Dark Souls 2 needs to be harder, discussion

[SvennoJ]

mtu9356 said:

SvennoJ said:

There are ways to integrate a retry option in the game. (First of all make it optional, locked out of classic mode)

I would put it in the game as a replenishable resource like the estus flask. It would work as a temporary restore point that you can only place out of combat near an earlier death. This restore point does not replenish magic, health or anything else, does not let you keep picked up items, it simply puts you back the way you were after another death. Then you can place it again if you haven't run out yet.

This way you can practive a fight or obstacle a few times without having to run back every time. It does not give you extra safety the first time, and it's resource based so you can't abuse it to force a way to the next bonfire.

When I look back on DS I remeber the awesome exploration the game offered and fun difficulty keeping me on my toes. However I also remember a few roadblocks that were made extra frustrating because of having to start from the bonfire over and over and over, with no sense of reward finally overcoming them.
Most games remove those roadblocks by making the whole game easier. I don't want that. However a system that helps alleviate unnecessary frustration when needed is very welcome.

Btw I hardly ever got the same people summoned at a bos fight. It also desperately needs dedicated servers as 2 out of 3 summons did not work. Co-op was a lot of standing around retrying summons while invaders kept showing up. Retry with the same people would have been very welcome.

That would in effect remove any risk you would feel when fighting a boss, knowing you could just start it again with no penalty.  You are in the minority if you feel no sense of accomplishment after defeating a boss.  Which ones did you beat, and which did you stop at?

The server issues were fixed via patch.  I usually have no problem resummoning the same person, especially if they drop the sign in the same spot.

The most frustrating parts of the game for me were:

Mini boss in undead Burg after the bridge with the dragon, charging bull or something. I had not figured out how to unlock the shortcut, frigging long trek back every time.

Capra Demon: Took 6 tries to successfully roll past the initial charge for the first time, every time dead in 2 seconds after fighting all the way back there over and over. Then it still took more tries to get rid of the dogs, and succesfully do the initial dodge again with 30% success rate, to finally sit on the stairs dropping bombs. No sense of accomplishment.

Sen's fortress: I had a lot of trouble judging distance to the swinging blades and had missed the hidden bonfire halfway up. Getting knocked of by the swinging blades on the upper level became extremely frustrating by having to start all the way from the blacksmith again and again and again.

Anar Londo, the archers knocking you off the ledge. My character wasn't that strong yet, so it took 10+ minutes everytime to get back there for another try to figure out how to get past that obstacle.

Ornstein and Smough: I wasn't strong enough yet to handle them with the  single player summon, he always died before I could take down 1 of them. So co-op with 2 people instead. Summoning didn't work right and it was a popular place for twink invaders. It took 20 tries or more just to get to the boss intact. The only time we made it was when we happened to summon a more powerful twink to take care of the invader, which also ruined the boss fight as that was now over in 20 seconds. No sense of accomplishment.

Bed of chaos: that should be self explanatory.


For me it would not remove the sense of risk if I can start a boss fight over, I still lose time and souls. It merely removes the added frustration of unwanted repetition.
And I would have resorted less often to co-op if it were easier to retry bosses, which would have ruined less boss fights where a ng+ twink came into my first play through to slay this big obstacle in 10 seconds.  (Better match making would solve that too ofcourse)