Exhuminator wrote:[I had a hard time finding games which were obvious about it. Maybe Dragon's Dogma, ArcaniA, and Lords of the Fallen? What other games are strongly Souls inspired?
From what I've played of it, I wouldn't put
Dragon's Dogma in that pile (I kind of doubt
ArcaniA as well, since the
Gothic series predates all of them)...but I haven't played it, so I couldn't say for sure.
Lords of the Fallen definitely is.
Nioh is heavily inspired by it, with some elements, but stands apart in other areas. Having beaten it, I wouldn't call it a clone at all, much less a shameless one.
Salt & Sanctuary is basically trying to be 2D
Souls.
I think
Deep Down is/was supposed to be, but it's vaporware AFAIK.
Let it Die is supposedly a bit like it with microtransactions, upcoming game
The Surge apparently has a bit of inspiration from it, as (likely)
Code Vein will.
That said, I would say that there are probably fewer directly inspired games out there than the success of the series would generally result in.
Anyway, questions from the first post.
1. How did you initially react to the first Souls game you played?The first one I played was
Demon's Souls not too long after it came out, and I think I managed to get through 1-1, literally spent like two hours trying to find the Monumental, I think shot down the dragon...and then went back to playing FFXI. This is a pretty typical pattern for me.
2. If you do not enjoy this series, what are the reasons why?I have since come to really enjoy the series.
3. If you do enjoy this series, what are the reasons why?The particular balance of tough but fair gameplay tends to make it satisfying to plug away at until I succeed. Things I practice and get better at, or build my character towards, matter. Not exactly in the same way that improving in an MMO is, but for me, kind of similar.
On top of that, I find the atmosphere and lore to really add to the experience - I watched a lot of Youtube videos, bought the artbooks, and so on. That's something I have yet to see similar games replicate.
4. What's your greatest and/or worst memory of playing a Souls game?One of my standout memories is from my first playthrough of
Dark Souls. I had finally managed to make my way to the Depths, and in getting through there, got cursed, halving my HP. Then I found the boss, and determined after a couple tries that it'd really benefit me to go back up and buy a curse removal item...which, with it being
Dark Souls, meant a bit of backtracking.
I opted to go back to the church, since Purging Stones cost half as much from that NPC. Went, farmed souls, bought a couple, and made my way back. I actually made it pretty much back before deciding to use a stone, which I did. I promptly made a wrong turn and got cursed again. At that point, I resolved to just beat the boss with half HP, and did, though it took a lot more practice. I also took a crash course in weapon durability, since it has an acid attack.
That was before I spent three days trying to beat O&S...
5. What's your preferred build and weapons style?I've used different builds between games and playthroughs. I do typically end up with a shield still, with smaller/middle of the road weapons.
6. Do you believe the Souls games have been influential on modern gaming, or do they stand alone?I think some parts of them are influenced
by contemporary games, since a lot of the always-moving-forward kind of style is more just typical of online games than it was completely new.
The actual online model with echoes of other players and all is less copied than I'd think, but a little influential at least.
I haven't yet seen a game that actually quite captures the feel of a Souls game.
7. What's your opinion(s) of the various DLC packages available? Generally speaking, they're exemplary. All of them include some of the best, most challenging content for their respective games. (Taken by itself, the first DS3 DLC is a bit weaker, but as a package, the full DLC for that is great).
The main downside is that the U.S. has not tended to get "complete" versions of the games, other than for
Dark Souls II (and the PC version of
Dark Souls).
8. Do you believe the reputation of extreme difficulty in this series is warranted or overstated?I think they can be objectively classified as more demanding games than the current average, but quite a lot of it is simply a steep learning curve. It's more a matter of if the challenge present is interesting or fun for a player.
9. Which Souls game do you believe is the best thus far?I think they all have things that stand out, but I'd have to give the nod to the original
Dark Souls as largely refining (or defining) core elements. Being fair, the second half or so is a step down (if not bolstered by the DLC), but the first half can (and has) been dissected for its design elements.
10. If you could make one change to the Souls formula, what would it be?While easier said than done, I feel like a lot of game balance decisions end up being made around PVP - or in some parts of DS2, balanced around potential PVE. I think they could keep more builds interesting (at least) if they'd change how things work between the two, like games such as
Guild Wars do.
