Dark Souls II Isn't Hard
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on April 16, 2015, 8:43 a.m. by Sparda1127
I had a friend that recently bought Dark Souls II and constantly complained about how hard it was until I eventually asked to borrow it. I typically try to avoid intentionally frustrating video games, so I never got into the series. However, I was looking for a challenge and a new game to play.
I'm about twelve hours into the game now, have beaten both the Pursuer and the Last Giant, and I've noticed something. The game isn't hard.
The few times that I've died have been to clunky controls, my own clumsiness, or very cheeky add spawns. (The Pursuer can spawn super early on and just one-shot you.) If you want to get into statistics, you can find a monument in Majula that tells the number of deaths worldwide. As of yesterday, this number was a little over 4-million. Considering the game has sold roughly 2-million copies, that means every player has only had an average of about 2 - 3 deaths per game. Considering I've only experienced 4 myself, this isn't very inaccurate.
All of this seems fairly trivial. The game is insanely fun, and it's definitely drained several hours out of me for the last two days, however; I find it fairly easy. Once you understand the controls, learn how to time blocks, rolls, and attacks, and can manage your flasks and lifegems, the game becomes pretty easy.
TL;DR: Dark Souls 2 is pretty easy, am disappoint.
What's your guys' opinions on the game? Like I said, it's super fun, albeit fairly easy eventually.
Sparda1127 says... #3
There's a New Game Plus feature, up to 7 levels. The creatures hit harder, have more health, and more will spawn, becoming increasingly more so after each level. I guess this is where the real challenge comes in.
April 16, 2015 8:58 a.m.
If it says 4 million then it reset at some point. Last time I checked it was at over 2 billion. Also if at twelve hours you're just beating the pursuer I have to ask what level you are at this point?
April 16, 2015 9:12 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #5
Well, Dark Souls 1 is the real challenge. I think that they made Dark Souls 2 easier so that more people would enjoy it. I'm still waiting for GFWL to be removed from Dark Souls 1 so I can play it and see what the hype is about.
April 16, 2015 9:19 a.m.
A very big part of the challenge in both games is also other plays invading you.
April 16, 2015 9:22 a.m.
hippienproud says... #7
You're 12 hours in and have only beaten 2 of the bosses. There are 30+ bosses.
April 16, 2015 9:38 a.m.
Sparda1127 says... #8
Most of it was just spent farming souls and lifegems, I have to admit. :P
April 16, 2015 9:42 a.m.
Just summon two pals and you can take down the early Pursuer spawn no problem. :)
Want more of a challenge? Don't use a shield.
You get good at dodging pretty quickly.
April 16, 2015 9:49 a.m.
lemmingllama... GFWL was removed from Dark Souls 1 sometime ago, at least on the PC Steam edition. I have been enjoying the game a lot myself since that disgusting DRM was removed.
April 16, 2015 11:25 a.m.
The Dark Souls series is hard because it has a VERY particular combat system that you HAVE to get right. Otherwise you get punished. You are probably someone who picked up on the combat rules fairly quickly, and so the game appears easier to you. I assure you that there are other people who don't get the game as well as you who think the game is hard.
April 16, 2015 11:48 a.m.
Dark Souls is a little like that, it hides all of its faults behind the blanket statement of 'it's hard', when really part of it is shitty design, poor controls, and a variety of other things. Depending on how much faith you place in devs this is either laughable or acceptable.
It's also a massive example of the sunk costs fallacy. People believe it's a great game and have to complete it because they waste so much time getting good at it. It's a cognitive thing where you're determined to finish things that make you miserable if you've spent hours trying to finish that thing. Like, it makes you feel like you HAVE to finish it and in reality its fantastic - when really it's all a crock of shite.
Any game that literally plays on a cognitive deficit is suspect in my book.
April 16, 2015 12:55 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #13
You're so right, ChiefBell. I'm so sick of these games masquerading as "the toughest around" or for "elite gamers only" when in reality the difficulty is generated from hideous control schemes and even worse design decisions. Ninja Gaiden 2 (and 3, I guess) declared itself hard when in fact it was simply plagued by a terrible camera and thoughtlessly-designed encounters and enemies. The game ultimately played like this -- you don't use any of the combos and tools your Ninja has, you simply dodge and trigger invincibility frames, and then dodge again and go into more invincibility frames. You had to play it like a big ass QTE in order to clear it. That isn't a fighting game!!
TL;DR, industry standards for game design are at an all-time low, and developers are increasingly covering their corner-cutting by calling their games "hard." When in fact they're just poorly designed.
I don't buy video games anymore. Haven't done so for almost a year. Everything is serialized and/or rushed to market before it's ready. It's all about profits now. No weight at all is given to originality and creativity, or even quality control. It's very disappointing.
April 16, 2015 1:33 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #14
@MisterMayhem I may have to play it soon, after I'm done with all my indie games that I'm in the middle of.
@ChiefBell Well, Dark Souls tried a lot harder than some other games and seems to still be fairly fun even though it involves a lot of grinding and anger. Not really ideal as a game, but still good if you have time to spend and nothing better to do :p
April 16, 2015 5:15 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #15
ChiefBell If a game pisses me off a lot, I'll quit it. I don't care how much money it cost. If it's terrible, it's terrible.
The Dark Souls PC port is also disgusting. Not as bad as Saints Row 2, but pretty hard to play.
April 17, 2015 3:05 a.m.
The more you do something that you dislike the more your brain tricks you into thinking it's great.
JexInfinite says... #2
I haven't played a Dark Souls game, but it's probably a Kingdom Hearts 2 deal where if you're not playing on Critical mode, it's not challenging remotely.
April 16, 2015 8:51 a.m.