I haven't been this excited since, well, Skyrim.

Who else is getting this? And if anyone has played it on a console, is there any good advice?

I understand it's brutal which is part of its appeal for me.

Also, I'm not clear on the multi-player aspect as I'm primarily getting it for its single player game.

Is it possible to play it completelyu single player? I see posts that it is but I also read that people can invade your game?

I'm not getting it "yet". Not for a month or so. From everything I've been reading this morning it has tons of issues and missing some basic features needed to make it PC friendly. I'll wait to give it time to sink in some and see what turns up. 

Originally posted by ABRaquel
I'm not getting it until they fixed the staggering amount of issues with the game. I'm actually quite appalled that they shipped the game with a fixed resolution of 1024x768....it's like I'm back playing games from 10 yrs ago.

You really have to wonder how such a horrible idea was ever cleared as OK. Who, How, Why? Any company I have ever worked for would fire anyone that made such a horrible decision on anything. It hurts the company and it's reputation. The world has just decided to up and go crazy. No one cares anymore about doing anything right. If you can make a buck off it, then it's a done deal.

Originally posted by Sovrath

I haven't been this excited since, well, Skyrim.

Who else is getting this? And if anyone has played it on a console, is there any good advice?

I understand it's brutal which is part of its appeal for me.

Also, I'm not clear on the multi-player aspect as I'm primarily getting it for its single player game.

Is it possible to play it completelyu single player? I see posts that it is but I also read that people can invade your game?

Yes it's possible to play it offline just don't log into it I finished it completely offline.

I recently bought it for Xbox 360. It's a fun game, but definitely difficult. Some advice:

-At bonfires

Reverse Hallowing turns you human (if you have humanity). This also allows other people to invade your game and kill you. However, this also allows you to summon other players into your game to help you. There are also NPCs you can summon before most bosses to help, which can be a HUGE boon. As long as you don't become human, you can play alone.

Kindling a bonfire increases the amount of Estus flasks (your main healing item) you can have, to a maximum of 20. At the start of the game, you can only kindle each bonfire once. Later on, once a certain NPC has been 'rescued', you can kindle each one up to 3 times.

BUY A BOTTOMLESS BOX ASAP. This allows you to store things at bonfires, which is very helpful for inventory management. Also, purchase things like repair kits and such which will allow you to do various things from bonfires, such as repair / modify equipment.

-In general

Take your time. When exploring new areas, keep your shield up and remain aware of your surroundings.

Gear > levels. Upgrade your gear ASAP, and you will have a much easier time.

Dying isn't all that big a deal in this game. You WILL die. A LOT. Don't let it stress you out.

If you want things a bit easier at first, play a cleric / sorceror / pyromancer. The spells really help out in the beginning.

Starting class only determines what stats / equipment you begin the game with. You can customize your character to your heart's content.

EXPLORE! If you find an area where the enemies are too tough, don't be afraid to leave and come back later with better equipment or more soul levels. Some areas are completely optional, and most of said areas tend to be pretty tough.

Practice parrying and backstabbing. If you can master these skills, you will have a much easier time of things.

That's all I can think of, for now.

Edit: Bought it for 360 because I had a feeling the PC port would suck. Looks like I was right, lol.

Originally posted by Inf666

Bought it out of boredom. Worst decission ever. Stopped playing after 5 minutes.

The gameplay may be good, put whats the point if the port is bad and has a lot of issues?

1. Only playable with gamepad. The mouse+kb controls are bad, very high mouse sensitivity on lowest setting, mouse acceleration. Virtually unplayable.

2. No third person view like in an MMO. You have to control the camera independently of your char all the time.

3. 30 fps cap.

4. Game assumes you use a gamepad and displays gamepad buttons. "Press (A) to loot corpse." etc.

5. Cannot turn my character in char creation preview window because the right gamepad stick IS NOT AVAILABLE on my keyboard.

6. Cannot bind my mouse button 4 and 5 because game doesn't support it.

 

Last time I have bought a game from this company.

I didn't have any problem with it oh wait that's right I bought it for the ps3.

Not sure how the game is for the PC, but from what I read above it seems to have some problems.

I do however have the game on PS3, it's one of my favourite titles that I still play to this day.

Have you ever played Monster Hunter series or Demon Souls atleast? This game runs pretty much along those lines and easier than the other games, good game to start with if you never played any of the games above.

I suggest playing it online, it is much easier with online imho, farming other players is the fastest way to farm souls and humanity and it keeps the game fresh since you'll feel alone if you play offline.

Thanks for all the advice.

I do understand that there are issues but I also just found out that some modder released a fix for some of the resolution issues.

I do have to agree that it's a bit neglgent for companies to release products and not deal with these technical issues.

As much as I love Skyrim the interface lag is appalling. I did find a fix that actually eliminated it though I couldn't move my camera vertially so that was something the I need to revisit.

A coworker tried Dark Souls for all fo 15 minutes and he said he threw down his controller in disgust and never picked it up again.

So my curiosity is peaked.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Thanks for all the advice.

I do understand that there are issues but I also just found out that some modder released a fix for some of the resolution issues.

I do have to agree that it's a bit neglgent for companies to release products and not deal with these technical issues.

As much as I love Skyrim the interface lag is appalling. I did find a fix that actually eliminated it though I couldn't move my camera vertially so that was something the I need to revisit.

A coworker tried Dark Souls for all fo 15 minutes and he said he threw down his controller in disgust and never picked it up again.

So my curiosity is peaked.

With the resolution fix and a 360 controller the game is fine. Certain PCs get some slowdown but it was exactly the same on consoles so you should have no issue working through it. 

The game itself is fantastic. Brutally difficult, a joy to explore and master. 

Multiplayer is completely optional. At bonfires you have the ability to turn back into a human. By being human you can place markings on the ground to summon up to three players in co-op and players can invade or you can invade their games to pvp them. 

If you stay as a hallow (dead dude) you never have to deal with anyone invading or doing the co-op.

Just a FYI Greenmangaming.com has a code on its main site that gives you 20% off on any game. You can use it on Dark Souls and they give you a Steam code instantly after purchase. I bought my copy for $32 and put the code into steam.

Well, after playing quite a lot of it on Saturday night and Sunday I have to say that:

I love the game

The port is a piece of crap. (can I say that on TV?)

The port is so bad that i had to resort to using a generic PS3 controller.

I understand that there is a resolution issue but a modder came up with a fix that does work quite well. Even so, I can forgive how games look.

but the mouse is unusable. The movement is so jerky on my machine that it's just not an option.

I'm slowly getting used to the controller but I really hate it.

Exploring is fun but can get you into really difficult situations. Unfortunately since the controller feels foreign to me I just expect to die. Besdies the "normal" expecting to die.