Ways In Which Dark Souls Is MUCH BETTER and FAR WORSE Than Elden Ring

FROMSOFTWARE STUNLOCK TIME!
🔴 Website - www.vaush.gg/
💵 Patreon - / vaush
🌟 Other Socials 🌟
⭐️ Main Channel - / @vaush
🐦 Twitter - / vaushv
👾 Twitch - / vaushvidya
📸 Instagram - / vaushv
🔵 Facebook - / vaushvidya
🎵 TikTok - / vaushvidya
🎙Podcast - anchor.fm/vaush
#EldenRing #DarkSouls #FromSoftware

[@mr.ashenfire2624]

Elden Ring really sets itself apart from Dark Souls merely by its mood. Dark Souls is a world without hope. A twisted fantasy maintained by a selfish God who didnt want to see his precious Age of Fire end, and cursed those who would inherit the world to come. Elden Ring tells you from the start that you were chosen by Grace for a purpose, regardless that nobody knew of you in life. You feel special instead of like a sack of meat trying to fulfil its purpose. In addition, Elden Ring solved a serious problem which was Lore Retention. Lore is everywhere in Elden Ring. Its more open with you about the story. Whereas Dark Souls made you fight tooth and nail for the lore. It was so much easier to engage with the story of Elden Ring than Dark Souls.

[@shnouth5391]

They’re actually more alike than you think, because elden ring becomes absolute trash half way through just like DS1. Only DS1 is shorter so its actually bareable. You’re comparing the GOAT to the game that has more than half of its bosses as repeats, rips from other games, and normal enemies with healthbars. DS3 is Elden Ring without its problems lol

[@littlemoth4956]

@@shnouth5391 Sorry I don't speak ass smear

[@0l0f75]

​​@@shnouth5391leyndell, mohgs palace, the haligtree and farum azula are trash?

[@lopamurble4056]

@@shnouth5391​​⁠​⁠​⁠DS3 is easily the weakest Soulsborne entry and is only enjoyable if you like jerking yourself off to DS1 nostalgia. The biggest difference is that Miyazaki clearly wanted to make Elden Ring whereas he only made DS3 to satisfy rose-tinted retards.

[@geordiejones5618]

​​@@shnouth5391This is a terrible opinion. Mountaintops doesn't have as much to do but the environmental storytelling is the best in the game other than Caelid, and Haligtree/Farum are amazing. Plus the final gauntlet of bosses is truly incredible and push you to your mental limits.

[@Ghee_Buttersnaps]

Alternatively title: "Young man shouts at virtual clouds for 10 min"

[@fartyfazbear1932]

Isn't he 40? That ain't young

[@witchflowers6942]

@@fartyfazbear1932 nine hundred and sixty two, actually

[@Mizar007]

@@fartyfazbear1932 400, you missed a 0

[@JoshBurcham104]

The parry thing on bosses is really only true for Gwyn, most bosses in the series do not have that problem. This can be an issue in regular enemy encounters but you still have to learn the timings to be consistent with it. If anything backstabbing is much more exploitable in ds1 and 3 especially

[@aspacelex]

Vowsh for some reason looks at DaS1 from the perspective of someone who's already memorized every moveset, which isn't how you're supporsed to approach them. Gwyn's one of the hardest enemies to parry in the game and even then he's still dangerous.

[@bunklypeppz]

Yeah, the main reason I like parrying is because I consider it to be the most challenging mechanic to execute in the entire game. Even fighting regular enemies can be engaging when you are trying to react to the exact moment you need to trigger your parry because of how narrow the window of opportunity is. Also you don't riposte bosses for enough dmg to trivialize the fight in ER, and you need to land 2 to 3 parries to actually have a chance to riposte. If I were only rolling and attacking, I probably would have stepped away from the game after 2 playthroughs, but with a parry-focused playstyle, I always feel like there's room for improvement, so it's fun to practice against various bosses and enemies on each playthrough.

[@matiasgonzalez1360]

@@aspacelex i suck at parrys and gwyn was easy af

[@aspacelex]

@@matiasgonzalez1360 On your first try? Were you a mage?

[@themightymcb7310]

I think they're sufficiently difficult to land in each of the games such that they really don't trivialize the boss encounters that let you pull them off (besides gwyn cause DS1 parries are busted). Bloodborne is the exception to this, but it's so integrated into the enemy design that I think it's fair to let it slide there.

[@mielipuolisiili7240]

It's been long since I last played Dark souls but I'm pretty sure that Vaush's complaint about O&S being tedious as a lone melee character would be fixed by getting good.

[@orangenostril]

Yeah I was a pure melee build my first play through and I don't remember exactly how I beat O&S but it definitely wasn't running in circles

[@ulipeterson6112]

I had to use at least 3-4 humanity to beat them with my meele character. Damn was i happy when it was over.

[@windlebee9440]

Getting good doesnt make it less tedious. Also, dudes beat it at sl1 so 💀

[@mielipuolisiili7240]

@@windlebee9440 What I meant is that you gotta learn to dodge their attacks. Then it won't be tedious like running around the room. And beating the game at sl1 isn't necessarily super challenging. It'll just take long since every mistake can kill and the bosses' healthbars are too big. No wonder he finds the fight tedious if his latest experience of it is sl1 run tho.

[@windlebee9440]

fighting O&S at sl1 and fighting them at whateve sl you want is still the same tedious fight, and learning the timing for dodges also doesnt make it less tedious, just easier. Tedious does not mean difficult, it's a fucking drag.

[@rohiogerv22]

I still think DS1's animations are more readable and believable than DS2s. Put bullshit tracking on every enemy if you want, but the enemy should at least LOOK capable of following you that closely. Can't stand the turret spin. And the hitbox for weapon "grabs" should be the weapon. Also Sanctuary Guardian is the worst technical fight in DS1 imo. Those hit frames are rage inducing. The attack's already done and you're still getting blasted back for standing near its thigh.

[@WalkTuahthePolls]

Agreed. DS1 did have some unfair aspects, but DS2 felt like they prioritized difficulty over design. So many times it felt like they were saying "Not difficult enough? Throw in more enemies." "Boss to easy? Put a second one there and make them spin like turrets."

[@shawnmarcum8078]

Sanctuary Guardian is a pretty good creature boss.

[@aspacelex]

​@@shawnmarcum8078 The guardian is probably the first instance in the series of a boss that's too busy showing off its moveset to let you the player have any fun with the encounter.

[@leo-shun]

I feel like DS2 animations are far more readable. Some of the DS1 fast attacks are fucking instant. You almost can't see the swing. The weapon just teleports from left to right like those stone cats in Elden Ring. In DS2, I feel like I'm seeing Every little movement before an attack connects

[@Sercroc]

@@WalkTuahthePolls you probably played the shcolar edition, the ps3 verison doens't have all those enemies, much better experience

[@TheArtistKnownAsNooblet]

One of the best things in the original dark souls I think is the traversal because you don't get teleportation until like 2/3's of the way through the game they had to pay much more attention to the level design and layout and specifically the decision to make everything so intertwined. That made it so you could get from any given part of the game to any other part in like 20 minutes which feels really good and cool. Also just because a move is a little cheesy doesn't mean you should break it into being nonsensical and practically unusable. Parrying in DS2 causes a like 2 second animation that is cancelled if the enemy takes damage, you heard that right if you or anything else hits the enemy you just parryed to soon you lose your chance to riposte which sucks ass and feels bad. Also becoming a parry god is objectively the most fun way to play Bloodborne. Stop healing so much, use almost exclusively blood bullets, use blood rapture most fun you'll have in a while. Also cool side note, the orphan of kos needs to successfully execute an attack after reaching the health threshold for it's last phase to enter it's last phase so if you parry every single attack he never enters his last phase.

[@minhocho5487]

One of the most bullshit thing in ds2 was that you are not invincible when performing a riposte or going through a fog gate.

[@lloydirving6209]

I've done a handful of bloodborne playthroughs and going pure arcane was the most fun I had

[@UniversalGamerEdye]

I have to Agree with you, playing and doing builts , that you are not normally confident or used to , is really the most fun way to play. Parrying is not fun at all, it's just makes you feel invincible.

[@campbell682]

I’d love to know what the 2nd half of DS1 would look like, in another world where they had sufficient time to finish it

[@WendingWind]

They had the opportunity, but they sold out for the cashie 😭 and broke the lighting system in the process

[@WalkTuahthePolls]

IDK why everyone says this. Lost Izalith was rushed, but the other 3 were great.

[@leo-shun]

@@WalkTuahthePolls There is no way you think tomb of the Giants is great

[@lloydirving6209]

@@leo-shun it is though? dark souls does a great job of making the environment itself an enemy to overcome so to say, the pure darkness of the tomb coupled with ledges to fall off of being the obvious example of this. it encourages exploration to find gear that will allow you to light up the place, as well as getting a divine weapon for the skeletons.

[@littlemoth4956]

@@lloydirving6209 " it encourages exploration to find gear that will allow you to light up the place, as well as getting a divine weapon for the skeletons." No?? Not even a little bit. The player upon first run through will not know about either of these, and the idea that you need incredibly specific pieces of gear for this is unbelievably stupid. Tomb of the Giants' level geometry isn't anything special. Without the darkness, it's incredibly generic, and with it, it's incredibly obnoxious. The only redeeming aspects are the atmosphere, with it having clear views of the Demon Ruins and Ash Lake.

[@sirusmunjak-khoury1425]

Orstein and smoug is one of my favorite fights ever. The adrenaline in me is insane while I’m running around desperately trying to cut orstein down

[@deddrz2549]

He explained in another video that he thinks the design is fine when you are willing to trade blows, with the way he plays at soul level 1, having low health in this boss specifically means less of 'play more perfectly' and more just wait around and lame them out to be optimal.

[@braevinmaund1210]

Is it just me or does "Ornstein and Smough" sound a bit like "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle"? If you get that reference, I love you.

[@travismalone1985]

I still say the shining star in DS 1 is the level/world design.

[@khornedmaple]

Voosh should play MGR: Revengeance and debunk the Senator's speech.

[@God_gundam36]

I was a big fan of how early DS1 handed weapons and armour Like you could carry pretty much every starting area weapon to the end of the game. If you use the zewihander, you pretty much insta kill everything but you only get one very long swing in before your stamina is gone and to fast role you need to be practically naked. Or you could wear full amour and fat role but you can tank the hits. Weapons generally just feel like they did more damage, the halberd is extremely good in DS1, with how mucn range it has, I always had a good build in DS1 but I could never figure one out for games like DS3, I never felt like I had a solid build in that game,

[@bpdmf2798]

Get the dark axe under the dragon in the mimic box right at the beginning.

[@Versace_sheets]

Ds1 plays like your walking in waist high mud, boring ass game compared to elden ring

[@12halo3]

@@Versace_sheets troll.

[@Pops333]

I finished Elden Ring with the katana I started it with, Ashes of War really helped in this area

[@Gum_Cuzzler]

Miyazaki obviously didn’t like how you could easily beat DS1 with a pure strength tank build and never really had to ‘git gud’. He’s never really had that be a viable option in any other souls game.

[@ahsanumar01]

Dark souls 2 > Dark Souls 1 😈

[@almosthelpless9374]

I love Elden Ring which is funny because I played Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for about an hour before becoming frustrated and quitting an entirely. Elden Ring is my 2nd most played game on Steam so I want to get back into it one of these days.

[@TROBassGuitar]

Damn dude you didn't even give it a chance

[@jirojairo90]

Just parry lol

[@Versace_sheets]

@@jirojairo90 you don't have sex lol

[@jonathanrosales9940]

I was never able to finish sekiro. Think I left off on snake eyes shirahagi. I think it's a great game but I suck at vidya games and the only reason I was able to beat all the other souls games is because I am able to overlevel myself if j hit a roadblock. So in that regard sekiro is Def the ultimate git gud game. But ya I've also been enjoying elden ring alot so considering trying sekiro again

[@VeryDryBones]

Got about 7 hours into sekiro and just stopped. The games is just incredibly boring. Its not any harder then other from soft but I just couldn't give a shit about anything. I think tying me down to the katana fighting style hurt it in my eyes

[@CielBlanche]

After listening to this analysis of Dark Souls, I can say Vaush is definitely very good at politics

[@OccuredJakub12]

As someone who's played DS1 for the first time recently, I disagree mostly. There are some times when hitbox fuckery got me killed, but the only time was a thin bridge in the crystal caves that was sloped. I think a pure melee no help run of Dark Souls is the wrong way to play the game. Especially during the Gargoyles and Ornstein & Smough fights. Why are you people insisting on fighting a two on one battle and then complaining that it's downright impossible? THAT'S THE POINT. The world is unfair. If you wanna prove how much of a lone wolf badass you are, it'll only get you killed. Use magic. Use arrows. Use helpers. Use every dirty trick in the book and out-cheap this world's cheapness. This isn't a game about samurais and honor. It's a game about a corrupted, dying world where everyone wants to kill you. The fun lies in not trying to beat an unfair world fairly, but by becoming like it.

[@fredotony]

i see where you coming from but it's more fun to play melee and roll around

[@OccuredJakub12]

@@fredotony I dunno, maybe. But you're gonna die a lot to shit that melee just doesn't work well with.

[@fredotony]

@@OccuredJakub12 i just love dueling 1v1 with a cool looking taller than average dude in these games, that's why i play sekiro with my fingers in my pants . if i played with every dirty trick in the book in elden ring id just obliterate bosses with a op magic spell or sumn and not having fun at all

[@OccuredJakub12]

@@fredotony Yeah but those are not Dark Souls. Sekiro is for the honor samurai people, Elden Ring is for people who just wanna be happy and free

[@georgebooth-rojas7249]

i live for the unfairness personally, also the gargoyles is one of the easiest fights in the game

[@mastergame1311]

I feel like From Software games became something adjacent to cult media. People treat the Dark Souls series as the messiah of gaming, the pinnacle of difficulty and fairness, and if you point out how these games are faulty, they get incredibly defensive. I expected Elden Ring to be a masterpiece, and I got one, but it arrived shattered.

[@WalkTuahthePolls]

I think we need to remember the context of the time. Remember, around 2010, indie games hasn't really taken off yet. We were at the peak of 'lowest common denominator' AAA games like COD and Assassins Creed; dumbed down to appeal to as many people as possible. Not only was Dark Souls a great game, but it was a breath of fresh air. It was the only major game who's difficulty didn't rely on upping the health and damage of enemies. It showed you didn't have to create a game that appealed to EVERYONE as long as it had a strong appeal for some. People might be hyperbolic about praise, but it's hard to overstate the influence Dark Souls had.

[@PointlesslyNecessaryConvos]

Someone watched Joseph Andersons video

[@user-df4kf6fg7h]

100% disagree about nerfing block stamina cost. Doing it "once or twice" is called parrying, blocking is a completely different playstyle - think of it more as a tanking alternative to rolling, not just "a longer parry". And I would be happy if my early game Lordsworn's Greatshield could actually block a bosses combo twice, or even properly once without the guard breaking, because blocking the entire combo of a boss is necessary once you have committed to a block. A parry disrupts it, while a block has to take it all, because most bosses won't recoil even from a greatshield. Think about it, what's the purpose of greatshields? They take a higher strength investment than even twohand weapons, plus a high investment in endurance, competing with armor for carry weight, and they cost you damage in opportunity you would do if you instead twohanded or power stanced. If they didn't actually properly block, what would be the point of all that investment and cost?

[@DarkMustard1337]

Vaush's take on Ornstein and Smough is weak, sorry homie.

[@tomribei]

I think Dark Souls 2 is a good game, but just a bad title by the franchise's standards. A lot of the areas were barren and uninspiring, a lot of bosses felt cheap until much later on. Bonfire runs for bosses were horrendous for some particular bosses and most of the memorable bosses were in the DLCs only.

[@marcpolain5549]

I only ever played Demon Souls n DS1, bought ER two days ago. Feel way more powerful in ER but it felt more badass whoopin stuff in DS1. In all the souls after DS1 you can dual weild great swords. DS1 keeps it a lil more grounded. Awesome vid V man.

[@idcompiler]

I two-handed a greatsword through most of ER just bc the dual wield looked so goofy, despite it doing double damage with no downsides

[@themightymcb7310]

@@idcompiler you could do it in ds2 as well with enough strength!

[@alexnoack9941]

I still think DS3 is the most balanced game of the dark souls/demon souls/ elden ring games (not counting sekiro and bloodhourne because they are different enough to not be a 1-1 comparison)

[@riseofthesugars5312]

Probably because they nerfed magic in that game.

[@alexnoack9941]

@@riseofthesugars5312 I don't think magic is the issue, more the speed of the game in melee is so fast that larger weapons aren't effective, so you use fast weapons or attack from a distance. Also it is easy to see enemy health is based off powerstancing, so using only one weapon makes you tickle enemies in mid to late game. Spell casting I think is scaled to match powerstancing which means you can now one hand a staff that outputs same damage as a powerstancing 2 weapons. I love powerstancing but it needs to be scaled down, or one handing needs to be scaled up

[@alexnoack9941]

Also why is quality so shit in this game lmao

[@dallascoggins1534]

Elden ring is as different from dark souls as bloodborne is to dark souls because of jumping attacks and riposte bar

[@shawnmarcum8078]

Try using a faith offensive build in ds3. Ds2 is still the king of balance. Nothing is really op or that bad in ds2. That's why pvp works. But ds3 does have some nice magic and pyro pve stuff. Too bad it isn't great in pvp.

[@dinguswattle]

3:36 I am of the firm believe that the reason that none of the legacy dungeons have that amazing feeling after a loop isn't cause they're not designed well enough, I think Stormveil is actually amazingly designed, but instead because you have teleportation from the very beginning and due to that only the grace find matters and connections between them are irrelevant for the most part. I believe that the people that set the graces, the people that decided that teleportation would be from the beginning of the game and the rest of the level designers didn't have much communication. My reasons for believing that are 1. the dragon ruins teleportation chest. I don't think the cave is the main even. I think it was supposed to be "I am in this fucked cave and now I am finally out" only to stepout into mordor and have to find your way out of there. But you can just tp out. and 2. the Atlus Lift is basically entirely irrelevant as you don't need to search for the pieces since you can just use the climb path once and then always TP. I think that if there was no tp at that point in the game, then getting the lift would actually be worth it cause you wouldn't really wanna have to keep trekking up and down there. I think they should have had a DS1 situation where you don't unlock TP until maybe after you beat Morgott. And for how to access the Roundtable then, just make it so that every grace let's you TP there and then you can only TP back to that grace until you get universal tp unlocked.

[@orangenostril]

I think restricting teleportation in part 1 in DS1 made sense because you weren't really expected to be doing several things all around the map, instead focusing on one place at a time, but in both part 2 DSI and all of Elden Ring you kinda are supposed to be able to go all over the place quickly to do what you want when you want. Although I do think your teleports should be restricted for the larger dungeons in Elden Ring too, not just for the caves (or at least you can't teleport to any of the checkpoints).

[@dinguswattle]

@@orangenostril yeah I am just kinda spitballing, but I am no level or game designer so idk what the best solution is, I just can't imagine that the people that designed the legacy dungeons, and some of the traps are too happy about the completely unrestricted teleportation. A friend of mine suggested that to fix the TP trap problem in Caelid they could make it so that TPs aren't restricted until you rest at any grace but instead you have to rest at a grace you have previously been to. And another solution would maybe be the use of more portals in order to connect the legacy dungeons with one another so you can travel from one side of the map to another. But like I said I am no game designer I just think the way teleportation is currently handled can rob you of some incredibly cool moments through excessive use of it.

[@johnmickey5017]

Given how large and non linear ER is, gating teleportation behind a mid hame story encounter would be a horrible decision. I find that the looping doesn’t matter as much because the environments are so much larger and denser anyway, so you are usually exploring more broadly rather than just hitting against one area. The shortcuts are more about opening up an environment for exploration rather than looping deeper into a site. Plus there aren’t really boss run ups that make you rely on shortcuts you’ve unlocked. The only area that really followed the older design style was the Lyndell sewers, where the number of returns was genuinely impressive each time.

[@dinguswattle]

@@johnmickey5017 definitely agree on the sewers, but I think that Stormveil would have definitely also benefited from no TP

[@godsstrongestschizo]

@@johnmickey5017 I agree with this sentiment, I like OP’s design philosophy but it would just become tedious and bothersome with how big ER’s map truly is compared to DS1’s tight and sprawling but immediate design philosophy.

[@DragonAbyssal]

Went back to ds3. Still my overall favorite but it feels so much easier than elden ring now

[@BartvG88]

Yeah I’m replaying as a knight, using a raw sword and focusing on leveling vitality, it’s pretty great, I can make some mistakes while dealing decent damage, and can one-shot most bosses… for now

[@ae-qw5xi]

definitely easier but god the level design in ds3 is so good. the memorability of basically every level just enhances the experience that much more. I feel like that's what was missing when I played elden ring. the game is amazing, but besides replaying to explore areas that you haven't yet, the replayability isn't as enjoyable as souls games

[@Summer_Tea]

I'm weird but I find DS3 to be far and away the hardest Fromsoft game (and not in a good way). Elden Ring is so much easier for me with all the normal restrictions (no spirits/blocking, etc.).

[@BartvG88]

@@Summer_Tea Really? I just started a fresh DS3 run after beating elden ring. I used a raw weapon (nice attack buff, but doesn't scale) and just leveled vitality a bit. I blasted through the early game, though the DLC areas are pretty hard! Those wolves man, they just keep coming! Can't wait to see the fabled ringed city, it's the last soulsborne area I haven't seen yet!

[@Summer_Tea]

@@BartvG88 Yeah, a lot of the bosses took me forever. Pontiff is on record as the hardest fromsoft boss I have ever seen by quite a large margin. I really didn't enjoy the design of DS3 bosses, so it's hard to want to get good at a game you find boring. That and the 30fps played a big role I think.

[@Knight1029]

I think for me I just prefer their being a lot of different options for the player to use. To me magic isn't terrible even the way it ignores mechanics of melee and others. To me I don't think it makes the game worse because at the end of the day the bosses were beaten by using the mechanics the developers gave you.

[@nPr26_50]

The reason it's not as exciting exploring the legacy dungeons in Elden Ring is because the game gives you grace sites every 2 seconds. Just completely destroys all tension. In Dark Souls bonfires are properly spaced out. Bloodborne does this best imo cause going through an entire area without a bonfire can get tedious. Bloodborne more consistently offers shortcuts while still making lamps rare.

[@julian7247]

The guardian lion seriously ? The one you can just tank with a decent shield ? Hes truly lost it.

[@glenndiddy]

I am so glad I got into Dark Souls when the first installment came out. The movement and combat, while definitely more clunky, just feels right for the setting. You are just a random dead dude out of thousands or more that tries to link the flame. DS1 combat will always hold a special place in my gaming career. I'll keep replaying it every so often for a long time to come

[@ParallelLuna]

CAPRA DEMON 👏 CAPRA DEMON 👏 CAPRA DEMON

[@TROBassGuitar]

That's the worst boss in that game lol

[@trillmixin6999]

asylum demon thick tho 😩

[@Versace_sheets]

Literally terrible boss

[@OldemarFIN]

I've been playing DSR on the Switch lately and also noticed that playing unlocked really makes the game trivial. It borderline breaks the AI and makes the already easy backstabs even more free. It really is the vibes and level design that carry that game.

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

IMHO, Lordran is a more believable lived in space than 95% of the areas in Elden ring (Save for the legacy dungeons and Leyendel).

[@godsstrongestschizo]

DS1 has always been trivial if you’re somewhat good and experienced in Souls games, the challenge comes when you’re entirely new to Souls games and start with DS1.

[@sgtjohnson49]

Yeah the backstab is meta against 95% of the mobs in DS1.

[@shawnmarcum8078]

@@xXRickTrolledXx Structurally yes, but Izalith and Demon Ruins aren't believable because they just put enemies everywhere with really any purpose. Duke's Archives kind of has this problem as well.

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

@@shawnmarcum8078 Fair and valid.

[@AProbablyPostman]

Dark Souls's item and weapons icons look like they're from a survival horror game.

[@lizardnettle9693]

Dark souls 1 is primarily good because of it's exploration and immaculate vibes imo. The combat is good in areas, but there are areas I kinda dread going through. it can get pretty bad in areas (like the entirety of lost izalith)

[@bpdmf2798]

I like Dark Souls' metroidvania exploration.

[@CervantesVI]

I'm not a fan of the way he frames parrying in this. Like, sure, it makes fights like Gwyn's really easy, but that seems fine to me? You still figured out a way to defeat the boss, and you're still engaging with the combat mechanics, it's just in a slightly more obtuse manner. This feels similar to the way some people shit on magic and summons.

[@iz2333]

Probably feels similar because Vaush is an anti magic extremist.

[@teehundeart]

Yeah. Also parrying is a really advanced and risky mechanic so it's not like it is an easy cheese. You still need to be really good

[@FLUPHQ-]

I feel like all the level design in DS1 isn't as amazing as people make it seem. Much of the game seems too narrow and claustrophobic for the clunky controls and combat. Good level design requires it to mesh well with the gameplay in my mind and I just don't see it. I personally think these praises would apply to Bloodborne, and this is coming from someone who's not a massive fan of Bloodborne, but the level design is pretty immaculate. Of course this is all just my opinion but I think outside the nostalgia DS1 is the worst of the Soulsbourne games (although I didn't play Demon's Souls original).

[@herb2110]

The micro level design of ds1 isn’t anything too special imo, but the macro level design/world design (especially of the first half) is one of the best in all of gaming (imo).

[@benchborner]

I just started DS1 as my first FROMSOFT game and I actually really liked the way the claustrophobic environments made you reason things out. Imo it’s really cool having to think about what weapons work better in narrow hallways, like whether or not to use a light or heavy attack with an axe based purely on which outcome won’t stagger you as you hit (or avoid) the sides of a wall. It may not be the best “game mechanic” but as a person who’s never played any role playing games, I enjoyed thinking about using my environment to my advantage a lot

[@rumncoke76]

DS1 has the vibes and the somber tone, but honestly that's about it for me. I don't value originality more than the quality of the execution, so I feel like DS3 and Elden ring are much better than Dark Souls hands down. Please no bullying

[@teehundeart]

Interesting. My experience with DS1 was very different. I found it to be way less clunky than DS2 and having better bosses than DS2. Compared to DS3 I think it has much more build variety due to how many strategies were nerf'd in the later games. DS3 is probably still my favorite Souls game because it feels the most polished to me

[@laurentcisse4280]

i beat most of them SL1 ng+7 not long ago and ds2 boss were on average better than in ds1

[@HiCZoK]

Would love to see more souls analysis from you ! You are so well spoken and your reasoning is great. I personally like ds2 the most

[@bogdang8759]

spoilers for DS1: I like the theory that Gwyn is intentionally a weak boss, by that point the game is more interested in making a narrative point via gameplay (which was the intention of the difficulty all along anyway) than in difficulty for difficulty's sake. Gwyn is decrepit af and part of the meaning of that fight is to establish the player as an anti-hero.

[@rogerbabin8175]

Obligatory recommendation of Nioh 2. Hopefully Vaush is made aware of this game or actually plays it one of these days. Seems like a strong fit for him.

[@darkphoenix2]

Seeing the DS2 praise in Vaush's chat fills me with warm feelings. I enjoyed DS1's world, and DS2 definitely didn't have that same design, but nearly everything else... I could write a college thesis on how well designed that game is. It not only introduces so many mechanics and improvements that people take for granted now, it had unique systems that didn't show up in any other game (bonfire ascetics, NG+ changes, true dual wielding freedom). And, on top of this, in a real nuanced, under the hood kind of way, DS2's gameplay is so well balanced and deep. People don't think about things like the stamina cost and speed of rolling, or how well timed and positioned a rolling attack has to be, or how useful the backstep is as an alternative dodge, or the animations you can cancel, or why the way the Estus animation works is better than in all the other games. It's a shame because it really deserves more respect, even if it seems more understood and liked these days.

[@plusixty8992]

idk how how og DS2 was but scholars was dumber than hell and it felt like they just added gank squads to increase difficulty and i stopped playing it after 13 hours lol

[@WendingWind]

I tried it because people said the PvP is good, but in reality it was probably the worst netcode I've ever seen in a game and completely unplayable, with people teleporting about and insta-killing with twink builds. I don't agree about it being balanced based on what I've seen and experienced. The gameplay seems okay, but the control scheme is unworkable on keyboard and mouse. Defeating the ruin sentinels with about 10 different buttons for attacks malded me. Don't enjoy playing with a controller, so being forced to doesn't sit right with me. The rolling s being punishing did feel like an improvement, but the gank placement of enemies made it suck, since you spend more time kiting than dodging attacks, much like The Witcher 2. I would say it had the potential to be good, but the level design and enemy placement ruined its chance. Consumable healing items and punishing players for dying was a downgrade imo. Having to farm healing items in a Souls game is not good design. It encourages the "hoard items for the right moment" mentality which is cringe. Level design I wasn't a big fan of at all. I'd go as far as to call it disgusting after what DS1 had on display. I didn't actually complete the game, but I've heard it just gets worse as it goes on in that regard. IMO the dual wielding stuff is just gimmicky and I didn't care for it.

[@darkphoenix2]

@@WendingWind These sound like excuses to me. You can't criticize the core gameplay because of Internet issues in PvP. None of these games have a perfect netcode. And none of these games are good on keyboard. That's your issue. Complaining about ganks is nonsense to me. There are ways of dealing with every situation, there is nothing outright ridiculous like some of the massive mobs in later games. And the punishment for dying is just another "git gud" situation. You have a ring that mitigates the penalty and options to get a human effigy if you really need 25% more health. You don't have to farm lifegems, Melentia sells them infinitely, cheap, when you move her to Majula. It actually kind of breaks the game the other way from what you're saying. When you finish with "eh dual wielding is gimmicky IDC about it", I feel like you're not putting forward the best arguments. You sound like you went in determined to dislike the game. Maybe subconsciously, you just let the criticism affect how you judged it. But you didn't even finish it and judged it pretty quickly and shallowly, IMO.

[@WendingWind]

​@@darkphoenix2 >You sound like you went in determined to dislike the game Not really, but I did that with DS3 and I ended up loving it. >You can't criticize the core gameplay because of Internet issues in PvP Yes I can. >None of these games have a perfect netcode DS3 did. >When you finish with "eh dual wielding is gimmicky IDC about it", I feel like you're not putting forward the best arguments It felt slapped on for the sake of having dual wielding. It didn't have unique movesets, so the versatility is meaningless. It was essentially just an extra-strong R2. Dark Souls 3's paired weapons system was far more interesting imo. They had dedicated double acts with unique movesets.

[@darkphoenix2]

@@WendingWind wtf are you talking about DS2 is the only game where you retain your left handed weapon's full moveset separate from your right, and if you have high enough stats, you unlock another set of attacks that are unique depending on which weapons you have

[@andycic.544]

Magic would be unusable without lock on in DS

[@yetanotheryoutuber4271]

The ATMOSPHERE of Dark Souls was the best...very creepy...DS1 was the only game that scared me a little.

[@kylenmaple4668]

Ornstein and Smough teaches you that you either need immaculate skill or unwavering patience to beat certain bosses

[@jaikthesnake6285]

This sounds goofy but I kinda wish you could backflip in DS like in OoT

[@dominiccasts]

You can! If you equip the Dark Wood Grain Ring (IIRC you get it somewhere in Darkroot Garden) you backflip when you backstep at

[@jaikthesnake6285]

@@dominiccasts I'm aware but I want a version of that in Elden Ring that's a jump too so you can go over sweeps

[@RealVergilSparda]

i recently got to ornstein and smough as a black knight greatsword build and i cant rlly say its bad, coming off the absolute dogpile that is godskin duo and the even worse guardian ape duo it was a breath of fresh air from all the bullshit multienemy ganks or lazy double bosses

[@CaH6633]

dark souls 1 is my favorite game. Also I feel like literally no one agrees with me on this but I find it the easiest....maybe that's just because I played it so much more but I really think like DS got harder as time went on. 2 is harder than 1, 3 is harder than both of them. Bloodborne is about as hard as 3 and came out at about the same time. Elden Ring makes ALL of them look piss easy.

[@Killroy007]

And sekiro vibes with one mind atop of elden ring

[@ae-qw5xi]

honestly if sekiro punished people for spamming the deflect button it'd for sure be harder than every other fromsoft game

[@animaniacsrule]

The run backs in ds2 are way too taxing for some of the lazy difficulty in the boss fights

[@shawnmarcum8078]

Look at Seath the Scaleless. Or Bed of Chaos.

[@diversitydan235]

I feel like this is just reviewing with the power of hindsight. Like how many games are designed well by today's standards?

[@jonkick9221]

I really want from software to remake DS1. I know they won't, but it's still a dream.

[@Bryndleson]

@Andrew h1213 he means full remake my guy

[@JoshBurcham104]

Dark souls 2 is so underrated and dks 3 is so overrated

[@Budd631]

The DS2 bosses are mostly piss easy a d very mechanical. They are very predictable. Good game though it gets too much shit.

[@The999Man]

Vaush being a man before his time, rocking the trump ear look a couple years too soon.

[@Oregooner]

The Artorias fight is, as the kids say nowadays, goated

[@TheStrix]

Metal Wolf Chaos XD is theory. If we don't get a full playthrough of this game, I don't think Vaush can continue to say he's read all theory. Don't let this be the one that got away.

[@zcritten]

When people joke about ds 2 hitboxes i wonder if they played the first game

[@avocadocrumch]

bababooey

[@Juhz0r]

🐖

[@eliasE989]

Literally

[@avocadocrumch]

🐖

[@TROBassGuitar]

Ngl most the time I was playing elden ring I was just thinking about how I want to play dark souls 1 and sekiro,

[@Versace_sheets]

That's really weird, the game is great lol

[@HandOfVecna1188]

@@Versace_sheets they're all great. It's perfectly reasonable to prefer the older ones.

[@TROBassGuitar]

@@Versace_sheets I didn't say elden ring wasn't good, but it made me want to go back through those

[@FrostySumo]

just call yourself a Dark Souls hipster already.

[@TheLexere]

Dark Souls 1 is really the original Dark Souls experience, the areas and the mood of the game is something that his sequels haven't managed to replicate in any way. Still, most people look at this game with big nostalgia glasses, they probably played it many years ago and they talk following opinions of other people.

[@plusixty8992]

i agree i believe it is nostalgia as well. I played a bit of demon souls but didnt own it on release so didnt finish it. If i had started with Ds1 i probably would feel the same, i can really say it was the start of something new which is why it was a bit unrefined, but as someone who really started the series at 3 and played the other 2 after... they just arent as good. I can only play SOTFS for ds2 and i really dont like it, the gank squads were just.. not fun. And ds1.. wow it was honestly so boring, i can appreciate the level design for sure, itwas literally amazing, but every fight was just not fun.. slow, unengaging. i stopped playing after bed of chaos about 16 hours in. but i beat DS3 8 times, i beat sekiro, dont own a PS so no bloodborne, and am now on my 10th playhtorugh of elden ring lol

[@endub6551]

I played DS1 for the first time a couple years ago after already playing DS3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro and I thought it was a really special game. Yeah the combat and most of the boss design hasn't aged well, but my overall experience was still really amazing. In a weird way playing it almost felt nostalgic lol.

[@cysilversoul]

Metal Wolf Chaos looks amazing wtf

[@iceyroo]

CONGRATS ON 100K SUBS!!!! 🎉

[@holofech9744]

This video: DS1 is the best because it sucks

[@jonathanjollimore4794]

Donkey is right good game but damn if the guy who was post to balance this game never show up to work

[@hobosorcerer]

I love how Vaush can, in an earlier video, claim that souls combat is melee focused, while then saying in this video that many souls encounters are problematic for melee builds. Which is it?

[@Stardust_Croissant]

Both

[@rumncoke76]

It can be melee focused and also occasionally suck for melee builds

[@sgtjohnson49]

I've blocked instead of rolled like 4 times in 200hrs of Elden Ring. Shadow step is broken (most no hit runs of bosses and such it seems like they just shadow step during any attack from the boss).

[@_doofiis7420]

Here I am at 0:44 and I already know he's about to go in on the bed of chaos

[@dogearflopper7011]

I didn't realize I could lock-on in Dark Souls 1 until NG+ 🤣 Probably the reason why I wasn't understanding the specific complaints other players were having.

[@El-Duderino-His-Dudeness]

I feel like Metal Wolf Chaos was like a mecha comedy reskin of Otogi. Same kind of game and level structure.

[@Loonimis]

Ds1 will always be my number 1 for sentimental values. Having platinum the game the ng+2 the four kings were the hardest which surprised me. Gwyn is supposed to be sad and easy to win.

[@ZacharyFinch]

DS1 is endearing because it forces you to learn each environment like the back of your hand. A deep familiarity of every enemy’s position and every pathway is necessary to compensate for the janky combat mechanics. In a weird way, it nurtures a more intimate relationship with the game. Every run between bonfires is like a new dance the level designers are teaching you. You become more frustrated with the game than you do with yourself because you know it’s unfair. And when you win, you really do feel like you’ve not just completed the game, but rather, you’ve literally beaten/defeated the game.

[@TheseUseless]

I really like the way that ds2 is constructed. At the very least it works tonally very well. I haven’t played ds1, perhaps the atmosphere is on point, but entering majula for the first time was kind of horrifying. The futility the world gives off- From that point in there’s this implicit understand that hope is already lost. That this world is done for. That everything is already dead, and that what you do doesn’t truly matter. The cycle will repeat. Which is ultimately the point of all 3 dark souls.

[@littlemoth4956]

Only played DS2. Opinion immediately discarded

[@MH-bw9zt]

Gameplay is objectively better in elden right but the world and environment is much better in dark souls.

[@exi8550]

my biggest problem with elden ring, that i've maintained since the game released, is that it feels like the hardest bosses are ripped straight out of bloodborne or sekiro while you move like a dark souls character. i think fromsoft got a little too lost in what it meant to make fair difficulty. rather than make a very well balanced boss who can be beaten first try if you are very careful, they seem to punish you for not knowing specific high damage attacks/variations that bosses can dish out randomly. this coupled with fromsoft's obsession with input reading to decide boss attacks makes for a very frustrating late game unless you farm your ass off.

[@shadysorkin9214]

I will never understand the love for Ornstein and Smough. I assume the nostalgia and being in anor londo is a large factor in the overpraise. It's just a lot of running in circles waiting for an opening which is incredibly boring.

[@superiorgundam]

I forget if his age is considered technically a zoomer but I'm surprised he didn't know what Armored Core was (maybe mentioned that in another video) but says he was a From Software fan.

[@Budd631]

He is 28 so he is a millennial

[@Lala-up2wp]

I think the og duo is still one of the fights that holds up the most lol

[@deddrz2549]

DS2 isn't bad but it feels blatantly clear that they couldn't do all that they wanted to do creatively, due to time o mechanical restrictions

[@Katharoni]

For those that know about Monster Hunter here, Vaush would basically unironically enjoy Tri's underwater combat. (But would probably hate it otherwise because it doesn't have enough story-)

[@VeryDryBones]

I wish I liked Sekiro. I just don't think katanas are fun. And I could not get into the story or anything after 7 hours. Only current from soft game I couldn't get through. After my elden ring blitzkrieg I may have to go back

[@babbisp1]

1:57

[@thehourman37]

I swear I've seen SakeTanuki sending donos way back in the early drunken peasants days

[@MrMrjaymz]

Idk, DS2 boss is way worse than DS1 (on average). I don't think OS was badly designed, but it's not the best FS gank fight. I honestly prefer Shadows of Yharnam and the Demon Prince fight is the best gank boss imo. OS is probably 3rd though, right? Overall, I agree that DS1 boss quality jumps a ton with the dlc though. A lot of bosses are indeed mid, but I had a fun time with O&S personally. Though the bug was kind of annoying too.

[@shawnmarcum8078]

Darklurker is an outstanding gank boss.

[@jawaherimohammed7955]

Todd howard should do DS presentations xDDDD

[@perdurabo56]

5:00

[@ezlo90]

100k,let's go!

[@velvetzealot5175]

I think what makes the level design in DS1 stand out to most people is how small and interconnected the world is. It certainly made it more memorable in my mind. DS2 had more creative locales, but the actual level design felt more gamey and linear and ultimately made them less memorable in my opinion. Not to say they were bad by any means, but not as good as DS1.

[@shawnmarcum8078]

They made ds2 more linear because the interconnected world design was confusing as hell and tedious. Fun, but tedious as well. The two best levels in the game were linear levels in Sen's Fortress and Anor Londo.

[@velvetzealot5175]

@@shawnmarcum8078 Was it really that confusing, though? I don't think it was

[@prawn1717]

@@shawnmarcum8078 Being linear isn't what makes Sen's Fortress or Anor Londo beloved areas though. In Sen's Fortress' case it was the creative traps and enemies, in Anor Londo's case it was visual design and O&S. People are outspoken about how much they love the non-linear aspects of these games, to the point that Undead Burg is widely praised as the best starting area right behind Yharnam, another maze-like level. Leyndell is often considered the best level in Fromsoft history and it's anything BUT linear. Being able to choose your own path lends a sense of uniqueness to every playthrough, and incentivizes multiple playthroughs to go back and discover new paths naturally. DS3's biggest issue was its linear level design, many of the areas feel "video gamey", and subsequent playthroughs have their quality dampened by how boring much of the world is to explore.

[@marcimoments]

i killed ornstein and smough in like a minute and a half using the dragon tooth and I am terrible at video games, sounds like Mr. Vaunch is mad cuz bad

[@Kligor2]

No joke I never locked on in DS1 until Gwyn when I parry-cheesed him. That was literally it. I didnt lock on consistently until DS3.

[@matthewbergman6803]

Dark Souls 2 had by far the best NG+ Elden Ring should have mixed up enemy placements on its New Game+

[@Budd631]

It’s really basically the same it’s just more ganky. Lost sinner has two NPC’s hop in the fight. Really nothing special

[@scottfromspace]

Wait till he tries Demon's Souls I think there was only one or two bosses that actually fought the way he likes

[@DankAudioStash24]

This segment just got better and better

[@malsake3739]

Dark Souls 1 has the most gratifying and balanced pvp

[@stefvanroey8191]

I feel like fromsofts direction is moving towards action games as well (with the emphasis on bossfights). I feel like sekiro therefore is mechanically their best game, as it makes them almost purely focus on the action adventure elements

[@0Scoops]

I never died to so much shit I couldn't do anything about in elden ring compared to ds3

[@aggvfr]

Havel is stil the best DS boss ever idc what anyone else says

[@sgtjohnson49]

100K Vaush put woooo

[@akaroth7542]

Dark Souls 2 is considered the worst by a lot of the DS community because of enemy placement and how it chooses to bog you down in enemies rather than using level design to add difficulty. Ornstein and Smough is a great duo boss fight because of how they compliment each other's movesets. You don't see that in Elden Ring duo fights until the Godskin Duo.

[@Budd631]

Godskin duo was terrible

[@moustachio05]

Godskin Duo don't complement each other at all

[@moustachio05]

O&S is a masterpiece of a boss fight

[@heeho9435]

You know people keep mentioning enemy placement bogging people down in 2 but I don’t know if it’s because I played the original but, I haven’t really found enemy placement that radically differently save for a like a few sections and even then those enemies were pretty easy to take down.

[@Tru-the-Dreamtraveler]

Oak arina of time...

[@brettvanhooser6770]

What on his ear

[@yusufisa7135]

O and S is literally one of the worst bosses in video games why do people like them so much

[@lordwhoopi9132]

Lol, "I played call of duty on the highest difficult with no guns and no crouching. The game is badly designed."