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| AngryLittleAlchemist said: I don't really agree with most of this, either because I just didn't have that experience, or because I don't mind mechanics being intrusive or annoying at times if it can contribute to interesting ideas. But I can accept them as criticisms. My point with the hints is more so not only are they a cool addition, but I think they also liberate the player to feel free to look up stuff about the game (if they want to) without feeling stupid. The developers already put a "cheat" system in the game basically, mentally I don't think anyone should feel bad for looking up information on the game, after all they could only make the cheat system so detailed. What I do kind of agree with is bosses, but only to an extent. Again, haven't played the game in forever so maybe this is a criticism that I'll have to retract, but watching someone play the game recently I kind of forgot how many bosses are just kind of eh at best and bad at worst. I think that back when "Dark Souls is hard!" was a meme and a lot of people accused the game of being unfair, I used to get so fixated on the fact that the bosses "weren't even that hard" to the point that I didn't give as much blame to the poorly designed bosses as I probably should have. The Capra Demon is pretty bad, Bed of Chaos is awful, the bridge Taurus Demon is the kind of boss that isn't "bad" per say but it's such an unfun boss to fight that I wonder why they even have it in the game, Four Kings is kind of similar although not nearly as flawed. Seath's is annoying from what I remember. That being said, I do think it's reasonable to say that most of the bad bosses in Dark Souls, are at the very least easy enough to where their badness isn't too big of a problem (at least again going off memory). And really, most of them are more mediocre than pure garbage. It still sucks that there are so many bosses that I can't call good, but then again I've never really liked the way in which people just look at Souls games as purely boss-oriented. Gwyn is one of the coolest final bosses in games for me, Bell Gargoyles are awesome, Gravelord Nito is good stuff, Ornstein and Smough deserve their reputation (I'll admit the bonfire should have been closer probably), Pinwheel is a very intriguing design with one of the most bizarre tracks in the game, Moonlight Butterfly is very elegant and a pretty good example of the game designers prioritizing a unique experience over purely making everything challenging, Sif is a legend all to it's own, Iron Golem has some cool mechanics tied to him, and the Gaping Dragon is probably my favorite boss in the entire game and one of the most memorable in gaming for me. And that's not to mention one of the side bosses are among the better ones in the game. The sewers in Dark Souls are probably one of my favorite locations in a game ever. That's a very weird sentence to say, because sewers in games are just constantly shit (pun not intended) and some of the most boring padding you'll find. But that's just the power of Dark Souls level design. |
The thing with looking things up is, it breaks immersion and it's very easy to get spoilers with the info you're looking for. The in game hint system was more intrusive to me, either they were spoilers or trolling messages. It's all up to chance I guess, same as everyone has a different experience with Journey. It's a shame you can't configure the online in DS, the ghost images were a great idea, the message good idea but depends too much on people using it right and really if used right, it's just a bunch of spoilers to help you avoid fallen for the next cheap death which shouldn't be in there in the first place.
The thing with the bosses in DS is, the only ones I still have memories off are the ones that pissed me off the most. Most of the names you listed there don't even ring a bell for me. I was always glad to get to go back to the game after a boss obstacle. Orstein and Smoug I remember for the frustration getting to them through invasions, don't really remember the actual bosses. They were big I guess, one had a hammer?
What I do remember fondly is sparring with a tower night for 20 minutes, using the terrain to stay alive, playing cat and mouse between pillars, finally getting him down with only a sliver of health left myself. Falling off the bridge in Sen's fortress (where the swinging blades are) and surviving to get into a careful war of attrition to find a way out / back up. (To just fall off the bridge again repeatedly cause 3D perspective was crap, eff those swinging blades, I suck at timing)
The sewers were great, painted world of Aramis was great, the blight was great despite the slow downs, Ash lake (just getting there wow), tomb of the giants, new Londo ruins, so many great places. Great level design, but needs a skip boss option. I never minded getting killed while exploring, yet getting killed during a boss fight and having to go back over and over, firmly stepped over the line.
It's the best game with some of the worst game play design imo. I fondly remember it, but will never touch it again. (as long as the bosses can't be skipped)
