Dark Souls II - Prepare to Die, Again

[squirtle]

OK. I think I'm done. Realised I hadn't killed the gargoyles in Belfry Luna so rectified that. Then went down to the Dark Diver and took her out on the next try. The only thing I have not done is kill Vendrick as I used all the giant's souls so do about 18 points of damage to him no matter what weapon I try and I simply can't be bothered having away at him for that long. 

[squirtle]

So just had this happen. Which was nice. 

 

He tagged me with some big hits as I cleared away the wagon blocking the way. Then I concentrated... 

 

[Hanzo the Razor]

I finally took the Fume Knight doon last night! Take that ya big fumey bastard!

[Hanzo the Razor]

This game just keeps on giving. Since we got our Series X it's still about all we have played. I'm currently in The Old Chaos. What a stramash that is! I've beat the Fume Knight after weeks of trying. The wife is on her third play through but never met him before. She's reached him now but has said nope. So I'm to fight him again! I put Aava down yesterday but now there's loads of stuff still to loot in Frozen Elyum Loyce. I've still got Sir Allone to take down too. I know people rave about DS1 & DS3 but this is one of the best games I've ever played. I think I paid 7.99 for the SOTFS version on the Xbox Store over a year ago and we're still playing it every night. Amazing game.

[Stevie]

10 hours ago, Hanzo the Razor said:

This game just keeps on giving. Since we got our Series X it's still about all we have played. I'm currently in The Old Chaos. What a stramash that is! I've beat the Fume Knight after weeks of trying. The wife is on her third play through but never met him before. She's reached him now but has said nope. So I'm to fight him again! I put Aava down yesterday but now there's loads of stuff still to loot in Frozen Elyum Loyce. I've still got Sir Allone to take down too. I know people rave about DS1 &3 but this is one of the best games I've ever played. I think I paid 7.99 for the SOTFS version on the Xbox Store over a year ago and we're still playing it every night. Amazing game.

The old chaos is fantastic  The only way, the right way to beat the boss is to not use the guardians. Most difficult DS boss of the series.

[Hanzo the Razor]

39 minutes ago, Stevie said:

The old chaos is fantastic  The only way, the right way to beat the boss is to not use the guardians. Most difficult DS boss of the series.

 

I don't see me ever doing that! I'd be insane by the time I beat it 

[df0]

Interesting 10 minute watch. Goes into why Miyazaki was not in charge, why the reveal trailer shows content missing from the final game, the graphical downgrade and more.

 

 

[Stevie]

Yeah, there were some issues allright. Luckily it turned out to be a true gem when Scholar was released. The best game of the series in my opinion, while the third is the worst one. 

[Hanzo the Razor]

The Shrine of Amana. Always a pleasure, never a chore . For such a beautiful area it's a controller chewing pain in the scrotum.

[Bushtopher]

I’ve picked this up again having previously started it but not even making it to the first boss.
 

Both bosses now down in the Forest place. My god the Pursuer was tough. Took me a good 10-12 attempts. Even missed the folks you have to fight to get to him from the bonfire as they’d disappeared because it took me so long
 

[5R7]

funny to see this thread back up, as i have also been replaying it! well, a modded it any way! - https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls2/mods/978?tab=description

 

Tell ya what though, trying to come from DaS3, or even 1, straight to it is a nightmare! as everything about it is just so "off" compared to the rest!

 

The pursuer can be quite a pain, or, quite easy...you use the buckler to parry his charging attack(not the blue one!). As the buckler has an extended parry frame!

[Jamie John]

I keep on wanting to replay this, too, and I'm not sure why; I've completed it twice already, with the DLC, and I'd imagine I'd find it too familiar once I started it, but it's just so alluringly weird that I want to go back to it. Shame it never got a Switch port, like the first game.

[Hanzo the Razor]

On 21/12/2020 at 10:19, Hanzo the Razor said:

 

I would love to. Even with all the shrines down I just can't get him.  Maybe one day...

 

I did eventually down this fucker. I've beat him three times now. In my game, my wifes game (she gave up) and my 6 year olds game (She wanted her own game to twat about in. I ended up playing it when she went bed).

 

Sir Allone bit the big one eventually too. Who does he get to polish that floor? Mrs Overall?

[Bushtopher]

 

…and done!

 

Was hoping to get this completed before Elden Ring came out, and at times doubted I’d manage it. 
 

Really enjoyed that. Definitely up there with DS1 - not sure why some don’t rate it. 
 

Look forward to tackling DS3 at some point. What a great series!

[Captain Kelsten]

So I started playing this again as I didn’t feel like jumping into a second Elden ring playthrough after just spending over 100 hours on my first. 
 

Christ, it feels rough. Slow. Clunky. Rooms are just boxes connected by corridors. The combat is worse than the first game. Healing is worse. Your weapon can break and does so with worrying regularity. The zones make no sense. It’s fairly ugly. In fact, it was so jarring I actually uninstalled it and started dark souls 3, instead, as a pyromancer called Geoff. Now that’s a good game I never gave enough time to. 
 

And yet…there’s something compelling about Dark Souls 2. To the point that I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I reinstalled it and started again as a sorcerer called Geoff. I went to fight the dragon rider and he fell off his own platform and died after charging at me. Top banana. 

[Captain Kelsten]

I don’t remember much of Dark Souls 2. I clearly didn’t play it much…

 

 

…oh, ok. Apparently my main playthrough was 62 hours. Why the fuck can’t I remember anything?!? I don’t remember playing for anywhere near that long. I looked up a route list and apparently Brightstone Cove Tseldora is over halfway through the game! I also don’t remember making a fat character called Harold Bishop, but there you go…

 

Also, poor Geoff looks rough on the load select screen. Here he is in happier times:

 

 

I’d also forgotten that the character gets more and more zombified the more you die. That’s pretty cool. 

[Captain Kelsten]

Well, a productive evening on this. Geoff is now level 30 something and I’ve killed Dragonrider, the Last Giant and the Pursuer. I’ve upgraded my starting staff to +5, got 60 soul arrows and 15 giant soul arrows if I need more fire power. I also found and upgraded a flaming long sword to +5. 
 

Tomorrow I’m heading to the cathedral in Heige’s tower, or exploring more of the Lost Bastille - I found the bosses there but couldn’t be arsed fighting three of them just yet. 

[Hanzo the Razor]

11 hours ago, Doctor Shark said:

Well, a productive evening on this. Geoff is now level 30 something and I’ve killed Dragonrider, the Last Giant and the Pursuer. I’ve upgraded my starting staff to +5, got 60 soul arrows and 15 giant soul arrows if I need more fire power. I also found and upgraded a flaming long sword to +5. 
 

Tomorrow I’m heading to the cathedral in Heige’s tower, or exploring more of the Lost Bastille - I found the bosses there but couldn’t be arsed fighting three of them just yet. 

 

Get in amongst it boy!

[Captain Kelsten]

Old Dragonslayer in Cathedral of Blue down on the first go, didn’t even hit me which was handy as I had no healing stuff left after killing the dragon and didn’t realise it would put me straight into a boss fight

 

On to Huntsman’s Copse or No Man’s Wharf next, I think. 

[Captain Kelsten]

No Man’s Wharf done and dusted. Geoff is now level 65 after 9 hours played. He’s got 30 int and I’m using a mix of soul arrow, greater soul arrow and now greater heavy soul arrow alongside a fiery broadsword +5.

 

I seem to have got to 65 very quickly, so God knows why my original playthrough (Noel Edmonds, level 89) is 62 hours - I must have wasted so much time or gone afk a lot! I did log in as my original character - I’ve unlocked loads of areas with him but with no idea where I’ve been or what I’ve done, I figured starting from scratch was the best idea. 

[Captain Kelsten]

Huntsman’s Copse done, too. Skeletal Lords were a bit annoying but managed it first go. Not sure if I’m meant to be finishing off Lost Bastille or going to Harvest Valley, next. 
 

Considering I always play From games in heavy armour with a huge weapon, going sorcery seems like easy mode

[Captain Kelsten]

Hey, don’t tell anyone, okay, but I gotta say…I’m really enjoying this. Like…a lot. Rough initial (re)impressions aside, it’s properly got its hooks in. 

[El Spatula]

Dark Souls 2 is my fave of the DS games...... Sometimes.

 

[Sane]

11 minutes ago, El Spatula said:

Dark Souls 2 is my fave of the DS games...... Sometimes.

 

Well said! Objectively DS3 is probably the better game, but 2 was definitely more memorable for me.

[Captain Kelsten]

25 minutes ago, El Spatula said:

Dark Souls 2 is my fave of the DS games...... Sometimes.

 

I think it just makes a really, really bad first impression. The tutorial area is really blocky and crap looking. The forest of giants feels like a series of square rooms connected by long, poorly textured corridors. It’s certainly no undead burg. Heide’s tower is visually nice but a bit shit to actually play in. Huntsman’s Copse has the same issues as Forest of the giants in that it just feels too blocky and basic. 
 

Sometimes the game reminds me of the old Duke Nukem level building tool, where I didn’t know what I was doing so just strung together a load of square rooms. 
 

And then you have No Man’s Wharf which, whilst small, is awesome. Lost Bastille is also kind of cool but again, looks graphically very basic - lots of grey. 
 

Harvest Valley is awesome visually, but a right pain in the arse due to all the poison, but seeing those huge windmills churning way off and knowing you’re going to climb them is great. 

 

[Uzi]

43 minutes ago, Doctor Shark said:

Hey, don’t tell anyone, okay, but I gotta say…I’m really enjoying this. Like…a lot. Rough initial (re)impressions aside, it’s properly got its hooks in. 

I used to hate DS2. But I've warmed to it over the years and really like it now.

 

The DLC is incredible. Some of the locations are amazing (some suck, it has at least three poison/swap type places? bleh) the world connectivity is shit but once you get over that, the fucked up mish mash of locations is kinda charming. If your build is designed to take on a tonne of mobs its pretty fun gameplay wise too. 

[Captain Kelsten]

3 minutes ago, Uzi said:

I used to hate DS2. But I've warmed to it over the years and really like it now.

 

The DLC is incredible. Some of the locations are amazing (some suck, it has at least three poison/swap type places? bleh) the world connectivity is shit but once you get over that, the fucked up mish mash of locations is kinda charming. If your build is designed to take on a tonne of mobs its pretty fun gameplay wise too. 

I don’t think I ever hated it, not even on original release. I just felt disappointed and very ambivalent about it, really. I quickly left it alone on original release, only trying it again when Scholar of the First Sin came out. As I said up thread, apparently I put 62 hours into then, getting pretty far, yet I don’t remember anything past the first few zones (to the point where in my memory, I’d obviously never got past those zones!). 

[Uzi]

Hate I guess is a strong word. I still played it through to completion at launch but it just felt like Super Mario Bro 2. The same clothes but different DNA and made me feel like it was souls like game rather than a souls game because it felt, looked and played soooo differently to Dark and Demons. But overtime I got to appreciate those differences and find a lot of them add to the game. DS3 is technically a better game but it feels way more familiar and safe.

[El Spatula]

I've replayed DS2 more than any of the others. There's something about it. It helps that it doesn't shit the bed like DS or feel overly familiar like DS3. The DLC is also amazing.

 

[Uzi]

The DLC is DS2 perfected. I wish they made the whole game to that incredible quality.