Get Dark Souls or Skyrim?

humanji

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

300+ hours of optional fluff, though, if Oblivion is anything to go by.

Most people are saying Dark Souls on a first playthrough is a solid hundred hours long. I think when you reach three figures, you're into value for money territory anyway.

Now, I've never played Demon Souls and know little about it or Dark Souls, but isn't the point that you die and repeat everything over and over until you get past?

If that's the case, then it would only be comparable to Skyrim if you also played that over and over, wouldn't it? I'm not trying to be smart or anything, but I thought that was the point of Dark Souls and why people enjoyed it (the frustration followed by the elation).

I'm debating getting Dark Souls, but am not sure if it's for me. I watched 30 mins of gameplay and it didn't do much for me. But the fact that so many people are singing it's praises and those of Demon Souls, it makes me feel like I'm missing out.

But to answer the OP, obviously if you're thinking you'd like both then get Dark Soul, as you'll have a month or so to save up for Skyrim. And as said before, it'll give them time to release any patches that are needed.

johnners2981

humanji wrote: »

I'm debating getting Dark Souls, but am not sure if it's for me. I watched 30 mins of gameplay and it didn't do much for me. But the fact that so many people are singing it's praises and those of Demon Souls, it makes me feel like I'm missing out.

If you don't get play dark souls, you are definitely missing out

Retr0gamer

Demon's Souls is far and away the best game this generation for me so if Dark Souls is half as good then it's a sure fire for my game of the year. I'm broke but living on beans on toaster next week will be worth it.

humanji

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Demon's Souls is far and away the best game this generation for me so if Dark Souls is half as good then it's a sure fire for my game of the year. I'm broke but living on beans on toaster next week will be worth it.

Won't that electrocute you?

hooradiation

humanji wrote: »

Now, I've never played Demon Souls and know little about it or Dark Souls, but isn't the point that you die and repeat everything over and over until you get past?

It appears to be almost Sisyphean and aimed at people with a hell of a lot more free time than I have.
Not my cup of tea honestly - but if the OP is trying to decide between two games that wear the insane time investment needed like a badge of honour then I guess the one that also decides to punish you ceaselessly is probably the best bet.

So, yeah, dark souls, i guess...

johnny_ultimate

humanji wrote: »

Now, I've never played Demon Souls and know little about it or Dark Souls, but isn't the point that you die and repeat everything over and over until you get past?

If that's the case, then it would only be comparable to Skyrim if you also played that over and over, wouldn't it? I'm not trying to be smart or anything, but I thought that was the point of Dark Souls and why people enjoyed it (the frustration followed by the elation).

The difficulty of Demon's / Dark Souls would best be described as 'challenging' rather than 'hard'. There's no denying it has a higher level of difficulty than your average game, but once you learn to play there are very consistent and dare I say 'fair' rules you must abide. It's a fine line, but in Demon's Soul when you die it's usually your fault - not being careful enough, or pushing your luck too far. Dark Souls could easily miss that balance if just aims for hard, hard, hard (as I said elsewhere, one preview worryingly mentioned a stealth death pit or two) but the joy of the first game is feeling like you are genuinely conquering the world. And the world is built to be conquered.

Sure, you'll die a lot, but you'll come back and push forward, even in moments of pure frustration when an hour of work is cruelly rendered moot by a misjudged sidestep. You'll slowly push past one group of enemies and onto the next. Get cocky and you die. Your fault. Take your time, obey and learn the rules, and you'll be able to push onwards. And there's a sense of satisfaction to that pacing other games can't manage.

By all accounts it's a rather big game. Maybe it lacks the square footage of Skyrim, but how much of that is going to be empty space? Demon's Souls had the best level design of any game in recent times. Oblivion had a pretty open world, but the level design was dreadful - repetitive, endlessly recycled assets were their excuse for dungeons.

Demon's Souls was an utterly unique experience, with hundreds of hours of content if you wanted. A world that adapted as you played, equipment hidden and requiring hours of involving work to get your hands on, and all sorts of other secrets. It was a game that always rewarded exploration and commitment. I don't have the time to commit 100s of hours to a game either, and hopefully the 'core', less OCD game of Dark Souls will not take five or six full days of playing to complete. But the option is there. I have no doubt Skyrim will be great in its own way, but I'd be surprised if it provided the same unique, varied rewards Dark Souls will.

penev10

I didn't think Demon's Souls would be for me, I was half expecting to exchange it within a week of getting it. I took a gamble on it as there was nothing else out around that time (June 2010).

I'm no masochist, I like a moderate challenge and hate having to relay parts of games over and over but DS is so rewarding. I'm a RPG fan so maybe that helped with the grinding aspect but it;s such a great experience - being utterly alone in an evil, punishing environment with such an oppressive atmosphere but such a great levelling dynamic and the single best upgrading system I've come accross.

So, yeah, give it a go!

Sl!mCharles

wish i had a PS3

johnny_ultimate

Sl!mCharles wrote: »

wish i had a PS3

Do you have a 360?

Then: Good news, everyone!

Grayditch

I need both of these games. I couldn't chose between them. We're talking the next games from the makers of Demon's Souls and Oblivion. I'd chose either of these over any Uncharted Asylums, Modern Battlefields, Fifa Evolutions or Gears Of Rages with ease, but I couldn't chose between both.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

humanji wrote: »

Won't that electrocute you?

that's just how hard you have to be to play demon souls

Retr0gamer

TBH Demon's Souls difficulty level is blown way out of proportion. It's finishable by anyone. The press just went over the top considering it's one of the few games released that actually punishes you for dying instead of letting anyone finish it by bumbling through on recharging health and checkpoints.

Sl!mCharles

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Do you have a 360?

Then: Good news, everyone!

Yes I have a 360. so many PS3 exclusives I'd love to play is all

rickyjb

Retr0gamer wrote: »

TBH Demon's Souls difficulty level is blown way out of proportion. It's finishable by anyone. The press just went over the top considering it's one of the few games released that actually punishes you for dying instead of letting anyone finish it by bumbling through on recharging health and checkpoints.

I have to agree with this, I'm far from a hardcore gamer or anything but I thought it was pretty manageable once you learned from your mistakes and concentrated on what you were doing. Running forward into a group of enemies will inevitably get you killed but taking your time and picking them off one by one while healing occasionally usually got you through, even without much additional levelling up of your character. I wouldn't call that level of difficulty "extreme" or anything like it.

Hopefully Dark Souls will take a similar view with the difficulty level and not throw in too many cheap shots. As mentioned above the key thing will be that it should be your fault every time you die, not the games fault.

Magill

rickyjb wrote: »

I have to agree with this, I'm far from a hardcore gamer or anything but I thought it was pretty manageable once you learned from your mistakes and concentrated on what you were doing. Running forward into a group of enemies will inevitably get you killed but taking your time and picking them off one by one while healing occasionally usually got you through, even without much additional levelling up of your character. I wouldn't call that level of difficulty "extreme" or anything like it.

Hopefully Dark Souls will take a similar view with the difficulty level and not throw in too many cheap shots. As mentioned above the key thing will be that it should be your fault every time you die, not the games fault.

Yup, the actual difficulty was never really that extreme like you said.. it can be heartbreaking if you lose all your souls tho !! which is something i think a lot of newcomers to proper RPG's were put off by.

But once ya learn not to play the game like its dragonage, i.e Leeroy jenkin's style AOE pulling ! and use your brain a bit.. its extremely rewarding.

rickyjb

Magill wrote: »

Yup, the actual difficulty was never really that extreme like you said.. it can be heartbreaking if you lose all your souls tho !! which is something i think a lot of newcomers to proper RPG's were put off by.

But once ya learn not to play the game like its dragonage, i.e Leeroy jenkin's style AOE pulling ! and use your brain a bit.. its extremely rewarding.

You did have the opportunity to get them back at least, if you were careful. The most soul destroying part of the game was losing all your souls at a difficult bit that it'd taken you ages to get to, then getting killed immediately by something stupid at the start of a level thus losing all your hard-earned souls for good. Every time you died with a good few souls your instinct was to try and sprint back to where you lost them as quickly as possible. I thought this was a clever move on the developers part as if there's one thing you (generally) didn't get away with in demon's souls it was trying to go too fast or taking stuff for granted.

This worked the other way too as if you did manage to make it back you would now have all the souls you collected getting to that point again plus the ones you lost the last time you died. They really nailed the whole effort/achievement/reward aspect of gaming in my opinion.

Kiith

rickyjb wrote: »

You did have the opportunity to get them back at least, if you were careful. The most soul destroying part of the game was losing all your souls at a difficult bit that it'd taken you ages to get to, then getting killed immediately by something stupid at the start of a level thus losing all your hard-earned souls for good. Every time you died with a good few souls your instinct was to try and sprint back to where you lost them as quickly as possible. I thought this was a clever move on the developers part as if there's one thing you (generally) didn't get away with in demon's souls it was trying to go too fast or taking stuff for granted.

That's what always happened to me. Would carefully make my way through a level, taking my time and collecting everything, but i'd get killed with 50k souls. Respawn, start running back, and fall off a cliff/roasted by dragon. Queue joypad smashing off wall.

Most of my deaths in the game were just by me not being careful enough. It's a tough game, but not insanely difficult like some people seem to think. Punishing is the right word.

tuxy

Is it too late to pre order Dark Souls to get the extra's? And if not where does one order from?

Snakeblood

tuxy wrote: »

Is it too late to pre order Dark Souls to get the extra's? And if not where does one order from?

http://www.gamestop.ie/core/common/default.aspx?quickSearch=Dark%20souls

Bonesy.

And could I trade in Dead Island in gamestop (cause last time I checked it had 35e store cred) and get it on a gamestop card and get Dark Souls when it comes out?(also for future reference)

johnny_ultimate

Sl!mCharles wrote: »

Yes I have a 360. so many PS3 exclusives I'd love to play is all

You know both games are coming out on 360

tuxy

Snakeblood wrote: »

http://www.gamestop.ie/core/common/default.aspx?quickSearch=Dark%20souls

Thanks, just ordered. Good value.

bbnewyork

SKYRIM, kid!!!

stooodent

DARK SOULS!....kidd! :pac:

Kiith

Both...no kid!!!

Sl!mCharles

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

You know both games are coming out on 360

I did not know that ...

When is Demons Souls coming out?

Kiith

Demons Souls isn't coming to the 360, but Dark Souls already is.

Dcully

Skyrim for me is a 100% must have, Dark Souls while i believe it to be awesome will be waiting for my game time.
So i guess you could say both for me

Spunge

Well Dark Souls is a must have imo.

Skyrim, we'll have to wait and see but i sure hope it's a must have.