Current Events > Dark Souls 1 is a little... jankier than I remember.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I swear I didn't see that cutscene intro the first time I played this game, it just spit me into the Undead Asylum narration. Weird to see Gwyn with his face human-like and uncovered. Besides introducing the bosses you fight, the cutscene spends a LOT of time on the war with the dragons. There's many more dragon-like creatures in DS1 than the others, so sure.

The fact that I didn't see this cutscene the first time I played may have contributed to how surreal the game felt. But it still oozes that quality as I replay. Hard to say why, because on paper Dark Souls is super generic: you start by fighting a bunch of zombie skeletons up through an old castle. Maybe it's the bonfires and flow of green-orange smoke that covers the screen and returns the world to how it just was before you cleaned it out, or maybe it's the NPCs that refuse to spill their guts to you like in any other RPG.

The game is WAY less forgiving about your sword colliding with a wall than 3. It's really important to be aware of what thrust attacks your weapon has if any.

All the different roll weight percentages... that wait time you have from the end of a midroll where your controller just doesn't respond is terribly annoying. Not to mention that I've already stopped locking on to pretty much any bosses because of the weird angle lock down that happens to your rolls.

Individual bonfires needing to be kindled to increase estus is really weird. I mean, it makes sense because most of this game is spent without fast travel, so you're meant to be tactical about the bonfires in the world and use your knowledge of the map layout. I remember when I first played, I used the one above Andre as a sort of base of operations and really buffed it. But coming from Dark Souls III it's a little annoying.

I forgot just how far you can get around so early into the game. It's absolutely amazing how interconnected the world is, and that's one of the best points for the game. It feels like one-of-a-kind level design for an action game. But I can also see how easily someone could get lost, especially if this is their first game in the series and they have no idea what's going on (I remember I was so terrified at all times the first time I played). I managed to get to Old Londo, Valley of Drakes, the Hydra, etc with minimal playtime and pick up some items like Astora Straight Sword.

Still fuckin crazy that the rats under the bridge with the red wyvern poison you in TWO hits lmao. I remember that being aggravating when I was new.

I remember Solaire's presence being super comforting the first time I played, probably because he's the only guy around with a welcoming, cooperative attitude towards you. But now, I actually find him just a little creepy.

I'm trying a Faith build for this playthrough, I used to just do STR. Not super impressed by the Miracles the bowlcut guy had for sale though. is Force any good?


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Tldr

Doe posted...

crazy that the rats under the bridge with the red wyvern poison you in two hits lmao

I know! Going back to it with remastered and was surprised to be killed by rats of all things!
Still a fun jank, lol.

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Yeah. I recently went back to DS1 after beating DS3 and its such a different experience. Everything is a little slower. Rolling only happens on like this weird 8 directional grid instead of being able to just roll where i point the stick. Plenty of times that I've tried to roll just around an enemy's shoulder and roll directly into them, or roll way off to the side. There's no in-between.
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I'm playing DS1 right now, stuck at Artorias

I haven't played DS2 or DS3 in a while so I didn't experience the jankiness.

Never done Faith, I always go Dex or Int. Right now I'm doing Int with Enchanted Uchigatana.

Doe posted...

is Force any good?

It's niche, but that niche is amazing. Push people off ledges and deflects arrows.

Do you recall the Great Archers of Anor Lando? Force makes that walk an absolute joke, for example. Shrug off arrows, nudge them to doom.
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I'll also mention that the first time I played this game I didn't know rolls had i-frames until Ornstein & Smough

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I had a great shield and heavy armor, and had to do little rolling. Rolling was annoying. I mainly blocked using great shield.

It's the only Dark Souls game I've played, though. Haven't played 2 or 3.

Farming rats for humanity to kindle bonfires was fun.

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OK, and the butcher knife dude in the depths just cutting meat. WTF lol. I don't feel like there's anything like that in DS3

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Doe posted...

OK, and the butcher knife dude in the depths just cutting meat. WTF lol. I don't feel like there's anything like that in DS3

Joking?

Crucifixion Woods & Cathedral of Deep are cray-cray

Dark Souls 3 is easy kid mode compared to Dark Souls 1. If you wanted to fast roll, you're under 25% equip load. You can be up to 70% equip load in DS3 before you start fat rolling.

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Do you really need to drop a wall of text on why games might not be the same after returning to them

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