[smartblue]

I think the controls are sort of a From trademark, plus it has a lovely double effect. They are cluttered but functional to complement a game that cannot be paused, and it adds to the tension of fumbling between weapons in the heat of battle, much like how anyone would realistically. I'm not a huge fan of realism, but I love metagaming ideas like that.
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[smartblue]

I preordered as well, and I will preorder Armored Core V if they do a similar deal.
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[smartblue]

I should add I got it for the 360 mainly because of voice chat. Maybe we should poll and see what people will get which version?
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[smartblue]

Yeah, I agree that the 360 interface is less attractive, but those prompts aren't that big a deal to me I guess. Also I don't see people with typical bro type names like that getting far in a game like this.
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[smartblue]

I figured most people here would get the PS3 version mainly because that is where they played Demon's Souls and there would be no prep to play Dark Souls. I ended up playing Demon's Souls with a 360 running party chat with people running blue phantom parties, so I figured I would cut out the middleman.
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[smartblue]

We are all dork souls.
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[smartblue]

I will probably play it both ways, honestly. I love the intent of loneliness and disparate pressure the game builds, but I also love breaking intentions to discover new ways to enjoy the game.
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[smartblue]

Copping this from Ye Thread of News. The US version has the contest too.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/28/design-a-shield-for-dark-souls-and-get-in-the-credits/
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[smartblue]

I'm... not sure you know what Lisa Frank is, haha. It wouldn't quite be a big fat guy with a knife.

Wouldn't a Lisa Frank unicorn be trademarked? It would be hilariously awesome though.
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[smartblue]

From has always had pretty awesome art design. I love all the emblems in Armored Core 4 and 4A, and I figured a good design for a shield would have all of those to compare to, or have those for inspiration.
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[smartblue]

Apparently if you randomly get a gravelord in your level, a swarm of NPCs will hunt for you there until you find and kill it. I would assume there is some sort of reward for doing so. Also, if the video is to be believed, pyromancers suffer from extreme lag and are easily distracted by conversation leading to slow and ineffective movements. Must be their downside.
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[smartblue]

I hope so, because fighting a dense trail of black phantom style enemies is what I thought of and that could definitely be a pain.
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[smartblue]

DJ, man, I know you want to talk about it and stuff, but hold back on the freak out posts like this. We're all gonna play it and see it ourselves, after all, haha.
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[smartblue]

I guess when you said what you said up there, you inadvertently hinted that our guesses are wrong, maybe. At any rate, hell yes talk about this a lot when you can, and if the multiplayer is as good as demon's then we will probably see you on there too.
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[smartblue]

I guess most sites don't do a lot of analysis writing in the preview footage, yeah. A lot of Dark Souls seems comfortably familiar to Demon's Souls dudes like us, so we all probably figure it will be good from that. If there is something publicly revealed that you think we should have caught, by all means, enlighten me!
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[smartblue]

[smartblue]

Oh god that video hahaha

I hope that exit spell character animation is both unescapable and unflinchable.
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[smartblue]

[smartblue]

It's like the day before your birthday uih.

Amazon has billed me for mine, and even if I get it tomorrow I don't think I'll even have time to play it since I have class all day and night. Looks like the real Dark Souls starts Wednesday.
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[smartblue]

Man Booj cut the guy some slack, he's just got the pre sacred cow launch jitters and he clearly isn't a marketing major (maybe to his credit).

TXTSWORD man, if your favorite game sells a bunch, that's good no matter what. Think about all the good games we love that will never get sequels because the publishers didn't throw enough cash at the marketing people. If Dark Souls sells like hotcakes, we'll probably get Dark Souls 2.

Actually though, that probably doesn't matter anyway. From is used to making sequels because they feel like making them, not because they will necessarily sell. Armored Core never really sells tons of copies, though maybe V will. Otogi 2 was really great, as was Otogi, and I think those games sold mostly on word of mouth and Penny Arcade strips. Lost Kingdoms 2? It was a good game but not a lot of people cared about games like that on the Gamecube where it couldn't stand easily above all the shovel ware. We will probably get another Dark Souls game anyway if they have more ideas for that universe. I think this is the main reason I love From Software so much, that their company is passion driven, not so much money driven.

edit: Sorry, this post is fine, just looks weird now because a bunch of shit was deleted. - remote

EDITED BY CURATOR
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[smartblue]

I think it is a really fine line in discussing what is hard about the game for most review sites. If they talked about what made Demon's Souls "hard," they would likely feel like they were spoiling the game. A lot of Demon's Souls challenge lies in discovering what obstacles await you and figuring out a way through or around them. If reviewers talked about the exact things that challenged them or killed them, it wouldn't really be a review as it would a let's play.

I think it is okay that the finer points of these games are obfuscated a little bit. It's not like you don't have an eye for it, or an audience to discuss it with. At any rate, much of the charm of Demon's Souls and likely Dark Souls is having experiences that are completely unforeseen and sudden. It gives us something to talk about, to brag about and to freak out about because either games have largely forgotten how to make us do these things so easily or we have been around the block enough times to know what to expect. Reviewers are probably in that boat I just described, all falling apart at the seams dying to tell us their stories and perils they faced, but they can't in good faith do that. They don't want to be the movie trailer that tells you everything about the movie before you see it. You might be sad that they can't talk about the game the way you want them to, but it is getting out to its audience regardless, and more people will buy it and find out about the goods on the recommendations these websites. It's win win in this particular case.

Lastly, who the fuck here cares to read video game reviews on IGN etc. anymore? Seriously. It's a lost cause.
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[smartblue]

TXTSWORD reach for those stars man :(
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[smartblue]

Every new area you find starts off with the Law and Order intro sound. Every new area is a crime scene and I must solve all the murders.
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[smartblue]

[smartblue]

[smartblue]

[smartblue]

[smartblue]

Repair it! Head to the blacksmith, use a weapon repair kit, or buy the campfire repair kit from the Undead Burg or Blacksmith merchants.
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[smartblue]

The two handed hard attack of the drake sword drains its durability a ton as an offset of how powerful it is. If you were using that a lot, that would explain things. If a weapon breaks, yeah, it's gone forever.
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[smartblue]

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[smartblue]

I find that the needle shot attacks from the moonlight butterfly tend to hit more often if you are locked on to it for some reason. They are easier to dodge if you disengage for a moment.
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[smartblue]

The only game From made that I really don't get is Murakumo.
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[smartblue]

[smartblue]

[smartblue]

You should totally chop that tail if you ever plan on having 50 str. It doesn't anger the covenant either, for some odd reason.
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[smartblue]

I'm on 360 dmauro, but I'm soul level 70 at the moment. I might reroll soon just to do some coop stuff.
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[smartblue]

Honestly, I'm probably leveling up too much. I went for a strength build and all the weapons I had my eyes on had 50 requirement, and they usually didn't even have any scaling. Couple that with a good chunk of endurance to wear some suitable armor and there you go. I want to go for a dex build next since I see all these lovely scaling weapons that are fast and do really good damage in my inventory, but maybe there is something coming down the line that will change my tune. Who knows!
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[smartblue]

You slide down ladders with the roll/dash button. Just tap it once and WOOOOSH.

BLACKSMITH ELEMENTS AND STATS TALK: The catacombs blacksmith does fire with +5 weapons, which then must be upgraded with green titanite. The Anor Lando blacksmith does lightning with +10 weapons, and I think those still upgrade with normal titanite, though getting a +5 lightning takes a titanite slab for the last level.

I think the grass crest shield could be handy for big weapons you might only use two handed. Takes a specific build and willingness to get hit around a bit I guess, but it seems to have potential. There is a ring later that does stamina regen too, but I don't know if it is the same rate, or if it stacks.
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[smartblue]

He is tricky to find!

Somewhere in the catacombs, just before the second bonfire, there is a long spiral staircase that ends abruptly into a pit, but there are small landings you can use to navigate to a hole in the ground...
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[smartblue]

Here's a good piece of advice: kill all the wheel skeletons before going back to the blacksmith there. If one of them hits him, he could become angry with you instead!
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[smartblue]

Haha wow, that's not what red messages are!

I haven't seen them yet, but they act like voluntary summons of black phantoms for pvp. That someone placed one in front of that thing is pretty hilarious.
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