Yeah, it is constantly autosaving. I have to keep reminding myself of that. "Maybe I'll just advance a little bit further, and if I die, I'll just rel...oh yeah, never mind." I think they "fixed" it a bit over Demon's Souls so the autosave is more accurate. By that, I mean that if you die/screw up and immediately turn off the game (or whatever), you won't get to reload to seconds before your mistake. Of course, doing that anyways could potentially screw up your save data, but assuming that didn't happen. I was following some of the posts in the NeoGAF thread for the game, but I thought I'd share the story about one guy in the thread (I've only read bits an pieces of what he's posted, but I think I have the gist of it down). "Yoshichan" was eagerly awaiting the game (in Europe/UK I think?) and while he was waiting for it to be delivered, he hurt his finger (think he fell and broken the nail off or something...didn't really pay attention at the time). He later got the game and (I think) played it for 32+ hours straight, got to level 70 (or so), and then decided it was maybe time to go to the hospital since his finger wasn't feeling any better. But he's been in worse situations than this before (twice). In the meantime, he was complaining about how the online system sucks and no one gets summoned into his game (probably because he's too high of a level), and how Demon's Souls is a lot better. Thought some of you might enjoy that. In comparison, I've played maybe a few hours and quit last night because I was "feeling a little tired." How can I compete with these guys? Here's the NeoGAF thread in case anyone is interested: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=445115
The Collectors Edition is in stock online at Gamestop. 73 left for PS3 and 231 left for 360. Ordered a copy of the CE, since I already have a SE order on the way from Newegg, I can keep this copy sealed.
FYI, if you're a Playstation Plus subscriber, you can actually back up your game by uploading your save to the cloud. Only catch is that you need to wait 24 hours after each upload to download your save. I actually killed an important NPC by accident... I'm going to undo it by pulling my backup save off the cloud, but I can't until 1pm tomorrow. The wait is killing me.
Made some decent progress this morning. Got two more named bosses down and got my equip increase ring. The only complaint I have so far is it seems it's even harder to get a group going than Demon Souls since nearly everyone is dead now, especially with the way the levels are designed and the way Humanity works. Everyone's scattered and there are no "hot spots" for summons. Not to mention so many people are missing out on the White and Orange stones.... Or maybe I'm just not far enough.
OK, setup with a new Slim now (plus new copy of Dark Souls...everyone should buy 2 copies, just like me). Think I'll roll with a Pyromancer this time around. I liked the axe they start out with.
I have a OG 60 gig and a slim (w/120gb ssd), the CE and SE of Dark Souls. Just like you huh? Just bought a 32" led lcd and a xbox kinect bundle for the girl today At least she can't b**** at me when I'm playing nba2k12 and dark souls.
An optional boss can randomly appear in your game, and if you don't defeat the boss, not only does your character die, your console does too. I didn't defeat the boss. So hardcore. Actually, I just got the YLOD. Think the fan was dying out or something. It was really working hard I noticed, then it seemed to slow down. Random power downs during the game, then it wouldn't start up (tries to, but does the whole YLOD thing then shuts off). I actually almost salvaged the game (and maybe a few other things), but I thought I'd test it out one more time to see what the problem was (I wasn't sure if it was a system problem or a problem with Dark Souls crashing). After that, full on YLOD (before that, I could still do some work in the XMB and stuff). Haha, yeah that's pretty much just like me (except no SSD). Haven't really messed with a Slim until today. Much quieter. Funnily enough, I'm almost back to where I was yesterday. Game goes quickly when you know what you're doing (I didn't know what I was doing for the first few days).
I've already made it a bit further than where I was before my PS3's death (a bit under-leveled still, but further). Except now I'm stuck on the Capra Demon. Or specifically, I died 3 times in a row, then on the 4th try, I accidentally rolled off a ledge and died, losing any hope of getting back my lost humanity/souls. At that point, I decided I had enough for the night. It's that good Demon's/Dark Souls feeling you don't typically get with other games. Capra Demon will be going down next time. Doesn't actually seem THAT hard, but I just couldn't get around him and his dogs.
There's a trick to it. Run up those stairs on the left. If you proceed all the way down to the end of the ledge at the top of the stairs, the boss can't actually reach you... but he'll try. After climbing the stairs, he'll fall below you... at which point, you just jump down and attack in mid-air, ala the tutorial boss and the taurus demon. Rinse and repeat, and he'll be dead in no time. The dogs are the only X-factor... best to lure them up the stairs as well if possible. I've basically finished the first playthrough. The final boss is available to me, but I'm holding off to buy a few more things and upgrade my equipment a bit before initiating New Game+. If you have any questions, be my guest. FYI, I ended up basically doing a pure sorcerer build. EDIT: Oh, I feel I should mention that both the Capra and Taurus demons become standard enemies in one of the later areas. Have fun with multiple of both of them attacking you at once. Don't you just love this game?
Yeah, I was actually trying to get to the stairs, but every time I got surrounded by the 3 of them before I could make it. Couldn't get away from their attacks. Think I'm taking a bad path to the stairs. Couple more times and I'll probably figure out a way to evade their attacks and get to the stairs. Once I get there, I'm pretty sure it will be an easy fight from then on. edit: I also just realized I had missed the blacksmith next to the church in the Undead Parish. And if I'm not mistaken, he sells Titanite Shards. I've been trying to farm those, with little success. Wish I knew that earlier (probably won't make the Capra Demon fight that much easier, but I'd still like some upgrades).
This is why I signed up for PS+, because you can back up even your copy-protected saves. It's so stupid how all your saves are tied to a motherboard, so if you pull out your perfectly good hard drive and put it in a working PS3... it'll just ask to format it. PS+ is the only way to prevent losing your data. This is something the 360 is much better about... you can only lose your data if the hard drive fails.
Yeah, I was thinking about doing that, especially after AtheistPreacher mentioned it being useful earlier (although for other reasons). Never really bothered with it much since most games I played didn't have copy-protected saves, and I could just use the backup feature. In fact, I had used it, although for some dumb reason, I hadn't used it in a while (I was telling myself to backup some saves recently too). I'll actually get back some of my stuff at some point, but none of the recent stuff (plus no copy-protected saves, like Dark Souls). I'll probably be signing up for PS+ soon.
This guy knows what he's talking about. Went down on the 2nd try tonight. Of course the one time I'm able to get around him and kill his dogs, the fight becomes pretty easy (although I did make it harder on myself initially, freaking out that I actually killed the dogs). Made some progress in the sewers/depths/whatever they're called. Nothing too bad down there so far (I'm using my starting gear with upgrades, so I have some high resistance to poison and other stuff I think). Finally got myself a ring, and happy to have access to more fire spells/upgrades. I need to actually put more points in attunement and maybe intelligence (I'm a Pyromancer, but I like some of the Sorcerer spells). Only have room for 2 spells currently, but have access to lots of great ones (and I'm ignoring miracles for now). Also fought that demon in the blacksmith's "house." Forgot its name, but it wasn't too bad either as long as you are patient. Starting to open up lots of areas, upgrades, items, etc., which makes the game just that more awesome. I'm still disappointed in the framerate though...and apparently I've yet to reach the bad spots.
Pyromancy is certainly an interesting addition. It looks to have been designed as a supplement to melee-type characters, because none of the spells have any Intelligence requirements. You can pump all your levels into strength or endurance or whatever and still make use of Pyromancy... the ONLY thing that determines it's power is your "Pyromancy Flame" (the weapon needed to cast Pyromancy spells), which can be upgraded about 20 times. But for my money, Pyromancy is sort of like the r****ded cousin of Sorcery as far as offensive spells go - its spells have fewer uses, come out more slowly, don't home in on enemies, and (the big one) have much less range. Sorcery can usually be cast from a pretty safe distance, but Pyromancy requires that you be up close and personal, and since it tends to come out slowly the timing can be difficult. Just depends on your playstyle. I've been kind of enjoying blasting people to smithereens from afar. In any case, I'd prioritize getting your Attunement to at least 16, that way you'll have 4 slots. After 16 points in Attunement, it starts to cost more than 2 points for a slot. BTW, that lightning demon is another "boss" that becomes a standard enemy. At times you may find yourself facing more than one at once. The framerate thing is noticeable, but it didn't really bother me too much. Actually, most From Software games seem to have some framerate issues in places. The newest Armored Core has slowdown every now and again. I just beat the final boss. It literally gives you the ending, shows the credits, and then drops you back into the tutorial for New Game+. Quite uncerimonious altogether.
gamestop shipped my ce with ups 3 day...getting it in a couple of days. getting my se tomorrow via newegg. can't wait to join u guys
Yeah, I actually just went with Pyromancer since I like his gear more, plus I think his stats are a bit better to start with. Playstyle-wise, I use more sorcery (mostly Soul Arrows). Although the occasional fireball is useful, especially early in the game when most of the enemies/bosses are weak to it. Just got that done. Feels good. Need some more INT though. Can't cast the Greater Heavy Soul Arrow spell (or whatever it is called). I have both STR and DEX at 20+ for now (I can't decide which one I want to specialize in...so just putting enough point in either to allow access to multiple weapon types), so think I'm going to start sticking more points in INT. Maybe some into END and VIT (have a decent amount of END as it is, but more is always better...and I could use more VIT, but I'm going with the "If they hit me, I'm already screwed" philosophy). It hasn't bothered me too much yet, but mostly because the worst I've seen it is during times that aren't really critical. From what I understand, it is really bad in Blight Town (going there soon), and it sounds like it could hurt gameplay (maybe not cause death, but hurt it nonetheless). On another note, some of the Youtube Dark Souls vids are pretty funny (especially videos of people who have no idea how to play...lots of dying, and blaming the game for being "random").
On my second playthrough, and my Intelligence is now at 50... which is the amount needed to use the ultimate sorcery, White Dragon Breath. When you get it up high enough, you rarely need to use your melee weapon anymore. Amazing how quickly 2nd playthrough is going... much like Demon's Souls, when you know exactly where you need to go and what to do and how to do it, the whole experience can go pretty fast...
