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[s0]

Also research hall is a latria + duke's archives mix, but it's better than both imo, mainly due to the diversity in encounters and even creepier atmosphere.

[Thomas Finch]

protip: play bloodborne right now and skip dark souls 2 unless you really want more SOULS (which you probably will so...)

Yeah, I played probably 10 hours of Dark Souls 2 a year or so ago. Fucked up my stats so badly (with no soul vessels in sight) that I quit playing. Dark Souls 1 is definitely way better in a dozen different ways for me... but I still had fun in Dark Souls 2. Now that I'm actually pretty competent at the games I really want to experience all the games fully.

[s0]

also, like, the lore connections between dks1 and 2 are (intentionally) super vague so you're not "missing out" in that sense. It tells you a bit more about the nature of the undead curse and the dark/the abyss but there's no direct continuity aside from 2 npc cameos.

ohhh also if you do play, dks2 again, play scholar of the first sin rather than the original version. it's better. not fundamentally so but somewhat.

[Thomas Finch]

Yeah, I'm glad they did that so they didn't ruin any of Miyazaki's fantastic lore. I bought SOTFS the other day on sale, so no worries there.

[s0]

goddamn i HATE lady maria. her first phase is almost laughably easy then when she's low on HP she suddenly starts spamming AOEs all over the place. i've already gotten her down to a tiny fraction of her health bar before dying like 4 times.

the living failures lived up to their name lol, but at least their meteor attack looked cool.

[s0]

[s0]

Wow the fishing hamlet is lovecraftian as HECK

Btw i used to feel sorry for gehrman, but now i think he's a scumbag.

[DJFloppyFish]

Also research hall is a latria + duke's archives mix, but it's better than both imo, mainly due to the diversity in encounters and even creepier atmosphere.

oh duh that's like a super obvious, more apt comparison to make 

and yeah, the dlc makes me think of gehrman as a weeabo who made a bodypillow out of unrequited love. he's still a fascinating tragic figure, and I actually like how his character is not purely a sympathetic one now.

[SousaVilla]

I like how they take a very simple concept like a fishing village and manage to create an interesting stage out of it. Those shark enemies were annoying and scary and I love them. Also, if you look at the sea after the astral clocktower you can see the buildings of Yharnam as if you're in the sky. It gives another meaning to the crazy people of the research hall talking of the sea failing.

[s0]

i like how The Glorious Miyazaki A-Team™ actually copied dark souls 2 in the dlc.

im talking about brador who is basically navlaan except less of a pushover ofc

but i've always argued that dks2 had some interesting ideas for the series but was held back by lack of focus, so no skin off my nose

[TeeGee]

Damn! I'm really considering getting the DLC for this, which I basically don't do for no game ever.

I'm super-surprised myself by how I went from "meh" to being nearly obsessed with this game. I mean, it still has some stuff that I dislike or think DkS did way better (some of the simplifications make it feel less "personal" to me, for instance), but overall this seems like the most consistently solid and tight Souls game to date. And I just love the lore. Every evening I go through more wiki pages and forum posts with weird interpretations and hidden tidbits and shit, which somehow fits the Lovecraftian theme so well.

[s0]

but overall this seems like the most consistently solid and tight Souls game to date.

yes, yes it is. the level design feels like they took the best concepts from demon's and dks1 and put them in one game. the only thing i'm missing is more optional non-respawning minibosses (and especially minibosses who aren't npc hunters).

the dlc is very very good btw. probably a better dlc than artorias, certainly in terms of level design. and im not just saying that because the level themes are exactly the ones i would have picked if i was in charge lol. it's also worth getting just for the new weapons alone.

and yeah, i love the lore too. i hope there's gonna be a bloodborne 2 at some point, or at least a game with a similar "lovecraftian" setting by fromsoft.

[SousaVilla]

A team X B team

https://i.imgur.com/fbKR63j.jpg

My only major problem with bloodborne is the chalice dungeons. If they've done it better of just used those resources to add more levels/weapons/npcs to the main game I would consider this my favorite soulsborne game, but right now its a tie with dark 1.

[s0]

i am ok with the chalice dungeons actually, especially since the patch made the progression less of a grind. going through all of them in order is still tedious, but as a side thing to do between playing the "real" game theyre fun.

i think the basic idea of random dungeons in a souls game is good, it just needs to be executed better. tho the chalices were apparently a last minute addition to bloodborne and the fact that there's no chalice content in the dlc shows that from doesn't really care about them. which is unfortunate because it lowers our chances of getting a *good* random dungeon sidegame in a future souls title.

[Thomas Finch]

Started going through Dark Souls 2 while I wait for my friends to be ready for a NG+ on Dark Souls 1. I love both games, but goddamn the combat in Dark Souls 2 is so clunky and less reactive than Dark Souls 1. In DS1, if I died it was my own damn fault. In DS2, I've died a few times where I felt it was the game's fault for being too clunky.

[MeshGearFox]

oh hey i upgrode to an i7 so I can run Shadow Tower Abyss on PCSX2 now which is more convenient to me and less deleterious than running burnt copy on my PSX2.

i should dizzledazzle thazzleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[TeeGee]

Finally beat that dude at the end of Eileen The Crow's quest line! Damn, what a bastard!

[s0]

did you spoil yourself on eileen's questline?

on my first playthrough i didnt even realize the person fighting henryk in the tomb of oedon was eileen. i'd missed her in cathedral ward and had kinda forgotten about her lol. i accidentally "helped" henryk in that fight.

[TeeGee]

Yeah, I checked the wiki. I find reading wikis for this type of games as (or sometimes more) enjoyable as playing them.

I did stumble upon the quest naturally, as she's located in commonly visited places and tells you what to do, but I wouldn't figure out to visit the Grand Cathedral after killing Rom without reading about it, though.

Still, it didn't prepare me for the fight. I think I've died like 5 or 6 times before I finally got that bastard. At one point he was at last sliver of health, and then I got greedy, and yeah...

[s0]

usually i go in more or less blind first playthrough. then once i get to ng+ i'll check the wiki to see what i missed (which wasn't a whole lot in bloodborne actually). i do sometimes check the wiki for boss strategies when im stumped on a boss tho.