I've played enough Dark Souls for me not to care if it shuts down or not. However, Dark Souls is such a quality game that it would be sad for it not to be patched. In a perfect world, the devs would patch in Steamworks and the fixes made with DSFix. Or redo the online mode to use the Dark Souls 2 servers, even. Probably not going to happen, since it's too cheap right now to justify spending the money on it.

I will want a refund from Steam though =D

I like the idea of runs with underused weapons. Like, for example, the Cestus or Claws.

The addition of lifegems seems strange to me - it feels like a return to the Demons Souls system where you can just power through enemies by chugging 20 herbs or what have you. 20 Estus in Dark Souls was more than enough to defeat any boss in the game, and removing the limitation on kindling would actually be less of a drop in difficulty than letting the player have infinite healing items.

* Why would you make a door unopenable on one side and make it seem like a shortcut and then fill it with three respawning silver knights? I mean seriously to get to the roof you can either go through two knights or five knights- five knights being the 'shortcut'. I don't get it, why would you bother clearing that room, is the only reward the ring that caterina dude gives you?

I don't think it was meant as a shortcut so much as a hidden secret. So, the one way door is so that you have to work a bit harder to find Onionbro than just walking through it from the start. It's only a "shortcut" from the other way around.

* Why would you have a one-way path down to what seems to be a single item on a balcony, but then have a hidden way to get off the balcony that can kill you from fall damage (and if the damage doesn't get you, the pale devil will kill you when you're stunned)
so yeah this place is terrible and I hate it

If you're talking about the Dragonslayer Greatbow, the fall damage is not going to kill you unless you're rather low on health. Usually it hits you for about half your HP. You can easily kill the demon by doing a plunging attack.

I got the lord vessel and first boss i'm trying is the four kings, any tips?

4 kings are rather easy if you have Havels Armor from Anor Londo. Just wear it and strafe them as close as possible while slashing away 2-handed, you will barely take any damage. Their main damage is done from medium-long range, so there is little need to dodge or block.

They only become hard in NG+ and up when their attacks start doing real damage.

When Dark Souls II comes out, it should be the best of both worlds. A dedicated server online mode and expansive areas like Demon's Souls, combined with the contiguous world of Dark Souls, with gameplay that's better than either.

Still, I can see why people have been calling for a Demon's Souls II. However, that game's story seemed very open-and-shut.

I feel bad for not having played Demon's Souls myself. Sometimes I think about buying a PS3 just to play it. Though I'd probably feel stupid for having another piece of hardware I don't use at all. And Dark Souls II is coming so I'll probably have no time to fully finish everything in Demon's Souls before it DS2 comes out.

I wouldn't say Demon's Souls is a system-seller kind of game. It's certainly worth playing if you can borrow/rent a PS3 somehow, but it's a tad shorter and not quite as polished as Dark Souls. It has its own rebellious aesthetic that was tamed a bit in Dark Souls. I personally like Demon's Souls for its art design and Dark Souls for everything else.

Dark Souls II is coming out next year, so you'll have plenty of time to play it, though.

welp the games ARE different but it's more like the difference between links awakening and oracle of ages/seasons if you catch my drift.

one nice thing about demon's is how distinct each world feels. there are almost no enemies that appear in more than 1 world for instance. i also kinda miss using boss souls for spells.

Yes, I'd say that the areas in Demon's Souls are more strongly designed. As a consequence of being connected, the areas in Dark Souls couldn't be as large (horizontally, not vertically) and felt more similar.

Personally, I like being able to get all the spells if I wanted to, and not sacrificing something for something else. With no way to try them out, it's too hard to decide which is better without looking at a guide.

Overall, I agree with practically all the changes they made in Dark Souls. Heavy weapons are crazy OP in Demon's Souls.

I've been addicted to playing Demon's Souls recently. I heard it was different from Dark Souls, but surprisingly, it seems more similar than I thought. I can't say that any part of it is actually better than Dark Souls, besides the various enemies and design of the areas having some cool unique art design... a bit less typical fantasy looking than Dark Souls - and the Nexus is a badass home-base. Otherwise, I'm still firmly in the corner of Dark Souls. (The meat cleaver being a viable weapon is awesome, though)

Summons, bro.

You actually don't really need to summon for O&S if you can figure out how to beat them strategically. As long as your weapon isn't a peashooter, they're beatable on your own.

Yeah, that bonfire is not very obvious. Plus, the bomb would hide any sound it makes. I try not to use FAQs much, but the bomb scared me way too much and I had to check for the bonfire's location. I assumed the bomb was a 1HKO but it's actually not that powerful.

Honestly, after the difficulty of the fortress itself, the bonfire should be better telegraphed.

Unfortunately, it would be easy to say "THIS GUY IS HACKING!" if he uses a power no one else has. It might be legit within the bounds of the game, but it would look to everyone else as if he was cheating. Alternatively, people would bug him to know where he got said ability and it would quickly spread to everyone.

Not everyone has enough bandwidth to download AAA games that take up dozens of gigs.  I don't see digital only being a reality until that situation improves.

Microsoft is only really marketing their console to the ones that DO have the capability. Otherwise, they'd allow indie game downloads on their console in an actual capacity.

The whole used game thing was never an issue. The reason they didn't go full digital in the first place, like an Ouya - despite forcing a 24 hour check-in - is that Gamestop would go under. This weird hybrid system was halfhearted to begin with. The industry could stop Gamestop if they really wanted to, on PC it already happened.

I don't think the protags were cool at all... except in the anime, at least. But even then, Serph, Demi-Fiend or Raidou would stomp all over them.

Also, definitely get Nier, it's fantastico. Ignore the people saying the graphics are bad, the style of the game is surreal and the graphics don't matter much since it's not trying to be realistic. I never had an issue with them when playing.

The best thing about Nier is that it's basically the "anti-RPG". And it's a good game in its own right, unlike Drakengard being a plain bad game (or, perhaps, soul-crushing on purpose) that was only notable for the plot-related shenanigans.

Nier also has some of the best OST's in a video game.

LA Noire has a PC version on Steam that you can get for pretty cheap when it goes on sale, so it doesn't really count here either.

The game itself is cool as far as the setting goes, but I find the gameplay sluggish in comparison to a visual novel like Phoenix Wright. I find myself liking 2D more, as you get right to the meat and potatoes. Driving and walking around didn't float my boat, as was mentioned earlier, the open world parts don't add anything except as cool window dressing.

I generally buy RPGs for the story, and Resonance of Fate had a cool setting, so I kinda wasn't expecting the lack of story. I felt like I accidentally skipped through a chapter somewhere...

Okay, one step back then onward to the Last of Us.  But I wanted to mention Red Dead Redemption, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadows (or whatever it was called... close enough).  

Lord of Shadows has an improved PC port coming out, so I don't think that applies.

Definitely get Valkyria Chronicles though, it's great.

I have Resonance of Fate, but it kind of put me off in the beginning due to the huge lack of exposition of the story and difficult battle system. It just kinda... drops you into the story with these random guys. The battle system seems really cool if you manage to learn it, though.

Heavy Rain is 'meh', it's interesting for a change but not a fantastic game overall. I liked it enough to beat it, at least.

For Dragon's Dogma you should get the new Dark Arisen version, it has some fixes to the gameplay. Unfortunately, it still seems to have black bars on the screen for no reason.

There's also Disgaea 4, which doesn't have a PC version.

I am completely green to coding, yet I have a decent amount of creativity, but I want to know thing before I move forward, what are likes to being a designer / artist? What are the dislikes? What are the salaries like?

The salaries are pretty similar, though obviously higher for programmers. But, all of them require a portfolio.

Should I focus more in phone app development or console games? I do not plan on creating my own games until I have a substantial amount of expierience..

There are two things you can do, learn to develop your own games, make them, and have a portfolio... or learn to design, write or art your own games, pay for the development, and have a portfolio that way.

It looks very Monaco-esque. It has the potential to make the game more stealth-oriented than the typical tactics game.

I didn't have time to learn much of anything in high school, haha. I would recommend putting social skills at the top of your list before anything tech related. They throw a lot of work at you in HS already, so if I could go back 7 years, I would study how to make friends, hang out, attract the ladies, et cetera. There's always time to start learning stuff in a few years when you are (maybe) going to college and have more free time.

Just focus on the basics like general knowledge, reading more books, increasing your knowledge of culture, things that will make you more creative rather than technically proficient.

Being the sidekick is fine as long as they do something unique and interesting. For example, being the gunner on a ship instead of piloting the ship is still fun. Being bossed around but being able to explore is still fun.

But, if it turns into an escort mission, it ceases to be fun. Enslaved, for example, involves escorting the other character to a location against your will. That's not very fun, since you would rather be the hero in that case. And Booker in Bioshock is less interesting, skill-wise, than Elizabeth, for all the hype about having a sidekick, it would still be more fun to play as Elizabeth.

You can always make it a platformer action-RPG. Metroidvanias are always a good choice. Or, even a side scrolling RPG with turn based combat (see also: Mario and Luigi).

The problem with top-down RPGs is that they need nicer graphics to look decent. That's why platformers are more popular, it's easier to make them look polished and do level design for. So, I recommend going with the easier sidescroller first.

I feel I might run into a potential wall with platformers in the sense of being able to properly convey a story and theme.

No way! Games like Dust combine the RPG story format just fine with platforming.

I am not attempting to provoke, but... I got into an "issue".
I barely play games anymore. I find it more fun to just develop games and I also have a job so I don't have a lot of time left.

That's obviously a trade-off for you. If you want to really make games, do it full time or get a job in the game industry. Otherwise, you will have to sacrifice your free time, that regular people will use to play games or do other stuff, to make them.

I have a question for you... why do you play games? And when playing games is not "worth it"? It's not that playing games is not fun, it's just that time is limited and you might have other things to do?

When a game is fun and interesting, I will play it. I will sacrifice time spent doing other stuff to play games, since I like them better. To me, interesting means a good story and good gameplay, or if it lacks that, very deep and addicting gameplay.

And another question I guess is... why do you develop games? And how much time do you feel like investing in developing games?

I make games because I have an urge to tell stories and I like doing that through interactive media instead of books, since I'm both a hardcore gamer and a writer. That might not be most people's reason for doing it, but it is mine. I will invest as much time as it takes to make something good, but not waste it.