Sombrero wrote on 2026-01-22, 10:45:

Out of curiosity, how does the exploration work in these games? Are the areas gated by high level or otherwise difficult enemies giving you an "open world" but with a clear intended path or can you more or less choose a direction freely?

It depends on the game. In DS1, you can go pretty much everywhere right off the bat, if you take the Master Key starting gift (kind of a lock pick). The Thief class starts off with that by default, but everyone else can choose it as well. You will find it eventually through normal gameplay, if you didn't choose it at the start. A few plot related areas remain locked off behind magical barriers until you obtain a certain item, but otherwise, you can go anywhere you want. That said, the enemies are very strong in areas where you're not supposed to be, so you'll likely get one shot if you try to fight them early on. But you can run past some of them if you're careful, and sometimes grab certain items that they are guarding. Talking to NPCs will give you hints where you're supposed to go, but generally, it's all up to you.

DS2 is similar to a degree, but a bit more linear. There are several paths available to you at the start, but they converge eventually, so you can choose to go wherever you want. Later on, it becomes more linear, though you still get some choice in the order of areas that you want to tackle. From what I've seen of DS3 so far, it appears to be similar to DS2, but I'm only a few hours in so I don't really know. As for Elden Ring, that's supposedly a true open world experience, but I haven't played it yet.

Oh and, Demon's Souls is a collection of areas, all of which have four levels, I think. You can access the first level of each area right from the start, but you need to finish that in order to proceed to the second level of said area, and so on.

Finally finished The Witcher, after playing it off and on for about a year.
Debating whether to move on to the sequel, or finish the extra modules of the Enhanced Edition first, while the mechanics are fresh in my memory.

Unreal

fluddsskark wrote on 2026-01-24, 00:11:

Unreal

Wow, what are the odds? I just started playing it yesterday myself. Playing on Medium, the first 5 levels are rather short and easy. I hope that it becomes more involved later on.

dr_st wrote on 2026-01-23, 19:32:

Finally finished The Witcher, after playing it off and on for about a year.
Debating whether to move on to the sequel, or finish the extra modules of the Enhanced Edition first, while the mechanics are fresh in my memory.

How did you like it? I own the first two but other than a brief check out of Witcher 1 when I first bought it, have never played either. I actually became a fan of the Netflix series without ever having played the game. The series has made me more curious about the game, and I'm still considering trying to play 1 and 2 despite my general dislike of 3rd person action RPGs.

Dark Souls 3

The Road of Sacrifice was smaller than the previous area, but I did get some cool items there. Most notably the Grass Crest Shield, which was one of my favorites in DS1. I also found a magic coal lump for Andre the blacksmith, which allowed him to provide more weapon infusions. Using that, I transformed my Claymore into the "heavy" variant, so it now scales better with strength. The boss of this area wasn't that hard, but I was caught off guard by the duplication thing. Got him on the next try, with a little help from the summoned NPC.

After that, I proceeded to the Cathedral of the Deep, which was a larger area. Inside the chapel, I met an NPC who promptly transported me to a snowy hill inside a painting. Yeah, that was another reference to DS1, and it definitively piqued my interest. However, the messages on the ground warned me that it's too early to explore this place. And after trying to tackle a few enemies here, that does seem to be the case. I looked it up, and it turns out this is one of the DLC areas, so I'll leave it for later.

Back at the cathedral outskirts, I got to a really annoying place with infinitely respawning zombies and a constant buildup of bleeding damage. And don't get me started on the archers shooting from far away platforms, while those tiny enemies with pointy hats drop from the ceiling to ambush you. That entire rooftop section took me ages to get through. Needless to say, it was an utter chore, and definitively my least favorite location so far. Thankfully, the interior of the cathedral was much more manageable. The only irksome part was fighting the giants in knee deep water, as that slows you down. Otherwise, it was mostly smooth sailing. BTW, I liked how there were so many shortcuts to the initial bonfire. Again, very reminiscent of DS1.

The boss of this area was disappointing. Another horde type fight against a bunch of enemies, but you need to target the one that glows red. Yeah, this was along the lines of those filler DS2 boss encounters that I always breezed through. And sure enough, I got this one on the first try as well. For how much trouble this area gave me, I was expecting a truly epic fight, but this was easier than some of the regular enemies here.

Dark Souls 3

Before entering Farron Keep, I had to trudge through a poison swamp. Not a fan of these, but since this is my fourth From Software game, I've learned to expect them. As usual, it was a slog to get through this, but I didn't find it nearly as annoying as the cathedral's outskirts from the last area. After extinguishing the three furnaces, I got into the keep proper, and went to face the Abyss Watchers. This was a very enjoyable fight, and I like how it trips you up with the second phase. Dodging some of the attacks requires precise timing, especially if you want to create an opening for striking back. Thankfully, the heavy Claymore deals quite a bit of damage now that my strength is above 30. And after some back and forth, I sent the last watcher back to the abyss.

I also encountered the Stray Demon from DS1 in this area, but he wasn't considered a boss this time around. After dispatching him, I was able to transpose his soul into Havel's Ring, which of course increased my maximum equip load. With that, I could finally wear the full Lothric Knight Armor set, which I got from farming said knights. My poise is now at 37 points, but I still get stunned by rats and similar low level vermin. So I looked that up, and if I understand it correctly, it seems like poise in DS3 only works while you're attacking. That's a significant change from the past games, and it kinda sucks if you're going for a tanky build wearing heavy armor as I usually do. This isn't a big deal when fighting bosses, because you want to dodge their attacks as much as possible anyway. But it's a pain in the ass when you're fighting several normal enemies at once.

clueless1 wrote on 2026-01-24, 11:19:

How did you like it? I own the first two but other than a brief check out of Witcher 1 when I first bought it, have never played either. I actually became a fan of the Netflix series without ever having played the game. The series has made me more curious about the game, and I'm still considering trying to play 1 and 2 despite my general dislike of 3rd person action RPGs.

Overall - I liked it a good deal.

Some background - I am a big fan of the Witcher books (less of the Netflix series, although some things in it were very well done), and I am not a big fan of RPGs. It always takes me a long time to absorb the rank up / character development system in each game (and I don't always have the patience). I also have a minor psychological difficulty with choice-driven games - it's difficult to accept the fact that I cannot explore all possible paths, unless I play the game multiple times. 😜

The game offers a good mixture of combat, exploration, character development, main and side quests, so that after I figured out how the system works, I was able to do quite well. I've resigned to not being able to do all the quests or see all the possible events (can always watch video walkthroughs if I feel like it), and just played to maximize enjoyment and minimize time spent - saving regularly to avoid being thrown back by an accidental death/mistake.

The game is beautiful, especially discounted for its age, but if I did not like the world Sapkowski had built (which, IMO, the game does a great job of capturing), I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I did.

The biggest annoyance (for me) - for the most part, there is no fast travel option (except a couple of teleports in one of the chapters). You have to walk everywhere and it takes a looong time. I've heard that the sequels improve on it somewhat.

Tried to revisit Wolfenstein: The New Order. Noped out almost immediately. Reason? You have to pick up everything by pushing the action key. Ammo, health, armor, everything. Imagine playing classic Doom and having to push a button to pick up loot? I felt like I was vacuum cleaning the damn place.

Then I tried Doom 2016. All the billions of codex entries, upgrades, challenges and other crap started to get on my nerver straight away.

Few days ago after petering out of Half-Life 2 I wondered am I just done with modern(ish) FPS games. I think it's safe to say that would be a solid yes 😁

Sombrero wrote on 2026-01-26, 15:59:

Few days ago after petering out of Half-Life 2 I wondered am I just done with modern(ish) FPS games. I think it's safe to say that would be a solid yes 😁

Heh, I was kinda in the same mindset when I decided to try Dark Souls. Shortly before that, I revisited a few games that I liked in the past, but it just didn't feel the same.

If you're looking for a new series to get into, I highly recommend it. A fair warning though, it's quite addictive, and you may end up wanting to play them all except Demon's Souls before you know it. 😄

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-01-26, 16:11:

If you're looking for a new series to get into, I highly recommend it. A fair warning though, it's quite addictive, and you may end up wanting to play them all except Demon's Souls before you know it. 😄

I'm sure it's a great series, it must be popular for a reason, but I know myself. There are aspects about them that have kept a slight interest alive in me, but there's just too many things I'm less stoked about. To make it even worse the older I get the more I tend to gravitate towards comfy, stress-free games, not something I would categorize Souls games personally!

I'll probably end up giving DS1 a go someday to make sure it's not my jam (or to realize I've been a moron for not playing it sooner), but for now I just keep trying dig my way out of the pile of games waiting for a revisit I've buried myself under.

Sombrero wrote on 2026-01-26, 16:56:

I'm sure it's a great series, it must be popular for a reason, but I know myself. There are aspects about them that have kept a slight interest alive in me, but there's just too many things I'm less stoked about. To make it even worse the older I get the more I tend to gravitate towards comfy, stress-free games, not something I would categorize Souls games personally!

Yeah, I totally get that. Being in my mid 40s, my reflexes aren't what they used to be, and I too usually prefer playing something comfortable and relaxing.

That said, when you do give it a try, don't get dissuaded by the difficulty. The Souls games are hard to be sure, but I found myself quickly acclimating to that, and I'm now thoroughly enjoying the series. And you don't need lightning fast reflexes for that (mine certainly aren't). It's more about observing your surroundings, predicting enemy moves and reacting accordingly.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-01-26, 17:14:

Yeah, I totally get that. Being in my mid 40s, my reflexes aren't what they used to be, and I too usually prefer playing something comfortable and relaxing.

Joys of getting older, I'm 41 and I've started to notice it. I never did have Neo-reflexes but it hasn't been much of an issue, just never been able to play console type one-hit-kill shoot 'em ups and platformers, but in recent years I've started to notice my mouse aim accuracy isn't what it used to be. Better get a rocking chair ready so I can yell at kids and clouds.

That said, when you do give it a try, don't get dissuaded by the difficulty. The Souls games are hard to be sure, but I found myself quickly acclimating to that, and I'm now thoroughly enjoying the series. And you don't need lightning fast reflexes for that (mine certainly aren't). It's more about observing your surroundings, predicting enemy moves and reacting accordingly.

Hey that sound good actually. But my issues, or my perceived issues at least, are more into things like lack of free saving, respawning enemies and having to work through areas by trial and error. All leads to repetition and I'm just not into that at all.

Sombrero wrote on 2026-01-26, 17:38:

Hey that sound good actually. But my issues, or my perceived issues at least, are more into things like lack of free saving, respawning enemies and having to work through areas by trial and error. All leads to repetition and I'm just not into that at all.

Let me clarify a few of those, if it helps. Souls games save constantly in the background, which is indicated by a tiny icon in the corner of the screen. So let's say the electricity goes out while you're playing (actually happened to me). On next start up, the game will tell you "Hey, this didn't shut down correctly, so we'll put you at your last known location" and you will continue pretty much where you left off. And if you need to take a phone call, or answer the door, you can save and quit at any time and get the same result. Bonfires aren't save points. They restore your health, refill your healing flasks and allow access to the larger inventory stash, where you store your spare weapons and such. Of course, if you die, you will respawn at the last bonfire that you visited.

Enemies only respawn when you rest at a bonfire. There are a few exceptions to this, like skeletons getting constantly raised by necromancers, unless you kill them with a divine weapon (sort of an enchantment) or take out the necromancer in question. But otherwise, nothing will respawn until you either die, or rest at a bonfire. Well, that's for DS1 and DS2, not quite sure about DS3 yet.

The trial and error thing is real though, and you will need to repeat certain sections of the game if you die. That's how the Souls games work. But the consequences can be minimized through some limited items like the Ring of Sacrifice, which prevents you from losing souls upon death, while the ring gets destroyed in the process. You can also use a Homeward Bone at any time, which instantly teleports you to the last bonfire that you visited. Replaying areas isn't as bad as it sounds, as there are many shortcuts that you can unlock to minimize backtracking in DS1. Later games like DS2 and DS3 are more generous with bonfire placement, and allow you to fast travel between them right from the start. In DS1, you unlock fast travel about mid way through the game.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-01-26, 18:02:

Let me clarify a few of those, if it helps.

It sure did! Trial and error is still pretty bad, not my favorite thing in the world, but I didn't realize bonfires weren't save points. That alone helps, thanks!

I'll raise it from unlikely my cup of tea to maybe. Hope lives!

I will also add that you actually never lose any progress in Dark Souls games, because the games constantly save the game world in the background. If you make a mad dash through a tough area and manage to unlock a door and pick up a powerful piece or equipment or spell before getting killed, that door will remain unlocked forever and you'll still have the equipment or spell when you revive. Regardless of the reputation the games have, you never really feel like you're just spinning your wheels or throwing yourself at a challenge over and over without accomplishing anything.

Combat is also actually quite deliberate and forgiving as long as you take your time and maybe read up on how it works a bit. You really want to approach these as survival horror games your first time through, which means walking (not running) through the areas with your guard up and playing very safe. Once you get used to how the game works, you can play it more like an action game, of course.

Sombrero wrote on 2026-01-26, 18:13:

Trial and error is still pretty bad, not my favorite thing in the world, but I didn't realize bonfires weren't save points. That alone helps, thanks!

I'll add one more thing to this. When you die to a boss, you of course respawn at the last bonfire. Meaning, you have to go back to the boss arena and deal with all the enemies in between. However, you don't actually need to kill them, you can just run past them instead. Before every boss arena there is a "fog door" which enemies cannot pass through. Only the player (and his NPC summons) can go through those. That's why the Souls community calls this the "runback" since you literally run past everything to get another shot at the boss.

Later games often place bonfires closer to the boss arenas, but not always. In DS1, the runbacks are a bit longer, but there are usually shortcuts which make that more bearable (e.g. opening a locked door, kicking down a previously inaccessible ladder etc).

Dark Souls 3

As expected, the Catacombs of Carthus were chock full of various types of skeletons. What confused me was that some of them respawned after being killed, while others didn't. As far as I could tell, there were no necromancers in the area to justify that. So it felt like an odd design choice, compared to the more straightforward approach of DS1. In another callback to that game, I encountered the Fire Sage Demon here as well. He was fairly challenging, despite being considered just a regular enemy now, but I did enjoy the fight. On the other hand, the actual boss of this area was surprisingly easy. I just attacked the glowing bracelets on the giant skeleton's arms, and he got destroyed in less than a minute. Not sure if I accidentally glitched him out or something, but that's how it went.

Next up was Smouldering Lake, which is pretty much DS1's Demon Ruins done right. I really liked this area. It had good enemy variety, some excellent items to loot (e.g. Shield of Want), fun secrets to discover and a fantastic boss fight. The giant ballista was mildly irksome, but it can be disabled as you progress deeper into the level. Also, I found the Black Knight Sword here, which was the weapon that carried me through the first half of DS1. I don't have enough dexterity to wield it properly right now, so I just swung it around a bit for old times sake, before putting it in storage. Still feels great to use. Lastly, this place had a ton of upgrade materials for my trusty Claymore, which was much appreciated.

The Old Demon King was a very tough boss, but also super fun to fight. He had many powerful fire based attacks that would take a huge chunk of my health if they landed. After a few tries, I decided to go in without a summoned NPC. That actually made it easier to dodge those attacks, as his attention was always focused on me, so I could predict where they would land more accurately. And since this was a fire demon, I tried using the frosty mace that I crafted a while back instead of my Claymore. Worked pretty well, and I secured the win on my fourth try, though it was very close. I had one healing flask left, and just a sliver of health when I finally beat him. Needless to say, this was an extremely satisfying victory.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-01-22, 09:21:

Dark Souls 3

The Claymore remains my primary weapon, and I've been steadily upgrading it with titanite shards, so it does some pretty decent damage now. I really like how this sword handles, and its moveset is almost the same as in DS1, so it feels very familiar to me. I also got a nice shield with high physical damage resistance from one of those knights with red capes. While leveling up, I've mostly been assigning points to strength, vigor, endurance and vitality, and that has served me well so far.

Did a DS3 playthrough last year and used the Claymore for the entirety of the run. Even farmed a bunch of extra ones for all the different infusions. It's a great sword and has a good moveset.

newtmonkey wrote on 2026-01-26, 18:32:

Combat is also actually quite deliberate and forgiving as long as you take your time and maybe read up on how it works a bit. You really want to approach these as survival horror games your first time through, which means walking (not running) through the areas with your guard up and playing very safe. Once you get used to how the game works, you can play it more like an action game, of course.

To me the combat most closely resembles fighting games, especially in DS1. There's an emphasis on distance management, blocking, counter-attacking... reminds me very much of 90s era fighting games.

From what I've seen, people struggle the most with DS combat when they treat it like a hack 'n slash. But it's not that at all.