LogFAQs > #910802437

The game is not really open, but there are multiple orders in which you can play the game.

Generally speaking, the game gets easier the farther you get along. The first time I played, I was confused and didn't upgrade any weapons until more than halfway into the game, when I was collecting the Lord Souls The game got dramatically easier afterward.

EDIT: IGNORE the rest of this post until you're farther into the game. When you said first dungeon I assumed you were in Undead Burg.

A few bits of advice:

Try to figure out if you like strength weapons, dexterity weapons, or "quality" (str+dex requirement) early on. Once you do, level up those two stats appropriately.

You can upgrade weapons down different "paths" in this game - there's plain old normal, lightning, chaos, etc. But you basically only get enough materials in a playthrough to fully upgrade one weapon down each respective path. So try to save your better upgrade materials on weapons that you actually really like. From my understanding, basically any weapon is viable at end game with upgrades.

If that last little bit doesn't make much sense yet, just pick a few weapons you like and focus on upgrading those. But you're going to want to pick a family - STR, DEX, or quality as you basically have to choose. Don't let this intimidate you too much (like me when I first tried the game), because you can be pretty suboptimal and still get through the game fine.

Also, Resistance is useless, and only invest in Magic/Faith and whatnot if you feel confident you're going to use those strategies. I woudn't on a first playthrough, personally.
---

<insert sig here>