Thought this would end up as one of my favourite souls games but for all Demon Souls' flaws it felt a lot more inspired in its setting and world. I couldn't connect to the overworld in this one despite it being the most metroidvania-esque. It just felt pretty generic compared to Elden Ring or Sekiro.
I appreciate what this game did for the genre, but I can't help but feel that it didn't really do anything better than Demon's Souls. Although the areas in this one are interconnected, areas like the Tower of Latria and Boletarian Palace stuck with me more than anything here.
For all the eccentricities of Demon's souls with the stupid world tendency system, it had character. I barely even interacted with the humanity system in this one because all it did was give you more flasks. Everything up to Ornstein and Smough was great but everything after drops massively in quality. It feels like they just gave up on interesting bosses and resorted to gimmicky areas such as the catacombs where the difficulty just comes from the fact it's dark. Bosses especially in the late game have ridiculous run-ups that just pad out an already padded experience. If it had ended at the halfway point it would've been a better game for it.
The one thing I hate about the souls fanbase is the 'git gud' attitude to refining the genre. People adore this game for being difficult in almost unfair ways that are more frustrating than rewarding. Making me run a mile before I fight the same boss over and over doesn't make me feel good when I beat the boss, it just makes me want to do something more constructive with my time. I'm glad the newer games are less obnoxious.
As far as the bosses go, they are okay, but far more akin to Demon's souls in their inconsistency than games like Sekiro and Elden Ring which have a pretty great gauntlet of challenging yet fair encounters.
Maybe it's because I played this one after playing the games it directly led to, but I just don't get what's so much better about this than Elden Ring. Hopefully I have a better time with III.
I appreciate what this game did for the genre, but I can't help but feel that it didn't really do anything better than Demon's Souls. Although the areas in this one are interconnected, areas like the Tower of Latria and Boletarian Palace stuck with me more than anything here.
For all the eccentricities of Demon's souls with the stupid world tendency system, it had character. I barely even interacted with the humanity system in this one because all it did was give you more flasks. Everything up to Ornstein and Smough was great but everything after drops massively in quality. It feels like they just gave up on interesting bosses and resorted to gimmicky areas such as the catacombs where the difficulty just comes from the fact it's dark. Bosses especially in the late game have ridiculous run-ups that just pad out an already padded experience. If it had ended at the halfway point it would've been a better game for it.
The one thing I hate about the souls fanbase is the 'git gud' attitude to refining the genre. People adore this game for being difficult in almost unfair ways that are more frustrating than rewarding. Making me run a mile before I fight the same boss over and over doesn't make me feel good when I beat the boss, it just makes me want to do something more constructive with my time. I'm glad the newer games are less obnoxious.
As far as the bosses go, they are okay, but far more akin to Demon's souls in their inconsistency than games like Sekiro and Elden Ring which have a pretty great gauntlet of challenging yet fair encounters.
Maybe it's because I played this one after playing the games it directly led to, but I just don't get what's so much better about this than Elden Ring. Hopefully I have a better time with III.