Dark Souls 1 has some of the best leveldesign in all of videogames what the fuck
I still don't understand why you have such an issue with Duke's Archives. It's not even that particularly difficult to navigate. Once you exit the cell, you have only 2 paths (up and down the big stairs), downstairs is a dead end. Then you climb a long ladder and arrive at the library area. You have to figure out how the rotating staircase work, sure, but it's not rocket science. Once you do that everything clicks. And the bonfire isn't especially out of reach. It's a great level, requiring the player to use their wits to navigate, with tough enemies that hit pretty hard (and the Channelers sure are annoying), but this idea that it's near-impossible to figure out without a Youtube video or something, is really bizarre.I played the majority of this game, Darks Souls 3 and Bloodborne without a guide. I will use a guide however if the game is unclear as to where to go, as Duke Archives, personally was. It is indeed magical to have exploration, but the first game is limited in encouraging exploration in the latter half of the game. Duke Archives has little to no areas for further exploration other than a twisting staircase.
It does, by robbing you of the euphoria you feel once you finally figure it out on your own. And each time you do, it makes the next time ever so slightly easier, since you have a better idea of how to approach it. You feel a sense of growth as a player. Like you're "leveling up" as a video game player, if that makes sense. If you just have it explained to you whenever you get stuck, you ruin that feeling.
...yeah. That's the game. It's not a quick one. I think I had about 90 hours played when I beat the final boss for the first time. Wouldn't trade that time for anything.
The beauty of the estus is that you have to balance the need to heal with the risk of getting hit while standing still. That ads tension, especially in boss fights. Instant heal while walking around would negate this and would be really lame. But then again some people want a "very easy" difficulty anyway...
i read a little about the op but man that title is so fucking, i dont know... like "OH LOOK AT ME I DONT LIKE THE GAME THAT EVERYBODY ELSE DOES!!"
i have started dark souls several times, never finished, i used to hate on it a lot because i couldnt believe people were losing their minds for the combat and stuff when i feel games like dragons dogma had so much better combat
but i dont know, ds has some charm that makes stand out
i hope i finish it with the switch version once and for all
Condescending? After your high horse op and posts?Oh please, can you stop being so condescending? There's nothing beautiful about taking estus in this game, especially when dodging enemy hits and hit registering is less reliable than the later games. Come on, this thread has shown clearly that people will put this game on a pedestal and not judge it for its flaws. Why can one not do this with Dark Souls? I've said I really enjoyed the first game, but it isn't flawed.
Condescending? After your high horse op and posts?
Dark Souls has flaws and i even could agree with some of your points but your attitude doesn't help your arguments. Sure, there are souls diehards who will praisethe suneverything and defend every flaw but just saying that the estus is a game design choice which ads to the gameplay makes me condescending then so be it.
They're usually bait lol. There are so many <criticize liked game> bait threads on Era I just roll my eyes at topics like these.
They're usually bait lol. There are so many <criticize liked game> bait threads on Era I just roll my eyes at topics like these.
Do some of those threads have legitimate complaints? Sure. But this one isn't very convincing.
It's rough around the edges. The lack of fast travel and some bosses being impossible to kill without upgrading your pyromancy is why I like Dark Souls II and III more.
. I really don't want to mention the part of Dark Souls where, upon dying to a curse, you are permanently at half health
This must be the first time I hear someone saying that Dark Souls 1 has poor level design, let alone VERY poor. WTF. I think most devs would sell their souls to Devil to be able to make soemthing this good.
This, I was honestly stunned when OP said that, like is there any other 3D game with a better level design out there?
Also, this is just opinion but I think the later half of Dark Souls got worse because of the fast travel unlock, just like how Dark Souls 2 and 3 doesn't feel very brilliant from the start, fast travel is just not good for your level design.
Yeah, sorry. I retracted my hyperbolic statement on that. It's masterful up to and including Anor Londo, but not after. Hope that clears it up.
now player can finally fast travel they don't have to come up with brilliant shortcuts anymore or even bother connecting one area to another, note how all the end game areas ended with a big dead end and require you to warp out of it via a bonfire, there's literally no other way to get out.
Ah I see.
Well I'd argue it's because of A) budget, honestly this game doesn't have a lot of budget since no one expected it to be a hit and B) fast travel (lord vessel), now player can finally fast travel they don't have to come up with brilliant shortcuts anymore or even bother connecting one area to another, notice how all the end game areas ended with a big dead end and require you to warp out of it via a bonfire, there's literally no other way to get out. Bed of Chaos, Four King, Nito and Seath's boss room are all dead ends, and your only way out is to fast travel. This barely happened in the first half of the game, in fact I can only think of one (Capra Demon).
Dark Souls is very good but that post Anor Londo content is dogshit. Broken, glitchy fights and terrible mashups of unfinished assets abound.
Oh please, can you stop being so condescending? There's nothing beautiful about taking estus in this game, especially when dodging enemy hits and hit registering is less reliable than the later games. Come on, this thread has shown clearly that people will put this game on a pedestal and not judge it for its flaws. Why can one not do this with Dark Souls? I've said I really enjoyed the first game, but it isn't flawed.
You mean Lost Izalith? That's one unfinished area, and I don't recall anything broken or glitchy. It seems like some people don't remember the game at all.
The worst part about the level design is the amount of ledges and cliffs that you are forced to fight on or walk on in the dark. There is just waaay to much of that cheap stuff in certain places.
There's so much reliance on invisible pathways, bosses that the game acknowledges are bullshit by retaining your progress with arbitrary unwinnable attack patterns (Bed of Chaos), and much, much more lameness.
C'mon that is the whole point of the Estus animation. It's there to stress you out and take risks.
The centipede demon broke on me constantly with crap camera and then straight up got stuck in the geometry and let me pass.You mean Lost Izalith? That's one unfinished area, and I don't recall anything broken or glitchy. It seems like some people don't remember the game at all.
Thank you. This is the discussion I wanted. It's why I posted this thread. You and others have helped me see what I've been wrong about, and while I still think some areas are bad, I can see that I was being a bit hyperbolic on some areas. Some other posters haven't helped and have only resorted to crirticism as me not liking the game and being bad at it.
The demon ruins/lost izalith area just feels lacking in any sort of QA. Enemy placement is so lazy it feels like a debug room.
The centipede demon broke on me constantly with crap camera and then straight up got stuck in the geometry and let me pass.