Biggest bullshit in a video game

[Gar For Archer]

Arguments with fans usually go like this:
Yes, you are technically correct
Yes, you can give examples of that throughout the whole game
Yes, it's consistent throughout the series and I hate it when DS or any other game does it
BUT THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO DARKSOULS AS A WHOLE AND DARKSOULS IS A GOOD GAME REEEEEEEE

I don’t know what’s so fucking hard to understand about the idea that a few key instances of bullshit doesn’t mean the entire game is “unfair”. Yes, there are a few bosses that are notorious for being genuinely bullshit. This does not mean every boss fight is unfair BS.

I’m gonna circle back to the Taurus Demon, because that’s what convinces me that you’re conflating “wahhHhhh my situational awareness and decision making are shit” with “this boss is SO UNFAIR!”

Those archers on the tower? Yeah, you won’t know that they’re there going into the the fight. You’ll find out soon enough when you go past the fog door, and they start firing their (hilariously slow-moving and low-damage) arrows at you.

Now, you’re complaining that this scenario is unbeatable on your first encounter, because you can’t know that the archers are there. But you realize that, like… instead of dying like a retard by trying to fight the Taurus Demon while they’re still plinking you with arrows, and only dealing with them on your second try after you already know they’re there, you can just make the decision in-the-moment to deal with them the moment you find out that they’re there? Their position is hardly defensible, and there’s literally a ladder right out there in the open, and I’m like 99% sure the Taurus Demon can’t (or at least is highly unlike to) damage you while you’re on the ladder. This isn’t a super-secret cheese strat, this is basic information you would have noticed if you literally just… turned around to look at what was shooting you. “The archers are on the tower > There is a ladder going to the tower > I will climb the ladder and kill the archers because they’re annoying”. This isn’t even about being mechanically good at combat, this is literally just basic game sense.

You know how that fight would actually be unfair? If the ladder was hidden behind a wall, such that you could only see it AFTER walking back to the tower and exploring it. Or if the top platform were straight up inaccessible, and you had to snipe them with arrows or magic, neither of which you may have in your inventory at the moment. Or if their arrows took out 75% of your HP in one hit, practically guaranteeing that they’ll instakill you the moment you venture too far on the bridge before you’re even aware of their existence. Those are all situations where the archers may GENUINELY be unbeatable on your first encounter, either because either you’re not kitted out to kill enemies at range or because the way you learn about their existence is by instantly dying to them.

But that’s not the case. The archers are only a problem if you LET them be one, by trying to fight the Taurus Demon without taking them out first. By literally just turning around and looking behind you, you are given all the information you need to make the in-the-moment decision to climb up the ladder and dispatch them before dealing with the boss. If you lack the situational awareness, game sense, or decision-making capacity to accomplish this simple task, that is not the game’s fault.

 

[byuu]

I know it's possible to do souls games without these, cause Hollow Knight did it!

Homo Knight was awful. The game is so piss easy and boring at the beginning that I just dropped it.
I'm not gonna spend hours waiting for the game to get fun.

 

[FunPosting101]

Am I the only one who's bothered by DS's jank, poor camera control, poor enemy placement and exaggerated difficulty spikes?

I know it's possible to do souls games without these, cause Hollow Knight did it!

The poor camera control I'll give you, and the jank is also something of a problem at times; but poor enemey placement? lol no. Exaggerated difficulty spikes? Dude there's all of two(Blightown, which can be trivialized rather easily if you explore enough and remember to buy the blooming purple moss, and Sen's Fortress which is admittedly a bit much but you CAN see most of the setups coming if you're observant.) before the second half of the game, which is honestly where DS1 does falter a bit.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

I will say this over and over again but the best Yakuza game in the entire series is Zero and you could comfortably end the series on that and you'd feel satisfied.

Absolutely EVERYTHING after that features bullshit to the highest degree: from the entire story falling off a cliff in terms of tone, to bullshit mechanics (there's an early boss in Kiwani 1 or 2 that legit takes half an hour to defeat if you picked the wrong upgrade) to other shitty things like atrocious enemy spawns (7 is legit the worst and even at 3x speed with a trainer it was a fucking joke to fight three sets of bad guys walking down one street). The plot just gets more and more retarded and unfun and the little girl situation is so fucking bad that it's hard to take anything Yakuza related seriously at face value ever again.

Zero is the most grounded with the best combat and the best story and I'm straight up furious they haven't managed to top that since. Even Mr Shakedown, while annoying wasn't as annoying as the random encounters in future games, mostly because even if he stole everything you could still win EVERYTHING back + more if you beat him just the once.

Zero is by far the best, but even it has one thing in it that pissed me off like crazy and that's the fact that you can only put on different outfits during the post-game.

I was so excited to do the fake boyfriend substory as shirtless Majima and now I have to beat the entire game again before I can do that. In a series as wacky, and nonsensical like Yakuza, things like this shouldn't be an issue.

Also, the fact that there's no Goromi outfit. Yeah, I know it would've been minor spoilers for Kiwami 1, and the concept for it probably didn't exist yet, but I still would've like to have seen it in even as a DLC costume, or something.

 

[Gar For Archer]

The poor camera control I'll give you, and the jank is also something of a problem at times; but poor enemey placement? lol no. Exaggerated difficulty spikes? Dude there's all of two(Blightown, which can be trivialized rather easily if you explore enough and remember to buy the blooming purple moss, and Sen's Fortress which is admittedly a bit much but you CAN see most of the setups coming if you're observant.) before the second half of the game, which is honestly where DS1 does falter a bit.

I think Anor Londo mostly suffers from being really big and empty. The trek from the bonfire to O&S is very easy and you can just run past all the giant knights in your way, but DAMN is it boring waiting for that fucking elevator to rise up to take you down to the lower level. Also lol, fuck the catwalks in the cathedral.

Like, I kinda get what they were going for making it a larger-than-life city of the gods, but it’s just no fun at all to traverse. What I liked best about the starting area is unlocking new shortcuts and seeing how all the different routes loop back onto each other, but that whole aspect of the game kinda goes away once you’ve rung the first bell.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I think Anor Londo mostly suffers from being really big and empty. The trek from the bonfire to O&S is very easy and you can just run past all the giant knights in your way, but DAMN is it boring waiting for that fucking elevator to rise up to take you down to the lower level. Also lol, fuck the catwalks in the cathedral.

Like, I kinda get what they were going for making it a larger-than-life city of the gods, but it’s just no fun at all to traverse. What I liked best about the starting area is unlocking new shortcuts and seeing how all the different routes loop back onto each other, but that whole aspect of the game kinda goes away once you’ve rung the first bell.

This reminds me, fucking have the game auto revert elevators on death to the fastest path to the area boss. It's annoying to waste few seconds waiting for the elevator to stop so I would send it back up to save time in case I die.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

The poor camera control I'll give you, and the jank is also something of a problem at times; but poor enemey placement? lol no. Exaggerated difficulty spikes? Dude there's all of two(Blightown, which can be trivialized rather easily if you explore enough and remember to buy the blooming purple moss, and Sen's Fortress which is admittedly a bit much but you CAN see most of the setups coming if you're observant.) before the second half of the game, which is honestly where DS1 does falter a bit.

Buh buh buh...

Listen, if a game has the qualities of a bad game... It 'is' a bad game!

 

[Gar For Archer]

This reminds me, fucking have the game auto revert elevators on death to the fastest path to the area boss. It's annoying to waste few seconds waiting for the elevator to stop so I would send it back up to save time in case I die.

I mean really there just shouldn’t be a 2 minute trek between the bonfire and the boss battle. Like… just stick another bonfire right before the boss room. That already comes with a choice - do you want to light it and have fewer estus flasks (or spend more humanity to kindle a bonfire that will be of limited utility after this one fight), or do you want to trek back to the boss room from the last bonfire every time you die?

Buh buh buh...

Listen, if a game has the qualities of a bad game... It 'is' a bad game!

If you think Dark Souls is a bad game, I can’t change your mind, nor do I care to. I mean, it’s a subjective opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own.

That being said, this is a fucking retarded take, because I challenge you to find one single game that does not have a single bad quality.

 

[Spud]

I think Anor Londo mostly suffers from being really big and empty. The trek from the bonfire to O&S is very easy and you can just run past all the giant knights in your way, but DAMN is it boring waiting for that fucking elevator to rise up to take you down to the lower level. Also lol, fuck the catwalks in the cathedral.

Like, I kinda get what they were going for making it a larger-than-life city of the gods, but it’s just no fun at all to traverse. What I liked best about the starting area is unlocking new shortcuts and seeing how all the different routes loop back onto each other, but that whole aspect of the game kinda goes away once you’ve rung the first bell.

You know you can jump over the stairs by the bonfire you find Solaire at to skip most of the level

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

That being said, this is a fucking retarded take, because I challenge you to find one single game that does not have a single bad quality.

You can find good qualities in bad games too. That's even more retarded argument.

The thing is, it's like some people simply cannot make a connection between Darksouls and a bad game; it's like the synapses won't trigger or something. The argument isn't that it gets good, or that it's good after you get better, it's always "yea well gargoyles are bad, and capra is bad, and blighttown is annoying to deal with, and sen's fortress is shit, and sen's fortress' roof is a BS area, and etc etc, but Dark Souls is good, I swear". Like, I get it that nintendo difficulty feels good to overcome, but there's nothing to Dark Souls other than beating bullshit bosses and dealing with annoying level design. A good game would have one or two bad elements, but Dark Souls just keeps going and going with its bullshit and you never get to the good part, it's just more bullshit. There's nothing particularly good about it, either. The combat doesn't feel very satisfying, there's no unique mechanics or awesome combat... Sure it felt fresh when it first came out, but in retrospective there's no reason to replay it now, not just because the later releases completely outshine the original.

Take Borderlands for example. If you played and stopped before level 20, I'd tell you to go play it again. Borderlands is boring in the first part of the game, and then opens up when you get legendary weapons and invest in your skill tree. Dark Souls is none of this, and just keeps throwing bullshit at you and it never stops.

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

Take Borderlands for example.

That is a bad example. Sure, the mid point of your playthrough will be good as you get the good shit, bu the tail end is filled with "if you're playing solo, get fucked" or "if you don't optimize the shit out of your build, everything is a bullet sponge". Never before have I been brow beaten out of doing a 100% run in a game by the game outright refusing to let me progress without cheesing it or getting OP shit.

 

[Gar For Archer]

You can find good qualities in bad games too. That's even more retarded argument.

Never claimed you couldn’t. I’m challenging your retarded assertion that “if a game has qualities of a bad game, then it is a bad game”.

Also, has it never occurred to you that the things you find to be deal-breakers are things that might not actually bother other people? Or that it might be something that others might actually enjoy?

Like, again, I started playing Dark Souls for the first time, two weeks ago. I have no particular attachment to the IP, didn’t know anything about the game beforehand apart from “it’s really hard”, and had no vested interest in “liking” the game - I fully prepared to drop the game if it didn’t catch my attention in the first 5 hours.

The gargoyles were a fucking huge difficulty spike. I died to them like 30 times. But I genuinely enjoyed it.

The Capra Demon was kinda bullshit, but I just fucked off exploring the forest until I was about 5 levels higher and came back with a ton of firebombs to throw in his face.

Sen’s Fortress was THE most fun I had playing the game. I was genuinely tense and playing really carefully because I didn’t want to fuck up and lose my progress before hitting the next bonfire. And of course I died many times, but every time I went back in I was able to get further and further because I was learning the layout of the dungeon and getting better with my movement and timing, so despite there being no shortcuts I was able to quickly get to the top of the fortress.

Are you gonna tell me, someone with a completely fresh and unbiased perspective on the game, that I was just brainwashed by the Dark Souls propaganda into thinking that I was having fun with the segments you found frustrating? Is it so fucking difficult to understand that - shocker of all shockers - different people find different things fun?

Like lol, it’s very clear that Dark Souls isn’t the kind of game you enjoy. There’s nothing wrong with that, and you’re hardly special in that regard. Just realize that just because you found something unfun or frustrating doesn’t mean that other people did too.

If YOU find it unfun and frustrating and fans of the game seem to disagree, then it’s probably just not for you. If EVERYONE finds it unfun and frustrating, then it’s probably bullshit.

 

[glib]

The amount of time it takes to grind for something in modern games especially MMOs and "Live service" games is the biggest annoyance.

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

The amount of time it takes to grind for something in modern games especially MMOs and "Live service" games is the biggest annoyance.

FFXIV's relic weapons come to mind.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Are you gonna tell me, someone with a completely fresh and unbiased perspective on the game, that I was just brainwashed by the Dark Souls propaganda into thinking that I was having fun with the segments you found frustrating? Is it so fucking difficult to understand that - shocker of all shockers - different people find different things fun?

Eh, you just fail to convince me.

Just because a game is liked by many doesn't mean it's good.

And DS is objectively bad and I told you why.

The amount of time it takes to grind for something in modern games especially MMOs and "Live service" games is the biggest annoyance.

Grind and progression is there to annoy you into spending money.

 

[Gar For Archer]

Yeah Eh, you just fail to convince me.

Fuck off, nigger. I do not have to “convince” you about my subjective experience with a game that I have no vested interest in shilling. I’m not wasting any more time responding to a literal autist who can’t understand that different people can have different opinions.

 

[Cantercoin]

Take Borderlands for example. If you played and stopped before level 20, I'd tell you to go play it again. Borderlands is boring in the first part of the game, and then opens up when you get legendary weapons and invest in your skill tree. Dark Souls is none of this, and just keeps throwing bullshit at you and it never stops.

Borderlands took 3 whole games to actually get good gunplay and the UI is still dogshit 5 games in

 

[I got rabies]

I dunno if you are playing while connected online or not, but the messages players leave on the ground help a lot. I remember I noticed the ladder on my first try because I moved the camera to look at the scenery, but there were also a message saying "behind you!"

Don't believe every messages, but in DS1 I'd say 99% of them aren't trolls, at least from experience. It's really useful in shitty places like Blighttown and Sen's fortress. It's ok if you don't play online though. I just think it's a helpful mechanic for first-time players.

You can also completely trivialize the Gargoyles fight by summoning Solaire and/or Lautrec to help you (Lautrec has something of a little sidequest to complete first tho). You just need a humanity to become human and their summon signs are right next to the fog gate. Although that is hitting the line between "it's fun to discover" and "WAIT WAT? I WISH I'D KNOWN THAT!" that DS1 is filled with.

 

[The Last Stand]

There's an achievement on Halo Infinite pertaining to a certain game mode that ISN'T EVEN OUT YET. It's been what, six months?

 

[Gar For Archer]

I dunno if you are playing while connected online or not, but the messages players leave on the ground help a lot. I remember I noticed the ladder on my first try because I moved the camera to look at the scenery, but there were also a message saying "behind you!"

Don't believe every messages, but in DS1 I'd say 99% of them aren't trolls, at least from experience. It's really useful in shitty places like Blighttown and Sen's fortress. It's ok if you don't play online though. I just think it's a helpful mechanic for first-time players.

You can also completely trivialize the Gargoyles fight by summoning Solaire and/or Lautrec to help you (Lautrec has something of a little sidequest to complete first tho). You just need a humanity to become human and their summon signs are right next to the fog gate. Although that is hitting the line between "it's fun to discover" and "WAIT WAT? I WISH I'D KNOWN THAT!" that DS1 is filled with.

I specifically decided to play offline and without summoning any NPC’s because it feels like the most “pure” way to play the game, at least for the first time. I wish I’d turned on online after I finished the gargoyles though, because that’s the point where I’d gotten most of the initial exploration out of my system and hit the “wish I had known that existed” phase with stuff like the Sen’s bonfire and the hidden forest bonfire.

I do find it funny how g*me j*urnalists complain that Dark Souls has no easy mode when magic and NPC summons exist. Being able to nuke enemies at a range in a game where 99% of enemies use exclusively melee attacks has a predictable effect on the difficulty of normal encounters. And true, NPC summons aren’t technically free, but you tend to get a lot more humanity than you need to use kindling bonfires (unless you’re spider-simping) and the summons greatly increase your odds of clearing the boss on your first try. So if you’re a faggot who’s “playing for the story” and just want to get past the bosses by any means necessary, the game literally has a built-in handicap readily available for you to use.