[Talbain]

So this will probably be a mostly text thing about a PC Blindplay of DS2. I never played any of the console versions of the game and have largely not read much of anything regarding the game. If anyone else is also playing it blind on PC for the first time, would love to hear what you guys are thinking/having trouble with. Heh. I assume I'll be taking Steam screenshots and will prolly post links at some point though, perhaps trying to mimic that wonderful Mass Effect playthrough thread by DJ.
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[Zmann]

I'm in the same situation! I'll probably pop my head in here a few times, although I've unfortunately become rather busy with LIFE right on the day it comes out!

[CubaLibre]

Oh hey. I guess I should buy this now.

I dunno, somehow I can't summon a huge amount of excitement for it. I don't know why.

Is the halberd still good? I've always liked my halberd.
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Let's Play, starring me.

[shrugtheironteacup]

SPOILER!!!!all halberds have been replaced w/ brightly colored pool noodlesSPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!
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[mauve]

halberd's probably best it's ever been

gonna get my popcorn for the second wave thread
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twit

[Zmann]

I just played about an hour and got to what I assume is the hub: Mejula (which is an absolutely gorgeous area, wow).

Haven't explored much past that yet.

Cuba: I was sort of in the same boat as you; I wasn't terribly excited to play this for whatever reason, but it already seems pretty great. Just having Dark Souls run at 60 fps was enough for me to get excited. I haven't had a hitch yet on my machine; it runs at a silky smooth the entire time, and the areas look really nice so far (although that first grass sound is awful). I think the animations look a little jankier than last time, but I might just notice it more because everything has a lot more fidelity.

I need to sleep, but I really really really wanted to check out all those nooks and crannies and exits coming out of the hub. Eeeeee!

[misadventurous]

the halberd is amazing but it's a lot harder to use well imo.

[Ronnoc]

None of the halberds in DS2 has a stab, so they're no good to me

[Talbain]

So I've tried starting off as a sorcerer and that bombed horribly. I can't seem to kill these dang knights. Or rather I can but I'm not doing anywhere near the damage I need to be doing. Is there any help for starting as a sorcerer? I switched to Knight and the game got a LOT easier. Bought a Kite Shield and pretty much made it/beat the first boss pretty easily (first try actually!).

Also, this game is RIDICULOUSLY pretty. I've spent a lot of time just staring at stuff. Very majestic game.
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[remote]

[scratchmonkey]

Game looks amazing compared to the console versions.

Also, got too excited running through some early bits and out-leveled a friend I convinced to pick it up under the pretense of co-op. :S

[sarsamis]

man, my weapons be breaking a lot. did they break this often in the first game? I know they didn't in Demon's Souls.

I'm just kind of running around as a guy with a sword and those punchy weapons that one merchant lady sells. Beat the first boss and have gone a bit further beyond that.

I had my audio cut out, come back on, then cut out again in Mejula and then I got a BSOD. It may have just been my PC, though. I think my boot SSD is a bit screwy but I've been too lazy to do anything about that.

I felt like a badass when I ran around that giant in the beginning and got that lightning thing he was guarding. I really enjoyed that opening area in general.

I like how the random character generator still gives 100% hideous results.

[Talbain]

Aaaand I just found out that I was going in ENTIRELY the wrong direction. Damn this game. Jeez. I love it and hate it already.
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[Tulpa]

hey I got this too, have no idea what I'm doing/haven't gotten to the first boss yet, only played for an hour and a half though.
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[Iacus]

Me too, I played for a little bit more than an hour. Will give it more time after work today.

Only died once so far. A stupid death when I foolishly confronted a heide knight (took the wrong path thinking I was going to the forest of giants) and he pushed me into the water.

Also, worst preorder bonus ever. Not only do you start with a bunch of special weapons and shields that you could find on your own anyway, but there's no way to start the game truly deprived!
At least you can't use most of the stuff with starting stats even as a knight, but still it breaks the dark souls purity a bit.
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Guayaba 2600

[Zmann]

[Toptube]

Quelaaren 2.0!

She has a badass braided pony tail which you can't see under her badass furZ and skullZ.

There are less hair options than ever and most of them suck.

[Toptube]

I miss the jumping R2 attacks and the kicks. But especially the jumping R2.

*A look back at Quelaaren 1.0

[meauxdal]

I played for awhile and just stood in areas. This game RUNS AT 60 FPS. GOTY.

Tried to kill that big blue beasty with my fists like 10 times. I think I maybe knocked 10% of his health off one time.

I think I'm going to take my time on this game and just saunter through.

Not sure if I want to try the Durante tool until it's (described as being) a little more stable.

[Talbain]

Wasn't a huge fan of having to spend ten levels to get enough stats to use a decent weapon, and I'm still unsure how I feel about it. Hrm. Strange feelings of caster regret/remorse.
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[Toptube]

Yeah it's a little weird playing a souls game at 60fps absolutely locked. I always capped Ds1 at 42fps, to avoid the engine breaking that would happen at higher framerates, due to how DSfix hacked the engine to get things to work.

*I'm constantly lowering the controller sensitivity, because it's too dang fast ; )

[parker]

That lady standing right there by the tree in plain sight is what all you old pros spent hours searching for?

I picked deprived and I'm punching things. When I tried playing Dark Souls 1, I didn't feel any of the good feelings anyone talks about, just frustration. This seems better, the way stuff is laid out to start with anyway. Also I still can't believe there was like a big argument the one time about dark souls and diablo having nothing in common, this one even more than the first seems exactly like what I would have thought some future diablo game might be like.
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[kitroebuck]

Yeah, this is great.

So, since there are limited respawns in this game, is it possible to empty the world of enemies? Has someone attempted it on the consoles yet? Not that I'd be the one to do it, but it might be a cool completionist thing: to just have all these environments to yourself.

BTW, last night I got to that bit in the forest that everyone was complaining about, where you climb a tower and can look out on all the billboard trees jutting out of the hill. I kind of stared at it like a tourist and was immediately killed by the two hollows coming down the stairs. So maybe that's in there as a meta-hazard.

[diplo]

[Gideon Zhi]

[Brooks]

That skin is still way too clean/flat, it looks hecka daft

Plz add more oatmeal gfx patch someone

[mauve]

[remote]

[Talbain]

[Felix]

The thing with sorcery in this one is it doesn't improve much between 16 and 45

I played most of the game with 16 int casting great soul arrow the eventually respec'd to 30 faith to cast great lightning spear (which is a fair bit faster than in DkS) and that seemed like a good call since I wasn't going to ever get my int high enough.

[remote]

but once you're at 40 or so it becomes quite something

hexes are also great fun
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letterboxd | last.fm | steam

[Talbain]

[Felix]

Yes, but most of the good hexes use a chime rather than a staff which is another reason to eventually switch to faith if you're primarily a melee build

yeah, the respec mechanic is really neat (one of a few mechanics in this one that encourages you to stay with the same character you've created and mess around in the world after the credits have rolled), provided you don't look it at as a band aid for some of the weirder stat progression curves (see: int)

[Gideon Zhi]

[Felix]

I won't repost too much from the other thread, but cleric-style equips for the most part got a huge boost in this one from DkS, particularly if you like playing a relatively agile 1h character like me; in addition to lightning spear being faster, clubs and maces now have a much less clumsy moveset, and quite a few enemies, particularly in the early-to-mid-game, are weak against strike damage but not slashing.

I instinctively played dex/int for most of this one until I'd gotten a better handle on things (again, hooray for being able to respec) and I had a great time but it does seem like str/faith would've been a fair bit more effective most of the time. I also happened to have gotten the old whip at the beginning, which is a major dex incentive -- one of not very many, unless you really like dual wielding.

[Talbain]

[Felix]

don't worry too much. you may have jumped the gun on skewing so int-heavy but there are other paths available to you if you're hitting a wall in the bastille.

I'll just post this here because it's one of the more obtuse early-game roadblocks and lots of people missed it on console: you need to EXHAUST THE DIALOG OF THE FIRST MIRACLE MERCHANT YOU MEET BY CHOOSING "TALK" REPEATEDLY BEFORE SHE SHOWS UP IN MAJULA, WHICH YOU WANT HER TO DO.

[CONSUME_PRODUCTS]

^ yeah that shit was way too cryptic

re: sorcery we're right after a kneejerk 'this is too good' nerf so

[mauve]

i'm hearing that the name shown in multiplayer for the PC version is the character name, not the steam account name. and is also heavily censored.

i'd gotten into the habit of naming my characters after their builds, too...
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twit

[Toptube]

[Talbain]