[tdockweiler]

1-3 Inner Ward in Demon's Souls is sadly the first really fun level in the game i've visited so far.
I got through the whole level without dying which was a surprise.
What made it way easier is that I took it slow and felt like a sniper and used ranged attacks a LOT.
The Thief's Ring helped a ton on this level too. You can pull all those enemies one at a time leading up to the boss fog.
Reminds me too of all the traps found in some of the Dark Souls 2 levels.

It's sort of funny seeing playthroughs of this level after I completed it.
Many people just spam attack against shielded soldiers, deplete their own stamina and get nearly murdered and have to retreat.
Surprised how much grass they use. To me it just seemed a little excessive?!
Baiting their attacks first nearly always seems to work best.

The level design reminds me a little of Undead Burg and Lower Undead Burg from Dark Souls.

Demon's Souls really has too many poorly lit zones. Not an issue for the PS5, but definitely a problem on the PS3 version.

So for those that never played Demon's Souls, ranged attacks of some sort is a must. Will make your life so much easier.

I've delayed going through the swaps in world 5 (5-2 I guess). Not looking forward to that.

The Leech Boss should be easy since I have a good fire weapon.

I'm probably close to halfway through this one and so far it's my least favorite in the Souls series (so far).

I'm sure on a 2nd playthrough i'll fly through the game with no issues.
No way i'm picking Temple Knight again!

Oh yeah, killed Dragon God on first try. I guess it helps to know which direction he's facing before running and to stand behind the pillars
Luckily I killed him before running out of grass. I didn't even notice him once shooting me with flames. Weird.

So far the bosses seem comparable in difficulty to those of Dark Souls 2.


They sure made TONS of improvements in DS1 and D2 compared to Demon's Souls. Making it slightly less annoying and more fun to play.

 

[tdockweiler]

LOL accidentally cleared 1-4 halfway through the game. Didn't realize it's the last area
I had to cheese the red NPCs and some of the other red eye enemies.

Strangely there is no shortcut for the ladder or gate near the final blue dragon on the PS3 version.

It's so funny watching PS3 footage of the game after seeing so many walkthroughs of the PS5 version.
Such a night and day difference.

Here's one of them:

 

[SilverEars]

1-3 Inner Ward in Demon's Souls is sadly the first really fun level in the game i've visited so far.
I got through the whole level without dying which was a surprise.
What made it way easier is that I took it slow and felt like a sniper and used ranged attacks a LOT.
The Thief's Ring helped a ton on this level too. You can pull all those enemies one at a time leading up to the boss fog.
Reminds me too of all the traps found in some of the Dark Souls 2 levels.

It's sort of funny seeing playthroughs of this level after I completed it.
Many people just spam attack against shielded soldiers, deplete their own stamina and get nearly murdered and have to retreat.
Surprised how much grass they use. To me it just seemed a little excessive?!
Baiting their attacks first nearly always seems to work best.

The level design reminds me a little of Undead Burg and Lower Undead Burg from Dark Souls.

Demon's Souls really has too many poorly lit zones. Not an issue for the PS5, but definitely a problem on the PS3 version.

So for those that never played Demon's Souls, ranged attacks of some sort is a must. Will make your life so much easier.

I've delayed going through the swaps in world 5 (5-2 I guess). Not looking forward to that.

The Leech Boss should be easy since I have a good fire weapon.

I'm probably close to halfway through this one and so far it's my least favorite in the Souls series (so far).

I'm sure on a 2nd playthrough i'll fly through the game with no issues.
No way i'm picking Temple Knight again!

Oh yeah, killed Dragon God on first try. I guess it helps to know which direction he's facing before running and to stand behind the pillars
Luckily I killed him before running out of grass. I didn't even notice him once shooting me with flames. Weird.

So far the bosses seem comparable in difficulty to those of Dark Souls 2.


They sure made TONS of improvements in DS1 and D2 compared to Demon's Souls. Making it slightly less annoying and more fun to play.

Temple knight is usually for Faith builds. The PS3 version has poor lighting. Bloomy and just really dull looking, lacking definitions. However, the modeling is really good for it's time. I think the modeling is better than DS1. Knight armors causes fat roll in this game, so not ideal. I don't do knight armor unless I can tank hits. When you do Faith build with stacked regen, you can tank hits with heavy armor. I wouldn't even bother rolling. It's like walking around with Havel set.

Two of my least fav runs is "The Ritual Path," and "Swamp of Sorrow." Those are the two I struggled with the most. I guess 5-1 is bad too, especially if under-leveled. Once you figure out Tower of Latria, it's a predictable gimmick (but, excellently crafted with the key system and causing confusion as where to go, which really adds the dread), although the atmosphere is still creepily excellent.

Havel's armor is weak. What the hell?! What's the point? I know some people has trouble with slow weapons like great swords, etc.., but the strategy with them is to wait until enemy attacks and then you have plenty of time to do your slow swing that would one shot them. That's the advantage. I enjoy one shotting enemies with great weapons.

 

[SilverEars]

I moved onto Bloodborne after getting bored of Demon's Souls remake. This is my 2nd playthrough and it's so much easier than I recall. Parry is super easy to do like in DS1, and the weapons are so fast that enemies are easy to kill. I'm playing a skill build this time around, and I take down the early bosses first attempt. I think it's because I'm better aware of weapon upgrades. Weapon upgrades are really important in this game. This game feels very spammy, but in a good way. As a skill build, I'm using Saw Spear, and I just spam L1, and there's so much stamina that I never get winded before taking down enemies with my L1 spam. Definitely the easiest combat to master. Combat is fast paced, and dodge is quick. It's the fastest paced Souls game next to Sekiro. Sekiro requires much greater skill to master the combat.

Bloodborne's combat is so damn easy, but it also feels good. I think it's the beasts you are hitting is so satisfying and the blood splatter. lol.

 

[tdockweiler]

Wow, 5-2 in Demon's Souls really is a nightmare. Got through 5-1 on first try with no issues and didn't fall to my death luckily.
Even the boss is a joke with a Dragon Longsword +4 (Fire). Reminded me of the Prowling Magus fight in DS2. One of the easiest fights ever.

So lesson learned, don't go through 5-2 without a map or no clue where to go. Not fun. I ended up getting to a giant and he depletes all my stamina. I can't roll or run away quick lyenough (swamp slows you down) and he murders me. Bad time to have no arrows and a weak soul arrow. I tried again...dead again.

On the third try I sneak behind him to the fog door. Not even sure if it's the right one.
I got lost in the swap so much. Had no idea where to go.

Luckily I made it to the boss and somehow I killed him without dying and having no clue to the strategy. Rolling behind him for attacks seemed to work. Not my best moment because I was fat rolling during his fight. Oops. I came close to dying so many times. I only had really weak grass left.

So glad to never have to visit this hell hole again. It's 10x worse than Blightown.
The poison is way weaker though here.
The issue was not knowing where to go and it's nearly completely dark on my PS3.

I don't think I did that well too because I used nearly all my grass and I had like 30 of them. Oops.

 

[SilverEars]

Bloodborne, what a game!

So, with the skill build, my weapon of choice early game is Saw Spear. It's just like Saw Clever, but with a pointier end and it pokes. It provides bonus damage against beasts, namely the serrated damage.

I found out that, the Saw weapons work better for me than the Axe. I understand Axe outputs greater damage, but it's slower, and the game's pace is fast. This is why Saw Spear worked so much better for me this playthrough. I actually even like the speed of the cane better. Non-tricked, the speed is faster than the Saw weapons. But, the damage output is less until you max out your skill points I believe.

This game is on easy mode due to this. I melted both Blood Starved Beast, and Vicar Amelia. Vicar Amelia is easy to get visceral attacks. She went down easily with constant visceral.

I enjoy Bloodborne much more 2nd playthrough. I think the game has high replay value that's why it's growing on me. FromSoft games have high replay value generally because they put in a lot of secrets, and you notice them in the consecutive playthroughs. Also, the amount of depth to builds/customizability makes it replayable. You can try out various build types on consecutive playthroughs.

It's amazing how much depth there is to damages on enemy types. Very technical game.




Also, Bloodborne is a PS4 title, so no VRR. The hell?! I hate Sony PlayStation for this BS. I was ready to upgrade my OLED for VRR, but it will have to wait.

 

[SilverEars]

After melting Vicar Amelia with crippling her legs over and over again (LOL), I dreaded having to fight Shadow of Yharnam, the trio. Surprisingly. I beat them in first try this time. I think I'm good at multiple bosses vs me fights because I got trained real well on God of War Ragnarok in the hardest mode (LOL).

One fight I really dread is Rom. I just hate this fight since my first playthrough, either the spiders or Rom would one shot me, and I'd start over and over again. This time I would ignore the spiders, and just hit 2-3 times and then run away. Avoid AOE, and repeat. This worked well. I hate Rom. It's such an uninteresting boss, and is unnecessarily difficult.

Vicar Amelia fight looks so sexy on video when fighting her with fire paper. I luv the sound of the fire burning when fire paper is activated. It sounds like a torch. Also, "Prey Slaughtered" is cool.

 

[tdockweiler]

Almost done with Demon's Souls. Maybe 75% of the way through? Only level 60 though.
I finally went back to kill Fools Idol with ranged.
This game's AI is just the most broken thing ever.
You can sit there with Thief's Ring at the far left pillar and use ranged attacks on her the whole fight.
Zero damage taken at all.

In Upper Latria 3-2 I find the level is pretty easy. The only thing that could kill me at level 60 was gravity.
I get almost to the 2nd spot to break the chain and attack a gargoyle on the stairs and accidentally fall off.
Frustrating since it took me probably 20-25 minutes of exploration to get there.
The Gargoyle's AI is so stupid you can safely ignore most of them.

Another thing that can kill me is the darkness. The lighting is just so bad on the PS3.
Sometimes I just get ambushed by enemies that are on the screen but can't see well.

I then get to the boss finally and find that he's by far the hardest boss in the game so far (without ranged).
I get double teamed by his clone gargoyle and can't use grass in time (stunned).
Next try gravity kills me.

I died like 3 times in a row. Oops. One reason is that I had used up all my arrows. Would have made it easier.

So on the 4th or 5th try my best weapon breaks just before the fight and I have to use my weaker Crescent Falchion +3.

I ended up cheesing him most of the fight and end up getting the 2nd gargoyle to appear with the first one still out.
I had to use the fire pit a lot to block his damage. Sometimes he'd go off and fly away and ignore me for the longest time.
Safest strategy seemed to use my super weak soul arrow to take off 60dmg per hit (!).

IMO he's harder than any single boss in Dark Souls 2 (if you do melee only). Feels way harder than the DS1 Gargoyles.
Maybe slightly less hard than Ornstein and Smough? I bet with ranged though Maneater would be WAY easier.
It's possible too that he's super easy with a giant 2 handed Greatsword.

I'm finding this game's difficulty just all over the place. They don't seem to increase the difficulty much in later levels.
By far the hardest level for me was 3-1 at lower levels mainly due to having only a Crescent Falchion +0 at the time.
At early levels I had to be in stealth mode for that area.

Getting the Dragon Long Sword and upgrading that made the game way way easier and I don't even know if that weapon is anything special.
It just works though.

It's definitely not as hard as I originally thought. For ME it had a VERY steep learning curve.

It also just seems to crank up the annoyances and make some things harder than they should be. Artificial difficulty.

I think my favorites from best to worst are now:

DS2 (vanilla) > DS3 > DS1 > DemS > Bloodborne (never played the rest)

DS2 is BY FAR the easiest for me and the most fun.
DS3 had the hardest bosses by far. I still probably couldn't kill Dancer of the Boreal valley on the first try.
I'd always get to level 70 before I had any chance of beating her.
There's also a few levels I'm terrible at and always dread going through.
It's Irithyll Dungeon and Boreal Valley.

The final boss on DS3 also took me nearly 20 tries lol.
Second playthrough just 2!

In terms of difficulty right now it's probably from easiest to hardest like (as a melee player only):

DS2 > DemS > DS1 > DS3 > Bloodborne

I'm just not good at Bloodborne at all.

DS3 really cranks up it's difficulty on the bosses in the last few levels.

Demon's Souls had the steepest learning curve so that's why originally I thought it was much harder than it is now.

PS one thing that makes DS2 so much easier is that in addition to Estus Flasks it gives you life gems.
There is a merchant in the hub area that sells them.

Maneater fight. It's a pretty cool looking fight IMO.

 

[SilverEars]

Bloodborne is so damn easy, you should give it another shot. Enemies stagger so easily when you spam R1. There's no need to dodge because, there's a mechanism that lets you get your health back after you get hit, if you hit them again Probably the easiest combat of all Souls games. Hardest is Sekiro.

With the big guys, try parrying. Visceral is OP. Easy to parry the big guys that swing slow.

The game gets less and less interesting as you get further. The world gets weirder and weirder as well. I think this is generally the case with FromSoft games. The beginning of the game is super interesting and then it gets less interesting as time goes on. Boss fights are not so interesting because beasts uses the same tactics. Stife, and hit, hit, hit. Strife, and hit, hit, hit. etc.. etc... You just level up your weapon and just melt them. Really simple.

I think the only game that gets more interesting as you play is Sekiro. It gets better and better as you play.

 

[SilverEars]

For those that want to learn more about the mechanics of Bloodborne, and how deep the mechanics are (ridiculously nuanced). This guy is amazing. He did his research.


My most pain in the azz fight so far. Ludwig. I recall my first playthrough I beat him on first try, but this time, I was struggling. One approach to beat him is real aggressive (the game rewards you for being aggressive), which works for me. The issue with this boss is, he's got moves that one shots you. what a pain...

 

[tdockweiler]

Played some more Demon's Souls last night.
I was dreading finishing 4-2 so I took a break for a few days.
Turns out the 2nd group of Reapers you don't even need to kill to get past them.

The last 3 bosses (before final) were so majorly disappointing!
Got to Old Hero and he's such a joke. You equip the thief ring and stand behind him.
He can't see you so you just hit him a few times and walk/roll away.
Zero damage taken and no real skill needed.

The Storm King fight was kind of fun, but not much challenge. Just grab that special sword, run to the house and then kill him with ranged attacks (from the sword).

Now this is how stupid this game can be at times. I run to the fog door to Old Monk and a flayer 1 shots me! What the heck? How is that even possible? I was using Fluted Armor and the black armor body for fast roll. Does anyone actually upgrade their armor? I don't.
I think in DS3 I did some, but definitely upgraded my shield.

The flayers are harder than the actual boss lol.
Apparently you can snipe them so that when they use ranged attacks on you it hits the wall instead.

I didn't prepare and look up strategies first. I'd just constantly walk to my right or left with Old Monk targeted.
I'd bait an attack and then hit him 2 or 3 times and back off.
Took my time but I probably didn't need to.
Not even rolling is really needed!
He's really really aggressive and rarely lets up.
I did use quite a few grasses though.

Of course this was probably easier since I was on the PS3 and he can't summon a human player.

Now all that's left is the Maiden fight and the final boss.

I already cleared 4-3 and just need to run to the boss. Somehow there are no shortcuts to him on the PS3 version.
There is one on the PS5 version. You pull a lever and it opens a ladder I think.

Definitely my least favorite Souls game for sure. I just don't find it as much fun as it should be.
I bought a PS3 for it (and Gran Turismo) and still sort of glad I did.

I think it's safe to say i'd prefer the PS5 version due to it's WAY WAY better lighting.
The PS3 version has so many levels that are way too dark!
It just ruins the experience.

I really do imagine that if I started up as a new character (like royalty) i'd fly through the game with no issues.
I'd probably just skip Tower of Latria first until I could get a better weapon.

I actually used the Dragon Longsword +4 for the entire game. Not the best but it worked fine.
Some levels the Crescent Falchion is required though (like for the Fire Bug level).
Having a bow and arrow will save you from a HUGE headache.

The only real frustration from the game came from just a few things:

1) The flying manta ranged attacks. Didn't realize you can just use a thief ring and they will ignore you sometimes. Early on I had no soul arrow to 1 shot them.
2) The confusing Tower of Latria combined with the stupid dark PS3 version. Those flayers killed me so many times at low levels. One round of my attacks wouldn't kill them at low levels.
3) 5-2 and not having the Sodden ring for faster walking. Plus not knowing where to go. The PS3 version's darkness makes this level even harder I think.
Without a map this is one of the hardest souls levels IMO.
4) On the first level I didn't realize right away too when exactly I could run across bridges to have the dragon kill all those enemies.
5) Attempting to clear 4-1 at early levels without a really good weapon. I attempted this with only my fist. Not suggested.

Only really challenging boss was Maneater. He's at the DS1 boss level of difficulty. Imagine the DS1 Gargoyles but having to fight them on much smaller platform (without the fire). Give them more HP and make them even more annoying.

With flame gear the Flamelurker isn't too bad. Get the Purple Flame Shield and the ring.
I died a few times vs the level 1 giant, but that's because I was dumb and stood in front of him and he 1shot me. Oops.

BTW I didn't look up any guides or playthrough videos ahead of time. That possibly would have made it easier! That just seems to ruin games like this. I did that though a lot after clearing each level.

PS anyone played Final Fantasy XI (online) back in the day?

That is one of the RPGs that comes to mind that was once as hard as our first Dark Souls game.
It used to be so hard you couldn't even solo past like level 30. Only specific jobs like Beastmaster (charming pets) could.
The game is still alive in 2022 but it's a huge time sink but super fun when you can get into a static group or good linkshell.
I quit in February 2022 after playing since 2004! Events got repetitive. Felt like I kept doing Odyssey C runs over and over...
What kept me going in the game is how much I loved the Puppetmaster and Dancer jobs. So much stuff to learn and remember!
Puppetmaster was nice because you could use your puppet/robot as a tank, backup healer or damage dealer.
You could use it's 1hr (special) ability to "zerg" tough enemies/bosses (called "Notorious Monsters" in game).

They now have private (free) servers that let you experience the game like how it was at level 75 cap.

 

[SilverEars]

I decided to go NG+ so that I can finally try all the weapons has to offer. I barely had enough usage of the Rakuyo since DLC is accessed at the end. I really luv the Rakuyo. I luv the speed and fast combo that staggers enemies. Pain in the azz to get. The two sharks, my lord! They are the bosses of the game!


I also I really like how boom hammer hits. I luv to ignite it with fire and R2, and kabooom!!! lol Just awesome when the enemies falls from the explosive hit.

I want to Git Gud to the point of playing the whole game and beating it with only Boom Hammer. lol Look how fun it looks. Like I said earlier, when you use weapons slow like this. You look for opportunities to strike. Wait for their attack, dodge, and then your turn. You can't tell me this weapons isn't the coolest. Bloodborne has so many cool weapons. I think the fun of the game is using all these cool weapons and just beating the crap out of the beasts. I luv the dust off gesture at the end. Very cool!

Bossfights with strength weapons are not easy, well except for the pizza cutter and the axe. Vicar Amelia just melts with Rakyo, but the Kirkhammer is slow. Also, I think this guy just sucks at dodging and timing hits. Actually, blunt damage doesn't do jack to Amelia.


It's pretty sad that Sony owns such a great IP. I'd say the best lore of all Fromsoft games.

What game has a wheel as a weapon? The executioner outfit is the coolest! I did Alfred's quest, and it was so awsome!

 

[tdockweiler]

Stopped playing Demon's Souls right at the last level. Just no interest in bothering with the last boss. I'm sure i'll try eventually.
So what did I do? Started a 2nd character as the Royalty class.

I thought i'd fly through the game now but not even close. The experience is sort of the same, but slightly different.
Still feels slow for me to advance. Unable to just fly through the levels like DS1 and DS2.
Royalty definitely feels WAY weaker at the start!

First castle I found that my armor is like made out of paper or something and a few hits can kill me. Plus it takes me like 6 hits to kill some enemies.
I was stupid and attacked one soldier on the stairs and end up falling to my death. I know better!

Death 2 was when I get blown up by those flame guys coming at me all at once and stunning me. Just before the shortcut.
No idea why I didn't use soul arrow on them or run away. Stupid mistakes get you killed.
Have to admit though the ones in DS2 are WAY worse! They even jump at you before blowing themselves up!

Death 3 was when I ran to the 2nd boss (the Giant) and get murdered by a blue eyed knight and some archers.
Those archers can actually take off huge chunks of your health.
I think my main issue was just low stamina. Even had the Crescent Schimtar already.

Somehow this run I found the giant stupid easy. Now that I know to just stand behind him.

I then went straight to 2-1. LOL I have no idea how but I got killed by a fat officer TWICE in a row.
First time I found out he can 1shot me! Not only that but I get to the spider boss and... 1shot!
Kind of stupid to get killed by an officer that doesn't even need to be killed. Can just run past him!

Plan is to buy a ton of arrows and do the ranged method for the boss.
Somehow on my first playthrough I did the Zerg method and have no idea how I survived.

People say armor doesn't matter, but my character is so weak now. I need to get the fluted armor again.
Going to raise END and VIT up a LOT before anything else.

Right now everything feels like deja vu. Had the same experience sort of on playthrough 1!

I think my original score of 8/10 is pretty fair and accurate.

I bought my PS3 with this in early December along with 6 games. Still haven't played any of them other than this!
Guess I should try Gran Turismo 6 next.

 

[KaiserTK]

I really wish BB and other Souls games had better mastered soundtracks. The tracks themselves are phenomenal, but unfortunately they sound muddy and compressed.

 

[SilverEars]

I just beat Laurence on NG+. It was intense. Damn near impossible on NG+. He sometimes one shots you. Very scary. It took awhile to figure out how to deal with him. He is one of the hardest boss in the game.

I realized that the only weapon I can beat him with is the saw spear. It does the most damage since I haven't put points into arcane. Untricked, it's the most damaging and affective. I may try with boom hammer in the future when I get cocky.

I have to play up close with him. I cannot fight him distanced like this guy because I don't know when to go in for the hit. I just stay up close to his nuts and whack away. You have to dodge at the right timing when he does sweeps, or you get sucked into it and get staggered and get 2 shotted. 2nd phase was a real nightmare. He keeps stomping his hand with the hugest hitbox, and sometimes it will one shot you if you get hit wrong. And then you can't get close because you can get staggered by the lava or his hits, and get 2 shotted. Distanced or close, you lose either way. lol. It's hard to figure him out. Staying at the center and circling along side him while timing the dodges of his hand stomps works perfectly.



This guy has a good guide. He tells you exactly what is going on and what to avoid, and why.