Elden Ring - From Software + George RR Martin

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Ds1 is like a 3d metroidvania more than an open world. Its a tangle of dungeon rooms and encounters you criss cross through
 
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Kiki

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Yes, it is quite a good design that make pathing pretty flexible. At least until you accidentally go down the Great Tree too early on your first run and end up in Ash lake, save at a bonfire before you have the lordvessel, and then run out of decurse consumables. The bosses were easy but it took me a week to get back up the tree.
 
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Vinjin

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Super curious why you say this. Is it just the fact it's not an open world?

From my perspective, ignoring the style and system choices that are intentionally made (like open world or not), the differences between all of the FromSoft iterations are pretty small and obvious results of gradual evolution. But I'd hardly consider the older games "archaic."

The lack of open world probably played into it some. It just felt super clunky and dated to me when I tried it. And not just a small step backwards, but a massive one.

I had some initial trepidation about going back all the way to DS1 but was excited enough to give it a try anyway.

I acknowledge that it's certainly possible that I gave up too early on it.
 

OU Ariakas

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If you've played DS1, DS2 and ER, Dark Souls 3 can be safely skipped.

But why? There is so much crap out there today and DS3 is in the top 5% of games available. It would probably be in the top 1% of games if you played, and liked, the other souls games. Why skip it?

I also noticed no one is mentioning Bloodborne. That one must be played since it was clearly the best one of the FromSoft games until Elden Ring was released.
 
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Tuco

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But why? There is so much crap out there today and DS3 is in the top 5% of games available. It would probably be in the top 1% of games if you played, and liked, the other souls games. Why skip it?

I also noticed no one is mentioning Bloodborne. That one must be played since it was clearly the best one of the FromSoft games until Elden Ring was released.
If you've played 200-300 hours in FromSoft soulslike games and can't get enough of it, then yeah, play another one. But if you don't, don't feel like you've somehow missed out on a unique experience. Conversely, if you played any of the DS games and enjoyed them, you're missing out if you don't play ER.

Personally I beat DS1 and DS2 and about halfway through DS3 I tapped out because it was getting repetitive.
 

Vinjin

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I also noticed no one is mentioning Bloodborne. That one must be played since it was clearly the best one of the FromSoft games until Elden Ring was released.

Bloodborne is actually the one I really wanted to try the most as it seems most people hold it in the highest regard when compared to ER.

Unfortunately, I don't own a PS so, unless they release a remaster/PC port of it, it's off the table.
 
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LiquidDeath

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Bloodborne is actually the one I really wanted to try the most as it seems most people hold it in the highest regard when compared to ER.

Unfortunately, I don't own a PS so, unless they release a remaster/PC port of it, it's off the table.
Buying a used PS4 is off the table? I played it at release on a regular, fat PS4 with absolutely no problems. You don't have to get expensive, and Bloodborne is one of the few games that I would buy a console to play.
 
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Rajaah

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Ya know, after seeing "try jumping" messages at death-cliffs and "hidden door" messages in front of solid walls for THE ENTIRE GAME...

...near the end of Dark Souls 2, in one of the DLCs, I finally stumbled upon an actual breakable wall / hidden door for the first time in ages.

And it didn't have a message in front of it.
 

ShakyJake

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I enjoyed Bloodborne, but the frame rate freaking sucks by today's standards. Would be tough playing it nowadays for some. It really needs a remaster.
 
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Hateyou

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Buying a used PS4 is off the table? I played it at release on a regular, fat PS4 with absolutely no problems. You don't have to get expensive, and Bloodborne is one of the few games that I would buy a console to play.
Playing Bloodborne on ps4 is fucking brutal due to load screens. I bought a hybrid drive specifically because of that game. It’s great on ps5 but fuck the pa4 30+ second load screens every time you die.
 
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LiquidDeath

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Playing Bloodborne on ps4 is fucking brutal due to load screens. I bought a hybrid drive specifically because of that game. It’s great on ps5 but fuck the pa4 30+ second load screens every time you die.
I did play it long enough ago that I may misremember the loading times.

If you get good, though, you don't have the death screens!
 
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Rajaah

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I enjoyed Bloodborne, but the frame rate freaking sucks by today's standards. Would be tough playing it nowadays for some. It really needs a remaster.

Yeah the framerate is awful, but I managed to get used to it and stop noticing it after a little while on that latest playthrough (not switching to any other games during the playthrough also made it easier to not notice).

The fact that they've just abandoned Bloodborne with 30 FPS and no updates is kind of shocking.
 

Hatorade

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Playing Bloodborne on ps4 is fucking brutal due to load screens. I bought a hybrid drive specifically because of that game. It’s great on ps5 but fuck the pa4 30+ second load screens every time you die.
At launch that shit was minutes long, big patch fixed it. Bought an SSD for bloodborne in the ps4, with that it and the patch they are only a few seconds now.
 

Phazael

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DS1 had two main issues that persist (well, also Bed of Chaos boss fight was the stupidest encounter in souls history) to the present. First, once you have bonfire travelled in the other games, the long as fuck walkbacks before you get the Lord Vessel are fucking cancerous. The descent down the tree through basalisks is one thing, but you can get the Lord Vessel prior to that. The trip to Nito that HAS to happen prior to the Lord Vessel is completely rage inducing, however. Second issue is some of the boss design is fucking dick punching to certain builds. Four Kings is a good example as it all but requires a full on DPS build to tackle reliably, so GG if you were doing tank. And the dragon "fights" that are basically grind up a stack of 200 arrows and spam the shoot button for 30 minutes are way too abundant. Actually, a lot of the bosses are stupid in various ways (dumb gimmick or specific build needed), but it also has a couple of the most enjoyable boss fights in the series (Spider Chaos Flame boss, Actual Nito Fight is fun and challenging, Big Demon thing in the fire area).

Its still a great game, but aside from the layout of the world its not better than the other entries in the series.
 
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Rajaah

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DS1 had two main issues that persist (well, also Bed of Chaos boss fight was the stupidest encounter in souls history) to the present. First, once you have bonfire travelled in the other games, the long as fuck walkbacks before you get the Lord Vessel are fucking cancerous. The descent down the tree through basalisks is one thing, but you can get the Lord Vessel prior to that. The trip to Nito that HAS to happen prior to the Lord Vessel is completely rage inducing, however. Second issue is some of the boss design is fucking dick punching to certain builds. Four Kings is a good example as it all but requires a full on DPS build to tackle reliably, so GG if you were doing tank. And the dragon "fights" that are basically grind up a stack of 200 arrows and spam the shoot button for 30 minutes are way too abundant. Actually, a lot of the bosses are stupid in various ways (dumb gimmick or specific build needed), but it also has a couple of the most enjoyable boss fights in the series (Spider Chaos Flame boss, Actual Nito Fight is fun and challenging, Big Demon thing in the fire area).

Its still a great game, but aside from the layout of the world its not better than the other entries in the series.

After replaying them, right now Dark Souls 1 is my least-favorite out of all of them.

Demon Souls looks incredibly pretty on PS5 and has a unique atmosphere and world. The PS3 version isn't pretty, but it has an oppressive gloomy darkness that makes it also worth playing. Yeah, I consider the two versions of Demon Souls to be very different from each other.

Dark Souls 2 SOTFS (only version I'd play now) is gorgeous, high-FPS, has an interesting world, has a lot of ways to completely flip the game on its head. Great storyline here with the evil queen and all that.

Bloodborne is the best overall experience even with the terrible FPS, super interesting world and story, weapons that are so good that I still haven't tried most of the ones I want to try, because I stick with one or two for an entire playthrough. Only problem with it is that there isn't more of it.

Elden Ring has the best art direction, looks gorgeous, is sprawling, has nearly limitless things to explore/find, and manages to make those things actually worth exploring and finding because so many of the weapons and relics are useful.

And then we have Dark Souls 1. Technologically rudimentary compared to all the others besides Demon Souls PS3, which had a better atmosphere and fast travel. As for DS1, no fast travel for most of the game, unlike all the others. Some very rough around the edges zones and fights like Blighttown, Demon Ruins, Capra Demon, Bed of Chaos, Tomb of the Giants. The world design however is good and harkens back to the Metroid series. If you look at the world layout of this game you can clearly see how similar it is to, say, Super Metroid. So all of that said, out of the whole series, right now DS1 is the one I find least-enjoyable and have the least desire to ever replay. It's the only one I wouldn't look forward to if someone told me I had to play them all from the beginning again right now. It's still better than most games though.
 
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Rajaah

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Funny thing is, if someone did make me do that I'd be completely happy with it even though I just played them. Can't say that about any other series. It has no weak points. Even the lulls in design of DS1 and 2 are still part of a greater whole.
 
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Hateyou

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Funny thing is, if someone did make me do that I'd be completely happy with it even though I just played them. Can't say that about any other series. It has no weak points. Even the lulls in design of DS1 and 2 are still part of a greater whole.
You are not qualified to talk about the series weak points or lack thereof having not played DS3. Sorry buddy.
 
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