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[Ochita]

Well, getting into this topic now, I actually didn't know how the mouse restricted combo's and stuff like that, so learning about that explains a couple of things. I guess I sorta lucked out on how I chose to play as a caster, which doesnt require quuuiiite as much mouse finesse.

Otherwise, Im actually rather surprised on how some boss fights have gone, especially with what some people have said about said boss fights.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

So, has this already been mentioned?
Anyone here upset by the bland color pallet, the replacement of the lighting & particle effects, the lowered poly count? And for what, last-gen-console parity? I've also heard word footage from the demo is still being used in adverts & screen caps are on the box art. And further, I've heard namco/from dodged direct questions about it while the PC launch was gearing up.
Have I misheard?

[alway]

So, has this already been mentioned?
Anyone here upset by the bland color pallet, the replacement of the lighting & particle effects, the lowered poly count? And for what, last-gen-console parity? I've also heard word footage from the demo is still being used in adverts & screen caps are on the box art. And further, I've heard namco/from dodged direct questions about it while the PC launch was gearing up.
Have I misheard?

From what I've read online, the PC was ported from the XBox360 version. As a graphics programmer, it's pretty obvious why. Their Xbone version uses DX11, and despite cards below DX11 not even being sold any more (it's been around 5 GPU generations since DX11 became the norm), they may have been trying to widen their potential customer pool by doing it with the X360's DX9 version so it could run on a decade old pc. As a result, their rendering engine is using whatever was intended for a 9 year old console. At that point, they're pretty much stuck, since they would need to rewrite much of their rendering system to make it not look like shit.

[Jelle]

Upset? Not really, but definatly disapointed. It was to be expected really. They really shouldn't be advertising with that old footage though, that's flat out false advertising.


Also I've been trying to make some sense of the map. Assuming this thing is even (supposed to be) accurate.
Spoilers warning!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Does that look about right to anyone?

Also same map with player paths as I see them drawn up.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Imo you can tell they didn't put as much detail in the overall map design. In DS1 if you got a good vantage point you could see a bunch of other explorable areas in the distance. I remember from up high in undead burg you could see undead parish and sen's fortress behind it in the distance, firelink, valley of drakes in the chasm below connecting to the end of darkroot, and blighttown on the other side of the wall below. From within the tomb of giants you could see izalith and ash lake in certain areas. Really makes the whole thing feel like one interconnected whole.
Whereas in DS2 most you ever see from a good vantage is an endless expanse featuring terrain according to the area's theme. Well except in majula, that place offers a glimpse of the land showing heide in the distance and what I assume is the fort in giant forest.

[Baneling]

That doesn't look right. Lost Bastille isn't anywhere near any land, for one thing.

Forest fort is way too far away, Undead Purgatory isn't far away enough, ditto Earthen Peak and Iron Keep.

[Jelle]

That doesn't look right. Lost Bastille isn't anywhere near any land, for one thing.

That's not true at all, the bastille is located on seaside cliffs.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Undead purgatory is...somewhere in that area, not much room to place the thing. Should have left it out haha.

[Baneling]

Weird. I don't remember that cliff being there. Oh well!

But yeah, that map just doesn't feel right to me. Iunno. I always had the weird feeling that Majula was on the south end of a landmass, even though the sun location wouldn't make sense for that...

[Ozyton]

You may also notice how it conveniently changes between day and night, I believe there's supposed to be more distance between some of these places than the game actually depicts, because walking for hours would be boring. The grreat thing in DS1 was how everything was... baaasically in the same spot, so you could see that the big stone bridge in Blighttown is just the base of the same bridge that the Hellkite Wyvern is on. DS2 is supposed to take place over a much more expansive area so you don't really get that same experience. Standing on the windmill in Earthen Peak and looking out, for example, you can't really see any other places even though it's a fairly good vantage point, and looking down you can see the rest of Earthen Peak but it's not the greatest draw distance.

DS1 also had areas loop around themselves with shortcuts, but because of being able to teleport between bonfires this wasn't necessary anymore so they could simply make more linear maps.

EDIT: Have you met the cartographer/entered the mansion in Majula? If I'm not mistaken, killing the bastille's boss lights up the fire in the same general are as the map in the mansion, but that's something someone will have to double check...

[Jelle]

Could really use some advice to kill this boss. God damn am I struggling on this one every time...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mytha, the baneful queen. How do you guys deal with her.

Her ranged magic attacks are a joke, easy to dodge. Her lunging jab isn't a problem either, usually. It's that other jab, the one she combos sometimes. It's like you can't dodge that damn move, she keeps facing you no matter what direction you dodge and ends up hitting you. Can't dodge backwards either due to the range on her spear. I can never eeever dodge this god damn move.

She was a joke last time around with my dual club guy. Basically managed to stunlock her the entire fight, couldn't even fight back. With this character though I just don't know how to best her.

Summons are out, champion's covenant all the way. I don't know, any tips?

Edit: Forgot to mention, yes I removed some of the poison in the room.

[nenjin]

It really was the level design of DS1 that hooked me most out of all the aspects of the game.

If anyone has ever tried to create a fantasy world or map, I think they understand what happened here. Worlds are often harder to fill end to end with interesting content than a single, focused set piece. Lordran was a city first, and then dozens of sub areas attached to it in semi-logical and consistent fashion. It's what gave the game an almost Castlevania-level of interconnectedness.

DS2....is trying for the same eventual feeling but unfortunately the size of the world and how they decided you would transverse it really undercut that goal. Very few areas feel like they belong next to each other. Being able to just look up and around at nearby landmarks did a lot to pull Dark Souls together as a playground. That's all absent in DS2. It's not a huge hit, but for people that get even more connected to a game when it manages to engage their imagination as well as their reflexes, it's a fairly important aspect.

[Thexor]

Could really use some advice to kill this boss. God damn am I struggling on this one every time...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mytha, the baneful queen. How do you guys deal with her.

Her ranged magic attacks are a joke, easy to dodge. Her lunging jab isn't a problem either, usually. It's that other jab, the one she combos sometimes. It's like you can't dodge that damn move, she keeps facing you no matter what direction you dodge and ends up hitting you. Can't dodge backwards either due to the range on her spear. I can never eeever dodge this god damn move.

She was a joke last time around with my dual club guy. Basically managed to stunlock her the entire fight, couldn't even fight back. With this character though I just don't know how to best her.

Summons are out, champion's covenant all the way. I don't know, any tips?

Edit: Forgot to mention, yes I removed some of the poison in the room.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm assuming you know this, but when you dodge, you're briefly invulnerable. The length of this invulnerability depends on your Adaptability. Her standard thrusts are fast enough that you can reliably evade them with the I-frames. Thus, you dodge through the attacks, hit her during the lag, and repeat. The tracking on the move is impressive, but that doesn't matter if you're invincible!

Don't ask me how to reliably dodge the move where she spins around - I always dodge the spear and get nailed by the tail, and I can't read that move apart from her more common combo. Learned to just tank that, and kill her before she used it too frequently!

[Ozyton]

Dodging is actually based on agility, which is increased through adaptability (and to a lesser extent, attunement). The difference between 80 agility and 90 agility is huge and much worth the investment in adaptability.

Oh, just remember that the I-frames are just after your start to roll, so rolling too early is just as bad as rolling too late. Agility basically increases how many I-frames there are.

[nenjin]

That might explain why I've had an easier time with it. Knight starts with the best adaptability score. And attunement increases adaptability as well, which I bumped up early on for healing miracles. So I think I was at 90 agility or pretty close starting around the end of The Forest of Giants.

[Farce]

It really was the level design of DS1 that hooked me most out of all the aspects of the game.

I think I agree.  One of my favorite parts of Derp Souls 1 was the areas.  In 2, I find myself constantly disappointed by how teeny and.... I dunno, 'concise' areas are?  Like... the Undead Burg felt -huge-.  You go through an aqueduct, across like 4 buildings to get to the first bonfire, plus an extra one to get to the merchant, and then like two bigass wall/fortifications with houses and stuff on it to get to the tower up.  But Heide's Tower of Flame, that place feels super tiny.  You come out of that sewer-thing, go to one ruined platform - no depth, no stairs or anything, just a platform - go up and across a bridge to a big cathedral that is still only really one platform, without anything hinting at stairs up or anything.  From there, you go down some stairs to another platform, a boss, and a tower, or you go left to get to two platforms, a stairs, and a bridge.  Then there's a tiny chapel, I guesss, whatever.  END.  It's just... it really feels odd that every area is so goddamn small.  Were it not for the dark, you could probably capture all of the Wharf from where you like, first enter it.

[WillowLuman]

Agreed, unfortunately, though I do like some of the things they've done with the ocean. Lost Bastille, No-Man's Wharf, and Brightstone Cove are currently my favorite designs. Heide's Tower of Flame feels like Anor Londo Lite, Forest of Fallen Giants is Undead Burg/Parish with splashes of Great Hollow/Darkroot (except for that stream at the beginning), The Gutter is basically Upper Blighttown.