Bed of Chaos is one of the best bosses from a meta pov. The witches of Izaleth tampered with a force so dark that it causes pain in the real world. 100/10. Genius idea.
Bed of Bullshit is a great boss imo. I wish it was done slightly better, and I have an idea on how. It'll take me so long to write it out, I may make a post or reddit post or smth on what I think
The first time I saw lost izalith, I actually thought the game was bugged. I thought the dragon butts somehow replaced the real enemies that were supposed to be there. Furthermore, the way they're placed looks like a guy with a level editor was just Spam clicking because they needed enemies in that area to ship the game
The game peaked early with the way to the Gargoyles, imo. Undead Burg has the best design and enemy placement, by far. And the elevator back to Firelink? Better than falling in love.
the weirdest part about demon firesage imo is the fact they didn't even change his explosion damage type to fire, it's still magic damage AND he's still weak to fire like the stray demon because that's how rushed he is
Lorewise it makes sense though. Fire magic isn't pyromancy. So, since they came from the Witch of Izalith, they are being of magic, not necessarily resistant to fire
@@AleK0451the chaos pyros come from quelana, the mother of pyromancy. The demon uses the original flame sorcery. That's why the witches use staffs, except quelana. At least in the opening cinimatic. I guess quelana taught the sister outside bed of chaos to use a pyromancy flame but she drops the izalith catalyst.
The even more fucked up thing about that door in los izaleth is that before the remaster you had to give the humanity one at a time over and over again
I went all the way into the tomb of the giants because I remember an NPC telling me that there was a secound bell "below" that I had to ring. it was heartbreaking when I go to the fog gate sealed by the great lord and had to go all the way back.
Ironically, based on the area backgrounds you can see, the Demon Ruins are connected to the Tomb of the Giants. Not in a way you can travel though. The second bell is right before the Demon Ruins, so you were so close, yet so far. It is "below", just... on an entirely different path to go "below". Probably would've been cool if there was some kind of connecting path between DR and TotG. Especially since the Sunlight Maggot is in the DR area.
Because you played BEFORE this stupid trend of "mommy, 2nd half DS1 scares me". I played when it released on PC, this idea didn't exist and we were hyped about rumors of DS2.
@@AbysswalkerASMR I can't see if we had a conversation before, don't know what you are talking about. Yeah I like DeS, so many memories I want go back in time to play it like the first time.
I think a large part of the reason the second half falters is because of outside factors such as deadlines needing to be met and publisher pressure. Reports from employees at the time DS was being made report pretty poor conditions with crunch and overworking abundant and I think it shows here. Fromsoft was a far smaller company then compared to now, so when Bandai said “we need this finished in 2 months” they needed to finish in 2 months or they’d be fired. Hence the first half being carefully constructed and detailed with the second half being a development marathon to reach the finish line in time.
Yup, even without all of the insight you share here it's blatantly obvious that the second half was rushed just by looking at the difference in level and enemy design. I think the only area that is fleshed out and pretty solid in the second half is the Duke's archives. Everything else is clearly a step down from the rest of the game.
And yet people complain about Elden Ring for the same reason that its late game isn't the same quality. I think FormSoft just kinda sucks at ending their games because Bloodborne's third act also leaves a lot to be desired. Thats 3 widely acclaimed games with the same primary issue.
@@geordiejones5618 I do think ER suffers more cause it is so much longer so that becomes more apparent at the end plus other factors like overtuned enemies, but I agree with ya ending wise it is BB, DS then ER for me mostly cause ER is so long that the end can become a slog while the others are shorter and thus it is less of a slog
Its mainly the massive FPS drops in the original game pre Remaster, especially if you played on Console. itd often drop down to single digits. The remaster is way better optimized in the area, even on the Switch it doesnt drop frames in Blighttown now.
@lordmpfree4564 I feel the first part of blight town is annoying (Toxic being a pain), but the lower levels aren't bad, and the best invasion wifu appears!
Blightown is very tough first up. But once you get the hang of it you can breeze it and have fun. Tomb and Lost Iz are just an unfun slog, no matter how well you know the sections.
the problem with Blighttown is how much tougher of an area it is compared to the ones before it, especially for how early in the game it is. of course everything pales in comparison to Tomb and Izalith, but those are quite later in the game.
I can’t be the only one who tried going through the Catacombs AND New Londo before ever finding Undead Burg because I missed the doorway in the aqueduct
For me I missed the Capra Demon and Depths. I dunno if I missed the key, or just never checked it again or what, I just didn't do the depths until I had done the Catacombs, then I got into Blighttown through the Valley of the Drakes, found the great hollow and ash lake, then went through Havel's tower and did Darkroot, then back to blight town and beat Quelag and rang the bell that way. Didn't find the depths until after Anor Londo, I forget exactly when. Suffice to say the Capra Demon and Gaping Dragon had a terrible awful rotten no good awful bad day.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290hearing other people’s path they take when they play the game is why I love dark souls so much. It just goes to show how truly open and freely you can explore the world of dark souls. The game essentially allows you to do damn near everything as soon as you leave the asylum.
@@noobeternal9718 I feel like it’s the opposite in Dark souls 3. First part is kinda boring and sucks, but around Irithyll the game starts getting good and then really great. And the bosses are amazing throughout. Dark souls 2 is actually very consistent imo but i don’t like it. And sekiro and bloodborne are enjoyable all the way through for me.
@@Ab-he4vf it does decline after Leyndel. Snowy areas suck some serious ass. Then Farum Azula and Haligtree make a comeback for the game, they have awesome level design but not the likes of Limgrave & Caelid. The last bosses except Elden Beast are great but still overall second half of Eden Ring feels like a sharp decline. Just like DS1, but not so dramatic.
I agree with everything up until the final boss, I think it is absolutely perfect. Gwyn was shown as godlike in the opening cutscenes but turned out to be a hollowed who kindled the flame like you are trying to do. having no cutscene, being visibly hollowed, and having the most beautiful melancholy solo piano piece that gives off the vibe that this lord was defeated long before you got there. I think its a 10/10 boss fight and top 3 in souls.
He needed more health. Offensively he's fine, the problem is that he dies so, so quickly. My first playthrough, he died in like seriously 10 seconds. Crystal Soulmass chewed off half by itself, then I smacked him with a club twice.
Someone put a message before the fight, telling me that he is weak to parries. I beat him first try and felt it really underwhelming. The worst part is that everyone says Gwyn having no cutscene and being very easy to kill is intentional, when he is clearly rushed and not as fleshed out as the devs wanted him to be
@@Wilsooooon Agree. Nobody would complain about Gwyn being strong if he was. There wouldn't be anyone saying he should be weaker, there'd just be people satisfied with a good final boss, and impressed that even after everything he was still strong. There's even ways to do bosses that feel obviously weaker than their prime, while still being strong. Hell, they DO this in Dark Souls 1 with Artorious, who they had time to refine, and they absolutely nailed it with Ludwig and Gael, with phase 2 being them temporarily finding a little bit of what they used to be, and Gael even finding something extra by phase 3. Heck. They even did it with Gwyn in Dark Souls 3. Did anyone complain when Soul of Cinder's second phase wasn't super easy?
@@Wilsooooonit is widely known that Gwyn was rushed, people don't say this was intentional, they say it accidentally ended up better this way from a lore perspective.
the duke's archives honestly is my favorite area in the whole game; not only is it visually stunning, but it also has such interesting sequences and mechanics (The fake out Seath encounter, the rotating staircase and secret doorways, as well as the whole small forest before the entrance to the crystal cave.) Something about being in this huge library that's literally above the clouds on a hilltop, with the pink sky always visible from the outside sections is really captivating in a game that's usually so dark and dreary (besides for anor londo of course)
@@worstthanaveragegamer1041 a lot of people don't know, but you can just WALK BACK the fog gate on the first encounter and proceed to the archives with the lift jump trick, completely skipping the need to die and the jail cell block, however, being in the upper floor and trying to go DOWN to get the items/spells there is not that easy given that you skipped a bonfire.
I assume the lack of bonfires in new londo was to avoid new players accidentally resting there early on and getting stuck, but i dont understand why they couldn't place atleast one bonfire right at the first bridge to avoid the slow elevator
@@bendaniels1235 Here's the thing: They made the game. They made the lore, the design, everything. It is whatever they wanted it to be. If they wanted to have some way for bonfires to believably exist there just for good design reasons, they could've simply done so.
The first half of the game up to O&S is still to this day one of the best things ive ever experienced in gaming, its funny how drastic the dip in quality is almost immediately after anor londo.
My replays of the game usually ends after Anor. It’s not that the second half is bad, but just forgettable to me. Second half just ends up being boss room rushes rather than enjoying a journey to an epic fight.
@@elephantshelf3617 The first half and dlc feel like you're going on an actual adventure... the second half becomes an annoying, unfinished fetch quest. All for a boss that can be parried to death
@@beans3977 Doing Seath, then New Londo, into the DLC is a pretty good experience. Really, it's just Izaleth and the Catacombs that kinda suck the joy out of me, and this routing coincidentally sets up the DLC, primes you for it, then you do it, and aren't so overlevelled that you can just facetank Artorious. Whatever you do after that is up to you. Finish the game on principle, maybe go quit game for the last time with Priscilla to keep her company, glitch into Gwyn's room to make a statement, idk.
@@weirdeurasianboy8091 yeah the similarity with DS1 is crazy, dip in quality in around half a game after exploring a gorgeous city, and then the game kinda becomes a slog you want to finish as soon as possible.
And while I understand that the final boss being weak because of lore reasons could be kinda appealing to lore nerds, for normal players theres nothing more dissapointing than the final fight of the game being easy, thats the same problem with demon souls (and ds2 for some people). Not only that but if they made a hard fight with him while saying he's in a "weakened state" it would be 1000x better for everyone.
@@otaviojohannjardim1702 Wouldn’t say it’d be 1,000X better for everyone. Like for normal players I guess, but in the lore? Nah, him being still powerful wouldn’t make sense. Only boss being still in a powerful state even when weakened I can think of that works is Radahn, but his weakened state is because of him being that of a beast, not because he lost any actual strength, just his mind. Another one I can think of is Artorias, but that’s because he became corrupted by the Abyss and lost an arm, again, not because he lost any real strength, just became corrupted and lost his mind and an arm. But Gwyn lost almost all his strength because he sacrificed himself to the First Flame as fuel, so him still being strong doesn’t make sense there. And he can actually be a pretty cool fight, as long as you don’t parry cheese him.
@@otaviojohannjardim1702 it's not just a "lore nerd" thing. Even a normal player can feel the narrative weight of the great and mighty Gwyn being a sad and shallow hollow. His lack of difficulty reinforces the theme of the story. Even normal players have the right to a good story.
Agreed, the anticlimax is crucial to the experience of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Gwyn is also unlikely to feel like a _total_ pushover to new players anyhow. It's funny to me because obviously you're _supposed_ to feel at least a little frustrated at some level, that's the point - some people want their games to only serve them with the limited set of emotions deemed acceptable in mass pop art, but that twist on your expectations is at the heart of the ludonarrative masterpieces of the Soulsborne series. I feel like asking for a more "satisfying" ending is a bit like asking for an easy mode, it just kinda misses the point and wants to make the game into something it just isn't
I actually forced my way through the catacombs all the way to Pinwheel. It was hella difficult but I thought to myself "well it's Dark Souls, so it's probably supposed to be like this"
Same. I played DS2 and DS3 before DS1, so I was used to the series' bullshit. I killed EVERY SINGLE enemy up to Pinwheel, only to find that I had dug myself into a deep dark pit with no way back up. I said fuck it, put the game down for a week or two before deleting that character. People praise how open DS1's world is, but I will argue that it is just open enough to fuck you over if you decide to explore the tougher areas that are obviously presented to you at the start of the game. I ended up doing the same fucking thing with Lost Izalith. I don't think that DS1 is a masterpiece. It never made me feel that way. Almost everything it does, I genuinely think DS2 does better. And if you want that DS1 nostalgia, just play DS3.
@@coleozaeta6344 No, I went Hollow. I was neither stuck nor lost. I told you I put the game down after I realized what I did. I didn't want to fight all those over leveled skeletons again. Also, it is rude to necro.
@@FKyoutubeSERIOUSLY Honestly, the game just needs a "darksign returns you to Firelink" thing, since the worst problems of Dark Souls 1 are mainly getting stuck at the ass end of nowhere. That and Izaleth. Also generally agree. Unless it's specifically for lore and atmosphere, I don't think there's any reason to play Dark Souls 1 over 2. I could see liking 3 more or less just based on preference for the game feel, but 2 generally improves on 1 in every single way it could. Only thing it messes up is removing the kick for the fart waft.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Interesting take. Most people I see consider 2 to be the worst DS game, so much so that it became a meme to hate on Dark Souls 2 just because.
The difficulty of the four kings really shines in NG+. They have the largest difficulty jump out of any other boss, massive health and damage and it becomes very hard to not have 2 or 3 swarm you.
@@MILDMONSTER1234 or can be turned into a poise and stamina test. Only way I ever beat them on 2 different NG+ playthroughs was with full Havel and using the pattern of swing-swing-chug-swing-swing-chug, and repeat
Didn't notice any difference in my NG+ run. Same "human"-shaped punching bag. To me, the DLC bosses are the ones with the spiciest difficulty increase. Haven't gone into higher NG+ levels though.
@@MILDMONSTER1234 so normally I'd agree, but I take everything slow & just learned to dodge multiple at a time. All the more, it's THAT much better when you're outnumbered and depth is obscured.
Actually, the skull lantern us better than you think. The description says it is aligned with the catacombs and if you use the lantern you will see blue torches on the wall light up. While these wall torches don't provide much light, following them brings you straight to Nito so you don't have to run around the drakness trying to find the boss door.
It's also dropped by necromancers in the catacombs (so you don't need to be pushed down by the thief). I had 2 before going to the tomb of giants, and the description is pretty clear on its purpose. And honestly, even if I was using smough's hammer or dragon tooth, I liked the fact I had to either use them with one hand and be giga slow or switch to two hands and see nothing for some seconds
For those talking about getting the skull lantern in the catacombs: I am aware that it can drop from the necromancers however contrary to popular belief it is actually not a guaranteed drop. The initial drop rate starts at 2% but then increases by ~10% for every necromancer you kill. So by the time you get to the 6th one, the drop rate is ~52%, just higher than half. I've had several playthroughs where I didn't get it as a result even though all necromancers were killed.
Really appreciate your take on Gwyn. He’s actually a pretty challenging boss if you’re playing the game blind. There’s absolutely no reason to believe you can parry a literal God when you can’t even parry Capra Demon. Most people seem to know about the parry because they’re literally looking at guides and tutorials on their first playthrough. And then they say the last boss is disappointing after cheesing him.🤪
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would think to parry him when you couldn't parry any other boss. Can't imagine anyone figured it out without looking it up
@@JKLeeds I figured it out without looking it up. I used solely dragon form with a black knight shield for most of the game so parrying was my primary tool. When it came to Gwyn his fighting style is similar to black knights which can be parried so I did the same with him and it became like a rhythm game to win
It’s common knowledge that the late gate was rushed because the devs ran out of time, but I honestly thought for the remaster we would actually see Miyazaki’s full vision and not just DS fix and a bonfire added near Vamos 😢
Imagine this: a full remake of DS1 in Elden Ring's version of the engine, preserving the level design but expanding the second half the game with additional content and tweaks.
@@based-ys9um Did you not notice I said "Elden Ring's VERSION of the engine". I think it should be pretty obvious what I'm talking about here. 15 years of development have brought significant improvements to the engine which DS1 lacks.
Oh man going down the lift and seeing it came out in firelink was one of the greatest gaming moments for me. Before then I figured the game was pretty linear, and after all that time, coming back around? That's when I really felt like this game was something special, especially for me, as I'm a metroidvania buff
I feel like the "not being able to warp to every bonfire you've been to after getting the lord vessel" is a result of From Soft trying to make it so the player has to still explore and retain the interconnectivity of the world but going about it in a very poor way. The Kindled Bonfire system sounds a lot better as opposed to only being able to warp to some key ones and having to run everywhere in between when you could warp to kindled bonfires and still have to explore and retain that interconnectivity but with an added sense of "alright I wanna use my humanity wisely".
As a Berserk fan, Undead Burg was by far my favourite area. The enemies and level design, the bosses and the overall ambience/aesthetics are just perfect. Adding the shortcut back to firelink, it became my absolute favourite area in the entire soulsborne universe
@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoonI guess the metal to metal fight of one man against a fortress of soliders? You don't really get much of that vibe after in other areas, but i dont know im just trying to rationalise
ive noticed recently that the whole teaching you to look around in a boss fight thing doesn’t really have any pay off. You use the critical hit on asylum demon, taurus demon, and can even sortof do it on capra demon, but after that point its not like learning to read the environment helps with more bosses exactly. Besides maybe ceaseless discharge there are no more bosses where looking around can give you a major advantage.
@@JKLeeds its also the only souls game that really attempts it. I just kindof wish there were more bosses later on where the arena could be used against them in a major way.
It's possible the boss fights were designed orginally with this in mind, and then as the game went further on it kinda got scrapped for most of them. A shame, cuz plunging attacks are so rare in these games and so fucking satisfying.
@@michaelbarker6732 Obligatory Dark Souls 2 mention! Cuz yeah Dark Souls 2 does this too Dragonrider (both fights) Pursuer Lost Sinner Najka Mytha All have environment interactions to make the fight easier, though how much help you'd ever need in those fights to begin with is debatable
The only thing I liked about how the Bed of Chaos works, is that it uses the best weapon in Dark Souls 1 against you, and that is the enviorment. And the fact that dying doesnt get rid of all the progress you made, just imagine dying when you are at the last phase just to have to redo the whole fight while your souls are sitting at the bottom waiting for the floor to break.
Have you seen the Ash Lake? Such an amazing place, what an awe area but completely empty. So many possibilities.. but it’s completely empty and disappointing. This area gives me the biggest “unfinished“ vibe. Hope it will get ehat it deserves if they ever do a remake.
@@JKLeeds Completely true. I like to consider two types of empty. Intentional emptiness and unfinished empty. Something like Lost Izalith is unintentional, but something like Ash Lake is definitely intentional emptiness.
On my first playtrought I got to ash lake really early (around lvl 30 just after beating the gargoiles) Great hollow was extremely painful but interesting, and after hours of trying to get to the bottom and got to ash lake I was extremely scared of what the hell was down there I got a bit dissapointed there wasn't a boss or something, but nonetheless is one of my favorite areas, the place looks cool as hell
I fought the bed recently again and honestly? Using the quit out method and some luck it wasn't that bad. granted, the fact that you have to USE QUIT OUT to make a boss more bearable is really stupid.
@@theofficialnationwidehatersame, sorta. Killed Gwyn then thought I could just walk back out of the arena and go back to the game. I rushed through NG+ just to get the ending I actually wanted the first time 😂
Honestly, I like all the weird quirky stuff in the latter half of the game. Like the weird demons that shoot fire, or the ones with half a body, or the squid monster that shoot acid. They are just so weird. Or the fact you can fight a fleet of pinwheels and baby skeletons in the catacombs, or the skeledogs.
In my first playthrough, I actually navigated the entire tomb of giants in the dark. It was quite the experience. Yes I can see how the second part is more flawed and rushed and the bosses are not as good, but I don't seem to dislike it as much as other people.
It's worth noting that warping does not change your "last bonfire", meaning you can homeward bone to the bonfire you warped from if you haven't sat at another bonfire since then. So if you want to go to Andre and then right back, you can do that. Of course this doesn't cover every situation but it makes it a lot less egregious. Though it would have been nice to be able to get a reusable item for that like the Aged Feather in DS2.
In regards to fast travel, you technically don't need to run back to the bonfire you were just at due to a lack of a warp point. The way bonfires work in Dark Souls is that you need to sit at them in order for the respawn point to register. So using your example, I'm at the bonfire in the cave in Darkroot Basin. I then realize that I forgot to upgrade my weapon to +11 and that I must visit a blacksmith to do this job. I sit down at the Darkroot Basin bonfire, warp to Undead Parish, I remember *not* to sit down at the Parish, then once I'm done with Andre, I can cast Homeward, use a Homeward Bone, or Darksign and I will respawn at the Darkroot Basin bonfire 100% of the time every time. The backtracking is only necessary if you sit down at another bonfire.
Never understood why so many people went to the graveyard with the skeletons first thing after arriving in firelink. The very first NPC you see when you get there tells you explicitly where to go and what to do.
Video game logic: Skeletons are starting enemies. Dark Souls is a hard game. Therefore, these skeletons are hard to beat starting enemies. It's honestly kind of a cool subversion of tropes.
Because the stairs leading up to the Undead Burg melt into the cliff and are very easy to miss. To add, DS1 had such a huge reputation for being this super-mega-giga-ultra difficult game that will tear out your anus, that you expected bullshit enemies like the skeletons are for a new player. I'd likely fight Asylum Demon with the broken sword too, if there was no message telling me to run.
I would say my favorite part of ds1's second half will always be the dukes archives. The whole area, while not perfect, has a great level of atmosphere, one of the better visual designs for a boss and captivating mysteries. It also has some of the better npc questlines in the whole game.
Agree. Imo, the perfect route is do the first part of the game, after you get the lordvessal do Seath, then Darkroot, then New Londo, then the DLC, then wrong warp past the door, skipping Izaleth and the Catacombs. Maybe kill pinwheel if you want more estus, I guess. The second half does the good one of the four, which coincidentally sets up the DLC, then you go prime yourself on the DLC's backstory which carries new londo, then do the DLC while you're not stupidly overlevelled, then skip the bad two and fight a Gwyn that's still not unreasonably easy
Since Sekiro I've come to really love the Bloodsouls games, but still for the life of me I don't get how you're expected to figure out most side quests and stuff without a proper walk through. Whoever figured all the stuff out first good for you, and thank you.
It always confuses me when people say that fast travel ruins the emersion of the game. But after your first play through, and maybe even the second half of it, I wouldn’t want to have to run through areas again and again even with short cuts. The fast travel system definitely could have gotten updated tho😅
First half was amazing, just exploring and waking through the world and meeting each enemy and boss along the way. Second half felt grindy but it was alright haha
"Especially if you do get to the bottom and have to climb back out" *proceeds to have flashbacks of being stuck in tomb of giants with a reinforced club*
Kindling to allow for more warps is actually an amazing solution for the warp system. I am also in the camp that loves the lack of warps in DS1, but it makes sense only because of DS1's level design, it doesn't make sense so much in DS2 or Elden Ring as they are both spread out with a lack of intersecting paths, but DS2 should have done that kindling thing where Elden Ring being an open world has no flaws in it's warp system.
Dark souls is supposed to be difficult and maybe a little complex But in my opinion the tedious-difficult sections of the game are the main draw back to the game. I'd love to see a remake with serious quality of life changes
Imagine trying to beat all the buttdragon enemies in Lost Izalith. It's like they've been placed there just to fill in space, when in reality you can easily just ignore all of them.
Does anyone else actually enjoy Blighttown? I think that area was hated just mostly due to the terrible framerate dips experienced on the old gen consoles. Playing on the remastered it certainly is one of the coolest areas imo. The mazelike structures of the upper half, peering down from the giant pillars. It connects 4 areas, and is one of the most expansive and vertical levels in the game. I'd say the only big negative of the area is the mosquitos that tickle you, and the toxic enemies that are frustrating to avoid, luckily they don't respawn.
I agree, after hearing about blighttown for so long I was pretty surprised how fine it really was. Even the mosquitos as annoying as they are to kill due to their jank hitboxes they aren't really that aggressive so it's whatever. Now Tomb of the Giants, fuck that place. When I got through it I was like "Why is Blighttown the infamous one this place is way worse".
I am a Blighttown defender as well. It’s really not that horrible and there seems to be a huge amount of effort that went into it. Tomb of the Giants is far more miserable to me
Dark Souls one is my favorite game despite the time constraints and limitations it had to go through I really wish we could see a version with all the complete content it was meant to have
It seems like they were just trying to think of different ways to increase the difficulty of the levels themselves after already having a difficult first half. This lead to a lot of experimental hazards & less convenient bonfire locations
I'll never forget going all the way down in Tomb Of Giants without having the Lord Vessel, without light and having to navigate all the way back. I really thought I've locked myself down there and it was a huge relief when I managed to make my way back.
The mechanic you suggested was the exact thing I tried when I unlocked fast travel. I was confused why I couldn't warp anywere and thought to myself it must be only bonfires I kindled so I wasted some humanity trying that.
yup. plus the argument that some things are too well hidden is kinda BS when soapstone messages are a huge part of the game. sure, some people will play offline, but the game was designed with the intention of being online always
@@KILLER1PIE i don't mean to be nitpicky, but you're half right, if you kill all necromancers, and they didn't give you a lantern yet, the last one is guaranteed to drop the lantern. because that works for all unique non-respawning enemies, boars, mimics, gargoyles and such.
*raises hand* I did the skeleton thing. Also, you can get a skull lantern from killing all of the Necromancers in the catacombs before fighting Pinwheel. This is super easy to miss as well though, and you would have no idea that its a guaranteed drop after killing the last Necromancer, unless someone told you. This is why I missed it on my first play though and had to struggle through the Tomb without a light source until Patches kicked me down.
@@st.haborym Oh damn, I had no idea. That is really mean, lol! I guess I got lucky because I've always managed to get one once I hunt all those bastards down.
I never knew it was a "guaranteed" drop. I just got it my first playthrough and thought it was the intended progression method, so I got it that way every time forward. Because of this, I don't share the hatred of the area. I actually hate the prior areas more, lol. But seeing how many people miss the lantern and spell, I get it.
In my first playthrough I really was stuck in the catacombs, but I thankfully thanks to that I get that lantern and the black knight greataxe (my favorite weapon) and I slaughter all the late game :)
@@aroundthefur1210 Apparently the drop rate goes up by like 10% with each one you kill, with the last one giving you something like 62%. So you are more likely than not to get it, but it's deffo not guaranteed. Probably because there's one in that pit that Patches kicks you into to. I just wish you didn't have to hold the damn thing in front of you to make it light up. That am not how lantern work.
Well, dark souls 1 is a sensitive subject for me so here is the longest essay I have ever written as a youtube comment: Let me start off by saying great video as always. Dark souls 1 is an interesting game for me, if anyone asked me a few years ago what my favorite game of all time would be I would've probably said bloodborne, but dark souls 1 would have been a close second. With the release of Elden ring, I have finally gotten that addiction I had with Fromsoft games a few years ago, and replaying through the game for the first time in a while felt super rewarding (including the end game). However, through the last year, I realized just how much of ds1 I actually just don't enjoy (still an amazing game), and I think that's due to me being harshly critical of those segments that I don't enjoy because those first experiences were so special. So I am gonna talk a bit about the early game: I don't think I enjoy the early game as much as other people. I feel like Fromsoft created the areas and bosses of the early game as ways to teach new players how to play the game, and teach players to treat everything in the game as a puzzle. And I am fine with that, I feel like everything they did with that is perfect. The world design is of course the best I have ever seen in a video game. But through repeat playthroughs, I started to enjoy the game less and less, and I started to think about what the reason may be, and this is my conclusion: -Areas: I think that individual areas in ds1 are just not that fun to play through, comparing most of ds1 areas to other From games just showed me how much I just don't enjoy the areas as much. Undead burg feels like a short 10-minute segment that's very unrewarding to explore (good comparison for first areas: forest of fallen giants with its 10000 sidepaths, central yharnam which is my favorite area in the series because of how alive it feels and how big it is, the visually striking high wall of lothric...etc). The depths while rewarding to explore aren't fun to play through due to spammy rats that stun you without any telegraphs to some of their attacks and of course basilisks that curse for half your health. Darkroot garden is just an empty forest with almost nothing but really boring enemies (cool visually, boring to fight)...etc. And I feel like when I compare it to some other game's levels and how much fun I have exploring, and strategizing how to deal with enemies I kinda feel underwhelmed whenever I explore some dark souls 1 areas. And I put this in its own category: Anor Londo, I feel like anor londo for me lost the spark that it had on my first playthrough, it makes sense that it's the ultimate challenge in terms of exploration putting you in very difficult situations from the rafters with the painting guardians, the silver knight archers and of course O&S. But for repeat playthroughs, I realized that the way difficult was handled in anor londo just made it frustrating rather than fun. When I think of difficult locations from other games for example dark souls 3's ringed city, I feel the difficulty of that area comes from fighting tough enemies that are in groups, yet at the same time easy to separate and have a very clear weakness that you can use against them (for ringed knight its parries/backstabs, for harald knights it's plunging attacks), and the level design allows the player to play carefully to find said weakness and actually fight through the area and clear it without feeling as if the reason the area was difficult was not that the enemies were tough, but because the game restricted the player in some way giving the enemy a huge advantage that they shouldn't have while using the limitations of the player against them. Now I don't think all dark souls 1 areas are "bad" (i don't think the early game areas are bad, just underwhelming), my favorite area of ds1 is sen's fortress and that's because it's exactly what I want from a difficult area, traps that punish recklessness, tough enemies with clear weaknesses...etc. -Bosses: Boss fights are the main thing that separates From games from other games, simple combat with tough bosses. And I feel like for the early game dark souls 1 did its job. To teach the player through each boss different situations and how to deal with them (Asylum demon teaches that there are always multiple ways to fight a boss and that the simplest solution isn't always the right one. Taurus demon by forcing you to explore the area and find the platform up above which can be used to plunge taurus, or be used as a bigger area to fight taurus in. Gargoyles for teaching you how to fight multiple enemies, albeit I don't think they are quite as balanced as people make them out to be. Gaping dragon teaching them to use the boss's size against them...etc). But I feel like since their purpose was to teach the player, when they learn and overcome those challenges, these bosses just become lacking, having only very few attacks and so little hp that a fight against a standard enemy in the other games is more fun than any boss in early game ds1. Now let me talk a bit about O&S, now don't get me wrong they are my favorite fight in the game. But there are just too many issues I have with this fight. First off, people talk about the disparity in speed between the two, but through my hunders to thousands of times fighting them, that has never once come up in any strategy I used against them, the pillars yes but not the speed disparity. Smough's rush attack just removes any speed disparity the two had making the fight seem unfair at times when smough's big hammer decides to be spammed in your face 10000 times. An example of a fight where speed disparity actually matters is demon prince, where one is almost completely immobile as you fight the other (now I do have issues with that fight but it's not the focus right now). Secondly, separation through pillars is not consistent due to smough's charge, having Ornstein on one part of the pillar while the smough on the other is the most consistent way to get damage quick, but sometimes that's just inconsistent due to the way smough moves (and also by forcing you to always check on smough while Ornstein is still a danger) making many situations where taking damage or death unavoidable due to seemingly unfair situations...etc, now I have many more issues with the fight (second phase is boring, Ornstein is glitchy, Ornstein attack through smough with vision of Ornstein impaired due to smough's large body..etc) but I feel like I got my point across. Now finally after that long ass essay, let me talk a bit about the end game: Since your videos are almost always spot on, most of the issues you presented in your video are exactly my thoughts including many of the issues I had with the early game carried to the end game. So rather than just writing another essay explaining everything I hate about the end game. Let me just write about the points I disagree with: First off, New Londo: I think new londo is probably my favorite area of the end game, from the creepy atmosphere, the horrifying revelations of the dead population of new londo, the many ghosts (which probably are the ghosts of the people who inhabited new londo)...etc and I think that adds a lot to the area itself. In terms of level design, I think the fact that the flooded segment is blocked off and once unlocked is just under the first segment of the area is really clever. And finally the fight with four kings located at the bottom of the abyss in a pitch-black arena. Now about the four kings, I think that it is a perfectly fine fight. Sure it's a DPS test but putting on Havel's armor to tank the damage is a strategy that works on any boss in ds1 (including the DLC bosses) and I feel like that's an unfair assessment of the fight, the fight itself is probably one of the better ds1 fights because having that rush where you need to be as aggressive as possible (especially on sl1 with low damage output with a +0 weapon/fighting them on higher ng+ cycles), and learning their attack patterns and how to dodge through them is really satisfying because it's a fight that's really fun to get good at. And even fighting multiple kings at once is not unfair (at least not completely) because having more than one at the same time means they won't attack you as long as you are fighting one king (though transitioning between kings when one dies and all other 3 attack you is really hard). As for the runback, the shortcut with the ladder makes the runback much more bearable (it's still like 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds). And finally, Gwyn. I understand thinking gwyn to be an underwhelming final encounter due to parries. And of course, how aggressive and fast he is makes it seem like the difficulty disparity is huge. But I feel like I am fine with that, the parry not working on any other boss except gwyn makes sense because he is supposed to be a shell of his former and a pushover (though I feel like that is kinda ruined with his normal fight being, in my opinion, the hardest in the game to master). But his normal fight is by no means bad, I feel like learning to fight him unlocked, dodge the majority of his attacks (except the fast swing, I am not dealing with that shit), and learning the punishes (and healing opportunities that you have) makes gwyn a really satisfying fight to learn and beat normally. Also, not relying on parries but rather using them as a tool occasionally makes for a very fun climactic final battle for me. Well then, this took well over an hour to write so if anyone actually does read this, thanks for sticking with my bullshit.
I read through the whole thing and enjoyed every second! Very well written my friend. I do agree with the points about the first half as well. It doesn't hold up in some ways compared to newer games I think.
*Clicks 'Read More'* 'O_O!' Thanks for takin' the time to write this! Was a good read and I think I agree with everything really. Nice to see some New Londo Ruins appreciation :D
Long TH-cam comments on Souls videos are my favorite genre of literature. The way you describe your feelings about DaS1 changing over time is the exact same thing that happened to me with Demon's Souls. I played DaS1 first, and then DeS shortly afterward, and DeS became my favorite game of all time. But the more I've replayed it over the years, the more I find that I just don't enjoy a lot of the actual gameplay that occurs over the course of a playthrough. 1-1 is a great first level, my favorite in all of Souls. But after I complete 1-1 and open up the other archstones, I often find myself sitting in the Nexus for a couple minutes not really wanting to take on any of the next areas. If I have a piercing weapon or magic I'll clear out 2-1, or if I want to farm spice I'll go to 3-1, but it always feels like I have to force myself to actually play the game at that point. Things get better toward the late game once I actually get a build together (which takes SO LONG to do in DeS!), but over time I've realized that I don't even particularly like the early to mid game in what I consider my favorite game. I really want to like the Ornstein and Smough fight as much as others do, but Ornstein's ridiculous pathing, their attacks clipping through each other, and the lackluster second phase can diminish that enjoyment. I will say that when I get a fight where the glitchy movement and clipping doesn't happen, it's usually one of the highlights of a playthrough. When those problems present themselves, though, it's among my least favorite fights. I think that so much disparity in the experience of the fight depending on performance shows that it was designed well but implemented poorly. (I would still always choose to fight O&S over Throne Watcher and Defender in DaS2 who, while not glitchy and don't clip through each other that I've noticed, are not designed well as a double boss battle between sharing the same strengths/weaknesses and being placed in an unfit boss arena.) New Londo is one of my favorite areas in the game actually, but I have to disagree about 4 Kings. In my experience, and it seems to be the consensus of the community, the optimal strategy for 4 Kings is to put on Havel's, maybe equip the Crest Shield, and attack constantly. The way I see it, the optimal strategy to beat a boss in a Souls game should be to avoid taking hits and to attack only when there is a legitimate opportunity to do so. (As much as I love greatshield and spear playthroughs, I think dodging attacks is more skillful and should be rewarded.) The fact that dodging attacks, especially tracking magic attacks which last for a very long time, in the 4 Kings fight is likely to make you lose DPS and potentially cause the next king to spawn before you kill the first, suggests to me that they needed a bit of tweaking to properly reward skillful play. But that is a matter of opinion, as maybe the design should instead reward the resourcefulness of knowing to find good armor to be able to tank their hits, which it does. And I agree with your opinion on Gwyn. I do think that there's no reason you shouldn't be able to parry Capra Demon, maybe even Quelaag's sword attacks, but Gwyn is a good boss fight as he is, parries and all.
@@creatureofthegreatswamp1075 Can't really comment much on DeS as I haven't played it much myself (don't have a legal copy of the ps3 game, and my financial situation isn't the greatest so I can't really afford to buy a ps5 just to play one game). Watching a few playthroughs of the game isn't really enough for me to have the most in-depth opinion of the game. Talking about Throne watcher and defender, I actually enjoy that fight more than O&S (i think O&S are a better fight, I just don't enjoy them as much since they are either too easy on a casual playthrough, or too bullshit for harder challenge runs). If you would have asked me that during my first few runs then I would have not enjoyed the throne duo as much, but over the years as I mastered both fights, I found the throne duo to be much more consistent even if they aren't designed as well. The fight is actually balanced in a very unintuitive way by understanding the different AI states that they can be in. I won't go into detail but I recommend watching an sl1 ng+7 no roll..etc fight of them to see how it's done. About 4 kings, even if the optimal strategy in ng is to put on Havel's, It's by no means the actual optimal strategy for the fight in more dire situations as I have stated. Their low damage output just allows them to be tanked, but when they are an actual threat the fight just becomes much more fun (this is also the problem I have with SoC from ds3 who during phase 1 has a very low damage output allowing you to just tank the damage and r1 spam it down, however fighting it at sl1 ng+7, it turns into objectively the hardest fight in the series due to it having well over 50 attacks including soul mass on each of its 4 sub-phases in phase 1). Also about losing DPS, learning the fight properly, there was never an opportunity where I lost DPS from their magic attacks (except the aoe which only delays you for a few seconds), even the tracking magic you can dodge by just staying at the king's left side and strafing as you hit the king occasionally. And even then, multiple kings are 100% manageable because they rarely attack you as you are fighting one king (they only attack you when you get close to them, meaning if the king you are fighting pushes you towards one of the other kings, just be ready to dodge their attack). Now, I don't think four kings are an amazing fight (a solid b-tier), and as you have stated it is a matter of opinion. But since tanking is only viable for ng fights I don't really consider it an optimal strategy. Throughout the years, Fromsoft has been making games harder by forcing the player to actually learn more aspects of the combat, whereas in ds1 tanking damage and poising through everything was super effective (adding with that a greatshield and even DLC bosses don't require any skill), to bloodborne removing shields all together and increasing enemy speed putting much more emphasis on dodging. With Elden ring forcing the player to learn positioning since bosses punish you for running away to heal or just dodging mindlessly rather than understanding the fight and looking for opportunities in between attacks to either heal or punish. And I feel like with four kings I can be a bit lenient on the fact that a tanking strategy is the most effective on ng (again, of the 26 bosses, very few can't just be tanked mindlessly, even manus and artorias can be tanked to a certain degree). As for gwyn, I feel like a few bosses should have been parriable (Ornstein since old dragonslayer can be parried in ds2, gargoyles since they can also be parried in ds2, Capra demon since omen killer which is just a reskinned capra demon can be parried in Elden ring...etc). And I feel like gwyn being the only parriable boss in the game is just some way to make him feel special which I appreciate. What I don't like about gwyn is that he is very buggy, where often he just stands there doing nothing for a second before going back into a full sprint catching you off guard, though with how good everything else about the fight is, it's a minor thing that I can overlook.
The Seath runback + getting cursed was enough for me to quit my first attempt at the game. Fortunately, I've started another run and I just beat O&S again today 👍
Second note on the tomb: no, they didn't just toss in the darkness. It's very consistent with froms earlier games. They're very big on "challenge" levels where you have to sacrifice a gear slot for alleviating the suffering of an area.
That’s basically elden ring boss design. Which is why I don’t like the bosses as much as the previous games. Just cause it’s consistent with fromsoftawres design doesn’t mean it’s good :/
The Gwyn fight being as trivial as it is was an intentional decision. He's not the same lord of sunlight we've heard so much about. He's a hollow husk of his former self, the true god in him having been burned away in the First Flame. Similar to true king Allant in Demon Souls, it's meant to feel almost pathetic
So there's one key difference between Gwyn and False King Allant. If you don't parry or go Havel Armour/heavy weapon on Gwyn, he's actually very difficult! Very few windows to heal and he's super fast. False King Allant is trivial regardless of build so it works a lot better to get that point across (I still think having that as a final boss is mega anticlimactic though and would pick Gwyn over him)
@@IlIlllIllIIIlllllllII He said without parrying… obviously with parrying you have loads of time to chug lol. Have you tried him without parrying? It’s very similar to Soul of Cinders second phase if not the exact same, crazy range, long combos, fast, minimal windows to attack or heal, punishing grabs.
@@bolson42 yes I have beat him without parrying and soul cinders attacks are very telegraphed and he was a joke whem i used sellswords and I beat gwyn on my 2nd run with no armor no rings except calamity ring which makes you take double damage, I used a reinforced club and just caveman jumped him to death lmao
I kinda like the idea of Gwyn really not being a challenge, especially because of how all the other difficult bosses were. He's old, weakened, hollowed. He stumbles when he tries to grab you. You're putting him out of his misery. You're taking his place. And his place and role in Lordran is over. Even the music is melancholy. No cut scene. Here you are, so do what you're destined to do. No need for further explanation. You were chosen for this very moment, so just get it over with. And so it is....
The return to firelink was bitter sweet for me, because after I traveled up from blighttown, I went right instead of left and died to the zombie drake. Then I discovered the new London shortcut...
I can't agree more about the run backs with some bosses. I love Dark Souls 1 so much but every time I die to a boss it just becomes a slog to go through. Some areas are so massive but also empty at the same time. Also your video made me chuckle a lot. You deserve a like and a sub.
Solid vid! Well-structured and interesting :D My enjoyment of the second half wasn't that much less that the first really, tho I can totally understand why it was for many peep. I really like New Londo Ruins personally, such an unsettling place, both in setting/lore and in gameplay, the ghosties make it so ya never feel safe and the Darkwraiths are just plain scary af lol. Agree with everything you said about all the other areas. I do like Nito tho, I think he's a cool boss ^^
This is why when I replay the game now I play up to O&S, and challenge myself to slay every enemy that I get within targeting range of with as few deaths as possible. There's a few different areas to consider visiting after Gargoyle's and before Quelaag, which can make these runs more spicy as you can choose to only visit one of them. It seems like nearly any build works for this which is great, and if you're very fast and clean you can finish It in under 2 hours which I think is awesome haha.
@@drewpeacock9087 yeah, Darkroot, the usual path through both the Depths and Blighttown and...the Catacombs aka The Bone Zone lol. After clearing one of those areas I take the shortest path to Blighttown, which from Darkroot is the path through the Valley of Drakes meaning I also slay both lightning drakes on the way. From Catacombs I just take the shortcut from New Londo Ruins. The challenging part of the Depths path is Blighttown itself haha. I do skip a few enemies that aren't all that interesting. The Zombie Dragon is repetitive and can be pretty time-consuming, so I skip slaying it. Titanite Demons I leave entirely optional as they can be a chore to beat for non-spell builds. Also any Undead or Skeleton Archers that require a tall ladder or flight of stairs to reach in melee can be skipped. Finally there's a lone Undead you aggro once you enter Undead Burg from Firelink, but he's way below and it takes him nearly a minute to climb up so I just ignore him haha. The Toxic shooters in Blighttown I also let myself ignore, as otherwise it forces me to clear the whole mess of them from the path from Quelaag up to Firelink. To keep things spicy I slay the Hydra in Darkroot Garden after the Moonlight Butterfly and Havel, or every Necromancer in the Catacombs before Pinwheel. Slaying a skele that reanimates counts in my book as well as them falling down out of targeting range below you, but the best strat is often just booking it to the Necromancer and fighting his skeles after. Keep in mind if you try the Catacombs you will have to deal with all the Wheels at the bottom as well! Catacombs are no joke; it's trained me to reinforce armor and level up HP before it which drains a lot of early souls from the run haha. To help the Catacombs run I clear the Capra Demon, and also allow myself to poke my head into the Depths to rescue the Pyromancer for Combustion, which can also help deal with skeles. I do refrain from grabbing the Large Ember as that isn't something you'd be able to grab on the Darkroot Garden path either. In the same way if I'm a Wizard planning to clear Darkroot, I allow myself to poke my head into Lower Undead Burg to rescue the nerd there and meet him back at Firelink. Shortcuts are omni-important haha. You don't need to re-rest at the bonfire after Taurus Demon, but definitely kick down the ladder to it just in case. Waiting for the Drake to land on the bridge lets you run past and rest at the Sunlight Altar and open the gate there, which allows you a faster and easier trip to Lower Undead Burg after Gargoyles. Also always remember to trigger the elevator to Firelink from the chapel to get to Sen's Fortress quickly (you can run past the first platform and onto the second to skip the elevator ride back up).
Honestly I don't dislike the second half at all. The kiln of the first flame is the most beautiful looking place in the game. The only thing I hate the most is bed of chaos and that whole area in general.
In regards to the "warp to any bonfire location" topic after obtaining the Lordvessel, my guess is that the game designers wanted to (maybe) add a bit to the difficulty factor. It is way more stressful to travel by foot with a lot of souls and also, it increases the chance of getting killed. Indeed, I would have preferred translating this difficulty factor into something else (like an additional resource management step, as you mentioned), but I guess we have to work with what we have :)
the main issue is the selection of bonfires available, if they had at least one for each major area it'd be more bearable, some places are absolutely awful to backtrack to without a nearby warp
@@mattmangaming279 I hear you, I'm just not sure I agree. DS1 has some obvious issues, especially in the latter half, but I just never found the running to be a bother to me. I just like moseying around the world, it brings me a lot of joy.
@@CarlWidegrip fair enough, there are a lot of cool areas and it's nice to immerse yourself in the world, I just think they could've use at least 3 or 4 more warpable bonfires, especially considering they made every bonfire in the dlc warpable despite that being a lot more contained
@@mattmangaming279 Oh yeah, I understand that people will have different opinions on it. I just wanted to weigh in since the video seemed to insinuate that no one likes the running around, but I do. Just my two cents!
I think a happy medium for the fast travel, would be to have the ability to MAKE a bonfire BECOME a travel point. Like with the Estus and the rite of kindling. Have it cost a humanity or something. Then you could create your own travel points, and if you were commited enough, you could make every bonfire a travel point. But it would still require some backtracking and resources.
A fun story about your point regarding bonfire warping: I made it all the way through the Tomb of the Giants to Nito's door without realizing that I needed to place the lordvessel first before his door would open. There is a bonfire right near the door but you cant warp to it so I had to make the whole runback through Tomb of the Giants again just because. I already found the bonfire but I arbitrarily cannot warp to it.
I really like this video. I agree with almost everything you said, especially with the Tombs of the Giants part; people always says how difficult Blighttown is but they never say how frustrating the Tombs are! I hated that place in my first playthrough
I liked New Londo and the Catacombs honestly, it's a nice adventure (just wish the game had a torch). The Duke Archives are definitely okay too! And the Demon Ruins are tolerable and there are cool parts - I like fighting the Capra Demons and Tauruses to see how far I've come skillwise. It's the OUTRAGEOUS Lost Izalith location that's the issue... and the Bed of Chaos is an absolute anti-fun Frankenstein. Fortunately, once you memorize it, you just need 3-4 tries to get through it. Then onto the Kiln of the First Flame, which is awesome.
Doesn't the catacombs just reinforce the careful progression idea? I had zero issues with the Giant Skeledogs as I very carefully trudged through the area and saw their eyes in the dark as I progressed. I thought it was tense! And finding the ring was such a "That's so Cool!" Moment!
Carefully progressing by looking around and preparing for the different enemy encounters is not the same as blindly wandering around in the dark with no idea what’s going to happen. To compare these things even slightly is idiotic. And what? “Such a ‘that’s so cool’ moment”? What the fuck does that mean???
@@littlemoth4956 He is pointing out what you *can* see. Namely - all the enemies in the tomb of giants pretty much have glowing white eyes you can see before their aggro range.
For me, as someone who likes exploration quite a bit, the Tomb of Giants wasn't much of an issue. As I was carving my way through the game the first time I ended up going through Lost Izalith before going there (I believe I killed Pinwheel and didn't notice the two ladders out of his massive tomb). With exploration as a top priority as stated above, I found the bug (and Solaire unfortunately) so I was prepared for the Tomb of Giants even before I knew it existed 😁 I even like how the dots were connected in my head, maybe that whole area could've been planned out better for sure, but I felt like my meticulous exploration was truly rewarded at that moment. Entering that darkness for the first few times I died unsure if that's where I need to progress, just then I thought about Solaire's 'sun' and immediately put the bug on my head for the first time to see it lights up... Honestly it was the first time a game rewarded thinking and going off the beaten path this much. As for shitty enemy placement in the second half of the game, absolutely agreed, I don't think anyone can defend seeing all those Taurus Demons in one spot after defeating discharge
I played DS for the first time after ER this year, and even without nostalgia googles or the rose-tinted glasses of youth, I felt it was an absolute masterpiece. Until the halfway point. I actually really liked Tomb of the Giants, and New Londo Ruins was cool as well, although the lack of a bonfire was completely unnecessary (one behind the illusory wall leading across a narrow bridge to a small tower, would be the perfect spot). It all ended very anti-climactic as Gwyn was beaten on the first try, as all the DS bosses are very simplistic compared to ER and he didn't have a gimmick. I couldn't believe that was the final boss and the game felt like a joke to me.
I should add that I'm currently playing through DS2 and while it's nowhere close to the first half of DS1, it's still better than the second half. My main qualm is that the bosses are too easy, and the only way they give them difficulty is with an obnoxious run-up, which I felt also was an inherent flaw of DS1.
I don't mind of the running, but adding to the list of warpable bonfire would've helped so much. I liked earning warping, it felt like a huge payoff, but going into NG+ without it is....really annoying.
I think the second half is only less exciting on consecutive playthroughs. Areas like the Duke’s Archives feel so expansive and limitless until you realize how narrow your path really is. It doesn’t mean that they’re not beautiful, it’s just that they’re much more linear than the first half of the game.
I cant ever tell whether you're saying 'walk' or 'warp', and the distinction is kinda important so it was hard to follow along for a little bit there. lol Sorry for the nitpick, I enjoyed the video as a whole.
It really is a shame, I wish I could consider dark souls 1 as one of my favorite games in the series, because its world design and atmosphere honestly feel (plz forgive the cringe) magical. In a way that none of the other ones do. I still believe this game will get a proper remake at some point, so I hope it's done with care.
Honestly, Tomb of the Giants was such a «lol whatever» area that I just didn’t bother doing any extra work. I had already gotten through all the annoying shit to get there from the graveyard, so I just brute forced it in the dark. I honestly don’t know what the location looks like, but could find my way through by muscle memory within 20 attempts. And considering you just sprint, it seems like an okay time investment, knowing you’ll never have use for lighting up locations before or after that area ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’m glad that the games since didn’t go for that design again. They knew it was a bad area, at least in retrospect.
@@Bread_n_Roses There are 3 items that can help with this. 1 is guaranteed, but in an area you might not do before the tomb. Also I don't remember if you can even get the maggot hat if it gets Solaire. 1 is guaranteed, but in an area you might not do before the Tomb, requires DLC, and I don't remember if it has stat requirements. 1 is not guaranteed, capping at a 50% drop rate, and has an even lower chance if you do not find the more hidden necromancers. There's a reason they press the torch into your hand at the very start of Dark Souls 2, for a single place in the game that really needs it, and that area is full of duration refills that are highly visible even if you don't have any left.
After the release of elden ring I started to go back to the older from games, after playing through demons souls I played dark souls even though I thought I heard everything the game has to offer. After beating Ornstein and Smough though I realized that I had only ever heard about the first half of dark souls, and the second half became a complete mystery due to the noticeable lack of content on it.
I'm probally gonna drop the hottest hot takes so be warned. Second half of dark souls 1 is still good. I dont really get the second half bad sentiment there is only one bad area but everybody makes a mockery of the entire half? its like saying the entire first half sucks cuz blight town. Dukes archive is amazing, on par if not better than many of the first half areas of DS1 along with the first encounter with seath being really cool with the required death and being transported to the prison where you fight back down and face him again. Quality all around plus moonlight great sword and cool lore. Great boss, weapons, area and lore so already second half is going well. Debatebly sif is a second half boss fight being required only in the second half of the game. lets just say he is a first half boss though, entering into the new londo ruins there is a fire keeper soul which can be gotten early, neat. the new londo ruins though being a gimmick is still fun imo and very stressful plus moody. entering into the lower ruins we have some of my favourite enemies, the darkwraits. Cool enemies imo. aesthetic Coming on to the tomb of giants i would have to largely disagree with the video, the torch mechanic is amazing and offers a new dynamic to the area in being able to only one hand your weapon and leaving you open to attack thus requiring care and precision. Overall its a meh area all things considered. Nito is one of the coolest bosses in ds1. amazing lore, design, hidden covenants and cool boss soul weapon. the catacombs are also cool imo offering up the necromancers and the garunteed lantern off of the final one for the upcming area. overall a not bad few areas, pinwheel is pinwheel. Nito is one of the coolest bosses so thats a plus for the area. Overall one meh and one super cool boss, alright lore, cool items and mechanics. But thishalf of the game is garbage? No of course not all these areas are cool in their own right, amazing lore, bosses and enemies not to mention weapons and armour. this brings us to demon ruins and lost isalith. Herin lies the problem, lost isalith. Demon ruins is an amazing area one of my favourites in fact. The capra demons showing you how far you have come since the initial fight same with taurus. firsage kinda sucks same with ceasless but to say centipede demon sucks is a mockery of the fight. The fight is fun and has a cool boss plus the lava ring which makes you feel badass walking across the lave like nothing. And now we get to lost izalith, hard agree with the enite video this place sucks ill leave it there from here i agree with the video. And then the kiln and gwynn, one of the best areas with cool enemies and an amazing final boss. If you parry it is trivial but if you dont it is a genuine challenge and a fun battle with crazy lore significance. So here we have 1 amazing area, one good area, one meh area and one bad area. Yet this is a garbage half??? not to mention the community trying to convince new players this areas suck and not letting them decide for themselves. How is this half bad with these things considered? overall though amazingly put together video i must say, funny yet thought provoking, definitly earned a sub from me. edit: by demon ruins i mean pre firesage demon area
Another thing I want to say about the second half is Gwynn boss fight. Not the fight it’s self but how it’s supposed to be a tragic ending especially with the music. But unless you read item descriptions or watch videos you really won’t know much. You miss the point of why it’s sad but its really not the players fault bcz there isn’t really much of a build up. In DS3 the world building and ending feels satisfying bcz it actually builds it up.
As someone who enjoyed playing the game unorthodox, I do enjoy New Londo and Tomb for existing. I think that what most people often leave out is how both areas, although technically designed to be fairly hard for an average player to get through, give items near their entrances (or close to it) in order to make it easier. The Catacombs has a secret area where the Parish Elevator is that gives the Morning Star. Although it's bleed on skeletons is useless, as a blunt weapon it is an easy way to make skeletons nearly useless as it staggers them heavily, which you can use in order to push many skeletons off of the cliff with patience. New Londo also has something as well, giving 2 pairs of Transient Curses (one heading to new londo pre-bridge, and after the wooden bridges there is one in the jar in the same large platform that connects to the firekeeper soul and to the upper parts of new londo). With 4 Transient Curses, you have enough tries in order to kill the ghosts. Combine TC with the Humanities that you get from the well in Firelink Shrine, you can consume the Humanities and keep killing ghosts to get more TCs, until you eventually get the Jagged Cursed Blade (one of the underrated weapons that helps immensely early-mid game). With the Crystal Lizards that are found in the Catacombs, as well as collecting some in either the forest or otherwise, the player can upgrade their Jagged Ghost Blade to +4 and be able to kill a lot of mid-late game enemies with relative ease. Doesn't help that it also has bleed, and if you get past unflooding New Londo, you can bleed the Darkwraiths and Wyverns to death, as well as kill the Red Sage that is keeping the New Londo Key with ease. It is a descent-damage dex weapon that you can upgrade nearly to max without ascending, and its bleed effect can topple a lot of heavy enemies very fast. Combining the Morning Star and the Jagged Curse, you can immediately do New Londo and Catacombs pretty early. I often do New Londo first and unflood the area after killing enough ghosts and getting the Jagged, followed by doing the Catacombs and clearing that. I often go all the way until Pinwheel and kill them as my 2nd boss so that I can rekindle all my bonfires up to +20 (I mean I really don't 'need' to early game, but I love having every single bonfire in the game be maxed because the fires in OG, not remastered, looked pretty cool). Paladin Leeroy helps A LOT with dealing agains the skeleton wheels and the black knight down below, and if you take the time to clear everything you can leave him in the pits, go back up, and unlock the dwarf skeleton to use whatever souls you gathered to upgrade the Morning Star (or the Mace you probably picked up by Leeroy) all the way to +5 Normal (or turned it into a Flame weapon thanks to the Green Titanite near him) to help deal against the skeletons and be able to kill them. the Jagged Curse helps a lot against killing the Necromancers. If I am doing a Faith build, I also take the time to often save the priests to get one of the few Offensive Spells that you can use since Miracles generally lack one for a long time, but for the most part I take the time to collect the Silver Covetous Ring just so that I can level up my Egghead fast. After getting what I want, I often leave VIA Homeward Bone. The Dwarf Skeleton is also nice to unlock in order to upgrade the Jagged Ghost to +3 thanks to the 2 crystal Lizards near the hidden Bonfire Tunnel, as well as getting any weapon/armour upgrades I desire. I often purchase the key items that allow you to upgrade your armour and weapons at the Blacksmith just so that I can upgrade all but my non-standard weapons to Maximum. I even go ahead and purchase the Gravelord Sword from joining the Nito Covenant and upgrade it so that I have a descent heavy weapon to make use of, and all twink and demon weapons can be upgraded to max at the bonfire without ascension tech. Afterwards, I will often go back to New Londo after clearing what I desired, usually using the Gravelord Sword and/or the Jagged Ghost to clear most of the enemies out. You can get the GS upgraded to +2 thanks to the Titanite in Catacombs and the Forest, so its a valid option to do it before using either or against Sif. You can enter the Forest through the Gateway and kill the Drakes either by bleeding them to death early with the Jagged or coming back with your upgraded weapons from Catacombs to do it (or roll past them, but they are pretty 'buggy' enemies so its not always reliable). You can kill Sif as your second or third boss depending if you fight Pinwheel or not, and can grab the Stone Armour and the Crystal Lizard to get an easy chance to kill the Four Kings next. If you killed Pinwheel, you should have enough estus, armour, and descent weapons in order to kill the boss fairly quick. Whenever I play, it's usually Asylum, Pinwheel, Sif, and then Four Kings as the first 4 Bosses of the Game. The freedom that Catacombs and New Londo give (as well as much of the first half of the game) was what made me enjoy replaying it after dealing with the game enough. I wish that the Souls series stuck to that philosophy of inter-twining locations, instead of often relying on linear paths and dead-end paths for many of the series until Elden Ring. I do enjoy that New Londo was so early access, it made the game very enjoyable for replays. I think that it one of the issues I have with the other three 'second-half' locations is that many are just a dead-end path that NEEDS the warp mechanic in order to not make it tedious. I think that Tomb in particular could have been fixed if it was 'larger' and was able to connect to both Ash Lake and the Demon Ruins as it shows through its background promps of its two locations when exploring, and give some more depth to the game as a whole. I honestly would have enjoyed it more if they did, but then again the worse enemy to contend with is the Skeletal Beasts in terms of non-shitty enemies with anything lacking range (thank god Gravelord Sword has that strong Thrust Attack).
An aspect about the world design going more open that I appreciate is that you’re incentivized to go to whichever area benefits your build the most. Pyromancer? Do Izalith first. Sorcery? Duke’s Archives. Miracles? Tomb of the Giants. It encourages not only playing the games in different ways not just by what weapons and stats you have.
What part of anor londo are you guys talking abt? The only part i can think of are the tons of painting guardians but that seems more like a result of ariamis being rushed. Everything else felt perfect to me.
Yeah you are more or less right. For me the Dukes Archive is just as perfect as Anor Londo, New Londo is on par with the whole Darkroot area, on ToTG at least we had a clever way down there. The only weak area is the rushed Lost Izalith but only the second half after the Centipede Demon before that it's just fine. IMO the second half of the game is still way more interesting than the whole DS3.
Tomb of the Giants is pretty bad too. I wouldn't be shocked if the reason they ended up making that area completely dark is because they couldn't finish it properly.
@@gamble777888 But at least it makes sense to be dark since it's deep below the surface, it's the realm of the first of the death itself, not just a copy pasted dragon asses all over on a bliding lava like in Lost Izalith. It's a challanging and suffocating area with a constant high level of dread since you don't see anything while the map is a cleverly made up vertical and horizontal maze that automatically makes you the impression to get out here as soon as possible. I agree it isnt the most highlight part of the game by any means, but calling it just plain bad is just doesnt do it justice at all. Tbh it's like Blighttown even if it isn't as perfectly designed, which is also a dark and unpleasant and for the fist time a highly confusing area with many deadly enemies in a dangerous environment. For some reason (it's called nostalgia) Blighttown got a pass and now it praised by many as one of the best area of the game while there were times when the overal consensus about the place was just pure hate.
100% agreed. It was particularly awful when I did my SL1 run last year. Loved everything up until O&S. O&S is a good fight, when you're a bit strong and don't die with 1-2 hits.. Just because that atrocious dash Ornstein pulls. But after... just bad, in my opinion. One refreshing thing though: DLC was really good. I didn't like most of the path down in Oolacile, but the bosses no doubt made up for it. Nonetheless, DS1 was a milestone and served us Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. So... It was good enough. PS: I like your videos. Really good reasoning. Keep 'em coming :).
I pretty much agree with you on mainly everything. DS1 will always be my favorite souls game even though I love DS3 and hell even DS2 wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be before playing it (although it's still my least favorite by far). Having played DS2, 3, and ER now, it's crazy to think about how much more punishing DS1 is compared to the rest of the "more advanced" souls games with arguably harder bossfights (barring O&S and some of the DLC bosses). Your example of getting stuck at the bottom of the catacombs early game comes to mind. Depths as well especially if you get cursed and don't bring/run out of purging stones. I even agree with what you said about warping., Seemed really arbitrary to make some bonfires non warpable. However the example you gave about having to run back to the valley of the drakes - I'm pretty sure it would have been faster to do the route you mention in 20:12. God I would have hated having to run through the valley door to new londo everytime. Honestly the whole thing about warping is a tough topic for me. One of the reasons I love DS1 is for the metroidvania/looping aspects you spoke about early game. With warping being allowed at the beginning of every subsequent souls game, don't get me wrong, it's convenient, but nothing comes close to that first half of DS1 for that very reason. I really wish the rest of the games would have more backtracking and looping, but I recognize it would likely have to come at the cost of not allowing warping at the beginning, which most players hate.
In regards to the skull lantern, I have never had a character that didn't get it or didn't have the light spell or sunlight maggot after the first playthrough, this includes all my characters from the 360 version and remaster. I don't know if it was insane luck but as a result I always enjoyed tomb of the giants for the most part. As for the second half of the game, again I don't really have much issue apart from Lost Izalith being heavily unfinished and the first seath fight that demands you die, but even with that there was always several orange signs down talking about it. Tomb was fun to explore in the dark and being cautious around every corner, New Londo overall was well done and gave a good challenge the first few playthroughs with there not being a bonfire in it. Duke's Archives gave me that grand library feel and I even enjoyed the crystal cave. If we're talking about weak points then it's two of the four lords themselves. Seath is a bore and is far more tedious then difficult, even going for his tail. The bed of chaos is the bed of chaos, I don't think we can beat that dead horse any further. Also the tomb of the giants hint should be self-explanatory. It's really dark, go find something that emits light whether it be a spell or gear piece. All in all, the only point where I get that feeling of wanting to get it over with is the Izalith section and two bosses, which overall is nowhere near half of the game.
The first half of Dark Souls 1 plus Ash Lake and the painted world is on of my favorite stretches of video game ever. If fromsoft or bluepoint or someone remade DS1 and finished the second half, it would shoot WAY up in my ranking of the series. DS1 deserves it
I love this game but I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: the greatness of the first half was an accident. None of the other games in the series locks you out of fast travel for so long. That's really the main thing that makes the first half so good. That sense of progression as you go deeper and deeper into hellish regions and the feeling that you might get stuck there with no easy way out. Thats why it feels like such an accomplishment to make it to Anor Londo.
In fairness to tomb of the giants (my favorite area in the game) the catacombs almost require you to kill all the necromancer and the skull lantern is a common drop from them and is guaranteed to be dropped by at least one. I always viewed the lesson being to pay attention too the items you get!
@@yacine6415 I don’t think so since out of my three characters, third one didn’t get any drop It increases with each necromancer you kill to a high chance but not guanteeded
Subbed for the "Soul" (😏) fact that you said at the beginning. That you wouldn't count Darkroot, Ariamis and DLC. Very fair and logical despite it being your favorite game. Most people wouldn't do that. I like that!
Bed of Chaos is one of the best bosses from a meta pov. The witches of Izaleth tampered with a force so dark that it causes pain in the real world. 100/10. Genius idea.
bravo Miyazaki!
Bed of Chaos, also known as Bed of Bullshit
@@mikeyisbombable so powerful you used your orange soapstone in TH-cam
@@mikeyisbombableNah it aint so bad. People overreact
Bed of Bullshit is a great boss imo. I wish it was done slightly better, and I have an idea on how. It'll take me so long to write it out, I may make a post or reddit post or smth on what I think
The first time I saw lost izalith, I actually thought the game was bugged. I thought the dragon butts somehow replaced the real enemies that were supposed to be there. Furthermore, the way they're placed looks like a guy with a level editor was just Spam clicking because they needed enemies in that area to ship the game
Yeah the level editor point is so true! There's so many of them as well, who's going to stop and fight them in that lava?!
@@JKLeeds uhhh I feel called out lol I just made it my mission today no less, to kill every dragon ass
@@Hirotoro4692 well you are a far braver person than me! 😂
@@JKLeeds me, I am, I did that my first go, and usually do it once every playthrough
@@JKLeeds maybe I'm confusing 2 rooms here, but I killed pretty much all of them from a strategic safe highground using my 999 wooden arrows.
The game peaked early with the way to the Gargoyles, imo. Undead Burg has the best design and enemy placement, by far. And the elevator back to Firelink? Better than falling in love.
It's definitely a great area. I like Anor Londo a lot though (yes, even the archer bit!😂) and also the Blightown loop back up to Firelink
@@JKLeeds Anor Londo looks great, but it's deceptively empty.. I'd give it to the Dukes Archive in the late game
I never really enjoyed undead burg that much, compared to more colorful areas like the forest and the dukes archives
@@JKLeeds I’ve only died to the archers one singular time In all of my play throughs I really don’t get why people hate that part so much
@My Name is Ryan the first half is really empty, just face it, it's pretty much nothing but huge empty spaces until you reach the cathedral.
the weirdest part about demon firesage imo is the fact they didn't even change his explosion damage type to fire, it's still magic damage AND he's still weak to fire like the stray demon because that's how rushed he is
Lorewise it makes sense though. Fire magic isn't pyromancy. So, since they came from the Witch of Izalith, they are being of magic, not necessarily resistant to fire
@@riccardoromani9916 the chaos fire spells are literally pyromancies, pyro = fire mancy = magic
is the fire sage not solomon? yknow the guy who was known for pyrmancy?@@riccardoromani9916
@@AleK0451the chaos pyros come from quelana, the mother of pyromancy. The demon uses the original flame sorcery. That's why the witches use staffs, except quelana. At least in the opening cinimatic. I guess quelana taught the sister outside bed of chaos to use a pyromancy flame but she drops the izalith catalyst.
@@riccardoromani9916Pyromancy LITERALLY MEANS fire magic. Pyro = Fire, Mancy = Magic.
As soon as I got out of blight town I forgot to rest at another bonfire. Used a homeward bone and ended up back in blight town
I feel genuinely bad you had to experience that 😂 did you go back through it again?
The even more fucked up thing about that door in los izaleth is that before the remaster you had to give the humanity one at a time over and over again
Yes I remember that well. Painful! Same with using Souls/Humanity from the inventory
@@JKLeeds eh i never found the individual use souls too much of a problem. i always just put them in my inventory and spammed X lol
plus she's behind a hidden wall so most people aren't even going to find her much less give her 30 humanity.
It takes a little over 4 minutes.
I remember doing that... Except I did ~45 humanity since I accidentally left the covenant and had to rejoin
I went all the way into the tomb of the giants because I remember an NPC telling me that there was a secound bell "below" that I had to ring. it was heartbreaking when I go to the fog gate sealed by the great lord and had to go all the way back.
Ironically, based on the area backgrounds you can see, the Demon Ruins are connected to the Tomb of the Giants. Not in a way you can travel though. The second bell is right before the Demon Ruins, so you were so close, yet so far. It is "below", just... on an entirely different path to go "below".
Probably would've been cool if there was some kind of connecting path between DR and TotG. Especially since the Sunlight Maggot is in the DR area.
Because you played BEFORE this stupid trend of "mommy, 2nd half DS1 scares me". I played when it released on PC, this idea didn't exist and we were hyped about rumors of DS2.
@@osvaldoprado9906
1. Chill
2. Hate for the second half absolutely existed
@@stungunnotapplicable1953ds2 would just have a zipline lol :^)
@@AbysswalkerASMR I can't see if we had a conversation before, don't know what you are talking about. Yeah I like DeS, so many memories I want go back in time to play it like the first time.
I think a large part of the reason the second half falters is because of outside factors such as deadlines needing to be met and publisher pressure. Reports from employees at the time DS was being made report pretty poor conditions with crunch and overworking abundant and I think it shows here.
Fromsoft was a far smaller company then compared to now, so when Bandai said “we need this finished in 2 months” they needed to finish in 2 months or they’d be fired. Hence the first half being carefully constructed and detailed with the second half being a development marathon to reach the finish line in time.
Yeah there definitely was a rushed development cycle for sure
Yup, even without all of the insight you share here it's blatantly obvious that the second half was rushed just by looking at the difference in level and enemy design. I think the only area that is fleshed out and pretty solid in the second half is the Duke's archives. Everything else is clearly a step down from the rest of the game.
I wish we knew what it was supposed to be
And yet people complain about Elden Ring for the same reason that its late game isn't the same quality. I think FormSoft just kinda sucks at ending their games because Bloodborne's third act also leaves a lot to be desired. Thats 3 widely acclaimed games with the same primary issue.
@@geordiejones5618 I do think ER suffers more cause it is so much longer so that becomes more apparent at the end plus other factors like overtuned enemies, but I agree with ya ending wise it is BB, DS then ER for me mostly cause ER is so long that the end can become a slog while the others are shorter and thus it is less of a slog
I never understood how many players complained about Blighttown in a game that had Tomb of Giants and Lost Izalith in it...
Its mainly the massive FPS drops in the original game pre Remaster, especially if you played on Console.
itd often drop down to single digits.
The remaster is way better optimized in the area, even on the Switch it doesnt drop frames in Blighttown now.
Honestly blighttown really wasn't that bad, it was pretty funny even
@lordmpfree4564 I feel the first part of blight town is annoying (Toxic being a pain), but the lower levels aren't bad, and the best invasion wifu appears!
Blightown is very tough first up. But once you get the hang of it you can breeze it and have fun. Tomb and Lost Iz are just an unfun slog, no matter how well you know the sections.
the problem with Blighttown is how much tougher of an area it is compared to the ones before it, especially for how early in the game it is. of course everything pales in comparison to Tomb and Izalith, but those are quite later in the game.
I can’t be the only one who tried going through the Catacombs AND New Londo before ever finding Undead Burg because I missed the doorway in the aqueduct
My dad had to tell me that it wasn't the correct way past the skeles
For me I missed the Capra Demon and Depths. I dunno if I missed the key, or just never checked it again or what, I just didn't do the depths until I had done the Catacombs, then I got into Blighttown through the Valley of the Drakes, found the great hollow and ash lake, then went through Havel's tower and did Darkroot, then back to blight town and beat Quelag and rang the bell that way. Didn't find the depths until after Anor Londo, I forget exactly when.
Suffice to say the Capra Demon and Gaping Dragon had a terrible awful rotten no good awful bad day.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290hearing other people’s path they take when they play the game is why I love dark souls so much. It just goes to show how truly open and freely you can explore the world of dark souls. The game essentially allows you to do damn near everything as soon as you leave the asylum.
You aren’t. I had the same paths. And I got stuck at the bottom by the necromancer for awhile
Now I'm curious what are the things you can't do out the gate
Every new playthrough after I finish o&s I immediately get a deep sense of agony and dread knowing I have to go through the second half
Me too, which is why I pretty much stop at that point everytime I try to replay it.
Crazy how the same happens in Elden Ring. You get to the capital and game peaks but after that main boss it declines.
The kiln wrong warp is basically part of playthrough
@@noobeternal9718
I feel like it’s the opposite in Dark souls 3. First part is kinda boring and sucks, but around Irithyll the game starts getting good and then really great. And the bosses are amazing throughout. Dark souls 2 is actually very consistent imo but i don’t like it. And sekiro and bloodborne are enjoyable all the way through for me.
@@Ab-he4vf it does decline after Leyndel. Snowy areas suck some serious ass. Then Farum Azula and Haligtree make a comeback for the game, they have awesome level design but not the likes of Limgrave & Caelid. The last bosses except Elden Beast are great but still overall second half of Eden Ring feels like a sharp decline. Just like DS1, but not so dramatic.
I agree with everything up until the final boss, I think it is absolutely perfect. Gwyn was shown as godlike in the opening cutscenes but turned out to be a hollowed who kindled the flame like you are trying to do. having no cutscene, being visibly hollowed, and having the most beautiful melancholy solo piano piece that gives off the vibe that this lord was defeated long before you got there. I think its a 10/10 boss fight and top 3 in souls.
After having a pretty easy time with most of the bosses Gwyn destroyed me quite a few times, and it felt fair. Pretty fun fight and great design
He needed more health.
Offensively he's fine, the problem is that he dies so, so quickly.
My first playthrough, he died in like seriously 10 seconds. Crystal Soulmass chewed off half by itself, then I smacked him with a club twice.
Someone put a message before the fight, telling me that he is weak to parries. I beat him first try and felt it really underwhelming. The worst part is that everyone says Gwyn having no cutscene and being very easy to kill is intentional, when he is clearly rushed and not as fleshed out as the devs wanted him to be
@@Wilsooooon
Agree.
Nobody would complain about Gwyn being strong if he was. There wouldn't be anyone saying he should be weaker, there'd just be people satisfied with a good final boss, and impressed that even after everything he was still strong.
There's even ways to do bosses that feel obviously weaker than their prime, while still being strong. Hell, they DO this in Dark Souls 1 with Artorious, who they had time to refine, and they absolutely nailed it with Ludwig and Gael, with phase 2 being them temporarily finding a little bit of what they used to be, and Gael even finding something extra by phase 3.
Heck. They even did it with Gwyn in Dark Souls 3. Did anyone complain when Soul of Cinder's second phase wasn't super easy?
@@Wilsooooonit is widely known that Gwyn was rushed, people don't say this was intentional, they say it accidentally ended up better this way from a lore perspective.
the duke's archives honestly is my favorite area in the whole game; not only is it visually stunning, but it also has such interesting sequences and mechanics (The fake out Seath encounter, the rotating staircase and secret doorways, as well as the whole small forest before the entrance to the crystal cave.)
Something about being in this huge library that's literally above the clouds on a hilltop, with the pink sky always visible from the outside sections is really captivating in a game that's usually so dark and dreary (besides for anor londo of course)
I do really like it as a whole, outside of the disappointing boss + runback
@@JKLeeds Seath's difficulty is really there for mage builds - getting the legendary weapon is the real challenge.
The fake boss part kinda gets me pissed off. Like just imagine trying to do a no death run but forget they put that shit in your path
It was always my least favorite area but it's still cool
@@worstthanaveragegamer1041 a lot of people don't know, but you can just WALK BACK the fog gate on the first encounter and proceed to the archives with the lift jump trick, completely skipping the need to die and the jail cell block, however, being in the upper floor and trying to go DOWN to get the items/spells there is not that easy given that you skipped a bonfire.
I assume the lack of bonfires in new londo was to avoid new players accidentally resting there early on and getting stuck, but i dont understand why they couldn't place atleast one bonfire right at the first bridge to avoid the slow elevator
I always thought it was because the place was flooded so any bonfires would have gone out but idk
@@bendaniels1235
Im pretty sure that is literally the canonical answer
@@bendaniels1235 Here's the thing: They made the game. They made the lore, the design, everything. It is whatever they wanted it to be. If they wanted to have some way for bonfires to believably exist there just for good design reasons, they could've simply done so.
@@AniGaAG Agree
Because bonfires have to do with fire of life and new londo ruins is a place of the dead
The first half of the game up to O&S is still to this day one of the best things ive ever experienced in gaming, its funny how drastic the dip in quality is almost immediately after anor londo.
My replays of the game usually ends after Anor. It’s not that the second half is bad, but just forgettable to me.
Second half just ends up being boss room rushes rather than enjoying a journey to an epic fight.
@@elephantshelf3617 The first half and dlc feel like you're going on an actual adventure... the second half becomes an annoying, unfinished fetch quest. All for a boss that can be parried to death
@@beans3977
Doing Seath, then New Londo, into the DLC is a pretty good experience.
Really, it's just Izaleth and the Catacombs that kinda suck the joy out of me, and this routing coincidentally sets up the DLC, primes you for it, then you do it, and aren't so overlevelled that you can just facetank Artorious.
Whatever you do after that is up to you. Finish the game on principle, maybe go quit game for the last time with Priscilla to keep her company, glitch into Gwyn's room to make a statement, idk.
So like Elden Ring then. Post Leyndell I feel like the quality takes a nosedive.
@@weirdeurasianboy8091 yeah the similarity with DS1 is crazy, dip in quality in around half a game after exploring a gorgeous city, and then the game kinda becomes a slog you want to finish as soon as possible.
I do understand being disappointed in Gwyn being weak, but as a lot of others have said... That's kinda the point.
And while I understand that the final boss being weak because of lore reasons could be kinda appealing to lore nerds, for normal players theres nothing more dissapointing than the final fight of the game being easy, thats the same problem with demon souls (and ds2 for some people). Not only that but if they made a hard fight with him while saying he's in a "weakened state" it would be 1000x better for everyone.
@@otaviojohannjardim1702 Wouldn’t say it’d be 1,000X better for everyone. Like for normal players I guess, but in the lore? Nah, him being still powerful wouldn’t make sense.
Only boss being still in a powerful state even when weakened I can think of that works is Radahn, but his weakened state is because of him being that of a beast, not because he lost any actual strength, just his mind.
Another one I can think of is Artorias, but that’s because he became corrupted by the Abyss and lost an arm, again, not because he lost any real strength, just became corrupted and lost his mind and an arm.
But Gwyn lost almost all his strength because he sacrificed himself to the First Flame as fuel, so him still being strong doesn’t make sense there. And he can actually be a pretty cool fight, as long as you don’t parry cheese him.
@@otaviojohannjardim1702 it's not just a "lore nerd" thing. Even a normal player can feel the narrative weight of the great and mighty Gwyn being a sad and shallow hollow. His lack of difficulty reinforces the theme of the story. Even normal players have the right to a good story.
@@otaviojohannjardim1702 they did that with Elden Ring...go look at how many people complain about it
Agreed, the anticlimax is crucial to the experience of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Gwyn is also unlikely to feel like a _total_ pushover to new players anyhow. It's funny to me because obviously you're _supposed_ to feel at least a little frustrated at some level, that's the point - some people want their games to only serve them with the limited set of emotions deemed acceptable in mass pop art, but that twist on your expectations is at the heart of the ludonarrative masterpieces of the Soulsborne series.
I feel like asking for a more "satisfying" ending is a bit like asking for an easy mode, it just kinda misses the point and wants to make the game into something it just isn't
I actually forced my way through the catacombs all the way to Pinwheel. It was hella difficult but I thought to myself "well it's Dark Souls, so it's probably supposed to be like this"
Same. I played DS2 and DS3 before DS1, so I was used to the series' bullshit. I killed EVERY SINGLE enemy up to Pinwheel, only to find that I had dug myself into a deep dark pit with no way back up. I said fuck it, put the game down for a week or two before deleting that character.
People praise how open DS1's world is, but I will argue that it is just open enough to fuck you over if you decide to explore the tougher areas that are obviously presented to you at the start of the game. I ended up doing the same fucking thing with Lost Izalith.
I don't think that DS1 is a masterpiece. It never made me feel that way. Almost everything it does, I genuinely think DS2 does better. And if you want that DS1 nostalgia, just play DS3.
@@FKyoutubeSERIOUSLYSkill issue, you weren’t really stuck down there, you just kept dying or got lost.
@@coleozaeta6344 No, I went Hollow. I was neither stuck nor lost. I told you I put the game down after I realized what I did. I didn't want to fight all those over leveled skeletons again.
Also, it is rude to necro.
@@FKyoutubeSERIOUSLY
Honestly, the game just needs a "darksign returns you to Firelink" thing, since the worst problems of Dark Souls 1 are mainly getting stuck at the ass end of nowhere.
That and Izaleth.
Also generally agree. Unless it's specifically for lore and atmosphere, I don't think there's any reason to play Dark Souls 1 over 2.
I could see liking 3 more or less just based on preference for the game feel, but 2 generally improves on 1 in every single way it could. Only thing it messes up is removing the kick for the fart waft.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Interesting take. Most people I see consider 2 to be the worst DS game, so much so that it became a meme to hate on Dark Souls 2 just because.
The difficulty of the four kings really shines in NG+. They have the largest difficulty jump out of any other boss, massive health and damage and it becomes very hard to not have 2 or 3 swarm you.
It’s the definition of a dps test
@@MILDMONSTER1234 Absolutely, you gotta be smoking them the entire time, stamina management/boosts become a lot more important.
@@MILDMONSTER1234 or can be turned into a poise and stamina test. Only way I ever beat them on 2 different NG+ playthroughs was with full Havel and using the pattern of swing-swing-chug-swing-swing-chug, and repeat
Didn't notice any difference in my NG+ run. Same "human"-shaped punching bag. To me, the DLC bosses are the ones with the spiciest difficulty increase.
Haven't gone into higher NG+ levels though.
@@MILDMONSTER1234 so normally I'd agree, but I take everything slow & just learned to dodge multiple at a time. All the more, it's THAT much better when you're outnumbered and depth is obscured.
Actually, the skull lantern us better than you think. The description says it is aligned with the catacombs and if you use the lantern you will see blue torches on the wall light up. While these wall torches don't provide much light, following them brings you straight to Nito so you don't have to run around the drakness trying to find the boss door.
Oh dang I never realized that that's pretty cool
It's also dropped by necromancers in the catacombs (so you don't need to be pushed down by the thief). I had 2 before going to the tomb of giants, and the description is pretty clear on its purpose. And honestly, even if I was using smough's hammer or dragon tooth, I liked the fact I had to either use them with one hand and be giga slow or switch to two hands and see nothing for some seconds
I've used the skull lantern every playthrough and just run around like a headless chicken, never knew about this... Damn I feel stupid
For those talking about getting the skull lantern in the catacombs:
I am aware that it can drop from the necromancers however contrary to popular belief it is actually not a guaranteed drop. The initial drop rate starts at 2% but then increases by ~10% for every necromancer you kill. So by the time you get to the 6th one, the drop rate is ~52%, just higher than half. I've had several playthroughs where I didn't get it as a result even though all necromancers were killed.
Do you have a source?
Idk how or why but i got 3 lanterns first playthru
Where did you get that? All sites I could find say that the last ones guaranteed.
I havent gone through the Catacombs in ages, I just skip my way to the bottom XD infact that whole area is just a blur of running to Nito :p
Didn't drop on my 1st PT. Had to go dark until the one get after Patches kicks you.
Really appreciate your take on Gwyn. He’s actually a pretty challenging boss if you’re playing the game blind. There’s absolutely no reason to believe you can parry a literal God when you can’t even parry Capra Demon.
Most people seem to know about the parry because they’re literally looking at guides and tutorials on their first playthrough. And then they say the last boss is disappointing after cheesing him.🤪
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would think to parry him when you couldn't parry any other boss. Can't imagine anyone figured it out without looking it up
Yup I didn’t know he could be parried and I found him to be hard - not anywhere near Artorius but definitely not a pushover.
@@JKLeeds I figured it out without looking it up. I used solely dragon form with a black knight shield for most of the game so parrying was my primary tool. When it came to Gwyn his fighting style is similar to black knights which can be parried so I did the same with him and it became like a rhythm game to win
Me who beated the game blind and still parried him 😎
eh. i always try at least a few times with each boss. can’t hurt to try
It’s common knowledge that the late gate was rushed because the devs ran out of time, but I honestly thought for the remaster we would actually see Miyazaki’s full vision and not just DS fix and a bonfire added near Vamos 😢
not even DS fix, it's a horrible remaster. Dark Souls 1 deserves a better remaster!
Miyazaki doesn't care . I think he's kind of a hack these days.
Imagine this: a full remake of DS1 in Elden Ring's version of the engine, preserving the level design but expanding the second half the game with additional content and tweaks.
@@augustday9483 eldern wrongs the same engine as ds1....
@@based-ys9um
Did you not notice I said "Elden Ring's VERSION of the engine". I think it should be pretty obvious what I'm talking about here.
15 years of development have brought significant improvements to the engine which DS1 lacks.
Oh man going down the lift and seeing it came out in firelink was one of the greatest gaming moments for me. Before then I figured the game was pretty linear, and after all that time, coming back around? That's when I really felt like this game was something special, especially for me, as I'm a metroidvania buff
I feel like the "not being able to warp to every bonfire you've been to after getting the lord vessel" is a result of From Soft trying to make it so the player has to still explore and retain the interconnectivity of the world but going about it in a very poor way. The Kindled Bonfire system sounds a lot better as opposed to only being able to warp to some key ones and having to run everywhere in between when you could warp to kindled bonfires and still have to explore and retain that interconnectivity but with an added sense of "alright I wanna use my humanity wisely".
As a Berserk fan, Undead Burg was by far my favourite area. The enemies and level design, the bosses and the overall ambience/aesthetics are just perfect. Adding the shortcut back to firelink, it became my absolute favourite area in the entire soulsborne universe
What does Berserk have to do with anything here...
@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoonno idea lol
@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoonI guess the metal to metal fight of one man against a fortress of soliders? You don't really get much of that vibe after in other areas, but i dont know im just trying to rationalise
@@db5094 Dark Soul is full of Berserk reference, but the Undead Burg is definitely not one of them...
@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon again, just trying to rationalise what they said
ive noticed recently that the whole teaching you to look around in a boss fight thing doesn’t really have any pay off. You use the critical hit on asylum demon, taurus demon, and can even sortof do it on capra demon, but after that point its not like learning to read the environment helps with more bosses exactly. Besides maybe ceaseless discharge there are no more bosses where looking around can give you a major advantage.
Yeah this is a fair point. I guess you could sort of argue Seath as well but it does pretty clearly highlight it to you in the opening cutscene.
@@JKLeeds its also the only souls game that really attempts it. I just kindof wish there were more bosses later on where the arena could be used against them in a major way.
I'd argue that the pillars in Ornstein and Smough can be seen in a similar, if less dramatic way.
Uh.
And, I mean. Bed of Chaos?
It's possible the boss fights were designed orginally with this in mind, and then as the game went further on it kinda got scrapped for most of them. A shame, cuz plunging attacks are so rare in these games and so fucking satisfying.
@@michaelbarker6732
Obligatory Dark Souls 2 mention!
Cuz yeah Dark Souls 2 does this too
Dragonrider (both fights)
Pursuer
Lost Sinner
Najka
Mytha
All have environment interactions to make the fight easier, though how much help you'd ever need in those fights to begin with is debatable
The only thing I liked about how the Bed of Chaos works, is that it uses the best weapon in Dark Souls 1 against you, and that is the enviorment. And the fact that dying doesnt get rid of all the progress you made, just imagine dying when you are at the last phase just to have to redo the whole fight while your souls are sitting at the bottom waiting for the floor to break.
Have you seen the Ash Lake? Such an amazing place, what an awe area but completely empty. So many possibilities.. but it’s completely empty and disappointing. This area gives me the biggest “unfinished“ vibe. Hope it will get ehat it deserves if they ever do a remake.
You know I don't really mind Ash Lake being kind of empty. I actually find the emptiness and the music add some kind of ethereal quality to it.
@@JKLeeds Completely true. I like to consider two types of empty. Intentional emptiness and unfinished empty. Something like Lost Izalith is unintentional, but something like Ash Lake is definitely intentional emptiness.
I always thought the emptiness was intentional, it really fits the vibe of the area
On my first playtrought I got to ash lake really early (around lvl 30 just after beating the gargoiles)
Great hollow was extremely painful but interesting, and after hours of trying to get to the bottom and got to ash lake I was extremely scared of what the hell was down there
I got a bit dissapointed there wasn't a boss or something, but nonetheless is one of my favorite areas, the place looks cool as hell
@@Sairof There's a leaping hydra down there
Every time I want to play ds1 again the thought of facing the bed of chaos comes to mind... You know the rest.
Use a bow and cheese it
Just skip Izaleth.
Wrong warp past the funny door
I fought the bed recently again and honestly? Using the quit out method and some luck it wasn't that bad. granted, the fact that you have to USE QUIT OUT to make a boss more bearable is really stupid.
It’s very easy to cheese
First Half: Perfect for the most part
Second Half: imaginative and creative but annoying at times
Artorias DLC: Utterly Orgasmic
I remember I killed artorias but I went to go kill gwyn but I thought I could just walk out but I accidentally got the dark lord ending
@@theofficialnationwidehatersame, sorta. Killed Gwyn then thought I could just walk back out of the arena and go back to the game. I rushed through NG+ just to get the ending I actually wanted the first time 😂
DLC was mid. DS2 clears
@@GooseGumlizzardds2 a 4 outa ten at best
Honestly, I like all the weird quirky stuff in the latter half of the game. Like the weird demons that shoot fire, or the ones with half a body, or the squid monster that shoot acid. They are just so weird.
Or the fact you can fight a fleet of pinwheels and baby skeletons in the catacombs, or the skeledogs.
These all sound wonderful to me LMAO
The enemies are ok. It's the level design and placement of those enemies that stumbles and falls flat on its face.
This is some “In Defense Of DS2” shit right here
@littlemoth4956 I guess it kind of is. Ds2 has too many points of frustration and unfairness for me though.
I agree. I too like this feature of the game
In my first playthrough, I actually navigated the entire tomb of giants in the dark. It was quite the experience.
Yes I can see how the second part is more flawed and rushed and the bosses are not as good, but I don't seem to dislike it as much as other people.
I found the tomb before O&S bosses, finished it blind same as you did. Than climb back, to receive the soul vessel. fun area
i remember when i tried using firebombs to light the way
accidentally bombed patches along the way
honestly I've not seen a better summary of my thoughts on this game yet. this one nailed it. great video xoxo
Thanks friend! Glad you enjoyed it 😀
It's worth noting that warping does not change your "last bonfire", meaning you can homeward bone to the bonfire you warped from if you haven't sat at another bonfire since then. So if you want to go to Andre and then right back, you can do that. Of course this doesn't cover every situation but it makes it a lot less egregious. Though it would have been nice to be able to get a reusable item for that like the Aged Feather in DS2.
Your fursona is adorable
@@lechugaenlabiblioteca3298 Thanks! ^^
@@LilacMonarch You're welcome!
What about the Homeward Miracle?
@@JigglypuffTutorials yes it works the same way
In regards to fast travel, you technically don't need to run back to the bonfire you were just at due to a lack of a warp point. The way bonfires work in Dark Souls is that you need to sit at them in order for the respawn point to register. So using your example, I'm at the bonfire in the cave in Darkroot Basin. I then realize that I forgot to upgrade my weapon to +11 and that I must visit a blacksmith to do this job. I sit down at the Darkroot Basin bonfire, warp to Undead Parish, I remember *not* to sit down at the Parish, then once I'm done with Andre, I can cast Homeward, use a Homeward Bone, or Darksign and I will respawn at the Darkroot Basin bonfire 100% of the time every time. The backtracking is only necessary if you sit down at another bonfire.
Never understood why so many people went to the graveyard with the skeletons first thing after arriving in firelink. The very first NPC you see when you get there tells you explicitly where to go and what to do.
Video game logic: Skeletons are starting enemies. Dark Souls is a hard game.
Therefore, these skeletons are hard to beat starting enemies.
It's honestly kind of a cool subversion of tropes.
I looped around for 30 minutes unable to find the stairs to the burg, somehow stumbled upon the graveyard
Level design is misleading, that's why.
Because the stairs leading up to the Undead Burg melt into the cliff and are very easy to miss. To add, DS1 had such a huge reputation for being this super-mega-giga-ultra difficult game that will tear out your anus, that you expected bullshit enemies like the skeletons are for a new player. I'd likely fight Asylum Demon with the broken sword too, if there was no message telling me to run.
some of us only had japanese voice solution only.. soooo
That humanity warp idea is amazing I’m surprised it wasn’t added or anything in future games
I'm more surprised humanity as a mechanic didn't continue into future games, and also dissapointed it didn't tbh.
I would say my favorite part of ds1's second half will always be the dukes archives. The whole area, while not perfect, has a great level of atmosphere, one of the better visual designs for a boss and captivating mysteries. It also has some of the better npc questlines in the whole game.
Agree.
Imo, the perfect route is do the first part of the game, after you get the lordvessal do Seath, then Darkroot, then New Londo, then the DLC, then wrong warp past the door, skipping Izaleth and the Catacombs. Maybe kill pinwheel if you want more estus, I guess.
The second half does the good one of the four, which coincidentally sets up the DLC, then you go prime yourself on the DLC's backstory which carries new londo, then do the DLC while you're not stupidly overlevelled, then skip the bad two and fight a Gwyn that's still not unreasonably easy
Since Sekiro I've come to really love the Bloodsouls games, but still for the life of me I don't get how you're expected to figure out most side quests and stuff without a proper walk through.
Whoever figured all the stuff out first good for you, and thank you.
It's really simple... you interact with the npc & then find them later down the path.... its basically almost always that simple.
It always confuses me when people say that fast travel ruins the emersion of the game. But after your first play through, and maybe even the second half of it, I wouldn’t want to have to run through areas again and again even with short cuts.
The fast travel system definitely could have gotten updated tho😅
First half was amazing, just exploring and waking through the world and meeting each enemy and boss along the way. Second half felt grindy but it was alright haha
"Especially if you do get to the bottom and have to climb back out" *proceeds to have flashbacks of being stuck in tomb of giants with a reinforced club*
Pure PTSD that. That's gotta be the worst way you can get yourself stuck in the whole series.
Kindling to allow for more warps is actually an amazing solution for the warp system. I am also in the camp that loves the lack of warps in DS1, but it makes sense only because of DS1's level design, it doesn't make sense so much in DS2 or Elden Ring as they are both spread out with a lack of intersecting paths, but DS2 should have done that kindling thing where Elden Ring being an open world has no flaws in it's warp system.
It's flaw is being open world and the worst souls game
@@lyrebird5982DS2 is the worst lol
@@lyrebird5982how is it the worst? I’ve had more fun in elden ring than DS1 and 2
@@lyrebird5982never like your own comment again
Dark souls is supposed to be difficult and maybe a little complex
But in my opinion the tedious-difficult sections of the game are the main draw back to the game.
I'd love to see a remake with serious quality of life changes
Imagine trying to beat all the buttdragon enemies in Lost Izalith. It's like they've been placed there just to fill in space, when in reality you can easily just ignore all of them.
Does anyone else actually enjoy Blighttown? I think that area was hated just mostly due to the terrible framerate dips experienced on the old gen consoles. Playing on the remastered it certainly is one of the coolest areas imo. The mazelike structures of the upper half, peering down from the giant pillars. It connects 4 areas, and is one of the most expansive and vertical levels in the game.
I'd say the only big negative of the area is the mosquitos that tickle you, and the toxic enemies that are frustrating to avoid, luckily they don't respawn.
I agree, after hearing about blighttown for so long I was pretty surprised how fine it really was. Even the mosquitos as annoying as they are to kill due to their jank hitboxes they aren't really that aggressive so it's whatever. Now Tomb of the Giants, fuck that place. When I got through it I was like "Why is Blighttown the infamous one this place is way worse".
@@jfm5864the duke archives slap all of those areas that place is the worst
I am a Blighttown defender as well. It’s really not that horrible and there seems to be a huge amount of effort that went into it. Tomb of the Giants is far more miserable to me
Dark Souls one is my favorite game despite the time constraints and limitations it had to go through
I really wish we could see a version with all the complete content it was meant to have
I would KILL for a dark souls remake.
@scorpiowarrior7841 id be shocked if it doesn't happen eventually
It seems like they were just trying to think of different ways to increase the difficulty of the levels themselves after already having a difficult first half. This lead to a lot of experimental hazards & less convenient bonfire locations
I'll never forget going all the way down in Tomb Of Giants without having the Lord Vessel, without light and having to navigate all the way back. I really thought I've locked myself down there and it was a huge relief when I managed to make my way back.
The mechanic you suggested was the exact thing I tried when I unlocked fast travel. I was confused why I couldn't warp anywere and thought to myself it must be only bonfires I kindled so I wasted some humanity trying that.
If you killed all the necromancers in the catacombs you already have a skull lantern before you get to tomb of the giants
Do they always drop them?
@@diggerdog9205 Last one ALWAYS does. It's an incentive to actually do the level instead of running past everything.
yeah, I was like "what do you mean bro, just use the lantern lol"
yup. plus the argument that some things are too well hidden is kinda BS when soapstone messages are a huge part of the game. sure, some people will play offline, but the game was designed with the intention of being online always
@@KILLER1PIE i don't mean to be nitpicky, but you're half right, if you kill all necromancers, and they didn't give you a lantern yet, the last one is guaranteed to drop the lantern.
because that works for all unique non-respawning enemies, boars, mimics, gargoyles and such.
*raises hand* I did the skeleton thing. Also, you can get a skull lantern from killing all of the Necromancers in the catacombs before fighting Pinwheel. This is super easy to miss as well though, and you would have no idea that its a guaranteed drop after killing the last Necromancer, unless someone told you. This is why I missed it on my first play though and had to struggle through the Tomb without a light source until Patches kicked me down.
It's actually not a guaranteed drop, it's just abnormally high. I've failed to get the lantern at least once or twice.
@@st.haborym Oh damn, I had no idea. That is really mean, lol! I guess I got lucky because I've always managed to get one once I hunt all those bastards down.
I never knew it was a "guaranteed" drop. I just got it my first playthrough and thought it was the intended progression method, so I got it that way every time forward.
Because of this, I don't share the hatred of the area. I actually hate the prior areas more, lol. But seeing how many people miss the lantern and spell, I get it.
In my first playthrough I really was stuck in the catacombs, but I thankfully thanks to that I get that lantern and the black knight greataxe (my favorite weapon) and I slaughter all the late game :)
@@aroundthefur1210 Apparently the drop rate goes up by like 10% with each one you kill, with the last one giving you something like 62%. So you are more likely than not to get it, but it's deffo not guaranteed. Probably because there's one in that pit that Patches kicks you into to.
I just wish you didn't have to hold the damn thing in front of you to make it light up. That am not how lantern work.
Well, dark souls 1 is a sensitive subject for me so here is the longest essay I have ever written as a youtube comment:
Let me start off by saying great video as always. Dark souls 1 is an interesting game for me, if anyone asked me a few years ago what my favorite game of all time would be I would've probably said bloodborne, but dark souls 1 would have been a close second. With the release of Elden ring, I have finally gotten that addiction I had with Fromsoft games a few years ago, and replaying through the game for the first time in a while felt super rewarding (including the end game). However, through the last year, I realized just how much of ds1 I actually just don't enjoy (still an amazing game), and I think that's due to me being harshly critical of those segments that I don't enjoy because those first experiences were so special. So I am gonna talk a bit about the early game:
I don't think I enjoy the early game as much as other people. I feel like Fromsoft created the areas and bosses of the early game as ways to teach new players how to play the game, and teach players to treat everything in the game as a puzzle. And I am fine with that, I feel like everything they did with that is perfect. The world design is of course the best I have ever seen in a video game. But through repeat playthroughs, I started to enjoy the game less and less, and I started to think about what the reason may be, and this is my conclusion:
-Areas: I think that individual areas in ds1 are just not that fun to play through, comparing most of ds1 areas to other From games just showed me how much I just don't enjoy the areas as much. Undead burg feels like a short 10-minute segment that's very unrewarding to explore (good comparison for first areas: forest of fallen giants with its 10000 sidepaths, central yharnam which is my favorite area in the series because of how alive it feels and how big it is, the visually striking high wall of lothric...etc). The depths while rewarding to explore aren't fun to play through due to spammy rats that stun you without any telegraphs to some of their attacks and of course basilisks that curse for half your health. Darkroot garden is just an empty forest with almost nothing but really boring enemies (cool visually, boring to fight)...etc. And I feel like when I compare it to some other game's levels and how much fun I have exploring, and strategizing how to deal with enemies I kinda feel underwhelmed whenever I explore some dark souls 1 areas. And I put this in its own category: Anor Londo, I feel like anor londo for me lost the spark that it had on my first playthrough, it makes sense that it's the ultimate challenge in terms of exploration putting you in very difficult situations from the rafters with the painting guardians, the silver knight archers and of course O&S. But for repeat playthroughs, I realized that the way difficult was handled in anor londo just made it frustrating rather than fun. When I think of difficult locations from other games for example dark souls 3's ringed city, I feel the difficulty of that area comes from fighting tough enemies that are in groups, yet at the same time easy to separate and have a very clear weakness that you can use against them (for ringed knight its parries/backstabs, for harald knights it's plunging attacks), and the level design allows the player to play carefully to find said weakness and actually fight through the area and clear it without feeling as if the reason the area was difficult was not that the enemies were tough, but because the game restricted the player in some way giving the enemy a huge advantage that they shouldn't have while using the limitations of the player against them. Now I don't think all dark souls 1 areas are "bad" (i don't think the early game areas are bad, just underwhelming), my favorite area of ds1 is sen's fortress and that's because it's exactly what I want from a difficult area, traps that punish recklessness, tough enemies with clear weaknesses...etc.
-Bosses: Boss fights are the main thing that separates From games from other games, simple combat with tough bosses. And I feel like for the early game dark souls 1 did its job. To teach the player through each boss different situations and how to deal with them (Asylum demon teaches that there are always multiple ways to fight a boss and that the simplest solution isn't always the right one. Taurus demon by forcing you to explore the area and find the platform up above which can be used to plunge taurus, or be used as a bigger area to fight taurus in. Gargoyles for teaching you how to fight multiple enemies, albeit I don't think they are quite as balanced as people make them out to be. Gaping dragon teaching them to use the boss's size against them...etc). But I feel like since their purpose was to teach the player, when they learn and overcome those challenges, these bosses just become lacking, having only very few attacks and so little hp that a fight against a standard enemy in the other games is more fun than any boss in early game ds1. Now let me talk a bit about O&S, now don't get me wrong they are my favorite fight in the game. But there are just too many issues I have with this fight. First off, people talk about the disparity in speed between the two, but through my hunders to thousands of times fighting them, that has never once come up in any strategy I used against them, the pillars yes but not the speed disparity. Smough's rush attack just removes any speed disparity the two had making the fight seem unfair at times when smough's big hammer decides to be spammed in your face 10000 times. An example of a fight where speed disparity actually matters is demon prince, where one is almost completely immobile as you fight the other (now I do have issues with that fight but it's not the focus right now). Secondly, separation through pillars is not consistent due to smough's charge, having Ornstein on one part of the pillar while the smough on the other is the most consistent way to get damage quick, but sometimes that's just inconsistent due to the way smough moves (and also by forcing you to always check on smough while Ornstein is still a danger) making many situations where taking damage or death unavoidable due to seemingly unfair situations...etc, now I have many more issues with the fight (second phase is boring, Ornstein is glitchy, Ornstein attack through smough with vision of Ornstein impaired due to smough's large body..etc) but I feel like I got my point across.
Now finally after that long ass essay, let me talk a bit about the end game:
Since your videos are almost always spot on, most of the issues you presented in your video are exactly my thoughts including many of the issues I had with the early game carried to the end game. So rather than just writing another essay explaining everything I hate about the end game. Let me just write about the points I disagree with:
First off, New Londo:
I think new londo is probably my favorite area of the end game, from the creepy atmosphere, the horrifying revelations of the dead population of new londo, the many ghosts (which probably are the ghosts of the people who inhabited new londo)...etc and I think that adds a lot to the area itself. In terms of level design, I think the fact that the flooded segment is blocked off and once unlocked is just under the first segment of the area is really clever. And finally the fight with four kings located at the bottom of the abyss in a pitch-black arena. Now about the four kings, I think that it is a perfectly fine fight. Sure it's a DPS test but putting on Havel's armor to tank the damage is a strategy that works on any boss in ds1 (including the DLC bosses) and I feel like that's an unfair assessment of the fight, the fight itself is probably one of the better ds1 fights because having that rush where you need to be as aggressive as possible (especially on sl1 with low damage output with a +0 weapon/fighting them on higher ng+ cycles), and learning their attack patterns and how to dodge through them is really satisfying because it's a fight that's really fun to get good at. And even fighting multiple kings at once is not unfair (at least not completely) because having more than one at the same time means they won't attack you as long as you are fighting one king (though transitioning between kings when one dies and all other 3 attack you is really hard). As for the runback, the shortcut with the ladder makes the runback much more bearable (it's still like 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds).
And finally, Gwyn. I understand thinking gwyn to be an underwhelming final encounter due to parries. And of course, how aggressive and fast he is makes it seem like the difficulty disparity is huge. But I feel like I am fine with that, the parry not working on any other boss except gwyn makes sense because he is supposed to be a shell of his former and a pushover (though I feel like that is kinda ruined with his normal fight being, in my opinion, the hardest in the game to master). But his normal fight is by no means bad, I feel like learning to fight him unlocked, dodge the majority of his attacks (except the fast swing, I am not dealing with that shit), and learning the punishes (and healing opportunities that you have) makes gwyn a really satisfying fight to learn and beat normally. Also, not relying on parries but rather using them as a tool occasionally makes for a very fun climactic final battle for me.
Well then, this took well over an hour to write so if anyone actually does read this, thanks for sticking with my bullshit.
I read through the whole thing and enjoyed every second! Very well written my friend. I do agree with the points about the first half as well. It doesn't hold up in some ways compared to newer games I think.
*Clicks 'Read More'*
'O_O!'
Thanks for takin' the time to write this! Was a good read and I think I agree with everything really. Nice to see some New Londo Ruins appreciation :D
@@faustusdrake Thanks. I wrote this just to get it off my chest, but I really appreciate people actually taking their time to read this.
Long TH-cam comments on Souls videos are my favorite genre of literature.
The way you describe your feelings about DaS1 changing over time is the exact same thing that happened to me with Demon's Souls. I played DaS1 first, and then DeS shortly afterward, and DeS became my favorite game of all time. But the more I've replayed it over the years, the more I find that I just don't enjoy a lot of the actual gameplay that occurs over the course of a playthrough. 1-1 is a great first level, my favorite in all of Souls. But after I complete 1-1 and open up the other archstones, I often find myself sitting in the Nexus for a couple minutes not really wanting to take on any of the next areas. If I have a piercing weapon or magic I'll clear out 2-1, or if I want to farm spice I'll go to 3-1, but it always feels like I have to force myself to actually play the game at that point. Things get better toward the late game once I actually get a build together (which takes SO LONG to do in DeS!), but over time I've realized that I don't even particularly like the early to mid game in what I consider my favorite game.
I really want to like the Ornstein and Smough fight as much as others do, but Ornstein's ridiculous pathing, their attacks clipping through each other, and the lackluster second phase can diminish that enjoyment. I will say that when I get a fight where the glitchy movement and clipping doesn't happen, it's usually one of the highlights of a playthrough. When those problems present themselves, though, it's among my least favorite fights. I think that so much disparity in the experience of the fight depending on performance shows that it was designed well but implemented poorly. (I would still always choose to fight O&S over Throne Watcher and Defender in DaS2 who, while not glitchy and don't clip through each other that I've noticed, are not designed well as a double boss battle between sharing the same strengths/weaknesses and being placed in an unfit boss arena.)
New Londo is one of my favorite areas in the game actually, but I have to disagree about 4 Kings. In my experience, and it seems to be the consensus of the community, the optimal strategy for 4 Kings is to put on Havel's, maybe equip the Crest Shield, and attack constantly. The way I see it, the optimal strategy to beat a boss in a Souls game should be to avoid taking hits and to attack only when there is a legitimate opportunity to do so. (As much as I love greatshield and spear playthroughs, I think dodging attacks is more skillful and should be rewarded.) The fact that dodging attacks, especially tracking magic attacks which last for a very long time, in the 4 Kings fight is likely to make you lose DPS and potentially cause the next king to spawn before you kill the first, suggests to me that they needed a bit of tweaking to properly reward skillful play. But that is a matter of opinion, as maybe the design should instead reward the resourcefulness of knowing to find good armor to be able to tank their hits, which it does.
And I agree with your opinion on Gwyn. I do think that there's no reason you shouldn't be able to parry Capra Demon, maybe even Quelaag's sword attacks, but Gwyn is a good boss fight as he is, parries and all.
@@creatureofthegreatswamp1075 Can't really comment much on DeS as I haven't played it much myself (don't have a legal copy of the ps3 game, and my financial situation isn't the greatest so I can't really afford to buy a ps5 just to play one game). Watching a few playthroughs of the game isn't really enough for me to have the most in-depth opinion of the game.
Talking about Throne watcher and defender, I actually enjoy that fight more than O&S (i think O&S are a better fight, I just don't enjoy them as much since they are either too easy on a casual playthrough, or too bullshit for harder challenge runs). If you would have asked me that during my first few runs then I would have not enjoyed the throne duo as much, but over the years as I mastered both fights, I found the throne duo to be much more consistent even if they aren't designed as well. The fight is actually balanced in a very unintuitive way by understanding the different AI states that they can be in. I won't go into detail but I recommend watching an sl1 ng+7 no roll..etc fight of them to see how it's done.
About 4 kings, even if the optimal strategy in ng is to put on Havel's, It's by no means the actual optimal strategy for the fight in more dire situations as I have stated. Their low damage output just allows them to be tanked, but when they are an actual threat the fight just becomes much more fun (this is also the problem I have with SoC from ds3 who during phase 1 has a very low damage output allowing you to just tank the damage and r1 spam it down, however fighting it at sl1 ng+7, it turns into objectively the hardest fight in the series due to it having well over 50 attacks including soul mass on each of its 4 sub-phases in phase 1). Also about losing DPS, learning the fight properly, there was never an opportunity where I lost DPS from their magic attacks (except the aoe which only delays you for a few seconds), even the tracking magic you can dodge by just staying at the king's left side and strafing as you hit the king occasionally. And even then, multiple kings are 100% manageable because they rarely attack you as you are fighting one king (they only attack you when you get close to them, meaning if the king you are fighting pushes you towards one of the other kings, just be ready to dodge their attack). Now, I don't think four kings are an amazing fight (a solid b-tier), and as you have stated it is a matter of opinion. But since tanking is only viable for ng fights I don't really consider it an optimal strategy. Throughout the years, Fromsoft has been making games harder by forcing the player to actually learn more aspects of the combat, whereas in ds1 tanking damage and poising through everything was super effective (adding with that a greatshield and even DLC bosses don't require any skill), to bloodborne removing shields all together and increasing enemy speed putting much more emphasis on dodging. With Elden ring forcing the player to learn positioning since bosses punish you for running away to heal or just dodging mindlessly rather than understanding the fight and looking for opportunities in between attacks to either heal or punish. And I feel like with four kings I can be a bit lenient on the fact that a tanking strategy is the most effective on ng (again, of the 26 bosses, very few can't just be tanked mindlessly, even manus and artorias can be tanked to a certain degree).
As for gwyn, I feel like a few bosses should have been parriable (Ornstein since old dragonslayer can be parried in ds2, gargoyles since they can also be parried in ds2, Capra demon since omen killer which is just a reskinned capra demon can be parried in Elden ring...etc). And I feel like gwyn being the only parriable boss in the game is just some way to make him feel special which I appreciate. What I don't like about gwyn is that he is very buggy, where often he just stands there doing nothing for a second before going back into a full sprint catching you off guard, though with how good everything else about the fight is, it's a minor thing that I can overlook.
"Thrown together last minute" Bed of Chaos was thrown together last minute, lol
The Seath runback + getting cursed was enough for me to quit my first attempt at the game. Fortunately, I've started another run and I just beat O&S again today 👍
That centipede legs was your first dad joke that got an audible laughter from me. Good job on that one!
Thank you 😂 my wife said it was the worst joke yet
Second note on the tomb: no, they didn't just toss in the darkness. It's very consistent with froms earlier games.
They're very big on "challenge" levels where you have to sacrifice a gear slot for alleviating the suffering of an area.
You're right on that. I still remember (without any love at all) the Valley of defilement from Demons Souls.
That’s basically elden ring boss design. Which is why I don’t like the bosses as much as the previous games. Just cause it’s consistent with fromsoftawres design doesn’t mean it’s good :/
The Gwyn fight being as trivial as it is was an intentional decision. He's not the same lord of sunlight we've heard so much about. He's a hollow husk of his former self, the true god in him having been burned away in the First Flame. Similar to true king Allant in Demon Souls, it's meant to feel almost pathetic
So there's one key difference between Gwyn and False King Allant. If you don't parry or go Havel Armour/heavy weapon on Gwyn, he's actually very difficult! Very few windows to heal and he's super fast. False King Allant is trivial regardless of build so it works a lot better to get that point across (I still think having that as a final boss is mega anticlimactic though and would pick Gwyn over him)
@@IlIlllIllIIIlllllllII I was gonna say...
@@IlIlllIllIIIlllllllII
He said without parrying… obviously with parrying you have loads of time to chug lol. Have you tried him without parrying? It’s very similar to Soul of Cinders second phase if not the exact same, crazy range, long combos, fast, minimal windows to attack or heal, punishing grabs.
@@bolson42 yes I have beat him without parrying and soul cinders attacks are very telegraphed and he was a joke whem i used sellswords and I beat gwyn on my 2nd run with no armor no rings except calamity ring which makes you take double damage, I used a reinforced club and just caveman jumped him to death lmao
@@IlIlllIllIIIlllllllII 🤡🤡🤡🤡
I kinda like the idea of Gwyn really not being a challenge, especially because of how all the other difficult bosses were. He's old, weakened, hollowed. He stumbles when he tries to grab you. You're putting him out of his misery. You're taking his place. And his place and role in Lordran is over. Even the music is melancholy. No cut scene. Here you are, so do what you're destined to do. No need for further explanation. You were chosen for this very moment, so just get it over with. And so it is....
The return to firelink was bitter sweet for me, because after I traveled up from blighttown, I went right instead of left and died to the zombie drake. Then I discovered the new London shortcut...
I can't agree more about the run backs with some bosses. I love Dark Souls 1 so much but every time I die to a boss it just becomes a slog to go through. Some areas are so massive but also empty at the same time.
Also your video made me chuckle a lot. You deserve a like and a sub.
Thanks friend! Glad you liked it, welcome to the channel 🙂
Solid vid! Well-structured and interesting :D My enjoyment of the second half wasn't that much less that the first really, tho I can totally understand why it was for many peep. I really like New Londo Ruins personally, such an unsettling place, both in setting/lore and in gameplay, the ghosties make it so ya never feel safe and the Darkwraiths are just plain scary af lol. Agree with everything you said about all the other areas. I do like Nito tho, I think he's a cool boss ^^
This is why when I replay the game now I play up to O&S, and challenge myself to slay every enemy that I get within targeting range of with as few deaths as possible. There's a few different areas to consider visiting after Gargoyle's and before Quelaag, which can make these runs more spicy as you can choose to only visit one of them. It seems like nearly any build works for this which is great, and if you're very fast and clean you can finish It in under 2 hours which I think is awesome haha.
What are these several areas? Darkroot and...?
@@drewpeacock9087 yeah, Darkroot, the usual path through both the Depths and Blighttown and...the Catacombs aka The Bone Zone lol. After clearing one of those areas I take the shortest path to Blighttown, which from Darkroot is the path through the Valley of Drakes meaning I also slay both lightning drakes on the way. From Catacombs I just take the shortcut from New Londo Ruins. The challenging part of the Depths path is Blighttown itself haha.
I do skip a few enemies that aren't all that interesting. The Zombie Dragon is repetitive and can be pretty time-consuming, so I skip slaying it. Titanite Demons I leave entirely optional as they can be a chore to beat for non-spell builds. Also any Undead or Skeleton Archers that require a tall ladder or flight of stairs to reach in melee can be skipped. Finally there's a lone Undead you aggro once you enter Undead Burg from Firelink, but he's way below and it takes him nearly a minute to climb up so I just ignore him haha. The Toxic shooters in Blighttown I also let myself ignore, as otherwise it forces me to clear the whole mess of them from the path from Quelaag up to Firelink.
To keep things spicy I slay the Hydra in Darkroot Garden after the Moonlight Butterfly and Havel, or every Necromancer in the Catacombs before Pinwheel. Slaying a skele that reanimates counts in my book as well as them falling down out of targeting range below you, but the best strat is often just booking it to the Necromancer and fighting his skeles after. Keep in mind if you try the Catacombs you will have to deal with all the Wheels at the bottom as well!
Catacombs are no joke; it's trained me to reinforce armor and level up HP before it which drains a lot of early souls from the run haha. To help the Catacombs run I clear the Capra Demon, and also allow myself to poke my head into the Depths to rescue the Pyromancer for Combustion, which can also help deal with skeles. I do refrain from grabbing the Large Ember as that isn't something you'd be able to grab on the Darkroot Garden path either. In the same way if I'm a Wizard planning to clear Darkroot, I allow myself to poke my head into Lower Undead Burg to rescue the nerd there and meet him back at Firelink.
Shortcuts are omni-important haha. You don't need to re-rest at the bonfire after Taurus Demon, but definitely kick down the ladder to it just in case. Waiting for the Drake to land on the bridge lets you run past and rest at the Sunlight Altar and open the gate there, which allows you a faster and easier trip to Lower Undead Burg after Gargoyles. Also always remember to trigger the elevator to Firelink from the chapel to get to Sen's Fortress quickly (you can run past the first platform and onto the second to skip the elevator ride back up).
I'm on my first playthrough right now. On this channel. I wish I played it before Elden Ring but here I am
Honestly I don't dislike the second half at all. The kiln of the first flame is the most beautiful looking place in the game. The only thing I hate the most is bed of chaos and that whole area in general.
In regards to the "warp to any bonfire location" topic after obtaining the Lordvessel, my guess is that the game designers wanted to (maybe) add a bit to the difficulty factor. It is way more stressful to travel by foot with a lot of souls and also, it increases the chance of getting killed. Indeed, I would have preferred translating this difficulty factor into something else (like an additional resource management step, as you mentioned), but I guess we have to work with what we have :)
I'm content not being able to warp everywhere. Adding that bit of traversing makes the world feel bigger and enhances my experience and immersion.
the main issue is the selection of bonfires available, if they had at least one for each major area it'd be more bearable, some places are absolutely awful to backtrack to without a nearby warp
@@mattmangaming279 I hear you, I'm just not sure I agree. DS1 has some obvious issues, especially in the latter half, but I just never found the running to be a bother to me. I just like moseying around the world, it brings me a lot of joy.
@@CarlWidegrip fair enough, there are a lot of cool areas and it's nice to immerse yourself in the world, I just think they could've use at least 3 or 4 more warpable bonfires, especially considering they made every bonfire in the dlc warpable despite that being a lot more contained
@@mattmangaming279 Oh yeah, I understand that people will have different opinions on it. I just wanted to weigh in since the video seemed to insinuate that no one likes the running around, but I do. Just my two cents!
I think a happy medium for the fast travel, would be to have the ability to MAKE a bonfire BECOME a travel point. Like with the Estus and the rite of kindling. Have it cost a humanity or something. Then you could create your own travel points, and if you were commited enough, you could make every bonfire a travel point. But it would still require some backtracking and resources.
Yeah I agree! I just can't see any good that comes from not being able to warp to all the bonfires
That was going to be a feature in dark souls 3 however it was cut from the game. Pity.
Sounds like the warp keys mechanic on King's Field.
A fun story about your point regarding bonfire warping: I made it all the way through the Tomb of the Giants to Nito's door without realizing that I needed to place the lordvessel first before his door would open. There is a bonfire right near the door but you cant warp to it so I had to make the whole runback through Tomb of the Giants again just because. I already found the bonfire but I arbitrarily cannot warp to it.
I really like this video. I agree with almost everything you said, especially with the Tombs of the Giants part; people always says how difficult Blighttown is but they never say how frustrating the Tombs are! I hated that place in my first playthrough
I liked New Londo and the Catacombs honestly, it's a nice adventure (just wish the game had a torch). The Duke Archives are definitely okay too! And the Demon Ruins are tolerable and there are cool parts - I like fighting the Capra Demons and Tauruses to see how far I've come skillwise.
It's the OUTRAGEOUS Lost Izalith location that's the issue... and the Bed of Chaos is an absolute anti-fun Frankenstein. Fortunately, once you memorize it, you just need 3-4 tries to get through it. Then onto the Kiln of the First Flame, which is awesome.
Sounds like you missed the intended shortcut to four kings btw.
Doesn't the catacombs just reinforce the careful progression idea? I had zero issues with the Giant Skeledogs as I very carefully trudged through the area and saw their eyes in the dark as I progressed. I thought it was tense! And finding the ring was such a "That's so Cool!" Moment!
Carefully progressing by looking around and preparing for the different enemy encounters is not the same as blindly wandering around in the dark with no idea what’s going to happen. To compare these things even slightly is idiotic.
And what? “Such a ‘that’s so cool’ moment”? What the fuck does that mean???
@@littlemoth4956 He is pointing out what you *can* see. Namely - all the enemies in the tomb of giants pretty much have glowing white eyes you can see before their aggro range.
Which is why I absolutely love the Honward spell. I just don’t rest on the Undead depth ruin, I simply teleport back to my far away bone fire
For me, as someone who likes exploration quite a bit, the Tomb of Giants wasn't much of an issue. As I was carving my way through the game the first time I ended up going through Lost Izalith before going there (I believe I killed Pinwheel and didn't notice the two ladders out of his massive tomb). With exploration as a top priority as stated above, I found the bug (and Solaire unfortunately) so I was prepared for the Tomb of Giants even before I knew it existed 😁
I even like how the dots were connected in my head, maybe that whole area could've been planned out better for sure, but I felt like my meticulous exploration was truly rewarded at that moment. Entering that darkness for the first few times I died unsure if that's where I need to progress, just then I thought about Solaire's 'sun' and immediately put the bug on my head for the first time to see it lights up... Honestly it was the first time a game rewarded thinking and going off the beaten path this much.
As for shitty enemy placement in the second half of the game, absolutely agreed, I don't think anyone can defend seeing all those Taurus Demons in one spot after defeating discharge
I played DS for the first time after ER this year, and even without nostalgia googles or the rose-tinted glasses of youth, I felt it was an absolute masterpiece. Until the halfway point. I actually really liked Tomb of the Giants, and New Londo Ruins was cool as well, although the lack of a bonfire was completely unnecessary (one behind the illusory wall leading across a narrow bridge to a small tower, would be the perfect spot). It all ended very anti-climactic as Gwyn was beaten on the first try, as all the DS bosses are very simplistic compared to ER and he didn't have a gimmick. I couldn't believe that was the final boss and the game felt like a joke to me.
I should add that I'm currently playing through DS2 and while it's nowhere close to the first half of DS1, it's still better than the second half. My main qualm is that the bosses are too easy, and the only way they give them difficulty is with an obnoxious run-up, which I felt also was an inherent flaw of DS1.
@@revenanke3132 idk where you are rn in DS2 but the DLC is worth it
Gwyn was intentionally made to not be difficult as it made perfect sense within the games story.
About the bonfires…I would agree that they should let you warp to any bonfire that has been kindled to eliminate the needless running.
I don't mind of the running, but adding to the list of warpable bonfire would've helped so much. I liked earning warping, it felt like a huge payoff, but going into NG+ without it is....really annoying.
I think the second half is only less exciting on consecutive playthroughs. Areas like the Duke’s Archives feel so expansive and limitless until you realize how narrow your path really is. It doesn’t mean that they’re not beautiful, it’s just that they’re much more linear than the first half of the game.
I cant ever tell whether you're saying 'walk' or 'warp', and the distinction is kinda important so it was hard to follow along for a little bit there. lol Sorry for the nitpick, I enjoyed the video as a whole.
You can get a skull lantern from the necromancers which are in the area immediately before tomb of the giants though 6:59
And people have the nerve to bitch about elden rings second half
It really is a shame, I wish I could consider dark souls 1 as one of my favorite games in the series, because its world design and atmosphere honestly feel (plz forgive the cringe) magical. In a way that none of the other ones do. I still believe this game will get a proper remake at some point, so I hope it's done with care.
I hope so! I'd love to see what the fully developed idea was for Bed of Chaos
ds3 kind of did this by revisiting ds1's late game areas.
What cringe what are you talking about
Honestly, Tomb of the Giants was such a «lol whatever» area that I just didn’t bother doing any extra work. I had already gotten through all the annoying shit to get there from the graveyard, so I just brute forced it in the dark. I honestly don’t know what the location looks like, but could find my way through by muscle memory within 20 attempts. And considering you just sprint, it seems like an okay time investment, knowing you’ll never have use for lighting up locations before or after that area ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’m glad that the games since didn’t go for that design again. They knew it was a bad area, at least in retrospect.
It's not a bad area just because you're too dense to use the item that they _specifically_ give you for completing the area.
@@Bread_n_Roses
There are 3 items that can help with this.
1 is guaranteed, but in an area you might not do before the tomb. Also I don't remember if you can even get the maggot hat if it gets Solaire.
1 is guaranteed, but in an area you might not do before the Tomb, requires DLC, and I don't remember if it has stat requirements.
1 is not guaranteed, capping at a 50% drop rate, and has an even lower chance if you do not find the more hidden necromancers.
There's a reason they press the torch into your hand at the very start of Dark Souls 2, for a single place in the game that really needs it, and that area is full of duration refills that are highly visible even if you don't have any left.
After the release of elden ring I started to go back to the older from games, after playing through demons souls I played dark souls even though I thought I heard everything the game has to offer. After beating Ornstein and Smough though I realized that I had only ever heard about the first half of dark souls, and the second half became a complete mystery due to the noticeable lack of content on it.
Every time i feel like replaying this game the second half always makes me question myself.
5:13 Amazing chest ahead!
😂
I'm probally gonna drop the hottest hot takes so be warned.
Second half of dark souls 1 is still good.
I dont really get the second half bad sentiment there is only one bad area but everybody makes a mockery of the entire half? its like saying the entire first half sucks cuz blight town.
Dukes archive is amazing, on par if not better than many of the first half areas of DS1 along with the first encounter with seath being really cool with the required death and being transported to the prison where you fight back down and face him again. Quality all around plus moonlight great sword and cool lore. Great boss, weapons, area and lore so already second half is going well.
Debatebly sif is a second half boss fight being required only in the second half of the game. lets just say he is a first half boss though, entering into the new londo ruins there is a fire keeper soul which can be gotten early, neat. the new londo ruins though being a gimmick is still fun imo and very stressful plus moody. entering into the lower ruins we have some of my favourite enemies, the darkwraits. Cool enemies imo.
aesthetic
Coming on to the tomb of giants i would have to largely disagree with the video, the torch mechanic is amazing and offers a new dynamic to the area in being able to only one hand your weapon and leaving you open to attack thus requiring care and precision. Overall its a meh area all things considered. Nito is one of the coolest bosses in ds1. amazing lore, design, hidden covenants and cool boss soul weapon. the catacombs are also cool imo offering up the necromancers and the garunteed lantern off of the final one for the upcming area. overall a not bad few areas, pinwheel is pinwheel. Nito is one of the coolest bosses so thats a plus for the area. Overall one meh and one super cool boss, alright lore, cool items and mechanics.
But thishalf of the game is garbage? No of course not all these areas are cool in their own right, amazing lore, bosses and enemies not to mention weapons and armour. this brings us to
demon ruins and lost isalith. Herin lies the problem, lost isalith. Demon ruins is an amazing area one of my favourites in fact. The capra demons showing you how far you have come since the initial fight same with taurus. firsage kinda sucks same with ceasless but to say centipede demon sucks is a mockery of the fight. The fight is fun and has a cool boss plus the lava ring which makes you feel badass walking across the lave like nothing. And now we get to lost izalith, hard agree with the enite video this place sucks ill leave it there from here i agree with the video.
And then the kiln and gwynn, one of the best areas with cool enemies and an amazing final boss. If you parry it is trivial but if you dont it is a genuine challenge and a fun battle with crazy lore significance.
So here we have 1 amazing area, one good area, one meh area and one bad area. Yet this is a garbage half??? not to mention the community trying to convince new players this areas suck and not letting them decide for themselves.
How is this half bad with these things considered? overall though amazingly put together video i must say, funny yet thought provoking, definitly earned a sub from me.
edit: by demon ruins i mean pre firesage demon area
Another thing I want to say about the second half is Gwynn boss fight. Not the fight it’s self but how it’s supposed to be a tragic ending especially with the music. But unless you read item descriptions or watch videos you really won’t know much. You miss the point of why it’s sad but its really not the players fault bcz there isn’t really much of a build up. In DS3 the world building and ending feels satisfying bcz it actually builds it up.
As someone who enjoyed playing the game unorthodox, I do enjoy New Londo and Tomb for existing.
I think that what most people often leave out is how both areas, although technically designed to be fairly hard for an average player to get through, give items near their entrances (or close to it) in order to make it easier. The Catacombs has a secret area where the Parish Elevator is that gives the Morning Star. Although it's bleed on skeletons is useless, as a blunt weapon it is an easy way to make skeletons nearly useless as it staggers them heavily, which you can use in order to push many skeletons off of the cliff with patience. New Londo also has something as well, giving 2 pairs of Transient Curses (one heading to new londo pre-bridge, and after the wooden bridges there is one in the jar in the same large platform that connects to the firekeeper soul and to the upper parts of new londo). With 4 Transient Curses, you have enough tries in order to kill the ghosts. Combine TC with the Humanities that you get from the well in Firelink Shrine, you can consume the Humanities and keep killing ghosts to get more TCs, until you eventually get the Jagged Cursed Blade (one of the underrated weapons that helps immensely early-mid game).
With the Crystal Lizards that are found in the Catacombs, as well as collecting some in either the forest or otherwise, the player can upgrade their Jagged Ghost Blade to +4 and be able to kill a lot of mid-late game enemies with relative ease. Doesn't help that it also has bleed, and if you get past unflooding New Londo, you can bleed the Darkwraiths and Wyverns to death, as well as kill the Red Sage that is keeping the New Londo Key with ease. It is a descent-damage dex weapon that you can upgrade nearly to max without ascending, and its bleed effect can topple a lot of heavy enemies very fast.
Combining the Morning Star and the Jagged Curse, you can immediately do New Londo and Catacombs pretty early. I often do New Londo first and unflood the area after killing enough ghosts and getting the Jagged, followed by doing the Catacombs and clearing that. I often go all the way until Pinwheel and kill them as my 2nd boss so that I can rekindle all my bonfires up to +20 (I mean I really don't 'need' to early game, but I love having every single bonfire in the game be maxed because the fires in OG, not remastered, looked pretty cool). Paladin Leeroy helps A LOT with dealing agains the skeleton wheels and the black knight down below, and if you take the time to clear everything you can leave him in the pits, go back up, and unlock the dwarf skeleton to use whatever souls you gathered to upgrade the Morning Star (or the Mace you probably picked up by Leeroy) all the way to +5 Normal (or turned it into a Flame weapon thanks to the Green Titanite near him) to help deal against the skeletons and be able to kill them. the Jagged Curse helps a lot against killing the Necromancers.
If I am doing a Faith build, I also take the time to often save the priests to get one of the few Offensive Spells that you can use since Miracles generally lack one for a long time, but for the most part I take the time to collect the Silver Covetous Ring just so that I can level up my Egghead fast. After getting what I want, I often leave VIA Homeward Bone. The Dwarf Skeleton is also nice to unlock in order to upgrade the Jagged Ghost to +3 thanks to the 2 crystal Lizards near the hidden Bonfire Tunnel, as well as getting any weapon/armour upgrades I desire. I often purchase the key items that allow you to upgrade your armour and weapons at the Blacksmith just so that I can upgrade all but my non-standard weapons to Maximum. I even go ahead and purchase the Gravelord Sword from joining the Nito Covenant and upgrade it so that I have a descent heavy weapon to make use of, and all twink and demon weapons can be upgraded to max at the bonfire without ascension tech.
Afterwards, I will often go back to New Londo after clearing what I desired, usually using the Gravelord Sword and/or the Jagged Ghost to clear most of the enemies out. You can get the GS upgraded to +2 thanks to the Titanite in Catacombs and the Forest, so its a valid option to do it before using either or against Sif. You can enter the Forest through the Gateway and kill the Drakes either by bleeding them to death early with the Jagged or coming back with your upgraded weapons from Catacombs to do it (or roll past them, but they are pretty 'buggy' enemies so its not always reliable). You can kill Sif as your second or third boss depending if you fight Pinwheel or not, and can grab the Stone Armour and the Crystal Lizard to get an easy chance to kill the Four Kings next. If you killed Pinwheel, you should have enough estus, armour, and descent weapons in order to kill the boss fairly quick.
Whenever I play, it's usually Asylum, Pinwheel, Sif, and then Four Kings as the first 4 Bosses of the Game. The freedom that Catacombs and New Londo give (as well as much of the first half of the game) was what made me enjoy replaying it after dealing with the game enough. I wish that the Souls series stuck to that philosophy of inter-twining locations, instead of often relying on linear paths and dead-end paths for many of the series until Elden Ring. I do enjoy that New Londo was so early access, it made the game very enjoyable for replays. I think that it one of the issues I have with the other three 'second-half' locations is that many are just a dead-end path that NEEDS the warp mechanic in order to not make it tedious. I think that Tomb in particular could have been fixed if it was 'larger' and was able to connect to both Ash Lake and the Demon Ruins as it shows through its background promps of its two locations when exploring, and give some more depth to the game as a whole. I honestly would have enjoyed it more if they did, but then again the worse enemy to contend with is the Skeletal Beasts in terms of non-shitty enemies with anything lacking range (thank god Gravelord Sword has that strong Thrust Attack).
An aspect about the world design going more open that I appreciate is that you’re incentivized to go to whichever area benefits your build the most. Pyromancer? Do Izalith first. Sorcery? Duke’s Archives. Miracles? Tomb of the Giants. It encourages not only playing the games in different ways not just by what weapons and stats you have.
Hot take: the game was showing signs of rushed development as early as Anor Londo
I agree, Anor Londo is pretty but the level design doesn't compare to undead burg or sens fortress
I will say I think the bit after the archers is great but agree the bit before could have used some more sections
Cold take. As it’s been said and done many many many times since it’s initial release in 2011.
What part of anor londo are you guys talking abt? The only part i can think of are the tons of painting guardians but that seems more like a result of ariamis being rushed. Everything else felt perfect to me.
Yeah you are more or less right. For me the Dukes Archive is just as perfect as Anor Londo, New Londo is on par with the whole Darkroot area, on ToTG at least we had a clever way down there. The only weak area is the rushed Lost Izalith but only the second half after the Centipede Demon before that it's just fine. IMO the second half of the game is still way more interesting than the whole DS3.
Tomb of the Giants is pretty bad too. I wouldn't be shocked if the reason they ended up making that area completely dark is because they couldn't finish it properly.
@@gamble777888 But at least it makes sense to be dark since it's deep below the surface, it's the realm of the first of the death itself, not just a copy pasted dragon asses all over on a bliding lava like in Lost Izalith. It's a challanging and suffocating area with a constant high level of dread since you don't see anything while the map is a cleverly made up vertical and horizontal maze that automatically makes you the impression to get out here as soon as possible. I agree it isnt the most highlight part of the game by any means, but calling it just plain bad is just doesnt do it justice at all. Tbh it's like Blighttown even if it isn't as perfectly designed, which is also a dark and unpleasant and for the fist time a highly confusing area with many deadly enemies in a dangerous environment. For some reason (it's called nostalgia) Blighttown got a pass and now it praised by many as one of the best area of the game while there were times when the overal consensus about the place was just pure hate.
100% agreed. It was particularly awful when I did my SL1 run last year. Loved everything up until O&S. O&S is a good fight, when you're a bit strong and don't die with 1-2 hits.. Just because that atrocious dash Ornstein pulls. But after... just bad, in my opinion. One refreshing thing though: DLC was really good. I didn't like most of the path down in Oolacile, but the bosses no doubt made up for it. Nonetheless, DS1 was a milestone and served us Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. So... It was good enough.
PS: I like your videos. Really good reasoning. Keep 'em coming :).
I pretty much agree with you on mainly everything. DS1 will always be my favorite souls game even though I love DS3 and hell even DS2 wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be before playing it (although it's still my least favorite by far). Having played DS2, 3, and ER now, it's crazy to think about how much more punishing DS1 is compared to the rest of the "more advanced" souls games with arguably harder bossfights (barring O&S and some of the DLC bosses). Your example of getting stuck at the bottom of the catacombs early game comes to mind. Depths as well especially if you get cursed and don't bring/run out of purging stones.
I even agree with what you said about warping., Seemed really arbitrary to make some bonfires non warpable. However the example you gave about having to run back to the valley of the drakes - I'm pretty sure it would have been faster to do the route you mention in 20:12. God I would have hated having to run through the valley door to new londo everytime.
Honestly the whole thing about warping is a tough topic for me. One of the reasons I love DS1 is for the metroidvania/looping aspects you spoke about early game. With warping being allowed at the beginning of every subsequent souls game, don't get me wrong, it's convenient, but nothing comes close to that first half of DS1 for that very reason. I really wish the rest of the games would have more backtracking and looping, but I recognize it would likely have to come at the cost of not allowing warping at the beginning, which most players hate.
In regards to the skull lantern, I have never had a character that didn't get it or didn't have the light spell or sunlight maggot after the first playthrough, this includes all my characters from the 360 version and remaster. I don't know if it was insane luck but as a result I always enjoyed tomb of the giants for the most part.
As for the second half of the game, again I don't really have much issue apart from Lost Izalith being heavily unfinished and the first seath fight that demands you die, but even with that there was always several orange signs down talking about it. Tomb was fun to explore in the dark and being cautious around every corner, New Londo overall was well done and gave a good challenge the first few playthroughs with there not being a bonfire in it. Duke's Archives gave me that grand library feel and I even enjoyed the crystal cave. If we're talking about weak points then it's two of the four lords themselves. Seath is a bore and is far more tedious then difficult, even going for his tail. The bed of chaos is the bed of chaos, I don't think we can beat that dead horse any further. Also the tomb of the giants hint should be self-explanatory. It's really dark, go find something that emits light whether it be a spell or gear piece.
All in all, the only point where I get that feeling of wanting to get it over with is the Izalith section and two bosses, which overall is nowhere near half of the game.
The first half of Dark Souls 1 plus Ash Lake and the painted world is on of my favorite stretches of video game ever. If fromsoft or bluepoint or someone remade DS1 and finished the second half, it would shoot WAY up in my ranking of the series. DS1 deserves it
Yeah I really hope they do this! So much potential
Bluepoint ruined demon's souls and you'd trust them with dark souls
@@edohanma True. How can you even remotely think it is an good idea to remove Maiden Astreas atmosphere and music? Utterly bs
I love this game but I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: the greatness of the first half was an accident. None of the other games in the series locks you out of fast travel for so long. That's really the main thing that makes the first half so good. That sense of progression as you go deeper and deeper into hellish regions and the feeling that you might get stuck there with no easy way out. Thats why it feels like such an accomplishment to make it to Anor Londo.
In fairness to tomb of the giants (my favorite area in the game) the catacombs almost require you to kill all the necromancer and the skull lantern is a common drop from them and is guaranteed to be dropped by at least one. I always viewed the lesson being to pay attention too the items you get!
Not guaranteed. Just each necromancer you kill increases the chance
@@aceclover758 it actually is, if you don't get a skull from any of them the last one drops one 100% of the time
@@yacine6415 I don’t think so since out of my three characters, third one didn’t get any drop
It increases with each necromancer you kill to a high chance but not guanteeded
Anyone know the name of the music playing when he was talking about Tomb of the Giants?
Subbed for the "Soul" (😏) fact that you said at the beginning. That you wouldn't count Darkroot, Ariamis and DLC. Very fair and logical despite it being your favorite game. Most people wouldn't do that.
I like that!