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Latest update (05/16):   Dark Souls 3 is the latest masterpiece by From Software, an action RPG developed for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It was released in Japan in March 2016 and worldwide in April 2016. Those of you reading this during the events of the thread will no doubt recognize that this was approximately a week or two ago- don't worry, I'm a professional. I almost know what I'm doing. The plot in Dark Souls 3 is a direct continuation of the story from the first game, surprisingly enough. Set in the Kingdom of Lothric, an undead warrior known as the Ashen One is tasked by a mysterious woman known as the Fire Keeper, to avert an oncoming apocalypse brought about by the ongoing conflict between Light and Dark. But the only means to avert this event is with the destruction of the Lords of Cinder, previous heroes who have linked the First Flame across eons. Obviously, it's not that simple and nowhere near as easy as it sounds.  Dark Souls 3 is a fantastic game. I pre-ordered it, I played it on the release day, and I beat it on day 2. Then I beat it again the next day. It rivals the first game in terms of world building, development style, attention to detail and so on. I genuinely love this game and through playing so much of it and reading so much about it, I can show it to you in a way that's both entertaining AND enlightening. And I am very excited to do so.  No. Not even in the slightest. In fact, not spoiling any part of this game for the people watching or reading is so important to me that I am going to openly declare that this thread is a NO BLACK BARS ZONE. Dark Souls 3 is a long game and there's a lot to talk about, but if you have to use spoiler tags to get across what you're trying to say, you're trying to say it too early, believe me.   
CJacobs fucked around with this message at 13:09 on May 16, 2016 |
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Apr 24, 2016 04:00
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reserved
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Apr 24, 2016 04:01
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.jpg) Let's start where all good stories start: In a graveyard.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:01
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You really modded the poo poo out of Alan Wake Serious answer I look forward to this since I watch your bloodborne streams and you're not bad in that. I started a new job so I haven't had the chance to finish the game yet.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:36
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I should really buy this instead of watching someone smash it.
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Apr 24, 2016 04:43
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Ironically, the guy who doesn't have hilarious depth perception problems in souls games builds a depth perception problem into his character. 
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Apr 24, 2016 04:53
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I kind of feel like the title of episode one is innate of itself, a bit of a spoiler. It sort of ruins some of the magic that ds3 is going for. Vague episode titles would probably be a lot better for all the people who will be for this thread, instead of Episode 37: Hey guess where we're going today!
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Apr 24, 2016 04:55
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I'm just sad my message didn't show up for CJacobs; it was a long shot of it appearing for him at all, but it would've been nice. https://twitter.com/tlarn/status/719722788173389824
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Apr 24, 2016 05:07
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Aishlinn posted:I kind of feel like the title of episode one is innate of itself, a bit of a spoiler. It sort of ruins some of the magic that ds3 is going for. Vague episode titles would probably be a lot better for all the people who will be
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Apr 24, 2016 05:10
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I got Dark Souls 3 first day too, and I've been having a blast. I know I asked in another one of your threads, but are there any plans for Goon PVP?
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Apr 24, 2016 05:17
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Maybe! I do have a number of bonus videos planned, including "what the hell is going on in this game" lore videos and "how do I beat this game real fast" type stuff. One thing I like about the game is that organized co-op is significantly easier, so fight clubs are a possibility.
CJacobs fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Apr 24, 2016 |
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Apr 24, 2016 05:18
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Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you LP this game for LP you must. So this is what happens to everyone Sebastian sets on fire.
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Apr 24, 2016 05:31
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Ah~ Finally another good Souls game.
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Apr 24, 2016 05:35
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So is the woman taking the crown/mask/whatever thing in the intro cinematic supposed to look an awful lot like the Furtive Pygmy finding the Dark Soul in DS1's intro?
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Apr 24, 2016 07:22
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There are ~so many~ callbacks to dark souls 1. Sometimes, to me, it feels like a ds1 with a new hat. That's not a bad thing mind you.
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Apr 24, 2016 07:45
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Spudd posted:here are ~so many~ callbacks to dark souls 1. Sometimes, to me, it feels like a ds1 with a new hat. That's not a bad thing mind you.
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Apr 24, 2016 08:20
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NGDBSS posted:It isn't? To me, the immense sentimentality DS3 has for DS1 indicates that it's not really confident about standing on its own. It's too concerned with being a sequel to DS1, and not enough with being a successor to DS1. Not really. It's attempting to tie up DS1. What it ends up feeling like is that there were things they didn't like in DS1, and DS3 is their attempt at fixing it.
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Apr 24, 2016 13:28
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Nice LP. I got this game a week ago and i'm hooked. About as much as I was on the first game. The second didn't manage to hook me in the same way, and I'm really happy about this one. I wonder if you'll show me things I've missed, at some point. Strangely, I am also playing as a red-haired knight lady with that hairstyle and a scar over her left eye. https://twitter.com/ColdAsMeis/status/722438984232804352 Get out of my house CJacobs
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Apr 24, 2016 14:41
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Wow, yeah that is a strange coincidence. We even used the same scar and eye color. Small Dark Souls world, I guess!NGDBSS posted:It isn't? To me, the immense sentimentality DS3 has for DS1 indicates that it's not really confident about standing on its own. It's too concerned with being a sequel to DS1, and not enough with being a successor to DS1. I dunno, I think this game could do well enough if they made it Dark Souls 2-style and just ousted most of the DS1 references, but remember that this is intended to be a direct sequel so that stuff does have a place here. It's a bit too early to talk about why that is and why they made it with that in mind, but I think it's not that bad. It doesn't cross over into pandering territory as often as I thought it might, which is something I really gotta commend From for. Andre is almost as close as it gets to "please remember dark souls 1 you guys" and they get that out of the way in the first half hour.
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Apr 24, 2016 14:44
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CJacobs posted:Wow, yeah that is a strange coincidence. We even used the same scar and eye color. Small Dark Souls world, I guess! More like Anime nerds am I right? 
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Apr 24, 2016 14:45
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CJacobs posted:I dunno, I think this game could do well enough if they made it Dark Souls 2-style and just ousted most of the DS1 references, but remember that this is intended to be a direct sequel so that stuff does have a place here. It's a bit too early to talk about why that is and why they made it with that in mind, but I think it's not that bad. It doesn't cross over into pandering territory as often as I thought it might, which is something I really gotta commend From for. Andre is almost as close as it gets to "please remember dark souls 1 you guys" and they get that out of the way in the first half hour. In any case I've been surprised about Iudex Gundyr's difficulty as a starting boss, considering that he shows up as a roadblock within ten minutes and yet is on the level with perhaps the Belfry Gargoyles or the Pursuer. For veterans of the series he's still not much of an obstacle, but if you're playing Babby's First Souls Game in DS3 then he'll kick your rear end and quickly. (Basically, it's a strange introduction for newbies even compared to the other games in the series.)
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Apr 24, 2016 16:18
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I think what bugs me most about this game's constant "hey, this is/looks like/vaguely resembles something from DS1" thing is that it doesn't really pay much service to DS2. It would feel a lot more like it was tying things together rather than pandering and grasping at DS1 if they gave the second game more than a passing reference. I don't wanna talk too much about it because we're not really there yet, but the game just rams ds1 down your throat and ignores the second. I've played way more of the second and like it a lot more than it probably deserves, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I think the way its so tilted towards all the places and people in the first at the expense of the second really makes it feel kind of desperately trying to grab at the one people liked the most. And honestly, for the most part it's a good game and doesn't need it. Also, it trashes a bunch of my pet lore theories.
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Apr 24, 2016 16:52
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Glad to see this getting LP'd. It's early yet, so we'll see how time treats it, but I beat this game yesterday and right now it's my favorite Souls. Plays as well as any Souls/Borne game out there, it's got a great art style with a decent engine behind it, and it has my favorite soundtrack and suite of bosses in the series.
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Apr 24, 2016 16:58
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The way I read the "sup on death" bit is that ashes are analogous to a corpse, in a way. What's left over after a fire dies?
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Apr 24, 2016 17:25
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MooCowlian posted:I think what bugs me most about this game's constant "hey, this is/looks like/vaguely resembles something from DS1" thing is that it doesn't really pay much service to DS2. It would feel a lot more like it was tying things together rather than pandering and grasping at DS1 if they gave the second game more than a passing reference. I don't wanna talk too much about it because we're not really there yet, but the game just rams ds1 down your throat and ignores the second. I've played way more of the second and like it a lot more than it probably deserves, so maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I think the way its so tilted towards all the places and people in the first at the expense of the second really makes it feel kind of desperately trying to grab at the one people liked the most. And honestly, for the most part it's a good game and doesn't need it. We will spot ds2 refs being dropped occasionally throughout, but you're right, it does take a backseat in this game's lore/world. On the subject of that game's quality, fae and i were gonna do a stream lp of that one like we did ds1, but we figured we'd only end up comparing it to the first and that wouldn't be much fun to watch. So that's why I've jumped to ds3.
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Apr 24, 2016 17:51
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Ground floor on a great LP. Hey Andre! What's Gwyn's firstborn doing in this game?
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Apr 24, 2016 17:53
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Kick rear end. I burned out on Souls games with the first one, but darned if I ain't fascinated by them. You have my attention sir.
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Apr 24, 2016 18:20
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While I am kind of bummed out about the dialed down version of powerstancing (I miss my two best friends Greatsword and Zweihander), I'm kind of okay with them folding those weapons into single weapons that you "two hand" by dual-wielding, since it means you don't have to sink in twice the upgrade material. Even if I did like the anime-as-hell feeling of putting different infusions on each weapon.
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Apr 24, 2016 18:31
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You beat the game 48 hours after it came out? Hardcore.
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Apr 24, 2016 21:26
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Weapon Skills are pretty neat, but nothing's gonna replace the Whirligig Saw in my heart. That said, Dark Souls 3 definitely amps up the creep factor from the last Dark Souls. Just the starting areas have weird-rear end poo poo going on. I am totally on board with that. edit: damnation, double post! Sorry.
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Apr 24, 2016 21:38
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There were a few weapon skills in Dark Souls 1, but they cost durability since MP didn't exist, making them pretty impractical. Like, the Drakesword could shoot a huge shockwave, but it cost 30 durability. On another note, I am very much looking forward to this LP since I'm too poor to get this game myself!
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Apr 24, 2016 21:42
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I was a bit disappointed with DS2, never really got into it. And I was way into DS1, big time. So far, this looks a lot better than DS2. I'm kinda bummed that I would have to get a PS4/XBONE or get a completely new high-end PC to be able to play it myself, but a quality LP is the next best thing 
KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Apr 24, 2016 |
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Apr 24, 2016 21:57
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CaptianKatsura posted:There were a few weapon skills in Dark Souls 1, but they cost durability since MP didn't exist, making them pretty impractical. Like, the Drakesword could shoot a huge shockwave, but it cost 30 durability. My first time playing ever, I used the Drake Sword's special to kill the Titanite Demon. Even had Andre right there to repair it when its durability ran low.
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Apr 24, 2016 22:29
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Speedball posted:You beat the game 48 hours after it came out? I felt like I was sleepwalking through this game after many hundreds of hours with Bloodborne, it just didn't feel difficult to me, but Souls games have never been as hard as Namco's Marketing team would have you believe.
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Apr 24, 2016 23:11
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I've said it again and again, the Souls series is not difficult but it punishes ignorance.
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Apr 24, 2016 23:42
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And it also very strongly rewards precision. A trait some of us (read: me) don't have.
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Apr 25, 2016 02:05
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Yeah, even in Bloodborne, Souls is just less concerned with kicking your rear end per se so much as it is teaching you to adopt a very specific, conservative, and precise playstyle that no one else in the industry has really attempted, so it's something no other series really gives you a chance to practice with.
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Apr 25, 2016 02:11
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I think a better way to look at is this; Souls games are difficult, but learning to play them isn't nearly as hard as you might think. Most people get their rear end kicked by these games when they first try them, so calling them easy is silly. Getting into the rhythm of these games is pretty simple though, and soon stuff that was destroying you will be a breeze.
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Apr 25, 2016 02:22
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Dark Souls is a different sort of difficult from typical games labeled as difficult like bullet hell shmups, fighting games or a precision platformers in that it's not really about how fast you are as much about how much you've learnt (a big component in those genres too, but less so). If you know what your character can do, what your weapon's moves are and what attacks your opponents have -- know in the sense of moveset, timing, range, combos, etc -- then you've got a lot of leeway in terms of actual execution in most fights and don't really need to be all that fast and precise to win. You also have a perfectly fine easy mode in that you can just summon in 1-3 buddies whenever you get stuck. The From games are more difficult like Nethack or other roguelikes are difficult, if less extreme. Also like a roguelike they're hard in that they punish failure quite harshly compared to most games; there are no quicksaves or autosaves to be found. Of course unlike Nethack it's still possible to get through a completely novel Soulsbourne encounter that you've never seen before by just having awesome reflexes and coordination and dodging stuff, which I think makes new players sometimes think that the games are primarily difficult in that "speed and precision" sense. Instead the execution part is really more of an optional component to internalizing a bunch of pretty slow-paced RPG fighting mechanics. But, I ramble. Souls games are mostly hard because they're intentionally obtuse, relatively punishing of failure and require experimentation. They're also a bit deceptive in that they're not hard in the particular way that they first appear to be. Of course, Bloodbourne is an exception to my neat thesis here in that even when you know a fight you also need to be quick and precise to a greater extent than the Souls games, but I'll just ignore that...
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Apr 25, 2016 02:51
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It's nice to see that the tradition of arguing about Souls games' difficulty and learning to play them is still going strong. Personally, I really like that DS 3 is basically Miyazaki's tying DS1 and DS2 together, which wasn't exactly the case before.
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Apr 25, 2016 03:20
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