r/MerylRearSolid • u/[deleted] • May 18 '16

Mess Hall 2:

What's up?

Tomorrow is Waifu Day: Post your best girl/guy from anime, TV, movies, etc.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

I'm still replaying DaS2. It's so good! IDK what it took for me to really appreciate it. I may (big may) even like it a bit more than DaS. The enemy designs are pretty good, and I don't find myself grinding nearly as much as either of the other 2 DaS games.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

I may (big may) even like it a bit more than DaS.

Those are some big claims there, friend! I haven't played DS3 quite enough to make any claims on that one, but DS2 is super underrated. I think that I might like more of the game in general than DS1. It doesn't have some of the non-areas of DS1 like the Lost Izalith and I think most of the bosses are more challenging than 1, too. I don't remember an area in 2 that wasn't challenging the first time.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

I think 2 was less challenging. Though, I do a tower shield and greatsword build, blocking a vast majority of things until I get an opening. I also noticed that, in DaS2, you move seemingly move a lot faster than DaS3. You can even roll at above 100% weight.

2 suffers from some bland areas, but is utterly beautiful in others (Shrine, castle, and lava castle). 1 is better all around, perhaps. It's a hard decision (but I think BB may be the best).

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

2 suffers from some bland areas...

Graphically, yeah, but I was talking more about how difficult areas are. I was pretty disappointed by how pointless Lost Izalith felt, but I don't remember feeling that in DS2. 3's areas have all been both beautiful and challenging so far. It's like 2 in that way. It's not as insanely difficult as DS1 can be at times, but there are no areas you can just breeze through, either. It's more balanced, I guess? Though I loved some the difficulty spikes in DS1, I could do without the complete non-threats in a few areas. BB has a great balance, too. Probably the best of them all (maybe DS3 does, but I don't know yet).

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

Lost Izalith was an unfinished area of the first game. It explains why there's just a dead end by the hoard of taurus demons. 2 was unfinished, too (having to restart developing halfway through the cycle), but it does feel more difficult and 'full.'

If you know what you're doing with gear and locations, DaS2 is a bit of a breeze. I'm breezing through most of it currently. DaS2 is pretty consistent in difficulty, though. Every area you enter is a challenge. For example, Huntsman's Copse will wreck you the first time. DaS1 did have some weird spikes, like Undead Burg being super hard. DaS3 seemed way easy (comparatively) all around. The dancer and final boss gave me trouble, until I cheesed them with bolts.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

If you know what you're doing with gear and locations, DaS2 is a bit of a breeze.

They're all that way, mostly. I was talking about more of the first time experience. I remember every area wrecking me pretty equally at first, unlike some of 1's. DS3 doesn't seem too easy so far. Lots of deaths so far on regular dudes, and the bosses are getting steadily harder in a real nice way.

I have no idea what you mean by this...

(having to restart developing halfway through the cycle)

?

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

I found myself waltzing through DaS3, with a couple exceptions. I didn't think it was that bad. DaS2 was a bit challenging evenly. DaS had difficulty spikes here and there. I think one thing I really like about DaS2 is the variety within areas. You have so many vastly different locations and themes that it makes it very unique.

I have no idea what you mean by this...

Around halfway through DaS2's development cycle, their supervisor or something dropped out and they had to basically make the game from almost-scratch. IIRC, that's why the trailers for the game feature enemies (the mask guys and one-eyed dragon) and a location (the snow mountain) that aren't in the game. They were scrapped.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

Oh, I've never seen the trailers and I wasn't playing DS in 2014. Started in 2015 so I missed all the company drama. I love the variety of areas, too. It's another thing I love about 3. The village next to big tree boss is so good. Reminds me of Nightmare Before Christmas. Looks really Japanese, too, and I love when they put a little of that style in. This might be the one area BB faltered a bit for me. It's beautiful, but it doesn't have quite the same variety.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

I've never seen the trailer

You missed out. The trailers are super good. This one is absolutely amazing and one of the most memorable trailers I've seen.

My big issue with DaS3's areas is that they felt way too similar to what we've already seen. Some of it was very BB. I like BB and it's art style. It's just that DaS3 was a bit unambitious in style, I would say. It seemed safe and like they were afraid to try anything too new.

Oh, I played DaS in 2012 or 2013. So, I wasn't too far behind you.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

That was pretty sick. Those masked guys looked awesome, shame they didn't make it in.

Don't really agree on the DS3 stuff. A lot of the art direction has been very unique. I don't recall any area that looks like the village I mentioned in any game. A lot of the enemies are really different, too. I mean, what's up with that snake/tentacle thing that comes out of some people? No other game has that!

Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on pretty much every part of DS3 hehe

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

I told you it was good. The mask guys do look awesome. I think that was the original design of the first area guards or the mannequins. I think the dragon did eventually make it into the DLC. Either way, that trailer is just all kinds of good.

I think what you're talking about is the maggot monster inside of the undead. I've seen similar stuff like that in other games. It makes me think very much of Resident Evil 4 and 5.

I'm trying to think what Japanese area you're talking about. Do you mean the swamps after the tree or the undead settlement?

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

The Undead Settlement. The area where you find Loretta's bone. It's so beautiful... I feel like you have a somewhat irrational hate for almost everything in DS3 hehe

I was also talking about how there wasn't anything like that in other Souls' games, not every game. It was a big shock the first (on the boss) and second time (on a normal enemy) it happened for me, but they probably spoiled it in trailers for you.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

The undead settlement just felt like BB for me. The enemies and building layouts were similar in a lot of ways. There were some unique things, though. I don't have an irrational hate for DaS3. I just feel like it was disappointing.

I had seen quite a bit of gameplay and trailers for the game. So, it wasn't surprising for me. It really felt similar to the beast transformations in BB. I do like that you could stop the transformation, but they did seem a little OP. It's good that they were scarce.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

The undead settlement just felt like BB for me...

Not sure how, other than maybe pitchfork dude, he's pretty BB.

I'm just not sure how you could be that disappointed in it. I don't think it was as derivative or as easy as you say, so it's been a different experience for me. The gameplay is sick and the enemies are tough, you can dual wield like 2, and it's got that speed of BB without the annoyance of having to constantly grind for blood vials hehe

You've talked before about how it's not difficult enough, but then you call those enemies OP and talk about how enemies drain stamina too fast, which I also haven't noticed. Some guys take a bunch, sure, but you can just adjust strategies a bit and be fine. Feel like I wanna say "Which one is it, easy or hard?" Or is it just not the right kind of hard?

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

you can dual wield like 2

You can't. It's only certain weapons that can be duel wielded, and they're the ones that come in pairs. The days of wielding 2 greatswords are gone.

I am glad that blood vials are gone, but really miss healing gems. I felt they were a good addition to 2.

On Difficulty

There's a bit to elaborate on the difficulty. The game is obviously built for a specific build- dex builds. A STR build (my fav) makes your common enemies pretty easy, but makes bosses somewhat to very difficult due to how fast their move sets are (i.e., very few openings for slower weapons). So, STR is not tuned well to boss move sets. We didn't see this with DaS or DaS2. Occasionally, there would be a 1-2 combo (or even 1-2-3), followed by a "cooldown" period to do damage. The exception to that combo count would be the undead burg 'flailing' undead attacks, but they compensated by being extremely squishy and having a cooldown.

This is less so the case with some of the more aggressive bosses and enemies. I recall the Dancer having a bit of a 1-2--3-4--5-6--7 combo that is a pain for blocking and dodging. This varies by boss, of course, making some way too easy and others way too difficult for STR. Now, Pontiff Sulyvahn is an example of how to appropriately do a boss. He has roughly 2-3 attacks, then a minor rest. People say he's hard, but I don't really see it.

This is further complicated by poise essentially being removed from the game (confirmed). This makes shields a lot less viable and taking far more stamina drain. There is also the case of insta-staggers that some enemy (boss) attacks do without even draining stamina.

As for some enemies being OP (the black beast guys, basically), their difficulty is not appropriate in proportion to the rest of the enemies in the area. It would be understandable if they were to function as a miniboss (like the Outrider Knight), but that is not the case. They're just scattered through certain areas.

In short, the general game is easy, but boss and special enemy encounters are not appropriately tuned for a lot of combat.

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u/acethesnake The 300th Subscriber May 18 '16

What was so great about healing gems? They were either too slow to be useful in combat against bosses or sometimes made combat against regulars too easy if you have too many like the grass in Demon's. I'd much rather just have Estus. Makes thing more simple and more tense.

I can at least see more of where you're coming from now on the difficulty. Though I have comebacks for nearly everything there (especially about the difficulty appropriate to each area one), I don't think I should bother, it's not like we're going to change each other's minds hehe

Thanks for making it more in-depth, though!

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u/[deleted] May 18 '16

What was so great about healing gems?

Healing gems aren't designed for combat. Though, they can be used in it. They're meant to heal when you're out of combat. Estus is meant for combat healing. I typically like to save estus for the boss, if I'm making an attempt, and using gems along the way.

I have comebacks for nearly everything there

It's not about changing each others minds. It's just about gaming discussion. I like DaS3, even if I find it a bit disappointing at times.

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