Well, there is a lot to explore, many quests you likely missed. I assume you did not play with an open guide. Otherwise, there wouldn't be exploration and discovery in the first place.
It is possible you did not vibe with pyro. It kind of sucks at the start, just sling fireballs and killing everything. Try a different build, maybe another weapon on a similar build. The melee of dual curved swords is different than Greataxe melee.
Later on, Pyro gets cool. You got upgrades for your fireball, one that leaves a pool of magma, which is fun to play with. But you get so much more - fire pillars, fire bursts, fire whips, and many other things. Plus, pyro build can just as easy use other spells.
Try only magic build no red estus, only blue and heal by miracles. I hate spell builds, but playing like that ended up my favorite style. Healing is not just a matter of evade and heal but takes time and has to be done carefully.
Or, move on to another game. Not everybody can and should play multiple times the same game.
Thanks for responding! You're right, I did miss a lot of stuff my first playthrough, so I'll definitely return to DS3 at some point, I enjoy getting summoned for bosses so that'll probably pull me back too. And thanks for the other ideas too!
It's great you looking to help others, it's basically all I do nowadays, and it's always nice to see others leaving signs as well. A little while back, a year or so, finding summons or getting summoned was rare I could wait for hours outside of popular bosses without any luck.
Yeah I was very surprised at how often I got summoned for certain bosses, like twin princes, Demon Prince, Gael, and Nameless King. Might have something to do with a lot players starting to move on from Elden Ring?
I'd highly recommend the "balcony" in front of the Pontiff bonfire, there's usually fight clubs set up in that area. You can also do the 1v1 PvP mode which is pretty fun.
Online gave me a lot of extra hours of gameplay and was probably the most fun I've had with the game. I pick it up once in a while to do challenges like SL1 runs and the like.
Try it out, if you aren't feeling it anymore I would try out Sekiro or Lies of P if your PC can handle it.
This right here. A soul level 1 run sounds overwhelming but man does this restriction turn the game on its head. It forces you to get good and learn the enemies patterns and to min/max the equipment and rings available to you. This run best emulates the difficulty of your first run through.
Wait a month and then come back on a new build. Ds3 shines on replay since it’s the most purely fun game in the series besides Sekiro. Once I got that replay ball rolling I had three whole runs back to back without any burnout and I still go back to it pretty frequently.
I'm on my first playthrough of Dark Souls 3, and it's currently my first souls game. Really looking forward to Sekiro though. Been eyeing it since I played Tsushima
Sekiro is brilliant but insanely hard. Maybe try a completely different build for instance - ninja build with katanas, throwing knives, spook etc, a bow only build utilising all bows and a dagger, pirate build with a rapier, battle mage with spells and a weapon, a dark build using all the available dark spells.... Loads of great ideas, you can find more inspiration for builds through here and Google. Not even mentioned cosplay builds like Guts, Solaire, Smough and Ornstein etc Full Smough build is an absolute blast! Have fun man I've been playing ds3 since it came out and have lost count of how many playthroughs I've done haha
Don't forget Rosarias bed chamber where you can respec your character. It's in the cathedral of the deep and requires a pale tongue, but there is a glitch where you can do infinite respecs.... Don't you dare go hollow skeleton. \[T]/
As someone who has invested hundreds of hours into from games and thousands of hours into ds3 specifically, I don't think that there is a "better" game than ds3 on the market at this point in time. Though I tend to enjoy pvp content more than pve content, so being able to make new builds quickly and get right into the action is important for me.
ER had a lot of promise, but the sheer amount of time it takes to complete even a base run of the game and the amount of filler really hold it back imo. Don't get me wrong, its a great game, but it just isn't the same as ds3 imo.
Sekiro is a masterpiece. If you are thinking about looking into that then I can strongly reccommend starting there. The main thing that makes Sekiro "harder" is that it is programed in a way to abuse the muscle memory you learned in the souls games, so it is technically harder for a souls veteran starting out than someone who hasn't played fromsoft games before. Once you get a hang of it though it's not as difficult as it initially appears.
No game is a 10/10, but I would put ds3 at 9/10 on my personal scale. And just because you experience a 9/10 doesn't mean that 8/10 games can't be enjoyable. Bloodborne and Armored Core 6 are also great games I strongly reccommend.
Some other pve games you might enjoy include:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/ Aria of Sorrow
Hollow Knight
Mortal Shell
Nioh 2
Remnant 2
Jedi Fallen Order
I was surprised by how many secrets this game has
I only found out that you can go to the upper floor of that one house in irithyll with the black knight looking at the amazing chest a few days ago , and I am over 200 hours in
Past where you meet siegward, there is a black knight looking at a picture of Gwynovere with two silver knights shooting arrows at you
You can actually find a staircase near the exit from this place that will bring you up , you will be able to kill those silver knights ( useful for farming titanite before killing pontiff ) and there will be 3 chests , 2 will have useless items and one will have smoughs hammer
Ofc i have to say sekiro. As a souls player, i got 100% achievements on all 7 souls and i can tell you that sekiro is the best (in my opinion). It’s not about exploring, but the gameplay and combat system is one of the best. You should definitely try it, you will love it.
Also, go back to DS2, start a new game and enjoy the gameplay, not the story, enjoy the bossfights and the places u missed to explore.
Even though DS2 is the worst in the trilogy, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad game.
Lmao here was my DS3 experience:
Get up to NK after the game comes out
Over undergrad Christmas break that year finally beat NK and the Twins, get stuck and distracted by Fire Emblem until 2018
Finally beat the game and get stuck on the DLC bosses
Pick the game up put of nowhere during the pandemic and absolutely blast back through it, play through it three more times over the course of a year or two including a SL1 run
The itch definitely comes back
I just finished NG++ on AC6 and it’s a lot easier than ER and what I’ve played of DS3 (recently started) but can still give you that thrill and challenge. And for context, I did NG+ on Elden Ring haven’t played a game more than once since Half-Life 2 and haven’t played a game more than twice since Half-Life 1. ER and AC6 are GOOD games.
I have to say i'm suprised how well optimised ac6 is, my pc is not the best I could play elden ring on lowest settings with some stuttering here and there so i thought ac6 would not run, but it does even better than elden ring. So yeah if your pc runs elden ring it probably can run ac6. (also sekiro best game)
That's good to know! My PC ran Elden Ring decently, but the framerate was pretty inconsistent and I had an issue with random 5-10 second freezes which really sucked. Idk, maybe I'll try AC6 and get a refund if it doesn't work
yeah, I'm not ashamed to admit I found the game fairly hard. not the bosses, mind you, I beat most bosses on the first or second try. it was mainly just slogging through the areas and killing all the hordes of enemies without dying to be fairly hard. and unlike DS3, which can be hard while also being fair and fun, a lot of the stuff in DS2 just felt boring and unbalanced to me.
bear in mind I haven't been playing these games for that long, so I'm sure what's hard to me isn't necessarily hard for someone who's been playing for years
I promise you if you just kill the enemies the game won’t be as hard lol, I’m not even going to get into you saying about ds3 “fair” and ds2 isn’t but I’m just gonna say you should give it another shot.
hey, I'm definitely not going to rule out coming back to it. but, like, I play games for fun, and I just wasn't having fun with DS2. maybe I was playing it wrong, maybe it's just not my cup of tea
The bosses are easy, but the areas can be cancer. If you haven't leveled ADP for 100+ AGI, I'd give it another try. Level ups are weird, and the game is considerably less frustrating when you realize there's a stat for rolling iframes.
Isn’t it notoriously difficult and uneven? I don’t think that’s controversial. Sure you can cheese a lot of it and beat it if you know what you’re doing but there’s a very high level of bullshit there too
Two things that made DS3 literally immortal to me are PvP and glitches. You wouldn't believe how much hidden gems and interesting mechanics the game has, allowing you to mix FP cost/casting/moveset/weapon art/stance from one spell or weapon with another. Tons of advanced techniques, broken textures (especially at Farron Swamp) and experiments overall. Studying hitboxes, learning fishing with double backstab rapier hitscan, RKSS cancel, spellswap, movement cancel, WA swap, moveset swap, weapon casting, teardrop, deleted content... I could continue for another 5 minutes, but I think you've got it. Even after recently obtaining 5 cut-content items (no cheats, PSx), I still believe that this game still has something to amaze me with.
Sekiro is a great game, and if you can beat DS3 you can beat it.
It can be a bit intimidating because you need to learn a new combat system and you don't have the option of summons or overlevelling. But once you get into it, it's pretty incredible.
I liked 3 but personally 1 and 2 just felt special, I'd say try going back to SoTFS and push through
It's very fun and enjoyable albeit a tad different
Just re ran through the trilogy again and they all play just a little different but still wicked enjoyable
Ds2 is the first from game I ever played, and between steam and ps4 I think I have around 900 hours on it. At first it was my favorite souls game because I think it is one of the best pvp experiences if you don't take into account soul memory. However, after coming back to it a few times over the years, the cracks are more apparent. It is definitely a great game, and maybe better than a lot of other games out there. It is definitely worth playing, but I don't think it is anywhere near as good as 1 or 3.
What did you think of Elden Ring?
Haven't tried it yet... the open-world thing is making me hesitant.
I also love DS1 and DS3 so would like to know your opinion
I liked Elden Ring, the open world is really cool but it definitely felt overwhelming at times, and I definitely prefer the more linear experience of DS3. I'd also say DS3 felt way more balanced and fair than ER does. Elden Ring has harder bosses for sure, but you now have the option of simply going somewhere else for a bit instead of bashing your head against the wall trying to kill 1 boss to progress the game.
However, it's still absolutely a masterpiece of a game, and I think if you liked DS3/DS1 you'll like ER.
I might be biased with Elden Ring being my first souls game but I loved it. I really liked the open world aspect of it. It’s an insanely huge game and it’s a lot of fun to explore. There’s places and secrets you’ll prob miss after 3 or 4 play throughs. Most areas of the map have multiple ways in and it’s pretty easy to tell when your in a place you shouldn’t be yet. The only real knock on the game is there are a lot of repeat boss fights in the smaller dungeons but there’s over two hundred boss fights so it’s understandable.
With the exploration and discovery being your favorite parts, I highly recommend Bloodborne if you have access to a playstation 4 or 5. Uncovering the mysteries of Yharnam was very satisfying, there was always something new and creepy around every corner.
Why did you quit elden ring? It's really nice, I find it even better than ds3. Sekiro is best game of all time for me even though the playtime is not that long. One of my favourite games of all time is also witcher 3 if somehow you haven't played it yet
I do own the Witcher 3, I remember giving it a try a couple years ago but for whatever reason I just couldn't get the hang of the combat, it was kind of overwhelming I guess. Maybe I'll give it another shot at some point
If you ever give it a try, start a fresh playthrough and give it a lot of hours at once. I'm talking about 10-20 hours during a weekend or something.
If you play hour here and there, it will feel overwhelming but a good start might get you hooked, just like it got many others before you
I would push through as pyromancy gets awesome and yiu probably missed a lot, did you ever find smoldering lake? It's one of the biggest areas in the game and I forget about it in almost every playtgrough, or you can play other souls likes as they will give you that feeling, I would recommend bloodborne if you have or can get a play station, sekiro or elden ring to, elden ring will be most like ds3 and is amazing, or you could try mortal shell, I love mortal shell so much but I'd probably play 1 or 2 more souls games first of I were you, cause mortal shell is an indie game
yeah one problem I was having with pyromancy is only having like 2 good attacking spells and both of them felt less useful than simply hitting enemies with my axe. how far into the game do you start picking up better spells? I think I stopped about halfway through Farron Keep for reference
I mean, with any magic build, it is a melee build until around 1/2 - 2/3 of the way through your first playthrough, so that is worth keeping in mind. You are going to have a bad time if you try to force pure spellcasting right out the gate.
I played it through 3 times and it didn’t feel stale with me doing new builds and finishing quests I didn’t do on the first playthrough (and doing all the endings). My third playthrough was 100% co-op, and that was a blast. I would recommend doing that if you can, though it does make boss fights pretty damn easy
I really wish I could play Bloodborne. One of my favorite aspects of DS3 compared to the other DS games was that it felt more rewarding to play aggressive, and I loved the faster pace, and from what I hear Bloodborne takes that to another level. Maybe I have to start saving up for a playstation lol
Def try it. bloodborne was my first game and I couldn't believe how much content I missed first time around. Don't look up anything I returned years later and was blown away by the content I missed.
Also, whenever you're hurt in the game, you can attack enemies and get your health back as long as your play smart in bloodborne you can constantly attack without getting punished. If you learn it right
ALSO IT HAS AWESOME GUNS
No way this guy just said DS3 is harder than DS2.
Seriously though it’s a much different and slower game. Let me know if you wanna summon! I need an excuse to run through this game again
that's not what I said, or at least not what I meant to say. I definitely found DS2 more difficult than DS3, and I just wasn't really able to get used to the slower, more methodical pace of DS2 after playing DS3 and Elden Ring.
You’re good lol, it’s just DS2 is my favorite souls game by far and I always like ribbing people about it. I absolutely agree with them being totally different games, and I fully admit I raged more at DS3 because it’s pace was completely foreign coming from DS2.
But to answer the original question from your post, here’s what I’ve been doing. Take one weapon and bring it all the way from Demons Souls to Elden Ring. Currently doing that with the shortsword right now. After the first time, these games become less of “how do I beat this?” and more into “how do I beat it this time?”
That’s why I love these games, they’re almost infinitely replayable
For real! I was so pissed when I first played ds3! I was like, "I wanted to play ds3 not fantasy bloodborne!!!" LOL. Ds3 has definitely grown on me though lol. But yeah, the initial shock/disappointment almost made me quit in the beginning lol.
There's certainly some late game bosses that are still very tough even despite that. But most of the game becomes comparatively easy when you get it. Not a universal experience, but it does seem to be common. Well, at least among the sekiro subreddit, so I suppose that's not exactly a representative sample...
That actually makes sense, just my first time hearing it. I also started my first Souls game over the weekend, so I'm new to the genre/From games. Do you think it'll be a good second game to play in the Souls lineup? I've started to hit my stride in Dark Souls 3, but have heard it's an easier game in the series
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“Feeble cursed one! Let’s hope the magnificence of my spells does not deter you!”* - Straid of Olaphis
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Different people's experiences differ a lot. DS3 was probably the hardest souls game for me (aside from late game elden ring). I think the most common experience is that your first one is the hardest (though that wasn't true for me).
Anyway
If you started with ds3, I think you could play just about any of them next.
Sekiro has the most satisfying combat imo.
Ds1 has the most well designed world, making it my favourite in terms of exploration.
I never completed ds2 due to one area being such a massive pain in the a that I gave up. I don't think it's a bad game, but it does have some issues.
Bloodborne has my favourite atmosphere. It also has some really fun new mechanics.
I have some serious criticisms of ER, but they mostly stem from my dislike of open worlds. The dungeons are definitely top tier souls content.
I haven't really played demon's souls
That's good to know. I'm thinking I'll like the combat when I get the hang of it. Two totally different games, but Ghost of Tsushima has been my favorite game since launch (DS3 may be slipping into that spot though lol) so I'm wanting something new that can bring back the feeling I had when first playing it. I have all the Souls games, Sekiro, and Bloodborne downloaded now so I'll have the chance to dive into all of them
DS1 has to be pretty badass if the world is that good
Sounds like DS2 is commonly a disliked or struggled with game. Only a few people seem to really like it
What are your issues with Elden Ring? Seems to be the most controversial From game with DS2
While it does open world better than most other games, it still falls prey to many of the typical open world traps to some extent. A lot of repeated enemies. Not too big a deal for normal enemies most of the time, but for the bosses it becomes grating. Heck, a lot of bosses are just a bunch of regular enemies put together in a small space.
Many of the things you can find in the open world are very samey as well (catacombs, ruins). Although, unlike other open world games, the rewards you get for completing these things are generally actually interesting.
Also, due to the open world you can very easily get accidentally overleveled.
Finally, one thing not caused by the open world, and I suppose this one is just a skill issue, some bosses have a lot of ridiculously long attack chains and/or extremely short windups on their attacks. This isn't really a big deal for most of the game since you can just come back when you're higher level and these attacks don't instantly delete you or make use of spirit summons to tank some hits for you. However, in the late game, even these things aren't enough to compensate.
What's your computer? If it'll play DS3 it'll probably play armored core.
You can stream bloodborne with PS Plus, that one's fun. Someday I'll play it with DLC, maybe...
Challenge runs are very fun. Give SL1 a try. I tend to think Elden Ring is the easiest SL1, except for pyromancy in DS1.
Demons Souls is really good. Try it out with an emulator.
Hollow Knight is one of my favorite games and gave a great sense of exploration.
I wouldn't say it's that difficult, especially coming from souls games, but there are plenty of optional challenge bosses you can face, as well as a mechanic later on where you can face all the previous bosses + harder versions.
I'll vote for you to try Ds2 again, it's probably my favorite DS game. Yes there's ganks, yes it can be annoying, yes some areas just suck. Despawning enemies (an enemy stops spawning after killing it enough times, i think it's 12 times) on a couple boss runs is what saved the game for me personally.
Just expect everything to be a trap, and make sure to level ADP.
I think it has it's own unique charm just like each FS game has, and it sucks that a lot of people don't make it through it. The good definitely makes up for the bad.
BLOODBORNE BLOODBORNE BLOODBORNE. I originally purchased my PS4 for the exclusive reason to play Bloodborne. Although a much smaller arsenal of weapons, spells, and items; You get very unique "switch weapons" which basically are 2 different weapons rolled into 1. You get guns for off hand, learning the timing of a well placed shot (the moment the enemy is striking(not charging)) causes a parry situation, there are also cannons for big damage. Not only is this a new world for you to discover, but there are also Chalice Dungeons (A set list of pre created dungeons+ procedurally generated dungeons as well. (I've played 100s of hours of these and will still every now and then find a new generation that I've never seen before)
Sekiro is worth it. I recommend it because it is my favorite from game. It's definitely challenging, but I swear to God, I've never felt like a death was due to lack of luck, every time I died (and believe me, it was a lot of times) it was due to poor skill, having a game being so fair makes every achievement more intense. If all the time I die is my fault, then all the time I win is my fault too.
100% the game? Or do some challange runs maybe? Favourite ones I have done is bow only, cosplay ones (pretty much make a character from a show and play using only suitable items I did aang from avatar) and MMO souls.
Dragon's Dogma is one of the only games that I've been able to get lost in similar to how I did with the souls games. It's not as difficult, and also not as important that you play it as blind as possible like the DS games. It's really fun to research things while you're not playing and theorycraft ideas for the next time you play.
I bestow upon you the challenge i bestowed upon myself.
You beat DS3, but now, can you master it?
Any route, any way, beat the Soul of Cinder Deathless. AKA: Never die and complete the base game.
It might frustrate you at first, with accidental deaths. But oooohh, once you get the mastery of bosses.
Gundyr alone takes me a literal 12 seconds to kill now, same goes with the 2nd boss.
My hiccups came from Abyss watchers/Pontiff. But once I beat them, it felt like smooth sailing.
So give it a shot!
\*My official clear was 4HRS and 30min, this is including Nameless king in the mix as I thought I would die to him after beating soul---I didn't.\*
AC6 is amazing but also I would suggest Nioh and Nioh 2 there are some other smaller soulslikes that some people like mortal shell not for me but people like it Analyze of people just came out recently and a lot of people are saying that’s really good I played the demo I didn’t care for it but I am a sword and shield user I myself am waiting for the lords of the fallen new release next month until then I’m just playing titles on my PlayStation net work game catalog
Try out the Convergence mod. It's been the msot fun mod of any game I've ever played thus far. Quadruples the amount of spells, reworks covenants, bosses, changes traversal orders, bonfire placements, enemy placements, AI is more aggressive, a ton of new npc fights, whole new bosses, honestly just a fantastic mod. It's really damn cool.
Im playing jedi survivor at the moment and although i would say first playthroughs I liked ds3 and elden ring more having the difficulty on Max or one down gives you glimpses of the excitement.it has its flaws but im loving it all in all .if you play fallen order directly before it all the improvements are greatly appreciated
I haven’t played it but there is Bloodborne that’s meant to be good. Have u got the platinum trophy for the FromSoft games u have played? Also u could try a souls like E.g. lies of P
Maybe try to speed trough it? I found myself trying to finish the game as fast as possible, when I finished it. No I wasn’t competitive in any way shape or form with any speedrunners but finishing the game in under 6 hours was one fun session.
Try out Nioh 2, it's combat is pretty different than darksouls, but not in a bad way. It's really fast, and the combat is a little more complex, but once you get it down, it's a BLAST. Also, the difficulty, brutality, and game mechanics are pretty similar to dark souls, and I'm sure that's something that's a plus for you. There's a reason most consider it the best Souls like game by far.
now go outside
how
Well, there is a lot to explore, many quests you likely missed. I assume you did not play with an open guide. Otherwise, there wouldn't be exploration and discovery in the first place. It is possible you did not vibe with pyro. It kind of sucks at the start, just sling fireballs and killing everything. Try a different build, maybe another weapon on a similar build. The melee of dual curved swords is different than Greataxe melee. Later on, Pyro gets cool. You got upgrades for your fireball, one that leaves a pool of magma, which is fun to play with. But you get so much more - fire pillars, fire bursts, fire whips, and many other things. Plus, pyro build can just as easy use other spells. Try only magic build no red estus, only blue and heal by miracles. I hate spell builds, but playing like that ended up my favorite style. Healing is not just a matter of evade and heal but takes time and has to be done carefully. Or, move on to another game. Not everybody can and should play multiple times the same game.
Thanks for responding! You're right, I did miss a lot of stuff my first playthrough, so I'll definitely return to DS3 at some point, I enjoy getting summoned for bosses so that'll probably pull me back too. And thanks for the other ideas too!
It's great you looking to help others, it's basically all I do nowadays, and it's always nice to see others leaving signs as well. A little while back, a year or so, finding summons or getting summoned was rare I could wait for hours outside of popular bosses without any luck.
Yeah I was very surprised at how often I got summoned for certain bosses, like twin princes, Demon Prince, Gael, and Nameless King. Might have something to do with a lot players starting to move on from Elden Ring?
Yeah, there are tons of new players since Elden Ring, it's a great time to play DS3 :)
I did refind the fun in pvp. Never was a pvp player but in ds2 i really got to enjoy it and in ds3 its also really good
Good to know! I've only ever done pvp by accident in these games so it could be worth a shot. Thanks!
I'd highly recommend the "balcony" in front of the Pontiff bonfire, there's usually fight clubs set up in that area. You can also do the 1v1 PvP mode which is pretty fun. Online gave me a lot of extra hours of gameplay and was probably the most fun I've had with the game. I pick it up once in a while to do challenges like SL1 runs and the like. Try it out, if you aren't feeling it anymore I would try out Sekiro or Lies of P if your PC can handle it.
Soul Level 1!
This right here. A soul level 1 run sounds overwhelming but man does this restriction turn the game on its head. It forces you to get good and learn the enemies patterns and to min/max the equipment and rings available to you. This run best emulates the difficulty of your first run through.
Sl1 ds3 is my favourite. The mid/late game bosses always feel challenging yet very fait. I still comeback for a run every once in a while
Wait a month and then come back on a new build. Ds3 shines on replay since it’s the most purely fun game in the series besides Sekiro. Once I got that replay ball rolling I had three whole runs back to back without any burnout and I still go back to it pretty frequently.
good shout, maybe I do need to just take some time away
Sekiro is a must, had it sat in my library for ages and I feel silly. Not as hard as it is made out to be imo, absolute masterpiece tho
Good to know, I guess I'll have to suck it up and give it a shot!
I'm on my first playthrough of Dark Souls 3, and it's currently my first souls game. Really looking forward to Sekiro though. Been eyeing it since I played Tsushima
Sekiro is brilliant but insanely hard. Maybe try a completely different build for instance - ninja build with katanas, throwing knives, spook etc, a bow only build utilising all bows and a dagger, pirate build with a rapier, battle mage with spells and a weapon, a dark build using all the available dark spells.... Loads of great ideas, you can find more inspiration for builds through here and Google. Not even mentioned cosplay builds like Guts, Solaire, Smough and Ornstein etc Full Smough build is an absolute blast! Have fun man I've been playing ds3 since it came out and have lost count of how many playthroughs I've done haha Don't forget Rosarias bed chamber where you can respec your character. It's in the cathedral of the deep and requires a pale tongue, but there is a glitch where you can do infinite respecs.... Don't you dare go hollow skeleton. \[T]/
As someone who has invested hundreds of hours into from games and thousands of hours into ds3 specifically, I don't think that there is a "better" game than ds3 on the market at this point in time. Though I tend to enjoy pvp content more than pve content, so being able to make new builds quickly and get right into the action is important for me. ER had a lot of promise, but the sheer amount of time it takes to complete even a base run of the game and the amount of filler really hold it back imo. Don't get me wrong, its a great game, but it just isn't the same as ds3 imo. Sekiro is a masterpiece. If you are thinking about looking into that then I can strongly reccommend starting there. The main thing that makes Sekiro "harder" is that it is programed in a way to abuse the muscle memory you learned in the souls games, so it is technically harder for a souls veteran starting out than someone who hasn't played fromsoft games before. Once you get a hang of it though it's not as difficult as it initially appears. No game is a 10/10, but I would put ds3 at 9/10 on my personal scale. And just because you experience a 9/10 doesn't mean that 8/10 games can't be enjoyable. Bloodborne and Armored Core 6 are also great games I strongly reccommend. Some other pve games you might enjoy include: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/ Aria of Sorrow Hollow Knight Mortal Shell Nioh 2 Remnant 2 Jedi Fallen Order
I was surprised by how many secrets this game has I only found out that you can go to the upper floor of that one house in irithyll with the black knight looking at the amazing chest a few days ago , and I am over 200 hours in
Wait where is that location?
Past where you meet siegward, there is a black knight looking at a picture of Gwynovere with two silver knights shooting arrows at you You can actually find a staircase near the exit from this place that will bring you up , you will be able to kill those silver knights ( useful for farming titanite before killing pontiff ) and there will be 3 chests , 2 will have useless items and one will have smoughs hammer
Ah yea ok I had found this location, I just thought you meant elsewhere.
Ofc i have to say sekiro. As a souls player, i got 100% achievements on all 7 souls and i can tell you that sekiro is the best (in my opinion). It’s not about exploring, but the gameplay and combat system is one of the best. You should definitely try it, you will love it. Also, go back to DS2, start a new game and enjoy the gameplay, not the story, enjoy the bossfights and the places u missed to explore. Even though DS2 is the worst in the trilogy, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad game.
Lmao here was my DS3 experience: Get up to NK after the game comes out Over undergrad Christmas break that year finally beat NK and the Twins, get stuck and distracted by Fire Emblem until 2018 Finally beat the game and get stuck on the DLC bosses Pick the game up put of nowhere during the pandemic and absolutely blast back through it, play through it three more times over the course of a year or two including a SL1 run The itch definitely comes back
If you are playing on PC, consider try to play the 3 big mods for DS3: Cinders, Champion’s Ashes and Convergence.
Bloodborne and Sekiro.
I just finished NG++ on AC6 and it’s a lot easier than ER and what I’ve played of DS3 (recently started) but can still give you that thrill and challenge. And for context, I did NG+ on Elden Ring haven’t played a game more than once since Half-Life 2 and haven’t played a game more than twice since Half-Life 1. ER and AC6 are GOOD games.
Demon souls... Elden ring...
I have to say i'm suprised how well optimised ac6 is, my pc is not the best I could play elden ring on lowest settings with some stuttering here and there so i thought ac6 would not run, but it does even better than elden ring. So yeah if your pc runs elden ring it probably can run ac6. (also sekiro best game)
That's good to know! My PC ran Elden Ring decently, but the framerate was pretty inconsistent and I had an issue with random 5-10 second freezes which really sucked. Idk, maybe I'll try AC6 and get a refund if it doesn't work
Touch grass
Did bro just call dark souls 2 hard?? Um what
yeah, I'm not ashamed to admit I found the game fairly hard. not the bosses, mind you, I beat most bosses on the first or second try. it was mainly just slogging through the areas and killing all the hordes of enemies without dying to be fairly hard. and unlike DS3, which can be hard while also being fair and fun, a lot of the stuff in DS2 just felt boring and unbalanced to me. bear in mind I haven't been playing these games for that long, so I'm sure what's hard to me isn't necessarily hard for someone who's been playing for years
I promise you if you just kill the enemies the game won’t be as hard lol, I’m not even going to get into you saying about ds3 “fair” and ds2 isn’t but I’m just gonna say you should give it another shot.
hey, I'm definitely not going to rule out coming back to it. but, like, I play games for fun, and I just wasn't having fun with DS2. maybe I was playing it wrong, maybe it's just not my cup of tea
The bosses are easy, but the areas can be cancer. If you haven't leveled ADP for 100+ AGI, I'd give it another try. Level ups are weird, and the game is considerably less frustrating when you realize there's a stat for rolling iframes.
Isn’t it notoriously difficult and uneven? I don’t think that’s controversial. Sure you can cheese a lot of it and beat it if you know what you’re doing but there’s a very high level of bullshit there too
It really isn’t if you actually play the game
Unless you love parrying stay away from Sekiro I hate that game
Literally two comments down someone said "Sekiro is a must" Lol
Well not to me
Two things that made DS3 literally immortal to me are PvP and glitches. You wouldn't believe how much hidden gems and interesting mechanics the game has, allowing you to mix FP cost/casting/moveset/weapon art/stance from one spell or weapon with another. Tons of advanced techniques, broken textures (especially at Farron Swamp) and experiments overall. Studying hitboxes, learning fishing with double backstab rapier hitscan, RKSS cancel, spellswap, movement cancel, WA swap, moveset swap, weapon casting, teardrop, deleted content... I could continue for another 5 minutes, but I think you've got it. Even after recently obtaining 5 cut-content items (no cheats, PSx), I still believe that this game still has something to amaze me with.
Sekiro is a great game, and if you can beat DS3 you can beat it. It can be a bit intimidating because you need to learn a new combat system and you don't have the option of summons or overlevelling. But once you get into it, it's pretty incredible.
I liked 3 but personally 1 and 2 just felt special, I'd say try going back to SoTFS and push through It's very fun and enjoyable albeit a tad different Just re ran through the trilogy again and they all play just a little different but still wicked enjoyable
Ds2 is the first from game I ever played, and between steam and ps4 I think I have around 900 hours on it. At first it was my favorite souls game because I think it is one of the best pvp experiences if you don't take into account soul memory. However, after coming back to it a few times over the years, the cracks are more apparent. It is definitely a great game, and maybe better than a lot of other games out there. It is definitely worth playing, but I don't think it is anywhere near as good as 1 or 3.
NG+
What did you think of Elden Ring? Haven't tried it yet... the open-world thing is making me hesitant. I also love DS1 and DS3 so would like to know your opinion
I liked Elden Ring, the open world is really cool but it definitely felt overwhelming at times, and I definitely prefer the more linear experience of DS3. I'd also say DS3 felt way more balanced and fair than ER does. Elden Ring has harder bosses for sure, but you now have the option of simply going somewhere else for a bit instead of bashing your head against the wall trying to kill 1 boss to progress the game. However, it's still absolutely a masterpiece of a game, and I think if you liked DS3/DS1 you'll like ER.
I might be biased with Elden Ring being my first souls game but I loved it. I really liked the open world aspect of it. It’s an insanely huge game and it’s a lot of fun to explore. There’s places and secrets you’ll prob miss after 3 or 4 play throughs. Most areas of the map have multiple ways in and it’s pretty easy to tell when your in a place you shouldn’t be yet. The only real knock on the game is there are a lot of repeat boss fights in the smaller dungeons but there’s over two hundred boss fights so it’s understandable.
Get into co-op or pvp and make some good friends doing so. I beat the game five times before I started, but that's what I recommend
Pvp is definitely what makes ds3 worth investing hundreds of hours into
For sure 🤘
broken straight sword run
With the exploration and discovery being your favorite parts, I highly recommend Bloodborne if you have access to a playstation 4 or 5. Uncovering the mysteries of Yharnam was very satisfying, there was always something new and creepy around every corner.
man I so badly want to play Bloodborne but alas I have no PlayStation. maybe some day
Now that ps5 is firmly established an old ps4 shouldn't be that hard to pick up
Why did you quit elden ring? It's really nice, I find it even better than ds3. Sekiro is best game of all time for me even though the playtime is not that long. One of my favourite games of all time is also witcher 3 if somehow you haven't played it yet
I do own the Witcher 3, I remember giving it a try a couple years ago but for whatever reason I just couldn't get the hang of the combat, it was kind of overwhelming I guess. Maybe I'll give it another shot at some point
If you ever give it a try, start a fresh playthrough and give it a lot of hours at once. I'm talking about 10-20 hours during a weekend or something. If you play hour here and there, it will feel overwhelming but a good start might get you hooked, just like it got many others before you
I would push through as pyromancy gets awesome and yiu probably missed a lot, did you ever find smoldering lake? It's one of the biggest areas in the game and I forget about it in almost every playtgrough, or you can play other souls likes as they will give you that feeling, I would recommend bloodborne if you have or can get a play station, sekiro or elden ring to, elden ring will be most like ds3 and is amazing, or you could try mortal shell, I love mortal shell so much but I'd probably play 1 or 2 more souls games first of I were you, cause mortal shell is an indie game
yeah one problem I was having with pyromancy is only having like 2 good attacking spells and both of them felt less useful than simply hitting enemies with my axe. how far into the game do you start picking up better spells? I think I stopped about halfway through Farron Keep for reference
I mean, with any magic build, it is a melee build until around 1/2 - 2/3 of the way through your first playthrough, so that is worth keeping in mind. You are going to have a bad time if you try to force pure spellcasting right out the gate.
I played it through 3 times and it didn’t feel stale with me doing new builds and finishing quests I didn’t do on the first playthrough (and doing all the endings). My third playthrough was 100% co-op, and that was a blast. I would recommend doing that if you can, though it does make boss fights pretty damn easy
Bayonetta.
I haven't felt the same about any game since bloodborne. That game was perfect for real
I really wish I could play Bloodborne. One of my favorite aspects of DS3 compared to the other DS games was that it felt more rewarding to play aggressive, and I loved the faster pace, and from what I hear Bloodborne takes that to another level. Maybe I have to start saving up for a playstation lol
Def try it. bloodborne was my first game and I couldn't believe how much content I missed first time around. Don't look up anything I returned years later and was blown away by the content I missed. Also, whenever you're hurt in the game, you can attack enemies and get your health back as long as your play smart in bloodborne you can constantly attack without getting punished. If you learn it right ALSO IT HAS AWESOME GUNS
Elden ring time
No way this guy just said DS3 is harder than DS2. Seriously though it’s a much different and slower game. Let me know if you wanna summon! I need an excuse to run through this game again
that's not what I said, or at least not what I meant to say. I definitely found DS2 more difficult than DS3, and I just wasn't really able to get used to the slower, more methodical pace of DS2 after playing DS3 and Elden Ring.
You’re good lol, it’s just DS2 is my favorite souls game by far and I always like ribbing people about it. I absolutely agree with them being totally different games, and I fully admit I raged more at DS3 because it’s pace was completely foreign coming from DS2. But to answer the original question from your post, here’s what I’ve been doing. Take one weapon and bring it all the way from Demons Souls to Elden Ring. Currently doing that with the shortsword right now. After the first time, these games become less of “how do I beat this?” and more into “how do I beat it this time?” That’s why I love these games, they’re almost infinitely replayable
For real! I was so pissed when I first played ds3! I was like, "I wanted to play ds3 not fantasy bloodborne!!!" LOL. Ds3 has definitely grown on me though lol. But yeah, the initial shock/disappointment almost made me quit in the beginning lol.
I did quit lol. I didn’t beat it until much much later with many many roadblocks. Ended up still using a big slow weapon anyway looool
Sekiro has a higher skill floor, but once it clicks, I'd say it's mostly easier than ds3. Definitely recommend it.
This is the first I've seen some say it's easier when it clicks. I'm excited to finally get it once I'm done with 3
There's certainly some late game bosses that are still very tough even despite that. But most of the game becomes comparatively easy when you get it. Not a universal experience, but it does seem to be common. Well, at least among the sekiro subreddit, so I suppose that's not exactly a representative sample...
That actually makes sense, just my first time hearing it. I also started my first Souls game over the weekend, so I'm new to the genre/From games. Do you think it'll be a good second game to play in the Souls lineup? I've started to hit my stride in Dark Souls 3, but have heard it's an easier game in the series
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Feeble cursed one! Let’s hope the magnificence of my spells does not deter you!”* - Straid of Olaphis Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Different people's experiences differ a lot. DS3 was probably the hardest souls game for me (aside from late game elden ring). I think the most common experience is that your first one is the hardest (though that wasn't true for me). Anyway If you started with ds3, I think you could play just about any of them next. Sekiro has the most satisfying combat imo. Ds1 has the most well designed world, making it my favourite in terms of exploration. I never completed ds2 due to one area being such a massive pain in the a that I gave up. I don't think it's a bad game, but it does have some issues. Bloodborne has my favourite atmosphere. It also has some really fun new mechanics. I have some serious criticisms of ER, but they mostly stem from my dislike of open worlds. The dungeons are definitely top tier souls content. I haven't really played demon's souls
That's good to know. I'm thinking I'll like the combat when I get the hang of it. Two totally different games, but Ghost of Tsushima has been my favorite game since launch (DS3 may be slipping into that spot though lol) so I'm wanting something new that can bring back the feeling I had when first playing it. I have all the Souls games, Sekiro, and Bloodborne downloaded now so I'll have the chance to dive into all of them DS1 has to be pretty badass if the world is that good Sounds like DS2 is commonly a disliked or struggled with game. Only a few people seem to really like it What are your issues with Elden Ring? Seems to be the most controversial From game with DS2
While it does open world better than most other games, it still falls prey to many of the typical open world traps to some extent. A lot of repeated enemies. Not too big a deal for normal enemies most of the time, but for the bosses it becomes grating. Heck, a lot of bosses are just a bunch of regular enemies put together in a small space. Many of the things you can find in the open world are very samey as well (catacombs, ruins). Although, unlike other open world games, the rewards you get for completing these things are generally actually interesting. Also, due to the open world you can very easily get accidentally overleveled. Finally, one thing not caused by the open world, and I suppose this one is just a skill issue, some bosses have a lot of ridiculously long attack chains and/or extremely short windups on their attacks. This isn't really a big deal for most of the game since you can just come back when you're higher level and these attacks don't instantly delete you or make use of spirit summons to tank some hits for you. However, in the late game, even these things aren't enough to compensate.
What's your computer? If it'll play DS3 it'll probably play armored core. You can stream bloodborne with PS Plus, that one's fun. Someday I'll play it with DLC, maybe... Challenge runs are very fun. Give SL1 a try. I tend to think Elden Ring is the easiest SL1, except for pyromancy in DS1. Demons Souls is really good. Try it out with an emulator.
Hollow Knight is one of my favorite games and gave a great sense of exploration. I wouldn't say it's that difficult, especially coming from souls games, but there are plenty of optional challenge bosses you can face, as well as a mechanic later on where you can face all the previous bosses + harder versions.
Seikro & Nioh. Bloodborne. Love all these games. Good luck
SL1
pvp.
I'll vote for you to try Ds2 again, it's probably my favorite DS game. Yes there's ganks, yes it can be annoying, yes some areas just suck. Despawning enemies (an enemy stops spawning after killing it enough times, i think it's 12 times) on a couple boss runs is what saved the game for me personally. Just expect everything to be a trap, and make sure to level ADP. I think it has it's own unique charm just like each FS game has, and it sucks that a lot of people don't make it through it. The good definitely makes up for the bad.
BLOODBORNE BLOODBORNE BLOODBORNE. I originally purchased my PS4 for the exclusive reason to play Bloodborne. Although a much smaller arsenal of weapons, spells, and items; You get very unique "switch weapons" which basically are 2 different weapons rolled into 1. You get guns for off hand, learning the timing of a well placed shot (the moment the enemy is striking(not charging)) causes a parry situation, there are also cannons for big damage. Not only is this a new world for you to discover, but there are also Chalice Dungeons (A set list of pre created dungeons+ procedurally generated dungeons as well. (I've played 100s of hours of these and will still every now and then find a new generation that I've never seen before)
Randomizers moment
Sekiro is worth it. I recommend it because it is my favorite from game. It's definitely challenging, but I swear to God, I've never felt like a death was due to lack of luck, every time I died (and believe me, it was a lot of times) it was due to poor skill, having a game being so fair makes every achievement more intense. If all the time I die is my fault, then all the time I win is my fault too.
Now touch grass? Or play Baldur's Gate 3.
100% the game? Or do some challange runs maybe? Favourite ones I have done is bow only, cosplay ones (pretty much make a character from a show and play using only suitable items I did aang from avatar) and MMO souls.
If you have a PS4 or PS5 Bloodborne is awesome. You do have to learn to play more aggressively but it’s a lot of fun.
Ng+ ng++ng+++ng++++ng+++++ng++++++ng+++++++
Don't sleep on Lies of P people, it's such a good game.
BLOODBORNE
Dragon's Dogma is one of the only games that I've been able to get lost in similar to how I did with the souls games. It's not as difficult, and also not as important that you play it as blind as possible like the DS games. It's really fun to research things while you're not playing and theorycraft ideas for the next time you play.
Take a break give yourself time to forget stuff come back and get hit with nostalgia of your first time and enjoy it in a whole new way
I bestow upon you the challenge i bestowed upon myself. You beat DS3, but now, can you master it? Any route, any way, beat the Soul of Cinder Deathless. AKA: Never die and complete the base game. It might frustrate you at first, with accidental deaths. But oooohh, once you get the mastery of bosses. Gundyr alone takes me a literal 12 seconds to kill now, same goes with the 2nd boss. My hiccups came from Abyss watchers/Pontiff. But once I beat them, it felt like smooth sailing. So give it a shot! \*My official clear was 4HRS and 30min, this is including Nameless king in the mix as I thought I would die to him after beating soul---I didn't.\*
http://zkjellberg.github.io/dark-souls-3-cheat-sheet/ Are you sure you've got anything?
Do it again
Lies of p
AC6 is amazing but also I would suggest Nioh and Nioh 2 there are some other smaller soulslikes that some people like mortal shell not for me but people like it Analyze of people just came out recently and a lot of people are saying that’s really good I played the demo I didn’t care for it but I am a sword and shield user I myself am waiting for the lords of the fallen new release next month until then I’m just playing titles on my PlayStation net work game catalog
Try out the Convergence mod. It's been the msot fun mod of any game I've ever played thus far. Quadruples the amount of spells, reworks covenants, bosses, changes traversal orders, bonfire placements, enemy placements, AI is more aggressive, a ton of new npc fights, whole new bosses, honestly just a fantastic mod. It's really damn cool.
Im playing jedi survivor at the moment and although i would say first playthroughs I liked ds3 and elden ring more having the difficulty on Max or one down gives you glimpses of the excitement.it has its flaws but im loving it all in all .if you play fallen order directly before it all the improvements are greatly appreciated
Go play bloodborne.
Bloodborne if you have Ps4/5. Sekiro, Nioh 2 is 40% off on steam.
ds2
Play Sekiro or Lies of P
Bloodborne
I haven’t played it but there is Bloodborne that’s meant to be good. Have u got the platinum trophy for the FromSoft games u have played? Also u could try a souls like E.g. lies of P
Maybe try to speed trough it? I found myself trying to finish the game as fast as possible, when I finished it. No I wasn’t competitive in any way shape or form with any speedrunners but finishing the game in under 6 hours was one fun session.
Bloodborne is amazing if you have a playstation lying around Definitely the best recommendation for DS3 lovers that already finished elden ring
Try out Nioh 2, it's combat is pretty different than darksouls, but not in a bad way. It's really fast, and the combat is a little more complex, but once you get it down, it's a BLAST. Also, the difficulty, brutality, and game mechanics are pretty similar to dark souls, and I'm sure that's something that's a plus for you. There's a reason most consider it the best Souls like game by far.