Is Dark Souls 1 Overrated? A DS3 Player's Perspective

[@icantread1058]

I always thought it was really funny how dark souls 1 is labeled "best game eva made" and "underdeveloped second half" in the same breath

[@RawrItsJuul]

I guess that just shows how good people consider the first half to be. I don't think it's necessarily that weird, the two phrases are not exactly mutually exclusive. Both can be true, people can think it's the best game ever despite the underdeveloped second half. But at face value it does sound strange at first.

[@TheRisky9]

They said it's the best game; they never said it was perfect. "Best game ever" and "under-developed second half" do not contradict each other. Underdeveloped doesn't mean terrible. While it's not on par with what the rest of the game delivered, it's not the worst. Most importantly, it's not the entire game.

[@84rinne_moo]

Like the others said, it’s about comparing that 2nd half to its own first half not to other games.

[@Laezar1]

I mean to be fair I hate the second half to the point of stopping after orstein and smough in most playthrough and the game is still amazing if you just pretend O&S or manus are the end of the game =p The start is just very very strong I wouldn't say "best game ever" I have many other games I prefer and it's not even my favorite from software game (sekiro is) but it's certainly an amazing game and bed of chaos can't take that away.

[@Lampaluile]

Honestly it's fine. The later half is not bad because it's still mostly open from the start. The end game is quicker and that's fine, completely fine.

[@appleonsauce2035]

the "this game is linear" take is insane. you can fight like 4 separate bosses as your first boss post asylum.

[@Sinhesthysia]

I think I first heard this in Hbomberguy's DS2 video (which now that I've rewatched I don't entirely agree with) but he does point out the difference between nonlinearity interconnectivity. None of these games, outside of Elden Ring and maybe DS2, are nonlinear; they are more so interconnected. An example for DS1 is how many people mention you can fight 4-5 bosses as your first boss, but the catch is you do have to fight all of them. Yes you can change the order, but you are still ultimately following the same progression path.

[@Wzded]

That is just not true, "you have to fight all of them" is a wild take again. Capra, Moonlight Butterfly and Tarus demon can be skipped. There are 8 bosses you can fight as your first boss, only Gargoyles, Quelag, Pinwheel and Sif are required out of them. Gargoyles Quelag Sif Capra Demon Stray Demon Tarus Demon Pinwheel Moonlight Butterfly

[@Sinhesthysia]

@@Wzded I mean, I did say that there are 4-5 bosses you can fight, and you named 4 that are possibilities and are all mandatory. Don't see how that constitutes as a "wild take" if you're essentially agreeing with me. The option for all eight also requires things like the Master Key, which not every player will pick up. So more often Taurus will be required not only to progress, but also to fight Capra and maybe even access Blighttown. My point is, yes DS1 offers an incredibly interconnected world that feels cohesive and interesting to explore, but I wouldn't call it nonlinear. Nonlinear would be something closer to Elden Ring. Due to its open world, you can literally choose any one of dozens of bosses to fight initially, and I'd say around 90% of the games content is completely optional. With DS1, you are required to go to every single area in the game for one reason or another to progress, even if the order you do so is up to you. The only exception I can think of is Lower Undead Burg, Painted World, and the Great Hollow

[@Wzded]

@@Sinhesthysia And the take gets even wilder

[@Sinhesthysia]

@@Wzded alright let's see if I can explain this more concretely so you can understand it better. So in DS1, in order to finish the game, you must defeat Quelagg, Gargoyles, Iron Golem, Ornstein and Smough, Seath, Pinwheel, Nito, Sif, Four Kings, Ceaseless Discharge, Demon Firesage, Centipede Demon, Bed of Chaos, and Gwyn at minimum. Though most people probably won't think to skip Taurus through the basement so you might count him too. In Elden Ring, all you have to do is kill 2 shardbearers to access Leyndell. This could mean you only fight three bosses in total to access Leyndell. Then you have to fight DTS, Goldfrey, Morgott, Fire Giant, Godskin Duo, Maliketh, Gideon, Godfrey, and Elden Beast. That's 11-12 bosses depending on if you count Radagon as a separate fight. For DS1 it requires 14 bosses to finish the game, despite being a much smaller game with around 30 bosses compared to 140ish that ER has. Again, this isn't to say that ER is strictly a better game than DS1, in fact I think ER is much more of a mixed bag in terms of what it's trying to accomplish. DS1 is still an amazing game, well worthy of the notoriety it's garnered, even if it's not my personal favorite of the trilogy. But the fact is that the Souls games (minus the one open world game) are not really nonlinear as many people tend to say that they are.

[@nicholasharfield8780]

Why does no one ever really talk about the art? You make a point to say enemies and bosses are designed appropriately for the levels they're in, but then you seem to drop it. Bed of Chaos is bad, sure, but the design absolutely fucking rocks.

[@FlyMandi]

that's fair, I should've talked about that more, the design really is nuts

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

But why is 1 witch a massive tree? Why are 3 witches normal hollow humans, why are 2 spiders and why is 1 brother the huge ceaseless?

[@gb1187]

@@schmietwechdeschiet4340look into the lore

[@icantread1058]

Weapon durability is also a thing in dark souls 3 bro, the reason it exists is for enemies to have gear breaking attacks. It creates depth and its one of my favorite parts about ds1 next to the armor mechanics.

[@FlyMandi]

Tbh I forgot it existed, pointless mechanic in my eyes

[@logiclunacy606]

Given weapons repair when resting at the bonfire in DS3, you kinda forget its there. The only games where it matters is 1 & bloodborne.... 2 it can break easily, durability repairs at the bonfire too but if completely broken you have pay a lot to get it repaired.

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

Only DS2 made repair powder viable. And bloodborne reaaaaally needed it... I never had to repair in ds1 or 3...

[@damiku-8866]

The only time I've ever seen it in DS3 was in the graveyard in Cathedral of the Deep with the horde of skeletons that respawn like three times each after being killed. I had a weapon break when trying to fully clear that place out. I think it's the only time I've ever seen it. Maybe once on Deacons of the Deep also, after fighting my way to them for some time through normal mobs and not noting that my weapon was a bit degraded. You really have to go out of your way in DS3 to even get it to be a factor.

[@endless-less8247]

shoutout to those who got trapped in tomb of the giants for eternity

[@FlyMandi]

o7

[@HaibaneRakka571]

I genuinely wonder how many abandoned save files exist of new players who accidentally wandered down into Ash Lake in the first hour of the game and sat at the bonfire

[@BlueSquareInWhiteCircle]

I got softlocked on my first attempted playthrough. Found a bonfire after killing pinwheel early game, but gave up on the game as I was unable to get back up again past both giant skeletons, wheel skeletons and black knight. It took some time before I gave the game a try again and when I did I took a different route and the game was so much easier than I remembered it as.

[@click8708]

@@HaibaneRakka571 If you are good enough to get to Ash Lake within your first hour then you'll be good enough to get out. One does not simply wander into Ash Lake on a blind playthrough

[@bjd3707]

DS1 - greatest world map I've ever seen and no fast travel means you're well outside your comfort zone in the first half. This really helps the suspense. DS3 by comparison has better combat, an underwhelming story and a world map with 10% of the novelty. If ER didn't exist it would be a tough choice, but with that context it's DS1 for me.

[@giannixx]

0:48 "no controls are explained". Wait, didn't you read the dozen or so developer messages scattered across the asylum that teach you the controls? Hmmm... Right after you arrive in Firelink, assuming you have the Master Key, there are 8 bosses you can choose to fight next. DS3 is much more linear, with you only having 2-3 options to progress. After Ornstein & Smough the game opens up again, giving you 5 new ways to go. The interconectivity and level design of DS make this level-based game feel like it's open world, an open world maze you gradually learn to traverse and use to your advantage. Given, you loose quite a bit of that freedom if you don't choose the Master Key as the starting gift. 6:52 Why didn't you mention the whole twist about the illusion of Anor Londo, Kaathe, and the Chosen Undead narrative? You aren't portraying Dark Souls' very existing and intriguing story properly. It's like if I were to reduce DS3's story to "you are an Unkindled, whatever that means, you have to beat the old Lords of Cinder because they don't feel like doing their job so you can link the fire and become a Lord of Cinder". It's kinds ironic actually, the story of Dark Souls being portrayed as superficial and bland while the powers that be in the game are actively trying to fool you into believing the story is superficial and bland. Lost Izalith isn't that bad if you ignore the dragon leg enemies, I mean that because "the floor is lava" is irrelevant since you take very little damage with the ring on, and the visuals are cool. But the area does suffer from rushed development and FromSoftware did admit it was unfinished. The same goes for the Bed of Chaos, which is probably the 2nd worse boss in the trilogy (1st to me would be the Darklurker from DS2 if we are also counting the runback). Capra Demon is a bs fight, yes, but it's pushing you to learn the fundamentals. The Asylum Demon taught you to plunge attack and dodge, Taurus Demon reinforces that while also teaching you the importance to be aware of your surroundings (bc you can fall off the wall and there are two hollows shooting at you if you don't kill them before the fight), the Bell Gargoyles taught you that certain bosses have weakspots (tail weapon) and how to deal with more than one strong enemy at the same time, while also reinforcing spacial awareness and coordination. Capra Demon puts all that to the test, with you annoying but weak enemies that will to chip damage to you and interrupt your actions if you ignore them, and a big and strong but slow enemy that has some attacks that can be blocked and others that can't. You can use the unfair, small arena to your advantage in order to separate the dogs from him to kill them, and then make a plunge attack on Capra. Once the dogs are dead, he is very easy if you passed the skill check of beating both gargoyles at once. What you learn here is tested later against Ornstein and Smough, another combo of a fast and a slow enemy. If you beat the Gargoyles you aren't supposed to lash out at a difficult encounter because you know you can learn the patterns of everything the game throws at you. That is, unless you used an overpowered weapon to kill the first gargoyle before the second one could spawn, but then you can also kill the dogs in 1 hit and Capra in 3-4 hits (a +3-+5 Zweihander, for example). There is RNG, but the fight starts the same 90% of the time, with Capra doing the two-handed jump attack. Dodge, kill the dogs while he recovers, or run up the stairs and kill the dogs there. The fight is bs and one of the less interesting ones, yes, but it goes from unfair to easy if you take the time to observe, learn, strategize, and test what is the best approach, what works and what doesn't work so you can overcome a seemingly impossible challenge where the odds are against you. That's the whole point of Souls games, after all. Never thought I would be defending the Capra Demon of all bosses. There is bs but it's not pointless nor is it the devs just trying to troll you and make you mad. A test of mettle, yea, it sure is. 12:21 Hmm, so are you blaming the game because you didn't read Andre's catalogue of items he sells? Or the Undead Merchant's in Undead Burg? And I guess you also didn't remember he also sells repair powder at a low price? And you are talking like you have to do the "chore" of taking care of your equipment after each fight, while the weapons and armor take quite a bit of time to be "at risk", and they autorepair upon upgrading. You absolutely can go through the whole game without repairing your equipment but just uprading your main weapon/s. Unless you are using a weapon with low durability like a katana or a crystal weapon, or you get hit by the 2, maybe 3 attacks in the whole game that corrode your gear (I can only remember the Gaping Dragon's puke and the Burrowing Rockworms' spit). As for it being pointless, it's even more so in DS3 since there you have to actively try to break a weapon, because the durability takes a long time to decrease and it autorepair when you sit at a bonfire. DS2 on the other hand goes on the opposite direction, with most weapons having low durability, that decreases fast and they have more enemies with corrosive attacks, making it much more of a chore to either go back and rest or to stock up on repair powder. Yes, the process of getting access to the DLC is very convoluted. But you can't compare that to the Painted World. Come on now, you find the doll when you go back to the asylum and the description tells you about a cold and lonely painted world, then you go to Anor Londo and see a big fucking painting (or remember you saw it if you grab the doll later). Besides, it's common videogame logic to explore the areas you are in. You see a painting at the end of the room, with loot close to it, being guarded by enemies? You go there. If you have the doll you can enter. If you grab the doll later you will remember the big painting you saw, so maybe you should go back there. Also, it is an optional area at the end of the day, it is meant to be secret. And it rewards you for exploring and paying attention to everything. 14:40 Huh, do you know you can just play offline? Then you will only be invaded in some specific places by npcs if you're in Human form/Embered. It's a way for you to choose if you want to engage in pvp while playing online. If you want the benefits of being embered, for example, but don't want to deal with pvp, then play offline. Where is the problem here? And ds3 is even more forgiving (which I like) in that you have to be emberered to be invaded or to summon, but you don't need to in order to be summoned, either for pvp or co-op, but that is still your choice because you have to put your sign down or wear the covenant item. This also exists in DS1 but not to the same extend. You can be summoned as an invader even in hollow form if you are wearing the Cat Covenant Ring (and belong to that covenant). The games always give you the choice to engage or not in online play, you can't blame the game because you got invaded if you chose to play online. Although I agree that there is toxicity in the pvp, with people abusing overpowered/meta builds to get cheap wins. 17:25 "there are supposed to be 10 or more". Again, you're working with wrong information here, either because you thought it should be the same number as in ds3 or because someone told you and they were wrong. You can get the Estus to a maximum of +7, but you don't really need that much healing, +5 to +6 being fine. Also, to get 2 of those 7 you have to be kinda heartless or at least have to answer moral dilemmas. Idk, I understand that the curse is a very punishing mechanic, but, having played ds1 first and then ds3, I found it kinda unremarkable in ds3. You don't fear getting cursed, it's just an insta kill inconvenience, like a really strong bleeding. In DS1 the curse has more weight to it, it feels more like... Well, a curse, something dreadful you definitely want to avoid. The four-directional rolling does feel weird after having played ds3. But before that I never even noticed it. Just like the required souls to level up thing, and driking Estus while walking, or displaying the equip load percentage, those are quality of life improvements that were implemented later. You can't make a critique of a 8-bit game and complain about the graphics and about it being 2d. The later games have the advantage of having been developed after the original, so they had already tested the waters and had gained experience as to what features they should keep, remove, or improve. I wish you could climb ladders faster by pressing circle/B in DS like you can in DS2 and 3, but I also know the game came out in 2011 and they only came up with that feature later. They could have implemented those features in the remaster, but the discussion of whether they should or shouldn't have is a whole other can or worms. One of the few gameplay changes they made in the remaster was that curse no longer stacks and that you can use or give multiple items at once instead of having to do it one at a time. But changing those also changes the experience, and sometimes that's not what you want. I bet you can find people that were displeased that the curse doesn't stack in the remaster and they have their arguments to defend that position. I'm not one of those, but maybe because I never got cursed twice in the ps3 version (or can't recall it since it has been some time) and have mainly played the remastered version on pc anyway.

[@giannixx]

24:43 Wait again, "the only possibility you have"? Oh, so we are not mentioning the utility spell "Cast Light" that has the low requirement of 14 Int that you can use even in a melee build by investing a few levels into it (minimum Int is 8, but most classes start with 10-11)? And we're also not mentioning the Sunlight Maggot that is a passive light source while wearing it? I'm not saying the Tomb of the Giants isn't frustrating to traverse on a first playthrough, just calling out an incorrect statement. Besides, isn't the Skull Lantern the same as a using a torch in ds2 or 3? You also have to sacrifice your off hand to see better in a dark area. If you're using a weapon two-handed, you have to manage swapping it, or you should reach the Strength requirement and use it one-handed. If you're using a weapon one-handed, you have to sacrifice your shield or swap between it and the lantern/torch. The only difference is that the torch is easier to acquire. But then again, in typical DS fashion, if you don't have the lantern, then be mindful of your surroundings. Your character literally glows so that you can see what is directly around you. If you can't see beyond your palm, then take it slow. And it's not like there are prism stones guiding you to where you need to slide down to find Patches, who will "help" you find the Skull Lantern. 25:23 "As soon you find out you should parry Gwyn" - I don't know if we can say you "should" do the fight in any particular way. What if you're not using a shield or a parrying weapon? Unless you also think you "should" parry Pontiff and Gundyr and that they are gimmicky and bad bosses for it. I've seen people get thrilled when they find that out on their first playthrough because parrying an enemy is satisfactory and I believe Gwyn is the only boss you can parry in DS1. It fits the theme as this once great lord has been consumed to the point he is a mindless hollow that can be parried like the tutorial enemies. But if you choose not to parry him, then you are forced to learn his patterns and adapt to how much pressure he puts on you, trying to prevent you from healing, which is your main advantage against all enemies, but you can pull it off if you're observant and smart about it. Sulyvahn and Gundyr are the same way, their fights are unforgiving dances that demand that you learn the pace and recognize the safe windows of opportunity, learn the proper whether to block or dodge, when and what direction to dodge, how to learn the positioning and reach so you can just walk back or strafe instead of spending stamina by dodging when you don't need to. To me that's a far more engaging, challenging, and fun way to approach those bosses even though the game did give you an easy way out if you prefer that. Oh, and Gwyn is supposed to be underwhelming, as crazy as that sounds. He was once the Great Lord of Sunlight, god of gods, even though "god" is merely a title members of Gwyn's clan claimed for themselves when the Humans started worshipping their overlords. He sacrificed himself to burn as fuel to the first flame in order to extend the Age of Fire and bring a new period of prosperity. Even before you meet him you learn from Frampt and item descriptions that Gwyn fragmented his Lord Soul among his allies, and that even these fragments hold great power (such as those in possession of Seath and the Four Kings). This shows you two things: 1) That Gwyn was immensely powerful in the past, as expected of his position as the great patriarch of the gods like Zeus or Odin, and 2) that he therefore isn't as powerful now, since he gave away some of his power and those fragments are themselves powerful. And he used the remainder of his Lord Soul to fuel the flame, nourishing the world for hundreds if not thousands of years. When you meet him, the one you are supposed to succeed, you don't meet a grandiose Lord of Sunlight, but a hollowed husk, a Lord of Cinder. And that is your final warning. This too is your future if you decide to link the fire. Now tell me the standard ending of DS3 is bad because it's underwhelming. Unlike DS1, where you not only start to burn but release a big explosion (and we can see the scorched structures, melded sideways like a tree that grows under constant intense wind, of the Kiln of the First Flame, in a desert of ashes, probably resulting from the explosion when Gwyn linked the fire), in ds3 you simply catch on fire and sit there like the Soul of Cinder before the fight and roll the credits. It is meant to be underwhelming because each cycle of linking of the fire is less effective, it is a useless effort, an empty even if hopeful attempt of clinging to the past, or "clinging to lofty dreams in this dying world...more's the pity", to quote the Shrine Handmaid. In both games, choosing to link the fire either means you have been fooled into thinking you were a Chosen One and that this was a power fantasy all the way (in which case you didn't really have the freedom to choose, did you? Because you were played, because you were ignorant or naïve enough to believe you were the hero when you were just a cattle, another Undead to be "coralled" (to use the wording of the game intro) into sacrificing your humanity to rekindle a dying flame, either that or you, knowing all this, still choose to extend the Age of Fire no matter for how long, no matter how inevitable its end is, because you believe it's the better option, and so you willingly play the role of the martyr, to burn for the sake of the world. In DS1 you explode because it's just the second linking of the fire, but in ds3 it doesn't even seem to make a huge difference, then yeah, accept your fate and sit down by the bonfire. The game gives you clues about the power fantasy narrative you're fed being a lie and about Gwyn being past his prime. Yet I believe it is meant to be a surprise, that he's strong but not that strong, that he can be parried and thus humiliated. That is on purpose for the reasons I mentioned. Your last chance to reconsider linking the fire. I think my only criticism on this topic would be that it should be easier to meet Kaathe, because he is so fundamental to the experience, he makes you put everything in perspective and question everything. You realize you can't trust Frampt, but then it also stands to reason that you can't trust him either. And Gwynevere said Frampt should guide you. Idk, maybe go back there and attack her for lying to you? Even then, you see that the Dark can be dangerous. So you don't have an obvious choice, and you can't trust anyone, and those you can trust (Anastacia, Siegmeyer, Solaire) have also been "fooled by a toothy serpent", as has the whole society. The truth is meant to be hidden and even in 2011 it was a matter of time people found this hidden piece of content and started sharing it on forums and so on. But if it was me I would have made the trigger for Kaathe to appear be more likely to be fulfilled in a blind, casual playthrough. Not mandatory, still missable as that is the intent, but easier to access. 26:13 Just like with the pvp tryhards, exploiters, and hackers, you can't blame the game for having a percentage of its fanbase that is toxic. Is classical music bad or in fault because there are elitist people that think it's the only kind of "real" music? No, becase that happens with every media and piece of art, every niche and genre. Is classic literature bad or in fault because there are people that claim Harry Potter isn't real literature, or that Avengers isn't real cinema? Games are no exception. The game I devoted 52857283 hours to is a flawless masterpiece and if you don't like it then you're not a real gamer, you're a scrub, noob, or casual, and the games you like are inferior. That mindset can be applied to the fanbase of so many games, yet it has no bearing on the objective and subjective quality of a given game, nor to how well or poorly made it was. Is Greek philosophy bad or to blame because today there are kids pretending they understand what stoicism is? Or was Darwin less of a genius for his scientific contributions because the wrong people used his ideas to justify eugenics? Or Nietzsche being misused and misunderstood by the nazis and by today's kids who call themselves nihilists? Is American Psycho bad art because today there are people who think they understand the work and use it as a model of their sigma grindset bs? Good games can have bad apples among their fanbase. The problem is those people and that toxic/gatekeepish culture, not the game itself. But ultimately I do agree with your conclusion. DS3 is objectively a better game. The subjective quality will vary from person to person. There are people who think DS2 is better than the other two, as well as better than Elden Ring and Bloodborne. I would oppose that to say you can like anything you want, but "better" implies an objective statement. That is to say that I have pointed out statements or arguments I disagree with or that are demonstrably wrong, but the rest were fair points. DS3 is a better game, but despite its flaws and lack of quality of life features due to its age, and some mechanics that are a little obtuse, DS1 (particularly the remaster) will always have a special place in my heart. Honestly, DS3 is also so good that I don't know which I like more, both for their gameplay loop, replayability, intricacies of the combat sytem, online community (idk why you portrayed it as being 100% toxic, at least you withheld some judgement saying you didn't play it enough), level design, soundtrack, item and character design, art direction, ambience/vibe, balance of darkness and silliness, lore, environmental storytelling, charming and interesting characters and dialogue, voice acting, and yes, indeed, even the the furtive story, so easily unnoticed. DS3 10/10, DS1R 8-9/10. DS2... I have some strong opinions about DS2...

[@shortclips3681]

As a new player to the souls series and just finishing ds1 and falling in love with it, I agree with pretty much everything you said. I NEVER parried an enemy once in the game and I still managed to kill gwyn with parry only. And honestly I found it incredibly sad not because of its bad design (its great), but the way it fits the narrative of fighting an empty shell of what it used to be a "god". I think for a game that started the souls genre (excluding demon souls), it makes sense that it had some flaws with the mechanics of rolling and quality of life. But the way some bosses were designed and how you could "cheese" them, imo it does fit the story the game is trying to tell you. Overall I haven't played the other souls games yet and because of it I can't give a comparison. But this game has become one of, if not my favorite game of all time. Also I really enjoyed reading all of your points!

[@guywithoutabeard8268]

spittin fax rn 🔥

[@YasonYou]

The main story is forgettable? I think it is the most coherent and memorable in the series.

[@FlyMandi]

True that. But I wasn't bashing the story for being that way, rather I was trying to say that the characters and interactions with them were way more memorable than the story :)

[@danielbelmont5228]

honestly the whole souls story is really forgettable if you are not paying attention, LETS BE REAL HERE you can play the game several times and still not understand the story unless you are looking for it, reading everything and looking for the subtle hints in the world building, so yeah for the most common folk it is pretty forgettable. for the lore hunter, it is a real good story.

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

I can assume that the majority doesn't know the story unless they watch lore videos. Let's be real...

[@TheSpearman-vt3nb]

@@schmietwechdeschiet4340 its true man. ive tried to understand as much of the story as possible but its simply not possible without doing multiple runs. even then, its so easy to miss something. for instance, siegmeier going to blighttown after being in anor londo. if you arent a pyro, didnt go through the secret wall to the fair lady, don't have that merchant from the darkroot garden, how would you ever know he was in that position in blighttown? youd have to know the leeches are farmable to go back to that area after seeing onion man in anor londo! another thing, who found ash lake without the internet?! whoever did that deserves a slap and a medal

[@giannixx]

@@FlyMandi That's because the story is part shown to, part hidden from you, instead of being told in a traditional way like in Skyrim, for example. You have to uncover the lore and piece together the pieces of information you are given by item descriptions, dialogue, and enviromental storytelling in order to understand what is going on. It makes the most sense for it to be like this in comparison to ds2 and ds3 because the player, like the main character, is supposed to be going through a world and doing a quest they don't fully comprehend. You are being fooled and manipulated, and you will play that role and have the wrong understanding of the game if you play it just taking what you're told at face value. The game can't explain too much because you, both the player and the main character, are meant to uncover the truth, or the closest thing to the truth, if you are observant and inquisitive, treating the story as you would an enemy. And at the end, despite all the layers of lies and uncertainties, you can make a fair case for each ending, because different people will have different positions on what the "good" and what the "bad" ending is, or whether that distinction is even meaningful. DS3 plays less like a detective work, but you still have to go out of your way to truly have freedom of choice, not simply agreeing to link the fire or being once again deceived and manipulated by Kaathe into becoming a Lord of Hollows. The truth is always hidden, so the game demands full attention and dedication to engagement with the lore, the story, and the exploration of the levels, otherwise your experience will be somewhat shallow. Idk if that's good of bad by videogame critic standards, but I do respect From and Miyazaki for doing that. As you said, the game does have the balls to take risks. We praise a book that has multiple layers to the story, that you have to read more than once to truly understand, that you can't just read mindlessly just to pass the time, and that tells you much by how much it doesn't tell you. So why can't games do the same?

[@nickzak88]

I agree with you that dark souls 3 is objectively better, but i like dark souls 1 more anyway, not because it is a better game but because the way it is designed feels like actual art to me. Dark souls 3 is just a much better game but dark souls 1 is a much more beautifully designed piece of art imo. Also i played dark souls 1 before 3 wich probably also matters a lot, without dark souls 1 dark souls 3 would not have been this good.

[@Atomic_Aegis45]

Humanity can be given to The fair lady to get a pyromancy and open the izalith shortcut door(where solaire dies) from the side right next to the fog wall for Demon Fire Sage. It is pretty much required to do this to save solaire. You can also give it to Dark Stalker Kaathe for the Dark Wraiths covenant rewards and the oh so coveted Red eye orb. An infinite use version of the cracked red eye orb.

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

Where in the game does it explain or hint at this? Exactly...

[@Ithyldr]

​@schmietwechdeschiet4340 Quelana and her servant both ask you to give her humanity and they reward you with a pyromancy the first time you do, hinting that you will get more rewards for giving more. Kaathe is much harder to find, and you basically have to explore and experiment to find his covenant, but that is a big part of the design of the game. There are interesting and useful secrets everywhere, so it's always worth exploring. I wish the more recent games had leaned into this more.

[@TheSpearman-vt3nb]

pinwheel is maddeningly hard if you go about it the way i did, right after the asylum. i didnt know i could go to the undead burg. didnt see the staircase up from firelink shrine. could you imagine the anger i felt getting to that blocked path to nito, after getting there at a low level, just to realize i had to now GO BACK OUT! i put down dark souls many times before i finished it....which is just the other day

[@FlyMandi]

Oh brother...

[@DRickAnderson]

"No controls are explained, but they're easy to figure out" ... uhhh every single control is explained if you read the messages on the floor. How could you miss that?

[@FlyMandi]

I didn't; but by the time I was writing the script I just forgot they existed. I just wrote that in and didn't think more of it

[@Dannii_1]

6:20 I am kinda nitpicking, but patches is from Demon souls! :3

[@FlyMandi]

I never knew, haven't played that one yet :3

[@jamesgoude1799]

If I'm not mistaken, patches makes his first appearance in Armored Core! I'm not 100% which one, but Miyazaki brought him over to his soulsborne games ☺️

[@xflare2724]

You are nitpicking incorrectly, parches was first introduced in Armored core

[@Dannii_1]

Was under the impression patch from armoured core wasn’t patches, mb y’all :3

[@danteseleniumcaelo5287]

You are all wrong. The first Patches was in Kings Field.

[@leobro6398]

Sorry but the game is not linear. From the start you can go to blighttown, new londo ruins, the catacombs, darkroot garden, undead burg, undead parish etc. before even fighting a boss. Even after collecting the lordvessel you can go to 4 locations and more depending what youve already done.

[@FlyMandi]

The progression you have to do to get to the end is still linear. And sure, maybe I didn't realise it's not as linear as I thought it was.

[@leobro6398]

@@FlyMandi how to get to the end of almost any game is "linear" then by your definition. There are always flags you have to hit to trigger the end of a game (with exceptions of course). Your definition of linear seems a bit odd

[@EmeralBookwise]

The thing is that most of those paths either require starting with the master key or in the case of the catacombs are a dead end until later in the game. There's a lot of non-linear paths, but most of them aren't something a new player is likely to discover the first time around.

[@AltFromTheLimbo]

@@EmeralBookwise if you start as a thief class, your character will start with a master key by default ( allowing you to chose smth else as a gift ) and you can skip both of the Castle areas and go straight to Church' bell iirc

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@AltFromTheLimbo: True, but either way it still requires picking either a specific gift or class to do most of the major sequence break in DS1. Well, that or Indepth knowledge and unconventional experimentation. Like, it's entirely possible to skip the Undead Burg even without the master key. A player just needs to go down into New Londo, avoid all the ghosts, kill an otherwise friendly NPC to get his key for draining the water, then avoid all the Dark Wraiths in the lower ruins until reaching the gate to the Valley of Drakes. From there the same path as the master key can be followed up into Darkroot Garden to reach the backdoor to the Undead Perish through the blacksmith.

[@diego7499_1]

you can get purging stones (and also twinkling titanite) from the crabs next to seaths bossfight

[@FlyMandi]

Never knew, I always just ran past them

[@icantread1058]

​@@FlyMandievery time? Like even the first?

[@FlyMandi]

I died to them once, then didn't wanna bother

[@evlin12]

Not that it matters but they do tell you the controls on the messages on the way to the first boss

[@FlyMandi]

Fair enough. extremely missable tho

[@icantread1058]

​@@FlyMandi only missable if youve never played a videogame before, if you arent paying attention in the tutorial its your fault.

[@Kamawan0]

@@FlyMandiHow did you miss giant red scrawling on a dark floor? The prompts appear as you walk over them.

[@FlyMandi]

yeah, and those look just like player messages to me, at which I only look on a ledge or before a wall... I'd forgotten they tell you the controls that way.

[@84rinne_moo]

@@FlyMandiwell remember besides demon souls, this the first in the series. Majority of players would have had no clue what those messages even were. The beauty of them putting the tutorial messages there is that it also teaches the player what those are and how they function. It teaches them Read the messages on the floor to get valuable info into the gameplay

[@HEXoslav]

*complaining about durability which is the biggest non-issue in the game* man I can't wait till this guy plays ds2

[@FlyMandi]

people told me DS2 was gonna be a ride and a half

[@84rinne_moo]

lol this made me snort laugh 😂

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

Ds1 repair powder is useless. DS2 the only game that gave it a purpose.

[@HEXoslav]

I never use repair powders I always just get few points in int and then use the repair sorcery

[@xenodder7433]

The "clams of death" drop purging stones

[@jpfletch]

I'm still in awe that you beat Pinwheel. Thank you for the enjoyable play-through!

[@FlyMandi]

Who coulda thunk, I'm a god gamer after all.

[@SquidBow]

I actually believe ds1 is better than ds3 Edit: Equip load and rolls: 11:04 you start fat rolling above 50% equip load, under 50 but above 25 is mid roll. Personally I like how it's done in ds1 more. First of all, mid roll has less i-frames and slower animation, in ds3 both mid and fast rolls have 13 i-frames and the same animation. So in ds1 equip load actually matters unlike in ds3, you have to chose between better armor and slow rolls and worse armor but faster and better rolls Curse: yes I agree it's a very bad mechanic and is even worse to a new player. At least it doesn't stack now Durability: when I play ds1 durability warning may show up one time per playthrough and it's kinda annoying, but it happens so rarely it doesn't bother me that much DLC access: it can be hard to find dlc, especially on the first playthrough, and I would say imposible if you didn't kill hydra befor duke's archives and you are playing blind. When you're replaying the game you just know what to do and it's np to get there Painted world: I love fromsofware for this. They are willing to hide entire areas with a lot of content in them knowing that some players might never find them. Same with archdragon peak from ds3. I wish more games would reward exploration like that Estus: There are 7 firekeeper souls: New Londo, Undead Paris, Blightown, Duckes archives and 3 from killing firekeepers. You can use 6 of them and then kill the last firekeeper to get the seventh one. Can't lie I like ds3 system more because again, rewarding exploration. But system like that is harder to implement because you have to think of places to put estus upgrades. It's done pretty good in ds3, but imo ds2 fails at this The game relies on knowledge : I like that. Exploring a cool world in a videogame is the best thing for me. Sadly, it's where it ends for most games. Second and third playthrough feel boring. You alredy know where to go and what to do. Even some great games like ds3 suffer from that. Not ds1 thought, I can boot this game at any moment and go through the first half and have a great time Gwyn: no parry: Hardest boss in the base game. He's fast and deals a lot of damage. A good final test of skills and a great ending to the game. parry: I don't understand this man, someone told him a chese mathod, he used it and than complained that the boss is too easy, like wtf. So Gwyn, it makes me quite sad to see him been parried, he's just a corpse of his past self with only a fraction of the power he once posesed. No game will ever replicate such feelings in me when I saw Gwyn, once a god, be parryed by a chosen one. I can't describe it, I wanted to cry when I killed him like that. It's the best ending I had ever chance to experience, how low the world of dark souls and Gwyn have fallen...

[@FlyMandi]

Everything you said is fair. I didn't get told how to beat Gwyn tho, I just tried to parry him because not doing so seemed like a very bad idea. I was surprised at how easy it is to parry him and I wouldn't call it "cheese". I don't think they just forgot parrying existed and didn't intend for you to try that :3

[@SquidBow]

@@FlyMandi I didn't mean cheese like a bug, I meant like a method that makes a boss segnificantly easier. I dont thin it was ever intended to be the main method to kill gwyn. And if you found that you can parry him by yourself, I have no words, like how, I guess your intuition is very good. I would never guess that

[@tacticalmattress]

I disagree on the equip load stuff. DS1 is the only Souls that I don't wear armor in. It makes you better, but it isn't very fun not being able to utilize armor. No armor DS1 will turn you into a no hit chad.

[@matthewponce1942]

@@tacticalmattress DS2 load works in an interesting way. You always do fast roll but having more load makes your roll distance shorter and above 70% you do fat roll.

[@mrocto329]

@@tacticalmattress Tbh you can just use havels ring if you want + fap and be light load with a lot of armor. I don't think rolling is too important if you're actually going for heavier armor anyways because of poise + greatshields + strafing. Strafing makes a lot of bosses really easy honestly, you barely need to roll for the first half of the game.

[@coasteraddict10]

Pinwheel is an enemy that can be fought as the first boss so is supposed to be easy. You'd have one shot Taurus Demon with a plunge attack if you did him at the same level you did the pinwheel.

[@lietomieli]

11:43 According to fextralife, max hp with 99 vitality/vigor is 1900 in dark souls and 1400 in dark souls 3. At 39 vitality/vigor its 1304 hp in dark souls and 1200 hp in dark souls 3. Stamina is exactly 160 at 40 endurance for both games, though in dark souls 3 going to 99 will give you 170 stamina.

[@FlyMandi]

fair enough, that's why I said "it feels", that may have been due to the huge level difference, normally you arrive at the end with a much higher lvl in DS3

[@tacticalmattress]

​@@FlyMandiI always end up at the same level in all Fromsoft games towards the end. 105-120. Even Elden Ring.

[@tacticalmattress]

​@FlyMandi but to be fair i think I was like level 80 when I beat DSR

[@tacticalmattress]

The things that are better about DS1 AREN'T based in gameplay. Artstyle and the world layout is the best in the series. Most memorable, and I've played through DS3 a few more times than it. The movement, hitboxes, and camera are terrible 😂

[@edward.constantine]

I really struggled to like DS1 and until I returned a few years later, at which point I realized I couldn't get enough of it. Perspective, I guess. These days, it and Elden Ring are equal in terms of how much I adore them.

[@mcbrodz1663]

The demons are walking freely in lost Izalith because they’ve escaped from there into the overworld

[@KobaMr]

I mean Gwyn's supposed to be easy. He gave up his Lord Soul to many characters plus he's literally using it to prolong the age of fire. He doesn't even use a single Sunlight spell - the thing that made him so famous and powerful

[@FlyMandi]

Sure he is, but you know full well a first time DS1 player will have the expectation that he's hard, it's a final boss. That's my point, I'm not talking from a lore angle, I know it makes sense there.

[@KobaMr]

@@FlyMandi I mean if the player never bother do parry or assumed he can't be parried then he's not the worst boss fight. I myself died to him a few times cuz I was just tired and tried to just do it quick while two handing in my last run to get all the achievements.

[@atheren_zethere]

I play on a PC and I have NEVER had that bug you described, across 4 different machines wired or with Bluetooth. In fact I specifically alt-tab back into the game to AVOID hitting NPCs, since clicking back into the window will register as a mouse click in game and light attack. The jump button, if you are playing the remaster, can be rebound to to L3 in the settings menu. The vast majority of notable mods actually were ported over, or have a "demaster" mod you can use. But as for performance, the remaster is a HUGE improvement to the PTDE. The OG version was terribly optimized and even good computers at the time would struggle with the game, not to mention you had to mod it to even run AT ALL above 720p@30fps. Most of the memes about blighttown aren't because the area is particularly hard (though the platforms do seem to be lined with butter sometimes), but because many people went through the area at 15fps or worse with physics glitches to boot since the games physics engine is tied to FPS. The remaster by comparison actually has *lower* functional hardware requirements, running dramatically better. The real flack for the remaster was that the PTDE was such a bad port, a port that revived ZERO patches over the course of it's lifetime, and then all the fixes that should have happened were made years later in the form of a $20 upgrade (owners got a 50% discount for the first two years of the remaster on steam). There are some art style changes as well regarding the lighting between the two that some people dislike.

[@donkevo489]

for the tomb and skull lantern thing to be fair you could get the sunlight maggot for vision

[@kokalombia]

I'm one of those "ds1 is the best game in the franchise" and I think ds3 is an oversimplified version of a whole experience. Ds1 is a game about fire, cicles, surpassing impossible odds, all coated in a beautiful gameplay of traversal and combat.. both based on stamina and health. And designed to be strategized around positioning, animation selection and stamina management. Ds3 is a boss rush in the world of dark souls. Only the combat and graphics are polished. R1 is the best attack in pretty much every weapon Positioning is less important now, leaving that space to timing of the invincibility of the roll, rendering shields almost useless. And most of everything, ds1 is the only one where you feel a regular being, you are not chosen. What made you succeed was just keep trying.

[@TheMystbane]

I find ds3 to be much more frustrating than ds1 simply because it feels like the player is arbitrarily limited to being significantly slower than the enemies, whereas ds1 feels a lot more deliberate. I also think ds3 is a more linear game on the whole than ds1 and is a comparatively safe product that takes no risks compared to its predecessors

[@FlyMandi]

DS3 is more linear than DS1 in the way you progress the areas, maybe, but you have a choice to for example kill dancer way early and stuff like that

[@M3mphix]

@@FlyMandi DS let's you go *straight* to Pinwheel, or to Gargoyles, or to Capra, or to Quelaag, or to fight Hyrda and explore Darkroot, or Valley of Drakes opening late-game shortcuts along the way. Strewth you can bum-rush New Londo for a Firekeeper's soul in the first 5 minutes if you're particularly clued-up and/or mental. No other Souls game has this kind of open-endedness.

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

5:38 the game is not linear AT ALL, only when you’re in Anor Londo it is.. play with the Master Key starting gift and you can do either Undead Parish bell or Blight Town bell, not to mention you can go fight the Four Kings as soon as you start the game, you can go to the catacombs as soon as you start the game. Etc… then Sens Fortress and Anor Londo are linear, then second half of the game you can go for either of the 4 lord souls in any order you want. It’s designed like A Link To The Past. Open in the first half, linear in the middle, and open again in the second half.

[@mrocto329]

Not to mention glitches. You can skip into sens fortress and fight iron golem or -with a precise trick I never tried myself- skip directly into anor londo. I believe you can even do seath as a first boss lmao.

[@jameslowell9656]

You can't fight the 4 kings, Wtf are you talking about? How would you survive the fall without the ring ? Cool and all for you to claim it as some great game design but it's clearly not something you've even done lol. And even if you rushed sif , and killed a friendly npc to access the 4 kings early why the hell would you want to fight a DPS check boss like that at an early level without upgrades? Unless you want to be a dark wraith really early for some reason there isn't really any incentive to do this besides a self imposed challenge lol.

[@atheren_zethere]

Yea calling the game linear just because it has a choke point is really reductive. The game is an hourglass, you have a lot of options at the start before narrowing down to that one path at Anor londo. Then it opens back up again until you fight the final boss.

[@EmeralBookwise]

I think there are only 7 firekeeper souls per game cycle, four laying around the world, plus the one acquired by completing Lautrec's quest line, and the last two which can only be acquired by murdering the two other firekeepers. Although at least one living firekeeprer must be left alive to actually upgrade the flask, so the highest flask level in base NG is +6 and the final +7 upgrade can't be reached until NG+ However, if the player never revives the Firelink keeper and instead use her soul as an upgrade with one of the other two, killing them afterwords, the seventh firekeeper soul can be retained into NG+ and used to reach max flask level immediately upon reaching Firelink again.

[@Laezar1]

I guessed dark knight halberd and giant armor. Turns out there are a lot of very strong weapon and armor. Hell it could have been the claymore too. Or the drake sword with how it trivializes the early game despite it's lack of scaling. There are really a lot of ways to make the game easier and I find it weird someone would blame you for finding one lol

[@zachclark2936]

Dark Souls 1 fans know how to pronounce “Elitist”

[@AlienRino]

I’m not gonna lie as someone who really liked ds1 and thought I’d like ds3 based on my friends recommendation, I had a lot of trouble finding myself enjoying the game until after the first lord soul boss fight. Would love to see what this video has in store

[@asdfghjkllkjhgfdsa8725]

I loved ds1 but didn't even have the desire to finish 3. It let me down consistently and everything felt the same to fight. I've played both of them extensively now and my opinions have not changed. I think ds3 is a hack job compared to the original. Ds2 is a mess but I still prefer it to 3.

[@AlienRino]

@@asdfghjkllkjhgfdsa8725 I have to heavily agree. I feel like playing Elden Ring kinda ruined ds3 for me in the sense that they were trying to do what they achieved in ER. They were able to execute them perfectly and I definitely appreciate the stepping stone that ds3 is for it. I also find the level design to be confusing at best and infuriating at worst. I’ll admit that it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out the bridges in the chapel of the deep were not needed to progress and that I needed to go back to the previous area and extinguish the third flame. I’m taking it as a learning experience as to what expect the game to bring next, so hopefully I can enjoy the rest of the game. I’ll end this by saying I definitely prefer ds3 opening even if ds1 is iconic as it is.

[@logiclunacy606]

Yeah it as you say, Irythl is when DS3 gets good, something about the early game areas is really boring to me. The cathedral I suppose is decent though. DS1 just had better areas, I prefer the slow methodical nature to it and I think the enemies are more creatively interesting. 3 does have the better bosses though.

[@lemo0nz707]

i feel like gwyn wasn't supposed to be difficult to show how his power has faded and how his flame is almost extinguished.

[@EmeralBookwise]

This, and it's not like it's the first time FromSoft made that point. The true final boss in Demon's Soul was an even more extreme example. In DS2, be it the original or SotFS, niether of the potential final bosses are the most difficult in the game. Heck, even in Bloodborn, of the three possible "final" bosses, the last and most secret of them is arguably the easiest. It really isn't until DS3 that I think FromSoft actually tried to make the final boss intentionally hard.

[@FlyMandi]

So... coming from DS3... all I said was I was expecting a challenging bossfight. I know it makes sense for him to be underwhelming, but noone that's either new to Dark Souls or has only played DS3/Elden Ring or similar will expect Gwyn to be so frail. It's not like he's obviously easy, either; if you don't parry he's pretty damn strong.

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

6:15 😭 Patches wasn’t introduced in DS1, he was first in an Armoured Core game and was also in Demon’s Souls before DS1

[@LeDardeursPalace]

Dark Souls I is my favorite of the three, but it's not the best nor is it the game i've played the most in that trio. Played Dark Souls II the most for some reason, probably the crave for a new Souls game after all the fun we already had with the first one. And in my opinion Dark Souls III is the best overall game. But Dark Souls I is by far the most charming of the three, and the most interesting gameplay mecanics wise. Lots concepts that weren't quite fleshed out yet etc etc, but some things like you said were just poorly executed and/or explained.

[@Pizza-TimeYT]

This is so high quality deserves more attention 👏

[@FlyMandi]

Thank you, kind Pizza Man 🙏

[@octaviosardi3337]

As a DS veteran with 0 hours and 0 minutes of play time, I can say John Dark Souls is my favorite character of the whole series. Also, Git Gud, or as the kids say today, skill issue...

[@MccandlessH]

I have no nostalgiac opinion on dark souls one because I started it a few months ago and absolutely love it

[@FlyMandi]

Absolutely fair

[@erlonbrunosouzamiranda8525]

Seeing that you enjoyed being cursed so much, here's a fun fact, in the first patch of the first version of the game, curses could stack. Multiple times. To the point where any hit from any enemy would one-shot you, basically.

[@FlyMandi]

That sounds like the pinnacle of game design, honestly

[@wooobat]

Uhmm achskually Patches originated before even Demon's Souls in Armored Core: For Answer 🤓 But seriously great video Mandi! You're really coming into your own with the editing and style of video.

[@FlyMandi]

thanks woobert☺️❤️

[@Alpheus_09C]

The fog gates don't make sense to you because of a simple reason. You don't interact with the online multiplayer

[@FlyMandi]

Touché

[@_zurr_]

yea i love darksouls I've put hundreds of hours in it but after that first playthrough its so easy besides capra demon its ether 1st try or you get so mad you make a new world fuck capra demon

[@FlyMandi]

Truly, one of the bosses of all time

[@AllenButt-n3o]

Lol there are only 4 firekeeper souls (unless you kill a firekeeper), & one of them is in Blighttown, so it sounds like your exploration was entirely respectable.

[@FlyMandi]

good to hear lmfao

[@scarletripper9342]

You can really tell what someones first souls game is based on there souls opinions. Good video, there was durability in ds3 though, it was just more forgiving

[@RowbotMaster]

I don't know who is telling you DS1 is the best game ever, tbh I kinda feel like you should question anyone who says any given thing is objectively the best X I definitely think DS1 a good game but not for everyone and it does get significantly worse in the second half, I do think there are still some interesting ideas in the second half(except for lost Izalith, F that part) I personally prefer a knowledge based approach to challenge rather than reaction and execution. I've come to realise whether I force myself through a game where difficulty comes from execution I don't enjoy myself. Like I said not for everyone, also screw anyone who calls zweihander a noob strat, they probably use the great club or some similar bonk stick I actually found the painted world by accident, I just went back to the asylum because I was looking around and didn't know what the doll did. Then later I was poking around for loot and stuff then "oops, now you're stuck here until you either contend with bonewheels or use a glitch"

[@Thonk6312]

it is a very valid complaint talking about the entrance to the dlc being very contrived, and it is just bad. but at the time of release, the community pretty much always knew about where and how to get there. the passage of time really muddied the water to the point where we have to just look up guides lol. if you want more info look up a channel called illusory wall.

[@PogMcDog]

did not get any help and no guides and did fine, but I had beaten ds3, elden ring, lies of P and demon souls before this game. So I just explored a lot and tried everything.

[@farhadrasooly4864]

It's okay to like ds3 more than ds1, but it's a sin to say it's better than ds1. It has better bosses but the level design and atmosphere of ds1 is unmatched

[@FlyMandi]

I should have talked about the atmosphere more, I will say that.

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

Ds1 is a mess compared to Ds3. But that's okay. DS3 had 2 teams and Tanimura and Myazaki directing it.

[@Yami1300]

​@schmietwechdeschiet4340 Remarkable With all that how did DS3 end up soo bland and uninspiring

[@xClubsteb1]

There are many thing ds1 did better than ds3 but it's absolutely not bosses Maybe it just my opinion buts there are few VERY good boss fights in ds1 which are as good as best ds3 bosses(like artorias) and most of the bosses worse than in ds3

[@mrocto329]

@@xClubsteb1 I think he meant that DS3 has better bosses, but DS1 wins in levels & atmosphere. I honestly think DS3 is really good just because of the bosses, since the areas in DS3 are only good the first time. I honestly run past a lot whenever I replay since the areas are more often than not a big, annoying corridor to the next boss with few things worth getting. Side note, I really hate how they decided to even make smouldering lake + irithyll dungeon. Those two areas are bland, annoying, and took development time from everything else. Like why is profaned capital so small? Just spend time on that beautiful area and give my boy yhorm space to breathe instead of putting more jailers. Irithyll dungeon esp. is inexcusable it doesn't even have a bossfight lmao.

[@rysoriginal]

3:30 "linear maze"? nah hell naw, feels like you've never played the game, there's multiple access points to certain game areas as well as shortcuts and a lot of the game can be literally approached out of order, literally imagine playing a game and not getting the whole point of world interconnectivity...

[@FlyMandi]

Imagine playing a game once and not 10 times

[@benre]

please all stop saying hidden walls, it makes absolutely no sense

[@FlyMandi]

"Walls that hide something or another behind them and can be hit in order for them to disappear"

[@benre]

@@FlyMandi fake wall is enough lol

[@giusepperenard9982]

I was agreeing with 90% of what you were saying but my dude the Gwyn boss fight is SUPPOSED to be underwhelming! It is this way to hint on how pointless it is to fight against time and the progression of all things, and seeing how a god became a hollow and could be just parried to death is the biggest wake up call! It is supposed to make you think "Is reigniting the flame really the best choice for this world?" which is tho whole series main plotpoint

[@FlyMandi]

fair point, I wasn't saying it was bad or pointless, rather that I was underwhelmed (which, as you're saying, may have been the point)

[@shadowgames6164]

Only parrying makes him underwhelming, no parry is much more a fight. I will say i dont like parrying because im shit at timing in general

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

Stop excusing bad design with copium saying it was suppose to be.... Come on, dude. Gwyn was underwhelming.

[@giusepperenard9982]

@@schmietwechdeschiet4340 Just learn about the lore, trust brother 😉

[@Stanzbey69]

@@giusepperenard9982 gwyn is trash, just like the second half of ds1. Get over it

[@thelastotaku4852]

8 min "good" 19 min of "bad and ugly" the bias is real lmao

[@Stanzbey69]

Yes, it is. But so is ds3

[@RawrItsJuul]

I would say the only thing I like better about DS3 compared to DS1 is the combat.

[@FlyMandi]

that's a very big thing, lol

[@Dark3.]

well i agree it aged badly and remaster doesn't save it sure, well it has some unique vibes that other dark soul doesn't have idk what it is, but yeah to me it was more of running simulator , until ornstein and smough, after them it gets a bit better, i think devs did good adding more bonfires in the next games, because the tedium between the bonfires is indescribable, if we are talking about 2nd part of ds, but still would rate it 6 or 7 out of 10

[@pista69420]

in my whole life i never ever touched a controller and my first RPG was skyrim...yeah skyrim easiest game in the world then i discovered dark souls 1 like a year ago and i do not regret playing this game i finished it and had a very unsettling feeling, i was not happy about finishing the game nor sad that it ended like that. i love dark souls 1 and there is no greater game than this...for low end pcs :)

[@micshazam842]

I've played these games out of order, with Demon's Souls being the last one I played. Out of all these games: DS 1-3, BloodBorne, Elden Ring and Demon's Souls, I like DS3 by far the least. It just feels so much like it's repeating the same tricks again, but with less interesting areas to explore and less atmosphere. It's a decent game, but it's the only one of all of the above that I feel like lacks a soul, so to speak. If I was making a list of my favorite areas from all these games, none of them would be from DS3. DS1 sure is very flawed, but the first half of that game is still worth more than the entirety of DS3. To me, anyway.

[@Slurpmaster9009]

Tbh, as someone pretty new to the series, I find dark souls 3 to be EXTREMELY overrated. Ds1 was the second to last soulsborne game I played, and I had so much more fun with it than ds3. Sure, the second half isn't good, but overall, I'd prefer to replay ds1 or ds2 before I touch ds3 again.

[@Nickz4k]

The durability stat was kind of non functional, i have played through ds1 at least 100 times and ive never had a weapon break and i also never repaired a weapon. Wich makes me wonder how you managed to break a weapon so early on in the game :P. Maybe something makes the weapons break faster and that happens to be something i never or rarely do?

[@FlyMandi]

Maybe it was their way of balancing the Zweihänder? Maybe it's strong but not durable? Idk tbh but my point was the mechanic literally does nothing at best but it's so fucking annoying at worst

[@Ys4all]

Ok let's be real as someone who also started with 3: Is DS1 overrated... NO absolutely not. It is a very enjoyable game that continues to shape the landscape to this day. Does it have some flaws? Yes, but if you look at the upgrade from Demon Souls to DS1 you'll see they fixed a TON of mechanics. And the Gwyn fight being as easy as it is has lore relevance, and if you dont bother to care of course it will be disappointing, but it does add to the story. I can agree with most of what you said, but your overall assessment is objectively wrong. Great analysis up till then tho.

[@ajayghale9215]

I never tried souls games because i thought i wouldn't like them until elden ring came out. Had alot of fun playing it and did multiple playthroughs. Eventually i decided to try old souls games and i started with DS1 and i hated it. it wasn't because it was hard, bosses were actually easy. i just hated the map design and and the art style of the game the attack animations are boring. the game is just terribly inconvenient which makes it seem hard and add more playtime. if Dark souls 1 never existed and were to come out today as a new souls game even with better graphics the souls fanboys would call it the worst souls game ever.

[@captainjimo]

You actually get WAY more hp and a bunch more stamina in ds1. Ds1 hp at 50 vit = 1500 (1800 with FaP) Ds3 hp at 50 vig = 1300 (1377 with FaP +3) Even with ember boost ds3 +FaP has less hp than ds1 +FaP Same for stamina 160 stam at 40 end in both But ds1 FaP makes it 192 While ds3 is 177

[@FlyMandi]

I mean, that's assuming the damage numbers and relative expected levels in areas are the same; which they're not. You level way more in DS3 but my entire point was to say "it feels like..." not going into a spreadsheet to find out because it's irrelevant. What's relevant is how it feels to play

[@captainjimo]

@@FlyMandi i guess it's my view is different because i started with ds1, so i see that as the base line and compade ds3 to that line

[@someonethere8126]

You should do one for ds2 (my favorite game of all time) it's so underrated and hated on for no reason

[@FlyMandi]

I will definitely review it when I play it ^^

[@someonethere8126]

@@FlyMandi thank you, I promise you will enjoy it, it's so much fun even way more than ds1 at least

[@arikarinvevo]

i'm not a ds1 defender, but i never thought it fair to compare an older title to the new ones. by all means compare older titles to the new ones. but you can't really play DS3, then play DS1 and compare the 2 experiences that are years and years apart. By all means Dark souls 1 in my opinion despite an overall great game that kicked off the series, is hot garbage. And the comparison I make is to its predecessor Demon souls. Movement, combat and level design are far superior in demon souls, even graphically its more consistent than DS1. The main issue DS1 suffered from was the fact that the game was no longer ps3 exclusive, they had to make an xbox and pc versions, so the game is really unfinished and unpolished, hitboxes and collision doesn't line up. half assed enemy placement with little variety. Super super strong start to Ds1, then you get to anor londo, see how beautiful it is, explore the area to find out there is nothing there, its empty, and the game just keeps declining rapidly. Up to anor londo the game is genuinely a lot of fun, a few areas like the Depths and upper blight town suck, lower Lordran sucks, Dark root garden is nice looking but also nothing there. The things it did good it did great, but coming from demon souls i really wasn't that impressed. Ye a big cool interconnected world, but its a pain to traverse it, having to go back up from blight town is ass, having to back track at any point to be fair is such a chore in DS1. Demon souls had arch stones like bloodborne, but the level design in my opinion was phenomenal in comparison. Dark souls 2 is also not without issues, but most people complain about ganking and ADP, name 1 fromsoft title that doesn't stretch your holes out on the casting couch tho. ADP is a stupid complaint as its not even ADP you need to bother with its Agility, that can be levelled 2 different ways and it doesn't need to be as high as people say. Mfs will say you need 105 Agility for it to be DS3, its not DS3, its DS2 and its like 40% slower than DS3. DS3 suffers from being too easy and linear, they removed 60% of quirks and mechanics from its previous titles and made the game a lot more forgiving, not necessarily all bad changes, but to a veteran player there isn't as much to return to. All games are flawed and quirky in their own way.

[@buraknartozyap992]

Definitely not the best soulsborne game, bloodborne and ds 3 are better games (I haven't played elden ring and ds2 and demon souls yet) but definitely the most special Fromsoftware game. The first half of the game has an incredible level design and makes the player want to explore. It has a wide range of builds and weapons. Satisfying combat, boss variety, but there is one thing that draws the player into the world from the very beginning and binds them to it, the NPCs. This game has such a magic, it draws you in in such a way. At the very beginning of the game you see Solaire, shining like a sun in this dark and corrupt world. A little further on you see Andre the Blacksmith, reassuring, wishing you well, wanting you to be safe. And just a little further on, you see Onion Bro. From the very first moment, the Michelin Rubber Man gains your sympathy with his armor. Onion Bro Siegmeyer, who sleeps all the time, a cheerful, cheerful man who calls himself a pickle., accompanies you on your adventures and saves you a few times, but fights with you by shouting war cries when necessary. Yes, the second part of the game is incomplete in terms of level design, the bosses are weak, your desire to explore decreases, in general, the graphics are not a good game even for its period, but I am sure that everyone who plays the game remembers very clearly the first time he saw Anor Londo, remembers Ornstein and Smough very clearly, or if he could not save him, the moment Solaire attacked him, and if he could not save him, he remembers Siegmeyer's death in Lost Izalith very clearly.Artorias and Sif. The first time I fought Artorias I got through on like my 15th attempt and on my 14th attempt I let him kill me when ı was about to kill him, it was such a fun battle that I wanted to do it again. Fighting Sif' and her near-death limp, then entering the DLC area and rescuing baby Sif before fighting Manus. When I was fighting Kalameet, I never thought I could beat him, but the satisfaction I felt when I beat him was indescribable. These bosses weren't just hard, they were hard, fun to fight, and satisfying. And Manus. I recently finished Dark souls 3 and Bloodborne, including the DLCs, but none of the bosses pushed me as hard as Manus, I barely killed Manus on my 35th try. Orphan of Kos, Laurence, Luthwig or Midir, Sister Friede, Gael (which I think is the best boss and boss fight in the whole series) none of them pushed me as hard as Manus. Artorias made me want to learn the whole Dark Souls lore and became my favorite character in the whole series. And here comes the final boss Soul of Cinder Gwyn. After Manus, I expected the last boss to be very difficult, but the boss was easy, it could be killed in 4-5 moves, but there was something about that battle. While I was waiting for God Gwyn, I found him far away from his prime period, now collapsed and waiting for the new lord with a hope in that battle and of course plin plin plon. If someone says that this is the best game in the series, I won't argue with them, so I definitely don't think this game is overrated. It was one of the most special gaming experiences I've ever had, and there are many more things I haven't written here. I finished this game about 6 months ago, by the way, I'm writing all this without any nostalgic attachment. Even writing this made me want to play it again, so 'Be safe friend. Don't you dare to go hollow'.

[@mattmanski3508]

skill issue

[@FlyMandi]

opinion issue

[@infinitechoices1641]

Having played soul stuff since the launch of Dark Souls. I must say that I can only replay Dark Souls and Demon Souls beyond 3 playthroughs. (never played bb and sekiro) Why? I think I can break it down to the lore, atmosphere, world building and how un-linear these two games are. Ds2 and Ds3 utterly lack these things and become boring once all challenge is gone. The things ds2 and ds3 do better just don't matter to me.

[@FlyMandi]

I can see that.

[@DNYLNY]

Dark Souls 3 is a masterpiece and the best in the series.

[@syedkaneki91]

Do give a review on ds2 sotf

[@FlyMandi]

I 100% will when I play it

[@Ricaidius]

Yes, a lot of people call it a masterpiece but every endgame path sucks

[@Sean_0109]

im here from your steam review lol

[@FlyMandi]

gotta love that it worked

[@gamermk2]

I really loved this video. Can you try dark souls 2

[@FlyMandi]

Thanks and will do :)

[@Wzded]

no

[@Rastrelly]

"No controls are explained" - the entire first corridor is filled with controls explaining messages. Do I have a reason to continue watching after a blunder like this? No. I do not.

[@serfillustrated4018]

You may not have nostalgia for ds3. But just like listening to a new band with an impressive catalog. For alot of people the album they got into first will always be their favorite.

[@FlyMandi]

such is the strange and twisted hand of taste

[@vaaaasa]

osrs mentioned!!!

[@FlyMandi]

wooo

[@Salted_Rice223]

I dont really like it after playing 3 and 2 before it. (2 was my favourite)

[@smoothyodaproductions4373]

Ds3 is way more overrated than ds1

[@bosiagan]

It feels like theres a lot of comments on this video that have 'You missed this thing which either corrects a complaint or eases an issue you had" followed by a reply of "i didnt pay attention to it" or "i ignored that" I havent even hit play yet

[@FlyMandi]

I'm only human, after all

[@AtreyusNinja]

i mean, ds3 is trash compared to ds1, so maybe ds3 is overrated lmao, most linear game by fromsoftware

[@jumpofftheboat]

I played the crap out of this game back in 2012 and i remembered it being a straight banger from start to finish but recently i decided to hop back into it after Shadow of the Erdtree... The first half up until anor londo is absolutely amazing but after that the rest is absolutely boring... I'm one of those people who has to complete everything before moving on so I'm slogging through it... Im on my second playthrough and I really wish it held up like i thought it did. After i finish it again i dont think I want to ever play it again.... No thats a lie, i think ill come back in a few years.

[@FlyMandi]

Nothing wrong with coming back, but the rose tint does fade away...

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

Why do you have to make me angry with that title? 🤬😝

[@jamiekosch2562]

and not every one online willl attak you some will help you if your good abuot being nices to them hav a nices day

[@schmietwechdeschiet4340]

There is so much wrong with it. It's disgusting. I don't wanna be a pyromancer and then suddenly find out that telling the pyro npc where I got that cool pyro spell from. Making him game end himself and be technically stuck at my current upgrade level of the pyro glove and can't even respeccs my character so I have to restart the game and possibly throw away hours of game play. That shit still possible in the remaster. Locking yourself out of a questline is 1 thing but getting punished with 1 dialogue choice without warning and basically locking yourself out of the build you were doing is just disgusting. And people defend this over DS2... Lmao

[@FlyMandi]

I agree that they had too many opportunities to fix stuff that they didn't. Just shows they either didn't care enough or thought nothing of multiple big, glaring issues :/

[@aaronatkinson177]

Well at least the world design is still superb and yeah the rest of the game is not so great

[@pissedead]

24:50 with all due respect - Cast Light

[@marlonguimaraes9363]

And the sun maggot hat thing

[@pissedead]

@@marlonguimaraes9363 true, that's probably most useful for Tomb of the Giants, but I still believe cast light to be much easier to get. Kill hydra, reload, speak to Dusk and you're done.

[@jamiekosch2562]

i m not one to say its simpuller but i also won that like you are saying wen you hav not playing a suols game in soome time even if you are usis to suols games thos if like me youv play ther teps fo rpg videogames but i ager if your a bit rustdey it can be or feel like thers no storey and or novinevroteyor culds in game on how to up gared wopensis and aromr let a loney if your not the tep fo one to take ther time playing a videogame and paling throu the storey and not trying to speed run it and do some ikspolering to or talk with the in game npc to see if thay hav info that ken help up and goting usis to how the game plays and feels and contorlls and how thing work in game or how to level up your sateus in your manu and y

[@lebbanator]

Let’s go over what I like about each of the soulsborne games Demon souls the mystic vibe and the sound design gives a dream like feel they tried new things for a lot of the bosses you dident know what to expect for the next boss Dark souls is my favorite out of the three the side story’s are amazing nothing has a happen ending solaire is ethier depressed or loses he’s mind, quelags sister you killed her sister and she’s suffering all the time and the only reason she fought you was to protect her sister, and the priestess girl loses her mind and go hollow at with and there’s so many more. I also prefer the less stamina so you have to be more strategic Dark souls 2 best looking area in the series there vibrate full of life. The story isn’t the best and the characters I don’t remeber them or there story’s but it’s the game you have to be the most staegic with your roles cause you only have a few rolls Dark souls 3 my least favorite out of the souls games. Movement is fast and smooth the bosses where pretty good overall side storys where way better and actually intresting and had a lot more intertwined with the story the multiple endings where an awesome touch. The areas though all so bland I didn’t like them I get why it was that way cause it was the end everything is crumbling so it makes sense but god it’s so boring Blood borne I haven’t played much but it felt odd the parrying was like 3 but you only have a limited amount which sucks but if your good it’s really smooth and fluent but trying to go from any game to that is hard as fuck but the weapons are cool it’s areas are boring have that dull color scale but the blood vibrency brings it back for the art style. Seikero a lot of people praise the movement but I almost always play strength builds so the more dex centric style for seikero really messes with me but it has the speed of three which I can’t get down and the parrying just feels off I parry in dark souls 2 and down later games I really can’t parry Elden ring vibrancy they have buetifal areas but I don’t like the open world aspect it doesn’t feel as fast as 3 but not as slow as 2 or 1 but it’s a fine balance that works well the open world is fine but I tend to get lost frustrated because I’m trying to continue on but the game wants you to look around and explore and not go directly to the next area but I like just moving on so I have to go back to earlyier areas fight dungeons I dident fight before and it bores the heck out of me and I just stop playing cause I don’t know where to go also a big gripe strength has been severely underutilized but I Geuss strength has always been big sword does big damage but there all the same and every other class out classes it it feels so I went with a dex build cause I felt severely under powered

[@jamiekosch2562]

and yes as for me i m one how if a game is hard for a sirnot reoins like be cuz its maied to be cuwlegending i hav no pb with it cuz wen it coms to videogames over all ye being simpuller at in some games like being aball to pike how hard a game is may not be bad some gamesis but then is say your playing mortal kombat a easy normel and hard for a solo one player game thas juts fight may not be bad but then in thos games thay make up for it but having the enemys be com hard bey how mosth skill you hav in fight and thas how thay jugd ther prassg thos takeing away a bit in wet way wers the cuwlegend if all you do is hit a enemy 1 hit one kill simupller like thas not showing msth fo a cuwhlegend be if thers a cinats fo you dieing at anye point and time and your sirivel is in the cuwlegend to and the fight is hard but one stell can bet it even if you loss if you got bake up do not give up simpuller like got bake to going to do the fight anaig but aftder youv beter your self as a player wen you bet that bossis you over com the cuwhlegend youv beterd your self youv goting good as a player and in the game goting good both in the game is also a buot goting good as a player over coming that cuwhlegend dark suols is a game abuot over coming cuwhlegendingsis both in the game and with you as a player thas how one gots good hav a nices day

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

19:14 a game has outdated design because it’s 13 years old? I hate how people look at video games like this. Anything that’s older than 3 years is just an outdated relic. Imagine we’d look at any other art form like that. Zero appreciation or respect for the history of the art form. I wouldn’t wanna know what you think about games from the 80s or 90s 👎

[@FlyMandi]

Some things age well, others don't.

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

@@FlyMandi that design element was bad then and was complained about then and it’s bad now. It’s been a laughing point in the community since back then how obtuse DS1 is to get into. There were loads of games that made things very clear not only 13 years ago but 20 and 30 years ago. Has nothing to do with age.

[@FlyMandi]

Obscuring things for the sake of obscurity in order to increase player playtime was outdated then as it is outdated now.

[@vaayuo]

Did no one tell you about the sunlight maggot helmet? Typical ds3 player who couldn't git gud /s I do think its better than ds3 which is mostly straight line for the firsr half , in this atleast if you get the masterkey early, you can literally go anywhere (almost) ,i went to ash lake before even beating gargoyles (got PTSD)

[@FlyMandi]

(git gud) (skill issue) (noob) (not a real gamer) (nerd emoji)

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

not skill issue use tactic*

[@Whatever4690]

The clever part of DS1 story is there really isn't one its pretty vague, you make the story as you go along.

[@Ruchunteur]

I played all 3 Dark Souls in a row (so I had no nostalgia for any of them) while chatting and streaming to my friend on discord and I agree. Dark Soul 3 is the best of the series. (and Dark soul 2 : scholar of sins is the worse >.>). As enjoyable as Dark Souls 1 was, the lack of direction from the game itself was much more of an issue than in the other two. Frankly, telling us than the bell is in the ruins at the bottom Blighttown ONCE at the very beginning and then only mention Blightown itself (not the ruins) in a latter dialogue when you are actually ready to get there (many, many hours later) make it so I wasted hours of going through the city over and over again. top to bottom because I though I missed something somewhere. I was very salty about it when I finally understood that was not IN Blightown but in a freaking hole that seemingly was going into another freaking area. Also at the very start of firelink shrine, because the guy mention a bell up and one down. My instinct was to go down first. And I ended up at new londo. The guy could have say that the bell that is up was a better starting choice >.> (not a big deal though, you just died a few time and go another way I guess. Also I was redirected by my friends to go up after that). Overall a good game, even if It have a bunch of flaws. It could have benefited from some adjustments like letting the npc repeat the important part of the dialogue that you absolutely need to understand to progress the game at the very least. Also something that I really disliked in that game is some of the run back to the bosses. All Dark souls suffer from this to be fair. I feel like when a boss can kill you really quickly, they should make it so it's quick to get back. It really feels like making a long run back (sometimes with perils in the way too) is just an excuse to make the game last longer. It's fun to clear an area, it's not fun to sprint past the area you already cleared while avoiding enemies for sometimes close to a minute just so you get to try the boss and die quicker than the the time it took you to get there in the first place. And it's even worse when the boss itself have a bunch of adds (like nito) that make you spend a bunch of time running during the boss fight itself instead of focusing on the boss (so you don't take multiple attack in the same time in the face and die instantaneously). They did address that issue in elden ring by adding the statues that let you respawn in front of the boss room (for most of the bosses at least). If they do a Dark Soul 4 one day, I hope they find a way to do something similar

[@tacticalmattress]

Lol you fell for the classical Blunder. 😂

[@Meadmon]

Yes, story isn’t and ascetic isn’t, but everything else is overrated

[@jackrabbit7789]

Cope

[@Meadmon]

@@jackrabbit7789 love me some COPEnhagen southern blend

[@jackrabbit7789]

@@Meadmon what's ur favorite souls game?

[@Meadmon]

@@jackrabbit7789 Ds3 for bosses. Sekiro for swordplay. Elden ring for most everything else. I love the build variety. If I had to pick one I’d pick elden ring. Ludwig holy blade is the best soundtrack in souls. Gael is close second.

[@jackrabbit7789]

@@Meadmon ok, I don't know anyone who will say the ds1 bosses are good for anything other than to teach you or cinematography. So what's so overrated because the combat isn't widely praised either

[@jamiekosch2562]

may my light gide you

[@jamiekosch2562]

cuz 1 in the a crysisyume intor level with its boss thers marks on the ground to help let you how to do things in game like how to bolk and paraey or attak and to look at your inevrotey and or sateus manu and how to eqipet your shlled a sword magie and how halen with your flask and ther things like humenitey or how to undo being hollow and go bake to being humen if you do not pay mine to your siroundings at all time be cuz your fighting a enemy or your like for info on wer to go and wet to do bey speed runing and not takeing your time playing throu the game and its storey you will miss things y cuz you the player are trying to be the tep how say i do not need help from thers or asistdnstsis like a speed runer trying to do a blind play throu in witch bey not looking for the marks on the ground and bey killing all you meet with uot talking to the npc sis how can help you you srecw your self cuz you misstd info and things tie to bossis placsis and the ingame storey and bey trying to speed run and bey kill to maney npc sis you miss info and you miss things that help with goting more suolsis and prassging in the games and ther storeysis its your fallt you die it your fall as the player the the game or thos how maied it you need to got good be a beter play even dieing in game is a part fo the games storey you die you go hollow you com bake to life y cuz if you wet to beter your self you do not wet to give up simpuller like bey doing so ye you can go bake to wer you die to got bake wet you loss in suols and stuff to but if you fight your way bake and you make bake wer you die this time alive you hav more suolsis to pay in game or usis to up gaerd wopensis armor and in your inevrot manu up gaerd your sateus to and you levelsis thas porassg and if you hav maied to a beonyfier you hav your halet refilld and long with your flask and y dos the gamesis do its the way you can tel youv got good juts do not let your ego got the beter fo you and do not allways over think or try to be like thos how speed run cuz thay missuot on things cuz some do not think to ask for help one shound not be a faerd to ask for help from thers in the suolsiss comuitey this has ben omage apalth fo the way fo wite hav a nices day

[@Yami1300]

For a supposed Souls fan You don't seem to understand what makes a souls game There is areason why DS2 is slightly superior to DS3 And DS1 is in a legue of its own

[@FlyMandi]

legue