this level was so good that it literally mindbroke everyone back then, and is almost solely responsible for From Software success from then on
I hated this place, I died like a million times lol
I like it a lot now, but didn't care for it much on my first playthrough. Undead Parish, on the other hand, was great. Supremely comfy.
>>727704697Super boring. The zombie enemies are only threatening if you don't know how to kite a gank squad, and the level design is ugly. The enemies are mostly harmless, but occasionally they'll get hit with the Gmod physics gun and just flail at you, and your character is so slow to move that you're going to take damage no matter what. The level is all mossed over cobblestone with no real sense of grandeur. The boss is pretty tough if you're new to the game, so that is appealing. I played a magic user, so I didn't die, but it was pretty close and I can tell a melee build would have died a few times before they learned it.
>>727704697>Estus +4
I remember being stuck here for ages but when I watch people playing through for the first time they just breeze through it. I must have sucked
>>727704697Dark Souls was only successful because it was the complete antithesis of most games that were popular at the time of its release, so it felt unique. If it weren’t for that, the game would have been an obscure cult game at best.
I got filtered by the undead burg when I first played and never played it again till like a year later.
>>727708473Me again, I was mostly filtered by how shitty and jank everything was, the menu, and how the game explains fucking nothing. When I got past the undead burg I started loving it though and beat it.
This kills the Kratos funko pop open-world explooooorer
>>727704697the reason why its good is because the combat is against enemies who are similar to you (human size, using weapons) and you can often take them one on one. thats when the combat functions best and what it is designed for. but the rest of the game pits you against different types of monsters and it never really works as well
It's ugly like most of the gamejus butt uglyI could barely see shit
>open flat space with 6 mushrooms in chests right behind 10 copy pasted basic enemiesyou guys don't actually enjoy this, right?
>>727706064>Super boring.>I played a magic userChecks out.
>>727707975The main hard parts for a beginner are the two choke points. The one on the bridge with the hollows throwing firebombs at you leading into the room with the two axe hollows and the sword hollow, and the second one with the stair case trap with the spear hollows. And the black knight of course, but he's optional.
>>727707975>I watch people playing through for the first time they just breeze through it. I must have suckedMore often than not, the type of person "breezing through" it looked up a guide or walkthrough on what early weapons to acquire, and or already know the fatal flaw of every ds1 enemy, in that they can be backstabbed abused.Its kinda funny, how different a game is with prior knowledge. I remember the first time I played this level I was SO meticulous. I cleared every enemy before minotour so that I could have as few distractions to deal with the black knight guarding an item. I had an idea that the black knight could be backstabbed, but it happened to inconsistently for me, combined with the fact, that undead burg actually does not have that many "open" spaces. Its not designed like modern levels, its very much a "castle" with lots of boxed in rooms, and narrow stairs or walkways that are just about enough for people to walk in a single file lineThe two most open spaces right before the bridge, are conveniently where you have to fight multiple enemies, like more than 3 (or the two knight enemies with a spear and shield, which are the equivalent of multiple enemies)But thinking back. All I would need is the confidence to know that enemies cant do anything about backstabs, to try it more aggressively and confidently against the black knight. I didnt, and instead played safe, because, it already took so much deliberate effort to clear those enemies to have the space to fight the black knight, and I would die in like 2 or 3 hits, so I lacked the confidence and assuredness to be as brazen and disrespectful of the black knight as I would need to be, to break the game.This holds true for almost every enemy. Its why the way estus was balanced in the first game with having 5 max, and not getting humanity till later, and even then, I hadnt figured out humanity until blighttown right before quelaag because I played the game entirely offline.
>>727704697Blighttown and Sen's Fortress were the ones that mindbroke me.
>>727704697>mindbreak Who? I loved undeadberg, and I spent so much time running through that area trying to get some early levels, or mastering archery by headshotting all the firebomb guys from a distance. After that whenever I wanted to try a new weapon I'd run through undeadburg because I knew that place like the back of my hand so it was basically a controlled environment, and if you can't get past that area with your eyes closed with a weapon, you probably don't want to try the harder sections of the game.
>>727710646There's nothing weird about people who start their first DS run without any suppositions not struggling with the game at all. It's quite literally easy if you don't think it's the hardest thing ever made. Just use a fucking shield and be patient.
>>727704697Being able to physically see lower undead burg and the Capra demon boss room from multiple points in the level blew my mind the first time I noticed
>>727706064>I played a magic user
It's ugly, linear, has shit loot, and a mediocre boss. People were blown away by the quality of the combat
>>727711723Not to mention when you get to blighttown later and look up and realize where you are.
>>727711070>mindbreakCapra Demon is the biggest filter for people. It's a really fucked up cheap boss for first timers
>>727713394Its that fucking closet you have to fight him in.
>>727706460He has got armor from the underground burning place with a sad giant lava monster.He's obviously just walking around or is on NG+.
>>727707975Dark Souls was hard when it came out because nobody was used to the controls, but every action game plays like this now.
>>727704697It's a tiny area where the only threat is the boss because, and I repeat myself, it's a tiny area. You're in and out of there in minutes if you don't get stuck on the boss. It's the shithole filled with poison darts, poor visibility, and terrible platforming that pissed everyone off not this boring shit.
>>727704697burg + london will never be over comemark this
>>727704697It's so good that everyone hates the rest of the game because Burg set the bar too high
>>727704697It wasn't, DaS is dogshit and its level design only amazes midwit tourists who started with it
>>727710071>>727711795There's a reason "I played a magic user" is one of the last things he said. It invalidates the entire post lol
>>727704697I want a dark souls 1 2. I don't want another dark souls 3 or elden ring
Which area you almost never visit?
>>727712538How? The combat is barebones and janky as fuck. The level design is what people praised.
>>727704697Yeah agreed its one of the best levels in all of vidya. Truly an iconic masterpiece of a level.
Its so good Daughter of Ash got praised for forcing you to avoid the Drake bridge in order to circle around Darkroot.
Undead Burg and Parish is one of the most comfy places in the DaSs games I played (DaS1 and half of 2). I'm yet to play DaS3 but from I've seen so far the atmosphere doesn't match it.
>>727714967>Daughter of AshIs this shit actually good?
>>727714517I go to Lost Izalith to do what needs to be done and then fuck off.Also, TotG.
>>727714517everything post lord vessel
>>727715019There aren't many Souls mods, but they tend to be pretty high quality.
>>727710743sen's fortress mindbroke me at first and then i began SL30 pvp invading there and felt like jigsaw. so much kino making people die to pendulum axes and other shit like that on the beams inside
>>727715019Its interesting. But its also VERY vanilla, since all it does is to nudge a few things around, add some invisible walls for some sequence breaks, and slightly move all the merchants.
>>727704697When I knocked that ladder down which took me back to the bonfire I almost lost my mind from the overwhelming genius of the design, it expanded my consciousness tenfold and I felt like I could perceive reality in a different way. Doorways which I previously weren't even aware of suddenly opened and through them poured divine knowledge which no man should be able to comprehend without going insane. I managed to make it through with my sanity mostly intact but many others I knew were forever broken.
>>727714679No, the combat is fantastic. No other ARPG series has been able to match From's. And while they can also make great levels, undead burg is very basic
>>727715516...Now they're all stuck babbling incoherent nonsense like "hey this new hero shooter looks fun, you wanna play?" and "man E33 is such a great game"These were men I once knew and respected, seeing them reduced to this sorry state is truly disheartening.
>>727714982in terms of atosphere Demon's Souls shits all over Dark Slop
>>727714679Its standing shoulder to shoulder to >game that just Gothic 2, version 10, with the same combat system >mash attack to win the JRPG series>game devs that can' be bothered to finish polishing the system, meaning any boss encounters is just a cointoss on if the deflect invincibility mechanic works or not >juggle simulators
>>727716807I only played a little on the PS3 with some awful framerate
>>727714679>The combat is barebones and janky as fuck. The level design is what people praised.People enjoyed it for the level design but thought they enjoyed it for the combat because they couldn't articulate exactly what they liked about itThis is why every action game copied DS1 combat and controls, but not the level design
>souls gameplay running on a Ubisoft like worldbro this is fire like this is diabolical bruh :skul emoji:
>>727717120theres no way this is truereality is that they liked all sorts of things, and copied what was most superficial and easy to copy. because you cant 'just copy' a world like DS1 without ripping it offtheres a reason why souls clones skyrocketed once DS3 and BB (more 'simple' games to create compared to ds1 and ds2) got so popular, and why most games emulating that style of DS1 world (ie : hollow knight) have absolutely nothing lifted from dark souls in actual core gameplay, because it was a coincidenceIts easier to think of it in the form of sekiro deflects: Are people gonna make enemies that actually clash back-and-forth with you? Are they gonna make it look like a real duel where the enemies are sort of matching your own defense mechanics, even if its mostly good for the aesthetics? Are they gonna make animations so great that you can react to almost everything in your first time seeing it without any trial and error required?No, theyre just going to make the exact same parryslop defense system with some CLING CLANG sounds, over and over, and fully disregard everything else that made sekiro special
>>727717120Other souls games have changed the level design but kept the combat and are even more popular.
