimate statue versions, suggesting Vendrick could animate them with whatever power he had. The Looking Glass Knight is probably a golem as well based on the item descriptions, but from their souls it's pretty clear Velstadt and the Throne Watcher/Defender are human. The Pursuer - at least the boss version - is definitely a human. If he wasn't, the item descriptions related to him would say "it" or "them." Also, the NG+ Throne Room Pursuers fight really fucks with the lore, since item descriptions imply the Pursuer is a single person, not a group like Havel's knights or whatever.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:42
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So I just took the leap and I get like 60 fps on Medium settings. Pretty good. On the above screen, your dude looks really cool. Is he modded visually or something?
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Sep 5, 2014 03:43
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They didn't really think a lot of the lore stuff all the way through in this game. I think that's the biggest difference between this game and its predecessors, the world doesn't fit together well. You don't have to look hard to find the seams. Hopefully Bloodborne is back to the old standard.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:44
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I like how everyone is 'X is human' but mostly everyone in the souls universe is not. The lore indicates only tiny midgets like the player, the merchants, anyone who isn't at least a ten foot tall Nephelim is a human, everyone else is descended from gwyn or something. I like it really, I mean in the tomb area in DS2 there are gigantic skeletons interred next to regular sized ones and all the architecture seems like it was made for people of multiple sizes. Its kinda surreal yet awesome.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:56
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Manatee Cannon posted:They didn't really think a lot of the lore stuff all the way through in this game. I think that's the biggest difference between this game and its predecessors, the world doesn't fit together well. You don't have to look hard to find the seams. Hopefully Bloodborne is back to the old standard. And that's not true at all. It fits together just as well as the previous games, which is to say you have some answers but still a lot of vagueness. If anything it's arguably more clear, with some NPCs (Shanlotte, Nashandra, Shalquior, Vendrick) straight up telling you a lot of what's going on (Shanlotte especially so in her cut dialogue).
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Sep 5, 2014 04:03
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The "Iron Keep in the sky" thing could easily be fixed if they just patched it in to reverse the elevator animation.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:05
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RoadCrewWorker posted:I still think they cut some intermediate area or something. Not that i mind a bit of scale compression, considering that according to the "world map" it's probably a hundred miles from majula to the drangleic castle or the dragon shrine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcRhquTKJlE end of this vid
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Sep 5, 2014 04:06
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I'm looking at trying to make a heavy/miracle sunbro build and having a tough time. I want at least 50 Faith, right?
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Sep 5, 2014 04:10
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You don't necessarily need to have at least 50 Faith. I'd largely work off of what miracles you want to run and look at their stat requirements, as well as whether or not you want to spice them down.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:15
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Does Soul Level really matter in DS2? I tried to keep it as low as possible in DS1 for summoning and all, but I'm unsure of it here even after reading a wiki.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:21
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No your soul memory is what affects summons and poo poo. It's the big number in the top right of your screen that shows you all your stats.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:24
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Hakkesshu posted:Are there actually many sentient non-hollow humanoid enemies running around excepting the bosses? The only ones that come to mind are the Lindeldt clerics and maybe the desert sorceresses, and those are just guesses. Grave Wardens are aware, but they're not human. The Leydia Pyromancers (both colors) also seem to be aware, but the black type seem to be Fenitos as well, while the white type are ghosts. Anything with a dark-encrusted soul is a good bet too, ala Velstadt and the Throne Guardians, but they're bosses  Felkin is actually one of the few characters in the series who flat-out isn't even Undead, but he's not an enemy.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:25
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Motherfucker posted:I like how everyone is 'X is human' but mostly everyone in the souls universe is not. There are very few non-undead humans either. Sieglinde in the first game supposedly isn't undead, Felkin claims not to be, and presumably Milibeth in Things Betwixt isn't because she doesn't suggest she is and she says her family has tended to the Firekeepers rather than she herself having done so for ages. Vendrick does say that the true form of humans is undead, though, so the fact that most of the humans you see are hollowed shouldn't be that surprising this close to the end of a cycle.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:36
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Tamayachi posted:Here's a guy that tries to explain all of it alternatively: it is a video game and none of this matters the stage transitions in the metroid games don't make a lot of sense but who cares? the elevators and long passages may as well be teleporters.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:37
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Seriously. I mean, I wonder if any of those people that complain are annoyed because literature never goes into every single detail whenever the plot goes into one setting from another. Or when the next book starts somewhere else entirely. Or maybe they just like Tolkien.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:44
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Nakar posted:Not necessarily. People can just grow in size when their souls accumulate great power. Vendrick is explicitly human, otherwise he couldn't hollow. There are non-human races, but DS2 more or less explicitly tells you so or it's clearly obvious from dialogue and appearance (the Fenito/Milfanito, the Giants). I'm pretty sure Gwyn was Hollow in DS1 and he was a god. Unless you mean human as in, "everybody who uses the fire" which I do. The way I figure it, you have giants, dragons, dark people, and fire people, and the last one is basically all of humanity, but they can also become dark people.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:47
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Azran posted:Seriously. I mean, I wonder if any of those people that complain are annoyed because literature never goes into every single detail whenever the plot goes into one setting from another. Or when the next book starts somewhere else entirely. whoah im not complaining, i just remember one of the things that really drew me to Dark Souls was that holy cow everything literally fits together so basically what im saying is stuff it up your rear end because the game is good and THAT is all that matters
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Sep 5, 2014 04:49
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SHISHKABOB posted:whoah im not complaining, i just remember one of the things that really drew me to Dark Souls was that holy cow everything literally fits together The game is bad
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Sep 5, 2014 04:50
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They aren't necessarily calling you out. Earthen Peak/Iron Keep level design tends to be called out often so it was more of a general statement. Just like the thread title as well.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:52
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I hate everything
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Sep 5, 2014 05:01
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I don't personally mind, but the world coherence was a very impressive thing (because of its rarity) in Dark Souls 1 and the sequel messing it up rather frequently is unquestionably a regression, so vague "every videogame is like this" arguments are missing the point. It obviously doesn't "ruin" the entire game or anything, but it's a valid thing to notice and be disappointed over.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:03
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Gologle posted:I'm pretty sure Gwyn was Hollow in DS1 and he was a god. Unless you mean human as in, "everybody who uses the fire" which I do. The way I figure it, you have giants, dragons, dark people, and fire people, and the last one is basically all of humanity, but they can also become dark people. Yeah, in the introductory cutscene to DS1, you can see that all people are hollows before absorbing a soul. Fire seems to be effectively pure power and can alter the size and strength of people, while Dark seems to be like, a protective coating from the curse. Unfortunately too much Dark turns you into an abyss creature like Manus, so you can't just chug humanity to stave off hollowing, though
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Sep 5, 2014 05:04
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RoadCrewWorker posted:I don't personally mind, but the world coherence was a very impressive thing (because of its rarity) in Dark Souls 1 and the sequel messing it up rather frequently is unquestionably a regression, so vague "every videogame is like this" arguments are missing the point. You know what else is a regression? Making you loving walk everywhere for most of the game. Yeah, there were shortcuts, but that poo poo sucked.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:13
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Very off topic, but I'm also saying in advance that the setting of Bloodborne will be in an age of fire that went on insanely long because people kept getting lucky and reigniting the age of fire to the point where civilization started to develop guns. And this one civilization found a way to straight up cure hollowing, but then things went wrong. Alternatively, its one of the other lands we hear about but don't see, like Mirrah.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:14
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RoadCrewWorker posted:I don't personally mind, but the world coherence was a very impressive thing It really wasn't. All it really did was make the world feel like a shoebox, compared to the much larger feeling DeS and Dks2. Not to mention having to traipse around everywhere was a pain in the rear end.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:15
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King of Solomon posted:You know what else is a regression? Making you loving walk everywhere for most of the game. Yeah, there were shortcuts, but that poo poo sucked. It wasn't really a regression from Demon's Souls because Demon's Souls did not work in a manner that allowed for that in the first place. It was like a Mega Man game, the only walking you did was from the beginning of the level to the boss at the end. Being able to warp outside of the hub to other parts of the world was not something you could do until Dark Souls. Though obviously Dark Souls 2 did this better.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:20
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I liked Dark Souls 1's map better, simply because there were more shortcuts. Only one I can think of in Dark Souls 2 is killing the Pursuer and riding the bird to the Lost Bastille, whereas I could go from the Firelink Shrine to New Londo to the Valley of Drakes to Blighttown or the Darkroot Basin in 1. Just felt really cool finding neat little shortcuts like that. You're kind of moving in a straight progression all the time in Dark Souls 2 and it's kind of weary in the end.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:21
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Manatee Cannon posted:It wasn't really a regression from Demon's Souls because Demon's Souls did not work in a manner that allowed for that in the first place. It was like a Mega Man game, the only walking you did was from the beginning of the level to the boss at the end. Being able to warp outside of the hub to other parts of the world was not something you could do until Dark Souls. Though obviously Dark Souls 2 did this better. The fact is, regardless of the structure of the world, Demon's Souls let you warp directly to the hub from the start of any level. Dark Souls made you walk, and that is a regression. Dark Souls even gave you the ability to warp in the endgame. But no, the interconnected world meant you couldn't unlock that until the end! And even then you could only warp to some bonfires, meaning you couldn't necessarily get back to where you were if you did decide to warp to Firelink or Andre or whatever.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:23
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You don't need to be in the hub in Dark Souls. The Nexus was different. The way the overworld worked was different. It's not a regression, it's a change in direction.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:30
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The interconnected world in dark souls was like a new symphony of the night and if you dont think thats cool as hell just because you had to spend some of your precious internet posting time walking around a little bit you're wrong and stupid
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Sep 5, 2014 05:34
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Manatee Cannon posted:You don't need to be in the hub in Dark Souls. The Nexus was different. The way the overworld worked was different. It's not a regression, it's a change in direction. If you need to talk to any of the blacksmiths or the firekeepers for any reason, you do need to run back to the hub. If you want to run to the catacombs from pretty much any other part of the world, you have to run back to the hub. Removing the ability to warp is a regression, full stop.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:34
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I did the lost Bastille and the lost sinner before I ever even knew it was possible to get to heide's tower of flame. The game is certainly not linear. If you have enough hp and maybe the cat ring (or the jester pants?) then you can get down into the gutter pretty early. That's what I did. I was totally NOT expecting an entire wing of the game to be down there lmao. Also funny story I killed the flexible sentry as a mini boss in the woods before I killed him as a boss. The world is honestly just as coherent feeling as dark souls. You ca see the fort in FOFG, heide's poo poo nd of course the castle all from Majula. I just wish you could see more of that sort of thing in other parts of the game. Also why do they call bright stone cove tselsdora a cove. I have never seen any water around it. But I think on the map it's on like the northern edge of drangleic near the coast?
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Sep 5, 2014 05:35
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King of Solomon posted:If you need to talk to any of the blacksmiths or the firekeepers for any reason, you do need to run back to the hub. If you want to run to the catacombs from pretty much any other part of the world, you have to run back to the hub. Removing the ability to warp is a regression, full stop. Running around is only bad if it's boring and unfun. I believe it is possible for traveling distances in a video game to be interesting. You can do this with stellar views or whatever.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:36
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This argument is way worse than all the other dark souls thread arguments just fyi
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Sep 5, 2014 05:42
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King of Solomon posted:If you need to talk to any of the blacksmiths or the firekeepers for any reason, you do need to run back to the hub. If you want to run to the catacombs from pretty much any other part of the world, you have to run back to the hub. Removing the ability to warp is a regression, full stop. I disagree. Warping completely kills the feeling of accomplishment from finding a neat shortcut, and encourages lazy, linear map design where they just plonk down bonfires everywhere because there's no reason to create a linked world like in DS1. Effectively having any and all resources available to you from every bonfire in the game gets rid of that feeling of intense risk of not having a safe exit from whatever hellish area you're in, or carrying thousands of boss souls in unknown territories. Obviously NO warping would become tedious when you'd have to track across the game world over and over, so I think a DS1-style endgame-only warp works better, but being able to teleport anywhere and everywhere kills the difficulty and excitement of the game. To be honest, I think most of the problems with DS2 are directly a result of abandoning DS1 systems. The warping system, Soul Memory, whatever they did to Poise, bafflingly designed new Red/Blue covenants, luck/enemy drops and enemy despawning, the whole lot.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:49
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ThePhenomenalBaby posted:This argument is way worse than all the other dark souls thread arguments just fyi
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Sep 5, 2014 05:52
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Alabaster White posted:To be honest, I think most of the problems with DS2 are directly a result of abandoning DS1 systems. The warping system, Soul Memory, whatever they did to Poise, bafflingly designed new Red/Blue covenants, luck/enemy drops and enemy despawning, the whole lot. Gameplay is definitely not the reason why people bitch about Dark Souls 2/wanting it to never exist. Most of the complaints are linked to level design and the NPC's and lore poo poo. DS1 is a downgrade in technical gameplay every way except for parry timing.
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Sep 5, 2014 05:59
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